Sorry this one took so long Ive been swamped with uni work for ages but here it is. Slightly more up beat compared to the last one so I hope you will enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I do not own avartar the last airbender or the characters within
Chapter 2-Skybox 8
Public Resistance Document 1: How to Spot a Skybender
There is a possibility that Skybenders has infiltrated your area and are masquerading as one of use. Any suspicious activity is to be reported! Bellow are common features present in most Skybenders:
Light Olive Completion
Grey Eyes
Overly Fluid Movements
A Dislike of Confined Spaces or Subterranean Areas
Arrow or Horn Based Tattoos
Unnatural Balance
Please also look for any unusual interest in public projects and security. Please report any suspicious activity to your local Militia, do not approach a suspected Skybender under any circumstances they are extremely dangerous!
Signed: Commander Teo
Northern Earth Kingdom (Skybender Territory), Temporary Holding Facility 8 aka "Skybox 8"
Toph had always hated the nickname Skybox given to these places. Why? Because it reminded her how high up she was away from the ground. Skybenders hated building anything important on the ground because it was too easy to get to.
Skybox 8 there for was over eight hundred meters off the ground between two mountains hanging from a bridge. And hanging means hanging, it means if it is compromised they can just cut it loose and Skybox 8 becomes a giant and expensive coffin. How's that for a deterrent for trying to escape...not enough for Toph or Commander Teo that let her try this.
The Skybox was only a hundred meters long and made of steel and wood, the steel part was where she came in or at least would be. At this point she was not inside the Skybox...she was hanging under it in the lightest cloths she could find hanging onto a metal support beam.
Sweet was dripping down her body making it hard to concentrate. One drop a moment ago that had gone between her cleavage so painfully slow it had nearly made her let go to dab it away. She moved slowly across the beam aiming for the side of the box where she had been there would be a service hatch.
Intelligence had pointed out that it could only be opened from the inside however...hence Toph who with the absence of Aang was the only know metal bender worth a damn.
Reaching the edge was like coming to the surface of the water...only to sink again. It was shear wood save for thin imbedded steal support coils that she could not use unless she wanted to destroy the box.
She could feel the hatch which like everything the Skybenders made was at the top of the damn thing. Gripping hard with her left hand to stabilise herself she reached for her left arm and bend her meteor bracelet off her arm and bend it into two spiked pads. She may not be able to stick to wood but she could still climb it.
This climb was even harder, without her bending her body felt about five times heavier. She had to stop from growling in frustration when her sweet entered her eyes and they began to burn. It was one thing not being about to use them but why did they have to still hurt.
She could feel the hatches presence as she ascended and she suppressed a whoop of triumph when she touched it. She pressed her once more bare hands to the metal hatch and felt out with her bending. To her surprise much of the inside of the box was plated in metal, the floors and some of the walls. This let her examine the boxes insides with more detail than she was hoping for.
She could sense twenty seven people inside the Skybox...twenty three of those where so stationary that they had to be shackled down in the usual Skybender fashion, human rights had never been a Skybender high point. The ones walking around...heavy feet too easy to sense. Grunts not benders.
Toph smiled to herself this would be two easy to even be fun.
Positioning herself slightly above the hatch she knocked insistently, there was the sudden noise of people marshalling to arms inside and positioning themselves near to the hatch, though not near enough for her.
"Who goes there?" demanded and strong male voice, she half loved half hated the Skybenders accents. There were harsh and commanding but also lyrical in a way that made you want to listen.
"Bender Lara," she said in her best Skybender accent, which she thought was very good, "Registration number SB1409, I have a message from the Captain to give to you."
"What's the message?" asked the male grunt with a more relaxed air. She suppressed a grin, there were buying it!
"There was an attempted break in at ground level buy Earthbenders, there were repelled but there make be...I'm sorry can you let me in its hot out here and sweating my blouse off."
She heard a fait chuckle inside, all guys of course enjoying the idea of the poor Skybender girl without her shirt on.
"Alright one sec girl I'm just getting the key," she felt footsteps retreating away from the hatching leaving to other three there with here, wait no one was moving away to check on prisoners.
"I haven't heard your voice before girl," said one of the other men, his voice was lighter and sounded playful, "you knew to box watch?"
