Last Airbender

Jing-Wei strolled down the hall accompanied by two of the other Dai Li. It was annoying to always have to have them watching her, but as she couldn't bend Earth, she unfortunately was left needing their help for even the simplest tasks down in the headquarters. Tasks such as opening doors. She had stopped and was currently glaring at a bare patch of wall as she waited for it to be opened for her. Like clockwork the wall slid away allowing her to pass through into the room beyond, her two bodyguards still trailing behind.

She hated being at anyone's mercy.

It was interesting to think of them as bodyguards considering that she couldn't actually die. Touched by spirits...both a blessing and a curse. It would've been nice if said spirits had decided to not screw with her waterbending or at the very least give her earthbending instead of fire. Fire wasn't exactly looked well upon in this day and age, but at least it would give her an advantage out in the field. Unless there was water nearby she could pass as a firebender. She was just waiting for the day that Long Feng decided to actually utilize her abilities as such. She had to admit that as much as she appreciated the Dai Li taking her into their ranks after "the incident", she wouldn't mind getting out to the surface again soon. She had already recovered, after all. Physically anyway...her bending still left a bit to be desired.

Jing-Wei glanced around the large room, scanning the crowd. Spotting her quarry, she made a beeline, dodging rocks and Dai Li, for the airbender.

"Good morning Ling. Up to practice bright and early as ever I see." Which was odd since she was the early riser. She could never sleep past dawn...

She waited expectantly as Ling stared at her in confusion at first until one of Jing-Wei's bodyguards stepped forward and whispered something to her. Realization dawned.

"Really...I haven't been out of commission THAT long," Jing-Wei said, giving her friend a teasing look. "I can't believe you've forgotten me that quickly."

Her joking seemed to be lost on Ling who continued to give her an odd look as if trying to figure her out.

"Sorry...I'm just a little tired is all," Ling said eventually, tone quiet. She used her airbending to lift a small rock from her hand.

"Right..." Jing-Wei furrowed her brow in confusion. Nothing was out of the ordinary but there was this strange nagging sensation at the back of her mind that she was missing something...or that something was amiss. She brushed it aside, however. There really wasn't anything out of the ordinary except for a tired Ling. "Maybe you shouldn't be up so early then."

"What time is it?" Again in that soft, muted, mostly monotone voice. Jing-Wei didn't know what it was about Ling's tone that was bothering her so much today. She'd always been the more outgoing of the two...she knew that...

"I don't know exactly, but my guess is early." She shifted slightly, for once questioning her internal clock...and something else...

"Okay then." Almost dreamily Ling returned her attention to her practice.

Jing-Wei stood and watched as the girl returned to her airbending katas for a few moments before, after a very pointed glance from one of her bodyguards, she sighed and began working on her own as well. Fire first, then she'd have water brought into the area to work with...same routine as always. The moves themselves felt almost foreign to her...of course she was working on her firebending, and truth be told she had been slacking a bit lately, more preoccupied with dissecting anything she came across. She didn't know why, but the diagrams of the newest Firenation mechanical monstrosity interested her more than her bending...

She shook her head to clear it as she began another set, sending flames toward the empty wall.

When Gale came to insist they leave, Coden silently agreed. As he rose from his chair, a firm but gentle hand pressed against his shoulder. Stiffening, he cast a side glance to the owner of said hand, perplexed to see Mushi standing over him with a disheartening look on his face. “Be careful where you are going, wont you? It would be lovely to see you and your boy again in my new tea shop.” Rising, to his full height, Coden brushed the mans hand away. “Don't act like we are friends. We are only acquaintances.” Iroh nodded agreeingly. “Perhaps sharing a cup of tea with a person is all it takes to make friends?”
“Sometimes I wish that were true,” Coden muttered. They could surely use some friends in this world, much as he hated to admit. Before he turned to leave, Iroh offered the Gyspus a decorative cloak. Coden looked inquisitively at the item before it was stuffed into his hands.”Getting around won't be easy in that outfit. Especially if your boy is wearing yours, hm?” Coden looked at the man oddly again as he was tugged down the the mans level and the cloak thrown around his shoulders. “Old people know everything. Now go find your friends. And be careful.”

