Just a little proof of life... (I'M NOT DEAD!!)
"Suki! Suki, can you hear me?!"
Everything's spinning around me…what happened? My eyes are so heavy…Sai? Is that you? There are so…so…many of you…
"Oh no...Sumei! I need help; I think Suki might have a concussion!" The wide eyed warrior called out for assistance amidst the confusion and sound of crumbling of rock. Despite the loud ringing in her ears, Suki tried her best to regain her composure and attempted to sit up to the dismay of the panicking brunette who sat over her. Feeling her head forced back down onto her friend's lap, the injured Kyoshi leader settled for looking around using peripheral vision. Last she remembered, she was standing on a cliff looking down to the desert border, and now she was surrounded by clouds of smoke and dust.
The sun's set already…how long have I been out?
With the exception of the current caregiver who placed a wet compress on her forehead, Suki saw that the Kyoshi girls had set up a perimeter around her.
Why are they in that formation? Who's injured?
Suki noticed a cold feeling running down her left ear lobe, irritating her enough to wipe it off She figured that it was from the wet compress. "Aah!" she panicked, terrified from the red tint that covered the tip of her index finger.
"Whoa, settle down Suki! Settle down!" Sai tried to calm her leader down. "Girls, I need some help!"
"Pin her down!" Sumei commanded to the hesitating warriors. They eventually submitted to their superior and each pinned down their leader's arm; Myn took the left, Akemi took the right. Sumei dropped down to hold Suki's legs and tried to grab the panicking girl's attention. "Suki! It's alright!" She told her leader calmly, ignoring the long loose strands of hair that fell onto her face. "You're not bleeding! It's just wet dirt." To prove her claim, Sumei grabbed some of the dirt and spat into her dusty hand, showing the same rusty tint on her palm as on Suki's finger. Suki's breathing instantly slowed down and she calmly settled her head back onto Sai's lap. She couldn't help but to start laughing, but was soon coughing because of the sharp pain in her sides.
"Alright, now that we know that the fearless leader is ok; can we try to help the refugees?" Kikyo groaned towards her compatriots who were relieved by Suki's relief.
The refugees!
Groaning, Suki managed to sit right up against her friends pleading. "Kikyo…" her voice was raspy and dry front dust inhalation, "I want you to check up on the refugees right away!" Kikyo's stoic look changed to an excited smile and she instantly jumped onto the nearest Ostrich-horse, speeding off through the cloudy scene. Suki coughed again and rubbed her sore head for good measure. My back and sides hurt, there's dust everywhere, and sand in my pants…I'm guessing that we fell… "Sai, Myn, I want you to check on camp…Akemi; I want you to help Kikyo. And Sumei, I think it'd make sense if I had you hang around here for a while, just in case…" The clouds were now beginning to clear up and the three other girls made their way to complete their orders by foot.
Coughing again, Suki limped along under Sumei's supervision to investigate how in the world that she ended up the way that she did. Two or three yards away from them was the large mound of crumbling rock where she and the other girls stood upon when it was still a cliff. "That star…" Sumei's eyes followed where Suki's finger pointed in the sky, "I was looking at that star when we were on that cliff."
"Status re-port!?" Suki winced when Sumei wound the tight bandage around her side again. Sai and Myn had moved the campsite to the base of the rubble for their leader to use as a makeshift headquarters/medical tent. "Well?"
"Uh…oh yeah!" Sai stuttered
Sigh… "Kikyo and Akemi were able to find the refugees and brought them here." Myn informed the others. "We set up the rest of the tents for their use to treat their wounded. Nothing serious; mainly bruises and scared kids…but they're not from Omashu…" Suki's face lowered in thought, as though she was planning something.
"No matter…" after a few seconds passed, "They're still refugees, and its no mere coincidence that the cliff fell near them. Myn and Sai stood in shock, surprised at what their leader was telling them.
"It was a trap…" Sumei told the two and tossed a used stick of dynamite towards them. "There were several of them planted at the base of the cliff, but I have no idea if they were timed or set off manually." With this new information fresh in their heads, the four girls exited the tent to meet the refugees. There were a lot more than she had counted, but Suki made sure that all of them were to be treated as soon as possible.
