A/N: Woah, it's been such a long time since I've updated! I've been busy with Real Life, and doing other stuff. But, I've been reading fanfics too, so hopefully, I've improved. Anyways, here's the next chapter of Captured Trust! Sorry for making you guys wait :D F.Y.I, the chapters are gonna be longer now! w00t!
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Captured Trust Chapter 9: The Firebending Masters
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Katara held her breath as she watched the large doors swing open. She was treated to an eyeful of darkness. What? So there's nothing in this room? She wondered, blinking in disbelief. She blinked again. And again. Katara realized with a start that she was not looking at an empty room, but an extremely dark one. When her eyes just started to adjust to the darkness, she jumped back in surprise. A large man, the waterbender guessed by the shape of the figure, was glaring menacingly at her. Katara almost drew out the water from her pouch until she heard Aang shout.
"Woah! Look at all those statues! They look so real, right Zuko?" the young monk cried, pointing out the "man" Katara had seen to an annoyed Zuko. The firebender glanced in the waterbender's direction, the look on his face saying that he wanted to be anywhere but here. Soon, Aang had dragged Zuko closer to the statues, observing their every detail. Katara couldn't help but notice how the statues, lined up in a circle formation, seemed to be doing some sort of crazy dance. The Avatar seemed to have noticed the same thing; as he started to copy the form of the first statue.
The statue had its arms spread out, with the palms facing upwards and had one foot off the gound. Aang stepped in front of the statue, coping the position of the statue's hands and body position. As Katara watched the young boy, she watched in horror as the boy's foot suddenly fell down and a clicking sound was heard. Aang jumped up in alarm as he heard the clicking noise. His foot had landed on some sort of panel, and upon doing what the statue had did, he had activated some sort of mechanism.
The three benders automatically assumed that the mechanism Aang had set off was some sort of trap, and assumed their battle positions. Katara had her water flask open and ready to attack. Zuko had out a fireball, and kept a wary eye out for any signs of danger. Aang had already flipped over the statue using his staff, and got ready to attack.
A few minutes passed before anyone dared to move. Aang was the first to move, he hesitantly lowered his staff. "Well….that was weird," he stated.
"Do you think that was a trap?" Katara said quietly.
"No, if it was, something would have been set off after the click." Zuko said, extinguishing his flame.
The young monk glided toward the statue once more, inspecting the area where the clicking sound had come from. Aang ran his hand against the ground, looking for any type of groove or crack. His hand found a rectangle shaped button inscribed into the cool floor. The airbender reached over and gently pushed the button experimentally.
"Don't press it Aang! You might set off the trap that didn't go off last time!" Katara's voice pierced through the temple.
"Too late…" Zuko thought as he saw the boy look up startled, his hand fell as the button was activated.
Aang flinched as he waited for something to happen. Again, nothing had happened at the activation of the button except for a loud clicking noise. "Guys, I'm starting to think that this button won't set off any trap, but might help us figure out the mystery of this temple…" the Avatar stated.
Aang once again took the posture of the first statue. The button clicked. The airbender took his foot off the button and took the posture of the second statue. Two buttons clicked under his foot. At the same time, Aang's brain clicked. There were two identical pairs of statues, so…
"Zuko! Come dance with me!" he cried in exasperation.
"No way!" Zuko cried, but after receiving a death glare from Katara, he mumbled a gruff "Fine."
The reluctant firebender joined the airbender, taking his position on the opposite side of Aang, the same first statue in front of him. Both boys raised their hands and placed their feet down at the same time. Two loud clicks sounded, and a loud rumble filled the room. Darn! We've set off a trap! Zuko thought hastily. To his surprise, the rumble came from the statues, which were moving down and into the floor of the temple.
"Let's keep going then," Aang said, already copying the second statue.
The two benders copied the statues, one by one, loud clicking sounds sounding from the clicked buttons. When they had copied the final button, their fists were facing each other and a massive rumble came from behind them. In the empty space between the boys, a large pedestal rose up to meet them. On the top of the pedestal sat a golden egg-like thing.
"What is that?!" Aang yelled.
"Looks like a golden egg," replied Katara.
Zuko paid no attention to their banter, and walked up to the pedestal. The intricate pattern on the egg stirred something in his memory, but he couldn't remember what it was. He lifted the 'egg' of the pedestal to take a better look at the design. As soon as the egg left its holder, the pedestal shot downwards into the ground. Shoot! He thought. Zuko had completely forgotten the possibility of it being a trap. He heard Katara gasp loudly behind him. A darkish green fluid was flowing out of the hole that the pedestal had sunk into. The fluid seemed to be alive; the tendril-like water seemed to grab at his feet. Even though Zuko did not know what the fluid was, he knew it was nothing good. The firebender jumped nimbly to the side, but the fluid followed.
