"I can't believe it... I know that the war has spread far but Omashu always seemed... untouchable..." Aang said in a sadden state, taking in the smoking ruins of the once great city. Katara frowned slightly as she took in the sight as well, Sokka cleared his throat beside them as he looked around.
"Up until now, it was. Now I guess Ba-Sing-Se is the only great Earth Kingdom stronghold left." he decided to answer, crossing his arms in the porcess.
Katara nodded in agreement, turning her attention back to the young boy who still stared at the city, "Look... I know that this is horrible..." she started, she could see the boy's shoulders tense but she continued, "but we have to move on." she finished.
There was nothing they could do here, they were only three people after all, even if one was a waterbender and the other was the great Avatar. Sokka nodded as he turned to walk away from the spot, Katara doing the same. She expected Aang to be following them but soon after they were away from their standing spot, Aang spoke.
"No," he said firmly, taking both the siblings by surprise, as they turned to look at him he was already looking at them with a look of determination in his eyes, "I'm going to find Bumi." he finished.
Sokka quickly went back over to the boy who started to leave the spot, "Aang, stop." he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder to keep him in place, "We don't know if Bumi is still..." he tried to say, but something caught in his throat that prevented him to even hint at the possibility.
Katara frowned, she knew what her brother was trying to get at, Aang couldn't understand; a hundred years trapped in ice while the outside world still continued tend to make anyone confused. The reality of the situation was still hard to swallow when faced with them. Mortality tended to do such a thing to people. One minute they were there, then a few years later... they were gone.
She shook herself out of those thoughts to pay attention to the boys who were staring each other down, just waiting for the other to either give up or continue the fight.
"What? That he's still what?" Aang dared to ask, trying to get Sokka to say what he intended.
Sokka glared at him a moment longer before sighing loudly and removing his hand from his friend's shoulder, he then casted his gaze down to the ground, "Around." he answered.
Aang still seemed to be mad at Sokka for bringing the topic up so she decided to get into the conversation, she swallowed thickly, "Aang, I know that you had your heart set on Bumi, but there are other people around that can teach you earthbending." she tried to reason.
His heated gaze turned to her in a second, making her blink in slight surprise before she steeled herself for any heated words he was about to say, "This isn't about finding a teacher, Katara. This is about searching for a friend. I'm sure you can understand that."
The waterbender paled slightly as those words sank in, of course, of course that he was worried for his friend. She should've seen that since she was in the same boat. She looked away again as she felt her skin turn cold, that last sentence just didn't need to be voiced at all. She was already thinking about her enough and she didn't need a constant reminder everyday.
She sighed heavily as she looked to Sokka then to Aang, "Alright. Alright. Let's go find your friend." she smiled slightly, Aang's temper melted instantly as he returned the small smile.
A groan came from her brother, he rubbed his head as he looked back to the city, "Why do I get the feeling that this is about to be a long day ahead?"
"An elite team..." Nereus mused around in her head as she followed her Master through the countless circus tents. Azula's teachers had advised that they should travel lightly if they were to have the element of surprise. Of course at the time Azula didn't show that she already had that idea swimming around in her head, but later that night Azula told her that they were going to revisit a few friends from the past.
She didn't know why it had her brimming with emotion... and not the positive either.
Her Princess was rather quiet as they scanned the area for a certain girl with braids, Nereus half-heartedly trying to look in briefly into tents. Some of which she wished she didn't do. These people were strange when they thought they didn't have company...
She almost bumped into her Master's back and gave a small squeak of surprise, dancing around her Princess on the balls of her feet, Azula watched with an arched brow and a netrual expression. She then turned to look at the upside down girl that used her index fingers to hold her up.
"Ty Lee? Could that possibly be you?" Azula says somewhat playfully. The girl gave a small gasp before flipping back onto her feet then balanced herself on her feet, once she had her bearings she looked to the both of them and grinned brightly, "Azula! Nere!" she immediately tackled both into a bear hug. Azula smiled and returned the hug while Nereus tried to get the girl's iron grip of an arm off from around her neck, but she did try to return the hug as well in her awkward position.
