Prisoner of War

Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire

Rhea sat in the middle of her cell, legs crossed, waiting for her moment. If her internal clock was right, the eclipse would begin within the next five minutes.

She heard a distant clang and the sound of rushing soldiers outside. It sounded like she wasn't the only one with this idea. That was her cue.

She rushed to the bars, grasping the cold hard metal. "Guard! Help!" She cringed and hugged her stomach as one of the armored guards barged angrily into the room.

"What's going on?" He demanded.

Rhea quickened her breaths and gritted her teeth. "Something's... wrong." She collapsed to the floor.

The guard released his hold on his weapon and moved over to the bars. Tentatively, he reached through the bars to check her pulse.

Lurching forward, Rhea grabbed the guard's arm and jerked him head-first into the bars. He slid to the floor, unconscious.

With a smirk, she stole his keys off his belt and opened her cell. "Thanks for the help." She tossed the keys onto the floor by his head.

She waited for he next patrol of guards to pass before ducking into the hallway.
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The halls were fairly empty, which was strange. Given their lack of bending, Rhea would've thought that they would add more.

She snuck through the halls, ducking under the windows of the cell doors. The last thing she needed right now were a bunch of desperate prisoners giving away her position.

Finally, she reached the first flight of stairs leading to the lower levels of the prison. She crept down to the next level. To her surprise, she found the next hallway littered with unconscious bodies. Whoever else was trying to escape with the eclipse, they were strong.

Rhea picked her way carefully through the mess of unconscious bodies, down the hall, and out of the prison. There was no sign of her fellow escapee. They had worked fast and must've known exactly where they were going once they were free.

Something exploded far to her right, near the city.

Stealing a telescope from one of the guards, she scanned the perimeter of the Fire Nation's capital. An army was marching up the natural rock wall towards the city. Most of them appeared to be water tribe, but she could identify several earthbenders, a slew of tanks, and Appa flying above it all.

A smile crept across her face. Clever kids. Attack when the firebenders are virtually powerless. She rushed back into the prison to grab her armor and weapons.
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A shower of pebbles cascaded down around Rhea as she scaled the rocky wall to reach the invasion force. She shielded her face with her armored forearm, the pebbles bouncing off with an echoey ping.

She raced up the path, passing earthbenders, watertribe soldiers, and a huge assortment of other people all clambering to get to the Fire Nation capitol.

At the front of the line, she spotted Bato and Hakoda leading the charge. She pushed forward until she reached them. "Looks like you could use a hand." She had to shout over the clamor of battle.

Bato turned to face her. "Rhea?! What are you doing here?"

An earthbender shielded their forces from the firebenders desperate attacks with a thick slab of stone.

Rhea smirked. "Breaking out of prison, you?"

Bato grinned. "Ending this war. Care to help?"

"And finally put these firebenders in their place?" She drew one of her swords. "Do you even have to ask?"

Their progress was slow as they forced their way up the mountain side. The eclipse was quickly waning.

"We're cutting it pretty close." Rhea's hood had shielded her eyes from the eclipse on her way to meet up with the invasion force, but she'd gladly accepted the eclipse glasses that Bato had offered her. "Where are Aang and the others?"

"Taking out the Fire Lord." Bato answered. "Somehow they knew of the invasion plan and hid in tunnels beneath the city."

"Of course they did." Rhea scoffed. "Well, it doesn't matter. We're still gonna finish this."

"That's the spirit." Bato raised his sword and urged the forces forward.

Rhea and the invasion force pushed forward, but their progress stalled as they neared the peak of the wall. They were so close, but the Fire nation soldiers wouldn't let them through.

Before long, the eclipse passed, restoring the enemy's bending. Fire rained down from above.

The earthbenders shielded them as they fought to gain more ground. They had made it so far. They couldn't give up just because they'd lost their greatest advantage. Besides, they were boxed in. There was no going back.

Appa soared up over the battle as they struggled to hold their ground. He narrowly avoided being shot out of the sky and landed heavily on the ledge among them. Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph slid off his back and rushed over to Hakoda.

"We're not going to make it." Hakoda stated bluntly. He grabbed his children's shoulders. "You need to escape with the youngest on Appa. The adults will stay and be captured."

"No!" Katara objected. "We can't lose you again. I can't lose you again."

He pulled his daughter into a hug. "I'll be fine... but the rest of you need to escape. This fight isn't over, not yet."

They gathered the youngest members of the invasion force and started loading everyone on Appa's back.

Rhea watched as Appa's saddle quickly filled up. As the last of the kids mounted the flying bison, she realized exactly what she had to do. She took a deep breath of resolve.

"Rhea." Aang called from his seat on Appa's head. "Come on. We have to go."

She met his gaze. "I'm not coming. Appa has enough weight to carry already. I can't risk slowing you down." She surveyed the group of young fighters waiting on Appa's back. "Go. I'll be fine. It's not my first time in a fire nation prison."

"No!" Katara exclaimed. "We're not leaving you again."

"You don't have a choice." Rhea held. "Go."

Reluctantly, Aang urged Appa into the sky.

As they faded out of view, Rhea took a shaky breath. She faced the oncoming fire nation soldiers. No turning back now.

A/N:
Sorry again for the wait guys. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Guess where she's gonna end up this time. 😈
Thanks so much for the support and sticking with me. I'll try to update again soon.
-Cheshire