Book Four: Air

IC: Azon

"Easy boy..." comforted Azon, patting the Eel Hound upon the neck.

It swam quickly across the water, barely making a splash upon the waves. Azon tugged his cloak tighter around him, keeping the hood over his head.

"I feel him."

He looked straight up, and sure enough, he could spot the moving form of a Sky Bison as it glided through the air.

"Let's hurry boy."

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IC: Ozai

"Then I will become The Voice," replied Ozai as they passed by a patrol of guards.

"Just as you are The Voice of Agni, I shall become The Voice of the Phoenix King."

They entered Crater Capitol without difficulty. Since the end of the war, the careful defenses and security that Ozai had created had been torn down by his son. Peace and love were the foundations of Zuko's reign; why should he expect hostility?

IC: Samanya

He looked to the familar building, before smiling wide at the soldier. "Many Thanks. Spirits watch over you." Samanya entered the building, the guards remembering him from the other day. One followed him along, making sure the large titan never tried anything, but if Lady Toph trusted him enough to be walking about with his weapons, then where was the danger.

Soon enough, he spotted her down a hallway. "Small one!" His powerful voice boomed down the corridor, as Samanya hurried down the corridor.

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IC: The Voice

"Simple, yet effective." The Voice causally glanced around them, taking the people as they went about their lives as if nothing was wrong. "Your escape is not yet public knowledge I see...which means your son's wife will most likely not be expecting you..."

She brushed past one of the guards quietly, amazed at how careless they were. Peace bred weakness, while war made men into weapons. How could anyone trade the two? There was no comparison.

IC: Toph

Sokka never had a chance to answer her question. Someone shouted at them from down the hall and hurried in their direction. And judging by the "small one" bit, this guy was looking for her.

Toph sulked. She had wanted at least one small conversation with Sokka!

She recognized Samanya pretty easily. His voice, though a bit more confident now, gave him away.

"I'm not that small," she said. "Call me Toph." A brief silence fell. "What's wrong?"

Sokka smiled at Toph. To tell the truth, he missed Toph more than he liked to admit. He shrugged, "Busy. I've been training with my dad and Piando and make time for Suki. I also had to worry about Katara. If she comes to this conference with a bulging stomach, that monk is dead!"
He raised an eyebrow at Samayana, "Who's this?"

Jing

"Toph Bei Fong is the only daughter of the Bei Fong family. She is blind, which is common knowledge. As is her bending style. I do know that she can tell when a person lies, and is a most powerful bender. However, she can't 'see' past a certain range. Also, if one is superb at lieing, she cannot tell if you are doing so. She is also the world's only metal-bender." Jing informed the mercenaries. Most of her knowledge came from encounters Dai Li agents had had with her, as well as from a few of Lord Long Feng's spies.

NPC Citizens

In the colony city of New Sozin, the people were protesting. They were protesting at the governor's mansion, demanding that the city sign up for the successionist movement. So far, the city's governor had refused. Despite several talks with the Council of Colony Governors. The people wanting sucession were angry about this, and had recently taken to protesting against his decision.

IC: Toph

"Don't you remember?" said Toph. "He's the guy I caught hiding in the bushes. He's just some backwater, country guy. Nothing to worry about." She turned her head towards Samanya. "Go ahead and speak up there, big guy. I'm awesome, but I'm no mindreader."

***

IC: Kara

She nodded.

"Very well then. We will have to be cautious when it comes to being around her. Do you know of any other weaknesses?"

"Oh yeah," Sokka said, feeling a little stupid. To tell the truth, what happened at the meeting was what was on his mind at the moment.

Jing

"Hmm...actually yes, I believe I do. She cannot 'see' in water, and if she is not on the ground, she cannot bend to my understanding." Jing added.

IC: Mercenaries

Again, Kara nodded. This time, however, she did not say another word. Her brow was furrowed with thought. It was not until some minutes had passed did she speak again.

"We will keep these things in mind. We will also watch her until Maku arrives on the Island. That should give us plenty of time to come up with a suitable idea."

They topped a rise. Down below was a small port town. A ship there would give them passage of Whale-Tail Island.

***

IC: General Narrative

The governer feared a riot would come about if the protests continued. He ordered a few Fire Nation guards, good capable men, to disperse the crowds. Violence was the last thing he wanted.

These same soldiers now walked towards the protestors.

"Move along, move along!" shouted one. "You have no right to be here, disturbing the peace!"

IC: Samanya

He gave a quick bob of his head to Sokka, probably some failed attempt at a bow. "Hello." His eyes returned to Toph's, and he squatted infront of her. "T...To...Toph. Toph, Samanya help Toph, yes? Samanya follow Toph. Learn much. Yes? Samanya protect offikal beside Toph, yes?" A large smile covered his face, as his hopeful eyes watching her face eagerly.

