Ikki was a chatterbox, that's what everyone called her. Peace and quiet were foreign concepts when one was around her. Her mouth moved a mile a minute. But there was one moment that stole her voice, a moment that struck her cold.
Masked men were all around her. They led her mother away. They struck her father when he roared his anguish. Jinora and Meelo struggled, spitting and biting at the hands that endeavoured to bind them. But Ikki was still. Ikki was silent. Ikki was scared.
Her little heart was so loud, thumping in her chest as she was tied roughly to a stake. They wrapped cloth tight around her head and pushed it thickly into her mouth. But they needn't have. Ikki had not a word to say.
Soon, the platform began to rise. When she saw the man that waited for them, Ikki knew fear.