"It's almost twilight, Admiral. As your military consultant, I must advise you to halt your attack. The waterbenders draw their power from the moon, and it is nearly full tonight. You should wait and resume the attack at daybreak." Iroh suggested to Zhao.
"Oh, I'm well aware of the moon problem and I am working on a solution. But for now, daybreak it is." Zhao agreed. I sighed, heading inside to go nap again.
I sat to the side as Zuko prepared to leave, watching Iroh talk to his nephew.
"If you're fishing for an octopus my nephew, you need a tightly woven net, or he will squeeze through the tiniest hole and escape." Iroh said. I smiled. I'd have to remember that one.
"I don't need your wisdom right now, Uncle." Zuko said.
"I'm sorry. I just nag you, because, well," He paused, voice breaking slightly. "Ever since I lost my son..."
"Uncle, you don't have to say it." Zuko said. I lifted my chin from my knees and looked at the men.
"... I think of you as my own." Iroh finished. My heart ached at the touching moment. I contemplated getting up and walking away to give them privacy. Zuko faced his uncle, a softer expression on his face.
"I know, Uncle. We'll meet again." Iroh hugged him. "After I have the Avatar."
"Hey, don't forget to say goodbye to me." I said, standing. Iroh backed to where I was previously was as I walked forward. Zuko gave me a curious look.
"You realize that once you join the avatar, and after I capture the avatar, I'll have to take you prisoner too?" He said. I fidgeted with the hem of my shirt.
"Well... what if I changed my mind about joining the avatar?" I said. He blinked rapidly in surprise.
"What?"
"I'm happier with you and Iroh, I don't know if leaving you guys in the dust is a good idea." I said, rubbing my neck in thought. "Plus, I've had enough of dark jail cells."
"Avery..." Zuko said. I looked up sharply, my hardly useful eyes meeting his.
"You're not getting rid of me, whether you like it or not. I've made my choice, and a shirshu sticks to their decisions." I said. Zuko sighed and managed to not look grumpy.
"Fine." He said. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him, taking him by surprise. I kissed his cheek and back up with a wink.
"Good luck, Pouty. Try not to freeze. We don't need a Pouty Popsicle." I said. Zuko shook his head free of thought and climbed in his boat.
"Remember your breath of fire. It could save your life out there." Iroh said.
"I will." Zuko lowered the boat, suspended by ropes, down the side of the ship into the water.
"And put your hood up. Keep your ears warm!" Iroh added.
"I'll be fine!" Zuko called. I placed a hand on Iroh's shoulder and smiled.
"He'll be fine. This is Prince Pouty we're talking about here. He's too stubborn to get hurt and stay hurt." I said. "Go get 'im, Pouty!"
"Yeah yeah, Furball." He snapped. I laughed.
"Finally! I knew you had a sense of humour!" I said. Iroh and I waved as Zuko began rowing away.
"I'm glad you stayed." Iroh said. "Even though I wish you had gone."
"To protect him? Nah, I'd only slow him down." I grinned. "Besides, I can be his stand in for now."
"You, standing in for Zuko?" Iroh chuckled. I smiled.
"I can be grumpy and unappreciative." I said. I frowned, crossed my arms, and wrinkled my forehead. "Grr, I'm Zuko, kiss my pointy boots!"
"Avery." Iroh said. He chuckled and I joined in the laughter. I gripped his arm and he led me away to my room. I collapsed on my bed and fell into a fitful sleep.
"It's daybreak at last. Let's write history." Zhao said. I stood on deck in all black having sown my own outfit. Zhao kept insisting that I wear I helmet, but I refused.
"It'll deter my vision even more." I repeated to a soldier. "Now leave me alone or I'll stab you."
The Fire Navy ships broke through the city wall, the bows crumbling the wall, allowing soldiers armed with spears to rush in.
"The Water Tribe can try to resist the inevitable, but their city will fall today." Zhao said.
"I don't need to remind you we have a time limit. If we don't defeat the Water Tribe before the full moon rises, they will be undefeatable." Iroh said.
"I assure you I have everything under control. I intend to remove the moon as a factor." Zhao said.
"Pardon, sir?" I said.
"Remove the moon? How?" Iroh asked. Suddenly, a spy appeared from the door and wielded a spear at Zhao.
"Admiral Choi! Prepare to meet your fate!" He yelled. He charged at Zhao, but I stepped in the way. Zhao and Iroh continued talking. The guy faltered, seeing I was a girl and all, but kept charging. I grabbed the staff, kicked it in half, and tossed it overboard in three fast movements. I grabbed his shirt and spun around before kicking him overboard.
