"General Iroh, you're here to see the prisoner?"

The Dragon of the West held his head up high, eyeing the two guards who were standing by the entrance of the small prison located within the base. Iroh had not come to the prison for no reason, having thought about why a man would try to murder him; the reason he was so interested was because the man was not a soldier, clearly shown by his rather unusual fighting style, and obviously he didn't expect to survive the attempt. He had been burnt by the Prince's guards, and though he had considered attacking him himself, he decided to intervene and stop his men before they killed the man. Not knowing why somebody had tried to kill him was eating away at him, and that was why he had come to the prison.

"I am." he answered the guard's question, "Where's his cell?" he asked, and the guard turned around to unlock the door.

Once it was open, his comrade moved to stand in front of the doorway as Iroh was led inside, protecting the prison from any potential attackers; it was possible the man was part of a group, and that his comrades might attempt to free him, which would be possible if they could get inside and got themselves some keys. The General eyed the empty cells that lined on either side, approaching the one cell that was occupied; inside that cell, he could see the prisoner, his arms and legs bandaged, with a bandage over his head as well. The man couldn't be that old, perhaps only in his twenties, and he was clearly not happy to see Iroh come to his cell; perhaps he thought he had come to gloat, but that was unlike the Prince, who did not take such trivial pride in his actions.

"Oh... here we go." the prisoner groaned, "When do you hang me?" he simply asked the General, who eyed the guard who had led him inside.

"I'd like to speak with the prisoner alone." he admitted, and the soldier's eyes narrowed, seeming a little interested.

"Are you going to do it yourself, General?" he asked, and Iroh's eyes widened, realising that he had suggested he might just execute the man himself, presumably with his firebending.

"Of course not." he scoffed, eyeing the prisoner with a serious expression, "I am not here to kill this man, no matter his intentions for me."

"Apologies, your highness." the soldier saluted him, "I didn't mean to assume." he conceded, before hastily making his way down the hall, back toward the front door of the prison.

The Prince turned his gaze back toward the prisoner as the guard left them alone, and he noted the fear in the man's eyes, "I was not just trying to get him out of here. I'm not here to kill you."

"Hmph." he mumbled, narrowing his cold eyes on the General, "So, you don't have the guts to kill me when you send your men to slaughter soldiers like livestock?" he questioned the morality of his stance, "You could at least have the dignity to be consistent, General Iroh."

"I take no pleasure in seeing anyone die." he assured him, "No matter if they try to fight me, or my me. I have never sought needless slaughter; if you believe that, then you are blind to my intentions for being here."

"To conquer my people." he retorted with an accurate response, "To subjugate us because you can." he declared, "I don't know the reason why, and I don't want to. It's probably just some shit that will make me sick."

General Iroh let out a sigh, knowing there was some merit to the man's words, "I see." he responded softly, before narrowing his eyes, "Why did you come for me? Why not a General that doesn't have Imperial Firebenders watching his every step?"

"Do you forget who you are?" the prisoner scoffed, rising up to his feet, "You are the son of the Fire Lord. You are the future of your nation. You're everything they will hate to lose." he explained his reasoning, which made some sense to the General; he was well-respected, and being Crown Prince, he would one day become the Fire Lord, so if he died, it might weaken the morale of their troops, not to say of the mindset his compatriots and subordinates held.

"I imagine they wouldn't be happy if I died." he conceded, "But I don't care about how they feel about me." he added, remembering whose opinion he really valued.

"Oh..." the prisoner narrowed his eyes, considering his words for a moment, "So you wonder what your loved-ones would think? Maybe they'd be sad that you were weak enough to fall to a non-bender."

"And how would yours feel when they learned all remained of you was some ashes?" he questioned him in return, and the prisoner scoffed.

"Why do you think I'm here? Because I love the Earth Kingdom? Fuck off." he retorted, and the General sighed, understanding what the man's reasons were; he mightn't have said anything specific, but Iroh knew people, and his eyes said it all- he was done with his fight, he just wanted it to end.

He sat himself down on the ground, now facing the man on his own level, "Your pain must be strong if you were willing to do this."

"It is." the prisoner assured him, "But... where is your heart, General? I assume it doesn't sit here in this dark and shitty little prison? How do you sleep at night knowing what you've done?"

"I do sleep, and I do remember." he assured him, "Just because I am not a broken man does not mean I have not seen the worst of humanity. I know anger, I know grief, and I know who you are, even if I don't know your name." he explained his understanding as best as he could.

"Do you see their faces, General?" he questioned him, his voice ever so pained as he did.

"I do." he confirmed, "I find it hard to forget, but I carry on. Because I know that pain is not all there is to life, even if I have inflicted it on others."

"Why?" he gasped out, raising his bandaged hand toward the General, "Why do you do it?"

"Because it's expected of me." he told him the truth, "I did..." he began, wondering what might have become of him had he not taken the path his father wanted him to, "I did not want to lose what I had, so I became somebody I wish I didn't."

"So even you, the mighty Dragon of the West, regret becoming a soldier." he noted, "I am not surprised... and not disappointed."

"Disappointed?" he asked him, and the prisoner nodded, his expression somewhat more pleased.

"You are a man of truth." he conceded, "You might live the lies that you tell yourself, but I doubt you believe them... at least not all of them."

The General crossed his arms, seeing a little merit in what the prisoner was saying; he didn't believe everything he was told, but he did live despite his disbelief. He had fought in a war that brought suffering to countless innocents, ostensibly to bring better lives to those who had fallen under their rule; Iroh didn't know if that better future was certain, but was sure that he could help achieve it, once he became Fire Lord.

"I guess you are right." he conceded, "I did not expect coming here to be the one getting interrogated." he admitted, slightly humoured by the deep, serious questioning he was receiving from a man who had tried to kill him only earlier that day.

"I did not expect to be alive right now." he admitted, "So, I am making the most of it."

"That is understandable." he noted, before eyeing the prisoner's bandaged limbs, "Are you still in pain?"

"Yes." he admitted, "But I don't see how that's your problem." he glared him down, "You're going to leave, and I'm going to the rope, General."

"No." he shook his head, "You're not being hung." he clarified, and the prisoner's expression shifted to one of concern.

"Wait... no... you're- you're just going to throw me into some camp, aren't you?"

"I don't have much choice in the matter." he admitted, "You are far less of a threat than you might think. You're only one man, and from what it seems like, you don't have an accomplices, seeing that you haven't threatened me, or indicated to any kind of bigger plan."

"Well, you're right." he confirmed, "I was the only one with the guts to go after you."

"Who?" he asked him simply, the prisoner glancing around his cell, confused by his question.

"Who? What do you mean?"

"Who did they kill?" he asked him, hoping that he would give an honest answer; Iroh wanted to know, because he wanted to see what could truly motivate a man to do what he had done.

"Everyone." he admitted, "Everyone I cared about. I just... I couldn't even do anything... other than this."

"What- where are you from?"

"Fengfu." he clarified, and the General narrowed his eyes, recalling the name of that village.

The Rough Rhinos had attacked it only about a month earlier, when the local Earth Kingdom forces had holed themselves up in a local outpost, and the town was burnt to the ground, killing dozens of innocents in the process. He grimaced as he realised that his own actions had led to that situation. He had refused to attack the village, and decided that starving the enemy soldiers out and forcing a surrender would be a better option. One of his comrades, General Tiechi, had decided that there was only one way to flush out the enemy, and acted when he would not; the Rough Rhinos used savage tactics that sickened Iroh, taking no care for enemy or bystander, and he wished that he could have stopped the turn of events.

"I-" he mumbled, before dropping his head down, realising his guilt, "I'm sorry."

"Now you remember." the prisoner crossed his arms, not sounding like he cared for his apology.

"I know what happened to your village." he admitted, "I could have done something... but I didn't stop them."

"Yeah, I know." the prisoner nodded, "You might not be as bad as them, but you allowed that to happen. Just like your father, commanding his generals to destroy countless villages like mine."

"There are many things wrong with how my fellow countrymen conduct themselves." he conceded the fault of the Fire Nation in their war effort; even if Iroh aspired to end the war on their terms, he did not want to bring about the needless suffering of innocents in the process- by supporting it, he was enabling the worst of the Fire Nation to enact savagery, replicating the kind of destruction that only the Air Nomads had been unlucky enough to face.

The prisoner had his arms crossed, and seemed to be interested in what he had to say next, "Please, continue." he suggested, and the General turned his eyes away.

"I wish I could be as good a man as my son thinks I am." he mumbled under his breath, before shaking his head; Lu Ten's image of him should be the least of his concerns when villages were being burnt down to the ground, but he knew that he couldn't be a hypocrite- he was the one who told his son about honour, dignity and mercy, when he let such things be ignored for the good of their war effort.

