AN: Hey all here is the next chapter, hope you all enjoy it. Took a while longer to write than I thought it would be but hopefully it was worth it. As always I really enjoyed writing this actually, though I have to say it was a bit difficult especially as I have gone off on a tangent from canon. Which although really fun to write is a bit difficult as you there is so much you can do and so many different routes you can go down. But still I like it, so I hope you do too.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you all leave a nice big review, I do love to hear from people.

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or Avatar the Last Airbender.

( - )

(Last Time)

There was a group ahead of them, well hidden in the trees on both side of the road. Lying in wait for the caravan to pass them by, before they would likely then leap out and surprise them.

Tilting his head to the side as the caravan slowly caught up with his leisurely trotting mount, Percy's sea green eyes narrowed as he pondered what to do.

The ambush was just fifteen metres in front of him now, and twenty odd metres in front of Suki, Hana and the first wagon in the caravan.

He had a choice to make, and with a sigh he made it.

"Ambush!" Percy suddenly shouted, throwing caution to the wind as he dug his heels into his mount and drove it forwards, alerting all of his companions to the danger, even as he rode into the midst of the ambush, the killing ground, hoping as he did so to draw most of their enemy's attention onto himself.

( - )

Chapter 10

( - )

(With Percy)

With a roar the ambushers launched their assault, forced into it by Percy's shouted warning as he rode ahead, warning the refugee caravan of the danger before their attackers could surround them.

Despite that though the attackers didn't give up, not when they had similar numbers to the refugees and were made up of heavily armed and armoured soldiers. They might have lost the element of surprise, but they were still in a far more advantageous positon. It was for that reason that the ensuing fight was so swift and brutal.

It started out with two Firebenders launching themselves from the under growth sending out blast of fire at Percy as they did so, both of which Percy managed to avoid with a nimble bit of horsemanship, even as he drove his mount on, charging at the nearest of the two Firebenders neither of whom were undeterred by the failure of their initial attacks.

As this was happening, so to did the rest of the ambush unfold as dozens of arrows flew from the tree line as hidden archers let loose their volley, and the bellows of rhino like beast could easily be heard above the din as the creatures thundered forward, moving through the trees quickly as they rushed the column.

Bursting through the treeline with bellows, uprooting trees as they passed, the soldiers mounted upon the beasts were already levelling their spears as they guided their mounts to where the caravan was. Despite it not being as close as the ambushers had initially planned, it was also too far either, certainly not far enough for the slow moving wagons to escape.

In response to this sudden onslaught most of the people in the column threw themselves beneath the wagons to hide from the volley of arrows, even as the drivers tried to pull them round into a defensive positon all the while trying to avoid the rain of deadly arrows at they did so.

Not all of the column hide though, as a few like Hef, Hana and some of the more able bodied leapt into action. Hef the Earthbender immediately throwing up some high earthen walls the rat-tat of the arrows bouncing off of it sounding off audibly as he manipulated the earth, his face taut with concentration as he formed the wall and further reinforced it. A couple of the other men trying to shield him with wooden boards that had been pulled from the wagons.

Hana and a couple of others meanwhile nocked their own arrows onto their hunting bows and released their own much smaller volley, one which was somewhat lacking in accuracy as not only could they not see over the walls that now protected them, but they could also not see through the dense, elevated woodland that surrounded them and both hid and protected their attackers.

On top of that their return fire also lacked in power too, with their hunting bows not holding a candle in terms of power when prepared with the Fire Nation's war bows and crossbows.

"Percy!" Suki shouted as she forced her own mount to gallop forwards, pulling out one of her fans as she did so after which she fully extended it turning it into a round buckler shield which she used for cover as the arrows slammed down into the earth around her. Her blue eyes darting around the area as she saw flashes of red and black armoured soldiers in the trees and heard the roar of the rhino rider cavalry as they thundered towards the earthen walls that surrounded the refugee caravan.

