THE SECRET OF ANIMARU ISLAND

Chapter Six: Captured Tiger

"Yay! Wahoo!" Kitsune screamed ecstatically as he held on tight to Aang's shoulders while they circled around the fire pit on Aang's air scooter.

"Okay, ride's over!" Aang announced as he leapt off of the swirling ball of air just moments before it completely disappeared.

"That was so much fun, Aang!" Kitsune openly admitted as he let go of Aang's shoulders and landed on the ground.

"Me, next! Me, next!" all of the children clamored loudly as they gathered around the young airbender.

"Relax, everyone. I'll give everybody a ride on my air scooter…eventually…" Aang trailed off with a nervous chuckle.

Katara, who was sitting on a log in between Sai and Gokuin, chuckled softly over Aang's predicament. "Do they always get this excited over visitors?"

"Not always, Katara. Those who have come near or on our island before were either fishermen or Earth Kingdom soldiers stopping by to check on us," Gokuin explained. "We don't usually get younger visitors, like yourself or Aang, so this is a big thrill for them."

Just then, Sai, who had been sitting quietly all this time, sniffed the air briefly and turned his attention to the forest.

"What is it, Sai?" Katara asked curiously.

"Tora and Sokka are on their way back to the village," Sai stated. "Something's wrong…I can sense it." Just then, as Sai had revealed, Tora and Sokka stepped out from the cover of the forest.

"Hey, look, everyone! Tora and Sokka are back!" Aang announced as he managed to pull himself away from Kitsune, Saru, Tori, Shika, Uma, Kameko, Dachou, Oumu, and the rest of the children; and joined Katara, Sai, and Gokuin on the other side of the fire pit.

As they came closer to the light from the fire pit, Katara quickly noticed the serious expressions on both Tora and Sokka's faces. "Sokka, what's going on?" Katara asked curiously as her brother rejoined her and Aang.

"Trust me, it's nothing good!" Sokka muttered out loud.

"Listen to me, everyone!" Tora announced as she stood on one of the logs around the fire pit. "I don't wish to alarm you, but I've recently received news that Prince Zuko has decided to ignore my warning and is returning to the island as we speak."

"Oh, no!" Shika exclaimed out of surprise as everyone else started to talk excitedly amongst themselves.

"EVERYONE, CALM DOWN!" Tora shouted loudly to get everyone's attention. Once everyone finally quieted down, Tora cleared her throat slightly before continuing.

"Uma and Rini have spotted a smaller boat cutting through the bay, which they believed came from the larger Fire Navy warship. I doubt Prince Zuko would be foolish enough to return to the island by himself at night, so we need to ready ourselves for battle," Tora stated as she leapt off of the log she was standing on and entered one of the huts.

"You guys, we need to hurry!" Uma shouted as she rejoined everyone in the village, soon followed by Rini.

"The boat just docked on the shore. We saw six figures get off the boat, all of them firebenders," Rini added.

"And Prince Zuko is definitely one of them," Uma finished.

"Prepare yourselves!" Tora announced as she left the hut, now carrying a clay jar in her hand. She placed the jar on top of one of the logs surrounding the fire pit and pulled off the lid, revealing red war paint.

"Okay, every able animal bender get in line," Tora instructed as she dipped her fingers into the war paint.

Sai was the first in line, followed by Uma, Tori, Shika, Mai, Kameko, Saru, Gokuin, Dachou, Oumu, Kitsune, and Rini. Tora painted a long red line from the middle of Sai's forehead down the length of his nose, along with two diagonal lines on his forehead just above his eyebrows. One by one, Tora adorned the faces of her fellow animal benders with the war paint, until Rini was the only one left.

"Rini…I want you to stay here," Tora whispered to the youngest animal bender as she dotted the tip of Rini's nose.

"But, why, Tora? I wanna help!" Rini protested.

"You will be helping, Rini. You're to watch over the children, in case something happens," Tora explained as she added two red streaks resembling whiskers on either side of Rini's face.

"Well…okay," Rini reluctantly agreed.

"Don't let me down, Rini. I'm counting on you," Tora revealed.

"All right, Tora," Rini replied with a reluctant half-smile.

Tora nodded slightly before returning her attention to Aang, Katara, Sokka, and the younger children. "Everyone else is to stay here in the village. If worst comes to worst, don't forget that there are concealed weapons in all of the huts. You've all been trained to use them, so don't be afraid to do so."

"Tora…you don't have to do this," Aang spoke up. "We can just leave Animaru Island. Prince Zuko will follow us, and your people will be safe."

