And here we are at the end of Book 1! Please enjoy, this is a rollercoaster of a chapter (and was one to write)!
(See end for notes on Book 2 and when to expect it)
The first attack came at the height of the sun, the moment that the firebenders were at their strongest. Batting away flaming fireball, after flaming fireball, Aang could feel his robes sticking to him by the time that they finally stopped with the setting of the sun. Glancing to his left, he could see that Katara was equally as exhausted, her cheeks a ruddy red, parka long since abandoned in a minute's break in to shed constricting layers. Other young recruits were in similar shape, and even the veterans of battles between houses were drooping. The night watch had arrived, fresh soldiers who were not so tired, but Aang could see wide-eyes among them as well.
More than one young man had gone off to be sick once their shift had ended, and Aang had come to the startling realisation that even he, who had never fought in any battles until waking on that strange day months ago in the south pole, had seen more death than these people.
Collapsing on Appa's head, he tried not to see the image of skewered bodies in ice and sunken boats from the first frontal assault. Instead, he allowed his best friend to take him back into the city, along with a now sleeping Katara, and into the waiting arms of Sokka.
It was strange, that he and Katara were on the front lines, while Sokka, who had constantly strategised and kept them safe the whole journey from the south to the north, was the one waiting at the rear. Then again, his official mission was to protect Yue, and the promise of hope her connection to the Moon had. If she were to perish, if the Spirits of Ocean and Moon were wounded or even killed, then all was lost, no matter whether they destroyed the invasion or not.
Slowly, Appa began to descend into the courtyard of the royal palace, guards with spears clearing the way, benders and non-benders alike bristling in the direction of the city walls. Sokka and Yue were waiting for them, sharing matching looks of concern. Sokka's hands were gentle as he lifted his sleeping sister into his arms. Yue helped Aang limp from the saddle.
"How are the walls?" Arnook asked once they reached the top of the steps. Aang wondered what kind of blank face he made for the Chief's eyes to soften. "I don't expect an official report, Avatar Aang," he continued gently. "I can tell the day has been long for you." Unlike the weary and terrified faces at the walls, Arnook looked calm and relaxed. Aang wondered whether he would be joining his men during the night shift.
Something told him, he would be staying here in the Palace, where it was safe.
"There are holes," Aang managed. "Pakku said something about the men patching them in the night, once the cannonballs stopped firing." His vision was blurring at the edges in exhaustion.
"A sound plan," Arnook agreed. "Get all the rest you can, Avatar Aang. This battle will not be won quickly, I fear." Aang could agree with that.
Despite the bone deep tiredness and the aching in his muscles, Aang still woke before the sun rose. This far north, the sunlight during the days were mercifully short, although they were getting longer the further away from the Winter Solstice they were. If Zhao managed to stick around until Spring, or even Spirits forbid Summer, they would have a far greater issue. Sokka and Yue were huddled together under a fur blanket on the other side of the room, the brazier having long since blown out, the Princess' head resting on Sokka's shoulder. Katara was still dead to the world, her chest rising and falling regularly. Momo gave little flying-lemur snores curled into her neck.
Resigned to no more sleep, Aang slipped out from his own furs and left the room.
This early in the morning, in the quiet before the siege began all over again, the new shift had already started. Soon, they would be called back to the walls, but there was one person who might understand how to stop all of this fighting before it could end in more death. The guards gave him side-eyed looks as he descended into the Palace dungeons to the little cell they were keeping Zuko in.
With the sun still down, Aang had thought to find the other boy asleep. Instead, he got the impression that Zuko had barely slept at all, face pale and eyes firmly on the little window letting in weak light from the Moon. He startled when the door opened, dark shadows under his eyes making him appear almost ghostly in the pale light.
"Aang? Shouldn't you be resting?" There was a downturn in the other boy's mouth, a concern few others had genuinely shown. Similar to Sokka, and yet so different at the same time.
"I'm fine," Aang said, quiet despite the deflection. "I couldn't really sleep anymore." Zuko let him sit in the pile of furs the guards had given him, settling on the edge himself. Aang hugged his knees, wanting for something impossible. "I wish the fighting would stop. All those people…" Zuko winced and Aang felt his stomach curdle. It felt cruel to discuss this with him, to describe how his people were dying out there. But… "Does Zhao really not care about them?"
"Not a bit," Zuko said flatly, hands curled into fists. Steam rose from them, but Aang could tell he wasn't angry with him.
"Sokka said there was a plan for people to try and kill Zhao, get the invasion called off," Aang murmured. Zuko very carefully, as if approaching a frightened animal, scooted a little closer. Aang leaned towards him and the other boy awkwardly wrapped fire-warmed hands around his shoulders. "I don't like that plan either but…"
"It might have worked if they had anything more recent than fifty years ago," Zuko noted dryly. "But it's unlikely. Zhao is an idiot and a maniac, but he was taught by Jeong Jeong, and is a notable firebender. Even with waterbenders as back-up, they would never have been able to fight their way out, Zhao dead or not. And then honour would dictate that his death be avenged." He didn't sound particularly pleased either. "Not unless it was admitted to be an inside job, and not even Airi would allow that to happen, no matter how much she despises him." Aang swallowed.
"So there isn't anything we can do to stop this? What about food, and hunting for the Northern Water Tribe? Roku told me-" He cut himself off at Zuko's pinched expression, the older boy's eyes flicking away. Aang paused, before continuing. "He told me I had to defeat the Fire Lord by the end of Summer and Sozin's Comet." Zuko froze, body stiffening next to him. Aang's once comfy, warm pillow went cold.
"The end of Summer?" Aang didn't like the sound of dread in Zuko's voice, as if the other boy might be sick. His gaze flicked back to the barred window, eyes wide. It was hard to tell in the dim light, but Aang thought he had gone very pale.
"Yeah." He didn't dare ask. Gyatso had said that being spirit-touched could be a blessing and a curse. They had seen the 'blessing' part of Zuko's association with spirits. And he remembered, all those months ago, a boy tired and shaking off something in a ship cabin. If the spirits sent Zuko visions, it was possible he knew the fate of the world already, should they fail.
The silence stretched, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife. Distantly, there came the sound of an explosion with the first rays of the sun.
Zuko drooped just as much as Aang at the sound.
"The assault has begun again," he said, sounding disappointed. "You should probably get back to the walls." Aang nodded, hesitating to rise.
"Zuko," he started, gazing up at him. "I won't kill your people. Not if I can help it, and never on purpose." The other boy's lips twitched up until a small half smile.
"I know." Somehow it felt like a lie.
Jee got the feeling that Zhao's demotion was inadvertently saving their lives. Trebuchets up and launching flaming cannonballs at the city, the front lines were a mess. Tiny Water Tribe boats, steered and powered by waterbending, sped between each wake while sharp ice shredded hulls to pieces, had ships sinking at an alarming rate, while all Jee's men had to do was stay away and keep the barrage up. Not the most glorifying job, but one that essentially ensured that they were not in immediate danger of the Northern Water Tribe.
He wondered when Lady Airi would enact her plan.
In the days since their meeting, he had heard no further news of the Prince's cousin. She had sent a hawk to note she had been safely returned to her fiance's ship, and to thank them for their kind hospitality, but otherwise silence. No news of the General either, although that was to be expected. Zhao would hardly let the man out of his sight with his battle experience. Jee had no doubt the Admiral wasn't listening to the advice, however. At least he had agreed that attacking during the night was a bad idea. Especially with the Moon almost full.
