The Burning Truth-Harmony

Part 36~Stupidity

The camp was quiet, sleeping soundly, when Hachi yawned, waking up and climbing out of Zuko's arms with a sad smile. He walked towards the fountain. He watched the bird fly away as a bomb flew through the air and landed in the fountain.

Hachi let out an annoyed sound before he air-bent the fountain off the side of the temple, watching it blow up. More bombs fell from the sky as Hachi rushed to wake up the bison.

The camp shot up as the ground around them echoed.

"What's happening?" Isu stumbled up as she spotted Hachi.

"We're under attack." Hachi used his airbending, pushing the ceiling as Isu quickly jumped to his aid. Together, they closed the large metal door behind them. Isu rushed to Corno's side, patting her fur.

"It's okay." Isu glanced around, looking for an exit as Chit Sang reached their side.

The ceiling crumbled away as Katara gasped, her eyes widening in horror when Zuko pushed her out of the way.

The rocks crashed to the ground, denting where Katara had been. "Thanks. That was close," Katara breathed in relief as Zuko gave her a thumbs-up before they got to the group.

"Come on! We can get out through here," Toph called the group to the exit where she and Haru were standing. The group rushed forward when Hachi stopped, looking around in confusion.

"What are you doing?" Hachi looked at Zuko as he let out a breath.

"Go ahead. I'll hold them off. I think this is a family visit." Zuko charged off as Hachi let out a distressed sound.

Isu glanced at Hachi. "You go or I go?"

"I got this. Keep everyone else safe." Hachi rushed off after Zuko as Isu pulled Pickle along.

~~~

"This is stupid," Hachi shouted as Zuko rolled his eyes.

"Obviously."

"You should not have hung out with Sokka!"

Zuko charged at the airship when a ball of fire was shot at him, making him stop at the edge of the temple.

On a podium, Azula walked out, a maniacal grin on her face. Shiko stepped out from behind Azula, glaring at Hachi, who gulped and glared back.

"What are you doing here?" Zuko stood his ground as Azula smiled.

"Isn't that obvious? I'm about to celebrate becoming an only child." Azula stood up, kicking a large blast of flame at Zuko, who dodged.

"Can we agree this is dumb now?" Hachi blocked the wind attack his father threw as Zuko gulped.

"Yeah."

"Run?"

"Yeah!"

The two turned, running back into the temple when Zuko fell. Hachi created a barrier, stopping the blasts as the temple rumbled. Zuko frowned before he ran toward the airship, jumping and sending several shots towards Azula.

"I thought we were gonna run- oh shit!" Hachi rolled out of the way as his father crashed before him.

~~~

Isu cursed as she tried to pull Corno into the tunnel. "I can't get them to go in there. They hate tunnels."

"Isu, there's no way we can fly out of here," Katara warned her as she frowned.

"We'll have to find a way."

"We need to split up," Sokka interrupted before turning to the others. "Take the tunnel and get to the stolen airship."

Katara spun in anger. "No!" She walked up to Hakoda. "The fire nation can't separate our family again."

"It'll be okay. It's not forever," Hakoda tried to soothe, pulling Katara into a hug.

Sokka grabbed Sukie, pulling her to the rest. Toph kept her hand on the wall, a deep frown on her face. "I can clear that away, and we can fly out through there."

Sokka blinked in surprise. "Isn't there an awful lot of fire in that general direction."

Isu pushed Sokka aside, looking at Toph. "And my brother. We'll get through it. Let's go."

~~~

Hachi jumped off the temple, landing unevenly onto the airship when he caught sight of something. "Pickle?!" Pickle soared through the sky, covered in rock armour, courtesy of Toph. "Zuko! Pickle!"

Hachi let out a scream, barely dodging the attack his father sent at him. Azula had also noticed the flying bison, sending fire at them only for the amour to absorb it, slowly falling apart.

Azula screamed, kicking Zuko off the edge of the ship as Hachi let out a scream, jumping after him.

"Death by suicide is still death," Shiko laughed when Azula gave him a look. Both were speechless when Corno appeared, Zuko and Hachi on her back. Before Azula or Shiko could do anything, Isu sent an air blast at them, knocking them to the floor.

~~~

Hachi hopped off Corno when he found Isu staring at him. "Hi- hey!"

"How could you be so stupid?" Isu slapped Hachi's arm as he let out a pained scream.

"Hey. You gave me permission to go."

"I know." Isu turned as Zuko jumped off Corno's back. "How could you be so stupid!"

"Hey!" Zuko rubbed his arm in shock. "That hurt."

"You're both dumb for doing that. You shouldn't ever run off without backup or any clear understanding of the threat."

"Since when were you responsible," Zuko complained as Isu huffed.

"We are not losing anyone in this war so close to its finish. Especially you two." Isu gave the two death glares as Hachi gave Zuko a look.

"Sure, you two can do a prison break, but we try to do something small, and we're the bad guys."

Zuko laughed, pulling Hachi along.

~~~

"You okay?" Katara glanced at Isu, who smiled nervously.

"We're so close. I can feel the war ending."

"You seem stressed."

"No, I just realised these people are idiots." Isu smiled, stretching her arms above her. "But that's nothing new, right?"

Katara laughed, taking Isu's hand and squeezing it. "No, it is not."

~~~

"So, guess this means we're camping again," Zuko muttered as Hachi laughed.

"I thought we would be used to that by now." Hachi frowned as he looked through the packing. "Though, we do seem to have left quite a bit behind."

"Don't blame us. We left in a hurry," Sukie snapped as Sokka let out a happy cheer.

"Sorry, we don't have a tent for you. Guess you'll share with Sokka," Hachi suggested as Sukie blushed.

"They should do what they want, but I'm sleeping alone," Toph shouted, walking away as Hachi snorted.

"You can have mine. I'll stay with Zuko." Hachi gave Sukie the tent as she blinked, snapping back to reality.