Escape

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84 AG- Year of the Dragon

As the full moon reaches its highest point in the night sky, a small cry reverberates off of the ice walls in the capitol city. The attending midwife hands a small bundle to the exhausted woman. As she and her husband look down at their second baby in a trance of joy, they are oblivious to the water freezing in the pot over the fire.

90 AG- Year of the Dog

"Ha! You can't catch me!" The older of the two girls yells over her shoulder, running farther away from the city. Her sister struggled to keep up using her much shorter legs. The gap between them was widening slowly. In a desperate effort, the six year old reaches out her hand to try and catch the parka of the girl in front of her. Suddenly, her sister sprawls onto the snow, her head buried in a pile of the white fluff. A small patch of ice lay directly behind where her feet left the ground.

"Mikki!" The small girl reaches her sister in seconds and begins pulling her up by her arm, only to be pushed away indignantly.

"That's not fair! You cheated with waterbending!" Mikki's tan face was red with anger and embarrassment.

"I didn't- I didn't do it on pur-purpose," the little girl mumbles hurriedly. Her small hands clasped tightly in front of her waist, ashamed of what she had accidentally caused.

"Whatever," Mikki began walking back to the walls of ice, her arms crossed angrily with her sister stumbling after her yet again.

94 AG- Year of the Tiger

"Haha! You thought they'd let a girl learn waterbending? Get real!" Three boys, none of which could be over the age of fourteen, pointed at the girl in the middle of the group and laughed harshly. With each taunt and jeer, her face scrunched up even more while turning several shades redder.

"Oh look! She's gonna cry!" The tallest of the three shouted. Before the girl let a tear fall, she snatched off her gloves and lunged in his direction, fists flying. A heap of fur rolled around in the snow. It wasn't until an adult rushed over and separated the two children that they finally stopped punching each other. The girl looked up at who had hauled her up and instantly regretted her decision to engage in a fight.

"Kailani! I'm surprised at you! You know how unlady-like it is to fight. And to be fighting a boy! Just wait until your parents hear what you've gotten into..."

Hours later, sitting alone in her room with a snowball pressed against her busted lip, Kailani noticed the throbbing pain slowly stop to ebb until it was nonexistent. Gingerly, she touched where the boy had punched her earlier and felt nothing but the pressure of her fingers. The split in her lip was gone.

96 AG- Year of the Horse

Kailani studied the scroll for what felt like the millionth time, focusing on the shift between each illustration. Bending was supposed to be stronger at night, especially under the full moon. So why was this taking forever? She placed the scroll on top of her pack once more and assumed the beginning stance. Lift arms and relax wrists. Shift weight to back leg. Maneuver water in a thin stream... The water fell with a disappointing flop once more. Kailani let out a frustrated shout and stomped a booted foot in the snow.

"Kailani? Is that you?"

There was no mistaking the sound of her father's voice. She'd been found out. The faces of her parents, sister, and uncle appeared under the light of the moon with the aid of a torch. Council man Puriq picked up the scroll and examined it for just a few seconds before realizing his daughter had done what they had forbidden of her.