The Warrior's Gambit (Zutara)

XLII

Heavey TW for this chapter, for abuse. Specifically, parental abuse. If this is something you can't read, skip the second part of the flashback.

"Jump?" Besu demanded, "Are? You? Insane?"

"You'll die otherwise!" the ship captain said, looking at Lu Ten. "Go, now!"

"Grab those packs," Lu Ten said, slipping seamlessly into the role of a leader, "And release the parachutes. As soon as you hit the ground...run."

"To the fight, right?" Cillia asked, buckling her parachute pack to her chest, already helping others.

"Do you wish to die?" Lu Ten asked in a strangled voice. "We should not be here. Don't worry about anything; I'll take the blame for telling you to hide. Just...run," he said, "And find the blimp when it goes down and wait there." He grabbed the closest girl to him - Suki - and pulled her to the exit door of the blimp. "Now!"

Suki halfway jumped and halfway allowed herself to be pushed by Lu Ten, and like a flower petal catching the wind, she was gone.

"Oh, spirits..." Ratana held her mouth to keep from barfing.

Lu Ten shoved everyone out in quick succession, yelling instructions to deploy the parachutes as they went. Katara did not let him shove her, but held up a hand and jumped.

The air whooshed around her and she tugged her parachute, her fingers clammy and shaking. She managed to grasp the handle and pulled hard, a popping sound echoing in her ears as the large canvas ballooned over her, jolting her quick decline into an uneven and teeter-tottering float to the ground.

As she looked up, she saw Lu Ten jump along with the rest of the crew. The blimp was losing air fast and it creaked and groaned in the sky, falling to the south. As Katara looked down, she saw the tiny town ablaze in flames that licked the darkness of the sky.

She heard arrows. She panicked, knowing there was little she could do, but her parachute was not the target. Above her, she heard Lu Ten yelp as an arrow ripped a large hole through his safety landing gear. He began to fall, hard, and Katara knew he would die if he hit the ground at that speed. As he came past, Katara reached her arms out and caught Lu Ten by his leg. The sudden weight of a whole human nearly ripped her arms from the sockets and it wasn't easy to find purchase, but she dug her fingers into his pants and let him pull her down from the sky.

They both hit the ground with a hard 'thump', faster than they probably would have liked, but it saved Lu Ten's life.

Katara's arms screamed as she let go of his leg, her limbs slumping by her side as they whimpered in agony, a white-hot fire burning up her veins.

"Katara, we have to hide," Lu Ten grabbed a knife from his vest and began cutting his parachute and Katara's away. "We need to take cover. Can you walk?"

"It's not my legs that really hurt," Katara agreed. "Aren't we going to fight? Aren't you?"

Above her, a cannon sounded that rang in her ears. She heard screaming and crying and dirt flew into her mouth.

"There's too many. Hide!" Lu Ten commanded, blasting an Equalist away that approached. "There!" He pointed to a half-sunken and nearly hidden basement door covered in rubble and debris. "Help me clear this off, quickly, before they find us," he said.

Two Equalists approached. Lu Ten grabbed the back of Katara's shirt, dragging her down into the mud. She pressed her face into the dirt, so she didn't make noise.

"This loot is killer!" one of the men said, arms full, "I think I'll be able to pay off what I owe once I pawn this."

"No shit, dude! Jackpot!" the other one said, high-fiving his friend.