Rapunzel stumbled as she ran, her golden hair streaming out behind her. She ran and ran, over rocks, grass, jumping logs and splashing rivers until she could not run any further. She did not know where she was, and she was so afraid. Her chest ached from her heart beating and her lungs fighting for air. She scanned the horizon line and allowed herself to relax slightly. No fire benders in sight. They had come in the middle of the night, raiding the southern water tribe whilst the warriors were all asleep. They were taking away the water benders, locking them up as part of their war plan. No water benders, nothing to put out the fire. They had stormed into her tent first of all, and grabbed her screaming by the hair, pulling her out into the clearing. They held her up as an example to the other benders. "Come out now," one man had said, "and we won't hurt the girl." She was kicking and screaming, and a few tribe members poked their heads out of their tents, unsure whether to give themselves up or not.
"Don't give in!" she had yelled, urging her tribesmen to fight back, for their freedom. Her words were not met kindly by the fire benders however, and she had been thrown to the ground in the centre of the camp. She had made a big mistake, and now she was going to pay for it. She stared desperately around her, pleading for someone to come to her aid, but no one did. She turned just in time to see the leader of the fire benders raise his hand, before firing a stream of fire directly at her. It had hit her in the stomach, and she was knocked unconscious. When she awoke, she had found herself in a cell, along with some other prisoners she did not know, in the middle of nowhere. The worried expressions of her new comrades caused her to look down, only to see the burn that stretched across her stomach, blistering and raw. Trying not to panic, she reached to her side for her water pouch, but of course, it was gone. Looking around she had spotted the guards not far off, bringing them some food on a tray. And a cup of water. Taking the tray gratefully from them, she turned back to the rest of the cell, motioning for them to remain silent. Once she was sure the guards were gone, she began to bend the water, wrapping it around her stomach. She was met with amazed stares, clearly none of these people were benders, and no one had thought she was either. If that had impressed them, what was next surely left them gobsmacked. Trying to focus, she sang the song that helped her get in the zone for this more complicated style of bending. She was born with the powers of healing, but could only ever manage to use them whilst singing an old lullaby her mother had taught her. The water around her stomach began to glow, and the pain in her stomach subsided, the blisters reducing in size. Bu t the burn did not disappear. Shocked, she repeated the process, but again, nothing happened. She remembered her teacher mentioning that some wounds could not be completely healed, and gulped. She was going to have this scar forever.
Lost in thought, she hadn't spotted the guards returning, and had to think fast when they grabbed her, yelling to the other soldiers "She's a bender!" She had flung the water that was around her waist at the first guard, before freezing him to the wall. She had spat in the other man's face, freezing that around his eyes so that he could not see. Then she ran. And she had kept running up until now, completely exhausted and completely lost to boot. Overwhelmed and alone, she began sobbing. She had never left the southern tribe before, and now she was in the middle of the world, probably fire nation territory, and with absolutely no clue of how to get home. It was as she sat curled up and crying that a small lizard crept towards her. It waited until she looked up, before tilting its head and wagging its tail. Its skin was black and scaly, but its eyes were as green as the grass around them. Smiling she reached out a hand to pet it, and it sniffed her curiously, before withdrawing, about to sneeze. It staggered backwards before letting out a small sneeze, spewing fire as it did so. The flash of light startled Rapunzel so much that she yelped and jumped up, backing away from the creature, from the fire. As she took her third step back, she collided with something, no, it was someone. Frightened, she whipped around to see a messy haired boy standing in front of her. He was clearly as shocked as she was, as he jumped back before straightening up. "W- who are you?" he said, trying to sound authorative. It wasn't particularly frightening, but his fire nation clothing was enough to scare Rapunzel back into the shadows.
"I'm Rapunzel" she said cautiously from the shade of the trees. "Who are you?"
"Hiccup." He said shortly, scuffing his feet awkwardly on the ground. No not feet, she realised looking down, foot. The other was missing, replaced with some sort of metal stilt. "I won't harm you." He said encouragingly, "come on out into the light." She took a step forwards and looked at him, still expecting him to attack her.