Wandering Firebender
Sixty Eight: Working Together
"Attention, all passengers. We are now preparing for takeoff. Brace yourselves for lift." An announcement came over the P.A. system in the airship.
Cindra, who was relaxing back in bed, sat straight up when she heard the announcement. Was it time to go already? The idea of being so high in the air again was scary, but at the same time, she really wanted to see the ship go up...but she didn't have a window in her room.
She took a moment to wash her face and fix her hair before stepping out of her room and making her way to the nearest common area, which was right next to the map table. When she got there, she saw that Sri was already leaning over and staring out the window. Also, that firebending girl that was living in Alger's home was sitting at the table next to the window.
"You came out to see us take off too?" Cindra asked Sri, walking past the table and going to her. Sri looked back and nodded.
"Yeah! It's crazy that the Fire Nation has vehicles that can fly! And this airship is so huge too!" She said.
"Right?! I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it for myself once already." Cindra said.
The metal structures holding the shape of the airship started to lurch and groan as it slowly rose up into the air. As it got higher, Cindra and Sri instinctively hung onto the wall as best as they could. They couldn't see very far outside of the small window, but before long the ground was no longer visible.
"Oh gosh. We're flying." Cindra said nervously.
"You might wanna come and sit down if you're feeling a little nauseous." Koda, the firebending girl sitting at the table, said to them. Cindra and Sri looked back at her then at each other before sitting with her at the table and holding on tight to it.
"This is so weird." Sri commented.
"It is. Does it ever get easier?" Cindra asked Koda.
"Does what get easier?"
"Flying in this." Cindra clarified.
"Oh I don't know. This is my first time too!" Koda said with a laugh.
"How are you so calm right now?" Sri asked with a shaky chuckle.
"Because I didn't make the mistake of staring out the window while we were going up." Koda teased.
"Heheh, but aren't you nervous about how high up we are?" Cindra asked.
"If I don't see it, I don't have to think about it," Koda said, shaking her head. She decided to change the subject. "We all talked a little back in Alger's house, but I don't think we ever got properly introduced. I'm Koda."
"I'm Cindra. It's nice to meet you. Oh, and this is Sri." She introduced them both and smiled politely at her.
Cindra didn't really know much about Koda or her two friends that were with her. She only knew that they were from the Fire Nation too, and that they were friends with Elio and Alger. How that all happened though, she had no idea.
"Oh we know each other already," Sri informed her. "When they moved into Alger's house, I got to know her and Nezu and Marx pretty well."
"Oh really?"
"Yep," Koda confirmed with a nod. "Elio mentioned you. He was pretty determined to get to the North Pole to help you out. This was when Sozin's Comet was still coming." She told Cindra.
"Oh wow, okay! How do you and Elio know each other?" She asked curiously.
"We ran into each other kinda randomly actually," Koda recalled with a chuckle. "We were just trying to help out however we could. We ended up working together with him and Alger to liberate the same Earth Kingdom town from the Fire Nation. He couldn't come with us, but Alger found us later and we fought in the war together."
"Oh wow! That's crazy!" Cindra exclaimed.
"It's crazy how that worked out. I think Elio appreciated knowing that he wasn't the only firebender that questioned what the Fire Nation was doing. I just hope those days are all behind us now." Sri expressed.
"Yeah, me too. I gotta tell you, I'm nervous to be going back home after everything that's happened." Koda admitted with a dry little chuckle.
"Going back home?" Cindra looked at her oddly.
"Yeah. We're going home. You didn't know that?" Koda asked them. Cindra and Sri's eyes widened.
"We're going home...? Oh...we're going to the Fire Nation." Sri said slowly as if only now realizing this.
"You didn't know we were going to the Fire Nation?" Koda asked again with an amused chuckle.
"W-Well I didn't really think about that part!" Cindra argued, feeling both embarrassed and nervous.
"Haha, well I guess you've got until the end of the trip to get ready. That's what? 5 or 6 hours?" Koda said with another chuckle.
"Yeahhh...I wonder how Alger's doing," Sri brought up. "I'm sure he's gotta be feeling nervous about it too."
"Oh yeah true. Maybe we should go check on him." Cindra suggested.