"You aren't a good man, General." he warned him, before raising his chin up, "But I hope, for the greater good of everyone fighting in this pointless war, that you become a better one."

"I-" he gasped, knowing what would happen if he openly opposed his father's policies, "What I need to do... what I should do... it won't work."

"What do you mean? You won't win your stupid war if you don't utterly destroy our will to fight?" he questioned, "Trust me, my will is gone, but I doubt everyone is going to just give up now, because you're winning. You've been winning for ninety years. Another ninety could pass, and Ba Sing Se might still stand. For what? For all of us to become your slaves?"

"That's not what I meant." he tried to defend his statement, "My father. He won't stand for it. Even if I agree with you- I have to serve him. If I don't do my duty, then... things will get a lot worse soon enough." he admitted the truth; there was truly something far worse than winning the war conventionally, and he wanted to avoid it more than anything, given what his grandfather had done to the Air Nomads for the sake of an Avatar that was never found.

"What does that mean?" he narrowed his eyes, before his expression became a lot more uneasy, "Oh... The Comet."

"Yes, The Comet." he confirmed his suspicions, "If I don't take Ba Sing Se and end this war before Sozin's Comet arrives, my father will burn it to the ground. Trust me, whatever my men do there... it will be nothing in comparison to what Sozin's Comet can do."

"And what if you tell him not to?"

"Then my brother will be Crown Prince instead of me. Even if my father dies before the comet, he... he will be even worse. My father... at least he has some methodology to his strategies. Ozai is a monster. He doesn't care for the lives of his own countrymen, let alone yours."

"So what... you have no option other than to continue fighting?"

"Yes. If I had one, I would have chosen it long ago."

"You still have ten years." the prisoner observed, "What if you... kill him."

Iroh's heart sunk in his chest upon hearing that, "I can't- I can't kill my own father. Would you do that to yours?" he retorted, the prisoner snarling.

"I don't have that choice anymore, even if my father was evil, which he wasn't." he retorted, before pointing a finger toward him, "Well, how about your brother, if he's as bad you say he is?"

"I w-" he gasped, before hammering his fist into the bars of the cell, "I will not do that to them!" he declared in defiance, knowing that if there was anything that could do to make his niece and nephew as bad as their own father, it would be that; even if Ozai would gladly accept his offer of an Agni Kai, out of arrogance, and Iroh would kill him with a redirected lightning bolt to the chest, he could not do it, "They would hate me." he declared the fact of the matter.

"Who?"

"My niece and nephew. They're only small children. How could I kill their father? They don't even have a mother."

"Hmph, so you really are motivated by love... not hatred." he observed, "That is admirable, but it will not win you this war, and it will not save the people of Ba Sing Se, let alone the rest of my country."

"No." he refused to believe him, "It will." he declared, before rising to his feet, "I promise you that." he assured him, turning around to face the front door.

"You're a fool." the prisoner warned him, "You have to do something!" he demanded, and the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation turned around, still certain of his path, and his duties as a father and uncle.

"I will do something, even you don't like it. There is a better path, and you have only strengthened my resolve to find it." he assured the prisoner, whose expression shifted from one of frustration to one of confusion.

"Will you stop this war?"

"That is the only thing I can do."


The massive, dark and foreboding metal structure in the distance made Sokka reconsider what exactly he was doing; he knew that helping the earthbenders was the right thing, but he couldn't help but feel a little concerned that they were in over their heads. Sure, Aang was a great airbender, and Ty Lee's skills were rather impressive, but that didn't mean they could stand a chance against all the guards in the prison. he was sure that they would need all the prisoners on side before they could do anything, though given Haru's father was one of them, and it was likely he knew of some of the others, he might be able to persuade them to rise up against their captors.

He knew that their actions wouldn't be approved by the Princess either, and he just hoped the guards bought his bullshit back at the market. She would be furious if she found out they were going out of their way to break prisoners out of Fire Nation prisons, so he just hoped that they could get everything done quickly enough, before she inevitably showed up with her ship and guards to lock down the prison. She would be on their tail by that point, given the guards back at Haru's village definitely knew Aang was the Avatar.

"Okay, this is a lot bigger than I thought it would be." Katara spoke up, and her eyes moved towards the one Fire Nation individual on Appa's saddle, "Is this what you were expecting?"

"Well... uh, kinda reminds me of some things I've seen around the capital... just not this big." she admitted, before narrowing her eyes, "There's probably lots of guards here. We're going to have to hide until we find the earthbenders."

"I wonder where they are." Haru mumbled, and Katara placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sure they're all safe... we just need to find them."

"And some earth for them to bend." Sokka acknowledged, "I don't think we're going to be fighting those guards without their help."

"Well, there's only one way to get both of those." Aang noted, "Ask somebody." he admitted, and the Water Tribe warrior let out a snicker.

"Do you mean interrogating the guards?" he asked, and Ty Lee cracked her knuckles.

"That's an option." she conceded, before pointing down to the metal railing that surrounded the massive metal rig on each side, "Let's land down somewhere they won't see the sky-bison." she suggested, and Aang pulled on Appa's reins, prodding the sky-bison to lower down as they drew nearer to the rig.

The Water Tribe teen rose up from the saddle, peering down toward the edge of the metal platform as they approached, and as Appa softly touched down, he glanced up and down the breadth of it. He couldn't see any guards just yet, but he was sure there were some around; Sokka jumped down onto the platform, quickly followed by Ty Lee and then Aang, who turned his attention back toward his sky-bison.

"Appa, you need to go find some place to hide. I don't want the Fire Nation hurting you." he warned Appa, who let out a soft groan, before turning around slightly; Katara and Haru jumped off of the saddle, and a few moments later, the sky-bison leapt up into the air, before gliding down in a circle, making his way underneath the platform, where he would remain out of sight.

Sokka turned around to note the tall metal fence that surrounded the prison all on sides, though the gaps were wide enough for them all to climb through, he could see a warehouse in the distance, and decided that would be a good place to start looking for earth to bend, for both Haru,and all the prisoners. He silently indicated for them to step through, and he was quickly followed the others.

"Well, now we have to find those prisoners." his sister stated the next step of the plan, and he tensed up, hearing the sound of footsteps in the distance just a moment later.

"Uh, we need to hide." Haru stated the obvious, before he raced toward the warehouse Sokka had spotted earlier, trying to open the first door he found; he tried to open it, and when he realised it was locked, Aang frantically drew out his glider.

"Was this a bad place to land?" he asked, and Katara pointed to their left, down along the edge of the rig.

"There has to be some place that isn't locked. They're coming from that way." she explained, pointing back the other way to indicate the source of the footsteps.

Sokka didn't think they could waste any more time, and began running down the platform; he knew the plan was risky to begin with, and he would do anything he could to keep Aang and Katara safe while he was by their side. He knew it wasn't the best fighter, at least compared to the people he'd witnessed recently; Suki, the other Kyoshi Warriors, Azula, Iroh, and now Ty Lee and Haru. The Water Tribe warrior drew his boomerang off of his back as they approached another doorway, and saw as his sister pushed it open; everyone followed in after her, and Sokka immediately pulled the door shut behind him.

He noticed that it was a hallway leading into what looked like a storage area, though he couldn't be sure; the lighting was dim, and he couldn't hear any people inside, which dissuaded his fears they might have just stepped into a trap. He could still hear the footsteps outside, and though they were taking a while to get louder, he wondered whether the guards would come inside; he glanced toward Ty Lee and Haru, who were both nervously crouching by the doorway, and wondered whether they wanted to take the guards out, so they could interrogate them for information.

"Are we going to beat these guys up?" he asked, and Ty Lee nodded.

"I need you two to cover their mouths, so they don't shout when I chi-block them. If they do, the rest of the guards will come to check here... then there'll be bigger issues."

"Like fighting off thirty guys at once?" Haru guessed, and she grimaced, before nodding to confirm his fears.

All of their eyes moved to the ajar door, through the gap of which, Sokka could just barely see outside; he waited patiently, listening to the footsteps as they slowly got louder, and he made out the sound of voices as well.

"I heard that they're bringing in some new spices on that supply ship." one of the guards spoke to the other, Sokka narrowing his eyes; their conversation was likely about their dinner, given the time of day, which annoyed him, as his stomach was grumbling for more food.

He couldn't let food distract him, and he tensed his grip on his boomerang, wondering if he ought to throw it as a distraction; he decided against that, and put it back in its holster as he continued to listen.

"Oh, good. So tomorrow's dinner won't be shit." the other guard observed, "The damn warden's practically rationing for us... and we're not even the prisoners."

