Masami knew hanging around a strange ship probably wasn't the best idea. Kali didn't know they were pirates, but Masami figured after being in here a few minutes they probably were. She moved slowly, glancing about the awkward little store; she'd never seen things like this before. Some of the things looked to be very old, and some of them very valuable. She lifted a slightly heavy rock sculpture, looking at the details. The figure detailed in the statute seemed to be a dragon of some sort. It was a lovely piece of art, but she assumed it was very expensive, much like the rest of the artifacts in the ship. She wasn't sure how she should approach anything. She put her hand down on a table, and squealed as she put her hand down on a shrunken, shriveled up head. She lifted her hand, and examined it,
"This is disgusting! I want it!"
She held the head by the hair, and she looked up as a group of three entered; a male and female that appeared to be similar in appearance, and she then laid eyes on a little boy, a year or so younger than herself most likely. He looked different than the others, and she really couldn't place where he was from. He had tattoos she had never seen before, she really thought she should have known where they were from, but at the same time, but really didn't know where; there was something oddly captivating about him. Eventually, she caught herself staring, she looked away as he looked at her. She watched them moving around and she gradually got closer to the bald boy, but only for a moment. He was quiet adorable. She tossed some gold on the table for the shrunken head, and she turned to go, there was no need to keep looking at strangers, she needed to find her sister. As she was leaving, she heard the bald boy speak,
"What say ye to the price of one copper piece?"
The pirate laughed, and the boy offered more, but only by 1 copper piece, and this angered the pirate. Masami wanted to look back and see what the offering was over, but whatever it was, she was certain it was worth more then a price like that. Despite this, Masami couldn't stop herself from giggling over the antics of the other. She covered her mouth, and she scurried out of the ship. Once outside, she ran a hand through her curls and started to look for her sister; with her short stature it was rather difficult for her to see very far, and she jumped a few times, trying to catch sight of her gangly other half. Her dark eyes strained to see much farther, but no matter how she looked, she could not find her sister. A moment later, a hand caught her in the back, and she looked back to see the bald boy from before and both of his companions. The group was making away from the ship, and the pirates seemed to be after them, and it seemed, she had been mistaken as part of their group, honest mistake really, had she had time, she could have just told them she was just looking for her sister, but as it were, it seemed someone had done something they shouldn't have, and they were now in trouble.
"Run!"
The bald boy told her, and run she did. She glanced over her shoulder, and didn't like the idea of these angry men going after them. She shouldered the bag she had, and she did her best to keep up with the group.
Kali strolled along the docks. She'd found most of the provisions they'd needed, including some tasty cabbages a somewhat familiar looking merchant had sold her. She studied the foreign looking ship in front of her. Masami had insisted they meet here, due to the distinctness of the ship. She'd been intrigued by it. Kali, for her part, thought the crew looked a bit too suspicious to be ordinary merchants. Masami had been supposed to meet her here several minutes ago. Had she gone into the ship to look around? Kali frowned and started toward the ship's entrance only to be nearly knocked over by a man running into her, holding a pile of stuff. The Fire Nation soldier peered around his pile and frowned down at her,
"Watch where you're going!"
She narrowed her eyes but said nothing and stepped aside. The Fire Nation was not to be trifled with. Though she was a fire bender, Kali held no real ties to any particular nation. Her mother had been a Fire Nation prisoner of the Earth Kingdom, her father's land. But the Fire Nation had done her no favors. Their own soldiers had been responsible for the deaths of her mom and her fellow captives. She watched as the man, followed by fellow soldiers also carrying piles (except for the last, who carried a Tsungi horn), strolled down toward a small, older looking Fire Nation ship moored at the end of the docks. Surveying them from not too far away were an older, chubby man and a young man with a scar covering half his face. The former had a cheerful smile on his face while the latter wore a dark scowl across his. Kali turned her attention back to her sister.
