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Post by belated valentine on Aug 14, 2010 9:20:01 GMT -5
"I can't heal. Healing is a special ability that only some water benders get. That's Katara's job, not mine. I can't..." He said, looking at Appa. "I know but...we can't stay here either. What if they come back? What if you lose too much blood? We have to leave...We can't stay here. Even if we don't make it to the fire nation we have to go somewhere else and get you help." He said. Her hands were wrapped so tightly around his neck he thought she could snap his neck any moment. Her arms were warm and kept him at bay, kept him from going crazy.
He hated feeling this useless. It wasn't a good idea to go out without the others...maybe they should have just waited and picked them up. This was his fault, he had to fix it. He felt more guilty now than he would have if he'd killed Ozai..."I don't know what to do. I don't know where the nearest village is and I don't know anything about medicine.."
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Post by Fateful on Aug 14, 2010 10:13:41 GMT -5
As much as she hated to admit it, something inside of her knew that he was right. They couldn't stay here, but what would leaving achieve? Would it save her, or would it just make things worse? "I doubt they'll come back now. I'm injured, and to pick a fight with you uninjured, there's a risk you'll access the avatar state." She winced, not loosening her grip. Holding him this tightly was her way of making sure she wouldn't fall and it also gave her some form of comfort.
"You're not a healer, whatever... I think I have an idea." Her eyes closed tightly. "Lay me down in Appa's saddle, on my back." She instructed, shifting her weight in his arms. Once he did so, she pulled off his torn shirt which was wrapped around her and untied her shirt, opening the over garment. Under it was another shirt, which she ripped so it ended at the base of her rib cage. Now the injury was revealed to the hot night air.
"If you cauterize the wound, it'll stop bleeding. We'll make it to a village and they can do something with it. Fire will also stop any infection until we get somewhere." Resting her head on what felt like a sleeping roll, she tried to relax the muscles which continued to tighten due to the blood that was pouring freely from her body.
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Post by belated valentine on Aug 14, 2010 11:41:41 GMT -5
Aang stared, widening his eyes as she removed her shirt. His face turned a beet red and he shook his head. "I can't do that! I'm going to burn you! I haven't mastered fire yet, it was the last element I learned and I didn't have much time to learn it. I already burned someone and I'm not going to set you on fire along with the wounds you already have. Just keep pressure on it while I get us to a nearby village. They probably have a doctor who can help us." He pulled himself onto Appa, leaving red blood stains wherever he touched the bison.
"We don't have time, we have to go quick!" He yelled. If he had hair he was sure he would have pulled most of it out by now.
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Post by Fateful on Aug 14, 2010 12:11:36 GMT -5
Toph grabbed his arm. "No, Aang. I'm telling you to burn it closed. Even if it's just a mild burn it'll stop the bleeding. I know it's going to hurt, I'm TELLING you to burn me. But if you don't do this and I don't make it to another village, what are you going to do then? That's the only real option we have. You can't heal, and you can't stop the bleeding any other way. I need stitches. The injury is too wide and too deep for pressure to stop it. Burning to flesh closed will stop the bleeding. I've been burned before, and even if it was an accident, I'm sure it'll weigh less on your conscious than me bleeding to death." Holding his arm tightly, she squeezed it, as if threatening him.
Truth be told, this was hard for her to admit that she needed help, and as much as she didn't want to be burned, she'd much rather be burned than be flying, losing blood, and falling unconscious. If he was too focused on finding a place to help her, in the dead of night, much more unfortunate things could happen. He needed to focus on flying, not on her. "We don't really have time to argue about this..." She added, putting her hand on her side where the blood continued to pour from her body. Her eyelids were getting heavy and her limbs were starting to feel numb.
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Post by belated valentine on Aug 14, 2010 12:29:59 GMT -5
Aang contemplated for a moment, his face set straight as he stared at the wound. "Fine...Fine I'll do it." He said, moving closer to her. Taking a breath, he started a small flame in the middle of his palm. He didn't want to burn her...He just wished there was some way he could take pain away just like he could take bending away. But things didn't work like that and he knew it. He had to do this. Her life depended on it and he needed to save her.
