24
Kotaro looked out over the side of the bison, watching in amazement as the world moved underneath the bison as they flew through the air. Hoshiko smiled a little as his childlike, star struck smile on his face as he turned back to her.
"This is how you travel every day?" He asked, Hoshiko nodded in confirmation.
"Pretty cool, huh?" She asked him.
"It's incredible!" Kotaro said, looking out over the land as Appa kept flying. Sokka gave the wolf Shinjun a weird look, before turning back to Aang.
"So, what kind of trouble is Katara in?" Sokka asked him.
"I don't know," Aang said, "In my vision, I just knew she needed help."
"It'd be nice if your avatar powers could be a little more specific from time to time." Sokka said, crossing his arms across his chest. They heard a rumbling noise, and looked down at the ground, seeing that something was moving quickly across the earth, leaving a trail of dust behind it, "What is that?!"
"Fly us down closer to it." Hoshiko said to Aang, who did just that, bringing Appa closer to the moving thing, seeing that it was Toph, riding around on a pair of earthen hills she created herself that moved her forward at a surprising speed. When Appa was up next to her, Hoshiko shouted, "Need a lift?" Her call had surprised Toph so much, she stumbled in her footing, causing her to fall off the hills and crash onto the ground. The four of them winced at the sight of her landing. They landed the bison near her as she stood up.
"Sorry about that." Hoshiko said, jumping off Appa and walking over to the blind girl. She helped her to stand and pushed her up on Appa, "By the way, Toph, I brought a friend."
"Who?" Toph asked as she settled herself next to Hoshiko on Appa's head, grabbing her arm as they took off, needing some support. Hoshiko looked back at Kotaro, who scooted up from his place on Appa's back. He held out his hand for her to shake.
"Hi," Toph jumped slightly at the sound of his voice, "I'm Kotaro." His eyes widened when he saw that her eyes were a milky grey, showing that she was blind. He pulled his hand back, knowing that she wasn't going to shake it.
"Oh, you're Kotaro." Toph said, "Hoshiko talks about you a lot. I'm Toph."
"Nice to meet you." Kotaro said.
"What are you doing out here?" Hoshiko asked Toph, "I thought you were with your mom."
Toph scowled, "My mom wasn't even there. It was a set up made by two guys working for my dad to bring me home." Sokka quirked an eyebrow.
"I thought you said your dad was okay with you travelling the world?" Sokka asked. Toph grimaced.
"Yeah… I lied." She said, "I actually just ran away from home." Sokka groaned.
"Great, now we have two bounty hunters after us, too!" He said, "As if Prince Zuko wasn't bad enough!"
"How long has it been since we saw Zuko, anyway?" Hoshiko asked, "I mean, after that battle with Azula, we haven't heard anything."
"True…" Sokka said, "But hey, he could still be after us. You never know." Hoshiko shrugged.
"I guess." She said, "By the way, how'd it go with your dad?"
"It went great!" Sokka said with a smile, "He treats me like I'm an actual soldier instead of a kid. He taught me about all these new weapons he made to use against the Fire Nation, and I got to meet up with the guys in his platoon, and-"
"Sokka, I just asked how it went, I didn't ask for the entire story." Hoshiko said, Sokka pouted, Aang and Toph chuckled at her words. Hoshiko turned to the young monk, "So, what about you, Aang?"
"Yeah, how did it go with the guru?" Toph asked, "Did you master the avatar state?"
Aang looked away, "Uh…"
"If you leave now, you won't be able to go into the avatar state at all!"
"Aang, are you okay?" Sokka asked, seeing how his friend didn't give an answer.
"I'm great!" Aang said quickly, "It went great with the guru! I completely mastered the avatar state!" He let out a nervous chuckle. Hoshiko looked at him suspiciously, but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, and didn't say anything about it. "But, um, what about you, Hoshiko? Did you see your mom again?" He looked back when Aang heard a strange noise and looked to see Kotaro shushing him and making a slicing motion at his neck, shaking his head. Aang looked over at Hoshiko, and was surprised to see a sorrowful expression on her face.
"Yeah, I did." Hoshiko said quietly, "She's alive, like Xana's letter said. And we talked some. It was nice."
"You're not making it sound nice." Sokka pointed out, when Hoshiko's expression saddened even more, Kotaro grabbed his shoulder.
"Shut up about her mom." He whispered in a voice Sokka could barely hear, "Her mother was almost burned to death by Fire Nation soldiers. It's a miracle she's lasted as long as she has." Sokka grimaced.
"Um, sorry." Sokka said, Hoshiko nodded.
"It's okay," She took in a deep breath, "She's okay, and she was happy to see me. So long as she's still alive, that's all that matters." No one said another word to her about it, but Toph tightened her grip on Hoshiko's arm just the slightest bit, in a comforting way.
It didn't take them much longer after that to get to the palace, where they met up with the king in his throne room, with his pet bear at his feet. Kotaro gawked at the man for a second, amazed that they had actually made friends with the Earth King. Hoshiko shut his mouth for him as Aang explained his worries to him about Katara as quickly as he could.
