Here's the final chapter of book one! A few things:
1) Thanks once again to DreadingTheDayWhenYou'reGone for beta reading and revising this chapter before it went out. He's been a great help, getting this story to its current state.
2) Thanks to those who read the story and/or reviewed. Here are my responses:
Guitarrawr1, thanks for following, and I'm glad you like the story.
Redleafs16, thanks for the feedback once again. While I planned to tone down the swearing, I don't want to use made-up swears ("spirits," for example, is a common one I've seen) since they water down the effect/severity of the cursing.
To the guest labeled as "Me," thanks for reviewing, though it would be nice if you got an account so I know who's reviewing or if you are reviewing repeatedly. About your actual review, Rin isn't supposed to be too likable. Remember, she's spent the majority of her remembered life alone, so she puts herself as her first priority. However, you may see a change in that attitude sooner or later.
This is the last chapter before we head into book two territory. Let's get started!
Chapter 9: The Siege of the North
Several days had passed, and Rin was bored out of her mind. Aang and Katara had waterbender training for most of the time, and Sokka had warrior training and dates with Princess Yue. Rin, meanwhile, had nothing to occupy her time. Before she met the Avatar, she spent most of her time trying to survive, wandering from place to place, looking for shelter and stealing enough to feed herself. Now, there was no reason to do that, since the tribe took care of meals and housing. There wasn't even anything notable to steal. Everything was made of ice, cloth or bone. As of now she was at the stables, checking on Appa.
The sooner we head out and get back to the Earth Kingdom, the better, she thought, brushing Appa's fur.
"Hey, Rin! What are you doing here?" Rin heard Sokka ask. She turned around to see Sokka approach, Princess Yue following behind him.
"Aang wanted me to check on Appa while he was at training," Rin explained. "I'm assuming you wanna show your date what flying's like?"
"No, we're just friends," Sokka said quickly. "But yeah."
"He's all yours," Rin told him, stepping away to the side of the stables. She noticed that it was starting to snow lightly over the city, which wasn't unusual for this place and time of day.
"Appa and I go way back, don't we boy?" Sokka explained to the princess as he turned towards the bison, who gave an affectionate growl and charged the boy, pinning him to the ground and licking him. "Down boy, down! No, up!"
"Looks like you haven't been giving Appa enough attention," Yue commented, giggling as Sokka struggled to get out from underneath Appa. After a few more licks, the bison stepped back and let Sokka stand up.
"Blech, goopy bison spit!" Sokka said before turning to Yue. "So, do you want to ride on Appa with me?"
"I'll try it," the princess replied as Sokka climbed up to the saddle. "Is it scary?"
"Nah, it's awesome!" Sokka said, pulling Yue up the saddle. "Though the first time I flew on Appa back at the South Pole, it was kinda shocking for the first few seconds."
"So, how does this work?" Yue asked as Sokka grabbed onto the reins.
"You holding on tight?" Sokka asked. Yue responded with a nod. "Okay, then get ready. Yip... yip!"
As Appa and the two teenagers flew into the air, Rin could hear Yue screaming, hopefully in delight. The bison flew towards the ocean and Rin decided to follow, walking beside the waterways towards the edge of the city. In the distance, she could see gray clouds gathering in the horizon.
That's odd, is there a storm coming? Rin thought, remembering back to the storm that Sokka had been caught out in when she first met the group. It seemed like so long ago that she had meet the Avatar and the two siblings from the South Pole, but it had only been a couple of months. Now, the four of them were close friends. No, not friends. Allies. Calling someone a friend makes it harder to leave them, and I know I can't travel with these guys forever.
"Hey, what's that?" Rin heard someone say. Looking up, she saw black specks drifting from the sky, settling along the ground and darkening the waterways. She let a speck drop into her hand and took a close look at it.
This is soot from a Fire Navy ship. I'd recognize this anywhere. But there's so much... Suddenly, Rin's mind went back to the temple where they had fought off an attack from the Fire Nation, and the theory she had formed and dismissed in the span of a minute. So that's why they had so many troops up north. They were getting ready to attack the Northern Water Tribe... and now they're here.
Bong! Bong!
The sound of a gong rang out across the city, and everyone around Rin suddenly dropped everything and started running to the palace. Rin, presuming that the chief had formed the same assumption as she did and was calling an emergency meeting, ran along with them. She noticed Appa flying overhead, along with Sokka and Yue. After a few minutes of jogging to the palace, Rin found Sokka standing still, looking up the steps to the palace.
"Hey!" Rin shouted, grabbing the boy's attention. "You standing around all day, or are we heading up?"
"Uh... okay," Sokka replied, not looking over towards Rin as she ran past. Something seemed off about him, as if he was shocked about something. Rin assumed that it was the news of the impending attack. As the two went inside, they found Katara and Aang sitting by a pillar and sat next to them. Almost the entire tribe had gathered to hear what Chief Arnook would say.
"The day we have feared for so long has arrived," the chief started solemnly as the room quieted. "The Fire Nation is on our doorstep. It is with great sadness that I call my family here before me, knowing well that some of these faces may vanish from our tribe. However, they will never vanish from our hearts. Now, as we approach the battle for our existence, I call upon the great spirits. Spirit of the Ocean! Spirit of the Moon! Be with us!"
Normally I don't believe in the spirits, Rin thought. But we'll need all the help we can get. The Fire Nation definitely has the upper hand in this battle.
"I'm going to need some volunteers for a dangerous mission," Arnook said. "Be warned, many of you will not return."
"Count me in," Sokka said, a look of determination on his face. He stood up with the other volunteers. Rin noticed Princess Yue gasp, looking worried at Sokka's offer.
