Chapter Text
The night was quieter than an old, sleepy gecko-sloth in this particular part of the Earth Kingdom. Late in the winter, sad, naked trees huddled together for bony, wooden company, shaking in the light breeze as something in the distance approached them.
His mighty claws caused the very earth to tremble as the Komodo-rhino strolled through the wilderness. He was no more tired than the young girl, dressed lightly in a various assortment of reds perched atop his saddleless back.
"I think that's enough for the night..." said the girl, Raokai, who, before she could even attempt to slide off the back of the beast, was instead shaken off. Raokai underestimated the drop from the Komodo-rhino's back as she flew backwards, landing on one foot, but then feebly fell back and crashed into a small bush accompanied by mud.
"Kohr!" Raokai whined, as she ran her fingers through her short, black hair, still with its crooked topknot, but now riddled with leaves and dirt. The girl grinned as the beast stepped over to the bush by her, slumping down to rest immediately. Raokai carefully crept towards him, and slouched against his long tail, yawning with tiredness.
Raokai gently rubbed Kohr's back with affection.
"Sorry I overworked you. I'll try to make it up."
Kohr responded with a low, annoyed grunt. Raokai looked up at the moon, then back at her companion.
"Right. Sleeping would be a good way to start."
Raokai set her hands down and closed her eyes, but even in the hush of the night, sleep never truly came.
The Komodo-rhino suddenly awoke, ears pointing to the sky, head facing backwards in the direction the two had come from. As the sound of eight ostrich-horse feet approached them, Raokai immediately jumped on top of Kohr before he ran in the other direction, not waiting for the girl.
The silence was broken, with insects and small, sleeping creatures stirred to high alert in the wake of four mounted Earthen soldiers chasing the duo. Raokai craned her head backward as the wind whipped her free jet-black hair around, her hairpin long gone. The soldiers were a fair distance, but were gaining on them fast, with superior speed to the bulky beast that was Kohr.
"Flaming hogmonkies! There's four of them!" Raokai said to herself. When she turned back around, her eyes widened as loose cracks in the ground below the duo rapidly approached, causing Kohr to frantically hop around them. The girl hung on his back, clinging for dear life as she was bounced around over and over. A rock wall formed right in front of them with hardly any notice, so the Komodo-rhino lowered his head and charged right through, sending Raokai flying off his back.
The four men on Ostrich-horses immediately skidded to a halt, surrounding her as Raokai stood up on her bruised legs as soon as she possibly could, looking at the men straight in their eyes.
"A little girl?" One of them said. The others looked just as confused, but the one that seemed to be the leader signaled. Raokai suddenly jumped out of the way before the sharp rocks could lock her ankles and fists in place, right as Kohr plowed through all four of the men, charging forth with a roar before slowing down to his rider's side.
Raokai climbed on the mighty beast, who then stormed off and away from the four unconscious soldiers, whose steeds had long run off. Raokai briefly looked back at the soldiers again, making sure there weren't any more of them.
"I think I may owe you one- or four." Raokai said as they broke into a small valley, a murder of lizard crows screeched, fleeing.
"We're going to need some gold or silver." Raokai thought for a moment, then smiled. "I have just the idea for you, Kohr."
The sky is dark, but those who observe hard enough could notice a slight lightening in its color as the hours had passed. The mounted, foreign girl finds herself approaching a large Earth Kingdom town- the first town she had come across outside the Fire Nation. To her, it was a marvel, at least on the outside, from what she could see beyond the short, grey, earthen walls enclosing around the town like a snake strangling its prey.
Raokai diverted from the path and guided Kohr into a small patch of trees, where the Komodo-rhino immediately thumped down to rest. Raokai dismounted him and covered the resting beast in moss and leaves she found nearby, at least something to hide him. She took a few steps back, sticks crunching under her boots, and made sure Kohr was hidden at least somewhat.
