MG Reads Embers: Chapter Eighty
Feb. 25th, 2024 05:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
masterghandalfWarning: This chapter contains some pretty intense violence.
Chapter Eighty
We open with Katara, who can’t believe the Fire Nation keep records of the names of criminals where anyone can see them. Sokka corrects her that anyone with the right key can – or, in their case, if they have Toph. He thinks back over how they got into the Boiling Rock, and how next they have to find Shiyu, grab him and get out. Aang thinks there are so many people here they have to write it down; Katara thinks any time you have so many people together they don’t all know each other is a problem. Just look at Ba Sing Se! Aang says that somewhere everyone knows everyone, you can never move past your mistakes; it hurts Sokka to see how serious he is. He also hates seeing Toph the way she is – she’s still hanging around, but she’s quieter and pricklier than normal, and has made it clear she’s sticking with them until they beat Ozai, and no longer. That bothers Sokka. Katara goes on that any firebender could destroy all the written records, and Sokka says that Temul’s told him sometimes they do that, if they want to make someone disappear, but most of the time criminal firebenders are kept too well guarded to try it. Aang is startled at the mention of Temul, and Sokka quickly backtracks. Suddenly, Katara has found Suki in the record book. They realize Azula must have captured her to get the Kyoshi Warrior uniforms; Sokka can’t’ believe she’s alive, but the records say she is. Katara can’t find Shiyu, though, so Sokka goes through the Warden’s personal record book and finds that he’s in a solitary cell, kept high up, away from both sunlight and the volcano. Sokka remembers what Roku did with the volcano at the fire temple and realizes he’s thinking about that to avoid thinking about what Azula might have done to Suki. He finally asks if there’s anyone else they need to break out while they’re here, and Aang wonders if they can’t release everyone. Sokka says a lot of them are criminals, but not only does Aang think nobody should be locked up like this, he thinks they’d make a good distraction for Ozai. Katara thinks it could work, but Sokka doesn’t see how they can get off the island. Aang says he can earthbend a way out, but Sokka’s still not sure it’s a good idea, and though Toph still isn’t talking, he thinks she doesn’t like it either. Sokka admits that Zuko is probably dead, but he still thinks Toph needs to get past it and work with them. He tries to explain to Aang again that the people here are criminals, but someone starts pounding on the door. He’s not sure who’s out there – no one knows they’re here, and if it’s the Warden, wouldn’t he be using his key? Suddenly, Sokka smells blasting jelly, and then the door explodes.
We cut to Suki as she takes down a guard who’d apparently been handsy with her in the past, not sure if she should kiss Sokka or kick his butt over this plan. The old man Toph just broken out compliments her as he takes down a chi-blocker. Meanwhile, Sokka and the others are fighting their way through the growing riot – she considers complimenting Sokka on his fighting, but decides she’ll do it later, since she doesn’t want his head to swell too much. Toph earthbends a tunnel open and leads them down it; they get spat out on the beach, and the old man says it reminds him of riding a lava tube. Once they’re out, Katara calls back up for Sokka and Aang, telling them she’ll let Toph cook dinner if they’re not down here now – Toph protests that she doesn’t cook, which is Katara’s point. Suddenly, Sokka and Aang come shooting out, and Katara has to bend ice to catch them before they fall into the boiling lake. Apparently, they were being chased and Aang blasted their pursuers back with air, and it shot them down the tunnel rather faster than they were expecting. Toph shuts the tunnel, and Suki says she’s glad to see everyone, but wants to know what’s going on and why they’re bringing a firebender. Aang introduces Shiyu and tells him that he needs a firebending teacher – Shiyu is surprised, since he’d thought Iroh would have become Aang’s firebending master. Aang suddenly blanches, and Toph is amused to remind him that Iroh is the Dragon of the West, Ozai’s brother. After what happened to Zuko, the next time Aang meets Iroh, he’s going to need luck. Suki is confused at the glee Toph seems to be taking in taunting Aang, and Shiyu asked what happened; Aang starts to explain, and then something attacks them. Suki has a brief glimpse of jaws and four glowing eyes, and wonders just what this thing is.
