The Prison March <Wilderness, Earth Kingdom>

[farong]

Any words shouted her way, sadly, fell on deaf ears. Once Rong became engrossed in combat, it could be hard to pull her back to reality. She was concentrating entirely on the remaining two riders, who proved more careful than the first. They weaved around the fringes of the clearing, firing bursts of flame towards Rong from a safe distance. Though Rong at first gave chase, after three attempts to impale him or the beast on a spike of earth failed, she became somewhat cornered, forced to become almost stationary as she threw up walls of earth to protect her from the flames. Even on a good day, Rong had less patience than the Si Wong desert had water, and so within moments of enduring the barrage, she became frustrated.

Furiously, she slamed her fists into the stone walls on either side of her, and they exploded outward in a hail of dust and shrapnel. They didn’t harm the beasts or their riders, but the mounts were startled enough to buy her a couple moments.

Turning towards one rider, Rong inhaled deeply as she took a horse stance and pulled her fists back, level with the middle of her abdomen on either side and with the palm sides upward. Then all at once, she shot them forward. A massive piece of earth rose sharply from the ground, much like the spikes earlier. However, this one was as tall as the trees around the clearing, and had a smooth flat surface that Rong immediately sprinted up. When she reached the top, she leaped off and began to perform a flip. One of her legs stuck straight out while the other remained tucked back, and as the former leg’s foot passed the end of the ramp she had created, it took with it a good third of said ramp with it.

It was with a triumphant roar that Rong finished the flip, the huge piece of earth first rotating upwards before careening down towards the shocked rider below. It slammed into mount and rider with a great crash, but Rong did not have much time to observe to details. She too fell to the earth, and none to gracefully, trying at first to land on both feet before immediately stumbling and falling face first into the ground. Panting, she started to pick herself up when the cry of the third lizard made her whirl around to the left. The beast was mere feet from her, it’s jaws opened wide…until four large boulders slammed into its side and took it out of commission.

“Damn it Fa, just what the hell were you thinking?” Rong heard her captain yell as she slowly started to pick herself up. “If we hadn’t gotten here right then…”

“But…” Rong started to interrupted, pausing for breath, and then grinned at the approaching captain. “But you did.”

The captain fumed at her for a moment, then motioned to the prisoners, “Just go help the prisoners. We’ll talk about your behavior later.”

Wearily, Fa saluted the captain with a smile and turned back to the prisoners. Another soldier had already broken the bamboo holding them with earthbending. It was only at this point that Fa managed to get a good glimpse of the prisoners. She stopped several meters away and looked at them, puzzled. They were…girls. An entire Fire Nation prisoner convoy for a bunch of girls. This couldn’t be right.

Rong stood there, panting and puzzled for a beat before she finally spoke, not thinking about the words that were coming out of her mouth, “You’re the prisoners? All of them?”

[suki]

Once more Suki found herself cursing her constraints as the fight escalated around her. She could only struggle futily against the bamboo that held her in line and was lashed to the saddle of one of the riders. Chunks of earth flew by, some comiong oncomfortably close to her and the other Kyoshi warriors, but that seemed to pale in comparison to the massive spike of rock that later sprouted from the ground. Their rescuer leaped off the edge of it and brought half the formation with her, crushing the rider and nearly all of them as well.

Suki fell over sideways as the bamboo pole that was lashed to the saddle suddenly jerked down and then broke off. In short order the fighting had stopped, and more earthbenders appeared out of the woodwork. The leader of the Kyoshis managed to get to her feet and peered through the settling dust to take a measure of their rescuers.

The female soldier who had taken to the fight first was being berated for her recklessness by her superior while one of the other benders was approaching them. "Hold still," the man commanded before lifting a column of rock underneath the bamboo and then shearing it off by chopping another chunk of rock beside it. The wood snapped and Suki wasted no time in sliding the ropes and chains off of the pole.

Her arms drooped heavily without the supports and for the first time she realized just how much her shoulders ached from being held up so long. "Thanks," she said quickly, rubbing her neck vigorously to try and relieve a terrible kink that had been building up during the march.

