21
Hoshiko lay on her back as she played with a tassel on the curtain in boredom as she and Toph lay around the house, waiting for Katara and Aang to come back from searching for a printer to print their Appa posters. Hoshiko looked over at Sokka, and quirked an eyebrow at the odd pictures he was drawing. She sat up and crawled over on her knees to get a better look at the pictures. They looked like some combination of slug, sheep, and centipede. She turned it sideways, thinking that she might have been holding it wrong, but she was only more confused.
Her thoughts on the odd drawing were cut short when Katara and Aang came in the front door and ran up to them.
"We found a printer to make our posters!" Katara said happily, presenting the lost bison poster, which had an expertly done picture of Appa on it.
"Hey, I thought designing the lost Appa poster was my job." Sokka said, sounding a little offended. He held up one of his pictures, "I've been working all day on my Appa!" Katara snickered at the picture and Aang grimaced.
"Sokka, the arrow is on Appa's head." Aang said. Katara giggled behind her hand, still trying to hide her laughter.
"This is his head!" Sokka said, pointing to it. Hoshiko reached for the picture and stared at it.
"Then why are feet coming out of it?" Hoshiko asked, Sokka snatched the picture from her hands.
"Those are his horns!" He said, he lowered his head in frustration, "I haven't seen him in a while, okay?"
"It looks just like him to me." Toph said with a stifled laugh. Sokka smiled at her.
"Thank you! I worked really-" He stopped, realizing that he was taking a compliment from a blind girl. Hoshiko burst out in laughter, rolling onto her back, "Why do you feel the need to do that?"
"Let's just stick with the professional version." Katara said. Sokka angrily tore up his picture, then crossed his arms and pouted like a child.
"Come on!" Aang said, holding out handfuls of posters, "Let's get busy!" Hoshiko took her own handful, as did Katara and Sokka. They split up and went to different parts of the city to put up their posters. Hoshiko went through the middle ring, putting posters up on the walls. As she passed by some people, she handed them some posters. Hoshiko looked up when their posters suddenly started falling from the sky, and laughed to herself when she saw Aang flying over the city, dropping the posters. She shook her head to herself and continued putting up posters in the city.
Hoshiko's tail twitched in concentration as she and Sokka played a card game. Toph tossed a ball against a wall as she relaxed. Katara was sitting down on one of the pillows reading a scroll. She looked up when the doors opened and Aang came in.
"I just finished dropping off the leaflets." Aang said, coming up to where Sokka and Hoshiko were playing their card game, "Has anyone come in with news about Appa?"
"It's only been a day." Katara said, "Just be patient." Aang sighed and sat down, his head resting on the table. Hoshiko grinned as she slapped down a card over one of Sokka's.
"I win!" She cried happily, holding her arms up in victory. Sokka moaned and slammed his head down on the table. Their attention was turned to the door when someone knocked on it.
"Wow, you're right!" Aang said, standing up, "Patience really pays off!" He ran over to the door and was surprised who waited on the other side, "Joo Dee?"
"Hello Aang, and Katara, and Sokka, and Hoshiko, and Toph." Joo Dee greeted, coming in. Hoshiko shuddered at the sight of her creepy smile.
"What happened to you?" Sokka asked, "Did the Dai Lee throw you in jail?"
"What? Jail? Of course not." Joo Dee said, "The Dai Lee are the protectors of our cultural heritage."
"But you disappeared at the Earth King's party!" Toph said.
"Oh, I simply took a short vacation to Lake Laogai." Joo Dee said, "Out in the country. It was quite relaxing."
"But then they replaced with some other woman who also said her name was Joo Dee." Katara said.
"…I'm Joo Dee." She said.
"Just tell us why you're here." Hoshiko said, knowing that Joo Dee wouldn't tell them what was really going on no matter how hard they tried to get her to.
Joo Dee reached into her sleeve and pulled out one of the posters they had put up, "Dropping fliers and putting up posters isn't permitted within the city. Not without proper clearance."
"We can't wait around to get permission for everything." Sokka said.
