"Come on Nuan! Hurry up! We're going to be late!" A teen yelled excitedly.
"Shut it Huan!" Nuan yelled back, jogging to catch up to her twin brother.
"You're so slow!" Huan laughed, clapping her on the shoulder.
Nuan growled, shoving her brothers hand off and stalked towards the pro-bending arena. The night was finally here! The night that had everyone been waiting for! The Fireferrets vs. The Wolfbats! It was going to be an intense match but the siblings were rooting for the underdogs. Nuan made a face. She never had liked the Wolfbats. They were way too cocky and always played dirty.
"Whoa," Huan shivered, "Look at all the police. This Amon is a real Creep."
Nuan, glanced around, catching the eye of one of the Officers. She gulped, turning her head sharply forward again. She had to agree. If there were this many of Chief Bei Fong's metal bender's around then they were obviously expecting something bad to happen. That or maybe the over security was to discourage him from even showing up? She didn't know if it would work but the idea helped her relax a little.
Truth be told Nuan was terrified of Amon and his Chi Blockers. She had tried to convince her brother against coming to the Championship Final but he refused. He said that if they didn't go then it would be like letting the Equalists win. He said their bending wasn't anything to be ashamed of. But still. With the threat of permanently loosing her bending looming over her head she couldn't help but be terrified.
"Come on." Huan said, grabbing his sister's hand as they entered the large crowd outside.
Nuan frowned but didn't let go as they pushed their way through the mass. When they got to the doors two police officer's stopped them.
"Tickets?" The taller one asked.
"Good thing we bought them early!" Huan smiled, reaching into his pocket.
He handed them over and the metal benders glanced over them quickly. For a long second Nuan was nervous as the police mans frown deepened. He looked back at them and they tried their best to smile innocently. He handed their ticket's back and stepped away from the door, giving a curt nod.
"Thanks!" Huan grinned, pulling his sister inside.
Once on the other side of the door Huan let out a loud sigh.
"I thought for sure they were going to catch us!" He whispered dramatically.
"I told you, those forged tickets were A-Class!" Nuan growled.
She had to go through a lot of trouble to find someone who could copy them since the Final had been sold out by the time Huan had convinced her to come.
"Yeah, yeah," Huan waved her off, "I guess for only a few yuan's it's not that bad."
Nuan pouted, tugging her hand out of her brothers grasp.
"I'm going to the bathroom." Nuan snapped.
"Alright, I'll go find us our seats, hurry up!" Huan chuckled, turning away from her.
Nuan stomped away, making a slight spectacle of herself, as people moved out of her path quickly. When she reached the bathroom she sighed in relief that there wasn't a line. Probably because most people were already in their seats. She sighed again, walking up to the sinks. Nuan stared at her reflection for a moment, taking in her golden eyes and dark hair. She frowned slightly. She looked exactly like her and Huan's mother looked and it sometimes made her sick. Her mother had been such a strong woman and she regretted not being more like her. Nuan quickly puffed out her cheeks in an attempt to keep herself from crying but it didn't work.
She clutched the counter hard, skin pulled tightly over her knuckles. A few tears escaped and she let out a harsh sob.
"Stop being so childish!" Nuan finally hissed at herself, "Stop being so scared!"
The door to the bathroom opened and she quickly turned on the faucet, splashing herself with cool water. When she looked up she saw a tallish woman with brown hair and water tribe getup glance at her. She rubbed the back of her neck and chuckled nervously, stepping away from the sinks.
"Ahaha, good day for the Final, huh?" She asked casually.
The woman gave her a stern look and she flinched under its heat.
"Ahah, or maybe not." She said, frowning.
She turned to grab a paper towel and sighed when she found none. Pouting, Nuan wiped her hands on her pants. When she turned back around the woman was still there, staring intently. She made a face and sighed. That woman was probably wondering why she had been crying.
"That Amon is pretty scary huh!" She blurted, an embarrassed blush rising on her cheeks.
The Water Tribe woman raised an eyebrow but her stern look staid in place. Nuan flushed a deeper shade of red, turning to look back into the mirror. She hung her head in shame, tears threatening to leak again.
"Ahh, I mean! I-I, sorry," Nuan finally said, "I didn't mean to embarrass myself. I'm just terrified."
Before she could stop herself, every fear she had came tumbling out of her mouth.
"I'm just so scared," She said, wrapping her arms around herself, "I-I'm so scared about tonight. Amon said that if the match continued then he would do something about it and I didn't want to come! But-but my brother made me. He said we had to. To show the Equalists we aren't afraid to loose our bending..."
Nuan trailed off when she looked back up at the woman. She frowned, noticing her harsh glare. Nuan hadn't meant to unload on her, if that's why she seemed so angry. It just came out. She had just felt like she'd been holding her fears in for too long. After an uncomfortable moment of silence she sighed, heading towards the bathroom doors.
