**thanks for being patient with me. i hope you enjoy the new chapter and i will have the next one up veryvery soon!! REVIEW PLEASE. it is GREATLY appreciated.**
Ashley scoped out the terrain from her seat at the top of a big oak. She could see Andreea's black head dip behind a bush 100 feet in front of her. She turned around slightly and whistled like a hawk-cat. That was Matchu's cue to come out from behind his hiding spot and begin walking along the path that led to a village. She watched him enter the village, unnoticed. Andreea slipped behind the bush, and stealthily walked up behind another one. Kiven was directly below Ashley, pretending to take a nap, but really he was keeping a sharp ear on his surroundings; Kiven had excellent hearing and could hear every twig snap and every bird chirp around him. Tonya was stationed on the other side of the village. They had spotted remains of a campsite on the way to the village.
They grew lazy as the day went on with no sign of trouble. Kiven, being Waterbender, started moving a small ball of Water around, making funny shapes with it. Ashley actually fell asleep. Andreea was the only on who stayed on her toes and she was the one that noticed the sign of warning emitted above the village. It was from Matchu; they knew because he was a Firebender and the sign was a large Fireball.
"Kiven! Ashley!" She hissed. Ashley woke with a start and Kiven lost his concentration. Andreea pointed up to the sky where another warning Fireball was shot into the air.
"Oh crap." both Kiven and Ashley muttered. Ashley jumped off the tree and the tree took off at a dead run towards the village. When they reached it, all seemed to be fine.
"Maybe something happened with Tonya." Suggested Kiven. Andree and Ashley nodded and they ran to the other side of the village, where Matchu was pacing quickly.
"Finally!" He exclaimed. "They captured Tonya."
"Which way?" Andreea asked.
"Left."
"Did they see you?"
"No."
"Good. We can surprise them." They began following the tracks of the hybrids. After a half hour of following, Kiven stopped them.
"Shh, they're right over the hill." He whispered. None of the others could hear anything, but they trust Kiven's hearing. Very slowly and quietly, they climbed over the grassy hill. They stopped when they could just see the hybrids camp.
"I see her!" whispered Matchu, pointing to a figure that they knew was Tonya. She was being taken into a small tent by two men.
"Look, both men came out. That means no ones in there with her. And only one is standing guard." observed Ashley.
"Where are the others?" asked Matchu.
"In the larger tent." Ashley said, pointing to the tent in the middle.
"Andreea and Ashley, create a barricade so no one in that ten can get out. Matchu and I will get Tonya." They split up. Ashley and Andreea, making sure the guard to Tonya's tent couldn't see them, stealthily moved to the opposite sides of the large tent. They knew they would only have moments to finish the barricade, so they created the simplest one they could. They created identical Earth walls on all four sides of the tent and just finished propping up a few slabs to steady the walls when the hybrids caught on.
"Ashley! A top!" Andreea called. Together, they made a flat rock sheet and moved it on top of the walls. At the end, the tent was trapped inside the Earth slabs. Angry voices came from inside, but Ashley and Andreea were already gone.
Meanwhile, Kiven walked behind the other tent and Matchu walked alongside the tent towards the guard. He quickly glanced around the corner to see where the guard was, but unfortunately the guard spotted him. Matchu whipped around the corner shooting flames from his hands. The hybrids quickly froze the flames and then managed to freeze Matchu's hands, leaving him unable to bend. However, Matchu was not only a Firebender, but an excellent street fighter. Matchu ran towards the guard and just before he reached him, jumped into the air, twisted around and sent his foot connecting with his opponents jaw, causing him to fall on the ground. The hit made the hybrid distracted for only a few seconds, but it that time, Kiven was able to slip into the tent and Matchu was able to unfreeze his ands. When the guard attempted to get up, Matchu kicked him in the side, rolled him onto his stomach and picked him up by his orange hair.
"Quick Kiven!" He called, throwing the hybrid across camp like he was a sack of potatoes, and into a boulder. Kiven came out of the tent, supporting Tonya who was almost unconscious. Matchu put Tonya's other arm over his shoulder and started to walk away but apparently the guard had recovered from hitting his head very fast. He scorched Kiven in the back; Kiven crumbled to the ground, leaving Matchu holding on to Tonya. The guards hands turned blue as he slowly approached them, his sapphire eyes turning icy. Tonya stiffened next to Matchu and her skin was slowly turning blue.
"Mat…" she mumbled between frozen lips. "Help…" her eyes, the only part of her body not frozen, were full of tears. Matchu was unable to help at all because his hands were frozen solid and he was forced to watch his friend slowly die.
"Kiven!" He yelled, but Kiven was also unable to move. Just as Matchu was giving up hope, Ashley and Andreea came running around the corner. Andreea, quickly evaluating the situation, knocked the guard in the head with a large boulder. He fell immediately to the ground, dead.
"We need to get back. Now." Matchu stated; even though his hands were unfrozen, Tonya was still very blue and her breathing was very shallow. Kiven was slowly getting to his feet. Ashley helped him up and Matchu picked Tonya up into his arms. They raced off to the palace; hoping time would be on their side.
