A/N I will be skipping the Cave of Two Lovers.
Aang looks out at Omashu. The red Fire Nation flag waving in the wind. A bold red flag bearing the Fire Nation insignia is proudly hung; gray plumes of smoke fill the air surrounding the fallen city.
"I can't believe it. I know the War has spread far, but Omashu always seemed…untouchable." Aang said
"Up until now it was. Now Ba Sing Se is the only great Earth Kingdom stronghold left." Sokka said
"This is horrible, but we have to move on." Katara said
" No, I'm going to find Bumi." Aang said
"Who is Bumi?" I asked
"The king." Katara said
"Aang, stop. We don't even know if Bumi's still…" Sokka trailed off
"What? If he's still what?" Aang asked
"A-around." Sokka said
"I know you had your heart set on Bumi, but there are other people who can teach you earthbending." I said
"This isn't about finding a teacher. This about finding my friend." Aang said
- - - - - Time Skip - - - - -
We are below Omashu's gat where Aang is attempting to open the entrance to a secret tunnel.
"A secret passage? Why didn't we just use this last time?" Sokka asked
Aang open the tunnel, revealing it to be filled with sewage.
"Ugh" Sokka asked
"That answer your question?" I asked
"Eeww." Sokka said
We proceed through the tunnel to the inside of Omashu. Aang conjures an air ball with his staff to clear the path while Katara uses waterbending to maneuver the sewage carefully around her. Sokka, on the other hand, is continually soaked in the foul substance. I freeze it and walk on it instead of through it.
"That wasn't as bad as I thought." Katara said
Sokka emerges covered in slime. I climb out behind him and walk over by Katara. Katara spots water nearby and splashes Sokka with it using waterbending to wash off the sewage followed by Aang who uses airbending to dry him off while he scream which reveals that three pentapi have attached themselves to his skin.
"Ahh! They won't let go. Help." Sokka yells
Aang quickly tackles Sokka into a wall in order to silence him, in a somewhat cheerful tone.
"Shh! Stop making so much noise. It's just a purple pentapus." Aang said
Sokka looks at the pentapus in fear. Aang removes the first pentapus by lightly rubbing its head as Sokka watches. Sokka rubs the spot where the creature was attached, and does the same procedure to get the second one off. Several guards suddenly approach them as Aang takes the third one off.
"Hey! What are you kids doing out past curfew?" the guard asked
"Sorry. We were just on our way home." Katara said
We turn to walk away, with Sokka bringing up the rear. The guard notices the red welts on the back of Sokka's neck.
"Wait, what's the matter with him?" Guard two asked
"Uh, he has pentapox, sir. It is highly contagious." I said
"Oh, it's so awful. I'm dying." Sokka said
"And deadly." Katara said
"Hey, I think I heard of pentapox! Didn't your cousin Chang die of it?" Guard one asked
"We'd better go wash our hands, and burn our clothes." Guard two said
The guard run away in fear.
"Thank you, sewer friends." Aang said
- - - - - Twilight - - - - -
We hide behind some metal bars used for construction as a patrol passes.
"Let's find Bumi and get out of here." Katara said
"Where would they be keeping him?" Sokka asked
"Somewhere he can't earthbend." Aang said
"Somewhere made of metal." I said
We go on. We are walking when we see a family walking with two guards. We a rock come shooting down a chute towards the family. Aang raises his staff and pulverizes the rock with a blast of air as it passes. The party down below is alerted by the sound and looks up to see what caused it.
"The resistance." someone from down below yells
The girl spreads her arms at Aang, causing tiny arrows to fly toward him. Aang quickly jumps up, avoiding the arrows which bury themselves in the stack of construction material Aang lands on. Aang, Katara, Sokka and I run away as two of the Fire Nation guards are climbing up ladders to get to them. Katara quickly turns around and uses the water from her pouch to form a water whip and send the two guards flying off into the deep. As you see them falling, we see Mai reaching the top. While she is running toward Katara, she stretches out her right hand, shooting off some more arrows. I raise a shield of ice to protect us as the arrows embed themselves in it. The girl keeps charging at us as we run away. The girl jumps over the icy wall in hot pursuit of us. Aang awaits for Katara and I and lets us pass as he awaits the arrival of the girl. With a spinning sweep of wind, he causes some of the construction scaffolding to collapse. The girl sees the scaffolding collapse and directs a throwing star right at Aang. He twirls his staff in front of him and catches the flying star with it. The girl stands on one side of the collapsed scaffolding and has a clear shot on Aang, Katara, Sokka and I. As she throws more arrows at them, the ground beneath the team opens up, making them disappear and rapidly closes again.
At first all I see is blackness then. Green sewage waste drips from the ceiling. I look down, to see a group of people who are looking up at us. Aang and Sokka are rubbing their heads, while Katara just sits there a bit disorientated, I just continue to look down. I see three men walking towards us. The three tell us to follow them. We walk into a large room, and the three men told us their names.
