Rise from the Ashes: Chapter 4- Sozin's Comet part 3
The night before the comet.
As silent as a whisper they left Prince Zuko's quarters. The palace was massive and built to display power and opulence. Now it felt eerily empty. Fire Lord Ozai and Princess Azula's presence had always brought anxiety within these walls ever since Ozai had ascended to the throne. Vassal governors, military generals, and servants alike were always on edge here in the heart of the capital. Disfavor from the Fire Lord always led to political ruin for the most fortunate ones. Those less fortunate simply disappeared without a trace.
The Fire Lord hardly ever left the capital. In fact he hardly ever left the palace. He was not a military general like his brother, The Dragon of the West, had been. Instead he had always relied on his considerable bending prowess and devious political intrigue to hold together his expanding empire in a solid grip.
The power the Fire Lord held was palpable to anyone in his presence. Without him, the palace felt dead and silent.
As a child, Zuko had learned every passageway in the massive estate like the back of his hand. It had come in handy when avoiding his sister on a daily basis. There were hiding places, as well as short cuts to the kitchens that he had once used as a child to nab treats. But now that knowledge served him much better than for the juvenile purposes he had used in his youth.
He needed to leave the Fire Nation soon, and he did not wish to be seen.
The prince was dressed all in black, all that was missing was the mask of the Blue Spirit. But he had thrown it into Lake Laogai with the intent of drowning that part of his life. To truly turn over a new leaf. But all it had taken then was his sister to whisper temptations of approval and power in his ear for him to revert on all of that progress.
It's time to make amends. It won't be sufficient for what I did, but I need to take action. Get Uncle back, find the Avatar, and undo my father's grip on the world.
It was clear he needed to leave to accomplish anything productive. He could not challenge his father or his sister head on. Ozai would kill him without a second thought, after years of denying that reality and yearning for his father's approval it was due time to accept that fact. It was a chilling, soul crushing fact to digest. But the time for delusions was over, he needed to face the truth.
His father was a monster. Ozai was the product of being raised as the third generation from a series of tyrants. He did not care for anything that did not further his bid to dominate and conquer. The world would never be safe and balanced while the Fire Lord lived. With Ozai's masterful bending, no prison would be secure enough to hold him.
Mai was at his side, also dressed in black, as usual, and equally silent. His personal feelings for her aside, it was calming to have an ally he could count on. It was no small sacrifice on her part, she was giving up a life of nobility for him. Her importance for him was immeasurable. He was not alone.
He was crown prince and that title meant he could go anywhere he pleased, yet Zuko knew he would be a fool to rely on his title when so much was at stake. There could be no unnecessary encounters and questions during his escape.
The two teenagers kept to the shadows and maneuvered their way out of the palace. He had infiltrated Zhao's fort to rescue the Avatar and he had made his way to the Sky Bison under Lake Laogai. Compared to those instances, his silent departure was child's play, and Mai matched him every step of the way.
They made their way through the courtyard, over the wall, and towards their destination.
Over the last year the Fire Nation had developed blimps that were capable of covering considerable distances quickly. He was going to steal one and get to the Boiling Rock while the comet was still in the sky. No one had ever escaped that prison, Zuko would do everything he could to ensure that his Uncle would be the first.
It seemed that every competent guard had followed the Fire Lord to the North Pole, because the man guarding the blimp was actually asleep.
"This is too easy" He whispered to Mai as the guard snored away.
"The fool is going to wake up when we take off." She whispered back.
Nodding, Zuko crept behind the sleeping man and put him in a sleeper hold. He silently incapacitated the guard to ensure that the fool slept a few extra hours more.
"Let's get going." Mai said as Zuko returned to her near the blimp. "I assume you know how to fly this thing?"
Zuko allowed himself a small playful smile. "More or less. We will manage."
"Great. Just don't crash it too hard." She deadpanned back. "Let's get this thing in the air before something goes wrong."
