A few things before we get started.
1) So, I've been gone for, what, four months? Sorry about that. School started up, and I haven't had too much time to write.
2) Thanks to all of you who reviewed, followed, favorited, or simply read the story! If you can, please leave a review on your way out.
3) Once again, thanks to DreadingTheDayWhenYou'reGone for going over and editing my story.
Let's get started.
Chapter 11: The Cave of Two Lovers
Concentrate.
Aang said that Jeong Jeong told him something about the sun... let's go with that.
Focus on the heat of the sun.
Rin shut her eyes and sat still, focusing on the rays of heat beating against the back of her neck. However, she was constantly distracted by the sound of the rest of the group splashing in the water. Rin sighed inside at their playfulness, but tried to keep her attention on her mind, on the sun beating across her back.
They had stopped to take a break at a shallow river, giving Katara and Aang a good place to practice waterbending. Rin wanted to take the time to try to control her newly found abilities. She had been attempting firebending for over an hour, and it proved no results.
"Hey, Aang!" Rin shouted from the riverbank to the middle of the river where Katara was teaching Aang waterbending. "What did Jeong Jeong teach you? I can't seem to get this right."
"He said to concentrate on your breath. It's the source of a firebender's power," Aang replied. Rin nodded and started concentrating once again, this time focusing on her breathing.
"Any fire yet?" Sokka asked, lazily drifting by on a giant leaf.
"Not with you breaking my concentration," Rin growled. "This is frustrating."
"Well, don't take too long. We have a lot of ground to cover if we want to get to Omashu by sundown," Sokka said. "Aang, Katara, that goes to you two as well. You might want to get out of the water and dry up soon."
"Well, it certainly doesn't look like you're ready to go, Mister Naked Guy," Katara replied, watching Sokka float past her with nothing more than an improvised loincloth.
"Look, I can get ready in two minutes. Seriously, whenever," Sokka said. As the two waterbenders went back to their training, Rin closed her eyes once again, trying to concentrate.
Okay, breathing. In through the nose, out through the mouth. In. Out. In. out. In-
"Don't fall in love with the traveling girl, she'll leave you..."
Rin grumbled as she was interrupted once again, this time to the sound of singing and instruments. She opened her eyes and looked in the direction of the noise, as did the rest of the group. A band of people, dressed in bright colors, wearing travel packs, and carrying musical instruments, emerged from the woods, singing a song. At the sight of Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Rin, they stopped. "Hey, river people!" the man in front exclaimed. He was middle-aged, wore a blue robe, a funny red hat, and a lute.
"We aren't river people," Katara said.
"Well... what kind of people are you?"
"Just... people," Aang answered.
"Aren't we all," the man said as Sokka rolled off his leaf and splashed into the water.
"Who are you?" Sokka asked as he got up and approached the band of musicians.
"I'm Chong, and this is my wife, Lily. We're nomads, happy to go wherever the wind takes us," Chong said, strumming a small tune from his instrument as he spoke.
"You guys are nomads?" Aang asked, grinning with excitement. "That's great, I'm a nomad too!"
"So am I!" Chong replied.
"Yeah... you just said that," Aang pointed out.
"If you don't have anything to do with us, then leave," Rin told Chong. "Go on to wherever you were going."
"Hold on, Rin, they don't have to," Katara said. "They can stay here if they want to. It's not like they're gonna hurt us."
"Yeah, what's the harm, young lady?" Chong asked. "It's always a pleasure to hear the tales of a few strangers."
"Some strangers bring more than stories," Rin grumbled. "Maybe they'll bring knives or swords. You've been on the road for a long time, you should know what I'm talking about."
"Now, you're looking on the bad side of life, young lady," Chong said before letting out a chuckle. "You've gotta look on the bright side of things. You say the cup is half empty, I say it's half full, you know what I mean?"
"Look, I'm sure Rin's just gotten off on a bad foot with you," Katara assured Chong. "We'd be happy to chat for a little while."
"So, how long do you think your sister meant by 'a little while'?" Rin asked Sokka as they watched Aang, Katara, and the nomads lazing around by Appa.
