All's Fair in Love and War |ATLA| |Reader Insert|

Jailed {3}

The warden and a few soldiers took you and the others on a little 'tour' of the prison.

"You will notice, earthbenders, that this rig is made entirely of metal," the warden said, "You are miles away from any rock or earth. So, if you have any illusions about employing that brutish savagery that passes for bending among you people, forget it." You stopped to look over the railing. There was no land, however... there was an entire ocean. You smirked internally.

'Stupid bitches.'
They lined you back up.

"It is impossible. Good day." The warden walked away and you and the others were guided into the interior where the other earthbenders were kept. The large, layered doors closed behind you. There were dozens of earthbenders there. You walked deeper into it.

"Y/n?"
You looked over and saw Haru.

"Haru!" You said, running up to him.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, surprised to see you.

"Well, it was sorta-kinda-not-really my fault that you were taken," you said, rubbing the back of your neck. "I'm here to get you out... and kill that old snitch."

"So you got yourself arrested?" Haru inquired.

"That was the only way to find you," you replied.

"You've got guts, Y/n. I'll give you that," he said, "Come on, there's someone I want you to meet." He grabbed your shoulder and led you over to the otherside.

"Y/n, this is my father, Tyro," he introduced to the older man. "Dad, this is Y/n."

"Honor to meet you." You inclined your head slightly. Tyro grabbed a bowl and held it out to you.

"Have some dinner, Y/n," he said. You took the bowl and looked inside of it, grimacing a little.

"It's not as bad as it looks," Tyro said as you sat down. You took a spoonful and popped it into your mouth.

"... fuckin gross."

"It's still pretty bad, though." Tyro smiled. One of the prisoners walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Tyro, the prisoners are complaining there aren't enough blankets to go around," he said.

"I'll talk to the guards," Tyro replied, "In the meantime, make sure the elderly are taken care of. The rest of us will simply hope for warmer weather." You raise your brows.

"Mcscuse the blunt question, but what's your escape plan?" You asked.

"Excuse me?" Tyro inquired.

"The plan to get everyone off the rig. Could be anything. Mutiny, sabotage... mass murder."

"The plan? The plan is the survive, wait out this war, hope that one day some of us can get back home and forget this ever happened."

"It sounds like you've already given up," you said, "Wait out a war that's been going on for a century?"

"Y/n, I admire your courage. And I envy your youth. But people's lives are at stake here. The warden is a ruthless man, and he won't stand for any rebellion. I'm sorry, but we're powerless."

"Well, maybe it's time he take a fuckin seat." You stood up and walked to the side of the prison, looking over the water. You looked back at the prisoners.

'It's palpable. They've lost all hope. The Fire Nation sucked out whatever courage they had.' Your eyes lowered to the ground, but shot back up. You know what you had to do.

~
Later that night, when the prisoners were sleeping, you stayed awake for once. Normally you could sleep anywhere, but this was the exception. You felt a hand on your shoulder and you looked up, seeing Aang. He pressed a finger to his lips and shushed you. The both of you made it outside and to the edge of the rig where Appa, Katara, Sokka, and Momo were waiting for you.

"Your 12 hours are up. Where's Haru? We've gotta get out of here." Sokka said quietly. Aang slipped through the bars and onto Appa's back.

"I won't," you said.

"We don't have much time." Sokka offered his hand out. "There are guards everywhere. Get on." You hesitated.

"Y/n, what's the matter?" Katara asked.

"I'm not leaving," you said. The three of them looked at each other. "I refuse to let them be crushed into hopeless shanks of who they once were."

The three of them jumped off Appa to crouch next to you.

"What do you mean you're not leaving?" Sokka asked.

"We can't leave these people," you replied, "There're ways we can help them."

"She's right," Katara replied, "We can't just abandon them."

"Maybe they're right," Aang said, "What do you say, Sokka?"

"I say you're all crazy," he replied. The search light came over your heads, so you all ducked.

"Last chance. We need to leave now."
You looked at him.

"No."

"I hate when you get like this." Sokka shook his head. "Come on, we better hide."

~
The four of you hid behind some crates in the cover of darkness.

"We don't have much time. What are we gonna do?" Sokka asked.

"I wish I knew how to make a hurricane," Aang said. You slapped him on his shoulder.

"Aang, you're a genius," you said.

"I am?"

"The earthbenders completely lost their mojo," you said, "But if we can help them help themselves, it'll be easier."

"For that, they need some kind of earth or some rock, something they can bend," Sokka said.

"But this entire place is made of metal," Katara said. You looked around.

"It's not," you said, turning your head to the smoke stacks. "Look at the smoke. They're burning coal."

"In other words..." Aang trailed off, "... earth." You smirked lightly.

~
Nearer sunrise, you and Sokka were standing near a large vent.

"It's almost sunrise. We're running out of time," you said, "This is gonna work?" Sokka looked at you.

"It should," he replied, "These vents reminded me of our little trick back at the village. We're gonna do the same thing, but on a much bigger scale." The two of you looked up at where Aang was.

"Great."

"There's a huge deposit of coal at the base of this island. And the whole system is ventilated," Sokka explained, "Aang closed off all the vents except one. When he does his airbending, the coal only has one place to go--right back here." You nodded at him.

"Well, better than nothing."

"There's the intruder!"
You were surrounded by soldiers accompanied by the prisoners.

"Stay back! I'm warning you!" Sokka exclaimed. You two went back-to-back and he drew his boomerang.

"Y/n, stop. You can't win this fight," Tyro said. You looked at him.

"Listen to him well, child," the warden said, walking closer to you. "You're one mistake away from dying where you stand."

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time."

Ja ne!

{Ruby Red}