Escaping Kyoshi, part 2
"Qing, why aren't we heading out?"
"It takes a minute for the engine to kick in," came the answer from the lower deck.
Suki pushed the Fire Nation boy out of sight of the people moving around the port to avoid any other sort of confrontation, but the real reason for the hurry was that her fellow warriors, headed by Hideko could arrive at any moment.
It was actually a couple of minutes till the characteristic dark smoke started rising through the small chimney. "No worries," said the man climbing up. "We'll be on our way right away, little girl."
Suki cringed when he turned away. She knew him to be a bit of a sleeze bag, but he was the owner of the only steamship that visited the island regularly.
The heavy man tumbled down from the deck and let loose the complicated knot that tied the ship to the dock and climbed back up. Suki had to actively stop herself from pushing him around to speed things up. When he finally engaged the propeller, Suki was sweating from adrenaline and from the looks of it, the fire boy as well. And they haven't even come to the hardest part of the escape plan.
Her plan involved more than making the boy escape. Suki looked back at the receding village, mountain, island. She was leaving all of them behind. But not without making any countermeasures for her actions. To her surprise, "Lee" did not protest when she proposed the plan, on the contrary, he came up with his own ideas to add to the crazy mess they were about to get into.
"You know, you were lucky to catch me this morning? My business is behind schedule because of the damned storm last week. My boat was damaged and your captain was so impatient to get back to Kyoshi, she went around the town looking for any sailor that would take her back. I told her it was useless. Most of the port was destroyed that night. My boat was one of the few that could be repaired. And who would even bother to go to Kyoshi anyway. Those Fire Nation ships keep…"
The man kept rambling, but Suki caught a glimpse of green figures back at the port. One of the girls ran out on the pier stretching out of the harbour. It must have been Hideko. Her throat clenched. They wouldn't be able to chase after them. None of the boats and fishing ships would be able to catch up with a steamboat. But were they far enough to be out of ear's reach? If she was shouting anything, the sound of waves drowned it out. Qing sure hasn't noticed anything because he kept talking. She exchanged a quick glance with the boy, who motioned his eyes at the merchant.
"What is it? What are you looking at?" Qing was looking directly at the Kyoshi Warrior waving at them to return, but clearly wasn't recognizing the gesture.
"Ehm...nothing!"
Suki panicked. Clearly not suspicious. But the man was not reacting to the signals of the Kyoshi warriors at the port.
"I...I've just never been off the island," she added quickly. "I'm leaving Kyoshi for the first time."
Was he short-sighted?
"Ha, well, enjoy the cruise then."
The man stayed silent for a bit, looking over both of them. There was some kind of judgment behind it. Suki recognized a shift in his expression.
"Are all of you warriors so young?"
"Why do you ask that?"
"I've never seen any of you without that make-up. Are all of you teenage girls? I think I should reconsider the deal with you, islanders. Getting ordered around by a bunch of little girls…"
Suki straightened up and put her hand at the fan at her side.
"Maybe a taste of a little girl's metal in your mouth will help you to be quiet."
"You're on my boat, girl. It's not polite to threaten someone who you need a favour from? Just focus on that Fire Nation trash. He's got the face of a scoundrel. If he does something to my boat, you'll be paying the damages."
"Says a man with a steamer," said Suki reluctantly tucking away the fan.
It was not the time. They needed to get out on the sea.
"I bought it with honest money in an honest deal."
Suki scoffed internally. Qing's honest deals were infamous. As the only regular outside source of goods on a more luxurious side, at least according to his own claims, his deals were more rip offs than anything else.
There was a small tug on the rope in her hands. The boy's face was scrunched, when she checked on him, his eyes glinting dangerously.
"What are you looking at?" asked the merchant, turning the steering wheel lazily, noticing the look.
"Are you sure that the leash is tight enough, girl? Who knows how strong a rabid dog can be?"
The boy growled. Exactly, like a dog.
"Stop it!"
Suki pulled at the rope around his hands and drawed her fan after all. The move was intended just for a show, but the boy really looked like he needed to be reminded of the plan.
