Heimat | Aang

TWO

Tapeesa had never had a nice relationship with the crew. Even though they stayed in the same living quarters, confined in a vessel surrounded by sea for days, sometimes even months, she had never once had a decent relationship with any of them. She preferred to keep to herself, not agreeing with most of their opinions, not wishing to exhaust herself trying to change their mind about the way things should be when she knew beforehand they had no wish to change in what they believed in. Ever since the day they had left the Fire Nation port, though, and she had declared her wish to participate in the scheme to murder the Avatar, her relationship with the crew had miraculously gotten almost bearable.

As she passed by her fellow soldiers, they would send her a nod, others would even pause and concern themselves with asking about her well being. Tapeesa, ever adaptable, always changing like the element she yielded, acted in a friendly manner and reciprocated.

A few times, she had managed to catch sight of the Avatar. He stayed mainly in his room, talked mostly to the captain, and at points, she had caught him standing on the deck, looking up at the sky, as if being in a vessel in the middle of nowhere wasn't something he enjoyed. She never approached him once, however. She kept her distance.

So the days passed and the crew got even more determined to take him out. The whispers got louder, the conspiration almost evident, and she was surprised the Captain hadn't realised his crew was troubled, distracted. Tapeesa kept herself updated. She asked about the plan, although she offered no solution to their problems. Slowly but steadily, the crew came up with a way they could take down the Avatar.

The sky was clear on the day they decided on their final plan of action. There was not a single cloud in the horizon, no disturbance, and the sky was changing from azure to purple as the sun slowly started to set when she felt it.

There was a disturbance in the water carried from miles away, moving towards them rapidly. She could sense it in the force of the sea against the ship, at the height of the waves that steadily started to grow as the time passed. A storm was coming.

Tapeesa left the deck about an hour before dinner was about to be served and headed to the room the crew gathered in. She had caught sight of the storm in the horizon as she left, and she knew, the night to come was going to be a vicious one.

Almost all members of the crew were gathered in the room as she got inside. At once, she was called over, and she had hardly reached them before one of them spoke up.

"The plan of action is simple. We will drug the Avatar. There will be a hypnotic substance in his food this evening. It will do all the work for us. He will be subdued easily by the time we get to him. We kill him and then push him off the ship. There's a storm tonight, so no one will hear him as he falls in the sea. In the next few days, one of us will pose as him and claim he's not feeling well so he has to stay in his room. The Captain won't suspect a thing."

Tapeesa didn't say a word as she watched the conspiratorial smirks and smiles on the sailors' faces. She didn't quite agree with their plan. She thought it wasn't a bright idea—she wasn't expecting anything more from them, though—and if the Avatar wanted to get away, he could. However, she kept her thoughts to herself as she spoke up over the few people who were voicing their agreement to the plan.

"I want to take the Avatar's food to him tonight."

There was no objection—she wasn't expecting one—she was only greeted with smiles and nods of encouragement. Someone clapped her on the back and she resisted the urge to turn around and glare at the fool who dared touch her for the sake of keeping up appearances. A few people volunteered to be the ones to sneak in the Avatar's room later on in the evening to kill him, and sooner than she had expected, it was time for her to take the food to the Avatar.