The White Lotus War

Chapter 5: Off To A Rocky Start

Hitomi loved feeling the wind blow through her hair as she rode on Ma Gui's back on the clear mountain road. She always felt so alive while riding on Ma Gui's back, whether it was a simple trot through town or galloping through this rocky terrain heading toward Tyro Town. Ma Gui was as fast as she was strong and graceful.

Looking back, Hitomi could see that the young woman on her motorcycle who she was racing with was slowly gaining up on her. She knew that Ma Gui was fast enough to out run Yuko's motorcycle, but she figured that Ma Gui was starting to get a little tired. Looking ahead, she could see a small village which would be perfect to buy some supplies from before they continued to Tyro Town.

Yuko slowly passed her and shouted out, "I'll meet you at the village, slowpoke!" She then started zooming away; another hint that Ma Gui was getting tired.

She petted Ma Gui and said, "Don't get tired yet girl! There's a village just up ahead, so let's show Yuko just how fast you can really go!"

In response, Ma Gui started picking up speed. In a matter of seconds, Ma Gui had almost caught up with Yuko and was beginning to pass her. Yuko wasn't ready to give up and she leaned forward, trying to get some extra speed. The village was just a few yards away and both girls could taste victory on their lips. Just inches before entering the village, where a guy was yelling at them to stop before they crash into something or someone, Ma Gui managed to pass Yuko and enter the village first. Yuko slammed on her brakes and just barely managed to not hit an old man with a cane.

The old man yelled, "These annoying kids today! You almost got an old man killed you hooligan!" He then started hitting her with his cane, all the while she was pleading that she was sorry and begged him to stop hitting her.

Hitomi also tried to slow down Ma Gui before she accidentally hit someone, but when Ma Gui spotted a puddle in front of a police station, she instantly stopped to drink out of it. Hitomi was flung off of her back and she crashed through the window and into the police station. The police officers were either playing pai sho or eating something when she came crashing through the window. All the officers were on their feet, ready to bend whatever element they had at the girl.

Hitomi quickly got on her feet and said, "Easy, easy! I didn't mean to crash into this place! I swear!"

One of the officers said, "Yeah, well you're still going to pay for the damage you caused, little girl. We don't go easy on anybody."

"I'm sorry," Hitomi begged, "I really am."

One of the other officers looked at her more closely and froze in fear. He was trying to say something to the other officers, but he couldn't get the words out. Therefore, the officers ignored him.

Another officer said to Hitomi, "So you better pay up, or we'll send you to the Chief. Then you'll be singing a different tune."

Hitomi replied, "Singing a different tune? I just came here for some supplies. I'll gladly pay for the damage and get out of your way."

The officer who was trying to say something suddenly ran out of the room and came back with a newspaper. He poked an officer on the shoulder, trying to get his attention.

The officer that was being poked said, "Watch you tone young lady. You don't want to get us mad. We've been trained by experts and we've got powerful allies, so you better," The man grew frustrated with the constant poking and turned to the officer and yelled, "What?"

The officer showed him the headline picture and pointed at Hitomi. The officer quickly glanced at her and the picture a few times before he cried out, "It's the Avatar!" and then quickly bended a large amount of water from several different cups and splashed Hitomi back through the window she entered from!

Another officer jumped out of the window and shot fire at Hitomi, who just barely managed to dodge. Hitomi punched the ground and the ground shot out from under the officer, sending him flying through the air!

Another officer came out through the door and shot multiple fireballs at Hitomi; all of them she managed to dodge before another officer jumped out of the window, stomped on the ground, formed a rock from the earth, and threw it Hitomi. She managed to catch it, but then an officer bended the water from his water bottle and struck Hitomi, sending her crashing into a park bench! Citizens began fleeing into their homes in fear.

An officer was about to shoot more fire at her until Yuko drove her motorcycle toward the officers, jumped off, and the bike managed to knock a total of four of them off their feet and hit the ground!

"What's the big idea?" Yuko yelled at the officers. She didn't get an answer. An officer bended some of the water out of his water bottle and hit Yuko's hand, and then he clenched his hand, turning the water into ice. Yuko charged at the water bender and punched him right in the gut, breaking the ice off her hand and sending the officer crashing into another officer! Another officer kicked the ground, sending a pile of rocks flying at Yuko. Hitomi stepped in front of Yuko, put her hand out to stop the rocks, and then flung them back at him with full force. The officer jumped out of the way in time, but then Hitomi kicked the ground, sending one big rock shooting out of the earth. It hit the officer in the face and sent him flying!

Every officer was moaning in pain on the ground except for one; the one that revealed her to be the Avatar but couldn't manage to speak out of shock. The two girls walked toward the officer and stared him down. Yuko picked him up by the shirt and said, "You didn't answer my question. What's the big idea?" She still never got an answer, but this time it was because the officer fainted.

Yuko threw the officer on the ground and asked Hitomi, "What happened?"

Hitomi replied, "I don't know. I accidentally crashed through the window, they demanded I pay for the damage, and then they started attacking me when they figured out that I was the Avatar."

A few of the citizens slowly came back outside and slowly approached the two girls. A man with extremely short brown hair and a full brown beard approached Hitomi and asked, "Did you say that you were the Avatar?" Hitomi nodded in response and he turned to everybody and shouted, "It's the Avatar!" Everyone cheered and gathered around Hitomi and Yuko.

Then everyone fell silent again when they heard police sirens slowly getting louder. The man with the beard said to the crowd, "Get the horse-turtle and motorcycle to the base!" A few people nodded and retrieved the animal and vehicle while the others retreated to their homes. He turned to Hitomi and said, "Quickly Avatar! We have to get out of here before they spot you!"