"Katara's fine." The Earth King assured, "You have nothing to worry about."
"But, in my vision," Aang began, "I felt so sure that she was in trouble."
"Well, she met with the Council of Generals to plan the invasion," The Earth King put his hand to his chin in thought, "And since then, she's been off with your friends, the Kyoshi warriors."
"See, Aang?" Sokka said, "She's with Suki! They're probably back at our apartment right now, talking about make-up or something."
"Sokka's right, Aang." Hoshiko said, "I'm sure they're fine. Maybe the vision you saw was just that. A vision."
"…Okay, maybe you're right." Aang said, nodding once.
"Believe me," The Earth King said, "If there was any danger at all, Bosco's animal instincts would sense it." Said bear lifted his head up at the sound of his name, letting out a little grunt and looking at the five kids before him blankly. Hoshiko rolled her eyes.
"I'm sure he could, your majesty." She said, That bear wouldn't know 'instinct' if it went through his fur and bit him on the butt.
"But still," Aang said, "Let's check on her, just to be safe."
"Whatever works." Toph said indifferently, shrugging her shoulders.
It wasn't a long flight back to the apartment, it only took a few minutes. When they landed, they saw that the hole Toph had made in their apartment was now covered up by a tarp. A loud chirping caught their attention, and Aang smiled.
"Momo!" He said happily as the lemur instantly ran up his body and onto the young monk's shoulder. Kotaro looked around the apartment in awe.
"You guys lived here?" He asked, Hoshiko nodded once, "Man! It's like you guys did everything better than I ever did."
"Well, I was travelling with the avatar." Hoshiko said, "That tends to get us some special treatment." Kotaro sighed.
"Lucky." He said, Hoshiko only smiled warmly at him, and he smiled back. Toph stepped forward, her blind eyes turning different ways as she used the vibrations her feet made to scan the apartment for any other people that were there. Hoshiko's ears twitched back and forth, noticing the unusual silence.
"This place is empty." Hoshiko said, turning to her friends, "There's no one else here."
"Katara is in trouble!" Aang said, "I knew it!"
"Oh no…" Sokka said, fearing for his younger sister.
"Wait!" Toph said, she pointed at the front door, "Someone's at the door." Only a moment after she said it, a knock came from the other side. She smiled, "Actually, I know who it is." She walked over to the door, "It's an old friend of mine." She opened the door to reveal Iroh, the Dragon of the West, standing on the other side with a serious expression on his wrinkled face, "Glad to see you're okay." Kotaro's eyes widened as he recognized the old man, his face softening slightly.
"I need your help." He said to Aang, who reeled back in surprise at the sight of Zuko's uncle.
"You guys know each other?" Aang asked, pointing at the rotund old man.
"I met him in the woods once, and knocked him down." Toph explained, Iroh rubbed the back of his head sheepishly when she said this, "Then he gave me some tea, and some very good advice." Iroh bowed slightly to her as any friend would to another in greeting.
"May I come in?" He asked, Toph nodded and the old man stepped into the house, his old eyes widened when he saw the young wolf Shinjun before him, "Kotaro…"
"Mushi." Kotaro greeted, "Or, is it Iroh?"
"Iroh is just fine." He said.
"You guys know each other?" Sokka asked in the same way Aang had.
"Well, I met him when he went by the name Mushi, and his nephew went by Lee." Kotaro explained, pointing to the old man.
Iroh looked over at Hoshiko, "Are you his friend?"
"His hanbun tamashi, actually." Hoshiko specified, Iroh let out a small 'ah' in understanding. "Why are you here?"
"Princess Azula is here in Ba-Sing-Se." He said, turning to Aang to make sure he heard him.
"She must have Katara!" Aang said.
"She has captured my nephew as well." Iroh said.
"Then we'll just have to work together to fight Azula and get Katara and Zuko back." Hoshiko said, although she wasn't exactly pleased with the idea of helping the Fire Nation's prince. Then again, she never had any real qualms with the prince, so she had nothing against saving him if he needed help.
"Whoa there!" Sokka said, coming over to her, "You lost me at Zuko." She scowled a little at him.
"I know how you must feel about my nephew." Iroh said, he took a hold of Sokka's shoulders so he would look at him, "But believe me when I tell you there is good inside him." He let a small smile come onto his face at these words, as if he were proud of his nephew.
"Good inside him isn't enough!" Sokka said, pushing the old man away, "Why don't you come back when it's outside him, too, okay?"
"Katara's in trouble." Aang began firmly, getting his friend's attention, "All of Ba-Sing-Se is in trouble! Working together is our best chance." Sokka scowled, but nodded in a sort of reluctant acceptance.
"I brought someone along who might be able to help us." Iroh said with a little, almost deviant, smile. Sokka and Hoshiko quirked their eyebrows at him as he walked towards the door, opening it. When they got out on the porch, they saw a member of the Dai Lee with his hands and feet bound, his mouth gagged. Toph used her earth bending to lift the man up, his feet dangling inches away from the ground, with his hands still bound together in front of him. Iroh walked up to him and removed his gag.
