At The Western Air Temple

The armada behind the fire nation general charged towards the gaang. Aang, Katara, Toph, and Sokka automatically reacted, each defensively using the weapon of their choice. Sokka shouted his battle cry (with his voice cracking slightly) and rushed forward to meet their enemy, thrashing his boomerang around and occasionally making contact with a soldier. Katara bended the water in her flask into the form of a whip, and lashed a guard in the head with stinging accuracy. Aang was blowing guards out of his way like there was no tomorrow, throwing air balls at them with the force of a hurricane. Toph was by far the most impressive in her fighting style, taking on 5 sentries at once while blasting chunks of rocks at their heads.

Whilst this was happening, Zuko was staring open-mouthed in shock at the battle occurring in front of him. How had this happened? One moment everything had been fine, and the next they were forced into battle; he had to do something… Once he regained his wits, he shouted into the pandemonium "Stop it! Stop it! I'm Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation and I command you to stop this at once!" The fleet of Fire Nation men stopped half in confusion and half in obedience, realizing that they were attacking Fire Nation royalty. This gave Aang, Katara, Toph, and Sokka the chance they needed, for it allowed them to attack their invaders mercilessly.

"What are you doing?!" Shouted the general angrily as he watched his men stand around unmoving while their target attacked them.

"General Soku, its Prince Zuko. He ordered us to stop fighting, so we must obey!" Replied a cowering soldier as Aang hit him in the stomach with an air ball, throwing him back ten feet.

Another man spoke up, "We can't attack the Prince! Lord Ozai'll have our heads if we do!" Toph threw a boulder at him, which he just barely dodged.

"I'll have your heads if you disobey my orders! Prince Zuko has been exiled; he's a traitor to the Fire Nation! If you defy me once more I'll kill you myself!" Shouted General Soku as he glared at the shunned Prince, rousing his soldiers to keep fighting. To assure his men, the General unsheathed his sword and ran forward to meet his enemy. The armada seemed to accept his explanation, and rushed into battle with their general.

Although the gaang had taken out a great number of guards in the confusion, it still didn't change the fact that they were outnumbered. Soon it became clear who was in the lead, and the gaang was forced to fall back. Even when Zuko joined them in the fight, his skill still wasn't enough to beat near 70 guards single-handedly. Soon they were backed up against the Western Air Temple wall, defending for their lives.

They heard a large wail of pain, and turned to find that Appa had been taken down, with multiple strings pulled tight against his fur as several Fire Nation men fought to keep him immobile. One man was holding a small sack closed tightly, while Momo's black tail peeked out of the top. They could see the small creature squirming in the confines of the bag, and wanted desperately to help him. However, General Soku's guards were keeping them cornered against the wall, and soon had the group captured.

Sokka fell first; he yelped as a guard yanked away his boomerang and roughly pulled him away from the rest of the group. They heard his grunts of pain as the men roughly tied him up, and he was then thrown near Appa, with a gag in his mouth. Zuko was the next to go. Although he had great skill in firebending, he was fighting other firebenders who knew the weaknesses of the art. They shot at his legs, causing him to repeatedly loose his footing and was therefore unable to shoot fire at them .They kept him moving as well, which caused his heart rate to rise, so he was therefore unable to breath normally. They took away the 2 key factors in firebending: the stance, and the breath. Soon, they took him down and threw him next to Sokka. However, Zuko's restraints were made of chains, so he wouldn't be able to simply burn them off like he would normal twine.

Katara was the next to fall; once Zuko had been tied down, all of his opponents had ganged up on her. Even the most powerful waterbender cannot defend themselves against 20 guards with notable firebending skills. Her water flask was removed and thrown over the edge of the cliff, and she was tied tightly with rope and thrown next to Sokka, a gag in her mouth as well.

Aang and Toph were the only fighters left. This bode badly for Toph, because the soldiers completely ignored Aang and all went to immobilize her. Aang tried to help her, but the armada simply pushed him roughly back as they surrounded the earthbender. A man grabbed her around the middle. She screamed and stomped the floor, causing an earth pillar to shoot up from under him and fling him to the other side of the temple. The others learned from this move, and quickly picked her up off the ground so she was unable to earthbend. She screamed and thrashed, but was unable to keep them from tying her up, and throwing her in a sack which they suspended from the ceiling. This way, she was unable to earthbend because she could not touch the floor. With only Aang left, the soldiers backed off and allowed General Soku to step forward.

"Hello, Avatar" he told Aang, smiling evilly.

"I suggest you do exactly as I say, or else something very unpleasant will happen to your friends".

Aang's eyes darted to his team, all immobilized and on the ground (minus Toph who was suspended in a bag from the ceiling). His eyes were filled with pain as he lowered his head and agreed to do as General Soku said.

"Excellent" said the general, smiling. "Tie him up!" He ordered at some of his men, who hastily obeyed. Aang held out his arms willingly, looking guiltily and painfully at his friends. The general started shouting orders at his armada, readying to leave.

"We will get back to the camp by nightfall. Then we will take one nights rest, and tomorrow morning we shall set off to the Fire Nation. Anyone who causes any more delays than necessary shall find themselves suspended from their hair in the dungeons when we get back. Do I make myself understood?" Ordered the general as he paced around the temple.

A chorus of 'Yes Sir's echoed through the chamber, and the small army headed towards their camp sight. The gaang (minus Aang, who was going to be walking with 10 guards surrounding him to the campsite) was thrown into a small, wooden cart and were rolled to the temporary camp.

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They had reached the camp by nightfall. General Soku was in a bad mood, and ordered one of his men to deal with their hostages.

"Put them next to the other prisoner" he said tiredly, trudging off to his warm tent. The guard obeyed and went off to do his duties. Aang was going to be watched all night by the same 10 men that had guarded him walking over from the temple. His friends, however, were just going to be put with the one other prisoner.

Toph was first suspended from a large wooden pole, and the rest of the gaang was lazily thrown on the ground near her. Katara winced as a sharp rock dug into her arm and scratched at the skin. Zuko tried to look up and examine his surroundings. That way, maybe he could find a way to escape…..

As he examined the site, his eyes locked onto a figure that was tied to a pole (it was the same pole that Toph was being hung in her bag from). The man looked at them curiously and happily at the same time.

"Uncle…." Zuko whispered.