Phew! I was really surprised with the positive feedback I got for the last chapter. I was so insecure about it, and now... Man, it's amazing! I guess I don't have to be afraid of darker plotlines anymore. Thank you all so much! You get a new chapter in return! ^-^

I heard once that people who don't know what to talk about usually talk about the weather. Well, we can't even do that. There is nothing worth remarking on in here. Well, except for the cold maybe. I guess it's not just the feeling of closeness which drives those kids together. Even I catch myself unconsciously snuggling up against Judai.

He doesn't move away.

The girl I tried to comfort earlier is still with me, too, pressed against my chest and not about to leave any time soon. It's a weird feeling.

All my life, I've been shunned for something I didn't choose. Do I really need to be captured by slave traders first to finally experience actual solidarity? That's just sad...

The silence stretches on, but I stopped caring. It's a companionable silence after all, no one wants to say anything, and no one is forced to say anything. However, I still wish that Aang and the rest would hurry up.

After a while, the metal door locking our cave opens and reveals the earthbender guy who put me in here. He picks out children from the other cells, unlocking them one by one until he gets to my cell. I stare at him with all the hate I can muster, and that is a lot. It doesn't get any better when he points at the girl in my lap.

"You! Come here!"

She doesn't want to, that's blindingly obvious. She trembles and tears up, about to cry. Anger builds in my chest, seething, protective fury. I hug the girl tighter.

"Leave her a..." A hand clasps over my mouth, cutting me off in mid-sentence.

"Are you crazy?!" Judai hisses. "You're just asking for a beating!"

"Listen to him, girl," the earthbender sneers. "At least he knows what's good for you."

I grit my teeth. So much for solidarity. We may be in this together, but as soon as it comes down to it, everyone's too scared to fight. And that includes me.

The anger quickly turns into self-loathing when I release the girl and leave her to her fate. For a moment, I feel what the others feel – the lack of hope, the lack of power. Helplessness.

I know the feeling oh too well. I draw up my knees and choke back a sob. I'm not going to cry in front of that person. Not again.

The man picks up another girl from the neighboring cell, then leaves with them. As soon as the door closes, I burst into tears. Why is this happening?

A hand snakes around my shoulder, and before I know it, I'm crying into Judai's chest. How can they do this to us? Are those people even human?

"Stop crying," Judai orders, not unkindly, but assertive. "You're making the other kids nervous."

He's right. I need to be strong, for the children. I will myself to calm down. The desperation subsides, but the anger stays. I pull back and wipe my face.

"Thanks, Judai."

He shrugs, and I get up to walk over to the bars keeping us in here. I'm not going to wait around for someone to rescue us. By the time Aang shows up, those girls may be out of reach.

"There's gotta be something we can do!"

"There isn't," Judai argues, a steely note entering his voice. "Just give it up, Kamina. Don't get yourself beaten up uselessly."

"Call me Kami," I give back, mind racing. "My full name is bad luck."

I normally don't tell that to people I barely know. Kami is the name my family uses. If someone calls me Kamina, it usually means I'm about to get hurt. And while I'd like to say that it changed with Aang, I don't feel it did. Not yet.

"Fine," Judai huffs. "Get back here, Kami! Don't do anything stupid. There is no way in the world you get out of here."

"You don't know that before you tried."

"That attitude will get you killed."

"But..."

"Stop!"

I spin around at the new voice, searching for the source.

"Stop it, Kami, please." It's the cell mom. I can't see her properly, but her tone is pleading. "Judai is right. They'll kill you." She hangs her head. The girl who has been sleeping is wide awake now, and the cell mom hugs her to her chest. "They did it before," she whispers. "I don't want to see them do it again."

Silence spreads over the group like a smothering blanket and my determination melts into hopelessness. Judai I can ignore, but that girl's story really gets to me. My legs refuse to support me any longer and I slide down the bars. My hands clench into fists on the ground, this is just so, so...

I don't have the words.

