A/N. It took me sometime, because he was writing Toph's perspective… But it didn't come out well. I had some difficulty with describing what was happening, so I chose to use Sokka's POV.
Sokka grabbed Toph's arm, pulling her towards the door that they had forced open just a few minutes before. Stepping over the bodies that were still lying on the ground, he glanced over his shoulder, looking out of the window.
The other airships were directly in their line of sight, and if he had guessed correctly, the impact would at least take some down. They were still far enough, to at least give them a chance at escape.
"Meathead, I'm going to kill you if we survive this!" The blind girl yelled at him, but he just looked at Suki, who seemed rather unsure of this action.
"We are going to die, aren't we?" his girlfriend sighed, apparently resigned to that fate.
"Not if I can help it! Come on, both of you! We need to get on the balloon!" That was their only chance. They were hundreds of feet in the air, so jumping into the ocean below wasn't an option, and staying in the ship itself would mean certain death. So… Well, dangerous warship surfing it was…
As he began to run through the corridor, the windows flashed passed them. Risking a quick look, the water tribe warrior felt his heart sink into his shoes. There was a sudden flash of light, looking like it could illuminate the whole peninsula. Flames roared from the front of each airship… Eleven firebenders. All that fire… was just eleven men.
No time to look now… There were more important things. He could not feel sorry for those who were dying on the ground… He had not told the others, but he had asked around in the camp of the White Lotus… And the forest on this small corner of the Earth Kingdom was inhabited… The man whom he had asked had said there were around a few thousand people, making their living in the thick forests of the northeastern Earth Kingdom…
There was nothing Sokka could do to stop this massacre… At least, not yet. If his plan worked, and hopefully it would… At least he would save some. Some people from this.
Tui and La, had the Air Temples burned like this?
They arrived at the door they had used to enter the airship, and Sokka just throw it open, while barely slowing down. As they emerged on the metal platform, the warm air hit his face and he could not stop himself hissing as some burning ash and embers hit him.
"Fuck… That is a lot of fire, isn't it?" Toph whispered next to him. Spirits… She sounded afraid. At least, as afraid as her pride would let on. But he knew… he knew what she meant.
"Yeah…" Suki spoke softly, sounded as afraid as Toph. They were no cowards… But Tui and La, what were they supposed to do against all of this? No way his plan would disable all airships. They would need nothing short of a miracle to see that happen. This airship would surely break down before reaching the last one… So maybe, they would stop some… But not all.
"Come on, we can discuss this higher up!" He shouted, waving towards the metal ladder that led upon the balloon. It was probably just a maintenance access, so Sokka doubted there would be much of safety up there to make sure they would not fall off… But everything was better than the alternatives.
Suki was the first to go up, and as he watched the Kyoshi Warrior climb up, he felt a hand on his arm.
"Aang is really here?" Toph asked softly, while sounding relieved. And he could not blame her… When he had seen his friend's distinctive orange and yellow tunic in the distance, Sokka could have kissed the ground and thanked any spirit who would care to listen… But he had also been worried. The Water Tribe warrior doubted he would be able to fight off firebenders while that blasted comet was in the sky… So how could Aang fight off the best bender of that element? With what? Three, four weeks of training?
"He is… Spirits I hope he will win." Sokka answered truthfully. It was no use lying about his worries, and certainly not while standing on metal, where Toph could feel his emotions.
"Can you see what is happening?" The blind girl asked, and the Water Tribe warrior knew that that question was difficult for the earthbender. There were things she could not feel, and certainly not while standing on an airship hundreds of feet in the air…
"No… They are behind us. I'll look when we are on the balloon. Climb!" He ordered her, and for once, she didn't complain and did as he asked. As the blind girl was clambering up the ladder, Sokka grabbed the rungs with his hands, placing one foot on the lowest one. Glancing towards the sea of fire beneath, he knew that they'd better not fall… If he was to die, he would prefer it was quick and painless… And he doubted that falling from this height, into an inferno, was painless.
