Airbender

Chapter 10: Rough Sights

After several hours of flying, we get to the fire kingdom. We land in front of Zuko's house...or should I say castle. It was huge! I sit their in amazement for a moment.
"Ara! You coming?" Sokka yells from the ground. I snap out of it and nod as I hop off of Appa. We all follow as Zuko leads the way. As we head deeper and deeper into the building, the feeling of the atmosphere got more unsettling. We then get to the deepest part, where they keep the most dangerous criminals in all of the fire kingdom. I felt like shrinking up in a ball just to get away from this feeling I had. I tried not to make eye contact with the guards that would pass by. Then I saw something I didn't expect. It was an injured guard getting help walking by another. And slowly I began to see more and more injured guards being taken to the infirmary. Then I realize who must of done this.... Azula.

We reach the area where the main cells are. We pause for a minute so Zuko could talk to a guard. I stand in the back of the group and hesitantly look around. I look towards a cell, and inside was a man. He had dark hair and mustache and beard. He then made eye contact with me, and it was the darkest and maddest look I've ever seen.... I widen my eyes as I had a feeling of who it was.... Zuko's...Da-

"Ara." I jump slightly and turn my attention back to the group. I see Sokka giving me a serious face as he gestures in the direction we were heading. I grip my staff and follow behind.

After a minute or two we get to a certain area where there were many guards rushing around and helping the injured. Then the smell hit me. I slightly gag and cover my mouth and nose. What....what is that?.... Once again we stop. And who looks like the head guard approaches. He bows and we bow after him.

"Lord Zuko. Thank you for coming" he says. Zuko nods. The head Guard then leads us on. "She escape just two days ago and we are still tending to the ingured."

"How'd she do it?" Zuko says slightly mad.

"We have reason to believe that she's been plotting it for some time, and she got some guards to help her out and got them to join her. Probably because you replaced your father, and some people weren't too happy about that. The worst part is..." Everyone stops and slightly gasps, trying to look away. I couldn't see what was going so I push my way through to the front. At this point the smell was unbearable.....and now I knew why. I widen my eyes as I see a dead guard on the ground, burns all over him. I stand there in shock for a minute, covering my mouth. Sokka comes and wraps his arm around me, turning me the other way. I close my eyes, trying to get the picture out of my mind. Zuko says something to the guard before we start heading back. I stick close to Sokka, keeping my head down and staring at my feet.

We eventually get back to the main entrance of the building. I hurry ahead to Appa and get on his back, using my air bending. I sit there hugging my legs, trying to calm myself down.

Sokka's POV

I hold Ara close to me as we make our way out of the prison. I couldn't imagine what she feel like right now. We finally get to the main door as she rushes for Appa. I have a urge to go after her but stop myself. I sigh and turn back to the group.

"Azula couldn't have gone far, especially if she has some troops with her." Aang states.

"We have to hurry. Who knows how many people she'll recruit." Toph says sternly. As the rest of the group devises a plan, I look over to Ara. She still looked a little dazed as she sat on Appa, hugging her knees. I walk over, trying to think of what to say...

"Ara?" I say kinda quite. She glances at me before looking away again.

"How....how could she do this?.....How could anyone do this?...." She says in a sad yet confused tone. I'm a little surprised at what she just said.

"Azula.....she...all she wants is power. She doesn't care how she gets it, even it means killing." I says hesitantly. She doesn't respond...she just stares down at her lap. "Look...me and the gang...we've been through, and seen some rough things.....I guess I should have warned you about that..." By now, the rest of the group joined me by my side. Aang puts a hand on my shoulder and I look over at him. He nods then steps forward, looking up at Ara sitting on Appa.

"It's going to be a rough journey. And we all understand if.....if you rather go home." Aang says reassuringly, yet sadly.

"No" Ara says sharply. We all were surprised by this. She then grabs her staff and stands up. "I'm not going to run anymore. That's all I've down for years: run and hide. But not this time. I'm going to fight." She turns to us then slightly smiles. "Besides, I think Azula needs to know her place." We all smile.

"Now that's what I like to hear!" Aang says as he hops up on Appa. We all cheer saying "yeah!" and "alright!". We all get up onto Appa. "We'll hike out in the woods just out side the city, near the lake." Aang puts a hand on Ara's shoulder. "And your training starts in the morning." He smiles and hops to the front of Appa. I see Ara smile, then process what he just said.

"Wait! Training?!" She says surprised. We all laugh as Appa takes off.

We eventually find a place to spend the night near a lake. We eat our meal and make a fire. Which took no time at all considering Zuko made it. Eventually we all start to get settled in and begin to set up our beds. After I set mine up I look over to see Ara having some struggles with hers. It was actually kinda cute.....................I MEAN uhhh funny! Yeah! Funny! It was kinda funny... I stand up, about to go help her when Aang walks over and starts helping her instead. I sit back down, trying not to care that much. I watch them as Aang shows her how to set the bed up and Ara as she smiles and slightly giggles. I get into my bed, facing away from them. Why should I care? He's just helping her set up a bed...big deal!

Wait a minute......am I.....jealous!? No! No it can't be. Psh! I sound ridiculous!.....there's no way!.........right?...

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Hey guys!! *everybody starts throwing tomatoes at me and booing* AGH! Yeah I know I know! I suck for taking so long to update.... Please don't hate me! XC On another note, I am loving this feed back!! You guys are amazing!!! You make me smile everyday... *some random person: "Just get on with the story already!"* ......well sorry for trying to be sentimental =n=......... Anyways, thanks for being such wonderful readers!

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