Last Airbender

Alexis was rather quiet for a few moments. It took a while for everything that she had said to sink in. She hadn’t thought about it like that really before…. Surprisingly, a small grin rose on her face, “Thanks Pala, but you don’t have to worry about me… But it’s nice to know you don’t hate me. It was hard knowing for a while, with you constantly trying to get away from me, saying I was cursed to have horrible things follow me around, one starts to figure that they’re not liked…… eh heh….” Her smile slid away by the expression on the older woman’s face, who clearly didn’t look amused.

“….” Alexis leaned up against a tree, glancing off at nothing for a moment, as if trying to think of words to say. Her hand settled on the lump on her head, trying to massage the painful point that it and Pala were making. “I think I may… In some way at least… Know where you’re coming from… But… it’s… it’s complicated…” Alexis trailed off, hoping that she’d stop giving her the look. Oh how she hated the look. Damn she was still giving her the look.

“……I suppose your have some point… From where it stands… From your point of view… it does sound idiotic…. But… *sigh* It’s not like that… For the longest time we were just allies of sorts in the whole mess on Fragment. Then… it became… something more… and… it was nice…” Alexis paused for another long moment. “But then… the part you’ve probably heard bits and pieces of… That’s where things sorta hit a rough patch… Since most acts could look bad and be good at the same time… Depending on where loyalties lie… Doubt the TM’s listening in all the way out here… But what do I know… I’ve never been in a war, much less… heh….” Alexis muttered a little to herself under her breath as she slid down from her shaky legs to the ground. “If I get my way… after this war I’d go to a place where that would never happen again… My problem is that I don’t like waiting I suppose…”

“Honestly… He’s either really good or really bad for Gale right now… He rescued the kid in a rather horrific way… but knowing who was involved… Knowing her far too well… Gale would have been dead otherwise… poor kid….” Alexis’ fingers began to tug and play with her necklace as she talked. “For the few months I’ve known him… I know that Gale loves him like family… more so than he ever liked me… but that’s fine… it’s good for him to have someone that cares about him… But I suppose the only thing that I can’t agree with you on is… The woman from your world? She was probably helpless, wasn’t able to, in her mind at least, fend off the blows. If Coden, or your man from your village was two faced… I suppose I am as well… We each have a darker side we try to hide.... You think people aren’t safe around him? I don’t think they’re safe around me.”

Alexis didn’t say much else, besides cradling her aching head with her hands, frustrated that she couldn’t fix the cut that refused to clot. “….Would you have any idea how to make this stop bleeding?”

The boy relaxed against Coden, sighing happily when his head was scratched. IT seemed that all things - good or bad - melted way when he was scratched right behind his ears and there was only that blissful, blissful feeling.

When Coden stopped, Gale watched the Gyspus for a second before copying him, picking up strange pumpkins and apples. He would be good, so he didn't eat any. But soon the wares took him near where Pala and Alexis were talking. Sensitive ears twitched.

"..either really good or really bad for Gale..."

What was good or bad for him? Gale thought as he inched closer, curious about what it was. for some reason it gave him a sinking feeling and made anxious. In all truth, he didn't want to hear what Alexis was talking about but for some reason he found himself inching closer and closer.

"He rescued the kid in a rather horrific way…"

He was crouched behind some bushes, positioned behind Alexis and out of view from the other woman. Who... who rescued him? A flash of memory that was physical weight, it seemed, and pushed him to his hands and knees. His back felt like it was on fire, same fire as those benders, but cool metal. Why... why did he keep.... P..papa? He snapped back to attention suddenly and focused on Alexis' words again.

"Gale would have been dead otherwise… poor kid…."

Now he had curled up into a small ball, hands clasped about his ears. He did not want to hear any more! No no no! No more! But he was too close and despite himself the words kept coming as muted whispers.

"...Gale loves him like family..."

The cold gray eyes suddenly had a face. Papa's face. Hard, marble with liquid rubies splashed about it. Gale's blood. The knife... the hands... the perverted twisting of the head scratchies. He meant it good - Gale felt no malice, nothing! - so why did it hurt so bad?

