On Zuko's ship, servants are seen helping the Fire Nation prince put on his Fire Nation armor, complete with a red helmet ending in a sharp point. Through all this Zuko never moves a muscle. During all this, Merida was getting her bow strung and her arrows tightened, Hiccup was checking everyone's armor and weapons was ready to go, and Rapunzel and Jack were up on deck watching what was to occur from above.
As the ship got closer to the shore, Jack and Rapunzel both noticed that the ship was not slowing down. The ship plows through the snowy shores, splitting the ground. As the ship approached it created a large crack that quickly traveled toward the village and over the wall. The force of the ship going through the wall made both Jack and Rapunzel lose their balance and fall to the ground. By the time they were able to get up, the ship had stopped moving. They looked around and saw that Zuko, Iroh, some soldiers, Hiccup, and Maradia were coming above deck. Hiccup and Maradia came over to them to see if they were okay.
"Don't worry. We're okay. Just shaken up a little bit," Rapunzel reassured.
"I just hope that no one got hurt when the ship rammed into that wall," Hiccup said.
After looking at the damage done to the wall, Jack was quick to say, "I can probably fix that."
The front of the ship started to lower down so that Zuko and his soldiers could enter the village. Before Zuko went down, he said, "Finally. After all these years the Avatar will be mine!"
The bow of the ship lowers with a thud.
Prince Zuko emerger from the ship mist with two guards following him. With Meradia not far behind them. The people from the village were huddling together with Sokka kneeling in the snow in front of them, ready to defend his tribe. Prince Zuko descends from the ship along with the two guards and Meradia. Sokka lets out a battle cry and charges at the prince with his club to the ready. Now even more soldiers trudged down while Sokka is traveling his way upward. When he reaches Zuko, the prince merely kicks the club to his left and, without ever resting his leg on the ground, kicks Sokka over to his right, sending him into a snowbank where his head becomes trapped. The warrior desperately tries to free himself as Zuko continues on his way to the village, followed by six more men and Merida. Katara covers her mouth in shock upon witnessing her brother's quick defeat.
Zuko and his men stand before the village. He approaches them. Looking through the group not finding who he wants and stops in front of Katara who is clutching Kanna.
"Where are you hiding him?" Zuko asks angrily.
Zuko surveys the crowd of villagers who fall completely silent. Without warning, he extends his arm out into the crowd and grabs Kanna, holding her by the hood of her parka.
"He'd be about this age, master of all elements?" Zuko said annoyed while shaking kanna.
He shoves Kanna forcefully back into the crowd. The elderly woman shudders in fear and embraces Katara, while Katara shoots an angry glare at Zuko. Receiving no response, Zuko swings his arm out and releases an arc of fire that passes just over the heads of the people, causing them to cover their heads and cry out in fear. Just then an ice wall formed in front of the village protecting them from the fire.
The village looked at Katara, wondering if she had anything to do with the ice wall. Jack was quick to call out, "Hey, up here!" Jack brought the village's and Zuko's attention to him as he lowered the ice wall. "I think we caused enough damage for today, Zuko," hoping the joke would help calm him down.
Rapunzel and Hiccup were quick to head down to where everyone else was at, Rapunzel using an air current to soften their landing. "Okay, okay. I understand that you want to capture the Avatar, but I don't think that causing harm to others will help us find him," Rapunzel said, hoping that Zuko would see reason.
"Besides, we looked inside of my looking glass and the Avatar has arrow tattoos on his body," Hiccup revealed to the prince.
"He seems to not be here anymore," said Merida.
Sokka's club was lying in the snow. Sokka runs over and picks it up, most of his war paint having come off at this point. He lets out another battle cry as he charges toward the prince. Zuko swiftly turns around just as Sokka approaches. He ducks under Sokka's wide swing and hurls the warrior forward. Sokka lands on his rear in the snow and is quickly forced to dart from his spot when Zuko fires a blast at him. He spins to the side and tosses his boomerang at the enemy who barely manages to miss getting hit by the weapon. Zuko growls and glares at Sokka in anger at the near hit; he follows the course of the weapon until it vanishes before looking back at Sokka in anger. One of the village boys tosses Sokka a spear.
"Show no fear."
