They passed through the gateway, Remi bending the water for them to pass through. "Hold on," Zoe said to Remi who was sitting in front of her. Uri then shot a golden fire ball, creating a portal that she dived through. They emerged above a group of uninhabited islands that were an hours flight from the Academy. "What are we doing here?" Zoe asked Uri.

"I heard Atlas send out a distress call," she responded.

"You heard their three whistles?"

"No, I mean I heard Atlas's dragon distress call, he was calling all available dragons for help."

"What's happening?" Remi asked, unable to understand Uri.

"Hayden and Atlas are in trouble, we're going to help them," Zoe explained.

"I think you mean I'm going to go and help, you and Remi are staying on that island," Uri said.

"What? No way, I'm coming with you," Zoe said, incredulous that Uri would leave her.

"You were explicitly told to lie low and not get into any fights," Uri deadpanned.

"What if you drop me off somewhere out of the way and I can just fire arrows and bend?" Zoe persisted.

"Fine," Uri huffed, recognising defeat.

"Care to update me?" Remi asked.

"We're going to have to drop you at the island while we go and see what's going on. Is that ok?"

"I guess. I don't really have a choice, do I?"

"If you're uncomfortable then we'll change the plan, but I can leave Sharpshot with you."

"I'll be ok," Remi assured.

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

"I'm sorry, but I can't let anything happen to you, I would never forgive myself."

"I know, its ok, really, I understand."

"Thank you."

A few minutes later, they landed on one of the islands that had the most tree cover where they dropped off Remi and Sharpshot with their bags. It was getting onto dusk so Uri found them a cave to take shelter in if they needed.

"Will you be ok?" Zoe asked, worried for her little brother.

"Relax, I'll be fine. I have Sharpshot and you taught me to water bend and fight well enough for now," Remi reassured her.

"Ok, we'll be back as soon as we can."

"Don't do anything stupid," Remi told her.

"That's what I'm supposed to tell you," Zoe smiled.

"That's not what the air benders thought," Remi smirked.

"Shut up."

Remi just laughed as Zoe mounted the saddle. Uri spread her wings and leapt into the air, beating her powerful wings and finding it much easier without all the extra weight and heading towards the Academy.

Hayden was standing in the middle of chaos. The Academy had been attacked by hunters again, but this time they weren't so lucky in terms coming out on top. The hunters were rapidly gaining ground, even with the dragons in the air and the riders fighting on the ground. They were forced back towards the entrance to the Academy, if the hunters broke through, there would be no hope, 'not that there was much now' Hayden thought personally. In a last desperate attempt to turn the fight in their favour, Hayden blew his whistle, signalling to Atlas to send out his distress call. It would call all willing dragons to come to their aid. Shortly after he blew the whistle, he heard Atlas screech and fire a blast into the sky, calling the dragons.

It only took several minutes for dragons to start appearing in the sky, heading towards them, making Hayden sigh in relief. But then the dragons stopped, turning around a fleeing, along with all of the Academy dragons. "No," he breathed. "No!" he said louder. They needed their help, not their retreat. His blood ran cold, this was it. He couldn't do anything to save all the riders, especially since their dragons had abandoned them.

Hayden felt goose bumps run across his skin, making him shiver, a snowflake landing on his forearm before he brushed it off. Wait, a snowflake? He looked up, seeing thick clouds developing overhead, the temperature rapidly dropping and the snow intensifying. He heard a fury screech, one that did not belong to Atlas, "Zoe," he whispered, a smile spreading across his face. "Riders!" he yelled out to the people fighting with him, "retreat inside the gates and prepare to defend the building!" A few looked at him confused, but everyone did as they were told, leaving Hayden alone outside the gate. He put up a wall of fire to temporarily hold back the hunters, Atlas landing next to him.

"Talk about timing," Atlas said, firing a blast into the crowding hunters to keep them back.

"Let's just hope she can tip the scales, there's a lot more ships and hunters compared to last time."

The storm was turning into a full blown blizzard, making the visibility awful. "Summon a thunder storm," Hayden heard Uri say in his head. He had no idea where she was or why he needed to summon a storm, Zoe was creating a big enough storm on her own. Apparently Uri could sense his confusion, "just do it, now!"

"Ok ok, gees," he said under his breath as he began summoning the storm. He looked around to see if he could see Zoe and Uri but found nothing. 'Go figure,' he thought sarcastically, the snow storm was so they could hide in it after all.

