AN: I originally had a more extensive AN here, but it came off as callous considering the date this chapter releases on. So I moved it to the closing AN.

I seriously hope this chapter is good. If it's not, let me know what I can do better in the future.

I do not own Halo, Avatar: The Last Airbender, or associated characters and properties.


Knowledge is Power

This chapter is dedicated to those who lost their lives to the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, and to Steve Harwell of Smash Mouth. May they rest in peace.


Iratus stepped out of the portal. If his calculations were correct, the Gateway hadn't had the time to connect to its twin last he activated it, which was when he disposed of the meddlesome demons. This, of course, meant they could be anywhere on this planet.

Looking around, he noticed he was in a cave of some sort. It looked natural, too. Why the gods of old didn't build a facility around this place was beyond him. Even though he did not ascribe to the Covenant faith, he knew it was well within the Forerunners' power to at least make this place more visually appealing.

No matter. They could fix that later.

The construct then stepped forward to give space for the others to come through. As the other forty-nine Banished emerged one at a time, Iratus went back to his earlier thoughts.

The demons could be anywhere.

It was official, then.

Come the next wave, he would order a Spartan Killer. And he knew just who to pick.


As Appa flew past a vast mountain range, Aang was pacing. It seemed that Sokka was annoyed by this.

"Would you sit down?!" the teen demanded from his spot at the reins. "If we hit a bump, you'll go flying off! What's bugging you, anyway?"

"It's what Avatar Roku said," Aang explained without sitting down. "I'm supposed to master all four elements before that comet arrives!"

"Well, let's see," Sokka began. "You pretty much mastered airbending, and that only took you a hundred-and-twelve years. I'm sure you can master three more elements by next summer."

"I haven't even started waterbending, and we're still weeks away from the North Pole!" Aang anxiously responded, resuming his pacing and grabbing the sides of his head. "What am I gonna do?!"

Katara suddenly grasped his wrist. "Calm down. It's gonna be okay," she reassured. "If you want, I can try and teach you some of the stuff I know."

Aang perked up. "You'd do that?"

Katara nodded. "We'll need to find a good source of water, first."

"Time to look for a puddle," Neil quipped.


"Not exactly what I had in mind, but it works."

They had come across the perfect spot. A river flowed near the site, and a massive waterfall was nearby. Dense forests lined both riverbanks. After the five had disembarked, Appa leapt into the air again, before lazily plopping himself in the river.

"Yeah!" a suddenly-stripped Aang excitedly cheered. "Don't start without me, boy!"

"Focus. Remember why we came," Hieu reminded.

"Oh, right," Aang sheepishly said, quickly putting his clothes back on. "Time to practice waterbending."

"I'll go do a quick scouting run, see what's nearby," Neil chimed in.

"Great, so what am I supposed to do?" Sokka asked in a deadpan.

"You could… clean the gunk out of Appa's toes," Aang offered, picking up a stick off the ground.

Sokka crossed his arms. "So, while you guys are playing in the water and Neil's exploring, I'm supposed to be hard at work picking mud out of a giant bison's feet?"

"Mud and bugs."

"...okay," Soka shrugged, taking the stick from Aang.


Zuko grunted as he sent a volley of fire at his sparring partner. Suddenly, the ship rocked to starboard, knocking both of them off balance and into the railing.

"Someone's changing our course," Zuko realized. Quickly entering the conning tower, he ascended the decks and entered the bridge.

"What's the meaning of this mutiny?!" the prince demanded of the helmsman. "No one told you to change course!"

"Actually, someone did," a familiar voice calmly countered. Iroh was seated at a pai sho table, concentrating on the board in front of him. "I assure you, it is a matter of utmost importance, Prince Zuko."

"Is it something to do with the Avatar?"

"Even more urgent, It seems I-" Iroh briefly grasped his head, before letting out a breath. "I've lost my lotus tile." He then pushed a tile across the board.

"Lotus tile?" Zuko asked in confusion.

"For my pai sho game," Iroh explained. "Most people think the lotus tile insignificant, but it is essential for the unusual strategy that I employ."

"You've changed our course for a stupid lotus tile?" Zuko asked incredulously.

Iroh leaned forward. "See, you, like most people, underestimate its value. Just give me ten minutes to check the merchants at this port of call. Hopefully, they'll have the lotus tile in stock, and I can get on with my life." Zuko took a deep breath at this, before releasing a burst of flame from his mouth.

"I'm lucky to have such an understanding nephew," Iroh said as the bridge filled with smoke.


Appa lazily groaned as Sokka kept up his cleaning.

"Yeah, don't get too happy," the teen deadpanned. "You've gotta do me next."

Over on the edge of the river, Aang was seated on the sand, while Katara began her teaching. Hieu observed from the side, while Neil was still on his scouting run.

"This is a pretty basic move, but it still took me months to perfect," Katara began as she took a stance. "So don't be frustrated if you don't get it right away." Aang nodded once.

