Playing With Fire
Chapter 8
The sky bison flew low over the sea, two of his riders reclining in the saddle while the third sat at the base of his neck. The salty breeze coming off the ocean was chill in their faces and made them glad of their heavy winter clothing. They had been flying for a few hours in search of an island and the young water tribe boy was watching the island to the northwest fly by, trying to pass the time. They were searching There was not much to see and he was on the verge of turning to talk to his sister when a strange looking animal burst out of the trees at a fast pace.
“Hey guys, look!” He cried, gesturing at the animal. The boy’s companions glanced over at the animal as directed. The strange bird horse thing had a rider and the boy with the arrow tattoos yelled in disgust; the rider was mercilessly digging her heels into its sides, urging it even faster. His outrage quickly dispersed when they saw the reason for the ruthless treatment; behind her about half a dozen men mounted on the horse birds emerged from the woods, hot in pursuit. The girl rider continuously twisted around to check on their progress with a look of despair; she didn’t have much time before they would catch her.
“We have to help her!” The smallest boy of the trio said, yanking on the reins of the sky bison. The bison grunted and changed direction.
“Uh, Aang? Maybe you didn’t notice, she’s wearing a Fire Nation uniform?!” The water tribe boy said sarcastically.
“We have to do something! I’m the Avatar, that’s what I’m supposed to do. Save people and… stuff.” The other boy answered adamantly.
“Aang’s right, that’s not a fair fight.” The girl said, defending him. Without further discussion, they swept from the sky towards the pursued girl.
---
Aria bent low over the neck of the Ostrich-horse, urging it to go faster with everything she had; her hands, feet, and voice. She was entirely focused on losing the soldiers and had not yet thought about how she was going to get off the island. The sound of the soldiers yelling and their Ostrich-horses pounding feet seemed to get closer with every second. The mount beneath her bawled in alarm and planted its feet in the ground, bringing it to a dead stop. Aria was thrown over its head and hit the ground hard, landing on her back. From this vantage point, it was easy for her to see what had caused the animal to baulk. A giant six legged…thing…flew not ten feet above her towards her captors.
Aria sat up and turned to keep it in her sight. Landing on its front legs, the beast pivoted around and slammed its huge beaver like tail on the ground, knocking the men and their mounts to the ground. Aria jumped to feet, unsure if she should run or not. Before her mind was made up, the beast had stopped next to her and for the first time she noticed it had riders. Her mouth was hanging open and she quickly snapped it shut when she realized how simpleminded it made her look.
“What are you waiting for? Get on!” A boy shouted at her; water tribe by the look of his clothing. Aria looked over to where the Earth Kingdom soldiers were getting to their feet and climbed quickly albeit clumsily up the side of the hairy animal. As soon as she cleared the saddle they were off into the air once more. Aria hung over the side of the saddle, watching the soldiers disappear behind her and soon they were out of range of any retaliation.
Sighing in relief, Aria turned to face her rescuers and received a shock. The water tribe boy had some sort of crude club pointed at her and the girl, also water tribe by the looks of it, had her hand at her hip, prepared to bend the water inside her pouch. Although alarmed by those two, her attention was focused on the boy with arrow tattoos, watching her curiously.
“You’re the avatar!” She gasped. Her mind was reeling; there he was, in the flesh, the key to Zuko’s honor. With the avatar, Zuko could come home! She carefully hid her emotions and tore her gaze away from the boy who held the promise of her future happiness to face the threats in front of her.
“That’s me! I’m Aang and this is Sokka and Katara.” Aang said eagerly, the only relaxed one there, “What’s your name?”
“Aang! She’s the enemy! Don’t tell her anything!” Sokka complained. Aria frowned, thinking fast. If she wanted to be able to stay with them she’d have to convince them of her trustworthiness.
“Enemy? Wha-Oh! You mean this?” She asked, gesturing at her uniform. “No you’ve got it wrong, I’m not Fire Nation.” She said the last two words with pretended disgust.
“Then why are you wearing that?” Sokka accused.
“Let me explain, it’s a long story.” Aria said. Katara relaxed and after a short pause Sokka laid down his club and crossed his arms, waiting for her to begin. For the second time in the past few hours, Aria found herself telling her story although this time it wasn’t even remotely truthful.