Percy though didn't reply, he didn't have a chance too. Instead he was too busy trying to control his bucking and panicking steed as the Firebenders unleashed hell on him, blasts of fire slamming into the ground all around him, and waves of fire flowing over him singeing his clothing and terrifying the ostrich horse he was riding.

"Come on you bastard." Percy growled at the hybrid creature, a fierce scowl on his face as he threw his water covered arm forward, releasing a spear of ice at one of the Firebenders catching him by surprise as the spear struck him in the shoulder, the blow knocking him backwards into a bush and cracking the pauldron of his armour but not quite piercing through.

"He's a Waterbender!" The other Firebender shouted in response, dancing forward and sending another blast of fire at Percy as he did so. A wide scale blast from the other side, forcing Percy to throw himself off of his mount, even as the ostrich horse lurched away in terror a part of its feathery body now on fire, The creature obviously wasn't trained for battle, likely it was usually used for farming, or for pulling carriages, either way a leery mount was the last thing Percy needed, not when it was more of a hindrance than a help.

Hitting the ground Percy rolled a couple of times before he made it to his feet at the edge of the treeline, wrenching water from some nearby trees and plant life as he did so, in order to throw up a quick shield and block several more follow up blasts of fire from the attacking Firebender.

Growling at this, Percy was forced on the defensive as he gave ground, moving away from the treeline in case one of the archers decided to take a pot-shot. Which was a hard enough task as he also had to defend himself all the time from his two, highly synchronised attackers, both of whom moved with him so as to keep attack Percy from both side.

Scowling as a particularly powerful burst of flame got seared past him burning his clothing, Percy's limited heat resistance being the only think that saved him from a nasty burn, Percy quickly leech some of the water off of his shield, covering his fingers with the water as he did so, before he sent four drill like bullets of ice at the Firebender that just attacked him. The sudden switch from defensive to offensive, and the way he shook off the blast of fire catching the Firebender by surprise, allowing each of the shards of ice to strike him, only for them to glance off of his armoured breastplate as the man tried to dodge.

Still the fast moving bullets of ice knocked him backwards and stopped his from attacking for a moment, each one of them likely feeling like a punch to the chest.

"Hyah!" Suki shouted, digging her heels into her own ostrich horse as she saw the situation Percy had put himself in in order to forewarn the caravan of the ambush, attempting to back him up as she did so, only to be stopped as one of the rhino riders turned and thundered through the trees towards her, breaking off from the others all of whom were going after the caravan.

"Keep the riders busy!" Percy shouted to Suki, glancing over at her even as he spilt his shield of water in two, sending two watery blasts at both of the Firebenders, blocking their blasts of fire.

Instead of questioning Percy, Suki instead just nodded grimly trusting him as she did so, before she wrenched on the reins of her mount and charged the first rider, her grip on the reins tightening and her heels digging in harshly as the beast of burden she was riding seemed to quail at the proximity of the lumbering war beasts.

She was just luck that by this point the archers had decided the caravan was a better target, no doubt trust the Firebenders and rhino riders to deal with the spares.

( - )

As this was happening further down the track, back at the column things had seemed to take a turn for the worse as by now two of the five war rhinos had smashed into Hef's wall, the giant horns goring through the earth, cracking it and causing part of the wall to collapse. Hef now going entirely on the defensive as instead of attacking he put all of his concentration into maintaining and where possible rebuilding the defences.

"Hef!" Hana shouted out in concern drawing her bow and letting loose an arrow through one of the gaps in the wall as she did so, the broadhead arrow glancing off of one of the armoured rider's chest and causing no real damage, though the force of the blow did seem to knock him back and nearly off of his saddle.

"Don't worry about me!" Hef growled out clenching his hands into fists now, before he slammed them into the earth, a ripple passing through it after which rock spikes erupted from the dome like wall, several of the spikes tearing into the rhinos tough hide and drawing blood, whilst another struck a rider in the chest the force of the blow caving inhis chest and knocking him off of his mount.