The plan, as far as he knew, was to wait out the height of the full moon and launch their most devastating attack during the New Moon, when neither the Moon or Sun Spirits would be able to see and send plans astray. What the Spirits had to do with anything, he wasn't sure, but the General had always respected them and so Jee and the crew did too. And it made tactical sense- without the full moon, the waterbenders would be at their weakest outside of daytime. Probably weaker than them even.
It did not make sense, however, why Akiko was so twitchy. Tracking down the ex-Yu Yan archer was something of a task, however. The woman was as slippery as the Prince at times, although much easier to find. With his men smoothly running the trebuchet, Jee went to find her.
She was down in the cargo hold, tucked neatly on top of a box, oiling her bow.
"Not much use for that in this battle," Jee noted dryly. She didn't look up, eyes pinched at the corners. He knew what worried her. There had been no news, which meant that they still had no confirmation whether the Prince had lived or died. And even the men that had made it from Zuko's command to here were getting antsy too.
"Scuttlebutt would have you believe that if the Prince is alive, he's being held hostage by the Northern Chief," Akiko said. "I'm pondering how close I can get to the Admiral to ensure that hostage negotiations will go forward." Jee smirked briefly, despite the serious topic.
"If only I could condone such a mission." Neither needed it said aloud the consequences for such action. "I hear scuttlebutt that some fool tried to kill him this morning. Got tipped right over the edge to be stabbed to death by the men on his ship below." Akiko winced and made the sign of the dragon.
"May the Ocean watch over their souls eternal," she said dully. "This is a waste of men and resources." Jee couldn't help but agree with her. Attacking the Northern Water Tribe during Winter, no matter whether the Winter Solstice had gone by or not, in the height of the lunar cycle, was madness not even Jee could have foreseen. And he had seen a number of crazy things these last few months.
"The General will not allow the whole force to be killed. Nor will the Prince, should he be able to do anything about it."
"The Prince is either captured or dead," Akiko pointed out. "And the General is stuck on the idiot's ship. There isn't much either of them can do, to prevent this fight from reaching its inevitable conclusion. Unless there is something more that any of them know, which may turn the tide against the Water Tribes. And it would have to be done before moonrise." Jee swallowed. Tonight, the moon would be full- the most dangerous night of the lunar cycle for the attacking Fire Nation forces. They had held back the night before, both sides equally as exhausted. But once the moon rose, once the waterbenders were filled with additional spiritual energy, there would be no armistice for the dark hours.
Their conversation was interrupted by shouts from the deck. Men calling for weapons or more pitch. Jee sighed- he knew he would have to go above and discover what all the trouble was about. Knew that he would have to face the traitorous thoughts bubbling in the back of his mind one day. But he was the Captain, he had a duty to keep as many of the sailors under him alive, if not for his own honour then in memory of a Prince who would do much the same.
He was not expecting the little airbender hovering above, twisting in mid-air to bat flaming cannonballs away. How he had gotten this far out from the front lines was a question Jee didn't want to answer. A distant speck away from him was the damned bison, waterbenders on board led by the girl they had chased from South to North.
Jee didn't think he had ever seen clouds used that way, and had to admit to being mildly impressed, despite the deadly projectiles they drew from the thing.
"Aim for the Avatar," he ordered. "Not to kill- no need to give the Northern Water Tribe something to crow about in the future- but get him out of the sky!" The Avatar was a symbol of hope. And, potentially, a hostage they could swap for the Prince, if he was still alive.
He did not wince at the startled, almost petrified look that crossed the child's face when all attacks were suddenly aimed at him.
The boy stopped attempting to deflect, aiming to dodge instead, but there was only so much air, and fire sucked oxygen greedily away. It seemed all the boy could do to stay in the air, face pale, avoiding each fireball by the skin of his teeth. And then…
"Aang!" The girl was screaming, but clouds could not catch falling bodies from flaming air gliders. Whatever the monks had coated their gliders in to keep them watertight, turned out to be incredibly flammable. Jee felt his eyes widen as the tiny body plummeted through the air, gaining speed. His lips moved, trying to sound out the words for a net, but even then, the boy would hit it too hard and fast for it to mean anything. Spirits, I killed a child, he thought sickly. The girl above was still screaming, trying to leap from the bison's saddle and held back by the other waterbenders, one tugging on the bison who roared in anger at being forced away from its rider…
A flash of red darted between bison, fireballs and the ship to catch the child. Shaking fingers curled in a pale golden mane and the dragon twisted in mid-air, shaking itself gently so as not to dislodge its passenger, but to rid itself from irritating soot. Golden eyes met Jee's, and the thing roared. He gaped, hot breath washing over him, the first warmth he had felt in weeks.
Around him, men dropped to the deck in full kowtow, many mumbling prayers to Agni for mercy. Jee found himself remembering an old rumour from the Capital involving Princes, Princesses and dragon hatchlings.
Slowly, under that golden gaze, he knelt, a Captain to a Prince. The dragon spiralled away, shaking child in tow, back towards the city and presumably her rider. Be safe, Your Highness, he thought wonderingly. How many other surprises do you have for us?
As fireballs rained down on his city, Arnook watched as Yugoda pushed a steaming cup of tea into the Avatar's still shaking hands, the boy's face pale, hers soft. At first, all had been confusion. His own guards had come running during the Council Meeting, planning their attack for that night, reporting that the dragon had suddenly taken flight. Renewed from her days languishing in the Spirit Oasis, she had suddenly stretched her wings and flew, the first indication that something was wrong. Drawn by alarmed shouts, Arnook had raced to the walls of his Palace, a glass far-eye held to his eye. Fire Nation technology might be antithesis to their people, but they made useful gadgets, far clearer than their own made of ice.
How the Avatar had gotten so far out was a question for another day. Watching the small body flail and fall in mid-air, Arnook felt his heart in his throat. Advantageous as it would be to have the Avatar reborn among them, it would still take years before they would be ready to start the counterattack against the Fire Nation, and by then all might be lost.
So, it had been startling to be relieved that the dragon caught the boy, doing nothing but roaring in anger at its own people and returning to the city. Arnook had ordered for Yugoda to be fetched immediately, passing the eyeglass to Sokka so he might see as well. The boy's face was pinched and pale when he lowered it, following quietly behind for once. Mad, yet promising his ideas had been in the war council, many of his councillors still didn't trust him for his defence of the Fire Prince. Even Arnook had doubted for a moment.
Now, he wished he had listened to the boy a little more. It would seem he had underestimated both Sokka and the Fire Prince both.
"Have the Prince brought up," Arnook ordered another guard. He received a look askance for it, but a single glare had the man running. Sokka gave him a questioning glance. "It would seem an appropriate time to make the Dragon of the West aware of the hostage we have over him. No doubt, he would not like to lose another son." It was not a course Arnook wished to go down, but this had been close. Tossing the Prince back to people who had openly seen the traitorous actions of his dragon would be just as effective at killing him as Arnook ordering his execution now.
"Zuko never tried to kill us," Sokka said quietly, eyes narrowed. "I'm not about to throw that in his face." Arnook didn't know the ultimate truth or that, whether Sokka's claim was true or not. He couldn't take the chance, not with the vision approaching rapidly every day and the pressing need to keep his daughter as close as possible. Once, he had thought it nothing but a dream, but the moment the Prince arrived with warnings of danger to the Ocean and Moon Spirits had him rethinking.