"Hayden! Duck!" Atlas yelled at him, Hayden turning just in time to see an arrow pierce the front of a hunter's shoulder that was about to swing his sword at Hayden. He knocked the hunter unconscious, turning in the direction that the arrow came from. Squinting through the snow, he saw a figure standing on one of the walls that ran perpendicular to the walls that encompassed the Academy's entrance yard. It was Zoe, firing arrow after arrow, apparently summoning them back to her by the thin stone weight in each arrow with her earth bending. He watched her for a few minutes; she seemed unfazed by the events unfolding around her or by the sudden turn in events with her arrival, calmly batting away arrows that were shot at her in return with her air bending.

Uri landed next to her on the wall just as Hayden heard the thunder from his storm rumbling in the sky. He watched as Uri pushed her head into Zoe's chest before flying away. Confused, Hayden watched as Zoe put her bow away, letting out a gust of wind and snow strong enough to push the hunters back down to where they had docked. The majority of the hunters who could bend were fire benders, but their gifts were useless in the snow storm, the cold and wind snuffing out any flames they summoned before it could leave their hands.

Hayden watched as Zoe stood still, her hands by her side and her body turned so it was facing the hunter ships. He watched as she slowly rose her arms until they were straight out in front of her, something a bluish-purple white flickering around her hands. She then threw her arms up and then brought them down again, falling to one knee, several flashes of lightning striking the masts of the ships with an ear-splitting crack, setting them alight. Before Hayden could comprehend what he had just seen, Zoe started sending wave after wave of wind, ice and fire towards the hunters, pushing them towards the burning ships. The hunters quickly realised that if they wanted to get out of there, they needed to get on the ships and put out the fires before the ships became no longer seaworthy.

Hayden watched as the hunters and their ships slowly disappeared back out to sea, the wind from the storm pushing them out faster. He turned to where he last saw Zoe, but she was gone. He saw a flicker of movement in his peripheral vision, turning in that direction, he saw Uri with Zoe on her back shooting away from the Academy and into the thick of the storm that was starting to clear up. Without hesitation, Hayden called Atlas and jumped onto his back, Atlas taking off after them.

They struggled to fly in the still strong winds, unable to see through the thick, low hanging clouds, but Atlas managed to use his echolocation to follow Uri. He just hoped that Uri wouldn't create one of her portals.

-o0O0o-

After what felt like an hour, the storm finally began to disappear, Hayden only realising that Zoe had kept the clouds around to conceal her get away when he saw Uri disappear into dense forest on an island below them. Atlas followed, gliding over the tree tops and finding it much easier to track them without the dense clouds. After several minutes, Atlas landed on the forest floor deciding to go the rest of the way on foot. Through the trees they saw Uri lowering herself to the ground and Zoe slide off the saddle with not much grace and clearly in pain.

"Remi!" they heard her call out as she took off her helmet.

"Who's Remi?" Hayden asked Atlas quietly.

"Shut up and maybe we'll find out."

Hayden was about to retort when a young boy appeared from a cave that Hayden hadn't previously noticed.

"What happened? Are you ok?" the boy who must be Remi asked Zoe.

"I may have reopened one of the wounds," he heard Zoe say quietly.

"Zoe," the boy whined. "You are so predictable."

"You ready to go?" Zoe asked, clearly ignoring Remi's last comment.

"Yep, just need to strap the bags back to Uri's saddle. I'll do it," he added quickly when Zoe went to go and get the bags.

At that moment, the wind briefly changed direction, blowing Hayden and Atlas's scent towards the group instead of away like it was before, but only for a short amount of time so Uri would be able to detect someone was there, but not who. Just as Hayden predicted, Uri's eyes turned to slits as she sniffed the air, turning in their direction and taking on a defensive stance, Remi and Zoe drawing their weapons and Sharpshot preparing a shot. Before Uri could fire a shot of her own, Atlas leapt out of the trees, unable to contain his excitement any longer and running up to Uri and Zoe who relaxed when they saw it was him. Uri and Atlas rubbed heads before Atlas went and greeted Zoe who gave him a hug and stroked the side of his face, Hayden coming into the clearing with much less energy and 'bounce'.

"Zoe?" he said, almost nervous.

"Hayden," she responded, continuing to scratch under Atlas's chin when he nudged her as soon as she stopped. Hayden noticed that she was wearing gloves.

"Where have you been?" he asked, taking a couple of steps towards her.

She hesitated before responding, "I'll tell you later." Great, so they were back to square one where it was almost impossible to get an answer out of her. "Remi, this is Hayden, the other fury rider. Hayden, this is Remi, my new brother."

"Hi," Remi said with a small wave.

