Hidy-ho, folks! It took a little while, but I got a big heapin' bowl of Chapter 14 for you. Beta-d and better than ever. Eat up!
Chapter 14: "The Climax"
(can you tell I'm running out of C-words, folks?)
Zuko and Katara peered out into the cove from where they crouched in the bushes. Their boat was still beached on shore, while several other boats from the Fire Nation vessel stood in shallow water, their ramps leading down to the beach. No soldiers could be seen.
"Are we going to use one of their boats to sneak aboard?" Katara whispered.
"No," Zuko replied, "That ship will be on sharp lookout. We'd be suspected before we got anywhere close. We're going to use your waterbending instead." He turned to her. "I want you to propel us through the water—like when we escaped Zhao's ship—only this time, do it under the surface, where we won't be seen." Zuko paused, then pointed to the boats resting in the shallow waters of the cove, "But first, push those boats up onto the beach. That will buy us some time while the soldiers here try to get them back into the water. The longer we can delay them, the better chance we have to free my uncle."
Katara nodded. Well, it would at least help Aang and Sokka if they got captured. The waterbender moved her arms back and forth, creating a current in the cove. Small waves began to lap at the shore and slowly the boats started to edge forward. It was difficult moving the boats onto the beach, especially with their ramps still lowered, but within a couple minutes, the boats were pushed all the way up onto where the sand was dry. The two of them quickly made their way to the water and waded in. When they were deep enough, Katara and Zuko embraced, each keeping their eyes averted.
"Take a deep breath," Katara said, indicating she was ready. Zuko took as much air into his lungs as he could hold, and his grip on her tightened unconsciously. Quite suddenly, the prince felt himself sucked underwater with Katara. The waterbender freed one hand and thrust it toward the shore, jettisoning the two out of the narrow mouth of the cove. Katara moved them swiftly through the water, narrowly dodging the crags Zuko had navigated through when they had arrived here last night.
Finally, they reached their destination. Zuko looked up at the shimmering surface far above them, his lungs feeling by then as though they would explode from lack of air. Remember, Prince Zuko, he dryly recalled his uncle saying, Fire comes from the breath. Air is vital to fueling the flame. With a final thrust of her hand, Katara propelled them to the sparkling surface, slowing them down just before they broke it as to not create a large splash. Zuko released Katara, gasping loudly, while the waterbender panted slightly, more from exertion than lack of air.
After he had caught his breath, the prince looked up along the side of the vessel. The portholes on the ship seemed impossibly high up from where they treaded in the water. "I don't think my waterbending will be able to support your weight enough to carry you all the way up there," Katara remarked. She paused a moment, thinking. After another moment, she brightened and said, "But I can think of another way!" The waterbender summoned a ball of water from the sea around them and swam up to the side of the ship. She placed the ball of water against the ship's side and blew on it, freezing it to the metal. Katara repeated the process a few times, each ball placed higher than the last, before Zuko realized what she was doing—she was creating a ladder up the side of the ship with ice!
Katara started climbing up the ice-ladder she had made, occasionally pausing to create more foot and handholds as she went. "Hurry up," she called down to him, "You don't want to wait until it melts!" Zuko looked dubious at first, worried that the slick ice would make for easy slipping, but when he tried out the first handhold he found the top of the ice dented inwards, giving him a place to hook his fingers into. Quickly he began to climb, catching up to Katara as she made the last few steps up into the porthole.
Katara fidgeted with the porthole, trying to pry it open. Eventually it gave way, swinging out widely, causing Katara to duck. Peeking in, she found the room empty, much to their luck. She looked down to tell Zuko the news and blanched slightly at the sight of how high up they were. Taking a shaky breath, she informed, "The window's open and no one's inside. Come on!" Katara climbed her way through the porthole, Zuko following after.
Once they were both inside what appeared to be a storage room for the ship, Zuko strode to the door and motioned her beside him. "Follow me, and do exactly as I say, when I say it. Understand?" Katara nodded, too worried to be piqued at his curt orders. Zuko cracked open the door and look up and down the hallway. Empty. Good. He quietly opened the door and stepped out into the passageway, Katara right behind.
