Chapter Text
Suki gasped in pain. Her body weight dangling on the rope holding her wrists.
She could hear the creak of the rope fibers as it stressed to hold her up. She knew it would be enough to keep her up for a good while, but she couldn't stay there forever.
She dangled off a cliff with her mouth gagged and her hands and feet tied. She couldn't hope to help herself escape, and she was dangling too far down to see what was happening up on the edge.
She knew of Kahn-zula's plan, and the lack of control she had over the situation only made things that much worse. If only she could get free and warn the others. But she looked down and her eyes widened at how high she was off the ground.
She didn't know she was near hyperventilating until her gag was hot from her breath. She had to be really high up if those trees were the size of a silver peice.
What were they gonna do? How could they get out of this?
She tried to wiggle a little, get the rope off her ankles but that only served to freak her out when the rope holding her up decided to give a little. The jerk and the sudden motion bringing her just a little closer to the bottom of the cliff was enough to stop her from moving.
Oh God, the monster really knew what he was doing when he tied her up. The knots were really tight and they clung to her raw bleeding skin, allowing no wiggle room.
The stress from her weight was sure to tear a few muscles in her wrists, she would be damn near useless if she got out of this. She wouldn't be able to use her hands with so much muscle damage. Kahn-zula planned this out.
And she was scared he would win this time.
...
It was quiet.
Way too quiet.
The breaze from being this high up on the cliff was comfortable, but strong. They could hear it howling all around them as their hair whipped around them a bit. It was still the middle of the day, the brightness from the sun glared down on them. The heat was made almost comfortable only by the cool breaze that passed between them.
They each looked around, silent conversations passing between Aang and Zuko. Each trying to gouge the situation, search for any hint of where Kahn-zula and Suki were or if they were even in the right place.
"This has to be it." Sakka said reading the map where the bright red mark was located. "I've been reading maps since I was three. I know this is it." He looked around, the area looked as if it hadn't been touched by humans for a long time. And in the good way; it was peaceful and beautiful. The grass was soft and the rocks up ahead near the edge were accompanied by a beautiful healthy oak tree.
But that's all that was here.
"Hold on." Toph stopped and her face shot up, not looking at anything in particular but seeming to be trying really hard to.
Her eyes widened, "guys it's a tra- Katara look out!"
Katara had just enough time to turn around before she was tackled to the ground, she was quick to throw whoever it was off of her and she got into a fighting stance. Who ever it was, they knocked her hair loose, and it fell around her in dark brown waves.
It was another vampire, this one looking like they were in their thirties. They were bulky and had sideburns with hair that stuck up in spikes.
His eyes were black. And they all knew that meant only one thing.
Toph cried out when she too was tackled by something strong. It dove for her neck but she was just quick enough to shove a huge rock into it's face and throw it backwards.
It was another male, appearing a lot younger then the other vampire with a more youthful but simular appearance. They both wore firenation uniforms.
Toph and Katara were separated from the rest of the group and too far from each other to hope to help the other. Their hearts pounded out of their chests as they each carefully watched the vampires-who seemed to be newly born considering their comparable weekends from Zuko- as the black eyes watched them.
They stood there, empty eyes staying on the two female benders, not moving a muscle. Teeth clenched and growling like dogs.
"Hey." They all wipped their heads in the direction of a familiar male voice, who was standing at the edge of the cliff a little ways away from them.
Where did he come from?
His confident expression was enough to piss off the entire group, but they all noticed at the same time the rope that he held in his hand, it stretched out tight and hooked over the edge of the cliff on the opposite side.
"I spy with my little eye," the demon said, "someone about to die a horrible. Painful. Death." He looked at Sakka and smiled evily. It only took a second for Sakka to realise what that smile meant. What the rope was for and who was dangling on the end of it.
But in that second, Kahn-zula let go.
He heard a muffled female scream somewhere off the edge as the rope started getting farther and farther away. Sakka didn't know he was running until he felt himself dive for the rope.
He grabbed it, securing a tight grip, but it wasn't enough. Suki's body weight wouldn't be caught as easily as just grabbing the rope, and it started dragging the elder male along with it.
He grunted with the effort of kicking his feet out in front of him and pushing enough gravel to make him stop slipping towards the edge. If he fell, both he and Suki would die and they weren't ready for that.
Just as he thought they would both slip and fall off the edge, friction decided to work in their favor. Gravel and dirt fell of the edge, being pushed off with his over working feet. The pain in his hands from gripping such a terribly made rope stung, but he wouldn't let go. He panted, the realisation that he successfully saved himself and Suki from imediate danger only just sinking in as he stared at the rope in his cut hands.
The rest of the group wanted to help but they were preoccupied.
