I knelt, hands bound, before the darkened, echoing room, gazing at the shadowy faces hidden before me. I hated those men, the League of Seven. I hated them with a passion more powerful than the city-destroying tempest that sank Atlantis. They had taken everything from me; my family, my friends, my home, everything. And they didn’t even know my name.
I could hear one of them clear his throat to speak. I hissed quietly. I wished he would be struck down where he stood.
“You know, m’ dear, it is an…unfortunate situation we have here.” His voice was so full of false sympathy that I almost believed him.
I said nothing. He continued, “Such a loss of life is disastrous in any case, especially when it could have been avoided.”
I tried to bite my tongue, but it was no-good. “Avoided? You were trying to enslave my people!” I spat, my voice cracking.
“And you prefer it this way, with your people dead?”
“Death is a welcome alternative to serving the scum of hell.” I retorted. I heard one of the others growl in response.
“Tsk tsk, that kind of language isn’t going to win you any favours here.” he replied, gloating, “I suggest you show your new masters some respect, slave, and be glad we decided to spare your life. Unless you wish for us to end it now?”
I looked away. The noble thing would be to ask for death. I wished I could. But, no, I could not hope for so noble an escape. I was a coward, a traitor; I deserved to serve these men for the rest of my life. I owed it to my people.
“Wise decision,” he responded, confusing my shame for submissiveness. “It may come as a surprise, but we are sentimentalists at heart, after all, and it would be a shame if it were thought that the League of Seven was heartless.”
I began to grind my teeth, mentally cursing all sorts of unpleasant things on the speaker.
He continued “And so, to protect this vital image, you are to be presented to the King of Albenon tomorrow, as a gift of…good faith, a trophy from our latest conquest, a present honouring the newly signed peace treaty between us and the kingdom.”
I smirked at the irony; using a ‘trophy’ of war as a present for a peace treaty. More like a reminder of what would happen if they ever dared to defy the League. They were flaunting their power.
“I’m sure even you can understand that this exchange is very important. You’re a surprisingly valuable asset, as the last of your people. And so we can’t afford to take any chances.” he said menacingly.
I froze as one of the shadowy figures stepped forward, holding a long pole with a glowing red end.
“Branding is common practice for slaves.” he continued, “This mark will forever brand you for what you are; a pathetic coward, only fit to grovel at the feet of men.”
He stepped forward, into the light, finally revealing his scarred face. I glared into his cold, uncaring eyes, quickly calculating my next move. A coward, I may be, but helpless? Never.
He sneered, nodding to the man with the branding iron. I watched as the red hot glowing reverse ‘S’ seemed to sizzle in anticipation. I knew that if it touched me, I would never be free. Captive or not, that mark would ensure me a life time of running. The speaker took another step forward. My eyes quickly scanned the room. I spotted the only exit, only a few metres away.
“It almost seems a shame, to spoil such a pretty face.” he said quietly.
My eyes darted to the six other hidden men in the room. Only one of them was guarding the door. A plan began to quickly form in my mind. I saw my tormenter adjust his grip on the branding iron. If I was going to act, it would have to be soon.
I turned my head back to the speaker, meeting his gaze.
“You realise that this won’t last.” I told him.
He raised an eyebrow. “What won’t last?”
“This hold you and your ‘League’ seem to have on the rest of the world.” I replied, “It won’t be long until they find out what you really do. And then, it’ll only be a matter of time until some other superpower steps in to stop you.”
He laughed cruelly. “You really think so? You really think that it would be that easy? That some other, so called ‘Superpower’ could just step in and stop us? M’dear, if that’s what you truly think, you’ve clearly learnt nothing. We are mere moments away from reaching deity status. Even if the whole world were to combine together against us, we would still crush them. We are unstoppable.”
I scoffed at his confidence. His eyes narrowed.
“Enough of these games. Your fate is sealed, wench. There’s no escape for you now.” He signalled for the brander to step forward.
I smiled sweetly. “Don’t be so sure.”
I rolled to the side, out of the spotlight, and sprung to my feet. One of the men dived for me. I nimbly dodged his grasp and kicked him backwards into another pursuer. The two men fell hard against the wall. I could hear the echoing footsteps of the others running towards me.
“Don’t let her escape!” cried the speaker, his voice full of anger.
I turned and headed straight for the door, sprinting as hard as I could. Three more men tried to stop me, surrounding me on either side. I side-stepped the first two and tripped up the third, pulling him down and using his falling back to launch myself over a fourth captor. The door was inches away. In a final effort, I reached out for the handle. But it was locked.
A cruel laugh echoed. “Did you really think we’d be so stupid as to leave the door unlocked?” the speaker asked, having remained unmoved from his position in the middle of the room. The other men got up and began to advance. I began to panic. This was the end. I had tried and failed.
I had almost given up all hope when, suddenly, the most fantastic sound reached my ears, a small click.
The door opened to reveal a nervous looking young man. “Tea is served – ” he began, before he realised what was going on.
Before anyone else could recover, I flung open the door, pushed the young man aside and sprinted once more down the hall. Angry shouts came from the room behind me, but I ignored them. I knew my way well around this castle. I reached the stairs and practically fell down them, my ears straining for the sound of pursuers. I made it to the landing and leapt, shoulder first, for the window. The fragile glass broke around me as I fell. I felt it sting as the glass fragments made small cuts on my face and shoulder. I landed heavily after a few metres into a thick bush. Recovering quickly, I leapt out and ran across the field. If I could get to the river, I would be safe. From there I could make my way to the refugee town in Makinan. And there I could meet up with the others. I smiled at the thought. The League were wrong. They weren’t as unstoppable as they thought. There was still hope for the world.