Meanwhile, that soldier had moved on to help the other warriors free and Suki managed to trudge closer to the person she figured was in command. But as she arrived, she caught the end of what the female soldier was saying and frowned a bit at her tone.

"Yes, we're the only prisoners," she said, "But if we don't get out of here now then we're all dead. The other half-dozen riders took off into the woods just before you got here. We're sitting ducks for an ambush."

[hanabanana]

As soon as the constraints binding her hands and feet were broken, Hana nearly fell over from the exhaustion. Her arms ached fiercely and her bare feet, scraped countless times against sharp rocks, throbbed with each step she took away from the remains of the bamboo poles. Rubbing her wrists in the opposite hands, she shook her arms out, enjoying the feeling of the blood rushing back in, and promptly joined her leader at her side as she explained the dire situation to the rescuer.

When the young earthbender solider questioned her and her fellow Kyoshi Warriors, more specifically regarded them with puzzlement, Hana couldn't help but frown. Only recently had she become exposed to the frustrating sexism of the Earth Kingdom, as most people just could not wrap their heads around the simple fact that, yes, they were girls, but they were girls who were quite skilled in fighting and swordplay. Honestly, it was getting to be pretty annoying--could it be so hard to understand? Kyoshi Island knew better than to take their warriors for granted, so why couldn't the rest of the nation?

Hana unraveled the thick strip of cloth from her hair, letting the rather oily and unwashed locks blanket the back of her neck, only to gather them back up again at the back of her head in a tight bun. She ignored the few strands of hair that fell over her forehead, but still could not resist blowing them out of her eyes with a sharp exhale. "Suki, what do you think we should do?" she murmured quietly, clearly addressing only Suki herself. "The rest of the unit is probably milling around in the forest waiting for orders, but I'm sure that if we act now, we could probably take them down. I think we have them out-numbered and out-matched." She motioned at the earthbenders. "What do you think?"

[jingko]

Belly to the ground, Lieutenant Jingko of the Fire Nation slunk along the forest floor that edged either side of the wide dirt road, cradling a crossbow in his arms and dragging a spear in the other. If he felt himself to be a lesser man, he understood a tinge of regret would have embraced him by now. Questioning why an entire platoon, let alone his, would be needed to transport a pack of children to a holding facility. Little girls that not only supposedly had contact with the Avatar but had some direct relationship with him as well. And now...

Three I told to scout ahead, ticking off the list of causalities in his head due to this sudden earthbender ambush.

The two I charged with personally dragging those little dirt urchins, only the lower local wildlife being alerted to his presence. Skittering, crawling or squirming out of way lest the slithering human squash them.

The three I told to stay put to help guard the prisoners, his frowned deepened.

Counting himself, that left them with eighteen and not a single firebender between them. A trying thing to realize given he now wanted to just set the entire forest ablaze with these flat footed dirt people trapped amidst the flames, earthbender or not.

But the closest thing to a smile at the moment eventually creased his face. It seems the Gods have decreed he meet just the man he wanted to come across.

Scant moments later after speaking directly into the man's ear, Jingko began slithering away to a new position as the sergeant began chirping close imitation to a bird. After a few tries, a reply came from elsewhere in the forest. Jingko's fingers on one hand clutched and loosened its grip on the spear in rhythm at the intermittent chirps. A message to hold until given a signal--the Earth Kingdom people reacting to attack--fire from under cover, then fall back.

Jingko wanted to slow them down, not fight them. Track them for the time being and hopefully his men would be led to a much larger force then finally give word to his own people. Surely this was a better job suited to his abilities, he may even get a commendation or a promotion--surveying then leading his superiors to an enemy force.

Another sound came from out of the forest. Something between around a gurgle and hawking. A sound trying to imitate the mongoose-lizards.

Still undercover, Jingko stood upon one knee. Careful aim at one of the earthbending soldiers, the one who did most of the chewing out--obviously a commanding officer.

The same sound erupted again, but from elsewhere.