"Probably too long. We need to get going," Sokka replied. Rin nodded, and the two walked over to where Aang and Chong were laying against Appa.
"Sokka, Rin, you should hear some of these stories," Aang said, sitting up. Rin saw that the nomads had made a lei of flowers for Aang, which he put on his head. "These guys have been everywhere!"
"Well, not everywhere," Chong said. "But where we haven't been, we've heard about through stories and songs.
"He said they'll take us to see a giant nightcrawler," Aang added. "On the way there, we'll see a waterfall that makes a never-ending rainbow!"
"Look, I hate to be the wet blanket here, but since Katara is busy, I guess it's up to me," Sokka said, earning himself a glare from his sister, who was getting her hair braided by Lily. "We need to get to Omashu. No sidetracks, no worms, and definitely no rainbows."
"Whoa, looks like someone has a case of destination fever," Chong said. "You're worried too much about where you're going."
"You need to focus less on the where, and more on the going," Lily added.
"Look, if we wanted to see a waterfall or nightcrawler, we would have made that our destination," Rin replied. "Our where is Omashu, and our going is the fastest route there."
"O. Ma. SHU!" Sokka repeated. "We need to go there now!"
"Sokka's right," Katara said. "We need to find King Bumi so Aang can learn earthbending."
"Oh, sounds like you're headed to Omashu!" Chong exclaimed as Sokka facepalmed and Rin let out a frustrated groan. "There's an old story about a pass that goes right through the mountains."
"Is it real?" Katara asked. "Or is it just a legend?"
"Oh, it's a real legend all right. As old as earthbending itself," Chong replied before strumming his lute, prompting all the other nomads to break out their own instruments and start playing to his beat. "Two lovers, forbidden from one another, a war divides..."
And there they go singing again. Can we just get up and fly over to Omashu already? Rin asked herself, tuning out the singing of the nomads. At least Katara and Sokka somewhat agree-
"SECRET TUNNEL!" Chong suddenly sang loudly, jerking Rin out of her thoughts. "Secret tunnel! Through the mountains, secret secret secret secret tunnel! Yeah!"
"I think we'll just stick to flying," Sokka said as Aang, Katara, and the nomads clapped for Chong. "We've dealt with the Fire Nation before. We'll be fine."
"And it's a lot faster than making our way through a tunnel that may or may not exist," Rin added, walking past the nomads and climbing onto Appa.
"Thanks for the help, but Appa really hates going underground," Aang said as he climbed up after Rin. "And we need to do whatever makes Appa most comfortable."
"We've got a dozen fireballs coming behind us!" Rin shouted, gripping the saddle for her life. Apparently, the Fire Nation had enough luck to have set up catapults right below Appa's flight path, and they were now dodging them through the air. They were doing their best to avoid getting shot down by a barrage of giant fireballs.
"AHHHH!" Aang and the two siblings screamed as Appa dipped and dived through the fireballs. Rin ducked down as one barely missed the bison, so close that if Rin reached up, she could have touched it.
"Aang! We need to land!" Katara shouted.
"Already on it!" Aang replied, pulling Appa's reigns and driving him towards the ground. They crashed through the forest, snapping branch after branch before hitting the ground with an ungraceful thud, throwing everyone out of the saddle and onto the ground.
"So I guess we can't fly," Rin said as everyone dusted themselves off. "Now what? Should we just hike up and down the mountain?"
"We could go to the tunnel the nomads were singing about before," Aang suggested. "Remember? They were singing about a tunnel through the mountains that goes to Omashu."
"Fine..." Sokka sighed. "Secret love cave, let's go."
After trudging through the forest for several minutes, the group came across Chong and the nomads, who agreed to lead them to the cave. A short walk after that led them to a path cutting into the mountain, which was surrounded by crumbling ruins.
"So, how long until we reach the tunnel?" Sokka asked.
"Actually, it isn't really just one tunnel," Chong explained. "The lovers didn't want anyone finding out about their love, so they built a whole labyrinth!"
"WHAT?!" Sokka exclaimed.
"So you're telling us we have to go through a giant underground maze?" Rin asked. "I think we should just hike over the mountain. It's hard to get lost going up and down."
