Title: The Southern Wolf
Genre: Action/Adventure/Humor
Summary: He had been plague by dreams for years. Dreams of going to great adventures, getting into lots of trouble, battling countless enemies, and meeting new friends. He had been preparing himself for visions that may never come to be, until said visions came true.
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CHAPTER 6
Seige on Kyoshi Island
"Good news, nephew." Iroh said gleefully as he barge into Zuko's quarters.
The young prince, who had been meditating in the middle of the room, look up to him and asked calmly, "I am not going to play the sungki horn for music night."
"But you're so good at it." he whined before shaking his head. "Anyway, that's not what it's about. During alcohol shopping this afternoon for the weekly music night, several of the men have heard rumors of the Avatar being sighted at an island North West from here. But the information's credibnility went into question when they added that the Southern Wolf was also there wrestling giant serpent monsters. The men I ordered to confirm these rumors would be back within the hour."
"That's great news, uncle. Have the rest of the men prepare the ship for immediate cast off as soon as the information as confirmed." there's a bit of excitement in his voice that his uncle didn't fail to notice.
"B-but what about music night? We already bought the drinks."
"Uncle, please tell me you're not suggesting that the weekly music night is more important than capturing the Avatar, or I will be very . . . displeased."
"Of course not, my prince. I'm just thinking of the continuous existence of you and the rest of the crew."
"And how, pray tell, would a bunch of soldiers drinking while singing once a week help with that?"
"It gives us something to do while we wait for morning so that the Unagi that guards Serpent's pass doesn't sink the ship and everyone in it."
Zuko's growing anger suddenly disappeared at that little tidbit of information. ". . .Unagi?"
"Oh. It's the two hundred and fifty foot noctureal sea serpent that lives in the part of the sea that we would need to pass through to get to the island. It is said that the Unagi had sunk Fire Nation Navy ships thrice as big as this one in a matter of minutes."
". . .You could have just told me about that from the start, you know."
"Where would be the fun in that?" Iroh said gleefully, getting one over his nephew once more. "Anyway, I've already told the crew to prepare to cast off at first light tomorrow. I also sent word for reinforcement of two ships to assist us in taking the island. Feel free to join us in tonights music festival. Just don't forget to bring your zungi horn, okay. Bye bye now."
Zuko blew a brief burst of fire from his mouth after his uncle left. He realy hates whenever his uncle does that just to get a rise out of him. One day, he'll get one over the old man. One day.
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"This isn't any of my fault, you know." Suki said coolly as she placed another shirt into her travelling bag.
"I know." Katara said calmly as she sip on her tea in the middle of Suki's house.
"I mean, how was I supposed to know there were by laws in the Kyoshi Code about this sort of thing in the original text that my ancestors weren't able to print in the abbridged copies? Mum always said my own copies of the codes are much easier to understand so I never bothered to study the old texts. Why, oh why, didn't she told me my copy wasn't complete?" She slammed said scroll of abbrevriate copy of the Kyoshi Codes into her bag.
"I'm sure your mom thought such circumstances wouldn't come up."
"But it did! Have you any idea how many by laws there are in the original scroll? And worse, I found not a single loophole there that could get me out of this mess. Well, none that wouldn't have me strip of my armor and vanished from my home for the rest of my life."
"I'm sure you thought of other options."
"I did. I tried diverting their attention using your brothers plan. They spent fifteen minutes reading them and five seconds to approved all of them just so we could go back on talking about Sokka. I tried to give him away but the warriors almost annialated each other at getting the dibs on him. Could you imagine how humiliating it would be explaining to Avatar Kyoshi that her entire legacy went extinct because the warriors couldn't decide who gets to bed a single boy first?"
Katara cringed at the thought, considering they were talking about her brother. I mean, just eeewwww!
