The (On Fire) Rebellion <Fire Nation>

[Teiú]

(Teiú comes from: The Kite Festival)

Teiú walked down the empty street. Luckily for him the day was a holiday on the city. The majority of the guards were taking care of local crimes at the main square. Lun Yang was such an organized city. Although built over a volcano the streets followed a clear logic of construction and Teiú was proceeding easily through the city. His walk leads him to the suburb of Lun Yang. Then a weak rain started, perhaps announcing a coming storm. Before turning to a dark alley near a great square Teiú tried to imagine if he has being seen on the city. Should the answer to this question be yes and Xin could have problems. He tried to not think about it at the moment, it could perturb him on his quest.

The alley ended on a big mansion, with an old watch to it and rust bars of iron serving as a fence. The gate was locked and Teiú imagined if that was the right place He jumped over the palling and headed to the enormous door of the main entrance. When he reached it he knocked a small bronze handle at the center of the door. At the time he could not help but thinking about Xin’s safety again.

The sky started to throw big lightning bolts from the skies…

[Teiú]

Teiú was standing at the door since 5 minutes ago. A few drops of water started to drop from the sky. Teiú, taking his decision, jumped over the small gate blocking the path to the back entrance. After some steps Teiú found himself near a big manor. It must have been a wonderful manor at its great times. Now it was home for grass and dust. The glass roof, however, was intact. Teiú broke into the house through a broken window. He entered a small room with the skeleton of what was once a bed. The ground was filled with dust, what gave the deserters evidences that no one had entered the place since many months.

Teiú got away of the room to enter the big hall of the mansion. He walked to the other side of the place just to find more empty rooms. At the time Teiú shouted a “Hello”, which echo was heard a few times before silence. Teiú assumed that no one was at the house and he turned to the door. Before leaving he snapped his fingers to produce a small light and, with attention, he took a look at the map that lead him there. He couldn’t understand, the instructions were followed correctly, that was the place.

And, lost in his consideration, Teiú felt a strong pain on his head. Before the deserter could turn back to investigate the pain’s source he fell to the floor. Someone had got him for good.

[Teiú]

A line of light was formed when Teiú opened his eyes. His head was in pain and Teiú tried to touch it with his hand. It was when Teiú perceived that he was seated on a plain wooden chair with his hands tied on the back of it. As he was coming back to his senses he got aware of the surroundings. He was in the center of a small room with a bed on the corner and a desk on the other side of the wall. Two persons were examining some papers on the desk and about 4 or 5 were examining Teiú’s backpack and weapons, his MiaoDao and his dagger. Teiú could hear the sound of the heavy water drops, a storm came to the city. It was over his head, however, and Teiú concluded he was underground, still in the manor, perhaps. Then, one of the other occupants of the room turned to Teiú.

“Hey, you all, the boy woke up.” A feminine but still hard voice.

Teiú couldn’t distinguish much of the persons, the room was being lit by a small torch that was near the aforementioned desk. A big one approached and, in an aggressive tune, asked: “Where you got these things, the map, the sword, the letter of Kangiro…?”.

“Calm down, will you?” Said the woman who first spoke to the big guy. “For your safety kid, you better start telling us who are you.” She said turning her attention to Teiú.

Feeling like having no other option Teiú started speaking “My name is Teiú…” And in about 20 minutes Teiú realized the task of resuming the facts that had leaded him there before the moment. The persons on the room left to the corner of the place and started speaking in a low tune, in which Teiú could only distinguish some words like “Kangiro”, “The Rebellion”, “Traitor”, “Deserter” and a few others.

Teiú was action less, excited for, perhaps, having got in touch with the Lun Yang sect of The Rebellion. He hoped that the mysterious strangers would believe on him.

[set]

The lost little girl had effortly tried to search for any signs of her family, but her forlorn heart began to ache along with the front and back of her head. The stress of fear and worry began to make her head heavy with pain, and at the same time it was much to late for her to be awake. However, when the heavy rain drops began to fall from the sky, it only made Setsuko's night go from bad to worse. It was supposed to be a fun night, a night where she could spend the night with her family and actually care less about the troubles around her. But this was where her carelessness had led her, a place where she was without them. Weren't they looking for her at all? Why weren't they shouting her name?