Despite that though for the most part the move didn't cause that much damage to the beasts or their riders. However it did make them lurch backwards though, retracting their horns long enough for Hef to repair the wall and reinforce it, even as Hana and a couple of others grabbed more wooden boards from the wagons to use as cover as more arrows shot down over the top of the wall.

( - )

"Shit." Suki cursed to herself as she noticed what was happening with the rest of the column, drawing her sword now after which she heaved herself up in her saddle until she was almost standing on it.

From there she leaped forwards, leaping over the head of her mount and into the nearest rhino rider her sword flashing for a moment before she plunged it into the juncture between the riders shoulder and neck. Her sharpened blade finding a weakness in the armour with unerring accuracy causing a spray of crimson to erupt from the wound even as she grabbed him by the front of his armour and dragged him off of the rhino and onto the ground, bouncing off of his now dead body as the now riderless rhino thundered past her.

Rolling to her feet, Suki then instinctively threw up her shield and crouched low minimizing the amount of her body visible as she felt three arrows bouncing off her shield and a couple more striking the ground around her, one or two of them glancing off and tearing at her clothing, but not quite drawing blood,

( - )

"This is getting out of hand." Percy grumbled to himself, his green eyes darting over to Suki in concern before he leapt forward, rolling on the ground as he avoided another blast of fire, the expression on his face taut as the lack of large water sources nearby began to take their toll on him.

Percy was a powerful Demigod, of that there was no doubt. He was powerful enough that he could draw on water from numerous sources and didn't just have to rely on sources like lakes, rivers and the oceans. Unfortunately though the more finite the sources the harder it was to draw on, and the more concentration it required, and right now he didn't have much to work with.

"Right fuck it." Percy growled to himself, making it to his feet again now and bulling towards one of the Firebenders ignoring the burning fire as it rolled over him turning his skin pink but no more than that, not at this intensity anyway. After all he had survived globs of lava being thrown at him, it might have caused him so pain that he caused a volcanic explosion and was comatose for over a week, only surviving due to the tender care of Calypso, but he had still survived. It would take a lot more fire than these short blasts, or a more intense flames to properly debilitate him.

With this in mind he charged, his sword covered in water as he lashed out at the Firebender closest to him, the rapidly vibrating water increasing the cutting power of his blade as he slashed up and out. His blow cleaving through the Firebender's mail and stomach, and eliciting a cry of pain and surprise from the Firebender now as with a wet splat he felt to his knees his now bloody hands scrabbling futilely with his intestines as they seemed to want to spill out of his wound and onto the ground.

Tightening his expression at the sight of this, Percy ignored the man's screams and the cry of shock and rage from the other Firebender, as he instead latched onto the nearest source of water, the rapidly dying Firebender. His hand clenching into a claw as he ripped the blood out of the man's dying body and threw it like a javelin at the other Firebender, ignoring the metallic smell of copper as he sent a spear of blood at the now dead man's comrade

"Monster!" The other Firebender cried out, leaping across the ground as he did so and sending out a massive wave of fire, burning away the bloody spear with his own fury and fear now, the flames continuing on to Percy as the man's increased emotions gave them greater power.

"Well that's ironic." Percy growled, whipping his blade up and out again, slashing through the air with fervour. Each slash sending out crescents of bloody water at the now scared and defensive Firebender, the blades of water gouging into the earth and cutting through the trees behind the Firebender as he dodged, ducked, deflected and dived away.

Manoeuvring his opponent backwards and towards the trees Percy went entirely on the offensive now, his sea green eyes practically glowing as he saw arrows were continuing to fly from the woods and over at the column and Suki, who even now he could see was on the move again, leaping up as she mounted another rhino, surprising the rider as she slit his throat with a single brutal slash of her blade.

Slashing his sword to the side and intercepting one of the Firebenders blasts of fire, Percy decided to throw caution to the wind, raising his foot as he did so before he then slammed it down onto the ground. The action sending a shockwave through the earth from himself to the treeline, the earth between him and his target cracking in a single line as it struck, blowing though trees and rocks as it spread out.

