New Friends, New Foes

  Chapter II

  Massak

  Throughout all twelve years of his life, Massak had always been a cheerful lad; beloved by everyone in his town (particularly the elders) with little exception. So when he ventured out into the world at large, there hadn’t even been a thought in his head that it would be any different…as soon as he reached Omashu, however, the atmosphere was entirely unlike what he was used to; people avoided eye contact, preferred one-word conversations, and as a whole tried not to interact with him. Despite these setbacks, he didn’t struggle to find what he needed to survive during his first days behind the gates, with much of it simply being provided by some sort of ‘refuge program’ (whatever that meant); contrary to the first impressions many would have had in his position, all-in-all he found Omashu to be quite an agreeable city—he was still uncertain of whether the peculiarities were unique to the place’s culture or just a city thing in general, but it didn’t matter too much either way: even counting the barn whose owners had let him sleep alongside their camelephant, it was probably his favourite place outside of Wolf Cove so far.

  All along the main street were stalls selling all kinds of things—this was one of the few things that felt familiar to Massak, as every now and then the various tribes of the South Pole would meet up on festivals, and at those times many sold wares in a similar way; sure, the stuff they were selling was mostly unfamiliar, but the general atmosphere was the same. Massak wandered about the street, browsing the stalls whenever one caught his eye (which was often), despite the fact that he had no money; this was pretty much what he’d been doing for the half a week since he entered Omashu, nearly forgetting entirely the reason why he was there in the first place…but as per usual, fate found a way to remind him: some ways off, surrounded by several adults dressed in similar muted green-and-brown clothing, was the short girl who (as odd as it sounds) Massak had seen in a dream—even though all he knew was that he needed her help for something important and that she’d be in a city called Omashu, Massak had made it his utmost priority to find her ever since that dream a couple of weeks after he had left home. Well, he had intended to make it his utmost priority, but since he had no clue how to actually find people once he arrived in the city, he had just been waiting for an opportunity to fall into his lap—an approach which, clearly, had bore fruit. Before he could simply walk up to her, however, Massak consciously registered the rolling sound of a drum, and shortly after a large draconic puppet blocked his view. A child was loudly saying something he wasn’t listening to, as he was far too busy fighting against the moving crowd and fruitlessly trying to figure out where the girl had gone.

  A few minutes later the parade had passed, and by that point Massak had resigned himself to waiting, passing the time whilst sat down on an unmanned stall (which was supposedly selling potions, elixirs, and topical creams). There was some sort of commotion shortly after the puppet went by, but once again Massak was too busy to pay attention to whatever it was about—he stood up on the stall, scanning around for the girl and the people with her, disregarding pretty much everything that didn’t seem related to that task. It only took a couple of moments to find her; much like Massak, she’d decided that whatever she was doing required some extra height, though her choice was to run along the rooves—wasting no time, he began his pursuit (albeit from the ground), rushing through the alleys as best he could. It didn’t take long for Massak to notice that the gap between himself and his target was gradually increasing, and it wasn’t just because of her more direct route; the girl was fast, and it was clear that if she wanted to, she could go even faster—compared to him, she may as well have been the wind itself.

  In no time at all, Massak had lost sight of the girl; he kept running after where he thought she’d gone, but eventually he reached an intersection—he’d have to guess where she went. As he took a moment to catch his breath, a pair of small birds—one mostly blue, one mostly green—started chirping above him, taking flight down the alley to the right. Small animals had always been fond of Massak, and he’d found throughout his life that they often knew things he didn’t—he had no way of knowing whether or not this was one of those times, but he followed them all the same. They eventually came to a stop at a dead end ginnel, with no route in sight other than the way Massak had come; for a few seconds he considered giving up, until one of the birds landed on his shoulder, vocalising to get his attention as it pointed its beak towards an opening about seven feet off the ground. Thanking the birds, he offered a few crumbs of some kind of bread he’d been given earlier, and started trying his best to get up to the window—it was an arduous process made easier only by his height, which ended with him eventually managing to throw his arms over the sill. With great effort he heaved himself through the portal, tumbling into a dusty room that he didn’t get too much of a chance to investigate given that his tumble turned into a roll, which turned into a fall down some kind of hole in the floor that he was entirely unaware of. His unplanned descent continued for a short while at the bottom of the shaft, down a sloped tunnel until he finally came to a stop in a slightly wider chamber—there was a bit of light streaking through a hatch to the surface above, but Massak didn’t think that was the way the girl had gone, so he ignored it and continued along the subterranean tunnel after lighting a small torch from his bag.

  It took less than five minutes for Massak to start actually catching up after a total of about half an hour of chase—and it was only thanks to the other person stopping. He could hear faint talking ahead, and as he rounded a corner he saw her, motionless, seemingly listening to the voices in the large cavern just past the tunnel mouth. She briefly turned her head to side eye him, before returning her attention to the cave. Looking past her, Massak could only see the crowd of a couple dozen children—but presumably, something interesting was going on in there.

