A/N: Whew! Finally made time to continue this fanfic.
Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z or Avatar
Chapter 6
The Benders were nested in a forest while they patiently waited for Sokka to return with whatever food he could scavenge. Aang was lying against a tree root, Katara was folding up her sheet by a small waterfall, and Gohan was sharpening his sword with a rock. Appa was resting beside Aang and Icarus curled up with Gohan. The water tribesman soon showed up with a small bag while Momo flew after him.
"Hey Sokka," greeted Gohan.
"Great you're back!" said Aang as he jumped down from the tree root. The benders all gathered around Sokka as he opened his bag of food. "We've got a few options," said Sokka as he pulled out nuts from his bag. "First, round nuts, and some kind of oval shaped nuts, and some rock shaped nuts that might just be rocks." Sokka tossed the rock/nut away; it landed beside the lemur bat, who was munching on a leaf. "Dig in!" said Sokka to his friends. The benders looked at the nuts in confusion before Gohan asked, "Are you kidding? How can you feed us this stuff?"
"Seriously, what else you got?" asked Katara, making her brother look back into his bag. Momo picked up the rock/nut and tried to crack it open by banging it on a boulder. When he banged it hard against the boulder, all his fur stood up as a loud rumbling noise was heard.
"What was that?!" asked Sokka.
Now curious and confused, the lemur gently dropped the rock/nut on the boulder; he got the same results as before. "It's coming from over there!" said Aang as he pointed to the east. The benders quickly got up and followed the noise while Sokka asked, "Shouldn't we run away from huge booms, not toward them?!" before Momo flew after them. The gang peeked from behind a tree root and saw a young man practicing earthbending. He was dark skinned with long brown hair at the back, a bun on top, and two bangs in front. He wore gray long sleeved shirt and pants. He also wore a green and yellow vest over his shirt, and a green headband. The boy hoisted the rock into the air and pushed it into the wall.
"An Earthbender," said Katara.
"Let's go meet him," suggested Aang.
"He looks dangerous, so we'd better approach cautiously," said Sokka.
"Uh, Sokka..." said Gohan as he pointed toward the Waterbender, who already went to greet the Earthbender."HELLO THERE, MY NAME'S KATARA! WHAT'S YOUR NAME?!" greeted the Water Tribe girl. The Earthbender looked at Katara in fear before he ran off and used earthbending to block the path in case they followed him. The others soon appeared next to Katara as Aang yelled, "Nice to meet you!"
"I just wanted to say hi," said Katara.
"Maybe he's shy," said Gohan.
"Hey! That guy's gotta be running somewhere," said Aang. "Maybe we're near a village, and I bet the village has a market."
"Which means no nuts for dinner!" said Katara joyfully.
"Yes! Real food!" cheered Gohan as the three benders ran off to find the mystery Earthbender's village. "Hey! I worked hard to find those nuts!" said Sokka indignantly before Momo flew past him and he slouched over and followed his friends while saying, "Nah, I hate 'em too." The gang was soon looking around in an Earth Village. Aang was making a deal with a merchant for a hat he wanted. "Great hat, I'll trade you some nuts for it," Aang offered the merchant. Just then, Katara spotted the Earthbender they saw earlier going into a shop. "Hey!" said Katara, getting her friends' attention as she went toward the shop.
Inside, the Earthbender approached an older woman who was arranging things. "Hi mom," greeted the boy to the woman. "Where have you been, Haru? You're late!" the woman said to the boy. "Get started on your chores!" Katara suddenly entered the shop and spoke to Haru. "Hey, you're that kid. Why'd you run away earlier?" Surprised and scared, Haru tried to convince Katara otherwise as he said, "You must have me confused with some other kid." "No she doesn't," assured the Avatar as the rest of the gang entered the shop. "We saw you earthbending." Haru and his mother were both surprised now, and the latter quickly closed the doors and windows in response. "They saw you doing what?!" Haru's mother asked her son.
"They're crazy mom, I mean look at how they're dressed!" said Haru which made the gang check their clothing. "I don't see how the way we're dressed has to do with the fact that we saw you earthbending," said Gohan. "You know how dangerous that is," the mother warned Haru. "You know what would happen if they caught you earthbending!"