"What do you expect when high command has to feed every man from the capital to Ba Sing Se?" the guard warned his comrade as they stepped past the doorway, completely oblivious to their presence.

Ty Lee grasped the door and slowly pulled it open after they had moved past, and without any delay, Sokka and Haru stepped back outside; they eyed the two soldiers, who were still casually chatting amongst themselves.

"We need a tax or two to keep our stomachs full." one of them joked, the two guards laughing as the two teenagers approached them slowly from behind.

The two guards didn't see their hands coming for their mouths as their mouths were forced shut as Sokka and Haru both threw the guards down to the ground to tackle them; Ty Lee rushed toward the guards without delay, jumping over them all before she landed on the other side, without a single fault in her landing, using her feet to jab them in the guts. One of them tried to throw his fist toward her, and no flames came from his hand; Sokka could see the shock and fear in his eyes, and hear the mumbles and grunts he made, unable to shout, let alone open his mouth. He kept a grip on the guards mouth, and watched as the Fire Nation girl eyed both of them; she didn't relent to jab them both again, paralysing their limbs, before she punched the one Haru had grappled in the chin, knocking him out cold.

"Well, now they can't escape. Let's go back in." she decided, and the two boys dragged the men along, the conscious one squirming, despite his arms and legs being limp.

The Water Tribe warrior kept his grip firm on the guard's jaw, making sure he couldn't try and shout for help as he was pulled through the doorway; Aang and Katara looked at them with surprise, and he glanced at them, "Do any of you have something to gag this guy? I really don't want him screaming."

Aang grimaced, obviously not liking the idea of them taking a captive, but his sister was less concerned than he was; she reached over to Sokka's left arm, which had been pulling the guard along, and pulled off his forearm band, and he made a sheepish smile as she moved to wrap it around the guard's mouth. He grunted and snarled as she did so, but Katara's glare was enough to make him quieten down.

"This guy's stupidly heavy." Haru complained, "What's with this armour?"

"That's how they keep themselves safe from things like rocks getting tossed at them." Ty Lee clarified, and he let out a little chuckle.

"Oh... well, we'll test if they're good enough soon." he noted what would soon be coming for the guards of the prison rig.

"Where are we putting these guys?" Aang asked them nervously, and the Fire Nation girl glanced down the hallway cautiously.

"This is probably storerooms... so, in here somewhere." she gave her idea, and Sokka glanced toward the gagged guard's face, noting that his expression had shifted slightly; he obviously knew what they were doing, or at least, had a good enough idea, and he probably knew what the rooms were used for.

"What do you think? Storeroom, or the sea?" he asked the guard in jest, and he frantically shook his head, his mumbles suggesting he certainly didn't want to face the latter, "Oh, you can't swim?" he asked, before eyeing his thick, steel armour, "Well, with that, no wonder you can't."

He put his hands under the guards armpits, and grabbed his chestplate, pulling him and his limp body along as they made their way down the hallway, Aang providing a little assistance by grabbing the legs of the guard; they took the two guards down the hallway, Katara pushing one of the doors open, leading them into a storeroom, where he could see a number of boxes, crates and shelves, full of supplies, presumably for maintaining the rig. Once they had gotten both the men inside, Ty Lee shut the door, before Sokka pulled the gag from the guard's mouth; his frantic eyes darted between them all and he tried to move, fruitlessly wagging his limp arms and legs about, unable to do anything but squirm.

"Sh-shit don't kill me, please." he pleaded, and Sokka rolled his eyes, not having any intention to do something so extreme.

"We're not killing you." he assured him, "But you are staying here for a while." he noted, before glancing back toward Haru, "Do you want to ask him?"

"Where are the prisoners?" he asked, and the man's eyes widened, obviously figuring out their general aim.

"There's no hope trying that. You're not going to escape."

"Uh, no, we are." Katara assured him, before pointing a finger at him accusingly, "Where are they?"

"They're... on the southern side of the rig. There's an area there we're they're kept, walled off from the rest."

"Are they in cells?" Sokka inquired, the guard narrowing his eyes.

"Why would we- there's no need for cells when-" he began, before Haru kicked him in the shin; he was about to cry out in pain, but the Water Tribesman put his hand over the man's mouth.

"Maybe wait to beat the guy after he's gagged?" he asked him as politely as he could, and the agitated earthbender sighed, before nodding, seeming to understand they had to get more intelligence before they could do any brash.

"Fuck." the guard snarled, "You damn shits are going to pay for this."

"No, I don't think we are." Ty Lee retorted, "Just tell us about the prison. Are they working right now?"

"Of course not. It's night. They're all back in their area... and we leave them be." he explained, eyeing Haru, "You're an earthbender, aren't you?"

"And you're probably letting all of them starve." the Earth Kingdom boy retorted, and the guard's expression shifted to one of fear.

"You are?" Katara scoffed, "How-" she gasped, "We have to stop them now." she declared her intentions, pacing toward the door.

"Wait, Katara." Haru asked her, and she stopped her pacing, turning her eyes back toward the guard.

"You're going to be caught." he warned them, "If you want to save yourselves, you better leave now." he stressed, and the Earth Kingdom boy stared him down.

"No, we're not leaving. I'm not letting this go on any longer." he declared, "Where's some earth?" he simply asked him, and the guard scoffed.

"We don't have any, dirt muncher." he mocked him; there was a moment of hesitation from the Earth Kingdom boy, and Sokka tried to grab his hand, but failed to stop him from punching the man in the head, knocking him unconscious.

The Water Tribesman grimaced slightly, realising how much pent up anger was in the boy; he didn't like the Fire Nation himself, but his rage had always been redirected into his duties as a warrior, protecting his village, and now, Aang and Katara. Haru never had anything like that, and now, he was finally given the chance to bite back at the people who had made his life hell.

"Did you have to do that?" Aang asked him with an uneasy voice, and the Earth Kingdom teen turned his cold, frustrated eyes to meet his own.

"Yes." he simply responded, before turning back to face Katara, "Let's go."

"Just wait a minute." Ty Lee raised a hand, "Nobody knows where any earth is, right? So how are the earthbenders going to free themselves?"

Aang's eyes widened, "I think I know how." he spoke up, Sokka raising a brow, surprised that the twelve year old was the one out of all of them with a plan.

"Really?" he asked him, "Where is it?"

"Well, when we were flying in, I saw that there were a lot of chimneys, so they must be burning a lot of stuff."

"Yeah, this a shipyard... I think." the Water Tribe warrior noted, "So they're probably making steel."

"And what would they be burning? Coal, in other words, earth." the young Avatar explained his idea, and Sokka grinned, realising that they could find some coal, and get it to the earthbenders.

"Oh, that's a good idea." he accepted his proposition, "Just how are we going to get it to the earthbenders, though?"

"I'm a master airbender." he declared, "I can figure it out."

"It'd help if you could earthbend." the Water Tribesman admitted, before glancing to Haru, "Maybe you could help?"

"No, I need to find my dad." he refused, "When you find the coal, tell us where it is so we can get to it." he suggested, and the pair nodded, before their eyes turned to Ty Lee and Katara.

"What about you?" Aang asked, "Are you going with us, or to find the earthbenders?"

"I think they'll need some motivation." Ty Lee admitted, "And I'm sure seeing that those guys aren't unbeatable will help." she noted, cracking her knuckles as she said that; Sokka imagined what she might do the guards, and chuckled at the thought, before glancing toward his sister.

"How about you?"

"I want to help these earthbenders. I'm not as good at fighting as you and Aang... so I'll got with them." she explained, and the two boys nodded, before pacing over toward the door.

"Good luck." the young Avatar farewelled them, "We'll get back as soon as we can." he assured the group before he pushed the door open.

Sokka followed him out, and they paced down the hallway, further into the storerooms, "Where did you see those chimneys?"

"Around the middle of the rig." he explained, the Water Tribesman raising a finger to his chin.

"I guess they'd store the coal in a central location, so they can use it easily." he guessed, before pointing toward the doorway ahead of them, "We better stay hidden. If the guards know we're here, Katara and the othres are going to be in big trouble." he warned his friend, who nodded.

"Don't worry, I can be stealthy." he assured him, and he slowly pushed the door open, before eyeing outside, "Oh, this must be where they make those ships."

Sokka stepped out after him, and glanced up and down the wide walkway that sat in the middle of what looked like the working area; he could see the chimneys, along with a massive superstructure, sitting to their right, and to their left, a set of walls, and some gates, behind which he guessed the prisoners would be. He followed after Aang, keeping his head down and his eyes out for guards; he hadn't see any more of them, though as they got closer to the superstructure, he heard some voices; Aang leapt to the side with the use of his airbending, landing within the partially built hull of a ship.