He never seemed to notice the paleness of Toph's eyes, and if he did, it didn't really seem to bother him all that much.

Sokka frowned. He wasn't sure he trusted this man with Toph. Sure, she could take care of himself and he seemed kind, but what if it was all an act and he was working for her enemies. He felt oddly protective of his young friend.

Citizens

"Of course we have a right to be here! As citizens of this colony, we have the right to protest against our governor. We are peacefully demanding that our governor have the city of New Sozin join the successionist movement. We are doing nothing wrong." one of the protesters stated. The crowd around said protester began to gather around him. Other started to voice similar arguements to the guards.

Jing

"Very well." Jing replied. Good, they had arrived at the port town. Another step closer to Lord Long Feng's goal.

IC: Toph

She lifted a brow. She had to admit, she was a little surprised by the offer. Toph did not know what to say.

Finally, she sighed, and blew at her messy hair.

"Don't be so uptight, Sokka. He's fine, trust me."

She did feel a little giddy that he was protective of her. Not that she would ever admit that aloud...

Toph returned her attention to Samanya.

"I really don't need any help. But if you're offerring, I'm not gonna say no. I'd be nice to get out and have some fun once in a while, and not have to deal with some old fussy-britches."

***

IC: Soldiers

The superior officer gripped his spear.

"We have other means for you to voice your opinions!" he said. "This will only add to the unrest of our Colonies! Your governor is doing all he can to make life peaceful and good for you. Is this how you repay him? By asking him to betray his and your homeland?"

One soldier growled and shoved at the crowd.

"Back, treacherous dogs!" he spat.

"That's enough!" snapped his officer.

***

IC: Mercenaries

They paid for passage on the boat. In as little as an hour, they were on the open sea.

"It will not take us long to reach Whale-Tail Island," said the Earth Kingdom Soldier, Chan. "A half-day at most."

(So MSTM should we just timeskip Aang and Katara to landing on whale tail island?)

Aang

"True. I wouldn't mind either one right now to be honest." Aang agreed before looking up at the sky and sighing.
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Mai


The Fire Lady was sitting in her old home, the one she had stayed at before marrying Zuko. She enjoyed the quietness the house had because no one actually knew that she came here and thus servants couldn't disturb her, Lady Mai enjoyed the quietness of her room. A rather new painting sat above her bed, it was of her and Zuko before he had joined the Avatar and ended the war, things were much simpler then. She was allowed to be ignorant about the pain the Fire Nation was causing others, she missed that ignorance slightly as she glanced back at the painting Azula had made.

Of course she knew that as the Fire Lady it was her job to stop the Nation from ever falling back into the selfish ignorance they had had during the war. Mai threw the painting onto her old bed and sighed as she stared at the ceiling in sweet, sweet boredom.

IC: Samanya

His face lit up at her answer, and the warrior lifted her in a collossal bear hug. "Thank you, Toph! Samanya not let Toph down!" Shaking the young girl in his powerful grasp for awhile longer, Samanya suddenly paused. Didn't these people frown on such contact? The warrior quickly placed Toph back on her feet, and dusted her shoulders while mutter his apologies.

"Samanya forget. No touch." Raising his hands infront of him, the warrior offered a sheepish smile to his new partner.

IC: Toph

"Yeah. No touching. And no more lifting me up again," said Toph, a little winded. The guy had a hug like a platypus-bear. "Ever."

She stretched her arms up over her head, and then poked Samanya in the chest.

"Okay, listen up. I'm going to take a break. You're watching out for the old man in that room, got it? Don't let anybody go in there unless he says it's okay, and if he goes out, you go with him? Capishe?"

Toph nodded, not giving him a chance to answer.

"If he asks, tell him Toph owns your soul, or something like that. And show him this."

She shoved the Bei Fong Crest--which was on a sash she wore over a shoulder--into Samanya's hands.

"That takes care of it. I'll be back in a bit."

Turning on her heels, she grinned at Sokka.

"C'mon, Snoozles. Let's go scamming, or something else that's fun."

Citizens

"We are not betraying the Fire Nation. The Fire Nation betrayed us when Ozai nearly killed us all! I'm surprised you soldiers aren't crying for succession either. How can we trust our government, when it plotted to have us all killed? How can we trust the new Fire Lord, when he is the son of that monster? For all we know, he could end up being like his father!" one of the protesters, a woman, shouted. People in the crowd shouted similar things. One man even dared to call the soldiers traitors themselves, for not supporting the successionist movement.

IC: Samanya

The warrior looked down at the little symbol, before looking at Toph with a bit of confusion. "Samanya guard offikal. Ca...ca...capishe." The warrior settled into a stance, watching both sides of the hallway with his misty blue eyes.

