The Blue Spirit
"You've been breaking down for far too long, far too many moons since you felt well and strong." - Avenged Sevenfold
Also, shout out to the most criminally rated character in the MCU for inspiring this first line. Continue.
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Knock. Aim. Release. Bulls-eye. Repeat.
From the tallest tower in the Pohuai Fortress - a Fire Nation stronghold on the edge of the Earth Kingdom - Commander Zhao and Colonel Shinu watched as arrow after the arrow hit the same spot, splitting the one that had landed before it. Below the Yuyan Archers continued their target practice with deadly accuracy, making Zhao only want them more. Shinu wasn't letting go.
"Absolutely not, the Yuyan Archers stay here. Your request is denied, Commander Zhao."
"Colonel Shinu, please reconsider." Zhao attempted to persuade. "Their precision is legendary. The Yuyan can pin a fly to a tree from a hundred yards away without killing it." Further proving his point, an archer below knocked four arrows in his bow, one right above the other. On release, they all sank deep into the very center of four different targets. "You're wasting their talents using them as mere security guards." Zhao scoffed. Shinu disagreed, being in Earth Kingdom territories was still dangerous. He needed his men.
"I can do whatever I want with their talents. They're my archers and what I say goes."
Zhao was growing annoyed. He hated being told no, it wasn't something that had ever happened often. And after that insolent little airbender had made a fool out of him on the river, tricking him into burning his own boats, he wanted to capture the Avatar more than anything.
Especially if Aelita Kenshin was involved.
"But my search for the Avatar and the Akira is..."
"Is nothing but a vanity project." The Colonel interrupted. Though he was inches shorter, he got right into Zhao's face, not wanting to listen to his excuses anymore. "We're fighting a real war here and I need every man I've got Commander." He sneered, emphasizing the taller man's rank that was steps below his. He turned to head towards the stairs leading down the tower.
"But!" Zhao continued to argue.
"That's final! I don't want to hear another word about it."
Zhao would've kept going had they not been interrupted by the cry of an incoming messenger hawk. Shinu held out his arm and let the large bird land on it before taking the scroll from its compartment strapped to its back. Both men recognized the royal insignia on the parchment. Shinu's face dropped after reading it.
"News from Fire Lord Ozai?" Zhao questioned and Shinu begrudgingly handed him the paper. As he in turn read its contents, Zhao couldn't help but smile. "It appears I've been promoted to Admiral. My request is now an order."
Shinu didn't fight, he knew it wasn't worth it. After all, Zhao had somehow wormed his way right up the ranks and was now above the Colonel himself. He gave a silent bow and quickly made his way down the tower, defeated. The newly-promoted Admiral basked in his acquired power as he continued to watch his archers. He never even noticed the body crouched on top of the roof above him, dawning a blue demon's mask, and listening in to everything that was being said. Then they were gone as quickly as they arrived.
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It hadn't even been a whole two days after leaving the fishing pier and the team had been forced to stop already. They were currently camped out in the mountains in an abandoned Earth Kingdom temple. Laying in their bed rolls tucked into the soft mass of Appa's fur were the two Water Tribe siblings. Aelita knelt between the two, alternating between both of their foreheads with a damp cloth. Sokka coughed loudly as Aang stirred their small fire.
"I'm trying to bring their fever down," Aelita explained as she continued with the cool water.
"You know what I love about Appa the most?" Asked a growing delirious Sokka. "His sense of humor!"
"That's nice, I'll tell him." Aelita chuckled as she moved from Sokka to Katara. Appa groaned in appreciation of the compliment, causing a fit of giggles from the boy again.
"Classic Appa." He continued to giggle as he rolled over in his sleeping bag.
"How bad are they doing?" Aang asked.
"I'm perfectly fine." Katara tried to object but she knew she sounded pitiful. Sneezing at the end she felt miserable.
"Not so good. Sokka's sickness is farther along than Katara's but she's not far behind." Aelita explained, standing to search through her bags for some tea to hopefully help. "Being out in that rain did a number on them." She eventually found the leaves she was looking for a placed them in a pot, nestling it above the fire.
"I couldn't find the ginger root you asked for to go with the tea but I did look at your map," Aang explained. He sat beside her as she worked, the map in front of him. "There's an herbalist institute on top of that mountain. We could probably find a cure for them there."
Aelita pushed her sleeves back and held her palm out towards the fire. Violet flames met orange ones as she tried to heat the tea faster, hoping to bring their friends some relief.
"Aang they're in no condition to travel." She pointed out. "They both need more rest."
"I'm sure we'll both be better by tomorrow." Katara tried to argue until she was cut off by a series of coughs.
"My point exactly," Aelita said as she took her spot beside them again placing a cool rag on Katara's warm head.
"Relax, it's just a little cough, I'm..." Katara continued to cough.
