𝑺𝑬𝑬𝑫 𝑶𝑭 𝑰𝑪𝑯𝑶𝑹 •𝒃𝒙𝒃•

12 ~ a past better left buried

It couldn't have been worse, could it?

Guren was looking forward to a bit of a slower pace, and Omashu was supposed to be just that. They'd stay there for a while, wait for Aang to master Earthbending and then leave for their next destination.

But no. It wasn't enough, was it? Now they had to fight their way through.

"I can't believe it," Aang spoke, "I know the war has spread far, but Omashu always seemed..."

"Impregnable?" Guren chimed in.

Aang nodded, eyes downcast.

"Up until now it was. Now, Ba Sing Se is the only great Earth Kingdom stronghold left." Sokka had crossed his arms, calmly observing from behind Aang.

The Fire Nation was a mighty foe and it won't stop at anything. Fire Lord Ozai won't stop at anything in his journey to conquer the entire world.

"This is horrible, but we have to move on."

Move on? Guren glanced at Katara. She should know that Aang wouldn't just simply move on, especially not when the said Earthbending master he was supposed to learn from was his old friend. Guren knew him for so little, yet he was slowly figuring out just how his mind functioned.

"No," Aang instantly shot her down, as expected. "I'm going in to find Bumi."

"Aang, stop!" Sokka protested, "We don't even know if Bumi is still..."

Oh wow. That's what he was going for?

Aang's reaction came in the form of narrowed eyes and a demanding tone. "What? If he's still what?"

It was unusual to see him like that, but everyone had moments of anger and distress, and this moment was Aang's. Bumi obviously meant a lot to him, and he has been through a lot already, and losing Bumi would be...

"Alive," But that didn't mean Guren would hesitate. "Now that Omashu has the Fire Nation's flags up, it could mean three things. Either King Bumi is dead, kept a prisoner, or he simply left."

Aang's distress just seemed to increase.

"I know you had your heart set on Bumi, but there are other people who can teach you Earthbending." Katara tried to explain it to him, and she was right. Bumi wasn't the only choice for Earthbending, nor was he the strongest Earthbender. As the saying went, there was always a bigger fish in the sea, and it applied to everything.

Aang turned away, unwilling to listen. "This isn't about finding a teacher. This is about finding my friend."

Just as Guren expected.
.
.
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Which is how they found themselves at a...secret passage.

"Why didn't we just use this last time?" Sokka questioned.

Last time...? Well, Guren did miss a lot of things. They had gone a long way before they ended up at the Northern Water Tribe, didn't they?

Instead of answering, Aang opened up a sewer drain...and the sewer water just burst out. The smell was strong, so strong that Guren couldn't resist turning away and raising a hand over his nose. And they had to go through there...?

"Does that answer your question?" Aang jumped in.

How sassy...

Guren let the three of them walk in first, and only then did he follow.
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.
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Aang and Katara just used their bending to walk through unscathed, while Sokka was left to suffer behind them. Guren took his time behind them, casually vaporising the water as it neared him.