"It doesn't matter, Aang. This is our home, and we need to defend it. In their search of this island, they may choose to burn it down to the ground without a second thought. We can't allow the Fire Nation to find out about us, or destroy our home," Tora stated as she stuck three of her fingers from both hands, excluding her pinky fingers and thumbs, into the jar of war paint.

After removing her fingers from the jar, Tora ran her fingers across her cheeks, leaving three red streaks resembling whiskers on both sides of her face. She finished off by painting a line down the length of her nose. After putting the lid back on the clay jar, Tora turned to Sai, Uma, Tori, Shika, Mai, Kameko, Saru, Gokuin, Dachou, Oumu, Kitsune, and Rini.

"Everyone, change!" Tora announced loudly.

Within moments, all thirteen animal benders had changed into various animals. Tora had changed into a tiger, Sai had changed into a Komodo rhino, Uma had changed into a horse, Shika had changed into a coyote, Saru had changed into a winged lemur, Gokuin had changed into a seal, Kitsune had changed into a fox, and Rini had changed into a rabbit.

Tori had changed into a bird that was roughly the size of a chicken covered in blue feathers, with white feathers covering her belly and the undersides of her wings.

Shika had changed into a deer with hazel brown fur speckled sparingly with white oval-shaped spots, short stubby horns on top of her head, large pointed ears, and long legs with black cloven hooves.

Kameko had changed into a large tortoise with olive green skin, a large dome-shaped dark green shell on her back with many different-sized swirls covering it, a sharp lime green beak, thick stubby legs with claws, and a long thin tail.

Dachou had changed into an ostrich, the large bird commonly seen in the Earth Kingdom being used as transportation, only without the armor.

Oumu had changed into a reptilian parrot, which Aang and his friends had only seen once before as belonging to the captain of the pirates they had a run-in with some time ago.

"All right, let's go!" the tiger stated as she headed into the brush, followed by the rhino, the horse, the deer, the coyote, the tortoise, the seal, the ostrich, the fox, and the rabbit; while the blue bird, the lemur, and the reptilian parrot took to the skies…

"Are you sure we should be doing this, Prince Zuko?" one of the five soldiers asked a bit warily as they followed Zuko into the thick, overgrown forest.

"We're not leaving this island until we prove whether or not the Avatar is here," Zuko stated.

"But, what about the tiger's warning?" another soldier asked.

"I don't care about that. Besides, it's not possible for the tiger to be everywhere on this island. I doubt we'll run into it again," Zuko pointed out as he pushed a fern out of his way.

The five soldiers showed obvious signs of nervousness as they followed their prince further into the forest. Their uneasiness was further heightened when a long mournful howl filled the silence of the night.

"W-what was that?" one of the soldiers stammered a bit nervously.

"Sounded like a coyote, maybe. But what's a coyote doing on an island?" another soldier wondered aloud. "They're more commonly found in the mainland of the Earth Kingdom, and to my knowledge, coyotes can't swim."

Just then, a familiar roar broke the silence, causing all five soldiers to jump.

"It's that tiger! It's coming for us!" one of the soldiers gasped loudly.

Zuko, who was becoming clearly annoyed by his soldiers' antics, turned around and shouted angrily, "What are you: men or cowards? We're not leaving because you're afraid of a couple of animals! All five of you are firebenders, for crying out loud! Now, let's keep going!" The five soldiers felt silent as they nodded their heads in agreement.

What a bunch of superstitious fools! Zuko thought to himself, shaking his head slightly out of disappointment as he and his soldiers continued on their way. When they reached a small clearing within the thick forest, the various animal calls and noises persisted and grew louder.

"You have been warned not to return to this island. Now, you will all pay for your insolence," a familiar voice growled deeply from somewhere around them.

"Is that so? Why don't you come out and face me, then?" Zuko demanded, much to the astonishment of the five Fire Nation soldiers that accompanied him onto the island.

"With…pleasure…" the tiger's voice growled softly. As Zuko looked around for the tiger, he didn't notice a pair of green eyes that appeared in the bushes directly behind him.

"Prince Zuko! Behind you!" one of the soldiers shouted in warning. Just as Zuko turned around, the tiger leapt out of the brush and pounced on top of the Fire Nation prince, knocking him into the brush.

"Prince Zuko, we're coming!" one of the Fire Nation soldiers shouted as the five men ran towards the bushes to aid their young prince. Suddenly, the five soldiers found themselves being dive-bombed by a blue bird, a winged lemur, and a reptilian parrot.

"What's with these stupid animals?" another soldier shouted as he and his fellow soldiers shot blasts of fire in the air in an attempt to scare away the flying creatures. To their surprise, instead of being frightened away, the three flying animals skillfully avoided the flames. Just then, the ground started to shake slightly, as though something big was heading their way.

