Chapter 7:
The Fire Nation flag was blowing in the wind off the wall and many buildings. Factories had been built into the city and created the smog that was billowing out of it. Aang stood facing it with his staff in his hand sadly.
"I can't believe it. I know the war has spread far," Aang turned from the city to Katara and Sokka behind him as Freya frowned at the city "but Omashu always seemed…untouchable."
"Maybe that's because it's built on a mountain with only one way in. It was easily defendable." Freya agreed looking at him.
"Up until now, it was. Now Ba-Sing-Se is the only great Earth Kingdom stronghold left." Sokka admitted as he crossed his arms.
"This is horrible, but we have to move on." Katara thought as she moved up beside Freya and Aang.
"We can't leave." Freya disagreed turning to her.
"No. I'm going in to find Bumi." Aang said firmly as he walked forwards towards the edge of the cliff they stood on.
"Aang, stop. We don't even know if Bumi's still…" Sokka began
"What? If he's still what?" Aang asked defiantly, turning back to Sokka
"…around." Sokka went with, not making eye contact.
"Don't be silly Sokka, Bumi's got his head screwed on too weirdly for that to happen. He's not the type. Especially as he's one hundred and ten." Freya said rolling her eyes.
"I know you had your heart set on Bumi, but there are other people around who can teach you earthbending." Katara assured Aang
"This isn't about finding a teacher. This is about finding my friend." Aang admitted as he turned back to the city.
"Well we can't walk through the front gate again." Freya sighed as she looked at the city.
"I have another way in." Aang said and he turned for Appa. The three shared a look and Freya shrugged when the siblings looked at her.
Appa flew low and around the city before moving down into the canyon around the city's mountain. They continued until they found a ledge and Katara, Freya and Sokka jumped onto it while Aang hovered over to a drain that was sticking out of the wall. He plunged his staff into the lip between the drain and it's lid as Katara ad Sokka pulled on their dark robes.
"A secret passage?" Sokka questioned "Why didn't we just use this last time?"
"It's not like we needed to." Freya shrugged as Aang finally popped the cap off.
Freya jumped back with Katara as Appa instantly moved out of the way. Green sewage came rushing out of the water and all over Sokka who instantly groaned in disgust.
"Does that answer your question?" Aang wondered.
Aang swung into the pipe and with a grimace Freya followed. Katara glanced at her brother and Sokka followed her in after the two benders, pinching his nose from the smell.
Aang had his staff, moving it in circular motions for a ball of air to spin before it, creating a barrier for the sludge to be washed away from him and around the edges of the pipe. Katara and Freya bended the sludge he pushed around and behind him, away from them. Sokka continued to stumble, gag and spit as he was covered in the sewage from the three benders in front of him.
They reached the end in which a sewer port hole covered the exit. The four were quiet, listening for any sounds before Freya and Aang shared a nod. The younger boy blew a blast of air and the port hole cover was blown upwards slightly to release the seal. It clattered lightly before Aang lifted it and glanced out into the street. He looked around but the street was dark and empty.
Freya helped the boy push the metal disk away and they climbed out of the sewer quietly, followed by Katara.
"That wasn't as bad as I thought." Katara said as she looked down at her clothes, finding them spotless.
"Well for us." Freya said before she glanced back. The other two followed her gaze as a sludge monster climbed its way out of the drain, green sewerage dripping all down it as it raised it's arms and moved towards them.
Katara noticed a barrel of water and she pulled it out to blast Sokka and wash all the grime off his body and Aang blew a gust of wind to dry him. Freya chuckled as Sokka cried out, for he had two little octopus like creatures on each of his cheeks. They sucked at his skin squeaking cutely before Sokka began to freak out. He cried and instantly grabbed them, trying to pull them from his face but their tentacles seemed to stretch as they refused to let go.
"They won't let go! Help! Aaaak!" he shouted.
Aang flung himself at Sokka, shushing as he did and they hit the building opposite from the avatar's force.
"Stop making so much noise. It's just a purple pentapus." Aang assured as Freya and Katara joined them, Sokka looking down defeated. He looked at them as they wobbled on his cheeks worried before Aang reached up and tickled the little creature's head. It beamed happily and instantly released its suction on Sokka's face. Sokka rubbed his cheek before he did the same to the other one and it released him also. Left on his cheek however were red spots from the pentapus' suckers. Aang pulled another one off of the back of Sokka's neck just as a voice sounded.
"Hey!" the four looked up surprised. They were Fire Nation soldiers and Aang spun around behind Freya, Sokka and Katara who moved closer together to hide him, smiling innocently. He wrapped a piece of cloth over his head to hide his arrow before he grinned over Freya's shoulder. "What are you kids doing out past curfew?"
"Sorry. We were just on our way home." Katara assured smiling. The four turned and began to walk down the street as the soldiers watched them. One noticed the spots on Sokka's neck as they walked away.
"Wait! What's the matter with him?" The four stopped and Freya and Katara looked at Sokka before sharing a glance.
"He's sick." Freya said blinking before she looked at the soldiers. Katara caught on to her thinking.
"Uh… he has pentapox, sir." she went with, turning Sokka around who stared at them blankly.
The soldier walked towards them and leaned down to look at Sokka. He raised a hand to touch Sokka's face as the boy continued to look down monotony.
"Um… it's highly contagious!" Katara warned him. They looked at Sokka who thought for a minute.
"Uuuuuu…. It's so awful… I'm dyiiiing…" Sokka groaned as he raised his hands and stepped towards the soldiers.
"… and deadly…" Katara added as Sokka continued to wobble on his feet and the soldiers backed up away from Sokka.
"Wait, I think I've heard of pentapox. Didn't your cousin Chang die of it?" he asked one of the other soldiers.
