With the rest of the group asleep on the opposite side of the campsite, I sat alone beside the fading fire, elbows resting on my knees as I sighed into my hands.
Well, that was a nightmare to deal with. Great job, Renji. In a single evening, you managed to make the Avatar and his friends suspicious of you. Which, by extension, makes them suspicious of Toph too.
I mean, I probably should've expected it. Their entire journey had practically revolved around surviving the Fire Nation. Of course they'd react badly to discovering a random Fire Bender had been traveling with them the whole afternoon.
"... It is what it is," I exhaled through my nose as I got up to fan the flames in the fire pit.
I'll just have to earn their trust the old-fashioned way—
The flap of the nearby tent suddenly burst open.
"There's something coming toward us!" Toph hissed sharply as she sprinted out barefoot.
Instantly, every trace of exhaustion vanished from my body.
"Wake them up and get airborne!" I instructed, already grabbing a small pouch of essentials as I hastily smothered the fire pit beneath a layer of dirt. "I'll scout ahead and catch up!"
Toph had already turned and was sprinting back toward the tents in the distance.
Spinning toward the direction she'd pointed out earlier, I tied the pouch securely around my waist and broke into a sprint through the darkness.
The forest blurred past me as I ran.
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It didn't take long for me to discover what was chasing after us.
"What the hell—" I muttered under my breath from the branch I was standing on, watching in disbelief as the enormous train barreled straight through the wilderness toward where our campsite was situated.
First of all, it was heavily armored to the teeth. Massive metal plating covered nearly every inch of the machine while thick smoke billowed from towering exhaust pipes along its back.
Secondly, it was powered by what I presume to be a steam engine.
How? Since when did this world have technology like this? This was something from Zero's world!
And third—
"How is that thing even MOVING?"
There were no rails at all. Yet the machine was somehow plowing through uneven rocky terrain at terrifying speed entirely on its own, crushing trees and maneuvering around boulders with ease.
My eyes narrowed toward the massive treaded wheels grinding against the earth.
"Oh. Tank tracks."
Honestly? Not a bad idea. A train-tank hybrid capable of traversing rough terrain without rails was actually kind of genius from a military standpoint—
Cough. Right. Admire the train-tank hybrid later.
I needed to get back to camp.
Dropping from the tree branch I'd been perched on, I landed lightly against the forest floor before giving the machine one final glance.
Yeah. Absolutely not dealing with that.
I spun around and sprinted back toward the campsite at full speed.
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The mood on the Flying Bison was... not the greatest.
Everyone was yawning, slumped in place, and clearly running on fumes after the night's interruption.
Apart from me. This was light work; staying up this late barely registered due to my job, so I was still in tip-top condition compared to the rest of them.
Eventually, after two hours of continuous flying, Aang decided to land Appa for their much-needed rest.
"Ah, land. Sweet land." Toph was the first to hop off Appa, immediately dropping flat against the ground to enjoy the return of her Seismic Senses. A moment later, she let a thin ripple of earth lift her back to her feet.
She slung her bag over her shoulder and gave a lazy wave. "See you guys in the morning."
"Actually," Katara called out before she could wander off. "Can you help us unload? One more pair of hands would make this a lot faster."
"Really? You want me to handle Sokka's funky-smelling sleeping bag?" Toph asked, her face scrunching slightly in disgust.
"I..." Katara hesitated for a moment before narrowing her eyes. "Well, yes. Among other things. You're part of the team now, and—"
"Just let Ren do my part," Toph cut in. "Ren! Help me out with this—I'm going to bed!"
I glanced over, already halfway through unloading one of Appa's packs.
"Sure. Go on and sleep. I'll handle her share, Katara."
Katara just stared at Toph's retreating figure for a moment before letting out a small sigh.
"... Goodnight."
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But it seemed that fate had other plans because about twenty minutes later, that same rumbling from before returned.
"Guys—" Toph snapped upright from her light nap. "That thing is back!"
The entire camp jolted awake in a messy scramble of half-lidded confusion and groans. I was already moving to pack up our belongings onto Appa's saddle.
Sokka barely lifted his head. "Okay, but like, how far away is it? Maybe we can close our eyes for just a few more minutes."
Toph closed her eyes, focusing. "... Ten minutes away, give or take," she said.
On cue, a dark smear of smoke began rising above the treeline in the distance, thickening fast as it got closer to their position.
A few begrudging sighs later, everyone moved, stuffing gear into saddlebags, dragging sleeping half-conscious bodies onto Appa, and securing everything.
Aang gave Appa a tired pat. "Sorry, buddy. Yip, yip."
Appa let out a low, tired growl as, with one powerful leap, he surged upward into the sky.
"Seriously, what is that thing?" Katara asked after we'd finally managed to catch our breath, glancing toward the horizon from her side of the saddle. Meanwhile, Toph looked far less concerned about what it was and far more annoyed about something else entirely.
"More importantly," she said annoyingly, mostly due to the lack of sleep. "How does it keep finding us?"
Everyone's gaze (except for Sokka, who was fast asleep) drifted back toward the smoke-stained trail in the distance.
Aang, seated at the reins, turned halfway back toward the group before facing forward again with renewed determination.
"I don't know," he admitted, tightening his grip on Appa's harness. "But this time, I'm gonna make sure we lose them."
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NEXT UPDATE: 11 June, Thursday
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