"Since he's on a very noble quest of assissting Avatar Kyoshi's current reincarnation, I have to go with him since I'm a Kyoshi Warrior myself! I mean, I'm their leader. I should be needed to stay here and defend the island. But they said helping the Avatar requires the Island's best. And that's me. And worse, I won't be allowed to come back unless I bring the next generation of Kyoshi Warriors with me. "
"I'm sure it's just a little misunderstanding. It really is not that bad."
"Not that bad? Not That Bad? Because of this little misunderstanding, I am now bethroded to the most insufferable man I have ever met."
"Believe me. I'm his sister. I know how insufferable he could be. But I also know he could be just as endearing when he needs to be."
Suki, who had finally finished all her packing, gave her future sister in law a flat stare and said, "You're enjoying this, are you?"
Giggling was the answer the waterbender had provided. I mean, Sokka getting himself accidentally engaged to Suki was really funny in her opinion.
Suki gave her another glare so Katara decided to stiffle her laughter for later, probably in front of Sokka.
Giving a sigh of defeat, Suki asked, "By the way, where exactly is the Avatar? Shouldn't we be leaving soon?"
"We are. We need to get to the North Pole as soon as possible. And I sent Aang to wake my brother up and give him the good news." Katara said merrily, enjoying the talk with her future sister in law. She could always tell her that the Southern Water Tribe tradition wouldn't allow such marriage to go through if there was even the slightest doubt on either bethroded but she was just having too much fun at the moment.
"WHAT THE HECK DO YOU MEAN ENGAGED!?" Came Sokka's familiar shout from across the village.
"Well, seems like Aang told Sokka the good news." Katara's laugher was threatening to spill out once more but another glare from Suki forced her to keep it in. "Anyway, we should start getting our stuff loaded on Appa so we could . . ."
Kyoko, in her full Kyoshi Warrior armor, burst into the door, cutting Katara's speech short. "Suki! Three Fire Nation ship is spoted heading to the island!"
Both girls suddenly stood straight at the proclamation, their faces serious. Suki immediately brought out her armor and face paint while Katara run outside to meet up with the Avatar and her brother.
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Minutes later, Sokka, Aang, Katara, Suki and half a dozen Kyoshi warriors are standing on an elevated cliff by the shore. The rest of the of the warriors are helping with the evacuation procedures of the civilians.
"That's the prince's ship alright." Aang said.
"And he brought reinforcements with him." Sokka said grimly as he look through the small telescope at the approaching three ships in the horizon. "Considering the size of the two ships flanking the prince's ship, there could be as much as a hundred Fire Nation soldiers heading our way."
"Considering their current distance, they'll arrive on shore in less than an hour." Suki calculated in her mind after she too took a look through Sokka's telescope when he passed it to her.
"This is bad. We wouldn't have enough time to set up enough traps to effectively stop a force that large." Kyoko said trying to hide her nervousness.
"Creating a fog would be useless since the sun's heat would dissipitate it immediately." Katara said.
"If only we have more time we could have implemented a few perimeter defenses around the island. We could really use a giant crossbow right now." Naomi added.
"Since it's daytime, the Unagi wouldn't be any help." Sayuri added.
"Maybe not." Sokka said suddenly, putting everyone's attention on him. He turned to his sister and asked, "Katara, remember that waterbending trick you were developing that would allow you to breath underwater?"
"The one where I bend the water to make an air bubble around my head? Yeah. Why?"
"Teach it to Aang. He would need to learn it in fifteen minutes." He told her before turning to Suki and the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors. "I need you guys to make a few hit and run attacks from the beach to the village. Get as much of them as you can as long you don't lose a single one of you. All of you will be needed when we sprung an ambush at the village. Katara, after you finished with Aang, get Appa ready. We'll need to be seen as we leave so they woud go after us."
"And what will you be doing?" Katara asked concerned.
"Me and Aang would try to sink a ship of two before they reach the shore."
"By yourselves? Are you crazy?" Suki blurted out.
"Of course not. We'll be getting some help from our resident sea snake, as long as Aang here manages to pissed it far enough to have it go on a rampage." His smirk didn't assure any of them.