She stepped in his way and added quietly: "Not yet. Bear a few more minutes."
That was what she told herself as well. The man wouldn't shut up to save his life.
"There is a nice room down for a dog like him on the deck below, if you'll have any problems."
"There is no problem," she assured and the boy even made the effort to make a complying gesture.
"Well, I'm glad. I'm not sure if Kyoshi will be worth the hassle, if this is what you girls will put me through every time I dock here. I'm considering taking the business to the southern islands, only if those Raider ships wouldn't cruise those waters so frequently."
He kept rambling. Suki intentionally lost track of what he was saying. Instead she started to observe the horizon.
At least the weather was cooperating. The clear morning couldn't have been more suitable. They got very lucky, especially during this time of the year. The Fire Nation ships were visible from the hill above the village. Tracing the horizon in the same direction, she could see that the small dots on the sea started gaining shapes.
The merchant's short-sightedness earned them a little more time before the inevitable. The boy gave her the signal when they arrived in almost spy-glass visibility distance of the three large ships. He held up his hands and Suki undid the simple knot holding the rope around his wrists.
"Hey, hey, hey! What is going on here?"
They both turned towards the large man who immediately abandoned the helm with a giant club in his hands he picked up from who knows where. Suki cursed that she failed to notice the weapon before.
"I knew something was off with you two. I've been visiting Kyoshi for ten years and I'd never seen one of you without the face paint."
The man approached them swinging the club lightly around just to make a point of his strength without aiming to hurt them. For now. This tactic of intimidation however, utterly failed to impress Suki. It was exactly this type of enemy she was trained to fight - men relying on their strength, underestimating her for her age and sex.
"Qing, we don't want to harm you or your ship, you either cooperate or…"
"Harm my ship? Or me?"
The man burst into laughter.
"I don't know what your play is, young miss, but it is you and that mut there that's going to get harmed if you don't chain him back up. I can get you better cuffs…"
He was interrupted by a loud snarl. The boy was quick. The larger man had not even lifted his weapon when the boy jumped high with a good aimed kick to his elbow. The club was out of his hand and flying across the deck. The next kick aimed at his knee sent the man down.
"You piece of…" muttered Qing when he defended against the next blow to his side. He caught the boy's leg. Suki approached them from the side while the boy struggled on one leg. The merchant must have realized the boy's fighting was limited to kicks and he caught one of his bandaged hands and squeezed until the boy hissed with pain.
"That's enough, let him go," she said calmly as she pushed the sharp edge of her fan into the man's thick throat.
The man was acting as if he wasn't listening and squeezed even harder. The boy tried to pull away, but the merchant's grip was still steel tight. Suki dug the fan deeper till drops of blood appeared.
"I said let go!"
The boy used his other foot, kicking the man's abdomen and finally freeing himself, but falling hard on the wooden board.
The merchant smirked but looked like he admitted defeat for the moment.
"Lee, take my katana if you can," said Suki after the man checked out the weapon at her waist. She wasn't convinced that the man wouldn't try anything.
The boy jumped up and took out the sword with his uninjured bandages on his other hand were bloody but he didn't show hesitation and his stance said he was ready to attack holding the sword steady.
"Now that you showed that cooperation is out of the question, you can tell us where those handcuffs you mentioned are."
"Like I'm going to tell you… ouch!"
Suki nudged the man to the entrance to the lower deck. The boat was small making the below deck a narrow and crowded space full of questionable merchandise. While Suki held the man at the point of her fan, the boy looked around for the handcuffs.
"I don't know what the two of you are scheming, but if something happens to this ship you'll become fish food, I swear!
"Here!"
The boy found the shackles hanging from the side wall.
Suki pushed him to the small corner among the boxes. They were going to use the rope they took from the village, but these…these seemed as a better option.
"I don't even want to know what you use them for."
Suki was disgusted as the smaller cuffs barely closed around the man's meaty wrists. Qing started to laugh loudly. She looked at the boy and saw similar revulsion on his face. He bent down for something out of her view and stood up with a piece of cloth. The laughter became muffled as the boy shoved the dirty rag into the man's mouth.