Looking up, he saw that Toph was nearly at the end of the ladder, where Suki was extending a hand. So, there was something like a platform or something similar on the balloon… Good. At least some good news. As Sokka began to climb up too, he looked over his shoulder, towards the place he had seen Aang. Squinting his eyes, he tried to see passed all the smoke.
As if the spirits listened, the smoke suddenly blew away and gave him a clear sight of the strange rock formation in the distance, where the Fire Lord and the Avatar were fighting.
Spirits… Sokka was suddenly glad that Katara wasn't here.
Flames were roaring up from the pillars in the distance, bigger than he had ever seen… And to be honest, it seemed so aggressive that he doubted Aang was the origin of that fire… Sokka stopped climbing for a moment to watch the battle unfurl in the distance, and fear gripped his heart as he realized that… Well, his friend was in mortal danger.
It had always seemed so far off… So easy. Their plan, for months, had been so simple. Fight the Fire Lord, kill him and live happily ever after. But this… Spirits, this was anything but simple. As he watched, he saw a small figure bend water from the mountain side, and the liquid hit the flames. Shit… Aang.
For everyone's sake, win! You have to!
"Meathead! Come on!" He suddenly heard a shout, and, forcing himself to look away from the battle in the distance, he continued his climb. They had asked too much from their friend… They had forced him to be something he was not. Aang wasn't a warrior. He would defend the innocent and fight when necessary… But he wasn't a fighter. The airbender would be much more comfortable talking and trying to help out someone than spitting fire and wielding weapons. Katara had been right, they had asked too much… And now, if they weren't careful… They would pay the price for that mistake.
The price being the Earth Kingdom… Their lives… And the world.
A hand appeared in his sight, and, grabbing it, he felt the callous fingers of Toph pulling him upwards. As he stood on the metal platform, he realized the mistake. They were standing on the balloon, far away from the metal compartments underneath it… Those that he was going to use as a ram to make the other airships fall out of the sky… But if his guess was incorrect, and the impact would be lower… Well, if there were explosions…
He groaned as he understood. That would be so horrible. The balloons were filled with highly flammable gas, at least, he supposed they were… One explosion… And they were all dead.
"Great Spirits, it is hotter here than in Sugar Queen's pants when she sees Twinkles." Toph spoke lightly, but the underlying tone was anything but calm. Shuddering, Sokka ignored that remark. As much as he loved the fact that his sister and his best friend were together, he did not, and would never, want to know exactly how much those two loved it each other.
"Come on, we need to get to the front." He grumbled trying to hold down his gagging while Suki looked at him with a bemused, thin smile on her lips. Marching off, he grabbed the metal railing that lined the small walkway from the platform towards another platform at the front.
As they began to run, the airship suddenly lurched upwards, the golden figurehead at the front suddenly appearing in his line of sight. Shit. His calculations had been slightly off.
"Hold on!" Sokka shouted, grabbing the railing even harder than he had already done. Turning his head so he could see the others, he saw that Toph had wrapped a part of the metal bars around her hands, making sure that she couldn't let go. That was the most intelligent thing to do to be honest… Sokka cursed himself once more for not being a bender. Sure, he could fight, and often even better than most benders… But sometimes, it came in handy.
Where was Suki?
Searching behind the blind girl, the Water Tribe warrior saw his girlfriend still stand on the platform where they had come from.
"Suki! Come here!" He shouted, but the screeching underneath them amplified even further, and the metal squeals made him think that the ship part of the balloon had made contact with the other airship. Spirits, please hold in one piece… Just for a moment. For once, he begged the Fire Nation to have made an unbreakable weapon.
The screeching stopped suddenly for a few seconds, only to begin anew once more. The balloon shook violently, but it was still not breaking down. Two airships down… Two. It wasn't enough! There were still… Nine? Yes, nine! Tui and La, nine airships could still do so much damage…
"Fan Girl, I can't keep this fucking thing together much longer. Come here!"
