The next few days were hard for the orphans.
Meili and Jai had stolen only a little bit of food before they left the town of Gaipan, so their half-empty stomachs were rumbling uncontrollably. In addition to their stolen food, the kids had obtained some other things as well: Meili snagged an overly-large, white cloak from a merchant, and Jai swiped an overly-large helmet from a blacksmith.
Grabbing garments that insulated heat wasn't the brightest idea, though. Neither of the orphans had taken a shower in over a week — so the clothing only made them sweat more.
They had traveled north from their village down one of the trading routes but weren't prepared for the taxing journey. At some point, they had strayed from the winding dirt road and decided to travel through the trees to be more inconspicuous.
Jai suddenly tugged on Meili's skirt, telling her softly to stop walking. Apparently, he had seen fire coming from the east, which meant there were either Fire Nation soldiers or someone camping out. More than likely, it was the former.
The two orphans crouched low to the ground, and Meili told Jai to arm himself. Despite his young age, she had taught him how to defend himself throughout the year they spent together at the orphanage. Meili didn't think it was bad to be overcautious.
They crept slowly to where the fire was originating from, peeking through some bushes when they reached the outskirts of the camp. Thankfully, that's all it was. A camp. There were no Fire Nation insignias in sight, and Meili grinned. That made things a whole lot easier.
"I see food," Jai whispered, his mouth watering at the statement. He jerked his head over to the right, signaling to Meili where it was located. It was gathered in nets and propped up against a barrel. Meili nodded when the food came into her view, quickly informing the boy of her plan.
She was going to creep around the side of the camp to make sure the way was clear. Jai, since he was smaller and faster, was going to quickly run over to the food and steal some. The plan was fool proof. A get-in, get-out mission.
The twelve-year-old girl stealthily stalked over to the opposite side of the camp, with Jai following closely behind. Once she arrived, she peered her head into the camp. The fire was still going — the remaining embers remained stained in bright red scorch.
Meili glanced around at the tents, most of which were taken down, before signaling that the place was clear.
Jai nodded, quickly stepping out of the foliage and into the camp. His imploring eyes surveyed the land before they landed on the barrel. His little legs got him there abnormally fast, and he wasted no time in grabbing the top of a sack of bread and apples.
"What do we have here?" a voice suddenly spoke up, causing the young boy to drop the sack he had just grabbed. "It seems we've discovered a thief."
Jai tensed up as he was suddenly lifted from the ground by the front of his shirt. He kicked and flailed, grabbed at his attacker's wrists, but the boy's grip didn't falter.
"I don't really like thieves..." the voice trailed off, and Jai opened his eyes to face the man. He had shaggy brown hair and sinister eyes. The amber-colored orbs were squinting in anger, and his eyebrows were furrowed together in a scowl. "What do you think I should do with him, guys?"
His group blurted out various punishments that would satisfy them, and the attacker grinned at each one. Jai closed his eyes once again, attempting to drown out the scary situation at hand.
Meili watched from the sidelines of the camp with a scowl of her own. She tsked as she opened the pouch situated on her hip. If these people were going to make things hard, well, she wasn't afraid of getting dirty.
Jai flailed more as the attacker rose a fist in preparation to strike. As he swung down his arm to deck the small boy in the face, a sudden flash smacked the attacker's trajectory out of the way, forcing him to drop Jai down to the ground.
As he looked up from his dazed position to locate his assailant, only a blur of white filled his vision before he was pushed down to the ground. The impact was so strong, his hooked swords were knocked down to the ground in a ringing clatter.
"Touch him again, and you'll regret it."
The boy now lying on the forest floor was stunned, to say the least. This mystery attacker, whoever they may be, took him out in mere seconds. Him, the leader of their group. By their voice, he could also tell that the assailant was a girl, surprising him even more that a woman could stop his advances.
"Is that a threat?" the boy spat, not fighting back from his position on the ground in the slightest. If anything, he wanted to see what else this girl could do.
The girl pulled a knife out from the pouch on her hip before stabbing it on the ground mere inches from the boy's head, "It's a promise."
The mysterious boy smirked, the wheat in his mouth bobbing up and down with the curve of his lips. He grabbed the wrist of the hand still clutching onto the knife by his head before flipping the girl over.
In the process, he managed to grab ahold of her knife, now pressing the dagger into the tip of her throat. Meili's white hood fell and pooled underneath of her neck, revealing her appearance.
Her black hair cascaded down her shoulders in a mess, emphasizing the pale luster of her skin. Thin brows furrowed in a scowl, framing her seafoam-colored eyes. One of those light green orbs drew in his attention, his gaze analyzing the long gash running down the left side of her face. The scar was ugly, and the girl's look grew angrier the longer the boy stared at it.
The attacker suddenly got off the girl with a grin, grabbing one of her wrists before lifting her up with him as well. He swirled the girl's knife around his finger, before extending the weapon back toward her.
"My name is Jet, and these are my Freedom Fighters."
The black-haired girl pulled her hood back over her head as soon as she stood up and snatched her knife out of the boy-named-Jet's hand.
Jai looked over at his un-biological sister, letting out a sigh of relief that she was safe. Meili's eyes met Jai's briefly before they returned to the threat in front of her, the boy who called himself Jet.