"Just push and pull the water like this," the girl instructed. Waving her hands forward and back, Katara made a small tide with her waterbending. "The key is getting the wrist movement right."

Aang then stood up, before mimicking Katara. Unlike her, however, no waves formed. "Like this?" the boy asked.

"That's almost right," Katara replied. "If you keep practicing, I'm sure eventually-"

"Hey, I'm bending it already!" Aang excitedly proclaimed, as a wave larger than Katara's formed in front of him.

"Wow! I can't believe you got that so quickly," Katara remarked, confused at Aang's proficiency. "It took me two months to learn that move."

"Well, you had to figure it out all on your own," Aang pointed out with a shrug. "I'm lucky enough to have a great teacher."

"Thanks," Katara gratefully replied.

"So, what's next?"

"This is a more difficult move," Katara said. "I call it, 'streaming the water.'"

She then turned back to the river, before waving her hands and lifting a small tentacle of water into the air. "It's harder than it looks, so don't be disappointed if-" Katara stopped as she observed Aang not only getting it right the first time, but playing around with his water. She dropped her water in frustration as the boy gracefully snaked his back into the river.

"Nice work, though the over-the-head flair was unnecessary," Katara deadpanned.

"Sorry," Aang apologized. "Well, don't stop now. Keep 'em coming!"

"Well, I kind of know this one other move, but it's pretty hard," Katara began. "I haven't even totally figured it out yet. The idea is to create a big, powerful wave." The girl then swooped her arms in a downwards arc, bringing a small column of water up. She strained to hold it up, before letting out a grunt as it collapsed.

"So… like this?" Aang asked, before mimicking Katara again. Instead of a small column of water, however, the boy brought up a massive wave, which crashed down…

"Hey, gu- WHOA!"

…on top of a returning Neil. The cascading water sent the cadet clean onto his back. As the liquid retreated back into the river, Neil spat out a small amount, drawing a chuckle from Hieu.

"Looks like I got the hang of that move," Aang remarked. "What else you got?"

"That's enough practicing for today," Katara said irritably.

"I'm with her," Neil deadpanned as he sat up. "Mjolnir isn't exactly buoyant."

Sokka shot the cadet a look. "Why did you jump off of Appa, then?!"

"Because you would've died on impact with the ocean."

"…oh, right."

"Uh, sorry," Aang sheepishly apologized. "So, uh, what did you find?"

"Well, there's a small port town downriver," Neil reported with an annoyed tone, getting up to grab his ghillie suit. "We can get more supplies there."

Turning away from the kids, the cadet murmured, "My life just got a tad more difficult."


The five walked through the aforementioned port town. One of the first things Hieu noticed was how shady the area was. A blackmailing here, a blind auction there, you name it, it was happening.

They'd been shopping for around an hour on their resupply run, getting food, tools, and actual cloaks for Neil and Hieu. The veteran had modified his slightly, cutting a hole into it for his machete's handle to go through.

As the Spartans, Katara, and Aang leaned up against a window, Sokka rounded the corner. "We've got exactly three copper pieces left from the money that King Bumi gave us," the teen revealed. "Let's spend it wisely."

"Uh, make that two copper pieces, Sokka," Aang sheepishly replied, reaching behind his back. "I couldn't say 'no' to this whistle." The boy pulled out a bison-shaped piece of wood, before blowing through it. Sokka instinctively plugged his ears, but no noise came through.

"It doesn't even work," the teen said in annoyance. Momo then chirped. "See? Even Momo thinks it's a piece of junk."

"Well, in his defense, a lot of animal whistles make noises in ranges that the human ear can't pick up," Neil pointed out, drawing a quick glare from Sokka.

"No hard feelings, kid, but I'll hold on to the money," Hieu said. Aang reluctantly reached into his tunic and pulled out the two remaining coins, before handing them to the veteran. He then reached into his cloak and dropped the money into a pouch.


The five eventually found themselves wandering to the docks, where several ships were berthed. One in particular had what appeared to be a salesman by the gangplank.

"Earth Nation! Fire Nation! Water Nation!" the salesman called to passersby. "So long as bargains are your inclination, you're welcome here! Don't be shy. Come on by!"

As the group passed by, the salesman noticed them and quickly ran up. "Oh, you there! I can see from your clothing that you're world-traveling types. Perhaps I can interest you in some exotic curios?"

This got Aang's attention. "Sure!" the boy excitedly replied, before curiously raising an eyebrow. "…what are curios?"

The salesman blinked, before responding, "I'm not entirely sure… but we got 'em!" With a greedy smile, he then escorted Aang towards the ship, leaving the others no choice but to follow.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Hieu apprehensively said.

One at a time, the group ascended the gangplank. Neil gingerly walked up, slowly moving forward to ensure he didn't fall through. Satisfied that it was safe, Hieu then followed.

Heading below deck, the group inspected the stock on the shelves. Aang and Momo tried to figure out exactly what they were looking at, while Katara was entranced by a ruby-covered monkey statue. Aang was peeking at a small sculpture when a gruff voice suddenly spoke.

