So sorry for the delay! I've been without internet for about a week, and thusly dropped the company. I mean no online access and no explanation is ridiculous. Also, this chapter might feel a bit cut, but I had to stop for fear of it becoming a monster. I saved you from a monster. Tokens of your appreciation will be accepted at the end of the chapter. Thanks so much to all who are reading!
"I'm sure it's fine, Sokka." Katara called casually to her brother as she cleaned up their messed supplies from breakfast.
Sokka glared at her over a shoulder, but still stood facing the forest with his arms crossed. "How can you trust him? You've seen the things he's done."
"Yeah, I have." Katara agreed. "Like helping us fend off Azula for one."
"Why are you defending him?" Sokka whipped around. "I mean come on, you saw the way he just snapped at us! What, do you have a thing for him or something?"
"You know I don't." the young waterbender clenched a fist. "I'm not going to fight with you anymore, Sokka. I know you don't want Zuko in the group, but we might need him. And he and his uncle don't have anywhere else to go."
"How is that our problem?"
"That's really nice, Sokka." Katara put her hands at her hips. "But you're right. It's not our problem. In fact, none of this is our problem. Why should we be helping Aang at all when we could be safe and sound at home?"
"Hmph." Sokka snorted, turning back to the woods. "What's taking him so long, anyway? Is he picking us off one by one?"
"Toph can take care of herself." Katara reminded.
"Mm." Sokka offered another noncommittal grunt. "Look, I'm serious, okay? If you don't believe me then don't, but I don't wanna hear about it. Just go…clean something!"
"What's gotten into him lately?" Katara muttered to Aang as she turned back to him.
"Well, saving the world is sort of stressful." Aang shrugged as he picked his teeth with a fish bone.
Katara sighed. "That doesn't mean he has to make it worse for all of us."
"I know, Katara." Aang offered sympathetically as he sat up and fiddled with the end of his glider staff idly. "But Sokka's always been kind of edgy, especially when it comes to firebenders. He always comes through for us in the end, though. He always has before, right?"
"Yeah, you're right." Katara agreed. "I guess it's just as important to try and get along with Sokka as it is Zuko."
"Just give them some time. I'll bet Sokka and Zuko have a lot in common. Maybe they'll make great friends."
"Well I wouldn't hold my breath on that." Katara folded her arms and looked around as something occurred to her. "I haven't seen Momo in a while. Did Toph take him with her?"
Aang hesitated before turning over a shoulder and scanning the tree branches that hung above the encampment. "No, he was here a minute ago."
"He'd better get back here. We don't want to leave him behind and we have to be on the move within the hour if we want to keep Azula off our heels."
"I'm sure he just went back to Appa." Aang reasoned as he stood up to help her gather the rest of their things. "Momo never goes very far."
"I hope so."
"You know, Azula just conquered the Earth Kingdom capital. That's something no one's ever done before. Maybe she's not thinking about chasing us right now. I bet she has lots of other things to do. She seems like the type that would celebrate a victory, anyway."
"I don't think there's anything more important to the Fire Nation than capturing the Avatar." Katara said as she stared off after Zuko. "…In any case, you can never be too safe, right?"
"Okay. I'll go see if Iroh needs any help. When Toph and Zuko come back, meet us there." Aang relented. He thrust his glider staff up into his hand with a gust of air and wandered off down the path where Appa had slept the night before.
Katara rolled up her seal skin hastily and looked back towards her brother. "Are you gonna help, Sokka, or are you going to pout?"
"I don't see them. Where are they? What could be taking so long?" he replied gruffly. "I'm starting to think we should go after them."
"Don't be so overly paranoid. Let's just get ready to leave. I'm sure they'll be back before then."
"…Fine. But if it turns out they were captured by Azula, I am not hatching another rescue mission."
"Deal. Now grab that bag and come on." Katara hefted a few supplies onto her back and began making her way back to the others. "Aang! Wait up!"
Just as Katara stepped onto the wooded path, however, a large hand stopped her in her tracks, grabbing her by the braid and slamming her into the chest of some foreign body. She gasped, too winded to scream.
"Katara!" Sokka snarled as he went for his weapon, but before he could come to her defense, another hand sought the back of his collar and yanked him chokingly to the earth. His clubbed sword clattered away into the still-smoking pit of their recently doused fire.
"Sok—" Katara tried to call out, but a flaming hand at her throat shocked her into silence.
"I wouldn't scream if I were you, water brat." Hissed an unfamiliar voice. She could feel the blistering heat far too close to her throat for comfort, and so she agreed by keeping silent. Frustrated tears filled her eyes.
"Now…I'm sure you don't want to see this boy killed." her captor leaned down to her ear, making her shiver in revulsion. "Where is the Avatar?"
"Let her go!" cried a young voice, followed by a tremendous blast of air that sent both of them smacking into a nearby tree. Katara was cushioned buy the armored body behind her, and his arms flew away from her as he hit the tree hard. She bolted from him, running to Aang's side with her water pouch now opened and her eyes searching desperately for more soldiers. Sokka was suddenly standing and rubbing his neck, looking at Iroh thankfully as the old man stood with a large rock in both hands over a second dizzy solider that was gripping his head.
