Wandering Firebender
Fifty Seven: The Other Side
Alger stood with Koda, Marx, and Nezu among a number of other earthbenders. They nervously watched as a fleet of Fire Nation ships were slowly approaching the shore. It wouldn't be long before they arrived and the battle would begin...
"I-I don't think I can do this." Nezu said, his breathing becoming shaky.
"This is what we've been preparing for. Don't lose heart now." Marx said to encourage him. However, Nezu shook his head. He was starting to hyperventilate.
"I need to sit down..." He said, suddenly stepping away from the others.
"Hold on," Alger said. He pulled a stone out of the ground. He put his hands on Nezu's shoulders and directed him to sit down. "What's the matter?"
"Hey! We need ya'll to look alive! That means you too, firebenders!" One of the other earthbenders barked at them.
"We'll be ready! Shut your mouth and mind your business!" Koda snapped at him.
"Please, give us a moment." Alger said in a nicer tone. The earthbender grunted and muttered to himself as he left them.
"Nezu. I've never seen you like this. We've fought plenty of soldiers before!" Marx pointed out.
"Y-Yeah but not like this! We fought in camps and small towns! Not a whole friggin' militia!" Nezu argued, gesturing towards the fleet of ships.
"But we're not alone here, Nezu. Look around. We're surrounded by allies," Koda pointed out. "We can do this!" She said to encourage him. However, Nezu still wasn't convinced.
"There's too many...I don't wanna die, guys. I..." Nezu got choked up after finally saying his fear out loud. He suddenly became overwhelmed with emotion and the urge to cry.
"Nezu," Alger sat down next to him and put an arm around him. "I know how you're feeling right now. I understand that you're afraid. I'm afraid too. We all are." He said.
"Scared out of our minds, honestly." Koda agreed.
"But you know how important this is. And you're here because you want to make a difference. Right?" He reminded him. Nezu swallowed and nodded.
"Someone's gotta do the right thing. We're not all bad people." Nezu said.
"You're right...stand up. It's time to prove it." Alger said.
Nezu sighed and nodded again. He slowly pushed himself to his feet. He looked to his friends and nodded, silently confirming that he was okay. Marx and Koda patted him on the back. They were all ready to go now.
"I really hope we win this war. I don't wanna be a traitor for the rest of my life." Nezu said as they took their positions again.
"Whatever happens, we'll be fine as long as we have each other." Koda said to reassure him.
"It's cheesy, but it's true." Marx said with a chuckle. It was enough to get Nezu smiling.
Alger smiled a little bit. Seeing these three reassuring and supporting each other as friends was inspiring to him. It was the sort of bond that he hoped to have one day.
He thought of Elio in that moment, and he found himself hoping that he would get to see his friend again after the war ended, so that he could experience that sort of close bond of friendship for himself...
As soon as he dropped down into the airship, Elio was met with opposition. He turned around and was greeted by a fireball coming directly towards him. Elio's eyes widened in surprise. He stepped forward and blocked the attack with a closed fist.
As the fire faded away all around him, he was able to quickly survey his surroundings. There was one narrow hallway in front of him that he could go down. One soldier stood on the other side of the hall, blocking him from accessing the rest of the airship.
The soldier shot another fireball at him. Elio took in a deep breath before shooting his own continuous blast with two fists. His fire overwhelmed the soldier's attack and knocked him back. Elio ran forward and pulled his staff out, knocking the soldier out with a quick swing to the head before progressing onward.
Elio walked down a few steps and stepped out into a open hangar. From down below, he could see where Fire Nation soldiers were shooting fire down from an open section in the floor. Other soldiers were preparing bombs to drop.
Elio debated on what to do. If he attacked the soldiers by the edge, he would alert everyone to his presence. If he used his fire to detonate the bombs, that would take the airship down, but then he would be scrambling to get out in time.
No, he needed to get to the front of the airship where he could steer this thing and crash it into one of the other three airships ahead of him. He needed to avoid confrontation as much as possible until he could get there.
Elio started running in that direction. His boots clanged against the metal walkway suspended high above the bottom level. He made it to the end and turned left. That's when he ran into a few more soldiers: two in front of him and two behind him.
Elio held his staff up horizontally and pushed the two soldiers in front of him back. While they were surprised, he let his staff go and sent two fire blasts into their heads, knocking them roughly against the walls. Elio scooped up his staff and flipped sideways to turn around.