"I've never seen such a fine specimen of lemurr before," the voice drawled. An older-looking man in red clothes and a wide hat emerged from a dark room, with a parrot-lizard on his shoulder. "That beast would fetch me a hefty sum if you'd be… interested in bartering." The parrot screeched at Momo, who hissed back as Aang grasped onto him.

"Momo's not for sale," Aang firmly responded.

The captain then turned to Neil. "You! That fancy staff behind yer back has some fine craftsmanship." Indeed, the Bandit was peeking out slightly. "Perhaps a trade?"

"I got the Bandit as a thank-you gift," Neil retorted, adjusting his cloak to cover the rifle. "Hieu would murder me and dance on my grave if I just gave it away."

As Katara stepped past a small shelf, a blue shimmer caught her eye. Turning, she saw a small scroll with Water Tribe markings on the caps. She picked it up and opened it, with a massive smile coming to her face. "Look at this Aang! It's a waterbending scroll! Check out these crazy moves!"

Aang, too, smiled. Turning to the captain, he asked, "Where did you get a waterbending scroll?"

The captain snatched it away from the two and rolled it back up. "Let's just say I got it up north, at a most reasonable price - free." He then put the scroll back where Katara found it.

Neil then began connecting the puzzle pieces. "Wait. A shady boat in a shady town, acquiring valuable stuff for free, a noisy bird on your shoulder… I think we've got ourselves some pirates."

The salesman leaned onto Neil and snapped his fingers. "We prefer to think of ourselves as… high-risk traders."

Katara turned to the captain. "So how much for the, uh… 'traded' scroll?"

"I've already got a buyer," the captain asserted. "A nobleman in the Earth Kingdom." He then leaned forward. "Unless, of course, you kids have… two hundred gold pieces on ya right now."

Aang confidently turned to the others. "I know how to deal with these guys. Pirates love to-"

"Don't even try it, kid," Hieu cut off. "What pirates love is to turn a profit. You couldn't haggle that scroll for two copper pieces if you had the charisma of James Cutter."

The captain cackled condescendingly. "I'd listen to him if I were you, boy."

"Welp, not like we can afford anything here at the moment, so I'd say we should get going," Neil piped up, already climbing above deck to get off the boat.

"Aye, we be casting off, now!" Aang said, mimicking the pirate stereotype and closing his left eye.

As the five went down the gangplank, Aang asked, "What was that all about, Katara?"

"Yeah, I was just starting to browse through their boomerang collection," Sokka added.

Katara crossed her arms. "I'll just feel a lot better once we get away from here."

"HEY, YOU!" the salesman from before suddenly called out. "GET BACK HERE!"

The five turned to face the pirate ship. "Well, well, look who's come to their senses," Aang remarked. "Told you they'd want to haggle."

Contrary to Aang's expectations, however, what looked like the entire crew leapt onto the dock, furiously brandishing their weapons and jeering at the five. In response, Neil drew the Bandit from under his cloak, pulled the charging handle, and sighted it at the pirates, while Hieu unsheathed his machete and took a defensive posture. "Okay, so haggling is off the table," the cadet apprehensively said. The pirates then charged at the group, prompting a swift retreat.

As they ran down the streets, the Spartans grabbed their helmets from their satchels, quickly donning them and booting up the systems. Peeking down at his motion tracker, Neil noticed that the gray dots designating the pirates split into two halves. "They're trying to cut us off!"

He really needed to recalibrate the armor's IFF systems.

As the five rounded a corner, Katara quickly bent water out of a nearby bowl and onto the ground, before freezing it and causing a pirate to slip. The others simply hopped over it and kept the chase up.

Up ahead, a familiar cabbage merchant's cart could be seen. Katara and Sokka dodged in front of it, while the Spartans leapt into the air above it and landed on the other side. Aang, meanwhile, threaded the needle between the roof and the vegetables, before using a gust of air to send the cart flying at the pirates in pursuit.

"MY CABBAGES! This place is worse than Omashu!"

Neil then spotted gray on the edge of his motion tracker. "Up ahead! They're trying to block us!"

"To the left!" Hieu directed. Taking the advised route, the five did not come face to face with the pirates. However, they quickly discovered that it was a dead end as the pirates cornered them.

The salesman brandished twin daggers. "Now, who gets to taste the steel of my blade first?"

In response, Hieu ran forward. Almost faster than the pirate could comprehend, he slashed clean through the daggers' blades with his machete, showing the pirate's steel that it couldn't stand up to titanium. As the salesman's two cohorts tried to retaliate, he grabbed a spear in one hand and broke it with a simple squeeze, before tearing through the other with his machete. Now firmly afraid of the toothed visor of Hieu Dinh, the trio of pirates quickly ran away, clearing a way for the five to escape.


Back at the campsite, the group tried to relax after the shenanigans at the port.

"I used to kind of look up to pirates, but those guys are terrible," Aang said as he sat down against a rock.

