Chapter 2

Three fire navy ships sailed the sea towards the fire nation. The crew of these three ships were still in high spirits from their victory the previous day.

It wasn't explicitly said but they were initially supposed to be canon fodder to draw out enemy numbers for the real soldiers to fight elsewhere. It wasn't hard to figure it out when they sent a single ship of soldiers to fight a small army of earthbenders.

A hundred earth benders versus forty of their troops. There's also the fact that out of the forty of them, not all of them could firebend, making it more hopeless.

Their saving grace came when a second navy ship carrying more troops was sent to join them. Unfortunately they were new recruits just like them and seeing that, they felt hopeless once more.

It was only in the next battle that they saw a true difference. The non bender that seemed younger than any of them, seeming even younger than the prince of the fire nation, caused chaos on the battlefield.

It wasn't noticeable at first but with time, the boy's strength grew until he became someone to fear. As much as they felt shame at being carried and saved by a non bender less than half their ages, they felt even better with each battle they won.

They were more or less now recognized as a somewhat capable troop so they were graced with the honor of interacting with some high level officers, Zhao being one of them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aroh sat on his bed in the shared quarters of the ship. They had been at sea since the sun rose and over five hours had passed since then.

It was rare to have so much time to himself lately. The last time that had happened was when the enemies soldiers took too much time to reveal themselves.

Either way, he was going to use his time wisely. The quarters were currently empty with the others being on deck in festive moods but Aroh knew better.

When it comes to Zhao, it's never anything good. With the avatar still missing, to his knowledge, he had no idea what was going on.

He was half tempted to figure out a way to the southern water tribe to find out whether he was even alive but he dismissed that thought.

For now he could only wait for the right time to make his move and escape. He would find the bald monk himself if he had to.

At the moment, he was focused on something as important, if not more important.

[*Ding!*]

[Chi Manipulation has leveled up!]

That set the skill at level 8 at the moment. He was currently sitting crosslegged on the bed as he attempted to move his chi around his body.

With the skill so low level, he couldn't do anything too useful besides pouring it into his muscles to temporarily increase his strength.

He had been trying to use his chi for over a year but with barely any breaks and the lack of in-depth knowledge on the fundamentals of chi, it took him this long.

Gaining skills were almost as hard as leveling them up and his method of circulating his chi around wouldn't be effective in leveling up the skill anymore seeing as how it took him an entire month to reach level 8 in the skill.

'I always wanted to try it but now is not the time.' He thought, an idea popping into his head as he filed it away for when he had the chance.

The door to the quarters was hurriedly pushed open as Chen barged in, panting slightly.

"What is it?" Aroh asked, confused about the man's state.

"Why are you not in your armor!? We're approaching Zhao's ship!" The man yelled frantically.

He had taken off the armor to feel a bit free. Even after so many years of wearing it, it didn't feel any less uncomfortable.

"Already?" Aroh asked with a raised brow which only made the man more flustered.

"Yes! Why are you still sitting there!? Get dressed!" The man said before rushing out.

With a sigh, Aroh got off the bed, quickly slipping into the armor and lowering the helmet.

'It's been almost three years since I saw the man.' He thought with a mocking smirk.

Compared to the him of three years ago when Zhao hurled fire balls at him for not worshiping the very ground he walked on, he was confident in his ability to face the man of necessary.

With his armor fully worn, he exited the quarters and made his way to the top of the ship where the other soldiers were hurrying to organize themselves.

A fire nation ship much larger than their own sailed towards them with other normal sized ships trailing behind it.

He spotted Chen standing in a line with other soldiers and smoothly joined it as Zhao's ship sailed closer, now almost beside them.

He could feel the tension in the air as their ship along with Zhao's stopped parallel to each other. A small ramp opened up on Zhao's ship, connecting itself with the open section of the ship Aroh and Chen were currently on.

The tension in the air increased as Zhao himself walked off his ship through the ramp and unto their ship. Two soldiers walked behind him as he boarded the ship.

"For a bunch of fodder you're certainly organized." Zhao muttered, not even trying to hide his mockery as he walked to stand in front of them.

"I'll make this brief. The avatar has returned." Zhao said bluntly as low murmurs spread around, Aroh's eyes widening before they narrowed.

