Hello, and welcome to the first part of the Jinoochy version of the season finale! Let me just say, thank you sooooo much for sticking with me, and waiting for this for a very long time. Vacation means no computer, sorry. *sigh*

But don't worry! The next chapter is heeeeere! So scroll down and enjoy(:

Disclaimer: I don't own LoK. That's normal, though.

Book 1 ¼: Between the Earth and Sky

Chapter 5: Captured

Earth. Fire. Air. Water. 70 years ago, my grandfather, Avatar Aang, master of all four elements, ended the 100-year war against the Fire Nation. With help from Firelord Zuko he created Republic City, my home. According to my father, Republic City is at war. Amon, the Equalists, and the non-benders of our city have begun a rebellion against all benders. They think we have repressed them because of their inability to bend an element.

Avatar Aang has long since passed, but the new Avatar is here—Korra. She will find a way to bring light to the darkness. She has to.

...

"We have to move. There's no other way." Mikah protested as she heaved her sack of things onto one shoulder. In the background, Skoochy looked over at Sage as she tucked the remainder of what little she had into the pockets of her cape.

Rai was on the opposite cot, looking bored and swinging his tiny legs back and forth. "Aren't we leaving yet?" he complained loudly.

Furrowing his brow, Skoochy turned his attention back to Mikah. "I am the leader here, and I will make that decision." His voice was low and as menacing as he could make it.

"Well, I already made that decision for you. We're leaving." Mikah crossed her arms and set her weight onto her back foot. She looked down upon Skoochy with a frown.

The leader resorted to compromise. "We can just stay one more day, and then we'll move."

In return, the oldest girl groaned. "Skoochy, we've stayed in this place too long! We have to move again, or they'll figure out where we're hiding."

"I think the cops have something worse to worry about then us street urchins!" Skoochy protested, his voice finally starting to rise, and he threw his hand out, gesturing to the only window in the small apartment. Mikah's face fell as she saw the graying clouds and enemy blimps in the distance and the smoke that was starting to rise from Amon's attacks on the city. The room wavered slightly as another bomb hit Republic City. "What we need to do is figure out how to avoid the attacks first." Skoochy's voice was soft, and he dropped the threatening undertones.

Mikah, however, had not dropped the angered act. She whipped her eyes back to Skoochy, her blue eyes shimmering slightly. "And what'll happen when the attacks reach us? How are we going to survive if the building collapses on us? How am I going to survive if one of you winds up dead?" Mikah's voice faltered. She quickly turned away from Skoochy again. The girl reached up and wiped away the escaping tears from her eyes. Everyone else waited in complete silence for Mikah to regain control of herself. She had never acted like this, never in the few years that Skoochy had known her. He knew that she had had past abandonment issues, but he she never told them what they were, so he never asked.

Rai, his eyes wide, looked alarmed as he slowly reached out a hand to Mikah. He placed his small hand on her shoulder, in attempt to comfort her. The older girl looked over at the small boy, and smiled a little. She breathed in, and turned back to face Skoochy.

The earthbender spoke before she had a chance to. "You're right. We can't just stay here, waiting for the attacks to reach us." He looked around at his small crew, a glint in his auburn eyes. "So here's what we're going to do…"

...

When Skoochy stepped outside, there were billowing waves of ash rising up to greet him. Amon's blimps were hovering above; the shadows of Republic City hushed its inhabitants in fear. Even Skoochy felt the darkness penetrate his thick skin, making him shiver in an odd sort of terror. The trembling was odd to Skoochy in the way that the fear was of the selfish variety. The rest of his gang was safe, untouchable, just because they weren't benders. Skoochy was the only bender; for once, he was the only one in danger.

"They're coming closer!" Mikah's voice broke through to the leader. He managed to tear his gaze away from the empty streets and full skies, and buckled down. Skoochy had to stay focused.

The earthbender turned to face his disheveled gang, his look of determination soon to be echoed in the light of their eyes. No matter what was going to happen, Skoochy would always be the one they looked up to.

Another bomb exploded the next block over. The ground beneath the four street urchins shook, making a stifled gasp escape from Rai and Sage.

