The Tale of Kotori (LOK)

Chapter 9: The Lava Bender

Chapter 9: The Lava Bender

Kotori woke up with a start. She basically shot up off the bench. The bench raddled and she barely caught herself from running into the wall. She turned to see the bars. The metal on her wrists and ankles were gone. She had pried the one off her head earlier. The startle of waking up left and her breathing steadied. "Some nightmare." The man at the radio set asked with a slight laugh. "Not exactly..." Kotori answered sitting on the bench. "I can't say I like being shocked with electricity." Kotori said aloud. "Not many people do." He laughed.

"So, why'd you turn against Kuvira and the rest of the Earth Nation? Don't you like what she's doing?" He asked actually concerned. "Believe it or not, I'm not from the Earth Nation. I'm from the Water Tribe." Kotori informed. "I won't say I believe it. Listen, it's been nice chatting with you, and I don't want to keep you behind bars or send you to a reeducation camp, but I don't make the rules." He said before going out the door.

Kotori sighed and let her head rest on the wall. She closed her eyes and tried to process what had happened. She then debated wether this was worse then Amon or not. But at least when she was being held by Amon, she now knows how it ended. Knowing she didn't know the end of this adventure scared her.

Then she heard a click, followed by a slam. She lifted her head to see the bending man she had seen earlier. "Hello Kotori, some night for you huh? Anyway, I came to tell you you're being sent to a reeducation camp tomarrow." He explained. "What will they do to me there?" Kotori asked. "I've told you all you need to know for now." He firmly stated. Then he left. Kotori sighed as she watched him walk away. In the communication room which she was next to, there was a broad window. She could see all who passed through the check point.

She swung her foot from the bench, and a hardened piece of dirt flew from the grip of her boot. She passed it over and sighed. Then she realized there wasn't an unlimited amount of earth in the room for her to bend, but she brought some in with her. She bent all the dirt from her boots and clothes and she had a fist half full of dirt. She had traveled through mud earlier.

Kotori checked through the window to see if anyone was coming. No one was in sight and she started cutting the bars in the cell with her dirt. She had the top of the bar almost completely cut, she left it together by a thread, that way if someone were to come in, they wouldn't be able to see.

She worked on the bottom until she heard the final slit. She pushed on the bar and with a jerk it slid out. She decided to keep it with her as a last resort weapon. She saw guards pass by the window and she pushed herself against the solid wall so they wouldn't see her. They passed into in Earth Nation. Kotori snuck out the door when no one was looking.

She charged to a tree and bent a slab of rock and stood on it. She didn't want to to risk being caught by another Earth Bender. But she was also risked not seeing herself. She got passed the forest and saw a big grassy plain. She dropped her stone slab along with the bar. And started walking.

The communication man walked back. He sat in his rolling chair and started to make a call, then stopped. He turned to the cell and saw the missing bar and no Kotori. He left the building and found a soldier. "Hey, the prisoner is gone. Tell everyone and get a search party. And not a word of this to Kuvira." He said.

They soon had a party together, they had the large robotic suits, benders and soldiers. They quickly found the square of missing stone that Kotori had left. "She went this way." The bending man concluded from the dent in the direction. The quickly came to the end of the forest and found the stone slab and bar Kotori had left behind.

They crossed the open land and saw a girl in the distance. "I want this to be quick." The bending man said. "Wait here." He instructed. He drilled into the ground and disappeared.

Kotori kept walking, very light heartedly. Then a wall of rock shot up in front of her. Then started coming towards her. She reached forward and braced herself. She pushed onto the stone when it met her finger tips. It pushed her back several feet when she stopped it. She thought she had a good grip and was about to push it back when the wall gave another good push. Kotori pushed as hard as she could, but she kept flying back.

Her hair flew in front of her and she grit her teeth. She was pushed all the way across the large grass land she had finally crossed. Then it stopped pushing. It fell over from Kotori's push. When it cleared, she saw the bending man again. "You again!" Kotori shouted. She expected a response from the talkative man, but instead he quickly rose a pillar under her and she was sent flying.

She flew so high she had time to think about how to land before she started going down again. She screamed almost the whole way. She was preparing to land when four pieces of a silvery substance was shot at her from below. It was metal and it latched onto her wrists and ankles and she was jerked into the air right before she hit.

"Yes. It's me again. And you're coming back to the station." He said, holding her in the air. "But you don't have you zapping toys!" Kotori laughed. She tossed her head forward and a crack in the earth formed. This time under her opponent. He fell, and as a result Kotori fell and landed on her feet. He flew out of the pit and landed in front of her. "Oh contrair." He smiled. He hauled her into the air and turned her around. She saw a robotic suit with its arm zapping with lightening. The metal on her sent her towards it and she felt the tingling zap from it as her sight disappeared.

She woke up on the wooden bench. Slowly she sat up with her hand to her head. She moaned as her vision focused. There was a metal bar replacing the one she had broken. There was another man at the communication desk, but his attention was on the men passing out of the Earth Nation through the check point.

Kotori saw the group of escapees that offered to help her weeks before. The group had increased by a few people and they were being lead by a couple men in torn up uniforms. "Sorry guys." Kotori sighed. They were almost gone when the man at the communication desk jumped up. "Stop! Those guys are traitors!" He shouted and ran out.

Kotori couldn't see what was happening, but she could hear some. One of the men in the torn up uniforms, ran into the building across from her. He looked water tribe. He then rushed out and Kotori defaulted to listening. The fight kept going until she saw the troops retreating through the cross way. Then she felt enormous amount of heat. Light started coming through the cell.

Then the wall in her cell started melting. The heat was burning against her face. She backed up to the opposite side on her cell and hot magma seeped through the floor. It came closer and hotter. She shrieked as she felt the floor beneath her starting so give and she reached forward with her eyes closed as if she could stop the lava from proceeding.

Kotori heard some cracking and braced herself. Nothing happened. She opened her eyes and the lava had solidified. "Woo hoo!" Kotori shouted and ran out. After seeing the soldiers retreat she figured they got away. She followed the direction she saw them headed and spotted them and caught up.

"Hey!" She called, huffing for breath. They all turned around. "Hey! You made it!" The Fire Bender from before smiled. "Thanks to you guys. Whose the lava bender?" Kotori asked. "He is." He replied, pointing to the "traitor" in front. The group started walking again and Kotori made her way to the front and tapped the lava bender on the shoulder.

"Hey. You saved me with your lava bending. Thanks" Kotori thanked looking into his green eyes. "Uhhh you're welcome? But I don't see how." He replied. "Oh, I was being held in the check point you guys passed through. Your lava melted through the wall to my cell." Kotori smiled.

"Are you okay? How are you here?! How did the lava not kill you?!" He asked concerned. "I stopped it." Kotori replied. "How?!" He asked. "I don't really know. I turned it into stone or something." Kotori said. "Well then, congratulations, you're the third lava bender in history. I learned the same way actually." He said with a smile.

Kotori happily sighed. "I'm Kotori by the way." Kotori smiled. "Oh yeah! You're that girl that wouldn't bow to Kuvira! Which I don't blame you for anymore... I'm Bolin." He smiled.