Suddenly, someone started knocking at the door. "Open up!" the person ordered from outside the shop. Sokka peeked out the window and saw fire soldiers. "Fire Nation! Act natural!" Sokka instructed everyone. Haru's mother opened the door and the fire soldiers came in; they saw Sokka and Haru inspecting an item, Katara eating from a basket of berries, Gohan checking out things from the shelf, and Aang leaning against a barrel or water while smiling widely before he slipped.
"What do you want?!" Haru's mother asked the fire captain, clearly upset. "I've already paid you this week!"
"The tax just doubled, and we wouldn't want an accident, would we?" said the captain as he manifested fire in his palms. The flame grew slightly as he pretended to struggle trying to contain it. "Fire, sometimes so hard to control."
No longer upset but now fearful, Haru's mother brought out a chest of coins and opened it. She handed the money to the fire captain, and he took them before picking out some and dumping them on the ground. "You can keep the copper coins," he said as he walked away smirking, probably unaware of the mean looks the gang was giving him. "Nice guy," said Sokka sarcastically before he asked, "How long has the fire nation been here?"
"Five years!" Haru's mother replied. "Fire Lord Ozai uses our town's coal mines to fuel his ships!"
"They're thugs. They steal from us, and everyone here is too much of a coward to do anything about it!" commented Haru, upset.
"Quiet, Haru!" the mother ordered her son. "Don't talk like that."
"But Haru's an Earthbender, he can help!" Katara reasoned.
"Earthbending is forbidden. It's caused nothing but misery for this village!" said the mother. "He must never use his abilities!"
"How can you say that? Haru has a gift! Asking him not to earthbend is like asking me not to waterbend. It's a part of who we are!" argued Katara.
"You don't understand!" said Haru's mother.
"I understand that Haru can help you fight back! What can the Fire Nation do to you that they haven't done to you already?!" asked Katara.
"They could take Haru away! Like they took his father!" warned the mother. Haru glared as he turned away in hurt.
The gang was taken to Haru's home in order to get some rest. Haru led them to an inn full of hay and said, "My mom said you can sleep here tonight, but you should leave in the morning." "Thanks!" said the Airbender. "I'll make sure Appa doesn't eat all your hay!" The Sky Bison was busy munching on said object when he heard what Aang said; he stopped for a moment before deciding he was too hungry and went back to eating the hay.
A little later, Haru and Katara were taking a walk together while talking. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier, I didn't know about your father," Katara apologized. "That's okay," said Haru. "It's funny, the way you were talking back at the store, it reminded me of him." "Thanks," said Katara. "My father was very courageous," Haru continued. "When the Fire Nation invaded, he and the other Earthbenders were outnumbered 10 to 1, but they fought back anyway." "He sounds like a great man," complimented Katara. The two stopped walking and Haru sat on top of a hill. "After the attack, they rounded up my father and every other Earthbender and took them away. We haven't seen them since."
"That's why you hide your earthbending," deduced Katara.
"Yeah," Haru replied as he picked up two rocks. "Problem is, the only way I can feel close to my father now, is when I practice my bending." Haru bended the two rocks through the air and then crushed them into sand as he spoke. "He taught me everything I know." Katara took a seat next to Haru. "See this necklace?" she asked as she placed her hand on her memento to show to Haru. "My mother gave it to me."
"It's beautiful," said Haru.
"I lost my mother in a Fire Nation Raid. This necklace is all I have left of her," Katara said sadly.
"It's not enough, is it?" asked Haru sympathetically.
"No," replied Katara.
The two benders resumed their walk when suddenly they heard a loud noise. "Help!" cried someone. "The mines!" said Haru as he and Katara ran toward the coal mines. There they saw a small old man trapped under a pile of rubble while more sand continued to fall. "Help me!" the old man begged when he saw the teens running toward him. Haru pressed his body against falling earth while Katara attempted to pull the old man free. "It's not working, we have to get help!" said Katara.
"There's no time, pull harder!" argued Haru.
"Haru, there's a way you can help," said Katara.
"I can't," Haru said uncertainly.
"Please, there's no one around to see you! It's the only way!" Katara urged her friend.
Haru seemed hesitant at first, but after a moment, he moved away from the mines and took an earthbending stance. Eventually the rock slide stopped; Haru then thrust his fists forward and pushed all the earth back into the mine entrance. "Haru, you did it!" said Katara. The two benders quickly assisted the old man and carried him back to the village.
