As Zuko's ship traveled northward - having no new leads on Aang's path beyond his eventual goal of reaching the North Pole - Zuko used his telescope to scout for any sign of the Avatar's bison. Unfortunately, in the wide open sea, all he saw was cloudless skies and birds flying south. He sighed to himself as he lowered his telescope. "What about you two?" he asked hopefully, turning to face his Uncle and cousin.
Iroh paused in his observations as he sniffed into the breeze from the north. "There is a storm coming," he stated ominously. "A big one."
Zuko raised an eyebrow. "Really?" he asked, glancing around. "But...there isn't a cloud in the sky! Are you certain, Uncle?"
"I feel it, too!" Cadence confirmed, shivering. "It's...it's like a tingling in my feathers, like lightning in my wings. I...I'm afraid to take to the air...I want to head south...now..."
Zuko paused, comparing what Cadence was saying with the activities of the birds. The only explanation for Cadence's reactions was avian instincts, responding like the birds were to the approach of a bad storm. Between that and Iroh's assessment, Zuko was ready to believe a bad storm was coming.
"I suggest we alter our course and head Southwest," Iroh offered. "It would be best for all of us, ship and crew alike."
Zuko stared to the north as he rubbed his chin. "...no," he said at last. "The Avatar might use the storm as cover to fly North without being seen. We'll head straight West, altering our course Southward as needed should the storm appear especially dangerous. In the meantime, prep the safety lines for any crewman who has to be on deck, and when the storm is in sight, get everyone below deck."
Iroh nodded, accepting the compromise.
When the storm arrived, the intensity forced them to turn more and more southward. While skirting the edge, they spotted the Avatar flying straight into the storm. Despite several members of the crew being ready to pursue, Zuko ordered to patrol the edge of the storm. He knew this was neither the time nor the place for recklessness.
A few days after the storm, Zuko received a message from Mai that concerned him, and he brought it to Iroh and Cadence. "It looks like Zhao's been covering himself in glory with the war effort," he stated. "He's been promoted to Admiral."
"If he's been doing a good job, I don't see the problem," Iroh pointed out reasonably. "If he has the skills, then surely it is for the good of the nation that he is promoted."
Cadence frowned as she sipped at her tea. "But he's also after the Avatar," she pointed out. "If he captures him before us...it may go badly for Zuko."
"And as Admiral, he has the authority to commandeer our ship for any large scale operations," Zuko added. "And he has a personal vendetta against me from beating him in that Agni Kai. And...according to Mai, he's spent a good amount of time in the company of my sister."
Iroh's face fell. "You will forgive me, I'm certain, for stating that your sister is not exactly emotionally stable."
"That's a polite way of saying she's a vicious witch with more ambition than sense, and an absence of compassion," Zuko replied acidly.
"Zhao is also ambitious," Cadence pointed out. "And unlike you, Azula does not have an assignation arranged."
Iroh and Zuko both turned to stare at her. Iroh scratched his chin. "Zhao captures the Avatar before us, leading to Zuko being shamed..."
"Azula twists that into getting me removed from succession, making her next in line to be Fire Lord..." Zuko continues.
"And she professes a fondness for Zhao, and his glory in battle makes him important enough to brush aside any objections..." Iroh mused.
"Leaving the two of them with all the power in the Fire Nation between them, should anything happen to Father!" Zuko concluded.
Iroh's eyes widened. "You don't really think Azula or Zhao would do that, do you? It would be treason!"
"Would you put it past either of them?" Zuko demanded.
As Iroh sat back in thought, Cadence frowned. "It sounds like the good Admiral is getting too big for his britches..."
Iroh's eyes swiveled to his equine daughter. "Cadence...what are you planning?"
Cadence smiled widely. "Let's just say there's more than one way to achieve an end...and that I'm about to earn that attribution of Spirit Beast." She turned to Zuko. "You focus on catching Aang, cousin. That's your job. Leave Zhao to me."
Zuko's frown deepened in concern. "Are you sure you won't be in any danger?"
Cadence giggled wickedly, for a moment resembling her other cousin strongly enough that Zuko and Iroh both warded themselves with their arms. "He won't even see me," she promised, getting up and heading out, ghosting into the air on silent wings.
