Book Four: Air

IC: Mercenaries

Chan grunted after the blow struck him in the face. Pain exploded over his nose and he tasted blood. He fell back to the deck, stunned.

That might have been the end of the former soldier, had he not had his partner there.

Maku stood well away from the warrior. Frowning, he said, "I think I will step in now."

He tossed another canister of knockout gas. It unleashed its cloud of fumes directly into Samanya's face.

***

IC: Toph

"Sure you didn't, Snoozles," said Toph, still chuckling. It was nice to banter like this, with him. If she didn't have that, she knew she would be panicking right now. She wondered if Sokka even realized what he was doing. "That's like saying I'm not awesome."

But she was touched that he had come after her. It hadn't turned out the way he wanted it to, but Toph didn't care about that.

"I'm sorry I got you into this mess..."

***

IC: Suki

Dawn came to Whale-Tail Island. The ships were readied for the convoy to the Fire Nation Colonies.

Suki was among them. She waited on the deck for the others.

I know I came for Mistress Toph, but I can't leave anyone who is a friend of her's behind, or in any form of trouble. Jerrel as he leapt out into open. "Hold it right there!" Jerrel yelled. He looked over at Maku. "Where is Toph Bei Fong, and those that had come on the sky bison?"

IC: Maku

The mercenary leader only stared at the newcomer. Irritation bled through the man. Another one to deal with? It was wearing on his nerves.

"Taking a breather down below," he said. "And who might you be, kid?"

IC: Samanya

The warrior staggered back, unable to prevent himself from inhaling the gases. "What?" The world began to ebb away, and his head started to throb as his conscious started to slip into the welcoming dark.

Samanya struggled againest the effects, slowly stepping towards the downed Chan. Trying to raise his club, Samanya found it incrediably hard to lift the limb, as if it was made of steel. With a low groan, he collapsed onto the deck, and passed into unconsciousness.

Zuko

As dawn came, Zuko stood on the deck of his own ship. He would depart with the other ships, but very soon it would become apparent that he wasn't going to the Earth Kingdom. If he was lucky, this whole situation would turn out to be nothing but a series of coincidences that wouldn't be very bad. That wasn't very likely to be the case though.

"Of course I did," Sokka told Toph with a grin, "You're my best friend. I'm not going to let you get into trouble without me."

IC: Suki

"Zuko!"

Suki ran towards Zuko to greet him.

"Ready to set off, then?" she said. She knew he was planning on returning to the Fire Nation, but Suki was not about to reveal that just yet. It would cause too much trouble. "I wish you the best, then."

***

IC: Chan

He stood, slowly, and wavered on his feet. But the warrior was down, and Chan was ready to follow through with his job.

Using his own bulk and strength, he dragged the unconscious Samanya down into the brig. Kara directed him to the metal cell, where Katara was being kept, and shoved the warrior in with her.

***

IC: Toph

"Yeah, but..." Toph really did not know what to say. "Thanks," she said, at long last. "But I still feel bad about it."

"Don't," Sokka told her firmly, "I'd have been ashamed if I didn't try to rescue you."

Zuko

"Thank you," Zuko said. "I hope your journey goes well." She would be going to the colonies, probably the most dangerous place in the world at the moment, but Aang would be with her, and she was able to take care of herself. He was certain she'd be fine, as certain he had been when leaving Mai to look after the Fire Nation, and something had happened to her.

IC: Suki

She nodded. "Thank-you." Suki hesitated, and then added, in a somewhat lower voice, "Be careful, Zuko. We don't know about Mai, but we do know your father is free. The Fire Nation is just about as dangerous as the Colonies now, for you."

She feared Ozai would try and have vengeance against his son, and many others.

***

IC: Toph

"Yeah, yeah, warrior's pride and all that, huh?" said Toph.

She was quiet for a moment.

"I thought you were in trouble," she continued, at last. "Your room was all a mess, and that fake servant told me... Well, you know. I was stupid and went off on my own to try and save you, and ran right into a trap."

IC: Ozai

A venomous smile crossed Ozai's lips.

"During the eclipse, my son asked me that same question. His mother was as small minded as he is, never seeing the bigger picture. She was a traitor, and received the punishment that was once fitting for one."

Ozai's orange eyes widened.

"Banishment. When I was broken, lying in my cell, the Fire Lord came to me," Ozai spoke with sarcastic disgust, "and demanded I tell him where she was. I did...and do you know what he found when he traveled there?"

Ozai's smile widened to an eery, sadistic smirk.

"Nothing. She wasn't there."

Ozai quickly brought his arm up and struck Mai across the head, causing her to crumble to the floor of the wagon. Her Fire Lady crown slipped free of her hair and clattered to the wagon floor. Ozai reached down and picked the metal piece up between his fingers, examining it.

"Yes, this will do just fine."

