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Traitor's Face - Chapter 14
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Literature Text
The Crucible
It turned out that there were few things as uncomfortable as having a 12-year-old Airbender pressed against one's side, a flying lemur wrapped around one's neck, and an agitated ten-ton sky bison taking up all the free space in the same cargo bay where one happened to be hiding from evil Fire Nation hunters.
And yet Sokka felt a certain dread, as he listened to the echoes of soldier boots marching across The Tub’s main deck, that he would soon be discovering just how much more uncomfortable life could be.
It was just as well that Mai wasn't here. She hated touching animals and other people. Of course, if she hadn't found a hiding spot yet, that could be its own set of problems.
Mai hated a lot of things, but she was starting to find a special place of complete and utter loathing in her heart for the masked troublemaker in the Blue Spirit mask.
He was standing in the hallway of The Tub's lower decks as if he owned the ship, tall and solid and carrying his dao broadsword, blocking Mai's path to the cargo bay. If the Blue Spirit was looking for a fight, that was bad enough, because Mai didn't think she could beat him even under the best of circumstances, never mind when she was tired and sore and seasick, but now he had chosen to confront her while The Tub was being boarded by the Fire Navy. Even if she survived the fight, she had no doubts that the Fire Nation's soldiers would recognize her and arrest her for treason against the Homeland.
She hadn't even really committed treason.
Yes, it was safe to say that Mai really hated her current situation.
The Blue Spirit raised his sword, and all Mai could do in response was groan nauseously and sink to the floor.
Commander Zhao, designated hunter of the Avatar, scion of his family, and rising star in the Fire Navy, stood on the deck of an Earth Kingdom scow and hoped that there was nothing aboard that would mess his polished armor. "You five," he said to one line of the soldiers he had brought over from his command ship, "shall search the crew quarters and engine room. The rest of us," he turned to face the other eight soldiers, "shall accompany Captain Haru to the cargo bay to verify that he did indeed set sail without any worthwhile cargo." With that, he turned on his heel and faced the youthful captain with the desperate mustache. "After you, of course."
Captain Haru led the way down the stairs from the deck to the ship's interior. At the first fork in the path, Zhao let the smaller group of soldiers proceed to the engine room, and then continued on to the cargo bay. He couldn't help but notice that this Haru was walking fairly slowly, almost hesitantly.
Well, that was interesting. Zhao wondered, with some eagerness, what he would find in the cargo bay.
Mai might not have had the strength or balance to fight the Blue Spirit, but her seasickness hadn't yet taken away her will to live, so as the blade of the dao saber reached its highest point before the plunge that would take it to her flesh, she leaned forward, pulled a single blade out of her sleeve, and stabbed it down at her attacker's foot.
Even here, in this cramped corridor on a rundown cargo ship out to sea, the Blue Spirit was fast. He yanked his foot back as soon as Mai moved, but she was close enough that her own diminished speed was no real impediment, and so while he avoided having a sliver of sharp metal jammed into his flesh, he wasn't quite able to move his entire boot out of the way. Mai's blade sank into the heavy material, through the empty space in the toe of the boot, and on into the sole, lodging solidly into the floorboards.
Then Mai threw herself backwards and began crawling away as fast as she could.
She didn't turn around to look. She heard the Blue Spirit move, heard the whistle of his sword through the air, heard a grunt of surprise and the sound of a body striking the floor and the clatter of a metal blade dropped haphazardly against wood. And that was why people shouldn't leap at their victims while their shoes were nailed to the floor. Mai's stomach roiled at all the stress and motion of her escape, but she was able to smile through it; it was as true today as it was the day Azula first whispered the advice into her ear: "If you can't kill your opponent, the next best thing is to trip him."
Mai stopped briefly to throw up, and then continued crawling her way to the engine room.
Captain Haru reached to open the door to the cargo bay, but Zhao blocked him. "Not yet. Soldiers, get into attack position. We're going to storm this compartment, and anyone inside is to be considered a deadly enemy."
All eight soldiers efficiently arranged themselves into a staggered line; the hallway was too small for them to stand side-by-side, but by lining up shoulder to shoulder rather than in a straight line, each soldier would be able to more quickly pass through the doorway and clear the line of fire for the person behind him. The skull-like faceplates covered the soldiers' expressions, and Zhao wondered briefly if any of them were hiding nervous looks. After all, it might be the Avatar ready and waiting for them in the cargo bay.
Zhao kicked open the door and shoved Captain Haru through it first.
Lieutenant Xi was given orders directly by Commander Zhao to investigate any oddities on the Earth Kingdom ship, which naturally would have included any suspicious cargo or people.
The problem was that he had no idea what to do with an empty boot that had been nailed to the floor with a small fighting blade, a short distance from a puddle of stomach fluids.
While his subordinates waited, Xi prodded the boot with the tip of his sword. It didn't explode, or wiggle, or do anything unexpected of a nailed-down boot. While Xi was grateful that he hadn't stumbled on the world's oddest-looking bomb, he was also a bit vexed that the only thing suspicious about the whole affair was the presence of the boot itself.
"Obviously," he said to other three soldiers under his command, "it's some kind of prank by one of the crew members. Let's move on to the engine room."
No one objected, and Xi was quite grateful. He wasn't really cut out for solving puzzles like that.
Something in which he felt more confident about his ability to handle was the sound of a person moving in one of the crew quarters. Xi kicked in the door to find a mop-headed young man, perhaps sixteen or seventeen years old, lying in a hammock in nothing but a pair of shorts. The young man said, "Wha?"
"On your feet!" Xi raised his sword. "Why didn't you assemble on the main deck with the rest of the crew?"
"Wha?" The young man pushed himself out of the hammock and blinked in slow repetition. "When did you guys get here?" He yawned.
Xi snarled and grabbed the possibly hung-over crew member's arm. "Get up to the main deck. This is an official Fire Navy inspection, and I won't tolerate any interference." To his credit, the young man rubbed the sleep from his eyes and ran off back toward the stairs.
Now, on to the engine room.
As Zhao watched, Captain Haru tumbled into the empty cargo bay to land flat on his face.
Zhao had spent years of his life aboard ships of varying kinds, and so when he heard the thump echo through the compartment, he knew right away that it was empty; a full bay wouldn't have reflected the sound like that. He peeked his head through the doorway, and confirmed that cargo bay was nothing but a wide open space with some small supply cases lashed against one wall. Old hay was scattered all over the floor. No Avatar, no cargo.
Zhao waved the rest of his soldiers into the compartment. "Check those cases and make sure there's nothing suspicious." He sniffed the air, and turned to where Captain Haru was picking himself off the floor. "Why does it smell like animal in here?"
"Our last cargo was a herd of ostrich horses," Haru said, brushing himself off. "Didn't have time to give it a full scrubbing, so it still stinks a little."
"Hmph." Zhao watched his soldiers poke around the mostly empty compartment, obviously trying to look busy in spite of not actually having much to investigate, and privately conceded that the ship and its crew were probably exactly what they appeared to be.
Unless something was found in the engine room.
Below the cargo bay, in the second cargo compartment, Sokka held his breath and listened to the sounds of heavy soldier boots coming through the ceiling above him.
Behind him, Appa shifted slightly, but before he could move around much more or actually produce a sound, Aang was petting the sky bison's head and whispering something that sounded like it could be soothing. It must have been soothing enough, because Appa stilled.
The sounds of the boots receded; the soldiers must have been leaving.
Sokka exhaled- not too loudly- in relief. If they had moved the hay on the floor, they might have seen the cracks in the trapdoor that led to the smuggling compartment. If they had ripped down the cases with the crew's supply of food in them, they might have seen the switch and mechanisms that opened the floor-doors.
Sokka hated it when scenarios started with 'if.' Hopefully, this one would be over soon.
Engine rooms had lots of hiding places, but Mai had found that a limited number of them were accessible to someone with a cramping stomach who couldn't stand up straight or jump worth a candle. That number, it turned out, was exactly one. And so it was that she had been forced to dig her way into the big coal hopper and cover herself with sooty, filthy, black lumps of rock. The one consolation was that the earthy smell of the coal, a dead scent that reminded her of Fire Nation warships and even the factories of the Homeland, seemed to be helping her seasickness a little.
Or else that was just sheer terror that at any moment, a Firebender or Blue Spirit or someone would grab her by the hair and kill her.
She clutched a knife, and was making a vow that she would take her attacker down with her- even as the first soldier was saying, “All clear.”
Zhao sighed. He had only been able to stretch the inspection out to an hour, on a ramshackle ship this size, and so his entertainment had come to an end for now. "Very well," he said to Captain Haru, up on the deck of the cargo ship. "I see no reason to hold you any further." He held out a hand, and a lieutenant deposited a set of stamped papers into it. Zhao looked them over to confirm that they were properly completed, and then gave them to Haru. "These will confirm the inspection. Proceed to Shu Jing, and avoid the waters around Crescent Island. The Navy is performing some maneuvers there, and any civilian ships that blunder into things risk being sunk or seized with no compensation."
He didn't even look at Captain Haru's bow before stomping off to the plank that would take him back to his own ship.
Sooner or later the Avatar would come. Zhao would just have to remain vigilant, and keep in mind the rewards he stood to gain.
The first thing Aang did was go hunting for Mai.
He had been worried out of his mind for her during the whole inspection, but Appa had also needed him to stay calm in a dark and cramped space, so he had been forced to wait to go on his frantic search. After Haru came down to open the smuggling compartment and confirm that the Fire Navy had gone, Aang had left Sokka to help get Appa back into view of the sky, and sped through the ship shouting for Mai, even using his Airbending to enhance the echoes.
Then, at last, Aang had called out, "Mai! It's safe!" in the engine room, and a single hand pushed its way up through the pile of coal near the boiler.
Aang had dragged out a filthy figure that was human in shape only, and the sole confirmation of Mai's identify was the gravelly voice that said, "I need a bath, and something to wash the puke out of my mouth. Immediately."
And so it was that an hour later, Aang and Sokka met a freshly scrubbed Mai in her small cabin. She had wrapped herself in several layers of robes, but her hair was left free and hanging, a shadow dogging her movements. Momo immediately squirmed out of Sokka's arms and jumped over to perch on Mai's head, and her only response was to give a sigh that smelled faintly of cheap wine.
Aang sat down on the plank that was serving as the bed, across from Mai. "How are you feeling?"
She gave a snort. "The seawater I had to bathe in was freezing, the wine tasted rancid, I have a headache, I think there will be coal dust up my nose for the rest of my life, and I still don't want to acknowledge the existence of food." She lowered her eyes, and then added, "But Haru turned the engine back on now that we've passed inspection, and that's helped with my seasickness. Thanks for asking."