"Azula and Long Feng are plotting a coup." He said quickly, "They're going to overthrow the Earth King." Hoshiko was surprised at how quickly the man had confessed. She looked warily over at the old fire bender, wondering what exactly he had done to him.
"My sister!" Sokka demanded, holding out his machete and pointing it at him, "Where are they keeping Katara?"
"In the crystal catacombs of old Ba-Sing-Se," The Dai Lee agent said, "Deep beneath the palace."
The group ran off towards the palace. "Yeah, okay. Just leave me here…"
Toph put her hand to the ground just outside of the palace.
"Well, whadaya know," She said, sounding bored as she stood back up, "There is an ancient city down there. But it's deep." She took a stance and moved her arms in a sharp motion to start the beginning of a slanted tunnel.
"We should split up." Sokka said, "Aang," The monk looked over at him, "You and Hoshiko go with Iroh to look for Katara and the angry jerk. No offense."
"None taken." Iroh said with a shrug.
"And Kotaro and I will go with Toph to warn the Earth King about Azula's coup." Sokka continued.
"What? No." Kotaro said instantly, getting everyone's attention, "I'm not leaving Hoshiko alone."
"Kota, relax." Hoshiko said with a small smile, putting her hand on his shoulder, "It's not like I won't come back."
"But… still…" Kotaro muttered, Hoshiko rolled her eyes at his over-protectiveness.
"Look, if it makes you feel any better," She said, her hands going to Yue's bracelet on her wrist, "You can hold onto this for me." She took it off and handed it to him, "That way, I have to make sure I come back in order to get it back. Okay?" Kotaro looked at the bracelet, then at Hoshiko, and sighed.
"Alright…" He muttered, putting the bracelet on his own wrist, "But you will come back, right?" He was anxious to lose her again after they had just found each other after such a short period of time.
"Of course." Hoshiko said, "I mean, how bad could it possibly be?" Kotaro still seemed a bit worried, "I'll be fine. You just worry about yourself." She leaned up on her tiptoes and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. He smiled softly at her and she smiled back.
Hoshiko walked next to Iroh as they walked through the tunnel leading underneath the palace. Aang used his earth bending to make the tunnel deeper as they went through. Iroh had used his fire bending to hold a small flame in his hand to use as a source of light.
"So…" Aang began, looking over at the old man, "Toph thinks you give pretty good advice. And great tea."
Iroh smiled, "The key to both is proper aging. What's on your mind?"
Aang pushed some more stone out of the way before he spoke, "Well, I met with this guru who was supposed to help me master the avatar state, and control this great power." Aang frowned, his eyebrows furrowing, "But to do it, I had to let go of someone I love… and I just couldn't."
"I thought you mastered it." Hoshiko said, raising an eyebrow at her friend.
"Yeah… I lied." Aang said, Hoshiko frowned slightly at her friend, turning away from him.
"Perfection and power are overrated." Iroh said wisely, "I think you are very wise to choose happiness and love." Aang pushed more rocks forward to deepen the tunnel.
"What happens if we can't save everyone and beat Azula?" Aang asked, "Without the avatar state… What if I'm not powerful enough?" Iroh frowned thoughtfully.
"I don't know the answer." Iroh said, he looked around them, "Sometimes, life is like this dark tunnel. You can't always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you just keep moving," Aang stepped in front of them, earth bending another group of rocks. When he did, a wind came through, blowing out the flame Iroh had made, and providing them with a new light from some emeralds that littered the entire cave. "You will come to a better place." Hoshiko looked around the catacombs, amazed at the sight. They stood together, overlooking the massive underground area with green crystal in all the walls and flowing water in an underground waterfall off to one side.
Kotaro followed Sokka and Toph as they headed up the stairs to the palace. When they reached the top, something caught Sokka's eye.
"There's General How!" He said, he was about to go to him, when Kotaro held out his arm, making him and Toph stop. Kotaro closed his eyes and sniffed the air, a frown forming on his face when he was finished, opening his eyes.
"Something doesn't smell right." He said, looking around them suspiciously. He growled low in his throat when he recognized one of the scents as iron (He could smell it because his nose is just that strong). Sokka, sensing some trouble as well, grabbed Toph and the three of them hid behind a pillar. They watched as two Dai Lee agents came out from behind the pillars and shot out a pair of earth handcuffs, and pulled General How to his knees.
"What's going on here?" How demanded angrily as a third Dai Lee agent came in front of him.
"You're under house arrest." The Dai Lee agent said. Sokka looked back to Kotaro and Toph worriedly.
