I ran and jumped over debris, but I didn't make it very far before I felt someone smash into me. I twisted my neck and saw Yaw grabbing my hands. I squirmed, but he was solid muscle. He hoisted me to my feet and Ghan walked up, followed by Ther. I didn't see Hannakt, though. Ther looked extremely uncomfortable.
"Ghan! What is the point of this? The child is terrified!" he said, turning to face her.
Ghan's voice was cold. "She ran. Why would an innocent run?" she took another step forward, but Ther grabbed her arm. She wheeled toward him.
"Because she is scared! Look at her eyes!" Ghan glanced at me before looking back at Ther.
"But she ran! So what if she is scared? Even you took a stance, Ther!" Ther looked down. "You see! She's just scared because she's been caught! She's just playing with us, Ther! Open your eyes! Not everyone is good!" Ther looked at Ghan for a second, but then his eyes sagged and he turned and began to walk away. What? No! He couldn't! He was defending me… he was the only one who believed me! Ghan turned back to me and smiled.
"Yaw, go help the rescuers. I'll take care of the girl." Yaw shoved me toward Ghan and I almost fell down, but she grabbed the back of my shirt and held me upright. As Yaw walked away, she leaned close to my face. I tried to back up a little, but her hold on my shirt was tight.
"Now, listen to me," she said, her voice low. "I know you did this. I'm not some stupid girl. And you-" she jabbed my chest with a finger, "- are going to regret lying to me. Now, come on." She jerked me forward and we began to walk.
"Yaazal!" She screamed at a man after about fifty feet of dragging me along, and a Waterbender ran over. He was tall and looked strong, with short blonde hair and tattoos of the moon on his arm. He looked at me, and then at Ghan, and started to smile a little.
"What are you doing to that poor girl, my waterbender?" he asked, and put his arm around her shoulder. She shook it off. "Not now." She snapped. "Look at her! Then look at what's around us! She did this!" Yaazal looked around, then at me.
"What? My dear, you make no sense."
"The other child who was destined to be the Avatar- the Earthbender- must have died early. Then this girl-" she shook me, "took his or her place." She glared at me. Yaazal scratched his head.
"Are you sure?" he asked, looking at me again.
"Yes, I'm sure! She bends fire, and I saw her bend water!" Ghan screeched, and began to walk away at an even faster pace, as I stumbled along. "I have to find a rope for her hands! She's the Avatar! She'll just bend anything else right off!" Yaazal took three steps and caught up to her. He looked doubtful, but he pulled some rope from a bag on his shoulder.
"Here," he handed her the rope. "Use this. But take her straight to the next town over and get her out of it and into a cell as soon as possible."
Ghan smiled at him, and, before whipping me around to tie up my hands, (which I found out was some sort of metal material,) she kissed his cheek. "See you soon," she said, and he pulled her close and whispered something into her ear. Her face went pale, and then we began to walk away. He blew a kiss at her, but she was too busy stepping over debris to notice.
"Wait!" I said, panting. "Why the other town?"
Ghan looked at me as though I was stupid. "Because you destroyed this town." She spat, and sped up.
"But this town is huge! There's no way I- or, whoever did this- could have destroyed it all!"
"Well, you did." She said, and looked up at the sky. "And, according to Yaazal, you also destroyed almost everyone living here as well."