So, like the new cover y'all?
My southern friend has integrated I- A Northern Girl- Into saying y'all.
3rd Person's POV
Commander Zhao and Colonel Shinu stood side by side as they overlooked the training of the archers. Their precision hitting the bullseye every single time without fail. It was impressive and their skill was known throughout the military of the Fire Nation. They were used for secret missions on the occasion but were most used to guard Fire Nation Compounds- And Commander Zhao planned on using them for his own little mission.
"Absolutely not. The Yu Yan archers stay here. Your request is denied Commander Zhao." Stated the Colonel.
"Colonel Shinu, please reconsider. Their precision is legendary. The Yu Yan can pin a fly to a tree from a hundred yards away-Without killing it. You're wasting their talents using them as mere security guards." Zhao replied, his voice sounding sincere as he tried to coax him into lending them into his hands.
"I can do whatever I want with their talents. They're my archers and what I say goes." His voice was firm and authoritative, knowing full well as long as Zhao was under neath his chain of command, he had no say in it.
"But my search for the Avatar is-" He was caught off by the sass filled Colonel, "-Is nothing but a vanity project! We're fighting a real war here and I need every man I've got, Commander." He seethed. Zhao wasn't taking no for an answer.
"But-"
"That's final! I don't want to hear another word about it." Zhao grumbles under his breath like a toddler who was refused another helping of cake. "Colonel, I need those archers not just for the Avatar, but for the Princess as well." Colonel rose a brow, his words peeking his interest.
"Princess?"
"The Princess of Omashu. Spies within the city have given me information that is most interesting, and it matches up with an incident that happened 11 years ago."
"Once again, no matter how many time you ask me of this. My answer will be no. Besides, that will be declaring war with the Earth Kingdom if you kidnap one of it's royalty. We have enough on our hands." The caring of a red hawk sounded off in the distance and in came swooping in, it's long wingspan being seen. It landed on the Colonel's arm, carrying a message on it's back. The Colonel grabbed the message and rolled it open, the more he read, the more horror striked his face. He handed it off to Zhao, his eyes narrowing.
"News from Fire Lord Ozai?" His voice was filled with malice and smirk smug,"It appears I've been promoted to Admiral. My request is now an order." Colonel Shinu reluctantly bows and exits. Zhao looked back down upon the archers, his smirk turning into a creepy grin.
"Just wait Avatar and Princess Himoko, you will be in my clutches soon enough..." He stated, not knowing the while conversation was heard by a mysterious figure with a blue mask, and behind the mask the boy clenched his jaw. He quickly exited before Zhao turned to look up where he was, feeling as if eyes were on him.
---
Himoko's POV
I grimaced and backed away as Sokka coughed towards my direction. "Sokka! Keep your mouth covered!" He glared weakly at Himoko, not feeling like speaking to her to retort.
"This should bring your fever down." Stated his younger sister, wiping a cold rag on his forehead.
"You know what I love about Appa the most? His sense of humor." Sokka stated in a daze, his cheeks flushed and snot dripping out of his nose. I turned around, scrunching up my face at Aang. I honestly hate people when they were sick, especially when they have gotten to this point.
"That's nice. I'll tell him." Appa let's out a low rumble, causing Sokka to laugh.
"Ha, classic Appa."
"How can he be so delirious from just having a fever?" I asked and Katana shrugged, "He is always like this whenever he gets a fever."
"Oh, so he gets more annoying." Sokka glared at me.
"Thats not very nice."
"I'm not."
"How's Sokka doing?"
"Not so good. Being out in that storm really did a number on him."
"I couldn't find any ginger root for the tea, but I found a map." Aang whips out a scroll that was the map and lays it flat onto the ground. I looked over his shoulder, hands folded behind my back.
"There's an herbalist institute on the top of that mountain. We could probably find a cure for Sokka there." Aang explained to us. His eyes landing on me.
"Aang, he's in no condition to travel. Sokka just needs more rest. I'm sure he'll be better by tomorrow." Suddenly, Katana coughs lightly. And I could feel my body involuntarily, as if on instinct, take two steps away from her.
"Not you too!" Aang said worriedly. "Relax, it was just a little cough. I'm fine-" She goes into a worse coughing fit. Aang and I both shielded ourselves from her.
"Please don't spread your germs to me." I asked of her.
"That's how Sokka started yesterday. Now look at him-He thinks he's an earthbender!" Sokka proceeds to swing his fists around in the air, acting as if he was punching rocks at us.
"Take that, you rock!"
"A few more hours and you'll be talking nonsense too." He gets up and grabs hold of his glider, "I'm going to find some medicine." I opened my mouth to disagree when a flash of lightning beat me to it. He shuts his glider and leans up against the temple wall.
"Uh, maybe it's safer if I go on foot. Himoko, can you keep an eye on them-"
"I would but I would rather not catch a cold from them, I don't want to be the next to suffer from that fate." I stated, walking over to him as I saw Katara lay down beside Sokka.
"Uh, okay. Keep an eye on them guys, I guess." Appa, Momo, and Alex stared at Aang, bewildered and wondering what task was handed off to them. Appa grunts and Sokka laughs again.
"Haha! You guys are killin' me!" Aang and I launch ourselves into the air, him gaining more height than I did but we luckily landed pretty close to each other. Aang zoomed off, leaning me to run after him.
"Slow down, Aang! I can't go that fast!" I called after him and he glanced over his shoulder back at me.
"Use air bending to boost your speed!"
"How?!" Aang frowned and sighed heavily, reluctantly slowing down so we could go at the same pace. I knew he wanted to get them medicine as soon as possible, but it's not like it's going to take that long.
"All you had to do is boost yourself with the air by the balls of your feet."
"I'm not good at using air at my feet that much. All I can do is get myself in the air." I told him, slowly down to a jog so I can still talk to him without getting out of breath. Aang followed suit.
"Why didn't you want to stay with them? I would have felt more comfortable with you with them." I chewed on the inside of my cheek, shaking my head.
"I don't like being around people who are sick. I just end up doing the wrong things for them."
