Ace hit the tree with a thump. She let out a scream of pain. Her world become blurry.The trees of the gloomy forest spun around her, as if locking her in a twister of pain. In moments, it went dark.


"Yo! Kid! Get up!" Chieir shouted in Ace's ear, while Ace lay motionless on the group under a tree in the forest-the same tree she had been slammed against only minutes before. Ace slowly sat up and rubbed her head. "Waaa....what happened?"Ace said, her head was still pounding with pain. "Sorry, Ace. I think I mighta' been too hard on you." Chieir said laughing, while helpping Ace to her feet. Ace leaned on the tree for support and she turned to Chieir and her eyes narrowed. "This is suppose to be training! Not a battle. I don't want to be weak for tonight."Ace grumbled. She rubbed the back of her head and stood up straight without the trees balance. She looked around at the forest. Most of the trees had been slightly burned from when she and Chieir were training. A couple of Chieir's daggers had been plunged into the ground and a few of the trees. Chieir smirked and nodded. "Yeah. Tonight is gonna be great! The boys will go scouting ad we-". Chieir was intrupted by Ace. "They aren't coming?! It's just going to us invading a Fire Nation camp?! Have you lost your mind! Will die!" Ace couldn't believe it, she didn't even think Chieir was this far with her insaneness. "Yes! It'll be alright. There'll only be about 10 guys there. And word has it, they're new. So it shouldn't be too hard." Chieir said calmly. Ace looked nervous. She shook her head. "Chieir...I....I can't." Ace stared at her feet, she could feel Chieir's cold and angery eyes on her. "We had a deal, Ace. You promised. You can't go back now." Chieir said firmly. Ace looked up at Chieir. "Chieir, this is a matter of life or death! I can't!" Ace said, her voice shaking with fear, her great fear of the Fire Nation capturing her again still lived inside her. Chieir glared and lunged forward. She grabbed Ace's arm firmly and looked her straight in the eye. "Then if you die, you die! That's the game you played into Ace! It's your life now. This is the life you wanted, you know that."Chieir loosened her grip and looked at Ace. "And I know that too. I know you better then those other friends of yours." Ace looked up at Chieir. She nodded, but regretfuly.

Yuyan walked through the forest, picking up vial herbs and examining plants and animals. He wore plain commoner clothing: a brown shirt with brown shorts and some shoes. After some while of taking notes on certain plants, he saw a rare butterfly-bird hovering over his head and turned to grab it. He wanted to catch it and make it a nice gift for Fire since it was such an easy pet to take care of and it was cute, something Fire never rejected. Determined, he chased after it, carefully being noiseless as to avoid causing unneccessary movement for it to recognize him. He chased it for half an hour, going all the way until he heard a scream. Immediately, he turned his attention from the butterfly-bird to the source of the sound. These things just flat-out interested him. Quietly, he moved toward the sound and after a while, he was within 100 yards of the place. He climbed up a tree and deftly jumped from one branch to another until he was within 25 yards of the place, still standing high on a tree branch. It was now near dark and all he could see were two shadows, one leaning against a tree and the other standing tall, as though that figure was harrassing the other. He could identify the girl who stood: she had long blond hair; but he couldn't identify the person who leaned against the tree. He thought of jumping out but decided to stay in the dark background, making sure he camouflaged with the tree and observed silently.

Chieir smirked at Ace in triumph. She fully let go of Ace's arm and leaned on the tree. Chieir drew one of her daggers and held it up so the sunlight through the trees made it shimmer. Ace watched the shimmering dagger. "Chieir....I know I made a promise, but....." Chieir held her dagger as if she was going to stab Ace, her eyes were angery. "No buts! Whats wrong with you, Ace?! 2 years ago, you would of been ready as ever to fight! You could care less about dieing. What happened to you?" Chieir stared at Ace, her tone was hurt and upset that her friend had changed. Ace remained silent. She stared back at Chieir. "It's those friends of your ain't it? They've broken you. The took you away from you're true life." Chieir said. Ace looked at Chieir, this time she was angery. "Stop blaming them! They haven't done anything wrong! I ran away from that life, I didn't want to be part of a murdering nation!" Ace shouted, by Chieir didn't seem to notice Ace's tone, she just glared back at her. "You ran away from the Fire Nation. But you didn't run away from who you are, they took that away from you. We use to have fun, Ace. Not caring about dieing, not caring what other people thought, being free from rules and people telling us what to do." Chieir said firmly. "Maybe that person you use to know wasn't really who I'm meant to be, Chieir." Ace said softly. "That maybe true. But it's who you want to be." Chieir said. Ace looked up at Chieir, her eyes burning with tears.