  Making sure not to forget his manners, Massak began to introduce himself, “So, I’m Massak, and-,” for some reason, the girl was holding her hand towards him, gradually putting down fingers as he spoke, “Oh, I’m from the Southern Water Tribe.”

  As he was about to ask her for an introduction of her own, the torch in his hand went out—he started moving towards the tunnel’s exit, but the girl pushed him back for some reason, and before he could speak again the hushed talking in the cavern went silent, as a booming voice rang out:

  “Good morning, everyone.”

  The response from the children came in chorus, “Good morning!”

  “So, how is everybody today? Is all well?”

  This second set of responses was much less unified, but overall positive, though with one exception; within the crowd, a single child yelled, “No!”

  “And why would that be?”

  “Some fat old waterbender pushed me over!”

  “Alright, draw a picture best you can and pass it around; we’ll get revenge in time. Does anyone else have any issues?”

  Another child raised their hand, speaking after some form of silent affirmation invisible from Massak’s position, “I found this pretty rock, but I don’t know what kind it is…what should I tell customers?”

  “Ah, it doesn’t matter what kind of rock it is, it matters what kind of rock you can make them think it is. Now, if there are no more concerns, let us start the feast.”

  A feast? For a moment, Massak wondered if they’d let him join…but his musing was interrupted by the girl he’d been following as she stepped confidently out of the tunnel, walked to a central position, and stomped her foot to ensure her presence was known. Massak stepped forward again (though not quite into the cavern) to get a better look at the chamber; there was only a little light—some streaming down from holes in the roof, some from torches on stands—but from what he could tell, the voice was coming from a shaded area in the back, where there was something that looked like a throne of sorts. Massak’s new friend was still standing ready, in a battle stance, eyes fixed on the throne as the voice spoke once again, “I’d be careful if I were you, little miss earthbender, lest you collapse the fragile roof and drown us all—we are below a reservoir, after all.”

  While Massak tried to recall whether or not he’d seen a large body of water in the city the girl retorted, “If this supposed reservoir exists, why isn’t this place already flooded? There are holes in the ceiling.”

  “They’re called pipes, my dear, you may have heard of them; they’re small tubes that things like air can pass through.”

  “I don’t buy your bluff, miscreant,” she puffed out her chest, pointing at the throne, “In the name of the Ruǎn family, I demand you cease this skulduggery at once!”

  “I refuse,” the voice responded, as with a soft hiss green flames lit on either side of the throne, “and the spirits curse you.”

  “I see through your trickery; identify yourself and you may be shown mercy.”

  The children laughed, one shouting “Get her!”, and at that a small bunch of them began to charge toward the earthbender—an effort quickly proven senseless, as the girl simply stomped a foot one more time, the very ground shaking as the would-be assailants stumbled back to the floor. Fearing the tunnel’s collapse, Massak entered the cave himself, noticing some disturbed sediment falling from the cavern’s roof.

  “That was only a warning, and my patience wears thin; return my uncle’s money, you cretin!”

  “What money?”

  Massak stepped forward, preparing himself to attempt de-escalation only to be interrupted by the girl before he even got the chance to speak, “Playing the fool, I see…and we both know full well that there’s no reservoir above us. This is your final chance: if you turn yourself in, our pity may save you.”

  “What are they teaching children these days?”

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  The earthbender’s voice grew sharper, and Massak suspected her eyes narrowed, “I am no child.”

  “Well, in that case, what are they teaching short people these days?”

  “No more chances,” the girl pulled a bow from her back, knocking an arrow and pointing it towards the throne within the blink of an eye; seven of the children stood, ready to fight, “I believe that your surrender is the most painless option for all of us; my guards will soon arrive, and our family’s wrath will fall upon you.”

  “Mantou, Jiaozi. Handle this,” the voice spoke coldly, the threat clearly not appreciated. The oldest two (each a couple of years older than Massak) of the seven combatants stepped out of line and into rough fighting stances, neither one as tall as Massak yet both head and shoulders above their foe.

  Massak finally spoke up, “Hey, guys, I think maybe everyone should relax a bit,” looking around the cave, few even acknowledged his presence—only two heads turned toward him: a small, weird-looking animal in a pond off to the side, and a child lying across a table cobbled-together of about three different types of wood. At this point, Massak could hear a faint rumbling from above—he wasn’t sure what it was, but there must have been something on the streets above.

  Before he got the chance to say more, the fight (if you could call it that) finally broke out; one of the two street rats stomped his foot as he punched forward, a small rock launching at the girl, while the other made a sweeping motion, casting water from the pond towards her. Before Massak could intervene, the girl kicked out at the stone, sending it flying through the watery attack, “Do you think such mediocrity can stop me?”

