So much for the next day. Ah, well, that's why I make no promises. Sorry again for the cliffhanger!
So, without further ado: On to the story!
How do I get out of this? How, just how do I get out of this?
Why can't I get lucky and run into a stupid guard like the heroes in stories? Would it be so much to ask? That woman has plenty reasons to let go of me for a second. Like, picking up her sword or reaching for those cuffs I remember seeing at her waist, or remove the keys from my belt. But no. Of course, she has to play it safe and walk me into the next cave to get registry-guy for backup.
He's once again poring over a scroll, brush in hand to make notes.
"What is it now, Zahmi? Can't you see I'm..." He looks up, spots me, goes wide-eyed and then frowns. "Isn't that the dead girl Soo Yun just picked up?"
"Dead? As you can see, she is very much alive and kicking. I need your help to subdue her."
Registry-guy strokes his beard thoughtfully. "You do seem to do a good job of it on your own."
"Very funny, Chano. What do you think is going to happen once I release her arm to get Guo Ping's keys off her?" She yanks at my arms to emphasize her point, and a gasp escapes me. My shoulders...
At that, registry-guy frowns once again. "You're trying to tell me that whiny fire brat has beaten Guo Ping?"
"The signs certainly are there."
"Interesting." He finally stands up and struts over to us. I have no idea what to expect, and I'm a bit anxious about it. But if push comes to shove, I still have my knees. Which will get me crippled if I make use of them, but it's always good to have a Plan B.
The guy grabs my chin and pulls it up, with enough force to make the back of my neck sting. He forces me to face him. And with my aversion against eye contact, that's just peachy. I automatically squeeze them shut.
"Tell me, girl, how would a tiny nonbending fire brat get the best of Guo Ping?" I hear his dangerously silky voice. Why does he even want to know? Anyway, I'm not going to tell him. Give away my only advantage? Not happening.
Another flash of stinging pain.
"Look me in the eye and answer, brat!"
I keep silent. Some people may title my defiance as 'courageous', but really, I don't feel very brave. It's just that iron logic that keeps me from opening my mouth. Things are gonna get worse either way, and I'd rather keep my secret.
"Told you she's difficult," the woman pipes up again and registry-guy lets go of my chin, meaning I finally have control of my head again. I immediately slip back into a comfortable position and blink.
Just in time to see a hand coming at me and slap me across the face with an almost concussive force. I scream and tear up. I didn't know a slap can hurt so much!
"Don't worry, Zahmi. I'm sure Guo Ping will teach her some manners once he feels up to it."
I take a deep breath to get rid of the dizziness. My cheek feels like an army of scorpionant bites. I want to touch it, but my hands are still securely on my back.
How do I get out of here?, my mind goes back into repetition mode. My legs are free, there's gotta be something!
I don't really think about my next move. When registry-guy leans forward to open my belt, I sweep his feet from beneath him. He lands on the floor with an "Uumph!", but like pretty much any plan which hasn't been thought through, it backfires.
"That does it!" the woman behind me fumes and pushes me down, forcing me to the ground. "Looks like you need a lesson right now!"
Alright, maybe it didn't backfire after all. The panic gives me the strength I need to ignore the pain in my shoulders and rear, using my whole body to send a stream of air upwards. It's not a strong blast, but the woman reflexively lifts a hand to shield her face, essentially freeing me from her grip. I roll to the side and propel myself to my feet, frantically looking around. Where is registry-guy?
Doesn't matter! I dash into a direction he isn't, which happens to be the table. That hasty act saves me – turns out registry-guy was right behind my back, but I only notice when I swish behind the table and spin around.
There is a lull. With the table between us, we all take a moment to catch our breaths, size each other up and weigh our chances.
So, good news. The keys are still fixed to my belt. The bad news: I'm outnumbered, and both my opponents are stronger than me. Everything I have is my agility, my brain and my maybe-not-so-wild bending. And a table with scrolls and writing materials.
I wonder if they figured my abilities out by now, but I don't think so. I haven't used glaringly obvious moves yet, and I know from experience that humans can ignore a lot of stuff which doesn't fit their worldview. And a Fire Nation airbender probably doesn't fit anyone's worldview.
"I leave her to you for a moment." The woman is the first to speak up again. "You can handle that little monster until I picked up my sword, right?"
Uh oh. I don't like the sound of that.
"Sure, go ahead."
I hastily pick up a scroll and throw it at her. "Not on my watch!"
Wait, did I just say that out loud? Where do I take that boldness from?! Well, anyway, gotta concentrate on staying alive right now. Registry-guy comes to pay me a visit at the table while the woman sneaks out, and I can't have that. I'm not going to disarm her again, a person just can't be that lucky.
