A/N: So I had gotten sick this past week and this flu was making me feel like Zuko during his identity crisis. I got through the worst, and it feels like it's breaking now, so I found the time to post this. I didn't intend for it, but this chapter got close to 4k words, lol. Please let me know your feedback in the reviews.
The Water Clan ship cut easily through the water, and it barely swayed at all.
Aang had to admit that it was impressive. It felt like the ship wasn't moving at all, even though it was cutting through the water like a otter-penguin at full speed, sledding through snow. The village where Aang had surrendered was a distant speck at this point, and the Sun was beaming high above in the sky. The ship's impressive speed was making the landmass disappear quickly, and the ocean and it's waves were quickly dominating their immediate surroundings.
The young Avatar glanced around quickly from where he stood with his arms bound behind him with tied rope. The deck was very spacious, and guard rails could be seen if a passenger looked far enough ahead in any direction. They seemed almost redundant in Aang's mind though, seeing as how most of the ship's occupants were adept at guiding the ocean's tides. Sokka, Pakku, and a couple of soldiers stood on the deck with the captive Aang, and the young boy's attention was drawn when the Water Prince neared him. He tensed at the sudden approach.
"Interesting choice of weapon," Sokka said distractedly, Aang's glider in his hand. He was observing the staff intently, eyeing it as if it were some foreign object. "You can't stab anything with this..."
"That's because you don't stab things with it," Aang replied patiently, shrugging as best he could from his current position. Sokka eyed him suspiciously, as if he were talking nonsense. Maybe to the Water Prince, he was, if Azula's claim was true. From what Aang could see of the state of the world so far, he had no reason to doubt her. He sighed softly at his predicament.
For what it was worth, though, Sokka was a surprisingly amicable captor, if that made any sense. He told Aang that he was free to walk the entirety of the ship, with a full escort of armed guards and his hands remaining tied, of course. He would be offered food, and Sokka apparently knew airbenders were vegetarians, as silly as the diet choice seemed to the waterbender.
"Sorry, kid, but this is staying in my room," Sokka announced, twirling the staff once. "This might make an interesting gift to my dad," Sokka continued, handing it off to an older man (Aang remembered Sokka called him Master Pakku). Sokka seemed to wince at his own comment. Weren't airbenders raised by monks?
"No offense," The teen felt the need to add with a cough.
Aang blinked once. "None taken?" he answered in the form of a question. Sokka's demeanor, while not unwelcome, was understandably a little off-putting.
"Take him to the brig!" Sokka declared in an uncharacteristically official sounding voice and a flourish of his arm, marching back towards the deck. Pakku and his crew of soldiers followed him. One of the three soldiers, an average looking crewman, blue parka with white trim and a wolf helmet like his other two peers, spoke up.
"Uh, sir, we don't have a brig."
Sokka halted his march, scratching his temple. "Wait, we don't have a brig?" he echoed unbelievingly.
Pakku resisted the strong urge to roll his eyes from where he stood.
Sokka whirled around, eyeing his soldiers. "How were we gonna hold the Avatar with no cell to hold him in?"
His soldiers stood there, not sure how to answer. The Avatar eyed his captors curiously, his gray eyes narrowed as if he were judging their intelligence. In any other circumstances, these people seemed pretty harmless.
All of them were commissioned to assist the Water Prince on his mission, but they weren't appraised of the layout of the ship until after it set sail...Not to mention it was assumed Sokka already knew.
"Who even chose this thing?" Sokka sighed, smacking his hand against his face.
Perhaps he didn't know, after all, came the united thoughts of the nearby soldiers.
One of the troops coughed and another spoke up to answer his question. Sokka couldn't be sure it was the same person.
"We thought you did," one of the soldiers said, a light hint of accusation there. At Sokka's glare, a hasty "Sir," was added. The question might have been rhetorical, everyone silently agreed.
Sokka sighed aggressively. So drawn out it was, it seemed as if he'd deflate like a water tribe festival balloon right then and there.
"Why is she so petty," Sokka whispered harshly under his breath. Of course she'd try to undermine his progress somehow, even with something as small as lightly inconveniencing him.
"J-Just put him in a spare room or something," he finally decided, realizing his earlier complaint was aloud. "And at least two guards at all times." With that, he marched off towards his own room.
The soldiers saluted, tapping their right fist to their left side of their chest. After a pause, Pakku then handed the staff to one of the guards. "Take this to his room, will you?"