A large grey haired man made his way through the crowd, parting them with much courtesy. "Excuse me…are you the commander your unit?" His deep voice secretly intimidated Suki and simply nodded her head in response. "My name is Tyro, and this is my son, Haru." A younger boy, around the same height and age of Sokka rose to his feet from treating a little girl's injury. "I would like to thank you very much for your hospitality today. Please, would you join us for dinner?"
Despite the attack on them, the refugees were loud and happy as they ate. The six girls were invited to eat with Haru and Tyro, as well as the leader of the refugees, an smaller and older man named Chiyo. His caterpillar eyebrows may have looked ridiculous, but his wrinkles told of the wisdom hidden under his small aged eyes. Tyro explained to the girls that he and his son weren't part of the refugees, but on their way to link up with an Earthbending army stationed in the northern Earth Kingdom.
"I am very happy to have finally gained the chance to meet with the legendary Kyoshi warriors." The old refugee leader exhaled in relief. "It is a great honor that you bestow on my old bones." He laughed as he said this, slapping Akemi's back causing her to slightly choke on her food. "As a youth, I grew up in the Town of Chin before my family moved west. Don't know why, but they did…Seeing as how our respective towns haven't been the greatest neighbors, I fear that most of what I know about your island could just be propaganda. So...Is it true that you Kyoshi's were the personal guard of the Avatar? Why did the Avatar kill Chin the Great? Do you think I'm asking the wrong questions?"
"Uh…" Suki was taken back by the old man's energy. She tried to stutter out an answer to his question, but he continued asking and she became confused on which question to answer next.
"So…you're an earthbender?" Kikyo asked Haru after suavely sitting next to him in front of the fire.
"Oh…yes." Haru answered absentmindedly.
"Why is it that the other girls are wearing makeup and not you? Is because you're the leader?" The old chieftain continued his volley of questions.
"Calm down Chiyo, I believe that you're confusing young Suki here." Tyro interjected with a hearty laugh. "He is just nervous about today's most recent attack."
"So, you've been attacked before, then?" Suki was happy to ask rather than answer.
"Yes. That's part of the reason why Haru and I are traveling with these refugees. They passed through our village, asking for an escort to Ba Sing Se. Since a group of us had been called to the northern front, we gladly volunteered to escort them." Tyro paused to take a sip of his drink and to catch his breath. "It had been a straightforward journey so far, and a detour to Ba Sing Se would cause a lot of missed time, so I told the others to head straight to the northern army ahead of us. It was not until two nights ago that we were attacked by a Fire Nation Cavalry." He presented a note with the clear markings of the Fire Nation wrapped around an arrow to Suki, who took to reading it.
"I am Mongke, Colonel in charge of the Rough Rhinos.
In the name of the Fire Nation, I demand your surrender or else we will attack."
"Luckily, that arrow was their only attack; aimed directly at Chiyo." Tyro said softly.
"It's thanks to my friend's abilities that I'm still here…Although remarkably, the arrow managed to pierce the rock and hit me squarely in the leg." The old man pulled up his left pant leg to reveal a finely decorated wooden amputation. "This is the mark here, and it hit perfectly. Like as if that was the target all along." The girls leaned in for a closer inspection of the strike mark, which was a perfectly shaped conical point in the wood. "If you wanted a closer look, all you have to do is ask!" Chiyo said with a smile and popped his fake leg off. The girls screamed in horror while Tyro and several other refugees laughed.
The next day started with much fervor and the girls were filled with excitement. As they did their morning exercises, they did so in front of a live and large audience, who watched with intent as they practiced their movements, 'oo-ing' and 'aww-ing' at the girl's acrobatics. The rest of the day was spent traveling to the Earth Kingdom capital city with the warriors providing escort. Because of the Kiyoshis' arrival, Haru and Tyro hesitantly went north to the Earth Kingdom's army at the behest of old Chiyo. The warriors walked along their Ostrich-horses, providing the injured and elderly—excluding old man Chiyo—ease of transport.
Squaw…
The large birds started to flutter a bit, a sign of danger near. "Girls, get into formation." The girls in green fell suit, taking the elderly and young off the squeamish birds The Kyoshi warriors moved into a circle around the large group of refugees and started to lead them to high ground. With shield in hand, each of the girls looked around for the cause of their Ostrich-horse's fear…
"INCOMING!" A flaming arrow flew towards them. Fast. Sumei angled her shield down just as the projectile pinged and ricochet off to the distance.
