Shattered
Chapter Twenty-two
Katara and Sokka peeked over the top of the hill. Flashes of red moved amongst the multiple shades of green that made up the forest. The firebenders had arrived shortly after Anko had left, but thus far hadn't approached. "What do you think they're waiting for?" Katara asked her brother in a whisper. Sokka shrugged silently. He watched the woods intently. If the firebenders tried to circle around this hill instead of going up it, they were going to be in trouble.
Captain Lee regarded the hill with suspicion. It was quiet, too quiet. After all, they obviously knew he and his men were coming. This hill would make a good intercept point. The resisters would have the high ground, a clear advantage in battle. Mounds of earth framed in the sides of the path, funneling his men towards this point. If he wanted to get around them, he'd have to circle through the woods. "Sir, Admiral Zhao is in position," a man reported to him. Lee frowned. This was probably a trap, but his forces were only supposed to be a diversion anyways. He gave the signal to advance.
One of the soldiers emerged. Crouched close to the ground, he advanced to the cover of a nearby bush. Katara and Sokka froze. The man peered out from behind the bush, apparently looking for any hint of opposition. Finding nothing, he made a silent hand gesture. More troops advanced to his position. Four broke away from the group and headed for one of the side mounds.
"No, idiots, come up here." Sokka muttered softly. If the men fell into Anko's hidden pit prematurely, the rest of the firebenders would know this was a trap. They kept heading in that direction. "Damn it!" Sokka stood up. "Hey idiots! Are you looking for something?" He threw his boomerang and then dove behind cover as the firebenders returned fire. "Think I got their attention?"
The men from the woods emerged, charging up the hill. "Take the Watertribers alive!" someone shouted. As they started to climb the hill, they slowed, feet sinking and slipping in the loose, muddy earth. Katara emerged from her hiding place. "Take this!" she shouted as she water-whipped the lead man.
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Zuko and Anko remained hidden as Zhao's troops started to advance across the field. Their hard, steel-toed boots crushed the little green seedlings as they advanced. No regard for life, how typical, Anko thought. It was hard to watch, even though she already mentally considered this field sacrificed. "Remember," she whispered to Prince Zuko, "If I lose my concentration, I lose the golem."
Zuko nodded, "I won't let you down."
With a grim smile, Anko pressed her hands down onto the soil. Father, Grandfather, spirits of the earth, please help me. Give me the strength I need to protect this place, to protect these kids. She felt a thrill, a connection through her bare feet and hands. A connection to this place, this earth… all earth. Eyes narrowed she stood, mounds of soil gripped tightly in both her hands. Feet planted firmly on the ground, she dropped into a stance.
Zuko stood when Anko did, not knowing what to expect. The earthbender took two steps forward, feet sinking into the soil from the force behind her move. She brought her dirt filled hands down and then up. The earth of the field responded. It gathered, mounded, rose up towards the sky. When Anko had said a golem was man-shaped, Zuko had mentally thought it would also be man-sized. As the mound between them and Zhao's advancing troops grew, he realized how wrong that assumption was. The soil and rock kept rapidly gathering, until the heap was five times the height of a normal man. The earthbender wasn't finished. She moved, making sharp stiff movements with her hands. The mound took form; two arms and two legs emerged from the formally shapeless lump.
The Fire Nation soldiers halted, staring at the large deformed earthen "man" standing in the middle of the field. Zuko too stared. Then he glanced sideways at Anko. Sweat ran down the woman's face, her arms trembled slightly from tension. Her eyes were narrowed with concentration. She brought her arms inward to her body then pushed out with them. "Move," she breathed out the command. For a second, nothing happened. Then, slowly, the golem lifted one earthen leg free from the soil and took a hesitant step forward. Another step followed, and then another. Zhao's troops opened fire at the construct, blasting off chunks of its form with their fiery attacks. The golem took no notice. It advanced more rapidly than before, scattering the firebenders ahead of it.