"Oh, I'm sure we'll figure it out," Chong assured them. "Even if we get lost a few times, it'll probably still be faster than going around."
"All we need to do is trust in love... according to the curse," Lily explained, and Sokka stopped. Rin could almost see the gears turning in his head as he processed what Lily just said.
"This just keeps on getting worse for us, doesn't it," Rin said as he passed by the immobile Sokka. As Sokka passed by the entire group, he let out a loud groan.
"Augh! Curse?!" Sokka shouted. "Now you mention a curse?"
"Oh hey, we're here!" Chong suddenly said. In front of them was the opening to a large tunnel, surrounded by moss and shrubbery. A large inscription stuck out above the opening, with a column of characters imprinted upon it; of course, Rin couldn't decipher any of them. It probably said "Lovers Cave" or something like that.
"So, what is this curse?" Sokka asked.
"Well, the curse says that only those who trust in love can make it through the caves," Chong explained. "Otherwise, you'll be trapped forever."
"And die," Lily added.
"Well, isn't that kind of a given?" Rin asked.
"Not necessarily," Chong replied. "Oh hey, I just remembered the rest of the song!"
Chong walked up to the entrance of the tunnel, cleared his throat, and strummed once before singing, in a deep voice, "And dieee..."
"Well, that's reassuring," Rin muttered. "We can still hike over the mountain, right? Anyone want to do that instead of going through the cave of death?"
"I agree. There's no way we're going into that cursed hole!" Sokka declared.
"Oh hey, someone's making a big campfire," one of the nomads said, pointing back away from the mountain towards a rising pillar of smoke.
"That's no campfire," Katara muttered.
"It's the Fire Nation," Sokka said. "I think they've been tracking us."
"They're close. I can already hear them coming," Rin observed. "So I guess we can't go over the mountain."
"So all you need to do is trust in love to get through the caves?" Aang asked Chong.
"That's correct, Mister Arrowhead," Chong replied. Rin noticed Aang turn around and stare at Katara, who was facing back towards the smoke.
"We can make it," Aang declared. "We're going through the caves."
"Well, I guess that's it then. Everyone into the hole!" Sokka ordered. As they passed the entrance to the cave, Appa's steps grew slow and apprehensive, but he continued. Behind them, Rin could make out Fire Nation tanks coming towards the cave before coming to a halt.
"Hey, they're not attacking," Aang said. "Maybe if we wait long enough, they'll leave and we can go back over the mountain."
"I'm not so sure," Rin replied as grappling hooks shot out of the fronts of the tanks, latching onto the rock above the entrance. They then pulled back, starting a rockfall in front of the cavern.
"They're sealing us in!" Sokka shouted. Everyone looked in shock as the light from the entrance of the tunnel suddenly faded out, leaving everyone in darkness.
"Aang, could you get Appa to stop hugging the wall so we can get going?" Rin asked as the bison banged against the sealed entrance, futilely trying to make his way back to open air.
"I'll try," Aang replied, jumping up in front of Appa and patting him on the nose. "Calm down, boy. I know you want to get outside, but we can't right now."
"It's okay, Appa," Katara added, stroking the bison's side. "We'll be fine... I hope."
"Come on, let's go!" Rin said, going deeper into the cavern in hopes that the rest of the group would follow.
"Wait, Rin. We need a plan first," Sokka said, before turning to the nomads who were carrying torches. "Chong, how long do those torches last?"
"Uh, about two hours for each torch," Chong replied.
"And we have five torches," Lily added, setting each torch ablaze. "So that's ten hours!"
"It doesn't work if you light them all at the same time!" Sokka shouted, taking the torches and stomping them out on the ground. "Look, I'm going to make a map so that we can keep track of where we've been before. That way, we can solve it like a maze."
"Sounds good," Rin said. The entire group, including the nomads, then walked together into the darkness, with Sokka leading the way with his map.
"And another wall. Does this place actually have an exit?" Rin asked. They had been wandering around the cave for at least a few hours, having gone through one torch already. In the back of her mind, Rin hoped that they would be lucky and would be able to find the exit right away, but they had no such luck.
