Accidental Avatar 3.5: The Burn Book

Distractions

These Dai Li agents are absolute di...srespectful. Disrespectful. Yeah, that's what I'm going with. Every time we would try to advance, they'd throw up this wall that we had to jump over, or break down, or dodge around. They mainly targeted Aang and seemed just to be content keeping Sokka and me contained. And what about Toph? Nothing can contain that much angst. Not even her tiny stature. She busts through the Dai Li's walls like they were Ricepaper and pushed them onto the defensive. This gave me an opening. I dashed forward, bringing my pick around and... missed. Azula jumped back, so I carried the momentum around, turning my swing into a roundhouse kick that... never landed... I glared at her, and she smirked back. Smirked! Another war pick swing, and it bit into the stone floor at her feet.

Suddenly, Aang picked up the attack, blasting air at where she stood seconds before. Kudos to him, though. The throne never stood a chance. He followed that up with an airblade, which she deftly dodged.

A wild agent appeared out of nowhere, Blasting me into the air. After landing, I rushed him, spinning around his attacks and shoulder barging him. He jumped back, but not far enough. He stomped the ground, so I pinned his foot there with my pick. Then I punched him in the throat. Ya know, because he is an ass...ass...in! Assassin! And assassins deserve to be punched in the throat. I pulled my pick and broke his helmet in half.

It turns out that while I had been fighting the would-be ninja, the princess had been steadily retreating.

"I can't pin her down!" Aang called out. "She's too fast."

"Charge her?" I suggested as we all regrouped.

"Charge her," Sokka agreed, adjusting his grip on his sword. It looked like he had cut down a Dai Li agent as well.

We all charged as our opponents retreated out the way we had come in. Toph nailed the last Dai Li agent into a wall with a grin that even I thought was wicked.

"Wait!" Sokka called out. "She's toying with us!"

"I hate playing cat and mouse," I yelled down the tunnel. "Come here and die properly, you hag!"

"She isn't even trying to fight," Sokka continued.

"Not true," the brat said sarcastically. "I'm giving it my all."

"You're trying to keep us here and waste all our time!" Toph realised.

"I think your friend just said that genius," Azula sassed. "And since you can't see, I should tell you I'm rolling my eyes."

"I'll roll your whole head!"Toph yelled at her.

"Can I help?" I swung my pick.

"She's just baiting you again," Sokka warned.

"Okay, so what do we do?" Aang asked. "Just ignore her?"

"We don't have a choice," Sokka confirmed. He sounded almost sad about it. "We just have to get out of here and find the Fire Lord on our own somehow."

I gripped my war-pick even tighter but stood my ground, staring down the little girl, who looked quite bored. How Dare She! She murdered my best friend and showed not even the slightest bit of recognition of that.

"It's a trap," she commented. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

I ground my teeth but turned away. It was difficult to hear that voice, to see that face and to do nothing. But somehow, I felt Amaya smiling next to me. I knew that she knew I did good.

"So, Sokka's your name, right?" Azula sounded bored. "My favourite prisoner used to mention you all the time."

Sokka stopped.

"You said to ignore her," I challenged him, grabbing his arm. "And I need you to do that too; otherwise, I'm gonna want a piece of her too. Probably her spinal column."

"She was convinced that you were going to come to rescue her. Of course, you never came, and she gave up on you."

Sokka's eyes were glistening in the torchlight, the wet, running down his cheeks. With a cry of rage that terrified even me, he charged at the powerless firebender. I joined him. Then suddenly, Toph rejoined the fight, launching a rock at the girl, pinning her wrist to the wall. A short sword clattered to the ground, and Sokka barreled right into the girl. With his sword pressed against her throat, he asked a simple question.

"Where Is Suki?"

I picked up the dropped blade. It was pretty. I think I'll keep it.