War is the business of barbarians

~ Napoleon Bonaparte

The man made his way into the upper ring of the city and soon stood in front of the flying boar emblem signaling his destination. The guards guarding the residence recognized him and opened the gate. He stepped in following the familiar path to the chambers of his master who was seated in his meeting room taking a sip of tea from a fine porcelain china cup. Aware of his presence the man nodded urging him to speak as he bowed.

"Lord BeiFong, I was able to follow your daughter and discovered she has been sneaking out during the night to earthbend."

"Excuse me?" Lao Bei Fong placed his teacup down with a confused expression.

"It is no lie sir" the servant bowed further to prevent scolding.

"During my patrol as a Dai Li, I discovered her in the catacombs along with another waterbending child and badgermoles"

"My Toph can't do that she is fragile, weak and blind."

"Sir I know you don't believe me, but it is the truth. Perhaps surrounding her with children her age will stop her from being reckless without your knowledge?"

"Enough!"

Lao clenched his fist in annoyance.

"Do not utter one word about my daughter! What information do you have on the freedom fighters?"

The servant gulped. "Um well, they continue to cause havoc in Omashu, The city of Wei and Gaoling. According to recent reports and tactics by the Dai Li, they are not yet in Ba Sing Se."

Lao stroked his chin in thought

"I see"

"Why do you choose to fund this rebellious group, my lord? If the DaiLi finds out, you could lose your status sir."

Lao glared at his servant.

"Good thing you are loyal to me instead of Long Feng then isn't it?"

"O-Of Course Lord BeiFong"

Lao stood up and began to pace in front of him thinking out loud to his servant.

"The Dai Li choose to pretend that there is no war, but because of this war, the Bei Fong estate is booming. My factory in Gaoling and Gaipan help create weapons for other earth kingdom cities, rebels, and even the Fire Nation."

He knelt in front of his servant, urging him to look him in the eye.

"Business in war takes no sides. Imagine how much more we could make if we brought the war here? The Earth Kingdom capital. I have been thinking, I need fresh meat for freedom fighters in this city especially if the Fire Nation penetrates this impenetrable city."

The servant abruptly remembered what had occurred a day ago with the street children he saw after reporting to Long Feng.

He watched as the boy quickly shook the Canister and rolled it to the stand, as soon as it hit the wooden stand a loud popping sound shook the streets and a part of the stand was blown up and destroyed. The boys quickly ran towards the store trying to help the store owners.

The same boy who caused the blast slipped some peaches into a small pouch and tossed a dark-skinned boy one of the fruits. To his surprise, the same boy hollered a thief at his dark-skinned friend and the guards went after him, with his so-called friends following behind.

"Master BeiFong? Would you mind if these fresh meats were children?"

As soon as Katara saw the boys piling their plates for the girls to wash, she quickly grabbed one of the canteens filled with water that the boys took with them to the mines and slipped out of the kitchens. She began to change out of her apron, quickly tucked away her braid, hair loopies to look more boyish. She joined the line where the boys stood outside, shoved her hands in her pocket, pulled up her hood and kept her head ducked. Her heart beat wildly hoping she would not be caught.

The guards here to pick up the children did a quick count and immediately noticed the increase of chattering boys.

"Silence!" the guard roared, and all the boys quieted down

"Lady Ming, did you receive a new child?"

Lady Ming stepped forward with a fake smile on her face.

"Of course not, I would have let you know the officer. Why don't you do a recount?"

The guard quickly pulled out a parchment, Katara's heart trembled. She was trapped, all the guards paid close attention to the children preventing her from quietly slipping out of the line and back into the house. She had hoped she could get away from the orphanage and spend time with Sokka without Lady Ming or the other girls finding out.

She didn't like staying in the orphanage one bit. Yesterday Jin had hit her with a spoon as she broke a few dishes and lady Ming slapped her for talking back when she was scolded for causing a tear in the laundry fabrics. She had been unable to tell Sokka when he got back because Jet kept chatting with him and Jin kept talking over her to Jet when she wanted to say something at the table. Lady Ming had also made everyone go to bed at once when supper was over and the dishes were done. The guard's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"If you hear your name step forward"

The guard listed out all the names and only Katara was left. A second guard grabbed her before she realized it and pulled off her hood. All the boys gasped including Sokka.

"Katara what are you doing?" her brother asked She quickly confessed.

"I wanted to come with you Sokka I didn't want to stay here an-"

Before she could finish Lady, Ming pulled her ear.

"Foolish child!"

"Lady Ming what is the meaning of this!" the guard asked in annoyance.

"We are now behind schedule because your children are not disciplined!"

"Pardon me, sir, I will make sure she is punished accordingly"

"Sokka!" Katara called in a panic.

Before he could run to his sister, a soldier blocked him and beckoned for the boys to move. Sokka had no choice and followed. Jet quickly whispered behind him.

"She will be fine"

But Sokka ignored him.

After receiving twenty lashes from lady Ming Katara found herself back in the little room she threw her in before. This time she remained wide awake and busied herself practicing her waterbending using the water from the canteen she had stolen. She formed various types of shapes and practiced freezing the water.

When she got bored she would create an icicle to trace the wall with familiar water tribe arts she saw her mom and gran-gran make on their family blankets. Occasionally she used the prince's knife to nick herself and would heal the wound which she found comforting distracting her from the pain of loneliness.

After what felt like an eternity Katara heard some voice outside, she realized that it was almost time for Sokka to come back as she felt the moon pulling up and the sun setting. Katara crouched close to listen to the voices. It sounded like Jin and another girl, she couldn't quite articulate what they were saying and gave up.

She sat back down to resume her bending until a loud blast knocked her backward. Katara screamed and her ears rang from the loud sound. The room she was locked in was destroyed however what terrified her more was the lifeless body of the girl and Jin screaming. Jin noticing Katara quickly got up from where she fell and ran away with horror in her eyes.

Katara tried to follow suit but a huge column from the side of the room crashed down in front of her. Katara screamed again trying to pass over it, but it was covered in flames from the blast. Her memory flickered back to the south pole and the firewall blocking her path to reach her parents. The heat kept increasing and Katara's mind couldn't command her to move.

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