The fire prince made his way through the hallways quickly, again displaying his familiarity with his nation's ships. It appeared most of the crew on this vessel were busy elsewhere; only once or twice did the two have to hide from the occasional soldier. When they reached the stairs leading to the brig, however, it was quite a different story. Zuko peered down the steps, able to make out several different voices coming from the brig below. So, whoever was in charge of this ship had put his uncle under high supervision. He wondered where his crew was being held, but after a moment's thought Zuko realized with his uncle in captivity his crew wouldn't need to be held—they would comply to just about anything to keep him from harm.
Zuko smirked inwardly. He had managed to help free the Avatar under much stricter security—breaking his uncle out of this prison should be no problem at all.
"What is this?" Captain Himoto asked aloud as her eyes scanned the shore. Every single boat, which had been resting in shallow waters when they left them, were now far up along the beach, completely out of reach of the water. Himoto looked at the sand. Wet. But it was too quick to be the tide...then what? In a flash, she remembered—Admiral Zhao had mentioned Prince Zuko traveling with a waterbender.
So, the waterbender was alive. If that was the case, she would also have to assume Prince Zuko was also alive as well. The fishing boat they had come across—that must have been their transport. The boat was still here, however...were the two still on the island? "Keep an eye open. Be ready for an ambush," she warned her men, eying the foliage around them suspiciously. "You," she addressed the Avatar, "Move these ships back into the water."
"I don't know how to waterbend very well..." Aang fibbed quickly.
"Liar," Himoto replied icily, "You know, it is only by your cooperation that your companions stay uninvolved. If you'd prefer, we can go back to retrieve them..."
Aang scowled, but complied. With a large sweep of his arms, the boy brought a large wave water up towards the beached boats, submerging the bottom halves in a rush of water. When the water began to recede back to the ocean, the boats slowly followed, until at last they were back in shallow water again. Himoto's men quickly boarded the boats, many having to wade through a bit of water to reach the ramps. Aang could have tilted the boats with the water so the ramps rested on dry land, but the Avatar wasn't exactly feeling accommodating.
Once Himoto had the Avatar secured on the boat she was riding, the captain gave the order to move out.
That was when they heard a great crashing in the trees.
His uncle had always said, "It is the old tricks that work best."
Zuko couldn't have agreed more. The prince wasn't quite sure how many soldiers were down there guarding his uncle, but he was certain it was more than he could handle at once, even with Katara's assistance. Instead, he decided to draw them out one at a time, as he had done when aiding the Avatar in his escape from Zhao's prison. He stood braced against the wall, waiting for the first soldier to come up the stairs to investigate the loud stomping and banging noises he had made. Katara crouched hidden around the corner, watchful.
He heard footsteps, along with a gruff, "What's going on up there? What's that racket?" The soldier stepped out into the hallway, oblivious to Zuko's presence. Zuko attacked, bringing his heel up and around to make contact with the man's temple. With a grunt, the soldier's eyes rolled up into their sockets and he collapsed onto the ground. Zuko dragged the unconscious man with some effort down the hall and out of the way. Now he would have to wait until they sent another gaurd up.
Iroh watched as the soldiers pondered over their comrade's delay. Wise with experience, Iroh was already aware that the soldier had been dispatched of, but by who? Clearly someone who was trying to reach him...one of the men? Prince Zuko? Or the Avatar?
"Go check what's going on up there. See why Mika hasn't returned," the chief of the guards said to his subordinate. Iroh almost chuckled at how the soldiers were playing themselves right into a trap.
"I wouldn't do that," Zhao drawled from his cell. Iroh frowned. It appeared Zhao too was aware of what was going on. Why was he interfering? The general caught the admiral's eyes. I'm not letting you escape so easily, they seemed to say, You're going to go down with me. "It's obviously a trap. If you're going to go up there, you'd best be prepared for an ambush."
"Yes, quickly, gather your men up to investigate your comrade's disappearance. I'm sure us two dangerous men won't try anything while you are away," Iroh sarcastically added.Zhao narrowed his eyes. The soldiers stood irritated and confused at their captives' helpful advice.
