So, I missed a day again. Which means two chapters today, which ends things on a nice cliffhanger.
Disclaimer and whatnot.
~Taidine
Chapter Eight : Of Sokka and Serpents
"What you don't know can't hurt you."
The first ten minutes were indeed as boring as I anticipated. Ty Lee and Sean did their circus routine again, winning a few dollars and a lot of attention – which I suspect was the more important form of profit – from the other passengers on the boat. Aang sat and watched, looking fairly entertained; Zuko did not look entertained, but stayed put. For a while I alternated between watching Ty Lee do backflips and watching Zuko sulk, until he noticed me and looked up, golden eyes glaring from under a fringe of dark, shaggy hair. Still mad, for whatever reason. But then, I had never gotten the impression he was overly fond of me.
So I decided to go outside, get some air. I grabbed my tote bag, full of maps and other potentially useful things, and walked out, finding an empty seat at a bench overlooking the ocean. The water was ruffled and dark, green and blue in mottled patches; the sky was darkening. What time was it, four o'clock, four thirty? It couldn't be sunset, but a great billow of cloud was rolling in, and the air smelled like rain.
I began working out some mental calculations. It would be five by the time we got back to Brooklyn, and my parents would be greatly annoyed if I returned any time past seven. But if each of the fragments were tied to an element, then there should only be four. Maybe the zoo would be our last stop, and the whole hectic, madcap adventure would be over, just like that. Three days of insanity that I would remember for the rest of my life. Quite frankly, I didn't want it to end; I wondered idly if there was any way I could return with the gang, live in their world.
They wouldn't be leaving right away, though – I really didn't think they would leave Mai behind, not with her being a good guy and all now. Ty Lee would back Zuko up, they were friends. That gave me a little more time. And what about Azula? So they'd have to stay at least one more night. Where was I going to put them up? I couldn't sneak all six of them into my apartment… wait, maybe seven. What was Sean planning to do?
That was approximately when I noticed the water was doing something odd.
Several feet off the side of the boat, a portion of the ocean had begun to bubble and froth, swirling around itself like the miniature whirlpools that form around the drain when you let out water from a bathtub. I focused on the motion, trying to follow it and determine what on earth could be causing it. It didn't seem alarming, just interesting; I rose to my feet, clutching my tote bag, and ambled over to the railing for a better view. Some of the tourists on the deck had noticed as well; one snapped a picture before moving on.
As I stared, it became apparent that there was something in the center of the spinning water, something dark and solid and rapidly rising from the water. The more I looked, the more obvious it seemed to become; then, quite suddenly, it broke the surface.
It was somewhat fishlike, and somewhat monkeylike, a flat face surrounded by curls of tentacle-hairs, twisting and dripping and spiraling; the high, squashed nose and too-wide mouth would have looked almost mammalian, if they hadn't been thrust forward and bristling with outward-facing teeth. And its eyes were pure ichthyian, wide, motionless plates with distorted pupils and solid silver irises.
I took one look, decided discretion is the better part of valor, and ran inside to fetch the benders.
Ty Lee was standing amidst a crowd of onlookers, one leg raised into the air at a one-hundred-eighty degree with the other, arms above her head. I shoved into the gathered audience and found Aang and Zuko, near the front. "Aang," I said. "You know how the eagle said there would be vagrant spirits after you?" My voice sounded more or less calm, but I assure you, I was scared stiff.
"Yeah?" said Aang.
The boat pitched suddenly to one side. I reached out a hand to steady myself and grabbed the first thing it met, which happened to be Zuko's arm. Oops. I let go as though it burned.
"I think one of them just found us," I said.
The boat juddered again. Aang frowned. "Come on," he said at me and Zuko, and turned towards the outside deck. Ty Lee, bending backward into a bridge, caught an upside-down glimpse of us leaving, cartwheeled to her feet, and quickly followed, gesturing Sean to come as well.
We dashed out through the doors. The water had gone calm again; I stared into the depths, searching for it. A dark, serpentine shape seemed faintly visible, coiling in figure eights around the bottom of the boat – but maybe I was imagining it, searching too hard for patterns. "I don't…" Aang began.
The boat tilted again, tossing tourists against each other and knocking Aang to the deck. I landed on the bench, painfully. There was a great gurgling splash, and then, thrusting up from the depths, the enormous fish-monkey head of the creature I had glimpsed. Its tentacles dripped; it opened its mouth, distending its jaw horribly and revealing a forest of translucent, cartilaginous teeth. The sound it made was more a shriek than a roar; and then it plunged its head forward, directly for Aang as though planning to scarf down the Avatar like a sardine.
