Chapter II - Nightmares and New Allies
When the gladiator's eyes cracked open again, the first thing he noticed was that the clouds seemed to be flying past him. In alarm, he bolted upright and looked around to get a better sense of where he was. He noticed that he was in the leather saddle of a very large, white, furry animal with four other people; two boys and two girls, none of which looked to be any older than fifteen.
"W-where am I?" He asked groggily. "And who are you people?"
"We're the people who rescued you a few hours ago," the younger boy replied, looking at him from over his shoulder. "And this is Appa, my flying bison."
"Flying bison?" The gladiator asked, frowning. "Didn't they all die out a hundred years ago? And why do I remember seeing you...airbend?"
"I'm the last airbender," The younger boy replied. He hesitated before adding, "I'm Avatar Aang."
The gladiator stared at him in mixed astonishment and confusion. This young boy was the master of all four elements? Had he not disappeared one hundred years ago?
"You're… Sorry, I'm a little out of it. Getting hit in the head with a metal pipe tends to have that effect."
"He's the Avatar," the older girl reaffirmed. "And we're his friends."
"I'm Sokka," The older boy introduced himself, then gestured to the older girl. "And this is my sister, Katara. The one in green over there is Toph."
"Hey," Toph greeted him from her relaxed pose a few feet away.
"One day I'm fighting to the death against other prisoners simply to entertain some drunk Fire Nation soldiers, and the next I'm flying with the Avatar of all people. What are the odds?" He paused. "What exactly brings you all out here? There's only one of you who I think is from anywhere near here."
"I have to master all of the elements before Sozin's Comet arrives," Aang explained.
"Sozin's Comet? Isn't that when the Fire Nation took over much of the world?" A startling realization dawned upon him. "Oh no… It's coming back?!"
"It's coming back," Sokka replied with a nod. "And he's still got to learn earthbending and firebending in just a few more months." He then turned to Aang. "..No pressure. Now you've got Toph to teach you that."
"So basically, the four of you are trying to teach him everything in a few months while fighting the Fire Nation along the way?" The gladiator asked.
"Pretty much," Katara replied.
The gladiator smiled somewhat wolfishly. "Then I want in."
The two boys looked at each other, then back at the gladiator. "I don't know if that's such a good idea," Sokka told him.
"Why not?" Toph asked.
Sokka glanced at her. "He's a ruthless killer, that's why. He killed several Fire Nation soldiers while we were fighting our way out. This kind of thing will bring all kinds of bad attention to us, and that's the last thing we need."
"He's a firebender," Katara mentioned. "He can teach Aang firebending."
"Actually," the gladiator confessed, "I don't know a whole lot of firebending. Just the basics. I know a lot more earthbending."
Sokka looked at him in confusion. "Wait a minute, you can do both? How's that possible?!"
"I'm a half-blood," The gladiator explained. "One parent was of the Fire Nation, and the other was of the Earth Kingdom."
"Even so, I thought the Avatar was the only one who could bend more than one element!"
"Guess I'm just lucky," The gladiator shrugged. "So can I join or not? I don't really have a home, so where else am I supposed to go?"
"I think we should let him join." Toph opined.
"I think so, too." Katara agreed.
"He'll make Aang look bad," Sokka stubbornly objected. "The Fire Nation already thinks we're the bad guys. The last thing we need is a cold-blooded killer reinforcing that belief."
"It's your decision, Aang," Katara said, ignoring her brother.
Aang took a moment to mull things over. Of course, the gladiator seemed to be a little less hesitant about killing than the others, and he clearly was not the best firebending teacher for him, but he did wish to help. Besides, where else would he go if they just left him?
"Okay," He complied with a nod. "Um...What's your name?"
"Kalin," The gladiator replied.
"Kalin, you can come with us. But Sokka does have a point; we'll need you to at least try to restrain yourself."
Kalin smiled, pleased to have been accepted into the group. "I can avoid killing Fire Nation soldiers when I need to."
Although Sokka didn't seem as convinced as the others were, and clearly wasn't pleased with Aang's decision, he reluctantly sighed and stuck out his hand. "Well then, welcome to the team I guess, Kalin."
"Thanks." Kalin looked at the position of the moon and realized that it was close to midnight. "Are we staying in the sky all night, or are we going to land soon?"
"You don't like Appa?" Toph chided jokingly.
"We'll land soon," Aang assured him. "It's next to impossible to get any sleep up here."
Kalin leaned back in the spacious saddle and smiled. For the first time in months, he had a real chance to make a difference against the Fire Nation. Perhaps now he could finally get his revenge.
While all this was happening, somewhere in the wilderness a ways away, a small, flickering, red light could be seen from within the trees in the dark night. Two people were encamped in a clearing in the forest, with only a small fire to light their dark surroundings. One was stirring a pot of tea hanging over the fire, while the other lay asleep on the ground, twitching and shuffling as if locked in a nightmare.
Suddenly, the girl, one who looked around the age of fourteen with long, straight, black hair partly pulled up into a ponytail, bolted awake with a gasp. The other person, an elderly man with grey hair and a grey beard, paused in stirring his tea and looked up at her.
"Ky?" The old man called, looking a bit worriedly at the girl. "Are you okay?"
Ky hyperventilated, amber eyes darting around around nervously with her fist ready to blast fire if something jumped out at them. When she was fully sure that they were in no danger, she dropped her fist and turned to address the old man's question. "Sorry Iroh, I'm fine," she apologized, shaking her head.
Iroh seemed to smile a little when she had calmed down and resumed his stirring. "Did you have a bad dream?"
Ky nodded and moved to face the fire, drawing her legs up to her chin. "...It was about Zuko," she murmured in a low tone.
