[color=bfbfbf][sub][table= //////= POST DESIGN v1=\\\\\\][row][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/QB3E6kd.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/row][row][cell][sup][img]https://i.imgur.com/Yl768nr.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]Morning   ·   A TLA Collaboration[/color]Morning   ·   A TLA Collaboration[/center][/sub][/center][/color][quote][color=2e2c2c]____________________________________________________________________________.[/color]
[color=9f9f9f][sub][sub][u][b][color=c9daf8]vietmyke   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
With little difficulty, Jin plucked the small flower out of the ground. It appeared that a small patch of rocky soil was responsible for a small amount of plant growth in the area, allowing for small but hardy plants. The desert flower itself was a hardy plant as well- a thick stem, with small but large, bright red petals around a yellow core. Jin hadn’t seen many flowers in the desert- nor had he seen much in the lower rings of the city either, but it [i]was[/i] pretty, he had to admit. 

[color=steelblue]”Here.”[/color] Jin said plainly- but not unkindly, as he returned to Sumire, securing the flower in one of the loops on her harness. The shorter girl pulled her helmet off and shook her head, beaming a broad smile at him. Behind his polarized faceplate, Jin couldn’t help but allow a small smile on his face as well. Looking up, Jin spotted Weiyuan running towards them, his feet kicking up small bits of sand. Jin didn’t know much about the fellow, easily the youngest in their group- a quiet one. Weiyuan hadn’t made much effort to talk to Jin, though he hadn’t made much of an effort either. Sumire had said hi to him the night previously, but only to make sure he had enough food and water for the night.

The man was pointing and mouthing and waving at them- obviously panicked about something, but what? Jin cocked his head at the man, confused and not quite able to read what his lips were saying. Following the man’s finger, he was seemingly pointing at them, or rather at their feet. It was around then that Jin started to feel it, the ground trembling beneath them. Looking down, he saw the sand starting to shift under Sumire’s feet. Now sand shifting beneath their feet was normal- if there was a breeze, but the air had been mostly still this morning, and the shifting seemed to be centered on Sumire, as opposed to all around them.

[color=steelblue]”Uh… Mir…”[/color] Jin started cautiously, as he reached out for her. Sumire looked at him confused, but also reached out with both arms. [color=white]”Weird, you’ve never been much of a hugger-”[/color]   

[color=steelblue]”No, Mir! There’s something in the ground!”[/color] Jin interrupted, quickly grabbing the girl and leaping back away from the shifting sands, a burst of air from his feet launching them back a few yards.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=bca346]Exit   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
The sand where Sumire had been standing suddenly bubbled, folded into itself and exploded, spraying bits of dust and sand in all directions. Emerging from within this dense cloud of dirt was a massive worm-like beast. It appeared out of the debris head first, mouth spewing sand and mandibles pinching angrily at the empty air having been robbed of its meal. It was a massive creature painted like the desert with a thick carapace covering its back and lighter plates on its belly. It was lined on either side with a distinct orange marker from which three pairs of legs ending in long talons protruded. They clambered together under the beast as it climbed out of the tunnel it had bore through, and as the creature reared to its fullest height, it began screeching at the sky. The noise was ear-splitting and the sand around it seemed to tremble from the vibrations of the sound alone. Granules shifted all the way out to past where the Kyoshi was parked.

Suddenly, the screeching stopped and the creature’s head turned violently toward Jin and Sumire. Its mouth opened and its tongue lashed out in their direction, the barbed tip falling short of Sumire’s back by only a few feet. Directly behind it, sand began to shift where its tail was still buried. This shifting sand began to move toward Weiyuan as if something small was moving toward him.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=d5a6bd]canaryrose   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
A scream tore its way out of Chu Hua’s throat as the massive worm emerged from the sand. [color=firebrick]“Holy SHIT!”[/color] Although already far away, she backed away, heart beating like a rabbit’s in her chest. What [i]was[/i] that thing? It seemed like she had been asking that way too much lately, but it was a good question. What kind of monsters lived in this desert? She stared slack-jawed in horror at Jin and Sumire as it seemed to look their way, doing… whatever it was doing with its tongue. Did it want to [i]eat[/i] them?

[color=firebrick][i]Come on, Chu, think.[/i][/color] They needed to kill it before it killed them. It was big, so she couldn’t wrestle it. Guns? No, she didn’t have any. Running it over? No, they wouldn’t get away in time. ...But she had fire. Chu realized it with a jolt, and then a rising feeling of… was that excitement? Her first smile in days crossed her face, and Chu squared her feet in her sand. 