Jet held out his hand, attempting to instill some sort of truce. Meili wasn't having it, however, and smacked the boy's hand away.
"Don't think you can win me over with a smile and a handshake," Meili said distastefully. "You threatened Jai, and nothing you do is going to change that fact. You were prepared to strike a child over something so trivial."
Jet shrugged and picked up his hooked swords, strapping them onto his back once again.
Jai suddenly lifted up a finger, "Hey! You're that guy from the orphanage! The one that took out all of those Fire Nation soldiers!"
"You're smart, kid," Jet grinned. "Pretty strong too."
"Not as strong as you," he beamed back. "All of you guys are strong!"
"Let's not flatter them," Meili mumbled, grabbing ahold of her brother's shoulder. "I think it's time to get a move on."
"You don't have to leave so soon," Jet insisted, stretching an arm out in front of Meili's form. "We're always looking for new members."
"Really?" Jai asked in excitement. The tiny five-year-old turned to Meili, "Can we please?"
The black-haired girl rolled her eyes, taking a deep breath to calm herself down, "What's the catch."
"No catch," Jet grinned, too nice for Meili's liking, chewing on the wheat in his mouth.
These men saved Meili at the orphanage and her the headstart she needed to be free. But Jet's good deed didn't convince her that they were innocent.
Even though her suspicions were high, however, Meili couldn't deny Jai's right to choose what he wanted to do with his life. And wherever he went, she would follow.
"Then I guess I concede," Meili reluctantly agreed, looking defiantly into Jet's eyes.
Jai jumped in excitement, hugging Meili's leg fiercely.
"All we need are some nicknames for you guys," Jet grinned before gesturing to his friends behind him. "These are my Freedom Fighters: Sneers, Longshot, Smellerbee, and Pipsqueak."
"So, by nicknames, you mean we have to have some ridiculous pet name?" Meili asked in her forever sarcastic tone, crossing her arms.
Of course, Jai was the complete opposite.
"What's mine? What's mine!"
"Woah, calm down there, kid," Jet grinned, bending down to his level. "As I said before, you're a pretty feisty kid and didn't mind putting up a fight.. so how about The Duke? You know .. as in a fight?"
"I love it!" the little boy screamed, jumping up and down in his place. "Meili, isn't The Duke so awesome?"
The black-haired girl smiled at her brother, seeing his face light up more than it had in the past year, "It's great."
Jai, now nicknamed The Duke, pointed up to her, "What about Meili's?"
Jet looked pointedly at the girl for a while, analyzing her before nodding his head slightly, "Whiteflash."
"Whiteflash?" Meili repeated. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Jet gestured to the girl's cloak, "You're wearing white and appeared out of nowhere in a flash.."
"… I guess that makes sense."
"Hey, Jet, we should take our stuff back to the hideout," the one name Smellerbee stated, turning around in her spot. "Then we can get our new members a meal."
"You guys have a hideout?" Jai asked incredulously.
"We have a hideout," Jet corrected, grinning as he looked at the two new recruits. "C'mon, I'll take us there."
The introduction to the Freedom Fighters was brief, apparently because they always had members coming and going. Jai immediately fell in love with the group, talking about how he finally had a home.
The two orphans soon found themselves falling into step with the rest of the members; the first few months of their arrival were spent helping around the treetop hideout. Meili did the menial chores like laundry, cooking, and food-collecting — something she found sexist — while Jai spent time making traps around the base and washing newfound armor.
Their sixth month in was when Meili finally found out the Freedom Fighter's plan: to rid the Earth Kingdom of the Fire Nation.
Meili knew that Jet had his heart in the right place, but she found she didn't resonate with the goal. Or rather, she couldn't. Sure, ridding the land of the Fire Nation sounded nice, but fighting violence with violence would achieve nothing. Bloodshed would only continue. Lives would still be lost.
Of course, Meili never came out and said this to Jet directly. The leader talked about his past multiple times, and anything anyone said to him fell on deaf ears.
He would recount how he watched Fire Nation soldiers take out both of his parents when he was eight — at dinner, on missions, during casual conversation… In Meili's opinion, he tried to justify his actions too often.
Meili felt sorry for him being traumatized at such a young age, but he had to realize that she never had parents. She didn't know how to empathize with him, and she disagreed with his thoughts of causing pain and suffering to random Fire Nation citizens.
Besides Meili's growing suspicion of Jet as time went on, the girl and Jai found themselves settling into their newfound roles within the Freedom Fighters.
Jai grew incredibly close with Geun, otherwise known as Pipsqueak. The large, strong boy, although not very bright, was compassionate, and Jai seemed to sneak his way into his big heart. Meili was reserved on her opinion of the man, mainly because she didn't want to connect with these people.
All her life, no one ever stayed. Even her own parents didn't stay, and they were supposed to be the ones that loved her most. So why would she trust a random group of strangers? If it wasn't for Jai, she never would have even joined the group.
So, Meili tended to keep to herself whenever Pipsqueak and Jai would leave to explore, which was more often than not. Sometimes, Longshot would join her in her solace. Although the boy never talked, Meili found that he was very vocal through his eyes and body language. But most of the time, the two just sat in the trees, looking at the forest below in silence.
