Responses to Reviews:

RonaldM40196867: I don't know. Some kind of merchant maybe? Or a bending teacher if I could do it.

Zigzagdoublezee: Indeed, there are good people in the Fire Nation and the Avatar can work with them. The issue is, Sato may be a good guy but he is a serving member of the Firelord's Army. Not everyone will be so understanding.

As Always Please Review!

The bandits charged, and as they did so Yue turned on her heel and aimed her waterwhip at the rumps of the ostrich-horses which were hooked up to the wagon. The animals screeched, and then they began to run, straining with the effort of pulling the hostages along with them. They yelped and scrambled to hold on as the cart jerked into life and moved away, picking up speed as it zigzagged down the road.

"Sorry!" Yue called after it, feeling bad. Then she turned around, saw the bandits closing in, and turned and fled towards it.

"Run!" She called to her friends. It didn't take her long to reach the cart and haul herself up into the back, followed a moment later by Sato. The others were still running after them, as a moment later Gembul soared into the sky above them, Rinzen on his back.

"Why the change of heart?" Sato asked her, as Katara reached them. Together, they helped pull her into the cart, and then a moment later Suki as well.

"We both want the same thing don't we?" Yue grunted. Together, they hauled Taiyo and then Sokka onto the back, as the cart rumbled down the road. They had a good lick of speed now, and they were beginning to leave the bandits trailing in their wake. Yue relaxed a bit.

"A little warning next time, please?" Sokka panted.

Yue shrugged.

"Sorry."

"I don't suppose anyone knows how to drive this thing?" Katara asked, breathing heavily.

"Got it."

Taiyo began climbing towards the front of the cart as it rattled down the road. Yue turned to the hostages.

"Don't worry," she told them. "We're going to get you home."

Most of them cheered at that, although a couple looked less impressed. They were staring very intensely past Yue, at where Sato was hanging off the back of the cart.

There was a noise behind them, and Yue swivelled to find Ostrich-Horses approaching, ridden by men in red. Sato's men, she realised. Then she came to an even more startling realisation: She was relieved to see them.

They were Fire Nation, and not only that, they worked for the person who had destroyed her home. They were active duty soldiers in his military, presumably still fully loyal to his cause, although not loyal enough to attack her for the time being at least, and she was pleased they had escaped.

"It's fine, they're on our side," she told the prisoners. "For now."

"For now?" Sato looked at her. "You're not planning to betray me, are you?"

"Nothing personal," Yue leaned on the rail next to him. "I'm the Avatar, you're working for the Firelord... It's not going to work. Not until this war ends, at least."

"Fair enough," Sato shrugged. He didn't seem particularly disappointed by that.

"Yue?" Sokka tapped her on the shoulder.

"What?" Yue asked.

"Look behind us!"

Yue looked, and her heart dropped. The Ostrich-horses were still going quickly, although Taiyo had managed to assert some kind of control so they were no longer veering wildly from side to side, which meant the wagon was kicking up a huge plume of dust as they rattled down the poor dirt road. But if Yue squinted through it, she could see shapes in the dust, which became more ostrich-horses as they approached. These ones were carrying soldiers wearing green, many of them holding weapons. The bandits were not giving up their prizes so easily, it seemed.

It didn't take the first bandits long to catch up, as their ostrich-horses were not burdened by a heavy cart full of people. One of them jabbed a spear at Sato, who dodged out of the way as Yue water-whipped him, sending him plunging off his mount and onto the road below. But he was replaced by two more, and still more followed them. There were even a couple more wagons among the pursuing pack, their beds having been emptied of any treasure or supplies they might have carried and filled with soldiers waving spears in the air. Some of them turned to attack the Fire Nation soldiers riding their ostrich-horses, and a cavalry engagement with swords and spears developed.

And then they were surrounded by ostrich-horses, and fighting for their lives. Sato blasted one and knocked him off his mount, and then had to roll away from a thrown spear. It narrowly missed Suki, who looked down at it, picked it up, and threw it back. The road was rough so her aim wasn't very good, but it caused a rider to veer out of the formation and accidentally trip up another, causing both to go crashing to the ground.

Yue looked at Sokka, who was slashing at any bandit who tried to come close with his club and boomerang. But neither weapon had a very long reach, and if he threw his boomerang he would very likely lose it, so he wasn't having much luck. Katara, on the other hand, was wielding her water-whips with skill and precision, and several riders were sent tumbling to the ground in quick succession.

