They had been flying for a little over an hour before the mainland came into view, however Kaz wasn't focused on the land, but rather at the small fleet of Fire Nation ships sailing East along the coast. Guiding the Sky Bison to fly higher into the clouds so as not to be seen, Kaz waited until they were a decent way inland before he directed Appa to land on the ground.
Pulling out the map, he pointed at a certain point before saying, "If you keep flying North from here you should arrive at Omashu by nightfall. Worst case, you fly to these mountains and make camp, then go to Omashu in the morning. If I'm not there in three days, continue on your way North and I'll catch up with you."
His words left them all confused, but it was Sokka who was the one to ask, "Where are you going?" Quirking an eye at him, Kaz looked in the direction the Fire Nation ships had been going before replying, "I'm going to gather a bit of information and deal with a few pests." They all knew what he meant, but it was Aang who was blunt about it. "You're going to attack them." Aang clarified.
"If you really want me to spell it out for you, I'm not going to just attack them, I'm going to kill them." Kaz said maliciously. "You don't have to kill them." Aang started, but Kaz stopped him before he could continue by grabbing the younger airbender by the throat and lifting him slightly off the ground so Aang had to grab onto Kaz's arm so all of his weight wasn't on his neck.
"We. Are. At. War." Kaz growled before he dropped Aang like a dirty rag. "Have you already forgotten what they did to the airbenders? They butchered them like cattle! Do you think there haven't been other casualties? This is a war that's been going on for a god damned century! How do you ever expect to end this war if you don't get rid of the Fire Nation soldiers? Do you think they're just going to all stop what they're doing if you ask them nicely? The sooner you get it through that skull of yours about what you need to do, the sooner you can get around to ending this war." Kaz told him.
"He's right, Aang. The Fire Nation killed our mom. They're ruthless, and we're not going to win this war by being nice to them." Sokka said, agreeing with Kaz. "But they can't all be bad. A hundred years ago, I had friends in the Fire Nation. People who wouldn't hurt anyone." Aang tried to argue. "You're right. A hundred years ago there might have been good people, but they're long dead now. Anyone fighting for the Fire Nation is my enemy, and there will be no quarter given." Kaz said, not letting this be up for debate.
He also had friends in the Fire Nation in the past, but he knew full well that those people were long dead, and given how the air nomads were all wiped out, either those people didn't do anything about it or they were killed if they had tried to stop it. Either way, they were dead and there was no point in dwelling on the matter. "Continue on towards Omashu." Kaz reiterated, then as if he were a leaf, he was carried off in a gust of wind.
*****
Leaving the others, Kaz made his way back towards the ocean and quickly caught up to where the Fire Nation ships were located. Rather than attack them as soon as he caught up with them, he followed them for a few hours until they arrived at what appeared to be a Fire Nation military base. There were dozens of Fire Nation war ships docked along the coast, with a number of large buildings constructed near them. Further inland, Kaz could make out another military base with what looked to be thousands of army tents set up. It seemed to be a supply depot and a place where the Fire Nation could drop troops before moving them through the mountains and Northward, most likely to attack the Earth Kingdom.
Moving unseen, Kaz snuck into one of the many tents spread about the area, coming face to face with a Fire Nation soldier who was sitting in a chair drinking tea and reading a book. "Can I help you?" The guy asked. "Yes. I want you to not scream." Kaz said, then sent a wind blade at the man, severing his head from his shoulders.
Luckily for Kaz, the man hadn't been wearing his uniform, so he was able to put it on without having to clean it first. Now in disguise, Kaz wandered about the camp without much concern, given his appearance was completely covered from head to toe. 'These masks sure are convenient. It's almost as if they were made to allow infiltration.' Kaz thought, quite thankful for the uniform's design.
As he wandered around the harbor, Kaz couldn't help but notice how there didn't seem to be any children, and the women he did see were all in uniform. Deciding to get some answers, he asked one of the soldiers if there were any civilians in the base, to which the man just scoffed at him before saying, "You new recruits need to pay better attention in training! Civilians aren't allowed on bases, unless of course they're prisoners." Kaz hadn't thought about prisoners, but now that the subject was brought up he couldn't help but ask about it.
"Are there any prisoners in the base?" He asked the man, who so far hadn't seemed against answering his questions. "There were, but we never keep prisoners for long. They were shipped off a few days ago." The soldier answered. "Where do they get shipped off to?" Kaz couldn't help but ask. He was genuinely curious where prisoners of war were taken.
"A few of the more high profile ones were sent off to the Boiling Rock, while the others were sent off to work in the coal mines. Of course the Earthbenders were taken to one of the Prison Rigs, but that's common knowledge." The man explained calmly. "What about captured Waterbenders? Where do they get taken?" Kaz asked, finding it odd that the man hadn't mentioned them.
"Waterbenders? Ha, it's been awhile since we've captured any Waterbenders. If we did capture any Waterbenders, they'd be shipped off to Fire Island Prison. I know the name isn't exactly well thought out, but the whole island itself is a prison built to hold and contain Waterbenders." The soldier replied, being quite helpful.
Kaz spent the next hour grilling the man for information, and he had even withdrawn his map and had the man draw circles on it where all of the prisons were that he knew of, which the man assured him was most of them. Apparently he worked in the communication department, and relaying information like this had been his job for years. Kaz had even got to know where most of the big bases throughout the world were located, and where the Fire Nation's biggest metal factories were built. With this information alone, Kaz felt as though he could cripple the Fire Nation and set them back by a decade or two.
When the helpful soldier was finally done answering questions, he turned to Kaz before saying, "I know you're just starting out, but it's good you're learning all of this information now. It will help further you along in whatever path you choose from this point onward. Take full advantage of what you can learn from your superiors and rise to heights unseen. Don't miss the opportunities because you were ignorant." Smiling beneath his mask, Kaz full heartedly agreed. He had every intention of using this information to his advantage, and planned to rise to heights unseen in this world. The soldier didn't know it, but he had just given the Fire Nation's greatest threat all of the ammunition he needed bring them toppling down.
*****
With more information gathered than he had originally intended, Kaz decided to move on to his next objective. Moving towards the large buildings along the coast, Kaz made his way towards the biggest one, which was obviously where the Commander of the fortress was located.
Walking on in as if he owned the place, Kaz made it clear to the guarded doors leading into the Commander's office before he was finally stopped by one of the guards. "State your business." One of the two guards said to him. "I'm here to kill the Commander." He answered simply, causing both guards to look at each other before they levelled their spears at him.
Already having prepared his attack, Kaz raised his hands and released a spiraling torrent he had contained in his palms at the two guards, causing them to be slammed back into the wall before their armor caved in on them and their chests collapsed in on themselves, killing both guards instantly. This had caused a bit of noise and at once the door leading into the Commander's office was flung open, which is when Kaz surprised the Commander by slicing his right arm off by using a wind blade.
"So you're the famous Commander Zhao I've heard so much about. I've got to say, I find you lacking." Kaz spoke calmly as he pushed the man back inside the room and began to dismember him so he couldn't fight back, then realizing there wasn't anything he wanted to ask the guy, he simply cut off his head.
Looking out of the window, Kaz saw that the sun was just dipping over the horizon, which meant it was the perfect time to begin the next part of his plan. Now that he knew there were no civilians on site, and that everyone here was basically an enemy, Kaz didn't see any point in holding back, though he did have one last stop to make before the destruction rained down upon these people.
Making his way to Zhao's personal quarters, Kaz let himself in before he began rummaging around the room until he finally found what he was looking for. After giving Suki all of the gold he had gotten from Zuko, Kaz didn't have a coin to his name, but he knew he would be needing money if he wanted to survive in this world, so he grabbed the small chest filled with gold coins and a bag Zhao had beside his bedside table, placing the coins in the bag.
Going back to Zhao's office where the man's corpse was still bleeding out onto the floor, Kaz grabbed the Commander's head and wrapped it in one of the man's shirts he had taken from his room, then tied it to his waist. Before leaving the room, he grabbed any important document he could find and the maps with markers on them and stuffed them into the bag with the coins.
With that done, Kaz walked outside before he began to slowly rise into the air as the wind began to pick up in the surrounding area. One minute everything was calm and the next it was as if they were being hit by a tornado, which was actually the case as everyone could make out the twister forming in the middle of the base. Kaz kept channeling more wind into the twister, making it bigger and bigger, and he watched with a smirk as the buildings began to tear apart and tents were ripped from the ground and began flying into the chaos.
At the top of the twister in its epicenter, Kaz hovered without a care in the world until he was finally able to have the Twister reach the size he had wanted. Moving as quick as a man could run, Kaz headed down the coast, the twister following beneath him. The dozens of war ships docked along the harbor were battered and smashed against each other, and most of them were knocked over onto their sides. One ship was even swept further inland past all of the buildings before it tumbled over onto its side, crushing a number of soldiers who were trying to flee the chaos around them.
To really make matters worse, Kaz channeled a bit more of his chi, making wind blades periodically launch from the twister towards the retreating soldiers, ripping them apart in an instant. Once Kaz finished with all but one of the ships he moved further inland, sucking up boulders and people alike before he flung them off at other retreating soldiers. He was able to hold the twister for a little over an hour before he felt his chi supply was nearly exhausted, which is when he decided he had caused enough destruction.
