Avatar: Scorching Earth // Not Accepting!

When Kesuk stepped back to take stock of the battlefield, he realized that Yotem had already finished off the other firebender and there was a lull in the fighting. He was sure they would run into more Fire Nation soldiers soon (perhaps even one of the fire rhinos he and Zasi had heard in the forest just this morning; Kesuk shuddered to think of the chaos that would cause), but for now there was a brief calm. Then he heard Lí's slightly panicked voice calling out to himself and the rest of the group (or rather, to Lí's 'fierce warrior friends'- in any other situation, Kesuk would have rolled his eyes). Lí said that Kyori ((almost said Kadie there lol XD)) was missing. With a quick glance around, Kesuk realized that he was right. Kesuk hesitated for a moment. He didn't exactly like Kyori much, but Lí was right in that she might end up being their only way off the island. In that case, it was vital that she not be captured or injured, or else they would all be trapped here with a Fire Nation army. Kesuk glanced at Zasi. She seemed to be nervous and had suggested that they retreat (as opposed to going directly into the fray like Lí was suggesting), but they couldn't do that without Kyori. Zasi would probably be alright. He'd taught her some things, after all. He would keep a close eye on her, too, to make sure she didn't get hurt. With his decision made, Kesuk moved over to stand beside Lí. "Alright, let's go find her then."

With the group of benders close behind, Lí began making his way back along the short path to the camp. Despite coming out of his fight a bit worse for wear, with some visible burn marks, Yotem still had the savage aura of a predatory animal around him, clearly looking forward to finding more soldiers.'Well, I guess that's kind of a good thing in this situation,' Lí thought to himself. In very short order, the small group reached the border of the camp, and Lí could hardly believe his eyes. The air was thicc with smoke. The ominous glow of burning tents lit the smoke. There were not many refugees in sight; perhaps some of them had escaped (at least from the camp, even if they can't go very far), and most of the rest must have already been captured or killed. Towards the center of the camp, Lí we able to see multiple figures moving, but he couldn't tell who they were through the haze. And then he heard it- from the same direction, a scream, "Help, please!" There could be no mistaking it; that was Ky's voice.

Zasi nodded her head as Lí urged them all into motion. She ran after the group, hoping Kyori was alright. How did Zasi miss Ky running off on her own? At least someone noticed. She gave the male earthbender a small glance as they ran. Maybe he was a nice guy. She hadn't really had much time to talk to him, so she wouldn't know. Zasi felt the air thicken and looked up to see a opaque cover of smoke where the peaceful camp use to be. She felt chills, despite the heat of her environment. Looking around in the smoke, she looked for anyone who could be left. She couldn't really see anyone, but she heard the Fire Nation soldiers barking out orders. Through the smoke she also heard a slightly familiar voice. It had to be Ky. "She's over there!" Zasi pointed to the general area that Ky's voice had some from. If only they could s- Zasi shook her head at her own stupidity. She was an airbender for crying out loud. She twirled her staff, creating just enough wind to get rid of some of the smoke. Now that they could finally see, they might have a chance of saving Kyori.

Kesuk ((oh hell I almost wrote Kilaun whoops lol!) ran along behind Lí as the group followed them. They entered the camp, and the smoke that hung thick in the air made things hazy and stung his eyes badly. He tried to breathe shallowly so as not to inhale too much. The only truly visible things were the tents, which glowed like huge torches through the haze. He could see, however, countless bodies lying on the ground beneath the layer of smoke. A lot of the refugees had tried to fight; they'd failed, obviously. It had been rather stupid of them, trying to fight trained soldiers and fire benders, but Kesuk couldn't exactly blame them. A sudden scream rang out through the air, crying for help. That was most definitely Kyori. Zasi called the group's attention to the direction the scream had come from, but it was too hard to pinpoint the earthbender's location with the smoke all around. Kesuk was about to turn around and find Zasi to tell her to clear the air for them when she figured it out herself. A huge gust of air rushed past them, scattering the smoke like fog beneath the late-morning sun. With the area clear, Kesuk could make out Kyori fighting three firebenders, although he could hear more fighting and the marching of many more soldiers who were still hidden in the smoke around the rest of the camp. Hopefully they could kill these three firebenders and save Kyori without alerting the rest of the nearby Fire Nation army that they were here.

At the sudden rush of air, one of Kyori's attackers looked over and spotted them. He opened his mouth, and with a mental curse, Kesuk sprinted forward. Distracted from calling for help, the man immediately started throwing short streams of fire at him. Kesuk weaved his way through the bursts. One caught him by surprise and he dropped and rolled, grateful he'd practiced the maneuver with his staff so it didn't hinder him. At that point, he'd finally closed in on the bender enough to attack, and he used the momentum from his roll to strike with as much power as he could; by now, though, the other two benders had noticed him. Too busy with his fight to look over his shoulder, Kesuk could only hope that the rest of the group (or at least Yotem and Lí) had followed his lead.