With perfect timing and at that very moment, Zuko felt a sharp jab into his left forearm. Instinctively he pivoted one hundred and eighty degrees in order to face his attacker, but the assailant must have moved with him and stayed at his back and out of his line of sight. A second and a third jab in lightning quick succession hit him in the shoulder and his other arm. The jabs put him completely off balance, and with a snarl of rage, Zuko tipped forward and fell face first to the ground with enough force to drive the breath out of him and leave him dazed.
With a grunt and through pure determination he pushed himself upright almost immediately. He intended to summon fire to his fingertips to illuminate the room and pinpoint his attacker. However, fear suddenly gripped his heart when he realized that he was unable to bend. His chi was simply not flowing.
"Come on old man, get in! I do not have all day." The captain of the prison guards shouted.
Typically, the coolers were only used for convicts who showed disobedience. A single night in a cooler usually encouraged their submission. This prisoner was an old man who had hardly said a word since he had arrived. Since the old man never spoke, there was a rumor that the Fire Lord had ripped out his brother's tongue.
The great General Iroh is broken, finished, and not even worth the space he takes up here. But orders are orders. The captain thought to himself in frustration. The Fire Nation was on the verge of a glorious victory, and the captain had been requisitioned to guard duty for a sniveling, senile old man. It was insulting.
With the pending arrival of Sozin's comet, the imprisoned firebenders were under increased lock down. The Boiling Rock prison had never been more secure. Escape was completely impossible.
The Boiling Rock prison was well known for its history of unsuccessful escape attempts. The prison is situated on a volcanic island in the middle of a boiling lake and the most dangerous criminals from around the world are sent there.
This old man is far from dangerous, the great General Iroh…The Dragon of the West...how pathetic. The stories of the former warrior and dragon slayer are pointless when put up against this empty shell I see now. Whatever power the General had once wielded, the captain was certain that the old man would not be able to wield it now.
Iroh did not say a word of complaint as he complied and entered the frigid cooler. The most hardened criminal scum were shaken after a day in the cooler, but Iroh's expression was unchanged.
"We will keep you nice and secure here." The captain snarled. "We have a dozen guards on you. One single move on your part and you will regret it."
Iroh actually did speak then. "I would advise you give these fine guards the day off tomorrow. They have been working hard as of late, and the day would go much better for them." The old man than took a meditative stance and closed his eyes.
The captain scoffed. "Crazy old man." He muttered under his breath as he turned on his heel and left.
Iroh remained in his position through the chilling cold, keeping a clear mind and gathering his strength.
At long last he was able to rest. Eventually Aang relented and surrendered Appa's reigns to Katara.
He would rest, but sleep would not come easy.
Everything had not been the same since he had died. Whenever he could sleep it was full of flashes of lightning and he would wake up shaking and in a cold sweat. Sometimes, he would even scream and scare his friends half to death.
So for a while he did his best to meditate, and calm himself. He could not carry on like this. The anxiety, fear, and despair that seemed to be choking him every waking moment. The voice in his head that told him that he was a waste of the talents given to him and that he had failed the entire world twice over.
Katara had been right when she had said he needed to believe in himself. If the Avatar had no hope, than failure was a certainty.
I need to find an inner peace, or else I will lose myself. He took a quick glance at his friends. Katara was holding Appa's reins while Sokka and Toph were sound asleep and snoring loudly. And I would lose so much more.
Now more than ever he needed guidance and wisdom, but every time he had tried to communicate with Avatar Roku his efforts had been in vein. It seemed that his link to his past lives were silent when he needed them the most. Since he was personally so mentally unbalanced, it was not much of a surprise, yet he continued to try nonetheless.
The comet would arrive in the morning, and it appeared that the Avatar would arrive to the South Pole just in time.
Appa had not let them down. The flying bison had carried the Avatar and his friends across the world, and when they needed him most he had always come through. Appa continued to glide through the sky. The chilly night air near the pole, nor the sleep deprivation from days of non-stop flying deterred the sky bison.
Aang sighed and ran his hand on top the beast's head affectionately.
"Just a little further buddy. Thank you."
Appa gave a soft, tired growl in response and Aang gave a tired sigh himself.
