After Aang Vanished

Chapter 6: For Whom The Bell Tolls

Hotaru came to in complete darkness, unsure of how long she'd been out or exactly where she was. All she knew was that the dome of one of the gazebos outside the western wall had fallen on top of her, the jagged remains of the four stone support pillars were all around her, she sliced her arm open on one of them as she fumbled around on her hands and knees for a way out. Grimacing, she squeezed the wound with her other hand, hissing in pain as she did so, as blood dripped down the sides of her injured arm. She could just barely hear someone calling her name over the loud ringing in her ears, but she couldn't tell who it was, it sounded like it was coming from underwater. "I'm in here!" She shouted, not knowing if anyone could hear.

Suddenly, there was a faint rumbling as the dome began to tremble before bursting off the ground and being thrown off the side of the mountain.

"There you are!" Bumi said. "Been looking all over for ya."

She forced herself up. Her whole body ached from being buried under rubble and her lungs burned from the smoke. She took a sharp breath in as Bumi helped her to her feet, only to find herself doubled over and wracked by a coughing fit.

"Are you alright?" Bumi asked.

"S-search for survivors," Hotaru demanded.

"That doesn't answer my question." He replied.

"Don't worry about me. Just find anybody that's still alive. Gather them into two groups, those who are injured, and the uninjured." She told him, but even as she did so, her arm throbbed. She did her best to ignore it, her own pain wasn't her main concern.

Bumi, clearly having decided it was better not to press the issue, was finally doing as she'd asked and searching for anyone who might still be alive. Hotaru looked around, but she couldn't see anyone who was still moving. The majority of the main building seemed to be structurally intact, but the air was foggy with ash and stank with the salty, metallic scent of blood, never a good sign. Then, Shuhei staggered out from behind a stone pillar, the left half of his torso and left arm were severely burned; so much so that Hotaru couldn't believe he was still standing. Then again, he was leaning heavily on the pillar for support.

She ran over to him, put his good arm over her shoulder and brought him over to a low stone wall framed by two pillars with minimal damage. "Shuhei, what happened to you?"

"That bomb happened! I went down towards the cellar. I thought I could disarm it, but I barely made it back inside before it went off." Shuhei hissed, gritting his teeth in pain.

"Here, let me help you." Hotaru offered, conjuring up a golden, glowing sphere of energy.

"Hotaru!" Bumi yelled, running toward them just as she was about to heal Shuhei. "I found Gyatso and Master Fumio, they're alive but just barely. They need help, now. I don't even think it's safe to move them first!"

Hotaru's eyes widened, her entire body tensed but she didn't move. After all, Shuhei was also seriously injured, and he was right in front of her. Was it right for her to leave without healing him?

"Hotaru, I'll be alright. It sounds like they're worse off than I am, go." Shuhei said, seeing her hesitation.

She nodded and followed Bumi to one of the outbuildings on the western side of the temple. Inside, she found Gyatso and Master Fumio laying on their backs next to each other. One look at them, and she knew she had to act fast. Their breathing was labored and shallow, and both men had a grayish tint to their skin that told her they weren't getting enough oxygen. She conjured up another sphere of her own chi and brought in down on Gyatso's body. What she felt when her chi made contact with his, wasn't good. The old man wasn't just hurt, his heart had been severely damaged and his life force was fading fast. She used the chi she'd infused into him to direct what little he had left into repairing his heart, but it wasn't enough. He was dying faster than she could stabilize him. "Come on, Gyatso! Don't die on me. Fight back, you have to. Your people need you! Aang needs you!" Hotaru shouted.