Author's Note: Alright, you asked for it, so here it is. The reappearance of Talon, from the Water Bending Scroll. I hope you'll forgive me if he isn't exactly like you expected him to be. Also, please forgive me if I got the name of the pirate's ship wrong. I didn't recall it having one, so I made one up.
Chapter 6: Aboard the Disaster
By the time the motley group of animals and humans reached the port it was long past sunset. The hue of the nighttime sky cast its aura over the sea, and the water glimmered, reflecting the moon's light back towards heaven. The group would have made it to the docks much sooner, had it not been for their lead animal, Appa. He had been stubbornly slow, and progressively more hostile to those who came close to him.
"I swear, the second I get out of this harness, you will regret being born," Appa growled, not noticing that the people he was threatening couldn't understand a word he said, "Put me in a cage, fine. Make me pull your weight, fine. Hurt my friends and you've gone too far!"
"Appa, please, shush!" Momo squeaked. Then, turning back to Tanya he asked her again, "Who is Grae Jumsho? Why are you so afraid of him?"
But Tanya only shuddered. Even the name seemed to frighten her.
"Tanya, my friends are in trouble, I need your help!" Momo pleaded.
"No use," came the hiss of Tango, "friends gooda dead. No one lives when meet Grae Jumsho."
"He's a monster," whispered Tanya, her voice barely audible.
A sinking sensation was building in Momo's stomach. "Can you tell me more about him? Please?" Momo gave them his big-eyed puppy-dog look, the one he spent hours practicing. He usually only did it when he was trying to con Katara out of her food, but he felt this was an appropriate time to use it.
"Lives in back, in cloth cage," Tango murmured.
"A cloth cage? Wouldn't they want something a bit more stable to hold something so dangerous?" Appa, who was listening in on the conversation, grumbled.
It's not made out of cloth," Tanya explained, "it's covered in cloth."
"Grae Jumsho no like light, not since eyes burned with fire," said Tango.
"Ah, yes. When they first captured him, about a year ago, they took still-burning torches and pressed them against his eyes, to blind him. Now he can't see very well, and the sight of the sun must look like fire to him, because he goes crazy at the sight of it," Tanya didn't sound the least sympathetic as she said this, like she thought he had got what he deserved.
"What's the use of having him if they can't even show him to the guests?" asked Appa.
"Not attraction," Tango said, "Man want him, very rare. Think part of prophecy."
Appa and Momo both raised their furry eyebrows in silent question, and Tanya explained.
"Lord Leizuy heard of a prophecy telling about the four Great Beasts, and how supposedly they could be used to awaken Omighta Anima, lord of the beasts, with more power than the Avatar. Or, at least that's how the story goes."
"And Grae is one of them?" Momo asked incredulously.
"Yes, he da wata beast," confirmed Tango, "since they capture him, they use 'im ta get rid of people they a don't like."
"If Grae is just one of these four 'Great Beasts', I sure don't want to meet any of the others," said Appa.
"Yeah, they don't sound too pleasant," Momo agreed.
"A cup of tea and a bottle of wine and a mug of brandy to boot," came the warbley voice of someone singing, "It tasted fine, but churned my insides, and came out the bottom shoot!"
"Oh, no!" moaned Momo, "I know that voice."
"Onto the ship, come on, we don't have all day," Tanzo ordered.
Appa was forced up a narrow (well, at least for him) gang-plank onto a rickety boat. A boat that looked like it had gone over a waterfall. It was the very boat on which Katara had stolen the Water-bending Scroll, and it was still under the same management.
"Shut up and drive!" came a high-pitched, squawky sort of voice. The voice belonged to none other than Talon, resident reptile-bird of the Disaster. Talon was crafty, in his own sort of way, and a great rival to Momo. Sadly, the bird wasn't good at translating his thoughts into words, and often blurted out nonsensical statements, even when speaking parotnese.
"A double helping of scurvy for everyone!"
See what I mean.
"Lord Leizuy, it is a pleasure we meet again," said the captain of the Disaster, bowing low to his customer, "Do you have the agreed upon payment?"
Leizuy snapped his fingers and two men appeared, dragging a chest loaded down with coins. The captain's eyes practically burst out of his head with greed.
"Tonight the rum's on me!"
That wasn't coming from the parrot.
Dawn arose crisp and clear over the water. A gentle breeze blew. The boat rocked, swaying to and fro like an apple on the boughs of a wind swept tree.
"Yo ho, yo ho, a barrel of monkeys indeed."
"Shut up!" begged Momo. Turning to Appa, who had been forced back into his cage, he said, "If we don't get out of here soon, I am feeding myself to Grae Jumsho."
"Careful what you say, Momo. You may have to eat your words," Appa warned.
There was a commotion coming from below decks, slowly making its way up to where the animal cages were.
