I awoke in the dark, lying on a stark mattress with red candles twinkling by my bedside. Too familiar, this seemed, and I remembered a time where I had been in a warship like this before.
"Etka!" I screamed, bolting upright. My heart dropped in my chest, adrenaline dumping in my veins. Hands grabbed me by the shoulders and held me back, and I struggled, terrified. "Etka!"
"Anahi, calm down!" I turned and looked at the owner of the hands, and drew back in surprise to see a woman sitting beside me, her eyes wide with alarm.
Her hair was cut short, shoulder length, and her face was clean, free of kohl around her eyes. Scratches decorated her face and neck, and she sported a bandage across her forehead. "K - Kateri?" I breathed, and she nodded slowly. I barely recognized her now, she looked so starkly different.
I heard heavy footsteps sounding towards the room, and Etka burst in, looking panicked. "What is it?" He demanded, slightly out of breath, and I relaxed, embarrassed.
"Everything's fine," Kateri turned back towards him, getting up. "She just woke up."
"Where are we?" I asked, looking at the both of them. I saw Kateri and Etka exchange a wordless glance.
"Aboard a Fire Nation cruiser," Etka said slowly, coming in and taking a seat beside me. As he entered, Kateri got up and made for the door, muttering something about giving us some space. Etka took my hand in his.
"We escaped the Temple with Kateri and the other Sisters' help," He explained. "They were able to fend off the Fire Nation army so that we could escape."
"How is Kateri here?" I asked. "She didn't stay at the Temple?"
"She chose to come with us," Etka said gently. "But it was a very difficult choice for her, so she's been having a hard time lately. Just be considerate around her."
"Of course," I sat up and swung my legs over on the side of the bed, staring at the ground. Gingerly, I touched my head, where I had fallen and blacked out. How was it that I had missed so much? I believed Etka, but it couldn't have been the whole truth.
"How are you doing?" I looked up at him, and he sighed, his hand going up to his hair, as if he were about to run his hand through his once long locks. Etka's fingers touched the shorn hairs on his head, and his hand faltered.
"I'll be relaxed when we reach the Earth Kingdom and can get off this ship," He replied. "We need to get out of the Fire Nation as quickly as possible, but that won't be easy."
"What can we do?" I asked him. "What can I do?"
"Nothing, for now," Etka stood up, and I followed suit. "Just try and take it easy. You hit your head hard."
I stared at him, and he met my eyes. I noticed that his were dark with fatigue and lack of sleep, and I felt disconcerted. I wrapped my arms around his chest and held him close. I didn't say anything, and he didn't either, only holding me close and resting his head atop mine. I could hear his heartbeat through his tunic, his strong, steady pulse, and I was comforted. As long as this beat was there, things would be fine. I told myself that over and over in my head until I believed it.
Night had fallen, and I left my place at the bow of the ship. We had been rotating places all day as we sailed through the bay of the Fire Nation, and everyone's anxiety was high. We barely spoke, merely exchanging glances as we shifted positions from scanning the water for signs of trouble, to steering the ship, and trying to get a fitful rest.
I walked into the command room and saw Kateri, Naheel and Etka standing by the engine, marks of worry on their faces. They were speaking in low, fretful voices, and abruptly stopped when Naheel noticed me enter.
"What's going on?" I asked, my face falling, and my brother swallowed.
"We don't have enough fuel to make it out of the bay," He said gravely. "Which means that we're going to have to stop somewhere."
"How can we dock in the harbor and not be noticed though?" Kateri asked, her voice lilting upwards in frustration and panic.
"We can swim," I suggested. "Send the boat sailing forwards with the fuel we have left and we abandon ship to swim to shore."
"Use the ship as a decoy?" Etka remarked.
"It might work," Naheel nodded. "If the ship is intercepted, we'll be off it and they'll have lost our trail."
I noticed Kateri looked uncomfortable, nervous, and when I reached out to touch her arm consolingly, she flinched, as if she had seen me raise my fist to strike her instead.
"What's wrong?" I asked her, and she swallowed, shaking her head.
"All of you can swim," She said nervously, pacing up and down the cabin. "Anahi and Naheel learned in the Water Tribe, and Etka learned in the Navy right?"
"You can't swim?" Naheel asked, sounding slightly surprised. Kateri gave him a hard look.
"I never had a need to learn," She returned. "And I can swim, just not very well..."
"How well?" Etka asked. Kateri looked ashamed.
"I...I can doggy paddle," She admitted, and I shook my head.
"I can help you," I assured her. "I've swam with someone else before." Naheel looked like he had been caught off guard, as if I had taken his place in aiding Kateri.
"If we're going to do this, we should do it now," Etka concluded. "Take anything that you can carry with you. We'll go off the side of the cruiser."
The cruiser was set to maintain its course, and we all hurried to salvage what little supplies we had obtained aboard the ship. My fingers touched the dagger around my neck. Part of me wanted to throw it into the ocean, and watch it sink down to the blackness of the ocean floor, but the other part knew that this was the only thing that my Mother had ever owned. It was my last surviving piece of her, and I had to save it.
I tucked the dagger back under my tunic and joined the others along the side of the ship. We bore blankets, food wrapped in sheets, and worried, fearful faces. "See the village there?" Naheel asked, pointing to the coast at a smattering of twinkling lights in the darkness. "We'll swim to the outskirts and set up camp in the forest there. Is everyone ready?"
"Yes," I nodded, looking around at the rest. Kateri's eyes widened in fear as she looked down at the black water below, and she gripped the edge of the ship in trepidation. "I'll go first."
"We'll dive together," Etka stepped up beside me. "We should stick in pairs. That way, if someone gets lost, or hurt, they'll have backup."
