~ The Southern Raiders~
(Or, Angst Overload)
Ryuu POV
"Everyone, Wake up!"
Aang yelled as two more bombs pelted the temple. Zuko jolted awake beside me and grit his jaw - he had fallen asleep with his arms around me. Aang had set off a defence system which groaned closed. Zuko leapt up and sprinted to save Katara from the falling ceiling.
"Hey, Watch out!"
They rolled to a stop, but Katara was incredibly ungrateful. She pushed away from him and skittered towards Haru and Toph as they excavated a whole in the cliff side. I went to go after them as everyone made thier way into the tunnel. Zuko got to his feet and brushed himself off. Holes had been blasted into the shielding. He glanced back at me; I shook my head instantly knowing what he was going to do.
He ignored me and ran out to confront our attackers. Aang was struggling with Appa, so I went to help him instead:
"I can't get him to go in there! Appa hates tunnels!"
I yanked his harness sharply, earning a grunt from the great beast. I snarled back as Aang turned to me and screwed his brows together. Bombs exploded outside - Zuko was out there alone. Katara and Sokka joined us - desperately trying to tug Appa into the hole. I dug my heels into the floor and growled.
"Aang, there's no way we can fly out of here," Katara gasped as another bomb pelted the air temple.
Sokka turned towards the others, "We need to split up. Take the tunnel and get to the stolen airship."
Katara let go of Appa's harness and flung herself at her dad. He caught her and they embraced as Sokka, Aang and I dropped the rein. Katara was having a hard time holding back tears - it was quite heart-wrenching.
"No! The Fire Nation can't separate our family again!"
He held her tight and soothed her that it wasn't forever. Toph touched a compressed wall and pressed her lips together. The others ran off down the tunnel and towards where the war balloon was parked. Clambering into Appa's saddle, the rest of us stared down at Toph as she boosted herself up using Earthbending. She landed in to saddle and huffed.
"I can clear that away and we can fly out through there!"
Suki bit her nail, "Um, there's an awful lot of fire in that general direction ..."
Aang nestled down on Appa's head and gripped the reins taught, "We'll get through. Let's go. Yip Yip!"
Toph pushed her hands forward and the fallen ceiling before his formed a shield. We burst out into the sky and straight past two war balloons. I grit my teeth as one came within touching distance. It gave me a rather Zuko-like plan.
"Aang, steer right - then pull sharply down!" I stood and psyched myself up. Aang tried to argue, but I gave him a stiff look. We were steering directly at the lead balloon - it needed to be taken out. I grabbed one of Sokka's weapons, which had been tucked under a pack, and tightened my fist around it. Appa pulled left and as soon as he pulled down, I thrust the weapon upwards - creating a giant tear in the canvas.
It hissed like grass snake as we flew away and towards a free falling Zuko. Katara, as much as she despised him, grabbed the Prince's hand and yanked him on board. Appa changed his course and flew along the cliff wall. Over to our right, Azula was still falling.
"She's... not going to make it," Zuko dug his nails into the wooden saddle. Azula propelled herself with Blue Fire and slid down the wall to a stop, "Of course she did."
...
Camp was set fairly quickly, given that most of it could be constructed using bending, what else should I have expected. Zuko and I were to share a tent - although there was some protest from Toph when she said she would like some sleep and not to be kept up by us. It took everything I had not to blush too harshly.
Zuko had found some drift wood and punched a flame into the heart of the ti-pi construction. The others had managed to scrape out to last of the Jook and Ginseng tea from a bag on Appa's saddle. We squatted around the relatively small campfire and started reminiscing about old times... Aang started it:
"Wow, camping ... it really seems like old times again, doesn't it?"
Next to me, Zuko smiled slightly, "If you really want it to feel like old times, I could, uh ... chase you around a while and try to capture you."
When everyone laughed - Zuko's smile spread. I lent my head on his shoulder, just glad he was truly happy. Katara was the only one not to laugh; She was scowling. Aang raised his cup and toasted, "To Zuko! Who knew after all those times he tried to snuff us out, today he'd be our hero?"
"Hear hear!" We all joined in, raising our tea to him. He smiled broadly and settled his eyes on his tea.
"I'm touched - I don't deserve this."
I went to speak, but Katara interrupted me sharply, "Yeah, no kidding! "
She got to her feet and stormed away towards the beach. Sokka raised his brow and asked after her, "What's with her?"
Zuko touched my cheek, a signal for me to sat back, and rolled to his feet to go follow her, "I wish I knew."
Sokka sipped his Ginseng, "What's with him?"