"Come forward and receive my mark if you accept the task," Arnook said. The volunteers lined up, one by one receiving a red mark drawn on their forehead by the chief. As the line grew shorter, Rin silently stood up and started to walk to the back of the line.
"Rin," Aang whispered, stopping the cloaked girl for a moment. "What are you doing?"
"It's a dangerous mission," Katara added. "Remember, Arnook said that you might not come back."
"I know what I'm doing," Rin replied. "Trust me, I'm planning on coming back alive. Besides, you trusted Sokka to the mission."
"If you're sure..." Aang said as Rin turned around, walking to the back of the line. As she made her way to the front, Arnook dipped his fingers into a dish of red paint and held them out to her.
"Take off your hood and receive my mark," Arnook ordered.
"No mark," Rin replied, making sure her hood was fully over her head. "Just tell me where to go."
"The mark symbolizes your bravery and selflessness for this mission," Arnook explained. "It is an ancient tradition for warriors about to head into battle."
"I don't care about any of that," Rin argued. "Am I on the mission or not?"
"Hm... I suppose if you are willing to volunteer, the refusal of this mark shouldn't be the thing to stop you. We will have a briefing with the other volunteers after this meeting. For now, go to those who have received the mark," Arnook said, pointing to the side where Sokka and about ten other men were sitting. Rin took a seat next to Sokka.
"Why did you volunteer?" Sokka asked, face skewed in puzzlement. "And why didn't you accept the mark?"
"I'm not sure if he would have accepted me if I lifted my hood and showed him my face," Rin explained, looking over the volunteers around her. "Also, I've gotten paint on my face once already with your friend from the south, and it didn't really feel too good."
"That doesn't explain why you came up and volunteered in the first place," Sokka pointed out.
"We're allies," Rin said, making eye contact with Sokka. "Allies help each other out. You're more likely to survive if we work together on this mission."
"Wow," Sokka muttered. "It seems like yesterday when you stole from Katara and got blasted off a cliff by Aang for attacking her. Now... we're friends, risking ourselves for the sake of the Northern Water tribe."
"Don't get me wrong," Rin said. "I'm not gonna risk my life over a mission. If things get too dangerous, I'm going to bail. So, why'd you volunteer?"
"I want to protect Princess Yue," Sokka explained. "As well as the tribe she values so much."
"Seems like you two are more than friends," Rin teased.
"You said yourself that allies help each other out," Sokka replied, a blush evident on his face. "And I'm pretty sure that a friend counts as an ally, doesn't it? It's not like we're dating or anything."
"Sokka, you're taking her on walks under the moonlight," Rin pointed out. "You have lunch together. You took her on a flight with Appa today. I'm pretty sure at least one of your 'friendly meetings' is a date."
"I admit, I'm a bit... happy to be with her. And I guess she's pretty. Fine, I like her," Sokka admitted. Rin smirked, then noticed that the crowd was leaving the room and Arnook was walking over to the volunteers.
"I thank you all for volunteering for this mission," the chief said, scanning over the group. "Meet me at the armory in one hour. Until then, you will join the other warriors at the outer wall."
"This is it," Rin muttered as they headed out of the palace.
"When I joined Aang, I never expected to be fighting in a giant battle on the other side of the world," Sokka said. "It seems kind of..."
"Surreal?" Rin suggested as they climbed down the steps outside the palace.
"Yeah, kinda like that," Sokka replied.
"Trust me, I know how it feels," Rin muttered. "A few months back, I'd never think that I would be fighting for some tribe at the North Pole, let alone with the Avatar. Things change."
"That they do," Sokka commented. After several minutes of walking, they reached the wall where Aang and Katara were waiting.
"Are they here yet?" Rin asked as she climbed the stairs up to the top of the wall.
"There's a ship just on the horizon, but it stopped moving," Katara replied, looking out over the ocean. Rin barely made out a small speck of gray sitting out on the ocean, with no other ships in sight. Suddenly, an orange flare launched out of the ship and started barreling towards the city, growing into a massive fireball.
Crash!
The fireball exploded against the wall, taking out a massive chunk of ice and scattering the defenses of the tribe. The ice crumbled under Rin's feet and dragged her down into the debris of the explosion along with Katara and Sokka. A moment later, she found herself buried up to her neck in ice and snow with the two siblings nowhere to be found.
Get out first, search later. Rin stuck her arm out of the debris and, with a grunt, pushed herself out and onto the ground. As she lay there regaining her breath, Sokka and Katara walked out from the other side of a large pile of debris.
"Are you okay?" Sokka asked. "We thought you might have been buried somewhere."
"I kinda was," Rin replied, getting up. "Where's Aang?"
"He flew off in the direction of the attack," Katara explained. Rin climbed back up to the top of the wall, seeing the bison fly towards the ship in the distance. Water Tribe boats were sent out to intercept the ship, but Rin paid no attention to them. Instead, she was squinting at the dozens of gray specks appearing over the horizon, each launching giant fireballs of their own.
"Get back!" Rin shouted, grabbing the two siblings and dragging them down behind the wall as the barrage of fireballs hit the city. Most of them exploded against the wall, but many had gotten over and crashed into the buildings and waterways. There were a few attempts at stopping the fireballs by groups of waterbenders, but most of them went unobstructed.
"Katara, stay here and help the other waterbenders," Sokka ordered. "Rin and I are going to the armory for the mission."
"Okay," Katara replied. "Be careful on the mission, Sokka. I don't want to lose another member of our family..."