"How?"
"Well, um let's just say that I misinterpret on what they want." I shook my head, 'Just made him more confused, good job Himoko.' I thought. Aang brushed off my words, not dwelling too much on it. After ten minutes of jogging, Aang became quickly bored and stopped suddenly.
"Here, climb onto my back."
"Aang, I would literally crush you if I did that." I told him and he blew a raspberry, "No you wont. Now come on, I'm tired of just jogging through this place." I sighed heavily before carefully getting on Aang's back, hearing him slightly grunt from my weight.
"See, you are pretty light."
"Probably because I'm trying not to put so much weight on you." He rolled his eyes before taking off suddenly. My grip tightened on the material of his shirt, not wanting to be blown off and onto the ground.
In no time at all we were getting closer to the Herbalist Institute when my ears perked up, picking up a sound that sounded like a blowhorn. Who would be out here blowing that thing? We are in the middle of a pretty much barren wasteland neck of the woods. There shouldn't be anyone for miles to blow that horn.
We arrived and reached the top of the stairs, swinging the door open and zooming inside. I jumped off of his back, sneezing from the pollen I inhaled.
"Please dont say that you got sick too!" Aang asked me and I shook my head. I sniffed, blinking away the water in my eyes. "No, I just have allergies from the flowers." I told him, holding back another sneeze.
"Hello! I'm sorry to barge in like this, but I need some medicine for my friends. They have fevers and they've been coughing and-" Aang told the old woman that was a few feet away from us, currectly occupied with mixing something in a wooden bowl.
"Settle down, young man. Your friends are going to be fine. I've been up here for over forty years you know, used to be others, but they all left years ago. Now it's just me and Miyuki." The old woman stated, swing fondly at her cat while stroking her fur.
"That's nice." Aang replied slightly awkwardly.
"Wounded Earth Kingdom troops still come by now and again, brave boys, and thanks to my remedies they always leave in better shape they when they arrive." 'That's good to hear that they don't have to go to a major city every time to just get healed from battles.' I made a mental note to send a letter to Pappy about her, and ask if he could send some things to her for her work with the soldiers.
"That's nice. Are you almost done?" Aang asked her, not really care what she just said. I elbowed him in the ribs and he made a small noise of pain, "Don't be rude, Aang."
"Hold on, I just need to add one last ingredient." She began walking around the plants and flowers, her eyebrows knitted together in concentration. "Oh, Sandalwood... Oh, er, uh, that won't do, Banana Leaf? Ah, nope, uh, Ginger Root, uh uh, oh where is that pesky little plant?" She muttered to herself in thought. She did this for a little bit, Aang becoming quite bored and anxious. He really wanted to get back to our friends as soon as possible. I really didn't mind the wait, but I was about ready to just wait outside so I could stop sneezing and feel my eyes constantly water from my allergies.
"Here's what I was looking for! Plum Blossom!" She plucked one of them off of the stem, smiling to herself in victory.
"Finally-!" I gave him a small stern look, "Shh Aang, she is working."
"Oh he is fine my dear." The Herbalist told me, unbothered. But did a whole 180 when Aang grabbed the bowl out of her hands.
"Thanks for all your help!" He got a quick smack on the wrist by her.
"Hands off! What do you think you're doing?!" Aang gulped and looked appalled, and I could feel myself about to laugh but held back.
"Taking the cure to my friends!
"Ahaha! This isn't a cure, it's Miyuki's dinner." Her edge tone dissapeared as she fed Miyuki's dinner to her.
"Plum Blossom is her favorite."
"What about my friends?"
"Well, all they need is some frozen wood frogs. There's plenty of them down in the valley swamp." I could have barfed. 'Oh, she is a really really natural herbalist.'
"What am I supposed to do with frozen frogs?" Aang asked her, almost afraid to even ask.
"Why, suck on them of course!" She has been working as this type of job for forty years so I shouldn't be surprised by how easy she made that sound to consume. I coughed awkwardly to the side.
"Suck on them!?" Aang went pale in the face, his skin tone going a shade lighter than usual.
"The frog's skin excretes a substance that'll cure your friends, but make sure you get plenty. Once those little critters thaw out, they're useless!" She warned us with a grin. A few moments passed before any of us spoke again.
"You're insane aren't you?" Aang asked her and she nodded. "Thaaaaaaat's right." She turned around. I chuckled and turned on my heel, ready to get out of there but Aang made no move.
"Well, don't stand there all day. Go!" She whips a weird black gunk into his face, finally getting him to move from his spot. I followed after Aang who furiously wiped away the blank gunk on his face as I laughed at him, feeling my nose begin to clear up a little bit.
"I like her. I will tell Pappy to send her something for her services."
"WHAT EVEN IS THIS STUFF?!" The young boy questioned, having more trouble with getting the black gunk off of his face than he thought. I laughed at him, "Probably leftovers of cat food."
"Ew! Yuck-!" He made a face of disgust but quickly reformed to one of surprise when two arrows whizzed past us. We came to a halt, surprised and confused. What? I didn't hear anybody. Where did this arrows come from? I strained to hear anything, but came up empty with just hearing our heartbeats and breathing.
"Aang, let's hurry back and get out of here, the delicious frogs can wait." I told him and he had no problem agreeing.
Aang blocked more arrows that came towards him with air bending while I dodged most of them, being able to predict them with the sound that came from them. Even though I was still left unable to tell where they were coming from directly.
"Uhh, I think you dropped this." Another arrow was shot at him, well his foot but only caught the material of it. Pinning it to the ground. I looked up, finally being able to tell what the archers were at. Well one of them at least. I dodged an arrangement of arrows, moving myself more back everytime. Testing to see how much range they could do without much time to check their precision.
I hissed, feeling an arrow manage to graze my arm, slicing through my sleeve.
"Ow..." I muttered but ignored it as more arrows were sent to me.
We took off into a sprint arrows still being sent at us. Aang did his best in blocking them as we ran, but he couldn't get all of them. Leaving me having to do some of my own bending.
