Fire and Wind: The Exchange

The meeting spot wasn't far away but they had to get there early to set things up. Seng's ride in the back of the cart was… interesting to say the least.

“So tell me girl, have you had the pleasure of trying Fire Nation cuisine yet? I myself am partial to the fire flakes but recently I've found they go right through me!” King Bumi's latest ‘joke’ was punctuated by a giggle-snort that made Seng's nose wrinkle. She still couldn’t believe that this man was the famed king of Omashu. How had the city stayed standing for so long?

Seng eyed the man as he launched into another diatribe, completely unperturbed by her lack of responses so far. The man didn’t seem like someone who would be fit to rule the most prospering city outside of Ba Sing Se, but Seng had been alive long enough to know that appearances could be deceiving. Even through the blanket of madness in his eyes, she could see the telltale spark of shrewd intelligence that she often saw within Azula’s own. This man wasn’t as mad as they say he was.

“Why did you surrender to the Fire Nation, King Bumi?” Seng said, interrupting the man’s story about his floppy-eared pet, Flopsie. He looked at her, surprise stark in his eyes as she finally spoke, “I was told you gave up your entire city without a fight. Why? With Omashu’s defenses and your power, you would have been able at least temporarily repel any force they could send your way.”

King Bumi grinned, “Ah, that’s a good question, lass! Why did I just surrender my beautiful city to that second rate general? Hmm… I can’t quite remember. Maybe I just didn’t have lunch that day. My failing mind tends to give a bit when I don’t have my veggies, you see.”

“Cut the crap, Bumi.” Seng stared at the man, grey eyes narrowing. The aged man tilted his head, his smile dimming slightly, “I know you aren’t as mad as they say you are and it’s not like I’m digging for state secrets here. I just want to know why you doomed your entire city to service under the Fire Nation instead of fighting to protect them like any good king would.”

“And what would that have accomplished?” King Bumi asked, a spark of curiosity in his eyes as he stared at her, “Would it have been better to have my soldiers fight a futile battle against the Fire Nation? One that, even if we won, would have only delayed the inevitable? I don’t have the soldiers to put up a fight against an entire nation, lass, and even with my veggies, I’m not nearly as spry as I used to be.”

The response was concise and almost completely bereft of the man’s earlier ramblings and Seng was left momentarily stunned at his words. She hadn’t expected an actual response, much less one that was actually as lucid as that one.

“If you fought back against the Fire Nation, you could have fled to Ba Sing Se. It’s not that far and if you were with them, there’s no chance the Earth King would turn them away at the walls.” Seng said, watching as Bumi nodded.

“No, he wouldn’t have. Kuei and his little aid wouldn’t send me packing if I came to them with bent knees, and I’m sure Long Feng would be absolutely tickled to see me kneeling before that boy.” Bumi snorted, “But would it have been worth it? From the looks of you, you already know the brutality of the Fire Nation. How many of my people do you think I would have shown up to those gates with? I’m powerful, but I can’t defend everyone and Omashu’s a big city. An evacuation that size would be easily found and more importantly tracked.”

“At least some of them would be free though.” Seng retorted, bringing a hand up to her collar, “Now all of them are prisoners of the Fire Nation, and it looks like they’ve decided to take things into their own hands. For better or for worse.”

“Ah, but many of them got away, didn’t they? Just waltzed right out the gate like they had pentapox!” King Bumi smiled, “By now they’ll be well on their way to safety and I didn’t have to lift a finger.”

“And in return, the rebels left within the walls are going to rip your fair city apart.” Seng hissed, “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed from your not-so-gilded cage, King, but several nobles have already been slaughtered in the streets or in her own homes. Entire families, children and all, dead. Azula wasn’t happy about that and I doubt anyone on the mainland will be either. Once the information gets back to the imperial court, this city is going to be one giant battlefield.”

Seng’s voice was heated but she made a conscious effort to keep it low so she wasn't overheard by the girls just a few feet away. She didn’t expect to get into this kind of discussion with King Bumi of all people and her emotions were getting the better of her, a fact that the Mad King clearly noticed.

