Kapitel 28: Dark Secrets Ch 28
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As the night was closing in and everybody was lying asleep, Zhan was still awake and thinking over another theory. Once an idea came to him, he just couldn't let go of it.
'Four years,' he thought. 'There might be a chance.'
Looking at his right, Azula was sleeping she had been exhausted after her trip, outside the tent, everything was quiet as well, so he silently made his way outside. The night-sky was a bit chilly, as he takes a look at the map, they were a distance away from the Royal Capital. However, it could be faster if he could get some other help, soon making his way over to the airbender's tent.
"Hey...Avatar," said Zhan, poking the Airbender awake.
"Keep quiet," he said, bringing his voice down. "Listen, Avatar, can I talk to you? In private?"
"Umm...okay and call me Aang," he said, getting up while rubbing his eyes. "What is it?"
"I might need your assistance," said Zhan, arms behind his back.
"About what?" asked Aang.
"It...it's complicated, and it's a long-shot...it's complicated. Okay..." explained Zhan.
"I understand somewhat," replied Aang he knew people had secrets, that they were afraid to admit. "What you need my help with?"
"I need to get to the Royal Capital," he said.
"The Capital?!" asked Aang, lowering his voice. "Are you serious? I know you don't, like the Firelord or maybe not...but that is suicide!"
"I'm not thinking about assassinating the Firelord...I want to check out the Royal Archives, it houses some papers and documents I need to check out," replied Zhan. "I just need to get close enough to the Caldera...nothing much."
"Is this important?" asked Aang.
"Yes..." he sighed.
"Alright. I think I can help you..." replied Aang.
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"How much farther?" asked Aang, flying Appa through the night sky.
"It should soon appear on the horizon," replied Zhan, putting on his signature claws.
"I see something," said Aang, as a non-active volcano started to appear.
"That's it, put us down somewhere," he replied as Aang took them down, landing near a clearing.
"What are you looking for?" asked Aang, as Zhan jumped off Appa, wearing the same black clothes Azula and Katara had worn.
"Some important information," he said, covering his face. "Stay hidden."
Arriving at the Capital City, things were mostly quiet and dark, having guards posted at every spot in the city, so he'd have to hope the guards still stuck to their regular schedule and position that he knew from his time here.
Being this close to the Capital and Firelord was a danger in itself one false move or sound, and everything would go downhill fast or worse.
He was grateful for his lucky star that the Royal Archives, which housed the most important documents and military information relating to the war, wasn't kept in the Palace because getting in there, would be suicidal. However, the Archives weren't a welcoming place either: guarded by Royal Firebenders, and having more locks and mechanism than on an airship.
'Time, to get to work,' thought Zhan, examining the layout, before making his move.
Jumping from one building, onto the Archive' roof, slowly making his way through the roof, careful to avoid the patrolling guards. Then getting the chance, to get in through a nearby window, then going down several floors until he reached the Archives.
'Let's see now: land, sea...skirmishes, battles...engagements...raids,' he thought to himself. Finding what he was looking for soon enough and unlocking the cabinet containing it, with a mix of few careful lockpicking and two good hits. 'Gotcha!'
As Zhan, read through the scroll, he felt, more distant and angry about what he was reading stopping before, he found what he was looking after, placing the manuscript back, where it was previously and leaving the Archives. Through the window, onto the roofs and out of the city; making, his way back towards Aang.
"So...found what, you wanted?" asked Aang, as Zhan returned.
"More or less..." he sighed, getting back onto the bison. "But I need to visit another place, a quarter day flight away. You can return to camp if you want. I can walk from here."
"No chance. If we came this far...we might as well see it through," said Aang, taking them to the skies. "What are we looking for anyway?"
"A dark secret," he replied death-calmly, hinting at the seriousness of their mission.
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Back at the group' camp as the others woke up, they started to notice soon, that two people were missing.
"Aang?!" yelled Katara, looking for him. "Aang!"
"Katara? What's wrong?" asked Zuko, waking up to the yelling.
"Aang is missing!" she replied.
"Are you serious?" he asked, getting up. "He couldn't have just disappeared!"
"What's with the noise?" asked Azula, getting out of her tent.
"Aang is gone," said Zuko.
"That's weird, Zhan has gone somewhere as well I was only left with a note next to me," said Azula, pulling out a note from her pocket.
"Let me see that!" said Katara, taking the note and starting to read it, "dear Azula, went searching with the Avatar. Back later...great."
"Looks like everyone is going on a journey nowadays," said Zuko.
"Uh...nevermind. False alarm," replied Katara, handing back the note. 'What a morning!'
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"How far are we?" asked Aang as they flew through the sky.