There was no one else here, just him.
Bringing his hand down to the wound, he slowly began to move it around, burning the wound so that it would stop the bleeding. He focused on keeping her safe, not allowing anything to happen to her. What kind of Avatar was he if he couldn't save his friend's life? He'd battled the former fire lord and beaten him, he could do this. He just couldn't look her in the face. He didn't want to watch the pained expression as it overtook her, he knew it would only upset him worse. Watching as it slowly closed up, he sighed, pulling back and letting the flame extinguish. "Okay..I think I did it.."
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Post by Fateful on Aug 14, 2010 12:53:53 GMT -5
"Think of this as a lesson in Earth bending." She muttered, her teeth gritted to show her discomfort despite the fact he hadn't burned her yet. Something flickered in his hand and she could hear the flames crackling and could feel the heat close to her skin. It seemed even though he said he would, he wasn't going to back out. "You learned to stick up to me and use fire to save people and not just for destruction." Gritting her teeth her head bent backwards when the fire made contact with her skin.
Somehow, this hurt a lot more than when Zuko burned her feet. When he burned her, it was just a surface burn and hadn't been too deep. But this one on the other hand wasn't just the surface it was also inside her body. A small whine escaped her lips, but she quickly bit down on her flesh, dripping her teeth into her lips to prevent any other sounds of pain to escape her. He was enough of a baby as it was without her making him hesitate or screw up. The ground shook under her, as if protesting this treatment. Her side was throbbing and she was starting to feel her consciousness fade.
It snapped back when the contact severed. "Yeah... I think so too." She muttered, feeling liquid on her lips. It wasn't a serious cut, but the taste of salt and iron dripped against her tongue, giving her a taste of her own blood. "Thank you." she wasn't really one to thank others, but she knew he'd need it, so she sat up, holding her burnt flesh and gently tapped her fist against his chest, feeling the muscles that had developed there. Seems he wasn't as weak and lanky as he was when she trained him.
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Post by belated valentine on Aug 14, 2010 13:11:43 GMT -5
Aang sat there for awhile even though he\'d finished. Staring down at her, he was quiet, not making a single sound. He couldn\'t believe he\'d just done that, it didn\'t feel like he\'d done that much. Her cries had told him otherwise. Staring down at his hands, he nodded. Fire wasn\'t just something used for destruction, it was life. Fire was living and he\'d seen now just how much energy it held. \"Are you..alright?\" He asked, reaching down and touching her hand. It was still warm, still alive. His own was covered in blood, now dried but still leaving an impact.
Letting go of her hand suddenly, he stood up and made his way over to Appa\'s head, taking the reigns and giving them a tug. \"Yip yip.\" He said and the giant animal took off. \"I\'m going to try and find a village. There has to be one nearby. Even though your wound isn\'t bleeding anymore, you still need medical attention.\" He said, oblivious to the fact that he\'d been scanning the ground for the culprit. He\'d never been so angry before...They could have at least came out and fought with them. They could have at least showed their face that way Aang could have beat some sense into him. He wasn\'t a violent person and usually had an optimistic outlook, but this had pushed him over the edge. He was angry because whoever it was had just run off in mystery. He was angry because he knew the daggers were meant for him and they hit her. He had endangered her life.
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Post by Fateful on Aug 14, 2010 13:35:56 GMT -5
"I'm fine. I'll live." Was her rather simplistic answer. His hands brushed against her skin, and her blindness heightened her other senses, bringing a much stronger impact to her sense of touch. The dried blood on his hands was rough against her skin and she just leaned backwards into Appa's saddle, letting her body go slightly limp. The training had taken a lot out of her. She was exhausted, not to mention hurt and had lost a good amount of blood.