When the three broke apart, Ty Lee hopped away to take a good look at them, "Wow! It's good to see you two again!" she laughed as she rocked on her feet.
Nereus couldn't help the smile that was forming now, Ty Lee's energy was already rubbing off on her, she turned to watch Azula gesture to the acrobat.
"Please, don't let us interrupt your..." Azula trailed off, trying to think of a word to name her activity.
"Body contortion?" Nereus offered, she received a bigger grin from the energetic girl and a furrowed brow from her Master.
"Whatever was it that you were doing." Azula decided to finished, Nereus rolled her eyes playfully as she crossed her arms. She then noticed behind Ty Lee that a platypus bear dressed in a vest and a fez refused to move from its spot as three people tried to coax it. She arched a brow in confusion, now barely listening to the conversation between her Princess and her friend.
"Tell me, what is a daughter of a nobleman doing here? Certainly our parents didn't send us to the Royal Fire Academy for girls to end up in- " the Princess was cut off when the platypus bear groans and gets up slowly, a popping noise came a few seconds later after it stood fully to reveal that it had laid an egg.
Nereus suddenly sputtered in her hand as she watched the three people glare at the egg in surprise, Azula turns to slightly pay attention to her Pet rather then to the scene she wished that she could unsee, "Places like this." she forced out before something else decided to interrupt her.
Her response from Ty Lee was a childish shrug as she watched the animal now happily move along with its trainers.
Azula rolled her eyes slightly as she crossed her arms, "I have a proposition for you. I'm hunting some traitors." she started, now noticing both her Pet and her childhood friend were now paying attention now that the animal was gone out of view, "You remember my old fuddy duddy uncle, don't you? And dear brother Zuzu?"
The Pet's eyes suddenly went wide and she snapped her head to look at her as if she suddenly grew a second head, of all her years with her... she had NEVER heard her use such words. Not to mention with that serious face of hers as well. Azula once again glanced at her and Nereus quickly turned her head and sucked in her bottom lip, she didn't need to act out any more than she already had. Azula could only tolerate so much in public.
"Yeah, I remember them." Ty Lee replied as she placed her feet on top of her head, resting her head in her hands while she got herself comfortable on the grass patch she was lying in.
Nereus sighed a small breath of relief when Azula turned her attention back to the acrobat, "I would be honored if you would join me on my mission."
Both firebenders could tell that she wasn't really up for the idea if the lip biting were any sort of indication, " Oh.. I... I would love to but..." Ty Lee started before getting back onto her feet with one fluid movement. She huffed slightly before rubbing her arm, "But the truth is... I'm really happy here. I mean I've never had a pinker aura!" she smiled serenely.
Nereus could sense that her Master's fire was starting to flick about in annoyance, she shivered as she remained quiet.
"I'll take your word for it." Azula said with a smile, but Nereus could see that this was fake, "Well, I wouldn't want you to give up the life you love just to please me." she continued with a wave of her hand for effect. The sincerity in her voice completely drowned the slight sarcasm laced in each word. However she could already tell that her Princess had some devious plan in mind because she was never one to give up this quickly. Ty Lee should've known better then to believe it so quickly.
"Thank you, Azula!" the acrobat smiled brightly as she bowed slightly and clasping her hands.
The Prodigy nodded before turning and walking away, Nereus turned to her Master then back at Ty Lee to give her a slight wave, who happily returned it and resumed with that weird sort of body twisting, with that she jogged back to her Master.
"Of course, before I leave, I'm going to catch your show." Azula suddenly said, throwing both the Pet and the Acrobat off guard. Nereus skid to a halt to turn and watch Ty Lee lose her grip on her leg and stumble before holding it again.
"Uh... yeah... um... sure... o-of course..." Ty Lee stammered.
Azula nodded before she resumed to walk away, Nereus following close in hand.
She had to admit that she did feel sorry for the Acrobat, because whatever plan her Master had tended to be on the extreme side of things. And judging by that small smirk she had on her lips, she had a pretty nasty plan in mind.