Kindness and hospitality were a strange thing to Coden. He never could get use to it. But with a pat on the shoulder, He remotely bowed his head and lifted the hood to the cloak as he turned and left the shop out the front door. He gave Gale a curious look as he was pulling his sleeve down. What had he been up to? He wanted to ask, but the boy swiftly dragged him down the flier covered streets.
Upon the end of the search stopping at the edge of a lake, the Gyspus became livid. Holding his ground a good few yards from the edge. “You're certain?” He'd ask. Of course he knew Gale was certain. He had that look....

The boy had dragged Coden all about the city. He had first gone t their old house, probing the area for feelings of Alexis. It was more of a mark of her feelings and mentality. The boy probed outwards with his mind, feeling around the ground and items. Then he took off, following the path the Dai Li took just the day before.

He looked about himself, pausing in a busy square. His ears twitched and he looked around. Alexis had been here, but long ago. More recent, though, was the feeling of the ones who took her. Gale shuddered, and tugged the cloak on tighter to hide his wing before continuing on. As they walked through the city, farther and farther away, both came to a lake. Gale probed the area some more and nodded at Coden’s question. “Deep down… lots of passages.” He pointed to the lake. “Gotta go in it first, though.”

But this would be a bit more difficult than he thought. The tunnels didn’t start until about… 20 or so feet in. Gale knew he could blast away the rock. But getting in there would be the difficult thing. Unless… Gale took a couple steps closer to Coden and around them snapped up a large bubble shield. Now there was air they could breathe and Gale could blast away rock until they got to tunnels. The boy walked on, the bubble shield following him. There was a bump and he turned around, Coden not moving.

“We gotta go into the water,” the boy said, pointing. Coden didn’t seem willing. So Gale trudged back, and grabbed his sleeve. “C’mon. There’s a shield.” The boy tugged and, reluctantly, Coden followed. Once his feet left the ground, the shield spread to cover that spot as well, morphing with his shoes so no water got in.

Even before Gale entered the water, it began parting, as if pushed. Then the stepped into it. But he did not get wet. As he and Coden went into the lake, completely submerged, the water stay out of their shield. The boy continued, eyes closed. He continuously probed at the ground, finding - there! A tunnel!

“Here,” he said, stopping. Then he held tight to Coden’s sleeve. “I’m going to explode it now.” Before Coden could answer with a better idea, the ground underneath the two gave way and they fell. The shield shrunk and vanished. Reacting quickly, Gale formed skin tight shields around them both. There was a painful thump as he hit the ground. Ears twitching, he heard Coden. But that didn’t stop the water from coming down. Raising his hands, he put a shield about the hole in the ceiling. Opening up his eyes, the boy saw the water and felt the pressure against his shield.

They wouldn’t need it there too long. Just enough to get Alexis and get out. The boy, now sopping wet, stood, removing the cloak and stretching his wing, shaking the water off. The shields about him and Coden stayed up as he probed this area as well. Grinding his teeth, he forced himself to concentrate. Three shields and a probe were going to be difficult, but he wouldn’t drop the shields around them. It would save them from so much pain.

Feeling Alexis, he pointed, but paused. Was it Alexis? It felt like her, if he probed long enough but then… it felt…. Weird… Not twisted. That wasn’t the word. It felt like Alexis had been covered up by a blanket. Or a mask. Weird. Gale shook his head. It had to be her. At the core of the feelings, he felt her. “This way.” He said to Coden as he began to walk off.

He didn't like it. Didn't like the water. Somehow Gale managed to convince him though. And Alexis was a decent inspiration to trust the boy. He just kept his on on Gale and just Gale as they traversed under the water and into the tunnel.
It was a hard landing and Wet. As Gale sealed the passage, Coden irritatedly removed his cloak and gave it a snap to mostly dry it. Then fastened the thing back around his shoulders. Hood placed over his head and face to conceal his identity; not that it entirely mattered in this case. Slowly following Gale, He cast a wayward glance to the water above them. "Are you sure that will hold?", he asked through his face covering. Leering at the shield, He jumped a few steps to keep up with the eager child.
Whether or not he was answered, Coden wasn't listening. Instead hearing the silence and watching for anything. Gale could probably see hear and feel things before him, but he knew they wouldn't be alone for long. It was too easy.