"Can you make out what they're saying?" Appa asked Momo, who had better ears.
"Something about Aang, they keep mentioning the Avatar. And there! Grae Jumsho, I heard his name. Apparently Aang and the rest have woken up and…" Momo twitched his ears, unable to believe what he was hearing, "they're coming to feed them to Grae! But there, they're mentioning the Avatar again. I think someone just said something about gold. Selling Aang for gold."
A large group of men, led by Leizuy, emerged from below out onto the open deck. The captain was standing by his side, and the two were in a heated argument.
"I'ma just saying, it makes more sense ter sell 'im to the Fire Lord. If we execute 'im, on this ship, an' he gets wind er it, we'll get charged for treason."
"And I am telling you, I have big things planned, and no one, not even the Avatar, will stand in my way. Bring forth Grae Jumsho!"
A large cage, bigger even than Appa's, was wheeled forward. The entire thing was draped with a thick black cloth that rustled faintly. The men pushing it had a look somewhere between fright and disgust.
"Create the barrier!" screamed Tanzo at his men. They obeyed sullenly, dragging the cages around to form an arena of sorts.
"Let's get ready to rumble!" squawked Talon.
"Shut up! Shut up or I swear I'll murder you, you senseless bird!" Momo was frothing at the mouth from rage as he shouted, "I dare you to say that to my face! Come on, come over here so I can wring your feathery neck, and put an end to this insanity!"
"Hey, li'l fella, I recognize you," the Pirate Captain noticed Momo, screeching in his cage.
"Ah, this specimen here is a fine example of the flying variety of lemurs that inhabit the mountains," Leizuy belted out the information like an encyclopedia.
"Don't worry about me, I wore clean underwear."
Momo hissed at Talon, the fur on his back standing on end. He turned his back on them, whisking his tail in disdain.
Leizuy turned to the Captain and said in a grim voice, "Anchor your ship and send your men below decks. This might get messy."
"What the heck is in there?" he jerked his head to the covered cage.
Smirking, Leizuy replied, "Something we picked up down by the South Pole. One of the most dangerous beasts there is, if it gets angry."
"This gonna damage my ship?"
"I will reimburse you for any loss Grae causes. But I suggest you anchor your ship," Leizuy had a hint of impatience in his voice, and the Captain quickly left to obey.
"I do not like the sound of this, Mo. We gotta help Aang!" Appa growled.
"Way ahead of you," Momo beamed, and from underneath his wing he pulled out a set of large, rusty keys. "I grabbed them when his back was turned," Momo said, grinning at Appa's amazement, "The second they release that thing, I'll get us out of here."
"I never thought I'd say this, but Momo, you're pure genius."
"Nah," Momo said, "I'm just smarter than those humans."
"My head…" moaned Sokka.
"I think we're going to have bigger problems than your head," said Katara.
She and Aang were fully awake and sitting up, their hands bound behind their backs. Sokka had just come to and was pulling himself upright, his hands also securely fastened. The three were in the middle of a circle of cages, and directly across from them was the cage, still covered in black cloth. It stood, dark and sinister compared to the blue sky behind it. Aang, Sokka and Katara's eyes were automatically drawn to it.
"What's in that?" Aang wondered aloud, curios. He had been known to ride animals of all shapes and sizes, and had also been known to get in lots of trouble for doing so.
Tanzo appeared, standing on one of the cages. He tossed them a knife and said, "You have two minutes before we release Grae Jumsho. I suggest you cut yourselves free."
Sokka leaned over and grabbed the knife. He could barely grasp it in his rope-bound hands.
"Alright, Katara, lean over so I can cut your ropes, than you can cut mine."
"We should start escaping, too," Appa told Momo.
"Right!" said Momo, pulling out the keys. A worried expression crossed his face, and he said, "Uh, we might have a problem."
There was at least a hundred keys, each a different shape and size.
Sighing, Appa said, "Well, you'd better start turning."
"Alright, I'm free!" Katara shouted, flexing her hands. She grabbed the knife from Sokka and started hacking away at his bonds. "You'll be free in no time."
"Good," whimpered Aang, "because I think that's as much time as we have."
"Jumsho! Jumsho! Jumsho!" chanted the crew of both the zoo and the ship. It seemed everyone had come to watch, from the Captain to Tanzo. They sat on cages, glaring down at the three kids.
"Cut to a montage!" crowed Talon.
"One of these days, bird," threatened Momo, hard at work trying to unlock his cage.
"Release the beast!" cried Leizuy.
The clothed-cage's door swung opened, and Grae Jumsho emerged.
Author's Note: Suspenseful, huh? I think this is my best entry yet. You'll hear more about the prophecy and the Four Beasts in later entries, so stay tuned. I'm also thinking about changing the name to The Four Beasts Prophecy, and I may have to change the rating. Let me know what you think, and I love to hear your suggestions. TTFN