"The coup is happening right now!" He said, "We've gotta warn the Earth King!" He grabbed Toph's hand and the three of them ran to avoid the Dai Lee agents, heading to the side of the building. Unfortunately, their escape was not as silent as they would have liked, and one of the agents spotted them. He raised his hand and shot a wave of earth at them. Kotaro saw it coming and lifted his hand, pointing two fingers at the earth. Suddenly, lightening blasted out of his fingers and through the earth, and it just grazed by the agent's shoulder, singing his uniform. He let out a small curse and fired off some of the stone from his gloves. Toph lifted up an earthy barrier to block them, but the agent easily brought it down. Kotaro growled angrily and fired off another shot of lightening that knocked his hat off, and his skull. The shock wasn't powerful enough to kill him, Kotaro made sure of that, but he did become unconscious and fall to the ground. The other two agents who had been with him were too busy getting General How out of the building to put him under arrest, and didn't care to go after Sokka, Toph, and Kotaro.
They ran over to a part of the building where a window hung low. Toph bent up a pedestal that elevated them up to the window and they went through it. Sokka led them through the hallways until they got to the Earth King's throne room, where he sat calmly with Bosco beside him, and two 'Kyoshi Warriors' guarding him off to the other side.
"Thank goodness we're in time!" Sokka said, not noticing the two girls. Kotaro made an odd face as he smelled some very strong perfume coming from one of the girls.
"In time for what?" The Earth King asked confusedly.
"Yeah, what are you in time for?" Ty Lee asked, she did a small flip so she would stand directly in front of Sokka. Kotaro's nose scrunched up as he realized she was the one wearing the perfume, and the scent became stronger as she smiled directly in Sokka's face and giggled, "Cutie?"
"Uh, I'm kinda involved with Suki." Sokka said, awkwardly putting his hand on the back of his neck. Ty Lee's smile disappeared.
"Who?" She asked, Toph didn't let her speak anymore by making the earth beneath her jump up and throw her across the room to the top of the large badger mole statue behind the throne.
"They're not the real Kyoshi warriors!" Toph said. The Earth King gasped, looking at the two girls.
"Sorry to disappoint you." Mai said, she threw three knives out at Toph, who easily blocked it with an earth wall, then shot it at her. Mai jumped over it with ease. Kotaro shot out a lightning strike, and was surprised at how quickly she dodged it. Meanwhile, Ty Lee had gone over to Sokka with a large smile, and started jabbing at him. Sokka dodged her strikes because they weren't very fast, but with less finesse than he could have had. He was leaning back as Ty Lee was leaning in.
"It's like we're dancing together." Ty Lee said with a girlish giggle. She suddenly got down as a shot of lightning came at her, and she looked up to see Kotaro frown.
"Damn, I missed." Ty Lee glared at him and quickly got up, dashing over to him. Kotaro raised his hands, ready to fight her, but everyone stopped when they heard a voice.
"This fight is over." Azula said, they looked to see she was holding the Earth King hostage, a sharp, blue flame lighting the ends of her fingers. Not wanting to risk his life, Sokka, Toph and Kotaro surrendered immediately, lifting their hands up. Ty Lee instantly went up to each them, hitting three different pressure points on their bodies so they would fall limp to the ground. Azula pushed the Earth King forward into the awaiting Dai Lee, "Get them all out of my sight." The Dai Lee did as she ordered and grabbed each one of them, taking them away to the dungeons, even Bosco was taken.
Hoshiko lifted her hands up, stretching out her own shadow along the ground, seeing many footprints had turned white against the blackness of the shadow. The freshest ones leading to a wall far from the waterfall. She pulled the shadow back and went over to the wall, putting her hand on it.
"I think it's through here." She said, turning around and looking at Aang and Iroh. Aang nodded once and stepped forward.
"Stand back." He said, Hoshiko went over next to Iroh and they watched as Aang used earth bending to blast through the wall. Hoshiko and Iroh ran in after him to find a small cavern filled with glowing crystals, and they saw Katara and Zuko, both of them standing surprisingly close to each other.
"Aang! Hoshiko!" Katara exclaimed, running over to her friends and hugging them. Iroh ran over to his nephew and hugged him as well. Aang glared at Zuko over Katara's shoulder, and he returned it. "Aang, I knew you would come."
"Uncle, I don't understand." Zuko said to Iroh, pulling away from him and pointing at Aang, "What're you doing with the avatar?"
"Saving you, that's what." Aang said. Iroh held Zuko back when he was about to charge at the boy.
"Zuko, it's time we talked." Iroh said, pushing his nephew back. He looked over at Aang, Hoshiko, and Katara, "Go help your other friends, we'll catch up with you." Aang and Hoshiko bowed respectfully to the old man before going out of the tunnel Aang had made. Katara looked back at Zuko pitifully as she walked, something Hoshiko noticed, but said nothing about. A sudden, sharp pain pierced her skull, and Hoshiko let out a grunt, holding her forehead. A strange ringing went on in her ears, almost as if someone was trying to speak to her, but she couldn't make out the words they were saying.
The three of them ran out of the tunnel, heading for the exit.
