.chapter three, the siege

It was deafening.

The sound of a cannonball being shot, piercing the air, and the awful noise of impact. Hayate stood still, paralyzed by fear. From the explosion, snow rose into the air and created a pseudo-smokescreen, blocking all sight. When it finally cleared, however, his jaw hit the floor out of awe and terror.

The cannonball in question was in fact a massive stone, and it smashed directly into the headquarters of a large company, which, as most other corporate buildings, was forged mostly of ice. Chunks of the building began falling off to the roads below. Citizens scurried out of the way but Hayate just stared, wide-eyed, ahead of him.

Dozens of tanks coloured deep green were approaching ominously. On each side of each tank was a gold circle, inside of which was a square. He knew that he recognized the symbol but didn't have the time to pinpoint it at that very moment, since another tank had just shot yet another boulder. Beside, behind and in front of the tanks were many foot soldiers, hundreds at least. They didn't carry weapons but wore long robes that seemed to resemble Sukai's kimono. Some of them wore pure white face paint.

A few more rocks were released and Hayate came to his senses, ducking behind a massive slab of ice, now dislocated from the larger building. As he peeked out his stomach tied itself in a knot at the sight of the foot soldiers kicking stones into the air, punching rocks, like miniature tanks in themselves. Earthbenders, no doubt.

He felt another explosion above him and watched in terror as a huge mass of ice collapsed to the ground only feet away from him. Horrified, he crouched in the fetal position, cowering and covering his eyes. He saw only darkness, heard only screams, smelt only smoke…

And then, pink.

As he opened his eyes a very little bit, he saw a lone pink flower petal flutter about before him. Then two, five, then ten. Their multiplication was ceaseless and he marvelled as the sounds of death and terror came to a gradual halt. The tanks held fire and all stared in absolute awe at what would be the last sight of many.

Sakuramura's Petalbenders had arrived.

---

"The ceiling!"

Hayate's older sister, Haruhi, was the first to notice and screamed. A massive boulder had crashed into the dome's circular roof, causing a massive fissure to draw itself upon the walls of ice and branch out quickly, lining it with smaller cracks. The distorted shape of the Hissorino Yume falls became even stranger. Another blast, and it was now clear that the whole thing was going to crash down on them. Citizens panicked madly, avoiding falling chunks of ice and making for the exit, Haruhi leading them. The mayor, sensing the danger, quickly waved his arms, spinning around, reverting the ice from solid to liquid before it could cause any damage, and as it was falling, he changed it to gas. The smokescreen created dissipated in a moment.

Sukai, still on stage, Kiro, right about to accept his certificate, and Haruhi, sprinting for an exit that was no longer there, gulped.

About ten tanks were on the mainland surrounding the basin, and a message was shouted through a bullhorn by one of the vehicles' drivers. "Surrender yourselves now and no one needs to be harmed." As though resistance wasn't even an option, he continued. "All of you, single file." People stared at each other nervously, then at the mayor who seemed to be breaking out in a cold sweat. "Single file." Came the commanding voice once more. "I won't say it again."

The mayor nodded, the civilians complied and like birds on a wire stood one behind another. Kiro stood behind Sukai and scowled. "Didn't even get my certificate…The Earth Kingdom, who would have thought?" He asked no one in particular. Sukai frowned. "Earth Kingdom? How'd you know?"

"Well, aside from the fragging huge rock that almost turned us to sawdust and the Earth Nation's symbol on the side of the tanks… I recognized that guy's subtle accent. " He spat back, sarcastically.

Immediately, an Earthbender stepped out of a tank and, stomping barbarically, thrust his arms forward, releasing a chunk of earth that acted as a bridge to fill the gap between the mainland and the floating disk of ice. This allowed the civilians to cross to the city. Just as Haruhi, who was first in line, was about to take a step, Sukai stepped out of it and swung both of her arms down, enough to submerge the stone bridge. She then replaced it with her own bridge, made of ice, which she fashioned in a rather impromptu manner. Flicking a loose strand of hair out of her face, she smirked. "We'll cross our own bridge, thanks." She slipped her hand into a pocket and drew a flower petal, letting it flutter about in the air towards the mainland. It was peculiar; the letters S and M were written on it.

"What the Hell are you thinking?" Kiro spat in a sideways manner, to which Sukai responded "Shut up, I'm stalling." The booming voice from the bullhorn once more made its presence known. "You're in no position to do anything like that. Remove the block of ice right now." The Petal Bender sneered. "Make me."