Later at the inn, the gang was getting ready for bed. Momo jumped down from the window and rested on Appa's back with Aang, Gohan rested against a sleeping Icarus, Sokka was on a pile of hay with a sheet, and Katara lay on the floor in a sheet with a lamp on. "It was so brave of Haru to use his earthbending to help that old man," said Katara.
"You must've really inspired him," said Aang.
"I guess so," said Katara.
"Everyone should get some sleep, we're leaving at dawn," Sokka instructed the gang.
"Dawn?! Can't we sleep in for once?!" asked Katara.
"Absolutely not!" answered Sokka. "This village is crawling with Fire Nation Troops. If they discover you're here, Aang, we'll be eating fireballs for breakfast! Goodnight."
"I rather eat fireballs than nuts," joked Katara.
"Goodnight!" Sokka said again.
The three benders laughed at Katara's joke before she blew out the lamp and they all went to sleep. Late at night while the gang was soundly asleep, Fire Nation troops were approaching Haru's home. Gohan and Icarus suddenly woke up to the sound of footsteps from outside. "Someone's coming; it could the Fire Nation," thought Gohan before he said, "Icarus, stay here!" The energy bender quickly picked up his sword and ran outside without waking up anyone else.
The Fire Soldiers came up to Haru's house and knocked on the door. The Earthbender opened the door and gasped when he saw Fire Nation troops and the old man he saved. "That's him! That's the Earthbender!" said the old man as he pointed to Haru. The Fire captain moved the old man aside and grabbed Haru. The Fire Soldiers were marching Haru away from his house when a ki blast suddenly cut them off. "What was that?!" asked the captain. The spiky haired soon revealed himself as he jumped in front of the Fire Soldiers and took a fighting position. "I thought they'd be here for Aang, but it's Haru they came for," thought Gohan when he saw the Earthbender with his hands bound in the Fire Soldiers' custody. "What are you doing out here at this time of night, boy?! Isn't it past your bedtime?!" asked the captain.
Instead of answering, Gohan just asked, "Why are you arresting Haru? He hasn't done anything wrong!"
"Last I checked, he's an Earthbender that was seen earthbending," replied the captain. "And earthbending is forbidden!"
"He didn't have a choice! Was he supposed to let the old man die in the mines? He did the right thing!" argued Gohan.
"Too bad. 'Cause now he's going to prison for it!" said the Captain.
"I won't let you take him! Let him go!" ordered Gohan.
"Listen kid, we're only here for the Earthbender! So do yourself a favor and stay out of our way!" the Fire Captain warned Gohan.
The Energy bender looked over at Haru and saw the old man standing by him. "You must be the old man he saved; how could you rat him out like this?!" Gohan asked the old man. Gohan became angry as he looked at the old man. He gritted his teeth as he clenched his fist. The ground started to shake a little bit as Gohan's ki started to swarm his body. Gohan's rage increased as small pieces of earth began to levitate around him. The Fire Soldiers, Haru, and the old man stared at Gohan with looks of astonishment. "What going with this kid?!" asked the Captain. "Haru risked his identity as an Earthbender for you! He saved your life!" Gohan said angrily. "And this is how you repay him!" Now furious, Gohan's long, spiky hair stood up as white energy appeared on his body. Six large chunks of earth suddenly shot out of the ground and levitated beside Gohan, which made all who witnessed it gasp.
"Th-That boy's earthbending!" said the Captain. "He's an Earthbender, arrest him!"
Gohan roared at the Fire soldiers and launched the chunks of earth at them. They all rolled away from Gohan's attack before the six soldiers surrounded the Energy bender while the Captain held Haru. The Fire Soldiers all pointed their spears at Gohan, who brought out his sword as he prepared to fight. After a moment, Gohan charged at one of the soldiers with his sword ready. The first soldier tried to jab Gohan, but he blocked the attack and kicked him in the face, knocking him out. The second soldier rushed at the Energy bender, who countered by throwing his sword at him.
The soldier quickly dodged it but was met with a surprised elbow bash to the face. The soldier collapsed on one knee as he grasped his face. The third soldier tried to jab at Gohan while running, but when he got close to the spiky haired teen, Gohan swung his sword and cut off the front part of the soldier's spear. The soldier looked at his broken weapon before Gohan punched him in the face. The fourth soldier attempted to get Gohan from behind, but the young fighter grabbed the spear without turning around.