I grab the thing which comes closest to a weapon: the inkstone. My hand gets tinted black from the stuff, but I can worry about that later. I aim at registry-guy's face and throw. He deflects the heavy missile with his arm, giving me just enough time to kick at the table like I've seen some benders do in exhibition fights.
It doesn't slide into registry-guy's gut like I had hoped. In fact, it hurts my toes. Turtle whiskers, this thing is fixed! Probably earthbent right out of the ground. Alright then, let's take the chair instead!
The chair is wooden, thankfully. I can pick it up by the seat, but really, ever tried wielding a chair? It's not easy to maneuver. So before I keep struggling with it, I push my feet against the ground and land on the table. Registry-guy obviously didn't see that coming, and I don't blame him. No normal person could make that jump with a chair weighing them down. But I'm an airbender, I can do stuff. And that means I'm free to smack registry-guy over the head with the chair.
Kami three, slavers zero. Alright, slavers one, I guess. Maybe two. They captured me two times. And where is that woman now? Probably in the adjoining cave, picking up her sword. Great. Maybe it's time to make a dash for the dungeon and get the other children out. We could crowd her. But would they even be willing to fight?
No. They're children. I can't ask it from them to pit themselves against a sword wielder. Besides, I'm in an ideal position for a sneak attack right now. Not gonna let it pass in favor of trying to figure out which key opens the door. In fact, I'd be defenseless while unlocking the door.
With that in mind, I pick up the chair again and stand next to the door to the entrance cave. The rest is somewhat anticlimactic. As soon as the woman's nose shows in the door frame, the chair comes down and finish.
But that's pretty much what I needed. I've had enough excitement for today, and probably the rest of my life. With the desperate energy that has kept me going all the time nothing short of depleted, I start to feel the pain. I'm panting. Blood seeps from the cut on my arm. Muscles hurt I never knew I had. I'm tired, so, so tired.
But it's not over yet. Those slavers won't be out forever. No time to rest. I unfasten the keys from my belt and try them on the dungeon door, one by one until I get it right. The door creaks open, but it takes another while until the children realize that the one stepping through it is in fact me, not a slaver.
I unlock the nearest cell and open it wide. "Get out of here!" I order the children inside. "It's safe."
They don't move, just stare. I sigh and go on, unlocking the next cell which happens to be the one I'd been thrown into. Judai is already standing at the door, waiting for me.
"Kami, what happened?" he demands to know. "You suddenly stopped breathing and that woman couldn't detect a heartbeat. We all thought you were dead!"
I manage a weak smile. "It takes a lot to kill me."
The lock clicks and I pull at the door, then I point the key at the exit. "Get those kids out of here, will ya? I don't know how long those slavers will remain unconscious."
His eyes widen. "Don't tell me you did..."
"Oh, I did alright."
"That's amazing..." Judai breathes. "No wonder you look like this. Come on, I'll take it from here. You sit down and take a rest."
"Sounds fair."
I hand him the keys and very nearly collapse to the ground. My legs are in a bit of a hurry to get my weigh off themselves.
"Nila, you're up!" Judai calls into the cell. "Gather the little ones! We don't have much time!"
I'm glad to see how quickly he understands the situation and takes charge. There are six cells, each holding about five kids. Some of them jump at the chance to escape, others need more convincing, but all in all, things go smoothly. The weaker children catch piggyback rides on the stronger ones (which includes Judai and me) and after a few minutes, everyone's good to go.
One of the other older children claims to know the way out, and we let her take the lead. It has something of a class trip, with about thirty children flooding through the door and past the unconscious slavers.
Judai shakes his head at the sight. "I can't believe it. If this is a dream, let me sleep. I mean, how did you do that?!"
"Luck, luck and plenty luck," I respond, but my insides are warm with pride. I guess I'm not so weak after all.
Judai laughs, and Agni, I adore the sound! It's probably just the circumstances, but I've never heard such a pleasant laugh before.
"Well, let's hope that luck isn't going to run out soon."
He just had to say that, right? A cry from the front stops everyone dead in their tracks. "It's sealed!"
Shocked whispers carry through the group. Some younger kids break down in tears. I share a look with Judai, and it pierces my heart. All the color has drained away from his face, the shell-shocked despair has returned. The boy on his back is hanging on for dear life. (The girl on my back can hold her own well enough.)
Before I know it, I rush to Judai's side and grab his arms, fearing he might just fall apart. "Come on, Judai, stay with me here! Maybe we just caught the wrong tunnel!"
