THE EARTHBENDER

The Earthbender chapter 3

The Fire nation

"Run faster recruit!" shouted captain Tori, a burly woman in her early thirties who loved raising her voice. "Move it!"

Sinra could feel the sweat dripping from his face. They had been running for two hours now with no end in sight. Beside him was one of his comrades, only one in a group of six that had been running through the forest in a remote mountain in the heart of the Fire Nation. They heard an explosion in the distance and suddenly Tori ordered a halt.

"Damn, I didn't think something like this would happen. It's only our first week!" said one of the other recruits, whose body was shaking.

"We need to move to higher ground," ordered Tori. She pointed to a rock-face. "Climb, Climb!"

Sinra and the others hastily began the ascent. The rocks were jagged and it was difficult to grip on. He was faster than the other recruits, the most of whom were badly out of shape.

Where they were right now was under the eastern base camp. The United Forces had lead a scouting mission in the area. Half of the recruits had been sent to the location. Everything went smoothly for the first couple of days, but on this day, they had come under fire from unknown assailants. The teams were separated while on patrol but all leaders had been ordered to return them to base camp, which was under attack.

They were almost half way up when suddenly there was another explosion, the wall shook and one of the recruits lost their hold. They fell in the deafened silence of the shockwave. Her eyes lit up by the fire above them. Sinra quickly shifted his weight to his right side and reached out with his left arm. He grabbed her hand, the force strained his hip and back, but he managed to pull her up.

Tori pushed them forward to the top of the cliff. Battered and exhausted, they made it up at last, but their faces sunk when they saw what awaited them.

"Base camp, it's gone," Tori stuttered. She fell heavily to her knees.

All that was left was fire and ash, the camp had been obliterated. Those left behind ran around chaotically searching for their comrades under the rubble. Sinra stared blankly at the scene. They were at war.

New Republic City, Earth Kingdom

Rin sat with his face glued to the window as they flew over the city. The airship had slowed down so he was certain that they were about to land. New Republic City was just as he had imagined it, with its gleaming skyscrapers and stone walkways. Below, the city streets were a hustle and bustle, with vehicles zooming around and people migrating from place to place in hoards. His tongue was sticking out of his mouth in awe. He had come so far from his simple village in the mountains.

Remembering that he stopped. He thought about how everyone must be looking for him right now. How could he even stay hidden? But if there was anywhere to hide from the world it was New Republic City, a world of its own. Rin still felt a bit guilty about abandoning his master, but he wanted him to become something that he wasn't, and he just couldn't do that.

"You should sit down, we're almost at the landing strip," said Lia, who had a book in one hand and twirling her hair with the other.

"Yeah, got it," replied Rin. Her returned to his seat in front of hers and strapped himself in. He had never been in an airship before, it was a strange experience being up in the sky. No ships ever flew over his village, so the only exposure he had ever had to them was in the pages of old magazines which his master had kept.

The airship began to smoothly descend onto the airstrip. Within seconds they were back on the ground.

As soon as the doors opened again, Lia jumped out of her seat, surprising Rin. "Ah, home sweet home," she said, walking out into the late afternoon sun.