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Light from the Shadows Chapter 5
Sakura
The group had been traveling for a little over a week now, each day their food supply dwindling. Lucky Kakashi and Sokka knew how to scavenge for food, but they were having a really bad day today. The landscape was proving to not house much game or fruit bearing plants. Their worsening luck led to irritation, and everyone was frustrated now. Sakura and Katara had just finished wrapping up their sleeping rolls and stowing them on Appa when Sokka returned to the group along with Kakashi and one tiny bag between them.
"Great, you guys are back! What's for dinner?"
Kakashi hung his head and Sokka pouted, refusing to meet Aang's gaze.
"Well. We've got a few options. First, round nuts and some kind of oval shaped nuts,"
"Almonds." Kakashi grumbled.
"Right. Almonds. Whatever. And some rock shaped nuts that… might just be rocks. Dig in!"
Katara looked at Sokka like he was nuts, there were bags under her eyes from lack of sleep. No one slept well on an empty stomach.
"Seriously, what else ya got?"
Sokka dug deep in his little bag, tongue stuck out with effort. He came up with nothing. A loud noise sounded through the forest they were in.
"Whoa, what was that?" Sokka asked.
"It came from over there!" Aang yelled out. Sakura ran off in the direction of the blast, Aang and Katara just behind her. They stopped behind a felled tree and watched as a boy earthbended a rock in a dried up riverbed. Kakashi and Sokka caught up with the group.
"An earthbender!" Katara whispered.
Aang replied, "Let's go meet him!"
"Wait, he could be dangerous, so we should approach with caution." Kakashi told them.
"Hello, there! I'm Katara! What's your name?" Sakura shook her head as Aang and Katara ran out to the earthbender. The boy ran off in surprise, closing the walls of the riverbed with earthbending behind him.
Sokka turned to Kakashi, "Yeah she doesn't listen to me either."
"I know. That's why I said something, hoping she'd listen to me. But I guess not." Sokka shrugged and they all followed the two idiots running after the earthbender, they were saying something, but she couldn't make it out. Something about a market and not having to eat nuts for dinner. Kakashi and Sokka sulked when they heard it too. Sakura cleared the wall he had erected and they followed on his path.
"Hey we worked hard for those nuts!" Sokka shook his fist at the two running in front of them. Kakashi looked a little downcast.
"Yeah we hate 'em too. Let's go."
By the time they arrived in town, Aang had traded what nuts they had for a straw hat. That kid. I swear if there isn't somewhere else to get food here I will kill him for trading what little we had. He turned to Sokka and laughed, enjoying his new garment. She sighed. He looks so happy! Who am I to stop him? The world will try and crush his joy soon enough. Sakura heard Katara burst out behind her.
"Hey!" She whirled around and saw the boy from earlier enter a building. Katara ran after him and Sakura followed. Upon entering the building, she heard Kakashi follow up behind him.
"That's the kid from earlier right?" He said to her, trying to keep his voice low. Sakura saw the boy talking to an older woman, presumably his mother or grandmother.
"Maybe? He looks similar."
"Where have you been, Haru? You're late! Get started on your chores." Katara was approaching the two at the back of the store.
"Hey, you're that kid! Why did you run away before?" The boy looked away as if he didn't want her to recognize him.
"Uh, you must have me confused with some other kid." Aang and Sokka had now entered the shop as well, and they weren't the type to stay quiet. Of course not.
"No she doesn't, we saw you earthbending." The two quickly ran around the building, shutting the doors and windows. Just as she shuts the last window she turns to Haru. Paranoid much?
"They saw you doing what?"
"They're crazy, mom, I mean, look at how they're dressed!" Their group all looked down at themselves, they were wearing relatively normal clothing for where they came from, but it was all quite apart and different from this Earth village's local threads.
"Hey!"
The mother was having none of his shenanigans.
"You know how dangerous that is! You know what would happen if they caught you earthbending!"
A heavy knocking sounded at the door. Sokka and Kakashi look out the window.
"Open up!"
