Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Water, earth, fire, air... Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the fire nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them. But, when the world needed him most, he vanished.
A hundred years passed and the new Avatar, an air bender named Aang, was discovered. Now traveling by his side are Katara and Sokka of the southern water tribe, and Ashlynn: An ex-member of the Fire Nation, and Prince Zuko's lifelong companion...
"I can't believe the war has spread here... Omashu always seemed... Untouchable," Aang said sadly as he gazed out at the disheartening scene before them. "You'd be surprised... The Fire Nation is very powerful," Ashlynn reminded him as she, too, viewed the fallen earth city.
"Omashu was powerful, up until now. Now Ba Sing Se is the only earth nation city still standing," Sokka said, his voice leaving hints that he was losing hope. "Aang, I know this must be difficult to see and accept... But we need to move on. The sooner you find a teacher---" Katara began to say, but was interrupted before she could finish.
"No. I'm going to find King Bumi," Aang declared determinedly, and slowly began to descend the mountain they stood upon.
"Aang... Stop. We could be walking into a trap. Who knows, Bumi might not even be here!" Sokka said in hopes of making Aang change his mind. "I know you had your hopes set on Bumi, but..." Katara tried to say, backing her brother up.
"There are plenty of people in the earth nation that can teach you earth bending," Ashlynn reminded him solemnly. "Right now, I'm not looking for my teacher. I'm looking for my friend," he retorted.
With his final comment said, no one could object. After all, if their friends were in danger, they, too, would do everything they could to help. The team reluctantly agreed to help Aang search for the missing king.
"How will we get into the city without being discovered?" Ashlynn pondered aloud after a few moments of silence. "We'll take to the sewers. No one is going to be patrolling down there, and we can easily water bend the... mess... out of our way," Aang responded, having already thought of a detailed plan. "I trust you know where to enter the sewers, then?" Ashlynn questioned once more. Aang nodded, and mounted Appa. The rest did the same.
Aang guided Appa down to the earthen base of the city, where they'd be well out of sight, especially since it was going to be nighttime soon. Aang then directed Appa to a large metal pipe that jutted out from one side of the base. There was no doubt that it was the entrance to the sewers. Appa halted next to the small ledge that sat beneath the large pipe, and allowed his passengers to dismount upon the ledge. When each member was on safe grounds, Appa flew off to find his own form of hidden shelter.
"Why didn't we just take this passage last time? Would have saved us a lot of trouble," Sokka asked curiously. Aang chuckled, and pried open the metal pipe with his staff. Immediately, green liquid with a vile odor spewed outward at the group. Katara quickly water bended a shield about herself and Ashlynn, leaving Sokka the only one unprotected. He cried out in horror as the fluids splashed over him and instantly stained his clothing.
"That's why we didn't take this passage last time," Aang said, floating above the pipe while it's loose contents spilled out. When the leaking came to a steady and small flow, Aang entered the pipe and instantly began to air bend the sewage around him into the group behind him, rather than hit him head on. Sokka grasped his nose and his stomach, trying to rid himself of the stench and the need to hurl.
Katara water bended the fluids around her and Ashlynn, while Ashlynn made a protective bubble of air around her nostrils as well as Katara's, keeping the foul smell out and a fresh scent in. Sokka was the only one to suffer.
After roughly ten minutes of a steady pace upwards through the pipes, Aang finally reached an entrance to the ground above them. He cautiously lifted the round, metal sewer door, and peered around them to see if there were any guards nearby. When all was safe, he tossed the door to the side and climbed up and out. Katara followed him, Ashlynn followed her, and Sokka came in last, whom was the only one entirely coated in sewage.
Katara giggled, and used the water from a nearby barrel to wash the slime off of her brother. When all the fluids were gone, all that remained what looked to be two miniature purple octopuses. They were attached to each of Sokka's cheeks, and appeared to be sucking on his skin. When Sokka realized this, he instantly screamed in more horror and tried to tug the little creatures off his face, but to no avail.
"Sokka stop making so much noise! It's just a baby purple pentapus," Aang said, and tickled the back of one. It released its five legs from Sokka's face, and allowed itself to be removed. Aang lightly pulled the little creature off, and tossed him back into the sewer where it had been before. Left on Sokka's face were a few rows of red marks, almost like sores, from where the pentapus had been.
Sokka tickled the other baby pentapus, and tossed it back into the sewer too.
"Alright now that we're comfortably ready to proceed, let's put on our disguises and move on," Aang said, and wrapped his head in a cloth to hide his arrow. Ashlynn opened the pack she carried on her back, and pulled out a cloak, shawl, and hair tie. She pulled her fiery hair up above her head, and twisted it into a small bun. She then wrapped the shawl about her head, like Aang did, to better hide her appearance. She then wrapped the cloak about herself so that she looked like Katara and Sokka did, who also wore cloaks.