"You're not the only one with a shattered childhood dream," Neil quipped as he pulled the Bandit's charging handle back, grabbing the unspent bullet while it was in the air, before removing the magazine from its well.

"I know," Katara said with a small smirk. "That's why I took this." She extracted a familiar roll of parchment from her clothes.

"No way," Aang said with a frown.

"Isn't it great?" the girl replied, evidently not picking up on his apprehension.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait…" Neil interjected. "You got those pirates to want our severed heads on their wall… for that?"

"No wonder they were trying to hack us up," Sokka continued. "You stole their waterbending scroll!"

Katara smugly crossed her arms. "I prefer to think of it as… 'high-risk trading'."

This drew a laugh from Aang. "Good one, Katara."

"Neil, Sokka, where do you think they got it?" the girl continued. "They stole it from a waterbender."

"No, Katara. They're right," Hieu angrily shot back. "Stolen or not, those pirates want us dead over that."

"I may do stupid things, but I don't endanger all our lives over a piece of paper," Neil agreed.

"These are real waterbending forms," Katara stubbornly replied. "You know how crucial it is for Aang to learn waterbending!"

Sokka scoffed. "Whatever." He then stormed off.

"I'm gonna go recalibrate my IFF system," Neil irritably said, before going after the teen.

Hieu then sighed. "Well, we can't change what happened now. Since we have the scroll, we should put it to use."


Having docked the ship in the port town Iroh redirected them to, Zuko reluctantly accompanied his uncle down the streets.

"I've checked all the shops on this pier. Not a lotus tile in the entire marketplace," the old man lamented.

"It's nice to know this trip was a complete waste of time for everyone!" Zuko seethed back.

"Quite the contrary," Iroh countered calmly. "I always say the only thing better than finding something you are looking for is finding something you weren't looking for at a great bargain!" He then gestured to some passing troops, who were carrying various gadgets, gizmos, and what looked like…

"You bought a tsungi horn?" Zuko asked in confusion.

"For music night on the ship," Iroh happily replied, before moving to follow the soldiers. "Now, if we only had some woodwinds…"

Turning onto the docks, Iroh suddenly pointed at a rather large ship. "Ooh, this place looks promising!"

Once they were onboard, the old man was quickly distracted by the various novelties. Currently, he was appraising a bejeweled monkey statue. "Oh, that is handsome! Wouldn't it look magnificent in the galley?" he marveled, before reaching to pick it up. Zuko, meanwhile, overheard the crew talking amongst themselves.

"We lost the Water Tribe girl, and the little bald monk and two giants she was traveling with," a green-clothed man with a headband said to the captain.

Zuko turned to the pirates. "This monk, did he have an arrow on his head?"


Katara pointed to a form on the scroll. "I just wanna try this one move first, and then it's all yours." She then handed the scroll to Aang. "Here. Hold it open for me."

Stepping back, Katara took a stance. "The single water-whip," she read. "Looks doable."

"It better be," Neil piped up from a nearby rock. "'Cause I can't read that to save my life."

"You would if you bothered to learn," Hieu admonished the cadet.

Neil raised his hands defensively. "Hey, it's my sister who got her Master's in linguistics. I got a Bachelor's in music theory."

Filtering out the Spartans' banter, Katara bent a small tentacle of water from the river, only for it to snap back and smack her in the forehead.

She then heard Sokka laugh nearby, and gave her brother an unamused glare. "What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry, but you deserved that," Sokka replied. Turning to Aang, he continued, "You've been duped. She's only interested in teaching herself."

"Aang will get his turn once I figure out the water-whip," Katara irritably shot back. Lifting another tentacle, she attempted to do the move again, but instead whacked Momo, drawing a screech from the lemur.

"Ugh. Why can't I get this stupid move?!" the girl fumed.

"You'll get it," Aang reassured, setting the scroll down and walking towards the bank. He then snaked a rope of water from the river…

"You've just gotta shift your way through the stances."

…before gracefully mimicking the technique from the scroll and thrusting the whip forward. "There, see? The key to bending is-"

"WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT YOUR AIR HOLE?!" Katara exploded. "BELIEVE IT OR NOT, YOUR INFINITE WISDOM GETS A LITTLE OLD SOMETIMES! WHY DON'T WE JUST THROW THE SCROLL AWAY SINCE YOU'RE SO NATURALLY GIFTED?!" Sokka, Neil, and Hieu glared at her. "What?!"

Turning back to Aang, she saw tears forming in his eyes, her rage giving way to remorse. "Oh my gosh, Aang. I'm so sorry. I-I don't know what came over me." Neil wisely kept his mouth shut. "But you know what, it won't happen again."

She picked up the scroll and rolled it back up, handing it to Aang. "Here, this is yours. I don't want to have anything to do with it anymore."

"It's okay, Katara," Aang replied gratefully.

"What about Momo?" Sokka suddenly asked. "He's the real victim here."

Katara stooped to pet the lemur. "I'm sorry, Momo."

"And what about me? There was that time you-"

"No more apologies!"

