[color=bfbfbf][sub][table= //////= POST DESIGN v1=\\\\\\][row][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/TOLmwie.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/row][row][cell][sup][img]https://i.imgur.com/3B6SKNQ.png[/img][/sup]

[color=2e2c2c]_______________________________[sub]........[/sub][/color]
[/cell][cell][color=white][center][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/DHKvx27.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][center][color=2e2c2c]In the Sandstorm   ·   A TLA collaboration[/color]In the Sandstorm   ·   A TLA collaboration[/center][/sub][/center][/color][quote]
[color=9f9f9f][color=2e2c2c]______________________________________________________________________________.[/color]
[sub][sub][u][b][color=c9daf8]vietmyke   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
[COLOR=lightblue]"Hooly fuck."[/color] was all Jin managed to get out as the Kyoshi threw itself headlong into the sandstorm. His hand gripped the wheel as he slowly eased off the gas pedal and reached over for the injector dial. He didn't want to slow down too much, but barreling through the storm would just end up with them wrecking and then they'd be in all sorts of trouble. Already, a warning light had begun blinking on his dashboard, and too much more would likely wreck their engine- or at least render it requiring maintenance at a dedicated shop, which they didn't exactly have the luxury of accessing at the moment. 

To make things worse, the sandstorm was one of the biggest Jin had ever seen, much less drive through. The Kyoshi's haze filter was meant for the general sand whipping around them, but it wouldn't let them see through such a large storm, his visibility was barely a few yards past the nose of the car. 

[COLOR=lightblue]"I don't think they're gonna follow us. "[/color] Jin said, his chest heaving as he continued driving them forward, [COLOR=lightblue]"Everyone okay?"[/color]
[sub][sub][u][b][color=d5a6bd]canaryrose   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
Just then, Chu Hua started to scream. There were no words to it- just a high, keening wail of horror as she saw Kanna slump to the ground, a fist-sized hole punched through her neck. Instinctively, she leaned forward to catch her head in her hands, keeping her off the ground, but there wasn’t much she could do. Her hands were slick with blood, her eyes wet with tears that she didn’t realize she was making, and all she heard was her own awful screams and the gurgling of a person drowning in their own blood. 

It had been [i]so fast[/i].  One moment they had been afraid of the monster ahead but together and alive, and then… where had that come from? Why? [i]WHY[/i]?! Chu Hua gripped Kanna’s skull in her hands, trying to staunch the bleeding with her thumbs, but all she got from that was sticking her hands right into the viscera of Kanna’s throat. She gagged, just barely keeping from vomiting[color=firebrick][i]Nononononono-[/i][/color] She couldn’t lose Kanna, the woman who had just saved her life. It wasn’t right. 

[color=firebrick][i]“HELP! SOMEONE FUCKING HELP, PLEASE!”[/i][/color]
[sub][sub][u][b][color=f1c231]KillamriX88   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
Weiyuan had the misfortune of having to witness the fortune of their escape be further soured as the hot bolt of energy cut through the armor of the vehicle, and then Kanna. Screaming was not an option for him, just stunned silence, as his exhausted mind refused to accept the horrific reality before him.

Chu Hua’s scream snapped him out of that.

He couldn’t think of what to do, though. He frantically turned his head, scanning the interior of the vehicle to see if anyone else had noticed, but of course not. Chu Hua’s scream had been eaten up by the roar of the engine and the whistling of the wind coming through the hole in the armor.

However, the moment his eyes passed over Vasra, a glimmer of hope was born. They had a doctor on board.

Not worried about manners, he almost violently grabbed Vasra’s shoulder and shook her while pointing into the back of the vehicle at Kanna as Chu Hua began to explicitly call for help.

No. No, everyone was [i]not[/i] OK.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=02ffff]Abstract Proxy   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
Vasra didn't think. She didn't hesitate. Patting the hand that shook her shoulder, she nodded at Weiyuan and moved towards the trunk of the car, stumbling, tumbling, and then rolling as the Kyoshi bumped across the sand dunes. Crashing into the side of the trunk, almost slipping on the blood as she rose to her knees, Vasra grabbed hold of the young woman, Kanna, with one hand.