Kahn-zula ordered the two vampires, his control over the newborns stronger then iron. "I want the Avatar dead. Take out the benders and kill him."
Katara and Toph heard the orders, and knew that the vampires wouldn't rest until they fulfilled it. They both got ready, they could do this. They had protected Aang from a whole army of these things a lot younger and slightly stronger then these two newborns. They could handle two week ones...
Couldn't they?
They were undead. And far away from the fire ground.
How could they possibly take them out?
They didn't have time to think of a plan when they both simultaneously attacked them.
They grunted and panted with the effort of holding them back. Of keeping them far enough away to avoid any contact. They weren't sure that if the got close enough they could hope to keep up with close combat. Or even come close to matching their strength.
Kahn-zula stared at Aang, who avoided eye contact but knew that the demon was watching him. Zuko stepped in front of him, also avoiding eye contact, but unsure of what to do.
As much as he hated it, Kahn-zula was superior to him. He didn't know if he would win a fight with the creature.
No.
He would win. He had to win. For both his mate and the rest of the world. He would not lose this fight. He didn't know how he was going to kill the sprite, but he would figure it out before it was too late.
He looked at Kahn-zula, who stood at the edge of the cliff, and then looked at Aang, and then the rest of the group. If he took out Kahn-zula, everyone could walk out of this alive. If he didn't do anything...
Toph.
Suki.
Katara.
Sakka.
Aang...
They would all die today. In this hour.
It wasn't until Kahn-zula stepped forward that Zuko sprung into action. Imediatly running faster then he thought he could and tackling the suprised sprite off the cliff with an undeniable force and strength.
And they plummeted to the ground.
Zuko landed on top of the sprite, suffering only minimal damage as he acted purly out of rage. He didn't give Kahn-zula the time to react, instead just grabbing the immortal man's broken arm and ripping it the rest of the way off with an angry grunt.
His power was short lived as Kahn-zula threw him off with his only arm. Zuko growled as his back hit the wall of the cliff behind him.
He heard the crack of mending bones that weren't his just before a hand was on his throat. If he needed air, he would have been choking.
He didn't dare open his eyes. Knowing that the hypnotic red ones were probably right in front of him. The heartless demon was probably hoping to take control over him at some point in this fight.
He wouldn't let it happen.
"Open your damn eyes asshole." The monster growled.
"No!" Zuko spat quickly, his mind going foggy bit by bit. What was this? Why was he losing control over his mind? He wasn't looking Kahn-zula in the eyes, how was he doing that?
He was tempted to...
No Zuko, block him out.
He could hear Aang's panicked voice in his head. Zuko knew that he was currently occupied with trying to help Sakka pull Suki up, the girl too far down the cliff for him to use bending to help her just yet.
Zuko tried to block the sprite out. But he was strong and he felt himself slipping. It felt so familiar, like he's felt this kind of foggyness before.
It was just like the time he was handcuffed to the tree. He could feel his confidence slipping as he recalled how hard and painful it had been to resist the controller the last time. Is this what happened to him that night?
Suddenly it made sense, it wasn't just his thirst that had taken over that night, Kahn-zula had been forcibly hypnotising him.
Rage bubbled within him. He was the reason he hurt Aang that night. He would have been able to control the thirst if it wasn't for this asshole. He was the reason he almost killed the Avatar. He had reached inside of him and forcibly removed his own will power.
Just like he was trying to do now.
"What makes you think," Kahn-zula said lowly with an angry hiss threw his elongated teeth, "that you can keep your mate?" Thick black blood dripped from the amputated limb on his shoulder. The absence of his arm didn't seem to make him much weeker, didn't even seem to faze him as the limb started to slowly grow back.
Damn. It physically hurts to resist.
"If I couldn't protect my mate then neither can you!"
Zuko's eyes clenched, the fire like pain shooting down his spine. The familiar intensity of it shook him, but he wouldn't let himself fold.
What is his problem? Why does Kahn-zula had such a hatred towards Aang just because he was his mate? He would get it if the guy was mad about the Avatar being there to kill the army, but why didn't he mention that? Instead he bitches about him mating Aang.
As if he's lead completely by jellousy now.
"What makes you think you diserve one, when I don't?" The monster hissed out just before Zuko took control again. Shoving the sprite off of him, finally able to open his eyes.
The arm he tore off caught his attention, it lay there uselessly to his right.
It hadn't moved a muscle.
In fact there were no muscles.
The thing didn't even have skin.
It was almost completely ash and bone.
...
Aang was terrified.
He had faith in Zuko and his friends, but what they were facing now wasn't like anything they had ever faced. Even Aang being the avatar who has handled multiple spirits in the past barely has any experience handling vampires.
He was currently grunting with the effort of helping Sakka hoist Suki up from the edge of the cliff. She was still dangling a good 20 meters down, too far away to bend and too far down to be easy picking up.