Admiral Zhao watched as the earth took a vague human form before him. "Sir, what is that thing?" Lieutenant Lang asked. "A golem," Zhao answered absently. The thing took a shuttering first step. Zhao had read about this skill, but he had never seen one in action. He realized just how skillfully he had been played. Heh, we aren't dealing with some nobody Earth Kingdom soldier here; that woman is a Master. And judging by the way she set me up, I'm guessing she must have been an officer at some point too. Admiral Zhao smiled to himself; the harder the battle, the greater the glory. Besides, he had also read about the golem's weakness. He signaled his archers. "Circle the field and incapacitate the woman and her ally. I want them both alive."
"Lieutenant Lang, order the men to stop firing on the golem; it's pointless. They are to fire on the earthbender's position instead. I want her and her companion distracted so that the Yu-yan can circle them without being noticed." He looked back out over the battlefield as some screams reached his ears. The golem had chased some of his men into a hidden pit. "Incompetent fools," he muttered.
Zuko grinned as the spectacle of Zhao's troops being chased around the field by the lifeless golem continued. He couldn't imagine why earthbenders didn't use this trick more often. Then a movement caught the corner of his eye. Instinctively he did a roundhouse kick, fire arcing out from his heel to incinerate the oncoming arrow. The blunted end of the arrow whizzed inches in front of Anko's nose. The earthbender never moved, never blinked. She remained frozen in her stance, eyes fixed on her golem. As Zuko took in her dull, absent eyes, he realized with a start just how dangerous this was. A blast of fire shot towards them; Zhao's men were trying to get around the golem and advance towards their position. They split up, there was too many for the mobile construct to stop. Zuko inserted himself between Anko and the firebenders, prepared to do battle.
Katara slammed her hands against the saturated earth, freezing a swath of it solid. The firebenders whose feet were already sunken into the muddy hillside, now found themselves frozen to it. Curses abounded as they bent, fire surrounding their hands in order to melt themselves free. Sokka didn't give them the chance. He threw his boomerang at the immobile targets, ringing it off their helmeted heads. The two men dropped to the ground, joining the four others already there. Sokka dodged a retaliatory blast, ducking behind a mound of earth. More Fire Nation soldiers advanced on the hill. With a grunt of effort Katara "pushed" the muddy slope, bending the water in the soil away from them. Already struggling to climb the sodden hill, the Fire Nation soldiers found themselves being pulled back down the hillside as the muddy earth itself moved away from the Watertriber's position. They shot fire at Katara, who created an ice shield from the reservoir before seeking cover with her brother.
Katara panted slightly. Her reservoir was already half gone. "How many have we gotten?" she asked her brother.
"If you count the ones that fell into the pit, we've taken out ten." Sokka peeked out from behind their shelter. He saw the firebenders start to climb out of the pit. "Never mind, make that six."
Katara frowned; bending mud was harder than bending pure water and she wasn't used to extended combat. Still… "We have to do better. We have to take out more of them before falling back."
"No kidding," Sokka replied. "I'm not letting Zuko show us up. Try that freezing thing again, it seems to work pretty well."
Katara nodded. "Ready?"
Zuko swatted the fireball to one side, and then deflected another blast. Out on the field the golem pursued a group of firebenders. Moving far more swiftly than its mass should allow; it cut them off. They retaliated by focusing all of their attacks on one of the construct's legs. Chunks of earth were blasted off under the onslaught.
"He… catches on quickly… Admiral Zhao does." Anko's words, as distant and unemotional as her eyes, reached Zuko's ears. He found it unnerving, seeing her this way. The firebenders succeeded in severing the golem's leg. A cheer broke out as the thing tottered.
"But… I'm not exactly… a rookie either." Taking a deep breath, Anko made a gesture with her hand. The golem's leg reformed itself. The earthbender continued with her movements. The golem took its newly reformed leg and kicked out, catching the nearby firebenders completely off guard. Their red clad bodies flew through the air, landing hard on the ground. Not one of them stirred.
