I would have had this chapter out yesterday but every piece of free time where I would have otherwise had time to write was taken up by something else.

RonaldM40196867: Yes, considering spirits themselves do.

Zigzagdoublezee: Correct!

TORONTOSUN: Thanks! And, well, that's what friends are for.

As Always, Please Review!

The sight of the riverboats caused Yue to panic and her waterbending to falter, and the villagers in the river barely managed to scramble to safety on the other side before the current roared back in full force, restoring the water level to where it had been previously.

"Do not move!" A loudspeaker mounted on the lead ship blared. "We have you surrounded!"

Yue rushed back towards her friends in a panic.

"What do we do?" She hissed.

"Run?" Sokka replied.

"And leave all of these people?" Katara demanded angrily.

"We won't help them by being captured with them!" Rinzen pointed out.

Yue looked around. Panic was beginning to set in, and people were retreating from the river, turning and running back the way they had come, but the sound of thundering footsteps from up the road heralded the arrival of Fire Cavalry riding monstrous lizard creatures that Yue had never seen before, blocking their retreat. They levelled spears at the villagers, who backed up.

The lead boat drew level with them, and anchors began to be deployed. Soldiers splashed into the water and rushed ashore. Something soft landed on top of Yue, and she indignantly scrabbled at it for a moment before looking up and seeing Sokka gesturing at her to stop. She realized what he must have done and drew the cloak around herself, hiding her white and blue clothes and hair from scrutiny.

The message was clear, if a bit harsh, and completely true; she did not have the skills necessary to fight her way out of this one quite yet.

"Do not move!" The voice was shouting. "And do not take off! We have the firepower to blast that bison out of the sky!"

Rinzen scowled at that.

Finally, a gangplank was lowered and a man in a fancier uniform than the others appeared, strolling down it almost leisurely. He was flanked by more soldiers. As his feet touched dry land, he reached up and took off his helmet, revealing a face with a permanent arrogant smirk and a pair of majestic sideburns.

"Don't worry!" He called. "You have my word I am not going to hurt you."

"Who are you?" The Mayor stepped forwards, as boldly as he could manage.

"I am Commodore Zhao," Commodore Zhao said proudly. "Commander of the riverine component of the northern squadron on behalf of Admiral Jeong Jeong. And who are you?"

"Civilians," the Mayor told him. "We're none of your business."

"Aren't you?" Zhao's eyes glittered. "Everything that goes on in these rivers is my concern. When you have a war to win, every little detail could be crucial. And that includes you."

"There's nothing here for you," the Mayor insisted. "We're just refugees!"

"Refugees?" Zhao repeated innocently. "Fleeing what?"

"The Fire Nation! You attacked us!"

"Ah," Zhao pretended that this fact was just dawning on him for the first time. "But surely if you're running from us, that means you must feel like there's something to fear from us. Am I right?"

Yue, from under her cloak, knew that he was right, because there was something malicious about Zhao's manner.

The Commodore did not wait for the Mayor to continue.

"And if you have something to fear from us, that must mean you consider us your enemies."

"What? No!" The Mayor protested, but Zhao was already barking orders.

"Bring the ropes!" He was shouting. "And prepare the holds! We've got prisoners!"

The Fire Nation soldiers and marines began to fan out into a perimeter around the villagers.

"Wait!" Yue heard herself shouting, and then she had thrown off the cloak and was striding towards Zhao. Only after she had revealed herself did she realise she had absolutely no plan.

He turned towards her, a look of confusion on his face.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" He asked. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, of course, but I'm in the middle of something..."

He trailed off.

"Though what's a Water Tribe girl doing in the middle of the Earth Kingdom?"

"I am Yue, Princess of the North. Your people attacked mine." She stated firmly, conveniently leaving out the part where she was the Avatar. Hopefully that particular news wouldn't have spread yet.

"Did we?" Zhao feigned ignorance. "Well, if we did we must have had some good reason."

"Leave these people alone," Yue insisted. "I would be a more valuable prisoner to you than any of them combined."

Zhao laughed.

"That's quite an arrogant thing to say," he replied. "You don't know the half of what we have planned for them. But, if you insist..."

He reached up with one hand and made a gesture, and the next second Yue was swept off her feet by a big flying net, launched from one of the ships. A moment later, Sokka and Katara were likewise bowled over by nets, although Rinzen managed to dodge the one meant for him. He was soon surrounded by Firebenders and looked around anxiously.

"If you really are the Princess," Zhao knelt down beside her, "You will be a valuable hostage. I don't know how, that stuff is a bit beyond my pay grade, but the Firelord will find some use for you. But he can also find a use for these people. There is a place for everyone in the new world we are building."

"Don't hurt them!" Yue growled.

"I'm not going to hurt them!" Zhao held his hands up. "I promise! Like I say, they will have a crucial role to play."

He stepped away.

"Please!" The mayor rushed up to him. "You can't do this!"

"I can and I will!" Zhao spat. But it didn't put off the mayor, who kept badgering him.

"Please!" He said again. "We're innocent! Please don't-"

"ENOUGH!" Zhao bellowed, whirling on him with a backhanded blow to the Mayor's face which sent the man reeling. "Are you going to be like this all the way back to base or are you going to just shut up?"

A flame ignited in his hand as he stalked towards the fallen official.

"Maybe I should set an example," he sneered. "Then we won't have to worry about useless chit-chat. Not if anyone knows what's good for them, that is."

Yue saw Zhao raise his fist over the other man, saw him cower and shield his face with his arm, and a new emotion flowed through her, one that she could never remember having truly felt before: Rage.

She felt power surge through her, a white hot energy coursing through her system, heard a voice, a thousand voices that weren't hers shouting at Zhao, then a burst of air, sudden freedom as the net fell away, and her vision faded to white.