Neil leaned towards a startled Sokka. "As a brother in sarcasm and bad humor… you need to work on your timing."


The secondary boat was lowered into the water. Quickly forming up with the pirate ship, the two vessels sailed down the river.

"Shouldn't we stop to search the woods?" the captain asked Zuko.

"We don't need to stop," the prince responded. "They stole a waterbending scroll, right?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Then they'll be on the water."


Katara waited until she was sure the others were asleep. Late at night, she got out of her sleeping bag, snuck the scroll from Sokka's satchel, and began to tiptoe away. Turning, she quickly came face to face with a very much awake Momo, briefly startling her as he chirped.

"Shh. Momo, go back to sleep," she whispered, with the lemur chirping in response as she edged around him and walked towards the riverbank.

Once she got there, she immediately began to attempt the water-whip again, only to struggle to keep it in the air as it collapsed once more.

"Come on, water! Work with me here!" she exclaimed, before trying again.


Zuko and the captain heard the telltale voice of a certain someone trying - and failing - to waterbend.

The prince's boat quickly beached itself with a grinding noise, as the pirate ship did the same but quieter. Quickly disembarking, one of the captain's crew grabbed Katara as she tried to run.

"No! Let go of me!" she exclaimed, bending a stream of water into the crewman's face before running away…

…and straight into Zuko, who grabbed her wrists. "I'll save you from the pirates."

Quickly tying her to a nearby tree, he set to work interrogating her. "Tell me where he is, and I won't hurt you, your brother, or the Spartans."

"Go jump in the river!" Katara bit at him. Zuko evidently needed to change tactics.

Walking forward, he said, "Try to understand. I need to capture him to restore something I've lost - my honor." Getting close to her ear, he whispered, "Perhaps in exchange, I can restore something you've lost." He held the blue necklace in front of the girl, who gasped.

"My mother's necklace!" Katara exclaimed, before her face took an angry look. "Where did you get that?!"

"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're wondering," Zuko answered as he stepped away. "Tell me where he is."

"No!"

"Enough of this necklace garbage," the captain suddenly growled. "You promised the scroll!"

In response, Zuko held the scroll in front of his hand, before lighting a small flame beneath it. "I wonder how much money this is worth?"

"No!"

"A lot, apparently," Zuko remarked. "Now, you help me find what I want, you'll get this back, and everyone goes home happy. Search the forest for the boy and meet back here."

"Fine," the captain grumbled, before walking away.


As the sun shone through the trees, Neil groggily awakened. He despised mornings almost as much as he hated stairs. Rebooting his HUD and bringing everything back to full brightness, he looked around and saw that Katara was gone.

"Katara?" he called as he got to his feet. "Katara!"

It was then that Sokka yawned awake, before snapping into full awareness as he, too, realized who was missing. "Huh? Where did she go?" He then dug around in his satchel and found the scroll missing. "I don't believe it."

Aang then sat up with a yawn. "What's wrong?" he tiredly asked.

"Katara's gone," Neil anxiously answered, having awakened at some point during the exchange. Neil then switched on his VISR's infrared mode, to no avail. The trees were too thick to be effective.

"And she took the scroll!" Sokka exclaimed. "She's obsessed with that thing! It's just a matter of time before she gets us all in deep- WAAAH!"

A pirate had ensnared Sokka's wrists in bolas and yanked him forward. Neil really needed to pay closer attention to his motion tracker.

On the bright side, the pirates showed up as red instead of gray.

As the bolas loosened and Sokka dodged the pirate's attacks, Neil drew the Bandit, quickly shouldering it as the teen grabbed his club and Hieu drew his machete. Racking the charging handle, he sighted the rifle at the pirate, only for a net to suddenly ensnare Aang, forcing him to change targets.

A half-dozen Fire Nation soldiers then emerged from the treeline, quickly shooting flames at Neil and rapidly draining his shields, despite his attempts to dodge, before a final burst sent the cadet flying into a tree. At this point, Aang had been taken away.

"Oh, what? I'm not good enough to kidnap?" Sokka deadpanned, only for a net to wrap around him as well and drag him off.

The cadet quickly picked himself back up and sighted the Bandit at the pirates. "Stay back!" the cadet barked. "Unless you want twelve grams of lead in your skull!" Hieu then grabbed a knife from his thigh to complement his machete, holding the smaller blade in a reverse grip. Unwilling to incur the wrath of the Spartans, the pirates and soldiers quickly retreated, the kids long gone.

"Well, this is just great," Neil sighed as he lowered his rifle. "Not only do the pirates join up with the Fire Nation, they kidnap Aang and Sokka as well. What do we do now?"

"We follow them," Hieu replied, lowering his targeting system over his visor. "And wait for an opening."


Zuko walked towards the pirates, who had a captured Aang in front of them.

"Nice work," the prince complimented.

Still tied to the tree, Katara turned to the boy. "Aang, this is all my fault!"

"No, Katara, it isn't," Aang replied.

