Powerstones people.
...
At that moment, even if they were idiots, they could piece together what was going on.
"Fenfang ..... You ….".
Mingxia uttered incoherently with a face full of shock, but the blonde girl lowered her head in guilt.
"You sold us out".
"Yes, she did". Captain Li Shan uttered indifferently.
"You …. How could you? We were friends".
"We Weren't Friends!" At that moment, the sobbing girl suddenly yelled in outrage. Tears still streaming from her eyes.
"We barely met three weeks ago. We were barely acquaintances". Her voice was choked.
Everyone on the opposite end was taken aback by her sudden outburst. After all, in the time they had known her, not once had she done so. All but one, of course.
"We fed you. Took care of you. Saved your mother". Meilin, the literal tomboy of the group, didn't give a damn and yelled in a loud voice.
"How could you be so ungrateful….".
"You think I wanted to do this?" Listening to the sentences, Fenfang yelled angrily. "You think I wanted to sell you out? No, you guys blew your cover a long time ago".
"What?"
"The girl's right". The Captain uttered, coming behind her and patting the girl on her shoulder.
"My men keep an accurate account of everything in the armory. Four missing barrels of blasting powder would definitely be brought to my attention. As for how I knew who exactly .....". His eyes turned and locked on Mingxia as he let out a sinister grin.
"People snooping around the soldier's garrison doesn't happen often, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen at all. Among the refugees, there are always some ..... Overzealous ones with their 'Gut instincts' among them".
"You were followed once you were discovered. Implicating your little friends". Mingxia's face turned pale.
"You know, at first, I feared that you were from Omashu. So I had my men take one of you for interrogation. Everything came out naturally".
One was a fierce Earth kingdom soldier. The other was a scared blonde refugee girl who was usually soft-spoken. The result was obvious.
Mingxia had her eyes narrowed.
"You used her to get to us".
"Of course". He replied indifferently.
"With the right bargaining chips, our little girl here was more than happy to cooperate".
Meilin's expression turned cold.
"You'll pay for this".
Captain Li Shan chuckled.
"I doubt I will. But don't worry, I have no plans to kill you. After all. …". Under their gaze, that sinister grin widened even more.
"Your skills will fetch a hefty price from the Fire Nation. You are worth more to me alive".
Apart from the Ex Kyoshi warrior who would have lower market value, the others would make quite a profit.
After all, benders weren't cheap.
"Why?" Dandan's eyes locked on Fenfang. "What did they promise you to make you betray us".
Fenfang's voice trembled. "My …. Mother's life".
Mingxia's face fell. "Fenfang … you ….".
"That's enough chatter". Unfortunately, it seemed that the captain had had enough of small talks. "Take them away".
Everyone's expressions changed.
Swoosh!
It happened then. Seeing the Earthbenders step forward, Dandan immediately yanked the black cloak covering his body off with full force.
Under the dim lantern lights, the cloak was pulled apart, revealing the blue shirt and pants hidden underneath, as well as confirming his identity as a waterbender.
That, however, wasn't all it revealed.
With the cloak taken off, a rather large waterskin could be seen strapped to his back for emergency uses.
The young blue-haired boy, barely fifteen years old narrowed his eyebrows as a large amount of Chi within him stirred into action.
Water surged, pouring out from the flask behind him and following the slight clenching of his empty left hand, it was thrust towards the enemy group.
The sudden turn of events was beyond most people's reaction speed.
Unfortunately, the Earthbenders weren't one of them.
Rumble!
Two soldiers took a step forward and slammed their legs against the ground. The Earth in the underground tunnel rose upward to form a natural defensive barrier protecting their captain, who still stood expressionlessly with his hands behind his back.
Just when the wall rose, the stream of water took on a much colder temperature and separated to form numerous icicles.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The water collided against the earth causing multiple dents on the newly raised wall but causing no further damage.
Although the waterskin attached to his back was extra large, the water supply was ultimately limited.
The blue-haired boy didn't have enough to actually break past the earth barrier to pose actual harm.
Luckily, he didn't need to.
Seeing their sights obstructed, another stream of water emerged from the water skin, shaping into a ball as he moved his hands and ...
Puff!
The water heated up instantly to the highest point he could make it.
All in a split second, the large water ball evaporated to form mist before exploding in all directions.
"Run!" After doing this, Dandan shouted before turning around and rushing deeper into the tunnel.
The previous attack was for this move. Creating mist to obscure the earthbenders sight and shield them while they ran for their lives in the only way they could.
His words immediately awoke his companions, who wasted no time in taking this split second advantage and running after him.
Their operation had long been discovered and ended before it could even begin. This was literally their worst fears at the moment.
But things had already reached this point, and although they were young, they weren't foolish.
Standing and fighting would lead to a swift and miserable defeat.
So they chose the best option. Flee.
The earth wall receded, and the soldiers immediately had their sights clouded by the watery mist.
The Captain's face darkened.
"Capture them! Alive". He ordered in a low tone. The Earthbenders immediately obeying his commands and rushing into the mist without hesitation.
"Hmph".
