Chap. 15

A Pair of New Arrivals Part 1

"By Ruta, this country is dammingly hot." Bato grumbled, as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

"I know Bato. You've said that at least five times now." Hakoda replied, as the sweat poured down his face. "But that's not helping us get this tree down any faster."

"Maybe you have some sort of explosive we could use?" Bato asked hopefully.

"No, everything I had was taken by the Knights for the Army."

"Even your secret stash?" Bato gaped in amazement.

"Yes. Sokka's a fine boy, but I wish he knew when to be quiet sometimes." Hakoda answered.

"He takes after his father." Bato replied.

Hakoda raised an eyebrow at that, and then the two old friends laughed. Grabbing their axes once again, they returned to chopping down the large tree before them so that it could be brought back to the campsite. Since arriving on the Fire Nation shores three days ago, the first branch of the Army had managed to set up a rather impressive campsite. The Earth Kingdom troops had brought several supplies, including tents, foodstuffs, utensils, and various other devices that rivaled those of the Water Tribe. The camp had been set up using the best both Nation had to offer, and it was an impressive sight. The camp stretched into a wide area of the Fire Nation jungle, keeping them safe from the prying eyes of ships, and since this island was only militarized on it's far side, according to Iroh, there was little chance of discover and attack.

After camp was set up, the next issue was what sort of governing body would command the various troops and keep the camp in line. The Army had, after much debate, formed a Council, which seated two members from each of the Nations. Currently, those seats were filled by the Avatar, General Iroh, Katara, Sokka, the recently returned Toph, and those of the Knights who had arrived thus far. Though many of the council's members were young, their various experiences with the Fire Nation were above anything that the senior members of the Army had to offer, and faced with that, few had any grounds to oppose them. To appease the senior members of the Army, however, the Council had wisely selected two members of each Nation to be its representatives and speak on any concern that their particular Nation had. Hakoda and Bato spoke for the Water Tribes, and How and Bumi currently spoke for the Earth Kingdom.

With that settled, the Army had begun to get things up running, only to run into a bit of a snag on the first night. While the Fire Nation apparently encountered very warm days, the nights could be quite cold. Therefore, kindling for fires had become a necessity for the troops as well as the cooks. After discussing the matter, Iroh had remembered a specific tree in the jungles of the Fire Nation that would burn with minimal sparks, and last for close to an hour. The Council had voted, and decided it was a fine idea. After asking for volunteers to go into the jungle along with Aang and Oscuridad, the Council had selected five pairs of troops, Bato and Hakoda included and sent them out to gather as many trees as they could carry.

"So, what do you think of the Earthbenders?" Bato asked, as he took yet another swing at the trunk.

"Seem all right, though a bit too quick to act." Hakoda replied. "I had to argue with one of them that I could just climb a tree and get some fruit rather then him uprooting it."

"That wasn't the guy who got the, uh 'cramps' was he?" Bato asked.

"Hey, I didn't know it would do that to him." Hakoda said with a laugh.

"I hope not. The poor guy didn't leave the bushes for an hour." Another voice said out of nowhere.

Surprised, the two Water-Tribesmen whirled around, only to see Luz emerge from the foliage of the jungle. The fox had shed her cloak and hat in the humid jungle, as well as her tunic. She was now clad in a thin undershirt, her gauntlets and Lightblade, boots and pants.

"Sorry, did I scare you?" Luz asked with a smile.

"A bit, Lightweaver." Hakoda said, lowering his axe.

"I told you, call me Luz." The fox replied.

"Of course. It's just strange to be so causal with such a mythic figure."

"Believe me, I wasn't all that mythic a while back." Luz replied. "Frankly, I'm not sure I count as mythic yet anyway. How's the tree coming?"

"Not bad." Bato replied. "I think we might have it down in another day or two."

"Well, don't strain yourselves. Here," she said, tossing them a waterskin. "I think you guys can use it."

"Much thanks." Bato said, taking a long swig from the skin before passing it to Hakoda.

"Hey, have you two seen Osc and Aang? I've been looking for them; we've got some new arrivals at camp."

"Oh? Who made it?" Hakoda asked.

"Desierto and Bosque. They just arrived half an hour ago with Haru and his father, along with a bunch of Earthbenders."

"Great. The more the merrier." Bato said.

"Yeah, and I figured Osc would like to know. He was a little disappointed when Tierra came back so soon."

"Do those two get along at all?" Hakoda asked. "Katara told me about the two of them in that other world."

"It's an old story." Luz said. "One's from Jersey, one's from New York. And they're brothers. It's a miracle sometimes they don't kill each other."

"We'll take your word for it." Hakoda said.

