Fan Fiction ❯ Rebels Of The Fire ❯ Capture ( Chapter 2 )

Rebels Of The Fire

Chapter 2:

Capture

 

I soon realized what the voices meant by trap.

 

As I was spinning around, trying to locate the voices' owners, a net was thrown from my right. I quickly side stepped to avoid it, but ended up releasing another trap. This time, volleys of arrows was released, making me drop to the ground. Dropping seemed to be the wrong thing to do though, because my impact on the ground opened up their final trap.

 

A pit.

 

/Kohaku Survivors/

 

“It has been over ten minutes,” Niko exclaimed, while he paced around the campsite, “AND STILL NO VIBES!”

 

“Niko, can you do me a favor?” Ruka asked her twin, and continued without waiting for a reply, “Can you find a nice sized rock and SHOVE IT IN YOUR MOUTH!”

 

“No.” He answered, “Not until Rain retur-”

 

“She's trapped!” cried Pilina, “Trapped, trapped, trapped! In a dark scary-”

 

“Pilina!” Niko's voice ran out like a whistle, “Stop your crying. Rain is not captured. She will be back in a couple of minutes, so go get back into your position with the others.”

 

“But Ra-” Pilina protested

 

“Now.” The harsh tone cut like a knife. Niko's face still held indifference.

 

Pilina stifled a tear, but did as she was told. Ruka sent a glare to her twin before going after Pilina, trying to reassure her.

 

“Ru?” asked Pilina, “Why is Ni so being mean?”

 

“I'm not sure `Lina,” Ruka sighed, “But it might have something to do with his pride. Maybe he feels that if he was at Kohaku during the raid, things might have been different.”

 

“That doesn't make sense though. If he was at the raid, then he would have died.”

 

“…Boys are complicated creatures. We girls just have to put up with them.” Ruka smiled, “C'mon, cheer up, once Rain gets back Niko will cool his jets.”

“That is, if she gets back.” Pilina murmured

 

/Rain's Pit/

 

One never knows how good freedom feels until they are trapped with no chance of escape. As I was hit the ground of my cage, Pilina's words ran through my head.

 

“It's gonna be a big trap, and bending won't help you at all!”

 

Her prediction was only partly true, I was surrounded in my element, bending can indeed help me.

 

I stood up, and got into the first bending position I ever learned.

 

/Rain's flashback, nine years ago/

 

“Now Rain, spread your feet apart a little bit more… good. Close your eyes, and focus only on the dirt in front of your feet. Picture it moving upward taking the shape of a wall.” This was the advice of my first mentor, Captain Lee.

 

Captain Lee was a close friend of my father, Aki Tatakai. They fought many battles together against the Fire Nation. When a battle turned for the worse, my father's last words to Lee were, `Teach my storm cloud, she has potential.' Once Lee returned from that battle, he gave the news that he was captured by the Fire Nation, which was, in our minds, his death. Ever since then, Lee has taught me earth bending.

 

“Can my wall have kitties on it?” I asked. Oh yes, I might have forgotten to mention but, I love kitties, they are just so cute and fluffy and… I should get back to the flash back.

 

“…If you are able to build a solid wall, then we'll think about the kitties.” Lee answered.

 

“YAY!!!” I danced around, with a smile full of carefree innocence.

 

“But first we need to get a wall.” He reminded me. “So, take position and clear your mind. Focus only on the earth… now, send all your inner strength to your hands, once you've done that, lift up your hand, and while you are lifting them up, picture the earth coming up also… good Rain, very good, now open your eyes.”

 

I opened my eyes, expecting to see some magnificent wall, covered in kitties. When I saw the `wall' that I had created, my jaw dropped. The wall was only two feet tall, and looked more like a pile of dirt rather than a real earth bender's wall. And the worse part of it, there wasn't one single kitty on the wall.

 

“Great job Rain!” encouraged Lee, “For your first wall, you did marvelous.”

 

“But there isn't any kitties.” I pouted.