"You are absolutely forbidden by the rules of the city to continue putting up posters." Joo Dee said, her smile unfaltering as she spoke. Aang came up to her, his face becoming red in anger.
"We don't care about the rules and we're not asking permission!" He shouted at her, Joo Dee shrunk back in surprise, "We're finding Appa on our own and you should just stay out of our way!" He slammed the door in her face once she was out of the house.
"…That might come back to bite us in the blubber." Sokka said.
"I don't care." Aang replied testily, "From now on, we do whatever it takes to find Appa."
"Yeah!" Toph shouted happily, "Let's break some rules!" In her excitement she used her earth bending to completely destroy one corner of the house.
"Somehow, I saw that coming." Hoshiko said, not surprised at all.
"Come on," Aang said, "Let's go put up some more posters." Everyone followed him out of the house to walk to the upper ring. As they walked down the street, Hoshiko sensed a presence. She turned around, and narrowed her eyes at the forms of two Dai Lee agents as they ducked out of sight.
Sokka brushed some glue onto the wall, and put the poster on top of it. Hoshiko dug her brush into her glue can, but could barely get anything out of it.
"We'll split up to cover more area." Sokka said, "Katara, you go that way, Aang, you go down that street, I'll go down that way, and Hoshiko, you can-"
"Um, I'm out of glue." She said, presenting the empty can to Sokka. He looked at it in surprise.
"How can you be out?" He asked, taking it from her, "We just bought this glue yesterday!" Hoshiko shrugged, a guilty expression on her face. Sokka saw this and narrowed his eyes, "What did you do?"
"I… might have done something with it… that wasn't for poster purposes." She said uneasily, Sokka glared at her, "I may have, just maybe, poured half of it on top of a guy's head who tried to pick my pocket."
"You what?!" Sokka exclaimed.
"It was my money! I wasn't going to let him just take it!" Hoshiko reasoned.
"Sokka, it's fine." Katara said, "Hoshiko can just use some of my glue."
"Thank you, Katara." Hoshiko said, walking over next to her.
"Fine then, you and Katara can go that way." Sokka said, pointing behind them, "Toph, I guess you should just come with me."
"Why?" Toph demanded angrily, "Because you think I can't put up posters on my own?" She reached over and grabbed his glue brush, sweeping it across the wall and slamming a poster on top of it. The problem was, she had put the poster up on the wrong side. It looked like a blank piece of paper stuck on the wall. Everyone was silent for a moment.
"It's upside-down isn't it?" Toph asked, nobody responded to her, "I'll just go with Sokka." She handed him back his brush and walked with him as they went their separate ways.
Hoshiko and Katara went down to the lower ring near a small stream. Katara painted the glue onto a nearby building and Hoshiko carefully smoothed the poster out on top of it.
"Katara?" The two girls turned around at the voice and Hoshiko saw a boy dressed in haphazard clothing. He smiled at the two of them, "I think I can help you." Katara's face flushed angrily and Hoshiko stumbled back in surprise as she began to bend up two huge waves of water from the stream. "Katara! I've changed!" Katara used the waves to send him flying back into an alley. She quickly ran over to it, bending some water out of a nearby puddle.
"Tell it to some other girl, Jet!" She growled before turning the water into icicles and shooting them out at him. Hoshiko ran over to them and watched at the boy, Jet, pulled out two hook swords and used them to stop any icicles coming his way.
"Katara! Are you nuts?" She shouted, although her words didn't seem to reach her.
"I don't want to fight you," He said, "I'm here to help!" He held up his two hook swords and threw them to the ground. Katara looked at him in surprise when she saw this. Jet looked back up at her and smiled when he realized she wasn't attacking him. He reached into his back pocket, and Katara, assuming it was another weapon, shot out more icicles and pinned him to the wall. Hoshiko heard the sound of footsteps and looked to see Aang, Toph, and Sokka running towards them.
"Katara, what is it?" Sokka asked, running up to her.
Katara glared at the pinned boy, "Jet's back."
"Who?" Toph and Hoshiko asked at the same time.