Sokka handily catches the weapon and charges at Zuko once more. Sokka faces him head-on. Zuko breaks off pieces of the spear with his forearms, pulls the remains of the weapon out of Sokka's hands and pokes him thrice in the head with the blunt end. Sokka falls to the ground as Zuko snaps the spear in two and tosses the pieces to the ground on both of his sides. Sokka rubs his head in pain before switching back to a head shot of Zuko. A sparkle of light shines briefly in the distance and Sokka's boomerang spins into view, unnoticed by Zuko. The weapon strikes Zuko on the back of his helmet with a loud cling; he is momentarily pushed forward by the unexpected blow. Zuko rearranges his helmet and growls at Sokka. The boomerang has plummeted into the ground in front of Sokka's feet. Enraged, Zuko readies two fire daggers.
Aang is rapidly riding on a penguin toward the battle scene. He holds his glider horizontal on the animal and he has a determined look on his face, his tongue is out of his mouth in pure concentration. Aang takes Zuko's feet out from underneath him, tossing Zuko off his feet; speeding past, Aang soars into the air as the prince lands on his face, his legs in the air. He spins around a few times before coming to a halt in front of his men, his helmet landing on his rear as they watch.
The villagers are cheering as Aang rides speedily toward them, still mounted on the penguin. The children cheer upon his arrival. They are showered in snow as Aang rides past, however, after giving each other silent, unamused looks for a few seconds, they begin cheering once again, shaking the snow off. Aang comes to a halt before some other villagers, including Kanna, Katara, and Sokka. The penguin crawls out from under him, tossing him off. Aang falls on his rear, blinking stupidly. Aang smiles at the penguin when the animal quacks at him before waddling away.
"Hey, Katara. Hey, Sokka." Aang said cheerfully despite the present situation.
"Hi, Aang. Thanks for coming." Sokka replied moodily.
Aang looks back at the Fire Nation soldiers, where Zuko just got back on his feet again. Upon his signal, his men spread out, surrounding Aang while Zuko assumes a fighting stance. Aang assumed a fighting stance as well, his staff held firmly in front of him as he was being surrounded by the soldiers. He sweeps the ground side-to-side with his staff, showering the men with snow. He subsequently slams the ground, sending a rush of snow at Zuko who braces for the impact. After being sprayed with snow, and heating it up so it would melt off, Zuko looks up angrily.
"Looking for me?"
"You're the airbender? You're the Avatar?" Zuko asked, shocked.
"I think so. He looks just like the boy who appeared in my looking glass," Hiccup confirmed.
"He's the one you're looking for," Merida also confirmed.
Aang resumes his fighting stance.
"Aang?" Katara asked, surprised.
"No way!" Sokka said bewildered.
Zuko and Aang move about in a circular pattern, both awaiting the attack of the other. Hiccup, Rapunzel, Jack, and Merida also surround Aang and Zuko.
"I've spent years preparing for this encounter. Training, meditating. You're just a child!" Zuko said angrily.
Aang calmly, tilting his head to one side with a somewhat confused expression. "Well, you're just a teenager."
Zuko launches a series of fire blasts at Aang in anger at the remark, who defends himself by twirling his staff, dissipating the flames. Zuko attacked Aang, the villagers watching directly behind him. Zuko fires another blast at Aang, who twirls his staff once again to ward the attack off. Villagers cower as the flames stream through the air over their heads. Aang widens his eyes in horror at the sight of the frightened villagers and immediately ceases to defend himself.
"Need some help, Zuko?" Rapunzel asked as she approached the prince.
"Yeah. We can enter the battle at any time," Hiccup offered.
"No thank you. I'll deal with him myself," Zuko declined their help.
"Wait! If I go with you," -He holds his staff in front of him as an offer, making sure Zuko understands that he does not wish to continue fighting.- "will you promise to leave everyone alone?"
Zuko's men still surrounding him, spears poised. After a brief moment of hesitation, Zuko erects himself and nods in agreement. Aang is apprehended by Zuko's men, who take his staff. Katara runs forward as they lead Aang away.
"No! Aang, don't do this!" Katara said sadly.
Surprisingly calm, Aang says, "Don't worry, Katara. It'll be okay." He gasps when he is shoved on the walkway. Katara's face contorts with sadness and fright. "Take care of Appa for me until I get back."
Everyone boarded the ship up the walkway. Determined Zuko says, "Head a course for the Fire Nation. I'm going home."
Zuko's ship makes its way through the icy waters. Aang, Zuko, Iroh and some of Zuko's men are standing on deck. Aang's hands are bound behind his back while Zuko holds Aang's staff.
"This staff will make an excellent gift for my father." Zuko says as heInspects the staff further. "I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers being raised by monks."To his soldiers Zuko says, " Take the Avatar to the prison hold -Handing the staff to Iroh- and take this to my quarters."