"Yeah, good idea," Sri nodded and stood up. "Nice talking to you again, Koda. You gonna be alright?" She asked.
"Hmm? Me? Oh yeah. I should actually go and see how Marx and Nezu are feeling." Koda thought aloud, standing up from the table too. Cindra stood up as well.
"I guess we've all got some stuff to think about...oh, nice meeting you, Koda! I'll see you around." Cindra waved to her.
"Yep, you too." Koda nodded and waved back.
Cindra and Sri made their way down the hall right to Alger's room. Sri walked up and knocked on the door.
"The door's unlocked!" Alger called from inside his room.
Cindra and Sri opened up the door and went inside. They found Alger sitting on his bed reading a book. When he saw them coming in, he marked his page with a bookmark and set the book down next to him.
"Hello. What can I do for you two?" He asked, looking at them strangely; he was surprised that they were both coming by for a visit.
"Hey, Alger. We just wanted to check in on you. See how you're feeling. You know we're going to the Fire Nation, right?" Sri asked. Alger nodded.
"I do. I appreciate you coming to see me, but I think I'm alright. I'm just doing my best to calm my nerves until our arrival." He answered.
"What's wrong? Mind telling us about it?" Cindra asked, walking over and sitting on the edge of the bed.
"It's a big deal, going to the Fire Nation. I've harbored resentment against them for such a long time; it wasn't until I became friends with Elio that I found any reason to change my thinking." Alger explained.
"Yeah, I think we're all kinda in the same boat." Sri acknowledged.
"Yes...I guess we'll just have to see what's waiting for us when we land." Alger said, not really sure what else to say. The girls nodded quietly in agreement...
After what felt like an entire day spent just biding their time, the moment finally arrived when they came down for a landing. The slightest little bounce from the airship signaled to everyone aboard that they were now officially on Fire Nation soil.
"We have safely landed. The exits are now clear for departure." The announcement came on over the P.A. system.
Almost all at the same time, everyone exited their rooms: Alger, Cindra, Sri, Koda, Marx, and Nezu. They were all dressed and ready to go, but no one took the stuff they had packed with them out of their rooms. Finally, Elio came out of his room wearing his full uniform and holding his staff.
"Hey, everybody. Ready to go?" He asked them with a smile.
Elio led everyone out of the airship. Alger, Cindra, and Sri looked all around them, but all eyes soon became fixated on the royal palace. Even though Koda and the others were from here, they had never been this close to the Fire Lord's house before.
"Oh wow, we're really here...this just got a lot more real all of a sudden." Nezu said nervously.
"Is that the Fire Lord's palace?" Alger asked, pointing to it.
"Yep!" Elio nodded.
"I see..." Alger looked it over again.
"It's kinda...intimidating to be here." Cindra admitted.
"Yeah, I'm freaking out a little back here." Sri agreed with a nervous laugh.
"Oh, there's no need to worry. We're all good now." Elio smiled reassuringly at them.
Two palace guards approached Elio and the others. Cindra, Sri, and Alger didn't recognize the armor that they had on: it was painted red instead of black. None of them knew what this meant.
"Welcome back, Captain Elio. The Fire Lord has requested that you and your friends report to the throne room immediately upon your arrival." One of the guards informed him.
"Oh alright, good. This is everybody right here." Elio said, gesturing to the group of 6 with him.
"Follow us. We'll escort you there."
The two guards led Elio and the others into the palace. As they made their way in through a set of double doors, 6 more palace guards approached the group and created a circle surrounding them; this was the manner in which they were all escorted to the throne room.
"Who are these guys?" Cindra came up close behind Elio, stretching her neck over his shoulder and whispering in his ear.
"Hm?" Elio tilted his head back to hear her better.
"Why are these guys wearing red armor?"
"Oh, they're the royal palace guards. They keep the entire palace secure, and they're personal guards to the Fire Lord when he's here." Elio explained.
"Oh wow..."
No one did any conversing during the walk to the throne room. They were either staring at the guards, looking down at their feet, or observing the architecture and decorations all around them. They passed by large columns, golden symbols of dragons, and giant portraits of members of the royal family both past and present.
"Have you ever been here before, Elio?" Alger asked him.
"I stayed here once. I haven't seen much of the palace myself yet." Elio admitted.