As quickly as the tornado came, it disappeared, leaving the very few soldiers who had survived completely and utterly confused. Kaz didn't leave them confused for long, as he suddenly appeared and made two people turn into red mist from a dozen wind blades.
"As you all probably now suspect from my Airbending, it was I who created that tornado. I can just as easily create another if I wish, but that would be counterproductive from what I want." Kaz told the fewer than a hundred remaining soldiers who were gathered together and kneeling before him. Of course he couldn't create another tornado in his current state, but they didn't need to know that.
"What do you want?" One of the soldiers asked in defeat. "For you to go home. And please, be sure to take your dead comrades with you. I left you a ship for that very reason." Kaz said with a cruel smile. What followed was the remaining soldiers going around and gathering up their dead in the dark of night. Kaz of course let them light torches, but the one idiot who tried to firebend after the torches were lit was quickly turned into slices of meat, which was deterrent enough for the others to not try anything stupid.
It took the whole night and most of the next day before the bodies were all placed on the ship, or in cases where the bodies were too mangled, their heads were placed instead. Kaz placed Zhao's head on a spike near the front of the ship, letting everyone see him do it too. "Deliver their bodies to the Fire Lord, and be sure to tell him the Avatar will be coming for his head next!" Kaz ordered, and just to make sure they didn't try to dump the bodies overboard when they were out at sea, Kaz told them that he would be following them from up in the air to make sure they did as he told them. He wouldn't be following them, but just the thought of him suddenly appearing down on the ship terrified these people to the point that they all vowed to leave the corpses just as they were.
Once the ship was gone, Kaz flew Northeast for an hour before he got to the mountain range, at which point he flew down to a mountain peak and made camp for the night. He was utterly exhausted and could barely fly let alone move his body. Just laying down in the dirt he fell fast asleep, and slept like a rock for the remainder of the day and the entire night, only waking when the sun's warm rays touched his skin.
Sitting up, Kaz stretched his aching bones and popped his joints to try and make them so they weren't so stiff. 'Tonight, I will sleep in a bed.' He told himself with a frown, still feeling dead tired, though he knew he needed to keep going. After doing a few stretches, Kaz once more launched himself into the sky, only this time he was going Northwest towards Omashu instead of Northeast.
It took a good part of the day, but he arrived at Omashu before the gates closed for the evening, not that closed gates would have stopped him from entering the city. Looking at the walls of the city, Kaz wondered what he should do. 'Enter through the gate or just go over the walls?' He thought to himself.
*BOOM!*
A powerful explosion sounded from inside the city, which was answer enough for Kaz as the gates leading into the city were quickly sealed shut. Moving away from the gates and back across the bridge leading away from Omashu, Kaz went to a place where he wouldn't be noticed before he shot off into the sky, flying high enough that it would be difficult to see him approaching. Once he was directly over the city, he dropped down in the plume of smoke that was rising into the sky from the explosion, using the smoke as a cover. It was only when he was in the city that he really got a look at what had happened.
A building was in pieces as it burned, and around the destruction were civilians begging and crying out for help. Using airbending, Kaz smothered the flames by depriving them of oxygen, then he directed all of the smoke out of the area, moving it straight upwards instead of letting it dissipate into the city. With the main obstacle out of the way, Kaz moved through the wreckage and began pulling people to safety. As he was digging through the rubble he paused momentarily when he found the corpse of a woman holding her infant child. They were both dead, and Kaz couldn't help the cold feeling that ran through his chest.
It was a few hours later before Kaz was sure there was no one else trapped in the rubble. All said and done, there were seventeen injured and four dead, and by the looks of things the guards patrolling the city had no idea who it was who had caused the explosion. Seeing that the guards couldn't help him in this situation, Kaz decided to find someone who could. 'Come to think about it, where the hell is that useless Avatar?' Kaz wondered, thinking maybe Aang might know a bit more of what was going on. Given how inept Aang was, Kaz didn't have a lot of hope, but he could dream.
*****
(Sokka POV)
Things had been hectic ever since they had arrived at Omashu, what with the explosions going off, then meeting the mechanist, Sai and his son Teo. Sokka rather liked Sai, finding the man's inventions to be incredible. There was also the fact that Sai believed he himself could be what he called an Engineer, a person who invented things that could change the world. No one, not even Sokka's father believed he could do something like that, and it made him feel good about himself, that is, until he learned Sai was secretly helping the Fire Nation by giving them blueprints and models of his inventions that would aid them in the war against the rest of the world.
Sokka was trying to convince Sai to go to the King of Omashu and tell him about the spies, but Sai refused. He claimed the only reason the Fire Nation hadn't sent their full force to Omashu was because of his inventions, but Sokka thought differently. He knew it was just a matter of time before the Fire Nation came in full force, and the inventions Sai provided them would just make it that much easier for them to conquer the city.
Aside from Sai, Sokka and the others learned that it wasn't the Firebenders who were causing the explosions in the city but actually it was a group of people who called themselves the Freedom Fighters. They claimed to target spots where Fire Nation spies met up or people who were holding the city back from prospering, but Sokka doubted that. Earlier that day the Freedom fighters had tried to kill not only Sai, but the King and a number of other officials, and had it not been for Aang and Katara they would have succeeded.
"I'm going to the King. I'll tell him everything that's going on, and hopefully he can handle the Firebenders and the Freedom Fighters." Aang said, no longer willing to sit around and listen to Sai refuse them. Sokka wanted to tell Aang that Sai would step up and help the city against the Firebenders, but looking at the man it was obvious he was scared. As for the Freedom fighters, Katara was still distraught at Jet's betrayal and refused to do any talking as she stared out the window into the back room of the building. She didn't really want to be a part of the talking right now.
Aang moved to the door of the house, but as soon as he opened it, he froze in place. "Some Avatar. Always wanting someone else to deal with the trash." A cold familiar voice came from outside, and Sokka couldn't help the cold sweat that fell down his back. Kaz stepped into the room, pushing Aang further inside as he closed the door behind him before he turned to look at everyone in the room.
"Tell me all about the Firebenders and these so-called Freedom Fighters." Kaz said, and given the cold look in his eyes, he wasn't asking. "K-Kaz it's not-" Sokka tried to say something to calm down the terrifying Airbender, but his breath caught in his throat as a suffocating presence washed over him. 'Is this what he did to Prince Zuko?! Am I about to die?!' Sokka cried internally as he found himself unable to breathe properly.
"Take a breath, Sokka. Calm down. I'm not going to kill you." Kaz said calmly, though Sokka could still hear the murder in his voice. "Don't kill him! Please don't kill, Sai!" Sokka said quickly once he managed to regain his breathing. "That depends on him, really. And if he's stupid enough to withhold information from me." Kaz said as he moved across the room, however instead of towards Sai, he moved to stand directly behind Sai's crippled son, Teo, who was sitting in his wheelchair.
"Let's start from the beginning, shall we?" Kaz said to Sai, who looked at Sokka with a scared and pleading look. Knowing there was nothing he could do, and figuring there was very little chance Kaz would actually hurt Teo, Sokka took a step backwards and sat down in a chair. He had given Sai the chance to go to the King, and now he was going to be forced to give the information to someone so much worse.
*****
(Katara POV)
In the back room of the building, Katara stared sadly out of the large window into the night sky. She had trusted Jet, had thought he was courageous and charming, but she knew better now. He was a monster. Looking down at her hands, she couldn't stop them from shaking and she didn't know why. She wasn't scared of dying or anything like that. 'It's scary, not knowing who to trust.' She thought sadly.
As she stared down at her hands, movement in the shadows caught her attention. Looking to where the movement had been, she saw a shadowy figure standing less than five feet away from her. "Jet." She said in surprise, seeing the very man she had been thinking about standing in front of her. "You betrayed us." He said coldly without blinking. "Betrayed you? I stopped you from killing innocent people." She said, letting the hurt she was feeling seep into her voice. "Innocent? Spies. Traitors. Is that what you wanted to save?" Jet asked, revealing a bit of his anger.
"Not everyone out there is the enemy." She answered just as coldly as he had before, then she moved to step past him, but he moved quickly to block her retreat. "If you stand against us… you are. Life may be simple in the South Pole, but here, you have to make hard decisions. That's what it means to fight a war." Jet said as he moved his hand up towards her face, however it was at that moment a fist connected to the side of Jet's head, sending him crashing into the wall and into unconsciousness.
Looking to where the fist had come from, Katara was surprised to see Kaz standing there with a bone-chilling look on his face. "Making hard decisions is common in war, but this isn't that hard of a decision." Kaz said as he moved to grab the unconscious Freedom Fighter and bound him with some rope that was hanging on the wall.
Katara remained frozen in place the whole time he moved about the room, unable to do anything. It was only when Kaz turned his attention to her that Katara blinked the surprise out of her eyes and began moving backwards towards the door. "Not so fast. Sokka tells me you've been to the Freedom Fighter's base. Where is it?" Kaz asked her, getting right up in her space as he stared down at her with an almost lifeless gaze.
Katara had a feeling about what would happen to the Freedom Fighters if she revealed their location, and as bad as she thought them to be, she didn't think they deserved what Kaz would do to them. "Why?" She asked, hoping against hope that she was wrong about what his answer would be. "Take her with you to visit the King. She'll only be a hindrance." Kaz answered, which confused her.