"Maybe not, seeing that this is the tenth dead end we've seen," Katara replied. "Sokka, didn't you make a map of this area?"
"It's not the map that's the problem," Sokka muttered, turning the map over and over with a frustrated look growing on his face. "I don't get it. We've been through here before."
"You don't need a map," Chong said. "You just need love. The little arrowhead knows it."
"Well yeah, but I wouldn't mind a map either," Aang said. Sokka went around the wall of the tunnel, muttering to himself before stopping.
"There's only one explanation," he said, turning around. "The tunnels are changing."
"Really?" Rin asked. "That can't be possible. If so much rock moved that the tunnels were completely blocked off, we would have heard it.."
"From what we've explored so far, this tunnel system is huge," Sokka explained, showing Rin the map. Rin was surprised; the cave system that they had walked through so far was a lot bigger than she had imagined. "If the tunnels changed, we could have been far enough so that we couldn't hear it."
"The tunnels, they're a-changin!" Chong exclaimed, running around in a panic. "It must be the curse! Oh, I knew we shouldn't have come down here!"
"Right, because we should have listened to you the whole time," Sokka said sarcastically. Suddenly, Rin heard a snarl from deep inside the cave.
"I don't think we're alone in here," Rin warned.
"I hear it too. Everybody, be quiet and listen," Katara ordered. Chong stopped running around and everyone stood still, waiting. The snarling in the darkness grew louder. Rin drew her hatchet out of her bag in anticipation of who - or what - was approaching them. Suddenly, a large, screeching brown shape flew out of the darkness, swooping towards the group.
"It's a giant flying thing with teeth!" Chong exclaimed, cowering in the corner of the cave.
"No, it's a wolf-bat!" Sokka shouted as the creature flew over his head.
"It doesn't matter what it is, kill it!" Rin shouted, jumping at the wolfbat with her hatchet raised over her head. However, as she was about to sink the blade of the hatchet into the wolf-bat's neck, it darted out of the way and towards Sokka, who attempted to ward it off with a torch. An errant flame leaped out from the torch as he waved it around, landing on Appa's toes.
"Appa, no!" Aang shouted as the bison ran around, roaring in pain. He rammed against the sides of the cavern, and after a few hits, Rin noticed cracks forming in the wall.
"Aang, calm him down!" Rin shouted. "He's gonna collapse the cavern!"
"I'm trying!" Aang shouted back as he ran after Appa. The cracks continued to spread upwards along the cavern wall, reaching the ceiling and breaking apart the roof of the cavern. An avalanche of rocks started falling down, threatening to crush everyone in the tunnel.
"Everyone, get away!" Rin shouted before spotting a large boulder falling directly towards Sokka. With adrenaline pumping through her body, she sprinted over to him and tackled him to the ground. A sharp pain shot through her body as she heard a distinct snap before everything went black.
"Rin?"
... huh? Where am I?
"Rin, are you there?"
Is that Sokka? What happened? I pushed him to safety, and then-
"UAAAAGH!" Rin screamed as a searing jolt of pain shot out from her left leg and throughout her body, feeling as if a moose-lion was trampling over her bones. Something heavy was crushing her legs, preventing her from moving.
"Rin, is that you? Are you okay?" Rin heard Sokka ask. As his footsteps came closer, Rin opened her eyes, only to find total blackness surrounding her.
"I'm alive..." Rin managed to whisper. "What happened? Where are the others?"
"We got separated during the collapse. I think it's only the two of us here right now," Sokka explained. "Could you speak up again? I can't see anything."
"Over he- AUGH!" Rin grunted before another jolt of pain coursed through her leg.
"What happened?" Sokka asked as Rin felt his hand touch her shoulder. "Are you hurt?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure my legs are messed up," Rin replied. "There's something heavy on them. Go see if you can move it."
"I'll take a look," Sokka said, stepping away. After a minute, Rin felt the object shift, causing a third jolt of pain to run through her body.
"AAUGH!"
"Sorry!" Sokka called as the shifting, as well as the pain, stopped. "I think a boulder landed on your legs during the collapse."
"Well, hurry up and get it off," Rin grunted.
