When at first there was the sounds of crickets, fire ferrets, and other cries of wildlife to accompany the daily routine of the villagers, there was now only silence.
The silence felt oppressive, really. Zuko could hear the crunch of the grass as he stepped forward towards the shoreline. He looked behind him to make sure the villagers stood back. Even after his warnings, he wasn't sure if it was morbid curiosity that kept them nearby. They stayed close to the dirt path leading back to the village. The fear of the unknown kept their curiosity from completely overriding their common sense.
A massive ship approached, it's metallic hull reflecting light from its blue tinted paint job.
It cut easily through the water. The vessel looked like a giant knife from the front. It was shaped just like the old water tribe ships of the past, but reinforced metal replaced wood, now, and it was twice, no, three times as big.
As the massive ship neared the shoreline where Zuko stood, the Prince swallowed.
For all his training, Zuko had no live combat experience. Yes, he was trained by perhaps one of the two most powerful firebenders alive in his father, Fire Lord Ozai, but he was yet to be exposed to the war in person. And his training was still incomplete. He wasn't sure if he was truly ready to face a real enemy.
To face actual waterbenders.
Zuko grounded his feet, prepared to defend or attack as necessary.
The ship's hull cut through the ground like a hot knife through butter before slowing to a stop. Water Clan ships were built ridiculously sturdy. They had to be, in order to combat the Earth Kingdom's benders, who could otherwise overturn the ship with ease. The ship cut right into the soil, rock, and earth of the shore, acting as it's own anchor as it parked partway into land.
Zuko heard footsteps behind him, and he saw that Azula had returned to the clearing to back him up. She had left to see Aang off. It was the last time she'd see him again, after all. For a fleeting moment, Zuko wondered if he should have at least said goodbye to him. Maybe he might have been too harsh.
But it didn't matter right now. The Water Clan was here.
The nose of the ship that looked like a danger's serrated blade, suddenly began to groan, and what looked like a faint horizontal line on the hull became more pronounced as it lowered into a ramp. As it descended, it was too dark to see inside from the angle Zuko stood. He tightened a fist, settling into a stance. The smoke pouring out of the chimney of the steel monolith suddenly faded before disappearing and the loud grumble of its engine cut off almost instantly.
Three figures emerged from the ship's ramp. The lead man caught his attention immediately. He led the other two men, who flanked either side of him. They all wore armor artfully mixed with furs of some exotic animal, while the lead soldier's armor seemed to look more ornate and have a shinier coat of fur lining it. Obviously, he was the leader.
The lead Water Clan lead soldier had his head obscured by what looked like the head of a wolf.
Zuko breathed in, then out. Without preamble, he broke into a mad dash, then leaped into the air, kicking forward with all his might. An impressive ball of fire materialized, careening towards the three men. One of them actually got hit, beong bodily knocked backwards.
Emboldened, Zuko punched forward, one fist after another upon landing, hoping to capitalize on his advantage. The second soldier swayed out of the way, however, drawing his sword while doing so.
The lead soldier, the one in ornate armor, raised a warding arm at his still standing guard. The guard sheathed his blade, falling back, but still following behind the leader.
Zuko again ran forward, intent on putting the lead warrior out of commission.
With a shout from the chest, he let loose a confident Kiai, thrusting his left foot and fist outward as he leapt forward. A wave of fire exploded from his attack.
The Water Clan soldier ducked the massive fireball with a quick sidestep, while at the same time swinging his arms forward, open palmed. The sheet of fire washed harmlessly past and he swung his club while his momentum carried him forward. Large volumes of the previously still water surrounding the bladed front of the ship surged forward, forming into a wave that slammed into Zuko's side.
With a groan, he was lifted bodily before crashing into the ground.
The man launched another wave, and Zuko could only gasp, still stunned by the first attack.
Flames interrupted the incoming wave before it collided, evaporating the water into a harmless shower.
Azula stepped over to him, pulling him up to his feet.