Her confusion disappeared when Sokka stepped into the room with a tired look on his face, then he guided her out of the room. "What's going on?" She asked, not understanding why Kaz wasn't questioning her further about where the Freedom Fighters were located, but then she noticed Kaz look down to Jet who was still tied up on the floor. Her eyes went wide with realization about what was about to happen, but the door slammed shut before she could even open her mouth, then there was Sokka who kept pulling her along and out of the building with Aang, Sai, and Teo in tow.
*****
(General POV)
The night flew by in a blur and by noon the spies in Omashu had been rounded up by the city guards without incident. As for the people, they were happy to learn that the bombings would stop, though it was never explained who had been the cause, only that the Fire Nation spies had been dealt with. For his part, Kaz knew the bombings would stop because he had gone to the Freedom Fighter hideout after thoroughly interrogating Jet and punishing those responsible.
The half-dozen heads hanging from the branches of their little hideout was warning enough for the other, much younger members to get the message that what they were doing was not welcomed in Omashu. A squadron of soldiers had rounded up what was left of them after Kaz had had his way with them, and after what they had experienced, they were all too willing to go along with the soldiers.
With the mess sorted out, Kaz made his way through the city towards the palace where he found Aang talking to the king. Kaz was surprised when he learned of the king's name, remembering it from a time long before this. He had met the young little princeling about a hundred and three years prior, and the kid seemed insane back then too.
Looking at his eyes and hair, it wasn't hard to see that the prince back then and the king now were in fact one and the same person. After learning of his identity, the King of Omashu looked rather scared whenever Kaz was in the room, and though he was known to be eccentric and play pranks, he never seemed to do so when Kaz was around. They only stayed in Omashu for one more night after dealing with the spies and terrorists, but that was only because Kaz wanted to sleep in a bed, and he had to admit, the King's bed was by far the comfiest bed he had slept in before.
When they finally decided to head out, Katara still had a somber air about her and had yet to really speak to anyone since Kaz had first met up with them, but no one really paid her much attention. Aang was glad the conflict had been resolved, and as long as he didn't try to think about how they solved everything then he could continue being himself, even if Kaz and King Bumi told him he needed to stop being himself and actually take his role of being the Avatar seriously.
Even though the King didn't see them off personally, he did have one of his most trusted guards be there. "The King apologizes that he couldn't be here personally, but an urgent matter was brought to his attention, but he does wish you well in your travels." The guard said, getting a nod from everyone else. "Okay, good-bye." Kaz said, then urged Appa to take off into the air.
It was only a few minutes later when they were far enough away that King Bumi appeared from the shadows looking all around him with a worried look on his face. "Is everything alright, your Majesty?" His guard asked. "Hmm? Oh, yes. Perfectly fine. Kaz just gives me the heebie-jeebies. I'll sleep better tonight now that he's gone, and not just because I'll have my bed back." King Bumi answered tiredly as he allowed himself to finally relax slightly.
"If you don't mind my asking, why did you let him take your bed?" The guard asked, earning a frown from the king. "LET? You think I LET him take my bed? Listen here, Captain, that man is a bully! And his pranks aren't funny either!" Bumi said, clearly remembering back to his first meeting with Kaz more than a century prior. It hadn't been fun to lose his bed back then either, and the "pranks" were downright cruel. His hair was still spiky after free falling from ten miles up in the air over and over again, and since then had refused to go back to normal.
"Come, Captain. Have the linens on my bed cleaned." Bumi ordered his Captain, who still wasn't sure what to make of the King and the unknown airbender who travelled with the Avatar.
*****
"You're doing it wrong." Kaz said casually to Aang and Katara who were both practicing Waterbending in a small stream. "What do you mean?" Katara asked, not understanding what she was doing wrong. It had been almost a week since they had left Omashu, and she was finally starting to talk to him again, though it was still slow going.
Despite knowing what he did was necessary, she still didn't like it, but she could at least understand it. Granted, it took Sokka telling her that what Kaz had done was exactly what their father was doing right this moment. They were killing the Firebenders and those who attacked the Earth Kingdom, not just letting them go after giving them a tongue lashing.
Deciding to extend a helping hand to earn a little bit of good faith with the two of them, Kaz explained all about moving their Chi in the surroundings and condense it more in the area they wanted to work with. "How the hell don't you know this?" Kaz asked Aang, who looked slightly abashed back at him. It was true the monks did teach him and every other Airbender about the Chi movements, but Aang didn't really like those lessons and he more often than not just slept through them.
"You're an idiot." Kaz told him after hearing his lame excuse. "But these are Airbending exercises, how does this help with Waterbending?" Katara asked, hoping to learn a bit more about this matter. "The basic Chi exercises apply to all four of the elements. Aang would know this if he bothered to keep his eyes open when he was supposed to." Kaz said, shooting Aang a disappointed look.
"Come to think of it, I actually have a book on the subject. It was supposed to go to Aang anyway, but seeing how stupid he is, maybe you better take it." Kaz said to Katara as he moved over to his bag and withdrew the book in question. It was supposed to help the Avatar begin the basics in all of the bending, but he figured Katara could use it to help herself with Waterbending, and maybe if she was patient enough, she might be able to help Aang.
Letting them read the book wouldn't hurt anything, and maybe the exercises in it would keep them busy for a while so he could go scouting along the coast again. It was his favorite pastime while he waited for Appa to rest, and seeing as how the giant bison was still tired, he figured there was plenty of time to cause some chaos to the Firebenders.
*****
(Random Fire Nation Grunt POV)
Sailing back into the Fire Nation was usually a happy time for any soldier, but for Gonzo it felt like he was sailing to his death. He had originally been part of a small strike force that was sent to reinforce the effort in Omashu, but the fleet barely had the chance to make land before the demon swept them up in what could only be called "Hell". As his comrades were ripped apart, their limbs, blood and organs spiraled around him.
He could still taste the blood of his best friend on his tongue, a piece of the man having entered his mouth when he was screaming for his life. Over three thousand soldiers had died that day, and now he was bringing what was left of them back to the Fire Nation as per the orders of the monster wearing human skin. He had played with them as if they were ants and he was God, and he made sure they knew he wasn't finished with them. The messages he and the other survivors were to deliver told as much.
Thinking about the messages, Gonzo couldn't help but close his eyes tight as he fought to hold back the tears as he imagined the demon standing directly in front of him. "Tell your Fire Lord this, The Avatar is coming for his head. For the head's of his generals, admirals, colonels, commanders, and even his captains. His blood and any who share it will be wiped from this world, just as they have done to the Airbenders. Your people will know true despair before this war is over, and only after you have begged me for death will I finally give it to you. I am coming for you all." The demon's words still echoed in his mind even now, and try as he might, he couldn't get the bloody carnage out of his mind. That could also be because of the numerous heads and bodies that lined the ship, but he wasn't certain.
So lost was Gonzo in his thoughts that he failed to hear the shouting around him, and it wasn't until an officer walked over and slapped him upside the head that he snapped back to reality, and that's when he saw that he was back in the Capital of the Fire Nation. "It looks like the Avatar sent another one." He heard a soldier say from somewhere behind him. "Another one?" Gonzo found himself asking.
"Yeah. The first ship to encounter the Avatar was Prince Zuko's, and both his and General Iroh's heads, along with his entire crew were sent to the Fire Lord. A few days later another ship arrived from the Southern Fleet. Commander Zhao's head along with almost every soldier under his command's head arrived. The one to bring them gave the warning from the Avatar and how he was going to be on his way here next. We've been fortifying the coast, but so far haven't had any sightings of him." The soldier answered simply. "I see. Well, at least the Fire Lord knows he's going to die soon." Gonzo answered in a hollow voice.
If one man could cause this much death and destruction, the Fire Nation didn't stand a chance, and if he, a lowly little grunt could see that, then surely the Fire Lord could see it too. 'I mean, so far the Avatar has been toying with us by only using Airbending. I don't even want to imagine what the destruction is going to be when he goes all out.' Gonzo thought darkly.
Without really knowing how much time passed around him or even how he ended up there, Gonzo found himself in the royal palace kneeling before the Fire Lord and his generals. Looking up at the man whom he once had such faith in, Gonzo couldn't help but frown. The Fire Lord looked so ordinary, so plain, so weak.
"I will ask you again, what happened, Private Gonzo?" Someone standing off to the side of the room asked, but Gonzo couldn't really be bothered to look towards the man. "We got fucked raw, that's what happened." Gonzo said in a dry dispassionate voice, sounding like a man who had given up on life, and knew he wasn't walking out of this room alive.
Before he could be disciplined for speaking in such a way in front of the Fire Lord, Gonzo repeated the words he was ordered to by the demon. He spoke them word for word in the same dry voice he had spoken in before. After he had relayed his orders, he looked pointedly into the Fire Lord's eyes before taking a deep breath.
"He's going to kill you, and there's nothing you can do about it. Kill yourself now and spare yourself the pain." Gonzo said, then turned his head slightly to stare at the girl who, under better circumstances would have led them one day. "I once respected your father, but you, Princess… You're a sadistic cunt who deserves what's coming." With that, he had said his peace and was ready to accept death.
*****
(General POV)
Days passed rather quickly, and despite often stopping so Appa could rest, they were making decent time towards the Northern Watertribe. Sure, Kaz could have made it there already if he was travelling alone, but even Sokka and Katara needed to stop to stretch their legs. Aang could go fuck himself for all Kaz cared, as this entire situation was his fault.