I decided against Sound Bending, I didn't know how many archers there was and the sound was too quick to be able to grab all of it. So Airbending it was.
I tried to make it subtle, it deliberately blending in with Aang's. I redirected one arrow successfully but the other cut through my pant leg, but didn't slice any skin open thankfully. We jumped off of a cliff and softened our fall with air bending. Aang had a softer landing on his brush than I did with the ground. But when he came through, I could see he had a mighty fight with the leaves and branches.
I ran along the ground while Aang remained in the tree line. The archers followed us through the tree line, giving me time to blow air upwards with some force, sending one flying off of one of the branches and onto the ground. I didn't dare stop to stare at them, pushing myself forward with as much speed as I could muster to catch up to Aang. I ran into the swamp water when Aang jumped into it, making a medium sized splash. He pursed his lips, lifting his hand out of the water to reveal a white frog.
"A frog!" He told me in excitement. Short lived, the frog was shot out of his hand by an arrow. We ran through the water but everytime Aang spotted another frog in the water, he would reach down and grab it.
"Aang stop! We don't have time for those right now-" I was caught off when my left arm was pinned down. I pulled the arrow out quickly, sending a wave of air towards four arrows that were whizzing towards me. They plopped into the water as I began running again, seeing Aang was pinned down but managed to make a wave of ice as a blockade in front of him. I grabbed hold of one of the arrows, pulling it out of his sleeve when the ice shatters and we were both left pinned to the noulder by arrows, a netting thrown over us.
"You just had to grab those frogs didn't you Aang?" I asked him and he pouted. "I'm sorry..."
---
I was left in a room, chained up. I didn't know where they took Aang to, but we were both most likely in the same predicament. Chained up and waiting to be exterminated or whatever they planned to do with us.
I groaned, lightly tugging on the chains. I couldn't believe that this happened. How did they find us? I could only hope that they didn't find Katara and Sokka, they weren't in the right state to even put up a fight right now.
The room was deadly silent except for mice that I could hear occasionally, which gave ne at least something to listen to besides the chains everytime I moved. Along with the flickering of the fire that lit the room. My eyes scanned the area, looking to see if there was any other way out besides the door at the edge of the room, but knowing that I couldn't go through that way, I would have to find a different way out. (They would indeed have tons of guards posted at the door because of who I was.).
I blew my bangs out of my face, unable to reach up to push them out of my field of vision.
I scrunched up my nose, hearing footsteps in the hallway of heavy boots. One pair of heavy boots. Who was coming?
"She is awake now, Admiral." A gruff voice stated which I assumed to be one of the guards.
"Has she tried anything?"
"No, sir."
"Good. Let's see if she will be compliant to us." The door opened and revealed a face I haven't seen since Avatar Roku's temple. Commander Zhao. Apart of the Fire Nation Army. But wait- Wasn't he just called Admiral? Wasn't that another title in the chain of command? He walked towards where I was seated on the hard flooring, looking down at me with his hands clasped behind his back. His inferiority complex showing.
"I take that you are enjoying your temporary room, Princess Himoko of Omashu, heir to the Throne of Omashu." I stared up at him, eyes showing no emotion. I wasn't gonna give him anything that he wanted from me.
"Where is Aang?" I spoke simply and he chuckled, "Oh, worried about the Avatar I see? Well just know that he is being well taken care of. Actually I will be visiting him in a moment but I first wanted to speak to you about something."
"You could have just sent a letter instead of kidnapping me and declaring another war with Omashu which oh, by the way, didn't work out very well for you last time." He seethed, looking ready to whack me but restrained himself. I was a Princess after all. One of it's perks.
"Ha, you do indeed have King Bumi's wits."
"He is my grandfather after all." I shrugged absentmindedly. He smirked smugly.
"Adopted. Do you forget that you were only adopted by him 11 years ago. So you two aren't blood related."
"Technically we are all related, after all we are all humans." I smirked, eyebrow raised. He chuckled, shaking his head, "You got me there, Princess. But enough of this bantering. You are here for a reason or else I would have just left you at the filthy swamp and just took the Avatar."
"What do you want from me?"
"Information. Well more like confirmation."
"I'm not telling you crap." He waved his hand, shaking his head at me, "I'm not talking about Omashu's war plans or whatever. I'm talking about you, more importantly your past before you became royalty." I involuntarily tensed, 'Crap...'.
He noticed my reaction and continued, "11 years ago we were having golly of fun, happy and ready for more dominance over the nations. But something was stopping us from completing that. Of course 100 years before we did wipe out an entire nation, and whatever leftovers there were but two people kept escaping our clutches every time. It was quite a nuisance you know." He began walking around me, his head held high as my eyes trailed where he walked.
"They were quite good at evading us, which was indeed in their nature. You probably know all about that." I glared hard at him, "Anyways, one day. We found out that the two had settled down someplace in the Earth Kingdom, somewhere around the great city, Omashu. We were ecstatic, ready to be able to finally go and get rid of them once and for all. But unknowing to us, they had another secret of their own." I could feel my body begin to tremble, not from fear or sadness, but anger.
"We arrived on that night, sent scouts out to survey the little farm, the small house that seemed to always been remodeling to accustomed to the growing family the two desperately wanted." I grinded my teeth together, fisting my hands. "I stayed back, not wanting to get my own hands dirty. The house went up into flames not only ten minutes later. I heard no screams, but I knew that we had no more worries of the leftovers. It was finally done." 'There is a but, I know there is...' I thought to myself.
"But- We found out some painful news. They had a child, a little girl. I ordered them to take her, to give her as a present to the FireLord. But, next thing I knew. I heard a loud petrified scream." I grimaced, the memory flashing in my mind. Grip tightening, fingernails digging into my palm.
"I at first thought it was just the little girl finding out that her parents were dead, but what came next was quite peculiar."
"My men were dead, leaving the little girl in ash. I had no idea what caused this, how on earth they managed to just die like that. At the time I figured the little girl was dead as well, until a year later. It was released to the public of adoption King Bumi of Omashu certified. The adoption of the Crowned Princess, Himoko." I stared up at him, eyes glaring daggers. Trying to imagine him getting blown up or something that would meet his demise.