"Everybody, run!" Zuko hollered, the rushing sound of liquids flowing out of the hole covering up most of his words. Katara and Aang seemed to understand, and dodged the incoming water tendrils.
"It's too much!" Aang cried, using his staff to repel the tendrils while using airbending to jump over the higher ones. He was right, Katara noticed, the water was already at waist level, and more was gushing in. She was using waterbending to control the water. It was an easy job for her, a waterbending master. Aang seemed to have trouble controlling the water using airbending, so he resorted to using airbending.
Zuko had tried to use firebending to hit the fluid tentacles, but firebending only slowed down the tendrils a tad. Besides, his firebending was still weak. He decided that the only thing he could do for now was dodge and jump over the tendrils. The water level had rose significantly, and the firebender realized that he had less and less places to jump off. Zuko lifted his head, looking for any sort of escape hatch. He found a large sewer like opening on the top of the temple. He used the wall to jump up, the momentum of the run pushing him up. His hands grabbed the bars of the hatch. Below him, Katara and Aang seemed to have the same ideas.
"Hey Zuko! I'm coming up too! Give me some space up there!" Aang cried while using his airbending to shoot onto the hatch, barely squeezing next to Zuko. That left only a small gap of space next to Zuko on the hatch. Aang was looking warily at Katara, who was busy waterbending the tendrils away from her. The fluid was already up to her shoulder level, and it was getting harder and harder for her to dodge the water. Finally, she gave up the waterbending, seeing that dodging the water was already useless. She lifted her head and shouted to the two boys above her.
"Hey guys! I'm going to go up soon! So make space for me Aang!" she cried, motioning for Aang to move over so that she could squeeze in next to him. The waterbender noticed the small gap next to the firebending prince, but she didn't ever want to be next to him.
The airbender nodded his head, and proceeded to move. It was at that moment that the benders finally realized what the liquid was.
"Hey! I can't move my arms or legs!" Aang yelled, startled, as he tried desperately to jerk his arms and legs away from the top of the hatch. Zuko noticed that he too, could not move his body parts. The fluid that had dried up on their clothes had "stuck" their bodies to the top of the temple.
"It's some type of glue," Zuko muttered angrily.
Katara seemed more disappointed than surprised, as she realized the only place she could jump to was the space next to Zuko. The water tribe girl sighed, and then used some of her water from her flask to form an ice surf. Using the fluid tendrils, she rode up to the top of the temple, careful not to get any of the sticky liquid on her body.
As she neared the boys, she twisted her body in midair and landed right next to Zuko, their bodies closer than she had expected. Zuko's face started to heat up at that moment, and he was glad that the sky had already gotten dark. Similarly, Katara blushed violently, jerking her gaze away from his. Both waterbender and firebender were looking opposite directions, and another awkward silence filled the gap between the two. Aang, oblivious to both of their blushes, spoke up.
"Hey Katara, Zuko, let's try getting out of here!"
"Uh….sure A..Aang," the waterbender stuttered.
"..Yeah," Zuko mumbled gruffly.
"Any ideas?" the airbender inquired.
"Well, our bending is pretty much useless, seeing the position we're in now," Katara said, staring up at the dark sky and the full moon that hung in the night. She felt the pull of the moon on her body, but she could no longer move her arms due the glue like liquid that held her arms onto the ceiling of the temple.
"I guess we have no other choice then," the Avatar stated. Zuko and Katara stared at him, wondering what he had to say.
"We've got to shout for help!" he said, and with that, he yelled 'Help!' at the loudest he could manage. Zuko desperately wanted to cover his ears, an Airbender's yell was louder than a normal person's.
Katara inwardly sighed. This was going to be a long night.
"Why haven't they come back yet?" Sokka cried, slamming his club to the ground.
"Let them take their time, they have to learn firebending, of course it's gonna take a while…" Toph suggested, sitting on the ground.
"Hmph. But my little sister's with that firebending jerk! How can I just sit around? Who knows what he could do to her!" The water tribe boy cried, emphasizing every word.
"Calm down, Snoozles! Zuko was telling the truth when he said he wouldn't hurt Katara. Besides, she's a strong waterbender, don't underestimate her." The Blind Bandit explained coolly.
