Hello everyone! This story is for the first round of the third season of the Pro Bending Tournament, where I hope to get my team, the Red Sands Rabaroos, to victory! If you like it, it would be awesome if you fave, follow and review, as well as check out my other stuff. Thanks for reading!
Prompts: Three Blind Mice, "Three things cannot be hidden, the sun, the moon, the truth.", triplets/three siblings AU.
Word count not including authors note: 2,492
Finding the Light
Yuki angrily pushed her sister away. "Get off, Sinon!"
"But I want to hold the torch! Let me hold it!" Sinon wailed, grabbing at her sister's hands. She was too short to quite reach, so Yuki held it up high.
"I'm the oldest, so I'm holding the torch." Yuki said authoritatively. "Besides, this one is going out soon anyway. No point in you taking it."
Sokka sighed. "Will you two stop fighting? We need to find a way out of here."
Sinon stuck out her tongue at Yuki then walked out ahead, making sure to stay within the light.
The three of them had been wandering this cave for a few hours now. They had arrived with their parents in Omashu for some sort of politic thing, and the kids had wasted no time in exploring the city. Yuki, at eleven, was the oldest of the three and liked to be in charge when they went on adventures. Sokka was only a year younger than her, and usually that would have caused something of a power struggle. But Sokka seemed content to just follow along with what Yuki wanted the three of them to do most of the time. Sinon, though only seven, was the one that gave Yuki all of the issues.
Sinon had just discovered her ability to Waterbend only a few months ago, and their parents had been ecstatic at the unexpected development. Yuki thought that Sinon had become cocky and insufferable with her new ability, thinking she was the best ever. Which was stupid, considering that Yuki could Airbend and Sokka could Earthbend.
Their parents, Huan and Ikki, had believed themselves blessed to discover that all three of their children had become benders, and more amazingly, three different kinds of benders. They had reasoned that the Waterbender blood in Ikki and the Earthbender blood in Huan had carried the abilities over a generation to the children. Their Aunt Jinora had been endlessly interested in this, running tons of tests on Yuki's younger siblings.
During their exploration of the city of Omashu, Sokka had sensed something underground. He had said it felt like emptiness under the ground, very deep. After making sure no one could see them, Sokka had created a tunnel into the ground until they had found their way down there. It had turned out to be a gigantic cavern system, just sitting way below the city.
It was almost nighttime, so they had gone back to the house. They had gathered a bunch of supplies so that they could explore in full the next day. They had made sure to get plenty of snacks. In fact, Yuki reflected, it had been almost exclusively snacks.
They had found the tunnel they had made and entered the massive labyrinth. They soon set about exploring, making their way for hours through the dark passageways and caves. After a while, however, they had realized they weren't sure how to get back to their tunnel out. They were lost down in the dark.
"Hey Yuki, how many more electro-torches do we have?" Sokka asked, feeling the wall to try to get some sense of where they were at.
She checked her bag. Oh no. Just one left. "Uh, Sokka, there is just one more. Then we are out." What would they do then, if they couldn't find their way out again? The one in her hand flickered, as if it was mocking the situation they were in.
"We need to find a way out soon." Sokka said softly. "If not, then I don't know what we will do."
"Can't you make a tunnel back up, like you did to get us down here?" Yuki asked her little brother.
"I might be able to. But it would be a lot harder. Digging is natural for an Earthbender, but going up really isn't." he shrugged. Yuki couldn't really understand how going up could be a problem, it seemed easier than going down. Her brother was just weird, she guessed.
"Guys! Come look at this!" Sinon shouted nearby. Her older siblings walked over to see what she had found. Sinon was staring at a wall, one that had lots of pictures on it. Yuki shined the light over the pictures, many of which depicted people moving around within lines. She thought that those probably meant that they were in tunnels.
"What are those big brown blobs?" Sinon asked, pointing them out. Sure enough, there were a few large brown shapes within the drawn tunnels. They had eyes on them, but it kind of looked like they were crossed out for some reason.
