Chapter 3: Hold On

Sorry it took me so long to get this up. I actually typed this awhile ago, but well, been busy with family and friends, so no time to log in on the internet. But here it is and maybe I can get Chapter 4 up later today, if I have some spare time. Yeah so Chapter 3, have fun.

Jarran took two other men with him to look for the rebels. They were two of Haru's non-bender soldiers. Their names were Maro and Lix. They were not the best, but they were reliable, which was why Jarran brought them.

"How far did you say the rebels were?" Lix asked.

"A few hours out of Konashi. They live in the tree tops, so look out for any sign of them."

They rode silently for a moment, until the ostrich-horses reared up and they were surrounded by a band of teenagers. One with a brown mop of hair and hooked swords at his sides came forward. "My name's Jet and these are my Freedom Fighters. Who are you?"

"Jarran. This is Maro and Lix. Are you the rebels?"

"That's what some call us." Jet smiled smoothly.

"We need your help. Our village is about to be attacked by the Fire Nation and we have barely any protection."

The Freedom Fighters started to scramble, but Jet held up a hand. "How do we know this isn't a Fire Nation trick?"

"I'm an earthbender." Jarran gave a simple demonstration, but Jet seemed unimpressed.

"Doesn't mean you aren't a spy."

"Damn it. We're wasting time. While you're playing safe, innocent people's lives are in danger. I thought you would care. We're going back to Konashi." Jarran turned his ostrich-horse and left. Maro and Lix followed.

"Jet, we should be helping those people," Smellerbee said.

"How do we know they aren't Fire Nation luring us into a trap? The Fire Nation controlled Konashi, remember?"

"But they were saved, remember?"

"The Fire Nation could have easily regained control."

"I thought you were a Freedom Fighter, not a coward, Jet."

"Don't call me a coward!" Jet shouted.

"That's what you are! You don't take risks anymore! I'm going to help Konashi!" Smellerbee stormed off. Many of the Freedom Fighters looked warily at Jet, and then followed. Half of them were gone.

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Mai and Ty Lee were tucked away in a corner of the ship. They were staying out of the soldiers' way, but Ty Lee had also brought Mai there for a private conversation.

"I'm worried about Azula. Her aura isn't looking good."

"What are we supposed to do?"

"I don't think she should be leading an invasion force," Ty Lee began.

Mai slapped a hand over Ty Lee's mouth. "Shut up. Don't talk like that. Someone could hear you."

"But you don't think I'm wrong."

"Well…"

"I think she's still confused. She's been acting weird."

"Why would she be confused?"

"Her mother."

"What are we supposed to do? We can't stop her. She's Azula."

Ty Lee collapsed on the ground. "I don't know." She looked to Azula, who was staring out into the ocean, with her hair playing in the wind. It was downright creepy. "I just don't know."

Mai changed the subject, sort of. "Do you think the Konashi stand a chance?"

"Not really." Ty Lee was growing more depressed.

Mai glanced around as if there was an answer written somewhere about cheering up her friend. She gulped and prepared herself for an ultimate sacrifice. "If you want, I'll let you paint my nails. But no PINK!"

Ty Lee smiled then faked a pout.

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Haru drummed his fingers anxiously. He and most of his team were sitting in the watch tower, watching the Fire Nation ships loom closer. There were five of them, two of which were useless cargo ships. So three ships, full of men. Well-trained men; they were part of the Royal Fleet according to the flags. It meant they would be conquered personally.

Feras entered the room. "All civilians who will not fight have been evacuated," he said. "They're headed to various other ports and cities. Mostly Ba Sing Se." (A/N I wrote this before the finale and Ba Sing Se's downfall. If I do a prequel and make this a trilogy, I'll account for the fact that the Fire Nation no longer controls Ba Sing Se, ok?)

Haru nodded. "Good." He turned to Dajan, who had joined him just a few moments ago. A small, two person team had been assembled. They were on their way to the next port to begin their search for the Avatar.

