A/N: Hi! I loved writing this chapter!I hope you like it just as well.
Okay, girly ranting over.
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Aang ran back to camp at full speed to see Sokka sitting on a humongous rock, sharpening his boomerang. The Avatar was practically leaping for joy. He could barely contain the excitement inside him. "Sokka, look!" The water tribe warrior looked up just in time to see Aang stomp on the ground, sending a column of earth straight into the air. Sokka turned back to his boomerang without a smile.
"Good job, Aang." The younger boy froze. Sokka wasn't smiling or even shooting him sarcastic remarks. Aang was just about to ask what was wrong when—
"What's wrong with you, Snoozles?" Toph asked, walking into the campsite. Sokka shook his head, saying nothing. "Aw, sharpen your boomerang 'til ya feel better." With a wave of her hand, she was gone, walking back out of the clearing.
"Are you sure you're alright?" the monk asked, plopping down in front of his friend.
"Katara's been gone for a week!" Sokka shouted, throwing his boomerang on the ground. It stuck in the dirt, blade gleaming in the bright sunlight. "And we haven't found her yet. I know she's a master waterbender and all but what if she runs into those girls from Omashu? What if Zuko comes back? She can't win a fight against them single-handedly!" The Avatar nodded. Their blood ran cold when they realized someone was listening in on them.
"Did someone say 'girls from Omashu'?" The boys jerked around to see the same three girls from the earthbending city. The leader, in maroon armor, stepped forward. "There is no more Omashu. I renamed it in honor of my father." Her voice was soft and sweet as honey but it changed to dangerous and harsh in an instant. "New Ozai."
"It's still Omashu to those that call it that!" Aang yelled back. His fists were clenched and his brows furrowed.
"Touchy, are we Avatar?"
"Have the city you loved as a child be renamed and taken over by enemy nations and we'll see who's touchy!" Sokka sat there, following the argument. Was it just him, or was Aang a little harsh today?
The leader only chuckled, good hand on her hip. The Avatar arched a teasing eyebrow. "What did you do to your arm?"
"Broken collar bone, if you want to know so badly." she said. She examined her nails as if she was bored. "From your stupid water wench and her boyfriend."
"Boyfriend?" Sokka exclaimed.
"Oh. You didn't know about that? I thought you'd let her run off and get married." The girl's eyes peered over her hand and a small smirk played at her face. Ty Lee and Mai kept quiet, only smirking to play along. There goes Azula and her lying again…
"I'd never let her do that!"
"Really? Well, do you want me to tell her fire prince that?"
Sokka and Aang only stared at her. It couldn't be… "MY SISTER WOULD NEVER MARRY ZUKO!" The water tribe boy stood with his boomerang, ready to fight.
"Yes, well it seems I don't like my brother's arrangements either." Sokka froze. Did she just say Zuko was her brother? "We'll be in-laws. Princess Azula of the Fire Nation and some stupid water peasant." The boys stood there, staring in awe.
But out of nowhere, the earth shook and quaked, sending the three girls tumbling off their feet. The boys looked towards the woods to see Toph still in the same position, fierce determination on her face. "Get to Appa!" she yelled. Aang couldn't help but notice that she did know his bison's name. They both turned and ran, grabbing their belongings as they went. Toph brought her arms together, stomping on the ground. A wall formed so that it blocked the girls from getting to them. She ran towards the bison herself, tumbling on just as the wall cracked and broke, dust clouding the air. She held tight to Aang's foot as he yelled.
"Yip-yip!" He sent a gust of air toward the girls, knocking them off balance long enough for them to take off. "We did it!" the Avatar exclaimed. He spoke too soon. A huge crack echoed through the air and when he turned, he saw the source. An enormous streak of blue lightning was headed straight for them. It hit Appa on one of his feet, making the beast groan in agony and begin to fall.
"What's going on?" Toph exclaimed. On the bison, vibrations were gone; there was no earth she could feel them with.
"Appa's hit! We're going down!" Sokka yelled, grabbing onto the side of the saddle. Aang did the same, pulling his earthbending friend with him. They heard Appa groan louder as they all shut their eyes tight, blocking out the world around them. Momo chattered and the trees below them grew tauntingly closer. Finally, the trees began to snap, crack, splinter, and fall. Appa skidded to a painful halt in the dirt, clouds of it forming around him.
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Katara and Zuko stood at the river, once again filling their canteens. All was peaceful and quiet. Needless to say, they whipped around in hearing a deafening cracking noise. Sure enough, the sky lit up with a faint blue streak. Lightning. Their eyes widened. Either Azula was having a tantrum or she found someone else to fight. The Fire Nation fugitive opened his mouth to speak, but stopped. Over the trees, they saw a beige spot. It was moving and soon enough, the lightning collided with it. The spot let out a pained, hurt groan, rumbling the forest around them.
"Appa." Katara breathed, tears brimming in her eyes. Zuko watched her cautiously. He wasn't sure if he should say something or… The flying spot, now identified as a flying bison, was rapidly descending into the forest. The waterbender's hands flew to her face as she watched in fear. Her friends were in danger and without Appa, they stood no chance. The snapping and cracking of trees filled the forest and the bison groaned ever louder. The ground shook on impact and then there was silence. Even the normally squawking Chi was deathly quiet, looking around the forest for a sign of the noise.
The water tribe girl was silent and unmoving. Zuko reached out a shaking hand to comfort her, but she turned to face him with streams of salty tears pouring down her face. "We have to help them!" The firebender gave a slight nod.
The pair hopped on Chi. The ostrich-horse sprinted through the thick forest toward Katara's fallen friends.