"We've got more!" Six more flaming arrows flew towards the group; all aimed at each of the Kyoshi warriors. All raising their shields to protect themselves, they looked on astonished to see three unlit arrows fly towards the refugees. A pillar of rock rose from the ground, impeding all of the arrow's trajectories to a halt.
"Watch out!" Haru ran out from the crowd, tossing away his cloak to the wind. He stomped his foot again, raising a second pillar to halt more arrows.
"Haru?! I thought you've left already! Where's your father then?" Chiyo exclaimed at the young earthbender in front of him.
"I'm sorry that we had to deceive you. My father's waiting in a village a day from here, and I plan to rejoin him once your pursuers are dealt with."
"Good!" A gruff voice called atop a komodo rhino. "That way, you'll stop running and finally taken prisoner! Rough Rhinos: Round them up!" Four other men arrived atop komodo rhinos, effectively surrounding the large mass of people. Each of them wielded a different weapon: a bowman, staff wielder, ball and chain, and a heavily armored soldier. Mongke himself seemed to be unarmed, but clashed his black and red metal gauntlets for intimidation.
"Ready Haru?" Kikyo asked the young Earthbender, giving a head nod in return. The five rhinos circled the group, and Haru waited until the bowman moved in front of him. Striking the ground with his foot, the boy managed to catch the tattooed archer off guard, forcing him to move defensively and attack Haru instead of the refugees. The flaming arrow was countered by a flying rock, and his rhino was almost knocked off balance by the moving earth. As he drew in another arrow, Sumei rode from behind him and sliced the drawstring, effectively leaving the Yu-Yan unarmed.
Reacting to the Earthbender, the staff wielder rode towards the refugees in an effort to trample the Kyoshi warriors. Myn rode at top speed against the man in a daring game of pig-chicken. Having nothing to fear, the rhino rider increased his speed with a smile on his face. To his dismay however, the young girl had the Ostrich-horse jump, using its large claw to grab and pull the Fire-Nation soldier off his saddle. The rhino continued on its warpath, scaring the refugees to jump out of its way for safety.
A balled chain flew through the air towards Akemi and her large bird, causing her to jump back out of the weapon's range. Not discouraged in the least, the man charged head on with his weapon twirling about. He swung again, catching Akemi's shield and knocking her off the Ostrich-horse and she rolled to disperse the force of her fall. She rolled back onto her feet to see the man charge towards her at full speed. Drawing her sword, Akemi tossed it like a javelin inbetween one of the chain links to disrupt the spinning of her opponent's weapon. Observing his distraction, Akemi pole-vaulted using the rhino's horns and with a large pang of the metal, struck the man in the face.
Only Colonel Mongke and the armored soldier were left, who were currently pursuing Suki and Sai. In a seamless transition from tireless training, the girls crossed by each other, swerving in a near miss, to change their direction towards the Fire Nation soldiers. The Kyoshi girls continued their swerving, keeping their speed and movement eerily in synch to the other. As the young girls rode towards them, the Armored soldier finally revealed his weapons; two satchel bags of four sticks of dynamite wrapped together that flew towards their target. Mongke sent two balls of fire towards the satchel bags, igniting into large balls of fire and forcing the girls to peel away from their course. Rounding back for a second try, the girls warily rode against the two Fire Nation soldiers, fully aware of what they were up against now.
The two armored men rode off in different directions, forcing Suki and Sai to split as well. Veering away from each other, Suki took off after the armored man, while Sai pursued the Colonel. "What are you trying to do, be a hero?" Kikyo rode along Suki. Sumei followed closely as they chased after the armored man. They swerved to and fro in order to dodge the explosives that the man lobbed behind him, now riding straight for the refugees.
Sai tried her best to keep a safe distance behind the Colonel, who constantly lobbed fire balls at his pursuer. The rhino suddenly stopped, and Mongke now sent long streams of fire at her. Sai panicked, and had her Ostrich-horse dive onto the ground for safety. Rolling to a stop, Sai looked on with fear at the amber-eyed firebender before a rock wall sprouted between them. Haru rode in on a komodo rhino, using reigns created from earthbent stone. The wall returned to the ground as Myn and Akemi jumped off their Ostrich-horses to tend to their friend. "Don't worry, I'll handle him. Help the refugees get to safety!" Haru commanded, and chased after the Colonel.
