<div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="background-color:#353535; border:1px solid black; margin:10px 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px;">You's ears pricked up at Talya's voice. The Airbender had far better hearing than any of them, so it was no surprise to hear that she had sensed the danger first, but it wasn't long before You could hear the faint rumbling that told her about the unwelcome guests. She rose fluidly, casting a glance around at her fellow campers. You's jaw tightened at Xiao's display of violence even as she herself made a non-bender scream in agony as his arm was scorched by the flaming kick she delivered to it. As angry as the woman was, she was simply being brutal in a way You could not condone. The firebender leapt out of the way as her opponent furiously slashed at her with a curved knife, his other arm still smoking.<br/><br/><span style="color: #40BFFF">The powerful tension that had formed within the camp was broken by a warning issued by Talya. Pakak tore his eyes away from his current, earth bending source of annoyance, and watched as a large group of bandits flew into their midst. There were more than twenty of them, and there were benders among their numbers. Luckily, they hadn't done a good job picking their targets. <br/><br/>Pakak's waterskin opened just as a trio of bandits jumped down from their raft in front of him. They charged, curved swords at the ready; none of them were benders, a fact the defender took note of as he watched their advance. A sheet of ice formed on the ground in front of them, and the man leading the charge slipped, losing his footing as the one directly behind him crashed into him. The water bender winced, seeing the spray of blood that indicated they'd accidentally harmed each other, but it was hard to sympathize too much with the people attacking them. The third assailant leapt over his comrades, snarling as he closed the distance remaining between him and his target. <br/><br/>Ice claws formed around the fingertips of Pakak's left hand, and when the man didn't slow down his advance the bender sent three of them forward, hitting him in the chest, staggering him. The last two Pakak sent in the direction of the man attacking Hi You, striking him in his wrist and forcing him to drop his knife.</span><br/><br/>The man she was fighting proved to be swifter than You had inticipated intially. After her first kick, and despite numerous fiery punches, she hadn't managed to land a second hit properly. She felt a sharp pain in her left cheek; her hand flew up and came away with fine lines of blood. Had he hit her? But no, he hadn't - at least not with his knife, she saw, as it was no longer in his hand and two rapidly melting icicles were sticking out of his wrist.<br/><br/>You didn't waste the time. The large woman jumped into half a handstand and swung a leg down, a flaming trail blazing in its wake. It hit her assailant's head with a sickening crunch. Continuing in her fluid movement, she got to her feet, immediately seeking out Pakak who had taken the time to help her, even as two other people were running at him. She shouted wordlessly, aiming to distract and clueless as to how else to do it.<br/><br/><span style="color: #40BFFF">The bandit who'd accidentally stabbed his ally was back on his feet, and alongside the one who'd been spiked in the chest. They were closing in when You shouted, distracting them from their purpose. They turned for a moment, which was all the time Pakak needed to shift the sheet of ice behind them back into liquid form with a smooth, upward sweep of his arms. A spout of water flew over the two of them, and returned to ice in time to drop one coconut-sized hailstone onto each of their heads. <br/><br/>They dropped to the ground, and the stocky, scarred water bender smiled at You, though his mirth was short-lived. Yet another trio of bandits sped in their direction, and this time there was a bender on board. Pakak felt a grim familiarity as he watched a large shield of ice form at the front of the raft.</span><br/><br/>You's eyes narrowed as another three bastards sped towards them. The ice was bad news; the non-benders had been bad enough. But it also provided an opportunity for Pakak.<br/><br/>You knelt down in front of him, facing the bandits. She lifted her hands above her head, forming a rough circle - or a primitive sight for him to aim through.<br/><br/>"Steam," she barked. "I'll heat it, you direct it. Melt his shield, steal his water." A small drop of sweat was working its way down her forehead. Trying to make fire and water work together seemed beyond unnatural, and yet, she had a feeling it just might work. It needed to, because they wouldn't have much time before the three bandits would be on them.<br/><br/><span style="color: #40BFFF">Pakak nodded wordlessly as he returned the hailstones to liquid form - he could phase shift them to steam on his own, but what You was speaking of was a different matter entirely. Fed by her energy, they could cut through the barrier with a jet of super-heated water. It would be a very different form of steam from what he'd typically create, which fell more along the lines of mist that could be used to conceal. <br/><br/>He guided the newly reformed line of water around, and with a forward sweep of both hands he propelled it forcefully through the circle You made with her arms.