AUTHOR'S NOTES—and now my chapters will be slightly longer [only by a few hundred words]. Also note that the only reason I split up chapters so much is because if I wrote it all at one time, I'd (a) never get anything done, and (b) would have like 20 pages for each chapter, and that's TL;DR.
AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER
BOOK 1: WATER
CHAPTER 4-4: THE WARRIORS OF KYOSHI, PART 4
Kyoshi Island; morning
Aang and Zuko were surprised to find that Toph was missing the next morning. Both the airbender and the waterbender could hear rummaging and shuffling noises around them, but they were both a bit tired from the previous night. After a few moments needed to regain their vision, they looked around. Their lodgings were deserted except for the two of them, but outside, it seemed that the Kyoshi Warriors were mobilizing.
"What's going on?" Aang asked, racing outside and asking the nearest warrior.
"We've got a Water Tribe raid," the Kyoshi replied, "they're looking for you."
Aang's expression turned into a wide-eyed, open-jawed gape. Zuko's nearly mimicked it except for his left eye.
"Water Tribe raid?" he exclaimed, "the only reason the Water Tribes would launch an attack would be to stop would-be invasions."
"These ones ain't from the south, sweetie," said Suki, who popped up behind them, "these are the northerners—Air Warrior allies."
"Damn it," Zuko swore, and then called out to Suki who was heading for the northwestern shores. "Hey! What happened to Toph?"
"She's a Kyoshi Warrior now, remember?" Suki chuckled, "she's probably somewhere in our ranks. You can take a look around for her, but don't expect much success during war—too many look-alikes; and Kyoshi Warriors do not converse while in combat."
Aang and Zuko decided to have a look around anyways, and as they were weaving their ways through the Kyoshi Warrior ranks, they finally realized just how many Kyoshi Warriors were nestled in the island. There were hundreds alone here, and who was to say that there were not any abroad?
"They've certainly gotten larger since I last saw any," Aang commented, referring to the size of the ranks, not the warriors themselves, "how are we going to find Toph in all this mess?"
"I think we'll have to worry about that later," Zuko warned, pointing to the ocean, "We've got Northerners landing."
It seemed that once the Air Warriors had raided the Fire Nation's metalworking miracles, the technology had spread to the other nations as well. While the Water Tribe ships were not as large as the Fire Nation armadas of old, they were fast and strong, with the waterbenders powering them rendering them to be swift and powerful. Aang's keen eyes noticed the man on the flagship—a burly, middle-aged, sideburned Water Tribe Warrior. Then again, most Water Tribe members were on the tougher side, so maybe it was just Aang's opinion.
"Do you know who that is?" Aang asked Zuko, thinking that Zuko had a little Water Tribe knowledge.
"Describe him to me." Zuko ordered, "I can't see that far; not even out of my good eye." Aang did just that.
"That sounds like Chief Zhao," Zuko frowned, "chief of the Northern Water Tribe. He's had connections with the Air Warriors for a while now."
"Are we going to fight him?"
"Not now; we can take on a few of his troops, but I would not go about challenging the Water Chief just yet. My uncle would have been a good match for him, but not me."
Aang took Zuko's words to heart, and he raced out into the fray. Zuko, not wanting to lose him, followed, and the two benders added their skills to the defense against Zhao's troops. The fighting continued for a while without anything unusual occurring until smoke was seen from the opposite end of the island. Either someone had chosen a really stupid time and place to start a campfire, or there was some active arson going on. To add to the matter, the Unagi had appeared and seemed to have sided with the waterbenders. It was spewing its own waves of water at the Kyoshi Warriors as well. Nevertheless, they were valiant defenders, not about to let a powerful sea creature stop them in their tracks either.
"I don't know about you," Zuko told Aang, "but I think I'd rather combat the fire than that thing."
"Uh, I think I agree with you," Aang shuddered, and the two of them raced eastward to find out what the source of the flames was.
It was not long before they found out. Toph was racing away from the inferno, and she was carrying a slip of paper. She was still decked in her Kyoshi getup, but it did not look like she had been fighting.
"Zuko, Aang," she panted, "These people are traitors!"
both Zuko and Aang stopped in their tracks, not really believing what Toph had said. Zuko asked her to repeat it.
"They're with the Air Warriors." She repeated again, and she showed them the sheet of paper she was carrying. On it was an illustration of an Air Warrior and a Kyoshi Warrior. Next to them was text that Zuko recognized.
Kill by any means necessary
Win by any means necessary
Live by any means necessary
Die by any means necessary
"The Air Warrior's slogan," Zuko exclaimed, "damn it! That explains a lot!"
"Die by any means necessary?" Toph raised an eyebrow.
"They refuse to be captured." Zuko answered, "and so if they are about to lose, they will try to end their lives by any means necessary."
"Looks like they're about to kill by any means necessary as well;" Toph frowned, "they're coming. Where the hell is Appa when you need him?"
"APPA!" Aang shouted, but all it did was make Momo fly upwards and around them, avoiding the fight.
"Damn it." Zuko swore. "You know, I think the universe is out to get us."
He turned to see a Kyoshi Warrior riding atop the Unagi, which was heading straight for them, launching a huge jet of water in the process. Zuko jumped forward and thrust his palm out. He was able to block the oncoming blast of water, and the radius was large enough that his friends were safe as well.
"I'll distract her," Toph offered, "Aang, get your little flyboy butt up there and pick her off!"
Aang did not need further motivation. Toph whipped out a bow and shot an arrow at the Kyoshi Warrior. Her lack of experience with this weapon showed, as it did little more than get the warrior to turn her head. That was all Aang needed, however, and he was able to dethrone the Kyoshi. He took control of the beast and turned its attention back at the Kyoshi Warriors. The enemy of his enemy was his friend for now, as he knew that the Air Warriors were out to get him. Perhaps the Water Tribe was just jumping in for the bounty—or perhaps they had some other motive.
"I take my remark about the universe back," Zuko frowned as Appa showed up and he and Toph jumped on. "The universe just likes screwing with me."
"Well, you are pretty fun to mess with, Ike." Toph chuckled. "still, let's get out of here while the going's good. We obviously know by now that the universe changes its mind quickly. Now just get twinkle toes to get off of Chuck and we'll be fine."
However, once the airbender saw Appa, he long-jumped off of the Unagi's head, whipped out his glider, and flew up towards Appa, landing next to Zuko.
"That went well." Aang remarked. Toph and Zuko frowned.
"You weren't captured by them," Toph shook her head. "You didn't get locked up for overhearing their conspiracy being planned."
"How'd you bust out?" Aang asked,
"I decided to use some awesomeness," Toph boasted, "but that's not the point. The point is that the Kyoshi Warriors have the Air Warriors' backs. I can't say I know about the waterbenders though."
"Well, we'll have to find out sooner or later," Zuko shrugged, "since we need to find Aang a waterbending teacher, and the south is too full of marauders."
"I need a vacation after this vacation," Toph sighed, flopping backwards.
Incidentally, Zuko was watching the Water Tribe warriors, and although a couple of them turned their shots towards the flying bison, most of them continued their attack on Kyoshi Island without worrying about him. They were well out of Zuko's sight by the time they withdrew, but it comforted him to know that they had some sort of other motive besides capturing the avatar.