Chapter 48: Unbound

It had been a long and lonely journey for the deposed Earth King, over a month walking down barren dirt roads. King Kuei dearly missed his companion Bosco, the only bear that anyone knew of that was just a bear. Every night Kuei prayed to the spirits that Bosco was alright, wishing that someone in Ba Sing Se was taking good care of him. Kuei supposed that their separation was for the best for both of them, as having Bosco with him would give away his identity to Fire Nation patrols and get them both killed.

Equipped with nothing more than what little supplies the Water Tribe could spare and the quick survival lessons they could provide, Kuei wondered how he could have survived this long without their generosity. There had been times when he thought he wasn't going to make it, having been spared from death by the kindness of strangers. One particular band of traveling nomads had been especially generous to him, having given him a week's worth of food just three days ago, and he knew he was going to need it.

"I am so lost."

The small trail Kuei was on weaved through the mountains southeast of Ba Sing Se, clinging to the base of one mountainside after another. This part of the trail passed through a narrow valley between two high peaks, and there was a thick fog rolling through the valley this evening. It had been two days since meeting the kind nomads outside a village, and so it would be another two days to turn around and go back. Kuei figured that if there was another village ahead, it had to be closer than the village behind him.

At the eastern end the valley widened into a clearing, and through the parting fog Kuei saw the place that lay ahead of him. "Well I'll be a simple brown bear…"

Directly ahead of him were three low mountain peaks, each of them a beautiful sight to behold. Spanning the peaks was the Eastern Air Temple, still standing after a century of neglect. Ninety years ago Kuei's great-grandfather had declared this place forbidden to all Earth Kingdom citizens, via a royal decree that Kuei had come across in his studies in the palace library. At the time Kuei believed the decree had been a response to soured political relations, rather than the reality of there not being an Air Nation anymore.

Given that the rightful ruler of the Earth Kingdom was in exile, it seemed fitting that such royal decrees were no longer in effect. That's what Kuei told himself to justify trespassing here, walking toward the middle peak and the main part of the temple. The trail ended at the base of the mountain, where Kuei suspected Air Nomads would take flight for the rest of the way. Kuei settled for climbing up the craggy rock face, having to take the long way to reach the temple entrance above him. It was hard work to be sure, but Kuei figured it be worth it.

It took over an hour to climb up to the entrance and enter the temple, and the sight from there was worth the climb. Even in disrepair the temple was a beautiful place, with Kuei taking in the sights as he walked into its halls. Eventually he came across a room that had statues of Air Nomad nuns along the walls, each one appearing to be an important leader at one time or another. Kuei was so fascinated by them that he almost missed someone at the far end, nearly walking into a man older than anyone he knew.

"Sorry, excuse me," Kuei said, backing away after nearly tripping over the frail old man. "I didn't realize anyone would be here."

The old man opened his eyes, but remained sitting in a meditation position. Despite the interruption, he was in a rather good mood. "Hello."

"My name is Kuei." He sat down in front of the old man, though he did glance at the bag the old man kept at his side. "Do you live here, all by yourself?"

"Yes I do," he answered. He held one hand towards Kuei, and the exiled king accepted the handshake. "My name is Pathik. Welcome to the Eastern Air Temple."

On the other side of the world, it was early morning at the Western Air Temple.

Aang was the first to rise with the sun, as it seemed that Zuko was still exhausted from the experience at the Boiling Rock and needed a little bit more sleep. Everyone else was sound asleep, and would likely remain until they got hungry enough for breakfast. Then Aang noticed that there were fewer people here this morning, as some of the escaped prisoners had left during the night. The temple was several days of walking from the nearest town, so the risk of those strangers revealing the Avatar's location was a minimal risk right now.

It seemed like it would be a peaceful day, until Aang spotted a flock of birds take flight and hurry away from the temple. "Oh that can't be good."

In the corner of his eye Aang spotted movement, and he turned to see something thrown at the temple. It was a little red cylinder, which Aang recognized from the failed invasion as a bomb. It hit one of the fountains on a different building, exploding on impact and destroying the fountain. Another bomb was thrown up from below, this one much closer to where Aang was standing. He swung his staff to create a gust of wind that blew back the bomb, hurling it back into the gorge. It exploded harmlessly out there, but Aang was more concerned with where it had come from.