Chapter 1

Toph yawned as she lay on the cushioned chair, one foot firmly on the ground. It had been a long day. She had travelled all the way from Ba Sing Se where she had been living since they had defeated Fire Lord Ozai and saved the world from living in a fiery hell under the Phoenix King. Since that day, she had gone back to her parents’ home, in the hopes of being reunited with them, after running away with the avatar. To her surprise, they had both welcomed her back with loving arms and with new-found respect for their blind daughter. But who wouldn’t after she had helped save the world? Three years had passed and everyone had changed so much. And now they were all back together again.

Toph yawned again. It was so warm here in the Fire Lord’s palace that she just wanted to fall asleep. Instead, she took a “look” around at her companions. Sokka was also lounging on one of the long chairs, barely paying attention to what was going on. He had grown much taller in three years, towering over them all. Other than that, he hadn’t really changed much. He still had his water tribe clothes, as was mentioned in a remark from Iroh before, and was still with Suki.
The Kyoshi warrior was currently laying on her boyfriend, her head resting on his chest. They had been living on Kyoshi Island for the past three years and had become inseparable. Suki had grown too, into a confident and caring young woman. Toph had heard Sokka describe her as a “beautiful rose, sitting next to a fresh pickled herring”, although this wasn’t odd, as Sokka referred to food almost all the time.  

Next to them was Aang, who, aside from herself, had probably changed the most. The bold monk was much taller, at the age of 15, and more mature and sensible, although he still loved to have fun. Three years as the Avatar had taught Aang a lot. But he was still a kid-at-heart. Taller and more muscled that he was, Aang sat leisurely with Momo on his shoulder and his arm over Katara’s shoulders. Katara had also changed a lot. She was still taller than Aang, and had also grown wiser. But Toph could tell something was troubling her. She made a mental note to ask about it later.

This was the first time they had all met in a year. After they defeated the fire nation they had all vowed to remain close friends, getting together regularly, even though they all lived so far apart for each other. But it had gotten harder over time to catch up. By the second year, they only had time for birthdays and the odd meeting, and last year, only Aang had been to see them all. But now they were all back together again, in-time for Zuko’s 19th birthday.

But the Fire Lord was missing, currently in a meeting with his generals. And so there they all were, laying about in his outside lounge, being waited on by servants.

Thinking of change once more, Toph recalled the aspect of herself which had changed. For one, she was also taller, but still the shortest of the group. But she didn’t care about that. She was still tougher than all of them.
And after getting sick of cutting her hair all the time, she simply let is grow, but tying it back in a rough bun to keep it from brushing her face and distracting her when she was bending, much to her mothers’ protests. Speaking of her mother, she had felt to awkward to approach her with some things, and had to turn to Katara and Suki at times, especially when it came to extra undergarments and new clothes, especially shirts. But she knew she was still pretty much the same; tough, blunt and able to tell a lie a mile away. She felt she was static and unchanging, just like earth, despite Aang’s protests that Earth wasn’t static and was changing all the time. But then, what did Aang know? Sure he was the Avatar, but he was still an optimistic monk.

Suddenly, she felt footsteps from far away, heading in their direction. It was Lord Hot-Head himself, Zuko.
“Zuko’s coming.” she the told the others.
And moments later, Fire Lord Zuko stepped into the sun lounge and collapsed on an empty chair.
“Hey, it’s the Fire Lord himself.” Sokka remarked.
Everyone looked up and greeted their host.
“Sorry I wasn’t there to greet you all. That meeting went longer than I expected.” he apologised.
“That’s OK Zuko, we understand. You must be so busy now, negotiating with the earth kingdom over trade routes.” Katara replied.
“Yeah, you’d think it would be simple, but every time I suggest a route, it turns out to be right through an impenetrable forest, or a river, or farm land. We really need to update our maps before we continue.” Zuko complained.
“Well, forget about that now. It’s your birthday next week. You should be excited.” Suki added.
Zuko smiled. It was great they could all be there for his birthday. Unlike last year when Katara and Aang were busy dealing with an oil spill in the South Pole. Apparently, one of his Fire nation ships had hit an iceberg while delivering oil to the water tribes for the new heating systems, the ones the fire nation had given plans to as part of their huge apology for invading them. It didn’t make up for the years of murder or strife, but it was a start. But now they were all together again.

“So, Zuko, what’s first? Are we having a big party?” Aang asked.
“Yeah, there’s going to be a huge party next week on my actual birthday, and it’s been made a public holiday for the kingdom, with street parties and other festivities for the people. I felt that since everyone’s been working so hard, they deserve a break.” Zuko replied.

“Awesome, I love a party,” said Sokka, “Always such good food.”
Suki rolled her eyes. It was always about the food.

“But until then, it’s just us, hanging out like old times I guess. We can do whatever. I’ve postponed the rest of my meetings until after my birthday, so I get to spend all my time with you guys.”

“Oh joy.” Toph said sarcastically.
The group laughed. Even Zuko smiled. It was just like old times.

“Hey, I heard that a new beauty spa opened a few weeks ago in the city,” Suki interrupted, “You wanna go check it out Katara? Toph?”

“Sure, I’d love a massage.” replied Katara.

Toph groaned. “Do I have to?”

“Yes. It’ll be an all girls day. Is that alright with you guys?” Katara asked.

“Sure” was the general response.

“I can have someone accompany you there, if you want. I hear it’s kinda of hard to find.” Offered Zuko.

“Sure, that would be great.” Katara replied. This was going to be so fun.