"Right. Well, I'd better get going." Luz said.

"Don't forget this." Bato said, tossing her the waterskin.

"Thanks. You don't know how hard it is being in a jungle with a fur coat you can't take off." Luz said, as she turned to head off. But before she did, she paused, and then walked over to the tree. Holding out her right hand, the fox extended her Lightblade, and then suddenly made a quick slash in the air. Hakoda and Bato looked on in confusion, but a second later there was a crack and the tree toppled to the ground.

"Didn't want you passing out before you got to at least two trees." Luz said, as the tow Water-Tribesmen gaped in amazement. But before they could say anything, there was a rumble in the air, followed by thunder and a visible crack of lighting in the sky above.

"What on earth?" Hakoda gaped, his astonishment at Luz's skill forgotten. "There's not a cloud in the sky."

"Which means only one thing." Luz said. "Come on, it's a new arrival!"

"Can't these stone be accurate?" Bato muttered as he sheathed his axe and began to follow Luz and Hakoda through the jungle. "The last one brought Tierra and Toph into a mudpit."

"Toph didn't seem to mind." Luz said, as they raced through the jungle, towards where the lighting had struck.

"How do we know where we're going?" Hakoda asked suddenly. Luz turned her head and pointed to her nose in response.

"I can smell the ozone from miles away." The fox said, as she suddenly turned right and leapt through some foliage. Hakoda and Bato did the same, and the trio emerged into a grove of trees, in which a large group of people were scattered around.

"Well, that was easy. But who are they?" Bato asked, as he moved forward, and helped one of the group to his feet.

"I think I can make a guess.' Luz said, moving to where a silver-guised figure was slowly raising himself up.

"Have a fun trip?" she asked Truneo, as he turned his head at the sound of her voice.

"As much as anyone else does on the lightning express." The ram answered, as his sister helped him to his feet.

"We would've been here sooner, but Suki had some business to finish up." The ram said. "Where is she, anyway?"

"Over here." A young girl called out from the base of a tree, as she got to her feet. Luz turned and knew in an instant this was the girl that Sokka had been talking about for the last week. Just the thought of having Suki back was enough to keep Sokka upbeat, despite all the problems involved in setting up camp.

"You all right?" Truneo asked.

"I think so. That was one hell of a ride." Suki said, as she stood back up.

"I know what you mean." Luz said. "My name's Luz by the way. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Suki replied, as she moved over to where the fox stood. "Truneo told us a lot about you."

"And Sokka told us plenty about you." Luz answered.

"Oh, this is the girl he's been talking about?" Bato asked.

"Right. Oh, Suki, this is Bato and Hakoda, Katara and Sokka's father."

But strangely, Suki's face actually grew worried at that statement, as did Truneo's. Luz became puzzled, wondering what it was that was so horrible. But then she glanced over at the others, and noticed that some of them were not Kyoshi warriors. In fact, some were not even girls. But the one that really grabbed the fox's attention was the boy that Hakoda was at this very moment helping to his feet.

"Truneo, I seem to be hallucinating." The fox said, speaking quite slowly. "That looks like Jet over there."

"Yeah, about that." The ram said with a sad grimace.

"Oh no. Oh please no. Truneo, please tell me there's a good reason for this." Luz moaned, as she recognized the rest of Jet's band of Freedom Fighters.

"Don't blame him. It wasn't his idea." Suki said.

"You mean you know him?" Luz asked in surprise.

"Yes, she does." Jet said suddenly, moving over to them. "I met Suki and the Warriors at the ferry."

"What were you doing there?" Luz asked.

Jet paused, took a deep breath, "After what happened the last time we met, the villagers came for us. They said that we didn't care about them anymore, just vengeance. They ran us out of the valley; we lost everything."

"So you decided on Ba Sing Se?"

"I was tired. And I couldn't care anymore. I though all I cared about was trying to protect the village. But after they ran us out, I didn't know what to do. Ba Sing Se seemed like the best idea."

"And that's where he met us." Suki said. "Jet and the Freedom Fighters came to us to come into the city, but I thought he could do more. I convinced him to work for the ferry as additional bodyguards. It worked very well."

"And when I came for her and the warriors, Suki told Jet about the Army, and he and the Freedom Fighters leapt at the chance." Truneo explained.

"Tru, I usually trust your judgment…." Luz began.

"Look, Suki wouldn't leave without them." Truneo said. "She said that Jet really needed a chance to prove himself."

"I swear to you, all I want is a chance." Jet begged.

Luz was quiet a moment, and then said, "Jet, it'll be up to the Council on whether or not you stay, but I believe you. We'll take you back to the camp, but we need to keep you away from Katara for a while."

