Yo.
Disclaimer: Stop assuming she owns Avatar: The Last Airbender! There is no ownership!
Oh yah. Earth Demons are like vampires, only, you know, not. Also; go badly written fight scenes!
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Chapter Two: Master Thief
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"How do you know it's an assassin?" Sokka asked as they jogged to the courtyard. They would have ran except Kita was a slow runner and she was the only one who knew the way to the court yard. "And can't you run any faster?"
"You carry a big-arse sword!" She snapped. "I've seen those wounds before. This guy's been around for a while now and if you hadn't noticed, their trade-mark was carved into the person's back." Kita turned a corner.
"That's just gross." Sokka remembered seeing the body. He glanced at Katara. She didn't seem affected by it like he was worried about. Aang did look a little pale. "To think we've seen bloodier things. Well, sorta."
They reached a large set of doors and opened them to see Eeshi fighting a masked man. Eeshi didn't notice Kita and the others arriving but the man did. He smirked. "Is it just me, or does that guy have big teeth?" Aang asked, pointing out the longer and sharper canine teeth poking out from his upper lip.
He let out a hiss and jumped at Eeshi. She attempted to jump back but other than his teeth, his jumps seemed bigger as well. Zuko realized Eeshi was likely to loose the fight so he decided to interfere. He formed a large ball of fire and threw it at the masked man. It hit him square in the back. He let out yell and rolled off of Eeshi. "He's a threat; we're not enemies right now." Zuko said in monotone.
The man jumped up. "I am. You aren't." His voice was like dry wood. He looked at the ground and summoned a large bit of earth and threw it at the group. This caused them all to jump out of the way as it hit the doors. Like all unconscious people, Eeshi did nothing. "Oh what fun this'll be." Even though he was ten yards away, they could all smell something like decay and it was coming from him. His pale skin stood out very much because of his pure-black outfit. "I'm fighting the Avatar and little wannabes of those who tried to defeat the Fire Nation." Haru, Zuko and Kita had jumped to one side and Katara, Aang and Sokka to another. Lucky for Katara, she managed to land next to a pond. "I guess I'll get a meal and a work-out to burn off the weight." His hair and eyes resembled black ice.
Kita sat up and blinked. "Great…" she muttered, "a cannibalistic assassin."
"He could be a fake." Zuko muttered and rubbed his neck. The fall from the stairs wasn't too high but it was enough to cause pain. "You're not always right."
"Now's not the time," Kita growled and jumped up. She looked down at Haru. "You all right, Earth Demon?" She asked smirking at the title he was given in the history book.
Haru shakily got up to see the man standing still. "What's he doing now?"
The man heard him. "I'm deciding who to kill and who to take back to the group." His eyes landed on Haru. "You'd make a lovely addition." His eyes rested on Kita. "I've always wondered what Avatar blood was like."
Katara took this moment because the invader had his back turned to her. She sent a ball of ice at him. It seemed he wasn't expecting this because he was thrown forward and he didn't necessarily land on his feet but more of his face. Kita looked at Katara, "Nice one." She nodded.
"Thanks." Katara picked up the shards of the ice and brought them to her and created many tiny ice balls that spun around her hand and wrist. "Are you sure he's an assassin? He doesn't seem to be trying too hard."
"Aye!" Kita snapped, "He's got a uniform that's the same as some other guy we caught."
"He's not very good to let there be witnesses." Sokka muttered.
"I don't leave witnesses," the man jumped back up, "They get killed or kidnapped." He smirked. "So, you can either die or join me."
"Kita?" The familiar voice of Akeo filled the air. "Kita! Are you all right? I came here as fast as I could!" He ran out from the forest. His outfit was different. Instead of brown, it was now black and green. Once Akeo spotted them he attempted to stop but wound up tripping over his own feet and falling flat on his face.
Kita shook her head. "Akeo, I'd prefer—"
The man suddenly burst into laughter that resembled breaking bones. "That's the great earthbending Master Akeo? And to think we were thinking of having him join!'
Akeo jumped up and wiped the mud off his face. Akeo didn't bother speaking with his mouth but instead let his bending to the talking. He managed to hit the man in the chest. "Well?" He looked at the others. "Are you going to just stand there or fight?"
"They're useless and a waste of my time. Except for that boy dressed as Haru the Earth Demon. I can sense potential in him. And maybe even you."
Sokka groaned. "Do you ever stop talking?"
