The Hardest Choice (malereader x avatar)

Return to Omashu (Book 2: Chapter 6)

-Mai POV-

Mai was walking through the city of Omashu. Her father, Ukano, had recently been appointed as the governor of the city, which had finally succumbed to the Fire Nation. Mai was walking with her mother through the empty streets of the city. In the aftermath of the Fire Nation's victory, new rules had been enforced and people only came out of the house if necessary. Behind the pair, two guards escorted them. With an emotionless expression, Mai spoke up.

Mai: [In a monotone voice] There really is no fathoming the depths of my hatred for this place.

Mai glanced to her mother, who was carrying Tom-Tom, Mai's baby brother. Mai's mother, Michi, sighed.

Michi: Mai, you're father was appointed Governor of this city. We're like royalty here. Be happy and enjoy it.

Mai: I thought my life was boring in the Fire Nation, but this place is unbearably bleak. Nothing ever happens.

As if on cue, a loud rumbling sound was coming from her right. Mai turned just in time to see a large boulder coming down one of the city's many chutes, directly at them. Just in time, the rock was blown to the side by something. Mai whipped her head around to see what had caused it. She squinted her eyes, seeing a small, bald boy in colorful robes. He was holding a wooden staff and his teeth were clenched.

Michi: [Pointing at the boy] The resistance!

A small smile crept onto Mai's face. She spread her arms at the boy, causing several small arrows to fly toward him. The boy jumped up, impossibly high, and avoided the arrows, which implanted themselves into the stack of construction materials behind him. The boy then landed gracefully on those materials before running away. Two others joined him, both tan people in blue robes, clearly not from here. The two guards were climbing ladders to reach the group. Mai took a different route.

As the guards reached the top of the ladders, they were hit with a whip of water, causing them to fall. 'A waterbender,' Mai thought. One guard landed in a soft basket of hay, but the other was not as lucky and landed on the city street below. Mai couldn't imagine he would survive for much longer. Mai's eyes narrowed into slits as she watched the girl dispatch the guards with lethal efficiency. Quickly, she made a cold, detached analysis of the waterbender's skills, even as a flicker of irritation danced at the edge of her consciousness. But there was no room for distractions now. She had a target to eliminate.

Extending her arm quickly, Mai unleashed a volley of arrows towards the girl. Each shaft whistled through the air with deadly accuracy, aimed at vulnerable points. However, the waterbender was quick, raising a shield of ice to intercept the projectiles, which Mai's arrows sunk into. Without hesitation, Mai hurdled the wall, continuing the chase.

Closing the distance between them, Mai pursued her targets with relentless intensity. She moved with the fluid grace of a predator, her movements calculated and precise. Her face remained blank, expressionless, void of all emotion.

With cat-like agility, Mai avoided the various obstacles in her path, her eyes never leaving her prey. She could see what looked like a mixture of fear and annoyance flickering in the waterbender's eyes, a sight that spurred her on even further.

Just then, however, the bald boy intervened, his presence disrupting their confrontation. Mai's gaze flickered towards the boy, assessing him with a cool detachment. She noted his strategic maneuvers and made a quick mental note of them.

As the ground trembled beneath them, Mai's instincts screamed at her to act. She prepared to unleash another volley of arrows, her muscles tensed and ready. But before she could release her deadly assault, the ground gave way beneath her targets.