“Hmm… You feel really strongly about this, don’t you?” He said, leering at her collar. Seng stayed silent, trying to collect herself and King Bumi smiled. It wasn’t one of his usually smiles, dancing on the fringe between lunacy and sanity. Instead it was soft, almost reassuring.

His cage shook as he adjusted himself, turning it so that he could face Seng directly, and as the airbender looked up at him in confusion, he rose his gaze to the ceiling with an almost nostalgic look on his face.

“You remind me of someone else I know, lass, so I’m going to tell you the same thing that I would tell him.” King Bumi said, “Sometimes, when there is no best thing to do, the best thing you can do.. is nothing. Save your energy, bide your time, and wait for the right moment to strike.”

Seng stared at him as she registered the advice and a small amount of deviousness entered his expression, “My city may have fallen, true, but my people are safe. And one day, when the time is right, I will take back what is mine and drive out these intruders for good. But today's not that day, so I will sit and wait until the time is right.”

The cart was silent as the airbender digested his advice. Save your energy and wait for the right moment to arrive… for some reason, she didn't think he was just talking about taking back Omashu.

“I wonder what I'll have for dinner when I'm finally out of here.” King Bumi continued, swerving the mood in a completely different direction, “My chefs are no doubt almost to Ba Sing Se by now and I'm a terrible cook. Maybe Flopsie won't mind sharing his kibble. It can't be worse than what they're feeding me now!”