"Once I get what I've come for." His eyes darted between Akeo and Haru. They settled on Haru. "I now know who I'll spare. I hope the rest of you had a decent living." The man flicked his wrist and the ground beneath Aang and the others split open into a craggy mouth, attempting to swallow them all up. "Oops." The man said sarcastically and turned to Akeo. "Nice trick, make them think it's somebody else you're after." He winked and grabbed Akeo's wrists, "Time to join the other Earth Demons. Oh, you'll enjoy. Set aside the blood lust and exhaustion at day, your powers increase by plenty." The man's voice was somewhat sarcastic. "Besides, we need a new test subject." He grinned, his fangs sparkled in the starlight. "It seems that Avatar can't handle a small crack in the earth." He looked at the crag and made his arm cut across the air with dirt following the motion and made sure plenty of it went over the crack. Akeo struggled with the grip but this man was obviously strong.
Why are the bad-guys always in black and super strong? Akeo complained silently and lifted his foot, planning to slam it into the ground and cause a small earthquake. The man knew this and laughed.
"Don't bother, kid." He kicked Akeo in the leg. "I'm getting impatient and this took longer that I expected. Now, let's go before I decide to close that crack and crush her as well."
----!Page Break!----
"Aye-ah!" Kita groaned. "How long have we been out?" She clutched her head.
"It's still dark, so who knows?" Haru sat up and rubbed the back of his neck. The man had dumped a load of dirt on them. "Who am I sitting on?" He blinked and realized this when he felt something move under him.
"Me!" Sokka snapped. He pushed himself up, causing Haru to fall over and slide down the large pile of dirt and nearly crash into Aang.
"Man…why are the new and mysterious bad guys always super strong and wear black? Can't they wear bright pink and be weak?" Aang groaned, rubbing his head.
Kita looked around. "Where's L—Prince Zuko?" Kita was pretty sure nobody was within hearing so she could call everybody by their respected names.
Sokka straightened up. "Why didn't anybody come outside to help us? What about that cousin of yours? Yeeshi? Meeshi—"
"Eeshi." Kita corrected curtly. "I don't know. She probably looked into this thing and didn't see us because of the dirt and poor lighting."
"Well," Katara was the first one standing, "There's only one thing to do: Get out of this thing." Already, the determined girl was pulling herself up the dirt walls.
Kita shakily got up, "Need a boost, Mistress of Water?" Her voice had a trace of mocking in it.
"No," Katara's foot "accidentally" slipped and sent some dirt clogs at Kita, who was just below her; she didn't like being called "Mistress of Water" much. Kita got hit in the shoulder by one but the harmlessly fell to the ground. After a couple minutes of struggling, she made it to the top as the others attempted to climb up as well.
In a few minutes time of climbing, the rest were on the top but there was still no Prince Zuko. "I'd expect the sneaking off into the night be more of your thing, Earth—"
"Haru." Haru cut her off.
"All right, something from you, Haru." Kita looked around. "No lights. Must've evacuated everybody and checked this spot out already. Eeshi's gone and so is Master Akeo…" Kita noted. "Maybe they're looking for us?"
"I don't know," Sokka shrugged, "How about you tell us a safe place for us and we just leave so you don't have to worry about us getting you in trouble."
"Works for me." Aang said with a shrug. Being around Kita did give him an odd feeling but that was probably because she was him in a different form. "Katara?"
She shrugged. She hadn't been talking much lately. ((This is probably because the author can't match Katara's coolness.)) "Well, even though Aang technically died, we should still find him an earthbending Master."
"Pfft. Good luck." Snorted the female Avatar. "Akeo's the best. Why else do you think he's teaching?"
"Best or the only one willing to teach?" Sokka asked, hoping to get a reaction out of her. He didn't like her for many reasons. She was the Avatar and seemed to like the Fire Nation and the Avatar should not work for such a corrupt system was one of those reasons.
Kita ignored him. "There are very few Masters these days. The only ones I can think of is somebody on Kitonae Island. The other Master I know of; he won't be willing. He's leading a rebellion against the Fire Nation. Taking it over for his grand-dad. Please tell me you don't honestly think he'd help."
"Well, we don't like the Fire Nation much. You should know." Katara put her hands on her hips.
"True, but I think you'll have trouble persuading him. The Fire Nation's sent spies. They get some of them back a week later. It takes maybe a month to get them back completely."