The boy continued down the tunnels, probes continuing. Constantly, his ears twitched and twisted. Every little noise they made, down to their heart beats at times, was heard. He would not be snuck up on. The other reason he kept his eyes shut was because of the walls and rock. Gale hated being underground. It reminded him too much of the cells back at the manor house. Not to mention he couldn't spread his wings and-

The boy paused, looking at a wall. It felt as if Alexis had been in teh wall recently... but... Holding up a hand, he blasted through it. A spark of pain flared in his body, quickly vanishing. The shield holding up the water vanished, reabsorbed. He opened his eyes to spy a tunnel. Then he tugged on Coden's sleeve, urging him on. Dashing into the tunnel, he hoped they had wandered far enough from teh water so it would not drown them.

Little did he know that Dai Li agents had found his entry point and sealed it up with Earthbending. Three of them, one pointed to the two and they disappeared into two tunnels. The thrid one raced off to find Long Feng.

Ling’s arms swept around her in a long, circular motion, creating a dome of air. Inside, the winds howled and churned, sweeping the girl’s hat off of her head. The only thing that kept it from flying away was the string that she had tied to it, wrapped around her neck. For the noise and chaos that the winds brought, it was comforting in a way to her. It felt familiar somehow, and she had an odd thought. That if she tried to, she’d be able to run fast enough that the winds sounded just like this without the need to bend it. The thought sounded like her own, but idea seemed foreign… It was impossible to travel at such speeds….. Right?

“Stop!” One of the agents yelled at her, and Ling instinctively froze, then relaxed into her stationary position, waiting for orders. Another agent had entered the room, and began relaying information to the other Dai Li. Two intruders have entered the facility, and they needed to be apprehended. Several of the agents left the room, going to seal off passages and block them in subtly, herding them towards where the majority of the agents would lay in wait for them.

Ling fixed her hat, putting it back into place over the hair that seemed to defy her. Looking just like any of the other agents there, she was herded off by the two that constantly followed her to the back of the room. Unable to traverse the walls and ceiling like the other agents, Jing-Wei and Ling were lead into one of the piped passageways that served as a secondary passage system, leading them to another part of the facility. They were to stay hidden until ordered otherwise, due to the agent’s being unsure as to what Long Feng planned on doing with them.

Split between the two invading parties, the Dai Li worked on subtly bringing everyone together, towards where one squadron of agents were already in a battle, in order to take all of the intruders out in one fell swoop.

She felt the stone shield she had made forcibly pulled down by the dai li, and the water rushed in around her waist. Before they could react, she pushed he palms down to the ground, water around her blasting away in a shock wave, two walls of water pushing forwards and backwards crashing into the agents surrounding her. And in an instant, froze the entire tunnel. Some agents were completely submerged, others exposed in various places. Giving them all a dark glare, she broke down a side wall and tunnelled herself out.

"Pathetic."

Long Feng stood off to the side watching the Dai Li move into place. A stream of messengers had been appearing and disappearing through the floor delivering word of the ever-changing position of the various intruders. The giant dragon creature had been subdued, apparently unable to escape from its current prison. Unfortunately they would have to trust to the earth holding the beast in place as they had many other things to worry about at the moment and no benders to spare on keeping it there.

First and foremost there was the presence of the last two members of the group of off-world beings. Long Feng had great interest in adding those two to their ranks. The orders had already been given to herd them this way into the ambush and apparently they were drawing close.

"Long Feng..." A rather haggard-looking, and very wet Dai Li entered the room. "We have a problem."

"What is it?" he eyed the man. Water...only two people that he knew were down here could've done that, and one was under his control...

"The Avatar girl...she wiped out another squadron," the man said.

"I see..." he glanced around, signaling for a few other Dai Li to come over. "Go with this man to the Avatar Girl's location...herd her this way, but don't let her into this room...we don't want her helping the others to escape. And whatever you do, do not engage her directly...if she finds you, come find me."

"How are we supposed to stop her?" One of the agents who had come over asked, looking almost hesitant about this mission.

Long Feng smiled. "While we may not have the ability to fight a master of all four elements, there is someone here who might stand a chance." Even if she only served as a distraction.

Silently the agents nodded, disappearing into a tunnel that closed up behind them. Long Feng watched them go, then turned his attention back to the ambush. No Dai Li remained visible in the room save for him. Satisfied, he turned, opened a door in the wall, and left. Time to test out his current pet projects in battle.