Sokka followed him inside, and eyed back behind them after he took cover by a sheet of metal. There were more guards on patrol, obviously enough, and they continued on past the ship, unaware of the two boys, who were able to hide amongst the sheets and pieces of metal laid around. The Water Tribesman eyed around, noting how massive the ships were, and wondered how many of them the prisoners had been forced to build; the idea of it disturbed him, considering what the Fire Nation had been using their ships to do.

"We have to find that coal, Aang." he stressed to his friend, who nodded; the look of confidence on his face was not frustrating, or annoying, as it might have been in another context- he really wanted to help the earthbenders, just like Katara did, even if was for different reasons.

"Don't worry. We'll find it, and those earthbenders will be free."


Climbing off of her mongoose lizard, Princess Azula looked upon the village of Ganggu, and its clearly fearful inhabitants; they obviously didn't want any more chaos coming to their town, after what had been happening over the past few days, and Azula agreed with that sentiment. She would more than anything else to see Ty Lee safe and Aang and his friends long gone; they were causing problems, and those problems fell in her lap. Even if they weren't close by, she was sure that she could figure out a general path they had taken, and thus, determine where she would need to go to find Ty Lee. Her friend associating with with the Avatar was not something she expected, though she guessed that there was a more of a reason than her friendly nature; there was something afoot in Ganggu, and the Avatar was the least of her concerns when she considered it.

Her guards flanked her on either side as she made her way down the length of the street, eyeing the commoners as she did so; her unwavering glare kept their eyes away from her, and proved they were afraid of her. She understood their reasoning, and found no issue with it; she was not somebody to be trifled with, and they wouldn't dare to attack or demean her, given all the men she had with her, no matter how much they despised her nation. At the end of the street sat what must have originally been the town hall, but was now the Fire Nation garrison's base of operations, outside of which she saw a few soldiers standing duty. They were surprised to see her, it seemed, and as she approached, one of the soldiers, clearly the highest ranked of the group, came forward, bowing toward her.

"Your highness, it's an honour to have you before us." he acknowledged her presence, "Is there anything we can do for you?" he asked, and Azula narrowed her eyes at him, before she gestured for her guards to move around the perimeter of the building, "Is... is there something wrong? I mean... other than the Avatar showing up here."

"Yes." she confirmed, "There is a conspiracy afoot to kill the Fire Lord, as you might already know."

"Of course." he nodded, "So, you're here to meet the investigators."

She nodded, not wanting to cause a scene by revealing her actual intentions for meeting them, "I heard from Major Zhengyi about what happened here, and that there was a supposed traitor in this village." she explained her reason for being there, not a lie in the slightest; who had actually been treacherous was up for debate, contrary to what she assumed the soldiers had been told.

"Ah, yes... we asked for back-up to deal with the Avatar and his cronies." he admitted, "But it seems they've run away."

"I've dealt with them before." she clarified, "That's not to be unexpected. There's only three of them; they can't fight off a whole garrison."

"Well, there's not three of them. The traitor and an earthbender have joined them."

"I also heard that... I assume it is more of a temporary partnership, given the circumstances. Your men were seeking to arrest them, after all."

"Uh... yes, we were." he confirmed, before indicating to the door behind him, "Please, I'll take you to the investigators. I'm sure they'll be pleased to meet you."

She doubted that, but kept her thoughts to herself as she followed him in, a few of her guards coming after her. As they made their way inside, she took note of the interior of the structure, which was clearly old and in need of repairs, though it was by no means unused. She could see racks of weapons and armour in one corner, a table for eating, and a desk, presumably used by the commanding officer of the garrison. Beyond that there was a division in the hall, and a smaller hallway leading past it, presumably to the guards' personal quarters. The soldier led her toward a door, which he knocked on; there was a few moments of silence, before the door was opened up, revealing a soldier who wasn't wearing armour, but instead, finer robes that were clearly indicative of somebody of higher rank. She didn't need much to deduce he was one of the operatives of the Intelligence Service, and he looked at her, confused by her presence.

"Uh... Princess Azula." he addressed her, "For what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked as he bowed toward her in respect.

She crossed her arms, unsure whether the man was the one she wanted to be talking to, "Are you the leader?" she asked him, and he gestured behind, indicating to another man who was sitting over a desk, reading some scrolls.

"No. Commander Mang is the leader of our group." he clarified; the Commander's eyes turned up to meet her own, and he pushed his chair out, before rising to his feet.

"We are honoured to have you come assist us, your highness. Would you like a briefing?"

"No." she retorted, before she pulled the door shut behind her; there were only three men in the room, and she guessed the others were out looking for Ty Lee, "What is your mission here, specifically?"

"To apprehend a conspirator, in league with those seeking to kill Fire Lord Iroh." Mang explained himself simply, and the Princess narrowed her eyes; she wanted to hear the accusations first before she said anything that revealed her own knowledge of the conspiracy.

"And what evidence was given to you to prove that you were actually seeking out a traitor?" she asked, and the men looked at each other, their expressions shifting to ones of confusion.

"Command gave us the mission, and we accepted it without question." the man who had opened the door explained, "We do not doubt the veracity of their intelligence."

"And who oversees the Intelligence Service?" she simply asked them, and Mang narrowed his eyes at her.

"Your father, Prince Ozai, your highness." he told her what she already knew; her father had his fingers in everything, so it didn't surprise her that he was using his authority and connections to let the Intelligence Service do his dirty work, and not his henchmen, who wouldn't be trusted by the local garrison, let alone anyone else they encountered in hunting down Ty Lee.

"I'm only going to ask you this once: did you receive this order formally, or because your unit was selected by the Minister or one of his secretaries."

"The-" Mang mumbled, before narrowing his eyes, "We're not privy to the decisions Command makes, or if the Minister had a say in them."

"Good." she narrowed her eyes, feeling confident that the men before her weren't actually in league with her father's conspiracy, but were merely pawns in his game, "What I am about to tell you is not public knowledge as of yet, and I am only telling you because you will continue pursuing the supposed traitor if I do not. Do you know the traitors name?"

"Uh... I believe it was Ty Lee. An acrobat at Shuzumu's Travelling Circus."

"Which you burnt down." she reminded them, sure that they had covered it up; her assumption was proven correct as they looked at her nervously.

"Th-that was an accident." Mang tried to explain himself, "We simply wanted to find the girl and apprehend her, but the workers at the circus thought we were thieves. Things got violent." he admitted, before narrowing his eyes at her, "Did you want to find the girl? Is she important?"

"Important to whom is the question you ought to be asking." she suggested, before eyeing each of the men, "You really have no idea who she actually is, don't you?" she asked, sure that they would have said something if they were informed of her association with the Princess.

"I'm sorry, but we don't know what you're talking about. She's an acrobat, and connected with the conspiracy. That's all we know." the agent who was sitting in the corner of the room excused his group for their lack of knowledge.

"Ty Lee is a noblewoman from the Imperial Capital, and she is my close friend, who I went to school with for years. She is not a traitor, not in the slightest. Everything you were told was a lie fabricated by my father, Prince Ozai, to try and cover up his own complicity in the very conspiracy you seek to vanquish." she explained the fact of the matter, and their expressions shifted to ones of unease; the Commander raised a hand.

"The Prince?" Mang asked her, sounding skeptical, and understandably afraid of such a suggestion, "You mean to say he's behind the conspiracy?"

Their eyes were narrowed her, and Azula tensed up, unsure what they were really thinking; they might have thought she was lying, but she would have to go on with her explanation, and not leave them asking or talking about what she had just told them.

"Yes." she confirmed, "You would have found this out quickly enough once you apprehended my friend, but you might have thought her intelligence was fabricated, to try and turn the Royal Family on itself. That would be the obvious conclusion, given that starting a civil war is not in the interest of any person who seeks to rule and lead our nation."

"I-" the Commander gasped, utterly shocked by what he was hearing, "You're saying we're here to stop the conspiracy from being unveiled?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying." she stressed, raising her right hand up toward the Commander, lighting a flame on her tip of her index finger as she gestured toward his face, "You have been a mere pawn in his game, and now, you see the truth, Commander."

"What- why would he even do this?" one of the men asked her, "This is insane."

"I know it is. That's why it has be stopped." she explained, "The Avatar is nothing compared to what will be unleashed if my father isn't stopped quietly."

"We swore to serve and protect our nation." Mang acknowledged their duty, "We cannot... we cannot continue this operation. You have my deepest apologies, your highness. We had no idea about any of this."

"I am pleased that you are so remorseful." she acknowledged, "If not I would have been beating you for attacking my friend as you did. She did not deserve any of the punishments you have given her." she warned them, and the Commander stepped back, now clearly afraid of what she might do.