</span><br/><br/>The heat from her hands made the air shimmer as a thin layer of blue flames coated her fingertips. You gasped - the strain of firebending without the explosive movement she was used to was a difficulty she had forgotten to consider. She focused on her breathing, fighting to keep the temperature of the air up as the much colder water flew through the small hoop and evaporated. She hoped Pakak had gotten what he needed as she flames went out and she let her shaking arms drop, allowing herself half a second of rest to see if their experiment had been successful.<br/><br/><span style="color: #40BFFF">Whatever the shielded men on the raft had been expecting, the unusual combination of water and fire bending wasn't it. There was a shout of pain and surprise as the stream of water, evaporating as it flew thanks to the injection of fire, punched through the icy barrier. Pakak wasted no time in seizing control of the melting shield, raising the shimmering mass above to reveal those beyond. The bender was covering his face, still screaming - they'd made contact with his eyes, it seemed. No wonder he'd given up so easily. <br/><br/>The water that had formerly protected the man converged on him, and a moment later Pakak raised his arms, palms facing the sky, and the bandit was completely encased in ice. Too late, he shifted his attention to the others on the raft in time to see two bows aimed at him, the arrows a split second from flying off their strings.<br/><br/>You smiled grimly as the water bender staggered and Pakak immediately immobilized him. Without the aid of a bender, his two friends would hopefully prove to be less trouble.</span><br/><br/>An arrow thwacked into the ground an inch from her foot. You jerked to the side instinctively, narrowly missing the other one as it flew past her shoulder. She raised her hands, punching the air and sending rapid blasts of fire toward the raft. The fragile sail started to burn, quickly slowing the raft to a halt. The two non-benders wasted little time in jumping off. One of them was readying another arrow while his friend ran toward Pakak and You.<br/><br/>You roared as she gathered all her strength and ran towards the nearest bandit.<br/><br/><span style="color: #40BFFF">There was resistance coming from within the icy prison; the container was melting rapidly, from the top moving down, but even as it did so Pakak was redirecting it back to its solid state. From bottom to top, his hands rose, refreezing what was thawed as the fluid struggle between the two benders continued. Evidently the flames surrounding the imprisoned bandit had warmed the ice enough for him to free his hands, meaning he was still very much a threat. <br/><br/>Pakak looked on as You charged at one of the bandits, even as his comrade readied an arrow; thinking quickly, he suddenly stopped resisting and allowed the other bender to free himself. As the ice turned completely back to liquid form, he instead focused on guiding it away from his opponent, sending a powerful stream, a water bullet, away from him and straight towards the bowman. It knocked him off his feet, but the man still loosed the arrow as he staggered sideways. <br/><br/>It skittered harmlessly over the ground's surface, and the bender, who had taken the opportunity to escape the burning remnants of the raft, was once again immobilized as Pakak brought the water stream back around and imprisoned him once again. This time, there was no resistance.</span><br/><br/>Out of the corner of her eye, You watched as Pakak took care of the other waterbender. Although she was in very good shape, the stationary bending had taken its toll on her. A serious of explosive kicks and punches drew howls of pain from the bandit she attacked; the greasy, nauseating smell of burning flesh accompanying them. You wrinkled her nose as the woman she had fought fell lifelessly to the ground, her bow still in hand, and allowed herself another moment to breathe.<br/><br/>The moment lasted a fraction of a second too long. Although Pakak had incapacitated the waterbender and You had taken care of one other, they had been too distracted to pay much attention to the last of the three, who had had enough cover to run behind the burning raft, nock an arrow, and send it flying.<br/><br/>A piercing pain erupted in You's left thigh and she staggered backwards. She gasped, initially more in surprise than pain, then couldn't hold back a whimper as she looked down and saw the thirty inch shaft embedded in her leg. She punched the air in the rough direction of where the arrow had come from, not watching as the fireball erupted from her knuckles and shot towards the offending archer. You quickly bent down, gritted her teeth and snapped the shaft in half with little effort before she began an unsteady hop-and-hobble back towards her friend. Sweat poured down her face as she made her escape, occasionally sending increasingly weak blasts of flame backwards as an inefficient protection method. She only knew one thing, the first lesson that had been pounded into her from when she was old enough to walk: Safety in numbers. She had to get to Pakak and the others - and fast.</div></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: 85%; line-height: 116%;">Collab between me and <a href="//www.creativefreedomrpg.com/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&amp;u=110718">@GreyHelm</a>.</span></div>