He started spinning his staff right away, using it to block a strong blast from the two soldiers behind him. Once he had successfully blocked the attack, he used an open hand to create a widespread blast that served as a protective wall for him.
While the two soldiers were caught off guard, he backed up and ran down a hall that seemed to lead straight towards the front of the airship. He sprinted to the door and slid his staff back into its sleeve, using both hands to turn the wheel that opened the door.
As the door slowly opened, the two soldiers followed him into the hall and sent a powerful blast to him. Elio's eyes widened, and he forced himself to slip through the door before closing it. He pressed his back against the metal door.
Elio sighed in relief. He found himself inside of the pilot's station. About five more Fire Nation soldiers were staring at him. Elio chuckled nervously.
"Might wanna watch out. There's an intruder in here somewhere." He said.
Several of the soldiers reacted the same way; they were all about to take Elio down with fire blasts. Elio jumped to the side to dodge two. He shot his own fireballs at the one closest to him. This knocked the first one against the wall. Then he had to block another fireball from hitting him.
Elio jumped and threw an arcing fire blast out of his foot. He pulled his staff out of his sleeve and swung it as hard as he could, sending out a much stronger blast. The soldier at the wheel was standing to his right. He shot a blast at Elio. Elio raised his arm up to redirect the blast towards the ceiling.
Elio balled his fist and sent out a blast as hard as he could. The soldier crashed back against the wheel, causing it to turn to the right. Elio ran to the controls and looked around before using his foot to push a lever forward. This caused the airship to gain speed.
"Well, this was kinda the plan anyway!" Elio shrugged.
He turned around and saw that the three soldiers still remaining were all shooting fire at him again. Elio spun his staff to redirect the fire. He then spun around and sent out another arcing blast. Two of them were knocked against the wall again and fell to the floor.
The last one ducked underneath the blast and shot a fire blast at Elio. Elio spun to the side to dodge it. But instead of attacking, he looked ahead and realized that the airship was on a collision course with one of the airships ahead. Specifically, the one to the right in the front row of three.
Elio shot a fireball out the front window and climbed onto the controls. The soldier behind him shot at him again. Elio turned and felt the fire graze his left shoulder. He leaped out the front window, flipping forward once before forcing himself into flight again.
Elio awkwardly shot upwards. He arched his back and angled himself forward. He flipped forward and landed on top of the middle airship of the front row. He looked to his right and watched as the airship he'd just escaped from crashed into the other airship to his right.
A loud screeching pierced through the air as metal scraped against metal, and both of the colliding airships were forced to the ground. They crashed and leveled even more homes below.
"This needs to end soon before we run out of Water Tribe to save." Elio said to himself...
From down below, Cindra and Ansel could see the Fire Nation airships being taken out by Elio. One exploded, then another, and then a few minutes later, two of them crashed into each other.
"Looks like Elio's getting really busy up there!" Ansel said.
"We need to do the same! The master says more ships are starting to come in now. We need to join the others and fight them off!" Cindra said to her brother.
"Yeah! Be careful!" Ansel said before they both started sprinting towards the wall.
Rather than take the stairs up the wall, they joined with a team of waterbenders who were all getting on a small longboat. They used their waterbending to propel themselves forward. The leader of the group opened a hole for them to sail out to the other side of the front wall.
They maneuvered the boat around to some of the approaching Fire Nation ships. Right away, they had to raise up protective walls of water to keep from being taken out by fireballs. While some of the waterbenders created defensive walls, others shot ice back at the ships.
"This ship here! Prepare to board!" The leader shouted to Cindra, Ansel and the others. He pointed out a large Fire Nation ship, one larger than the others.
Once they all got in close, they abandoned the longboat and used their waterbending to send themselves upwards. They all landed on the ships and fanned out. Cindra and Ansel were among the waterbenders fighting on the deck of the ship.
"Cindra! Look out!" Ansel shouted, pulling a protective wall of water in front of her to stop her from getting hit by a fireball she hadn't seen.
"Whoa!" Cindra exclaimed in surprise, flinching and stepping backwards. Immediately she saw the soldier who fired at her. She took the water from Ansel, creating a rushing flow of water that crashed into the soldier and sent him flying off the side of the ship.