"Screw you." He let out a tiny gasp, "A dear Princess shouldn't be able to say that. Then again, you weren't always a Princess. You weren't taught manners until after your parents died. Princess Himoko, the Last AirBender. Well, before the Avatar appeared again out of nowhere." He chuckled and I kept myself from saying anything more. 'Stop it, I won't retaliate.'
"After all these years, I knew I should have just made sure you were really dead back then. But really, you were grasping at life, wanting your little body to not give up. How cute."
"I was 5 years old when you murdered them." I muttered in distaste, "You are a true monster."
"Apologies, it all comes with the job." He shrugged, not caring. I blew air out of my teeth, trying so hard to keep my anger in control.
"Anyways, I will leave be for now. I'm going to go and pay your little friend a visit. It was nice chatting with you, Princess." He left the room, and as soon as the door closed, I let out a loud shrill shriek, the red circles appearing out of my mouth as it bounced off of the walls.
---
3rd Person's POV
The Princess's shriek wailed throughout the compound, meeting the ears of everyone inside and outside in the area. Aang jumped, his body going frigid as he realized who was screaming, he only knew one person who was capable of doing that.
"Himoko." He muttered under his breath in worry. It wasn't anything nice to wake up to, but that scream told him that they had to get out there, and fast.
Zhao was stopped, stunned as he was still in the hallway that led to Himoko's prison. He could feel the anguish, pain, and anger in that shriek. He couldn't tell where it came from, the metal walls and flooring didn't help differentiate it's direction. But it shook him to the bone and hurt his ears. He felt cold liquid in his ears and he felt it begin to pool down and trickle down his neck. He swiped his finger against one of the streams seeing that it was blood. Left shocked in silence. The scream was directed at him, in order to hurt him.
The Blue Spirit was left in a daze, his current mission leaving his mind for a few moments as he tried to recollect himself. He felt the shriek, as much as anyone else did, but he felt it more on a personal level. It held the same emotions as he has in the past three years, or even his whole life.
Would they really have torture chambers here? The Fire Nation was cruel, but not to that extreme unless they were given permission. It left him feeling buzzed, and wanting to protect whoever produced that shriek that held the same feelings he had everyday of his life.
He waited for the next patrol to come around, scaling against the wall before going down the hallway, on high alert. He needed to get to them, but the problem was. Who was in which room?
He knew Zhao wouldn't keep them together, he was smarter than that. He stopped moving, hiding in a corner so he was covered in shadows as he saw Zhao round a corner, holding a handkerchief up to his left ear. There looked to be blood.
He didn't have time to question it, but he knew that he must have just gotten back from one of the two hostages, leaving him to go the way Zhao came.
He went down the hallway, seeing a flurry of guards posted there. About five of them. If there was that many, it had to be Princess Himoko behind that door.
Himoko stared down at the floor, her eyes watering but never letting herself cry. She felt defeated, and knew that she had to tell Aang that he knew that she was an Airbender. Things only just got more complicated. She glanced down at the chains at her feet, pursing her lips firmly and her eyebrows furrowed. She needed to do something and quick before Zhao traumatized Aang.
She pulled against the chains, trying to snap them. But the chains were too sturdy to easily snap. She kept on trying, even using air bending to give her an extra boost of speed and strength. It didn't budge.
She jumped at the sounds of clashing swords and bodies hitting the ground. Her eyes going to the door at the end of the room. Who was out there? What was happening? Her questions were soon answered when the door opened, revealing a figure in a blue mask. She tensed, staring at them.
"Whatever you want from me, you aren't getting anything." Himoko stated, still feeling some sort of anger bubbling in her heart from Zhao's little visit ten minutes prior. The figure said nothing, and instead walked towards her and broke her chains with his swords. They leant down and heated up the metal still around her ankles, melting it off. But they were careful not to burn him. They did the same with the metal around her wrist, the metal falling and making a soft clang against the flooring. They stood back up, staring at the doorway. Himoko listened for any sounds, all footsteps were away from them, so they wouldn't run into anybody soon. She could also hear their heartbeat, which was erratic from adrenaline. Their breathing was in short spurts- they were trying to calm down their heart rate.
She stood up, finally taking notice. Of their gender. Male, judging by their broad shoulders, build, and height. They were a he.
"Who are you?" She asked him in a whisper. He didn't reply, only stared at her over his shoulder. His eyes trailed to the cut on her arm, seeing that the blood was dried, and most likely infected from being left unattended. He couldn't have that. He grabbed hold of the end of her shirt, ripping off a piece of fabric before tying it around the wound securely. Himoko winced at how tight he tied it, but felt a form of gratitude that he took notice of the wound.
He grabbed hold of her wrist and pulled her along with him, leaving the room that left a bad taste in her mouth.
She tried to rack her brain where she had seen that mask before but came up empty. She would call him 'Blue' for now.
Blue stopped against the wall, Himoko mirroring his form as a few soldiers passed by them in the hallway, not noticing them. They continued on their way, Blue looking like he knew where he was going, but Himoko stopped in place.
"Wait." She told him, holding him back. She closed her eyes, searching for any sign of Aang. Her hearing stretched out, she could hear soldiers practicing, the archers that attacked them earlier practicing against targets. Zhao, who was now outside of the compound. Meaning he was done talking with Aang.
"Come on Aang, make a sound..." Himoko muttered to herself. Blue furrowed his brows, 'What is she doing? She is wasting time!' He thought to himself before her grip tightened around his wrist. Hearing the soft clanking of chains, along with the noises of frogs.
"There. This way." She took the lead, pulling Blue along with her. He had no choice but to be led by her, seeing her make quick decisions on which way to go. She must have known where the Avatar was, which just made his job easier. How did she know? He had no clue, and had no time to ask questions.
He pulled her back swiftly, stopping her from running straight into a soldier. Unluckily, the soldier already spotted them. Blue took him out as quick as he could, dodging a fire blast to his face. He knocked the helmet off of his head, gaining an idea.