Aang panted, his big grey eyes looking around behind him where the girls were still struggling to handle the two newborns. They were sweaty and also panting, but they had to keep fighting. Keep fighting until something happens. Until a ray of hope shines down on them. None of them had any idea how to stop this. Aang knew mere humans, benders or not, couldn't possibly defeat a vampire. He thought he felt panic before when he was running from the army, but sitting here on his knees watching as two of his best friends faught against two monsters they couldn't hope to handle for much longer... With another friend dangling helplessly off the edge of a very dangerous cliff... With no idea how to protect anyone...
He didn't know.
Suddenly, like a knife in his gut, Aang knew that something wasn't right.
More not right then the situation they were already in.
No. Something was wrong with Zuko. He knew it like he knew he didn't have hair on his head. It was a gut wrenching, heart stopping, mind dominating fact that something was definitely not right with Zuko.
"Aang look out!" He heard Katara yell.
Aang had no time to even start to comprehend what that gut feeling was before he was tackled to the ground.
Distantly, he heard Sakka yell out from the additional stress of holding the rope when Aang's helpful hands were ripped away. He was also aware of the terrified screams of the female waterbender as she quickly shoved the vampire off of Aang with a frantic and powerful burst of water.
Aang got up, panting in shock now, swiping his hands up and down his neck, checking for wounds. There were none. That was so lucky, that vampire nearly got him. He was so unprepared for the attack and had been pinned to the ground in the span of half a second.
His focus was on someone else though as he stood up ever so slowly.
Zuko stood just far enough away for Aang to see his eyes.
They were black.
And they were watching him.
Zuko looked beaten. His clothes torn apart, dirt, mud, some black liquid, and red blood was all over him. His mouth was opened as he panted threw his teeth like a bull getting ready to charge.
The sight of someone Aang cared for so much in such a state more then unnerved him.
He was more then a little scared now. Zuko was their only hope. If he's hypnotised, then all of their chances were slim.
"Zuko?" He asked hopefully. He knew now what that horrible feeling was. Zuko always had a certian... Feeling. Just like how Zuko had a smell, this feeling was almost physical. As if Zuko just left a signature on Aang's soul. He could always feel him there. Aang hasn't felt alone since Zuko first bit him and he woke up that day.
That feeling didn't feel right.
It felt tampered with.
There but not the same. It felt wrong. Foriegn.
The sound of his name on Aang's lips got the vampire moving. He charged at Aang with a monsterous speed. The sudden onslaught of thoughts running threw Zuko's head made his intentions clear.
Luckily Aang had a closely comparable speed to Zuko. And as soon as he saw Zuko charging towards him, Aang bolted in the other direction. He wasn't sure where he planned on going, as the only thing in the direction he was running was the end of the cliff they were currently on.
He just knew he had to run.
But it didn't matter it seemed.
Because he wasn't fast enough.
And he knew it as soon as he was shoved down face first into the dirt.
Aang hadn't realised that the terrified yelps were coming from his own lips as he was thrown down only to be flipped over on his back roughly and pinned. Both of his small wrists we're under the grip of one of Zuko's hands, being pressed uselessly into the dry dirt.
His other hand was around Aangs neck.
And then they froze.
The hand around his neck made everything so real. He was really here. He was really pinned underneath someone who was under someone else's control, someone who wanted the avatar dead. He was really lying here defenseless under Zuko. Arms and legs pinned and unable to bend his way out.
Zuko was so strong, he couldn't even wiggle.
But something was up. Zuko was twitching and staring down at him. The grip around his neck was tight and bruising but not nearly enough to kill him. Aang knew that Zuko could easily snap his neck like this with one good squeeze, and the thought terrified him to the point that tears welled up in his eyes.
Aang stared up at the unfamiliar blackness of his mates eyes, feeling like a trapped lamb under the massive paw of a lion. He could do nothing but breath heavily threw his mouth as he stared, vision blury from the wetness.
Zuko just stared right back, and Aang's anxiety kept rising. What was he doing? Trying to figure out how he wanted to kill him? Was he enjoying the frightful reaction? Was Kahn-zula watching threw his eyes in satisfaction?
"Kill him!" Aang heard that familiar retched voice of the sprite he has come to despise so much. He was fully prepared for Zuko to kill him right there with that order, but he didn't. And the fear was becoming too much for his beating heart.
He closed his eyes and turned his face, trying to erase the evil look in his mates eyes. Thinking instead of all the times he basked in the warmth they normally had.
Like the time Zuko first smiled after being accepted into their group.
The first time they all laughed together and Aang realised that Zuko was truely healing from those three years of emotional agony.
That time they went on that feild trip to the ancient city together, all the beautiful colors they saw and that far off peaceful look Zuko had.