"Please, have mercy on us, your highness. We were fooled- we have been made fools." he admitted their fault, and raised a hand to his face, "I can't believe this."

"I understand your confusion, and any doubts you may have." she conceded, "But, I do not have the physical evidence I would need to prove my claims. The only thing that can is the documents my friend has on her."

"Then we ought to find her at once. For the security of our nation; if what you're saying is true, then those documents are the only thing we can use against the Prince."

"You won't be doing anything. I understand that you were assigned here on a mission, but this comes before that. I need you to report back, and act as if nothing were amiss. The fugitive is still missing, and you don't know where she is, or what she knows." she suggested to Mang, hoping that he would follow her advice; she could try and coerce them into following her plan, but she was sure that it wouldn't help.

"We don't know anything." one of the men declared, "This conversation was only about the Avatar. He's the only thing concerning your appearance here."

"That's exactly what I want to hear." she smirked, glad he had taken her chain of thought and ran with it, "If this all goes to plan, the Fire Lord and our whole nation will owe you a great debt of gratitude. We cannot let that information fall into the hands of those who seek to destroy it."

"This is what we swore to do, your highness." the Commander stressed, "We will not fail to protect it from all threats that face it."

"I believe that concludes our discussion." she admitted, "I will go search for the Avatar and Ty Lee, and hopefully, they haven't stirred up any more chaos."

"Will the Prince send more people after her?" one of the operatives asked her, and she narrowed her eyes, genuinely unsure what her father's plans for Ty Lee were beyond the Intelligence Service agent before her.

"He might. I am prepared to face them, assassins, bounty hunters, whatever they might be." she assured them, "Your cooperation has been appreciated. Though I enjoy fighting, I did not want to tarnish this evening by being forced to kill you all." she bluntly acknowledged what she would have done if they had truly been in league with her father.

"I am just as glad as you are, your highness." the Commander noted, clearly unnerved by her comments; she had meant what she said- she didn't want to kill them, and given that they were effectively innocent by ignorance, she couldn't justify harming them, even if they had threatened and presumably hurt Ty Lee.

"That- that wasn't a joke." one of his subordinates realised, and she nodded.

"I do not joke about life and death." she warned him, "And I take my duties with the utmost seriousness. The Fire Lord expects me to protect our nation and ensure all threats are dealt with."

"There is no threat here." the Commander assured her, "Unless you believe the Avatar will cause us more issues."

"Perhaps he will." she conceded, not enthused by the idea of Aang causing chaos alongside Ty Lee; she was a little amused by the suggestion, given that she could imagine the two of them getting along quite well, "I certainly would prefer if he didn't, but his time on my ship gave me some insight into his temperament." she explained her thought process, before glancing back toward the door.

"What actually happened last night?" she asked, and Mang stepped forward.

"There was a report of an earthbender living in the village, and the garrison went to investigate. They were attacked by the alleged traitor, your friend, and she was beaten and knocked unconscious, before being taken here to us. Before we could apprehend her formally, the Avatar and his associates intervened. There was a short fight, before the group split up, and we gave chase to the traitor, but failed to reach her before they fled on the sky-bison." he explained the turn of events, which she had already gotten some understanding of from the message Major Zhengyi had received.

"Who actually beat her?" she simply asked, as that was what she wanted to know before she stepped out to face the men who had clearly hurt her friend.

"The Captain and his men. They were intent on capturing her after we explained her alleged crimes." Mang clarified, speaking quite calmly, perhaps unknowing of her actual intent, "He would have been the one who greeted you."

"Thank you." she simply responded, before pushing the door back open, stepping back out into the barracks; the soldiers present looked her way, and she narrowed her eyes at the man who had greeted her; upon examining him, she noted his stocky build, narrowed, cautious eyes, and a kind of air about him that suggested he was rather confident in his role.

"Did you find what you wanted to, your highness?" he asked her, and Azula strode toward him, eyeing her guards, who were standing around the barracks, waiting for her order; she raised her left hand up, gesturing her finger in a motion that she would usually use when they were sparring to tell them to stop- she didn't want to start an actual brawl because of her relatively small grievances.

"I did. I will still need to search for the Avatar, but there is something I must inform you of." she admitted, the Captain's eyes widening with surprise.

"Oh." he mumbled, standing up from his desk, placing his palms together, "What is it?"

"There has been a mix up concerning a supposed traitor. I have informed the Intelligence Service of their mistake, and now I will tell you yours. That girl is no arsonist, let alone a conspirator. She is my personal friend. The only reason I am in this village is to ascertain her safety." she explained herself, the Captain stepping back away from his desk, already gritting his teeth in fear, "Is there something you'd like to say?"

"I didn't know." he simply told her the truth she was already well aware of.

"Oh, I know that." she admitted, "But I have a duty to things beyond looking for the Avatar." she warned him, "I am not a dishonourable friend, Captain."

"We can- we can pay for whatever medical treatments the girl requires. Would that help your highness?" he asked her, clearly nervous and unsure whether his offer would do anything to save his skin.

"I am a Princess of the Fire Nation. I have the means to do anything you could pay for, and then some." she retorted, before raising her right palm up, creating a bright torch in it, "Do you have the dignity to do this like a man, Captain?"

"A-an Agni Kai?" he gasped, and she scoffed; she was not going through the rituals for such a puny man- she was simply taking ensuring Ty Lee's honour as a skilled and capable fighter was protected.

"You're not worth that." she simply told him, before without any warning, sending her fist right into the middle of his face, the force from her charged fire bolt throwing him back onto his desk, which collapsed under his weight; the guards immediately took form around her, as the garrison looked at her with shock, not even trying to defend their superior.

As the Captain lay over his broken desk, unconscious, with his eyebrows singed off and his nose broken, she turned around to eye his subordinates, "I'm not going to bother fighting you all, so if you want to protect his dignity, my guards will give you a taste of their years of training." she warned the men around her, before she strode out of the building, not even bothering to look back at the man she had just beaten in a single punch.

When she stepped outside, she saw that two of her guards were standing before the door without their helmets on, which was a little unusual, she narrowed her eyes at them, and glanced around to note all the other guards had their helmets on, and were still in positions, having been prepared to attack Mang and his men if they had been, as she feared, part of the conspiracy to install her father as the Fire Lord.

"What is it?" she asked them, and one of them stepped forward; she recalled from seeing his face that his name was Zhuyi.

"Your highness, we have something to tell you." he admitted, "Back in Tetsuwan, we were looking around the market, standing duty to make sure no Earth Kingdom spies tried to access our ship."

"And... why haven't you mentioned this thing yet?" she asked him simply, and the guard beside him, Jing, cringed as he spoke up.

"We beat up Sokka."

"You-" she gasped, before raising a hand to her forehead, "That dimwit was there?!" she questioned them, almost shouting at them; she struggled to restrain her frustration, but she took a deep breath before uttering another word.

"We would have said something... but, they were gone by the time we knew your friend was with them." Zhuyi admitted, "We made a mistake."

"Oh, a mistake?" she scoffed, shaking her head, disappointed that they had even dared to keep such information from her, "Are you really that sympathetic to that pigheaded idiot?"

"I mean, he did save you and the Fire Lord... and all of us, really." Jing noted, and Zhuyi whacked him over the back of the head to shut him up.

"Just shut it, man."

"I-" she began, before glancing around, "No, I don't have time to chide you for your stupidity." she admitted, "We need to find where they're hiding. If they were in Tetsuwan, they must still be nearby. Was he the only one there?"

"No, the girl was with him." Zhuyi clarified, and she nodded.

"Well, they're siblings... that's not surprising." she admitted, "And I already told you all what Ty Lee looks like, so it's unlikely you missed her." she noted more quietly, contemplating exactly what their revelation meant; Ty Lee might not have gone with them to Tetsuwan- perhaps she was heading back to find her friends at the circus, given she clearly wasn't safe in Ganggu while the Intelligence Service was hunting her down.

"She might still be nearby. We have the manpower to search these woods, so we will." she decided, "Look for signs of campsites, or sky-bison fur." she gave her order, the other guards nodding, "And all of you, stand down. There's no more fighting to be done."

"You really gave him one, your highness." one of the guards who had followed her out of the building admitted.

"Oh, that was just a small example to set for the soldiers of our nation. They best learn to treat their enemies with a little dignity, otherwise, their enemies allies will come knocking for them." she admitted, before she gestured back toward the mongoose lizards, "Mount up! I don't want to waste another moment in this hole."

