Carved In Rock || ATLA

The Hanging Tree

The Crossroads of Destiny - Cont

"Are you, are you coming to the tree? Where they strung up a man they say who murdered three. Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be if we met at midnight in the hanging tree." - Jennifer Lawrence & James Newton Howard

🌊 ⛰ 🔥 🌪

As Aelita soared above the city with Mushu and Appa, it was hard to believe that Ba Sing Se was so dangerously close to an internal collapse. The streets were alive with people going about their normal business, blissfully unaware of the dangers inside their walls. With any luck, those people would remain unaware as she charged towards the Lower Ring in search of Kyojuro. Aelita wasn't sure what exactly she'd be walking into when she made her move to drag the Prince out. The place she had found him in sure as hell wasn't Dai Li occupied, but that didn't mean her friend was out of the woods yet.

"There!" She pointed out to Appa. From their place just under the clouds, she could see the building she had pinpointed earlier. She tugged the reigns and the bison careened towards the flat rooftop. Appa landed with a thud before Aelita slid off from her spot behind his head with Mushu chattering on her shoulder, his tail flicking towards a hatch that would lead them inside the building, his human unaware that the ferret remembered the location from being there before.

"I see it, buddy, but we can't just charge in half-cocked without a plan." She told the little creature that continued to chitter away. "I know we're here to save him, but if we get ourselves into too much shit, we won't be much help, will we? Well yeah, I have a general idea of where he is inside, I can feel his spiritual energy but that doesn't mean I know all the details. Hey now! Don't you take up that tone with me sir, I don't see you coming up with any grand ideas or contributing any useful information. Listen here you little shi-"

The rooftop hatch swung open. Aelita pulled out her fathers blade as Appa and Mushu both barred their teeth. A heartbeat later, Longshot's face popped into view much to the firebenders surprise.

"Hello there," She managed to say. The archer climbed onto the roof to stare back at her, eyes slightly wide as if he were seeing a ghost.

Longshot felt like he was. He hadn't seen the Akira in person in quite some time, his last encounter with the girl being her corporeal form pointing the Avatar towards Lake Laogai. Not long after their arrival, he and Bee had stayed behind while the others went ahead, both wanting to stay at Jet's side during his final moments, and by the time they had emerged from the underground fortress, they were long gone. The question lingered in his eyes, 'Why are you here?'

"I'm looking for someone important to me, and he's somewhere inside this building," Aelita told the archer. After all that he and his two friends had done for hers, any apprehension or tension that may have been lingering following their first encounter had melted away. All three had proven themselves to be someone that they could trust, even Jet. When Katara had told her what horror had befallen her former foe, she had prayed to spirits to guide his soul somewhere peaceful and happy. Longshot had yet to speak, so she continued. "I think this someone will be the key to taking down the Dai Li for good."

The Akira held her breath the entire time she followed Longshot down into the old apartment building, Appa hiding in the clouds above to not draw excess attention to their location.

'We have him.'

The three short words had been the first the firebender had heard him speak. When she asked the archer how he knew they had the 'he' that she was looking for, he just gestured for her to follow him. When Longshot opened the door to the small living space he shared with Smellerbee, she nearly wept in relief to see Kyojuro Hashibira alive, even if battered and bruised, propped up in bed as he chatted with the young Freedom Fighter.