Wandering Firebender
Fourteen: Cindra
Elio decided it would be best to avoid anymore Fire Nation colonies, camps, or settlements. Unfortunately for him, if he was to make it to the next town, he would have to find his way around an army camp. However, there was one solution.
Elio had heard talk of an older man, an earthbender, who served as a guide. He would take refugees through a cave system that ran underneath and to the side of the camp, thus avoiding any chance of being discovered by the army.
He determined that this would be his best chance to get where he needed to go. He couldn't risk being recognized again. So there he stood in a distant canyon, paying this older man to grant him passage through the cave.
"What's a young man like you doing traveling by yourself through such harsh country?" The man asked curiously. Elio shrugged.
"Just staying on the move. Thank you." Elio said, tapping on the counter and stepping out of this man's small wooden cabin.
Elio's eyes scanned the refugees all standing around in their small respective groups. There were easily about 20 or more of them all looking for safe passage. Elio leaned a little bit against his staff. Then his eyes caught sight of someone to his left; someone else who appeared to also be alone.
She wore a long blue piece without sleeves and beige pants with walking boots. She had darker skin and long, swirly hair that fell past her shoulders. She immediately reminded him of Katara. Curious, Elio decided to approach her.
"Hello there," He greeted her with a polite smile. "What's your name?" He asked.
"Oh, hello. I'm Cindra," She smiled back. "And who are you?"
"My name is Elio. It's a pleasure to meet you, Cindra," He said, shaking hands with her. "Did our guide by chance also ask you what you're doing traveling out here alone?" He asked with a chuckle.
"Yep," She nodded and giggled. "I get the concern, but I politely told him to mind his own business."
"Haha, well you're more assertive than me. I just said I need to keep moving…and then I kept moving." He said humorously.
"Good way to do it. What is it about old people being so comfortable asking personal questions and getting in people's business?" She asked with a chuckle.
"I don't know. Older age lessens inhibitions, I guess. So, where are you heading off to on the other side of this cavern?" He asked curiously. Cindra brushed her hair back.
"Um… Where everyone else is going, of course: Ba Sing Se. What about you?" She asked.
"Don't know. Inland, I guess. Ba Sing Se; that's the Earth Kingdom stronghold, isn't it?"
"Yep, seems to be the symbol of hope for the Earth Kingdom. Every refugee I've met all want to get inside the walls of that place."
"Alright, everyone! It's time to get moving," The guide declared loudly as he stepped out of his cabin. "Grab your belongings and the people traveling with you in your party! We will not turn back for anything left behind!" He stated before beginning to lead the trek.
"Looks like that's our cue," Cindra said, standing up from the wooden beam she'd been leaning against. "We better get going."
"Right…" Elio agreed. He glanced at her for a moment, "I'll walk with you if you'd like. Seeing that we're both traveling alone- Might be a good idea to pair up."
"I don't mind," She said with a shrug. "If we run into any trouble, you can just whack 'em with that pole of yours." She lightly teased him, tapping his staff as she stepped around to follow the guide.
"Why does everyone assume that it's a pole?" Elio said to himself before turning and falling in step next to her.
Elio and Cindra fell in step behind their guide. The group kept in step behind the guide, murmuring to themselves. Elio looked around curiously. Cindra walked next to him with her arms protectively folded in front of her.
The refugee group reached an earthen hill. The guide stepped forward in an earthbending stance, opening up a well-concealed wall. Once it was removed, the cave was revealed behind it. Elio flinched a bit at the sudden display of earthbending, but his eyes widened in astonishment at seeing the cave.
"Wow. That's actually pretty clever." Elio nodded in approval.
"Alright, everyone! Light your torches!" The guide instructed. The refugees behind them all began lighting their torches. The guide lit two torches and passed one back to Elio and Cindra, "For you two. Hold tight to it now."
"Thank you." Cindra said, taking it. She and Elio glanced at each other. He nodded to her and they looked forward, taking in deep breaths and mustering up their courage as they stepped into the darkness of the cave.
"There really is no light in here at all, is there?" Elio inquired.
"That's right. Total concealment. It's the only way to guarantee the Fire Nation don't find out about this tunnel. Everyone stay close together now! Don't want no one getting lost." He advised. Elio stepped closer to Cindra, wanting to stay as close to the light and the heat of the flame as possible.
"Hello there," Cindra said, drawing attention to how close he was getting. "Need something?"
"Sorry," He stuttered. "You have the torch." He pointed out.
"Do you want to hold the torch?" She asked with a click of her tongue.
"Uh, y-yeah. I'll take it." He said, putting his staff away and taking the torch from her.
"Are you scared of the dark, Elio?"
"Not the dark so much. I'm more worried about what's in it." He answered.
"Everyone stop moving," The guide suddenly said.