Iroh stared out after Cadence. "...I am suddenly feeling very sorry for Admiral Zhao...or anyone else who crosses her."
"Just what have you been teaching her, Uncle?"
"Not that!"
Cadence frowned to herself as she witnessed Zhao's use of the Yuyan Archers to capture Aang. While certainly good for the war effort, if Iroh and Zuko's conclusions about Zhao and Azula's motives and goals were correct, then it was bad for the Fire Nation and the world. She would need to break Aang free of the Fortress. On the plus side, if she succeeded, Aang would be kindly disposed to herself and Zuko.
Glancing over the fortress, she looked over her resources. The Fortress was built on dirt, and the floors were dirt as well. She knew that Aang's cell would be at the center of the Fortress on the ground floor, making it the most difficult chamber for the Airbender to escape from, and putting the most possible obstacles between him and freedom should he manage to escape. The floor of that chamber might also be metal, but it would only be a thin layer. The storm he'd been captured in had also just ended, leaving a great deal of moisture in the air.
As she watched and planned, a family of Owlbears gathered around her, seeming interested in her and what she was doing. A wide grin crossed her face.
As Aang struggled against the chains holding him, he was startled by the sounds of absolute bedlam in the Fortress at large. While at first he was confused, he was distracted as the frozen frogs he'd grabbed to treat Sokka and Katara's sickness climbing out of his shirt as they started to thaw. "Don't leave, frogs!" he called out. "My friends are sick and they need you! Please go back to being frozen!"
As he said those last words, a burst of ice cold air erupted from the edges of the metal square the frogs were on, freezing them. As Aang stared, the square glowed blue, and the thin sheet lifted into the air. Dense fog flooded out from underneath the sheet as it was set aside, the glow fading. His manacles then glowed blue, and with an audible snap they popped open.
Aang quickly dove for the frogs as a voice scolded him. "Come on! We don't have that much time!"
Aang's head shot up. He recognized that voice. "Ca-"
"Ssh!" Cadence hissed. "No noise, just come!"
Deciding to listen, Aang followed Cadence into the tunnel entrance through which the fog was flowing. Cadence waited until the cell was full of fog, then covered the hole with the sheet again. "A friend will fill in the tunnel after we're gone," she told Aang. "No one will ever know how you got out."
"But what's with all the noise?" Aang asked. "And the fog?"
"A distraction to make the superstitious jumpy," Cadence explained as they crawled. "A mix of Air and Water Bending to turn the moist air post storm into a dense fog bank, a mix of Air and Fire Bending to conjure several Will-o-the-Wisps to wander the fort, a bit of lightning to race along the metal of the fort for an eerie glow, and a family of owlbears hooting and hollering to make the people think they're under attack by spirits."
There was suddenly a loud, piercing, human scream. "And that?" Aang gasped frighteningly.
"In exchange for digging and hiding the tunnel, I told a honey badgermole he could raid the fort for their rations without the Avatar getting mad at him," Cadence replied. "From the sound of that scream, one of the Archers had some snacks in his pocket."
Reaching the end of the tunnel, Cadence led Aang out of sight of the fortress. "I think I can leave you to make your way back to your friends on your own," she commented.
"You're...not going to capture me?" Aang asked, surprised.
"That's Zuko's job, not mine," Cadence replied. She turned to go.
"Wait!" Aang called. "I have so many questions for you! How did you learn Air Bending? Who taught you? How can you bend all four Elements? Where-"
Cadence cut him off with a feather on his lips. "You know where and how to find me if you want those answers," she teased. Deciding she liked Zuko's words, she decided to echo them. "Run fast, heal your friends. We'll probably capture you in the morning." Spreading her wings, she ghosted into the fog, vanishing in moments.
Aang shivered. "She's good..." Remembering the frozen frogs, he turned and raced for the others.
Cadence, for her part, did her best to stifle her own laughter. Terrifying all those troops like that was just so much fun! The touch of her magic to the Will-o-the-Wisps to make them move independently had been a nice touch. And the owlbears had been directed to her by Wan Shi Tong, apparently...and that honey badgermole had just loved her belly rubs...
Happy Nightmare Night Admiral Zhao!
