I didn't know how long I've been unconscious. Two maybe three hours? That didn't matter now, right now I had to find out where the hell I was and get home... home. I had completely forgot about my father and my duel with Bo. There going to think I was fooling around, I had never been this late before. Then again I don't know if it was dark out, maybe I dreamt the whole thing.
All right even I couldn't fool myself with that one, it was even a laugh to even try to pull something like that off. When I first started to pull through from my unconscious state, my eye sight was blurry, and my hearing was dull. I attempted to life my head, to see where I was but all I saw was blur, that was until the blurriness started to shift.
Five minutes later, a bucket of ice cold water had been thrown at my face. Unpleasant as it sound, the water had felt good after being in the heat all day. I felt saw in my hair, it was still falling onto my shirt, it had been grinding in my shoes in between my toes, not a good feeling after been buried in mounds of it. "Hey..buddy, you awake?".
It was a voice I was unfamiliar with, at first I thought it was Ruan but this one sounded different. The sound of Ruan's name helped me get back my mind back to what was happening. I had realized, that I had been kneeling this whole time, and my wrists and ankles were sore. "Maybe, I should throw a second bucket of water, it was funny watching him jump".
This time it was a female voice, unlike the male that had spoke first, there had been no response. A few minutes later a second bucket of water was, smashing into my face, she dropped the bucket onto the ground. I didn't know whether I wanted to get splashed or was to weak to talk but it had felt good a second time. The second splash had also made me realized more about my surroundings, like the fact that my wrists and ankles were tied together with rope. I could also here them talking a bit more and the sound of something scraping against metal.
"Sand.. fucks, I'll kill you!", I managed to sputtered out. My clothes and hair were soaked with water and wet sand. "Well, looks like someone came back to us", said the male voice. I propped my head up more, my neck ached. I squinted my eyes trying to get a good look at my kidnappers. One was sitting on table, legs propped up on the back seat of a chair, and the scraping sound came from him. "To answer your, heartwarming question, no were not those sand benders, and I'd like to see you try", said the male voice again.
My head dropped, my eyesight was dimming again, I could feel my legs and arms fall asleep. "Shana, again", he said. As I was coming to the realization of identifying the female voice, she had poured a third bucket of water on me, this time it was colder then ever. I jumped, but her hand was ready, pressing against my should and forced me back down on my knees. After the water cleared i could finally make them out, One of them, the male, he had brown hair and was about my age, maybe older but he was wearing unusual black leather armor.
He was scraping a combat knife against a whetstone to make it sharper, each time the blade made an almost screeching sound as his hand pulled the knife down. He was grinning, he knew the noise made me uneasy. "What side are you on!", I barked at him. He stopped grinning and put down his knife on the table and brought down his legs so they dangled over the table until they touched the ground, and sighed. "The side with a bigger boom and the one who saved your life", he said.
He was right, he had saved my life or he had brought me to his camp to hold me for ransom. Either way I still didn't trust him. "Look around, Khai you can't leave here conscious so you might have well get comfortable, and stop trying to mess with your binds I can see your wrists moving", he said glaring at me. He was right I had been trying to escape but it was no matter, even if I'd untie my arms, it would be hard trying to untie my ankles discreetly. However the fact he knew my name was frightening.
I looked around trying to get any knowledge of the place besides it being a cave. There was a couple of tables, a third had been broken in half, boxes and wooden crates piled on one another. There were emptied sacks on the table and there was no sign of anybody else. There was, a girl sitting on top of a bookshelf wearing the same armor as the guy. She had one leg dangling, swinging back and forth and glared at me once we made eye contact, although I could identify her as Shana. I turned back to the man. "So, where's you real hideout, you honestly can't make me believe that you and..Shana, are the only ones who live in this dump", I said.
The guys smiled, "Smarter then you look, that's always a difficult sign when your up against someone like Shana and I", he said again, this time cracking his knuckles in his fist. Intimidation, he was trying to look tuff, but my plan was already on way. "Who are you and how the hell do you know who I am?", I said calmly this time, I had to make him think I was on his side, starting with my personality. "Porter, Jonathan Porter.. Junior actually but don't get any funny nicknames going. Just call me Porter, everyone else does", Porter said. He hopped off the table, and walked towards a crate, pulling out a couple of apples. My stomach ached, I was so hungry my mouth drooled.