"Look who's attuned with nature!" Raokai teased. Kohr, who had practically become a massive moss ball huffed, shutting his eyes as if annoyed. Raokai turned towards the village, her aching stomach distracting her a little. She figured maybe she could just infiltrate the village, steal some food and money, then be on her merry way. Not risking losing more time, she walked towards the village alone, her prized meteor hammer wrapped around her waist, tucked hidden under her clothes.
Raokai passed a greeting arch, marking the town's only entrance from her knowledge. When she entered, it was like being thrust into an entirely different world. The town, Tengwei, was a very neatly laid out place, with smooth, square pavement on almost all the ground leading to different buildings, each eerily similar looking to each other, but all having a slight lack of care put into their construction. It was dark, so Raokai couldn't completely tell what exact colors adorned the town, but it seemed to strictly have a palette of sage greens, dark greys and pearly whites. Small patches of only a specific type of white flowers dot perfectly square and symmetrical areas.
As Raokai walked on the pathway into the eerily quiet and vacant town, she suddenly heard a distant voice echo from across the town as a light, chilly breeze rushed by, reminding Raokai she did not dress properly for the cold. She couldn't make out what the voice was saying, but it sounded somewhat of a small girl, crying for help, so Raokai curiously walked towards the voice, which wasn't as distant as she had predicted.
The foreigner brushed across a few houses, going off the pavement, to find herself in a small intersection between houses, with minimal decoration and a lonely feel to it, every direction the buildings looked the same, like a labyrinth. A tiny brown-haired girl with big hazel eyes dressed in a common lower-class clothing looked at Raokai, both frozen and speechless for the moment.
"Are you lost?" The older girl asked her, briefly glancing around, the girl seemed to be alone. The younger girl fearfully looked at Raokai, and after hesitating responded.
"I'm told not to talk to strangers." She was much quieter now, her words hardly making it out of her mouth. The Firebender had to process what she heard for a moment to be sure she heard her right, as unseen, tiny animals scampered nearby, knocking some things over. Before Raokai could respond, to try to reassure her, the little girl unexpectedly continued, unable to stay so quiet any longer.
"But yes, I'm lost, I don't know where mommy's home is."
That wasn't very shocking, every house here looked the same to Raokai. Just doing as little as losing your direction for a bit would make someone lost easily.
"Big town huh." Said the older girl. Another chill breeze rushed by, causing them both to shudder a little. Raokai, hardly thinking, created a flame in the palm of her hand, immediately lighting up the entire intersection. The Firebender immediately realized her blunder, moving to snuff it out, but the smaller girl didn't scream or run away, but instead gazed into her flame in curiosity.
The young girl approached the Firebender, reaching her hands towards Raokai's orange flame, cooing. The older girl quickly pulled away, dissipating the flame, and faced the child with slight concern.
"Don't touch it, you'll burn yourself. Fire is really dangerous." It came out a little harsher than she may have intended. The child looked disappointed and lowered her head as both were in almost complete, lonely darkness. Raokai lowered her height to her level, and after a short hesitation, she created another small flame with as much caution as the rookie Firebender could handle.
The little girl's awe returned, but she made sure to heed her advice, and stood there, eyes watching the orange flames dance in the Firebender"s palm.
"But it's so warm and pretty and bright!"
"Yes, but harm is its true nature." Raokai thought back to the many times in school when she had burnt herself with her own fire. She could never truly control it, as it was always wild and careless as herself. "Take my hand- not the flaming one- I'll try to help you get home."
Raokai didn't really know why she offered this, it's not like she was the world's best navigator. The little girl took her other hand, smiling, seemingly eager to be by the light and warmth of the fire.
The two girls walked all around the city, and although Raokai was completely aimless, the younger girl didn't seem to care, just glad to have some company lead the way for her. Eventually, after an hour or two, the little girl pointed to a house, exclaiming it was her home. She let go of her hand and bounded over to it, her light and tiny feet tapping up the steps, but slowed as she turned to the older girl, who stayed behind.
"Will you be my friend? I need someone to play with."
The foreigner thought for a moment.
"Maybe someday. Not now, though."