Alexis' words grew and grew and he could almost feel the wet, cold stone beneath him. This bite of the knife was digging into his back and arms. Desperately, he tried to forget, but memories beget other memories and now he was in two rooms at once, pale grins with searing metal and cold gray eyes that held no love.

So much pain. But Alexis had said he had been rescued...

Gale could not understand that.

"I'll...i'll leave him alone, if you really think he's important. But..that means i'll have to keep an eye on you, because i refuse to let him turn around and stab you in the back. I saw how gale was...i couldn't bare to see that happen again...i've already seen enough children with ruined lives to know that i need to stop it happening to anyone."

Pala tore a bit of her clothing to wrap around Alexis' injury.
"You should at least try to coer it, so all the blood doesn't drain out of you." After taking a closer look at Alexis, she noticed that despite the amount of fighting she had done, the girl had barely any bruises or scarring. She was confused...it was as if Alexis ahd never healed normally.

"i'll stay with you...for now. But i'll be watching him." She sighed. "i'm used to sleeping with one eye open, anyhow."

Coden hadn't payed much mind to Gale. Just a small grin when he say the boy picking up things to help. Then turned away to attend other things. Checking the old man. Settling his ostrich horses. Ensuring they still had a ride.

When he turned back to put help Gale finish. to put the boy in the cart and call on the others. Gale was gone. His heart sank and he wanted to panic. The soldiers...no, they were still out cold. He calmed himself. He could have run off very far. maybe he went to get Alexis and Pala?

Leaving Angelique with the Cart, Coden wandered off to find Gale. He didn't have look go far. Just a few meters into the woods, He near tripped over the boy. Crouched low to the ground in a little ball. He almost though the boy was squatting and started to scramble back.

He stopped when he realized something. Hands on ears. Closed in. Shaking; just the slightest. Hesitant, Coden knelt down and caught the boys shoulder. Giving him a small nudge.
"Trooper....? Gale, what's the matter?"

He wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He wanted to beg and plead and sob and wail and completely break down. But that would be losing. And he couldn't lose. no. He couldn't lose. He never won, either, but he couldn't lose. Losing meant more pain, more hurt. It did. When he lost last time, to the gray and red eyes, the pain kept coming.

In fact, it got worse. Way worse. So bad he almost killed himself mentally. Almost fell off that cliff and drowned in the sea of mental abyss. But he still felt the smooth thrusts of the knife even then, even that far back. Windmilling at the edge, rocks bouncing, bouncing, down to make a dull splashing sound.

Wasn't there a way he could defend himself now? Couldn't he fight back against these gray eyes? Why couldn't he do it last time? Cold, stone gray. Why couldn't he have fought back? What stopped him? What blocked him? What crippled him? Was he still crippled now?

A slight peek from under his arms to the one who held him. Mental jolts of agonized fear. Gray eyes, soft like clouds on a dull day. But his eyes squeezed shut again. 'I'm scared,' he thought. 'I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared. Please go away. Don't hurt me. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I'm sorry. It's not my fault. Please don't hurt me anymore!'

He was silent and he did not move.

The boys silence bothered him. It had never been good before when the boy was quiet like this. Looking into shockingly green eyes, he couldn't help but wonder what the boy was thinking. Wishing painfully that he could read minds.
Coden remembered days when Gale had been little more than a mute. Touching, feeling and miming his needs and desires. Gale simply wasn't doing anything right now.

What ever was matter with the boy, he knew he couldn't stay here all day trying to figure it out. Even if just a few more questions might get him to talk. With concern eating at his insides, Coden pulled Gale against him.
Combing his fingers through Gales hair, he looped an arm under the boys legs to pick him up. "You can talk to me, Gale. Lets go wait for Alexandria by the cart."