"Look, sorry. I didn't mean to make you upset," She said, passing the woman, "I'm gunna miss the match completely if I don't hurry."
Before she could reach the door though the woman spoke.
"You have every right to be terrified."
Nuan turned to look at her, eyes wide as she continued.
"The era of bending is over."
"Wah-?" Nuan started, startled when the woman jumped at her quickly.
"Wait! What'er you-!"
Nuan was cut off as the woman sent a kick towards her head. She blocked it quickly with her arms, shoving the limb away from her. The woman was now behind her and she could feel harsh jabs all along her side. She quickly moved back, clutching her arm in pain and sent a swift kick in the woman's direction. An arch of flames rushed towards her but the woman moved too fast. In the cramped space Nuan could barely move and with the use of one arm gone she was at a huge disadvantage.
Throwing her good arm in a punch she gasped when the woman clutched her fist. Keeping her from fire bending. The woman jerked her closer and Nuan's eyes widened when her opposite hand glowed blue.
"All you benders are the same." She hissed.
Time stopped. In the distance Nuan could hear people cheering in excitement, the building seemed to thunder with their shouts and jeers. In the next second Nuan screamed in pain. Electricity jolted through her body. All she could do was close her eyes tightly as white and blue flashed behind her lids. Nuan didn't know when the woman had let her go but as she lay crumpled on the floor she brought her knees to her chest willing the pain away.
Her eyes opened briefly to see the woman standing over her, smirking. Behind the door another round of cheering was heard and the woman stepped away, the device on her hand gone. She turned away from Nuan, heading to the door, only sparing her a glance as her hand gripped the handle. Nuan's eyesight grew foggy and the last thing she remembered were the woman's parting words.
"I would stay and finish you bender but I wouldn't want to miss the Final."
Screaming. That's what woke Nuan. She grunted, struggling to sit up and clutched her head. What had happened to her? She couldn't remem- Suddenly everything came flashing back to her. The Water Tribe woman who had actually been an Equalist. She had electrocuted her! Nuan lifted a hand to her face, trembling and gasped as a sudden tremor shook the building. She quickly pulled herself to her feet, ignoring the throbbing in her head and rushed out the door.
What she saw shocked her beyond belief. People were screaming and running. Someone shoved past her harshly, knocking her down. She glared, jumping to her feet again. Her eyes scanned over the area and she noticed the commotion coming from the arena area. Fear exploded in her chest as she saw Amon's flags dangling around the stands. In her fear she couldn't move, allowing herself to be knocked around by the people panicking to escape. Her eyes widened when she suddenly thought of her brother.
"HUAN!" She shouted, rushing towards the scene.
"HUANNN!"
When she finally reached the open area she noticed a huge pillar of water shooting out from the drain. It soared higher and higher before slowly dissipating. She held her breath as the girl who had caused it started slowly falling back down. It was the Avatar! She wanted to do something to help the girl but before she could the metal bending Chief, Bei Fong, appeared out of no where, rescuing the girl. She sighed, deciding to go back to looking for her brother. Her frantic eyes scanned the area where they usually sat and she noticed someone crumpled on the ground.
"HUANN!" She screamed running towards her fallen brother.
She reached him in a matter of seconds, turning him over to see gash run across his forehead. A bit of blood was rolling down the side of his face and she whimpered, running her fingers along the wound. To her joy Huan hissed in pain and opened his eyes. She smiled, relieved.
"HUAN! You're okay!" She said, pulling him into a tight hug.
"I'm fine!" He answered, pressed against her.
She pulled him back by his shoulders, smiling as tears spilled from her eyes. Huan frowned deeply.
"I'm okay." He said again but it only caused to bring more tears to her eyes.
"I thought-," Nuan shook her head, "I thought something bad had happened to you!"
The sound of glass shattering caused them to look up as part of the buildings roof came crashing down. Nuan shouted out in terror before throwing herself over her brother protectively. A large gust of air blew over them, causing her black hair to dance wildly. They both looked up to see Councilman Tenzin standing a few feet away.
"You need to get out of here!" He shouted and Nuan nodding, pulling her brother to his feet.
"Thank you!" She shouted above the chaos as they passed.
He nodded and Nuan focused on pulling Huan out of the building.
When they finally made it outside, both siblings were panting heavily. All around them fires were raging. Airships and regular ships were burning in a fierce blaze.
"WHERE WERE YOU!" Huan yelled finally, clutching her shoulders.
"I was attacked by a Chi Blocker." Nuan answered, hanging her head low.
Huan pulled her into a tight hug, ignoring that fact that her tears soaked his shirt.
"Are you okay?" He asked gently.
"Yes." She whispered out.
It felt like a long time before either of them moved and when they did Nuan rubbed her tears away. Both twins turned to look back at the pro-bending arena, fear evident in their eyes.
"What happened?" Nuan asked quietly.
Huan didn't answer automatically but when he did his words shook Nuan to her very core.
"The start of a war."
Comments of all kinds are appreciated! :)