HEE HEE.
yah cool, ehhh.
I'd like to see when they are at the north pole and aang being in avatar mode that cadey would get something similar... something red
Wow that was a crazy good chapter!
D'awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww she is adorable. Thanks for writing this story, it really got me back into the show! (Avatar)
That was fun, may I have another? Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
Excellent.
Best way to end the night before sleeping, with a smile on my face!
Princess Bride FTW.
I enjoyed it. In fact, I enjoy the story. I'm so glad you're one of those authors who update frequently.
6604960 Cripes that would go well with a Nightmare Night theme.
Fear the cute fear it
Normally, I'd say this would mean no Blue Spirit in this timeline. However, since the Will-o-the-Wisps had some of Cadence's magic in them, they probably appeared blue (since that's her magic color). Throw that and a bit of superstition into the rumor mill and we just might still have ourselves a Blue Spirit.
Very nice, Cadence.
6605039 I think he is already done with this and releasing it on a schedule, but I'm not 100% sure I'm remembering correctly.
6605077 Well, whatever he's doing, I like it.
Owlbears. WHY!?!?!
6605077
It's hard to say. Tatsurou has several he's doing right now, and he updates a pair of them on each day.
The only ones I'm following at the moment are this one, A Sparkle in His Eye, Sons of Damas, Wily's Widdle Wub, Another Hatchling, and Melody of the Future.
I think he's updating Equis Interlude too as well, though I don't know if that one is finished or not yet.
Based on blog posts, I think Tatsurou has some backlogged, and others that are being written as he goes along. You'd have to ask him personally.
Awww I liked the blue spirit episode. Nice chapter though.
6604979
That would be cool, except that Cadance isn't an Avatar. Her unique nature is what gives her the ability to bend all four elements.
Still, it would be cool to see her do something like that alongside Aang.
FEAR THE WRATH OF THE PINK PONIES!
A nice story so far, and I like where it’s going.
In the original Avatar it always struck me as stupid when Zuko didn’t simply kill his father and take over as Fire Lord, which would have solved all the problems and united about 75%+ of the world under a ruler that understood and sympathized with multiple cultures instead of him just going “It’s the Avatar’s destiny to stop you” and running off before Aang just crippled the guy and the fire nation simply gave up after one loss to put a traitor on the throne because their king couldn’t fire bend.
Then if you read the comics, Aang and the others show up at the Fire Nation Colonies and tell the people who have been living there for 100+ years to get the hell out because of tradition and a deposed king that had no business ruling anything saying it belonged to him. While it eventually became a new nation in and of itself, the Earth Kingdom was apparently left in ruins for a generation until its eventual conquest in Korra’s time by another leader that wanted it back because of tradition, who was then killed(? can’t remember been awhile) and a weak king with no political experience put on the throne because…he was the son of its last ruler that screwed it up or something.
Screw tradition!
I say let the Fire Nation conquer and UNITE the three remaining kingdoms instead of letting them continue on in a standoff that guarantees war thanks to the lines that are drawn between the three cultures, where one guy is supposed to solve everyone’s problems.
If that's supposed to be Cadence's magic, her magic is blue.
img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20150622145016/mlp/images/8/88/Princess_Cadance_using_her_magic_S5E10.png
I love this story, i also love "the princess bride" Reference you've been using.
I wonder if Aang might call Cadence as the... Hero of The Storm in this situation.
I think the guy that the honey badger picked on was named... Wilhelm.
Now I don't know the difference between cute and terrifying. Cadance is really... Fogging up my image of that.
I wonder if that escape route could be considered as... Down Under.
6605157 She was. The air-bending member of the red lotus literally pulled the air from her lungs
6605102
Because D&D is cool?
I wonder if I can watch the Avatar on youtube?
Awesome job man, awesome job! Hahahaha, I love this story so much
Keep it up!
Clever girl...
Pretty amazing tactics to pull all that off. Not to mention showing that even the Yuyan archers aren't all that awesome
Damn I love this fic!! Cadence is really coming into her own at this point, plus the continued Princess Bride Reference...damn but that makes me feel giddy every time I hear it! Can't wait to see how this goes, and better yet how it might go if Aang actually gets captured by Zuko, gets his honor restored, and moreover if Zuko's father might make a heel-turn and work with the Avatar instead of working against him!! Man, I'd loose my mind seeing that.