"Why do I get the feeling we're being taken on the scenic route?" He asked. Elio didn't have an answer for that.
Finally, they reached the doors to the throne room, "I will go in and announce your arrival to the Fire Lord," One of the guards said before entering the room. The door closed behind him. They all waited in silence until he finally came back out.
"He is ready to see you. Make sure your friends conduct themselves in an orderly manner." The guard said before opening the door for them.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Koda asked.
"I will, thanks. Come on guys." Elio gestured for them to follow him inside, choosing to politely ignore the guard's comment.
The throne room was a lot bigger and a lot longer than any of them were expecting. They made their way down the red carpet, passing by darkened columns in rows on either side of them. A wall of fire stretched from one end of the throne area to the other, crackling as it rose up in front of the Fire Lord seated upon it.
From this angle, none of them could see his face. They could only feel the heat of the fire as they got closer and closer to it. Once they were near the foot of the throne, Elio motioned for the group to line up single file on either side of him. Once they did, Elio lowered himself to one knee.
Following his lead, Koda and the others knelt down to Elio's right, although they did so in a reserved way. Seeing this, Cindra and Sri fell in line. Alger was the last one to kneel, but he did so with extreme hesitance and remained on guard even after he'd lowered himself down.
It wasn't until they were all kneeling before the throne that the wall of fire dwindled and died out. Once the fire was gone and the smoke dissipated, they were all able to see Fire Lord Zuko clearly now. His eyes scanned over all of them before he spoke.
"I'm glad you were able to make it back with all of your friends so quickly, Elio. Did my uncle get the letter I left you?" He asked. Elio smiled and nodded.
"Yes, sir. After my conversation with the Earth King, it was the first thing I took care of. He sends his love and will be in touch soon."
"Good. Thank you," Zuko smiled a little. "And the Earth King? What did he have to say?"
"He's very...apprehensive, as I'm sure you expected. But he is open to discussion. It will take time, but I think he'll come around eventually." Elio added onto the end of his report.
"I hope so. I'll send another letter soon. Is this everyone that you were looking for in Ba Sing Se?" Zuko asked, turning his attention back to Elio's companions.
"Actually this is more than what I was expecting," Elio answered with a chuckle. "But I can vouch for everyone here."
"Good," Zuko nodded. He turned his attention to Cindra. "You're Cindra, right? The girl from the Northern Water Tribe?" He asked.
"M-Me? Oh! Yes, I am." Cindra stuttered in her answer, pointing at herself and nodding her head.
"I've been to the Northern Water Tribe. It's a beautiful place." Zuko said.
"Really?!" Cindra exclaimed in surprise, "Yes, it is beautiful." She agreed with a smile.
"It's very cold up there." Zuko commented.
"Haha yes it is." Cindra giggled. Zuko nodded and turned his attention to Alger.
"You're from the Earth Kingdom." He noted.
"I am." Alger acknowledged this with a nod.
"Welcome to the Fire Nation. If Elio here vouches for you then you're more than welcome." Zuko said.
"I can definitely vouch for him. When I needed to get to the North Pole to fight against the invasion, Alger here helped me travel across the Earth Kingdom. As a matter of fact, he saved my life a couple times along the way." Elio said with a smile.
"Then I'm glad you're here, Alger. We need more earthbenders like you who are willing to work alongside us towards a better future." Zuko said.
"We're all striving towards the same goal; as long as that's the case, you can consider me an ally." Alger said. Zuko nodded appreciatively before turning his attention to Koda, Nezu and Marx. They all lifted their heads a little when they saw that the Fire Lord was looking at them.
"You three...you're from the Fire Nation." Zuko observed.
"Yes, Mr. Fire Lord sir, um...we're firebenders, all three of us." Nezu confirmed.
"Firebenders?"
"Yes. They...left the old Fire Nation cause. They were soldiers before, but they ended up taking the same path as me." Elio explained to Zuko.
"We ended up switching sides at the end of the war, helping the Earth Kingdom fight against the invasion. We helped Alger over there actually." Koda added, pointing to Alger on the other side of the line.
"Is that so? Interesting." Zuko hummed, bringing his thumb and forefinger to his chin.
