Iroh felt the saddle basket shift under him. He stretched and rubbed his eyes. "What did I miss?" he asked, sitting up. The blanket that had been draped over him fell to his hips. Had he had a blanket before?
"Me," said a woman's voice.
Iroh opened his eyes just as a tight metal cord wrapped around him. It pulled taut, pinning his arms painfully at his sides. Attached to the other end of the metal whip was the petite metalbender from Unalaq's camp. Chelin, he remembered. Her green eyes narrowed in contempt. Iroh, still half asleep, only stared at her.
"Sleeping? Pathetic," she said. Her voice was low, almost raspy. She vaulted down off of Oogi's saddle, still holding the thin metal cord in one hand. "This is for the kick," he heard her say, then she jerked the whip. The cord cut sharply into his arms as he was hauled over the edge. Iroh tried his best to roll into the fall, but there was only so much he could do. He landed heavily on his bruised shoulder and swore loudly.
Chelin yanked him up onto his knees. "Take me to the Avatar, Mako," she said.
Iroh looked at her, then burst out laughing. He couldn't help it. "Are you serious?" he said finally.
She yanked painfully on the whip again. "Very. Get up."
Iroh awkwardly got to his feet. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye. "You keep making the same mistake, you know."
"I'm not Aunroch. You're stalling. Move."
"And you still think your bending is an advantage."
Chelin frowned at that. Then she jerked; once, twice. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she dropped to the ground. Asami stood behind her, gloved hand extended, palm out. Iroh caught a whiff of ozone.
"That's a shame," Asami said, lowering her arm. She toed the unconscious Chelin with one boot. "Future Industries started coating metalbender suits in teflon ages ago. It makes them less susceptible to electric shocks. I guess Unalaq bought cheap." She smiled at Iroh. "Also, what's with all these guys assuming you're Mako? I don't think you two look anything alike."
Iroh blinked at that. She didn't? Though come to think of it, he didn't know whether that was a good thing or not. He felt the metal whip around him relax. "See?" he said, shaking it off. He gingerly rubbed at his shoulder and grimaced. "Strategic ability."
"That, having my arms free, and about 50,000 volts of electricity," Asami said.
"I like the direct approach."
"I'm sure you would have thought of something, but we're in a hurry. Come on. I found the path to the portal."
"One minute," Iroh said. He walked over to the metalbender, leaned down, and unfastened something from her belt. He dangled a pair of metal handcuffs at Asami and smiled. "I wonder how Chelin here will like the six mile walk in the snow with her arms behind her back?"