Howdy Team! Welcome back to another chapter of AWTF! Not much to say here. Hope you enjoy! Don't forget to Follow Favorite and Review!
I do not own ATLA!
~Previously on A Walk Through Fire~
"What if we got some of those leaders to work with us?" Sokka pondered as he stroked his chin.
"Well, that would mean that you would be able to sneak into the prison and sneak out undetected, then get away," the man said as he looked at Sokka, who was smiling.
"Well, lucky for us, we have a ten-ton flying bison that we can get away on," Sokka said with a smug look on his face.
"And lucky for us, you'll be dead by then."
Suddenly, a masked man appeared out of the darkness of the room. He was about 6'2", weighing about 150 pounds of muscle. He wore dark red clothing with a hood. Covering his face was a large black and red bird mask. He wore a black cloak and seemingly no armor. The cloak itself reached down to his ankles and revealed red slippers. His arms were also hidden inside the cloak.
"And who the fuck are you exactly?" Sokka asked as he drew the sword that he got from the ship.
"Us?" The man chuckled lightly behind his mask. "We are your doom!"
"Wait, I recognize that mask!" Suki said as she drew her recently acquired metal fans that she was able to have made for her.
"Really? From where?" Sokka asked while studying the figure in the room.
"Right before we left Katara and Zuko, we went to a village called The Abbey. There was a lady who described Fire Nation soldiers with strange masks that were on their faces," Suki explained.
The masked man chuckled. "Ah, so you've heard of us then," he replied as he stepped forward and revealed the other ten people that were surrounding the room. "We are the Fire Nation's elite; the blue flame of the torch that is the Fire Nation's military. We are the Snufferes!"
"Snufferes? What kind of weird name is that?" Toph asked while readying herself for an attack.
"I'll have you know that this is a glorious name for a glorious group of individuals!" the man spoke while crossing his arms.
"Well, whoever you are, how did you know that we were even here?" Sokka asked while eyeing the elder man, who was now cowering in a corner.
"What, you think the Fire Nation didn't know about this foolish man who has been leaking secrets for seven months, two weeks, and three days? We just needed an excuse for us to come in here and burn everything to the ground."
"Let me guess: we're the excuse, aren't we?" Toph groaned while she facepalmed. Wait, why do I feel sixteen heartbeats? she thought to herself. Me, Sokka, Suki, plus the old man, that's four. The masked leader makes five, along with the other ten that he spoke of. So, where's the extra heartbeat? Oh, the baby. That's right. Man, that's going to take some getting used too. Toph mentally facepalmed again as she lightly tapped her foot against the stone floor of the seller they were in. Alright, I can take out the five behind me, she strategized internally. Suki has the other five and Sokka can get the leader. Toph smirked to herself as she slowly started to shift her feet.
"Well, well," the leader said. "Ms. Beifong here must have connected the pieces. We followed you the entire way from the port." The way he spoke made it seem like he was smirking behind his mask.
"That's impossible! Toph would have said something if you were following us," Sokka retorted as he glanced around the room for an escape plan. Alright, Toph is in an attack position. She can take out the ones behind us. Suki can also take out at least three or four. I'll take on the leader.
"I'm sorry, I was distracted by something and I didn't notice," Toph replied aloud. Shit, I can't tell them about the baby yet!
"Ah, well. It's all good, Toph. We all make mistakes," Suki spoke while readying herself for an attack.
"So what are you going to do with us?" Sokka asked as he looked at the masked man.
"Kill you, of course!" the man exclaimed with a little too much happiness in his voice. "What, you thought we were going to take you in?"
"Well, I mean, yeah! Usually, we just get captured," Sokka said as he motioned for Suki to grab documents from the table.
"Well, too bad I'm not going to do that," the man stated.
"But sir, command wants them alive," one of the soldiers spoke up from the back.
"God damn it Dai, you never let me have any fun anymore," the masked man grunted. He sighed and shook his head. "Well, Sokka, it looks like you would be correct. I must take you in."
"That's what I thought. But, too bad we're going to escape before you have the opportunity," Sokka said smugly. He made a circle on the ground with his foot, trying to get Toph's attention.
Why the fuck is he making a circle on the ground? Wait, all three of us are in a line on the ground. What if we went through the floor to escape? That way they wouldn't be able to follow us. Sokka, you're a genius. Toph smiled as she poked him in the back to acknowledge his plan.
