Hideo could hear in Shtiya’s voice that the other boy wasn’t enjoying the current topic of discussion. Hideo felt guilty for making Shtiya deal with his problems. It was unfair of him to put such a burden on the Waterbender. True, Shtiya had asked him about it, but that had probably been more out of courtesy than anything else. And in response Hideo had gone a little crazy and sobbed on his friend’s shoulder. That was a little much.

He did understand Shtiya’s feelings, and he did know that he shouldn’t hate all of the Fire Nation for one man’s actions, but understanding and doing were two very different things. It would take some sort of incredible act of selflessness on the Fire Nation’s part for him to forgive them, and that wasn’t likely to happen any time soon. Until it did, he would continue to hate the Fire Nation and any who served it, whether he should or not.

When Shtiya sat up he did as well. ”Do you want to go now?” he asked, hoping the other boy would say yes. Night would arrive soon, and he had no desire to wander around a strange town full of Fire Nation in the dark. His fears were bad enough in daylight. At night they just got much worse.

Shtiya groaned and rubbed his hands over his face. "Sure," he said, pulling away from Hideo and getting up. "B-—-etter to get things done before nightfall." He rubbed the back of his neck and went to his pack, squatting beside it to get out his money and take stock one last time. "We s-should have an easy time finding what we need. I expect lots of travellers come through here."

Standing, he tucked his money into his belt and turned to look at Hideo. "Ready?" He pulled the door open and waited for the other boy to step out before locking it behind both of them. As they headed down the stairs, he was silent. Honestly, Shtiya had no idea what to say.

They went to the main street to find a place to shop — it made the most sense. A butcher had set up shop down on the corner, and Shtiya located it almost immediately. "We'll s-see the bu-——-" the pause in the word butcher was very long; it was clearly a word he had a hard time getting out. His face twisted until he gave up and sighed, trying again. He tilted his head forward a bit as if to force the word out. "Bu-——-tcher for meat. We'll see the bu-butcher for meat. First. Okay?" He glanced at the other boy, blushing. Shtiya was clearly embarrassed.

He put his eyes on the ground as they walked. Usually he was sort of apathetic about his stutter; it was there, he knew it, and he did his best to avoid it. That was that. Sometimes it came out full force though, and when it did, it was mortifying. To make it worse, he was with someone he really liked, someone he wanted to like him back. They were at that make it or break it stage, and he wasn't ready for Hideo to know all about all his faults. To have one so forcefully out in the open was... well, it damaged the self-esteem.

Hideo stood and stretched, glad that they would be doing something. If he had tons of time to just sit and think, he might do something drastic and get himself thrown in jail. It was better that he was going with Shtiya, even if that did involve the possibility of facing the soldiers again. He could handle that – he could. Just as long as he didn’t have to interact with them in any way.

He nodded when Shtiya asked if he was ready. He stepped out of the room, waiting for the other boy before heading down the stairs. He too was silent. After what had just occurred, he wasn’t really sure what to say. What did you say to somebody after you had just finished sobbing on their shoulder? He had no idea, so he stayed silent. It was a bit awkward, but it would probably be even more awkward if he tried to start a conversation.

As they emerged into the street, Hideo slipped into his usual habit and lagged slightly behind Shtiya. When the Waterbender spoke and stumbled on the word butcher, Hideo just waited patiently for him to finish. When Shtiya was done, he smiled. “Okay, that sounds good,” he said. He wouldn’t comment on the stutter. Everyone had their faults. And he knew that with him it was always ten times worse if someone commented on his. He guessed that Shtiya was the same. So, to save the other boy embarrassment, he would pretend he hadn’t noticed the speaking difficulties.

Shtiya ran both hands through his hair, sighing deeply. "Okay." It was unfortunate that they were both so quiet — it made awkward silences that much longer. When they reached the butcher shop he paused, just barely, before going in.

The place was clean and well put together, even if it lacked a large selection. Peeking around at the shop, Shtiya did not fail to notice how the man stared at his clothing. He'd always travelled in his own clothes from the Water Tribe, not really ever thinking twice about it. Now that he had Hideo to worry about, though... Shtiya wondered idlly if he shouldn't buy some different clothes when they bought Hideo's shoes. At least a tunic in green instead of blue might make him less noticeable.

