Shadows flickered across the dull dirt walls as the candle flames danced over the wick. Will bolted upright in his bed, sweat dripping from his forehead and down his neck. Every night was the same, he would close his eyes when exhaustion claimed him and fall into an unsteady sleep. Tossing, turning and waking up periodically. Slumber would be ended at last when he saw the lightning bolt pierce his mother's chest, sparks bursting out and fading on the floor of the van.

He got up, heading towards the wash basin and splashing his face with cold water The cool liquid felt refreshing, waking him up slightly. Will shook his head and pulled his uniform from the closet: since training he had been required to dress appropriately; grey linen trousers, a black, meshed tank top covered by a khaki pullover and donned in a thick brown leather overcoat. The Earthbender pulled on his black workman's boots and headed out of the bedroom door.

"Going somewhere?" A voice echoed throughout the corridor. In his groggy state, Will turned to face Lea, who was advancing towards him in a casual manner. "Shouldn't you be in bed right now?"

"Can't sleep." The trainee Earthbender replied, rubbing his eyes softly. "I was gonna go train."

"Let me come with you," Lea responded, "Its better than tossing rocks on your own, right?" Will nodded.

The two friends stood facing each other in a tall, grand hall. There were several in the temple, each used for the training of a different elemental discipline. In this particular training ground, the main door was guarded by two statues: one of Toph Beifong, heralded as the greatest Earthbender of all time (as well as the founder of metal bending); and to her right a statue of Lin Beifong, Toph's daughter and the martyr who sacrificed her abilities in order to allow Avatar Korra and the last of the Airbenders to escape.

"Does it not intimidate you to stand in the presence of your legacy?" Will shouted, his voice resounding around the hall.

Beifong shrugged. "I don't really think about it. Lets begin." They bowed to each other.

Lea extended his right arm out forcefully, a thick wire released from the coil on his back and darted towards Will. The defender raised his arm and with it a spire extended from the ground. Metal hit earth, the rock crumbled and the wire retracted. It was followed by an arc movement of Lea's left arm, and a second wire shot forward, arching like a whip aiming to slap Will. He responded by raising an extremely dense pillar from the ground which stopped the wire dead, and retaliated by rotating his foot to a sideways angle and stomping on the ground. A sharp rock spear burst through the floor in front of Lea who dived backwards into a crab, narrowly avoiding the spear from driving into his chin. Lea kicked his feet up into a handstand, and with this kicking a shock wave through the ground which sped towards Will.

The defending Earthbender jumped to the left, only to be met with a swift punch in the chest from the wire extending from Lea's arm.

"You're getting better, but you're forgetting the key teaching of earth bending; don't run, stand strong. Earth is the element of resilience."

"Yeah, well I don't feel very 'resilient' right now." Will shouted, spitting blood onto the floor and standing to his feet. The air became icy. Lea sighed, hoping one day he could get through to him.

Maria burst through the door panting, and nursing a bullet-wound on her right arm. She collapsed on the ground.

A small group was crowded around Maria's cot in the infirmary. The Kyoshi warrior was sat upright looking pale, with a bandage around her wound and an IV drip inserted into her wrist.

"Why are you here Maria? What's happened?" Master Ray questioned softly. She had wished to sound more stern, but now was not the time for this.

Maria picked up a glass of water from the table to her side and took a sip to soothe her dry throat before responding, "Commander Flynn overheard me feeding information to the White Lotus, and she came after me. I managed to escape from the Central Army headquarters but I was pursued. I managed to lose them in the sewers, after I was shot... Kyoshi HQ was too far away, so I made my way here." The group remained silent.

"What do you know about Flynn's movements?" the silence was finally broken by Master Keng, the female air leader who had otherwise remained out of the war. They all guessesd she had finally realised how much of a threat this commander, and the government's campaign, really was.

"Flynn has been trying to gain access to the whole army, so that she can raid the Bender's Haven. I've tried as hard as I can to make sure she gets rejected every time, however now i'm not there I can't guarantee she won't. How do you want to play this?"