“I’m from a small town in the Earth Kingdom and when I was old enough I joined the army against my parents’ wishes. I was in for probably a year when I was summoned to a meeting with my superior. Because of certain skills I possess, they had a specific job in mind for me. Espionage. They wanted me to go undercover and pass on information about the Fire Nation. I’ve been at it for a month now until yesterday when our ship was attacked. I had lost my paper work a long time ago and couldn’t prove I wasn’t Fire Nation. I was forced to run, I didn’t want to fight my own people.” Aria lied. Mentally she kicked herself; what a dumb story, she’d be lucky if they didn’t toss her into the ocean right there and then.
Aria was apparently a better liar than she thought; looks of pity and amazement were etched across all of their faces. Their stances relaxed and Katara opened the pouch at her side, pouring some water on a rag.
“Here, let me clean your face up.” She said gently. Confused, Aria felt the side of her face; sticky, slightly congealed blood covered the right side of her face. When she inspected her hand, the bright scarlet color on her fingertips shocked her; she had never before been injured seriously and it bothered her in a way she couldn’t understand. There seemed to be something utterly wrong in being covered in her own blood. She swallowed heavily, fighting back her queasiness, and allowed the girl named Katara to wipe her face. After sitting in silence for another hour, Aria couldn’t contain her questions in her head any longer.
“So where are you guys headed?” Aria asked casually.
“We’re supposed to be going to the North Pole so Aang and I can learn water bending but we’ve been wandering around for hours and Aang won’t tell us what he’s looking for.” Katara complained.
“I told you, it’s a surprise.” Aang reminded her.
Aria frowned; she couldn’t believe this little boy was what the Firelord was so obsessed about. Hoping to hear word of Zuko, she opened her mouth to continue her questioning.
“Have you had any trouble with the Fire Nat-” She began.
“There it is! You guys are going to love this.” Aang cried in delight.
Aria watched the approaching island, completely nonplussed at his excitement. By the looks on Sokka and Katara’s faces, they didn’t understand it either. Reining in his buffalo, Aang angled for the island; pure boyish excitement coated his face. Aria leaned back again in the saddle and contemplated her new companions. It surprised her how quickly they had accepted her into their group and it made her feel off balanced. She wasn’t used to dealing with people who trusted so quickly. They touched down on the island and Aang bounced off the sky bison, urging them to follow. Aria emerged from her thoughts and, watching how Sokka and Katara got down, carefully followed.
“Hey guys, look!” He cried, gesturing at the animal. The boy’s companions glanced over at the animal as directed. The strange bird horse thing had a rider and the boy with the arrow tattoos yelled in disgust; the rider was mercilessly digging her heels into its sides, urging it even faster. His outrage quickly dispersed when they saw the reason for the ruthless treatment; behind her about half a dozen men mounted on the horse birds emerged from the woods, hot in pursuit. The girl rider continuously twisted around to check on their progress with a look of despair; she didn’t have much time before they would catch her.
“We have to help her!” The smallest boy of the trio said, yanking on the reins of the sky bison. The bison grunted and changed direction.
“Uh, Aang? Maybe you didn’t notice, she’s wearing a Fire Nation uniform?!” The water tribe boy said sarcastically.
“We have to do something! I’m the Avatar, that’s what I’m supposed to do. Save people and… stuff.” The other boy answered adamantly.
“Aang’s right, that’s not a fair fight.” The girl said, defending him. Without further discussion, they swept from the sky towards the pursued girl.
---
Aria bent low over the neck of the Ostrich-horse, urging it to go faster with everything she had; her hands, feet, and voice. She was entirely focused on losing the soldiers and had not yet thought about how she was going to get off the island. The sound of the soldiers yelling and their Ostrich-horses pounding feet seemed to get closer with every second. The mount beneath her bawled in alarm and planted its feet in the ground, bringing it to a dead stop. Aria was thrown over its head and hit the ground hard, landing on her back. From this vantage point, it was easy for her to see what had caused the animal to baulk. A giant six legged…thing…flew not ten feet above her towards her captors.
Aria sat up and turned to keep it in her sight. Landing on its front legs, the beast pivoted around and slammed its huge beaver like tail on the ground, knocking the men and their mounts to the ground. Aria jumped to feet, unsure if she should run or not. Before her mind was made up, the beast had stopped next to her and for the first time she noticed it had riders. Her mouth was hanging open and she quickly snapped it shut when she realized how simpleminded it made her look.