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"Ready the komodo rhinos. As soon as we reach the shore, head straight to the village. We'll start our search for the Avatar there. I want him and his two companions alive. If they see a white bison, either capture or incapacitate it. Under no circumstances is the Avatar allowed to escape. If the civilians flee, let them go. If they try to fight back, destoy them." Zuko ordered as he watch the island getting closer.
Iroh, who's been standing behind him, told the men to relay the message to the ther ships as well. Two waiting soldiers immediately left to do as they were ordered.
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"Remind me again what I'm doing here?" Sokka asked as he look down the very high cliff overlooking the sea.
"Because it's your plan, according to the Kyoshi Warriors, this is the most direct route to Unagi's cave, and because you volunteered for it." Aang said as he secure his staff behind him so it won't hinder him when they dive into the water.
Sokka gulp as he nodded. "Are you sure you got the bubble head trick down?"
"Sure I'm sure. I mean, I haven't tested it yet but Katara showed me all the right hand movements for it."
"Okay. So i guess we start climbing down and get the Unagi."
"No time. Those Fire Nation ships are already halfway here."
"Then how do you suggest we get down from here? Wait, what's with that smile, Aang? It's scaring me an AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Aang grinned as he dive over the cliff and followed the falling and screaming Sokka.
Moving on instincts borne into all Water Tribe people, Sokka straightened himself in midair, performing an almost perfect swan dive followed seconds later by the young Avatar. As soon as the two enter the water, Sokka grabbed Aang from behind and the monk made several hand gesture to make an air bubble large enough to cover both of their heads. He then used his knowledge in airbending to propell them deeper into the water. Soon enough, they came in front of a large underwater cave.
Sokka gave Aang a nod before pushing himself of the Avatar to swim towards the rocks just above the cave. Then, he used his airbending to push a huge amount of water torrent into the cave.
Soon enough, a huge vibration was felt from inside the cave. Seconds after that, the Unagi came out of the cave looking for the poor soul that disturbed it's rest. Seeing Aang floating several meters in fron of it, it gave an underwater roar and attacked.
That's exactly what Sokka was waiting for and he swam onto the Unagi's head before it started chasing Aang, who used his airbending to propell himself, leading the Unagi towards the approaching navy ships.
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"Sir, there's something big in the water!" shouted one shoulder who was leaning by the ship's railing.
"What is it?" Zuko asked immediately.
"Sir, I think it's the Avatar! And a monster AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" The soldier's voice was drown out when a huge serpent came out of the water pouring hundred of gallons of water skyward and into the deck of the ship.
Zuko turned immediately and saw the Avatar flying desperately away from a huge serpant using his air glider. The monk seems to be leading it somewhere. THat somewhere became apparent when the serpent almost turned one of the other boat when half its body landed on the deck of said ship in its hurry to catch the flying airbender.
"GREAT AGNI! THE SOUTHERN WOLF HAD TAMED A GIANT SEA MONSTER TO ATTACK US." Came the histerical shout of one of the soldiers.
It was just then that Zuko saw the water tribe boy standing on top of the monster's head. The boy jumped when the Unagi's head passed by the deck. As soon as the boy's feet hit the deck, he started attacking and shoving soldiers overboard.
The Unagi, irritated that the floating heep of metal had barred its way from getting the flying insect, roared out and started attacking the ship. Several soldiers were already thrown overboard. To make matters worse, the Avatar landed on the deck beside the Southern Wolf and started blasting soldiers overboard as well with airbending.
Acting quickly, Zuko ordered, "Get those men out of the water! Signal the rest to abandon ship. Get some firebenders on deck to distract the Unagi! Tell the other ship to proceed to the island and proceed with their previous orders! Uncle, take charge!"
"Zuko! Where are you going?" He asked when he saw his nephew running towards the veranda outside the helms.
But Zuko had no time to answer. He took a flying jump towards the body of the serpent. Since it was inclined at the moment, he managed to run up its back until he managed to reach the deck. He saw the Avatar and the Sothern Wolf fighting back to back againts half a dozen soldiers while avoiding the Unagi as it squish the ship with its huge body.