"This ship as well as the others will be under my command as I pursue the avatar. Any form of disobedience will be treated with severe punishment." He finished as he turned to walk away.

"You're dismissed."

'Something's wrong.' Aroh thought, looking at the calmness and confidence in Zhao. The man was naturally arrogant but this time there seemed to be something else that Aroh just couldn't figure out.

"I almost forgot." Zhao said as he stepped on the ramp.

"Have some of your best men transferred to that ship before midnight." Zhao said to the captain of the ship, motioning to one of the many ships that sailed with him, a strange glint in his eyes.

'Something is definitely wrong!' Aroh determined, noticing that glint.

He watched the commander exit their ship as a lot of shoulders lowered in relief. He didn't know whether to be amused or disappointed at that.

Amused that the mere presence of the man can cause them so much tension or disappointed that they were too intimidated by him.

"You heard the commander!" The captain said loudly as he immediately began the selection. Aroh could only let his mind wander about the current scenario.

The avatar had returned, meaning it was almost time for him to make his move.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fortunately and unfortunately for Aroh, he was among those selected to be moved to the other ship.

It was fortunate because he might be able to find out what exactly Zhao was up to. Unfortunate because it meant that he would be inevitably be a part of whatever it was Zhao had in mind.

'I'm already here. I might as well find sate my curiosity.' He thought as he stood on the deck of the ship, staring out into the sea.

Being transferred to a different ship with strangers as 'bunk mates', he was forced to keep his armor on to avoid the curious stares of the other soldiers who had not known of his existence before now. For once he was happy to be wearing the helmet.

Night had come and the shifts took a rotation as he finally went down to the cabin. Throughout the day while on his shift, he made sure to note the faces of those who were the already on the ship before he arrived.

His replacement came to take his place on the deck as he walked towards the cabin section. As he walked towards the shared quarters, he heard their voices leaking out from the slightly opened door.

"What do you think the commander is going to do with the prisoner?" The first voice asked lowly but not low enough for Aroh's trained senses.

"I don't know. All I know is that she's important to the avatar. We're supposed to guard her and make sure she doesn't try to escape." Another voice said not so lowly.

Aroh paused in front of the door in confusion, overhearing the conversation.

'Zhao took a prisoner? A female for that matter that's connected to the avatar. Who could it be?' He thought as he quietly backed away from the door.

Being two years past when the plot was supposed to happen he couldn't tell what could have changed. The avatar's group met different females around different periods so he couldn't predict who it would be.

'It might not even be any of them. Anything could've changed.' He thought as he moved further into the ship.

'Some ships are designed to hold prisoners for transport. I haven't had the luxury to be on one of them but I should know the layout.' He thought as he snuck around the ship, his stealth skill showing itself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He studied a lot about the fire nation during his early times of his 'training' before he was pushed to the battlefield.

It took some time as he had to maneuver around the other soldiers that were on board. He took a wrong turn a few minutes earlier but managed to find his way eventually after reaching a dead end.

He turned the corner as he was met with a narrow and short hallway with a door at the end of it.

He narrowed his eyes as he carefully approached the metal door. It was locked from the outside but and as per fire navy standard, it didn't need a key.

Upon reaching the door, he tried to look through the small bars at the top of the door to the see the occupant of the cell but saw nothing.

Straining his ears, he could faintly hear breathing and the sound of what sounded like chains coming from inside.

He cautiously put his hand on the hilt of the sword at the back of his waist as his other hand gripped the door handle.

'You can never be too careful.' He thought as he slowly unlocked the door, pulling it open. He heard a gasp come from the person inside the cell but still kept his hand on the hilt.

Upon opening the door slightly, he saw a figure in the middle of the room with their hands being held apart by chains that were connected to the side walls.

Their legs were chained together in contrast with the method used to chain their hands. Seeing the occupant bound by chains, he walked into the cell to take a closer look quickly before one of the soldiers was bored enough to come here.

The light from the hallway bled into the room as it illuminated the bound figure. Tanned brown skin and an impressively curvy body. She had long brown hair and blue eyes. The blue clothing she wore was tattered and scorched a bit but he was easily able to piece together her identity as her blue eyes raised up to meet his black ones.

'Katara?'