Author's note: Hi! I wanted to warn my readers that I am skipping a few parts of Book 2 because, personally, they are too slow for me to get through, and I want to get to Ba Sing Se. ENJOY! Also, let me know what you think – I love feedback!
That night we slept at the camp, then early the next morning we said our goodbyes to the people we had met and left. We traveled through the village from which Kyoshi Island was separated. The townspeople wanted to boil Aang in oil for his past life's crime, but a group, known as The Rough Rhinos blasted through, changing Aang's sentence to community service. The men were run out of town, saving the village from being claimed by the Fire Lord.
After that we ventured to another town and found Aang's earthbending teacher; a girl named Toph. She was small but strong. We found her at a competition called Earth Rumble 6. Katara and I... convinced two boys to tell us where to find this competition. Toph was competing under the name "The Blind Bandit". The name fit her well, considering she was actually blind. Her dark black hair framed her face, blocking most of her eyes that were a muted green with a milky coated on top.
After discovering where the young girl lived, we found out that she was the daughter of a wealthy family that kept her locked up, away from danger. That night, Aang and Toph were taken for ransom, the man who ran the event thought we had cheated him. They gave Toph back for the money but kept Aang. Katara convinced Toph to fight. She won the standoff with the men and we got Aang back.
Her father said that she would be locked away for a while, thinking he gave her too much freedom because her bending was so powerful. However, Toph ended up traveling with us. Stating her parents changed their minds, I had my suspicions about this, but I let them go as Aang finally had an earthbending teacher who waited and listened.
Traveling with a new person was proving to be difficult. Toph did not like pulling her own weight around camp and Appa was shedding. There was enough for me to make ten fur coats... or more. Picking the fur off me, I helped Katara set up camp while Toph sat in her earth-made hut. She and Toph were butting heads, I tried to be helpful, but they just yelled at me.
Sighing, I rested myself in my bag under the stars. The night starts twinkled down from above. Closing my eyes, I breathed in a heavy sigh before falling asleep.
I think I slept for two minutes before I was woken up by Toph's yelling. She stated that she felt something coming toward us. Like an avalanche... only not an avalanche, whatever that means. Sokka didn't believe her, but we decided to leave. Packing up our stuff, we quickly boarded Appa and took off.
Glancing over the side, I peered down at the dark ground. In the distance, a vehicle was moving in the distance, kicking up large amounts of dirt in its wake.
"What is that thing?" Katara asked over my shoulder.
I shrugged my shoulders at her and turned to face ahead of me, whatever that thing was, I didn't want to find out. The wind blew through my hair that fell down my back from my ponytail. I shivered in the night air. Sokka was falling in and out of sleep. His eyes drooping before him. I fought against my exhaustion and kept my eyes on the sky ahead.
Appa began to descend slowly. Jumping off his back, I slipped onto the ground and took the sleeping bags from Katara. Toph hopped off the back of Appa and sprawled out on the ground, thankful to be on the earth again. She slung her bag over her shoulder and wished us goodnight. I looked incredulously at the girl as the rest of the group unpacked the belongings.
"Excuse me?" I asked the small child. "Aren't you going to help?"
"Really? You need me to help unload Sokka's funky-smelling sleeping bag?" Toph asked facing me.
"Well, yeah!" Katara jumped into the conversation. "That and everything else. You're a part of our team now and –"
"Look!" Toph pointed an irritated finger in Katara's face. "I didn't ask you to help unload my stuff. I'm carrying my own weight!"
"Toph, when you're part of a team you help – everybody!" I told the girl, placing my hands on my hips.
"Ever since joining us, you've been nothing but selfish and unhelpful!" Katara growled.
"What?!" Toph cried, pointing to Katara. "Look here sugar queen, I gave up everything I had so that I could teach Aang earthbending, so don't you talk to me about being selfish!"
"Toph!" I yelled at the girl. "We gave up everything to help Aang, too! You're not the only one who left their family!"
"I don't need your attitude, Miss Priss!"
"Sugar Queen?" Katara yelled.
"Miss Priss?!"
My eyes narrowed at the girl as I bounded over to the hut she made for herself. Toph slammed a piece of land in mine and Katara's faces. Katara began to pound on the door, as I opened my mouth to yell at the girl again.
"Toph, you need to open the door," I called to her.
"Look, you all need to calm down." Aang tried to be the mediator.
"I am calm!" Katara and I yelled at the boy.
"I... can see that..." Aang said with wide eyes.