"Okay, give me a second," Sokka muttered. Rin felt the boulder slowly roll off her legs, giving her the ability to move again. However, when she tried to move, her left leg protested, wracking her body with pain.
"Sokka... I think my leg's broken," Rin said. "Maybe you can go and find the others. Bring Katara here to heal my leg."
"I'm not leaving you here," Sokka replied. "I'll fix up your leg and carry you out of here."
"Really?" Rin asked. "I'm not that light, you know. Who knows how long you're going to have to carry me for."
"The tunnels can change. We might lose you," Sokka argued. "Plus, this area might still be unstable from the collapse. I'm not leaving you to get hurt."
"Thanks, I guess," Rin sighed. "We're going to have to do something about my leg, though."
"Don't worry, I learned how to splint a broken leg back home," Sokka said. "I fell off my watchtower, and Katara got to explain it to me using my own leg as an example."
"How'd you fall?" Rin asked.
"I.. fell asleep and tumbled down the side," Sokka admitted, before focusing back on Rin's injury. "I'm going to need some light first. I can't see a thing."
"There's a torch in my bag," Rin said, taking it off her back and rummaging through it. She found the unlit torch and handed it to Sokka.
"Okay, now I need... huh, this is the torch that the nomads were carrying, right?" Sokka asked.
"Hey, it's not like they needed all five of them," Rin said.
"Eh, I guess that's true. Now we just need to light it," Sokka muttered. "You got any spark rocks?"
"I should have some," Rin replied, rummaging through her bag once again. However, after a few minutes of searching, she came up empty-handed. "Sorry, nothing."
"You sure?"
"Pretty sure."
"Okay, we have a torch and no way to light it. That's just great" Sokka sighed. "Wait, Rin, you're a firebender now, right?"
"Well, I've burned someone's face off, if that's what you mean," Rin replied. "I haven't been able to do it since, though."
"Well, there's no time like the present," Sokka said, handing Rin the torch.
"Here goes nothing," Rin muttered. She held the end of the torch in her right hand, closed her eyes, and tried to remember how she was able to firebend before.
How did I feel when I burned that guy's face off? Angry? Let's try that...
Rin thought about her past, how she had to fend for herself for three whole years while everyone around her had a stable life, without having to worry about the next day. How all those nobles, those spoiled shitheads who don't know a thing about what I've had to go through, looking down on me like I'm dirt, like I'm the trash of society when they're prancing around in all of those damn jewels, gold, fancy crowns, I swear I could murder-
Stop.
Rin's concentration broke as she heard someone in the darkness. "Sokka, is that you?"
"Is what me?" Sokka asked back. "Did you hear something?"
"Uh..." Rin muttered. "I think so?"
He can't hear me. I'm speaking directly into your mind.
"Oh, uh... never mind," Rin muttered before turning her attention away from Sokka. You're the voice from my dreams, aren't you?
Correct. I see that you're trying to firebend... but you're not doing it correctly. Instead of-
Cut this shit out, Rin interrupted. I'm not going to listen to a word you're saying until you tell me WHO THE FUCK YOU ARE AND WHERE THE HELL I CAME FROM-
I'm sorry! the voice said, and Rin swore that she heard the voice sob a bit. It's just - well, I can't tell you-
Why not?! You said you've been hitchhiking in me for years! why do you have any right to keep information about me to yourself-
I just can't! the voice said before it started to cry. I - I - I just wanted to... The voice started sniffling, like it was sobbing.
Rin silently listened to the voice sob in the back of her mind. She started to feel sorry for her - the voice reminded Rin of when she had first awoken. She recalled a particular incident where she tried to take an apple from a fruit stand, and the merchant grabbed her, berated her, and reduced her to tears. She'd learned a lot since then.
Look, I'm sorry I yelled at you, but that doesn't mean I'm not angry about whatever you're not telling me.
The was a pause on the other end while the voice tried to quiet its sobs. Okay. I'm really sorry, but there are some things that I don't really want to tell you...
Yes, I know, and I doubt you'll tell me anytime soon. Now get on with it, what were you trying to tell me about firebending?