"What's that?" Sinon asked, this time pointing to something next to the pictures. Or rather, inside the pictures. It looked like someone had written something on the stone wall, etched deep into the rock. The pictures made a large circle surrounding it.
"What does it say?" Sokka asked.
Yuki shrugged and held the light closer. "'Three things- '" Suddenly the light went out.
Sinon screamed, grabbing Sokka into a tight hug. "Hurry get the other one!" He said as his little sister choked the breath out of him.
Yuki rummaged through the bag in the dark. Desperation gripped her as she tried to find the last torch. There were too many of the stupid cakes that Sinon had wanted to bring in the way. Where was it?
Just when she thought it might have fallen out or something she found the small cylinder. She pulled it out, flicking the switch on. Suddenly the three of them could see again. They let out a collective sigh of relief.
"This is our last one." Yuki said softly. She exchanged a glance with Sokka. What would they do when it ran out of power? There was nothing after this torch went out. Then they would be in darkness, and how would they find their way out then? "We need to move fast."
She suddenly remembered what she had been doing before. She turned back to the scribbles on the wall. "It says, 'Three things cannot be hidden, the Sun, the Moon, the Truth.' What does that mean?"
Sokka shrugged, and Sinon just complained, "Who cares? It's just something people put there a long time ago. It doesn't even matter anymore."
So they put the confusing message and the mural of drawings behind them. It soon disappeared, melting into the darkness. As they walked into a tunnel Yuki took a deep breath. They had two hours to find their tunnel. Two hours until their torch went out. If they couldn't find it…. Yuki didn't want to think about that.
So they spent the next two hours continuing to explore. Cavern after cavern, tunnel after tunnel, it was all just confusing madness. Yuki didn't think they could find the cavern three tunnels back, let alone the paintings. And retracing their steps back to the tunnel out would be next to impossible. So all they could do was keep wandering and hope they happened upon it.
"I miss Mom." Sinon said softly, grabbing Yuki's hand. "She would know what to do."
"I wish she was here too." Yuki said to comfort her sister. She also wished at the moment that Sinon had been born a Firebender instead of a Waterbender, but that was probably better left unsaid.
The torch flickered. Everyone exchanged nervous looks.
"It's about to go out." Sokka stated. "What do we do?" Both he and Sinon looked to Yuki for answers.
She didn't have any. How were they supposed to do this? Once that torch went out they would be blind. The tunnel could be three feet away and they would never know it. The situation was about to be hopeless. But she couldn't tell them that.
"We keep trying." She said, putting on what she hoped was a confident looking smile. "We'll find our way out, no matter what." Neither of her siblings looked very convinced, but at least she had tried.
A few more minutes passed and then the torch finally gave up. Yuki let it drop from her hand as everything turned to darkness. There was only a clang as it hit the ground and yelp from Sinon, then all was silent.
"Sinon?" She said softly, reaching towards where she thought her sister was. She soon happened upon a small hand, which quickly joined with her own. "Sokka, come to me. Follow my voice." After a moment, his hand joined her other hand.
They might be blind, and alone, and scared, but they still had each other.
"Guys." Sokka said in an urgent whisper. "I can still kind of see."
What? It was pitch black. Her brother must be crazy. "What are you talking about, Sokka? How can you possibly see here?"
"Well it's not with my eyes." He said, trying to find the right words. "It's my feet somehow." His foot nudged her leg, making her jump. And being an Airbender, she almost carried her siblings up with her.
"Stop that, you idiot!" she squealed. "You scared the living daylights out of me!"
"I knew where your leg was." He said, as if that made up for scaring her. "I could feel it, through my shoes." He let go of her hand, bent down and took one off, then pulling off his sock and putting it in the shoe. "Ah, much better. Now I can almost see."
"What is he doing?" Sinon whined.
"If I'm right, I think he's taking off his shoes." Yuki said dryly.
"EWWWW!" Sinon squealed loudly. "Make him put them back on! I bet his feet stink!"
"Trust me, this is better for us." Sokka said. "Here, Yuki, I'm just opening the bag and putting my shoes in, don't freak out." She felt the bag on her back move a bit, then she heard the zipper open, then it got a little heavier.