Everyone froze. Their ears became attuned to the nasty sounds of hissing mixed with snarling above them. They looked up above them, but the cave was too dark for them to see where the noises were coming from.
"Cave crawlers… Everyone turn back now!" He shouted, turning and motioning the others to run. The other refugees reacted quickly. However, both Elio and Cindra hesitated to turn back.
"What the hell is that noise?!" Elio exclaimed. As if to answer his question, a large snake with 10 eyes dropped down in front of them with a loud rumble.
"Spider-eel!" The guide shouted, opening up the entrance for everyone to get out. Elio shrieked in fear and jumped back, but he saw Cindra hesitating.
"Cindra! What're you doing?!" He shouted. She looked back at him.
"I have to get to the other side of this cave!" She shouted, turning back towards the spider-eel. She waved the torch to keep it back and started making her way around it.
"Are you insane?!" Elio shouted, pulling his staff out. He ran over to her defense, jumping and rolling to avoid the creature's tail. He threw himself between her and the creature's face, smacking it in the side of its mouth with his staff to stun it.
"Elio, get out of here! I don't want you getting hurt trying to help me!"
"You'll die without my help!" Elio argued. The spider-eel hissed at them.
"Run!" Cindra shouted, grabbing his hand and pulling him to run away from it by going further into the cave. Elio had no choice now but to fight to keep them both alive.
They both turned and sprinted away from the spider-eel as fast as they could. They could hear it regaining its composure and slithering after them. Elio let go of Cindra's hand and grabbed onto the staff with both hands, turning around and swinging at it again.
The spider-eel retracted its head quickly to avoid his desperate swings. It then quickly swatted him to the ground with its mouth. It then opened its mouth and bit on Elio's right leg, pressing down with an almost bone-crushing force.
"Elio!" Cindra shouted.
"Ahh!" Elio yelped in pain, smacking it on the nose with his staff multiple times.
The spider-eel turned its head quickly and let go of Elio's leg, swinging him and throwing him into Cindra. His body crashed into hers, roughly knocking both of them to the ground. As the creature began to slither towards them, Elio tried to regain his footing.
"Elio, grab onto me!" Cindra shouted. Elio quickly put an arm around her.
Suddenly, Elio felt Cindra pull them both over the edge of a drop. The spider-eel narrowly missed its chance to eat them. Elio and Cindra grabbed hold of each other as they rolled down a steep slope, their backs smacking against the floor as they tumbled over each other again and again.
They both screamed as the floor suddenly disappeared and they fell downwards. Then they crashed against a flat rock floor. The torch bounced out of her hand and went out all at once. The slithering and snarling sounds of the spider-eel disappeared into the distance.
"It's gone…" Elio wheezed weakly, laying his head back. He was so dazed that he could barely feel anything at all. Cindra's hand pressed on his chest as she crawled towards him.
"Is that you?" She asked. Neither of them could see anything anymore.
"Yeah. That's me." He answered. Cindra whined in pain and laid on the ground by him.
"Why did you do that? Why did you help me?" She asked.
"You were gonna die trying to get away from that thing. Obviously. What were you thinking?" He questioned. He heard her stifle back the urge to groan in pain.
"I'm sorry… I couldn't risk the Fire Nation catching me. Everything I'm after is on the other side of this cave." She answered.
"What're you talking about?" Elio questioned. Cindra hesitated to answer him.
"I…can't tell you."
"Oh yeah, really?" He grunted sarcastically, "Well we're gonna need each other now if we're gonna have any chance of getting out of here, so you might wanna rethink that answer."
"Fine," Cindra grumbled and sighed. "The truth is… I'm trying to get to the Southern Water Tribe."
"The South Pole? Why?" He asked.
"B-Because I want to learn how to fight. I'm from the Northern Water Tribe. Up there, they refuse to teach women how to fight; only how to heal. But I want to be able to do more, so I figured that my sister tribe would give me a chance." She explained hopefully. Elio swallowed.
"I see…"
"What about you? I told you the truth, now it's your turn." She demanded.
"Whatever… I'm trying to avoid the Fire Nation. I don't know where I'm going. I just know I need to avoid the Fire Nation at all costs."
"Why? Are you wanted?" She asked.
"Probably."
"What did you do?"
"I ran away."
"You ran away… So you're from the Fire Nation then?" She reasoned.
"…yes. I am." He answered slowly. She hesitated to answer him.
"I thought the Fire Nation was all bad. That's what everyone made it sound like."
"That's not entirely untrue. It's like 90 percent bad… Okay, don't freak out. I'm gonna try and give us some light." Elio warned before trying to sit up with a grunt. As he started to compose himself, the numb pain in his leg and across his body started to become more noticeable.
"I lost the torch." Cindra admitted.
"I have my own." Elio said, creating a small flame in his hand. As soon as there was light, Cindra immediately shuffled away from him with widened eyes.