Following this he could hear cries of shock and pain emanating from the forest, along with the shattering of trees as they collapsed or were uprooted by the sudden, ferocious, focused quake, even as the volley of arrows rapidly diminished. The archers themselves now finding themselves the ones under attack.

In the end the impact and subsequent rippling shockwaves from the attack caused a lull in the battle as the defenders of the column looked over at what had happened in shock, whilst the attackers reared back, some of them panicking as if they suspected that someone else was ambushing their ambush.

Of all of them Suki was the least surprised. The girl in question not even pausing as she took it in stride and hit another rhino rider her blade sliding into the weakened armour just below his arm pit, piercing his torso with a single smooth move. After which she threw him off the rhino and instead forced the creature to charge another of its fellows catching the already wounded creature in the side with its horns, goring it and stopping it from continuing its assault on Hef's wall.

Thrusting his hand out again before the Firebender had a chance to regain his feet, Percy sent another shockwave at him, only this time it passed through the air. The vibrational waves striking the man head on, cracking his armour and likely some of his bones as it lifted him clear off of his feet and sent him flying backwards into the forest behind him. His body making a sickening sound as it bounced off of several still upright trees.

Running after him Percy swung his sword up and deflected several arrows from the now wary archers as they took their attention off of the earthen wall and instead turned to the oncoming Percy, someone who they now deemed a far more dangerous threat.

Growling at this Percy continued his charge running for the tree line as he did so, before he screeched to a stop and slammed his fist into the earth. The ground below him reacting to his command in an instant, as with another explosion of force and more tremors rock spikes erupted from the ground shooting up through the earth all throughout the forest.

Not stopping at this, Percy ignored the chorus of screams and cries, with him instead rolling to one side, dodging a couple more arrows as he instead slapped a hand onto the nearest tree to him. His brow furrowing for a single moment, until a few seconds later he wrenched his hand away, a stream of water following it even as the large tree in front of him withered and died.

Covering his form with this new water, Percy lurched into the woods, his sword in one hand whilst his other grabbed a hold of other trees as he passed, the swirling water around him growing denser and fiercer as he leeched more and more water from his surroundings. His actions leaving a trail of withered and dead trees and plant life behind him as he stole the life giving water from anything he could, using it to replenish his own reserves even as he began to hunt the remaining ambushers through the woods.

Hearing these screams and cries, a look of controlled anger spread across Suki's face as she tackled the final rhino rider from his saddle, rolling away as she once again found her feet, after which she darted back in, her sword strikes rapid and unrelenting as she kept him on the defensive, not giving the much larger and more experienced soldier a chance to counterattack.

Her every strike held the resolve to kill as she sought weaknesses in the man's defences, her blade slashing across his right hand, cutting his cheek, screeching along his under arm tearing at the mail rings.

In response to this onslaught the man could only stumble backwards, trying to give himself room to either use his spear as more than a stave or to drop it and draw the sword at his hip.

Suki though didn't give him a chance, dogging his every step instead as she kept him moving, right up until a dagger hit him in the back of the neck and erupted from his throat with a spray of blood.

"Is this the last of them?" Hana asked curtly as she wrenched her dagger out of her soldier's throat allowing him to collapse to the side with a loud clank. The slightly older woman's eyes not even flickering over to him as she instead locked on Suki.

"The last of the rhino riders and Firebenders yeah." Suki replied with a nod, pushing down her frown at how Hana had stolen her victory from her as she instead looked back at where she had last seen Percy. Her gaze taking in the other seven dead rhino riders, one dead rhino and the two riderless rhinos that were still standing around on the pathway, these ones being the only two that didn't run off when their master was killed.

"Firebenders?" Hana asked sharply, even as the earth wall directly behind her collapsed, revealing the wagons, all of which where dotted with arrows, with the ground around them also being littered with the same red feathered arrows.

Hef also becoming visible now as he rested on one knee, his brow covered in sweat whislt two other men stood around him still carrying large wooden boards that they had used as makeshift shields to protect the only Earthbender in their group.