"No problem." Aang wished he had known how hard this whole voyage was going to be on her. He wasn't sure what else they could have done to get safely to Crescent Island, but surely they could have gotten some herbs or something to help her feel better. But then, that wasn't her only problem. "So you said the Blue Spirit attacked you again."
She nodded. "Right out in the hallway. I'm assuming that the Fire Nation inspectors didn't find and arrest anyone in an ugly opera mask?"
Sokka leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. "Nope. Once again, the mysterious Blue Spirit came and went without anyone but you seeing him."
Mai nodded again. "You know it's Jet, right?"
Aang blinked in surprise, and turned to Sokka, who simply shrugged. Aang turned back to Mai. "I don't like him much, either, but why do you think it's him?"
"Well, there's how crazy he is about me being from the Fire Nation. That's a pretty big clue by itself. Why else would someone be harassing me like this? He's also a swordfighter, and the Blue Spirit uses a dao blade. And then there was that whole thing with my encryption cog."
"But I was with Jet in the engine room at the time," Sokka said. "I was with him when it rolled into view."
"So he found some way to arrange it. Come on, I'm sure you could come up with a dozen ways to make that happen."
"Well, seven off the top of my head." Sokka stroked his chin. "Ooh, now eight. Okay, maybe I can get to twelve if I had more time to think."
Aang ran a hand over his bald head, and Momo jumped over to perch right on the arrow, his little paws warm on the bare scalp. "But what are we going to do about this? We don't have any proof, but this is a real danger to you. The Blue Spirit is trying to kill you, or get you in trouble so that someone else kills you."
Mai pulled a small blade with a ring on the base from somewhere in her robes, and began spinning it around a finger. "Simple self-defense. We throw Jet overboard, or get Haru to lock him up or something. Ooh, maybe Haru will tie rocks to his feet and then throw him overboard."
Aang felt sick at the thought. "We can't just kill him! That will only cause more problems with the rest of the crew, and we don't even know for sure that it's Jet. I don't even want to hear about throwing people overboard."
"So then he'll kill me before we get to Crescent Island." Mai stared back at Aang, a solid, uncompromising stare that sent Momo leaping over to the top of Sokka's head.
Sokka was so busy thinking that he didn't even seem to notice. "So we need proof of some kind before we can do anything more. That actually shouldn't be very hard. We're stuck on a boat with limited hiding places and a set of suspects who can't escape. It's just a matter of searching for and producing a mask. Even if we can't tie it to Jet or whoever, the Blue Spirit isn't going to be able to attack again without his disguise. So he has to lay low, or reveal himself." His eyes focused on Aang. "And we have to do it before we get to Crescent Island tomorrow night."
Aang frowned. "Why before then? I thought we're supposed to come back to the boat once we free your sister."
Sokka turned to Aang and started to speak, but then realized that Momo was sitting on top of his head and shooed the lemur away before working to fix his ponytail. Momo perched on Aang’s shoulder when Sokka finally got around to making his point: "If we can't escape cleanly and you have to fly away from Crescent Island in a hurry, are you going to come back here, not knowing who's going to be ready and waiting? Or are you and Mai going to fly off by yourselves because it's too risky to come back to a boat with a Blue Spirit waiting on it?"
Aang blinked. "Wait, what about you? And Katara?"
"Hey, we don't know what will happen on Crescent Island. I'm just making the point that if we haven't solved anything by the time we take off for the Waterbender prison, Mai's still going to be in danger once we're done there."
Mai caught the blade she had been spinning in a reverse grip and stabbed it into the wall behind her without turning. "When we're done? Yeah, I guess that will still be a problem." A ghost of her old smirk flickered across her face. "But by then I'll be in a position to fight back, with allies and no seasickness. I don't think we have to worry about that contingency much, at least not right now."
Aang thought that was a good point, but said, "Still, Sokka's right that it will be easier to get it done now. Let's start looking, and I think you should stay near one of us until we find the proof we need."
Mai sighed. "I hate throwing up for an audience."
The Fire Nation's proximity to the Earth Kingdom was as much bane as it was boon. It was relatively easy to transport soldiers and supplies to the war front, just a matter of crossing what eventually became known as the Crucible Sea and landing at one of the colony ports. None of the Earth Kingdom's monarchs had ever maintained much of a navy before Sozin launched what he had called The Glorious War, but the seas did not remain uncontested for long. In the initial phase of what would eventually be called the Hundred Years War, the Fire Navy had been forced to deal with pirates-turned-privateers who attacked supply ships, but when it came to a fight between disciplined sailors on metal destroyers and thieves on old wooden junks, the result was largely academic. After almost a decade, the Earth Kingdom had finally built and crewed enough ships to make a real fight of it and earn the Crucible its name, and the various privateers were ready to earn their commissions in less crowded venues.
And so the pirates had turned to the Fire Nation itself.
They began raiding the ports of the Outer Islands, stealing all they could carry and burning everything else. Soon enough, the Earth Kingdom picked up on the tactic, although those crews were more interested in destruction and harassment than theft. Various task forces were created to deal with the threats, but hunting on water was not as easy as hunting on land. The only way to solve the problem had been to keep all enemies out of Fire Nation waters entirely, pushing the fighting back onto the open seas where armor, firepower, and provisions were all that mattered. Thus, the first blockade was enacted, a massive deployment of enough Fire Navy ships to keep the entire western boundary of the Crucible Sea within the sight of one vessel or another- and within catapult range.
By the time Zhao had joined the Navy, the blockade had become a simple fact of life, like weather and buoyancy. It was so successful that Admiral Iroh had stolen the idea outright to slowly draw a noose around the Northern Water Tribe.
When the war came to a close with the return of Sozin's Comet, there had been talk of finally dismantling the blockade. Zhao had no opinion one way or another, as blockade duty was no path to advancement and he was already in command of the primary Navy base of the United South Pole Colonies, but it was the subject of quite a bit of debate within High Command. It was eventually decided that the blockade could be reduced to a mere patrol circle, albeit one that was heavily sailed by a small navy of ships, to see if any threats might probe the more porous boundary.
Then Zhao had discovered that the Avatar himself was heading for Crescent Island, at an unknown time from an unknown direction. Not only was the blockade restored with impressive speed, but now Zhao himself was a part of it.
It made him almost regret ever twisting the truth out that Suki girl.
Zhao was lounging in his cabin, pretending to be reading reports but really wishing for a drink. He had to admit that the restored blockade made tactical sense, as the Avatar would have to cross it to get to his destination, and any fighting on Crescent Island itself could destabilize what had always been a situation with potential for disaster. The facilities there were uniquely suited to manage Waterbenders, but it was impossible to forget that an entire ocean waited just beyond the prison's walls. After what he had seen in the storms of the South Pole, Zhao had no doubt that the Avatar could very well create quite disaster, indeed.
Still, it didn't mean he had to like the blockade, and the reduced odds of capturing the Avatar himself.
Zhao was actively grumbling over that notion when there was a knock on his cabin door. "Come in." His aide led in Lieutenant Xi, one of the soldiers under his direct command who had been on duty earlier when that Earth scow had come across the blockade. "What is it, Lieutenant? As you can see, I'm very busy right now."
Xi bowed with a stiffness that immediately caught Zhao's interest. "Commander, sir. I felt it my duty to report an oversight I believe I have committed."
Zhao was immediately on his feet. "Tell me."
"Sir, I reported that there was nothing unusual found during my inspection. The only thing I came across seemed to be the result of a prank between members of the cargo ship's crew, a- a boot pinned to the floor with a blade. I was in the mess talking about it when I realized something- the blade was a Fire Nation weapon."
Zhao stepped closer to the man, fists clenching at his sides. "How do you know? Tell me details."
"Sir! It was a small blade, a holdout weapon, and the quality of the metal was easily military grade. It gleamed with a whiteness that only the finest steel has, and the flat of the blade was painted crimson. I've seen such weapons before, of course, but it only just occurred to me to question why it would be on a dirt vessel, and-"
"Idiot!" Zhao immediately ran out of his cabin, to where his aide was waiting. "Have the ship sailing immediately! We're leaving the blockade and heading for Crescent Island. Tell the captain to burn the engines out if he has to, we need to get there now." The aide bowed and ran off to carry out the orders.
That just left Xi. Zhao returned to his cabin to find the lieutenant standing at attention, trying desperately to keep his face under control. As well he should.
Zhao walked right up to him and struck the man across the face. "You're hereby demoted; get down to the engine room and start shoveling."
Xi started to bow, but then stopped himself. "Sir, I contest."
"On what grounds?"
"None, sir. But I would not be a good Son of Fire if I did not ask for trial by combat."
Zhao snorted. "Very well. We'll have an Agni Kai after I capture the Avatar. Providing you don't get thrown overboard, first. Now get out of my cabin!"
So much for the blockade.
It was almost anti-climactic when Sokka found the Blue Spirit mask so easily in Jet's cabin.
No, actually, it was entirely anti-climactic. And far too easy. Aang and Mai were up on deck in the last minutes of daylight, the former playing with Momo and the latter cursing whoever invented oceans, both of them being conspicuously conspicuous for any murderous stalker warrior types. Sokka was charged with the first phase of the investigation: sneaking into everyone's cabins and rummaging around for carelessly hidden Blue Spirit evidence. But it wasn't actually supposed to work!
Nevertheless, the Blue Spirit mask in was Sokka's hand, pulled right out of Jet's knapsack. It was made of heavy wood, and very nicely painted; Sokka bet that it would almost look alive in the right lighting. Without letting go of the mask (certainly not because of an irrational worry that it would disappear as soon he put it down and create even more confusion) he pinched himself and confirmed that he was indeed awake and capable of feeling pain. Okay, so this was all real. Nothing to do then but bring the mask up to the main deck and make dramatic accusations.
Sokka stood up, turned around, and found Jet standing in the doorway.
Sokka said, "Gaah!"
Jet said, "You're a little high strung." His gaze went to the mask in Sokka's hands, and he gave a small smile. "Figured it out, huh?"
Sokka held the mask up in front of his chest like a shield, just in case. "I know you're the Blue Spirit. You've been trying to kill Mai."
Jet nodded. "You must have lots of questions. Sit down, and we'll talk."
"Wait, what? Talk? You just want to trap me in here so that you can- so that you can-"
Jet snorted. "Strangle you to protect my identity? Thump your head against the wall until you've forgotten your own name? That would be pretty counter-productive, don't you think?" He pushed past Sokka and sat down on the plank serving as the bed.