"It's Fire Nation! Act natural!" They each found something normal to be doing. 'Normal' was not really a word you would use to describe what they did. Haru's mother opened the door, each of their party was doing something, but Sakura thought they all looked like idiots. Aang slipped into a barrel of water, Katara was checking out an apple, Sakura was pointing out a mask on the wall and Kakashi was trying one on, presumably asking her opinion. His hand somehow ended up on her hip. Sokka was trying to look bored. Sakura thought he was probably the only one that had succeeded in a normal look, whatever that meant. A Fire Nation soldier entered the store, checking out each of them Haru's mother stopped the man just inside the store.
"What do you want? I've already paid you this week." The soldier grinned maliciously, getting dangerously close to the middle-aged woman's face.
"The tax just doubled. Wouldn't want an accident, would we?" He produced a fireball between his hands, threatening them with burning down the store. Sakura and everyone else took a reflexive step back from the man.
"Fire is sometimes so hard to control." Sakura saw fear plainly on Haru's mother's face. Any defiance she had been trying to put up crumbled. These poor people, oppressed by the Fire Nation, it makes my blood boil for them. Haru's mother collected a box from behind the counter, and judging by the ease with which she moved it, it was practically empty. She opened it and took out a few measly coins. The soldier took them and dumped the small ones on the floor.
"You can keep the copper ones." The man left, obviously pleased with himself. I bet the tax didn't change at all, that man just wanted to harass them and take their money. Haru's mother picked up the coins off the ground. The tension in the room was angry and depressed. Sakura felt how tense Kakashi's grip on her waist was. When did his hand get there? And how long has the fire nation been here oppressing these people? Sokka beat her to the punch.
"Nice guy. How long has the Fire Nation been here?" Haru's mother had a grave expression on her face.
"Five years. Fire Lord Ozai uses our town's coal mines to fuel his ships." Her son was raging, Sakura felt the anger radiate off of him. Kakashi's hand slipped off her hip and she looked at him. He seemed to be somewhere else.
"They're thugs. They steal from us, and everyone here is too much of a coward to do anything about it." His mother shot him a look.
"Quiet, Haru. Don't talk like that."
Katara spoke up,
"But, Haru's an earthbender. So is Sakura. They can help!" Yeah let's fuck up those Fire Nation bastards!
"Earthbending is forbidden. It's caused nothing but misery for this village. He must never use his abilities. And you shouldn't either if you know what's good for you, girl." The woman was speaking to her now. As if I'd let a couple of Fire Nation asshats keep me from practicing my bending! Katara was getting just as fired up.
"How can you say that? They have a gift. Asking them not to earthbend is like asking me not to waterbend. It's a part of who we are." She was pouring her soul out to this woman, who had been through years of being repressed. Her spirit had been broken. She was just trying to do what's best for her family. The woman sighed with annoyance. In her eyes we were going to get her family in trouble.
"You don't understand."
"I understand that Haru can help you fight back. What can the Fire Nation do to you that they haven't already?" Oh, I don't know Katara. They could kill them? That would be something. Isn't that worth swallowing your pride? Your mother was killed too, don't you see that the enemy will stop at nothing to take over the world? Innocent lives are taken every day. Sakura wanted to chew on Katara. She was going too far.
"They could take Haru away! Like they took his father."
"My parents disappeared too, most likely Fire Nation was behind it." Sakura found herself saying, "They're presumed dead at this point, but they never found any bodies." Katara and the two's conversation ended, and they looked at her. Katara's eyes had a burning passion in them. Sakura knew her heart was in the right place.
"Then you must understand why we must leave things as they are."
"I understand. Even if I don't agree with it. I understand."
…
That night they stayed in Haru's barn, grateful for any form of shelter, really. Haru came inside to talk to them.
"My mom said you can sleep here tonight, but you should leave in the morning."
"Thanks. I'll make sure Appa doesn't eat all your hay." Aang piped up, after Appa had inhaled a massive mouthful of hay. Haru and Katara left the barn together. Poor Haru, I know he wants to help his father, but his mother does have a point. Maybe Katara will talk some sense into him.