The soldier struggled to take back his weapon before he was hit in the forehead and knocked out by the hilt of Gohan's sword. The Energy bender turned to face the last two soldiers, who seemed hesitant to attack but they did anyway. The soldiers charged at Gohan and tried to stab him with their spears but he managed to block them with his blade. The soldiers pushed at Gohan while he pushed back; his energy started to form around his body as two large chunks of earth ascended from the ground beside Gohan. Before he could use them to attack the soldiers, the Fire Captain shouted, "Hold it right there, boy!" Gohan turned around and saw the Captain with his arm wrapped tightly around Haru's neck. "Surrender now or else..." warned the Captain as he created a fire dagger and pointed it at Haru who tried to inch away from it. "We wouldn't want an accident, would we?"
Gohan glared at the Captain as he grew angrier, but seeing his friend in that state forced him to calm himself and stand down. He stabbed his sword into the ground and held up his hands to show that he was surrendering. The Captain smirked as he gestured to the two soldiers to take Gohan. Soon, both Gohan and Haru were being marched out of the village onto a Fire Navy ship. "I'm sorry Haru," said Gohan shamefully. "Don't be; you did your best, Gohan," said Haru. "Thanks for trying to save me." The boys smiled at each other until they felt the ship suddenly vibrate.
The ship began to set sail and the two boys looked back at the village as they moved farther away from it. "Goodbye mother," Haru whispered sadly as he closed his eyes and hung his head in despair. Gohan looked at the village, his face still showing some faith as he hoped his brother and friends would try to save them.
The next morning, Katara went over to a faucet while carrying a vase. Using her waterbending, she pulled out water and placed it into the vase. She picked it up just as she noticed Haru's mother standing in the distance. The old woman turned and faced Katara as she started crying; the Waterbender's eyes grew wide and she dropped the vase of water as she realized why the mother was sad.
Inside the inn, Aang and Sokka were packing their things when Katara suddenly came through the door. "They took him, they took Haru away!" said Katara. "What?!" asked Aang. "The old man turned him in to the Fire Nation! It's all my fault, I forced him into earthbending! And now they've got Gohan too!" Katara said very fast. "Slow down, Katara," said Sokka as he tried to calm down his sister. "When did this happen?" "Haru's mother said they came for him at midnight. Gohan came out to stop them and they thought he was an Earthbender, so they arrested him too." "Then it's too late to track them, they're long gone," said Sokka.
"So what do we do? We need to save them!" urged Aang.
"We will, but we don't need to track them. The Fire Nation's going to take me right to them," said Katara.
"And why would they do that?" asked Aang.
"Because they're going to arrest me for earthbending!" answered Katara which made the guys look at each other in worry and confusion. A few moments later, the water tribe siblings were at one of the mines pushing a boulder onto an air vent. "I thought you were crazy at first, Katara, but this might work," Sokka said before he began explaining her plan. "There are ventilation shafts throughout these mines; all Aang has to do is send an air current from that vent to this one right here. The boulder levitates and ta-da, fake earthbending!"
"Aang, did you get all that?" Katara asked the monk, who was playing with a butterfly.
"Sure, sure. I got it," replied Aang as he snapped wind at the insect.
"Do you remember your cue?" asked Sokka.
"Yeah, yeah, just relax. You're taking all the fun out of this," said Aang.
"By this, do you mean intentionally getting captured by an army of ruthless Firebenders?" asked Sokka.
"Exactly, that's fun stuff!" replied Aang.
Just then, the gang saw three Fire soldiers coming their way. "Here they come! Get to your places!" ordered Sokka which they all did. The Fire soldiers kept walking until they saw Katara and Sokka pretending to causally walk and bump into each other. "Get out of my way, pipsqueak!" Sokka said with a fake grumpy voice. "How dare you call me pipsqueak, you giant eared cretin!" Katara yelled back. The Fire soldiers just stared at the two kids, not sure what to make of the scene. "What did you call me?!" asked Sokka. "A giant eared cretin!" Katara repeated. "Look at those things! Do herds of animals use those as shades?!"
"You'd better back off!" Sokka warned his sister before he whispered, "Seriously, back off."
"I will not back off! I bet elephants come together to make fun of how big your ears are!" said Katara.
"That's it! You're going down!" said Sokka.
