Another chapter. A nice beginning of the battle I think.

Chapter 34

Snow of Soot, Rain of Fire

We rushed down into the city; the black snow still falling. I heard the beat of the warning drum. Everyone was running to the palace, and we joined the panicked crowd. Once everyone was in the palace, Arnook stood.

"The day we have feared for so long has arrived. The Fire Nation is own our doorstep. It is with great sadness that I call my family here before me, knowing well that many of these faces are about to vanish from our Tribe, but they will never vanish from our hearts. Now, as we approach the battle for our existence, I call upon the Great Spirits. Spirit of the Ocean, Spirit of the Moon, be with us. I am going to need volunteers for a dangerous mission," Sokka, one of the Avatar's friends, volunteered, as did a few others. "Be warned, many of you will not return. Come forward to receive my mark if you accept the task."

He painted three red lines on the foreheads of the volunteers.

"Now then, the rest of you will either prepare the city for battle or will help evacuate the women and children to safety. They will be brought into the higher parts of the city for now. Dismissed." He said.

We walked up to him and the Royal Court.

"What are all of you doing here?" He asked in shock.

"Our scouts spotted the armada, so we came as soon as we could, which seemed to be just in time," Wei explained.

"Hmm." Arnook looked at Koluk and me. "And you thought it was a good idea to bring them?"

"Uh…er…um, actually Hyriu and Koluk came on their own authority. They were stowaways," Wei said. "But they will mostly just help evacuate the women and children."

"What?" Koluk and I said at the same time.

"Yes, they will not actually fight, unless the soldiers break through to the city," Wei said to us and Arnook.

"But I can-" I began.

"No!" Wei cut me off. "I will not have you engage in naval combat. You have no experience with that. It is only for the utmost elite."

"Um, Anzen here," I said. "I am practically the Avatar."

"Yes, but naval combat is incredibly difficult. There is a reason naval training in Hydronia begins at the age of eighteen. You need lots of experience of fighting on land first. You can't just jump into it, expecting the best outcome and no consequences," Wei said.

I sighed, "Fine."

Koluk and I left the palace and saw Sokka sharpening his boomerang. We walked up to him.

"Hey, uh, Hyriu, right?" He said when he saw us.

"Yeah, this is my friend, Koluk. Koluk, Sokka," I introduced them.

"So are you two going to help fight?" Sokka asked, looking at our gear.

"Apparently, we're just going to help evacuate," I said, rolling my eyes.

Sokka laughed. "Ah, alright. Oh, you can sword fight?" He asked and pointed at my sword.

"Oh, yeah," I said and unsheathed it. "I even came up with my own disarming technique." I demonstrated it to him.

"Whoa, that's awesome," he said.

"Yeah, G. B. is pretty cool," Koluk said.

"G. B.?" I questioned him.

"You know, Gambing Blade, G. B." Koluk said motioning with his hands.

I laughed, "I like it."

"Hyriu, Koluk, come on; I'll show you where to start leading people. We need to get as many to safety as possible." He gave a nod at Sokka.

He took us to the neighborhoods closest to the wall. We started going to all the houses and getting the evacuation underway.

We had been evacuating people for awhile, well over an hour. Almost every house by the wall was empty. The exodus of people headed further into the tiered city. A little girl ran past me, saying something about a doll she had forgotten. Her mother started to call her back, but I said I would go with the girl. We walked through the neighborhood; she held my hand. It was like a ghost town. Her house was one of the closest to the wall. There was a large open space in front of the wall with several canals. I stayed outside while she ran in. I looked up at the wall and the soldiers that stood atop it. I spotted the Avatar on his flying bison.

