Wendy's First Big Job

It has been a couple of days since Wendy and Carla had officially become a part of Fairy Tail and even got their guild emblems too, Wendy's was sky blue and was placed on her right shoulder where her Cait Shelter guild mark used to be, while Carla's was on her back in pink.
The two of them had been welcomed with huge open arms and had met everyone within the guild. Since then they have been doing very small jobs that didn't really earn them much.
Wendy who dressed in an orange dress, while her hair was tied in cute pigtails was looking for another job she could take, while Carla stood beside her. "Welcome back." They both heard Mira say. "Already searching for your next job? You've pretty much gotten used to the work here, Wendy." Mira happily said.
"You say that, but she's only taken simple jobs located here in the city!" Carla said, offering a differing opinion.
"Hey, Carla!" Wendy said taking slight offense to that.
Behind Mira, Aang, Gray, Natsu, and Katara had met with them. "Then why don't we change that, why don't you take one of the bigger jobs today?" Aang suggested.
"Yeah, like a request from a distant town," Gray said.
"You get to travel a lot which can be really fun." Katara added.
Wendy started to get excited by the prospect of her doing the bigger jobs. "I want to be able to do big jobs soon, and be of help to everyone!"
Many of the other guild members expressed their delight in seeing Wendy take the bigger jobs just to help anyone she can. Cana expressed this while sitting with Toph and Lucy. "Seeing her so brave, it only reminds me how young, idealistic, and full of heart she is."
Wendy heard the compliment and she was flattered. "I'll do my best."
Toph shrugs her shoulder. "Well I think Lucy can take a page from her book, Happy know's what I'm talking about right?"
"Aye!" Happy agreed.
Unsurprisingly, Lucy took offense to Toph's thinly veiled insult. "Are you trying to say I'm not helpful, or I've got no heart?"
Toph pretended to be deep in thought. "Wow. Tough question…"
Lucy became furious and had flames around her while she yelled at the young earthbender. "NO, IT'S NOT YOU LITTLE BRAT!" Lucy calmed down and was posing with sparkles around her. "I'm helpful by inspiring others with my inner and outer beauty."
Toph snickered at that comment. "Actually, you know what? You are helpful. You're helping me laugh by saying crap like that!" Toph broke into a laugh which forced a chuckle from Cana. Lucy has steam shooting out from her nose.
"YOU'RE SO RUDE!" Lucy began to chase Toph all over the guild while flinging her whip at her.
Reedus decided to chime in. "I think the other members who come back, will be surprised there's such a little girl here."
"Oh like Gildarts?"
"Gildarts?" Katara questioned. "I don't think we've seen someone by that name, have we?"
"No, not that I can remember?" Aang replied. "Who is he by the way?" he asked looking at Natsu and Gray.
"He's one of the strongest in the guild, but we haven't heard a peep about him, as usual." Gray said. "How long has it been since he left on that job again?"
"Three years… I think?" Natsu said
Aang and Katara gasped. "Three years!?"
"Must be one tough job if he's gone for that long?" Aang said.
"There's no need to worry." Max said, sitting at a table close to them. "Gildarts isn't like the rest of us, you know? He's in a completely different league when compared to us."
Cana had heard this conversation and she let out a sigh.
Mira was returning to Wendy with a job in hand. "Now that you mention it, I have a perfect job for you." Wendy turned to her in excitement. "It says they're searching for a wizard that can heal the spirit…" since the best of Wendy's abilities was healing, the job excited her even more. "The reward is only so-so, but don't you think it's perfect?"
They all looked at the job as Wendy held the paper in her hands. "So where is it?" Katara asked.
"Let's see here… The town of Onibas?" Gray read.
"Onibas… haven't we been there before?" Aang asked.
Wendy read the words that were at the very top of the request. "Let's see 'Thank you very much'?"
Instantly after hearing Wendy say that. Natsu, Aang, Gray, and Katara had turned white and froze on the spot. Lucy had even stopped chasing Toph as they both froze as well.
"D-did I hear that right?" Toph said seemingly shaking in fear.
"So that's where this is going?" Lucy asked. A fearful expression was plastered on her face.
Natsu screamed as he quickly remembered. "AAH! I remember! It's all coming back to me now!"
"Don't tell me it's him again?" Aang asked while shivering as well.
Wendy began to read the job description. "The play's actors have all run away, and the performances have been a series of failures…" Happy had walked onto the scene as she was reading it. "My spirit and body are completely worn out. Please make me feel better! Thank you very much, Rabian."
Gray was getting slightly frustrated while Aang was pacing around them. Katara was sweating profusely.
Happy overheard the name, but it didn't ring any bells. "Rabian? Who's that again?" Happy asked.
"He's the head of that Scheherazade drama troupe!" Gray angrily said.
Lucy slid in while Toph walked behind her. "Remember the play we put on before?"
Happy quickly remembered. "AAH Frederick and Yanderica!" He exclaimed.
"Wendy… there's a reason all the actors ran away." Katara said. "He's an absolute slave driver!" she said.
"And the worst part, it didn't even pay well and we suffered for days!" Toph added.
"I think I'd rather fight the Oracion Seis again." Aang said.
Sokka then added his words while sitting at a distant table. "I don't know what you guys are complaining about? It wasn't that bad."
"Only because you help him boss us around, Sokka!" Katara hotly yelled.