Suddenly, Sokka understood. Toph wasn't keeping herself safe by metalbending the railing… She was making sure the airship didn't disintegrate. Suki looked up, and as if she woke up from a dream, suddenly looked around, as if she realized just now that she was in the most dangerous place on earth. The metal cabins underneath the balloon screamed once more than once again. Two more down…
As he kept his eyes trained on Suki, who was now making her way as fast as possible towards them, the Water Tribe warrior suddenly heard a painful groan. Glancing towards Toph, he saw that her left forearm was a bloody mess, and the metal railing hung loosely, as if it was ripped from the balloon.
"Alright! I'm alright! Nothing major!" The blind girl yelled, but the balloon suddenly felt lighter. They moved upwards for a few seconds before a sudden air current hit his face. Shit! The balloon had been ripped!
"Alright, hang on!" He shouted at Toph, before turning back to Suki, who was still a few yards away…
Please, don't crash now. Just a few moments longer…
The spirits hated him.
The screeching suddenly became deafening, and without thinking, Sokka quickly grabbed Toph and pulled her further away, towards the platform at the front of the airship. The metal walkway disappeared just in front of them, and the smoke and sudden movements made him lose sight of Suki. A cold hand closed around his heart…
Please Spirits… not that. Everything but that.
Gritting his teeth, Sokka knew he couldn't change anything about it… And they needed to keep moving, as fast as possible... But he could not just leave…
"Suki!" He shouted as hard as he could. Please… let there be an answer. Just a sound. Just some proof that she wasn't… Well… falling hundreds of feet, towards the burning ground.
"I'm alright! Can't reach you! Go on!" He heard a voice call back from the dark smoke. Closing his eyes for a second, he felt relief course through him. At least some good news…
"Come on Meathead, she will be alright! It is us we need to worry about! We are only flying one tenth of a ship here!" Suddenly, a hand grabbed his armour and began to pull him further. As the smoke cleared, he saw that Toph was right. The airship they had commandeered was still… Well, nearly intact. The balloon had split nearly perfectly, and as most of the ship was stuck on another airship, their part, the front, with its golden figurehead was free-falling towards another of the airships... Number six.
They had managed to destroy five of the ships, or at least incapacitate them enough so they didn't form such a big threat. Spirits… As good as that sounded, it wasn't enough! They needed more!
"I would suggest we abandon ship." Toph suggested with a sarcastic smile. Spirits, how was she joking at this moment? Sokka himself felt queasy, realizing that Suki had actually had most of their luck. She was stuck on another airship, on which the ruins of their were stuck… But at least, she was still flying.
They were not. It was just the momentum that had propelled them further… They were in deep shit…
Looking frantically around, a sudden gush of wind coming out of nowhere cleared a line, revealing that they were just a few feet above one of the other airship. Biting his lower lip, time seemed to slow down.
They could jump. If… If, with any kind of luck, they didn't land on anything metallic… Just on the balloon… He could use his knife pin them to the balloon. He would need to leave it there, of course, to make sure the balloon didn't deflate to quickly… But they would be safer. At least, safer than on a golden figurehead that was hurling itself towards the ground with a rather quick pace.
"Toph! Hold on! We are going to jump!" He shouted, closing his arms underneath the arms of the blind girl. Normally, it wasn't something he would do… Because Sokka was painfully aware where he was holding her, and how awkward that would be.
But now was not the time to worry about that.
"Sokka, if you jump off this thing I'm going to k-" The rest of her sentence was drowned in sudden whistling air, as the Water Tribe warrior just jumped. Squinting his eyes, he realized he had been mistaken. The distance between their former vehicle and the airship had been greater, but… Maybe, with a bit of luck?
As the red fabric raced towards him, he suddenly saw blue flashed in the distance. Risking a glance, he saw lightning shoot out from the rock formation. Forcing his eyes away, back to the airship below, he knew what that was. Aang had never learned lightning bending. Ozai was trying to kill the airbender…
Someone better be there for him. If you leave him now, I'll hunt you down.
Sokka didn't know to whom he was speaking, but he hoped that someone had heard. But he knew he couldn't concentrate on Aang now. No… Now, his duty was keeping Toph safe. He could do nothing for Suki, but he had promised his sister he would look out for the blind girl.
