Chapter Four

"Rescue"

Aang sat in the apartment with the others – Sokka, Katara, Momo, Toph, and the newcomer named Bojing. He sat in anxious anticipation as Bojing explained the whereabouts of Appa and how he planned to rescue him with their help.

"Appa is in the middle ring in the hands of a merchant. He's tied up, not in a cage, so it shouldn't be too hard to rescue him," Bojing explained. "The hard part'll be getting to the merchant's shop without being seen. I can pull it off, but I'm not sure about the rest of you."

He looked the others over in contemplation. Toph stared out before her in her nonchalant manner.

"I could pull it off," she said. "I've snuck out from under my parent's noses plenty of times."

Bojing nodded in approval. "Two would be plenty and it will draw less attention. Toph and I will go."

Aang stood, his earlier anger suddenly returning. "No. No one's saving Appa without me."

"Don't worry, Twinkle Toes, I'll make sure Appa doesn't get hurt," Toph reassured him.

But Aang couldn't control his anger. Her words only fueled it more. He turned on her, angrily. "That's how Appa got into this mess in the first place!"

"Aang…" Katara tried to stop his outrage.

But Toph stopped her. "It's ok, Katara, he's right. And he is light on his feet. He could probably pull this off."

She didn't sound upset, but Aang suddenly was. He shouldn't have exploded like that. His feelings over what had happened in their attempt to talk to the king were working on his last nerve, but he still had no right to get as angry as he had. Didn't he learn his lesson back in the desert? But I guess that's lessons for you, you'll never fully learn them until you die. He thought to himself with a regretful sigh.

"Than Aang, Toph, and I'll go," Bojing continued.

Sokka was clearly not happy with the decision. "And what are we supposed to do?" He asked, motioning toward himself and Katara. "Just sit here and wait?!" He complained.

Bojing turned to him with his grin present on his face. He shrugged. "Yeah."

Aang couldn't help but laugh as Sokka threw his hands in the air and looked around in annoyance. He noticed Katara stifle a laugh as well, and then he was ushered out the door by Toph and Bojing.

Aang followed Bojing through the city, Toph following him. Darkness was all about them as they moved quietly and stealthily, avoiding anything that moved. Bojing seemed to know exactly where he was going and how to avoid being seen, while Toph kept everything around them under check. If anything wanted to sneak up on them, it would certainly be sopped.

They were heading to the wall separating the middle and upper rings, and were almost upon it. Aang could feel his anxiousness rising. Without the need of Toph's heightened senses, Bojing noticed a Dai Li agent and quickly ducked into the shadows. Aang and Toph instantly did likewise. The Dai Li agent soon passed by without a second glance. Aang breathed a sigh of relief, than moved forward, following Bojing's motions to do so after he watched the agent go for a good distance.

They continued on their way and it wasn't long before they reached the wall separating the two rings of the city. Upon reaching the wall, Bojing kept watch as Toph kicked her heels into the ground and lifted her hands above her head, thus raising the wall so that they could all slip under. Aang did so, followed by the others. Toph lowered the wall and they were on their way again, following Bojing.

Aang was beginning to get tired and wondered when they would reach Appa, when Bojing suddenly stopped before him. Aang stopped quickly so as to not run into him, and looked up in question. Bojing glanced over his shoulder at him, his grin, as always, it seemed, on his face. He pointed across the street before them.

"There it is," Bojing whispered and Aang felt his heart begin to beat faster in excited anticipation. "Appa's out back."

Aang looked across the street to see a merchant's shop. So that was where Appa was. Don't worry, Buddy, we're coming, he told the bison in thought.

Bojing looked down the street in both directions, than bolted across it. Reaching the other side, he ducked into the shadows beside the shop. Aang and Toph quickly followed his lead.

They snuck along the side of the shop until they emerged behind it. There they stopped and Aang's eyes grew wide in excitement. "There he is!"

Though he was excited, he remembered to whisper and waited with the others until they made sure the cost was clear.

"Cost is clear," Bojing whispered.

Aang immediately ran up to his old friend, who was tied up in a large, boxed in space behind the shop. Aang lept upon Appa, giving him a large hug. Appa grunted and tried to turn toward him, but was hardly able to move against his bonds. Aang peeled himself away from Appa and looked him over as Toph and Bojing moved up behind him. Sensing them, Appa bellowed. Aang quickly reached out a hand to stroke his fur, comforting him.

"Sh, boy, we'll get you out," he coaxed.

Appa turned his head as much as he could toward Toph and let out a quiet groan. Toph smiled.

"Yeah, good to see you again, too," she said to the Bison.

But suddenly her smile died and she spun around, coming to stop in a fighting stance. Aang gasped as large, brutish looking men moved out of the shadows to surround them. Bojing turned to the men, as did Aang.

The men continued to move in on them. "Taking what doesn't belong to you?" One questioned. He grinned, than stomped his foot into the ground to send a large boulder sailing out of the ground. He threw his hands forward and the rock sailed toward Aang.

Aang instantly ducked out of the way, than stood to his feet with a frown. Toph pushed her hands out to her side sharply, causing the boulder that now sailed toward Appa to shatter into pieces. Aang swung his staff in an arc before him, sending a gust of air at the earthbender who had sent the boulder toward him. The earthbender blocked the air attack by putting up a rock wall before him. The men around him quickly set to work with earthbending of their own.

As a unit they each dug their heels into the ground and pushed their arms sharply out before them, raising pillars of rock all around the area. They began to move their arms in and out in a rhythmic pattern, sending sharp, pointed rocks from the pillars into the area before them where Aang, Toph, Bojing, and Appa waited. Their leader soon dropped his wall and did the same.

Toph was quick to send up walls of her own to block each and every pointed object that came toward her. When she wasn't blocking them, she was sending her own attacks back at the earthbenders.

Aang, meanwhile, ducked when he could, than made an airscooter and sped around the arena. As he stayed close to the men, they were unable to hit him with the assault they were using, which made them angry. As he sped past them, he threw air at them, hoping to knock them off balance. It worked for some, but when the rest caught on, they dug their feet into the ground with their earthbending to steady themselves.

Aang continued on around the area. He soon passed a bucket of water and took the opportunity to form a water whip and throw it at the men. Caught off guard, they were unable to stand against it.

Aang smiled in pleasure, but soon came face to face with a large boulder heading straight at him. He lept off his airscooter with a shout, and used earthbending to raise the earth beneath him high into the air. The boulder slammed into the pillar below him causing him to shake. Keeping his balance, he glanced to the earthbending leader in worry. The man was angrily glaring at him.

Worried and not knowing what else to do, Aang lept into the air and used his airbending to flip himself backward and come to land lightly beside Toph, who continued flinging her assaults at the men around them. Aang readied a rock pillar before himself as the angry earthbender stalked toward him.