The only other person Meili talked to in the rebel force was Smellerbee, though the relationship was more one-sided. Smellerbee was still young – too trusting – and she wanted Meili to be like a big sister. But Meili knew she couldn't be that, mainly because she didn't want to be. Looking after Jai was already too much for her anyway.
Of course, Meili still felt bad for the girl's upbringing. Before Smellerbee had joined the Freedom Fighters, she lived with extremely abusive and violent parents. So, when the Fire Nation seized her farmlands, Smellerbee didn't even hesitate when running away. She left the abusive household in hopes of making a new start.
Meili was less cold towards Smellerbee than others, only because Jai liked the young girl. He would always say that they were all orphans, so they were one big orphan family. But Meili didn't want a new family. She had Jai, and that was enough for her.
By the time Meili had turned fifteen, about three years after her and Jai's recruitment, Jet's behavior had taken a turn for the worst.
The old Earth Kingdom town Meili lived in before joining the Freedom Fighters, Gaipan, was still occupied by the Fire Nation. Jet felt as if they needed to change their tactics if they were going to rid the town of the soldiers.
The mercenary group's small missions of interrupting village trade and stealing weapons weren't enough for the leader anymore, and Jet decided to take more extreme measures. Meili didn't like their small acts of rebellion to begin with, so when Jet's decisions started going down south, the girl didn't know how much longer she wanted to stick around.
She had no allegiance to them – no bond … no connection. To her, the only relationship she had with the rag-tag team of bandits was a symbiotic one: She had a place to sleep and call 'home,' and they had an extra fighter to take down the Fire Nation with. Both parties benefitted from the exchange, but it didn't mean Meili had an obligation to stay.
Besides, after three years of menial chores and tent raiding, Meili grew tired of the group's antics.
One cold autumn day, Jet approached Meili and asked for her help. Smellerbee had seen a small Fire Nation camp just outside of their hideout, and a lot of valuable loot was hidden inside their tents. Meili agreed to help him out, knowing that it was only a looting mission and not a killing one.
The group assigned to the mission was Jet, Pipsqueak, Sneers, Longshot, Jai, Smellerbee, and herself. They left early in the morning, just as the sun began to creep over the mountains, and situated themselves in the trees above the camp.
They had waited in the treetops for an hour before everyone had grown restless, Jai especially. Jet wouldn't give them the 'okay' to attack unless the right distraction was present. Smellerbee argued by saying they could take the fleet out without a distraction, and Longshot agreed with a nod of his head. Meili even thought it was silly to wait so long. It would've been faster to just get it over with.
But all of the waiting paid off when a boy and girl dressed in dark blue attire and a bald kid with a fluffy lemur perched on his shoulder pushed through some foliage, staring straight into the eyes of the Fire Nation soldiers.
Smellerbee and Jai laughed as the dorky Water Tribe boy got lit on fire when one of the soldiers shot flames to block the group's escape. The girl next to him extinguished the fire with water, which she bended out of a small canteen.
Jet finally signaled to go as the dorky kid began bluffing, saying how he promised not to hurt the soldiers if they let them go. Smellerbee took initiative with the sudden distraction and threw out a small dagger towards the leader of the soldiers. It impaled him in a pressure point in the back of his neck, instantly knocking him out.
Jet then swung down from the trees, jumping on top of two soldiers' backs before hooking his swords around two others' ankles and flipping them over. Longshot took his aim and shot away the weapons four soldiers had, wrapping his legs around the branch of the tree he was on before flipping upside down to take out more.
Jai jumped down from the tree he and his sister were perched on, plopping down on top of one of the soldier's shoulders, making the firebender run around in havoc. Sneers and Smellerbee flipped down as well, fighting some benders as Jet continued stealing attacks from the Water Tribe boy.
Meili flashed down from the trees, flicking a dagger at a soldier that turned to attack her. The firebender Meili struck was now pinned to a tree, the blade piercing through his shirt and securing him to the bark. She took pride in knocking out two more soldiers, using nothing but roundhouse kicks and punches.
Pipsqueak took out the rest of them, swinging around his weapon, which was a log of wood.
Jet greeted the three travelers astounded at the group's skills while Sneers left to tie up the knocked-out firebenders.
"You just took out an army almost single-handedly!" the bald kid with blue arrows stated, walking over to Jet's side.
"Army?" the Water Tribe boy questioned incredulously. "Pfft, there were only like.. twenty guys!"
Meili resituated her cloak, putting her weapons back in her pouch, "And it wasn't almost single-handed."
Jet ignored his teammate's statement, looking at the Water Tribe girl in the eyes before speaking, "My name is Jet, and these are my Freedom Fighters.. Sneers, Longshot, Smellerbee, The Duke, Whiteflash, and Pipsqueak."
The bald kid then commented on how Pipsqueak was a funny name, mistaking Jai for the one with that nickname. Geun began chuckling as the kid realized it was him named Pipsqueak, and he smacked the bald kid down to the ground with a hearty laugh.
"My name is Katara," the Water Tribe girl smiled, blushing as Jet looked her into the eyes.
"I'm Aang," the bald kid grinned.
The other Water Tribe member was standing off to the side, brooding to himself as he mumbled things about 'show-offs.'
The Freedom Fighters took their time looting the camp, all of the Fire Nation soldiers now tied up at the edge of the clearing. Smellerbee was off collecting firewood, Sneers was inspecting barrels, and Longshot was cleaning his bow. The Water Tribe boy, who Katara informed the group to be named Sokka, was still pouting to himself, watching the Freedom Fighters with a distasteful glare.
