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Vice Versa Ch 1: Onslaught

We could smell the smoke far before the sight could actually be seen, the ashes falling around us from clouds tainted with tints of angry grays and reds. Though I knew exactly what to expect, something in me knew that Jae wouldn't believe it until she saw it with her own two eyes; it couldn't possibly be her village. Things like this happened to other villages, but never hers. They used to speak of them late at night in voices as soft as the ashes falling from the sky, saying "those poor people..." as they gazed into tea that would have never told of this future. They were never aware of how fortunate they truly were.

Though I was well traveled and far more versed in the world of war than Jae was, the sight that confronted us as we rashly peakedthe hill was no less shocking than if I had seen fire for the first time. From every direction pillars of fire seemed to be shooting out from the darkness, briefly illuminating the forms of men and women we had always known to be our opponents, but had never the chance to face. From their very hands it seemed that every object, rock or wood, was crawling with an infestation of flames that my small gourd could never even hope to put out. Women, children and men alike wailed at their loss, in terror, in sorrow as their very way of life was reduced to mere pillars of ash.

As a water bender, I never really understood the destruction of fire until I saw it reflecting back at me-- not from the crumbling buildings, but shining in the obsidian of Jae's eyes. There was no clearer picture, and if I ever tell this story to another I will probably never again mention the sight of the town itself burning to the ground. The gaze itself told every horror, echoed every scream that crawled from the throat of any man or woman captured, and most of all, the vicious rage the fire itself created. It was a rage I had never known was possible in any human, a lesson well learned and to be learned again by any child of the ice and snow.

So this was war.

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"Haaaahh!!"

The loud, deep roar of her opponent's battle cry rang through Jae's ears as the thinly padded soles of her shoes dispersed dust into the air with a quick turn of her body. A single foot dragged against the ground, arms heaving the weighty, double bladed weapon made of solid rock towards the sound. It had only been a few minutes into the round, but despite that, every movement drove her screaming muscles to the brink of exhaustion. It was clear that her opponent was almost literally running circles around her for the duration of the match, and each rasped swell of her chest showed the exertions of her fetal attempts to keep up.

"Too fast...!"

Above all the egging roars that pounded through the crowd, one voice seemed to echo louder than any other. "Trip! Him! Trip him Jae-Hyung Kwan, right /now/!" It screamed desperately, as though the flail of arms could be seen just through the sound of her voice. Despite the audacity that was being forced out of this voice, those words went unheeded; the battle itself deafened her senses, honed them to hear, see and feel things within the pit that was their cage.

A nimble male figure abruptly slipped out from behind the massive wall of rock the earth bender had placed between herself and her opponent. Jae's instinctive movements simply couldn't keep up with the sheer speed of the agile fighter she was pitted against. Expecting a strike, the huge weapon was lifted as a guard, only to be used against her favor. The smaller fighter went suddenly airborne, kicking off Jae's weapon into a hard-pressed leap that pushed her backwards, the weight of her own weapon disrupting her already wavering balance.

Grounding her feet into a widened stance to catch herselfbefore she dropped, Jae quickly looked back towards her opponent only to receive the swift, rough end of a direct turning kick to her face. A low growl erupted from her throat at the contact that sent her head reeling to one side, tousled, dark hair thrashing out with the unexpected shift. The man followed up with a fluid turn of his wrist, water following the movement as if an extension of his own body. Cracking forward, the liquid whip struck the exposed side of Jae's torso as she faltered, and she nearly cried out. It was apparent that the man had either watched her previous fight, or was observant enough to realize she had been gingerly favoring that side during the entire match.

Blood began to seep through the rough, dark-olive fabric at her side, and the man only grinned at her staggered attempt to regain balance.

"Done already?" With a quick burst forward he dashed at her again, kicking at her side before bringing the whip of water around to aim directly at the same wound once again.

The cracking sound of his whip resounded through the sudden silence of the arena.

"...Hnf." With a simple, short huff as her only response, Jae turned and stood her full height, easily towering over the shorter man. Dim-green eyes searched through a curtain of unkempt, black wisps, meeting the man's gaze with an almost ominous look of her own. The huge weapon once held within a leanly muscular grip was discarded, quaking the arena floor with a thunderous pound as it smashed flatly into the solid ground, easily cracking the surface and kicking up a swirl of dust in its wake. The water bender's eyes widened at the sudden realization he had come to.

