Hello again, faithful readers, and welcome to the latest installment of Walking a Wire. Finals are upon us, and it is with great difficulty that the time was found to write this chapter. As it is, I'm surprisingly happy with how the whole thing went, although I'm the author so I guess I would feel like that to be posting at all. I'll let you decide for yourselves, but for now, enjoy!
Chapter XI: Revelations Part 2
"What? Do you know how far up--?"
"I said jump!" Suddenly, Ty Lee wasn't standing on metal anymore. As the heat from a fire blast raced across her skin, the world spun into a series of chains, railings, and brief flashes of fire as she once again found the floor rushing up to greet her.
She fell through the multiple levels of the walkways, seeing only the blur of metal and fire. It reminded her of the times she had fallen from the high wire, only this time she knew there wouldn't be a net to catch her. Trying to steady herself, she kicked out and was rewarded with a sharp pain in her foot, courtesy of a platform she just happened to hit. How many levels can I have left? This place is only so tall, after all...Spotting the blurred line of a support chain, she grabbed with both hands. She felt the chain sliding between her fingers, and her palms burned, but she was noticeably slowing.
Then, with a sickening punch to her gut, she stopped. She fell over the metal railing onto the platform, curling herself into a ball as she massaged her throbbing stomach. Shakily standing, she glanced around to find herself completely alone. Hurriedly looking over the railing, she saw no bodies broken against the floor. Thank Agni, Mina's alive.
"Hey! Here's one of them!" Ty Lee spun to see a soldier rushing towards her. Backing up, her hand touched the chain she had slid down. Wait, idea...Grabbing the chain, she kicked off from the platform, coming around and slamming both feet into the man's side. The move caused further protest from her stinging hands, but it worked--the man was thrown into the opposite railing, where he fell from sight with a muted yell. Unfortunately, two others, the cloaked ones, came down from the level above flinging waves of flame at her. Jumping between the chains and the railings, she managed to avoid the attacks and stunned one with a hard blow to the chest. Using the railing as leverage, she slammed the other attacker into the platform before paralyzing him. Hey, maybe these guys can be beat after all.
A blast of fire forced her up the chain once again, as soldiers and cloaked men attacked from both sides. And maybe not...
"Stop and state your business!"
"Shut up, my head hurts enough already. Get me a doctor and a High Guardsman." The man at the gate gave him an odd look, clearly surprised by his disheveled appearance. Yes, this blackened, slumped form is in fact a High Guard captain, not some half-mad nomad begging.
"What is the nature of your condition, and is it contagious?"
"Didn't I just tell you to shut up? Head injury, concussion probable, now get me the Agni-cursed doctor and High Guardsman!"
"No need to yell, Pack Leader." Kojima's armored form slowly detached itself from the shadows behind the gate. With a wave, the keeper practically fell over himself trying to get the gate open, whereupon Akira promptly fell off the ostrich-horse. Hanging on to the mount, as well as his personal pride, by only the bridle, he turned to his second, "Thanks, Kojima. I have an important message for the Firrr-" The ground tilted under him, and he grabbed onto the ostrich-horse's side.
"Easy, Pack Leader. I'll get the message delivered, whatever it is. And don't worry, I know of a good doctor just a few blocks over. Might not appreciate the late hour, but we'll see how agreeable we can get the old doc, eh?" As he began walking, Akira suddenly felt dizzy, and the ground threatened to slide out from under his feet.
"Promise me you'll wear your helmet next time, 'kay?" Kojima draped Akira's arm over his shoulder just as an echoing blast rang across the city. Both scanned the surroundings, before Kojima pointed out over the buildings, "Explosion, industrial sector by the direction. The color's odd though." They came to the alarming realization at approximately the same moment.
"The iron plant."
"Get anybody you can, I'll head over to see what we can do."
"In your condition?"
"Suddenly, I feel fine." It's actually true, Akira mused, as he ran through the slowly filling streets, Suddenly, everything's back in focus. All my sense are sharper. Fighting high--just hope I get to enjoy it.
The air around her shimmered with the heat of molten iron spilling from its containers, and the light filtering up from the floor cast everything in a cursed light that reminded her entirely too much of a painting they had seen at the Girls' Academy. "Agni's Throne" I think they called it. She thought back over what she remembered of the image, as flame danced among the chains and the metal glowed a dull red. All I remember is that Agni looked mean in the picture, like he was enjoying burning the people who were there. Then again, she corrected herself, none of the people there were Fire Nation, if I remember right. A sharp pain in her hand pulled her out of her memory and she hurriedly let go of the chain, barely catching another as a blast of flame shot through where she had been a moment before.
She dropped to the platform, her foot slipping in the dark stain seeping through the grill-work. Hurriedly scanning the platform, she finally spotted Mina. The archer had slung her bow across her back once more, and instead seemed to be digging from a pouch tied to her waist. Bringing her hand up, she quickly snapped it forward, almost like a snake striking, and a cloaked man fell with a yell, grabbing at his face. Another strike, and this time Ty Lee caught the flame surrounding a small projectile as it cracked the edge of a soldier's eye-slit. Hearing motion, she spun in a crouch, just missing the flaming kick that sailed harmlessly over her head, as she pushed up from her position with a solid impact against the chestplate of a soldier, throwing him backwards into his companions.
"Hey Pink! Come on!" Turning, she caught the last of Mina's opponents collapsing to the platform, and the archer sheathing a knife. Before the last clang of the armor had faded, the archer was sliding down a chain to the levels below, Ty Lee not far behind. Swinging among the chains and supports, the two quickly left the remaining attackers behind. Glancing at her friend, Ty Lee couldn't help but be impressed by her agility, keeping the same pace as the acrobat as their surroundings blurred around them. Finally landing on the lowest level of the catwalks, Ty Lee found herself covered in sweat from the heat rising from the floor. Descending the stairs to the floor of the plant, she forced herself to not look at the men laying shattered against the floor, or even worse protruding from the smoking and spitting iron that lay cooling across the ground.