Approaching the counter, he asked the butcher about what kind of meat he had dry for easy travelling. Given that drying meat is one of the oldest forms of preserving it, the answer was simple. Glancing at Hideo, Shtiya smiled hesitantly. "D-do you have any preference?" The Waterbender tended to eat the simplest and cheapest food available, with no regard for taste whatsoever. After travelling as long as he had, he just wasn't interested in food as delicacy most of the time — it was fuel, and Shtiya tended to treat it that way.

After requesting an amount from the butcher, Shtiya waited for Hideo to choose something. He focused his blue eyes out the window, looking warily at the street. What a day.

Meat purchased, they were now in search of a place to buy dried roots or vegetables. Shtiya was itching to go down the road to the healer, but he felt bad for some reason, and he kept looking over at Hideo trying to figure out if he'd done something wrong. They were so... awkwardly silent. He coughed and it sounded jarringly loud.

He heard the other boy’s sigh and felt guilty. His stupid outburst had made things awkward between them again. And considering that they weren’t exactly open with each other as it was, that was a very annoying problem. But he wasn’t just going to start talking now. That would be odd, and probably wouldn’t end well. So he just followed Shtiya to the butcher quietly.

Hideo was surprised by how clean the butcher’s shop was. Considering the man’s trade, the boy had been expecting the place to look much more…used. It was a nice surprise. He too noticed the butcher staring at Shtiya, but it didn’t really bother him. After all, if Shtiya had been able to fool a Fire Nation soldier, what did one butcher matter? He probably wouldn’t even comment on Shtiya’s clothes, so long as they bought something. People tended to keep their mouths shut if you gave them money. It was a sad fact, but a true one. And if it would keep them from attracting suspicion, he would take as advantage of humanity’s avarice as he could.

Looking at the selection of meat, he picked one quickly. It was the cheapest, and didn’t look like anything special. But that was fine. Food was food. While they were on the road, he’d be happy as long as they had something to eat. Once his choice had been made, he turned to Shtiya, noticing how the other boy was observing the street. “Looking for something?” he asked. His tone was light, but there was a deeper meaning behind his words. He had an idea as to just what it was Shtiya was looking for, and he was being just as watchful.

Random Town

"Huh?" Shtiya looked surprised when Hideo spoke. "Oh! Um." He flushed deeply. "W-we need some v-v-vegetables." They paid the man and stepped into the street, looking around for somewhere to purchase roots or vegetables. Nothing else looked as neat as the butcher shop, which was interesting. What kind of butcher had such a clean shop?

Shtiya sighed again; maybe he should have asked where to buy vegetables. It was evening and thus not a good time to find a market — farmers would bring things during the day, and they'd spent much of theirs travelling to the town. "We have to f-find you some shoes. And —" he looked down at his clothes. "And I m-might need a new tunic." He sounded sad about it. This must be how Hideo felt about wearing shoes — it was awful to cover up a part of who you were. He pulled at the hem of his tunic, chewing his lip. He'd never worn anything else!

"I guess we can f-—--ind these things and get food on the way out tomorrow," he said, trying to sound hopeful. Peeking down the road, Shtiya could see at the far end a small shack. It didn't look very promising, but he had to try. "And I have to s-see the healer." He twisted his fingers together. "Do you want to come see the healer too, or n-not? We can split up if you want."

The sun was setting behind them, and the Fire Nation soldiers looked like they were beginning to patrol the streets. The Waterbender eyed them carefully and glanced at his friend. "Choose fast?"

