Good and Evil || An ATLA Fanfiction

Chapter 42

After staying at Lee's farm for a few days, Ruby and I continued our journey. My hand held onto our only means of transportation- an ostrichhorse.

Currently, we were planning to go through a large swamp, the place only days away.

Suddenly, Ruby stops in her tracks. Kneeling, she presses her hand deep into the earth.

"What is it?" I ask, raising a brow.

"Someone is following us, and based on how fast their going, their not walking" Ruby says, peeling her hand from the ground "We need to learn to ride this ostrichhorse thing, and fast."

Hopping, I kick a foot over the beast, landing firmly on it's back. Ruby instantly joins me on it's back, and with a solid slap to it's behind, we were off.

"This shouldn't be too hard" I croak as the wind blows through our hair. 

"Tree!" Ruby cries out , ducking. With a screech, I yank on the reigns, the beast stumbling to the left. Slowly, Ruby looks up "Hey, you're actually pretty good at this."

"I have no clue what I'm doing!" I cry out as the beast stomps into the ground.

We continue on like this. The animal continuing on without getting short of breath. A harsh feeling bit at the back of my mind. Who could possibly be trying to find us? Surely it was Zuko and Grandpa. And if it was Aang, Katara and Sokka, I would have seen Appa.

Suddenly, a girl hops out in front of us, and before I can swerve, her fingers dig deep into the animal's legs, making it fall.

"Get up!" Ruby snarls, hoisting me to my feet. 

In front of us stood a girl in pink, her grey eyes wide. "Ty Lee" I sneer, my fists clenching at the sight of my cousin's friend.

"Hi Azara!" she peeps with a large smile, just as two other women step out. One had most of her face covered with hair, small daggers in hand. Mai.

And finally, my eyes fell onto the face of my other cousin; Azula. A wicked smirk was on her painted lips. Even though I was years her elder, she struck a chord of fear through me.

"Well, it seems the entire family has come to the Earth Kingdom" Azula says harshly "I just saw Zuzu and Uncle a week ago."

My heart quickens. "What do you want Azula?" I snap.

"No need to be so blunt Azara, can't I just say hello to my favorite cousin?" Azula questions.

"No. You can't now tell me what it is you want before you waste anymore of my time" I hiss.

"Fine, fine" Azula sighs, stepping forward "My father has realized there are many people who wish to bring him down. Family is all who he can trust. Zuko and Uncle are already back home. You can see them again."

I look down. Would they really go back? There is no possible way that Firelord Ozai would allow Zuko to return without the Avatar. 

Stepping forward, Ruby whispers into my ear "She's lying."

"How can you tell?" I ask.

"The same way I felt them coming. Trust me."

Turning back, I glare into Azula's eyes "I'm not coming with you Azula. If you just wanted me to come with you, you wouldn't have brought your little group of friends."

"Fine, if you won't come by yourself, we'll just need to take you by force" Azula snarls, before releasing a blast of blue fire.

Moving my hands into a large circular motion, the fire fades.

"Don't let the one in pink touch you!" I yell to Ruby, who begins attacking Mai and Ty Lee.

Thrusting my leg into the air, I slam it down, a large fire blast throwing itself to Azula.

"You lied to me!" I snap at my cousin, "Where are Zuko and Grandpa Iroh?"

Chuckling, she throws another punch, easily blocking it, I look back to her. "They got away, but by the looks of it, they haven't even tried to find you. Perhaps they finally saw how weak and useless you are"Azula sneers.

Snarling, both of my hands slam together, a fire stream slamming into Azula's armor, throwing her back.

"You little peasant!" Azara snarls, her hands contracting lightning. It crackles in the air, more powerful than anything I've learned to make. It was her go to move of attack.

Pointing her finger forward, the bolt is free, and aiming right for me.

Ready to redirect, the lightning enters my body. I groan as the brute force shoves me back. Almost as if it was cackling, I move it through my body. Instead of throwing the bolt right back at my cousin, my fingers release it into the sky, a rumble freeing itself.

Overhead, Ty Lee screams as Ruby launches her into the air.

Turning back to my cousin, a smirk goes across my lips. "What could you possibly be smiling about Azara?" Azula snarls, preparing to strike yet again.

"This" I snap, before running head on to Azula. Before she can strike me down, my fingers jab into her arms, leaving them limp. Gasping, she attempts to bend. With another jab to her legs, she falls to the ground with a cry.

Turning back to Ruby, she slams rock into Mai's side, throwing her onto the ground.

"Let's get out of here!" Ruby calls out breathlessly.

Nodding, I look back to Azula, who fumbles on the ground like a fish out of water.

"Who's the weak cousin now?" I sneer, before joining Ruby on the ostrichhorse.