(A/R: So all my stories are Tokka stories, except maybe on or two. And they're always from Toph's point of view, so I decided to do one from Sokka's. Enjoy!)

(Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nor do I own the first two lines below here, which are lyrics to the song 'Behind Blue Eyes' by Limp Bizkit. They also basically own the title of this story I guess.)

No one knows what its like, to be the bad man,

to be the sad man, behind blue eyes.

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A Monster

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"Wait for it…" he breathed, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly, feeling the roughness beneath his fingers, keeping his breath held for the longest time; then quietly exhaling. "Hold back," he snapped almost viciously to the younger man beside him, who took a step forward, almost beyond their cover of the brush.

"But if we wait any longer-"

"I said stay back."

The man, boy more like it, retreated back. Mumbling something of a: 'Yes sir'.

"Anyone else want to question me?" he glanced around the group. His men's eye cast downwards now, avoiding his glare. "Good."

He turned his attention back to the scene through the bushes and trees. "On my signal," he wrapped both hands around his sword, raising it up ever so slightly.

They'd received news early in the day, from a scout, that a brigade of Fire Nation soldiers had camped near the river. Stupid of them, he thought to himself, wondering why in the world they were stay next to water, where a strong waterbender -his sister first came to mind- could easily take them all out.

He watched intently as the men wearing red packed their tents up, oblivious that there were men surrounding their camp. He had five warriors on each side, one near the river, one towards the town, one deeper into the woods to his left, and his own group.

The last of the camp was packed up, and the Fire Nation men were just beginning to move on. "Now!" He said, then with a great launch forward; burst through the brush and into the clearing. "Attack!" he bellowed, an angry war cry fallowing as he ran forward, striking down his first foe. It was unjust for him to attack a man from behind, but it had to be done.

He knew that whoever had saw what he just did, could truly understand just why there were so many rumors about him. Ones that stated he was clearly a savage fighter, one who only felt lust for blood. These of course were not true; he had his own reasons to fight. Ones he spoke to no one about.

Just as he pulled his sword away from his victim, the rest of his men came into the camp. Not one bender was apart of his group. He had nothing against his sister's kind, but he only chose the greatest of fighters, and not many benders had asked to join.

They had had a great victory when the Fire Lord was captured, but that did not end the war. Many firebenders still wished to fight for their King and brought about many rebellions. Of course, none were very strong, but enough to keep him and his friends traveling from city to city, fighting out the groups of men who reeked havoc there.

He, sadly, had been more then willing to leave behind his Kyoshi Warrior. Who always found some reason every second of the day to be beside him; which was beyond his comfort zone.

That was three years ago, right after it happened…

His thoughts flicked back to the fight. He'd just brought down to more Fire Nation soldiers. Blood had covered his shirt now, where he realized a slight cut covered his shoulder. It was small, but he pain was already weighing him down. He let out another angry cry, swiping quickly and harshly at his two new opponents. They didn't stand a chance.

The brigade of enemies was slowly growing smaller, more bodies falling lifeless to the forest floor, which was covered with pine needles and blood.

He saw many of his men slowly down, even stopping sometimes when they searched for another fight.

It finally came down to him and the two last me. One was a bender, the other a swordsman like himself. He took on the swordsman, who he disarmed and took care of quickly.

The bender, however, was swift and dodged his opponent's sleek black sword easily.

The Fire nation soldier ducked, dodging another attack and at the same time sending flames licking at his attacker's feet.

He could feel the heat on his legs, hungry burning away his pants. He let out a gasp and dropped to his knees batting out the flames. He rolled onto his back, just as a blast was thrown at him. He spotted his right hand man; Rashu, starting towards him.

"No!" he called, jumping painfully to his feet. "He's mine!"

In the instant he was distracted, the firebender lunged forward, fists thrown forward to send another blast.

The man brought his sword around, slashing at the man's right arm. There was a cry of pain, and the man stumbled backwards, his hand cover the large gash near his elbow. He looked about for an escape room, but found none. With one last attempt at escape, he lunged to the right.

He was tripped by the sword, his large form crashing into the earth painfully. He rolled onto his back, attempting to rise again.

It didn't seem right to kill him this way. So the man with the sword sheathed his weapon and stood, waiting for the bender to get up.

"I'm giving you a chance." He sneered, standing tall. "Get up and fight."

The man didn't mover, sweat pouring down his dirtied face.

"I said get up!" He lunged for the bender out of anger.

He found himself atop the man, throwing punches forward blindly. At first it struck his chin, then his cheek. Slowly he threw blow after blow, paying little attention to the man's defensively raised arms.

"Fight like a man you coward!"

He found that each strike was growing more tiresome, and for some reason; the man wasn't fighting back. There was a horrible feeling the last time he threw his fist forward, like he'd struck to hard; terrible to hard. He hesitated a moment, arm pulled back to strike again. But what he saw brought a sickening feel to his stomach.

The man's eyes were only half open; his head hanging limp at the side. The sword bearer looked to his fists, then to the lifeless form beneath him. He slid off the man, back onto the ground with a hard thump.

His breathing grew quicker at the realization of what he had just done. He slowly turned his head, looking over the gazes that bore into him. His men stood, many with fear in their eyes. Others only seemed shadowed, with shame or grief he knew not.

He rose, wiping his hands on his shirt. "Lets… lets go." He bowed his head, slowly stumbling toward the group of warriors. They created a clear path for him, watching as their leader dragged himself away.

"Sokka…" Rashu was beside him, reaching to rest his hand on his shoulder.

Sokka stepped away, not looking into his companion's eyes. "Get a wagon and… have the others load everything up. We're going to the burial grounds."

Rashu raised his brow, staring at his leader; surprised. "But that's not the place to-"

"We'll bury them far away from the tombs, toward the woods. It won't matter to anyone there." He snapped, feeling highly regretful about it a moment later. "Just… give me a second." He knew his friend understood.

As Rashu turned to instruct the men, Sokka stumbled off into the woods, toward the river.