Kunwei was silent and gloomy for the rest of the day, not even speaking to his siblings, he sulked in the rear as Gang Chao and Yinling walked side by side. Once in a while, the sister would look back with a confused expression in her wide, brown eyes, her seven year old mind not comprehending the reasons behind the brother's estrangement. Kunwei stared back stoically, not indicating the reason behind his sudden streak of silence.
Finally, they stopped by the side of the road as night fell, Gang Chao silently and calmly building a small fire, striking spark stones that created sparks that fell onto the kindling. The fire soon grew as he added larger pieces of wood from the dry bushes that surrounded him.
"You can't be angry with me forever," the older brother finally spoke up, looking at Kunwei, "We couldn't stay there, that village was struggling as it already was, and you're being attacked by the people there. Ba Sing Se's our only hope," he finished as he stoked the fire with a thicker branch, putting half a loaf of bread on a rock to warm.
Kunwei made a sound that seemed like a snort, "Whatever," he said quietly as he drew his knees up to his chest and rested his head on them, wrapping his arms around his legs and staring blankly at the fire.
His brother sighed, "You'll understand," he said as he ripped a chunk of bread out of the loaf and handed it to the sister, he tore the remaining bread in two and handed the larger piece to his sulking brother, "Better get some sleep," he suggested as they ate their meager meal, "You've got second watch tonight."
"Why do we need watches?" Kunwei asked tartly, scowling as he looked away from the fire and let his eyes adjust to the dark landscape.
Gang Chao raised an eyebrow, "You're seriously asking that?" he retorted curtly, "We're on an empty road in the middle of nowhere, far from any help and you're asking why we're watching the camp?"
The younger brother sighed, understanding Gang Chao's meaning, he laid down, facing away from the fire. Not even saying "good night" to his brother.
It was childish, the anger Kunwei felt towards his brother. Gang Chao was doing his best to keep his own world (what was left of it anyway) from falling apart into a thousand unrecognizable pieces. Still, Kunwei felt wronged by the sudden harshness Gang Chao exhibited, instead of spending a night relatively safe and sound in a barn, they were shivering on the ground just off of a road that may or may not be crawling with bandits. Bandits that would very likely take on three kids to get what they want.
Kunwei was also feeling the fresh wound of losing everything he held dear to him, his home, his belongings, his father. Everything but his siblings was gone, burned or left behind. He curled up into a tight ball as his eyes slowly slid shut, his mind plagued by the images of his home burning and the image of his father leaving.
Gang Chao looked at Kunwei as he settled in for watch, the night grew dark and cold quickly as the fire burned down to a few red embers. The teen leaned back on his satchel, staring up at the innumerable stars in the sky before his eyes swept the empty plains around him, his ears straining to pick up any noise. It was silent except for the relaxed breathing of his siblings, he looked back at the two silhouettes of his siblings, he noticed Yinling shivering, so he reached into his sack, taking out a clean tunic and draping it over the young child.
Kunwei muttered in his sleep, it sounded like "dad", but the elder brother couldn't have been sure, he looked at his sibling with a softer expression. They were all suffering, it was painful to see his family in such a bedraggled and poorly state. Suddenly, Kunwei thrashed around in his sleep, grunting.
"No," the younger brother finally said as he rolled over, "No!"
Kunwei was locked in a nightmare, his worst fears coming true in the realms of his subconscious. He saw his father, in chains and working in the dark mines, falling under the blows of the fire bender with the skull-like face. He saw the farm, burned and destroyed so nothing but scorched earth remained . . . and the smoldering foundation of the place he once called home. He saw his friends, miserable and weeping as they were carted off to an unknown location. He saw the village elder, his body covered in burns and gaping up at the sky, eyes unfocused, face sunken and his heart beating no longer.
Then he saw the same Fire Nation soldier, the one who had threatened his village, chasing him down, he tried to run, but the soldier was moving quickly, too quickly for him to get away. Kunwei suddenly tripped, falling off a cliff and into the black abyss that laid ahead.
"Wake up Kunwei! It's just a dream," someone shouted, quickly bringing the earthbender into the world of the conscious.
"Ah!" Kunwei sat up abruptly, Gang Chao fell backwards, startled at the sudden awakening.
The older brother got into a sitting position by Kunwei, placing a steadying hand on his shoulder, "It's okay, you were just having a bad dream," Gang Chao reassured his gasping brother, "You're okay, you're okay."
Kunwei sat for a few seconds, catching his breath as flashbacks from his dream soon played in his mind like a hellish slideshow. Tears stung at his eyes as he saw the images of his father, miserable and whipped by the evil tyranny of the Fire Nation. He began to cry, his shoulders shaking with an attempt to suppress his sobs as his brother hugged him tightly.
"It's going to be okay," Gang Chao soothed as he patted his brother on the back, "We'll be alright."
"What about dad?" Kunwei asked quietly after a few minutes, calming down enough to talk in coherent sentences, "He's not alright, is he?"
"All we can do is hope," the older brother replied truthfully, "I'll let you get a little more sleep before your watch," he added softly as he looked at the moon, high in the sky.
