The Golden Wolf Warrior
By: Agent-Ayu
Chapter 3: The Journey Begins
Disclaimer: Disclaimer from Prologue still applies.
The whole village rushed just outside the village walls waiting for Katara and Aang to return. While the villagers waited, Sokka and Azula helped each other climb up one of the glaciers close to the village.
"Remember to look for a ship. They might not have their engines on so we can't depend on looking for smoke." Azula reminded Sokka.
"Got it."
"Spirits, I hope there aren't any Fire Nation ships near here. We're completely defenseless with all the men away in the Earth Kingdom."
"You know, it's a good thing I grew up with you. Otherwise I don't think I'd ever have been a friend with you. You know being born from the Fire Nation and all."
Azula smirked. "We can only imagine what would have happened to us if the Fire Lord didn't overthrow the one my family served under. Hey, Sokka, hand me the telescope."
Sokka tossed the telescope to the female warrior. Azula brought the scope up to her eye. She stared at the subject in the scope's sight trying to determine if it was a glacier or a ship. She saw an orange glow coming from the top of the object.
"Not good."
"What?"
"Look carefully at the direction I'm looking at now. It's very faint but I know that's a Fire Nation ship. I saw the glow of the flames coming from the smoke stack." Azula gently tossed the telescope behind her for Sokka to catch.
The male warrior caught it with ease and looked through the telescope, it took him a while but he too saw the ship. "I can't tell if they're coming towards us or if they had seen the flare."
"Let me see again." Azula got on her stomach to use the glacier help stabilize her arm. "No, I think they did see the flare and are moving slowly trying to get a surprise attack on us. At the pace they're going, they'll probably be here by night fall."
"And look who decided to show up." Sokka angrily.
Azula looked up from the telescope to see what Sokka was looking at. They saw Aang and Katara walking their way towards the village. Both warriors carefully slid down the glacier and ran to where everyone else was.
When they arrived the children were cheering. "Yay! Aang's back!"
Sokka stepped forward and pointed his finger at Aang. "I knew it! You signaled the Fire Navy with that flare! You're leading them straight to us, aren't you?"
"Aang didn't do anything. It was an accident." Katara defended.
"Yeah, we were on the ship and there was this booby trap and well-"
"You're an idiot for even stepping on that ship. Katara, what were you thinking stepping on that thing? You know we are forbidden to go on it!" Azula shouted.
"Don't blame Katara! I brought her there." Aang looked down not able to handle Azula's fiery glare. "It's my fault."
"The traitor confesses! Warriors, away from the enemy!" Sokka ordered. All the children whined as they walked away. "The foreigner is banned from our village!"
"We're not going to banish him Sokka." Azula argued.
"Why not?"
"Because Aang has something he would like to share with the rest of us. Don't you Aang." Azula glared at Aang.
"I'm sorry. I can't." Aang looked away from everyone.
"Get out of our village. Now!" Sokka shouted.
"Sokka, calm down." Kya suggested to her son.
"Grandmother, please, don't let Sokka do this." Katara begged.
"Katara, you knew going on that ship was forbidden. Sokka is right. I think it best if the airbender leaves." Kanna said gloomily.
"Then I'm banished too!"
"Where do you think you're going?" Azula asked.
"To find a waterbender! Aang is taking me to the North Pole!" Katara replied angrily towards the firebender.
"Katara!" The waterbender froze. She couldn't bear turning around to see her mother trying to stop her. "I know how much wanting to learn how to waterbend means to you, but would you really choose him over your tribe? Your own family?"
Aang looked between Katara and the rest of the village. "Katara, I don't want to come between you and your family."
"How can you forget your duty to the world Avatar?" Azula shouted.
Everyone in the village fell silent. "Azula, what are you talking about?" Kya asked.
"He is the Avatar. Aang, the only airbender to have been seen in over a hundred years is the Avatar." Azula announced to the whole village.
