Chapter 8: Island of the Kyoshi Warriors
Location: Seoul, South Korea
It was 10:35 PM, and General Jonathan Richards was at the airport, ready to go home. He was worried that his son hadn't called him like he usually does. He checked his phone, still nothing.
'Still nothing', he thought, 'Damn, I hope he's alright.'
Then he felt a tap on his shoulders, causing him to snap out of his train of thoughts.
"Excuse me, but are you, Johnathon Richards?"
He turns around to see a young man in a white collared shirt and a tie.
"Yes?" he answers.
"Mr. Wang would like to see you."
Jonathan was curious about why would they want to see him, but he digresses. So he tried his best to find the main office of the airport but to no avail. That's when he found one of the officers that worked at the airport.
He turns around to see a young twenty-year-old officer, wearing some glasses and a blue navy uniform.
"Yes", he replied.
The young officer nods his head, "Come with me."
He didn't know what he did wrong but he didn't argue so he went with the officer. The two began to move towards the office for at least twenty minutes. It was rough, due to the traffic inside the large building. They finally made it towards the entrance of the airport and made it towards the office. The police officer knocked on the door, waiting to be answered.
"Come in."
The two entered inside the main office, seeing a forty-year-old man, with a short haircut, and was wearing a veteran pilot suit with a nametag on it saying, Hyo Wang.
Hyo Wang looked up to see the American general, he gave him a small smile for a moment, but then it turned into a frown.
"Are you General Jonathan Richards?" the airport sheriff asked in Korean.
Jonathan just nods, it was a good thing he can speak Korean during his times in the Navy.
"Yes", he said in Korean, "Yes, I'm Jonathan Richards. Did I do something wrong?"
"No, no", he shook his head, "You did nothing wrong. But…"
The sheriff was silent for at least a full minute.
"But I'm afraid it's about your son, Paul Cole Richards."
Jonathan's eyes widen, did he commit a crime or did something bad happen to him?
"What happened?" he said with a worried look on his face, "What happened to my son?"
The sheriff closed his eyes for a moment, and then he looked up with a sad look on his face.
"Your son was killed by a gunshot in Los Angeles, California."
He gasped in disbelief and horror; he couldn't believe this was happening.
"Do you have any proof of who did it?"
The sheriff nodded his head in saddened.
"Yes, he was killed by a student named Dexter Jeremy Paxton."
It's been at least two weeks since they left the Southern Air Temple, Aang was still depressed that his family and his friends, but he soon start to get over it and finally accept that he is the last of his kind. Ricky and Katara comforted Aang for at least two hours, and then all the depression began to subside.
"Are you sure you know where it is Aang", Sokka asked him, while looking at the map.
"Well, I know it's near water", Aang said innocently.
They were flying for at least seven hours to look for some kind of land but to no luck.
"I guess that means that we're getting close", Sokka said sarcastically.
Ricky slept for at least six hours during their trip, he was still not used to waking up in the morning (even though in his world, its summer and the Avatar world, it's winter) he still felt like he's still at home. Katara looked at the sleeping teenager, she smiled at him knowing that he was a good kid and was extremely cute when he was asleep.
'Wait what did I just say?'
She started to blush into a crimson red and sweat running from her forehead. She couldn't stop thinking about how cute Ricky is. I mean, he has a girlfriend for crying out loud and she didn't want to ruin their relationship just for that. Aang looked at her with confusion, he wanted to know why she was blushing, but he decided to let that go for a while. Aang also started to notice that Ricky and Katara started looking away from each about a few times or so with a hot pink hue on their cheeks.
'Maybe they…' Aang thought curiously, 'Nah, maybe I'm just seeing things.'
Katara began to sew Sokka's pants; because they encountered a piranha catfish (which Ricky kept teasing Sokka about it).
"Hey Katara, look at this!" Aang said.
He pulled a couple of marbles from his pockets. He started to use his airbending to make them spin around at high speed.
"That's great Aang", she said, not paying attention to Aang's trick.
"But you're not watching", Aang said in disappointment, making him stop the small marbles.
"That's great Aang", she said this time looking at Aang.
"But I'm not doing it", he said still disappointed.
Sokka silently scoffed at his sisters, knowing that his sister is too busy as usual.
"Don't worry about it Aang, it's what girls do when they're sewing", he said, waving his hands.
Katara arched her brow, as she stopped her sewing.
"What does that suppose to mean Pony Man", she said irritably.
Aang started to giggle and Ricky began to smirk in his sleep. He knows that he and Katara aren't going to let go of that; for reasons, Katara's personality and behavior remind him of Elsa. The kids didn't see his smirk as he started to frown about how his friends and family (specifically his dad and not expecting his eldest sister) will react to hear his death. He didn't hear the two Water Tribes kids arguing.