While Zuko was at the reigns, guiding Appa in the last direction they'd seen Aang taken, he could hear a constant shuffling sound behind him, reminding him either of a journal's pages constantly being flipped, or a sheet of paper being endlessly rotated.
"What are you doing back there?" Zuko asked, not really caring for the answer. He just hoped it would distract from whatever noise Azula was making.
Irritatingly enough, the paper shuffling noise persisted before she finally answered. "I'm charting what route that ship would have taken," she said. Papers crumpled again. "Seeing as how they were bold enough to sail straight for a fire nation village, there should be a Water Clan outpost on the shores of the nearest landmass."
"In the middle of the fire nation?" Zuko asked the obvious question. How could they have set up an outpost so close to the Fire Nation Capital?
"Even though its close to the Capital," Azula answered, her voice sounding suddenly clearer. She had scooted closer to the front of the saddle. "It's still close enough to unclaimed ocean water and the very edge of fire nation territory to be considered a neutral zone."
Zuko glanced briefly at his sister, considering. If Water Clan ships could just sail in this region without repercussions, especially in small numbers, that means that the outpost should be out in the open.
"Geopolitics is seriously the only thing stopping our military from just taking over the outpost?" Zuko asked aloud as he kept an eye out for land.
"It's nothing more than a stalemate," Azula agreed. Geopolitics plus the fact that the fire nation military only had enough manpower to secure the homeland with a number of their forces currently in the Earth Kingdom.
"We're already stretched too thin. Something has to give in the Earth Kingdom before we make a major move like that here. Too many things could backfire."
"Yeah," Zuko answered, distracted. "We're looking for a pier then," he said. "We find a dock with a Water Clan ship..."
"We find Aang," Azula finished his thought. She looked down at the map she'd been studying and then the water down below as they sped past it. It looked like a flowing navy blue carpet and she could see Appa's massive shadow skimming over it.
"We might be able to head off their ship before they make it to land," she confidently added, folding the sheet and securing it within the folds of her tunic.
Underneath the deck of the ship was more homely than Aang was expecting. He was anticipating the spartan metal walls of the few Fire Nation ships he remembered exploring with Kuzon, with their minimal decorations and only a draped banner here and there to denote ownership.
No, here, the walls were lined with shelves, racks, and cloths. Pottery even lined the floor along the walls, reminding Aang more of a well off home then the bowels of a military sea vessel. He admired the view momentarily before reminding himself that he was a prisoner here.
One soldier walked ahead of him while another trailed behind him. This particular hallway had no doors along the walls, but there was one at the end of it, conspicuously missing the drapery and decoration that adorned the rest of the hallway.
As they neared it, Aang thought back, remembering the route they took to get to this particular part of the ship. "So, Water Clan, huh?" Aang said loudly, while also adjusting his wrists as best he could. He idly wondered why they weren't called Water Tribes anymore, but let the thought flee his mind as quickly as it arrived. "Bet you guys never fought an airbender before," he challenged, risking a glance behind him. The intersecting hallway was still close enough for him to reach once he made a break for it.
"Talk less," the soldier in front of him retorted, his tone short as they reached the door. He pulled a keyring from a pouch on his belt, aiming the key at the door.
Now!
Aang inhaled a mighty breath, bigger than what he usually did, as if intending to swallow it like it was a meal. Once he exhaled, the soldier in front of him slammed into the door, groaning in pain before crumpling to the ground, unconscious.
While this happened, Aang was flown backwards, and he tucked his chin to his chest as his body rocketed into the soldier behind him. The guard didn't even have time to brace himself, taking the full force of the impact right to the center of his chest. Aang felt like he had been thrown, such was the strength of the air blast, and he finally found himself landing, the hapless guard unintentionally breaking his fall.
He didn't waste time and kicked his legs up, landing back on the ground on his toes before turning on his heels. With help from his use of airbending and removing air resistance, he sped down the hall in the opposite direction like a ravenous eelhound. Turning the corners he remembered traversing through, he kicked open doors with concentrated air as he passed them, hoping to spot his glider.
No, no, no. Each door he kicked open only held stored supplies like foodstuffs and spare armor. He wanted to scream in frustration, but thought better of it, knowing he was already making enough noise as it was. Turning another corner, he kicked open the first door impatiently, peering inside.
There was no glider, but the old man from before -Pakku, was it?- was inside, snoring loudly with a warm cup of tea enclosed in the palms of his hands.