"Where do you think they're going?" Kakashi came up to her as she unpacked her sleeping roll. He pulled his own out of the pile of their supplies and did the same next to her.
"Not sure, but I hope she manages to connect with that boy on some level. He needs some of her spunk. These people have been under the Fire Nation's thumb for far too long. They've lost their fighting spirit. Well, it seems everyone but Haru, anyway."
"Yeah. I'm just hoping they don't go and do anything stupid. The way his mother talked, he's in real danger of being arrested and taken away."
"Mhm. Katara is with him too. Hopefully she's smart enough to know better than to get him in trouble."
"I'm not so sure." He had finished laying out his roll and laid down on it, "well no sense in losing sleep on it, lay down and try to rest. Even if you have to fake it."
She laid down and waited for sleep to come. It seemed like forever until she finally fell asleep. Sakura woke up when Katara returned, then she really drifted, knowing her friend was safe.
"It was really brave of Haru…." She missed the rest as she fell asleep.
…
Sakura and Kakashi were packing their bedrolls the next morning. Katara had gone out for a fresh pot of water. She wasn't gone long when Sakura heard her rush back into the barn.
"They took him! They took Haru away!"
The blood in Sakura's veins ran cold. No. The one thing his mother was worried about happening. It happened. And all because of fucking Katara. Using her pretty little words and convincing Haru to earthbend. That poor kid. I wonder what they do to them once they're taken away.
"What?"
"The old man he helped last night? He turned him in to the Fire Nation. It's all my fault, I forced him to earthbend." You're kind of right, little girl, though you probably didn't actually force him. He more than likely already wanted to help, it was just his mother's words holding him back. Eventually yours outweighed them in his mind. Sokka came up to her,
"slow down, Katara," he put his arm around her shoulder and held her hand in genuine concern, "when did this happen?"
"Haru's mother said they came for him at midnight." Sokka dropped her hand.
"Then it's too late to track him, he's long gone."
"We don't need to track him. The Fire Nation is going to take me right to Haru." Aang looked at her like she was crazy.
"…and why would they do that?" Katara had a determined look on her face.
"Because they're going to arrest me for earthbending."
"You for earthbending? Wouldn't it be easier if I got arrested for actually doing it?"
"But do you feel as strongly about this as I do?"
"Of course I do. Trust me. At the very least let me get arrested along with you. Maybe they'd arrest you for waterbending?" The girl nodded and they went along with planning out their 'arrest'. Katara and Sakura would 'fight' and Sakura would end up earthbending to stop her. Katara would try and waterbend to stop her. They were hoping that the soldiers would arrest both of them, even if Katara wasn't an earthbender.
…
They had found one of the patrol routes the Fire Nation walked through every 30 minutes or so near the mines. The patrol group was due to come by in something like 2 minutes. Sakura and Katara waited until they were just coming around the bend to start arguing. Sakura started the argument.
"Get out my way, pipsqueak!"
"How dare you call me "pipsqueak" you cotton-candy headed ninny muggins!"
"What did you call me?"
"A COTTON-CANDY HEADED NINNY MUGGINS!"
"You better back off!" Sakura was getting fired up for real now. No one made fun of her hair and got away unscathed.
"I will not back off! I bet little kids come up to you and try to eat your hair!"
"That's it—you and your loopies are going down!" Sakura earthbent a large boulder out of the wall next to them and held it over Katara's head. Katara responded with a waterbending stream to knock the boulder out of the way and turn it to mud.
"Stop right there!" Good our plan is working. Sakura heard one of the guards grumbling,
"...way to stop a hot catfight." Sakura weighted a rock in her hand. I don't have to earthbend to take on a creepy asshole. She shot a hot glare at the man. He stumbled back a few feet and blushed.
Kakashi and Sokka came out from behind the rock.
"We'll hold them!" Kakashi lowered his voice and spoke in her ear. "Katara is going to find Haru, you guys only have 12 hours. We'll be right behind you."
Sakura and Katara were both arrested and led off.
