𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐑𝐒

#.. TEN

sneaking into the palace of the fire nation at night was something they thought they'd never do in their life yet there they were.

"it feels so illegal" jooyeon whispered as he followed jiseok, who led the way. the elder rolled his eyes with a grin. "because it is, dumbass."

jiseok let the air flow through his veins, determining whether the temperature changed or not. they were searching for the "cooler" where they put hyeongjun inside.

of course neither of them knew what these coolers actually looked like, so it happened, that they just mindlessly wandered through the long halls of the building.

jiseok led them down to the basement, that didn't look as majestic as the upper floors. gravel floor, stone walls with a few torches on the walls to light up the narrow hallway.

"i think we're right.." the airbender said, feeling how the air started to cool down his veins, only starting to focus on it even more, leading them down the alley just to arrive at a locked door.

jooyeon grumbled. "we came so far for nothing!" and as if luck just struck them, two royal guards walked out of the door. the waterbender didn't even notice how jiseok pulled him behind the opened door, the metal covering them from the guards.

based on the thick thermo costumes they wore, jiseok assumed they were correct. without saying anything, he grabbed jooyeon's hand and together they ran inside the room, closing the door shut.

immediate screams of protests were heard as the two guards tried to open the door. the two of them looked at each other in panic as they held the door shut. but it was obvious that two teens weren't stronger than two grown men. they were doomed.

until jiseok suddenly got an idea. "you're sweating!" jiseok pointed out, relief washing over his face. this just confused jooyeon. "and why are you so happy about it..? we're literally about to die."

"use your sweat to bend! you told me you know how to make ice out of the water?" jooyeon caught onto jiseok's idea, surprised and glad that the elder was able to think clearly even in these situations.

their arms started to give in, their feet sliding back as they tried to keep the door closed. it was now or never.

on a signal of jiseok, they stepped to the side, releasing the door, so the two royal guards basically stumbled inside the room.

before they could react, jooyeon wiped the sweat from his forehead, using the droplets on fogged windows due to humidity to spray a water wave at them, freezing it at the very last moment, trapping the two guards in ice.

and they had luck that the guards weren't benders, as they'd easily just melt the ice. relieved from their success, the two continued their way, starting to understand what the coolers were.

they were rooms with a freezing cold temperature, it was impossible to do anything in it, as they were way too small. looking inside every single cabin, they found the prince at the very last one, barely even conscious, his skin perfectly comparable to a white sheet of paper as his body shook tremendously.

jiseok and jooyeon pulled the surprisingly light boy out of the cell, jiseok pulling him close into a hug in hopes of warming him up. hyeongjun barely even registered all of this happening, just breathing shallowly as the extremely hot hallway and jiseok's hug started to warm him up.

jooyeon watched out for any guards in the meantime, stomping his foot impatiently. he knew that hyeongjun should take his time to recover but after all, jiseok and him weren't allowed there.

"th-thank you.." hyeongjun muttered weakly after he felt a little better, especially after jooyeon ripped a torch off of the wall and held it near hyeongjun.

it made him himself a little weaker, fire was a weak point for waterbenders who knew how to bend ice, but he'd be fine in a few moments, so he'd take the minutes he'll feel bad.

hyeongjun seemed to be better after a while, backing away from jiseok's warm hug, looking shocked. "what?" was all he managed to ask.

this could mean too many questions. what were they doing there? what did they do? what will happen now?

"i'll fight earth king oh with you" he just suddenly said out of context, looking determined. "get me out of here, and my loyalty is granted."

he seemed to still remember it. even though the cooler is often used as a method to delete memories. hyeongjun must've repeated it over and over inside his head. smart.

so the two got him out without any problems. guards would check for him next noon so they were safe for the night.

jiseok and jooyeon rented an apartment for one night, then sneaking hyeongjun in. it felt so good to finally lie on a real bed.

all of them let out such loud sighs once they dropped on their beds, jiseok and jooyeon sharing theirs as it was a two-person-apartment.

just then, hyeongjun shrugged together and started hissing, holding onto his heart like he was just stabbed there.

looking over at the boy in concern, he just started writhing around, trying to ease the pain.

"he's near..." hyeongjun groaned, making jiseok and jooyeon look at each other in confusion. "we gotta find him!"

without saying anything else, hyeongjun covered himself up with a hat that covered his eyes and a scarf that covered his lower face half as he stormed out, jiseok and jooyeon following him, confused.

who is "he"?