Something I would like to mention before we get into this chapter is that I am amazed at the amount of support you guys are showing this series. Half of the views and visitors for this fanon have come from this month alone, and that amounts to more than 350 views. I really appreciate it.

This is the fifth Chapter in The Desire for Honor. It doesn't have as much action, or storyline, but I think it sets up well for the next chapter.

THE DESIRE FOR HONOR
CHAPTER 5: ESCAPE INTO THE NIGHT

Zhao's footsteps could be heard for kilometers around, as he stomped through the forest with little discretion for his location. The dried leaves below his steel boots felt his fury as he and the rest of the crew were forced to walk as Princess Azula, the self - proclaimed most important and valuable person in their party, was carried in a Fire Nation palanquin that they stole from a nearby village.

The prisoners weren't as lucky. They were forced to walk as well, with the cuffs chafing their ankles and wrists. They had barely noticed their forced and hurried escape from the ship, and too tired to recognize the ship exploding into flames. Now forced to walk for miles upon miles, their starved, thirsty and sleep - deprived bodies could barely move, let alone walk with the immense pain in their joints.

It was Katara who passed out from exhaustion first, a likely scenario as she had never been subjected to such hard tasks before. She tipped forward, already sleeping, and crashed into the leaves, her light body creating little sound as the ground swallowed the blast. Unfortunately, she was one of the first people in the line of soldiers and servants, and caused a chain reaction of twisting limbs, screams of agony and the hollow "thud!" of bodies against the mulch.

Zhao was alerted to this when a particularly clumsy soldier tripped and landed against Zhao's leg, even though he was ahead of the line. Zhao turned around so sharply that the soldier had to jerk his hand back to avoid the fingers being stepped on. "Get up, get everyone else up, because we're almost ready to camp for the night," Zhao snarled. Even the most innocent of phrases could be turned into derisive, the soldier learned, who was almost wishing he were back on the flaming, sinking warship.

After everyone had tidied themselves up, Zhao scouted the surrounding forest, trying to find a more clear section in which to camp in. Some of the more unfortunate soldiers nearly buckled under the weight of all the supplies that Azula scavenged before the ship went down, and the majority of the resources were for her own personal use in her little room that the palanquin provided.

It took the better part of an hour before Zhao could locate a suitable location for the 20 survivors. A misshapen circle spanning 60 meters at its widest point, there would be little room for the soldiers to be private, and all they had were rags to sleep on. As such, most of the party opted to sleep directly onto the ground, except for the prisoners, who had no choice, and Azula, who slept in the comfort of the palanquin.

Zhao grumbled inaudibly at the edge of the clearing, rocks digging into his back. His armor laying near him, Zhao was nearly tempted to wear it, cumbersome and sore as it was. He tossed and turned for over half an hour before he gave up. Instead of sleep, he decided he would take a walk, letting his soldier's brain do the rote memorization of the landscape while he tried to relax.

He grunted as he hauled his body up, his physical stature forcing him to stay secluded from other people. He gazed out over the entire clearing, taking stock of each person. Again, it was his time in the army that subconsciously told him to do so. You could never have been too careful on expeditions into conquered territory, even if reports ensured the submission of the inhabitants.

Steam began to envelop Zhao as his eyes passed over Azula's palanquin, a physical representation of her snobbery and arrogance. Zhao remembered her being much more submissive as a girl, quite ruthless, but much more suited for a leadership position in the Fire Nation. However, as soon as she was removed, forcibly, from her previous position, she turned into a whirlwind of rage, treating everyone and everything cruelly, indiscriminately singling out the slightest of mistakes. He had begun to hate her then.

As he finished his cursory sweep of the large area that they inhabited, ensuring that the 53 people who were a part of their party were the ones lying down, he shuffled over to the captain, who he knew would be awake at this moment. In fact, because of the captain's experience in navy wars, he never slept for more than a few hours at a time, and rarely was that during the night. It was one of the reasons Zhao had recruited him before his banishment.

He circled the captain three times, stopping at the crown of his head. His heels clicked together twice, and he leaned over at the waist, just above the captain's face. Almost too quiet for himself to hear, he whispered, "The crow and the raven fly tonight." An old Fire Nation phrase, Zhao had used it many times in his career. The captain had as well, which led to him instantly sitting up and walking with Zhao out of the clearing and into the forest.

Aang had never slept. His body was raging with sensations and emotions, a predominant pain emanating from his extremities, but Aang hadn't found the correct niche within which to sleep. It was the perfect spot that incorporated multiple factors that were all flexible to an extent, including the comfort of the sleeping area, the environment, the situation under which he was sleeping, any duress, who he was with at the time…

Aang's thoughts trailed off as he realized he was sleeping right near Katara, the only person with whom he had company for half a month. After being ripped away from his society and seeing them all burn, he didn't have any connections, but Katara made him feel welcome. Even if they were rotting in the basement of a ship, at least they had each other, and Katara made sure that Aang was treated better than herself, if only to the slightest extent.

Which was why as soon as Aang heard the rustling of leaves, the crunching of dried twigs and soil under heavy boots and the clinking of metal tapping against metal, he clamped a hand over Katara's mouth, waking her, and directed her eyes over to Zhao and the captain.

Squeals of protest immediately died in her throat as she stared, wide - eyed, at the captain and Zhao walking in unison into the forest. Katara blinked at Aang in a series of long and short flutters. Creating a system in the prison cell, they conversed silently on what to do:

What do we do now?

Follow them?

Katara shook her head. Wherever it was easier, she preferred to used head motions to convey her thoughts.

What harm could it do?

We could get caught?

And what can they do back?