"We can't trust anything Jet says!" Katara said quickly.
"But we don't even know why he's here." Sokka said.
"I don't care why he's here!" Katara said, "Whatever the reason is, it can't be good!"
"I'm here to help you find Appa!" Jet said, he opened his hand slightly to unroll the piece of paper that he had taken from his pocket, revealing it to be a lost Appa poster.
"Katara, we have to give him a chance." Aang said.
"I swear, I've changed." Jet said sincerely, "I was a troubled person, and I let my anger get outta control. But I don't even have the gang now! I've put all that behind me."
"You're lying!" Katara said, Toph walked past her and over to Jet, putting her hand on the wall he was pinned to.
"He's not lying." Toph said.
"How can you tell?" Hoshiko asked.
"I can feel his breathing and heartbeat." Toph explained, "When people lie, there's a physical reaction. He's telling the truth." She turned back to the group.
Aang turned to Katara, "Katara, we don't have any leads," He said, "If Jet says he can take us to Appa, we have to check it out."
"…Alright." Katara said, a little reluctantly. She narrowed her eyes at Jet, "But we're not letting you out of our sight!" Jet nodded and she took away the icicles, allowing him to move freely.
"Here's the deal," Jet began, "There's this place near my work. I overheard these two guys talking, and I think Appa might be there."
"Then take us to where they were holding him." Hoshiko said, "We'll be able to check it out from there." Jet nodded and walked forward, leading the group. Hoshiko walked a little slower to speak with Katara. "So…" She began, Katara looked over at her, "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure." Katara said.
"Do you remember when we were in Omashu," Hoshiko said, "And we had to cover ourselves with purple pentapi's to make ourselves look sick?" Katara nodded, "Do you remember the conversation we had while they were sucking on our skin?"
"Yeah." Katara said.
"Is that," She pointed to Jet, "The same Jet you were talking about then?" Katara blushed and looked away.
"Yeah…" She mumbled. Hoshiko's grin widened and she let out a chuckle.
"Wow, this must be so awkward for you." She giggled, "Imma go talk to him." She winked at Katara as she skipped up to where Jet was.
"Ah-! Hoshiko!" Katara hissed, trying to make her stop. Hoshiko stuck her tongue out playfully at her as she walked up to Jet.
"Hi." She greeted, Jet smiled at her, "I'm Hoshiko."
"Jet." He said, holding out his hand for her to shake, "Nice to meet you."
"Oh, the pleasure is all mine, believe me." Hoshiko said, stealing a glance over at Katara, who quickly turned away. Hoshiko tried to keep her smile to herself. She had never had a chance to mess with Katara before, and now she had the perfect opportunity. "So, I'm guessing from Katara's reaction earlier that you two aren't on good terms?" Jet snorted.
"That's one way of putting it." He said.
"Yeah, I heard." Hoshiko said, "She does not like you very much, does she?"
"If you heard, then you should know." Jet said, "I wasn't a good guy before. I swear, I'm different from who I was back then."
"Oh, I believe you." Hoshiko said, "People are perfectly capable of change."
"Good to know someone believes me." Jet said, smiling at her. Hoshiko smiled back, "So, what about you? What brings you to join the avatar's posse?"
"He's helping me look for my family." Hoshiko said.
"You got separated?" Jet asked, Hoshiko nodded, her expression saddening.
"Yeah, the Fire Nation destroyed my village in a Fire Nation raid." She said, "I was taken in as a slave, my father was killed. I don't know about my mother, though, and there are still some other people I'm looking for as well."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Jet said, "My parents were killed by the Fire Nation, too." Hoshiko looked over at him sadly, but quickly shook her head of the thoughts of the Fire Nation.
"So, what have you been doing since you came to the city?" She asked.
"I've been living peacefully in Ba-Sing-Se." Jet said.
"All on your own?" Hoshiko asked.
"Well, it's not that hard to get by when you're living in the greatest city in the world." Jet said, Hoshiko tensed, remembering a similar phrase from one of two Joo Dee's.