"Sea serpent!" he exclaimed, and jumped out of the way. It jammed its nose on the deck and recovered, eyes a blankly malevolent green. As he stood, Aang pulled off his backpack, holding it up in one hand and returning the serpent's glare. It lunged again, mouth gaping; Aang lobbed the backpack and twisted into an airbending stance, flinging out one arm to give the pack extra speed. It rammed into the monster's throat, making the thing recoil, the gills and tentacles on the sides of its neck flaring and convulsing. But it still looked ready to attack, fish eyes full of fury; it swallowed visibly and once again lunged forward, neck uncoiling from the water (it seemed to be all slimy-scaled neck beneath its misshapen head). Zuko took a step, flicking one hand forward, palm flat; a whiplike line of flame lashed out, scoring a long line along the serpent's damp scales. It froze in mid lunge, gave a horrible cry of pain, and sank back into the water.
"Phew." Aang leaned on his knees, breathing. "Well, that wasn't too tough, was it?"
Zuko relaxed from his firebending stance, hands dropping to his sides. "Guess not."
I looked around; the tourists around us on the deck hadn't even glanced twice at the monster, or Aang and Zuko doing what amounted, around here at least, to magic. Right. You see what you're prepared to see.
"I dunno…" said Sean cautiously. He was hiding behind Ty Lee near the doors onto the deck. "It still looked kind of upset."
No sooner had he spoken than the boat shuddered violently under us. Several of the tourists were dropped; an angry murmur rose among them, questioning and cautious. The veteran commuters, of whom there were some at this hour, held their peace and their seats, but most of the vacationers and amateur photographers began heading inside. The boat rocked again, and they were forced to grab railings and doorframes on their way in.
"Oh," said Aang. "I think we just made it mad." He leaned out over the railing; the boat pitched almost vertical, and I glimpsed dark, slimy skin.
"That fire hurt it," said Zuko, blowing bangs out of his face. He had one hand on the railing as well, to keep balanced.
"Right," Sean agreed, sounding only slightly hysterical. He was holding a bench; Ty Lee was holding him, although she probably didn't need to. "So now it's going to get us down into the water with it before it goes after us. Can you throw fire underwater?" Zuko shook his head. "Didn't think so."
"Well, I'm open to…" the boat rocked, and Aang broke off, hands convulsing around the railing. "…suggestions."
"We need to lure it out of the water so Zuko can hit it with that flame thingy," said Sean instantly. He was, it would seem, adjusting to the oddities of bending and spirit-monsters with the greatest of ease.
Aang nodded resolutely. "On it," he said. "Can I borrow your hoodie?"
Sean obliged. Aang fastened the zipper around his waist, spread the fleecy fabric from his outstretched arms like wings, and dove off the side of the boat before any of us could so much as say 'wait!'
A gust of wind caught him just short of the water's surface, and he skimmed across the waves like a seabird. "Hey! Serpent! Look, a delicious airbender, right here!"
There was a moment of heart-stopping stillness, then the surface of the water broke, and the serpent's head lunged forward. Aang swooped out of the way, barely missing the edges of those extended teeth; the serpent dove back down, a bulge of dark green. We got a view of its whole length, down to its tail, a broad, oarlike fin, which slapped against the water with an almighty splash.
Aang dove again, and this time when the serpent launched itself after him, Zuko was ready, firing a jet of flame, but the monster was too quick, and Aang was not quite quick enough to give him a clear shot. That hoodie couldn't be the ideal way to capture air.
The monster lashed its tail at him, sending up a plume of water; Zuko managed to singe it across the end, but I noticed the hoodie was getting damp – and the damper it got, the more sluggish Aang's flight became. Dip, snap. Flame burnt a furrow across the surface of the water, but the serpent had already vanished. "Aang, you have to get out of the way faster!" Zuko commanded, looking out over the water with fierce concentration. He held himself in a ready stance, every muscle taut.
"I can't dodge any more quickly!" Aang replied frantically. The serpent's head broke the water, and he managed to barrel roll out of the way. The creature went down, and Aang went lower, nearly touching the water as he waited for its tail to break.
