16 Chapter 16

-[Aroh]-

As soon as the fire benders made an attempt to scorch them with their bending, they were immediately reminded that Aroh wasn't the only threat present.

A large amount of water rose behind the soldiers, Zhao's eyes widening at the sheer size of the wave as it crashed down upon them.

Aroh smirked in Katara's direction before turning to the soldiers behind them. He blurred into motion as he slapped their weak attempt at firebending away as his blade cut through the air.

His chi flowed through the weapon, making it even more deadlier than it originally was. Unfortunately for the soldiers, they weren't able to react as Aroh flashed past them before moving back to stand beside Katara.

Less than a moment later, they fell to the ground, gripping their throat area in an attempt to stay alive as their red life essence flowed out.

More soldiers poured out from the town to join the fight. Katara had a grip on the soldiers in front of her, trapping them in the water.

Manipulating the water, it formed tendrils, picking up one of the soldiers and tossing them far into the sea.

The men screamed in fear, knowing that they were next.

"Aaaahhhhhhh!!!" Zhao screamed in anger as the water around him steamed.

Though he was slowly evaporating the water, the seemingly endless supply from the sea voided his attempts as she could get more water from there to reinforce his bindings.

She was woken from her thoughts as heat surged behind her. Turning her head slightly behind her, she could see Aroh expelling a dangerous amount of fire from his mouth.

"Ahhhh!"

"I don't want to die!"

The screams were drowned out by the roaring of the flames. Just when it seemed like the fire was going to spread to the village, a decent amount of water rose from the port, quenching the flames.

"Katara, the soldiers are yours. I have something to settle with the 'Commander'." He told the girl who nodded, releasing her hold on the man.

The rest were pulled by the water and along with the wave, crashed into them. Arou idly noted that the amount of force she was using was enough to kill a human being but stayed silent.

He turned his full attention to Zhao who was seething with anger. "You! I'll make you pay for this!" The man screamed as fire coated his fist.

As he thrusted it forward, Aroh lazily tilted his body to the side, dodging it completely. The almost bored look on his face only served to anger Zhao more as he shot more fire at him with as much power as he could muster.

His efforts were met with a blank look as the boy many years younger than him effortlessly dodged his attacks.

"Hold still!" He screamed as he cocked his fist back, building up the fire before shooting it forward in one punch.

Just as Aroh dodged the fist, he swung the blade upward, taking the man's wrists off his body.

"AAAAHHHHHH!!!" Zhao screamed in pain. It was only intensified as Aroh went for the other hand, this time taking it off from the elbow.

"I'm waiting, Zhao. Show me what a 'joke' I am." Aroh mocked as the man managed to throw him a hateful look at him despite the pain.

"Don't look at me like that. I gave you the option to get out of our way but you didn't. I warned you that you would die but you wouldn't listen." Aroh said, almost politely as Zhao struggled to his feet.

Zhao, with his injuries, managed to get himself to is feet. "You won't get away with this!' The man managed to mutter loudly.

Aroh stared silently as the man began struggling to move to one of the boats. Zhao took a second to look behind him to still see Aroh not moving from where he stood.

As soon as his hand touched the ship, Aroh was suddenly behind him, the sound of violent chirping made itself known as he felt a sudden pain and heat in his chest as he looked down to see a lightning coated fist emerging from his chest.

"L-l-lightning? H-how?" Zhao questioned as he hung limply on Aroh's hand. .

"Let's just say I have multiple talents." Aroh answered as he pulled his hand out, allowing the man to fall lifelessly.

Turning back to Katara's fight, he was mildly surprised to see her already finished. His eyes traveled to the unconscious soldiers on the ground, noting the now misshapen helmet and armor.

His eyes caught a few of them. 'He's dead. A few of them are dead.' He quickly noted as the men lay on the wet ground.

"Good job. Now we have to get out of here." Aroh said to her as he wiped off the blood on his arm.

As he and Katara made their way to one of the ships, Aroh noted some of the civilians who were peeking at the scene. Some threw up on the ground around them at Aroh's cruelty.

As they got on the ship, they didn't waste any time, Katara bending the water to sink and destroy the other ships. The ships belong to the fire nation so he had no bad feelings about destroying them.

He would have used [Lightning Generation] to do the job but their ship was also in the water and they didn't want to be affected anymore than they already were.

With him now being able to bend fire, he would be able to speed up the ship's engine. Adding that to Katara's water bending as well, they were going pretty fast.

He frowned once again as he felt whatever he was connected to still making its way towards them, albeit slowly.

He had a suspicion that it was Aang but he didn't want to assume anything. He still had no idea of what was currently going on.

He had no idea how the spirits crossed into the world. With him absorbing a part of Vaatu in the forest, what happened to the tree of time where he was supposedly imprisoned?

If there were parts of Vaatu lingering around, just how many spirits and people would he have infected by now?

These were all questions that plagued his mind as well as the fact that he'd become a person wanted by the fire nation.

'That guy recognized not only me but her which means it's not a coincidence. There was no way he couldn't have mistaken us for other people.' He thought, thinking back to the first soldier who caught sight of them.

'Someone up there is going through a lot of effort to catch and kill me. Ozai, is that you or is someone else calling the shots?'