"Take someone with you," the chief decided, and two of the soldiers marched up the stairs, leaving only the two more soldiers left to guard Zhao and Iroh, the chief included. With a smile, Iroh listened to the muffled thumps followed by silence. Zhao groaned irritably from his cell. The chief, after a moment of silence, said, "Sound the alarm." The other remaining soldier went to pull the rope that would ring the alarm bell when he was stopped by a warning blast of fire from Iroh.
The chief immediately placed his palms out, ready to fire on Iroh. "Halt!" he barked.
"Yes," Zhao growled, "that's quite enough." He too brought his palms forward to face Iroh.
"Zhao,"Iroh said in a low voice, "You are already aware from our encounter on the island what sort of firepower I possess. Do you wish to provoke it, with nowhere to hide?"
Zhao laughed nastily, "I'm not going to face Lord Ozai's wrath alone, general, while you trot off a free man with your rescuer, no matter what threats you deliver. Especially since, if it hadn't been for your continual interference, I'd be rolling in fame and fortune right now."
For several moments nobody moved, and a heavy silence filled the room. Iroh, deciding that the guards were the first thing that needed to be taken care of, struck first as he swiftly launched a fireball at the guard closest to the alarm bell. The soldier was easily overwhelmed by the attack and knocked unconscious as he was forcefully thrown into the back wall. Iroh leapt back into his cell to avoid being struck by the remaining soldier's retaliation, and was nearly caught off guard by Zhao's following attack immediately afterward. The general crossed his chest with his forearms to shield himself from Zhao's fireball, the swept his arms down and outwards to extinguish the attack. A stinging pain in Iroh's fingers reminded him of his last fight with the admiral.
Two against one and with little room to move. Iroh hoped his rescuer would have the courtesy of appearing soon, otherwise things might get a little messy.
Ordinarily, charging at a troop of firebenders, even with the aid of a giant flying bison and a lemur, was suicide. Ordinarily, Sokka would have strongly advised against it, to the effect of kicking and screaming...but his friend was in trouble, and it couldn't be helped. And he had a plan. Sort of.
Sokka squeezed his eyes shut as tree branches and leaves whipped by him. When Appa had finally gained enough altitude to ascend the treetops, the warrior took in the sight below him. A cove, dead ahead, with several boats full of firebenders in its waters. Offshore of the island, Sokka saw a massive Fire Nation ship, accompanied with Prince Zuko's. Great, he thought, as if things weren't bad enough already, we have two Fire Nation ships on our tail! How the hell are we supposed to escape from that? Well, first thing's first—I gotta get Aang! "Okay, Appa," Sokka shouted down to the bison, "You know what to do! Just don't get hurt, okay?" The bison nodded his head in acknowledgment.
Sokka tugged the reins to the side, guiding the bison until the morning sun, which peered over the tops of the trees, was right behind them. "Here we go!"
Aang watched along with Himoto and her firebenders as Appa flew into the rising sun. "They're using the sun as a cover! Prepare to attack! Fire on my signal!" the leader shouted to her men. Squinting, Aang could make out the shadow of Appa's girth as he soared towards them. Eventually the bison became close enough that he blocked out the sun's light from behind, and the Himoto yelled, "FIRE!"
A blaze of fire came from each firebender as they attempted to take Appa down. Sokka tugged sharply on the reins and bison immediately flew upwards, dodging the attacks in a high arc. The Avatar watched as the bison flew over him...
...and past him.
Huh? What were they doing? Weren't they going to rescue him? Aang's confusion turned to panic as he saw the bison begin to plummet towards an empty part of the cove. From atop Appa's head, one word could be heard from Sokka as he screamed at the top of his lungs...
"CANNONBALL!"
Zuko heard shouts from the bottom of the stairs, soon accompanied by several flashes of orange light. Worried for his uncle, and unable to wait any longer, Zuko signaled to Katara to follow and cautiously descended the stairs. When he reached the bottom, he remained completely unnoticed—his uncle was locked in a furious firefight with a guard and...Zhao! Zuko was surprised to see Zhao in custody. But, there would be time to deal with that in a moment.