"I'll show you who's boss..." said Katara before she took a pose and shouted out, "Earthbending style!" When nothing happened she looked over to where Aang was hiding and repeated herself. "I said, Earthbending style!" Aang gasped before he quickly shot air into the vent in front of him. The boulder on the other vent began to rise as Momo licked himself. "That lemur, he's earthbending!" said one of the soldiers, making Momo look up in confusion. "No you idiot, it's the girl!" Sokka said as he gestured to his sister. "Oh right, of course." said the soldier, clearly embarrassed. "I'll hold her!" said Sokka as he grabbed Katara in order to give secret instructions. "You've got twelve hours to find Haru and Gohan. We'll be right behind you." The soldiers then took the fake Earthbender away while Aang and Sokka watched.
Katara looked back at her friends while they continued to watch her go. Sokka then played with his ears before he pointed at the lemur and said, "Momo, you have some big ears!"
Katara was put in a prisoner's outfit and taken onto a wagon through the village. Many of the villagers were wearing hats. Two of them were Aang and Sokka, who watched Katara go onto a Fire Navy ship before they followed it on Appa. They hid in the clouds as they followed the ship to a fire prison/coal rig in the middle of the ocean. As they flew, Aang had a worried look on his face, which Sokka noticed. "She'll be fine, Aang," Sokka assured his friend. "Katara knows what she's doing. Plus she'll have Gohan to watch her back."
At the prison, the new prisoners were lined up to meet the warden. All the prisoners aside from Katara had depressed looks on their faces. An old Firebender soon approached the benders and spoke. "Earthbenders, it is my pleasure to welcome you aboard my modest ship yard. I am your Warden. I prefer to think of you not as prisoners, but as honored guests, and I hope you come to think of me as your humble and caring host. You will succeed here if you simply abide by..." the Warden was interrupted by an old Earthbender coughing.
The host unleashed a flame at the old Earthbender's feet, forcing him to back away. "What kind of guest dishonors his host by interrupting him?!" asked the Warden before he ordered the soldiers, "Take him below! One week in solitude will improve his manners."
The soldiers carried the old Earthbender away while the Warden continued to address his guests. "Simply treat me with the courtesy I give you and we'll get along famously." He got directly in Katara's face and smirked when she glared at him. "You will notice, Earthbenders, that this rig is made entirely out of metal. You are miles away from any rock or earth!" the Warden explained to the prisoners as he led them through the rig. There were many earthbending prisoners that were chained and working to improve the rig. "So, if you have any illusions about employing that brutish savagery that passes as bending among you people, forget them. It is impossible."
Katara looked out to the sea and saw that the Warden was right; there wasn't any earth close by. The prisoners' tour ended at the gate of the prison where the Warden smirked at them and said, "Good day." He then walked away as the prisoners were placed inside the prison. The gate closed as Katara looked back.
She looked around until one of the prisoners recognized her. "Katara?!" asked a surprised Haru. "Haru!" exclaimed the Waterbender as she hugged him. "What are you doing here?!" asked Haru. "It's my fault you were captured; I came to rescue you," explained Katara. "So, you got yourself arrested?!" Haru asked again. "It was only way to find you," Katara replied. "Got guts, Katara, I'll give you that," said Haru. "Where's Gohan?" asked Katara. Haru pointed over to a spot in the rig where the Energy bender was practicing his fighting skills. "He's been at it ever since we were thrown in here. The Warden tries to ignore him but I think it ticks him off that Gohan's spirit isn't broken," Haru explained. "He seems strong, is he an Earthbender?"
"No, he's an Energy bender," Katara replied.
Haru stared at Katara as she ran up to her friend. When he noticed her, Gohan stopped training and ran to hug her. "Katara, you're here!" said Gohan as they embraced each other. "Thank goodness you're alright Gohan," said Katara. "If you're here, then the others must be close by," assumed Gohan. "Don't worry, we have an escape plan," Katara assured her friend. Haru then came up to them and said, "Come on, there's someone I want you to meet." The three benders came up to a man who was eating dinner. "Katara, this is my father, Tyro. Dad, this is Katara, Gohan's friend," Haru introduced the two to each other. "It's an honor to meet you," said Katara while bowing.
