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Where the Wind Blows

If the blades were even a hair closer, Aang's neck would be sliced.

Despite the terrified pounding of his heart, it felt as if the blood had evaporated from his body. In all honesty, it was pure survival instinct that compelled Aang to move as his hitherto savior backed them both out of Pohuai Stronghold. He kept thinking – hoping, really – that this was just part of a ruse. Who's to say the masked man wouldn't cut the Avatar's throat if he had to? Zhao certainly couldn't be sure.

Then again, neither could Aang.

The two of them had worked together so well, up until that point. The masked man had broken his chains, fought beside him, had saved him. He couldn't actually be willing to kill him after all that, right?

As they backed further away from the gate, the swords receded slightly and Aang felt some of his tension ease. The man clearly didn't want to hurt him. In fact, Aang couldn't blame him for the stunt after Zhao shouted his own men down from potentially killing the Avatar, as it would only lead to a new Avatar being born. The rest of the world could wait for a new Avatar, they already had for a hundred years, but Zhao and the Fire Nation couldn't after coming so close.

It was a risky bluff, but the masked man pulled it off.

Or so they thought.

Up on the ramparts, Aang saw Zhao watching them. And there was someone else up there, too. It almost looked like…

"Get down!" Aang yelled.

The masked man threw them both to the ground just as the arrow sailed overhead.

"Attack!"

Aang helped the masked man back to his feet and the two of them set off running as arrows started to rain down. Sweeping a strong burst of air around them, Aang created a thick dust cloud to cover their escape as more arrows pelted towards them. However, Aang soon realized he'd been just a fraction of a second too late.

His rescuer was crouched on the ground again, clutching at his shoulder where an arrow had pierced deep into his flesh. The blood was already beginning to trickle through the man's fingers. Aang knew he had to act fast.

"Don't let them escape!" Zhao's voice echoed down as the gates opened again.

By the time the guards charged through the dissipating dust cloud, Aang and the masked man were gone.

There was a lot of blood.

More than Aang could ever remember seeing in his life. The two of them couldn't stay in the forest, not with the masked man so badly injured. He considered trying to get him up to the crazy herbalist lady, but she was all the way back up the mountain. At this point, Aang's only real choice was to take him back to his camp at the Taku ruins. They had bandages in the medical kit, so Aang would at least be able to staunch the bleeding. For now, the best Aang could do was remove his belt sash and use it to bind the wound as tightly as he could.

It was moments like this that made Aang wish he knew more about first aid care. Besides his bleeding companion, he still needed to retrieve the frozen frogs for Sokka and Katara. Chances were, they would know more about tending to serious injuries than he did. He just had to hope that his new friend would be able to make it until then.

As he supported his struggling companion, he felt the heaviness on his shoulders steadily increasing. The masked man was beginning to lose consciousness.

Aang was genuinely scared, then. He couldn't let the masked man die. After he'd risked his life to break Aang out of Pohuai, there was a debt of gratitude that now lay between them. This man was not going to die as long as Aang could prevent it. So, taking a deep breath, Aang pressed on through the forest, using a subtle airbending technique that helped support the man's weight.

It was a lesser-known airbending skill, one designed to ease burdens and allow airbenders to carry heavier loads than other people. Aang had once even heard it said that airbending gave the Air Nomads superhuman strength. In reality, it was about manipulating the air around a person's body, allowing the air to become stronger than the object resisting it. It was similar in principle to airbending temperature regulation techniques.

As the sunlight began to filter through the trees, Aang saw the outskirts of Taku.

"We're almost there," Aang said. "Just hang on a little longer. You're going to be okay."

The masked man gave a faint groan. At least he was still responsive.

It was the trek up into the ruins that felt excruciatingly long. Aang did his best to keep from jostling the masked man too much, though he still let out a pained grunt every now and then. Eventually, though, they got back to the campsite, which had somehow gotten packed with all kinds of junk in Aang's absence.

Aang didn't dwell on that too long, though. He gently set the masked man against the wall and began to hastily rummage through the medical pack.

"A-Aang?" Katara said, waking from her fever-induced sleep. "You're back? W-what's going on?"