"Yeah, medical attention would be beneficial." she said, closing her eyes and laying down in the saddle, remaining on her back, shifting just enough to touch the side and feel where it was. "Don't worry too much about me, if you're talking and I stop responding for a while it's because I'm tired, not because I'm dead." She felt the need to add the last part because she didn't want him to freak out. She'd seen his avatar state and didn't like it what it felt like. The power that tried to burst from his body was unreal, something you wouldn't really expect when you first met him. Her body ached and laid her shirt across her body. Even though she was wearing a much thinner, tighter, and now it was ripped up to the base of her rib cage. She wasn't hot, and the burn against her skin hurt with cloth on it, and when exposed to the air, so the entire situation was lose lose.
"I'm going to kill whoever did this when we find them."
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Post by belated valentine on Aug 14, 2010 13:48:41 GMT -5
Aang smiled for the first time since the incident had happened. She was joking around, that meant she felt better. \"Well, maybe you should rest then. I know you\'re probably tired, from training and the attack...then again I doubt you broke a sweat during practice time.\" He said, letting out a small laugh. Looking down, he searched around for any sort of civilization where they could stop at. They weren\'t as high as they usually were when they fly, but only because it was easier to spot things this way.
When she mentioned killing the mysterious attacker, he gulped, his smile slowly fading. Would she really...? Well...he had attacked her and not him so it wasn\'t like he could tell her what to do. He didn\'t want to make her angry but even then...Ozai had killed many people but Aang had still let him live. \"Maybe...killing is a little too drastic...I mean we could always just report them and get them arrested. I don\'t think we\'ll run into the same person exactly. I think whoever it was was working for someone and that we\'ll be seeing another one of their dispatches soon.\"
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Post by Fateful on Aug 14, 2010 14:00:52 GMT -5
Toph shrugged her shoulders. "I wasn't exhausted, but you were much better than I thought you were. I wasn't disappointed." She said confidently, praising him - something she did very rarely. He did deserve it considering he'd burned her to save her life. It was something that he deserved something for. Anyone else would have been too afraid to even attempt it, even with her telling them to. Moving on Appa, a breeze danced across her skin and helped to deal with the sweat that had built up on her body during their training.
"Sorry, I forgot you weren't against the killing of living things." She muttered in an irritated voice. "I'll just break his legs or something, does that sound fair?" This time she was more teasing him, but she most likely wouldn't kill them, she'd just hurt them badly enough so they'd never want to be on her bad side again. And if they were stupid enough to try again, she didn't really believe in merciful second chances. Not to mention, he was trying to kill Aang, that had much more impact then trying to kill her considering he was the Avatar, after all. "We most likely will run into someone working for these people again, and next time, we'll be ready, won't we twinkle toes?"
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Post by belated valentine on Aug 14, 2010 14:14:27 GMT -5
Aang laughed. \"Break his legs? Sounds like a reasonable exchange. I don\'t think I\'ll try and stop you from that.\" He said, glancing back at her before he focused his attention back on the ground. He spotted lights ahead and headed toward them. \"And thanks, I was hoping you wouldn\'t be disappointed. But I know you know I need more training.\" He looked back at her and smiled, knowing that even though she couldn\'t see it she could hear it in his voice.
Glancing down at his hands again for a moment, he quickly looked away, knowing it was better if he stopped thinking about it. She was okay now, there was no reason for him to obsess over whether he\'d gotten it right or not. He just hated that he\'d caused her so much pain. She could hide it as much as she wanted but Aang saw it.
Nodding, he smirked. \"Yeah, but this means we have to be extra careful now. No more stops after this. We have to get to the fire nation, I have a feeling we\'ll be safer there. Especially since Zuko probably has multiple guards around to keep him safe.\" He said, looking forward, watching as the lights neared. \"But at least now we\'ll be ready for them.\"
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Post by Fateful on Aug 14, 2010 14:31:10 GMT -5
"No offense, but if you tried to stop me, I'd mental bend you to something and leave you there until I was done." Shifting her weight, she rolled over onto her uninjured side, closing her eyes tiredly. "Well you can still move a rock, so I don't have a reason to pound you into the ground and bruise your baby skin just yet." A pain shot through her body and she grumbled uncomfortably. This was so irritating! Why hadn't she heard or sensed it coming towards her.
