Everyone watched as Yon decimated the firebenders around her. Her strong legs kicked into the air, sending the molten rock blades at her assailants. She used her created blades in tandem with her earthbending, her enemies not sure what they'd be hit with next. Those that thought getting in close would help them quickly remembered that Yon was a ruthless warrior before she was a bender.

"Wow..." Katara couldn't tear her eyes away from the display. Yon personified everything she wanted to be. Strong, confident, a bender so in their element that nothing could touch them with it there. And even without it, they could never be underestimated.

"Yon is... amazing!" She gushed. "Did you see that, Ay—Ayaan?!"

"We are ending this now."

Ayaan rushed in, not wasting a single minute admiring Yon's talent. He rode on the rivers of rock blasting toward the fire nation soldiers, flipping into the fray with a nimble balance. Immediately, his spear spun, each twirl abruptly ending with a crack through the air that precisely aimed for the most vulnerable parts of their armor.

It was a violent yet graceful display, that almost resembled...

'Waterbending...?'

Katara didn't understand why, but it felt like Ayaan was waterbending without water. The spear was his ocean, his entire body was his guide. It brought her back to when he'd been practicing in the river, where the water followed him while he performed the familiar movements of his spear.

'Yon isn't the only one that's amazing...'

They stood together amid a sea of soldiers, Ayaan with his spear at the ready, and Yon in her bending stance. They were a blur of movement, working in tandem with each other. When he'd block, she attacked, and when he attacked, she blocked for him. An unstoppable duo was created within moments as if they'd spent their lives fighting together.

"Nice reflexes, kid!" Yon yelled, taking out yet another soldier.

"You, too." He responded, doing the same.

It was so different from how he was used to fighting. To have someone so... dependable on his side was nice. Sure, his siblings were getting stronger by the day, but he still worried about them. With Yon, he didn't have to constantly check on her, and Yon didn't have to keep tabs on him, either. There was a silent, mutual trust between them that made their teamwork almost seamless.

'When was the last time I could depend on someone like this?'

"RAHHH!" The earth benders rallied together even more. Triumphant battle cries filled the air as early morning melted into midday. The prisoners were forces of nature that the guards could no longer contain. They were beasts made in stone, coming together to form an unshakable mountain.

"That's my dad!" One of the children bellowed.

"My mom's amazing! Look at her go!"

"Wow." A boy gawked, "I didn't think Grandpa had it in him. He was always complaining about his joints!"

"Well, Gramps has taken at least five guards' kneecaps. I think their joints are hurting more than his." A girl, most likely his sister, added.

"Think he'll teach us that when we get bigger?" He asked her, earning a vicious little grin from his sister.

"He will not have a choice." Now both of the children were grinning like evil little gremlins.

"Ugh..." Their grandfather felt a shiver, immediately feeling irritated with his old body. "Damn these stupid joints! Damn this place! And! Damn!" He launched coal like a missile at the approaching guards, "YOU BASTARD MOTHERFUCKERS!"

His grandchildren continued to cheer him on from afar, oblivious to the string of absolutely foul words coming out of his mouth.

As everyone was speaking about their families, the children grew somber. Many of them had been taken from their family and forced to work in this unsavory silo. They'd lost that light that children usually had because of it, learning the harshness of the world much too soon.

"I wonder if Mama's doing okay..."

"Yeah. I was going to be a big sister before they took me... Were they a boy? A girl?" The child welled up with tears, "Do they look like me?" A small, hopeful smile grew on her face. "I'll... I'll be able to finally meet them when I go home."

When. No 'if', not 'never', but 'when'.

Such a simple change, but it was beautiful to Aang, who knew hope when he heard it. "Yeah, you will! And you'll be the best big sister ever!" He assured. "All of your families will be ecstatic to see you. They're winning their own battle back in your hometowns."

"What?!" The children were alarmed. "T-they're fighting, too? They could get hurt!"

"Those soldiers were running for the hills the last time I checked."

"HUH?!"

"Big Bro Aang, you gotta tell us more!"

"TELL US! TELL US!" They chanted, flagging the poor Airbender down in a pile.

"Alright! Okay! I'll tell you! I'll spill!" He laughed. "See that guy over there?" He pointed to the area where soldiers were being decimated by metal and lava shurikens.

Torrents of heavy strikes befell the fire nation guards. Icy blues met saturated pinks within throughs of glinting metal and molten projectiles. Ayaan's speed coupled with Yon's strength as he ran across the wall of rock, taking out soldier after soldier with ease.

The children had stars in their eyes.

"Woah..."

"They're so cool!"

"Can I bend lava when I get big?"

"...I'm going to use a spear when I get big. Then, I'll be awesome."