They couldn't waste another moment, no matter how inopportune her guards timing had been; she knew that as long as the Avatar and his friends were nearby, there was a chance she could find Ty Lee with them, and secure her, along with all the information she had, so that Ozai could never get the chance to clutch onto her and do the kinds of things that would make her truly despise him. If there was one thing Azula didn't want in the world, it was to lose somebody else that actually cared about her; she might not have been the most open and kind friend to Ty Lee, but after all the kindness and support she had shown her, and the time they had spent together, she could not bear to see her suffer, especially for the sake of things she could have prevented by being less focused on finding the Avatar and more so about the threat her father posed to the Fire Nation. Her foolishness had cost her the opportunity to protect Iroh, Mai, Ty Lee and even Zuko, no matter how much she didn't want to say it; she would right her wrongs, and make sure the Fire Nation did not fall apart because she merely couldn't find a few pieces of paper. That would be far too stupid a way for her honour and pride to be broken, and she would not allow it.


Ty Lee tensed up as she heard footsteps rushing past the door she was hiding behind; she had to remain silent if she wanted any chance of reaching the prisoners, and she did. What she heard in that silence was a little more unnerving; it turned out that Appa had been spotted by some guards, and she could hear them talking about it as they came by. Fire Nation soldiers weren't stupid, of course, so she knew that they understood the threat; the Avatar was on their rig, or at the very least, nearby. Though she wanted to warn Katara and Haru of the danger they were in. It was only a matter of time before Azula, or perhaps, somebody a lot worse than her, was called on with a messenger hawk to secure the prison rig.

Even if the earthbenders could beat the guards, it was only a matter of time before they were surrounded. She squashed the doubts she held by remembering what her new friends had done for her. Natsu had missed her husband for five years, and Haru his father; they didn't deserve that, and now, she was simply righting that wrong, no matter how dangerous it ended up being. The Avatar and his friends had helped too, and that was before they even if knew who she was; they were people she felt she could trust, given what they said about their association with Azula. Though she thought the idea of her being the Avatar's firebending master to be a little absurd, given her natural skill and dedication to her element, she almost seemed like the perfect choice, if it weren't for the fact she was a loyal Princess of the Fire Nation.

She pushed the door ajar, and glanced down the alleyway of sorts that they were standing in, between a warehouse and the walls that divided the prisoners from the working area. She couldn't see any more guards, and could only hear them in the distance. She was sure that Aang and Sokka had found the coal, or at least, were close to doing so; they had decided to wait and give them some time, and now, they had to get to the prisoners and tell them what was going on. She could tell that Haru was excited to see his father, but that excitement was mixed with the anxiousness that she too was feeling. Katara, by contrast, seemed to be rather confident, though cautious as she eyed down the wall.

"How do we cross this thing?" she asked, eyeing up its breadth, "Can we climb over?"

"I don't think that's going to be easy, even for me." Ty Lee admitted, "That's a sheer steel wall."

"Y-yeah." Katara conceded, before glancing around, "Maybe we can get around with Appa." she suggested, and Ty Lee furrowed a brow, a little unsure if that plan would work; she had no idea how they'd call on the sky-bison, and even then, the guards would probably spot Appa immediately, now that they were looking for him.

"I don't know if that's a good idea." she admitted, before glancing around, "Well, there is one way we could try and get in." she admitted, pulling a pair of keys from her belt; the most obvious option was clearly the one they had to take, no matter how dangerous it might be.

"There's going to be guards right there." Haru warned her, and she nodded.

"Yeah, I know that. But I'd rather fight them than have to try and get Appa while they'll be trying to set him on fire." she suggested, before handing Katara the keys, "Open the gates, and... uh, I guess you can tell those prisoners what's going on."

The Water Tribe girl nodded, and the group moved out at once; they couldn't waste anymore time; for all they knew, Aang and Sokka could be in danger of being found out, so the quicker they got the guards distracted, the easier it would be for them to retrieve some earth for the prisoners to use. Ty Lee's eyes narrowed down the alleyway of sorts between the wall and the warehouse, and noted what had to the be the gatehouse, where she could see a large Fire Nation insignia draping down over the wall. She eyed the gate, and couldn't see any soldiers just yet; there had to be some nearby, so as they approached, she moved to walk alongside the wall of the warehouse, using it to cover herself from any potential onlookers.

There were a few men up on the wall, but she doubted they would look down at them, given that they weren't on the side they ought to be watching; when she reached the corner of the warehouse, she glanced past cautiously, making sight of six soldiers, who were sitting by some crates, looking to be drinking some alcohol, which made some sense, given the time of day.

"Can you take them?" Haru asked her, leaning past her to eye the soldiers, and she narrowed her eyes; she probably would get burnt pretty bad at the distance they were at, especially if she went at them one at time. The most effective method would be to fight them all close quarters, and there was only one way she could imagine that working.

"Not by running into them." she admitted, "Could you please step back for a bit?" she requested, and the two of them obliged, making their way back a few strides, before Ty Lee eyed the closest door; she knew it was a bit of a stupid idea, but the door was the one thing that she could use to get their attention without immediately getting half a dozen fire streams aimed at her head.

She proceeded to kick the door open with as much force as possible, creating a loud bang as it was struck, and another as it slammed into the wall after turning on its hinges. A few moments later she heard exactly what she had expected.

"Ah, shit!" one of the soldiers exclaimed in fear, and she could hear the crates grinding against the floor as they were pushed around, the soldiers presumably rising to their feet.

"That wasn't from in there, was it?" one of them asked the others, and given that there was no response, only footsteps, she doubted they were fooled by that idea; they knew the door had been slammed, and now they were approaching.

She glanced back at Katara and Haru, and raised a hand up, gesturing for them to remain still while she stepped into the cover of the doorway; she wanted to use the advantage of surprise as much as possible, and when the soldiers stepped around the corner, they shouted at once at the two intruders.

"Stand still!" one of them demanded, "Who are you?"

"Maybe they have to do with the sky-bison, sir." one of the soldiers suggested, and Katara simply smiled.

"No, we're just here to have a look around." she lied through her teeth, though her amusement seemed to derive from her knowledge of what was about to happen.

"What? That's just stupid." one of the men retorted, clearly unamused by her response.

"No, you are." Haru retorted, before Ty Lee leapt out of the doorway, jabbing the front-most soldier in his extremities, preventing him from attacking her; without any delay, she grabbed him by the neck, holding him in a headlock while the other guards looked at them with shock.

"What the fuck!" one of them exclaimed with shock, "Attack her!" one of the soldiers demanded, and they sent their flames toward her, only to hit their comrade, who she pushed forward, making him a useful, albeit momentary shield from their attacks. She leapt to the left, kick-jumping off of the sheer steel wall before kicking another soldier in the shoulder, throwing him down to the ground.

"Grab her!" another soldier demanded as he tried to do just that; before he could grab her by the arm, she jabbed his own arm, paralysing it, before she grabbed his other arm.

As she guessed, he tried to firebend with that arm, and she took advantage of one aspect of chi-blocking in that moment; she paralysed his arm up at the shoulder, causing the flames in his hand to continue coursing for a few moments. He probably regretted his action as she twisted his arm around, the flames going right into his face, barely protected by the skull mask that firebenders usually wore; that soldier fell back, and the one she was standing on top of grabbed her by the ankle, trying to stop her from moving, but she went along with it, reaching down to his shoulder and rolling him over, inadvertently becoming her shield against the next barrage of flames that came her way. She then jabbed him in the upper back, preventing him from using his legs, before she rose back up to her feet, eyeing the three remaining soldiers.

They weren't the best fighters, it seemed, which gave her confidence she could beat the rest of them; one of the men raised both his hands up, and bent two fire streams right at her, but she ducked under them, sliding along the metal surface before she jabbed him in the gut, blocking his bending. She glanced to her left, and noticed that Haru and Katara were running past, intent on opening the gates into the prison, and Ty Lee turned her gaze to man she had just chi-block.

"Try and burn me now." she prodded him, leaning back to feign as if she was blocking another fire blast, only for him to realise he couldn't bend.

"A- she's a chi-blocker!" he exclaimed, realising her abilities, though a little too late for it to do anything.

She kicked the soldier in the shin, forcing him down to the ground, before she used his curled up body as a platform to launch herself up into the air, landing right on one of the other soldier's chests; he fell down to the ground, and grunted in pain, though her focus wasn't on beating him yet. She instead turned herself around, and used put the soldier in a headlock; before he could try and free himself, the last remaining soldier firebent at them both, and hit the soldier in the chest, preventing him from freeing himself. She pushed him forward into his comrade, before jabbing him in the back, paralysing his legs; the other soldier was dazed, watching as his comrade fell down to the ground, his legs unable to hold up the weight of his body and armour, and Ty Lee narrowed her eyes at him.

"So, what's it going to be?" she asked him, wanting to give him the choice of whether to resist on not.