Entering the makeshift shop of the ship, Kali peered around the room. An odd assortment of items greeted her eyes. Boomerangs, strange statues, shrunken heads, scrolls, and various other objects of interest were spread out on shelves. She walked along, feigning interest in the contents of the shelves and attempted to ignore the wary stare of the man who stood behind the counter at the far end of the room. The reptilian bird which sat upon his shoulder, his dress, and the overall contents and look of the room convinced her that this was, indeed, a pirate ship. She had just come to a decision to simply ask the pirate about her sister when another pirate suddenly entered the room, apparently out of breath. He held a sharp blade in one hand and appeared to have some manner of cream or oil coloring his lips which made them brightly colored. As he reached the counter, the other pirate, apparently the captain, asked in a gravelly voice,
"Well?"
At that moment, the two Fire Nation men she'd seen earlier walked in and the older man, seeing the statue in front of Kali, quickened his pace towards her.
"Oh that is handsome!" he exclaimed, beaming, then turned to her, "Are you thinking of buying this?"
She shook her head and returned his smile,
"Oh...no. I was just admiring it. "
She shuffled back to allow him room to further examine the statue and turned to look at the shrunken heads instead. The Scar groaned,
"Uncle, we don't have time for this!"
"Just a moment," Uncle replied calmly, "I think I might buy this. Wouldn't it look magnificent in the galley?"
Fruity Lips and the Captain turned back from looking them over and Fruity Lips answered the Captain's earlier question.
"We lost the Water Tribe kids, the little bald monk they were with, and that other girl."
The Scar stiffened and turned to them at once, stepping forward.
"This monk, did he have an arrow on his head?"
"What's it to you?" demanded the Captain. Kali glanced at Uncle, who was making a comical imitation of the statue's face. She suppressed a giggle and continued to listen to the conversation behind her. The Scar spoke smoothly in a low voice, but a quality of tension clung to his voice,
"I'm searching for a certain young bald monk with arrow tattoos. If this monk you mentioned was him, I may be willing to help you with your search."
The Captain's frown deepened, "What exactly would you gain from that?"
The Scar narrowed his eyes. "All I want is the monk, assuming, of course, that he had the tattoos. Did he?"
The two pirates exchanged glances, then nodded. Just then, Uncle nudged her and Kali looked down at him, startled.
"What do you think of this statue exactly? Do you think it would be a bit too much if, say, I set it up in the galley of our ship? It has quite an attractive quality to it, I think."
Kali found herself unable to repress a smile and nodded,
"I'm sure it would look lovely in your galley."
The Scar, who'd noted this brief conversation, continued,
"What exactly would you gain from finding them?"
"The Water Tribe girl stole a water-bending scroll of considerable worth. We want it back."
"I can provide you with reinforcements for tracking and capturing them. We can both get what we want."
The Scar leaned forward, his eyes narrowing further,
"Do we have a deal?"
Again, the pirates exchanged glances and the Captain nodded,
"Agreed."
"Excellent!" exclaimed Uncle, moving forward next to the Scar, "Now, perhaps you could get me a deal on this statue as well?"
The Captain shrugged then looked over at Kali, who was still pretending to have a morbid fascination with shrunken heads.
"You gonna buy any of those or not? Cause if not, you need to leave now. Shop's officially closed."
Kali smiled over at him,
"No thanks. I've decided none of these are quite my style."
She began to head for the door, wondering if the "other girl" Fruity Lips had mentioned could be Masami. Abruptly, Fruity Lips appeared beside her and grabbed her arm,
"Perhaps you'd like to reconsider? Earlier we had a customer who touched one of them by accident and became instantly inspired to buy it. It might be the same for you."
She looked back at the heads. Sounds like something Masami'd do, she thought.
"Alright," she half-smiled at him, "Perhaps I would like to reconsider. Mind showing me where exactly that shrunken head the other customer liked was?"
She allowed him to lead her back to the heads. Uncle pulled the Scar aside and leaned in,
"Prince Zuko, are you sure this is wise?"
"Of course I'm sure. What better way to find the Ava-the monk, than with the help of others who are looking for him as well?"