Sokka remained standing. "Okay, so that doesn't make any sense. But hating Mai just because she's Fire Nation doesn't make sense, either. Believe me, I hate the Fire Nation, too. Like, a burning, festering hate that makes my stomach hurt and keeps me awake at night sometimes. But Mai's on our side. Killing her is the opposite of being helpful."
"Oh, I wasn't trying to kill her because she was born in the Fire Nation. I'm doing it because she's probably still working for them." Jet blinked. "But for the record, I wasn't trying to kill her all those times. Getting her caught would have been enough."
Sokka lowered the mask. "What do you mean, probably still working for them? You just admitted that they want to arrest her!"
"I have a source. I do favors from time to time, and in exchange I get some good information about how the Fire Nation operates and how I can hurt it. Just before you and the Avatar arrived in my village, I learned all about the politics of the Royal Family. How Prince Ozai has been gunning for years to replace his older brother as the Crown Heir. How his daughter, Princess Azula, is a liar and a manipulator, and probably the third cruelest person alive."
"Third?"
"Well, she's younger than us, so she probably hasn't had the same opportunities as her father and grandfather." Jet smirked. "I also learned about the Princess had a childhood friend who taught herself how to throw knives better than anyone else in the world."
Sokka shook his head. Jet just so happened to get this information from an unnamed source, and that was supposed to make it okay to kill someone who had actively saved Aang’s life. "So what? It's not news to me that Mai is a big deal back home. She even admitted that she was betrothed to one of those royals. She got sick of it all and defected."
"Yeah, I know the story. And if I'm wrong, then I'm sorry I tried to help the Avatar by killing Mai. Really. But I want you to answer something for me. I want your true, honest opinion. I want you to think about it as long as you need. I will accept whatever answer you give me, so long as you really believe it."
"Enough build-up, already. I've had enough anti-climaxes for today."
Jet nodded. "All right. I want to know if Mai really acts like someone who hates the Fire Nation and wants to help bring it down."
It was a good thing the Blue Spirit mask was thick and solid; Sokka didn't realize he was gripping it so tightly until pain started shooting through his fingers. "Why are you asking me?"
"Because I think you're a good guy. You're Water Tribe, so I know you've suffered under the Fire Nation. I know you're honest because you're too cranky to be anything else. (No offense.) And you're probably the only person who can protect the Avatar now that I don't have-" Jet nodded at the mask- "that."
Sokka looked down at it, turned it around in his hands. It truly was an ugly mask, all dead eyes and snarls. "Why the Blue Spirit?"
"That's not my story to tell. But it includes the usual reasons why people hide their faces."
"Well, I don't have an answer for you. Not yet." And certainly not while Jet was withholding important information. Sokka was just sneaky enough to realize that someone- Jet or Mai or both- were far sneakier than him and he probably had no idea what was really going on. But he would be doing his best starting now to figure it out.
"That's fair. Just keep thinking about it, and don't let your guard down. Oh, and you should have this." Jet reached into one of the pouches on his belt and produced the golden encryption cog. He tossed it to Sokka in a slow underhand. "It's not going to do me any good, and you might find a use for it."
Sokka caught it in his right hand, leaving the mask in his left. They were the two sides of a war that was already over: the visage of a masked avenger, and a component in one of the most technologically sophisticated systems of the imperial oppressor.
If there was anything he hated more than anti-climaxes, it was heavy-handed metaphors.
"All right," Sokka finally said. "I'll be going. Thanks for not- you know- making a big deal out of this and trying to kill to protect your identity. Haru will probably down shortly to throw you overboard or something."
"Glad to help."
Beneath a glowing moon, Aang watched as Haru threw the Blue Spirit mask over the side of the ship, and couldn't help but feel sorry for the Earthbender. None of this was supposed to be part of helping with the Crescent Island mission, but somehow it had all become so complicated.
Although wooden, the mask sank quickly into the inky waters of the night.
Haru turned back to where Jet was standing, wrists tied together. The whole crew had been assembled on deck for this, everyone who had come from the hidden village where Jet had lived and worked. The burly brothers Chong and Wong stood on either side of Jet, on guard, while the girl Smellerbee, the woman Duizhang, and all the rest watched in a cluster. Mai and Sokka were below decks, staying safe and away from all the tension.
Haru sighed and said to Jet, "I can't pass any formal judgement on you. My father is on the village council, not me, and it's the council's mission to help the Avatar that you endangered. They will have to decide what to do about you." He drew himself up to stand taller, and for once, Aang could see the maturity in the young man. "But I'm captain of this ship, and responsible for getting everyone back alive. I can't risk you doing any more damage. You'll be imprisoned in the smuggling hold, hands tied for as long as the Avatar and his friends are aboard."
Jet nodded. "I understand. Sorry for the trouble."
Haru shook his head. "No, I don't think you are." He motioned, and Chong and Wong dragged Jet to the stairs leading into the ship.
With that, the rest of the crew dispersed to get back to work. Aang could see that most were as closed-faced as Mai usually was, and fervently hoped that some kind of mutiny wasn't in the making. He had never sailed much before, and had always found pleasure and excitement in the stories about pirate adventurers, stories about daring raids on the greedy rich to liberate antiques for the open market. There had been mutinies in those stories, of course, but Aang had never before realized how scary they were. For an Airbender, leaving ahead of trouble was usually a simple matter of hopping on a Sky Bison and saying, "Yip, yip," but now that he was trapped on a ship in the middle of an ocean with a bunch of people he couldn't really trust, he found that a mutiny could be just as much of a disaster as a summer storm.
Aang walked over to Haru and said, "Thank you for dealing with that."
"No, Avatar, I'm sorry it was necessary." Haru ran a hand through his long hair. "Jet and Smellerbee have been part of our village for less than a year, but they've been so helpful, we thought we could trust them with something like this. Our judgement was wrong, and that's endangered you and your friends. We've never really had to deal with criminals in our village before, but I'm sure my dad will figure out a way to make it work. He's a great leader." Haru drew in a deep breath, and let it out in a burst. "For now, I have to get you where you need to go." He began striding towards The Tub's control wheel.
Aang trotted after him. "Are we still on track?"
"Yes. It will be slow going, because we have to turn the engine off in the morning and rely on the sails. We'll just be creeping along towards Crescent Island, and once the sun goes down, we'll dim all our lights and pull up as close as we can get." Haru stepped up to the wheel, untied the ropes that had been holding it steady, and took it firmly in his hands.
Aang looked out over the bow of the ship, at the black ocean that stretched to meet the stars. Somewhere ahead was the island prison where Sokka's sister was hopefully still living.
Worries on top of worries.
Mai spent the last leg of the journey leaning over the aft railing, once again miserable with full seasickness. The engine had been her only cure the awful, awful bobbing sensation, and so staying in her cabin would just lock her in a closed space with whatever unfortunate-smelling things came up out of her stomach.
She tried to tell herself that it wouldn't be long now, just one more day, and then her mission would finally be over.
It didn't really make her feel better.
Even aside from the nausea, questions plagued her mind. Had Zuko and Azula even received the transmission, or had Zhao interfered somehow? Had she given them enough time to get to Crescent Island? What would happen when Aang got there? An island was a fairly big place, so how could Zuko know precisely how to ambush his prize? And, most importantly, if everything went according to Azula's plan and Zuko got his ticket back to the Homeland, what would happen after that?
It was starting to bother Mai. Everyone knew the condition Fire Lord Azulon had put on Zuko's return, and the Avatar was an enemy of the Fire Nation for obvious reasons, but what would the old man who banished his grandson for cowardice do to a twelve-year-old Airbender? It made sense to lock him up in relative comfort, so that he wouldn't be reborn as a Waterbender. But Mai knew a lot about the fate of the Water Tribes, now. The Southern Water Tribe was broken up, and the portion still under Fire Nation control was probably buried under snow by now. Prince Iroh's control of the Northern Tribe was as absolute as it was mysterious. If the Avatar was reborn to one of the Tribes, he or she would either not be a threat at all, or actually under the Fire Nation's direct control. They could identify the Avatar young and raise him or her as a loyal servant.
Of course, Aang would be an obstacle to that whole plan.
But Zuko was a good person. Mai knew that. She had watched him as they both grew up, and had seen firsthand his sense of honor, his rare kindness. Zuko deserved to go home, deserved to have his branch of the family usurp Azulon's favor. Mai had let herself be scarred for that cause.
Her stomach roiled, and she groaned as she leaned over the rail to be sick.
One more day to go.
The moment Aang saw the sun dip below the rippling horizon, the tricky part began.
As the day had ended, Crescent Island had at last appeared in the distance. It was easy enough to spot, what with it being an active volcano; the lava that ran down the sides glowed vividly in the waning daylight, illuminating even the airspace above the island, and a constant stream of black smoke rose into the sky. The Fire Navy ships patrolling the surrounding waters were similarly given away by the spotlights on their bows and the spouts of steam that followed their slow travel around the island, so it was easy enough to stop The Tub well short any danger.
The danger was saved for when night fell. The whole crew- minus Jet- had assembled on the main deck and taken spotter positions all along the rails. (Mai was still at the aft, nominally a spotter but mostly just being sick.)
Aang stood alone at the center of the ship, just behind the first mast. The second mast's sails had been taken down, so that there was just one lone sail to catch the wind. The ship would move slower that way, but it was exactly as they wanted. The last part of the journey would be about precision, not speed.
At Haru's nod, Aang spread out his arms wide, and then gently swung them together as though trying to catch a falling sparrowkeet chick. The air responded, moving steadily but softly into the sail to fill it, and The Tub moved along at the wind's pace.
As Aang kept the wind streaming steadily, Haru worked the wheel. The first spotter to speak was Duizhang, who noted a Fire Navy ship far off the starboard bow. Haru steered to go around it and Aang lessened the wind, allowing The Tub to pivot rather drastically and follow a shallow curve that bypassed the enemy hunter and its arcing spotlight completely. Sokka spoke up a little while later, pointing out another patrol, and once again a fine adjustment of wind and steering were enough to sneak past it. It continued on like that, a meandering journey through the sea, and except for those moments, the crew was silent, so that it seemed to Aang that the creaking of the ship and the lapping of the water against the hull were like shouts in his ear.
Still, with just those sounds, and no lanterns to give them away in the night, The Tub was able to put down anchor within sight of Crescent Island's sheer shores. Haru and the crew worked together to open the wide doors in the deck to reveal Appa waiting in the cargo bay, and then it was time to leave.
Aang hopped down to land right on Appa's head, and gave his sky bison buddy a happy pat before looking back up to Haru. "Thanks for everything! I know how big a deal this has been for you, and we're all really grateful."
