Aang
The Quiet before the storm was deafening, there was nothing but the sound of silence and occasional shivering of foot soldiers.
Aang was walking right between the ranks of his army, taking a stroll through the numbers, making sure that everyone is in place, they have already discussed the plan with Chief Hakoda who was standing beside his son Sokka in front of a brigade of non-benders, the brigade working as a last line of defense for the archers behind them, as they were standing in front of Long Shot, Shu and a dozen archers ready for the signal to draw their wooden arrows at the enemy, The Avatar and the other formidable soldiers that consisted of benders and non-benders have been split to ranks,
in the vanguard stood two-hundred earthbenders led by Kori Morishita and Tolan, steady as rocks and waiting for the battle to commence so they can provide the people in the back with a shield to block the fire, on their right stood eight-hundred waterbenders led by Petu, considering they don't need to be provided with an earth shield, they stood beside the earthbenders waiting for the signal to charge at the enemy, behind them stood Chief Hakoda and Sokka in front of their brigade consisted of eighteen hundred non-benders, including Jet's freedom fighters and Kori's rebels, and behind them stood Long Shot and Shu leading a company of two-hundred marksmen waiting with bows in hand and arrows on their backs, He left Senge, Appa and Momo back at camp so no harm would land upon them, despite Senge's protests, Aang couldn't put the boy's life in danger, neither could he put Appa and Momo's lives in danger, so he just left them back at camp..
The Avatar finally made it to the far front of the army beside Kori Morishita as he was the one to lead that army to battle, or rather wait for Shun's army to arrive, their plan was to draw Shun's army to him and then they might have a chance at survival, he glanced towards the enemy lines and fear consumed him immediately..
Shun was standing in front of his army, about a league away from Yu Dao and about one-tenth the distance away from Aang's army, as both armies were ready to battle on the vast lands near the countryside, Aang couldn't quiet get a clear look at Shun's ranks as he couldn't identify the benders from the non-benders, both parties were wearing the strong crimson firenation armor, but Aang could identify the archers at the back, he identified them quite well..
They were the same archers with face paint that struck him with their arrows during the ceremonies, to this day Aang can't fathom how those Archers were standing on the pillars of the war room like they were some flies, they shot their arrows as swiftly as a Spider shoots his webs, it was very frightening thinking about it afterwards, although the memory of his attempted assassination was vivid, he couldn't forget their painted faces.
The Yu Yen Archers, they call themselves, Aang couldn't think of a group more worthy of such an intimidating name.
They were standing right behind Shun's army that consisted of ten thousand strong, Benders and Non-Benders, they looked ready for battle as well as Aang's troops, although they might have the edge.
Aang tried to find a silver lining in the midst of all this, but it was a hard fought battle inside his mind to find it, He could only imagine Shun's smirk as the leader of the colonies was standing in front of his infantry and tanks..
Yes, they have tanks, and we have spears, Spirits helps us. Aang hoped internally as the sight in front of him was frightening to say the least, but he composed himself quickly as he has to be strong for his army. Kori took two steps to the front to stand by Aang's side, then started talking..
"What're your thoughts on this?" Kori asked, Aang was too consumed by dark thoughts that he waited a while before he answered,
He took a deep breath as well and looked at the ground beneath him, "Let's hope they don't have more." Aang said as he turned to look at Kori to find that his words frightened her, he couldn't comfort her as he needed comfort himself, so he turned to look at his army, some of them were shivering and the rest were cynics, two groups you definitely don't want around in a battle, Aang took a look at Sokka and Hakoda as they were standing in front of their infantry, Sokka gave him an encouraging nod, so Aang knew it was time to give a speech..
He took a deeper breath and laid it out on them loudly so everybody could hear, "I know what you must be feeling, believe me i am feeling it myself, you see my hand?" Aang showed them his hand, as it was visibly shaking, "Trust me i fare the same, this is a burden that none of you should have borne, this was my responsibility as your Avatar and i failed to take it.." Aang said apologetically, but as soon as he said it, his look turned to one of determination,
"But we are not here to damn our fortune, we are not here to dwell on the possibilities, No.. WE ARE HERE TO FIGHT! We're here to take back what rightfully belongs to the earth kingdom. Those soldiers you are going to fight, they have No Fear and they have No Compassion and today we are going to have the same. For the firenation we are going to say, No more pillaging, No more murdering and No more conquest.. we are going to stop them, so that others might live, we are going to fight to the last of us and we are going to give them the beating they DESERVE!" Aang shouted and as soon as he said, his army shouted "YEAH!", Aang was even more encouraged by the courage of the men and women that stood right in front of him, he continued his speech,
"Defeating this army and taking this city will mean the definite end of the firenation conquest, so for the sake of everyone you love and for the sake of the generations to come, LET'S FREE THIS COLONY!" Aang shouted as he raised his hand and the army in front of him did the same and shouted approval once again, even Petu and Tolan looked as ecstatic as the rest of the army, Aang looked at Chief Hakoda and Sokka they nodded in his direction with a smile, he then turned to look at Shun's army once again feeling courage in his heart and the heart of his army.
"They are all going to die, aren't they?" Kori asked darkly beside Aang, His lips formed a smile as he turned to look at her.
"At least they will die shouting." Aang said, and Kori struggled to understand the meaning at first but eventually she couldn't help but return the smile as well.. that until they saw it..
Aang noticed it from the corner of his eyes, he turned to get a full view as his face turned to one of shock, Kori turned to look as well only for her face to fare the same.
Shun along with Jeri and two other men were pulling Sneers away from the army and towards Aang's army, he looked badly injured and fatigued, his hands were tied and Shun pulled him using a rope attached to a collar around his neck like he was some pet, all Sneers' friends came to the side of Aang, Smellerbee, The Duke, Pipsqueak, Bao, even Long Shot and Shu who were supposed to be at the far back, all of them stared in shock as Shun along with his men pulled Sneers to a spot within earshot of Aang and quiet a distance from his own army and threw him on the ground with Shun putting his leg on Sneers' neck.
