Chapter 3: Down to Earth

It was going to be one of those days, thought Cornelia Hale.

One moment she was in her family's kitchen, preparing the perfect snack (Tofu with just a hint of Oregano!), when a portal opened up next to the sink and pulled her through.

"Ptui!" spat out Cornelia, expelling dirt from her throat.

She'll have to tell Irma that, no, her healthy veggie meals don't taste like dirt! She had proof now. Yay her.

Apparently, the portal had dropped her in the dust..somewhere. She wasn't sure exactly where.

One of the joys of being a Guardian of the Veil. Or Infinite whatever.

Instinctively, Cornelia 'aged' herself a few years. While normally a fun way to appear more 'mature', here it was so she'd be better able to deal with any trouble she might encounter.

Thus prepared, she walked into town.

The people looked kind of like the people of Meridian. All rural and whatnot. With no motorized vehicles or shopping malls in sight! Sigh.

She was about to ask one where she was, when there was a disturbance.

A marauding band of Fire Nation soldiers on rhinoback galloped through the town's streets, spreading fear and chaos with every fireball launched at the village's structures.

"Run!" a townsfolk yelled. "Get to the stone shelters!"

"Call out the Guard!" another shouted.

Seeing only innocent people fleeing in terror, with no civil Guard in sight, Cornelia took it upon herself to lend a hand.

Telekinetically, that is.

While Cornelia wasn't 'Guardianed up', she still had some power.

As the fiery, ruff rhinoriders bore down on her, Corny's mind pulled a window shutter off a window and placed it right in front of the face of the lead Fire Nation rampager.

WHAM!

As the Fire soldier fell to the ground and his rhino ran off, the marauders behind him pulled up so as not to hit him, causing their rhinos to buck wildly and throw them off!

Though un-rhinoed, the soldiers of the Fire Nation weren't through causing trouble!

Maddened, they advanced on Cornelia, who buckled the street beneath their feet (a stunt she wouldn't have tried when they rode the rhinos, as Cornelia had no desire to hurt the kind of ugly, yet still innocent animals). Wobbly and unsteady, the troops of the Fire Nation crashed to the ground!

Seeing the soldiers so vulnerable, the townspeople screwed up their courage and fought back!

It was all the once-brazen soldiers could do to get out of town in one piece!

"That was amazing!" said one of the townsfolk. "Are you an earth bender?"

"Um", replied the uncertain Cornelia, "Yes, I suppose so. I do have earth powers."

"Were you sent by the Earth King?" asked a villager.

Before Cornelia could answer, a captured Fire Nation soldier was marched into town.

"Talk, fire fool!" demanded a town official. "Where is your army camped?"

The defiant Fire Nation soldier would say nothing.

Instead, his eyes glowed red with anger.

But Cornelia's eyes were on the soldier's hands.

She could tell he was trying to generate the fire he had used before to annihilate their homes.

Without thinking, the Earth Guardian summoned vines to bind the soldier securely.

And everyone's jaw dropped.

"D, did you do that, girl?" asked the trembling townie.

"Well, yes." answered the slightly confused Cornelia. "I said I had earth powers. I'm an Earth Guardian. One of W.I.T.C.H. We work for the Oracle. Perhaps you've heard of him?"

"She's a plant bender!" one person yelled.

"And a witch!" another exclaimed.

"No, I'm not a witch!" Cornelia tried to explain. "We call ourselves after our initials! It's not..."

Realizing they wouldn't understand, and seeing how ugly the crowd had gotten, Corny felt the best thing to do was head for the hills!

But as Cornelia hurried away, the crowd surged towards her!

Spying a cart off to the side, Cornelia gestured and the wheeled, wooden buggy lurched into the road, blocking her pursuers who then crashed into it and each other!

Then Cornelia ran and ran until she was far out of sight.

Moments earlier, another special being had entered town, drawn by all the commotion.

At first, she couldn't believe what she felt happening underground.

Roots were moving through the soil at an amazing speed!

Toph had never felt anything like it before!

"What's going on?" asked the blind earth bender.

"We were attacked! First by the Fire Nation, then a witch tried to cast a spell on us!"

"What??" said the incredulous Toph.

"A plant bender!" cried a townsfolk.

"A, a spirit?" said Toph, who had never believed in such things, but couldn't deny her own senses.

"This was no spirit!" replied the townie. "We're lucky we're still alive! If she can bend living things, who's to say she can't bend human flesh, too?"

"Trouble, folks?" inquired a new arrival.

"Who are you?" asked the town official.

"We are the Kyoshi Warriors!" said the leader of the pack.

Next:
Irma gets in on the fun!