And back with another chapter of this.
Sorry if this one took a bit longer I was focusing on Louds Vs the Forces of Evil for a little bit since, well those who read that story will know the reasons hehe.
It was nice going back to this though, granted this is a more simple chapter but still it was nice to write.
As always thanks to Qazse, Petrus, and Yellowpikmin88 for reading this first and we hope you enjoy.
"96!"
"Uuuuugh…"
"97!"
"Grrrrr…"
"98! You're almost there! You gonna give up now?!"
"N-NO!"
"99!"
"Raaaaahhh!"
"Alright that's 100, good job." After hearing that, Katara practically collapsed on the ground, heavily breathing as sweat practically rained down from her head. After stopping in an earth kingdom woods to camp out for the night, the group was now preparing for dinner with the exception of Zoro and Katara. As it's been ever since their visit to Kyoshi Island, the two had stepped aside from everyone else to do their training and currently Katara just barely managed to finish Zoro's latest task for her. Do 100 push ups with a bunch of rocks strapped to your back. "We can take a break for now and get something for eat and we'll pick up again later before bed."
"Ok…" Katara groaned out as Zoro removed the rocks from her back, though she kept her usual training weights on her arms and legs like usual. Training with Zoro and wearing the weights…the best thing Katara could possibly compare it too would be an absolute living hell. Her muscles constantly ached, running and just doing about anything took way more strength and effort then it would without the weights, and she would get winded easier. But…it was all worth it. She vowed to get stronger and if this is what it took then so be it. "Is dinner ready yet?"
"Doubt it, otherwise he'd hear Sokka and Aang trying to keep Luffy from eating everything." Zoro pointed out as Katara stood up and they looked over to their campsite. Sokka was still gone as he volunteered to go hunting for food with Aang meditating on a rock and Luffy laying down face first on the ground. "Hey! Any sign of Sokka yet?"
"No not yet." Aang answered as he opened his eyes and looked around to see if there was any sign of the water tribe boy coming back to camp. "I wonder what's taking him so long."
"Uuuuuugh he better hurry up!" Luffy yelled out in both frustration and impatience as he rose his face up. A loud growl emanated from his stomach that nearly shook everyone's ears from just how loud it was. "His captains starving! I think I'm gonna die of hunger at this rate…unless…" Luffy looked towards Momo who was sitting on a nearby rock and munching down on a leaf. A rather devious smile came to Luffy's face as drool escaped his lip.
"Luffy…" But that smile quickly vanished and the rubber man flinch as Katara glared down at him with crossed arms. Her looks pretty said don't touch the lemur or else. "Don't you dare."
"Yeah, yeah…" Luffy grumbled as he buried his face in the ground again.
"Guess I better go look for him," Zoro said with an annoyed sigh as he picked his swords. "Knowing that idiot he probably pissed of a pack of wolf-fox's or platypus bears."
"Waaaaaait! I'm here!" But right as Zoro was about to head out the voice of Sokka was heard by all of them. The water tribe boy yelled out as loud as he could to make sure the rest of the crew would hear them, and they all looked to see him running back to camp holding a bag of stuff he was able to find. "Sorry, that took so long, took me longer than I thought it would to find stuff to eat around here."
"Please tell me you found some food!" Luffy yelled as he scrambled up onto his feet and eyed the bag Sokka was carrying around with hunger practically radiating from his eyes. "What's in the bag?!"
"Ok, ok, just calm down rubber boy." Sokka quickly pushed Luffy away after his captain got a little to close for comfort. "Let's see we've got a few options. First; round nuts. And some kind of oval shaped nuts? And some rock-shaped nuts, that might just be rocks." Sokka threw the 'rock-shaped nut' to the side towards Momo before grinning at everyone. "Dig in!"
…Needless to say, everyone was disappointed. "This was seriously all could find?" Katara asked as she picked up one of the oval shaped nuts and cringed a bit. After an intense work out she was absolutely starving a nuts do not fill a growing girl up at all. "Nothing else?"
"Why didn't you find any animals for meat?" Zoro asked as he picked up one of the round nuts and, deciding it was better than nothing, opened it up with his bare fingers before throwing it into his mouth. After hearing his question Sokka awkwardly looked away and that told Zoro everything he needed to know. "Let me guess, you weren't able to catch any and had to resort to finding nuts."
"T-That is not true!" Sokka denied rather aggressively as he continued to look away from everyone. "They were just…really hard to find is all!"
"How did your village not starve to death with him hunting for you?" Zoro bluntly asked Katara causing Sokka to hang his head low.
"Sometimes I think the universe just loves us," Katara answered with a sigh. Sokka wasn't the worst hunter in the world…but some of the woman of the village did a lot of the heavy hunting after the men left with no one telling Sokka to protect his masculinity…why they did that Katara never understood.
Before anyone said anything Luffy grabbed the back and opened his mouth up wide and dumped the entire contents of the bag into his mouth. "LUFFY NO!" Sokka shouted in despair as Luffy emptied the labor of his work into his mouth in a matter of seconds. "NOT AGAIN!"
Everyone just sighed in defeat, they knew this was gonna happen. At least in this circumstance they wouldn't have to force themselves to down wild nuts and rocks. So they all just watched as Luffy's cheeks puffed up like a squirrel-chipmunk before he swallowed everything down in one gulp. "First bones and now rocks," Katara rubbed her forehead as she saw just what kind of things Luffy was willing to down to fill his belly. "His body's rubber but I swear his stomach his pure iron…"
But even after eating all those nuts and rocks, Luffy wasn't close to satisfied. "I'm still hungry!" Luffy yelled with a rather crazed expression as he grabbed Sokka by the shirt and start shaking him violently. "I need meat! Where's the meat?!"
"You ate it all!" Sokka yelled as he tried, and failed, to escape his captains grip. "And I couldn't find anything!"
"Luffy let him go!" Aang yelled as he went to defuse the situation before it could escalate further.
As this was happening Mom examined the rock Sokka threw towards him a bit. The lemur sniffed it a few times before picking it up and gently tapping it against the rock he was sitting on to try and opening it up. But when that didn't work the Lemur gripped the rock with both hands and slammed it down and-
BOOM!
Suddenly the entire ground quakes with a loud booming sound being heard making the commotion going on with the straw hats stop and for Appa to raise his head. "What was that?" Sokka asked as he and everyone else looked around. Momo, thinking he was the one to cause it, cautiously dropped the rock on the ground to see if it would happen again and-
BOOM!
Right at the rock fell to the ground another quake occurred causing Momo to shriek and leap away towards Aang, the lemur's hand standing on end. "AAAAAAHHH!" Luffy yelled as he looked right at Momo with a stunned expression on his face. "Guys! I think Momo might have super strength!"
"It's not Momo Luffy," Aang pointed out as said lemur jumped onto the airbenders shoulder for safety. "I think it's coming from over there."
