Ren cheered as he shot over a ridge of snow on a long sheet of ice he'd shaped into a board. Aang was laughing beside him while Katara whooped as she and the young Airbender rode their penguins through the frozen land. Ren's wings flapped every so often to gain speed or slow down, while his tail helped him steer when he dragged it in the ice and snow. When he wasn't doing that, it helped him remain balanced.
"On your left, Squirt!" He taunted playfully as he shot past Aang's penguin. The landlocked bird seemed to narrow its eyes at the half dragon and Ren merely stuck his tongue out at it, daring the animal to best his mad skills.
The trio slid into a tunnel on their rides, spinning and whooping and cheering as they performed tricks and whirls while they went through the icy caves. Aang smirked before taking in a huge breath and blasting Ren in the side, making the half-dragon yelp as he shot through a sudden tunnel appearing on his other side, his hollering getting cut off by the sudden walls appearing and flying past with small gaps here and there.
"You litt-! –nna pa-! –Meat fo-!" Katara and Aang shared a glance and laughed while Ren ranted between gaps of ice until a blast of fire made a new hole in the walls and Ren came flying out on his ice board.
The trio slid and flipped around each other before blasting out onto the frozen plains. Coming to a stop, the penguins shoved their riders off of them and waddled away, leaving the three alone in the snow and ice. "That was AWESOME!" Aang cheered as he bounced around. Ren's eyebrow twitched before his tail came flying up and smacked his younger brother upside the head. "Ooow! Ren what the heck?!"
"Don't blow me away like that just because you were losing!"
Katara, attention pulled from the duo's squabbling, realized where they were. Oh, no… we shouldn't be here… "Uh, guys?"
Aang scoffed. "I wasn't losing, you were cheating by flapping your wings and using your tail as a rudder!" Ren gained a tick mark on his forehead. "Yeah, because that's what they're for, you little airhead!" The younger boy stuck his tongue out at the elder and turned his back pointedly.
"Aang, Ren, I think we shou-."
"Ooh, you little brat, I oughta' make sure you eat nothing but MEAT for the next week!" Aang spun around and glared. "You wouldn't." Ren spread his arms and grinned ferally. "Try me."
"GUYS!"
Katara finally broke through their bickering and the two spun to glare at her.
"WHAT?!"
"We shouldn't be here, look!"
Ren looked up and his eyes widened at the monolith jutting up from the ice. The reptilian pupils thinned as he saw the emblem on the tattered flag and his wings and tail drooped, slumping like strings attached to them had been cut. "What… what is that?" he asked breathlessly, staring up at the iron monstrosity. Katara scowled as she looked at the object.
"It's a Fire Navy ship… a raw wound for me and my village."
Ren's chest tightened and he took an unsteady step back, but Aang spoke up. "Let's go check it out!" Katara was hesitant and she shared a look with the half dragon. "Wait- Aang! I just said we aren't allowed here! Gran-Gran says we're not to go near it! besides, it could be booby-trapped!" Ren hesitated before shaking off his unease. Well, we wanted answers, didn't we? This war, the dragons and Airbenders being extinct… we both need to know. I need to know.
"C'mon, Katara! If you wanna be a Bender, you need to let go of your fear!" Aang grinned at the girl before walking ahead, taking the lead. Ren sighed and trudged along after his brother, nose and ears on high alert for any bad news.
The three ventured inside, Ren feeling along the walls and frowning at the age of the ship- the smells had long since faded due to lack of human activity and the environment, but the ship seemed recently beached- within the last twenty years recent, actually.
"Where did you come from…?" he muttered to the metal walls. As he continued on, an Ice-Rat skittered past him, its tiny voice squeaking out as it hunted for long-gone food. "This ship's been a bad memory for my tribe since Gran-Gran was a child… it was among the first to carry the Fire Nation soldiers that attacked us." Ren turned to Katara with a raised eyebrow and Aang frowned.
"Okay, hold up, time out. Ren and I have friends all over the world… some of our best friends are Fire Nation, Ren's technically Fire Nation…" The half dragon nodded as he picked up a wicked saber cutlass. "Yeah, on my Mom's side. Though Dragons originated from the Fire Nation too, I'm still half-human, thus half Fire Nation… I think I'd know if there was a war; Dragons age slower than humans, so they'd let me know if something was endangering me and making them go extinct- Mother would have let me know."
