Kireina stared at the raven haired teen standing before her, surrounded by a crew of armed misfits. She conjured up her best face of innocence, a trick she used on many men before. "What do you want from me?"
"Why do I feel attracted to you?" Jet asked, squatting to get eye level with Rein.
"I don't know, I've been told I'm pretty--"
"No, no." Jet cut her off, shaking his head. "I'm not talking about your looks, it's something deeper."
Rein bit her lip and looked away only for Jet to grab her chin and turn her eyes back to face him. The twig that dangled between his teeth tickled her nose making a small sneeze escape her mouth. The teen smirked at Kireina, finding her small kitten-like sneeze adorable. The two gazed at each other in silence, leaving the remaining clan members to watch awkwardly.
"If that question is too hard, how about an easier one?" Jet spoke softly, his breath fanning her cheeks. "What's your name?"
"Do you really need to know that? It could be confidential information and if it gets released we could all die." Rein replied with her typical sarcasm.
"You sure do dance around answering questions." A small girl off to the side quipped, sneering at Rein.
Kireina shot her a glare, "Oof, down girl. Don't bark at the woman who bites."
"You heard her Smellerbee." Jet snickered, enjoying the fast wit of the stranger sitting before him. "If you won't tell me your name then I'll just have to give you one--"
Rein waved her hands and shook her head, "No thanks, I've already been given enough names these past couple months, I really don't think I could remember another one. My name is Kireina but most people call me Rein."
As the words left her lips, Jet's neck snapped back to his team staring at them all with mirroring wide eyes. Kireina noticed this and her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion and suspicion.
"So you're the girl they wouldn't shut up about." Jet chuckled. "Everyone, this is the Avatar's sister, Kireina. Kireina this is the Freedom Fighters. We have Pipsqueak, Smellerbee, Longshot and the Duke. And I'm Jet but you probably already knew that."
"Wait, you know Aang?!" Rein beamed with happiness. "A friend of my brother is a friend of mine." She began to stand up but was immediately pushed back down by Jet.
"I'm not exactly on the best of terms with your brother... so the same goes for you. I know who you are but I recall asking what you are. I saw the Avatar with my own eyes, I know he exists. But I also saw you wreck a hundred yards of foliage just by pounding your fist in the dirt. I witnessed the light leave your eyes and your body stand limp as your soul abandoned you. The Avatar and you are cut from the same cloth, so what are you?"
Rein scowled at Jet, finding his tone quite disgusting. "I am in shock right now and not because I'm scared of you but because you need a lesson in manipulative interrogation. You had me wrapped the second you said you knew my brother. If you had asked me again right then and there I would have told you because I could trust you. What made you think that by telling me you're frenemies with my brother I would answer any of your questions?"
Jet reacted in a quick fit a rage, wrapping his hand around her throat and pushing her back harder against the tree trunk behind her. The leaf hanging from his mouth once again tickled her nose, leaving her annoyed and angry.
Using her airbending, she sliced the piece of grass in half, missing his nose by millimeters. The breath hitched in Jet's throat, his heart stopping along with it. "Get your hands off of me if you want to keep them." Rein choked out.
The hand around her neck retracted and she inhaled a deep breath. The group of misfits watched in awe as their leader backed down from the stranger. Jet wasn't one to run with his tail between his legs, he was a fighter with a strong head on his shoulders. So how did this sixteen year old get him to surrender so easily?
Longshot appeared at Rein's side, an arrow aimed directly at her. Kireina let her head fall against the tree and rolled her eyes, exhausted with all of the fighting she's encountered that day. "Longshot, right? You know what sucks about being an archer? You're left so... exposed." As she spoke to the boy, she focused her energy on the bucket of water positioned next to the burning campfire. Using her signature trick, she shifted the water into makeshift arrows and froze them as they suspended in the air. "You have to focus in on one target, aim, shoot, reload over and over again but what happens if someone sneaks up from behind you? You're dead."
As she ended her sentence, she sent the ice hurling towards Longshot. Specifically aiming for his weapon, Rein didn't want to cause physical harm to these kids. They didn't seem like a powerful threat against her. She smirked to herself when her ammunition hit dead on, pinning Longshot's bow to the tree along with a few merely missing his limbs. The color drained from his face and he retreated behind Pipsqueak.
"H-how did she do that without moving?" The Duke squeaked, joining Longshot behind Pipsqueak.
"I gotta say, that trick never gets old." Rein laughed so hard that tears formed in her eyes. She continued to cackle to herself, wiping the tears as they fell while the Freedom Fighters stood in fear. "The look on your faces is priceless."
"You're gonna kill us, aren't ya?" Pipsqueak mumbled.
Rein's giggling ceased and a frown took over. "What? Why would I kill you?"
"Because Longshot tried to shoot an arrow through your skull." Smellerbee answered for Pipsqueak.
"Look, I'm going to be honest with you all. I've killed a shit load of people, more than I'd like to admit. I killed them because they needed to die, simple as that. With that said, I don't think you guys need to die. But I do think you need to change your group name because Freedom Fighters sounds like it's Anti-Freedom, you know? We can brainstorm that later though."
"Who have you killed? Who do you fight for?" Jet finally spoke after losing his voice when Rein almost sliced off his nose.
"My highest score was Admiral Zhao of the Fire Nation. I mainly just snipe the people after me, which is the Fire Nation nine times out of ten. They're like roaches, you kill one and five more take it's place. Word of advice, I'm just coming up with this now, think of your enemy as bugs. They're easier to kill that way." Rein babbled.
If Rein had one downfall it was her love to talk. Just like when she met June, she talked her ear off for an entire day. She adored telling stories and sharing her knowledge with new people. After spending years locked away, she had so much to say. Jet didn't mind this, even with the fear she instilled in him, he still felt drawn to her. Rein was cynical yet humorous and Jet wanted to know more. She led him on with her words, everything she did sparked his interest.
"You are the complete opposite of your brother, why is that?" Jet questioned.
"When you're raised as the Avatar, you are praised and highly regarded. The world knows the Avatar's purpose and they parade him about like a king. They have friends and fans, teachers and gurus, they are loved. When you're raised like me, you are forced into solitude and studied like a mythical creature. You grow to detest the people around you and yearn to find solace. You are left in the dark, alone and scared surrounded by nothing but four brick walls and window that entices you to run, to follow your heart. To keep me locked away was like dousing alcohol on a flame, the fire grew and grew then it exploded..." Rein spoke softly, her mind floating back to the day she felt the Ekkona awake inside her.
She recalled Zuko's face as he charged into her chambers after discovering that she wasn't the Avatar. He grabbed her unscarred wrists in his hands and burned his palms into her skin. When she rose after the incident, she felt a fire inside her that hadn't been there before.
Rein gazed around at the group, "Do you all feel weirdly attached me right now?"
Everyone nodded, letting their guard down. The fear they once felt had dissipated and they were now left feeling sad for the girl. Each one of them wanted to help her in any way they could.
Kireina sighed, "Okay, so it is real..." She cleared her throat, trying to ignore the excited butterflies she got in her stomach when she consciously realized her effect on people. "I guess I should start by saying-- Hi, I'm Kireina, I'm one-hundred and sixteen years old and I'm destined to change the world."