Aang then went towards the directions the quakes were coming in with the exception of Sokka. "Shouldn't we run away from huge booms? Not toward them?" Instead of getting a response Luffy stretched his hand towards Sokka and grabbed him by the shirt. "AAAAHH!" He yelled out as he was pulled to the rest of the group.
Heading into what seemed to be a dried-up river with only a little bit of water left running through it, the group hid behind a fallen tree and saw that source of the quakes. Standing in the dried-up river was a young man about Sokka's age with long brown hair with some of it done in a bun on the top of his head. He was wearing traditional earth kingdom robes that were primarily yellow with green highlights along with some brown slightly baggy clothing underneath. The crew watched as the young man approached a boulder bigger than him and rose his hands up, and proceeded to make the boulder rise up and float in the air.
"He's an earthbender!" Katara whispered with an excited smile on her face. While they all met earthbenders in Omashu just a couple of days ago, this was the first time she was meeting one around her age!
"Wonder what he's doing all the way out here," Zoro couldn't help but wonder as they watched the young man shot the boulder into the wall of the river. It looked like he was practicing but this seemed like a rather odd and secluded spot to be doing that, usually earthbenders would prefer a more wide-open space.
"Should we say hi?" Aang, always one for meeting new people and making new friends, asked everyone with a small smile.
"He looks dangerous," Sokka, being completely opposite to Aang and being cautious about every single person they meet, stated as he stayed low, only peaking out enough to keep his eyes on the young earthbender. "So we better approach cautiously."
Unfortunately, their captain didn't know meaning of the word cautiously. "Hey what's up!" Luffy shouted loudly as he jumped over the log and ran towards the earthbender, who gasped and looked towards Luffy with a frightened look. "You're an earthbender right? Wanna join my crew?!"
But instead of answering, the young man quickly turned around and made a run for it, creating a small avalanche behind him to try and keep the others from following him. "Hey! Where are you going?!" Luffy yelled as his crew caught up with him, most of them confused as to what happened. "He didn't even give me an answer!"
"Why did you just ask him to join our crew?!" Sokka yelled at Luffy as he gestured to where the young man retreated. "We don't even know anything about him!"
"We need an earthbender for our crew." Luffy gave Sokka a simple and straight answer. "Aw man, I should have asked King Bumi to join while we in Omashu…"
"Considering he has a whole city to run I doubt he would have join Luffy," Zoro sweat dropped and quickly shut the straw hats dreams down.
"I just wanna know why he looked so scared," Katara muttered with a concerned and curious expression. The expression she saw on the earthbenders face when Luffy called out for him was like a face one would have if a bunch of fire nation soldiers or marines caught him doing something. "All we did was see him earthbending."
"Hey! That guy's gotta be running somewhere." Aang pointed something out with an excited grin on his face. If there was one person around here…there might be more! "Maybe we're near a village? And I bet that village has a market!"
"Which means no nuts for dinner!" Katara clapped her hands as a relieving smile came to her face. Even if Luffy hadn't eaten them all she was sure they all would have gone hungry tonight.
"FOOOOOOOD!" Luffy cheered out as he quickly charged forward, easily jumping past the pile of rocks the earthbender left behind and everyone following quickly.
"Hey! I worked hard to get those nuts! Even if rubber boy ate them all himself…" But the only response Sokka got was the chirp of Momo as he flew over the water tribe boys head, causing him to sigh. "Yeah, I hate 'em too."
And just as Aang predicted, there was a village not to far away from where the crew initially set up camp. All of them were quick to check out the various food stands to stock up, with King Bumi happily lending them all a good amount of berries to get by for a while, with Aang also buying himself a rather nice conical hat. As Aang was showing off his new accessory to everyone, Katara looked around the village and eventually her eyes came across someone familiar.
The earthbender they found in the woods. "Hey..." Katara slowly smiled as she saw the boy enter a nearby shop. "Guys, I found that earthbender from earlier." Katara spoke up, getting everyone's attention as she pointed to the shop he went into. "He's in there!"
"Awesome! Now I can see if he wants to join our crew!" Luffy grinned as, like usual, he stormed on ahead before anyone had the chance to try and stop him. Although the rest of them were rather curious about the young man too as decided to follow their rubbery captain and Katara into the shop. "Hey!" Luffy slammed the door to the shop open, startling both the young man and a woman who was also in the shop. "You never answered my question earlier! So do you wanna join my crew or not?"
"U-Uh, what?" The young man let out as he looked around anxiously while the woman gave Luffy a confused brow raise. "What are you talking about?"
"Well I need an earthbender for my pirate crew of course!" Luffy explained with his usual grin as the young man flinch while the woman gasped. "You didn't look as good as Bumi but it was pretty cool how you were able to make that boulder float. So what do you say?"
"And why did you run away earlier?" Katara followed up as she and the others entered the shop behind Luffy.
But before anyone could say anything else, the woman was quick to shut the windows and close the door to make sure there wasn't a chance anyone could see or overhear the current conversation going on inside her shop. "They saw you doing what?!" The woman asked the young man with a dead serious expression on her face. "What are they talking about Haru?"
"They're crazy, mom!" The young man, know known as Haru, told his mother as he gestured to the pirates in front of him. "Just look at how they're dressed!"
Every member of the crew reacted rather differently to this. Aang and Luffy look at their hands and slightly adjusted them, Zoro looked down at his haramaki and straightened it out a little bit, Sokka straightened out one of his sleeves, and Katara let out a small quiet gasp as she looked over herself.
"You know how dangerous that is!" Haru's mother scolded her son with a worried look. While she didn't like that her son had to hide his earthbending, it had to be done. "You know what would happen if they caught you earthbending!"
"And whose they?" Zoro inquired, looks like his previous suspicious were onto something.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
Everyone looked towards the door as it was banged on quiet aggressively. "Open up!" A voice yelled from outside.
Sokka went over to the window and peaked through the blinds a bit to see who was here, and it wasn't good. "Fire Nation!" The water tribe boy quietly yelled to everyone. "Act natural!"
The door opened up and stepping into the shop were three fire nation soldiers. Looking around, he saw the shop seemed to be quite busy today. Katara and Luffy were eating a bowl of berry's together, Zoro was inspecting a few things on a shelf, Sokka and Haru were inspecting an apple, and Aang was leaning on a barrel while making sure his hat hid his head arrow, but his hand ended up spinning the lid of the barrel open making his arm get dunked in water.
"Got quite a few costumers today huh?" What appeared to be the head solider said as he looked around the shop as Haru's mother walked up to him.
"What do you want?" The woman asked aggressively, a sour look on her face. "I've already paid you this week!"
"The tax just doubled." The head soldier informed the mother as an arrogant smirk came to his face, the solider forming a ball of fire in his hands. "And we wouldn't want an accident, would we? Fire is sometimes so hard to control." As he made this threat, the Straw Hat pirates and Haru were quick to glare at the man.