"I'm sorry, Katara," Aang said quickly. "I got kidnapped by Zhao. I'll get you and Sokka your medicine soon, but I really need some bandages."

Katara blinked and shook herself into a stronger awareness of the situation.

"Are you hurt?"

"No, but the guy who rescued me is. Got it!"

Aang hurried back over to the masked man's side, only to freeze at the sight of how bad the injury was. The man was leaning over, his breathing very shallow. The blood was still oozing steadily from where the arrow had pierced him and Aang's makeshift bandages from his belt sash had only provided minor relief.

"Katara, I don't know what…what do I do? I…"

Katara shakily got to her feet and approached.

"Just stay calm, Aang. You need to bind the wound tightly." She gave a few coughs into her sleeve. "Don't…don't remove the arrow. He'll bleed out faster if you do."

They eased the man in a more comfortable position on his back and Katara carefully went through how to bind up a wound. Aang's hands were shaking, but he made sure to listen closely to her instructions. However, Katara was in no state to be trying to assist him, either. She was clearly straining to stay focused and awake. Still, she persisted and was quite insistent that she was all right enough to guide him through what needed to be done.

Once Aang had finished fastening the bandages firmly around the masked man's wound, he told Katara to go back to resting and he'd retrieve the medicine to help her and Sokka. Katara insisted that she would watch the masked man in case he went into shock or started bleeding through the bandages. Besides, someone had to apply pressure to the wound.

Aang gave a nod, grabbed his glider, and then flew off as quickly as he could.

The soft notes of music drifted on the wind as light spilled across the deck of the ship.

"What a beautiful jasmine flower," Lieutenant Jee sang as the rest of the Music Night musicians played, "What a beautiful Jasmine flower. Sweet-smelling, beautiful, stems full of buds. Fragrant and white, everyone praises. Let me pluck you down to give to someone. Jasmine flower, oh Jasmine flower."

Iroh wiped a tear from his eye. The lieutenant really did have a wonderful singing voice.

There was a good turn out for the Music Night. Some of the men didn't generally engage with the activity, as they felt obliged to get to bed early or tend to other responsibilities. Usually, it was just Iroh, Lieutenant Jee, Gorou the cook, Engineer Tai, and Jiro, who was one of the three enlisted firebenders.

However, last night, the whole crew had come out to enjoy the sweet sounds of melody to cheer them through the drudgery of being detained in the port due to Admiral Zhao's lockdown. Iroh had even noticed a few stragglers on the docks stopping to listen. It warmed his heart to know he was helping spread a little joy at such a time.

"I think that's enough for one night," Lieutenant Jee said. "We all need some sleep."

Iroh wished them all pleasant dreams, but remained in his seat with his tsungi horn.

"General Iroh, aren't you going to get some rest, sir?" Jee asked him.

"Not just yet. I feel like enjoying the morning breeze."

After Jee left, Iroh continued to watch the docks. He knew that his nephew had snuck out during the night and he was certain he knew why. He tried not to let the worry overcome him as the hours began to drag on. He knew that Zuko was talented at any number of things that he set his mind to, and he trusted that his nephew could take care of himself.

Still, concern began to gnaw at Iroh's stomach as morning passed with no sign of Zuko.

He told himself that it would be fine. That Zuko was capable and competent. There had been no alarms so far and there was certainly no reason to panic.

So, Iroh waited. And waited. And waited.

Katara watched the masked man as she firmly pressed her hands down onto his wound, fighting against the heaviness in her eyelids as her illness-stricken body cried out for sleep.

Whoever this man was, he was a friend. He had saved Aang, he had stood against the Fire Nation and that lunatic Zhao, and Aang trusted him enough to bring him back to camp. That, in Katara's eyes, meant he must be a friend. At the very least, he had to be a good person if he was willing to risk his own life to save the Avatar.

Katara gave herself a little shake and sat up straighter, determined not to fall asleep until Aang got back.

The man's breathing was still very weak and he would need serious medical attention. Once his wound wasn't posing an imminent risk to his life, they needed to get him to a physician. It would've been better if they could get him to one immediately, but he was in no state to be moved again.