“Thanks” Alexis said as her hand pressed on the cloth, cringing slightly as it sent bolts of pain throughout her head. Her hand fell into her lap, she probably should stop touching that. “After all the $@#@# that’s happened on this world in the last day or so… that’s probably not a bad idea anyway…”

Alexis got to her feet, a little unsteady on her legs as she glanced back towards the others. They should probably head back… The walk back was rather quick, Alexis unsure of what to say after their little ‘talk’…. “Since we’re not on Fragment right now, we could… I don’t know… have a fresh start or something… as most of the time I see you we’re attacked by a giant monster or something silly like that… It’d be nice…”

By this time, they reached the small clearing, all of the debris picked up and the knocked out guards piled off to the side of the road. What concerned her was the two in the cart. Hesitating for a second she quickened her pace to the cart, “This hasn’t happened in a while…” She muttered to herself as she walked up to Gale and Coden. It really had been a while since he had gone fully catatonic… She wasn’t sure if this was going to help break him out of this mental prison he kept himself in, or regress him even further… she wasn’t very knowledgeable about these things. But basing it off of previous experiences, there was some sort of trigger. She ruffled Gale’s hair, “Hey Gale…” She said, unsure if she should take him from Coden or not… “Do you know what started this?”

Hands touched him and grabbed him - moving. Where to? He did not react. Assuming it was to pain. Though nothing happened. The body stopped moving, held him against a broad chest with a thump thump thumping of a heart. His hands stayed put and his eyes stayed shut.

They were coming again, now. The memories. It wasn't the worst of them, though. Just the beatings. The fists, the clubs, the whips, the chains and cuffs. Most vivid, however, were the stones and the dampness. The coarse wall scratching his open back and sore arms, the coldness seeping into his bleeding skin.

The boy shivered when Alexis ruffled his head. His tightly shut eyes cracked open just a bit before snapping shut again. The bright light hurt in comparison to the dark and dank cell of his memory. But something deep inside of him wanted that light.

Pala followed after Alexis, somewhat grudgingly. She felt awkward, as Gale started behaving unusally again. What had happened now?
She caught a passing glance at Coden, and then Angelique, and fought to hold down a snarl at each of them.
She kept an eye on coden, but also on the surrounding. She had a bad feeling...which was confirmed as she saw a large contingent of soliders heading in their direction.
"Look out.." She said, trailing off with herself. "There's alot of them. I can deal with them, but i need time to conjure something big. I need somebody to at least distract them."

Still Quiet. Still motionless. Practically a lifeless little toy siting in his lap. Coden wasn't sure what to do with him. Was I ever like this as a boy? What did...he do? How did he cope with me?
He tried to envelope Gale in his arms and hug him and nuzzle him, but the gesture felt awkward. Silly and uncomfortable.
A serious and concerned expression morphed into a strange and forced smile. A gurgle of a chuckle pressing past his teeth. Followed by a brief and sheepish guttural cough, as he cleared his throat embarrassingly.

Lips parted to speak words, but only half aired sounds passed, sounding more like wheezing and huffing. A story, a Joke, something to make the boy laugh at least. but all of his jokes were dry and dirty. garbled with adulterated and crass humor fit for a sailors tongue.

Being a father figure was hard when he actually tried. he was about to just poke the child in the side. Maybe that'd make him squeak in surprise, in the least. His digit barely found it's place between the boys ribs when Alexis and Pala appeared from the very air. Surprised, he stare between then dejectedly. More so at Alexis.

"I don't know." A tiny catch of hopelessness hung at the edge of his voice. Shuffling from the cart, Coden carefully handed the young boy to Alexis. It was for the best, he knew. If he was like this, then....
"I'll take care of them. That is, if you trust me enough." There was a small bite in his tone. He knew Pala didn't trust him. She never trusted him. He didn't blame her though. He shouldn't be.

Angelique leaned against the cart as she waited impatiently for the others to return. She hadn't bothered to help with the clean up or anything, but at least it seemed that they would be moving soon...or so she hoped. When one guard began to twitch too much, she kicked him in the back of the head, causing him to lay still again.

"Alright, any time now..."