Sokka helped Mai up into Appa's saddle, and then gave a wave. "Yeah, seriously, I'll owe you and your village a huge one for this."
Haru just shook his head. "Any help we can provide the Avatar is a gift we're happy to be able to give. No one owes anything to anyone."
But Sokka snorted. "You can say that, but it doesn't change the honor of the Southern Water Tribe. Trust me, you've earned yourself some extra family that's very fond of wearing blue, and family helps family."
Aang looked back with some approval at Sokka. The older boy could be grumpy, cynical, and a bit too concerned with everything making sense, but he really was a good person. Then Aang noticed Mai crouching at Sokka's feet, looking even greener than usual, and realized that they were wasting time. "Appa, yip, yip!"
Appa let out a sigh of happiness with the same volume of a steam engine, and gave a flap of his tail that floated him straight up out of the cargo bay. Aang tugged the reins as soon as Appa's feet were above the ship's rails, and directed the sky bison forward and down again. Appa obediently glided out over the ocean and sank back down, settling to float on the surface of the water, bobbing with the waves. Aang heard Mai gagging, but focused on the reins, steering Appa to swim for Crescent Island. This close, there was less worry about the patrol ship, but they were still careful to not leave a wake in the water.
It was hard to tell how long it took, going so slowly in the dark, but the night was not yet old when Appa pulled out of the water to step onto the beach.
Crescent Island was like a solitary mountain that had been uprooted out of its range and had its edges folded to keep it standing upright. The only beach, the one where Aang and his friends were now disembarking, was a flat rocky shelter amidst the rising cliffs just to the left of the bleeding volcano, where small bare trees and sickly stringy grasses clung to life. In the glow of the lava, Aang could see that the Fire Nation had built some structures right onto the side of the main mountain- walkways held up by arches that withstood the heat of the lava even as the glowing liquid rock flowed underneath them, connecting several towering buildings that perched on cliffs as though trying to catch a cool breeze.
There were people moving on those walkways, and the armor of Fire Nation soldiers glowed dully in the light cast by the flowing lava.
One of the towers, Aang noticed, was more ornate than the rest. The others were military in their plainness, but this one had the sloping roofs and pointed architecture of a civilian Fire Nation structure, and in the lava's light, Aang could make out decorative motifs- blackened but unharmed- that were the exclusive province of a Fire Temple. The other towers had lights shining within, but the temple alone was completely dark.
Aang turned to his friends. Appa was shaking seawater out of his fur, while Momo dodged the spray. Mai was patting her robes in what Aang knew to be a check of her hidden weapons, and Sokka was adjusting the straps of a backpack he had just put on.
Aang got Sokka and Mai's attention with a wave, and pointed to the temple. "I think I found us a good starting point!"
In the dark of the smuggling bay, Jet had only his sense of hearing to tell him about what was going on around him. He heard Haru and the Avatar's goodbye, as well as the sounds of the sky bison taking off. He heard the cargo bay doors close again, and the footsteps of the rest of the crew as they got into their new positions to watch for danger as they waited for the Avatar's return.
He heard one particular set of boots walk into the main cargo bay, and so he was ready with a smile that was equally grateful and confident when the hidden door opened to let the light of a lantern into the smuggling compartment.
Smellerbee the lantern on the floor as she drew a knife and leaned into cut Jet's bonds. "The others think I'm getting the engine ready for a quick getaway if we need it. I can stay out of sight for as long as I need to."
Jet nodded, and climbed out of the smuggling bay. He did a few stretches, and blinked his eyes rapidly to get them used to the lantern light after spending a day in complete darkness. "Before you suit up, go back up and ask Chong and Wong to help you with something. They're the best fighters in the crew- besides us- and once we take them out of the fight, it's just a bunch of Earthbenders in the middle of the ocean against two Blue Spirit warriors."
Smellerbee nodded, and picked up a bundle from the floor to toss to Jet. As expected, it was a black tunic, a broadsword, and a Blue Spirit mask, the uniform of their cause. Smellerbee had a similar bundle beside her. While Jet unfolded the tunic, she said, "Couldn't we try to get everyone else on our side? It'd be a shame if we wound up having to kill someone from the village for this mission."
Jet held up the mask. "And how would we explain this? Our order has too many secrets. It's a shame, but that's why we were selected. We can do the hard jobs, the ones that the Fire Nation has made necessary. And right now, our mission is to get a supporter of the Ozai faction away from the Avatar, by whatever means necessary."
Smellerbee sighed, and gave a nod. "All right. I'll go get Chong and Wong. Meet us in the engine room." She left, and Jet began changing into his uniform. There was little point to the disguise, now, but disguise wasn't the only reason to wear a mask. It joined Jet to the rest of the order, and proclaimed that he was acting for more than his own sake.
The mask said that even if he failed tonight, the Blue Spirit would never die.
TO BE CONTINUED
It turned out that there were few things as uncomfortable as having a 12-year-old Airbender pressed against one's side, a flying lemur wrapped around one's neck, and an agitated ten-ton sky bison taking up all the free space in the same cargo bay where one happened to be hiding from evil Fire Nation hunters.
And yet Sokka felt a certain dread, as he listened to the echoes of soldier boots marching across The Tub’s main deck, that he would soon be discovering just how much more uncomfortable life could be.
It was just as well that Mai wasn't here. She hated touching animals and other people. Of course, if she hadn't found a hiding spot yet, that could be its own set of problems.
Mai hated a lot of things, but she was starting to find a special place of complete and utter loathing in her heart for the masked troublemaker in the Blue Spirit mask.
He was standing in the hallway of The Tub's lower decks as if he owned the ship, tall and solid and carrying his dao broadsword, blocking Mai's path to the cargo bay. If the Blue Spirit was looking for a fight, that was bad enough, because Mai didn't think she could beat him even under the best of circumstances, never mind when she was tired and sore and seasick, but now he had chosen to confront her while The Tub was being boarded by the Fire Navy. Even if she survived the fight, she had no doubts that the Fire Nation's soldiers would recognize her and arrest her for treason against the Homeland.
She hadn't even really committed treason.
Yes, it was safe to say that Mai really hated her current situation.
The Blue Spirit raised his sword, and all Mai could do in response was groan nauseously and sink to the floor.
Commander Zhao, designated hunter of the Avatar, scion of his family, and rising star in the Fire Navy, stood on the deck of an Earth Kingdom scow and hoped that there was nothing aboard that would mess his polished armor. "You five," he said to one line of the soldiers he had brought over from his command ship, "shall search the crew quarters and engine room. The rest of us," he turned to face the other eight soldiers, "shall accompany Captain Haru to the cargo bay to verify that he did indeed set sail without any worthwhile cargo." With that, he turned on his heel and faced the youthful captain with the desperate mustache. "After you, of course."
Captain Haru led the way down the stairs from the deck to the ship's interior. At the first fork in the path, Zhao let the smaller group of soldiers proceed to the engine room, and then continued on to the cargo bay. He couldn't help but notice that this Haru was walking fairly slowly, almost hesitantly.
Well, that was interesting. Zhao wondered, with some eagerness, what he would find in the cargo bay.
Mai might not have had the strength or balance to fight the Blue Spirit, but her seasickness hadn't yet taken away her will to live, so as the blade of the dao saber reached its highest point before the plunge that would take it to her flesh, she leaned forward, pulled a single blade out of her sleeve, and stabbed it down at her attacker's foot.
Even here, in this cramped corridor on a rundown cargo ship out to sea, the Blue Spirit was fast. He yanked his foot back as soon as Mai moved, but she was close enough that her own diminished speed was no real impediment, and so while he avoided having a sliver of sharp metal jammed into his flesh, he wasn't quite able to move his entire boot out of the way. Mai's blade sank into the heavy material, through the empty space in the toe of the boot, and on into the sole, lodging solidly into the floorboards.
Then Mai threw herself backwards and began crawling away as fast as she could.
She didn't turn around to look. She heard the Blue Spirit move, heard the whistle of his sword through the air, heard a grunt of surprise and the sound of a body striking the floor and the clatter of a metal blade dropped haphazardly against wood. And that was why people shouldn't leap at their victims while their shoes were nailed to the floor. Mai's stomach roiled at all the stress and motion of her escape, but she was able to smile through it; it was as true today as it was the day Azula first whispered the advice into her ear: "If you can't kill your opponent, the next best thing is to trip him."
Mai stopped briefly to throw up, and then continued crawling her way to the engine room.
Captain Haru reached to open the door to the cargo bay, but Zhao blocked him. "Not yet. Soldiers, get into attack position. We're going to storm this compartment, and anyone inside is to be considered a deadly enemy."
All eight soldiers efficiently arranged themselves into a staggered line; the hallway was too small for them to stand side-by-side, but by lining up shoulder to shoulder rather than in a straight line, each soldier would be able to more quickly pass through the doorway and clear the line of fire for the person behind him. The skull-like faceplates covered the soldiers' expressions, and Zhao wondered briefly if any of them were hiding nervous looks. After all, it might be the Avatar ready and waiting for them in the cargo bay.
Zhao kicked open the door and shoved Captain Haru through it first.
Lieutenant Xi was given orders directly by Commander Zhao to investigate any oddities on the Earth Kingdom ship, which naturally would have included any suspicious cargo or people.
The problem was that he had no idea what to do with an empty boot that had been nailed to the floor with a small fighting blade, a short distance from a puddle of stomach fluids.
While his subordinates waited, Xi prodded the boot with the tip of his sword. It didn't explode, or wiggle, or do anything unexpected of a nailed-down boot. While Xi was grateful that he hadn't stumbled on the world's oddest-looking bomb, he was also a bit vexed that the only thing suspicious about the whole affair was the presence of the boot itself.
"Obviously," he said to other three soldiers under his command, "it's some kind of prank by one of the crew members. Let's move on to the engine room."
No one objected, and Xi was quite grateful. He wasn't really cut out for solving puzzles like that.
Something in which he felt more confident about his ability to handle was the sound of a person moving in one of the crew quarters. Xi kicked in the door to find a mop-headed young man, perhaps sixteen or seventeen years old, lying in a hammock in nothing but a pair of shorts. The young man said, "Wha?"
"On your feet!" Xi raised his sword. "Why didn't you assemble on the main deck with the rest of the crew?"
"Wha?" The young man pushed himself out of the hammock and blinked in slow repetition. "When did you guys get here?" He yawned.
Xi snarled and grabbed the possibly hung-over crew member's arm. "Get up to the main deck. This is an official Fire Navy inspection, and I won't tolerate any interference." To his credit, the young man rubbed the sleep from his eyes and ran off back toward the stairs.
