.: Chapter 7: One Day Before :.
"Sokka, Pipsqueak, Smellerbee, let's go!" I hollered. The two Freedom Fighters bounded up at my call, but Sokka still didn't appear. "Sokka!" I shouted.
"Sokka, if you don't hurry up, we're leaving without you!" Smellerbee snapped loudly. A loud bang came from one of the nearby rooms and Sokka spilled out onto the balcony. He was trying to force his foot into a boot and it just didn't want to work.
"Wait, don't leave, I've almost… got it!" he shouted triumphantly, leaping to his booted feet to show off his handiwork. He smiled at me uncertainly, as if he wasn't sure that he should be nice to me just yet. I forced one in return. He almost trusts me… I can't ruin it.
"Great, Sokka," I told him, turning away to look into the trees. "Just come out quicker next time. This patrol really is important." I took a rope and spiraled towards the ground, landing with a quiet thump. Smellerbee and Pipsqueak came gracefully with thumps of their own. Sokka's was slightly louder, but much improved from his ascent yesterday. He didn't even yell… This really has to be important to him.
I told him where we were going and he took the lead. Pipsqueak followed him through the forest, guiding him at the turns he needed to take. Smellerbee fell back to my side, and I saw with a smile that she had tucked a dagger on her wrist.
"Careful, you could get hurt," I muttered. Sokka didn't turn around, and Smellerbee matched my volume.
"Why did you invite him at all?"
"He needs to see what we do. Maybe we'll get lucky and someone will show up. The longer we make him feel like a hero, the longer his sister will stay with us."
Smellerbee glanced at me, her eyes brown daggers. "What does Katara have to do with anything?"
"You know she can Waterbend. I have plans for her."
"Me too. They involve great heights, or some Firebenders, and maybe a few—"
"Smellerbee, she's not going to take Longshot away from you," I interrupted patiently. I had never seen Smells get jealous before, and it was a little amusing. As if Katara would go for Longshot anyways.
"She's going to take you away," she corrected quietly.
I looked at her, surprised. "I'm not going anywhere. And thanks for the compliment, Smells, but you're not really my type, so—"
"You don't even realize how different you are around her. What are you going to do when she leaves?"
"She isn't going to leave," I explained tolerantly. "She'll see how great it is, how great it feels to avenge her mother and her people. She'll want to stay."
"No. That's not how she works. She won't stay when that village burns, and you know it. She's going to leave you here. You can't get too close to her."
"I know what I'm doing," I snapped. "And we're not burning the village. How many times do I have to tell you that?"
"Then how are we going to chase the Fire Nation out?" Smellerbee demanded. The only noise audible for a while was our feet as they crunched over various leaves.
"I'll tell you tonight. We're bringing the loot from our last raid over to the cliff. Take The Duke, Sneers, Pipsqueak, and Longshot with you. They can know what we're going to do." I stopped short suddenly, looking up into the trees. Sokka stood above me, his bright blue shirt clearly visible. No one will look into the trees, I reassured myself. "Smells, go hang out with Pipsqueak. I'll take care of the new guy." She nodded and trotted away.
I unsheathed my hook swords and swung up through the branches, landing on one a few feet under Sokka. I cupped my hands around my mouth and let out a birdcall. Smellerbee and Pipsqueak responded and I settled down to wait.
"So, what are we doing this for?" Sokka hissed.
"We can't let anyone get too close to the tree house. The Fire Nation has tried to get rid of me before. Without me, the Freedom Fighters are leaderless." Not to mention as good as homeless… no one but me can talk to Rina and find out the Fire Nation's plans. They'd burn down the forest before we could blink.
A loud thunk cut into my thoughts. I looked up at Sokka to find him holding some weird knife. The end of it stuck deep into the tree, and he wrapped his hands delicately around the handle. Then, Sokka put his ear right up to it. "What are you doing?" I hissed.
"Shh… it amplifies vibrations," Sokka told me.
Maybe he really isn't useless, I thought to myself. That's something we never thought of.