Khuzaymah

Adiva stopped her stirring as soon as she heard the familiar, accusing voice. It sounded strange and deep, echoing in some invisible cavern, and it was layered with scores of other voices, all whispering.
“You drank some of the juice again didn’t you?” he said from across the hut. She made no effort to reply, knowing she was in for a real tongue lashing. She simply focused on the hundreds of insects that were crawling around her, figments of her mind. Some of them were beetles, bright blue and purple like shining satin. Others were poisonous, and some had more legs than she knew was possible. But as soon as he spoke again, every bug disintegrated into dust.
“You of all people should know what drinking that stuff will do to you, don’t you remember Tora?” Suddenly he was beside her, staring into her face. Even without a reflection, she knew her pupils were too large, her skin too pale.
"Stop," she pleaded, covering her ears. His voice was so loud, joined by a chorus shouting, "Tora! Tora! Tora!" The man kept on talking, but she couldn't hear him. She rocked back and forth slightly, trying to block out all the sound. Finally, when it eased down, she let her hands fall.
“What happened to your hands?” Adiva looked up at him, balling her fists.
"I fell," she finally spoke. She saw the care in his eyes and wanted to scratch him across the face. She didn't need pity; or help. She wanted to throw the bowl of poison into his eyes, or drink it all. Yes. Drink it. As she reached for the bowl, however, something inside her that was trapped escaped. The juice was wearing off. She ripped her hands away and stood up, running out of the hut.
The sun was high in the sky now, and the heat was glimmering on the sand. The air was without a breeze, but she breathed it in greedily. People were either in their huts or hiding in whatever shade they could find, but she stood in the eye of the sun and made a promise. I will escape this place, and my brother will be freed. This I swear.

Kasim stirred in his cell. The heat was so intense it was better just to lie still and slip away into a shallow sleep, but the noise kept him awake. Inside it was dark. It was like a kind of constant vertigo, for there was little knowing what time of day it was except by when his food came. It was humiliating. His feet were shackled to the floor, and his arms were as well, so that he was trapped in a constant sitting position, slouched over and stiff. When they brought his food, they spoon fed him. For the first week he'd spat it back in their faces, but he soon grew so hungry he ate it up like a babe. He had a beard now, but he'd long since stopped caring about his looks. Everytime the door was opened, the light blinded him.
All of these precautions were to keep him from bending, but he'd often wondered at why they hadn't simply killed him when he'd refused to join the reds. They went to so much trouble to keep him powerless...yet still alive. What use was he to them? Perhaps whoever the man in charge was too honorable to execute him. Or perhaps he was a coward.

The door clanked open and Kasim turned away like some milky eyed creature of the desert tunnels. Footsteps came nearer and the door was shut, but the darkness did not return. The red brought fire. He laughed at the pitiful thing slumped against the hot metal wall, kicking with a grunt.
"I know you're too broken to try anything, but you know the drill. No biting, no spitting. Just drink up you poor retch." The man came nearer and held a bowl to Kasim's mouth, and watched him drink greedily. The bowl was metal. They'd learned their lesson after bringing his soup in an earthenware dish, for he'd bent it - albeit with much difficulty - with his head and his eyes. Never before had they dreamed of such a thing, but desperate situations often gave birth to extraordinary bending. He'd managed to to little more than turn it into a hardened rock before they knocked him unconscious, but he'd found a spark of hope that day.
He'd learned to bend with a mere twitch of a finger or toe, and sometimes even his tongue. They'd gone to the utmost care to see that he was always surrounded by metal, but the desert was still all around, and they tracked the sand in on their shoes. Over days and days, he'd managed to bend it all into a neat pile just in front of his right hand, hidden in the shadows of his legs. When he was done his water and soup, Kasim wiggled all of his fingers and the tiny grains came to life, forming a sort of snake by his hand. The soldier didn't see, for he was just turning his back to leave. With a flick of his eyes and an upward motion of his chin, Kasim sent the sand whip around the man and cinched it tight around his neck. The man let out a strangled yell, but he fell back and landed just to the left of his attacker. The men outside had obviously heard, for there was a great clanging to open the door.
"Open it, and your friend dies," Kasim said in a voice that hardly sounded like his own. It was so dry, and more of a loud croak than a yell, but he tore his voice to be heard. The rattling stopped.
"Bring me Amin and no one will get hurt. I just want to talk."

Random Town

He sighed when Shtiya once again mentioned the dreaded “s-word.” He was not looking forward to that. He could hear how sad Shtiya sounded about getting a new tunic, and he felt bad for the Waterbender. While it was probably a good idea to get Shtiya some more common clothes, it was sad that the boy had to hide his heritage as if there was something wrong with being from a Water Tribe. Still, if it would help them go unnoticed, he thought it was a great idea.

