Chapter 12: The Siege of the North

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There are no words to describe how sorry I am. You guys have had to sit through months of waiting for a new chapter of this story, and you all have been patient. I am eternally grateful for that. Now let's get to the Book 1 finale!
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"This... is bad."

Black snow. Soot. The last time Kaiden saw it, if was that day the Fire Nation invaded the Southern Water Tribe, the day his parents and Katara and Sokka's mother were killed. Fire Nation ships were approaching. Kaiden looked at Aang and Katara, who both nodded and the three of them went to warn Chief Arnook. Soon afterward, the chief gathered the tribe together.

"The day we have feared for so long has arrived," Arnook announced, "The Fire Nation is on our doorstep. It is with great sadness I call my family here before me, knowing well that some of these faces are about to vanish from our tribe, but they will never vanish from our hearts. Now, as we approach the battle for our existence, I call upon the great spirits. Spirit of the Ocean! Spirit of the Moon! Be with us! I'm going to need volunteers for a dangerous mission."

Sokka rose from his seat, "Count me in!"

"Sokka..." Katara muttered.

"Be warned, many of you will not return," Arnook continued as several Water Tribe men rose and walked forward, "Come forward to receive my mark, if you accept the task."

The volunteers came forward, and a few minutes later, Kaiden found himself standing next to Aang and Arnook, the former perched on a snow mound. Both the Avatar and the Image had their staffs in hand.

"The stillness before battle is unbearable," Arnook said, "Such a quiet dread."

"I know," the Image replied, "Waiting is always the worst part. Second only to looking upon the aftermath."

"I wasn't there when the Fire Nation attacked my people," Aang said, determined, as Katara walked up, "I'm going to make a difference this time."

Aang stood. Soon after, Kaiden squinted as he spotted something in the distance. Kaiden's eyes widened as he realized what it was. A giant fireball.

"TAKE COVER!!!" Kaiden ordered just before the fireball hit the wall.

The battle had begun.
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Aang hopped on Appa, "Yip-yip!"

Kaiden turned his staff into a board and hopped on it. He took off flying after Aang and towards the fleet. They found the first ship, which fired two fireballs at them. Aang swung his staff, causing an air blast to deflect one ball away. Kaiden simply steered out of the way of the second.

Aang jumped down from Appa and flew downwards on his glider onto the first ship, quickly followed by Kaiden. Using airbending, Aang sweeped several trebuchet operators off their feet and leaped onto one trebuchet. An operator came forward and slammed a sledgehammer onto the machine, nearly striking Aang who managed to back-flip away. Suddenly, Kaiden swooped down, his board becoming a pole, and smacked the operator off the side of the ship.

Two more operators approached them from opposite directions, each holding a sledgehammer. The one on his right brought the sledgehammer down, proceeded by the one on his left. The Avatar and Image jumped into the air, avoiding both blows and Kaiden completely collapsed the trebuchet with his use of metalbending. They landed onto the deck, triumphant.

They ran over to an unoccupied trebuchet, already loaded with a flaming boulder. Kaiden stuck a sledgehammer in another launcher's chain. When a soldier approached them, Aang blasted him away, activating the catapult which launched the fireball straight into the deck, leaving a large hole.

Aang and Kaiden ran past two operators who quickly chased after them. They arrived at two trebuchets, one before them and one behind them, and tangled their chains together. They leapt onto the machine before them as the soldiers approached and the Image slammed his foot onto the pedal that activated the catapult. The catapult lunged forward, causing the second trebuchet to collide into the first, destroying both.

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