Iroh suddenly seemed alert. "Prince Zuko?" He asked, as he began to pour some tea, making sure they were talking about the same one.
The girl nodded again and stared into the dancing fire. "I'm worried about him," she admitted. "He's been gone for a while now. What if he's in trouble?" She was referring to Zuko's parting of ways with them nearly two weeks before. They had all left the Fire Nation together after being banished, but soon split up after an argument that caused Zuko to decide to leave the group.
Picking up one of the two teacups he had just filled, Iroh handed one of them to Ky before responding, "Prince Zuko is a strong person. I believe he will be fine."
Ky took the cup from him and dropped her legs from her chest, crossing them neatly in front of her. She didn't look so sure about Iroh's words however and glanced back into the dark woods surrounding them. "I'm not sure.. Azula's still out there, hunting us down.. What if she finds Zuko first? He doesn't stand a chance on his own!"
Iroh thoughtfully sipped some of his tea. "What exactly did you dream that would make you so worried?" he questioned her gently.
Ky looked down at her reflection in her teacup and brushed some of her bangs out of her face. "...Fire."
Her dream suddenly replayed in her mind. There was utter and complete darkness before it was lit ablaze by hungry blue flames. Everything burned, the destruction was great, and standing in the middle of it all was a crazed-looking Azula, laughing chaotically. The scene switched and Zuko was there, looking shocked. A blast of fire blew him back and he fell into a pit of gaping darkness, disappearing from sight with a loud cry.
Upon finishing her story, Ky realized she was shaking and took a quick drink of tea to steady herself.
Iroh studied the girl he had come to call his 'adopted daughter' over the last few years and pondered over what he had heard. "And you think this will happen while he is on his own?" he slowly asked, choosing his words carefully.
Ky shrugged and wrung her free hand in the air. "I don't know," she replied. "Maybe, maybe not, I might just be getting paranoid for all I know; it's just.." Her voice lowered. "Whenever I dream of fire, it never means good things."
Iroh paused in drinking at this sentence. It was true, this wasn't the first time Ky had dreamt about losing someone to fire. Each time it was someone different, but it always involved the fiery flames. He was beginning to suspect the fear was tied in somehow with her early life, as he didn't meet her until she was around six years old and knew nothing about her life before that, but he could never prove his theory. She never showed signs of fear of fire in real life, and seemed to be quite fine with bending the element itself. Perhaps it was one story he wasn't meant to know..
Seeing as Ky had fallen silent after her statement, the firebending master decided to speak up again. "Ky, if you believe that your dream is important, then perhaps we should take it seriously."
"But what if I'm wrong?" Ky questioned Iroh, giving him a hopeless look. "What if I'm worrying over nothing again?"
"It's at times like this that you must learn to trust your heart." Iroh softly told her, leaning forward to gently touch where her heart was located. "It will guide you in the right direction, just so long as your motives are pure and true."
Ky faintly smiled at him. Somehow, he always knew what to say that would cheer her up. True, she wasn't very sure of herself on this one, and was becoming even less sure of what she had been taught in the Fire Nation, but she was genuinely worried about Zuko, and knew his sister wouldn't show mercy just because they were related.
"So, what do you think? Do we go after him or not?" Iroh asked her.
Ky was quiet for a moment, then she nodded. "..We should."
Iroh nodded solemnly. "I thought you would say that. To be honest, I'm as concerned as you are." He then flashed a sly grin at her. "That is why we've been secretly following his path for days."
The firebender's mouth dropped open in shock. "What? We have?" Ky exclaimed. "Bu-but we went in opposite directions! How is that possible?"
"Anything is possible if you set your mind to it." Iroh replied, indirectly answering her question. He winked and put a finger to his mouth. "But don't tell Zuko. It's our little secret."
Ky felt a smile stretch across her face. Iroh was always one step ahead of everyone else. She nodded in agreement and laughed. "Okay. I'm sure he'd be pretty ticked if he found out anyways."
Iroh laughed as well; a very hearty one for his age. "Probably. He'd say something like-" At this point he began to impersonate Zuko, even pulling his face into a more Zuko-like one. "WHAT? You've been following me? Why would you do something like that?! RAH RAH RAH!"
Ky tried to suppress her laughter beneath her hand, but failed and burst out into fits of giggling as Iroh continued to impersonate the usually grumpy Zuko.
Iroh stopped after a minute and smiled warmly at the girl. "It is good to see you laughing again, my dear. The last time I saw you this much at ease was when Zuko spilled tea all over himself that one time because it was too hot."
Ky settled down and wiped some tears out of her eyes. "I guess I just feel more at ease out here than I do in the Fire Nation," she told him, her voice still lined with amusement.
Iroh nodded happily, then glanced down at the fire, which was beginning to die down. "Well, you should be getting back to bed. You'll need your strength tomorrow if we're going to catch up with Zuko. We'll leave first thing in the morning."
"Sounds good to me," Ky agreed, before handing him back the teacup. "Thank you for the tea." She bowed a good night to him and retreated back to her mat, lying down on it and closing her eyes again. No horrifying images played in her mind when she did so; the fear of her dream having completely melted away.
Iroh watched as Ky lay back down. She seemed to be over her nightmare, but it only unsettled him the more he thought about it. He hadn't told her, but he had had a similar dream when they were still hunting the Avatar down. He had almost completely written it off as paranoia, but when she mentioned having it too, his unsureness returned. It almost made him convinced that this was something they needed to pay careful attention to.
Looking up at the star filled sky visible from the clearing in the trees, Iroh sighed. He only hoped that Zuko would find his path in time, and the disaster forscene in their dreams would be averted. Focusing back on the fire, he waved his hands at the flames and put it out, plunging the campsite into darkness.