Emerging from the fog was a fleet of Fire Nation airships, slowly ascending towards the temple's altitude. Aang figured that the airships must have flown down the length of the gorge during the night, hiding under the thick fog until they got into position for a morning attack. Catapults on top of the airships launched more bombs at the temple, two of which hit the base of buildings and exploded. Debris fell into the gorge and the buildings shook, including the one that everyone else had been sleeping inside.

The explosions and resulting tremors had everyone awake, and immediately they were aware of what was going on. Their hiding place was not so hidden anymore, and it was time to get back on the move before the Fire Nation could kill them all. One explosion-induced tremor shook debris off the ceiling, but a green dome conjured from Sokka's ring blocked the falling rock. Outside the green dome Taiyo got to work shutting heavy metal doors around the building, blocking the bombs launched directly at their campsite.

Aang was on his glider and passed through just before Taiyo closed the last door, landing next to the others and folding up his glider. "We need to leave."

Toph ran to the gorge wall and opened a portion of it with earthbending, revealing a tunnel within the rock. "Come on. We can get out through here."

The tunnel led to a valley a few miles away, where Zuko had parked the stolen airship the other night. It would take about a half hour to reach if they hurried, assuming that the bombs hadn't collapsed part of the tunnel. The escaped prisoners from the Boiling Rock, those who hadn't left during the night, were the first to evacuate. Hakoda went through the tunnel with them, to make sure that the stolen airship would stay in friendly hands. The plan was to get everyone through the tunnel, but when Aang tried to lead Appa in, the sky bison would only plant his feet and roar.

"He won't go in," Aang said. He was struggling with the reins, even with Momo trying to goad Appa into moving forward. "Appa hates tunnels."

"We're going to have to fly out of here," Katara said.

"Then we'll need to clear a path skyward," Taiyo said. He heard a bomb hit the building, which blew a hole in the wall near the ceiling. "Aang, Sokka, you're with me."

Outside of the temple, standing on the largest of the six airships, Princess Azula was personally overseeing the operation to eliminate the Avatar and his allies. She could see that her enemies had retreated into one of the temple's buildings, and so she had ordered the airships to target the topside base of that particular building. Azula was eagerly waiting to see that building detach from the overhang and fall into the gorge, killing everyone that had sought shelter behind those heavy metal doors.

Half of the airships had risen to the altitude of the overhang, and were now dropping the bombs from their undersides instead of firing from the catapults. Bit by bit the bombs wore away the building, making the rest shake more and more with each explosion. Any second now it was going to come crashing down, and the people inside were going to have to leave immediately. Azula spotted a hole above the heavy metal doors, and she spotted a blur moving from there, which struck one of the airships and made a large dent in the metal.

"There you are," Azula said, noting Taiyo's handiwork.

Then a bright green light emerged from the hole, and Sokka flew through it to attack with his ring. A green beam was fired at one of the airships, lancing through the hull and leaving a clean hole in it. Sokka then hovered in front of the temple and held his fist forward, conjuring a wide green shield that blocked half of the still-incoming bombs. The other airships started to move to the side to launch bombs around the shield, only for Sokka to move it around as needed to block as many of the bombs as possible.

Then the Avatar emerged from the building, using his glider and flying around the green shield. During his flight Aang folded up his glider and spun the staff around, whipping up a small whirlwind that snared a handful of bombs and threw them back at the airships. Those bombs struck an airship below Aang and blew a few holes in the hull, exposing the gasbags underneath the metal. After a few seconds of airbending Aang unfolded his glider and took flight again, getting more altitude before using that move again.

Meanwhile, Taiyo had been running along the length of an airship, tearing open the gasbags that held it aloft. This airship started to descend and drift to the right, taking it away from the temple. The crew inside was dropping all the ballast they could find, but it wasn't enough to counter the damage Taiyo inflicted. Once the airship touched the fog, Taiyo leapt from that airship to reach another one, so that he could repeat the process. His landing created a large dent in the hull, in plain view of the entire airship fleet.