The circus was practically empty, so much so that it was awkward even being there, but nonetheless Azula watched on with a semi-interested attitude. The same couldn't be same for her Pet however, who was currently rubbing her temples in small circles as a migraine was forming, and the sounds of the show certainly wasn't helping with dampening the pain.
The Fire Princess exhaled through her nose as she watched Ty Lee doing her strange body contortion again while balancing on one hand that was in turn balanced on a stick that was also balanced on a wire in the air. She had to admire her skill though, it was almost graceful if she thought more on it. But she was short on time and needed to get this over with, she turned to the Circus Master who was watching the show carefully in case of any accidents.
"Do you think she will fall?" she asks suddenly to the man, who in turn jerks slightly in surprise before turning and chuckling slightly.
"Of course not, your Majesty." he replied in a rather calm voice despite his nervous demeanor.
The Princess nods again as she looks back up at Ty Lee, "Then wouldn't it make it more interesting if the net was removed?" she asked innocently, once again watching the man with the corner of her eyes.
The man started to grow concerned as he tried to keep eye contact with her, "Uh... the thing is... the performers-"
Azula swished her hand in the air as a dismissal gesture, she feigned a bored look as she continued to watch the show, "You're right, you're right. It's been done too many times to even be slightly interesting." she paused momentarily for effect before smiling softly and turning to look at the man straight in his eyes, "I know. Set the net on fire."
The man only pales slightly before swallowing the wad of spit in his mouth and nodding, he then stands and shoots a gout of fire at the net, instantly setting it aflame and making the Ring illuminate even brighter because of it.
Azula then turns back to the performance to make out Ty Lee's rather nervous expression while still in the balancing position. She then allowed herself a small moment to laugh and clap her hands, "Brilliant, just brilliant!" she turns to look at the Circus Master again ,"What kind of dangerous animals do you have?"
"W-well.." he began as he tries to relax his posture, "our circus boasts the most exotic of assortment-"
"Release them all!" she decided to cut him off, growing bored once more. She noticed her Pet out of the corner of her eye and smirks slightly, "for entertainment, of course."
"Ah, Master," Nereus nervously butted in, her golden irises quickly shifting to the Acrobat then to her, "m-maybe that's a little too much, even for Ty Lee." she finished.
The Princess sighs as she leans back into her seat and watches the terror on Ty Lee's face form as the animals erupt in noises, "Down, Pet. We deserve to have a decent performance out of this poor excuse for a circus."
Nereus sighed as she resumed rubbing her temples, not wanting to watch the performance any longer and rather much focus on the pain her head were giving her. Azula however was more interested in watching the torment that was happening to Ty Lee's performance.
"You should probably get rid of that migraine before we leave, I need you to be in perfect condition in case of dire situations." Azula sighed as she watched her Pet continue to slump about in their tent. So far she had noticed that she was acting rather strange during the show but now she was slumping around on her cot, trying her best to suffer through it.
"I'll probably be better in the morning.." the tanned Firebender mumbled as she cracked a eye open to look at her Master, who was currently sitting in a chair and looking down at her with a semi-bored expression.
The Princess nods slightly as she leans down and brushes a few strands of the annoying bangs away, a slight sense of concern was present in the air but the Pet decided to not voice it out, her Master wasn't snapping at her right now and she certainly didn't need to set her off while suffering with a headache that refused to go away.
"get some rest, I'll go congratulate Ty Lee on her performance." she says softly as she gets up and walks off, "we'll be back soon."
Nereus nods slightly before closing her eyes, sighing softly as she forced herself to relax.
"No! Bad Fire Nation baby!"
"Sokka!" Katara hisses as she whacks his upside the head and quickly pick up the baby before it could start crying, gently bouncing him on her hip and shushing soothingly as she continued to glare at her older brother; who in turn was glaring right back and rubbing the back of his head.
Things had rather been busy for the teenagers, firstly they found a Resistance that they managed to help smuggle out citizens by pretending they were Plague infested, second; they had tried looking for Bumi however only found his pet Flopsie. And finally third, they somehow ended up with the Governor's baby son. A rather busy day to be keeping track on everything though, nonetheless Katara shook her head out of those thoughts and resumed to watch the baby coo and sniffle, she smiles brightly as she snuggles him close, "Ooo you're just too cute!" she coddles in a playful manner.
