Chapter Ten The Runaway
Okay, fell a bit behind the curb last week. Holiday weekend I guess had an impact and I became more focused on playing videogames. Ah well, I have news regarding this fanfic. I'm not gonna be updating it once a month from now on. I'm gonna get out a chapter every week for it and my Advancing through the Ages fanfic since those two are the closest ones to being done. I just want to get some of them over with. I've enjoying writing fanfiction but I think after I complete my current six I'm gonna retire to focus more on my original series. Might take a long time, maybe a couple years but who knows? Hope you guys have enjoyed this story thus far. And we will be seeing Katara use her dagger a bit in this chapter.
In a town with a statue of Firelord Ozai in the center, Toph ran, only to be caught by a net. The town guards grabbed hold of the net and Toph caught sight of the one who'd turned her in.
"How could you do this to me!? You betrayed me!" she screamed.
Katara scowled at her. "I didn't have a choice, you were out of control!"
She watched as they dragged her friend away.
…
Three days earlier.
Katara and Toph faced each other, ready to use their bending.
"You ready?" Katara asked.
"Let's do it!" Toph said.
"I'm ready!" Aang said as he suddenly stood on his feet between them with a blindfold over his eyes.
"You better be if you want to get out of this one unburned Avatar!" Zuko added, giving off a very good Fire Nation bad guy vibe as he lit a pair of fire daggers.
"Oh no I knew we shouldn't have trusted you Zuko!" Katara joked.
That caused them to giggle for a moment.
"You two together are pretty funny!" Toph said.
"Well bring it!" Aang said.
"You asked for it!" Zuko yelled.
He struck with his fire daggers. Aang felt him coming and leapt out of the way then sent Zuko back with a burst of air. Toph then attacked with her Earthbending which Aang dodged, then Katara struck from behind only to get her own water bent back at her.
"Well done Pupil Aang!" Katara said.
"I think you've gotten the Earth Seeing down!" Toph complimented.
"Pretty good alright!" Zuko said. "It's like you have eyes on the back of your head. That should prevent any sneak attacks!"
Sokka grumbled from his hiding place as he watched.
Toph sent another bit of Earth at Aang which he dodged. The attack went on to hit Katara, getting her muddy.
"Hey watch it Toph!" Katara yelled.
"Ah, did I get you muddy Madam Fussybrutches?" Toph teased.
"Uh oh!" Zuko muttered as he looked at Katara who was twitching in anger.
"Okay its on!" Katara said as she created a path of ice to propel herself toward Toph.
The Earthbender created her own Earth Path and the two girls flew at each other.
"Are we taking a break?" Aang asked, his blindfold still on.
"Nope, the girls are fighting!" Zuko said as he walked over to Aang's side.
Sokka realized that not that they were focused on something else he might have a chance. He charged out and yelled, "SNEAK ATTACK!"
Only to get hit with a wall of Earth from Aang.
"Sokka, sneak attacks don't work if you yell it outloud!" Aang said.
They got the girls to stop fighting, then Katara went to clean up as she'd gotten very dirty from all the mud Toph had bent at her. Toph meanwhile just bent the mud off herself. She, Aang and Sokka then decided to go through the town they'd arrived in yesterday. Katara and Zuko weren't with them. Katara was cleaning up and then would get dinner ready while Zuko hung back. He didn't want to go into town wearing his hot cloak in summer unless he could help it. At least he'd be around in case she, Appa, or Momo got into trouble. Especially since they knew Azula had sent an Assassin after them.
They passed by a Communication Tower which had a lot of Messenger Hawks squawking up in its cages. Sokka eyed them. He'd been thinking about getting one.
"Well we only have one silver piece left," Aang said holding it. "What do you guys want to get with it?"
"We can get more money," Toph said.
She pointed them to an alley below the platform they were on. A man was doing some game involving pots and stones. Whoever guessed which of the three pots the stone was in won the game, it was all about luck… or so it seemed. Toph could feel the man was cheating, chucking the stone back into his sleeve at the last second. She went before him in the crowd, feigning the act of a blind girl. For some reason, he didn't cheat with her in the first round, keeping the stone on the board. She pointed at it and he decided to make the game more interesting.
"How about twenty silver pieces against your friends fancy sword!"
Sokka hugged his new weapon in fear.
"Make it forty!" Toph said.
The cheater grinned, sure he wouldn't lose. "Forty it is!"
He filled a bag of silver and began to shuffle the pots, hiding the stone. But Toph reached out with her Earthbending and drew it back in. She then pointed and the Cheater was shocked to find the stone underneath. With their new money, the trio went shopping and returned to camp with a lot of groceries.
Katara and Zuko were surprised when they saw the bags.
"Where'd you get the money to buy all that?" she asked.
"You weren't steal were ya?" Zuko asked. "I know my nations bad but I can't turn a blind eye to that!"
"Its alright. We just cheated a cheater!" Toph said.
Katara wasn't convinced. "This could be trouble. Try not to make a habit out of scamming people."
Aang made her an Avatar Promise. Unfortunately it didn't last as they did a lot more scams over the next couple days. Toph winning a hammer game, faking injury by cart, and other stuff. They got lots of money, but Katara and Zuko weren't pleased.
"These scams are getting out control!" Katara said.
"Some of those were good law-abiding Fire Nation citizens just minding their own business!" Zuko said.
"Well think of it this way Sparky, they're helping to make their Nation a better place by giving us money," Toph said.
Zuko snarled and walked away. Katara and Toph began to argue more, with Toph bringing up her parents and joy at her freedom. But Katara guessed that deep down she missed them.
