The Ruka Wild ↠ Book 1 > A:TLA [Avatar: TLAB-LoK Watty Awards 2018]

Chapter Thirty-Three:

Ruka (1)

Sokka and I ran into the town, looking around frantically while the village people were going about their day.

"Attention everyone! My name is Sokka and this is my sister Ruka! We're here to help you evacuate safely out of your homes!"

"Evacuate? For what?" A man asked.

"The dam is going to blow up very, very soon!" I said, "You won't make it out alive! So please, grab your children, your parents, elderly, anyone! You need to go now!"

The villagers chattered quickly at each other - some look frightened, sad, confused.

"We don't have much time! Please!" Sokka walked closer to them, but Fire Nation soldiers blocked his path.

"You really think we'd believe some spies?! Take them away!"

"What?! No! You have to believe us! This concerns you too!" Soldiers grabbed our shoulders and started to lead us away. We frowned to each other, knowing what will come.

"Wait!"

We all turned our heads. I smiled when I saw the elderly man I helped a few days ago.

"This young lady is a good person! As for her brother! If what they're saying is true, we shouldn't ignore them and risk our lives!"

The soldiers looked at each other then down to Sokka and I. They sighed then nodded, letting go of us while telling the people to grab their loved ones and head out.

I walked over to the elderly man, "Thank you so much."

He shook his head with a small smile, "No, thank you Ruka. You and your brother saved us all."

I bowed to him before going back over to Sokka. "Let's make sure everyone gets out safely and then we'll go get Katara and Aang."

I nodded. I was making sure the children were
kept safe and were with their parents at all times. Sokka helped others by carrying their heavier belongings.

We reached higher ground - the villagers walked in a line while Sokka and I stayed on the side, watching down at the village to make sure no one else was coming up so we could leave and get our sister and Aang.

Once everyone was safely on the hill, we waved goodbye to everyone and ran to Appa.

>>>

"Jet, you monster!" I heard Katara yell. I frowned when I heard her voice, how it showed how hurt she was. She really liked Jet and this was just a stab in the back.

"This was a victory Katara. Remember that. The Fire Nation is gone and this valley will be safe."

We reached up to where the trio was and Sokka deepened his voice to say, "It will be safe! Without you!"

Katara looked up to us with a relieved expression, "Sokka, Ruka!"

"Hey guys." I wearily smiled to her then to Aang.

"We warned the villagers of your plan, just in time." Sokka said.

"What?!" Jet was frozen to a tree and I knew that was Katara's job well done. So proud.

"At first, they didn't believe us. The fire nation soldiers assumed we were spies. But one man vouched for us. The old man you attacked. He urged them to trust us and we got everyone out in time."

I hopped off of Appa and walked over to Katara and embraced her in a hug.

"Sokka, you fool! We could've freed this valley!" Jet exclaimed.

"Who would be free? Everyone would be dead." Sokka replied.

"You traitor!"

"No, Jet. You became the traitor when you stopped protecting innocent people." 

Jet looked to me and scoffed, "You haven't said anything! Did you realize what you have done?!"

I walked over to him and we stared intently at each other. I picked up my hand and slapped him hard across the face. I gritted through my teeth, "That's for Katara. You're lucky I wasn't here to see if you pulled anything on her. If I was, you wouldn't be frozen to this tree, alive and well. So be grateful you are."

I turned on my heel and walked away. I stopped at Katara and put my hand on the small of her back. We had our backs to Jet.

"Katara. Please. Help me." Jet pleaded.

Katara looked down with her eyes closed, "Goodbye Jet."

Once we got onto Appa, Sokka whipped the rains with a "Yip-yip" and we were back in the sky. I crawled over to Appa's head to sit down next to Sokka. I nudged him with a smile and he looked to me with a wide grin. I chuckled before putting my head on his shoulder.

"We thought you were going to the dam." Aang said. "How come you went to the town instead?"

"Let me guess... your instincts told you?" Katara asked but she knew the answer. Sokka shrugged with a smirk, "Hey, sometimes their right."

"How'd you find Ruka?"

"She actually found me."

"Is that when you ran off?"

I nodded.

"How'd you know where to go?"

I repeated Sokka's actions, "Instincts."

"Um, Sokka. You know we're going the wrong way, right?"

Sokka pulled the reigns to turn around, "And sometimes they're wrong."