"Just get it over with." he conceded defeat, raising his arms up, and she jabbed him in the gut a few times, blocking the chi-paths through his stomach and down to his legs; without those, he could neither bend, nor stand.

The final soldier slumped down to the ground as she turned around to face Katara and Haru, who were struggling to actually open the gate, which seemed to mechanised.

"What's the deal with this door?" Haru grumbled to himself, though before Ty Lee could provide a suggestion, all of their attention was drawn up to the top of the gatehouse, where some soldiers were looking down at them.

"There's intruders!" a soldier shouted out, before suddenly, somebody firebent up into the sky; her eyes widened, realising that was a signal for everyone else on the rig come to their position.

"We can't open this gate with a key." Katara concluded, "There's... well, we can't do much." she dejectedly admitted, before Ty Lee's eyes narrowed; there had to be a way to open the gates, other than somehow climbing up the walls to the gatehouse, by which point, it would just be easier to jump down to the other side.

"We need to get to Appa." Ty Lee concluded.

Haru furrowed a brow, "Unless we want to take a hostage. I don't think that will work, though." he admitted, before shaking his head, "Let's go. We don't have much time before they start cooking us."

They all dashed back down the length of the wall, running past all the men Ty Lee had already beaten, quickly making their way across the breadth of the platform, arriving at the fence surrounding the edge.

"Appa!" Katara called out quite loudly, "Come up!" she pleaded, and in the distance, she heard the faintest groan; turning around, Ty Lee saw that a couple of guards were already pursuing them, and the men on top of the walls looked poised to start shooting fireballs down at them.

"He better hurry up. I can't do much when they're at a distance!" she warned them, before she was forced to jump out of the way of a fire stream, tackling Haru to the ground to keep him out of the way; for a few moments, he awkwardly looked at her, before she climbed back up to her feet, not wanting to distract him for any longer. She grabbed him by the hand, and they stepped through the haphazard metal fence, following after Katara, who was standing by the edge of the platform, awaiting the sky-bison who they were in dire need of.

"Come on!" the Water Tribe girl pleaded, obviously worried the sky-bison wouldn't get to them in time; glancing back, the acrobat could only gulp in fear as she saw at least ten men coming for them, and that was just on ground level, with half a dozen men on the walls, ready to start lighting them up.

Some flames coursed down toward them, and Haru stood in front of Ty Lee raising arms up to try and cover her from the attack; suddenly, they were hit by a gust of air, they were thrown forward, hitting into the fence rather abruptly; though it hurt a little, and certainly disoriented her, she was more surprised to see where the wind had come from. It wasn't Aang, but Appa, who she realised, just like his owner, could airbend, and perhaps even better, given how his single attack had neutralised all the fire streams heading toward them.

"Get on!" Katara shouted and them, and without a moments hesitation, they both ran and jumped onto the flying bison's saddle; he turned around and dived to avoid another set of fire streams, which shone a bright orange, lighting them all up that colour as they flew under the flames.

Ty Lee let out a sigh of relief, appreciating the moment they spent flying around away from the soldiers, knowing that they were safe, and, now, at least had Appa to escape on if worst came to bare; she then glanced up as she saw Katara guiding the sky-bison around the walls, directing him over a wide open area between a number of longhouses, where she assumed the prisoners were housed. She could already see a few people on the platform, obviously having heard the disturbances on the other side of the walls. As the sky-bison touched down, the prsioners looked at them with interest, and Haru immediately jumped off of the saddle. She eyed him, realising that he was desperate to find his father, and was eyeing all of the prisoners.

"Dad?!" he asked out, "Where are you?" he questioned, and a few moments later, a tall, well-built middle aged man with a long white beard paced out of one of the longhouses.

"Haru?!" he gasped out with surprise, before running towards him; the two of them hugged, and Ty Lee smiled, glad that they had finally met each other again.

She climbed off of the saddle, glancing toward the gates, where she could see the guards still standing on the walls; she assumed they would be opened up so the prison guards could reach and apprehend them. It was only a matter of time before they attacked, so she knew that they had to rouse the earthbenders to fight alongside them.

"Who's this girl?" Haru's father asked his son, obviously talking about her, "Is she your wife or something?"

Haru snorted, and Ty Lee covered her face with embarrassment; she thought it was a rather funny mistake to make, though how he'd made that mistake was a little concerning.

"She's just wearing some of old mum's clothes. This is Ty Lee, my friend. She protected me from the Fire Nation." he emphasised, and Tyro nodded, his expression shifting to one of unease.

"Sorry about that." he apologised for his mistake, before eyeing toward the gatehouse, "Why did you come here?"

"Because it's the right thing to do." Haru declared, "I never had the means, but now, we can break you out."

"We?" he raised a brow, "I see two teen girls and a bunch of earthbenders with no earth. No offense, but this isn't a fight you can win."

"It's not just us." Katara admitted, "I'm Katara, and the person who owns this sky-bison, he's the Avatar. He's going to help break you out." she assured him, "All of you." she spoke up louder, talking to all the prisoners.

"This is a crazy idea. The guards are going to be furious for sure." one of the prisoners admitted, "You best leave before they capture you." he warned them, and Haru stood tall.

"No, we're not leaving. I'm not giving up on all of you." he declared defiantly, "I've learned... that relenting is what makes us weak. Strong earthbenders don't give up, despite the odds. They're taken your freedom for years... and now, we can all fight back against these monsters."

"I admire your courage, son." Tyro admitted, "But... this is a challenge I don't think we can face up. We don't have our element to bend, let alone the motivation. As much as I don't want to be here, we don't have much of a choice."

"We do have a choice." Haru spoke up, "And don't worry about the earth. Aang's got it handled."

"That's the Avatar." he noted, crossing his arms, and eyeing his fellow prisoners, "When we heard about his reemergence, it gave us a glimmer of hope... but the Fire Nation hasn't given up yet on destroying our nation."

"They will." Katara spoke up, "We know how to stop them... and I know you all can fight back. You just need to believe."

"Please, Dad." Haru asked him once more, "I know this is crazy, but we can win."

"I can." Ty Lee assured him, before she whistled, catching all the earthbenders' attention, "You might not want to fight, but trust me, these men aren't as strong as you think they are." she declared, before cracking her knuckles as she eyed the gates.

She could already hear some mechanisms running, and soon enough, the gates began to rise up, revealing a group of soldiers, along with an non-helmeted man without a helmet; his armour suggested he was an officer, presumably the warden of the prison or one of his deputies.

He pointed toward them accusingly as his men began to take form, "What is the meaning of this?! You've come to my prison, and dare to try and free these broken souls. You're fools!" he declared, before Katara and Ty Lee both stepped forward.

"You're wrong." Katara defiantly responded, "They aren't broken. They're afraid of you, but they won't be soon enough." she declared, her warning ominous, though it was more amusing for Ty Lee, given that she was was the thing that would be breaking their fears.

"You're all a bunch of savages." he declared, before eyeing the sky-bison, "And that's... oh, this is good news. It looks like these are much more important prisoners than these peasants. Where's the Avatar?"

"He'll be here soon." she simply told him, "He won't hurt you... but I'm sure these men and women will." the Water Tribe girl warned him, and Ty Lee stepped forward, placing a hand over Katara's chest to stop her from doing any brash.

"I'll deal with this." she assured her, before making a smile at the warden, "So, how do you want to lose this fight?" she asked him with a feigning giddy tone, just to put him off; she wanted to freak him out, so it would be easier to startle and beat him and his men.

"H-how- shut up, dirt-eater, I have no time for your games!"

"Dirt-eater?" she scoffed, "Is that how you treat your fellow citizens? Let alone, a noblewoman? Do you have any honour or respect?" she asked him, imitating her own mother as she spoke; she was rather temperamental with her supposed lessers treating her without the proper deference, so in jest, she imitated that, just for effect, and from the look on the warden's face, it seemed to work.

"What? You're bluffing. You're not Fire Nation."

"Uh, yeah, I am." she retorted, before clearing her throat, "My life I give to my country. With my hands I fight for Fire Lord Iroh, and his forefathers before him. With my mind I seek ways to better my country. And with my feet may our march of civilisation continue." she recited the Fire Nation's oath of allegiance, and the warden was clearly surprised.

"W-wait, this girl is..." she could hear one of the prisoners behind her gasp out with surprise.

"Kill the traitor!" the warden declared with a shout, clearly fed up with her prodding, and she shook her head.

"You might regret saying that." she admitted honestly, knowing who might punish him for saying that, and it wouldn't be her.

If Azula came knocking, then she imagined the warden would not experience the kindest fate for saying what he had. Given all of his men had just heard him say it, and being the inquisitive and nit-picky girl she was, the Princess would likely draw out those words, and act upon them. The firebenders all sent out fire streams toward her, and she somersaulted forward, dodging the attacks easily before she dashed toward the warden; perhaps, if the coal couldn't be retrieved, then she could have him as a hostage, though she didn't like the idea of having to do that.