"There is your friend, Avatar! He has been a good pet for the last several months, but as a firenation citizen, we have not much tolerance for pets, we even killed our own dragons in the past.. so as our old folks killed their pets in the past, i am going to kill my own now." Shun shouted as he pulled his leg aside and pointed his fist towards Sneers' face.
Aang put his hand in front of Kori as he knew she was about to launch herself at Shun, he decided to converse with him instead, "Couldn't quite bring yourself to fight us without leverage, Huh, Shun? I wouldn't call that Manly!" Aang shouted so that Shun would hear him, Shun laughed loudly, his voice echoing throughout the place.
"Well, Good thing i don't care about you calling it Manly, i would much prefer if you call it Smart." Shun said, still pointing his fist at Sneers' face, "But.." Shun suddenly pulled his fists away from Sneers' face and turned his look to Aang, "If you hate it so much that i have the leverage.. you can come and get it." Shun said, pointing both hands at Sneers.
Aang was in a state of confusion, Considering Shun doesn't have the ability to scour Yu Dao, Why would he offer to Aang the only leverage he has on them? This must be a trap. Aang thought.
"How do you expect us to call you Smart if you think that we are falling for that one, Shun?" Aang asked from afar, posing a brave face, while his insides were crumbling at the risk he just took.
"This is no trap, Avatar. Sneers is all yours. Shall we head back, boys?" Shun said, he took his company and left, returning back to their army.
Aang stared in shock as he saw Shun falling back with his friends, leaving Sneers alone in no man's land, Aang had a uneasy feeling in his stomach, mixed feelings ensued, and he was debating whether to take the risk and go for Sneers or not, he decided this should be discussed.
He turned his head to discuss the matter with the fighters.. Only to find Kori launching herself in Sneers' direction, running towards her grounded boyfriend..
Aang took some time to notice what was happening, and before he could comprehend, All of Sneers' friends followed her, picking up the pace to keep up with Kori who was running relentlessly, Aang's head finally started to function, and the first thing he did was look beside him to find Sokka and Hakoda.
"Stay in the back, if anything happens, you know what to do.. Benders up front, Non-Benders behind them, got it?" Aang said in a rush, and Sokka nodded.
afterwards, Aang used his airbending to boost his speed as he ran to catch up with Kori and the freedom fighters, his airbending gave him the edge and he reached Sneers before them, by then Shun returned with his company to the front of his army, looking directly at Aang and his company as they were running towards Sneers.
"Sneers, we have to go now." Aang said as soon as he reached the injured freedom fighter who was laying on the ground, almost motionless.
Sneers stirred, as if he is waking up from long sleep, Aang knew they have wasted much time already.. only for Kori and the fighters to arrive and make it worse, as soon as Kori arrived she shoved Aang aside, and hugged Sneers fiercely, "Oh, Sneers.. I'm so sorry." She said trembling as her tears fell freely from her eyes.
Aang tried to knock some sense into the love struck girl, but to no avail, "Kori, We have to move NOW!" Aang shouted.
"NOW!" Aang heard the shout from Shun as if echoing his own shout, and everything afterwards happened in slow motion..
at first Aang faintly heard the frightened voice of Sokka shouting "NOOOOO!" Aang's brain decided to follow the stronger voice, Shun's voice, at first he glanced towards Shun's army, only to find the people at the far back of Shun's army loosing their bows, and on the second glance the arrows were wobbling in the air, he was about to scream, but decided against it, instead he created an air shield to cover all his friends.. unfortunately, the air shield wasn't enough.
The shield protected Aang, Kori and Sneers who were laying on the ground.. but it couldn't protect the rest of the freedom fighters who were standing beside them.. and One by one, The Freedom fighters fell. Smellerbee, The Duke, Pipsqueak, Long Shot, Shu and Bao.. all fell to the ground motionless, with arrows piercing their necks.
The Next thing Aang heard was Sokka's war cry, "TO BATTLE!", and Aang never noticed that Sokka never followed Aang's plan, he never told them benders up front and non-benders behind them, he just said TO Battle.
Afterwards, Aang heard Shun's war cry as well, Shouting the same words that Sokka said, although instead of leading his army, he stayed in the back with his company, leaving other soldiers to lead the vanguard.
Although Aang saw the people he fought most of his battles by their side fall one by one, he couldn't bring himself to extinguish the air shield above him, Kori and Sneers.. and Now above the bodies of his fallen friends his well.. instead of staring at the bodies however, he stared at Kori as she was still hugging Sneers fiercely in case any arrows pierce through the shield, she never made a move, so Aang just had to sit there and wait for both armies to arrive, he just hoped for his army to arrive before Shun's, He closed his eyes still holding onto the shield, expecting to have a fire blast engulf his whole body and kill him,
for the first time in his life, he was just sitting there, waiting for his death, at least the last time when he actually died, he never waited for it, everything happened in a flash, but this time, he has to wait for it, and the wait felt like it was taking forever, whatever happens next, he just hoped it would happen fast, so he closed his eyes and waited.. but for once, the universe decided to give him a chance, For his army arrived first..
Sokka and Hakoda arrived with the infantry just before Shun's infantry and tanks reached Aang, and both armies clashed some distance away from Aang, Kori, Sneers and their fallen friends, The Battle finally commenced.
Before Aang could launch himself at the enemy though, he extinguished his air shield, and shouted for Kori who finally broke the hug with Sneers on the ground and took notice of her surroundings.
"KORI! TAKE SNEERS AND GET OUT OF HERE!" Aang shouted for the lost girl, as the battle was happening around them, Kori noticed her fallen friends beside them, she stared in shock and anguish at their bodies, more tears falling from her eyes, Aang grabbed her shoulders and shook her body.
"LISTEN TO ME, THERE WILL BE ENOUGH TIME FOR GRIEF LATER, BUT FOR NOW, TAKE SNEERS AND GO!" Aang shouted to her again, only this time a firenation soldiers tried to interrupt as Shun's soldiers finally reached them and took notice of their survival, Aang saw the guy coming and sent an air blast towards the guy, knocking him back.
The gesture brought some sense back to Kori as Aang gave her a meaningful look and without further talk, she carried a fragile Sneers as strong as an earthbender and took him away, boosting her speed with earthbending. with that out of the way, The battle finally commenced for Aang, and he decided to join the fray..