"We've gotta find Sokka and Toph!" Katara said as they ran. A loud whooshing sound suddenly caught their ears and they looked back to see a gigantic stream of lightning was coming at them. As a defense, Hoshiko pulled up a huge shield of shadow to protect them, and while the defense was strong, the lightning had enough power to blast the three of them back a few feet. When she put the shield down, they looked to see Azula with two of her fingers pointed at them, still smoking. Katara bent some water from the stream up into a huge wave and tried to bring it down onto Azula. She blocked it with a huge explosion of blue fire, making the water evaporate into steam, giving her cover. The three benders looked around, waiting for Azula to strike.
Suddenly, she jumped out from the steam and shot two blasts of fire at them. Hoshiko brought up another shield of shadow to block the blasts as Azula landed on a natural pillar of stone. Aang saw this and used earth bending to bring it down, making her land on the ground roughly, but still on her feet. She stood up, pointing two fingers at Aang and Katara, and the other hand at Hoshiko, who growled in her throat. Azula watched them carefully, waiting for them to strike. Suddenly, a blast of fire exploded between Aang and Azula. They looked to see it was Zuko who fired the blast, his hands raised in attack. He walked carefully to them, his eyes shifting between Aang and Azula, as if deciding who to attack. Finally, his eyes landed on Aang and he sent a blast of fire at him. Aang deftly blocked it with a small current of air, but the blast still sent him back. Hoshiko gasped as the pain in her head suddenly became more intense, making it feel like someone was trying to burst through the inside of her skull with a spear. Azula, seeing this sudden move, took advantage of it and went to strike. Katara blocked the blasts of blue fire from her with some water.
"See any Dai Lee agents nearby?" Toph asked Sokka quietly as he looked out of the small window in their prison door. Sokka, Toph, Kotaro, and the Earth King had all been placed in the same prison room, minus Bosco, who had been taken somewhere else.
"Nope, all clear." Sokka said, stepping away from the door. Toph stretched and went over to the door, putting her hands on it. She grabbed the metal and crumpled the door as if it were a piece of paper, and threw it off of the entrance, making it bang loudly against the wall. Sokka grabbed the Earth King's wrist as they ran out of the room, "Let's go!"
"I'm not leaving without Bosco!" The Earth King cried as Sokka dragged him out.
Zuko fired off more blasts at Aang, who blocked them by creating a whirlwind of air. Hoshiko came up beside him and made a huge wave of shadow rise up and heading straight for Zuko. The shadow knocked him onto his back and Aang leapt up into the air and came down, preparing to blast Zuko back with more wind, but he rolled to the side before the hit could land and sent a blast at Aang's feet. Aang jumped up high into the air to avoid it, and Zuko jumped up on his feet, he sent a few more fire blasts at Aang as he landed on a ledge in the catacombs. Zuko sent up a gigantic explosion of fire to bring him down, but Aang blocked most of the blow by bending up some of the crystals resting on the catacomb's ledge.
"Don't take your eyes off your opponent!" Hoshiko snarled as she brought up an inky ball of shadow and fired it at Zuko. Zuko shot some fire at it to stop it before it hit him, then made two, long fiery tendrils and aimed them at Hoshiko, she created two shadowy shields on each of her forearms and used them to block the fire before it hit her. Aang, taking advantage of Zuko's distraction with fighting her, jumped up onto one of the large stalagmites hanging from the ceiling of the catacombs and used earth bending to disconnect it from the ceiling and followed it down as it fell. He used air bending to make it go faster, thus making a bigger impact when it fell on the ground near where Zuko and Hoshiko were fighting. The shockwave blasted Zuko back, as well as Hoshiko, but neither of them were seriously hurt when they landed. They heard a feminine grunt of pain and looked to see Azula was losing to Katara, who held her arm and her leg in a watery casing. Zuko, seeing his sister's distress, sent a wave of fire at the water to disconnect it from his sister. Katara glared at Zuko and blocked his second shot of fire at her with her water bending.
Hoshiko, who had just now stood up from the shockwave of Aang's blow, groaned as her head began to hurt again, the ringing in her ears suddenly turning into words. She didn't even hear the tiny exchange of words between Katara and Zuko about how she thought he had changed.
"Another battle? My, my, you certainly get into a lot of trouble, Hoshiko." Kagemi's voice spoke in Hoshiko's head. She growled angrily.
"Why can't you ever just leave me alone?!" She growled angrily as she brought up a wave of shadow towards Zuko, who was still firing at Katara. He blasted through the shadow and started to attack her, and she fought back.
"I'm a part of you, Hoshiko, I'll never leave you alone." Kagemi said, "Seems you're having a little difficulty battling, hmm?"
"Yeah, that's because I'm fighting him and talking to you at the same time!" Hoshiko said, slicing the air with her hand, making a shadow to match the shape and having it shoot off at Zuko. The fire bender looked a little confused by her words, but continued to fight. Katara shot him back with a wave of water.
"Why don't I make this easier for you?" Kagemi said as Hoshiko went to join Katara in fighting Zuko, "Let me take over, and I'll beat both of these fire benders for you."
"Like hell!" Hoshiko snarled as she made quick slicing motions with her hands, making an X shape with every two swipes and having them go to Zuko, who managed to block most of them, but one of them grazed his shoulder, leaving a mark. Hoshiko jumped back when a ball of blue fire almost hit her, and she glared at Azula, who fired again.