Sokka opened his mouth to protest, but then closed it. He pursed his lips and said loudly, "But if they don't come back by tomorrow night, I swear, we're going to go after them no matter what."
"Yeah, yeah. Fine." Toph said, waving her hand.
The only non bender of the small group lifted his head and looked up into the dark sky. I wonder how Katara's doing…
The three benders had stayed in wait for a few hours now, Aang yelling out help a few times every ten minutes. His voice was getting hoarse now, and he finally decided to stop. "I wonder if anyone heard us…" he said with a sad tone.
"Yeah, I don't want to be stuck here forever until I die," Katara added in a humorous tone.
Zuko chuckled lightly, then put on a stern face. "The Avata-I mean Aang, has to go defeat my father in a few months, we need to get out of here now.
"I agree." The waterbender replied curtly.
"…So…what do we do then-?" the airbender said, his words cut off when he heard the faint sound of footsteps in the distance. "Psst. Guys!" he whispered.
"What?" the two benders asked, looking at Aang.
"I hear someone coming, maybe its help!" the young boy cried, ecstatic at the thought of rescue.
"What if it's an enemy?" Zuko whispered harshly. His sentence was unheard by the Avatar, who opened his mouth and continued his plea for help. Zuko almost facepalmed, if he could. That boy always acts before he thinks. He thought.
Katara waited nervously as she watched Aang cry out for help. She hoped that Aang wasn't leading them to their downfall. If the people that he called were Fire Nation, they would be goners, dead. The waterbender shivered at the thought.
The footsteps grew louder and nearer, and Zuko craned his neck through the bars to get a closer look. He paled when he saw that there was a group of about ten people coming toward them, and the fact that the people were holding fireballs in their hands. The firebender automatically thought, "Fire Nation soldiers!" His mind screamed at him to tell Aang and Katara, but he decided otherwise. They would certainly freak out more than he would, and cause more trouble for them. If they stayed quiet, the people might not see them and pass them by. But Aang had to just shout and reveal their position. Zuko grumbled in annoyance. Then if the people were actually soldiers and found his group, then Aang would most likely be killed, as well as Katara. He, the exiled fire prince, would be brought back to the Fire Nation in chains and brought before his father…
"Oi! Zuko! Stop staring in space!" he heard Katara whisper next to him. "Look! It's them."
By the sound of her voice and the lack of fear in it, Zuko breathed a sigh of relief. So it wasn't the Fire Nation soldiers after all, but who were they? A quick glance up gave the firebender his answers. On top of them stood a few men, their skins dark and their faces painted with warpaint. On their heads were some feathers. In their hands, they held spears and fire.
Finally…the Sun Warriors…
After the three benders had been spotted, the Sun Warriors had looked at them for a while, studying them as if looking through their minds. Zuko, out of the three, had felt very uncomfortable having the warriors looking at him. It reminded him of the times that he had stood atop his palace in the Fire Nation, the people looking up to him from below. After a while, the head of the Sun Warriors beckoned to some of the people behind him to come over to the place that Katara, Aang, and Zuko were stuck. They pulled a lever next to the hatch, and the bars swang out, with them on it. A few other Warriors had then rushed over, and using a special liquid, had removed some of the sticky liquid attached to the three of them so that they could be removed from the hatch. The Sun Warriors then moved them over to sit on the floor of the temple's top. The sticky goo was preventing any movement and was hardened around the three like a cocoon. The Warriors had also set a few anteater like animals next to them, and the animals were licking up the goo as if it were some sort of food.
"Um…Hi..?" Aang said timidly. The Sun Warrior leader raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Seeing this as an opportunity to speak again, Aang spoke up once more.
"So…what's this sticky stuff that's on us?" he asked, also eyeing the small animal licking up the goo from his body.
"Ah," One of the Sun Warriors stood in Aang, his voice low and gruff, "That is natural glue made from the plants around here. This animal here is an anteater bear, and it feeds on this glue. We can also use a special type of liquid to take the stickiness of the glue away so that it can be removed."
"Oh! So…? Aang began to ask another question.
"Enough with the questions!" Another voice boomed. The owner was a large man who was much larger than the rest of the group. He had more face paint on than the others and bore a serious expression. "I am the Sun Warrior Chief. You will answer our questions."
He paused, glancing at the threesome warily, intimidating them with his glare. "Who are you, and what do you want?"
