Ruka (2)
The Dai Li agent had told us that a man named Long Feng was keeping Appa in a secret underwater headquarters in Lake Laogai.
It took us the whole night to get to the lake. I was exhausted, but we had to finish the mission, so I made sure not to slow either of us down.
"The agents have to get down there somehow." Zuko said. I looked around the water and from some feet away, I could slightly see a path floating on top of the water.
I pointed to the path and said, "there."
We ran over to it and it was a narrow path made from rock. We ran to the end of the path and Zuko pushed over the circle shaped rock that was blocking our way down. When he did so, we looked down. It was incredibly dark, the only light came from the outside and it wasn't much due to the small hole.
Zuko had me go down the ladder first then he followed after, moving the rock back to its spot.
When we reached the bottom, I turned to Zuko. "He said to go down these steps until we reach the tunnels. Keep going straight down and the first door on our right is where Appa is chained up." I reminded him.
The tunnels were dark and muggy. It smelled of lake water, almost like a sewer. The only light came from crystals from the walls.
It felt like we were running forever.
As we were halfway there, we could hear several women talking in unison in a creepy way. We tiptoed past the room they were in, and as we did, I peeked through the crack of the door and watched in shock. Various women with their eyes wide and their pupils dilated repeated every word a Dai Li agent said to them.
When we were far enough away from the room, I turned to Zuko. "They're brainwashing those women. This place is disgusting."
"Ba Sing Se isn't what people say it is... or what it used to be." Zuko responded as we turned the corner. When we reached the door, my stomach churned.
"Ready?" Zuko asked.
I nodded.
As he slid open the cement door, I could hear Appa. When we were completely in sight, Appa was up on his feet and alert.
"Expecting someone else?" Zuko asked as we walked in. I closed the cement door behind me.
When I heard Zuko take us out his dual swords from their sheath, I turned around quickly. Of course feeling threatened, Appa began to growl at Zuko.
I ran over to his side. "Stop. You're scaring him."
I looked up Appa before slowly reaching my hand out at him. He gritted his teeth and stomped his feet. "Appa, it's okay. It's me Ruka." I pulled my scarf down and sent him a reassuring smile. "See? Do you recognize me, buddy?"
When Appa had come to the realization of who I was, he started to calm down. When he seemed more relaxed, I reached my hand back out and slowly walked over to him.
When Appa softly pushed his nose on my palm, I smiled sadly. When I looked around him, my eyes started to water. His feet were chained to the floor. I can't imagine what he's been through.
While I hugged him, I stroked his fur. "I'm so sorry you're going through this. But we're going to get you out."
"I'm going to get you back to Aang." I whispered.
When we heard the door begin to open, Zuko and I quickly got into our fighting stances. Though I'm not a master at handling hook swords, I'm also not horrible at it. I can certainly fight with these if I needed to.
However, when I saw who it was, I dropped my stance.
"Uncle?" "Iroh."
"So, the Blue Spirit." Iroh stroked his beard, "I wonder who could be behind that mask?" Iroh looked past Zuko and made eye contact with me. "And what do you call yourself? 'The Scarfed Lady?'"
Zuko and I looked at each other and sighed before taking our masks/hoods off.
"What are you doing here?" Zuko asked him.
"I was just about to ask you the same thing because I already know what she's doing here." Iroh responded, his tone upsetting. I looked down at the floor in shame.
Iroh began to walk toward us. "What do you plan to do now that you've found the Avatar's bison? Keep it locked in our new apartment? Should I go put on a pot of tea for him?" His voice was projecting more with each sentence.
"First I have to get it out of here." Zuko said.
"And then what!?" Iroh yelled. Startled, I slightly jumped. "You never think these things through! This is exactly what happened when you captured the Avatar at the North Pole! You had him and then you had no where to go!"
"I would've figured something out!" Zuko defended.
"No! If his friends hadn't found you, you would have frozen to death!"
I winced. I've never seen Iroh this way.
Zuko let out a frustrated groan. "I know my own destiny, Uncle."
"Is it your own destiny? Or is it a destiny someone else has tried to force on you?"
"Stop it Uncle!" Zuko turned his back to Iroh. "I have to do this!"
"I'm begging you, Prince Zuko! It's time for you to look inward and begin asking yourself the big questions: Who are you? And what do you want?"
Finally giving up, Zuko throws his dual swords and mask onto the floor. Zuko's groan echoes throughout the room.
He fell to his knees and held his face in his hands. Instinctively, I drop my hook swords and rush to him. I drop to my own knees in front of him then grab his hands.
"Look at me. Please, Zuko, look at me." I say softly. Slowly, Zuko removes his hands away from his face and our eyes meet.
I placed my hand onto his cheek. "We'll figure this out. Possibly not right now or tomorrow, but we will. But what you do need to do right now is to get it together. Now I'm begging you, Zuko. Free him... they need Appa more than you do."
After a few moments, Zuko finally stood up. He grabbed one of his swords from the floor then walked to Appa.
He raised his sword in the air and as he swung it down, Appa roared. My heart broke at how terrified he felt.
When Zuko broke the chains, Appa realized what he was doing. He was being freed.
After Zuko broke all of the chains, I ran to Appa before he could break himself out of here.
While I hugged Appa for I hope was not the last time, I felt hot tears stream down my face. "Give them a huge kiss for me, alright?"
With his huge tongue, he licked my whole body making me laugh. That's the first time he's ever done that. "Okay buddy, it's time for you to go find Aang. Yip-Yip!"
Appa roared once again before flying out of the cement room. His however many tons were able to break through the ceiling walls.
Zuko wrapped himself around me as s s hield to block any rocks from hitting me.
I looked up at the sky and smiled as Appa soared. See you again soon, buddy.
Side Note: I don't know if you remember, but at the end of this episode, Zuko let the Blue Spirit mask sink into the lake, 'leaving' that side of him behind. I decided not to add it in because I love how this chapter ended because of Ruka and Appa. But because the scene is so short, I don't want to add it in the beginning of the next chapter either. So it will not be included. It still happened, you just won't read it in Ruka's pov, I hope you don't mind.
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!