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Aang looked around, coughing up dust. He'd fallen off Appa and his head throbbed. He groaned through his coughing fit, looking around to find his friends. He saw Sokka already standing. The boy held his boomerang in his hand. Other than shaky knees, the water tribe warrior didn't appear to be injured. Aang looked over to see his unconscious Spirit Guide and his horrible injuries. There were thin, long cuts along his stomach from the trees. A hole was in his back left foot from the lightning strike of the princess. But where was Toph?
The Avatar found his answer when the dust cleared. She lay near Appa, eyes closed. Fear gripped the airbender's stomach. He hurried over, checking for a pulse. He sighed in relief when he found one. "Hide her so they don't find her." Sokka said from over his young friend's shoulder. The boy nodded, picking Toph up and putting her behind his trusted bison, bushes on her other side.
He came out just in time to see the Fire Nation girls come into the new clearing full of tree stumps.
"You can't get away that easily, Avatar." Azula said. A blue flame flickered at her hand. The other two girls stood at the ready. Aang's eyes narrowed. "You'll never escape."
"We can try." Sokka said, throwing his boomerang. It missed Azula. She smirked.
"You're pathetic."
"Am I?" he asked, holding out his hand. The boomerang circled back and hit the firebender in the back, making her fall over. Aang launched an air ball toward them. Ty Lee flipped out of the way while Azula jumped. Mai was the only one there to take the force, flying backwards into the bushes. The princess flung a fireball at the pair, narrowly missing the water tribe boy. Ty Lee did a huge flip forward, extending a kick. Sokka dodged it, taking a swing at her with his club.
The acrobat dodged it. She set up a cobra attack, but Sokka backed away. He was not loosing the use of his limbs. He growled and brought up his club again. A maroon dart flew through the air, attaching the boy's sleeve to the tree behind him. His eyes narrowed in seeing the ninja standing behind the acrobat. Sokka raised his other arm. It became pinned to the tree as well.
The two non-benders saw he was incapacitated. They moved on to help Azula. She was fighting the Avatar one on one, but wasn't faring too well. Getting used to her limited mobility was hard. She attempted use at the bad one only to pull it back, grimacing in pain. Aang also noticed this along with the fact that she was off-balance. This fight would be easier than he thought.
But he didn't count on the other two girls joining the fray. The airbender didn't know what had happened to Sokka—he couldn't see him. But then again, maybe he didn't want to know right now. He focused intently on the fight, dodging darts, fire, and cobra strikes. Finally, he was knocked to the ground by a punch to the stomach. He groaned, trying to get up.
"It seems you need the help of your little earthbending friend, hmm?" Azula taunted. "She fights better than you even though she's blind." Aang looked up at the princess without any anger. He knew Toph was a better fighter than he was and that's why he chose her as a teacher.
"I take that as a compliment." someone said from behind the girls. Azula was the only one that didn't turn.
"Up from your little nap, blind girl?" Azula teased, sickening smirk spreading across her face. The Avatar saw Toph's eyes narrow as she sent a ripple of earth toward them.
"KNEES HIGH TWINKLE TOES!" Toph yelled to Aang. He jumped up and stomped his feet on the ground, sending out a ripple of earth like Toph. The ripples collided right where two of the girls were standing, sending them flying. Azula sweep kicked the Avatar, but he avoided it.
Toph took on Mai while Sokka (who had escaped the hold by removing his shirt) fought Ty Lee.
The water tribe boy couldn't get a hit on the girl. Every time he struck, the acrobat just flipped out of the way. He was too slow. But soon, the girl was on the offensive. That meant cobra strikes. Sokka dodged some, but after the third, he went down. His arms hung limp at his sides and he glared at the girl who only smiled, hiding a giggle. She struck him again in the leg. The boy fell over, unable to get up. She moved over to help Mai.
The ninja was faring like Sokka. The earthbending girl, though blind, was as good a fighter as she'd ever seen. If she hadn't looked, she wouldn't have guessed the girl blind. Mai dodged a flying boulder, sending out a kick and a dart. Toph brought up a wall to block it and sent another rock hurtling toward both of them. The ninja was hit, flying back. The acrobat leapt up into the air to avoid it. The earthbender flinched, a hint of fear coursing through her when the girl didn't come down right away. No vibrations.
And Toph whipped around as the girl landed behind her, but not before Ty Lee struck her once. Then twice. The earthbender stumbled, trying to regain balance. The third strike was made and the earthbender's world tumbled into darkness. She fell, hands on the ground. The vibrations were there; she could feel them, but she couldn't see them. Her eyes widened. She stood, trying to raise a rock. She felt nothing. Why couldn't she bend? Wait. Hadn't Katara said one of the girls could take away bending? Something collided with her side and she was sent sprawling into the dirt.
"Come on, Mai. She's blind. If I took away her bending, she won't be able to fight back."
"What?"
"Earthbenders can see through the earth. That's why she fights so well."
"Oh."
Once again, the three girls crowded around the Avatar. Fear coursed through him. He'd seen what they'd done to his friends. He knew Sokka was cursing himself for not avoiding the pink-clad girl and Toph… Toph couldn't bend. She couldn't see without her bending. She must be scared. He thought. The airbender looked up at Azula from his spot on the ground. She was grinning wickedly.
"AZULA!"
The firebender in question whipped around. It couldn't be… But it was. It was the waterbender and Zuko. The girl had fierce determination written all over her face. She stood in a bending stance, water swirling around her hands.
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A/N: Phew! That was awesome! I hate the complexity of them, but I love writing fight scenes—especially this one. I hope you liked the chappie!
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