Well... you were trying to firebend with anger, with hate. That's not what firebending is about.
But Zuko uses his rage to firebend, doesn't he? I remember him telling me that way back when, and if you were with me, you should have -
Well... I guess you could... but I think it would be better if you didn't. If I remember correctly -
If you remember correctly? What do you mean? You seem to know more about me than I do, don't you?
This is just something I remember from quite a few years ago. I'm not even sure if it will work with you because -
The voice halted, and Rin asked, Because what?
Nevermind. Anyway, the energy from firebending doesn't come from rage or anger. It comes from life, the energy within yourself. Concentrate on your chi, and push it out of your body.
The energy within myself, huh. Rin concentrated, focusing on her energy and where it was coming from. She could feel a well of energy in her chest, steadily burning like a furnace stoked with wood. Rin was surprised at how obvious it was. How had I not noticed this energy until now? Did I just never look for it?
Good. Now, extend that chi outwards, out of your limbs. Use that energy to create fire.
Rin willed the energy out through her arm, towards the torch. Despite the cold, dry air of the cave, she felt a drop of sweat roll down her forehead and drip down onto her leg. The energy was still burning brightly in her chest, but a tendril of it had seeped into her arm, reaching for the torch in her hand. However, a sharp pain was also developing in her arm, hampering her concentration.
"Grrrrrr..." Rin growled as she tried to concentrate, despite the growing pain in her arm. Her eyelids were tightly closed, her concentration dedicated to the tendril of energy that was snaking its way out of her arm and to the torch. Suddenly, she heard a pop, followed by Sokka's shout.
"It's lit! You did it!" Sokka shouted, grabbing the torch from Rin's hand. Rin sat up and looked around the brightly lit cave, but a burning pain in her arm drew her attention.
"What the -" Rin gasped, seeing the arm she had just firebent through. From the top of her fingers to her shoulder, the skin was blistered and burnt, with the flesh exposed and charred in large areas. In some places, her sleeve had burnt away, leaving charred cloth and ashes over her wounds. It felt as if her blood in her arms had been replaced with boiling oil, and the muscles with burning coals, burning away underneath her skin. She tried to hold her burnt arm, only to instinctively jerk her unhurt hand away when it started to burn against her injured arm.
"Rin!" Sokka shouted as Rin collapsed back onto the ground, screaming her lungs out in pain. He quickly grabbed Rin's bag and, using the light from the torch, found a roll of bandages. He started to bandage her arm, only to jump back when the bandages turned black and burned away.
"Do something!" Rin shouted at Sokka between screams of pain.
"I'm trying!" Sokka replied, gingerly holding his hand over the scorched arm. "It's really hot right now, but I think it's cooling down."
"Good," Rin grunted, gritting her teeth. Sokka took Rin's water canteen from her bag and poured the water over her arm, cooling it down further. After a quick touch test for heat, which Rin winced at, Sokka started to bandage up her arm.
"What happened?" Sokka asked. "I didn't know firebenders could burn themselves."
"I don't know. I guess they can," Rin muttered, wincing as Sokka continued to bandage her arm. "Leave my hand unwrapped, will you?"
"Why?" Sokka asked. "It's as burned as the rest of your arm."
"Just do it," Rin replied. I have a hunch.
"Okay..." Sokka said before finishing the bandages up to her wrist. "Now, before I splint your leg, I'm going to have to set it straight."
"Huh?" Rin asked, looking down at her legs. Her right leg was fine, but her left leg was resting at an odd, unnatural angle. "Oh yeah, do that."
"It's going to hurt a bit, just warning you."
"It can't be worse than this arm."
"Well, if that's what you think."
Rin grit her teeth as Sokka took hold of her leg. In one motion, he snapped it straight, sending an excruciating shock through her body. After a moment, the pain in her leg started to fade.
"Wasn't as bad as the arm," Rin said through her teeth.
"I guess the arm was pretty bad then," Sokka replied. "Do you have anything I could use to make a splint? Like a long stick or something? Katara used a polar-dog thigh bone when I got hurt."
"Well, besides rope, no," Rin said. "Look, maybe you can carry me until we find Katara. She'll heal that leg right up."