Glancing at Toph, the warrior scratched his head. "Break done when?"

Sokka smiled. It had been a long time since he and Toph hung out and he missed it. Sure, he hang out with Suki but that was boyfriend/girlfriend stuff. To tell the truth, he just missed an easy-going companionship Toph or his sister or one of the guys provided. He grinned at the warrior, "With Toph, no one really knows."
He raised an eyebrow, "Sorry Toph. I think the whole world knows about the blind girl scam now, thanks to you."

IC: Toph

"Hmph. You're no fun, Snoozles! That's part of the fun!" said Toph, slugging him in the arm. "But if you insist, we can just go play some pranks on people. That'll be a riot."

And it might loosen him up. Toph could tell he was still upset and brooding over what had happened during the meeting. She was too. Maybe hanging out with her best friend would help brighten the day.

"I'm be back sometime today," she told Samanya. "Maybe."

She grinned as she walked off with Sokka for the town.

***

IC: Soldiers

The soldier who had pushed at the protestors went red in the face when he heard someone call him and his brothers traitors.

"How dare you!" he shouted. "We were here, too, when Ozai tried to destroy this land! Don't forget that we risked our lives to get people to safety when the fires came down! We lost many men! And you dare say we are traitors!"

"Calm down, man. It is not helping," said the officer.

He clenched his spear again. He had a bad feeling this was about to get out of control.

"It is true, you do not know if Fire Lord Zuko will be like his father," he continued, speaking to the crowd. "But you are not even giving him a chance. And I think he deserves one. He is a friend of the Avatar. He risked his life--almost died!--when it came to bringing down the old regime. His scar was given to him by Ozai when he defended a band of brothers."

He knew. He was a survivor of that company.

"I ask that you all calm down, and present your voices at the next town meeting. Our governor is hard at work trying to find a way so that we are all happy," said the officer. "Do not forget, we have Earth Kingdom folks amongst us. You are frightening them with your talk. Move along, please. No more of this."

Iroh’s eyes opened widely as he heard that some general was planning to attack the avatar.
I must get out of here NOW! The former general thought. He was trying to come up with a fast way of escaping, but being inside a metal box, was kind of a big problem.

“Gentlemen, I got to pee!” Iroh shouted from inside the box. It wasn’t that cheap excuse to get out of the box, he actually had to pee.

“You can point whatever weapon you want at my head, but please let me pee” Iroh shouted once more, hoping that they were merciful enough to let him do his necessities.

IC: Soldiers

"Go in your own pants, you old coot!" shouted one of the soldiers. He banged on the side of the cell. "You think we'll actually fall for that trick?"

The other soldier pursed his lips. "What if he's telling the truth? I don't like the idea of smelling him all the way to the General."

"We can't take chances," snapped his companion. "He was the Dragon of the West for a reason, remember?"

***

OOC: Just a heads up. I'll be going out with my family, and will not be here for a few days. This starts tomorrow. Thanks, guys! ^_^

Oh, and I never did mention this, but Alec and manysidestone, you can go ahead and play with time, and have Aang and Katara arrive at Whale-Tail Island.

Sokka rubbed his arm where Toph had hit him. She hadn't changed a bit. Only she could hit that hard. He grinned at his friend, "Okay. Let's just be careful not to cause international incidents."

“Now come one please. I’m an old man with a bladder the size of a mouse. If I explode, you won’t have a package to deliver! Please, just let me pee” Iroh whined. His voice was getting weak by the second and he actually sounded like he needed some help.

“I told you already, you can put a spear or a sword at my neck. I will only pee” Iroh kept whining, he was practically begging now for a chance to go and pee.

Citizens

"No, we will not go away! At the last town meeting, the governor did not even bring up the issue, despite our efforts! He made the decision not to succeed without consulting his citizens, or putting it up to a vote. Which has been done in other colonies. Knowing that weasel-fox of a governor, he won't bring that issue up again. The only way we can get our voices heard is protesting. As for the Fire Lord, we do acknowledge his scar. But as for how he got it, it could be a lie for all we know. Fire Lord Azlen had received a similar scar, and had painted events to look as if he got it noblely. It was found out that what he said was a lie.

Besides, for all we know Zuko's battle against the old regime could be a secret bid for power. He could not defeat both the Avatar, his sister, and Ozai, so he could have decided to take them down with the Avatar's help, claiming he wanted to restore peace. Similar things happened both in the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation a few thousand years ago. That was how Earth King Kau and Fire Lord Zaku gained power in their respective regimes." a protester, one of the more articulate, argued. His fellows looked at the man in surprise before agreeing with him, repeating what he said.