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"This sure is fun. NOT!" Sokka complained as he blocked another attack from a soldier who tried to spear him with a broad sword. He deflected said sword and use the soldier's own momentum to throw him over the railings.
"Do you think we've done enough damage yet?" Aang asks as he blasted three approaching soldiers with highly compressed air. Among the three, only one was blasted overboard. The other two immediately stood up and started attacking again with their fire bending.
The entire boat was starting to get bent thanks to the Unagi. It was actually hard work just trying to stay standing. Several soldiers were trying to attack the Unagi but it's thick scales were protecting it from any major harm. Said attacks were merely irritating the beast, making it crush the ship faster.
Another squeash rocked the entire boat, making both kids hang onto the railings less they go overboard.
"I think the Unagi can take it from here and WOAH!" Sokka exclaimed in surprise as he suddenly ducked along with Aang, barely missing a huge blast of flames that flew above their heads.
Turning, both saw the scarred prince with a still smoking extended fist. Behind him, two other soldiers holding spears are readying themselves to attack at their rince's orders. "You two are not getting away, this time!" Without turning his eyes away from the two, he ordered, "Get the Avatar. I'll take care of the peasant!"
He threw a blast of fire at them, forcing the two to seperate. Then, he took out the boomerang he got from him at the South Pole and attacked the Water Tribe peasant.
Sokka, shocked at seeing his own weapon heading towards him, was almost too late at blocking the attack with his own pair of blades. Luckily for him, his reflexes was faster to react.
"Dude!" He whined as he stare longingly at the lost blade in the enemy's hand. "Attacking a guy with his own weapon is So not cool!"
"Don't worry. You won't be needing any weapons soon enough!" Zuko ushed the other teen away before throwing several flames at him.
Knowing how dangerous Zuko is at mid and long range, Sokka dodge the flames as he took several steps to get close to the enrage prince. As soon as he was within striking distance, Sokka went into the offensive, attacking the ther guy before he could throw another fire blast.
Zuko dodge a slash on the head by doing a split, and then going for a sweeping kick a second later that the other boy managed to avoid by jumping up. While in mid air, he threw the two boomerang he was holding to the sides before taking out another two from their sheat so he could strike at the prince as he return to the deck.
The prince rolled out of the way, barely avoiding the twin slash that had put a deep dent on the spot he was standing on mere seconds ago. He then had to jump, avoiding the boomerang that flew underneat him, then duck low as another boomerang passed by his head as soon as he returned to the floor. Then, he threw his enemies own weapon at him, a smirk blssoming at his face as correctly deduced the other boy's reaction.
Sokka grinned when the stupid Fire Prince made a huge mistake of throwing his own boomerang at him. He immediately sheated one of the all the boomerang on his hands and caught the lost weapon with a free right hand, only to recoil in pain as the metal burn his skin as he held it. He screamed as he let the ht weapon fall into the floor. The bastard had heated the weapon after throwing it!
The pain from the burn had stunned him long enough to get close and throw a devestating kick at his head, which he tried to block with his left arm. The force of the kick not only broke said arm but also threw him several feet away. Sokka hit the floor with a thud, his right hand burned and his left arm broken.
Aang, who had just finished dispatching his own opponents, turned at hearing his friend's shout of pain. When he saw Sokka laying injure on the floor and the smug looking prince running to finish off his downed opponent, Aang immediately used his staff to blast a huge ball of compressed air at the attacking prince. Said prince was too busy savoring his upcoming victory to notice the air blast until it was too late. The air blast had hit him squarely in the chest, blowing him off his feet to hit the metal wall mercilessly on his back. He was lucky his armor protected him from breaking any bones.
