A/N: Sorry for the hiatus! Since I have lots of school work now, I'm going to update once a week or two. I'm also going to lengthen the chapters. Enjoy the eighth chapter of Captured Trust!
Captured Trust Chapter 8
A cold breeze swept through the Sun Ruins. Three benders stood side by side, walking through the old ruins. Katara stood at the front of the pack, walking briskly in front of the two boys behind her.
"So where do you think the Sun Warriors are?" Aang said.
"I think we should head toward that temple with the Sun painted on it. We passed it as we flew past Appa." The waterbender added.
"Yeah, good idea Katara," the airbender said while turning to Zuko, "What do you think?"
"It's a pretty good idea, but don't you guys have the feeling that we're being watched?" the firebender said quietly, his arms draped around his body as he walked. His swords clanked softly against his back.
"…I know." Katara whispered, "I can't shake off the feeling that something bad is going to happen. Do you think someone knows we're here-" As the waterbender finished her sentence, her foot snagged onto something.
"Wha?" Katara cried as she fell forward. The "floor" panels slid open to reveal a bed of thin needles. Both boys darted forward in attempt to save her, but Katara reached for her pouch. On instinct, she drew out her water and threw her hands in front of her body. A long ice bridge materialized, to catch her just in time. The waterbender immediately ran across the bridge to the other side of the needles and drew her water back into her pouch.
Still recovering from her initial shock, Katara managed to utter, "…A…trap..?"
"Katara! Are you okay?" Aang cried, throwing himself next to her using an air jet. Once he reached her side, he smiled as he exclaimed, "Nice reflexes by the way."
"Thanks," Katara said.
Meanwhile, Zuko squatted at the area where Katara had tripped. Groping around for a while, he found what he was looking for. A long, thin strand of black rope was strewn across the floor of the ruins. A trap.
"Are you coming, Zuko? 'Cause I could just build you an ice bridge if you can't get here yourself." The waterbender added playfully.
The prince held up the rope. "This is a trap. The Sun Warriors want to protect something valuable, and they don't want anyone to find it. We need to be more careful from this point on."
"Yeah, we get it." Katara said irritably, "Now just get over here!"
"Fine."
The firebender took a few slow steps back, and then ran toward the needles.
Oh! Is he going to jump over the gap? It's too large for anyone to jump over! The waterbender thought quickly. She watched in horror as Zuko neared the gap, but sighed as she watched him run across the wall of the ruin. The firebender landed acrobatically next to Katara. Aang smiled at both of them.
"So are we going to find some Sun Warriors or not?" the monk said.
The three benders made it through the ruins gradually, trap after trap. After a few hours, they finally reached a wall; it was old by the looks of it. Moss and long plants ran across the surface of the old wall, and there seemed to be no end to it.
Zuko put his large hand on the wall. "Dead end," he stated. The firebender ran his hand along the wall's surface, looking for any giveaways, or a secret door that might lead them further. He found none.
"So I guess we're stuck." Aang said sadly.
Katara sighed. She ran her hand through her dark brown hair. Just as she was about to suggest turning back, a glint of metal caught her eye.
"Hey! I found something!" she cried. She followed the mysterious glint to a patch of wet moss. Using a few fluid strokes, she waterbended the mass of plants away. Where the moss used to be, a large red door came into view. It looked relatively old, and dark scorch marks blemished the surface of the otherwise smooth door. In the center of the door, a large red orb glistened from the rays of the sun.
"It's some type of door…" she said hesitantly.
"Yes, a Firebender Door by the looks of it," Zuko murmured. "A Firebender can open it with a steady stream of fire."
"A firebender door, huh?" Katara said. She felt as if she had seen one before. The waterbender searched through her mind for any door that they had found on their adventures. Aang seemed to have remembered quicker than her, since he gasped.
"It's like that one at Roku's temple!" he cried victoriously. His smile disappeared quickly, to be replaced with a frown. "But we needed five firebenders to activate that one…"
"Aang, this one only has one orb. I think we only need one firebender." Katara said.
"Great! Then Zuko can just open it for us!" the monk said.
The firebender scratched his neck nervously. "I can't firebend anymore, Avatar."
"Monkeyfeathers! I guess we have to think of something else, then. Oh, and Zuko, stop calling me Avatar, call me Aang."
The fire prince grunted in response, "Fine, Aang."
