I know it's been a while since I updated, not suprising, but today is a special day! It's Brianna's Birthday~ And I forgot to draw the Turtle Duck picture, so don't be expecting it anytime soon. Yeah, it's going to be delayed for a while since I have some shit to do this week...ugh. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter~
"Follow me," I heard a voice from behind. I turned and saw the hooded man from earlier calling to us from a hole in a wall behind us. "I can get ya outta here!" We hesitated, but I realized there wasn't much choice. We had to just trust him. I ran toward the hole then looked back at Aang, Katara, and Sokka to encourage them to follow.
"There they are!" I glanced to the edge of the stage and saw three other guards climbing up after us. Not wanting to take the chance with the Fire Nation soldiers, Aang, Sokka, and Katara ran after me toward the hole. We threw our masks to the side, knowing they were useless to us now. When we ran past the mysterious man, he pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it on ground, giving us enough time to escape. For the most part, no one had tried to stop us but the villagers weren't so blind that they didn't notice us. After time the number of soldiers following us seemed to increase with each turn we made, trying to find a goddamn exit or escape.
"I'm calling Appa," Aang said, reaching into his clothes and pulled out the bison whistle. He took a deep breath and blew making a faint air sound that could barely be heard.
"I hope he can really hear that bison whistle!" Sokka shouted as Aang continued to call for Appa.
"This way," the man said, pointing into an alley way. We followed him into the alley, only to find the path way being blocked by a group of soldiers. "Okay not this way" he said and took out another bomb, pulling the trigger with his teeth and created a sea of smoke that suffocated and blinded the soldiers. We ran back out of the alley and took a different route, but of course it led to a dead end. The pathway was being blocked by large wagon filled of fireworks for the festival. I was about to get my staff out when I heard a loud familiar groan from the sky.
"Appa, down here" Aang shouted, waving his arms so that his furry buddy could see us. When he finally spotted us, Appa flew down to the ground, his back to the soldiers, and sent them flying with his tail. We took this chance and hopped onto the saddle to make our escape. When I got onboard I saw an angry looking brunette sitting across from me, glaring at us. It was obvious she wanted to go to the festival, but there wasn't anything we could do about it now. Once Appa took to the air, the soldiers had recovered from the blow and were getting ready to attack. However, before they could the man took out another bomb and threw it down into the wagon which triggered the fireworks.
"Nice touch setting off the fireworks," Aang complemented while the man pulled down his hood and mask.
"You seem to really know your explosives," Sokka added, impressed.
"I'm familiar," the man said dully.
"You're a Fire Nation soldier!" Sokka said recognizing him from one of the wanted posters.
"Was," he said correcting Sokka "my name's Chey."
"Hi nice to meet you," Brianna said sounding uninterested. "Now will someone please tell me what I missed?"
((OOOO))
I found my way back to camp and threw in some more lumber on the camp fire Sokka had prepared. I rejoined the small circle and sat between Aang and Sokka with Appa, Brianna, and Momo sleeping several feet away from the fire. It had taken us hours to make Brianna go back to sleep. I couldn't count how many times we had to repeat that she didn't miss anything. The others had promised her that they would wake her up if something else important or exciting were to happen, but of course I didn't. After all, I'm sure I wouldn't be able to keep such a promise.
"I serve a man. More than a man really, he's a myth…but he's real, a living legend, Jeong-Jeong the Deserter. He was a Fire Nation general…or wait, was he an admiral?" Chey said unsure. I rolled my eyes, wanting him to get to the point already.
"He was very highly ranked, we get it" Sokka said impatiently, poking the fire with a long stick.
"Yeah, way up there!" he shouted proudly. "But he couldn't take the madness anymore. He's the first person ever to leave the army and live. I'm the second, but you don't get to be a legend for that, that's okay though" Chey said, getting sidetracked. "Jeong-Jeong's a fire bending genius. Some say he's mad but he's not! He's enlightened."
"You mean there's a fire bender out here who's not with the Fire Lord?" Aang shouted excitedly and stood up. "We've gotta go see him! He can train me!"
"We're not gonna go find some crazy fire bender!" Sokka objected.
"He's not crazy! He's a genius!" Chey said defending his leader. "And he's the perfect person to train the Avatar! That's why I followed you into the festival."
"Look, thanks for the help, but we're leaving for the North Pole in the morning" Sokka said as he got up from the ground.
"Sokka, this could be my only chance to meet a fire bending master who would actually be willing to teach me" Aang said trying to reason with him.
