The sun was rising over the town of Tah-Jin as it did every morning. A light wind drifted through the streets and rose to meet the hills surrounding and protecting the village. The children were stirring in their beds to get ready for their morning classes; all of the children but one. A girl stood atop one of the sloping hills adorned in the clothes she has slept in the previous night. Her small frame still shook from the nightmares that had brought her to this place. She had hoped that coming up here would calm her mind of the terror that had plagued it every night for the past moon's cycle. The ones where he came, along with the army he had brought that day nine years previous. The girl knew that her fears were unwarranted. After all, the only difference between the past few weeks and the past eight years of her life was that now she knew.

She knew why her mother had moved to this earth kingdom colony only eight months prior to her birth, this earth kingdom colony so far from the Southern Water tribe she should have been raised in. She knew why she'd never met her father, even though her mother said he still lived. She knew now why when a suitor would approach her mother, she would shy away from the affection they offered her. Why on the rare occasions her mother would enter relationships, they would never be allowed to meet her only daughter. The girl frowned at the thought. She knew her mother only wanted to protect her from the people's wrath, though the part of her that was wise beyond her years realized now that her mother was ashamed of her. Even if she'd never admit it.

A gust of wind blew by and the girl felt her hairs stand on end. The wind carried a scent with it, one that was only familiar from her dreams. It couldn't be... Her breath caught in her throat and she began running down the hill towards her house. Someone must be burning wood in their yard, or have forgotten to open their chimney hatch after the rain the previous night. She would get to her house and her mother would be there, preparing her breakfast and laying out her school clothes. There would be no fire but the one burning in the hearth to keep the wind's chill out of their home. However her worst fears were confirmed as she turned the corner to where her house sat at the end of a secluded street.

Thick flames lapped at the window frames from the inside and the smell of misfortune hung heavy in the smoke-filled air. "No..." she whispered as she stopped at stared at the billowing flames. This had to be another nightmare, maybe she fell asleep on the hill… That had to be what happened. She bit down on her tongue and her stomach dropped when she didn't wake up. This was as real as it got.

She knew she couldn't go in, she would never make it out alive. She had to hope that her mother had known she was gone and had saved herself. No other homes were in flames that she could see, but she knew this was no accident. Nobody was in her line of sight, however there was only one group of people who could have done this. A scream sounded from the distance, one that the girl knew she had heard before… The girl felt her body stiffen as it placed in her mind. Sho!

She ran faster than she ever had as she headed through the desolate streets towards her best friend's house. She had heard that pain in his voice many a time before from accidents during their adventures in the woods, or when he'd try to use his father's bow and hurt himself. She ran the route to his house like clockwork as she had walked here everyday before school so they could go together. His house lay outside of the town's limit as his father owned the farm. Coming up on the house, she didn't see them. Never slowing her pace she ran around back to where the barn resided and, subsequently, found them. Sho's parents lay in a heap on the ground, though she couldn't be sure if they were breathing or not from here. The barn was being smothered in whispy blue flames that seemed to spread faster than any fire she'd ever seen before. She could feel the heat from here.

A burly man in red stood in front of another heap on the ground, the tell tale sign of life being his shivering and sobbing. She couldn't help what she did next, though she had no idea why she did. "Hey you! Why don't you stop tormenting my best friend and go fight someone your own size, ya jerk!" The man turned his attention to the angry eight year old standing there in just her under wrappings and a fixed glare. Her eyes radiated hatred at the Fire Nation soldier standing in front of her. Sho's eyes were full of fear as he looked at his best friend. She knew it was fear for her safety, however she ignored it. She wanted to protect him this time. "Rin, go away! You need to get out of here! Save yourself, they have no merc- AH!"

The soldier had turned back to Sho and grabbed his wrists, lifting him from the ground. Flames surrounded his hands and Sho screamed as the skin began to blister and deform. The soldier seethed, "Did I tell you to open your fucking mouth, kid? You'd better shut the hell up, or I'll fuck up your little friend here worse than I did her mom. At least I only killed that Water tribe whore, slit her throat and burned the house. I'll take my time with this one." He hissed at the nine year old boy. Rin saw something lock in Sho's expression and the fire behind his eyes dimmed to a low burn. He was angry, he was mad, but he was subdued. He wouldn't let his anger bring her any harm. The soldier stood there with a smirk on his face and Rin took this opportunity to slip her tiny dagger from the sheath in the back of her wrappings. She rushed forward almost as fast as she had ran earlier and sliced at the arm closest to her, catching the soldier off guard and causing him to drop Sho on the ground.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing, little lady?" The soldier barked as he towered over to her. He willed the flames to retract and crouched down to her level. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sho quietly slipping in his home's back door and she felt her heart swell. He had gotten away, he was going to be safe, and that's all that mattered to her. Rin stood strong and stared the man who had killed her mother dead in his eyes. His deep, piercing green eyes… Something clicked inside her as she stared into them.

The man smirked at her as he knew she saw it. "And to think I went so far out of my way to find you and come collect you. Your mother got you for what was it, eight years? It's my turn." The smirk on his face stretched wider as the words left his mouth. Without warning and seemingly out of nowhere, he let out a harsh breath and slumped down. Rin cast her gaze down to see an arrow protruding from the back of the man's neck. Looking back up, she knew what she was going to see. Sho stood all of ten feet away with his father's bow held in a sure grip.

"Sho…" she murmured, sinking to her knees. Without a thought she yanked the arrow out of her father's neck and silently marveled at the sight of the blood that came gushing out. Her blood, she thought, this man was her flesh and blood. She had faced her father and had all her fears of him dispelled. She hardly registered the wiry arm wrapping around her and lifting her up. Sho led her away from her father's corpse, away from where his own parents lay dead. She looked up at him and took in how much older he looked. 'Killing a man would do that to anyone' she thought solemnly.

They didn't stop walking until they reached the edge of the trees. He looked at her and she understood. She knew she always would. "You're right, we can't stay here. We killed their soldier, they're going to come back for us. If we stayed, we'd put everyone else in danger." She gripped his hand within her smaller one, noting that in all of an hour their life had changed so drastically. They were orphans now, and would be wanted by the Fire Nation when they found their man dead. Orphans...

Rin felt Sho tighten his grip on her hand. She turned to look at him and waited. Finally he spoke in no more than a whisper, "Am I a bad person?" Rin furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean?" His cheeks burned red and she watched him use his free hand to wipe a stray tear from his face. "It didn't bother me. Shooting him. It made me feel good." Rin shook her head and didn't say a word. She had felt the same rush of happiness when she had pulled that arrow out of his neck. She pulled her best friend in for a hug and whispered in his ear. "If you're a bad person then I am too."

They ended their embrace and no more words were spoken after that. Rin looked at Sho one last time before leading him into the trees, sealing their fate for years to come.