  Without any delay, the short warrior let her arrow loose, not even giving the children a moment to gasp before she planted her feet and swept her arms out to either side, two great spines of stone jutting outward, clearing a path straight to the throne—the only things left in between the spikes were herself, Massak, and her two opponents; dust continued to fall from the ceiling, but no one else paid it any mind. With a sudden burst of speed, the earthbending girl surged forward, ducking a swing from the taller earthbender as she elbowed him in the ribs, following up with a whip of her bow into the back of his knee, knocking him to the floor, all whilst continuing to run. The other one thrust at the shorter girl with a jab of water, which was promptly dodged with a jump onto the stone spikes, and the waterbender was rewarded in her efforts with a snap kick to the head.

  Remembering that he had to follow her (and seeing as how she had blocked off all other routes), Massak too started to run at the throne, yelling “Sorry!” as he passed the two incapacitated children. When the girl arrived at the throne she flipped over it, grabbing the arrow she’d previously shot, and seemingly continuing to run after she landed. Massak quickly checked on the person on the throne: they were floppy, surprisingly flimsy…and they also happened to be a puppet. Leaning around the throne, he saw that there was an exit behind it, another tunnel—down which the girl he was following was already sprinting, and down which the leader of the street rats had probably fled.

  Massak only caught up when the girl came to a stop, at which point she was already half up a ladder, and for the first time she spoke to him (without so much as casting a glance his way), “My name is Liên Ruǎn. If you don’t slow me down, you might be useful.”

  “Uh, alright. Is this where that guy went?”

  “It is…but he’s already at the surface, no doubt blending in—I have other things to worry about, so I shall not pursue him further.”

  “Oh. Okay,” Massak too started climbing, and the two emerged shortly after into a cupboard—the house the pair found themselves in seemed empty, and Liên wasted no time leaving it.

  “I’m heading to the palace, and I want you to give your testimony of this incident. You needn’t speak until then.”

  Despite those words, Massak decided to talk anyway as they walked through the oddly quiet streets. Each and every sentence that exited his mouth was ignored, but he kept talking all the same. Liên took the shortest route she could, mainly through backstreets, and it was only several minutes before they reached the palace’s gates—Liên showed a guard in front of the grand building some piece of paper, and the two of them were let inside. Massak had no clue what was going on, a feeling which continued through his companion talking to a nervous looking lady, who led the pair through the halls to a staircase lined with guards, each one armed with a spear.

  “Thank you for your guidance,” Liên spoke, “You are dismissed.”

  The woman nodded and rushed away, leaving Massak and Liên to ascend the stairs alone. At the top were a pair of large, ornate stone doors, which a couple of the guards opened to let them through; the doors closed behind them, and at first glance the throne room was a lavish, elaborate chamber fit for a king—but any closer scrutiny revealed signs of a battle: stone fragments littered the floor, scorches covered the walls, and the throne was half melted. Liên stopped to examine a particular burnt spot, speaking mostly to herself, “Firebenders…the fight was recent. Probably loud, too…how could the guards not have heard and rushed to help? Unless, of course, they knew about it beforehand…”

  Just as there was some movement from behind the doors they’d entered through, Liên barricaded the entrance with a thick stone wall, preventing whoever then started rattling the doors from making their way into the throne room.

  “Traitors,” Liên spat venomously, as she started running towards a window, grabbing hold of Massak’s hood, dragging him behind her.

  “Hey!” his protest fell on deaf ears as the girl leapt out of the window, Massak pulled along behind her, both landing on a roof about ten feet below where they’d jumped from. Liên stood still for a moment, and right before Massak tried to stand she threw him into some kind of passing cart, before entering the speeding vehicle herself; it travelled at breakneck speed down the rail.

  “Do you know anywhere we could hide?” Liên asked, looking at the streets below through which guards marched, restraining and bringing with them what seemed to be an unreasonable amount of people.

  “Well, there’s the place I’ve been staying since I got here; it’s that building there,” Massak pointed towards it, and a moment later he was falling again, as Liên vaulted out of the cart, dragging him with her; if the drop was a little further than it was, he probably would have screamed.

  Massak’s apartment was thankfully close, and even without travelling via the rooftops (apparently to help avoid being seen) they arrived without meeting any resistance. There wasn’t much in the room, but Massak did make sure to pick up his bag—it was pretty clear that Liên planned on leaving the city as soon as possible, and for the time being he was going to go wherever she did.

  “We need to make ourselves less noticeable; take your coat off.”

  “What? No, it keeps me warm.”

  Liên narrowed her eyes, “It also happens to be bright blue.”

