Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Chapter 12- Storms and Strategy
The wind whipped and ripped at the crew on deck. All hatches had been battened down and everyone was hurrying towards the lower floors. Fire navy ships were built to weather all types of climates. A little storm wouldn't even scratch the paint. But this was no little storm. Only three people stood still at the prow, battling Mother Nature and the wild sea. The young girl was tied around her waist and connected to the men on either side, uncle to the left, nephew to the right. Both men had braced themselves against the sides of the ship, as the waves became more and more violent. There was slack in the rope, enough to give Katara room to bend and still short enough that she could be pulled from the grip of the ocean if she were to falter. The brine stung their eyes but none noticed. The trio was focused on the tasks at hand. Katara was to bend the water away from the ship and negate the waves. Zuko and Iroh were to hold tight to both the girl and the ship.
It was going to be a long day.
The rain began to pour, as if to drown them where they stood. Katara bent as much of it away from the group in the empty hopes that rain was all she would have to deal with. The more she tried to keep away, it seemed, the harder Mother Nature attacked.
"The wind is too strong!" Katara shouted over the screaming wind.
"Don't worry about us! Just protect the ship!" Iroh called back.
As soon as Katara dropped the protection around the trio in the rain, the wind slashed at their eyes, driving the rain with murderous force. Katara focused on fighting the waves smashing into the side of the ship and washing over the deck. Already her feet were starting to slip and slide. She froze the water around her legs, bracing her against the raging waters around her.
Far away, caught in the same storm the waterbender fought with such valiance, a form stirred in the darkness of a fire navy cell.
"Aang…" the voice whispered. "Aang! Wake up!"
"Wha… what is it, Sokka?" Lightning flashed, illuminating another, smaller form struggling under the weight of many chains, binding his arms together with each hand on the opposite elbow and chains wrapped over every inch of his crossed forearms. His legs were bound in a similar fashion, from his knees to his ankles. He could slide around the floor of his dank cell, but only as far as still more chains shackled to his ankles would allow him. The young Avatar had slipped into a shallow sleep propped up against the wall across from his water nation friend.
"Just to be sure, you can't move, right?"
"Sokka," he said with much exasperation, "you know I can't move. We've tried everything. We can't break the chains," Aang replied dejectedly.
"I just had to be totally positively certain."
"Why exactly?"
"Because if you could move, I would know that that storm coming is just you and we aren't about to die."
Katara fought with all her will and strength, but the sea was starting to win. She was beginning to tire while nature had seemingly infinite power at its disposal, all of which was directed at the ship bouncing on the waves.
With the coming summer, the waters were warm and had begun melting Katara's braces ever since they were formed. The weather had commanded all her attention, so she didn't realize that throughout an hour of battling a raging ocean, her grip on the deck was being loosened. Only one person did manage to see, but his princely voice was lost in the wind. His grip on the rope wrapped about his wrist and clenched in his fist connected to her waist tightened.
"What storm, Sokka?" Aang was finally beginning to perk up, despite the weakness caused be a lack of food and decent sleep and worry.
Worry for Katara, whose life was hanging by a thread the last time he saw her and whose soul probably now resided beside past avatars and her family.
Worry for Sokka, his closest friend and traveling companion.
Worry for Momo and Appa.
Barely any worry was left for him. He didn't care what happened to him as long as his friends were alright.
"That storm!" he shouted, pointing to the barred porthole that was their only source of light. "Can't you feel it? This storm is bigger than any other I've ever seen! Aang, we have to get off this ship. It won't make it! We won't make it!"
"And how are we supposed to escape? I can't bend with these chains on and we don't have the keys! And even if we could escape, where would we go?"
"I overheard one of the firebenders mention we were heading toward land to dock and restock. They said we were almost there. Come on, Aang! We have to think of something!"
"We don't have anything to worry about besides what's going to happen when we get to the fire nation. Have you looked at this ship? It was built to withstand the worst the ocean can throw at it. Just calm down."
"I will not calm down! We're going to die if we don't get off this ship soon!"
"You think I don't know that?" the Avatar shouted back. "As soon as we get to the fire nation, they're going to throw me in a cell and you will be worthless to them. I know what happens when prisoners become useless."
"We aren't going to make it to the fire nation if that storm is as powerful as I think it is! Aang, we have-"
"What's all this shouting going on here?" The unexpected presence of one of their guards startled the boys in their cell.
"You have to let us out," Sokka pleaded with the guard. "That storm is going to rip this ship to shreds. We have to get off!"
"Yeah, right. Like I haven't heard that one before. That's not really the most original story I've heard. Maybe if you tried a little harder, I might just-" A sudden jolt of the ship sent the soldier flying into the bars of the cell, banging his head into the cold hard steel of their metal confinement. He slumped down on the floor, unmoving. The keys to the cell tinkled quietly as they tapped the ground at the soldier's side.
"Aang, I think I found our way out."