When he look up once more, he saw the Avatar flying away with the injure Water Tribe boy on top of the glider. He scowled and immediatey picked up the discarded boomerang before using a nearby rope to swing back into his own ship. Just in time too since seconds later, the ship finally gave out from the Unagi's attack and started sinking into the sea. Once it was finished, the Unagi returned to the sea.
"Get this ship to shore. Now!" Zuko heard his uncle yell. The ship moved towards the island's shore. They just hope the water is shallow enough for the Unagi to attack any further.
Minutes later, Zuko felt a hand on his shoulder and his uncle's voice asking, "Prince Zuko, are you alright?"
He took several heavy breaths before answering, "I'm fine, uncle. Just got the wind knocked out of me. Where's the Avatar?"
"He flew into the island, probably to the village. The other ship managed to land thirty men on shore and are now heading there as instructed."
"Get all abled soldiers and have them take out the komodo rhinos as soon as we reach shore. I'm going after the Avatar. His so called guardian, the Southern Wolf, won't be much of a problem for the moment."
His uncle gave a grave nod and went to do what his nephew had asked. Still, Zuko wasn't able to miss the sudden grave look his uncle gave him when he mentioned defeating the Southern Wolf. Putting such thoughts at the back of his head for the moment, Zuko prepared himself to go after the main price, the Avatar.
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"What happened?" Suki asked in concern as soon as Aang landed in the middle of the village, a dozen Kyoshi Warriors and Katara surrounding them.
"Sokka! You're hurt! Let me look at that!" Katara said immediately, seeing the injuries sustained by her brother.
"Don't worry about it for now." He said, gritting his teeth to keep himself from screaming out in pain. "It's just a burn and a broken arm. I'll take care of it later."
"Don't be stupid! I bet the broken arm alone hurts like hell. We have to have that mend at east temporarily" His sister said as she started mending said arm.
"Fine." He said, letting his sister work on him as he turn to the others. "OUCH! Careful, Katara. It's broken, you know!"
"Then don't move so much!" She shot back as she small piece of wood againts his arm before wrapping it in bandages. After that, she tied a clothe around it to be used as a sling.
Sokka hissed at her minstration as he look at the Kyoshi Warriors around him. He noticed most of them, including Katara, have several burns on their clothes and skins but nothing life threatening. "How did your mission go?" He asked Suki in particular.
"We managed to incapacitate about twenty of them using ambush and traps. The remaining eight was smart enough to halt their advance at least until they get reinforcements. OW! Katara, warn me first before pouring an entire bottle of alcohol on my hand!"
"Shut it and take it like a man!" She yelled at him as she started bandaging said hand.
He gritted his teeth to held a witty retort. Now is not the time for that. "Expect at least twenty more. Me and Aang only managed to sink one ship." The girls were in awe at the proclamation. Even with the help of the Unagi, how were two boys of such young age managed to sink an entire ship of Fire Nation Soldiers? The gossip vine would be buzzing with their increadolous deeds once this is over. "Anyway, we need to get all of them inside the village before we spring the ambush. We only have to incapacitate at most half of them before Aang, Katara, and me try drawing them away. Knowing Zuko, he would order each soldier carry an injured back to his ship in a rush to go after us. And since there would be a soldier carrying an injured. . ."
". . .there won't be enough force to set a foothold in the island." Suki finished, astonished at his strategy.
Then, Kyoko added, "It would take time for them to retaliate when they leave so we would have enough time to mount some effective countermeasures for the future."
"That's brilliant." Aang, as well as most of the other warriors blurted out.
"Let just hope it works." Sokka said grimly as her sister finished with his injuries, knowing he won't be very effective as a fighter for the moment.
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Zuko gritted his teeth as he passed by his injured men on his way to the village on his komodo rhino. Ordering some of the men to get them back to the ship, he was only left with a dozen and a half soldiers. Once theyreach the village, they noticed it was empty.
Pissed off and slightly tired, Zuko ordered loudly, "Burn everything! I want the Avatar found!"
Obeying, the soldiers blasted the houses with fire. As the wooden houses started to burn, the ambush was sprung. A dozen females in warrior armors jumped from the roof, each tackling a soldier off their komodo rhinos.