Haru's mother, seeing no other choice, sighed as she went to the counter and pick up her box of berries. As the head solider followed her, his eyes ended up coming to Zoro, specifically the three swords he had on him. "Hey stranger, what's with the swords." Zoro turned his head to the man, a dangerous look on the swordsman face as the head solider narrowed his eyes at him. "Don't plan on causing any trouble do you?"
"That depends." Zoro's hand grabbed onto the handle of one of his swords, his voice leaking with a threatening tone. "You plan on starting any?"
Everything was silent as the atmosphere in the shop became tense. Haru's mother was looking in between Zoro and the head solider with a frightened look as Zoro got ready to cut this guy down if he tried anything, all the other Straw Hats also looked ready to rumble if a fight broke up. "…Just keep to yourself stranger," The head solider said, causing Haru's mother to let out a sigh of relief as she handed the solider a small stack of berries. "You can keep the hundreds."
After taking all the bigger bills for himself, the head solider and his men took their leave. "Nice guy," Sokka let out sarcastically as he turned to Haru and his mother. "How long has the Fire Nation been here?"
"Five years," Haru's mother answered, although to her and everyone else it felt like it was much longer than that. "Fire Lord Ozai uses our town's coal mines to fuel his ships."
"They're thugs." Haru's voice contained nothing but anger and hatred. For so long he's had to watch as the Fire Nation tormented his village and if not for his mother he surely would have tried to do something about the Fire Nation and defend his village. "They steal from us. And everyone here's too much of a coward to do anything about it."
"Quiet Haru!" Haru's mother scolded him as she narrowed her eyes at his son. He can understand his anger but he should not insult his village like that. "Don't talk like that."
"Well that's pretty dumb," Luffy bluntly said making Haru's mother asked as she and her son looked at the Straw Hat pirate. "If they're taking stuff from you, you should fight back. Why are you just taking it?"
"You don't understand, we can't fight back," Haru's mother answered, giving Luffy an irritated look for his words. He had no right to judge their situation. "If we do, they burn down parts of our village."
"Sounds like you're just making excuses." Zoro harshly added in, getting all eyes on him. "I've seen what the Fire Nation does in my travels, when they get what they want they destroy it once it no longer serves them purpose. Those mines are gonna run dry sooner or later and what do you think's gonna happen then?"
"…" Haru's mother was silent, knowing the answer but not being able to speak it.
"Zoro's fight, you should fight back now before it's too late!" Katara yelled out while raising her fist, Zoro sending the girl a small smile. Looks like she wasn't just growing stronger physically. "Haru's an earthbender, he can help!"
"Earthbending is forbidden. It's caused nothing but misery for this village!" Haru's mother snapped as she briefly glared at Katara before glancing towards her son, "He must never use his abilities." Haru's only response was to cross his arms and look away from his mother.
"How can you say that?" Katara almost sounded offended as she asked this. Asking someone not to bend is like asking someone not to use one of their limbs. "Haru has a gift! Asking him not to earthbend is like asking me not to waterbend. It's a part of who we are."
"Plus it's really cool!" Luffy added in with his usual goofy smile as he looked to Haru. "Moving around boulders and making earthquakes is awesome! You can't just make him not use his powers."
"You all don't understand…" Haru's mother shook her head at the Straw Hats, it was clear to her how I all of them were.
"What's there too it?" Luffy tilted his head in confusion. Why was this woman being so stubborn about this? "He could use his earthbending to kick the fire guys asses and save your village!"
"They would just end up taking Haru away!" The older woman yelled as she revealed the reason why she was so adamant on Haru not using his bending. "Like they took his father!"
Once again, everyone went silent as she explained this. Katara being taken aback and looking to Haru who simply glared silently at the ground.
LATER THAT DAY
The sun was beginning to set on the village and while originally the Straw Hats were planning on going back to their original campsite, Haru had managed to get them a proper place to sleep. Well…it was a stable filled with hay but at least they were indoors. So the Straw Hats all made themselves comfortable, with Aang keeping an eye on Appa to make sure he didn't eat all the hay.
But Katara decided to have a chat with Haru before she got ready for bed and they took a walk together towards the woods. "I'm sorry for what me and Luffy said earlier." Katara apologized as she felt guilt for their words after finding out the exact details of the situation. "We didn't know about your father."
"It's ok," Haru reassured Katara with a smile on his face as he looked up at the sky. "It's funny, the way you guys were talking back in the store? It reminded me of him."
"Thanks," Katara said in a flattered tone.
"My father was very courageous. When the Fire Nation invaded, he and the other earthbenders were outnumbered ten to one." Haru would never forget that day. The fires, the screams, and the last day he ever saw his father. "But they fought back anyway."
"He sounds like a great man." Katara complimented as she and Haru sat down at the top of a cliff, the two gazing at the setting sun in the distance.
"After the attack, they rounded up my father and every other earthbender, and took them away." Haru lowered his head, every day he's filled with regret over what happened. Though he was young, a part of him though that if he just helped there was a small chance at things being different. "We haven't seen them since."
"So that's why you hide your earthbending." Though she still thought it was wrong, Katara could understand the reasoning behind it.
"Yeah. Problem is the only way I can feel close to my father now is when I practice my bending." Haru explained with a sorrowful tone as he made two small stones circle above his hand before crushing them into sand. "He taught me everything I know."
Katara understood Haru perfectly. Despite being different benders, they had a lot in common. "See this necklace?" Katara gestured her necklace, lifting it up a bit to give Haru a better look. "My mother gave it to me."
"It's beautiful," Haru complimented with a small smile.
"I lost my mother in a fire nation raid." Katara's smile fell as she recalled the events. She still has nightmares about it from time to time, it was an event she would never forget for all her life. "This necklace is all I have left of her."
"It's not enough, is it?" Haru asked, feeling the same pain Katara was feeling.
"No…" Katara lowered her head as she clenched her fist. "But that's why I'm getting stronger." Haru looked to Katara and rose a brow as she lowered her sleeve and revealed one of her weights. "Zoro's been training me and helping me improve so that way I can protect the people I care about, from anyone."
"Heh, you said very driven," Haru couldn't help but be impressed with Katara's drive, he even saw a fire go off in her eyes. It was certainly more then he can say about himself since he was mostly trying to hide his ability, only occasionally going off to practice where no one would see him. "So you're actually a part of a pirate crew huh? How'd that happen?"
"Let's just say it's a long story and Luffy makes up your mind for you," Katara explained, getting a small chuckle out of Haru. "But I don't regret a thing. It's been fun adventuring with everyone so far and Luffy, well…he's not the brightest captain but he certainly makes sure there isn't a boring moment."
"Well it's not a journey if it's boring!" Taking both benders by surprise, Luffy walked up to the two with his usual smile on his face. "You can't have even a single dull moment! Otherwise, how could we call ourselves pirates?"
"Can't argue with that," Katara let out a small giggle, it's kinda hard to believe how much her life has changed since she met Luffy and Aang. "So what are you doing here Luffy?"