Four guards stood outside of Aang's prison chambers, waiting for their buddy to get back. When they heard frog noises from underneath them. Confused, looked down to see frog sliding from underneath the door.
While distracted and wondering how frogs got in, a Fire Nation Soldier's helmet came bouncing down the hallway, rolling towards them. One left to investigate, picking it up but not before being suddenly taken out of view of the other three guards. A blast of fire and clanking of armor being the last thing seen or heard from the poor soldier.
Two more guards left to see what had happened, only to find their friend hanging from the ceiling. A girl underneath him who was pointing up with a small smirk on her face. They looked up, just in time to see Blue above them who drops down on top of them. Exchanging a short combat with the two.
Himoko walked further in ahead, spotting the guard who reached for the alarm horn. She grabbed the knife out of her pocket, throwing it at him with precision and hitting the alarm horn out of his hand. Blue ran around Himoko and down the hallway towards the last remaining guard. The guard let out a loose gout of flame towards Blue, but it was extinguished by a bucket of water. Swinging the empty pale at his feet, sending him down onto the flooring. Blue then whacked him outside of the head, knocking him out and Himoko cringed at the sound of metal hitting metal.
"That's going to hurt in the morning..." She whispered before her eyes going to the frogs on the ground. "And will wake up surrounded by wood frogs." Blue gave her a small look, even though she couldn't see behind the mask. Blue gagged the soldier and tied him up before messing with the door- Opening it, showing Aang hanging between two poles with chains on his wrists and ankles. Suspended into the air.
"Aang!" Himoko ran forward, reaching him in no time as Aang felt a relieved breath leave him.
"Are you okay?! Blue, get these chains off of him!" Blue, with a swift, cut- cut Aang down, leaving only the chains around his ankles.
"Who are they? What's going on?!" Himoko shushed Aang, placing her hand on his shoulder. Blue motions for the door, "He is here to rescue us, Aang." Informed Himoko. Aang gave her a look.
"Who is he?"
"I don't know. But we have no choice to trust him for now. Come on let's go before they realize what's happened." The three exited the room, hearts pumping with adrenaline as they walked through the halls, searching for an escape route.
"Himoko, I heard you scream earlier. Are you okay...?" Aang asked her, seeing her shoulders tense up slightly. Blue couldn't help but listen in on their conversation, as they weren't exactly trying to keep it hushed.
"I'm fine just- Had a run in with Zhao." Blue frowned beneath his mask, going against the wall, the two Airbenders following suit. Himoko listened for a moment, hearing the guards continue on their way luckily not walking down their way. She nodded at Blue who looked back at her before they were moving again.
"What did he do to you?" Aang's voice became firm in anger. Himoko shook her head, taking a deep inhale of breath.
"Brought up memories before Pappy took me in." Aang grimaced, knowing what she was talking about. But then realization dawned on him. He ran out in front of her halting her.
"He knows?!" Himoko nodded sadly, "Unfortunately. Look we can talk about this later, right now we need to-" A ribbit stopped Himoko from finishing. The three looked down to see unthawed or half-thawed frogs on the flooring.
"My frogs! Come back! And stop thawing out!" Blue grabs hold of Aang's collar before he has a chance to grab any of the frogs. "Wait! My friends need to suck on those frogs!"
"Aang, stop yelling!"
"But- You are yelling!"
"Aang!".
---
Himoko's POV
I held the sleeve of my shirt up to my face, covering my mouth and nose from the stench of the sewers we were walking through. Blue seemed unbothered by the stench and Aang looked like he was about to hurl.
I didn't want to go into the sewers but we couldn't exactly waltz into the courtyard all freenilly like. I hated that but I we had no other choice if we wanted to be caught.
I was getting more anxious everytime Blue looked back at us, he hasn't said a single word yet and made me wonder if he was either A. Mute, or B. Doesn't like talking to people.
Whatever his reasons were, didn't help Aang and I in trusting him. If things were to go south with him- I would be the one to make sure Aang was the one to get out safely.
We reached the grate and Blue looked up through it, seeing soldiers walk above us. This was our only chance to get out of this stank filled place. Blue popped open the grate, pushing it aside before climbing out, grabbing hold of Aang's hand and pulling him to the top.
I glanced back, 'Worst twenty-nine minutes of my life...' I thought to myself dramatically before Blue reached down for my hand. I grabbed hold of it and felt him pull me up quite easily, his other hand going to my hip to stabilize me. I became eye level with him, finally being able to see golden eyes peering through the mask. I could feel everything around me slow down for a moment, and he stopped as well, his eyes staring at my own. Why was I becoming entranced with them? Gold eyes were a regular in the Fire Nation, and I knew he was a fire bender since he used it to melt off my metal restraints- Blue stared back at me, and I could understand why because my eyes on the regular shifted from silver to a light blue hazel. But that didn't mean I still felt awkward of staring into his eyes like this.
He quickly averted his eyes as he realized what he was doing, standing up and I followed, his warm hand leaving mine.
(A/N: This is like the third time I wrote this because WattPad was being a dick to me- Apologies for ruining the shipping moment readers.)
We ran across the courtyard with light and quick feet, and if any soldiers came our way once they spotted us, they were dealed with quickly by Blue. Aang and I didn't even have to fight this time around.
At the innermost wall of the compound we ran to, Blue grabbing ahold of rope and a tool, tying the rope to it before swinging it up to the top of the wall. He tugged on it, making sure it would stay before we climbed up it.
We were halfway up the rope and to freedom when a spot light appeared on us, along with a alarm.
"Crap." I muttered.
"There, on the wall!" Shouted a random soldier before another appeared at the top, cutting down the rope. We fell to the ground, Aang thinking quickly after letting out a short lived scream in surprise. We landed on a soft cushion of air, Blue unsheathing his blades while I grabbed hold of my dagger. I should really upgrade to something much bigger.
"The Avatar and Princess has escaped! Close all the gates immediately!" I heard Zhao yell through a horn or something before Aang ran out in front of Blue and I.