Azula threw blue fire into the sky. "Now would be nice."

Taiyo saw the blue fire, and wondered why it wasn't aimed at anyone in particular. Then in the corner of his eye he noticed a red glow. "Aw crap."

A large red beam struck his right side, knocking Taiyo off the airship and straight into the gorge wall. From the newly made crater, Taiyo leapt back up toward the airship fleet, toward the source of the red light. Taiyo spotted Zhao at a higher altitude, floating there with his red ring pointed down. The look on Zhao's face was one of absolute fury, complete with an erratic twitch in his right eye. Zhao aimed his ring and fired again, this time making his red beam much larger. Taiyo crossed his arms and took the attack head on, and was launched back toward the gorge wall.

Only to land inside of Appa saddle instead, as the sky bison had emerged from the temple. "Good timing."

Katara was at the reins, and she was directing Appa toward a clear part of the sky. "We just happened to be in the right spot."

Another red beam came down, and Taiyo positioned himself to block it, using the saddle to brace himself. "Get closer to Zhao."

"So that he can blast us?" Toph complained, holding onto the saddle for dear life. "No thanks. Get us out of here Katara."

Zuko was in the saddle as well, deflecting the fireballs being shot at them from the airships, and he saw Zhao flying to the left. "Look Out!"

This time, Zhao fired a wider red beam, aimed right at Appa's saddle, to his everyone on it. Taiyo moved to the side of the saddle to block the hit, but the impact still sent Appa spinning over and over. Some of the saddle's straps broke, and it came off the bison's back, only hanging on by the other half. Katara struggled to hold onto the reins, trying to get Appa to fly out of the spin. Zuko had seen the attack and braced himself, and he barely hung onto the saddle. Toph was screaming with pure terror, her feet dangling in the air, while her fingers barely held.

Then, Toph's grip failed, and she fell from the spinning bison, screaming all the way into the abyss.

For Taiyo, time slowed down, and when he was beneath the spinning Appa, he kicked off with all his strength. It launched him from the bison far faster than he could fall with gravity alone, and Taiyo kept both fists forward as he plummeted after Toph. Both of them had passed through the fog, and the bottom of the gorge came into view. Taiyo quickly closed the distance in the short time he had, trying and failing to ignore the ground coming up fast. As he got closer, Taiyo reached forward, each second becoming more previous than the last.

When he intercepted her, Taiyo wrapped his arms around Toph. "I've Got You!"

"You've Got Me?!" Toph yelled, vibration sight only finding Taiyo and nothing else. "Who's Got You?!"

Too late Taiyo realized that this wasn't going to work, for reasons that were all too obvious now. While he could certainly survive the force of impact at high speed, it would break every bone and rupture every organ in Toph's body. Going from terminal velocity to a sudden stop would kill her, no matter what position they were in on impact. The change in velocity had to be done gradually to avoid that, otherwise his efforts would be for nothing. At the last second Taiyo closed his eyes, praying as he summoned the will to do the impossible.

"Where's the ground?" Toph questioned, not feeling any kind of thud. "Where's The Ground?!"

Taiyo quickly opened his eyes, and saw the ground moving fast. But instead of moving towards him, it was moving past him at astonishing speed. He had gone from vertical to horizontal over a long curve, and now the ground was rushing by only a few feet below. Then he looked ahead and saw the wall of the gorge coming fast, and his path curved back to the vertical. But now he was going straight up, seemingly with nothing proving a means for lift. They passed through the fog as they went up the gorge, and Taiyo was laughing like a madman.

"I can't believe it!" Taiyo said. "I'm actually flying!"

"Great…" Toph muttered. She was feeling very sick in the turbulence, and she threw up on Taiyo's boots. "Can you put me down now?"

When they burst out of the fog, they were seen by Azula, who then watched Taiyo fly high into the sky. "What?!"