"I'm also against it!" Carla said. "You don't have to do that kind of job… Plus, I have a bad feeling about this."
"Your intuition is usually right, Carla, but if I can be of help…" Wendy said.
Carla had put her paws on her hips. "You're good-natured to a fault! Anyway, you can't handle going to a town you've never been to and taking on a big job like this." She said, slightly leering at Wendy.
"That's not true!" Wendy then turned to Carla with a serious expression. "I'm going to answer this request, you'll see!"
"Fine then, suit yourself!" Carla looked away from her. "I'm not coming with you."
Lucy got in between them. "Hey, hold it. Why are you two fighting?"
"You could try being a little supportive Carla." Aang suggested.
"I know Wendy better than anyone if I say she's not ready for this job. Then she isn't ready." Carla said while sounding irritated.
Toph stepped in front of Carla. "She won't be ready if you keep babying her, Mommy-Cat."
"Humph!" Carla turned away from all of them.
"I don't care what you say. I will take on this job!" Wendy exclaimed.
"Wait a minute." Mira said. "You're not planning on going alone, are you?" She asked.
Wendy sweetly nodded. "Yeah. It'll be a good experience."
"Hold up there!" they all saw Makarov standing on the bar and Wendy turned around. "Wendy, you've only just gotten used to how we do things here. I can't let you go on some far-off request alone!" he then took a big swig of the drink he was gulping from the wooden mug. He looked around the guild. "Who's been there before?" he looked around. "Let's see… Happy!"
"Uh… me?" the blue cat asked.
Makarov nodded. "And… hmm… who else?"
"I'll go." They heard this declaration coming from Zuko, who stood behind them. His ever-present scowl on his face and everyone seemed shocked by this.
"Well, you're free today, Zuko. I'll allow it." Makarov said.
Happy screamed as he realized it would be him alone on a job with Wendy and Zuko.
----Meanwhile at the Fire Nation's training grounds, many of the Fire Benders there were practicing basic fire bending moves, and watching them with a close eye was General Jiahou. He watched with a sharp eye for anyone who slipped up, anyone whose movements were an inch out of place. The training fire benders didn't have armor and were dressed in their regular red themed clothes.
"You." He spotted a middle-aged fire bender and flicked a flame at him, startling the others, forcing them to stop. "What did you do wrong?"
"U-um… I um… my foot was out of place with that last kick?" he asked.
"Are you asking, or are you telling?"
"Uh… t-telling!" he fearfully exclaimed.
Jiahao walked up to the firebender. "You see, whether you are on the offensive or defensive… you must always remain balanced because at any moment…" he pushed the person's chest and he placed his leg behind him making him trip and fall onto his back. "See that, with your balance, even a child could trip you. Now get up!" the person rose up to his feet.
"There you are!" he heard Azula's voice she was walking to him.
"Ah, Fire Lord Azula…" Jiahao noticed that no one had actually done anything when she arrived. "Are you people blind, your Fire Lord is standing right in front of you!"
Suddenly the panicked firebenders had nervously bowed. "Greeting's Fire Lord Azula!" they all chanted.
"Can I speak with you?" Azula asked while sending a hateful glare Jiahou's way.
"Dismissed." The general said, letting go of his class of firebenders. "So what can I do for you, Fire Lord?"
"Cut the crap! I thought we were supposed to be looking for the Avatar, I haven't heard from you in two days! I was waiting for you by myself, it was embarrassing!"
Jiahou laughed. "My apologies, but our Phoenix King contacted me late so I could plan his next take over for the Earth Kingdom. But don't worry; we shall be leaving when we are good and ready. We aren't just going to take a small army with us. We will be taking an invasion force."
"An invasion force? Why?" Azula asked.
"Meet me at the secret chambers late this evening. I want to show you something."
----Hours later, ahead of taking her first big job, Wendy stood in front of the Fairy Tail gates with Zuko and Happy standing behind her. She had changed her clothes and wore a pink dress with her hair let down with blue shorts.
Makarov, Aang, Natsu, Gray, Katara, Cana and Lucy were seeing them off.
Happy though felt awkward as he wasn't sure how Wendy and Zuko would get along, and he was nervous to also be a part of it.
"Okay, I'm heading out now!" Wendy said.
Carla who had joined the others only glared at her.
"Careful out there you two." Katara said.
"Zuko, make sure to protect Wendy, got it?" Cana said.
"Of course, you have my word she'll come back safe and sound," Zuko said.
"Don't do anything, unless needed. This is for Wendy's first job, after all." Makarov said.
"Aye, sir…" Happy said in a moan.
"I'll keep everything in order. I'm not like Natsu and Gray." Zuko commented.
"WHAT!?" both of them exclaimed in the slight offense to Zuko's words.
Carla continued to give Wendy the cold shoulder by turning away from her. Wendy did the same and she led Zuko and Happy through Magnolia.
"I am a bit worried about her," Lucy said.
"It's going to be fine, Zuko may be intense at times, but he'll keep Wendy safe. I'm sure of it." Katara said.
Carla then worriedly looked on when Wendy was out of earshot.
…
The three arrived at the train station, however, there was a problem they ran into almost as soon as they got there.
"The train to Onibas is not running due to a breakdown!" a train conductor said through a megaphone. "Let me repeat: The train to Onibas is not running!"
