@fantrained ― &. 〈 SUKI 〉 !
❛ ❛ YOU THERE ! YOU FRIENDLY ? ❜ ❜
up until then, the passing group probably heard what sounded like birds going ballistic, only turning out to be a group of three teenagers up in the trees. RIGHT BACK WHERE THEY STARTED ; it was bittersweet deja vu if he allowed himself to see it more than a tragedy and a million steps back. it's not like they had a real good day in years, but this month was especially horrendous. ever since the fire nation decided to take their cause seriously, they’ve switched from OFFENSE TO DEFENSE , right back to being treated like vermin by the very monsters taking over the valley. they all had to split up, all until it was just Jet, Longshot, and Smellerbee : his original trio. it should have been alright, but he hasn’t slept since sokka told him he was the traitor . . . since the duke said he was leaving with pipsqueak, that they lost faith in him and his mission. they didn’t feel safe with him ; he failed them. in a way, he failed himself, too. he would count days since , but everything is a daze. it all combined into a single “ it’s been too long . ”
they had gotten used to imperials fire nation soldiers and growing number of colonists swarming in on the valley. where they used to feel cocky and with a sense of empowerment , they started feeling scared again. he hated that feeling more than anything. it brought him back to eight years old, helpless. now it was just strategy. they had to stick to that, and it was killing him. as much as he wanted to go out swinging, a FUCK-IT mentality of not caring anymore if he DIED so long as he could take out as many fire nation soldiers as he could on the way out, his eyes drifted to the only family he had left. he couldn’t abandon them like that, and he couldn’t ask for them to do the same. he was a LEADER , he needed to stay grounded in reality and consequence. they made a new goal, one he hated, which was to leave. after EIGHT YEARS OF FIGHTING , the freedom fighters were removing themselves from a valley where totalitarianism won. smellerbee tried to convince him that by living , it was a way of winning. the fire nation wanted them dead, but they were alive. how can that be enough, though?
there was another problem: they didn’t know how to get out. Eight years of fighting since he was eight years old. he knew these woods like the back of his hand, sure, but these woods ( like his fight ) were all he’s ever known. overstepping that without a map felt impossible. how were they supposed to navigate such a hot-spot for the fire nation’s invasion? it’s not like the towns would help them, they never did. and now with a reputation? it felt like mission impossible. then he saw this group, a sight for sore eyes.
smellerbee and longshot were trying to tell him not to tell him to let them pass. not take the risk. but he had a gut-feeling. something about their outfits, their makeup, their weapons . . . it triggered a faint memory carried by a passionate voice of his past. the name was on the tip of his tongue while a swell of hope inflated in his heart. in the end : they were what they needed. earth kingdom travelers , earth kingdom warriors. about fucking time.
he cups his hand next to his mouth so his call from the trees is amplified. crouching on a tree branch, he knows he’s just barely visible. even his attire blended into this orange scenery. it almost feels like a game: can you see me? he ends up standing, if to make it more obvious. he hears a call from smellerbee , translating to get down! he only smiles, half ready to jump down. he just needs an official green-light. they’re friendly, they have to be.