Slowly, he found himself dropping into much needed sleep.
The world was ablaze. Ba Sing Se, the North Pole, every village and port he had seen when he had travelled was on fire, and then it turned to ash. The temples of the Air Nomads, the last signs of the Airbenders remaining besides himself were burned away. An entire history erased. Infants and toddlers at the poles were torn from their parents' arms. His friends were there as well. The nightmare was frenzied and overwhelming, but Aang could tell that his friends were being ripped away from him. Katara was being taken away by Prince Zuko, the boy who had chased them across the world, had saved Aang from Admiral Zhao, and yet had attacked them after Katara had began to believe in him. Sokka and Toph were under duress from the Princess Azula, whose cold hearted laugh was terrifying in the twisted nightmare.
Finally, the two fire nation nobles gave way to a looming dark silhouette of a man surrounded by a wall of fire. He heard the Princess' laugh again, along with a blinding flash of lightning.
Aang woke with a start, and thankfully he did not scream or make much noise. Taking a deep breath, he took a moment to pause and wait for his heart to stop racing. This was a frequent enough occurrence, and he did not make enough noise to alert his friends.
Aang than realized that there was enough light to see clearly. Dawn had arrived. The day had finally arrived, and Sozin's comet would soon appear.
Surely the Fire Nation will wait for the comet before they strike. Why waste such a valuable advantage? As if their military training, armor, and battleships were not enough to handle sparse peasant resistance. The South Pole had once been a unified force, that unification was now ancient history. Fire Lords Sozin and Azulon had seen to that.
The clear and empty ocean had transformed slowly over the last night into icebergs and glaciers. They were oh so very close.
His friends were all awake. Sokka busied himself inspecting his boomerang, as well as a sword he had brought along. Katara's mind seemed to be elsewhere and was scanning the water and icebergs intently. She was presumably looking for her village or the Fire Nation fleet. Toph was casually cracking her knuckles, tying not to portray her anxiety.
At a glance it was clear to see that Aang was not alone in his doubts.
All of us are scared, even Toph, although she would never admit it. As for Sokka and Katara…this is their home that is being raided.
He could not have their last memory before leaping into action be of him in self-doubt. As the Avatar, he had to set an example.
If it had not yet been dawn, the chilly air would have kept them all awake now. Sokka and Katara were used to it. Toph was not so fortunate.
"You two might be tougher than you look act." She said to the two siblings as she bundled under as many blankets as she could get her hands on. "How are you not chilled to the bone?"
"Well you know" Sokka said with a smirk and began flexing in an exaggerated, jesting manner. The action was lost on Toph, as she obviously could not see any of it. "We are just tough as nails, have nerves of steel, and the hearts of champions."
It got a small chuckle out of Aang, eager as he was for any sort of comic relief before the hours ahead.
"We grew up in a home made out of ice and snow Toph, you tend to get used to it." Katara said. While she had rolled her eyes, Aang had seen a sliver of a smile from her at Sokka's comments.
"Maybe." Aang said to his friends while giving another chuckle. "That does not mean that what Sokka said isn't true. For all of you."
The effect was immediate. All of his friends had smiles on their faces and were looking at him. Well Toph wasn't exactly looking at him since she couldn't see exactly where he was, but close enough.
Their response hit Aang harder than any fire blast ever could. When was the last time he had simply played around and joked with his friends? He hadn't said anything since his death to them outside of stressed, sad comments. Even before the caves under Ba Sing Se, when Appa was missing he had acted much of the same way.
"Nice to see you smile again Aang. It has been much too long." Sokka said.
"I took too long. For that, I am truly sorry." Aang responded.
"You have nothing to apologize for Aang. We have your back." Katara said with a smile.
"I have stubbornness covered on this group I'm afraid. There is no room there for you. You will just have to act more like yourself from now on, Twinkletoes." Toph added with a smirk.
"One of the last things a person masters is themselves. My mentor Gyatso told me that, and I did not see the wisdom in it until now. That is what the world needs in an Avatar, and I cannot do it alone. The fact that you three willingly walk this path with me says the world of you all."