Dread curdled in his stomach, watching the dragon land, Aang stumbling off, trembling and pale, clearly in shock. Considering Sokka's claim that Prince Zuko had chased them from the South Pole, that this would appear to be the closest he had come to death, gave credence to the boy's tale. He didn't wish to think about it.
Truly, the only reason he had to keep the Prince alive was Yue's words that he was Spirit-touched, and Arnook was all too aware of the gains and detriments of such a blessing. If Agni wished to keep this one alive, who was he to argue to a Great Spirit? Unlike others within the Northern Water Tribe, he didn't believe they could somehow survive without the sun.
Sokka caught Aang before his knees hit the floor, the child shaking too much to stand on his own. A few beats behind them the sky bison landed, making a large courtyard feel suddenly small. The dragon shifted to allow the bison to nose its rider, lowing quietly. Katara stumbled off the bison's back, equally as pale, to throw her arms around him as well.
"What happened?" Arnook snapped at Nanook. The benders he had sent with Katara and Aang, to protect the Southern Princess and Avatar, were less affected but still in various states of shock. The young warrior swallowed, taking a deep breath.
"Lady Katara had an idea to use the clouds to rain shards down on the ships at the rear of the attack. It was a sound plan and the Avatar agreed to counteract any attacks sent our way. But, this one ship… they suddenly turned all attacks on the Avatar, forcing him low enough that the ashmakers had him in range for even their weakest to throw fireballs at him. He managed to get high enough to escape them, but then a last attack caught the glider alight." Nanook had to take a moment to gain equilibrium again. "We were too far away, the bison too slow, to be able to catch him before he hit the ships. I don't think the Captain of the ship meant to kill him either- maybe exchange him for the Prince? He was shouting for nets to capture the boy. Either way… out of nowhere the dragon appeared. Next thing we knew, she was flying back here with the Avatar." Arnook nodded solemnly.
By this time, the guards were dragging a shivering, bedraggled figure in red from the cells.
Arnook had never taken the time to look at the Fire Prince too closely. Not until that moment, and he had to say, he was rather underwhelmed. He had the same pale skin, dark hair and golden eyes of the Fire Nation devils, but otherwise he was short, if compact, and lithe. Not bulky or muscular in an obvious fashion. However, a search of his pack had revealed dual dao, several knives, a few theatre masks (interesting but odd) and emissary letters from this Admiral Zhao. The boy had claimed through Sokka that they were stolen on their flight here, given to him in warning by some spy within the Fire Nation ranks (a likely story), but Arnook knew better than to believe the enemy.
The only truly interesting thing of note was the great scar across the left side of his face. It made him seem more intimidating than he actually was, making his scowls look terrifying to the weak-willed.
Arnook had never been weak-willed.
"Prince Zuko," Arnook greeted the boy. He received a glare in response, despite the pale face and shivering. "Care to explain." Golden eyes slid away from him, taking in the scene behind him. A slight frown.
"Junsuina is independent. If she felt the need to save a child, it hardly seems to be a crime," the boy rasped. Those strange eyes returned to Arnook almost challengingly.
"A convenient explanation," Arnook noted. Interesting that he referred to the Avatar as a child and not an enemy. Potentially further evidence to Sokka's claims. Even so, he couldn't release the Prince of the Fire Nation- not only was he a valuable hostage, his councillors would kill him if he even thought of letting the boy go. "Your people have been attempting to kill the Avatar and all peoples not of the Fire Nation. Why should she be concerned with the last airbender in the world?" The scowl he received was almost impressive.
"All those born of the Earth Kingdom still living within the colonies are considered citizens of the Fire Nation. I'm not stupid- I know how my people treat them all the same. That doesn't mean that any I may consider my own are not part of my people. Sounds better than what your people do to outsiders not sailing with the Avatar." It was spat out sharply, eyes narrowed. And not a proper reply. At an unimpressed glare in return, "I have the reports." Arnook raised an eyebrow.
"From where? We leave no invaders behind to tell the tale."
"They have families. Scouts and lost boats don't just disappear into the aether. Earth Kingdom ships fleeing the wars didn't deserve to sink either." Behind him, the air turned frigid. He could almost feel the bristling from their sister tribe's children. Arnook refused to back down.
"We don't take kindly to strangers. They could have been spies, could have brought enemy forces into our city. My family has preserved our way of life for a hundred years, despite the attempts of both the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom to subdue us. I will do whatever it takes to continue their work."
"Now you sound like my Father." It was said flatly, but the intakes of breath around the courtyard were more than enough for Arnook to feel justified in the blow he delivered to the boy's cheek. The Fire Prince sat blood from a split lip, unaffected. "Try again," he snarled. "Father left worse marks." Arnook almost gave in again, but this time stayed his hand. His daughter was watching, and it wouldn't do to beat up a teenager deliverately baiting him.
"A low blow," he said instead. "If you have nothing but barbs to spit, I will have you sent back to your cell." The warning didn't seem to cause any change.
"Low but true. You have more in common with Earth Kingdom minor royalties than the Water Tribes. You do, after all, refer to your daughter as a Princess. Never heard of that in the South, or observations from beyond a hundred years ago." Arnook scowled, irritated. "You claim to be so pure, preserving Water Tribe culture, but instead you've taken on more from the Earth Kingdom than you realise. Good trade is it, with General Fong?" Arnook stiffened. The boy had the audacity to smirk. "Man has interesting reports, when he isn't being sycophantic. My people have rescued more people from him than killed." More mutterings around the courtyard. Pinned between a rock and a hard place without answers, Arnook did what he had to.
"Take the Prince back to his cell. Avatar Aang, Sokka and Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, keep the dragon in the Oasis- I don't want any further excursions from it."
He ignored the horrified looks from behind him, even from his daughter.
Iroh was watching her. Stood a demure step behind her fiance, Airi kept her shoulders down and spine straight, the perfect little noblewoman, despite the exotic cut of her robes. She had dressed practically today- no long swishy dresses but a thigh-length tunic in deep burnished red trimmed in gold. Black close-fitted trousers tucked into sensible fur-lined boots. She had surreptitiously layered a Court undershirt beneath the woollen tunic- silk trapped heat like nobody's business and it was sensible up here. Her fiance had deigned to give her a nice thick cloak as well, which she had pinned with a golden dragon pin. A reminder of home.
General Iroh was eyeing it suspiciously.
Ever since their Pai Sho game, he had known she was more than she seemed. She almost laughed seeing the wariness in his eyes- just because she liked to play with men did not make her Azula. She just did what she had been trained to do. Even without sex, men would spill many secrets with the batting of eyelashes from a pretty face. And Airi knew very well what her face looked like. Especially when it became dangerous to almost outshine a Princess who was heir in all but name.
The Fire Sages were good for something at the very least.
"We should stop for the night," Iroh dared to voice, watching the sun slowly drop below the horizon. "It is the full moon tonight, when the waterbenders will be at their strongest."
Her moronic fiance huffed at that assumption. "And that makes it the perfect night to enact our plan. Unlike you, General Iroh, I do not baulk at the difficulty." Airi didn't allow her lips to twitch into an amused smirk. She had heard all about his intrepid Agni Kai against her Captain. She knew he was even more of an idiot than she had first presumed two years ago.
"And what a daring plan it is," she goaded him instead, voice sugary sweet. Iroh's eyes glanced at her again, narrowing slightly. He had a very good poker face, but she knew how to read one's body language. He was making himself look harmless, but she knew better. That stance was too wide for just sea legs. "You are right again, of course, my dear." Zhao preened under the praise. I wonder who will get him first. The Northern Water Tribe, Zuko or Iroh, she pondered.