'Probably something stupid' he thought.
That's when he felt a hand began to shake him lightly as his eyes started to open to see the most beautiful angel in his life, 'Wait what?' He started to redden hard when keep forgetting that it was Katara and NOT Elsa.
"Morning sleepyhead", she said while giggling, "I want you to that we're here."
Ricky still blushing nodded and quickly got off as soon as he can. He took a deep breath, trying to fight off the blush from his face, hoping they didn't see it. Aang decided to join him; he wanted to know why Ricky is always shy around his secret crush.
"Hey Ricky, can I ask you a question", Aang asked.
Ricky turned his head around to see Aang coming towards him.
"Uh, sure", he said unsure, "What is it you want to talk about?"
"I was wondering; why is it whenever Katara talks to you or smiles at you starting to stutter?"
Ricky tries to fight off the blush from the surfacing but failed.
"Hey Aang, can you keep a secret?"
"You have an Avatar's honor." Aang bows down with his fists together.
"Okay", Ricky took a deep breath before he could answer, "You see, I get scared when I talk to girls."
Aang just blinks for a moment, to process what he just said. "Really?"
"Yeah, and it's funny really. I have a girlfriend back at home, two sisters, and friends with my girlfriend's younger sister and I'm STILL afraid to talk to them. So, can you not tell them that?" Ricky pleaded.
Aang smiles and pats him on the back. "Don't you worry Ricky, as I said. You have the Avatar's honor."
Ricky smiles. "Thanks, Airhead."
"Hey! Who are you calling 'Airhead'?" Aang jokingly accused.
The two begin laughing before Katara and Sokka reach to them.
"What are you talking about?" Katara asks.
"Oh, I just called him Airhead." Ricky pointed at Aang.
"I'm not an Airhead!" Aang retort.
"You're an airbender, you're lighter than air, and you live in the clouds. Definition for Airhead."
Aang puffed his cheeks and folds his arms, while Katara laughs. Sokka started to look around suspiciously, "So Aang, are you sure we're at the right place? We should be flying instead of landing on small islands."
"For once, I agree with Pony-Man here", Ricky said, "If we keep this up, we'll probably be there by the end of spring."
"But Appa is tired, aren't ya pal." Aang said, but got no answer, "I said, aren't ya pal?"
Appa finally growled as Aang turned around with one of his innocent smiles on his face.
"Yeah, I'm sure that settles everything now", Sokka said sarcastically.
Ricky couldn't have the feeling that they're being watched, but he shrugged it off as one of his usual paranoia is acting up. That's when he heard Aang screaming something; he turned around to see him completely bare of clothes (except for his underwear). He looked at his two friends with confusion. He had no clue what's going on until he saw giant koi fish surfacing from the water. His jaws dropped to the ground as he saw the behemoth-sized fish.
"What the heck is that?"
Katara looked at him and started giggling; it was funny to look at.
"That's an Elephant Koi Fish", she explained, "It was named that due to its' size."
He hasn't seen a creature that large, except for Whale Sharks and Blue Whale.
"I'm going for a walk", Ricky murmured.
He started to walk towards the small woods as he begins to take in the scenery; it was beautiful in his opinion. Sometimes, he wishes that he and his family would travel to the Bahamas than go to Las Vegas as a business trip (which happened three years ago). As he went further to the forest, he could've sworn that he was being watched.
Snap
He quickly turned around to see Appa walking towards him, Ricky sighed in relief but was still a bit paranoid that he still being watched.
"Ricky, what're you doing here", he looked behind Appa and saw that Katara was talking to him.
"I was trying to take a small walk from seeing an over-sized koi fish Aang was trying to catch."
Katara giggled to see that the boy was not used to see their animals. But then again, if they saw his animals they would probably react to the same thing.
"So, what are you doing here Kat'?" Ricky asked curiously.
She raised her eyebrow in confusion, "Kat'?"
Ricky realized what he just said and began to slap his forehead.
"Sorry, I was thinking of a nickname for you and Aang", Ricky explained bluntly rubbing the back of his head, "If you don't like it, then I'll stop calling you that."
She blushed lightly to think that he gave a nickname for her. And to be honest, she thinks it was cute to have a nickname.
"I like it. Thank you."
It was silence for a few seconds until they heard a very loud scream.
"Aang!" they said.
The two kids (plus Appa) ran back into the shoreline to see Aang swimming in terror back to the shoreline.
"What's going on?" Katara asked.