Suddenly, a part in the wall near the middle exploded. Small pieces of debris rained down on me. There were screams and cries in the city. Another fire ball raced over the wall and landed a few houses over in a canal. People were running and screaming. I saw the mother screaming for her daughter. I turned for the house when a fire ball landed in a canal right next to me. I was thrown to the ground. Pieces of ice and snow went everywhere. The air was filled with smoke and steam. I got to my feet and went into the now wrecked house. Things had fallen over and broken. I saw the little girl holding her doll, huddled in a corner crying. In an instant, I saw myself huddled in the corner of my wrecked house when I was five. I blinked, and the flashback was gone. I helped the girl up, and we ran out of the house. The mother cried out in happiness, then in horror as she pointed behind us. I looked back and saw a fireball headed right for us. I made an ice sled and put the girl on it. I used water bending and sent her to her mother and safety. I turned and made an ice shield just as the fireball hit the ground right at my feet. I was thrown back fifteen feet. My whole body felt the pain from the burns and impact.

Koluk helped me up. "You alright?"

I got up slowly. "Uh, kind of, just sore," I said and saw the mother and girl looking at me with concern. "I am alright!" I shouted at them with a smile.

I ushered them to keep moving as two more fireballs soared over the wall. Koluk, a few other young water benders, and I did our best to evacuate everyone. Every time a fireball landed, one of us would rush to make sure no one was hurt. That is how the day went. Constant panic, chaos, fear. We never took our eyes off of the sky for more than a few seconds, so we could spot the fireballs as early as possible. The day dragged on and on, and the fireballs only got more and more frequent. Within an hour of sunset, we were getting around seven fireballs every ten seconds. We couldn't keep up with all the damage. Pakku and some other masters did their best to stop a lot of the fireballs, while the rest of the masters engaged the armada in naval combat.

I was helping a man to the Healing Huts when I noticed it got really quiet. I realized that the fireballs had stopped raining down.

After I got the man to the huts, I saw Yugoda and the other healers were overwhelmed. I decided to help as much as I could, since Hana had been teaching me how to heal.

One boy came in with his face and chest severely burned. He was screaming and crying.

"Hyriu!" Yugoda said and I looked at her. "See to him while I finish up on this patient."

I nodded and went over to the boy. I began applying a paste to his burns. It was ground up sea weed with seal blubber; it lessened the pain and kept the wound clean.

"You're going to be alright," I said to him.

We made eye contact and I could see the fear in his eyes. I kept talking to him holding eye contact. Keeping eye contact made the patient focused on you and not the pain, which was the first step the second was asking ordinary questions as if you had just met the person at a restaurant or on a walk.

"What's your name," I asked putting a bandage on his chest.

"Uh, Kahn," he said starting to calm down.

"Are you a water bender?" I asked him.

"Y-yes," he said.

"Ha me too," I said.

"How old are you Kahn?" I said keeping my voice steady.

"I'm uh twelve," he said the fear had left his eyes.

"I'm fourteen, I just participated in the Warrior games a few weeks ago," I said.

"Really cool, did you win?" he asked me.

"Yeah, in swordsmanship," I said.

"Wow that's pretty cool," he said.

"Yeah, maybe you'll win when you're old enough," I said.

Yugoda came over, "Alright, I'll take it from here Hyriu."

"O-okay," I said starting to walk away.

"Wh-wait what, no!" Kahn said looking from me to Yugoda the fear back in his eyes. "Don't leave!"

"I'm sorry," I said and walked away regretfully. I never found out what happened to him.

Wei came in and found me still at the huts, long after the sun had set.

"Come on, Hyriu. You look exhausted," he said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I noticed that only a small part of his sleeve was burned. I looked at the other water benders who were also in the naval battle; they all had several burns and at least a scratch or two.

"I'm fine, Wei. I need to stay here where I can be of use," I said, bandaging a woman's arm.

"You won't be of any use if you start sleep walking," he noted when I stumbled.

"He is right, Hyriu," Yugoda said. "Go, rest. The other healers and I can handle it." She smiled.

"Alright, if you say so," I said, smiling back.

"Come along, Chief Arnook has prepared some beds for you and Koluk. So go get some much needed rest," Wei said.

So that was a bit intense. If you didn't think so, just wait, it gets much worse. Please continue reading, and leave a follow, favorite, or review if you want. Chapter 35: Uneasy Rest will go up Wednesday.