They're the ones who are hunted now, and Jet finds this weirdly disorienting. Maybe it's just the burns twisting his body, and the bloodlust writhing at the edge of his mind.
He's hungry.
Which is why Longshot has his bow angled against Jet's chest the way he does while they huddle in the thicket.
Flames lick at the treetops overhead. The forest fire has spread a long ways tonight.
The flames are blue.
Jet doesn't like that.
"They're coming closer," Smellerbee says quietly. She's bleeding. She hasn't mentioned it to them yet, but Jet can smell it. A scalp cut, he thinks.
He wishes she would mention it so Longshot can tie it up. But they can't afford that time.
"We've got to keep them over here," Jet answers. "We need their attention."
Longshot digs his bow a little bit harder into Jet's chest.
Smellerbee nods and shifts to draw a knife. She rubs dirt over it to hide the gleam from the firelight, then points at a Fire Nation soldier loitering near the edge of their thicket.
Jet and Longshot both nod.
Smellerbee creeps forward, then rises from the brambles like a ghost. Her knife goes in under the firebender's face-mask, sliding through the fleshy part of his jaw and into his brain.
Blue fire erupts towards her. "There you are!"
Jet has no time to think, and he hurls himself through the thicket, throws himself in between that blast of fire and Smellerbee.
It is hot, so damn hot, and he feels skin melt and fat run like water, he feels bone char. He's never felt firebender fire this hot before.
But it dies. And he stands there in the burning forest, the illusion of being human stripped from him. He is bones and tattered skin and ragged meat, and the need for blood is all-consuming.
There is a girl of the Fire Nation in front of him, armored, her face alight with fascination as she looks at him.
Jet does not have lips to peel back to bare his teeth anymore. He does not have a tongue to speak with. He does not have eyes, but he still watches her.
"So this is a vampire," she says, her voice full of art and malice. "Pathetic."
The few tendons and muscles not burned away would be useless to a human. Jet finds the lack of them freeing.
He darts forward blindingly fast, skeletal hand closing around her throat. Her eyes widen as his head snaps forward, teeth opening-
She burns with blue fire, and his bones char and drop as ash to the forest floor.
***
Jet sits up with a gasp, and Smellerbee's knife is bloody over him, and Longshot is holding up a drained Fire Nation soldier. The archer shoves the corpse away, and Jet reaches for the bloody knife.
Smellerbee gives it to him, watching as he licks the blood off. "You're lucky we found this guy."
Jet shrugs. "Someone would have bled on me again sooner or later." He's still hungry, and Longshot tosses him a flask. He uncaps it and chugs the blood inside.
Smellerbee sighs. "It took us a week to get back to you with someone still alive," she said softly. "We missed the rendezvous."
Jet glances at Longshot. The archer regards him silently, but there are new arrows in his quiver.
"Maybe it's better this way," Jet says. "She was hunting for a vampire. For me."
Longshot nods.
"I'm not going to lead the Fire Nation to them. I'm going someplace else."
"We're going with you," Smellerbee says. "Wherever you're going."
Longshot dug his bow into the dirt and traced three concentric rings, then a fourth curving shape around them.
"Yeah. Ba Sing Se sounds good." Jet presses his hand to the dirt and smooths the city-shape away.
And Jet pops into my head going "I'm not quite dead yet." X) The vampire lore is really interesting, and I think you handled the violence and the dynamics between Jet's group very well.
He's hungry.
Which is why Longshot has his bow angled against Jet's chest the way he does while they huddle in the thicket.
Flames lick at the treetops overhead. The forest fire has spread a long ways tonight.
The flames are blue.
Jet doesn't like that.
"They're coming closer," Smellerbee says quietly. She's bleeding. She hasn't mentioned it to them yet, but Jet can smell it. A scalp cut, he thinks.
He wishes she would mention it so Longshot can tie it up. But they can't afford that time.
"We've got to keep them over here," Jet answers. "We need their attention."
Longshot digs his bow a little bit harder into Jet's chest.
Smellerbee nods and shifts to draw a knife. She rubs dirt over it to hide the gleam from the firelight, then points at a Fire Nation soldier loitering near the edge of their thicket.
Jet and Longshot both nod.
Smellerbee creeps forward, then rises from the brambles like a ghost. Her knife goes in under the firebender's face-mask, sliding through the fleshy part of his jaw and into his brain.
Blue fire erupts towards her. "There you are!"
Jet has no time to think, and he hurls himself through the thicket, throws himself in between that blast of fire and Smellerbee.
It is hot, so damn hot, and he feels skin melt and fat run like water, he feels bone char. He's never felt firebender fire this hot before.
But it dies. And he stands there in the burning forest, the illusion of being human stripped from him. He is bones and tattered skin and ragged meat, and the need for blood is all-consuming.
There is a girl of the Fire Nation in front of him, armored, her face alight with fascination as she looks at him.
Jet does not have lips to peel back to bare his teeth anymore. He does not have a tongue to speak with. He does not have eyes, but he still watches her.
"So this is a vampire," she says, her voice full of art and malice. "Pathetic."
The few tendons and muscles not burned away would be useless to a human. Jet finds the lack of them freeing.
He darts forward blindingly fast, skeletal hand closing around her throat. Her eyes widen as his head snaps forward, teeth opening-
She burns with blue fire, and his bones char and drop as ash to the forest floor.
***
Jet sits up with a gasp, and Smellerbee's knife is bloody over him, and Longshot is holding up a drained Fire Nation soldier. The archer shoves the corpse away, and Jet reaches for the bloody knife.
Smellerbee gives it to him, watching as he licks the blood off. "You're lucky we found this guy."
Jet shrugs. "Someone would have bled on me again sooner or later." He's still hungry, and Longshot tosses him a flask. He uncaps it and chugs the blood inside.
Smellerbee sighs. "It took us a week to get back to you with someone still alive," she said softly. "We missed the rendezvous."
Jet glances at Longshot. The archer regards him silently, but there are new arrows in his quiver.
"Maybe it's better this way," Jet says. "She was hunting for a vampire. For me."
Longshot nods.
"I'm not going to lead the Fire Nation to them. I'm going someplace else."
"We're going with you," Smellerbee says. "Wherever you're going."
Longshot dug his bow into the dirt and traced three concentric rings, then a fourth curving shape around them.
"Yeah. Ba Sing Se sounds good." Jet presses his hand to the dirt and smooths the city-shape away.
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charlesrocketboy: Fast pace, tension, and I like Longshot having a "in case Jet goes mental" weapon around
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The vampire lore is really interesting, and I think you handled the violence and the dynamics between Jet's group very well.
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