Without warning, something else broke the surface – a long, leaf-rayed fin, flat and heavy as the creature turned on its side. It slapped wetly against Aang and kept turning, knocking him to the surface of the water.
Zuko swore and vaulted over the edge of the railing, plunging towards the water, hands wreathed in flame. Ty Lee did a neater vault, some kind of rapid handstand flip. And before I could think better of it, I had followed them over the side.
Brilliant. I'm not even a good swimmer.
I pointed my toes, ready to hit the surface of the water.
My feet, however, met something hard and solid. My legs buckled under me and I went tumbling, sprawling across something freezing cold and slippery. What-
Ice?
I dared look up. Not far away was a second ferry, this one headed towards Staten Island – they usually cross paths during rush hour. A bridge of solid ice stretched across the water between the two ferries, and racing across it, arms above her head, hair loops flying in the sea breeze, was Katara.
She moved smoothly, a swaying waterbending motion that made the ice rise under her, tilting it into a slope; I realized what she was doing as she began to slide down towards us, picking up speed as she went. She balanced easily and turned her attention to the portion of the ocean that remained water, lowering and raising her hands as though mimicking waves. The water next to me responded instantly, rising in a twisted column that contained both the coiled lengths of the serpent and a waterlogged Aang. A sweeping sideways motion from Katara sent them both sprawling on the ice, water draining away under them. "Now!" she shouted.
Zuko, who had landed not far from me, shook his head groggily. He was mere yards from the serpent's massive head. It fixed its eyes eagerly on him.
I had something in my hand, an ice shard. I whirled, stepped forward, lobbed it at the serpent, all smooth and unconscious.
It lifted its head and lunged towards Zuko…
…who pushed himself to his feet quicker then I would have thought possible and threw his hands up in a messy but effective bending move. Fire exploded forward, engulfing the creature's tentacled head; it gave a cry of pain that should have split my eardrums and hurled itself at the open water, sinking into the depths in a great cloud of steam as the flames were extinguished.
Zuko sank to his knees again; Katara came to a stop just past him, where Aang lay prone, and dropped into a crouch. "Aang?"
He coughed and turned his head, wet hair plastering itself to his cheek. "Ow," he managed.
Katara let out a vast sigh of relief.
"Hey!" Ty Lee exclaimed. She and Sean were treading water next to Katara's ice bridge; she pulled herself onto the ice and dragged him up after her. He had lost his 'I love NY' baseball cap. "You found Sokka!"
I looked behind Katara. Stomping along the ice bridge was Toph's short, solid form; she was followed by a taller, slimmer male figure.
"Kind of," Toph said in answer, giving Ty Lee an unfriendly look; her clouded eyes didn't actually lock on the gymnast, missing her by several feet. I guess on ice she couldn't sense much.
"We can explain on the boat," said Katara, surveying us in all our damp, bruised glory. She gestured, and the ice bridge melted, leaving only the narrow flow we stood on; another, more exaggerated gesture summoned a jet of water, bringing us level with the deck railing. One after another, we stepped back onto the ferry.
The outer deck was abandoned; I glanced quickly in the window. Most of the passengers were gathered around a crew member, probably demanding an explanation for all this rocking. Lucky break for us. We took over the benches.
"We're going to Brooklyn," said Aang to the newly arrived trio.
"Good thing we caught your boat, then," said Katara.
"So?" Aang prompted, then looked at the newcomer. I followed his gaze. The boy Toph and Katara had dragged along with them did have a certain Sokka-ness about his appearance, with dark skin and darker hair, but he looked far too confused – he must not have… what were we calling it? Jolted? Snapped?
"Oh, hi," said the boy, waving. "Name's Alex. I'm kind of here under threat of, um…" He looked at Toph. "What was it again?"
"Buried alive, hung off the top of a brownstone, or trapped in one of those Central Park rocks until the squirrels eat you, take your pick," she said, sounding bored.
"Right. But I don't think I'm your guy." He sounded stoked. Stoner? A lot of the skaters did drugs of some kind.
"Earthbending doesn't lie," said Toph. "Although…" She looked over me, Aang, Ty Lee, Zuko, and Sean, clouded eyes unseeing.
"What?" asked Katara.
"Nothing," answered the earthbender.
Ty Lee batted her eyelashes at Alex. Sean scowled and moved closer to her.
"Attention all passengers. The ferry will be docking shortly," said the loudspeakers.
Well, this was going to be fun.