I want him, Jingko aimed for the commanding officer. Yet others kept getting in the way. The girls and another soldier--who is also a woman? Barbarians.

There was shuffling amidst the forest and about the road. Dismounted war lizards plodding about, answering the calls of their riders while searching for them. A good enough distraction. Now for the signal. One shot was needed to unleash seventeen more. If their were fast enough they could unleash one more round before withdrawing.

Jingko squeezed the crossbow's trigger. And yet in the instant satisfaction of killing an enemy officer, a grimace would soon enough overtake Jingko's face as someone another soldier was haphazardly stepping into the bolt's flight path.

[farong]

”But if we don't get out of here now then we're all dead. The other half-dozen riders took off into the woods just before you got here. We're sitting ducks for an ambush."

“Oh shi…” began a nearby soldier, only to be cut off by a sudden cry of pain.

Neither the soldier it was flying towards nor the captain saw the crossbow bolt coming until it had struck the man square in the spine, just below the neck. By the time Rong and the other soldiers had begun to react to the young woman’s words, the man was falling in a crumpled heap to the ground. More crossbow bolts followed, but the earthbenders had begun to react. Five soldiers moved to put up walls of earth around the group, including the rescued prisoners, although another was struck with a crossbow bolt in the thigh as he did so. The captain and another soldier used the time they had been given to kick up a huge dust cloud, covering most of the clearing. Rong, meanwhile, was staring in shock at the man that had been hit with the crossbow bolt in the spine. It took but a moment for her face to contort into rage and she drew up a rock about a third her size from the earth, sending it flying randomly towards the woods with a wild punch. She drew up a second rock, but as she pulled her fist back, a wall of earth appeared in front of her.

“Not here, Fa! We can’t fight them here!” she heard her captain call. “We have to retreat!”

Rong whirled around and glared furiously at her captain, but she realized he was right. Letting her rock fall to earth, she turned to the girls.

“Hold onto something!

Without further warning, Rong and the other earthbenders took their stances and thrust their palms upwards, as though raising something above their heads, elevating large segment of earth underneath the group about a two meters off the ground. Then, turning in the same direction, the earthbenders mimicked a movement Rong had done earlier simultaneously, and suddenly the raised piece of earth was sent gliding forward at sprinting speed, bursting out of the dust cloud and crashing into the forest, carrying its occupants to safety. At least, that was the idea.

[suki]

Suki had only just turned her attention toward Hana when the first signs of trouble arrised. The leader of the Kyoshi warriors admired Hana's determination to fight, but to be honest there just didn't seem to be any way to get around their strategic disadvantage. And when the earthbender near them fell down with a crossbow bolt buried in his back, Suki figured that was enough to answer her comrade's question.

Suki ducked low, touching one hand to the ground as she scanned the area around them. A cry of pain over to the side drew her attention, and she saw one of her fellow warriors lying on the ground with a bolt protruding from her leg. "Kopa!" she called out, though a sudden tremor in the ground prevented her from moving to help.

The earthbenders raised a chunk of the ground up several feet, and then as a single unit they began to propel it across the ground. The jerk of the movement nearly made Suki lose her balance, and Aoru near the edge of the raised rock almost toppled off. However, Aoru managed to catch a handhold and hung on tight as her feet dangled over the edge.

[hanabanana]

Hana squeaked in surprise as she was very, very, very abruptly lifted off the ground (well, she was still on the ground, technically...but definitely off the earth) and propelled through the forest. She had caught a few snippets of the sudden attack on the troop and had even began to run through a few tactics in her mind, all of which ended with her charging into the middle of the attack to kick ass. Not really her best idea, but hey, give the girl a break; she had been without real food for days.

Slipping and sliding unprofessionally on the rough terrain, Hana fell on her stomach, expelling an oof! with a rough grunt on contact, dug her fingers in as far as they could go into the crumbling dirt and held on for dear life. Spirits, she would never forget that feeling: whizzing through the air, riding a slab of earth no wider than four young girls laying side by side, all the while with barely nothing to hold on to.