And with his signature snorting laughter, the Mad King's moment of lucidity seemed to pass as he launched into another inane story that Seng couldn't be bothered to actually listen to. But in that single conversation, he had given the airbender a lot to think about.

~~~

The hostage negotiation was taking place high up in the center of the city. A statue of Fire Lord Ozai was being constructed, a way to show the nation’s power in taking one of the most impenetrable cities in all of the Earth Kingdom, and it was upon the miles of scaffolding surrounding said statue that they were set to meet the kidnappers.

The four girls sans king arrived a little after their agreed upon time, at least that was how it appeared to the rebels. In reality, they had been here for quite a while, setting things up in their favor as they waited for the time to arrive.

Seng’s eyes zeroed in on the people across from them, taking them in. They had the baby which was good, at least they seemed willing to hold up to their end of the bargain. They were dressed weirdly though, and not at all what she would have imagined rebels to look like. The standard Earth Kingdom greens and browns were nowhere to be found, replaced by vividly colorful blues and whites that were extremely out of place this far inland. Two of them clearly belonged to the Water Tribe, though Seng couldn’t tell which one. The other though…

Seng nearly rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things. That boy's clothes were dyed in the traditional style of an Air Nomad. The bright orange and cream colors that were supposed to represent freedom, of being close to the sun and away from the attachments on the ground, were on full display.

Clothes like that had fallen out of style when the rest of the nomads were hunted into extinction. Nobody wanted to be wearing the colors of a nation actively going through a massive genocide. So why in the world did this kid, someone who should have no reason to even touch the colors, wear them so proudly? Could he be…?

Seng didn't give voice to her thoughts, unsure if they were even worth voicing in the first place. She stayed silent as the rest of the girls stepped forward to confront the group. 

At a signal, King Bumi was lowered on a crane, seemingly ticked to be displayed in such a matter, “Hi everybody!” He said, a big goofy smile on his face as he landed just beside Seng. The airbender didn’t glance at him, focusing instead on the other group who seemed relieved at his appearance.

Mai stepped forward, her ever-present scowl deepening, “You brought my brother?”

The boy in the nomad clothes nodded, gesturing towards the boy who seemed utterly fine with what was happening, “He's here. We're ready to trade.” 

His voice was young, far younger than any rebel leader that Seng had ever known or seen. Something was going on here.

The airbender looked over as Azula suddenly spoke, her regal voice piercing the tense air between the groups. The girl had a devious smirk on her face as she looked to her friend, and Seng tensed, knowing that things were about to escalate as they always seemed to when she spoke.

“I'm sorry, but a thought just occurred to me. Do you mind?” She addressed the question to Mai who also caught on to her plan and gave her the go ahead, “We're trading a two-year-old for a king. A powerful, earthbending king? It just doesn't seem like a fair trade. Does it?”

And there it was. Seng's fingers twitched towards her back as Mai regarded the princess with a cool glance, before glancing back towards Bumi who had a great big smile on his face, “You know what, you're right. I don't know what I was thinking.”

The girl stepped forward, addressing the group of tense rebels opposite them, “The deal’s off.” She waved a hand and the crane that had lowered Bumi to the ground began to raise him back up again. The king's happy cackles punctuated the rebels’ shock as they realized that they had been duper, and the boy in orange seemed to take issue with the situation.

“Bumi!” Seng's eyes narrowed as he rushed forward, pulling his staff from his back as he ran towards the king. What was he planning to do? They had casesd the place out beforehand so there was no chance that he had any fellow rebels hiding in the wings to rescue the king. Did he just plan to beat them all and rescue the man himself? Something wasn't adding up here.

Azula, seeing his charge, ran past Mai and sent a sweeping curtain of fire at the boy. He was moving too fast to dodge them in any direction and Seng looked away, knowing from experience just how powerful those blue flames were. She didn't want to see someone so young be reduced to a charred corpse.

But the screams of agony that she was expecting never came. Instead there was a familiar whoosh of air and several shocked gasps. Seng turned back to the fight warily, and was left shocked at what she saw.

The boy, who just moments before seemed to be rushing to his death, had somehow jumped over Azula's fire. As Seng watched, he leapt onto the scaffolding and launched himself off, before the ordinary staff he was carrying suddenly folded outwards into a familiar shape and caught the wind. 

As he soared through the air, his turban flew off of his head and he just managed to snatch it out of the air with his teeth before it fell too far but its purpose had been revealed as a shiny bald head with a bright blue arrow tattooed upon its surface was made apparent for all to see.

“The Avatar…” Seng whispered, completely stunned at his appearance. A few feet ahead of her, Azula had a similar reaction, but she got over her surprise quickly and began to pursue the boy, finding a new quarry in him that she needed to collect. 

As Seng struggled to get over her surprise, Mai and Ty Lee charged at the remaining rebels, intending to get the boy that they had all come here for. That spurred Seng into action and the girl got over her surprise, glaring up at the Avatar as the boy landed on King Bumi's cage.

There he was, the biggest reason for all the misery in the world. Seng's mind flared with anger at his appearance but she didn't let it consume her, instead pulling her bow from her back to stop him from freeing the confined king. If she helped catch him here, then Azula might keep her word and set her free. She wasn't going to pass up this chance.

Her arrow sliced through the sky, heading straight for the boy's thigh. Seng just wanted to wound him, even if death would probably be preferable to whatever Azula planned to do with him. She didn't think she could stomach killing someone that young, even if she disliked everything he stood for. 

The Avatar, either hearing the arrow approaching or sensing the disturbance in the air, turned and found a hand out, sending a whirling ball of wind to intercept. Seng's arrow was knocked off course by the current and sent wide, and her eyes locked onto the Avatar's for a split second, before they narrowed and she pulled out another arrow

Just before she could set it loose, Azula called out to her from above. Seng looked at her and the princess shook her head, pointing off to the side where Ty Lee and Mai had gone, “Leave the Avatar to me! You have other priorities at the moment.”

Seng's eyes widened at the order, “What? But he's–!” 

“You have your orders, Thief. Get to them.”

Seng felt conflicted about giving up her chance at freedom but ultimately decided that the toddler was more important. She put her arrow back in its quiver and retrieved her spear instead, turning to run after Mai and Ty Lee to help them with the Water Tribe duo.

She could hear the snap of a chain and feel the heat from Azula's flames behind her but she didn't turn around, racing towards her objective. Though she may not have meant it that way, Azula was right. Getting Tom-Tom back safely was more important here.

It only took a minute for Seng to catch up with the other two girls and she arrived just in time to see their fight come to its sudden conclusion. The airbender watched as a huge, six-legged beast literally floated down from the sky and landed on the scaffolding. With one mighty flap of its tail, a torrent of ripping wind slammed into the other girls sending them flying away before they could reach their objective.

The Water Tribe girl wasted no time in climbing up onto the beast’s back with her brother. The moment she was safely atop it, the creature gave a roar and with one more flap, took off into the air once more. As it flew, Seng's eyes immediately locked on to the bundle of clothes in the saddle, a dark head of hair just barely visible at a distance. They still had the kid.

Seng wasn’t going to let them get away. Narrowing her eyes, the airbender bolted towards the scaffolding nearby, leaping up and into it and scaling the wooden beams just like she did the trees in the forests she’d resided in all of her life. Flipping up onto the top of the scaffolding, she sprinted towards the edge with all of her might, pulling her spear from her back and slamming the bottom into the wood beneath her as she reached the end.

Bright orange fans flared outwards from the wooden staff, fluttering in the wind as she ran, and Seng didn’t give herself a single moment to think about what she was doing as she leapt into the air high above the city. The ground underneath her seemed miles away and she flailed briefly in the sky before reaching up and grabbing onto the struts of the staff with both hands, putting all of her faith in the aged flying device.

For a brief, heart-stopping moment, it didn’t seem to be working. Instead of leveling out or rising, Seng seemed to lose altitude as gravity pulled her back down to the harsh earth. Seng’s stomach dropped as she did, before the fans on the glider finally caught the wind and brought her back up with explosive power, pushing her forward as she sliced through the sky on an invisible current.

Omashu–no, the entire world stretched out before Seng as her grandfather’s glider kept her afloat above it all and for just a moment, the airbender allowed herself to just take it all in. Despite how fast she was moving, the wind brushed through her hair and clothes in a gentle caress, as if it was welcoming her home after she had been away for far too long.

If this was what airbenders felt every time they flew, then she could see why they were considered the most free nation on the planet when they were still around. Up here, so high above the earth that the prospect of ever landing again seemed ludicrous, she had never felt more free or at peace in her life.

Unfortunately, it couldn’t last. She still had a child to rescue. Grey eyes zeroed in on the only other flying object in the sky. The animal was making a lazy loop around the statue, moving almost leisurely because it likely knew that up here, it had nothing to fear from those down below. Too bad for them that Seng was here then.

The airbender’s next move came almost intuitively, like some long dead instinct rearing its head inside of her. Her heels clicked together as she straightened out and took a deep breath before diving down, building speed at  a rapid pace before banking upwards, bleeding off a bit of momentum in exchange for angling her trajectory towards the flying animal.

She wasn’t going to let them get away.