Furious, another earthen projectile shattered the bridge of ice and promptly replaced it with one of stone, which Sukai demolished yet again. The cycle continued for about a minute, until the Earthbenders understandably lost patience and swore blasphemously into their loudspeakers. In a violent and spontaneous command, every tank fired at once.

Holes now dotted the floating platform, but the sheer force of the impact sent all people near flying into the water. People swam frantically to shore, while others, who simply couldn't, lay permanently at the seafloor's bottom.

"Ugh!" Groaned Kiro, his lungs filled to the brim with water. He coughed while attempting to stay afloat in the powerful current. He began swimming towards the shore, but cursed when a wave sent more water down his throat. Gasping and coughing, he was swept over by an enormous wall of water before crashing painfully and face first onto what was left of the platform.

"Oh, sorry 'bout that." Sukai's sweet yet sardonic voice seemed unsuited to the situation. She placed her hands again at her sides, demonstrating that it was clearly her that fashioned the aforementioned wave. "C'mon, we have some more time to kill."

"What the Hell are you talking about?" Blurted Kiro. He stood up, drenched. Removing his glasses, he pointed with the bifocals towards the shore where all of the survivors including Hayate's sister were lead away solemnly. "Well, I guess they won't kill all those people, if they were going to, they'd have done it just now. Not that it's that much of a big deal; it's us that I'm worried about." Sukai frowned.

"Listen, Kiro, I only pulled you out of that mess 'cause you're a Waterbender. I can take these guys on my own but I might need backup at some point so-" Just as she finished her sentence, however, a huge crash shook the floor. They both collapsed on their knees to the ice. Another stone had appeared from nowhere, and they rolled haphazardly as to avoid being crushed.

"Of course you realize," she began, spinning around to summon a levitating mass of water from Hissorino Yume's plume, "this means war."

Thrusting her palms forward the water slammed directly into a tank across the lake, causing it to topple over backwards and roll over a few times before returning to its initial upright position.

Violently, five more stones were blasted in a simultaneous manner, which Sukai slit in two with water sharp as a knife before they even came close; shards of the rocks fell into the basin.

However, the Petal Bender seemed to be tiring after a few minutes of this. The tanks' ceaseless barrage seemed to be getting even more powerful and vicious. The countless boulders were getting closer and closer but Sukai didn't give up, she had no blind spot. All of a sudden, however, a blast came from a tank that had been quiet on the opposite end of the platform, and Sukai, not expecting it, felt it skim her kimono. She stood frozen in her posture, mortified that with only one foot in another direction and the stone would have taken her life.

At this point Kiro rose. "Pssh." He rolled his eyes. "You're a joke. Class four, and you couldn't even stop that? Watch this." He drew water and attempted to do so gracefully, but the attempt was foiled as the liquid that rose vibrated awkwardly in the air with his unsure motions of the hand. On turn, he propelled his right and left arms forward, causing the water to overturn the closest tank, which quickly righted itself once more. He swore.

Another stone shot from behind skimmed Kiro's uniform, a jagged edge tearing the delicate black parka. He was frozen in the same likeness as Sukai, feeling death's cold, prying fingers slit his flesh and grasp for his throat but loosen at the last moment.

"Kiro." Sukai commanded un-charismatically. "Duck." The boy was about to protest but the serious, intimidating glint in the twelve-year old's eye and the massive stone about to take off his head convinced him to comply.

In turn, Sukai pulled open her kimono by tearing off the obi belt that was tied around it at the waist. Underneath, a white, long-sleeved shirt appeared alongside deep navy pants, clothing that was much less traditional and elegant than the silken kimono but far more practical and comfortable. In the left breast pocket of her kimono she removed what seemed to be a chain about four feet in length that must've been rather heavy to carry around constantly. At four random points in the chain were small glass spheres filled an unknown substance coloured pink, hanging loosely off the metal.

She smirked and parried a few more blows, chain in hand, before violently and powerfully tossing it like a shot put into the air. Kiro watched it as it swivelled around in the sky on itself, before coming to an eventual halt in the middle of the heavens; halfway to the mainland, and probably as far as Mitsukai Sakurajin's little arms could throw. It remained suspended in mid-air by Sukai's clenched fist, and she continued her ritual.