"I don't know what your plans are for Koda, Nezu and Marx here, but I definitely want these guys on my team." Elio said, gesturing to Cindra, Sri, and Alger on his left.
"Wow thanks, Elio." Marx said with a sarcastic chuckle. Elio snickered a little.
"Look, man, you guys can join the team too if you want, that's fine." He said with a chuckle.
"Oh, if we want? So nice of you to consider our feelings on the matter." Koda teased him. Elio groaned and rubbed his face, chuckling more.
"Are you all done?" Zuko asked, breaking up the banter. The four of them all cleared their throats and got serious again.
"Sorry." Elio apologized. Zuko waited a moment before speaking again.
"I'll make sure that you all have rooms to stay in here in the palace. It'll take a little time for the preparations to be made, but if you want to move your things out of the airship, you can take care of that now. I'll get started on that right away...
"The only way we move forward is by all working together. Wherever you come from, I'm happy to see that each of you are willing to step up. We have a long, difficult road ahead of us, but it's gonna get better.
"I've spent a lot of time thinking this over – you'll probably run into a lot of opposition and less-than-warm welcomes out on your missions. It may be hard, but it's the right thing to do. I just want to make sure you all know what you'll be facing." Zuko said.
"I guess that's true, huh?" Nezu thought aloud and nodded.
"We already said we'll do what we can. We're sticking by that." Cindra promised.
"I don't really care who has what to say about me," Elio added. "I just want to do the right thing. That's why I'm here. That's why we're all here." He spoke for the group. They all nodded in agreement.
"Good. Glad to hear it," Zuko said. He clapped his hands twice, signaling for a royal palace guard to enter the room. "Take these three here and give them guest rooms close to Elio's room on the south side." He ordered, gesturing to Cindra, Sri, and Alger.
"Yes, sir. Please, come with me." The guard said to the three of them. They all looked at each other then stood up.
"Oh, okay. Guess we'll see you later, Elio," Cindra said to him before turning to Zuko. She bowed respectfully. "Thank you for having us, sir!"
"Yep!" Sri chimed in and bowed too. "Looking forward to...uh...you know, the mission!" She said before shuffling out with Cindra.
"Thank you, Fire Lord Zuko, for your hospitality and for being so forthcoming. It'll take me time to adjust, but I hope that our work brings about real change." Alger expressed his feelings honestly.
"Thank you, Alger." Zuko said. Alger nodded and followed the others out.
This just left Elio, Koda, Marx, and Nezu alone with Fire Lord Zuko. Elio couldn't help but wonder why Zuko had dismissed the others from the room; only the firebenders were in here now.
"You want to speak with us further?" Elio inquired.
"Yes...Elio, I know you said that you can vouch for these three, but I would like to see where they are myself. Tomorrow, I would like you to train each of them – run them through their paces." Zuko revealed.
"Training?" Marx said in surprise.
"From Elio?" Nezu asked.
"What sort of training do you have in mind?" Elio asked, his eyebrows furrowing curiously.
"Physical training and combat. I want to see how well they can handle themselves and what you can do for them." Zuko explained.
"So does this mean you're considering bringing us on?" Koda asked.
"We'll talk about it more tomorrow. For now, I think you should all get some rest." Zuko recommended.
With that, the four of them stood up, did a Fire Nation bow, and left the throne room. They were all left to wonder what tomorrow's training would be like. As they were taken to their rooms, they discussed it briefly among themselves.
"Why is it that we have to prove ourselves to Zuko but your friends don't?" Marx asked Elio. Elio shrugged and shook his head.
"I'm honestly not sure. I'm sure he has reasons for it though. But I've seen how you all work together. I'm sure it won't be a problem." He said reassuringly.
"My arm is still a little weak but I think I should be alright getting back into training. It's probably a good thing actually." Nezu said, holding up his weaker arm and glancing down at it.
"Yeah. How do you feel about it, Koda?" Marx asked her.
"I'm not sure yet," Koda answered with a shrug. "I'll get back to you tomorrow." She answered.
Elio's eyebrows furrowed at this. It was hard to identify where this uncertain feeling was coming from, but they were all feeling a little on guard. He could only hope that everything would reveal itself tomorrow, and that he could find a way to help the three of them...