Katara bit her lower lip, unsure of how to ask them a question that could solidify her theory on what happened to them.
"Ren, the war's been going on for a hundred years… just how long were you two trapped in that iceberg?" thThewo boys exchanged a look and Aang shrugged. "I-I dunno, couple days at the most?" Ren gave a half-shrug but his eyes told a different story- he was slowly putting together the pieces- Sokka's open disdain for the Fire Nation, the village being scared of him and Aang.
"We thought Airbenders and dragons were extinct…"
Katara hesitated.
She needed to word this carefully.
"I don't think you were in there for a day, you two." Ren growled, the dragon side of him blood becoming impatient with the girl's evasion. "You think you know what happened?" he asked, his voice gaining a rough quality to it as his animalistic side came to the surface. "Spill, Katara, this is important to us!" The Water Tribe girl bit her lip before continuing.
"It might have been one hundred years… not a few days."
Aang scoffed. "What? No way, that's impossible! Do I look like a 112 year old man to you? And Ren might age slower because he's half dragon but he would still at the very least look like he's twenty to twenty five!" Katara shook her head slowly. "Think about it though! The war's lasted for a hundred years and you two are just now hearing about it. Aang, you just learned how the Airbenders are extinct! Ren, Dragons are completely gone now! Extinct! That's why no one could get in contact with you or Amaru, Ren… because you both were in the iceberg that entire time… it's the only explanation I have." Ren's eyes widened, his pupils turning into thin brush lines that shook in the face of the news while Aang's shoulders went limp and his eyes filled with shock. Ren staggered back and hit the wall, knocking the weapons rack down as he gripped silver tresses in his clawed hands and slid down the frozen metal surface.
"A- a hundred years…?" he murmured. His mother… oh, Spirits Above, she's probably dead by now… he ran away because of her lying to him, but he didn't even hear her out fully… He never told her he loved her after that night-!
"Cheer up, you two… maybe there's a bright side to all this." Ren peeked up from his hunched posture to see Aang in a similar state of shock. How can there be a bright side? Ren thought incredulously. Everyone we know is probably dead and buried by now if what she's saying is true. "Well… we did meet you and Sokka, right Ren?" the half dragon slowly looked up and blinked at Aang before nodding hesitantly.
"Y-yeah, I guess that's true…" he stood and fluttered his wings, wincing at the pain still racing through his scars but managing to hide its effects on him for now. Katara smiled before helping the Airbender up. "Come on, let's get out of here."
Ren elected to wait outside the ship while Katara and Aang continued to explore. The half dragon was staring absently into the sky as he continued to chew on the news he and his younger brother received.
A century's worth of life… gone in the blink of an eye… he sighed, silver fire curling around his face and caressing his cheeks from his fanged mouth, warming the scales around his chin and on his cheek bones. Then his opened maw and caught a strange scent in the breeze- it tasted of ash, metal, and fire… it shouldn't be here, and it was wrought with hostility.
Something was coming.
Acting on instinct, Ren turned around and rammed his claws into the hull of the shipwreak and began to scale to the top where he exited. Just as he reached the deck however, a flare whistled off into the sky and bathed the ship in a white light. His gut clenched as he moved faster to meet his brother at the top of the old ship.
"Aang, that in Lung's name did you do?!" Ren gripped the Airbender's shoulders with his clawed hands, his eyes wide as he asked him. "Well, turns out the ship was booby-trapped after all… and, well… we boobied right into it." At Aang's awkward laugh, Ren sighed and let his charge go, eyeing the flare's dying light with a troubled expression. "Something's coming… I can taste it in the wind- we need to get back to the village, now." Aang groaned. "Aww… but Ren-."
"Aang." The younger went silent at Ren's tone. It was something he hadn't heard before- firm, level, and unwavering… but it was tinged with fear.
The boy and Katara hesitated but nodded and followed the older boy back to the Water Tribe's village. They walked behind the half dragon, watching as he paused every once and a while to scent the winds by opening his mouth and facing the direction the breeze was coming from. "What's he doing?" Katara asked curiously. "Ren's smelling for trouble… he wasn't kidding when he said that it was heading our way…" Katara looked back at the dragon boy and cocked her head. "Doesn't smelling have to do more with the nose and not the mouth?"
