Chapter Seven

Escape

"Shit! Did your guys hear that?"

"Of course I did," said Binh to his leader, "It was loud enough to wake the dead!"

The three boys were running back to headquarters, weaving past trees and jumping over fallen logs.

"It sounded like an explosion!" shouted Arash, "Do you think Maylin is okay?"

"She's probably just fine," answered Taru calmly. "She can handle it."

"I hope so…"

They were breathing pretty heavily by the time they reached the burnt tree that marked the East entrance to their hideout. The tree was about the only thing left, the ground was gone around the entrance; dirt scattered around on the grass as if it had rained from the sky. On the freshly turned soil were the footprints of at least twenty different men, leading down the stairs and through the corridor.

"Let's hurry!"

XOXOXOXOXOX

Katara cautiously peeked around the corner of the corridor. Fire Nation troops were everywhere, menacing red figures storming the compound; sneaking past all of them was quite a task. Of course they could probably take at least a few of the soldiers out, but they had to get out without being noticed. The last thing they needed right now was to have thirty enemies after the three of them. The girl looked around for the exit and found it at last, luckily not in the way of any Firebenders. Well, at least she hoped it was the exit; all the hallways here looked the same to her. She turned around to Iroh and Zuko.

"All clear, let's go!"

The three rushed out of their cover and crossed the room toward the exit, luckily without attracting the attention of any Firebenders. They didn't know where that army had come from, but the Rebels were all there and fighting ferociously against the invasion. However, at this point there was no telling who would win, they both looked evenly matched.

Katara snuck down the hallway, watching out for any enemies that might try to stop them. Iroh followed closely behind her, equally alert. The last member of their little group, Zuko, hung back a few yards, as if he was sulking in his own way. He'd been like this since Katara had healed his ankle; she didn't know what on Earth was wrong with him. Was he angry or something that she was the one who broke them out? Well, it didn't matter wheat he thought of her, it wasn't as if hey were going to stay together after this. She would much rather be with her friends and brother than stuck with a moody Firebender. Heck, she'd rather be at the bottom of the ocean than be with him!

All of that was after the three escaped from here, though. For now, they had to work together to find their way out of this labyrinth, without getting burnt to a crisp by Firebenders. They ran down the torch-lit hall and came to a fork. They all stopped and stood together, looking down each way as far as they could.

"Which way should we go?" Katara asked the old man beside her.

"I don't know," responded Iroh, "They both look the same to me.

Zuko turned around, listening to the distant sound of approaching footsteps. "Well, you'd better decide; we don't have time to stand here!"

"Let's go left!" Katara said confidently.

Not knowing which way any better than she did, both men agreed and the group ran down the left hallway. They got to the end and it came into a room where several Firebenders were fighting one of the Rebels. Upon their entering, one of the soldiers turned and fired an attack at them.

"Right, I meant! Let's go right!"

They turned on their heels and ran back the other way, Zuko turning around while he ran to send the fire attack back to where it came.

The other path turned and twisted several times, but finally did it come to a real exit. Of course, this was blocked by several fierce-looking soldiers locked in battle with the Rebel leader. Katara stopped, about to turn back, but Zuko stepped forward confidently.

"We're going to break through."

"What?" She said, confusion spreading into her voice. "The point of escaping is to not get caught again! Now you want to pick a fight with the enemy!"

"Ugh, just watch," he grumbled. "Uncle, give me a hand. Girl, follow behind us. You'd better keep up, because I won't go back for you!"

The two Firebenders stood side by side, and at the count of three sprinted forwards straight at the enemy blockage. They bended their fire around them, forming a flaming human cannonball. Katara ran behind them, being careful not to touch any of the fire. Seeing the two Firebenders come running at them kamikaze style, the soldiers quickly parted and pressed against the wall to get out of their way. The two cannonballs, wrapped in fire, broke though with the Waterbender in tow. The girl looked back into the eyes of shocked soldiers and a very, very angry Taru. He looked like he was going to come after them, but as the battle resumed the boy didn't have the chance. They ran out the tunnel and up the stairs into the bright sunlight above.

Katara sighed in relief and took a deep breath of fresh air. Damn, it felt good to be free.

XOXOXOXOXOX

Author's Note

This is the last chapter in the Wind Rebel story line, and to be quite honest I'm not sure what I'll make happen next, but I have a few ideas. I've got two drawings up on Deviant now, one Zutara picture and a sketch of the Wind Rebels. If you're interested, my username is merixthexninja at