Whenever they stopped for a break, Kaz would go off on his own, following his map to important marked locations. A few days prior he had gone off to a prison that was just off shore and slaughtered all of the Firebenders before he helped the prisoners go free. They were all really surprised when after freeing everyone he sunk the prison into the sea, but none of the Earthbenders were going to complain about it.
Today, Kaz had just gotten back from wrecking another Fire Nation fleet when he found Aang, Katara, and Sokka looking miserable. "What now?" He couldn't help but ask in annoyance. Over the last few days, Aang had tried requesting they go out of their way so he could see some of the sights around the world, but Kaz always put a stop to that. He was dead set on getting to the North Pole as soon as possible so he could ditch them, but every now and then the idiot Avatar would voice another stupid request, and it looked like that time was now.
"We sort of had to deal with a spirit that was stealing people because its forest got burned down, but I figured that part out. The problem is I need to go and see Avatar Roku, but the temple where I'm supposed to meet him is on a crescent-shaped Island in the Fire Nation, and I have to meet him on the Solstice, which is in nine days." Aang explained, earning a blank stare from Kaz.
"You are the Avatar. All of the Avatars throughout history are linked together. You can literally sit down anywhere and meditate and speak to your past selves. If this conversation has told me anything, it's that you haven't read that damned book and I'm about three seconds away from kicking your teeth in." Kaz said with an annoyed glare. 'Like hell I'm going to go to the fucking Fire Nation for this bullshit. I'm too close to finally being rid of this idiot!' Kaz thought tiredly to himself.
At his words, Aang quickly hid himself behind Sokka and Katara, though Sokka was quick to step to the side so he wasn't in the line of fire. "I read the part with the Chi exercises like you told me to. I didn't think I was supposed to read the whole thing!" Aang said quickly in defense, hoping to not experience more pain. "You better have that book finished before we get to the Northern Watertribe, otherwise you're going to be my test dummy for some new moves I've been thinking about." Kaz warned the stupid little Avatar before he moved over to the giant Sky Bison that was already saddled and ready to go.
"He's right. You should have read that book days ago." Sokka told Aang before he moved to climb onto the large bison. With just the two of them there, Katara let out a deep sigh before she said, "I hate to say it, but they're right, Aang. You're the Avatar. The world needs you to be the best you can be, and you can't do that if you don't know what it means to be the Avatar. Read the book. Please." Katara said softly as she also moved to climb on the giant bison.
*****
It took another week and a half of travel with a few minor stops along the way, but in the end they finally managed to reach the Northern Watertribe city of Agna Qel'a. Upon seeing the hundreds of Waterbenders mulling about, Kaz could almost taste his freedom from the half-wit that was the Avatar. 'Which of you poor souls will be unfortunate enough to have Aang for a student…?' Kaz thought to himself as he surveyed the Waterbenders gathering around them.
It didn't take long before they were welcomed by the tribe's chief, Arnook and then invited to a feast in their honor. Kaz didn't see anything wrong with the feast, and after he got a proper night's sleep on a real bed he figured he could ditch Aang and be on his merry way.
At the feast he tried to strike up a conversation with a girl who was sitting close to him, and after learning she was a Waterbender he thought they would have a lot to talk about, but when he asked her about her fighting abilities and being told that it was forbidden for women to fight here in the North, Kaz pretty much lost all interest. 'I don't know when they put in that stupid law, but a hundred years ago it sure didn't stand. Oh how the North has truly fallen.' He thought sadly to himself.
Once Kaz had eaten his fill, instead of staying there to mingle with the Waterbenders he simply asked to be shown where he would be staying the night. Come sunrise he would hopefully be on his own, and if he was lucky, he would never have to see Aang again. An older woman led him to the little hut he would be sleeping in for the night, which he found annoyingly he would be sharing with Aang, Sokka, and Katara. To his ever increasing annoyance, Kaz found four sleeping bags spread out on the ground atop a pile of furs. 'Where the fuck are the beds?' He wondered.
*****
(Sokka POV)
Sokka had seen Kaz head out for the night, but unlike the reclusive Airbender, Sokka was glad to be right where he was, or more accurately, he was glad to be right where he could see Princess Yue. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, and as sad as it was to admit, he was lovestruck with her. He was awkward with her at first, and it definitely didn't help that Katara was sitting right next to him and smirking whenever he said something stupid, but now at least he managed to get his foot out of his mouth and speak coherently.
"Your friend doesn't seem to have enjoyed the feast." Yue said to him, causing Sokka to look in the direction Kaz had left. "It's not that. I think he did enjoy the feast, it's just… Kaz is going through a lot right now, and he still hasn't quite processed it." Sokka said, though inwardly he added, 'I also think him leaving is his way of stopping himself from killing Aang.'
Ever since Kaz had woken up that morning in the Southern Watertribe, Sokka could see the rage in his eyes every time he looked at Aang. It was almost as if he wanted nothing more than to kill the Avatar, but he forced himself to fulfill a promise he had made to his uncle, which at the same time never gave him the time to put some space between the two of them so he could let go of his pain. Sokka didn't believe for a moment that Kaz would stick around longer than he had to, and he guessed that come the morning sunrise, Kaz would disappear.
"It sounds like your friend is in pain." Yue said, sounding a little sad. Sokka didn't like seeing her sad, so he did his best to change the subject and even cracked a few jokes, and accomplished his task of making Yue laugh. Things were going really well for a time, but then Yue's father, Chief Arnook came back into the room after he had excused himself for the evening looking rather upset.
"Is everything alright, father?" Yue asked the man after he had said a few words to some guards. "No. Someone has stolen my bed!" Chief Arnook said angrily. Upon hearing why the man was so upset, memories of a certain Airbender commandeering the bed of a powerful Earthbender King came to Sokka's mind, and he inwardly groaned at who he suspected of being the bed thief.
Playing it cool, which was pretty hard considering he was sweating enough each minute to fill a bucket, Sokka managed to pull Yue to the side of the room where they could have some privacy before he whispered, "So, um… here's the thing. Don't panic or react, but I might know where your father's bed is. It will be returned tomorrow, but its best nobody goes looking for it tonight. Things could get really bad if they do."
Sokka hoped Yue would listen to him, but judging by the way she eyed him with half-narrowed eyes, he wasn't sure she did. "I understand. I will trust in you, Sokka." Yue said, her gaze softening which only surprised him. "Really?" He asked, unsure if he believed her, after all, only seconds before she looked so unconvinced. "You are a kind man, Sokka. I don't think you would lie to me." She said with a smile so warm he thought he was going to melt.
*****
When he finally left Yue, Sokka quickly made his way towards the little hut they were staying in, and after stepping through the hide covering the door his speculations were confirmed. There was Kaz, sound asleep on a bed that took up almost half of the little hut. 'How did he steal it without anyone noticing?' He wondered, before a more pressing question came to his mind. 'How the hell did he get it in here, and how the hell do I get it back out?'
*****
(General POV)
The following morning, Kaz was up bright and early, which clearly wasn't early enough seeing as how Sokka was waiting for him by the door, and by the look of the bags under his eyes, Sokka clearly hadn't slept the whole night. "You should get some sleep, Sokka. You don't look too good." Kaz said with some concern as he sat up and began to do some stretches.
"You think? I wonder whose fault it is that I had to sit by and keep watch for the patrols who are looking for the Chief's bed?" Sokka said, sounding agitated. Blinking owlishly at him, Kaz looked down at the bed and back to Sokka. He did this a few times, almost as if he were putting the pieces of the puzzle together. "Huh… So you're telling me the Chief has been looking for this bed all night?" Kaz asked curiously. "He himself stopped looking a while ago, but there are a few guards still wandering around looking. I convinced Princess Yue to calm him down because I figured this was your fault. It's a good thing she was understanding and kind enough to listen to me." Sokka answered tiredly, though a faint smile graced his lips when he mentioned the Princess.
"You'd think he wouldn't mind sharing for one night." Kaz said flippantly as he threw the blankets off himself and got to his feet, deliberately ignoring the part about Sokka clearly being infatuated with the Princess. "You know, it is a really comfortable bed. You should try it. I mean, he went the night without it, he could go a few hours more." Kaz said as he gestured towards the bed.
Though he really didn't want to, Sokka did eventually walk over and touch the bed with his fingers. "A few minutes couldn't hurt." Kaz heard Sokka whisper to himself before he crawled onto the bed and wrapped the blankets around himself. Kaz had just finished getting dressed when the flap of the hut flew open and Princess Yue stepped inside, and the first thing she saw was Sokka sleeping soundly in her father's bed, causing her eyes to widen as her lips curled into a frown. "Good morning, Princess. This is exactly what it looks like." Kaz said with a smirk.
*****
Twenty minutes later, Yue and Sokka were moving as stealthily and quickly as possible as they carried the Chief's bed back to his room. "I promise, I didn't steal the bed. I'm also a victim here." Sokka whispered to Yue, who had been giving him the silent treatment ever since he had woken up in her father's bed and found her standing over him. "I know you didn't steal the bed. Your friend told me he did before he disappeared." Yue finally answered back at him, though she still sounded disappointed.
"Friend? Friend?! You think he's my friend?! What kind of person would put their friend in this kind of situation? It's bad enough he stole your dad's bed, but then getting me roped into it when he knows how much I like yo- yo- your dad! Great guy, your dad!" Sokka said, quite embarrassed at what he had said and almost said. Being that she was carrying the front end of the bed with her back to him, Sokka had missed the smile on her face and failed to see how hard she was struggling to hold back her laughter.