"Oh please stop it Aang, you are making me blush. It isn't manly." Sokka joked, causing the group to laugh again.
"Oh how I wish I could see that!" Toph lamented light-hardily. "Alright Sokka, great warrior of the Southern Water Tribe, you got the backing of the Avatar, so I won't break your chops. Just this once."
"Thanks Toph, just don't do soft on me too long. Things just wouldn't be the same otherwise."
"As I said, just this once wise guy."
It was nice for them to get together like this on the brink of conflict. A small piece of normalcy. The calm before the raging storm.
Aang made an effort to talk with each of his friends one on one before they were thrust into the fire. Their individual strengths are what held the group together, and they would need all of them in the conflict ahead.
"Feel better?" Aang asked Toph as he sat down next to her. As he did so he bent the air around her to warm her up.
"Still cold Twinkle… is that Airbending? Nice! Thanks. That must come in handy often."
"A little trick all airbenders learned early on. How are you feeling?."
There was a pause.
This was usually the part where Toph would give an arrogant remark. That she was the greatest Earthbender in the world and that she feared nothing.
"I need to play this smart." Toph said quieter than normal. As if she was making sure that Katara and Sokka could not hear her.
Toph was confident and strong, but would be at a serious disadvantage down here at the pole.
"There will be mostly glaciers. There isn't going to be much earth. We need to get you where you can do your thing and deal some damage."
Toph smiled. "Exactly, remember when we crossed the ice on the Serpant's pass? I couldn't see anything and that is not an experience I want to repeat. Get me on their ships and I'll slap the knuckleheads around."
"That you will. Be careful down there Sifu Toph. Those knuckleheads have a serious power boost."
Toph cracked her knuckles. "I'll do what I need to. Don't worry about me."
Sokka was next, keeping his usual goofy grin. What was different was that Sokka was dressed for the occasion of an invasion. He had actual armor on, although it wasn't cumbersome. He also had a helm under his arm in the shape of a wolf's head. The outfit made him look bigger than his usual lanky figure. He did not look like a boy dressing up, he actually looked like a warrior. Aang told him as much.
"All that is missing is the face paint, I should have brought some along when I had the chance." Sokka said. "Dad left this outfit for me before he headed back home. It should protect me, but not weigh me down. No sense in fighting with heavy armor, falling in the water and then sinking. That would be a really pathetic way to go."
"Nice sword."
Sokka had a blade he was turning aimlessly in his hand.
"Another gift from Dad…Haven't really had time to get good with it. But I have it."
"We will find you someone to help train you with it. Katara and I had masters to help us with our bending. You can find a master for your swordsmanship."
The thought instantly appealed to Sokka. "That would be great. With all these crazy bending powers all around, I need another edge. When the bending gets going I cannot exactly tackle the enemy head on.
"The direct approach is not always the best. What you got going up there in that head of yours more than makes up for it."
Sokka leaned back and studied Aang for a moment with a small smile. "You are very complimentary this morning."
Aang shrugged. "I'm just realizing what I have had, and who got me here."
Sokka playfully slapped the Avatar on the shoulder. "Hey, thanks for letting this goofball tag along."
Here Sokka was again, selling himself short. Aang felt he needed to lift him up somehow.
"You have done far more than that. You have led. Who is always planning our days and giving directions? Who is looking for the innovative edge and is taking initiative. We need you Sokka."
Sokka gave him an inquisitive look.
"Thanks buddy…But I have to ask…Is this your way of saying goodbye? Do you think this is the end?"
I might have once, but if I don't believe it myself, we do not have a chance of success.
"No, this is a new beginning. The world will be changed forever today. There will be new scars, and I will do what I can to let them heal. There is no looking back."
Aang looked at his friend in the warrior's attire. "Are you afraid, Sokka? I know everyone is nervous."