Jai found some blasting jelly inside of a barrel, and Pipsqueak found jelly candy. Meili searched in the tents and found high-quality armor, food, and weapons.
"We should go ahead and take this stuff back to the hideout," Sneers commented, throwing his finds into their wagon.
Aang looked at Jet incredulously, "You guys have a hideout?"
Jet nodded, "Would you like to see?"
"Yes, please!" Katara beamed, clasping her hand together harmoniously.
Meili wanted to warn Jet; she wanted to tell him that nothing good could come from letting these strangers, who looked very out of place, into their camp. Meili wished that Sneers hadn't even said anything in the first place.
But once Jet was set on something, he didn't relent. So, he swung an arm over Katara's shoulder and began his descent through the forest.
Since no one else would argue with the leader, Meili bit her tongue and followed suit.
On the walk back to the hideout, Jet took the initiative in asking the small group why they were there in this forest. Aang answered with the small response of, "I'm the Avatar," which didn't really clear up much. Meili rolled her eyes as she looked over at the Water Tribe boy who was arguing with Jet on the ways of a warrior.
Katara continued admiring Jet from afar, the girl unable to take her eyes off the mysterious man. He was strong, dependable, and well.. everything she ever dreamed of having in a guy. Katara was glad she and her brother had found Aang in that iceberg because she might have just found the man of her dreams.
"We're here," Jet announced, turning to face the rest of the people around him.
"Where is here," Sokka grumbled, "There's nothing around us!"
"Wouldn't be much of a hideout if it was clearly visible, now would it?" Meili stated, grabbing onto the back of Sokka's shirt.
"Woah, hey! What are you doing?" he argued, flailing in the girl's grip. "Let me go!"
The black-haired girl ignored his cries as she took a rope into her unoccupied hand, wrapping it around her wrist while she yawned slightly, "Hold on tight."
With a sudden jolt, the rope leeched forward, tugging the two people into the fiery trees above. Sokka squeezed his eyes shut as the rope continued flying faster. For all he knew, this chick could be taking him into the depths of enemy territory.
"Open your eyes, scaredy-cat," he heard the girl's voice call as they landed, and reluctantly, he followed her orders.
The Water Tribe boy glanced suspiciously as the other members of the Freedom Fighters passed him, their hands full of their newfound items. Sokka shook his head as he saw Katara follow Jet like a lost puppy. Leave it to his sister to go and fall for someone suspicious.
"I am not scared," Sokka argued, his voice cracking as he emphasized the word not. "I was just .. closing my eyes from the sun."
"Yes, look at all the sunlight peeking through the thick canopy of leaves above us," Meili replied, gesturing up to the thicket of leaves blocking all sunlight into the hideout entirely.
Sokka glared at her, ".. Sarcasm is my thing."
Meili rose an eyebrow, "I'm guessing accident-prone your thing, too?"
".. I really hate you."
Meili turned the other way, "Much obliged."
Sokka scrambled up as her figure began walking away, and he hastily turned to follow her. After all, he had no idea where he was going. They walked in silence for about five minutes before the girl stopped in front of a wooden door positioned inside of a tree.
"This is where you guys will be staying for the time being," Meili said, twisting the doorknob so that Sokka could enter inside. "I'll go find your companions, so they can get settled in as well."
"I can do it myself," Sokka replied hastily, storming past her figure. "We're only going to stay here for tonight, and then we're leaving in the morning."
"Okay, Ponytail."
"It's Sokka!"
Meili awoke the following day feeling unusually annoyed, taking a deep breath as her eyes opened to the wooden room around her. She glanced to her left where Jai's cot was positioned, seeing his figure missing from the wool blankets. She guessed that he had already awoken to go and eat breakfast.
Pulling herself out of bed, Meili yawned and followed suit, slipping on her cloak before walking out of her room.
The thing Meili probably liked most about her cloak was its ability to completely conceal her. When she had first gotten it all those years ago, it had dragged along the ground and the forest terrain due to her height. Although she was still not quite that tall, the cloak now extended to the bottom of her boots.
The white fabric was thick enough to keep her warm but thin enough to not feel bulky on her body. The greatest advantage was that no one could see underneath it. Well, unless they were shorter than her … only then would someone be able to see into the hood.
Luckily, Meili's less-than-impressive height of four-foot-nine aided her in that department.
Her scar — her permanent imperfection, the reminder of her past— was what influenced her dependency on the cloak. She didn't have to deal with scrutinizing stares when her hood was up, and it actually made her look cooler, or .. well, that was what Jai told her at least.
After Meili closed the door behind her, a sudden blur of yellow and red stopped in front of her. Trying to comprehend what she just saw, Meili blinked her eyes quickly, only to see Aang's figure positioned in front of her.
"Hey, Whiteflash! Look at what The Duke gave me!"
The Avatar pulled out a bag of bang snaps, small little fireworks that exploded when they connected with the ground. The detonations startled the flying creature by Aang's feet, causing the lemur to find refuge upon Meil's head.
Meili sweatdropped as the monk became overly amused and began throwing the explosives everywhere. His excitement was stopped as an angry Sokka stormed past them, almost running over Katara, who had joined them as well.