He pulled her restraints tighter, pushing her to the floor beneath Drakon's feet. He then turned and pushed open the flaps of the wagon and joined The Voice back at the reigns.

"I need a messenger hawk."

"Yeah. We encountered the fake servant too. Only, she told us you ran away. I knew she was lying, though. You weren't in the right mood to run away last I saw you," he told her with a grin.

IC: Toph

She sighed. "Good thing you know me so well, huh?" said Toph. She was, at any rate. She had a feeling Sokka had pushed the idea of her being in trouble, even after hearing the lie.

Sokka felt himself blush a little. He shrugged and said, "Yeah. For what it's worth, thanks for rushing to my rescue, even if it was a trick. It's good to know that you'd do that if I'm in trouble."

Jerrel pointed to his belt buckle, it was the symbol of Bei Fong family. "I am the shadow of the Bei Fong family, and you have one of the family on this ship." Jerrel said readying himself for anything. "And judging from the scenes I witnessed earlier, they do not seem to be any aquaintances or guest on this ship." Jerrel said not taking his eyes off of Maku.

Aang

Aang quietly walked up to Zuko and Suki as he tried not to interrupt their conversation. He frowned after hearing the last part of Suki's warning to Zuko. "She's right you know, Ozai could be using Mai as bait just so he can get revenge on you." Aang said in agreement with Suki.
---------------------------------------------------
"So she's st-oh g-." Mai was cut off after being knocked out by her Father-in-law, again.

Zuko

"I know, but I don't have much of a choice. I'm not just going to abandon her. It's bad timing, we're spread thin, but I lead the Fire Nation, so I should be able to get something done about all this, right," Zuko asked. "Though I do wish I had some backup, I have a feeling that this is going to be dangerous."

IC: Suki

"I agree," said Suki. "There has to be something we can do..." She trailed off as an idea hit her. She smiled at Zuko. "I just remembered. Ty Lee is in the Fire Nation right now. You should look her up, Zuko. She would be more than happy to help you. Mai and she are so close."

***

IC: Maku

"A shadow, huh? If you are, then you're a very late one," said Maku. "And a bad one. The kid you're supposed to be protecting has already been in a war. Sorry to say, but you can't do much good for her here, either."

***

IC: Toph

"Hey, don't you remember? I said you could always count on me," said Toph. "I'd do anything for you, Sokka."

She said that and meant it, even as she blushed while doing so.

Zuko

"I thought she was on Kyoshi Island," Zuko said. Last time he had seen her was when she had departed with the Kyoshi Warriors. "Ok, I'll ask Ty Lee to help. With any luck, she might already know that Mai's gone, or won't be in trouble herself."

Jerrel took his bending stance and smirked. "What you say is true, but your last words are based off of past events." Jerrel was still wearing his clawed gloves. "Now, if I'm not mistaken, this ship is a sloop, majority of blueprints should be the same." Jerrel's smirk slowly widened as he began to strafe toward his left slowly. "Meaning, that holding area is right......about.....here!" Jerrel jumped and came down hands first, spinning and drilling a large enough hole for him to fall through, right into an empty cell next to Sokka. Jerrel was an excellent fight, only when he didn't let his pride about being of use the Bei fong family go to his head. "Okay....that didn't work as well as I thought."

Sokka felt himself blush as well, looking up when he heard a crash but saying nothing. He spoke to Toph, "I'd do anything for you too." His cheeks colored again. Why was he blushing?

Toph did not answer for a second or two. She was sure she had heard a crash, coming from somewhere beyond where she was. Her sight buckled and slipped away. She could no longer see, really see, Sokka.

But that was okay. She knew he was there.

"Good," she said. "We wouldn't be best friends if we we're willing to do crazy crap for each other, right?"

***

IC: Maku

The mercenary swore. "I didn't want more trouble. Is a quiet morning too much to ask?" he grumbled to himself.

He stepped into the bowels of the ship. Chan had already returned. Kara, controlling the ship, would not leave her post unless he called for her.

"We've got a problem. Find that kid, and toss him off the ship."

"Yes, sir."

***

IC: Suki

"She was at Kyoshi Island," said Suki, shrugging. "She takes breaks now and again, though, to see you wife."

And Azula, too, but that was a private manner for Ty Lee.

"Again, just be careful. Look up old friends."

"Right," Sokka said in agreement. He grinned at her, even though he knew she couldn't see him through the wall, "Was I the only one that heard that crash?"

"What do you think?" she said with a smile, feeling a bit more like herself. "I can hear you snoring from a mile away. I think I can hear a crash a few yards away from me, even in this stupid cupboard."

Toph listened, but she did not hear anything else.

"Did you see what made it?" she asked.

"Yeah. I can see through walls now," Sokka told her sarcastically with a grin, "Whatever it is, I hope it's bad news for our captors."