"You won't have to," Sokka assured before the two siblings embraced each other. "We'll come back, I promise."
This brings back memories... it's just like my last night on the ship, Rin thought. After letting them hold each other for a few seconds, Rin grabbed Sokka by the shoulder and pulled him away. "Come on, we need to go."
"You will be infiltrating the Fire Nation Navy and taking out their commanding officer," Chief Arnook explained. After arriving at the armory with the other volunteers, Rin and Sokka were listening to the chief give a description of their mission. "At the stroke of midnight, we will launch from the city in four separate canoes. The first step of the mission is to evade the eyes of the Fire Navy and board the flagship of the fleet."
"How do we know which one's the flagship?" Rin asked.
"According to reports from our scouts, it is a larger, more decorated ship heading the fleet. Once you get into the ship, you will all need one of these," Arnook answered, pointing to a side room where Hahn had just walked out from. He was dressed in what looked like an altered, dusty Fire Navy uniform, holding a helmet to his side.
That... isn't the uniform. We're gonna die if we get spotted, Rin thought as Sokka burst out laughing, attracting the attention of everyone in the room.
"What's your problem?" Hahn asked.
"Fire Navy uniforms don't look like that," Sokka said.
"Of course they do," Hahn argued. "These are real uniforms taken from actual Fire Navy soldiers!"
"When, like a hundred years ago?" Sokka asked.
"Eighty-five," Arnook clarified.
"First off, you have no face mask," Rin pointed out. "Fire Navy soldiers wear face masks that kinda look like skulls. Also, the current helmet has horns; yours doesn't."
"The Fire Nation doesn't wear shoulder spikes anymore," Sokka continued, walking up to Hahn and twanging at the black shoulder spikes. "The new uniform is much more streamlined."
"How do we know we can trust these two?" Hahn asked, confronting Sokka. "Such bold talk for a new recruit and a girl who shouldn't even be here."
"It's not bold talk, it's facts," Rin argued, walking up next to Sokka and staring Hahn straight in the eye.
"Sokka is from our sister tribe, Hahn," Arnook interrupted. "He is a capable warrior and I value his input. I do not know much about his companion, but I have heard that she bested you in a fight a day after she arrived to this tribe. Now, our first objective is to determine the identity of their commanding officer."
"His name is Zhao," Sokka explained. "Middle aged, big sideburns, bigger temper, smaller ponytail."
"Sokka, everyone in the Fire Nation has ponytails," Rin pointed out. "But yeah, that's basically him."
"Wait, how do you know?" Sokka whispered into Rin's ear. "We never encountered the guy while you were with us."
"It was before I met you guys," Rin replied. "Actually, probably even before you met Zhao. It's not like I could forget him."
"Sokka, I want you to tell everything you know to Hahn. He's leading this mission," Arnook explained. "Hahn, show Sokka your respect. I expect nothing less from my future son-in-law."
"Wait, you're marrying Princess Yue?" Sokka exclaimed.
"What of it?" Hahn asked back rather aggressively.
"Nothing," Sokka muttered, turning away. "Congratulations."
"Sokka, if you think about it, it's not too surprising," Rin said, pulling Sokka to the side. "The guy is pretty high up within the tribe, from what I've heard. It's natural for a marriage to be arranged between the higher-ups."
"Yeah, but he's literally the worst person for Yue to marry," Sokka huffed.
"That I agree with," Rin admitted. "But unless you want to be like your sister and fight Hahn to prevent him from marrying the princess, there's nothing you can do about it. Who knows, maybe he'll die during the mission."
"I'm not that cruel; it's not like I want him to die," Sokka said.
"You might not be cruel, but the world is," Rin reminded him. "Remember, the chief said that it was a dangerous mission."
"Alright, men!" Hahn shouted, grabbing everyone's attention. "Prepare what you need for the mission here, and I'll brief you once midnight closes in. We'll take down this Admiral Zho with ease!"
"It's Zhao," both Sokka and Rin muttered.
Huh, a sharpening wheel. This'll be useful. I haven't sharpened my hatchet in... never, actually.
An hour passed and all of the volunteers were still in the armory, gearing up and grabbing weapons. Sokka, Rin, and Hahn were sharpening their weapons on foot-operated sharpening wheels.
"Let me tell ya, Sokka," Hahn started with a smug grin on his face. "I've courted a lot of girls, but Yue's the finest. And she comes with the most perks, too."
"Perks?!" Sokka exclaimed, looking over at the older boy. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I mean, Yue's fine and all, but the points I'll gain with the chief aren't bad either," Hahn explained.
"Yue is wasted on a self-absorbed weasel like you!" Sokka ranted, looking back down at the sharpening wheel with an annoyed look on his face.
"Whoa, hang on," Hahn said, looking over. "Why do you care? You're just a simple southern peasant. What would you know about the political complexities of our life? No offense."
"Aargh!" Sokka shouted, jumping over and tackling Hahn to the ground. The two rolled over each other, trading blows and insults. "You're just a jerk without a soul; no offense!"
"That's enough!" Arnook declared, grabbing the two boys and holding them apart. "Sokka, you're off the mission!"
Well crap, there goes my reason for going on this mission, Rin thought. But I guess I can't back out now.
"All right, men, fall in!" Hahn ordered. "Follow me and we'll defeat this Admiral Cho in no time!"
"It's Admiral Zhao!" Sokka shouted before leaving the armory. As Sokka left, Hahn got all the volunteers in a huddle.
"Okay, so here's the plan," Hahn started. "At midnight, we will go and board the enemy flagship. I, wearing the Fire Nation armor, will find the admiral and defeat him! Any questions?"