The prince raced forward, landing a kick to the remaining guard, who was about to attempt another attack on his uncle. The soldier stumbled forward until he ran smack into the bars of Iroh's cell. With a speed almost frightening for a man his age, Iroh's arms shot out from the bars of his cage and wrapped around the soldier's neck, pinning him there.
"Prince Zuko!" Iroh called, clearly overjoyed to see his nephew, "I see you are doing well. Excellent timing!"
"Uncle..." Zuko spoke, emotions coming through despite his best efforts to hide them. He was cut short, however, as he leapt back at the last second to avoid a searing attack from Zhao.
"Zhao...I would advise against that," Iroh warned from his cell, the guard still in his grasp. "You are outnumbered and cornered. And, if I remember correctly," Iroh smiled, "Prince Zuko said he would not hold back the next time you got in his way." Zuko, already in a fighting stance, watched Zhao, waiting to see how the enraged admiral would react. Seething, Zhao stepped down, glaring hatefully at Iroh and Zuko. "Now, Iroh addressed the guard in his grasp, "If you would be so kind as to give my nephew the keys..." The guard took the ring of keys attached to his belt and tossed it to Zuko, who caught it in one hand. The prince casually walked over to his uncle's cell and unlocked the door. Iroh released the guard, who was promptly knocked unconscious with a kick in the head from Zuko.
The general stepped out of his cell and for the first time noticed Katara, standing ready at the bottom of the stairs. "Ah! Hello there! My deepest gratitude to you for helping my nephew," Iroh said with a slight bow. Katara smiled vaguely and nodded, not entirely focused on Iroh. Her eyes stayed locked on Zhao's, which now stared at her malevolently from the shadows of his cell. She could practically feel the hatred coming off him in waves, as well as a strange mixture fear and her own hate coiling inside her. Sensing the tension, Iroh quickly suggested, "Let us leave. We do not know how long these guards will remain unconscious." He swiftly walked toward the stairs, Zuko following behind. The elderly man gently tried to usher Katara upstairs, but her feet seemed to be made of lead, and she refused to break eye contact with Zhao.
Zuko stepped forward, face carefully neutral, and put a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go," he said quietly, but firmly. Katara finally pulled her eyes away from Zhao, and gave another nod. Satisfied, Iroh briskly made his way up the stairs. Zuko took his hand off her shoulder and followed his uncle, watching Katara from the corner of his eye. Without a backwards glance, Katara began climbing the stairs too, feeling Zhao's eye's boring into the back of her until she was out of his sight.
"Uncle, we have to find a way to stop this ship. We may try to flee on my ship, but this ship is much more powerful, and it will only be a matter of time before it catches up to us. We must shut this ship down, somehow, while we still have the element of surprise!"
"Agreed. But such a large ship and crew...how to go about it?"
"Perhaps if we damaged their engines...?"
"I do not think that will work, Prince Zuko. Those engines are fairly large. If they were unguarded, perhaps we could, but there will be many men down there working, and I do not believe there is anyway we can inflict any major sort of damage before we are restrained and put under arrest again..."
Katara watched as Zuko and Iroh fell into a thoughtful silence. They were hidden in an empty room along one of the lower-level hallways, contemplating on what to do next. She had stayed silent so far, but after being struck with a solution to their problem, she decided to finally speak up.
"What about the cooling room?"
The two firebenders turned and stared at her.
"Uh..." she continued a bit awkwardly, "When Prince Zuko and I were on Admiral Zhao's ship, we came across a room that was used to keep the engines and other parts of the ship cool and running. Maybe, if we get rid of that, their engines will overheat and the ship won't be able to follow."
A long silence filled the room, finally ended with Iroh grinning and exclaiming, "That is most brilliant, young lady! You must have been of exceptional help to my nephew during the last two days!" Katara blushed slightly at the compliment while Zuko shot his uncle an annoyed look. "Yes...and I doubt there will be any people working the cooling room, so we should be able to keep our cover, if we are cautious," Iroh said resolutely.
"Very well. Let's locate the cooling room and shut it down," Zuko decided.
"CANNONBALL!"
BLOOOOSH!
