I Am an Airbending Ice Queen

The sun beat down against Lua as she and Moshi practiced their dueling. Moshi ran up along the wall of the ravine, kicking up a cloud of dust. She jumped up in the air and slammed back down, sending a giant rock at Lua. Lua jumped over the rock and blew a gust of wind at Moshi. She pounded her fists out, sending multiple bursts at her. Moshi created a wall to block the wind. She broke the wall up into small rocks before kicking them at Lua. Lua tried to dodge them but one struck her in the chest and she fell to the ground.

“Again,” Moshi commanded, taking her stance.

Lua wiped the sweat off her brow before taking a similar position, trying to ignore the pain in her ribs.

Moshi jammed her foot into the ground. A rock popped up in front of her and she whirled around and kicked it, sending it straight at Lua. Lua funneled the air, sending the rock in a circle around her. A sharp pain jabbed her side and she contracted, the funnel falling to the ground along with the rock.

“Enough,” Lua said weakly. It was unusually hot today and the sun was taking its toll. She sat on the ground, panting hard and trying to catch her breath.

“Ok, I think we’re done for the day,” Moshi said, tying her brown hair back into a ponytail.

Moshi walked over and sat beside her, pounding her fist into the rock Lua was leaning on and striking her arm out. A sheet of rock slid above their heads, blocking the sun.

“Thanks,” Lua sighed.

“You’re getting better though,” Moshi complimented, taking a canteen out of her bag and handing it to Lua. “I think with a few more practices you could take out the Fire Nation.”

Lua stifled a laugh, sucking in a breath as a new wave of pain hit her ribs. “Bring it on, Fire Lord Ozai,” she said stiffly.

Moshi looked at her and pursed her lips. “Has it been hurting again?”

Lua stiffened but nodded her head, knowing she was talking about the tattoo on her back. She still wasn’t really used to Moshi knowing about this. “It hasn’t hurt in a while but it… it itches sometimes.”

“It itches?” Moshi asked incredulously.

“Yeah,” Lua said softly, burrowing her brows in thought. “It’s been doing it the past couple of days. I get this itch and then a minute later it’s gone. I think it’s trying to tell me something.”

“What could a tattoo tell you? No offense Lua, but this thing is starting to get a little far-fetched.”

“I have the tattoo for a reason, Moshi,” Lua said bitterly. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand.” She took another swig of water.

Moshi said nothing for a while, obviously trying to think of something to say that wouldn’t upset her further.

“I think we should leave again,” Moshi said suddenly.

That threw Lua off guard. She turned towards her, the last of the anger leaving her body. “What?”

“I’m almost out of that special mixture the man in Bejjing gave to us and it’s not enough to keep concealing your hair.”

Lua frowned and sat back against the rock. She knew that the mixture wouldn’t last forever. She wouldn’t have even bothered with it but her cap could only hide so much. It wouldn’t keep her long, thick white hair from peeping out in places.

“I could cut it,” she said softly stroking her hair. She doubted she could though. She had always loved her hair. It reminded her of her mother. Not in color, but in length.

Moshi almost smirked. “Please, you would die for that hair.” Her face changed quickly, though, and she took on a more serious tone. “We should go, though. Even if you did cut it I still wouldn’t have enough. Maybe we should stop living in towns.”

“How would we get food?”

“Well we can stop in towns for that,” Moshi said, slightly annoyed. “You can use your hood to cover your hair.”

Lua frowned at her impatience. It wasn’t one of Moshi’s finer qualities. “The landlord wouldn’t be happy.”

“He’s not going to know our plans. We’ll take what food and money we can and leave during the night.”

Lua nodded and wiped her brow. “Can we go back? It’s too hot to practice.”

Moshi smiled. “Ok wimpy,” she smirked and sat up, holding out her hand. Lua smiled back and took it.

The walk back to the village wasn’t long, only about an hour. They couldn’t risk someone accidentally stumbling upon them and seeing them bend. In the town they were staying in earth bending was illegal. Lua was hesitant to stay in a town with firebenders but when they arrived they had no food left and the next town was miles away. It was Moshi who hurt the most from it, though. It killed her not being able to bend and she depended on their afternoon practices every other day.

“Oh, here’s some trouble,” Moshi muttered as they approached their small apartment.

A fire nation soldier was standing in front of their door, his arms crossed with a stern expression on his face. Then again, they all tended to look that way. His was looking around, sometimes patting his pocket. Lua knew that it was their tax money in there. That’s today! She realized.

Moshi kept looking straight ahead with a poker face, not showing any distress or fear. They liked fear.

“How may we help you?” Moshi asked the soldier in a monotone voice. Lua stood behind her keeping her eyes glued to the wall. She was never good at poker faces and her voice cracked when she got nervous. It was better to let Moshi do all the talking.