Aang made his way to his enemies and started blasting them to the air and down to the ground, but made sure the harm wasn't severe, after all, he still had some air nomad traditions in his heart, Aang kept blasting his targets one by one, occasionally using earthbending to trap them to the ground or knock them out cold with rocks, and sometimes he uses Waterbending to ice them to the ground, although he rarely did it as firebenders are known for their ability to melt ice.
Throwing fists and jabs, dodging fire and arrows, Aang kept making his way through the enemy with only one goal in mind, reach a position where he could have full grasp of his army, and give them commands, he heard shouts from Sokka and Hakoda as they were giving instructions to the watertribe soldiers, so he followed the voice to reach them.
still fighting and dodging, grunting and shouting, Aang was fighting like he never has before, the movements took their toll on his body, but tiring during a battle means your demise, so Aang decided to save his neck by not allowing himself to feel tired, besides, Sokka's voice was becoming clearer and clearer by the minute so he must be getting close.
Eventually, Aang couldn't keep his pacifism.. One of the firenation soldiers sent a fire blast that knocked him down, Aang was fighting for his life as he was one fire blast away from becoming a spirit, so he did the first thing he thought of, and that was using his earthbending to lift a rock off the ground and smash The Firebender's head with it, the impact of the large rock to the soldier's skull could have been heard a mile away if it wasn't for the noises of battle, but it was close enough for Aang to hear the soldier's skull getting crushed by the rock and dropping to the ground senseless, another soul to the list..
but this time, Aang never bothered to look back as he stood up immediately to find another soldier coming to murder him, at this point he never cared for pacifism anymore, and he went all out on the firenation soldiers, even using Firebending on some of them. After remorse got out of the way, Aang's progress got a thousand times faster, and Sokka's voice was even clearer than ever, but the noises of his falling soldiers were even clearer, Some of his soldiers, Men and Women fell to the ground with firebending, The fallen non-benders were more than the fallen benders of course, as Aang noticed that the waterbenders and earthbenders kept formation, but the non-benders consisted of freedom fighters and watertribe weren't in rhythm, they dispersed and never kept formation, it was sad to hear their screams and yelps of pain, but Aang kept seeking his target, and that was to reach Sokka..
Finally, he reached him, and right on time as well..
As Sokka was on the ground fighting for his life, keeping his club up to shield his face from a firenation soldier who was about to burn his face to crisp, that until Aang arrived and used his airbending to blast that soldier and some other soldiers around him away from Sokka, Aang then reached Sokka and extended his hand to bring him up, at first Sokka was still in the heat of battle and thought Aang was one of the enemies, so Aang brought him up and shook him..
"HEY!" Aang shouted so that Sokka would come out of his daze, his face was muddy and his clothes were dirty, so Aang assumed that he fared the same.
"Aang.." Sokka finally said, and suddenly his eyes went as wide as plates, "WATCH OUT!" Sokka said, shoving Aang away and lifting his club to slam it on the skull of a firenation soldier who was charging from behind to murder Aang, the club crushed the soldier's skull and blood exploded at both Aang and Sokka's face, they wiped it away and stared in shock for some seconds before coming out of their shock to anticipate the soldiers charging from left and right, Sokka took the one on the left and Aang took the one on the right, but their backs still to each other, Aang blasted the soldier away and anticipated the other, but as he was close to Sokka, he decided to talk while fighting.
"SOKKA, WE NEED TO REGAIN FORMATION!" Aang shouted as he blasted another firenation soldier to the back, making sure to hit the head so he might have a chance of knocking him out.
"I'M NOT STOPPING YA!" Sokka shouted as Aang heard him grunting and swinging his club relentlessly, Aang used his earthbending to throw rocks at some of the soldiers progressing, afterwards he kept talking.
"WHERE IS YOUR FATHER?!" Aang asked.
"I LOST TRACK OF HIM, I THINK HE'S STILL IN FRONT OF THE WATERTRIBE INFANTRY!" Sokka said, and Aang looked around to look for Chief Hakoda, but as he moved his head to the side, he saw a freedom fighter receive an arrow to the face and drop dead to the ground, Aang's state of mind was getting worse by the second, the circumstances were getting worse and worse, he didn't know whether to fight the firebenders in front of him, or to await the arrows of the Yu Yin archers to dodge them, The arrows were murdering both Aang and Shun's soldiers for a certainty, he knew Shun didn't care for the safety of his own men, but nonetheless, Aang needed his soldiers more than Shun needed his, Aang kept fighting while having dark thoughts, but his thoughts were interrupted by a certain watertribe soldier's voice..
"EARTHBENDERS AND ARCHERS, WITH ME!" It was Tolan who shouted the order, Aang saw him from the corner of his eyes, lifting a huge rock with the help of the earthbenders to shield the archers behind him, as soon as both parties gathered, Tolan barked another order.
"NOCK!" The Archers took their arrows out and nocked, "DRAAAW!" The Archers drew their arrows and pointed them to the air, "LOOSE!" Tolan finally shouted, and The Archers loosed their arrows to the direction of Shun and his men, While fighting, Aang noticed the arrows fall on Shun and his archers who were standing far from the battlefield, they dispersed immediately, but at least some arrows hit their mark, Aang took a note to thank Tolan afterwards.
As Aang kept fighting, he remembered a certain expedition he sent that morning before the battle..
Suki
Morning of the battle
It was a long, boring and worrisome search, to that moment Suki didn't believe she agreed to Aang's suggestion of sending her away from the battle, she knew it was for great reason, but she wanted to be with Sokka, Hakoda and the rest, she wanted to fight by their side, not go away with her warriors to search for an army that might not have even come.
When Aang discussed the battle with his army, he knew it was a risk to let Katara and the earthbenders just surmise the location of the battle, so he sent Suki and two of her Kyoshi Warriors to look for Katara and try to hurry them up a little before everybody.. before everybody.. She refused to even think about, it was hard to imagine that all these people might die today without her being present, She lost Sokka once, she hoped she would never have to endure the pain of losing him again, same goes for Hakoda and Petu, so she decided to focus on the task at hand, walking in the direction that people take to Omashu, so they might meet the army coming from there. The search was getting more and more hopeless by the second, and even Suki's friends, Rangi and Wu of The Kyoshi Warriors, looked uncharacteristically unexcited by the expedition.. That until they heard a noise, all three girls gathered up and took a fighting stance, as a tree twig fell to the ground beside them.