"Look out!" one of the soldiers shouted as a wild Komodo rhino suddenly burst out of the trees, charging right towards the five Fire Nation soldiers. The soldiers quickly dived out of the wild beast's path as he stampeded past them and disappeared in the brush.

"Since when do wild rhinos live in Earth Kingdom territory?" one of the soldiers asked no one in particular as they started to stand up.

The last Fire Nation soldier was almost on his feet when he felt something clasp onto his right foot. "Oww!" he screamed loudly out of pain. When he looked down, the Fire Nation soldier was surprised to see that a tortoise was the cause of his pain, with her vice-like jaws latched tightly onto his foot.

"Get off!" the soldier yelled angrily as he swung his leg back and forth in an attempt to shake the tortoise loose, but to no avail.

Meanwhile, the other Fire Nation soldiers were having their own problems. One was being continually dive-bombed by the reptilian parrot, winged lemur, and blue bird; another was being attacked by a horse and a seal; a third soldier was being attacked by an ostrich and a deer; and the remaining soldier was being attacked by a coyote and a fox.

"What in the name of Ozai is going on?" one of the Fire Nation soldiers asked aloud as the animals, after being rejoined by the Komodo rhino, surrounded the five soldiers…

"Grrr…" Zuko growled angrily under his breath as he threw his fist at the tiger yet again, launching a blast of fire at the wild cat. Once again, the tiger used the trees to her advantage by leaping up into them out of Zuko's sight. The tree trunks were already singed from the Fire Nation prince's previous attempts at striking the tiger with his firebending.

"Are you afraid to fight me?" Zuko demanded. "If you're so desperate to get me and my men off of this island, then what are you waiting for?"

For the perfect moment to strike, Prince Zuko, the tiger thought to herself, who was now positioned in a tall tree right behind Zuko. And the time is…now!

As Zuko started to turn around, his eyes widened out of surprise when he saw the tiger jump out of the tree with claws extended, heading right towards him. Just as the tiger was about to pounce on Zuko, he nailed the wild cat directly in the head with a swift kick. The move sent the tiger flying into a tree. As the tiger slid down to the ground in a crumpled heap, Zuko cautiously approached the unconscious beast while forming flaming torches in his clenched fists.

"It doesn't matter to me if you're some sort of mystical creature or not. Either way, you shall make a fine pelt on my wall," Zuko muttered out loud.

Just as he was about to finish off the tiger, Zuko was startled when the animal started to physically change right before his eyes, losing the tiger stripes and tail, and taking on human features.

"What in the world…" Zuko trailed off as he snuffed out the flames in his hands.

Lying on the ground where the tiger used to be was an unconscious teenage girl with reddish-brown hair that was dressed in deerskins, with three red streaks of war paint on either side of her face and a red streak down the length of her nose. She had a fairly decent-sized bump on her head in the exact location where Zuko had landed his kick on the tiger.

Uncertain of whether what he just witnessed was real or not, Zuko cautiously approached Tora and quickly poked her in the shoulder a couple of times. The teenage girl stirred a bit upon Zuko touching her, and then slipped back into her unconscious state.

Who is this girl? Better yet…what is she? Zuko thought to himself.

The young prince hesitated for a moment before kneeling down and scooping up Tora in his arms. Locked in battle with the soldiers, the other animals were unaware that Zuko was carrying their leader back to the riverboat they took to shore, all but one.

"Oh, no! Prince Zuko's taking Tora away!" the rabbit gasped loudly as she followed Zuko down to the sandy shoreline of the bay. She lost him out of her sight for a few moments as she passed through some tall grass, but she soon spotted Zuko at the riverboat, carefully carrying the unconscious Tora aboard.

"Oh, what to do? What to do?" the rabbit exclaimed fearfully as her nose twitched about nervously. "I can only take on the form of a rabbit. There's nothing I can do! No wonder Tora told me to stay behind!"

Just then, the rabbit was startled by a bright orange light that suddenly appeared in the dark night sky. She soon realized that Zuko had thrown a large fire ball into the sky from the riverboat's deck.

"He must be sending some sort of a signal to his men, but what could it mean?" the rabbit muttered thoughtfully.

Suddenly, the rabbit heard several footsteps quickly approaching the sandy shore. She quickly concealed herself among the tall grass growing alongside the beach as five men ran past her hiding spot and boarded the riverboat. From her hiding place, the rabbit noticed several animals gathered together in the distance, watching the riverboat intently. Within minutes, smoke shot up from the two smokestacks as the riverboat disembarked from the sandy shore and headed for deeper water.