Sighing, I grabbed my sister's arm and pulled her away from Toph. We continued to set up camp and lay in our sleeping bags under the stars. Katara taunted Toph for being blind and I smacked her on the arm, letting her know she was going too far with her insults. Katara suddenly flew into the air, flipping her onto Sokka. Katara rounded on Toph, but before she could do anything...
"That thing is back!"
"Well, how far away is it?" Sokka asked falling back into his bag and covering his face. "Maybe we can close our eyes just for a few minutes."
I looked over the trees from the cliff we had set camp on and saw the smoke from the machine billowing in the distance. Urgently, I jumped out of my bag and wrapped it up, ordering Sokka to do the same. We quickly dismantled our campsite and packed everything back on Appa.
I pulled Toph up onto the saddle as Aang took the steering position and we flew off again. Aang was determined to make sure we lost them, so we flew further than the time before, trying to make them lose our trail. Yawning, I looked back as the cloud of smoke grew smaller in the distance, wondering who was following us and how they kept finding us.
Landing on a remote hill, surrounded by some rocks, I sighed in relief as I did not see the machine heading our way. My body was failing me as I slid off Appa. I was exhausted and I didn't know how much longer I could hold out without sleep.
"Okay, forget about setting up camp. I'm finding the softest pile of dirt and going to sleep." Sokka informed as he slammed his body on the ground.
"That's good because Toph wasn't going to help anyway," Katara sneered at the blind girl.
"Oh," Toph cried dramatically from the ground. "I didn't realize baby still needed someone to tuck her in."
I growled under my breath at her attitude and laid on the ground, facing the stars as Katara settled next to me.
"Come on guys, there's something after us and we don't even know what or who it is." Aang yawned throwing part of his shirt over his face.
"It could be Zuko," Katara said thoughtfully. My heart fluttered at the mention of the scarred prince. "We haven't seen him since the North Pole."
"Who's Zuko?" Toph asked.
"Oh, just some angry freak with a ponytail who's tracked us all over the world," Sokka grunted, flipping himself over.
"Hey," I cried, "What's wrong with ponytails?"
"Yeah, ponytail," Katara joked.
"It's a warrior's wolf tail," Sokka grumbled through a muffled voice.
"Well, it certainly tells the other warriors that you're fun and perky," I taunted him.
"Anyway," Sokka rolled over again, "whoever's chasing us, they couldn't have followed us here. So... now would everyone just," Sokka pressed a finger to his lips, "shhh!" Momo jumped on Sokka's chest chirping. "Momo, shhh! Sleepytime!"
Momo hopped off his chest and over to the crest of the hill, still chirping. I looked over at the creature and gasped as I saw the smoke billowing in the night air again. Jumping to my feet, I followed the creature and stood in horror.
"That's impossible!" Aang breathed. "There's no way they could have tracked us."
"I can feel it with my own two feet!" Toph stated.
The machine continued to approach.
"Let's get out of here," Katara cried, already starting to board Appa.
"Maybe we should face them. Find out who they are. Who knows, maybe they're friendly."
"Always the optimist," Sokka muttered.
The machine stopped abruptly at the bottom of the hill. A clang sounded as a ramp slammed into the ground. In the smoke, three figures slithered out of the side of the machine. My eyes widened in horror as three giant lizards crawled to the bottom of our campsite.
"Definitely not friendly, time to go!" I tugged on Sokka's arm.
"We can take 'em. Three on four." Toph punched her fist into her other hand.
"Actually, Toph, there's five of us," Sokka said.
"Oh, sorry," Toph chucked, "I didn't count you. You know, no bending and all."
"I can still fight!" Sokka yelled furiously.
"Okay... three on four plus Sokka."
Sokka's face turned red with anger. The lizards began to climb up the side of the mountain, revealing their riders. I gawked at them, it was the three girls from Omashu. Toph jabbed her arms and fists in the air three times. On the third, she opened her palm and shot her arm forward. A large patch of the earth descended down from her position, blasting rocks everywhere. Large rock formations cut into the lizards' paths, but they were too quick.
"Well, we wanted to find out who they were. We found out." Sokka sheathed his boomerang and began running to Appa. "Now, let's get out of here."
I ran after Sokka and quickly ran up the creature's tail. Toph stayed in her place. She assumed her earthbending, trying to block the girls' paths, but the creatures would dodge or climb over the structures. The girl in front, Princess Azula, moved her right arm. An electric shock ran through the air as she thrust her arm forward, blasting the earth. Toph propelled herself out of the way of a blow and flew onto Appa's back. I grabbed the girl's strong arm, securing her in place as Appa flew into the air.
