When the Mask Comes Off: Chp.5

Because it has to be said, I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender, or any of the names or characters of the show. I merely control them for my own twisted pleasure from this point in my story on.

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Chapter 05:

</u>When Arrows Strike</u>

“If you want at him,” Aang’s face was full of certainty as he took a step towards the middle-aged general, “you’ll have to go through me too.”

A shiver ran down Katara’s spine; Aang never said something like that unless he meant it. She was about to second his decision when the masked man held out his hand toward the airbender and moved his head slowly from side to side.

Apparently the masked man- what had Sho called him? The Blue Spirit?- wanted to fight alone.

Sho’s first blast of fire hit the Blue Spirit almost head on but the masked man managed to deflect the flame sideways using his swords. He then rushed Sho, swinging his swords above his head then in a swift movement to the side, before missing the admiral’s neck by a hair’s breadth.

Katara watched in amazement as the two warriors circle each other and exchanged blows. Their fight went on forever it seemed. Every time the admiral blew fire at the Blue Spirit, she sucked in a breath, hopelessly caught up in the battle and unable to focus on anything else. She’d thought that no one but another bender would stand a chance against a firebender, but found that she was sadly mistaken.

She didn’t recognize the form of fighting her masked friend was using but it was fast and it was tricky. Twice he almost managed to knock the older man off balance, and more than once he managed to cut the admiral’s clothes.

She also noticed that the Blue Spirit was making sure to keep the fire away from her and the group. He seemed to fly around the room; the bait as much as the admiral was the hunter. As the masked man drew Sho further and further away from the barrels and deeper into the bowls of the ship, Aang followed them. Katara stayed behind with Toph and her brother.

She looked over at Sokka and saw that her warrior brother was watching just as intently. His hands were clenched and she was sure that, like her, he had been ready to intervene if the Blue Spirit got in over his head.

Katara knew it was unfair: the masked man had gotten them out of their cells and out of danger more than once; he deserved their protection, even if he chose to fight alone in the first place. She locked eye with Sokka and he nodded, running off after the fight.

“Toph-” Katara started, and turned slightly towards the smaller girl,

“Yeah, I know,” the earthbender said and leaned against one of the barrels. “’Stay here’. I’m useless in this metal beast, what else would I do?”

Katara smiled and followed her brother.

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Zuko may have been holding his own against the admiral, but now he was getting tired. He couldn’t use firebending or the brat’s group would never trust him when they got out of here.

The admiral was a master, and Zuko silently thanked his training: if his uncle hadn’t been teaching him so fervently for the last few months, he would have never been able to stand up to his man and come away relatively unharmed.

Zuko’s arms were lead, and he knew the reason; he’d always been one to hid in the shadow and surprise his enemy as the Blue Spirit. But here, where the admirals’s fire lit the whole space with every move, and with nothing to hide behind because the room was mostly empty, he found himself outclassed and outmatched.

As Zuko darted between fire blasts and under punches, he got slower and slower. Against fire, speed was crucial, and with one false move it finally caught up with him.

The admiral managed to knocked Zuko back far enough with a fire flare that the prince found himself on his butt and without his weapons.

The older man stood straight then, a huge grin on his face as he walked forward slowly. “Got you,” he snipped, and Zuko felt the burning of his own fire deep within him.

But before Zuko could resort to firebending and save himself, a yellow and orange blur shot out from behind him and knocked the admiral back ten feet. The Avatar got off the obviously stunned man and ran back towards the downed prince He stood in front of Zuko, and grinned down at him, offering him a hand up.

Pissed because he had been losing and too embarrassed to let it go, Zuko jumped off the floor and grabbed the airbender by the front of his cloak-like shirt.

“Don’t interfere,” he growled, and dropped brat to the floor. Taking another step toward the admiral and hell-bent on finishing their fight, he picked up his swords from the ground.