The crowd began to scatter. Setsuko's eyes were wide, trying to scan the area further now that they were beginning to spread out to find shelter from the rain. BOOM! roared the thunder, startling the lost girl down to her toes and making her jump. Feeling her head getting heavier with rainwater, Setsuko began to run, frantically trying to find some sort of shelter from the rain.

With her slippers slapping against the wet paved paths, she finally came across an alley. Shivering madly with her skin feeling colder than ice, she stumbled down the alleyway, passing a homeless person or two sleeping against the wall while huddled inside of thin, dirty, tattered blankets. She began to feel a little light-headed and dizzy. Spotting some oddly-shaped but large discards of thin wood positioned as if it were meant to be some sort of bridge, she approached them and crawled beneath the bridge of wood. The heavy drops of water pattered against the wood incessantly, but Setsuko didn't mind that. Her eyelids began to feel heavy as she lay with her head upon her hands, and her consciousness began to slowly slip away. She wasn't even aware that her eyes were completely closed as she drifted off to slumber.

[Teiú]

The man who was suspicious about Teiú reinforced his decision of discarding Teiú to avoid problems with the army. To which the woman who was still standing as the leader in the place vehemently argued about.

“You have shared your opinion about this situation and I shared mine. All the other agreed with me and you still struggle against? I don’t really care about your decision if I need to compare it with Kangiro’s decision. You read the letter, Kangiro trusts in this boy as if he was his own son.” The woman kept her voice loud all the time without, however, losing control. At it, the man argued at retreated to the shadows of the room.

“Hurry we don’t have much time at all” A man on the corner of the room spoke.

“Excuse-me, what do you mean by “not much time at all.”” Teiú spoke when his curiosity overpowered his sense of self-preservation.

The woman headed to the desk and took a peace of paper of it, a poster. She nodded to one of his companions, who promptly cut the ropes tying Teiú to the chair. As the woman came closer Teiú could have a clear glimpse of her. She was indeed beautiful, about thirteen years perhaps and unavoidable amber eyes, on her right cheek a scar starting on her forehead and almost reaching her chin. As she looked Teiú in the eye he felt a bit intimidated. “What a special woman”, Teiú thought. His thoughts about her, however, vanished when he took the poster that was given to him. It was featuring a painting of him, in soldier clothes.

At the left of the poster was written:

“Teiú Pirangaetê. Charged of the following accusations: Treason against the nation, attack to Fire Nation soldiers, terrorism, assassination of Fire Nation military officer:…”

At that point Teiú stopped. Assassination? But he hadn’t killed anyone on his trip. And then Teiú finished the line… “…Nation military officer: Seung-Ha Yonoi.”.

His heart stopped. Seung-Ha, his love, was killed and he was being charged for it. Teiú fell to the ground, without perceiving so, however. His heart was filled by hate and sorrow. Hara, the captain of the military base Teiu fled from, killed his own daughter due her assistance on Teiú’s getaway.

Unaware of the persons on the room, Teiú seated on the ground and compulsively started to cry…

Due to sadness… and ire.

[set]

Setsuko opened her eyes, revealing to herself a wide, vast field. Beyond to the horizon lay many flowers of the same kind, a kind of which Setsuko had yet to lay eyes on in her life. Bending down, she curiously and gently brought her hand near one of its petals, her fingertips barely even touching the surface of it. The flower seemed to be of the lily family, having its petals layered over each other fashioned as if the mouth of a horn that you blow in. But unlike some of the lilies she's seen before, this lily bloomed its petals towards the sky instead of towards the ground like a dying flower would, despite it still being healthy and alive. Each petal had the color scheme that included light and dark shades of pink, scattered dots around the inside of each petal, and a white rim.

A crack of lightning whipped through the sky, followed by a roll of thunder. Setsuko turned her head, seeing the transition between the light cloudy sky to one with clouds of dark gray. A bigger wave of thunder rumbled so loudly that her heart seemed to jump with a quicker pace of beat. Suddenly, there was a crash of lightning before Setsuko's eyes, so bright that she had to close them.

When she opened them again, she was back in the pouring rain, lying beneath a shelter of planks barely inches above her head. The field of flowers had only been a dream.

[xin]

Xin clung to the cloak wrapped around her body, she was still in a mild daze, what was she doing? She padded along the cobble stone path, into the dirtier parts of town, she was told to go to the docks so she'd do so. It seemed eerie and odd to be walking all alone. It's not like a pale skinned noble girl walking alone in the rain would cause suspicion.

