Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender…but I do own any characters that I create.
Yumika: Well, here is the second installment. It's much longer than the first but don't get used to this so soon. I can't promise anything. Well, without further ado…
Restoration
Chapter 2
The auburn haired girl tried to get some rest, but it was rather hard when she had her arms chained at shoulder-height. To sleep, she would just hang by the chains and shut her eyes. As the girl was just about to fall asleep, a shout and a thud were heard coming from the other side of the door. She quickly stood up. Her heart started to race, and adrenaline began to coarse through her veins. A rattling of a key and the soft click of the lock was heard before the door opened, and a tall figure stood dressed all in black and wore a devilish mask painted in white and blue colors. The intruder rushed towards the girl brandishing two broad swords. The girl shut her eyes and turned slightly away bracing for anything, anything except her arms dropping to her sides. She quickly opened her eyes and lifted her hands observing that her chains were cut on both her arms and legs. The girl looked back at the masked figure stunned at what was happening. Before the girl fully comprehended the situation, the cuffs on her wrists and ankles fell away with load clank noises. For once in a long time, the girl was speechless. Apparently, the masked figure did not share the same idea of just standing around like a dumb person.
"We better get moving." A husky voice came from under the mask. The girl nodded, hastily following her savior out of the room. The girl glanced back at the lonely pillars and faced forward again with a smile on her face. She was finally getting out of this 'hell'.
As they began to turn around a corner, the echo of approaching fire nation guards could be heard. The masked mystery shot out a hand signaling to stop and back up. The girl and her fellow escapee stood with their backs against the wall listening intently to see if the soldiers would turn off somewhere.
"Isn't there another way to get out of here?", the girl whispered to the stout warrior next to her. "No. Now be quite." The person whispered back harshly. The girl cringed inwardly.
But lady luck was not on their side today. The soldiers' voices became increasingly louder. The girl turned her head towards the masked person with a questioning face.
"Can you fight?", whispered the person next to her. "Yes." She replied back.
"Ok, but not until I engage them first." She nodded in reply.
It felt like eternity before the soldiers were almost upon them. The figure next to her seemed to take a long, calming breath before jumping in front of the group of soldiers with his swords raised horizontally parallel to each other in a defensive stance. The auburn haired girl took a deep breath and revealed herself as well. The masked figure did not hesitate any longer and gracefully maneuvered the swords, bringing down any soldier that got in his way. One soldier got past the masked warrior and lunged with his spear towards the girl. She easily side stepped the spear and grabbed it tightly with her left hand. With her right hand, she pushed back the attacking soldier with a strong wind stream. The soldier let go of the spear and flew back seven feet hitting another soldier to the ground. The girl grinned at her accomplishment and broke the spear head off the shaft making a wooden staff.
"Now I can do some major damage. Let's try something new." She said more to herself than to anyone else.
More soldiers came rushing up the hallway after hearing the clash of swords and spears. The girl came running up to the side of the masked warrior and jumped coming down swinging the staff down toward the floor. A wave of wind tore down the hall knocking the soldiers up against the walls stunning them long enough for the warrior and the girl to run past them. They turned down the hall, which was opposite the one that the additional soldiers had come from, and continued to run until the masked person brought her to what looked like a storage room.
"Umm…I don't know about you, but I want to get out of here." The airbender said, thinking that they made a wrong turn somewhere.
"That's exactly what we are going to do." The warrior replied signaling for her to come to where he was standing at the edge of a water channel. "The fortress is supplied by sending barrels along the water channel that runs under the tower. We are going to swim our way out of here." The warrior quickly sheathed his swords and cranked a lever lifting the gate of the water channel leading out of the base of the Tower. The warrior then slipped quietly into the water. The girl placed her staff in an inconspicuous place among the barrels and looked down only to face the devilish mask.
"Alright, but this better not be too long of a swim." She said in an apprehensive tone as she slipped into the water. When her back made contact with the water, the young girl let out a soft hiss in pain. At this, the warrior turned around saying, "What's the matter now?"
Not liking the tone this person was taking with her, the girl whispered sarcastically, "Oh, they only whipped me a few times." The warrior looked down at the water, and the girl followed the person's gaze to find that the flowing water around her carried a slight pink tint.
"Take a deep breath." was the last thing the masked warrior said before disappearing under the water. The girl hastily followed suite. It took awhile for the girl's eyes to adjust to the darkness of the water. They left the storage area and were swimming through a tunnel of some sort. All seemed to be going well until the girl bumped into the back of the warrior. She started to panic as she noticed bars were blocking their escape. They were too far in the tunnel to turn around. 'Well, this was great planning', the girl thought to herself. The bars, which the warrior was grasping onto, began to glow red hot and started to bend easily creating a small opening. The warrior slipped through and turned to make sure the girl was following. Together they hastily swam to the surface for much needed air. They surfaced behind a large slab of rock jutting out of the side of the Tower. The girl held onto the rock until she was able to catch her breath trying to ignore the dull pain coming from her back. Turning to the warrior and nodding that she was alright, the warrior checked for any patrolling guards. Seeing none, they swam for the shore. As the girl was trying to lift herself out of the water, she noticed that the adrenaline was wearing off, and the lack of food and sleep was taking its toll on her body. The young airbender struggled to lift herself, but her arms were too weak to support her weight; she ended up falling back into the water. The girl looked up to see that a hand was offered to her by the masked warrior, and she gladly accepted it. The warrior grasped the girl by her forearm and hoisted the girl out of the water. As the warrior was releasing the girl's arm, the girl grabbed onto the warrior's hand firmly, preventing the person from walking away.