6605292
http://www.legendofkorra.tv/avatar-the-last-airbender-book-1/
This site has all of the Avatar episodes AND Legend of Korra episodes. It's where I watched all the episodes, since the quality of the episodes I was able to find on YouTube were either bad, or they were pitch shifted to try to avoid copyright.
6605077
Nope. I'm releasing these chapters as I write them. I write two chapters a day, one each for two of the six stories I'm actively updating.
6605123
Those are the six currently being actively updated.
Equis: Interlude is complete.
I don't keep a backlog.
6605168
Ah, my bad. Since I made her fire pink, I forgot her magic already had its own color.
i.imgur.com/rkoURxk.jpg
Very glad this updated. This is my favorite of the currently ongoing "My Little Pwny" stories, with second place going to Another Hatchling,
6605350 Ooooo, much thanks!
6605350
Yes, thank you. This will help me with my research.
I'm surprised it even cared about what the Avatar thought.
Honey badger...mole don't give a fk!
static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/11115/111158280/4338045-3782568007-honey.jpg
6605390 I actually checked the chapter to see if you fixed it. Normally when I point out problems like this they stay as-is... Although it's usually in this one fic that has a hundred sixty something chapters.
6605505
Yeah. I'm my own editor/proofreader to keep up my update schedule, so if someone catches an error in my writing in the comments, I check if it actually is an error and - if it is - correct it.
6605502
Trouble with having the Avatar mad at you is killing and eating him doesn't make him go away...and that's the only way honey badgermoles know how to solve their problems, since it works for literally every other problem...for them, anyway.
Katara: "Not that were not grateful or anything, but why are you treating us to a feast?"
Sokka: "Thanks, by the way."
Iroh: "Well, you looked hungry, and we had over prepared anyway..."
Aang: "I don't get it - General Zhou is so mean and stops at nothing to try to capture me, but you guys are so nice even when you are making a serious attempt."
Cadence: "It's a matter of similar goals but very different motivations."
Zuko: "This is a good area with several suitable spots to camp away from prying eyes nearby. Especially to the north-northwest. Get some rest. We'll probably capture you in the morning."
Aang: "You keep saying that, too! Why not capture me now?"
Zuko: "Well, for one thing, we're still making adjustments on the restraints we had come up with when we had thought you would be an old man."
Iroh: "Plus it would be rather rude to capture you right after treating you to a fine meal."
Cadence: "And I left my butterbee net back on the ship."
Katara: "Okay then..."
Sokka: "I got nothing..."
6605388
Never said you did.
Neither do I; I generally post as I get the chapters written.
Wasn't sure if Equis Interlude was finished yet or not.
And is it odd that I've been playing the Jak games the past couple of weeks?
By the way, are you going to be working all of the Jak games into the story line? I've only ever played up to Jak 3; I'd really like to play the others at some point. I lack the system they were made for though, all except for the racing game.
6605571
I wish I had a place in the story to use that. I totally would.
6605573
I will be including all the Jak games I can figure out how to incorporate.
6605628
Cool. Because that one is my favorite.
Actually, The Sparkle in His Eye is my favorite...
Argh!!
I guess it depends on my mood which one is my favorite.
Another enjoyable chapter. Good work.
Cudos to Cadence for giving Zhao a scare he'll never forget.
All this leads me to wonder why Ozai will send Azula after Zuko in this timeline... assuming, that is, that Azula isn't trying to pull strings behind the scenes.
And given that Zuko wasn't the one to rescue Aang from the prison in this timeline, Zhao shouldn't have a reason to try and assassinate him. Cadence, on the other hand...
So Cadence is the Blue Spirit instead of Zuko. That's a nice touch.
6605848 well given that in this he's driven but not evil it's possible he might send her to her brother to learn compassion for troops under her command, or he could send her as back up.
Alternatively she could request it if she suspects them if getting in the way of her plans. Or she might try to manipulate or (gods this is dark) break the will of cadence. They do think she's a spirit after all a kinda spiritual mascot for the cause. If said mascot shows fondness or deference to her it could put her in a better light with her father.