We cut to Katara as she realizes how hot this thing is; it’s melting her ice as soon as it hits, though Shiyu’s doing a firebending form she’s never seen before to cool the air around them. She thinks she’s hurt the creature, though, since it’s focusing on her now and not Suki. Aang thinks it’s a spirit, and Shiyu seems to think so too, since he’s now loudly praying to Agni. Aang thinks it can’t be anything else, since the boiling lake is too hot for any normal creature to survive in it for long, and Shiyu addresses it as a divine messenger. Sokka says they need to do less praying and more fighting, but Katara thinks that when you’re fighting a spirit, you should be praying. But she has no idea what this thing wants, or how to appease it. She tries to dodge the creature’s limbs, but it smacks her into the air; Toph catches her with earthbending before she slams into the ground. Toph wants to know what it is, and why it went after Suki first. Katara doesn’t know; the thing strikes again, and they just barely hold it back with ice and earth. Then Aang and Sokka hit it, and this time it does some damage – it can resist bending, and actively feeds off fire, but Sokka’s sword hurt it. Suki was holding an iron bar, too. Katara realizes it can’t get into the prison because of all the metal, but it doesn’t like ice – and Katara froze part of the lake. That’s why it’s mad. Katara blames herself, and Toph says they need to get Aang to talk to it – but Aang’s blasting it with air and isn’t interested in talking. That makes Toph think fighting it’s the right thing to do after all; she manages to trap it with earthbending, holding it still for Aang to blast it back into the lake. Sokka’s not reassured, thinking it came from the lake in the first place, and Shiyu seems disturbed as well. The water starts boiling more intensely, and Aang says they didn’t mean to upset it – he just wants to talk, but Shiyu says this kind of spirit is a Kanaloa and won’t listen to anyone. Aang thinks it’s listening now, but Katara thinks it’s still angry; she can feel its rage. She refuses to let it overwhelm her, or to let it use her to hurt her friends; the Kanaloa surges out of the water and Katara tries to fight it, but it manages to strike her and Katara screams in agony.
We cut to Toph as she bends a shield around Katara and pulls them both up against the base of the prison, where they make their stand. She can tell there’s something in the water but not where it is or what it’s doing, and demands to know what’s going on, as Sokka tells her she doesn’t want to know. We cut to Sokka and Aang fighting the Kanaloa, as Sokka thinks that there’s something wrong with Aang, something different from the usual scariness of the Avatar State. His eyes are glowing, but the voice that comes out of him is the Kanaloa’s, as it rants about oathbreakers and liars. Shiyu wants to know what Aang did to offend Fire. Sokka refuses to back down, and Shiyu still wonders what he even could have done, since the Fire Nation is at war with the Avatar already. The Avatar is usually shielded from dangerous spirits, but somehow Aang has forfeited that protection. Sokka says he’s sorry, and Shiyu gives him a look; Sokka says he’s just the meat, sarcasm and swords guy, and he doesn’t do spirit stuff. Suki thinks that at least Aang’s talking with the spirit, and Sokka says he’s not had great luck with that in the past and mentions Asagitatsu, to Shiyu’s amazement. Aang raises a hand, and Suki pleads that they’re his friends and can help him; the Kanaloa, speaking through Aang, tells them to die… and then the gondola drops out of the sky on top of it, smashing it. Sokka compliments Toph, but it wasn’t her. What’s left of the Kanaloa keeps shrieking threats with Aang’s voice, but suddenly a blast of fiery wind with leaves at its heart smashes him into the wall. Sokka wonders where it came from – and turns to see a soaked, ice-rimed Zuko climbing out of the lake. He stomps past the Kanaloa, motions at Aang’s unconscious body, and says he’s been wanting to do that for a long time.