*****
After gathering some herbs, seasonings, some dried rations, and a sleeping bag, Kaz made his way back towards the hut he had slept in, and there he found Katara, Aang, Sokka, and Princess Yue sitting outside, two of them looking excited while the other two looked exhausted. "Well then, I see some of you are excited to go find Waterbending masters, while some of you look like you just carried a bed across the city." Kaz said with a smirk, earning a confused look from both Aang and Katara who looked to Sokka and Yue for answers but they only saw the two of them glaring at Kaz.
"Well, why don't you two stay here for a while and rest up while I go trick some poor soul into being Aang's master." Kaz said to Sokka and Yue, then he gestured for Aang to follow him. Katara apparently already knew where she was supposed to go, so she headed off in a different direction. "He's such a-a..!" Sokka started, but Yue cut him off, "Dickhead?" She said, looking at him with a faint smirk, which he returned. "Yeah." He said, laughing, then abruptly stopped laughing and looked at her with wide eyes and asked, "Wait, what did you just say?!"
*****
When Kaz and Aang arrived at where the Waterbenders were practicing, they saw the old Waterbending master, Paku, going through bending forms. Kaz heard Aang take a breath so he could shout at the man, at which point he quickly punched him in the gut and knocked the air out of his lungs.
"Maybe take the time to learn a little bit of respect while you're here. Instead of interrupting him, try to imitate his movements." Kaz instructed, then waited for Aang to recover before he got him to begin going through the motions. After about fifteen minutes of this, Paku finally stopped moving the water around himself and turned to give them both his full attention.
"Good morning. How might I help the Avatar today?" The old Waterbender asked dryly. "You see, despite being the Avatar, Aang only knows the bare minimum to even be called a Waterbender. By that, I mean he can move a handful of water around him. I was hoping you would take him under your tutelage and train him in the ways of being a Waterbender?" Kaz asked kindly, doing his best to keep the desperation out of his voice.
Paku frowned as he studied Aang from head to toe, but after a few minutes he nodded his head. "I will train him, but just because he's destined to save the world, doesn't mean he should expect any special treatment." Paku said, which only earned him an ear to ear grin from Kaz. "Oh, don't worry about that. In fact, be as hard on him as you can. I've found that you really have to beat it into him in order for him to learn anything!" Kaz said enthusiastically to the old Waterbender.
With his smile still plastered on his face, he looked down at Aang before saying, "With that, my sentence is over. You're now his problem, but that doesn't mean I won't kick your ass if I ever hear you fucking shit up." Saying this, Kaz turned his attention back to Paku who was looking at him with a confused frown on his face. "He's your problem now, old man. When you think he's acceptable, send him to some Earthbender for training, and again, be sure to instill in them to kick his ass." Kaz finished with a grin, then launched himself into the air, letting out a "WHOOO!" as he headed back to the hut to grab the last of his belongings.
"I fear I'm going to regret asking, but what was that all about?" Paku asked Aang, who had a sheepish look on his face.
*****
Getting back to the hut, Kaz found Sokka and Yue exactly where he had left them. "Well kids, I'm officially free! No more dragging around that worthless little ingrate!" Kaz said excitedly to them, ignoring the fact that they both put some distance between one another when he revealed himself. "So that's it? You're leaving?" Sokka asked, sounding a little sad even though he clearly was expecting this. "Yup! I'm going to go check out my home, then maybe pay a visit to the Fire Lord." Kaz said nonchalantly.
"Where is your home?" Sokka asked, only realizing now that he had never actually asked Kaz where he was from. "That's what you're curious about?! He just said he was going to go and visit the Fire Lord!" Yue said, sounding like that was clearly the bigger deal. "Oh, I'm from the Eastern Air Temple." Kaz said, then frowned slightly as he grabbed his bag and pulled out his map. "Hmm… Looking at the map, it would probably be quicker if I go visit the Fire Lord first, then go home. With how often I keep telling Ozai I'm coming to visit, it would simply be rude to put him off any longer." Kaz said, deciding to do just that.
"Can we back up a bit? You're going to go visit the Fire Lord?! You told him you were going to see him?!" Yue cut in, wanting to know if she had heard that right. "Well, yeah. It would have been rude to go there unannounced. His family paid my family a visit, it's only fair that I return the favor." Kaz answered, though at the end his voice got really cold and it looked as though he was staring off into space, which only made Sokka and Yue move closer to each other.
Shaking his head slightly and coming back to reality, Kaz grabbed up all of his belongings, but paused as he held his sword. Coming to a decision, he extended the sword to Sokka. "Here. This is yours." Kaz said to Sokka, who actually looked rather surprised at the sudden gift. "Really? You're giving me your sword?" Sokka asked as he reached out and took the sword. "I haven't used it very much since I woke up from the ice. I think you could put it to better use than I could. Besides, you were by far my favorite student. Your forms are near perfect, and you're smart. Consider it a parting gift." Kaz said with a small smile even as he slowly began to ascend into the air.
"I'm off then! Don't forget to write!" Kaz shouted to them. "Wait! Why are you going to visit the Fire Lord?!" Yue called after him. She clearly wasn't going to drop this matter just yet. "I'm going to kill all of his family!" Kaz called out to her, then propelled himself even further away from them, leaving her very unsatisfied and confused. Looking over at her, Sokka saw that Yue looked nothing like the calm and collected girl he knew her to be, and instead she looked like she was hyperventilating as she was rapidly breathing in and out.
"It's okay, Yue. Calm down." Sokka said softly, but the Princess wasn't hearing any of it. Looking him dead in the eyes, she grabbed him by the collar of his coat before shouting, "IS HE FREAKING INSANE?!!"
*****
Without anyone to hinder him any longer, Kaz made his way to the mainland which took a good portion of the day, but the sun was still high in the sky, so he opted to head West along the coast. After a few days of flying with the occasional break in between, Kaz arrived at a familiar mountain range, one he hadn't intended on visiting, but one he wasn't going to hide away from.
Flying along the cliffs for a time he eventually arrived at the Western Air Temple, the place where his mother was born. The last time he had been here had been with her, which had been half a year before she had died. He remembered visiting his grandfather here. The man was scrawny and frail to the point he couldn't even hold Kaz in his arms.
Kaz wandered around the Temple for the remainder of the day, and even spent the night in the same room he had stayed in with his mother. In the doorframe he ran his fingers over lines scratched into it. He remembered how he and his friend carved these lines when they were trying to see who was the tallest between them. He couldn't help the smile that graced his lips when he remembered his mother lecturing how it was rude to destroy other people's homes, but then she made him feel better when she got some paint and wrote his name on the top line, showing that he was taller than his friend. Looking at the door frame, Kaz traced his fingers over the scar in the wood, but he was disappointed to see that the paint where his mother had written his name had faded over time.
Going off plan, Kaz stayed in the temple for another three days, relaxing, practicing some new ideas he thought might be cool, and letting out a bit of his anger on one of the rooms. It had been the library, but whether the books had simply degraded over time or the Fire Nation got to them first, there was nothing left of the room.
When he finally decided to leave the Western Air Temple, Kaz felt a little lighter, and it wasn't just because he had eaten most of his rations. He had spent the time to really reflect on things, and after realizing that things couldn't get any worse, he decided to make things better by going to kill some Firebenders. That always seemed to cheer him up.
He flew through the mountains for a few days but eventually he reached as far south as he could of the islands before he reached the ocean, which meant only one thing. 'Next stop, Fire Nation.' He told himself with a slight grin, which only widened after looking at his map and seeing a small island near his position circled. 'The Boiling Rock.' Kaz read the name on the map that he had written there a few weeks ago when he was getting information from the Fire Nation officer at the southern military base. Knowing where he was going next, Kaz shot off into the sky.
*****
"Um… Mr. Kaz, Sir. What do you want us to do with the bodies?" One of the former prisoners asked Kaz who was sitting on the edge of the prison walls overlooking the gondolas that were quite busy transporting the now freed prisoners. Kaz had descended upon the prison in the night, killing every single guard he could find. Even those who weren't on duty were executed, as what he had done to them could be called nothing else.
Come the sunrise, Kaz had released all of the prisoners into the yard where he had the Warden bound and on his knees, and in front of them all, he showed them what happened to those who served the Fire Lord. He told them who he was, and how he was going to go attack the Capital of the Fire Nation, and how if there were any of them who wished to go there, they had best wait a few weeks before doing so. At this, all of them flat out told him that they wanted nothing to do with the Fire Nation, even those who were Firebenders. They were in here for a reason, and none of them had any intention of turning themselves in.
"Throw the bodies into the boiling lake or leave them where they are, I don't care. There's no point in trying to send their heads as a message when I'm going to get there first. Plus they would either arrest or kill you, so no point in doing that." Kaz told the man who was asking about the bodies of the guards that littered the prison and its walls.
"Thank you, Sir." The man said before he ran towards the gondola. 'I don't know why I thought this would be more satisfying.' Kaz thought to himself, finding the whole thing to be rather disappointing. Not one to be deterred, Kaz waited until all of the prisoners were across the boiling lake before he too left the island, heading towards the Capital.
*****
(Fire Nation Capital City)
(Random Fire Nation Grunt POV)
Inside his jail cell in the Prison Tower located in Capital City, Gonzo had the same dead-eyed gaze as when he first arrived in the Capital and was brought before the Fire Lord. He had expected to be executed for what he had said that day to the Princess, had kind of hoped for it actually, but apparently someone thought it was a better idea to send him here.