"Sorry..." Aang whispered, backstepping and gently closing the door. He huffed, continuing his run through the hall.
Passing an open door, he halted, backpedaling to the opening, spotting his glider on the wall of the far end of the room. This space looked different from the other rooms, as it lacked any storage supplies, only containing a small desk with a mirror large enough to display the top of his head to his shoulders if he sat on the stool in front of it. The desk had a bowl and some vials, the bowl containing some sort of dark paste while a large Water Clan banner sat suspended above it, an image of three moons displayed horizontally, with the familiar water tribe symbol in the center moon.
Looking past it and to the left, his glider stood leaning unattended against the wall. "There it is!" the airbender exclaimed, feeling as if a weight was removed from his shoulders at the sight of it. He wasted no time in making a break for it and grabbing it with both hands. Before he could appreciate having his staff back though, the sound of a metal thunk behind him alerted him to the room's door closing. He turned around to see Sokka, his hand hovering over a waterskin pouch affixed to his belt.
With the door closed, the room suddenly seemed much smaller. Aang raised his hands outward, palms out in a fighting stance. Sokka stepped sideways, and Aang did the same as they began slowly circling.
With a grunt of concentration, the water Prince threw his hand forward and a whip of water flew out of the pouch, aiming for Aang like an angered serpent. With a wave of his arms, Aang deftly avoided it, allowing the water to pass over his head like a flowing curtain. Stepping sideways, Aang evaded the water's return trip, gripping his staff and swinging it sideways.
A large current of air slammed into Sokka, knocking the air out of his chest. He was able to regain his bearings quickly enough, but he knew fighting in a confined space was a bad idea. They were surrounded by ocean after all. Why not utilize it?
So Aang was unprepared when Sokka immediately ran out the door. He hesitated only a second before relaxing his arms and running out as well. He didn't want to go the same direction Sokka went, but it seemed as though it was the only way out from below deck. He glanced at the direction opposite Sokka went, only seeing the hallway he'd escaped the two guards.
Without wasting another second, he followed the route Sokka went, not able to help the feeling that this was a trap of some sort. The guards he'd incapacitated were no doubt coming this way and he was not about to let them catch him again!
Getting back above deck was easy enough, he thought. But it seemed much too easy as he expanded his glider, the cloth wings jumping out like the wings of a bird ready for flight. As his feet rose from the surface, a foreign weight tugged on his left foot. Looking down, he cursed his inattentiveness.
Sokka was hanging onto his foot by a literal rope of water like a lifeline.
"Hey, let go!" Aang demanded, attempting to shake him off. The act nearly made him lose what balance he had left in the air, so he gave up trying that. Sokka held tight though, attempting to climb up his own water rope. Aang thought the sight was a bit impressive, he had to admit, but still, he needed to get out of there!
Sokka's weight and the imbalance both pulled Aang from his already shaky flight and they both crashed to the ground.
Groaning, Sokka quickly pulled himself to his feet. Behind him, soldiers began pouring out of the door to below deck, their navy blue armor glinting in the sun, followed closely behind by a grumpy Pakku.
Struggling to his feet, Aang saw Sokka and his men falling onto formation. Almost made it out, too, he thought. He held his side gingerly. It felt like he might have bruised something.
"What the-" Sokka startled, looking up at the sky. Aang couldn't see what they were looking at, but then a massive shadow stretched over him and the familiar and welcome sound of a roar sounded overhead.
"Appa!"
Zuko had the reigns and Aang could see the distinctive red trimmed shoes he wore peeking out from above Appa's large head. Azula stood at the saddle, and she thrust her arms forward. A fireball about as half the size of Appa careened toward the men facing Aang, exploding in a shower of smoke and sparks.
"Azula! Zuko!" Aang shouted, running toward the landing Bison, ignoring the mild pain in his side for now. All he could think about was that they had came back!
Zuko nodded his head in urgency. "Hop on! We need to get out of here!"
Aang didn't need to be told twice, quickly airbending himself onto the saddle. With a beat of his great tail, Appa launched from the deck, ascending rapidly towards the sky above the ship.
Back down on the ship however, Sokka wasn't going to leave it at that. He'd come this far. He wasn't about to let the Avatar escape him now! He had him right there, and somehow, he was still able to slip through his fingers. No, he was so close. His goal would be realized if he could take him down right now. So he turned to his soldiers. "Men!" he shouted, pointing at the retreating Bison with its occupants.