The first to reappear, unsurprisingly, were Coden and Gale. Though the fact that Gale seemed to have gone catatonic was rather surprising. She stayed where she was, however, as it wasn't her concern what happened to the boy mentally. She just wanted him alive so that Alexis would be more willing to get them out of there. Next came Alexis and Pala, the later of whom gave her a glare. She barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"You know, I told you we should've gotten out of here sooner," Angelique said, stepping up toward Pala to get a better view of the approaching soldiers. "We may just want to ditch the cart and run for it."

After all...she wasn't about to volunteer for distraction detail. Let someone else put themselves in harm's way. With her powers cut thanks to this world and no way of telling how her magic would be affected, she wasn't feeling very charitable.

Oh well if worse came to worst...she glanced back at the unconscious soldiers and stepped back from the others. It wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea to keep a uniform. It was hard to say when it might become useful. Glancing back to make sure that no one was paying her any more attention, she grabbed a hold of the smallest soldier from the pile (that she could reach, anyway) and began to drag them off into the woods.

As she began to pull the armor off of the figure, she had to smile. 'At least they wear black...it's a definite step up from green and brown.'

Alexis took Gale in her arms, grudgingly sitting on the edge of the cart, the farmer seemingly taking refuge in the back. She sighed slightly as the battle started without her, stupid overprotective natures… Turning Gale in her arms so that he was facing away from the fight, she rocked him slightly in her arms, trying to think of something to say that would bring him out of this state again. Unable to think of anything brilliant, she told him stories that she had told to the little kids back at home, about dragons, senmurvs, Imugi, and intergalactic space battles, all the while watching over his head at the soldiers and the brawl that she couldn’t help in.

Speaking of those soldiers, a few broke away from whatever Pala and Coden were doing, heading towards the vehicle. Alexis glanced around, no one was coming this way to prevent them from doing what they wanted… “Hold tight Gale” She said, hopping down onto the ground, the boy still in her arms, tucked away so that he wouldn’t see them, or the soldiers to see most of his features. Bracing her feet on the ground, she took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, feeling the air currents pushing and churning around them. Suddenly she twisted, thrusting her foot around in a sharp spin kick, sending a jet of air towards them, knocking them clean into the air and down hard on the ground.

There was a long pause in the fight it seemed, as several heads twisted towards the two of them. She heard someone mumbling something about an Avatar and bending, and she groaned, this was just like those $@#$@#$ earth controlling soldiers… What the #@$@#$^$ did was so special about making air move around? All the other guys bent elements too, what was so special about air? Before they could do anything, Alexis headed off, Gale in tow. She rushed past Pala as several of the soldiers pursued them. “Does this work as a distraction?” Alexis teased as she lead them around in circles around the clearing, waiting for a moment where she could get enough distance between them to counterattack.

He listened halfheartedly to the stories that Alexis told. The thing that began bringing him out of his state was her voice. The inflection and the tone helping him surface from the memories to realize he was pressed against a female chest now. It wasn't Coden's - thank thank thank! He squeezed his eyes shut and clung more tightly to Alexis as she tried to drown out the memories and sounds of fighting.

then she started running about. Gale could feel it. Kick. Run. Run, run, run, run, run. Finally turning himself about, he saw the soldiers with their fire wielding powers. These were bad men. They tried to hurt Gale and Alexis. They deserved to die.

Finally, he remembered his powers in the most rudimentary of ways. He raised a hand, pointed to a small cluster of soldiers and exploded them. Rented from the inside out, blood splashed everywhere as if from a fountain. Splats and splurts followed as intestines and chunks of flesh hit the ground, hit the trees, hit the other fighters. The other fire nation soldiers stared in disbelief as the small child cuddled back into Alexis' arms, tired again. Explosions always took a great amount of energy.

And he still needed some to hold back the memory of the rapes.

"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT!?" Pala wailed, as the mosst horrific scene she had ever laid eyes upon took place before her. One of her eyes twitched, and she felt her strength suddenly waver. But, it wasn't over yet, as the ground began to softly tremble. Trees began to shatter in the distance, crushed underneath a large fire nation tank rolling in to put an end to them. She wasn't sure if the power she was summoning was ready, but she couldn't wait. All at once, the ground lifted around her, enveoping her completely, to form a large stone creature. It was mostly formless, apart from two large arms and the multitude of holes to stop pala from suffocating.