I can see so many things wrong with this plan, Rin thought, raising her hand to point out the many obvious errors, such as the one she and Sokka pointed out with the uniform and the fact that they had no idea where Zhao would be.
"No questions? Okay then, we're heading for the docks!" Hahn ordered, seemingly ignoring Rin's hand on purpose. With a sigh, Rin followed the rest of the group to the docks.
"It looks like the ships have stopped for the night," Rin observed, looking out towards the fleet. Every ship had dropped its anchor and stopped launching fireballs.
"Ha, the cowards!" Hahn gloated, standing up in the middle of the canoe. The volunteers, separated into three different canoes, had launched from the port and were approaching the Fire Navy fleet, using the darkness of the night as cover. At the bottom of each canoe were the old Fire Navy uniforms. Hahn was already wearing his. "They're too afraid to fight the might of the Water Tribe!"
"They're not cowards, they're waiting for... oh, nevermind," Rin muttered as Hahn once again ignored Rin's explanation. Firebenders get their power from the sun, and I'm pretty sure that waterbenders get it from the moon. They just need to wait until dawn to strike.
"Okay, let's go over the plan one more time," Hahn said to Rin and the two men, one a warrior and another a waterbender who was silently propelling the canoe. "We sneak aboard the ship with these Fire Nation uniforms, find this Admiral Choi, and I'll take him out!"
"We're about four hundred meters from the flagship," the waterbender warned Hahn. Suddenly, a large blast of fire shot downwards from the deck of the ship without warning, incinerating a canoe less than a hundred meters away. At the same time, another fireball made contact with the second canoe, exploding it into flames.
"We've been spotted," Rin said, preparing to jump away from an oncoming fireball and swim back to shore. However, the fireball never came.
"Wait, why aren't we being attacked?" Hahn asked as their canoe continued forward. Rin looked back at the burning wreckage and saw the reflection of the full moon behind her, a glowing white orb in the black ocean.
"It's the moon," Rin explained. "They drifted over the reflection of the moon and got spotted by someone."
"These are troubled times, even the moon is against us..." the warrior behind Rin muttered. He was a large, bulky man, but his voice was soft and strangely comforting.
"Be quiet, Kontak," Hahn ordered as the canoe skimmed alongside the ship. "Now, we just need to find a way to get into the ship..."
Are you serious? You didn't plan a way to actually get into the ship? I really shouldn't have gone on this mission, Rin thought before an idea popped into her head. "Take us to the starboard hull of the ship. If I'm right, there should be an anchor dropped down there."
"To the other side," Hahn commanded the waterbender. As they made their way around the ship, a large metal chain extending from the surface of the water to the deck came into view.
"I will wait for you here to bring you back, in case you make it out alive," the waterbender said as Rin and the other warrior, Kontak, reached down to grab their armor, while Hahn grabbed onto the anchor chain and started climbing. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Rin noticed a bright flare from the deck of the ship.
"Who's there?" someone called from the deck of the ship. As Rin looked up, she saw a stream of fire descending from the ship and instinctively jumped out of the canoe and into the water, while Kontak jumped onto the anchor chain behind Hahn. The waterbender, however, wasn't so lucky, burning alive in the fiery wreckage of the canoe. In a few moments, the waterbender's scorched corpse and the remains of the canoe, along with the armor, sank into the frigid waters.
Crap, one down. This isn't going well, but without that canoe, I guess I don't have a choice of leaving, Rin thought, swimming to the chain. The water was cold, freezing, but for some reason, she was fine. It wasn't that she didn't feel the cold; she did, but her body was warm regardless as if her insides were still in the Earth Kingdom in the middle of the day. She grabbed onto the chain and started climbing behind the two men. As they got closer to the top, she heard the same voice that had destroyed the canoe. Hahn had stopped climbing, waiting for the deck to clear out before they reached the top.
"Water Tribe scum," the voice muttered as another pair of footsteps approached.
"What is it, Admiral Zhao?" a second, older voice asked, and Rin almost gasped. Her hands clenched the chains tighter as the two continued talking.
Iroh? What is he doing here? Last time I saw him, he and Zuko were against Zhao... what happened to Zuko? She stopped herself from thinking about the two firebenders, trying to ignore the questions flaring up. Stop thinking about before. Focus on the mission.
"Just a fragile canoe. Probably just a scout," Zhao said. "Come with me to the top deck. The sun is almost up, and I wish to see the dawn of the day when the Northern Water Tribe falls."
"It would be an honor," Iroh replied as they walked away, shoes clinking upon the metal deck of the ship. Hahn poked his head above the deck and scanned around, signalling the two others to come on up.
"Now, we just need to find where this Admiral Choi is," Hahn whispered as they hid in a dark corner.
"It's Admiral Zhao, and he was the guy we were just listening to," Rin said. "He should be up on the top deck."
"We should follow him up and corner him there," Kontak suggested.
"Obviously," Hahn said, scoffing. "So, where are we going?."
"There," Rin suggested, pointing to the door where she presumed Zhao and Iroh had gone. They quietly opened the door and snuck through, ending up in a large hallway.
"Top deck, so we need to find a staircase," Hahn muttered. They went through the hallways. Hahn scouted forward due to he being the only one with a Fire Nation uniform, albeit an old one.
This ship is a lot bigger than Zuko's. I guess the Fire Nation really went all-out on their navy, Rin noted. Eventually, they found a door leading to a stairwell.
"I will go first. You two follow along," Hahn ordered. As they went up the stairwell, Rin heard footsteps coming down towards them.