"Stay close to me!" He told us. The third gate and gates beyond that were all closing and a flush of soldiers ran to block us off. Aang; Having none of that, sends a blast of air towards them and blows them all away to create a path for us.
I was about to sigh in relief when the back of my shirt was suddenly grabbed and a hard grip wrapped around my arm where the wound from earlier was. I yelped out in both surprise and pain, Blue quickly turned and swiped at the soldier, cutting his hand without hurting me expertly. The soldier loosened his grip and Blue grabbed me, pulling me behind him.
I blocked an attack with my dagger against a bigger and shinier blade, "Definitely need a upgrade..." I muttered before pushing more weight onto my right foot and swiping my left foot underneath the soldiers feet, sending them to the ground. I grabbed hold of their sword, dropping the butt onto their head and knocking them out.
"Thanks for the upgrade.".
Aang came down from the sky, blasting the soldiers away from us before catapulting Blue onto the third wall.
"Nice!" I complimented before Aang grabbed hold of me. I wrapped my arms around him as he began to twirl his staff around in the air. We took up into the air, seeing Blue being surrounded. I was about to call him when he suddenly jumped off of the wall, bracing for impact. I unwounded my one arm from Aang, punching a gout of air towards where Blue would land, hoping that it would reach.
It did, and I could feel myself smile in relief.
"Nice! You have been practicing!" Stated Aang before our little victory was shortlived. We came tumbling onto the ground, barely making the second wall, Aang's staff leaving him. I quickly got onto my feet, initiating in a small sword fight. I was being overwhelmed, but still held my own against the soldiers. I threw one over the wall when I felt wind pushing against me. I looked over at Aang, seeing him go around in a circle, easily throwing all of the soldiers off of the wall successfully. I looked down, seeing that ladders from either side were being pressed against the second wall. Aang and I knocked off soldiers off of the ladders before they could reach us, Aang using air bending and I whacking them with my sword. I turned around quickly once I heard someone go up the ladder behind me and was ready to clash swords with them when I saw it was just Blue. I let out a small sigh in relief at the sight of him. Aang sent two gouts of air down his last two ladders while Blue took care of the last guy. Aang brings over his two scaling ladders and steps onto the one Blue just finished emptying. He hands one ladder to the masked man.
"Here, take this. Jump on my back, and Himoko's get on his!" Aang quickly ordered. "Oh boy, this is going to be unstable." I couldn't help but comment and Aang sent me a small look. I jumped onto Blue's back while he got onto Aang's. We used the two ladders as stilts to get to the last wall. I could actually see the sun slowly rising, showing that a whole night has passed.
We shed the first set of stilts, letting it fall to the ground. "Gimme the next one!" Blue hands it to him and we began moving again. I glanced down, my grip tightening on Blue's shoulders at the sight of one side of the stilts being enveloped in flames. It was a tad bit late on the soldiers part as we were close enough to jump off and grab hold of the last wall. I could see Aang and Blue's grip slipping before they fell, but I somehow had a better grip then they did and managed to pull my weight up and onto the top of the last wall. I looked down, eyes widening to see that they were surrounded. Aang airbends flames away from him and Blue when Zhao came into view.
"Hold your fire! The Avatar must be captured alive!" Blue suddenly comes up behind Aang and crosses his swords in front of Aang's throat while I was reprimanded by soldiers on the wall.
"Aang!" I shouted down to him in worry. Zhao looks up at me, finally seeing that I was on top of the wall.
"Take the Princess back to her cell!" I struggled against the soldier, feeling my weapons being taken away. Blue and Zhao had a little stand off before he groaned and with gritted teeth, yelled out an order.
"Open the gate."
"Admiral, what are you doing?"
"Let them out, now!" He shouted and the gate is opened, leaving me to watch helplessly as Blue takes Aang away. I struggled against the soldier as this is going on, ready to just run after Blue and give him a piece of my mind for holding his blades up to Aang's neck like that. With a clenched jaw, I reeled back and knocked the back of my head into the soldiers, ignoring the sharp pain I felt. This gave me enough leverage to get out of his grip and knock him down, grabbing hold of my sword from the floor and fighting off the rest of the soldiers.
"Get her!" Ordered Zhao, momentarily distracted from Blue and Aang. 'I just need Aang to get out of here safely.' I thought to myself, kicking a soldier in the groin and pushing him off of the wall.
I jumped onto the railing of the wall, seeing the flush of soldiers ready to take me away into the cell again- Or kill me when trying.
I couldn't let them do that.
I took a deep breath and threw my sword down, putting my hands up as if in surrender.
"Himoko!" I could hear Aang yell for me and I glanced back, smiling softly before turning around again, catching eye with Zhao. My gaze hardened.
"Don't mess with the daughter of two powerful Airbenders." Before Zhao could yell an order or the soldiers could grab a hold of me- I sent the biggest and strongest gust of wind against them, sending me off of the wall as well.
---
3rd Person's POV
Aang and Blue watched in shock, watching Himoko airbend herself away from the flurry of soldiers and off of the wall. Aang couldn't believe that she managed to escape, couldn't believe that she was able to put that much strength into that simple gust. Blue stared at her falling form, his thoughts training back to all times he had came into contact with her or seen her-
She was an Airbender.
That realized thought and confirmation alone told him everything.
As Himoko neared the ground, she turned herself so she would land into a roll, blowing air out of her mouth- A small trick she learned from Aang- To brace her fall. She rolled and got back onto her feet, running towards Aang and Blue.
"GO!" Himoko yelled, snapping them out of their shocked state. Blue brought down his swords but Himoko heard something. Two arrows.
She turned around quickly and dodged the arrow that was aimed towards her, but could see the other pass way over her head. She felt herself run faster once Blue was hit with the arrow in the face, the balls of her feet suddenly propelling forward, the air beneath them escaping. Just like how Aang did in the forest swamp.
She grabbed hold of Blue before he could hit the ground while Aang airbended a huge cloud of dust around them.