We cut to Zuko, glad Aang is down as he works the taste of sulfur out of his mouth. He can’t believe he had to drop a gondola on an angry spirit and dive into the boiling lake because of Aang’s idiocy and thinks to himself that he’d thought Sokka could do subtle, but apparently not. He’d tried to sneak in himself, but then he’d heard the Kanaloa shrieking and knew exactly where Aang had to be. Sokka thinks Zuko was supposed to be dead, and both Suki and Shiyu give him weird looks too. He says he’s not dead yet, but Toph calls him over – Katara’s hurt and she needs help. Zuko tells her to do what she can; he’s got to make sure the kanaloa’s dead before Aang wakes up. Shiyu reminds him that it can’t be tamed, but Zuko has no intention of taming it. It’s a mix of fire and water – it’s as strong as the islands, and just as fragile. Zuko thinks that the Fire Nation are the blood of dragons, and the only thing that can destroy them is each other. He combines fire and water to coat the Kanaloa in ice and tells it he’s not here to negotiate – it will let them go, or he’ll kill it for good. Shiyu protests that Zuko can’t talk to a spirit like that, but Zuko says he can – Shiyu can take it up with Yue if he doesn’t like it, and Iroh needs to stop asking the spirits for favors. Shiyu doesn’t understand, but the Kanaloa is very old, and Zuko thinks it knows what he is. He can sense that the Kanaloa is a relative of Koh’s, and under his influence – he tells it to ask Koh about all the things Zuko has done lately and asks if it thinks it can face him. The Kanaloa decides it can’t and vanishes. Sokka is impressed that Zuko bluffed a spirit, but Zuko says he wasn’t bluffing. Sokka thinks he’s scary, and Zuko hurries over to Toph to help with Katara. He starts a waterbending healing, to Toph’s amazement; Sokka comments that he really is Amaya’s student. As Zuko works on Katara, he tells Sokka to check on Aang. Katara slowly comes to and is amazed that Zuko’s alive; he compliments her for at least trying to fight the sea serpent. Zuko admits he thought he was dead for a while there too, and fighting the kadzhait wasn’t fun, but Katara should be fine for now, at least long enough for them to get her to Amak. Sokka and Katara both recognize that as a Water Tribe name, and Suki interrupts to say they’ve got problems.
We cut to Aang as he wakes up slowly and Shiyu tells him not to move. Still dazed, he asks what the Kanaloa wanted, and Shiyu says it wanted nothing they could give it. Suddenly, Aang recognizes Zuko, and Zuko starts explaining that the Kanaloa backed down, but it’s not dead and it owns the lake, and they’ve still got a prison full of angry firebenders nearby. Sokka points out that Zuko’s map didn’t mention the Kanaloa, and Zuko admits he didn’t know about it. Zuko turns around and accuses Shiyu – the Fire Sages are supposed to keep track of dangerous spirits in the Fire Nation, why don’t they warn people about the Kanaloa? Shiyu points out that Iroh borrowed maps from the Sages when he left the Fire Nation three years ago, and since they were for Zuko and Zuko was an exile – well, there was a decent chance Zuko would end up at the Boiling Rock and there was no need for him to know about the spirit. Zuko is outraged and reminds him of just what the Kanaloa could have done to them, and Shiyu admits he hadn’t thought the Kanaloa would bother him – it’s not like he’s Azula. Aang still wants to know how Zuko’s alive, but Sokka reminds them that the guards are coming. Zuko has been trying to skim heat off the island and the lake so Toph can get them out, but it takes time – Aang realizes he’s using the same technique that Sozin used on the volcano when he was with Roku. A force of what looks like both guards and escaped prisoners march down onto the beach, and Aang thinks maybe letting them all go was a bad idea – and suddenly a wall of blue fire appears between them. Azula steps up on their side of it and greets Zuko.
We end with a brief author note. A/N: Okay, I feel I have to put this in... just as I came up with "mockingjay" without having ever read (or watched) the Hunger Games, I named Yakone without ever having seen Legend of Korra. (And I still haven't seen it.) Yakone as a character in this story has been named for over two years. As in, before we had names of any of the characters in Korra, including Korra herself. Yakone is an Inuit or Ahtna Athabaskan name that supposedly means red aurora; I figured it'd be an excellent fit for someone with fire and water parents. The fact that someone named Yakone is an enemy waterbender in LoK is pure coincidence.