Him, still standing on the tree branch, listened carefully with his ears to hear what was going on. One voice sounded so cruel and mean, while the other was weak and sobbing; both were girls. He had never heard that cruel voice before, but could determine she wasn't a calm person. However, the other, weak voice was ever so familiar to him; he heard that voice everyday, but he couldn't identify from the sobs which just meshed in the voice and altered it. Who was that person??
He slid down quietly from the tree branch and went a few yards closer, trying to see who was that familiar voice. After getting within a close distance, about 15 yards, he saw, with the help from the shimmer of light from a pointy object.... Ace, his dorky sister. His eyes widened at what was going on and lightly and subconciously, his foot took a small step forward and that small movement made a light creaking noise from the auburn foliage that was on the ground. He stopped dead in his tracks and hid behind the tree.

Ace had opened her mouth to say something, when Chieir had raised her hand and motioned for Ace to be quiet. Ace quicky shut her mouth and sutdyed Chieir's face. Chieir has looking at something behind Ace. Ace wizzed around, but saw nothing. She turned back to Chieir and mouthed the words "what?". Chieir motioned to the tree that the figure was hiding behind. "The Fire Nation? No, they wouldn't send out just one soldier." Ace thought to herself. Chieir brushed past Ace and drew her dagger. She pointed it at the tree. "Alright. Come out!" Her voice rang through the forest. It was firm and tough-just like Chieir. Ace stepped next to Chieir and got in her stance, ready to attack.

Yuyan flinched at the voice. Sheesh, making him flinch, that had to be some tough girl. He thought quickly of a plan in his mind and walked out in plain view. Quickly, he saw Ace's face, which didn't show the cheery mood that he always saw from her. Something was wrong he thought, so sneakily he motioned with his eyes to Ace to not let out a single word, although it was quite bargaining, since he knew Ace would react.
Then he turned to the blond girl. She wasn't that bad looking, but was still so far away from Fire. He narrowed his eyes at her with the dagger, subtly focusing his chi into his hands in case he might need to attack her or defend himself. The land was getting more humid and humid as the night came. Some sweat drops were falling down his face; this girl was a tough one, he thought.

Ace's eyes widen at the sight of Yu. She frooze in her place. She saw the look in Yu's eyes, but instead took it as something different. "Phew..." Ace thought. "He didn't hear Chieir and I talking. He doesn't know anything....yet. But a gut feelig was still twisted up inside of her. She hated lying. Ace quickly grabbed Chieir's arm and attempted to pull her away from Yu, but only to recive a hating and cold look from Chieir. "What?! You don't want me to attack?! Man, Ace you really have-" Ace stopped Chieir from talking by giving her a threatening look. Chieir saw the look and stopped her sentence. She turned back to Yu and looked him up and down. Chieir crossed her arms and talked to Ace, still studying Yu. "You know this guy, Ace?" Chieir said. Her voice was calmer, but still tough. Ace looked from Chieir, to Yu, then back at Chieir. It was hard to look at Yu, she was afraid he would see right through her and know she was hiding something from him; Ace couldn't bare the disaproving look from Yu. "Yes. He's a....er....he's a f-f-friend of mine." Ace stamered. She knew once she had said "friend" Chieir would automaticly hate Yu. But Chieir's expression didn't change. She cotinued to study Yu. "A friend, eh? What's your name kid?" Chieir said nodding towards Yu. Ace twisted a piece of her hair nervously.

