I don't own Avatar, or any of its characters.

She was sprinting faster than she had ever been before. The hallway was collapsing in on itself right behind her. Explosions could be heard outside of the temple. She passed her room and quickly darted in attempting to locate her staff. She was terrified and had no idea what was going on.

Her mind was racing as she found her staff and darted back into the hallway she was previously running in. It was no longer collapsing, but most of the hallway lay in rubble. She headed for the nearest exit and threw her glider into the air; she jumped for it and caught onto it. Bending the air around her she flew off of the side of the mountain.

She was horrified as she looked back and saw many dragon mounted firebenders producing unrealistic amounts of fire. The Easter Air Temple was completely engulfed in flames. The sky was bright and red even though it was in the middle of the night, ominous. Frantically she sped quickly down the rest of the mountain. As she neared the ground she saw hundreds of thousands of fire nation soldiers marching in unison towards the temple.

They quickly noticed her and a komodo-rhino mounted firebender shot flames in her direction. She panicked and banked quickly to the left, dodging the blast completely. Or so she though.

The right wing of her glider was on fire. She spun quickly, attempting to blow the flames out. After a few good spins it was no longer burning. She sighed in relief, only for a moment. Another blast headed her way, too quickly for her to dodge it. She collapsed her glider and faced the blast head on. She bent a wave of air in front of her in an attempt to stop the fire blast from connecting.

She succeeded somewhat, though it did not connect she was thrown very quickly through the air and begun spiraling towards the ground. Frantically she tried to regain her stead before colliding with the solid earth. She began to slow, but she was certain now she was going to hit the ground. She did, and slid for at least twenty feet before stopping.

She ached and pained everywhere, but could not afford to stop now. She peaked up and saw the mounted firebender smirk and look back towards the temple. The troops advanced and began ascending the mountain.

He thinks I'm dead. She thought, somewhat relieved. She debated whether or not to continue running. She decided against it and stayed put in the ditch, watching more Fire Nation troops press forward to the temple. She was in absolute awe.

We're at peace with the Fire Nation. At least, she thought they were. Apparently that was wrong. What has the Eastern Air Temple done that the Fire Nation can justify attacking us.

She couldn't trouble herself with such thoughts at the moment; the last of the troops had reached the base of the mountain and were now on their way to the top. She stood up and took off straight into the air.

I need to head west; I need to let the other temples know what is happening! Her friends, her life and her entire community had just been torn apart by a people she considered allies. She felt a cold shiver run down her spine as she began heading towards the closest and largest population she knew, Ba Sing Se.

"I hope it's still standing." She said outloud, considering the possibility that the Eastern Air Temple wasn't the only place attacked.

In the distance she could hear explosions and what sounded like a constant roaring. She assumed The Great Comet had something to do with the awesome power she saw the firebenders displaying. The very few firebenders she had ever met in her life had never possessed the ability to do that.

She was over the water now, which made her uneasy. She never quite much liked water and had heard rumors of strange things living in it. She decided to ascend higher in the air, better safe than sorry. She glanced back at the fading away Eastern Air Temple; she would get help no matter what the cost.

I can't be the only one who escaped. She concluded in an attempt to ease her worried feelings. She hadn't seen anyone else on her way down the mountain, and most of the nuns were all in the courtyard of the main temple; defending them. I need to let the other temples know.

She sped up, hurrying through the air as fast as she could possibly go. It wouldn't be long before she ran into land and the sooner she found land, the sooner she could rest. She was tired, a rude awakening like that combined with her adrenaline pumping for at least a good twenty minutes had worn her out considerably.

After an hour of seeing nothing but the endless horizon she spotted the edge of the Earth Kingdom. She flew down and landed on the ground. She collapsed on an abandoned wooden cart and tried to rest some. She found herself having much difficulty with falling asleep, considering the events of the day she wasn't surprised.

She stood up and began walking towards Ba Sing Se. She'd been there many times before; living so close was very convenient for trade, as well as visits there. There was a convenient dirt path leading in the general direction of Ba Sing Se, which she had traveled down once before heading there during one of her visits.

As much as she was considered a nomad, she hadn't been much for traveling the world and living from place to place. She was content with mostly staying at the Eastern Air Temple and the outlying regions. She had plenty of time to explore the world after she mastered airbending.

Oh, she was already considered a "master airbender", her tattoos showed that. She was also considered to be one of the best, but she didn't want to recognize it. She felt that the second she considered herself a master, she would stop striving to get better. Obsessed with getting better, most would say.

It was getting late, she had assumed. It was still very bright outside because of the comet. She found the nearest acceptable sleeping spot, wedged her staff into the ground nearby and laid down. She was definitely exhausted and sleepy enough to fall asleep this time, and she did.

"Hey!" she heard a man's voice say. Still drowsy she looked up and saw a green blob standing a few feet in front of her. She wiped her eyes. "Hey! Wake up and get off of my hay bale!"

She came to and realized it was an Earth Kingdom citizen, probably from one of the smaller villages around Ba Sing Se. She jumped off the hay bale.

"What gives you any rig-" he was cut off by her sudden grab at his collar.

"Firebenders! They attacked the Eastern Air Temple!" she was frantically shaking the man about like a worn out ragdoll.

"What?" the man looked at her blankly.

"Firebenders, bending insane amounts of fire, they were attacking the temple!"

He stopped, and then laughed heartily.

"This isn't funny!" she said, extremely irritated at the man's response.

"That must have been some dream you had missy." He replied.

She gave him a very serious glance. "No, you don't understand. I just came from the temple. Last night the Fire Nation had troops attacking it!"

"What's your name girl, that's a pretty serious accusation."

"Gale." She spoke.

"Well, Gale, maybe you should wake up a bit before spreading that rumor around the Earth Kingdom."

"Are you blind!" she said, getting very angry. She pulled her staff out of the ground and opened it up. She pointed to the burnt part of her wing. "Proof."

"That could be from anything."

She didn't have time for this, she took off into the air and started heading towards Ba Sing Se. She hadn't considered the fact that nobody would believe her. It wasn't something you just brought up out of nowhere; how's the weather, caught some fish yesterday, the Fire Nation attacked my home. She was going to have to convince some of the higher ups in Ba Sing Se if she had to drag them back to the Eastern Air Temple herself.

She would be flying for quite a while before she reached Ba Sing Se, and she was starting to get hungry. She decided she didn't have time and had to stop this before it escalated into something potentially dangerous.

Gale sped in the direction of Ba Sing Se, focused on her objective.