The littler girl looked confused and slightly hurt but then turned and knocked on the door. Raokai snuck away before she was seen, her obvious red garments certainly wouldn't fool any adult.
As the sun slowly began to peak through, Raokai entered a large farmland area, where the walls seemed to tightly wrap around, limiting any possible expansion in favor of protection. The protection in question must be poor, though, considering a foreigner like her easily got in. It was almost comical that she has yet to even see a single guard.
The Firebender noticed an old man with white, balding hair and poor posture leaving a small shack, stretching his arms out in the sun. He then went to a nearby shed and gathered a few supplies, then made his way to the massive field. Raokai approached him calmly, in broad daylight, the old man raised an eyebrow and stopped in his tracks at the sight of the girl in red.
"Er... Can I help you?" He said awkwardly, looking to the side for anyone nearby (which to his disappointment, there wasn't.) Raokai cluelessly nodded, waving.
"Hello, sir! May I help the work in exchange for a little pay?"
The old man tried his best to hide his laughter, but failed, as his raspy voice chuckled a little. After a moment he looked at the foreign girl again, then narrowed his eyes.
"You're serious?"
The girl nodded, pursing her lips impatiently and tapping her boot on the ground. The old man hesitated a little.
"Uh... Sorry, I'm good." He turned to his field, walking away from the girl without much of a care for her whereabouts, then began working at a pace that would take him the whole day to finish.
Raokai frowned and turned back to the less-rural area of the town, forgetting the in her opinion stubborn old man immediately. The town seemed much more populated now, possibly the ghost town from before was the result of a curfew of a sort. The girl didn't ponder on it as she rounded alleyways, avoiding sight, but ended up tripping over a lot of things and moving ridiculously.
She was about to make an attempt to scuttle on to a rooftop (which, for some reason, like all the others, had very poorly maintained shingles with rainwater pooling on them) when she heard shouting from the left of her. The foreigner froze, listening to make out the sounds, which were coming closer. Raokai stayed so perfectly still that it was impressive. She heard rocks tumble in the same direction of the commotion- Earthbenders?
"What do you mean destruction? Are you kidding!" Said the voice of a woman. Raokai exhaled, relieved, noticing that it wasn't about a foreigner sneaking into town. She, out of curiosity decided to continue listening in, carefully creeping towards them, sneaking around houses. It was a miracle someone was Earthbending, otherwise her loud footsteps from failed attempts at balance would have stuck out like a sore thumb.
"So, you're such pushovers that you willingly destroy a beautiful landmark of our town?" The woman seemed very flustered, and on the older side.
"We're under strict orders from the village chief to clear all obstructions within the city. In his words, this is an eyesore." Said the voice of a man, almost monotonous, very boring to listen to. "A monument is to be built here after this garden's destruction, please leave."
"Monument? For whom? The village chief or some higher-up?" Said another man, who was old, but not as old as the raisin Raokai had encountered earlier.
"I was only informed it would be a monument. Please keep silent." Raokai thought who she assumed to be the Earthbender had a tone of almost disgust in his monotonous voice.
"This is ridiculous." The man said lowly, "This town will fall one day, it will collapse in on itself! And you're letting it happen."
All this over a garden? Raokai thought.
"Silence yourself." The Earthbender yelled.
"And now he silences me! Hear that? They aren’t protecting us, they're mocking us!"
The man seemed to be turning around to project his voice to other people nearby, but nobody seemed to really respond to his outburst. At this point, Raokai slowly peeked at the situation to see what went down with her dark amber eyes.
Her assumption was correct, the three townspeople were standing in a wide garden, which Raokai must have skipped past when guiding the little girl home earlier. It was the only notably large garden she had seen in the city, and it was beautiful despite how little it seemed to be taken care of. It seemed appreciated and admired, though, like how ancient ruins are admired and appreciated.