“I’ve come to collect the taxes.” His voice was gruff and slightly annoyed. He was probably waiting there for a while.

“Of course,” Moshi replied smoothly. “I’ll get the box.” The soldier sidestepped and she opened the door.

She walked inside the soldier staying outside, patting his foot impatiently. Lua kept her eyes to the wall, forcing her body to stay relaxed. No fear, no fear, her mind chanted. Her breathing was low and forceful as she struggled to keep it normal and unnoticeable. It seemed like hours had gone by when Moshi finally returned with the money. The soldier took one look and grunted.

“It’s gone up by five pieces.” His statement was hard and almost snarky, like he knew they didn’t have enough money. Moshi kept her cool.

“This is all we have,” Moshi said simply.

“Fine,” the soldier said, grabbing the coins and shoving them into his pockets. “But you’ll be in debt. You better have it with next week’s taxes.”

“I understand,” Moshi said solemnly. She let her face drop, showing a little despair. Lua almost grinned, knowing Moshi was only feeding the soldier’s ego. They had never threatened her.

The soldier walked away with a smug look on his face, thinking he must have made their lives just that much more miserable. Lua breathed out slowly, letting her mind relax. She followed Moshi inside and shut the door, twisting the latch closed tightly.

“How are we supposed to leave now?” Lua asked. She sat down in their rickety chair, running a hand through her hair. She brought it back and saw black streaks on her palm. The mixture was running. Lua stiffened as she thought of the soldier. What if he had seen it? They would be goners.

“We leave with this,” Moshi said, her eyes gleaming. She kneeled in front of Lua, a small box in her hands. She pulled the top compartment sideways to reveal a good handful of coins.

Lua gasped. “Where did you get this?”

“Here and there,” Moshi replied cryptically.

“Moshi,” Lua started suspiciously, “Did- did you steal this?”

“I did what I had to do.” Moshi’s eyes hardened.

“You stole this!” Lua exclaimed. “You took it from innocent people!”

“I’m not proud of it but I had to. I just hope the townspeople can forgive me for it.”

“Who did you steal it from?” Lua asked incredulously.

“The Firebenders,” Moshi said. “I’ve been making trips secretly for weeks. My last one was quite hefty so we need to leave tonight before they start making house trips.”

“I can’t believe this is actually happening.” Lua buried her face in her hands. “Where will we go?”

“We’ll find another village,” Moshi soothed, laying her hand on Lua’s cheek. “Pack your things,” she said, standing up. “We leave at midnight.”

-

Lua pulled the hood over her dark hair. She checked herself in a small pocket mirror, making sure nothing was out of place. She had to be as black as the night. They could not be seen. Grabbing her knapsack, Lua paced around the small apartment waiting for Moshi to get back. Her thoughts swirled around in her mind, the pacing only making it worse. What if they got caught? What would happen to them? Even if they did make it, who’s to say they wouldn’t die before finding another town?

“Lua,” Moshi whispered loudly.

Lua jumped. She didn’t even hear Moshi come back in. Moshi’s face was mostly covered by black cloth wrapped into her hood. Her dark brown eyes stared piercingly at Lua.
“We’re all set. I have a ride waiting for us in the desert.”

Lua groaned internally. The last time they trekked through the desert Moshi accidentally drank the cactus juice and tried killing her. It was days before the effects of the juice wore off. Lua had to tie Moshi up to keep them both safe.

“What kind of ride?”

Moshi smiled. “It’s an old friend of mine. Don’t worry.”

Lua nodded and tried to muster a smile. Her heart pounded with anticipation. Moshi opened the door quietly and motioned for Lua to follow. She took one last glance at their small apartment before heading out into the night.

They kept close to the walls as they made their way through the small village, careful to stay out of the way of streetlamps. A passing firebender had them ducking for cover behind boxes of fruit. Lua held her breath until he passed, noticing that many of the firebenders were out tonight, almost more than normal. She tugged on Moshi’s sleeve but got brushed off. Moshi looked around before sneaking around the crates and alongside another building. Lua took a deep breath and started to follow her.

A hand grabbed her shoulder and swung her around. Lua gasped as she saw it was a Fire Nation soldier. She tried to scream but froze. Her feet glued to the spot. His cold eyes seem to paralyze her.

“What are you doing out here?” he barked, sending a chill through Lua’s spine.

She struggled to form words but none would come out. A fireball formed in his hand and tears formed in her eyes. This was it, she thought.

A rock struck the soldier in the head and he fell to the ground. Lua shuddered and looked where the rock came from. Moshi was standing there in her stance, her face almost unreadable. She finally stood up and took Lua’s hand.

“Let’s go,” she said softly.

Lua’s mind was screaming in protest, but she let Moshi guide her out of the town and into the wilderness.