"I guess we could," Sokka muttered. He leaned down and wrapped Rin's uninjured arm around his shoulder, allowing Rin to lean against his body for support. Together, they began their slow walk through the cave.
"Rin?"
"Yeah?"
"You've traveled with firebenders before, right?"
"Yeah, on Zuko's ship. Why?"
"Is this kind of thing, well, common? People burning themselves through firebending, I mean?"
"I dunno."
"Oh. Okay."
Rin and Sokka had been walking slowly through the cave for who-knows-how-long, with only Sokka's poorly drawn map to guide them. Sokka supported Rin with his shoulder, allowing her to walk without having to step on her broken leg.
"How long until the torch goes out?" Rin asked.
"I'm not sure," Sokka answered, examining the burning end of the torch. "I'd say twenty minutes, tops. You didn't happen to steal two torches, did you?"
"No, why would I?" Rin asked, before pausing for a short moment. "I think we're going to die down here."
"Come on, don't say that," Sokka said. "We'll find the exit eventually."
"Sokka, we've been wandering through these caves for hours. This place is huge. Who knows, maybe there isn't even an exit."
"Don't say that. We'll find Aang and Katara and mosey on out of here. Who knows, maybe they're just around the next corner."
The two trudged on in silence, occasionally glancing at the torch and each other. The tunnel was silent, with the exception of the crackling of the torch fire and their footsteps.
"Hey, Rin?"
"What?"
"You said you used to be part of Zuko's crew? What was it like?"
"Well, it wasn't exciting, being the cabin girl. Sweep up the floors, move around some supplies, help the cook, whatever. Mostly just menial tasks. They probably could have replaced me by having the rest of the crew work a little harder, but I guess they needed an extra hand on the ship."
"What about Zuko? Wasn't he kind of a jerk, or something?"
"To be honest, yeah, he's a stuck up prick. However, the rest of the crew wasn't so bad. Even Zuko, once you got to know him. He may be a jerk, but he has his reasons."
"Can't see a reason why he'd want to capture Aang and doom the rest of the world."
"I said he has his reasons, not that his reasons are logical. But I doubt he'll give up anytime soon."
"Why's that?"
"Just something I learned about him."
"Hm." Sokka took a glance at the torch, which was starting to run out of fuel. "Rin, how's the arm?"
"It's bearable," Rin replied. "Oh, by the way, do you remember the first time I firebended and burned myself? At the Earth Kingdom base?"
"Yeah. It healed really quickly, too. Maybe you didn't burn yourself as -"
"I don't think that's it," Rin interrupted. "Remember when I asked you to leave my hand unbandaged? Take a look."
"Let me see..." Sokka muttered, holding the torch up as Rin raised her arm. The burnt, charred flesh and skin were gone, replaced by a new, untouched layer of skin that extended all the way down to her bandages. Rin grabbed the end of the bandage around her arm and pulled it away, revealing more delicate, pink skin underneath.
"It's - what did you do?" Sokka asked, confused, as Rin stripped away the rest of the bandages. "You couldn't have -"
"That's not all," Rin said, suddenly letting go of Sokka and standing on both legs. She stomped her left leg on the ground a few times, showing that it was also completely healed.
"How - what?" Sokka asked, completely flabbergasted.
"Look, you know as much as I do," Rin explained. "I just had a hunch when the first burn healed, and I guess this confirms it."
"That's... well, great, I guess," Sokka said. "But we still have to find a way out of here. This torch is getting dimmer by the minute."
"Let's go," Rin replied as they started walking again.
Rin and Sokka trudged through the cavern, each step looking the same as the last. There was no indication of an exit anywhere: no wind, no voices, no light at the end of the tunnel. Even worse, their torch was on its last bit of fuel, and would soon leave the two in darkness.
"Hey, Sokka?" Rin's voice broke the silence between them, smaller than earlier.
"Yeah?"
"Can we hold hands? You know, in case the torch goes out?"
"I guess so, yeah."
The two grasped each other's hands, watching as the torch started to fade away. Rin looked away for a moment, her cheeks starting to feel slightly warm.