Upon hearing Ky's cry for help, Zasi pointed out the direction and cleared the smoke from the air around them with a gust of wind. The group saw Ky pinned to the ground by a Fire Nation soldier, with 2 more advancing on her menacingly. At the burst of wind, one of the advancing soldiers turned on the group, and Kesuk immediately sprinted towards him. Kesuk could clearly handle himself with one bender, but the other two had just noticed him as well. Without, Lí immediately sent a small volley of 4 stones flying at the second soldier. One made contact, but not with enough force to knock him out. Then, Lí quickly raised a wall of dirt in front of himself and the other benders. "Guys, fight from this cover! I'm going with Kesuk for Kyori!" he yelled to Zasi, Seijin, Kohaku, and Yotem. With that, he left the cover of the dirt wall and charged at the soldier. With his right hand, he withdrew his hunting knife from its sheath, and with his left, he shot a spray of dirt and pebbles up into the firebender's face, knocking his face mask off. Lí Sprinted straight at the man as he attempted to brush the dirt out of his face.

Kyori stuggled against the firebender's grip as he held her arms behind her back and knees against the ground; however much she strained, she was not stronger than him It was a waste of energy A waste of time. Anger burned ferociously in her eyes, but as one of the firebenders approached her with fists for flames, a small and growing light of fear emerged in them as he grew nearer. What seemed like just in time, the rest of the benders must have shown up because a gush of air cleared the smoke and she saw someone earthbending from the corner of her eye: Li.

Seijin ducked for cover once more as Li spoke, though it seemed like the amount of firebenders in the area had dwindled down some. She listened closely to his words and nodded to herself in agreement. She would help them rescue Kyori. Not juuuust because she was their ticket off this rock, but because she was the one who let Seijin out of the cell and stood up for her not to be killed by Li and Yotem. Buuuuut still if I help them they might consider letting me cross with them, she thought. Seijin took a deep breath and followed closely behind Li. She could make out Kyori's voice, but the thick dark smoke loomed heavily in the clearing. Thankfully Zasi cleared the area of smoke and Li raised some dirt for cover so she could keep her distance. They were ready to take those bastards on! Seijin slid behind the dirt mound and had to think fast. Bow, or fire. BOW OR FIRE? Fire might get confusing in a crazy fight like this against firebenders, so arrows it is. Or both? Both. Sejin pulled an arrow out of her bag and blew fire on them. Raising her bow, she shot the fire arrow straight into the arm/shoulder of the firebender holding Kyori down. The firebender let out a scream and violently released Kyori from his grasp. Seijin then grabbed another arrow, ready to attack again.

Zasi watched as Lí lifted the earth for some additional cover as well as ran to attack the second firebender. Turning her attention towards a sudden noise, she turned to take a look around them. She took a step towards the sound and let out a gasp as the air lit up the color of flames. There was definitely a Fire Nation soldier in the smoke haze somewhere. Glancing behind her she noticed everyone was busy trying to save Kyori. Zasi would have to be on the lookout for other soldiers. Suddenly she felt the earth tremble slightly, as if something heavy was approaching. Getting a dreadful feeling in her stomach, she took a few more steps forward. She saw the outline of what she could assume was something very large. The figure came a tad closer and Zasi knew exactly what it was. She turned and jogged back to the others. "We need to go now! There's a big problem heading this way!" Zasi yelled as she ran around the cover to help the others get Ky. She stopped when an arrow flew past her, hitting it's target. Ky was freed from his grip, and Zasi rushed to help her up. "There is a Komodo Rhino headed this way. We gotta go. Now." She called back to the others, itching to get on the move. She had never seen on in person, but she had seen drawings. She would be just as happy if she never saw one.

Kesuk let out a small breath of relief as, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lí send a volley of rocks at the other soldiers and then rush into battle. A moment later, several arrows thunked into the arm and shoulder of the last firebender, the one who was holding Kyori down. That freed her, at least, though Kesuk was too busy fighting to see who had shot them. So far so good.

Then Kesuk cursed as, in splitting his attention between his own fight and the others' fights, he got somewhat distracted and nearly missed a fire punch aimed right at his face. He ducked, twisted, and swept his staff behind the firebender's knees, making them buckle even as Kesuk rose up again. He shoved his staff into the soldier's back. It wasn't a powerful thrust, but it sent the bender sprawling in the dirt. Kesuk was about to knock him out (that would be easier than killing him, especially from this angle) when suddenly the ground rumbled. Kesuk jumped back from the firebender and turned around, scanning the edges of the smoke for the source of the noise. There- Zasi was staring at something outside their little clearing. As Kesuk turned his head to follow her gaze, she started running towards them, yelling a warning about a fire rhino headed this way. Just as she turned her back and started running, though, the rhino burst through the wall of smoke into the clearing and charged straight for Zasi.

With one quick blow, Kesuk knocked the firebender out and left him lying there, sprinting straight for the airbender. He reached her just in time to grab her and throw both himself and her out of the rhino's path. They hit the ground hard, Kesuk half on top of Zasi; as the rhino thundered by, Kesuk twisted half-around and struck out at the rhino's rider with his staff. He couldn't reach far enough, though, and he wasn't about to throw his staff like an idiot just for a slim chance to unseat the rider. Luckily the firebender wasn't pulling his rhino around to come after them, but they all had to get out of here quick. A fight with a fire rhino would make a lot of noise, and soon the rest of the firebenders in the camp would find them.