Her bet was on Zuko.
"You see, General Iroh. Even one as uneducated in war as my beloved can see the truth," Zhao gloated. "Even the Fire Lord approved of my plans. By the end of this night, the Water Tribes will no longer be a nuisance to us any more." I severely doubt that, Airi thought, placid mask showing to the world.
They watched as the sun dipped ever lower on the horizon, their men getting weaker. Even as the day shift turned to night, their attacks were noticeably smaller, as Agni's supposed light dipped out of sight and the cold took hold. In her layers of silk and wool, Airi shivered, closing her eyes and focusing on the fire within. She didn't have the talent or power of royal firebenders, but she also had the advantage of the knowledge of Azuma. Backwater as much as people thought it was, it had a certain focus on the fire within rather than a focus on bigger, more powerful bending strokes.
Then again, there was that other thing she had been sent out for. And that, she could share with none but her Captain. It was what her father had charged her with, before she had wished them goodbye and went searching. Predictably, her Captain was a hard man to find, despite the infamy. Coming across the Avatar in person had sparked an idea, and now she was here.
Two missions. One from her Captain and one from her father. Neither of which could be compatible with General Iroh's loyalties. That he loved Zuko as a second son was without question, but his loyalties were not necessarily for the good of their nation and all those held within. It wouldn't do for the man to find that out.
"Admiral," Captain Kubeko said, snapping to attention as he came on deck. "The sun has set. Moonrise is within the hour- should we sound the retreat for the night?" Zhao twitched in irritation.
"Of course not. Press the attack- tonight the Water Tribe dies." For the first time, Airi and Iroh shared a look that said they were in complete agreement.
Perhaps she ought to have bet on herself instead. If it came to that or her Captain ordered it.
In the quiet of the Spirit Oasis, Sokka watched his sister pace anxiously as the sounds of the catapults refused to fade. They had been betting on an armistice like the night before. They had been betting that Admiral Zhao wasn't insane and would look to preserve his men. Foolishly, Sokka thought, they had expected Admiral Zhao to act like Zuko or his Uncle. Honourable and with an attention to reducing casualties.
Zhao had no such compunctions.
Yue winced at each resounding thump. Aang, sitting in front of the koi pond, was still pale but thankfully recovered from his near-death experience. Yue had explained what the koi were and he had spent the afternoon trying to convene with them, trying to convince them to help push back the invasion.
It wasn't going well.
"They should have stopped by now," Yue murmured, tracking Katara's frantic steps too. His sister twitched, face pinched.
"We should be back out there," Katara hissed, angry. "Not punished because of something Zuko did!"
"My Father is not punishing you," Yue said, exchanging a glance with Sokka. Which, yeah, was partially true, but there was no need to tell Katara the real reasons why they were being punished. Zuko had hardly waited for a private moment to throw that particular truth back in Arnook's face. Not that Sokka couldn't understand.
From what the boy had said, Sokka couldn't stop fixating on how much that scar looked like a handprint.
"Then what do you call this, being banished as far away from the front lines as possible? They said it was a good idea, but because the dragon got involved-"
"It is an honour to protect the Moon and Ocean Spirits," Yue cut in quietly. "Should our people fail to prevent the Fire Nation getting this far, we… Well, you and the Avatar are the last line of defence against the spirits. And if Zuko was correct, this is the place Admiral Zhao will be aiming for."
"In the middle of a full moon, for the glory," Sokka said flatly through numb lips. Despite the warmth of the oasis, he felt cold. It was scary, thinking of the amount of spiritual interaction they had had already. The Hei Bei hadn't cared who got caught in the middle, so long as humans were around to be punished for the destruction of its forest. Spirit-possessed Zuko hadn't cared who got caught in the crossfire, so long as someone was punished for caging his dragon. Aang in the Avatar State was so angry and full of spirit energy, he hadn't cared at the time about potentially blowing them off a mountain. Even now, Sokka wasn't sure about asking the Moon and Ocean Spirits for help- how many would die this time, in the process of pushing back the Fire Nation? How many of their own people would be killed, if they intervened?
He wouldn't get any answers to those questions now.
Katara, on the other hand, paused, eyes wide. It was clear, in her anger, frustration and terror at nearly losing Aang, that the idea hadn't occurred to her. Sure, there were a couple of warriors in the Oasis with them, but she, Yue and Aang were the only waterbenders here. And only she and Aang had combat training- despite her blessing from the Moon Spirit, Yue knew only how to heal.
Glancing back towards Aang, Sokka knew the knowledge that really she was the only one available to fight had just sunk in.
Deflating, and with something to focus on, Katara's shoulders lowered and her spine straightened. Fist clenched, she nodded in understanding.
Behind them, something exploded worryingly close. The guards shifted uneasily.
"Hey, Aang, any chance you-" Sokka cut himself off, watching as Aang's back stiffened, eyes and tattoos glowing. He swallowed, keeping his earlier thoughts to himself. Katara and the guards relaxed minutely.
"A blessing," one of them breathed, as if Sokka couldn't hear. Yue bit her lip, hands clasped in front of her.
"One I pray doesn't backfire," she whispered to him. "There is always a price to pay, when asking the spirits for help." Dread curdled in his stomach.
"Aang's smart," he reassured her. "He won't take whatever an unfamiliar spirit says at face value." I hope. He had, after all, listened to Avatar Roku verbatim, and that had led to the nightmare in Crescent Isle. He prayed he wouldn't witness anything worse than that. He couldn't hold out on that hope though.
"And he can help us defeat the Fire Nation. With the Moon and Ocean behind him, at the height of the full moon, even with Zhao going over our plans, we can push them back," Katara added confidently, the smile on her face a mask. Sokka knew that she didn't really believe there wouldn't be any casualties, but in the end they would win. And that was what mattered in the end.
As the explosions got closer, he prayed that no one they knew would be the cost for this spiritual intervention.
As the city exploded around him, the last person Zuko expected in his cell was Pakku. He didn't know the man- apart from that brief meeting in the Healing huts where he had admitted to knowing Uncle- and didn't he have much to answer for- they hadn't spoken since. A brief moment in the council chambers where Arnook had sentenced him to this cell, and that had been that. Cheek still smarting from the Chief's blow earlier, he raised an intrigued eyebrow as the waterbending master stepped inside.
"Your time being useful to us is up, Prince Zuko," the man noted blankly. Zuko stiffened, making his body deliberately loose in order to move quickly. "Once the battle is finished, not a single firebender will be left alive in the city. I have no doubt your uncle will manage to escape, but you will not." A pause. "Unless, of course, you escape in the confusion of battle." Zuko blinked.
"You're… setting me free? Why?" he asked, suspicious. Pakku scowled.
"Your Uncle has great influence in an… organisation we are both a part of," Pakku said reluctantly. "He made it known that you were not to be killed if you ended up in our care, some time ago."
"You did a bad job of that," Zuko said flatly. The White Lotus. It has to be. Roku mentally frowned at the memories that brought up. Plans in plots in plans, Roku huffed. Zuko ignored him.
"I have my standing in the Tribe to consider as well," Pakku said stiffly. He looked less and less happy about the situation than ever. "And so, this must look like a genuine escape attempt." Zuko gave him a deliberately flat look.
"If I wanted to escape, I would have just melted the phoney window and been done with it," he said out loud. "As annoying as it would be to leave my supplies behind, it wouldn't be hard to get to where Junsuina is being kept." Pakku's face twitched.