Of course he had been beaten on his first day by the guards, but after barely even flinching they must have found the act of beating him to be pointless. He had tried to warn the guards and anyone else who he thought would listen to him about the incoming threat that was the Avatar, but no one seemed to believe him, at least none of the Firebenders did. The man in the cell next to his seemed to believe him, but seeing as how the guy believed the Air nomads were a peaceful bunch, he was clearly delusional.
Like every day since he had been thrown in his cage, Gonzo was quiet as he listened outside for any sign of the chaos he knew to be coming. The guards would mock him each day and many of the other prisoners laughed at him too, but Gonzo knew better than any of them what was coming, and judging by the wind storm that had appeared out of nowhere on a sunny cloudless day, Gonzo knew the thing responsible for his nightmares had finally arrived, which is why he moved to hide himself in the corner of his cell.
"Oh, come on! Don't tell me you're afraid of a little wind?" A guard standing nearby said. Clearly the man had seen him cowering at the wind and decided to make light of it. "It's not the wind per se, but the cause of said wind. If you want proof, go outside. I'll wager my left arm there is a giant twister sweeping over some part of the coast." Gonzo said dryly. He knew it wasn't much of a wager considering he didn't think the guard would actually remove his arm, but he knew there was no way he was wrong. It was faint, but if one listened very closely they would be able to hear cries of panic off in the distance.
Either to humor him or to mock him, the guard actually went outside of the prison, and a few minutes later he came running back inside with a look of horror on his face. "There's no point in running. That hasn't helped anyone against him yet. You're better off hiding and praying he doesn't find you." Gonzo told the guard who didn't even spare him a glance as he ran down the corridor to where the other guards on duty were stationed.
It wasn't long before most if not all of the guards in the prison went running outside of the Tower, either to see the Twister for themselves or to go and lend aid to fight the Avatar. Seeing as how they didn't return, Gonzo figured it was the latter. 'Poor souls never had a chance.' He thought sadly, however they had brought it among themselves. After all, he had warned them.
For what seemed like hours the wind storm only seemed to increase in intensity, but Gonzo expected this. It was exactly what happened when he had encountered the monster the first time too. Like he had told the guard, it wasn't the wind that terrified him, but the cause of said wind, so when the chaotic storm raging outside suddenly vanished, Gonzo knew the true horror was soon to come, though if he was lucky he would be spared from having to see the demon in human skin again. As it turned out, he wasn't so lucky.
Footsteps echoed through the corridor, walking slowly and calmly, too calm for what had just happened outside. "Please, not him. Not him. Please don't let it be him." He whispered frantically to no one as he brought his knees up to his chest and hid his face in his arms. "You sound familiar. Do I know you?" Came the voice Gonzo hadn't been able to get out of his head since it spoke the message he was to deliver to the Fire Lord.
Lifting his head up to meet the demon's gaze, Gonzo saw the recognition in its eyes. "Hey, I do know you! You're the guy I sent to deliver the message. So, they locked you up… What some assholes." The demon said, almost sounding as if he were talking to an old acquaintance. "Mr. Pot! Mr. Kettle called! He says you're blaaa-…!" Gonzo started to say in a snarky tone when he realized exactly who it was he was speaking to. To his utter shock and surprise, the demon didn't get angry at his words, rather he began to laugh. "That was pretty good!" The demon said with a smile.
Gonzo didn't know why the demon was there in the prison, and he only got more confused when the demon began to unlock the cell doors that held the prisoners. He moved calmly without a care in the world, as if he wasn't expecting the guards to come back anytime soon. Thinking about some of the things he had seen the monster do, Gonzo was actually fairly certain the guards wouldn't be coming back at all.
"You all are free to go. I would recommend you not join the military, but to each their own. I'll be back to deal with the Fire Lord in a few weeks after I've taken care of the soldiers in the Earth Kingdom." Saying this, the demon left without another word, leaving the former prisoners confused for a time.
Gonzo was the first prisoner to leave the Tower and make his way to the edge of the cliff face that overlooked the Capital, and it was only then that he really got a good look at the destruction that had been inflicted upon the Fire Nation. The harbor was in ruin, the towers overlooking the coast were in shambles, and corpses of soldiers were everywhere. The royal palace was also collapsed and what was left of it was in flames.
"Oh my God!" Someone beside him said in shocked horror. "On the bright side, I don't think the soldiers are going to be looking for escaped prisoners." Gonzo spoke to the group. It was only after that he wondered if there were any soldiers at all still alive, but that could wait for later. For now, it was time they went to see if their families were still alive.
Given that none of his family lived in the Capital, Gonzo didn't see much point in going to look for his family here, but that didn't mean he couldn't go have a look around, and maybe if he was lucky he could find an intact ship that he could use to get the hell out of this cursed nation.
Making his way down the cliff face he and the others arrived at the square in front of the palace where they saw eight bodies in a line with their heads mounted on spears in front of them. "Those are the generals!" Someone cried out from behind him, but Gonzo knew that without the man saying anything. These men had been there in the throne room on the day he had delivered the message to the Fire Lord.
Ignoring them, Gonzo looked closer to the palace where another body lay, only this one was cut into a number of pieces, though the head that belonged to said body was displayed just as those belonging to the generals. Seeing the horrified expression on the young girl's face, Gonzo could almost feel the terror she went through before she died. 'Saw that one coming. He probably left Ozai alive to suffer with the fact that his entire bloodline is now gone.' Gonzo thought absently, not feeling much sorrow in knowing Princess Azula had suffered.
She was a complete cunt who was cruel to her subjects, and he honestly believed this was the best outcome. He shuddered to think what would have happened had she become Fire Lord, and if the demon hadn't wiped out thousands of people then he might have thanked him.
Rather than stand around and wait for someone to come and question him, Gonzo began making his way towards what was once the harbor. The demon said he would be back in a few weeks, and Gonzo had no intention of being anywhere even remotely close to here when he did.
*****
(General POV)
After wreaking havoc on the Fire Nation capital, Kaz moved along the coast, destroying any ship he happened to see while killing any Fire Nation soldier he happened to come across. He moved east for a time, crossing the main continent of the Fire Nation and then the second largest island of the nation which was akin to a small continent all by itself. Eventually he arrived at a point he had marked on his map, Fire Island Prison.
(A.N. No joke, this is a real place in the Avatar World, and this is actually what it's called.)
Like he had done to every other prison he had visited, Kaz went through and slaughtered the guards who were helpless against him. All of them were mostly trained on how to fight Waterbenders and how to keep them weak, but no one alive knew how best to fight against an Airbender, especially not one who was a savant when it came to using his bending to kill people, especially Firebenders.
Holding the guard by his hair, Kaz forced air into the man's lungs, all the while his bulging eyes silently pleaded for mercy, but Kaz wasn't hearing any of it. Seeing the people in cages suspended in the air, any remorse that might have slipped into his heart about what he was doing was quickly smothered, and now his resolve was only further solidified.
After pumping more air into the man's lungs than they could hold, they popped similar to how a balloon would when too much air was pumped into them. Blood sprayed from the man's mouth as his body went limp, but Kaz kept a firm grip on his hair for almost a full minute after as he stared into the lifeless eyes of the guard.
"W-Who are you?" Someone asked in a raspy voice, breaking Kaz out of his trance at which point he finally allowed the body of the dead guard to fall to the ground. Looking to where the voice had come from, Kaz saw an old man, probably in his late sixties or early seventies, staring at him from inside one of the cages. Looking around the room, Kaz saw that most of the cages were filled with old people who looked frail and haggard.
"My name is Kaz. I'm an Airbender, and I'm here to get you all out of here." Kaz said, hoping to give these people some reason for living, because as far as he could tell, they didn't really have one. "Are-are you the Avatar?" An old woman asked in a voice that was just as raspy as the man from before. "No, I am- er, I WAS his guardian. I'm just trying to fix his mistakes while he learns Waterbending up North." Kaz answered, feeling a slight annoyance at being roped in with the Avatar, though he couldn't really blame them for coming to the idea that he was the Avatar.
He had led most of the Fire Nation to believe it was the Avatar slaughtering them all simply because he was an Airbender, so these people who hadn't seen the outside world in what was probably years could be forgiven for making the assumption as well.
Grabbing a set of keys off of a nearby corpse, Kaz went around the room and began opening the cage doors. There were a few of the Waterbenders who were also chained inside their cages, which was confusing to say the least, but Kaz figured he could ask about that later. He moved about the place, making sure he didn't miss anyone before he returned back to where the Waterbenders had all gathered around a few barrels of water, all of them drinking to their heart's content.
"The kitchen is down this hall. Lets go grab some food, then we'll pack up anything left over before we head out. I haven't sunk the ships yet, so you should be able to take one of those back home." Kaz instructed the group that numbered almost two-hundred. Of the people in the group, the majority of them were old people, with maybe twenty-three of them being below the age of forty, though none of them looked younger than thirty.
After escorting them into the lunch room, Kaz let them all begin stuffing their faces with food while he looked on from the doorway. 'None of this might have happened if I had just been there a hundred years ago…' He thought darkly to himself, his anger at Aang almost palpable to those in the room. An old woman even stopped eating momentarily to look at him, but she quickly decided food was more important than trying to find something she couldn't see.