Out loud, I said, "Good trick."
"Nothing yet…" Sokka whispered. "Wait! Yes, someone's approaching."
Fire Nation. I can feel it. No, it's deeper than that: I can sense it.
"How many?"
"I think there's just one."
An assassin. He's got to be an assassin.
I cupped my hands and sent out the warning birdcall. Who knew whom the Fire Nation would send into the woods these days? Backup was a necessary precaution.
"Good work, Sokka." You may have just saved my life. "Ready your weapon." He obliged and pulled it from the tree trunk. I studied the path, my eyes narrowed. Then, at last, I saw him. The guy was ancient, clothed in Fire Nation garb, and hobbling along on a cane. Sure. Play innocent. I fell for it once. I'm not doing it again.
"Wait!" Sokka muttered. "False alarm—he's just an old man."
I can explain it to him later, I told myself. Deal with the threat right now. I pulled out my hook swords and jumped from the tree, landing on the forest floor in front of the Fire Nation civilian.
"What are you doing in our woods, you leech?" I snarled. My eyes roved him for a weapon, but there was none visible. It'll come soon enough. None of the Fire Nation are blameless.
"Please, sir," he croaked. "I'm just a traveler."
Just like that traitor was just a refugee. I swung out with my sword and knocked him to the ground – right where all the Fire Nation belonged. His cane went flying, and I smiled. He wasn't going to go anywhere now. He did try to make a run for it, but crashed right into Pipsqueak. The Freedom Fighter pinned the old man to the ground with one foot.
"Do you like destroying towns?" I snapped. Bet this guy was quite the Firebender in his day. Bet he knew the people who ruined my life. "Do you like destroying families? Do you?"
"Oh, please," he whined. "Let me go—have mercy."
"Does the Fire Nation let people go? Does the Fire Nation have mercy?" Did they have mercy on me? An eight year old? What about Rina? My voice was raw, and it hurt to even think about these things, but it felt good. One less Fire Nation warrior in the world, I thought, and brought my leg back to kick him. When I went to move forward, however, something snagged my ankle and I stumbled. I whirled around, furious, to find Sokka standing there with his stupid Water Tribe knife.
"Jet, he's just an old man!" he protested.
"He's Fire Nation!" I retorted. "Search him!" I heard Smells and Pipsqueak moving behind me.
"But he's not hurting anyone!" Sokka tried again.
No one is ever what they seem.
Maybe I was wrong about you. "Have you forgotten that the Fire Nation killed your mother? Remember why you fight!"
"We've got his stuff, Jet," Smells told me. I turned around and she was holding up a black bag. It made me uneasy that she hadn't found a knife, but maybe she was hiding it from Sokka. Yes, that has to be it. I don't attack innocent people. No one from the Fire Nation is innocent. There had to be a knife.
"This doesn't feel right," Sokka mumbled.
"It's what has to be done," I snapped back. For our safety… for our way of life. "Now let's get out of here." I pushed past Sokka, who still wasn't moving. The Freedom Fighters fell in line, but the newbie still refused to move. "Come on, Sokka!" I shouted. Slowly, reluctantly, his footsteps caught up to us.
"Jet, why'd you do that?" he asked after about five minutes of walking. "He was just an innocent old man."
"No one from the Fire Nation is innocent. He was sent to remove me."
"Why would the Fire Nation waste an assassin on you?"
"Are you saying I'm not worthy of their attention?" I snarled. My wounded pride made my words seem sharper than I wanted. I tried to make my next speech soothing and reassuring. "Sokka, I brought you on this mission because I thought you would understand. I thought that you would know that the Fire Nation is evil. Why can't you see it? They're all bad. There is not one drop of good blood in that place, or their people."
"The civilians aren't the ones who fight the war, Jet. That's the soldiers. You shouldn't attack innocent people."