"Now, listen carefully Avatar. That flare you set off caught the eyes of the Fire Navy. They think they have the element of surprise on their side. They're moving slowly through the ice so they wouldn't be spotted with all the smoke that could have come out of their smoke stack if they were going full speed. You, Sokka, Katara, and I are going to take care of that ship.
"The sooner we get the Fire Navy off our shores the better. We're completely defenseless we have to strike them. Avatar, I suggest you don't airbend when we ambush them." Azula instructed. "Sokka."
"I'm on it. Everyone please get back in the village. We'll try to handle this." Sokka started guiding most of the women and children back into the village.
Katara and Aang stood by Appa. Azula walked up to them. "Katara." The firebender reached out towards the waterbender.
"Don't touch me. Tell me though, how long have you known Aang was the Avatar?" Katara asked.
"Since this morning. I gave him most of the day to tell everyone." Azula glared at Aang again. "Look we can deal with this later. Right now we need to ambush the Fire Nation ship."
"This doesn't make sense. I've accepted the fact that I've been in the iceberg for over a hundred years, but why would the Fire Nation be attacking the other nations? Why would you a member of the Fire Nation, come to live in the Southern Water Tribe?" Aang asked.
"I don't know why the Fire Nation started attacking the other nations, but they have wiped out all the Air Nomads. You're the first to be seen in a hundred years, which is why I suggested you don't airbend when we ambush the ship. The last thing we need is for the Fire Nation to come after us." Azula explained.
"Also, even though I am of Fire Nation birth, I haven't been a member of the Fire Nation for a very long time. The Southern Water Tribe is my home."
"Alright ready to go?" Sokka asked. The tension between the three benders tightened. "Okay… let's go."
"Aang, can Appa fly?" Katara asked as she climbed up the sky bison's back.
"Don't." Azula quickly replied. "We can't fly, it'll give us away before we get any where close to the ship. The Fire Navy will be looking towards the sky and land close to the village."
Katara grumbled. "Fine, whatever."
"Okay, I'll listen to what you think will be best, Azula." Aang said as he grabbed the reins.
"How fast can Appa walk?" Azula asked.
"Not very fast."
"Argh. That's not good. We shouldn't be in the water also. Think Appa can hover above the ground, but be as close to the ground as he possibly can?" Azula asked while becoming impatient.
"Let's see. Appa, yip yip!"
Appa groaned a little and started walking the direction the Fire Nation ship was coming from. Azula's eye twitched in annoyance.
It took a couple of hours before the teens and Appa met up with the Fire Nation ship.
"Aang. Put this anorak on. We need to hide you tattoos." Azula ordered.
"So what's the plan?" Aang asked as he put the anorak on.
"We simply ambush them and watch each others' back." Azula said as she tossed a grappling hook up towards the edge of the ship. It hooked right on the first try. She tugged it to make sure it was going to with stand the weight of four teenagers.
Once she was positive that it was going to stay, Azula began climbing up the side of the ship. Aang followed right behind, then Katara, and Sokka was last. Azula looked over the edge of the ship to make sure there weren't any soldiers patrolling the area. She could hear her heart beating in her eardrums.
Azula ducked below the rim when she heard footsteps walking by. The firebender pressed her ear up against the metal waiting for the soldier to walk far enough she could jump him from behind. Just as she was about to jump she quickly ducked again for another soldier can walking by.
"You remember how I told you not to airbend?" Azula whispered.
"Yeah…"
"Forget I said that. We need to take them out now!" Azula jumped from the edge and tackled the closets soldier near her.
Back up came running to aid the fallen soldier. Azula unsheathed her swords and got into a fighting position prepared to fight them. She stayed where she was as the soldiers charged towards her. Aang jumped from the edge of the ship and airbended an airblast towards a group of soldiers.
Soon enough both Sokka and Katara were fighting all the soldiers and firebenders who were attacking them. Just as a fire blast was about to hit Katara in the face it was deflected. Azula had barely made it in placing her swords in front of Katara to protect her. The firebender smoothly circled around the waterbender and started attacking the firebending soldiers.