She heard Suki call Aoru's name and felt her stomach lurch as the possibility of her dear friend careening off the edge of the unstable dirt ball became a very real possibility, but, thankfully, the girl caught a break. Hana cursed her inability to move purposefully--it was just too dangerous--otherwise, she would have been on Aoru's hand like white on rice.

[jingko]

Jingko was immediately scrambling to his feet after narrowly avoiding an incoming boulder careening towards his forehead.

"Cease fire!" Bellowing to his soldiers even as he was loading a fresh bolt into his own crossbow and well aware of the earthen wall the earthbenders have suddenly erected, attempting to lessen the impact of this Fire Nation ambush.

"Cease firing," Jingko demanded, wanting his men to be ready for an expected counterattack while himself was taking one last aim. Yet as one, Jingko and his own men who were stepping out of their cover onto the road immediately dove back into the underbrush as the ground beneath began to lift.

And just as sudden, the now escaping prisoners with thier earthbending rescuers shot off down the wagon road atop a flying chunk of earth.

"I said hold your fire," dashing out of the underbush with the others and taking one last parting shot as well at the retreating Earth Kingdomers.

"Even if they can do that, they can't go far if all of them want to reach safety," for a long moment Jingko stared at the target retreating down the road.

"Find your mounts," he said, holstering his crossbow. "Pilfer what you can from the others. Especially food and water. This isnow a hunting trip!"

[farong]

Though she noticed the one girl nearly fall off the edge, Rong could do nothing but curse to herself. All of her remaining energy was being focused on the platform, so earthbending the girl into a safer position was out of the question. She had told them to hang on, though.

“Everyone brace yourselves!” she heard her captain yell.

Suddenly, a curve formed on the side of the rock they were all riding on, and everyone, prisoners and earthbenders, went sliding off the side. Though it wasn’t steep by an means, Rong found herself losing her footing and sliding down the side before coming to a rolling stop on the ground. The other earthbenders, however, all kept their feet, easily sliding down to the ground. Even with everyone off of it, the slab of earth they had been riding on moved forward, though the slope on the side was now gone. Propelled by the other earthbenders, the slab of earth barreled through the forest, turning away from the group, before finally collapsing about four hundred meters from where they had slid off, and heading forty five degrees in the wrong direction.

“That may buy us a little time, but we’ll need to keep moving” the captain commented. “Quan, help that wounded prisoner.”

The man called Quan nodded and walked towards the prisoner who had received a bolt in the leg, moving to pick her up and carry her. The captain, meanwhile, shouldered the body of the fallen earthbender, and everyone else started to walk away. Slowly, Rong raised herself to her feet, having to use the trunk of a tree for support. She stood there panting for several moments, but while the other Earth Kingdom soldiers glanced at her, they knew better than to try and help her. Even in this state, Rong would rather struggle to walk on her own than receive any sort of human contact. It was completely irrational, but then, most phobias were. So, with weary, not always straight steps, Rong slowly followed after her peers.

[suki]

Suki was only just managing to solidify her stance on the chunk of rock as it barreled through the woods. With the other Kyoshi warriors at an equal loss for good footing, she took it upon herself to try and help Aoru fully onto the moving platform. She stayed low and slinked her way over to the edge where she managed to clasp onto her comrade's extended hand and help her climb aboard.

However, Aoru had barely gotten a foot on level dirt before the soldiers saw fit to dissolve a portion of the slab as it banked sharply. Suki wasn't expecting it in the least and so as the platform shifted she was nearly thrown through the air backwards. She flailed her arms and kept her feet extended, and as he feet contacted the ground she did her best to absorb the landing and roll. She rolled over backwards rapidly, using her hands to cover her head from hitting the dirst too hard, but her momentum was great enough that she popped right back up after the first roll. She was in the air once more, but this time she managed to snag a handful of dirt with one arm that gave her enough moment to turn her fall into a shoulder roll.

Suki hit the ground again and managed to tuck tightly enough that she rolled two more times without skipping, eventually coming to a stop. The stalwart warrior stood up as soon as she stopped her fall, but almost immediately staggered over sideways. She bumped into an earthbender who managed to hook his arms under hers and hold her on her feet.