Great, Toph figured out my sign, Sokka thought. It doesn't look like Suki is done collecting documents without being caught. I need to keep stalling, Sokka internally concluded. "You mentioned a name earlier: Dai. Who is he and what does he want with us?" Sokka asked aloud.
"And why would I tell you what Commander Dai wants with you? You think I'm that dumb?" The masked man laughed a little. "And even if I told you his plan, it's not like you would even be able to understand it due to your incompetence!"
"Oh, so you think I'm the incompetent one?" Sokka mused as he glanced at Suki, who had stopped collecting documents and looked to be ready to fight. Huh, I wonder where she stuck those documents. Oh well, I guess we'll find out soon enough. "Now, Toph!"
Suddenly, the ground beneath the three teens opened up and they fell down into a seemingly endless hole. The soldiers that were watching them launched into action and three large torrents of flame entered the holes.
"After them! We can't let them escape!" the leader shouted as he walked towards the elderly man.
"Alright, you heard the captain," one of the soldiers said as they started to jump into the holes that were created.
"P-please don't kill me! I…I'll do anything!" the old man shouted as he cowered in a corner.
"Really? You'll do anything?"
"Y-yes! Anything!"
"Good…DIE!"
Suddenly, the entire room was engulfed in flames. All the papers, books, scrolls, and maps were burned to ashes and the building itself was crumbling. The poor elderly man, however, couldn't see his life work crumble. He was already a pile of ash being spat on by the masked man.
Meanwhile, Sokka and Suki were being led by Toph through a sewer system. They were trying to escape the excess amounts of Snufferes that were following them.
"How much farther, Toph?" Sokka asked as them ran blindly in the dark.
"A lot farther! Watch out, there's a wall on your left that you're about to run into," Toph spoke as she dodged the wall.
"Halt! We cannot let you go any further!" one of the soldiers called from the cavern. He launched a wall of flames at the group. Toph stomped her foot on the ground and encased the man in rock. "Suki, if you would, chop off his head. That would be great!"
"On it!" Suki replied, smirking as she threw one of her fans like a boomerang. It sailed through the air and cleanly chopped off the man's head. She then grabbed her fan out of the air as it returned to her hand.
"Woah! When did your fans act like boomerangs?" Sokka asked his girlfriend as they ran through the corridors.
"While I would love to explain it to you, we currently need to survive!" Suki yelled as she started running again.
"More importantly, we need to find a way out!" Toph yelled as she blocked off the previous corridor with a wall of rock.
"Do you even know where we are, Toph?" Sokka cried out.
"Alright, Ice Boy, you try running for your life while trying to locate any kind of landmark that is a hundred feet above you! It's a lot harder than it looks. Oh, and not to mention," Toph added dryly, "we have at least eight highly trained soldiers on our ass. So, I would greatly appreciate it if you SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
"Guys, we don't have to argue!" Suki cried. "Toph, you focus on getting us back to the surface or to the seaport. Sokka, you shut up and fight the soldiers!" she commanded as Toph started walking towards one of the walls.
"Well, looks like we have found you."
The group turned around to find themself surrounded by five soldiers, all of which in different fighting stances.
"Great! Fucking great!" Sokka groaned. He gripped firmer onto his sword. "Toph, can you get us to the surface?"
"Yes, but it will take a while to make the path. I need to concentrate," Toph called out as she placed her hands onto the wall.
"Great! Alright, Suki, let's kick some ass!" Sokka spoke as he ran towards two soldiers to engage them in a sword fight.
Both soldiers smirked and teamed up to try and overwhelm Sokka but failed as he sliced both on the chest. The third soldier, who swung his sword at Sokka, was then cut down by Suki, stabbing him with a knife through his back. Sokka smiled and then dodged the incoming sword slashes, starting to parry them with his own blade.
Suki looked at her boyfriend and smiled. Glad we did have those sparrs. She then looked at her two opponents. One looked to be a long range fighter and the other looked to be a short range fighter. Great, let's see how this will go. She ran at the soldiers and threw her fan at the short range fighter. He merely dodged it and laughed as a fireball pelted towards Suki, who blocked it with one of her other fans. The other soldier, seeing that Suki was distracted, launched a steam-orange flame at Suki. She ducked her head and dodged the flames, but didn't notice the other soldier, who somehow kicked her in the arm, making her drop her fan.
