Chapter 4-
Time passed slowly for the three friends seated in Appa's saddle. They had been flying for only a few hours, and Sokka and Katara, though they were used to the long hours spent soaring above the clouds, were nonetheless growing restless.
"Any idea how long before we can stop?" Sokka question the air around him, wondering if either of the other two had heard him. After a moment, Katara answered.
"Um," she replied momentarily, studying the map intently from every angle. Finally she looked over to Aang, who was holding Appa's leather rein in his hands and waiting for an answer to Sokka's idle question. "Aang, do you think you could dip below the clouds for a minute, so I can see where we're at?"
Aang hesitated before following Katara's instruction. With a quick tug of the rein, he steered Appa down until he was below the clouds. Katara began to survey the land off to their left. When Sokka tapped her on the shoulder after a moment, she ignored him. But finally, after he had tapped her for the umpteenth time, she turned to him, anger blended into her irritated expression.
"What is it, Sokka? What it so important?" she snapped at him. He stared at her for a moment, startled, before he regained the thing he had wanted to point out.
"I was just going to show you the…" his voice trailed off as he peered down at the ocean on the right. Katara saw that he was pointing down at the open ocean.
"The ocean? What's so amazing about the o—" she started, but cut herself short at the sight of the Naval ship that was seated beneath them.
"What's wrong?" Aang said over his shoulder, curious over the abrupt end of conversation. His question was answered as he looked down first on the left and then the right.
"Step on it, Aang!" Sokka yelled. His command was almost immediately obeyed. Aang steered the flying bison upward, only to discover that they had drifted into one of giant clearings between the patchy clouds. Just as he started to tell them they had no way to escape until they reached the next patch of clouds, he heard Katara yelling.
"There's a fireball coming right at us! Aang, move!" The flying bison flew sharply to the left, barely managing to dodge the fireball that had been soaring almost straight upward to them. Aang sighed with relief, as did Katara and Sokka. But the relief was only temporary; the fireball arched and began hurdling back toward them.
"Aang! It's coming back! Get out of the way!" Katara screamed
"What?" Aang called, looking over his shoulder.
"The fireball—it's coming back! Move!" she cried.
"There's no time!" he heard Sokka shout. "Brace for impact!"
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"Where are they?" Zukko asked no one in particular, frustrated as he stared up at the sky intently. The Naval ship's catapult-like cannon was loaded and the crew was on deck, and Iroh was standing beside Zukko, seemingly lost in thought. Jet was leaning against the front of the cannon, watching the skies more idly than Zukko.
Then, without warning, the eggshell colored blotched dipped below the edge of one of the puffy clouds. It took Zukko a moment to react; he hadn't expected to see the Avatar this quickly. The soldiers had acted almost immediately, so that when he turned around they were almost done adjusting the aim of the cannon.
"You're not really going to fire it at this angle, are you?" Jet asked calmly, and even though Zukko had heard him, his question went ignored.
"Light the cannon!" Zukko ordered to a guard, who nodded and shot a blast of fire at the substance sitting on the end of the cannon. Immediately the giant mound was ignited and began to emit a putrid stench. Jet hadn't flinched even when the flames had rose from the fireball and nearly scorched his back.
"Get out of the way!" Zukko yelled, but Jet paid no attention. Instead he continued to watch the bison. Zukko muttered something; Jet figured he was angry he was being ignored.
"Fire!" Zukko shouted, throwing his arm forward. One of the crew members sliced the rope that tethered the catapult of the cannon back. It shot forward, thrusting the giant flaming mass into the air so that it flew almost straight up toward the flying bison. Jet, who had still been leaning against the front of the cannon, was thrown forward with the force of the release and landed at Zukko's feet. After only a moment's recovery, he glared up at Zukko, who was obviously trying to keep a straight face.
"I told you to move," he said.
"Shut up," Jet snapped as he stood. The two of them looked up to see the bison narrowly avoid the fireball. Zukko was deeply disappointed, and, after a moment, decided to send a second fireball. He was about to give the order when he heard a bang and screams from above. Looking back to the skies, he saw the bison and its riders hurdling toward the ocean. The broken fireball, which had been split into three pieces (one that was more than half of the fireball in itself) plummeted downward just above them.
"Throw the net!" Zukko ordered, trying to hide his excitement. The crew threw a giant net over the side of the ship. The three riders and the bison hit the water near the left side of the bow. Only a moment separated their landing where the net had been cast and the gigantic wave that was a result of the broken fireball. The wave crashed over the side of the ship, sending half of the crew into the opposite wall. Jet cursed loudly as the wave passed and left the boat rocking violently.
Jet and Zukko tottered back and forth in attempt the keep their balance as did the conscious members of the crew. A couple of them, along with Iroh, rushed to the other side of the ship where several unconscious crew members rested against the wall of the ship. Zukko grabbed the net in order to keep his balance; Jet toppled over the side of the ship and landed in the water inside the net.
The remaining crew, along with Zukko, hauled the net to the surface and onto the ship. Once the net rested on deck, Jet crawled out and stood up in front of Zukko.
"Well, that was refreshing," he said, tossing a small fish over the side of the ship. Zukko smiled slightly as he raised his eyebrow before turning his attention to the prisoners in the net.
"Keep the bison with the rhinos. We'll take the others down to the prison hold." With that, he stooped and grabbed two of them around one of their wrists (Sokka and Aang), then looked over at Jet. Jet nodded and grabbed the remaining prisoner and the Avatar's staff before following Zukko down to the prison hold.
Torches lit the corridor that ran down the middle of the prison hold. Cells lined the hall on either side. Jet followed him down the stairs and through the door until they came to a halt at the end of the hallway. Zukko putAang in the last cell on their right, and Sokka in the cell on the end beside Aang's. After a moment of stillness, Zukko looked over at Jet, who shrugged and drug Katara into the empty cell beside Sokka.
Once all the doors were locked and the two were about to leave, Jet handed him the staff. Zukko took it and studied it for a moment, apparently thinking about something. Then, without warning, he swung the staff at Jet; the blow caught him in the right side of his face and knocked him sideways. He staggered backwards at an angle, into a neighboring cell. Zukko closed the door and locked it. Jet was dazed abruptly, but realization struck him quickly. He stared up at Zukko, confused.
"What are you doing? Why'd you—" Jet started before confusion consumed him.
"I'm taking you to the Fire Lord," he said bluntly.
"What? Why? I thought—"
"You thought wrong."
"We had a deal! I kept my promise, so let me go! Or at least let me out of here. You can't do this!" Jet was clutching two of the bars on the cell, staring at Zukko with anger and disbelief flaring in his eyes.
"Watch me," Zukko replied absently before turning to leave the prison hold.
"No, you can't do this! Come back here! Let me go! You won't get away with this, you bastard! Get back here—let me go!" Jet continued to scream until he heard the door close and the prison went dark.
When the door slammed, he stopped shouting threats and curses, for he knew it would do no good. Instead, he turned and sat in the corner of his cell, facing the wall opposite him with his head in his hands. After a while, he looked at the three prisoners. They were still unconscious. Jet was in the cell directly across from Sokka, and from where he was, they would all be able to see him. Hating himself, he put hishead back in his hands, wishing that he had never met them.
Author's Note: I love this chapter, even though the ending was so hard to put together. I wanted to end the chapter here, but I had already typed some after this (it's now the beginning of Chapter 5 now) and I just couldn't find a way to end. I kind of like the way it worked out. And don't you just love the two-point perspective here? It's sooo cool!