"Huh, guess that's some rotten luck." Zuko said. "Well Wendy, it's your job, what do you want to do?"
Happy immediately comes up with an idea. "I can fly, see…" he exclaimed hovering above the ground with his wings. How about I fly you there?"
Zuko though looked to have a better idea. "We could go back and get Appa. I'm sure Aang won't mind."
Wendy shook her head. "No… I want to do this job as much as I can myself." She looked ahead with a serious expression. "So… I'm thinking I'm going to walk to Onibas Town."
Happy screamed and he had a shocked look on her face. "That's gonna take a really long time to get there on foot! Talk some sense into her Zuko!" Happy complained.
"Wendy's the one leading this mission. If she says we're walking, then we're walking." Happy fell to the ground and looked to have fainted. "This is your job after all Wendy, so you're making the rules," Zuko said slightly smiling at her.
"Thank you very much, Zuko!" Wendy happily exclaimed.
"He's so thick headed…" Happy said.
…
The three had gotten out of the city and were looking at the wide expanse of forests and mountains that stood between them and Onibas Town.
"We're really gonna walk that far?" Happy complained.
"I don't why you're complaining, you have wings don't you. You won't be walking at all." Zuko pointed out.
An anger tick appeared on Happy's face before he glared at Zuko. "It doesn't matter much one way or the other!"
"I've seen you carry Natsu plenty of time, a long walk shouldn't scare you."
"Yeah sure but… it will be much worse than carrying Lucy…"
"I don't think you should talk about Lucy like that…" Wendy said. "Let's go. If we don't hurry, the sun will set.
----Back at the guild, Lucy had sneezed for some reason and she was rubbing her nose. "You alright, Lucy?" Katara asked.
"Yeah… it's just…" she had a dark expression on her face. "I am filled with the urge to throttle a certain blue cat." Katara chuckled at Lucy's words. They then saw Erza walking up to them.
"Hey, Erza." Katara greeted.
"Greetings." She said to both Lucy and Katara. She noticed Carla sitting by them and she was staring over the bar counter. "Where is Wendy?"
"She took a job in Onibas Town from that Rabian guy." Lucy said.
"Ugh, I still think that was a bad job!"
Erza then glared at the two girls. "WHAT?! There's another request from that drama troupe?" she exclaimed.
"Yeah… Katara and I wanted to go with her but the master stopped us…" Lucy said.
"But she's got Zuko with her, so I doubt that she'll get into any big trouble with him around."
Before Katara could properly finish her sentence, Erza had started doing her vocal exercises. "Why are you doing vocal exercises?" Lucy asked.
"Always be prepared, I say."
"I'm afraid to even ask, but be prepared for what?" Katara asked.
Just a second later, a large wagon was in front of Erza with a whole mess of suitcases that are filled with costumes and other various props and items. "I understand what the master is saying… But I can't help but worry about Wendy and Zuko. So I will go after them."
"Didn't take her long to get ready…" Lucy muttered to Katara.
"Is it just me, or is that more luggage than what she usually takes?" Katara asked. "Wait… are those the costumes for when we last went to that place?"
"Yes, I took it instead of my reward. During the sad times, and even the good times, when I look at this wardrobe and these props, I feel better for some reason. Sometimes I put on the costumes, and put on the play again, all by myself!"
"Uh… are you sure you aren't just a little obsessed, Erza?" Katara asked putting Erza's sanity into question.
Mira ran to them to alert them of bad news. "This isn't good. I heard that the train to Onibas isn't running!"
"I knew it! We should have gone with her." Erza said in a serious tone. "Katara, Lucy?"
"Right, we'll come with you." Lucy said. She turned to Carla who was sitting by herself. "What about you, Carla?"
"What a pain she is." She said. "She told me I didn't have to come, so I should just let her be!" However, in direct contradiction to her words, she was walking through Magnolia behind Lucy and Katara with Erza taking the lead while she was hauling her props on her wagon, all while the scarlet-haired mage was doing her vocal exercises. "I mean, why did she take that job in Onibas, to begin with? It's not like there's any benefit to going far off. Honestly, this is such a waste of time. Total waste of effort." The white cat continued her rant while Erza continued marching forward with stars in her eyes, Lucy and Katara meanwhile were wondering, just what they had gotten themselves into. "This isn't just inefficient, it's ludicrous!"
"…she says while coming with us," Lucy muttered.
"Maybe I should stay behind for this one," Katara said.
Lucy tightly gripped Katara's hand. "Oh no, you are not leaving me with these two. I can't be the only normal person on this trip!"
"Knowing Wendy, she's probably not using the he-cat or Zuko's powers, but walking there. This is going to be a long trip." Carla said.
"You're telling me." Katara groaned.
"I'm more worried about us four than them…"
…
Meanwhile, Wendy, Zuko, and Happy were walking through the long forest that was one of the obstacles that stood between them and Onibas Town. "I'm sorry for bringing you into this." Wendy apologized, to both Zuko and Happy.
"Don't worry about it, I don't mind the exercise." Zuko replied.
"I hate exercise." Happy complained while he hung in the air with his wings extended, his ears were drooped and he was sweating. "I'm tired can we rest soon?"
"Still on first glance, I wouldn't have been able to tell that you were a Dragon Slayer," Zuko said. "But they seem to be pretty powerful judging on Natsu and Gajeel's strengths."
