Learning Experiences Zukka

Chapter 4: Plan Execution

The only time Sokka had worked with another warrior as anything resembling an equal had been the 'mission' with Jet. Before the rebel had shown himself a bully and later a liar about it, it had been exciting to be accepted by a clearly experienced fighter. Jet had been all winks and smiles and enthusiastic compliments when Sokka showed skill or a good idea.

Zuko... wasn't. Zuko was all business, all competence, and expected nothing else. Sokka got a sharp glare when he made too much noise and no acknowledgement when he was doing well. When Sokka spotted one of the archers they had expected on guard around the village and silently pointed out his perch in the crook of a tree, Zuko merely nodded and held up two fingers indicating they should be looking for a partner nearby. The prince spotted that one down in the bushes near the tree trunk and gave a simple plan in gestures - twenty seconds then use the boomerang on the one in the tree. He barely waited for a nod and disappeared into the undergrowth. When Sokka loosed his weapon at the count of twenty, he heard a grunt from the bushes at almost the same moment, and by the time he made his way there, Zuko was already binding and gagging the two unconscious men.

Jet would have grinned fit to split his face and slapped Sokka on the shoulder, told him how awesome he was and wow that boomerang was a pretty damn cool weapon. Zuko just made sure he had boomerang back and breathed "Probably another pair on this side of the village so stay quiet."

There was another pair, and Sokka spotted them both this time. He was beginning to think Water Tribe had better night vision. They had to deal with a three month night after all, and Fire Nation seemed to prefer acting in the daytime. When Zuko signaled the same plan but with 30 seconds lead time, the water tribesman shook his head. Moved his hand from his eye towards the higher archer and shook his head again. No good line for the shot. Jet would have given him a deep look of sincerity, told him he knew Sokka could do it, he had faith in him, and Sokka would have given it a try. Zuko simply nodded curtly and gave a signal for quiet as they moved to a better location. When the warrior was sure he had a shot, the prince reminded him of the 30 seconds and disappeared again. Two more archers down, still no shoulder slaps.

When they got to the village, Zuko followed his lead to the house he had picked from afar that afternoon. The fire prince broke the lock on the door with heated hands and stood guard while Sokka slipped in to get the last person they needed on board with their plan.

"Did it have to take that long?" was the annoyed whisper he got on emerging again.

"Well, no, but I decided to gossip a while over tea. Yes it had to, she was suspicious of me and even when I showed her the notice it took a while. But we're good, there's a couple of kid earthbenders left and tunnels under a lot of the houses, they'll be ready to run when Appa gets here."

"Okay, let's go." No nice job, Sokka, no winks or grins. Sokka felt a little taken for granted. Then he felt a little complimented by that. Then he shoved it all aside and got going again.

There were more Yu Yan around the dam, who had to be taken out before they could move on to Phase Two. The trees had thicker branches here and a couple of times, Zuko signaled Sokka to sneak up and take out the one on the ground when there was no hope of a decent boomerang shot. It was nerve wracking, knowing he wasn't as sneaky as the prince, convinced they would hear him any second, charging the last few yards with his club while Zuko seemed to appear out of no where, leaping into the tree like a catsnake to bring down the archer there. But it worked each time, and by the knowledge Zuko had of the archers' usual strategy, there should be only two more pairs left before they stopped being sneaky and started making a big fuss at the dam.