"Normally we only care about earthbenders, but since you're so feisty, we'll take you too. Maybe you'll be an interesting gift to the warden." The maliciousness in his voice sent chills down Sakura's spine and fire through her veins. If he even THINKS about touching her... It's a good thing I decided to come with them after all, lest the warden do something incredibly inappropriate to Katara.
…
Sakura and Katara were led to a Fire Navy ship, and forced to wear brown sackcloth over their normal clothes. Kakashi, Aang, and Sokka saw them off. Sakura met Kakashi's eyes and she saw worry in them. He gave her his little two finger wave and they were off. She knew Katara was scared and held the girls hand. Their eyes met and she gave her a reassuring squeeze. You can do this, Katara. You're a strong woman. I believe in you. She tried to convey those feelings through her touch but knew that it wouldn't all come through.
A little while later they came upon the prison rig. It was really just a large ship that was used a prison for earthbenders. They were forced out of the boat and lined up with several other prisoners.
"Earthbenders, it is my pleasure to welcome you aboard my modest shipyard. I am your warden. I prefer to think of you not as prisoners, but as honored guests, and I hope you come to think of me as your humble and caring host. You will succeed here if you simply abide-" The warden stops as one of the older prisoners taken from the mines coughs. His look hardened immediately from creepy 'hospitality' to a heinous dark gaze, filled with malicious intent. He jumped back from the prisoners and blew a huge bout of flame at the coughing prisoner. The targeted man jumped backwards.
"What kind of guest dishonors his host by interrupting him!? Take him below!" He grumbled to himself, "One week in solitary will improve his manners." The man walked up into Sakura's face, but still spoke to the group, "Simply treat me with the courtesy I give you and we'll get along famously. You will notice earthbenders, that this rig is made entirely of metal. You are miles away from any rock or earth, so if you have any illusions about employing that brutish savagery that passes for bending among you people, forget them. It is impossible. Good day." The warden turned and walked away. Sakura and the other prisoners were led away. She and Katara were shoved through a narrow door out into the open area of the prison. A double gate dropped behind her. Sakura looked around at the prisoners on the deck. Across the area she saw Haru.
"Katara, there." Sakura pointed to the boy and Katara's eyes lit up.
"Haru!"
"Katara! What are you doing here?" Sakura followed Katara and walked up to the two of them.
"It's my fault you were captured. We came to rescue you."
"So you guys got yourselves arrested." His voice sounded slightly disappointed.
"It was the only way to find you," Sakura put in. Haru looked at them both.
"You guys have got guts, I'll give you that." He put one hand on each of their shoulders. "Come on, Katara I want you to meet someone." Sakura knew they had a different relationship than she, but she followed anyway, hoping to find something going on that she could use to get them out. They walked past several groups of prisoners and came to a stop at the last group of several older men.
"Katara, Sakura, this is my father, Tyro. Dad this is Katara and her friend Sakura." One of the men at the group looked up, he had been eating but put the bowl down to talk with them.
Katara bowed, "it's an honor to meet you." Sakura followed suit, but as she had no history on the man just said 'hello.'
"Have some dinner, you two." Sakura was hungry, to be sure, but her hunger turned to disgust when she saw what was in the bowl.
"Ugh!"
"It's not as bad as it looks." Tyro told them. The two girls sat down to join their group. Sakura tried some of the 'soup' that was offered to them. Katara was still squicked out by the soup, but Sakura decided she needed sustenance more than she needed good food. Still better than hallucinating in the desert on nothing but cactus juice.
"It's still pretty bad, though." Tyro said apologetically to Katara. Sakura continued eating as another prisoner came up to Tyro to get his attention.
"Tyro, the prisoners are complaining there aren't enough blankets to go around." Tyro responded to the prisoner. It was obvious he was the one they prisoners all looked to for direction.
"I'll talk to the guards. In the meantime, make sure the elderly are taken care of. The rest of us will simply have to hope for warmer weather." Katara spoke up again.
"If you don't mind me asking, what's your escape plan?" Sakura shot Katara a look.
