Chapter 86

Every muscle in her body begged her to just stay down. Her neck in particular felt like someone had stabbed a few knives into it, and if she lost focus for even a second her eyes would cross and go out of focus.

But among the crowd of rebels who hadn't managed to flee yet, Tanya could still spot flashes of orange and blue robes. The Avatar and his water peasant friend were waiting to get everyone else clear! There was still a chance to catch them!

...

Through sheer power of will, Tanya began to push herself back up to her feet. Her stomach flipped as if it was about to throw up, and twice Tanya blacked out for a moment as her spinning sense of balance became to much to bear, but fortunately by the time she had one foot up one of her soldiers noticed and rushed over to help, allowing her to sling an arm over their shoulder for support.

"Admiral, I really think you should lie down-…"

"No time!" Tanya croaked, already taking her first unsteady step forward. "Can't. Let. Avatar. Escape!"

"But admiral, that old guy-…" The soldier swallowed nervously, and it wasn't hard to see why. The space between the soldiers and the rebels looked like a picture of hell: a cracked landscape of sharp, jutting rocks and stray fires. In the middle of it King Bumi cackled madly like Lucifer himself, swatting aside dozens of firebenders with a barrage of flying rocks.

Just like Pakku back at the North Pole he was putting everything he had into keeping the fire nation army back, and he was succeeding. Even Azula, backed up by Ty Lee and Mai, couldn't get close to him before he brought a boulder crashing down on their heads. Why were there so many absurdly powerful old people?

"Bumi! Come on, we've got to go!" Tanya heard Aang shout as the last of the rebels disappeared into the tunnel, leaving just him, Katara and Wang Fire to wait for Bumi.

The old king looked back at him, a complex look on his face. He seemed… sad? No, mournful, and yet happy at the same time. "Sorry Aang. It isn't to be. The paths of our destiny must split here." Bumi replied solemnly.

A sinking feeling settled in Tanya's gut as she realised what he was about to do. "Everyone! Retreat!" She yelled urgently as Bumi raised his hands in the air, grasping out for something above his head, and the cavern ceiling began to rumble and quake. "He's going to bring the cave down on our heads!"

The soldiers didn't need to be told twice. With cries of panic and fear they turned to run back up the stairs as boulders and chunks of crystal the size of cars began raining down from above. The soldier supporting her even swept her up into a bridal carry and made a dash for safety, causing her head to spin as she was roughly jostled around.

Bumi's mad laughter echoed like a haunting spirit throughout the cave as it crumbled apart, burying everything in rubble. Tanya and the last of the soldiers barely made it up the stairs before something finally gave in and the entire ceiling collapsed, bringing down an avalanche of dirt and rock that completely filled the space behind them.

The palace groaned and shook as the bedrock it had been built upon sunk, causing much of it to fall in on itself, and Tanya shut her eyes as a huge cloud of dusty dirt came rushing out from the staircase behind them, sending her and the soldiers into a coughing fit.

That crazy son of a bitch! He'd collapsed the entire cave on himself to make sure that The Avatar and the rebels couldn't be pursued! Tanya would have screamed in frustration if her neck didn't still feel like it had shards of glass in it, and so settled for glaring balefully at the rubble as if the mad king was hiding beneath it.

The other soldiers were all gasping for breath, the more wary among them eyeing the now half-collapsed palace around them as if unsure whether it would also fall upon them. The only person who didn't seem ruffled was Azula, who stood with a straight back as she brushed the dirt off her armour.

To the average person she might have looked calm and composed, but those who knew her better could tell from her pursed lips and the thunder in her eyes that her temper was also boiling.

"Ladies." She said with forced calm, turning to look at Tanya, Ty Lee and Mai. "There's been a change of plans. Tracking Zuko can wait. Mai, pack your things. Ty Lee, requisition us some transport."

She clenched her fist, and from the cracks between her fingers the ghostly blue light of her signature flames flared for a second.

"We're going Avatar hunting."

...

Sky bison were awful methods of transportation.

Perhaps he was a little biassed, seeing as how many times he'd had to glare up angrily at this floating ball of fat and hair as it whisked The Avatar away from his clutches yet again, but in Zuko's opinion even his rusted old ship had been better. Sure, being able to fly saved you a lot of time by flying over obstacles rather than having to go around them, but there were trade-offs.

For one it was very, very cold up in the sky. The wind had a sharper chill the higher up you went that constantly bit into any exposed skin, and Appa's saddle provided no sort of barrier to protect passengers from it. Zuko shuddered to think what it must be like when it started raining. Secondly, like any animal, the beast had to stop often for food and rest, and every time they did he could not help but get restless at the thought that their pursuers might be catching up; his paranoia conjuring images of Azula or Tanya bursting out at them from the trees.