“Yeah, you probably should,” he said, trying to sound happy so as to cheer his friend up. When Shtiya spoke of buying the rest of what they needed the next day, Hideo nodded. It was getting dark, and it was likely that shopkeepers had already closed up for the day. He didn’t like being outside at night anyway, so he would rather wait for daytime to walk around.

“I’ll come with you,” Hideo said when Shtiya asked about the healer. He had no desire to return to the inn alone. And who knew, the healer might interest him as well. So he would stick with Shtiya.

As they began walking to the healer’s hut, Hideo kept an eye on any soldiers he saw walking around the town. They probably wouldn’t be noticed, but he was still wary. He didn’t trust the soldiers, and would watch them carefully.

He was shaken from his spying by strange sounds that seemed to come from ahead of them. It sounded as though something was being hit. He frowned. “What’s that?” he asked Shtiya. Well, whatever it was, it didn’t sound good. He quickened his pace.

He arrived at the entrance to an alley and saw what had made the noise. Several Fire Nation soldiers were beating and kicking a young boy, who was lying curled up in a ball on the ground, weeping. Hideo scowled. He was furious. Before he could stop himself, he shouted. “Hey! Leave him alone!” To make sure the soldiers got the message, he shifted into a stance and stomped the ground. A small, fist-sized chunk of earth floated up in front of him. He punched out and the rock flew forward, striking one of the soldiers in the back of the head.

The guard who had been struck turned around, his expression angry. “Why you little—“ he growled, walking toward Hideo. The other soldiers turned and, seeing the boys, left their victim alone and approached the newcomers. Hideo stepped forward and punched again, sending a couple more rocks flying at the soldiers, which they blocked with quick blasts of fire. He attempted to evade them, but he was quickly surrounded. Luckily, by stepping forward, he had ensured that, for the moment at least, the soldiers weren’t focused on Shtiya.

He began to turn quickly, striking furiously, trying to hit the guards. He was keeping them at bay, until he suddenly felt an intense pain in his back and he stumbled. He whirled around and saw that one of the soldiers was holding a whip made out of fire – that was obviously what had struck him. He attempted to kick the man, but any advantage he had had was now lost. He was open to attack.

The soldiers closed in, and all began attacking at once. He couldn’t react to the onslaught of blows. In seconds his body was battered and burned in multiple places. Blood streamed down his face, and he could barely see. He fell to the ground, his eyes searching for Shtiya as the soldiers continued to attack him. “Help…” he whispered weakly.

Hideo sounded a lot more excited about finding a tunic than Shtiya felt. He didn't want to dress differently. It felt like hiding who he was, and as he'd told the other boy — he wasn't very into doing that. Still, though, if it kept their heads down and avoided questions... it was better, right?

The Earthbender wanted to go to the healer's, too, so Shtiya smiled at him and headed down the road, walking quickly. His ears picked up the sounds of trouble just as Hideo's did. The other boy asked him what it was, and Shtiya immediately opened his mouth to say that it wasn't any of their business, but Hideo was already headed for the sound. Shtiya slapped a hand to his face and groaned. There was no way in nine hells that this would end well. "H-hey!!"

The Waterbender ran after Hideo and got to the alleyway just in time to see him yell at some soldiers and send rocks flying towards their heads.

Well, great. Just bloody great. There went their cover.

Two things they had to do, two things, stay unnoticed and don’t bend anything. How hard was that?! Granted, this kid was being beaten up, and Shtiya hated to see that, but – did Hideo seriously want to go to prison? Did he have some kind of crazy death wish? Now that the soliders knew he was an Earthbender, he could get taken away to a work camp or a prison or worse. And Shtiya would be right behind him, of course, because he had to be. He groaned, again, slapping his hands to his face one more time. "You have GOT to be KIDDING me!"

The soldiers sent some fire towards them and Shtiya leapt back, hiding behind the edge of one building. What did Hideo expect him to do, exactly? He felt certain that he'd mentioned the fact that he sucked at fighting, hadn't learned to do it, and didn't want to. So that left them where?

