After the men had unloaded onto the mainland, Alex took a look around her. It was unusually creepy, and the forest in front of them seemed too familiar. Much too familiar.
Taking a look over her shoulder she noticed several of the officers were arguing.
Sighing, she walked over, seeing Zuko had noticed the trouble and was also coming over to see what was wrong.
One of the men – a red faced man who's name escaped her – turned to Alex in a flustered manner.
"Captain, we don't have enough rhinos to host all the ranking officers. We need two officers to share one, but we can't decide who."
Alex sighed at the immaturity of the situation and after giving Zuko a quick glance stated, "I'll share with Zuko."
Zuko looked at her, "You mean you'll share with me. " He said coldly.
She turned to walk away, glaring at him as she did so.
She mounted the rhino, intentionally taking the front position. Zuko glared at her turned back before climbing up behind her.
As they started off he made sure to stay an adequate distance away from her slightly shorter figure. But as they ventured deeper and deeper into the forest, he got an uneasy feeling that they were not alone. He looked at Alex and noticed she had recently begun staring up at the trees ahead in a look of surprised horror.
Looking ahead in the direction she was he noticed odd shapes looming high above the forest floor.
Suddenly he was thrown forward as the beast stopped sharply. He looked down at Alex to prompt her bad driving when he saw her hand was out to the side, her hand up. She was looking up at one particular shape with a fixed expression. He too looked and saw a shape make its way across the tree tops.
Alex turned to the men, who were staring at her, waiting for her signal. She realized now that her authority – and thus responsibility – was all too real. Anything she said these men would follow. If she made a poor choice she risked their lives, and hers.
Her stomach did a flop but she calmly signaled the men silently to dismount.
She heard a twig snap and turned to see her worst suspicion: a band of rebels had surrounded them.
And they weren't just any rebels, the were Jet and his freedom fighters.
Alex felt her mouth go dry at seeing the boy. This was really him, he was real.
He was grinning wickedly at them. Turning to Zuko he gave a mocking bow, "Greeting your highness. And what do we simple folk owe this grand pleasure to?" he glanced at Alex then stopped. Standing, he made his way slowly to where she stood. Raising a brow he said, "And to what do I owe this pleasure miss? And to think I'll have to kill such a pretty girl." He touched her chin and she shoved him away.
"Leave me alone Jet," she whispered icily.
He seemed taken aback at the recognition of his name but only smiled, "Well, perhaps you won't mind if we…"
It happened so fast, many clouds of smoke overcame the group. Alex fell to her knees, hands clasping her throat as she tried to breathe. Her vision was growing faint, and the sounds of the soldiers pleading for mercy soon became faint.
Then, the world went black.
Kyle regarded Katara with a query eye as she moved through the water. Or in a matter of speaking, she was moving with the water.
She looked up, saw him, did a double take, and screamed as the water fell from her hands.
She smiled a little, "You scared me,"
He looked away, embarrassed, "I'm sorry, you're really good you know."
She laughed, "I should be, I'm a master after all."
As he opened his mouth to speak Sokka came up quickly. Taking his sister by the arm he muttered something about a water leak and led her away, after first glaring at Kyle over his shoulder.
Kyle sighed and shook his head. Another attempt at being alone with the Waterbender had been foiled by her protective brother. As he walked along the bridge he thought about wild ways he could eliminate that problem.
He turned his head when he heard a sound and watched with a smile as Aang and his bison flew over his head, giving Kyle a wave from above.
Kyle waved back but after he dropped his hand he frowned. This was still so unusual he couldn't believe he wasn't dreaming. But a nasty fall from the bridge into the icy water (at which he had been rescued from by Katara, to his humiliation) proved everything was real.
Either that or he had extremely vivid dreams. He grinned and kicked at a loose tile on the bridge's path. Things were going very well for him in fact. He was sure that his friends would come to his rescue shortly.
He looked at the sky.
At least, he hoped they were coming.
Josh once again unfolded another letter from Alex. He read it three times before sinking back to the ground. He had been so sure she had been taken hostage, but by her letter she seemed fine. Apparently this Zuko character wasn't giving her too much trouble.
He scanned the area for any sign of Tina, but she had long since disappeared.
Suddenly, a voice was heard singing off-key in the distance.
"This is our song we sing, sing, sing. Underneath the trees, trees, trees. This is our song, song, song, and we sing it for so long, long, long…"
Josh grinned as he re-read the letter and joined in with her.
"We sing this song as we salute the flag of Green View High--TOOT TOOT!"
She emerged from the trees (and Josh hastily shoved the letter into his pocket) and eyed him, "You don't have to make fun of my singing." She stated dryly.
He laughed, "Of course I do, it's traditional to make fun of your singing."
She gave him a look before dumping a small pile of wood at his feet, "Fine Mr. Critic, you can build the fire then."
He smiled, "Of course my dearest."
She scoffed and walked away to get some berries of something to eat.
He knelt down and absently began placing the wood in a triangle, thinking all the while about Alex.