Iroh takes the staff and looks at it for a moment while Zuko walks away.
Iroh Turns to one of Zuko's men and gives him the staff and casually says, "Hey, you mind taking this to his quarters for me?"
The firebender accepts the staff and Iroh walks away. Aang is pushed forward by two of the soldiers and he grunts as they roughly shove him ahead. Aang is being taken below while Iroh and the firebender carrying Aang's staff are walking toward a door leading to the upper decks. Aang's group begins descending a staircase leading to compartment beneath the deck. Aang descends the staircase, the outside world disappearing from view. He tries to keep an eye on his staff for as long as possible.
Cuffed, Aang walked through a corridor on the lower deck. He walks down a corridor, one soldier before him, one following after him.
"So, I guess you've never fought an airbender before. I bet I could take you both with my hands tied behind my back," Aang slyly says.
"Silence," one soldier responds, unamused.
The party stops and Aang observes the soldier in front of him preparing to unlock a door. As the guard in front of him begins to unlock the cell, Aang inhales deeply and unleashes a powerful breath, stunning both of them. The firebender before him slams into the door subsequently knocked out from the impact. Aang is sent several feet back, slamming into the guard behind him. They both fly back even further, where they crash into the stairs. The soldier behind Aang is also knocked out by the impact, while Aang propels himself onto the deck and kicks open a door using airbending. He quickly runs down the hallway, panting heavily. He tosses a frightened look over his shoulder, afraid that he is being followed. The helmsman is overlooking the deck. A soldier emerges from the lower deck and addresses him.
"The Avatar has escaped!"
The Fire Nation ship, Aang is frantically running through the corridors. He stops in his tracks and yells when he encounters three soldiers standing with swords drawn in the middle of the corridor.
"You haven't seen my staff around, have you?"
The three men prepare to attack him, but before they can make a move, Aang sprints across the hallway at the speed of wind, along the floor and the walls, spiraling in circular patterns past the soldiers, through their legs, and manages to escape, leaving the soldiers looking dumbfounded.
"Thanks anyway!" Aang calls out.
He continues racing through the hallways of the ship and encounters a single guard when he rises another deck. The soldier fires a blast at Aang who leaps forward. Aang somersaults over the soldier and uses the sharp tip of his helmet to cut his bindings, thus freeing him. The soldier falls over from the impact and Aang proceeds down the hall. The young Avatar races through the interior, opening two doors leading to various compartments of the ship. The second door has Hiccup, Rapunzel, Jack, and Merida on the other side. Before they can fight back, he shoots a powerful air blast at them, knocking them down. He then closes the door and runs. Upon opening the third door, he finds Iroh sleeping blissfully, snoring. He begins closing the door, his mouth still visible through the crack.
Aang whispers, "Sorry!"
Inside of another room, the entranceway is open wide. Aang is seen running past the doorway only to slow down and trace his way back upon catching sight of his glider. His face brightens upon recognition of the object and he dashed through the open door.
"My staff!" Aang yells excitedly.
Aang enters the room, the door closing behind him. Zuko stands by the door, having clearly waited to corner Aang. Aang looks surprised upon hearing the sound of the closing door. He turns around, his face falling upon seeing the prince standing in the room.
"Looks like I underestimated you," Zuko admits.
After a slight pause, Zuko assumes a fighting stance and fires a blast at Aang who yells and narrowly avoids the attack. Zuko fires again, forcing Aang into the corner of the room. Aang pants heavily from alarm. Zuko fires once more; Aang spins around out of the corner and against the back wall. He ducks to avoid another fire blast. Zuko stands in the middle of the room, Aang managing to roll over directly behind his opponent. Aang deftly manages to stay behind Zuko, utilizing circle-walking. Zuko spins around, desperately attempting to land a blow.
Inside the room, Aang uses airbending to try and deter another one of Zuko's attacks by catching his flames in a current of air. After extinguishing yet another one of his attacks, Aang uses Zuko as a stepping stone. He pushes himself off against his head and creates an air scooter in mid-air that he uses to ride around the room and over the walls and ceiling as Zuko resumes attacking.