Kali didn't like the sound of this whole thing, especially if her sister was involved. She could feel the prince's eyes on her and looked around, meeting his eyes for a moment. He was glaring at her impatiently. Obviously she was delaying him. Feeling slightly resentful, she slowed her pace, reaching the heads again, looked down at where the pirate indicated the shrunken head had been. She thanked him and gingerly touched the other heads while searching for a sign, any sign, that her sister was indeed that other customer. Not finding it, she sighed inwardly, but couldn't ignore the growing feeling that her sister had gotten herself into this mess somehow. Finally, she forced herself to resume the original plan of asking the Captain about her sister. She picked up a head and walked forward to purchase it. As she did so, she asked,
"Could you describe what this other customer who bought one of these looked like? As it happens," she glanced back at Zuko, "I'm looking for someone as well."
The Captain frowned darkly and impatiently and said,
"Look, girl. Unless you have something to offer here, I've no use for anyone else getting involved here."
"Well," she said, thinking fast, "I'm looking for my sister. She's got brown hair, is about yey high, and has red eyes."
A spark of recognition lit the pirate's eyes and the dread that had been growing inside her increased. He seemed to nod slightly, as if confirming her fear that it had indeed been Masami with the monk and his friends.
"I can't offer you any more reinforcements than myself, but I can offer you someone who knows this area well and is a good tracker."
Here she exchanged a glance with Uncle, "I lose Masami fairly often and I know the right people to talk to when it comes to finding her. If she's with the people you're looking for, I can help trace your monk and your Water Tribe girl more quickly."
This time, it was Zuko and the Captain who were exchanging glances. Finally, the Captain scowled and said,
"Fine. But you'd better hope you're as useful as you claim to be, girly."
Kali met his gaze. This really wasn't what she'd bargained for when she'd woken up this morning.
Her legs stretched beneath her. What was she running from? And why did those Pirates look so angry?! Who were these people? Were they any better then the Pirates? She started to fall behind, when the strange group got turned around, and ended up cornered. She didn't know what was going to happen to them. But before she could panic, the bald boy pulled a staff from his side, and turned it into some kind of glider. What good was that?! She thought in a panic, but then the others grabbed hold to the bald boy. She too followed suit, though she knew this wouldn't hold them all! But, it seemed she was wrong. They sailed off towards God only knew where, and they were out of sight.
It was amazing looking out over the land beneath them, she had never seen this type of view. Did everything look small from the sky? She looked out over the town, and the water, her curls whipping back and forth as she did. She noticed eventually they were away from town, and starting to descend towards the earth. She wasn't really sure what this meant, but with the relative calm she had shown before, she went down with the others.
As her feet touched down near a river, Masami spied a rather large hairy...thing rolling around in some water, and got a better look at the people. The group was made of three kids around her own age, two of which she assumed to be siblings, they had the same basic features. The girl was taller then Masami, and the male taller still. They were attractive, their attire reminded her a bit of home on Kyoshi in the winter. The other boy though, the one who had flown, she'd never seen someone like him before. She sat on a rock and she watched the siblings angrily exchange words, apparently one of them had stolen something, but the female had a point in mentioning the pirates stole it first. Then she heard one of them mention Water Bending, she could do that! She stood, and she slowly ventured closer. She got closer, and she noticed the little bald one look at her, and smile,
"Hi! I'm Aang." He said, she smiled lightly, and dropped her eyes to the ground,
"It's nice to meet you Aang, I'm Masami." She looked at the other two as they spoke. The siblings seemed to have forgotten they'd picked up a hitchhiker along the way.
"I'm Sokka. This is my sister Katara." The boy said after a moment. Masami nodded to them, and smiled. She looked at the scroll.
"Is one of you a water bender?" She asked curiously. Katara nodded,
"I am, do you bend at all?" She asked with a small smile. Masami nodded,
"I bend water a bit. I used to be better then I am now. I am a little afraid of water, so it gets hard sometimes." A little was an understatement, she was horrified of large bodies of water, but she was a step up from where she had been, that was for sure. She didn't know what to do with herself a few years ago, she could at least stand in the water now. She watched Katara lay the scroll down, and she said,
"Well, you're welcome to practice with Aang and I." She smiled. She was friendly enough. Aang nodded, and Masami agreed.