"Thanks, Ansel!"
"Make an ice barrier around the ship! Keep it from advancing!" The leader of the group ordered. Ansel and Cindra looked at each other.
"Let's go." Ansel said.
The two of them ran to the very front of the ship. Two other waterbenders stood on either side of the deck. Together, the four of them started to freeze the water around the front of the ship, creating an ice wall that was stopping the ship in place.
However, without warning, two soldiers and one man in a totally different uniform suddenly attacked them. The soldiers shot fireballs at the other waterbenders, causing them to crumple to the ground. Cindra, realizing what was happening, grabbed Ansel and tackled him to the ground.
A fireball flew directly over their heads, narrowly missing them.
"Well well, this was a valiant effort, but now I think it's best that you kids surrender." The man standing between the two soldiers said in a smug tone. He had on armor, but he was clearly of a higher rank than just a normal soldier.
"You're talking like you've already won this fight." Cindra said, getting to her feet. Ansel stood up too and stepped out from behind her.
"It's only a matter of time. We haven't even reached our full strength, and yet you can barely stand." The man said. He signaled the soldiers to attack.
The two soldiers both shot continuous blasts of fire at them. Ansel grabbed Cindra by the hand and pulled her towards the edge of the deck. Together they jumped off the ship and into the water.
"Deal with the rest." The man ordered the two soldiers. The two of them ran back to handle the waterbenders fighting on other parts of the ship.
However, this order turned out to be a premature one. Cindra and Ansel used their waterbending to swim around and launch themselves up into the air, landing back on the ship. They stood on opposite sides of the man. He held his fists up towards them.
"Your uniform is different. I imagine you must be in charge around here." Ansel presumed.
"My name is Admiral Huang. If you survive this battle, you'll remember me as the man who burned down the North Pole." He said with a smirk.
"We're not gonna let that happen." Cindra said, her eyes narrowing on Huang.
"Like two kids are going to stop me." Huang laughed.
"Not just two kids. Two masters." Cindra smirked.
Both Ansel and Cindra attacked at the same time, sending two streams of water towards the admiral. However, he moved forward to dodge them both. He shot two forceful blasts of fire at them, forcing them both to hide behind walls of water.
Huang directed his attention towards Ansel, shooting several fireballs directly at him. Ansel's eyes widened. He kept pulling more water from the ocean and using it to deflect the blasts, but too much water and steam was blasting him in the face for him to be able to counterattack.
"Ansel!" Cindra came to his defense, creating spikes out of ice and shooting them at Huang.
Huang shot another fireball at Cindra. The fire was hot enough to melt the ice before it could hit him. Cindra rolled to the side to dodge the fireball. She created two tentacle-arms out of water and tried to swipe the admiral with them.
Huang created a vertical arc of fire to cut through her water arms. He spun on one foot and threw a fire kick at Ansel. Ansel created an ice wall to block it then melted the ice again, shooting the water directly at Huang. Huang dodged Ansel's attack and ducked under Cindra swinging for his head.
Huang sent a strong arcing shot out of his foot towards Cindra. She pushed her water arms into the ground and used them to lift herself into the air. The fire cut her arms short mid-launch and caused her to flip forward, landing hard on her stomach.
Huang turned back towards Ansel and shot a continuous blast at him. Ansel moved to the side and sent a flow of water his way. Huang dodged it and shot another continuous blast. Ansel created an ice wall to defend himself, but Huang's blast broke right through it.
While Ansel was off guard, Huang threw several rapid fire punches. Ansel got hit in one shoulder then the other, followed by the leg then the side. He cried out in shock and pain as he fell to the floor.
"Ansel!" Cindra yelled, coming to her brother's defense.
She created another arm out of water as she ran in close. Huang shot a fireball at her. She jumped to the side and tried to hit him in the face. Huang leaned back to dodge it before throwing another fire punch at her. Cindra dodged it again, spinning around to get in front of him.
Cindra finally got a hit on Huang, using her water arm to hit him in the shoulder. Huang threw a fire kick, which Cindra was barely able to duck underneath. She stepped in close and punched him in the side with her left hand. Huang lurched to the side a little before smacking her in the face, causing her to fall back.
"Some masters you children are! You should know better than to pick fights you can't win!" Huang said, raising his hand up. He was ready to kill Cindra right there.