"You know he's right Sokka," I said glancing up at him. "Or would you rather I kidnap someone from the Fire Nation and force them to train Aang?"
"Ha, ha no thanks" he said with a forced laugh.
"It can't hurt just to talk to him" Katara said siding with Aang and I.
"That's what you said about going to the festival! Why doesn't anyone ever listen to me?" Sokka shouted out angrily and stomped angrily out of the circle. Suddenly several men in straw hats and native like clothing jumped down from the trees. They pointed their spears and circled around us.
"Don't move," the man in front ordered, bring his spear closer to my neck. I raised my arms while looking back at Appa and saw Brianna still fast asleep. I let out a small sigh shook my head. Of course she wouldn't be able to wake up by herself...
((OOOO))
"Jeong-Jeong told you not to look for the Avatar" the leader of the group said, pointing his spear to Chey while the rest of us lagged behind.
"Hold on, you know these guys?" Sokka asked annoyed.
"Oh yeah, Lin Yi's an old buddy" Chey said and looked back at the man, "right Lin Yi?"
"Shut up," Lin Yi said in a stern voice. "Keep moving!" The rest of the trip to Jeong-Jeong's secret hideout was silent, except the occasional complaint heard from Sokka. We finally came to a hill top with an overview of a small hut which, I guessed, was where Jeong-Jeong lived.
"Go on, he sees you only" Lin Yi told Chey.
"Oh that's okay, we can chat later" Chey said, not too keen in seeing Jeong-Jeong just yet. He must have known he was in deep shit, well he wasn't as hopeless as I thought.
"Is that where Jeong-Jeong is?" Aang asked. "I need to talk to him right away." Aang started to walk forward but Lin Yi blocked the way with his spear.
"No! You wait there," he told Aang then pushed Chey forward. "Go now!"
"Don't worry, everything will be fine" Chey said, sounding more like he was trying to convince himself. "He's a great man, great man!" While Chey made his way to Jeong-Jeong, Lin Yi led us into a distant hunt where we waited for Chey. While the others went inside to rest, I decided to go over to where Appa was and get Brianna off his back. I jumped up onto the saddle and made my way to where she was sleeping. Shifting her around, I managed to get her on my back, giving her a piggy back. It wasn't an easy job, but a couple seconds of lifting her wouldn't kill me. Trying to make as little movement as possible, I jumped off Appa's back and floated down to the ground. Once my feet touched the dirt ground I quietly lugged Brianna into the hut and placed her on the soft matted ground. Honestly, I couldn't believe she was still asleep. The rest of the wait I sat near the doorway and waited for Chey's return. While stretching my arms around I heard footsteps approaching us then saw Chey come through the door.
"What happened? Can I see Jeong-Jeong now?" Aang asked impatiently.
"He won't see you" Chey said rather depressed. "He's very angry that I brought you here. He wants you to leave immediately."
"Finally, let's hit the road" Sokka said relived and completely looking forward to getting as far away from this Fire Nation infected area.
"Why won't he see me?" Aang asked confused.
"He says you're not ready" Chey told him, "says you haven't mastered water bending and earth bending yet."
"Wait, how does he know that?" Aang asked a bit creeped out.
"He saw the way you walked into camp, he can tell" Chey said just as amazed as the rest of us. Aang's eyes hardened before getting up from the ground, a determined look on his face.
"I'm going in anyway" he said and left the hut before anyone could stop him.
"Do you think he'll be able to convince Jeong-Jeong to teach him?" Katara asked trying to wake up from her short nap.
"I'm sure he'll find a way," I said and leaned against the wall. "If he doesn't, someone else will probably give him a hand."
"Why don't you just threaten him Rebecca?" Sokka teased me.
"I thought you wanted to leave?" I said, ignoring tone.
"I do," he said with a shrug. "But no one ever cares about what I have to say!"
"You just realized this?" I said with a laugh. He gave me a playful shove which I returned, with a bit more force, but we both laughed it off. I felt a sudden cold breeze come from the door then Aang's voice came booming into the room.
"You guys won't believe this! Jeong-Jeong said he would train me!" he shouted.
"Really that's great Aang," Katara congratulated him. "How do you get him to change his mind?"
"I don't know" Aang said honestly, "it just kinda happened."
"What'd I tell you," I muttered under my breath, thinking it must have been Roku.
"What was that Rebecca?" Katara asked.
"Oh nothing, don't worry. It wasn't important."
Wow, I just realized how short this chapter is...sorry guys I'll try and make this up for the lack of work to you soon.