"Do you honestly think there is one?" Sakura asked her. Katara was silenced for a second.
"I'm sorry… I don't know what you two are talking about?" Tyro looked between them suspiciously. Sakura sighed.
"She's talking about a plan to get everyone off the boat."
"Yeah! So what is it!? Mutiny? Sabotage?" Katara was way too happy for this situation.
"The plan? You want to know the plan? There isn't one. Our only plan is to survive. To wait out the war and hope that one day some of us can go back home and forget this horrible thing ever happened." Sakura looked around at the yard of people. Most of them were men, and most of them older, in their 50s or so. Where are all the women?
"How can you say that? You sound like you've already given up."
"Katara, I admire your courage and I envy your youth, but people's lives are at stake here. The Warden is a ruthless man, and he won't stand for any rebellion. I'm sorry, but we're powerless." Katara stood up defiantly. Grim determination was written on her face.
"We'll see about that." Katara walked toward a raised platform and Sakura turned to Tyro.
"Okay, Tyro, before she starts ranting about some inspiration stuff, let me ask you this. Where are all the women on the ship?" Tyro looked away.
"We aren't 100% sure what happens to them. Though we have an idea." Tyro explained what they thought was happening with the women while Katara gave her speech. They were hunched over and whispering, everyone else had their eyes on the girl and were listening intently.
"… Let us fight for our freedom!" Sakura saw the Warden was watching Katara's entire speech and she grew afraid for the girl. Please lose interest in her. I can't stand to think of my friend being hurt. From what Tyro had just told her, the women were disappearing into a different part of the ship and never coming back. The men were afraid of the dark things the Fire Nation was probably doing to them. Sakura could only imagine.
So that's why that man had said Katara would be a nice gift for the Warden… he meant it literally. Shivers crawled up Sakura's spine as she imagined what that man would do to Katara. They weren't nice things. It made Sakura want to cry. The audacity of some people, thinking they can have whatever they want and take anything and everything from others! She wanted to be right up there with Katara but knew if one of them were to be taken away, the other would have to try and save them. If we can just hold out until the others arrive, I'm sure we'll be okay. They said 12 hours right? How long has it been?
Katara concluded her speech, and though it was met with silence, Sakura hadn't expected anything more than that. Just like Haru and his mother, these people were broken-spirited. Probably even more so. The water tribe girl rejoined them, her spirit quite a bit dimmer from before. Luckily the Warden walked away. Sakura thanked the gods for her friend's good fortune.
…
Sakura was awakened in the middle of the night. She was about to cry out, to attack anyone who was there. She would not be taken like the other women. It turned out to be Kakashi, who had put his hand over her mouth to shush her. He put a finger to his lips to make sure she understood. Sakura turned and woke Katara up. They both went with Kakashi to the edge of the ship.
Sokka whispered to them, "Your 12 hours are up, where's Haru? We've got to get out of here." Sokka held out his arm to them and Kakashi hopped onto Appa. Katara answered first.
"I can't."
"We don't have much time, there are guards everywhere. Get on!" Kakashi sat by Sokka, but he didn't offer his hand to Sakura. He knew what was happening. A search light got dangerously close to Katara.
Aang still didn't get the message. "Katara, what's wrong?"
"I'm not leaving. I'm not giving up on these people." Sakura nodded along with her. My sentiments exactly. The rest of the group got off of Appa, and sat with them at the edge of the ship.
"What do you mean you're not leaving!?"
"We can't abandon these people. There has to be a way to help them."
"Maybe she's right. What you guys say, Sokka? Kakashi?"
"I say you're both crazy! Last chance, we need to leave now!" Sokka replied.
"I'm in. I'll help them out." Kakashi said, his eyes crinkling with a smile. Sakura was watching the search lights closely, her stomach dropping as they came closer and closer with each passing minute.
Sokka shook his head, "I hate when you guys get like this." A search light came within inches of their feet. "We should move, find a better place to hide." Aang tells Appa to fly off, so they can hid on the ship without having to worry about the eyesore that was the flying bison. Sorry buddy, you really do stick out like a sore thumb.