They lifted their heads up, to find a youngman sitting on the big tree branch above, with a piece of plant in his mouth, and he looked to be in deep thought.
It was the first time they saw a soul around these parts, Suki and her friends dropped their stances and she was about to move on her way before a thought occured to her.
maybe this guy just came back from Omashu and might give us some information, it's worth a shot.. Suki thought as she cleared her throat to speak..
"Uhm, Excuse me.. Sir." Suki called, but the youngman never answered, he looked to be so out of it, just staring at the horizon, he never even moved a muscle or flinched at the voice, so Suki tried again but louder..
"EXCUSE ME.. SIR!" She shouted, finally the youngman responded to her, and just as Suki thought, he was out of it, he looked like he just woke up from a long daydream..
"Huh.. What?" He asked and finally moved his head down to look at her, the youngman looked like he hasn't slept in days, it was depressing to say the least, but Suki made sure never to bring that up..
"Sorry to disturb you, Sir.. but we are kinda in a hurry so i'm going to ask my question immediately, are you coming back from Omashu or going to Omashu?" Suki asked in a rush, and the youngman just stared at her looking very tired so he looked to be processing the words in his brain, he scratched his head and looked around as if trying to remember where he was..
"The hell are you talking about? Who are you?" He asked still scratching his head, Suki facepalmed herself as she was getting very anxious by the second, but as the man appeared to be Earth Kingdom, might as well trust him with her name and identity.
"Sir, My name is Suki and those are my fellow Kyoshi warriors, i thought the face paint said as much.. anyways, this is the Omashu road, and i just saw you hanging around here appearing to be taking a break, so my question is, are you going to Omashu or are you coming back from Omashu?" Suki asked, hoping for an answer this time, the youngman took his precious time to comprehend the words again, making Suki more anxious, but she never uttered a word.
He snorted. "Wow.. I just found out that i was heading towards Omashu, i guess i never paid much attention to the road at all." The youngman said, but before Suki could voice her disappointment, The youngman jumped down from the tree branch in one swift move, and landed on his feet in front of Suki and the warriors,
"I have to ask however, Why the question?" The youngman asked as he came closer to Suki and the warriors, he looked very suspicious, probably thinking Suki and her friends are enemies, but Suki stood her ground.
"Look, if you are not providing us with any information then we should be heading out.." Suki said, and the youngman looked unconvinced, Suki sighed deeply, "If i wanted to harm you, do you think i would have waited for you to walk up to do it?" Suki asked, her patience wearing thin.
The youngman moved the piece of plant in his mouth left and right, her words probably convinced him, "Alright.. But why were you asking though? i might be of help." The youngman said, He extended his hand to Suki and finally remembered that he never formally introduced himself, "Sorry, My name is Jet.. Pleasure to meet you." The youngman said, still extending his hand.
Suki sighed again, "Look, we really should get goin-" Suki trailed off, The name struck a nerve, "What did you say your name is?" Suki asked.
"My name is Jet." The youngman said again.
Suki knew this man looked familiar, now she remembers why, he looked just like his warriors, "You are the leader of the freedom fighters.." Suki said, and immediately Jet got very suspicious, he drew his swords out and took a fighting a stance, Suki and her warriors did the same with their fans.
"What are you doing?!" Suki exclaimed.
"How do you know me? you fight for Shun, aren't you?!" Jet accused, still holding his swords at the ready with a menacing look.
"No, you idiot.. we didn't even know you were here, we're looking for the army coming from Omashu to guide them to the battlefield to help the avatar." Suki exclaimed in a rush, still holding her fans.
Hearing that, Jet finally lowered his swords with a look of confusion on his face, "What battlefield?" Jet asked.
Suki did the same with her fans, "The Avatar and his army will battle Shun's army today, We arrived last night with a small army of our own to support the avatar, but apparently that wasn't enough, we still need the backup that might come from Omashu, otherwise everyone will die." Suki said.
"So, you mean.. Aang has agreed to war? i thought he wanted to make peace with Shun." Jet asked.
"That was the deal at first, but then they couldn't reach good terms, so they are going to fight today with only three thousand soldiers against ten thousand of Shun's." Suki informed.
A look of fear passed on Jet's face, "Then what are we doing here? Let's go the battlefield!" Jet was about to run when Suki held him with her arm.
"No.. we are not much help to them unless we find the army coming from Omashu, help us find them and then we will join the fight." Suki said. Jet looked to be in deep thought, he was mulling it over, whether to go to his friends or go with Suki on her expedition.
"Look, i know we are not-" Suki was about to convince him, until they heard footsteps some distance away, it was drawing near, it sounded like dozens of people walking, no a dozen soldiers walking, those footsteps belonged to infantry, Suki knew the sound too well. Jet heard the sound as well and together with Suki and her warriors they hid behind the trees, Suki tried to take a look at the source of the sound, but nothing came to view, but she hoped for the best, she hoped those people aren't enemies.
Aang
"OUR NUMBERS ARE DECREASING!" a Soldier shouted, fear consuming his voice.
"HOLD YOUR GROUND!" Aang shouted back to the soldier and his friends, encouraging them to keep on, while taking on a dozen firebenders himself.
By the time, Aang was sure he must have murdered a dozen firebenders by now, it was very hard to know whether his blows killed or knocked out his opponents, at one point he sent an air slice at one of the firenation soldiers, severely cutting his belly, but as he cut down the soldiers, he kept on, he has been preparing himself for moments like this ever since he murdered his first man, what's a dozen more going to do? the battle was getting hotter and hotter by the second, all the soldiers still standing including Aang were covered with mud, sweat and blood, they were fighting bravely to the last man, but Aang knew they won't be enough, they will never be enough, not with those YuYen archers taking down his men one by one anyways..
