Carved In Rock || ATLA

Swing Life Away

Return To Omashu Continued

"I've got some friends, some that I hardly know but we've had some times, I wouldn't trade for the world. We chase these days down with talks of the places that we will go." - Rise Against

🌊 ⛰ 🔥 🌪

"So is King Bumi with you guys?" Aang asked the rebels leading way to their base camp deep within the mountain. "Is he leading the resistance?"

"Of course not!" A man who had introduced himself as Captain Yung huffed. He was a gruff and brawny man, the siege of his home obviously having taken a toll on him. "The day of the invasion we readied ourselves for battle. We were prepared to defend our city, to fight for our lives and for our freedom. But before we even had a chance, King Bumi surrendered."

What? Impossible. Aang thought this guy had to be wrong. Bumi would never go down without a fight, would he?

"The day of the invasion we asked King Bumi what he wanted to." Yung continued. "He looked us in the eye and said nothing. He was going to do nothing."

"Judging by the number of troops in the city I'm willing to bet they had you surrounded and outnumbered," Aelita said, the attention on her as she stood beside Aang. "Surrendering would've been the only way to prevent any casualties."

"Yeah, and you see where that's gotten us!" The Captain barked. "It doesn't matter now. Fighting the Fire Nation is the only path to freedom and freedom is worth dying for."

Aang could only hope that Aelita was right and Bumi had surrendered for the good of his people. There was no way he could let his friend's sacrifice be for nothing, he had to help. "There's another path to freedom. You could leave Omashu. You're directing all your energy to fight the Fire Nation but Aelita's right, you're outnumbered. Now is the time to retreat so you can live to fight another day."

"You don't understand." Yung objected. "They've taken our homes and we have to fight them at any cost!"

"At the cost of your life? Your men's lives? Look around at all these people." Aelita gestured to the rebels that had gathered around them. "Everyone here has someone that loves them waiting for them. Some of them have families that rely on them, families that will fall apart without them. I know this has to be the hardest challenge you've ever faced but you have to decide where you'd rather stand. Outside of Omashu with your loved ones or beneath Omashu alone in a grave."

"I think they're right Captain." A young soldier nodded slightly. "Living to fight another day is starting to sound pretty good to me."

"Yeah, I'm with the kids." Another man agreed.

"Me too!" Someone else said.

Yung looked around his camp. He had known some of these men since childhood, he knew their families, and his kids played with there's. What kind of man would he be if he forced them to risk their lives? "Fine." He agreed. "But there are thousands of citizens that need to leave. How are we gonna get them all out?"

"Suckers!" Sokka thought out loud. "You're all about to come down with a nasty case of pentapox."

In the early light of morning, the rebel troops gathered the innocent civilians and passed around buckets filled with purple pentapi. With the help of the young team, they took turns sticking the animals all over their bodies, red dots imprinted on when they pulled them off their skin.

"The marks make you look sick," Sokka explained as everyone finished. Men, women, and children alike all clung to his every word, desperate to be free. "But you gotta act sick too. You gotta sell it." An elderly man hobbled by leaning on his cane, his other hand clutching his back as he moaned and groaned. "Now that's what I'm talking about!"