Thrusting her palms outwards to the side the vials of glass shattered in an earsplitting crash, the chain falling to the water below and several hundred small, pink flower petals raining down upon them, released from their glass prisons, in a graceful and dreamlike manner. "Just what", Kiro said aloud to no one in particular, "is she trying to pull?"

All of a sudden her calm, sturdy stance changed as she leaned forwards on a bent knee, raising her arms as a demented maestro. Immediately, the flower petals that were still in the air collapsed into the water and then every single one rose a good three feet above it, covered in ice. Kiro smirked. "Phase Swapping, duh. A Waterbender's ability to change water's phase, the ability to have it pass from liquid to solid to gas in seconds. If she's going to do what I think she's going to do then…"

Sukai smiled a malicious smile and, spinning around while flailing her arms, sent them shooting forwards in every direction. Like a tempest of teeth the mandibles of ice masticated the metal tanks, shredding their outer shell. With another attack the cannons were severed and the caterpillars permitting their movement utterly annihilated. Completely useless, the hunks of metal just sat there with the commanders in absolute disbelief. Exhausted and exasperated, Sukai dropped her stance, letting the flower petals fall and shatter to the ground before collapsing willingly herself onto the harsh platform of ice.

Kiro raised himself, shivering from adrenaline, fear and excitement. "Don't sweat it, you did okay, but I'll finish them off." Sukai's eyes widened; she had done all that was necessary- destroying their means of easy escape and the only part of them that posed a physical threat, they were no longer dangerous… Was Kiro intending to kill them?

She watched as the boy took his stance. He stood, then leaned backwards and stretched his arms out to his sides, after which he slowly angled forward. Waves, small but sure and growing, splashed up beneath the motionless tanks on the shore and ended up pulling them down into the gelid waters. Slowly they began sinking beneath but their drivers abandoned ship with much time to spare, allowing their machines fall while making it away with little pride but, more importantly, their lives. They began swimming for their lives towards the shore but Kiro, not one to allow prey to escape so easily, created a torrent, trying to drown the men, or at least make their feat as difficult as possible.

Nine of them made it cleanly, dripping wet and stumbling away in an awkward gallop towards the city's heart. One of them was a bit slower however, and had inhaled a bit too much water which added to his sluggishness. Kiro scowled, but created an intricate choreography of choppy water which led the man towards him. The young boy grabbed him by the collar and raised his head a foot or so above the water. He was breathing, panting heavily, and his jacket was freezing and dripping wet.

"Now," he began, "What do I do with you?" Malevolently and to Sukai's horror, he looked at half of a rock that had fallen on a platform and smiled. "Oh yes, I know just the thing…"

Dropping some water onto the platform underneath the demi-boulder, he slowly willed the stone closer with the water's pull. Afterwards he scryed through the water mentally and found Sukai's chain, then pulled it up to the shore. Using a sharp, powerful stream of water he cut a hole inside the rock and threaded the chain through it, like a bead. The soldier yelled in terror as Kiro tied the other end of the chain around his wrist and laughed.

"Sorry, but this is what happens when you make such a catastrophic error, such as attacking me." He slowly began pushing the heavy stone towards the water. "You wanted us dead, so you deserve nothing less than this." Just as he was about to drop the rock into the gelid lake, he uttered a final farewell. "Goodnight, sleep tight. Death will be slow and painful, so there's something you can look forward to." Sukai was mortified at how inhumane and monstrous the boy was but simply did not have the energy to do anything about it. In one final push the stone was below sea level and it quickly carried down the man attached to the other end of the chain.

The sadistic boy chuckled. "Had it coming." He looked over to the angry Sukai. "That takes care of the Earth Soldiers, too bad you didn't really do anything… Let's face it, without me around, they'd have killed you and-" It was about now that Kiro noticed her expression, and raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "What is it?" Sukai said nothing at first, and the air was still with the sound or lack thereof of Hissorino Yume's plume. "Forget it. Just get us back to the city." The boy nodded and, waterbending a circle underneath the platform, cut off a massive, circular chunk of ice which he dragged Sukai onto and stepped on himself.

The girl was lying like a rag doll on her back, completely drained, while Kiro stood waving his arms back and forth slowly, guiding the makeshift boat. As the captain wasn't looking, Sukai struggled onto her knees and picked up one flower petal that had fallen onto the platform in her hand. She dropped it into the water and froze it once more, resuscitating the razor-sharp edge. Guiding it mentally, constantly panting, she swept her arm in a vicious manner.