A huge blast of wind came out of nowhere and startled the rhinos, making them stampede away from the village. Zuko and a few other soldiers were fast enough to calm down their rides. Then he saw a ball of water heading in his direction. He blasted it with his flames but was momentarily blinded by the by-product steam produced by the explosion.
Putting his trust on his newly acquired spacial awareness, he jumped off the rhino and kicked out at both sides, hitting the two Kyoshi Warrior that had tried to attack him.
The moment he hit the ground, he ducked just in time to avoid an iron fan that passed by his head. He performed a sweep kick but the enemy jumped over it. He was then hit in the chest with a kick that the enemy rovided while in midair.
He skidded back a few feet. As soon as he got back to his feet, he breathe out a steady flame of fire, forcing his attacking enemy to leap back, thus giving him some space. Finally getting a good look at his enemy, he saw a girl in a Kyoshi Warrior armor with iron fans on both hands glaring at him.
During the stand off, he took stock of the situation. It was chaos. His men and the island warriors were locked in an epic struggle, neither wanting to give any ground to the enemy. He caught sight of the Water Tribe girl using her water bending againts two soldiers while the Avatar was facing off five of his own.
He was just about to head for the Avatar but the girl in front of him blocked his way. He shot her a few fire blast but she managed to dodge all of them. Growling, he fired off a huge blast too fast for her to dodge. It would have hit her if it wasn't for the two boomerangs that intercepted the said blast, cutting through it and contineuing to fly at him.
He dodge as best he can but one of the boomeang still managed to cut him on the side, causing him to grunt in pain.
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Sokka grunted in pain as he used his still burned right hand to catch his returning boomerangs just before hiding behind the burning house with Appa, Momo, and Kyoko. Sheating his weapons, he turned to the lone warrior with him and said, "We're loosing ground. Once I give the signal, tel the other warriors to step up their attacks."
Kyoko gave him a nod and said sadly, "You're leaving now, are you?"
"Um, yeah. That's the plan." He said, giving her a questioning look as she started to fidget.
Suddenly, Kyoko grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him towards her for a hungry kiss. Sokka was so shock that he wasn't able to prevent her from pushing her tongue inside his mouth. The kissed only lasted fifteen seconds and Kyoko thought it was way too fast. Too bad it wasn't fast enough to prevent Katara and Suki seeing it as the two females came up from the corner.
"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING, SOKKA!?" Both girls said at the same time, making the kissing couple squeak in fear.
"I-i-It's not my fault!" Sokka tried to say to Katara.
While at the same time, Kyoko said to Suki, "I-I-I was j-just sayingh goodbye!"
"I don't want to know!" Katara growled as she walk by him to get into Appa's saddle.
Suki stop in front of the two and gave them her most scary glare. She turned to Kyoko first and said, "Goodbyes don't usually requires people from having their tongue explore another's husband's mouth!" before turning to Sokka and saying, "And you, we aren't even married yet and you're already cheating on me with another woman!"
Kyoko had the decency to look ashamed. Sokka, on the other hand, cried out in pain as Suki grab him by the ear and pull him up into the bison's saddle with Katara.
Suddenly, Aang landed on Appa's head with Momo and said, "Are everyone ready? Sokka, what happened to your ear?"
"Nevermind about him, Aang. Let's proceed with the plan." Katara said, her eye twitching at irritation.
"And Kyoko," Suki said suddenly, causing the other warrior to look up at her leader apologetically. Suki gritted her teeth as she witheld telling the other girl the things running in her mind about husband stealing hussies but she knew she didn't have time. So instead, she told her, "I'm leaving you, Naomi, and Sayuri in charge until I get back."
Sighing in relief that her leader didn't berate her anymore about the kissing, she gave a determined nod and said, "I won't let you down, Suki!"
"Okay then. Let's go Appa. Yip yip" Aang said.