"Was hoping to catch up with Haru," Luffy answered as he looked down at the earthbender. "So what do you say Haru, wanna come join my crew? We could use an earthbender like you with us!"
"As tempting as the offer is, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to say no," Haru was certainly interested, he couldn't lie about that. Travelling around the world, seeing everything it has to offer, and even fighting against the Fire Nation, it sounded like a dream come true. But despite all that, he just couldn't say yes just for one reason. "I couldn't just leave my mom like that, if I left she'd be all by herself. Sorry Luffy."
"Aw man…" Luffy lowered his head in disappointed.
"Sorry Luffy but you can't force someone else onto your crew again…at least this time." Considering how Luffy was he wouldn't be surprised if that happened again whether Luffy did something similar with Zoro or something else. "You gotta respect Haru's decision."
BOOM!
"Help! Help!"
Suddenly the three heard and felt the ground around them shake as well as an elderly voice calling out for anyone nearby. "The mine!" Haru yelled as he looked down at the bottom of the cliff they were on, a pathway down below where he knew led to one of the coal mines. "We gotta get down there quick!"
Luffy immediately took action as he wrapped up Haru and Katara in each of his arms before jumping down. Both benders screamed as Luffy descended the cliff, but they all landed safely as Luffy landed right on his feet, suffering no damage. Once they were on the ground Luffy dropped them and they all went down the path and came across the entrance to a mine that has caved in and trapped under the fallen rocks was an old man. "Help me!" The old man yelled out to the three in front of him.
Haru and Luffy were quick to hold up the entrance of the mind to keep the cave in from getting worse as Katara tried to grab the old mans hands and pull him out. But no matter how hard she pulled she couldn't budge him, the old man letting out a yell of pain the harder she pulled. "Ugh! It's not working! We have to get help!" Katara yelled out to the two boys.
"There's no time," Haru grunted as he pushed back against the collapsing entrance. "Pull harder!"
"Let me do it!" Luffy said as he continued to help Haru hold up the mines entrance. "I'm strong enough!"
"No Luffy! If you pulled him out with all the rubble on him you're gonna end up ripping him in half!" She had no doubts that Luffy could free the old man…but they probably wouldn't be able to free all of him. Just then an idea popped into Katara's head as she looked up at Haru. "Haru. There's a way you can help him."
Haru knew what Katara was referring to, but despite his words earlier he was afraid of what would happen if he was caught. "I can't…" He muttered through his teeth. He wanted to help but…but…
"Stop being afraid!" Luffy yelled to him as he looked Haru right in the eye. "If you're just gonna hide your bending even when someone needs help then you shouldn't have it in the first place!"
Haru eyes widened as he took in Luffy's words. He was right. Earthbenders were supposed to be proud, sturdy, and not afraid of anything. And if he was gonna let his fear of being caught bending stop him from saving someone, then he had no right calling himself an earthbender. So, leaping from where he was, Haru stood in front of the collapsing mine and took a stance. Focusing as hard as he could, he thrusted both arms forward and managed to blast all the rocks down the tunnel, freeing the old man. "Haru! You did it!" Katara cheered for the earthbender as she and Haru helped the old man stand up.
"Told ya you needed to stop being afraid," Luffy laughed a bit as he patted Haru on the back. "You can do some pretty cool stuff Haru."
"Yeah…guess I can," Haru smiled at Luffy's words as they helped the old man get back to the village.
THE NEXT MORNING
"Ugh it's too early…" Luffy groaned out as he and the rest of the Straw Hats woke up, with Aang having to use the old, plugged nose trick to wake up Zoro again. As much as they all would have loved to sleep in, Sokka was clear that they had to leave early since if the Fire Nation tropes spot Aang then they were gonna be eating flames for breakfast. "I wanna sleep some more…"
"You can sleep on Appa after we take off," Sokka told his captain as he packed up his sleeping gear. He loved sleeping in as much as the next guy but they had to play it safe, the less heat on them the better. "Where's Katara? We really gotta leave soon."
"She said she was gonna get water for Haru and his mom," Aang answered as he packed up his own stuff. "She wanted to repay them for letting us stay here,"
"She shouldn't be long then," Zoro said as he sat back down and leaned against one of the wooden beams of the stable and let out a yawn. "Should be able to get a good couple minutes of shut eye…"
SLAM!
But right as Zoro was about to close his eyes the stable door was slammed open. Everyone immediately looked forward and their fight or flight reflexes kicked in and they were ready for a fight with potential Fire Nation soldiers that found them. But instead of that they saw Katara, a panicked look on her face and breathing heavily. And the words she spoke easily woke them all up.
"They took Haru!"
Over in the marketplace, the old man that Haru saved the other day was in front of a fruit stand, a basket in his hands filled with various goods. The old man picked up an apple and examined it, making sure it was wipe and free of bruises.
"HEEEEEEEY!" Suddenly a loud shout boomed through the market, pretty much everyone around hearing it. The old man flinched and looked towards the source, and his blood quickly froze. Right across the market and looking right at with him an absolutely livid look was one of the boys from yesterday, Luffy. The old man quickly knew why he was here and why he was so angry and quickly turned around and tried run. "GET BACK HERE!"
But Luffy was easily faster than the old man and in a matter of seconds the straw hat pirate caught up with him and proceeded to grab the old man by his collar, pick him up, and pin him against the wall. "HOW COULD YOU! YOU BASTARD!" Luffy yelled right at the old mans face, the elder shaking and gasping in fear as everyone nearby stared and whispered to themselves. But Luffy didn't care, all he cared about was having his damn old geezer explain himself. "HARU SAVED YOUR LIFE AND YOU JUST TURNED HIM IN!"
"I-I-I'm sorry!" The old man, fearful of his life, quickly apologized and tried to give an excuse for his actions. "I-I was afraid if the F-Fire Na-Nation would c-come after me if they f-found out I k-knew about an earthbender!"
But this answer only made Luffy angrier than he already was. "YOU…YOU'RE SCUM!" Luffy proceeded to throw the old man on the ground, and hard. The old man let out a yell of pain as everyone watched gasped and backed away from the scene, everyone afraid to confront the raging Straw Hat. "I'M GONNA MAKE YOU PAY!"
"LUFFY THAT'S ENOUGH!" But before Luffy could do anymore harm to the old man, Katara quickly ran to him and wrapped her arms around Luffy and tried to pull him back. "I'M MAD AT HIM TOO BUT YOU CAN'T JUST BEAT UP AN OLD MAN!"
"BUT HE TURNED IN HARU TO THOSE FIRE BASTARDS!" Luffy yelled as he glared down at the old man who was only shaking and cowering for his life, begging for mercy despite what he did. "HARU SAVED HIS LIFE AND HE GOT HIM ARRESSTED!"