"Ew." Aang cringed at the thought. "Where is Zuko?" Aang asked, looking around, changing the subject.
"Right here." Zuko appeared from behind some rocks.
"Where have you been?" Kita asked. Her lips thinned to form an annoyed expression.
"Trying to see if the assassin left anything behind."
"Well, did he?" Asked Katara. She didn't like Zuko but this was beginning to turn into a case of I'll-kill-you-once-we-know-exactly-what's-going-on.
"Yes." Zuko was holding a piece of green cloth. "I didn't see him wearing any green."
Kita's eyebrows rose. "He's got Akeo?"
"Something else—"
"Avatar Kita!" A man came rushing down the ruined steps. "Avatar Kita!" He repeated again and reached the Kitonae Islander. He bowed, "We have discovered a ransom note," Zuko instantly hid the green cloth behind his back, "The man that had come here kidnapped Master Akeo."
Her eyebrows rose and she managed to not gasp. Bowing, "thank you, Guard Bizo. You may go."
The guard nodded and ran back up the steps to the castle.
"He's toying with us." She stated once the guard was out of ear-shot.
"What makes you say that?" Asked Katara, taking the green cloth from Zuko when he revealed it again. "Are you sure that—" She stopped. "Is this what you were about to show us?" She asked, looking at the other side of the cloth. It had blood on it.
Zuko nodded.
"He killed him?" Aang's eyes widened.
"He's luckier if they did." She grabbed the green fabric and examined it. "I think he's either toying with us to make us think he's turned Akeo into an Earth Demon or wants me to go after him."
"And lemme guess," began Sokka, "You're going to?"
"Duh. I need to learn earthbending and he's the only one. The one on Kitonae Island is for those on Kitonae Island only and I'm not on there am I?"
"Then how are you going to get him?" Asked Aang.
Kita thought for a moment. "No clue." She sighed. "I don't think I'll find him easily. I guess I could tell you guys where to go for an earthbending master for Aang." She thought for a moment. "You'll still need a hat and gloves, lad."
"I still have the gloves." Aang reached into his shirt and pulled out the gloves. He slipped them on. They fit him as if they were his own skin. "Kinda freaky how they stick like skin."
Kita shrugged. "One size fits all." Her face was set at a frown. "I think I can pull of another supposed sneak away…it's still dark…no lights are on but that guard did see us."
"Then we'd better hurry." That was Katara.
They all looked at Zuko. He really didn't want to be stuck with his enemies. Not only that, the cruel irony of him now capable of getting the Avatar yet, as he kept telling himself in his mind over and over, what was the use? Well, he thought, Maybe I can find some isolated spot for me to live. Or kill myself. As long as it's isolated at it looks like the only way I can do this is joining them….I'm more likely to get struck by lightening than them letting me ride on that flea-covered bison.
"Zuko's coming." Kita stated. "He has to. We can't let him wander around this close to the capitol." She looked around. A guard house was now lit. "We'll probably have to leave now. I'll go sneak some supplies. I'll meet you guys with that flying bison thing, Agga or—"
"Appa." Corrected Aang.
"Right. Appa. Meet you guys there in twenty minutes."
----!Page Break!----
"I thought Knyghts were brave." Sokka looked down at the crouched form of Kita. She was clinging onto the back part of the giant saddle.
Kita gave him a glare, "Shut up, Faker." Regardless of his rudeness, Kita was going to call him by his historical name. "I can't believe I looked up to him…" she muttered very quietly. He was the one she thought of as the coolest out of the whole group. Sure, Katara and the others were interesting, but she liked the way Sokka faked bending.
"So, how long do you think it'll take to get there?" Asked Aang, "And what are you going to do to get back?"
She shrugged, "I told them that I would probably be gone for a little while. What I like about being the Avatar, I get to be one of the most powerful people. That means those guards can't tell anybody where I'm going." She gave an evil, but weak, smirk. She groaned. "I just hate flying apparently so it'll be interesting tell them about the flying bison rumor; especially if they tell me to ride one if I ever find one. I hate flying." She groaned again.
More like afraid. Thought Sokka. He turned to Katara, "So, join the rebellion?"
Katara nodded. "I guess. Nothing else and it is what we had done decades ago."
"I can hear you guys! Those rebels are being rather nasty for my liking so joining up with them doesn't seem smart for you or the others. I'll probably tell the guards…" She continued on, her voice muffled by the fact that her face was buried into the saddle.