"Yeah there were two of them, Percy dealt with them though." Suki replied swiftly, nodding further up the pathway as she did so. "Did we have any casualties?"

"A few." Hana replied shortly, a grim look on her face now. "What about you, were you injured?"

Suki shook her head at that, one of her hands moving up to her shoulder where the material of her clothing was torn. "Nothing more than aesthetic damage. I got lucky, most of the archers were attacking your wall and not me."

Hana nodded curtly at that. "I think we all got lucky. I didn't think that there would be armed patrols in the area, not like this. Not so close to Omashu anyway."

"You look worried." Suki stated looking around now, noticing as she did how there hadn't been anymore arrows from the forest since Percy disappeared, the attack was over by the looks of it.

"I am, there shouldn't be such a force, and certainly not one bold enough to attack like this. It can only mean one thing, there must be a lot more of them out there to reinforce them if need be, which begs the question of why there are so many Fire Nation soldiers in this area when most of the fighting is taking place much further south."

"You think they might be preparing for an invasion, or at least laying ground work, that or maybe they're preparing to push the front much further north?" Suki surmised, her bluish grey eyes flicking back to the column now as she saw the weary and tired looking Hef approaching the duo.

"Probably." Hana muttered softly as she too looked over at Hef. "Hef, are you alright? How you holding up?"

"Fine." Hef replied curtly, his heavily browed feature twisting into a scowl. "We need to get moving soon, in case the fighting attracted more enemies…"

"Right, you start getting the injured on the wagons, we'll try and make it to Omashu or at least to a nearby town so they can be properly treated, Lin can only do so much. Whilst you do that I'll grab a few others and see if we can't scavenge some more supplies from the dead" Hana nodded, before she turned to Suki. "Suki, where's your friend Percy?"

"He's…" Suki began, only to be cut off as said friend stumbled from the forest, a blood stained sword in his hand, his clothing badly burnt and a weary look on his face as approached the group. "He's here."

"Good, can you two stand as lookouts?" Hana asked swiftly, her curious gaze moving over to the sweating and tired looking Percy for a moment, before going back to Suki. "We need to be out of here as fast as we can."

Suki nodded at that. "We'll go stand watch."

Hana nodded at that, whilst Hef simply grunted in response, his own hard eyes fixed on Percy. The larger man probably more aware of just what Percy had done than any of the others, after all he was an Earthbender and had been in tune with the earth when Percy had done what he had. He had felt the earth cry out as the shock wave ran through it, just as he had felt the brutal way the dark haired man had seized control of it, his will implacable as he didn't so much become one with the earth as he did force it to obey him.

"Good, the sooner we get off the road the better." Hana nodded, wiping the blood off of her dagger as she did so, before she sheathed it and grabbed her bow up off the ground from where she had previously dropped it.

( - )

(Sometime later with Azula)

There was a scowl on Princess Azula's usually stoic and immaculately beautiful face as she walked along the wall of her current base, a squad of four armoured and armed marines following along behind her as her protection details.

Despite her scowl though, Azula's golden eyes were impassive as she passed the occasional patrolling archer on the wall, each one she passed standing straighter as she did so as if frightened of being seen slacking off in front of the Fire Nation's infamous Crown Princess.

Coming to a pause just above the gateway to her base, Azula paused, looking out over the wall coldly as the wind swirling around her, blowing the long dark bangs that framed her face around as she looked out at her somewhat bleak surroundings even as the sun continued its descent and night swept over the land.

In the end she had decided to avoid the walled, Earth Kingdom controlled port town of Quinlan. With her having instead moved further up the coast to a much smaller nameless settlement at least a two days hard ride from the other port, and a single day's hard ride from Omashu.

The place was quaint and very small, with originally having a rough wooden palisade around it and several dozen small thatched wooden huts. The place was little more than a logger's camp, one used by men and women that cut trees, that had been cut down from deeper in land and floated down the river to the sea, into wooden planks, after which they processed them and shipped them off to the surrounding towns and cities.