As the red fabric was just a few inches away, he closed his eyes, rolling himself and the blind girl so they would land on their side. He wasn't an expert, but he would prefer to break shoulders than have a scrap of metal puncture his stomach. Suddenly, his arm and shoulder hit something rather hard. Quickly rolling onto his back, he didn't feel anything major breaking. He had bruised a substantial part of his right side… But if that was everything…
"Alright, enough with the hands on the tits Meathead. I'm not Suki." Toph grumbled as he felt his hands being removed rather forcefully. Opening his eyes, he noticed shadows hurling towards them.
"Sorry!" He shouted, rolling on top of her, his back towards the sky. He didn't know what exactly was raining down on them, but at least, he could see it coming. Toph could not. As he stayed on the blind girl, he heard the sickening crunches of flesh hitting something. Glancing to the left, from where the sounds were coming, he gagged at the sight.
The airship they had hit last was passing above them. Apparently, some soldiers had tried to save themselves by jumping down, but their heavier armour had not helped. And they had landed on the metallic parts of the balloon. Sokka watched with horror as a man clad in a red and golden uniform fell down, landed on his feet and broke both his legs. The screams were horrible. The man fell down on his side, and the ember eyes found his.
For a moment, he saw pure hatred, before it changed into something else… The man looked like an animal did when they were cornered, ready for the slaughter. The pure, terrified look of a living being that knew that he was going to die and couldn't do anything to change that. Sokka removed himself from Toph, standing up. Unsheathing his sword, he stepped gingerly towards the man, whose eyes followed the sword tip.
"You… You are not Fire Nation." He heard the man groan painfully. Sokka faltered, standing in front of the man. Looking at his legs, he saw bones sticking out of it, splintered and a rightful mess.
"No… No, I'm not." He answered. Spirits… Was he really talking to a man during the battle?
"Suppose you did that." The man waved a bloodied hand to the burning airships further along the line.
"Yes." Why lie? The man already knew the truth…
"Well, do it. I'm not going to survive it. Better to die by the sword than by the fire below." The man closed his eyes. Sokka felt horrified at the ease the man accepted death. But… Well, he could understand. Better to die in a dignified way than screaming and burning slowly. Gritting his teeth, Sokka lowered his sword, touching the throat of the man. Letting the weight of the sword do the rest, the Water Tribe warrior felt the metal slide into the man. Waiting a few seconds, he pulled it free, turning back to Toph who had also got up.
"What now?" She asked, dusting herself off.
Sokka looked around. There were still six airships flying over the forest, burning the ground. They were lower now than they had been on the first ship, and he could actually feel the flames on the ground. The air was a mixture between smoke, sulphur, burning wood… And something else that he hoped was just someone cooking some meat above a fire.
Of course, it wasn't. It were the people in the airships they had destroyed, or the people below, the Earth Kingdom citizens that were burning…
Looking over the metal platform on which he was now standing, he saw that the walkway actually led in two directions. The first, towards the front, didn't inspire him. The second, however… looking to the end of it, he saw something that could work.
The airship used four stabilizers… Two vertical ones and two horizontal ones. But on the superior vertical one, there was a rudder. A rudder that was used to move the airship to the left or the right… They… They could do the same thing as they had done with the other airship. But instead of using this one as a sort of ploughing machine, destroying the upper part of each balloon… They could ram it into the side of the one next to them. And the impact… The impact could, perhaps, move second into the path of the third… And so on.
They stood a chance… Spirits, it would be crazy, but they could actually survive this. As long as no firebenders came looking for the saboteurs… Perhaps they stood a chance. He just prayed that Suki had at least found a safe place on the ship that was being abandoned by its crew…
"Could you metalbend that rudder?" He pointed before dropping his hand lamely. Spirits, every time…
"I can. Just tell me in which direction." Toph shrugged, ignoring his stupid gesture. Quickly running towards it, Sokka permitted himself a glance towards the rock formation. There was no lightning anymore… But he didn't see Aang, or Ozai… Only flames. Only that… Was it over? As he looked, a great plume of fire emerged from the limit between the pillars and those dunes…
They were still fighting… Spirits, Aang…
Forcing himself to look away, he stopped as they arrived next to the end of the ship.