But thirdly, and most annoyingly, was the utter lack of privacy. His old ship hadn't exactly been the most spacious model, but at least there Zuko had always had the captain's quarters to retreat to when he wanted to brood-… plan his future strategies privately. Appa's saddle was no bigger than his old cabin, but was now shared by four people and a monkey-lemur without any walls to allow them a sense of space. Any and all conversations became group conversations, and it was difficult to keep your body language from revealing how you were feeling for extended periods of time.

The Avatar was clearly upset by how things had ended back at Omashu. It hadn't taken Zuko long to piece together that Bumi had been some sort of friend of his long ago, and that The Avatar in some part blamed himself for the king's death. Katara also seemed very low: torn between frustration at her defeat at Tanya's hands and her need to comfort Aang. Really the only one in any sort of fit state was Sokka, to whom the task of trying to cheer up the other two had fallen.

For his part, Zuko wasn't exactly feeling great. The thought that his secret could be exposed at any moment had him on edge, which was only made worse since the cramped saddle gave him nowhere to hide when Katara and Sokka finally started asking questions. Who was he? Where did he come from? Why had he been willing to help Aang twice now? Fortunately, because they believed him to be mute and because his mask gave him the look of a mysterious type, Zuko could get away with giving very vague, mimed answers. The fact that he'd already somewhat earned their trust, and that The Avatar seemed keen to support him for some strange reason, made things easier as well. As far as they were concerned he was simply The Blue Spirit, a swordsman from the Earth Kingdom who wanted to keep his name and history to himself, but had a grudge against the Fire Nation.

It was slightly unnerving how The Avatar played along with his lies. The boy was by no means a good actor, and his painfully unsubtle attempts to pretend he didn't know who The Blue Spirit was beneath the mask were enough to make Zuko wince. The fact that he was utterly confused as to why The Avatar was playing along at all only made things worse. Had weeks of chasing him from one pole to the other not made it clear that he was trying to capture him? Who in their right minds invited a repeated attempted kidnapper to come travelling with them? Was this all some strange, elaborate trap?

Still, let it not be said that Zuko was one to let an opportunity slip by. If The Avatar wanted to sleep next to a hungry tiger then he shouldn't be surprised when it bit him. All Zuko had to do was tag along for now, wait until they stopped to rest somewhere near to a Fire Nation encampment, then snatch The Avatar when the others had their backs turned.

It was as Zuko was mulling over such plans, listening with only half an ear as Sokka and Katara bickered about something unimportant, that The Avatar suddenly spoke up. "Hey, do you guys hear that?"

Zuko cocked his head. All he could hear was the whistling of the cold sky winds.

"Hear what, Aang?" Katara asked, sounding just as confused as he was.

"Something is… calling me…" Aang trailed off, then with a small tug of his reins, directed Appa to start descending into the forest below. "I know this is going to sound weird, but I think it's the swamp."

"Is it telling you where we can get something to eat?" Sokka questioned, looking nervously down at the forest. Zuko couldn't blame him for the note of reluctance in his tone; something about the trees sent an unpleasant shiver down his back. There was a strange aura about this place; something decidedly unnatural about it.

"No, I ... I think it wants us to land there."

"No offence to the swamp, but I don't see any land there to land on."

Aang frowned. "I don't know. Bumi said to learn earthbending I would have to wait and listen, and now I'm actually hearing the earth. Do you want me to ignore it?"

As one Sokka, Katara, Zuko and Momo looked over Appa's saddle down at the swamp below. Something about the leaves on the trees seemed reminiscent of thousands of teeth lining a hungry maw, waiting to swallow them up.

"Yes." Sokka replied bluntly.

Katara nodded in agreement. "I don't know. There's something ominous about that place."

Zuko nodded his head emphatically to show his support. His instincts warned him that something spiritual was afoot in this place, and knowing his luck with the spirits he'd probably end up being attacked by killer shrubbery of something.

"Okay, since everyone feels so strongly about this, bye swamp." Aang looked reluctant, but nonetheless cracked the reins to pull Appa back up. It was strange to see someone as powerful as the Avatar conceding to his companions' wishes so easily. Mai and Ty Lee's opinions had never stopped Azula doing whatever she wanted. "Yip, Yip!"

Zuko breathed a sigh of relief, happy to have avoided that potential disaster, and felt the rush of his own warm breath against his mask. Yet, to his surprise, the rush continued even after his exhale finished; turning colder and somewhat stronger. No, that wasn't his breath: it was the wind picking up unusually suddenly, and for some reason moving against the direction it had previously been going in.

He looked behind them, and nearly jumped out of his skin! Katara, Sokka and Aang, alerted by his sudden shift, looked behind as well, and each shouted in alarm at what they saw!

Out of nowhere, a hurricane had risen to life behind them!

...

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