"Avery! You're on your feet again." Sokka said, rising from his spot.
"Yup!" I chirped, placing my hands on my hips with a grin. "Turns out your dad is more busted than me though. He's in no shape to fight."
"But maybe there's some way I can help?"
"Everything's going smoothly and the eclipse hasn't even kicked in yet." Sokka said. He grinned at me. "Good to have you in shape."
"Let's hope our luck holds out." Hakoda noticed Katara had moved away. "Katara, you seem distracted. Is something wrong?"
"Yeah. Is that... is that Aang?" She said quizzically.
"What?" Sokka said. Turns out it was Aang, riding in on his glider, dodging several fireballs. He landed in front of our group. "Please tell me you're here because the Fire Lord turned out to be a big wimp and you didn't even need the eclipse to take him down."
"He wasn't home. No one was. The entire palace city is abandoned." Aang said.
"They knew..." Sokka said. Aang rubbed his fingers along the ground idly.
"It's over. The Fire Lord is probably long-gone; far away on some remote island where he'll be safe during the eclipse." Aang said.
"No." I said, shaking my head.
"My instincts tell me he wouldn't go too far. He would have a secret bunker; somewhere he could go and be safe during the siege but still be close enough to lead his nation."
"If it's an underground secret bunker we're looking for, Avery and I are just the girls to find it." Toph said.
"The mechanist gave me this timing device. It looks like we've got about ten minutes until the full eclipse. Ten minutes to find the Fire Lord." Sokka said.
"We can still do this. We can still win the day." Aang said.
"Wait! If they knew we were coming it could all be a trap. Maybe we should use the time we have left to make sure we all get out of here safely."
"No Katara. Everyone who's here today came prepared to risk everything for this mission. They know what's at stake. If there's still a chance and there's still hope, I think they would want Aang to go for it." Hakoda spoke up.
"What do you think? You're the one that has to face the Fire Lord. Whatever you decide, I'm with you." Sokka said. I placed a hand on his shoulder. "We all are."
"I've gotta try." Aang said.
Aang, Toph, Sokka, and I flew on Appa to the Caldera Volcano in the Fire Nation. Appa landed on the side as we jumped off.
"Do you feel anything down there?" Aang asked us.
"Yep. There are natural tunnels criss-crossing through the inside of the volcano." Toph said. My nose itched.
"They passed through here. The royals are inside."
"Anything else? Is there a structure somewhere?" Sokka asked.
"There is something big, dense and made of metal deep in the heart of the volcano."
"Sounds like a secret bunker to me." Sokka said. Toph and I earthbent a hole in the volcano, blowing up a cloud of dust. Sokka followed us into the tunnel.
"Stay safe. We'll be back soon." Aang said to Appa and Momo before he entered the tunnel into the dark cavern. Toph leaned over and surveyed the area using seismic sense.
"This way!" I said, nose picking up the scent of magma.
"That one's a dead end!"
"What would we do without you guys?" Sokka said.
"Perish in burning hot magma." I said.
"Yeah, pretty much." He agreed. We arrived at a chamber where magma erupted from several spouts in the ground.
"The tunnel continues on the other side and it leads right to the bunker." Toph said.
"We'll have to be fast, but careful." Sokka said. He began walking past only for a geyser of magma to erupt, nearly striking him. Aang used airbending to cool and solidify the gush.
"How is that careful?" I yelled at him.
"I was wrong. We need to be fast, careful and lucky." Sokka said. The four of us leapt and ran our way through the chamber, narrowly avoiding magma spouts. We arrived to a rock ledge, completely surrounded by molten lava.
"There's no floor. It's just a river of lava." Sokka said.
"Climb aboard and hold on tight." Aang said, spinning his staff open. Sokka and Toph, screaming in fear, clung to Aang's glider for their life as they rode swiftly over the river of lava. They reached the other side safely.
"Avery!" Sokka called. I sucked in a breath.
"Give me a second." I said. I sucked in a breath before reaching to the Spirit World. Chi, in shirshu form, appeared on the lava, unaffected by the heat. I leapt onto his back and he carried me across. I got off and nuzzled him. "Thanks dad."
"Of course." He said. He vanished and I nodded to the trio. We approached a large metal, dome-like structure with a huge door.
"That's some door!" Sokka said. Toph walked over to the door and banged the metal with her fist.
"Not a problem." she said. She used metalbending, jamming into the door with her elbows, creating cracks in the metal. She stepped back several feet, kissed her fingertips and split the door wide open. Stepping inside the interior, she pointed in a direction.
"I am so glad we added you to the group!" Sokka said.
Aang, Toph, Sokka, and I ran down the tunnels. Qin was coming down the same hallway, whistling.
"Qin?" I said. He froze. The team, upon seeing him, immediately cornered him, prepared to attack.
"The Fire Lord's chamber is that way, down the hall, to the left, and up the stairs, you can't miss it!" He said. "Oh, nice seeing you again, Avery."
"Thanks!" Aang said, going from suspicious to friendly. The four of us continued on our way to find the Fire Lord, running. Sokka pulled out his timing device.
"Only thirty seconds until the total eclipse." Sokka announced. I hesitated as we reached the doors, nose twitching.
"I'm ready. I'm ready to face the Fire Lord." Aang said, determined.
"Wai-" Aang blasted the doors open with airbending and I sighed. "He isn't in there."
"So, you are alive after all. I had a hunch that you survived. But it doesn't matter. I've known about the invasion for months." Azula said.
"I'm going ahead." I said, but they were already attacking. I turned and tried picking up Ozai's scent. I was able to get a lock on his scent, a malicious red and gold mix. I faltered as I picked up on another scent.
Zuko's.
Hehehehe. I'll update as soon as possible, don't worry.
Disclaimer:...
What'd you think? Who will see who first? And how will Ozai react?