Darshi blinked, struggling to recall the correct bending form she had seen on the scroll Prince Seokjin had once given her. After a bit of experimentation she worked it out, gathering the others around to show them. None of the other air benders appeared to have as much raw power as she did, but that did not mean they were poor benders. Power did not equate to mastery. Out of the seventeen benders she was beginning to think one or two of them may be worthy of the title. She didn’t voice this out loud.  It was pointless. Making titles again for the air benders was the last of her worries. She left the rest of the lesson to be direct by Ishan, gathering the staff he had given her to help with her air bending.

It felt strange to be part of a group of people again.

The last time was when she was part of the Southern Water Tribe. That had to be at least a year ago, maybe more. She had given them up for their freedom. Then King Shichiro made her a citizen of the Earth Kingdom, but everyone knew that was politics. With the Air Nomads around her it felt like a piece inside of her had finally settled, a small part of that ball of anxiety in her chest breaking free.

One of the biggest obstacles she now had with her bending was she didn’t know how to correctly do certain air bending forms. Her stances were strange and unnatural to her people after hiding beneath the tides of water for so long. Even after living for months not having to hide it there was something a bit off. It made things difficult when it came to teaching, as none of them had the power she had to force the move. She never realized how much she relied on strength until she taught her first air bending class.

Darshi took the maps she requested earlier out the hands of an Earth Kingdom soldier, pulling off the ribbons and pinning it to an oak table. Lake Laogai's biggest concern at the moment was food. It was not a limitless supply, and the faster they could come up with an idea the better. No one knew where most of the tunnels went. Some were not even detailed on the maps making things even more difficult. She wasn’t sure what the King Shichiro was thinking when he created Lake Laogai.

He probably wasn’t thinking at all.

When it came to him it was a flip of the coin whether it would be brilliant or an absolute disaster. So far this was a pain. She opened a smaller map detailing the palace with interest, brows raised when she noticed a secret passage way behind the majority of the walls. Those could be useful, but for now she set it to the side.

She ignored the lone scroll tied with a crimson ribbon.

She had a feeling she knew what it was, but she wasn’t ready for that. Not yet. Instead, she continued to review the map of Lake Laogai.

There appeared to be another large pocket beneath them. It could be empty for all she knew, but it was better to check it out. There were three levels, perhaps more based on the unmapped tunnels they had discovered. So far everyone stuck to the level closest to the surface as people seemed reluctant to explore further down. They were afraid King Shichiro could have set up little traps. If that assumption was true the only people that would be able to find them without setting them off was earth benders. The King was one so it would probably be things like pressure steps and other such things. Nothing she could fling air at to set off without knowing the exact location.

Better yet, they should just outline it so everyone else knew where it was and avoid it. Stepping on one could flood the entire facility. There was a lake above them, after all, and he could have made use of that.

She shook her head, giving up. She couldn’t do anything with a half complete map. She sent some letters to Chief Namjoon and the two earth generals that worked together to run the earth citizen’s. She would need help to get a proper outline of what Lake Laogai had to work with. She could only hope there was a map maker somewhere down here.

Instead, she picked up the palace blueprints, brows raised with interest. She stuck the red wrapped scroll in her pocket to be looked at another day, wandering into the main space. People no longer hissed or threw things at her, but they made sure to give her a wide berth as if she had a plague of some sort. It was still an improvement. At least they no longer abhorred her presence.

“What do you want?” Chief Namjoon murmured, already irritated. Seeing her face tended to do that.

“I will be leaving to go to surface for the day. Ishan will be in charge of the Air Nomads until I return.”

Namjoon looked up, attention piqued. “You’re going above? Why?”

“Just exploring,” she hedged. “I never got to see much of the Earth Kingdom.”

“You mean the Earth District,” Namjoon corrected with a scowl, leaning back with his arms crossed against his chest. “The Fire Lord renamed it that.”

Sarcasm was a favored form of communication when he spoke with her.

“And Prince Seokjin rules above. Yes, I know,” she said with an eye roll.

Namjoon studied her, taking in her loose fitted green clothes and becoming glued to her neck at the ribbon tied so casually around that haunted his nightmares. Darshi hurried to take it off, thankful for the reminder. If she had went above with that her cover would have been blown. “Does it have anything to do with the scroll you recently received from Zayan and Zara?” he probed, mentioning the two earth generals by name.

They were identical twins, although the only thing they seemed to have in common was their faces. Both of them were androgynous, making it difficult to tell them apart by alone. Where one was more happy-go-lucky the other one tended to be a glass half empty kind of person. If anyone ever confused them a full on rant would be applied, so people tended to simply call them ‘General Z’. Couldn’t go wrong there.

“I haven’t read it yet,” she admitted.

“You need to.”

“I know.”

“You can’t just-“

“I know,” she growled irritated. “Doing this doesn’t affect you or anyone else. Contrary to belief, I still have some of my autonomy.” She wasn’t a complete slave. Her life was bound to theirs, but only when it came to safety.

Namjoon rolled his eyes, turning back to his scroll. “Don’t blame me when it bites you in the .”

Darshi smirked, backing away. “That’s the great part. I can only blame myself!”

She grinned, happy she was able to get away without telling Namjoon what she was really up to. It could be potentially dangerous, and Darshi hadn’t been to surface since the day King Shichiro sent her down here.

There was a begrudging peace held between her and Chief Namjoon, maintained only because he trusted her word to come back for trial once the war was over. They would never be friends, but they could be civil when needed. He was one of the few people that actually spoke to her outside of the Air Nomads. The rest of the people down here seemed to equally loathe and fear her.

It was a long walk to the surface, sped up only by her air bending. When she arrived she listened through the splintered, wooden wall for any sound before p