A soft blast of air to his neck got Zuko to turn around, waiting for the airbender to attack him. “Please stop it,” the Avatar said. “Let just get out of here while he’s down.” He was pleading and Zuko’s head was throbbing with anger.

When the small boy grabbed him by the arm, Zuko swiped a sword at the airbender, placing the blade to his throat.

“Please,” the boy said again and the sound of footsteps drew his attention to their side. Someone was approaching them quickly and Zuko lowered his sword, slipping it and its mirror into their sheath across his back.

The water tribe idiots were back, Zuko noted. He breathed deep breaths and glared in their direction when they drew near. He didn’t understand why, but having them in close proximity to himself was pissing him off even more than usual.

Zuko just rushed back toward the barrels and left the brats in his wake. A few second later, and out of sight, he marched over to where the blind girl stood and she straightened when he approached.

“Hey,” she said pleasantly.

He just looked passed her and at the barrels. They couldn’t light the stupid things, but he could, and the faster he did the faster he could get away from them. He let his anger fill him and he pulled the girl out of the way. Taking aim, his blew the barrels.

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Katara had watched, confused, as the masked man sheathed his swords and walked away from Aang. The younger boy looked down at the floor as the Blue Spirit disappeared into the dark, headed toward Toph.

“Aang?” Katara asked, worried.

He looked up at her, his eyes were sad. “Let’s go,” he said, and looked back toward the unconscious admiral. “Let’s just go.” He started walking in the same direction as the Blue Spirit.

“Are you okay?” Sokka asked as Aang passed him. Aang sighed and kept walking.

The explosion that shook the boat was definitely bigger than Katara had expected it to be. She fell on her butt hard but was back on her feet within seconds. She rushed after her brother and Aang, towards the room with the barrels.

“Help!” Toph’s watery shriek rose out of the water below.

Aang and Sokka were already in front of the ragged scar-like hole when Katara got up. The masked man was looking out over the side with one foot on the edge when Sokka jumped through the hole without hesitation.

“Toph!” Aang cried, and wasn’t far behind, leaping into the water.

Katara reached the side and looked over at the masked man before looking at Toph floundering in the river below. Sokka had just pulled her far enough out of the water to breath when Aang got to them.

“You idiot!” the blind girl screamed.

“Hey! I just saved you!” Sokka yelled back, and Toph splashed at him with water.

“Not you, I meant the creepy silent guy!”

Aang looked back towards Katara. “He didn’t push you in did he?”

“No,” the small girl growled. “That stupid blast sent me flying all the way out here and my ears are ringing! Not to mention my nose is full of water.”

Katara looked over to the Blue Spirit, saw his foot still on the edge of the hull, and realized that he might’ve been about to jump in after Toph when they arrived. Because he’d done so much already, she gave him the benefit of the doubt and smiled at him. He just looked over at her, stoic as usual.

“Katara, let’s go!” Sokka said as he grabbed the angry earthbender and quickly swan under the docks. Aang turned to look back at them before following her brother.

Katara poised herself at the edge of the hole, and turned to look at the masked man.

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Sunlight illuminated the floor before him. The hole the blasting jelly had blown was huge and had taken out at least three or four floors above where he and the waterbender girl stood now.

“You’re coming too, right?” she asked when she turned back to look at Zuko from her diving position.

Zuko thought about it for a second. He’d get off the ship but he sure as hell wasn’t following her and that brat any longer. He shook his head and saw her eyes darkened.

That surprised him. She looked really disappointed and she turned completely around to look at him. She took a step toward him and he took a step back.

“Well, thank you anyway for getting us out.” She smiled sadly and bowed to him. “We really-”

Her words were cut off by her cry of pain as three arrows sprouted from her back. Shock took root first, followed closely by anger as he rushed forward to catch her as she fell forward towards him. Looking up, Zuko knocked away three more arrows as they whisked down at them from two floors above.

At point blank range and with gravity on their side, the archers looking down at them as good as killed her.