"Something's in the water and it's after Aang" Sokka explained.
Katara's eyes widen in shock as she sees a giant fin coming straight towards them. Ricky started to pray to God, hoping that Aang would get to shore safely. That's when he thought of a risky move, but it might work.
"Aang, Duck!" Ricky yelled at him as he began to charge up a blue fireball from his hand.
"Ricky, what're you doing?!" Sokka yelled at him, but he ignored him.
Ricky's fireball began to grow as big as melon and he launched it towards the giant creature. Aang saw the giant fireball coming straight towards him, he tried to duck but saw that the fire was merely a few inches above his head and exploded right behind him. Aang was launched right out of the water and landed on Ricky. The two Water Tribe kids looked at the two boys and back to the creature to see that it has a burnt scar right in the middle. It started to turn around and began to descend back into the small lake. Katara ran towards the two boys, who still unconscious; began picking Aang up to gain balance.
"Aang, are you ok?"
Aang began to groan, as he begins to regain his balance.
"I'm ok, what just happen?"
"Ricky launched a fireball at the creature, so you can escape", Sokka explained helping Ricky, "We should leave now before there is any trouble."
Just when Ricky slowly regains his consciousness; the four kids were ambushed by a group of samurai-like soldiers and began to blindfold them. Ricky was the first to be attacked by them as they knocked him out by kicking him in the back of the head and blindfolded his eyes. The three kids didn't have time to react as they were knocked down to the ground and blindfolded.
"Or we can stay a while", Sokka murmured.
I t has been ten minutes and Ricky has no idea was going on, all he could remember was saving Aang from a giant sea monster, then was knocked out what look like female-like samurais'. He couldn't see a thing, due that he was blindfolded and tied upped on a pole.
'This day can't get any better', he thought to himself.
That's when he heard footsteps coming towards the East.
"You four have some explaining to do on why you're here", a male said what sounds like in his seventies.
"And if you refuse to tell us, we'll feed you to the Unagi", a feminine voice in her early twenties said.
Ricky didn't want to meet the angry villagers but also doesn't want to die…again.
"Show yourselves, you cowards!" Sokka demanded.
The four kids' blindfolds were removed and to what Ricky saw, were seven female samurai soldiers. What caught his eyes the most was one of them have a golden headpiece on her head.
'She must be the leader that ambushed us', he examined.
He started to notice that he was getting death glares not only from the soldiers but from the villagers as well. He gulped in fear, knowing that what the Fire Nation probably did something to p*ss them off and he couldn't blame them.
"Who are you, where the men who ambushed us are?" Sokka demand.
Ricky looked at him deadpanned, "Um Sokka, I think THEY'RE the ones who ambushed us."
"Shut up firebender!" the leader said angrily, "Now I'm not going to repeat myself; who are you and what are you doing here?"
Ricky knew that he's not welcome here and knows how much a sexist Sokka is.
"Wait a minute, there is no way a bunch of girls could beat us", Sokka retorted.
"Sokka", Ricky hissed.
"Bunch of girls huh", the leader said grabbing Sokka's jacket, "I guess you're going to be the first menu for Unagi tonight."
Ricky gulped in fear, knowing that he doesn't want to be her bad side.
"No wait", Katara yelled, "I'm sorry about my brother, he could be a hothead sometimes."
The leader let go of Sokka's jacket and began walking towards Ricky. He started to shrink in fear, as she began to walk closer to him.
"Please don't hurt me", he murmured, "I didn't mean to cause trouble, I swear."
She began to look skeptical at the Fire Nation boy; everything was wrong about this boy. For one, most Fire Nation people either would have golden or red color while they were coffee brown. And second, is that the Fire Nation people would wear red, gold, dark-red, and black clothing. But all he wore was what looks like a dark-grey Water Tribe light jacket (with no Water Tribe tradition patterns) with a maple-leaf spiked dragon with weird language on it, and dark blue pants. And lastly but not least, is that ALL Fire Nation people show no fear towards their enemies, even being captured. But this boy, however, was cowering over her like he's inferior to her (which she kind of feels guilty about it to be honest) and seemed too innocent who wanted to cause trouble, even for a firebender. But she dismissed the last thing and began to grab his light jacket's collar and pulled him straight towards him.
"Why should I believe you?" she said skeptically and angrily.
He didn't know how, but for some reason, he could tell that she was trying her best not to let her 'true colors' show in front of the villagers. He wanted to say something, but he knew that they still wouldn't believe his stories.
"How we know that you're not Fire Nation spies?" the old man accused, "Kyoshi Island has not been found for a hundred years, and attend to keep it that way."