"Maybe..." he mumbles, but it's clear neither of us believes it. There is at least one earthbender among the slavers. It would make sense to seal the entrance.
"What happens now?" my rider asks timidly and I reach back to pat her on the head. "Don't worry, we'll be fine! I'll think of something. I didn't come this far to give up now!"
That's when a ripple goes through the floor and throws me off my feet. The girl on my back loses her hold and the whole group basically ends up in a tangled heap of limbs.
I sit up and shake my head to get rid of the daze. I don't need to look up to know what's happening.
We're caught. And I'm quickly singled out as the main character in this little prison break. A hand wraps around my neck and lifts me off the ground, just to press me against the wall of the cave.
"So, you thought you can just stroll off and steal our merchandise, huh?" the earthbender threatens. I briefly wonder if he is an avid reader, he seems to like cliches, anyway. First the key belt, and now the neck lift complete with choking. Yeah...
No big deal though, it's just strangling. I can handle that a while, so my first concern is about the others. I try to see past the earthbender and spot swordswoman as well as registry-guy rounding up their so called 'property'. But they seem to be safe for now, this is all about me. Man, I feel honored.
"We're no one's merchandise!" I choke out. "Let us go! You have no right to take us!"
The hold tightens. I take a rattled breath for good measure, which may even stretch my time another minute or two.
"Big words for someone as tiny as you, little girl." Man, I hate that guy's arrogant demeanor. "Tell me, how does it feel to hang up there?"
Someone cries out for me in the background. I think it's Nila, the cell mom. Judai shushes her up. I guess that's his way of looking out for her. I guess it's what he does best. Glad to know he rediscovered his voice.
"It's a bit uncomfortable, thanks for asking." Call me crazy, but I'm starting to enjoy this. "Something pricks my left shoulder blade. I think there is a rock jutting out of the wall."
Maybe that wasn't the best idea. The guy pulls back and slams me into the stone, hard enough to set my ears ringing. Did I scream? I think so. I can swear the back of my head cracked. That hurt pretty bad, and I'm battered enough as it is.
"Shut your insolent mouth, fire brat!"
'But you asked!', I want to say. My back tells me not to. I steal another glance at the other kids. Judai is in cuffs now, I notice. Why? What did he do?
A deeper study reveals that his only crime appears to be his age. All the older kids wear metal. Categorized as potentially dangerous, I guess? Agni and the High Dragons, I made quite a mess of everything. Didn't I?
"Leave them alone," I can't help pleading. "They didn't do anything. They just followed my lead."
This time, the guy almost crushes my throat. I hiss through gritted teeth and squeeze my eyes shut. Ouch! That will probably leave marks. Maybe I should stop enjoying the view and start defending myself.
"How are you still speaking?! You should be out by now!"
Okay, one last quip. "What, didn't your doctor tell you?" I rasp a lot less impressively than I had hoped. "I died. My breath and my heart stopped. You can't kill dead people, you know?"
The guy drops me like a hot cucumberpotate and steps back, wide-eyed. I land on all fours, rubbing my neck gingerly. Agni, I didn't even imagine that could have such an effect! I would have said it a lot earlier.
"She's dead!" the guy exclaims with a comically unfitting shriek. Almost girly. I would laugh if my throat wouldn't hurt so much, I think I need Katara to look at it.
"No, she's not," swordwoman deadpans from behind. "I know you're not the smartest, Guo Ping, but that brat is definitely alive. Even you should be able to see that."
"But...!"
A deafening boom assaults my eardrums and sunlight floods the cave.
"Did someone order an all-inclusive dish of butt-whooping?" an all too familiar voice rises and the relief rushing through my veins almost knocks me into oblivion for good.
The cavalry is here!
*stretches* Phew, what a ride! Even I didn't know where this was going, my actual plan took a wrong turn and now we're here...
That chair, it came out of nowhere! But it makes sense, a table usually comes with a chair. Hehehe. ^^"
I'm glad I decided to try this plotline out. Kami has developed a lot in the last three chapters. She became so strong, and even got herself a boyfriend. Nyahaha! (No, seriously. Judai got a bit out of hand here, too. He was supposed to be a support character, and no teensy bit more. But I admit that I like the idea. It actually saddens me to know that I'll leave him behind soon. *sigh* He's broken, similar to Kami. And broken characters always make me want to build them up. I have so many ideas to flesh Judai's character out a bit more...)
Anyway, a lot of the stuff Kami pulls in this arc is scientifically remarkably unfounded, because physical impossibility. Don't try this at home, and leave your heartrate where it is! ^-^