A/N: Hope you like the chapter, this is my favorite.
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar.
Chapter 6: Rescue
Kozu stood on the bow, watching his men dock the ship in the small port town. He wondered if Kalaya had already passed here, and hoped so when he saw Zow's ship. He stayed on board, practicing his firebending as Li and Jin went into town to get the needed supplies. He had tried to get what he needed once more, and failed, getting more useless information from the admiral's supply line. Kozu needed to get onto Zow's ship, but saw no way possible at the moment, so he busied himself with practicing.
He had just finished and was about to head to the washroom to clean up when he saw Li board the ship, searching for him and looking worried.
"What's wrong?" he asked his teacher. Very little worried the master, and what did worry him made Kozu very nervous.
"Kalaya," Li said as soon as he came up to Kozu. "Zow has captured her and has taken her to his ship for questioning." Kozu turned away from Li, furious, and slammed his fists onto the railing of the deck. It was too late, Zow had her and there was nothing he could do. He had no jurisdiction on Zow's ship and she was probably already injured, or worse.
Li saw his students' anguish at the news. "She was knocked unconscious by one of Zow's men when they captured her little less than an hour ago," he continued. There may be a chance she could be saved." He looked at Kozu, expectantly.
Kozu looked at Li, appraising him. Did he know more than he thought he did? His teacher kept the expectant look on his weathered face, waiting upon hid princes' answer.
"I can't. A banished prince can't demand her release."
"No, but a thief could. Perhaps you could contact one?"
Kozu smiled. If Li knew about his being the blue spirit, he wasn't the one who would tell.
"Perhaps," he said, turning to head into the washroom. He had little time to prepare. He turned back to Li before he entered the interior of the ship. "Maybe you should go ahead once the supplies are loaded and visit your nephew. I'll take one of the boats and visit the mayor. He might be able to help."
Li nodded and smiled as he watched Kozu head inside. He knew his prince would do whatever it took to help the lady, and that she would be saved.
Kozu dressed in his armor with his black ninja suit underneath and took one of the smaller boats to the south of town and headed in, knocking on the mayors' door.
The mayors' house was a palace compared to the rest of the small town, but it was still a modest house, built by wood, but well kept up, and stood on its own. Surprisingly, the mayor himself opened the door.
"Ah, Prince Kozu, what may I do for you?" the mayor said, smiling as he greeted Kozu.
Kozu looked at the man seriously. The mayor had been a lieutenant under him before taking his father's place as mayor of the port town, and was a good man. But Kozu needed an alibi, and knew he was trustworthy.
"Khin, I need a favor."
The mayor's face fell, but he quickly brought Kozu in, shutting the door behind him.
"Yes, sir. What can I do for you?"
Kozu relaxed slightly. "I just need for you to say I was here, all night long."
Khin relaxed as well. "Yes sir, it would be an honor." He then showed Kozu to the back door, into a fenced garden, and wished him luck as he saw the prince leaving. He would do anything for his prince, but was relieved that all he had requested was an alibi.
Kozu left quickly through a gate and skirted the town, heading back to his boat. He replaced his armor for a blue demon mask and headed towards Zow's ship, swimming as the sun started to set to one of the anchor chains. He climbed up the chain, heating his body to remove the water from his clothing and boarded the ship.
There were crates of supplies around the railings. The layout was the same as all the ships in the navy, with a large empty stern and bow, and a door led to the interior by the steam stack. The only difference between this ship and Kozu's own, was that it was nearly three times as large, with what looked like more quarters above the bow.
A soldier came by as Kozu slipped behind a crate. He had to find out where Kalaya was and get her out as quick as he could. He might also have the chance to get what he needed, but Kalaya's safety came first. He entered the dark interior of the ship after two guards exited and headed towards the captain's quarters. Kozu heard a soldier coming towards him jumped up to position himself against the roof. He watched as the soldier passed and jumped down behind him, grabbing the soldier's arm, and pulled it behind his back, pinning him. He held his broadswords to the soldiers' neck, and then raised his sword hand so the soldier could see the blue ribbon around his wrist.
"The water tribe girl?" the soldier asked, quaking in fear. "She was just taken to Admiral Zow's quarters. Please…"
Kozu moved the swords back to the man's throat. "Where?" Kozu growled in a deep voice.
"Up …up one level, last door. Please, I have a family..."
Kozu was irritated with this man. He was a poor excuse for a soldier, but he didn't want or need to kill. He moved his swords behind the man and clubbed him on the head with the hilts, knocking him out. He dragged the man down a side corridor and left him in the shadows, hurrying to Zow. He hoped he wasn't too late. He avoided the two guards he saw and found Zow's door, and opened it slowly. What he found surprised him, but he always knew she could take care of herself.
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Kalaya had woken up with a bad headache to a dark dungeon cell. It as windowless and only a small amount of light came from a crack under the door. She rose into a sitting position, holding her head with one hand. She had to get away, but couldn't think of a way to do that just yet. She felt the water surrounding the boat, and in the pipes, but couldn't use it. It was too far away and she couldn't bring it to her through metal.
Just as she began to get up to check her cell, a guard came in to check on her. He saw her up and awake and left. She was sure he was going to tell Zow, and checked her cell quickly, but there were no weaknesses or hiding spots.
The guard came back a few minutes later with another. She tried to fight them off, but they grabbed her arms and the first guard showed his club to her, telling her that he had no problem hitting her again. She stopped fighting, but became a dead weight. They carried her out and up. They went up several flights if stairs, but never went outside. Kalaya looked for an opening to make an escape attempt, but none came.