The soldiers understood. Pakku neared Sokka's side, and they all made one smooth movement in unison, pulling on the ocean. A wave nearly the size of the ship lurched from the body of water, rocketing towards the gang.
Azula gasped, having spotted it first. Zuko was still at the reigns and Aang was the only other who would be able to properly respond besides herself.
She never faced a wave of that size. Her only real experience of live combat against waterbenders didn't extend past today. But that wasn't going to stop her. She was trained by the most powerful firebender in the world after all.
So with this last thought, ran with it, putting all of her frustration and anger to one specific purpose.
Stop the wave.
With a punch, fire combusted past her closed fist, extending from her hand like the breath of a dragon. Her arm strained as she held out, flames continuing to spew. It was still dwarfed by the wall of water approaching, but the intense heat of her fire managed to at least pierce through it in the center, creating a hole. Her fire flickered from orange to blue, but only for a moment. Zuko and even looked on with wide eyes. The flash of it broke her concentration and the water continued on, unopposed.
Grunting, Aang jumped from the saddle, pressing his fists together, a ball of air expanding from his core. He had jumped into the hole in the water Azula created, allowing him to break apart a majority of the wave into an uncontrolled and harmless rain.
Although the wave was stopped, Aa g had jumped too far from the saddle to properly airbend himself back onto the saddle, instead managing to dismount on the deck of the ship without injury. Distractedly, he looked back towards the sky to see Appa circling back around. If he could hold out for just a few more seconds, they would be out of here. He turned back to his opponents only to he blindsided by something crashing onto his side.
With a cry of surprise, Azula attempted to rain fire down onto the waterbenders, especially with that blue fire she couldn't seem to conjure like earlier. Aang was knocked bodily into the ocean, and he didn't seem like he was conscious when he hit.
"Zuko, get us near the ship!" she ordered, pointing where Aang disappeared. They got this close, she wasn't leaving him to just drown from some water peasants!
Thankfully, Zuko didn't argue, pulling on the reigns to guide Appa towards the water, but quickly hesitated.
Azula saw it too. As a matter of fact, so did Sokka and his men. A tornado of water burst from the ocean where Aang had fell, the Avatar seemingly atop it as if piloting an angry spirit. His eyes burned brightly, obscuring his pupils, and his tattoos glowed. He looked like someone else entirely while still appearing the same.
The tornado of water crashed onto the deck, immediately shoving some unprepared soldiers off the opposite side of the ship. Sokka and the remaining soldiers attempted to counter, but Aang suddenly thrust his arms forward, and his chi exploded in the form of columns of flames erupting from his open palms and his mouth, creating a writhing trident of fire.
Azula and Zuko watched, awed at the sight of it. No one except their Father and Uncle could bend even close to that level of skill. If there was any doubt of his Avatar status it definitely didn't exist now. Azula shook herself out of her stupor much more quickly than Zuko, directing him to land a distance behind Aang back on the ship.
Once the fire dissipated, at least from Aang, what was left was scorched me and fire still trying to persist even on the metallic surfaces. The observation tower which stood towering above the deck, in the center of the ship, somehow had its windows shattered. And if the orange hues dancing within from where they could see was any indication...it was probably on fire in there too.
Sokka was again on the floor, him and his men no problem at the moment. Flames danced between them and Aang now, and now was the perfect opportunity to extract him. Zuko had landed Appa, and Azula slid down Appa's fur, running to Aang's side. He was in the process of falling on his face, his knees failing to keep him upright.
"Easy, Avatar, I've got you," Azula assured, catching him under the arms and keeping him on his feet.
Aang only moaned in mild pain, still clutching his side. They would have to get that looked at, Azula decided.
Once Aang was pulled back onto the saddle, with help from Zuko, they settled him into a comfortable position at the rear. Appa took off, and Azula, as an afterthought, glanced back down at the shrinking ship. Sokka stood at the front of the ship and he stared back, scowling.
Azula tore her eyes away from the ship retreating ship in the distance and shuffled over to Aang. "How are you feeling?"
"My side. I think I bruised something," Aang answered best he could. It hurt even to talk and Azula seemed to sense this, and she said no more. She settled back next to Aang, sighing.
"Hey Azula...?"
Azula turned her head to face Aang.
"Thank you...for coming back."
"It's what friends do...right?" Azula asked, and to Aang, it surprisingly sounded like a genuine question. In spite of this, Aang smiled. "I'd hope so," he replied, half teasingly, eliciting an amused snort from the Princess.