[color=firebrick]“Guys! Out of the way!”[/color] she screamed, and then tried something. She reached down into that place inside her where the fire came from, where that ember had always been. It was a burning well inside of her, one that she had always ignored or had tried to smother. She had never used it consciously before to this extent, but she had always felt it. Did it scare her? Thrill her? Maybe both could coexist. Surprisingly, it was easy to summon it, and even easier to send it out around her, expanding towards the beast. The flame expanded into a circle around her, and she shot out her hands, trying to direct it.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=f1c231]KillamriX88   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
Weiyuan felt a surge of hope. It seemed Chu Hua might have actually had some ability to bend at will after all! He wasn’t the only one who-
[sub][sub][u][b][color=d5a6bd]canaryrose   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
… But it didn’t work. Why the fuck hadn’t that worked? The flame fizzled out as soon as it had started, and Chu stared at the ground with the face of someone who hadn’t gotten what she wanted. Huh? Wait. [color=firebrick]“Can you not light sand on fire?!”[/color] she yelled, before trying something different.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=f1c231]KillamriX88   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
And then it just sort’ve fizzled out and his jaw dropped as she asked one of the most asinine questions he’d ever heard. Of course sand wasn’t flammable! It was just crushed rock! Did she think rocks might be flammable too!?
[sub][sub][u][b][color=d5a6bd]canaryrose   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
Okay. Okay, [i]this[/i] time it would work. Chu Hua brought her hands to her side, trying to do the same thing she had just done. 

Reaching deep into that long-buried place of hers again, she pulled at the flame, summoning it to her hands as a large ball of rippling heat. She felt the heat on her hands, but it was pleasant. In control. Copying a move she had seen from those tapes, Chu punched at the air as though she had a real opponent, directing a blast of flame directly at the worm’s face.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=bca346]Exit   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
The fireball erupted around the creature’s still open maw, wrapping flames and heat around its face and tongue burning the weaker exposed flesh. It screamed again, this time in pain, as it reared back and then shoved its head into the sand to extinguish the flame.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=d5a6bd]canaryrose   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
Chu Hua could not [i]believe[/i] that had worked. She stared in awe for a moment at what she had done with her power, and then briefly cheered. It clearly hated the fire, so maybe she should hit it with a few more of those. But before Chu got to create a stream of flame, it dug its head into the ground, extinguishing the fire. She glanced at the others. [color=firebrick] “Someone fucking sh- AGH!”[/color]

The tail of the worm burst out of the sand and whipped at her face, Chu had only a split second to think- but she always did.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=f1c231]KillamriX88   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
Weiyuan was left slack-jawed and so dumbstruck, he almost forgot about the second tremor that had been approaching him.

Fortunately, Chu Hua got her act together enough to unleash a more competent display of firebending and distracted the worm. The worm now attacked her instead and-
[sub][sub][u][b][color=d5a6bd]canaryrose   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
In a moment, she made a decision and ran and jumped at the tail, holding on for dear life. Chu let out a crazed laugh as she summoned the fire, digging her fingernails into a chink in its armor.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=f1c231]KillamriX88   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
Again, Weiyuan was stunned by Chu Hua’s thought process. She decided to attack the worm physically, like it was some sort of insane rodeo.

Someone needed to do something before she was killed.

. . .
. . .
. . .

Oh.

He was going to have to be that someone, wasn’t he?

No doubt Chu Hua’s attack was making the worm terribly upset, and it was either going to smash her against the ground, or retreat back under the sands, possibly taking her with it. 

Unfortunately for him, but fortunately for Chu Hua, recent events had forced him to dust off his Sandbending skills, so he had an idea. With the worm distracted, he hurried over as close as he dared, and then dug his feet into the sand before using his bending to tighten the sand around the worm’s tail, hopefully slowing its thrashing.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=bca346]Exit   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
As the midsection of the tail landed back in the sand following the swing, it becomes entombed by Weiyuan who hardened the earth around it, heavily restricting its movement. For now at least, it was no longer able to attack with its tail, nor could it move although already there are cracks appearing in the impromptu shackle. Chu, who managed to successfully jump onto and cling to the end of the tail, began to heat up the carapace from the outside. The impact of the tail against her was hard but not hard enough to break any bones.

Once again, desert sands began to vibrate as the creature’s head erupted from the ground, throwing more dust and rock in all directions. It turned toward Chu, opening its mouth to reveal smoldering flesh from where she had struck it. The barb tipped tongue was hanging slightly slack between its teeth.

[color=white]”EW!”[/color] Sumire screamed from behind Jin. She threw a rock at its head where it bounced harmlessly off its armor plating doing little more than drawing its attention.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=c9daf8]vietmyke   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
Jin stared blankly at Sumire. She returned a sheepish smile.

[color=steelblue]”If you’re going to get its attention, use something that’ll actually hurt it.”[/color] Jin scolded his smaller companion as he grabbed her and bounded again, a burst of air sending them flying over to the top of the rock formation they had rested by the night before- something most likely a lot bigger underneath the sand than it was above the sand. If his thought process was correct, on top of the massive rock, Sumire [i]should[/i] be invisible from the creature- unless it detected heartbeats or something too. [color=steelblue]”Reman! Vas!”[/color] Jin called to the engineer and waterbender, though loud enough for everyone else to hear as well, [color=steelblue] Up over here! It doesn’t have any eyes, I think it detects motion in the sand!”[/color]

Unslinging his rifle from his shoulder, he pressed the weapon into Sumire’s hands. [color=steelblue]”You still know how to shoot right?”[/color] the bunny ear flopped up and down. [color=steelblue]”Wait for an opening- and [i]don’t[/i] hit us or I swear to the spirits…”[/color]

