Playing Waterbending (Avatar: Last Aibender SI)

Ryuk walked with the group, carrying a large backpack on his back.

After sharing a meal with Toph and the rest, they continued their march toward Omashu.

Given the distance, the trip would only take a few more hours, and that was what he hoped for.

At the same time, Toph was looking down at the ground.

She seemed to be in a bad mood, keeping her distance from the group.

He turned around.

Katara hadn't argued with her, as she had grown used to Toph's teasing and her presence. In fact, they had become quite good friends. And they were girls, so they had their girl talk.

Sokka and Ryuk had their own "boy talk," but it mostly revolved around Fire Nation strategies, countermeasures, and whether they could reach their destination in time. He was a very protective brother, and Ryuk knew Sokka would risk his life for Katara—even without power.

Seeing Toph in such a bad mood—almost sad—Ryuk couldn't help but soften a little.

He approached her.

"Toph, is something bothering you?" Ryuk asked.

Toph lifted her head but didn't smile or show any emotion.

"Not at all," she said shortly.

"Are you sure?" he pressed. She sounded serious, which wasn't like her usual self.

"Yes," she replied, unwilling to share her concerns.

"Are you?" Ryuk asked again, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I know we've only been traveling together for two or three weeks, but if you want to share something or get something off your chest, I'm here."

She sighed.

To be honest, she did want to say what was on her mind.

But she hesitated, fearing she would be mocked.

Still, she decided to let it out. It wasn't like she couldn't beat him up if he laughed or something.

"My parents… Usually, by this time, a lackey or a mercenary would have shown up to take me home. But no one's here. Although I should feel happy, I'm actually disappointed."

Toph couldn't believe she had opened up to him. She didn't need to see his face to know how he reacted.

He simply nodded in understanding.

"It must be tough, thinking about it all the time," he said sympathetically, and he was being completely honest.

"Usually, I'd complain. But it's been two months, and I don't know how to feel. If they haven't sent someone after me, either they've given up on me… or something bad has happened to them," she admitted.

Her concerns were reasonable.

"Anyway, I just wanted to clear the air before things got messy," Ryuk said, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Are you talking about some kind of sexual tension?" she asked with a smirk, teasing him. "Never thought you'd want to break someone's heart."

"Seriously. You're not feeling anything?" Ryuk asked her honestly.

Toph's eyes widened.

Was he confessing?

With her ability to sense his body's subtle movements, she could tell he wasn't joking.

Her heart skipped a beat.

"Well, to be honest, it's… complicated. You're not half bad, and I'm just a teenage girl traveling with a guy alone," she said, her cheeks turning pink. "Though… I'm going to need some time to think about it."

She had opened up a little more.

Ryuk didn't look at her. Instead, he turned his head away. His heart skipped a beat as well. There seemed to be a misunderstanding on her part. Sure, she was pretty, pale, and short—quite his type—but the thing was, he hadn't been talking about that kind of feeling.

"I was talking about the army heading our way and blocking the escape routes…" Ryuk said. "I'm picking up distant sounds—talk of killing four people… trapping them between the mountains or setting up an ambush."

"What?" Toph asked. She stomped the ground more forcefully. "Now that you mention it, I can feel some movement. It's far, so it's unclear."

Ryuk looked in one direction. His power wasn't like Toph's. Visually, it was lacking, especially in range. But when it came to sound, his sense of hearing was incredibly sharp, allowing him to pick up sounds from great distances.

Behind him, Toph was blushing like crazy.

She closed her eyes, thinking, That was weird. I'll pretend I was joking later…

But the problem was that she could sense his biological reactions. And it seemed that their conversation had caused his blood to rush somewhere. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself.

"So, what do we do now?" she asked Ryuk. The siblings were clueless, so they wouldn't be involved in the emergency planning. Over the weeks of traveling together, she had realized that Ryuk was the one who made the tough decisions, so she asked him directly.

"Hmmm… I think we should have two plans," Ryuk said. "One, if there's an exit, we focus on defense and mobility. Lucy can carry three people now, and I should be able to handle myself with a bit of waterbending to slide away."

"And if there's no exit?" she asked.

"That's easy," Ryuk said with a grin. "As a matter of fact, that would be even easier, thanks to you."

"I know I'm awesome," she replied.

Ryuk chuckled, and she smiled back.

-x-X-x-

"Ryuk, you're joking, right?" Sokka asked as the four of them walked. Katara and Sokka were riding on Lucy's back. Sokka had his boomerang in hand, ready for any potential danger.

His stress was justified.

After all, I had told him there was an army setting a trap for us.

And it didn't take a genius to realize they had squads waiting for us.

In fact, I figured they probably had an elite squad ready for the metalbending master in Ba Sing Se.

"Yes, I was joking," I deadpanned.

Sokka didn't buy it. He frowned and said, "I swear, if we make it out of this…"

"Don't worry," Katara said. "I'll protect you." She was riding behind him.

"I'm not that weak," Sokka grumbled.

"Well… I guess we'll go with your second plan," Toph said.

"What does that mean?" Katara asked.

"It means," I answered, "that all of our escape routes are blocked by soldiers."

Sokka and Katara looked around, but they saw nothing.

"No need to look around," Toph said. "Only Ryuk and I can sense them."

"I can only hear them from this distance," I added. I could see using my water-sense, but the range wasn't as large as I had hoped. However, it allowed me to see in all directions and even detect what people were carrying behind their backs. Though, thankfully, I couldn't see everything—which I was very grateful for.

I could also hear Katara's heart pounding. Sokka wasn't much better—his face was quite pale.

I didn't blame him.

No matter how strong you are, numbers matter.

Sure, I could probably take on a hundred men on a good day—though I wasn't sure. But fighting an army while being surrounded? That was another story.

The only advantage I saw was that this was a narrow path. And we had an earthbender.

"Ryuk, we're approaching them," Toph said, fully focused.

I cleared my throat. We'd had a weird moment an hour ago, and I was sure things would get awkward later. But for now, I needed to focus on the Fire Nation's trap.

"At my signal, ride Lucy," I ordered.

"Don't worry about me. Worry about yourself," she said confidently.

"Okay," I replied.

Soon, the vibrations in the ground became more pronounced.

Sokka noticed small rocks shaking and muttered, "They're here."

A man clad in red armor appeared first.

Behind me, a marching army emerged.

And that wasn't all.

According to Toph, they were coming from every direction.

In front of me, I could count about 200 soldiers.

"Okay, Toph. Do it when I say," I ordered. "For now, hold." I smirked.