The group moved towards the water ahead of them, and she swallowed some. She knew this bit of water wouldn't harm her. The water she'd been near in town was much more a struggle for her then this should have been. She squared her shoulders and she walked towards the water tentatively. She glanced at her companions and they seemed to be making waves. She observed for a while, and then decided to try the move herself, but before she could really get into the motion, some angry shouts caught her off guard. She dropped the stance she had set, and she moved as the girl seemed to have gotten upset about something. She glanced at the other in time to see Aang looking rather perplexed.
He moved closer to her as Katara left them and he smiled,
"You looked like you were going to do something, will you show me?" He asked curiously. Part of her wanted to say hew as probably sizing her up but his innocent tone said otherwise in her mind. She nodded, almost stiffly. She shifted her shoulders, and she lifted the water as she lifted a foot. Then she kicked out as she turned, and shot the water in the direction her shoulders faced. She knew the move had brought a little excess movement to it, but she'd gotten it right, or as right as she knew how. She smiled, and looked back at Aang. He seemed impressed.
"Show me again!" He said, smiling at her with big eyes. She smiled lightly and nodded, lifting water, and her leg. She kicked, turned, dropped and tossed the water as she had before. He smiled and laughed and he copied her, out doing her by a long shot. She smiled,
"Wow, that was impressive. I wouldn't have guessed you were a Water Bender?" She asked, watching him continue to out do her. Her tone sounded like a statement but there was an underlying bit of question to it.
"No, I'm an Air Bender!" She nodded, smiling until she realized what he had said. She cocked her head to the side.
"An air bender?" He nodded and smiled. Sokka glanced over,
"I suppose Aang being the Avatar slipped our minds to tell you." She had not only met another water bender, but she had met the AVATAR today!? She needed to sit down. She sank to a rock and she smiled weakly,
"Well, that explains a lot, I guess."
Kali was anxious. No, scratch that. Well beyond anxious. Masami was off running around with complete strangers and doing who knows what. Fire Nation soldiers AND pirates were trying to capture the people she was with for reasons unknown. And now she, Kali, was traveling with both the pirates and the Fire Nation. It had been a while since the two of them had gotten into such a big mess.
She had successfully tracked the group down to a certain area of forest along a river not far from the seaside village they'd been in. Various eyewitnesses, including that cabbage merchant (who'd apparently had his cabbages crushed by the bald monk), had identified a girl who could only be Masami flying (flying?!) away with the monk and Water Tribe kids in the direction of this river. Once they'd reached the mouth of the river from the sea, they'd discovered that the river actually split into two different rivers. Kali, in order to prove her worth on this mission, had been forced to scout ahead, looking for any sign of people in the area. Thankfully, she hadn't been completely bluffing when she'd said she was good at tracking people down. After nearly an hour of running along the banks and climbing trees for better views down the first branch, however, she'd found little evidence. It was night at this point, so looking for smoke from a fire didn't help and apparently she wasn't close enough to anyone to see an actual fire. The pirates and especially the fire prince were quite impatient, adding an extra edge of desperation as she searched the second river. Zuko's uncle had fortunately had the foresight to mention that the people in question often traveled using an enormous fluffy, white beast. She soon came across a clump of white fur as well as an entire set of supplies lodged against a log in the river, leading them to follow that branch.
She stood leaning against the rail of the ship gazing ahead of them and listening to Prince Zuko and the Captain talk quietly.
"Shouldn't we search the woods?" asked the Captain.
"We don't need to," Zuko said flatly, "They stole a water scroll, right? So they'll be near the water."
Good logic, she supposed. She looked at the Fire Nation ship traveling alongside them and wished she were on the ship with Uncle. He seemed much friendlier than his nephew, which didn't take much. Her gaze drifted to the prince and wondered idly where the scar on his face had come from. She'd heard small snippets about the banished prince of the Fire Nation before, but had never heard more than he was banished, scarred, and a problem. Also, that he had been sent on a quest considered impossible. The quest to find the Avatar. Her eyes widened as it occurred to her that she might just be caught in something even bigger than she'd thought. Word had spread that the Avatar had returned. Could this bald monk be-?
Zuko looked back at her abruptly,
"You're sure they're down this way?"
She nodded,
"Unless they planted that pack of supplies in the river purposely and that tuft of hair, which doesn't seem too likely, they must be down this way."