They couldn't waste any more time, so they left him in the stuffy space and ran up. They needed to proceed with the plan immediately. The boy went to the helm and adjusted the course that would lead them right to the Raider fleet. Suki wrestled out of her suit all the bandages she took with her from the small prison cabin and made a small tangled pile out of them. Then she drew her dagger, but the boy's hand stopped her before she could cut into her palm.
"We can use my hand. It's already bleeding and at least one of us should stay able to fight."
"But... Alright."
Suki glanced at the offered hand that looked like caught in a spasm. The bandages were soaked through in places.
"Are your fingers okay?" she asked, unwinding the ruined wrapping.
"I don't think they are broken but it hurts to move them because of the…"
He hissed loudly as she removed the last layer from the blistered skin. Most of his palm was full of oozing and bleeding blisters. Suki cringed.
"I don't think you should cut into the blisters. You can get a bad infection."
"Just give me that knife."
She reluctantly handed the dagger over. He made a small cut above his wrist and let the blood trickle on the pile of wrappings. When most of them seemed to be covered in droplets, she pressed a remaining bandage on the opened wound.
"Are you sure that's enough?"
"Just a few drops. This much will bring a whole shiver of them. Believe me, I know."
She walked over to the tail of the ship, fastened each piece of bandage to the railing and threw the loose ends overboard. The trail of bloody cloths they were pulling behind them could not be ignored. They must come, they surely must…
The boy went back to the helm to keep the course steady at the small Raider fleet. Suki could already recognize shapes of people on the main decks.
Come on….come on….
"Yes! Here they come!"
She pointed to the telling fins approaching their ship quickly.
"Those are pretty large!"
"Well, they are called giant manta sharks," said Suki nervously observing their faster than appreciated approach.
"Can you make the boat go faster?"
The boy shook his head.
"We would need to generate more heat and my bending is ... we don't have the time!"
Suki stumbled back as the boat rocked. There were sounds of protest from the man under the manta sharks were already snapping at the bandages hanging from the railing. And there were more following.
Their whole plan was depending on the right timing. And it seemed their calculations were not that perfect, although they were very close.
"Please, Unagi, please, I know your territorial instinct! I know you especially hate manta sharks!" she mumbled in frustration.
The flock of giant predators almost as big as their small boat was circling them. The boy decided to ignore them and focused his sight solely on the ships ahead. They were very near. If Unagi didn't appear soon, her plan would have failed.
"Unagi!" Suki jumped up as relief washed over her, but almost fell over as the boat was hit hard from the side. She climbed over to the railing and tried to tear down the remains of the fastened bandages.
The giant monster was getting closer and closer, just as they swam in between the slowly sailing ships. There were panicked shouts from above. The Raiders must have noticed the approaching monster as well.
The mantasharks were still focusing on their small boat. Suki was struggling with the last bandage, when a giant fin raised up from the water and knocked her and the boat hard.
"Leave it be!"
The boy appeared behind her and pulled her back. That was when he first laid eyes on the sea monster. His eyes shot wide.
"We were luring THAT THING?"
"Well, yes, that's Unagi."
"This is crazy. We need to get away!"
"But first head to one of the ships, as close as possible!"
"What? NO! We are getting away! We lured in the monster. It will destroy the ships and us as well! "
He was already turning the boat around. Suki caught his arm to stop him from turning the helm.
"The Unagi will go after the mantasharks. It just needs to appear as if it is going after the ships!"
She looked at the closest ship. There were men running around on the main deck and the smoke from the large chimney appeared darker and thicker by every moment. They were heating up their engines to get away from the course of the unagi as well. This was her last chance to make the whole plan worth it. It may be a foolish plan but hopefully effective.
They could navigate the boat freely. Lee gritted his teeth but set their course along the hull of the nearest ship. The mantasharks followed them at first, but they soon started to disappear as they realized a larger predator was approaching.