Kaz honestly wasn't sure how things would have been had he been there to help his people a hundred years ago, but based on how he was easily able to deal with Firebenders he figured he could have made at least some bit of difference.
Kaz let himself stew in anger for a few minutes before he took a deep breath to calm himself down, then he went over to the table and grabbed an apple. He wasn't overly hungry, but he did want something to munch on. "Where are you all from?" He asked after a while and it looked as though most everyone had enough to eat. There were of course a few people still shoveling food into their mouths, but that was understandable.
"Most of us are from the Southern Watertribe, but about thirty among us are from the Northern Tribe." An old man named Massak spoke up in answer to his question. "My sister and I are from a town in the Earth Kingdom." A woman who looked to be in her early thirties said. Given her age and how she looked to be in the best shape amongst the prisoners, Kaz figured she hadn't been here nearly as long as the others. Her name was Lirin, and her sister who was actually her twin was named Lana. Two more people claimed to be from the Earth Kingdom.
"Well, there are a few ships outside so those of you who want to sail North can if they wish to, and those who want to sail South can take another ship. As for you four from the Earth Kingdom, I doubt the four of you could handle one of those ships by yourselves, so maybe get one of the other groups to drop you off." Kaz said, not really seeing a better option than that.
"As if! It was the people in our town who sold us out! We're not going back there!" Lirin said, speaking for herself and her sister who firmly nodded along with her. "Okay then, where do you want to go?" Kaz asked the twins. "Have you been to both Water Tribes?" Lirin asked. "Yes." Kaz answered with a curious note in his tone. "Which one is the best protected?" Lirin asked, letting Kaz understand where she was going with this.
"The North has far more people and is more fortified, but you should know, women have basically no rights. They're not allowed to learn to use their bending to fight but simply to heal." Kaz explained, earning more than a few raised brows from those in the room, especially those who claimed to be from the Northern Tribe.
"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!" Lirin exclaimed, looking pointedly at one of the old men who claimed to be from the North. "Hey, don't look at me! I've been locked up for the last fifty-five years! It's not my fault everyone else lost their minds!" The man from the North said in defense of himself, but Lirin wasn't even listening to him as she asked Massak if she and her sister could go with the Southern Waterbenders.
An hour later two ships departed from the island, one heading North while the other headed South. Kaz meanwhile continued heading East, stopping at each of the islands of the Fire Nation to cause chaos along the way.
*****
Reaching the final island in the Fire Nation before he reached the Earth Kingdom, Kaz was surprised to see a building on the barren island covered in lava, but after learning that it was dedicated to the Avatar of all people it sort of made sense. 'Only idiots who follow that moron would be stupid enough to live here.' He thought after reading the signs near the doors. Kaz's interactions with Aang had removed any respect for the elevated position, and his resentment at the stupid glowy state for sealing him in the ice had not dwindled in the slightest.
Deciding he wanted to have a look around and maybe break some of the relics belonging to past Avatars, Kaz let himself inside the temple. He wandered the halls for a time, and after a while he wondered if there were even people here. Just when he had a slight bit of hope that people were smart enough to have abandoned the temple, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching.
He waited beside the statue of a dragon for almost a full minute before he saw them, four figures wearing red robes with ugly hats. "We are the Fire Sages, guardians of the Temple of the Avatar." The oldest one said in a calm regal voice. "And I'm sure your parents are proud of you for that." Kaz said dryly. He didn't give a flying fuck about the Fire Sages and he sure as hell didn't care about the damned Avatar.
Kaz was expecting the Sages to bow down to him, thinking him the Avatar due to his tattoos just like everyone else, however they surprised him by unleashing a stream of fire at him. "And here I thought Sages were supposed to be smart." Kaz remarked after jumping over the stream of fire, then clapped his hands, causing a blast of air that blasted the Sages into the wall behind them.
As calmly as could be, Kaz walked over to the nearest man who was groaning on the ground, and after swiping his arm at the man's neck he moved onto the next one. He had just decapitated the second one of them before the two remaining took notice of what he had done. "NO, NO, PLEASE!" The old man who had spoken before begged, pleading for his life.
Rather than say anything to him, Kaz swiped his hand over the other Fire Sage, leaving just him and the one who had spoken. Again, without speaking, he pointed his finger at the man's leg as he compressed air at the tip of his finger and began spinning it rapidly. When it started to give off a humming sound, he released it from his finger, causing a focused blast of wind that punctured right through the old Sage's right shoulder, causing the man to begin screaming in pain. Kaz repeated this action a few more times, shooting holes through the Sage's other shoulder, his kneecaps, his feet, his hands, and his elbows.
With the Sage in the right amount of pain, Kaz crouched down low enough that he could get a good look at the man's fear filled eyes. He didn't say anything, instead he simply stared into the man's eyes, taking notice of how there was no pride, and the bravado from before was no more. Done with the man, Kaz left him there to bleed out on the floor. If he didn't die from his wounds then he would live a miserable life, at least what life he had left.
Continuing on down the hall as if he didn't just kill three people and brutally torture another, Kaz wandered from room to room, finding nothing really of interest at first. He had just turned a corner when he was surprised to see a Sage kneeling on the ground. "And who are you?" Kaz asked, finding the sight of the man kneeling to him to be mildly disturbing. "I am a friend." The sage said as he slowly raised his head so he could look at Kaz. "I doubt that." Kaz said, not having any interest in whoever the guy was.
"I know why you're here, Avatar." He spoke, probably hoping what happened to the other Sages wouldn't happen to him. "I doubt that. You don't even know who I am." Kaz said, not impressed by the so-called "Sages". They were supposed to be wise, but so far he was sorely disappointed. "You wish to speak to Avatar Roku. I can take you to him." The man said as he began to rise to his feet.
"No I don't. As far as I'm concerned this whole war is his fault and he can go and fuck himself." Kaz stated, not having the least bit of interest in seeing or speaking to Avatar Roku. He was a tiny bit curious how he could talk to a dead man, but then he remembered reading how the Avatar could supposedly go into the Spirit World and figured this was a similar thing.
"Unless you can show me where the relics are or show me any important information, I simply don't care." Kaz said, dismissing the man as he began walking down the hallway, only to stop at the man's next words. "I can take you to Roku's chambers where he stored all of his belongings. As for important information, I've read all of the books and scrolls in the library, and there are a few I think you would find important." Hearing this, Kaz turned slowly back towards the man. He contemplated with himself for a few seconds, but then finally decided that it couldn't hurt. "Lead the way." He said, prompting the man to do as he was told.
They moved down some halls, through a few secret doors, down a tunnel leading deeper into the volcano, then finally up a long spiral staircase that really made no sense. Entering into the chamber, Kaz immediately went to the shelf containing the odd assortment of items. "These are relics from previous Avatars." The guy said proudly. The moment he finished speaking, the sound of a jade vase shattering on the floor echoed around the room, and Kaz didn't even try to hide the smirk on his face as he moved his hand over to another vase and pushed it off the shelf too.
"What are you doing?!" The sage cried out in panic as he dove to the floor and caught the vase before it hit the ground. He had barely let out a sigh of relief when the sound of a different vase breaking reached his ears. "Stop breaking things! These are important relics!" The sage cried in indignation. "I doubt they're all that important. Significant, maybe, but not that important. Anyway, you still haven't told me anything important yet." Kaz said plainly.
It took having to take a few steps away from the shelf of relics before the sage calmed down enough to give him his full attention and begin listing off the important things he thought Kaz should know, which weren't all that important, simply because Kaz wasn't the Avatar and the information was only important to said Avatar. That is until he mentioned how he could teach Kaz Firebending, and how the Water Sages and the Earth Sages could teach him bending as well. This caught his attention because Kaz didn't know the sages from each nation were in communication.
"Are the Fire Sages in contact with the other sages?" Kaz asked, voicing his concerns. "Not really, no. Not since the start of the war a hundred years ago, but I know there are others in the nations who are just as loyal to the avatar as myself, probably more so because you are the key to ending the war." The man said, but Kaz wasn't sure the man knew what he was talking about.
His thoughts must have shown on his face because the Sage decided to explain further. "It is not well known, even amongst the Fire Sages, but the first Sages from each nation originated from the same place." The man started, then went into detail about the spiritual place with a history that went all of the way back to the first Avatar.
Kaz had to admit that he was interested in the place which had been where all of the sages had originally been from, if for no other reason than to see if it actually existed, but he thought it might be cool to see how a civilization advanced after being cut off from the rest of the world for millennia.
When asking the guy if he knew where the island was with the sages, he could only give him a general location on the map, though the exact spot was unknown to anyone outside of the island in this day and age. Kaz was disappointed to see that he would need to backtrack towards the Fire Nation's main continent, then head south across the sea from there in order to arrive at the place, but he figured it would only add a few days to his travels if he went straight there.
"You've been a big help, whatever your name is, but you should probably save your teachings and lectures for the Avatar. He's in the Northern Watertribe right now learning Waterbending, but I'm certain he would love it if you went there and taught him Firebending. Come to think of it, that might be the best option. He'd be way more likely to trust you if you were in a city of people who could kill you in a blink. And as you say, the Water Sages and Fire Sages should be trying to help the Avatar." Kaz said to the man who seemed to freeze in confusion.
Not bothering to explain any further, Kaz made a gust of wind that knocked off everything on the shelf, breaking it and scattering the scrolls and objects around before he left the room and the temple entirely.