Her head began to feel cloudy again and she jolted as she felt herself beginning to nod off.

She gave a kind smile to the masked man, though he was likely in a deep sleep from what had happened and didn't even notice.

"We're going to be okay," she said, her throat sore and strained. She felt dizzy, too, and was desperately thirsty, but she still tried to put on a brave face, even in front of an unconscious person. "Th-thank you for saving Aang. I don't know what we would have done if…" She choked through another cough, keeping her lips pursed so she didn't accidentally make him sick in addition to the undoubtedly painful injury.

That blue mask just grinned back silently.

Katara felt a sudden urge to see the man's true face. Almost without realizing it, she reached one hand out to touch the mask. That was when the man must have woken, as he gripped her hand to stop her and tried to push himself away.

"It's all right, you're safe," Katara said. "Aang will be back soon."

The man looked around, trembling slightly, before dropping his head back down. He was clearly exhausted and hurt and likely panicked after the night he and Aang had gone through. She suddenly felt terribly guilty for trying to take off his mask without his permission; that had been completely inappropriate and a total violation of his privacy. To say nothing of how irresponsible it was to take one of her hands off the wound when she needed to keep applying pressure.

She gave herself another shake to clear her head and resumed tending to him.

Thankfully, Aang returned before too long. He'd stopped by the herbalist again to get some things to help their new friend. He then handed Katara a small object that looked like an oddly-shaped chunk of ice.

"The herbalist said you and Sokka need to suck on these things and they'll clear up your sickness no problem."

Katara obliged as Aang went over to give one to Sokka. Whatever the thing was tasted strange, but the effects came quickly. Her throat wasn't so sore and the murky, congested feeling in her head was fading. After a few minutes, though, the thing in her mouth moved.

Katara spat it out with a cry of revulsion and saw that it was a small frog.

"Ughhh!"

She began aggressively wiping her tongue on her sleeve and had to fight the urge to scream some very unladylike words.

"Aang, what in the world was that?!" Sokka yelled, having shot awake once his delirium started to clear up.

"A frozen wood frog," Aang said simply.

As Sokka began to rant at Aang about how the frog was going to give him warts in his throat, Katara straightened herself up, told Aang to take over applying pressure to the masked man's wound, and started looking through the supplies Aang brought back. The blood had, indeed, soaked through the bandages and the wound would need some serious work. For now, Katara would do her best to patch it up so they could get the man safely to the nearest physician.

"Who's this guy?" Sokka asked, suddenly noticing the masked man.

Aang then began regaling them with the story of how he'd been taken prisoner while Katara worked on the man's shoulder. Among the supplies was a bottle of powder that would make the blood clot to stop the bleeding, as well clean bandages and something that was supposed to purge the body of bloodborne toxins and prevent infection.

"Aang, I'm going to need some clean water," said Katara.

"On it!" Aang said before zipping off at high speed.

"Sokka, could you get a fire going?"

"Yeah, sure," Sokka muttered. "Not like I just woke up from being sick."

"Sokka, we all need to keep warm. Unless you want to relapse and have to suck on another frog."

"I'm going, I'm going."

Once Aang returned with the water, Katara carefully waterbended some of it over to the masked man's wound and began to clean around the arrow. She furrowed her brow as she contemplated how she could ease the man's discomfort. She couldn't remove the arrow outright, as he would only start bleeding more heavily, but she could do what she could to keep the area clean and free of infection. As she cleaned the wound, the water around her hands felt strange and she thought there was a faint glow, but she brushed it off as the glare from the morning sunlight reflecting off the water. Thankfully, the bleeding was beginning to subside and the wound didn't look quite as bad as before. After discarding the dirtied water and making sure the skin was dry, Katara sprinkled some of the powder Aang got from the herbalist onto the man's shoulder.

The man let out a small hiss as she did so.

"Is he going to be all right?" Aang asked, his tone hesitant.

"He should be," said Katara. "But we'll need to find a doctor to get the arrow out."

Once the powder settled, Katara began wrapping the injury in fresh bandages.

