~Celestial Bodies~

3.8

"Rae, you go with them," said the firebender. The woman didn't argue. She got on the saddle, leaving space for Asami. When all three women were ready, Asami gripped the reins while Rae's hands were tightly secured around the saddle. They sped out of the room. Rae blocked the few ice shards Ming-Hua send their ways before Mako and Bolin appeared.

Using her Earthbending and the small knowledge she had on sand bending, Rae covered Naga's tracks as the distance between them and the village became greater. She exhaled relieved, but her happiness was short lived. Naga came to an abrupt stop, making Rae fall to the ground. She groaned and rose her head. Waving her arms, she tried to make the new earth walls retract, but the moment moonlight shone on her face, she left a series of jabs in her arms, and she fell to the ground, unconscious.

~

Rae didn't wake up for a long time, but when she did, she was powerless. Her arms were tied by a long chain attached to the ceiling. Her hands were engulfed in metal, as well as her feet and the muzzle they put on her mouth was made from the same material. However, it wasn't the metal she was familiar with. It was unbendable and, as much as she tried, she couldn't do anything about it.

"I hate platinum," she muttered, but her words were incomprehensible though the muzzle.

When she rose her head, Asami and Korra were looking at her apologetically.

"It's the Earth Queen's men," said Asami, "they have a chi blocker that comes every thirty minutes. I'm sorry, Rae."

The woman let her head fall. Soon, like Asami said, a chi blocker came in and jabbed Rae's limps again. They were moved from their cell to a big aircraft. Korra tried to convince the captain to let them go, but the man wasn't having any of it. Rae was exhausted from the numerous pokes of the chi blockers, and she was sure the spots were starting to bruise. Asami and her were tied to the walls of a small empty room while Korra remained in the weird contraption they put her in.

While the two girls tried to come up with an escape plan, Rae was feeling more and more powerful. The guard that locked them told them that they wouldn't open their compartment till Ba Sing Se, this meant they wouldn't try to chi block her again. She felt her sense some back to her, her blindness disappearing with the rebirth of her seismic sense.

Asami got to break the railing she was attached to and talked Korra through her plan. Rae wasn't paying attention to them. She concentrated on her own locks, feeling the purified metal. Her dull eyes narrowed before they closed. She tried to find the small, impossible to take away, particles of earth in the pure metal and when she sensed them, she pulled them. It took an extreme amount of strength. Rae groaned and closed her fists.

Only when she felt the cold metal leave the skin of her face and heard it fall to the ground, she opened her eyes. Korra was looking at her with wide eyes. "Did you just bend that platinum?" she asked, looking at the fallen muzzle. The shape of the metal that made the lock was deformed in a way that it opened.

Rae only smirked, her hair falling in her eyes, and concentrated again. Her body fell to the ground with a loud thud. The lock of the metal that engulfed her hands found the same fate as the one of her muzzle. The woman groaned; her bending abilities surprising even her. She didn't expect it to work that quickly, and she was prepared when the tension that kept her body up disappeared.

With Rae's loud fall, one of the guards came in, looking worried. Asami took this opportunity to knock him down and take his keys. She helped Korra while Rae concentrated on the shackles at her feet. The locks broke too, and Asami glanced at her with wide eyes, "Did she just..."

"Yes, she did," said Korra with a proud look.

"Don't tell anyone," groaned Rae as she cracked her sore back.

Korra nodded before she turned to Asami, "Now let's take control of this ship."

The only good thing in that aircraft were the metal walls, allowing Rae to use to seismic sense. She led the girls to the cockpit, carefully not to have any unwanted encounters on their way. When they stopped in front of the door, Rae nodded. Korra entered first, delivering a powerful blast of air. Doing so, she knocked down most of the men in the room, but she also broke the control panel that allowed them to stay in the airs.

Rae's eyes widened and she gripped a random railing as the aircraft started crashing. Asami tried to get it to fly, but it was too late. The aircraft crashed in a sand dune, sending Rae flying through the room.

She hit one of the walls hard and groaned. With a hand to her forehead, she got to her feet with the help of Asami and exited the aircraft through a small trapdoor to the roof. Rae took a random bag she found and put her metal boots in it after she took them off.

"They say any landing where you can walk away from is a good landing," said Asami as she started into the distance, "but given our location, I'm not so sure about that."

"I can't see shit," muttered Rae. Korra cringed at her choice of words and turned to Asami. The Guardian paid no attention to the two. She slowly walked around the metal roof of the airship. She could only sense the ship, and nothing more. The sand left her completely blind, and she had the impression that they were in a sea of nothingness.

She heard the members of the crew come up, but she didn't listen to them. Her eyes widened when she felt a strong tremble cross the metal of the airship. "That is no mirage," said Rae when she left the tremors increase.

The crew finally started working, but Rae stayed put. She didn't move, afraid that if she did, she would lose all connection to the solid matter underneath her feet. When Asami saw her, she gently took her hand not to startle her and helped onto the sand, letting her sit.

"Don't move," she said, "I'll get you when we're done."

Rae could only nod.

~