Wendy blushed slightly. "B-but… I'm not at their level yet…"
"You'll get there, I'm confident you will. By the way, what was your dragon like?"
"Grandeeny? She was very nice, and she cared about me a lot. I really looked up to her."
"Hey, I remember that Aang told me that their world had dragons too!" Happy said.
Wendy was shocked but amazed that that was even possible. "Really?"
"Well, he's sort of right. We did have dragons."
"He's speaking in past tense, what do you mean did have dragons?" Happy asked.
"Yes Zuko, please tell us. What happened?"
Zuko let out a sigh before he continued. "My great-grandfather Sozin happened."
"Sozin?" Wendy repeated.
"He was a Fire Lord before my father. There was a time when Firebenders had hunted dragons for glory. If you killed one, you were seen as the ultimate Firebender. So technically you could call them dragon slayers. My uncle Iroh even killed one himself."
"Huh?! The old marshmallow killed a dragon?!" Happy exclaimed.
"That's right, as far as I know. There are only two dragons left. They have been in hiding to make the Fire Nation believe that the dragons really were wiped out."
"That's terrible. I can't believe they would treat dragons like that." Wendy said, she suddenly looked up and turned back to Zuko and Happy. "We should hurry it feels like it will rain soon," Wendy said, causing Zuko to look up into the sky. He did see the occasional cloud but nothing to indicate a storm was on the way.
"How can you tell?"
"I can sense the air currents." She briefly explained. "It's part of my abilities."
"No way… With it this sunny out?" Happy said, feeling confident that Wendy was wrong about her weather prediction.
However not two seconds later, storm clouds had quickly covered the sky, and rain had started pouring down on the three of them afterward. Much to the chagrin of Happy,
"What's wrong with this weather?!" he comically yelled.
The three of them started running and they were covering their heads with their hands in a futile effort to shield themselves from the rain.
"Quickly, we have to find shelter!" Wendy exclaimed.
…
It wasn't very long before they had found a cave to hide themselves in. Zuko had managed to rip apart some branches and tree bark in order to get a small fire started. Had he not offered it was likely that they would have just sat in the cave with no warmth given that Wendy wanted to do the job by herself and much as possible and Zuko didn't want to take that from her.
The three were sitting close by the fire, each of them were warming their hands.
"Ah… that's much better…" Happy said while sounding very relaxed.
"I hope this is warm enough for you Wendy." Zuko said.
"It's fine, Zuko. Don't worry about it." She had then looked at Zuko's scar, she had always wondered where he had gotten it from, but she was afraid to ask.
"What is it, is there something on my face?" he asked after he caught her staring.
"N-no… I… Um, I wanted to ask… how did you get that scar?" Zuko looked away slightly. "B-but you don't have to tell me if you don't want to!" she said with a panicked tone, she was waving her arms in front of her.
"No that's okay. If you want to know then I'll tell you." Both she and Happy started to listen in. "My uncle had allowed me to be in a war council meeting led by my father and a couple of his generals. He told me not to speak, and in hindsight, I probably should have listened. But I couldn't. A general wanted to sacrifice an entire division of new recruits, all to use them as a diversion. I spoke out against that plan because it was wrong. But my father didn't see it that way."
"You were right to speak out, who would ever go with a plan like that!?" Happy exclaimed.
"My father would have gladly gone with that plan if it brought the right results. Anyway, it wasn't my place to speak out, so I had to face the general in an Agni Kai."
"Agni Kai?" Happy and Wendy questioned.
"It's a dual between fire benders. So I prepared to face the general as punishment for speaking out. But it wasn't him I ended up facing. I faced against… my father."
Both Wendy and Happy gasped.
"But why?" Wendy asked.
"My father felt insulted that I spoke out of turn, he was insulted that I did this in his war room."
"So what did you do?" Happy asked.
"I didn't fight him. I couldn't fight him, instead, I begged for my father's forgiveness. But as you can tell, he didn't spare me. He saw this as me being a disrespectful coward. He even said that 'You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher.' And so he attacked and burned me." Happy's mouth was agape and Wendy had loudly gasped while covering her mouth. "After that, I lost my birthright and was banished from the Fire Nation."
"I-I can't believe your own father did that to you." Happy said. Wendy had no words to respond to Zuko, but there was something she wanted to do to help.
"I can heal it." She offered.
"Oh, just like you healed the poison from Erza." Happy said.
Zuko wasn't sure if he should let her, but he saw that Wendy really wanted to help him. Plus he didn't have a reason to object to her. "Sure."
Zuko closed his eyes and Wendy stretched her right hand and she gently put her hand on Zuko's scar. The underside of her hand shone sky blue and she attempted to heal his scar. Zuko could feel the healing energy going into his body. Wendy gave a slightly tired sigh, and when she released her hand, she saw that his scar still remained on his face.
"I-I didn't work…" Wendy said, sounding upset.
Zuko gently put his hand on her head and smiled. "It's okay, the scar was one of the things that eventually put me on the right path."
Wendy smiled back as Zuko's words managed to cheer her up.
"Why didn't your family help you, when your father attacked you?" Happy asked.
"My uncle was a general, so he had little say, and my mother was banished." Zuko explained.
"What about your sister?"