Or have been down this way, anyway, she thought to herself. She tried not to think about what would happen if they didn't find them here. Then she thought of what might happen if they did find them and felt even worse.
Zuko grumbled under his breath and paced the deck restlessly, while the Captain gave her a harsh look and went inside the cabin. A few moments later, Zuko stopped pacing and stared out at the space in front of them. Kali remained leaning against the railing and eyed him. He couldn't be much older than her and was probably about the same height (she was tall for her age). She wondered why he chose such an unflattering hair style. The ponytail looked fine but the rest of his head being shaved gave him a strangely aged and unsettling look, adding to the already uncomfortable feeling she got from looking at his scarred face. Her thoughts went back to his quest.
"So, your highness, what's so important about a little bald kid? The Fire Nation have something against bald monks?"
Zuko looked startled by the sudden question, then scowled at her.
"That's none of your business."
She stared back passively at him and said,
"Actually, I think it might have become my business since I'm helping you find him. I sincerely doubt you and said monk are buddies and this is all some big game of hide and seek."
His brow furrowed and he looked away, his scowl deepened. They lapsed back into silence for a few minutes. Then Zuko finally spoke,
"I need him to restore something I've lost."
She felt a tinge of sympathy rise up inside her and looked away. The pit in her stomach grew and it was on this cheerful note that she suddenly heard the unmistakable sounds of someone struggling with waterbending. Splash!
"Grr! Come on, water, work with me here!"
Kali clenched the railing harder as Zuko's eyes lit up and the ships quickly headed for shore. The reality of the situation set back in. Masami and possibly some innocent people were in danger. And she'd just led it right to them.
After a small dinner, Masami had quickly gotten sleepy. She knew she probably shouldn't sleep right around two males she didn't know, but she figured they were harmless. As the group settled in for the night, Masami laid on a pallet made for her by Aang.
"Good night Masami!" He whispered happily. She blushed lightly, thankfully it was dark and he couldn't see it. She whispered back,
"Good night Aang, sleep well." He nodded, and he closed his eyes. She started to close her own, when she saw something fly over her head. She squinted in the darkness as the monkey she'd seen flying around camp landed on Aang, curling up to sleep as well. She smiled at it and she felt her own eyes drift closed. Unbeknownst to the group, Katara slipped off and tried the waterbending forms from earlier but it didn't work for her this time around either. It seemed her temper had yet to dissipate and she was just not going to be able to make this work for her. But, while she thought she was alone practicing she found out that was in fact not the case once she was nabbed by pirates.
Masami felt herself wake quickly as someone screamed and fell beside her. She looked up in time to see Aang getting netted and hauled off. Sokka following him. She pulled herself to her feet, lifting her hands to fight. But, she was caught in a net before she was able to make a stand.
"What're you doing?!" She cried, thrashing around in her net. She was dragged back out of the brush, and she saw Aang, Sokka and Katara bound, and surrounded by a group. Why was this happening?! She cried out lightly as the person holding her net tugged, getting his hand wrapped up in her curls.
"Quiet girl." He growled. She recognized some of the men as pirates from earlier. She heard the others she was with exchanging some words, but she had tuned them out. She twisted as she was taken from her net and bound at the wrists next to her new friends, as she knelt, she saw her new friends struggling to get free, and it gave her an idea. She was able to use her hands more than she thought. She managed to bring some water up from a puddle, and it collided with the man nearest her's face. He squealed lightly and let go of his knife. Masami dropped to her knees and made a grab for the knife as Aang managed to stir up dust, and she got lost in the center of it.
"Masami! Sokka!?" She could hear Aang calling. She coughed again, and she pulled herself up. She didn't know where to run, so she just figured it was in her best interest to get moving.
"Aang!" She blindly ran into a cloud, and she tripped over something, screaming and she fell on a smaller body. She pushed herself up, and she came face to face with Aang. She blushed again, and he smiled. He had already managed to free himself some how, so she turned and dropped the knife she'd gotten from the men so he could free her.
