*。☆。
★。＼｜／。★
˚ ₊ ♡ ❰  MIRACULUM ❱
*✧ ─── ❝ ❪ A CURIOUS CASE
OF PENTAPOX ❫ ❞

⋆ 🌪. CHAPTER TWELVE ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
˚ ₊ ♡ 112 a.a ─── book two: earth

DESPITE SOKKA'S CONSTANT YAPPING AND COMPLAINTS, BY MORNING ENOUGH  PENTAPUSES HAD BEEN COLLECTED TO ENNACT SOKKA'S PLAN. The return to the sewers to collect the helpful creatures had made Sokka more irritating than normal, as the Water Tribe boy refused to trudge through the grime, appealing to the fact it had been his brilliant idea.

Uki had just given him a rough pat on the shoulders before pushing him inside the same sewer they entered the city with.

Everything went smoothly and quickly after that.

As the morning sun continued its ascent, casting a warm glow over the abandoned town square, the atmosphere buzzed with a peculiar mix of determination and nervous anticipation. Uki was seated next to the collection of Pentapuses wriggling in their buckets. Momo perched on her shoulders as he chittered in her ear.

Despite her attempts to push him away from the small creatures, Momo seemed determined to inspect the Pentapuses up close.

One by one, the Earth Kingdom refugees approached the makeshift station where Uki handed a Pentapus to Aang, Sokka, or Katara. With a practiced hand, they affixed the tiny creatures onto the skin of each villager, leaving behind a trail of conspicuous red spots.

As the last Pentapus found its place, Sokka took charge, calling the attention of the gathered refugees. "Alright, everyone, listen up." His voice cut through the morning air, and all eyes turned toward the Water Tribe boy standing at the forefront. "The marks make you look sick, but you gotta act sick too. You gotta sell it."

Right on cue, an elderly man, leaning heavily on a cane and sporting a wooden leg, shuffled forward.
He was moaning and clutching his back.

"Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" Sokka grinned.

The old man beamed, tapping his wooden leg with his cane. "Years of practice." His jovial demeanour seemed to lift the spirits of those around him, and he took it upon himself to guide the others, offering advice and correcting postures with a light-hearted touch.

Uki laughed wholeheartedly at the strange sight despite the direness of the situation.

"Okay everyone! Into sick formation," Sokka declared, mimicking the laboured steps of the Omashu citizens. He joined the villagers, trudging slowly and acting as if stricken by an ailment as they began their procession through the city streets.

Uki, having dusted off her clothes, prepared to follow the horde of people making their way toward the outer rings of Omashu. However, her stride halted when she noticed Katara lingering behind, engaged in a conversation with Aang.

The words exchanged were lost to Uki as Aang took off into the sky, leaving Katara gazing upward for a moment before she noticed Uki waiting.

"He's going to look for Bumi, isn't he?" Uki inquired with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Yeah," Katara replied, her gaze following the disappearing Avatar between the rooftops.

"He'll be okay." She nudged Katara's side and slung her arm over the younger girl's shoulder, directing her towards the crowd ahead. "Now we need to get these people out safely."

Katara hummed in agreement, and the two rushed forward in pursuit, their hands tightly clasped as they maneuvered through the silent town. Uki managed to fall in step with Sokka as they approached the metal red and gold-painted gates leading to the bridge— out of Omashu.

The Fire Nation soldiers on duty seemed to have heard about the previous night's encounter. Fearful eyes widened as they backed away, spears pointed to keep their distance. "Plague!" one of them cried out, fear resonating in his voice. "Plague!"

Uki could barely hold back the smirk that threatened to tug on her lips at their horror struck faces.

An alarm echoed through the town square, and more soldiers cowered away as the group approached.

Relief flooded Uki when the gates opened, revealing the bridge that would take them out of Omashu. "Almost there," she thought excitedly, stealing one look over her shoulder at the once beautiful city of Omashu where Aang, still hopeful, searched for King Bumi.

As the sky darkened a few hours after their escape, the large group set up camp in the mountains for the night. Multiple smaller groups formed circles around scattered campfires, the glow casting flickering shadows on the faces of the refugees.

Glancing out to the distance from where she rested with her back against Appa, Uki caught sight of two figures, one small and one large, approaching them. As they came closer toward the fire and their silhouettes become more clear her smile faltered.

Aang looked heart broken.

After she shared a glance with Sokka and Katara, the three of them stood up and ran towards them.