***

Jing-Wei followed her 'bodyguards' as she and Ling were lead into one of the many nearby passages and ordered to hide. There was a brief flurry of activity and then it all died down, the agents having quickly and efficiently made their ways to their various positions.

"I wonder what all this is about," Jing-Wei mused, hoping Ling would take the bait and start up a conversation, but not exactly expecting it. The girl was rather quieter than she remembered her...or at least she felt like it. Once again, she shook her head to clear the strange feeling from her head. Remnants of the accident.

Bored at not having anything to do, she slid down to the ground, idly flicking at a loose stone nearby. Of course the first time there was an actual battle down there she was expected to sit out. She didn't know why Ling was stuck there, though...the girl had been part of the Dai Li for most of her life she'd thought...she was surprised when Ling spoke.

"A man with metal in him and a dragon boy are running over there....and a woman that weilds the elements is over there fighting." She pointed off in the direction the agents had been heading earlier.

Jing-Wei stared at her for a moment, not quite sure what to make of that before glaring. Was she making fun of her? "Very funny Ling," she said, before muttering to herself. "Sorry I asked."

Ling looked thoughtful for a moment. "I was funny?"

"No, not really." Jing-Wei turned away, crossing her arms and glaring.

"Oh." There was another long pause before: "Long Feng is coming."

And sure enough, moments later Long Feng had appeared in the tunnel with them.

"I have jobs for the two of you...we have a few intruders in the base that I'd like you both to help apprehend and capture..." Nodding at the agent in the shadows behind them, the man stepped forward. "I want you to take Jing-Wei to meet with our elemental friend over by the western corridores," he looked at her. "It's time to put those powers granted you to good use."

"Yes sir!" Jing-Wei jumped up, glad to finally be doing something. She cast an expectant look at the agent, but the man just stood there, waiting. Reluctantly she turned back to Long Feng.

The head of the Dai Li, for his part, had turned his attention to Ling.

"I want you to come with me, Ling," he said. "We have a couple of intruders that I think will call for your very special branch of abilities."

Like a drone, Ling obeyed, following Long Feng out of the tunnel. Jing-Wei followed as well, splitting off when they got closer to their destinations, her 'bodyguard' opening the way for her. They were about halfway to their destination when a crash made her stop and whirl around. Glancing around she realized that her 'bodyguard' had disappeared and that there were no other Dai Li in sight.

Just how dangerous was this person? At the thought, she suddenly felt a little nervous, but stood her ground nonetheless, readying her stance as the figure of a tall woman came into view.

Ling watched the people running around through the passages, her attention focusing mostly on the intruders. She knew that they were bad…. But for some reason…. They intrigued her. They all seemed rather… impossible. The woman bent multiple elements, using the flowing waters and the stone around her to attack. And other two… One of them had metal in him…. INSIDE him…. She wondered what kind of armor that would have to be…. The other had a wing… An actual wing attached to him…. She knew instinctively it was of draconic origin…. As she inquired how she knew that, Long Feng arrived.

Ling looked up at Long Feng as he gave Jing-Wei her orders. She was being sent off to fight the elemental woman…. And she…. She was supposed to fight the other two. She followed along as per orders, her face blank of expression, as well as her thoughts… Except for the voice that she still couldn’t understand… But she had begun ignoring it, and it wasn’t so bad at the moment…

Before she realized it, they had arrived in an expansive room, pipelines entering the room high above the floor. Shards of glowing stone dotted the room, which only had one main door on the ground. She was lead out onto a platform that was raised for her by Long Feng. She glanced back blankly at him, waiting for orders.

“It looks like we still have a little bit of time before the intruders arrive. Ling...I need you to take them down by any means necessary, and if you need assistance...ask and it shall be provided” Long Feng told her as he lowered the platform to the ground. Ling stood there, unmoving and hollow as the agents moved into position.

After a few minutes passed, the two intruders raced into the room. Ling continued to stand there, observing her enemy…. Though…. Something felt weird….. They felt rather familiar somehow…. Like she knew them from somewhere…..

“…..Do I know you?”

