I know I haven't had scenes with a lot of Katara is it, but that's because in this episode I had to let her talk to Haru. So while Katara and Haru did a little bonding the rest of us also had our own little bonding moment. I skipped ahead to the first night we stay at the barn.
"It was so brave of Haru to use his earth bending to help that old man," Katara said after telling us about what she had experienced at the mines. I crossed my arms, leaned against the wall of the barn and looked out the window. I clenched my teeth hating the old man since I knew very well that he would turn Haru in, despite the fact that he was saved by him. Although I was angry, I knew that Haru would have to get captured in order to be able to find the Ship Yard, where the other earth benders were being held captive.
"You must have really inspired him," I heard Aang tell Katara, lying on Appa's warm furry head. I looked down at the three and saw that they were getting ready to sleep as they all got comfortable. Brianna, who long ago had gone off to dream land, was on Appa's back all snuggled up and warm.
"I guess so," Katara said, happy to have helped both Haru and the old man. I couldn't look at Katara at the moment, feeling a bit guilty, and just looked out at the night sky. I honestly felt bad for not being able to warn Haru and Katara about the old man, but hopefully it would all work out in the end.
"Everyone should get some sleep. We're leaving at dawn." Sokka told us.
"Great, just in time for me to get two hours of sleep," I muttered sarcastically under my breath, knowing that I wouldn't fall asleep until very early in the morning.
"Dawn? Can't we sleep in for once?" Katara complained.
"Absolutely not, this village is crawling with Fire Nation troops. If they discover you're here, Aang, we'll be eating fire balls for breakfast. Good night."
"I'd rather eat fire balls than nuts," Katara muttered with a sly smile.
"Good night!" Sokka snapped at his sister. Both Aang and Katara laughed at Sokka's reaction, while I jumped down to where Aang and Brianna were. I saw Momo had already curled up in a ball in a small space that Brianna had made with her arms. I crawled up to Appa's head, where Aang was, and leaned against his horn. I saw Aang trying to find a comfortable position by using his arm as a pillow which proved to be rather uncomfortable at the moment. He struggled for about fifteen minutes until I finally couldn't watch him anymore.
"Aang," I whispered his name. He turned around to face me. I got into a more comfortable sitting position as I stretched out my legs. I patted my knee indicating Aang use my legs as a pillow. He hesitated for a moment, and just looked down at my legs wondering what to do. I just gave him a small smile and motioned him that it was ok. He finally nodded his head and slowly crawled over toward me. When he placed his head on my thigh, I took off my robe and covered him with my robe as a blanket.
"Won't you be cold?" Aang asked me as I tucked him in.
"Don't worry," I said as a placed a hand against his cheek. "I'm used to the cold. It honestly doesn't bother me." Aang smiled up at me as he snuggled against my legs.
"You're really comfortable," Aang told me as he closed his eyes.
"I hear that a lot," I said thinking about my classmates and how they use me as their own personal pillow. Aang gave a small laugh before drifting into a deep sleep.
"You're a good mother," I heard Gin tell me as I closed my eyes. I let out a small sigh and leaned back against Appa's horn.
"Yeah well, I have no idea where I picked it up from. My mom's not exactly the affectionate type," I said, pulling my robe up so that it would cover more of Aang. "Tomorrow's going to be a hell of a day," I muttered under my breath already feeling tired.
"Are you going to try and follow Katara when she gets captured?" Gin asked me.
"No," I said then placed a hand over my eyes. "I'm still not strong enough to take down a Fire Nation ship, let alone a whole Ship Yard. Not only that, but I don't know how I'm going to get everyone back to the village with just you and I. Without any earth they would be no help to us."
"So what else do you have in mind?" Gin asked fully aware that I had another plan up my sleeve. I patted Aang's back before smiling up to the ceiling.
"When Katara gets arrested for 'earth bending' I'll make sure that Brianna is also captured for committing the same crime. Only our act will be better and more convincing."
((OOOO))
"They took him! They took Haru away!" I let out a groan, still tired from the lack of sleep I had gotten. I forced my eyes open and rolled over to get a better view of the situation.
"What," Aang asked with disbelief. I let out a small yawn as I rubbed my eyes, hoping it would wake me up.
"The old man turned him in to the Fire Nation. It's all my fault. I forced him into earth bending!" Katara shouted frantically. I looked down at Brianna and saw that neither of us were surprised by the news of Haru's capture.