"That is on the other side of the city," he snapped. "There will be no-"
"People don't tend to look up. Or at what they expect to see. Steal a parka and no one will look twice at the teenager in blue hurrying through a storm on his way home." Something wary flashed across Pakku's face. A drawing realisation.
"You… are not what Iroh warned me of." Zuko shrugged. I have never met others' expectations.
Roku seemed to find that ever more disturbing, but Zuko had long since learned to ignore him when it came to matters such as this.
"Either way," the man said, standing straighter. Almost as if he expected an attack. "The plan is this. Your dragon is still being kept on the other side of the city, but as soon as the Moon rises, the main attack will begin. Your Admiral has foolishly decided to stay within the city. Your men will die by the drove. It will be chaos and carnage- and that is when you will make your escape. The door will be left open and the guards called away. Do not disappoint me by being captured again, if what you have to say is true." Zuko felt a chill at the words. Zhao is a fool but not an idiot. He wants to make a statement, that he defeated the Moon at the height of the waterbenders power.
He will still have to get from his ships to the Spirit Oasis and the pond is defended. Even now, Aang is searching for aid in the Spirit world. He will not get far, Roku assured him. Zuko swallowed, nodding for Pakku, feeling sick.
He has Airi with him. I have to have faith she will put an end to him before he even reaches the Oasis. Roku seemed offended that he believed he would get that far. Zuko didn't need to point out that Zhao was a powerful firebender with the Dragon of the West with him. Pakku was here, in this cell, not leaving yet. And the Moon was almost at its height. There was no chance he was still on that boat.
I haven't lost hope yet. But they don't realise the danger that they are all in.
The city of the Northern Water Tribe was objectively very beautiful. Keeping close to Zhao's back as he and his men pushed forward into the streets, Airi observed the wonderful swirls and art created by master benders over decades. Wealth built up over nearly a century of trade with the northern Earth Kingdom villages that brought them news. Approved outsiders who brought vegetables and grain while they traded furs and salted yak-meat to those in need. And yet, every waterbender they came across, while skilled, had no idea how to fight firebenders.
They were relying too much on the boost of the full moon. Glancing to the side, she could see that this had occurred to General Iroh as well. The man's face was pinched, stress lines at his eyes ever since the dragon had flown overhead back to the icy walls.
At least it was confirmation that Zuko was here and likely still alive. For now.
"And here I was, expecting better," Zhao commented, hands smoking over yet another body. Airi stepped delicately around it, sparing the poor young man a sympathetic look. When Zhao looked away she pulled the dragon pin from her hair and stabbed down into the man's neck. He gurgled sharply for a moment and then the light died from his eyes. A swift, merciful death, she thought sadly, slipping the pin back in place before her fiance thought to turn around to gloat. The most I can give you. If she hadn't, the man would have writhed for hours before succumbing to the wounds. There were no women nearby to heal, the men preoccupied with the fighting. None of the injured would see a healer till dawn when the battle was done, for good or ill, and no Fire Nation soldier would dare tend to enemy soldiers. It was silly, to be so sentimental about one man, but it was better than having no care at all.
Iroh's eyes narrowed, considering. Airi ignored him.
Zhao walked through the city, causal, as if he were merely going for a stroll through the capital markets rather than enemy territory. Waterbenders would attack, but there were too many soldiers in red to fight, and only one Commander. And clearly, no one had thought to let the many normal soldiers know the face of their enemy, know who was leading all of these men. Then again, the Water Tribes would fight to the last man, with each successive highest man in charge taking over until all were dead, rather than falling back to regroup and reorganise the power hierarchy. Effective at times, but in the case of the Northern Water Tribe who had fought no one but themselves in seventy years, this had led to split factions, not all willing to work together. They were keeping an eye on their neighbours as much as their true enemy, and that led to the intelligent warriors working to keep their units alive and exploit these lines. It didn't mean that they weren't in trouble- men died by the drove left and right, both blue and red- but it left gaps in lines that ought to have been solid.
Strangely, Zhao seemed to know where he was going. Airi wondered if he had bothered to read a map once in a while. It would seem like it as they climbed through the city, heading towards the back where occasional wisps of smoke rose. Dragon breath Airi thought. She had seen them in caves that supposedly didn't exist to the outside world at home. Had grown up playing around the bottom of them until her Father had arrived to give her her mission to get close to a certain Fire Prince.
We rely on you, dear daughter, he had told her that day, so long ago. She had learned so much, kept so many secrets, she sometimes felt fit to burst. Even now, with what she did know, it felt like she was holding onto them by her fingertips. And she could only save one cousin right now- Azula was beyond her skills to save. Potentially even beyond Zuko's. Iroh had clearly given up on her already.
More bodies were left in her fiance's wake, and when she could, Airi gave them swift deaths. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Iroh slit throats with a thin blade hidden in long sleeves when he thought no one was looking. He was sly for an old man, but not quite as sly as his father. And nowhere near as much as he thought.
The gentle smile he offered her was the most genuine expression he had given her in days. She relaxed minutely- at least she was not quite the monster he had thought she was.
Despite Zhao's ploughing through men, it still took nearly an hour to reach where he was heading. Men fought hard to keep him away from the so-called Spirit Oasis and so, by the time they reached the little wooden doors, humble and hidden, the Moon had reached its highest point. Midnight. An auspicious time. She hoped it was a sign in the right direction for destiny.
Even expecting the ice, she had to implement a near backflip to avoid being hit. Junsuina crouched protectively over a small figure in blue and Zhao didn't quite duck in time to avoid the boomerang as it circled back around. The boy in blue grinned in triumph as Zhao growled.
"You will have to do better than children to defeat me," he sneered. Men raised their hands, but it was clear they were not benders. She didn't have room to deal with them, not with so many eyes, so she played up fake wide eyes and frightened faces, crouching behind the cuddly old man who wrapped his arms round her. No warriors here.
Not that the Water Tribes saw women as warriors. Not that said old man didn't realise the danger he was in opening chi meridians up to someone taught by the Dorje.
"Aang has beaten you before," the girl spat back, a small smirk on her face. "And we've improved from the last time we met." Zhao humphed.
"No master will protect you now." The girl put up a valiant fight. Ice chips flew, and Zhao ended the fight with a dozen cuts to his face that bled profusely. But she fought as if facing an opponent like Zuko, who saw a child and deliberately avoided killing blows. She fought like a student who had just learned combat moves and not quite figured how to put them together, how to swap out moves to beat benders that were not her fellow students. It was brilliant, prodigal, but not enough to defeat Zhao who only kept her alive for the prestige. He didn't even allow his own men to join in.
Iroh stepped in before she could when he fished the white koi from the pond, right under the nose of the still glowing Avatar. For once, the boy was not Zhao's goal. Junsuina hissed as the moon turned red, but refused to move as the white-haired girl between her claws wilted.
Water, both inside and out of the Spirit Oasis, trembled.
"Zhao," Iroh growled. For the first time since they had met, he sounded like the fearsome General he had been. Good, Airi thought. We are in need of the General, not the spiritually enlightened. We need someone who will kill first and ask questions later. Not that Zhao deserved pity. "Strike the fish, and I will unleash a hundredfold back upon you." Zhao sneered.
"As if you could anymore." He snapped his fingers and soldiers rushed at them. Airi twisted away, hands trailing towards her sleeves just in case. There was no need of course- Iroh may have let his figure go with indulgence in roast duck, but he was still a formidable force. And clearly still in shape. It took only two fireballs for the men to back off.