"You have a sister?" Wendy asked, sounding surprised.
Zuko nodded. "Yeah, but… she's someone you don't want to meet. She's cruel and dangerous, she's nearly killed Aang at some point." He chuckled slightly. "My family seems to be pretty messed up huh?"
"Well… you're the nicest firebender I've met." Wendy said.
"He and Iroh are the only firebenders you've ever met." Happy comically pointed out.
"It doesn't matter; it's sweet of you Wendy."
Wendy blushed. "T-thank you Zuko."
"Zuko can be pretty scary sometimes, but he really does have a nice side to him." Happy happily thought.
----Elsewhere in the same location, around a rocky area, the rain was pelting down hard. Lucy's spirit, Horologium stood with Lucy, Katara, Erza, and Carla cramped inside him. Erza's wagon was outside in the rain.
"Why do I have to be stuck in this cramped space? ...she says." Horologium said for Carla, her cheek and paws were pressed against the glass.
"We don't have any other place to get out of the rain, that's why! …she says." He spoke for Lucy who was similarly right up into the glass, just like Carla.
"Ah… I'm worried about the costumes and props getting wet… she says…" he said speaking for Erza who had a sad expression as she was right at the back with Katara.
"Jeez, at least you're not out in the rain! You could have at least taken off your armor, your shoulder plates are poking me! …she says." He said speaking for Katara.
----Back at the guild, Natsu and Aang had arrived and were surprised by what the rest of the guild had told them. "WHAT!? Lucy, Erza and Katara went after them?" Natsu exclaimed.
They were both sitting with Cana, Max, Reedus, and Iroh. 
"That's right." Reedus said.
"They couldn't stand waiting for them to come back, so they went after Wendy and Zuko." Iroh said, holding a wooden cup of tea.
"By the way, where were you two?" Cana asked.
Aang chuckled. "Natsu was sleeping and I had to feed Appa this morning."
Natsu was covered in a fiery red aura. "Righto! I get the picture, and I can't stand it either!" He then stood up. "I'm going after them!"
"Wait!" Aang yelled. "I heard the trains aren't running today, how do you plan on getting there?"
"Uh…"
…
A loud, low roar was heard in the skies up above Magnolia. Aang and Natsu were on top of Appa and the bison was flying them through the air with Aang holding the reins while Natsu was holding Momo. "Haha, I'm super glad we didn't have to take the train!"
"Well, it shouldn't take us too long to get to Onibas this way. Though I'm surprised Zuko didn't ask to borrow him for the day."
"Does it matter; we don't get to take the train!" Natsu exclaimed. "Hahaha!"
"How come he doesn't get sick on Appa… he really needs to get his motion sickness checked out." Aang thought.
----Deep within one of the many secret chambers of the Royal Palace Jiahou led Azula through the dimly lit caverns. "It's the middle of the night, why have you led me down here?" Azula asked.
"As I said, I need to show you something. It is actually very important for our current mission." Jiahao said.
"What could you possibly show me down here? I've explored these chambers when I was a child. There isn't anything here that will surprise me." Jiahou walked into one of the rooms and it looked empty. "There is nothing in here."
"That's what I want you to think." Jiahou walked to a stone wall and he felt one of the walls and he pulled out a piece of stone and behind it was a hidden compartment. Inside it was a book that looked very old and beat up. Jiahou pulled the out the book.
Azula didn't look impressed. "If you dragged me down here just to show me a book, then I'm a leaving."
"Impatient much, Fire Lord, this is a journal of a peasant who was alive during the peasant uprising in Ba Sing Se nearly 400 years ago. Around the time Avatar Kyoshi was alive."
"I assume you're going to make your point soon."
Jiahao handed the book to Azula and he turned the page to what he wanted to see. "You see, during the peasant uprising, the poverty-stricken citizens decided to storm the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se because the Earth King at the time didn't represent their interests."
"Wait a minute!?" Azula exclaimed as she read the journal. "The peasants were led by a little girl!?"
"Yes, I believe her name was Mavis if I remember. Apparently, she was an expert tactician despite her age. Thanks to this, the then Earth King wasn't able to handle the revolt, so he turned to Avatar Kyoshi for help and asked her to squash the revolution, but she refused. Eventually, Kyoshi, the Earth King, and Mavis met up to discuss the terms for the future of Ba Sing Se. The Earth King would listen to his people's grievances, if Kyoshi promised to protect his interests and the heritage of the city, and if Mavis would assist her. The agreed to this and the uprising ended. Avatar Kyoshi would go on to create the Dai Li and both Kyoshi and Mavis would help in their training."
Azula closed the journal, preferring to let Jiahou tell her the details. "Right, so what do we need to know about this Mavis person?"
"Not about Mavis specifically, but she did talk to the peasants about the world she came from. Apparently, it is called Earthland."
"Earthland?"
"She even talked about something called magic, she said it was like bending, but Magic could do a lot more."
"Seriously? So that is where the Avatar had run off to."
"That's right, and if this 'magic' they use in that world is real. Then we will have some trouble if we go there with a small attack force. There is no doubt that Avatar would have found some magical allies which means if we go there unprepared. We'll lose… maybe even embarrassingly. So we need to bring a much bigger invasion force and overwhelm them. I've been making preparations. I just brought you here to show you what's going to happen."
"And if the Avatar doesn't have allies?"