Then the cart rocked alarmingly. Yue twisted, afraid that one of their pursuers had used their earthbending to take a wheel off or something, but instead came face to face with a bandit hanging off the rails, having jumped onto the cart from his ostrich-horse. He grinned at her, a sword in his hand, but his smile faltered as Sokka's club whistled down to slam into his head. He went cross-eyed and let go, dropping away onto the road. But then another jumped, and another, grabbing hold of the cart and slashing at the occupants. One even jumped onto the driver's seat and began attacking Taiyo.

Now the road headed downhill, down a shallow incline that headed towards a wide valley below, and so the cart was taking on a momentum all of its own, picking up speed as it heaved with people. Taiyo had managed to avoid a sword-blow by lunging at his attacker, getting in close, grabbing him, and wrestling with him. Sato punched another assailant off.

For a moment, even as she water-whipped an attacker in the face, Yue really wished she still had the sword she had been given by Poppy Beifong.

On the plus side, now the fight was happening at closer quarters, Sokka and Suki's weapons were now more useful. They stood back to back, clubs and sword's drawn, Suki's retractable shield deployed on her arm, hacking and slashing at any bandit unfortunate enough to come close. Below them, the hostages had thrown themselves to the floor to try to keep themselves out of the line of fire.

A shadow fell over the cart, and a moment later everyone ducked as something huge and fluffy roared overhead. Gembul came in low, forcing their pursuers to scatter to avoid hitting him, and then began to climb again, pursued by a few arrows and throwing spears, none of which came anywhere near him. As he climbed, he revealed the two carts full of bandits closing in, close enough now that Yue could make out individual faces. That included, on the cart on the right, that of the Stonemason himself, calling encouragement to his men in his high-pitched voice.

Slowly, steadily, the two carts spread out and began to pull alongside Yue's cart, coming either side of it. For a moment, Yue was forceably reminded of the naval combat she had seen and taken part in at the Battle of the South Pole, except that this was rather faster. The bandits crowded at the edge of the railing, eager to jump over as the drivers slowly eased their carts together, squeezing Yue and her friends between them, and then they were close enough to fight.

With a triumpant battlecry, the Yuad and Sato were assailed from both sides. Taiyo had managed to win his fight with the man he had been wrestling with, only for another two to jump on him. Meanwhile more were climbing over into the cart, and the Yuad were forced to fight back to back, meeting the enemy with sword and club and water-whip wherever they could, in a furious melee. It was all Yue could do not to get overwhelmed. In the corner of her eye, she could see the Stonemason urging his men on, perched near the front of his cart.

A sword jabbed at her face, and taken by surprise she fell backwards, lashing out with her whip and managing to land the hit; she heard a faint cry of pain, but didn't see what happened to him.

Then a shadow fell over them again. Yue looked up to see Gembul diving on them, and with remarkable precision he used his front two legs to pick up the bandits attacking Taiyo. The men screamed as they were suddenly lifted into the air, before being tossed away to either side. Taiyo realised he was no longer under attack, sat up, and gestured towards the wheels of one of the enemy wagons, the one the Stonemason wasn't on. A rock sprouted up into its path, and the cart tipped over, skidding to a halt as it was left behind.

Yue heard the Stonemason's scream of rage, and the man began climbing towards them. He picked up a throwing spear and drew back his arm, aiming it at Taiyo as the earthbender turned to face him. Time seemed to slow down.

Then Taiyo grabbed his reins and turned the wagon- hard. It slammed into the side of the one the Stonemason was on, throwing it off balance and causing him to drop his weapon. For a moment, the wagon wobbled, on the limits of control, and then its wheel struck a rock.

The tethers holding the ostrich-horses to the wagon snapped as the main body of the vehicle twisted into a vicious barrel roll. The Stonemason screamed as it plunged off the side of the road onto the lower ground beside it and continued its roll for several more rotations, until it finally came to a stop.

There was no more movement. The other bandits saw their leader crash and immediately turned away. A moment later, Taiyo pulled on the reins and the Ostrich-horses came to a halt.

For a moment, nobody dared move.

"Is it over?" Sato asked, recovering first.

Yue watched the wreck of the second cart for movement, and saw none.

"...I think it's over," she said.