As for the monster... look up Polychaete, and especially the Pompeii worm. Heee.
MG’s Thoughts
This chapter is frustrating. It really feels like it should have been multiple chapters, for one. We’ve abandoned the Stations of the Canon, by this point – aside from raiding the Boiling Rock, this doesn’t play out at all like the “Boiling Rock” episode. But Vathara is still skipping over things. We skim over the Gaang actually breaking into the Boiling Rock, and we skim over them starting a riot and breaking Suki and Shiyu out, even though we really needed to see those scenes, in my opinion. Suki, by the way, has been mentioned maybe a handful of times in the whole fic, so it’s a bit jarring to have her suddenly pop up and be important, even if logically she would be here. The whole thing is left feeling very rushed and jarring. But of course, the part we do spend a lot of time on is the Gaang accidentally provoking a spirit into attacking them and then utterly failing to actually fight it – complete with Katara nearly dying and Aang getting himself possessed – until Zuko shows up at the last minute to save the day. As for Zuko himself, his appearance here is supposed to be an awesome “big damn heroes” moment, but it’s almost unintentionally comical with how much better he is than everyone else, and how casually he ends up dealing with the spirit, chewing everyone else out for their incompetence, and then healing Katara. We can now add “better at dealing with angry spirits than the Avatar and a Fire Sage” to Zuko’s list of achievements, at least. The Kanaloa is at least a genuinely frightening monster, even if it kind of comes out of nowhere and it being related to Koh because they’re both big centipedes feels a little random (does that mean it’s related to the Avatar, too?). But really, this chapter was left feeling like an exercise in “Zuko is better at the Gaang’s job than they are,” especially with all the parts that involve the Gaang actually being competent skimmed over. And I find the assumption that Sokka seems to be making that everyone (or at least most people) in a Fire Nation prison that holds war prisoners and dissidents has to be a dangerous criminal they don’t dare release, and Aang is naïve for thinking otherwise, to be a bit… questionable.
Re, the AN, Yakone was the name of one of Amak and Karasu’s kids from last chapter; I skimmed over all their names. Though it’s interesting Vathara accidentally wound up including a Yakone, a Bolin and a Suyin in this fic.
Eleventh Arc Final Thoughts
This is the penultimate arc of the whole fic, and really, it can’t help but feel to me like it exists for three reasons. The first is to have the Gaang rescue Shiyu. Despite ostensibly being the a-plot, it gets relatively little page time, with the actual raid on the Boiling Rock being crammed into one, not terribly long chapter. The second is to seemingly prove that the Gaang and Zuko simply aren’t compatible, and Aang was wrong for assuming he and Zuko could ever be friends. This was pretty heavily hinted out throughout, though it took the diabolus ex machina of the sea serpent and Zuko’s apparent death to actually force them apart. And then we get the fic’s seeming determination to prove Zuko’s awesomeness at the Gaang’s expense, by having him defeat not one but two powerful monsters (the sea serpent and the Kanaloa) for them after they prove they can’t handle it. The monster fights themselves are pretty good, mind, and both the kadzhait and the Kanaloa are genuinely creepy and menacing… but the context, especially when it happens twice in three chapters, can’t help but feel more like shilling Zuko.
I also think that this is where the fic is starting to run out of steam a bit. We have a lot of developments here that get glazed over quickly. Zuko joins the Gaang, then immediately breaks apart from them. The sea serpent shows up out of nowhere and then Zuko kills it. Zuko arrives in Byakko, then immediately leaves Byakko. The Gaang infiltrate the Boiling Rock off-page. And so on. It just feels kind of like Vathara is getting to the point where she just wants to get done with things. IIRC, this feeling will continue for the remainder of the fic. The good news is that now we’ve only got one arc left, the Sozin’s Comet arc where the fic comes to an end. Eleven chapters to go! We’re almost there.