Taiyo flew right past the airship fleet, going out of the gorge entirely. Sokka saw them leave, and was inclined to follow them, but he still needed to provide cover for Appa to get everyone else out. That got a lot harder when Maxima emerged from an airship, and she leapt above Sokka to attack with both fists. Sokka had adjusted his large green shield to block her, but Maxima's fists struck so hard they cracked the green light construct. Naturally Sokka drifted to the side and then simply let that part of the shield vanish, dropping Maxima into the gorge below.

However when Maxima fell she was caught by a newly acquired ally, riding on a space motorcycle that had been making donuts in the lower airspace. Lobo had caught Maxima by the forearm, and when his motorcycle looped around he threw her back up into the fray. Sokka recreated his green shield beneath him to block, and Maxima slammed right into the shield. Sokka then let it vanish to drop Maxima again, though it didn't work any better than the first time. Lobo caught and threw Maxima again, keeping Sokka busy holding off their dual attacks.

"Okay, since when are you two working together?" Sokka demanded. "I thought you hated each other."

Lobo brought them both up to Sokka's altitude. "Oh, that was us having some fun. And we're going to keep having fun until this planet gets boring."

"Which I expect to be in a week or two," Maxima said. She looked up and down at Sokka, imagining the possibilities the teenage boy could put that ring of his to use. "Though I could be persuaded to stick around a little while longer, if you're interested."

Sokka swallowed the growing lump in his throat, wishing he was wrong about what she had in mind. "Yeah, I think I'll pass."

Meanwhile, Aang was providing cover from the airships, deflecting the bombs that were being launched at Appa. He flew in close to some of the catapults being used, threw some fireballs at them, which hit the idle bombs still waiting for be loaded. Aang's firebending detonated a few of those bombs, which in turns detonated the rest in the piles, and the resulting explosions destroyed the nearby catapults. He made a few more passes to destroy more catapults in the same way, greatly reducing the ordinance threatening his friends.

But then Aang got too close to the largest airship, close enough for Azula to throw blue fire at him. Aang reacted just in time to avoid the blue flames, only to be struck by sudden wind that nearly ripped the glider out of his hands. He tumbled in the air for a bit, before getting his feet under him in time to land on the airship's hull. Another gust of wind followed, but Aang was ready for it this time, and with a swing of his staff he dispelled the wind. Then Azula hurled more blue fire, and backed it up with wind to intensify the flames, and it took all of Aang's bending to part those flames around himself.

Azula reveled in the power granted by the red meteor rock formula. "Did you really forget that I can do that?"

All too aware of enemy airbending, Aang stood up where he had crashed. "Oh I remember all right."

With a twirl of his staff, Aang created a small whirlwind around it, and with a swing of his staff Aang threw the whirlwind at Azula. She countered by throwing her own wind into the whirlwind, and the colliding gales dispersed each other. Azula punched blue fire at her foe, while Aang strafed left to dodge before throwing more wind at Azula. The wind hit Azula in her right side and blew her off her feet, all the way to the edge of the airship. Aang threw another gale at Azula, and it was enough to knock her off the side and fall into the gorge.

High above them, Appa was flying out of the gorge, and Zuko was looking down at the right time to see his sister fall from the airship. "She's not going to make it."

However, when she was halfway down the height of the airship, Azula blasted blue fire from hands and feet, all of it aimed away from the airship. The thrust she got pushed her back towards the airship, and with some summoned wind she closed the gap quickly. She found handholds on the hull to grab onto, and latched onto the closest ones. She then pounded her fist against the metal several times, until a nearby hatch was opened from inside. Azula then climbed across the hull to reach the hatch, getting inside before a crewman closed it.

Having seen the whole thing, Zuko was hardly surprised. "Of course she did."

If Aang had noticed Azula getting to safety, he didn't show it. He was too busy getting back into the air and flying to another part of the battle, weaving in between the bombs still being hurled at the temple. It was much easier now than it was earlier, but even with many of the catapults out of commission dodging bombs was still a chore. But then he heard a boom in the distance, and he glanced in that direction. He saw Taiyo flying back toward the gorge, though without Toph, since he had dropped her off somewhere else before coming back.