~~~

Katara turned as she heard her brother scream shrilly and her eyes widened as a girl landed in the saddle right in front of Sokka. A flash of orange was all Katara saw as the girl twirled her spear in one hand and all Sokka had the chance to do was widen his eyes as she brought the end around and smacked him in the side of the head with a crack.

“Sokka!” Katara shouted as he went down with a cry of pain. Letting go of Appa's reins, she pulled a stream of water out of her water skin but a spear was thrust in her face before she could do anything with it.

“Don't move. I'm fully willing to mess up that pretty face of yours.” The girl said coldly, wiggling her weapon for emphasis. Katara scowled at the girl, clutching Tom-Tom with one arm and protecting him with her other. The girl glanced down at the child, “Kidnapping children isn't something I'd expect from Earth Kingdom rebels but I guess war makes monsters out of us all. I'll be taking him back to his family now.”

Katara's eyes widened in outrage, “Kidnapping!? We didn't kidnap anyone! He just showed up in our camp!”

The look the girl gave Katara was one you'd give a particularly dull-witted animal, “He just showed up? Do you think I'm stupid? How does a two-year-old just ‘show up’ in the middle of an occupied rebel camp?”

Katara honestly wasn't sure about that. None of them were, as far as she knew, “I-I don't know but we didn't kidnap him! We're trying to bring him back! You were the ones who tried to call the deal off!”

“The deal was never real in the first place. Trading a king for a toddler is moronic, I'm sure even you can see that.” The girl jabbed her spear, making Katara flinch. She seemed to find some sort of amusement in that as she smirked, “That being said, there was never any chance of you leaving with either of them. Hand over the child before someone gets hurt.”