"You're up against two fire benders, Hoshiko." Kagemi said, "You don't honestly think it will be easy for you to beat the both of them? Especially when one of them is a fire bending prodigy."
"I can try!" Hoshiko said, bringing up an inky ball of shadow and firing it at the princess, who shot a blast of fire at it to stop it from hitting.
"Why bother fighting a losing battle?" Kagemi asked, "Let's make a deal." Hoshiko gasped as one fire blast got a little too close to her, and she fell onto her butt. She watched as Azula suddenly went back to fighting Aang, charging at him with a huge wave of fire behind her as Aang made a suit of armor for himself out of the catacomb's crystals and headed straight for her as well. When they collided, the fire made Aang's armor shatter and he was sent flying back into the cliffs of the catacombs.
Hoshiko growled unhappily, realizing that this was a losing battle at this rate, "Okay, okay, fine! You can take over until we can beat them!" She stood up straight, "But you have to promise not to hurt my friends!"
She heard Kagemi laugh lowly, "It's a deal." Hoshiko closed her eyes as she felt her consciousness slipping, and hers take over the body they shared. For some odd reason, Hoshiko noticed, this time felt stronger than all the others.
It didn't take Sokka, Toph, Kotaro, and the Earth King long to get back to the throne room, where they found Bosco sitting down as Mai rested on the stairs in front of the empty throne, and Ty Lee stood in front of him, speaking to him.
"Come on, it's easy." She said, trying to teach him a trick, "You just walk on your front paws instead of your rear ones, like this!" She started walking on her hands to show Bosco what to do. Toph smirked and brought up the earth beneath her hands so it would trap them. Ty Lee let out a small gasp of surprise and put her feet on the ground, where Toph did the same thing to them.
"That is a nice trick." She said with a smirk, Sokka brought out his club and Kotaro's fingers lit up in sparks, all of them ready to fight.
"Just take the bear." Mai said in a bored tone of voice, not even bothering to fight them. The Earth King ran towards his bear and hugged his furry neck.
"Bosco!" He cried happily, and the bear let out a small grunt in what could only be assumed as happiness. They walked out of the throne room, leaving to get on Appa and to help Katara, Aang and Hoshiko. Once they were outside, Kotaro gasped, feeling a sharp pain in his chest near his heart that made him stop. Everyone looked back at him when they noticed he had stopped.
"Kotaro, what's wrong?" Sokka asked.
"I… Don't know." Kotaro said, his hand over the painful spot in his chest, "My chest just hurts for some reason…" He looked up at Sokka, "Do you think Hoshiko's okay?"
"I'm sure she's fine." Sokka assured, "Hoshiko's pretty strong, she'll manage to keep her body in one piece."
"It's not her body I'm worried about…" Kotaro muttered under his breath.
Kagemi's eyes opened, her dark eyes looking fierce and foreboding, and her white irises stood out against the blackness. She smiled widely as she looked down at her body. Oh, how good it felt to say that. Her body, her feet, her hands; It was almost too good to be true. She smiled and let all of her teeth, including her sharpened canines, glint in the light of the crystals in the catacombs. She had overtaken Hoshiko's body before, but never like this. Usually, when they made a deal, Hoshiko gave her a time limit. This time, there was no limit. She could get the body for as long as she needed so she could beat the Fire Nation scum she hated so much. She began to laugh in joy at the thought, it was soft at first, and only she heard it, but it steadily got louder and louder, until her maniacal laughter rung out through the catacombs, getting everyone's attention as she roared in laughter, her head thrown back, and her claws extended to the heavens.
"What a feeling!" She growled happily. She brought her head down, and looked over at where Azula was looking at her strangely. She grinned maliciously and charged at her, shadows gathering around her limbs, like they had when she goes into her shadow-panther form, but her hands still remained hands instead of turning into paws. The shadows covered her entire body until she looked only like a silhouette with two, white, round eyes and a mouth full of sharp, fanged teeth. Azula gasped at the sudden change in form as she dashed towards her at a seemingly impossible speed. Kagemi took a huge leap in the air and landed next to the princess, her landing making a huge shockwave that pushed her, Zuko, and Katara back. Katara's head hit against some crystals that jutted out of the ground, and she moaned as she felt herself beginning to lose consciousness. Kagemi laughed maniacally as she lifted her arms up, creating two, long, sharp tendrils of shadow to rear up behind her and she brought them down on the young princess, who barely dodged them as she jumped back. She looked at Kagemi with wide eyes as she strolled, yes strolled, towards her, a multitude of different, shadowy tentacles writhing behind her, as if itching to destroy something. Kagemi lifted her hand up and all of them dove for Azula. The blow was stopped when an orange flame shot out in front of them before they could land. Kagemi turned to see Zuko with raised hands, ready to shoot at her again.