It was not a wealthy place by any means, nor as secure as she had hoped would it be. The palisade surrounding the place was meant mainly for holding off wolves and the occasional band of bandits, it hadn't been created with any intention of holding off a proper fighting force.

Fortunately though her pet Earthbender, Captain Temujin, had soon sorted that issue out when he had gone around and thrown up high and strong earthen walls all around the settlement. Walls which her soldiers now patrolled, along with the surrounding area making sure they remained undiscovered for the moment, or at least until Azula was happy for them to reveal their presence.

Still the place was much easier to take than Quinlan would have been, in fact there had been almost no resistance when the battleship sailed into the bay, or when the forces she had already landed some mile or so further down the coast had surrounded the place. Instead the populace had just laid down and accepted that they were now under the rule of the Fire Nation, not even a single one had taken up a woodsmen's axe and attempted to fight them.

It had been disappointing, if not unsurprising. After all Azula led a small but powerful force of elite soldiers, they would have butchered anyone who resisted.

None had though, and so to reward that Azula had left them unmolested, save for forcing them to build some barracks for some of her soldiers and confiscating any weapons they might have had. But other than that she had left them alone. Nor did her soldiers bother them either, after all these were not run of the mill commoners but the elites. More than that though these were Fire Nation soldiers, they were disciplined, and knew that looting and pillaging was punishable by instant death.

The Fire Nation was waging this war to bring enlightenment and peace to the rest of the world after all, and this wasn't something that could be accomplished if their armies brutalised any village, town or city they overtook.

That being said Azula was not naive, she knew what some soldiers were like, just as she knew that some joined the army not due to any loyalty or patriotism but so they could release their vile inner desires, and unpleasantness, she knew, did on occasion ensue. But still these type of men and women did not last long, for more than a century the Fire Lords and their generals had been brutal in regards to discipline in the ranks, and ruthless in enforcing it. After all without discipline an army would fall into chaos and anarchy, and would never succeed.

It had been just over two days now since they had settled into their new base and already Azula had had the forest stripped back to create a killing field and had gone out of her way to ensure that neither Quinlan which was a good two day ride from the settlement, and Omashu which was another days ride in a different direction, knew of their presence.

Li and Lo had been right after all, Azula did not have an invasion force. Though that was not to say that there weren't Fire Nation forces in the area. Her father had passed on information that a plan was in the works for the invasion of Omashu, and that Fire Nations troops had been pushing further north into this area. Already Azula had sent out scouts to track down some of these units and bring them too her, some of whom had already returned with reinforcements, her mission did take priority after all.

Brushing her locks of dark hair behind her ears to stop them from waving about in front of her face, Azula continued to scowl out at the surrounding forest. Despite her recent successes though she was still currently blind as to what was going on, her scouts had not picked up any word on the Avatar's location.

It was getting to the point at which she was preparing to make her presence known to the surrounding area so as to attract some attention. However before she could do that she needed to finish preparing her base, and hopefully reinforcing her current forces.

More than that though, Azula was also annoyed that neither Mai or Tylee, her closest friends and some of her deadliest and most skilled associates were with her, yet anyway.

They were on their way though, she had received word from Mai just the other day, a short, curt message that said she was on her way with some of her household guards. No doubt the news of Zuko's death had spurred her on like Azula had thought it would.

Tylee similarly had replied, though her letter had been longer and more flowery, but all the same had announced that she was joining Azula and Mai on their mission. That being said the exact reason why her usually airheaded and flighty friend would so readily agree was not yet known to Azula yet, but she appreciated the help all the same. In fact in a way she was glad she didn't have to strong-arm Tylee into coming by using her father's authority.

"Princess Azula." One of Azula's guards spoke up, his voice polite as he gestured over the wall and over at the tree line where a half dozen of her rhino riders and three score infantry men were approaching.

"Hmm, it seems reinforcements have arrived." Azula muttered to herself resting her hands on the earthen walls as she saw the group approaching, recognising as she did some of her own marines that were leading them.