"He was Fire Nation!" I spat. "They are all evil. No one in the Fire Nation is innocent. They don't try to stop the war. They move in to occupied Earth Kingdom towns and disrupt the way of life. They lord their pretensions over us Earth subjects as if they're better than us. And when they've had their fun, they burn the place to the ground. Explain to me how anyone who does that is 'innocent'."
"The civilians don't burn down the cities," Sokka protested. I stopped and handed him a rope to grab. He waited for me to respond.
"They don't try to stop it, either," I told him quietly. He didn't meet my eyes as he flew upwards.
"Jet," Smellerbee hissed, moving to my side, "What do you want us to do?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Jet, Sokka was right. The guy didn't have anything. No knife, no assassination attempt, nothing."
"The fact that he is Fire Nation is enough," I insisted.
"For you and me and the Freedom Fighters, of course it is," Smells acknowledged. "But she won't like it."
I didn't require any additional clarification. "Got any solutions?"
She smiled at me. "Knives of all kinds."
I heard them coming from a mile away. No one could quite maneuver in the trees the way us Freedom Fighters could. Katara pushed back the tent flap to my room and blushed. Aang filed in after her, looking slightly unsure of how to act. He had some ridiculous hat on his head. Sokka stormed right in and crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at me. I sighed and shifted to a sitting position in my hammock-bed. My makeshift table acted as a partition between us; I held one hand at my side, fingers wrapped nervously around Smells' knife.
"So… he told you?" I asked carefully. My voice was cool and aloof. "He did this really awesome trick with his knife where—"
"Why don't you skip to the part where you beat and robbed a harmless old man?" Sokka snapped. I glanced at Katara—she didn't need to say anything. The question glimmered in her eyes.
"Yeah. But he wasn't harmless," I told them. Sokka rolled his eyes in disgust.
"But he was—" Aang started, and then I realized what was going on here.
"Sokka—you told them what happened but you didn't mention the guy was Fire Nation?" I glared at him, fury pulsing in my veins. He needs to stop twisting the truth around. Maybe I'll give him a lesson in that later.
"No," Katara answered dryly, "He conveniently left that part out."
"Fine!" Sokka snapped. "But even if he was Fire Nation, he was a harmless civilian."
"He was an assassin, Sokka," I corrected him quietly. My mouth dry, I stuck the knife into my makeshift table. It was golden at the hilt, with a ring topping it. Even if this knife wasn't his, he got what was coming to him. He would have come for me eventually.
Fire Nation scum.
"See?" I continued after a moment of astonished silence. "There's a compartment for poison in the knife." I pulled at the ring and a small vial of red liquid came out with it. "He was sent to eliminate me. You helped save my life, Sokka."
Katara relaxed and spoke with obvious relief. "I knew there was an explanation."
"I didn't see any knife!" Sokka protested.
"That's because he was concealing it," I spat through gritted teeth.
"See Sokka? I'm sure you just didn't notice the knife," Katara interjected calmly.
"There was no knife," Sokka insisted. "I'm going to the hut and packing my things." He stormed off and I looked to Katara. She was staring after Sokka, her face unreadable.
"Tell me you guys aren't leaving yet," I pleaded. My words were for both of them, but my eyes were trained on Katara. "I really need your help."
"What can we do?" Aang asked.
"The Fire Nation is planning on burning down our forest." I was amazed at how easily the lie came to my mind. "If you both use Waterbending to fill the reservoir, we could fight the fires. But if you leave now, they'll destroy the whole valley." Katara and Aang looked at each other for a long moment. Eventually, the two nodded in unison.
"Of course we'll stay, Jet," Katara smiled at me. I bowed my head with relief, which she must have taken for gratitude. She grabbed my hand and I looked up at her, surprised. "I won't let the Fire Nation destroy your home again."
"Now be extra quiet," I hissed to everyone. Sneers, Pipsqueak, The Duke, Smells, and Longshot blinked in understanding. "I can't have Katara and Aang and especially Sokka finding out about this. Get the wagon. I'll fill you in on the way." Everyone grabbed a rope line and awaited the order. "Let's go," I commanded, and then I was sailing towards the ground.