"Yeah, it kind of is," an old man said, drawing a look from the girl.

Zuko narrowed his eyes. "Give me the boy!"

"You give us the scroll." the captain demanded back.

"You're really going to just give him the freaking Avatar of all people?" a young voice suddenly said. Stepping through the treeline, Neil Glenn kept the Bandit in a low ready position. Hieu Dinh followed shortly after, causing the pirates to recoil slightly.

"Don't listen to him!" Zuko barked. "He's trying to turn us against each other!"

"Your friend is the Avatar?" the captain asked, turning to the boy in question.

"Sure is!" Sokka mischievously confirmed, instantly getting what Neil was going for. "And I'll bet he'll fetch a lot more on the black market than that fancy scroll!"

"Shut your mouths, you two!" Zuko demanded.

"Yeah, you really should shut your mouths," Aang said.

"Now, I'm not smarter than average by any means," Neil continued, choosing to ignore the boy. "But I think the choice is clear, wouldn't you say? I'm willing to bet that Ozai would pay a fortune for the kid. You take him there, and you won't need to be pirates anymore!"

"Keep the scroll," the captain then said. "We can buy a hundred with the reward we'll get for the kid."

As the pirates began to walk away, Zuko seethed. "You'll regret breaking a deal with me."

The prince then kicked and sent out columns of flame at the pirates, with two soldiers aiding him. The buccaneers dodged the bursts, before the salesman rushed ahead and tossed a trio of smoke pellets at the Fire Nation troops.

As Aang and Sokka tried to free themselves, they suddenly spotted Fire Nation soldiers rushing at them with spears. Four pirates then surrounded the pair, before dropping more smoke pellets. The soldiers stopped just outside the cloud, before the pirates pulled them in forcefully.


Hieu ran over to Katara, before cutting through the ropes holding her to the tree with one of his knives.

"Thanks, Hieu," Katara said gratefully as she rubbed her wrists. "I owe you a favor."

"Later. Let's focus on getting the others out," Hieu reminded, before they split up to help their friends.


In one of the smokescreens, Aang coughed into his fists from all the fumes. He then saw a blade fly in front of him, and leaned back to dodge as it cut through some of his ropes. He then contorted around a stray spear, with the weapon snapping the rest of the bindings.


Zuko backed out of the other smokescreen and packed the scroll in his belt. As he turned, he barely dodged a sword that swiped at his face. The captain it belonged to did not look happy as he took a stance.

As the pirate swung at the prince, Zuko parried with his arms and legs, sending out a burst of flame with each block. He then caught the captain's sword arm in his hand, as the pirate did the same.

Zuko then felt something yank the scroll out of his belt as a blue-clothed pirate used his bolas. Before the pirate could catch it, however, the Avatar's lemur swiped it from the air. As Momo flew through the air, the captain's parrot-lizard tackled him, causing him to drop the scroll into a cloud of smoke.


Neil pulled out of the smokescreen with a smirk on his face. He'd snuck in during the chaos and swiped a little something off of Zuko. The prince could keep the stupid scroll. Neil felt this was more important.

He then stuck the Bandit on his back and placed his hands on his hips, admiring his and Sokka's handiwork. It seemed that Hieu's plan went far better than expected. It was missing something, though.

"Man, I wish I had popcorn."


Speaking of Sokka, the teen crawled through the smokescreen, trying not to get stepped on, when a sword impaled itself in the ground an inch away from his face. He leaned back with an audible yipe, before using it to cut through the ropes. "Aang, are you there?!" he then called out.

The boy leapt above the smoke. "I'm over here, follow my voice!" he called back.

"Where?! I can't find you!" Sokka exclaimed.

"I'm right here!" Aang yelled again, before winding up and dispersing the smoke, revealing a half-dozen unfriendlies aiming their weapons at him. The boy then pulled the smoke back the way it was. "Uh, nevermind! I'll find you!"

Sokka crawled out of the smoke as Aang leapt out. "RUN!" the boy yelled. As the two ran over, they spotted Katara, Hieu, and Neil over by the pirates' ship.

"Katara, you're okay!" Aang happily exclaimed.

"We need to get this boat in the water ASAP! Give us a hand!" Hieu directed as he pushed against the bow. The kids and Spartans then all together shoved at the ship, to no avail.

"Man, what I would give to be a Two or Three right now," Neil huffed.

"We need a team of rhinos to budge this ship," Sokka grumbled.

"A team of rhinos… or two waterbenders," Aang said with a smirk, drawing a smile onto Katara's face. The waterbenders then pushed and pulled waves across the bow of the ship as the Spartans resumed their push, eventually getting the boat back on the river.

"Everybody in!" Katara directed.


Iroh split up his nephew and the captain as they dueled. "Are you so busy fighting you cannot see your own ship has set sail?!" he barked.

"We have no time for your proverbs, Uncle!" Zuko fumed back.

"It's no proverb." Indeed, the pirates' vessel was floating down the river, and it wasn't too big a leap to guess who was onboard.