  “Well, it wouldn’t help to remove it then—my top’s blue too.”

  She sighed in exasperation, “Don’t you have any clothing that’s a bit less..?”

  “My pants are brown,” Massak wasn’t quite sure what exactly Liên wanted to convey with her glare, but at least scorn came across.

  “Nevermind. We should get moving soon, after I meet up with my-” she cut off her sentence, turning her head towards the door, “Someone’s coming.”

  Once again, Liên grabbed Massak and dragged him behind her (though this time it was his wrist she had a hold of), and once again she jumped out of a window whilst doing so. The room behind them lit up, a column of fire setting ablaze the few things Massak had left behind—but there wasn’t a moment to lament, as they found themselves jumping out of the room with one firebender and into the street where there were many: there were five, all dressed to blend in with civilians, including a couple on the roof of the building Massak and Liên had just been in. They were surrounded, more or less, and a creaky old voice came from the wall near them, as a tall man dressed in the uniform of the city guard collapsed to the floor—for a moment Massak assumed he was where the voice had come from, but it was not so: arm pinned to the wall by a stone cuff was an old, round-bellied bearded man with tinted glasses and a large hat, “Would you be so kind as to free me, children?”

  Without a word, Liên shattered the cuff with a kick and the old man slunk to the floor—the firebenders took the momentary distraction as an opportunity to attack, lashing out with flames from all directions; Massak intercepted a few of the fiery spears with water from the flask on his back, while Liên rose up a wall to block the rest, letting it fall onto one of their opponents afterwards. The old man scrambled on the floor past the firebenders, clearly of no concern to them. More attacks followed, a near endless assault that their defences couldn’t hold off forever—both of the young benders anticipated this issue, each one going on the offensive; for Massak this simply meant swiping at the nearest assailants with water, while Liên collapsed the wall and roof the pair of elevated firebenders were stood on (which also meant destroying about half of the room Massak had been staying in); for a moment it seemed like they’d be able to actually win the fight…until enemy reinforcements came into sight, that is.

  “Change of tactics: retreat,” Liên spoke calmly, blasting a hole in the earthen wall of a house next to them. She grabbed Massak’s wrist again, pulling him along through the makeshift escape route, and made an exit hole in the opposite wall while patching up the way through which they came.

  “Why do you keep dragging me around everywhere? Do you like me or something?”

  Liên’s response was led with a withering glare, “No, it’s because you might make for a good human shield. Now, keep quiet and don’t stop running.”

  At that she let go of his arm, pulling out her bow and firing an arrow straight up that quickly ignited, an incredibly bright beacon shining momentarily above them. Maybe she wasn’t as friendly as Massak had first thought.

  “So my guards can find us,” Liên explained, “Xīn Yí will be able to guess where I went from that position—here.”

  She gestured at a house just ahead, vaulting through yet another window and waiting for Massak to catch up; once he entered, Liên filled in the opening with earthbending—there was still a window on the other side, so they had a quick route of escape if needs be. As Massak looked out of that second window, he heard the wind rushing by, and a market stall on fire caught his attention; the flames intensified, darkness creeping in towards a figure holding a staff—though he heard no voice, a message made its way clearly into Massak’s mind: you must find the air nomad named Kavi, else all will be lost. It was the first time in months he’d seen such an apparition, and never had there been one so clear, nor one that conveyed as much urgency. Before he could collect himself, the vision faded; just as reality returned to normal, a woman dressed in similar clothes to Liên entered the room through the very window Massak had just been staring through.

  “Xīn Yí, my guard,” Liên introduced her, “Where are the others?”

  “Captured, I’m afraid; it seems Ngiêm was identified as a priority target and was arrested along with the rest of your guards. They’ve mostly been going after children, but they take anyone who resists to the palace.”

  “I see,” the young earthbender nodded, heading up the stairs to the next floor, “We should scout an escape route—we don’t have the forces to rescue them.”

  Xīn Yí nodded, “As you wish,” and followed Liên up the stairs, Massak trailing slightly behind. The three of them crept onto the roof, sheltered from sight by a canopy above them. A few deep thuds sounded out as great boulders impacted buildings in the city—one of them smashing straight into the remains of Massak’s apartment, forcing him to say goodbye to the changes of clothes and the food he’d left in there.

  While he mourned the loss of a few minor objects, the other two continued to speak, “No, that won’t work…we’d be noticed too quickly, and overwhelmed,” Liên shot down the third plan her and Xīn Yí had come up with, “We need something more subtle.”

  More subtle, Massak wondered, gazing out towards the massive stone gates that were probably their only way out of the city—just how would they get through them? It was a complete mystery, just like the oddly abandoned cabbage cart right near the entrance…

  Massak’s eyes opened wide as he stood up, turning to face the others, “I think I might have a plan.”