Ricky looked at the old man, knowing that he has a very long shot to get the villagers' trust.
"Wait, this is named after Kyoshi?" Aang asked excitedly, "I know Kyoshi."
Ricky turned around in confusion; he has no idea what Aang is trying to pull off. But for some reason, he looked up and saw a statue that looked exactly like the female samurai leader right in front of him, except that she has raven long hair.
"How could you know about Avatar Kyoshi", the old man asked accusingly, "Avatar Kyoshi died three-hundred years ago before the war began. So tell me, boy, how can you know her?"
Ricky gulped in fear, hoping Aang does not do anything stupid. Aang looked at his firebending friend pleading him not to say anything stupid. He thought for a minute and decided he should tell them the truth.
"I know her because I'm the Avatar", he said confidently.
The villagers looked at him in disbelief. The female leader backed away, trying to deny what she just heard.
"That's impossible", she said, "The Avatar disappeared a hundred years ago."
"That's me", he said.
Ricky looked at him like he has gone insane. I mean, yeah sure he's the Avatar, but that doesn't excuse that he's trying pull of a very stupid plan. He looked back at the villagers, seeing that the old man was very furious.
"Throw them to the Unagi!"
The samurai soldiers began to open up two pair of fans, as they locked on their target.
"Aang, you got to do more than telling them that you're the Avatar", Ricky whispered in fear.
"Aang, do some airbending", Katara suggested.
Aang began to launch himself into the air as everyone in awe as he slowly descends back to the ground.
"It's true", the old man said, "You ARE the Avatar."
Aang nodded his head.
"Yeah, now check this out", he said.
Ricky looked at him deadpanned to see that Aang pulled out two small, metal marbles and spinning them around at high speed. Everyone clapped and cheered to see the Avatar has returned. One of the villagers started screaming as a foam-like substance came out of his mouth and began to fall towards the ground. Ricky looked at the leader of the soldiers, who was still staring at him. He gulped, knowing that he does have a long shot to get the peoples' trust.
News spread like wildfire when they heard that the Avatar was on Kyoshi Island. It wasn't long for Zuko's ship to get the news.
"The Avatar is on Kyoshi?!" Zuko asked hesitantly, "Uncle, prepare the ship. He's not getting away from me this time."
"Are you going to finish that", he asked as Zuko left the table.
"I was going to eat it later", he retorted when he grabbed his plate.
Iroh grumbled underneath his breath, knowing that Ricky was most likely is on that island. He couldn't shake the feeling that something bad might happen to the young boy. Until…
"Protect the Chosen One Iroh", a whisper said, "Protect him with all your life."
Iroh looked around to see who was talking to him but found no one. He thought he was going insane, but he could've sworn that he has heard that voice before since his birth. That's when he realized who was talking to him, even though his nephew would call him crazy.
"General Iroh is something wrong?" a soldier asked him.
Iroh was snapped back into reality and look like at the soldier.
"No, I'm fine."
The guard didn't say anything as he left Iroh alone.
"Come on Sokka? Eat!" Aang says with his mouth full of desserts.
"Not hungry." Sokka bluntly replied.
"But you're ALWAYS hungry." Aang points out.
"Sokka is mad because he got his but kick by a bunch of girls", Katara mockingly answers.
"No! They just snuck up on me!" Sokka retort.
Katara rolls her eyes in amusement, "Riiiiight and THEN they kick your butt."
"Sneak attacks don't count!" Sokka complained, "I'll show them."
"Aww, is your pride hurting after being beating up by a bunch of girls?" Ricky mocking Sokka, causing Aang and Katara to laugh.
"Shut up!" Sokka yelled as he stomps away, not after he took some desserts with him and shoved them into his mouth.
"Well, I'm going for a walk," Ricky says, stretching his legs.
"Be careful out there", Katara warns him with concern, "Those people still don't like you."
"Don't worry Kat", Ricky reassures, "I'll try not to let them get to me."
He walks out of the door to see what was going on. Everyone in Kyoshi Island was preparing for the festival for the Avatar's return as they repainted Avatar Kyoshi's statue in Aang's honor. Everyone seemed to be happy, but Ricky knew that every time that he goes outside for a walk, people give him disgust looks and start to spread rumors about him. He accidentally bumped into the chieftain of the village, who gave him a nasty glare.
"Just because you're with the Avatar, doesn't mean you're not off the hook", he said, "Stay away from him. Got it?"
Ricky gulped and gave him a nervous smile.
"Yeah, clear as crystal sir", he saluted.
The man arched his brow in suspicion and walked away from the modern boy. Ricky sighed in relief but knowing that he's not going anywhere if he's going to be treated like he's a disease.