He avoids Zuko's repeated attacks; however, the prince manages to dissipate the air scooter by shattering it with a flame arc. Aang is smacked against the wall underneath a hanging tapestry. He quickly pushes himself up under the tapestry to avoid another fire blast. When he emerges at the top, he grabs the tapestry off its hooks and wraps it around Zuko's body, tangling him momentarily. This brief intermission gives Aang enough time to grab his glider and he turns around to face his opponent, pointing the end of the staff at Zuko who destroys the tapestry with firebending. Zuko assumes a fighting stance while Aang looks on with alarm. Aang uses airbending to propel a mattress lying in a corner toward Zuko. The mattress slams into the Fire Nation prince, sending him colliding into the wall, before falling onto the mattress. Aang propels the mattress upward, sending Zuko slamming into the ceiling of the room. Aang makes a break for it before the mattress touches the ground again. Zuko and the mattress fall to the floor and Zuko remains lying face down upon it. Zuko raises his head and glances around the empty room, fuming.
At the main control room of the ship, the wheel of the hatch located toward the back of the room begins spinning rapidly. The hatch opens with a small tornado of air and Aang emerges. A man is in the control room at the helm. Aang leaps from the hatch and runs across the room, leaping over a table and past the man who looks up in surprise. He exits the room and runs onto the upper deck of the ship. On the upper deck, Aang happily spreads his arms and welcomes the fresh air. He throws his staff over the balcony which opens into a glider and begins soaring away. He appears successful until Zuko appears, leaping forward, his arms extended outward. While yelling, Zuko manages to grab hold of Aang's ankle. Aang's expression of triumph turns into one of despair as he begins losing altitude, struggling to maintain the weight of the extra, unexpected person.
The two plummet down to the lower deck of the ship and land with a crash. They bounce a few times before coming to a halt. Aang's glider closes again to a staff. Both lie on the deck for a moment. Zuko's eyes narrow in anger. Zuko begins rising, a look of persistence on his face. Aang rises and assumes a fighting stance, looking very unsure of himself.
"We can join in if you need us to," Merida said as she, Hiccup, Rapunzel, and Jack arrived behind Zuko.
Zuko stood there for a moment before deciding, "Fine. I could use the extra help." In response to this, Rapunzel used her airbending to blast away Aang's staff. The others took on a fighting stance.
Before the fight could begin, Appa's growl distracts both fighters. Aang averts his gaze and catches sight of Appa heading toward the ship.
"What is that?" Zuko asked, shocked.
"Appa!" Aang yelled ecstatically.
"I've read about them. They're called a flying bison and they were apparently the partners of young airbenders. In a way, they're not that much different from dragons," Hiccup informed.
"Really? That sounds incredible!" Rapunzel marveled at the sight of the bison.
Aang is quick to grab his staff at the distraction. He then turns around to face Zuko and manages to deflect a firebending attack by spinning his glider around like a baton. However, he propels himself by accident into the air and lands on the ledge of the deck. He leans precariously over the side, unsteadily balancing himself, but manages to regain his balance only for Zuko to fire another blast at him. He twirls his glider again to deflect the attack. Merida tries to shoot some arrows at Aang only for him to jump out of the way. Two more blasts of fire and one of air are fired his way before he loses his grip on his glider and the object spins away. The staff falls several feet away. Aang ducks, spins and leaps out of the way of blasts and lands on the very ledge, struggling to keep his balance. Zuko hurls more fire blasts his way, Merida shoots arrows, Rapunzel air blasts, Hiccup some rocks, and Jack bursts of water. Aang holds up his hands in defense, but the last blast seemingly knocks him out cold and he falls backward off the ship into the water where he slowly sinks.
"Aang! No!" Katara yelled horrified from her position on Appa.
Aang as he sinks further underwater.
"Aang! Aang! Aang!"
Aang, his eyes closed, seemingly unconscious. Suddenly his eyes open, glowing a bright white, along with his arrow tattoos, and he frowns angrily. He steadies himself in the water and begins swiveling around, a waterspout forming around him. He rockets upward and erupts from the surface, riding a humongous spinning water vortex.
Zuko's ship is overshadowed by the waterspout. Aang appearing on screen atop the vortex. Zuko looks up in lands, summoning the water behind him. Aang's eyes and tattoos still glowing, as he brings his hands around behind his head. The water swirls around him, forming a protective circle, before spreading outward, knocking Zuko, Hiccup, Rapunzel, Merida, Jack, and several soldiers off their feet. Jack ends up unconscious as a result of the wave of water. Zuko falls over the edge and shouts in surprise. Sokka and Katara are leaning over the side of Appa's saddle watching in shock.
"Did you see what he just did?!" Katara questioned, shocked.
"Now that was some waterbending!" Sokka said, impressed.
Aang collapses onto the ground from exhaustion, his eyes and tattoos ceasing to glow. Appa growls and lands on the deck. Katara and Sokka slide down and quickly run toward the unconscious Avatar.
