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𝐆reen. The whole cave was a shade of green from the gems and crystals that glowed around them. In the middle of a wall was a lotus image painted with red. Grunts and crashes were heard inside, and their eyes landed on Korra who flew out of the cave with fire propellers from her feet. Cloud gulped down in nervousness as she clenched her fist instinctively━as if she were still holding her glider.
"We have to help her," Tonraq exclaimed, watching his daughter fly out of the cave hot on Zaheer's tail.
"Look out!" Bolin pushed them back and blocked Ghazan's attacks.
"You help Korra, we got this," Mako told the concerned father, and he obliged as he ran out of the cave, leaving the two brothers and the airbender.
Cloud glanced at the duo who stood on both of her sides. Mako and Bolin shared a look and then nodded their heads at the airbender.
She dodged the first attack that Ming-Hua sent her out of nowhere. It doesn't seem like a fair fight since P'Li was gone, but when did ever become fair? It wasn't a pro-bending competition. There were no rules here, and they were definitely not holding back this time. Mako appeared beside her and evaporated the water blast that the waterbender sent at them with a simple firebending technique.
They shared a look. Both held so many secrets that none of them could ever speak out loud for some reason. She used to think (jokingly, may I add) that it was a game of hide and seek━when she'd look at him, he would look away.
But right now all they could ever do was watch each other's back. Their movements and elements were diverse yet somehow, they balanced each other so perfectly; like ocean and tides, land and soils, sun and moon. Two sides of the same coin.
Ming-Hua sneered at her as she continued climbing around the cave, her makeshift arms made out of water gripping the stone pillars. Out of nowhere, she sent a barrage of ice spikes at her━Cloud didn't waste time cartwheeling through the ground, hastily avoiding the deadly spikes. She halted when it stopped, however, she thought wrong, and two thin but sharp sticks of ice came barreling behind her.
Mako finally caught up to them and flipped through the air as he firebends a flaming wall of fire, causing the ice spike, not only to melt but to evaporate until it was nothing. He sighed in relief before whipping around to face the airbender.
Cloud looked at him with a surprised expression on her face. Her eyes were wide and her face was becoming paler as the seconds passed. Her teary eyes slowly glanced downwards. He felt his breath caught at what he witnessed.
"No." Mako blinked in shock, then his anger started fueling inside of him. Cloud looked back at him, her hands pressed on her stomach where blood started seeping through her shirt and tainting it with a gruesome hue of red.
It felt like a huge needle just stabbed her insides. There was so much pain, and with her heart constantly clenching every time she breathed out━it only got way much worse. Tears pricked in the corner of her eyes, her normally bright blue eyes had darkened. It t almost looked like a sea filled with sharks. She forced a smile on her pale face before darkness took over her vision, then it was just numb.
"No!" Mako yelled as her body became limp, but before he could reach her, Ming-Hua's cackles entered his ears and he was forced to back away when the waterbender began attacking him again.
Mako was furious. Nobody hurts Cloudy without facing any consequences. There was only one way this fight would end, and he was going to make sure Ming-Hua wasn't going to come out of it alive.
Cloud didn't know how long she was asleep, but her dreams (or nightmares rather) were so vivid. One second, she was watching Korra die, then the next second, it was herself. It felt like watching through a fish aquarium and the water would ripple when a fish swims over but still recognizable. She felt paralyzed in her own mind.
However, when she thought she was dead, she started waking up.
Her eyes painfully fluttered open, the harsh glare of the sun made her wince. She could still feel the pain in her abdomen, but the blood stopped flowing because of whoever wrapped the cloth over it. She wriggled around, only to feel someone carrying her for what seemed like the thousandth time.
"Stop moving, sunshine," Mako said quietly, a disgruntled flash across his face at his own words. "You got stabbed.'
"That's new," Cloud chuckled weakly, making herself comfortable in his warms. He was pretty warm. It was really comfortable.
Then she realized that the threat had been defeated. The Beifong sisters had trapped Zaheer in an earth shell before he could escape from their clutch. Korra was on the ground on her father's lap, more weakened than her. Cloud felt her heart swelled with sadness. The pain in her abdomen was nothing compared to this.
She wouldn't die. Besides it's not that deep-deep. Just lost a lot of blood. Cloud grimaced inwardly. Maybe a lot more than she realized. However, she knew it would take more than a simple stab wound for her to die.
Suddenly, Zaheer began cackling from his earth shell, earning everybody's attention.
"What are you laughing about?" Lin demanded.
"You're too late! The poison has been in her system too long," He laughed. His eyes got that wide-eyed crazed look on them, which made her shudder. "The Red Lotus has won!"
"Can I please punch him?" Cloud groaned.
Mako glanced at her. "No."
"Just a little kick?" She pouted, giving him her infamous puppy dog eyes.
He merely grunted and looked away from her instead, which made her smile amusedly despite her state.
Jinora turned to Suyin. "You can save her! The poison is metallic!"
Suyin ran to Korra and held her by the shoulder and forehead. She metalbent and pulled the poison from Korra's limbs, while everyone looked on in; worried. She pulled the poison out of Korra's mouth, causing her to cough, before tossing the poison aside. Cloud let out a sigh of relief.
"No! No! You don't understand! The revolution has already begun. Chaos is the natural order of━" Zaheer began to frantically exclaim, then suddenly, Bolin gagged him with a sock. Specifically, his old socks that he was wearing.
The revolution did not begin. Chaos was part of the world, but that doesn't mean it has to happen every day in their lives. Evil will always be defeated, and the good will always conquer. At least that's what they tried to convince themselves.