He let himself get directly into her range.

Grabbed roughly by the collar, the man received a harsh head butt to the bridge of his nose before being abruptly slammed into the wall of rock Jae had quite literally pulled out of the ground.

By the time the dust settled, the match had been completely turned around.

"Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" The voice screamed again, a small body leaping up in victory despite the deadpan shock and silence of the crowd that surrounded her. Jiang-Xiuwas not always the most subtle of people in the best of times, but soon enough the entire crowd was screaming and pounding the rock beneath them like animals excited by the sport of blood shed.

While the crowd continued to yell support or insult to their "favorite" or"least favorite" fighters, Xiu's own excited leaps had slowed to a shocking stop. For a moment it felt as if the world had stopped spinning in it's axis as a strange feeling rushed down her spine. Something wasn't right here. True, they were in an underground cavern in the middle of God-Knows-Where, Earth Kingdom, competing in the rather notoriously underground tournament Mountain Melee II, so things were going to seem rather off colored and ill mannered. That, Xiu knew, wasn't it.

A few people had entered the arena she hadn't seen when the tournament board had gone up... A few people who stared at this fight with intent she didn't see on the face of someone who was a mere spectator, and with each new evolution of the progressively interesting fight, they showed no sportsmanship or camaraderie like other combatants come and lost showed now.

A moment later, Jae was ripping a hunk of floor from the arena bottom, one large enough that if she threw it, there would be no avoiding its blast. That was, unless the young water bender was either very crafty or doubly lucky. The entire crowd silenced in the sudden earthquake that shook the floor beneath their feet.

In that mere second, Xiu caught sight of one of these stone faced spectators glancing at another with conversation in his eyes. The vivid color of her cool, glacier eyes hungrily hoped to decipher the language that was not spoken to no avail; it was hard to keep her attention when there was a nagging feeling biting at her that she was being watched. Her eyes skirted to the right, catching the dark gaze of afamiliar young woman resting upon her. A villager from Jae's village, the same little town that Xiu herself currently took residence, one who raised a young sister no older than five.There was not a time that Xiu could recall seeing this young woman without holding the hand of her child sister, but the seat next to her was devoid of a child's form.

Upon taking a more lengthy look Xiu's heart would have stopped dead in it's beat if it were possible, the icy grip of fear curling its fingers around the helpless organ as it pumped harder to fight the feeling that washed over her. The girl had singe marks marring the ineloquent edges of her dirtied clothing, and the expression on her face was distinctly that of an animal forced into captivity.

Suddenly, with deathly precision, Xiu launched herself into the ring between Jae and her opponent, landing gracefully between them as gravity pulled a waterfall of dark brown hair tumbling down back around her shoulders. Like her hands, two braids that rested on each side of her face waved their finger-like ends through the air as if also saying that Jae should start the action she started.

"Jiang-Xiu is disqualified for interference!" Boomed the authoritative voice of the announcer.

Though most would have responded with curses, Xiuinstead retaliated with five words that would fill any heart with the dread of violent flood water proportions. "The fire nation is attacking!"

In one swift motion, she had swept the rug out from beneath them. The element of surprise was no longer theirs.

It hadn't crossed Xiu's mind that her quick conclusion could have been the wrong conclusion, nor that a false accusation if it were, could possibly cause a full scale riot of literal earth quaking magnitude.

The sudden extreme heat that passed next to Xiu'sback, on the other hand, seemed to tell her otherwise. All the previously non-moving bodies hurtled into action, charging into a full scale battle as every person in the room reacted in yells of surprise and disbelief. Jae herself had dropped her giant rock wall to swing her weapon in the line of fire between Xiu and the fire bender that had just attempted to silence the young water bender. It wasn't a sacrifice Jae could allow, even if Xiu thought her own injury would be pertinent to their survival. The earth bender quickly pressed her back to her young water bending companion, eyes narrowing towards Xiu'sassailant as her double blade rose in defense.

The room exploded into chaos. Rocks, small close combat spurts of water, fire, all colliding in mid air as though the fires of hell were raining down from the heavens. The announcer barely had time to duck as an entire corner of the arena was hurtled towards a Fire Bender stationed behind him, whatever thoughts of disqualification violently disbanded.