Chapter Eighty
We open with Katara, who can’t believe the Fire Nation keep records of the names of criminals where anyone can see them. Sokka corrects her that anyone with the right key can – or, in their case, if they have Toph. He thinks back over how they got into the Boiling Rock, and how next they have to find Shiyu, grab him and get out. Aang thinks there are so many people here they have to write it down; Katara thinks any time you have so many people together they don’t all know each other is a problem. Just look at Ba Sing Se! Aang says that somewhere everyone knows everyone, you can never move past your mistakes; it hurts Sokka to see how serious he is. He also hates seeing Toph the way she is – she’s still hanging around, but she’s quieter and pricklier than normal, and has made it clear she’s sticking with them until they beat Ozai, and no longer. That bothers Sokka. Katara goes on that any firebender could destroy all the written records, and Sokka says that Temul’s told him sometimes they do that, if they want to make someone disappear, but most of the time criminal firebenders are kept too well guarded to try it. Aang is startled at the mention of Temul, and Sokka quickly backtracks. Suddenly, Katara has found Suki in the record book. They realize Azula must have captured her to get the Kyoshi Warrior uniforms; Sokka can’t’ believe she’s alive, but the records say she is. Katara can’t find Shiyu, though, so Sokka goes through the Warden’s personal record book and finds that he’s in a solitary cell, kept high up, away from both sunlight and the volcano. Sokka remembers what Roku did with the volcano at the fire temple and realizes he’s thinking about that to avoid thinking about what Azula might have done to Suki. He finally asks if there’s anyone else they need to break out while they’re here, and Aang wonders if they can’t release everyone. Sokka says a lot of them are criminals, but not only does Aang think nobody should be locked up like this, he thinks they’d make a good distraction for Ozai. Katara thinks it could work, but Sokka doesn’t see how they can get off the island. Aang says he can earthbend a way out, but Sokka’s still not sure it’s a good idea, and though Toph still isn’t talking, he thinks she doesn’t like it either. Sokka admits that Zuko is probably dead, but he still thinks Toph needs to get past it and work with them. He tries to explain to Aang again that the people here are criminals, but someone starts pounding on the door. He’s not sure who’s out there – no one knows they’re here, and if it’s the Warden, wouldn’t he be using his key? Suddenly, Sokka smells blasting jelly, and then the door explodes.
We cut to Suki as she takes down a guard who’d apparently been handsy with her in the past, not sure if she should kiss Sokka or kick his butt over this plan. The old man Toph just broken out compliments her as he takes down a chi-blocker. Meanwhile, Sokka and the others are fighting their way through the growing riot – she considers complimenting Sokka on his fighting, but decides she’ll do it later, since she doesn’t want his head to swell too much. Toph earthbends a tunnel open and leads them down it; they get spat out on the beach, and the old man says it reminds him of riding a lava tube. Once they’re out, Katara calls back up for Sokka and Aang, telling them she’ll let Toph cook dinner if they’re not down here now – Toph protests that she doesn’t cook, which is Katara’s point. Suddenly, Sokka and Aang come shooting out, and Katara has to bend ice to catch them before they fall into the boiling lake. Apparently, they were being chased and Aang blasted their pursuers back with air, and it shot them down the tunnel rather faster than they were expecting. Toph shuts the tunnel, and Suki says she’s glad to see everyone, but wants to know what’s going on and why they’re bringing a firebender. Aang introduces Shiyu and tells him that he needs a firebending teacher – Shiyu is surprised, since he’d thought Iroh would have become Aang’s firebending master. Aang suddenly blanches, and Toph is amused to remind him that Iroh is the Dragon of the West, Ozai’s brother. After what happened to Zuko, the next time Aang meets Iroh, he’s going to need luck. Suki is confused at the glee Toph seems to be taking in taunting Aang, and Shiyu asked what happened; Aang starts to explain, and then something attacks them. Suki has a brief glimpse of jaws and four glowing eyes, and wonders just what this thing is.