"What did you just say?" Hoshiko asked him quietly.
Jet ignored her question as they approached a building, "Hey, we're here!" Hoshiko looked up at the barn they were approaching, "This is the place I heard about." As they walked in, they saw that the barn was empty.
"There's nothing here." Aang said sadly, looking around.
"If this is a trap…!" Katara began, getting into a fighting position.
"I told you!" Jet said, "I work nearby! Two guys were talking about some giant furry creature they had. I figured it must be Appa." Hoshiko's sharp eyes spotted something on the floor and she bent down to pick it up, seeing that it was soft, white fur.
"He was here!" She said, turning to the others and holding out the fur. Aang rushed over and looked sadly at the clump of fur in her hands.
"We missed him." Aang said sadly, petting the fur.
"They took that big thing yesterday." An old man said as he swept the floor, getting Aang's attention, "Shipped him out to some island. 'Bout time, I've been cleaning up fur and various, uh, leavings all day."
"What island?" Aang asked quickly, "Where's Appa?"
"Foreman said some rich royal type on Whale Tail Island bought him up." The old man said, dabbing his forehead with a handkerchief, "Guess for a zoo or such. Though, could be the meat'd be good."
"We've gotta get to Whale Tail Island!" Aang said, he paused for a second, then looked over at Sokka, who was looking at a map to see where it was, "Where's Whale Tail Island?"
"Far." Sokka said, looking up from the map, "Very far." He laid the map down on the floor, "Here it is." He pointed to an island in the shape of a whale's tail near the arctic, "It's near the South Pole, almost all the way back home!"
"Aang, it'll take us weeks just to get to the tip of the Earth Kingdom." Katara said, "And then we'll need to find a boat to get to the island!"
"I don't care." Aang said, "We have a chance to find Appa. We have to try!"
"Must be nice to visit an island." The old man said idly, "I haven't had a vacation for years!"
"Don't you have some more hair to clean up?" Katara asked angrily.
"Shuffle on, I get ya." The man said, "No more need for old Sweepy."
Katara turned to Aang, putting her hand on his shoulder, "You're right, Aang." She said, "Our first concern should be finding Appa. We can come back when we have him."
"All right," Sokka said, rolling up the map, "Let's get moving."
"I'll come with you." Jet said, following them out.
"We don't need your help." Katara said testily.
"Why won't you trust me?" Jet asked hurtfully before following the others out.
"Gee, I wonder?" Katara said sarcastically, crossing her arms over her chest angrily.
"Was this guy your boyfriend or something?" Toph asked her.
"What? No!" Katara said quickly.
"I can tell you're lying~." Toph said in a sing-song voice. Katara blushed and stalked out of the barn, following the boys. Hoshiko snickered and came up next to Toph.
"Have I ever told you how awesome you are?" Hoshiko said, putting her arm around Toph's shoulders.
"Yeah, but I wouldn't mind hearing it again." Toph said, Hoshiko laughed as they followed everyone out.
Everyone walked down the streets of Ba-Sing-Se, heading to get their things before they left the city.
"We can take the train out to the wall, but then we'll have to walk." Sokka said to everyone.
"Don't worry," Aang said, "On the way back, we'll be flying!"
"We're finally leaving Ba-Sing-Se." Toph said happily, she threw her hands up and said, "Worst. City. Ever!"
"Jet!" A voice called out, everyone turned to see two people, a scruffy looking girl and a serious looking boy with an archer's bow on his back.
"I thought you said you didn't have your gang anymore!" Katara said hotly, glaring at Jet.
"I don't!" Jet said, he turned around just in time for the girl to hug him.
"We were so worried!" She said, "How did you get away from the Dai Lee?"
"The Dai Lee?!" Katara repeated in shock.
"I don't know what she's talking about!" Jet said, stepping back from her.
"He got arrested by the Dai Lee a couple weeks ago." The girl said, "We saw them drag him away!"
"Why would I be arrested?" Jet asked, "I've been living peacefully in the city!" Toph came between the two and put her hand to the ground.