Pipsqueak brought out the loaded wagon and we began our march through woods and moonlight.
"So, what's going on, Jet?" Pipsqueak rumbled.
"Yeah. Are we going to get rid of the Fire Nation now?" The Duke chirruped.
"Tomorrow," I began quietly, "I'm going to have Aang and Katara fill up the reservoir with water. While they're doing that, I'll help you guys set everything up at the base of the dam."
"Set what up, Jet?" Smells whispered.
"The blasting jelly," I answered. We broke out of the cover of the forest, onto the Cliffside. I didn't speak for a while, eyes roving the hills below us. I'd blown off Rina to come here tonight.
Her and her stupid Mrs. Pretty and her new rules and new ideas, I snapped to myself. Suddenly she'd become different, constantly worrying about a curfew and talking about Fire Nation Soldiers like they were actual human beings with feelings. She's with them now. I can't bring her back. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I thought I saw a small figure walking slowly back towards the town. I shut my eyes and turned away.
"Now listen," I commanded. "You are not to blow the dam until I give the signal." I looked over at Longshot – it would be his flaming arrow that set the bomb off. His face was blank. "If the reservoir isn't full, the Fire Nation troops could survive." The Duke jumped off the wagon and stepped forward.
"But what about the people in the town—won't they get wiped out too?"
You were singing a different tune a few days ago. I came up to him and put an arm on his shoulder. Maybe it's just because we're doing it on purpose.
"Look, Duke, that's the price of ridding this area of the Fire Nation." And the Earth subjects who can't even be bothered to fight back. They're just as bad. "Now don't blow the dam until I give the signal, got it?" I glanced over at Longshot again, and this time he nodded. "Smells, I—"
"Where do you think you're going, ponytail?" Smells sneered from a point off to my left. I turned to look and found her with a knife at Sokka's throat. Pipsqueak had him by the ponytail.
Not my lucky night.
"Sokka," I smiled warmly. "I'm glad you decided to join us." Smellerbee and Pipsqueak forced Sokka on his knees in front of me. Inside, I was swimming with anxiety. I can't let Katara find out…
"I heard your plan to destroy the Earth Kingdom town."
I glared at him. "Our plan is to rid the valley of the Fire Nation."
"There are people living there, Jet—mothers and fathers and children!"
You think I don't know that? "We can't win without making some sacrifices!" I retorted, then took a deep breath and forced a smile. Relax. He won't go along if I keep yelling at him.
He pointed at me like he was accusing me of doing something wrong. "You lied to Aang and Katara about the forest fire!"
"Because they don't understand the demands of war," I replied smoothly. "Not like you and I do."
Sokka continued to glare at me. "I do understand. I understand that there's nothing you won't do to get what you want."
"I was hoping you'd have an open mind," I sighed. Actually, I didn't really care, but it would have been nice to have another ally. "But I can see you've made your choice." I looked over at Smells and Pipsqueak and then lunged at Sokka. Before he could blink I had his wrist pinned with my hook swords. They forced his other hand behind his back, but I kept my grip on him for a few more seconds while I glared into his eyes. "I can't let you warn Katara and Aang," I added. I dropped his hand and they forced it behind his back as well. "Take him for a walk—a long walk."
"You can't do this!" Sokka called over his shoulder. I looked away from him, back to the twinkling lights of the town. Where Rina was, back with Mrs. Pretty, back to being corrupted.
"Cheer up, Sokka. We're going to win a great victory against the Fire Nation today." I heard Smellerbee and Pipsqueak forcing him through the trees and sighed. Cheer up. We're going to win a great victory against the Fire Nation today…
A/N: And here we are! Hopefully Jet doesn't seem as crazy now, for the way he treated that old man. Perhaps a better word would be "misguided"? Or even "betrayed"? He's just been through a lot! And I'm not saying that because he's one of my favorite characters... honest... *shifty eyes*
Anyways, I hope you enjoy the update! Classes started today and it was a little rough. But we all do what we must to survive (something I learned from Jet)!