Now, on to the engine room.
As Zhao watched, Captain Haru tumbled into the empty cargo bay to land flat on his face.
Zhao had spent years of his life aboard ships of varying kinds, and so when he heard the thump echo through the compartment, he knew right away that it was empty; a full bay wouldn't have reflected the sound like that. He peeked his head through the doorway, and confirmed that cargo bay was nothing but a wide open space with some small supply cases lashed against one wall. Old hay was scattered all over the floor. No Avatar, no cargo.
Zhao waved the rest of his soldiers into the compartment. "Check those cases and make sure there's nothing suspicious." He sniffed the air, and turned to where Captain Haru was picking himself off the floor. "Why does it smell like animal in here?"
"Our last cargo was a herd of ostrich horses," Haru said, brushing himself off. "Didn't have time to give it a full scrubbing, so it still stinks a little."
"Hmph." Zhao watched his soldiers poke around the mostly empty compartment, obviously trying to look busy in spite of not actually having much to investigate, and privately conceded that the ship and its crew were probably exactly what they appeared to be.
Unless something was found in the engine room.
Below the cargo bay, in the second cargo compartment, Sokka held his breath and listened to the sounds of heavy soldier boots coming through the ceiling above him.
Behind him, Appa shifted slightly, but before he could move around much more or actually produce a sound, Aang was petting the sky bison's head and whispering something that sounded like it could be soothing. It must have been soothing enough, because Appa stilled.
The sounds of the boots receded; the soldiers must have been leaving.
Sokka exhaled- not too loudly- in relief. If they had moved the hay on the floor, they might have seen the cracks in the trapdoor that led to the smuggling compartment. If they had ripped down the cases with the crew's supply of food in them, they might have seen the switch and mechanisms that opened the floor-doors.
Sokka hated it when scenarios started with 'if.' Hopefully, this one would be over soon.
Engine rooms had lots of hiding places, but Mai had found that a limited number of them were accessible to someone with a cramping stomach who couldn't stand up straight or jump worth a candle. That number, it turned out, was exactly one. And so it was that she had been forced to dig her way into the big coal hopper and cover herself with sooty, filthy, black lumps of rock. The one consolation was that the earthy smell of the coal, a dead scent that reminded her of Fire Nation warships and even the factories of the Homeland, seemed to be helping her seasickness a little.
Or else that was just sheer terror that at any moment, a Firebender or Blue Spirit or someone would grab her by the hair and kill her.
She clutched a knife, and was making a vow that she would take her attacker down with her- even as the first soldier was saying, “All clear.”
Zhao sighed. He had only been able to stretch the inspection out to an hour, on a ramshackle ship this size, and so his entertainment had come to an end for now. "Very well," he said to Captain Haru, up on the deck of the cargo ship. "I see no reason to hold you any further." He held out a hand, and a lieutenant deposited a set of stamped papers into it. Zhao looked them over to confirm that they were properly completed, and then gave them to Haru. "These will confirm the inspection. Proceed to Shu Jing, and avoid the waters around Crescent Island. The Navy is performing some maneuvers there, and any civilian ships that blunder into things risk being sunk or seized with no compensation."
He didn't even look at Captain Haru's bow before stomping off to the plank that would take him back to his own ship.
Sooner or later the Avatar would come. Zhao would just have to remain vigilant, and keep in mind the rewards he stood to gain.
The first thing Aang did was go hunting for Mai.
He had been worried out of his mind for her during the whole inspection, but Appa had also needed him to stay calm in a dark and cramped space, so he had been forced to wait to go on his frantic search. After Haru came down to open the smuggling compartment and confirm that the Fire Navy had gone, Aang had left Sokka to help get Appa back into view of the sky, and sped through the ship shouting for Mai, even using his Airbending to enhance the echoes.
Then, at last, Aang had called out, "Mai! It's safe!" in the engine room, and a single hand pushed its way up through the pile of coal near the boiler.
Aang had dragged out a filthy figure that was human in shape only, and the sole confirmation of Mai's identify was the gravelly voice that said, "I need a bath, and something to wash the puke out of my mouth. Immediately."
And so it was that an hour later, Aang and Sokka met a freshly scrubbed Mai in her small cabin. She had wrapped herself in several layers of robes, but her hair was left free and hanging, a shadow dogging her movements. Momo immediately squirmed out of Sokka's arms and jumped over to perch on Mai's head, and her only response was to give a sigh that smelled faintly of cheap wine.
Aang sat down on the plank that was serving as the bed, across from Mai. "How are you feeling?"
She gave a snort. "The seawater I had to bathe in was freezing, the wine tasted rancid, I have a headache, I think there will be coal dust up my nose for the rest of my life, and I still don't want to acknowledge the existence of food." She lowered her eyes, and then added, "But Haru turned the engine back on now that we've passed inspection, and that's helped with my seasickness. Thanks for asking."
"No problem." Aang wished he had known how hard this whole voyage was going to be on her. He wasn't sure what else they could have done to get safely to Crescent Island, but surely they could have gotten some herbs or something to help her feel better. But then, that wasn't her only problem. "So you said the Blue Spirit attacked you again."
She nodded. "Right out in the hallway. I'm assuming that the Fire Nation inspectors didn't find and arrest anyone in an ugly opera mask?"
Sokka leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. "Nope. Once again, the mysterious Blue Spirit came and went without anyone but you seeing him."
Mai nodded again. "You know it's Jet, right?"
Aang blinked in surprise, and turned to Sokka, who simply shrugged. Aang turned back to Mai. "I don't like him much, either, but why do you think it's him?"
"Well, there's how crazy he is about me being from the Fire Nation. That's a pretty big clue by itself. Why else would someone be harassing me like this? He's also a swordfighter, and the Blue Spirit uses a dao blade. And then there was that whole thing with my encryption cog."
"But I was with Jet in the engine room at the time," Sokka said. "I was with him when it rolled into view."
"So he found some way to arrange it. Come on, I'm sure you could come up with a dozen ways to make that happen."
"Well, seven off the top of my head." Sokka stroked his chin. "Ooh, now eight. Okay, maybe I can get to twelve if I had more time to think."
Aang ran a hand over his bald head, and Momo jumped over to perch right on the arrow, his little paws warm on the bare scalp. "But what are we going to do about this? We don't have any proof, but this is a real danger to you. The Blue Spirit is trying to kill you, or get you in trouble so that someone else kills you."
Mai pulled a small blade with a ring on the base from somewhere in her robes, and began spinning it around a finger. "Simple self-defense. We throw Jet overboard, or get Haru to lock him up or something. Ooh, maybe Haru will tie rocks to his feet and then throw him overboard."
Aang felt sick at the thought. "We can't just kill him! That will only cause more problems with the rest of the crew, and we don't even know for sure that it's Jet. I don't even want to hear about throwing people overboard."
"So then he'll kill me before we get to Crescent Island." Mai stared back at Aang, a solid, uncompromising stare that sent Momo leaping over to the top of Sokka's head.
Sokka was so busy thinking that he didn't even seem to notice. "So we need proof of some kind before we can do anything more. That actually shouldn't be very hard. We're stuck on a boat with limited hiding places and a set of suspects who can't escape. It's just a matter of searching for and producing a mask. Even if we can't tie it to Jet or whoever, the Blue Spirit isn't going to be able to attack again without his disguise. So he has to lay low, or reveal himself." His eyes focused on Aang. "And we have to do it before we get to Crescent Island tomorrow night."
Aang frowned. "Why before then? I thought we're supposed to come back to the boat once we free your sister."
Sokka turned to Aang and started to speak, but then realized that Momo was sitting on top of his head and shooed the lemur away before working to fix his ponytail. Momo perched on Aang’s shoulder when Sokka finally got around to making his point: "If we can't escape cleanly and you have to fly away from Crescent Island in a hurry, are you going to come back here, not knowing who's going to be ready and waiting? Or are you and Mai going to fly off by yourselves because it's too risky to come back to a boat with a Blue Spirit waiting on it?"
Aang blinked. "Wait, what about you? And Katara?"
"Hey, we don't know what will happen on Crescent Island. I'm just making the point that if we haven't solved anything by the time we take off for the Waterbender prison, Mai's still going to be in danger once we're done there."
Mai caught the blade she had been spinning in a reverse grip and stabbed it into the wall behind her without turning. "When we're done? Yeah, I guess that will still be a problem." A ghost of her old smirk flickered across her face. "But by then I'll be in a position to fight back, with allies and no seasickness. I don't think we have to worry about that contingency much, at least not right now."
Aang thought that was a good point, but said, "Still, Sokka's right that it will be easier to get it done now. Let's start looking, and I think you should stay near one of us until we find the proof we need."
Mai sighed. "I hate throwing up for an audience."
The Fire Nation's proximity to the Earth Kingdom was as much bane as it was boon. It was relatively easy to transport soldiers and supplies to the war front, just a matter of crossing what eventually became known as the Crucible Sea and landing at one of the colony ports. None of the Earth Kingdom's monarchs had ever maintained much of a navy before Sozin launched what he had called The Glorious War, but the seas did not remain uncontested for long. In the initial phase of what would eventually be called the Hundred Years War, the Fire Navy had been forced to deal with pirates-turned-privateers who attacked supply ships, but when it came to a fight between disciplined sailors on metal destroyers and thieves on old wooden junks, the result was largely academic. After almost a decade, the Earth Kingdom had finally built and crewed enough ships to make a real fight of it and earn the Crucible its name, and the various privateers were ready to earn their commissions in less crowded venues.
And so the pirates had turned to the Fire Nation itself.
They began raiding the ports of the Outer Islands, stealing all they could carry and burning everything else. Soon enough, the Earth Kingdom picked up on the tactic, although those crews were more interested in destruction and harassment than theft. Various task forces were created to deal with the threats, but hunting on water was not as easy as hunting on land. The only way to solve the problem had been to keep all enemies out of Fire Nation waters entirely, pushing the fighting back onto the open seas where armor, firepower, and provisions were all that mattered. Thus, the first blockade was enacted, a massive deployment of enough Fire Navy ships to keep the entire western boundary of the Crucible Sea within the sight of one vessel or another- and within catapult range.
By the time Zhao had joined the Navy, the blockade had become a simple fact of life, like weather and buoyancy. It was so successful that Admiral Iroh had stolen the idea outright to slowly draw a noose around the Northern Water Tribe.
When the war came to a close with the return of Sozin's Comet, there had been talk of finally dismantling the blockade. Zhao had no opinion one way or another, as blockade duty was no path to advancement and he was already in command of the primary Navy base of the United South Pole Colonies, but it was the subject of quite a bit of debate within High Command. It was eventually decided that the blockade could be reduced to a mere patrol circle, albeit one that was heavily sailed by a small navy of ships, to see if any threats might probe the more porous boundary.