One of the higher airships was in his way, and Taiyo flew straight for it. He rammed it with both fists, and tore a long gash though the hull, rupturing several of the gasbags inside. After that attack, Taiyo turned around for another pass, but then saw red light heading toward him. Zhao had fired another red beam at Taiyo, but this time Taiyo dodged the beam, and it struck the wall of the gorge instead. Then Taiyo flew toward Zhao, pulled back a fist, and punched him in the face. The red aura around Zhao shielded him from harm, but the impact sent him spiraling backward in midair.

"I could definitely get used to this," Taiyo said.

That was when a green explosion went off inside the gorge, with Sokka at the source, which repelled Lobo and Maxima from him. It was the only way he could think of to get rid of them, and once his airspace was clear, Sokka flew up to attack Zhao. He fired a green beam from below, which sent Zhao tumbling a hundred feet higher in the air. But when the green beam faded, a thin rope of green light remained, connecting Zhao to Sokka's ring. Taiyo wondered what that was for, before Sokka pulled on that green rope, and Zhao plummeted toward them both.

"You're going to pay for that!" Zhao yelled.

Sokka flew to his left, while the green rope retracted into his green, and his hand clenched a stolen red power battery. "Hey Zhao, are you missing something?"

Zhao glanced at his waist, where he kept his power battery, and it was missing. The green beam had been a feint, to conceal the theft, and Zhao glared at Sokka with a burning rage. "Why you little…"

"I'm gonna stop you right there," Sokka interrupted. He formed a green sphere around the red battery, and then blasted it with a narrow green beam, launching it out of the gorge and towards the horizon. "Better go get it! If it's anything like mine, you can't get another one here!"

His rage building to the point where his red aura looked like fire, Zhao fired a thick red beam at Sokka. But he didn't bother to see if his attack hit, instead flying after the stolen battery as fast as his ring could take him. "When I get back, you're going to regret that!"

A green sphere had shielded Sokka from the attack, but the red beam had pushed him all the way to the overhang and imbedded him in it. "Well that could have gone better."

Meanwhile, Aang was trying to fly back to Appa, but he saw Lobo and Maxima rising up from the gorge. He changed course to intercept them, then collapsed his glider, and spun it around to whip up a whirlwind. Maxima, who wasn't holding onto the vehicle, was yanked off by the whirlwind, and plummeted into the gorge. She wasn't screaming, like she wasn't in any danger from the fall, which had Aang wondering if she would survive it. Aang didn't look to find out, since Lobo was still on his ride, compensating for the wind and flying straight at him.

Aang unfolded his staff back into his glider. "Okay, follow me."

With an airbent gale, Aang got a burst of speed, and flew toward the overhang that held the temple. He couldn't outrun Lobo's ride, but he only needed a few seconds to get to where he wanted to be. Aang then dispelled the wind and folded his staff, so that he would drop straight down, and Lobo passed over him. Lobo's gaze followed Aang, instead of looking forward, and a second later he crashed right into the overhang. Aang unfolded his glider again and flew off, getting as far away as he could before Lobo would pull himself out of the rock.

Meanwhile, Taiyo had flown down to the lead airship, peering through the hull searching for Azula. He quickly spotted the green spot that had to be Azula's kryptonite, but didn't let that stop him from confronting her. Taiyo punched through the hull and then through several levels of the airship, stopping when he barged into the same corridor that Azula was running through. Azula stopped dead in her tracks while metal shards were still falling, staring at Taiyo a dozen feet away as his feet touched the deck plating.

Azula did not hesitate to grab her kryptonite, retrieving it from her belt pocket with her right hand. But from a safe distance away Taiyo's eyes glowed red, and they shot a narrow stream of fire down the length of the corridor. The fire hit the kryptonite and Azula was forced to drop it, right before the heat shattered the kryptonite into several smaller pieces. Taiyo then took a quick breath and blew a strong wind at Azula's feet, blowing away the kryptonite pieces to the end of the corridor and far out of Azula's reach.

"Of course I saw that coming," Taiyo said, crossing his arms and looking Azula in the eye. "Did you really think I couldn't beat your kryptonite?"