In a stark contrast to the town itself, the garden was unorganized and messy, full of budding, blooming and dead flowers alike of various yellows, whites, and blues with a few other colors meeting the eyes of anyone who put enough effort in to look. Weeds and bushes strangled almost all the groundcover that wasn't deliberate path, and the occasional tree hung over, leaving the inside of the garden shaded and obscured from a bird's eye view.
In the garden were the man, who seemed to be a peasant, now bounded in an eerily neat cone of stone. Next to him with hands lightly cupped over her mouth in concern was the woman Raokai had heard first. Across from them, especially under a tree's shade was a tall man in a light green uniform and black boots, with a stoic expression on his admittedly forgettable face.
Raokai didn't know what to do. It was justice to stand up for the guy, even if she didn't know what the garden meant to him. To just turn her back on them like a coward would only lead to her eventually being caught anyway, plus she also hated the way the Earthbender glared at the man. So, the Firebender emerged from hiding ferociously, flames wreathing his fists. Everyone in the area turned towards her, a few people, including the old woman in the garden shrieked. Before she could even make it halfway to the garden, Raokai's feet were tripped by a small pillar of stone, and she fell to the ground, which caved in and hugged her hands and ankles together.
"Fire nation!" Someone yelled. Alot of people ran to their homes, assuming for Firebenders were to come. The soldier marched calmly towards Raokai, bent over, and brought her on her knees, which was better than being faceplanted on the hard ground. Dizzily and squinting, she looked up at the man, who was much taller up close.
"Just a little spy." He said dismissively, preparing to drag her.
"I'm not a spy! I'm just looking for some money." Raokai knew this was a stupid card to pull after her rash move that immediately blew away all her innocence or chances to escape. It was true that she had attempted to attack the man but calling her a spy would be a misunderstanding!
"You soldiers seriously can't even keep the Fire Nation from invading us? What's even the point of you anymore? Are you just there for decoration?" Said the woman, seemingly continuing where (presumably) her husband had started. The Earthbender ignored her, possibly not feeling for taking in three criminals, and unbound the man from the cone of rock only to bind him in much more portable way, similar to what he did with Raokai. Then, he dragged them both with the assistance of his Earthbending, all the way to a huge building that stood in the center of the town, far grander and more impressive than any other.
What she assumed to be the village chief's manor was a massive, beautiful, and almost intimidating structure, pale white like a ghost and primarily consisting of squarical shapes with no rounded or softened edges. Its design was dull and boring, just a few straight trimmings of a dark green grey, giving it almost a prison feel. That feeling must be correct however, because the guard seemed to be taking them there.
The guard approached the building which casted a looming shadow over them, blocking the winter sun. Though, he didn't seem to be heading towards the actual entrance, rather the side-
Suddenly the earth beneath the three of them gave away like a sinkhole, but in a perfect square. Stairs formed below them, and Raokai just barley caught her balance, unlike the older man, who nearly fell down into the unlit chamber when the Earthbender caught him firmly, returning him to his balance swiftly. He then led the two deeper and deeper into the darkness, until neither of the three could see anything.
"You know, if you unbind me, I could firebend a nice light source for you!" Raokai said sarcastically.
"Shut your mouth." The Earthbender snapped before Raokai's voice even finished echoing down the chamber. None of them said a word then as they continued to descend down the steps, the exit to the passage sealed shut from the Earthbender’s gesture, as proven from a rocky echo from above.
The descent was relatively brief, they weren't too far below ground, but they reached a small, humid crypt filled with about half a dozen cells barred with two rows simple black metal. Bright yellow-green, glowing crystals lit the walls, and only around two other guards watched the filled cells around them. Stalactites hung all around the ceilings, and small puddles of water were scattered around the area. Only two empty cells were left.
The guard used his Earthbending to lower the rock below the front row of metal bars on a cell, and heighten the rock above the back layer, resulting in both bars raised. He cast Raokai into the cell and immediately sealed it shut, doing the same for the older man, but with a different cell. The guard leaned in a little closer to him through the bars.
"You will be released when you learn to hold your tongue." He then turned around and faced Raokai, staring blankly at her. "You on the other hand, will be reviewed and awaiting eventual trial, Firebender."