We cut to Katara as she realizes how hot this thing is; it’s melting her ice as soon as it hits, though Shiyu’s doing a firebending form she’s never seen before to cool the air around them. She thinks she’s hurt the creature, though, since it’s focusing on her now and not Suki. Aang thinks it’s a spirit, and Shiyu seems to think so too, since he’s now loudly praying to Agni. Aang thinks it can’t be anything else, since the boiling lake is too hot for any normal creature to survive in it for long, and Shiyu addresses it as a divine messenger. Sokka says they need to do less praying and more fighting, but Katara thinks that when you’re fighting a spirit, you should be praying. But she has no idea what this thing wants, or how to appease it. She tries to dodge the creature’s limbs, but it smacks her into the air; Toph catches her with earthbending before she slams into the ground. Toph wants to know what it is, and why it went after Suki first. Katara doesn’t know; the thing strikes again, and they just barely hold it back with ice and earth. Then Aang and Sokka hit it, and this time it does some damage – it can resist bending, and actively feeds off fire, but Sokka’s sword hurt it. Suki was holding an iron bar, too. Katara realizes it can’t get into the prison because of all the metal, but it doesn’t like ice – and Katara froze part of the lake. That’s why it’s mad. Katara blames herself, and Toph says they need to get Aang to talk to it – but Aang’s blasting it with air and isn’t interested in talking. That makes Toph think fighting it’s the right thing to do after all; she manages to trap it with earthbending, holding it still for Aang to blast it back into the lake. Sokka’s not reassured, thinking it came from the lake in the first place, and Shiyu seems disturbed as well. The water starts boiling more intensely, and Aang says they didn’t mean to upset it – he just wants to talk, but Shiyu says this kind of spirit is a Kanaloa and won’t listen to anyone. Aang thinks it’s listening now, but Katara thinks it’s still angry; she can feel its rage. She refuses to let it overwhelm her, or to let it use her to hurt her friends; the Kanaloa surges out of the water and Katara tries to fight it, but it manages to strike her and Katara screams in agony.
We cut to Toph as she bends a shield around Katara and pulls them both up against the base of the prison, where they make their stand. She can tell there’s something in the water but not where it is or what it’s doing, and demands to know what’s going on, as Sokka tells her she doesn’t want to know. We cut to Sokka and Aang fighting the Kanaloa, as Sokka thinks that there’s something wrong with Aang, something different from the usual scariness of the Avatar State. His eyes are glowing, but the voice that comes out of him is the Kanaloa’s, as it rants about oathbreakers and liars. Shiyu wants to know what Aang did to offend Fire. Sokka refuses to back down, and Shiyu still wonders what he even could have done, since the Fire Nation is at war with the Avatar already. The Avatar is usually shielded from dangerous spirits, but somehow Aang has forfeited that protection. Sokka says he’s sorry, and Shiyu gives him a look; Sokka says he’s just the meat, sarcasm and swords guy, and he doesn’t do spirit stuff. Suki thinks that at least Aang’s talking with the spirit, and Sokka says he’s not had great luck with that in the past and mentions Asagitatsu, to Shiyu’s amazement. Aang raises a hand, and Suki pleads that they’re his friends and can help him; the Kanaloa, speaking through Aang, tells them to die… and then the gondola drops out of the sky on top of it, smashing it. Sokka compliments Toph, but it wasn’t her. What’s left of the Kanaloa keeps shrieking threats with Aang’s voice, but suddenly a blast of fiery wind with leaves at its heart smashes him into the wall. Sokka wonders where it came from – and turns to see a soaked, ice-rimed Zuko climbing out of the lake. He stomps past the Kanaloa, motions at Aang’s unconscious body, and says he’s been wanting to do that for a long time.