"It's a little farther, here..." said Zhan, pointing at the farthest, north-eastern place on the Fire Nation.
"That's a long way, and there doesn't seem to be anything there!" replied Aang.
"Exactly!" he replied, starting to sharpen his claws because things might get dangerous soon.
It took them the better half of the day, to fly from point to the other: avoiding air patrols and switching between, while one ate or slept arriving at their location, at noon.
"We're here!" said Zhan, pulling Appa into a clearing.
"What are we looking for?" asked Aang, getting off Appa.
"That I'm guessing," said Zhan, pointing at a cliffside that had a metal structure built into it.
"What is it?" asked Aang, eyeing the place.
"Nothing good I'll tell you a well-hidden place no disturbance on the surface or other signs that indicate this is a Fire Nation facility," he explained.
"What now?" asked Aang.
"You stay here!" he said.
"What?!" replied Aang surprised. "I...thought, we were going together?"
"Listen...Aang. I don't know what is in there or made there I do know I'll be able to sneak in and go around alone, better than with you," he explained. "And we can't risk something happening, in that enclosed space."
"So...What will I do when you go look around?" asked Aang.
"Keep hidden and keep watch for any reinforcements, try to stop them, if you can. If I am not back by dusk, then you can come looking for me or get help," Zhan said.
"Not a chance. See you at dusk hopefully, or not," replied Aang.
"Alright, gimme a good boost straight into there!" he said, Aang providing him a boost through an earth-pillar with a combination of airbending pushing Zhan-up.
"Is it just me? Or do people want to keep me in a protective moss-ball?" asked Aang from Appa, who just shook.
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Zhan soon landed onto the rocky cliffside, no worse than usual, albeit having to climb a bit to reach the nearby pipe. Eyeing, the structure up-close he could see it had been built during Ozai's time judging by the lack of corrosion and polished metal.
'One, two, three!' he counted in his head, then jumped onto the pipe and climbing into it a disposal pipe, judging by the stench. "Disgusting!"
Zhan soon went several meters inside, then had to climb up, several meters vertically, all while trying to avoid puking, due to the smell, Yet soon he reached a dead-end, a locked hatch as he tried to push it open.
"Great!" he said, stuck in an annoying place.
"...hurry up, with that..." came a sound, from beyond the pipe.
"...I am...this stinks..." replied another voice, dragging something along.
"...quit complaining...alright...opening the hatch...do it quickly!" replied the previous voice. Soon coming to where Zhan was and started to turn a valve above to unlock it. "Now...! What the..."
"Knock, knock!" interrupted Zhan, giving the shocked guard a kick to the face, followed by a knock-out punch to the second guard. Then he realized, where he was the sewage treatment part of the facility. "Stinks like shit!"
Zhan soon made his way out of the nasty place, being careful to look for any patrols, before opening the door it looked more like a jail, hearing no machinery or gears turning.
'I got a bad feeling about this,' he thought, slowly sneaking through the place and sticking close to the walls keeping an eye and ear out for any guards.
Continuing through the facility, he soon came upon a door Guard Post.
Peeking inside, he soon saw a single guard behind a desk, writing something.
'Excellent!' thought Zhan, slowly opening the door and readying his claws. Then in a blink of an eye, he was on top of the guard pinning him to the floor. "Scream, and you'll be short ahead now tell me. What is this place?!"
"I...I can't tell you the Warden, he will have my head!" replied the shocked guard. Being face-first on the floor, knee on his back, and ten blades on his neck, not a good day.
"I'll have it first! Now speak..." replied Zhan, increasing pressure.
"Okay, okay! This is a Testing facility..." said the guard.
"What kind?" asked Zhan.
"The one...you don't speak hear or want to know about..." replied the guard, before being knocked out.
'Seriously...' thought Zhan, looking around the guard's study finding numerous transfer documents and other equipment requests of the kind.
Soon Zhan smashes apart the desk when he found about a place call the Testing facility and the description; weapons on living beings, 'Darkness...consume you...Ozai!'
As soon he exited and locked the door, he made his way downstairs - to the Armory.
"Halt! Who goes there?!" asked two stationed firebenders.
'Time to bring some light here!' he thought, igniting an explosive and chucking one into the Armory blowing it up and alerting half the facility.
"Have some sunshine!" said Zhan, chucking a second explosive into a group of charging guards, taking them out smoothly, then making his way towards the cells.
"We have a breach...I say-"
"Nighty-night!" said Zhan, knocking out the cell-controller. Then open all of the facilities cells and doors unleashing the dozens of prisoners on the guards.