The archers were still standing even with Tolan's efforts to bring them down, eventually the archers used their skills to disperse the archers behind Tolan, but he was still standing with the remaining of the earthbenders, trying to cut down as many firenation soldiers as they could, all the bodies were piling up, there were dozens of them so some of them just piled up, tanks were getting destroyed as well, it was pure chaos and carnage, but Aang couldn't care less at the moment, as he was busy cutting down people and destroying tanks himself, the fight went on, Sokka was still alive beside Aang, and so does Tolan, but Hakoda and Petu were no where to be found, Until Sokka screamed the information behind Aang..
"AANG! I FOUND MY FATHER!" Sokka shouted behind him, and Aang hoped for the best.. "He's making his way to Shun with some of his warriors, HE IS GOING TO GET HIMSELF KILLED!" Sokka finished, and Aang used his airbending to blow all his opponents away at once, so he could have a chance of getting a view, he did and it wasn't pleasant at all.
Chief Hakoda and some of his soldiers made their way to Shun and his archers, they were fighting and dodging as hard as they could, but still some of them fell.
"SOKKA, HOLD THE LINE, I'M GOING TO YOUR FATHER!" Aang screamed, he took the deepest breath he's ever taken, and then blew it to create the biggest airball he's ever created, the airball engulfed him, and Aang used it as a shield, he then lifted himself up with his airbending, and rushed to Chief Hakoda's side.
Arrows and fire blasts came his way, but to no avail, Aang was holding onto the airball as tight as he could, until one of the arrows pierced through the shield and it hit Aang's arm, he screamed loudly, but still held onto the airball, the arm of his tunic was cut open, his arm was covered in his own blood, but he still held onto the airball as tight as he could, just a few more inches, And.. he finally reached Shun, he and his archers were fighting Chief Hakoda and his men right under him, Aang then decided to make the sacrifice, he knew Chief Hakoda would understand.
With a loud cry, he used all his might to launch himself at the ground.. and a huge BOOM sound was heard, shaking the earth and knocking Shun, Chief Hakoda and their forces away, with the landing Aang created a crater and stayed their for a couple of seconds until he pulled the arrow off his arm with a yell of pain, and then stayed their a while to regain his breath, he used his mouth to cut a piece of cloth of his tunic to cover the blood leak, as soon as he bandaged his wound up, he launched himself out of the crater and landed on beside Chief Hakoda and his men, he looked around to find Bato and Petu among Chief Hakoda's men, and all of them rose up to fight once again.
"AVATAR AANG, CAME TO JOIN US OVERTHROW THIS PIECE OF FILTH?" Chief Hakoda shouted to Aang, as all of them took their stances to fight Shun's coming troops.
"I GUESS I HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE, CHIEF!" Avatar Aang replied. Petu, Bato and the rest of the fighters that consisted of forty men came to The Chief and Aang's side, preparing themselves for battle, as soon as Shun rose up though, he had one of his smug smiles on his face.. this can't be good..
"NOW!" Shun shouted, and indeed it wasn't at all good.. as soon as Shun said the word, more than five hundred firebenders came from behind the hill that Shun was standing on, they encircled the group, and Aang and his forces looked like sitting turtleducks to them, fear consumed Aang immediately, at first he had a feeling that this day might be the end of his life, but now, he was sure of it.
He looked around to find Petu and Hakoda faring the same, it was an ambush sit by Shun to lure him out to the open and then trap him, and Chief Hakoda helped him with that ambush, Very Clever.
Shun's group finally encircled Aang and his troops, while the battle was still happening some distance away from them, they just stood there from some seconds in silence, Aang took a look at Shun who was still smiling widely.
"FIRE AT THE READY!" Shun suddenly shouted, and all the firebenders encircling the avatar's group created fire simultaneously, as if they rehearsed the damned thing before, the fire was so strong that Aang and the rest of his forces felt it on their faces, they couldn't see anymore, only fire in their sight everywhere.
"FIREBENDERS, ADVANCE!" Aang heard Shun shout. and with a loud war cry, the firebenders advanced slowly, trapping Aang and his troops inside, Petu and the rest of the waterbenders without even thinking brought all the water they had in their pouches, and together they created a water shield to stop the fire, Aang knew it wasn't enough, so he had to overcome the pain in his arm and do something..
As the fire progressed slowly, getting closer and closer, Aang launched himself in the air, and getting himself to the center of the group, and then he created an air shield to protect them, his arm was getting worse and worse by the minute, but he had no other choice but to overcome the pain, otherwise all these people will die, with the waterbenders and Aang preventing it, the progress of the fire slightly receded, but it wasn't enough to wipe it out completely, with the screams of his warriors outside in the battle, and the progress of the fire that's about to consume his group in some seconds, Aang truly believed this was the end,
his eyes started flashing some of his memories, only it contained the bad ones, he was losing control, but he fought with all his might to keep his strength, his arm wasn't helping at all, his body was covered in sweat, and he kept screaming for some time, still holding onto the air shield, but it was no help, the fire kept progressing, until it finally consumed two of his warriors on the right, Petu then focused used his water to snuff out the fire that was about to engulf the screaming warriors, but that only helped with making the progress of the fire faster, it consumed another two warriors on the left, they screamed and tried to hold on to anything beside them, so their friends pushed them away to keep the fire away from them, the fire circle engulfed them completely and they turned to ashes in seconds.
The sight made Aang sick to his stomach, that his shouting was displaying one of sadness and anguish, in moments like this, everyone only fights for their lives, nobody wants to die screaming..
he kept trying to save the remaining warriors, but he knew it was for no avail, all of them are going to die in a couple of seconds, but he kept on fighting, and fighting, the fire took away two more of his soldiers but this time, they were of the waterbenders, they died screaming as fire engulfed them, two waterbenders died by fire, the others were frightened and shouting for help, but Aang just stayed in the air keeping what remained of his cool as his air shield was still standing, same goes for the remaining waterbenders, as Petu was still standing and shouting words of encouragment to them, it all seemed hopeless, and it looked like the same for the screaming soldiers outside, that until they started to progress..