They both focused elsewhere when a large fire blast hit just next to where Lee was standing. He jumped away from the helm and looked up. On the ship above them, there were two firebenders running alongside the length of the ship and aiming their fists at the small boat. Suki noticed their attire. It was the same dark attire as the assassins were wearing yesterday evening. It stood out in contrast with the rest of the soldiers on the deck running around, not sparing a glance at the smaller ship passing next to them when a huge sea monster headed right at them.
Lee tried to get back to the helm, but another blast almost hit him. The black-clad firebenders seemed determined to finish their job from yesterday. He dodged several other fireballs aimed perfectly at him. Suki checked back at the Unagi. It would take a few moments to catch up to them.
The larger ship was also changing its course and their small boat without anyone at the helm was headed dangerously near to the metal side.
Suki unfolded one of her fans. The attacking firebenders looked like they were solely focused at the boy, so she used the moment of surprise and threw the fan. One of the firebenders screamed in pain, when the sharp fan lodged itself into his left arm. The other one shifted his attention from the boy to her.
"Quickly, change our course!" she managed to scream at him as she dodged a fireball herself. He was already at the helm turning the rudder in the last moment before they would collide into the side of the Raiders ship.
She lost her balance and was thrown to the railing as the boat suddenly turned in a sharp angle. The smell of scorched hair hit her nose as a fireball almost licked her face. Her hand found the dart hidden in her sleeve while she locked eyes with the enemy. The injured firebender threw her bloodied fan to the side and was ready to shoot another blast at her, but she was quicker. The small dart wedged itself right into the middle of the firebenders palm before he finished the firebending move. She was ready to send her dagger at the other man shooting fireballs at them but realized they were already out of his attack range.
"We are getting out of here!" Lee shouted from behind the rudder breathing heavily.
"Yes, we are! Aim east…" she didn't finish the sentence when an overwhelming sound of roaring metal filled the air.
It was the Unagi. The monster hit one of the three ships. It created a deep dent in the side of the ship.
Suki watched with horror as the serpent rose out of the water, its black body glittering in the morning sun. It was huge and the ships so tiny. She followed the gaze of the monster as it seemed to size up the intruders into its territory.
Please, please, please… not us …. Please.
The serpent's eyes landed at their small boat and Suki had to hold her breath when a number of fireballs from the impacted ship hit the Unagis side.
The monster made a surprisingly high pitched sound and sent a small splash of water out of its nose at the men on the deck, as if they were some annoying flies.
Another fireball attack was sent from the other ship but to the monster it was only slightly more than a tickle. More and more fireballs were fired from all around them. And although they didn't seem to harm the monster at all, it grew noticeably irritated and dived back into the water.
They were already out of the circle of Fire Nation ships, but Suki was afraid they were not far enough.
"Did they scare it off?" Lee asked from behind her in a nervous voice.
"No, I don't think so."
She knew what was coming. She noticed the bubbling next to the dented ship, as if the sea was boiling. The bubbles and ripples were larger and larger creating waves around them.
"What's going on?"
"It will attack with its tail! We need to get away, far away!"
"We are going full speed!"
"Then get ready! And hold on to something!"
Suddenly the large black tail emerged from the sea and splashed back down with full force. The splash water was so big, they were fully wet in a second. Suki then saw the wave it created and clenched to the railing of their small ship. The boy held on to the railing on the other side with the whole length of his arms as he didn't trust his hands to hold him.
The wave took the ships, and in a few moments also them, high up. Suki closed her eyes. She didn't want to see when the boat tilted to the side. She didn't want to see the approaching sea surface if they were going to fall off the ship.
Their small metal boat creaked. The deck was tilting so much she almost hung from the railing by her hands. But the wave then rolled over and suddenly she was pushed back to the railing when the tilt turned to the opposite direction. It was over quickly.
Suki opened her eyes and quickly found Lee still hanging on. He was shaking his head.
"This… this was the craziest plan…. And my uncle says that I am bad at planning things out!" he exclaimed while breathing heavily, but a small smile played on his lips.