"Thank you, Miss Nyla. As I was saying, years ago I stumbled upon a great and powerful secret: the identity of the Moon Spirit's mortal form."
"What?" Iroh gasped.
"I was a young lieutenant serving under General Shu in the Earth Kingdom. I discovered a hidden library. Underground, in fact. I tore through scroll after scroll. One of them contained a detailed illustration, and the words "moon" and "ocean". I knew then that these spirits could be found and killed. And that it was my destiny to do so."
"Zhao! The spirits are not to be trifled with!" Iroh said angrily. I was shell shocked, a nagging feeling building in my chest.
"Yes, yes... I know you fear the spirits, Iroh. I've heard rumors about your journey into the Spirit World. But the Ocean and Moon gave up their immortality to become a part of our world. And now they will face the consequences."
"Zhao, Iroh is right. Interfering in the lives of spirits is dangerous, and quite frankly stupid." I said hotly.
"Miss Nyla, might I suggest minding your tongue." Zhao snapped. I growled.
"My tongue may do what it want's, including paralyzing your sorry ass." I muttered.
"What was that?" Zhao threatened. I bared my sharp teeth.
"Don't. Do. It." I said. Zhao huffed in exasperation.
"Miss Nyla, if you'd please shut up and allow the smart ones to carry on. Thank you." Zhao said. I frowned. Iroh placed a hand on my shoulder ad shook his head. I crossed my arms and glared at the floor.
"Come, we must go now." Zhao said. We headed for the rhino's, where the soldiers, Iroh, and Zhao mounted. Zhao extended a hand and I sighed, taking it. He pulled me up and I was forced to sit in front of him. We rode into the city, where tanks and snow and fire were flying everywhere. A tank crashed down in front of the rhino Zhao and I were riding, sending snow flying.
"We'll be following this map to a very special location. And when we get there, we're going fishing." Zhao said. I did not like the tone in his voice. We rode, following the map like planned, and rode into an oasis of some sort. We dismounted and I went over to the gate. I sniffed the air and frowned, purple, blue, and amber scents chasing eachother around. I almost smelt other scents, but couldn't place a figure to them.
"The avatar's been here. So has his friends." I announced. I gave Iroh a look and winked. He nodded, looking relieved. Zhao grabbed Tui from the water and stuffed it in a sack. The moon went red.
"Zhao..." I said, standing.
"I am... a legend, now! The Fire Nation will, for generations, tell stories about the great Zhao, who darkened the moon. They will call me, Zhao the Conqueror, Zhao the Moon Slayer, Zhao the Invincible!" My head shot up as a flying lemur, Aang's flying lemur, leapt from the shadows and onto Zhao's head. I busted out laughing. "Ugh... get it off! Get it off!"
Momo flew off of Zhao and landed on Aang's arm (wait, when'd he get here?) and ran to his shoulder, with Katara and Sokka behind him. Zhao and his soldiers readied themselves for battle. Aang, Sokka and Katara readied themselves.
"Don't bother." Zhao as he lifted the sack up, threatening to kill Tui.
"Zhao, don't!" Aang said.
"It's my destiny, to destroy the moon and the Water Tribe." Zhao said.
"Destroying the moon won't hurt just the Water Tribe. It will hurt everyone, including you. Without the moon, everything would fall out of balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos that would unleash on the world." Aang said.
"He is right Zhao." Iroh said.
"General Iroh, why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?"
"I'm no traitor, Zhao." Iroh said. I stepped in.
"The Fire Nation needs the moon, too; we all depend on the balance." I added.
"Whatever you do to that spirit I'll unleash on you ten-fold. Let it go, now!" Iroh warned, voice full of fury.
Zhao released the koi fish into the oasis. Zhao as he hesitated before striking the koi fish with a fire slice out of anger. Aang looked on and then up at the moon. I looked to the sky as the moon faded out and the world went gray. I suddenly felt sick. And then I saw red.
"How dare you, Zhao!" I screamed in a voice that wasn't my own, launching myself at the man. I fought off the soldiers with ease, but Zhao had escaped. I kicked a nearby soldier and let out an animalistic scream.
"Avery, calm down!" Iroh called. I snarled, whipping around. I saw the terror in their eyes, Iroh's, Aang's, Katara's, Sokka's, the princess's. I let out a shaky breath and sank down, numb. My breathing was uneasy, and I shook with rage and depression.
"She was my friend..." I said.
"There's no hope now, it's over." Yue said.