'Now I know how the blacks feel about after their freedom', he thought to himself.
He slowly walked back to the beach as he looked out into the sea. He could tell that he's being watched by the Kyoshi Warriors (as they're called). He couldn't blame them, but he felt like he's never going to talk to his friends with the warriors around. He slowly walked towards a huge rock, and he started to cry silently, hoping that he could go home someday.
Suki couldn't help but feel bad for the boy. She couldn't tell why, but she felt that this boy was different from the rest from the Fire Nation. She told this to the chieftain, but he told her that she should NOT let her guard down with the firebender. She's been watching from distance, hoping not to be seen, like the rest of her 'sisters' seeing what's he is up to. So far: nothing. All he does is walk around, going to some random place where he can't be seen and start whispering something that it can't be heard, and start crying quietly. She couldn't tell why he was upset, he could just burn down the town for all he cares, but instead, he just cries in sorrow. She needs to know why. She decides to send down one of her 'sisters' to see why he's crying.
"Sari", Suki called.
A young girl in her late teens, with short black hair with pigtails on the side and bright green eyes, came to her.
"Yes Suki", she asked.
"I want you to follow the firebender and I want you to get information about him."
Sari bowed down to her captain.
"Yes ma'am."
She started to walk down towards the beach cautiously, seeing the boy sleeping on the giant rock near the shore. She tried her best not to wake him up, but she wasn't the stealthiest person in the group. She got surprisingly close without waking him up by her clumsiness and slowly got close as she can. When he was in sight, the first thing that comes to mind was how cute he was when he sleeps. She started to blush when she about that. She shook her head as she tries to remind herself to get back to work. As she got closer, she could hear mumbles from the boy.
"Zzz…No dad, I don't want to go to school. I want to stay with you…zzZ."
She didn't know what he was sleeping, but she finds it funny, to be honest. That's when she heard the Avatar and a group of girls coming down to the shore. She quickly ran as fast she could, she cursed underneath her breath.
"So close, yet so far."
Ricky heard the group of girls coming from the forest, as he was trying to get some sleep. He started to wake up slowly as he starts stretching his arms and legs. He turned to find the noise to see his pal Aang, was being followed by a bunch of girls. He couldn't be more surprised to see that he is getting famous around the island, while he's getting the scowl by everyone (except for his friends). He knows that Katara is probably worried about him. He began to walk towards the village, as usual, the villagers are giving him nasty glares at him and it was starting to annoy him. He found Katara washing the clothing with an upset look on her face.
"Hey Kat'", he said, "Is something wrong?"
Katara turned around to see Ricky with his usual worried smile on his face. She couldn't help but smile back.
"Hey Ricky, I'm fine. I'm just upset with the chieftain that's all."
Ricky knew what she meant by that. That chieftain ALWAYS gives him nasty comments about him and it's starting to get to him. But if he was taught anything, it was not to let his anger control him.
"Katara, it's fine really."
"No it's not", she retorted, "It's not fair that the people should treat you like this. You're not a bad person, even if that Scar-Face can find us here, it's not like you're a Fire Nation spy."
Ricky knew that the chieftain will probably think that, but he just wishes that he could at least get a warm welcome from this world, despite how many times they give them cold shoulders. It wasn't long until he started to notice someone is missing.
"Hey Katara, where's Sokka?" he asked.
Katara looked at him, in confusion, until she realized where Sokka is.
"Oh, he's with the Kyoshi Warriors to "talk" to them", she explained, "Probably still upset that a group of girls kicked his butt."
Ricky began to snicker, knowing that Sokka is not going to let that go. He started to notice that one of the Kyoshi Warriors is walking towards him. He started to moan in annoyance, knowing that it starting to get on his nerves.
"What do you want, if you guys so desperately want to kill me, WHY DON'T YOU JUST DO IT ALREADY!?"
Everyone looked at him in complete shock and surprise, no one has ever seen him yell or lose his temper before. It was obvious to Katara that this annoying Ricky, but when she heard him yell for the first time, it was he hasn't done it before. Behind the trees, Suki and some of the other Kyoshi Warriors were scared half to death to hear him yell like that, he looked like an innocent little boy who hardly done anything wrong (despite that he's a firebender), but to hear him yell at a Kyoshi Warrior (which was Sokka) to just kill him was unnatural. Suki didn't realize that Ricky was getting annoyed by the treatment he was getting and NEVER has she ever thought about killing anyone, let alone a Fire Nation soldier. They were taught that killing people like the Fire Nation is not the way of the Kyoshi Warriors. She felt extremely guilty for the boy and decides to apologize to him for treating him like a virus instead of a human. She didn't know that Ricky has just left a few minutes in rage.