The sight that greeted her was horrible. Worse than she had expected. The wound was obvious. Kanna's throat had been savaged by whatever strange round round had torn through the Kyoshi. There was too much blood. She couldn’t see. Steading herself, she opened up her medical bag with one hand, retrieving a loop of dressing as she shifted closer.

[color=white]“Move your fingers, please, just for a second,”[/color] Vasra said, gently moving Chu Hau’s fingers away from the wound, as she tried to mop the blood out of the way and then applied pressure. She had a second before the blood returned, streaming out faster than she got.

Carotid artery, Vasra noted clinically, fighting off the surge of adrenaline that raced through her. A mortal wound. A hopeless wound. They couldn’t burn it. They couldn’t tie it off. They didn’t have surgical tools. They were in a bumpy buggy racing through a storm. She didn’t have time to go digging through ravaged flesh. Five seconds. Ten seconds. Fifteen seconds at most.

[color=white]“Driver! We’ve got a casualty,”[/color] Vasra shouted, her voice full of urgency, [color=white]“I need a moment, I need you to keep the car stable, as stable as you can.”[/color]

[color=white]“You!”[/color] She said, pointing at Weiyuan, [color=white]“Grab hold of her legs!”[/color]

[color=white]“And you!”[/color] Vasra continued, grabbing Chu Hau’s hand, [color=white]“Hold her head! Please, take a deep breath, I need your help!”[/color][/color][/quote]
[/cell][/row][/table][/sub][/color]
[color=bfbfbf][sub][table= //////= POST DESIGN v1=\\\\\\][row][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/pcFJnbt.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/row][row][cell][sup][img]https://i.imgur.com/eeO0nH6.png[/img][/sup]

[color=2e2c2c]_______________________________[sub]........[/sub][/color]
[/cell][cell][color=white][center][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/DHKvx27.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][center][color=2e2c2c]Si Wong Desert[/color]Si Wong Desert[/center][/sub][/center][/color][quote][color=2e2c2c]______________________________________________________________________________.[/color]
[color=9f9f9f]
Weiyuan clambered into the trunk of the vehicle, not exactly happy about the situation they were in, but more than happy to have someone directing him. Thinking for himself right now was too hard.

Looking at Kanna was even harder. He wedged himself into position, using his bodyweight to hold her legs in place.

He could still hear the awful whistling from the accursed hole and feel the sting of the sand flying through it. It would make a great distraction, and jt would be no good if the sand got into the doctor's eyes as she worked.

He held a hand up to the hole and did his best to push the sand away before it could fly through. He couldn't do that forever. He then tried to bunch the sand up in the hole, but the wind was making it hard. 

Why did everything have to be so hard? He was exhausted, lonely, and one of the few halfway familiar faces he did have was bleeding out right next to him 

She'd lied to him. She'd said she'd be right behind him. He always told himself he existed to take care of his more fragile half, but that was bullshit. Chae-Won had taken care of both of them.

The whistling had stopped, allowing him to hear the sudden creaking and groaning of metal. He realized he'd effectively compacted the sand into solid stone, plugging the hole.

Still, he didn't want to look away. He was afraid of what might be behind him.[/color][/quote]
[/cell][/row][/table][/sub][/color]
[color=bfbfbf][sub][table= //////= POST DESIGN v1=\\\\\\][row][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/TOLmwie.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/row][row][cell][sup][img]https://i.imgur.com/3B6SKNQ.png[/img][/sup]

[color=2e2c2c]_______________________________[sub]........[/sub][/color]
[/cell][cell][color=white][center][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/DHKvx27.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][center][color=2e2c2c]In the Sandstorm   ·   |@Fiber] & |@Theyra][/color]In the Sandstorm   ·   [@Fiber] & [@Theyra][/center][/sub][/center][/color][quote]
[color=9f9f9f][color=2e2c2c]______________________________________________________________________________.[/color]
[sub][sub][u][b][color=c9daf8]vietmyke   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
The Kyoshi slowed to a gradual crawl, the storm was moving against them, so he doubted the RSF would keep chasing them when they had aircraft. Keeping the car steady as Vasra suggested wasn't exactly a thing the Kyoshi was capable of at the moment- what with the sand and wind buffeting the car, but at least at a slower speed there wouldn't be any sudden jostles. 