"Let's move!" Skoochy yelled at his team. His voice kicked them into high gear, and each one began to do their thing. Mikah melted into the ashen shadows, Rai leapt up onto the balcony of an abandoned apartment, and Sage ran alongside of Skoochy, her cloak fluttering behind. Skoochy glanced up at the raiding ships and felt terror leap to his throat, threatening to show the world that although Skoochy was a tough, street-smart kid, he was still just that—a kid.

The boy noted a slight change of direction from the Equalist blimp directly over him, and someone pointed down at the street ants from above. A crackle echoed through the City, navigating its way through the smoke towards Skoochy. "Stop and surrender or face Amon!" the voice demanded.

Before Skoochy could even open his mouth to shoot back an answer, he heard Rai yell from above, "Never! Amon can KISS. MY—"

Just on cue, the bomb that had been planted where Rai was standing detonated, sending shards of buildings and Skoochy away. Before he could do anything else, Skoochy bended up a wall of earth between him and the collapsing building. As he protected himself, the earthbender also protected the debris from hitting Sage, who was protecting her notebook with her life.

In the smoke, Skoochy stood up and coughed the dirt out of his system. "Report?"

Skoochy's breath caught in his throat. The silence was deafening, heartbreaking.

"Report!" he screamed in a raggedy, broken voice. The cloud around him muted anything into a misshapen blob. Skoochy was glad that the smoke gave his team enough cover and time to regroup.

Sage, careful to tuck the book back into her cloak, stood and joined the earthbender in the receding dark. "Here," she whispered.

A cough rippled through the withering smoke. "It's a good thing I sensed the bomb before it exploded, or I would be dust." Mikah's voice was light, covertly playful. There was a pause as Mikah came into view. She glanced around, her eyes slightly fogged over. Her blue eyes looked alarmed as she turned back to Skoochy. "Where's Rai?"

The smoke finally cleared, exposing the heap of Rai's body, discarded in the middle of the street. It wasn't moving.

"Rai!" Mikah's voice cracked, and she ran to his side faster than Skoochy could blink. She knelt beside him, positioning his small head in her lap. Mikah was fond of the small boy; they all were.

The earthbender watched the idle blimps carefully as he dashed off to check up on his fallen soldier. Mikah looked up at him, her eyes shining brightly. "He's breathing. He's still breathing!"

Skoochy started to say, "We need to get him out here."

But Sage cut him off. "We've got company!" her shrill voice yelled. No one had time to react to the girl's first full sentence before metal ropes were thrown down and chi-blockers not far behind.

Out of the corner of his eye, Skoochy saw Mikah stand, Rai's limp body in her arms. A single strand of blood dripped from his mouth. The earthbender ducked a chi-blocker attack, and tossed a chunk of rock at him at full force. He wasn't sure why the chi-blockers had chosen to attack Skoochy's gang, but he figured it had something to do with Rai's comment. Who knew Equalists could be so touchy. "Can you run with him?" he asked as he threw another rock the chi-blocker's way, seeing as he had missed the first time. His attacker lunged, but Skoochy was too small and too quick. The jab cut through open air. Skoochy bended a rock into the blocker's back, and he fell with a thud.

Sage was holding her own against her chi-blocker; she managed to pull one down to her level and whispered something into its ear. Before Skoochy knew it, the chi-blocker had backed away from Sage, his body language clearly showing that he was afraid the mousy girl. The earthbender knew what Sage had told him, and he couldn't help but smirk. In the background, Mikah and the body in her arms vanished into the shadows.
Skoochy let his guard down for half a second, and the downed chi-blocker set a gloved hand on the boy's leg and electrocuted him.

Spirals of blue light wrapped themselves around Skoochy's body, setting his nerves on fire. The vibrant blue snaked through his brain, setting off alarms everywhere. His pained scream made even the shadow runner stop mid-stride. The earthbender, sucked of his strength, collapsed onto the ground, shooting up clouds of dust, accompanied by the sound of sizzling flesh. His father's cap rolled off his had and fell into the dust, beaten. Sage abandoned her attacker and ran to her leader's side.