"We looked everywhere." Aang sighed in defeat, posture turning in on itself. "No Bumi."

Uki's expression saddened and she watched as Katara pulled Aang into a tight hug. A moment later Uki wrapped her arms about both.

Sokka feeling left out turned to face the familiar creature and wrapped his arms around Bumi's pet.

"We've got a problem." Yalo announced, causing the group to pivot towards him. "We just did a head count."

"Did we leave someone behind?" Uki frowned in concern.

He shook his head. "We didn't lose anyone. We have an extra." Yalo pointed towards the sight of Momo, the flying lemur, playfully walking around with a small giggling toddler clinging to his neck.

"Oh..." Uki murmured. "That can't be good."

They resumed their positions around the crackling campfire, observing the lively toddler as he tottered around in front of them. Occasionally, his curious exploration led him a tad too close to the flames, prompting Uki to swiftly scoop him up, preventing any mishaps.

Uki held the child up. "I know you're Fire Nation, but flames hurt."

The kid just smiled at her and Uki sighed, placing the boy back on his feet.

The toddler waddled by Sokka. With an innocent curiosity, he settled down, grasping the club with his tiny hands and amusingly deciding it was fit for a good suck. Sokka, acting quickly, snatched the club away, scolding, "No! Bad Fire Nation baby!"

Placing her head on the palm of her hand, Uki looked at Katara silently counting down.

Seconds later, the baby had burst into loud wails and Katara shot her brother a stern glare, delivering a whack to his head before placing her hands on her hips.

"Oh, alright," Sokka conceded, reluctantly extending the club toward the child and Uki stifled a giggle. The crying ceased, replaced by joyous coos and giggles as the baby happily engaged with the newfound toy on his lap.

Smiling, Katara leaned forward, placing her hands on the toddler's shoulders. "Oh! You're so cute!" She planted a gentle kiss on the baby's cheek.

"Sure, he's cute now." Yalo spoke seriously as Katara continued playing with the child, her smile widening. "But when he's older, he'll join the Fire Nation army. You won't think he's so cute then. He'll be a killer."

Lifting the toddler, Katara questioned, "Does that look like the face of a killer to you?"

The Earthbender stared blankly at her.

Their attention shifted as a loud shriek from a bird echoed through the air, drawing their gaze toward a boulder where a hawk had landed. "A messenger hawk," Aang remarked, rising to approach the hawk and extracting a small scroll from its carrier. Returning to the group, he unfolded the paper in the flickering light of the fire.

"It's from the Fire Nation governor. He thinks we kidnapped his son." He stated. "So, he wants to make a trade. His son for King Bumi."

With the sleeping child in his arms, Aang walked up to his friends and bison the next morning.

"You realize we're probably walking right into a trap." Sokka pointed out.

"I don't think so." Aang replied. "I'm sure the governor wants his son back as much as we want Bumi." He smiled down at the kid in his arms. "It's a new day. I have a good feeling about this."

With that, he jumped up onto Appa's head. After sharing dubious glances, Sokka, Katara and Uki climbed up into the saddle.

It wasn't long before they reached their meeting point, the same construction site where they had been attacked just two nights ago by the very people they rescued.

Waiting anxiously, Uki tried to keep herself distracted by watching as the baby in Sokka's arms play with her fingers. It only did so much to ease her nerves as her friends stared out to the other end of the construction site. Eventually, after a few minutes of waiting in tense silence, three figures could be seen approaching from the other side of the platform.

All three of them were girls, but the only one the Waterbender could vaguely recognize was the one in the front. The same teenager who had chased and thrown small arrows at them.

On the left was a girl in pink, with big brown eyes, a ponytail, and an unwavering smile. On the right was a girl with golden eyes, a slight smirk, and a red Fire Nation headpiece. Her face was sharp, yet in a way seemed like a delicate porcelain doll.

The contradiction scared her.

The group of girls came to a stop a great distance away from the kids. That was when the sound of laughter began to fill the silence around them. Looking up, the group of four caught sight of what resembled a metal coffin being lowered down from above by a crane. There was a single hole in the cage, and from this hole, King Bumi's head was poking out.

"Hi everybody!" He cheered.

Uki could only watch as his cage was set down behind the three girls.

"You brought my brother?" The arrow-thrower called over.

"He's here" Aang replied. "We're ready to trade."

"I'm sorry, but a thought just occurred to me." The girl on the left interjected and Uki could feel unease settle in her gut at the gleam in the girl's eyes.