Zhao's face twitched in irritation.
"I am warning you," Iroh snapped, fingers and form a mere twitch from blasting the insipid man from the face of the earth. Zhao only had to move an inch and between one breath and the next he would be dead. Airi could see that her fiance could see that and hated it. The Water Tribe siblings looked alarmed, having never seen the man fight before she assumed.
The world held its breath. Slowly, incrementally, as if his knees were made of wood, Zhao slowly leant down to return the koi to its pond. Its black counterpart swam happily around it as the sky cleared. Cheering went up behind them all.
Airi saw Zhao's face twitch. She had no time to reach for weapons, no time to pull pins from hair. Even leaping towards him, moving quicker than the others who were slower to realise what he was about to do, she was too slow to stop the flash of fire.
Even she failed to note that the Avatar had returned from the spirit world, her focus solely on the man who had stuck down a great spirit. Zhao turned, seemingly amused as someone screamed.
Amusement turned to horror as fists flew and the jade dragon pin stabbed through his jugular.
Someone was screaming in the oasis. Caught between the spirit and mortal worlds, Aang could hear them repeated over and over again in his head. Foreign horror and anger joined his own terror. The sky went dark, the Moon gone.
His own eyes met those of the last remaining koi in the pond as Yue screamed in agony and the Water Tribe warriors wilted, thinking the battle to be lost.
"No," the voices of the Avatar and Ocean Spirits spoke through a young child's throat. "It's not."
Wrong. Everything was wrong. The light of the sky, the air around them cooling by the minute with the absence of the spirits, the feeling in her chest. With each breath, all Yue could do was drag in a sense of wrong, a cord cut, a connection broken in her chest to the dim light contained within. All that remained of the light of the Moon, of Tui.
And ahead, La raged.
She didn't need to see to hear the screams of men thrust into freezing polar waters, drowning in their armour too heavy to swim in. Firebenders, non-benders, even waterbenders, anyone who dared to stand defiant in the face of the Ocean met a watery death. She could see it in her mind's eye, and alien sorrow alongside all that wrongness.
Through blurry, tear-filled vision, she could see Katara bent over the remains of the koi, water unresponsive, desperate to do something. Her own connection to the ocean cut off, and no doubt leaving her off balance. She seemed oblivious to the blood pooling onto her dress from the remains of Admiral Zhao. Her Father's guards had the girl by the arms, but she did nothing, didn't move at all, only crying silent regretful tears that she hadn't moved fast enough. Yue had seen her face, her eyes, the deception giving away to true, utter panic, even as pain flared in her chest and all she could do was writhe and scream. Sokka had managed to reach her, hold her, as the pain ebbed away, his face pale in the dim light. The oasis was only lit by the fire cupped in the General's hand, his face grave.
"I am so sorry," he said to Katara gravely. "I should have killed him where he stood." Old regrets. Worry. Brother-in-kin out there. Another alien worry, a soft touch on her cheek. Large golden eyes in sorrow met hers, the dragon letting out a quiet croon. Her rider was lost in the city, potentially at risk of the Ocean. Yue reached out a shaking hand.
"Go, with my blessing." It felt like a tiny light left her fingers and spread across the dragon's snout. She sneezed, fiery breath startled. A moment later, she launched herself into the air. Her guards shouted, but seemed wary to let the girl go.
The Admiral had died without his own bending. Taken, by a few well-placed punches and a downturned strike to end him once and for all. And still…
Yue staggered to her feet, ignoring the Dragon of the West for now, ignoring Sokka's protests as she stalked towards the girl. Dark gold met blue, each as sorrowful as the other.
"Why?" Yue whispered, unable to croak much more than that. "Why not earlier, in the city? Why not sooner, to spare my people?"
"He was not mine to kill," the girl replied, equally as quiet. "He was not my mission, not really. It was peace." A truth, whispered from the otherness. A vision of a little girl wrapped in the arms of a man, tattooed and colourful, on an island of dragons. Whispered words of comfort as he gave his daughter to men in red, a letter stamped in black wax in his hand.
"Peace would have come sooner, if he died before he ever arrived," she sobbed, knowing it was pointless. The girl was not to blame- so many secrets, so many lies, twisted plots and threads both spiritual and mortal. She had a role to play, just as Yue did. She had known, somehow, in the back of her mind, that this was the way things had to be. She had allowed herself to be a pawn in her Father's games, uncaring that he would sell her to the highest bidder for the role of Chief, because truly, what were mortal ties when one was destined elsewhere?
And then she had met and fallen in love with Sokka, silly, wonderful, caring Sokka who had tried so hard to protect her. And then, she had found herself so reluctant to be a pawn, to involve herself in the politics of her people, to participate, rather than be on the side. She had wanted… Another spirit-touched, who knew the weight of what was laid upon our shoulders. Someone to share the burden, who understood. I thought, the price was far off yet, that I might grow old and die and fulfil the Spirit's wishes then. Her tears were not only for the Moon anymore.
"It's ok," Sokka murmured, wrapping her in his arms. Yue held him close, clutched him hard.
"I never wanted this. Not now," she cried. He had carved her a pendant, she knew. A part of her had watched from the heavens in the days leading up to the invasion as he worked tirelessly, meticulously with novice fingers to get it right. She had waited, wanting to receive it, knowing her Father would accept because he was the son of the Chief of their sister tribe, a better catch by far than Hahn. Because Katara was a water child, and could lead her own Tribe if Sokka stayed in the North, or be adopted into their family and they swapped. And their dynasty would be assured in the future on both sides of the world.
The girl watched, understanding where Sokka did not, the awful truth that stood between them and their future. One that was never meant to be. A gift and a curse. If Zuko was spirit-touched, this girl had been gifted with spiritual sight. Her tears were just as real as Yue's.
The General was looking at her now as Sokka tried to comfort her, to soothe her from this choice. She shut him up by pulling him into a kiss. He stiffened in surprise and something else, perhaps a sense of doom falling upon him too.
"You have been touched by the Moon Spirit," the General noted, his eyes on her hair. Sokka's eyes were wide, his lips mouthing the word 'no'. She mouthed back 'I love you' and pulled away. He reached for her and she didn't allow herself to take that comfort.
Outside of the oasis, her people were dying. Aang's spirit was unknowingly being pulled asunder at the deaths brought by a raging spirit. Junsuina was searching frantically for a rider to save before he, too, was swept away. And Agni was not as merciful as Tui. She would enact a terrible vengeance for what had happened here. Her sister in the sky.
"Yes," she said through numb lips. "When I was a baby, the Moon gifted me with life. It is time to give it back." She couldn't hear Sokka's pleas, Katara's attempts to find another way. The world needed waterbending, and her people would need healers come the morning. There was no other choice.
Placing hands already cold and numb in death, her body a walking corpse, it was like stepping into cool waves and light surrounded her.
Startlingly, the sun was cold.
The streets were carnage. Men were dying left and right, those in blue too shocked to pay homage, those in red too stunned that spirits were real to not be idiots and bend. Zuko, when those eyes landed on him, paid obeisance, praying that this time it would work. Ever since Aang had merged with the Ocean Spirit, Roku had gone silent, either gone to the Avatar state, or lost in the turmoil caused by the Moon disappearing.
He had lost Pakku, too, in the crush of panicked men when the Moon turned red and their waterbending failed. He had ducked around fights, giving mercy to those too far gone on either side to be saved by the time a healer found them. Never mind about his provisions- to be a firebender here was too dangerous. He needed to find Junsuina and his Uncle and leave. He could explain his reasoning on the way to somewhere with less danger.