"Bleeding hog-monkeys!" the captain exclaimed as he ran off to try and chase it. Zuko only pointed and laughed at the man's misfortune. He then looked slightly to the left…

…and spotted the pirates stealing his boat. They jeered from the decks, laughing at the prince's misfortune.

"Hey! That's my boat!" Zuko yelled as he too gave chase.

Iroh stroked his beard. "Maybe it should be a proverb…"

"Come on, Uncle!"


Neil spotted the pirates giving chase in Zuko's boat. Turning to the wheel, he yelled, "We've got company on our six! You got a way to get us going faster?!"

"I don't know how!" Sokka responded. "This thing wasn't made by the Water Tribe!"

The pirates then pulled alongside the commandeered vessel, before a few leapt over the gap to board it. From the roof, Aang sent a wave over the deck, washing a large amount overboard. As another pirate got up, Katara bent a tentacle from a small puddle on the deck and used it to smack the pirate in the head, knocking him over.

"Hey, you did the water-whip!" Aang happily exclaimed.

"I couldn't have done it without your help!" Katara earnestly replied. It was at that moment that Hieu snap-kicked another pirate overboard, with a sickening crack as he broke a rib or five.

"We've still got a problem," the veteran reminded. "You mind?"

Momo then swooped through the air, an angry parrot following after him. He flew over the water, before climbing the sail and circling the mast. The lemur then wrapped the parrot up in the flag as it tried to follow.

A pair of pirates then tossed Sokka into the sail, before Aang leapt down and used his airbending to send them flying overboard. Looking down at the deck, the boy spotted Sokka lying face-down. He then jumped down to tend to the teen.

"We've got a problem ahead!" Hieu suddenly exclaimed. Looking forward, Aang saw what the veteran was worried about. A massive waterfall could be seen, and it was no more than five hundred feet away.

"Oh, no…" the boy groaned.

"Don't tell me, we're about to go over a huge waterfall," Neil deadpanned.

"Yep," Sokka confirmed.

"Sharp rocks at the bottom?"

"Most likely."

"…bring it on."

Aang then heard the sound of a blade being unsheathed. The salesman had snuck up behind him while Sokka and Neil were being brothers in sarcasm and bad humor. Turning, the boy pulled out his bison whistle and blew hard into it...

...only for no noise to come out. The pirate was visibly disappointed by the lack of results, but before he could slash at Aang, Sokka kicked his sword out of his hand, before knocking the pirate overboard.

"Have you lost your mind?!" the teen exclaimed. "This is no time for flute practice!"

Katara watched as the vessel slowly approached the edge. "We can stop the boat! Aang, together! Push and pull the water!" The two waterbenders took positions on the starboard and port sides of the bow, before swooping their hands back and forth. Twin whirlpools began to appear in the river as the boat turned to starboard, eventually growing in size and slowing the ship.

"We're doing it!" Katara hooted as Aang and her kept up their bending.

"Hate to ruin the moment, but the other problem has not been solved yet," Neil suddenly chimed in, gesturing upriver. The pirates then rammed their boat into the commandeered ship, sending splinters flying and knocking everyone off balance.

"Jump!" Aang yelled as the ship went over the waterfall. The five then grabbed hands and leapt off, hoping for the water at the bottom to cushion their fall.

It was at that moment that Appa swept through the air, gracefully picking up the group before they hit the water.

"I knew a bison whistle would come in handy," Aang smugly remarked, before turning to the front. "Thanks, Appa."

"Yeah, we owe you one," Sokka said gratefully. Appa grunted in appreciation.


Zuko rushed over to the cliff. As he looked over the edge, he spotted what remained of his small ship. "My boat!"

Behind him, Iroh panted from exhaustion, before crossing his arms and chuckling. "Prince Zuko, you're really going to get a kick out of this." He then pulled out a small circular piece of wood with a flower on it. "That lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!"

Zuko only growled, before snatching the tile from his uncle's hand and throwing it hard over the cliff.


Katara looked down at her lap. "Aang, I still owe you an apology. You were just so good at waterbending without really trying. I got so competitive that I put us all in danger. I'm sorry."

"That's okay, Katara," Aang accepted.

"Besides, who needs that stupid scroll, anyway?" Katara said.

"Is that really how you feel?" Sokka held out the scroll in question.

"The scroll!" Katara said as she reached out to grab it. Before she could, however, her brother held it away.

"First, what did you learn?" Sokka asked.

"Stealing is wrong," Katara answered, taking the scroll. "Unless it's from pirates." This drew a laugh from Aang.

"Speaking of stealing…" Neil suddenly piped up, holding a fist in front of him. "I believe this is yours." Uncurling his hand, he revealed…

"My necklace!" Katara exclaimed as she took the trinket from the gauntlet and tied it around her neck. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Eh, it was worth a shot," Neil humbly replied.


Fortress of Iratus

February 7th, 2560

Local time 2318

Sigrid crept through the halls of what used to be the Academy. After Granger saw Iratus open the portal, Laurette had ordered her to sneak in and take a closer look.