Zhan eliminated the controls with the final explosive to sabotage the Armory, while injury a quarter of guards were injured and swiftly locking-down the place, while the doors of the facilities in every cell open releasing dozens of prisoners. While Zhan was fighting with the guards while prisoners were bent on getting out the jail as they didn't stay or fought for long in one place.
'Good, escape!' he thought, as he soon arrived at the cell he was looking for a blue horizontal line running across it.
Entering it he found a woman suspended by chains her body beaten and injured, yet, her face having a familiar look to him, soon unlocking her chains and bringing her down she was weak he checks her vital it seems she alive just unconscious.
"Time to go...home," he said to the woman. Zhan wraps her in a damp bed-cloth and carries her as they left this loathing nightmare.
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"Do you think we should go in?" asked Aang having been waiting for an hour Appa merely growling at his question. "I know, guy, he said to wait till dusk..."
Aang's boredom was soon interrupted by a larger-explosion going off and two smaller ones following.
"That isn't, good!" said Aang, as he heard the explosions and eyed the place. After a couple of minutes, a group of people soon began to appear from above and starting to run in various directions. It was after ten minutes until one last, figure appeared but he wasn't running, just casually walking towards him and carrying something.
"Zhan? Hey, was that you?" asked Aang, as Zhan walked past him and carrying a woman, wrapped in a bed-cloth. "Who is that?"
"Yes, that was me. Adding to my further statement, you don't need to know what that place was just that it was quite bad!" said Zhan, placing the woman aboard Appa. "And her? You wouldn't believe me if I told you..."
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As dusk, was approaching Katara was getting more, nervous she didn't know where they went and when will return.
At this moment, she was trying out some waterbending techniques to calm her nerves.
"Katara..." came voice, her brother Sokka.
"Yes, Sokka? What is it?" she asked, breaking her practice.
"They're back!" said Sokka, to which Katara immediately got up and ran over to the campsite. "AANG!"
Aang had barely enough time to turn around, before getting caught in Katara's hug.
"Goodness' sake! Where did you go?" asked Katara, going from cheery to sour in a blink.
"I...well...we...oh...it's hard to explain, you'll just have to see it yourself," said Aang.
"See what?" asked Katara.
"Metal's and Twinkletoes brought a woman here," said Toph.
"A woman?" asked Katara, surprised, and worried.
"You'll just have to see it," said Aang, taking Katara's hand and leading her into her and Aang's tent, there Zhan was kneeling in front of someone, her body laid out and covered by a bed-cloth.
"Zhan?" asked Katara, catching the boy's attention, who had a smile on his face. "Where did you two go? And who is she?"
"Aang...hold her..." said Zhan to Aang, who held Katara by her waist.
"And why is this needed?" asked Katara, annoyed.
"So you don't hurt yourself...Katara..." he said, moving a little so she could see the woman's face.
As soon Katara took a look at the woman, her legs almost gave way, her world shook still, she felt dizzy and the shock on her face undeniable.
"I take it as a yes?" asked Zhan, looking at Katara.
"Y...ye...es..." muttered Katara and nodding her head rapidly, barely holding her tears and shock, before she stood a woman, from her tribe, her blood, her mother, Kya.
"U..ghhh..." came a voice, from the lying female, half-opening her eyes and looking right at Katara. "Ka...t...ra?"
"Yesyesyesyes!" said Katara as her walls, came down and her tears flowed, freely in streams, by now holding onto Aang. "...mom..."
"I can say that the place I found her is no more and everyone freed," said Zhan, as he helped Katara closer. "She is injured, malnourished and weak, it isn't much I know bu-"
"...thankyou...thankyou..thankyou.. thankyou..." interrupted Katara, hugging Zhan and crying louder into his chest.
"Your welcome!" he replied, patting her on the back. "I'll leave you two alone."
"What's wrong with my sister? What did you do?!" asked Sokka as Zhan stepped, outside and Katara's crying could be, heard outside.
"See for yourself," replied Zhan.
"I swear if you-"
"3...2.." counted Zhan, before he heard the thud - caused by Sokka fainting. "Well, that was fast."
"What happened?" asked Azula, stepping outside her tent.
"Well...me and Aang, we kinda rescued Katara' mother," said Zhan.
"You...you're kidding, right?!" asked Azula, shocked still by the news.
"You hear the crying?" asked Zhan, still hearing cries of extreme joy. "It's the truth, go inside, and I'll explain."
"How?! How is this possible?" asked Azula, sitting onto her bed.
"Well, it started after you came back: you mentioned Katara's mother, being killed and close-by her home. Well, as much as I remember about history Azulon and Ozai had conducted a policy of capturing waterbenders not killing them, the Southern Raiders had the largest equipment and supplies needed to capture and transport waterbenders," spoke Zhan. "So why would they change tactics now? How did they even know that there was one waterbender left?"