Kunwei shook his head, "I don't think I can sleep," he said as he moved so he sat cross-legged on the ground, "I can take over watch."
Gang Chao nodded, he yawned a little as he settled down, "Keep a good lookout," he said as he rested his head on his pack, "Wake me if you need me," he murmured as he slipped off into a deep sleep.
Kunwei sat up straight, his back to the dying fire as he waited out the dark and cool night.
The morning came quickly, dawn painting the sky with soft tones of red and orange, the sun peeking over the horizon and bathing the world in glorious light and warmth. Kunwei stretched and cracked his neck, getting rid of the stiffness that plagued him as he spent the night on the ground. Dark circles were under his eyes, signifying that he hardly had a good night's sleep between the nightmare world of his subconscious and staying up for half the night.
Gang Chao stoked the fire and rekindled it, heating up some scraps of meat for breakfast, "We have to make this last until the next town over," he said as he pulled out the map, "It should be two days walk from here," he rubbed his chin as he pored over the map.
"Great, two days of walking," Kunwei sighed and took a bite out of the tough meat, "How much further to Ba Sing Se?"
"A couple week's journey," Gang Chao said, calculating the mileage to Ba Sing Se, "We can spend a few days at the next town over, our money situation's pretty good and we can get more than enough supplies for the next leg."
Kunwei's eyes narrowed, "Why not go through there?" he said, pointing at the large desert that dominated part of the map, "It would cut down on a lot of our time."
"That's a desert," the brother replied matter-of-factly, "Kind of hard to you know . . . travel there. We'd end up walking in circles, getting lost or dying of thirst. Trust me, we're better off travelling around the desert and heading to Ba Sing Se that way, even though it will take a little longer."
"So we go around," Kunwei concluded, nodding to himself, "So are we going now?"
Gang Chao nodded and got up, taking his pack with him, it had gotten noticeably lighter in the past few days, a mix of him getting used to the weight and the fact that they were eating all the food in it. He made a mental note to begin rationing the food more strictly.
They began walking, the rising sun warming the air and drying the already hard, arid ground beneath them. It was a long day and they walked alone, sometimes passing a few traders and fellow refugees, but none of them stuck around too long until . . .
"Hey, you're refugees right?" someone asked the trio as they walked down the path.
Gang Chao turned around to see a group of men approaching them, he nodded, "Yeah, we are," he said as he shifted his weight a little, he was a little suspicious of the men and kept his guard up.
The man smiled, "We are too," he said as he motioned to his group, "We're headed to Ba Sing Se, I bet you guys are too, right?"
"Yeah," Gang Chao replied slowly, "We're headed there."
"Excellent," one of the other men said quickly as they rushed the trio so quickly, it was too fast for them to react.
Gang Chao suddenly found himself face down in the dirt, a knife being pressed to the back of his neck.
"Now we're going to take all your stuff, knock you out and leave you here," the man whispered in Gang Chao's ear, "Sweet dreams," he said cheerfully and used the hilt of his knife to knock out the teenage brother.
"NO!" Kunwei yelled as he was forced to the ground by the group of thieves, the last thing he remembered was a shoe coming at his head, then he knew no more . . . .
It was dark when Kunwei woke up, Gang Chao looking down on him worriedly, "Are you okay?" he asked as he helped his brother sit up, handing him a water skin, it was the only one they had left.
Kunwei took a small sip, groaning as the shapes of everything around him became less blurry, "Fine," he muttered weakly, "What happened, where are we?"
"We're still on the trail, I just moved us a little ways up the road," Gang Chao said as he laid Kunwei down again, "Take it easy, you took a big hit."
"Sorry," Kunwei muttered, "I couldn't protect you guys, I was weak . . ."
"It's okay," Gang Chao comforted, patting Kunwei's shoulder lightly, "It was me who was supposed to do the protecting, if anyone's to blame, it was me," he sighed as he stared up at the night sky, "I should have been stronger."
"What did they take?" Kunwei questioned, trying hard to stay awake for just a little while longer.
Gang Chao looked down at his brother, closing his eyes solemnly and saying, "Everything," he looked up at the starry sky then, not wanting to look his sibling in the eye, "All we have left is our map, a copper piece and my knife."
Kunwei was silent then, his stomach growled, demanding food that it wouldn't get, a few tears pricked his eyes, "How much further till the next town?"
"A few miles," Gang Chao said as he looked down at his brother again, "Get some sleep, we'll be starting off early tomorrow," he then laid on the ground next to Yinling, settling in for the night.
Kunwei raised an eyebrow, "What about watch? What if we get attacked by bandits?"
"We don't have anything left for them to take," Gang Chao replied with a hopeless tone, "Let them come, they won't be bothering us anymore."
Finally, Kunwei couldn't keep his eyes open any longer, he slowly succumbed to the call of sleep, but his dreams were far from happy. Gang Chao was awake for a little while longer, angry at himself for not being able to take down the bandits, hating himself for being so weak.
Crap Chapter! Sorry, nothing really happened and the "fight scene" was more like they just got their butts kicked. But no worries, next chapter is when awesome things start happening, like the Kyoshi Warriors.