She wasn't wearing her fineries though, it seemed troublesome. Xue had caught up with her before the rain began pouring. Now he resided in the front pouch of her personal bag, curled up and no doubt trying to qualm his fears in dream land. The girl sent a wary look to the skies. Thunder and lighting was beginning to do the horizon, soon it filled the space above the city. She blanches and pulled the hood over her head adjusting the packs on her back.

No longer could the raindrops dot her face though the ones who had already made their residence traveled down her smooth skin dripping onto her collar. They seemed like her own tears, but she was much too numb for that. The uncomfortable weight of the bags was becoming burdensome, why did she bring Tenma's? Did she think she'd meet him somewhere, it was too confusing, it was easier to mechanically make her way to the docks. She'd head back to New Ozai, stay with her family, something...

Quickly she walked past some homeless people, she cast they a wary glance now she was scared. This sort of poverty but her on edge, there were no signs of it in the area she lived. Swiftly she kept her pace before she paused, looking at a makeshift bridge in confusion, was that a little girl? "Hello miss...... aren't you cold?"

[set]

Setsuko lazily looked up, her eyes squinting since she'd just woken up. She rubbed her eyes, gently lifting her heavy head and blinking at the girl. Now that she thought about it, with the wetness of the rain soaking into her skin and the wind's chill against it, coldness seeped into her pores and gave her shivers. Poking her head out of the pile, Setsuko nodded her head, her teeth clanking together as the rain began to pour on her head and make her hair heavier on her head. Her bangs clumped together in wet little groupings over her eyes.

It's a stranger. Setsuko couldn't help but to be friendly, despite her condition and her sleepiness. "I'm Setsuko. What's your na--ah... Ahh... ACHOO!"
Setsuko hit her head against the planks, wincing from the sharp knock of pain. Great, having a short sleeve shirt, thin clothes altogether, and long wet hair wasn't helping her health. She hoped it was only a cold, and nothing bad like... what was that disease called? Pneumonia?

[Teiú]

Teiú had recomposed himself. He was holding a glass of water given to him by the same woman who was at the scene since he was caught by those sinister figures. She was now aware of Teiú’s reasons and motivations. But even so, time was not there to be lost.

“I’m sorry for bringing you this tragic news but we may keep on, as we are still alive”. She said, with her ever present hard voice. “Look, Kangiro trusted you a lot and I trust you now… You cannot stay here any longer and when I mean here I mean Fire Nation. You are a searched man accused of desertion and assassination, reasons enough for the army to give untiringly chase upon you.”

Teiú was now well enough to take decisions and ponder about the actual happenings. “So what am I supposed to do now? Flee?… To where?” He asked.

“To the Earth Kingdom.” The woman said, surprising Teiú to his core. “But… look, I don’t know what to do, how to get there and so on… Look, I don’t even know your name.” Teiú spoke.

“Well, you may call me Ino for now, it is not my name but will serve for you and will keep my identity safe if you get caught by soldiers. And for this thing of Earth Kingdom… come with me” As the self-proclaimed Ino spoke, she left through the door of the room, nodding to Teiú to follow her through the dark underground of the mansion.

He walked through narrow corridors and entrances, with the ever present sound of heavy rain on his head, with occasionally thunders roaring from above. They finally arrived at a large room, this well lit by various torches along the wall. At the center, a huge circular table, with innumerous papers on it. The room was filled by a few men and women and, as Teiú entered the place following Ino not even one of the occupants acted differently than getting silent and looking at the deserter.

Ino nodded to them and spoke, “This is the boy, bring the message.”. At this a man standing on the opposite side of the room came near and delivered her a wooden tube, coiled in fabric.

“Now pay attention and ponder well about my words.” She said, getting a deep inhale before going on. “Inside this tube there are vital information about Fire Nation military’s defenses. It is something that could bring the end of this war. Now we need this to be taken to the Earth Kingdom and delivered to the leader of The Rebellion, he will be the one to decide what to do about this new fact. However, this information is too valuable to be sent by a mail falcon and we can’t dispose of a single man of our sect here. I guess that, by now, you imagine what I will ask.” Ino looked deep in Teiú eyes. “I need you to take this information to the Earth Kingdom, keeping it safe in the course through there”

Teiú was speechless. Once more life was running over him, pushing him to take rapid and important decisions. “Why… why me?”.