“Just keep on practicing on the wall, then we can do kitties.” He chuckled.

 

/End Flashback/

 

My feet were spread apart, and my fingertips grew slightly warm as energy flowed into them. My arms began to feel heavy. `Good' I thought, `that means that I am one with the earth.' I slowly started to lift my arms up, and began to feel the ground shifting. The higher I lifted my arms, the higher the ground raised. `Just a few more feet then I'll be free'

 

/Kohaku Survivors/

 

“Alright, it's been fifteen minutes, we are sending out a search party.” Niko exclaimed

 

“Niko, may I remind you that we are just a group of kids, NOT AN ARMY!!” Ruka yelled.

 

“Well, we still need to send someone out to go look for her.” Niko replied.

 

“RAIN IS TRAPPED!!!' screamed Pilina, “She's trapped… no way of escape… s-”

 

“Pilina, how do you know that Rain is trapped,” asked Niko.

 

“Ni, how will this help us?” Ruka asked angrily, “We don't even have the slightest idea where Rain could be.”

 

“Think about Ruka, it all adds up.” Niko replied, matter of factly, “Pilina said that Rain would be captured if she left to scout. Rain hasn't sent us any vibes, when I told her to send some every 100 meters, which at the pace she usually scouts at would be every two to three minutes. Since she was angry with me for yelling at Pilina, she would wait double the usual amount of time to send in reports. Or she could just neglect to reports all together and appear back right when her ten minutes are up. So the only logical reason of why she isn't back, and never sent in reports, is that she is, indeed, trapped.”

 

“What if she was injured?”

 

“Rain is a earth bender, a tough one at that. The only way that she could be injured is if she was caught by fire benders.” Niko turned to Pilina, “Now, how do you know that Rain is captured?”

 

“…I don't know. But when she said that she was going scouting… it was like an alert went up in my brain… Rain was going to be captured… Rain wasn't safe… there were just to many things in my head for me understand… I just don't know…” Pilina whispered.

 

“Can you… Do you have an idea where Rain might be?” Ruka asked gently.

 

“Yes… and no.” she answered, “ I know that she is in a trap, but I don't know where the trap is.”

 

“Thank you Pilina, why don't you go rest now.” Ruka dismissed Pilina, seeing the tell tale signs of regret forming in the young girls eyes. “Niko, if you can teach Leak and I some defense moves, then you can go look for Rain.”

 

“…No, it's too late to go look for her by myself. She captured, and there's nothing we can do about it, except for trying to find a way around the enemy.” He said dejectedly. “Even that maybe be impossible, Rain was our only bender. If only we had-”

 

CRASH

 

“…WHAT WAS THAT?!?!” Ruka loudly asked.

 

“Ruka, quiet.” Niko nudged his twin. “Get the kids and hide.”

 

“No way,” she protested, “I'm helping too.”

 

“You can help if you hide the others first.”

 

“Fine” Ruka grumbled as she started for the others, “Just save someone for me.”

 

Ruka then herded her charges into the trees that were about ten feet away from the campsite. After all the young ones were safely hidden in the foliage, Ruka started back for her brother.

 

“Everyone's safe?” Niko asked once Ruka come within hearing distance.

 

“Yes. I take it that nothing dangerous was spotted yet?”

 

“Ye-”

 

“APPAAAAA!!!!”

 

“What is an `appa'?” Ruka asked her sibling.

 

“I think it is a white furry fluffy thing.” Niko pointed to a giant bison like creature that seemed to be carrying three people on top of its head. A young boy, clad in a yellow tunic and pants, with a red sash and shawl type thing and a blue arrow on his head, he looked to be about 11 or 12, jumped down from the creature's head, and seemed to use air so absorb the impact of his jump.

 

“Ummm… hello.” He said cautiously, as if he was expecting an attack at any moment.

 

“….”

 

“I was just wondering….” He started, then a skinny brown haired, brown skinned boy, dressed in a long blue tunic with dark blue leggings and leather boots, he looked maybe about 13