Too easy. That was all he could think about the mission. He felt like they were following a trial lain out for them rather than seeking their own. Coden kept trying to turn back, pulling Gale with him, but the child was like a seeker missile. He was locked on Alexis' trail and nothing was diverting him from his path. Regardless of it being a trap or not. Eventually Gale got away from him and charged ahead, forcing Coden to make haste and chase him down. A choice he might have regretted.
”Damn it...what did I say...”, he hissed under his breath. The moment they passed through the door way, the wall closed up seamlessly behind them. As he stood waiting to make a move, Coden realized something didn't feel right. They weren't attacking. 'Not yet', he told himself. 'Why isn't Alexis freaking out? Shouldn't she be tied up or something?' “I don't like this....”, He muttered to himself. And then Alexis spoke. The Gyspus, perplexed, straightened his stance, staring at the girl as if she'd stated the oddest thing in the world.
“Come again? Have you finally lost your mind?” He cast his hand to the side, holding back Gale by his robes. Afraid if they went too close, they'd all lunge. “Alexis, don't fool around like you don't know us. I'm not letting you play hero today.” Looking around the room he counted the Dai li. Visible and invisible.

The boy growled as Coden grabbed him and held him, but soon fixated his eyes on Alexis. Not Alexis. ALexis. What? He couldn't out his finger on it.

He stared at her, golden eyes narrowing, looking to her with more than just physical. There she was. Right there. Right there, right in front of him. But it wasn't her, Was it? No. Of course it was her. He just. There was. What? What was it? She wasn't doing anything. Said she didn't know him.

Cautiously, he skittered outside her mind. There. There was something. Something that raped her and caged her. Not good. Not good at all. The boy looked at her, looked around.

"Alexis." He said to her, the weird still there. "...They raped you." He said again, ears twitching, frowning.

Not good. Mind rape... never good. Would she remember them? Coudl she remember them? Mental hurtness always took long to recover from. NOt good for Lexis. "Lexis!" He called otu again, pulling from Coden, but failing to get away. He pointed to himself "Gale!" The nhe pointed to her "Lexis!"

But would she know? Woudl the mind rape cage her up so bad that she wouldn't know? Gale hoped to hell it didn't.

“………My name isn’t Alexis…….. It’s Ling” The girl said in a hallow tone, her soft voice echoing in the large room. She was confused…. Did she look like someone they knew? That must have been it… there were enough people in Ba Sing Se that it was possible…

“…….You have the wrong person……” She said, looking at the two of them…. One of them was only a child… A fugitive of the law…. But a child still…. And… She didn’t feel right fighting like this….. It felt wrong……

“…..You have violated the laws of Ba Sing Se…… If you surrender now into custody…. No one needs to get hurt……..”

Gale shook his head, panicking, scared. Alexis had to remember! Had! He was sure of it now - he felt her underneath the cage. The mask presented as this person. No! This was Alexis.

"ALEXIS!" He yelled, voice cracking. This couldn't be happening. Alexis had to remember them! She was back there somewhere. He felt her. He trembled and shook in Coden's arm and looked at Alexis, panic evident in his features.

"They hurt you! Fooled with your mind! You're Alexis! Alexis! Break open the cage! F-fight it! They covered you up! Not Ling! Alexis! Remember! How could you-" forget me.

His ears drooped and snapped up, twitching strangely and he still strained against Coden's hand. He knew there were people there, but he didn't care. He just needed Alexis to be Alexis again

Pala limped through the tunnels, until she came into another room, to find a lone agent awaiting her. She chuckled. Somebody was confident. But...she drew closer, and saw who it really was.

"Angelique! Thanks the spirits, you're here. Where's Alexis?" She looked down at her soaked feet, wincing. "I need help. I've been hurt."

Angelique? That was an odd word...foreign, and yet somehow in the back of her mind she felt as if she'd heard it somewhere before...She once more shook her head to clear it. Now was not the time for pondering strange words. She had a job to do. Realizing that the girl didn't seem like she was going to attack, she straightened up.

"You are under arrest by order of the Dai Li for crimes against the Dai Li and the city of Ba Sing Se. You have the chance to surrender now - which would be in your best interest seeing as how you're injured. Otherwise you will be brought in by force."

