"I've seen worse," Zuko replied with surprising melancholy. Having by far the most experience dealing with the Avatar's team, he seemed to take the news almost philosophically.
As if on cue, a sweat-soaked messenger came bursting into the room.
"Your Highnesses! Herald! We have an emergency!"
"Report!" Azula snarled, putting any dragon to shame.
"It's the Avatar! He... he..."
"What about him?! Spit it out!"
"He... he kidnapped your Water Tribe prisoner!" the messenger blurted out.
As one, we looked at Sokka sitting right in front of us, then at the messenger, then back at Sokka.
And then we remembered the heroic young soldier who'd been pretending to be said Sokka.
Which meant Aang had kidnapped the decoy…
"Better late than never," Mai remarked indifferently.
"And it's been like this for over half a year now," Zuko added.
"Brother..." Azula looked at the prince with an unprecedented degree of warmth and sympathy. "You have my deepest condolences."
Smack. My palm met my face yet again. I was pretty sure I already had a red handprint across it.
"Spirits, what did I ever do to deserve this?! What have I done?! Sure, I may have killed a couple... hundred people, but come on! Why this?!"
"Sorry to interrupt this group session of self-flagellation, but... what are we supposed to do with him now?" Toph asked.
"Put him back in his cell," I sighed in utter defeat. I needed a drink... of tea. Lots of tea. "Where did the attack happen? Which way did the Avatar go afterward? Who gives a report like that?!"
"My apologies, sir!" The messenger turned pale. "Following your orders, the prisoner was taken to the palace after the negotiations! The Avatar entered the second floor through a window! The guards assigned to the prisoner spotted him, but he knocked them down with a blast of wind! They're pursuing him now!"
"You mean you know where he is?!" Zuko and Azula exclaimed in perfect unison, instantly snapping to attention.
"Y-Yes! He's heading toward the southern wall..."
"Throw him back in a cell!" I roared, pointing at Sokka. "You'll answer with your head if he gets away! Everyone, with me!"
The last order was already directed at our group as I broke into a run.
Not that anyone needed encouragement.
***
Meanwhile, Aboard a Flying Bison...
"You're not my brother!"
Hearing Katara's surprised and indignant voice behind him, Aang glanced over his shoulder. She and Sokka argued all the time, but to hear her say that...
Reality, however, set things straight almost immediately.
Without the sack over his head, the boy they'd rescued from the palace bore very little resemblance to Aang's friend. About the only things they had in common were their height and general build.
"AAAAAH! The Avatar kidnapped me! HEEELP!" the boy screamed at the top of his lungs instead of answering.
"Mmph!"
Katara instantly sealed his mouth with a bubble of water, but it was too late. Judging by the sudden shouting and the pounding of countless feet, they'd already been discovered.
"Aang, go!" Katara jumped off Appa, dragging the unfortunate screamer with her.
"What?! No! I'm not leaving you here!" the boy protested. He'd already lost one friend, might have lost a second, and the thought of losing Katara too...
No.
That was more than he could bear.
"And I'm not leaving Sokka! Distract them while I find my brother!"
"B-But..."
"Trust me! Please, Aang!" Katara pleaded.
"...All right." After only a brief hesitation, the young Air Nomad nodded. It was a painful decision, but they had to save their friend. "But how will I know you made it?"
"This!" Katara held up Appa's bison whistle. "He'll hear it and come back to us! Now go! There's no time—they'll be here any second! Fly!"
"Yip yip, Appa!"
The flying bison surged skyward, leaving Katara and the "prisoner" behind while drawing the pursuing Fire Nation soldiers after him.
"We never should've come back here..." Aang muttered through clenched teeth. "Not at all."
Their return to Omashu had been a disaster from the very beginning, and things had only grown worse with every passing hour. The Fire Nation's capture of the city had destroyed all hope of receiving help from Bumi. Sokka's clever plan to lead people out of the city had ended in bloodshed and the death of his old friend. And as if that weren't enough, the very people they'd been trying so hard to help now practically spat after them.
But they'd tried!
They'd wanted to help!
So why had everything gone so terribly wrong?
"Left, Appa!" Aang shouted, spotting a group of firebenders below. Appa easily dodged the streams of fire they launched, but then...
Driven by little more than instinct, Aang yanked hard on the reins. Just in time. The space they'd occupied only a heartbeat earlier simply... exploded.
Stunned, the young Air Nomad looked down.
He saw him.
The living embodiment of his nightmares.
A tall, powerfully built figure wearing heavy boots and a terrifying clawed gauntlet on his right hand. Just as the rumors claimed, the Herald's forehead was marked by either a scar or some intricate tattoo. Several young men and women stood beside him. To his surprise, Aang recognized the unmistakable uniforms of the Kyoshi Warriors...
And...
"Zuko!"
As though he'd heard the Avatar's shout, the scarred prince looked up. His face instantly twisted into a mask of furious hatred. But another young man standing beside the Herald, who had also been watching Aang, said something to him. Though clearly displeased, Zuko nodded, gathered several soldiers, and sprinted deeper into the city.
After that, Aang had no time left to admire the scenery. The remaining opponents came after him in earnest.
"Up, Appa!"Another blossoming explosion erupted beneath the flying bison.
"Right!" A jet of blue fire barely missed Appa's flank.
"Down!" A handful of knives thrown by someone below narrowly skimmed over Aang's head, the rush of displaced air brushing against his skin.
"Right!" Another explosion.
"Left!" A wall of crimson fire.
"Stop—AAAH!" Dropping the reins, Aang sprinted up onto Appa's head and, at the very last instant, knocked aside with his staff a spear flying straight toward his friend's eye.
"GRAAAAH!" Appa suddenly bellowed in pain, and the smell of singed fur reached Aang's nose.
"Appa! Go!"
He didn't have to ask twice. Singed and frightened, the flying bison surged ahead at full speed.
"UR-R-RGH!"
(End of Chapter)
P@treon: /SadRaven
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