This is where the main action starts. The intro is necessary to see who Huo is as a person, but now we're getting to the good bits. I've decided to make the Equalists a little more bloodthirsty in my story than they were in the show.

Chapter 4: Red Blood

The scream made my heart stop in my chest. I ran to the entrance of the tent, ignoring the fat old hag yelling behind me, and what I saw made my heart start hammering in my chest all over again. This time it wasn't from nervousness.

My city was on fire. Women and children were screaming, running, as men in strange black and metal uniforms with green goggles overtook the few men that were stationed in our town. Most of Iroh's men had been sent ahead to Shu Jing to prepare to depart, but the few that had stayed were easily being taken out by the sheer number of these killers. That and the cowardly surprise attack.

Children running by me seemed to snap me out of my state of shock. I grasped two of the younger ones and hoisted them onto my hips. I could run faster than them and get them somewhere safe where they wouldn't be hurt. "The rest of you, follow me!"

I could hear people crying as others were dying all around. Homes and possessions were burning. The smell of singed flesh met my nose and I was almost sick right then and there. Still, I had to get the children to safety.

I made it to my barn when the first man tried to stop me. He wore strange green goggles and his hands seemed to crackle with electricity. I handed Iroka and Onji over to some older children. "Run! Use the forest!"

Never having fought before, I set myself in a stance that I'd seen my father use during practice before. I shot out a flame that he easily dodged. I don't know how to fight! I'm not ready! "What do you want? Why are you doing this?!"

He cracked his knuckles and stared at me as if I were a piece of meat—although a rotted one, at that. "Firebender filth. We're here to rid the world of you once and for all!"

"We did nothing to you. Stop hurting innocents! Leave the women and children alone!" I was being backed up against the barn but there was nothing I could do. These men had taken down trained soldiers...how was I going to get out alive if they hadn't?

"You are garbage!" the man said with a deranged laugh. "Bending is a blight upon the world! I'm here to rid it of just one more piece of trash."

Just as the man lunged, a gout of fire was shot out at him. I gasped and turned to see my grandfather stepping out of the house. He was breathing hard and sweat was dripping down his face. Just that one kick was more work than he'd done in my nineteen years. "Great-Grandfather, no!" You're too weak!

"Don't you know anything, girl?! Fight back!"

"Another Firebender! Just my luck!" the man laughed. His green goggles glinted from the light in an eerie way. "Two dog-birds with one stone."

"I don't know how," I said as I mimicked his stance. Three more killers joined the other and we were surrounded. Great-Grandfather stomped the ground and a line of fire circled around us. He could bring it up as a wall when they wanted to attack. "You're to thank for that!"

"Now is not the time to criticize me!"

Two of the men tried to advance. I shot out a blast that hit one in the shoulder. The other man came to the edge of our ring and Great-Grandfather brought the wall of fire up. I could see how much it drained him. I tried to help, but it made the wall unstable so I stopped.

We were safe momentarily. Great-Grandfather, breathing heavily, turned an eye to me. "Huo. We were never close, but you must listen to me. You need to run. Get out of here. These men...they are not good men. They are after benders. They want to kill us all!"

"I kind of got that, thank you for the memo!"

"Huo!"

I flushed and looked at the ground. "I'm sorry. I'm just scared."

His eyes, the eyes that I'd inherited, softened for the first time that I'd seen in my whole life. "You're the only chance of my blood leaving this hole. Get out of here and make a name for yourself. Show that the Bujings are a strong name once again."

I didn't want to tell this dying old man that our name would never get us anything. The only way his blood would go anywhere was when my named changed to that of my husband's. Instead, I nodded. "You won't be able to hold this wall for long. What's your plan?"

He turned back to concentrating on the wall and narrowed his eyes at it. His body was starting to shake from the effort. "I will blast the wall outwards. You will run after the children. You will find a way out—" He was cut off when a large throwing knife speared him in the throat.