"Then we'll threaten to burn a town or two until the Avatar decides to show himself and come quietly."
Azula smirked. "I like your plan, very ruthless."
"That's the idea, and when all this is over. We would have killed the Avatar or brought him back here in chains."
----The rain had stopped and the day was almost over. The sun was setting over the horizon, blanketing the area in a brilliant orange. Wendy, Zuko, and Happy were looking over at the view from above the forest and saw they still had a long way to go.
"I'm sure glad the rain let up." Happy said.
"But it's getting dark." Wendy realized. "Looks like we're going to have to camp out tonight."
"We've still got the cave, so we can stay there," Zuko said. Wendy's stomach then let out a very small rumble. "But we've got to do something about food. We'll pass out before we get to Onibas if we don't eat anything." He oddly saw a school of blue fish with wings flying overhead. "I think I have an idea for food."
"Really?" Wendy excitedly asked.
"I knew Zuko wouldn't let us down." Zuko shot a flurry of flame daggers into the air. Bringing down a couple of winged fish, normally Happy would be elated to be eating fish but he looked like he was going to puke when he saw the fish falling to the ground. "Why winged fish!?" He exclaimed.
"Something wrong?" Zuko asked.
"Why? Can't we eat these?" Wendy asked while Zuko shot down more.
"You can but they're really gross. We tried them before, and paid the price…" Happy said
"Well, it's all we have." Zuko had used his fire to quickly cook one of them. He handed a large piece to Wendy. "Here."
"Thank you."
Both Wendy and Zuko had taken a bite out of the hastily cooked winged fish and their faces turned purple. Happy saw this and he shook his head. "I told you so…"
"Yeah… when Happy says a fish is gross, we should probably take his word for it." Zuko said chucking the fish away.
"I saw some nuts and berries somewhere, let's rather eat those." Wendy suggested.
"Yeah… good idea…"
…
Elsewhere, Carla, Lucy, Katara, and Erza were, unfortunately, eating the winged fish, and each of them had tears growing in their eyes from how repulsive they were. The fish were being cooked on sticks, close to a fire.
"Wasn't there anything else to eat?" Erza asked in a sad, annoyed tone.
"Don't you think if there was, we'd be eating it…" Katara said. "I can't stomach this…"
"Why didn't you bring food with all that stuff?" Lucy asked looking to Erza.
"The food wouldn't fit with my costumes."
"You prioritize costumes over food?" Carla asked with teary eyes as well. "What is wrong with you?!" she took another unfortunate bite. "See? This is why I didn't want to come!" she complained.
…
At another campfire, Natsu, Aang, Appa, and Momo were eating some fruit that Aang had packed before they left. Him being a vegetarian, he didn't want to have to rely on gathering food from an unfamiliar path. "Uh Natsu, are those fish up there flying?" Aang asked.
"Oh yeah, they are. And those fish taste terrible." Natsu said. "I feel sorry for the poor suckers who have to eat those." Appa had let out a very loud burp that echoed through the forest. "Haha, good one buddy!"
----When the sun rose the next day, Wendy, Zuko and Happy were traveling through a desert. "First the mountains and now the desert, how far is this place?" Happy tiredly complained.
"You're the only one who's complaining, here," Zuko said.
"I'm not surprised the heat isn't affecting you. It's probably because you live in a volcano or something." The cat joked. Wendy found a slight chuckle too.
Though Zuko rubbed the back of his head, "Well…"
Happy was shocked and his eyes grew wide. "HUH?! YOU LIVE IN AN ACTUAL VOLCANO?!"
"Sort of…" Zuko said. "My father's palace, the Fire Nation capital is built in an extinct volcano."
"I think you guys took the whole fire Nation thing too seriously…" Happy muttered.
…
Elsewhere in the desert the girls that followed Wendy, Happy and Zuko were trudging through the heat as well. "Seriously, we passed through all of this to get to Onibas Town?" Katara asked. "I hate deserts."
"That makes sense, you're a water bender." Lucy lightly joked. "But are we even going in the right direction?" Lucy asked.
"I'm sure this is the right way," Carla asked.
"You better, the last time I was in a desert, we were walking around for days…" Katara said.
Erza who was in front of them had stepped in loose sand and her foot was stuck. "Stay back!" Erza warned.
The loose sand gave way and Erza and her wagon had fallen into the ground. Katara was quick and she manipulated the water inside her water skin and she stretched her water whip down to catch Erza. It wrapped around her waist but then Katara felt herself getting pulled in because of how heavy Erza was. "I should have thought this through…"
…
Back with Wendy, Zuko, and Happy, Wendy stopped moving and she looked up at the sky. "What is it? It isn't going to rain again, is it?" Happy asked.
"No, a different storm is coming!" Wendy answered.
"Don't tell me… a sandstorm!" Zuko guessed. They saw a large, growing cyclone of sand moving closer to them. The cyclone had an angry face on it with red eyes.
"It's a cursed sandstorm! We have to hide somewhere!?" Happy exclaimed.
"This is a desert, Happy. Unless we can quickly bury ourselves, there is nowhere to hide. And even that wouldn't help against a sandstorm… or whatever that is!"
…
Katara was struggling to pull Erza from the quicksand she was stuck in. "Erza, I can't pull you out by myself, can't you move a little?"