"You okay?" he asked, though his words fell on deaf ears.

The moment Suki's vision stopped spinning from the series of tumbles, she stepped away from the soldier's assistance and attempted to take stock of her comrade's condition. She found Aoru not too far from where she herself landed, though her unofficial second-in-command didn't seem to take the fall so gracefully. Aoru's arms were scraped badly and she was covered with dirt, but regardless the girl was still making her way slowly to her feet.

Kopa and Aoi were over by the other earthbenders and seemed to be getting some help. All in all it seemed like they had survived the sudden stop. Some fresh bruises, no doubt, but nothing compared to the hailstorm of bolts that would have continued if they had not managed to flee.

The soldiers were getting ready to move out, and Suki decided that she was too far out of the loop with the group's decisions. She was grateful for the help, of course, but when the lives of herself and her charges were on the line she felt it prudent to know the big picture. She isolated the captain of the unit and quickly approached him from behind.

"Sir," Suki began respectfully, though her voice was urgent. "Where are we going?"

From an outsider's point of view, the scene might have seemed very strange indeed. Anyone not accustomed to the ways of Kyoshi Island might think a female warrior unuasual, much less a young girl warrior who commanded her own unit in battle. Combined with the fact that they lacked their uniforms, weapons, and had the general appearance of a bunch of haggard, beaten prisoners, it would be no wonder if the captain just told her to go lie down and rest.... The bit of blood trickling down from a cut just below her hairline couldn't be helping either.

[jingko]

Ready with all expediency, the remaining soldiers of Jingko's platoon stood before him in a column, heels of their leather boots loudly clicking together on the dirt road when they stood at sharp attention.

The bodies of fallen comrades can be found and tended to later, he had already coldly consoled them as their bodies were looted. Rations, water, crossbow ammunition, pieces of armour and even a few personal belongings a couple of the bold pilfered through with at least three extra mongoose-lizards--bereft of their riders--to load it on.

They would not be terribly hard to track, their quarry, Jingko assumed. Worn and tired little girls and a few injured soldiers would more than likely slow them down. And their trail of escape from atop a levitating chunk of earth careening through the forest and across the road was anything but difficult to follow.

Jingko snatched at the reins of his mount, vaulting himself into the air and atop the saddle. The others followed suit and the mounts began to turn into the direction of their enemy's spoor. Jingko's legs raised from either side him. Suddenly, they slammed against the flanks of his war lizard. The immediate, sharp pierce of the rider's spurs jolting the animal forward into a charge.

[Jingko has left the thread]

[farong]

The captain simply glanced at the girl before turning back to the forest in front of him. Clearly, he was not in the best of moods. He’d lost a man, been separated from his unit, and what men he did have were tired or wounded. All for what? Some girls. Not ranking officers or even soldiers in general. A bunch of little girls.

“Forward,” he answered gruffly. “Just follow us and let us handle it.”

The commander then increased his pace, moving further away from the girl and continuing forward. However, a weary voice chimed in from the back of the group.

“We’re going to try and catch up with the rest of our unit,” Rong answered. “They’re headed towards Ba Sing Se.”

Rong was having a little bit of trouble keeping pace with everyone else. She had gone overboard in her assault, as usual. Of course, that massive attack she’d used on the second to last rider had been even more overkill than normal, but for her to be staggering along near the back of the column was not uncommon after a battle. It was in part for this reason that her fellow soldiers didn’t seem to be too concerned with her at the moment. The other piece of that might be that the whole thing was her idea in the first place. Soldiers could be pretty forgiving about that sort of thing, though. They had saved the girls from who knows what, after all, and that kind of thing was why they were fighting the Fire Nation in the first place. Even if it was tactically unsound, it was hard to blame Rong morally.

“So, just what were you guys doin’ in a slave drive like that, anyway?” Rong asked, catching up them a little bit. “Normally that kind of thing is for captured officers.”