"You're a firebender?!" She exclaimed in shock.
"Shh! We don't want that thing finding us again." He insisted. Cindra swallowed nervously, her eyes dropping down a bit.
"Your leg… Are you bleeding?" She asked. Elio looked down at it, reaching with his other hand and feeling around his leg.
"Uhh," He hissed in pain. "No, I'm not, but it hurts. I think it's bruised."
"L-Let me take a look at it." Cindra offered, crawling closer.
Elio pulled his pant leg up as best as he could with his free hand. He held his flame closer to his leg to provide light. He watched as Cindra warily looked at the fire before turning her attention to his injured leg. She carefully turned his leg to the side a bit.
"You're lucky the fangs didn't get you, Elio. Otherwise your leg would be done right now." She commented.
"Lucky me."
"Try and hold still for me." Cindra said, reaching down and opening up a pouch hooked to her waist. She held her hand over it. Elio watched as she pulled water out of it, moving it through the air with her hands.
"You're a waterbender." Elio realized with widened eyes.
"Surprised? Now you understand why I couldn't risk having the Fire Nation finding me." She said, bending the water down to his leg. The water began to glow.
"Whoa… Yeah, makes sense now…" Elio said, pondering over this fact. He realized that Cindra's bending made her out to be even more of a target than he was.
"You said you ran away from the Fire Nation. Why?" She asked.
"My father's a high-ranking Fire Nation general, which means I basically had one option in life: join the army and fight in the war. But I didn't want to do that, so I ran away." He summarized. Cindra scoffed a bit.
"So you ran away because you didn't want to fight, and I ran away because I wanted to fight." She pointed out ironically. Elio chuckled a bit and sighed.
"And yet here we both are… My leg feels way better now, wow. What did you do?" He asked as he moved his leg around.
"The one useful thing my tribe actually taught me is how to use my waterbending for healing." She said in a bit of a grumble.
"That's incredible," Elio said in astonishment, slowly getting to his feet. "That's about as good as it's going to feel right now. We gotta find a way out of here." He said, grabbing his things. Cindra stood up too and brushed the dirt off her clothes.
"Right… Hold on, do you hear that?" She paused and motioned to be silent. They listened and could hear the sounds of rushing water.
"Sounds like water."
"Right. Hold on," Cindra motioned for him to walk with her towards the sound. Elio provided the light as they walked, and they came across a river running through the cave system. "A river! This could be our way out!"
"Really? Well… No you're right, either side of this river could lead us back out from under this cave." He thought aloud.
"Exactly. If we follow the river downstream, maybe it will lead us out the other side!" She reasoned.
"Let's hope so." Elio said with a nod. The two of them walked silently alongside the river heading downstream. However, they quickly ran into a problem when they walked into a rock wall.
"Dead end." Cindra sighed.
"Maybe not… The river sounds like it's still going. I think if we're gonna follow this river and see where it leads, we'll need to jump in."
"But what if we still run into a dead end?" Cindra asked.
"You're a waterbender, aren't you? Can't you just pull us back?" He asked. Cindra wrung her hands together.
"I'm…not a great waterbender. It's like I said before, I was only taught to heal. The little that I know about fighting is because I would sneak around sometimes. I'm not sure I could pull against the river." She explained.
"We have to try. Just do what you can." He urged her. She looked at him and nodded.
"Okay. Let's do it."
Elio let Cindra approach the river first. She slid her left foot forward and raised her hands up, pulling some of the water upwards. As she struggled against the current, she managed to create a bubble for the two of them to step into the river bank on flat ground.
"You're doing great, Cindra!" Elio encouraged her, sliding down into the river bank. She managed a smile as she jumped down with him. The water bubble shifted awkwardly when she landed, but she managed to regain control.
"Let's try and hurry, please. This is hard to hold." She insisted.
Elio created flames in his hands to provide light for them. They couldn't see anything past the walls of the water bubble, but at least they could watch their footing as they followed the river forward. Cindra kept her arms raised and her hands moving around her body to maintain the bubble.
"I think I see some light." Elio said, peering forward. The water around them became easier to see through. Light was coming down on them from somewhere.
"Good… We're running out of time." Cindra strained, clearly struggling to continue. Elio noticed this and urged her to walk faster.
"We're almost there. Once we're out of here, let the water go and we'll swim to the edge of the river." He instructed.
"Okay." She agreed, taking in deep breaths to try and maintain her form a little longer.
Finally, they stepped out into the light. Now able to see around them, Elio looked up and saw the late afternoon sky above them. They had indeed finally made it out. However, the river had widened out, and now the current's pull had become stronger.
"We made it, Cindra! Let's get to one side of the river so we can climb out!" Elio said excitedly.
"I…can't…" Cindra said, her arms weakening. The bubble around them started to collapse. Elio worriedly turned to her. It was easy to see that her strength was beginning to give out.