The tank rolled in, and the firebenders inside unleashed a wave of fire. Pala, covered in stone, leapt in the way and absorbed most of the attack. With a great heave, the two large whip-like arms lifted up high, then slammed down onto the tank, crushing the roof, pounding it inward and smashing anybody inside. After a flury of blows, the rock slid away around pala, and the strength in her legs gave out; she collapsed to the ground, barely breathing.

Alexis had just gotten enough distance between herself and the soldiers to start contemplating a counterattack when suddenly there was a horrid sound behind her. Twisting around, she stopped running, as there was nothing to run from. Glancing down at her legs to see spatters of blood over to the boy that caused the… she didn’t even know what to call it. A sickening feeling rose up in her stomach, she hated killing people. Mindless monsters and non-living Tarot soldiers were fine… But these guys were just normal people. To them, they were probably the bad guys… she didn’t like killing people who probably had a home, family waiting for them… Swallowing down the heated, churning feeling in her gut, she grappled Gale closer to herself. Needed to get him out of the fight… For their sakes as well as his…

Alexis skidded to a stop just in time to miss a colossal golem of stone and earth rise up out of the ground. Realizing that Pala was inside, she stopped to watch as the other woman smashed the tank into pieces. Today was apparently show-off-powers-that-you’ve-never-used-before-day apparently… And here she was powerless except for being able to send breezes at people… That sucked…

As Pala fell to the ground, she abandoned her earlier goal of getting Gale off to the cart and set the child down next to the woman. Checking her pulse and gauging how hurt she was. They both should be somewhere safe where they could rest after their expenditure, but as the soldiers started to rush towards them, she knew that without her teleporting powers, she had no chance of moving them now. She patted Pala comfortingly before standing up, “Just sit tight for a few minutes… ok? I got it covered…”

Slipping into a comfortable stance, Alexis’ hands wove around in the air, creating circular patterns that for some reason felt right. Following the motions set out for her by this new magics, gusts of wind began to encircle her and the exhausted pair at her feet, shielding them from the oncoming forces. As Alexis continued to work, violent bursts of wind pushed the soldiers back, picking up dust and debris. Blinding, pebbles tearing through the air at painful speeds, blocking and snuffing out their pyrokinetic attacks… Maybe this air stuff wasn’t so bad… for now… Alexis thought wearily to herself as she kept going, hoping that she’d last longer than the soldiers did.

Coden had vanished from the road as the skirmish began. It was too late to make any kind of distraction. But he could still slim down the numbers. Binding his sleeves close to his wrist and leggings to his ankles, Coden slipped through the trees. Using subtly to over come numerous soldiers stealthily Tracking through the woods to reach the cart. He tried not to kill them, but pressure points were armored and out of each. Most suffered broken or damaged limbs. A few stragglers you had to fight.....well. The least he could say is it at least hadn't been a very bloody end.

With the cart protected, Coden moved on. Returning to road. Dashing out behind the armed forces. The giant golem was a shocking sight, but he reminded himself of Pala's plan and need for distraction. Telling himself it was just her and continuing on his way. He tried to lessen the numbers.

Charging through groups of soldiers at a time, he caught them off guard. Dragged unsuspecting men off mounts, slammed men into each other. Stole one's weapons and used them to his benefit; A wide scimitar that proved useful in deflecting flames. All the while, he never used his own flames. Intent on fighting with brute force and agility.
It wasn't long before he took out back end soldiers. Just in time as Pala's Golem failed her, leaving the woman collapsed and surrounded by a hand full of soldiers yet.

He cursed heavily under his breath. Alexis and Gale were right there, unprotected. Forget the curious blood splatters written across the road. That was Pala's doing for all he knew. He charged into the fray when a flurry of wind drew up, casting aside the fire benders flames and pushing him back a half a step. He hadn't even gotten close, and her wind powers were that powerful. She was a natural.