Yuyan heard that girl talk and immediately his dislike for her mounted. Sheesh, such bossiness, he thought. He quickly thought of a name to reply.

"Yenko." he replied tersely. His eyes darted quickly to Ace and found out in an instance Ace was hiding something from him, and it wasn't small either. He kept his composure and just turned his eyes back at the blond girl and looked through her gray eyes trying to get a good read on her. His hands were still ready in case anything regretful might happen.

Chieir raised an eyebrow at Yu, her eyes shifted over to Ace who was still froozen with fright and shock. "Yenko? Hm, strange name...but I guess it goes with you personality and fashion sense." Chieir said smirking. Ace threw Chieir an annoyed look, then she saw Yu looking at her, she knew she wouldn't be able to hide this from him for too much longer. Ace quickly noticed Chieir and Yu's sudden dislike for each other and how they both looked ready to attack each other at any instant. Ace looked frightened. "Chieir...don't be starting anything." Ace whispered to Chieir, she glanced over to Yu. Chieir looked at Ace and nodded."Yeah, don't want to waste anymore engery. Chieir's voice turned into a whisper. or tonight-ouch! ACE!" Ace stomped on Chieir's foot and glared at her. She gave Chieir a look to keep her big mouth shut. Even though Chieir was whispering, Ace knew Yu had good hearing and could find out. Chieir grumbled and glared back at Yu, her dagger was still in her hand. "So... Yenko... why were you spying?? You with the Fire Nation? If you are, we got ways to deal with you." Chieir growled. "Chieir don't. He-." "Shut up, Ace!" Chieir snapped, and Ace yelpped. But she kept an eye on Chieir's dagger.

Yuyan looked at Ace confused. Whatever she was trying to hush from that blond girl was definitely not small, and the more she was doing, the more serious this had to be. He tried to imagine what could possibly be the problem here but then he remembered this was Ace, who could do anything... and he meant, anything.

With no further ado, he focused back firmly on the blond girl and her dagger.
"No, I'm not. I'm not from the Fire Nation and I happen to be a nonbender." Yuyan replied calmly. He didn't know what the heck this girl had to do with Ace. He pondered the thought silently in his head and tried to find it out, or at least find food for thought instead of having to be in the middle of nowhere in the thoughts.

Chieir crossed her arms and narrowed her eyebrows. She seemed to be angered more by Yu's calmness. Ace glanced over to Chieir and looked fearful. She knew better then anyone how bad Chieir can get when she's angry. Chieir looked over to Ace, her eyebrows still narrowed down. She gave Ace a look of annonce. Ace knew Chieir didn't believe Ace or Yu fully and was searching in Ace's expression for an answer. Ace quickly looked away from Chieir and at Yu. She could tell he was thinking deeply, so she didn't have to hide her worried expression from him, since he was too busy with other things on his mind.

"I need to do check up on the boys." Chieir said calmly turning to Ace. Chieir glanced over to Yu coldly, with that Chieir disappeared into the forest-but unnoticabilly she snuck on to a branch in a nearby tree and listened. Ace looked at Yu, she wondered what his reaction was going to be right after meeting Chieir.

Yuyan knew that this person was suspicious of him. Chieir huh? After seeing her go away so suddenly, he knew something was fishy. However, he couldnt control his other questions that were just waiting to explode. Half of what he thought became words.
"Ace, what is this? Whats going on? You're hurt. What happened? Why are you here? Did that girl hurt you?" Yuyan bombarded, examining her wounds; they weren't light and it was abuse he thought. Opening his little bag that contained vial herbs he collected through the forest, he took some time to extract some liquid through it and rub them gently over Ace; however, the effect was a little stinging. The wounds were slowly healing though.

