The Protectors: A Hero's Heart (Book 1: Growth; An A:TLA Fanfiction)

Chapter 3: The Arrival

Nidoria attempted to look at the rest of her surroundings, but the information she got was very little. All she knew is that she was on a wooden floor with large wooden fences surrounding her and the others. As for the roof, it was already there.

Nidoria recalled the time where she was tossed into where she was now. Maybe the roof can open and close? she thought.

Nidoria could feel herself bouncing up and down gently. Squeaks were heard outside the fences, and sand dunes and a few plants like cacti were moving. On the her left side, they moved towards the left. On her right side, they moved towards the right.

Once Nidoria saw this, her eyes widened in realization. We're in a moving cage!

Grunts rang in Nidoria's ears. Her eyes glanced at the corner of her vision to see that everyone else was waking up.

Before long, Morizhito spoke up first. “Is everyone alright?”

“Yeah, but I can't move my body!” Zeno said.

“You said it, Zeno,” Kugo said dreadfully. “I feel like I'm in a cocoon.”

“That's because we're tied in ropes. The Fire Nation must've tied us up, so that we won't gather and make a plan to escape,” Izugail said.

Nidoria’s eyes widened. “Wait, the Fire Nation attacked us?! Do they know some of us were originally from the Fire Nation?”

“I don't think so, Nidoria. The outfits don't tell them that,” Liyah said.

“What do we do here now?” Khelsi asked.

“I'm not sure, but we can communicate with each other with our voices. We may not be able to gather around, but we can still figure out how to escape this by just talking to each other,” Huaiying said.

“But the Fire Nation soldiers might hear us. They could force us to shut our mouths,” Nidoria said.

“Oh,” Huaiying said, realizing this. “You have a point there.”

“In that case, let's communicate with each other after they take us to wherever they're taking us,” Morizhito said.

Words like “Yeah,” and “Sure” were heard.

With that, everyone kept silent as they waited until they arrived in the Fire Nation soldiers’ destination.

———————————————————

Later on…

The moment of silence was interrupted by a sudden bust, coming from one of the fences. Everyone turned to see… someone new.

In Nidoria's eyes, all she could see was a female black silhouette and a ponytail blowing through the wind.

“Alrighty, guys! I'm bustin’ you out!” a female Southern-accent voice said.

Without a split second of thought, a woman jumped towards them and untied Nidoria’s ropes. As she did, a question popped into Nidoria’s mind.

“Are you the only one here?” she asked.

“Nope. I've got some friends helpin’ out,” the woman said.

Right in the nick of time, the moving cage stopped. Then, battle cries, clashing of swords and other weapons, and sounds of flames, waters and rocks were heard.

Nidoria couldn't see who the Fire Nation soldiers were fighting because her head was facing the fence that had just been busted down by a woman. Once the ropes fell out, her body was finally free.