Kasai was relieved to hear a voice answer from the other side of the sac, but her moment of relief was soon squashed by the fact that Mio answered coldly and plain. A simple "no" sent all of Kasai's hopes fleeting out of her chest.

When Mio dug through the lining of the sac and appeared, Kasai had a natural reaction to gasp and cover her mouth with her hands. The stonewall way that the airbender spoke sent a shiver down her spine, and she held back losing the small breakfast they had in sight of a decomposing, yet still living, human being. 

"Avani? Yeah she's fine, she's down there and we're gonna-" Her thought was cut off by the reacting sac wall and Mio's last words. "No, no, don't you worry. I'm gonna get you out of here and-" Kasai had to step back as the moving skin tried to stretch towards her, but before she could stretch her arms out to grab Mio, a blast of air sent her reeling off the top of the tree. 

Hot tears could be felt wetting her face as she fell, her eyes were shut tight until Avani stopped her from plummeting to the roots below and instead lowered her to safety. When her feet hit the base of the tree, she nearly collapsed. Quickly wiping her face, she looked at Avani and shook her head, knowing that her expression was probably enough to get the message across. 

"They're... gone." There was little time to say much more as a screech came from above, and winged spirits swooped down towards them. Kasai turned and tried to assure her footing on the slick tangle of roots. As several creatures dove at them, she sent her foot across her body in an arc and sent a wall of flame that expanded above the two women, scorching the incoming attack. 

The defensive move did little as a barrage of spirits was headed in a bee-line straight for the two. Flapping wings and screams filled the air while the spirits circled them, swooping in and out as they tried to peck and claw at Kasai and Avani. 

Bursts of flames shot from Kasai's palms and feet as she combined attacks to fend off the incoming flyers, but they were outrageously outnumbered for the time being. 

"Avani, try the mud!" Kasai had no idea if earthbenders could bend the sediment from water, but stuck on an island in the middle of a lake didn't offer much more of a choice. 

It was probably quite the sight from the lake shore, what would appear to be a flock of birds circling their prey as they struggled to survive. However, from within the mask of winged spirits, it was chaos. A spirit swooped down at Kasai from behind, and when she saw it from her peripheral, she attempted to dodge the attack. 

Unfortunately, she lost her footing and her left leg slipped down between two roots. The spirit was coming in hot, but when she fell its attack was skewed, but not enough so. The talons of the spirits claws sliced Kasai's face, leaving a gash that formed a diagonal across her cheek and over her lips. 

A scream escaped her and a metallic taste filled her mouth as blood streamed down her face. When she looked back up from the first attack, another spirit was now diving at her from the front. She shot a flame with one of her hands, but the creature was too close to be diverted and it hit her, sending her back. 

A crack was heard as her body was sent back with force, but her leg still wedged between the roots. She screamed out even louder this time. The only partially beneficial aspect to the situation was that firebending was fueled by emotion, and right now her emotions were screaming at her with pain and rage. 

Within seconds, a spark was twinkling between her fingers. White lightning had been channeled from her inner chi and now exited her being, arcing through the sky and shocking many of the spirits before she fell exhausted, at which point all she could do was try to free herself from the roots that were trapping her. 

"Avani, get out of here. There's too many of them, we don't both need to die!"