Ino replied. “Hadn’t you heard, I can’t dispose of a single soldier in here. You happen to be a searched man too and you cannot stay here any longer. And more important, Kangiro trusted you, with his life as he made clear on the letter he sent us days ago mentioning your arrival. I trusted Kangiro with my life and so I want to trust in you as well. I said that this information can change the course of war. Will you take your part on it or no? I know it is a hard decision to take but I need an answer, and I need it now. Should you say yes I may give you the details”

[xin]

Xin's small fear of the girl was dispelled when she saw the poor thing shivering like a leaf, her younger siblings in the cold came to mind, the time they went to ember island and they were out playing in the rain. She moved over to the girl kneeling to her height and rubbing some warmth into her bare arms. She nervously sized the young thing up and stood urging her under her caps into some relatively dry space. She could feel the girls chilled body seeping through her own clothes but she wasn't exactly worried about herself at the moment. Her brown eyes went down to the girl and she afforded the child a small smile.

" Hello Setsuko, I'm Xin, why are you out in the rain? You'll catch a cold." The smile faded somewhat, she should be with her parents, her clothes weren't rags or mandatory uniforms of the schools so she wasn't an academy student or a urchin, she had to have lost them. Her eyes scanned the area, there wasn't anyone who seemed to be of a paternal nature. What was she going to do...? " Lets find your parents Setsuko." With that Xin again adjusted the heavy bags on her shoulder and led the small girl off, the pace was slow, she wanted to keep the girl dry under her cloak. It wouldn't be good to panic anyway.

[set]

Setsuko was about to respond to Xin's question about her parents, but apparently it was already answered for her. She nodded in response to search for her parents, keeping up with Xin under the cloaks. She could feel the cold from the winds diminish as Xin's body heat warmed her. It reminded her about times similar to this one, times where Kaito would bring her home after it started to rain whenever they were outside.

Setsuko sniffed a little. She felt a cold from the rain sneak past her immune system, as her head began to feel dizzy. "I lost track of my parents during the Kite Festival. We were standing in a big crowd watching the kites and then... they just disappeared. I don't know where they went," she said. She wondered if they were even still looking for her. She looked about, searching for the face of any of them looking around. Her ears were open to any familiar voices calling out her name. When some moments passed by, there didn't seem to be much hope. Trying to give herself a little faith, Setsuko concluded that they were somewhere nearby in a building to be sheltered from the heavy rains.

As they continued to walk further, Setsuko felt her eyelids getting heavy. Her head somewhat bobbed up and down, her mind fighting off sleepiness to keep her awake. She struggled to walk straight, but instead her neck kept bending forward in attempt to carry her heavy head and keep it high. She wondered how long she had slept, and wondered if it was enough sleep for her to keep her awake like this.

[xin]

It was difficult finding people who even looked like they might be missing a little girl. She supposed parents of such a young girl would be throwing themselves into a worrisome tizzy looking for her. She'd never managed to get lost in her childhood days, but it must be frightening, Xin couldn't help but feel a bit of pity for the girl, if not for her current state of lonesomeness then for her soaked clothes and shivering body. An arm was kept securely around the girl at all times, having her be lost a second time would be problematic.

The noble girl nodded to the child, it was only a few hours ago the kite festival took place, so much had happened since then. It was hard to think about without her head beginning to throb. There was nothing much she could do aside from watching for anyone clamoring over the missing girl. Now near the ports Xin looked up and down the stretch, her own black hair and the cloak stealing what should be her complete line of vision. Despite her best efforts to stay dry her face was chilled, yet heated from her migraine, her bangs were pasted to her face every which way and she was having a hard time seeing straight.

It was possibly one of the most miserable nights of the year. The teen gave a look down at the girl attempting to give her an encouraging smile, she wasn't sure how well it landed, as long as she wasn't crying she imagined it was more than enough. " Are your parents from out of town?"

[set]

"We're from Hokage, near its harbor."
Setsuko pondered for a moment. Hokage was a long walk from Lun Yang. In her heart she prayed that her family had not given up their search for her. Would they be as despared as to just give up on her, or do they have the will to carry out their search? Did they head home in hopes that she would follow?

She held back her tears. She didn't want them to leave her. She didn't want them to give up. They were her family, and family always came up behind each other when they needed a hand. But how come they didn't lend her a hand right away when she was missing from the group? How come it's taking so long for them to find her? Why weren't they out searching for her, or at least calling out her name?