"So, is King Bumi with you guys? Is he leading the resistance?" Aang asked
"Of course not! The day of the invasion, we readied ourselves for battle. We were prepared to defend our city…to fight for our lives and for our freedom. But before we even had a chance, King Bumi surrendered." Yung said
We all look at Aang to see his clearly disconcerted by the news. Katara gives Aang a look of concern.
"They day of the invasion, I asked King Bumi what he wanted to do. He looked me in the eye and said.. That he was going to do nothing. It doesn't matter now. Fighting the Fire Nation is the only path to freedom. And freedom is worth dying for." Yung said
Yung has a smile on his face, while Aang sadly leans on his staff. He raises his eyes as while he addresses Yung.
"Actually there's another path to freedom. You could leave Omashu. You're directing all your energy to fight the fire Nation. But you're outnumbered. You can't win. Now's the time to retreat, so you can live to fight another day." Aang said
"You don't understand. They've taken our home, and we have to fight them at any cost!" Yung said
"I don't know, Yung, living to fight another day is strain' to sound pretty good to me." a solider said
"Yeah, I'm with the kid." a second solider said
Yung looks at all the people who have taken refuge underground and now are living in the sewer tunnels while they whisper among themselves. He looks back at Aang.
"Fine. But there's thousands of citizens that need to leave. How're we going to get them all out?" Yung asked
We all look at Sokka who already has his hand on his chin. He points at Yung as he exclaims his idea.
"Suckers." Sokka yells
Katara and I both raise an eyebrow and just stares at Sokka. Momo chirps questionably. Sokka blinks, shifting his eyes right and left, smiling broadly.
"You're all about to come down with a nasty case of pentapox." Sokka said
- - - - - Small Time Skip - - - - -
A bucket of water filled with pentapi. Sokka hand reaches in and takes one out. The civilian, whose face is already covered with the marks of removed pentapi, places it on his exposed left arm. Its jellylike body moves up and down a bit. After a few seconds, someone else removes the pentapus by gently rubbing its head. I look around to see several people placing and removing pentapi from their face, shoulders and arms.
"The marks make ya look sick, but you gotta act sick too. Ya gotta sell it." Sokka said
A old man hobbles into view, leaning heavily on his cane. He clutches his back while moaning in pain.
"Now that's what I'm talkin' about." Sokka said
The man turns around, smiling. He taps his wooden leg with his cane.
"Years of practice." the old man said
"Okay everyone! Into sick formation." Sokka said
Sokka and the other civilians start walking towards the gates of Omashu. Katara and I go to join them but Katara stops me, and looks back to Aang who is walking towards the other direction.
"Aang, what are you doing? Aren't you coming with us." Katara said
"No. I'm not leaving until I find Bumi." Aang said
"Come on Katara." I said
Katara and I walked with the rest of the citizens. We start moaning, we move like zombies, swaying back and forth. One them even falls down. The guards back away as the sick crowd reaches them. Sokka theatrically grabs his face and moans painfully, before stretching out his hands toward the frightened guards.
"Plague! Plague!" a soldier yells
The guards on the ground start to retreat into the citadel behind the,, away from the sick, while another guard rings the gong to alert every one of the problem at hand.
- - - - - Time Skip to Outside to City - - - - -
We are sitting around several campfires. I see Aang and a big animal walk into the camp. We all move to greet Aang.
"We looked everywhere. No Bumi." Aang said
Katara hugs him. The big animal moans sadly, so Sokka turns around and hug the animal's ear.
"Who's the animal?" I asked
"Flopsie." Aang, Sokka, and Katara said
Yung walks towards us.
"We've got a problem. We just did a head count." Yung said
"Oh no. did someone get left behind?" Katara asked
"No, we have an extra." Yung said
Yung points to something to the left. I look in that direction and see a baby clamped around Momo's neck. I walk over and pick the baby up. We all move and sit down in front of the fire. The baby is till trying to catch Momo. The lemur leaps out of the way and the baby tumbles down, right next to Sokka's club. He picks it up and starts to suck on it. Sokka snatches the club out of the baby's hands.
"No! Bad Fire Nation baby!" Sokka said
The child starts to cry. I hit Sokka on the back of the head.
"Oh…all right." Sokka said
Sokka gives his club back to the baby who immediately stops crying and starts to play with it. I pick the baby back up.
"Oooh, he's so cute." Katara said
"Sure he's cute now, but when he's older, he'll join the Fire nation army. You won't think he's so cute then. He'll be a killer."' Yung said
Katara takes the baby from me and holds it in front of Yung's face.
"Does that look like the face of a killer to you?" Katara asked
Yung's face remains totally indifferent at the sight of the baby. Katara hands the baby back to me. A messenger hawk arrives. The animal shrieks and lands on a nearby rock.
"A messenger hawk!" Yung said
Aang takes the scroll from hawk's back and unrolls it.
"It's from the Fire Nation governor. He thinks we kidnapped his son. So…he wants to make a trade. His son for King Bumi." Aang said
- - - - - Time Skip Morning - - - - -
I carry the baby who is currently asleep.
