Change
by Kiley S. Snape
"Where is Chief Beifong?!" I demanded over the fray of crumbling buildings and malicious vines.
"With the president!" the officer answered behind clenched teeth.
I ran down the street, dodging the vines, and headed downtown. I slammed my foot against the street, but that resulted in a heady cloak of nausea to fall about me. It was like a watching a mover at a too-fast pace, too much for such human eyes to behold. A building crumbling to ruin; people flooding the street; Lin- nowhere to be found. Biting back the panic that threatened to overrun my wild mind, I pressed on.
I was shoved to the ground by a man desperate to evade the onslaught of vines. I slowly lifted my head, and tried to shake off the unpleasant ringing in my ears. The air grew still, thick and heavy with dust, and I squinted at two figures hurtling themselves off the rooftop of a nearby building.
"Hold on!"
My eyes widened and I scrambled to my feet. A dark spirit had set its rage upon Lin and President Raiko. My mother shoved the leader of Republic City ahead of her, and then turned on her heel to hold off the dark spirit. Lin dropped low to the ground, and sent a rolling wave of earth to delay the spirit. The latter dodged the attack, almost becoming smoke, its shadowy body dragging behind it as it advanced. Lin catapulted into a back hand spring to evade her opponent, but the spirit was cunning. Just as Lin relied solely on her hands, the creature struck- Lin fell on her back, and I heard her shuddering exhale as the wind was taken from her.
The spirit stretched out its wisp-like arms and held Lin fast. The red marks churned and turned into a darker shade as it hovered over her. Lin snarled and surged against it, trying to shove the spirit off her. But she remained fixed.
"Get away from her!" I barked, and punched the earth to unsettle the both of them. I rose to my feet as the spirit broke away from Lin to regard me, idly aware of the blood that ran down the side of my face. "That's my mother," I explained, slowly outstretching my upward palms, "She does not mean to hurt you- she is afraid, for you are different." The spirit cocked its head in what I concluded to be intrigue, and its fiery eyes slightly cooled.
"Kailyn! You shouldn't be out here!" Lin cried.
The spirit wheeled about, eyes once more ablaze, and raised it clawed hand to strike her down. My mind scrambled to find a way to cease the blow- to keep my mother safe. I recalled a scroll I had spent days pouring over to decipher the runes, and clumsily mimicked it bending form. It was as ancient as the Avatar Cycle, it seemed.
As smooth as liquid glass, I dragged my askew hands in a slow circuit, and then set them apart to rotate in opposing directions. I dropped low to the ground, my blood on fire with a strange energy, and smoky tendrils of loose earth-closely saturated dust particles- formed a double helix around the spirit. I brought my open, lax hands down in a line. I then brought my hands back up to come to a halt above my head. A celestial light transformed the spirit, its body glittered gold and its marking shone blue. I bowed to the vanished spirit as it scintillated away into the nothingness.
I crumbled to my knees at Lin's side, uncaring that the cracked road split my trousers and cut my knees. "Mum, are you okay?" I panted, frantically running trembling hands over her.
"Yes, yes!" she huffed, gently pushing my hands away, "You are not as lucky. Grounded- two weeks!"
"Ach, Mum!" I groaned, "I just saved your life!"
"By being an idiot. You disobeyed me, Kailyn, you could have been killed."
"And what if I hadn't been an idiot, hm?" I argued, "What if you had died, Mum? You're all I have…"
Lin grunted and roughly took me into her arms. The warm metal plate around her shoulder was pressed unpleasantly into my cheek, but I did not care. I wrapped my arms about her neck, and hid my burning eyes behind closed lids. I was terrified- terrified of the haunting possibility of losing my mother.
"You're still grounded," she assured me.