Here's another chapter. Enjoy. Don't kill me.
Chapter Eight: In Which There are Rigorous Calisthenics of a Sort
The pirate looked in the door of the small store, looking for anything. Gold, collectables, innocent villagers... He walked between shelves, under the shopkeeper's desk (sadly empty—whoever it had been, they had wisely cleared everything out of there), looking around. Nothing the captain would want. He turned, growled, and suddenly spun around and kicked over a shelf.
Then he heard something. A crash.
He spun around, searching. There was a door, over in the corner. Why hadn't he seen it before? Maybe… The shopkeeper? His gold? He grinned, and walked over, kicked it in.
The room was pitch black. Nothing was in there. He frowned, and turned away.
And had barely enough time to scream before the masked figure was on him.
The Pirate Captain's head snapped up at the scream. The pirates had taken the village without any trouble (save for a few who were holed up in their homes.) The captured villagers were all at the docks, milling around in fear. So why were there screams coming from the town?
He turned to glare at someone standing next to him. "What was that?" He snapped.
The villager he had selected didn't answer, but drew away in fear. The captain glared.
"Perhaps I didn't make clear that I was asking a question. Allow me to reiterate: What. Was. That."
"I-I-I-uh-I—" the villager stammered.
"Let's try this again," the captain seethed. He pulled his sword, and yanked the man forward.
"Wha—"
Another scream. This one closer. And the captain recognized this one as one of his men. He scanned around for someone who wasn't guarding the prisoners. "You! Find out what that was!"
The pirate walked around the corner.
And then he screamed.
The captain howled in rage. He whipped around, intent on chewing out the first person he saw.
The first person he saw was not interested in being chewed out.
The figure was clad in black armor. A pair of broadswords peeked over his shoulder. What shocked the pirate captain most, though, was the newcomer's face—blue, with a grimace frozen in place.
"The Blue Spirit," whispered the captain.
He'd heard the stories, of course. A spirit betrayed and condemned to forever walked the earth. A warrior that fought with the strength of ten men and the fury of twenty. A predator that preyed on the guilty.
To his great credit, the pirate captain did not wet himself on the spot.
To his somewhat less credit (and in a show of stupidity typical to those in his business,) he charged the Blue Spirit, swinging his sword and shouting a battle cry.
The Blue Spirit easily ducked under his swing and gave him an uppercut in the stomach, following up with a kick that knocked the captain to the ground. He whipped out one of his broadswords, and pointed it at him. Then he pointed it at the pirate ship. The captain understood perfectly.
"Back to the ship!" he shouted, scrambling to his feet and running away from the Blue Spirit. His men followed the order with unusual willingness, and began preparing to set sail immediately.
It came as no surprise that their unconscious companions were already on board.
The anchor chain suddenly tightened.
"That's our evil-fighting, mask-wearing, noodle-chomping friend!" Lu-Ten laughed. Aang gave Ursa a questioning look. she glanced at her son, pulling himself over the side. Her face tightened.
"It's a long story," she promised.
Lu Ten was helping Zuko on board. Zuko yanked off his mask, and looked around the people sitting on deck.
By tomorrow—tonight, even—the story would be spreading. The Blue Spirit would not have frightened the pirates away; he would have slain them single-handed. Today, like every other day he donned the mask, would only add to the legend.
"That went faster than I expected," Zuko finally said.
"Maybe you DO have amazing powers!" Lu Ten exclaimed.
"I'm a firebender."
"Maybe you have OTHER amazing powers!" Lu Ten, no less enthused, exclaimed.
"What's wrong with him, anyway?" Aang asked Ursa.
She sighed. "Lu Ten was in the siege of Ba Sing Se. He and a squad of troops were within the outer wall, and a catapult overshot. The projectile hit right next to Lu Ten, and the force slammed him into the wall. When he was in the infirmary, he was given the news that his mother had just died. Ever since then, he's just been... like this."
"What now?" asked Zuko.
"Well, we need to resupply AGAIN, and the mechanic—"
"Mechanic?" asked Aang.
"One of Lu Ten's secrets," Ursa replied.
"and the MECHANIC says they can increase the ship's fuel-to-speed ratio some more," Lu Ten snapped. "And I want to buy a big rock."
"So what do I do when you guys all go out?" complained Aang.
"Stay on board, and stay out of the galley," Ursa warned.
"Now that there are no pirates out there," Zuko announced, "I'm going to go see if I can find some of those cookies that Azula likes."
"Anything else you want to do?" asked Ursa.
"Yeah. I need to go see someone."
Thought: This is well within three months!