"This doesn't make any sense." She said confusedly, "They're both telling the truth."
"That's impossible!" Katara said.
"No, it's not!" Hoshiko said, "The reason Toph can't tell who's lying is because they both think they're telling the truth!" She pointed at Jet, "Jet's been brainwashed by the Dai Lee!"
"That's crazy!" Jet said, "It can't be!" He looked around at everyone and began backing up. "Stay away from me!" Everyone came a little closer to him and surrounded him, leaving him with nowhere to go. Hoshiko lifted her hand and wrapped shadowy tendrils around his arms to hold him still. She looked around them for any Dai Lee agents that may have been watching them.
"We need to go somewhere private." She said to the others.
"We have a place." The scruffy girl said, "Follow me."
Everyone stood in a small room in an old inn in the lower ring of the city. They stood in a half-circle around Jet, who sat in a chair.
"The Dai Lee must've sent Jet to mislead us." Katara said, "And that janitor was part of their plot, too."
"I bet they have Appa here in the city." Aang said, "Maybe he's in the same place they took Jet!" He turned to the boy in question, "Where did they take you?"
"Nowhere!" Jet said, "I-I don't know what you're talking about!"
"We need to find a way to jog his real memories." Aang said, putting his hand to his chin thoughtfully.
"Maybe Katara could kiss him." Hoshiko said with a sly smirk, "That oughta bring something back."
"Maybe you should kiss him, Hoshiko." Katara said hotly.
Hoshiko raised her hands defensively, "Hey, it was just a suggestion."
"A bad one." Aang muttered under his breath.
"Ooh! Wait!" Sokka said, heading over to the mattress, "I got it!" He reached into it and pulled out a small straw of wheat grass. He went over to Jet and stuck it in his mouth. Jet looked at him dryly.
"I don't think it's working." He said, spitting it out.
"Try to think of something from your past that triggers your emotions." Toph suggested.
"The Fire Nation!" Smellerbee said, "Remember what they did to your family!"
"Close your eyes." Katara said, "Picture it." Jet did as he was told, closing his eyes and remembering the night his parents died. He remembered seeing the house in flames, and the cruel Fire Nation Colonel Mongke who started the fire that burned his home to ashes, and reduced his parents' corpses to nothing but burnt bones.
"No!" Jet cried, jumping forward, "It's too painful…" Katara walked over behind him, bending out some water.
"Maybe this'll help." She said, she put the water to his temples and began carefully moving the chi inside his head. Jet's eyes closed as he began to relax, feeling his mind become clearer than it had ever been before. He began to think about what had happened, and he began to remember. Long Feng, the leader of the Dai Lee, had him taken to a lair under the water, near some lake. He remembered the Dai Lee agent that brainwashed him, saying 'There is no war in Ba-Sing-Se. Here, we are safe. Here, we are free.' Over and over again.
"They took me to a headquarters under the water." Jet said, "Like a lake."
"Wait!" Sokka said suddenly, turning to the others, "Remember what Joo Dee said? She said she went on vacation to Lake Laogai."
"That's it!" Jet exclaimed, jumping up, "Lake Laogai."
It wasn't very hard for them to find the lake. It was the only body of water in the entire city, just outside the inner wall. Hoshiko thought it was a beautiful lake, even though it was home to the headquarters of one of the sneakiest conspirators alive.
"So, where's this secret headquarters?" Sokka asked Jet.
"Under the water, I think." Jet said, rubbing his neck.
"There's a tunnel right there near the shore." Toph said, pointing to wherever the tunnel was. She walked over to it and used earth bending to bring up a small pathway to the tunnel. Everyone followed her to the tunnel's entrance and she bent away the cover that was over the hole. Everyone peered inside it, seeing that the headquarters was very deep underground. Momo, who had been sitting on Aang's shoulder, chirped fearfully at the sight of it and flew away.
They carefully and quietly climbed down the ladder and down the stairs into the headquarters. As they turned a corner, they heard the footsteps of Dai Lee agents, and hid behind a corner until the coast was clear. Jet led the way as they walked down the hall, passing various rooms.