The hurt boy looked up, the sky blurry with pain, as Sage rolled him over onto his back, her small hands cold and callused. As another blimp floated away, in the distance a fluffy thing sped across the sky, orange dots dancing across its back.

Jinora!

Skoochy sat up, ignoring the stabbing pain and woozy stomach and watched with a new kind of pain as two of Amon's blimps raced towards the flying bison, one below and one above. As the red aircrafts crept closer to the bison, it dawned on Skoochy was he needed to do. What he had to do.

The boy, his pain vanishing with the wind whipping at his face, looked into Sage's violet eyes, his own unblinking. Just one look, and the quiet girl understood.

So did the one hiding in the shadows. "No!" Mikah yelled, and melted into the light, Rai no longer with her, but somewhere safe. "You can't!"

"Mikah," the earthbender started.

She sped forward. "Don't sacrifice yourself for them! Think of your family, Skoochy." Mikah stood next to Sage, her eyes wild with terror.

The earthbender's strained smirk fell a little. He met Mikah and took her hand firmly, holding onto her tight, forcing her to listen. He looked into her eyes with his auburn ones, determination lined in his pupils. "Take Sage to where we said we'd meet. Take care of Rai. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"You promise?" Mikah's voice was soft, the words heavy with the fear of losing another person she loved.

Skoochy swallowed the wad of paper in his throat, and managed a nod. The boy had never been the one leaving, and it was taking its toll now. He picked up his cap and pulled it carefully over his features. "You're in charge till I get back." With that, the bender turned away, lifted his foot, and used the force of the earth to propel him upwards. Skoochy wasn't a master of earth, but he managed to teach himself that trick.

Watching Sage watch him go, Mikah wiped her eyes and softly drew the younger girl away by the shoulder. "Come on," the replacement leader put her arm around her protectively. She glanced back out at the cloudy sky. "He'll be back soon."

He has to be. She thought, and pulled Sage into the shadows.

...

The blimps were gaining on Oogi, making Jinora's brown eyes widen in terror. From her place in the flying bison's saddle, she could see the chi-blockers readying for battle inside. She looked back at her family, at her mother sitting protectively with newborn Rohan in her arms. Jinora had to do something; she was the only one ready of the attack. Meelo and Ikki had moved the farthest away from the Equalist blimps, fear emanating from them like the scent of the prey. Jinora's heart sank.

They were the prey.

The chi-blockers were ready to attack again, and another net was fired at the flying animal, like the one Lin had shot down before she was taken. That had happened a mere few minutes ago. To Jinora, it felt like Lin had sacrificed herself last year.

Breathing slowly, the girl readied herself for the attack, and then sent a gust of wind at the net, causing it to be cast aside and fall into the City below. The airbender looked down to watch the net fall into the shadows below, but what she found shocked her to the core.

As she leaned over the edge of the saddle, a boy in a familiar cap flew up into the air and landed roughly on his knees in the middle of Oogi's saddle. He looked slightly green and covered in soot. As he stood, Jinora saw his knees wobble slightly as he adjusted his cap.

Skoochy looked over at his airbender and grinned shakily. "Hey, Genie."

She gaped back at him when out of the corner of her eye she saw a black wire spiraling in curling blue snakes shoot out towards Skoochy. "Duck!" she yelled, and jumped onto the street urchin, causing him to fall and miss the electric wire by a few inches.

He looked straight up at her, his eyes wide for a moment, just a few inches from her brown ones. "Thanks for that."

Jinora was beginning to blush when she remembered—she was still at war. She bended herself up abruptly, and assessed the new situation she had found herself in as quickly as she could. Her father had abandoned his post as driver, and was sent whirling gusts of wind towards the gaining blimps. Her siblings, both once so brave, now sat in ice-cold fear. For once, Jinora was scared that her talkative little sister wasn't talking.

"Pema! Take the reins!" Tenzin was instructing his wife. She took Rohan in one arm onto Oogi's head and took the reins with the other, with firm hand and determined composure. For some reason this small gestured, the head held high, made Jinora's love grow even more for her mother and her confidence. Tenzin was supposed to be the strong parent, but compared to Pema, her father seemed full of hot air.