"It's no use." Erza said. "I'm completely stuck…"
Katara looked back to Lucy and Carla. "A little help here, Erza isn't exactly a light as a feather you know!"
Lucy gasped as an idea had come to her mind. "I've got it." After a quick summoning, a doorbell sound was heard and Virgo had appeared beside them.
"Time for punishment, Princess?" Virgo asked.
"No time for that, we need you to save Erza!"
"As you wish." Virgo bowed and she dug herself into the sand. Erza could feel herself being lifted somewhat, then Virgo appeared behind her, trying to help her out of the sand. "It is no use. She is too heavy. I cannot move her at all."
"Are you kidding me!? No way Erza is that heavy!" Katara said.
"HOW RUDE!" Erza quickly snapped.
"This is bad, Virgo and Katara working together can't even get her out of there/" Lucy said sounding worried.
"Lucy!" Both she and Carla turned to see Wendy calling out to her. Zuko and Happy were behind her. "Huh? Carla and Katara, too?"
Carla then turned away from Wendy and pointed her nose up into the air.
"We were worried, so we came after you… but it looks like you're all fine."
"But we're not!" Katara yelled.
"What happened to Erza?" Zuko asked.
"Well, you see…" Lucy started as she tried to explain.
"She stepped in quicksand and we can't get her out," Katara said.
"That's not good, we came back here cause a sandstorm is coming this way," Zuko said.
They all heard a roar and they saw the angry colossal sandstorm. "EHHHHH!?" Katara and Lucy comically let out.
"Don't worry about me!" Erza said looking down. "Everyone, go!"
"That's crazy! We're not leaving you behind!" Zuko looked at Katara and Virgo. "Can't you pull her out?"
"We can't, she's heavy for some reason!" Katara replied.
"Speaking of which, her weight is odd… " Virgo said. "It is almost like a giant clump of metal…"
"Maybe Erza could be holding onto something very heavy?" Wendy guessed.
Erza embarrassingly looked down while she was sweating. "I'm still holding onto the play's props…" she said, holding onto the wagon that had all of her acting props on it with her right hand.
"What!?" Carla exclaimed.
"Well, yeah, that's heavy all right!" Lucy comically yelled.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" Katara yelled with annoyed fury. "This whole time, your damn props have been weighing you down!?"
"Without these, the show won't be able to go on." Erza replied.
"Oh for the love of…!" Zuko said while he face-palmed. "Erza, they're not worth your life! JUST LET IT GO ALREADY!"
"And there's scary Zuko again…" Happy muttered.
Erza was conflicted; she eventually made her choice with some pressure from her friends. "I'm sorry…" she comically cried. She conceded and she let go of the props and they feel deep into the desert sand. "Farewell, my memories…" she cried. There was a large explosion of sand which pushed Katara back. Virgo landed in front of the others while she lifted Erza. "They're gone! And a piece of my heart goes with them!" she dramatically cried, she stretched her hand down to where her props lay buried deep in the sand.
"Be glad you're alive to dig them up later!" Katara yelled after getting into Erza's face.
"Shall I punish her?" Virgo asked.
Because of Erza's delay, the cursed sandstorm was roaring above them. "There's no time to escape, the sandstorm had caught us." Happy said.
"We should have brought the bald kid with us," Carla said. "He'd probably just blow it away."
Hearing this, Wendy decided to run directly towards the cursed sandstorm. She knew that Aang would have probably blown it away, but he wasn't the only one who could. She didn't want the others to have to fight her battles for her, so she took the initiative and marched forward. "I have an idea."
"Wendy…" Carla said with concern, she reached her paw out to her partner.
"Sky Dragon's Roar!" Wendy's cheeks puffed and she blew a powerful cyclone of air right at the cursed sandstorm. The sandstorm with an angered facial expression looked like it was getting hurt by the attack but in actuality, Wendy's healing air was soothing the cursed sandstorm as it was getting dispersed by Wendy's air. The cursed sandstorm disappeared after it looked to have conceded defeat, and as it dispersed, it left pink hearts that fluttered in the wind as well.
"You beat it, all by your herself," Katara said, slightly shocked.
"You did it!" Happy cheered.
"Nice going, what I tell ya? You are a strong Dragon Slayer." Zuko said with a knowing smirk.
"Wendy… that was so cool!" Lucy complimented.
Wendy had blushed embarrassingly for all the kind comments she was receiving. Even Carla was impressed; a faint smile had formed while her arms were folded.
----They all arrived in Onibas Town together. Though upon arrival they saw Appa resting in town and Aang jumped off of him. "There you guys are!" Aang said as he gently landed on his feet. "I was wondering when you guys were going to get here.
Natsu jumped off as well and was patting Appa's side. "Glad we had this guy here, or we would have had to take… the train…" The top of Natsu's head was turning purple. "I'm getting sick just thinking about it!" Momo had the instinct to fly away from Natsu when he had the signs of getting sick.
"Aang, Natsu. Why are you two here?" Wendy asked.
"We wanted to make sure you got here okay… not that I don't trust Zuko, but considering the job, we wanted to make sure you were okay."
"Oh, thank you, Aang." Wendy thanked.
"Not that she would have needed our help," Zuko said. "Wendy is perfectly capable of taking care of herself." He said while smiling. "Now come on, let's get this job over with."