Aang was the first to pipe up yet again. "I'm the Avatar, and these people with my are my fri-"
"SILENCE!" the Chief boomed again. Aang's eyes widened in horror.
"The Avatar has not been seen for one hundred years! How could you think we would believe that stupid excuse? And why would the Avatar join with the Fire Nation?"
"What?" Zuko said questionly, his eyes narrowing.
"Your friend here looks awfully Fire Nation like," the Sun Warrior Chief stated, pointing at the scarred teen.
"Well…that's cause he is! He's the Fire Nation's prince!" Aang exclaimed, not too aware of the death glares given to him by a certain waterbender and firebender.
"He is?" the chief raised a questioning eyebrow, and then gestured to his men, pointing to Zuko. "Kill him!"
Zuko's eyes widened as he saw a group of three Sun Warriors rush at him, flame wheels spinning in their hands. He knew that he could take them, if it wasn't for the glue that stuck him to the ground. The anteater bears hadn't finished licking up the glue on his body yet. Realizing that he had no other choice, the firebender closed his eyes, and waited for the pain to hit him. It never came. When he opened up his eyes, he saw that Katara had moved her body in front of his, her legs were already unstuck.
"Don't…touch…him..! He's not like the others!" she gasped. Zuko was torn between shock and relief. This was Katara, the girl that had despised him, the girl he had betrayed, and the girl that was saving him now.
The Sun Warriors had stopped in shock, their fires dying. Finally, the Sun Warrior Chief lifted his hand, and brought it back down, the warriors also stepped back. "Why do you defend this man? He is the son of the treacherous Fire Lord, Ozai! It was because of him and his forefathers that the ways of the Sun Warriors has been lost." The glare on the waterbender's face made him say with a sigh, "As the lady wishes, we will let him live for now." He looked back at Katara questionly, "By the way, are you the prince's slave or captive by any chance? Because since you're traveling with him-"
"WHAT?" the waterbender screamed, "No way!" The hate in her voice was clear. Even the Sun Warriors were startled by her sudden outburst.
"Okay, Okay," the Chief said slowly, his face turning stern once again. "If you claim you are not like the other Fire Nation people, then why have you stolen the sacred Golden Dragon Egg?"
"Huh?" All of them exclaimed at once. Zuko looked around, could the Egg he was talking about be the one they had found in the temple? The firebender looked to his side. The egg was sitting next to him, in the midst of the goo. The golden features of the egg sparkled in the firelight.
"You mean this?" he said, jerking his head to the direction of the egg.
"Yes." The Chief said, pouring some clear liquid of the egg. The goo parted, and the Sun Warrior picked it up carefully.
"Many thousand years ago, the first ancestors received a mysterious golden egg from our Masters, the dragons. For generations, we passed the egg down, it never once hatched. There was even once a legend that went with the egg. But that was forgotten through the pages of time. Now, it is a symbol of our long dead Masters, a sacred remnant. Many have tried to steal our egg, but I must tell you, they have never lived to see the next morning." The Chief's words sent shivers down the Aang's and Katara's spines. Zuko, however, was deep in thought.
The Golden Dragon Egg, huh? That explains the design on the egg. The sign of the dragon. He thought. Suddenly, another thought racked his brain. He once again remembered his times as a young child, the days he studied ancient novels. It was faint, but he remembered reading a page about the Sun Warriors, and a legend about an egg, the Golden Egg. I can't remember much, but I'm pretty sure that the legend want something like:
When savior of the world and sworn enemy… join…
…then, and only then…will the Golden Egg crack…
Zuko tried hard to remember more, but he could only remember those two parts of the legend. The Sun Warrior Chief's loud voice brought him back from his thoughts.
"…In order to prove your innocence, you will go through the Trial of Fire. You can choose to do this trial, or die this instant-"
"We'll do it!" Aang cried loudly.
"Good choice. But be warned, no one has ever passed this trial. And no one has survived."
A/N: How was it? :D Longer chapter (3,700+ words~!) I made up most of the stuff in this chapter, like the glue and the Golden Dragon Egg things. Anyways…in my fic, the dragons are all dead, none alive. You've got to wait to see who the new Master(s) is!
Leave me some reviews! I want to get to at least 45(10 reviews) by the end of this chapter, or I really feel tempted to throw away this fic for good 50th reviewer gets a picture request(of any story, fanfic they wish) and a chapter dedicated to them.
Next chapter is probably gonna be up between next week and next month :P
Anyways, next chapter: Trial of Fire