We cut to Zuko, glad Aang is down as he works the taste of sulfur out of his mouth. He can’t believe he had to drop a gondola on an angry spirit and dive into the boiling lake because of Aang’s idiocy and thinks to himself that he’d thought Sokka could do subtle, but apparently not. He’d tried to sneak in himself, but then he’d heard the Kanaloa shrieking and knew exactly where Aang had to be. Sokka thinks Zuko was supposed to be dead, and both Suki and Shiyu give him weird looks too. He says he’s not dead yet, but Toph calls him over – Katara’s hurt and she needs help. Zuko tells her to do what she can; he’s got to make sure the kanaloa’s dead before Aang wakes up. Shiyu reminds him that it can’t be tamed, but Zuko has no intention of taming it. It’s a mix of fire and water – it’s as strong as the islands, and just as fragile. Zuko thinks that the Fire Nation are the blood of dragons, and the only thing that can destroy them is each other. He combines fire and water to coat the Kanaloa in ice and tells it he’s not here to negotiate – it will let them go, or he’ll kill it for good. Shiyu protests that Zuko can’t talk to a spirit like that, but Zuko says he can – Shiyu can take it up with Yue if he doesn’t like it, and Iroh needs to stop asking the spirits for favors. Shiyu doesn’t understand, but the Kanaloa is very old, and Zuko thinks it knows what he is. He can sense that the Kanaloa is a relative of Koh’s, and under his influence – he tells it to ask Koh about all the things Zuko has done lately and asks if it thinks it can face him. The Kanaloa decides it can’t and vanishes. Sokka is impressed that Zuko bluffed a spirit, but Zuko says he wasn’t bluffing. Sokka thinks he’s scary, and Zuko hurries over to Toph to help with Katara. He starts a waterbending healing, to Toph’s amazement; Sokka comments that he really is Amaya’s student. As Zuko works on Katara, he tells Sokka to check on Aang. Katara slowly comes to and is amazed that Zuko’s alive; he compliments her for at least trying to fight the sea serpent. Zuko admits he thought he was dead for a while there too, and fighting the kadzhait wasn’t fun, but Katara should be fine for now, at least long enough for them to get her to Amak. Sokka and Katara both recognize that as a Water Tribe name, and Suki interrupts to say they’ve got problems.
We cut to Aang as he wakes up slowly and Shiyu tells him not to move. Still dazed, he asks what the Kanaloa wanted, and Shiyu says it wanted nothing they could give it. Suddenly, Aang recognizes Zuko, and Zuko starts explaining that the Kanaloa backed down, but it’s not dead and it owns the lake, and they’ve still got a prison full of angry firebenders nearby. Sokka points out that Zuko’s map didn’t mention the Kanaloa, and Zuko admits he didn’t know about it. Zuko turns around and accuses Shiyu – the Fire Sages are supposed to keep track of dangerous spirits in the Fire Nation, why don’t they warn people about the Kanaloa? Shiyu points out that Iroh borrowed maps from the Sages when he left the Fire Nation three years ago, and since they were for Zuko and Zuko was an exile – well, there was a decent chance Zuko would end up at the Boiling Rock and there was no need for him to know about the spirit. Zuko is outraged and reminds him of just what the Kanaloa could have done to them, and Shiyu admits he hadn’t thought the Kanaloa would bother him – it’s not like he’s Azula. Aang still wants to know how Zuko’s alive, but Sokka reminds them that the guards are coming. Zuko has been trying to skim heat off the island and the lake so Toph can get them out, but it takes time – Aang realizes he’s using the same technique that Sozin used on the volcano when he was with Roku. A force of what looks like both guards and escaped prisoners march down onto the beach, and Aang thinks maybe letting them all go was a bad idea – and suddenly a wall of blue fire appears between them. Azula steps up on their side of it and greets Zuko.
We end with a brief author note. A/N: Okay, I feel I have to put this in... just as I came up with "mockingjay" without having ever read (or watched) the Hunger Games, I named Yakone without ever having seen Legend of Korra. (And I still haven't seen it.) Yakone as a character in this story has been named for over two years. As in, before we had names of any of the characters in Korra, including Korra herself. Yakone is an Inuit or Ahtna Athabaskan name that supposedly means red aurora; I figured it'd be an excellent fit for someone with fire and water parents. The fact that someone named Yakone is an enemy waterbender in LoK is pure coincidence.