"Do you think the herbalist could help him?" Katara continued.

"I asked her when I went back. She said her patients tend to suffer from burn wounds or lacerations, so she's not really experienced at surgery. Most surgeons are apparently in towns or military outposts."

"I'm back," Sokka called out, hauling in a load of firewood. He immediately started on making the campfire. "So, what's the plan for our blue-faced friend, here?"

"We need to find a doctor," said Aang. "Sokka, does the map say if there are any towns nearby?"

Sokka paused his work and fished the map out of his knapsack.

"It looks like there's a town right across the river," he said. "The Fire Nation seems to primarily occupy this side and to the north. Aang, where did you say that fortress was."

"Right here," said Aang, pointing at the map. "A couple miles in from the fork in the river."

Sokka blinked at him.

"You dragged Bluey, over there, all that way?"

"I couldn't just leave him behind."

"How'd you manage that, Aang? That was miles of distance with a dead weight on your shoulders. No offence," Sokka added as a courtesy to the unconscious man.

"It's an airbending technique, Sokka. It makes things less heavy."

"Uh-huh, and how long have you been able to do this technique?"

"Since I was ten."

"Then why do you always complain about how heavy your travel pack is when we walk?"

"Oh, uh, I guess it didn't occur to me to use it, then."

Sokka slapped himself on the forehead.

"Hey, where's that campfire?" said Katara. "I need to brew this detoxing medicine."

"I'm getting to it," Sokka replied. "Don't rush me."

He soon had a decent-sized fire going and Katara managed to find a copper kettle in the mass of junk Momo brought them. She mixed the detoxing medicine in with the water and, once it was hot enough, poured it into a small bowl.

"We need to make sure he's awake," she said. "He might choke if we just pour it into his mouth."

She reached out and gently shook his good shoulder, taking care not to jostle him too much. He gave another groan and began to stir.

"Look, he's coming to," said Katara. "Can you hear me?"

The mask bobbed slightly. Though, whether it was because he actually heard her or because he was still delirious was anyone's guess.

"I need you to drink this. It'll prevent blood poisoning."

She eased him up slightly and made to remove his mask, but the man suddenly jerked away. He attempted to shove her away from him, though with minimal success due to his condition.

"Hey, calm down! I'm just trying to help!"

Aang and Sokka moved forward to assist her as the man became more agitated. Katara had to move back in order to avoid spilling the medicine. Aang decided that the best thing to do was sit on the man's legs to prevent him from getting away. Sokka, for his part, lightly poked the man's injured shoulder, causing him to cringe and groan once more. Sokka then took the opportunity to lift up the mask just enough for the man's mouth to be exposed.

"Now, Katara!" Sokka shouted.

Quick as a weasel-snake, Katara leapt in, pressed the bowl to the man's lips, and tipped its contents down his throat. The man struggled but was powerless in the face of three uninjured people who were determined to make him take his medicine.

"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" said Sokka. "Better than having to suck on frozen frogs, at least."

The man gave another grunt before steadily slumping against the floor. They weren't sure if it was the pain, the stress, or the medicine that knocked him out that time, but he was dead to the world, yet again.

"All this fuss over a stupid mask?" Sokka said. He reached a hand out to the mask, his intention clear.

"What are you doing?" said Katara.

"What does it look like? I want to see what this guy's trying to hide."

"Sokka!"

"What? I'm just being cautious. We have no idea who this guy is."

"He saved Aang from Zhao. I think that's all we need to know."

"Katara, be sensible. We can't take risks on people we don't know. Especially not after what happened with Jet."

"This is completely different."

"No, it's not. This guy saved Aang, sure. And Jet saved us from that camp of Fire Nation soldiers only to turn around and try to kill a whole town of innocent people."

"Aang?" Katara said, turning to him for support.

"It does seem kind of rude," said Aang. "Maybe he's just really sensitive about his appearance and taking off his mask without permission would be upsetting for him. I think we should respect his privacy, Sokka."

"Why do you guys have to make everything so complicated?" said Sokka. "It's not like it'll hurt him."

Katara and Aang both leveled annoyed glares at him.