"No," Aang, who was entering the avatar state, and I said in unison. "It's not over."
Aang entered the water as I stood, shaking. Aang stood in a meditative stance as La circles him. La's eyes lit up like Aang's. Aang descended into the water. The whole oasis glowed with blue lightning-like energy that expanded from the oasis island into the water. Katara and the others watched. The energy moved to the edge of the oasis, rising up to form a giant amphibious-like creature, facing out toward the sea, with Aang in the center, controlling it. He began towards the sea. I watched him go, glanced back to Tui, and snarled, seeing red. I felt myself shift into my shirshu half, and then beyond that, into some sort of spirit beast. I nodded to Iroh, and took off.
"Keep them safe." I called. I sucked in a breath and charged into the city. I paralyzed and attacked any and every Fire Nation soldier I could. I came across a young couple with a child and froze.
"Where is the safest place you can think of?" I asked. They were still frozen and then they bowed. I sighed.
"Thank you, but there's no time for that. Climb up and give me directions." I said. They clambered onto my back and I took off, picking up any children or helpless citizens I could. I brought them to a house far from the damage and let them off.
"Thank you, Chi." They said. I blinked rapidly in surprise.
"I'm Chi's daughter." I said. Wait, where'd that come from? Chi was the Shirshu spirit from the Earth Kingdom though... he woudln't have... Oh...
"What should we call you then?" They asked. I smiled.
"Avery." I said. I turned and ran, back into the city.
"You should have chosen to accept your failure, your disgrace. Then at least you could have lived." I heard. I turned to a bridge and saw Zuko and Zhao fighting. I snarled, drawing their attention to me. Zuko gasped.
"Avery?"
"So nice of you to recognize me, Pouty. Oh, and I have something to tell you later. For now," I trailed off and shifted into a human again, retaining spiritual qualities like my fangs and glowing red eyes. "Now, we kick Zhao's ass."
"Miss Nyla?" Zhao said. I grinned.
"Please, call me Avery." I said.
"Impossible... You're a spirit." He said, stumbling back. I grinned.
"Half spirit. Oh, and next time you think of killing a spirit," I pointed at the moon, which had sprung into existence again. "You might want to double check that they stay dead."
"It can't be!" He gasped. I grabbed Zuko and jumped out of the way as Tui's hands rose from under the bridge and grabbed Zhao. I gasped.
"Tui, no!" I called. Tui hesitated a millisecond before continuing to pull Zhao away. Zuko ran forward and leapt up onto the thick railing.
"Take my hand!" Zuko called. Zhao considered it for a moment before retracting his hand. The energy plummeted into the water, Zhao dragged along with it, and dissipated. In my shock, I shifted into a full human. I snapped out of my shock and grabbed Zuko's hand.
"C'mon, we need to find your uncle and get out."
"But-"
"You're in no shape to capture the avatar." I said, pulling him along.
"That isn't what I was going to say." He said. I cocked my head to the side curiously.
"What?"
"Are you sure you don't want to go with him?" Zuko asked. I grinned.
"Positive. Now let's go! Time's a wastin'!" I said. We ran off the bridge, followed a steep staircase down the side, and hopped onto the sidewalk. Iroh had a small raft-like boat on the water and was smiling.
"She is right, we must hurry." Iroh said. We jumped onto the boat and sailed down and out of the city. Day was breaking.
"I'm surprised Prince Zuko, surprised that you are not at this moment trying to capture the Avatar." Iroh said.
"I'm tired." Zuko said.
"Then you should rest. A man needs his rest." Iroh said. Zuko complied, laying down on the wood.
"You're going to heat up fast in that coat." I said.
"It's better than freezing." Zuko mumbled.
"Touche. Oh, yeah, about the thing I wanted to tell you. I figured out how I'm part shirshu." I said. Zuko cracked an eye to look at me. "My mother, Lin, married a spirit. The Earth Spirit Chi is my father."
"What?"
"That does explain a lot." Iroh said. I beamed.
"You can go to sleep now." I told Zuko.
"Boards rough..." He muttered, half asleep already. I rolled my eyes and leaned back, resting against the wood.
"You should rest too, Iroh." I said. He smiled.
"I'm fine for now, Avery, thank you." He said. I closed my eyes, muttered a 'welcome', and drifted off.
Well, I finally picked this story up again! I hope it was worth the wait! Well, now you know why Avery shifts, that she has weird spiritual powers when she's pissed, and yeah... So, she isn't going with the avatar. Hmm, I wonder why...
Disclaimer : I don't own ATLA, just Avery.