As for the monster... look up Polychaete, and especially the Pompeii worm. Heee.
MG’s Thoughts
This chapter is frustrating. It really feels like it should have been multiple chapters, for one. We’ve abandoned the Stations of the Canon, by this point – aside from raiding the Boiling Rock, this doesn’t play out at all like the “Boiling Rock” episode. But Vathara is still skipping over things. We skim over the Gaang actually breaking into the Boiling Rock, and we skim over them starting a riot and breaking Suki and Shiyu out, even though we really needed to see those scenes, in my opinion. Suki, by the way, has been mentioned maybe a handful of times in the whole fic, so it’s a bit jarring to have her suddenly pop up and be important, even if logically she would be here. The whole thing is left feeling very rushed and jarring. But of course, the part we do spend a lot of time on is the Gaang accidentally provoking a spirit into attacking them and then utterly failing to actually fight it – complete with Katara nearly dying and Aang getting himself possessed – until Zuko shows up at the last minute to save the day. As for Zuko himself, his appearance here is supposed to be an awesome “big damn heroes” moment, but it’s almost unintentionally comical with how much better he is than everyone else, and how casually he ends up dealing with the spirit, chewing everyone else out for their incompetence, and then healing Katara. We can now add “better at dealing with angry spirits than the Avatar and a Fire Sage” to Zuko’s list of achievements, at least. The Kanaloa is at least a genuinely frightening monster, even if it kind of comes out of nowhere and it being related to Koh because they’re both big centipedes feels a little random (does that mean it’s related to the Avatar, too?). But really, this chapter was left feeling like an exercise in “Zuko is better at the Gaang’s job than they are,” especially with all the parts that involve the Gaang actually being competent skimmed over. And I find the assumption that Sokka seems to be making that everyone (or at least most people) in a Fire Nation prison that holds war prisoners and dissidents has to be a dangerous criminal they don’t dare release, and Aang is naïve for thinking otherwise, to be a bit… questionable.
Re, the AN, Yakone was the name of one of Amak and Karasu’s kids from last chapter; I skimmed over all their names. Though it’s interesting Vathara accidentally wound up including a Yakone, a Bolin and a Suyin in this fic.
Eleventh Arc Final Thoughts
This is the penultimate arc of the whole fic, and really, it can’t help but feel to me like it exists for three reasons. The first is to have the Gaang rescue Shiyu. Despite ostensibly being the a-plot, it gets relatively little page time, with the actual raid on the Boiling Rock being crammed into one, not terribly long chapter. The second is to seemingly prove that the Gaang and Zuko simply aren’t compatible, and Aang was wrong for assuming he and Zuko could ever be friends. This was pretty heavily hinted out throughout, though it took the diabolus ex machina of the sea serpent and Zuko’s apparent death to actually force them apart. And then we get the fic’s seeming determination to prove Zuko’s awesomeness at the Gaang’s expense, by having him defeat not one but two powerful monsters (the sea serpent and the Kanaloa) for them after they prove they can’t handle it. The monster fights themselves are pretty good, mind, and both the kadzhait and the Kanaloa are genuinely creepy and menacing… but the context, especially when it happens twice in three chapters, can’t help but feel more like shilling Zuko.
I also think that this is where the fic is starting to run out of steam a bit. We have a lot of developments here that get glazed over quickly. Zuko joins the Gaang, then immediately breaks apart from them. The sea serpent shows up out of nowhere and then Zuko kills it. Zuko arrives in Byakko, then immediately leaves Byakko. The Gaang infiltrate the Boiling Rock off-page. And so on. It just feels kind of like Vathara is getting to the point where she just wants to get done with things. IIRC, this feeling will continue for the remainder of the fic. The good news is that now we’ve only got one arc left, the Sozin’s Comet arc where the fic comes to an end. Eleven chapters to go! We’re almost there.