The time in the walls of his father old summer home a couple weeks ago just after Zuko became a vampire. They hadn't been mated yet, not for another few days. When Zuko tried to be alone only to be fallowed by the Airbender, the warmth in Zuko's eyes when he stared at Aang for a full two minutes that day. Aang hadn't realised what it meant at the time but looking back at it now, the twinkle in Zuko's firey bright eyes as he had stared at Aang with that adoring expression. And every other time he looked at him like that before and after.
He understood it now.
If he died in this moment by the hands of someone he loved. Who loved him as much as he did. Then he wanted to die with that image in his mind. The image of someone who was happy with himself and with the people around him. Of someone who had faught, and conquered for what was truely honorable.
Not this tortured, uncontrolled monster that was staring at him now.
"Block him out Zuko." Aang said as calmly as he could, a tear falling from the corner of his eye, he couldn't hold them back anymore.
"Kill him you damn beast!" Kahn-zula shouted, and a little ray of hope invaded his terrified heart when Zuko didn't move to obey. He hadn't moved a muscle since the moment they got into this position.
Was he fighting? Aang didn't look, too afraid he would see those dark eyes that in no way belonged to his friend.
Katara and Toph were way too preoccupied handling the other vampires to help, they each tried to throw the newborns off the cliff but to no avail. They each were becoming frantic when they realed what was going on between the two stronger imortals and Aang right that moment. Sakka was only just starting to lift Suki up and away from the edge of the cliff, their pale sweaty bodies exhausted.
Zuko stared down at Aang, wondering why he was there. He heard his masters orders... To kill the Avatar right?
But why though? The boy looked so innocent.
Flashes of someone he didn't recognize flew across his head, pulling at something familiar. Were these thoughts his own?
He twitched and spasmed, as if his physical body wanted to carry on with his masters orders. But his mind was keeping him from it.
"Kill him you stupid useless monster!" He heard his master order him a third time.
He didn't want to though.
The pale, flawless neck he stared down at was so tempting and he leaned down, moving his fingers just enough out of the way to lick a trail from the boys collar bone to his ear.
He was so delicious.
Something in his chest jumped, and a funny sort of heat spread out. Something was stopping him from killing the boy. But what? Who was this kid to him? He needed to do what his master said.
"Zuko," the small voice of the boy below him was shaking, and it thrilled him in ways he couldn't explain, "he doesn't own you. Nobody does." He said it so desperately, as if Aang truely needed him to believe his trembling voice.
Aang?
Imediatly, his hand released the neck becoming more and more familiar.
The bruises that covered the once porcelain skin made Zuko suffer in a way he didn't understand. The boy looked so scared with his eyes shut closed like that, leaking tears.
But he wouldn't dare hurt his mate.
"No!" Kahn-zula growled, but Zuko had already faught passed him. The firebender got up, releasing Aang and charged.
Catching Kahn-zula once again off guard with his monsterous speed.
Zuko remembered the sight of the arm he wripped off, how it had turned into ash just a minute later.
That was it, he thought in satisfaction. Wrip the damn things head off and tear him apart limb from limb.
Zuko was strong and quick, and it was at that moment that he knew Kahn-zula had to have always been afraid of him. Because he was only a few weeks old and already he was even more powerful then he, the one who created him was.
Zuko was completely driven by anger now, the pure rage that fired him up made him even more animalistic and terrifying then the newborns that had paused in their own fights with the female benders. Kahn-zula's concentration on his control over them must have snapped when Zuko started attaching him.
He crawled all over Kahn-zula, his slightly smaller size and more athleticly able body enabling him. He started with the damn demons head, jumping up on the sprites shoulders and twisting the beings head around until he heard the aatifying crack. He then wripped it off and threw it, preceding to the arms and legs that frantically tried to throw him off.
They couldn't though. And soon he was just a pile of amputated limbs and a broken body.
Zuko stood up, panting, eyes shining a brighter red then they ever have been as he shot a burst of fire at the pile. Watching it burn.
The two newborns vampires fell to their knees, and two extremely tired female benders trapped them both in a mix of ice and rock. Their eyes went from black to relatively normal colors and they all realised that whatever hold Kahn-zula had over them must have gone away; they were now looking around in confusion acting like normal people.
They weren't a threat anymore. And that was a relief.
Aang stood up, the small pain in his semi fractured ankle coming back to his mind after being completely ignored since they got to this cliff. Zuko had his back to him, facing the fire that burned of what was left of Kahn-zula.
Aang looked over to Toph and Katara who now lay on the ground, attempting to get their breathing under control.
Sakka had finally got Suki untied and was now holding her crying form to his chest as she cradled her bloody hands to her chest.
His friends were all safe.
It was finally over.