She heard the branches snap before she saw them. She felt the ground tremble softly before she heard them. And she smelled the pleasurable yet suffocating air born ashes before she felt them. The fire nation's tanks. It was pathetic really, Katara thought to herself bitterly as she slouched against the airship prison wall,her arms suspended in the air by chains, all her senses alerted her to this yet she wasn't prepared to fight nethertheless. it's considerably harder when you're chi blocked from circus girl who used Katara's hesitation to attack. The chi block had worn off by now, however there was no water for Katara to utilize.

When she first saw the tanks though she knew she had no chance. With queasy knot in her stomach Katara realized that she had no choice but to run. Feeling like a coward she turned on her heels and darted behind a tree, fire sprayed on each side of her like waves on rocks. In the moment a question came to mind: Where to? Should she run back to camp for help? But that would reveal the Gaang's location. In a normal circumstance that is exactly what they would do, but the southern air temple was a sacred place. If she lead the firebenders to it, a beautiful temple would be destroyed forever.

Whatever decision she would've made was completely useless to her fate now. In that moment of hesitation a precise blow from a fist landed on her midback. Her spine went ridged, each of her back muscles were activated at once. In that time Tye Lee hit strategic points on each of her legs and arms, then she took the water canteen. Collapsed on the ground she saw the tree she had taken shelter behind was now a gaping hole. She hadn't even gotten any bending in.

Now there was nothing to do except sulk and wait for Toph, Aang, and Sokka to notice she was missing. Maybe it was a good thing she had gone off her own. Had she told the rest of the group she was looking for food they would expect her to be gone for a while.

Well there was more to do than sulk, how did the fire nation troops find them?

That question would be answered much later.

There was no windows in the room. When she was dragged into the airship (after refusing to give away Aang's location) she was able to tell that where she was held was on the bottom, and from the vibrations from the floor, near the engines. The floor and walls were made out of metal as if to taunt her. Had Toph been here they would've escaped in no time.

The door had a small window out to the hallway, and the little light through the bars cast a reverse shadow in the darkness in the shape of three lines.

Time passed like a drifting cloud. Soon her eyes lost the perception to see the depth of the walls, and the room faded into a gray blur. Except those three lines. She pulled against the chains as she slumped down the wall.

The whine of the prison door woke her up. The first thing she saw was the cool gray metal floor turn to such a bright beige yellow. For someone who spent the last four hours in a lightless prison the metal reflecting the hallway light was as bright as the sun. Katara's head snapped up. Zuko.