I head a scream and couldn't help shaking as, first, his eyes dimmed. Then he fell. The wall of fire fell with him. Blood was pouring out of the gash on his neck. His head lolled to the side and the grass was stained with my great-grandfather's blood. The screaming was still continuing and I realized that it was me.

Hands grabbed me. I shot out fire as a knife came to my throat, but the jet of flame that came out of my mouth melted it and burned two of the men in front of me. A swift kick to the groin of the man behind me loosened me. I fell to my knees before I was able to scramble up and start running towards the center of town.

I didn't make it far. One of them grabbed the skirt of my dress and dragged me to the ground. I was able to make it onto my back before one of them was on top of me. He slapped me across the face with the back of his hand. "Maybe I should have some fun with you first, eh?" He tore the top layer of my dress down my chest and stomach. I tried to kick him off but he was too heavy. Tears streaked down my face as I tried to claw at him, but he just slapped me again.

Just as soon as the slap left my face, he was gone, flown fifty feet down the yard. I leaned my head back and saw my father with a United Forces Waterbender fighting for me. "Daddy!"

"Huo, get behind me!"

I scrambled up and hugged him before he shoved me behind him. Together, my father and the soldier took out the other two men. I was too busy watching them to notice the giant rod coming towards the back of my head.

My head hit the ground with a sickening crack. There was no sound to the world, only a high-pitched squeal. My vision was blurry and I watched, unable to do anything, as five more men came up behind my father and the soldier and fought. The Waterbender was the first to fall and a boot crushed his throat with unforgiving force. My father had multiple stab wounds and was fighting off swords with nothing but his bending. I tried to stand up.

My father was yelling something at me, but I still couldn't hear. Run, his lips said. I could barely stand. Still, I turned and tried to run. But not before I watched my father die with an electric rod shoved through his stomach. The screaming started again...most likely from me.

I ran as fast as my feet would take me. Bodies were piled up under the piers, men, women, children dead to the monsters that chased after me. Something hit me in the back of my shoulder but I kept running until I made it to the town square. There was an alter where we worshiped Agni there wherein hid a perfect place to hide. I'd hidden there multiple times trying to escape the wrath of my great-grandfather and knew how hard it was to find.

I scurried up under the hidden alcove, trying to stem my breathing. My heart was beating a mile a minute, my makeup somehow staying intact with the sweat pouring down my face. I could hear the men's footprints running past me, so I held my breath.

I let it go when I realized that I was safe. And that was when the tears came. I wrapped my arms around my knees and put my face down, shoulders shaking. My father is dead. Great-Grandfather is dead. For what? For our bending? For our heritage? What did any of us do to deserve this? Spirits, why did you allow this to happen? What did I do to anger you?

A choked sob made its way from my throat. I had to hold it back when I heard footsteps coming my way.

"...They've gotten away."

"Why were they even here? We're so far away from the United Republic."

"But we are on the outskirts of the Fire Nation, Sire. They could be new trainees, trying to become a part of the organization. But why? For what purpose would they attack some outlying Fire Nation village?"

I couldn't hold back a sob and I heard the footsteps and voices stop. There was some quieted whispering as I held a hand to my blood-red lips. The footsteps were right in front of the alcove I was hiding under. Tears fell down my cheeks, bringing with it the mascara that had been forced upon my eyes.

An old man was looking at me with hazel eyes and a sharp, avian face. I could feel the power radiating off of him—he was obviously a Firebender, and really, really old. That meant that he wasn't with the rebels who'd killed my father. He looked important, though, as though I should know who he was.

"Girl, are you okay?" he asked in a confused voice, probably questioning the makeup and clothing I'd worn for the day.

I shied away from the hand he put out, pushing my back up against the wall and sobbing again. "N-n-no!"

His eyes softened slightly as a second head popped underneath the table. This man was incredibly handsome, with pale skin, thick, black hair, and eyes so golden that I was lost in them. My frightened mind recognized him but wouldn't put a name to the face. "What have we here?"

