"What… what? What's going on? Where am I? Why is my belt wrapped around my head?"
"Shoji, thank Agni! You're all right! He's coming around! Urdu, splash him again!"
Shoji coughed and sputtered as his vision slowly cleared and he returned to consciousness. He realized that he was lying in sand, and he could hear waves crashing somewhere nearby. Above him, Urdu's and Senyo's worried faces came into sharp focus. They both looked the worse for wear, covered in rapidly coloring bruises, cuts, and small burns. Shoji blinked and tried to find some context for his current condition. Then, his memories of the evening suddenly hit him with the ferocity of an industrial tank. He gasped and shook in his soaked uniform, trying to sit up even as his friends held his shoulders down.
"The dance party! What happened? How did we get away? And Kuzon… did they get him? Kuzon! It's not possible… he's a… he's a…"
Urdu held his shoulder firmly. "Calm down, Shoji. It's okay. You need to be careful- you fainted right in the middle of the cave and have been out for a while. I don't know how the headmaster found out about the party. Someone must have squealed. Anyway, we grabbed you and got you out of there. I shot off a bunch of smoke bombs, and On Ji and some of the other firebenders were distracting the guards. We almost got caught, but On Ji totally saved us. I don't know what happened to Kuzon. He just… disappeared."
Shoji continued to try to sit up. "On Ji held them off? Where is she now? And I know how Kuzon got away. He ran out the back of the cave and then… you're not gonna believe me."
Senyo stared at him urgently. "What are you talking about , Shoji?"
Shoji finally shrugged both of them off and sat up fully, resting his hands on his knees. He motioned for the other two to sit down, and they both did hurriedly, sitting with their legs tucked under, facing him with anxious eyes. Shoji's voice cracked slightly as he finally got the words out.
"Kuzon… is an earthbender."
Urdu's jaw dropped. Senyo's eyebrows climbed halfway up her forehead before furrowing in confusion. "What? No way! Are you nuts? That can't be right. Kuzon's from the colonies. And he's not even a bender! Why on earth would you even say that?"
"Because I saw him do it. Look, I know this sounds crazy, but this is what I saw. The guards were chasing kids all over the cave as we all put our headbands on, right? Well, while they were all mixed up, I happened to be standing at the back of the crowd and I watched Kuzon run out from the group and head out the back of the cave. Just before he left, he turned around and caught my eye. I bowed to him and he bowed back. Then, he ran out the back and the walls of the cave closed behind him. It looked like some kind of rocky mouth, okay? Rock slid down from the top of the opening and came up from the bottom and closed like some kind of giant jaw. That's the last thing I remember. But I'm telling you, there's no other explanation. It happened two seconds after Kuzon went through. There wasn't an earthquake or anything, and even if there was, it didn't look like a rockslide or a cave-in like we've studied in basic engineering class. Kuzon must have earthbent to block the path so that the guards couldn't follow him."
Senyo shook her head. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! A rocky mouth? You probably bumped your head when you fainted and only think you saw that. And even if you're not hallucinating, you didn't see Kuzon do anything. Kuzon can't be an earthbender, Shoji. That would mean that he's been lying to us from the moment we met him. That would mean that he's a traitor to the Fire Lord, and we've been helping him! It can't be true. It just can't be."
Urdu finally found his voice again. "But Senyo, remember gym class? Kuzon was like, freakishly strong and fast and so good at fighting that he almost beat Mr. Wei. He knows all this weird stuff about other places and cultures. And what about that first day in class, when he didn't know how to bow right? What if he wasn't just mocking the National Oath? What if he never knew it in the first place?"
The three young teenagers simply gaped at one another as the reality that Kuzon was not who they thought he was sank in. At last, Shoji stood and brushed the sand off of his clothes. "If you still don't believe me, let's go back to the cave. I'll show you where the back entrance closed."
Senyo grabbed his wrist as she leapt to her feet. "No, Shoji! It's too dangerous! What if the guards are still there? On Ji risked everything just so we could get away. It'll be worth nothing if we just get caught anyway!"
Shoji wrenched his arm out of her grip as a determined expression settled over his face. "I've got to go back! Forget Kuzon for a second. On Ji and the others might still be in trouble. She saved us, and we owe her! Now, are you coming with me or not?"
Urdu hesitated. "But what about our parents, Shoji? We're already so late getting home, I know mine are going to kill me!"
Shoji scoffed bitterly. "We're gonna get in trouble no matter what! Don't you see? Do you think the headmaster is just going to keep this whole thing to himself? The whole town is gonna know about this party by tomorrow morning. And except for Hide and the other teacher's pets, every single kid in our class was out tonight, which means that all of our parents are gonna know that we were here. Besides, the guards got the three of us for a moment, right? Don't you think they'll recognize us at school tomorrow? Whoever Kuzon is, we still chose to come to his party. We took that risk. And now that it's all gone to heck, there's no point in trying to run away."
Senyo scratched her head and sighed. "I guess you're right. I don't want to go home. It's gonna be awful, isn't it? I wish we could just run away, but I know you'd never do that. Not without On Ji. So… I'll come with you. I'm your cousin and your friend, and I'll always have your back, Shoji. "
One joyful tear cascaded down Shoji's cheek as he choked up. "Thanks, Senyo. That means the world to me. What about you, Urdu?"