When this realization hit her, she bolted upright. "Aang!" She called his name, showing this was important. "I didn't sense anyone but you and I." her hand instnatly rested across her injury, but she continued as if she hadn't hurt herself through her own actions. "That means they must have known about not jut my abilities but how to avoid them. I didn't hear anything either. They were completely silent, I didn't hear them, or sense them... That's strange, very strange. I almost always hear something. Even when Appa was taken I couldn't see the sand benders, but I could hear them."
She winced when he mentioned guards, being reminded of home, being weak and having to be protected as if she was a weak and insignificant person - unable to do anything for themselves. It was her biggest fear: helplessness. "I guess you have a point. And it's not like Sparky to let anything happen to us. After he burned me, he was pretty good about keeping me out of trouble when I was with him. And I'm sure between you, Sparky and Iroh, I'll be just fine in a few days and ready to start kicking your butt again."
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Post by belated valentine on Aug 14, 2010 14:44:32 GMT -5
Aang looked back quickly. \"Baby skin? What? I don\'t have baby skin!\" He said quite loudly before laughing.
Suddenly, he froze, his laugh stopping. His head turned again and he stared at her, wide eyed, realizing as she did. \"T-they knew about you, more than most people I mean...They knew how to get around it. It was like they were trained specifically for things like that. If they were able to sneak their way around you, then how will we see them coming in the future? They\'ll appear out of no where just like they did last time. I don\'t want something like this to happen again. How do we protect ourselves against something like that?\"
They were going to have to be extremely cautious. He knew this wasn\'t going to be the last time they saw - well not exactly \'saw\' since they had no idea what the hell this person even looked like - someone like that.
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Post by Fateful on Aug 14, 2010 14:53:34 GMT -5
Toph grinned. "You do have baby skin. You bruise easily. I don't."
Their shared realization caused her to sigh. "Getting around me is complicated, which means that it had to have been off the ground, or even movement through the tops of trees. I can only can't see what's off the ground, or too far away for me to sense." Looking down at her lap she shook her head, her black locks scattering over her face. "I'm sorry... for this. I guess my limitations can be as much of a pain in the ass as your senses, huh?" She asked, looking up at the sky. "And if it comes down to it, I never forget a voice, and I'm a human lie detector. Azula was the only person I couldn't figure out. No one else is a crazy psychopath like her."
There was silence in the night air for a while, the only sounds where the movement of the air around them, Momo who had started chattering, and some of Appa's movements - like that of his tail. Toph could hear more, but ignored them for the most part. "We'll just have to deal with it then. I can't see shadows, so I don't see the point in fearing them. They might know how to get around me, but they'll never be able to fool me again. You'll be looking for them, and so will I, and Zuko, and all of his guards. We'll be fine. It's not like we're going to stop living."
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Post by belated valentine on Aug 14, 2010 15:08:46 GMT -5
Aang nodded, signaling for Appa to start heading toward the ground. \"Yeah...They had to have studied you well enough to figure out your blind spots and how they could avoid being detected.\" He said, his gray eyes staring ahead even though he wasn\'t looking at anything. \"No.\" He spoke up quickly. \"Don\'t apologize, this isn\'t your fault. Whoever this is did their research. I\'m sure had they not, you would have detected them. They know what they\'re doing which is really creepy...\"
When they landed, he stood up and made his way back to the saddle. \"I\'m going to carry you to the medic, so don\'t freak out when I pick you up. You\'re too injured to walk.\" He said, sliding his hands underneath her knees, the other one wrapped around her shoulders and he slowly lifted her up bridal style, hopping off Appa\'s back. It was a small village so as soon as the villagers saw him they either made their way over or smiled and greeted him.
\"Excuse me, but you do have a doctor here right? My friend needs help, could you please point me in their direction...fast.\"
The man stopped, pointing a finger to the left. \"Just head down this road and turn right, his house is the third one down on the left side.\"
\"Thanks!\" He called back, running off.
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