"Sari", she called, "I want you to come with me for a minute."
The young Kyoshi Warrior looked at her confusion.
"Is something wrong Suki?" she asked.
Suki didn't say anything, but she knew that she has to do the right thing.
"I can't believe that the villagers don't trust me", Ricky complained, "I mean yeah, they have a grudge against the Fire Nation, but that STILL doesn't mean that I have to be treated like one!"
Aang hasn't said a thing, since seeing Ricky extremely ticked off is scary enough. He hasn't seen him angry before and he doesn't want to see it again anytime soon. Aang was shocked to think that the people of Kyoshi Island would think that about him, he had to tell his admirers to leave them in private. They were skeptical about Ricky, but they obeyed the Avatar and left them alone. What's even more terrifying is that Ricky would destroy a boulder with a fireball. Aang was able to calm him down a bit, but his anger won't subside. It wasn't long for Ricky's anger to subside and begin crying for ten minutes straight.
"It's ok Ricky", Aang said, "I'll explain this to the chieftain."
Ricky looked up at him and gave him a small smile as he wiped his tears.
"Thanks, Aang, and I'm sorry about my temper. I haven't let go of my anger for a LONG time."
Aang chuckled a bit until they both heard a twig being snapped. The two boys turned around to see Suki and Sari standing behind them.
"How long have you been standing there?" Aang asked seeing that Ricky's smile turned into pure anger. Sari hid behind Suki, didn't want to be on his bad side.
"I…I mean, we came here to apologize", Suki answered blankly.
Aang, Ricky, and Sari looked at her in confusion.
"It's okay Suki", Aang said, "I know you guys were—"
"I mean we're here to apologize to the firebender", Suki interrupted.
Ricky's eyes slightly widened a bit. He wasn't going to let his guard down, believing that this was some sort of trap.
"Listen firebend… I mean, Ricky. The Kyoshi Warriors and I were thinking about what you just said twenty minutes ago…"
She tried her best not to let her feelings out, Ricky could see the tiniest tear on her face, knowing that she felt extremely sorry for him.
"And we decided that if you are what the Avatar says you are, then you are a great ally and friend to the Kyoshi Warriors."
Sari's eyes widen to hear her leader apologizing to the firebender, even though what the chieftain said, she couldn't believe that Suki would disobey the chieftain like that. Ricky turned to see Aang's reaction, to his surprise he was smiling. He sweatdropped, knowing Aang will always put a smile on his face. Ricky turned back to Suki and gave her a slight smile, still not letting his guard down.
"Thanks, ma'am and I am truly sorry about my emotions back there. I guess it's not easy to be friends with the enemy, huh?"
The two girls smiled, relieved that he forgave them.
"And I'm sorry for yelling at one of your friends, ma'am", he apologized.
Suki looked at him in confusion, then she realized what he was saying.
"Oh, that's not one of mine. That was your friend, Sokka."
Ricky was dead silence until he began to burst out laughing. The three kids looked at him in confusion, but then they started laughing, knowing that a man wearing girl outfits is probably the most hilarious thing to see and probably scar them for life. They had a good life until they heard a cannon sound from the distance. Ricky turned around to see where it was coming from until it hit him as a brick fell onto his head.
"Everybody, move!"
They all reacted when they saw a giant fireball coming straight towards them. They all moved quickly away from the collision with a few burnt marks that can heal in a matter of minutes. After the smoke began to fade away, they saw the worst thing, hoping that it was just an illusion: a Fire Nation Navy ship. Ricky began to panic, hoping that Kyoshi Warriors don't start jumping to conclusions. That's when he saw the Fire Nation Prince, looking at them with confidence and anger on his face.
"Aang, get the Kyoshi Warriors back to the village. I'll hold them off", Ricky ordered.
"What", Aang yelled, "But you can't—"
"Just trust me", Ricky interrupted.
Aang didn't want to leave Ricky behind, but he couldn't allow the Kyoshi Warriors to get in the crossfire. So Aang decided to help Suki and Sari to get back to the village.
"Come on, we have to go", he told them, hoping they don't get the wrong idea.
"But what about him?" Sari asked.
"Don't worry, if I know Ricky, he's probably gonna give us some time."
Sari didn't want to argue with him, but she couldn't just leave the battlefield either. Ricky saw them carrying Suki who was unconscious by the explosion and left the beach. Ricky saw five Fire Nation foot soldiers and saw Zuko riding on what looks like a giant Komodo dragon with Triceratops' horns. Zuko began to sneer when he saw Ricky giving him a taunting smirk at him.
