Avatar Rose: Dawn

Chapter 39: Rose

(Not edited)

I throw Luna a stick, and she comes thundering after it. I grin. I forgot how much I missed her. The sound of a twig snapping pulls me out of my happy thoughts. I whip my head around, my eyes widening. It's Evan and his fellow bounty hunters.

I run the opposite way Nathan is. If I get captured, I refuse to take him down with me. They give chase, but I'm fast. Fast, but clumsy because of my broken, bionic foot. I trip over a log and fall, my chin slamming on to the ground. Ironically, my jaw doesn't break.

"We got you now!" I hear a voice laugh.

I'm about to stagger up, but the pressure of a massive vibration keeps me painfully down. I can't hear my ribs crack, but I can sure feel them. Almost as if it was some artificial earthquake about to happen. Evan walks out of the trees, holding a sword in his hand. I tense with fear at first, but realize they're not here to kill me.

"Just in case you found some way to escape, this'll help you stay put," Evan sneers.

He plunges his blade into my left hand. I yell in agony, gasping for air. Blood surrounds my hand in a puddle. He takes another sword from one of the bounty hunters and sticks it into my right hand. Since it's bionic, it's not nearly as painful. But it still hurts like hell.

My vision blurs. Evan leans forward, smiling. He keeps a good distance from the mini earthquake vibration around me. If whatever that earthbender is doing became harder, all the bones in my body would snap.

"Where's your little boyfriend?" Evan inquires.

"We split up," I lie.

He twists the sword in my bionic hand, making me scream and clench my eyes close. He's about to say something else, but the yells of Nathan stop him.

"No..." I croak. Nathan rides on Luna, yelling my name. He clenches the fur on the grizzly dog like it was his lifeline.

My breathing is short and rapid. Not only from the pain in my hands, but my ribs against the pounding ground.

Through pixelated vision, I see Nathan lift his hands up. His face is flushed red and filled with pure, white hot hatred. I've never seen him this way. The vibration stops, and all the bounty hunters groan and stand stiff and frigid. Somehow, Nathan knocks them all out in some disturbing way.

He runs to me, the scary look leaving his face. At first, he doesn't seem what to do with the knives. I gasp as he pulls them out.

"Can you sit up?" Nathan asks worriedly.

"I- I can't move..." I reply, tears filling my wide eyes in panic.

"It's okay. You're just in shock. And those vibrations might have something to do with it too."

I cry out in pain as he gently lifts up. I feel him flinch a little. He's having a hard time lighting me, since he has injuries of his own.