She smiled sincerely as she felt the resistance of metal, and when she felt said resistance give way and was convinced that the chain was now severed, she collapsed on her back.

Inhaling deeply as she stared at the rolling clouds, she waited a minute before speaking up. "We're going the wrong way." She eventually announced. "I know." Kiro answered. "The city's probably under attack or something, so we need to get somewhere a bit quieter." Just as he finished his sentence a loud thunk was heard as the rim of their vehicle collided with dry land. "Last stop, princess, everybody off."

---

Hayate stared in awe as about thirty men and women of all ages, shapes and sizes arrived at the scene, all dressed in the exact same ornate attire as Sukai, and petals flew everywhere. As they danced with grace, the pink flower petals soared around and then took on an icy, cutting edge. Viciously and quickly the tanks were torn apart, metal demolished as though it were but paper. The Earthbenders' clothing was torn to shreds. Drops of blood tainted the white snow beneath from the cuts sustained. In moments, the battle was no longer entirely one-sided.

Stones were kicked into the air again, although most were halted before they could gain any altitude. Earthbenders began falling at the hands of the mortal petals with those wielding the unorthodox weapons taking no casualties- but the Earth Kingdom had the advantage of numbers that seemed almost infinite.

And then, more water.

About a hundred water benders appeared; Sakuramura's royal guard. Hayate didn't notice in the heat of the battle but about three quarters of them weren't wearing the traditional garb, but instead more casual attire. He did not question it further.

And now Sakuramura definitely had the upper hand. The Earthbenders were falling in dramatic numbers with only the occasional loss of a reckless waterbender. Nevertheless, Hayate remembered the horrified look on the face of every man that slowly tumbled to the ground and he wondered what it must feel like to take a life. He wondered also what death in this case was like; whether it was a proud death of having served your nation, or a resentful one…

All of a sudden, a boulder shattered the block of ice that Hayate was taking refuge behind, completely destroying it. When the smoke cleared, he saw an Earthbender staring at him maliciously. Another was running towards him from behind; he felt faint. He had absolutely no means of defending himself; was he really and truly going to die on these plains, on the streets of the city he grew up in?

The next scene seemed to occur in slow motion; the timeline of Hayate's life was coming to an end. The first Earthbender kicked the ground with force, raising a stone several feet into the air and then rammed into it with his right fist, sending it flying at terminal velocity towards the defenceless boy. The second Earthbender, however, ran in front of Hayate as to defend him and stood his ground in an interesting position, with both knees facing inwards. The savior looked backwards and showed a smile with bright, sincere but terrified teeth.

He then charged his left foot into the ground, causing a pillar of earth to shoot out of it underneath Hayate, propelling him into the air on his back. He faced the clouds and wondered why someone had just saved his life; the man's face looked so sad when he turned back. He heard a painful scream that tore at his heart for some particular reason (when it was really no different from the hundreds of others he'd heard within the past few minutes), and the pillar crumbled as he fell to the ground.

As he crashed painfully into the ice, he waited a moment, heard another yell and pried open his eyes. In front of him he saw only the corpse of the man that had attempted to slay him and a Waterbender looming above. "Watch it." He began. "You'll get killed."

Hayate stood. Unmoving, he watched the battle complete itself as he collected himself from his near-death experience. At this point the winners were blatant; the Waterbenders were to be victorious. The Earth Kingdom no longer had any hope left and-

It happened.

The lead Petal Bender, the Sakurajin family head, a class eight water bender and expert Petalbender was killed.

By water.

A Waterbender in casual attire, the one that happened to have saved Hayate's life, slit the man's throat with a sharp water whip. He fell to the ground and all people stared in awe and disbelief at the assailant. He attacked again and now was joined by every Waterbender not clothed traditionally. Turmoil erupted, for it was now three dozen Petal Benders versus over a hundred water and earth benders.

Screams were everywhere. More and more petals dropped out of the sky and fluttered mournfully to the solemn, bloodstained snow below. Bodies fell in a heap on the ground.

Hayate regained his senses. There was no time to think anymore. He was going to die if he didn't move and his primal instincts kicked in albeit a bit late. Turning around, he ran away. He ran as far away as his legs could carry him and he wouldn't stop for a long time. He left behind the sound of stones and death. He knew not where he was going or what he would do when he got there but he really needed to be gone.

As tears poured slowly down his cheeks he charged down the road and he felt a horrible ache in his heart as the last Petalbender closed his eyes and the last flower petal fell to the ground.