"Slow down Katara," Sokka said trying to calm her down by placing his hands on her shoulders. "When did this happen?"
"Haru's mother said they came for him at midnight," Katara said after calming down.
"Then it's too late to track him, he's long gone." Sokka said being perfectly knowledgeable. Katara pushed Sokka's arms away as she looked out towards the sunrise.
"We don't need to track him. The Fire Nation is going to take me right to Haru." Aang and Sokka looked at one another both clueless as to what she was trying to say.
"And why would they do that?" Aang asked her.
"Because they're going to arrest me for earth bending," Katara told us seriously. Sokka and Aang looked at each other like she was crazy, while Brianna was doing a small happy dance behind them so she wouldn't draw attention to herself. I knew that she was excited to see their little 'acting scene' again, but it remained a mystery to me as to why. I would have rather been turned in to Fire Lord Ozai as his prisoner, instead of having to watch their pathetic acting skills. I tapped Brianna on the shoulder, stopping her half way through her happy dance.
"I have a plan to get into the Ship Yard with Katara, but you better do a better job selling the fact that you're an earth bender than Katara does, or I swear I'll kill you."
((OOOO))
"Do you understand the plan?" I asked Brianna knowing that she was too distracted by Sokka and Katara pushing a rock towards a shaft below us. I felt an anger mark appear over my head as I pulled Brianna away from the cliff with her hair.
"Ow, yes I know what to do!" Brianna said rubbing her scalp.
"Good, because I don't need you to screw up a scene, I mean having Aang missing his cue is bad enough." I heard Brianna start laughing to herself at the thought of the other's bad acting. I felt a sweat drop starting to form over my head, already embarrassed for what I was about to witness. It was a good thing we were up on the mine so that the soldiers wouldn't be able to see us let alone associate us with them. "Okay so, after Katara gets captured you and I will jump down off the cliff and make a big fighting scene."
"Just don't hurt me too much okay?" Brianna pleaded.
"No promises," I told her, which just made her whine in fear of the pain she might have to endure. "Look they're starting," I told Brianna who instantly recovered from her whining and went back to the cliff to watch the comedy act.
"Get out of my way pipsqueak!" I heard Sokka scream out.
"How dare you call me pipsqueak, you giant eared cretin," Katara shouted back. Their acting was horrible, more than I remembered! I could feel my eye twitching non-stop, making me have to walk farther away from the cliff, hoping that I wouldn't be able to hear them if I kept a distance.
"What did you call me?" I heard Sokka ask.
"A giant eared cretin! Look at those things. Do herds of animals use them for shade?" Katara shouted back. I could hear Brianna laughing her ass off, but thankfully wasn't loud enough for the guards to hear her. Their acting was so pathetic it was funny for her, but painful for me.
"You better back off!" Sokka shouted out.
"I will not back off! I bet elephants get together and make fun of how large your ears are!" Katara yelled.
"That's it you're going down!" I banged my head with my fist, hating every minute of this but I knew that Brianna and I would go down there any minute. I had to force myself to walk back toward the cliff and look down at the scene, so that I would know where I could come in.
"I'll show you whose boss, earth bending style!" Katara got into an odd position, which looked something like an earth bending pose, and waited for the rock to fly up. Brianna covered her mouth so that no one could hear her laughter. I covered my eyes regretting the fact that I came over to watch this small part of the scene. "I said earth bending style!" Aang must have then realized that his cue had been said, and quickly air bended into the shaft. The boulder was lifted into the air revealing Momo, who was behind it in the middle of grooming his armpits.
"That lemur, its earth bending!" a guard cried out. I slapped myself in the forehead. I had completely forgotten about that soldier and his stupid comment. Brianna was now really struggling with keeping her voice down forcing me to have to help her cover her loud mouth.
"Brianna, get ready we're up next" I told the laughing hyena. She struggled to stop laughing but was able to completely calm down just in time. I spotted Katara being handed over to the guards by Sokka, cueing us that it was our turn. "Ready?"
"Ready," Brianna said as she got up from the ground. I nodded my head and jumped off the cliff. I was running down the steep rocky mine, which managed to catch the soldiers' attention. "Wait!" I heard Brianna cry out, causing everyone else to turn their attention to her. I felt a small smirk creep across my lips, knowing that everything was going according to plan. I got back into character and stopped in my place, but didn't turn around to look back at Brianna. "Why did you run off? Your dad is lying in bed sick and you just walk away?"