"Glad I found you." He said happily. They pulled themselves up, and he continued to call for Sokka. As they agreed to meet outside the crowd, Aang grabbed her around the waist, pulled her to his side and jumped over the dust, and they crashed on the outside of the group landing to Sokka's left. Getting up, they headed towards Katara, who was trying to move a boat. Masami and Aang joined, making waves that would hopefully push the boat out of the sands holding it in place. As they got the boat into the water, Aang used his bending again so they were able to climb abroad the boat, leaving the scuffle behind, or so Masami hoped.
This is ridiculous! thought Kali. She watched the poor Water Tribe girl being taunted by Zuko. Apparently, he'd acquired her mother's necklace at some point and was trying to use it to barter for the monk. Kali felt stupid for having felt bad for him for a moment. Finding the girl unhelpful, Zuko demanded the pirates go search for the others if they wanted their stolen scroll back. He looked at her skeptically, apparently wondering whether he should order her to do so as well.
"Well, you want your sister back, don't you? Find her!"
Kali looked at the girl, wondering for moment if she should try to help her. Then she remembered the crowd of fire benders standing right across from her and decided she'd better do what he'd suggested. She'd find a way to help get the girl out of this mess later.
The sun was just beginning to come up as she spotted them. She ran to wake them, knowing she had to get her sister and help get their friend back. Just as she was reaching them though, she felt herself tripped and grabbed from behind.
"Hey!" she shouted loudly, hoping to wake Masami and her new friends, "I'm ON YOUR SIDE!"
The monk woke and yelled, "Sokka, Masami, Katara wake up!" only to be grabbed from behind by another pirate. Kali kicked her own pirate hard in the shins, then started to unsheathe the matching swords she kept by her side, not wanting to use fire-bending in front of so many people. Unfortunately, at that moment, two more pirates joined him and the monk, spotting them and apparently mistaking her for one as well, hit them with a powerful blast of wind. Kali was slammed directly into a tree. By the time she started to get up, the three pirates had her swords and had grabbed her. One held a knife to her throat.
"We don't trust you, girly! After all, your sister's with them!"
Realizing struggle was futile, she let them lead her, along with her oblivious sister (who'd slept through the shouting and fighting) and the monk. She heard the Water Tribe boy shout "Oh, so I'm not good enough to capture?!" right before he was captured.
She glowered at Zuko and his firebenders as she and the others were led back. She'd worried about this but it had been a risk she'd needed to take. Now what? Masami was in her own world apparently, still waking up. The Water Tribe boy, whose name was evidently Sokka, was causing problems. He was, as Zuko put it "trying to turn (them) against each other," and it was working very well. The pirates, knowing now that Aang (the monk) was, in fact, the Avatar, intended to keep him and the fire prince was not taking it so well.
"You'll regret breaking a deal with me!" he growled, prompting the fire benders to attack. The pirates flung themselves into the fight, using smoke bombs just as Aang kicked up a huge cloud of dust. Suddenly she could barely see anything. Kali took advantage of the confusion and tripped the pirate holding her, who had fortunately lowered his knife out of distraction. She bolted into the cloud of smoke and dust, looking for the pirate with her swords. As she did so, she heard Masami shout and shifted to trying to find her amid the assorted weapons and fire. Just as she had neared the place where she could hear her sister, she was elbowed in the face by a small figure and then tripped over by her sister, whom she recognized from the scream. She heard Masami and Aang both say something and reached over to grab them both, leading to someone else stumbling over her arm while she was simultaneously kicked in the stomach. She groaned aloud. This was just not her day.
Reaching again for her sister and finding her gone, she crawled out of the cloud and found, to her delight, her swords. Picking them up, she immediately brandished them as Fruity Lips came flying out of the smoke towards her. He cackled at her, evidently not expecting her to be able to do much, and lunged but she parried then knocked him back into the cloud. Meanwhile, Zuko had popped out of the smoke next to her and in the next moment, she whipped out of the way as the Captain's sword appeared. She jumped out of the way as the two locked into combat then started as Uncle appeared beside her and grabbed both Zuko and the Captain, stopping their fight.
"Are you too busy fighting to see your own ship has set sail?!"
Zuko yelled, "We have no time for your proverbs, Uncle!"
Kali looked over at the ships.