"It's all starting to come back to me…" Jet murmured as he looked around. He moved a bit closer to one room, peeking inside, seeing many different women dressed in the exact same style of clothing and hair and a single Dai Lee agent. All of the women's eyes had hugely dilated pupils, showing that they were ready for brainwashing.
"I am Joo Dee." The Dai Lee agent said, "Welcome to Ba-Sing-Se."
"I am Joo Dee." The women repeated, "Welcome to Ba-Sing-Se."
"We're so lucky to have our walls to create order." The Dai Lee agent said.
"We're so lucky to have our walls to create order." The women repeated. As Hoshiko passed by this room, she frowned. All those women in there were perfectly innocent girls who had been pulled into something terrible. They most likely had family and friends waiting for them somewhere, but since all of their identities had changed to Joo Dee, the hostess of Ba-Sing-Se, there's a good chance they would never be able to go back to them.
"I think there might be a cell big enough to hold Appa up ahead." Jet said, breaking her mind from her depressing thoughts. He led them around a corner to the end of a hallway where a stone door waited, "I think it's through here." He reached up and opened the door, and everyone followed him in. The room was huge, but it was also dark, and that made it very hard for everyone but Hoshiko to see. She looked around the room, seeing no sign of the bison. She was about to ask Jet if he had made a mistake when the door suddenly shut behind them. A light went up in the room, and Hoshiko's eyes widened at the sight of a dozen Dai Lee agents hanging from the ceiling.
"Now that's something different." Sokka said, looking up at them. Hoshiko looked in front of them and her pupils narrowed slightly into slits when she saw Long Feng standing in front of them with two more Dai Lee agents at his side.
"You have made yourselves enemies of the state." Long Feng said, "Take them into custody." The Dai Lee agents dropped down from the ceiling and landed in a perfect circle around the eight of them. Two agents shot out their stone gloves, turning them into fists. Toph fought back with her earth bending before they came anywhere near them. Then she made two diagonal masts of stone come out of the ground, knocking them away. Taking this as the incentive to fight, Jet ran at two other agents who also shot out their gloves. He slashed them in two with his hook swords and ducked down before they had a chance to do it again. He slid across the floor and hooked one of his weapons around one of the agent's ankles, he stood up and quickly brought him down onto the floor. Aang jumped up and used his own earth bending to knock away two other agents. One agent shot out their glove at Hoshiko and she quickly moved out of its path. She brought up an inky ball of shadow and shot it at the agent, sending him flying back. She let out a yelp when another agent's glove grabbed her tail and began pulling her back. Smellerbee quickly came to her rescue by slicing up the glove and letting her escape their grasp.
"Why does everyone always go for my tail?!" Hoshiko growled angrily as she brought up and shadow fist and hit him across his face before sending another one to punch through his stomach. Two other agents shot out their earthen gloves at Katara and Sokka, and they got rid of them before they had a chance to attach. They yelped when two other gloves grabbed onto the back of their clothes and pulled them towards the agents. Toph stopped them by quickly bending up a wall before they reached them. The two agents sent a pathway of jutted rocks towards Toph, and she avoided it by elevating the earth she stood on. The two agents did the same while another two scaled the walls and sent two long earthen masts at her from the side. She stopped the two agents on the elevated earth by bending up blocks to knock them away before they could grab her and she avoided the earthen masts by jumping up before they could crush her. When the agents who made the masts came running towards her, she bent up small walls and pushed them back onto the floor. She shouted when one Dai Lee glove caught her by surprise and grabbed her by the back of her shirt. Jet swung in on a chain that had been hanging from the ceiling and pulled her away before the agent could grab her. When the agent shot out his earthen shoe at them, Longshot pulled out an arrow and destroyed it. Two more agents came up next to that one, shooting out a glove, and Jet came in front of him, slashing it like he had the others. When three more came at him, Hoshiko bent up a shadowy barrier in front of Jet before they could hit. She ran towards them, her body collecting shadows and beginning to cover her completely, making her look like a black panther. She ran on all fours towards the agents, and snarled, shooting out four shadowy tendrils from her back at them, forcing them all into the wall.