"We're leaving now," the older boy growled, his bag already thrown over his shoulder.
"What? Why?" Katara questioned, a look of disappointment enveloping her face.
Sokka scowled, "Your boyfriend, Jet, is a thug."
"What? No, he's not," Katara defended, crossing her arms. Whether Katara was saying he wasn't her boyfriend or he wasn't a thug, Meili was unsure.
"He's messed up and crazy!" Sokka accused. "He robbed and harmed an innocent old man."
"I don't believe that," Katara stated, not noticing Meili's contemplating gaze.
With the path Jet had begun heading down, Meili couldn't say that the story sounded false. Jet had gotten a little violent with soldiers before, but never with someone innocent.
However, the idea of Jet fabricating up a believable story to aid his case sounded like something he would do. So the black-haired girl did the only sensible thing that anyone could do. Meili went to get the other side of the story.
With the Avatar and his group following behind, the girl led them over to Jet's quarters.
"Sokka, you told them about what happened... but left out the fact that he was Fire Nation?"
Katara scowled, "Yes, he conveniently left that part out."
"Jet, just because someone is Fire Nation doesn't make them a threat," Meili countered, glaring at the boy in the eyes. "What if it was a little Fire Nation girl?"
"Whiteflash, that's different. This old man was sent to eliminate me. He had a knife with a hidden compartment for poison."
"I didn't see a knife on him," Sokka stated.
Katara sighed, "Sokka, you probably just didn't see it."
"There was no knife!" he yelled, storming out of the hut.
Meili tuned out Jet's pleas for Katara and Aang to stay and instead focused her attention on the door Sokka walked out of. If the boy was telling the truth, that meant the day Meili feared was closer than she thought.
There was no reason for an old man to come into the forest to assassinate someone, only armed with a dagger randomly filled with poison. And with the hideout's location being a secret, the old man wouldn't have been able to discern where Jet's location was anyway.
Meili had already wanted to leave the group of fighters, and Jet's little stunt pretty much sealed the deal for her. Meili already had an experience with backstabbers before, and she was not in the mood to deal with them again.
This time, she would be able to save herself by taking preemptive measures. Because no one could be trusted.
Jai groaned as he looked outside, the sky painted a dark grey. The other members of his group began filing down the ropes hanging from the trees, so he groggily sat up and crawled over to the right. He shook Meili's shoulders, listening to her groan before she sat up as well.
"It's time to go, Sis," Jai whispered, handing the girl her cloak. Meili nodded groggily at his statement and grabbed the fabric, slipping it on over her slender form before walking out of her room. Jai followed her and jumped onto her back as she held onto a rope to take them down.
It was typical for the Freedom Fighters to rendezvous at night to plan for raids, so Meili didn't think much of it. She only grew uncomfortable when they approached the edge of a cliff overlooking the town Gaipan.
"Listen," Jet whispered, turning to face his group, "you are not to blow the dam until I give the signal. The reservoir must be filled all the way because if it's not, the Fire Nation troops could survive."
"What about the people in the town? Won't they get wiped out, too?" Jai questioned, looking innocently up into Jet's eyes.
"The Duke, that's the price of ridding this place of the Fire Nation."
"There shouldn't be a price to this," Meili argued, slipping herself in-between Jai and Jet. "Killing innocent people was not a part of the plan we had. You are not making Jai have blood on his hands, not if I have any say in it."
"Whiteflash, look," Jet sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's better this way. The Fire Nation will be gone from this valley, and these people won't have to suffer anymore. We're just doing them a favor."
"Their choice to live is not your decision to make, and you are stupid if you think Jai and I are going to take part in this."
Jai nodded, "Yeah, what about all of the other kids.. like the ones in the orphanage? And all the mothers and fathers? It's not right!"
"Guys—"
She smacked Jet's hand off her shoulder, "My choice is final."
The leader of the Freedom Fighters sighed heavily as he retracted his hand, crossing his arms in front of him angrily.
"I was hoping that you'd have an open mind, but I can see that you've made your choice," Jet scowled, "Smellerbee, Pipsqueak, lead her and The Duke away, and take care of our spy while you're at it."
The other female of the group walked over to the bushes where Sokka was situated, yanking him up by his ponytail. He struggled as Smellerbee brought him in front of Jet, throwing him to the ground.
"You lied to Aang and Katara," the Water Tribe boy grimaced, "You're a liar, and there's nothing you won't do to get what you want."
Jet laughed, a maniacal laugh that Meili had never heard before, "I always get what I want."
Then he sent the three away, Pipsqueak and Smellerbee accompanying them as guards.
Pipsqueak took ahold of Sokka's arm, yanking him into the nearby foliage to take him 'on a walk' as Jet had put it. Smellerbee went to do the same to Meili, only to have Jai kick her.
"Don't touch my sister," he growled, losing all his usual happy tone. Smellerbee immediately backed down, instead choosing to walk behind their prisoners.
"How can you stand there knowing that Jet's about to wipe out a whole town?" Sokka questioned five minutes into their walk, scowling at his guards.
"Listen, Sokka, Jet's a good leader," Pipsqueak argued, "We follow what he says, and things always turn out okay in the end."
"They do?" Meili questioned, stopping in her tracks. "Wiping out these people isn't going to help us, Geun. What Jet's doing is no better than what the Fire Nation does to people every day."
