Happy Foundation Day to any Japanese readers!

Responses to Reviews:

RonaldM40196867: No, not really, his club, boomerang and Space Sword are plenty good enough on their own I think.

Zigzagdoublezee: Yes, she's wary of going back there again, or taking on the Fire Nation again, because she knows the air nomads are outmatched in all areas except speed and mobility.

As Always, Please Review!

White-clad soldiers continued to stream into the valley, arrayed in marching columns which processed down the road through the forest. Their destination was a village, in front of which soldiers busied themselves raising palisades made of rock. These walls, although comparatively small, would provide raised platforms on which Jet's troops could fight, as well as places for them to shelter from the scorching flames of the enemy army. It would hand the army, in short, a big advantage in the fight to come.

Above them, Gembul circled, Team Avatar peering down from his back, on the lookout for Firebenders. They could see ominous looking plumes of smoke in the distance, but apart from that there was nothing to be seen.

"I wish these people would just hurry up," Sokka groaned. "Don't they know we have places to be?"

"I didn't know we were in such a rush," Yue said.

"Well, the Fire Nation has got Ba Sing Se under siege, apparently," Sokka pointed out. "It feels like we should definitely stop them."

"And we will, but we need to help Jet first," Yue looked down again.

Gembul gained altitude, lazily circling above the army, so slowly it didn't even feel like he was moving at all. Below them, Jet's forces stopped looking like soldiers and more like white masses, one man indistinguishable from the next, arrayed in a series of squares across the width of the valley. The first line was made up of archers, then infantry, then more archers, who would fire over the heads of the men in front of them into the ranks of the enemy. Ostrich-horse cavalry was arrayed at the flank, up the slope, and behind them stood more soldiers on foot, who made up the reserve. Their job would be to go wherever the fighting was most desperate and steady the line, or to exploit any advantage in a place the fighting had gone especially well. The occasional syllable of s shouted order, from an officer with an especially impressive set of lungs, floated up to them, but not enough to work out what they were actually saying.

But that seemed like it would be a while away. For now they simply stood there, gazing down the valley at an empty road leading into the forest.

"Not that I want a fight, but I agree with Sokka. Where are they?" Rinzen asked.

In the distance, the gleam of water caught Yue's eye. A lake was set into the mountains behind them, a few miles away, contained behind an enormous stone dam, clearly visible despite the distance. According to Jet, the protection of this dam, a water source upon which his army and the civilians it protected relied, was of utmost importance, pretty much the main reason they were there, in fact. Yue stared at it for a moment, and then Gembul began to dive.

"Where are we going?" She called to Rinzen.

"Something doesn't seem right," Rinzen said. "Where are they? Surely they would want to attack as soon as possible, wouldn't they?"

"Maybe they want to make sure they're prepared," Suki suggested.

"So why let Jet know what they're planning?"

"Their goal might be to destroy Jet's army, not take land," Suki suggested. "Which would mean they would have to lure Jet into a decisive battle."

"But he can't not fight, or they'll get hold of the dam," Yue said.

"Well, exactly," Suki replied. "They know what they're doing, clearly."

Gembul landed in the village just behind the lines, in the middle of the town square, and Team Avatar scrambled off his back as villagers jumped backwards in surprise.

"Sorry!" Yue held her hands up apologetically. "Official Avatar business!"

It didn't take long for them to find Jet. He was on an ostrich-horse just outside the village, with Longshot and a few others, surrounded by guards. He was in the middle of an argument.

"We have no choice!" He was saying.

"I know!" Someone else was saying. This one was enormous, and so was riding a Komodo-rhino instead of an ostrich-horse. He was remonstrating with Jet. "But why do we have to fight them like this? This isn't how we do things!"

"Not normally, know," Jet told him. "But we have no choice. There's not really any good places for an ambush here. And you know I've looked."

The big man nodded.

"It's just... this is what the army did at the start of the war," he said. "And where are they now?"

"Very much still in the fight," Jet reminded him. Then he spotted the Yuad, and turned to face them.

"Any sign of them?" He asked.

"They're still relatively far away," Yue told him.

"But I still think they're up to something," Rinzen warned.

"Well, if they are, we'll be ready for them," Jet grinned. "Look at all the soldiers we have! We can't lose."

Yue's friends all looked a little sceptical about that, but Jet's subordinates all smiled, even the big man who had just been arguing with him. Jet inspired loyalty, Yue realised. It was a big reason why he had been as successful as he had, people wanted to follow him.

"But until then, we just wait here?"

"They've pulled all their forces here for a big push, so we must do the same to stop them," Jet shrugged. "

A horn blast sounded in the distance. And then another, and another.

Jet twisted in his saddle to look back towards the front of his army. Beyond their palisades, shapes were beginning to emerge from the forest. Men in red armour, riding Komodo-rhinos. One of them had a red banner, visible from all this distance away, flapping in the breeze. Even though Yue could not see the symbol emblazoned on it, she knew what it meant. That was the Fire Nation's vanguard, and soon the rest of their army would be here too. And then a battle would begin.

Yue could only hope that this was the right thing to do. And she was increasingly sure that there was more to the Fire Nation's schemes than met the eye.