More recognisable than that though was the appearance and posture of some of the infantry men. Where most of them looked fit and healthy, resplendent in their dark and red armour as they marched in perfect file, spear men, swordsmen and axe men at the front and back and archers in the middle. Some of them looked decidedly more battered and tired, as if they had recently been in a fight.

"Bring me Commander Luwin, and the ones that look like they have been in a fight, I want a report immediately." Azula commanded to no one in particular, referencing the commander of her rhino riders as she did so. Her golden eyes not leaving the soldiers that had been in a fight.

She needed to know what had happened after all, if they had indeed been in a fight and had allowed some of their opponents to escape then that could mean the Earth Kingdom forces in the area might already be aware of the growing Fire Nation presence.

Which, if that was the case, meant that she would need to bring forward her plans to compensate. After all the last thing she wanted was to be outmanoeuvred by some Earth Kingdom peasants playing soldier just because she had been caught unawares.

"Yes Princess." One of her guards replied swiftly, before he turned and jogged away, even as the column of soldiers continued their approach.

"Get me Li and Lo too, I may need them." Azula added on to another of her men, even as the rest of the settlement came alive, soldiers running to the walls, and archers nocking arrows just in case. One did not simply take chances, not when they were in enemy territory.

( - )

(With Percy six hours after the ambush)

"I don't think I got all of them, I managed to get about ten but most of them fled. Cowards the lot of them, they were more than happy to fire off arrows at refugees when they were at a safe distance, but the moment you get close and confront them they run. It's a pity really, I was hoping to vent some of my anger, and there is nothing more therapeutic than a good fight." Percy muttered to Suki as the pair of them sat around a small fire in the middle of their impromptu, walled camp.

Unfortunately in the end they hadn't been able to make it to a town before nightfall, initially Hana had wanted to head to the port town of Quinlan, but that ended up being a three day journey away, whilst Omashu was only just over a day's hard march from the sight of the Ambush. Which is why they had headed for Omashu, hoping to run into some travellers on the way, that or to come across a smaller settlement. In the end however they had been forced to once again set up camp just off of the road when night had drawn in properly and none of the group could see more than a few paces in front of them even with the light of torches.

A half an hour later and they had set up their camp and eaten a quick meal. Despite this though none of them really relaxed, not when the cries of the wounded could still be heard over the crackling of the fire.

In the end there had been a least half a dozen wounded in the ambush. Most had just been clipped by arrows, flesh wounds at worst. A couple though had received nastier injuries, one of the women with the caravan had been hit in the gut by an arrow, and one of the men received an arrow in the leg, one that obviously hit something vital as he had been bleeding out by the end of the fight.

Fortunately there had been no deaths yet, but for the two badly injured ones it was not looking good. Percy had been able to use his water bending to clot the wounds, and the group's healer had put on a poultice and wrapped the wounds in linen, but that had been the most they could do. What would happen next was anyone's guess.

Suki gave him a slightly jaundiced look at that, before she jerked a thumb towards a covered wagon not that far away. "I'm sure the wounded in that cart would disagree with your idea of therapy."

Percy winced as he heard that, before he looked over at Suki. "In this life, Suki, as harsh as it may seem, people get hurt. Just be glad it wasn't your turn."

Suki scowled as she heard that, her mouth opening as if she were about to snap at the callousness of Percy's words. Before she could though she caught sight of his face, and the obvious tiredness on it. Everyone had their ways of coping with pain and heartache, probably the last thing either of them needed right now was to be getting in a fight, not over something as silly as some ill thought out words.

"You did well out there." Percy said after a few moments, looking over at Suki now, his hand closing over hers as he gave it a slight squeeze.

"You sound as if you were worried." Suki muttered, leaning closer to Percy now, hoping to find comfort in his warmth as a sudden chill ran through her as she thought back on the fight.

"Worried?" Percy asked in surprise, before he sighed. "Honestly I was terrified."