"Thank god they're sending people up," a Fire Navy soldier said to Hahn as Rin and Kontak watched from a safe distance. "I'm dead tired. I've been on this shift for hours. Mind moving out of the way so I can go down?"
"Uh..." Hahn muttered, looking around. There was a door on the side of the stairwell, leading to another set of hallways. Hahn pointed over to the side, towards the door. "You're needed in there. Something about an emergency. Somebody got really hurt, and they need someone to help to carry the stretcher."
"Oh, really? I guess my break can wait," the soldier said, exiting the stairwell. Rin and the two warriors breathed a sigh of relief.
"Was that smooth or what?" Hahn asked, chuckling to himself. "I am the best."
"I'm surprised the armor actually worked," Rin muttered as they resumed climbing the stairwell. Eventually, they reached the top, which consisted of a short hall and a doorway.
"This is probably the top deck," Rin said. "The admiral should be up here, but there will be guards. We need to make a plan to get close to him."
"He's right there! Watch, this is my moment," Hahn replied, opening the door and stepping out onto the deck. The sun had just started to rise, shining into the hallway where Rin and Kontak were hiding.
What the hell is he doing? Rin thought as Hahn ran out and pulled off his helmet, snatching a spear from one of the guards.
"Admiral Choi! Prepare to meet your fate!" Hahn shouted, charging Zhao with his spear. In one smooth motion, the admiral grabbed the spear and Hahn's arm, flipping him over the railing and into the freezing ocean below. An audible splash came up from below.
"What a humiliating death," Kontak muttered. "He did not even land a single blow."
"There's more!" a soldier shouted, pointing towards the two in the hallway. Rin realized that they had not closed the door and were now fully exposed to the Fire Navy. The two ran down the stairwell as fast as they could, going through the first door they found and slamming the door behind them. As they ran down the hallway, the troops following them burst through the door, sending blasts of fire in their direction.
"We can't run forever," Rin said as they sprinted through the halls. "They know the ship better than us."
"This way," Kontak ordered, pointing to another stairwell at the end of the hall. The two ran through the door to the stairwell, slamming it behind them before running downwards, the troops on their heels. They exited to another floor, closing the door once again. However, Kontak stopped in place, leaning against the door.
"Come on? What the heck are you doing?" Rin asked as the Fire Navy troops got to the door, trying to open it. However, Kontak was holding the door closed.
"Go in there," Kontak ordered, pointing to a small supply closet off to the side. "I will hold them off until you have a safe hiding spot."
"What? What are you saying?" Rin shouted.
"You said yourself that we cannot run forever," Kontak said. "You must hide, or else we will both die. Now hide!"
"... thanks," Rin muttered, ducking into the supply closet and closing the door. She found an empty supply locker and hid inside.
"I will not die running from the Fire Nation," Rin heard Kontak shout against the sound of troops beating the door down, "when I can give my life to save an ally! Tell the tribe of what I have done!"
Bang!
Bang!
CRASH!
Fwoosh!
"He's down and out. Send someone to pick up the corpse later. The last one should be further down the hallway," Rin heard a Fire Nation soldier say. The clanking of boots went past the door of the supply closet, noisily making their way past her and down the hall. As the soldiers passed, Rin realized that the last person on the mission besides her, that warrior, had just sacrificed himself to save her. Until she got into the canoe, she didn't even know who the man was.
... thank you. Find peace in the Spirit World.
Rin sat in the supply locker, waiting nervously until she was sure that everything was safe. Slowly, being careful not to make noise, she opened the locker and stepped out, looking around the supply closet. She noticed something large and red sitting in the corner and went to take a look.
This is... a Fire Navy uniform! And a modern one! What's it doing here? As Rin moved to grab the uniform, she heard the door of the supply closet click.
Shit. Rin quickly dashed over to the door as it opened, grabbing the person on the other side and pulling them into the closet while simultaneously slamming the door shut with a kick. She grabbed the person by the head and was about to slam him head-first into the metal wall when she noticed the person's face. They both paused.
"Iroh?" Rin gasped in surprise.
"Rin?" Iroh replied, equally shocked. "Oh, I haven't seen you in ages! You sure know how to take an old man by surprise."
"What are you doing here?" Rin asked, releasing the former general as she spoke. "I thought you were traveling with Zuko on his ship. How is he?"
"There have been complications with the ship, but Zuko is fine," Iroh explained. "It's so good to see you again... but I thought you left when we were in the Earth Kingdom. Why are you at the North Pole, on Zhao's flagship?"
"Stuff happened, I met the Avatar, and we came up here," Rin explained.
"Ah, so you were that cloaked figure back at the abbey!" Iroh said with a chuckle. "I knew that you seemed familiar, but I couldn't place your identity. However, that does not explain why you are in here."
"I... well, a group of warriors, including me, were supposed to board this ship and stop Zhao," Rin explained. "I think you saw what happened to one of them. Unfortunately, I'm the only one left in the mission."
"Hm..." Iroh muttered, rubbing his chin. "While Zhao is part of the Fire Nation, he is about to do something that will harm the entire world. I agree, he must be stopped."
"Wait, what's going on?" Rin asked.
"Zhao plans on killing the moon spirit," Iroh said. "Thus destroying the moon and depriving waterbenders of their bending."
"The moon spirit?" Rin asked. "But... shouldn't the spirits be in the Spirit World?"
"They should be. But according to Zhao, the ocean and moon spirits took a mortal form in this world. He plans on taking advantage of that," Iroh explained. "He is about to head out to find the moon spirit, and as his general, I will follow him. However, I will not let him harm the spirits."
"I'll come with you," Rin said. "You said that the admiral needs to be stopped, and that's what I'm supposed to be doing right now."