"That's how Sokka started yesterday." Aelita pointed out.
"Now look at him!" Chimed in Aang. "He thinks he's an earthbender!"
"Take that you rock!" Sokka muttered as he wildly swung a loose fist in the air before dropping back against his pillow.
"A few more hours and you'll be talking nonsense too," Aang said to Katara as he gathered his glider. "I'm going to find you both some medicine."
"Will you be okay alone?" The Akira asked as she stood. She walked to the edge of the temple with Aang as they glanced back at their patients. Sokka was sweating bullets but still visibly shaking in his sleeping bag and Katara sounded like if she coughed anymore she'd spill the contents of her stomach. "They're totally defenseless if we both go right now. "
"You stay, someone has to look after them," Aang said. Mushu crawled up his humans body and perched on her shoulder. He squeaked out in defiance and Aang laughed, scratching the ferret's head. "Not that you won't do a great job Mushu, just to be safe." Aelita grinned at her feisty little friend and looked at the sky that was growing grey. It was getting late, the sun would be setting soon and it looked like even more rain was coming their way. After a flash of lightning, Aang thrust his staff into my Aelita's hand. "Uh, maybe it's safer if I go on foot." He muttered. For anyone else, the journey across the valley would take days but for an airbender, it should only take hours. There was a reason they were rumored to be faster than a hummingbird, using their bending to propel themselves forward.
"Just be careful Aang," Aelita told him, hating that he'd be on his own for this one. "If you run into any trouble at all, you hightail it back here and we'll figure it out some other way."
"Don't worry, I'll be back by sunrise at the latest." He assured with a small smile before looking back at Appa and Momo. "Keep an eye on them and help Aelita guys."
At their sounds of what I took as agreement, Sokka burst out in laughter again. "You guys are killing me."
Aang jumped and bounded down the steps, taking multiple at a time. As soon as his feet hit the ground, the boy took off like a rocket.
"Aeliiiiita, Momo's trying to steal my gold!"
She sighed and rubbed her temples. "Quickly Aang, safely but quickly."
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Earth Kingdom Waters
"We haven't been able to pick up the Avatar's trail since the storm." Lieutenant Jee explained. He was seated on the bridge of the ship directly in front of a map. Zuko stood behind him, arms crossed as he peered over his shoulder. The older man pointed a path out on the map from place to place. "But if we continue heading North East..."
Jee was cut off when a shadow covered the entirety of the large map before him. Outside the window, behind Zuko a Fire Navy ship twice the size of their own sailed directly next to them. It stopped and they heard the sound of connecting bridges being dropped from ship to ship. The Prince hadn't encountered another Fire Navy ship since the temple so why the hell were they bothering him now in Earth Kingdom waters?
"What do they want?" He asked my Uncle. Iroh was still sitting behind his nephew, not bothering to get up.
"Perhaps a sporting game of Pai sho!" He smiled eagerly, rubbing his hands together. Before him was a pai sho game he had been dominating multiple crew members in. Zuko sent one of his guards to gather whoever was coming on board. If they wanted to talk, they could come to him. Minutes later the guard returned with three specialists in full armor and serious faces. The one in the middle step forward and opened a long scroll. 'Capture Upon Sight' was written along the top, and below it was two sketches. On the left was the Avatar, his arrows standing out harshly against the paper, and on the right was Aelita, Zuko's gaze immediately drawn to her. They had gotten her eyes all wrong. They were hallowed, not at all capturing the life behind them of her ability to see through him as if he were a phantom. And her mouth was all off, her lips looking far less full than he ever remembered them feeling.
"The hunt for the Avatar and the Akira has been given prime importance." The man explained, breaking Zuko's focus. "All information regarding the two must be reported to Admiral Zhao."
Admiral? Since when? Zuko rolled his eyes, just knowing that Zhao would be even more insufferable now. Iroh thought otherwise.
"Zhao has been promoted?" He asked as he moved his game piece across the board. "Well, good for him." He smiled as he saw he had set his game up to win now.
"I've got nothing to report to Zhao." The Prince deadpanned "Now get off my ship and let us pass."
"Admiral Zhao is not allowing ships in or out of this area." The specialist informed Zuko. Like hell.
"Off my ship!" He ordered pointing to the door. With disgruntled looks on their faces, the three let his guard lead them away.
"Excellent!" Iroh declared, officially winning his match on their way out. He swept all of the betting chips before him into his lap. "I take the pot! But you're all improving! I'm certain you will win if we play again."
Zuko stared out the window until he saw the larger ship pulled away from his, feeling like the wind had been knocked from his chest.