"Dragons have a special organ in the backs of the roof of their mouths just for that purpose," Ren answered. "It's beside the spark pouch… and since I'm half dragon I have it too." The teen clicked his tongue and turned in the direction of the village once more, picking up their pace to a brisk jog.
"Hurry up. It's not safe here anymore."
Peering through the spyglass, Zuko watched as the Avatar and his Protector jumped down from the ship and started their way back to a small settlement. He hummed in intrigue. "Quite agile in their age…" He mused. He focused on the one beside the Avatar, narrowing his eyes. The shape was abnormal, and his blood burned at the prospect of what the Protector looked like up close and personal. They say to get to the Avatar, you'd have to get past the loyal dog, his or her Protector… the prince thought. More beast than man. Raised by the very creatures and-or spirits that gave humans the power to bend… "I won't let them get away."
By the time the three got back to the village, they had a welcoming party waiting for them. Sokka stormed forwards, grabbing Ren by his tunic and yanked him forwards. "I knew it," The boy snarled. "You shot off that flare to signal your Fire Navy friends!" Aang stepped forwards to object and admit that he was the one who set it off, but Ren opened his mouth first. "It was an accident. We were penguin sledding and found an old boat. I was curious and wanted to look inside- I'd never seen anything like it before."
Sokka grit his teeth and shoved the half dragon away, making him lose his balance and fall onto his back. Ren grunted at the jolt his back suffered, but luckily no one noticed it. In response the half dragon stood, flaring up with his silver flames and evaporating the snow from his scales and body. Amaru growled and slithered up to Ren, nuzzling his chest and purring worriedly, to which Ren gave an answering purr while petting his grey-speckled snout.
"I was the one who showed them around inside," Katara argued, looking at her grandmother. "Don't punish them! Besides, Aang gave us back something that we haven't had in a very long time- fun." Sokka shook his head. "You can't fight a war with Fun, Katara! These two are sooner gonna get us killed if they stay here and show us more 'fun'! Especially the Fire Nation Monster right there!" the boy glared at Ren for a mite longer than he did at Aang before huffing. "This has gone on long enough. I'm banishing you both from the Village! Take your things and get out of here!"
Katara scowled before spinning on her heel. Grabbing Ren's and Aang's wrists, she yanked them towards Appa and Amaru. "Then if they're banished, so am I! Aang and Ren are going to take me to the north pole where I can learn Waterbending!"
That seemed to perk Aang up. "Great-! Wait, we are?"
"Katara! Would you leave with them, and abandon your village? Your family?!" that made her pause. Ren sighed, fire fluttering from his silvery locks as he strode forwards to Amaru's saddle. "Katara, don't say you'll come with us and abandon the only bonds you have." The half dragon slung an arm around Aang's shoulder and pulled him close, tucking the young Airbender under his left wing. "You still have ties here… you have a brother, a grandmother. Children who look up to you and the women who count on you to help them when they need you…" sad grey-gold eyes blink into ocean blue. He smiled sadly and turned, mounting the black dragon and settling into the saddle, tightening the straps around his legs. Looking down at the villagers, he added on. "Don't leave the only family you have. You never know what could happen, what the last thing you could say to them will be."
Aang tilted an eyebrow at that, but Ren didn't look his way. It seems the night they left the Air Temple, he didn't come straight to their room after all… what is he not telling me? The Airbender wondered. It looks like he regrets something, if what he warning Katara about is anything to go by.
With a draconic bark, Amaru turned and walked across the ice, accommodating Appa's current inability to fly. Aang turned to the girl and bowed in gratitude. "Thanks for going penguin sledding with us." The Airbender said. He jumped up to Appa's head and gripped the reins on his horns. "Guess it's goodbye now."
Katara frowned. "Where will you two go?" she asked. Aang hummed, looking skywards. "We might head to the Air Temple Islands or the wilderness of the Fire Nation to look for any Airbenders or dragons…" The boy blinked as if realizing something before calling over to Ren, who had asked Amaru to wait for their Airbending friends. "Hey, Ren? We haven't cleaned our room in over a hundred years…" the half dragon let out a strange sound, like a choke. "Oh, Spirits, that's gonna be a nightmare…" he bemoaned playfully. Katara chuckled.