From the outside of the ring four men quickly leapt up to surround the two.

Jae's foot habitually slipped across the ground once more, stance widening as the men circled them, her dark eyebrows dipping low over her eyes. "What is the Fire Nation doing at a tournament like this...?!"The confusion in her voice was almost quieted by a roaring blast of flame that was quickly ricochet off the blunt side of a giant rock-blade, the man following the flare as a cover hastily silenced by the sickening thud of his throat crumpling under the weight of Jae's clenched fist.

Xiu didn't have the mind to answer for a moment as her body responded in instinct to the Fire Bender that had taken it to heart to attack her. Though each blazing combustion barely missed her, the heat of the flame never ceased to feel uncomfortably close. She slid down to rest one palm on the ground, sliding her body against the smooth surface of the condensed earth to throw a foot beneath the Fire Benders step. He leapt into the air to avoid it, but in unison with his leap, her free hand moved upward ripping water from an open gourd to place a pressured strike against the soldiers chin.

A shout ensued, followed in suite by the clang of armor as it hit the ground; Xiu suspected the man was only momentarily immobilized and slid back into a lofty, free flowing, open legged stance, prepared for round two. "I suspect that the Fire Nation has staked this area out for abase. We are currently facing the back wall of BaSing Se, which probably calculated to be the must vulnerable entry point."

Briefly, her eyes trailed to locate the form of the young villager who had tipped her off without even knowing it. She suspected that she would be easy to locate once they had the time to put mind to it, but for the moment Xiu didn't mention her to Jae. Now was not the time, as her well being would serve to be nothing but a distraction to her older, earth bending companion. The Fire Nation had used her as a pawn and intended nothing else for her.

As soon as Jae had felt light pressure of Xiu'sback against her own leave her, she in turn had burst forward, barely ducking under a flame-trailed kick that would have effortlessly broken her jaw if connected. A quick lunge of her shoulder sent the man backwards, but he was up and charging her again within mere seconds. Jae only offered a quick nod of understanding, but her brow quirked at the calmness of the water bender's voice despite the siege.

"What a lightweight," Xiu sighed disappointedly as she realized that the Fire Bender she had been waiting for was not getting back up again. The metal of the helmets truly followed the concept, 'the heavier they are, the harder they fall.' She hadn't much time to relax, for soon two more Fire benders had taken the place of their fallen comrades, yelling as they placed strikes against the two young women once again.

Next to them, the assigned opponent whose name still lay forked with Jae's on the tournament board fell to the floor with a vicious thud, a stream of water dripping out from beneath him as though it were his very own blood. As quickly as he had fallen, his attacker descended upon him, restraining him and dragging him off. Jae's eyes widened at the display,distracted just enough to take the force of a kick to her gut. Grunting, she unceremoniously grabbed her assailant by the ankle and practically tossed the man before he set his entire leg into a flamed attempt to release himself. She then turned to Xiu, but her confusion was quickly addressed by a voice equally calm as it had been the first time.

"... Apparently they also realized--" A narrow miss of a fiery fist that nearly blistered the skin of Xiu's cheek forced her to pause, her words elevating in pitch as she barely managed to jerk her head out of the way. Briefly her hand brushed where the heat had reddened the dark skin, but didn't linger long before it was throwing a small whip of water across the soldier's helmet, spinning it so his vision was temporarily blocked."Apparently they also realized that this tournament would be an excellent location to capture several of the areas benders all at once."

Breathing became progressively difficult with each fiercely heated strike. The excessive amount of fire was spurting impurities in to the already poorly ventilated cave; it wouldn't be long until the Fire Nation soldiers burnt up their good air supply.

Just as Xiu was lifting a leg to place a round kick against the side of the Soldiers head, Jae slammed her weapon full force into her own opponent, launching the man like a swung log would project apebble. The two soldiers collided, the sound of armor clanging together making more of a ruckus than the pieces of rock being ripped from the cavern floor.

The rock slide-like noise was lessening every second the battle continued; the benders were failing and in course ripping apart the foundation of the Coliseum that had been built by their own hands. Pieces of rock were now shaking loose from the ceiling above, one falling deathly close to Xiu's own body, causing her to dive desperately out of the way before it crushed her, the impact forcing the good air out of her lungs. Shakily she crawled back to her feet.