This warm feeling didn't last long. Jinora felt her father's hand pushed her down in a hurry, sending the clutch of fear to take hold of Jinora's heart; causing the metal net barely scrape against the top of her head as it passed the airbender and onto something else—Meelo.

"Daddy!" the young airbender screeched in a frightened voice.

"Meelo!" Tenzin shouted back, and sent an angry gust of air at the cord connected to the Equalist blimp, slicing the metal in two. Meelo collapsed back onto the saddle in a heap of netting and horror.

"MOVE!" Jinora heard Skoochy yell, and she complied. She watched as he took the net shot at her, spun it, and sent it flying back at the blimp like a hammer throw. The girl watched in amazement as the net collided with the nose of the blimp below, stopping the aerial machine in its tracks.

She looked back in wonder at the earthbender. He just winked back and adjusted his hat.

The air whirred and sparked, shadowing the fore-coming attacks. The airbender focused as hard as she possibly could, standing side-by-side with Skoochy. The next rounds of webs were injected into the bitter air, causing Jinora to narrow her eyes in preparation. With a single kick, the airbender sent the nets back towards the remaining blimp.

Skoochy grabbed the one his accomplice had missed out of the air, his quick reflexes enabling the boy to swing the net's force back from where it came.

But the team's success was short-lived. Neither bender was ready for a net to shoot past them and latch onto the ones Jinora was trying to protect.

Ikki held Meelo tight as the net was reeled back to the blimp. "NO!" Jinora screamed and sent a blast of wind at her captured siblings. The attack was lot on the Equalist advances, and Ikki and Meelo disappeared into the flying metal monster.

Jinora stopped feeling when the door closed over Meelo's wide blue eyes. The wind hissing in her ears silenced everything else, making her forget everyone still with her. Where had her father been when the web took them in its clutches? She thought numbly. The young airbender saw Pema scream; she was shouting Ikki's name, Meelo's name. Before Tenzin could stop the grief-stricken mother, she pulled Oogi around and headed straight for the enemy holding her babies.

The oldest daughter's vision blurred slightly as her teary eyes watched Skoochy shout her name and dive in front of her.

His pained screamed brought Jinora back. Wrapped around the street urchin's middle was a metal cord that was shocking him to the core.

"Skoochy!" she reached out to touch him with the same sort of metal cord latched into Jinora's hips and sent bolts of blue light up and down her body, racking the airbender with a never-before-experienced sting.

In her vision now fuzzy with pain, Jinora could make out her father suffering in the same way she and the earthbender were. She felt herself being pulled by the metal rope into the air and towards the blimp that had captured her.

Jinora didn't know where her parents had gone; she hadn't the strength to look up from her place in the sky where she was being reeled in to see. She hadn't a clue where she was going, where Ikki and Meelo were, or what was going to happen. She didn't know where Skoochy was, and that made her stomach lurch. He had come to help her, to save her, and in the end he wound up captured, just like the rest of them.

The airbender was yanked into a black box, and the door to the outside world was shut. The cord released and dropped Jinora onto the floor in a barely-conscious heap.

She looked up at the ceiling or as least where she thought the top of her cell was, and furrowed her brow. "I won't stop." She muttered, her words slurred from the hurting haze. "I will never stop." She said again, louder. "I will never stop fighting!" her voice bounced off the metal walls. "I will never stop fighting you…" she whispered.

But despite her efforts, Jinora closed her eyes, letting defeated tears slip out, and unconsciousness slip in.

...

Skoochy woke up in a different cell from where he passed out. He sat up, feeling his sore muscles groan, and tried to ignore the throbbing in his temple. He noted the afternoon light creating stripes across the ground littered in straw. Instead, he decided to focus on the visitor in the shadows opposite of the earthbender.

Without a sound, the Lieutenant stepped forward and crouched down to Skoochy's level. The boy's whole body shook at the sight of him, something the strong, smart urchin never satisfied anyone with.

The Lieutenant rested his forearms on his thighs and grinned in an evil sort of way. "Remember me?"

And the problem was, Skoochy did.

Did you enjoy the first part? I hope so(: If you did, REVIEW pweeease.

And I'll get the 2nd part up as soon as I can! :D

Lurve you guyss