Suddenly Aang's air shield along with the water shield of Petu and waterbenders started to progress, they couldn't believe what was happening, the progress of the circle of fire receded significantly, it got so very week, and in a move of bravery, Petu used his waterbending to immediately snuff out the whole circle of fire, and their view cleared out, Aang then fell to the ground tired, his soldiers took fighting stances again, only for them to find that there were no people around to fight, all of Shun's forces went away to fight someone else, Aang lifted his head slowly to see what was happening, and he realized that finally destiny decided to smile for them..
He saw dozens of earthbenders rushing to the battlefield, they were coming at full speed, and Shun commanded his army to anticipate them, but to no avail..
As soon as the earthbenders arrived, they relentlessly teared down the battlefield, cutting down dozens of firebenders left and right, they fought like animals, and for once, the battle looked like it turned to Aang's favor.
"LOOKS LIKE OMASHU HAS ARRIVED!" Aang heard Petu shout, and the rest of the group shouted with him, the courage found its place back to the warriors' hearts, even Aang who stood up and got a full view of the ordeal, not without holding onto his arm of course, When he looked at the battlefield below, he noticed one particular female waterbender fighting beside the earthbenders, cutting down as most soldiers as she could..
"That's My Daughter.." Hakoda said, fear evident in his voice, as Aang as well was frightened for her safety.
"She looks just fine to me.. but i guess we should be helping her out.. RIGHT BOYS?!" Petu shouted at the soldiers, and all of them shouted "AYE!" and together with Aang following close by, the group went down the hill to get to Katara's side.
Aang was thankful that every soldier wore the colors of his nations, otherwise, the Omashu warriors would have confused them for the enemy, as they were coming back in a rush from Shun's side to the battlefield, as soon as they rejoined the battle, they started fighting alongside the earthbenders, but Aang and Hakoda had one goal in mind, and that was to keep fighting until they reach Katara, and they did just so..
"KATARA!" Hakoda shouted as soon as they came closer to the girl, Katara looked at them and got distracted for a second, Aang saw the soldier coming from behind her, and without a warning he shot an air blast at him knocking him several feet away.
They talked as Aang and Hakoda kept fighting beside her, "YOU COULD HAVE PICKED A BETTER TIME TO CALL ON HER, DON'T YOU THINK?!" Aang shouted angrily at Hakoda.
"I'm Sorry! I Haven't Seen Her In A Long While, I Missed Her!" Hakoda said apologetically.
"SO DID I, BUT DID I CALL ON HER IN THE MIDDLE OF BATTLE? NO, I DIDN'T!" Aang answered, sending an air blast towards one of the soldiers.
"COULD YOU TWO PLEASE STOP BICKERING AND TELL ME WHERE SOKKA IS?!" Katara shouted to both of them.
"I DON'T KNOW, LAST TIME I SAW HIM HE WAS-" Aang was about to answer until he was interrupted,
"I'M RIGHT HERE!" Sokka yelled from below, there was a firenation soldier trapping him to the ground and about to send fire in his direction, Hakoda launched himself at the soldier, and used his club to crush the firebender's skull, he then extended a hand to Sokka and brought him up.
"Uh, Thanks, Dad.. i owe you one." Sokka said, as the heat of battle started to cool down around their parts, but Aang and Katara kept their stances alive.
"What took you so long, Katara? We lost dozens of soldiers." Hakoda said scoldingly.
"The King was very stubborn, it took some time to convince him to join the battle, he never agreed to it until i mentioned the spirits war." Katara responded.
"Same thing happened to me with dad. he wouldn't have answered if it wasn't for the mention of the spirits war. Thanks for informing us with that, Aang." Sokka said sarcastically.
"You're welcome, Sokka.. Now, could we please figure out a way to capture Shun? he threatened me of burning all of Yu Dao to the ground if he lost the battle, he looks to be losing so we need a solid plan to capture him." Aang said.
"Yeah, i believe we need to be very fast, Aang.. Look." Sokka said, motioning to the departing figure some distance away.
Aang's face paled even more, as he saw Shun and some of his soldiers retreating back to Yu Dao, apparently he is going on with his threat.
As soon as Aang noticed the sight, without a word, he ran towards Shun and his soldiers..
"Aang, Wait up!" He heard Katara say from the back, as apparently Sokka, Katara and Hakoda followed him closely, Aang reached some firenation soldiers and started making his way through them, by shoving them or otherwise, All he wanted was to make his way to Shun before he flees to Yu Dao and burns the entire city to the ground, in his way to Shun, Aang thought he saw Jet on the battlefield fighting beside Suki, but he assumed it was his imagination,
eventually, Aang used his airbending to boost his speed and get to Shun faster, but his wounds and the effort he made during this battle took a toll on his body, his bending helped him make just half the way to Yu Dao, and then he slumped down on his knees, trying to catch his breath on the ground, he was some distance away from the battlefield, but still very far from Shun and Yu Dao, Even in victory, he still feels defeated, they have might have beaten Shun's forces and the firenation conquest is over, but still he was facing the danger of Shun scouring Yu Dao, even though he should be happy, he was in mourning.
His head was still facing the ground when he heard it, the sound of his best friend, the sound of Appa's comforting grunt, Aang looked up to find the giant bison soaring in the sky with Momo by his side and of course Senge on top, Appa then landed on the ground beside Aang and Momo found his way to Aang's shoulder,
"I should have stayed at camp, That's what you wanna say, right? I just couldn't, i want to fight, Aang. and you have no say to that." Senge started as soon as he landed, Aang didn't know what to say, so he just kept his mouth shut, still holding his wound.
by the time, Katara, Sokka and Hakoda arrived, and with them Suki and.. Jet.
Aang was still positioned on the ground when he saw his friend arrive at the scene, right before his eyes, he thought he saw him earlier fighting Shun's troops but he thought it was a piece of his imagination, but he knew for sure that at the moment, it wasn't his imagination, it is reality.
Before Aang could talk, Jet started, "I know what you must be thinking, but i am here now.." Jet trailed off, before asking a question that Aang didn't want to answer,
"Why don't i see any of my close friends of the freedom fighters around, Aang?" Aang was at a loss of words, for a couple of seconds, he didn't know what to say, He hated to be in this position, as if Shun about to scour Yu Dao wasn't enough..