"You're just full of surprises today," Azula grumbled.

Taiyo slowly ascended a few inches off the floor. "This is where you lose."

He punctuated that by flying down the corridor faster than Azula could react, grabbing hold her before flying back the other way. Taiyo then flew back up and out through the hole he had made coming in, taking Azula with him into open air. From there he flew high above the airship fleet, getting a good view of Appa heading away from the gorge, well outside the range of the airships. Taiyo held Azula at arm's length, and she was holding onto his wrist with both hands. Still there was a defiant look in her eye, even when she was at Taiyo's mercy.

Despite her situation, Azula was not frightened. "We both know you won't do it."

"I really should," Taiyo admitted. "All I'd have to do… is just let go."

Still, Azula didn't show fear. "You're not that cold blooded."

Taiyo brought Azula in closer. "True. But I've got something more appropriate in mind."

To that end Taiyo got a better grip on Azula before flying further, heading away from the Western Air Temple and picking up speed. The ground whipped by faster than the human eye could see, making it difficult for Azula to tell which direction they were going. While Taiyo could have flown at a much higher altitude, he stayed much lower to make it easier to breathe. Azula couldn't keep up with the world moving by so fast, but Taiyo had a general idea of which direction to fly. It didn't really matter which direction anyway, since the destination was at the opposite end of the world.

Heading far to the west and slightly to the south, Taiyo flew past the Fire Nation capital and kept on going. He crossed the expansive sea that separated the western Fire Nation from the eastern Earth Kingdom, a sea that had been too wide for even Fire Nation warships to cross. When land appeared on the western horizon Taiyo turned further south, following the coastline of the continent until he came across a mountain range that Aang had once described. It seemed like a fitting place of exile for this occasion, taking Azula away from the Western Air Temple and to the Eastern Air Temple.

At one of the smaller mountain peaks Taiyo dropped Azula onto a high balcony. "Even if you leave, you won't get back in time for Sozin's Comet."

And when Taiyo flew away at full speed, he heard Azula cursing his name.

"What in the world was that?"

Kuei had heard something akin to a loud gust of wind, and a moment later he heard a loud boom that faded into the distance. The first sound had seemed to stop at one of the other mountains, and the second had started from there. Kuei had been enjoying Pathik's company at the time, and when he heard the second sound, he stood up to listen. Although the sounds did not repeat, there was something faint that almost sounded like a voice. Whatever it was he was hearing, Kuei felt that it was worth looking into.

"Perhaps we have more company," Pathik wondered.

"Do you know the way over there?" Kuei asked.

"Of course," Pathik answered. He picked up his bag and got on his feet. "It's this way."

Pathik led Kuei back into this part of the temple, through a couple of long hallways, and down some stairs. Soon they were outside at the lowest part of the temple halfway down the mountain slope, just above a sheer cliff and the valley below. They crossed a bridge to reach the next mountain, and while they crossed Kuei heard the faint sound again, getting louder as they approached. When they reached the end, they could hear a girl screaming at the top of her lungs, her voice carrying a long way in these mountains.

They took an old dirt trail that led up the mountainside, but a third of the way up, Pathik smelled something odd and quickened his pace. "Oh no…"

Kuei ran after him further up the temple, smelling the same scent of smoke and ash. "Fire!"

Near the top of the temple, they got to a large entryway, which had once welcomed many young airbenders seeking knowledge. For the last ten years the place within had served as Pathik's personal library, with all the tomes and scrolls one could want on Air Nomad culture and history. It was a great repository of all that the Air Nomads had known, with something to learn on every possible aspect of the airbending arts. Such a treasure trove of knowledge was unlike anything else in the world, the value of it was beyond measure.

Now it was on fire.

Azula was punching blue fire at everything combustible in sight, slowly making her way across the aisles of bookshelves and setting all of them ablaze. Her blue flames retained their color at first, but slowly shifted to red and orange as they took hold. Periodically, Azula would throw a gust of wind into the flames, stoking the fire and making it spread faster. Smoke billowed out from the fire and up to the ceiling, flowing across it to reach the windows and out to open air. It wouldn't take long for the fire to spread beyond this room, and everything in it would be lost.