Glancing to her friend the girl continued. "Do you mind?"

"Of course not, Princess Azula."

So that was her.

"We're trading a two-year old for a king." The Princess turned to glance back up at Bumi. "A powerful, earthbending king?" Bumi grinned, nodding in reply. "It just doesn't seem like a fair trade, does it?"

Uki drew in a sharp breath, eyes flickering towards the other girl. After a brief moment, the arrow-thrower nodded. "You're right." She stepped forward seemingly uncaring for her brother's safety. "The deal's off."

She raised one of her arms.

The King's crate was pulled back up above them.

"Woah!" He laughed. "See you all later!"

"Bumi!" With a cloud of dust flying out behind him, Aang sprinted forward in the girls' direction.

Azula threw a strong blast of lightning-blue fire his way, only for the Avatar to leap up into the air. The Princess stared in bewilderment as he landed on the scaffolding of the construction site, then pushed off and opened his glider to soar after Bumi.

Unfortunately, the scarf over his arrow was blown off by the wind. He grabbed hold of it with his teeth before it could blow away, but it was too late. He had revealed himself.

Uki mentally facepalmed.

Watching from the ground, Uki glanced from Aang to Azula. The Princess was staring up at him with a victorious smirk.

"The avatar? My lucky day."

"Don't even think about it!" The waterbender called, uncapping her water pouch and sending a stream of water in Azula's direction.

The firebender flipped out of the way, kicking a blast of fire toward an elevator winch and grabbing onto the cord. It pulled her up to the top of the scaffolding, out of Uki sight.

"This isn't good." She took up a defensive stance, glaring at the two approaching girls.

"We've got to get the baby out of here!" She heard Katara call out behind her.

"Way ahead of ya." Sokka replied blowing on Appa's whistle.

Uki kicked her leg up, sending a stream of water from the curve of her boot at the girl dressed in pink. Masterfully she dodged her attack, the flexibility of the girl surprising her as she disappeared from sight.

"Time to get moving!" Uki called out, sidestepping as a sharp blade soared through the sky, nicking the skin of her jaw. She hissed, glaring up at the girl.

Uki spun around, sparing no glance backward as she followed Sokka to the end of the platform with Katara just in front of her. But then, all of a sudden, Sokka was knocked off his feet and sent sliding to the ground, stopping just barely before the edge of the platform.

"Sokka!" Uki called out, rushing toward him only to be intercepted by the acrobat. "Go find Appa!"

He turned and slid down the ladder of the platform, rushing off.

Skidding to a halt, Uki faced her.

The younger girl sprang into action and in a sequence of quick and graceful jabs hit her right arm.

Uki tried to swing out her arm, only to discover it would, to her utter horror not move.

Taking her surprise as another chance the girl moved forward but Uki quickly pushed her away with a jet of water using her other arm. Twisting mid-air, she rotated her leg, a strong stream of water whipping the Chi-blocker toward the other side of the platform and over the edge.

Wasting no time Uki rushed toward Katara, jumping into the fray with a powerful blast of water from her fist that pushed the last girl backward.

The Fire Nation girl glared from beneath her dark bangs and shot a volley of arrows towards the Waterbenders.

Barely ducking beneath the sharp shuriken, Uki twirled her leg out sending a wave of sharp shards of ice toward the girl.

She skilfully dodged them but before Uki could struck again, the pink-cladded girl fell from the scaffolding next to them. The sudden and harsh jabs to her body made her tumble forward.

Landing with both hands on the ground to hold her up, Uki kicked her leg out but before she could fully let the water move, a flash of pink jabbed her leg and the same sensation spread through her.

Uki grunted and rolled sideways before a flurry of shuriken could burrow themselves in her skin and her eyes widened. "Katara, watch out!"

But the young Waterbender was too late.

The girl landed hits on Katara's arms—one on the back and another on the front. The ice around her friend's arm melted, forming a useless puddle on the ground.

Katara's attempt to bend it again, it proved unsuccessful.

Grunting, Uki quickly went to Katara's side as they faced their opponents.

"Now what?" Uki whispered unsurely, taking on a traditional bending stance despite her inability to waterbend at the moment.

The girl with bangs mirrored her friend's smug smile, pulling out a three-pointed dagger. "How are you gonna fight without your bending?"

Katara gasped, watching as the girl raised her weapon in the air and Uki stepped slightly in front of the younger girl.

Something glinted in the sunlight and Uki smirked.