Aang rose up, he took a couple of steps towards Appa, as soon as he reached the bison, he turned back to Jet, with all his friends around him anticipating his words, with the exception of Sokka and Hakoda as they knew exactly what happened to his friends.
"Only Sneers and Kori got to live and i told her to take him somewhere safe. but the rest.. Smellerbee, Longshot, The Duke, Pipsqueak, Shu and Bao are dead, shot by arrows from archers that work for a man who is about to scour this colony.." Aang said pointing at Yu Dao, noticing the look of pure devastation on Jet's face, but still he couldn't postpone much longer, he must go to Yu Dao now, or else.
"Senge, get down." Aang said, Senge did as he was told and then with a single swift move of airbending, Aang hopped on Appa, the move taking its toll on his injured body as Aang growled as soon as he got on top of Appa..
"Oh Spirits, I'm so sorry, Aang.. i didn't ask if you needed healing." Katara said as she ran to Aang's side immediately, Aang tried to protest but before he could say anything, Katara was on him, checking Aang's wounds, she noticed it, the wound on his arm that he bandaged, Katara took the bandage off with Aang making a hissing sound, the pain was immense but he decided to hold it in as best he could, Katara's face changed to that of worry and fear.
"Is that an arrow wound?" Katara asked, holding a hand to her mouth.
"Katara, if you don't mind, you just left the wound naked, and the battle isn't over yet." Aang said.
"Oh, Sorry, Here." She apologized then opened her pouch of water, got the water out and started mending Aang's wound, at first Aang closed his eyes from the pain, but the pain went away as soon as it came, Katara then took the water and placed it back in the pouch.
"Thanks.." Aang said, looking at Katara with a meek smile, Katara returned it, and together they looked back to the group, they were still standing in anticipation, waiting for Aang's decision, even Jet whose look of guilt and anguish turned to that of pure rage, Jet looked like he could use some killing right now, Aang stood up on Appa's head and addressed them with Katara by his side,
"during the negotiations before this battle, Shun threatened me that in case of his defeat, he has Yu Dao in his custody to ransom. Now what that means is, this man is going to burn this entire city to the ground in the next couple of hours, so what we need to do is get inside this city and kill this son of a bitch, that's the easy part, the hard part is we need to do it NOW!" Aang finished.
There was no answer from them for a couple of seconds, Chief Hakoda then looked around and then at the city, "We can't get inside this city without losses, Aang.. Look, those damned archers are positioned on the wall." Hakoda said pointing at the people with bows and arrows on top of the wall that Aang knew all too well.
"The YuYen Archers." Aang spat out hoarsely, his voice filled with hatred and anger.
"So, We let Appa do the work." Jet said all of a sudden, and the whole group turned to him.
"Have you not heard what my dad said? there are archers on top of the wall." Sokka responded.
Jet refused to meet any of their gazes, but he kept talking still, "What i meant is, We are going to distract those archers, using all our strength to keep their attention at us. and in the meantime, Appa is going to break down the gate." Jet said.
Aang mulled the thought over, but then a thought made all the process stop at once, "We don't know what's on the other side of that gate, i can't risk it." Aang said.
"Then some of us are staying with Appa to protect him. How about you and I, Aang?" Jet suggested.
"Like i said, we don't know what's on the other side." Aang protested again.
Jet came closer to the bison to look Aang in the eye, "Think about it, Aang. Shun wants nothing more than to capture the both of us, if he was standing right beside that door, we'll draw his fire away from Appa, and then we will deflect, giving our army the time to enter the city and get the son of a bitch." Jet finished, Aang was somewhat convinced by what Jet said, he was about to concur, until Katara objected.
"What do you mean 'draw their fire'? Won't that put both of your lives in danger? The goal here is to keep everybody alive, not to have someone sacrifice himself for the other." Katara said fiercely.
"No, Katara.. Jet's right.." Aang said, Katara looked at him in shock, so Aang had to explain himself, "Shun wants nothing more than to capture or kill both me and Jet, we'll draw his fire and thus giving Appa the chance to break down the gate with ease. and by then our army would have arrived and victory will be ours.." Aang said, Katara opened her mouth and closed it multiple times, Aang decided to comfort her even more, "Come on, Katara.. i've been very lucky thus far, what's a couple more shots gonna do?" Aang said with a warm smile, Katara's eyes watered but for a split second before she blinked her tears away and hugged Aang fiercely.
The hug lasted for a couple of seconds before she broke it, "Keep the lucky charm on ya, Please." Katara said, her voice filled with warmth.
"You got it." Aang responded.
They broke the hug completely, then Katara jumped off Appa and Jet hopped on.
"What am i going to do?" Senge asked, standing beside Aang's friends.
"You are going with Katara and Sokka.. Please, Guys.. Keep him safe." Aang said.
"I'm not a child, Aang!" Senge whined, and Aang smiled, Sokka came to the boy's side and just put his hand on his bald head, Senge pushed Sokka's hand away and stood there pouting.
by the time they stopped talking, the remaining of Shun's army were fleeing towards the city on the far side, Aang saw King Bumi with Petu and Tolan by his side, leading the benders and non-benders towards the city of Yu Dao, so Aang took the reins of Appa.
"The plan is in motion, GO GO!" Aang said, and his friends on the ground ran to join King Bumi and tell him of Aang's plan, then with a single "Yip Yip" to Appa, both Aang and Jet were soaring in the sky on top of Appa flying to Yu Dao..
Aang made sure to make evasive maneuvers in the sky as he knew The YuYen archers will strike as soon as he gets in range, and indeed they nocked their arrows, getting ready for Aang to arrive, Aang then rememebered that he left something in Appa's saddle that he never brought with him in the battle, as it would have been no use in close range battles, but now, it might come in handy, Aang looked back to the saddle to find it laying there are peaceful as he wishes he had been, His staff, he took it from the saddle and put it at the ready.
"Jet, take Appa to the gate, i'll draw their fire." Aang said in a rush, and before Jet could respond, he pressed on his staff, unfolding it to a glider, and he used it to fly to the position of the YuYen archers, it's time to face those bastards head on.