"Thanks," he breathed, shaking water out of his hair. Azula said nothing, but nodded.
Both settled into a stance, shoulder to shoulder. They shared a glance, and they both knew the other's thought.
Together.
Chambering their rear arm backwards, they simultaneously punched forward, their individual flames combining into a massive fireball.
Appa's tired groan left Aang sighing in sympathy. He ruffled his companion's fur, as they trudged through the wide road past the village to some unknown destination.
"Yeah," Aang said, folding his legs atop Appa's head, wishing he didn't feel miserable. "I miss her too." Aang hadn't known the siblings long, but he found his thoughts occasionally drifting to the siblings, especially the princess. Even though he had the suspicion that she knew he was the Avatar, she didn't push the issue at all, and she was a great conversationalist, if very forward in her mannerisms. Honestly, she intimidates him just a bit, but he decided it was in a good, weird kind of way.
And Zuko was a cool guy, he decided, though instead of intimidating, he was just straight up scary sometimes.
Out of boredom, he flicked his finger, creating miniature tornados the size of his finger that dissipated seconds after forming.
He would have continued like this, but the sound of an explosion and flashing lights in the distance drew his attention.
Appa groaned and Aang looked back towards the village they vacated.
"I think so too..." Aang agreed, squinting his eyes. Azula and Zuko might be in trouble, he realized after a moment.
"Let's go, buddy! Yip Yip!"
In what sounded like agreement, Appa roared, slamming his tail down. He ascended into the air, circling back around to head back.
Now that they were airborne, Aang had a better vantage point to see what was going on. He could spot a large ship on the shore of the clearing he had left Azula and Zuko...
"A Water Clan ship..." Aang whispered, realizing it matched Azula's description and that it was his first time seeing one. The ship was much larger than he'd seen from the Water Tribes before. Instead of wood, this ship was fashioned from metal, and smooth to a point where it looked like a large blade at a certain angle. Fading smoke was spewing from a tall column that was the chimney of the vessel. The whole thing looked intimidating and would have been more sensical for it to have been a fire nation ship.
"So many things changed in a hundred years," Aang lamented. Frowning, he steeled himself as he guided Appa towards the clearing. He already failed everyone once when he ran away from home. He wasn't going to fail Azula, his first friend in a long time. With that in mind, Aang grabbed his staff from the saddle, readying himself to leap once Appa got close enough.
They'd failed, Azula thought bitterly to herself. She and Zuko tried to overpower the Water Clan soldier with a combined fire blast, but he'd simply evaded it. Next thing she knew, the both of them were frozen in ice up to their shoulders.
Their mysterious attacker approached them, removing his helmet while he did so.
Azula was surprised to note that he was about the same age as them. He looked to be no older than Zuko. His skin was tan like most people of the Water Clan, and his eyes were a striking blue. His hair was pulled back into a short tail of some sort.
The teen scratched his chin, looking them over as of expecting someone else.
"Where's the Avatar?" he asked, looking both her and Zuko in the eye. His two soldiers stood to his flanks, and more poured out of the ship as they moved to surround the observing villagers before they could run.
Azula mentally kicked herself. In her excitement, she neglected to move the villagers away.
"Don't know what you're talking about," Azula spat, glaring at the waterbender. The foreigner looked unimpressed as he walked past them, observing the captive villagers.
"Look," he said tiredly, as he walked back over to the siblings, hands on his hips. "I'm not gonna harm the villagers or anything. Just tell me where you're hiding him, and we'll be on our way."
"We don't know," Zuko said slowly. "Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you," he added. Azula wished she had the freedom of movement to smack the back of her brother's head. Comments like that only served to instigate, and their captors annoyed look only confirmed this.
"Bring them over here," he ordered to his soldiers. Zuko and Azula both frowned, attempting to look behind them, but it turned out it was unnecessary. The Water Clan soldiers dragged some civilians over to where they stood frozen. It was some of the elderly villagers, too afraid to speak.