Forlorn thoughts of being abandoned haunted her mind. In her thoughts she debated whether to keep her faith or not, to believe that they would have the boundless love to search for her or believe that they have left her for a reason she couldn't decide to depend on.

She trudged on, trying not to lose her mind to delusion and unconsciousness, pushing herself to her limits.

[xin]

Xin nodded, attempting another smile for the girls sake, she'd heard of it before, perhaps she passed through it, she doubted she'd ever really stopped in the town. She wondered if she could get the girl a carriage ride home, she definaltly couldn't go on her own. She had to get to New Ozai but that could wait if it came to it. There was no way an older sister could leave any child behind on their own. It was just the way she was, if one of her siblings were lost she'd pray to all the spirits that someone would assist them. " I'm sure your parents are looking for you, we;ll find them soon"

Her eyes scanned the harbor, boat after boat, then her gave tilted in the other direction, closed shop after shop, people were finished working for the night, aside from a bar or two which would be open possibly until the rays of sun began to filter through the storm clouds. Another strip of lightening lit up the sky and made the city seem like the middle of day for a split second before returning the dock to it's former darkened glory.

She felt her heart pause for a second, that sounded like it was close, the area was getting to be too dangerous. The light raindrops had turned into a downpour with each drop piercing like a tiny cold needle. Xin for a moment let go of the small girl to readjust her hood which was becoming quickly saturated with the insistent rain. What was she going to do now? Perhaps the mess back home had cleared up, she lamented over her lost sleep, the warm bed she left behind was so inviting in her mind.

She wanted to go home, no doubt the girl felt very much the same.

[Teiú]

From the very moment Ino stopped Teiú started feeling like having no choice at all. Putting himself on Ino’s place Teiú imagined if this so lost deserter answered a no… what could come to be the consequences of this action. That, however, was something Teiú was never going to answer. The sadness he was feeling for losing Seung-Ha seemed to cloud his conceptions and inclinations but, instead, they strengthened his wishes to fight against the Fire Nation, now with his fury renewed upon science of the sorrowful facts.

“Yes Ino, I will accept this task. I will take the message to Earth Kingdom.” The deserter spoke, more decided than he has ever been, or than he imagined he already was.

“Good” Ino replied, with a smile of satisfaction on her face, motivated by Teiú’s small wave of courage. “Now let me explain things for you fast. If we get everything ready in short time you may still can manage to enter a ship to the Earth Kingdom tonight.” To which Teiú answered with a positive nod.

“Pay attention deserter, as I said before there are vital information inside the tube, an important military strategy. First rule, and more important, you shall not open the tube and read the message under any circumstances. If you know the contents and Fire Nation gets you they can torture you till getting the info so no reading about it. If the seal locking the tube is broken the moment the general receives it he will not believe you as this is basic conduct for us. Are we fine with rue number one?” To which another positive nod was issued by Teiú.

“Good, now second rule. The message is inside the tube for three reasons. First of all, avoid that anyone else can read the message before the leader of the rebellion. Second, it will keep it dry, as long as you don’t submerge it for 2 or more days. Last but not least, we get in touch that you are a firebender. Should someone ambush you or so you will burn the message without thinking alright?”

“Yes, I got it. So, who should I meet at Earth Kingdom?” Teiú asked, a bit overwhelmed by the amount of information”

“To this Ino gave Teiú a pack of paper inside a small leather bag. “Inside is a map, not detailed, and instructions to follow when reaching the city the man you will meet is. Keep it close and burn this as well, if you are in danger of getting caught. Now, at the docks, there are a medium-size merchant ship named Green Scepter. The captain is a companion of us and the ship is scheduled to leave to Earth Kingdom this night. Go to Lun Yang’s harbor and show him this.” After saying the woman delivered to Teiú a ring with an inscription on it, which Teiú was too shaken to notice what it was. “This map will lead you to the harbor. Now be careful Teiú the deserter, I shall see you again and through the end, if you are as trustable a loyal as Kangiro made you seem to. Now rush along, you don’t wanna miss that ship”. At it, all the occupants of the HQ wished a good luck to Teiú.


In a few minutes Teiú would be standing back at the old wooden door of the mansion’s entrance. Sky was dark and water was falling as if there were no tomorrow. Still trying to realize what had happened to him and the fast sequence of rushed happenings. The deserter then started his way to the harbor and to the Green Scepter.