Zuko stepped in front of Anko to break an arc of fire. He used his hands to direct the flame to either side of her immobile body. There was too many. Even with the golem causing chaos, the firebenders who got around it were advancing closer and closer. He wasn't sure how much longer he could protect the woman. A hint of movement to his right. He spun in that direction. He slammed his heel into the ground, bouncing fire off the soil to create a small wall of flames, just in time to incinerate two oncoming arrows. Wait, weren't there three archers? Eyes widening, Zuko whirled in time to see the third Yu-yan, positioned to Anko's left, loose his arrow. Zuko did the only thing he could think of; he swept Anko's feet. The earthbender hit the ground hard. Out on the field, the golem instantly halted. Zuko yelled, shooting fire from his hands and feet in all directions, driving Zhao's troops back and forcing them to dive for the ground. "Anko?" he called. "Are you alright?"
The golem was starting to collapse. Anko sat straight up. "Nice kick," she grinned, "Thank you."
Zuko was relieved to see her eyes were focused again. It didn't last long. The earthbender rose. "There's still too many of them. We need to thin them out just a little more." The golem ceased crumbling as Anko resumed her stance, the life in her eyes once again fading away. Zuko risked a look towards where the Water Tribe siblings were stationed. No signal. "Like I'm going to let some peasants outlast me!" He could have sworn he saw a hint of a grin on Anko's face before it too fell slack.
The firebender cursed as a mud ball flew into his face. Temporarily blinded, he never saw the boomerang coming. Captain Lee, still in the forest, groaned as the duo on the top of the hill took out yet another of his men. "Any sign of Admiral Zhao?" he questioned the soldier whom he had sent up a tree.
"No, sir. No sign of the earthbender either." The man slid down from his vantage point. Captain Lee scowled. This was supposed to be a simple pincher attack. His troops distract while the Admiral's circle and conquer from behind. What had gone wrong? How long was he supposed to continue playing with these children? Where could the earthbender and Prince Zuko be hiding themselves? He counted heads. He had eleven men left, including himself. His scowl deepened. This was ridiculous! And Admiral Zhao had a low tolerance for failure. He signaled his remaining troops to fall back to the trees. It was this muddy hill that was the problem. Well, he could rectify that. "Line up and fire at the hillside. Dry it up and she won't be able to bend it anymore," he ordered.
Sokka peered out from behind their sheltering mound of earth. "Hey, they're retreating! Whoo Hoo! We rock!"
Katara, bent over trying to catch her breath, just frowned. "It can't be this easy."
"Easy! What battle were you watching?" her brother retorted. Sokka again peeked out at the Fire Nation's position. Now the men were lining up, facing their hill. As one they dropped into the classic firebending stance. "Um, Katara? We may have a bit of a problem here." The troops fired, a cloud of steam rising up from the sodden soil as water evaporated out of the hillside. "A big problem."
Zuko grinned as his fireball impacted squarely on an opposing soldier's chest, sending the man flying backwards on his ass. He didn't let it go to his head though; as Anko had said, the Yu-yan were the real danger. Out on the field, the golem was still wreaking havoc, which meant Anko's safety was entirely his responsibility. He grimaced. He hated to admit it, but the woman was right. Zhao did catch on quick. He had divided his men evenly, using half of them as golem fodder, while the rest slowly surrounded Zuko and Anko's position. The Prince was being run ragged, trying to defend Anko from such superior numbers. Worse, he suspected the firebenders were only a diversion for the more deadly archers. A shout distracted him momentarily. Another trap pit had been blundered into. But it wasn't enough; they were being overrun.
Zuko jerked his attention back to the battle at hand. Two of Zhao's men fired at him simultaneously. He shielded himself with his arms as flames surrounded him, forcing him back. Finally he broke through, but another blast followed the first, again pushing him back. Grunting with effort, he broke the blast, and then ducked under a third assault. He spun, sending a low arc of fire streaking across the battlefield. Unprepared for such a low attack, the two men were impacted by it just above their ankles, the force of the fire sweeping their feet out from under them. Panting, Zuko rose. He only had a second to see the danger. "Anko!" It was too late. The combination attacks had pushed him too far away; he would never reach her in time. Calmly, the archer let fly, his arrow streaking towards the immobile woman's head. "No!"