[suki]

From his curt reply and commanding tone, Suki could tell that the captain of this unit did not suspect her or the other Kyoshi warriors to be anything but commons prisoners. She slowed up, looking at the man with a stern faced expression though she dared not provoke him at this moment. Suki could sense his anger over the loss of his men and decided that her pride wasn't worth an argument right this moment. They seemed like a competant enough group, and getting involved in their decisions probably wouldn't make much of a difference anyway.

As she started to drift back in the line of marching soldiers, the leader of the Kyoshi warriors took note of Hana and Aoi helping Kopa along on her injured leg while Aoru was close behind them, clutching a pained shoulder. And trailing the group behind another gruff looking soldier, came the uncommon female earthbender.

Her answer as to the question of their heading was helpful, and it gave Suki hope that perhaps they would cross paths with Tsuya again if they were heading back toward the location of their last battle. However, when the older woman asked why they were being transported in chains, Suki's expression soured a little.

"The Fire Nation didn't take kindly to us attempting to kill their princess," she responded bluntly. She didn't want to come across sounding arrogant, for indeed they were unsuccessful in their attempt to sever the head of this beastly Fire Nation attack force, but at the same time she felt like letting someone of this unit know that they were not merely captured villagers.

"We recently came from battle alongside the Thunderfist Batallion under Major Bora Gan," Suki elaborated. "My name is Suki and we are from Kyoshi Island, here to aid the Earth Kingdom in whatever way we can."

[farong]

“You did what?!” blurted Rong, unable to contain her surprise.

Had they stumbled upon some kind of specialist assassination squad? No…they said they had been in a battle. So were they soldiers? And they had fought in a battle where the Fire Nation Princess had actually been fighting? Rong was confused and flustered, at least until the girl mentioned Kyoshi Island. It took a moment to put two and two together, but after first recognizing the name of Avatar Kyoshi, then remembering something about an island where there had been a bunch of warrior women or something…and then it all clicked.

“Oh! You’re the Kyoshi Fighters,” Rong said after a moment.

“Warriors,” corrected one of the girls.

“Oh, sorry,” Rong apologized, though she suddenly looked a bit more lively than before. “Hey, Captain! Did you here that? These girls are the Kyoshi Warriors! They say they were fighting with the Thunderfoot Brigade against the Fire Nation!”

“Thunderfist Batallion,” corrected the same girl.

“Right, them,” she said, but after a pause turned back to the apparent leader of the Warriors. “Uh, who are they again?”

By now, the Captain had halted the march and walked back towards the girls. He looked first at Rong, then at the warriors. Though the news was apparently good, he still had a grimace on his face. Perhaps it was simple annoyance that Rong’s reckless action had somehow bore fruit. Then again, he rarely seemed in a good mood these days.

“The Thunderfist are an elite Earthbending unit. Bunch of rabid nutcases. You’d like them, Fa,” he said, ignoring Rong’s glare and turning to the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. “If you’re captured, that’s not a good sign. What happened? Has the Fire Nation already reached the wall?”

[suki]

At the very least, Fa's reaction was somewhat along the lines of what Suki was hoping for. It seemed like she'd finally gotten the attention of someone in this group of soldiers. She would have corrected the woman's mistakes in naming them to her captain, but Hana beat her to the punch on both accounts. Suki nodded appreciatively to her comrade, and then slowed down as the captain of the unit came over to speak with them.

"We crossed paths with the Thunderfist by chance," Suki told him, "It was a few days march from Ba Sing Se, so for all we know the Fire Nation could be there by now... The force we clashed with was not a full army, but seemed like it was en route to the Wall with the Fire Nation Princess at its head."

She paused for a moment and glanced back at the other Kyoshi Warriors, noting Tsuya's absence.

"We managed to circle around behind enemy lines and ambush the officers commanding the forces. We managed to take out a few high-ranks, but the Princess and her bodyguards were too much. Only one of us got away, and finding her should be our first priority after we're out of harm's way here." Suki looked right at the captain with steady eyes, hoping he would understand her duty to the other warriors under her charge.