As I Fall: LOK

Chapter Eight

Haitana couldn't tell if the sun had rose from their position underground, but she did know that everyone was awake and preparing for something.

Grunting to herself as she pushed off of the concrete floor, the girl accidentally flung Pickett off of her while she stretched. The small grasshopper twig yelped as it flew, catching himself on Bolin's shirt— as he was still sleeping on the ground.

She laughed, seeing him finally make friends with Siso— as his own fire ferret and her frog squirrel were tucked under his arm. With his head lulled to the side, he muttered in his sleep, something about evil bandits— Haitana wasn't sure— but her attention was averted as Korra came to her side.

"You're a firebender right?" She asked the girl, even though she already knew the answer. It was more like a prompt for what was to come. When Haitana simply nodded, the Avatar continued, "The United Forces are coming today... we're going to help. Do you wanna come with? We'll need all the help we could get."

Korra offered her hand, to help the girl up, and she accepted it, standing on her feet. Stretching out her legs she hummed a response. "Yeah, I'll help," she agreed, hand ghosting to her thighs, which were sore from sleeping on the solid ground all night.

"Great, come on," she waved Haitana over, starting a path down the long pipeline. Eventually Mako followed, pulling along a drowsy Bolin, and Asami trailed behind, arms crossed with some type of lingering animosity.

After an awkwardly silent trip, the four made their way to the end of the drainage pipe, hiding amongst the fog. Mako stepped out, glancing around, before waving them on. "Coast is clear," he promised.

Siso hopped into Haitana's bag, and she pulled her hat on over her head. With the group, she ran out of the pipe and climbed an access stairway to an observation deck above. When they got to the top, they crouched by the railing as Bolin scanned the bay with a telescope.

"Once the United Forces arrive, we need to be ready to help in any way we can," Korra informs firmly, and Haitana shakes a little at the thought of another fight.

She couldn't say anything, no, it would go against her sense of pride. The Avatar had asked her to help, and she couldn't wimp out of it. It didn't help that she now felt the need to prove herself to Mako, to bend better than she ever had in her life.

Darting her eyes over the bay, before Haitana could point to where she saw incoming ships, Mako beat her to it. "They're here!" He informs hurriedly.

Bolin gasped, flipping the telescope around as he noticed he were holding it the wrong way. "Whoops!" He exclaims, adjusting his line of vision.

Giggling, Haitana started to remove her bag, knowing it would only get in the way. Siso jumped out and tugged at it with his teeth, pulling it into some odd corner where she figured it would be safe enough.

Battleships steamed into the harbor, but quickly the five realized that something wasn't right. "The equalists are really just gonna let them right in?" Haitana asked, confused at why there was no resistance to their arrival.

Korra furrowed her eyebrows too. "She's right," she almost whispered, with concern. "where are the equalist airships?"

Snatching the telescope from Bolin's grasp, Mako squinted over the horizon with worry laced in his very tone. "I don't see any mecha tanks, either," he looks back over his shoulder, a frown of confusion appearing on his face.

"I don't know about this," Haitana started carefully, eyes unmoving from the ships gliding through the water with ease. "Somethings up—"

Just like that, she was cut off by a bubbling in the water, followed by a huge explosion. Mines floated up, blasting the ships in the water, and before anyone could think, Korra jumped into the water— bending an funnel towards the commotion.

"What now?" Mako question urgently, as the loud explosives caused a ringing in their ears. Behind the skyscrapers, a group of flying objects appeared out of the mist, which resolve themselves into two fleets of biplanes.

Haitana squinted her eyes at the flying objects and then back to the water. "You heard what Korra said," the girl called urgently, before standing up fully. "We have to help in any way we can."

Before anyone could protest, the girl jumped over the water, bracing for contact, but just as she was about to hit the crashing waves, fire jets shot out of her feet and hands as she pushed herself towards the urgent situation.

Dropping bombs over the ships, the aircrafts started flying away, and the girl tried to speed up with all the power she could muster.

When she got close enough, Haitana could see people fleeing the ship— or getting blasted off— and she propelled herself up to the wing of one of the planes. Running up to the front, she shot lightening at the engine, sending it down immediately. Not wanting to crash with the plane, she jumped, wishing that she were a water bender right about now.

On her way from the sky, the girl saw a firebender get tossed off one of battleships from a bomb impact, and caught him before he could sink into the water. Not paying much mine to the person she just saved, and holding him above the waves in the Yue Bay, she grabbed the bracelet around her wrist with her teeth. Finding the cool metal whistle that was latched around twine— in a makeshift piece of jewelry, she blew air out of her mouth, sounding a sharp, high pitch sound, kind of like a tea kettle.

Underneath Haitana and the person she just saved came an elephant koi, propping them up on his back. Stirring a little under her grasp, the guy turned back, surprised with the sudden animal rescue. "It's you," he said, almost accusingly, but it was a softer greeting then when they had previously met.

Looking the person straight in the eyes for the first time, she shrunk under the realization. She had just saved General Iroh II, and boy was that an embarrassing interaction waiting to happen. "It's me," she almost sang out, chuckling under her breath even though she didn't find it funny.

When the elephant koi finally approached the hide out, Haitana helped him off the large animal— as he wasn't too steady on his feet yet. "I guess..." he started hesitantly. "I guess I owe you an apology, Haitana—"

Before he could continue, Bolin popped up behind the girls shoulder, pointing at him. "Actually, she goes by Na. Only— oh my gosh... you're— you're," he stammered over his words after seeing who was speaking.

Haitana grabbed at his shoulder as he threw himself into a bow so quickly he almost toppled over. After giving an awkward smile to Iroh, she pulled Bolin up right, trying to lessen the weird occurrence. "Na, do you see this right now!?" Bolin tried to whisper, but failed terribly. "That's— that's..."

"I get it, Bolin. Thank you," Haitana hissed, attempting to get away from the thick air of embarrassment that began to arise. "We gotta go find Korra," she waved the two over, in an uncharacteristic surge of confidence. Any other time she would have punched herself in the face, ordering around people she had no business being the boss of, but right now the only thing on her mind was ending this conversation.

And like her composure, her hope seemed to dwindle too. The United Forces was supposed to be their way to solve the issue in Republic City, but like everything else, it showed itself to be a total bust.