Unfortunately, a soldier was breaking out a fire whip of epic proportions, and Hideo was getting the life beaten out of him. Shtiya's eyes landed on the puddle of water from the previous rain. He pulled away from the building and, with a sweeping gesture, bent water from the puddle up into a curving wall of ice, blocking Hideo from one group of oncoming soldiers. Naturally, they'd fire through the ice in moments, so he had to figure something better out — and fast. Shtiya swung an arm around, pulling water up with it, blocking a blow from the fire whip. That gave him enough time to get to Hideo's side, just as the soldiers broke through the ice wall. "I," he hissed, "am going to kill you myself!"

Grabbing his friend's hand, Shtiya hauled Hideo to his feet. The soldiers' burning through the ice had already created some steam, beginning to cloud the close alleyway. Shtiya's anger at being pulled into this situation was making it hard to concentrate; his first attempt at pulling more water into misty steam failed. The Waterbender pulled his free hand up again, making sure the movement was fluid, and simply pulled the puddle's water out into a wave instead, pushing the soldiers back without harming them. They needed to get out of there. Preferably immediately. "C-can you block them or s---omething?" Icy blue eyes cast about them, looking for an escape route.

Random Village


Apparently his plea for help had been heard. Either that, or the spirits just felt like conveniently placing walls of ice right in front of him. But wait, Shtiya was at his side. He had brought up the wall of ice. Hideo smiled at his friend as he stood, both in thanks and at what the other boy said. That was what he liked about Shtiya – The Waterbender was so gentle and caring.

“…It’s good to see…you too,” he said, his speech halted by his pain. He looked at the soldiers. It was obvious the wall of ice wouldn’t last long. At least the steam might cover them when they made a run for it. He was about to suggest that they just run now, but Shtiya moved before he could. Hideo felt like cheering – not that he would have been able to – when Shtiya pushed the soldiers back. That would stop the attacks for a little bit.

His eyes widened when Shtiya asked if he could block the soldiers. He was bruised, burnt, and bleeding? Did he look like he could do anything? Well, he could at least try. He owed Shtiya that much for the perfectly-timed rescue. He stepped forward, using the back of his hand to wipe blood away from his eyes. He took a stance, took a deep breath, and slowly raised his arms up to the sky. As his arms rose, so did a thick rectangle of rock that was as wide as the alley. He kept his arms moving until the rock wall was higher than he figured the soldiers could get through, then he let his arms fall, breathing heavily. Bending something so big took a lot out of him. He looked at Shtiya. ”Does…that work?”

Not waiting for a response, he grabbed his friend’s hand. His grip slipped a few times because of the blood covering his hands, but eventually he was firmly holding the Waterbender’s hand. He turned and, pulling his friend with him, left the alley as quick as his feet could take him.

He pulled Shtiya down the street for about a minute before stopping in another alley. He slumped against a wall, sliding down so he was sitting with his back against the building. He knew they should keep going, but he couldn’t will his legs to keep moving. He stared down at his knees, unwilling to look at Shtiya and see how mad the Waterbender was. He was sure the other boy was furious.

Some Random Village

A wall of rock rose around them and Hideo muttered something about would it do. Shtiya rolled his eyes and grabbed for the other boy's hand, catching hold after a little slipping. They ran from the alleyway, slipping quickly into another, hopefully before the dust and steam cleared. They were so, so screwed! Shtiya felt like throwing something, crying, and pulling his hair out, all at the same time.

No, furious would so not even begin to cover what Shtiya was feeling at that particular moment. He was irate, maybe; incensed, terrified, livid. If it weren't for the other boy's blood all over his hands and his need to fix the situation, he would be having serious words with Hideo. When the other boy stopped and slumped down a wall, Shtiya almost tripped on him. "W-—-whoa!" He caught himself, gingerly, on the wall. When the Waterbender turned, his jaw was set and his eyes angry.

"Why," he asked, in a voice that was tightly controlled and quiet, "are you s-s-s-sitting there? We have to go. Now." The soldiers knew where they were staying. They had to go a back way, somehow beat the men there, get all their stuff, pack it up, and leave town. In that order, as quickly as possible, and without getting into any more fire fights. They definitely did not have time to sit in alleyways.

Shtiya took another look at the Earthbender, letting out a sigh. Hideo was covered in bruises, cuts, and burns. There was blood basically everywhere. All of his herbs were back at the inn, to boot, so he couldn't even do a patch-up job where they were. "Come on," the Waterbender said, reaching for Hideo's arm. "We have to g---et to the inn before they do. I can f-fix you up a little but-—" He stopped talking, looking away and tightening a muscle in his jaw. Clenched teeth held back any angry words, as well as holding back hysterics. Shtiya felt like his jaw might break from the tension.