Jai nodded, "I lost my mom.. why should I take away someone else's?"
Smellerbee looked down at her hands, glancing at the various scars littering her pale skin.
She, Jet, and Longshot had gone out on a mission about a year ago, and they encountered a Fire Nation civilian. He said that he was retrieving medicine for his sick, bedridden wife, but Jet convinced Smellerbee that he was bluffing in an excuse to kill him.
Smellerbee believed Jet without a second thought, but she didn't know what to think when Jet left her to finish the job. For six weeks, Smellerbee couldn't sleep: the pain and terror of the man's face as she took his life — she would never forget it.
"Whiteflash … you're right," Smellerbee nodded, turning to the older girl beside her, "Most of these people are innocent, and killing them just to get rid of a few Fire Nation soldiers just doesn't feel right."
Meili nodded her head, "I knew you'd understand."
Smellerbee smiled sadly, wishing she hadn't followed Jet so blindly, before enveloping Meili in a tight hug. Meili smiled uncomfortably, not used to being embraced so tightly, but patted the girl's head in empathy.
Geun removed the bindings from Sokka's hands before bowing toward the teens.
"We'll go try to stop them," he spoke gruffly.
Jai's eyes sparkled comedically. "Thanks, Pipsqueak. You're the greatest!"
"No, you're the greatest, The Duke!" Geun replied back, tears now streaming down his face.
"Alright, you two. Enough of the love fest," Meili spoke with a deadpan, pushing Geun forward back toward the cliff.
The Water Tribe boy rubbed his wrists where the ropes had bound him as he walked over to Meili. Both teens watched as the bandits sprinted back over toward the direction of the Freedom Fighters.
Once they disappeared behind the trees, Meili turned toward Jai and crouched down to his level.
"Listen to me, buddy. You need to go find Katara and Aang – tell them of Jet's plan. The Avatar should be able to get the cliff in time to stop Jet. Can you do that for me?"
Jai nodded. "I can do it, Sis. But … what about you and this weird-haired guy?"
"I have a better idea," Sokka argued, ignoring yet another insult to his warrior wolf tail. "Let's go to the town and evacuate everyone. That way, if Pipsqueak and Smellerbee can't find a way to convince Longshot to stop, everyone in town will still be safe."
Meili nodded, hugging Jai softly before the young boy ran off.
Sokka and Meili made eye contact once everyone was gone, nodding their heads.
It was time.
"Follow me, Ponytail," Meili said.
The black-haired girl led the way to Gaipan, having made many scouting and raid trips into the town. It took about twenty minutes of running and jogging for them to arrive. Sokka somehow kept up with Meili's athletic build — although he did complain frequently.
By the time they had made it into the center of the town, a huge crowd of people had begun to surround them, and the Fire Nation soldiers started yelling at the two.
"Listen to me. You guys need to get out of here!" Sokka yelled, stretching out a hand. "Someone is about to blow up the nearby dam—you'll all be washed away!"
"You are a spy, we know it!" one of the Fire Nation soldiers yelled, grabbing Sokka roughly by the shoulders. Another one walked up behind Meili, grabbing her by her arms as well.
"Please, you have to listen to us!" Meili pleaded, attempting to struggle out of his grip. "You have to evacuate, please. Save yourselves!"
"Listen to them," a gruff voice interrupted, making everyone turn to an old man in the crowd. "Trust these kids.. one of them saved my life."
Seemingly moved by the older man's words, everyone in the town began evacuating, much to Sokka and Meili's happiness.
"What do you mean Jet's going to blow up the dam?" Katara questioned, stopping her bending to look into Jai's eyes. The boy shook his head, relaying them the information one more time.
Aang paused his bending as well, pulling out his glider once Jai had finished talking, "If Jet is going to harm innocent people, then we have to stop him! Katara, grab my hand!"
The brunette nodded, slipping her fingers into the monk's grip before being lurched away. Jai smiled as he watched the two fly away in the direction of Jet, knowing that the Avatar was going to be able to stop him.
"Would you like some help, Ponytail?"
"No, I got it—and it's Sokka!"
".. are you positive you don't need help?"
"I said I got it!"
".. but you're not even close to reaching it. And we're kind of in a time crunch."
Sokka growled as he fell to the ground, clumps of white, fluffy hair wisping around him, "I said I had it!"
"You fell."
"..I hate you."
Meili yawned, "So you've told me."
The black-haired girl walked over to the fluffy beast that Sokka was attempting to climb upon, easily gripping onto the tuffs of fur to lift herself up. Once Meili was comfortable on the white sky-bison, she looked smugly down at Sokka, "Well, are you coming?"
"Stupid, bossy girl.. of course, she could get up," Sokka mumbled to himself, low enough so that the girl couldn't hear. "I can get up by myself! Who does she think she is?"
"Can you quit mumbling and grab my hand?" Meili stated, holding a hand down towards the boy. "Again: you do know we're on a time schedule."
Sokka rolled his eyes defiantly as he stared up at the hand before clasping it in his own. Within seconds, the Water Tribe boy was perched upon Appa, sitting contently on his back. From within the fiery trees, the fluffy lemur that Meili had become acquainted with flew over to her, landing on her head as he usually did.