*****
(General POV)
It took a few days to get back to the Fire Nation's main continent, and then three more days of flying around the ocean in search of an island that he only had the general location of. It was a lot further south than the Sage had guessed, but Kaz had eventually found the damned place. It was a lot bigger than he had originally assumed, being about twenty times larger than Kyoshi Island.
Kaz was standing atop a mountain peak looking down over the island, looking for any sign of civilization when he heard something approaching him, only it wasn't from where he expected it to be. Looking up, he was shocked to see a little baby Sky bison about half his size. "Holy shit!" He cried in surprise, which only seemed to scare the little sky bison as it took off. Not wanting it to get away from him, Kaz shot off after it.
It took a few minutes of chasing the little sky bison, but eventually it led him to a large stone temple surrounded by a town. Flying above the temple were a number of other little Sky Bison, and down in a field near the town, Kaz could make out a herd of Sky Bison grazing. 'What the hell is this place?' He wondered to himself when he noticed someone on the ground waving at him to come on down.
Kaz flew down and was immediately besieged by a number of people who came to greet him and welcome him to the island. At first he thought they, like everyone else assumed he was the Avatar, but apparently they knew right away that he wasn't. After getting the greetings out of the way, Kaz was eventually led to where an old lady was residing. Evidently she was known as The Shaman, the spiritual leader of the island. At first Kaz didn't see what was so special about her, but after seeing her use Firebending to heal a little boy's arm, he was convinced she at least knew more than most Firebenders, which wasn't saying a whole lot.
When he asked about the Sky Bison, Kaz was told the spiritualists on the island had gathered the flying bison after the war had begun and the Firebenders began hunting the bison for sport. For the last hundred years they had been looking after the few herds they had gathered, making sure the species wasn't wiped out, something which Kaz was genuinely thankful for. Ever since waking up from the damned ice he could count the number of times he had been genuinely happy on one hand and still had a finger or two to spare, and this was one of those times.
For far longer than he expected, Kaz remained on the island. Throughout the day he would go and play with the bison, or more accurately he would play with one little baby bison who had taken a liking to him. Kaz was always sneaking it fruit, pies, and one time even a cake, and now the little thing would hardly leave his side. Even when he went to the library to try and find new ways to use his Airbending like the Shaman had done with her Firebending, the little bison was always hot on his heels.
After two and a half weeks, Kaz hadn't found much on using Airbending to heal or use it differently than he already did, but he did find something that made his research not be completely in vain. It was a type of bending that predated the four main bending arts, the formation of the four nations, as well as the creation of the Avatar itself. Energy Bending.
Energy Bending is the ability to bend another person's life energy. Before the Avatar came into existence and the separation of the four nations, the lion-turtles bent the energy within humans and themselves in order to grant humans the ability to bend one of the four elements. However, after the lion-turtles renounced their roles as protectors of mankind, Energybending was no longer used to grant people bending, and the knowledge of Energybending was almost completely lost.
The capabilities of Energybending is not well understood; what is known is that bending a person's life energy can impart them with knowledge instantly, remove their bending completely, or restore it. It could even awaken the potential of a non-bender, though in the past whatever element they received was due to whichever lion-turtle granted them bending.
This bending art can be perilous to the user, which is why so few have ever used it. To bend another's energy, your own spirit must be unbendable or you will be corrupted and destroyed.
Having read through everything on the subject he could find, Kaz realized something, which is how he found himself standing before the Shaman. "When you used your fire to heal that boy, you were using Energybending as well." Kaz said. It wasn't a question, for he knew that after reading through the books that healing through Waterbending had been learned through Energybending, only it was a much safer way to guide the energy in someone else's body than to force it around. Kaz was certain the Shaman's Firebending was combined with a minor form of Energybending, and that was how she had healed the boy.
"You are quite astute for one so young. Yes, I used Energybending." She admitted. "Can you really impart knowledge of how to use Energybending with Energybending?" He asked, finding the question itself to be a challenge all on its own.
"You can use it to impart what you already know, but you can't impart more than that. For instance, I am not a master at Energybending, so if I imparted what I knew to you, you would not be a master, you would simply know what I know." She explained, which was again confusing. "Can you teach me what you know?" Kaz finally asked, getting to the real reason for him coming to see her.
''I could, but I must warn you, it is not something to be used whenever you feel like it. It must be used cautiously, and only when absolutely necessary. One wrong slip and you could not only kill yourself but whoever it is you were using it on." Kaz nodded her warning away having already read about it in the library, and after making sure he was sure of it for the fifth time she placed a thumb on his forehead and another on his chest.
Rather than get her memories like he expected, he felt his energy being guided around in a certain way that seemed to click inside his mind. It felt as though he was experiencing his energy being moved around for hours but when she stopped and he opened his eyes he found only a few seconds had passed, which was crazy. He had no idea how that worked but he wasn't going to complain about it. Besides, now he knew how to not only manipulate his own energy but the energy of others. "This ability makes no sense, you do know that right?" He asked the Shaman who just shrugged at him before she left to go do her own thing.
*****
After spending three weeks on the island, Kaz decided that he was long overdue in the Earth Kingdom, so with that he took off into the sky, only this time he wasn't alone. "Come on, Swishy!" He called out to the little sky bison who was flying after him. The little sky bison could never replace the friend he had lost, but Kaz hoped that by naming the little bison with a similar name that he would forever remember his friend, and hoped that her spirit lived on in the baby bison. For how much it loved sweets, Kaz didn't doubt that they were one and the same.
*****
(Sokka POV)
It had been a few weeks since they had arrived in the Northern Watertribe, and things were honestly going great in Sokka's opinion. He trained with the other soldiers every so often, and he got to spend time with Princess Yue. Katara finally got to learn Waterbending from Master Paku after losing to him in a duel, for whatever reason, Sokka didn't know, but he didn't care. His sister was happy, and was learning at a ridiculously fast pace, if her stories of their training was accurate.
Sokka only wished Aang would take his training half as seriously as his sister, because as it stood, he was probably the worst student in Paku's class, but Aang was a bit of a goofball. Without Kaz there to keep him in line, Aang finally felt as though he could relax himself, which Sokka didn't think would go over well if Kaz ever did come back. Sure, Aang was twelve years old, so his behavior could be forgiven, however Aang failed to understand that they were at war, and the sooner he mastered the four elements and stopped the Fire Lord, the sooner the war would be over.
Aang didn't see it that way, and Sokka now understood why Kaz treated Aang the way he did. Well, part of the way he did. He didn't think Aang deserved to get the crap kicked out of him like Kaz had done to him, but he needed a strong hand to guide him, or at least get some sense knocked into his head.
Presently, Sokka was walking down the street with Yue, telling her a few jokes when suddenly three soldiers with spears ran towards them, or Yue to be specific. "Princess Yue! Your father wants you back at the palace immediately!" One of the soldiers said quickly. "What's going on?" Yue asked, finding the situation to be rather sudden. "We've captured a Firebender who was approaching the city. We don't know if he came alone, but we are currently doing a search of the area." Another of the guards answered, surprising both Yue and Sokka with his words.
"Are we under attack?!" Sokka asked even as he drew his sword from his back. "We don't know. However, the princess's safety is our first priority. Please come with us." The final soldier answered, and this time Sokka was right there with them. If the city was under attack, the palace was the safest place for Yue.
*****
After arriving at the palace, Sokka remained with Yue for the next few hours until finally it was confirmed that there was just the one Firebender, a Sage to be precise. Being that he was indeed a sage, the man was granted an audience before Chief Arnook, the village elders, of course Yue was present, as was Aang.
"My name is Shyu, one of the Fire Sages who served at the temple of Avatar Roku. I have come here in search of the Avatar, to teach him the ways of Firebending as per the orders of the other Airbender." The man explained, surprising everyone with his words, especially the last part in particular. "Kaz sent you?!" Aang asked in surprise.
"I never got his name, but if he is the other Airbender, then yes." Shyu answered simply, then went on to explain the full story. Apparently Kaz had stopped at the temple of Avatar Roku a few weeks ago after slaughtering his way through the Fire Nation. He killed the other sages who had joined the Fire Lord, leaving Shyu as the last Fire Sage. According to Shyu, Kaz had liberated the prisons in the Fire Nation, killed all of the generals, killed the princess, destroyed the capital, and slaughtered thousands before seemingly disappearing.
Of course they could already confirm some of the information based on the testimony of the returned Waterbending prisoners who had been held in the Fire Island Prison. They had arrived more than a week before Shyu and had told them all about how Kaz liberated them, so it wasn't too difficult to believe Shyu's words.
"Kaz didn't say if he was going to be coming here, did he?" Aang asked, looking slightly mortified at the thought. "I have no idea. He simply flew off into the sky." Shyu answered, not putting Aang's worries to rest as the kid was frantically searching the ceiling of the room, almost as if he suspected Kaz was going to suddenly drop through the roof at any moment.
"We will allow you to stay in our tribe so you might teach the Avatar, however, for our protection and yours, you will be under constant observation. Should you be found spying or moving throughout the city without your observers, you will be killed. Do you understand?" Chief Arnook said, getting a nod of understanding from Shyu. Sokka wasn't sure he trusted Shyu, but if Kaz sent him here, then he couldn't be all bad. That still wouldn't stop him from keeping an eye on the guy.