"Stop!" Pathik demanded, holding up his hand in the universal gesture. "Please!"

Either Azula didn't hear him, or more likely she simply didn't care. She had been cursing with every punch of a blue fireball, and when she spotted the guru she punched a blue fireball at him. Pathik got out of the way and the fireball missed him, and Kuei thought it was best to stay where he was outside. Azula walked towards the entryway and threw blue flames to her left and right, igniting more of the library as she approached an elderly target. Sure it wasn't the person she wanted to kill, but it she was willing to take what she could get.

His back against the wall, his eyes occasionally glancing around the edge, Pathik's heart was racing. "Whoever that is, she's burning the temple down to the ground."

Kuei stole a peek around the other edge, then ducked back behind the cover of the wall. "I know her. She stole my throne."

Pathik looked again, but had to pull back his head to avoid more blue fire. "It seems she wants to destroy my home now."

The fire stopped coming, and Kuei heard a loud cackling sound. "Get Down!"

The warning was made too late, for Azula was already firing a bolt of lightning. She targeted the one on her right first, and her attack struck the wall that Pathik was behind. The lightning hit the wall and exploded, demolishing the wall and blasting rubble outward. Large pieces of brick and mortar struck Pathik in the side, knocking him away from the entryway with cuts and bruises all over his frail body. Pathik fell to the ground almost to the edge of the ground, just barely missing a perilous drop into the valley below.

Hearing the cackling sound again, Kuei leapt away from the wall just before his cover was blown apart too. While the destruction unfolded Kuei crossed Azula's sights, and she did a double-take when she saw him. Neither had expected the other to be here, and right now neither really cared to find out why. At the moment Kuei was just another target, and he wanted to stay out of Azula's sights. Kuei got over to where Pathik had fallen, and found the strength to lift him up and wrap one limp arm around his shoulders.

"Got any shortcuts out of here?" Kuei asked.

Between the fall and being over a century old, Pathik was exceptionally weary when he tried to respond. "Never thought I might need one."

Azula walked out of the now wider entryway, spotting the two not far away. "You know, I figured I would not have to kill you. But I think I'll do it anyway. I've got some rage to vent."

When the next blue fireball came, Kuei lunged forward with all he had, getting out of the way but then falling to the ground. Kuei took the brunt of the fall to spare the old man, landing with Pathik on top before the guru rolled off. While Kuei could get back up without a problem, Pathik's old bones were already betraying him. There wasn't much the old man could do, having little strength left in his old age. Pathik only had one foot under him when the next blue fireball came, and its light reflected off his staring eyes.

Kuei threw himself into the way, taking the hit in his left shoulder and feeling his flesh burn. That part of his shirt was burned off, exposing a deep burn on his skin. Still Kuei kept on his feet and took Pathik with him, getting them around a corner and behind cover. The protection from this corner of the temple did not last long, as Azula casually walked around it while Kuei kept trying to flee from her. Pathik's leg snagged on a rock and brought them both down, collapsing onto the ground and in Azula's line of fire.

When Azula struck again, this time Pathik put himself in the way. He had his arms crossed in front of him, taking the blue fireball there and crying out in pain. He had still been holding onto the small bag, and the fabric caught fire and burned in his arms. The pain forced Pathik to drop the burning bag, its contents falling to the ground in flames. His burned hands refused to comply with his mind, since even trying to flex his fingers was painful. Pathik could not pick up the exposed golden helmet, the one thing he had to keep safe.

So Kuei picked it up instead. "This is what you were hauling around?"

Azula saw the helmet and stopped moving, taking the time to laugh at them. "A helmet won't do you much good. I'll just burn your head last."

"Couldn't hurt either," Kuei muttered. He lifted the helmet above his head.

"No, don't!" Pathik pleaded.