Aang looked over his shoulder to Sokka. Their eyes looked and Sokka nodded. Aang nodded and quietly said something to Appa. The others took this as a cue to hold on, knowing those two were up to something. "Do you guys know how—Aiiee!" Kita shrieked as Appa mimicked the ocean below them in jerky movements, causing Kita clutch hard enough that her knuckles were white underneath the gloves.
Everybody, except Zuko of course, sniggered, trying to suppress their laughter. Zuko only smirked. Probably one of the only things that made him feel better was the fact that some one who seemed as cocky as Kita could be freaked out by simple movements as the ones Appa just did. "Not funny!" Kita snapped, looking up. She looked rather pale.
Aang knew that wasn't nice but Kita wasn't exactly the most likable person and it was cheering his friends up. "How long do you think it'll take to get there?"
Kita glared and muttered something about ungratefulness. "I don't know." The sun was just starting to rise. "Once the sun is up completely we'll know. Just keep heading east." She straightened up a little. "I'll suggest stopping a mile or two away from the small city. It's not much; everybody's a trained fighter so I suggest to not piss anybody off."
"Never would've guessed." Sokka muttered sarcastically.
"So, Avatar—"
"Kita's fine." She said, cutting Katara off.
"So, Kita, have you figured out a way to find Akeo yet?"
"I'll just ask around. Earth Demon's are probably hiding in the mountains."
"And you expect to find him in two weeks?" Questioned the ever skeptic Sokka.
"Aye." Kita was annoyed with Sokka. "I'm going back to clinging if you don't mind."
"We don't," Sokka replied. Kita rolled her eyes and returned to her semi-fetal position and began to figure out how else to find Akeo.
Haru sighed and hugged his knees for warmth and comfort. Well, I'll be back home. I guess…I can't believe I died that young. I guess I can start a new life now. I hope that Master will be willing to teach me. The boy thought and sighed. He was still tired yet he couldn't sleep. I wonder who Katara picked. Wonder if it was me…
Zuko realized that regardless of the empty shellness, he still needed sleep. Great…maybe my dreams will give me ways to kill myself. Then again…I could just fling myself off the bi—no. I still need to know what happened to uncle. He sighed. "Kita?" He turned to look at the Avatar. She looked up.
"Aye?"
"Are you ever going to tell me about my uncle?" He added impatience to his voice.
She was silent for a moment. "I'll tell you when I have a chance with you alone and when we're not near anything flammable." She set her head down again.
Zuko frowned. "You can tell me right now."
She looked up again, annoyed this time. "No. I can't. I'll tell you later." Her head went back down.
The prince was annoyed now. "I'm—"
"—Telling you later." Kita finished even if that wasn't what he was going to say. "End of discussion." Once again, Kita placed her head down again and did not look up again.
Zuko's frown deepened and he snorted out a jet of steam from his nostrils. Great; more waiting. It's bad enough to be stuck with them but now I have to wait to find about the fate of the only person who cared for me. I have a right to know. Zuko sighed and leaned back. He was about to shut his eyes when something jumped onto his stomach. "What the—!"
"Momo!" Katara grabbed the lemur. She wasn't too worried about Zuko but more for Momo. "Don't do that." She scolded.
Zuko glared at her and the lemur before slowly laying down again. He was half hoping that the group would decide to toss him over but he knew they'd never do that. With that, he drifted off to his subconscious mind that we know as Dream Land.
Haru stared at Zuko for a moment. He was a little jealous that the boy could sleep. "So…what are you guys going to do once we find the Master?"
"I don't know," shrugged Sokka. "I guess I'll check out the warriors."
"Besides the earthbending lessons, I guess I'll just explore and learn more about our history." Aang shrugged as he looked over his shoulder. "What about you, Katara?"
"See if there's more than just earthbenders there. Maybe I can learn more waterbending."
"Learn? You're teaching Aang, the Avatar. You're a Master now." Haru said to her.
"True, but you never know. They might have new techniques." She shrugged but was flattered by the comment.
"I wouldn't do that yet you guys." Sokka interrupted the happy little hopes. "Are you sure it's wise to tell these people about us?"
"Are you kidding?" Aang asked, "I think they'd be happy to know that we're the people in the books."
"Uh-uh. How would you react if a bunch of people from the past—people who are long dead—came up to you and said who they really were?"