Tyro smiled brightly before offering a bowl of chow to the Waterbender. "Have some dinner, Katara." Katara accepted the offer while Gohan said, "You might not like it." Katara inspected the dinner and made a face. "It's not as bad as it looks," assured Tyro. Katara took a spoonful and ate; she gagged immediately. "It's still pretty bad though," Tyro said while smiling. "Told you, the food here is terrible!" said Gohan.
A fellow Earthbender suddenly came behind Tyro and tapped his shoulder. "Tyro, the prisoners are complaining that there aren't enough blankets to go around," said the Earthbender. "I'll talk to the guards," said Tyro. "In the meantime, make sure the elderly are taken care of. The rest of us will simply have to hope for warmer weather." "If you don't mind me asking, what's your escape plan?" Katara questioned Tyro.
"Excuse me?" replied Tyro.
"You know, the plan to get everyone off the rig? What is it? Mutiny? Sabotage?" Katara continued to ask.
"The plan? The plan is to survive and wait out this war. And hope that one day some of us can get back home and forget this ever happened," answered Tyro.
"How can you say that?" asked Katara in disbelief. "You sound like you've already given up!"
"Katara, I admire your courage; your friend asked me the same thing when we met. I also envy your youth, but people's lives are at stake here," said Tyro. "The Warden is a ruthless man and he will not stand for any rebellion. I'm sorry, but we're powerless."
"We'll see about that!" said a determined Katara. She then got up and grabbed Gohan's wrist before walking away. "What are you doing?" Gohan asked Katara. "You'll see," she replied. The Waterbender climbed onto a stand, grabbed a spoon and a trash lid, and banged them together to get everyone's attention. "Earthbenders! You don't know me, but I know of you!" said Katara to the prisoners. "Every child in my water tribe village was rocked to sleep with stories about the brave Earth Kingdom." Her words seemed to grab everyone's interest. "And the courageous Earthbenders who guard its borders! Some of you may think that the Fire Nation has made you powerless." A Fire soldier was about to intervene but the Warden motioned for him to stop as he watched.
"Yes, they've taken away your ability to bend," Katara continued. "But they cannot take away your courage, and it is your courage they should truly fear! Because it runs deeper than any mine they have forced you to dig, any ocean that keeps you far from home. It is the strength of your heart that makes you who you are, hearts that will remain unbroken when all rock and stone has eroded away! The time to fight back is now! I can tell you that the Avatar has returned, so remember your courage, Earthbenders! Let us fight for our freedom!"
"Yeah!" cheered Gohan as he raised his fist in the air with Katara.
The only response they got was a cough from an Earthbender, but everyone else just went back to what they were doing. Katara stared at the Earthbenders in shock before her facial expression changed to depression, as did Haru's. The Warden smiled as he walked away. Gohan tried to comfort Katara by placing a hand on her shoulder. "You did your best, but you're not an Earthbender. You don't understand how hopeless the situation is to them," said Gohan. "With no earth, they can't fight with their bending. Plus this place is filled with Fire Nation soldiers; how are they supposed to fight them?" The two climbed off the stand and got ready for bed.
Late at night, the light from the watchtower circled the rig as the prisoners went to sleep. The Avatar climbed onto the rig as he spotted Katara and Gohan. He quietly approached them and woke them up; when they looked up, they saw Aang instructing them to stay quiet. The three benders snuck over to the side of the rig where Sokka was waiting on Appa.
"Your twelve hours are up. Where's Haru, we gotta get out of here," Sokka said as he offered Katara his hand. Aang and Gohan jumped onto Appa, but Katara seemed hesitant. "I can't," she said. "We don't have much time, there are guards everywhere. Get on!" Sokka urged his sister. Katara made no attempt to move but stood still. "Katara, what's wrong?" asked Aang. "I'm not leaving," said Katara which shocked Sokka and Aang. "I'm not giving up on these people."
"What do you mean you're not leaving?!" asked Sokka as they all knelt down at the side of the rig. "We can't abandon these people, there has to be a way to help them!" urged Katara. "Maybe she's right," said Aang. "She is," said Gohan. "These people are struggling to survive. If we don't help them, who knows if they'll even make it through the war?" "What do you say, Sokka?" asked Aang. "I say you're all crazy!" answered Sokka. The gang ducked before the watchtower light could tag them. "Last chance, we need to leave now!" Sokka warned his companions. "No!" Katara and Gohan said together. Seeing how stubborn they were being, Sokka shook his head and said, "I hate when you get like this."