Appa plunged into the water of the small cove with an enormous splash. As ten tons of displaced water made its way for the boats, Aang realized what Sokka had intended all along. Unable to do much against so many firebenders, especially with Appa still hurt, Sokka used the bison's girth to create a wave to capsize all the boats in the cove and give Aang the perfect opportunity to make an escape. As everyone gaped, dismayed at the enormous wave coming in to crash upon them, Aang jumped, using his airbending to launch him upwards as high as possible. This, however, did not escape the attentions of Captain Himoto and several of her men, and they fired several fireballs in an attempt to bring him down. Their attempts were made futile as the wave extinguished the fireballs while swallowing all the boats in its path.
Gravity caught up with Aang and he began to fall back down to the cove below, but not before catching a forlorn glance at the two Fire Nation ships off the coast of the island. The Avatar used his wind powers to slow and guide his descent down to where Appa had 'cannonballed'. By the time Aang reached the area, Appa, Sokka, and Momo had all resurfaced. "Guys!" he shouted, touching down on Appa's back, "You're alright! That was awesome!"
"Define 'alright' and 'awesome'," Sokka said irritably, still gripping the reins with white knuckles. Momo clung to Sokka, squawking and fussing, deeply upset with his soaking wet fur. Appa grumbled lowly, making bubbles in the water. Yelling could be heard from the soldiers flailing in the water beside their capsized ships. "Umm...maybe we should get going..." Sokka said.
Aang nodded, then paused. "What about those two ships?"
Sokka gave the reins a shake, and Appa unsteadily lifted himself out of the water. "We run," he said darkly, "and pray they don't follow."
"I saw a fishing boat back in the cove. Do you think that was Katara?"
Sokka sighed and ran a hand over his face. "I don't know, Aang, I really don't know. Either way, I don't see how we can possibly search for her right now, with the Fire Nation right on our ass. Seems to be the story of our lives right now, doesn't it? I really hate this," he muttered, frustration laced throughout his voice.
Aang sighed as well. He knew how Sokka felt.
Iroh pointed to a large door at the end of the hallway. "That should be the coolant room," he spoke quietly, more for Katara's information than anything else. Judging from the vibrations coming up from the floor, Katara figured they must be right over the engine room. Yes, this was definitely the place they were looking for. So far they had managed to avoid bumping into any soldiers on their way here. Now, if they could just destroy the coolant room and get off the ship with that same sort of luck, they would be home free. But Katara doubted it would be so easy.
Zuko stepped forward to open the hatch, his uncle seemingly content to sit back and let his nephew do the work. The hatch turned with a slight groan and Zuko pushed the door open, motioning Iroh and Katara to follow. A blast of cold air greeted them as the three stepped inside. Just as in Zhao's ship, this coolant room was filled with blocks upon blocks of ice, leaving the air inside freezing cold. A complex series of interlocking cogs and swinging pendulums whirled the blades of the fans that stood before the innumerable vent shaft entrances, pumping the icy air to where it was needed.
Shutting the door behind them, Iroh sighed, his breath coming out in a steamy puff. "Shall we then?" he asked.
Zuko smirked, "Yes." As he assumed a firebending stance, he warned Katara, "Stand back. Things will get hot."
His uncle chuckled and went into a similar stance. The two, in nearly synchronized movements, pressed the heels of their palms together and thrust their hands forward. Almost instantaneously, the room was set ablaze and Katara jumped back with a yelp. She shut her eyes, the intensity of the flames too much for her to take. The ice quickly melted away into a watery slush and flooded the floor of the room. "This should take care of it," Iroh smiled, pleased, "Now, it shouldn't be too long before our presence is made known, so I recommend a hasty retreat." Zuko nodded in agreement.
They exited the room, Katara using her waterbending to make sure the slush wouldn't spill into the hallway to alert any passers-by, and closed the door. The three stealthily made their way through the halls and back to the room Zuko and Katara had originally entered the ship from. "Wow...I'm surprised we haven't met up with more guards. There's hardly been any..." Katara spoke aloud.
"Probably because most of them are either still after the Avatar or are preparing the ship for his arrival..." Zuko replied grimly. Katara bit her lip in worry.
"Do not worry," Iroh smiled consolingly, "The Avatar is quite wily. My nephew can attest to that."
Zuko ignored his uncle and looked out the porthole. "It's a long drop..."