"Gah!" Ansel yelled out desperately as he threw a flurry of water right into the side of the admiral's head. It threw him off balance and gave Cindra a chance to react.
Cindra scrambled to her feet, collecting enough water to create a ball of solid ice. She pelted Huang in the face with it. He yelped in pain and stumbled back. Next, Cindra pulled more water from the ocean and used it to force Huang to the ground, freezing him to the deck.
"Gotcha!" She exclaimed in relief.
"Urgh! This means nothing! You've still lost!" Huang yelled defiantly.
"Yeah yeah," Cindra said, ignoring him. She ran over to check on Ansel. "Hey! You saved me back there."
"Yeah, you're welcome." Ansel said, his voice stifled by the pain.
The burn marks on his body were not good. All of them had seared through his clothes and burnt his skin. He needed to be treated as soon as possible.
"Ansel, these don't look good. I'm going to get you somewhere safe so I can try to heal you. But we need to step away for now."
"No no, I can keep going. Heal me here. Quickly." Ansel insisted. Cindra shook her head.
"I can't. These injuries aren't light, Ansel. It's going to take time. The quicker we get somewhere safe, the quicker I can get to work." She said. Ansel sighed and nodded.
"Okay. Let's go." He finally agreed.
Cindra helped Ansel get to his feet. They looked back and saw that the other waterbenders were coming back and making sure that the admiral stayed captured. They looked at each other and nodded in approval. Ansel held onto Cindra and they jumped back into the water.
"We just scored a big victory, huh?" Ansel said.
"Yeah. I think we did." Cindra said with a smile...
Things didn't go as well for Elio.
As it turns out, he'd found his way into the main airship. Once he'd gotten inside, he quickly realized that the layout was very different. He ran into many more wrong turns, usually resulting in him having to fight off a soldier or two.
"Where is the wheel?! Do I gotta take out the entire crew just to figure it out?!" He grumbled in frustration.
He reached a long and narrow hallway that led to a single door, just like in the previous airships. As he approached it, the door opened and two soldiers stepped out. Elio's eyes widened, and he quickly increased his pace.
As the soldiers realized someone was coming towards them, Elio shot a fireball that hit one of them. The other soldier shot a fireball back at him. Elio dodged it, bouncing awkwardly off the wall before reaching them.
Elio hit the soldier to his left in the leg with the staff. He kicked the other soldier in the head, pushing him against the wall. Elio moved to the side to dodge a fireball from the soldier to his left. He reversed his grip on the staff and whacked him on the helmet.
While the soldier was dazed, he pushed him with his foot to get him away from the door. He then spun around and kicked the other soldier again, knocking him out this time. He turned and was caught off guard with a fireball that hit him in the hand, causing him to drop his staff.
"Ah!" Elio growled. He threw several fire punches, forcing the soldier to take a few steps back.
With more room to work now, Elio flipped forward and created a vertical arcing blast of fire. This knocked the soldier to the ground and made his helmet fall off.
Elio quickly got on top of him, swatting his hands away as he tried to hit Elio with fire blasts. He grabbed the soldier by the collar and pulled him up, staring at him in the eyes before punching him in the face. Elio shook his hand out and slowly got to his feet.
He turned around slowly, his eyes falling onto the door. He had a good feeling that the wheel was on the other side of this door, which likely meant he would have to face whoever was leading this attack. He could feel a nervous pit forming in his stomach with every step he took.
Up until now, he had been operating on pure tactical instinct, focusing on one immediate goal at a time: defeat these soldiers, destroy the airship, get to the next one, and so on. But now that he had a moment to breathe, he was finding himself having to push his feelings down.
He could only hope that he would be the same person if he came out the other side of this.
He picked up his staff and slid it into its sleeve. He gripped the wheel keeping the door closed with both hands and slowly turned it to open it. He pulled the door open and entered. He was right: it was just him and the pilot of the airship in the main room.
"This invasion is over! Surrender now!" Elio demanded, getting into a fighting stance.
The pilot didn't have on a regular uniform. His clothes were fancier, more distinguished and distinct. As the man turned around, Elio's eyes widened.
And then his heart sank...
"Elio..." The man said sadly. Elio's hands dropped.
"Father?"
To Be Continued...