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[b][i]BOOK ONE: WATER[/i][/b][hr][@Dusty][@webboysurf][@Polaris North][@FantasyChic][@Morose][@Nallore][hr][hr][/center]	"Grand Lotus, it's as we feared," a member from the Fire Nation said, holding out a sealed scroll. It had the markings of General Zheng on it, bearing his authority. They were the plans to take the small village of Rannokawa on the northern coast of the Earth Kingdom. It was a strategic stop on the trade route between Shai City and Ba Sing Se - and the Fire Nation needed to secure it. They could then isolate their enemies, dividing them into two, and one day, perhaps make water and earth benders [i]burn[/i] just like the air nomads. 

	"Master Xuan, what do you make of this?" the Grand Lotus asked, having perused the scroll and its small capping hit the ground, rolling about idly - as if unaware of the important papers that it had been used to conceal. 

	"They're genuine," a man with a goatee - Master Xuan - said as he approached. "And retrieved at great cost. If the Fire Nation can take Rannokawa, we'll be cut off from the northern side." The Southern Water Tribe was not nearly as strategically important, as much as Xuan regretted to admit it. Its distance to Ba Sing Se was almost double the distance of Ba Sing Se to the Northern Water Tribe. Not to mention, the Fire Nation had all but destroyed the Southern Air Temple, with troops in hot pursuit of any surviving air nomads in order to complete their extinction. 

	It was cruel - but effective. 

	"Very well," the Grand Lotus said. "We cannot reveal ourselves - or we will risk exposing our members within the House of Sozin."

	"...Do you mean that we are to do nothing?!" a younger and hot tempered member exclaimed. 

	"No," the Grand Lotus answered, shaking his head. "We must wait and listen before we strike against the Fire Lord - for the sake of the free world...or what remains of it."[hr][hr]	Currently, it was the middle of the springtime, the Fire Nation had taken control of the Earth Kingdom City of Zhy, and had constructed a prison there. The prison, named Tiánmì de Mèng (translation: Sweet Dream), housed many prisoners, from those who caused trouble in the city, or rebellious citizens of the city. To Prisoners of War from the constant fighting that has been taking place between the Fire Nation and the others. This is where everyone currently is, it is the morning on a cold spring day, overcast and it looks like it might rain. Everyone is still in their cells, but soon they were set to be let outside into the prison courtyard for a while.

[hider=Cell Mates - Pairings for Each characters and who they start off with]
Hikaru and Hiroyuki
Rila and Shannuk
Yumiko and Jia Li
Tosram and Ryuu
[/hider]
[hr][hr][center][h1][color=10DC67]Hikaru[/color][/h1][/center][hr][hr]

	Hikaru was being very very careful with every little thing she did. One slip up and she would end up dead, and it made things really difficult when she ended up stuck in a cell with a guy who'd been there for a while. She was trapped, and had to make sure that each thing she did didn't use her Air Bending in anyway. This generally was a problem if she had to sneeze, since she tended to take off into the air if that happened. It was hard, being stuck in a prison that wouldn't hesitate to kill her if they found out what she was.

	Her mind did constantly wander to the Western Air Temple, her home that had been wiped out when the Fire Nation had attacked. Her entire life ripped away in a matter of minutes, and she had taken off running. There hadn't been much else she could do, and she had resulted to stealing in order to survive, so it was her own fault that she was even there. It still wasn't the best situation to be in overall, considering what she was. She was also a bit of a morning person, so she was wide awake right then, not too sure if she even really wanted to start a conversation with Hiroyuki.
[hr][hr][center][h1][color=9C3E28]Ryuu[/color][/h1][/center][hr][hr]

	He wasn't the best when it came to waking up in the morning, some of the time anyway. Quite a bit of the time, he was wide awake and ready for the day, but today was not one of those days. Ryuu woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning, so he was a bit annoyed when he got up. Not caring what his cell mate did or anything, he stood up and started doing a few exercises, since he usually found those to be calming, at least somewhat. It was not working at all, he was still in a sort of pissed off mood by the time he finished.

	[color=9C3E28]"Why the hell did he do that to us, why the hell did he leave us for [i]them[/i]? We could have worked together in the army, but oh no, Sora had to be different, he had to be special. He just had to go off and side with the Fire Nation and abandon his family, I mean really. Sure, that does have some perks but he left us still, and went against his own people, just because he could,"[/color] he mumbled to himself. His hand went up to touch the scar on his neck, the memory of him almost bleeding out because of that slash still fresh in his mind. He wondered if Sora had been there, would he have done something to stop it? To prevent his brother from almost dying? Or would he have done nothing and watched his twin die? Despite how much he hoped that it was the first option, deep down he feared that it likely would have been the second option.