…
The group found an area to hide in the storage area of the ship, full of crates and boxes tall enough to hide even Kakashi fully standing.
Sokka peeked around the boxes and looked back. "We don't have much time. What are we gonna do?"
"I wish I knew how to make a hurricane," Aang said, altogether way to energetic for Sakura's tastes, "The Warden would run away and we'd steal his keys!" Sakura saw that everyone was just as against the idea as her.
"Wouldn't he just take his keys with him?" Sokka asked, his tone a deadpan.
Aang shrugged. "I'm just tossing ideas around."
Katara looked out at the horizon, "I tried talking the earthbenders into fighting back, but it didn't work. If there was just a way to help them help themselves."
"It's hard for a person's spirit to come back once it's been broken. They need time. Really they just need to let your words bounce around in their heads for a little while and I'm sure they'll come around."
"You really think so?" Katara's mood had turned around and her eyes were way too big in Sakura's face.
"I do."
Sokka waved at her to finish to he could speak, "For us to truly help the earthbenders, we need to get them some kind of earth, or some rock… something they can bend."
Sakura placed her fingers on the ships wall next to them, "But this entire place is made of metal."
"No, it's not. Look at the smoke. I bet they're burning coal—In other words, earth."
…
Once the group had decided on a plan of action, Sakura, Katara and Sokka went back to the holding area. They had met back up on top of a large bent in the middle of the yard.
"Sokka, run over the plan with me one more time? I know we're almost out of time, I just want to be sure I have everything straight." Sakura asked. She was a bit nervous now that it came down to actually executing the thing.
"So there's a huge deposit of coal at the base of the silo, and the whole system is ventilated. Aang closed off all the vents except one. When he does his airbending, the coal only has one place to go—right back here."
It was now morning. Sakura turned around and found herself in the middle of six Fire Nation soldiers, pointing their spears at the three of them and the prisoners. More Fire Nation guards were behind them.
"There's the intruder!" They were talking about Sokka, he being the only person on their side without a brown sackcloth on. We should have thought of that!
Sokka drew his boomerang. "Stay back, I'm warning you!"
Tyro pleaded with them, "Sakura! Katara! You can't win this fight!" Sakura was shocked to hear such a thing from the prisoners' leader (of sorts), she looked towards him and they met eyes. There was a burning anguish in the old man's eyes. He wanted to help them. He really did. But when people could die no matter what he chose, he needed to play it safe. That's just the way the cards were dealt to him. Sakura understood and wanted to tell him they had a plan, but there was nothing they could do. When Sakura looked back the Warden was in the yard.
"Listen to him well, children. You two are one mistake away from dying where you stand."
The three were surrounded by soldiers, and they began closing in. Sakura felt a breeze and noticed air was flowing out of the vent, along with small pebbles and dust. She jumped out of the way just in time to avoid the shooting river of coal that erupted from the grate, eventually tearing it away completely. The coal had to shoot up something like 50 feet. Damn, Aang!
Sakura looked at the Warden, and was rewarded with a shocked and dismayed look plastered on his face. The coal landed in a massive pile between the two parties. Aang dropped from the air onto the top of the coal pile, covered in black coal dust. He coughed it off as Sakura and Katara joined him on top of the pile.
Katara was the first to say anything, "Here's your chance, earthbenders!" she grabbed a lump of coal and rose it high. "Take it! Your fate is in your own hands!"
Sakura was expecting something to happen, anything really. Haru did move to come help, but his father held him back. She stared Tyro down, and gave him a disappointed look. Everyone else was in the same boat he was. No one would do anything until Tyro himself did something. Many shrunk away from the firebenders, cowering in fear of them. Katara was still holding up the lump of coal, though for what purpose, Sakura was not sure.