Kateri nodded worriedly at Naheel, and I looked at Etka, meeting his eyes. He nodded once at me, and I looked out at the water before us. This was it.
I leapt outwards, curving my body in the shape for a dive. For a moment, I sailed through the air, which parted seamlessly for me to glide through. I slid through the water easily, cutting through the barrier from air to sea. The shock of the cold sent a shiver over my skin, and I swam upwards with the moon as my light.
Etka dove in after me, and when he surfaced, he whipped his hair back and forth like a wet dog, his mouth parting to form a silent O. Already, Naheel and Kateri were drifting away from us on the boat, and I saw them standing hand in hand, their silhouettes prominent against the moonlight. Naheel was gently coaxing Kateri to jump, and I knew that we didn't have much time before the cruiser would drift away and the night would be too much to separate us.
"Jump!" Etka hissed, looking around in worry as he tread water. Suddenly, Naheel grabbed Kateri by the arm and pulled her close to him, holding her against his chest.
"Don't scream," He ordered, and together, they jumped out off of the boat and with a loud splash, hit the water.
Immediately, Etka and I began to swim towards them, and they surfaced together. Kateri was practically on top of Naheel, and he was struggling to hold her up as best as he could. "C-Cold!" She stammered, floundering to maintain her grip. "S-So cold!"
"Is everyone alright?" I whispered, swimming up alongside them.
"We're fine," Naheel grunted, moving Kateri around his body. "Kateri, hold onto my back." He rolled onto his stomach and began to swim towards the shore with Kateri clinging to his back, and I exchanged a look with Etka.
"It works," He said, passing a smile my way, and I gave a light chuckle, the only levity I had seen in a long time. Etka and I followed them, and I watched the waters to check for any approaching ships.
We crawled out of the gentle waters, and immediately set out for the surrounding forest. The tiny village would be too dangerous to enter, especially at night. Naheel put Kateri down, and all of us, soaking wet and chilled to the bone, began to walk through the forest.
No one spoke, and our only light was the silvery moonlight filtering through the trees. We all strode close together, trying to ignore the weariness and hunger that drove us, and the inescapable fear that we would all be found.
It was Etka who found the small cave, and we set up camp inside. Even though we were freezing, and our clothes were still soaking wet, we couldn't light a fire for fear of being seen. We all took off as many layers of soaking wet clothing as possible and laid them out to dry, and Naheel announced that he would take first watch, and that we should get some rest.
Kateri quickly found a place behind a cluster of stones, and promptly curled up and tried to sleep. Etka and I found a corner of the cave against the wall, and I slid down beside him.
"Don't tell your brother," Etka whispered, his eyes flicking over to Naheel. He cupped his hands together and a tiny blossom of fire emerged. He turned his back to the cave's entrance, and we both huddled over the fire together, trying to salvage what little warmth we could.
I looked up at Etka, and saw the light of the fire dancing around his face, casting flickering shadows that came and went. He met my eyes, and a soft smile crossed his face. "We'll get through this together," He promised. "Do you remember what you told me? Back at the Temple?"
I smiled wistfully. "We're halfway done," I told him. "All we need to do is sail to the Earth Kingdom, and we'll be safe. This will all be over."
Etka closed his hand over the flame and leaned over, kissing my forehead. "Soon," He promised, leaning his head down and resting his forehead against mine. I curled up against his chest, and closed my eyes. Etka was shivering underneath me, and I wrapped my arms around him, holding onto him tightly. We just had to make it through the night.
It was Kateri who woke me up to take the watch, gently shaking my shoulder until I was pulled from my dream. Our eyes met, and she said nothing, only nodding her head over towards the mouth of the cave.
Instantly, I knew that something wasn't right. Careful not to awaken Etka, I slowly climbed off of him, and Kateri pressed a finger to her lips, crouching down. I followed her suit, and she slowly led me over to the mouth of the cave, pressing her back against the wall. My heart was pounding, and I did the same.
Kateri turned her head over to mine, and practically brought her mouth to my ears. Her voice was barely a breath, and I realized that she was afraid of the sound of her voice echoing. "There are soldiers just outside," She breathed, and chills ran down my arms. Instantly, I glanced over at Etka, and my brother sleeping close by.
"Should we wake them?" I asked, my heart racing.
"No, they're loud when they get up," Kateri said. "I got you up because I knew you could be quiet."
"Kateri..." I began nervously, looking down at my hands. "I...I can't - "
"I know," She murmured, turning to look out the cave again. "I just wanted someone with me."
We both froze when we heard voices coming from outside, and carefully, I unsheathed my dagger, knowing I might need it. "Do you see this?" Someone called, and with a start, I realized that most of our clothes were lying outside, in plain view of anyone passing by. I grabbed Kateri's arm, my eyes widening in panic.
"There's clothing here by this..." A young man stumbled into the clearing before the mouth of the cave, his sentence trailing off in shock. His eyes fell right onto Kateri and I, and then found Etka and Naheel, who was now stirring from the sound of the intruder's voice. We stood like that, frozen and staring at the other, daring the opposite to make the first move.
Suddenly, more people came into the clearing, all looking at us in shock and surprise. I noticed that they weren't wearing the uniforms of soldiers, but were armed in spite of this, wearing armored robes and wielding long swords sheathed in their belts.
"Are...are you the group on the run from the Fire Lord?" One of the intruders spoke up. Naheel, and now Etka had gotten up, taking their stances beside Kateri and I. None of us spoke.
"We're not here to hurt you, we promise," A different man said. "We're against the Fire Lord, and we know what happened in the Capitol. We're here to help you."