"Good, they left," a deep gruff voice announced, whom the rabbit recognized as the voice of Sai in his rhino form. "Come, let us return to the village and celebrate our victory." The other animals that were with the rhino nodded their heads in agreement as they all turned around and headed into the forest.

"Oh, no! They think they scared the Fire Nation away! They don't know that Tora is aboard that ship as their prisoner!" the rabbit gasped loudly as she crawled out of her hiding spot. "I better return to the village right away and let them know of this. Maybe, together, we can figure out a way to rescue her!" With that, the rabbit hopped off in the direction of the village as fast as her little legs would carry her…

"Prince Zuko, what's going on?" one of the soldiers asked curiously as the five soldiers rejoined Zuko on the deck of the riverboat.

"We're leaving now," Zuko simply replied as he looked back out at the ocean.

Not wanting to question Zuko's order, the five soldiers got into the riverboat and started up the steam-powered engines. As two of the soldiers tended to the engine, with one of them positioned at the steering wheel, the remaining three soldiers joined Zuko on the deck of the riverboat. It was then that they noticed Tora lying in the middle of the deck at Zuko's feet.

"Who's the girl?" one of the soldiers asked inquisitively.

"I don't know her name, but one thing's for certain: she was the tiger who spoke to us earlier today, and the one I fought with just a short while ago," Zuko replied.

"How could a person possibly do such things? I mean, take on the form of an animal?" another soldier wondered aloud.

"I don't know…but I do intend to find out," Zuko muttered out loud as he looked down at Tora…

"We are victorious! The Fire Nation has left our island!" Sai announced proudly as he returned to the village, along with Uma, Tori, Shika, Mai, Kameko, Saru, Gokuin, Dachou, Oumu, and Kitsune.

"That's great!" Aang openly admitted.

"Sai, where's Tora and Rini?" Katara asked curiously.

"Rini?" Sai repeated. "She was supposed to stay near the village as a lookout. Rini only knows the form of a rabbit, which wouldn't have been much help to us. As for Tora, she probably stayed behind to make sure that the Fire Nation left our island for good."

Just then, a rabbit darted out of the bushes and nearly knocked Kitsune over in the process. "Rini? What's going on?" Kitsune asked curiously as the rabbit took in several deep breaths.

"He got her! He got her! He got her!" the rabbit exclaimed quickly in a panicked voice.

"Rini, please calm down," Sai instructed the rabbit. The rabbit nodded as she changed back into her human form.

"Now, calmly tell us what happened," Sai requested.

"Prince Zuko, he got Tora!" Rini announced, getting loud gasps from everyone. "He knocked her unconscious and took her away in one of their ships!"

"So, that means…Prince Zuko saw Tora as a human!" Gokuin realized.

"What? How could that possibly happen?" Sokka exclaimed loudly.

"If any animal bender becomes unconscious while in an animal form, it's impossible to hold onto it," Sai explained. "We can hold onto an animal form while we're sleeping, but if any of us become unconscious, either accidentally or intentionally, we lose the ability to hold onto that form. So, unfortunately, Prince Zuko and his crew now know that animal benders are just as real as any other bender."

"Sai, what do we do?" Kameko asked curiously as all the children looked at Sai questionably.

"Yeah, Sai. Tora did make you her second-in-command, since you're the second oldest, so that means you're in charge now," Oumu pointed out.

"Hmmm…the best thing to do now is to get some rest. It's getting late, and I'm certain that Prince Zuko and his crew will soon be retiring for the evening," Sai replied. "Early tomorrow morning, we'll start work on a large raft so we can reach the warship and rescue Tora…that is if she hasn't already escaped on her own."

"Maybe she's still resting, Sai," Rini pointed out. "That meanie, Prince Zuko, did knock her unconscious."

"So, she's probably taking it easy for now, waiting for when the time is right," Sai muttered thoughtfully. "Either way, we're building that raft tomorrow, and I want us to set sail by sunset."

"Why can't we just take Appa to the ship?" Aang suggested. "He can fly there much faster."

"That won't be such a good idea, Aang," Sai explained. "You mentioned earlier that this Prince Zuko has been pursuing you and your friends for some time. He would most certainly be on the lookout for a flying bison. Arriving by raft would give us the element of surprise."

"But, it'll be dark soon after we leave, won't it, Sai?" Kitsune asked curiously.