Pala snarled. "What's wrong with you?" Was she possessed? No...something had happened to her...
"Please, let's not fight. For your sake."
Angelique merely frowned at her.
"Hmph. I've been practising all my life. Despite what you think, you've only been at this for a few days. I don't know what they've done to you, but i'm not afraid of knocking it out."
She hoped angelique would put up a real fight....she needed to reach into the spirit world for this. She needed to show Angelique her true self.

"I have been a bender all of my life as well. I do not know who you think I am, but we don't know each other," Jing-Wei said, summoning up her elemental power. "However I can see that you're not going to give in." With a sweeping kick, she sent a burst of flames at the woman. "Which means we have to fight." She charged, sending more and more fire as she went.

The moves still felt unnatural, limited, forced even, and though she couldn't pinpoint why, something about what the woman said had struck a chord in the back of her mind. That strange nagging that had been occurring all day.

'Focus,' she told herself, pulling her mind back to the fight at hand as she dodged an attack.

"Don't insult me. When you practise your entire life, it becomes an art form, not slow and blunt, like the way you are fighting."
Angelique attacked with another bout of fire, and Pala doused it with a blast of air.
"And why would you be using fire, when everyone else uses earth?"
Yet, she would not listen. Pala was in pain as her limbs ached from exertion, she couldn't keep fighting for this long. As more fire came for her, she wrenched hold of it with her own power, shrinking it. She ran at angelique before she could react, the flame small and condensed, and then released it from her mouth, breathing a burst of flame right at her, setting her aflame.

"That's not how it works...do you know nothing about bending? Each person is gifted with ONE element...I, however, have been given two," she sent another bout of fire at the girl and was caught off guard when she breathed it back out at her.

Jing-Wei screamed as her body was consumed by fire, trying desperately to put it out until, much to her astonishment, she realized she wasn't burning. It didn't even feel hot. Almost entranced by the dancing flames, she held out her hand to stare at it...on fire but not burning.

"How...how is this possible?" Was this another gift from the spirits? Along with fire and rebirth? She could feel the nagging at the back of her mind again...something she should know about this...

Remembering the other woman, she sent out a burst of flames on reflex, simply waving her hand without the use of any forms. It felt natural as the fire flowed freer than it had before, though it was all over the place now rather than being aimed and directed.

Pala instinctively rose a slab of stone to protect herself from the blaze, narrowly avoiding being scorched.
"Stop!" She screamed. "No "Firebender" can set themself on fire, they're still human!"
She wrestled with Anglique's flame, scared to death. She didn't want to be burned again, she couldn't. Holding up her hands, she tried her hardest to fight back the blaze, but angelique had released a veritable nova into the room. Sweat streamed from her skin, and tears began to form. Nagging fears had been forced underneath her skin ever since she had been burned, and now it was going to happen again, but worse! She had to get out!

She dived down, letting go as the fire blasted where she had once stood. She lifted up another thick wall of stone, blocking angelique off, and turned to escape.

"No!" Spotting the other woman taking off, Jing-Wei followed suit, attention moving from the fires - which began to disperse one by one with no energy to sustain them - to Pala. Before the other woman could get through the exit, she blocked it off with fire, more fires in the room dying down.

Jing-Wei panted as she came to a stop, ready to throw more fire if necessary. It was...frightening how easily she was taking to firebending, though not quite as frightening as the fact that she had been able to set herself on fire. This woman seemed to know something, however...even if she thought Jing-Wei was someone else.

"It's my job to arrest you," she said. "But I want to know what you meant...about other firebenders still being human. Why would you say that? Why would you think that I'm not human?"

The temperature in the room seemed to be rising around Jing-Wei, though she herself barely noticed. She tried to ignore the fire that lingered on her body, refusing to die down or burn out. She didn't know what was going on.

"Talk or I subdue you right now."

"You have a brain, use it. Since when do normal people not get horribly burnt from fire? You should know, i was burnt once myself." She growled and snarled like a rabid animal. "Idiot, you let them take you, and subdue your mind! You don't even remember who you really are!"
Keep her talking...she just needed water.
"Firebenders aren't any different from anyone else. They can get burnt, but you havn't. Think! Everything you think you know is a lie!" Angelique looked confused, disorientated. And the water came - she had been pulling at the ice from the frozen hall behind her, and it came rushing.
It burst past, and crashed into both of them. Pulling herself up, she lifted the water up around Angelique, and held her up with it, water caged around her up to her neck.
"We're not from this world, Angelique! If people can only use one element, then why can i use ALL of them!? You were taken here with me, and you need to wake up, spirits curse you!"