Jin left the threat hanging as he bounded back into the sand, towards the worm, his bounds crossing twice the usual distance- plumes of sand billowing out as his feet contacted the ground. He had only spent a small amount of time experimenting with his airbending- out in the safety and relative privacy of the desert- so long as no one spotted him, Jin was safe to practice his airbending as much as he wanted. He didn’t have any formal teachers or training, not that he knew where he’d get any in this day and age- asking around might’ve gotten him arrested

Skidding to a stop in the relative front of the worm-beast-thing, a few yards back Jin took a deep breath, cool air filling his lungs as he squared himself in front of the monster. As the beast’s head drew itself out of the sand Jin threw his fist out in a hook, a compressed blast of air arcing from Jin’s fist and towards the monster. Jin didn’t wait to see the effect on the creature, he threw a pair of jabs in rapid succession before following up with another hook. The thing was large and armored, they might able to kill it if they were lucky, but at the very least they could rough  it up enough to the point it had second thoughts about whether or not it still wanted to eat them.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=d5a6bd]canaryrose   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
Chu wasn’t watching the others with any particular focus- she was too focused on keeping her grip on the carapace of the worm, desperately keeping herself from slipping. She did, however, hear Jin shouting and she noticed the sand around the tail hardening, keeping the worm from flinging her onto the ground. She [i]would[/i] have given Weiyuan a thumbs up, but she was a bit busy. She yelped as the worm raised its head once again, looking right at her, opening its mouth, and roaring. 

Using a significant amount of arm strength, Chu hauled her upper body upwards, almost as if she was doing a pull-up. She pointed her feet straight out, facing the worm’s mouth, and then summoned the flame. It came even easier this time, and she directed it downwards. It shot out of her feet with a loud whoosh, shooting right into the worm’s open mouth. Distantly, Chu noticed herself sweating from the heat, but she was grinning with exhilaration. She had just needed to get closer to pull this off- and it had worked!

Now she just needed to think about how to get off… Chu glanced at Jin Wei below, formulating a plan. [color=firebrick]“If I jump, catch me!”[/color] she screamed. She hoped he understood that she meant with air, not his arms. For now, though, she’d cling on.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=02ffff]Abstract Proxy   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
Finding fresh purpose, Vasra ran towards the rock formation that Jin had indicated. She hoped the worm wouldn’t notice as she lept upwards, fingers smashing against the rock blindly as she scampered upwards. She had no weapons. The two vials of spirit water she had were too important to waste, besides she wasn’t sure what they would do to the giant…desert worm thing. Hunkering down next to Sumire, she nodded at the flailing worm, “Aim for the head! And not Chu. We need to distract it even more!”

Picking up a modest rock between both her hands, no larger than an eggplant, but far denser, Vasra hurled it at the head of the worm with an effortful grunt and a twirl that almost sent her stumbling onto the ground. It hadn’t worked for Sumire, but she had to do something.
[sub][sub][u][b][color=f5cbcc]Theyra   [/color][/b][/u][/sub][/sub]
Reman ran fast to the rock with Vasra and Sumire after Jin ordered them to. Watching from afar the fight with the sandworm and when Vasra throw a rock at the sandworm to distract but they needed more then a rock to attract its attention. Drawing his pistol and offering Vasra his second that he took from that man back at the outpost. [color=yellow]”I do not have a lot of ammo for both so make it count.”[/color] So with his free hand he shot at the sandworm’s head, maybe this will distract it.[/color][/quote]
[/cell][/row][/table][/sub][/color][table=bordered][row][sub]Prompt:[/sub][/row][row][cell][color=9f9f9f]The creature screams as flames erupt in its mouth a second time. However, instead of diving into the sand, it immediately shuts its maw. The rest of the flames roll harmlessly off its scales. In retaliation, it stiffens its tail and strikes the sand with Chu still clinging to it, knocking the air out of her lungs and burying her in the dirt. It intends to keep her there, but as it starts to grind its tail along the ground, air blasts from Jin distract the beast causing it to rear up once more and pull Chu back up. Although harmless, the balls of compressed air are strong enough to visibly knock the creature's head back and it is unable to concentrate on what it wanted to do.

At the same time, bullets begin striking the armor plating covering its face. From the rock, Reman continues putting rounds into the creature as Sumire shoulders the rifle and aims for the now much more exposed plates under its neck. She pulls the trigger eliciting a bark and a kick from the gun which she handles almost surprisingly well. The first bullet cracks the plate. A second bullet tears away a sizable chunk exposing pale flesh underneath.

The rock Vasra throws falls short of the body of the creature but does manage to land on one of its outstretched legs, pinning it as it is being pummeled from all sides. It begins to fall on its back just as the earthen shackle around its tail finally shatters.

[color=white]Weiyuan:[/color] You feel a second tremor coming from the Southeast.

[color=white]Reman:[/color] You suddenly hear something directly behind you.[/color][/cell][/row][/table][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/XcwcLTZ.jpg[/img][/center]