"Prince Zuko, what would you like us to.." Jee started in, but Zuko left the bridge without a word. Seeing his face no one dared to bother him as he made his way to his chambers. He discarded his armor and traded it instead for loose-fitting training clothes. He caught the scroll he had read so many times Zuko could probably recite it by now sitting on his bedside table. He had half the thought to burn it. It served as nothing but yet another painful reminder of all his past failures and shortcomings. Everyone always left him. He picked the note up, not even opening it, willing to heat it to his palm but just as it began to smoke he stopped. He carefully placed it back where it had been, now slightly singed, and headed out the door. On the open deck of the ship, Iroh found the teen sometime later. Zuko told himself he was training but in reality, even he could feel my bending lashing out erratically from my punches and kicks.
"Is everything okay?" Iroh asked. He hated to see his nephew this way. "It's been almost an hour and you haven't given the men an order."
"I don't care what they do." The Prince muttered to him. It wasn't like it mattered anyway.
"Don't give up hope just yet. You can still find them before Zhao."
"How Uncle?" Zuko turned to face him, pleading with the older man to give him one good answer. "With Zhao's resources, it's just a matter of time before he captures the Avatar and Aelita." Zuko turned away and stared into the empty blue waters, not wanting anyone to see how weak he was at this moment. "My honor, my throne, my country, even the girl I wanted to marry. I thought once I brought the Avatar to my Father that he would be so happy and so proud that I could convince him to renew our betrothal. Now I'm about to lose it all."
"Prince Zuko, look at me," Iroh commanded, sounding much more serious. Zuko took a deep breath and looked him dead in the eyes, now darker and harder than normal. "You cannot give up yet. If not for you, then for Aelita."
"What do you mean? She left me if you haven't forgotten. She chose the Avatar, not me!" He barked.
"I cannot speak for what is going on in her mind right now nephew but I have watched her grow over the years and even I know how hard of a toll this war has had on her. We saw her waterbending, we can no longer deny she is the Akira. I can't explain how, my grandfather thought by killing the last Akira after killing the Air Nomads would stop the cycle, but somehow she was chosen. You know her better than anyone, why do you think she's doing this?" He questioned. It didn't take long for Zuko to answer because Iroh was right, he knew Aelita.
"Because she wants to help people even if it meant turning her back on her old life. Duty over self." He sighed, remembering the words her father had drilled in her head, he despised unnecessary violence.
"You don't have to accept or forgive her decision, Prince Zuko," Iroh said as he placed his hands on the boy's shoulders. "I know you're hurting but I've grown to care about the girl myself. I saw the way you looked at her, I know you care for her as well. That's why you have to be the one to find her." Zuko looked at his uncle and cocked his head slightly in confusion. "As the crown Prince, you are the only person that can ever possibly protect her. The rest of the Fire Nation now sees her as a threat. My brother sees her as a threat, he always had. You and you alone are the only reason he didn't kill her those years ago." Thinking back to that time made the Prince cringe and shake Iroh off. The thought of anything happening to Aelita made his blood run cold.
"Now Zhao himself is after her. He sees her as an extension of her father whom he held a personal vendetta. Ask yourself, Prince Zuko, what do you think Zhao would do if he got his hands on Aelita? Could you live with yourself if you knew you did nothing to stop it?"
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Without the ginger roots soothing properties, the sick siblings were still far from better but at least they had both fallen asleep although it was restless. Aelita sent Momo to the river below in the hope he'd understand what she wanted and would bring back water. She knew soon that all three of them would need it but she felt uncomfortable leaving Katara and Sokka alone. The sun was now setting and she was already hoping Aang would be back soon. Even though she watched him as he first left, seeing him run faster than a shot arrow, she knew he'd still be gone longer, but that didn't mean I had to like it. After all, he was all alone and she knew they weren't too far from Fire Nation forts that dotted the border.
When the flying lemur returned quickly so Aelita thought she had one less thing to worry about but Momo brought her a field mouse instead of water. She sighed and tried to explain again, pointing to the water pouch. Off Momo went again. It was then she realized just how exhausted she was. She stole a glance at her friends still sleeping.
"Think it would be too bad if I tried to catch an hour of sleep myself?" she asked Mushu as she stoked his red hair on her lap. He responded by hopping up himself and nuzzling into Appa's tail. "You don't have to tell me twice." Aelita chucked. She laid on the warm softness of Appa's tail next to Mushu and faced in a direction she could see her friends. Despite her normal sleeping hang-ups, she was too tired to keep her eyes open much longer. The Akira was asleep in minutes, her final thoughts wondering how Aang was doing.
Nearly across the valley now, Aang used the air around him to propel himself forward as fast as possible. He had to get this medicine and get it back to his friends. Sokka was the worst for wear, Katara following behind and he hoped Aelita wouldn't be next. With them and their mind, he kept going, gaining more speed. He was moving so quickly that he never even saw the Fire Nation scouts but they noticed him.