Avatar The Last Airbender Fan Fiction ❯ Avatar: The Wind on the Waves ❯ Chapter 15 ( Chapter 17 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

The morning sun rose much too soon. From the middle of the fluffy pile, Aang squinted as he took in his surroundings. The cozy warmth of the bison felt like a living, all encompassing blanket that never got cold. His other source of heat, he looked down with a smile, was the lovely Water Tribe girl draped over his chest.

Breakfast was a quiet, but pleasant affair. Aang had bought some dried fruit in town the day before, and this he shared with Katara.

“Do you think this uprising will be a big deal?” she asked.

“I hope not.” Aang replied. “But if it's still going on by the time we get there, it might be a while before it gets resolved.”

“You seemed more confident about it before. Did something change your mind?”

“I've just… got a weird feeling about this… I don't know why.”

They packed their things onto Appa and set off towards Kyoshi Island. Shortly before noon, their destination came into view. The medium-sized village bustled with its daily activities. Few signs were to be had that any great problems were in effect, much less an uprising.

“Aang! Look!” Katara pointed.

Far out on the northwestern horizon, something large was approaching from the air. Aang squinted, watching the object until recognition hit him.

“A Fire Nation convoy.” He said. “And not just any one; it's Zuko's personal ship.”

“Probably here to personally order the troops home.” Katara suggested.

“That could be it.”

Zuko's airship approached at an angle. Scanning the land below, Aang spotted the confrontation point. No fighting was taking place on account of an apparent stalemate. Aang directed Appa downward and they landed behind the Kyoshi Warrior lines.

“What's the situation here?” Aang asked the nearest warrior.

“A complete standstill.” the girl replied. “They won't openly attack us, but if we move so much as a step forward, they're full on the defensive. Whatever it is, they DO NOT want anyone going into that cave behind them.”

“Weird…” Aang scratched his neck. “Has anyone tried asking them?”

“Yes, but they refuse to answer. The only way they'll stand down is by Fire Lord Ozai's orders.”

“We saw Zuko's airship on the way here and heading this way.” Said Katara. “He is the Fire Lord now, maybe—“

“They won't listen to Zuko.” The girl shook her head. “As long as Ozai still lives, Zuko is still just a prince to them and in no position of power. Or… if they DO believe he's the new Fire Lord, then they're sticking pretty strongly to whatever orders they were given years ago. Must be something really important in there for them to guard it that fiercely.”

The snapping and creaking of tree limbs announced the arrival of Zuko's airship. The young Fire Lord refused to be bothered with formalities as he hastily made his way to Aang's side.

“I didn't expect you to be here so soon, much less the same day as me.” said Zuko.

“I actually thought you would have been here before me.” Aang replied. “Do you know what they're hiding in there?”

“The Fire Sages were digging up old documents in the Dragonbone Catacombs when they found something top secret. It was a project my father was working on years ago. I didn't want to believe it at first, but now that I'm here, I'm worried the project might have succeeded.”

“What was he working on?”

“Ozai thought it wasn't fair that some of the most loyal Fire Nation citizens and soldiers were not firebenders while there were `traitors' in prison that were. He ordered the Sages to research a way to rectify this, to… do what you did to my father.”

A chill ran down Aang's spine, causing him to shiver.

“But I thought that only the Avatar was capable of granting or taking away someone's bending abilities.”

“That wouldn't have stopped them from trying, that's for sure. Anyway, for the experiments to work, they needed traitors to strip of their bending in order to give it to loyalists. While Sokka and I were at the Boiling Rock, we overheard other prisoners talking about others that `randomly disappeared'. When I assumed the throne and looked over the records from the prison, there was a startling trend.”

“They were all firebenders?”

“Exactly.”

“But did the documents say if they succeeded or not?”

“No, they didn't, and that's what worries me. If they managed to pull it off and then somehow get to my father…”

“I don't even want to think about it!”

“Neither do I, and that's why this has to come to a stop right now.”

Zuko turned to the Kyoshi warrior Aang had been speaking to prior.

“Have any Earthbenders made it past them?”

“Not one.” the girl replied. “We tried bending tunnels underground, but the floors and walls of the cave are fortified all around with metal and we can't break through. A small squadron did a run and managed to dent some of the metal with the surrounding earth, but the fire nation soldiers had another trick up their sleeves that nearly killed the squad. This island is still somewhat volcanic, and when the squad went down there to hammer away at their defenses, the firebenders started bending the magma upward. Now we can't even get close.”

“But magma is technically just melted earth, right?”

“Mud is earth too.” Aang cut in. “But it's also water. Both Toph and Katara are capable of bending mud because both of their elements are in it.”

“Bending magma isn't something one hears about firebenders doing too often.” Said Zuko. “But it isn't unheard of. In fact, there was a Fire Nation-born Avatar that excelled at it.”

“Avatar Roku?”

“No, the one before him. I can't remember his name.”

“Do you know how it's done?

“I've never attempted it.”

Silence fell between them as they pondered what course of action to take. The earthbenders made a push forward toward the cave entrance, wielding shields of bent earth to protect them. The defending firebenders retaliated with an inferno, heating the shields until the earthbenders could no longer tolerate the intense temperature and were forced back. A few gutsy earthbenders continuously remade their shields, discarding older ones as they became too hot and re-erecting new ones in their place.

But the firebenders were ready for such maneuvers, and when the enemy came too close, they pulled the subterranean molten rock closer to the surface. The earthbenders, their bare feet in constant connection to the earth, were forced to turn back by the intolerable temperature.

What the defending army had failed to take into account, however, was that the new Fire Lord and the Avatar had been watching them the entire time. Their movements had been observed; Aang and Zuko now had an idea of how to manipulate the magma.

Someone was standing outside of Suki's quarters at the Jasmine Dragon… someone with a lot on his mind and something in his hand. Nobody saw him, but his presence had not gone unnoticed.

“Sokka?”

The Water Tribe warrior stiffened up, startled, then relaxed just as quickly upon recognizing who was approaching him. Toph turned her sightless eyes to the door beside Sokka, then to the boy himself.

“What's the matter?” she punched his arm. “Cold feet?”

“Ow!” he rubbed the forming bruise. “No—well, maybe a… little bit.”

“Listen, you either need to just do this or fix your head before you do it. Or you could just not do it at all.”

“I just—“

“Fine. Go fix your head first then do it. But for crying out loud, do something other than keep me up all night with your mushy jitters!”

“But—“

“BUT NOTHING! If I have to lose one more night of sleep `cause you're too goose-chicken to make up your mind, I'M GONNA BURY YOU! GOT IT?”

“Yes, ma'am!” he gulped.

Toph stomped away back to her room, the floor trembling with her every step. It wasn't that she was really that infuriated over Sokka's hesitation, but rather her own. When she had intruded on him earlier, he'd asked her for advice. He had also divulged his feelings for the two women he loved—neither of which was her, of course.

She was frustrated with her un-earthebender-like hesitation to divulge her feelings. And yet, at the same time, Toph was much too stubborn and stolid to give in to the temptation to do so.

“Might as well be Twinkle-Toes at this point!” she snorted to herself as she lay down on the too-soft bed.

The frontlines on Kyoshi Island had grown quiet as the Fire Lord, Avatar, and their closest associates huddled together to piece out a plan. Thus far, a lot of water and absolutely everyone's cooperation were going to be required if the plan was to succeed. Katara would have her hands very full while a circle of earthbenders deflected any incoming attacks. Zuko would have to master and fully utilize the newly-learned magma bending move he and Aang had observed the enemy using.

As for Aang himself, his part in all of this was undoubtedly the most dangerous one of all.