A shriek above in the blackened night told him she was close. He could feel her. "Junsuina!" he shouted, trying to make himself heard over the hubbub. This high in the city, women and children cried in houses that were supposed to keep them safe. Now they had become prisons with no way out but to hack through thick icy doors unable to be opened anymore. "Junsuina!" Another shriek over his head, but no flash of red up there. Then again, it was so dark, he couldn't see anything in the sky.
Someone ran straight into him and Zuko staggered. The man, the warrior, searching desperately for a weapon, no doubt a waterbender now defenceless, didn't even notice. His eyes were wide, his face pale- in shock, Zuko surmised, looking for any kind of salvation. Most benders didn't train with weapons because they thought they would never need them.
Most benders had never come into contact with the chi-blockers of the Dorje.
There's nothing for it, Zuko thought hollowly, glancing around him. Despite being dressed in red, no one had tried to attack him. He was wearing light padding and silks not armour. People had already seen the banished Prince paraded through the city as a prisoner, unconscious, taken by their benders. He hadn't brought this horror to them, but they wouldn't see it that way in the morning. Another man was beating at a sealed ice door, his wife and child on the other side. All three were crying.
"Amka! Amka, I'll get you out, I swear!" The man's voice was thin, reedy. Zuko couldn't just walk by.
"Stand back!" he shouted at them all. The man gaped, eyes wide in terror. The woman scampered away from the door. Ice shattered with a fiery kick, steaming and hissing as pieces clattered down around his foot. Standing straight, he punched the door with a flame-wreathed hand, more power than heat. It still managed to melt the rest away without endangering the structure of the building. For a moment the family was frozen.
The next, Zuko found himself held by a grateful mother for the first time in… too long.
"Thank you," the woman- Amka, it would seem- said thickly. Her child, a little boy he could see now, watched him warily behind his mother's legs. She let him go quickly, going to greet her husband, who held them both tight. He gave Zuko a nod.
"Please!" Another call, a young lad this time, desperate. He stood a few buildings down. "My mother, she's sick, I can't…" His face was streaked with tears. He was barely a handful of years older than Zuko. He repeated the process, again and again as more and more calls surrounded him, up and down streets. Soldiers, men who had come with Zhao and had knelt to the Ocean, who had once knelt dazed in the streets joined him, benders and non-benders alike. Some were not as successful as Zuko, occasionally using too much fire and collapsing the doorframe on themselves, but they still managed to get families out of houses. Some of the children were starting to go blue at their fingertips as time trickled by.
Zuko's own efforts were interrupted by a dragon's cry. Without his even realising it, the light of the Moon was suddenly back. A dreadful weight had built in his chest. Not enough, Prince Zuko, Roku whispered faintly. A great price has been paid for the return. A gift for a gift, a life for a life. "Yue," he breathed, eyes wide.
But it was not her to be concerned with.
Junsuina, in the dark, had tried to find him. His brave, beautiful dragon had flown over the city trying to rescue her rider, to spare him from the fate of his people. But she had flown too close to the raging Ocean and now the koi had her in its hand. And it squeezed. Pain bloomed in his chest and Zuko screamed.
"Junsuina!" Men, women, children, red or blue, jumped, concerned. He fell to his knees, hands scrabbling in unmentionable pain at the connection in his chest, It almost felt like the life was being squeezed out of him. "Jun-"
No! It wasn't Roku who roared through his head, the voice angry and feminine. He felt something grip his hands, his head, his eyes. Not even the lover of mine own sister will take my gifts.
It was the last he knew for some time.
When the Moon went red, Jee sensed disaster. Men turned to look at him with wide eyes, those who had been a part of the Prince's crew for three years, and those who had not. He swallowed, sharing a glance with Akiko, his unofficial second.
"Turn the ship," he croaked. As the Moon went out entirely, he found the strength to shout, "Get this ship turned around now!" In the distance, at the glow of something far more powerful than a waterbender, men ran for their stations.
As the giant koi monster rose from the city, other ships followed, the whole back line making a run for it as fast as they could. Jee could see it was hopeless and prayed to Agni he would live to see the dawn at the very least.
It was answered in a way. Instead of killing them, it went for the dragon. In the light of a new shining Moon, Jee could see as it wriggled and writhed in the koi's grip, the tiny figure of a glowing Avatar's face twisted in rage and hate. Jee did the only thing he could think of and knelt in prayer, a full kowtow to the Moon and Sun. Loyal Agni, please do not turn your face away from your people, he prayed wholly. Around him, others followed his lead, some out loud, others, especially the young men, sobbing in terror. Please, do not abandon one who cares for us the most. Who would never have attacked your sister of the sky. Joyous Tui, we apologise for this great affront, this attack on your people…
From where he knelt on the ship, he felt the waves change, the winds shift. Glancing up, he saw when parts of the city set on fire.
Holding Yue's limp body in his arms, feeling as if his heart had been wrenched in two, Sokka barely felt the first rumbles of danger. The dragon shrieking might have filled him with dread, if he had realised. With Yue's light shining down on him, the tingling of her kiss on his lips, her last silent words to him still playing out in front of his eyes, he just didn't notice.
He did, when the Oasis lurched, water splashing from the pool, La in danger of losing his mortal body, alongside the newly revived Tui.
Giant Koi Aang turned back to the city, trembling and shaking in mimicked rage. Adrenaline overriding grief for the moment, Sokka managed to look up to see a rather terrifying sight.
Aang had said Zuko was spirit-touched, whatever that meant. Yue, too, had been touched by a Great Spirit and they had only just started to realise the effects that may have had on her and her family. Staring, at the blaze of light emanating from a tornado of fire and air, the other boy's eyes glowing in familiar other-worldly anger, Zuko held the entire city of the Northern Water Tribe in his hands. Tears tracked down his cheeks.
Across the Oasis, having been thrown to the ground, the girl Sokka was pretty sure was called Airi gulped.
"You dare!" The voice wasn't Zuko's- it was an amalgamation, the teen's voice drowned out by one distinctly female, another male, another sounding weirdly like an old man. Two old men perhaps. "Stealer of guides, stealer of my gift!"
"Harbinger of death!" The Ocean roared back. Sokka swallowed. This wasn't an argument between two people. This was an argument between Great Spirits with the Northern Water Tribe hanging in the balance. In the Ocean's hands, the dragon writhed, screaming in pain and fear. No matter how it twisted, turned, lashed out with fangs and claws, it could not free itself from icy death.
Watching the rage of the Sun turned against them, Sokka suddenly felt distinctly guilty about letting Aang unleash death on the Fire Nation. And silently vowed they would never do so again.
"My own sister, dancing across the sky, yes," that female voice hissed, grief and rage mixed as one. "Harbinger of death from my people, punished already." The bloody corpse was deftly lifted up and thrown by a flick of Zuko's wrist, bouncing off a bridge here and there. "You dare murder my gifts to my chosen." Could Koi look guilty? The city shook, bridges and buildings collapsing, people screaming. "A thousand fires will rage for this!"
The dragon flung itself at Zuko the moment Koizilla let her go, hissing at anyone in the near vicinity. Sokka held Yue's body close.
"Death and smoke," the Koi growled, using Aang as its mouthpiece. The Sun used Zuko to give it a flat look. Moments later, almost like a sulky child, the Koi slid back into the Ocean, light streaking back to the pond. Guess you don't mess with the Sun, Sokka thought sardonically. Especially if the Sun has access to Avatar-like powers and you were stupid enough to live as a fish in striking distance.