But I won't get anywhere if I keep wallowing in bitterness. Once I realize that, I take a deep breath. I bring my legs into the half lotus, my fists in front of my torso, and close my eyes.

Concentrate on your breathing. Feel the air flowing in and out. Alright, mind-Aang.

It takes a while, but my head clears with the time. I can feel the air move around me oh so slightly, the other children's breathing, and the constant stream of warmed air rising and cooled air sinking. It's amazing. There is so much I never tried to sense, resented to see. You can't separate airbenders from their element. If only my skills weren't so limited... There's got to be something I can do...

You'll get yourself killed.

I don't want to see it again.

Sorry guys, I can't wait around like this. There are kids out there who need me.

I take stock of my abilities. I can hold my breath very long, I can meditate, I'm agile, and I can shoot blasts of air if I have an adrenaline rush. Which I will definitely have if I need it.

"Kami?" Judai pipes up. "Are you okay?"

I blink my eyes open, slowly finding my way back to reality. I guess distraction is something I still need to work on. "Sure. I'm just meditating. It's really relaxing, you know? Clears your mind, slows down your heart rate..." Wait a minute...

I narrow my eyes. I've got an idea. It's the craziest plan ever, if you can even call it a plan... But it will get me out of this cage unrestrained.

I just hope I don't kill myself.

I crawl away from the bars, I need space to drop to my back.

"What are you doing?" Judai asks, and he does not sound amused.

"Something stupid," I probably confirm his suspicions. "And you can't stop me."

"I can try."

"Good luck figuring me out first."

And with that, I slow down my breathing again. I know I have to be careful with this. I'm about to do something humans are not supposed to do – abuse a broadened breathing rhythm to slow my heartbeat.

I remember someone was supposed to check on me, probably make sure I'm healthy. Sick slaves are worthless.

I'm not sure how low I can get without fainting. I'm not a hedgehogbear, I don't hibernate. So I take it slow. At first, I just feel weary, then drowsy. My hearing suffers, there is a commotion, but it's muffled. The urge to quicken my breathing rate sets in, but I fight it and slow down even more. I lose track of time. Only at the brink of fainting I settle into a steady breathing rate, or at least I try. I slip up, lose control. It's unavoidable, will alone can only do so much.

I feel so heavy, I know I couldn't move if I wanted to. I should stop this, it's insane. But if I keep going...

There is movement. The notion needs a long time to get through to my brain, as if carrying through cotton wool. There are sounds, too, but I barely hear them. Then a jolt. Some part of me tells me it's okay to actually start breathing again, that I planned for this. Slowly, quietly, I pull myself out of my self-induced stupor.

The first thing that returns is my hearing. Someone's arguing, but I can't make out the words just yet. The next thing assailing me is a headache, but it subsides rather quickly, as far as I can judge in my state.

"...figure out what caused her death!" I can finally understand again. "We can't afford to lose more merchandise!"

"I'm not a professional, Guo Ping, and you know that! I assume she had a heart attack."

Close one! I still feel light-headed, but who knows how long the attention stays elsewhere. I open my eyes, blinking against the sudden brightness. Come on, pupils, don't be such slackers!

Okay, this room looks like a lab or something, although I guess it's supposed to be mistaken for a hospital. I'm lying on a table. There are two people near the door, discussing. They don't look at me, thankfully, they're busy with each other. One of them is the burly earthbender, the other a woman who may be the local slave doctor.

So what now? I'm out of the cage, I'm unrestrained, but I can't take them both. I have surprise on my side, but even if I blast them with air, I don't think I have the power to knock them out.

I look around the room frantically. If I can find a weapon, I think I can make it. But I can't even see a broom! There is nothing I can wield!

Unless... My gaze lands on a tea cup, with the obligatory sugar box. I can't help a smirk. Perfect!

I swiftly grab a handful of the powder and take a good sniff. My nose tingles unpleasantly from the experience and I hastily press myself against the wall for support. By then, my two captors have realized that their dead slave isn't so dead after all.