"Something wrong?" Sokka asked. "You're kinda blushing a bit."
"Oh, uh... it's just, I've never held a boy's hand like this before," Rin admitted.
"Well, I guess there's a first to everything," Sokka said. "Besides, its not like we're going out or anything. We're doing this so we won't be separated."
"I guess so," Rin muttered, but the warmth wouldn't leave her cheeks. She noticed the light of the torch starting to flicker out, and sighed. "So, this might be the last time we see each other."
"Maybe... but hopefully not," Sokka replied. The two watched as the torch flickered one last time, finally giving out and extinguishing itself. Rin expected total darkness, but was instead greeted with a dim, green glow lighting up the entire cavern.
"Wait a minute," Sokka said as Rin looked up. The ceiling of the cavern was lined with glowing crystals, extending far down the tunnel and to a fork in the cave, where it led down one way, leaving the other side in total darkness.
"What the fuck!" Rin screamed. "So if we had just put out the torch, we could have found the way out hours ago?! That's some ostrich-horse shit!"
"Well, look on the bright side, the crystals probably lead to the exit!" Sokka replied. "Heh, bright side. I crack myself up sometimes."
"Grr... let's go." Rin trudged down the tunnel lined with glowing crystals.
"You know, if you hadn't stolen the torch in the first place, we might have been able to find one of those paths earlier," Sokka pointed out.
"Shut up and keep moving." Eventually, the two followed the crystals to the exit, where Aang, Katara, and Appa were waiting.
"You made it!" Katara exclaimed as the group came together and embraced each other.
"How'd you two get out?" Sokka asked.
"It's just like the legend says," Aang replied. "You let love lead the way." Aang glanced longingly at Katara, and Rin was curious of the look he gave her.
"Really?" Rin asked. "We wandered aimlessly until we found out that someone put glow-in-the-dark crystals in the ceiling."
"Yeah, well, I guess we kinda did that too," Katara admitted. "But what about the nomads? Were they with you?"
"No. They weren't with you?" Sokka asked back.
"They're probably still -" Rin said before the cliff face behind her shattered. A badger-mole emerged from the cloud of dust, and on its back were the nomads, Chong in front.
"Hey there, little people!" Chong called from atop the badger-mole before clambering down. "Glad to see y'all made it out safe."
"Glad to see you too," Sokka groaned. "Really thought you guys would be in there for longer."
"Well, these music-loving badger-moles helped us out!" Chong explained, not catching Sokka's sarcasm.
"That's great!" Katara said. "Are you coming with us to Omashu?"
"Nope!" Chong replied. "We're going elsewhere. You know, the stories say that there's a lake far from here that's always frozen over, even in the summer! We're going there next!"
"Well, have fun!" Aang said, waving goodbye as the nomads left. "Now, let's get to Omashu so I can learn some earthbending!"
"... and so we found out that Rin is a bit strange. Well, not her, but her body," Sokka said. The four were climbing up the last peak separating them from Omashu, where Aang would start his earthbending training.
"Strange? How's that?" Aang asked.
"I'll show you when we get into the city," Rin replied.
"Anyways, the journey was long and annoying, but now you get to see what it's really about: the destination," Sokka said as they approached the top of the peak. "I present to you the Earth Kingdom city of - oh, no."
"What is it?" Aang asked as he, Katara, and Rin scrambled up to see what was wrong. As Rin stepped up next to Sokka, she gasped. Omashu, the city which she and many others thought to be impenetrable with its surrounding walls and canyon, had Fire Nation flags flying from its walls. Metal bridges, guarded by tanks, extended from the mountain ranges to the walls of the city, and pillars of smoke rose from burning buildings. Now Rin know why there were Fire Nation troops stationed outside of the mountain range: they had already captured the city within it.
Things never go as planned for us, do they?
Thanks for reading! Please leave a review, and if you like the story, don't hesitate to follow and/or favorite. I know that some of you are probably a bit frustrated at my slow pace, and again, I'm sorry about that. I'll try to work on this story more often, but with schoolwork and daily life, I can give no guarantees. If you catch any typos, or lore errors, don't hesitate to tell me.