Looking at the trembling blonde girl beside him, he let out a cold snort as the mist spread towards his area, slightly obscuring his eyesight.
His head filled with a lot of thoughts
"..... That blue-haired kid….".
The previous scene appeared in his mind.
"..... At such a young age, he didn't even make any bending movements. Yet could still release a sudden attack with such skill. Impressive".
The strength of a bender laid in his combat experience and mastery of his/her element.
There was no systematic level for ranking bending mastery, and likewise, benders of the elements. They could only be crudely divided into Novice, skilled and master without further context.
Nevertheless, certain achievements in bending could be used as a reference to judge one's progress. Like Waterbending for example.
Any decent waterbender could move water or control a small puddle to float. However, the ability to freeze water into solid ice was considered a small milestone.
So was the ability to separate water from muddy earth.
Then there were other examples like bending the water in vines, absorbing the water from plants and lush vegetation, all the way to the ultimate form of the art ..... Bloodbending.
Mist was created by heating water until it turned into white gas. In terms of combat lethality, it paled deeply when compared to freezing water, but its difficulty wasn't on the same level.
Freezing water was one thing, heating it up, on the other hand, was much harder to accomplish.
Yet, a young child had managed not only to do both, but also do it without hand movements.
Bending with the mind. What a natural prodigy.
From what the captain could remember, The Fire Nation had captured many water benders from the southern water tribe.
Hunting them to the point where waterbenders had become a scarce commodity.
Surely, they would be willing to pay for another addition .....
"I ….".
A weak voice pulled him out of his reverie.
Turning his gaze, he saw the little blonde brat standing next to him and his gaze hardened.
Time to tie up unnecessary loose ends.
Seeing his indifferent gaze, Fenfang trembled with slight fear. She wanted to keep her mouth shut but thinking of why she did this in the first place, she mustered up her courage to speak.
"I …. did what you asked. So you'll let my mother go, right?"
In order to make sure nothing went wrong, Fenfang's mother had been taken away by Li Shan's guards.
Used to threaten her to comply or face the consequences.
Hearing this, the Captain's face lit up with a sneer.
He had gone along with all this for two reasons.
One, he had initially feared that Mingxia and her group were spies sent from Omashu to investigate.
After all, he had sold hundreds of skilled refugees to the Fire Nation in the past few months.
There would definitely be many people inquiring about their missing family members.
The second reason was because he wanted to keep this matter as low as possible.
A big scene would certainly attract the attention of the refugees as well as other soldiers.
Let it be known, this base was technically still an Earth Kingdom stronghold.
The number of soldiers here were large, but the actual number of collaborators were few.
Many of these soldiers still had their hearts for the earth kingdom, thinking that they were stationed here for the noble cause of helping refugees.
The best their knowledge allowed them to know was that there was a separate channel for refugees with better skills, which they felt was understandable.
In simpler terms, everyone falsely thought they were under the same banner. But the moment the actual soldiers realized that their captain had betrayed them, then things would take a turn for the worst.
The consequences of betraying your nation were quite harsh. There were few situations where it didn't end with immediate execution on the spot.
Li Shan was practically walking on the edge of a cliff every passing day. One wrong move would destroy everything.
So no matter how small, Li Shan wouldn't risk letting his true dealings be revealed.
Not even an inkling of doubt should exist to the point of being verbally voiced out.
So apart from two other officers other than the ones already here, no one knew what was happening at the moment.
The Captain never considered the possibility that the teen group would escape.
Not to mention that that direction ultimately led to Fire Nation, the unit that transported the last batch should already be on their way right now.
These kids were basically blocked from both sides.
And now that the situation was under control, what use did he have for this small blonde beauty who was underdeveloped on both ends?
"Rest assured, you have my word that your mother will not be harmed". He uttered sinisterly.
"Thank the spirits". Hearing this, the stone in Fenfang's heart fell as she received insurance.
For her mother, betraying her friends was well worth it.
At least she thought so. But the next words that came out made her face turn pale.
".... As you will be taking her place".
"You …". The poor girl had her eyes shrink.
"I did give my word that I wouldn't harm your mother if you complied. I don't remember saying anything about guaranteeing your safety".
He uttered with cold eyes.
The only ones who could know of his betrayal were the unfortunate refugees who had already been sold.
Anyone else …. Couldn't be left alive.
His words cut through her like a knife.
"You ..... You can't do this". She stammered.
"I can …". He uttered, unmoved as his Chi began to stir. "... And I will".
The mist had already begun to dissipate. Not that it mattered anyway, as it wasn't thick enough to mess with his vision at such a close distance.
The Captain's raised his head, a ruthless gleam flashing through his eyes.
However ...
His actions were interrupted as fine grains of sand fell before his eyes from the ceiling.
He gazed upward. Unknown to him that the moment he did, a black shadow fell from the ceiling, landing with a soft thud behind him.
Squelch!
Blood spurted out, splashing into the frightened little girl's face.
The Captain's body froze in place, as his head fell to the floor while carrying an inquisitive expression upon death.
"What a coincidence ….". Luca looked at the head he had easily decapitated. ".... So can I".
.....
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