"Please" she barely whispered "take my yuans, here" she tried to reach slowly towards the pocket hanging near her right hip, but her shaking hands dropped the bag of groceries in a shattering smash, breaking open the bottle of juice and alerting anyone within ear shot.
"Aagh!" she cried as she fell to the ground, a huge blast of concentrated fire blew over top of her. Her hands and knees fell into the broken glass opening deep wounds. Another blast of hot fire came towards her as she blocked with the puddle of juice.
That's it, she thought, the juice steaming away in a puff of mist, I'm done. She grimaced as she ducked to the ground, awaiting the next blow straight towards her, the blazing air giving her no protection from the oncoming heat.
"Oohf" her attacker cried out, the earth around him swallowing and engulfing him.
"Run!" yelled another voice deeper in the shadows, still hurling gravel and bits of road towards the malicious firebender.
Meilin took off, finally finding her strength again and raced down into the maze of the city. Past the alley ratcats, and the smoke filled gambling rooms, she ran. Her feet pounded the stones and her hands throbbed as the blood welled up beneath her skin. Fear and pain kept her running, racing down the streets until she came to a stop in front of a large, gray ware house. She looked up and down the dimly lit streets, trying to place exactly where she was. Her mother would surely be worried by now; she should have been home sooner. She turned around, staring wide-eyed down the unfamiliar street, nothing came to mind; she couldn't feel the bay and she didn't recognize the endless gray buildings, surrounded by a large metal fence topped with barb wire.
"I can help you back." A voice called from down the alley she appeared. Meilin wiped around ready to fight, when she recognized his voice and realized that he must have been the one who helped her escape the alley. A young man of about eighteen stepped out into the yellowed light, light tan hair fell around the edges of his chin and a loose shirt showed full muscles underneath. In his arms he held the remains of the forgotten groceries and a loose smile drifted across his face.
"Thank you" Meilin stumbled, reaching out to grab a few of the tossed foods.
"My name is Takku" he said, stepping forward towards her tired figure "I've got these, and I can help you home from here if you want"
Meilin wavered, a strange man offered to help her home. Under other circumstances she wouldn't have thought twice about turning around and leaving him right there, but she didn't know where she was, and traveling around the darkest streets of the city alone did not sound very inviting. Obviously he had helped her escape some serious injuries, and followed her with the food she'd lost. She was still uneasy, but something in his deep hazel eyes reassured her ever so slightly, and she begrudgingly accepted his help.
The walk home was surprisingly short, and Takku only had to lead the way down a few side roads until Meilin began to recognize where she was. Their walk was near silent as they traveled down the empty streets; even the lizardcrows were asleep in their dirty nests. Meilin walked beside the total stranger empty handed, as he insisted he could carry it all and didn't want her to worsen her hands. At first she had resented the comment, but now the pain shooting from her hands and knees was almost unbearable. She slowly counted her steps as they plodded along the silent streets. Her hands clenched together with the now drying blood. She was more hurt than she realized and couldn't wait to get home to her little room and lie down and sleep.
As they neared her apartment building her mother burst down the front steps straight towards her. An officer from the metalbending police force followed with prompt, sturdy footsteps. Her mother rushed her, squeezing her in an enormous hug which only hurt her bruised body. Meilin let out a tiny gasp of pain as her mother let go and started looking over her bedraggled state. "What happened to you!" she exclaimed, her eyes darting between cuts and scrapes.
Meilin hastily recalled the events within the safety of the apartment as the metal clad officer took a few notes. Takku stood quietly in the corner of the room, arms still full of food, unsure of whether he should sit down next to the old lady with a little baby in her arms. When Meilin was finish the officer asked him a few questions as well, what the firebender looked like, where the incident took place.
"Thank you for the information" the officer stated sternly and tipped his hat towards Meilin's mother. He left the small room and closed the door behind him with a flick of his wrist, turning the small metal joints with ease.
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