Ty Lee didn't like hurting people, though she was willing to do it if it was necessary, and when the warden charged at her, trying to grapple her with a fire whip, she instead reached out, letting him grab her arm; he looked rather proud of his small victory as he pulled her closer, completely unaware of what she was about to do. When he reached her, he tried to grapple her by the shoulder so he could hit her in the head, but Ty Lee was too fast, and immediately jabbed his arms, leaving them paralysed; he flung his limp arms around and snarled at her with fury.

"Y-you!" he grit his teeth at her, before trying to tackle her, the acrobat sidestepping him before she eyed the rest of his men; she kicked him in his calves, forcing him down to his knees as she moved into form.

"I am not leaving here until you let these prisoners go." she warned them, and the firebenders moved to attack her, and she raised her chin up, slightly disappointed that they had decided that keeping the prisoners under their boots was more important than their own safety; a lack of self-preservation would not get them anywhere good once Sokka and Aang returned with the earth they needed.

She weaved out of the way of a few fire blasts, somersaulting before she moved to attack one of the guards; he tried to burn her with a wall of flames, but she was smart enough to use it as cover, ducking down to get out of the way of the fire blast that parted the enemy's own defence. Another soldier lunged at Ty Lee, who elbowed him in the gut, making him grunt as he lurched over. She jabbed him in the jugular, momentarily incapacitating the soldier, who given the fact he wasn't a bender, wouldn't be able to do much while he was curled up on the ground, gasping for air. She turned her eyes back to the soldier she had initially had her sights on, and moved to cartwheel out of the way of another fire blast before she jumped onto the edge of a vent that sat in the middle of the prisoner's area, before leaping back to kick him square in the chest. He was thrown to the ground, his armour protecting himself from what would have otherwise been a few broken ribs, and she stood over him, before eyeing the other soldiers.

"Come on, there's no need to be so nervous." she mocked them, "I know you want to beat me for the traitor you think I am." she prodded them, and she heard the grunts of the warden, who was struggling to return to his feet, unable to use his arms.

"Did you not hear me? Kill her!"

Before she could move back into form, she was suddenly distracted by shaking underneath her, and it caught everybody's attention; Katara stepped forward toward the vent, looking her way with confusion, "Is this it?"

"I don't know." she admitted honestly, though a few moments later, she found out what was causing it; a massive spurt of coal spewed out from the vent, and Ty Lee leapt back, afraid that the material would hit her; she watched with awe as more and more coal came out, before it all slammed down onto the deck, surrounding the vent, forming a sort of wall of material between her and the guards and everyone else.

"That's a lot of coal." she mumbled under her breath, not expecting that Aang and Sokka would get so much, and get it to them in such a spectacular fashion.

Though they had been distracted for a few moments, two guards moved to grab her arms, intent on capturing her, and she spun around, jabbing one of them in the legs with her feet, while getting the others arms with her hands. She weaved under a fire stream sent her way, before doing a back-flip, landing on the near side of the coal pile.

She turned her eyes over to Katara, who looked down at the vent with interest; a few moments later, Aang popped out, covered in coal dust, with a giddy look on his face.

"We did it!" he exclaimed, before glancing toward the Fire Nation soldiers who were moving in form to defend against whatever he sent their way, "Oh, you guys are busted now."

"The Avatar!" Tyro exclaimed, "He did come for us." he realised, perhaps having doubted what they had told him.

"Earthbenders!" the Water Tribe girl raised her fist, "Now is the time to free yourselves!", and she watched as Haru reached forward, picking up a mass of coal and creating a shield out of it to defend against the firebenders, who were moving into form.

Ty Lee then spun around, gesturing toward the warden, "You better run. I don't think they'll treat you well now they've got all that earth to bend."

He looked at her with a frustrated, furious expression, and she simply smirked back at him as he firebent, now able to use his arms to some effect; the acrobat flipped once more, jumping right over his fire stream, which was dispersed by Aang, who used his staff to deflect the attack up into the sky. Haru tossed his coal at the warden, who was thrown down the ground, groaning with pain as his men looked on with shock. It only took a few moments for the earthbenders to take form, Tyro taking the lead as he raised his hand, creating a wall of coal in front of him.

"For the Earth Kingdom! For freedom!" he made their intentions loud and clear, before they began to pelt the Fire Nation men with coal, knocking them down and forcing them to take defensive positions with fire shields and a tight formation to block their attacks. It didn't do much good against the fragments of coal, which being heavy and dense, seemed to pack it a long more punch than a bit of dirt would. Aang jumped down beside Ty Lee, and the two of them looked at each other for a moment.

"Let's show them how its done." he suggested, before he created a funnel with his hands which blew air out toward the soldiers, who were still struggling to keep form, "Katara! Toss some coal in!" he suggested, and she picked up a few pieces, tossing them into the funnel, causing the fragments to strike the soldiers, knocking them back before the earthbenders moved in, tossing parts of their defences toward the Fire Nation soldiers, which knocked most of them over.

Ty Lee glanced around, and noticed that the warden must have gotten back up off of his feet, and had decided to run, actually having taken her advice; she was a little amused by that fact, and she cracked her knuckles, before dashing toward the Fire Nation soldiers who stood in her way; she kicked one of them in the shin as he tried to hit her with his fist, making him grunt as he fell down to one knee. She dodged his comrades' attempt to hit her by stepping on his bent leg and leaping up onto one of their shoulders, and leaping down onto the ground behind them. She then continued on after the warden, who had ran out through the gates, away from her and the prisoners, obviously realising that he was going to lose the fight.

She realised from the metallic thump and cranking she could hear ahead of her that the gates were about to be shut, so she raced on after the warden, who seemed confident that the gates would fall down in front of her. She disappointed him, however, by sliding on the metal floor to duck under the lowering metal door; It shut behind her, and though she was a little concerned that the others wouldn't be able to follow, she was sure that Aang could reach the gatehouse if that was necessary. Ty Lee didn't give up her pursuit, and continued running after the warden, who was going as fast as he could; there were more men outside of the prisoner's hold, and they stood in her way, already moving to attack her as she charged after their superior. Ty Lee wasn't holding a grudge toward the man, but merely wanted to capture him, knowing that he could stop the fighting and let the earthbenders escape, with an appropriate about of coercion.

Though she had wanted to run right past the soldiers, she wasn't that lucky, and was forced to step into cover to avoid the fire streams that were sent her way. She tensed up for a moment, waiting for the fire streams to peter out before she ran back toward the soldiers, who moved to attack her with a flurry of fire blasts; Ty Lee was fast enough weave around the attacks, before somersaulting, jumping up right in front of one of them. She jabbed him square in the gut, and he grunted in pain as he stumbled back; it wasn't a chi-block, but with one of the men unable to fight, she was able to use him as a shield from their fire blasts, kicking another soldier in the side to knock him to the ground before she continued on after the warden, breaking into a full sprint. She eyed the man intently, and saw as he turned around to face her, reaching what looked like a staircase, presumably leading down to the docks from where supplies and prisoners could enter the shipyards. Before she could catch up, he was suddenly thrown to the ground by a fast moving object, and for a moment, she imagined it might have been one of the earthbenders hitting him, but the direction made little sense for that to be true.

It was Sokka, who ran up to the warden, grabbing his boomerang, which had returned to his hand after striking the warden down, "Don't you even think about it." he warned the Fire Nation man, who snarled at the Water Tribesman with fury.

"You dirty savage!" he snarled, "I'll make sure the Fire Navy destroys you all! You'll regret this."

"Eh, I don't think I will." he shrugged his shoulders, before kicking the warden back down to the ground; his eyes turned back toward Ty Lee, "Did they get the coal?"

"They did... the plan worked." she confirmed, before turning around, the two of them eyeing the soldiers who she had just run past; they obviously weren't going to give up, or at the very least, they'd try and escape before the earthbenders could seize the transport.

"Wanna knock some heads?" he asked, and she smirked, looking forward to help the earthbenders find their freedom; even if she wasn't personally invested in the Earth Kingdom's freedom like Haru and the others were, she certainly wanted them to be given the same kind of respect the Fire nation gave its own citizens, if the war truly was over.

Though she was afraid of what Azula would think of her, the voice in her head reminding her of what Haru had done for her outweighed those fears entirely; she took form, eyeing the soldiers, and decided that if she was going to fight her own people, she would give the mercy and respect she ought they though tto give their own enemies- a little lesson of sorts, and she was glad to do it alongside somebody who seemed to agree with the sentiment.

"You know what, I do."