Aang then saw that Erza had wavy tears going down her face, she seemed to be muttering about how she had lost a piece of her heart and how she will never get it back. "Uh, what happened to Erza?"
"Nothing important." Zuko said. "Though…" he scratched the back of his head. "We may need you to dig up a wagon somewhere in the desert."
"What!? What exactly did you guys do?"
----They had gotten to the theatre and what surprised them was that there was a long line of people waiting to get inside. "What's going on?" Wendy asked as she led them all to outside the theatre.
The owner, Rabian had popped his head out from behind a tied curtain and looked at the number of people waiting outside to get in and he had a very happy expression on his face. "Hello! Thank you very much!" he said to the people waiting outside.
"Why is he so happy?" Happy asked.
"Well, it can't be good…" Katara muttered.
"I made up with my performers, so we can put on our play now!" Rabian happily said, narrating to no one in particular. "And there are plenty of customers! Thank you very much."
Lucy had slid up to Aang. "Did you do Wendy's job for her?"
"No, Natsu and I didn't come near here. We were waiting for you guys." He replied.
"Then… Why did we struggle so hard to get here, then?!" Lucy exclaimed.
Katara and Happy had fallen to the ground in exhaustion. "We walked through a desert for nothing…" Happy muttered. "We really should have taken Appa…" Happy tiredly said.
"Hold on? Why couldn't we take the flying bison to get here, we would have found them and we wouldn't have had to eat those disgusting winged fish!" Carla said.
"Because all of us with Erza's stuff would have been too heavy…" Lucy tiredly muttered.
"Rubbing salt in the wound…" Erza muttered in a sad tone while she was on her knees.
Rabian then turned to the Fairy Tail members with an irritated look on his face. "Hey, you! Lying down here is hurting my business!"
"His attitude totally changed!" Wendy said.
"Get rid of all of them!" he walked down to Wendy. "I was waiting two days for your guild to get here but no one showed up, you should just leave. And I'm not paying you!"
Wendy had squealed in fear. Then a ball of fire exploded in between them and Rabian fearfully back away. He had seen Zuko giving his signature, serious/angry look to him. "This was her first job, so back off!" Everyone was shocked and Zuko lifted him the tiny man by his suit. "Now you listen here, she's been through a lot, and getting here late was a mistake, but you will not talk to her like that! Got it?" he dropped Rabian on his butt and he sat up while looking at Zuko's eyes that looked like they had a fire in them.
Rabian was sweating rapidly and he scurried back into the building. "Fine, you win. Thank you very much!"
Everyone had given Zuko shocked looks. Happy could only mutter: "Scary Zuko is back…"
Wendy then looked down and Carla noticed. "What's wrong Wendy?"
"I came all the way here, and it turns out it was for nothing."
"It wasn't for nothing." Wendy had looked to her partner with surprise. "You didn't rely on others like you usually did, and you were a lot more useful than all of them."
"Really, you think so?"
"I know so. You did very well today." She said with a genuine smile.
Wendy smiled and let out a cute giggle. "Thank you, Carla."
"That's it!" Aang said, he walked up to Wendy with an idea in his head. "I know your first job didn't go so well. But I know something that might cheer you up."
----A few seconds later; Appa's roar is heard and holding the reins was Wendy while she sat on top of his head. "Wow… I never thought I'd ever fly Appa before." She happily said.
"Well today's your lucky day, plus Appa is really friendly," Aang said. Appa let out a groan. "Hehe, see. He says he likes you."
Wendy smiled and she laughed as she continued to fly Appa through the skies.
Erza who was sat next to Zuko was talking to him. "Zuko, why did you decide to go with Wendy for this job?"
"I just wanted to make sure that she was safe is all."
"You seem rather protective of her."
"Well, she's the closest to an Airbender in this world, and given that what my ancestors did, I kinda feel responsible."
"You shouldn't feel that way. I'm sure Aang doesn't think you're in any way responsible, and neither does Wendy. You have a kind and noble heart, Zuko."
"Thanks, Erza." Erza though was shaking slightly and she looked down as they were passing over the desert. "Jeez, will you stop worrying. We'll dig up your stuff tomorrow." Zuko said in an annoyed tone.
----Somewhere in the East Forest, an aurora had lit up a small part of the forest and it wasn't long before the Aurora opened up like a curtain, bending the space around it.
The first to walk out of the space-bending curtain was Azula, she curiously looked around, trying to spot any abnormalities. "Is this what the Spirit World looks like?" Azula asked. Following her out was General Jiahao and he was on top of a komodo rhino. Behind the pair of them were five fire bending soldiers.
"I think it would look a lot more abnormal, but if this is the supposed world of 'magic'. Then hopefully we are in the right place. We just have to confirm that the Avatar is here."
"How do we do that?" Azula asked.
"We look for some locals and ask them questions… Once we confirm his whereabouts, the rest of our army will join us in about six days. That should give us plenty of time to be able to find him. If he isn't here, then that six days will be the time it takes for us to find a way to get back home."
"Good, for now, we stick together. The last thing we want is to get lost here." Azula said. "When I find you Avatar, I'll make sure you don't slip from my grasp this time!"
However watching them from a distance was Porlyusica was watching them and she had her usual serious expression, as she stood close to a tree while holding a basket of plants and other herbal ingredients. "I don't like this… not at all." She said to herself.