"Are you sure?" Iroh asked as Rin responded with a nod. "Disguise yourself with the armor back there. I originally came in to bring it back to the armory after my nephew was done with it, but I'm sure you can make use of it."
"Wait, this was Zuko's?" Rin asked, grabbing the armor. Her cloak didn't fit inside, so she took it off and stuffed it into her bag. The uniform itself was slightly bigger than what was comfortable, but it fit her, and that's what mattered. "What happened to him? Where is he?"
"Zhao tried to have him killed," Iroh explained as Rin put on her helmet and face mask. "Zuko survived the assassination attempt, and I helped him sneak aboard the ship as a soldier. He should be on his way to capture the Avatar right now."
"Again?" Rin asked, strapping her bag onto the back of the uniform. "He doesn't quit, does he?"
"Indeed. Now hurry, we must leave," Iroh commanded. The two exited the supply closet. Rin followed Iroh to the stairwell, trying to keep her steps measured so she didn't outpace him. She noticed that Kontak's body was gone, likely carried out and thrown into the ocean by Fire Navy soldiers. As they descended down the stairwell, the ship suddenly lurched, almost throwing Rin off balance.
"What was that? Did we land?" Rin asked.
"I assume so," Iroh replied as they exited out onto the deck. The sun had already started to set. Dozens upon dozens of troops, tanks, and war rhinos were exiting the warships and forcing their way into the city, driving the Water Tribe back.
I must have been in there for longer than I thought. As Rin watched the Fire Nation advance up the battlefield, she noticed Zhao approach them on a war rhino.
"I'm glad you could make it," Zhao told Iroh. "Take over command of the battlefield. I will be making history as the Man Who Darkened the Moon!"
"As you wish," the general replied. As the admiral rode off, Rin tapped Iroh on the shoulder.
"We need to follow him," Rin said.
"You go, I will be close behind. Remember, I am supposed to be commanding the troops," Iroh reminded Rin. With a nod, she started trailing behind the admiral and his team of soldiers and rhinos. Although they had mounts, Rin could still keep up, though she had to be careful to not run directly towards Zhao in case he looked back. She followed them through the city, trying to avoid fights between the two nations.
"Yah!" Rin heard someone shout. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a spear-bearing teenager rushing towards her. She dodged to the side, catching a glimpse of her opponent's face.
Wait... it's that Tano guy from training! He must have attacked me because of my uniform, Rin realized. She grabbed the boy's spear as it stabbed past her, wrenching it from his grasp and pulling him off balance. As Tano stumbled forward, Rin grabbed the back of his neck and, with a grunt, smashed his face into the icy ground. There was an audible crack as his skull impacted the ice.
Sorry about that... I hope he isn't dead. I need to be more careful. After gazing at the unconscious boy for a moment, she turned to look for the admiral. She saw his group of rhinos off in the distance, turning a corner and going up towards the other end of the city. They're heading to the palace... but why?
"Hey, you!" someone shouted. Rin turned around, seeing a soldier headed her direction.
"What is it?" Rin asked, keeping her cool.
"We need your help. There's a bunch of warriors holed up in that building over there," the soldier explained, pointing to a large ice building off to the side.
"I'm not a firebender, and I don't think I can fight a warrior," Rin told the soldier, trying to make excuses to ditch the soldier and follow Zhao. However, the soldier grabbed her, bringing her to a squad of other soldiers waiting by the door of the building.
"Ready?" one of the soldiers asked the squad. They all nodded, and the soldier kicked down the door of the building. The squad of soldiers quickly entered, blasting the inside of the building with fire. Rin felt the heat from outside the door and saw flames spurt out of the windows, searing the air around the building. After a few seconds, it was over, and the squad exited the building.
"I guess we didn't need an extra soldier. You newbies are usually scared, anyways," the soldier that grabbed Rin commented as they ran past her, making their way back to the battlefield. "I guess you can clean up the survivors. Give them an honorable death and whatnot."
"Survivors?" Rin muttered. As she entered the building, she could see what had happened to the large room inside. About a dozen burnt corpses, each holding a weapon, lay on the floor of the room. Faint traces of embers still glowed in the bodies and the remains of what had been inside the room. The walls and ceiling had started melting from the heat, forming a meter-wide puddle in the middle of the floor.
"Help..." Rin heard someone rasp from the corner of the room. She ran over, seeing the body of a warrior slumped against the wall, holding a war club. However, he was in no condition to use it; his body was covered in severe burns from head to toe, with the majority of his flesh charred and black. His parka had melted and fused to his skin from the heat. It was a wonder that Rin had even heard the warrior in his condition.
"It's time for you to enter the Spirit World. Pray to whatever spirit you pray to, 'cause I'm not doing it for you," Rin muttered, positioning her hatchet against the man's neck. In one smooth motion she slit the man's throat, causing him to go limp and blood to spill out. She got up and looked around, but there was nobody else alive in the building.
Nobody else... I need to catch up to the admiral, Rin thought, running out of the building. The rhinos were no longer in sight, but she could see their large, three-clawed footprints in the thin layer of snow. She followed the tracks, making her way up to the palace stairs. They're going in the palace...
"Rin, there is no time to lose!" Iroh shouted from behind, catching up to the girl. "We must find Zhao before it is too late!"
"He's gone this way," Rin said, leading Iroh along the path of rhino prints. Suddenly, the moon turned red, casting a crimson glow over the entire city. Rin's heart skipped a beat, and she gasped.
"A red moon... the spirits are in trouble," Iroh muttered before turning to Rin. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Rin replied. She felt slightly tired, but nothing too bad.