The light passed them again before Sokka said, "We'd better hide." Sokka, Katara, and Gohan left to hide somewhere else while Aang whispered into Appa ear, telling him to head somewhere nearby. Momo jumped onto Aang's head as Appa flew away, but not before two guards saw him and reported back to the Warden.
"Tell me exactly what you saw," said the Warden.
"Well sir, it looked like a flying bison," said the first guard.
"What?" asked the Warden.
"It was a giant flying buffalo, sir, with an empty saddle," answered the second guard.
"Which was it, a buffalo or a bison?" asked the Warden.
The two guards looked at each other before the first one answered, "Uh, not sure what the difference is, but that's not really the point, is it sir?"
"I'll decide what the point is, fool!" said the Warden just before he threw the first guard off the rig. He then pointed at the second guard and ordered, "You! Wake up the Captain! Search the entire rig!"
"Sir..." said the guard.
"What?!" asked the Warden.
"That was the Captain you just threw overboard," replied the guard.
"Then wake up somebody I haven't thrown overboard and search the rig! There's something going on here and I don't like it!" said the Warden.
The gang was now hiding between crates of supplies as they tried to come up with a plan. "We don't have much time; what are we gonna do?" asked Sokka. "I wish I knew how to make a hurricane," suggested Aang which made the other look at him weirdly. "The Warden would run away and we could steal his keys!" "Wouldn't he just take his keys with him?" asked Sokka. "I'm just tossing ideas around," said Aang. "I tried talking the Earthbenders into fighting back but it didn't work," said Katara. "If there was just a way to help them help themselves."
"For that, they'd need some earth or some rock. Something they can bend," said Sokka.
"Yeah, if we can find any form of earth and bring it to them, it should give them the courage and power to fight!" agreed Gohan.
"But this entire place is made of metal," said Katara as felt the ground.
"No it's not; look at the smoke," said Aang as he pointed upward. "I bet they're burning coal; in other words, earth."
"Great! Now all we have to do is bring the coal to the Earthbenders," said Gohan.
When the sun began to rise, Gohan, Katara, and Sokka were busy trying to carry out their plan. "It's almost dawn. We're running out of time. You sure this is gonna work?" Katara asked her brother. "It should. These vents reminded me of our little trick back at the village," Sokka explained. "We're gonna do the same thing, but on a much bigger scale. There's a huge supply of coal at the base of this island, and the whole system is ventilated," as Sokka explained his plan, the Avatar was in the center of the rig closing the air vents. "Aang closed off all the vents except one, when he does his airbending the coal only has one place to go... right back here!"
"I hope this gets the Earthbender to fight again." said Gohan.
"There's the intruder!" shouted one of the fire guards. The three teens were suddenly surrounded by multiple fire soldiers with spears along with earth prisoners. The teens put their backs together as they faced the soldiers. "Stay back! I'm warning you!" Sokka yelled as he pulled out his boomerang. "Katara, Gohan stop! You can't win this fight!" Tyro warned the teens. Katara looked at Haru's face and saw that his face expressed fear for her life.
"Listen to him well children," said the Warden as he stepped forward. "You're all one mistake away from dying where you stand."
The soldiers slowly approached the teens before everyone felt a sudden vibration. Coal finally burst out of the only open air vent and poured onto the ground, which surprised the Warden and the earth prisoners. The Avatar then jumped out of the vent and landed on the coal pile covered in ash, he cough a bit to relieve himself of the ash. Katara climbed on top of the coal and shouted "HERE'S YOUR CHANCE EARTHBENDERS, TAKE IT! YOU FATE IS IN YOUR OWN HANDS!" as she lifted up a piece of the coal. Haru stepped forward a bit but his father stopped him from going any further while no other Earthbender made an attempt to move, a few of them even stepped back.
The gang was surprised that no one seemed to want to fight for their freedom even if they could bend. "What's wrong with you people?! Why are you acting like this?!" cried Gohan in disbelief. "You have your ability to bend again, why aren't you fighting back?!"