Urdu slowly got to his feet. When he met his friends' gaze, there were small tears glistening in the corners of his eyes. "You know what? I don't care if Kuzon is an earthbender. He was nice to me, and not a lot of people are. And while it was horrible getting caught, I'm glad that we had the dance party. I felt happier in that cave tonight than I can ever remember. So I'm gonna come and help however I can. Friends stick together, no matter what happens."
Shoji nodded. "You guys are the best friends I've ever had. All right, let's go!"
The three young students broke into a jog, reenergized by their mission. As they returned to the cave, they had no idea that their vow of loyalty to one another and not their country's leader made them de facto enemies of the state.
Near the cave, another student slowly began to regain consciousness. Hide had been waiting outside, smugly anticipating the priceless sight of the school guards dragging out Kuzon by the ear and shipping him off to the coal mines. He smirked when he heard the blasphemous music screech to a halt. But then, the noises stopped making sense. There were screams and shouts and suddenly a boom from somewhere inside the cave, followed by the distant groan of some gargantuan animal. But before Hide could make any sense of the situation or investigate what was happening inside, a stampede of his panicked classmates surged through the entrance. Caught completely by surprise, Hide stumbled and fell to the ground, passing out as thundering feet carelessly trampled his body in their efforts to escape.
When he awoke, it was to the face of one of the teachers at his school. Mr. Wei was nudging him gently, concern etched across his features. "Are you all right, young man?"
Immediately, Hide stood up and shrugged off the careful hand. "I'm fine!" Normally, he would never speak so petulantly to an adult, but Mr. Wei had always given Hide the creeps. He wasn't a bender, so he wasn't worth any real respect, and he was too quiet and passive to be a proper man.
By wordless agreement, the two of them proceeded inside the cave, which was now almost empty and fairly quiet. In the center, the guards were standing in a circle around six kneeling students. All of them were constrained by metal hand and ankle cuffs and staring at the floor. As the pair continued into the room, the headmaster turned around and noticed them.
"Ah, Hide! I was wondering where you were. And… Wei? Perfect. You're just in time to help us deal with the fallout from the traitorous activities that occurred this evening. We must form a search party and locate Kuzon Fire immediately. He's the instigator behind this subversive dancing party. We had everything under control and would have apprehended him immediately if not for this young woman."
The headmaster grabbed one of the bound students and forced her to lift her head up. Hide felt his blood run cold.
"On Ji?"
On Ji glared up at him, her face covered in small burns. She was sweaty and disheveled and she was wearing her belt as a headband, just like… Kuzon.
"Yes, indeed. I never would have expected something like this from a child like On Ji Pan. A top student, impressive lineage, not one disciplinary mark on her record before today's incident in gym class, dating one of the most upstanding citizens this school has ever produced… and yet here we are. I regret to inform you of this, Hide, but your girlfriend spearheaded a deception that led to Kuzon's escape and then actively attacked school guards in order to prevent her classmates from facing justice. Although all students who participated in this event will be punished, On Ji Pan alone will join Kuzon in the coal mines as a testament to the magnitude of her crimes against the state. She had us all fooled, but no longer. The flame of the Fire Lord's wrath has burned away the proper façade and revealed something wretched and dangerous underneath. Take her away."
"Wait!" Mr. Wei exclaimed.
The headmaster scowled in his direction. "Wait? Do you have something to add, Wei?"
"As the girl is only thirteen, should she not have a chance to bid farewell to her parents before being transported? Surely you can see that not allowing such a goodbye would be quite harsh towards the Pans, who have done nothing to merit such dishonor upon their family? Let them look her in the eye and disown her so they may have closure. Of course, such a moment would only augment her punishment, as I'm sure you can see."
The headmaster's scowl slowly morphed into an evil smile. "Very well, Wei. Guards, escort On Ji to her home and then deliver her to the docks to be shipped to the coal mines."
Mr Wei took a quick step forward. "Please, sir, why don't you let me take the girl? I assure you that I am more than capable of containing her, and that way your guards will be free to pursue Kuzon before his trail grows cold. After all, if he managed to escape justice once, it would be wise to pursue him with as much force as possible so that it does not happen again."
The headmaster considered the suggestion for a moment, before nodding his consent. "You may be right. Fine, then. Hide, go with him. The rest of you, un-cuff the others. Their names have been taken down and they will be dealt with later. Then, meet me outside and we will begin our search for Kuzon Fire. He must not go free!"
Hide felt a veritable storm of emotions flooding him, from anger to disbelief to shock to… heartbreak? No, he didn't care about On Ji at all anymore. She had chosen her fate, and she wasn't worthy of him. In fact, screw her! She had made a fool of him for the last time, and now she would get her comeuppance.
On Ji refused to look at him. As Mr. Wei hauled her to her feet and hoisted her over his shoulder, she made not one sound of protest. Hide thought he saw Mr. Wei incline his head slightly and whisper something, but it was so quick that Hide dismissed it instantly.
As they left the cave and emerged into the night air, Hide shoved down his emotions and schooled his features, wishing he could bully his clenching heart and churning stomach into silence the way he could his classmates. A quote from one of Fire Lord Sozin's many recorded speeches echoed over and over in the young man's mind.
"A man's loyalty is to his nation first. Anything less makes him a traitor."
A/N: The last quote is taken almost word for word from Sozin's argument with Roku in the palace in ATLA Book 3 Episode 6: The Avatar and the Fire Lord. On Ji's last name is 叛 (pàn), which means "to betray, to rebel, to revolt."