"Aye," she said quickly worrying a little over whether her accent would hold up, she had rehearsed those lines before, "I'm here for a few weeks before my ship placement comes through," and that was the end of her knowledge of Skybender deployment.
"Oh I could think of a worse situation," the man said still sounding sly, "don't you think Ree?"
"Don't ask me you pervert," exclaimed what could only be a woman's voice much to Toph's surprise, "Ignore him girl he does this to everything with girl parts that comes through here!"
"If you lot are finished!" the first man's voice now coming back towards her, "we need to let her in before Grod can try his hardest to get an air blast to the crotch," she felt the insertion of a key in the hatch, "so Lara which ship do you..." those were the last word the man would ever say as at that moment Toph kicked at the hatch sending it into the man's face.
The two in front of her, the man and the woman...Grod and Ree, they had no chance. Still in shock the two were pieced in the chest by bolts Toph had bent from the walls.
The last man took a few shots at her but he was no marksman and she knew how to move in a gun fight. He was dead before he hit the ground...
She tried to ignore the fallen people around her, NO Grunts! Not people she had to remember that rule. Skybenders did not have names or lives they were just the enemy. The enemy that had killed her friends, ye that always got her mad and ready to kill some Skybenders.
Stepping over the corpse of Ree she ripped open one of the cells, which was smaller than a cupboard. The figure inside was hunch over and gagged, their arms and legs were strapped down with leather cords to the point there could not move in the slightest. Their eyes were at least covered, Toph did not know if that was a blessing or a curse...
Running over she fashioned a knife from a piece of metal and cut the person free. The person, a girl staggered to her feet, paused apparently steady and then vomited in the corner of the room and began to cry quietly. Toph did not care she had already moved on to the next cell, another girl or rather woman with a tall strong frame was gladly more level headed, she took the make shift knife from Toph and went to go help others. Soon after the girl emerged to help her and Toph through her one of the knives she had take from the Grunts.
Leaving them to help there fellows she went over to the hatch. Pulling a small flair from her belt she felt for the catch and lit it waving it out the hatch before dropping it and hoping the retrieval team was on the ball.
She turned back to the cells and was glad to feel that most of them were moving around and regaining their mobility. One of them, she realised it was the girl from before approached her and touched her arm out of consideration of her blindness apparently.
"Thank you so much," she said in a quick garble that sounded as though it was said through snot covering her mouth.
"My lady," the woman Toph guessed said as she approached them, "I'm sorry to bother you but I don't know much about Skybender technology and I was worried..." she trailed off.
"Go on," Toph said, no idea what she was getting at.
"Thank you," she said, "you can't see it but everyone here had a device strapped around there necks...a small metal ball of some sort at the back of our necks...people are scared to remove them an till..." she was cut off by Toph who had grabbed the front of her shirt and pulled her toward her and grabbed at the back of her neck.
"Fuck!" Toph shout and pulled at it quickly to remove it all the while listening out, "tell everyone to get these things off Now!" he ordered and grabbed the girl next to her to get rid of hers too.
She had only just got it off her and dropped it to the floor when she heard what she had dreaded hearing, a high pitched whistle that got higher then slowly faded out of hearing. She a series of poping sounds around her and felt as peoples bodies fell to the floor lifeless. The girl began to scream.
Toph punched her knocking her out and through her over her shoulder. She could already hear the alarms going off and could imagine than the area would now be lit up by the Skybenders giant lanterns.
"Everyone breathing out the hatch and jump, if you're lucky someone will catch you!" she shouted before running to the open hatch and jumping through it the girl still over her shoulders.
If the plan had gone even vaguely right then...YES! Her feet met a large rock spire which she started running down. Sudden the sounds of gun fire erupted around her and she felt the spire splinter under her feet.
Pulling the girl on top of her she broke their landing with Earthbending sinking the ground around her a good five feet down to break there fall.
Setting the girl down as gently as she felt she should she was about to form a barrier around them when a sudden pain shot through her leg. DAMN IT! Not again.
She felt for the wound and stop the bleeding and fell to the ground. She could hear gun fire everywhere both in the distance and around her, the rescue party was doing their job she hoped...
There you go a cliff hanger for you hope you like it. Please review and keep reading the next chapter should along in a while. If you have any questions I am happy to answer them just put them in the review section ^^
NEXT CHAPTER: Katara's journey continues...