"I KNOW BUT HE'S STILL AN OLD MAN!" Katara shared in Luffy's anger. Honestly if the man in front of them wasn't elderly she probably would have let Luffy kicked his ass. Heck, she might have joined in. But her conscious just couldn't let someone beat an old man, even if they deserved it. "IT'S NOT RIGHT! Just…let him go…"
"Grrrrr…" Luffy growled, wanting desperately to pummel the old man into the ground. But after hearing Katara's pleas, the straw hat let up and simply gave the old man one last glare. "Get out of here, and don't show your face here again!" Rapidly nodding his head, the old man quickly got up and ran away as fast as he possibly could in case Luffy ended up changing his mind.
"Well that was certainly quite the spectacle." Zoro commented as he, Aang, and Sokka walked up to the two. The swords man looked around and saw everyone was trying to get back to their business, but he could notice the glances set their way and hear the various whispers. "We're definitely gonna be the talk of the town now that's for sure."
"That doesn't matter," Luffy tightened his first as he turned to face his crew, a look of fierce determination on his face. "Because we're gonna save Haru!"
"But how?" Sokka asked as he crossed his arms. He wanted to save Haru too, but the odds of finding him weren't exactly the best. "It's way too late to track him, they took him at midnight while we were all asleep."
"Well…what if one of us got sent to the prison Haru's in?" Aang smiled as an idea came to the airbenders head. "Then we could follow them on Appa and find where the prison is! We could find Haru and then bust him out!"
"So, we just gotta get arrested huh?" Luffy already thought of how to do that as he cracked his knuckles. Looking around, he eventually saw a group of Fire Nation guards patrolling around the area. "Then we just gotta kick the guards' asses then!"
"Trust me I'd love to knock some Fire Nation heads but I don't think that's gonna work," Sokka liked Aang's idea, but just going in willy nilly and busting up some Fire Nation troops wasn't gonna get them to where Haru is.
"Um, Sokka," Katara spoke up as she, Aang, and Zoro pointed in the direction of the Fire Nation troops. "He's already on his way to do it."
"RAAAAAAAAHHH!" Luffy roared as he charged at the guards.
"…Of course…" Sokka let out dryly.
"Gum-Gum…" But right before Luffy could attack, he suddenly felt himself submerged in water. "MMMMMMM!" Luffy let out as a bubble of water engulfed him and, in an instant, felt his strength vanishing as he struggled in the water bubble.
"Wow, I can't believe that worked." Katara muttered as she barley managed to stop Luffy in time by bending the water from a nearby barrel to subdue her captain. She figured since Devil Fruit users lose their strength when submerged in water than this might work. "Sorry about that Luffy,"
Katara then freed Luffy, making him fall on his butt as he coughed up some water. "Hey! What was that for?!" Luffy yelled as Katara returned the water to the barrel. "I was just about to beat them up!"
"That wouldn't help Luffy!" Katara yelled as she rubbed her head a bit. As much as she wanted to save Haru, they had to make sure to think this through. "You would've have just been sent to a normal Fire Nation prison."
"She's right," Zoro nodded his head in agreement with Katara. He would have loved to cut some of these fire bastards to pieces, but if their mission was to save Haru then that wasn't gonna cut it. "He got sent to a special earthbender prison, so we gotta find a way to get there."
"But how? The only way to get there is to get arrested for earthbending." Sokka stated as he crossed his arms. "And last I checked none of us can earthbend."
"…Or can we?" Katara smirked, an idea come to her mind.
"I thought you were crazy at first, Katara, but this might work." After Katara told everyone her plan, they all got to work in setting it up and once they were ready they Sokka couldn't help but compliment Katara on it. "Luffy, Aang, you guys ready up there!?"
"We got all the rocks gathered up!" Aang called out from the top of the cliff they were next to. Currently he and Luffy just got done making up a pile of large rocks and the two were waiting next to it to start up their part of the plan. "Me and Luffy are ready!"
"What was the signal again?!" Luffy asked as he looked down at Katara, Sokka, and Zoro who were all at the bottom of the cliff. "I forgot!"
"Oh gosh…ok Luffy I'm gonna tell you one more time!" Katara, who was know wearing robes that were similar colors to Haru's, yelled back irritably. This was the fifth time she had to tell Luffy what the signal was! "I'm gonna raise my fist and yell 'I'd like to see you try when you're buried' and then you and Aang send the rocks down!"
"Oh right! I remember now!" Luffy laughed as the others sighed at their captains absent mindedness. "Got it!"
"Please tell me you remember what to do?" Sokka asked Zoro in a tired tone.
"Relax, I got it," Zoro crossed his arms and rolled his eyes at Sokka. Unlike Luffy he actually remembers what he needed to do, and it was pretty easy. "You just tell us when the soldiers are coming."
"Alright, everyone be ready." Sokka said before going down the pathway leading to the village and hiding behind a rock. Everything was mostly quiet for the next few minutes as Sokka peaked his eyes from behind the rock he was hiding behind to see when some fire nation soldiers would come by on patrol. Eventually Sokka heard the footsteps of multiple people coming and saw a group of three Fire Nation soldiers coming by. "Hope this works." Sokka then picked up a nearby rock and chucked it to where Katara and Zoro were.
Katara and Zoro, who were simply leaning against the cliff and waiting, saw the rock land nearby and looked to each and nodded. The two walked away from each other before turning around and walking to up to each other again as the Fire Nation soldiers came by. As they walked past each other, Katara bad sure to bump into Zoro roughly with her elbow, Zoro stopping in place as she kept walking. "Hey, brat." Zoro growled around as he turned his head to glare at Katara as she stopped in response. "Can't you see where you're going?"
"Yeah, what of it?" Katara replied in a bit of snarky tone as she narrowed her eyes at Zoro. "You got a problem with me?"
"Maybe I do," Zoro look out one of his swords and aimed it right at Katara, the Fire Nation soldiers watching the scene with interest. "Let's see you try and be smart when I cut you in half."
"Oh yeah?" Katara looked up towards where Aang and Luffy where before raising her fist up and shouting. "I'd like to see you try when you're buried!"
"That's the signal!" Aang whispered to Luffy as the two looked down at what was going on. Both Aang and Luffy acted quick as Luffy pushed the pile of rocks while Aang used his airbending to help Luffy push them all down.
"Hi-ya!" Katara let out as she brought both of her arms down towards the ground. Just in time as well as the rocks that Aang or Luffy collected all came sliding down the cliff, creating a fake rockslide with Zoro jumping out of the way and the Fire Nation soldiers gasping at the sight.
The three soldiers looked up at the cliff, but Aang and Luffy ducked down before they could be spotted…instead they all saw Momo standing at the edge of the cliff with his arms held out. "That Lemur…" One of the guards said in an amazed tone. "It earthbended!"
Immediately Katara and Zoro deadpanned at them. That felt like something Luffy would say. "No, you dumbasses!" Zoro yelled at the soldiers as he pointed to Katara. "It was the girl obviously!"