The Warden broke into a grin. An evil grin that showed off his dirty blackened teeth, "Hahaha! Foolish girl! You thought a few inspirational words and some coal would change these people? Look at these blank, hopeless faces." Sakura looked around her at the prisoner earthbenders, all of them looked the same. Dressed in brown cloth-sack, most with greying or already grey hair. Wrinkles from stress more than old age. And every single one had the same expression. The look of fear, the fear of pain and more suffering. The look of desperation, the wanting to do what Katara said, but the not being able to risk their lives on such hope. The look of broken people.
"Their spirits were broken a long time ago. Oh? But you still believe in them?" Katara lowered her coal, the shock clear on her face. She had tried her hardest to motivate these people and nothing happened. Sakura understood her feelings.
"How sweet. They're a waste of your energy, little girl. You've failed."
"No she hasn't." Sakura was surprised at the words out of her own mouth. She took a large chunk of coal and earthbent it at the Warden, it hit him in the back of the head.
"Fight me if you're man enough to!" The man stopped and turned in anger. Sakura was prepared to fight the Warden on her own when a hand on her shoulder stopped her. It was Tyro, and he had a look that Sakura never expected to see on his face. He was going to help her fight back.
The Warden shot a gout of flame at the two, and just as it was about to engulf them, it is blocked by a wall of coal. Tyro stepped forward to protect her. No. Not just me. All of the people here. His son, the people from his village, from all of their village. Their enemy snarled, angry that Katara's words had worked in the end.
"Show no mercy!"
The Warden's soldiers started charging, unleashing a wall of flame. Sakura, Tyro, Haru and one other earthbender blocked it with a huge wall of coal. The coals smoked from absorbing the flames.
"For the Earth Kingdom, attack!"
Tyro gave the order and the earthbenders finally fought back. The chaos of general melee attacks ensued.
Tyro gave the order and the earthbenders finally fought back. He threw the wall of coal back against the guards by slamming his palms onto the deck. The chaos of general melee attacks ensued. Earthbenders fought one on one and in groups against the onslaught of Fire Nation guards, pulling up coal shields to block the fire then striking with giant clumps of it thrown at high speeds. Sakura knew her target. She went after the Warden. Heaps of coal, hot and red from being used smoldered around her. Her target was in sight. He was not paying much attention to her, barking orders at his guards. His grey hair ended just below his shoulders, but Sakura knew it was longer, a good portion of it was tied up in a top-knot. He had a thin length of moustache on each side of his lip and a small, thick length of hair from just beneath his lower lip and down his chin. He had to be at least as old as most of his prisoners. As Sakura ran towards him, Haru and Tyro blew a hole in the wall of the rig, giving the prisoners access to the rest of the ship.
Sakura finally gained the attention of her target. They met; his filled with anger and rage, hers determination. She pulled a length of coal up from the deck and forced it into the Warden's abdomen. He was knocked back several feet, but got up and came back at her with blasts thrown from his feet. Sakura threw up a wall of defense. His attacks were absorbed by the coal and they grew hot. She gathered an amount of the cooler rocks and earthbended them to her arms before attacking the Warden head-on. He threw up an arm in defense before trying to break her stance with a low sweep. Sakura avoided it by jumping up and kicking the man in the head. He fell on to his backside and crawled away. She summoned a large rock out of the coal on the deck and her arms. Once it was a large boulder she let it drop on the Warden. He was taken out of the picture.
Sakura was given no time to relax. Two more Fire Nation guards flanked her, blowing fireballs at her. (She would find later that their spears had all been abducted by Momo.) She used coal to defend her body, then climbed on top of the singed material and smashed their helmets together. Sakura looked up and saw her friends fighting alongside her. Sokka and Katara were loading up a small tornado that Aang had summoned to shoot coal at the firebenders. They were taking out soldiers left and right.
On the far side of the rig, Kakashi was fighting a group of Fire Nation. There were three of them surrounding him and he was defending with his katana as much as he could. As a non-bender he was left practically defenseless against fire and was using evasion tactics to the best of his ability. He needs my help!