"You realize we're probably walking into a trap." Sokka said
"I don't think so. I'm sure the governor wants his son back as much as we want Bumi. It's a new day. I have a good feeling about this." Aang said
Inside the city:
We stand on the place we were to meet for the trade. We see three girls approaches us. One of them being the girl from yesterday. A crane is shown, lowering a metal cage. It contains King Bumi, only his head is left uncovered.
"Hi, everybody." King Bumi yells
Aang smiles as he see his friend. The cage touches the ground behind the three girls.
"I see you brought my brother?" Mai asked
"Yup." I said
"We're ready to trade." Aang said
"I'm sorry, but a thought just occurred to me. Do you mind?" the one with the top knot asked
"Of course not, Princess Azula." the girl from before said
"We're trading a two year old for a king. A powerful, earthbending king?" Azula asked
"Mmm hmmmm!" King Bumi said
"It just doesn't seem like a fair trade, does it?" Azula asked
I can see the girl pondering over the idea. She looks at her brother that is in my arms, who sees her.
"Mai." the boy says
The baby then falls back asleep.
"You're right. The deal's off." Mai said
Mai holds up her hand, gesturing the guards to pull Bumi back up. As the chains reel in from above, the King is suspended in the air once again.
"Whhhoa! See you all later!" King Bumi said
Bumi chuckles and snorts as he is lifted from the scenery. Ang watches him go.
"Bumi." Aang said
He sprints forward with his glider at the ready, increasing his speed with airbending. Azula tries to stop him by blocking his path with a mighty stream of blue flames. Aang dodges these by leaping high up into the air Azula is completely shocked by this incredible jump. Aang briefly touches the scaffolding around the statue and pushes himself off, opening his glider in midair. While opening his glider, he loses his hat, leaving his arrow tattoo exposed. He hold on to the hat with his teeth.
"The Avatar." Azula said
Aang circles up towards Bumi's coffin.
"My lucky day." Azula said
She runs over to a pulley and blast through the rope that serves as a break. The winch begins to spin rapidly. Azula grabs hold to the rope and is pulled up rapidly towards the top of the construction scaffolding.
"Kida, get the baby out of here." Katara said
"Way ahead of ya." I yell
The baby wakes up and starts to play with the bison whistle. We run to the edge of the big platform. Before we can reach it, the girl in pink hands come from a hole in the floor and hit Sokka's foot. Sokka falls over and slides towards the edge. He stops before he goes over the edge. The girl in pink jumps out of the hole in front of Katara. Mai throws four knives at Katara. Katara reacts by quickly by using her water whip to raise up several wooden planks. The wooden board came up just in time. I move and hand the baby to Sokka. Katara sends the board towards Mai. I stand in front of Sokka blocking the girl in pink from getting to him. I freeze her feet in place.
"While I have you, mind telling me your name?" I asked
"Ty Lee. Yours?" Ty Lee asked
"Kida." I said
Ty Lee quickly gets her feet un frozen. Sokka heads towards the nearby ladder. He slides down and starts his descend of the scaffolding. Mai and Katara are still fighting. Mai dodges Katara's water whips and answers her attacks by shooting stiletto's out of the launcher attached to her leg. Katara easily defends herself by freezing the water to create an ice wall. Mai uses this time to charge Katara head on. The waterbender defends herself by capturing Mai's right arm in a stream of water and freezing it. Mai tries to breaks the ice, but falls. I was to busy watching Katara to notice Ty Lee.
"Katara behind you." I yell
I run over and use my bending to put me in-between Katara and Ty-Lee. Ty-Lee hits me with several quick jabs to my arm. I try send her back with my ice but nothing happens.
"How are you gonna fight without your bending?" Mai asked
I thought about it. I turned to look at Mai, then to Katara.
"Like this." I said
I send my hand out and hit her with a blast of my white fire. I grab Katara and we make a break for it. Appa lands between Katara and I and our attackers. Appa slams his tail hard on the ground sending Mai and Ty Lee flying off the scaffolding. We climb onto Appa, and we take off to look for Aang.
"There's Aang." Katara said
"We can catch him." Sokka said
Appa growls and changes course towards Aang. We hear Aang.
"Hang on, Bumi. Our ride's here." Aang said
Appa swerves to avoid another blue fire blast. As he pulls closer again, Aang lifts up the coffin by hitting the side of the chute. Katara, Sokka, and I try to grab hold of the coffin as it passes overhead, but they cannot reach it.
"Come guys." I said
- - - - - Time Skip - - - - -
It was late we were all back at the camp. Aang came back a little while after we had got there. He told us what King Bumi said.
"I'll take the baby back." I said
"Okay." Aang said
I pick up the baby and walk back towards Omashu. Once I got to the wall I used my bending to get inside the city. I see the governor and his wife. I land behind them. I clear my throat. They turn around.
"Tom-Tom." the woman said
I smile and hand the sleeping baby to his mother.
"We didn't take him. He followed the lemur." I said
"He always loved animals." the governor said
"I just wanted to make sure he got back safely." I said
"Thank you."
"No problem." I said
I jumped off the edge and used my bending to get out of the city.