If they didn't get moving and start doing something, he was going to break down in tears. Shtiya did not handle stress well. He made his way as a traveller by keeping himself out of trouble, avoiding exactly this kind of situation. And now that he'd been confronted with it, the only way he knew how to deal was to keep moving. Always, always, always keep moving.

Random Village

Why was he sitting there? Maybe it was because it hurt to move! No, he couldn’t be mad at Shtiya. The Waterbender was right – they needed to leave as soon as possible. However, thinking and putting his thoughts into action were two very different things, and right now the latter was rather hard to do. He closed his eyes for a second but made sure to open them again almost immediately. If he didn’t he knew he would fall asleep. At least by doing that he could escape the pain and the crushing guilt he felt for a little while.

But no, that had to wait. Physical escape came before mental. And that meant getting up and going back to the inn. He clutched Shtiya’s arm and used it to help himself stand. He swayed a bit at the sudden change in elevation, but he shook his head to clear it. Once he was completely lucid, he began walking out of the alley, not looking at Shtiya.

He looked up and down the street. He could hear sounds of pursuit, but couldn’t see any soldiers. He stepped out into the street and crossed, heading for another alley. This could work. If they just stuck to back alleys, they could get back to the inn unnoticed. Unless, of course, the soldiers thought of the same thing. Hopefully they wouldn’t. They didn’t seem too bright.

He moved through that alley and on to another one, not looking back at Shtiya, just continuing to move. He stumbled many times, and his vision was often impeded by blood, but he could make do. All they had to do was keep moving. They’d be fine.

They crept through alleys and on the twentieth time Hideo stumbled, Shtiya caught him and pushed him against a wall. "Hold still," he said, ripping at the bottom of his tunic. The Earthbender needed at the very least a bandage on the head bleed and some light healing so they could move at a faster pace. They'd never get their things or get out of the village at this rate. Shtiya ripped a strip of blue cloth off the end of his tunic and inspected Hideo's head gently, locating the source of the bleeding.

Like most wounds to the head, it was small, but it bled a lot. He wrapped it tightly, wishing he'd thought to unwrap his arms before ripping his clothes. Well, he needed a green one, anyway. No use in worrying about it now. Unfortunately, there were not any puddles nearby in this alleyway, so they would have to move to the next one before he could heal anything. After wiping some of the blood from Hideo's face, Shtiya smiled tentatively. "Come on." His tone was apologetic. "We have to move f---aster."

He was about to duck out of the alleyway when some soldiers ran by. Shtiya held his breath for a moment. How could they get to the inn? He peered around a corner, trying to figure out where they were. It seemed like they needed to go back down the main road. Wasn't there a back door? Ugh! This was horrible!

What he needed was speed. Shtiya knew that they were moving too slow. Hideo was injured, he needed medical attention, and the Waterbender couldn't give it to him without his bags. The only way to the bags was probably running down main streets, praying for protection, until he reached the inn. If he went by himself, Shtiya could bend some water into mist for cover. He knew he could run fairly quickly, and he could carry both their bags. It was a better plan. He sighed. The Waterbender interlaced his fingers with Hideo's for a second. "If I go by myself," he said softly, "I can get things faster and come back for you." He bit his lip for a moment. "S-stay right here. I'll be back."

Random Village

He was surprised when Shtiya pushed him against the wall, but he obeyed the Waterbender’s command and didn’t move. He chuckled when Shtiya ripped his tunic. ”Nice look.” All joking aside, he was grateful to Shtiya for wrapping his head. Now he’d be able to see better, which would help if he had to run quickly from Fire Nation soldiers. Though he had a feeling that “if” might soon turn into a “when,” especially at their current pace.

He answered Shtiya’s smile with one of his own, though his was considerably weaker and didn’t have any heart in it. There would be time for smiling. Right now he just wanted to get out of the town. But moving faster wasn’t looking like much of an option at the moment.

