The Other Airbender

17

TW - Abuse?
idk (*'ー｀*)

:)

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The murky water enveloped me in its cold, suffocating grasp as it pulled me downwards. The salt stung my wounds, seeping into the gauze of my bandages without a struggle; but the cold felt oddly calming. I could feel my heartbeat slowing and my nerves finally beginning to relax. I could stay like this for an eternity, sinking into the depths of the dark ocean, shielded from the rest of the world; never having to face anything or anyone ever again.

Everything was black, whether my eyes were open or shut, it was the same. The freezing cold seemed to push me into a strange, unconscious trance as the currents of the sea rocked me to sleep.

"Miko! Wait up!" Haru called after me, laughing as he raced after me, stumbling over tree roots and rocks as we ran further up the hill. I stopped, turning around to face him with a triumphant grin on my face.

"I win!" I announced, looking down at the panting boy. He didn't slow down as he rushed towards me, jumping into the air and throwing himself at me. We both fell to the ground in a hysterical heap, before I pushed him off with a gust of wind.

"Miko, don't do that! What if you're caught!" Haru exclaimed, his smile fading as he lay beside me. I frowned, turning my head to look at him. He was always on edge lately, even though it had been a year since his father had been taken away, it still affected him greatly.

"C'mon, Haru, there's no one here but us, it's fine." I assured him with a smile, before grabbing a handful of dirt and dropping it on his chest, giggling."Look, I'm an earthbender!" I grinned at his scowling face, before adding, "and I'm much better than you'll ever be!" He let out a playful growl as I stuck out my tongue, before getting up and bending a large clump of dirt towards my face.

"I'll show you earthbending." He snickered as he watched the dirt smack straight into my forehead. I groaned, pretending to faint from the impact, and saw his expression falter as he watched me fall to the ground as I hid my smirk.

"Wait, no, I'm sorry," He called worriedly out as he lifted the ground beneath me to cushion my fall before I burst into another fit of giggles. He glared at me when he realised I'd tricked him, before running towards me.

"Oops, gotta go," I snickered, before turning and running away from him, narrowly avoiding his grasp. I kept running, making sure I'd lost Haru so I could double back and scare him, not looking where I was going as adrenaline pumped through my veins. I glanced back behind me, noticing he wasn't there, and slowed my pace to a stop. I turned back around, realising I wasn't on a trail anymore. I gulped as I looked around, to see if I could recognise where I was, but the trees all looked the same.

Suddenly, I heard heavy footsteps, so I started running again, not wanting Haru to catch up with me. I kept glancing behind me to see if I could see him, before running straight into something, and knocking the wind out of my lungs. I turned my head, thinking it was just a tree, before realising I had reached the edge of the village, where the Fire Nation resided, and the thing I had bumped into wasn't a tree but a person. More specifically, a Fire Nation soldier.

He lowered his gaze to meet mine, a hard scowl on his face. But I wasn't scared. I would never, ever be scared of jerks like him. Haru and I constantly tried to make life hard for them, and we'd always play tricks on them. They'd never caught us, and they never would. Or at least, that's what I had thought. His glare slowly turned into a sneer as he studied me, before a hint of recognition flashed in his eyes.

"I know you. You're that girl that was throwing rocks at us the other day." My eyes widened. How did he realise? He barely saw my face. His voice became dangerously low as he spoke. "Did you know you really hurt me?" I shook my head nervously, but I had known. I had seen the the soldier double over in pain when I had sent a rock straight between his legs.