The Origin of Roh-Shan

F: Bridge II

Roh landed on the deck of the battleship, sending dirt and dust flying in every direction. The deck was empty as far as she could tell, so she dropped right down the stairs to the bridge.

"SULEY!" She found him stuck halfway into the crawlspace, reaching the hooked end of a cane inside. He pulled out as soon as she approached.

"Done saving all those people already, Avatar? I can still hear screams, are you sure you got everyone?"

She was beyond any sort of conversation right now. She was on him in under two seconds, one arm raised high above him.

"Let me guess, you're going to fire-punch me? That's c--" He choked on his last word as she squeezed the air from his lungs. She didn't care if she was bending air or blood, she just wanted it to hurt.

But he had more strength in reserves than she thought. He brought his knee up and flipped her over, pinning her face-down. Before she could even react, he'd tapped up and down her back quickly and stepped away.

Her arms and legs tingled, and everything connecting them felt like jelly. He kicked her onto her back and stood over her triumphantly. "All my people wanted was freedom and to be left alone. You should've taken your monarchy somewhere else. Because we'll get what we want, I'm just sad it has to be done the hard way."

Roh caught her breath, pure rage raising her blood pressure and forcing feeling back into her limbs sooner than chi blocking should. "You killed her." She shot hoarsely.

Suley snorted and glanced toward the glowing red crawlspace. "It's about time. Have you met her? She's practically begging for it."

"Kota." Roh spat.

"Oh. I don't even know what a "kota" is."

She knew he was objectifying her name to piss Roh off, and she let it work. She struggled to sit up. "My best friend. My girlfriend. And you ordered her killed like you were ordering dinner. At least have the respect to fight her yourself, you gutless shitcake."

Suley glanced out the bridge windows at the scene, which was occasionally washed over in dim light from the lighthouse up the cliff. He took in the remaining boat, being weighed down by the sheer number of people trying to climb on. The fleet of bobbing overstuffed lifeboats, the last remaining tip of the first boat which seemed to be staying above the water for now, and no doubt countless bodies still floating in the water. He looked back at Roh. "You're here to get revenge for your friend?"

Roh staggered to her feet. "What else would I be doing?"

Something clicked in Suley's brain. "You weren't kidding, were you? You were serious when you said you don't care about taking my guard's life, or the thousands of lives on those boats."

"You're right." Roh admitted. "I only feel euphoric when bad people die. Good people? Boring."

He laughed like she was in trouble. "Imagine when the world hears about THIS! An Avatar that doesn't care about her people? They'll revoke your Avatarhood, what's that called again? Oh yeah, execution."

Roh had enough control now to lunge forward, but he took her down easily with a kick to the knee. He knelt down in front of her and lifted her head up by her hair. Still, she grinned. "I'd like to see them try and kill the Avatar."

"What was that neat little trick you pulled a minute ago? With the air? Was it something like... this?" He splayed his hand, and dirt particles raced across the floor toward him, stirring up so quickly they were hot by the time they reached his hand.

She finally put it together. "You're an earthbender." It was all she could manage before the nearly-combusted dirt flew into her airways. Inhaling would be suicide.

He dropped her head, stood up, and walked back over to the panel. "Now, that ship isn't fully sunk yet, and there's simply too many lifeboats littering my view of the water. How do I launch that second missile?"

~//~