Avatar: after the war ends 17

Chapter 17: Escaping the Inferno

************ Colonial Forest ***********

After the Fire Nation soldiers set the trees on fire we all ran away from them to avoid being burned. While it would be easiest to just keep running away I knew that if we left the fire to burn it would quickly spread, we needed to contain it while we still could.
“Toph, create a stone circle around the trees we were just standing by to contain the fire.”
“Okay Sokka,” she replied.

Toph promptly used her Earthbending to create a large stone column around the trees. Though this would stop the fire from spreading its height and the smoke coming out of it made it clearly visible. As the Fire Nation soldiers pursuing us would soon notice this new ‘chimney’ and come to investigate it we needed to get away from here fast. Though we could just leave Azula in the mess she’d gotten herself into without her we wouldn’t be able to prove the generals were causing all the problems in the colonies. So we chased after the cage, following the wheel imprints in the soft mud. It would be impossible to catch up to them on foot but if we followed them for long enough they’d eventually stop to rest, giving us a chance to catch up to them and strike. This is going to be a long, hard day.

After pursing them for a short distance I noticed some more smoke further ahead. Since the soldiers might have started another fire I asked Toph to determine how large it was. We then all stopped while Toph used her Earthbending to measure the size of the fire. As Toph said she could only sense one burning tree and some burning branches on the ground we decided to continue onwards. However the reality was very different from Toph’s assessment, as the fire we encountered was huge and spreading rapidly.

“Toph I though you said the fire was small, why didn’t you tell us it got so big?”
“The ground isn’t on fire, so I couldn’t tell how large it was.” Toph shouted at me.
“What do you mean the ground isn’t on fire?”
“I can only sense things in contact with the ground, I can’t sense anything above it.”

Just great, as long as the Fire Nation soldiers set the leaves of the trees on fire Toph won’t be able to sense anything until the whole tree is on fire. This makes travelling through forests a lot more dangerous. Okay, calm down. We just need to contain this fire, then go around the container and continue following Azula.

“Toph make another stone circle around this fire, just like the last one.”
“Okay.”

Toph then Earthbended another column. Though she was able to contain most of the tree near us, there were many burning trees outside it. Even worse she uprooted some burning trees and knocked them into other trees, caused the fire to spread even faster.

“Toph you didn’t get most of the trees and the trees you knocked over spread the fire even further.”
“I’m blind, I can’t see how many trees are on fire and the all the roots in the earth make Earthbending harder,” she replied angrily.
“Stop shouting at each other,” Suki suddenly shouted, “Toph you need to Earthbend something three times larger.”
“Fine I’ll try to … Fire Nation soldiers are coming this way.”

We couldn’t fight Fire Nation soldiers and the fire, and if the soldiers created a larger fire around us we’ll be burned alive. The forest gave them too many advantages, so we had to escape for now and try to track Azula later. However even with Toph’s Earthbending abilities escaping the soldiers proved difficult and it wasn’t until they left for the evening that we go some respite. By then we’d moved far away from the cage’s tracks and Azula. It would be difficult to try to find the tracks tomorrow and nearly impossible to continue following them with all the soldiers patrolling the area .Our limited food supply also meant we wouldn’t be able to spend too long here. In short our chances of finding and rescuing Azula were low. But there was another way to find Azula if we had something with her scent on.

“Do we still have any of the clothes that we took from the mine?”
“We threw them away, since they didn’t fit any of us,” replied Suki.
“Or Azula burned them,” added Toph.
As Azula was still wearing the Earth Kingdom clothes we got her there weren’t any clothes we could use.
“Do we have anything else that might have Azula’s scent on?”
“We could use the rope I tied around her,” Ty Lee suddenly said.
“When did you tie her up?” I asked, wondering just what Ty Lee and Azula had done while they’d been alone together.
“Don’t you remember, Azula was too thin to wear the captain’s clothes so I tied a rope around her.”
“Do you still have that rope Ty Lee?”
“Yep, I kept it separate in case Azula needed it again.”

Excellent, now we could head to Hangzhou, get Aang, and have Jun find where Azula is being held. Though this would leave Azula at the mercy of her captors for a few days Aang would fare far better against the Fire Nation soldiers than us and Jun would be better at tracking Azula. However as this was an important decision I didn’t want to make it without consulting everyone else, so I explained my plan. Suki and Toph both agreed but Ty Lee was far more reluctant and felt that we should try to save Azula ourselves. Though by reminding Ty Lee how difficult it would be and reassuring her that Azula would be fine for a few days she eventually agreed to my plan. As the soldiers had left for the evening we tried to cover as much ground as we could in a few hours, then ate an evening meal and went straight to sleep. We’d need to be up early tomorrow for another day of trying to escape the soldiers.

The next day we got up early and travelled towards Hangzhou. The route we were taking would pass by a mountain range bordering Hangzhou in a few days and with Toph’s Earthbending we’d easily be able to escape our pursuers by making a tunnel through the mountain. We just needed to find a weak point in their defences to attack (they’d obviously defend the mountain range because it was the obvious escape route for an Earthbender).