When the soldiers ran by, he froze, but they passed by without noticing the boys. He let his breath out in a sigh of relief. At this point, if they were spotted, Shtiya would have to hold the soldiers off, which wasn’t a good strategy. He was glad to feel Shtiya’s fingers touch his, even if only briefly. Shtiya’s words made him feel happier than the Waterbender would ever know. He nodded. “…I can do…that.”

Once again he found himself sitting against a wall, only this time he could relax. He knew he should be worrying about Shtiya and what might happen to him, but right now all he could think of was a fierce desire to do absolutely nothing for as long as possible. Now he was being given the chance to do just that, and he was going to take it. He stared at the ground, his mind going blank as he focused wholly on not doing anything.

How was it, Shtiya asked himself as he jogged along the main roads, that he had somehow managed to get a travel partner who just could not stay out of trouble? He should have known from the beginning that Hideo would be trouble. Any time he liked a guy, bad things happened. They happened in the North Pole, they happened in Omashu, and now they'd happened here. Was there some kind of curse on his love life?

He pulled himself quickly into an alleyway every time he saw soldiers coming, but other than that he was making much better progress now that he'd left Hideo in an alley. Admittedly, he was completely Freaked Out about the other boy — how much blood was he losing? Would he be okay? His worries about the Earthbender spurred his feet a little faster.

Reaching the inn, Shtiya ducked inside and ran up the stairs quickly, hoping desperately that he'd beat the soldiers. He reached their room and fumbled with the key for a moment, dropping it in the floor and swearing before getting the door open. Their packs remained where they'd left them; so far so good. He stuffed anything that was lying out into the packs in a haphazard way. They could sort it out later. Shtiya shouldered his own pack and stood up, freezing suddenly at the sound of boots in the hallway. Shit. Shit, shit, shit! He paused by the door, holding his breath. It openly smoothly, a Fire Nation soldier leaning in. He peered about the room, eyes narrowed.

"No one here," the soldier called over his shoulder to whomever was in the hallway. "Bastards must have beaten us here to grab their bags. We'll have to search the roadways." Stepping a little further into the room, the soldier looked around.

Shtiya felt like his heart might stop. He had both hands over his mouth, eyes wide. This was, quite possibly, the most terrifying moment of his entire life. When the soldier turned to leave and pulled the door closed behind him, Shtiya didn't move at all. He stayed frozen for a few minutes before his knees buckled and he slid down the wall, eyes closing. His hands stayed clasped over his mouth until he jerked them down, breathing deep, shuddering gasps. He had to get out of there.

Forcing himself to his feet, Shtiya thought of Hideo in an alleyway in an attempt to steel his nerves. Should he brave the hallway or try the window? He wasn't the greatest climber. The hallway might be safer. The boy went to the door, pulling it open slowly and peeking out. Make a break for it, boy, he told himself. Don't they always say it's now or never?

So he ran. Shtiya ran down the stairs, ran out the front door, and ran down the street. He tried to stay in the shadowy eaves of buildings, and his pace slowed to a crawl every time he saw soldiers. He narrowly avoided them, ducking in and out of alleys until he finally reached the one he'd left Hideo in. Stumbling into the alley, Shtiya let out a ragged sigh. "Pl---ease still be here," he gasped, trying to catch his breath, looking around for the other boy.

Random Town Of No Significance

As Shtiya snuck his way into the inn, Hideo sat, unmoving, in the alley where Shtiya had left him. While his body remained frozen, however, hid mind was moving at light speed. He didn’t know – and didn’t want to know – how many wounds he had, but he knew there were many. His back felt wet from all the blood seeping from it, and his front felt much the same way. In short, he definitely wasn’t in good shape.

And on top of that, he felt terrible mentally as well. Wave after wave of guilt was crashing over him. He was injured, Shtiya was off sneaking into an inn that was possibly occupied by Fire Nation soldiers, they were basically running for their lives. And it was all his fault. Why couldn’t he have just let the soldiers beat up the kid? If he had, they wouldn’t be in this mess.

But no, he knew himself too well. He couldn’t have left the situation alone, no matter how hard he tried. Besides, a confrontation with the Fire Nation was just about inevitable, considering how he felt about them. Of course, now he hated them more, which wouldn’t help anything.