"Oh…" The soldiers all blush in embarrassment and looked around awkwardly. "Right…"
Zoro then tackled Katara to the ground, grabbing her wrist and keeping them behind her back. "I'll hold her down, you guys slap the cuffs on her." Zoro told the soldiers before leaning close to Katara's ear and whispering. "You've got twelve hours to find Haru, good luck."
And saw the Fire Nation soldiers took Katara out of Zoro's hands and began escorting her to where they took the rest of the earthbenders.
And just like they discussed, the rest of the straw hats followed close behind. Riding high above the sky on Appa as she was taken to a boat and was taken away.
It was a long boat ride, the sun now beginning to set, but eventually Katara was taken to a Fire Nation shipyard where she was lined up with actual earthbenders that were also brought here with a middle aged man walking up to them. "Earthbenders. It is my pleasure to welcome you aboard my modest shipyard. I am your warden." The man introduced himself, his face and tone full of smugness. "I prefer to think of you not as prisoners, but as honored guests. And I hope you come to think of me as your humble and caring host." But none of the earthbenders were buying into his words as they all either looked down in despair or glared at him. "You will succeed here, if you simply abide-"
But the Warden was interrupted as one of the earthbenders coughed, this quickly made the Wardens temper snap as he sent a blast of fire at the prisoner, making him back away in fear. "What kind of guest dishonors his host by interrupting him?! Take him below!" The warden ordered, a few guards grabbing he man and taking him away. "One week in solitary will improve his manners. "Simply treat me with the courtesy that I give you…" The warden then leans down to look Katara right in the eye and smiled smugly at him as she glared back at him. "And we'll get along famously."
After that little introduction, the prisoners were given a little tour of the shipyard they would be staying at. "You will notice, earthbenders, that this rig is made entirely of metal. You are miles away from any rock or earth." The Warden explained as he banged on a nearby metal wall for emphasis, they also saw other earthbender prisoners being forced to work on and build new parts of the shipyard. "So, if you have any illusions about employing that brutish savagery that passes for bending among you people, forget them. It is impossible. Good day."
And with that, the Warden took his leave and the new prisons were led into a courtyard filled with other earthbender prisoners. Katara and the other prisoners were shoved into it with the entrance being closed off by multiple metal doors. Looking around Katara was able to feel how heavy the atmosphere here was, many earthbenders looking like there was no hope in sight. Certainly not helped by the fire benders keeping watch on them.
"Katara?" Katara's eyes widened as she quickly turned to the side and saw just the person she was looking for, Haru.
"Haru!" Katara called out to him as she ran forward and hugged him.
"W-What are you doing here?" Haru asked as he hugged Katara back. Only earthbender prisoners were sent here, how did she end up getting locked up here.
"It's me and Luffy's fault you were capture, I came to rescue you." Katara told him with a guilty tone. If they hadn't pressured him to use his earthbending then this whole situation could have been avoided.
"So you got yourself arrested?" Haru asked with a raised brow, wondering how exactly she planned on rescuing him when she was also locked him.
"It was the only way to find you." Katara explained before smiling. "And my crew will be here tonight, we can get you out!"
"Really? Well you've got guts Katara, I'll give you that," Haru put a hand on her shoulder as he gave her an impressed look and started leading her through the courtyard. "Come on. There's someone I want you to meet."
Haru then brought Katara to a spot near a table where some sort of gruel was being served, and sitting nearby the table was a man with gray hair and a long beard. "Katara. This is my father, Tyro" Haru introduced his father to the water tribe girl as he looked up at the two youths. "Dad. This is Katara."
"It's an honor to meet you." Katara bowed politely to the man.
Tyro smiled at Katara and handed her a bowl of the 'food' being served. "Have some dinner Katara," Katara took the bowl, but as soon as she got a look at it her face became one of disgust. "It's not as bad as it looks." Katara decided to trust the man's words and ate a spoonful…only to cough it back up and gag. "Hehe, it's still pretty bad though."
"I doubt even Luffy would eat this stuff…" Katara gagged out…before realizing exactly what she said. "Oh who am I kidding he totally would."
"Tyro," A man spoke up to Haru's father as he grabbed his shoulder. "The prisoners are complaining there aren't enough blankets to go around."
"I'll take to the guards," Tyro reassured the man. "In the meantime, make sure the elderly are taken care of. The rest of us will simply have to hope for warmer weather."
"If you don't mind me asking," Katara spoke up as Tyro crossed his arms. "What's your escape plan?"
"Excuse me?" Tyro raised his brow at Katara.
"You know, the plan to get everyone off the rig?" Katara spoke as if this should be something obvious. What prisoner doesn't have an escape plan? "What is it? Mutiny, sabotage?"
"The plan? The plan is to survive." Tyro explained simply and firmly. "Wait out this war. Hope that one day some of us can get back home and forget this ever happened."
"How can you say that?!" Katara couldn't believe what she was hearing. They were all just planning on taking all this without fighting back? "You sound like you've already given up!"
"Katara, I admire your courage. And I envy your youth. But people's lives are at stake here." Tyro tried to explain this to Katara rationally. Fighting back would only lead to more pain and they've already suffered enough. "The warden is a ruthless man, and he won't stand for any rebellion. I'm sorry, but we're powerless."
But Katara wasn't gonna accept that. She didn't let herself get arrested and come all the way here just to give up hope like these earthbenders have. "We'll see about that." Tyro and Haru watched as Katara stood up and jumped onto the table where food was, grabbing a spoon and a pot lid she banged on the lid as hard as she could to get everyone's attention. "You don't know me, but I know of you. Every child in my Water Tribe village was rocked to sleep with stories of the brave Earth Kingdom, and the courageous earthbenders who guard its borders." All the earthbenders in the courtyard looked towards Katara and listened to her, and up above the Fire Nation soldiers also looked down at with the Warden being among them. "Some of you may think that the Fire Nation has made you powerless. Yes, they have taken away your ability to bend. But they can't take away your courage. And it is your courage they should truly fear! Because it runs deeper than any mine you've been forced to dig, any ocean that keeps you far from home! It is the strength of your hearts that make you who you are. Hearts that will remain unbroken when all rock and stone has eroded away. The time to fight back is now! I can tell you the Avatar has returned, and not only that but I have travelled to the neutral territory and have made friends and allies with some of the strong warriors from there and they can help us fight! So remember your courage earthbenders, let us fight for our freedom!"
But despite her words, Katara's speech only brought silent and hopeless stares from the earthbenders. The warden gave a smug smirk at the sight before walking away and Katara could only look down in sadness.
THAT NIGHT
The sun and fallen and all the prisoners on the metal shipyard and fallen asleep, Fire Nation soldiers continued to patrol around with search lights shining around looking to spot anyone trying to escape or break-in. But despite this there was someone who was able to sneak in and make their way to the sleep quarters, finding where Katara was sleeping and proceeded to shake her away.