"Pull this," He knocked a finger against the metal, "Towards us. I'll tell you when to stop."
"Alright!" Toph put her hands to the metal, and as easily as he would crumble a piece of paper, the blind girl began to yank the metal towards them. The airship groaned, the machinery and the actions on the rudder probably being rather contradictory… But the ship began to veer to the right! Towards the other ship!
"Stop!" He put a hand on the blind girl's shoulder, watching how at the front of the ship, the golden figurehead grazed the stabilizers of the next airship. The points of the gilded flames became entangled into the rudder, and yanked it clean off. Sighing in relief that his plan was working, he watched as the ship on which they were standing actually managed to stay in the air, racing towards a second victim.
"We are killing hundreds without as much as lifting a finger." Toph sounded surprised at their own merciless actions… But Sokka didn't know how else he could do it. They needed to stop the airships.
"Better a few hundred than millions." He grumbled. Spirits, Aang would have looked at him with a raised eyebrow if he heard him speaking like that… But it was for the airbender he was doing this. If the soldiers on the airships were allowed to wreak havoc… The airbender would have to fight them too!
Just a few feet away, a hatch door suddenly opened and a helmeted head appeared, watching in front, not seeing them. Sokka didn't say anything, but put a finger to his mouth. Silently walking to the hatch, he kicked it against the head.
"Now, run!" He shouted, waiting a second for Toph to join him. Grabbing a firm hod on her hand, he pulled her away, running over the balloon. Spirits he hoped that he had knocked the man out cold… otherwise they were in for a very bad time. He had recognized the horned helmet as one of those elite firebenders…
A small crackle sounded behind them, and he held in a groan. The man had not been knocked out… And was actually going to attack them.
"Run faster!" Sokka yelled, as heat appeared just beside him. Flames roared passed them, way hotter and more powerful than he was used to… Damned comet! He vowed that if he survived this, he was going to study that damned thing and make Zuko introduce a law forbidding firebending on the day of its passage.
The flames licked the fur on his armour, and he cursed. They were arriving at the curvature of the balloon… And underneath them was just burning forest. Without thinking, he smashed the point of the sword into the balloon, grabbing an even tighter hold on Toph's fingers, and just… slid off.
Green fabric raced passed him, and he suddenly felt all the weight of the earthbender hanging from his hand. Gritting his teeth, he kept her sweaty fingers firmly in his own hand, while holding the sword hilt. Looking at the weapon, he saw that it had just slid out of the balloon…
They were falling…
Looking down, he closed his eyes as he saw metal platforms on the sides… It had probably been the places for the firebenders to burn down the Earth Kingdom… But he knew those were going to hurt. At least, hurt badly enough to knock him out of the fight. But he had to keep a hold of Toph. He couldn't let her go!
As his body hit the platform, Sokka felt his leg slam just inches away from the ledge. As his left leg bend in a rather unnatural way, he noticed the blood before the pain. As he felt his bones break, he couldn't help but cry out. Looking at his leg, he saw the bones sticking out just underneath his knee. That was bad… if they had pierced his armour, which meant that the break was considerable… Gritting his teeth, he kept Toph's hand firmly.
Toph!
"Fuck! Are you alright?" He shouted, as he rolled on his side to see the earthbender dangle in the air, just holding on by the sheer force of will he put in his arm and hand.
"Sokka! Get me up!" He suddenly heard the desperation in the blind girl's voice… Spirits… She couldn't see a thing! She… the only thing she felt was his pain!
Suddenly, hard footsteps sounded on the platforms beside them. Glancing towards them, he saw the red and gold uniforms. Shit…
On his right, a man began to bend fire towards them. Without thinking, his warrior training kicked in. With his only free hand, he yanked his boomerang out if its sheath and throw it at the man. Without looking, because he knew his own prowess with the weapon, he directed his attention toward the man on the left. He had been slower than his comrade, but had also begun to bend.
Keeping a good grip on Toph, he searched next to him… Please, Spirits, please, Tui and La! Let his sword be there… Touching cold metal, he nearly sighed in relief as he pulled his sword to him.