Ace was opening her mouth to speak, when Yu started applying the herbs. Ace felt the slight sling. "Ouch!...I-I-I'm, Yu. You don't have to worry." Ace gave Yu a forced smile. T-t-that girl, she's...um, well she's an old friend of mine. We were just training, but I'm fine. Really I am." Ace said to Yu, trying to sound stronge, but failed greatly. "And nothing is going on. Just some harmless training....." Ace felt that twisted feeling in her gut again. Lying. She hated it. Ace stared at her feet and kept her eyes from far from Yu's.

Yuyan saw everything about Ace that indicated dishonesty. Weak voice, staring at the feet, the cutting of the words, those guilty eyes, and that forced smile he knew from the times being her brother. What was wrong? There wasn't no need to be scared of that blond freak. With his eyebrows furrowed, he insisted on pushing the answer out.
"Ace, tell me... whats wrong?" Yuyan asked as he gave he a meaningful hug, a brother hug that showed trust and encouraged her to speak her mind.

Ace felt the brotherly hug from Yu. She broke down into sobs and fell on her knees. Her teary eyes looked up at Yu. "Yu...I-I-I'm scared!" Ace sobbed and hugged her knees. She usually wasn't scared of anything-but this was different. There was a chance Ace would be captured again, she shudder at the thought. Chieir was her friend, and she had made a promise she couldn't keep. Ace continued to sob. "I did something stupid, Yu....I joined Chieir and her rebels! I didn't no they would be so dangerous!" The words seemed to roll off her tongue.

Little did Ace or Yu know, Chieir was glaring at them both coldly from a nearby tree.

That blond girl had her own rebel group? Figures. Ace joined up with her old friends to rebel? What for? He had so many more questions, as if Ace had just opened up a new can of worms. However, seeing Ace sobbing constricted his questions down considerably. She needed support.
"Then you should leave Ace. There's no point in recklessly wasting for your life for something that you fear to do." Yuyan said, not really knowing much other about the situation to make a conclusive guess. This was all he was given, and he needed to persuade Ace out of this.

Ace wipped her tears away and shook her head. "I can't...I promised her I would do this. Chieir is a good friend of mine...I hate going back on my word." Ace said slowly. Her eyes then began to sadden again. "Chieir said I've changed...I'm not who I use to be. She says...."Ace paused and turned away from Yu. "....She says it's my friends back at the clearing that have changed me. She says I should be who I use to be...."Ace's voice was soft and unnsure. It wasn't like she believed Chieir, but she did often wonder why she had changed from a dangerous risky girl, to a bubbly and scared one.

Yuyan looked confused. Ace was different? So she wasn't this bubbly girl who always goofed around and have fun? Who was she? So many questions, so many. He looked sympathetic and wiped off more of Ace's tears.
"Ace, what do you mean? Different?" Yuyan asked confused.

Ace looked up at Yu. "I wasn't who you see now. I use to be different. Chieir and I always got in trouble...but, I know I get in trouble now..but it was different." Ace said slowly, blinking back her tears. "You saw Chieir's attuide. That was who I use to be. Tough. Chieir and I would do things that would normaly get your head chopped off in the Fire Nation. Setting off explotions near their training spots. Setting off faluse alarms. Picking fights with generals...Then I left and I just....I dunno....changed. I don't know why or how though, I just...did." Ace looked at Yu, searching his face. Maybe he knew why. Yu always seemed to have all the answers in Ace's eyes.

A surprise. Yuyan looked at Ace lost of words. So she was different from this bubbly and cheery sister he knew? Tough, risky, mean, and at times, cruel. He thoughtfully let his mind solve this out. It wasn't that hard though. After all, he himself was in the exact same spot as Ace: a cold Yuyan Archer who did all the mean things people could imagine. He changed after all those long and pleasant months in the clearing, learning values that he had never before cherished. He sat down next to Ace. "Ace, the clearing was a good thing. You matured through being in the clearing. You knew what was good and bad and this change was great. Don't feel upset for whatever reason you might think you weren't like that." Yuyan comforted her to the best of his abilities. "But what do you feel about this change?" He inquired amused.