"Quick! Recover the prisoners!" The main gate opened again and a crowd of soldiers emerged and ran towards the cloud of dust. Himoko stared down at Blue in her arms, seeing that if he wasn't wearing the mask, he would have been a goner. Aang glanced back, "Is he okay?" Himoko gives no answer as she lifts the mask off of him and feel her chest tightened. Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation laid in her arms, his golden eyes half-lidded as he stared up at her before they fully closed. Knocked out. She could see Aang began to run and grabbed hold of her forearm but she didn't budge.
"Come on! They will be here soon-"
"No Aang. We can't leave him."
"He is Zuko! We can't take him back with us!" Aang argued, but he felt it in his heart to just leave him here would leave a bad taste in his mouth and conscious. He was banished from the Fire Nation after all and Zhao did have it out for him. She stared up at Aang firmly.
"No. Trust me, Aang.".
The soldiers ran into the cloud of dust, seeing that the trio were no longer in sight. The Banished Fire Nation Prince, Adopted Omashu Princess, and the Avatar, just gone.
Zhao narrowed his eyes in anger, clutching hard onto the railing as he seethed silently to himself. A frog hops up onto the railing, lets out a rabbit and hops off.
Aang sat on a nearby tree root while Himoko tended to the injuries on Zuko's body, seeing that there were many bruises on his arms and legs, but she didn't dare take his shirt off, it would be improper for a Princess to undress a Prince after all.
She dabbed a wet leaf onto the scratches under Zuko's left eye, remnants of the arrow that striped him and the mask scraping against it when it happened.
Aang was currently reminiscing about his life 100 years ago- Which Himoko enjoyed hearing about the Air Nomads, the friends he had and all of the Sky Bisons flying around in the air constantly. Himoko leant down to retrieve some water from a makeshift cup (leaves and twigs bounded together) before lifting it up to his lips, tilting his head so he didn't choke in his sleep. She didn't notice however, Zuko waking up and slightly opening his eyes to see her taking care of him. She was too wrapped up in the current story Aang was telling her.
"You know what the worst part about being born over a hundred years ago is? I miss all the friends I used to hang out with. Before the war started, I used to always be with my friend Kuzon. The two of us, we'd get in and out of so much trouble together. He was one of the best friends I ever had-" He paused, looking down at Zuko. "-And he was from the Fire Nation, just like you." He seemed to be talking to Zuko directly now, Himoko realizing that the Banished Prince was awake.
"Dont move to quick, you might have a concussion." Himoko warned him, resting her hands on her lap and looking to Aang. "If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends too?" Zuko doesn't answer for a moment and neither of them expected him too, he had just waken up and was a bit dazed. Himoko smiled softly when he looked over at her and he felt something in the pit of his stomach all over again. He didn't know how to express himself and instead quickly shot a blast of fire towards Aang in frustration. Himoko instantly grabbed hold of his wrists, "Go Aang! I will catch up!" Aang nodded, remembering what they talked about on the way here before sprinting off. He knew Himoko could take care of himself.
"Zuko." Himoko said in a warning tone as he fought against her grip, Himoko could feel his hands beginning to heat up but she ignored it. "Zuko!" She shouted, a small red ring escaping her lips. The authoritative shout stopped him in place, his glare hard on her. She felt the heat go down as he panted heavily. He could feel a headache, and sorta wished he didn't move so suddenly like Himoko warned him not to.
"Calm down the heck down. Weren't you taught manners?" She quipped. He let out a small sneer and Himoko released her grip on his hands, sitting down on her knees and with her hands folded onto her lap. This was strange, why was she staying back? Why did she tell Aang to leave her? With a small sigh, she grabbed the wet rag that was on Zuko's forehead, shaking it off from the dirt before putting it into the stream.
"Why are you still here with me?" He questioned, feeling his anger and frustration calm down. Her presence had an odd calming effect on him when it was just the two of them. She shrugged, folding the rag back up.
"Somebody has to tend to your wounds before you head back, after all I know you wouldn't enjoy Aang doing it." He scrunched up his face, seeing her point. "And I can take you. Aang knows that, he has full faith in me-"
"What is he now, your teacher?" He asked her in a confrontational tone. Himoko whacked his leg with the rag, where she knew a bruise was forming. Zuko winced pain and surprise.
"Don't be rude now." She told him with a small glare. Zuko huffed quietly to himself. Himoko leaned forward and placed the rag onto his forehead. Well, where she thought his forehead was anyway. Zuko didn't comment on the placement, so she was correct.
"So you did see me at the wall, didn't you?" She asked after a small moment of silence. Zuko nodded, his lips pressed into a thin line.
"Hard to miss when an Airbender sends herself flying off of a ten story wall." She grimaced, remembering how she felt in that moment. Even now she couldn't believe that she did that. She looked back up at him, but instead of seeing any shock from him, he just gave her a blank stare.
"Umm, seriously?"
"What?" His tone was snappy, but she ignored that.
"No questions or anything about my lineage?" He shook his head, messing with the rag on his forehead. He sat up some more against the tree trunk, his hand going up to hold the rag against his forehead.
"You just confirmed what you were back there."
"Wait- You already knew?"
"I thought. You left quite an impression on me back at the island."
"Oh... Wait what?" He sighed in annoyance at her confused state.
"I saw you airbend before but didn't know if you actually were at the time." Himoko furrowed her brows in confusion, racking her brain for any other time she airbended in public. She came up empty, the only really public airbending thing she did was last night.
"Wait, at the island?" She asked and he nodded, making her feel like he was actually trying to have a civil conversation with her.
"You and that water tribe peasant boy were falling from the sky."
"Oh." 'It's when I scared Sokka half to death.' Himoko thought to herself.
Another awkward amount of silence passed through them, they ran out if things to say. And I mean who could blame the two royals. A Fire Nation Prince and a Earth Kingdom Princess of Omashu screamed awkward beginnings.
Himoko stood up, wincing slightly at her sore muscles. She was thankful for having no sore throat after tonight, she didn't even have to use her Sound Bending, she could actually use Air Bending since most of the soldiers would have just thought it was Aang doing it- And Zhao already knew who she was. She looked down at her hands, realizing that since he was in the army, he would immediately tell the FireLord- Zuko's father.