"I'd believe them after a few questions," replied Aang before returning to stare straight ahead.
"They won't care. Just say you wanna join. Reveal after a while," came Kita's voice for the first time since Zuko's interrogation.
"Define "a while.""
"Months." Kita replied.
"Are you going to stay like that?" Asked Katara, smiling a little at the future Knyght's fear.
"Maybe. Let me think."
"Don't hurt yourself…" Sokka said this of course.
"Go f—"
A seagull flew by and squawked, causing Momo to jump and climb into Katara's hair. Kita's insult had been drowned out.
"Are we sure she's a girl?" Haru asked.
"Who knows? I don't intend on finding out." Replied Sokka.
"Anyway, when we get there, other than earthbending, I guess I'll just explore too." Haru had no idea what else he could do. He sighed. "My death was interesting. What about you guys?" What else could he talk about?
Sokka shifted uncomfortably. He hadn't told his sister how he died. Half of him didn't want to know how she died but the other half did. "Well, Haru knows. You guys don't."
"Pfft. Whatever it was, it was more interesting than mine. I died in my sleep. How boring can you get?" Aang demanded.
"I died protecting him." Sokka jerked his head to Zuko. He was a little disgusted at that thought. "It apparently took two stabs and an arrow or two to get me down. Oh yah; and a couple fire blasts. Who could forget that?" He went back to being grouchy. "I still can't believe I died saving that guy's sorry a—"
"More exciting than mine." Aang reminded. "Haru? You wanna talk about it?"
Haru shifted a little, "Sure," he said slowly. "Well, since I was an Earth Demon, I was a lot stronger with my earthbending so I guess that's why the Fire Nation sent dozens soldiers after me. I managed to take out most of them before dying then a bunch more when they killed me. Apparently when you kill and Earth Demon, there's a lot of energy in them and that results in a lot of fissures to from and rocks to shoot out." He sighed and glanced at Katara. Somewhere, so very deep in his mind, even though this was serious, he was hoping that it had impressed her a little.
It was now Katara's turn. "You don't have to if you don't want to." Sokka said to his sister.
"It's okay." Her face was set to an unreadable emotion. She was a little amazed at how calmly they were going about this. Maybe it was part of the shock. "I died fighting too but…" Aang had dropped the glamorous death-thing now. He felt guilty that he died sleeping, not fighting like his friends. He listened silently and with an air of depression. "On second thought, I don't want to talk about it." This just made Aang receive more guilt.
The others nodded. "That's okay," Katara slumped a little but nodded as well.
They turned to see if Zuko was asleep still. His face was set to look as if he were at a funeral. At this point, he had curled up as if he wanted to protect himself. His right hand was splayed out a little but the way his fingers were twitching only spelled out a nightmare. "So, how did Zuko die?" Asked Aang.
'Same way I did only it took longer." Sokka said carelessly. "How can he sleep? It's broad daylight and everything."
"I don't know." Aang shrugged and yawned. "I'm suddenly tired. Sokka, wanna take over?"
"Sure. Why not?" Sokka shrugged and switched places with Aang.
The airbender sat down with Katara and Haru. "I think Kita's asleep too." He whispered.
"I'm not sleeping."
"Oh. Never mind." He stared at Zuko. "Maybe we should alter his dreams…I don't think he's enjoy the one he's in."
"Go right ahead." Haru leaned back.
He looked to Katara. She shook her head. "I'll watch." She smiled.
Aang shrugged. He was about to crawl over to Zuko when the prince bolted up. He blinked. He realized they were still flying and he wasn't re-living the moment that he received his scar. This got Kita's attention. "Ah, Sleeping Beauty awakes. No Prince Charming for you then? Or was Aang deciding to take that roll?"
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End of Chapter Two
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So ends another pointless chapter. Ah well. Sigh, isn't Kita just lovable? ((sarcasm)) Don't worry, it'll get interesting in the next chapter. I think. ((Yawn)) Too tired. Need more caffeine and less insomnia. Oh right. Reviews.
EJ Amber: Thanks. Yah, I'll keep an eye on her, don't worry. Alert me if she's becoming a Sue. But not yet; maybe around the fourth chapter because I can't do much to show all of her yet. As for beta reader…((feels like an idiot))…What are those?
Review please. NO flames. And none of this "I'm sorry, but this is just so horrible…" or anything like that. Please and thank you n.n