Katara quickly woke and gasped a bit but saw it was only Aang, the airbender gesturing here to remain quiet. Staying silent and sneaky, Aang led her to where Appa was with Sokka, Luffy, and Zoro waiting on the bison. "Your twelve hours are up; where's Haru?" Sokka asked as he noticed the lack of a certain earthbender with Katara. "We've gotta get outta here!"
"I can't." Katara told everyone as Aang jumped back on Appa's head.
"Why not?" Luffy asked, not bothering to keep his voice low much to everyone's frustration. "Why isn't Haru with you, you said you were gonna get him."
"Let me guess," Zoro was quick to figure out what was going on. "He doesn't wanna leave his father or the rest of the earthbenders."
Katara nodded at the swordsman, confirming this statement. "And I'm not leaving either," Katara told her crew with a look of determination. "I'm not giving up on these people."
"Then let's do it," Luffy spoke up as he jumped off Appa and onto the metal perimeter next to Katara. "Haru's our friend, and if he needs help then we have to help him. We'll take these fire guys down and free all the earthbenders!"
"Yeah, let's do it!" Aang was quick to join on it as he jumped back onto the metal perimeter as well. It was his job as the Avatar to protect and save people and these people needed him. "We can't just do nothing and let those earthbenders suffer in there."
"Ugh, I hate it when you guys get like this!" Sokka quietly yelled in irritation. "Zoro, back me up here,"
"Captains orders Sokka," Zoro told the water tribe boy, making his jaw drop. "If Luffy says we're helping Haru and bringing these fire bastards down, then that's what we're gonna do."
"Seriously…alright fine!" Knowing that he was outnumbered four to one, Sokka jumped onto the perimeter with Zoro as he noticed an incoming light. "Come on, we gotta hide!" The Straw Hats then scattered as Aang whispered something to Appa with the bison flying off and Momo flying onto Aang's shoulder as the airbender went to join the rest of his crew.
Managing to avoid being detected, the Straw Hats managed to find a hiding place around a bunch of wooden crates, staying out of sight as they discussed what to do moving forward. "We don't have much time until morning." Sokka stated as he looked at the moon which was getting close to setting. "What are we gonna do?"
"It's simple, we just gotta kick the firebenders asses and free all the earthbenders!" Luffy punched a fist into an open palm as he pitched his idea. "The five of us can easily handle that!"
"Maybe, but I don't think that'll work as a long-term solution," Katara explained as she looked down. They couldn't just fight for the earthbenders, they needed to help them fight for themselves. "I tried talking the earthbenders into fighting back but, it didn't work! If there was just a way to help them help themselves."
"They need to toughen up and fight for themselves," Zoro added in, understanding and agreeing with Katara's logic. "If we just swoop in and solve all their problems, it won't change a damn thing. They'll still be weak and the Fire Nation can just swoop in and take them again and it'll be like nothing happened."
"For that they'd need some kind of earth, or some rock." Sokka stated as he looked around for anything of the sort. Surely there had to be something like that nearby. "Something they can bend."
"But this entire place is made of metal!" Katara pointed out as she laid her hand on the floor. The Warden himself made it clear that there was nothing around for miles but this metal shipyard and ocean.
"No, it's not." Aang got all eyes on him as he pointed out at the smokestacks that were releasing a black smog into the air. "Look at the smoke! I bet they're burning coal. In other words, earth."
The entire crew smirked as they all came up with a new idea.
It took a bit of time, but eventually the Straw Hats were able to get everything ready as everyone besides Aang was standing next to a large air vent in the courtyard. "It's almost dawn. We're running out of time!" Katara said to Sokka in an urgent tone. "You sure this is gonna work?"
"It should." Sokka nodded his head as he looked down into the vent. "These vents are all connected to the coal deposit at the base of the silo. This whole shipyard is ventilated to blow the smoke out, so I had Aang close off all the vents except one. He can then use his airbending to blow all the coal up into the ventilation where it'll only have one place to go, right back here."
"Wow, that's pretty smart Sokka!" Luffy complimented the water tribe boy, much to his surprise, as he turned to look at him. "You're pretty good at this planning stuff huh?"
"O-Oh? You really think so?" Sokka was taken aback by this and didn't really know how to respond. Usually Luffy tended to make fun of him, whether intentionally or not so this was a nice change of pace. "Cause you know I always say that every battle should have a plan to make sure it all goes as smoothly as possible, a strong warrior is a smart warrior. My dad always told me that."
"Hmmmmm…alright I've decided!" Luffy made up his mind about something as he pointed to Sokka. He knew exactly what Sokka's position would be on his crew. "You're gonna be the crew's tactician!"
"Huh?" Sokka was once again surprised at Luffy's words. Was he serious? "What do you mean?"
"You know! The planning guy!" Luffy told Sokka with his usual grin. "The one who makes our battle strategies and other stuff like that!"
"Just don't lead us off a cliff like a bunch of damn lemmings." Zoro told Sokka, though he didn't voice it the swordsman was also impressed with Sokka's plan on getting the coal up here to the earthbenders. He may be a buffoon but he was pretty smart when the situation called for it.
Sokka would have been rather touched by this gesture and his place among the crew…but a bunch of guards decided to ruin the moment as they surrounded the four as they along with the earthbender prisoners came out as the sun rose up. "There are the intruders!" the guards called out as they pointed their spears at the straw hats.
The pirates quickly got ready for a fight as Zoro took out two of his swords, Luffy and Katara rose their fist, and Sokka pulled out his boomerang. "Stay back!" Sokka yelled at the guards as he aimed his boomerang at one of them. "I'm warning you!"
"Katara stop!" Tyro yelled as he and Haru ran to the front to try and get Katara to back down. "You can't win this fight!"
"Listen well to him child." The Warden spoke up as he walked up to the scene, no longer amused with Katara's little rebellious antics. "You're one mistake away from dying where-"
WHAM!
"SHUT UP!" Shocking all the earthbender prisoners and the Fire Nation soldiers watching, Luffy fearlessly ran up to the warden and struck him right in the face, causing blood to shoot out of his nose and sending him flying across the courtyard.
"No…" Tyro let out, knowing that there was no chance of them surviving after that.
"WARDEN!" The guards let out as they ran to check up on him.
As this was happening the sound of rushing air hit everyone's ears as the shaft to the ventilation shaft was sent flying off the vent as a geyser of goal came out of it, forming a large pile on the ground. Aang and Momo then leapt out of the vent shaft, both completely covered in soot. As Aang coughed and used his bending to blow the soot off him, Katara ran up to the top of the pile and held up a piece of coal for all the earthbenders to see. "Here's your chance, earthbenders!" Katara yelled to all of them, a fire burning in her eyes. "Take it! Your fate is in your own hands!"
But still, she got no response. Haru began to step up but was stopped by his father.