Her sharp eyes caught some motion and she saw someone was running away.
"Long Feng is escaping!" Aang said, he, Jet, and Hoshiko ran after him as he ran down another hallway. They reached what looked like a room for drainage, and the door slammed shut behind them, trapping them inside with Long Feng. He jumped down from the ceiling and glared at them.
"Alright, avatar." He said, "You've caused me enough problems. This is your last chance. If you want your bison back."
"You do have Appa!" Aang growled, "Tell me where he is!"
"Agree to exit the city now and I'll waive all charges against you and allow you to leave with your lost pet." Long Feng said.
"You're in no position to bargain." Jet said, holding up his hook swords.
"Am I not?" Long Feng asked with a smug grin. Hoshiko arched her back up, her shadowy fur bristling.
"You're definitely not!" She snarled at him, still in her panther form.
"Jet," Long Feng began calmly, "The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai." Hoshiko quirked an eyebrow at his odd choice of words.
"I am honored to accept his invitation." Jet replied robotically. Aang and Hoshiko looked over at him, and jumped out of the way when he swiped at them with his hook swords. He launched himself at Aang, slicing at him again and again, with Aang jumping just out of reach before they hit.
"Jet! It's me, Aang!" He cried, jumping back from him. Hoshiko ran at him, jumping up on her hind legs, planning on pinning him down, but instead he slashed at her middle. She let out a grunt and slid back, her panther form disappearing. She yelped and jumped out of the way when he tried to slash her in two.
"Stop! Jet, you don't have to do this!" She cried, standing up.
"I'm afraid he no longer has a choice." Long Feng said. Hoshiko looked at Jet carefully, and saw his pupils had greatly dilated, like the Joo Dee girls' had. Jet hadn't just been brainwashed so he wouldn't cause any trouble for the Dai Lee, he was also their sleeper soldier! She yelped as she jumped back from his weapon before it sliced her. He came at her again and she jumped back. He sliced at her shoulder and she moved away from his blade, but somehow stumbled over her own feet in the process and fell to the ground. She shrieked when Jet began to bring his hook sword down on her, and she put up her arms defensively. Aang used his air bending to push him away from her before he could do any damage. Hoshiko stood up and ran over next to Aang, looking at Jet worriedly when he stood back up from Aang's blow.
"Jet! We're your friends!" Hoshiko called to him, "Look inside your heart and stop this madness!" Jet closed his eyes for a moment, and Hoshiko's heart swelled with hope at the notion of actually getting through to him.
"Do your duty, Jet." Long Feng commanded. Jet's eyes opened and he wordlessly obeyed Long Feng, coming over to Aang and Hoshiko, weapons raised.
"He can't make you do this!" Aang said, "You're a Freedom Fighter!" Jet gasped, his eyes widening at the mention of the Freedom Fighters. He remembered starting up his gang, and all of the friends he had made, he remembered being with Aang and his friends, he remembered kissing Katara, and he remembered when his home was burned down by the Fire Nation. He remembered everything that made him who he was, and he knew he shouldn't do what Long Feng was ordering him to do. Hoshiko smiled in relief when she saw his pupils return to their natural state, showing that he was no longer under Long Feng's control.
"Do it!" Long Feng ordered, not realizing what had happened, "Do it now!" Jet let out a shout as he took one of his hook swords and threw it at Long Feng. He easily dodged the blade and shot out his fist in an earth bending strike. The attack was unbelievably quick, and the dust that came up from the ground prevented Aang and Hoshiko from seeing what had happened. When the dust cleared, a large piece of earth had jutted out from the ground, and Jet lay on his back. They looked at the scene with wide eyes and Aang ran towards Jet. Hoshiko growled and shot three tendrils of shadow at Long Feng, who dodged it by bending up the earth he stood on so he could jump through one of the draining holes on the wall. He narrowed his eyes at Jet from his place, "Foolish boy… You've chosen your own demise." Hoshiko's ears caught his words and she let out a roar, shooting a projectile of shadow at him, which missed him as he ran away.