“What are you waiting for? Get on!” A boy shouted at her; water tribe by the look of his clothing. Aria looked over to where the Earth Kingdom soldiers were getting to their feet and climbed quickly albeit clumsily up the side of the hairy animal. As soon as she cleared the saddle they were off into the air once more. Aria hung over the side of the saddle, watching the soldiers disappear behind her and soon they were out of range of any retaliation.
Sighing in relief, Aria turned to face her rescuers and received a shock. The water tribe boy had some sort of crude club pointed at her and the girl, also water tribe by the looks of it, had her hand at her hip, prepared to bend the water inside her pouch. Although alarmed by those two, her attention was focused on the boy with arrow tattoos, watching her curiously.
“You’re the avatar!” She gasped. Her mind was reeling; there he was, in the flesh, the key to Zuko’s honor. With the avatar, Zuko could come home! She carefully hid her emotions and tore her gaze away from the boy who held the promise of her future happiness to face the threats in front of her.
“That’s me! I’m Aang and this is Sokka and Katara.” Aang said eagerly, the only relaxed one there, “What’s your name?”
“Aang! She’s the enemy! Don’t tell her anything!” Sokka complained. Aria frowned, thinking fast. If she wanted to be able to stay with them she’d have to convince them of her trustworthiness.
“Enemy? Wha-Oh! You mean this?” She asked, gesturing at her uniform. “No you’ve got it wrong, I’m not Fire Nation.” She said the last two words with pretended disgust.
“Then why are you wearing that?” Sokka accused.
“Let me explain, it’s a long story.” Aria said. Katara relaxed and after a short pause Sokka laid down his club and crossed his arms, waiting for her to begin. For the second time in the past few hours, Aria found herself telling her story although this time it wasn’t even remotely truthful.
“I’m from a small town in the Earth Kingdom and when I was old enough I joined the army against my parents’ wishes. I was in for probably a year when I was summoned to a meeting with my superior. Because of certain skills I possess, they had a specific job in mind for me. Espionage. They wanted me to go undercover and pass on information about the Fire Nation. I’ve been at it for a month now until yesterday when our ship was attacked. I had lost my paper work a long time ago and couldn’t prove I wasn’t Fire Nation. I was forced to run, I didn’t want to fight my own people.” Aria lied. Mentally she kicked herself; what a dumb story, she’d be lucky if they didn’t toss her into the ocean right there and then.
Aria was apparently a better liar than she thought; looks of pity and amazement were etched across all of their faces. Their stances relaxed and Katara opened the pouch at her side, pouring some water on a rag.
“Here, let me clean your face up.” She said gently. Confused, Aria felt the side of her face; sticky, slightly congealed blood covered the right side of her face. When she inspected her hand, the bright scarlet color on her fingertips shocked her; she had never before been injured seriously and it bothered her in a way she couldn’t understand. There seemed to be something utterly wrong in being covered in her own blood. She swallowed heavily, fighting back her queasiness, and allowed the girl named Katara to wipe her face. After sitting in silence for another hour, Aria couldn’t contain her questions in her head any longer.
“So where are you guys headed?” Aria asked casually.
“We’re supposed to be going to the North Pole so Aang and I can learn water bending but we’ve been wandering around for hours and Aang won’t tell us what he’s looking for.” Katara complained.
“I told you, it’s a surprise.” Aang reminded her.
Aria frowned; she couldn’t believe this little boy was what the Firelord was so obsessed about. Hoping to hear word of Zuko, she opened her mouth to continue her questioning.
“Have you had any trouble with the Fire Nat-” She began.
“There it is! You guys are going to love this.” Aang cried in delight.
Aria watched the approaching island, completely nonplussed at his excitement. By the looks on Sokka and Katara’s faces, they didn’t understand it either. Reining in his buffalo, Aang angled for the island; pure boyish excitement coated his face. Aria leaned back again in the saddle and contemplated her new companions. It surprised her how quickly they had accepted her into their group and it made her feel off balanced. She wasn’t used to dealing with people who trusted so quickly. They touched down on the island and Aang bounced off the sky bison, urging them to follow. Aria emerged from her thoughts and, watching how Sokka and Katara got down, carefully followed.