Hayden just nodded, turning his attention back to Zoe. "Why didn't you come back?" he asked, desperate to know why the person who he considered his best human friend had disappeared for just over six months.

"Because I didn't have a choice, and when I did, I couldn't," she said, meeting his eyes with finality. "I need to get going, you're welcome to come if you want."

"Where are you going?"

"I need to speak with Zeb and Alice," she said as she helped Remi strap the bags on.

"Oh? Can I come then?"

"I did say you could."

She was acting weird, never meeting his eyes apart from the one time when she told him she didn't have a choice, and constantly glancing over her shoulder.

They landed next to Zeb and Alice's house at the edge of the village, Remi helping Zoe dismount Uri without making her back worse. It was almost dark as the three of them approached the front door, Zoe leading the group, the three dragons having gone to the backyard to rest and catch up. She knocked on the door which opened within seconds.

"Zoe?" Alice said, a huge smile spreading across her face.

"Hey Alice, how are- you're pregnant?" Zoe asked when she saw Alice's bump.

"Yep, five months now."

"Wow, congratulations. Why didn't you tell me last time I saw you?"

"What do you mean? I wasn't pregnant the last time I saw you?"

"What?" Zoe trailed off and turning to Hayden before looking back at Alice. "How long were we gone?" she asked almost scared.

"Just over six months," Hayden said from behind her.

"Six months? That means we were there for-"

"For four months," Remi finished in an equally soft tone to Zoe, looking up at her.

"Maybe you should come inside," Alice said, guiding Zoe in by the hand, Zoe's other hand taking Remi's, Hayden following behind. She was in a daze, they had been at Drago's camp for four months? No wonder the four of them were so weak when they had finally escaped.

Coming out of her daze, she stopped walking and turned to face Alice, "Alice, can you help me with something before we do anything else? Please?"

Alice looked at her strangely before nodding and leading her to the room that she had stayed in when she visited, Remi subtly handing her a small bag as she passed him and leaving him with Hayden and Zeb. "I won't be long," she whispered to him.

-o0O0o-

Alice closed the bedroom door behind them as they entered the room. "What's going on?" Alice asked, concerned.

"Can you help me with something without asking any questions?"

"That depends," Alice said, crossing her arms. "You've been gone for six months with no contact and then you suddenly reappear again, we all have questions."

"I didn't know that I was gone that long, please, I'm really sorry. I just need you to help me change my bandages. I can usually do it myself but I think I reopened one of the wounds and I need someone to see if it needs the salve on it."

"Bandages? Gods Zoe, what happened?" Alice asked as she sat Zoe onto the bed and helped her remove her armour. "And who's the boy?"

"His name's Remi and he's like a little brother to me," Zoe responded as Alice lifted Zoe's shirt over her head, revealing the Lichtenberg scars and the mess that her back had become even though the worst was hidden by bandages.

"Jesus Christ," Alice muttered as she took in the condition of Zoe's back and right arm. "You need to tell me what happened or at least who did this."

Zoe sighed. She could trust Alice, she knew that, but she didn't want to talk about it. She passed the salve and fresh bandages from the bag to Alice who was already unwrapping the one around her back. "I got captured by Drago's men when I was trying to save Remi," she began, Alice sucking in a breath, from what Zoe had said or from the sight of her newly exposed wound, she didn't know. "I couldn't get out without them killing Remi or Uri, so I stayed and they took us to Drago's main camp. After what I now know was four months, we escaped. I called for Atlas and Hayden once we got out but I was bleeding out too quickly so we went to the air benders instead. That's where we've been for the last two months," Zoe said in a quiet monotone.

"So Drago did this to you?" Alice asked as she put the salve on, Zoe just nodding. "Did he...?" Alice trailed off.

"No," Zoe responded knowing what Alice was asking. "They wouldn't come close to me, only close enough so their fists, blades and boots would hit their mark," she said quietly.

"What about the Lichtenberg on your arm?" Alice asked, slightly relieved by Zoe's response.

"You could say that was because of Drago too."

"How are you still alive then? Most people die when they're stuck by lightning," Alice asked. Zoe just shrugged before going on to explain what Gus and the head healer had pieced together. Alice just sat there, the bandage still in her hand as she listened.

"Did you want me to try healing your back with water bending?" Alice asked after a few minutes of silence.

"If you wouldn't mind. I wasn't able to do it myself since I couldn't reach, also I didn't have enough energy to bend until recently," Zoe responded as Alice began moving her hand slowly across the reopened wound, letting the skin stitch itself back together with the help of the antibacterial salve.

"I'd still be careful for a few weeks," Alice said as she helped Zoe wrap the fresh bandage around her wound.

