Lost Arrow [A:TLA au]

three

CHAPTER THREE
( TESTS AND DECISIONS )

NOT TOO LONG AFTER she dozed off, she abruptly awoke when guards entered the chamber, taking her and the Water Tribe siblings out. The guards kept the three of them in place at a wall in a corridor. Flo was tempted to try and bolt, but she knew she couldn't go against earthbenders and she didn't want to cause much more trouble. So she stayed put between Katara and Sokka, both of whom shared worried glances every once in a while. They didn't have to wait too long, and soon enough earthbenders opened up a sort of doorway in the wall. On the other side stood Aang with the Earth King. The guards who held them then slipped rings on their fingers. When it moved on its own to fit snuggly on her finger Flo, along with the brother and sister, tried to pull it off, but none of them succeeded. Flo then went to bite it off, just to see what would happen, but the guard beside her quickly slapped at her hand.

"...so I will give your friends some special souvenirs," the Earth King continued on whatever he had been talking to Aang about beforehand. "Those delightful rings are made out of pure genemite, also known as creeping crystals. It's crystal that grows remarkably fast. By nightfall your friends will be completely covered in it. Terrible fate, really. I can stop it, but only if you cooperate."

"Ah! It's already creeping!" Sokka shouted in a panic.

"I'll do as you want," Aang said to the King. The old man grinned mischievously and hummed.

They first got taken to a cavern. The floor was covered in stalagmites, and there was a waterfall with a key dangling from some sort of chain in the middle of it, a ladder underneath. Everyone stood on the balcony that overlooked the area. The genemite already grew up Flo's, Katara's, and Sokka's forearms.

Omashu's king laughed. "It seems I have lost my lunch box and I'm hungry." He paused, looking to where the key dangled in the waterfall. "Ooo, there it is. Would you mind fetching it for me?"

Flo eyed the dangling key from where she stood. To her, it was a simple solution. Shoot an arrow through one of the chain's loops and lodge it into the wall, therefore getting the key from the waterfall. Of course she also knew that the pressure of the water would cause an arrow to fall away from the key and chain. Besides, Aang didn't have arrows – well, her type of arrows, because he definitely had some, they were just tattoos – and he didn't know how to shoot them, either. Her mouth formed into a thin line. She really hoped that Aang could figure something out, because she did not want to die trapped in creeping crystal.

They all watched as Aang tried to climb the ladder. Flo subtly winced as he soon lost his grip and fell from the ladder because of the waterfall. Aang then tried to jump into the waterfall, which worked as well as one would expect: terribly. He then broke off the tip of one of the stalagmites. Using his airbending, Aang threw it. The tip caught one of the loops of the chain and the key broke off. The stalagmite stuck in the wall above the King's head. One corner of Flo's mouth twitched up slightly.