"Fine, okay, I'll leave him be," said Sokka. "If you'll excuse me, I'm just gonna – sneak attack!"

Sokka immediately spun back around to make a grab for the mask. Aang and Katara managed to jump him just before his fingers could reach it.

"Sokka, stop it, right now!" said Katara. "You're acting like an idiot!"

"Just let me get a peek!"

"For the last time, Sokka, no! Aang, do something!"

Aang took a deep breath and used an air-blast to send them all tumbling back away from the masked man. However, this proved to have unforeseen consequences, as the force of the air also knocked against the man Aang and Katara had been trying to protect.

The mask came loose and clattered across the floor.

Author's Note: Ahh, nothing like the first chapter of a new fanfic. It honestly feels really good to get back into writing AtLA fics. I wanted to come back to my roots and write a good, old Zutara fic and flex my worldbuilding muscles a bit since I started getting some new thoughts on that front. For instance, the thing where Aang uses airbending to make Zuko easier to carry was me trying to explain how Aang was able to save Zuko when he got knocked out in the Blue Spirit episode (carrying an unconscious person is no easy feat, especially if it is someone bigger than you). Also, the song Lieutenant Jee sings is an actual Chinese folk song from the Qing dynasty (translated into English) called "Mo Li Hua." I remembered that Iroh said Jee sang a "stirring love song" in the Blue Spirit episode and this seemed to fit for that. Anyway, this is my welcome home fic for the fandom that is perhaps the dearest of all to me.

AtLA was my first ever fandom and really helped develop a lot of my writing skills. I sadly felt I had to abandon some of my older works as I think my style has changed a lot over the years and I've since delved into other fandoms. I've had so much going on and so many new interests that I kind of fell out of my AtLA experience.

For instance, I've also become heavily addicted to Chinese dramas. Like, they are so far on a different level from the stuff we have in the west, it is mind-boggling. I've learned so much more about Chinese culture than I ever expected. It was a bit jarring at first, but now I like C-dramas so much they make up the majority of my viewing experience and have started to influence my own writing. In fact, I decided to get back into AtLA because of all the C-dramas I've been watching. I know most people draw a comparison between AtLA and anime, but I honestly think it has much more in common with Chinese Wuxia and Xianxia films/shows.

Furthermore, to express my love for C-dramas, I will be giving you all a recommendation from my personal watchlist in each chapter. You can find most of these on YouTube or streaming services like NetFlix (though some require specific sites like Rakuten Viki).

Today's recommended watch is The Untamed, based on the novel Mo Dao Zu Shi (Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. This was the first C-drama I ever watched. It was a little confusing, at first, because I wasn't familiar with the genre and hadn't watched many shows with subtitles before, but the story was so incredible that I didn't mind. Best way I can sum it up is: Evil dark lord necromancer has come back from the dead due to a goth kid performing a blood ritual to get revenge on his abusers. Said dark lord necromancer then proves to be an adorable goofball who likes making mischief and was actually the victim of circumstances and vicious rumors because the martial arts sects are largely comprised of jerks. Then you get his lengthy, tragic backstory about how everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked – that's not even a joke. He then teams up with his gorgeous and incredibly cool boyfriend to solve a series of mysteries.

The original story is a danmei (basically, it's the Chinese version of yaoi, but it has, like, plot and character development and stuff) and it's so fascinating how the cast had to work around the Chinese censors to portray a love story between two men without outright saying that it's gay because the Chinese government hates gayness.

Also, I highly recommend checking out the original story (either in physical book form or the webnovel version), as well as the other works of our danmei queen Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. "Scum Villain Self-Saving System" is her first novel and is an isekai where stuff actually happens and shows what you get when you turn a harem power fantasy into a love story between two disaster boys. "Heaven Official's Blessing," MXTX's third series, is something so beyond words I'm not sure where to even start, but the long and short of it is that a bunch of gods and ghosts are having drama while, in the background, a trash god and a ghost king are just hanging out and having a domestic fluff experience until they inevitably have to deal with everyone else's problems. And they solve mysteries and stuff, too, I guess.