"I'll go first," Katara volunteered, scooting past Zuko and climbing into the porthole. Before the prince could say anything, the waterbender pushed off. Alarmed, Zuko immediately stuck his head out the porthole, watching her fall into the water below with hardly a splash. He let out a small breath when he saw her bob back up to the surface, unharmed. Pulling his head back into the room he caught his uncle with a small smile on his face.
"What?" Zuko frowned.
"Nothing. Am I going next?"
"Can you fit?"
Iroh gave him a sour look. "I can manage," he said.
The retired general peered out the window and waved to Katara, signaling he was about to come down. He then climbed into the window, rather awkwardly, sticking his legs out the porthole. Sucking in his breath a little, he squeezed through, falling towards the spot where Katara had been before. When Zuko saw his uncle come back up to the surface and wave, Zuko waved back and sat himself in the porthole. With a deep breath, Zuko pushed off. The feeling of weightlessness was both thrilling and terrifying as he fell down into the water below. Some of the breath was knocked out of the prince as he felt the cold, sudden impact of the ocean water. He swam his way to the surface above him, breaking it with a loud gasp.
"That was quite a...refreshing dip, wasn't it?" Iroh joked. Zuko didn't see the humor—he had had quite enough water these past few days. "So, what now?" his uncle asked.
"I'll take you to your ship," Katara answered, though she looked dubious about carrying both Iroh and Zuko. "Prince Zuko's ship was on the other side of this one, so the quickest way would be to travel underneath. Hold onto my hands and I'll take you there." Iroh and Zuko looked a little wary, but both did as told. "Take a deep breath," she said before the three dipped below the surface. Katara swam downwards, dragging the general and the prince behind her, using her waterbending to help speed them along. Above them the iron bulk of the ship nearly blocked out all light. At long last, they made it to the other side and Katara began to bring them up. Upon reaching the surface Iroh and Zuko sputtered for breath while Katara remained for the most part unruffled. "Ah...what are we going to do now?" she asked the two.
After catching his breath, Iroh said with a grin, "Spark a little mutiny."
Lieutenant Jee glared out across deck. If his looks could kill, none of Captain What's-Her-Face's men watching over their ship would be standing at the moment. But...as long as they had General Iroh in custody there was nothing he could do. Dammit. And right when they needed the general the most. The Avatar was about to be caught and they still had no idea where Prince Zuko was. The Lieutenant resisted the urge to slam his fist against the ship railing he leaned on.
He continued his glaring, frustrated like many of the men at their helpless situation. When he heard shouting he first thought it was one of his crew mates giving the dogs running this ship some crap. After a moment, he realized it was coming from below. Glancing around, Jee tried to locate the sound. Finally, he found it—three people treading in the water—two of them Prince Zuko and General Iroh! Careful to conceal his excitement, he quietly strolled about, informing everyone he came across of what he had found.
"Do you hear that?" one of the captain's men asked, "Who's shouting?"
"That's about the least of your worries at this moment," Jee called to the soldier with a wicked grin.
"You'd better watch yourself, or your precious general—HEY!" the soldier was cut off as he and his comrades were quickly grabbed and bound. By that time, the entire crew on deck was aware of Zuko and Iroh's appearance.
"Quick, throw Prince Zuko and the general a ladder!" Lieutenant Jee barked, "And throw these scumbags overboard!" The crew roared with delight and went to work. Once their bedraggled leaders and the girl accompanying them had been brought aboard, Himoto's men were merrily dispatched of. Celebrating, the crew gathered around Zuko and Iroh.
"Prince Zuko! General Iroh! How did you get here?" Jee asked, trying to get his question in over the noise of the crew.
"A long story," Iroh sighed, "But we will concern ourselves with those details later. We need to leave immediately."
"What about them?" One of the soldiers nodded to the other ship.
Zuko smirked. "They will not be a problem. Start the ship."
"The Avatar was last seen fleeing the island. What shall we do about him?" another soldier asked.
Zuko narrowed his eyes, "Follow him. We cannot let him escape."
Bless Zuko and his one-track mind. (sweatdrop)
Well, next chapter it the last! Let's hope I can pull off a good one for the finale!