"So you can see?" Yuki asked. She felt a hand grasp at her own and she grabbed it quickly.
"Yeah, kind of. It's like I can feel the ground, and through it I can see you. I can only see about ten feet away though, so it's not very far. But it's something."
"See?" Yuki said, mainly to Sinon but partly to herself. "I told you we shouldn't give up."
Right after she said that a sharp screech came from the darkness. Yuki's heart jumped a beat, and she instinctively tried to jump, but was held down by her two siblings.
"What was that?" she asked Sokka. "We aren't alone in here, are we?"
Sokka was silent for a moment. Then he finally said, "There is definitely something there. It keeps moving in and out of my sight. I can't tell quite what it is. But it doesn't seem that big, about the size of a cat."
Then another screech shook the darkness, this time on the other side of them. Then another, and another. They were surrounded by whatever these creatures were.
"What is that?" Sinon screamed out, terrified.
"Sinon, honey, move to the other side of me." Yuki said. "Sokka, Sinon is coming to the middle, so we can protect her." Sokka squeezed her hand then let go. Sinon was moved to the other side of Yuki, in between them.
"I don't need to be put here!" Sinon pouted. "I can protect myself!"
"You barely know how to do anything." Yuki countered. "Also, we don't have any water. Sokka!"
"Yeah? What?"
"We need to keep moving. You are the only one who can see anything, so you have to lead us."
"Oh." Sokka sounded surprised. He wasn't used to leading them, and now had been thrust into the role.
"We also need you to tell us where these things are at so we can fight back." Yuki added. "Or at least try to."
In answer Sokka fired a rock into the darkness. There was a bunch of loud screeches and a flurry of movement that sounded almost like wings. Wings?
"This way." Sokka said, guiding the line of siblings farther through the darkness. "Yuki, fire behind you now!"
Yuki complied, and sent a jet of air behind them. She didn't think she hit anything, but she felt like she at least made the attacker more cautious.
They continued this for several more minutes, slowly fighting their way through whatever monsters awaited them in the shadows. In that, all three of them suffered scratches from these things, and Yuki had been bit on the wrist, which hurt a lot. But slowly and surely they were making ground.
Yuki hoped Sokka and Sinon still had no idea that she was crying. She was scared. So, so, so scared. What if she didn't make it back? Or worse- what if she did but one of the others didn't? what would she do then?
"Hey!" Sinon suddenly shouted. "What's that?"
Yuki was confused. Had she seen something? And if so, then how? Her head was on a swivel, aiming to see something, anything at all.
"Up ahead." The seven-year-old said excitedly. "On the roof! See it?"
Then Yuki found it. Up ahead, on the roof were some sort of lights. "Go towards that, guys!" There wasn't really any reason to go towards that than any other direction, but why not? At least it was a light.
The other two apparently had no problem with that plan, and the group ran towards the lights, still holding hands. They soon reached their goal, and were below the lights.
These lights turned out to be glowing crystals, all lined up above together like some river floating above them. Or, Yuki realized, a path. "Guys! Follow the crystals! Go! Go! Just trust me on this! Go!" again, no qualms, and they followed the path overhead. Yuki hoped she was right.
Amazingly, she was. They ran out of the tunnel, finding light. Real light. They were outside!
"I didn't think I would ever want to see the Sun this much!" Sinon exclaimed, rubbing her eyes from the sudden brightness. The sun was setting, and half of the place they were at now was coated in shadows. But it was still very bright compared to the cave.
"Where are we?" Sokka asked.
"Who cares?" Yuki asked back, laying down against a rock and inspecting her bite. "As long as we made it out, were fine."
Sokka climbed up onto a tall rock. "We need to find our way back to the city. I know Mom and Dad will be looking for us."
Yuki sighed. "Fine." She got back to her feet, then leapt up into the air, flying over Sokka and landing on the rock he had been climbing. She felt free again, no longer cooped up in that stupid cave. She felt like an Airbender again.
It only took a glance to find the gigantic city. She pointed. "That way!" There it was. They were finally going home.