"Foolish…girl…" The Warden breathed out as he was helped back onto his feet, holding his now broken nose. "You thought a few inspirational words and some coal would change these people? Look at these blank, hopeless faces. Their spirits were broken a long time ago." The Warden then glared at Katara and her crew with fiery hatred as the pain of his nose stung throughout him. "But you and your little friends, I'll use you to make an example and make sure all their hope is grinded into dust! Now men! Kill-GAH!"
But right before he could finish, a single piece of coal as sent flying right at his head, causing him to fall back down. Looking to the source, they saw Haru levitating a few pieces of coal around his hand with a fierce glare on him. The Warden stood back up, a look of pure rage on his face as he thrusted both of his hands forward and sent a wave of fire at the young earthbender. Haru crossed his arms in front of his face in an attempt to block the fire, but the coal was suddenly manipulated to shield him from it.
And by no other then his father. With newfound invigoration, Tyro was joined by some of his fellow earthbenders as the Fire Nation soldiers lined up. "Show no mercy!" The Warden yelled at his men as he and the guards all sent blast of fire their way.
But the earthbenders worked together to use the coal and shield the blast. "For the Earth Kingdom!" Tyro yelled as the earthbenders worked together to slam the coal onto the ground and shot out chunks of it to attack the guards. "ATTACK!"
Nearly all the prisoners let out battle cries as they finally decided to fight back. "Now that's what I'm talking about," Zoro grinned as he tied his bandana around his head before putting his third sword into his mouth. "Now we can fight!" With the earthbenders invigorated, Zoro charged forward to help them cut down those fire soldiers one by one.
"Finally! Let's kick some ass!" With no one telling him otherwise now, Luffy smiled brightly as he joined the fight and got to work on kicking some fire bastard ass. "Gum-Gum Pistol!" Luffy stretched his arm forward, striking multiple soldiers at once and sending them flying.
"What the heck?!" Haru let out as he saw Luffy's arm stretch like rubber. "How did he do that?!"
"Long story short he ate a magic fruit and now has rubber powers," Sokka explained to him briefly as he struck a soldier with his boomerang. "Now less talky more fighty!" Haru simply shrugged before going back to firing coal at various firebenders.
"Get over here you little brat!" The Warden yelled as he attempted to go after the person who started this uprising in the first place, Katara. "When I'm done with you there won't even be ashes left!"
Katara stood her ground, ready to fight. Going on the offensive she charged forward towards the Warden as he sent fire balls her way, but Katara managed to dodge and made it up to the warden and deliver a punch right to his gut. Almost immediately the warden felt all the air being knock out of him as he held the spot Katara struck. The water tribe girls eyes widen at how hard she had managed to strike him before smirking and jumping up, spin her foot around and sending a round house kick right to the wardens face and sending him flying. "I really have gotten stronger…" Katara muttered to herself before a confident smile came to her face as she turned towards four soldiers that were approaching her. "Come on! Bring it on!"
Meanwhile Sokka and Momo were working together to disarm the soldiers as Sokka used his boomerang to break their spears before throwing the broken end up towards Momo with the lemur catching them with his feet. And once they were disarmed, "Three Sword Style – Oni Giri!" With a single attack Zoro set multiple unarmed soldiers to the ground, some of their blood staining the metal floor.
Haru and his father then worked together to form a bunch of coal into a large boulder, rocketing it towards a wall and created a hole they could escape the shipyard through. "Get to the ships!" Tyro yelled to everyone as the earthbenders were quick to follow his orders and began escaping. "We'll hold them off!"
"Don't…let them…escape…" The Warden managed to say as he struggled to stand up after all the attacks he suffered.
As many soldiers charged and tried to stop the escaping earthbenders a power blast of wind all knocked them back as Aang swiped his staff forward, refusing to them pass. "Luffy!" Aang called out to his captain as the straw hat kicked another solider in the gut. "Let's make a tornado!"
"Huh?" Luffy let out before a giant grin came to his face. "Oh hell yeah! Let's do it!" Luffy then stretched before of this arms forward and grabbed Aang by the legs, but instead of retracting them Luffy began to spin around as fast as he could, at the same time Aang began stirring up the air around himself and combined with Luffy's spinning, the two began to create their own tornado.
"Gum-Gum Tornado!" Both Aang and Luffy shouted in unison.
All the Fire Nation Soldiers yelled and screamed as they were swept up by the wind before being launched out in the ocean. "No! No!" The desperately tried to cling onto something, but it was no use. He too was sucked up by the Gum-Gum Tornado and was launched out into the ocean…and he didn't know how to swim. "NOOOOOOOOO!"
Once it was all clear Luffy stopped spin and retracted his arms, setting Aang down on his feet with the two sharing a high five.
Later, all the prisoners were freed. The earthbenders on the Fire Nation boats with the straw hats on Appa, all of them ready to leave this place forever. "I want to thank you for saving me." Haru said to Katara, unable to truly show how grateful he was to Katara and the rest of the pirates. "For saving us."
"All it took was a little coal," Katara said modestly.
"It wasn't just coal, Katara. It was you." Haru stated, making Katara blush a bit.
"You did good Katara," Zoro then complimented the girl, giving her a thumbs up and a nod. "You should be proud. Also fought well back there, that trainings really paying off. But don't think for a second that your done. This just means I'm gonna push you extra hard."
"I'm looking forward to it," Katara nodded, fully accepting the challenge.
"Thank you for helping me find my courage, Katara of the Water Tribe." Tyro thanked Katara, bowing to her respectfully. "My family and everyone here owes you much."
"So, I guess you're going home now?" Katara asked.
"You sure you can't join my crew Haru?" Luffy took one more chance to try and recruit the earthbender to his crew. "You don't have to worry about your mom anymore since your dads outta jail!"
"Luffy!" Katara scolded her captain.
"It's fine Katara," Haru chuckled a bit before shaking his head. "But sorry Luffy, we may be free but our job isn't done right."
"He's right, we need to take back our village." Tyro said before raising his fist. "To take back all of our villages! The Fire Nation will regret the day they set foot on our land!"
"I'd ask you to join us, but I'm afraid your captain might try and attack me if I do," Haru joked to Katara, getting a small giggle out of her.
"Yeah, Luffy can be stubborn like that," Katara explained with a smile on her face. "Besides, your mission is to take back your home. Ours is to get Aang to the North Pole."
"That's him isn't it? The Avatar." Haru inquired as he looked to Aang who was airbending a piece of coal around with Momo trying to catch it. "Katara, thank you for bringing my father back to me. I never thought I'd see him again. I only wish there was some way..."
"I know," Katara said as she reached out to touch her necklace…only to find out it wasn't there.
"My mother's necklace! It's gone!"
And there you have it folks.
Got a few good things in this chapter, like Luffy making Sokka the group's tactician. Me and Qazse decided that a while ago as it really suited Sokka and really cements his place in the Straw Hats.
So like I said more simple but still pretty good, but I'm definitely try and pick things up in the next chapters.
So make sure to follow, favorite, and leave a review and stay tuned for the next chapter...
"Orange Town"