The Warden started laughing as Katara slowly lowered her hand. "Foolish girl," said the Warden. "You thought a few inspirational words and some coal would change these people? Look at these blank, hopeless faces," as the Warden spoke the Earthbenders looked away in shame. "Their spirits were broken a long time ago," "You're wrong, that's not true!" argued Gohan. "It is true boy and you can see it for yourself. Oh, but you still believe in them, how sweet." the Warden said mockingly as Katara lowered her head in defeat. "They're a waste of your energy children, you've failed." The Warden turned to walk away before he was suddenly nailed in the head by a flying coal, he growled and turned to see Haru glaring at him while coal hovered around his hand.
The Warden immediately launched a fire blast at the boy but it was blocked by a wall of coal controlled by Haru's father, his will to fight fully restored. "Show no mercy!" the Warden ordered as he and some fire soldiers threw fireballs at the Earthbenders. Haru, Tyro, and some more Earthbenders made a larger wall of coal to shield before Tyro ordered "For the Earth Kingdom, attack!" and slammed his palms onto the ground, creating a wave of coal that blew the Firebenders back. Pretty soon all the Earthbenders joined the battle, dodging fire attacks while using coal to defend themselves and attack Fire soldiers. The guards around the rig watched as the earth prisoners dominated their comrades.
Sokka and Gohan joined in as well, the water tribesman snapped the spears of the guards and tossed them to the lemur bat that was flying and collecting them, while Gohan used his energy attacks to knock away some Firebenders. Tyro and Haru bended a large pile off coal and merged them into a giant boulder, the Warden and some Firebenders were still fighting when the father and son launched the coal boulder at the closed gate, sending a few guards overboard while the gate had a large hole in it.
"Get to the ships, we'll hold them off!" Tyro ordered while he, his son and some other Earthbenders continued fighting.
"Do not let them escape!" the Warden ordered as he and his men attempted to stop the fleeing earth prisoners.
The gang was headed towards the gate before Aang suddenly stopped and started rotating his arms to create an air canon. "Guys, throw me some coal!" said Aang. His companions filled his canon with some coal and it was shot at the Warden and the remaining Firebenders, knocking them down. The coal suddenly came together under the Firebenders, creating a large platform that carried them through the air. The Earthbenders directed the platform just above the water, "No! Please, I can't swim!" begged the Warden. "Don't worry, I hear cowards float!" assured Tyro before he lowered his hands, dropping the Firebenders into the ocean.
Soon the Earthbenders along with Katara and Gohan were on the Fire navy ships sailing towards their home village, while Aang and Sokka rode on Appa. Haru and his father approached the two and said "I want to thank you for saving me, for saving us." said Haru. "No problem." said Gohan. "All it took was a little coal." said Katara modestly. "It wasn't the coal Katara, it was you." said Haru which made Katara blush. "Thank you for helping me find my courage, Katara of the Water Tribe. My family, and everyone here owes you much." said Tyro. "So I guess you're going home now." said Katara.
"Yes, to take back my village," replied Tyro before he shouted. "TO TAKE BACK ALL OUR VILLAGES! THE FIRE NATION WILL REGRET THE DAY THEY SET FOOT ON OUR LAND!"
"YEAH!" shouted the Earthbenders aboard the other ships. Gohan smiled as he joined his brother and Sokka on the sky bison, leaving Katara and Haru alone. "Come with us." said Haru to Katara. "I can't," said the Waterbender. "Your mission is to take back your home, ours is to get Aang to the North Pole." The two looked towards Gohan and Aang who tossing a piece of coal to each other while Momo chased after it. "That's him isn't? The Avatar?" asked Haru as he looked at Aang. "Katara thank you for bringing my father back to me, I never thought I'd see him again. You've done so much for me, I only wish there was a way..."
"I know," replied Katara as she gripped her necklace, only to find that it wasn't around her neck. "My mother's necklace, it's gone!"
Back at the rig, the necklace of the Southern Waterbender was pick by a Firebender, who happened to be the son of Fire Lord Ozai. Prince Zuko recognized Katara's necklace and stared into the sunset. Prince Trunks soon appeared beside him. "Some fight that took place here huh? This rig is completely empty." said Trunks before he looked towards his fellow prince and asked "What did you find?"
"Something that tells me we're on the right track," replied Zuko as he showed the necklace to his comrade.
A/N: Finished. Just so we're clear that scene where it looked like Gohan was earthbending was just him using telekinesis or his ki to levitate the rocks. Now onward, I've a few surprises planned for the next two chapters and I think you'll especially like chapter 8's surprise. Keep reading and send your reviews. TTFN Antihero out!