"Well, Sokka isn't just some random fishhead either," Suki pointed out. "He's the Avatar's friend and traveling companion."
"We'll see how things develop." Either way, what we had planned wasn't really a prisoner exchange—it was the capture of a group of terrorists. We'd deal with the details as they came. Honestly, the locals were either far too confident or not especially bright. They'd agreed to a meeting place chosen by their enemy, at a time chosen by their enemy, without proposing any conditions of their own beyond that vague mention of discussions.
Or perhaps we simply didn't know something, and they actually had a good reason to be so confident.
Then again, maybe I was jumping to conclusions. Perhaps they'd just send a single negotiator—someone they wouldn't mind losing—and that would be that, while I'd already imagined all sorts of elaborate schemes.
"It's time," Suki reminded us, glancing at her watch.
"Let's move out. One last reminder of everyone's roles: Blast, Suki, and part of the Kyoshi Warriors form the outer cordon. Zuko and the second group of warriors are the close-range ambush team. Toph handles coordination and gives orders to the hidden archers. Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee remain in reserve. I'll act as the negotiator, accompanied by a detachment from the local garrison."
Everyone nodded to show they remembered their assignments.
Then we set off, bringing our "prisoner" with us. Why the quotation marks? Because I had no intention of taking the risk of giving Aang even the slightest chance to free his companion.
Who knew what might happen once things started on the market square? A fight could easily create an opportunity for Sokka to escape, and that would be deeply unfortunate.
Nope.
If our operation to capture—or eliminate—the Avatar failed, we at least needed to avoid losing what we already had.
So we'd found the slimmest young soldier in the garrison, since the fishhead wasn't exactly a giant, dressed him in the appropriate clothes, and Ty Lee had somehow managed to get her hands on makeup to give our "prisoner" the proper skin tone. As for his face… well, it was completely hidden beneath a coarse sack.
All in all, even from fairly close up, the stand-in looked remarkably like the boy we wanted people to believe he was. Any remaining imperfections disappeared beneath dirt and the "evidence" of a rough stay in captivity.
We reached the rendezvous point well ahead of schedule.
Toph immediately began giving the area another painstaking inspection, practically sniffing the ground as she once again confirmed that no tunnels, cavities, hidden chambers, or secret passages had appeared—other than our own, of course. Once the Blind Bandit gave the signal, everyone else quietly moved into position.
Then came the longest and most unpleasant phase of any ambush.
Waiting.
***
One Hour Later
Our counterparts finally appeared at the far end of the street. There were around thirty of them, all sturdy-looking men. One carried a child wrapped in an expensive little robe, and that was it. No Aang. No Katara. Not even their flying pet. That was what really put me on edge.
Damn... if only this world had radios. Being able to communicate with Toph and make use of her sense would be incredibly useful right now. But there was no helping it.
In the end, the best I could do was keep sweeping my gaze across the rooftops visible above the covered market's archway and hope the little blind girl had already mapped out everyone she needed to and relayed the information to Azula.
The delegation advanced at an agonizingly slow pace, taking another ten minutes to reach the entrance. In the meantime, I'd withdrawn deeper into the market, silently inviting our honored guests to come inside. They, however, weren't in any hurry.
"I am Shomei. I speak on behalf of the free warriors of the Earth Kingdom!" Announced a rather short, thickset man.
"My name is Lee. I've been given the honor of accompanying the Fire Herald." I put on a long-suffering expression. Judging by the way several of the men visibly flinched, they already felt sorry for me. "All right, let's get this over with." Okay, one step inside.
A few of them instinctively started to follow, but Shomei stopped them. Yeah… this wasn't going to be as easy as I'd hoped.
"Very well. In exchange for the child, we want safe passage out of the city for ourselves and our families, along with enough provisions for two weeks on the road," the rebel leader stated.
"Hold on." At that point I realized I had absolutely no idea what was going on. "I thought we'd agreed to exchange the child for the Avatar's companion..."
"And what would we want with him?" Shomei spat onto the ground. "Those kids are useless. In fact, they've done us almost as much harm as your army."
My level of what the fu... surprise climbed another notch.
"Uh... so you're saying you don't want this fellow at all?" I nudged "Sokka" a little closer to the exit. "You know... to hand him back to the Avatar..."
"No. We've had more than enough of the Avatar, his companions, and his pets. We've had our fill. We just want to get out of the city. As for him, do whatever it is you people normally do..."
"...Yeah." That was a complete bust.
So these yahoos were claiming they couldn't care less about the Avatar. Possible? Sure. But did that mean Aang wouldn't come to the negotiations? Hardly. The young Air Nomad wasn't the sort of person who would leave a friend in the clutches of the "terrifying Fire Nation murderers."
Which meant the plan didn't really change. All we had to do was stall for time while keeping a close eye on the situation. Sooner or later, he'd try to rescue "Sokka." And when he did, the trap would snap shut.
"All right. What kind of supplies are you asking for?"
"Rice, meat, and vegetables. One hundred and forty wagonloads."
You have got to be kidding me!
"No. You're not getting that much. What are you trying to do, evacuate the entire city? That's enough food for ten thousand people! Have some respect for the Spirits! You already dishonorably abducted a defenseless child, and now you're using him for despicable blackmail!"
(End of Chapter)
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