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Zuko gritted his teeth in irritation. Throughout the chaos, he had lost track of the Avatar. He even tried looking for the Water Tribe girl but couldn't find her anywhere. Then, he heard a familiar growl. He looked up and growled as he saw the Avatar's bison flying passing overhead.
"Everyone, after the Avatar!" He ordered as he jumped onto his komodo rhino andsteering it after the escaping Avatar. Following his lead, the other soldiers abandoned thei fights to get back into their rhinos and go after the already feeing prince.
"Damn. That was one hell of a tussle." Naomi said breathing heavily.
It was very fortunate for everyone that no one was seriously injured. There were a few who recieved some burns and a couple of broken bones but nothing life threatening.
"Everyone try putting out the fire! We still got a village to save." Sayuri shouted, prompting the rest of the warriors to act.
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"Sir, the reports just came in. We have fifty four men injured, three of them critical thanks to the Unagi. Another twenty injured arrived from the raid into the island." A soldier said.
Iroh gave a sigh as he asked, "How many abled men we have left?"
"Twenty one sir, most of them engineers and ship aids. There's about a dozen soldiers ready to fight but most of them are busy helping the doctos with the injured. As you ordered, all the critically injured are transferred to the other ship. Prince Zuko still have about a dozen and a half men and komodo rhinos with him."
Iroh was impressed. It was a well planned strategy. Whoever planned the assault knew what he was doing. He didn't killed anyone, barely injuring them. Having half the men injured, the other half would be needed to help in giving them medical attention, thus leaving no one to set a foothold on the island.
Suddenly, a figure was seen flying by the wndow. Iroh and the soldiers saw it as a flying bison with the young Avatar steering it away from the island.
Thinking quickly, Iroh ordered, "Have the prince's ship ready for immediate departure. Knowing him, he's already on his way back as we speak. Relay orders to the captain of the other ship to return to base. Get those injured men back to friendly shores."
Soon enough, Iroh saw his nephew steering his komodo rhino straight back to the ship along with the other men. The soldier in front of him immediately bowwed before doing what he was told.
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"I wonder when I'll be able to get back home." Suki said sadly as she watch Kyoshi Island disappearing into the horizon from her place at Appa's saddle. She suddenly turned and gave Sokka her scariest glare. "This is all your fault!"
"Hey! I don't know what the big deal is." Sokka said in defense. "You're not exactly on Prince Jerkbender's list of priority, you know. I mean, we could always drop you off somewhere and you could travel back to Kyoshi Island on your own."
"What the heck is that supposed to mean? You're just going to leave me behind?" She asked, her posture threatening.
"Calm down, Suki. My brother isn't really that fast in the uptake."
"HEY! I'm right here, you know." Sokka said loudly. "And another thing, what's this talk about me being engage and stuff?"
"Aang, you didn't tell him?" Katara asked the monk.
Aang fidgeted and said apologetically, "I didn't have time to tell him everything, considering the seige."
"Tell me what? All he told me is that I'm engage to some girl. As if I'd just let some girl hang off me." He would have said more if the blunt end of an iron fan hadn't hit him hard on the forehead, almost knocking him out. "HEY! What the heck was that for? Can't you see I'm injured here?"
"You tell me. . .fiance!"
"W-what!? I'm engage to you?"
"As if I had a choice in the matter! If you just had the decency to let me strangle you to death that time in my house, we wouldn't be in this mess!"
"Are you actually hearing what you say, woman!? You were trying to kill me!"
Katara, not wanting to get involve in the domestic dispute, decided to sit by Aang on Appa's head.
"You know," Aang said suddenly, a grin on his face. "They're really starting to sound like an old married couple."
Katara look back at the arguing couple. By the looks of it, they'll be going at it for the next several hours. She matched Aang's grin with her own as she told him, "I know. Aint that sweet?"
For a moment, both benders silently look at the arguing people at the back. Then, both burst into giggles and chuckles.
Momo and Appa merely sighed at them all. Humans are such strange creatures.
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