"Well… you two be safe okay?"
The Airbender nodded. "We'll try to be. C'mon Appa. Yip-yip."
With a groan, the sky bison stood and ambled off after the black dragon. Soon both figures had vanished beyond the snowy dunes, leaving Katara, Sokka, and the villagers to go back to their everyday life.
The two had ridden for a while when they stopped to take a break in some ice arches. "I wish we coulda' stayed longer…" Aang said sadly. Ren chuffed and used his tail to poke at Aang's side. "Aww, does little Aang have a crush? I'm so proud~! My baby brother's growing up!" the Airbender used his glider staff to whack the ticklish appendage away before he noticed the strange scars on his arms and wings again- he wanted to ask, but Ren didn't seem like he was in pain, so he let it be.
Appa groaned and Aang sighed. "See, Appa liked her too!" Ren scoffed and waved that fact away. "He likes anyone you like, it's not a fair judge of character. Remember when you tried to befriend a hive of skunk-bees and smelled like crap for weeks? Mom had to give you continuous baths on tomato soup to get the stench out every day." Aang let out a small ah. "Oh, yeah. You had kicked me out of our room and made me promise to never try that again." Ren smirked. "Damn straight-." He cut himself off when the scent from before slammed into the roof of his mouth again. Shit, they're closer than before!
Ren flipped up clawed his way to the top of their rest stop.
"Ren?"
"Shhh!"
Shushing Aang the half-dragon scanned the bay and fog-filled air, his mouth opened, nose twitching and tapered ears flicking like mad until he caught the moving vessel. He tracked it's trajectory and saw it carving a path straight… towards…
"It's heading for the village." Ren muttered to Aang, who had climbed up beside him. The Airbender nodded wordlessly and jumped from the ice arch with Ren following behind. The half-dragon let out three short barks and Amaru knelt, knowing his brother's urgency. "Aang, get on and tell Appa to stay!" the Airbender sprang behind Ren while he gave the Sky Bison instructions. Pointing Amaru back towards the village with a deep GRUUH, the full-blooded dragon spread his black wings and shot into the sky, making a path straight for the village.
"Holy crap… Aang, this is insane."
Amaru circled within the cloud cover over the village to observe and Ren felt sick at the sight. The Fire Nation ship had broken down the Village's meager wall and nearly hurt a child. And for what, to hurt innocent people? "Can you hear what they're saying?" Aang asked. "Yeah," The half dragon nodded, his tapered ears twitching and eyes closed as he listened to the soldier who was apparently the leader. His eyes snapped open, and he handed Aang the reigns. "Wait, what're you-?"
Ren shot the boy a look. "No matter what happens, stay up here, stay quiet, and stay hidden." Aang paled. "What do you mean?" The half dragon grits his teeth, bearing his fangs in frustraton. "They're here for us, Aang! I can smell it on the guy at the lead and I heard him asking for the Master of all elements! He'll burn everything down if it means dragging you and me out into the open!"
"But shouldn't we both go in if he wants us?" Ren sighed. "No, Aang. I'm doing this alone." The Airbender shoved Ren against the back of Amaru's head, making the dragon wobble a bit and grunt quietly. "But why? Is it because you're my Protector and I'm the Avatar you have to guard? Are you really buying into that stuff now?! We left because we didn't want that to be our only purpose in our lives, so why are you-?!"
Ren grit his teeth and shot up. "THAT'S NOT IT!"
He grabbed Aang's shoulders and shook him. "I could care less if I'm your protector in your every incarnation and reincarnation past and present! As far as I'm concerned, I am yours, Aang's protector and no one else's! I left with you for a reason, not because I didn't want to be your protector! WANNA KNOW WHAT THAT REASON IS?!"
In the face of that outburst Aang stared wide-eyed at the half dragon in front of him.