"Jae!" Xiu rasped, coughing as the heated air and smoke filled her lungs stealing the words from her lips, though she didn't need to say anything more once she managed to jerkily motion to the girl now cowering on one of the underground coliseum steps. Now they were free to act, and just as she suspected, the woman was easy to find. All the village woman could do was curl defensively within the bend of rock, covering her neck and parts of her head from the falling debris from the battle ensuing around her. Jae could see the horrified face of the young woman clearly, her own mossy eyes widening in the shock of understanding.

"Y-...Yun?" The young earth bender's jaw went slack. Stunned there for just a moment of confusion by the unanticipated appearance of the woman, Jae quickly shook from her reverie, glancing over her shoulder at Xiu. Accepting somewhat of a knowing quirk of her brow as a reply, the two suddenly sprung out in unison in the village woman's direction.

A quick and sharp gulp of air of air was all they could gather just as they had bounded off of the center stage of the arena through a blackened cloud of smoke and ash sprouted from a massive blaze that was starting below the edge. Jae forcibly pushed the air from her lungs as a thin trail of the darkened mass behind them seemed to grip at her heels and drag along until it finally dispersed just as they began to make a dash for the woman.

"Yun!"

Questions bombarded Jae's mind as they beat and thrashed their way through fire, earth and water benders alike. If it hadn't been the fire nation attacking them, it was nearly getting clipped by another bender's attack towards the aggressive men. As they neared the trembling woman, the dull hum of questions in the earth bender's head finally quieted, instead replaced by an eerie, blank silence that sent her mind spinning. Jae felt her knees just about buckle beneath her as she knelt down to the woman, finally seeing first hand that she had been burned and seemingly beaten.

Hurriedly stabbing her giant weapon into the ground to free her hands, Jae easily but gently lifted the shaken woman to rest in her well-built arms, "Yun, are you okay?! What are you doing here-...?" Jae strained to yell over the sound of a parade of shouts and shrieks, but despite the chaos, Yun's small and quivering voice rang deathly clear in her ears.

"They took my sister... Th-... The village... Diyu is...!"

Jae's face went pale, the commotion around her suddenly replaced by the dull hum of her thoughts once again.

Images of the small village of Diyu, her home, and her family surged her mind like a rockslide, much like that of the soldiers now inhabiting the domed arena. Jae's knuckles whitened as her fists clenched hard. The dark curtain of her hair concealed the emotions in her eyes, but her silence and trembling shoulders were clear enough to articulate the effect of her understanding.

Xiu knew now was not the time to sort emotions out. She didn't hear the words spoken, but she had figured out before the battle had even started what had befallen Diyu.

Jae's expression changed to that of a warrior as she felt hands fall upon her strong shoulders, preparing to attack who she assumed was her attacker. It seemed the other was just too quick, a hand striking out like the mouth of acobra on its prey, forcefully but gently jarring the back of Jae's head. An entire body sailed over the top of her, bare knees bending to brace a landing as the body continued onward, sprinting towards the cave opening. "We have to go now! Pick her up and come on!"

The tone in the water benders muffled voice was distinctly something that it never was; panicked. Their fellow elemental benders were no longer failing--they had failed. Any body that was not standing and not clad in Fire Nation armor was now making a retreat towards the entrance of the cave, hoping that it wasn't too late to call for help. Even those who tried to escape were falling like leaves as swarms of fire nation soldiers descended upon them like flocks of birds in a feeding ground.

Fully re-awakened by Xiu's vault over her shoulders and the quick smack to the back of her head, Jae shook herself, blinking her eyes hard before taking a long inhale of the thinning air. Yun looked up at the tall girl, still unable to read whatever emotion was displayed within her eyes, but her unvoiced questions were shushed with a short squeak of her own voice as she was suddenly hauled over abroad shoulder of the earth bender.

"I'm sorry, but you're going to have to hang on as well as you can."

With an earth-shuddering stomp of the ground, Jae exhaled in a forced huff and exploded forward after Xiu, with the young village woman over one shoulder, her other hand dragging the huge double bladed weapon of rock behind. Sparks flew back in their wake as rock scraped loudly against rock, pulling the attention of many of the fire benders, and effectively enlarging the pursuing party behind them.