SHIT! she cursed to herself. She looked at the soldier's foot and grabbed a knife from her pocket, proceeding to slice the ankle and cut the tendon near the heel.
"Aargh! You bitch!" the soldier howled as he tried to move his foot, but failed. Suki smirked and stood up. Using her momentum, she flipped the soldier over and stomped on his head. She then turned to look at the long range fighter, who had a flaming arrow ready to be launched.
"No one kills my friend and gets away with it!" he yelled as he launched the arrow.
A few moments earlier….
Sokka was still engaging with the other three soldiers. He grabbed onto the soldier's arms and snapped them back, dislocating them. He looked at the rest of them and sighed. This is gonna be hard. He threw the soldier at the other two, but they dodged it and ran towards him.
One of the soldiers had his fist covered in flames and was about to punch Sokka when he used his sword to cut off the man's arm. The soldier screamed in pain and kicked Sokka in the chest.
Sokka gasped heavily as he tried to regain his breath, but wasn't able to rest for long as flame tumbled quickly towards his head. He looked at the man and rolled out of the way, throwing his boomerang at the soldier.
The soldier scoffed. "You think a boomerang will help you?"
"Five...four...three...two...one..." As Sokka said "one", he smirked as the boomerang came back, knocking the soldier out. "Never underestimate a boomerang!"
"And never forget about an opponent!" the one-armed soldier yelled as he ran towards Sokka.
Sokka pointed his sword down and jumped over the soldier. Using his sword, Sokka cut him in half and grinned. "Now you're torso-less as well."
He then looked at Suki, who was distracted. His eyes followed one of the soldiers who was readying a bow-and-arrow to be launched at his girlfriend. SHIT! He started running towards the gap between the archer and Suki. Alright, if I can get there fast enough, I should be able to grab the arrow. When I grab the arrow, I will need to throw it back. I could backflip and twist while throwing the arrow to send it back. Alright, he just released the arrow. Let's hope this works.
Sokka snatched the arrow and did exactly what he thought he would. He backflipped and in mid-air and, twisting his body so that he was facing the archer, threw it back, hitting him in the face.
"And no one tries to kill my girlfriend and gets away with it!" Sokka proclaimed as he landed on his feet. He looked at the soldier and smirked.
Suki let out a breath she didn't know she had. "Did we get them all?"
"Yeah, we did! Now let's go! I made a path back to the docks, but we have to hurry!" Toph shouted from an entryway on the wall that she created. The others followed her to the front of the stairs and she then sealed the entrance off so that no one could follow her.
"How long is this path, Toph?" Suki asked as they walked.
"Well it took me the entire length of time that you were fighting to make it so about 20 minutes. Also, I have a question for you both," Toph added as she kept her head down.
"Sure, what's up?" Sokka asked as she wiped the blood off of his sword.
"What are your opinions on kids?" Toph blurted out.
"Oh, I LOVE babies!" Suki said with stars in her eyes. "They are so adorable and small and cute! When we were back on the island, I got to help deliver the babies sometimes and then watch them while the moms slept! They are so cute!"
Toph and Sokka had stopped walking at this point and were just staring at Suki. Sokka was looking at her with his mouth ajar and gasping like a fish out of water. Toph was on the ground, laughing hysterically.
"What?" Suki asked, a tick mark appearing on her forehead.
"N-nothing, I didn't say anything," Sokka stuttered with his hand waving in defense.
"What's so funny, Toph?" Suki asked as she grabbed the Earthbender by the shirt.
"Just the way you started gushing about babies," Toph said while trying to control her laughter.
She placed the girl down on the ground and continued to walk down the path.
"What about you, Sokka? Do you like babies?" Toph asked. Oh, this should be a good one.
"Well, I just think that they are smelly noise machines who never sleep and just poop and cry all the time. They don't even do anything! Like, they smell awful and don't let you get any sleep AT ALL!" Sokka ranted as he waved his arms around.
Oh, that's not good, Toph thought as they walked further down the path. Well, it's not my problem at the moment, but it will become one later on in the future. Gosh, he's in for the surprise of his life in a few months.
