Ally Beifong

30: Practice (short chapter)

"You know that really horrible feeling when something bad is about to happen? Yeah, for whatever reason, that feeling is hitting me like a ton of bricks. I can't put my finger on it, but I feel like something is going to happen soon, when and why, I don't know." 

The entire morning, Ally had this weird feeling like something was going to happen, she didn't eat and just picked at her food. 

"Ally, are you ok?" Lin asked, notching her daughter's random change in behavior.

"Mhm," Ally replied half-heartedly. She got up and walked out to the courtyard. 

The courtyard was huge and had several rare meteorites displayed on posts all around a training area. She took a wide stance and swept her foot on the ground, creating a mark in the dirt. She closed her eyes, sensing the vibrations around her through the earth. She took a deep breath and turned her foot sharply so it was pointed in front of her, a rock came up from the earth and she thrust her palm forward, her fingers curved slightly. The rock went flying away but didn't break anything, it just went back into the earth. She turned her feet again, and flipped her hands over to her palms were facing down, she raised them up, her limbs shaking slightly from the effort.

She raised pillars of the earth all around her and then she slammed her hands down, putting them back into the earth. A cloud of dust formed all around her and she opened her eyes, the green of her iris glowing in the sunlight. She raised her arms and brought them down quickly, clearing the dust away. And when the haze was gone, the smiling face of Lin Beifong was standing a few feet away. 

"Look at you, kiddo," Lin chuckled. "My little earthbender." Ally smiled and ran forward and wrapped her arms around Lin's neck catching her mom by surprise. Lin returned the hug, running her fingers through Ally's dark hair. 

"I love you, mom," Ally whispered. 

"I love you too," Lin chuckled. "And I'm so proud of you."