But… what now?
Looking at the straight blade, he did what he thought was the stupidest thing he had done. He threw it. If only it could distract the man…
It did better than that. As Sokka watched, the pointed sunk into the chest of the man, who staggered backwards, falling off the platform into the inferno below. Feeling tears of relief flow over his cheek, he put his head against the cool metal.
"Sokka!"
The moment of respite stopped immediately as he realized that due to his relief, he had let his grip falter.
"Toph!" He yelled, throwing his other hand over the edge and grabbing her more firmly. He saw the pale, misty eyes look straight into his own eyes. Toph probably didn't realize… But spirits, so much fear hung into those eyes.
"This is it… isn't it?" She yelled to be heard above the roaring of the flames below.
"No… no it isn't!" He shouted back.
"Shut up, I can feel you lying!" He heard the soft sad laugh.
Behind him, he heard other footsteps. Fuck… They had failed. There were still some airships in the sky, burning the forest… And they were going to die. Any moment now, he would feel the searing heat of flames, or the cold embrace of a lance tip… And he would drop Toph as he died…
His last thought would be how he had failed her…
The footsteps suddenly disappeared into a panicked scramble.
Risking a furtive look, he suddenly saw a golden figurehead appear out of nowhere, ramming into the airship just a few yards away from them. What the… As the golden flames were ploughing a way through the cabin of the airship, Sokka glanced down to see the soft fabric of the balloon just below them.
"Don't worry, you are not dropping far!" He shouted before releasing Toph's fingers. Rolling himself off the platform, he fell for a few moments before hitting the balloon. Spirits… They had survived it… For the moment at least.
"Need a hand?" Looking up, he saw the blind girl stand beside him. The ash-covered face had streaks of clean skin on her cheeks… But he chose not to say anything about that.
"I would rather have a shoulder to lean on." He groaned as he felt Toph pull him up. Letting his weight rest on his right leg, he knew that it was crucial not to put any weight upon the left one… His leg was already a mess, no need to make it even worse.
"What happened? I… I didn't understand." The earthbender asked as he felt her arm around him, giving him some support. He was wounded, had no weapons anymore… They were screwed.
"Me neither…" He whispered, before looking over to the rudders of this airship. If they could reach those… Maybe they stood a chance. If they could use this ship to ram the three remaining…
"Oh… hehe…" Suddenly, Toph face broke into a smile. Not understanding it, he glanced down to see that the blind girl had a toe on the metal lining of the balloon, "I understand now."
"What?" He didn't!
"I don't know how… but I would look more closely at the end." Her hand gestured towards the rudder. Squinting his eyes, trying to ignore the pain in his leg, he realized… there was someone standing there…
As the smoke cleared, he could have laughed aloud if it would not hurt him. There… Using a rope to bend the rudder to her will… Stood Suki.
Spirits above and below, he could have cried. They had survived the worst of it… And all they had was a broken leg, Toph's wound on her arm… And that was it. Laughing aloud as he saw Suki wave at him, he could have run over to kiss her senseless… If running had been an option.
Turning around, he suddenly saw that they had a clear view on the rock formation… And this time he laughed even harder, howling a shout.
"Spirits… You have lost your mind." Toph grumbled, as she put fingers in her ears.
"Oh no Toph!" He yanked one finger out of her ear, "I definitely have not lost my mind!"
Looking to the pillars, he could have cried for joy. For there… Aang was clearly in the Avatar State. A dark figure was trying to flee away from the glowing Avatar, but said Avatar was not having it. Each time Ozai was getting away, he was just grabbed by water tendrils or invisible air currents and hurled back towards the rageful Avatar.
"Air Head is kicking some Fire Lord butt!" She shouted into Toph's ear. Spirits… Please let this happen…
Answers:
TheQuietRead23 : Thank you! I was rereading some parts of the story to get into the right mindset, and I stumbled onto the chapter after Hama! Reading it, I realized I could use that advice for this part… Because to kill a mentally unstable person would, in Katara's eyes, be considered cruel and evil. Even if said person was a piece of shit to begin with.