Although Katara understood the message long before Aang finished, she was still shocked when he ended. Begrudgingly, she accepted, if only for the slight leverage of information they may gain. She chose to stand up first, gaining a relatively sturdier stance so that Aang could have as strong a foundation to not make any noise.

The chains seemed determined to hit each other as many times on the way up as possible, as if they were magnetized. One after the other, the chains rattled their metallic fists at Katara and Aang, who managed to cause no noise through sheer luck. It didn't seem to run out as they realized that Zhao and the captain and exited the clearing close to where they lay.

Aang went first, trying to clear as much dried and crisp foliage as possible before stepping forward. Katara was not far behind, thanks to their conjoined metallic bonds. She had the immense task of making sure that they made no sound on the back end, trying to make sure that Aang didn't jerk his leg or move his hand in a way that would compromise their situation. So they went along, an odd sight to behold: A young tattooed monk, hunched over, using airbending to clear the path on the ground while a waterbender in a muddied parka desperately grabbing at the chains.

It took them over 20 minutes to reach Zhao and his assistant, an achievement downgraded by the fact that the distance that they traveled was barely half a kilometer. Fortunately, they stumbled quite randomly upon a flickering light in the distance, and common sense told them to hunker down and be quiet, their bodies begging for the sweet release of sleep. They fought to keep their eyes open as they creeped closer to Zhao's meeting spot with the captain.

It was the captain who was holding the ball of flame aloft on his hand, hovering about 3 centimeters above his outstretched palm. The strain was evident on his face; beads of sweat rolled down his lighted cheek. Zhao had a smirk on his face; whether it was from his enjoyment at seeing the captain struggle or from the content of the discussion.

They had chosen a heavily wooded section of the forest, well - equipped to hide their words and actions. This allowed Aang and Katara to hide within earshot while still being completely obscured, as long as they made no noise. They settled down just as Zhao placed his hand over the captain's shoulder.

"Please, try to understand. Where's the harm in doing it?"

The captain shrugged Zhao's hand off of his own shoulder. "I'll tell you the harm," he raged. "You could get the both of us - and anyone else you've implicated in your ridiculous scheme - arrested for treason. We're not tramping through rebellious territory: This side of the Earth Kingdom is crawling with Fire Nation scum who are dying to project their military career. An arrest of two high - ranking soldiers will no doubt entice them."

A line drew itself across the bottom of Zhao's mouth. "That's only if we get caught."

"And what's to say we won't? Defy the Fire Lord, and Princess Azula, with 50 other soldiers back there waiting to please her in any way possible, but do it without my help."

Her mouth open in an "O", Katara looked back and forth between Aang, Zhao and the captain. Aang, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes, and kept them fixed on the conversation in front of him. Katara took the cue and turned back just in time to hear the trailing end of Zhao's sentence.

"…hates her anyway. Why shouldn't they go against her in any way possible? She isn't the most forgiving or kind of heiresses."

It was the captain's turn to bottle his frustration. "They only hate her because you've stoked the fire. And if she is so unforgiving and cruel, then why on earth would following your plan be of any use? If we make one misstep, one mistake, Azula will throw you into the same cell as the Avatar and his friend."

The fire danced in Zhao's eyes, and the captain wasn't sure if it was because he was mad or enraged. Trying to end the conversation quickly, he stormed off in the direction of Aang and Katara, shouting behind him, "You do whatever harebrained idea you have, but leave me out of it!" He instantly extinguished the flame and came crashing into the underbrush, directly near Aang's body.

Zhao charged after the captain, his anger leaving his body by smoldering his white shirt. He had almost grabbed the captain's arm when he glanced past the broad - shouldered man and found the glinting eyes of Aang. Without thinking, he grabbed the captain's arm with his fiery palm, leaving a mark on his wrist. The captain bellowed in pain and whirled around, giving Aang and Katara enough time to get up and flee.

Zhao was blocked by the heavyset captain as he tried to charge after the prisoners. He could hear the clanging of the metal as he tried to force himself past the captain, but he was obstinate. Unable to articulate words past his words, Zhao choked, "The prisoners!" just long enough for the captain to turn around and notice the glint of metal reflecting the moon.

All Katara felt was the jerk of Aang's body rubbing against her sore wounds as she was forced to her feet and started running after Aang. As soon as they heard Zhao shout, they increased their speed, trying as quickly as they could to get away from him at the same time. It was only when they neared the clearing that they realized that the circle full of Fire Nation soldiers and the Fire Princess was not the place to go. Angling their run slightly, they veered off into the night, the jangling of their chains disappearing as they took their one chance at freedom.

Zhao stumbled into the clearing, exhausted and dripping with sweat. A few seconds later, the portly captain crashed through the underbrush and into the clearing. The combination of the two men caused everyone to wake up quickly. Adjusted to sea life, they were never in a deep sleep, and could instantly awaken at any mention of danger.

Azula, however, was not accustomed to such disturbances, and was often known to sleep through the thunder and lightning of a storm while the crew where struggling to keep the boat afloat. She crawled out of the palanquin as she heard the boots thump by outside of her palanquin.

Zhao stormed past the group of soldiers and let the captain handle the soldiers. He knelt near Azula, and whispered, "The prisoners have escaped." The next thing he felt was a smack on his cheek, and even with his stubble, Azula didn't react. "Then find them, you moron! My entire life rests on this!"

Even though Zhao wanted to comment in return, he turned around and bellowed at the group. "No one sleeps until we find the Avatar and the waterbender! Get out there, and find them!" He would find the prisoners if it meant burning down the forest, but first, he wanted to have a little chat with the captain.

THE END

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and be prepared either this week or the next for another episode from one of my fanons. See you then!