One soldier was knocked into a barrel where water fell out. Katara took a deep breath. She shifted her wait back and lifted some water up and aimed towards the soldiers who were attacking Azula. The waterbender threw her arms forward hoping for the water to freeze on the soldiers, but realized she accidentally bended the water backwards and froze Sokka's feet.
"Katara!"
Azula quickly knocked out the soldiers and ran over towards Sokka who was busy trying to get himself out of the ice.
"I'm just a guy with a boomerang; I didn't ask for all this magic."
"Oh, shut up!" Azula shouted as she fired a small fireball towards the ice. The ice quickly melted and Sokka was free. "C'mon we need to get out of here!"
The four teenagers ran to the bowsprit of the ship. Aang looked down and saw Appa getting ready to catch them.
"You have nowhere else to go!" shouted one of the soldiers.
"Sure we do. Jump!" Sokka shouted as all four of them jumped off the ship and onto Appa's saddle.
"Appa don't fail us now buddy, yip yip!" Aang yelled desperately. Appa groaned as he began to speed up. Before they knew it they were in the air flying as fast as they could away from the Fire Nation ship.
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The sun was beginning to rise when the four teens finally arrived back in the village. They had to fly as far away from the naval ship to trick them into thinking they flew further north. They hid behind a big glacier until the ship went out of sight and they slowly backtracked towards the village.
"Thank goodness!" Kya ran up to the four teens and hugged two at a time. "When you didn't come back last I night I thought they had captured you."
"We're fine mom. We just need some for and sleep." Sokka said as they walked back into the igloo.
Azula walked pass the fireplace and collapsed onto her sleeping bag. She had a headache that was only growing stronger with the light. She pulled her hood over her face to block out the sun's light and tried to fall asleep.
Just as she was about to fall asleep she felt someone squeeze her hand. "Thanks Azula. For last night when you blocked the fire blast from hitting me." Katara said as she lay on top of her sleeping bag.
She smiled when she felt Azula squeezed back.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
The next day Aang began packing again. "Just think buddy, we haven't been home in over a hundred years. Wow, I hadn't cleaned my room in a hundred years. Not looking forward to that."
Appa groaned agreeing with Aang.
"Aang."
Aang looked over hoping it was Katara, but jumped when he saw Azula.
"Don't worry. I'm not here to fight you. I just came to apologize for the way I acted yesterday."
"It's alright."
"No, it wasn't. I held in so much anger for so long I just blew it off on you. The Fire Nation killed my family nine years ago. A group of Imperial Firebenders who were still loyal to the previous Fire Lord saved me and brought me here to the Southern Water Tribe." Azula explained.
"That would explain why you're living here. But, you're from the Fire Nation as well. Why would the Fire Nation attack their own people?" Aang asked.
Azula climbed on top of Appa's head so she didn't feel like she was being looked down upon. "I don't remember the details. I know Kya and Gran Gran do, but they won't tell me. They want me to try and remember what happened. All I know is that my family was loyal to the previous Fire Lord. I lost my father, grandfather, and my cousin. For all I know I lost the rest of my family too."
"I'm sorry. May be you're right. If I didn't disappear I probably could have stopped the Fire Nation from attacking the Air Nomads, and possibly you're family would still be alive."
The firebender took a deep breath trying to calm herself. "We'll never know. But I do know you seem familiar to me. As if I've known you before yesterday. That's impossible though."
"Spiritual connection?"
Both of them just shrugged their shoulders.
"Aang! Azula!" Katara waved as she came running towards them. "Aang, you're the Avatar, right? So, I've wondering why haven't you bent the other elements yet?"
"That's because I was frozen before I was taught how to bend the other elements. I never wanted to be the Avatar."
"But Aang, the world's been waiting for the Avatar to return and finally put an end to this war." Katara explained.
"And how am I going to do that?"
"According to legend, you need to master water, then earth, and then fire." Azula pointed out.
"That's what the monks told me."
Katara smiled. "Well, if we go to the North Pole you can master waterbending."
That brought a smile to Aang's face. "We can learn it together! Azula, you and I can learn firebending together after I learn earthbending!"