I pulled back and hid my face, ashamed to be crying. Great-grandfather would have told me to suck it up, as a woman of my stature didn't cry in front of company. But he was dead.

"Come here, Little Fox. We'll help you."

"NO!" I shot fire out at the elder man, fear making the candles around the courtyard flare fifty feet into the air. All I could see around me were those masks—glowing eyes were staring back at me as I threw a ring of fire out around me.

Hands tried to grab at me, but all I could see were the shocking metal devices that the killers tried to use against me. That they had used against my father and great-grandfather. I scrambled out from under the table and gave out a kick to a hand that made the electricity stop. That was when I realized I was backed into a corner.

I kicked away from the grasping hands and started to run, but two hands grabbed my wrists and pulled them tight against my chest. I sobbed and tried to fight the strong arms that were pulling me against a hot, hard body, but it felt like I was locked in steel.

"Go ahead! Take my Firebending and kill me! You took everything else from me..."

Sound slowly started to come back to me, and I heard a soothing shh coming from my shoulder. A strong chin rested there, the head it belonged to leaning against mine. A slow rocking was moving my body back and forth. I could only cry more as I fell to my knees, the man behind me pulling me into his lap and holding me.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," his rough, gravelly voice said into my ear. I couldn't see his face for the salty tears blocking my view, but he seemed to be sincere and was slightly comforting. "Calm down."

My body was still shaking and I felt ashamed. Great-Grandfather would have hit me for crying so in front of others—especially men. I grasped his shirt and stuffed my face in his chest, trying to get rid of everything. The lights were too bright, the entire world smelled like burned, singed skin... "Please, just take away the pain..."

"Sir, I can put her to sleep, if you'd like."

"No, Hamin" the man above me said as I tensed in his arms. "She's calming down. Are you hurt, Little Fox?"

"Little fox," the old man scoffed. I could imagine his old-man-face scrunching up in disgust. "She blasphemed your name earlier and almost burned us and this courtyard to a crisp!"

"She's lost everything," Iroh said above me, for I knew it to be him as my mind stopped swimming. "We'll take her with us towards the shore. Perhaps she can mend on the road."

"Once we reach Shu Jing, she'll be off there as we will set sail for a year of training."

"No," I finally was able to whisper, my voice hoarse from the smoke around me. Both men turned their attentions to me as I realized who the man on the ground with me was. "I-I can't go with you." I pushed out of Iroh's arms and stood up. He protested but I hit his hands away. I used my sleeves to wipe at the caked makeup on my face and couldn't help but noticed that my arms were shaking in a way that I couldn't control. "I'm just in shock a-and I'm frightened. They destroyed everything. My home, my friends, my family..."

"We can help you, Little Fox, but you have to trust that we are here for you and that we will deal with those responsible." He seemed so truthful, like he wanted to help me. It wasn't fair, but my brain kept saying, Why didn't he help my family, then? Why didn't he save the people of my town? A small burned body behind him churned my stomach.

"Who are they?" I bit out, wringing my hands together. I couldn't look at them anymore. The destruction around me held my interest as the rage within me boiled to a melting point. The general store where I shopped for all of our goods—gone. The fruit stands on the pier—gone. All of the wooden walkways, connecting my house to every other in the small town—gone. Bodies lined the walls and I couldn't help the bile that rose in my throat.

Iroh sighed and started treating me like a cornered cat. "They're called Equalists. They believe that there should be no benders in this world, to make everyone—"

"Equal, yeah, I got that part," I snapped. The flames in the square grew higher with my anger. "Where are they based? Who is their leader?"

"We don't know who their leader is," Iroh sighed, running a hand through his hair. " "He's kept his identity a secret so far. But we don't have time for this. We've got to get moving, send out word, and get on the water."

My eyes flashed as every possible scenario moved through my head. I had to get to those murderers and take from them what they'd taken from me. My eyes met Iroh's briefly. "Let me join you. I'm a Firebender, I can fight!"