"How did you find out?" asked Azula as Zhan lied-down.
"I started to suspect, when you mentioned burned, killed not captured and the last waterbender. The Southern Raiders worked in multiple groups?" asked Zhan, to which Azula nodded. "Then why go through all that trouble, to kill waterbender?"
"Unless..."
"Unless they planned to capture her," added Zhan. "The false trail and full-burned body was a tiny give-away."
"A traitor, maybe? A source?" asked Azula.
"Possibly. The traitor might've been left as a decoy, to prevent anyone from looking for her..." spoke Zhan. "...and trust me...from where I found her, it's best knowing you killed her, rather than take her there."
"And what about the Southern Raider? Yon Rha?" asked Azula.
"Did you ever ask him full-on if he killed her mom? Did he look like some who could burn someone alive? A mother?" asked Zhan, to which Azula shook her head. "Exactly. And by far, I'd think the Firelord's rage would be frightening, then a waterbenders revenge..."
"I must say...I am impressed," said Azula, smiling at him.
"It was a long-shot at best and a dangerous one," he added.
"Yet you, succeeded and I'll bet somebody, will be very grateful soon or is," said Azula, climbing onto his chest.
"Katara or...you?" he asked.
"How about both?" replied Azula, kissing him.
It would take some time for Katara to gather herself, but Azula was clear they could find a way to occupy their time.
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Omake: Go rest
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Mai was passing by closely to Zuko working area to sundelly hear Zuko coughing.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Mai leans with worry in her voice.
"I've been feeling sick ever since this morning... I figured I'd be feeling better by lunch, but..." Zuko tells her while coughing.
"Oh no, that must be hard!"
"Let's get you clocked out right away!" Mai goes to the clocks-out machine and happily clocks Zuko out.
"What are you doing with my time card!?" he was agitated.
"Instead of overworking yourself today and then having to take a rest tomorrow, it's more efficient if you rest today and feels better tomorrow! And if you have a virus, there's a chance that you might get other people sick!" Mai said with a serious face while clenching her fist.
'You are correct!'
"But I have work to..." Zuko was still worried that leaving and not finishing his work.
"We've already clocked, the rest of your day off, and Azula will volunteer to help you with your work," Zhan commented with a neutral smile.
"When is Zuko's work due?" Mai directed her attention to were Zhan was.
"Is for this week still Azula will help as I said before," he answered her calmly.
"Do you understand?" Mai said as she slams her hand on Zuko's desk in the prosses shocking him.
"As of now, you have no work left to do at the moment. Now be a good boy and go home." Mai said while flicking her hair back.
"GHK!" Zuko was lost for words.
Both Zhan and Mai were cheering, "time to go home! Time to go home! Time to go home!"
'Well, if they've already done this much for me, it'll probably be fine if I'm not here...' Zhan thought.
"Don't worry about us."
"We'll have a whole mountain of work waiting for you when you get back it will make the seventh Hokage jealous." a small fu, fu, fu escape from her, mouth while she cutely swings her finger from left to right.
"So, today...Don't push yourself, and get some good rest in," she gently pats him on his shoulder while she looks directly on Zuko's eyes.
Mai gentle smile while she continues to pat on his shoulders, Zuko gaze at Mai and slowly close his eyes, "...Okay, I understand."
"But when I get back, I'm will continue to do my work if there any left!" as he picks his stuff to go home.
Both Zhan and Mai kept on waving him good-bye, Mai wipes her forehead, "phew."
Zhan slowly crosses his arms, "So, are you taking the afternoon off to take care of him?" Zhan said with a fake, smile waiting for a reaction.
"Zhan!? Stop picking on me!" She screams while her face and ears where completely blushing.
That day Mai wore the apron she was gifted by Zuko, while on the other hand, Azula had more work to finish while tears were falling from her eyes.
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AUTORENGEDANKEN 
DriedSnug
DriedSnug On a shady alley dark at night, we find two-man.
"You got the stuff?" said one man with a trench coat.
"Yes now did, you bring the product? Said the other man while lighting a cigarette.
"Here it is as promised," he reaches, inside his trench coat handing a folder to the other guy, "now will you give me my payment?"
"Here, take this briefcase inside you will find the stones you ask for," passing it over.
The man on the trench coat slowly opens the briefcase to find it empty inside, "What is the meaning of this?" To been greeted by a gun.
"Is easy I will just add to my collection, use no stones and not even leave a comment, or I will put a bullet in your head," he said while smirking.
(╭ರᴥ•́)⌐╦╦═─
PS: Thanks for everything and don't be like that guy give me all your stones.
ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein