Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. :)
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Chapter 5: Ru
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The group flew in pure peace toward Fudo, avoiding the topic that it was probably Azula that they were after. They all knew that trying to catch Azula would be nearly impossible. She was quick and smart, and she had a lot of factors working for her- for instance, everyone believed her to be dead. It had certainly seemed that way at her execution- her very public, very gruesome execution. The execution which everyone and their grandmother had attended (Gran-Gran included, of course).
The sun had gone down about two hours before. Moonlight illuminated the scene- Appa flying, Aang holding the reigns peacefully, Katara gazing toward the stars, Sokka snoozing, and Toph petting Momo. Everything seemed too nice and quiet for comfort.
Appa grumbled. "Whoa, Appa," Aang reassured. "Everything's all right, nothing's wr-"
A wisp of flame disintegrated before them. "What's going on?" Toph asked, oblivious. Katara was urgently shaking Sokka.
"Hold on, guys," Aang told them quickly. He directed Appa to go lower. "I want to see where that came from."
"Where what came from?" Toph demanded.
"A wisp of smoke," Katara explained briefly. She slapped Sokka one good time, and he blinked as he took in the situation.
Aang began to look around toward the ground. Katara noticed and asked, "Are we under fire?"
"I don't know," Aang replied. "I don't think it was intentional. This is the Fire Nation- we should expect that. It was probably nothing."
Another flame was shot in their direction from a clearing. They couldn't see anyone in it, but they knew someone was around there. "We're being shot at," Sokka informed them. He was still groggy.
"Unbelievable, Genius," Toph snapped. "Thanks for stating the obvious."
Sokka shrugged. "Anytime."
"No kidding..."
"Guys!" Katara exclaimed. "Can you stop acting immature long enough for us to land and get unpacked?"
"You mean we're not spending the night in the city?" Toph asked, overjoyed.
Sokka adopted a disappointed look to his face. "Aw, but I wanted to sleep in a nice warm bed, and eat professionally prepared city food for breakfast."
"Well, someone's shooting at us. They're not very accurate, but we might as well find out who they are, don't you think? I want to get back to civilization as much as you, but we're here, we might as well stop and give Appa a rest. He deserves it."
They quickly landed in the clearing below. "This is where the flames were coming from," Aang told them. "Over there, in the trees."
The four walked over to investigate. "Someone was here," Katara informed them.
"How do you know?" Sokka asked, slightly jealous that he hadn't been the one to find a clue first.
"The grass is trampled, that limb is singed, and a piece of red cloth was hanging off of this branch," Katara replied matter-of-factly. She gestured toward a young tree beside her and held out the piece of cloth for them to see.
"Show off," Sokka muttered.
Katara didn't hear him, but Toph did. As the other two walked just out of earshot to look for other evidence of recent human activity, Toph said to Sokka, "Jealous much?"
Sokka scowled. "I'm not jealous. I'm not," he murmured quietly to himself. Toph smirked.
The four began to comb the area carefully, but the object of their search revealed himself. "Hello?" a voice asked. It was a young -but not too young- male voice. The voice belonged to a figure around fifteen years old with golden eyes and sleek black hair hanging loosely around his face, his clothes of reds and grays. He was about Aang's height, but with more defined muscles and a leaner face.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Sokka immediately demanded. The guy was surrounded in a matter of seconds, and he held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.
"My name's Ru. I'm a fifteen-year-old from Tanaka. I saw your bison and I... I knew who you were. The Avatar and his well-known friends."
Toph hadn't said a word. She was evaluating what her sight was telling her... he was rough-hewn, strong, well-built, and he was standing in a determined manner. Like an earthbender. Like herself. "Back off, you guys. He's okay."
Sokka raised his eyebrow at her, but didn't continue to hassle Ru. Katara questioned him instead. "So why were you firing at us?"
"I wasn't firing at you. I was signaling you."
Toph shook her head. "You're a firebender?"
"You're surprised?" he questioned. "I figured my clothes would give it away, or at least my eyes."
"I'm blind."
Ru didn't seem too perturbed at this information. "You still seemed a little too surprised to find me, a firebender, in the Fire Nation. Did you think I was something else? An earthbender, perhaps?"
"Uh, yeah, actually," Toph stuttered. What was he, psychic?
"I'm not an earthbender, but my mother is. I got a lot of earthbending characteristics from my grandfather on her side of my family." He grinned. "You're keen. I like that."
Toph blushed crimson, but Sokka's few grew red for a different reason. "So why were you signaling us, exactly?"
"I figured you guys were heading to Fudo, and that's where I'm going too. I thought maybe we could travel together."
Aang glanced at Katara, then nodded. "Yeah, we're heading to Fudo. We don't mind if you come along. You'll get there a lot faster on Appa."
"Oh, but you won't like Appa," Sokka persuaded. "He's big and smelly and makes weird noises. And you really won't be able to stand Katara's constant nagging. You'd probably prefer to keep traveling on the ground, far away from us."
"I wouldn't nag so much if you weren't so impossible," Katara muttered under her breath. Sokka heard her and shot her an annoyed look.
"It doesn't matter. If you don't want me to come-"
"No, you can come. We don't mind," Toph insisted, purposely stepping on Sokka's foot. He let out an ignored yelp of pain.
"Um... okay. Thanks. So I guess you guys are going to Fudo because you've heard of the band of rebels hanging around?"
"How'd you know?" Aang asked. "And why're you going there, too?"
"Fudo's the only major Fire Nation city in this absolute direction, and I just thought that if the Avatar was traveling in the Fire Nation on purpose, it would have to be for some serious purpose. I'll tell you my reasons for heading to Fudo after we get going."
"Actually, we thought we'd land and make camp out here for the night," Katara volunteered.
Ru nodded uncomfortably. "Okay. I've got my own stuff -sleeping bag, weapons, the works- so I won't be a charity case."
Toph grinned. She felt a kindred spirit in him... of course, he was from the Earth Kingdom. She felt a kindred spirit in all Earth Kingdom subjects, except for the unappreciative few who had no concept of what they were capable of, whether they were benders or not.
Sokka didn't like Ru. He was fifteen, a dangerous and hormone-raging age which Sokka himself knew all too well. He was a firebender and, possibly worst of all, he'd taken a sort of fancy to Toph. Sokka didn't know why, but that fact just made him angry. Why was he so protective of Toph all of a sudden? Why did he care so much? Guys had flirted with her before (or attempted to, right before Toph buried them in a pile of rubble or smashed them against a wall). Why was now so different?
Because she likes him back, a voice prodded. It was a voice somewhere in the depths of Sokka's mind, and he couldn't for the life of him make it go away.
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I'm enjoying this, to be honest with you. Tell me what YOU think! Review, readers! Thanks so much!
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