"It's no proverb!" she and Uncle said in unison. Sokka, Masami, Aang, and Katara had stolen the pirates' ship.
"Bleeding hog-monkeys!" shouted the Captain, running down the beach after them. Zuko laughed, to Kali's surprise (she had assumed he had no sense of humor), and then looked startled as the pirates taunted him from his own boat.
"Hey! That's my boat!" he yelled and started to run also.
"Maybe it should be a proverb," Uncle mused.
"C'mon, Uncle!" Zuko shouted. Kali turned to the older man,
"With all due respect, sir, I think it should definitely be a proverb."
Sokka, driving the boat laughed at the misfortune of the scar faced boy on the shore. It seemed they knew him, and there was a lot Masami didn't know about this little group. Masami stepped up to the top of the boat, near where Sokka was steering, and she didn't want to laugh, but she did. But her demeanor shifted as she then spied her sister on shore with the unfortunate looking boy. Before she could get too far away, she began to jump up and down, waving her arms frantically.
"KALI! WHAT'RE YOU DOING?!" She ran towards the edge of the boat, and she jumped up and down again, partly to be able to see over the railing, partly to be seen. She didn't know if Kali could see her, but she hoped she could. She looked at the others, questions written on her face.
"Whose that boy with her? Who are these people?!" She asked as they were being pursued. She finally felt anxiety beginning to set in. Masami began to pace lightly, Aang approached her, grabbing her elbow gently,
"They're Fire Nation soldiers, and they're after me. Who were you yelling at?" He asked curiously, not seeming nearly as worried about this as he should be.
"She's my sister...I don't know how she ended up with them, I don't feel right about that boy with the scar." She jumped as Sokka yelled from the front of the ship,
"I hate to break up this conversation, but we're in trouble!" He glanced over his shoulder as he spoke. They were about to go over a waterfall. She felt more panicked then before. Katara outed the idea of trying to work together to make the water hold them up from going over the falls but how long would it work, if at all? Standing on the front of the ship, Aang, Katara and Masami were able to keep themselves sort of level for a time, but the ship's back end was becoming too much for the inexperienced group.
"I'm a little bit scared, I'm not going to lie about that." Masami admitted, nervously looking back and forth from the other Benders and Sokka to the falls. Aang smiled,
"Don't worry, we'll be okay and you'll get back to your sister, I promise." His promise had nothing to back it up, but it was enough to sooth her rattled nerves. She nodded and smiled, until they saw a ship coming towards them, and there was no indication the other ship would be able to slow down, let alone stop. No sooner had the thoughts left her head that the ships collided, and everyone was sent flying, Masami was beginning to panic again, and she said a silent prayer for the first time in a long time that she, Aang, her sister, and everyone else somehow involved in this Madness would make it through alright.
Kali lost her cool as she watched Zuko's boat plow into the boat her sister was in and watched both go over the waterfall. She screamed "MASAMIIIII!" and, having outrun Zuko and the pirate captain, reached the edge just in time to see her sister and the other three saved by what appeared to be a giant flying bison. She stared at them as they flew off. First, relief washed over her as she saw that her sister was safe, then a mixture of sadness, annoyance, and disappointment. How had her sister just flown off with strangers and left her behind again?
Zuko reached her and looked down at his destroyed boat in dismay,
"My boat!"
Uncle came a moment later, huffing and puffing from the effort of running. For a moment, Zuko stared down at his ruined boat, also huffing and puffing, but from anger rather than fatigue, while Kali stared up into the sky after the flying bison. Then Uncle giggled abruptly and said,
"Prince Zuko, you're really going to get a kick out of this. The lotus tile was in my sleeve the WHOLE TIME!"
He withdrew from his sleeve a lotus tile (the kind they use to play Pai Sho) and jubilantly smiled as he held it up for all to see. Zuko did not get a kick out of it, snatching the tile and throwing it fiercely out over the waterfall. Kali noticed, to her slight amusement, that it landed perfectly on top of Fruity Lips's drenched head. The amusement however, was only momentary.
She collected herself and turned to the two fire-benders beside her.
"You'll be going after them again, then?" she stared intensely into Zuko's angry eyes.