A quick peak in the rearview mirror told him that there was an injury they were taking care of. It seemed bad, but there wasn't much Jin could do besides keeping them moving forward. 

[COLOR=lightblue]"Mire, you hurt? "[/color] Jin murmured quietly, so as not to disturb the doctor and the others. Sumire merely shook her head no. With a small sigh of relief, Jin placed a sandy glove on her head. [COLOR=lightblue]"Good. Reman, how're you holding up?"[/color]
[sub][sub][u][b][color=f5cbcc]Theyra   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
[COLOR=red]“How am I?”[/COLOR] Reman made a nervous chuckle and looked back at the truck. At the crowded trunk. [COLOR=red]”I feel like we should be concerned about the group on the trunk but, me?”[/COLOR] Looking down at his case that was on his lap. Looking at the two bullet holes in it and wondering if anything in there is broken. Then taking a couple of deep breaths before speaking again. [COLOR=red] “I think I am fine Jin, do not worry about me.”[/COLOR] Now looking out of the window and only seeing flying sand and not much else. [COLOR=red] “I will be better once this storm ends or we get out of it. So I can gauge how far we are from the Tu Zin and get us to true safety.”[/COLOR] Or at least Reman hopes that for their sake and that there will not be any other surprises or near death encounters. But, it will be a long trip to Tu Zin and hopefully the worst is over but, that is something that Reman hopes for very very much. 
[/color][/quote]
[/cell][/row][/table][/sub][/color]
[color=bfbfbf][sub][table= //////= POST DESIGN v1=\\\\\\][row][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/SJ2mg7F.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/row][row][cell][sup][img]https://i.imgur.com/h6yOzRA.png[/img][/sup]

[color=2e2c2c]_______________________________[sub]........[/sub][/color]
[/cell][cell][color=white][center][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/DHKvx27.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][center][color=2e2c2c]Si Wong Desert[/color]Si Wong Desert[/center][/sub][/center][/color][quote][color=2e2c2c]___________________________________________________________________________.[/color]
[color=9f9f9f]Vasra let go of the dressing she had been pressing against Kanna’s throat and dove her blood soaked hands into her medical bag, rummaging with maddening haste until she found a carefully wrapped vial. Tearing the thick paper away, Vasra pulled the cork out with her teeth, spitting blood away, as she carefully shoved the vial into Kanna’s throat, placing the edge as close to the carotid artery as she could manage with the woman’s predictable flailing. Pouring the precious liquid out, she slowly moved her hand further from the most critical areas of Kanna’s throat, trying to ensure spirit water spread out as much as possible. There would be only one chance.

Waterbending. Healing. Healing using water as a catalyst. She didn’t believe it. She didn’t think it was possible. But in a world of nightmares, surely there had to be dreams. There had to be hope. She had to try.
[color=white]“We have to try,”[/color] she said, turning towards the other, [color=white]“We can’t stop the bleeding in time. We can’t cauterize the wound. The spirit water…probably won’t work. But it will ease her pain. It’s something, at least.”[/color]

Closing her eyes, Vasra took a deep breath, placing both her hands over Kanna’s throat.  She could almost feel it, the life flowing out of the woman lying beneath her. She tried to remember the anatomical drawings. She tried to remember the exposed throat of the cadavers they had used for practice. No, not like that, she thought with a shudder. She thought of the water. She thought of the spirit water shining bright with ethereal energy. She thought of energy. She thought of the energy flowing through Kanna. She thought of the energy flowing through herself. She thought of the energy flowing between them. All of them. From Weiyuan, to the dying Kanna, and to the panicked Chu Yuan.