Aang felt the same awe as the children were, having to tear himself from the fantastical scene to tell his tale, "Ehem. Before we got here, Ayaan—that awesome spear man over there—gave us a task to do..."

It was the dead of night in the village. Everything was still, silent, and tranquil. If not for the ominous rustling within the trees, one wouldn't even think the town was moments away from being completely turned over.

In this region alone, there were five mining towns. Aang, Sokka, and the Phantom Unit had set up their bases in each of them. There was only one fire nation stronghold in that area in particular, but small camps were stationed near every town to keep tabs.

Hala's town had the misfortune of being the home of that particular stronghold, which was why her home was the worst off out of all of the others.

Each town was surrounded by minable caves, dormant forests, and a few streams and rivers. Ayaan, along with the villagers, planted many traps in all of these areas. They weren't strangers to setting traps, used to doing so before the fire nation ran everything away. But Lord Ayaan proved to be much more capable than they realized.

He'd taught them how to make traps that snapped, ensnared, swung, and even bombarded. There were knots they'd never seen and formations that left them speechless. All of them were vicious works of pure genius, so well placed that the villagers themselves had to be extra careful.

Some had enough bad luck to fall victim to one, and it was less than pretty. They were alive though, so there's that... Yeah, no one made that mistake again.

Tonight was the night that all of that hard work would be put to the test. It was now do, or die. Each of their eyes seemed to blaze in the darkness, their expressions unreadably vacant.

Operation: Liberation. Three groups, three phases, three separate battlefields. The first was already being taken care of on the rig, and the second was happening at this moment. Every guard camp had been located, and every soldier in them accounted for thanks to the extensive information gathered by the Phantom Unit.

A select group of villagers in each town would literally raid these places. There was no need to be stealthy about it, in fact, it was better for them to attract as much attention as possible. There wasn't a need for there to be many of them, either. Only the bravest of the villagers took on this pivotal role.

One of them being Hala herself, and the mothers who'd lost their children.

"Let's go."

The guards didn't know what hit them. A torrent of stones hit their heads with scary precision. In the volley of rocks, their helmets were knocked free, revealing their enraged faces. When they turned to see who had the audacity to do such a thing, they were shocked to find a group of those weak-willed villagers.

"What the...?"

"This is for my son!" Another rock launched at them.

"My husband!" And then another, hitting their bodies.

"How dar—" Before he could even finish his sentence a fist found its way to his chin. His world spun as stars twisted and turned. He was grounded before he realized it.

"Lord Ayaan was right when he taught us where to aim."

The guard, now feeling the fear kick in, looked up after his world stopped dancing.

Demons.

He was looking at a group of fucking demons before a kick to the face ensured he saw no more.

They were like the wind, rushing over the land in silence and swiftness. Those too old to properly fight or too crippled gathered their stones in distractions. The children still left did the same, their abundant energy finally being able to be used.

It did not matter that they themselves weren't earthbenders. Those of the earth kingdom was naturally strong. They were boulders, the foundations of mountains.

Lord Ayaan trained them in the ways of incapacitation. Just as he'd done for Sokka when Zuko invaded their home all those months ago, he taught them where to hit, and how hard to hit. He drilled it into their very souls and made them practice it every night until it became ingrained in their bodies. He made sure that they made full use of their natural strength, he made them see it.

He helped them remember that there weren't the helpless slaves they'd been forced to be.

They mined those caves just as their earthbending family had. They plowed those fields and raised those animals. They trekked this land and called it their home. This was their home, and these bitches had no place here anymore.

The townspeople were in a frenzy, everything around them was pure, unadulterated chaos.

Grandparents carried their children on their backs, whooping the soldiers with sizable switches as their grandkids pulled on their hair and threw pebbles at their faces. Aunties had their purses full of stones, swinging them like an extension of their very bodies. The youth? They were feral, almost bloodthirsty as they raged across the streets of their village.

"How the fuck were we scared of you?"

"I lost all of my income fearing something like this?"

Hala was one of them. Her fists found their targets, the movements ingrained into her. Soldier after soldier couldn't match her ferocity. "Five years of torment..."

Her husband. Her son. Her life. Her home.

"I'll be giving it back to you now, with interest!"

She was the wife of the chief for a reason, and that reason was being displayed this night in all of its furious glory.

Of course, they never rushed into a battle that was too much for them. No one was ever alone when they attacked. Yes, they were trained, but they weren't stupid enough to believe they were invincible because of that. Ayaan drilled that thinking out of their minds.

'Never go into a battle you feel you can't win. Never be alone. Never let yourself get cornered. If you need to run, then do so. Your safety and the safety of your people come first, before victory.'

The 'buddy system'. It ensured that they had backups should they need it. It was for this reason that Ayaan trained them together, in groups, so that they'd be more familiar with each other than they already were. He didn't want them to end up in situations where they were cornered and alone.