Kikyo and Sumei finally managed to catch up with the armored soldier, riding on either side of him. The man looked to his left to see a smiling Kikyo and to his right to see a straight faced Sumei, but no sign of the third girl. Taking his hands off the reigns, he light two explosive sticks and threw them towards his sides. He sped up when the girls jumped away from the explosions and lit another stick as he approached the screaming refugees. Tossing the explosive with all his might, time stood still as the stick flew towards the center of the crowd. "Well…nice knowing all of you…" Chiyo said depressed. Suddenly a shadow cast over him, and looking up, saw an Ostrich-horse jump over him. The large foot hit the back of his head as it flew past, knocking him face first into the ground.
Suki knew that timing was everything. She brought her feet to stand on top of the saddle and jumped into the air towards the explosive. With war fans open, she flew past the stick and fell down towards the ground, kicking the soldier's helmet and tossing him off his rhino. Everyone held their breath when the dynamite fell onto the ground in the middle of the crowd. Looking up from where he laid, old man Chiyo let out a sigh of relief when he thought he saw a dummy explosive. The still lit separated fuse landed right next to the stick, jolting him to kick them away from each other in horror. Turning her position on the saddle, Suki took control of the komodo rhino and rode to help Haru.
The Colonel laughed madly at his opponent's feeble attempts to attack him with earthbending. "You should stop worrying about me, and worry about how you're going to clean up the mess!" Mongke sent a ball of fire at Haru who easily dodged it. Looking back, Haru saw the armored man prepare his attack from a distance, and how Suki knocked him to the ground as well. "What? NO!" Mongke ignored the earthbender and rode towards the crowd growling angrily. Haru took chase and was happy to see Suki ride towards them as well. Mongke simply lobbed a stream of fire towards the Kyoshi warrior and watched her jump off her rhino to avoid the attack. She in turn tried a flying kick to which the firebender avoided by leaning to the right side of his saddle.
Suki rolled when she landed on the ground and reached for Haru's outstretched hand to share his saddle. "Hurry up! I saw that he had another explosive in his hand!" She screamed out to the earthbender in front of her.
"Don't worry about it…look!" Haru called back to his passenger with a smile. He pointed straight ahead at a large wall that had been erected which was part of a rock prison where the other Fire Nation soldiers were being kept. Suki saw that the Colonel swerved out of the way to avoid it, remembering that he had only one explosive to use. With a look of angered frenzy, Mongke lit his stick of dynamite and looked ahead of him in wide eyed horror as his rhino suddenly crashed into a wooden cart, tossing him out of the saddle and into the air.
"MY CABBAGES!!"
"Sorry!" Kikyo strode up on her Ostrich-horse with a cute smile. She had the large bird stomp on the explosive fuse, effectively snuffing out the flame. "We'll make it up to you…I promise!"
With the pursuers finally dealt with, Haru left (for real this time) to meet with his father to the loud and rambunctious cheers of the refugees. With the Kyoshi warriors as their escort, the large mass of people continued their way to freedom in Ba Sing Se. Just as the sun had begun to set, the refugees and their escort had reached a secret ferry way—the only safe path to the grand Earth Kingdom capital. After being cleared to enter, the refugees happily took the chance to rest for the first time that day. Surrounded by hundreds of other refugees, the Kyoshi warriors watched with astonishment the large ferry ships that came to and left port.
"Yeah…that's definitely bigger." Sai said softly. The others nodded their heads in agreement.
"C'mon, this way!" Suki called out to the girls and they walked into line to see if they could help.
"NEXT! Welcome to Full Moon Bay..." A grouchy—yet somehow still female—voice commanded from atop her high seat. Suki stepped up to ask for employment when the woman demanded passports.
"Oh no, you're mistaken." Suki told the bureaucrat. "We don't have passports...my friends and I are soldiers from Kyoshi, and we'd like to know if you need-"
"No passports? Get out of line—NEXT!"
"What? No…I said-"
"I said 'get out of line'. Don't make me call security!" The woman barked down.
"Hey lady," Kikyo shouted towards the bureaucrat, "We are security!" The woman squinted towards the warriors silently.
"Really? Well, you're out of uniform. You can pick up new ones at the north gate." The bureaucrat stamped a few documents. The girls stared at Kikyo for a moment and head off to the north gate to start their new jobs.
"And take off that makeup! It makes you all look like clowns!"
So...I'm not sure if I should continue...yeah...
I guess my review contest counts for this too, you're just going to have to review for Chapter 2 to count.