"Cindra!" He exclaimed as her arms fell and the water rushed over both of them.
Caught at the mercy of the raging river, they both spiraled wildly before Elio was able to regain some control. Although he could barely manage to get his head above water, he was able to grab onto Cindra, who was struggling to do the same.
As they both fought to keep themselves and each other above water, Elio turned his head and saw that the river seemed to suddenly disappear just ahead. He tried to swim to the side and grab onto dry land, but it was too late. The two of them were pulled off the edge of a waterfall.
As Elio went into a full panic, Cindra looked down at the pool of water below them. If she could just make one more push, they could land safely. In one last desperate motion, she reached forward with both hands and pulled the water towards her.
Her bending was enough to pull some water up towards them. As the water grabbed them both, she pulled them away from the base of the waterfall. They crashed down into the calm water below, shaken up but still alive.
Elio's grip on her slipped as she used her waterbending to pull herself to dry land. She hoisted herself up onto the grass, gasping for air and spitting up water. She coughed and panted as she turned back towards Elio.
"Elio!" She exclaimed, realizing that he was still in the water. In fact, his strength was giving out too. Elio felt the weight of his staff and his pouch pulling him under the water, and he had lost out on the strength to swim to the edge.
Cindra panicked as she watched him sink under the water. She stood up, taking in deep, rapid breaths, "Come on, come on." She urged herself to act, raising her hands one more time. With a loud yell, she pulled Elio through the water and onto dry land with one last waterbending pull before collapsing to her knees.
Elio flopped onto the ground amidst a puddle of water. He coughed and retched up water that had gotten in his lungs. He laid limply, face down on the ground. He gasped for air and groaned, relieved to still be alive. Cindra crawled over to him.
"Are you alright, Elio?!" She worriedly questioned, turning him onto his back. Elio groaned again, seemingly too tired to even open his eyes and look at her.
"I'm okay… Thank you." He said through his labored breathing. As he slowly relaxed, he reached one hand up and took hold of her hand. She swallowed, saying nothing as she held his hand in both of hers…
As the sun set over the Earth Kingdom, Elio and Cindra silently recovered from the events of the day. No words were spoken between them; they were both too tired to go anywhere, so they just made camp right by the water.
Elio sat in front of the campfire that he had made himself. He'd hung his wet clothes to dry and covered himself in new pants and a thick blanket. His still damp hair hung down over his face. He was still cold and shivering.
Taking in deep breaths, he tried using the fire to warm himself. But as his breathing relaxed, he felt the fire rising and falling with his breaths. Focusing on his breathing, he could feel his body warming itself internally. He exhaled sharply and steam came out of his nose and mouth.
"You look like you're doing better," Cindra observed as she approached the fire and sat across from him. "Hope you like fish." She said, showing the food she'd managed to catch for them.
"Is that what you were out doing? Sorry." Elio said, realizing that she'd been out hunting while he'd been sitting there.
"It's okay. You took more of a beating than I did today… Thank you, Elio, for helping me today. It became more and more obvious as things were happening that I would have died in that cave if you hadn't stepped in. I'm sorry that you got dragged into all that because I made a stupid decision." She apologized sadly.
"It's okay, I understand. Your options were limited. If I'd been in your position, I might have done the same thing." He said understandingly. She smiled a bit.
"I know you're only saying that to make me feel better, but thank you anyways." Cindra said before they went about cooking the fish and getting some food in their stomachs.
As they ate, Elio thought about what Cindra had told him. She wanted to get to the South Pole so she could learn to fight. He now knew that she'd been referring to fighting with waterbending. However, he'd already met someone from the South Pole…
"Cindra. There's something you should know." Elio brought up.
"What?" She asked, looking up at him.
"I know you said you wanted to get to the Southern Water Tribe so you could learn how to fight…but I met someone from there already. Does the name Katara mean anything to you?" He asked curiously.
"Not really," She shook her head. "What did she tell you?"
"There's no one in the Southern Water Tribe that could teach you waterbending. She specifically told me that she was the last waterbender in her tribe." He informed her. Her eyes widened in shock.
"Wh-What? Are you serious…? But…" Her sentence trailed off as this piece of information really sunk into her mind.
"She was actually heading to the Northern Water Tribe. It seems you both were heading to opposite sides of the world for the same reason."
"So this has all been for nothing…?" She realized, pressing her hands on the sides of her head, "Our sister tribe has nothing. And if they have nothing then I have nothing… They were my only shot."
"I'm sorry, Cindra." Elio said sincerely. He didn't have anything reassuring to say other than that. She was right; if what Katara had told him was true then she had come all the way out here for no reason at all.
"I-I have to go." Cindra said, getting up suddenly and scurrying away. Elio watched her with a sad expression before going back to eating his food…