She was carried to a large room, one similar to the one she had lived in on Prince Kozu's ship, but it was larger and more elaborately furnished. It held a large, elaborately carved oak desk with a matching chair. There was a large bed against the far wall under a fire nation tapestry and a large oak dresser across from the desk. She was dropped on the bed as Zow came in, grinning maliciously as he looked her over. She glowered at him as the guards left, to which he just grinned more.
"Come, my dear, we are all alone. We must not keep secrets from one another."
Kalaya remained silent. She wouldn't rise to his bait. She backed up as he approached her. He took off his shirt when she reached the wall, and then reached for her. She ducked under his arm and kicked him in the shins before moving behind him.
"Why you little…" Zow turned and glared at her. Apparently his games were finished.
He rushed to her, grabbing her arms, then tried to push her down onto the bed again. She brought up her knee, and kneed him in the groin before hitting him with her head. She saw the door open behind Zow, and hesitated.
Zow backhanded her as he went down, sending her onto the bed once more. He approached her again, arm raised, and she covered her face with her arms, closing her eyes, but nothing happened. She peeked her eyes open to reveal the blue spirit standing over an unconscious Zow. He looked as if he was about to kill him, with his dual broadswords out, breathing heavily, but instead turned to her. He sheathed his dual swords, and held a hand out to her.
She looked at it, and took it, smiling. He handed her a water skin and squeezed her hand reassuringly before turning to check the desk in Zow's room. He scooped a few pieces of paper into a pouch at his waist before grabbing her hand again and leading her out. They raced out, the blue spirit leading, apparently knowing where he was going.
They turned a corner and came face to face with three soldiers. Kalaya quickly opened the water skin and bent the water to freeze the soldiers' feet to the ground. The blue spirit jumped onto their backs as they fell forward, pulling Kalaya after him and pushing the soldiers to the ground before leading her out. The thief stopped them before they exited, checking the stern. He then took her hand and ran to the railing.
"Watch out!" Kalaya yelled, seeing an archer rise up behind them. More soldiers with spears came out, trying to surround them. She pulled the seawater up and used it as a shield as an arrow came their way before the spearmen engaged them. The blue spirit put himself between Kalaya and the spearmen, drawing his dual swords, and using them in a fluid motion to parry and break the spears.
"No," she said in a low voice as she saw Zow come out of the ship along with five more archers. She knew they would have to jump, but if they did, they'd be killed. She moved her arms up, bringing a gigantic wave of water above her. The men engaging the thief fell back as they saw the wave and the archers drew back. Zow was the only one to stand his ground, only frowning as he saw the wave get larger.
As she reached her limit on strength, she let the wave crash onto the ship in front of them, and pulled the thief with her overboard as it crashed onto the soldiers. They hit the water, and both began swimming.
The blue spirit was ahead of her and heading south, so she followed him. Arrows began striking the water, and the thief slowed, blocking the arrows from hitting them with his swords. After Kalaya had passed him, she looked back and saw an arrow strike his mask and knock him out. She couldn't leave him and bent the water, forming a circle of ice around her feet and rose to the surface, skating back to pick him up as he started to slip under the surface. She grabbed him with one hand as she saw the archers aim from the railing. She turned sharply, waving her free arm in an arc, bringing up a sheet of ice between herself and the archers, stopping several arrows as she skated away.
"South," she heard the thief say. "I have a boat." She nodded and kept going, not looking down at him, but focusing on getting away from Zow. After a short while, she was directed to the shoreline and saw a small fire navy boat hidden among the brush. She stopped as soon as her feet could touch, letting the ice turn back into seawater and staggered, exhausted.
"It's ok, I've got you," he said, grabbing her as she started to fall and wrapped his arm around her waist, guiding her to the boat. He set her down inside the small steering compartment against the back, and left to remove the concealing brush. When he came back in, she had fallen asleep. Kozu smiled and turned to steer the boat out to sea. He took his mask off and inspected it. It had a small nick where the arrow had struck it, but was in otherwise good condition.
Kozu placed it to the side, needing to see well as he steered. She needed to be safe, and he needed to find her camp and get her away again. He thrust some coal into the fire, then pulled a lever to start the engine. Once the engine was going, he pulled another lever to start the motor and steered his boat to the north, trying to find her camp sight. As he came upon it, he saw an archer rise. He swerved and turned the boat around, more archers rising and shooting towards the boat. He stayed hidden inside the hatch, steering, and heard Kalaya get up as he saw Zow's ship pursuing them in the twilight.
"What can I do?" she asked behind him.
"Can you give us some cover?" he replied.
"Yeah," she said, and he heard her smile in her answer. Fog started to rise up around them and became thicker. "Turn to starboard slightly; we can lose them in the river delta."
He turned the boat inland, trusting her to tell him when to head back out as he could see nothing but fog.
"Be ready to turn to port, hard," she said. He glanced back at her, and saw her concentrating, moving her arms in a fluid motion.
"Now!" she yelled, and he turned the wheel sharply, taking them to the left, away from land. The fog began to clear in front of them, but still billowed behind them. A loud grinding sound occurred behind them, followed by the sound of metal bending and creaking as Zow's ship ran aground in the shallow delta. Kalaya let the fog go, and turned to the thief, grinning. He turned and grinned back and she was shocked to come face with Kozu instead of the blue spirit.