Lost Arrow [A:TLA au]

nineteen

CHAPTER NINETEEN
( THE SEIGE OF THE NORTH )

WARRIORS, BENDERS AND NON-BENDERS alike, stood on top of the large ice wall. Beside the men, Aang sat on Appa's head, and Flo stood on the other side of Appa with Katara and Sokka on her right. No one spoke. No one moved. Everyone kept their eyes on the horizon.

The tiny shape of a ship appeared far out into the distance. Nothing happened for a split second, and then a fireball was coming straight at them.

It hit the wall right under where they stood. It sent everyone flying, shouts being let out at the impact.

Flo landed with a thud on a pile of snow, and more fell on top of her. It wasn't enough to keep her down, but she did struggle to get it off and sit up. She did so just in time to see the tail end of another fireball pass above, the fireball itself landing further inside the city. Immediately after, a third hit the wall for a second time.

She stood and looked around, pushing her hair out of her face; the fall had dislodged her hair from the braid Katara did the day before. Aang flew off on Appa with a, "Yip, yip!" Warriors all around were pulling themselves and each other from underneath snow. Flo helped a few nearby after seeing Sokka help Katara out from a pile of snow, then went over to her friends as fast as she could on the uneven surface.

"Are you two okay?" she asked when she got to them.

They both nodded.

"We're okay," said Katara.

Two more fireballs flew overhead.

"Are you?" Sokka asked.

Flo nodded. "Yeah."

Katara looked where Appa had been moments before. "Where's Aang?"

"I saw him head toward the ship on Appa," Flo told her. Right after she said that, a fireball hit the glacier cliff by the wall. They looked over in that direction. "I think he's doing fine."

"I need to go with the other warriors," said Sokka. "Chief Arnook hasn't given our mission yet."

Flo eyed the growing destruction around them, only half noticing Katara's worried yet serious look grow at her brother's words. "We should leave, too. Staying here won't help anything. We will just be in the way, and it's too dangerous to stay."

As if the universe was trying to prove her right, a fireball hit far too close for comfort. The area around them shook with the impact, and dislodged snow went everywhere. They all moved closer together with a shout and helped steady each other on their feet, eyes wide as they took in the extinguished, smoking ball and the sizzling and melting snow around it.