Slowly, clawed hands slid from his shoulders and wrapped around his body, followed by a tent of warm wings that them from the winds. The breeze drowned out what Ren was saying to those that could be sitting around the two, but Aang's eyes widened and his shoulders went slack when Ren's words reached him loud and clear. Ren then gave him one more squeeze and pulled back. With his signature grin, Ren saluted Aang before sliding off of the dragon's saddle and spreading his wings- that twitched and shuddered, making the half-dragon wobble in the air and fall several feet uncontrollably before slipping into a clumsy diving form. He never flapped his wings, never managed to make them move more than a half foot through the air in a flap, much less a full move, which sent black flags up in Aang's eyes. Aang saw the scars once more as the wind made Ren's shirt and pants billow and flap in his fall and realization slammed into him like a Sky Bison that filled him with fear and anxiety.
"Aang, watch out!" the sound of a thousand dragons flying as one in a Thunder reverberated all around them. A flash of light arched towards the boy, but something came between them. A scream ripped through the air as icy cold ocean water swallowed them whole.
"REEEEENNNNN!"
'The wings and tails of a dragon are powerful weapons, but they're double-edged swords too…'
«Flashback»
"Aang, I have an important lesson to teach you." A ten-year-old Aang looked up at a golden dragon as it looked down at him with sky-blue eyes- Ren was with the Monks learning to meditate as a sort of exchange for the month- Aang spent time with the Dragons while Ren spent time with the Monks at the Air Temples. Lai the Golden Dragon and his Sun Warrior companion, Ju-Zhi, was assigned to be Aang's teacher for this week on dragon biology. The boy nodded and stood as Lai used his talons to draw a crude picture of a dragon. "A dragon's wings and tail are two of our most-utilized weapons. We have our teeth, our claws, and our fire and horns. But what's the difference between teeth and tail, claw and wing?" the Airbender hummed before answering.
"Your teeth help you eat, but your tail doesn't… and your claws help you hold stuff, but your wings don't?" the golden dragon rumbled and Aang tilted his head. "Well, yes… but also, no." Lai took his claws and carved a devastating furrow into the 'webbing' of the drawing's right wing while scuffing out the left completely, as if it wasn't even there to begin with.
"If you broke or knocked our fangs, they would grow back. Cut off our horns and they will grow back as well, though it would take much longer. Even if you cut off a claw or arm or leg, we still have three strong others to get us by, and our claws would also regrow. It may be hard, but we can survive without all four legs… but if you damage our wings, leave them in tatters or even sever them completely..." Aang's eyes widened. "You wouldn't be able to fly at all… if you were in danger, you'd be grounded." Lai nodded, his great head moving up and down. "And a dragon's tail is used as a balance for its flight and to change direction. Without that…""You wouldn't be able to move right even if you did make it into the air." The Airbender looked up anxiously at the golden dragon and blue eyes blinked calmly back. "If the dragon cannot fly, they cannot get away… a dragon who is downed, is a dragon who is dead…"
«Flashback End»
The words of that lesson echoed in Aang's mind as he watched Ren approach the villagers. 'The lightning bolt from that night didn't hit me because it hit Ren… who was protecting me...'
The strength of Aang's realization made him fall back a bit on the saddle.
Because Ren can't fly.
"Where are you hiding them?" Zuko demanded. He scanned the small pond of faces, but all he saw was fear. He grabbed an old woman and held her before them, shaking her slightly. "They're both about this old, one is the master of all elements and the other more of a beast than a man. I know they're here, so where are they?" he shoved the old lady back but still got no reply. I guess I'll have to make them want to talk, Zuko thought angrily. He had waited for so long; he wasn't going to be denied!
Reeling back, the prince shot an arch of fire at the cowering villagers, earning come children's screams as they huddled into the arms of their mothers. Before the whip of fire could have reached them though, Zuko would have extinguished it. He heard some of his soldiers let out a shout before a large shape came crashing into the snow and ice between the fire and the villagers.
Zuko stumbled back, eyes wide as he tried to look through the dust and powder that was thrown up. "You…"
A voice, low and guttural, more like a Komodo dragon's growl than an old man's voice, echoed from the cloud. A powerful gust of wind blew the smokescreen aside and Zuko's blood ran cold. Standing before him was what looked like a monster. Large wings were spread and a back of scales faced him, tail whipping about like an angry sandcat's. Silver-white hair ruffled in the breeze and the head was turned to send a scorching grey-orange eye his way, the reptilian pupil thinning when he locked eyes with the prince.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Ren!" the girl he had grabbed the old woman from earlier seemed happy, but Zuko paid her no mind. He was busy going over the scriptures in his head. This Protector was raised by the dragons themselves…
"You're the Protector… You are the one who guards the Avatar?!"
