To Save a Warrior | A:TLA

❀ eight ❀

CHAPTER EIGHT:
THE ALLURE OF THE
TOUGH GUY

"If I hear one more word about Sokka's instincts, I'm going to stab you all," Nami snarled out through her pounding headache, pinching the bridge of her nose. "And I'm not kidding this time!" The group had resorted to walking rather than flying after finding a set of metal animal traps, a sign the Fire Nation was nearby. After the pirate excursion, they collectively agreed to travel east for a while in order to put a wide distance between them and the trading port. They'd found a clearing to land in, the forest around them full of looming red and orange trees.

"Well, I'm tired!" Aang groaned out in response, stomping his feet slightly as he turned to his friends with a frown. "I hate carrying this pack."

"You know who you should ask to carry it for a while?" Katara asked rhetorically, giggling, "Sokka's instincts!" She yelped as Nami lashed out, ducking under the older teen's fist with a wild laugh. Nami bit her lip to keep her own grin at bay, instead focusing her energy on serving the meanest, most annoyed glare she could muster. Aang laughed anyway,

"Hey, that's a great idea! Sokka's instincts, would you mind—"

"—Okay, okay! I get it, Nami gets it, Momo got it too and he can't even communicate with us!" Sokka retorted, irritated with the near-constant jabs about his attempts at leadership. Momo chattered from Nami's shoulder at the mention of his name, eliciting a smile from the Northern teen. "But the important thing is that we're safe from the Fire...Nation."

When they broke through the bushes, they found themselves at the perimeter of a Fire Nation camp. The soldiers were all men, spread out around the small clearing filled with fallen logs and tents.

"Run!" Sokka yelped, Nami rolling her eyes as her friends turned to escape but found the bushes behind them suddenly ignited in flames. She withdrew her knives, rolling her shoulders back confidently.

"Let us pass," Nami called out firmly, tilting her chin up slightly as the soldiers leveled their own glares toward the small group of teens.

"And we won't hurt you!" Sokka added, the slight crack in his voice giving away the fear he was desperately trying to hide. Nami's brows furrowed slightly as Katara leaned closer to her brother, whispering,

"What are you doing?"

"Bluffing?" He responded back just as quietly, though it sounded more like a question. Nami glanced over her shoulder,

"I want to hurt them though," she grunted, demeanor deflated by the idea of passing 'peacefully' through a Fire Nation camp. The other three refrained from rolling their eyes, though the furtive laughs of several soldiers grabbed all of their attention.

"You all promise not to hurt us?" One asked with his own smirk, narrowing his eyes in anticipation, Nami's hold tightening on her new blades. However, to all of their surprise, the soldier was suddenly unconscious on the ground.

"Nice work, Sokka!" Aang exclaimed with a smile. "How'd you do that?"

"Uh," Sokka floundered through his confusion, "instinct?"

"No," Katara shook her head, pointing upwards. "Look, in the trees!" They followed her hand, finding a young man perched on a branch with two swords that were hooked at the ends. His hair was wild, a piece of straw between his upturned lips as he jumped down. With the practiced swing of his swords, the man took down two soldiers, striking another pair as he rushed forward.