"Come to join in the fun?" Kagemi asked sweetly with a terrifying smile. One tentacle of shadow reared up and dove for Zuko, who kept it away with another shot of fire. The tentacle shrunk back, as if in pain, but then it separated so it was seven separate tentacles on one large one. Kagemi let out a victorious laugh as Zuko effortlessly tried to send them back with his fire while they simply separated from the strand they were all attached to and went around the flame, heading straight for him. They landed harsh strikes on him, making scars along his arms, legs, and torso. Kagemi grinned viciously and looked over at Azula, who looked at her with wide eyes. She was about to lift her hand to attack again, but her attention was drawn away from the two royals as Aang shot out from the cliff he had been blasted into and landed on the ground, the sheer power of it making a huge shockwave that disrupted the stone of the ground he landed on. He used earth bending to bring up a large mound of it to push him forward towards Azula and Zuko, his eyes murderous. Kagemi made a 'tsk' sound in unpleasantness.
"Spoil sport…" She muttered under her breath, "Taking all the fun of two on one away…" Aang rode on the earth, and just as he was about to cross the river, a Dai Lee agent jumped in from out of nowhere, and blasted the earth he rode on, sending Aang flying forwards and landing roughly on the ground. Kagemi hissed angrily when she saw that there were Dai Lee agents everywhere. The three of them were all quickly surrounded by the agents. Katara, who had just woken up, pulled up a stream of water around her to make the octopus form to protect herself from them. Kagemi brought up more shadowy tendrils, hissing and snarling at the agents that stood calmly around her, so as to intimidate them. Aang got up, prepared to fight, but he looked at his enemies in front of him, and the enemies that surrounded his friends.
"There's too many." He said aloud, his voice hopeless.
"The only way is to let her go."
The guru's voice rang in his head, telling him what he needed to do. Aang's face fell when he realized this, and he brought his hands down.
"I'm sorry, Katara." He said quietly, then he turned around, making an earth tent out of the crystals in the catacombs. Kagemi looked at the tent curiously, wondering exactly what the young avatar was up to. Only a second later did a light begin to glow from the crystals, and a great, white beam suddenly shot up through it. Everyone watched as Aang, now in the avatar state, rose up from the ground. They were all in awe of his power, except for Kagemi and Katara. Katara looked at him proudly, glad that her friend was able to finish his training, Kagemi just felt like he was showing her up. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning ripped through the air and through Aang's body from Azula's fingertips. Katara's eyes began to water in tears, and Kagemi's silhouetted form disappeared as she looked at the princess in surprise, amazed that she had been clever enough to attack Aang at that exact moment.
Katara used the water from the octopus form she had made to create a wave that helped her to travel fast over to Aang, encasing all the Dai Lee agents in the water as she went over them so she could catch her friend before he fell to the ground. She held Aang in her arms, tears pouring from her eyes. Kagemi did nothing to help her as Azula and Zuko came closer to her. Before they could attack a wall of fire shot out to separate them from Katara. Everyone looked to see it was Iroh, he jumped down from a cliff and stood in front of Aang and Katara, his hands raised to fight.
"You've got to get out of here!" Iroh said to them, "I'll hold them off as long as I can!" Katara nodded once, picking up Aang and heading towards the waterfall as Iroh shot off fireballs at his niece, nephew, and some of the Dai Lee.
"I have no intention of leaving." Kagemi growled, bringing the shadowy tendrils up once more, ready to fight. She was having far too much fun being in complete control of this body, she refused to give it up so easily. She shot out the tentacles at some of the agents and sent them flying back as Iroh made a wave of fire to push some of them away. Katara reached the water fall and looked over at her dark-eyed friend.
"Hoshiko, let's go!" She said, Kagemi's eyes widened, she snarled fiercely at Katara, angered by the fact that she had called her by the wrong name.
"Leave me!" She snarled angrily, wanting her to just go without her. Katara looked at her in shock, noticing for the first time how her eyes had changed, and she brought up the water around her and pushed her and Aang to the surface. Once they were up and gone to where the Dai Lee couldn't get them, Iroh lowered his defenses, surrendering. The Dai Lee agents brought up a wall of crystalline earth around him to keep him from moving. Kagemi, however, would not surrender so easily. Azula and Zuko watched as she tried to keep the Dai Lee agents away from her with her shadows. She was easily beaten from the sheer numbers of the agents around her, and once they had her in custody, she fought as if her life depended on it. She was practically foaming at the mouth as they dragged her away.
Once Katara reached the surface, she met up with Sokka and the others, Aang still in her arms. Kotaro looked behind her worriedly as he saw that Hoshiko hadn't come up with her. Sokka helped her onto Appa and they flew into the sky.