Hands armed with talons ready to rip and tear came up to prepare for a fight. Lips curled to showcase long sharp canines. "No… I'm not the AVATAR'S protector," Zuko didn't pause, but his confusion must have shown because the creature smirked, a surprisingly human action. "I'm just the protective older brother." And with that, he attacked. Fire of a vibrant blinding, pearly white roaring at his sides and from his spread black wings, the Protector lunged at the young Fire Prince, a roar ripping from his throat in challenge echoing the roars of the dragons from so long ago.
Aang stared from above at the fight commencing under them, worried out of his mind. This is all our fault, he thought sadly as he watched his brother falter in a stance as a wing twitched. Ren's fighting style required all of his body, including wings and tail. This particular attack utilized his wings, but Ren couldn't use his wings properly. Aang switched his gaze to the soldiers guarding the villagers and the tongues of fire flaring out from the fight between two Firebenders.
I need to stop this… but how?
Dammit!
Ren tried to go for an attack of fire using his wings, but his two limbs shook uncontrollably as they spread, leading Ren to take a blow to the chest and get knocked back. Three Firebenders ganged together to prepare and throw a blast at the silver haired half dragon, and Ren made no move to get out of the way while he caught his breath. "Ren, MOVE!" Katara shrieked at the teen, but it was too late. Everyone only watched as a wall of fire enveloped him and seemingly burnt him to a crisp.
Zuko panted, wincing at the small bruises and bumps the creature had given him. He was a formidable opponent and a worthy fighter. His loyalty was impressive to these people and the Avatar (maybe, if things were different, Zuko would have invited him to the Fire Nation when he got a hold of the Avatar), but in the end the creature's form held no finesse or rhythm. He had been lashing out and pulling things off as he went.
Much like a beast, the prince thought flatly.
Turning to the villagers Zuko was about to finish with them when he heard something- two something's. The first was a roar unlike anyone in this generation had ever heard before from above, air and wind being shoved aside as the sky thudded and thunder from the cloudless heavens tolled over the air. The second noise was the strangest thing he had ever heard.
*Gulp*
With his soldiers eyes on the sky, Zuko watched with wide and shocked gold eyes as the fire from three highly trained Fire Nation Soldiers spin around the should-be charred corpse of the beast and get sucked into its gullet like noodles from a bowl of soup, every last wisp vanishing and a small hiccup making the creature's chest hitch. "Thanks for the fire…" It said with a smirk. Looking away as a soldier screamed, Zuko's mouth dropped open when he looked up and saw-.
"A dragon…" Iroh gasped in awe as the beautiful night-colored creature flew down from the heavens with an enraged snarl on its face, a smaller figure on its back. It circled around the kneeling creature who walked like a man and spoke in the human tongue, and Iroh saw instantly that the tales about the Protector were wrong as the black dragon hovered over the creature and the two beings spread their wings in unison. All the similarities were there, glaring the Firebenders in the face, as the dragon crashed into the ice and snow, making the ground shake minutely.
The protector wasn't just trained by the dragons and raised among them… he was born of them.
Aang jumped from Amaru's saddle and poked at Ren with his staff. "Are you okay?! You never told me you could do that!" the half dragon shoved the stick away with a huff and a small burp. "You never asked, and there was no fire to eat at the Air Temples- Look out!" grabbing Aang Ren ducked him out of the way of a blast of fire. Amaru had wrapped around the villagers in a protective coil, a careful eye on everyone outside his embrace.
Ren grit his teeth as he looked at Aang after checking Amaru's protection over the villagers. "I told you to stay up there with Amaru! Dammit, Aang!"
The scar-faced guy who had spearheaded his ship into the village began circling the two boys, golden eyes narrowed and the scent of controlled excitement, anger and bitterness swirling under his skin… Ren furrowed his brow at that last scent and smelt the air again. Wait… why did he smell loneliness?