Aang tried to count them on the wall, there looked to be twenty of them on gate, and the rest were scattered on various parts of the wall, Aang kept flying towards his enemies, the group of people that gave him nightmares for the last couple of months, Now, it's time to face them to get rid of the fear, but that fear returned as soon as he got close enough..
As soon as Aang got in their range, The YuYen Archers launched their arrows with delicate accuracy in Aang's direction, Fear consumed Aang and for a split second he didn't know what to do, but he regained his composure quickly and evaded the arrows as best he could, one of them flew very close to the glider but missed it by a couple of inches, the archers were getting ready for another round of arrows, so Aang flew in their direction as fast he could, now that Katara healed his wounds, he felt fresh and ready to give it his all once more, he finally arrived at the wall as the archers were about to loose their arrows, he got above them and then landed powerfully, slamming his staff into the rampart, generating a massive earthen wave to knock back The YuYen Archers on top of the wall.
Aang then stood up, waiting for the archers to fight, but before any of them could move, a huge rumbling sound was heard for a moment, before the gate of the city fell to the ground.
As the archers were still grounded, Aang took the moment to look at the process, and found that Jet and Appa already destroyed the gate, Aang was about to cheer them on, until he saw it..
A massive, enormous, colossal boulder fireball appearing to have been launched from a catapult inside the city, takes Jet and Appa by surprise, landing right on top of them..
"NOOOOOO..!" Aang screamed at the top of his lungs, before the fireball landed directly on top of Appa and Jet, another trick devised by Shun, instantly turning both of them to ashes.
Aang stared at the scene in immense shock, his eyes watered immediately but he never felt it, tears fell freely from his eyes soaking the rampart, but still he was feeling nothing, just staring at the place in shock, two of his friends just got murdered with a single blow.. one of them was his best friend.. the one that stayed with for as long as he could remember, through thick and thin, they stayed together, just got turned to ashes in front of his eyes..
"No.. Appa.." Aang said weakly, as if the word came out on instinct. he still doesn't feel anything, The soldiers of King Bumi entered the city with a protective shield of earth attempting to destroy the catapult, Katara kept shouting at him from the way down as they finally reconquered the city, but he never answered, he just kept staring, and he still felt nothing, just a void in his heart.
Aang then heard a sound behind him, when he turned his head to look, he found that Senge took his glider and flew to the top of the wall and at the moment he was keeping The YuYen Archers busy from Aang, Aang then realized all those emotions or rather lack of emotions he felt swirling inside his heart it all happened in a minute at most, even though it felt like years of pain,
but eventually he got over his shock to protect himself and Senge, Aang stood up, he wiped his tears away, his grief turning to anger, and with lifeless narrowed eyes, he took a fighting stance, he launched the biggest blast of fire on the YuYen Archers standing in front of him, instantly scorching almost ten of them, and the rest jumped off the wall, Aang noticed the look on Senge's face staring at Aang, but he couldn't care less at the moment.
Aang then turned his lifeless eyes to the city, he found that King Bumi's forces were progressing to the catapult, they took down all the forces surrounding it, and there was nothing between them and the catapult but Shun and Jeri, the rest of the firenation soldiers were killed, captured or simply fled, and he found that Master Tenzin was standing beside The King, and Aang's friends were behind the king, or the remaining of Aang's friends anyways.
Aang then unfolded his glider and flew to The King's side, he heard Senge shouting behind him but again, he never paid attention, he still felt nothing inside, just a broken man with nothing to lose.
As he was still in the air, he sent a huge air slice immensely strong, it cut the catapult in half, with Shun and his friends being knocked off, Petu and Tolan and their men took the opportunity to capture Jeri and the rest of Shun's close soldiers that remained, there was only Shun left, laying on the ground, injured, tired and waiting for the pick up.
Finally Aang landed in front of a grounded Shun, and just stared at him, Aang knew that his army had won, Aang knew that there is nothing stopping him now from capturing Shun and finally announcing that the colonies are no longer occupied by the firenation, but he was too devastated to move or talk, he was just standing there staring at Shun in silence. Shun raised his head, his vision cleared and finally noticed Aang standing on top of him, Shun smiled weakly as he was trying to catch his breath,
"Your army might have won.." Shun said, he coughed twice and then continued with a mocking laugh, "But you still lost." Shun finished, signing his death warrant.
With a calm face but enraged insides, Aang approached Shun, taking him by the scruff of his neck, until his hand reached the back of his head, he held him there for a couple of seconds, all his soldiers and friends too pertified to stop him, so Aang just held an injured Shun there for a couple of seconds, and without further words, Aang remembered that there is something in his pocket that he never wanted to use but maybe it was time for it.
The day that Jet left camp, he left Aang's gift back at camp, the dagger that Uncle Iroh gave to Aang and then Aang never used it so he gave it to Jet as a present, the day Jet left after Aang decided to negotiate with Shun, he left the dagger back at camp, so Aang took it as it was the only memory left from Uncle Iroh, he decided to keep it with him during the battle, to keep his memory alive.. Perhaps, it was time to use that dagger.
Aang took the dagger out of his pocket, still holding Shun by the the head, he unsheathed it from its small sheath, the word 'Never Give Up Without A Fight' still visible on it, he put the dagger on Shun's neck, and slowly pierced his neck, moving the knife to the left to cut his throat completely, with Shun choking for breath and blood pouring out of his neck like a flood covering Aang's clothes and face, Aang heard some people behind him gasp, but still they couldn't move a muscle to prevent him, they were right to do so, or else he might have made them regret it, he wanted this revenge.. No, He needed it.. He needed nothing else at the moment but this. Aang kept staring at Shun as his spirit was being driven out of his body, Shun stopped choking, and his evil spirit finally departed from the world.
Shun is finally dead, But it wasn't just Shun who lost his life at that moment, The Old Aang is dead as well.
FINAAAAALLY! Man, This Chapter was pure torture, i've never written a battle sequence before, this is my first one, and so this chapter was the hardest one out of all.
Secondly, Sorry for the disturbing and unhappy events, but i guess now you know why i rated this Story T.
I'm going to take a break after this one, and then i'll get back to continue the final sequence of this story, the war of the spirits is about to BEGIN.