Pulling in front of Xiu a ways before they reached the entrance, Jae's shoulders heaved, hurling and releasing the giant weapon forward like a javelin, busting the large rock door and frame out with amassive explosion of rubble. The smell of fresh air was blissfully welcomed. Jae's thrown weapon continued its path and thumped loudly as it stabbed into the ground outside of the arena.

Xiu ripped the small white piece of cloth that usually covered the bottom of her mouth away from it, inhaling sharply as though she had been doused and drowning in water. Ever since the wind had been knocked out of her, every breath she had taken had felt poisoned and strained within her lungs. Though she felt uncomfortable without the familiar fabric touching her lips, she felt as though it were suffocating her.

"Jae! Close the door once we've passed the entrance!" For once her voice was as crystal clear as the water she flung haplessly from her gourd onto the ground behind them. Her body stopped its motion momentarily, taking her bending stance to force the sprawled puddle of water on the floor to become a thin sheet of slick ice.

Jae quirked a perplexed eyebrow at her younger companion as she shifted Yun into a cradled grip, pausing for a moment as she waited for Xiu's sprint to catch her back up. Behind her, several armored figures slid and slammed into each other in a mock domino effect like the young water bender had hoped for.

"Won't they suffocate?! There are other benders in there, Xiu!" Jae squinted at the daylight hitting her dark-adjusted eyes abruptly as they finally tore out of the entrance.

"Exactly. They'll force the other benders to open the door, but by that point they won't be able to tail us!"

Without any other verbal reply, Jae nodded and gently laid Yun down a safe way from the entrance and made a dash back to the gaping hole in the hidden dome. Her hardened fist went flying once more, straight into and shattering the armored face of a Fire Nation soldier before grounding herself in her familiar widened stance. Fingers plowed heavily into the ground, cracking it as they dug in below her. A loud roar followed, escaping her as bullets of flame singed past her from the oncoming fire benders. From beneath her, she pulled a giant mass of rock up and over the entrance, seemingly tossing it up and extending it out of the land before beginning to seal the entirety over once more. A warm, liquid like substance was finally noted as it slipped down her side, but was quickly dismissed as she proceeded to seal the edges.

With a sharp exhale, Jae contentedly pat the dust from her hands before returning back to Xiu and Yun. The older village woman looked to Jae with worry in her eyes.

"It's going to be alright Yun, we'll get you to a doctor and go back to the village as soon as-..."

"That's not it, Jae! ...Your side..." Yun's trembling voice shook her.

A gloved hand moved to the moistened warmth at her side, but realization hit only after the bloodied hand rose to meet Jae's widened gaze. The crimson liquid spilt from her mouth after a single and violent cough, forced only by the rising fluid in her throat. During the battle, it seemed the sheer rush of adrenaline had completely dulled and numbed the wound Jae had received during the tournament, and after taking even more hits during the siege, it only returned with godly retribution. She doubled over, crouching low and shutting her own mouth with a hand as every fiber of her injured side seemed to cry out.

Xiu frowned, touching the empty gourd at her side, feeling it echo against the fabric of her clothes with the hollow sound of air. More-or-less, aside from a few menial burn wounds and a few wicked scrapes from belly diving, she had made it out of this battle unscathed, but also unable to tend to Jae's injuries. "Yun, until we find some water there's nothing we can do. Jae will be fine until then."

Jae shook her head, gripping tightly at her wound before forcing herself to stand. Strong, but strained steps followed as she made her way to the large weapon protruding from the ground. She wiped the blood from her lip before painfully pulling the weapon from the ground with her free hand and hauling it over her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I guess I won't be able to carry you. Are you feeling well enough to walk?" Jae's forced, weak smile spoke numbers.

Yun covered her mouth to hide her voiced tears.

Xiu frowned noticeably, emotions more vivid when her face was left uncovered. With gentle strides she stepped in front of Jae, quickly and painfully ripping the cloth belt from Jae's upper waist to cover the wound that seeped crimson down her side. With every tightening tug and pull, Jae grunted and hissed in discomfort as pain shot blindly through the right side of her body. "That will stop the bleeding. See? She'll be fine.The village needs us, I don't think we have the luxury of tending to our wounds."