"I AM AWAKE!!! I...I'm human! This IS my home! I was just...spirit world..." the water was so cold...Jing-Wei thrashed trying to escape. She couldn't understand...couldn't understand why she hated the water so much...why all she wanted was to get away from it. Why couldn't she just bend it away? She tried moving it, but every time she pushed, the other woman's powers pushed harder, making it impossible to free herself. "Why...can't I break free?" Why was the fire so much easier to control than the water. She was a water bender! She had been born a water bender!

The water had begun to steam from the influx of her powers into it, trying to push it away and only succeeding in heating it up to near boiling around her. Still she wasn't burned. Her mind was racing, that nagging sensation at the back of her skull growing while memories seemed suddenly foreign to her.

There was a crash as several huge blocks fell from the ceiling right over Pala's head. One of the Dai Li who had been stationed beyond the wall appeared beyond a newly formed door. With a motion from him, stone gloves gripped at Jing-Wei's arms, wrenching her rather painfully out of the whirlpool and dragging her back toward the door. Two other Dai Li appeared, bringing down half the ceiling on Pala's head.

"LET ME GO!" Jing-Wei struggled. "Where are you taking me? This is MY ASSIGNMENT!!" Why was this happening? WHAT was happening? They'd never manhandled her like this before! With a scream she caught on fire again, though the stone gloves protected the Dai Li that had her as water surged at her, dousing her, then evaporating off as steam.

"Damn you, get back here!" Pala shouted out, before the roof came down on her. She dived, trying to avoid being crushed.

Aeor felt the tremors below, and all of a sudden the stone around him fell loose. Dropping down, he crashed into the room in a blast of stone and water. Pulling himself in anger, he let loose a roar and lunged at the Dai Li around him. They would suffer!

Pala tried to get up, as Aeor rushed ahead, but a block had landed on her legs. Pushing it off, she let out a baleful cry of agony as she realised one of her legs might have been broken.
"Oh, dear spirits, please, no..." She was never going to escape like this! "Please, somebody.." She tried to pull herself across the ground but she was in too much pain.

Jing-Wei screamed as the giant monster fell into the room and began attacking the 3 other Dai Li agents. The one who had been holding her let go in order to help his comrades. Jing-Wei flattened herself against the wall, narrowly avoiding getting smashed by flying rocks and the arm of one of the agents. Blood splattered all over her and the wall as the appendage hit. She shook, face pale and eyes wide. With a horrified scream, she turned to run but stopped at the desperate plea from behind her.

Pausing, she turned her head between freedom and the intruder behind her. Something about all of this struck a chord in the back of her mind again. That she should care about this for some reason. Perhaps because it was her mission to arrest the girl...or that she'd be leaving her to die otherwise. Decision made, she turned, ducking and running back toward the other woman and knelt down beside her.

"Come on," she looped her arm under Pala's and hauled her up. It was difficult with the height difference, but they managed to get a steady pace going. Unfortunately it wasn't fast enough. As they stumbled through the debris, the creature began to turn, tail swinging toward them. On reflex, Jing-Wei dropped the other woman and attempted to protect herself, but she was sent flying into the wall with enough force to bring a pile of rocks down onto her corpse, leaving Pala alone with Aeor.

The seconds drew on before, after half a minute, steam began to rise from the pile of rocks, air distorting around it from extreme heat as melted rock began to ooze out of the cracks. There was another pause before the pile exploded, sending shards of super-heated rock flying along with magma-like ooze.

Coughing slightly, Jing-Wei pulled herself unsteadily to her feet. She stared at her hands as molten rock dripped down her body and onto the floor, cooling and hardening as it landed. Looking back up, she noticed the woman in danger and stepped forward.

"Hey! You!" She couldn't die after all. It was an unpleasant sensation, coming back to life, and yet comfortingly familiar. Her mind was racing. Somehow after that she knew...she knew her powers. She didn't know how, but she did, and she would be having a LONG talk with Long Feng after this. Waterbender indeed. "Get away from her."