So i know that I have a bunch of prompts I still need to write for you guys, and I promise you I will, but I just felt that after episode 10, Lin deserved her own chapter all to herself. So this is a tribute to Lin Beifong.
leave your thoughts in a review? :)
They are going to die.
She can feel it, even as she fights, even as Tenzin urges Oogie to go faster, that it is helpless. She commands the metal forward again, even as it latches itself deep in the sides of the ship, she pulls back, but she knows.
She's stuck,
She looks back at them, at Pema, cradling her new baby in her arms, eyes wide with fear, at Meelo, curled in his mother's lap, so innocent, so brave, at Jinora and Ikki, who were so wise and beautiful for their age.
Tenzin has his back turned to her, but she stares at him anyway. She doesn't need to see his face; she knows it as well as her own. Goodbye old friend.
"Whatever happens to me," she says, softly. "Don't turn back."
She extends her fingers, pulling the metal taunt, and steps out onto Oogie's tail, as she used to do with Appa when she and Tenzin were children, and she would leap off his back, laughing while she fell until Aang would swoop down and catch her.
Focusing on that memory, she bends her knees.
"Lin, what are you doing?" Tenzin's voice, and not the voice she's come to associate with him now; his awkward, gentle tone. This is the panicked voice of her best friend, trying to stop her from doing anything stupid. This is the voice of her childhood.
She can't bear to look back and see his expression. Clenching her hand into a fist, she leaps off the skybison's back and swings through the air.
OoO
The first ship she takes down easily, and she feels almost pleasure as she slices through the metal, feels it humming and twisting to her commands.
She leaps to the next airship, digging through the metal again, but she can feel people racing towards her-heavy vibrations in the floor-and she knows that this isn't going to be easy.
It happens in a matter of seconds. One instant they're fighting, and then she's down, with electricity racing through her body. She cries out, and curls against the cool metal. Her last sensation is it's gentle vibrations against her fingertips.
OoO
Her hands are bound when she opens her eyes.
Her body still aches, but she knows it's only temporary; she's been hit with lightening before.
She also knows, that she is going to die.
Not completely, of course, but the only reason they would bind her hands and feet, make her so worn out and exhausted that she couldn't fight, was if she was going to see Amon. He is going to question her, and she will say nothing.
He's going to take her bending away.
The thought is so horrible, she almost doesn't allow herself to think it. Bending is who she is. It is her connection to her mother, her true connection with the world. It is how she senses people around her when she cannot see them, it is everything kind and sweet she associates with her childhood.
And she's going to lose it.
She takes several deep breaths, trying to calm herself. But her heart races on, so fast that she fears it will pound it's way out of her chest.
She can't stop the groan of pain that leaves her lips as they force her to the ground. The vibrations of her fall run up her arms and legs, and she savors them. Savors being able to feel the earth for just a few moments.
She looks up, and see's Amon, his masked face staring down at her without emotion, and although she hates herself for it, she can't stop a shiver of fear from running up her spine.
"Tell me where the Avatar is," He says, softly, but with an air of unquestionable command. "And I will let you keep your bending."
She spits the words in his face. "I'm not telling you anything, you monster!"
She can almost picture the smile that twists his mouth, behind the mask. "Very well."
As he walks towards her, each vibration that falls from his feet leave her cold and shivering. Her heartbeats quicken, and she presses her lips together to keep them from trembling. She has to be strong now.
He is behind her. Standing, almost casually, as if he wants to draw the moment out, as if he finds pleasure in it.
She presses herself even harder against the snowy ground, feeling the earth vibrating and humming and moving under her body. She can almost hear her mother's voice: Close your eyes, Lin. Feel the earth with your whole body; you don't have to see it.
So she closes her eyes.
Amon's cold hand touches her forehead, fingers digging in until his grip was painful.
She arches backwards against his touch, her whole body taunt, eyes wide and unseeing. She can't move. She can't see. She can't feel. And the whole time her mind is screaming: No, no, no! please!
He releases her, and she collapses, slamming into the ground almost in slow motion.
But she doesn't feel the vibrations from her fall. She only feels cold. The horror of the situation washes over her. She can't feel. She presses her hands against the ground, willing herself to feel it shift and move under her fingertips, but the only sensation her hands pick up is the burning cold of the snow.
Memories, thoughts, and images flash behind her eyes.
She's concentrating so hard, digging her feet into the soil, nearly crying with the effort of staring at the rock. She slides forward and lets out a yell, punching with her fist.
And the rock moves.
The power behind her punch shifts to the piece of stone, and she can feel it obey her, feel it lift and go like she wants it to. She watches as it slides away from her, chest heaving.
"You did it!" Her mother's warm arms encircle her, strong and comforting. "How did that feel, my little earthbender?"
"Great job, Lin!" Aang bends down so he is at her level, and opens his arms. She rushes into them. like she always does, and buries her face in his shoulder. She's tired, but she's so happy she thinks she might fall over.
She hears her mother say smugly, "That's my daughter, Twinkletoes."
Her mother's words echo in her head as she forces herself back to the present. She presses her cheek against the ground, feeling nothing but cold, cruel snow.
She is no longer an Earthbender.
She is no longer Lin Beifong, not really. Lin Beifong was a metal bender, as strong and fierce as her mother.
Now she is simply Lin. And she doesn't feel strong or fierce at all.
She curls in on herself and sobs until the tears freeze against the cold snow.