Battles were not straightforward. There was more than one way to win, and lose. A fight was a fight. It did not matter what needed to be done, as long as it was within your morals and did not harm your comrades.

'When you hit, make sure you hit hard.'

"All that training really paid off!" A lady said, luring more firebenders her way. "Lord Ayaan is the best!"

"Of course, our beloved Lord made sure to teach us well." Her husband, sticking by her side, agreed with her. "...I still want that."

"Same—"

"Stop it." Another girl, just a bit younger than them, cut off the conversation. "How the hell are you two comfortable enough to have this type of conversation in the middle of a battle?!" The girl's sister was flabbergasted.

""We're just being honest though.""

The 'fan club' once again had grown.

The girl could only sigh. She was so done with them. Of course, she could see why they were saying these things but still! Right now? Here?! They had a job to do!

Those that were attacking right now weren't meant to outright battle the firebenders stationed there. No, not at all. They were bait. A lure. Their true battle would not be in the village. But to get to this stage of their plan, they needed to lure the scumbags out. Tossing sludge onto their tents, rocks on soldiers passing by, hit and runs, all of this was to lure them in.

And it had worked splendidly.

The firebenders were enraged, chasing after them with the numbers that hadn't already been knocked out by their assault team. Now, it was time for the second part of their operation: The Forest.

"Where are you?! Come out, you rats!"

The forest was silent, only the eerie whistles of the wind being heard.

"Come ou-ARGH—" A sizable log came swinging from the darkness, knocking several fire nation soldiers into the air. The resounding cracks from broken ribs and pained screams echoed into the night.

If they weren't hit by trees, they were bombarded by rocks. If they weren't bombarded, they were trapped in nets like prey. If not that, they were sprayed with disgusting slop from the air. Left, right, above, below, nowhere was safe.

Ayaan was a genius when it came to traps, and Sokka made it his mission to learn his ways. Aang was the king of pranks, adding his spin to the traps made. Katara was more than eager to learn. Put these four together with a slough of villagers, and you get absolute pandemonium.

One by one, little by little, they were dwindling in number. Soon, only a few of them were left, trying to desperately get out of the forest. They slowly realized what was happening.

"R-run!" They screamed, "We need to get out of here—"

"Sorry. That ain't happening." A shroud of darkness appeared. The only thing visible was their strange, different-colored eyes. There was an ominous pressure exuding from its small frame.

"My brother told me a lot about some of the stuff you guys did."

The ground beneath them shifted, but they were too afraid to notice it.

"Some of the girls you took never made it to the prisons, did they?"

Their faces paled. No one was supposed to know about that. It was a secret they kept amongst themselves, not even reporting it to their superiors. They finally noticed that they couldn't move when they tried to run in the opposite direction. At this, their faces paled further.

"He said you bragged about what happened to them."

"What is this?!" Their legs were stuck in something. Sand? "No... NO!" They gradually sunk into the earth, with nothing to latch on to, no one to save them. "Please, don't—"

"You're begging? That's funny." The small phantom wasn't laughing, though, "Begging didn't save them, did it? Why do you think it will save you? I'm not the one who will pass judgment on you."

"AHH—!" They dropped into the sandpit ditches. The phantom closed his eyes, manipulating the rivers of sand beneath the earth to transport them to their various destinations.

"The families of those girls will take very good care of you, though." With that, the phantom vanished into the night, followed by another they didn't know was there, watching them as it sat in silence.

The revolt lasted for three days. The villagers, with their tactics, traps, and fierce training, overwhelmed the soldiers that riddled their homes. Their fort had been secured, and now, they waited patiently for their captured families to begin the third and final phase of the operation.

The Phantom Unit and their vessels stayed to make sure it stayed that way until their lord returned.

"And now, here we are!" Aang finished grandly, the children cheering and clapping. "Oh, it looks like the fight's over."

Tyro, Haru, and the other earthbenders worked together, shifting the coal beneath their adversaries and lifting them over the ocean. Seeing what was about the happen, the warden pales with dread.

"No, please! I can't swim!" He pleaded. But if he was looking for mercy, he wouldn't find it with them.

"Don't worry. I hear cowards float."

"No!" The coal island crumbles beneath them, dropping them all into the sea below.

Ayaan then comes up, dragging one of the soldiers by the leg.

"L-let go! Let go of me!"

It was the unfortunate one that insulted him before.

"Sure."

He tossed him over the side like trash.

"NOOO—"

Splash!

There was silence. It took a moment for everything to truly sink in.

The battle of the rig was over.

They were free.

The entire silo erupted into triumphant cheers, relieved cries, and waves of reignited hope.

For the first time in five, long years, they were headed home.

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