Sakura ran through the chaos, dodging coal and fire alike to reach her friend. He was being pushed further and further back. She was just about to reach him when he lashed out, knocking one of the enemies down and using his body as a shield. The other firebenders were attacking too quickly to stop and they hit their own comrade before quenching their flames. The man cried out in anguish. They stopped bending and that was the window Kakashi used. He threw the injured man at his comrades and one caught him. He fought back with his sword, slashing the other soldier. Sakura moved her attention to the injured man and his comrade. The burned man looked bad, there were open wounds all over his body and his clothing was singed badly. His fellow guard set him against the nearest wall and turned to go back to Kakashi. Sakura stepped in and raised a block of coal before kicking the mass at him and his friend. She felt bad hurting an already injured man. He screamed in pain as the rock hit them. But you know what they say… all is fair in love and war. And this is most definitely war. They do not deserve your pity Sakura. Do not waste your time and energy on them.
Having dealt with those two, Sakura turned around and saw Kakashi finish off the third soldier. The battle was coming to an end around them. The earthbenders found an upper hand and took it. They knocked out and trapped most of guards, only killing when they truly found it necessary to save their own lives. Kakashi sheathed his sword and looked at her.
"You all right?"
"I'm fine. How about yourself?"
"I feel like I've probably got a few burns, but that's nothing new."
"Good. Let's find the others."
The earthbender prisoners had rounded up all the Fire Nation cronies and dumped them on the coals. Tyro and a few of the others had earthbent the dump into a tiny island before hovering over the ocean. One of them screamed out,
"No, please! I can't swim!"
Tyro scowled at him, "Don't worry, I hear cowards float."
They released the technique and the whole heap fell into the water.
The prison turned out to be a group of several Fire Nation ships, and they were all now under the command of the former prisoners. Sakura was with the Kakashi and Katara on the point ship. Appa, carrying Sokka and Aang swam up to the ship. Katara walked away from them to talk to Tyro and Haru.
Kakashi sighed and laid his head on her shoulder, Sakura put her arm on his shoulder.
"What's the matter, Kakashi?" He sighed.
"I'm just tired. I'm not into fighting anymore, I'd rather read or play a good game of pai sho with friends."
"Me too, Kakashi. Me too." She rubbed his shoulder and they moved away from the edge of the ship. Sakura looked behind her, Aang and Sokka were waving from Appa. Katara rejoined them and they climbed down the ladder on the side of the ship to the giant bison.
"What did Haru and Tyro want?"
"Not too much. Just a thank you. They wanted us to join them, but I told them we have to get Aang to the North Pole and we didn't have time for a detour." Katara looked oddly unhappy for having just saved a ton of people.
"Why aren't you happier?"
"Well, somewhere during the fighting I lost my necklace. The one thing I had left of my mother and now it's gone." Sokka crawled over to her and put his arm around her shoulder.
"Hey, now. Mom will always be in our hearts. And who knows, maybe it will show up again someday."
"I hope so."
Sakura gave a sad smile to the girl and nodded along with her brother. Kakashi stayed silent. She looked at him and smiled. He didn't return it.
"Hey we didn't die today! That's a good thing, yeah?" Her friend looked away from her. He was apparently more afflicted by the events that had transpired than she had previously thought. Sakura moved over to him, not that it was very far, the saddle wasn't that big. But it was far enough away from the other members of the group that she could talk to him without the others hearing too clearly.
"Aye… Kakashi. Are you okay?"
"Sakura." His voice was low and tight. "I killed a man today, saw the light leave his eyes. He will never see his family or loved ones again. I took that away from him. I can't just… get over it."
She lightly patted his hand, then gave it a good squeeze.
He slid his hand from her grasp and turned his shoulder away from her. Kakashi refused to meet her eye.
"You don't get it. You couldn't possibly…" He held his hands in his lap and looked at them as if they were disgusting. Kakashi did look at her now. His eyes were shining with unspent grief, sadness, guilt.
"You don't have to get over it."
There was nothing else she could say. Sakura turned around and leaned on the hollow of Appa's saddle as they flew north. She watched as the tiny blips that were Haru and Tyro's ships disappeared on the horizon.
Their group was silent as they continued on their journey to the North Pole.