Luckily, just as soon as they'd finished making themselves look different, the guards patrolled around the corner, but were unable to see through their disguises.
"What are you kids doing out past curfew?" one of the guards demanded. "Sorry sir, we were just on our way home," Katara explained cheerfully. Sokka, Ashlynn, and Aang provided convincing grins to follow. They each turned around, and began to walk away from the guards.
"Wait," the guard said as they began to walk off, "What's the matter with him?"
The children turned around to see whom he was speaking about, and saw him pointing at Sokka. The guard had managed to see the little sores the pentapus had left on his skin.
"He has... pentapox, sir," Katara said, and held onto Sokka's shoulders. Sokka quickly caught on, and instantly made himself appear sick. The guard took a step closer towards Sokka to examine him better. "Sir, I wouldn't recommend getting closer. Pentapox is contagious... and deadly," Katara said, and Sokka further convinced the guard by coughing and then making it look as though he were going to vomit.
"I think I've heard of pentapox..." the guard said in a convinced and terrified tone. Instantly, he and his fellow guards took off running in the other direction, desperate to get away from Sokka.
"Alright, let's go find Bumi," Aang said when the guards were out of sight.
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The team spent the next hour looking about the lower half the city. Sometimes they narrowly evaded the guards, and had to stay out of the moonlight and in the dark shadows of the city, so they couldn't be seen. "We need to find Bumi, fast, and then leave. We'll get caught if we stay here much longer," Katara said.
"Where would they keep him, anyway?" Sokka whispered.
"Somewhere made of metal, so he can't earth bend," Ashlynn responded, knowing Fire Nation tactics well. Aang surveyed the upper half the city from where they were hidden, trying to spot a place made entirely of metal.
"Come on, let's go look at the upper half," Sokka suggested, and they began to continue their search.
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The next portion of their moonlit search went undisturbed, for the most part. When they reached the center of the upper half of the city, a loud rumbling was heard from above them. They stopped, and looked up the wall to their right, and were shocked to see a massive earthly boulder sliding down the wall. Aang looked down to their left to see its target, which appeared to be a fire nation family on a moonlit stroll. A baby was in the group, and as soon as this became known to Aang, he air bended the boulder out of their path to keep the family safe.
"The resistance!" the mother holding the baby cried out. A girl a little older than Katara and Ashlynn stepped out from behind the mother, and cast a series of darts at the group. Ashlynn shuddered in recognition, but did not let her friends see that she recognized the girl.
The girl and two of the guards climbed up a ladder to reach the group. The team turned about as they began to climb, and tried to run away. The guards could not keep up, but the girl proved to be agile, and she continuously cast her darts and various other throwing weapons at the team. Katara kept the team protected by creating ice barriers to stop the flying weapons.
The team came to a slow when they neared a wall, and prepared to fight the girl. However, just when she got close, the earth beneath the group shifted, and turned over, tossing them underground.
Ashlynn groaned and massaged the side of her head where a bruise would form from the fall she'd just taken, and looked up at the scene around her. She was surprised to see many earth benders hiding underground. It was they who earth bended the floor beneath them, and saved them from the enemy that had assaulted them.
"We're the resistance," an older man with a deep voice declared as the team regained their footing. "Is King Bumi with you guys? Is he leading the resistance?" Aang asked excitedly.
"Of course not! We would have won back our town already if he were. On the day of the invasion, our town prepared to fight for our lives and for our freedom. Before we even had the chance to, King Bumi... surrendered..." the leader of the resistance retorted bitterly. Aang frowned at the comment, positive that Bumi would never step down.
"What do you mean? King Bumi would never surrender his own people and his own town," Aang said, utterly confused. "No... The day of the invasion, I asked him what we should do. He looked me in the eye, and said he wasn't going to do anything about it. It doesn't matter now, our only path to freedom is to fight, and it's worth dying for," the man declared courageously.
"No... There's another path to freedom. You can leave Omashu, and fight another day," Aang said, setting aside his worry for Bumi and focusing on the problem at hand. "No, you don't understand, we've lost everything," the man argued stubbornly.
"No... I think the kid is right. We can't win, we're outnumbered," one of the leader's men followed. As soon as he spoke up, the rest of the resistance agreed that they didn't want to fight. "Fine..." the leader spat angrily, and then said "There are thousands of citizens though. How do you plan to get them all out?"
Sokka chuckled, and responded "You're all about to come down with a nasty case of pentapox."
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The remainder of the evening was to be spent gathering pentapus and citizens. Aang ordered Ashlynn and Sokka to go down to the sewers and collect the little creatures, while he and Katara helped the resistance gather up the thousands of citizens.