Just as the girl was about to throw her weapon, it was knocked out of her hand by a familiar shiny blue object. Sokka.

Her eyes traced the boomerang's elegant arc as it seamlessly returned to its origin. Sokka's deft hand effortlessly snatched it from the air, all the while employing his other hand to guide Appa's descent toward their location.

"I seem to manage!" he declared with a confident tone, skillfully maneuvering the bison between the two pairs of girls.

As Appa's tail swung powerfully to the ground, it propelled the two Fire Nation girls backward, sending them tumbling away from the scene.

Uki jumped, fist raised high in the sky. "Take that!" She cheered before turning towards Aang's fluffy Bison and grinned; "I'm starting to like you more and more buddy!"

Appa roared and Uki lowered her arms. "Right of course, time to go." She stammered out, pulling at Katara's blue tunic. "Yay..."

Pulling herself up into the saddle, Uki tried her best to ignore the way her stomach flipped as Appa took to the skies once more.

As they soared above Omashu, the trio peered over the creature's saddle in hopes of spotting their friend.

Uki's eyes widened as a bright flash of blue erupted from one of the mailing system routes in the lower part of the city. "Oh that can't be good." She muttered pointing at the chaos below.

Facing toward the fight Katara called out; "There's Aang!"

"We can catch him!" Sokka directed Appa to fly next to the mail chute as dust bellowed around them. As they drew closer, the sight of Aang surfing on Bumi's cage became more clear.

Princess Azula, in relentless pursuit, stood poised in one of the stone mail carts, launching blue fire blasts towards Aang. "I really wish I could bend right now." Uki murmured with disbelief as she could feel the heath of the flames even from this distance.

Luckily Aang seemed to manage as he blocked each jet of flames by spinning his staff.

"Hang on, Bumi!" Aang shouted with relief tinting his voice. "Our ride's here!"

Swinging his staff down toward the side of the chute, Bumi's cage was thrown up into the air beneath his feet. Unfortunately, it flew right over their heads as they reached to catch it.

Uki rushed to lean over the side of Appa's saddle, before calling over her shoulder toward Aang; "That was a little bit too enthusiastic Aang!"

Aang's gray eyes widened, and with a decisive surge of air, he leaped, following Bumi's descent towards the ground. Using a powerful gust, Aang manipulated the cage in midair, steering it towards another mail chute and executing a less-than graceful landing as it broke through one of the structures before landing on the chute below.

The waterbender exhaled a relieved sigh as they resumed their descent down the chute. However, this respite allowed Azula to persist in her pursuit. She conjured a vertically spinning ring of fire and unleashed it in their direction.

Uki gulped, "Am I the only one that finds her a little scary?" She asked, facing the Water Tribe siblings who both shook their head in agreement.

They watched with bated breath as the fiery spiral rolled down the chute, hot on the trail of Aang and Bumi.

Suddenly, the threat was thwarted by the abrupt emergence of a small stone pillar, forcing Azula, to leap out of her cart just in time before her makeshift ride collided with the rock. Landing in a controlled crouch, she slid to a stop, left to watch as Aang and Bumi continued.

Rubbing her eyes, Uki looked unsurely at Sokka and Katara. "Bumi could Earthbend all along?"

Sokka, disgruntled began muttering under his breath as they descended toward the ground where they found Aang and Bumi—who had his cage propped up in front of them on a large stone erected from the ground.

Bumi's shrill laughter rang out before with a quick and decisive nod he flew up the chute again.

Sliding down Appa's body, Uki rushed toward Aang. "Are you alright?" She worriedly asked, "What happened? Why did he leave?"

Aang's expression faltered a bit, "He isn't meant to be my Earthbending teacher." He sighed out and Uki frowned.

"But..."

Aang's expression brightened a bit when Momo flew over to perch on his shoulder, clinging to his head and chittering.

"I need to look for someone else." He started, glancing at Uki and the siblings. "Someone who waits and listens."

"That could be anyone" Sokka groaned, "Why couldn't he just do it! That would be so much easier."

Katara nudged her brother harshly with her elbow when she saw the crestfallen expression on Aang's face. "We'll find your teacher Aang!" She assured him with a bright smile.

Uki nodded. "Let's get out of here before those girls get back."

"What about the future Fire Nation soldier?"

Uki blinked and they all looked up the boy, holding his boomerang high up and way from the cooing baby.

She chuckled. "He seems to like you Sokka."

Sokka crossed his arms and resolutely turned his face away.

It only made the baby giggle.

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