"Is Jarran back yet?"

"No." Haru bit his lip. Jarran had departed as soon as the sun had risen that morning. The sun was now starting its afternoon descent. Jarran should have been back by now. Haru's gaze returned to the ships, outlined on the horizon. "They'll be within attacking distance in a few hours. Then, they'll attack whenever they feel like it, but probably not at night."

The men were silent. It was hopeless. Purely hopeless. It was then that Jarran entered. "Their fool leader thought we were Fire Nation spies, but some of the rebels came anyway. I can't tell id one of them is in charge or not."

Haru followed Jarran outside to a crowd of rebels of all ages. "Who's in charge?" No one came forward, but there was a murmur echoing through the crowd that sounded like: "smellerbee." A man with a bow pushed a young girl forward. At least Haru thought it was a girl.

"I guess it's me. Our leader, Jet, wouldn't come. My name is Smellerbee."

"My name is Haru." He bowed politely. "How many of you are there?"

Smellerbee glanced at the crowd. "I'd say thirty or forty. More might show up."

Haru smiled. "Welcome to Konashi. Jarran can organize your warriors. My team and I are meeting up in the tower. Will you come?"

"Longshot?" she called. The boy who had pushed her forward came to her side. "He comes too."

Haru nodded. "Nice to meet you Longshot."

The man bowed but said nothing. "He doesn't talk out loud," Smellerbee said.

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"You just have four students today, Toph. Charlie, Charlie, Charlie, and Charlie. Charlie and Charlie are home sick."

"Huh?"

"He calls us 'Charlie' when he forgets our names," one of the Charlies whispered.

"Oh." Toph turned back to the Master. "Thanks, Master Spillic. I can take it from here. Enjoy your break."

"Why, yes, I will. See you later, Charlies and Toph." He waved whimsically and left.

Toph turned to her students. They were of intermediate level. "Ok, we'll start off with some sparring, so pair up and we'll see what to work on."

The four boys paired off and took opposite sides of the courtyard. Toph listened to every vibration and waited. She frowned thoughtfully. They were decent, but not great. She called them back twenty minutes later.

"You need some stance work. Get in a line and get in your stance." Toph started at the beginning of the line. "What's your name?"

"Ral."

"Look up. Bend your knees more. More. Good." She moved on to the next boy. "Name?"

"Shang."

"Turn your feet out more and straighten your torso." The next one. "Name?"

"Jiango."

"Yours is pretty good. Just a little wider." The last one. "Name?"

"Chen."

"Not so bent. Straighten your knees a little. Your stances are important. It is the foundation of your bending. If your stance is terrible, then you are a terrible bender. With a good stance, you are stronger and harder to knock down."

"How can you tell all this when you're blind?"

Toph whipped around to stare at them with empty eyes. "How can I tell? I'm an earthbender. I see through the earth. I feel the vibrations and I know where things are. You could feel it too if you were paying attention to the earth. For instances, Jiango is shift from foot to foot and a butterfly just landed on that rock over there."

The boys were speechless and didn't question her for the rest of the lesson.

I had a large lack of ideas for what should be happening with Team Avatar, so if all those filler scenes make you want to gag, I'm sorry. I just need some time and some buildup, until my main conflict happens and they become a part of the action. Until then, the exciting stuff is with Haru, Azula, and Jet in Konashi. But that will change. So yeah, in general the focus will be on Azula most of the time. And in case anyone cares, yeah I'm still using 0s as breaks. Well, everything else disappears when I upload, so I'm too lazy to figure out how to make it more presentable/attractive/insert another adjective here. But hey, that doesn't affect my story and the words which I have written, so no biggie, and I'm actually quite fond of my 0s. Haha. Remember the dorkiness. It keeps coming back. Oh and I wrote a songfic a little while ago, I know it really isn't my best work, but I was hoping for some sort of a response. All I know is there have been hits on the page, but that's all. Believe me, I know it's pretty lame, but the songs are awesome, kid you not.