"Immediately," he replied in a low, menacing voice. She lowered her voice to match his tone.
"Then I want to come with you."
"What?!" he asked sharply, clearly taken aback.
"Obviously, you've tracked them down before and you'll do it again. I want in on it. My sister's with them and where she goes, I go. Catching them on foot would be almost impossible for me. You have a ship, a crew, and, from what I understand, a team of rhinos. I don't want money, I'll do any tasks you ask me to do, and all I ask is that you give me a ride on your ship to find my sister...and provide me with food and water like you would the rest of your crew."
Zuko glared at her.
"What makes you think I would want you on my crew?" he demanded. Now was not the time to be modest.
"Whether you want me or not, you've got me. I learn fast. I'll pick up any tasks your crewmen can throw at me. I'm talented with swords. I can cook pretty well..."
"Did you say cook?!" Uncle asked excitedly, "As a matter of fact, we just lost our cook recently. We'd love to have a new cook!"
Zuko turned to glare at him,
"Uncle, we'll be fine without our cook! The crew can cook the meals. We don't need a new one."
Uncle gave him a sideways glance.
"Have you tasted Lt. Jee's cooking? He may be a fine man and a good lieutenant but he knows nothing of how to properly prepare roast duck! What harm would it do in letting her come with us? Besides, you owe her for helping us find the Avatar this time. We might not have even caught up with him in time without her help."
Zuko groaned, irritated, and then looked back at her.
"Fine. You can come, but you'd better be a good cook and follow orders. Understand?"
She glared back at him and nodded,
"Understood...Prince Zuko."
He stormed off. Iroh watched him walk off then turned to look at her, "I am sorry for my nephew's rude behavior. He has been through a lot and consequently has developed a very bad attitude."
He paused, then said excitedly,
"So what will you cook first? We have lots of supplies!"
After going over the waterfall, the group had been saved by the large flying thing she'd seen rolling in the water. As they sailed off into the sky, Masami again couldn't believe the view from the sky. It was nothing like she'd ever seen before. As she looked over the side of the creatures saddle, she felt a presence at her side. She looked up in time to see Aang coming to sit next to her. She smiled,
"Is this always how you guys get around?" She asked curiously. She saw that Katara was sleeping on their stuff and Sokka was steering the creature. She assumed to give Aang a break. He nodded, crossing his legs as he sat next to her.
"Usually, it's easier to get around up here then it is on the ground." He rolled his shoulders as he sat. He appeared stiff, which made sense since he'd been sitting atop the animals head all day.
"I..don't think I've ever seen one of these, what is he?" She ran her hand through the fluff over the side of the saddle.
"This is Appa, he's my Bison." Aang announced proudly. "He's a Sky Bison. I don't think they are really around anymore. " He added, his voice taking a sad tone. It hadn't really occurred to her that he was an Airbender, she knew what happened to them all. And by the look on his face he knew too. She cocked her head to the side,
"I don't mean to pry, but I can see you are the Avatar but where...did you go? There aren't Airbenders anymore." She was certain he knew that, so she wasn't really as careful speaking about it as she could have been. But she was curious, she'd never met someone so important before.
"I got lost in a storm, and I sorta froze myself. That's where Sokka and Katara found me. And Appa, together. And I was there for a long time, and I couldn't help my people." He answered, dropping his eyes. She looked at her hands, "You're here now though, that has to count for something." She tried to add, maybe to help some. He shrugged,
"I guess." He sounded sad still. She tentatively reached her hand out, touching his knee lightly.
"You saved my life and you didn't have to, so I appreciate it. Even if that doesn't count for much." She said with a small smile. He looked up and he smiled, the smile she was more used to seeing on his face.
"It does count, and you're welcome." He said with a happier tone. He yawned, and she told him to sleep. He nodded, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand in a very childlike manner. She found it endearing. He could have gone to sleep on the packs that would have been more comfortable, but he didn't. He curled up by her, his head lulling to the side as he slept and nearly resting on her leg. She looked down as she felt his head press against her, and she smiled. She moved her hand to rest on his shoulder for a moment, brushing the side of his outfit back down out of his face.