Her hands felt warm and then cold. Numb, as she imagined how Kanna’s throat should have been. She imagined the pain fading. She imagined her wounds healing. She felt a strange sensation, a rolling wave of energy as the spirit water reacted, and then evaporated in a burst of steam.

She didn’t dare to open her eyes.
[/color][/quote]
[/cell][/row][/table][/sub][/color]
[color=bfbfbf][sub][table= //////= POST DESIGN v1=\\\\\\][row][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/DzwfQpI.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/row][row][cell][sup][img]https://i.imgur.com/SFa7Abg.png[/img][/sup]

[color=2e2c2c]_______________________________[sub]........[/sub][/color]
[/cell][cell][color=white][center][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/DHKvx27.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][center][color=2e2c2c]Two Weeks Ago[/color]Two Weeks Ago[/center][/sub][/center][/color][quote][color=2e2c2c]____________________________________________________________________________.[/color]
[color=9f9f9f][color=white]"Mom! Would you just listen to me?"[/color] Kanna jumped around the couch as she chased after the woman into the kitchen. [color=white]"We can go. We have the money. We can get supplies. They said-"[/color]

[color=white]"And do what, Kanna? Run? Forever?"[/color]

[color=white]"We wouldn't have to. There's a place where it's safe."[/color]

[color=white]"We [i]are[/i] safe."[/color]

[color=white]"What are you talking about? We are anything but! She saw you, mom! And at the worst possible time! Maybe if we were some random fucks in the Lower Ring it would be different but you're not just anyone! You think she's not going to talk? Do you know how much that information would be worth to the right people right now? Like say, I don't know, your opponent?"[/color]

[color=white]"It's been weeks, we're fin-"[/color]

[color=white]"I don't care how long it's been! We're never going to be safe!"[/color]

[color=white]"Kanna..."[/color]

[color=white]"You don't get it!"[/color] Kanna nearly screamed. Her frustration had boiled to a point where she could barely contain it. The fact that her mother continued to be so nonchalant about the ordeal only made things worse. She watched as she began pouring herself a glass of wine as if it were any other evening. [color=white]"People don't just let this shit go, and even if... [i]even if[/i] she doesn't report it... how long before you slip up again huh? Or maybe years from now she has a change of heart and then what? I can't... we can't live looking over our shoulders for the rest of our liv-"[/color]

[color=white]"When you were born..."[/color] Kanna's mother interrupted. She was looking into her wine glass. [color=white]"I was... afraid."[/color] She looked at Kanna. [color=white]"I was afraid because I knew what my life had been like the twenty years before you arrived. I knew what it was like to live with this secret and I was afraid I was bringing you into that. And every year, as you got older, my fears only got worse. But... then we found out you weren't a Bender and you have no idea how relieved we were."[/color] She smiled and looked down at her glass again, watching the red liquid inside spin in slow circles. [color=white]"And yet... it felt wrong. Bender or not, I would have loved you more than anything and I would have wanted you to live any life you wanted."[/color] She motioned with her glass at the house they were standing in. A place in the Upper Ring that they could call home. Her mother had taken the time to design the interior and too discovered a part of herself that she learned to love. Walls were an off white with furnishings made of a pale wood finish, accented sparingly with small foliage that seemed to grow out of the framework itself. A stone fireplace built into the wall stood vigil in the main living space that was adjacent to the kitchen, and where the two women stood, large windows provided a clear view of the horizon sitting upon the outline of a wall.

[color=white]"This. Everything we have is built on a lie because they say it is. And why? Why is that? Why do we need to run from this? I've been a Firebender all my life and yet, I am doing what I've always done and every night, I come home to this. I come home to you. Who said that's wrong?"[/color]

[color=white]"They did."[/color]

[color=white]"And who said that they're right?"[/color] Kanna's mother replied, taking another sip from her glass.