All three soldiers looked worried now and they all backed away as Sokka continued to advance on them.
"We'd better go wash our hands… and burn our clothes!" the soldiers turned and ran from the children as Sokka started to cough and spit everywhere. Freya started chuckling as Aang rose his hand and tickled the pentapus in his hand.
"Thank you, sewer friend!" he smiled.
"Well I guess we should move off and find Bumi." Freya said
"But where do we start?" Katara asked
"How about at the palace?" Freya asked pointing to it "It's probably the only place with dungeons." They turned and glanced at it before sharing a nod.
The four moved through the city, keeping to the shadows and the city walls as to stay out of sight.
They ran up the ramps towards the top of the city and ducked behind a pile of metal sheets when some soldiers walked past.
"Let's find Bumi and get out of here." Katara decided as they peaked over their hiding place and at the soldiers walking away.
"Where would they be keeping him?" Sokka wondered
"Somewhere he can't earthbend." Aang thought as he looked around "Somewhere made of metal."
"Well that could be any of the new things they've built here. The Fire Nation loves their metal after all." Freya believed
"We can't check them all?" Katara thought
"We can if we're quick and clever." Freya said and she looked at Aang who nodded before they moved and continued on through the buildings
They moved on until the ground began to rumble and they heard the sliding of rocks. They came sliding down a shoot to the group's right from up above, sending dust everywhere. Below them to their left were a group of people carrying flaming torches and wearing Fire Nation clothes.
Aang looked between them shocked before he turned and swung his staff as the boulders slid by them. The rocks were blown to pieces and dust went everywhere as the group of people below with the torches stopped surprised.
A lady holding a baby spotted Aang and pointed up to him worried
"The resistance!" she called. A pale girl with black hair tied into two buns on her head and the ends falling over each shoulder suddenly rose her hands and Aang jumped out of the way as arrows went flying past and embedded in the sheets of metal behind where he had been standing.
Aang jumped up and then down as Katara, Sokka and Freya turned to run, Momo flying ahead as the soldiers began to climb the ladders towards them.
Katara turned and whipped at them with her water and they were thrown over the edge before the pale girl climbed the ladder and ran at them.
Katara rose her hands and her arrows imbedded into the sheet of ice.
She didn't stop and Katara ran as she jumped the ice wall. Aang stopped and Katara ran past him before he hit a heap of scaffolding and it fell down between him and the girl. She waved her hand again and a knife curved through like a boomerang, missing the rubble and Aang spun his staff around to block it, only for the knife to imbed itself in his staff.
The four looked at her slightly surprised before she threw more at them. They gasped as the ground below them suddenly dropped and the arrows went over their head as the floor closed back over above them.
Aang and Sokka rubbed their heads as Freya shook her's before they all looked up. They were surrounded by Earth Kingdom people, trapped in what looked like a tunnel. One of them walked towards them and glared down at them seriously.
"I'm assuming you guys are the resistance?" Freya asked glancing at them all surrounding them.
"And you intercepted our plan."
"Sorry about that." Aang said as he rubbed his head, dislodging the cloth over it. They all looked surprised to see the arrow.
"You're the avatar."
"Hang on, I recognise you lot."
"Yeah, we've been here before." Sokka said as the four stood up.
"What are you all doing in a cave?" Freya wondered
"Come." the soldier said and they turned to follow him down the corridor. "When the Fire Nation invaded, we had to take cover somewhere. This was the safest place." he explained as they were followed and passed by many others.
"You're all hiding down here?" Katara asked surprised.
"It's safer than up there." the soldier believed.
They reached the end of the tunnel to find an open cave, filled with torches that gave it a green glow. There were steps and paths in the earth around them as the area ahead was filled with Earth Kingdom people, hiding out from the Fire Nation.
"So, is King Bumi with you guys? Is he leading the resistance?" Aang wondered. Freya noticed that everyone turned to them as the boy spoke. None looked happy and she began to fear the worst.
"Of course not! The day of the invasion, we readied ourselves for battle. We were prepared to defend our city… to fight for our lives and for our freedom. But before we even had a chance, King Bumi surrendered." Aang and Freya shared a shocked look, their mouths open.
"He didn't even try?" Katara asked surprised.
"The day of the invasion, I asked King Bumi what he wanted to do." the soldier said "He looked me in the eye and said… I'm going to do… nothing!" Freya looked shocked
"He…" she looked confused.
"It doesn't matter now. Fighting the Fire Nation is the only path to freedom. And freedom is worth dying for." the man believed
"Actually there's another path to freedom. You could leave Omashu. You're directing all your energy to fight the Fire Nation. But you're outnumbered. You can't win. Now's the time to retreat, so you can live to fight another day."
"Gather more forces, more supplies, find weaknesses and allies." Freya listed "And wait for the opportune moment to attack." Aang nodded beside her as Freya agreed with him.
"You don't understand. They've taken our home, and we have to fight them at ANY cost!" he believed. But the two soldiers on either side of him didn't seem to agree as they frowned.
"I don't know, Yan, living to fight another day is startin' to sound pretty good to me." one believed
"Yeah, I'm with the kid!" another agreed.
People began to mutter and their leader glanced as the majority agreed with Aang.
"It's not giving up, it's being logical." Freya assured.
"Fine. But there's thousands of citizens that need to leave. How're we going to get them all out?" he asked as he turned to the children.
Sokka suddenly grinned after having thought on the problem.
"Suckers!" he suddenly said.
Everyone looked at him confused and Sokka grinned "You're all about to come down with a nasty case of pentapox." Freya smirked.
"Do you guys have access to the sewers down here?" she asked the leader.