Avatar Rose: Dusk

Ch.68:Nathan

My skin is screaming. My insides are on fire. Scarlett Rain? Was that her name?

Rose enters back into the tent with Evan, but I can't really concentrate on anything. Every joint in my body screeches through any tiny movement, and it's very painful, though I try not to show it. As soon as she sits down, I reach out and grab her hand, more out of a need for comfort than a desire of protection. Her hand, which is still warm from the fire she spawned in the fight, helps me focus a little, and I fully take in the situation.

Gwen, who's healing Liesel's cuts and scratches, turns to Evan, "Hey," she says, "are those the only hunters pursuing us? Is Crimson Shower the highest leader up there?"

Evan pauses. With a sigh, he pockets the revolver he's fiddling around with and stares a little blankly into the fire. "First of all," he starts, "Crimson Shower isn't her name, it's Mirai. Back in the day we were, well I guess you could say we were rivals." He laughs, "but it was one sided because I bested her at every damn thing we did! She's a little fucked up in the head too, if you didn't notice. There's no way the higher-ups would grant her a decent position of authority."

Liesel lets out a tiny snort.

Evan gets a little serious. "As for how many hunters we have on us, the number is big, since we got little Miss Avatar here. I say we have 50 men or more."

I feel my face fall. The reaction is the same for everyone.

Liesel falters. "Fifty?" she says in disbelief. "You've got to be joking."

"Afraid not." Evan takes out his flask and just looks at it. "It doesn't hurt to mention this either. The guys we fought just now were extremely elementary. It's very likely, that as we face the next batches, one of us will die," he says casually.

No-one says anything for sometime after that. After a minute or so, Evan pulls out a toothbrush and just randomly starts gargling and brushing his teeth, and Gwen kicks him out. It's awfully silent without him.

Liesel soon leaves a little bit after, claiming she had to go stretch out her legs. Wendy starts healing Rowan, who looked like he had faced someone who's primary weapon was a melon baller. He had lots of small, shallow gashs in the shapes of perfect circles along his arms. He had bandaged them up, but it still looked like heck.

"You better be more careful next time, Rowan," Gwen murmurs softly to him.

"I know, I'll try. Thank you, Gwen."

One by one, we leave the tipi, and when it's empty, Rose sinks it into the ground, and earthbends two new tents, one for girls and one for boys. We all get into bed, one by one, until it's just Liesel outside, who does a security sweep around our place on her glider before falling asleep.

I stay awake for a bit of time, just staring at nothingness. All the while I think about our next move.

We need to get into the Fire Nation, but if the rumours are true, it'll be impossible just to get past the border, even with my Fire Nation citizenship. In that case, we need blueprints, plans, any intel we can get our hands on about that barricade.

The answer is obvious.

The earth kingdom will have it. They have agents hidden in the Fire nation ranks. But the question is, will they share it with us?

No way. There is a bounty on Rose's head.

If we want it...

We'll have to steal it.