"You can't go after them," the old man, Hamin, said. "You aren't well enough prepared and you do not have the abilities nor the resources to do so. You are a woman and not of noble birth, therefore you cannot join under Iroh's command." At my crestfallen look, the old man said, "I will tell you that they are based out of Republic City, though, which makes it strange for them to have come so far out."

Having no other choice, I turned around and headed for my house. With luck, Tagon had gotten free from the fighting and was looking for me. I had extra supplies hidden in the clearing that I'd prepared earlier. Anything else I could find would be coming with me in Tagon's saddlebags.

"Where are you going?!" Iroh shouted after me. He caught up and grabbed my arm. I had a flashback to when everything had seemed beautiful and perfect and a handsome man had flirted with me just a little. "You need medical attention! You won't make it far if the Equalists are still out in the forest."

"They won't catch me again," I said under my breath. I turned and looked at him for what I was sure was the last time in my life. His topaz eyes were like pools of molten gold and his lips were so perfect, I almost wanted to get slapped for planting one on him. The look on his face would have been priceless. "Leave, go, get on your ships! Have villages around us send aid to those who are still living! Have some of your men stay behind and help."

"And you?" he asked in that low gravel voice of his. His grip on my arm turned into a finger that tilted my chin up. "What of you, Little Fox?"

"I'm going to avenge the death of my family."

HHH

I stopped running at about the outskirts of our burned and destroyed town. Forest and farmland were all I could see beyond the river that lay in front of me. Beyond that stretched a vast body of water that I knew to be the ocean. I'd never seen it, but that's what was out behind the forests. That ocean was what was going to get me out of the Fire Nation and towards those...those monsters. The Equalists.

I was lucky to find Tagon drinking from the water there. I ran to him and threw my arms around his neck. He nuzzled against me and nipped at the tears that were flowing down my face.

I bent down by the edge of the river and looked at my reflection in the surface. My face was covered in soot, sweat, blood, tears, makeup, and dirt. When I'd thought I'd rubbed the makeup off earlier, I'd only smudged it, making my face a mottled color of white, black, and red. My hair, which used to be down to my butt, was singed in places up to my shoulders. I had a few burns on my neck, face, and hands. My clothes were singed.

My hair couldn't be saved, I knew that for a fact. And if it was shorter, I would be harder to recognize...not that some peasant girl from Jang Hui would be recognized by anyone. Still, I didn't want to take the risk that some Equalist rebel would recognize me as the one that got away.

Gritting my teeth, I pulled my knife out of its sheath on my arm. I grasped a chunk of my hair where it had been singed the shortest and measured it with the rest of my hair. Then, I cut it all off at that length. I let my hair float down the river. It was kind of symbolic...as if my old life were gone, as it was, and my new life needed to still catch up.

My ceremonial matching clothes would look strange outside of anywhere besides the Golden Dragon of Unity's ceremonies. I took off all the over clothes and threw them into Tagon's saddlebags. Left in a white chemise and a plain black skirt, I tore my skirt in two up the middle vertically, then torn into strips along the inside horizontally so that I could tie them together to make two long strips for my legs to be housed. Then I cut the long, flowing sleeves off of my top to my shoulders. That way it didn't look so...ceremonial. It more so looked like a practice uniform I'd seen some of the military people at the Fire Days Festival wearing.

I was still dirty and disheveled. That's when I realized that I looked slightly like a boy. My eyes, although still feminine, were hidden by the grime that covered me. I wiped all the makeup off and smeared some dirt on my face. I then took a strip of cloth I'd had left over and pulled my hair into a topbun, like I'd seen the military men wearing. After that, I pulled open my shirt and tightened my breast band until my chest was as flat as I could make it.

I looked at my reflection again. Gone was the bright-eyed girl who cared for her family. Gone was the hope and joy and wonder about the world. Now I was a dirty urchin who was running away from his past and wanted to kill any and all Equalists that got in his way.