"That would give us an additional element of surprise, Kitsune. Even the Fire Nation needs to rest, and that means they'll have to drop anchor to do so," Sai pointed out. "That'll make it easier to catch up with them. Everyone, let's get some rest. We're going to need it." The remaining animal benders silently nodded their heads as they and the other children went into the huts.

"What about us, Sai? Can we come, too?" Aang asked curiously, referring to himself, Katara, and Sokka.

"I don't know, Aang. That would be taking you aboard enemy territory," Sai muttered out loud.

"I feel responsible about all this, Sai. Tora was trying to protect everyone here, including me and my friends…and she got captured because of it," Aang explained. "We want to help save her, right, guys?"

"Yes, of course we do," Katara replied as Sokka nodded his head in agreement.

"Well…all right, then. We'll need all the help we can get," Sai reluctantly agreed…

"Urhm…my head…" Tora murmured a bit groggily as she slowly brought a hand to her head, which was throbbing in pain and had a slight lump.

It took Tora a few moments to realize her surroundings. She was locked up in a crude prison cell, lying on a worn mattress stuffed with hay, along with a pillow tucked under her head and a worn red blanket covering her.

"Oh, no!" Tora gasped softly when she recognized the two Fire Nation soldiers guarding the cell. "I must be aboard Prince Zuko's warship as his prisoner! Well, sorry to disappoint him, but I don't plan on staying!" When she reached for her whip, Tora gasped when she realized that it wasn't attached to the cord around her waist, where she had left it.

"My whip! Where is it?" Tora whispered a bit panicky as she frantically looked around the mattress and under the pillow and blanket, praying that it just simply fell off of her belt.

"Looking for something?"

Recognizing the voice, Tora turned around and saw that Zuko, the one who knocked her unconscious earlier, was standing right outside of the cell with an elderly man. In Zuko's hand was Tora's coiled whip, which infuriated the animal bender. She quickly changed into a tiger and jumped right on the barred wall of the cell, sticking her paws out as far as they could go, with her claws fully extended.

"Ah!" Zuko gasped loudly as he jumped back a bit, barely avoiding the tiger's claws. Even the two guards wisely kept their distance when the tiger abruptly lashed out at the prince of the Fire Nation. Zuko looked down and noticed four faint parallel scratches on his chest armor.

She must be very strong to leave even faint scratches in metal armor! Zuko thought to himself as he looked back at the tiger, who was still swinging her front legs wildly through the iron bars and roaring ferociously.

"I was simply going to ask you a few questions, but you are clearly not in the mood to talk at the moment," Zuko stated. "I'll give you the night to calm down, but if you're still acting this way by morning, I'll have you thrown overboard with your hands and ankles bound together. Let's go, uncle."

"ZUKO!" the tiger shouted angrily in a half-roar as she watched Zuko and Iroh head down the hall…

"Prince Zuko, that girl you found is quite a rare find, indeed," Iroh openly admitted as he and his nephew headed down a hall to their sleeping quarters.

"What do you mean, uncle?" Zuko asked curiously.

"From what you have told me and from what I just witnessed for myself, I believe that this girl is an animal bender," Iroh explained.

"An animal bender? But, those people are just legend…aren't they, uncle?" Zuko inquired.

"Perhaps not, Prince Zuko. This girl you captured is proof enough that these rare benders exist. The only reason that animal benders are considered to be nothing but legend is because they are not part of the Avatar Cycle," Iroh continued. "Unlike the elements of the Four Nations, animal bending cannot be taught; it is a skill they are born with. No Avatar could ever learn animal bending, no matter how hard they try."

Just then, Zuko abruptly stopped in his tracks. "I just thought of something, uncle. That girl…she appears no older than myself. And we were attacked by other animals, some of which are natural enemies of the tiger. There must be other animal benders besides her. I'll go question her now."

As Zuko started heading back towards the prison hold, Iroh blocked off his path. "Now is not the best time, Prince Zuko. It is getting late, and we can all use some rest. Besides, after that last encounter, I'm certain that the animal bender needs some time to cool off her temper, as do you."

"What are you talking about, uncle? I don't need to cool off," Zuko claimed.

"Zuko…you threatened to have her thrown overboard with her hands and feet tied," Iroh reminded his nephew. "You know better than to address any girl in that manner."

"I'm sorry, uncle," Zuko apologized.

"I believe you are apologizing to the wrong person, Prince Zuko," Iroh pointed out. "You may do so while we have breakfast with her in the morning."

"With her, uncle? Have you seen the way she's dressed, and how she acts around us? She's a savage, uncle!" Zuko exclaimed.

"Perhaps you shouldn't be so quick to judge. Well, good night, my nephew," Iroh replied with a yawn as he entered his sleeping quarters…