"Okay, now hurry up and fly this thing," Meili stated, glancing up as Momo snuggled down into her hood. "We still have to go back to stop Jet."
Sokka growled slightly as he scrambled up to the front of the bison, muttering insults about the cloaked girl before wrapping Appa's reins around his wrists, "Yip yip."
Appa let out a small grumble before flicking his tail, immediately bending some air to get him up above the trees. The sudden lurch startled Meili, and she gripped onto the side of the saddle to make sure she didn't fall off.
After ensuring that everyone had gotten out of the town, the two teens made their way back to the hideout, collecting up their things before rushing to Appa. They still had to make their way over to Jet, who was hopefully preoccupied by Katara and Aang.
Sokka flew the giant beast over the reservoir of water, which was still intact. It looked as if the dam hadn't been blown yet, and hopefully it would stay that way.
A sudden flash and an explosion made Appa swerve, and the sky-bison just barely missed being singed by the gush of flames. The water held back by the dam was now free, and it surged through the forest and towards the town of Gaipan.
"It looks like Smellerbee and Pipsqueak couldn't convince him," Sokka concluded.
Meili nodded, "It was a smart move heading towards the town first, good call."
"I guess you could call it an instinct," Sokka smiled smugly as he turned Appa's reins, approaching the side of the cliff at high speeds. He was glad to have saved that town and gotten complimented while doing it. The Water Tribe boy quickly turned left, holding on tightly to the reins as Appa approached the cliff.
"—This forest is safe."
"Yeah, without you," Sokka interrupted Jet, stopping Appa on the small clearing.
"Sokka!" Katara greeted, running over to the giant sky-bison. Momo flew off Meili's head and onto Aang's shoulder, making little clicking noises as the airbender smiled in glee.
"We told the town what you were planning," Meili spoke up, jumping down from Appa. "We managed to get them out just in time."
"You idiots!" Jet screamed, thrashing a hand out. "We were going to rid this valley of the Fire Nation, and now — I can't believe it!"
"—Jet!" a voice interrupted, making everyone's head turn to the side. Pushing some foliage aside, Smellerbee, Pipsqueak, Jai, and Longshot all came into view. The one who had spoken was Smellerbee, and the girl moved to place herself in front of Jet.
"It's time to let it go."
Jet stared at his partner, dumbfounded at her statement, "There is no letting it go! This forest was going to be safe!"
"Causing more pain and suffering wouldn't be making anyone safe!" Smellerbee fired back, crossing her arms defiantly. "It's done and over with. Let us start over."
"Start over.. W-What? Do you hear yourself? Does anyone here hear themselves? You just saved the Fire Nation!" Jet yelled out, scowling in anger. "They killed my family! We have to take revenge!"
Katara suddenly lunged out in rage, sending several water attacks toward the boy, cornering him into a tree. Jet couldn't move from the assault and found himself frozen solid to the trunk of the tree.
"I won't let you get away with this!" Jet yelled in the waterbender's face.
Katara scowled, tears brimming in her eyes. "I can't believe I trusted you."
Katara turned away from Jet, ignoring his string of profanity-ridden sentences that echoed around the cliffside. Meili, who had grown tired of Jet's yelling, walked over to Smellerbee and took the sash off her waist, subsequently walking over to Jet and tying his mouth shut.
Meili sighed, the muffled screams of Jet almost making her smile. "No one here knows hold long I've waited to shut him up."
"I knew you could save all of those people, Sis," Jai said with a smile, running up to Meili and enveloping her in a hug. Meili smiled back, wrapping her arms around the small boy to return the hug.
Katara and Aang climbed their way onto the back of Appa, looking down from the saddle at the rest of the Freedom Fighters.
"We're sorry for what happened," Smellerbee apologized, bowing her head down to the Avatar and his team. "And sorry about your glider, Aang."
"I'm just glad the people in the town are safe," Aang smiled back, putting a fist into his hand before bowing as well. He picked up his broken glider and opened it up, inspecting the damage. "Gliders can always be fixed."
"You were the ones who fixed us," Smellerbee smiled sadly. "I thought I would be a traitor if I thought that what Jet was doing was wrong.. but I now see that he became the traitor when he stopped protecting innocent people. When he wakes up, we'll show him — Meili and I will help him change his ways."
Meili sighed, shying away from Smellerbee's confident gaze, "Smellerbee, I can't— I'm... I'm leaving the Freedom Fighters."
"You're doing what?!" Jai questioned, grabbing onto the hem of Meili's skirt. "You can't, Sis! I mean, these people are our family!"
"You're my family, Jai," Meili smiled from behind her cloak, bending down to her brother's level. "I can't stick around Jet anymore. Not after what just happened. We need to find somewhere new, somewhere safe." Meili placed a hand on Jai's cheek. "I need to keep you safe."
"Well, if you're leaving, then I'm coming, too!" Jai blustered. "And we can bring Pipsqueak!"
"Jai, Geun is his own person. We can't make him come with us. That's his own choice."
Jai looked over towards his giant friend. "But.. what about Sneers, and — and Longshot? And Smellerbee?"
The white-cloaked girl looked up from Jai and towards the rest of her team. They all nodded, knowing that it was ultimately her own choice.
"We have to leave," Meili stated, holding Jai's hand in her own.