"What?!" the earthbender gets to say... and then I sneeze.

The propulsion downright embosses me into the wall behind, but thanks to my precautions, there is no crashing and I remain unscathed, while the two slavers slam into the stone across the room and go out like two lights.

I just stand there for a moment, absolutely flabbergasted. I can't believe this actually worked!

I snap out of it a moment later and shake my head. Congratulations Kami, you just weaponized a sneeze. No one is gonna copy that so fast!

I run up to the two prone figures and search them for keys. The earthbender wears them on his hip like your average stereotype guard, so I find them quickly and fix them to my own belt. I take a peek out of the door. I recognize the cave I tumbled into. It looks empty.

Before I can change my mind, I dart across the floor, not believing my luck. This is too good to be true!

Yeah, no kidding.

The cave is not empty. It hasn't been empty when I came, and so it's not now. There is a hidden fissure in the wall, and a hardened looking woman I haven't seen yet steps in my way. How many members does that slaver band have?

"Well, well, well..." the woman says, almost sounding bored. "What do we have here? A runaway."

I hiss through gritted teeth. She is carrying a sword, already unsheathed. There is still enough distance between us that she can't run me through with it in one lunge, but I'm still wary of it. Very.

"Will you be a good girl and return those keys? It would be a shame to cut a strong body like yours. It decreases the value."

I slide back my left foot and raise my arms into a fighting stance, scowling. All that value talk makes me sick.

"How can you do this?!" I yell at her. "All those children... How can you square it with your conscience to sell us off like property? How can you knowingly consign us to such a painful fate? We're human beings, for Agni's sake! With families and feelings!"

The woman... laughs? "Good one! But you can't fool me, brat. You're not human, you're Fire Nation. You love tearing families apart, and imprison good people in your labor camps. We're doing you a favor."

My head is spinning with those accusations. If this is how the other nations view us, it's no wonder that Sokka hates me. But Fire Nation people aren't monsters!

"And now give me those keys!"

That snaps me out of it. "No!" I spit with all the venom I have in me and thrust my hands forward, willing the stale air to move with them. The woman stumbles backward, confusion written all over her face. With a now-or-never mindset, I follow up and ram into her, knocking her to the ground. The sword blade digs into my forearm as she falls, but I barely notice. I step onto the blade with one foot and use the other to kick her wrist. Her grip loosens and for a moment, we wrestle for the handle. A kick to the back of my knee costs me the advantage of height, but I'm not going to lose here. I take the risk to divert my attention from the blade and drive my elbow into her guts. The sword clatters to the ground and I give it a blow, sending it into the far corner of the cave. Knowing how to create suction would be nice, and I make a mental note to ask Aang about it once I'm out of here.

But I need to take out that woman first. A strike to the temple should do the job, the problem is getting there. My left arm is bleeding and my knee is throbbing from the kick. Whoa, and here comes a fist!

I pull back to dodge, and I'm surprised how easy it is. So surprised that I lose balance and remain totally open to a blow to my stomach. I double over, the excruciating pain leaves me paralyzed for a moment. Long enough for the woman to grab my braid and pull me to my feet.

"Alright, brat!" she growls and yanks at my hair, sending another wave of pain through my scalp. I whimper and stumble backwards, right into her grip. She twists my arms into the same shoulder-unfriendly hold Sokka used on me when I blasted Katara. "If this is how you want to play it, you shall not be disappointed."

"Let go!" I cry, to no avail of course. I squirm, stomp her feet, kick her shin. Nothing seems to faze her. I'm forced to my knees, tears of pain and desperation freely flowing from my eyes. I'm back to the helpless mess I was before.

In a play, this would be the perfect moment for the cavalry to burst in, but no Toph miraculously breaks through the wall.

I'm all alone.

I feel so evil now. The cliffhanger sorta wasn't planned, but I need to make a break at some point...

But I'm so in it now, the next chapter probably comes flying by tomorrow. (No promises, but I'd be surprised if not.)