"Thank you so much," Zoe responded.

"Let me know if you need any help when you change it again. Come on, I'm sure Zeb will want to see you and we've left Remi out there long enough," Alice said as she stood up.

They were sitting around the fire in the backyard, just like the first time he had brought Zoe here, except she was sitting next to him this time with Remi on her other side. He had gotten to know the younger boy when Zoe disappeared with Alice, no doubt giving Alice the answers he was denied. He learnt that Remi was only 13 and was a water bender who'd lost his family and village to Drago's men. He and Zeb had both immediately taken a liking to the boy who they worked out had been with Zoe for the entire six months, but he wouldn't reveal anything else, keeping his 'big sister's' secrets.

Hayden was worried about her. Sure, she had let him sit next to her, but she had visibly flinched when he had sat down and whenever he would move next to her. She wasn't wearing her armour or her gloves anymore, but her right hand was pulled up into her sleeve, her other hand holding Remi's. He had also noticed over the course of the night that Remi and Zoe stayed much closer to each other than one would consider normal.

Whenever he would go to ask Zoe something about the last six months, Alice would catch his eye and subtly shake her head telling him no. So she had been given answers. He hated how things between them had gone back to how they were in the beginning, he had loved being around the real Zoe, the one who never held back around him, only to have her taken away and then returned to him, a shell of her former self.

-o0O0o-

That night, Hayden woke to the sound of floorboards creaking in the hall. They were staying with Alice and Zeb for a couple of weeks under Alice's orders. He strained his ears, listening to the footsteps. They were coming from the back door and heading to the room where Zoe and Remi were sleeping in. "Remi?" he heard Zoe's voice. "Another nightmare?" Remi must have nodded in affirmation as the next thing Hayden heard was Zoe's voice again. "Come on, we're safe here."

"I know, I just needed to see the sky to remind me that we were free again." Hayden thought about Remi's response; so he had been a prisoner at some point. No, he said 'we', that meant that both him and Zoe were prisoners. That would explain why they were so close.

"Do you need to go for a flight?" It was Zoe's voice again.

"No, its ok." That was all he heard before the bedroom door closed, shutting off any further conversation.

-o0O0o-

Over the next week, Zoe was just as quiet around him. She only ever left the house to go to the forest with Remi, Uri and Sharpshot where they would stay for a few hours before returning. She would always turn down his offers of going to the market or catching up with his friends, saying she needed to help Alice while Zeb was at work. Each night, he would hear Remi go outside and then come back inside before going to sleep. It was the eighth night when he heard Remi's voice, "where are you going?" he asked someone in a low whisper.

"The cliff in the forest, it's building up again," he heard Zoe answer. "I'll be back by morning." The cliff was building up again? That made no sense to Hayden. Deciding to follow her, he got out of bed and slipped on his shoes, creeping out the back door after Zoe who he saw disappear into the forest.

He followed her through the forest, careful to stay in the shadows and away from the moon's light in case she turned around, but she seemed too lost in her own thoughts to think about the potential of being followed. He followed her for close to half an hour before they came to the base of a cliff that overlooked the ocean. Zoe headed straight up the narrow path without pausing, Hayden following a little more hesitant. There were only a few trees on top of the cliff, the wind blowing strong and sending Zoe's plaited hair from its position on her shoulder so it was waving behind her. He decided to stay silent, watching to see what she was doing out here. After a few minutes, she walked to the cliff's edge and put one of her hands out, electricity apparently in the air becoming attracted to her fingers. She turned her hand around, a small ball of the blueish white energy forming in her palm. It wasn't like her ice that glowed a similar colour, but actual electrical energy. Hayden went to take a step to the side so he could see better, but he scuffed his foot on a stone, alerting Zoe to his presence through the vibrations in the ground since it was too windy to hear. She spun around, the ball of energy flying from her hand and hitting the tree behind him, setting it alight with a deafening crack.

"Hayden!" Zoe gasped, a horrified look on her face. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to. Are you ok?" She asked rushing over to him and offering to help him up as he'd thrown himself to the ground when he saw the glowing ball heading his way.

"I'm fine. What was- SHIT!" As he took Zoe's outstretched hand he got an electric shock that ran up his arm.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry-" Zoe said, taking a step back from him and starting to panic.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," he said as he got to his feet, shaking his hand and turning to look at the tree that was still burning. When he turned back to face Zoe, she was standing still, her eyes flicking between him and the tree and full of fear.

"I could have killed you," she whispered, taking another step away from him.

"But you didn't," he responded, trying to calm her, "and it won't happen again because I won't sneak up on you."