"Who are they?" Hitomi asked.

"I'll explain along the way." the bearded man said as he opened the sewer lid in the middle of the street. He jumped in and Hitomi and Yuko followed. The sewer was as black as a pit and Hitomi could just barely see Yuko and the bearded man after Yuko placed the lid back on. Luckily, the bearded man turned out to be a fire bender when he snapped his fingers and formed a small fire in the palm of his hand.

As they walked down the disgusting and smelly sewer, the bearded man filled the two girls in, "My name is Chao, and I've been leading a small group of people who are trying to fight against the monsters controlling this town. This quiet village use to be a friendly little place, easily looked over by most travelers, but everyone who grew up here loved this place."

Hitomi asked, "So what happened?"

"Some guy that calls himself the Chief took over our village literally overnight. The man had an unbelievably large and highly skilled group of men, so he basically took over the town with ease. He's been our unofficial mayor ever since."

"That's tyranny!" Yuko exclaimed, "Shouldn't someone send for help?"

"People tried. But every time someone tried to run away or send a messenger hawk, they were jailed and sent to the Chief. We don't know what happens to people who are sent to the Chief, but I'm sure it's no picnic. That monster cut off this village from the rest of the world and made sure that if anybody entered, they would instantly become part of his imprisoned town. I drove into this town because I had a flat tire and needed a repair. That was four years ago. Ever since, I've been rallying every brave citizen left to fight off these guys, but we still need numbers in order to beat them." He stopped, turned toward Hitomi and said, "Avatar, I'm begging you, please help these people."

Hitomi placed her hand on his shoulder and said, "You don't have to beg. I won't just stand here and let these people harm anyone else."

Yuko added, "Yeah, we're not defenseless little girls who run away from fights. It'll be our pleasure to kick these guys out of town."

Chao smiled and lead them through the sewers until they arrived at a specific sewer lid with a red X painted on it. Chao opened the lid and lifted himself out. He helped Hitomi and Yuko out of the sewers and said, "Welcome to our base. Your pet and bike are outside."

The base was apparently large basement filled with training equipment being used by young men and women benders who practiced their fighting skills. There weren't very many of them, put they all appeared to be in good shape and their bending wasn't that bad or at least as far as Hitomi and Yuko knew. The non-benders were boxing with each other and wrestling.

Hitomi asked, "Are these the only volunteers?"

Chao nodded and replied, "These are all the benders and non-benders in town that aren't afraid to fight back. The others who aren't afraid to join are either too young or old to fight. Except for that one old guy who seems more than qualified to fight."

He pointed to an old man with a cane who just won a boxing match against a younger and physically better looking man. The old man stared back at the girls and glared, recognizing Yuko. Yuko in turn noticed him and froze on the spot in fear.

Hitomi asked, "Someone you know?"

Yuko stuttered, "W-We met briefly."

Hitomi took time to gather her thoughts. What did she know? She knew that a guy called the Chief assembled a large gang and took over the village years ago in a sudden swoop. The Chief doesn't allow anyone to leave and anyone who comes in doesn't come out. Anyone who opposes him gets imprisoned and taken away. While thinking this over, a question popped into her head.

"Why?"

Chao was caught off guard, "What?"

"Why did this Chief want to take over this village so badly? He sounds like a smart enough guy for him to take over a town in the blink of an eye. If he wanted to become a tyrannical dominator, I could easily see him wanting to grow his power and take over several more towns. So why did he only want control of this one village?"

Chao thought about this, but he was obviously stumped and admitted, "I have no idea."

This question did annoy Hitomi, but she figured that one of the most important priorities right now was to rescue the imprisoned citizens from the Chief.

Hitomi asked, "Do you have absolutely no idea where these guys take the prisoners after they're arrested?"

"No, they just hold them at the station until a truck picks them up in the middle of the night. I don't know where the truck goes. I imagine that they take them to wherever the Chief lives, but I'm not certain."

Hitomi walked into the middle of the room and called out, "Listen up everyone!" Everyone gathered around Hitomi and listened, "If we're going to stop this tyranny, we have to stop the Chief. To do that, we have to figure out why he took over this village. I think that the Chief's location and master plan can be found by tailing one of the trucks. In order to do this, I'm planning on turning myself in."

Everyone gasped and Yuko said, "No! If you're arrested, the Chief won't let you live!"

"She's right," Chao agreed, "The Chief may have taken rebels prisoner, but he'll surely destroy you once he gets his hands on you. He won't risk the Avatar breaking out and leading a rebellion. If your plan involves someone playing decoy, I'll volunteer."

"No," Hitomi said abruptly, "You're the leader of this group. You can't allow yourself to be caught. These people need you to lead them into battle when the time comes." Everyone in the room grunted in agreement.

"Well if neither of us can risk getting arrested, then who's going to play decoy?"

"I have a suggestion," the old man with the cane said as he pointed his cane at Yuko. Everyone immediately looked at her.

Yuko warned, "There better be someone standing behind me."

"Come on," Chao pleaded, "You'd be perfect. The Chief wouldn't dare harm you since you're the Avatar's friend; he'll probably keep you around as a bargaining chip."

"Please Yuko," Hitomi begged, "I promise you'll be in and out in no time!"

Yuko stood there stubbornly for a few seconds, until she was weighed down by everyone's eyes staring at her. She said to the old man with hatred in her eyes, "You're not going to get away with this you old buzzard." The old man then proceeded to hit her on the head with his cane.

Chapter Five is now complete! I hope you guys loved it! Please leave a review and come back next time when we see Hitomi attempt to take down the Chief!