Blazing Crystal (Revised Version)

CHAPTER 51: FAITH

CHAPTER 51: FAITH

(Crystal POV)

Lights filled the dark sky as the show began. Aang had spotted the first meteor as we were laying our mats out to sleep for the night. The meteor shower only grew as more balls of fire lit the sky. Toph pouted because she couldn't see it, while the rest of us watched. We'd seen a few meteor showers in the past, and I knew the sight before us had a possibility of causing damage.

As the meteors fell, I was anxious about the space rocks cruising across the sky. I recalled a time long ago when a similar shower happened at the South Pole. One of the meteors hit earth by crashing into the icy cliff ten miles from the village. I'd been secretly practicing my bending at the time when the meteor soared over me.

Staring at the water in front of me, I pouted as the stream I tried to pull up fell back into the dark pool. The light of the moon behind me lit the ice around me, and I wondered if my family noticed I wasn't in my sleeping bag yet. Everyone in the village would scold me if they learned a fourteen year old girl was venturing out in the middle of the South Pole alone every night. Thankfully, I knew my way back by following the water's edge.

"Come on..." I muttered, reaching for the water again. As I pulled the stream backup with my hands, my arms strained as I tried to separate the water into two. Staring at the line of liquid that reflected from the light of the moon, I started to pull the water apart. My concentration broke though as my water turned a tint of red from a new light. Dropping my water in shock, I turned my eyes to the sky.

A meteor flew past me, and I watched as the burning stone soared straight at a raised formation. The fire hit the snow covered mountain of ice and an explosion sounded around me breaking the dead silence of the night. A rumble followed after and the ice shook beneath me. Cracks formed beneath my feet and I gasped realizing what was happening.

The roaring of the avalanche sounded, and I turned, racing across the cracking ice back to safety. As hard ice broke from the cliff and snow tumbled down towards the flat of the South Pole, I felt the ground shake worse and worse with each step as the pressure nearby broke up the frozen water beneath me.

The ice started to give out beneath me, but I lunged over the cracks back towards the thick surface of the south pole. As soon as I hit solid land that would not crack, I dropped in the snow and tried to catch my breath. The ice broke and cracked behind me, and taking a glance back I watched as the surface I'd just been walking on drifted away with the current. My eyes shot back over to the peak that had been struck by the meteor, and I could see the fire of the burning stone was evident in the dark air.

Staring at the scene before me, I realized that I'd witnessed something rare and also terrifying all at once. I also realized I could tell no one about this, because if I did I would have a lot of explaining and worry to deal with.

Standing from the snow, I stepped back from the water that lapped before me. The disturbance from the falling ice and stone had unsettled the water before me, and it was slowly returning to its steady pace.

"This could be bad," I stated.

Sokka waved me off. "Relax. They're in the sky. They aren't going to fall on us."

Standing beside the others who were sitting and watching the shower, I bit my lip as each ball of fire flew by. "Something could go wrong and one of them could come towards us... We should be ready for anything..."

Zuko looked up at me from where he sat. "Meteor showers are common in these parts, Crys. I haven't seen or heard of one touching down on Fire Nation soil while I've been alive, so don't worry. Sit down and just enjoy the show."