A blue fireball came at Kuei, and in a panic he tripped and fell out of the fire's path. His face and chest slammed into hard rock, and he lost his grip on the golden helmet, hearing it clatter away from him. It rolled down a slight incline, going back down the path the men had come from, coming to a stop at Azula's feet. Pathik reached out in vain, nowhere near close enough to do anything, unable to stop Azula from crouching to pick up the helmet. The look of terror spread from Pathik to Kuei, something that Azula got plenty of pleasure from seeing.

"This is really that important?" Azula questioned. She held the helmet in both hands, looking into the eye holes. "I don't see it. Sure, it's unusual, but it looks like just a helmet."

"You wouldn't understand," Pathik pleaded. "It's more dangerous than you can imagine."

"Is that so?" Azula asked. She took another look at the helmet, and for a second it seemed like the helmet was looking back. "Let's find out, shall we?"

She put the helmet on, felt a little silly, right before everything changed.

The helmet shined with brilliant light, blinding Pathik and Kuei in an instant. The light spread from the helmet across Azula's entire body, and it flashed with even brighter radiance. Azula felt it penetrate every part of her, infusing ancient power into her very being. The light faded, and Azula's clothes were completely replaced by something out of this world. Blue fabric covered everything from the neck down, and she wore golden boots, golden gauntlets, a golden belt and a long golden cape that fluttered in the wind.

Then she felt a presence enter her mind, one not of the physical world, and it wanted control.

However, Azula was very familiar with control, using it in nearly every aspect of her life, one particular threat notwithstanding. Her force of will was something to be reckoned with, always determined to achieve her goals. Her will clashed with the spirit inside the helmet, fighting over the combination of its power and her body. The spirit wanted to restore order to the world, and Azula wanted to take control of the world. Yet while these goals were very different, there was a way to reconcile them to both parties' satisfaction.

Subject the world to Azula's order.

Holding up a gloved hand, she clenched her fingers, glowing with golden light. "Yes…"

Pathik could not believe his eyes. "No."

Floating in the air a few feet above the ground, with mystical power surging through her body, Azula looked upon the men before her. "Your Fate Is Sealed!"

There was nowhere to hide, nowhere worth running to, nowhere to be safe from divine wrath. Pathik couldn't move at all, the burns taking their toll on his old flesh. Kuei summoned the courage to fight for the first time in his life, charging at Azula with all the grace of a barbaric amateur, swinging his arms wildly like a madman. With a flick of her wrist Azula conjured a symbol of golden light, shaped like a cross with a loop on the top, and it slapped Kuei away without a second thought. His back slammed into a wall of the temple, and he fell in a slump unable to move any further.

Understanding the mystical power at her command, Azula reveled in the golden light forming a bright aura around her body. For a moment she thought she was dreaming, but this was something she could never imagine in her wildest dreams. She knew that it was real, that she was meant to have this power, the power to challenge anyone that opposed her will. Destiny was hers to control, the power to guide the hand of Fate to a new world order. And the day of reckoning was fast approaching, when the fate of the world would be decided.

It made today seem all too quaint, and when Azula looked down upon Kuei she stayed her hand, finding no point in slaying a helpless dethroned king. "It is not your fate to die this day."

She held up her hand, palm facing Kuei, and the golden symbol appeared around him. When the symbol vanished Kuei vanished with it, whisked away somewhere else far away from the temple. She turned and faced Pathik, delighted by the sight of fear in his eyes, the absolute terror that came when one was certain to die in a very brutal manner. Azula moved toward him, amazed by floating over the ground instead of walking, but remaining silent as she approached the very old man. It would be simple to just kill him now, yet it seemed like a waste of her newfound might.

"Please…" Pathik pleaded, on his hands and knees as he looked up at Azula. "Spirit of Order, this is madness. Your power will be used to throw this world into chaos."

"On the contrary," Azula said. "The Fire Nation is bringing order to a world plagued by chaos. When the heavens burn, this world's Fate will be decided once and for all."

She spread her arms out, floated higher above the old man, and the golden symbol of light appeared around her body. There was a flash, the symbol disappeared, and Azula vanished with it.

Now Pathik was alone, the only sights and sounds being the burning temple. "Aang, forgive me."