Ace sighed at the question she most feared her bummy brother would ask. She stared at the leaves and watched the winded blow them away. They tumbled across the forest floor.

"I don't really know....I mean, I know it's good that I changed. I like who I am now. But Chieir made me feel weak. She said this wasn't me...like I was pretending or something. At first I didn't believe her. But then..." Ace paused and tore her eyes away from the ground so they met with Yu's. "Then I went on one of her adventures...like we use to do. And I....I remembered how much fun it was. But now..." Ace sighed and looked back at the ground. "I don't know who I am." Ace fell silent and didn't dare look at her brother. She was too afraid he might be disappointed in her.

Yuyan looked incredulously at Ace. "Weak? Are you kidding me Ace? You're not weak. You're wise, and thats much better than acting like a risky fool. Don't listen to them, listen to me, I know this. You're making the right decision, and don't sway toward their words." He said reassuringly. Ace was confused, and he needed to settle that straight out, she was good. Now he frowned at Ace's friend though, the blond girl. She was by no means an ideal friend.
"Sorry Ace, but by the way I've seen things coming, that girl is not treating you like a friend. She abused you and made you sob into such a mess like this." He said indicating the small purple marks and slight cuts that Ace had on her. "You know from our time at the clearing that abusing is not a way of showing friendship." He concluded. Ace stood in danger territory, and he needed to take her out of there, to prevent what could be regretful consequences. He held her chin up so that she faced him.
"Are you listening to me Ace?" He asked concerned.

Ace looked at Yu and nodded. Of course she would listen to Yu. She trusted him with her life. But still, Chieir's voice rang in her head; "No rules", "No one telling you what to do". Ace quickly shook the thought out of her mind. Yu was right. The person she had transformed into was who she was meant to be. Ace's face saddened. It was hard to pull away from Chieir once before, she wondered if her curiousity would get the best of her at any point. She decided not to worry about that now, there were bigger problems to worry about. "Thank you, Yu...Thank you." Ace hugged Yu tightly then pulled away and looked at him. "But what are we going to do about...."Ace gulped. "Chieir?"

Yuyan hugged Ace back just as tight, his mind on other things as well. He looked down at her sad face and could tell that she still had doubts. Hoping that he at least kept her on his side for some time, he listened to her question.

"Your friend isn't the type who easily lets go of her so-called friends huh?" Yuyan asked sarcastically. He didn't know how good this girl was, but she probably wasn't shabby if she could give Ace a beating. And those gray eyes, they gave him goosebumps. He thought of ideas, as him and Ace both stood in the lone forest, unaware that they weren't the only ones around the area, but several people, from various groups, spied on them.

Chieir gripped the tree branch. Her gray eyes seemed to darken with hatred and anger. She turned to her rebels; Hisa and Toshi who had joined Chieir with her spying just a few minutes before. "She's a trader. And the "Yenko" is posioning her mind."Chieir said to them coldy. "So, we're gonna attack them?" Hisa asked. "Of course we are you moron!" Chieir growled, she kept her eyes on the figures below. "What's our plan? What do we do once we've taken them down?" Toshi, the most loyal rebel and the biggest suck-up to Chieir, asked. "Take the boy out, I don't care what you do to him as long as I don't see him again. As for Ace." Chieir's face darkened. "Leave that lying rat to me." Chieir hissed and glared down, pulling out her dagger.


Ace sighed. "Chieir hates losing, always has. If she-when she-finds out that I've chosen to leave her band of rebels, she won't be too happy."Ace shuddered, her eyes shifted over to a nearby tree. She shook her head, thinking nothing could of possibly been there.

Yuyan's seeing of Ace's shifting eyes at the trees confirmed his doubts. Someone.. or some people, were spying them. He stayed silent, and focused on his listening senses. The atmosphere was now cool and silent, which helped tremendously. Once he concentrated hard, he felt some type of rustle at the tree Ace just glanced at. His doubts were confirmed; someone lurked behind those trees over there. Carefully gauging his movements, he spent some time concocting a plan. He wished he had his arrows; unfortunately, he had left them at home.
Deciding that it was better to avoid going toward unknown enemies, he took Ace's hand and guided her away from the lurkers, zigzaging across the forest, knowing that he and Ace might get lost; however, that seemed better than getting burnt to crisp or worst of all, killed.