Ashlynn and Sokka snuck back to where they'd exited the sewers, and hopped down into the dark and murky waters. They closed the metal door behind them, and lit the single torch they brought with them. Ashlynn created a protective air bubble around them, and they moved cautiously about the slippery floor, searching for the baby pentapus.
"Here's one," Ashlynn said, and stuck her arm out of the protective air bubble and tugged on a baby pentapus that was attached to the side of the wall. "Here, you need to have them too," Sokka said, and set down the bucket he was holding. Ashlynn handed him the baby pentapus, and he pressed it against one of her cheeks. Ashlynn giggled as it pulled at her skin with its tentacles.
"Wait, I want to tickle it," she giggled, and poked at the small, slippery back of the baby pentapus. It squealed with glee, and Ashlynn smiled as it pulled free. Sokka smiled too, and put the baby pentapus into the bucket of water he had with him. Then, they continued on their way to retrieve more baby purple pentapus.
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It was daytime, and most of the citizens had been 'afflicted with pentapox'. Sokka went about showing the citizens the best way to act sick, so that the guards would set them free, since they were desperate not to catch 'pentapox'.
"Alright, lets go," Sokka shouted to the citizens before him. Immediately, the citizens began to march forward, appearing almost like zombies. Some fell over, some made themselves hurl, some limped, and all groaned.
"Aang's not coming with us," Katara told Ashlynn as they trailed at the back of the 'plagued' army. "Why not?" Ashlynn asked. "He's gone to find King Bumi," she responded. Ashlynn nodded, and said no more.
"Plague- Plague!" cried one guard as the town marched towards the gates. "Open the gates! Let them out!" another guard shouted, and the gates were immediately opened. The groaning citizens marched right out of the gates, and did not stop until they were far out of sight from the city.
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It was late at night when Aang returned to the group. Many campfires had been set up, and every citizen was cheerful, and felt safe. Ashlynn, Sokka, and Katara got up and ran towards Aang, who had managed to find King Bumi's oversized pet, Flopsy, but hadn't seen the missing king at all.
"We've got a problem," the leader of the resistance said as Aang followed him companions towards their own campfire. "What's up?" Ashlynn asked quizzically. "We just did a head count..." he responded worriedly. "Oh no! Did someone get left behind?" Katara gasped.
"No... We have an extra," he said, and pointed at a toddler that was chasing Momo about the campsite. Ashlynn recognized the baby boy as the toddler Aang had saved from the rockslide, which meant he was the child of a powerful fire nation leader.
Aang rescued Momo from the child, and Katara's motherly instincts instantly kicked in, and she went to pay the child some attention. "I guess we can watch him, and give him back to his family tomorrow," Aang suggested. The resistance leader nodded, and departed from the group.
Katara sat down near the fire with the baby in her lap. Ashlynn lay out on her stomach near Katara, and played with the toddler as well. Sokka and Aang remained silent, and ate their food.
The crackling cry of a hawk was heard from nearby, and Aang looked up from his bowl of soup to see a messenger hawk fly towards them, and land on a small rock. Aang untied the message it held on its back, and it took off when he had the letter.
"What is it Aang?" Katara asked as she allowed the baby to suck on her fingers while he fell asleep. Ashlynn stroked the baby's head, attempting to soothe it to sleep. She'd always had a love for babies, which was something she and Katara had in common.
"It's a letter from the governor at Omashu. He thinks we kidnapped his son... So he wants to make a trade. His son... for King Bumi," Aang said aloud, almost surprised they'd give up the king so easily.
"Let's do it then! First thing tomorrow," Katara said. Aang nodded in agreement. "Till then, let's get some sleep... Least while the baby is," Ashlynn said. Everyone rolled themselves up into sleeping bags, and lets the fire die out as they fell into a slumber.
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In the morning, Appa flew Aang, Ashlynn, Katara, Sokka, and the baby to the highest portion of the city, where the trade was to be made. Appa flew off, but stayed nearby, in case trouble occurred. Since Sokka was the only one incapable of bending, he was given babysitting duty.
At noon, three women appeared walking up onto the wooden platform the team stood upon. It was difficult to tell who they were, though it was obvious none were the son's father. They stood on the far end of the platform, refusing to move any closer. Aang and his companions stood their ground as well, and awaited Bumi's arrival.
Suddenly, a snorting cackle was heard from above, and Aang looked up with hope. Sure enough, the crazed king was being lowered in an all metal box that kept all but his face covered. Bumi was set down behind the women on the other side of the platform.
"Have you brought my brother?" the woman at the front asked loudly from the other side. Ashlynn snarled under her breath, finally realizing whom the three women were. "He's here, we're ready to trade," Aang shouted back, and Sokka showed the proof that they did have the child.
"I'm sorry, but a thought just occurred to me," spoke another of the women. Ashlynn shuddered, having not heard the voice for several years. In fact, she'd nearly forgotten she even existed. She gripped the hilt of her sword that was attached to one hip, and prepared for an attack.