Sokka shook his head. "For myself, no. I'm concerned for my home, my family. For dad. For Gran-Gran. For my sister, and for you." He took a deep swallow of nothing but air and his face fell into an increasingly agitated look. His happy face he had put on early was peeling off. The goofy front was coming undone. "It feels all the more real when they come for those you love. They are going to abduct children. Kids. They will completely destroy families all because the Fire Lord is afraid of losing everything that he has stolen. It's despicable. Years ago if this happened it would be my little sister who would be abducted. And they are doing the same all over the other nations. I'm mad Aang. I am so angry, but it won't get in the way of helping you. I won't lose myself."
"They will not make it far enough to reach the village. We will make sure of that, and I will do everything I can to return the world to a state where these atrocities cannot be repeated."
Sokka's expression softened. "I believe you buddy. Really I do, and no matter what you need to do to make that world a reality, I am with you every step of the way…And thanks for the talk, it means a lot that you are not just an empty vessel to fix this messed up world, you are also a friend."
The last was Katara, and his stomach tied up in knots. It was a barely kept secret that we wanted to be close to her. She was the first thing he had seen when he had awoken again after one hundred years. It was a crush beyond a doubt, something she was not quite aware of.
Someday I'll tell her. He told himself. When I am a bit older, and imminent death isn't hovering directly over us.
"Making the rounds? I'm next?" Katara said with a smile that made Aang's heart flutter. "It's nice to see you act more calmly."
"It's nice just to talk for a little bit. Leaving everything bottled up is not right."
There was determination in Katara's eyes. "We are going to save the villages Aang. There is not a doubt in my mind."
"I know. I just wish we did not have to."
He felt it then, the comet was not there yet, it wasn't in sight, but he could feel it approaching. While he did not know how to control it and did not have a teacher, he was still a firebender, and it was as if someone had lit a fire in his gut.
"What's wrong?" Katara asked with a worried look after picking up on Aang's reaction.
"The comet's coming, I can feel it."
"Then we are just in time, look!" Sokka's voice sounded behind them.
Aang peered down at the water and saw them. "There is the fleet, and they have not landed yet."
There was a dozen warships and with a crew of approximately one hundred soldiers each. It was more than enough troops to overwhelm anything the villages' warriors could put together in a standard defense.
"They have had to split up the ships due to all the ice, and there are larger ice formations over there." Sokka said as he indicated down below. The ships had to go single file and split into separate columns to prevent them from crashing into the ice."
"Not a single ship is going ashore." Aang said. "We will close off their path and trap them."
"Look, over there. That must be Dad!" Katara shouted, pointed towards smaller boats throughout the area.
"Dad's going to try and board and stop the ships towards the front. If the ships in the front stop the next ships cannot come up behind them." Sokka shouted as he turned towards the others. If you benders are going to be bringing down chunks of ice, we can't be hurting our own warriors!"
"We will get you down to your warriors, Sokka!" Aang replied while pointing towards the warship nearest to the Water Tribes' boats. "Keep their efforts contained over there and they won't get hurt."
"Understood." Sokka said, relieved that he had a defined role.
"Toph, we will get you on a ship. Most of soldiers will be below deck, so make quick work and you won't have to fight most of them. Bust it up good, grind the ship to a halt, and I'll pick you up and get you on another one." Aang directed.
"Right on, Twinkletoes!" The Earthbender shouted.
"Be safe down there everyone." Katara said, her hand found Aang's and she gave it a reassuring squeeze.
Sokka was getting hyped up, he looked ready to pounce and take on the entire fleet by himself. "We got this guys, let's give these visitors the greeting they deserve."
It was then that over the horizon the comet came into view. It was an incredible and beautiful sight, but it was intended to be the final flourish and end cap on a brutal one hundred year long war. The war had begun with the comet and it would end with the comet. The page would close on a dark, unbalanced era for the world.
Aang had awoken here at the South Pole after a hundred year slumber a year prior. Now recent history would repeat itself in the same location.
He stood up from his crouched position, grabbed his glider, and stared out over the invading Fire Nation Force.
The Avatar has returned.
A/N: I have enjoyed writing this story, I simply have not had as much time lately.
Hope you enjoyed. Any review is appreciated.