Then Zhao had discovered that the Avatar himself was heading for Crescent Island, at an unknown time from an unknown direction. Not only was the blockade restored with impressive speed, but now Zhao himself was a part of it.
It made him almost regret ever twisting the truth out that Suki girl.
Zhao was lounging in his cabin, pretending to be reading reports but really wishing for a drink. He had to admit that the restored blockade made tactical sense, as the Avatar would have to cross it to get to his destination, and any fighting on Crescent Island itself could destabilize what had always been a situation with potential for disaster. The facilities there were uniquely suited to manage Waterbenders, but it was impossible to forget that an entire ocean waited just beyond the prison's walls. After what he had seen in the storms of the South Pole, Zhao had no doubt that the Avatar could very well create quite disaster, indeed.
Still, it didn't mean he had to like the blockade, and the reduced odds of capturing the Avatar himself.
Zhao was actively grumbling over that notion when there was a knock on his cabin door. "Come in." His aide led in Lieutenant Xi, one of the soldiers under his direct command who had been on duty earlier when that Earth scow had come across the blockade. "What is it, Lieutenant? As you can see, I'm very busy right now."
Xi bowed with a stiffness that immediately caught Zhao's interest. "Commander, sir. I felt it my duty to report an oversight I believe I have committed."
Zhao was immediately on his feet. "Tell me."
"Sir, I reported that there was nothing unusual found during my inspection. The only thing I came across seemed to be the result of a prank between members of the cargo ship's crew, a- a boot pinned to the floor with a blade. I was in the mess talking about it when I realized something- the blade was a Fire Nation weapon."
Zhao stepped closer to the man, fists clenching at his sides. "How do you know? Tell me details."
"Sir! It was a small blade, a holdout weapon, and the quality of the metal was easily military grade. It gleamed with a whiteness that only the finest steel has, and the flat of the blade was painted crimson. I've seen such weapons before, of course, but it only just occurred to me to question why it would be on a dirt vessel, and-"
"Idiot!" Zhao immediately ran out of his cabin, to where his aide was waiting. "Have the ship sailing immediately! We're leaving the blockade and heading for Crescent Island. Tell the captain to burn the engines out if he has to, we need to get there now." The aide bowed and ran off to carry out the orders.
That just left Xi. Zhao returned to his cabin to find the lieutenant standing at attention, trying desperately to keep his face under control. As well he should.
Zhao walked right up to him and struck the man across the face. "You're hereby demoted; get down to the engine room and start shoveling."
Xi started to bow, but then stopped himself. "Sir, I contest."
"On what grounds?"
"None, sir. But I would not be a good Son of Fire if I did not ask for trial by combat."
Zhao snorted. "Very well. We'll have an Agni Kai after I capture the Avatar. Providing you don't get thrown overboard, first. Now get out of my cabin!"
So much for the blockade.
It was almost anti-climactic when Sokka found the Blue Spirit mask so easily in Jet's cabin.
No, actually, it was entirely anti-climactic. And far too easy. Aang and Mai were up on deck in the last minutes of daylight, the former playing with Momo and the latter cursing whoever invented oceans, both of them being conspicuously conspicuous for any murderous stalker warrior types. Sokka was charged with the first phase of the investigation: sneaking into everyone's cabins and rummaging around for carelessly hidden Blue Spirit evidence. But it wasn't actually supposed to work!
Nevertheless, the Blue Spirit mask in was Sokka's hand, pulled right out of Jet's knapsack. It was made of heavy wood, and very nicely painted; Sokka bet that it would almost look alive in the right lighting. Without letting go of the mask (certainly not because of an irrational worry that it would disappear as soon he put it down and create even more confusion) he pinched himself and confirmed that he was indeed awake and capable of feeling pain. Okay, so this was all real. Nothing to do then but bring the mask up to the main deck and make dramatic accusations.
Sokka stood up, turned around, and found Jet standing in the doorway.
Sokka said, "Gaah!"
Jet said, "You're a little high strung." His gaze went to the mask in Sokka's hands, and he gave a small smile. "Figured it out, huh?"
Sokka held the mask up in front of his chest like a shield, just in case. "I know you're the Blue Spirit. You've been trying to kill Mai."
Jet nodded. "You must have lots of questions. Sit down, and we'll talk."
"Wait, what? Talk? You just want to trap me in here so that you can- so that you can-"
Jet snorted. "Strangle you to protect my identity? Thump your head against the wall until you've forgotten your own name? That would be pretty counter-productive, don't you think?" He pushed past Sokka and sat down on the plank serving as the bed.
Sokka remained standing. "Okay, so that doesn't make any sense. But hating Mai just because she's Fire Nation doesn't make sense, either. Believe me, I hate the Fire Nation, too. Like, a burning, festering hate that makes my stomach hurt and keeps me awake at night sometimes. But Mai's on our side. Killing her is the opposite of being helpful."
"Oh, I wasn't trying to kill her because she was born in the Fire Nation. I'm doing it because she's probably still working for them." Jet blinked. "But for the record, I wasn't trying to kill her all those times. Getting her caught would have been enough."
Sokka lowered the mask. "What do you mean, probably still working for them? You just admitted that they want to arrest her!"
"I have a source. I do favors from time to time, and in exchange I get some good information about how the Fire Nation operates and how I can hurt it. Just before you and the Avatar arrived in my village, I learned all about the politics of the Royal Family. How Prince Ozai has been gunning for years to replace his older brother as the Crown Heir. How his daughter, Princess Azula, is a liar and a manipulator, and probably the third cruelest person alive."
"Third?"
"Well, she's younger than us, so she probably hasn't had the same opportunities as her father and grandfather." Jet smirked. "I also learned about the Princess had a childhood friend who taught herself how to throw knives better than anyone else in the world."
Sokka shook his head. Jet just so happened to get this information from an unnamed source, and that was supposed to make it okay to kill someone who had actively saved Aang’s life. "So what? It's not news to me that Mai is a big deal back home. She even admitted that she was betrothed to one of those royals. She got sick of it all and defected."
"Yeah, I know the story. And if I'm wrong, then I'm sorry I tried to help the Avatar by killing Mai. Really. But I want you to answer something for me. I want your true, honest opinion. I want you to think about it as long as you need. I will accept whatever answer you give me, so long as you really believe it."
"Enough build-up, already. I've had enough anti-climaxes for today."
Jet nodded. "All right. I want to know if Mai really acts like someone who hates the Fire Nation and wants to help bring it down."
It was a good thing the Blue Spirit mask was thick and solid; Sokka didn't realize he was gripping it so tightly until pain started shooting through his fingers. "Why are you asking me?"
"Because I think you're a good guy. You're Water Tribe, so I know you've suffered under the Fire Nation. I know you're honest because you're too cranky to be anything else. (No offense.) And you're probably the only person who can protect the Avatar now that I don't have-" Jet nodded at the mask- "that."
Sokka looked down at it, turned it around in his hands. It truly was an ugly mask, all dead eyes and snarls. "Why the Blue Spirit?"
"That's not my story to tell. But it includes the usual reasons why people hide their faces."
"Well, I don't have an answer for you. Not yet." And certainly not while Jet was withholding important information. Sokka was just sneaky enough to realize that someone- Jet or Mai or both- were far sneakier than him and he probably had no idea what was really going on. But he would be doing his best starting now to figure it out.
"That's fair. Just keep thinking about it, and don't let your guard down. Oh, and you should have this." Jet reached into one of the pouches on his belt and produced the golden encryption cog. He tossed it to Sokka in a slow underhand. "It's not going to do me any good, and you might find a use for it."
Sokka caught it in his right hand, leaving the mask in his left. They were the two sides of a war that was already over: the visage of a masked avenger, and a component in one of the most technologically sophisticated systems of the imperial oppressor.
If there was anything he hated more than anti-climaxes, it was heavy-handed metaphors.
"All right," Sokka finally said. "I'll be going. Thanks for not- you know- making a big deal out of this and trying to kill to protect your identity. Haru will probably down shortly to throw you overboard or something."
"Glad to help."
Beneath a glowing moon, Aang watched as Haru threw the Blue Spirit mask over the side of the ship, and couldn't help but feel sorry for the Earthbender. None of this was supposed to be part of helping with the Crescent Island mission, but somehow it had all become so complicated.
Although wooden, the mask sank quickly into the inky waters of the night.
Haru turned back to where Jet was standing, wrists tied together. The whole crew had been assembled on deck for this, everyone who had come from the hidden village where Jet had lived and worked. The burly brothers Chong and Wong stood on either side of Jet, on guard, while the girl Smellerbee, the woman Duizhang, and all the rest watched in a cluster. Mai and Sokka were below decks, staying safe and away from all the tension.
Haru sighed and said to Jet, "I can't pass any formal judgement on you. My father is on the village council, not me, and it's the council's mission to help the Avatar that you endangered. They will have to decide what to do about you." He drew himself up to stand taller, and for once, Aang could see the maturity in the young man. "But I'm captain of this ship, and responsible for getting everyone back alive. I can't risk you doing any more damage. You'll be imprisoned in the smuggling hold, hands tied for as long as the Avatar and his friends are aboard."
Jet nodded. "I understand. Sorry for the trouble."
Haru shook his head. "No, I don't think you are." He motioned, and Chong and Wong dragged Jet to the stairs leading into the ship.
With that, the rest of the crew dispersed to get back to work. Aang could see that most were as closed-faced as Mai usually was, and fervently hoped that some kind of mutiny wasn't in the making. He had never sailed much before, and had always found pleasure and excitement in the stories about pirate adventurers, stories about daring raids on the greedy rich to liberate antiques for the open market. There had been mutinies in those stories, of course, but Aang had never before realized how scary they were. For an Airbender, leaving ahead of trouble was usually a simple matter of hopping on a Sky Bison and saying, "Yip, yip," but now that he was trapped on a ship in the middle of an ocean with a bunch of people he couldn't really trust, he found that a mutiny could be just as much of a disaster as a summer storm.
Aang walked over to Haru and said, "Thank you for dealing with that."
"No, Avatar, I'm sorry it was necessary." Haru ran a hand through his long hair. "Jet and Smellerbee have been part of our village for less than a year, but they've been so helpful, we thought we could trust them with something like this. Our judgement was wrong, and that's endangered you and your friends. We've never really had to deal with criminals in our village before, but I'm sure my dad will figure out a way to make it work. He's a great leader." Haru drew in a deep breath, and let it out in a burst. "For now, I have to get you where you need to go." He began striding towards The Tub's control wheel.