"Aang! Are you okay?" Katara asked worriedly.
She kneels down, holding Aang with Sokka following close behind.
"Hey, Katara. Hey, Sokka. Thanks for coming." Aang said weakly.
"Well, I couldn't let you have all the glory."
"I dropped my staff." Aang said weakly.
Rising Sokka said, "Got it!"
Sokka runs over, grabs a hold of the glider and lifts it only to see Zuko's hand firmly gripping the other end. Sokka appears horrified as Zuko attempts to pull himself upward onto the deck. The two struggle for a bit before Sokka pokes Zuko repeatedly in the head with the end of the staff the way Zuko did earlier with him. Zuko grunts and falls backward as he lets go of the staff. He falls off the side of the ship, but manages to grasp the anchor chain.
"Ha! That's from the Water Tribe!" Sokka said triumphantly.
Appa rises from a puddle of water after Katara helps Aang to climb atop his head. Katara still stands beside the large beast while Aang lies on top of his head. Cut to three soldiers, Merida, Hiccup, and Rapunzel, who rise after being knocked down by Aang's water attack and menacingly approach her. Katara takes a step back and slowly and precariously bends a stream of water from the puddle, causing the men and the trio to slow down and gasp in surprise. She swings her arms around in an attempt to whip them, however, only succeeds in freezing a channel of water behind her on the deck, encasing Sokka's legs in ice in the process.
"Katara!" Sokka complained.
The soldiers resume their approach. Katara turns around, her back facing them and draws another stream of water. She closes her eyes tightly, swings her arms behind her and turns around to see one of the soldiers as well as Hiccup and Merida completely frozen in a casing of ice, the soldier's arm extended outward to her, still twitching in effort to grab her. She backs away slowly, but turns around and quickly runs toward Appa. She begins mounting Appa while Sokka is trying to cut himself free by smashing his icy chains with his boomerang.
"Hurry up, Sokka!" Katara yells urgently.
Muttering to himself as he uses his boomerang to chip the ice. "I'm just a guy, with a boomerang." He frees his left foot. "I didn't ask for all this flying and magic!" He manages to break free and races up Appa's tail. "Yip-yip! Yip-yip!"
Sokka mounts Appa who grunts and takes flight, flying past the cabin of the ship. Iroh emerges on deck, having just woken up from a nap.
Rubbing eyes and staring up at Appa in surprise. "Duh? Huh?"
Appa who soars away from the ship, while Iroh helps Zuko, grunting angrily with effort, to heft himself back onto the deck.
"Shoot them down!" Zukko yelled angrily.
Appa gained altitude before switching back to Zuko and Iroh standing on deck. Together, they synchronize a firebending move and fire a powerful blast at the bison. Sokka and Katara stare at the incoming attack in horror while Aang leaps onto the saddle. He opens the small tail wing of his staff and swings his glider around, using a powerful swipe of air to redirect the fireball into a nearby cliff side. The impact causes an avalanche of snow and ice to begin looks up in horror at the event, raising one arm protectively. The front of the ship becomes buried in a mass of snow and ice while Appa climbs higher and higher. Aang, Katara, and Sokka laugh as they escape successfully. Aang waves goodbye as Appa disappears around the cliff.
The ship with its bow stuck in the ice. Zuko is seen bending over in rage on the deck with Iroh erecting himself in the background.
"Good news for the Fire Lord. The Fire Nation's greatest threat is just a little kid." Iroh said calmly.
Zuko lifts his head and rises while his uncle is speaking.
Holding back rage. "That "kid", Uncle, just did this." gestures to the damaged ship, the whole front covered in ice and snow. "I won't underestimate him again." Zuko yells his order to the soldiers and points at the piles of snow. "Dig the ship out and follow them!"
Jack begins to use his waterbending to remove the ice. "It may take me a while to remove all the ice, but I should manage given time," Jack said.
"Then you all help him dig out the ship!" Zuko commanded his soldiers.
Three Fire Nation soldiers using their firebending to melt the icy encasings coating the three soldiers and Hiccup and Merida who were Katara's victims.
"As soon as you're done with that." Zuko said, slightly embarrassed.
"Oh, I can help with that," Jack said as he used his waterbending to free Hiccup, Merida, and the soldiers.
"Thanks a lot, Jack," Hiccup thanked Jack.
"Yeah. Thanks for freeing us from being frozen like statues," Merida thanked Jack.
"You're welcome," Jack accepted the thanks.
"Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's get the ship freed from the ice!" Merida commanded the soldiers and the trio.