"We have to get out of here." Aang ordered gravely. "We'll take Appa and search for Toph and Zuko from the sky."
They all took defensive poses as the forest around them crackled with life, and the clinking of metallic armor. The group slowly formed a tight circle.
"We may not have the opportunity." Iroh noted grimly.
"Listen!" Toph shouted, forcing Zuko to come to a halt. Toph nestled her feet into the ground and clenched her fists. "…Hurry, they've made it to the others already."
"Come on!" Zuko snapped as they quickened their pace to a run. He sliced violently through branches and saplings, cutting the fastest path possible back to the clearing. Scrambling uphill was no easy task, however, and they were panting by the time they made it over the rise. "Uncle!" Zuko cried out.
Toph stopped in front of him. "They're all around us."
Zuko looked down at her uneasily before catching a glimpse of movement ahead. Without thinking, he lunged with an angry cry, bringing one of his swords down onto the head of a materialized Fire Nation soldier. The man yelped in shock as the blade stuck a harmless rough quarter inch into the surface of his helmet, and he leapt around trying to pull it out as Zuko made his way to the next soldier.
"Zuko, look out!" sounded a voice he recognized as Katara's. A sudden stream of water jetted past his shoulder and smacked an oncoming soldier in the face. As he stumbled and spat, Zuko to the opportunity to send him flying into a gathering of rocks with a well-aimed fire blast. Another soldier went for him and hurled down a sword, intent on cutting the boy from shoulder to hip before a sharp wind caught the back of his helmet and forced it down into his face. The sword missed its mark by a mile, slicing into a tree trunk and sticking there with a wobbling twang.
Zuko looked around quickly to find the source of his saviors. The group was more or less scattered. Aang and Katara stood close, back to back. Sokka was facing off nervously with an irate firebender and Iroh was taking on three zealous attackers himself. Zuko had no idea how many soldiers were out here, but he knew that they couldn't afford to risk standing their ground. They had to get to the bison, assuming the animal hadn't already been discovered and subdued. He fell back as another firebender went after him, nearly singing the hairs off his head with a thrust of his fist. Azula had not underestimated the group; these were of some of the Fire Nation's highest caliber. But so was he. Zuko took the legs out from under his pursuer with a low kick and cracked his boot into the man's head before pulling clear of him. He drew his remaining twin sword as he heard a commanding voice among the fray.
"Take the Avatar down!" As the apparent leader said this, however, the ground beneath his feet shook and he toppled off balance. He noticed Toph immediately. She stood a few yards away, breaking the earth under many a soldier's foot. "You little vermin!" the man hissed under his breath as he flew gracefully to his feet and charged her.
"Toph, look out!" Sokka tried to call as he struggled with his soldier, having caught the commotion in the corner of his eye.
Toph raised a hand, waiting tensely for him to get close while simultaneously pretending that she couldn't sense his presence. She knew she had to hit him unexpectedly or he would merely deflect her attack. Unbeknownst to him, she already had a tremendous selection of earth sectioned out for him beneath her feet. He was successfully fooled—but unfortunately, so was Zuko.
The exiled prince was in front of Toph in the next instant, sword drawn, just as she had unleashed her block of earth. With the sudden realization, Toph thrust her arm to the side in a last moment attempt at trying to deflect the blow away from Zuko's body in her path. She only had time to swing it to a partial side, and it shattered next to Zuko and the attacking shoulder much too close for comfort. Fragments of the rock exploded near them, crashing into both and sending them rolling to the ground.
Zuko blinked dizzily and grabbed his head as he pulled himself to his knees in a cloud of dust, momentarily unaware of his situation. As soon as his hand found his sword, he stumbled to his feet to take it in. The soldier he had run to meet lay a few feet away from him, groaning in pain and armor riddled with dents.
"I think it's time for us to get out of this place." Iroh's voice cut through a sudden lack of commotion, and Zuko realized that there were no more Fire Nation men left standing.
"Uncle, are you hurt?" he asked raggedly.
"No, I'm fine. I think we all have managed well." The old man patted a flustered Sokka on the back.
Zuko disregarded Aang and Katara as he turned swiftly back to Toph. "Are you alright?"
Toph clenched her teeth and snatched Zuko by the collar, yanking him down to her level with a practical growl. He blinked at her in surprise as her eyes somehow accurately bore into his. "Listen here, Hothead." She snapped. "If you ever get in my way again, I'll bury you." She pushed him off roughly and marched back off to rejoin the group.
Zuko stared after her with a slight blush of embarrassment before slowly making his way back as well.
"Come on, let's get to Appa." Aang tried as he beckoned them all hastily with his staff. As he raised it, however, a gush of water darted by and cracked the staff out of his hand with such force that it pierced the ground several feet away and stood erect.
"I wouldn't say you're out of the woods yet, Avatar." A feminine voice made them all stiffen. Out of the slightly charred brush emerged more soldiers, but these were lead by a strange woman in Fire Nation robes. However, at second glance she was no ordinary looking Fire Nation woman. Her skin was dark, complimented by brown hair and cold blue eyes that watched over the group before them. "And there's only one way out as far as I'm concerned."