"If you're looking for a place to go, why not come with us?" Aang suggested, playing with Appa's reigns in his hands.
Katara rose an eyebrow, "Can we trust her?"
Sokka began to stroke his chin, "My instincts believe her to be a threat."
Aang deadpanned, "Since when have your instincts been right?"
"My instincts are almost always right!" Sokka shouted with a voice crack. "But then again.. I mean .. she did speak out against Jet's plan."
Meili stood up from the ground while still holding Jai's hand, turning her head up to look at the three that entered their forest only a few days ago.
"I couldn't ask to you guys to do that for me. Besides, the Avatar is going to have a tough journey. You will all be followed and targeted. I can't put Jai in harm's way like that. He's only a child."
Jai looked up to his un-biological sister, "I could stay with Pipsqueak. You can trust Geun to take care of me. He's an adult!"
Meili shook her head, "I couldn't.. I mean, I can't. I can't leave you behind, Jai — I won't know where you'll be."
Geun grinned and put a big hand on Meili's shoulder, "I'll take good care of him, Whiteflash. Jai and I can travel around the Earth Kingdom together!"
Jai hopped onto Pipsqueak's back and grinned heartily, "You don't have to worry about me, Sis. You taught me how to survive, remember? Trust me! We can meet up with you guys at Ba Sing Se! Remember that place? We used to read about it all the time!"
Meili smiled sadly at her Jai's excitement. He seemed happy. Content. But Meili felt a twinge of sadness ping her heart.
In a world of solitude, in her life of isolation, Jai was the only person she had ever grown to appreciate.
The black-haired girl turned toward Aang and his gang, voice hesitant, "You're positive that this is okay, Avatar?"
"We have plenty of room!" Aang exclaimed, eye-smiling with a wide grin. "Plus, we need more people who can fight without bending!"
"Yeah.. my brother could use someone to teach him," Katara said as she tapped her chin.
"What? I was the best warrior in our .. whole village, Katara!"
Katara made an irritated face as if she had heard that before, "Our village is made up of five and six-year-olds."
Sokka grumbled angrily underneath his breath as he crossed his arms.
"Avatar, I— I don't know if I can.." Meili sighed. "You guys don't know who I am."
"Come, Whiteflash," Aang interrupted with a smile, stretching out his hand from Appa's saddle toward the girl in front of him. Meili stared into his glistening gray eyes; though they appeared large and full of adventure, they held a look of responsibility and kindness.
Meili held out her own hand, taking the monk's soft ones into her own before being pulled up into the saddle of the giant sky-bison.
As Longshot restrained Jet and led him away, the rest of the Freedom Fighters wasted no time in telling Meili goodbye. Jai himself took a long time telling Meili farewell, no doubt a bit sad at his sister's departure.
"Don't worry, they're going to like you!" he had whispered into his Meili's ear. And for some reason, Meili highly doubted that.
After everyone had said their goodbyes and Sokka had, miraculously, climbed up on top of Appa and into the saddle, Aang spoke 'yip yip' before his sky-bison flew away. Meili watched the cliff until Jai and Geun became mere dots on the ground before turning around to face her new companions.
Aang and Katara apologized for not believing Sokka and his accusations against Jet. After a bit of explaining about how 'Sokka's instincts' kicked in, the group soon turned their attention to their newest member.
"I'm guessing since you called The Duke by the name of Jai, your name probably isn't Whiteflash," Aang smiled from the front of Appa. It turned out he was usually the designated 'bison-driver.'
"That's a correct assumption," Meili nodded, tugging the hood of her cloak down lower. "Jet gave the names to us."
"I'm gonna say that you're not too fond of that," Katara stated, the bitter taste of betrayal still lingering in her mouth.
Meili shook her head, "Not really, Princess. I only joined them in the first place because Jai wanted to."
Katara's eyebrow twitched. "I don't know if I like my nickname either."
"Anything is better than Ponytail!" Sokka exclaimed, pointing an eccentric finger toward his hair. "This is a warrior's wolf tail!"
Meili waved them both off nonchalantly.
"How'd you end up with the Freedom Fighters, to begin with? Why did you and Jai leave your parents?" Aang questioned.
"Oh," Meili said, playing with the hem of her skirt, "Jai and I aren't actually related. We grew up together in the same orphanage... He was the only one I really talked to— we left together after the orphanage got raided one day, and we've just... been with each other ever since."
"Sorry.." Katara whispered sadly,"—about your parents, I mean. Sokka and I lost our mother to the Fire Nation when we were younger..."
"Sorry to hear about that, too..."
"So, what's your name?" Sokka asked dully as he crossed his arms, unimpressed by their new companion.
"Sokka," Katara chastised, hitting her brother on the shoulder. "Don't be so pushy."
"Hey, I mean, unless she wants us to call her Whiteflash or creepy-hood-girl for the rest of our journey," Sokka said sarcastically, wiggling his fingers at the word creepy, "she might want to let us know."
"Meili," the girl spoke evenly. "You can call me Meili."
And after a small mix-up of directions, Meili and the Avatar's group soon began to resume their path north towards the Northern Water Tribe.
Author's Note: Thank you guys so much for following and favoriting this story! It really means a lot to me (insert heart emoji here) and also thank you to dragontamer64 for leaving my first review :) I hope everyone has a great day and I'll see y'all on the next update.