The group became silent once more, everyone both perplexed and deep in thought. Lea stepped into the infirmary unannounced.

"I suggest to continue with the original plan of assaulting the prison. Now they know our plans, they won't suspect us to actually go through with them, so I can't see there being too much resistance. Also, it would create a diversion which would allow for us to start evacuating the Haven and move everyone out up north, to White Lotus City. If we go in small groups and take separate routes, then we can move everyone successfully."

"Where's White Lotus City?" An additional voice was brought into the already eclectic equation. Cathy strutted in, dropping a lit cigarette into a glass vase. There was a satisfying sizzling sound and a puff of steam. Looks around the room alternated between shock, disgust and irritation. "Well? Isn't anyone going to answer me?"

"Cathy, go back to your quarters, we'll tell you the plan when-" Master Ray snapped, but she was cut off.

"I have every right to be here! For months I've been kept in the dark, literally, down in this false paradise just waiting till I'm 'ready'! If I'm not ready now I'm never going to be. This involves every one of us, and its not just the elite few who get to decide how things work anymore! If I'm going to be used as some kind of weapon in this war then I deserve to know how!" Each member of the council stared into Cathy, mouths gaping and awed expressions. They knew she was feisty, but this was something else.

"I agree." Lea chimed in, smiling at Cathy. "This does involve everyone, and an operation as big as this is going to be difficult to pull off. We can't turn away anyone who can help." Cathy smirked. 'I'm glad I'm not the only one.' she thought to herself.

Master Manda sighed, before laying down the foundations of the plan and filling in Cathy. A small, elite team of no more than four would go to the prison, splitting off on their own to find and rescue as many people as they could. Everyone else left over would help move the refugees into trucks and escort said vehicles to the mountains north of Republic City, where a complicated network of caves would take them to another underground city at the base of the mountains: White Lotus City.

"So that's the plan as it stands." Cathy leant against the wall as Will dressed himself. "We're going to the prison to rescue Master Kaatje, and another force is staying..."

"I'm not going to the prison." Will replied coldly as he straightened the collar of his overcoat. Cathy was stunned. An awkward silence hung over the room.

"Why not?"

"I don't want to fight any more. Where has fighting got us?" He turned from his mirror to face his friend. "I don't want to see anyone else lost to this war, so I'm not going to fight. I'm going to protect people."

Cathy sighed, pulling out a packet of cigarettes and drawing two. She stuck one between her lips and handed another to Will. She formed a flame over the index finger on her right hand and they both leaned in to light the sticks.

"Will, there's something I need to tell you." Cathy blurted out. She felt a lump in her stomach. He perked his ears and sat on his bed. Cathy took a drag of her cigarette before continuing. "The reason that I was late that day, the day it all started. I snuck into the police base once it closed, and I searched their files. I hacked into the data base that held a list of all known Mancer- I mean, Benders. When I searched the list I found both our names on there, as well as your mother. I deleted all of our names. As I was leaving I tripped the alarm switch, and before I knew it I was being shot at. And, well... You know the rest."

"What are you saying, Cathy?" Will's voice cracked.

"I'm saying that..." she took a drag on her cigarette and lowered her head. She blew out the smoke and raised her head, staring at the ceiling. She couldn't look at him. "I'm saying that your mother is dead because of my stupidity. And I can't ever expect you to forgive me. I just want you to know that I'm sorry." Cathy shook her head from side to side very slightly.

"None of this is your fault." Again, Cathy was paralyzed. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You tried to protect me and mom, and if you hadn't stepped in they would have come for us all sooner or later. Its not your fault... You didn't kill her." Something about Will's tone was unconvincing, but hearing the words helped. "But now you understand why I don't want to fight, right? If we'd just gone along with Flynn she might still be here so... so..." a single tear escaped from his right eye. "So I'm going to help protect people. I don't want to be an instrument of war. I want to be a shield."

Cathy stubbed out her cigarette on the wall and strode towards her best friend; both were now in tears. She hugged him. "Now you're thinking like an Earthbender."