"Sure." says a man's voice on the other side of the fire, "He may be cute now but when he gets older, he'll join the Fire Nation Army. Then you won't think he's cute. He'll be a killer." he huffs in annoyance as he watched Katara pout and hold up the baby.
"Does this little chubby face look like a killer to you?" she asked as the baby starts to squirm to be put back down.
Her only response was his grave look before he looks off and gets up, apparently hearing a screech from some sort of bird that was approaching, "a messenger hawk!" he says in slight surprise as he walks over to the bird that just landed on the rocks near the camp.
Katara arched a brow as she placed the baby in Sokka's lap to get up and follow, ignoring the surprised yelp from her brother as the baby quickly snatched his club to play with.
The waterbender had just arrived as Aang finished unrolling the scroll and began reading the message, she began to notice that his eyes started to widen in disbelief. The blue eyed girl arched her brow as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"What does it say?" she asked just as the Resistance Leader walked up to the pair, taking the scroll from the boy to read himself.
The boy swallows thickly as he continued to stare at the place where the scroll had just been, disbelief quickly turning into surprise as he locked eyes with the taller girl.
"The Governor thinks we kidnapped his son... so he's wants to make a trade... His son for King Bumi."
Her Pet's condition had worsen by the time they had arrived to Omashu, she could barely see straight and she was beginning to slow them down. Now while she was growing more and more concerned about her, she couldn't show it anymore now that Ty Lee was with them. While they were friends, she still didn't feel comfortable to act normal around the Acrobat and the fourth member they were about to recruit. But she couldn't help but try to keep her Pet in her sight at all times, Agni knows when the Firebender was suddenly going to collaspe during their travel.
Currently they were traveling to the Governor's home, most likely to speak to her other friend and let Nereus rest in the care of a proper nurse while they were busy gathering information about the runaway family members possibly routes.
"I'm telling you, I'm completely fine." came the poutfull voice of the halfbreed, who was currently trying to put up a front as she trailed behind her and Ty Lee, she rolled her eyes; ever so stubborn.
"And I'm telling you that you're not, look at you! You look like you drank homemade Saki! You can barely walk." Ty Lee countered, bouncing on her toes from Azula's side to Nereus's, adamant on at least keeping Nereus focused on speaking rather than the pain.
Azula looked over her shoulder to see Nereus huff and cross her arms, "I'm just watching my ste-" she was cut off suddenly by stumbling on her own feet, "Geh!" she yelps in surprise before stopping and holding her head, a small groan dragging out from her throat.
Azula couldn't take it no more, she hastened her pace and spoke in a firm voice, "Silence, Pet. You are going to rest as soon as we arrive at Mai's home, and I do not want to hear even a little whimper of protest."
She didn't even need to turn around to know that her Pet was rigid and following as quickly as she could, "Yes, Master." came the Pet's submissive tone. Azula internally relaxed, thankful at least that she was going to listen to her this time.
By the time they arrived at the estate, Azula was quick to tell Ty Lee to get the tipsy Firebender to a bed and supervise in case she decided to not rest. Once the pair was out of sight, the Princess relaxed and began looking for her gloomy friend with a knife infatuation.
"How is she doing?" Azula asks Ty Lee, who was currently wiping Nereus's forehead dry of perspiration.
The Acrobat frowns slightly as she sighs, "Not too good, as soon as her head hit the pillow she was out, but now it looks like she's in a nightmare. Her aura's all over the place too, like its..." she trailed off, noticing Azula's undying attention so far. She began to stammer, wondering if she was being silly or something as she let the rest of the sentence swim around her head.
"It's like?" Azula inquired, her voice seeming to come off as if she was about to snap at her, and being as though she was around when Azula was tearing the Governor apart verbally, she didn't want to be next.
"N-nothing, I was probably being a little overdramatic." she answers, standing up and failing to notice Azula become even more on edge.