"Well, maybe you aren't so hopeless after all, Pink. Did pretty good back there, actually." Ty Lee only offered up a weak grin in response. She was tired, slightly singed, and needed a bath, but at the same time happy for the compliment. Walking towards the door from which they had entered, she almost missed the figure picking its way across the patches of molten iron at the edges of the room.
"What have you managed to get yourself involved in now, huh?" Turning, she grinned at the familiar voice as Akira approached the two.
"Oh, just the usual. You know, nothing serious or dangerous." She was rewarded by his lopsided grin, as Mina walked up beside her.
"Who's this joker?" She demanded, pulling her knife once more from its sheathe. Ty Lee hurriedly placed herself between the two as Akira's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Listen, we're all on the same side, alright? Let's be friends!"
"Considering recent events, you'll excuse me if I'm not the most trusting person right now." Nonetheless, after a glance at Akira, she slowly replaced the knife. Ty Lee visibly relaxed, glad that's over, now about that bath? Unfortunately, her thoughts were interrupted by a group of men barging through a doorway and freezing at the scene before them.
"It's all right, Kojima. No need to--Aya! A'que!" A jolt seemed to go through the assembled soldiers as they turned as one and fired at something behind her. The flames passed over her head, and she turned in time to see a smoking body slam into the floor.
She turned to Akira, wide-eyed. "What--?"
"What--?" The acrobat struggled to form words as Yarin and Dasi ran to check on the downed man. Akira waved an all-clear to the rest of the Guardsmen, although he punctured the signal with a warning of "Stay alert." He turned to the hopelessly lost acrobat, "He was going to blast the two of you, I wasn't going to stand and watch."
"Sir, engineer crews reporting." A short, stocky man wearing a heavy coat and face mask introduced himself. Akira noted a small army of the men hurrying to scrape up the molten metal and place it in holding tanks.
"Carry on, I wouldn't know the first thing about what to do. Just be careful, there could be additional explosives. If you find anything suspicious, get one of us to deal with it." He jabbed his thumb at the Wolves behind him, "Now if you'll excuse me, I really need to get to the Palace." As he turned to leave, he caught Ty Lee's eye. The nod was almost imperceptible, as was the word that he mouthed quckly before making his way out of the plant. I only hope she caught that. As he reentered the streets, he mumbled the word softly to himself.
"Tomorrow."
"The Fire Lord will see no one at the present time."
"He'll see me, it's important."
"I'm sorry sir, but the Fire Lord will see no one at the present time."' With his remark, the aide turned back to his work, leaving a fuming Akira to reconsider his options. So I can't get in officially, but I could always use the Guard room to get in and talk with him. For something like this, he'll have to talk to me! But then how am I going to say it, not like every day that the Avatar himself comes back to life. Wait a second...Oh, Agni, forget it, just go in there and tell him, not like he can kill you for delivering a message, right? Seriously, can he? Whatever, I need something for this headache. Replacing his helmet, he walked off to find the passage that led to the Guard's waiting area adjacent to the throne room.
Went he entered the throne room, he was unsurprised to find the throne occupied. He couldn't see much beyond the curtain of flame, but the man kneeling in the floor was shaking so badly that he could barely get words out.
"Getting-getting as much as we can, my lord. The-the mines, they-they just can't-I mean--"
"Silence. You've said enough." The form behind the curtain rose, and the flames seemed to jump higher in response, "You will be sent additional medical supplies in each month's shipment, as well as additional staff for the camp hospital. However, I expect results from this new 'program' of yours, and soon." The Fire Lord sat back down, and the man proceeded to scramble to his feet before nearly falling again while bowing, and hurriedly left the room. Akira quietly advanced to the edge of the open floor in front of the throne, and steeled himself for whatever came. Think positive. Don't think about failure. Think positive.
"Permission to speak, my lord." He registered that one of the Guards jumped, completely surprised by his presence. New recruit, he'll have to do better than that to survive long here.
The silhouette wavered for a moment. "Proceed."
Akira took a deep breath, "Sir, on my mission to Gyudon, I confronted and was--was defeated by the Avatar and two of his companions."
The room seemed to echo with the silence. Even the flaming curtain quieted as the shadow behind it seemed to quiver with barely restrained emotion.
"What did you say?" The voice was forcibly restrained, and the tension was tangible as the flames flickered unsteadily.
"The Avatar is alive, my lord, and is fighting once again."
The flames blazed up from their containers, licking against the high ceiling. Sparks seemed to flicker around the room, and the hair on the back of Akira's neck stood up. Spirits, he's calling lightning. Agni protect me.
I already am.
His eyes widened in shock. What? That wasn't me, who's voice was that? The mysterious voice kept quiet, however, and presently he bacame aware that the fire had lowered and steadied itself once more. The figure on the podium remained motionless, but Akira could feel the restraint it was taking.
"Go. Now."
Not needing to be told twice, and he hurried from the chamber, scaring the aide on the way out, and headed for the Palace doctor's quarters, all the while wondering where the voice could have come from. It couldn't have been...could it? The spirits don't mingle with humans anymore. So what was that? This is doing nothing for my headache.
Next Chapter: Doctor's orders ground our hero from his work and force him to take a vacation with a friend, and a Princess discovers the price for lying to the Fire Lord. Tune in Next Week! Or somewhere around then.