"Coward!" Hoshiko shouted after him. Jet groaned in pain and her face instantly softened, she ran over to his side next to Aang. She looked over him sadly.
"I'm sorry… Guys." Jet said to them.
"Don't be." Aang told him. Hoshiko looked over at the door when it was opened and saw their friends on the other side. They all ran towards Jet when they saw him lying on the ground. Katara quickly bended out her water and had it cover her hands. She knelt down and moved the water over his chest, examining the damage. She suddenly stopped and looked back at the others.
"This isn't good." She said grimly.
"You guys go and find Appa." Smellerbee said, "We'll take care of Jet."
"We're not leaving you guys!" Hoshiko said.
"There's no time." Everyone looked over at Longshot in surprise, for it was the first time they had ever heard him speak, "Just go. We'll take care of him, he's our leader."
"…Don't worry, Katara." Jet said, his voice weak, "I'll be fine." He gave her a small, kind smile to reassure her. Katara took in a deep breath and got up, leading everyone out of the room. Before Hoshiko left him she gently squeezed his shoulder, a silent way of saying she hoped he was going to be fine. She ran up and followed the others out as they headed out.
"He's lying…" Toph murmured when she came up next to her.
"I know." She whispered back, listening sadly to the echoing sounds of Smellerbee's sobs as they ran for the room where Appa was.
When they reached the room where Appa had been held, they found six empty cuffs that were attached to the floor, that were big enough to hold the bison down, but no bison attached to them.
"Appa's gone!" Aang said sadly, looking around, "Long Feng beat us here."
"If we keep moving, maybe we can catch up with them!" Sokka said. They ran out of the room and headed for the exit tunnel. When they reached the end of it, Toph blew it open and they all ran out of the tunnel. As they ran along the shore, Aang snuck a glance behind them, and saw a huge group of Dai Lee agents running after them.
"Think we can outrun them?" Hoshiko asked him as they ran.
"I don't think it's gonna matter." Aang said, Hoshiko looked ahead of them and saw Long Feng and other Dai Lee agents waiting for them. They bent up a large earth wall to stop them. And once the agents behind them caught up with them, they bent up a wall behind them. They were trapped. The Dai Lee had successfully captured them. Everyone looked at Momo as he flew down towards them, chirping excitedly about something as he landed on Aang's shoulder. "What is it Momo?" Momo kept chirping as he flew up into the air again, and heading in the direction of the sun. What came back, however, was not a flying lemur.
It was a giant, flying, furry white bison with an arrow on his head.
"Appa!" Aang exclaimed happily, seeing him. The bison growled as he barreled head first through the two walls the Dai Lee had made, sending some of them into the lake. Taking advantage of the temporary distraction he caused, Toph and Aang went over to where some of the Dai Lee were still standing and used their earth bending to throw them into the lake. Appa turned around and landed in front of Long Feng, who stood alone in the rubble. Appa growled intimidatingly at him and Long Feng glared back at the bison, taking a defensive stance.
"I can handle you by myself." He said, and he charged at the bison. Appa stopped him by biting onto his leg and bucking back onto four legs to throw him into the lake with the others. He skipped like a stone on the water before he splashed into it.
Once they were safe, everyone ran towards Appa, Aang jumping up onto his head, Katara and Sokka launching themselves onto his front forelegs, Hoshiko jumped up onto his back, and Toph ran over and affectionately petted his nose.
"I missed you, buddy." Aang said, tears of happiness streaming down his cheeks. They quickly got on the bison and flew over the lake to get somewhere safe.
As they flew over the water, Katara stared down at it with tears in her eyes. Aang comfortingly put his hand on her shoulder and she looked over at him, wiping away some of the tears. Everyone pulled together for a group hug, and Appa grunted, sounding almost like he was mourning with them as he soared over the water.
To Theunstable: Yes, the Shinjun Tribe was my original idea. Thank you for giving me a review!