"Then we must continue," Iroh said as they continued along the rhino tracks. They eventually led to a small wooden door, deep behind the palace.
"He must be in here," Iroh whispered. "Ready?"
"Ready," Rin replied. Even though she wasn't moving, she was growing more exhausted by the second, and her breath was shortening. Iroh opened the door and went through, with Rin following close behind. On the other side of the door was a large, clear oasis with an island at the other end. A waterfall came down from the glacier behind the island, supplying the oasis with water. The entire place was much warmer than outside, almost as warm as the Earth Kingdom during spring. Rin could see Aang, Sokka, Katara, and Yue confronting Admiral Zhao and his soldiers. Zhao seemed to be holding a small, burlap bag in his hand.
"Destroying the moon won't hurt just the Water Tribe," Aang said as Rin and Iroh moved closer. Rin's limbs were starting to grow sore and unresponsive, but she pressed on behind Iroh. "It will hurt everyone, including you. Without the moon, everything would fall out of balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos that would unleash upon the world."
"He is right, Zhao," Iroh said, revealing himself to the two groups. Rin had to lean against the ice wall of the oasis, as her limbs were growing weak and feeble. She started panting, feeling as though she couldn't get enough oxygen into her system.
"General Iroh. Why am I not surprised to discover your treachery," Zhao asked.
"I'm no traitor," Iroh replied. "The Fire Nation needs the moon as much as anyone else. We all depend on the balance. Whatever you do to that spirit, I will unleash upon you ten-fold! Let it go, now!"
So the spirit's in that bag? Rin wondered as Zhao sighed, kneeling down and putting the bag to the pond in the middle of the island. A white koi fish swam out of the bag, and the moon turned back to it's natural, pale-white color. The fish looked familiar, but she couldn't place where she had seen it before.
As soon as the fish entered the water again, Rin's strength returned to her, and she used the opportunity to rush the admiral. However, as she stepped onto the grassy island where both the admiral and the Avatar were standing, Zhao sliced down at the water with a blade of fire, consuming the pond with flames. The moon above them faded into darkness, and everything became gray and lifeless. Rin fell to the ground, the feeling of weakness and breathlessness suddenly stronger than ever. She couldn't move, and she could barely breathe. Wait... that fish... this place... this is the dream I had...
"Hah!" Iroh shouted, launching a series of fireballs at Zhao. Rin watched from the ground as Fire Nation soldiers moved to intercept the old man; the admiral ran off past the island and out of her sight.
Help, Rin mentally cried out, struggling to breath. However, Aang and the others, including Iroh, walked past her motionless body and gathered around the dead moon spirit. Rin realized in horror that she was dressed in Fire Nation armor, the exact armor that the soldiers scattered around Iroh were wearing. Without being able to talk or move, she had no way of signalling her presence to them. She had never felt so helpless, so weak, in her life.
"There's no hope now, it's over," Yue sobbed as Rin's vision started to fade from oxygen deprivation. She struggled to take a breath, but her body failed to obey her. Suddenly, Aang's eyes and tattoos lit up.
"It's not over," Aang said as Rin blacked out.
"... she's breathing again!"
Rin woke up to Iroh and Katara kneeling over her. Her armor was off, thrown to the side, and Katara had her healing water over her chest. The moon was back in the sky, once again casting its white glow over the city.
"Where did Zhao go?" Rin suddenly asked, sitting up.
"He went out of the oasis, but I don't think you should go after him after what just happened to you," Katara suggested. "We thought-"
"Be quiet, I'm fine, explain everything later," Rin said hurriedly, getting up and running over to the exit. She felt full of energy, an odd contrast from what happened earlier. However, there was no time to contemplate on what had happened. She had a fleeing admiral to kill.
Where's the quickest way to the ocean... Rin wondered, running down the palace steps. Strangely, the fighting seemed to have stopped except for on a bridge in the distance, where she could see the bright glows of firebending.
"There you are," Rin muttered, running over to the source of the fire. As she neared the bridge, she saw two figures, one of them Zhao, trading blasts of fire. Rin climbed up the stairs to the bridge, grabbing her hatchet out of her bag. She exited the stairs, stepped onto the bridge, and saw Zhao lying on the ground, his opponent standing over him.
"No, it can't be..." Zhao gasped, looking at the moon in shock.
"Captain?" Rin asked, bringing up an old habit from when she was working on the prince's ship. She was surprised to have found two former allies in the same day.
"Rin? Why are you..." Zuko replied, his eyes widening as he turned to look at her. Suddenly, glowing tendrils of water rose high up from the waterway below the bridge, reaching down towards the prince and the admiral.
"Get away!" Rin shouted, sprinting towards Zuko. She leapt over the downed admiral and pushed Zuko back, sending him to the other end of the bridge. The tendrils of water closed around her and the admiral, pinning them back-to-back before descending down towards the waterway.
"Grab my hand!" Zuko shouted, running up onto the railing of the bridge and extending his arm. While Zhao made no attempt to rescue himself, Rin tried to reach out to the prince, only to come a few inches short. She tried to free herself from the glowing tendrils, but they seemed to be as hard as rock, refusing to release their grip on the girl and the admiral.
What a horrible way to die, Rin thought as she was pulled into the waterway, blacking out instantly.
Rin woke up with a start, and the first thing she realized was that she couldn't see anything. Everything was black. She couldn't move, or even feel her body. She tried to look down... but what was down when you didn't even have your body as a frame of reference?
Am I... dead? Rin wondered, for she couldn't even feel her mouth to speak. It was as if someone removed her mind from her body and threw it into an endless limbo. Is this the Spirit World?