Katara glanced at her brother, hoping that he might be able to help, but Sokka was still out cold. That hit looked like it hurt and she was almost sure she could see a bruise already starting to form. She wanted to get over there and help him, but she couldn’t with this girl in the way.

Why was she even here? Katara eyed her, taking in her clothing and facial features. She was wearing dark clothes and for some reason, had a thick iron collar around her neck, emblazoned with the Fire Nation insignia. Katara recognized her from the meeting, but she didn’t have anything in common with the other three girls that they had just fought. She clearly wasn’t Fire Nation–heck, she didn't even look like she was from the Earth Kingdom! Why was she working with them? Could it have something to do with the collar?

Something about her appearance tingled something in the back of Katara’s mind as she stared at her, a sense of familiarity that wasn’t intimate enough to place. Like those family reunions back in the south where the tribes would occasionally come together and Katara learned that she had much more family than she ever thought. But this girl definitely wasn’t family, so why did she feel that way?

The spear in front of her wiggled again, breaking her out of her thoughts, “Well? I don't have all day.”

“Why are you working with the Fire Nation?” Katara questioned instead, trying to buy some time for her brother to recover or Appa to find Aang, “We aren't the bad guys, they are! Why are you helping them?”

“Not the bad guys?” The girl seemed bemused, “You stole a child away from his rightful family, what makes you think you aren't the bad guys? Do you think just because you're traveling with the Avatar that you automatically can't do anything wrong?”

Katara was taken aback at the amount of hate in the girl's voice when she said Aang’s title. Even Zuko didn't sound as angry–no, disgusted with the word. Did she have something against Aang?

Tom-Tom giggled in Katara’s arms, reaching for the spear-wielding girl. She looked down at the child and an oddly soft smile came to her angry face, “It’s alright, Tom-Tom. You’ll be back with your mommy and daddy soon. I just have to deal with this mean lady really quick.”

Mean!? Katara’s cheeks puffed at the girl’s descriptor of her as she turned away from the child, regarding Katara cooly, “So? What’s it gonna be? I don’t want to have to use any more violence than I already have in front of him, but I absolutely will if I have to.”

Katara bit her lip. Sokka still wasn’t awake and didn’t look like he was going to any time soon. There was also no way that Katara would ever be able to fight the girl in this cramped saddle, especially not with this spear held to her neck. Faced with these facts, there was only one thing that she could really do. Even the Fire Nation weren’t monstrous enough to hurt a little baby boy like Tom-Tom.

“Fine.” Katara sat Tom-Tom down on the saddle, relinquishing the boy to the other girl. The moment he was let down, Tom-Tom toddled over to her with outstretched arms, babbling baby speak all the while. 

The other girl’s face softened as she leaned down, scooping the child up in one arm, “Hey little guy. I bet you miss your home a lot, don’t you? Let’s get you back.”

The girl turned away from Katara, walking towards the edge of the saddle with purpose, and the waterbender’s eyes widened, “W-Wait!  Where are you going!? We’re still in the air!”

“I’m well aware.” Was all the girl said as she stopped at the edge of the saddle, peeking down at the city rushing below them. She raised her weapon in the air, and just as Katara was about to ask her what her plan was, she did something miraculous and utterly shocking.

The girl slammed the butt of her spear on the ground and Katara’s jaw went slack as the sides sprung open, revealing the same bright orange fans on Aang’s glider. T-that wasn’t possible. How in the world did she have that, unless…

Katara gasped in shock as her mind finally made the connection that it had so desperately been trying to form this entire time. The question of how she got up here and why she looked so familiar despite Katara never having met her in her entire life. This girl was an airbender! Just like Aang!

“You’re an airbender!” She accused, “Why are you working with the Fire Nation!? You should be helping us save Omashu, not fighting us!”

The girl rolled her eyes as she secured the baby to her chest with the help of the sash around her waist, “I’m not going over this again. I have my own reasons for helping the princess and they don’t concern you in the slightest.”

Grey eyes flashed as the girl glanced back at her, “Besides, I’d rather work for the Fire Nation than the person directly responsible for their rise to power.”

And with that, the girl leapt off of the saddle and raced away from Appa’s saddle on man-made wings, leaving Katara angry, startled, and more confused than she had ever been in her life.