It was then he remembered who else was in the Oasis.
Turning, he found that Airi had fled, a litter of thin, needle-like blades left in his fellow warriors necks. They hadn't stood a chance. Katara was still knelt with Iroh by the pond. She gazed helplessly at Sokka. Iroh watched her go with narrow eyes.
"She will be after my nephew," he said pointedly. Sokka gently laid Yue down.
"I'll go after her," he said, determined. Iroh nodded, standing poised, ready to attack any who would disturb Yue's corpse. Sokka wasted no more time, running in the wake of a bender who terrified him a little bit.
It wasn't hard. Airi had left a trail behind her, some singed, some as helpless as Zhao had been in his final moments, all wide-eyed and frightened. A flash of red confirmed Iroh's statement. She was heading right towards the angry dragon, coiled protectively around its rider. It glared at them both as they skidded to a stop.
Airi twisted away when he went to grab her.
"She won't let anyone else near," she said, turning deftly with a dancer's grace, to look him dead in the eye. "But she knows me. I was there when she hatched, when she was given to my cousin, as we grew up. It may have been three years since we saw each other, but dragons have long memories. And she'll burn anyone else to a crisp."
"He just tried to destroy the city," Sokka pointed out. "And you just… did whatever you did to your own people's Commanding Officer." He didn't mention Yue. Couldn't mention her, not yet, not when the wound was so open and bleeding.
"The Ocean tried to kill his Spirit Guide and closest friend. Wouldn't you?" Her gaze didn't waver. This was a woman who had killed before and would do so again. Sokka hated that he would have to rely on Zuko's honour to keep her reigned in. The Prince had chased them around the globe, but he had helped him in Gaipan, had tried to warn them of Zhao's approach, and may even have helped Aang at Pohuai. He couldn't confirm that suspicion yet, but he trusted the Prince of the Fire Nation more than he did this assassin who arrived with Zhao.
"I'm coming with you."
"Only if you plan to get flambed," she half jested. Her eyes were still deadly serious, despite the smirk she sent him.
"I'm coming with you," Sokka growled. I want you where I can see you. She huffed, but turned away. Clearly, she didn't see him as a threat.
"Then stick close to me." Men and women from both the Water Tribe and the Fire Nation cowered away from them and the dragon. One guy even muttered that they were mad. Pilip, Hahn's older brother, looked to be in shock, holding their mother who coughed and wheezed in his arms. Knelt beside him, a Fire Nation soldier had removed their helmet to reveal a middle-aged woman's face, her hands held out and the air around them shimmering with heat. Doorways, some caved in, others meticulously broken by firebending spoke of what had happened here. He got them out, Sokka thought, slightly in shock himself. A combination of things, which had left him numb to surprises. Sure, he had gotten to know Zuko in the last few days, had even made it a mini mission to get the guy to smile and lighten up a bit, but he still wasn't expecting this.
Airi breezed past, ignoring it all as if it were unimportant. Then again, there were guards and warriors, waterbenders and non-benders alike, dressed in the armour of the Royal Guards to Chief Arnook, who were approaching for the direction of the Palace. Time was not on their side.
They crept up to the dragon as close as they dared, eyed by those bright golden eyes suspiciously. Sokka wasn't betting too hard on the dragon remembering this girl, and even if she did, in what context? She had called Zuko 'cousin' and Zuko had mentioned that she was around, but that didn't mean anything when your family were the main instigators of the Hundred Year War. What did Sokka have to trust about a woman who could fell a bender with her fists?
And who knew where the Ocean Spirit had even bothered to drop Aang off.
Surprisingly, the guards stopped at the edge of the buildings, stepping apart to reveal Arnook. His brows were drawn together, watching Sokka and Airi carefully approach the fire breathing dragon. Guilt swirled in his stomach at the thought of telling the Chief the news. Thankfully, Airi snapped him out of it by holding out a hand to Junsuina's nose. She huffed, ignoring it in favour of wrapping a tendril around the girl's wrist. Sokka didn't know what transpired between them, but she relaxed a little. The dragon uncoiled slowly, keeping the Water Tribe warriors in sight, as well as Arnook.
Sokka and Airi managed to drag the surprisingly dense form of Zuko out from her coils. He was almost cold to the touch, breathing shallow but steady, almost as pale as he had been when hypothermic. A touch to his pulse revealed a heart beating steadily. More relief. They had only lost one person of importance today.
Up his hands, along meridians Sokka assumed were for chi, the mystic energy channels Katara had kept wittering on about from her healing lessons, were deep, bruise like patterns. They almost looked like lightning. Airi winced, barely touching them.
"Used up burned chi," she murmured. "The price of spiritual power. Only the Avatar can use that much chi without consequences." Sokka winced himself.
"Will he recover?" he asked quietly. No doubt she didn't want anyone to hear. Dark gold met his eyes and she shrugged.
"I suppose so. I doubt this is the first time a spirit has gotten ahold of him- Agni was clear in that regard." Sokka remembered the woman's voice in the argument and flinched. Not a Spirit I want to cross. "A healer would aid greatly though. And sunli-" She cut herself off, face clouding. Something she wasn't saying on her tongue. Sokka frowned.
"Are you trying to lead me on?" Surprise flickered across her face, and then a smirk.
"Oh, you are good. Catch on quick. You'll survive much better in the world than you rightly should," she said, almost as if that were a compliment. "Sadly, however, that is a conversation for another day." Her face fell and she flicked hair away from Zuko's face. "I can help warm him, if you talk with the Chief. And someone ought to ensure that Iroh hasn't snuck away yet." Sokka raised an eyebrow. Shr shrugged, hands rubbing together, heat shimmering between them. The air around them was warm. "I'll tell you about the White Lotus if you manage it." Truthfully, Sokka knew he was stalling. It was clear Airi's intentions this time were blatantly obvious. She wasn't going to move anywhere fast, and once Zuko was awake, he could aid in corralling her.
It was time to face the Chief. Squaring his shoulders, taking in a deep breath, he nodded and started towards Arnook. He deserved to know the sacrifice his daughter had made.
In the sky, Yue watched through watery waves and diluted light as her mortal body was given to the sea. She watched a man weep for his daughter in private, watched as Sokka, her beloved, wandered hallways listlessly for the rest of the day before settling at the bedside of the Fire Prince. She watched the Fire Child pace, worried that her mission was in jeopardy.
Across the world, a woman sitting in a small house at the edge of a tiny village hummed her four-year-old to sleep, wearing a face not her own. Inside, her soul burned with a light too strong for this world.
Zuko and party will return in Dance of the Dragons Book 2: Earth, which I am aiming to start posting around July. I am already working on the Prologue and Chapter 1. Expect more of the Assassin squad, Azula, Iroh, the White Lotus, Toph and dragons. Extra dragons. For Book 2, I want to get a large chunk written prior to the publication of the start, and aim to update monthly until Book 2 until the end of the series, with the only extra break (planned) for some time to flesh out Book 3: Fire. Please don't abandon this series, I promise I have never abandoned it, and I will try to make the rest of the series more timely. And for anyone new, I welcome you to the journey that has been this whole project!
For a brief synopsis of Book 2: Earth- Detained by the Northern Water Tribe with his secret revealed, Zuko is forced to travel with the Avatar as he begins his search for an earthbending teacher. He makes a suggestion in the direction of Gaoling. Iroh must begin a journey ordained by Yue, a last request so to speak. Azula enters the fray.