"Then we're in this together." Katara said proudly.
"And what are you three just going to leave me behind?" Sokka asked.
"No, because I'm pretty sure we'll be running into more Fire Nation soldiers. I'm sure you'll enjoy knocking their heads on our way to the Northern Water Tribe." Azula suggested.
"I'd like that. I'd really like that." Sokka responded somewhat dreamily.
"What do you three think you're doing?"
Azula, Katara, and Sokka all turned around to face Kanna and Kya trying to look innocent. Kanna and Kya just smiled.
"You'll need these." Kya said as she handed three bundles of sleeping bags to the three Water Tribe teens. "You have a long journey ahead of you."
"It's been so long since I've had hope. My little waterbender, you brought that hope back. Aang is the Avatar. He's the world's only chance. You're destinies are to help him become a fully realized Avatar." Kanna gave Katara a tight hug.
"Sokka, take care of your sister." Kya said as she hugged her son.
"Yeah… okay, mom."
"Azula, may I have a word with you?" Kanna asked.
The firebender looked at Kya before walking off with Kanna.
"Azula, as you know when you first arrived here in the Southern Water Tribe, I had my doubts that you would not turn out like the other Fire Nation soldiers. I started to accept having you here after you helped Tsukihiro with his ice dodging ritual, but yesterday showed me where your loyalty lies. I know you're heart is in the right place. The Southern Water Tribe will always be your home." Kanna gave Azula a warm smile.
"Thank you, Gran Gran." Azula bowed before hugging Kanna.
Kya opened her arms and walked towards Azula to hug the firebender. "Take care my little firebender. I'll miss you just as much as I miss Sokka and Katara. Watch over my waterbender for me."
"I will Kya." Azula released the hug and climbed up into Appa's saddle.
"Safe travel for all of you. Please, visit if you somehow end up near here." Kya calmly suggested.
"Appa, yip yip."
"Bye mom. Bye Gran Gran." Katara shouted as they started flying away.
When the village was out of sight Katara turned her attention back to the center of the saddle where everyone was staring at a map that Aang had laid out.
"What's the map for?" Katara asked.
"We need to take care of some serious business before I start learning how to waterbend. We need to go here, here, and here." Aang had pointed to three different locations on the map.
"What are we going to be doing there?" Azula asked.
"Here we'll ride the hopping llamas. Then waaaay over here we'll surf on the backs of giant koi fish. Then back over here we'll ride the hog-monkeys. They don't like people riding them, but that's what makes it fun!" Aang explained ecstatically.
Azula leaned over the saddle only half paying attention to what Aang was saying. "It's going to be a while before we see the Northern Water Tribe, isn't it?" She rhetorically asked.
Katara smiled and leaned onto Azula while hugging the firebender from behind. "Oh, c'mon, lighten up. It won't hurt having fun for a while now would it?"
"Those things Aang wants to do are fun until someone, most likely Sokka, gets hurt."
The waterbender just continued holding onto Azula and smile. Both girls were content with the others company thinking about what is in store for them.
"So what would you do for fun if you don't like Aang's ideas?" Katara asked.
"Fulfilling my promise I made you two years ago. I need to teach you how to fight without bending so you can kick Sokka's butt." Azula said with pride.
"Finally we also need to go to Omashu. They have these delivery chutes that are actually the world's largest roller coasters!" Aang said happily while remembering the many times he and his friend Bumi had created trouble from riding down the delivery chutes.
"Though, as much fun as it would be to teach you how to fight. That delivery chute sounds really fun." Azula told Katara while briefly looking over at Aang.
Katara couldn't help but laugh. "What else is on your mind?"
"How fluffy Appa is."
"I know you're weak spot, Azula." Katara said while hugging the firebender tighter.
"I don't have a weak spot."
"Yes, you do. You have a weak spot for fluffy animals. May be I should just call you 'Fluffy' from now on."
"Please… don't." Azula begged as Katara laid her head on the firebender's shoulder.
The waterbender leaned in towards Azula's ear. "You're secret is safe with me."
Azula couldn't help but blush.