2/3

grounded
Please log in to read the full chapter

Early next morning, and after much turning on his back, Kyung Soo decided to admit to Young Hee that he overreacted. He wanted to say he is sorry and to tell her that she should start practicing her stances again.

But Young Hee isn’t in her tent and is nowhere near camp. Confused, he closed his eyes and felt the earth beneath him.

His senses heighten at his surroundings’ every move and he tried to ignore the overwhelming feeling that coursed through his body. He did not find any trace of Young Hee, though, not even at a stretch of a hundred miles. Heart racing, he awakened the others in a panic frenzied manner, and told them Young Hee is missing.

Chan Yeol is the one who rummaged through her stuff. There is no note whatsoever, but they noticed that her dagger is nowhere to be found. She is competent with blades and the four of them had instructed her to use it to defend herself; to never use her bending if it wasn’t really necessary, and fire bending only if otherwise. She must have known that she had to fight when she left. Something must have happened in the wee hours when the four of them were sound asleep.

“Zhang is also missing. I already checked the skies, there is no sign of them,” Se Hun announced as he folded his glider and joined the others gathered on the outside of Young Hee’s tent.

“Was it because of me?” Kyung Soo let out in a small voice, causing all three boys to turn to him abruptly. “Did she run away because of what I said?”

The paling of his face alarmed the others and they quickly told him they’re not sure of anything yet. Suho proposed they start looking in pairs, and he and Se Hun started on the opposite direction. Chan Yeol reassured Kyungsoo as he held the other by the arm, “If she ran away she wouldn’t leave her stuff behind. Something must have happened.”

“How can you be sure? She always does things beyond reason,” replied Kyung Soo, though his mood obviously lightened by Chan Yeol’s words.

Chan Yeol and Kyung Soo’s suspicion grew when they found huge scrapings on the ground a few miles from camp. The trees in the area were damaged, leaving a path of broken twigs and branches for them to follow. A shore line ended the trail and both of them had decided to call the others and pack their belongings first before they search further. Kyungsoo proposed Chanyeol find a boat to rent and went to find Se Hun and Suho by himself. In minutes time the four of them traveled on water and looked for signs of Young Hee or Zhang.

Moments like this were not actually new to them.

Young Hee was often missing for a number of reasons. First is because she at directions. That coupled with her clumsiness and tendency to wander about would sometimes make them overstay at a place, combing through market alleys and crowded festivals while screaming her name. The second, and most annoying of all, is because of her brother Zuko, who is on their tail since time immemorial. Zuko believes that Chan Yeol kidnapped his sister despite how many times Young Hee denies it. He is persistent in bringing her back to the Fire Nation, by their father/firelord Ozai’s orders. The five of them have escaped thus far, with the help of Young Hee’s loyal and fearsome dragon.

This time it was different, Kyung Soo believes. He remembered the words that have escaped his mouth yesterday, hurtful words that brought a heavy feeling inside him. The idea of Zhang being with Young Hee was kind of comforting but the idea that he would never see her again was too much for him to bear, though for reasons still unclear to him. He had his fists balled up inside his pockets, afraid that they were already too late and Young Hee is already far from their reach. He still blamed himself for all these, convinced that she left because of him.

When they were already losing hope they caught sight of a big ship, miles ahead of them and was already approaching another coast. Supposedly they wanted to catch up in order to ask a few questions but

Please log in to read the full chapter
Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
Princess_charming
#1
YESS OH MY GOD I JUST FOUND THIS RIGHT AFTER FINISHING ATLA THIS MUST BE FATE. kyungsoo as earth bender is so ✨ f i t t i n g ✨ I CAN'T PUT IT IN WORDS and lol sehun does look like an Airbender in that orange shirt. GONNA START READING SOON THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR WRITING 😚😚