"Leave them alone, they're just elderly!" Azula cried, struggling against the ice. She sorely wished that their father had taught them to melt ice. They could dry themselves fine, but they didn't have the discipline to know how to melt ice prisons. She cursed her ignorance.
"Here they are, Prince Sokka," one of the soldiers said.
Azula's eyes narrowed. So he was the Water Clan's Prince? Now she wished she knew how to generate lightning too.
Without warning, Sokka grabbed one of the elderly btly the shoulder. An old woman, who looked like she might break if she was handled too roughly.
"Unhand her!" Zuko shouted, his helplessness increasing his anger.
"About this age?" Sokka interrogated, ignoring Zuko's demand. "Master of all four elements?!" Sokka glared at each person in his line of sight in turn, all of them cowering in fear except the two siblings. Sokka sighed, pushing the old woman back towards the villagers, not enough to make her fall, but she did stumble. One of the younger villagers was brave enough to run to her aid, helping to guide her back. Sokka placed back and forth, Zuko, Azula, and the villagers watching him warily.
I know you're hiding him," he said irritably, annoyed at this stalemate. He wanted to find the Avatar, but he wasn't necessarily willing to hurt civilians to find him. The two firebenders didn't seem to know that, and he couldn't tell if they were telling the truth or not.
"Fine, I'll let you in on a little secret," Azula said. "Come closer."
Intrigued at her strange tone, Sokka stepped closer. Zuko regarded her curiously and Azula seemed to smirk. Inhaling deeply, Azula suddenly blew flames out of her mouth, which Sokka just barely ducked out of the way of.
"Gah, my wolf tail!" Sokka shouted miserably. He patted his hair cautiously, before pausing to glare at Azula. He slowly raised one arm behind him, and the water appeared to obey him as it rose higher and higher into a large wave.
Azula and Zuko could only look on in fear as it grew to nearly the size of a tidal wave. Was he simply going to just flood them all?
"Looking for me?!" a new voice suddenly shouted.
"Huh?" Sokka looked behind him, not seeing anything but the water he was controlling.
Zuko and Azula, however, noticed something, or rather someone closing in from the air.
With a concentrated grunt, Aang closed in from above swinging his staff sideways. He came to land in front of Zuko and Azula. The air current he'd manipulated sent Sokka flying backwards towards the water. The previously monstrous wave collapsed on itself as it splashed harmlessly back into the lake.
Hey, Azula. Hey, Zuko," he greeted, concentrating, as he surrounded his staff in air currents, strong enough to break the ice around their arms. With their arms free, they were able to melt the rest of the ice with their hands.
"Hey, Aang..." Zuko returned the greeting a bit moodily. "Thanks..."
Sokka pulled himself off the ground, rotating an arm. "Ow."
Observing Aang for a moment, he frowned. "You're the Airbender? You're the Avatar?"
"What?" Zuko was dumbfounded. "But he's just a kid," he said quietly. But he knew that there were signs that pointed to it. He'd never seen airbenders before Aang, but he was sure that they didn't randomly glow and create light shows.
Sokka was silent as he raised his arms in a stance, judging the distance between himself and Aang.
"I've been training years for this," Sokka said, slowly circling Aang as the airbender did the same. "Meditating, sword training...all to fight some bald kid in a robe?"
Aang briefly looked up, as if trying to inspect the top of his head. "You barely have more hair than I do," he retorted. "And aren't you just a teenager?"
Sokka's face fell into a neutral expression and he gave a signal to his soldiers. Slowly, they all drew closer, flanking Sokka as they all formed a semi circle around the Avatar.
Narrowing his eyes, Aang gripped his staff with both hands in a defensive posture.
"We got your back," Zuko said, dropping into a stance with Azula, the both of them standing at either side of him.
A/N: Stopping here for a moment while I gather my thoughts. Will continue next chapter.