Aang trotted after him. "Are we still on track?"
"Yes. It will be slow going, because we have to turn the engine off in the morning and rely on the sails. We'll just be creeping along towards Crescent Island, and once the sun goes down, we'll dim all our lights and pull up as close as we can get." Haru stepped up to the wheel, untied the ropes that had been holding it steady, and took it firmly in his hands.
Aang looked out over the bow of the ship, at the black ocean that stretched to meet the stars. Somewhere ahead was the island prison where Sokka's sister was hopefully still living.
Worries on top of worries.
Mai spent the last leg of the journey leaning over the aft railing, once again miserable with full seasickness. The engine had been her only cure the awful, awful bobbing sensation, and so staying in her cabin would just lock her in a closed space with whatever unfortunate-smelling things came up out of her stomach.
She tried to tell herself that it wouldn't be long now, just one more day, and then her mission would finally be over.
It didn't really make her feel better.
Even aside from the nausea, questions plagued her mind. Had Zuko and Azula even received the transmission, or had Zhao interfered somehow? Had she given them enough time to get to Crescent Island? What would happen when Aang got there? An island was a fairly big place, so how could Zuko know precisely how to ambush his prize? And, most importantly, if everything went according to Azula's plan and Zuko got his ticket back to the Homeland, what would happen after that?
It was starting to bother Mai. Everyone knew the condition Fire Lord Azulon had put on Zuko's return, and the Avatar was an enemy of the Fire Nation for obvious reasons, but what would the old man who banished his grandson for cowardice do to a twelve-year-old Airbender? It made sense to lock him up in relative comfort, so that he wouldn't be reborn as a Waterbender. But Mai knew a lot about the fate of the Water Tribes, now. The Southern Water Tribe was broken up, and the portion still under Fire Nation control was probably buried under snow by now. Prince Iroh's control of the Northern Tribe was as absolute as it was mysterious. If the Avatar was reborn to one of the Tribes, he or she would either not be a threat at all, or actually under the Fire Nation's direct control. They could identify the Avatar young and raise him or her as a loyal servant.
Of course, Aang would be an obstacle to that whole plan.
But Zuko was a good person. Mai knew that. She had watched him as they both grew up, and had seen firsthand his sense of honor, his rare kindness. Zuko deserved to go home, deserved to have his branch of the family usurp Azulon's favor. Mai had let herself be scarred for that cause.
Her stomach roiled, and she groaned as she leaned over the rail to be sick.
One more day to go.
The moment Aang saw the sun dip below the rippling horizon, the tricky part began.
As the day had ended, Crescent Island had at last appeared in the distance. It was easy enough to spot, what with it being an active volcano; the lava that ran down the sides glowed vividly in the waning daylight, illuminating even the airspace above the island, and a constant stream of black smoke rose into the sky. The Fire Navy ships patrolling the surrounding waters were similarly given away by the spotlights on their bows and the spouts of steam that followed their slow travel around the island, so it was easy enough to stop The Tub well short any danger.
The danger was saved for when night fell. The whole crew- minus Jet- had assembled on the main deck and taken spotter positions all along the rails. (Mai was still at the aft, nominally a spotter but mostly just being sick.)
Aang stood alone at the center of the ship, just behind the first mast. The second mast's sails had been taken down, so that there was just one lone sail to catch the wind. The ship would move slower that way, but it was exactly as they wanted. The last part of the journey would be about precision, not speed.
At Haru's nod, Aang spread out his arms wide, and then gently swung them together as though trying to catch a falling sparrowkeet chick. The air responded, moving steadily but softly into the sail to fill it, and The Tub moved along at the wind's pace.
As Aang kept the wind streaming steadily, Haru worked the wheel. The first spotter to speak was Duizhang, who noted a Fire Navy ship far off the starboard bow. Haru steered to go around it and Aang lessened the wind, allowing The Tub to pivot rather drastically and follow a shallow curve that bypassed the enemy hunter and its arcing spotlight completely. Sokka spoke up a little while later, pointing out another patrol, and once again a fine adjustment of wind and steering were enough to sneak past it. It continued on like that, a meandering journey through the sea, and except for those moments, the crew was silent, so that it seemed to Aang that the creaking of the ship and the lapping of the water against the hull were like shouts in his ear.
Still, with just those sounds, and no lanterns to give them away in the night, The Tub was able to put down anchor within sight of Crescent Island's sheer shores. Haru and the crew worked together to open the wide doors in the deck to reveal Appa waiting in the cargo bay, and then it was time to leave.
Aang hopped down to land right on Appa's head, and gave his sky bison buddy a happy pat before looking back up to Haru. "Thanks for everything! I know how big a deal this has been for you, and we're all really grateful."
Sokka helped Mai up into Appa's saddle, and then gave a wave. "Yeah, seriously, I'll owe you and your village a huge one for this."
Haru just shook his head. "Any help we can provide the Avatar is a gift we're happy to be able to give. No one owes anything to anyone."
But Sokka snorted. "You can say that, but it doesn't change the honor of the Southern Water Tribe. Trust me, you've earned yourself some extra family that's very fond of wearing blue, and family helps family."
Aang looked back with some approval at Sokka. The older boy could be grumpy, cynical, and a bit too concerned with everything making sense, but he really was a good person. Then Aang noticed Mai crouching at Sokka's feet, looking even greener than usual, and realized that they were wasting time. "Appa, yip, yip!"
Appa let out a sigh of happiness with the same volume of a steam engine, and gave a flap of his tail that floated him straight up out of the cargo bay. Aang tugged the reins as soon as Appa's feet were above the ship's rails, and directed the sky bison forward and down again. Appa obediently glided out over the ocean and sank back down, settling to float on the surface of the water, bobbing with the waves. Aang heard Mai gagging, but focused on the reins, steering Appa to swim for Crescent Island. This close, there was less worry about the patrol ship, but they were still careful to not leave a wake in the water.
It was hard to tell how long it took, going so slowly in the dark, but the night was not yet old when Appa pulled out of the water to step onto the beach.
Crescent Island was like a solitary mountain that had been uprooted out of its range and had its edges folded to keep it standing upright. The only beach, the one where Aang and his friends were now disembarking, was a flat rocky shelter amidst the rising cliffs just to the left of the bleeding volcano, where small bare trees and sickly stringy grasses clung to life. In the glow of the lava, Aang could see that the Fire Nation had built some structures right onto the side of the main mountain- walkways held up by arches that withstood the heat of the lava even as the glowing liquid rock flowed underneath them, connecting several towering buildings that perched on cliffs as though trying to catch a cool breeze.
There were people moving on those walkways, and the armor of Fire Nation soldiers glowed dully in the light cast by the flowing lava.
One of the towers, Aang noticed, was more ornate than the rest. The others were military in their plainness, but this one had the sloping roofs and pointed architecture of a civilian Fire Nation structure, and in the lava's light, Aang could make out decorative motifs- blackened but unharmed- that were the exclusive province of a Fire Temple. The other towers had lights shining within, but the temple alone was completely dark.
Aang turned to his friends. Appa was shaking seawater out of his fur, while Momo dodged the spray. Mai was patting her robes in what Aang knew to be a check of her hidden weapons, and Sokka was adjusting the straps of a backpack he had just put on.
Aang got Sokka and Mai's attention with a wave, and pointed to the temple. "I think I found us a good starting point!"
In the dark of the smuggling bay, Jet had only his sense of hearing to tell him about what was going on around him. He heard Haru and the Avatar's goodbye, as well as the sounds of the sky bison taking off. He heard the cargo bay doors close again, and the footsteps of the rest of the crew as they got into their new positions to watch for danger as they waited for the Avatar's return.
He heard one particular set of boots walk into the main cargo bay, and so he was ready with a smile that was equally grateful and confident when the hidden door opened to let the light of a lantern into the smuggling compartment.
Smellerbee the lantern on the floor as she drew a knife and leaned into cut Jet's bonds. "The others think I'm getting the engine ready for a quick getaway if we need it. I can stay out of sight for as long as I need to."
Jet nodded, and climbed out of the smuggling bay. He did a few stretches, and blinked his eyes rapidly to get them used to the lantern light after spending a day in complete darkness. "Before you suit up, go back up and ask Chong and Wong to help you with something. They're the best fighters in the crew- besides us- and once we take them out of the fight, it's just a bunch of Earthbenders in the middle of the ocean against two Blue Spirit warriors."
Smellerbee nodded, and picked up a bundle from the floor to toss to Jet. As expected, it was a black tunic, a broadsword, and a Blue Spirit mask, the uniform of their cause. Smellerbee had a similar bundle beside her. While Jet unfolded the tunic, she said, "Couldn't we try to get everyone else on our side? It'd be a shame if we wound up having to kill someone from the village for this mission."
Jet held up the mask. "And how would we explain this? Our order has too many secrets. It's a shame, but that's why we were selected. We can do the hard jobs, the ones that the Fire Nation has made necessary. And right now, our mission is to get a supporter of the Ozai faction away from the Avatar, by whatever means necessary."
Smellerbee sighed, and gave a nod. "All right. I'll go get Chong and Wong. Meet us in the engine room." She left, and Jet began changing into his uniform. There was little point to the disguise, now, but disguise wasn't the only reason to wear a mask. It joined Jet to the rest of the order, and proclaimed that he was acting for more than his own sake.
The mask said that even if he failed tonight, the Blue Spirit would never die.
TO BE CONTINUED
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My original plans for this chapter basically doubled every worthwhile event. Trimming it down was fairly easy. What's coming, though, will be jam-packed.
Previous: The Blue Spirit
Next: Traitor's Gambit
Soundtrack:
Jaws - Into the Estuary
Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Blue Spirit
Previous: The Blue Spirit
Next: Traitor's Gambit
Soundtrack:
Jaws - Into the Estuary
Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Blue Spirit
© 2015 - 2024 Loopy777
Comments5
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First the cliff hanger continues with Mai being in trouble both internally and externally, but fortunately with help of advice from Azula and stupidity of Blue Spirit she manages to get away. Speaking of tripping the Blue Spirit, I hope he broke bone or two, but somehow I suspect it was just bruised ego.
Meanwhile Zhao continues to demonstrate how much he enjoys tormenting. I do give him credit for picking up on Haru being reluctant to take him to cargo room, but kicking Haru into cargo room shows the part he really focusing on. Also he is either incompetent and/or lazy as his search apparently is just skin deep as Sokka can attest to.