"Now!" Chieir said to the boys in a loud whisper. In moments Hisa and Toshi were wizzing through the tree tops, being extra careful not to be seen or heard.

Ace stuck close next to Yu. Her eyes darted around every which way, trying to see if anyone was coming but she saw nothing-No wait! Ace stopped and suddenly remembered-from her travels with the rebel gang-the trees were how they moved about and lurked. "They're in the trees!" Ace shouted and pushed Yu out of the way just has Hisa and Toshi jumped down and landed in front of them. Toshi drew out his broad swords. "Sorry Ace's. Boss's orders." He smirked along with Hisa who was already bending a rock up out of the ground.

Yuyan saw the two boys Hisa and Toshi drop down from the trees. One used broadswords, and the other earthbended, and Yuyan deducted that he was no way gonna be able to get out of this sticky situation without his trusty firebending. He watched the earthbending boy and lowered his stance to prepare for a dodge. Occasionally he glanced over at the broadswords person who did an introduction sword dance.
"Show off," Yuyan said to the embarrassment of the broadswordsman. The swordsman glared at him and charged toward him while the earthbender shot a boulder at him. He moved out of the way and shot out a burst of flame at the earthbender.

Ace's eyes darted around. If Hisa and Toshi were here then Chieir had to be around somewhere. "Yu!" Ace shouted and lunged towards Hisa. She shot several fireballs at him causing him to stubble backwards. "C'mon Hisa!" Ace laughed, but was quickly stopped when Hisa hurled a rock at her. The rock hit Ace in the stomach, sending her flying into a tree. She yelpped and shot more fire at Hisa, hopping Yu had Toshi under control.

Yuyan never had this type of problem against any sword user. He frowned at Toshi's sword skills. This guy wasn't just all show; he had skills. Every movement that Toshi made was not redundant during the fight; every move had a purpose and his strategy was well-planned. After about 10 minutes, Yuyan emerged victorious, but not unscathed; he had a few slash marks over at his arms and a light wound near his stomach. Seeing Ace in the distance trying to hold off Hisa, he snuck up on the earthbender and kicked a small flame at him at point-blank range at his back, knocking him down.
"Are you okay Ace?" He asked as he stumbled over slightly at Ace. His movement was a little clumsy.

Ace slowly got to her feet. "Yeah, I'm all right. Thanks." Ace's eyes scanned the forest, looking for Chieir. "If Hisa and Toshi are here then were is....NO!"Ace yelled when Chieir jumped out of the tree behind Yu, and held a dagger to his throat. "Well well, lookie what I got here." Chieir said smirking. Ace glared at Chieir, but didn't dare move. "Chieir....Don't you dare..." Ace's voice was shaking with anger. Chieir, also not moving, smirked.

Yuyan took from complete surprise. Chieir had snuck on him. In just a second, a dagger was held to his throat and he could feel the sharpness of it.
"Grr.. let me go!" Yuyan growled as he struggled more. Chieir now however put it right against his throat.
"I would shut up if I were you kid, if you know whats good for you and whats not." Chieir said coolly. He stood still and silent now, looking completely helpless. He couldn't move or wiggle.

Ace's eyes grew wide with fury. She made a fire dagger and glared at Chieir. Chieir's grin widened. "I knew I could get that old Ace out." Chieir laughed and tightened her grip on Yu. "I'll make sure your friend here gets a good look at the real you, Ace." Chieir said smirking. Fire began to rise by Ace's feet. Angry filled her face.

Yuyan looked at Ace and for the first time truly saw her anger. He wondered if there was anything else that he didn't know about her. Also, the real Ace? So he hasn't seen the real Ace... ever? He looked confused now. The dagger lightly caused a small cut over his neck and blood was now dripping down slowly.