She whispered, "Please tell me your name?" The masked warrior turned and replied curtly, "Lee." Before the girl could say another word, Lee pulled the girl in the direction of the wall where a rope was dangling from the top of the fortress' first inner wall. Lee hastily climbed up first followed by the girl. As he reached the top, Lee checked that no guards had seen them and started to pull the girl the rest of the way up the wall. Just then the alarm bell sounded and shouts rang out "The prisoner is escaping!!!" Lee was able to get the girl to the top before Fire nation soldiers started to close in on both sides. The airbender assumed a fighting stance with her left hand down near her waist and her right arm stretched out with her palm facing outward. Lee quickly unsheathed his broad swords taking a wide stance with his legs, back to back with the girl.
As the soldiers realized that they were facing the legendary "Blue Spirit," they backed up slightly in fear as the "Blue Spirit" descended upon them. First, Lee spun around one guard's spear and split the spear of another guard. Lee performed combinations of parries, sword thrusts, and slashes all in simple fluid movements. The airbender was having a little more difficult time with the opponents on her side. She did not have a weapon, so she did the second best thing, improvise. The airbender ducked, dodging a spear thrust of one guard while performing a low sweeping kick creating an arc of wind that knocked the soldiers off their feet. The girl picked up the spear of the guard who attacked her. Breaking off the tip of her second captured spear, the girl made another staff for herself. The guards began to notice that the young girl was beginning to tire and was panting, so they attacked quickly with various fire techniques one after the other to tire her faster. Their plan was working as the airbender tried to keep up with parrying each guard's attack by twirling her staff in front of her. However, they pushed the young girl's patience too far, and she sucked in a great amount of air only to blow it back out in an enormous gust of wind, knocking all the guards back while pushing some off the wall.
"We got to keep moving!" The girl said frantically as she quickly turned and swung the staff in a "u" shape propelling Lee up high into the air towards the second inner wall. The "Blue Spirit" seemed to have little trouble landing atop the wall rolling as he landed. He then prepared himself for an attack from either side. The young airbender followed Lee moments later huffing from the sudden exertion and used her staff as a support. Lee stood protectively by the girl holding one sword to face the guards on his right and the other sword lifted towards the guards on his left.
"If you have any bright ideas, now is the time to use them." The girl said in a desperate tone. Without saying a word, Lee sheathed his swords into a single sheath which was strapped to his back, turned, grabbed the girl's arm, and jumped off the other side of the wall. The airbender caught on quickly, let go of her staff, and created an air bubble that slowed their fall and let them land softly on the ground. But this was only the beginning of their problems as soldiers poured out from everywhere. To the Fire nation soldiers' dismay the dark clouds began to pour rain down in bucketfuls making fire techniques almost useless. On the other hand, the girl merely grinned mischievously at their sudden change in luck.
"Follow my lead." The waterbender said to Lee. To Lee's further amazement the girl began to effortlessly bend the water. The girl prepared a path through the soldiers using mostly a water whip and large streams of water controlled by her arms. Lee acted as a vanguard by protecting the girl's back from spears, arrows, and close range fire attacks. When they had finally reached the outer gate, the waterbender stopped, trying to figure out a way to open the gate, but suddenly she heard a familiar voice, which caused her to shudder in fear.
"Stupid girl, you think your fancy tricks will help you to escape with your newfound friend, though your ability to bend water and air is amazing." Zhang shifted his gaze to Lee. "Admiral Zhao may have underestimated you but I won't make that same mistake. Soldiers, I order that you take both of them, alive or dead."
"Ha, you already made a mistake Zhang. The one who you are underestimating is me." The young waterbender smirked.
She quickly waterbended the soldiers along with Commander Zhang back with a wave of water and then propelled Lee and herself quickly up and over the outer wall with water. Once again the young girl created an air bubble to cushion their swift decent on the other side of the outer wall. They both bolted off towards the woods, but a flurry of arrows started to pierce the ground around them. The girl stopped long enough to hastily form a large, thick ice wall. It had been raining for some time, and the ground was starting to get slippery and mushy causing Lee and the girl to slip and stubble a few times before they made it safely into the dense woods.
Lee and the girl both stopped to rest without saying a word. The waterbender did not seem to care where she rested; she collapsed in the spot she stopped at, breathing quite heavily, and her arms were shaking with fatigue and cold. Lee, on the other hand, picked a semi-dry log to sit on.
"Are you going to be well enough to travel in a few moments?" Lee questioned as he took off his mask because it was making it difficult for him to catch his breath.
"I think so, but I don't think I can travel too far of a distance." The girl said hesitantly looking up from where she was sitting on the leaf-covered ground. She did not see Lee's scar since it was so dark because the full moon was blotted out by the rain clouds and they were sitting under large evergreen trees.
"I guess I can return the favor and tell you my name since we are not being chased by Fire nation soldiers, yet." The girl said. To which Lee quickly replied, "Well, that didn't stop you."
"You do have a point. Anyways, my name is Hana…oh, and thank you for breaking me out of prison," Hana said with a warm smile. Lee put back on his mask, so that if they should encounter any more Fire nation soldiers then they would not recognize him.
"We better start moving to get a greater distance between us andthem." Lee said as he rose and walked over to Hana's side. "Alright," said Hana as she slowly got up off the ground, "Would you like me to cover our tracks?"
"No, it's raining hard enough, and the watch guards probably saw in what direction we ran." Lee replied matter-a-factly. Hana nodded being too tired to reply. The pair slowly walked through the dense trees without saying another word.
Ok, don't throw fireballs or rocks at me. I have a good explanation for Hana being able to bend more than one element. But I can't tell you now because it would spoil the story for you. Keep reading and reviewing. I would like critiquing, especially on the action scenes. Were they confusing? Not enough action? Please let me know how I did with it. Thanks. I won't be updating until next year. Enjoy the holiday season. Yumika