Raokai scowled as he turned his back on her and left the crypt without a word, making his way back, then the exit where they had come from was then sealed off, leaving the dusty, trapping everyone in the lonely area. A sense of dread finally set in, she was trapped.
A long while passed before the older man finally broke the silence.
"What is someone as young as you doing infiltrating cities?" He asked Raokai, who had been staring up at a small hole no bigger than her hand that allowed the distant sunlight to peak through. The girl, who wasn't much older than twelve faced him.
"I wanted to see what the Earth Kingdom was like. Not the colonies, but for real."
The old man shook his head, "You're pretty naive, kid. You should have known this would happen when you go stomping in a nation you're at war with."
Raokai hated being lectured like that, even though she knew he was obviously right.
"Well, it was worth it for the experience anyway. Ill escape though." She said confidently, sitting up straight. A nearby guard's voice echoed throughout the crypt.
"You two silence."
And so they did, as the sunlight began to fade from the sad little hole in the ceiling.
After a tedious investigation consisting of observing how much light came from the hole, Raokai had eventually deduced that it was twilight out. She had been silent for a while and kept thinking of plans to escape only to come with dead ends with each possibility. She spent the hour sinking in the fact that, yes, she was likely doomed and hopeless here.
Muffled commotion came from beyond the barrier sealing the stairs off from the crypt, but all Raokai was able to pick out was a half-hearted, raspy laughter and the sound of several pairs of boots clanking against the stairs. Eventually, the barrier opened, revealing two guards looking strikingly similar in almost all factors to the man that brought her down there. Between the two, and being held by them, was a dirty looking girl who couldn't be too much older than Raokai, wearing horrendously clashing clothing consisting of greys, light reds, blues, and even some green, making her nationality unknown. Or at least that's what Raokai thought, as the lighting was all from the green crystals, making it difficult to tell. A long, thin sword which the Firebender assumed to be the girl’s was held by the guard to her right, who stepped aside to bring it to a separate chamber. The girl didn't seem to even bother watching where it went.
The other guard escorted the girl down the hall, whose hands were bound a little too tightly. The guard looked around at the end- there were no empty cells left. He then went to the man Raokai had talked to earlier, and replaced him with the girl, then lead him out of the crypt, sealing the exit off behind him. Silence came as the tacky clothed girl didn't move from where she was thrown in. She didn't appear to be injured though.
The other girl looked up, realizing the little girl had been staring at her from across, and sat down properly. No guards seemed to be nearby, and most of the other prisoners were asleep, essentially leaving them alone.
"Long way from home, huh?" She asked Raokai. It was halfway between tease and genuine question, or at least she thought.
"Mhm." Raokai admitted, trying to hide her embarrassment.
"Where're you from?"
"The Fire Colonies." Raokai said matter-o-factly. The other girl’s blank expression didnt change. "You?"
"Hm. Well, I'm a...” She looked to the left for a second, then turned her head back to face the younger girl. “’High-risk trader!’ I don't really have a home or anything. Name's Kyta by the way. What's yours?"
Raokai began to draw with the dirt on the ground with her finger, splitting her concentration. "Raokai."
After an awkward moment of silence, she looked up.
"What are you in for?"
Kyta grinned like a mischievous little boy, recalling what must have happened not even a full day ago.
"Well, I tried to steal something, of course."
Raokai’s eyes lit, interested. Kyta didn't elaborate, so after another awkward pause, Raokai asked the question the pirate seemed to be waiting for.
"Well... What was it?"
"The Ruby-eyed monkey. Y’know, the treasure all the higher-ups around this whole state won't shut up about?" Kyta chuckled.
"Actually, I'm new here, so no, I didn't." Raokai said.
"Well, now you do."
"You seem pretty confident."
Kyta put her hands behind her head and relaxed like a cliché character in a street puppet show.
"Of course. If I have a record for anything, it's never being held in a cell for longer than a week. I can never stay put; it sickens me to."
Kyta paused and lowered her voice.