"But it might, I can't control it. What just happened wasn't because I was trying to defend myself, it just shot out of me."

"What happened exactly?" he asked, hoping for an explanation.

Zoe just shook her head, clearly still upset from the previous events. "I don't think we should travel together anymore," she said quietly.

"What? Why?"

"Because I could accidentally kill you, and Atlas."

"That won't happen."

"Nobody knows that. I can't control it and if people are around when it bursts out of me, they die."

"And how do you know that?" he challenged, he was sure she had fallen into worst case scenario thinking.

"Because its happened before," she said in a small voice and not meeting his eyes. His breath caught in this throat, that was not the response he was expecting.

"It's happened before? You've killed someone?" he asked softly.

She looked up at him before responding, "multiple."

He didn't know what to say. What do you say to someone who went out of their way to make sure that they never killed or lethally injured their opponents, and then told you that they had killed multiple people?

"Like I said, I don't think you'll want to travel with me."

"What, no, why wouldn't I want to travel with you? You're my best friend," Hayden said, shaking himself out of his thoughts.

"Gee, I don't know," she said sarcastically. "Maybe because I've killed more people than I can count-,"

This made Hayden flinch, how many had she killed?

"-I can't control the new part of me that's killing people, and I nearly just killed you! Not to mention I abandoned you for six months without contact!" she was yelling now, completely adamant that she should be alone. She turned her back on him and walked back to the cliff's edge, staring out to sea before bending down and pressing her palm onto the ground, the electricity flowing from her hands and fading when it reached the ground. He wasn't going to let her think that, he cared about her more than she could imagine. There was no way he was letting her go this easily. Taking a deep breath, he walked to where she was now sitting on the cliff, her legs over the edge and sat down next to her. She immediately flinched when he first came into her field of vision before moving another meter away from him.

"You should probably go," she said to him.

"No, not until we've sorted a few things out. Let me make this clear, I am not letting you think for another second that we'd be better off working separately."

"I almost killed you, and you want to increase the risk of that happening again?"

"I believe you can learn to control it-"

"I can't control it, it's a curse. It's not like bending or my ice."

"What is 'it' exactly?" He asked, maybe he'd get an answer now. Her shoulders slumped indicating that she'd given in and was going to tell him something.

"When you were little, did you ever play games where you had the ability to shoot lightning from your hands?"

Ok, this was going in a weird direction.

"Yeah? Everyone played those role play games," he answered cautiously.

"That's what happened to me. Turns out the legend is true," she whispered.

"The legend? The legend that talks about being struck by lightning and then gaining the ability to direct and shoot lightning?" He asked, receiving a nod from Zoe. His mind slowly began to join the dots, "wait, you got struck by lightning?" He asked, again, receiving a nod.

"When? And how did you survive?"

"Two and a half months ago now. And as to how I survived, the legend will tell you that," she responded in a monotone. He just sat there, processing what she'd said. And suddenly he had to know more, he needed to know where the girl he cared about more than any other person had disappeared off to for six months.

"Where were you?" He asked softly, not looking at her but staring straight out to sea. He noticed she was doing the same, it was easier to talk when you didn't have to look someone in the eye. She sighed, he was going to get an answer.

"The last two months we were with the air benders, that's where we went just after I called you with the whistle but I was bleeding out too quickly so Uri suggested we go to the City instead."

Hayden remembered the blood and broken arrows on the island that Atlas had taken them to, making him shudder.

"But before that," she took a deep breath before continuing, "before that, we were at Drago's main camp."

Hayden just sat there, waiting for her to continue.

"I was heading back to our meeting point when I found a hunter's ship, so obviously I went to check it out. That's where I found Remi. And where the hunters found me. I couldn't get out without leaving Remi, so I stayed. He kept me sane for the four months we were Drago's prisoners since Uri and Sharpshot were taken somewhere else, below ground I think."

Hayden didn't want to even start thinking about what Drago had done to her if she was there for four months. How had she gotten out of there? He wouldn't ask her anymore tonight, he'd just make sure that she was ok now and would accept that she was stuck with him. He scooted closer to her, relieved when she didn't flinch away from him, and put his arm around her shoulders. When his arm grazed her back however, she flinched. He immediately drew his arm back and began apologising. "I'm sorry I-,"

"It's ok," she cut him off. "Just watch the back and right shoulder."

"What happened?"

"Just some cuts still healing," she said with a tone of finality. But then she did something that surprised him, she moved over closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder making his heart race. They just sat there in silence, Hayden enjoying the weight of Zoe against him as they stared out to sea.