"Why is that?" Hakoda asked, looking down at Jet.

"It's a long story." Truneo said. "I'll tell you on the way. But actually, is Sokka around?"

"He went off on a kindling expedition. Why?"

"Well, there's kind of another little complication……"

"This one looks good." Aang said.

"It better. You wouldn't let me cut down any of the others." Oscuridad muttered as he walked over to the tree, his cape and tunic tied around his waist.

"Well, we want a good tree, don't we?" the young Avatar said.

"Maybe, but it's gonna be firewood. Why go nuts with it?"

"Shouldn't it be good firewood?"

"….. Fine." The bat muttered, as he unsheathed his sword. Turning to face the trunk of the tree, the bat began to swing his weapon like an axe, slicing deeper into the tree with each stroke. As he worked, he asked, "So how's the training coming?"

"Oh, pretty well." Aang replied. "Iroh's showing me a lot."

"You look like your having a better time with it then you did before." Osc noted. "No fear of it this time?"

"Well, a little bit." Aang admitted. "But Iroh says that's good."

"He's right." The bat admitted. "But you can't be too sacred of it. I mean, you will have to use it Aang."

"I know. But I try not to think about it." Aang replied.

"I suppose. But don't avoid it too long Aang." The bat advised. "I don't want to put too much pressure on you, but these are the last seconds of the game here."

"Yeah." Aang said. "What do you do when that comes up?"

The bat paused in his chopping then, and after a moment of thought, said, "I guess I don't know. I've been doing this for a long time, and frankly, I don't worry about myself. What I worry about are the people around me. So I keep their faces in my mind. I remember how much I care about them, and how much they care about me. Beyond that, I don't have anything else. But I think that might be all you need Aang. Somebody to think of.

The Avatar nodded his agreement, and then said, "Thanks Osc. Why don't you let me take that tree the rest of the way?"

"Sure." The bat replied stepping out of the way. Aang stepped in front of the tree, gathered the air to him, and then with a huge airblast, sent the tree crashing down.

"Nice job." Oscuridad replied, clapping the boy on the shoulder. Anag smiled and started to reply, but then went silent.

"Aang? What's wrong?" the bat asked. But then his eyes saw just what had Aang's had, and he stopped in his tracks.

Standing in front of them was a young boy, staring at them in ungodly wonder. They stared back, their surprise making them unable to move. The three of them stood there for almost five minutes, before Aang, always wanting to make friends, gave a small wave and said, "Hi there?"

The boy took off almost instantly, running through the jungle at breakneck pace.

"Come on, we gotta catch him! I gotta wipe his mind!" Oscuridad yelled, sheathing his sword.

"But he's just a kid…" Aang protested.

"We can't take the chance. If someone finds out we're here, it's over." Oscuridad yelled, as he took off through the jungle.

Aang started to protest again, then sighed and took off after the bat. The two of them raced through the jungle. Everywhere they went, branches, leaves, and all sorts of vines hampered their path. Somehow, the kid managed to make his way through them with ease, but behind him, there was much yelling and cursing as the jungle slammed and whipped his pursuers.

"Maybe…. No one…. Will believe him….after all." Oscuridad panted.

"Can't…… give up….. remember?" Aang said back.

"Right, right.." the bat muttered as he doubled his pace. Suddenly, the kid made a turn and leapt through a large space between two trees. Aang and Oscuridad quickly followed, only to emerge in a new and strange area. It was separate from the rest of the jungle, and quite large. A small house was directly in front of them, and behind that, what looked like three acres of plowed farmland. The kid tore across the land as the two heroes stared in wonder and exhaustion. He reached the door and began pounding on it, yelling, "Mama! Papa! They're here! Come out, they're here!"

"Oh damn, he does know who we are." Oscuridad said with a sigh, as the door opened and the boy rushed into the arms of his mother. Once their child was safe, the two parents walked outside to view the strange people that had been brought to their home. As they came closer, Osc and Aang saw that their clothes were ragged and filthy, and that they seemed weak and tired.

"You, boy." The father, a tall man with a drawn face and his long hair tied into a ponytail. "Are you the one spoken of?"

"Uh…..?"

"Are you the Avatar?"

"Aang, for God's sake, don't answer." Oscuridad whispered. "Not until we know something about all this."

But Aang looked over at this family, saw their filthy clothes, their sad demeanor, and he felt a swell of pity in his heart. Walking forward, he said, "Yes, I am the Avatar. I can help you, if you want me to."

Oscuridad started to sigh, but it turned into a gasp a moment later, when the family cried out in joy, and then fell to their knees and prostrated themselves before the young Avatar in worship.