Turning the corner, she saw it. The thing Iratus called the Gateway. Looking around, there were the usual mercenaries of various species standing guard. Brutes, elites, even a few humans sprinkled in. But what got Sigrid's attention was a truly massive brute.

The nine-and-a-half foot beast stood in what looked like a custom set of coal-gray armor. The helmet had one horn on the front and two curving up from the back, similar to a triceratops. His left shoulder had what looked like various chestplates from GEN2 Mjolnir, all with an identical gash through the middle. His right pauldron had the helmets to go with them. On the left side of his chest were several ODST chestplates, arrayed like medals on a uniform. His backplate carried a modified scrap cannon, painted with blood-red accents and featuring lengthened bayonets, and in his hands was a new weapon Sigrid hadn't seen before. It looked similar to the spikers seen during the war, but where the spiker had a pair of vicious bayonets, this weapon had what appeared to be the miniaturized head of a gravity hammer.

All in all, do not engage.

Sigrid keyed her comms. "Commander, I've got a massive brute by the portal. Everything about him says 'don't screw with me."

"Granger's reporting something similar," Laurette responded through the radio. "Don't engage. That's an order."

"Copy," Sigrid affirmed. The massive brute then turned, and a malicious, toothy smile appeared on his face.

He locked eyes with Sigrid. A chill ran down her spine as she got up and ran.

She was caught.

Looking back, she saw the brute was giving chase with thunderous footsteps. And it was gaining rapidly.

"Don't try and hide, Spartan!" the brute leered as it ran after her. Its voice was deep and guttoral. Sigrid grabbed a Sidekick from her hip, turning to face the brute, but before she could squeeze off even one shot, the brute swung his gun at her, sending a shockwave at the Spartan and shattering her shields.

So it was a hammer head.

As Sigrid slowly got to her knees, the brute grabbed her by the neck and held her in the air with his left fist. Looking into his eyes, she was truly afraid. The brute then smirked cruelly, and chuckled, "So this is the other demon who stole Iratus. I was hoping for a real fight."

He then raised his hammer-gun and slammed it on her helmet, sending her into unconsciousness.


As he slapped his Mutilator on his thigh, Vallus was honestly disappointed by the brief engagement. He wanted a good battle, not whatever this was.

No matter. A defeated demon is a defeated demon, no matter what happened.

He'd avoided killing the intruding Spartan purely out of pragmatism. Were he the mere minor of four human years ago, he would have ended her life without a second thought. But his training for the Hand of Atriox had instilled true discipline in him. This woman could give the Banished information, should someone manage to get it out of her.

In retrospect, it was no surprise that the Spartan had been incapacitated so quickly. She had, up until he made eye contact with her, been under the impression that she was undetected. And when he eyed her, the demon panicked and ran, only worsening her situation. By the time she got her panic under control, it was far too late.

Speaking of late, he needed to get back to the portal. Perhaps Iratus could find somebody to interrogate the woman. Vallus never understood the finer techniques of breaking silence.

Making up his mind, he returned to the portal and dragged her through with him.


Up on the mountain to the north, Remy keyed his comms, his eye never leaving his rifle's scope. "Commander, bad news. Eklund's been captured."

"What?!"


Next chapter: A Soldier's Instincts

Coming 09/25/2023


AN: Roll credits.

Like I said in the opening AN, I moved a whole bunch of stuff down here because it came off as callous. I'll get to it now.

I initially tried to use Grammarly for this chapter, but it ended up being way too intrusive for my liking, so I stuck with standard Docs autocorrect.

As for actually writing this chapter, a whole bunch of stuff happened that slowed me down. HCS Fort Worth, for one, took up a good portion of Labor Day weekend. Go Spacestation!

Also, I got my learner's permit, so I'm learning to drive now!

On a more somber note, Steve Harwell of Smash Mouth died of liver failure on September 4th. Rest in peace, all-star. You made many of us believers.

Anyway, onto the story. First note, say hello to Vallus. Tall, dark, and menacing is going to play a big part in the story. How, I won't say, but he's there for a reason. I had him capture Eklund to show just how powerful he is. That is also going to play a part.

Side note, I gave Vallus the Mutilator shotgun from the leaks because it looks and sounds like a cool gun.

Now, I'm not at all confident I did the kids getting kidnapped justice. Not sure how I can write it to be more convincing, though. PM me ideas, and I can rewrite it.

Also, I had the initial Banished scene up front so that it could directly follow off of the last chapter. I felt that shoving it to the back wouldn't just not do that, but it would be confusing for you all as well.

As for Katara's necklace, I had Neil swipe it and return it to her early. If you've paid attention to the previous chapters, I'm sure you know where this is going. But before you say it, no, I'm not doing romance between the two. Pedophilia is wrong. End of story.

Not like I know how to write romance, anyway...

Anyway, follow, fave, and review. The last one especially, since I can always get better.

This is Believer218, signing off.