"What do you think Katara and Zuko are doing right now?" Suki asked as they walked. She was trying to pass the time so that they weren't walking in silence.
"If she's anything like Ice Brain over there, probably sucking his brain out," Toph snickered.
"I mean, you're probably not wrong. You could tell she wanted that dick," Sokka spoke, which shocked both Toph and Suki.
"That's your sister we're talking about!" Suki scolded Sokka as she punched him in the arm.
"Think about it. She didn't even hesitate to stay with him to heal. We've been gone for, what, a month? Who knows what they are doing."
"Sokka, you moron! Katara would never have sex with Zuko unless she knew that he loved her," Suki said while shaking her head in disappointment.
"Yeah, and she wouldn't get pregnant unless she wanted to either," Toph mumbled under her breath so that no one could hear her.
"Well, if we are talking about all of our friends, what do you think Aang is doing right now?" Sokka asked his friends, who stopped in thought for a second.
"Okay, he's definitely not fucking Azula. If Aang smashed Azula, I think the world will have ended," Toph reasoned.
"Agreed!" Suki stated.
"I'm telling you, they could totally work out!" Sokka said as they rounded a corner.
"How?! She literally wanted to kill him, along with her gaggle of friends," Suki scoffed.
"Aang has a way of helping people who are at their lowest. He can change people for the better. Maybe he changed Azula."
Suki stopped and looked at her boyfriend like he was crazy. "Toph, you can't actually agree with him right?"
"Actually, I do," Toph considered. "Like I told you, when we were at the Stronghold, she wasn't lying about wanting to help both Zuko and Aang. Granted, I wasn't able to tell when she was intentionally lying, but I think she was telling the truth. While I don't think that they are fucking like rabbits, I do think that they are in some sort of relationship ," Toph reasoned as she smiled lightly.
"Alright, say they DO date...what about the war? They are on opposite sides of it! I mean, depending on the relationship, maybe she joined him. I mean, who knows the next time we will even see them?"
"Suki..."
"And what about those other two girls that she's always with? You don't think he'd be in a harem with them, do you? I know he has to repopulate the Airbenders and all that, but I thought he liked Katara."
"SUKI!"
"WHAT?!"
"We're here," Toph announced as she punched a wall that opened up to an overlook of the marketplace.
"Wow, this view is fantastic!" Sokka said in wonder as he looked at the sunset over the water.
"Like I said-"
"You see nothing once, you see nothing a thousand times, yeah, we fucking get it!" Suki yelled as she interrupted her friend as she punched her lightly in the head.
"Wow, someone's cranky," Toph mumbled as she rubbed the back of her head.
"Alright, let's head back to the boat," Sokka stated. "But we need to make sure that we aren't followed. Who knows how many of those Snufferes are out there."
Both of the girls nodded their heads as they slowly walked down the hills towards the marketplace. Once they got to the stall, the found Mr. Rizon sitting at his desk, waiting for them to get back.
"Well, look who decided to return," he greeted from the table at the back of the stalls.
"Hey, do we have to stay here any longer?" Sokka asked as he leaned over the table.
"I mean, we could leave as soon as tomorrow if you really want to bu-"
"Great!" Sokka stated as he handed everyone bread and an apple.
"Did something happen?" Mr. Rizon asked as he looked at Suki and Toph.
"Well…we kinda have the most elite Fire Nation troops after us and they are kinda also swarming the entire city trying to kill us," Suki explained, which made Mr. Rizon's eyes widen.
"Wow, that sounds crazy! What happened?" he asked as he stood up and locked up the stalls.
"Well…it's a long story," Suki spoke as she followed the group to the boat.
"Good. You'll have plenty of time to explain it to me tomorrow as we get the hell away from here," he said as he walked onto the boat. He smiled at his charges and sighed. "If I told you I wasn't worried about you, I would be lying. You guys sound like you need a change of scenery from this place."
"Great! The sooner we get out of here, the better we all will be!" Sokka said, waiting for everyone to get onto the boat before pulling the board and placing it onto the deck.
Early the next morning, Sokka and Mr. Rizon gathered everything from the stalls and transported them back to the boat. They untied the ship and smiled to themselves.
"Where to next, Mr. Rizon?" Sokka asked as they watched the sun appear over the horizon.
"We are now heading to the Fire Nation Capital. Our final stop."