Chapter 15

"I know a secret passage," Aang answered as they landed in front of a ledge with a large metal pipe sticking out of it. He jumped off Appa onto the top of the pipe, mistaking it for the sewer grate he remembered.

- Secret passage? Why didn't we use it last time? Sokka demanded as the Air Nomad tried to open the sewer grate. When the grate opened, he was nearly swept away by the green sludge-like water, and Appa flew away with Akela and Akamaru, with Momo sitting on Katara's shoulder.

- Is this the answer to your question? - Aang asked, jumping into the pipe. Sokka stepped inside and nearly fell over from the smell. Taking a breath and holding his nose, he walked forward into the pipe.

As they made their way through the water, which was quickly becoming steeper, Aang and Katara tried to make sure they didn't get swept away into the pipe. Aang used his staff to bend the air in front of him to create a path, while Katara bended the water to make the path stable. Sokka caught the downside as he had to fight the water that Katara repeatedly hit his face. However, he could tell that his sister was doing it on purpose.

When they finally got to the city, it was already night. Aang blew the hatch cover loose to weaken it, then opened it slightly to look around. When he didn't see anyone, he jumped out of the hatch, quickly followed by Katara.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought," she commented.

Suddenly they heard a groan coming from the hatch. A green blob, shaped like a person, crawled out and staggered towards them. Quickly recovering from the shock and realizing who it was, Katara noticed water in a nearby barrel. She forced water from the barrel to hit the creature, causing the water to wash away the green dirt from the man and reveal a very wet Sokka. Aang quickly followed, drawing air to dry it off.

Sokka was quiet for a moment before he realized that there were small purple octopus-like creatures sitting on him. Screaming hysterically, he tried unsuccessfully to tear two of them from his cheeks.

- THEY WON'T LET GO! Help! He screamed before Aang pinned him against the nearest wall.

"Stop making noise," the airbender told him. - It's just a purple pentapus. - While Sokka whined and winced a little, he reached for the pentapus on the tribe's left cheek and stroked its head. Smiling, he lifted his legs away from Sokka's face and easily pulled away, leaving only red marks where the suction cups should have been.

Rubbing his left cheek, Sokka tried the same method on his right cheek. The result was the same. As they filmed the third and final one, the group heard someone's voice:

- Hey! - Looking in the direction where the voice came from, they saw three guards walking in their direction. Katara and Sokka quickly stood in front of Aang as he quickly put his hat on. -What are you kids doing outside after curfew? - demanded the chief guard.

"Sorry, we were just walking home," Katara explained before they started to leave.

"Wait," the guard said, noticing the red marks on Sokka's neck. - What's wrong with him?

"Uh..." Katara quickly glanced at Sokka's neck and came up with a lie. "He has a pentapox, sir," she quickly explained, turning Sokka around to face the guard. The guard walked up to Sokka and extended his hand to touch him. - Hmm... it's very contagious.

Taking a cue from his sister, Sokka made an unhappy face and began to moan.

"Ughhh, this is so terrible, I'm dying," he said to the three guards, moving closer to them.

"And deadly," Katara finished.

"Hey, I think I heard about the pentapox," the head guard said, stepping away from Sokka and turning his head to the other guard. "Didn't your cousin Chang die from it?"

"We better go wash our hands and burn our clothes!" - said another guard, after which they turned around and ran away, and Sokka coughed several times for order.

As the guards left, Sokka turned around to see Aang scratching the pentapus on his arm.

"Thank you, sewer friend," he said.

(Location: Royal Flame)

The crew and Imperial Firebenders disembarked and set up camp for the night. Several Imperial Firebenders stood on the deck, bowing before the palanquin that contained the Fire Nation Princess. On each side of the palanquin stood the twins Luo and Li.

"When tracking down your brother and uncle, traveling with the royal procession may not be advisable," Lo told the princess. "It might not be wise," Lee continued. "If you want to maintain the element of surprise," the two finished in complete synchrony.

- You're right. The royal procession is dead weight. If I want to catch prey, I must be agile and dexterous," Azula nodded in agreement. She turned to Naruto standing next to her. - I need a small, elite team. It's time to visit old friends. What do you say, Naruto?

"That sounds like an idea, plus it will help you with your answer," Naruto said from where he sat on the roof of the palanquin. If she had people around who she considered friends, she might have been able to find the answer faster.

She nodded silently.

- Then we leave tomorrow at dawn.

Naruto jumped from the roof onto the deck.

- I'll go tell the captain. We'll send the ship home in the morning. We'll only take the squad with us when we leave. - He started to leave, but stopped. "I have one request for you," he said to the twins.

"Yes," Lee asked, and Lo continued. - What exactly?

- Do you have to take turns saying the same sentence? - He raised his hand, stopping them. - You know what? Forget about it. Chances are you'll just give me the same answer. - He left the ship to talk to the captain.

"The impudence of this boy," Lo said, but Li continued. - He insulted us so much.

Neither of them noticed the smirk that appeared on Azula's face.