[color=white]"It doesn't matter who's right. They'll kill you."[/color]

[color=white]"But it should matter... and maybe.. maybe bending [i]is[/i] bad, but there's a big difference between what I think is wrong and what I know [i]feels[/i] wrong. Being afraid for the life of my child when she's barely taken her first breath... before I can even celebrate her life... [i]that[/i] is wrong. Somebody has to change that."[/color]

[color=white]"That's not going to be you! Not when you're a-"[/color]

[color=white]"My daughter is the best stickball player in the world. She fought tooth and nail for that crown. Where do you think she got all that fight from huh? You think I can't?"[/color] She raised an eyebrow at her daughter.

Kanna shook her head. [color=white]"Mom, that's not... I just don't-"[/color] But before Kanna could say anything else, her mother had put down her glass, walked around the counter and put both hands on the side of her face.

[color=white]"I will not run and leave my child to live a life in fear for the people she loves. I'll fight, the same way you're fighting right now."[/color][/color][/quote]
[/cell][/row][/table][/sub][/color]
[color=bfbfbf][sub][table= //////= POST DESIGN v1=\\\\\\][row][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/iU2S6rl.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/row][row][cell][sup][img]https://i.imgur.com/HFIsBLX.png[/img][/sup]

[color=2e2c2c]_______________________________[sub]........[/sub][/color]
[/cell][cell][color=white][center][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/DHKvx27.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][center][color=2e2c2c]In the Sandstorm[/color]In the Sandstorm[/center][/sub][/center][/color][quote]
[color=9f9f9f][color=2e2c2c]______________________________________________________________________________.[/color]
Kanna continued to struggle against every pair of hands holding her down, her body moving involuntarily as it tried to cover the hole in her neck where her life was spilling out. But as the seconds ticked away and her consciousness began to slip, her mind devolved from desperate attempts at preserving her life to a numb acceptance of her pain. Fire had spread from her neck that began eclipsing all her other senses until it was all that she knew. She couldn't hear anything anymore. Couldn't feel anything else. She could only smell iron in the air and in that moment, all she could see was the fear in Chu's eyes.

There it was again. That fear. Kanna was so tired of seeing it. The brief flash when her mother had been caught. The way it stared back at her in the mirror every day after. Even now, out here in the middle of nowhere it had found her. Someone. Fearing for her life. She wondered if it had been the same way for her mother on the day she was born. What sin had she committed bringing her daughter into a world only for both of their lives to be plucked like the petals of a flower. What sin had she committed saving Chu? Was it really wrong for her to have done this? It looked wrong. She seemed upset. Maybe running was wrong, but then who decided that?

Kanna didn't know anymore, but she did know that this... [i]felt right[/i]. Maybe in the end, that was all that mattered.

Her neck began to warm slightly. The pain faded away. Her fingers tightened around Chu's wrist as she looked up at her and smiled.

[color=white][i][color=#FFFFFF].[/color][color=#F7F7F7].[/color][color=#F0EFEF].[/color][color=#E8E8E8]I[/color][color=#E1E0E0]'[/color][color=#D9D9D9]m[/color] [color=#CACACA]s[/color][color=#C3C2C2]t[/color][color=#BBBBBB]i[/color][color=#B4B3B3]l[/color][color=#ACACAC]l[/color] [color=#9D9D9D]t[/color][color=#969595]h[/color][color=#8F8D8D]e[/color] [color=#807E7E]b[/color][color=#787777]e[/color][color=#716F6F]s[/color][color=#696868]t[/color] [color=#5A5959]S[/color][color=#535151]t[/color][color=#4B4A4A]i[/color][color=#444242]c[/color][color=#3C3B3B]k[/color][color=#353333]b[/color][color=2e2c2c]a[/color][color=2e2c2c]-...[/color][/i][/color]

[/color][/quote]
[/cell][/row][/table][/sub][/color]
[table=bordered][row][sub]Prompt:[/sub][/row][row][cell][color=9f9f9f]Kanna eventually stops moving and her hand over Chu's wrist slips free. Although her eyes are still open, it's clear to all that she has passed away.

Over the next hour or so, the sandstorm will settle. There will be no tower in sight and no obvious pursuers. Everyone within the Kyoshi is safe.

End Chapter One.
[/color][/cell][/row][/table]