"We're trading a powerful earth bending king for a two-year old. That hardly seems like a fair trade," the threatening woman scorned. The more she spoke, the more horrible memories flooded through Ashlynn's mind. She gripped the hilt even more, trembling with rage as she felt the need to strike her down.
Azula... whispered a single voice in her head. Ashlynn instinctively went to brush a strand of hair from her face, despite the fact her hair was still wound into a bun to better conceal her appearance.
"You're right. The deals off," said the baby's sister. As soon as she said this, Bumi was hoisted into the air again.
"Bumi!" Aang cried out, and moved towards him. Azula charged towards Aang, and shot a massive blue flame in his direction. Aang jumped up over the flame, and began to climb the wood planks stacked upon the side, where construction was being held. Azula, now recognizing him as the Avatar, instantly chased after him as he ran to rescue Bumi.
The other two women charged after Sokka, Ashlynn, and Katara, determined to win back the toddler. "You need to get the baby out of here," Katara shouted to Sokka, who was already running away and blowing on the whistle that called for Appa.
The youngest of the group, whom was clad in pink, ducked beneath the platform they stood on, leaving the moody woman clad in all black to fight Katara and Ashlynn. "You go after Sokka... I'll take care of her," Ashlynn demanded, and removed her sword from its sheath and moved into a defensive stance. Katara hesitated, and then ran after Sokka.
"You really think a sword is going to stop me?" the girl threatened with no tone in her voice at all. Ashlynn held her defensive stance, and waited for her first attack. "Suit yourself," she said, and surprising speed she began to fire darts and other assortments of small weapons at Ashlynn.
Ashlynn began to move towards her, narrowly deflecting the small weapons with her sword. Yet, for every step Ashlynn took forward, her enemy took a step backward away from her, and never stopped firing her darts and weapons. One dart ripped through the shawl on Ashlynn's head, and cut through some of the hair wrapped in the bun. The shawl fell to the ground, along with some hair. Ashlynn brushed her red hair from her face, and continued to charge at her.
"This just got more interesting," the girl grinned slightly, and picked up the pace at which she was throwing weapons.
As she continued to throw more weapons, Ashlynn began to run towards her faster. Ashlynn's pace was faster than hers, and Ashlynn quickly got close to her. Finally in range of her, Ashlynn swung her sword at her right shoulder. She ducked, and moved to puncture Ashlynn's side with one of her many small weapons. Ashlynn stepped away and swung her sword at the center of the woman's shoulder blades. The woman rolled away from the sword, and grasped Ashlynn's ankles as she did so. Ashlynn gasped as she lost her balance and fell over.
"Ashlynn- My bending, it's gone! I need your help!" came Katara's voice from the other end of the platform. Ashlynn quickly glanced over and saw the girl in pink about to knock Katara out for good.
"Ashlynn, huh? I thought I recognized you, with your red hair and how horrible you are at fighting. Wasn't sure, but I guess she confirmed my suspicions. Oh well," she said blandly, and made a move to pin Ashlynn to the floor with one of her weapons.
Ashlynn instantly rolled away, regained her footing, and punched her in one kidney with the hilt of her sword. "I'm better than you, Mai," Ashlynn declared as Mai stumbled from the blow. Just then, Appa landed beside her, and she quickly climbed up into the saddle where Katara and Sokka were, still with the baby.
"We need to find Aang," Sokka said as Appa flew over the city. A dirt cloud and blue flames were seen from below. "That must be him!" Ashlynn said, and Sokka guided Appa towards the scene.
When Appa neared Aang, who was sliding down one of the chutes on top of the metal prison that held Bumi, Sokka guided Appa near the chute, and when he got close Aang made an attempt to air bend himself and Bumi into Appa's saddle. However, the cage flew right over Appa and fell down into another chute far below them, and out of sight.
Sokka had Appa follow the chute down to the bottom. Sure enough, Aang awaited them, yet Bumi was not there. Yet, Aang did not seem too upset. Aang flew up into Appa's saddle, and proceeded to tell them what had happened.
"Bumi told me that earth benders wait and listen, which is why he chose not to act. He chose to be neutral, and being neutral is why he can't leave now. He said I will find a different teacher, and it'll be someone who waits and listens," Aang explained as they flew.
"If Bumi thinks you'll find someone, then I do too," Katara said, and hugged Aang.
"Before we run off to various earth nation cities... may I suggest we return the baby?" Ashlynn giggled, and held out the little baby boy that was fast asleep.
Aang nodded, and picked up the child. He opened the wings of his staff, and flew back in the direction of Omashu to return the lost child. When he returned, he guided Appa to a safe place where they could sleep, and rest up before searching for an earth-bending teacher for Aang...