Katara paced around. She tried to think of a plan, but it was usually Sokka who had all the plans, not her. She suddenly thought of the time when her brother had ingeniously invented "fake" firebending.
"I've got it!" she shouted.
"Really?" Aang said. "What?"
"Remember when Sokka made those fake fireblasts at Roku's temple?"
"Oh! I remember! That was when we tricked those dumb firebenders into thinking that we had opened the door-" Zuko coughed to get Aang's attention. "Oh yeah, sorry Zuko." He said quietly.
"Yes, yes." Katara waved her hand around, "But last time, we only made a small fireblast. What if we could recreate it, but have Zuko use what little firebending he has left to power the fireblast so it seems as if he's firebending. The door will then open! Genius, huh?"
"That's a good idea. How'd you think of it?" Zuko questioned, turning to the amused waterbender.
"I guess it just runs in the family."
"So how are we going to create those fake firebending blasts?" Aang asked, twirling his staff between his fingers.
"Simple," Katara answered, "Just do what Sokka did last time." She paused for a moment, her brown hair swaying gently in the breeze. "I need that seal jerky bag," the waterbender announced finally.
The airbender threw the blue pouch toward the girl's outstretched hand. She caught it expertly in mid-air.
"Just asking, but what are you going to do with Sokka's bag? Last time, we used animal fat and oil!" the monk said.
"I think she knows what she's doing," Zuko stated plainly to the small boy.
Katara undid the drawstrings binding the bag together, and reached her slender hand into the hole of the leather bag. The waterbender drew her hand out a moment later, a large chunk of seal jerky in her fist. She smiled triumphantly and started rubbing the jerky against the leather pouch. Aang and Zuko stared questionly at the waterbender, but suddenly gasped in understanding. Large oil stains were left behind in places where she had rubbed against. Katara finally dropped the left over seal jerky into the bag, sealing it tightly again.
"Now all Zuko has to do is light the bag, and BAM!" Fake firebending," she said, imitating her brother's voice.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Zuko asked.
"Oh, I'm sure Sokka won't mind losing some seal jerky," the waterbender said, but seeing the firebender's confused expression, she added, "Of course it will!"
"Okay, then here goes nothing," the scarred prince murmured while bringing his arms together in a firebending stance. He spread his hands quickly and thrust them in front of him forcefully. A weak flame erupted from his open palm. The flame skimmed the end of the bag, burning a small portion of it, but quickly extinguished. The firebender immediately conjured another flame and lighted the bag. Again, the flame was gone as fast as Zuko lit it. He moaned in frustration, and in his fury, sent out multiple blasts at a time at the leather pouch. The blasts were larger than any one that he had made before. The fire blasts hit the oiled pouch, and the bag started to simmer and crackle.
"Stay back!" Zuko managed to cry out to the two benders behind him. The fire intensified, and the prince held his stance, sending out more small blasts. After a few moments, a huge explosion could be heard throughout the whole ruin. The leather pouch, made with animal fat and skin, had exploded with the aid of the jerky oil and Zuko's fire. The bag's explosion of burned jerky and leather bits collided at full force toward the prince. The force of the explosion sent the surprised firebender flying back.
Through the explosion and the smoke, Katara could see a black form hurling through the air. She barely had time to raise her hands in front of her body when Zuko collided straight on with her. The pair tumbled on the ground, finally stopping when they hit a wall. Both their faces were as red as tomatoes, and Katara reluctantly remembered the previous night's events and her face deepened in color. Zuko quickly recovered from the shock and stood up quickly, dusting off his knees like nothing had happened. He reached his hand out to a flushed Katara. "Come on, let's get back to Aang." He said quickly under a flushed face.
"Y-You JERK!" the waterbender shouted, swatting away Zuko's arm. She stood up and marched away from the firebender. Zuko sighed and rubbed his neck, following Katara through the smoke. They found Aang standing and gaping at something in the middle of the smoke. "What?" Katara uttered quietly, squinting through the smoke.
The smoke cleared, giving Katara a better view of what Aang had been looking at. She could see the red crystal shining brightly in the center of the door, and with a large squeak, the doors started to open slowly.
What's inside the door? Most can guess that already :P Next part is gonna be part canon BTW. Sorry for the whole delay and such. The next chapter will be up next week I hope, and last part of FBM.
I'm close to 40 reviews! :D (Wants 40 reviews)
R&R guys!