"You're a fool for facing me, Prince Zuko of the Fire—", but his speech was interrupted by Ricky throwing a blue fireball directly at his face, making him fall over. Ricky rolled his eyes in annoyance that if he has to listen to this guy saying 'how-great-he-is-and-how-he-killed-a-dragon-with-his-bare-hands' speech.
"You Scar Face talk too much," Ricky said in annoyance.
Zuko slowly got up and wiped off the black ash from his face, and began to growl in anger.
"You dare to face me FOOL?!" he challenged Ricky.
"As long as my friends evacuate the citizens from the town. Then yes, yes I do."
Zuko begins to growl in anger, he was not going to let this boy's confidence get the best of him.
While Aang and Sari were carrying Suki, they head back to the village, seeing the villagers, chieftain, Katara, and Sokka near the entrance.
"What the heck is going on", Sokka asked impatiently, "And what happened to Suki?"
Aang began to explain, "The Fire Nation shot a giant fireball and—"
"It was that firebender was it", the chieftain accused, "I knew that boy was a spy. And YOU Avatar; let him tell the Fire Nation where our home is!"
"No, he didn't."
The group saw Suki gaining consciousness, hearing the chieftain's ramble about Ricky again.
"He saved our lives from the Fire Nation and now he's trying his to stop them…"
Then a huge explosion came from the beach, they saw Ricky flying towards them leaving a trail of smoke behind him. Aang, Katara, Sokka, Suki, and Sari caught him before he could crash down to the ground. He had bruises everywhere on his body and a few cuts on his arms. He started groaning in pain seeing his friends look at him in concern.
"Hey guys", he said in between coughs, "Thanks for *cough* *cough* breaking my fall."
Aang saw Zuko and his foot soldiers coming from the beach, alongside with General Iroh.
"Man, these guys sure want you that badly huh", Ricky joked weakly; "I guess Scar Face must be your biggest fan of all."
Aang smirked at Ricky's sarcasm joke, knowing that he's not going to let a few bruises and cuts get the best of him.
"So peasant, you think you can defeat me?" he yelled with a hint of cockiness, "You're weak! Nothing! Now, you will face the wrath of the Fire Nation!"
Everybody was shocked to hear Zuko calling the young firebender weak. Ricky growled in anger, wanting nothing more but to punch him right in the face. Then foot soldiers began to launch fire towards Ricky and his friends, making everyone gasped in fear. Zuko smiled evilly, while Iroh looked at him in full disbelief. But Zuko's eyes widen in fear, seeing a ball of wind that was created by the Avatar's staff. Ricky, Katara, and Sokka looked in surprise seeing Aang protecting him with his airbending.
"Thank you Lord for giving me awesome friends", Ricky thought out loud.
Aang began to launch a huge wind towards the firebenders, making them being pushed towards the trees. Zuko (again) was kicked off of his horned Komodo dragon and crashed into a pole that held Avatar Kyoshi. Zuko was now extremely p*ssed of, want the Avatar AND the boy more than ever: Dead or Alive.
"Guards, attack!" he shouted.
The foot soldiers obeyed and then attack the village; leaving the villagers in panic. Suki and Sari helped Ricky upped on his feet, hoping that he could help the Avatar and his friends. Ricky started to gain consciousness, seeing his friends need help and began to run towards the fight with the Kyoshi Warriors following behind him. The fight kept on going, with Ricky shooting his blue flames at the soldiers next to Katara with Sokka and Suki having their backs towards each other on the other side. Houses were getting burned and the villagers were running away with what they could carry with some of the soldiers chasing after them.
Ricky took notice and fires one of his blasts at one of them, knocking them back. They halted and turn around and engage the fight, with Ricky shooting his flames with both deflecting one another. The brunette was struggling with the overwhelming numbers coming towards him. With one guard behind him ready to strike, he felt something wet hitting him in the back of the head, falling unconscious. The young firebender turns to see Katara with her arms stretched, smiling at him before running to his side.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it."
On the other side of the fight, Aang was having a hard time avoiding Zuko's firebending. If it weren't for his airbending, he would've been toast. Then out of nowhere, Ricky jumped from a roof and punch Zuko in the face with blue fire engulfing his entire hand. Zuko was pushed about five feet and fell to the ground, headfirst. He looks around at his surroundings, seeing that they couldn't drive the Fire Nation out of the island for much longer. Aang knew that Kyoshi Island would be nothing but ashes. He didn't want that to happen.
"We have to leave", Aang said.
"What!?" Ricky yelled, "We can't leave the island, the island would not last one more attack if we leave!"