"I can't believe those girls followed us all the way from Omashu," Katara breathed as we glided through the air.
"I still think we could've taken them," Toph grumbled.
"Are you kidding?" Katara exclaimed.
"The crazy blue firebending and the flying daggers are bad enough, but the last time we saw them one of those girls did something that took mine and Katara's bending away. That's scary," I shuttered at the memory.
The sun began to peek over a mountain top. Sokka cried that we had been up all night. I rubbed my dry eyes at his statement. It was exhausting traveling through the night, I couldn't imagine how Appa felt. No one could come up with a plan. We were all too tired to think.
Suddenly, my body began to lift away from Appa's saddle as we flew through the clouds. Twisting my body around, I saw we were no longer flying, we were falling. A scream left my lips as I reached forward and gripped the saddle. Something wrapped around my ankle and I saw that Sokka had grabbed onto me.
"Appa fell asleep!" Aang cried, trying to wake the beast.
Appa woke up just in time. My body crashed against the saddle along with the others as Appa slammed into a vast number of trees. The branches whipped my face, cutting my cheek, I felt the warm blood trickle down my face as Appa's body slammed into the ground below.
My body tumbled through the air. Gravity took over and slammed me into the earth, coating me with dirt as I tumbled. Eventually, I stopped rolling and looked around me. We had crash-landed by a river in the middle of the woods.
"Kadence!" Sokka cried as he bounded to me. "Are you okay?"
Standing up, I brushed the dirt off me and looked at my twin, giving him a weak smile. We began setting up camp, which only started another fight between Katara and Toph. I groaned at the girls, with those three following us, we can't afford to keep fighting. Things took a turn for the worse when Toph began to blame Appa's shedding. Aang jumped on her and began to berate the girl so much that she stormed off.
After settling everyone down, we decided to give Appa a bath in the river. Removing any chance of his shedding to lead the girls our way. Aang flew off in another direction to lead the girls away as Sokka, Katara and I flew in the opposite direction to get further into the woods.
Appa took off with the three of us riding saddleless on the beast's shoulders. My body was aching from my fall earlier, I could feel bruises forming. Groaning as I heard Momo chirp hysterically, I looked behind me and saw the two girls chasing us.
"You've got to be kidding me!" I yelled.
"How did they find us?"
Appa began to angle his body toward the ground as we begged him to go faster, but the poor thing was exhausted. Appa yawned loudly as we begged him to make it over the river ahead. His feet skimmed the bank as his body collided just beyond the river's edge.
"We made it!" Sokka yelled. "We're safe!"
"I wouldn't speak so soon!" I yelled.
The lizards had reared up on their hind legs and began skimming over the water's surface. Katara and I quickly jumped into action and bent a huge wave at the two, slamming the water into the bodies of the lizard. The pink girl flipped herself over the wave and landed just near us.
The girl pulled my attention. I quickly pulled water from the river and began to bend it in front of me. As I launched a series of shots her way, the girl flipped and tumbled out of range. Groaning, I dropped my water and leered at the girl.
A whistle in the air caught my attention as a series of stilettos flew at me. Pulling my water again, I left Katara to fend for herself against the girl in pink and blocked the barrage of arrows with a block of ice. My body begged me to stop moving, but I knew I had to push through.
Facing the girl with jet black hair, I watched as she ran toward me, her arms spread out behind her. Flinging her arms forward, she shot another group of arrows at me. They were stopped midair by Sokka's club. The girl growled and I ran at her full force, pulling my water behind me. Whipping my arms out, I created a wave of ice and slide around the girl, catching her from behind. I gripped the girl's collar and kicked the back of her knee as I pull vaulted her over me and slammed her body into the ground.
The girl groaned. I spun around and saw the other was chasing after Katara still as she had effectively incapacitated Sokka. His limp body lay sprawled on the ground. I left the girl and ran after my sister. With the air whirling around me as I approached her, I didn't see the girl with jet black hair recover from her blow. Suddenly, I was pulled to the ground, and pinned with a throwing star. The girl smirked and turned away, throwing two stars at Katara, pinning her to a tree.
"I thought when Ty Lee and I finally caught you guys," she slumped a bit and looked down disappointed, "it would be more exciting. Oh well, victory is boring.
Groaning against my hold, I bent my arms and lifted my torso up. Resting on my elbows for a second, I swung my legs around, knocking the boring girl off balance as Appa slammed his tail down on the ground. The girl's bodies flew into the air with a scream and they drifted down the river, out of sight.
"Thanks, Appa. I don't know what we'd do without you." Sokka hummed.