Porter took a few steps closer to me and chuckled, he threw the apple and Shana and she caught it with one hand and took a bite. I ignored the temptation of hunger, "That doesn't answer how you know who I am", I said to him. Porter took a few bites from his apple, I could tell he was thinking to himself. He looked at Shana and smiled, she smiled back, I knew they were thinking the same thing. "That was quite a show you put on in the city, escaping those sand benders", Porter said. I couldn't help but grin. "When the s.o.b dropped the damn desert on you, me and Shana here went to the tasks of fishing you out, you could've suffocated but we wanted to aid you. We know about The Pride and their terrorist ways, so we decided to kick some ass on our way back to..our place, your welcome", said Porter. "As for your names, I heard those benders called them out as they chased you so guessing who was Ruan and who was Khai, 50/50 so I took a guess.
Ruan, I had completely forgot about my best friend. Was he alive? Did they dig him out? for all I know Ruan could be stilled buried under the mound of sand.. dead. "Where's Ruan, did you save him to?", I asked without worry. I didn't want to sound weak especially if front of these two but I couldn't help feel some bit of cowardice. "The sand tribesman if fine, In another part of the cave still unconscious, tied up", Porter replied. A great feeling of relief entered my body and a bit of stress left.
It was time to put my plan to the test. Porter was starring at me, reading me. He sized up my skills, looking to find my weakness. I tried to keep him out of my mind but he could see this, he grinned. "Now that we've been acquainted, do you mind cutting me loose, I promise I won't do anything stupid", I lied. Porters grinned failed as he sat back up on the table and he looked over to Shana and signaled her with a nod. She was behind me so I couldn't tell exactly what she was doing. I heard a thud, guess it was her dropping from the bookshelf, I heard her walk over to me and felt her hand brush against my ankle. She took out a combat knife, the same as Porters and cut through one of my ankle straps.
I was putting my plan into effect, I knew what i had to do but I needed patience. She cut through a couple more straps, my ankles were free. It felt good reliving my binds from my sore ankle. She then proceeded to cut through the straps of my wrists, I grunted as the knife accidentally nicked my hand. "Don't be baby, suck it up", Shana said. I wanted to smile so bad, nobody knew what was going to happen next but me.
Before Shana cut through my final strap Porter said, "When you do attack me, choose which moves your going to carefully", Porter said fiddling with the cuffs on his wrists. I couldn't believe it, I was in awe, Porter had seen right through my plan. He was playing me, he didn't now anything, but he had guessed it. My head hurt, and the ropes were getting loose. I had to act fast and change my plan, there's no way they would see me coming. The final ropes had been cut through and my wrists were free, my planned had started.
I shot up my elbow, slamming it under Shana's jaw, sending her off balance and she fell. I then proceeded to charge Porter, who had been grinning the whole time. I ran toward him, fist raised high and was about to strike when he did the unthinkable to me. Blocking my punch with his forearm he then kicked my foot out from under me sending me off balance. He then put him free hand on my back, spun me around and slammed me against the table with my left hand behind me. I grunted with pain as every time I struggled, he kept pulling my arm.
"Now listen to me, you lying fuck", Porter said calmly. He lifted my head a little sliding his wrist in between my neck and the table and a hidden blade has shot out with an unusual click. My eyes widened with the blade so close to my vitals. "We will help you, aid you, and even bring down the Equalist takeover. When it does take over and it will take over, there will be massive genocide beyond belief against the benders, shattering the dreams of Firelord Zuko and Avatar Aang. So I need your help in doing this, I need to know that I can trust you and you wont double cross me again, do you understand!", demanded Porter.
Once again my anger had gotten the best of me. "Yes, I will cooperate", I said. Like I had a choice. "Good, well it seems we have discussed all that we needed to, so we'll release you, but like I said you cant leave here conscious", said Porter now smiling. He hopped off the table and walked closer and twirled his finger in a circular motion. I hesitated and turned around slowly revealing a furious Shana from when I struck her in the jaw.
"I'm going to enjoy this", she said cracking her knuckles, and with one swift punch it was lights out for Khai.