While Zhao is busy with cargo room, officer Xi he sent to search another part of the ship finds the remnants of Mai and Blue Spirit battle. I do not hold it against him to be stupified by it as I really doubt anyone could picture ever to find something he did. I do think the bomb part was kinda misplaced as it is more fitting for modern time period than the one currently in story. I do wonder if Zhao had notified his search crew about Mai obsession (I think that is what Zhao would call it) with knives?
And barely got time to get that sight out of his mind poor officer next stumbles on probable Blue Spirit who sounds like Jet. If so there are some details that need explaining and I am not refering to the infamous cog. Unfortunately it seems all his bones are unharmed, but I kinda expected that.
Same time Mai has already reached engine room and her only hiding place meant another set of clothing ruined. Just how many does she still have left? Fortunately at least it worked and much to his disappointment Zhao leaves empty handed.
And then the aftermath of all those events. Mai suspects Jet being Blue Spirit which seems likely indeed. Mai suggesting cement shoes (or its version in avatarverse) was amusing, but of course Aang had to shoot it down. I do agree with Aang actually on this.
Sokka being the practical one suggests to find proof which should not be hard due to limited space and then conversation takes interesting turn.
So Sokka is not planning on returning with them, but he is trying not to say that directly. Same time Mai wants to return to ship with Azula and Zuko. I have my doubts of Azula authorizing that, but I do love the fact that Mai wants to do that and support her desire to do so. Aang on other hand has no plan indeed and I have feeling none of them understood each other implications.
Next we get quick history overview about crucible and naval war. So at first Earth Kingdom had no navy so only annoyance Fire Nation had was pirates, but then Earth Kingdom got his own navy and age of privateers started. I wonder if Zuko old crew that abandoned him managed to get letter of marque and reprisal before war ended.
Good to see Zhao realizing stupidity of decision to build waterbenders prison in the middle of ocean. Why do I have feeling soon the number of people regretting that will have sharp increase. Zhao hates being in blckade because it reduces odd of him personally capturing avatar? It does explain why he was personally inspecting Haru ship.
And just then our poor officer Xi, who certainly does not score 11 out of 1-10 scale on intelligence, interrupts Zhao train of thoughts. While I was bit harsh on Zhao competence before, at least now he immediately understood the situation and set sail for Crescent Island. And of course Xi gets demoted to satisfy Zhao needs, but Agni Kai challenge postpones it apparently. Xi better pray Zhao either captures avatar (and is in uncharacteristically good mood) or does not return from upcoming confrontation.
Back to Haru ship where Sokka found the mask in Jet room suspiciously easily. And just as he found it Jet shows up and is rather nonchalant about it. So Jet suspects Mai is still working for Fire Nation and he was trying to get Mai caught on ship? Jet, you are the biggest idiot in this story so far. Good analogy to that would be Zuko stealing Appa from Dai Li especially since I think in this case Iroh is using Jet. If Mai had been caught then everyone else on that ship would also have been arrested and Zhao would have taken that ship apart if had to make sure Avatar was or was not also on ship.
Jet trying to get Sokka to reveal his opinion on Mai while Sokka trying to avoid giving it for now. Oh, now Sokka has the encryption cog. So no immature messages from Jet, but instead could get avatarverse version of PBeM Pai Sho between Azula and Sokka?
Poor Haru having to make decisions he really not ready to make and he dodges responsibility of that decision by technicality imo. I doubt anyone in village would have minded him making decisive decision about Jet. I do love the part he blows off Jet apology. So it will be just imprisoment? Somehow I doubt it is last we hear of him.
Poor Mai suffering again from seasickness and plagued by typical last moment doubts. If I was in her shoes I would have same worries as there is no guarantee Azula actually got her message. Or even if got message did they make it there yet and were they waiting in right place and so on. So Mai internal moral compass has moved so much that she is actually worried of Aang future? Also nice touch to see ultimately Zuko winning over Aang.
I would make breeze joke, but Shorewall beat me to it. But yeah, airbenders have their uses for sailing
So finally reached the Crescent Island and off they go on Appa leaving Haru behind with Jet in custody. I am so shocked that Aang wants to start from temple
The moment Haru mentioned Smellerbee with Jet I had bad feeling about that. If I had been Haru then I would have prevented Smellerbee access to Jet as precaution, but Haru is too nice. So there is more than one Blue Spirit, no wonder nothing really fit previous chapters since the first Blue Spirit at arrival was Smellerbee and rest were probably Jet? Jet calls Azula third most cruel person, but where would he rank himself?
And this order, order of what? Blue Spirit? Perhaps, but I have suspicion that it might actually be Order of White Lotus. In any case I suspect Iroh is behind this. Jet and Smellerbee were the friends he was referring to few chapters ago. I do hope if so Zuko finds out that and has a go at him for endangering Mai life. Would be small consolidation for not calling him out in the series.
Another thing I hope for is Zuko to kick Jet ass in fight. In cartoon Dai Li kinda saved Jet from getting his ass kicked by Zuko, but I doubt anyone is going to this time...beside Aang that is which I hope he does not do.
About entire Climax I am supporting royal siblings to capture avatar, but I suspect next chapter does not answer that yet.
Wow, did not even notice this got so long. I blame Shorewall for giving me idea to do this type of review, yes it is all his fault
Meanwhile Zhao continues to demonstrate how much he enjoys tormenting. I do give him credit for picking up on Haru being reluctant to take him to cargo room, but kicking Haru into cargo room shows the part he really focusing on. Also he is either incompetent and/or lazy as his search apparently is just skin deep as Sokka can attest to.
While Zhao is busy with cargo room, officer Xi he sent to search another part of the ship finds the remnants of Mai and Blue Spirit battle. I do not hold it against him to be stupified by it as I really doubt anyone could picture ever to find something he did. I do think the bomb part was kinda misplaced as it is more fitting for modern time period than the one currently in story. I do wonder if Zhao had notified his search crew about Mai obsession (I think that is what Zhao would call it) with knives?
And barely got time to get that sight out of his mind poor officer next stumbles on probable Blue Spirit who sounds like Jet. If so there are some details that need explaining and I am not refering to the infamous cog. Unfortunately it seems all his bones are unharmed, but I kinda expected that.
Same time Mai has already reached engine room and her only hiding place meant another set of clothing ruined. Just how many does she still have left? Fortunately at least it worked and much to his disappointment Zhao leaves empty handed.
And then the aftermath of all those events. Mai suspects Jet being Blue Spirit which seems likely indeed. Mai suggesting cement shoes (or its version in avatarverse) was amusing, but of course Aang had to shoot it down. I do agree with Aang actually on this.
Sokka being the practical one suggests to find proof which should not be hard due to limited space and then conversation takes interesting turn.
So Sokka is not planning on returning with them, but he is trying not to say that directly. Same time Mai wants to return to ship with Azula and Zuko. I have my doubts of Azula authorizing that, but I do love the fact that Mai wants to do that and support her desire to do so. Aang on other hand has no plan indeed and I have feeling none of them understood each other implications.
Next we get quick history overview about crucible and naval war. So at first Earth Kingdom had no navy so only annoyance Fire Nation had was pirates, but then Earth Kingdom got his own navy and age of privateers started. I wonder if Zuko old crew that abandoned him managed to get letter of marque and reprisal before war ended.
Good to see Zhao realizing stupidity of decision to build waterbenders prison in the middle of ocean. Why do I have feeling soon the number of people regretting that will have sharp increase. Zhao hates being in blckade because it reduces odd of him personally capturing avatar? It does explain why he was personally inspecting Haru ship.
And just then our poor officer Xi, who certainly does not score 11 out of 1-10 scale on intelligence, interrupts Zhao train of thoughts. While I was bit harsh on Zhao competence before, at least now he immediately understood the situation and set sail for Crescent Island. And of course Xi gets demoted to satisfy Zhao needs, but Agni Kai challenge postpones it apparently. Xi better pray Zhao either captures avatar (and is in uncharacteristically good mood) or does not return from upcoming confrontation.
Back to Haru ship where Sokka found the mask in Jet room suspiciously easily. And just as he found it Jet shows up and is rather nonchalant about it. So Jet suspects Mai is still working for Fire Nation and he was trying to get Mai caught on ship? Jet, you are the biggest idiot in this story so far. Good analogy to that would be Zuko stealing Appa from Dai Li especially since I think in this case Iroh is using Jet. If Mai had been caught then everyone else on that ship would also have been arrested and Zhao would have taken that ship apart if had to make sure Avatar was or was not also on ship.
Jet trying to get Sokka to reveal his opinion on Mai while Sokka trying to avoid giving it for now. Oh, now Sokka has the encryption cog. So no immature messages from Jet, but instead could get avatarverse version of PBeM Pai Sho between Azula and Sokka?
Poor Haru having to make decisions he really not ready to make and he dodges responsibility of that decision by technicality imo. I doubt anyone in village would have minded him making decisive decision about Jet. I do love the part he blows off Jet apology. So it will be just imprisoment? Somehow I doubt it is last we hear of him.
Poor Mai suffering again from seasickness and plagued by typical last moment doubts. If I was in her shoes I would have same worries as there is no guarantee Azula actually got her message. Or even if got message did they make it there yet and were they waiting in right place and so on. So Mai internal moral compass has moved so much that she is actually worried of Aang future? Also nice touch to see ultimately Zuko winning over Aang.
I would make breeze joke, but Shorewall beat me to it. But yeah, airbenders have their uses for sailing
So finally reached the Crescent Island and off they go on Appa leaving Haru behind with Jet in custody. I am so shocked that Aang wants to start from temple
The moment Haru mentioned Smellerbee with Jet I had bad feeling about that. If I had been Haru then I would have prevented Smellerbee access to Jet as precaution, but Haru is too nice. So there is more than one Blue Spirit, no wonder nothing really fit previous chapters since the first Blue Spirit at arrival was Smellerbee and rest were probably Jet? Jet calls Azula third most cruel person, but where would he rank himself?
And this order, order of what? Blue Spirit? Perhaps, but I have suspicion that it might actually be Order of White Lotus. In any case I suspect Iroh is behind this. Jet and Smellerbee were the friends he was referring to few chapters ago. I do hope if so Zuko finds out that and has a go at him for endangering Mai life. Would be small consolidation for not calling him out in the series.
Another thing I hope for is Zuko to kick Jet ass in fight. In cartoon Dai Li kinda saved Jet from getting his ass kicked by Zuko, but I doubt anyone is going to this time...beside Aang that is which I hope he does not do.
About entire Climax I am supporting royal siblings to capture avatar, but I suspect next chapter does not answer that yet.
Wow, did not even notice this got so long. I blame Shorewall for giving me idea to do this type of review, yes it is all his fault