"No, and yes."
Rin was startled by the sudden voice, spoken as if it was coming from inside of her mind. The voice was that of a young girl, younger than Rin was. Who are you? Rin asked in her mind. What do you mean?
"This is the Spirit World," the voice explained. "The home of the spirits, as well as the final destination of the spirits from your world, once life runs its course."
So you're a spirit? Rin asked, puzzled by her current situation. If I'm here, in the Spirit World, shouldn't I be dead?
"No, Rin, you are not dead," the voice reassured. "Though many of the spirits would wish that you would be."
What do you mean? Rin asked, more confused than before. Why would they wish that? How do you know my name? Who are you?
"I cannot explain everything now," the voice told Rin. "But you will learn, in time. I must return now before they realize that I am attending to you."
Wait, what?! Rin cried out in her mind. What do you mean, "they?" What's going on? I don't understand!
"You must continue with your journey to the future... but remember your past," the voice said as it started to fade away. Rin felt as if she was being pushed back, back out of the void. "And remember, I am more than just a spirit. I am part of you."
"Wake up! Come on, wake up!"
Rin awoke to Zuko kneeling down beside her, hand placed over her chest and about to press down. She quickly sat up, brushing Zuko's arms out of the way.
"Oh thank the spirits, you're alive," Zuko said, breathing a sigh of relief.
That might be more true than he realizes, Rin thought, looking around. They were sitting by the waterway, no other soul in sight besides the two of them. "Thanks, Captain."
"I told you, it's Prince Zuko, not Captain," Zuko muttered with a tick of annoyance in his voice. "The least you could do after I dragged your body out of the freezing water to save you is to refer to me properly."
"Not a chance, Captain," Rin replied, chuckling. "I did it for half a year, and I'm not gonna stop anytime soon. What happened to Zhao?"
"He was gone. Completely disappeared. The only person in the water was you," Zuko explained. He didn't dwell long on Zhao's death, but asked, "You deserted the crew back at the southern tip of the Earth Kingdom. How did you get up here, at the North Pole?"
"I joined the Avatar and his little group," Rin explained. Iroh already knew, so there was no point in hiding it from the prince.
"Traitor," Zuko growled, standing up. "I would fight you here and now for your betrayal... but I'm tired. You got off easy."
"I could beat you, Captain!" Rin shouted to Zuko's back as he walked away. It was true... if Zuko were a non-bender. Before Rin left, she and Zuko had gotten along almost well. However, being a wanted criminal by both the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom put her in a negative spotlight, as well as deserting the crew. Joining the Avatar was the final nail in the coffin, making the prince treat her like he would treat the Avatar and the two Water Tribe siblings: as enemies. She had completely reset her relationship with Zuko, and she wasn't sure how she felt about it. As Zuko walked out of sight, Rin got up and started towards the palace. She needed to group up with the others.
"There she is!" Katara shouted as Rin climbed up the steps to the palace. Aang, Sokka, and Katara ran down to greet her, the last one of the group to arrive at the palace. "Are you okay? What happened to Zhao?"
"I'm fine," Rin answered. "You won't need to worry about Zhao anymore."
"Is he...?" Aang asked.
"Yes," Rin replied, knowing what Aang was implying. "Trust me, it probably was a less painful death than he deserved. Sokka, why do you look so... gloomy?"
"Yue is dead," Sokka explained morbidly. A silence fell over the group, lasting a few seconds before Katara broke the quietness.
"Rin, something happened to you back at the oasis," Katara reminded her. "Do you know why it happened?"
"I couldn't move, couldn't breathe, and fainted," Rin replied. "After that, not much else."
"Rin, you were more than unconscious," Katara explained. "The old man, the one who was traveling with Zuko, that helped us at the oasis-"
"Iroh," Rin clarified.
"Oh. Anyways, he took off your armor when he saw you on the ground, before we realized it was you under that armor. Why were you wearing that, anyways?"
"Sneaking in," Rin said simply. "It worked, up until that point.
"Oh, okay. Anyways, the armor was off, and you weren't breathing. I couldn't even feel a pulse. We tried everything, even emergency breathing, but nothing seemed to work," Katara explained. "We thought you were dead. It was only when Yue sacrificed herself and brought the moon back to life that you woke up and immediately chased after Zhao."
"So you think it has something to do with the moon?" Rin asked.
"We all felt it, when the moon was in trouble, and when it was killed," Aang said. "Maybe you felt it more than us."
"Maybe..." Rin muttered as the sun rose behind her. The four looked out at the sunrise illuminating the war-torn city. Finally, the battle was over.
BOOK ONE IS DONE! If you haven't noticed yet, Zuko is now a major character in this story. Does this mean romance? I don't know. However, he will definitely play a more major role than the earlier chapters. Even if I do have romance, this doesn't guarantee it will be Rin X Zuko (Riko? Zukin?), so don't expect anything. Additionally, the "mystery" genre is now taking effect! Who did Rin talk to in the spirit world? Take a guess, because I'm not telling you!
Seriously though, I have plans for this story, and I hope you will like them as they come along. Thanks for reading. A review would give me good feedback on the story so I can improve, so it would be nice if you could leave one. As always, if you find any errors, please tell me. This is the fastest chapter I've written (6 days from start to finish), so hopefully you guys will see more frequent updates, though I'll make sure to not let quantity get in the way of quality (there's my excuse for not pumping out chapters this fast). Have a nice day, and once again, thanks for reading.
Update 7/15: I forgot to actually add Zuko in the character tags until now. Sorry.