"I've spent three years meditating, training and preparing for this day to come," The teen said lowly, his gaze focused on Ren and Aang. "But the Avatar is just a child! His protector is a Monster!" Ren growled but Aang straightened. "Well, you're just a teenager…?" he said, puzzled about what the problem was. Ren was still sore about the monster comment from Sokka, and since this guy was throwing it around too, he'd decided that that was enough of that. "I'm just as human as those people are!" he pointed at the Water Tribe civilians. "If anyone's the monsters it's you guys attacking a defenseless village! For what, just to get to us?"
The scarred Firebender scowled and took a stance before blasting a spurt of flame at the two which doubled as a signal for his guards to go after the Protector. As Zuko attacked the Avatar, Ren batted aside a whip of fire coming at his left while slurping down another one.
"Special Delivery!" the half-dragon sang. Breathing in, the boy thrust his head forwards and let his mouth drop open in his signature attack.
With a roar, silver fire billowed out of Ren's maw and knocked several of the soldiers away, giving him some room to breathe. The half dragon smirked as he gestured for the others to come at him. "Want another?"
Meanwhile, Aang spun his staff to deflect the scarred Firebender's attacks, but every time he did the fire had to go somewhere- and it coiled closer and closer to Amaru. The black dragon kept a close eye on his charges and the younger human. While a soldier tried to sneak up behind him the Dragon used his tail to pick the unfortunate man up and chuck him yowling into the pile of snow that was once the village wall.
Aang sent a gust of wind at the scarred bender and tripped him with it, making him growl angrily.
Ren cackled as he faced seven Firebenders, his body wreathed in silver flames tipped with gold and eyes alight with eagerness.
"Spirits above, what is he?!"
"This guy's a monster!"
"Does he even have ANY human in him?!"
"C'mon! is that the best you can do?! I haven't even gotten started yet!" A man went sailing past Aang and into Amaru's side who used his tail to toss him into a snowdrift as he did the first one who came into contact with him.
"Crystal, no!"
Ren and Aang froze when they saw one of the soldiers Ren had knocked away previously manage to sneak past Amaru and grab a child, a blade of fire held to her neck. Ren's thrill of a good fight was suddenly smothered by the rage he felt at a child being used as a hostage, and in an instant he went up in flames.
A dancing collection of black, silver, and red that burned hot and wild flared outwards from the half dragon's body while Aang blasted out a gust of wind.
Together they shouted out a single command.
"ENOUGH!"
The two boys breathed heavily, one holding his staff out to the side and the other letting smoke curl from the sides of his mouth from his battle high and breathlessness. "If we go with you, will you leave this place alone?" The scar-faced bender paused and tilted his head, almost not believing the deal, and looked sharply at Ren. "And your guard dog? How do I know it won't get in the way?"
Ren swallowed as his anger drained into frustration and a willingness to cooperate. "I won't interfere with you or try to escape. I won't even fight against whatever you want to do to me. I'll even let you chain me up… you say I'm a monster, so I'll let you treat me like one. Just don't hurt these people… and don't hurt my little brother." Aang moved to shout his objection, but Ren shot his little brother an angry glare.
The leader of this invasion weighed the pros and cons.
Zuko knew he shouldn't even be thinking of this proposal- he was looking to capture the Avatar and burn the consequences. For all he knew, this was a ploy to distract him so the Avatar could attack him. But looking into ash grey-ember gold eyes and then cloudy grey, Zuko found that this thing and the Avatar were telling the truth.
With a nod, Zuko watched as the creature was bound with iron shackles while the Avatar protested and reached out for it. The dragon was muzzled while fighting back a short moment before a commanding growl from the Protector made it stop- apparently it could communicate with the dragon as well.
As they loaded the three on board, Zuko felt something he hadn't felt for a very long time.
Hope.
He was going home…
And as Ren and Aang were shoved into separate cells, Ren in one with chains clamped to his wrists and ankles while Aang watched his brother's treatment, a glance from Ren's eyes as they flashed with a brief silver-orange glow brought up the words he spoke to him in the moments before Ren had started to fight the soldiers.
"It's because I'm your brother. What wouldn't someone do to protect their little brother?"