"I know, but it's the only way to get to leave. They're after me and they won't leave until we leave."
Ricky wanted to retort the idea but knew that Aang was telling the truth.
"Fine", Ricky sighs.
Aang got Katara and Sokka together and went towards Appa. Aang got on top of Appa's head and grabbed the reins.
"Appa, yip yip!" Aang yelled.
Appa finally got off of the ground and began to head off north.
"They're getting away! After them!" Zuko yelled.
Ricky saw them heading towards their ships and Kyoshi Island still burning.
"Don't worry Ricky", Katara said, "The villagers would be fine."
Ricky lets out a sigh, not looking at the
But Aang couldn't leave the island to burn. He couldn't get rid of that nagging feeling in his mind, and he didn't like seeing those people's lives and home damaged because of him. That's when he had an idea. It was a risky and stupid idea, but he knew he had to do it. Though, this didn't go unnoticed when Ricky looks at his friend with confusion.
"Aang, what're doing?"
Aang looked down; still see the lake below them. Katara would most likely scold him for at least five hours. But he knew he just has to do it. He finally stood up and jumped off of the saddle.
"Aang!" Katara yelled.
Aang ignores his friends calling out to him as he dives into the water, hoping his idea would not cost his life. That's when he heard a splash, knowing he finally made it. He started to look around to find the Unagi, but no luck. Then he started to see a giant shadow that's coming straight towards him. As his eyes start to adjust the darkness, he started to see a giant, serpent-like creature about twenty-times his size.
'Holy crap', he thought.
As the Unaki swam towards Aang, he embraced himself for the worse.
Katara has been calling Aang's name for at least five minutes, fearing the worst.
"I'm going down there", she said.
"Are you crazy", Sokka yelled, "I'm not going to lose yo—"
Then, they heard a roar coming from the lake. The teenagers look down to see a giant eel-like snake rising from the waters having Aang on top of his head, grabbing the creature's whiskers. The firebenders began to scream in fear as they began to run as fast as they can to the boat. But when they got on the boat, Zuko was about to attack the giant creature, but it did not affect the Unagi. Then, the Unagi picked upped the boat with its teeth and threw them about four miles offshore. Then the Unagi turns around by Ricky pulling on its whisker and began spraying water all over the burning town. After the fire begins to cease, The Unagi went towards the shore, letting the Avatar down. Aang smiled at the eel-like snake and begin to pat it on the head. The Unagi purred and began to descend back into the lake. The Gaang finally landed and went up to him and gave him a group hug.
"Don't you EVER do that again!" Katara cried.
Aang started getting a giant bear hug from her.
"Katara… can't… breathe", he whispered.
Katara finally let go and smiled at him, with Ricky and Sokka rolling their eyes at the two.
Everybody began to cheer for Aang AND Ricky as they began to leave Kyoshi Islands. Then, they heard someone calling out to them.
"Aang! Ricky! Wait up!"
The four kids turned around to see Suki and Sari with a bag running towards.
"What is it Suki", Ricky asked, "And why is Sari not wearing her uniform?"
Sari began to twiddle with her fingers; knowing that she was shy, Suki decided to say it for her.
"Sari decided to join you guys on your mission to master the three elements. If that's alright with you?"
Sokka was about to say something, but Ricky and Aang beat him to it.
"Sure, the more the merrier!" Aang said.
Sari smiled like a little girl on her birthday and starts to give Aang and Ricky a hug.
"Thanks, guys", she said.
The five began to leave Kyoshi Island, waving their hands goodbye to their friends. Suki smiled to see that her childhood friend is leaving home, but she knew that Sari has a taste for excitement.
Location: Unknown
Jesus looked inside the spiritual mirror as he smiled. He chuckled, knowing that he's going to be scolded by Avatar Roku for a LONG time. Monk Gyatso looked at his friend,
"Teacher", Gyatso said, "Was that really necessary to use the Unagi? The creature could have killed the boy."
Jesus turns His head towards the airbender and smiled at him.
"Who said that I use the Unagi to help Ricky?"
Gyatso was confused about what he said until he saw a Kyoshi warrior walking towards them.
"I'm glad you decided to help us Kysohi", Jesus replied.
The tall woman nods her head, "It's the last thing I can do. Plus, if I didn't possess the Unagi, he would've been fish food right now."
Jesus and Gyatso chuckle for a bit. They look down as they see the five kids heading towards their next destination.
"You think he's ready Teacher", Kyoshi asks, "What happens if he fails?"
Jesus didn't look at her as He continues to look at the kids.
"I don't think Kyoshi. I know he's ready. All we need to do is wait"