"Really you?" Suki asked incredulously, Percy honestly didn't seem the type to feel fear, not even in a life and death fight.

"I wasn't scared for myself." Percy muttered after a few moments, before he looked back to Suki.

"You were scared something would happen to me?" Suki replied softly.

"A fight is chaotic no matter how skilled or talented you are. All it takes is a single slip up, a single mistake and that's it." Percy replied hollowly, looking back at the fire now. "I've lost many of my friends in battle. Some of them made mistakes and paid the ultimate price for it. Others, others fought against an unassailably powerful enemy, one they never stood a chance against."

"Well I can promise I don't plan on dying anytime soon." Suki replied softly, moving closer to Percy now, smiling slightly as he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close.

"You two might as well get an early night." Hana spoke up bluntly interrupting the moment as she crashed onto the ground next to the fire, large dark bags forming under her eyes like bruises and blood staining her hands as she ran a hand through her messy brown hair. "We're setting off at first light. Omashu shouldn't be more than a couple of hours ride from here. But even so I don't want to take any chances."

"How are the wounded?" Suki asked immediately.

Hana looked more tired than ever as she heard that. "They're alive, but they're weak. I've already sent off some riders to Omashu asking for help, I would have sent the wounded too but I don't want to jostle them about too much and undo your work Percy."

"I just wish I could have done more." Percy muttered, and he was being honest. Some Waterbenders Percy knew were capable of using their bending to heal people, he wasn't sure how but they were the Water Tribe traders at Kyoshi had told him that much.

Percy though didn't have that ability, or at least if he did then he didn't have the first clue of how to use it. Sure he could heal himself well enough with water due to his status as a Son of Poseidon, but it appeared he couldn't transfer that healing to others, not unless they also somehow had the blood of a sea god.

"It's fine, you've already done more than enough." Hana replied tiredly, rubbing her eyes as she did so, after which she sent both Suki and Percy a grateful look. "Without you two we probably would have been overwhelmed and slaughtered. Honestly I thank the spirits that we met you, and that you came along, otherwise, well otherwise I don't even want to think what would have happened."

"You should get some rest too Hana." Suki said taking Hana's hand as she did so before giving it a squeeze. "Some of the others are on sentry duty at the moment, for now you should sleep."

Hana nodded at that, "You're right."

A few moments later the older woman gave them another nod before she got up and headed for one of the tents.

"She's right you know, you should head off too." Percy muttered to Suki, looking away from the flickering flames now and back at Suki, the light causing the shadows across his face to dance about wildly.

"Okay, but I don't want to sleep alone." Suki replied, taking Percy's hand now her soft grey eyes boring into his.

"Suki?" Percy asked softly as he allowed her to pull him to his feet and dragged him over to the tent they shared.

"Please Percy, I-I just want to forget, I just want to feel good and forget about everything else." Suki said, a slight quake in her voice now as she turned and grabbed Percy tightly around the waist.

"Suki." Percy muttered again, gently cupping her face in his hand, his sea green eyes trailing over the desperate, determined look on her face, looking for any traces of doubt, or apprehension. He saw none, instead he saw only desire, desperation and complete trust.

Percy smiled softly as he looked down at that. "It's hardly a suitable place for our first time."

"I don't care." Suki replied, tugging him to their tent more firmly now. "I don't want to wait around, not when we both know how short life can be. I want you now."

Percy smiled again at that, the haunted look in his gaze dispersing as he instead fixed on the strong, fascinating, confusing, befuddling beauty in front of him, even as he allowed her to drag him into their shared tent. Only this night unlike the others, they would not just be sleeping.

( - )

AN: So what do you all think? I hope you enjoyed it! I am sure I will hear some things from people about power levels and how Percy should be able to do this that or the other, by now I've gotten used to this. I mean don't get me wrong I know everyone has different opinions but still.

That being said I hope you all enjoyed and leave a review. Plus if you have time please do check out some of my other stories, I have a whole variety of them.

So yep, thanks for reading, I'll see you all later.

Greed720.