A flash of red and brown from behind. The sharp crack as the arrow's shaft snapped between the strong fingers of a well-worn hand. The short, portly figure returned fire, the accuracy of his blast forcing the Yu-yan to purposely dive head first into an uncovered pit. A lump caught in Zuko's throat. He couldn't speak; he couldn't breath. Anko did it for him.
"General Iroh," she said in her oddly disjointed voice, "it is an honor to … welcome you to my farm. I see… you haven't lost your… sense of timing."
The figure turned, intelligent eyes sparkling with humor as he gave a respectful nod of the head. "General Anko, the honor is mine. Prince Zuko, it is very good to see you again, my nephew."
Zuko's vision blurred for a second. The lump dissipated. "Uncle Iroh! You came back!" Then he paused. Incredulously he repeated, "General Anko! You're a General?"
"Former General," Anko said sharply, her voice showing a little more emotion than the deadpan tone she had been using.
Iroh casually batted away a few incoming fireballs, as if he were shooing flies. His eyes glittered mischievously. "Really, Prince Zuko. Didn't the sages teach you anything? Who else but the "Omashu Fox" could hold her position against such superior numbers?"
"Don't fill the boy's head with that nonsense!" Anko said crossly. Out on the field, the golem began collapsing. It shambled around, losing more and more of its body as it moved. Anko scowled. Iroh was accomplishing by himself what thirty firebenders and three Yu-yan archers couldn't: causing her to lose her focus. With a grunt she reestablished the golem. "If… you've come to… reclaim your nephew… your timing is… most inconvenient."
"Ah yes, actually I believe I can put a quick end to this combat," Iroh patted a leather bound tube tucked into his belt, "if I can reach Admiral Zhao, that is."
"Really? If you… don't mind traveling like an earthbender… I can get you there." Anko gave up on her golem. Breaking her stance she brought her arms sweeping in, slamming a fist against the palm of an open hand. The earthen construct on the field exploded, raining chunks of dirt and stone down on Zhao's troops. Freed from her incapacitating bend, Anko grinned. She stomped a foot hard on the ground, sending a medium sized chunk of rock into the air. It hovered as she snapped off a kick, sending it flying towards the Yu-yan archer that had been aiming at her.
"Prince Zuko, it is time to fall back to the inner circle. Hold the wall with the other two while I escort your Uncle to Admiral Zhao. I'll join you shortly." Anko took up her hoe. She made a huge swing with the tool, pulling it back past her head before arcing it down toward the ground and back up towards the sky. The lime dust shot out of the slit open bags. Tall columns of white stood before them, the minute particles of dust hanging in the air. Anko dropped her hoe and took a step forward while simultaneously snapping her arms together in a clap. The columns blasted out over the field, a thick haze filling the air as a natural breeze helped distribute the dust. Like a heavy fog, the cloud of powdered limestone acted as a screen, obscuring the vision of all the firebenders. Anko picked up her hoe. Tapping the head of it on the ground, she opened up a hole to her network of underground tunnels. "This way, General Iroh, if you please." Anko dropped down into her opening and Iroh made as to follow.
"Uncle, wait! If you're here, does that mean…?"
The older man gave the Prince a gentle smile. "Both your ship and your men are awaiting you in the harbor, Prince Zuko." A fireball, weakened by burning its way through the thick cloud of dust, shot between them. "I will explain everything when I get back." Iroh also dropped into the hole. It sealed up behind him. Zuko stared at the spot for a second before turning to sprint towards the wall surrounding Anko's house and barn. He giggled a little as he ran. He felt so light; it was if his feet weren't even touching the ground.