"Where's Hoshiko?" Kotaro asked the young water bender as she lay Aang down against Appa's shoulders. She looked up at the young wolf Shinjun, and shook her head. Kotaro's eyes widened significantly, and he felt a lump in his throat like one would when they were about to cry. However, Kotaro did not cry. He only put his hand over his chest, where a large, hollow feeling resided just over his heart. Now he knew why he had felt as though someone had torn out half of his heart, Hoshiko was gone. His other hand rested over the bracelet she had given him before they had separated. He wanted to turn away, wanted to turn away from them, and the rest of the world, and go shed his tears for the one he loved, but didn't as he looked down at where Aang rested. Katara looked at him sadly, then pulled something from around her neck. It was the amulet that Master Pakku had given her, the one that contained the healing waters from the spirit oasis. She bent out the water and watched as it circled around above her hand, glowing brightly. She pulled Aang up and put the water on the wound on his back where Azula had struck him, and watched as his body took in the healing water. When the wound didn't disappear as she had hoped, she let out a small cry and hugged Aang tightly, tears coming to her eyes once more.
Aang's arrow glowed briefly, and he let out a low groan. Katara gasped and pulled away from him, and her blue, shining eyes shed tears of joy as she saw Aang looking back with his own eyes and giving her a weak smile before becoming unconscious again. Katara hugged him tightly to her in relief. The Earth King looked out over the city with a crestfallen face.
"The Earth Kingdom," He said solemnly, "Has fallen."
Azula sat smugly on the Earth King's throne, next to her stood her brother.
"We've done it, Zuko." She said, "It's taken a hundred years, but the Fire Nation has conquered Ba-Sing-Se."
"I betrayed Uncle…" Zuko said sadly, his emotions swimming in guilt for hurting the man who had looked after him for three years, who stood by him always since his banishment.
"No, he betrayed you." Azula corrected, getting his attention, "Zuko," She stood up from the throne, "When you return home, Father will welcome you as a war hero."
"But I don't have the avatar." Zuko said, "What if father doesn't restore my honor?"
"He doesn't need to, Zuko." Azula said, putting a hand on her brother's shoulder, "Today, you restored your own honor." The two fire benders looked up as a loud crash was suddenly heard and they saw the throne room's doors being opened by Kagemi, a dark grin on her face as she walked towards them. They both raised their hands in attack, prepared to defend themselves against the shadow bender.
"Relax," Kagemi said, raising her hands up to show she meant them no harm, "I'm not going to attack you." She looked up at the princess with her dark eyes, "I simply want to talk."
"I doubt that." Zuko said, raising his fist higher as she got closer to the throne. Kagemi stopped walking.
"Please," She said, getting down on her knees and prostrating herself before the two of them, "A simple conversation with the great prince and princess of the Fire Nation is all I ask for." The two of them looked at her in surprise as she stayed that way as she spoke.
"Raise your head." Azula commanded, and she did so, her dark eyes catching the princess's attention, "You may speak."
"Thank you, your highness." Kagemi said, she stood up before them, "I'm certain that, as two great, and educated members of the Fire Nation royal family, the both of you have knowledge about shadow benders?"
"We're well aware." Azula said, sitting down on the throne, "What of them?"
"Then, I'm certain you're aware of the shadow bender's greatest secret." Kagemi said, "The Ni-nin, as it's called."
"Yes, we know of it." Azula said uncaringly, "It's the darker half every shadow bender contains in their bodies. A completely different personality from the original person."
"Exactly." Kagemi said, "I am such a being. I am Hoshiko's Ni-nin. Now, it's a very rare occasion that I am placed in control of the body we share, and even then, it's only for an incredibly short amount of time. But, you see, she and I made a deal: That I would control this body until the Fire Nation was defeated. I lost the battle between you and your brother, and therefore, I am still in control of this body. Normally, I would never side with the Fire Nation in any event, but this one in particular supersedes all others. You see, until the Fire Nation is beaten, I have control of this body." Kagemi put a clawed hand on her chest, "And I very much like being in control, so I have a proposition for you, Princess." Kagemi got down on one knee before the two of them, "It would be my pleasure to serve the royal Fire Nation family, and help them to win this war, so that I may have control of this body for the remainder of my life." Azula hummed thoughtfully as she looked at the dark-eyed Shinjun.
"Are you saying you'll swear your loyalty to the Fire Nation?" She asked.
"With no haste, your majesty." Kagemi said, Azula grinned.
"I have to say, I was impressed with your efforts in our little battle today." Azula said, "Tell me your name."
"I am Kagemi." She said respectfully.
"Well, Kagemi," Azula began, standing up from the throne and walking over to where Kagemi still kneeled before her, "If you swear your loyalty to the royal Fire Nation family, you may join us."
Kagemi grinned, "It would be my honor to forever serve the family of the Fire Nation. I swear to you, my loyalty."
DUN-DUN-DUUNNNNN!
Oh, no! What will happen next?
And hooray! I finished the second book!
I just want to thank all you awesome people who reviewed so far. You guys are really great, and I love reading what you thought of my story. Oh, and I know only one person did that poll I had of the next chapter, but thanks for voting anyway! I appreciate your attention to my stories! It makes me feel like this story isn't a total fail. THANK YOU! TT^TT
Also, I posted up pics of Hoshiko, Xana, and Kotaro on deviantART.
http:/ popcorngamer. deviantart. com/
Just take out the spaces.