Categories > Cartoons > Avatar: The Last Airbender > The First Cut
Prologue
In the Earth Kingdom, the whole world is brown and green; deep in the forests, surrounded by trees, the earth is moist and rich beneath, the sky hidden behind branches and leaves, a blanket of pure green that shields from rain and wind. There is nothing but the earth and the comfort that comes from being around it.
But Sokka's chest is burning and his limbs are tired and heavy. His breath does not come easily and it seems like too much work, too much effort wasted, to look back and see where his sister is.
However, this worry gives him the time needed to grab her by the arm, pull and spin them both back hard against a tree. The spot where Katara ran bursts into flame and turns black, feeding on the dry foliage around it and his sister's eyes are wide, her body is rigid as she watches the fire grow.
"We're not going to make it," she gasps and doesn't look at him, still clinging to his robe.
"Not if we don't keep moving," he replies, and shoves her off in front of him, lucky that she spun and was able to grab and pull him out of harm's way, smoke on their trail as they change their course.
To Water Tribe children, all trees look the same and Sokka worries they've gone in circles, that the Fire Nation is closing in on them and they have no idea, that Aang was captured over an hour ago. But he glances to his sister, running hard beside him, and glimpses the scroll tucked away in her robes.
They will make it.
He grabs her arm to pull again, but he is too slow this time, the Fire Nation too close, and Katara hisses with pain as the flames lick at her back. He starts to pull her again and she slips away, the soft skin of her arm replaced with the smooth paper of the scroll. "Katara--"
"Go," she gasps, and shoves him.
"What--"
"Listen, Sokka - the river. I can make it, I can hold them back - get that to Aang."
"Katara, I'm not--"
"/Go/," and she's making his decision for him, dashing out in clear sight, a trail of flame on her heels and he has no choice but to run the other way, scroll clutched tightly in his hands, fear clutching tighter on his heart.
===
She's going to make it. She knows because the river calls to her and lets her know she is safe and it gives wings to her heels and she flies past the trees, weaving in and out. Breath is a rare commodity but she takes what she can and tries not to stumble when stinging heat licks her skin or worry finds her mind.
It's summer, the sun is close and that makes a Firebender strong; worse, it is midday, the sun's highest point, the hottest part of the day. Better, it is overcast and cloudy, the rain may come and they will be in her power, her control.
Better: she has no scroll and Sokka had no time to tell her where Aang waited for them, only time to drag her and hope she followed.
The river is close, she can feel it, rushing her blood and beating her heart, and she stops and spins, back against a tree, eyes closed to calm her breath so that the weakness of her body does not hinder her mind and the wall of water she sends hurling back toward her assailants is effective, if not perfect. But earth absorbs and her attack doesn't stay, only gives her the time to continue running, weaving through the trees, and aching for the river.
If she can get to it, stand in it, the flames will have no power, easily extinguished and when she tires, she can gasp for breath and duck beneath and let it wash her away, finding her companions later. This is her plan, this is her hope.
So when she breaks through the trees and finds Prince Zuko knee-deep in the icy flow of the river, a smirk on his face as the break in the clouds allows the sun's rays to shine upon him like a spotlight, Katara's heart is as battered as her body when he moves with lightning quickness and sends her, scorched, to the ground.
In the Earth Kingdom, the whole world is brown and green; deep in the forests, surrounded by trees, the earth is moist and rich beneath, the sky hidden behind branches and leaves, a blanket of pure green that shields from rain and wind. There is nothing but the earth and the comfort that comes from being around it.
But Sokka's chest is burning and his limbs are tired and heavy. His breath does not come easily and it seems like too much work, too much effort wasted, to look back and see where his sister is.
However, this worry gives him the time needed to grab her by the arm, pull and spin them both back hard against a tree. The spot where Katara ran bursts into flame and turns black, feeding on the dry foliage around it and his sister's eyes are wide, her body is rigid as she watches the fire grow.
"We're not going to make it," she gasps and doesn't look at him, still clinging to his robe.
"Not if we don't keep moving," he replies, and shoves her off in front of him, lucky that she spun and was able to grab and pull him out of harm's way, smoke on their trail as they change their course.
To Water Tribe children, all trees look the same and Sokka worries they've gone in circles, that the Fire Nation is closing in on them and they have no idea, that Aang was captured over an hour ago. But he glances to his sister, running hard beside him, and glimpses the scroll tucked away in her robes.
They will make it.
He grabs her arm to pull again, but he is too slow this time, the Fire Nation too close, and Katara hisses with pain as the flames lick at her back. He starts to pull her again and she slips away, the soft skin of her arm replaced with the smooth paper of the scroll. "Katara--"
"Go," she gasps, and shoves him.
"What--"
"Listen, Sokka - the river. I can make it, I can hold them back - get that to Aang."
"Katara, I'm not--"
"/Go/," and she's making his decision for him, dashing out in clear sight, a trail of flame on her heels and he has no choice but to run the other way, scroll clutched tightly in his hands, fear clutching tighter on his heart.
===
She's going to make it. She knows because the river calls to her and lets her know she is safe and it gives wings to her heels and she flies past the trees, weaving in and out. Breath is a rare commodity but she takes what she can and tries not to stumble when stinging heat licks her skin or worry finds her mind.
It's summer, the sun is close and that makes a Firebender strong; worse, it is midday, the sun's highest point, the hottest part of the day. Better, it is overcast and cloudy, the rain may come and they will be in her power, her control.
Better: she has no scroll and Sokka had no time to tell her where Aang waited for them, only time to drag her and hope she followed.
The river is close, she can feel it, rushing her blood and beating her heart, and she stops and spins, back against a tree, eyes closed to calm her breath so that the weakness of her body does not hinder her mind and the wall of water she sends hurling back toward her assailants is effective, if not perfect. But earth absorbs and her attack doesn't stay, only gives her the time to continue running, weaving through the trees, and aching for the river.
If she can get to it, stand in it, the flames will have no power, easily extinguished and when she tires, she can gasp for breath and duck beneath and let it wash her away, finding her companions later. This is her plan, this is her hope.
So when she breaks through the trees and finds Prince Zuko knee-deep in the icy flow of the river, a smirk on his face as the break in the clouds allows the sun's rays to shine upon him like a spotlight, Katara's heart is as battered as her body when he moves with lightning quickness and sends her, scorched, to the ground.
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