"It's none of my business," I glanced back at her with a cold and emotionless stare.
"How can you say that? He's your dad!" Brianna yelled out. Her acting wasn't half bad maybe a little overdramatic, but it was enough to convince the soldiers that the scene was real.
"He has my brother right? He doesn't need me! Now leave me alone!" I shouted before walking away from her slowly, but stopped just when she said her next line.
"This is why no one likes you! You're cold hearted and selfish! You act all high and mighty, but really you're just a spoiled brat!" Brianna yelled out. I definitely could sense rage in her voice, but saw that she couldn't make eye contact with me, probably afraid I would take it personally. I went back into character as I whirled around and gave Brianna a glare completely filled with hatred. I saw Brianna flinch, convinced that the hate was directed at her, but I knew that if I dropped the act now the plan would be ruined. I took brisk steps towards Brianna, lifted my hand, and slapped her across the face. I made sure the slap was light, but made a sound as if I had used a lot of force.
"Shut up! I don't need someone like you telling me what I am!" I yelled at her. Brianna went along with the plan, but I could tell that she was feeling uneasy with the next course of action. She touched her left cheek where I had slapped her then glared at me. She kicked the ground from under her, which sent a wave of earth to shoot at me. Before the earth came in contact with me, I made a small shield of air around my hands and used it to shield myself from the impact. The earth pushed me back toward a tree, but I was able to make a small cushion of air so that it would prevent the crash from being painful. Once I hit the tree I let out a fake painful cry, making everyone believe I was truly injured. When the earth dropped back down to the ground, I let my body drop and pretended to struggle back to my feet.
I could see from the corner of my eye Brianna being surrounded by the soldiers as they chained her up and dragged her to Katara's side. Sokka ran over toward me and 'helped' me up from the ground. I continued the act, until the guards turned their backs. Brianna was still looking back at me, worried that I might have really been injured when she 'attacked' me. I gave her a small smile and flashed her peace sign. She smiled, relieved that I was ok and proud with our performance. When the guards were out of sight, Aang ran over to my side, looking frantic. I straightened my back and pushed away Sokka's arms, confusing the two. I crossed my arms and gave the boys a confident smile, amused by the fact that I had fooled them too.
"So what did you guys think of our little act?"
((Brianna's P.O.V))
Katara and I were taken to a ship at the edge of town, where they then sent us out into the ocean. There were several other people with us, who I guessed were earth benders, all much older and some looked sickly. I looked around the area, trying to find any trace of the others.
"Don't worry, I can feel Aang and Rebecca's presence" Nyoko told me from inside my charm. "They're really close to us, but the weird thing is I can sense Aang in the sky, but what doesn't seem right is where I can sense Rebecca."
"Where is she?" I asked whispering into my brace.
"She's right behind us," Nyoko said not believing her own words. "You don't think she's swimming do you?" she asked me.
"Who knows, this is Rebecca we're talking about. She's like Super Women, only stronger," I whispered to Nyoko proudly.
The ship slowly came to a stop at a familiar looking Ship Yard, which looked much bigger and threatening in person. It was no wonder everyone here had lost all hope, having been contained inside this prison. Their villages were all miles away from here and they were treated as slaves, maybe even worse.
The guards made us go in a straight line as a familiar looking character walked towards us, who I recognized as the warden.
"Oh great not him," I muttered to Nyoko. I couldn't help but smile, an evil smile, when a certain thought came into my head. "It's going to be fun beating the crap out of him," I muttered to myself completely amused with my fantasy.
((Rebecca's P.O.V))
"Who would have ever thought that I could breathe under water," I told Gin as I continued to swim deep under the ocean surface.
"I'm just surprised that you can keep up with the ship," Gin told me honestly.
"Well this is nothing compared to the boats we have in my world. Now those are hard to keep up with, and anyway I'm pretty good at swimming since my dad use to make me do laps over the summer. It was always so annoying."
"I can imagine. So what are you going to do when you get to the Ship Yard?"
"Sneak in of course, after the sun goes down. I work better at night."
"Well that is when we are most active."
"That and I like the night time better. It makes me feel like a ninja."