Shaking his head of distracting thoughts, Coden used Alexis whirl wind to his advantage. Careful of his footing, He faced the heavy torrent and destroyed the remains of the soldiers while they were distracted with facing Alexis. didn't bother with sparring lives. He'd tried to be subtle before, but his party just didn't seem to get that hint from the start.

When they all dropped like flies, Coden stood back and looked over the bloody scimitar. Cringed at the sight and reluctantly cast the blade into the ground beside one of the many dead soldiers.

The armor was heavier than what she was used to wearing, that was certain, though Angelique had to admit as she finished pulling the helmet on, leaving off the faceplate for now, the number of layers she was now wearing were quite hot. It was nice to not have to use up so much energy regulating the air temperature.

Faceplate in one hand, she bent to pick up the soldier's spear. Though speaking of energy...she glanced down at her new clothes. At this point it would be a shame to see them burned to ash if something unpleasant should happen. As her magic had worked in the prison cell and there didn't appear to be any bodies of water nearby, she decided to give it a try. Concentrating on the needed symbols, she let her energy flash, causing her fire to burn fine lines onto the inside of the fabric and armor.

Now she worked the seals, meeting little resistance. She nodded to herself, straightening up. Now the clothes should withstand any fires. Turning back in the direction of the road she slowly began making her way back, hampered slightly by the number of layers and their collective weight.

"Time to check and see if the fighting's over or not." Pulling up the faceplate, she secured it in place and continued up the slope and onto the road.

Admittedly of all the things she had expected to find when she got up there, stepping in a pile of blood and guts hadn't been one of them. She let out a strangled noise of surprise and jumped back, staring. A moment later, she was pushed further back by a gust of wind. Staring around, she picked herself up off the ground, only to have what she supposed was her 'commanding officer' run over to her.

"Where have you been, soldier?" he grabbed her arm and pushed her toward the other fire nation soldiers. "They need your help!"

'I wonder if I could make it back into the woods?'

Reluctantly she moved toward the other soldiers...who were apparently getting their asses kicked by Alexis' wind powers.

'I swear if any of those idiots attacks me...I'm going to kill them.'

Taking up a place in the back of the group, she formed the necessary seals in her mind. If the clothing spell had worked, then this should as well.

'Time for you people to start going night night...'

Three small fires sprang up on the armor of soldiers in front of her, searing small lines of unrecognizable characters onto them before the soldiers they belonged to dropped to the ground, unconscious.

'Oh goody, people are looking panicked. Act natural...and hope that they don't think to remove their armor...'

She fell in with the other few remaining soldiers, pretending to be one of them and concerned for their fellow comrades. As soon as she got the chance and recovered from the first spell, she'd knock some more of them out.

He sat where Alexis had set him and he scratched at the dirt, making rivulets that he then filled up again. Either too tired or unconcerned with what was happening outside of Alexis' whirlwind at that moment, he moved pebbles about, making a circle, then a square, then a triangle. It wasn't terribly fun, but neither were most things in his life.

A thumping caught his ears and he looked up in time to see some more fire nation guards collapse. More still coming... Look at them... he could feel their malice. Feel their willingness to attacked and capture and torture and kill. Under ground, in cold dank cells where the beatings would take place over and over again, with the unobtainable water drip drip dripping in the corner and the red water drying on his back and arms, suspended in the arm by manacles like jaws.

Was he still able to escape? Did he still have enough power to? Unconsciously, he checked it. Unconsciously, he summoned what he could, more readily available than he previously thought since he remembered most of the attacks against him.

Slowly raising a finger, pointing past Alexis. Concentrating... concentrating... on the feel, the way their bodies moved and the way they were set up. There. There was the heart. And the lungs. And the liver and the kidneys and the intestines. There was where he wanted to bury his power and energy.

And so he did. And so he released it with a zeal, slight grin cutting across his face as the last of the soldiers were obliterated, recreating the morbid act from earlier.

Running like rivers was the blood and he remembered the way their blood finally stained the ceiling and walls and he laughed to himself, if just for a second.