When they came back, we had called it a night and snuffed out the fire by dumping the leftovers onto it. Toph Earthbent a tent around her and elevated her feet - so she didn't have to 'see' when she was asleep. Sokka's tent was directly opposite Suki's; they had been whispering during the latter part of dinner, so probably had something planned. Aang slept by Appa, without a tent. The tent Zuko and I were to share was at the very edge of camp made out of a patchwork of ripped fabrics.
I lay under my blanket for a bit - waiting for Zuko. He came eventually, hissing something about Sokka, Suki and candles. He crouched close to the door flap with a scowl on his face. I gazed up at him and sighed deeply.
"What is it?"
Grating his teeth, he buried his chin into his knees, "Katara! She hates me."
"Why? What did you do?" I folded my arms beneath the blanket. Zuko screwed his eyes shut.
"Ba Sing Se..." He stated simply, "But I'm going to make it right."
He went to move. I shook my head - rolled, actually, "Don't wait all night outside her tent. One: it's wierd. Two: you need sleep.."
"How did you kn-? I wasn't going to do that!" He covered up. I raised my brow suspiciously at him, causing his hands at fly up in annoyance, "Fine! I was."
"Wait until morning, " I yawned, rolling over to sleep, " Please. Good night..."
"Night..." He curled up beside me, but I knew he was going to sneak out and sit outside anyway.
...
I woke up to the sound of yelling - stemming from Katara. She was stood with Zuko, shouting at her brother and Aang. Groggily, I pushed the tent flap aside and shuffled up to the arguing quartet. Katara jabbed a finger at Sokka furiously.
"Then you didn't love her the way I did!"
Sokka was rightfully hurt. Aang stepped in to mediate, holding his hands up. I joined them - rubbing my eyes of the last blurry messiness of sleep. Before anything could be done, Katara stomped off, Zuko frowned at me and followed after Katara. I felt rage building up inside me. He was going to help stir the idea of revenge no matter what...
...
"So you were just gonna take Appa anyway?" Sokka, Aang and I stepped from behind the rock we had been waiting behind. Katara and Zuko glared at us through the darkness of night. I had tried my best to avoid Zuko all day, knowing this was going to happen - he bored his eyes into mine furiously.
Aang tried to make peace with Katara, but she was still stubbornly angry. She leapt onto Appa's head and called Zuko to follow her up. I shook my head at him:
"Don't do this... "
He heaved a pack onto his back and began climbing up, "I have to."
"Why?"
The moonlight played with his golden eyes as they stared down at me, "Because I do!"
With that, they flew off. Leaving the three of us standing alone in deep dismay.
...
"Ryuu, could you please be less... violent?" Aang asked hesitantly as I sparred against an invisible enemy. The sand beneath my bare feet twisted into tucked patterns. The ocean lapped away most of them - but others were staring up at me from the higher beach.
I was angry at Zuko and myself. Myself because I hadn't done anything to dissuade him from revenge. Punch - kick - knife-hand. Aang grimmaced and massage the small of his neck. I stopped, panting from over-exustion; I'd been practicing for two hours straight. The Avatar exhaled and sropped his arm by his side.
"Wanna spar with me?" He inquired - giving up trying to stop me. I simply nodded and shifted into horse stance, waiting for his attack. This was going to be fun, and hard, as he Earthbent a small pillar at me. I leapt back and kicked. Round-house at his head - he blocked with Airbending and attacked with sand as I double-punched at him. A sudden wave of sand came from nowhere, knocking us both off of our feet and into the surf.
Toph stood triumphantly, "I win. Let's go again!"
...
They came back. After two days, they came back. I leant back against the boulder and watched as Appa landed infront of us. Katara was sitting on his head with Zuko in the saddle - he pulled down his mask and tried to smile at me. I looked away, thinking that they had killed a guy...
"Hey," He leapt down and pulled off his dark over robes, "What's wrong? We're back. But we need to move now - Azula's found this loca-"
I met his eyes severely, "Did you kill him?"
The sudden sharpness in my voice made him leap back. He shook his head and crouched infront of me, "No. He's very much alive. No one was killed... " I huffed as he cupped a hand over my cheek, "Now we've got to get going. Come on, let's get the others."
I pressed my lips together as he pulled me up with him, "So, what have you learnt? "
He chuckled and wrung out his drenched black robes with one fist, "Violence isn't always the answer. But it can be useful in threatening bad guys..."
Shrugging, I walked with him towards the other, who were resting on the beach, "Good enough. You're forgiven. "
"Should hope so," He leaned in and kissed my cheek. I snikered as he took my hand and squeezed it, "Because you're scary when you're mad."