But he’d deal with that later. Now, he just felt like crying. He was so stupid. That would have been fine by itself, but no, he had to drag Shtiya into danger too. And it wouldn’t end here. He’d be slowing them down for however long it took him to heal completely. That could be weeks. Ugh.

He was drawn away from his depressing thoughts by the sight of Shtiya entering the alley. He waved feebly, determined to remain sitting as long as he could. He was relieved to see that the Waterbender looked okay. Tired, but unharmed. He braced an arm on the ground and used that and the wall to help him get to his feet. He smiled slightly at Shtiya.

”…How’d it go?”

A wave of relief swept over Shtiya when he saw that Hideo was still slumped in the alley. Thank the spirits; he hadn't been taken. Of course, now that he could see that Hideo was still relatively all right, his anger swelled again. When the boy asked how it went, he snapped his teeth together before talking, and threw the bags down.

"Fine," Shtiya said, a little breathless. He knelt by where Hideo was, pulling him back down to a seated position. "H-hold still. We can't go anywhere until you can w---alk." Flinging his own pack open, the Waterbender pulled out his skin of water, a jar of ointment, and lengths of bandage. "Let's see your back," he said, gingerly pulling at Hideo's clothing. He needed to get the clothing off so he could take stock of the damage and the best way to dress it.

Hideo's back was pretty torn up. Those fire whips did... quite a bit of damage. Chewing his lower lip, Shtiya pondered the most effective approach. Best would be to heal away simple bruises and fatigue on the legs and back, so that Hideo could move faster. He could use herbal poultices and bandaging on the burns; they would heal slower, but Hideo could walk with burns. As long as they got out of the village quickly, he could try to attend to other things later.

Spreading the water between his hands, Shtiya sighed and placed them gently against Hideo's back. The water glowed softly silver, and he followed the wounds with it, only healing partially. He was tired, scared, angry, anxious, and out of sorts. Shtiya definitely wasn't at his best for healing at that precise moment. All he needed to do was take the edge off.

Returning the water to the skin, he picked up bandages and ointment, lightly coating Hideo's back. Before he could wrap the Earthbender up, he needed to put ointment on his torso — then he could wind the bandages all the way around to provide protection from rough cloth. Shtiya worked quickly and efficiently, brushing herbal salve over wounds and winding bandages carefully. When he was finished, he sighed. "I'll carry everything," he said, putting the lid back on the ointment. "G-————-et your clothes on." He packed the bag silently.

He was using healing Hideo and getting out of there as distractions from how upset he was, to be honest. Shtiya just plain wasn't used to feeling as responsible for someone as he did for Hideo. He didn't know if it was just protectiveness because he liked him, or if there was something deeper involved, but he couldn't stand the thought of something happening to the young Earthbender. He felt like Hideo was his responsibility. If anything happened to him, it would be Shtiya's fault.

Random Village

Shtiya was angry at him. Well, the Waterbender had a right to be. He was angry at himself too. But that he could focus on later. At the moment, he would just do what his friend said. He let Shtiya pull him back into a seated position and helped with the removal of his clothes. He was glad he couldn’t see his back, as he was sure it wasn’t very pretty.

The feeling of the water on his wounds was wonderful, and even if it didn’t heal him completely it did take away some of his pain, for which he was extremely grateful. He raised his arms to give Shtiya easier access to his torso, sighing as the ointment coated his skin. When the Waterbender had finished, Hideo looked like some sort of half-mummy, but felt much better. “…Thanks,” he muttered quietly.

He pulled his clothes on in silence, wincing a little as the movement caused his wounds to sting. He stood, feeling much steadier than before. Shtiya had done a great job. Hideo would be able to walk faster now, which meant they could get out of the town sooner. He looked at Shtiya and nodded, indicating that he was ready to go.

As they began to move, Hideo thought of his now bandaged wounds. He really didn’t deserve such care. After all, if he had just been able to keep walking, they would be fine, and not running for their lives. He knew Shtiya was worried about him, and he felt incredibly guilty for that. He didn’t like knowing that he was making people worry, especially when “people” included the guy he really liked, who was now forced to sneak out a town as if he had done something wrong. Hideo would have to fix this, but he knew that might take a while. Well, he’d wait as long as he had to.