"Very well." Azula decided to take the bait and swish her hand as a effect, "while she's resting we will go out and do the trade-off."
The Acrobat nodded as she walked out of the room, mentioning that she needed to speak to Mai about something, which now left Azula alone with the Pet that was writhing in her sleep.
The Princess's expression relaxed slightly as she strolled over and once again petted the infernal bangs away from her Pet's eyes, "What are you going through in that simple mind of yours?" she whispers before leaning down and kissing her forehead.
With that she quickly leaves the room to regroup with her team, not noticing that the simple act had calmed the Pet's mind enough to where she now lied still.
Red and Blue. Fire and Water. Each facing each other in a vast land of pitch black. The only way she knows that they were there were the eerie glowing orbs floating around like fireflies in the summer's night.
She's been running from something, she doesn't know what but her instincts are telling her to run, so she does. But now she's lost and tired.
Nereus panted heavily and she leaned over to place her palms on her knees, her bones aching as if she was running a high fever. This feels exactly like the previous dream, the one when the Moon turned red in the sky. Her head throbbing as if Azula round-house kicked her straight in the temple.
Something's been asking her who she will choose, and she constantly says Azula's name in pride, but that unknown being keeps asking her as if she's said the wrong answer. Is it waiting for her to say something else?
She looks around at the floating blobs of water and sees the sparks of fire fluttering in the strange air. The first time she was here it had amazed her. But now she knows this isn't a tranquil place, something's lurking here, watching her run in circles and continuation answer the same question.
Flashes of light suddenly cause her to shield her eyes, her ears catching the faint whispers and deep growls.
A whale's lullaby is what she recognizes first, but the second still alludes her. But she knows It's powerful, if It's fire too powerful to even sense was any indicator.
The roars and the hums are constant with each other, as if the beings in the darkness is engaging in a verbal dispute in a language too ancient for her to comprehend. Another flash shows her a brief glimpse of something gold and red. It's eyes leaving a imprint in her mind as soon as the flash is gone.
Her limbs are stone by now, her mind blank as she listened to the music between the two.
She feels eyes on her form and she grows fearful, wishing that she can somehow wake up. But as usual whoever or whatever these things were, they weren't going to let her go until they were finished with whatever argument they were having.
"Need-... to make-... decision!" the whale's song was slowly transforming into a language she could suddenly understand which caused Nereus to still her breath, this was the first time she's heard another voice that weren't in her head and asking that constant question.
"Not- your CHOICE!" The roar resonates in her mind and causes her to scream out.
Nereus launched herself out of bed, screaming in fear as she fell on her stomach on the floor, coughing and gasping as she holds her head and shakily rubbing her eyes. Sweet relief of silence calming her down immensely.
Calm footsteps approach the door and she quickly scrambled back onto the bed and look at the door, she sighed in relief when she sees Azula walk in and close the door.
"Oh... Master, uhm... are you alright...?" she asked as she sensed the fire within her Master was out of control in a strange rage.
Azula wears a calm face as she walks over and examines her up and down, seeming satisfied with whatever she was looking for and crosses her arms, "Good to see you have rested well. Despite the screaming," she continued, ignoring Nereus's pout that she hadn't answered her question, "how are you feeling?"
The tanned Firebender inhaled deeply before thinking it over, trying to figure out how to word it right, "I'm better." she decided to answer simply.
"Good," the Princess responds as she walks back to the door, "because we're leaving immediately."
Nereus arched her brow in confusion as she took a step to follow, "Why so suddenly? What happened?" she asked.
Azula sighs heavily as she looks her Pet straight in the eye, "Along with brother Zuzu and Uncle Iroh, we have a third target."
"Really? Who?"the tanned Firebender pressed on, suddenly wishing that she was around the action instead of having another strange dream.
"The Avatar."
A/N: Okay! I can't promise anymore but just know that this story ISN'T abandoned, forgotten, dead (many other words for a incomplete story) but as a apology, I have drawn and updated the Cover for this and I give you this chapter! I hope you like them! I don't know why but this chapter is one of the ones that were hard as hell to write.