Jae nodded in agreement, a few drops of sweat falling from her forehead to be absorbed by the dusty earth; sweat of both exhaustion and pain. At the sight of the blood dripping from the corner of Jae's mouth and her very own blood laced fingers, Xiu felt her stomach knot uncomfortably as worry ravaged her insides. Jae was tough, very tough, but how much blood had she lost? Could they make it back to Diyuwith enough strength to do any good for what was left of it? Even if not, Jae would go alone, even if Xiu and Yunwould plead and cry. At least this way Xiu could be there to help her if something else went wrong.

The walk that usually took no more than a half an hour took them nearly double. What little running they could do was hindered in every aspect. Every few minutes Xiu was forced to stop, her tired and smoke damaged lungs screaming for rest and decent unlabored breath. In retrospect, the right side of Jae's body would occasionally rebel against her, causing her step to falter and arms fall slack.

Each of the three felt a strange mixture of dread and relief flood over them as they started to travel up the crest that was the last stretch to Diyu.

The sky was no longer the sky, but was covered by broken, rolling tendrils of grey smoke that smothered any blue from sight. It no longer seemed like day time at all, but appeared to be some sort of sick setting of the sun. The sun itself appeared to have no power, drowning low in the sky in it'sown harvest blood. Ash was falling from the sky, not near as unique or beautiful as a snow flake, sticking to ground, hair and clothing all alike.

Xiu knew what was coming. It could be seen by the grim downward quirk of her lips. Even as she tugged her desert face mask back over her mouth and nose to block out the physical impurities in her air, her crystal eyes seemed gray and grim as the print of lettering marring the face of a tombstone.

Jae refused to give up hope. Diyu was filled with earth benders, albeit they didn't use their bending for fighting, they were apeople that didn't surrender without a fight. Until she saw it with her own two eyes, Diyu, her family, her friends, the people she was meant to protect were just fine.

At the peak of the hill, all hopes were massacred. Yuncrumpled down to her knees, harsh sobs shaking her slim form in shuddering quakes at the sight.

For a moment time froze. Jae jerked to a stop, every thought and emotion colliding into each other, none meeting ends or making enough sense to act on. Her eyes just processed the sight of flames shooting into the sky, the sound of yells, the crackling laugh of fire as it taunted her inability to protect her childhood home and the inhabitants that lay within it.

One thought finally managed to crush through the rest, forcing Jae to lurch herself into motion.

Revenge.

"Jae, no!" Xiu forced herself to rip her own eyes away from the towering flames to block the path the older earth bender was trying to travel. To this day, neither of the two girls had faced the Fire Nation personally. As nations they had always felt the enemy lurking in the distance, but never this close, never striking people they had known and cared about. Jae didn't know how to react, and rightly neither did Xiu, but her levelheadedness far exceeded any other rash plans of attack that might have came to mind.

"But I have to...!" Jae started helplessly, trying to push Xiuout of the way with little force.

"Look at me Jae!" Xiu yelled, cupping Jae's head aside her ears to yank her friends head downward to the best of her ability, forcing Jae's watery eyes to stare directly into her own. Tears streamed down in sooty streaks, falling for the family and friends she now feared for. Her whole life had just gone up in flames. Xiu's own eyes bore into hers, holding her attention, the cooling color helping to offset the fiery mess that blazed behind them. "Just look at me. We're outnumbered. If you go in there like this you could kill the villagers. It's just the town, just the buildings. The people are fine, we can still save the people, but not now. Not like this."

Jae shuddered once, dropping her gaze as her knees buckled beneath her. Xiu's hands went slack, watching with a sorrowful frown as Jae yelled and slammed her fist into the ground, cracking the earth beneath her knuckles. Suddenly all of her rage, terror, disappointment and sorrows poured out of her in a chest wrenching sob, realizing that there was nothing she could do.

Xiu dropped to her own knees, cradling Jae's head in her hands again as their foreheads touched, smoothing her hands through Jae's hair trying to calm the torrent of emotions. Jae's arms wrapped around her young companion, holding onto her, letting Xiu be the anchor that she needed.

They weren't sisters. They weren't related. A few months before they hadn't even known the other existed. Now they were all the other had.