Pala managed to sit herself up, planted weakly on the dusty ground. Her body felt oddly detached. She couldn't see this herself, but to everyone else who saw her, her eyes were whited out. In her own vision, the entire owlrd was shifted, as if struck by gale force winds. Looking at the soldiers, she could see the spirits, hard and jagged, only to be blinked out as they were killed. Pearing around, she saw Alexis' spirit, somewhat clouded at the edges, but bright nevertheless. Coden's was different - dark, and clouded in parts. There were flecks of pure white, but were surrounded by the darker shades. Gale...poor gale. His wasn't like the others, it was like a vortex, continuously spinning around him in shades of white grey and black. She didn't quite understand what all of it meant...she looked down at her hands, which were black, but ended at the wrists, where most of the rest of her remained white.

Everytime gale destroyed one of the soliders, a crack of black lightning would flash through his spirit...that looked tremendously ominous...
"G..Gale...you've got to stop!" She coughed.
"Alexis, don't let him kill any more..soldiers. Something bad might happen.."

Just a few more soldiers and this fight would be over. At least for today. Picking up his pace, Coden fell into step behind a rather petite soldier. Probably a young man. but not a child. He raised his hands up grabbing the soldier helmet, unaware of the female disguised inside. His arm flinched, pausing in their swift jerk when all at once the armor fell slack and blood gushed out into a chunky pile at his feet.

The next thing he heard was Pala's screeching. that was Gale? Gale did that? Gale turned all those bodies into pulp? He never knew the boy was capable of a massacre to that extent. It terrified him, a little. And excited him all the same. Dropping the helmet still hanging in his hands, Coden glanced across the road to where Gale was sitting in the dirt. A tiny chuckle escaping his lips.

Nostalgia hit him hard. Followed by heavy concern. He'd have been the first to approach Gale, but knowing the cause of his condition, Coden remained planted to where he stood. Unable to be of help. He'd only make things worse, he was sure. Cursing himself, Coden dropped the helmet and took a step back. "D-dah nah...."

Alexis had lost herself in the constant weaving and twisting of the air, constantly working with the conflicting forces to make a cohesive loop of air, coiling around the three of them and spreading outwards. The sound of her name, almost drowned in the winds, brought her out of it, her arms dropping to her sides, the gust dying away. As the dust settled, the true extent of the carnage was revealed, causing Alexis to take an unsteady step back, away from the pools of blood and corpses. Dizzily, she turned around, feet slipping on the ground due to fatigue from the constant bending. Realizing what Pala must have been referring to, she dropped down next to Gale, hands grasping onto his arms, forcing him to look at her.

“Gale, don’t do this anymore. Leave the fighting to us, ok? We… We have it covered, I don’t want you to have bloodstained hands. Please… Just don’t… Not like this…” She paused for a moment, realizing something. There was one member of their group missing. Where was Angelique? If she remembered correctly about her species, she’d have resurrected by now… Unless… She was just killed a few moments ago… Twisting around, she scanned the line of corpses, recognizing the slight remnants of her aura… Right next to Coden… $@#$#@...

Having no time to explain, she shot out her arm towards him, a blast of air shooting him back away from the spot just moments before the spot was blasted with an intense pillar of fire.

Angelique felt odd for a fraction of a second before pain hit and blackness took over. For a minute she waited in the nothing, not truly aware, and then she was being pulled forcibly back to her decimated body, the remains of which burst into super-hot flames when her spirit hit.

When consciousness returned, the first thing she did was groan. Ash littered the ground around her from things (and carcasses) that had been too close to her when she resurrected. Sitting up, she glared around at the other four.

"Okay which one of you morons blew me up?" The last three words were ground out through gritted teeth as she continued to glare. Pulling herself to her feet, she snatched the fire nation helmet from Coden.

"I'll take that," she snapped, tucking it under her arm and turning towards the cart. She was slightly disoriented and wouldn't mind sitting back down. The common side effects of resurrection. The spirit didn't like having to readjust to the physical world quite so suddenly so there was always a short span of fatigue, and in her case: extreme irritability.