"I'll be out of here before the sun rises."
"Oh alright, and I'll be out before the next sun sets."
Kyta examined the tiny girl, looking at her with a hint of tease.
"Sure kid."
Raokai turned the color of her clothes. "Don't call me ‘kid!’”
‘Alright...’
There was a long pause.
‘Kid.’
The teasing was so juvenile that Raokai almost thought she was trying to be ironic. Though, she seemed to be stalling, as if she were waiting for something. Around a minute or two passed, Kyta’s eyes scanning the whole crypt, in the moonlight, they twinkled, and to the surprise of Raokai, they seemed to be icy blue.
Suddenly, with just a flick of the wrist, water from the puddles all around her cell rose and coiled into a whip surrounding Kyta. The pirate then shifted her weight and moved her arms and hands with the flow of the water in a precise fashion before then with a slash, she sliced at the bars with the icy water. A clean cut formed in the metal. Then, she immediately slashed again, and followed it up with another double-slash, and all the sudden, there was a massive hole in the two rows of bars. Kyta jumped through them with ease, splashing the water down.
Guards who must have heard this began marching towards her, and prisoners groggily woke up and rubbed their tired eyes. Kyta sprang into action, gathering water from all around the crypt, and one-by-one, no, more so all at once, pinned all the guards to the walls in ice before they could strike. When she was sure nobody else was coming, Kyta approached Raokai’s cell after intentionally drenching herself with water.
‘Hm.’
The Waterbender hesitated. She stared at the Firebender up and down, hands on her hips as all that could be heard was the water dropping off of her figure, and echoing throughout the crypt.
With a few quick swipes, the pirate freed Raokai, much to the envy of the other, confused prisoners. Raokai jumped out, without question following the pirate who had already gone ahead to the barrier preventing them from the passage. Kyta collected water from all around the ground, and rushed it all the way to the wall, seeping it into the cracks. Then, with a long blow, she froze all of it. Kyta grabbed Raokai and pulled her backwards as the entire wall exploded, leaving a pile of shattered ice, rock, and the passage up ahead.
Both girls coughed as dust filled the air.
‘Let's go!’ Kyta said, and the duo ran up the long flight of steps to the surface. When they were about halfway to the top, suddenly the barrier they were headed for opened, spilling moonlight onto their faces. Four tall guards stood there and began bending oddly squarical boulders the size of their heads down at them. Kyta stood behind and made efforts to shield them from the duo with ice and powerful water, while Raokai charged forwards, shooting a plume of flame at the four guards. All four staggered backwards to avoid getting burned, allowing the duo to emerge from underground.
Finally, above ground and immediately followed by the pirate, Raokai kicked a large wave of bright orange fire at a guard, who pulled up a rock shield far too late. The other bent a rock right behind the girl, who noticed it right in time as she spiraled out of the way, following up with an aggressive fire punch at the guard she now faced. The guard was a little sharper than the other and lifted a large rock pillar to easily block the punch. While he was focused on retaliating, suddenly he was knocked over by a tentacle of water. Kyta had already finished the other two, one knocked out and the other frozen in ice.
With all four guards taken out, the two girls quickly found a little spot that wasn't so in the open. When they had finally caught their breath, Kyta turned to Raokai.
“Meet me at that crazy garden when the sun rises.”
“Why?”
“Well, you owe me one, don't you? We’re stealing that monkey.”
Raokai nodded, and the two went opposite directions, Raokai aiming for where she had hidden Kohr. As she entered the town area again, which was just as empty as last night, she noticed, oddly, not a single guard pursued her. In fact, there wasn't even a guard in sight. Were there only as many guards as there were in the crypt, and the four they had easily taken out? Raokai shortly forgot this and simply kept running.
When she finally reached the site, the giant moss ball was just where she had left him. Though, with much less moss, he seemed to have moved at least a dozen times. Though, he was there, and he was sleeping soundly. The Firebender walked up to him and laid beside the cold-blooded beast, and surprisingly, slept well.