The sea seemed bent of the destruction of the ship being tossed about on the waves. Waves washed over the deck with ferocity equal to that of a wild animal. The wind felt it necessary to tear at the eyes and limbs of all those on the deck.
Zuko, glancing away, trying to keep the rain out of his eyes, suddenly noticed through the slashing rain that the hatch had come open across the deck. He tried to yell to his uncle but the wind stole the words from his throat. But, although Iroh had thought it was his imagination, he turned to look at the prince and following his eyes saw the hatch as well. Water was rushing in from the waves and the unyielding rain. Dropping his end of the rope, he clung to the side of the ship and carefully made his way to the opening.
Zuko, meanwhile, grasped Katara's rope even tighter, his knuckles white.
"Katara! The ice is melting!" he tried to yell again, but his voice was snatched away yet another time. He hoped with all his being that the ice would hold just a little longer, as the rain was slowly beginning to thin. Katara couldn't see the ice holding her in place was no longer thick enough to keep her from flying away. As the ice began to crack, the sea gave one final heave, tipping the ship over in an effort to throw her into the raging sea. As small scream escaped her lips before a slightly painful tug around her waist pulled her back to earth. The ship righted itself, throwing her back into the fire prince's waiting arms. Feeling a comforting warmth and strong embrace, she looked up into the face of her once again savior with peaceful eyes, and her legs gave out beneath her as she passed into unconsciousness.
Reaching through the bars to the now sleeping guard, Sokka retrieved the keys to Aang's and his cell, along with the keys to Aang's many chains. Sokka quickly unlocked his friend and opened their cell door, hurrying before anymore firebenders could come. They tiptoed out of the cell and made their way towards the upper decks, all the while the storm getting stronger and stronger.
"Aang, wait!" Sokka hissed, pointing to the corner of the small room. There stood Aang's staff and Sokka's boomerang, machete, and club. Sokka grabbed their newly reacquired belongings and passed the young airbender his staff as they continued on their way to finding a way off the ship. The boys stayed pressed against the wall in the hopes that it might offer them some protection. Approaching a door, the cautiously stepped close and Sokka opened it, revealing two suddenly stunned guards. Before they could react, a gust of air followed by a sharp rap to the head attacked them. The escaped prisoners quickly relieved the soldiers of their armor and made their way more causally out to the deck.
"You there! Take those crates to the stern!" barked some obviously commanding officer.
They quietly obliged and did their best to move one of the giant crates to the back.
"Aang, look over there. Behind that cloud," Sokka motioned with his head. "It looks like land. We can dump this and fall overboard when no one's looking."
"You said it looks like land. What if it isn't?"
"We're just going to have to take that chance. And we need to hurry. That storm is almost here and we won't be able to swim through it."
As the storm began to move on in its destructive path through the ocean, Zuko picks the sleeping water bender up and swings her into his arms just like so many weeks ago. Iroh had just finished resealing the hatch and was wiping his brow when his nephew nodded towards the door. Sighing, the old man turned and wearily reopened the door. He followed behind the two and again closed the door. He turned down a different hallway and went straight to the galley. Heating a pot of water, he made himself a cup of calming tea.
Zuko, on the other hand, trod further down the corridor towards his and Katara's rooms. Knowing his bed was slightly more comfortable than hers, he passed her room and pushed the door to his room open. Carefully so as to wake her, he laid her on the bed, brushing a strand of hair out of her finally calm face. It seemed that whenever he saw her, she was angry with him. With good reason too. He has been chasing her and her brother and friend and then he took her prisoner.
Her face was calm before the storm, too, he thought as he recalled her words just hours before.
"Your father is a sick and twisted man, Prince Zuko. You must believe that."
"My father loves me!"
"Loves you enough to scar and banish his only son and heir to the throne? …Join us."
"What?"
"Join us. You don't need to chase Aang anymore. Come with us and we can stop your father."
"I refuse to turn my back on my country! It's treason!"
"You won't be! Don't you see? You can help your country! This war is tearing everyone apart and I can tell you oppose it yourself. If you join us, you can take back your throne and end this war."
What does she know? he thought bitterly as he sank to the floor beside the bed. She hasn't been banished, and her parents love her.
Parent, his mind reminded him. She's lost her mother. Just like you.
How frustrating! Were they alike or weren't they!? His thoughts reeled as he was about to settle himself comfortably on the floor, when he heard the girl rustle in the sheets.
Kneeling next to her, he saw her open her big blue eyes and look straight into his.
"How did I get here?" she asked, her voice faint. He had to lean closer to hear her weak words.
"I carried you," he whispered, still coming closer.
"Is the ship okay then?"
"Fine." His face was only inches from hers as he closed his eyes and began to close the distance. "Just fine."
Yeah! Ooo I feel so happy! Not only did I just kill you all, but I also update faster than last time!!! Yay me! We finally got to hear from Aang and Sokka again. Double yay! Except Zuko is a big fat poophead and went all stupid in that season finale! Did you see how happy he was? All that pep! But he had to go and mess everything up! UNYAY!
Read and review please!!!