When she realized no one was moving (the rather stunned farmer included), she stopped, turning on heel.

"Will you idiots stop gawking and get it in gear? I want to get out of here before we get into another lethal fight. I mean really...I actually get involved and go under cover so I can help you morons out and you KILL ME!" With a slight glare at the farmer, daring him to object (though he seemed slightly unsure of what he had just seen), Angelique pulled herself up onto the cart and sat down, brushing ash off of her clothes and hair.

Gale looked at Alexis' back, slightly disbelieving. What!? They had wanted to kill them! Why not kill them first? What should he have done otherwise?! He grumbled slightly, realizing who it was that he had accidentally killed, but not caring about the flurry of flame at which she returned. After all, Alexis was shielding him.

when the flames died down, he stood, brushing the dirt off his pants. Then, walking through the blood soaked dirt, boots squelching slightly, he passed Alexis and gave Coden a wide berth. He remembered the beatings he received at his hands for no apparent reason and hated the man, glaring at him with hard yellow eyes. For some reason, he didn't feel as if he could kill the man right now.

Well, he was pretty hungry. And tired. didn't he just wake up? Didn't really matter right now. He followed Angelique on wobbly legs and hopped up on the end of the cart. There... in the corner... he saw Puppy. Feeling slight shame as he reached over with trembling fingers to grab the toy, he debated whether or not to show interest in it anymore.

Likes were destroyed. They were broken. Alexis wouldn't break it, but there were others. He looks over his shoulder at Angelique and then at Pala and lastly Coden again.

Wasn't there a way he could hide the toy? To make it go bye-bye without really making it go away forever. Holding the toy, he closed his eyes and concentrated with a frown and anger etched on his face. But despite the fact that he could remember the concept of vanishing his stuff, he could not bring it to full use. though the boy had regained some of his memories, there was still more that was lost to him.

Pala felt the balance between the two powers within herself re-align. The sudden burst of elemental energy had been balanced by her shaman heritage. When one held two major powers, the useage of one had to be balanced by the other, or they would fall of the scale and shatter inside. The world returned to normal inside her eyes and the whiteness slid away.

She had recovered a little now, and edged over to Alexis.
"I...i saw his spirit. Unlike everybody elses, his was a maelstrom, it kept spinning and storming. Ours is more cloudly, but his was a turbulent storm. And..whenever he.." She looked downwards. "Whenever he killed those men in the way he did, his spirit would be marked by black scars. If he keeps doing this, he won't ever recover. He'll be an emotional and mental wreck for the rest of his life..."

"It might not be so bad if he were in a fine state, he might comprehend what he was doing, and the choices he was making. But like this, he's twisting and turning and he doesn't know where he is going, and soon he'll be lost."

First breath stealing blast of wind, then a resurrective flash of heat and flames. It was enough to knock him silly. If only it had been enough to blind him to Gales obvious avoidance of him. The way the child look at him; it was heart wrenching. Gale was remembering.

Like it was nothing, though, he picked himself up and dusted off his earth kingdom uniform. This wasn't a time to let feelings get the best of him. Damned if it didn't hurt, though, when he over heard Pala muttering to Alexis. 'This is stupid...you never cared before. Should have just let the boy die. It would have hurt less. You wouldn't have had to grieve over his steady demise every waking day....' Leaning on a step at the front, Coden bowed his head and cursed heavily. Silencing the voice of ridicule in his mind. 'I hate being human...'

He refused to ride in back of the cart, unable to stand being close to Gale with his memories in tact. not just because of his guilt or Gale denial for him. but because of the child mental instability. he knew it too well. He wouldn't risk it. He chuckled half halfheartedly at the idea of just taking of the farmers ostrich horses and riding on alone. Distance was best in these cases. But also unsafe. Stealing his emotions away, Coden locked them in an imaginary box and locked that box somewhere deep inside himself. To make baring the ride ahead of them just a little easier. he had a feeling the box might have holes, though...
"Hurry up and get it....We need to move...", he called out, hardly casting a second glance to the massacre he silently knew they should hide before leaving.