Sokka went off to spend some money and returned with a Messenger Hawk. But on his trip he also found something, a Wanted Poster of Toph, calling her the Runaway. Katara soon found the poster and the two girls argued once again.
"We've already got a third eyed freak after us! We don't need anymore trouble!" Katara said.
"And speaking of that third eyed freak I came up with a name for him!" Sokka said. "How about Sparky Sparky Boom Man."
"I don't know his name, but I know his technique. Its called Combustion Bending," Zuko said.
"Whoa," Sokka said. "Maybe Combustion Man would be better then. Yeah that sounds about right."
Zuko stroked his chin. "This feels kind of weird though. I know you did a lot of scams but how could anyone know you used Earthbending?"
Katara and Toph were at a boiling point, with Toph stomping off. Sighing, Aang and Sokka tried to get the girls to make up while Zuko simply sulked. Their first attempt to write a letter to Katara saying it was from Toph failed since Katara knew the blind girl couldn't write. Then Sokka had a heart to heart with Toph, talking about how Katara had grown to be like a mother figure in the Southern Water tribe since their own mother had died. After that talk, Toph felt ready to make up with Katara. Little did they know the water tribe girl had heard the whole thing from where she bathed under the cliff out of sight with them talking above her.
Soon the girls came face to face again.
"Hey Toph I need to talk to you!" Katara said after she got dressed and climbed back up the cliff.
"I do Katara, and you were right. These scams are out of control. I'm done."
"Well that's good," Zuko said.
Then Katara did something that shocked everyone.
"Actually, I don't want you to stop. Just yet. I actually want to help you pull off one more," Katara said.
Toph was shocked while Aang and Sokka fainted and Zuko facepalmed.
"I want to pretend to turn you in, then you can metal bend yourself out. I get the reward and you get free!" Katara said.
"Whoa! That's genius."
The two girls prepared to leave. But Zuko had an uneasy feeling. Then it clicked in his mind.
"Wait no! It's a trap!" Zuko said.
"Zuko what's wrong?" Katara asked.
"Listen! I've been thinking! Who could have possibly been watching Toph do all of those scams? And its not a crime to win games in my nation!" Zuko said. "Fire Nation Assassins work with the law in our towns! I think Combustion Man is the one who put up the reward for Toph!"
"What?" Sokka exclaimed. "If that's true then we need to leave now. We can't go walking into a trap!"
"No good, he'll just come after us again sooner or later," Zuko said. "I think we need to deal with this now. Go and do that scam."
Katara and Toph looked at him. "You want us to act as bait?"
Zuko nodded. "Turn Toph in! We'll head to jail and keep watch there and wait. When and if Combustion Man appears, we'll ambush him from behind."
…
So Toph ran through town but eventually let the guards catch her. Katara went to 'receive the reward while the boys hid in an alley nearby as Aang walked barefoot. Soon he felt it.
"I think its him," Aang said.
"You think?" Sokka repeated.
"I'm not as advanced as Toph yet. But it definitely feels like a Metal Man."
"Okay, remember Aang you have to use Firebending so we don't draw attention," Zuko said.
Aang nodded. He waited until the strange prescence was directly behind Katara and all of them sprinted over. Zuko immediately pushed Combustion Man forward, into the jail. He grunted as he was caught off guard and forced into a closed space.
"Can't use your explosions in here huh!" Sokka said as he drew his sword. "Looks like we got you this time!"
Katara smirked as she reached into her pocket, drawing her dagger.
"Watch out he can still firebend!" Zuko warned.
Sokka shouted and charged, closing the distance between him and the big half metal man. He swung with his sword, but Combustion Man blocked it on his metal arm then batted Sokka away. Aang meanwhile ran further into the fail to get to Toph. Zuko now attacked with firebending as Sokka was out of the way, but Combustion Man easily blocked with his own firebending. But before he could retaliate, the man suddenly grunted in pain, his eyes widening. He stood for a moment, then fell forward, Katara stood over him, her dagger coated in blood and a look of shock on her face. She'd never killed anyone this way before, up close and personal.
"Help, murder!" the official at the desk said.
"Time to get out of here!" Zuko said.
Just in time, Aang had returned with Toph behind him. They ran out of town, back to their camp and onto Appa's back. The Sky Bison flew them to another land miles away.
"Well that's the last we'll see of that guy," Zuko said. "Hopefully Azula doesn't find another assassin."
"Yeah, at least one that doesn't blow stuff up with his mind," Sokka agreed.
"The invasion's just a couple more weeks from now. We'll be fine," Aang said.
"Hey Katara, can you help me do something?" Toph asked.
"Sure Toph," Katara said.
"You see, you were kind of right about me missing my parents," Toph said. "I want to send a letter to them."
So they wrote a letter and put it in Hawky's backpack. The bird flew off into the night. Sokka who had been away while they were doing this asked, "Hey where did Hawky go?"
Well, getting near the end. Just Hama then the stress episode, and the two days of Black Sun. Might flash forward to Sozin's Comet just to have it pass harmlessly so that would be five more chapters altogether for this story. If I go ahead with my idea to just work on this story and my first Advanceshipping one then this should be done by early August, but if I stay the way I'm doing it now it would probably take till December or late November.
A question. I have considered having Zuko apologize to Hama and maybe redeeming her and she could free the people she's captured then join Team Avatar. What do you guys think? It might be interesting to have Hama in the final battle on the day of Black Sun. But she'd probably be pretty savage.