Republic City. It's beautiful on some days and then there are those other days. Not many people wonder the streets at night. I don't blame them. We stalk in the night, taking those who have debts to us. Personally, I don't like doing this. It feels so wrong each and every time. Everything has been going crazy among the Equalists. With Amon gone, there really is no leader. We've split the city into sections. We take cover in the night from the Republic City Police. Everyone in Amon's "Army" is considered a wanted criminal now. It's a hard life, but right now.. it's life.
Tonight didn't have a right feel to me. There was a slight tingle in the air. It was like a ripple. One not easy to tell against the wind blowing against my mask while driving at high speeds through alleyways. "Do you feel it, Katsuo?"
Katsuo is my best friend. His eyes are that golden brown that reminded me of fresh baked cookies. His skin is a nice dark olive. Of course, he is muscular from all the years of fighting and then chi-blocker training. Most women swoon over him. I can see perfectly why too. He's absolutely beautiful and he used to love being around women. A little too much actually. But of course, ever since he became friends with me, he stopped. Or the women just didn't jump on him anymore. I guess maybe it's because we look like brother and sister, except he has dark brown hair and I have green eyes. Other than that, we have the same raised cheeks and bone structure.
We spent most of my childhood together. Our parents, my mom and his dad, worked together at one of the factories. My older sister would babysit the both of us. After spending day after day together for sixteen years, we pretty much know everything about each other. And some of those things I never wanted him to know. Let's just say he knows when I got my first kiss and the first time I had sex with an ex-boyfriend of mine. He acted more like a brother than, and still does, but that over protective brother that I didn't need. He just makes me feel like a child despite being a year younger than him.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Yuzuki," he yelled back in reply, raising his hand as to brush off my question.
I hate when he does this to me. Every time he puts on the outfit he becomes colder. I never understood why. Though, the movement has changed a lot of people. My sister, Rin, became heartless. She forgot I was even alive after the accident in my sector. During a shift with my sister, there was a fire. Some Firebenders set fire to the building we were in. She left me behind after I got trapped under a fallen beam. I blacked out but when I came to again I was sitting outside next to my bike. She's head of another sector now and I want to forget all about her. I slow down and stop at the end of an alley that faces towards the statue of previous Firelord, Zuko. Katsuo stops next to me and shuts off his bike. I do the same.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about! That feeling like something really bad is going to happen tonight," my voice raises slightly but I drop it back down. My eyes dart around to make sure no one is around.
"Every time you have one of these 'feelings' it turns out to be nothing. Tonight is no different," his voice is stern. He peels back the mask and shakes his head.
There is a bit of rage growing deep inside of me. My feelings have never been wrong. I felt the same thing before and the next day on the news I heard about an Equalist attack in a different sector. Not just the take people, but the killing of others and destroying of monuments. I peel back my mask. The black long mess I call my hair was set free. I swing my leg over and get off the bike.
"Kat, every time I feel these ripples.. something bad happens. I've seen it! Please. Can we just wait here and see if anything happens?"
I feels like I'm pleading with him, but there is no other way. He let out a sigh and nodded. I smiled only slightly. It was quiet in Fire Town, as we call it. At night here, most of the firebenders come out to practice. They feel like it's the only time they won't be persecuted for being benders. I watch as a group of teenagers with a couple of mentors come to the front of Zuko's statue. Their movements are beautiful and fluid. I never understood why I became part of the Equalists.
"Earth to Yuzuki! We have a job to do right now and all you're doing is staring at them," he whispers fiercely right in my face.
My eyes focus back on him. His eyes are cold and calculated. I forgot that our job tonight was to capture these benders and bring them back to headquarters. But the longer I look at them, the sadder I get. I hate capturing benders. Everything else I can handle doing. It's these times when I see them in action that make me sad for even having to think about capturing them. Kat walks away from me and puts his mask back on. I can't move. My legs and eyes won't let me. I hear his bike start up from behind me.
"Hey! Let's get this done! I want to go home," his tone wasn't nice. Not at all.
Everything happened so quickly. All of a sudden, a truck races past the end of the alleyway. I heard tires screech to a halt and then screams ring out. I quickly snapped back to reality and pulled on my mask. I could see others from our sector start throwing all the firebenders into the back. It seemed like they had been electrocuted and tied up. My body moved fluidly on to my bike and kick started it. Kat and I rode out into the square just as the truck squealed down the street. People came rushing out from their homes and began shouting.
"They sent out others to get them! Why would they do that?" My voice was panicked.
Kat didn't say a word. I got cold chills that he knew exactly what was going on. The tails of our bikes whipped around quickly. We drove off down the alleyway we came out. People were screaming and crying behind us, some men trying to chase after us. They were throwing rocks at our tires hoping to flip our bikes. I tossed a can of smoke behind us to hide us turning down another street. I felt tears welling in the corners of my eyes. I stifled them back and ducked lower into my bike. I can't believe what just happened. This isn't what I wanted, not at all.