"Zhao knows." Himoko suddenly spoke. Zuko rolled his eyes, "Of course after the stunt you pulled-"
"No. Even before that." His eyebrows creased, and she began whirring her fingers into the air, creating a little small tornado. She would do this on the regular, Aang advised her too. It may seem like small and inconvenient, but it was good practice to channel the direction of the wind, the size, and strength of the tornado.
"He did kidnap the Princess of Omashu, one of the only standing cities in the Earth Kingdom besides Ba Sing Se. He knew there would be consequences if the King of Ba Sing Se and my grandfather found out about him kidnapping me. But he did it anyway, and that reason was because of well- This." She gestures to the little tornado she created, bouncing it up and letting it dissolve into the air. Zuko could feel himself staring in awe, seeing how gentle she was with something that must have caused her great pain. His mind thought back to the scream, the shriek in the compound. That was her.
"He will know doubt go running to my father."
"No doubt. I will just have to send a letter to Pappy about what happened- I will leave you out of it."
"Why?"
"There are spies currently in Omashu. I knew that before I left, if I mention you in my letter, things would only become more difficult for you and I would rather not cause that for anybody." Himoko sighs, pushing her bangs out of her face and letting her fingers glide through her black hair.
He looked away, he needed to stop getting distracted by her.
She soon left after that, seeing that he no longer needed to be tended to. He did see that she tended to her own wound, and felt glad that it just wanted left unattended.
Zuko arrived back at his ship, walking past his uncle who was practicing the tsungi horn he recently got.
"Where have you been, Prince Zuko? You missed music night! Lieutenant Jee sung a stirring love song." Zuko paid no mind to him, ignoring the end of 'a stirring love song' that he spoke about, because he was already feeling the same trivial thing within himself.
"I'm going to bed. No disturbances." Iron quirked a brow, sniffing the air. He knew that scent very well, it was homemade earth ointment for bruises. And it was emitting from his nephew.
He smirked slightly, knowing where that ointment's recipe was from, dear ole' Omashu. And what healer from Omashu would be out here so far from the city? His mind flashed of the Princess that was Zuko's age. His smirk widening before going back to playing the dry tune, which shifted to something more calming.
Himoko returned to see Sokka and Katara looking a lot better and was greeted by Aang barreling her into a bone crushing hug. "I'm so glad that he didn't hurt you." Himoko shrugged, hugging back.
"He didn't even try, he knew he would get his butt handed to him." Aang giggled before releasing her.
"Do... Do you want to talk about it? I already told Katara and Sokka what happened." Himoko smiled sadly, shaking her head. "I want to take a nap first, my body is begging for it at this point. You should get some rest too, Aang." Aang nodded in understanding and knew not to press her.
Himoko gathered some blankets that they recently bought before making a small spot for herself while Aang made a fire for them.
She waved at Sokka and Katara, Sokka was actually moving around a little bit, but not too much. She was happy to see them feeling better. She bundled herself up and went to lay down when suddenly Alea came bouncing over, curling into the side of her stomach. She smiled, petting her before using her arm as a pillow and laying down, staring at the small flames Aang managed to produce.
Zuko laid in his bed, his body aching and sore after the night of fighting and the throbbing in his head. Himoko had told him to drink some type of tea mixed in with salt water to help ease the pain in his head, but he didn't really enjoy tea- Or the taste of salt water. So he ignored her order. He stared at the Fire Nation Emblem hanging on his wall, feeling his heart tighten uncomfortably. 'If only things were different...' He thought to himself before turning over and dozing off finally.
To Be continued
Didn't think I was going to update so quick now didn't ya?
Actually, just to expose me a bit here, this chapter has been written since... Halloween.
It's currently 1:30 AM because I have been working on covers for three books, this one, the sequel to this one (Book 2: Earth will be in a different book since WattPad doesn't allow you to succeed so many chapters unless they changed it and I kinda also want some organization in my life for once).
And the other is for a Mha/Bnha book that I have been making small tidbits for... I have been reading so many mha fanfiction it's not even ironic or funny anymore- I CAN'T ESCAPE HELP ME.
Also this is quite a long chapter, probably close to the longest chapters I have ever written before so oof.
There was some ship stuff between Himoko and Zuko (You are welcome Zumoko shippers- I think that's what you guys decided on but I legit don't remember and I'm too tired to go back and check through comments). And also here is a lazy thing, I did not want to write out everytime they referred to Zuko as 'The Blue Spirit' and easily found a loophole cause I knew Aang and Himoko wouldn't even know the name he was given when he has the mask on, the mask is blue- BAM, Hello Blue how are ya?
Also lowkey angry at myself for the cover because of the flipping words 'Sound Bender' is barely readable but screw it, will deal with it one of these days.
I'm also currently working on the next chapter which will be out before the end of this month or close to the end of November. How the hell is it November already I don't know, I say this every year but time please slow down I don't wanna adult yet.
Oh yeah, angst with Himoko. Zhao is big dickwad if I ever seen one and reminds me of a specific family member who used to bully the hell out of me as kid so- There is their relationship. (Don't talk to the douche anymore so I'm gucc).
I really need to sleep, but like I don't want to because I have been oversleeping as of lately because loss of nutrients so my body is just like 'Haha- Nope, you sleeping more', specifically iron which has always been a problem that I just have to deal with.
Anyways, enough of my sorry life- How was y'alls Halloween? Mine was good, except that I did have an allergic reaction to either mascara or eyeliner that I JUST GOT, so my eyes were constantly red and puffy and itching and just ahh. I never had an allergic reaction to makeup before so to say I was surprised is an understatement. (I am allergic to penicillin, both the medical and mold kind. So if there moldy bread, I toast. Ha pun, kill me.)
Thank you all for reading and comments are always appreciated! I enjoy reading comments too much even on other people's stories because sometimes the comments are funnier than the actual story itself which just makes my day.
I will talk to you all later! -Golden
Word Count without A/N: 9902.
Total Word Count: 10477