Travelling through the forest was much easier today because we didn’t have Azula slowing us down, so it was easier to escape and out manoeuvre our pursuers. However we still couldn’t lose them and it wasn’t until the evening that they finally left us alone. Just like yesterday we continued to travel for a few hours, then set up camp for the night. Though we’d made good progress I didn’t understand why the soldiers stopped pursing us in the evenings. There were dozens of them so if they tracked us in shifts they could pursue us all day and all night. Why did they give us time to escape?

The next morning we got up even earlier because Toph told us the soldiers were heading towards us (they seem to be starting earlier and earlier). We then spent the whole day avoiding them, while travelling towards Hangzhou. Our progress was slower today because the increased number of soldiers made moving more difficult and we were still tired from all the travelling we did yesterday. By the evening we were all exhausted and could barely move. Were the soldiers trying to capture us or tire us out? That’s it, they’re trying to tire us out. That’s why they’re giving us a short respite in the evening. They wanted us to think that we can escape so we’ll spend all night travelling as fast as we can. Then we’ll be more tired in the morning and easier to capture. It they’d of pursued us all day and night I’d have realised this much sooner.

But if they’re trying to tire us out they must think we’re too strong to attack directly. I can use this to our advantage. I then told everyone what I’d figured out and proposed that we head directly into the mountains tomorrow, rather than try to find a weak spot in their mountain defences. As they were afraid of us they’d be reluctant to attack us and would instead try to gather more soldiers. This short delay would give us time to escape through the mountains. This plan was met with muted optimism until I explained that we’d be resting rather than travelling tonight, then everyone supported it.

Next morning we woke up and began heading straight for the mountains. Our plan was simple; we would have Toph use her Earthbending to throw the soldiers stationed by the mountains into disarray, then run to the mountains. Once by the mountains we’d buy Toph some time to make a tunnel we could escape through. Though this plan was risky and relied on the soldiers being too afraid of us to attack without reinforcements it was our best chance of escaping.

The morning was like the previous days with us constantly dodging soldiers (though there seemed to be less of them today). However about midmorning Toph detected that a large number of Fire Nation soldiers had suddenly started moving in our direction. As there numbers were too large to fight we would need to hide, so I had Toph create a pit we could hide in. We all waited tensely in the pit as Toph told us that the soldiers were getting closer and closer, then they rode nearby us but kept on moving. We all waited for them to return and encircle us but they didn’t turn round, they just kept going until Toph could no longer sense them. This didn’t make any sense, why would just they ride by without stopping? They couldn’t be running from someone because Toph would of sensed … oh no, they must of been setting the forest on fire. We need to get out of here know.

I warned everyone about the fire and had Toph create us an exit. We all then ran out into forest, which was perfectly normal. Suki, Ty Lee, and I all stood confused, each of us looked round trying to see where the fire was. But we couldn’t see any flames or smoke.
“Sokka is the fire very away because I can’t sense anything?” asked Toph.
“There isn’t a fire, there’s nothing.” I replied.

If the soldiers hadn’t set the forest on fire then why had they run through it? Had they made a mistake about where we were? Was there a greater threat somewhere else?
“Do you think Azula told them to stop chasing us?” asked Ty Lee.
“I don’t know, they weren’t travelling in the direct Azula was take so she couldn’t have ordered them to return to her.”
“Maybe she sent them false orders, so they’d leave us alone,” said Ty Lee, ever hopeful that Azula was helping us.
“It’s possible, but we can’t waste this chance. We need to get to the mountains before the soldiers return.”

When then all ran as fast as we could towards the mountains. As we approached the edge of the forest the mountains came into view. We stopped just before the forest ended and asked Toph to sense how many soldiers were guarding it. She said that there were several groups of soldiers in front of the mountains, each consisting of two mounted soldiers and 4 foot soldiers. There were also some watchtowers by the mountains but there were no soldiers in the forest. As long as we had Toph escaping would be easy. While there was a small chance Azula had taken control of the soldiers and we didn’t need to attack them I didn’t want to take the risk. If they were on our side we could always apologise later.

“Okay everyone here’s the plan. We’re going to attack the unit in front of us. Toph take them out using your Earthbending, then create a triangular tunnel to give us some protection as we run to the mountains. Once we get to the mountains we’ll protect you while you make a tunnel through the mountain. We then head through the tunnel, seal it, and they won’t be able to track us any more.”
“Why are we going to attack the soldiers, why not just make the triangle tunnel?” asked Suki.
“To show them how powerful we are so they’ll gather reinforcements, rather than immediately attack us.”

As there were no more questions we began. Toph effortlessly created a large block and knocked out one group of soldiers, then made a tunnel. We then all ran through the tunnel. When we got half way along we hear the sound of some soldiers trying to break through it. As it sounded like they were trying to chip through it, rather than blast through they must not have any Firebenders with them. Finally some good luck. When we reached the mountain Toph quickly created a tunnel through it and we all ran inside. After we ran through Toph sealed the hole in the mountain plunging us into total darkness. Though I didn’t like not being able to see anything it was a lot better than being chased by a horde of Firebenders through a forest.

As Toph guided us through the darkness I kept thinking about what Ty Lee said about Azula calling off our pursuers. If Azula had called them off then she’s obtained a position of authority in the rebel army, which will make recapturing her far more difficult. More worrying is what does she want the soldiers for. Who does she want to attack?