The giant beast waddled over to him and with his large tongue, licked his face. I grimaced at the amount of slobber left on my brother's face. Sokka and I laid on the ground, while Katara struggled to pull herself free from the tree. I was trying to do the same, but my sleeves wouldn't budge.
"Any feeling yet, Sokka?" I grunted, pulling my arms upward.
"Nope," Sokka sighed.
"How about you, Katara?"
"Still trying," she groaned.
"Ugh!" I yelled, forcing my right arm into the air. My sleeve ripped from the ground. "I did it!" I hollered, pulling the other star from my sleeve.
"Great..." Sokka moaned, "now, can you help me?"
"In a minute," I sighed walking over to Katara, I pulled the stars from her arms.
My sister smiled at me in thanks before we walked over to Sokka and lifted his body from the ground. Hooking his arm over my shoulder, as Katara did the same, we dragged his body over to Appa and carefully set him down on the creature's back. Katara slid over to Appa's head and grabbed the reigns as I held onto the animal with one hand and Sokka with the other.
"We have to find Aang," I stated as Appa flew up. "Let's head back to the campsite and follow his trail."
Katara steered the beast in the direction and we found the trail in no time. The sun was beginning to set over the horizon, casting an orange hue across the ground. I peered over the side of Appa and stared at the blurred ground below. Eventually, we reached a deserted village a few miles away from camp. Landing, we left Appa behind and ran into the village.
The buildings were worn and crumbling. At the back, a structure was completely caved in on itself. Just beyond the front of the town, I heard a loud commotion ensue. Katara sprinted off down the road and I quickly followed, dragging Sokka behind me. I heard Aang call out my sister's name as she skids through a doorway of a building.
Katara turned on her heel and began running back our way. Sokka ran forward, now having all of his feeling back, and swung his club in the girl's face, but missed. Aang had joined us as we narrowed in on the princess, pushing her back. I whipped the water from my skin sack at her, she quickly dodged as Katara shot another blow. The girl stumbled back, trying to dodge and block our attacks. I twisted my body around just as the girl was knocked forward onto the ground.
"I thought you guys could use a little help," Toph smiled at us.
"Thanks," Katara replied genuinely.
Azula quickly got up and began to run from us. I chased after her down an alleyway and blocked her blue flame with water. She turned another corner but was bounced back. Iroh had pushed her back with his belly. The girl coward backward, not out of fear, but out of determination. She surveyed the group in front of her. Toph, Sokka, Katara, Iroh, Zuko, and I all neared her, forcing her back into the corner of a burnt-out building.
"Well, look at this. Enemies and traitors all working together. I'm done." She cooed dryly, holding her hands up in surrender. "I know when I'm beaten. You got me. A princess surrenders with honor."
I didn't trust her, keeping my stance I kept my eyes on the amber-eyed girl. Watching her, I saw her gaze shifted her gaze to Iroh who was looking down at Toph. I watched in horror as she held two fingers in the air and blast a large blast of blue flame into the man's chest.
Iroh's body spun around and the old man fell. Zuko's scream filled my ears causing my heart to twist in my chest. Growling, I faced Azula and blasted a waterjet at her along with the others, who used their element to their advantage. The elements met in the same spot where Azula stood, causing a tremendous explosion to go off. Smoke filled the air as debris began to rain down on us. As the smoke disappeared, Azula had as well.
Hurried footsteps sounded behind me. I looked over as Zuko knelt next to his unconscious uncle. Iroh groaned softly as Zuko clenched his fists and gripped his hair. Cautiously, I approached the tormented prince, gesturing for the others to stay behind. Zuko peered over his shoulder at me, tears trickled down his face.
"Get away from us!" Zuko cried, pain evident in his voice.
I looked at him sadly, reaching my hand out as I rested the other over my heart, I carefully laid a hand on the boy's shaking shoulder.
"Zuko, I can help," I whispered to him.
His golden eyes peered into mine. I looked at him sadly, trying to comfort him and help Iroh. My heart raced in my chest as we looked at each other. There was a moment of acceptance before he whipped around and unleashed a wave of fire above him. Stumbling back, I blocked the fire with a stream of water. The steam billowed over us.
"Leave!" He yelled, looking at the group behind me. Then he turned his attention to me. "Please." He whispered, just loud enough for me to hear.
With a pang in my heart, I slowly backed away from the crying man and ran to my siblings. We slowly boarded Appa and flew off. I looked back at Zuko's shaking form. The heat from the moment when our elements collided playing over and over in my mind until he was out of sight.