Author's Note: Wow it's been so long since I've written any fanfiction I'd almost forgotten what it felt like. I apologize for the long absence; life's been hell for me. Aside from major writer's block my ideas about what this story should be kept changing and I ended up rewriting this chapter 10 times. I'm still not a hundred percent sure about this, but I hope it works out. I really want this to be a worthy sequel to Prince of Lies as there are many plots and subplots I'd like to bring over from that story. Please please let me know what you think, but be gentle it's been a while.
A family of three sat together at a large wooden table. The mother and father were on either side of their young daughter who seemed to be the very picture of happiness. She glanced intermittently at them as she ate to her heart's content and they glanced back with the amused smiles that parents often have. As they sat there peacefully in their own little heaven, blissfully ignorant of the world, a strong breeze began to blow through the open window. The father looked up, the smile now gone from his face, and before the young daughter had a chance to turn around he was gone–vanished without a trace. Worry filled her eyes immediately, she began to open her mouth as if to call out his name, but the mother shook her head, her smile now forced. She pointed at the food and the young girl warily went back to eating. By now the breeze had turned into a gale and slashed its way through the house. The young daughter knew what it meant, she knew the sight that would eventually greet her when she turned around, so she went on eating, trying to delay the inevitable. But soon the wind came at her as well. The food began to fly off the table, the walls of the house began to break away, the whole world seemed to scream at her 'Turn Around!'. When she finally did, she saw only darkness. She was all alone.
Earth Kingdom Coast
Hitori woke with a start. For a moment all she saw was a lingering darkness. Ominous and all consuming–the way it was in her dream. For that brief instant she thought her life was over. Am I dead, she wondered, is this hell? But very quickly the raging darkness was replaced with the umbra of night. Only the wind remained and it was as vicious as it was in her dream.
Raising her arm to shield herself, Hitori heard the familiar rattle of a chain. The heavy shackle on her wrist was a painful reminder that she was still alive, and seeing the man attached to the other end of the chain she realized that she was indeed in hell. But unlike her dream, it was a different kind of hell, a waking hell, a hell that she had endured for so many years…now she had a chance to escape.
The loud boom of thunder echoed across the distance as lightning scorched the skies. The torrential rains that followed only served to worsen Hitori's already desperate situation. To escape her chains she had to firebend, but her body would not obey. She was cold, on the brink of freezing, and her arms shivered uncontrollably making bending impossible. It was already hard enough for her to firebend under normal circumstances without the added burden of rain. Frantically, she cupped her face and attempted to warm herself with her breath of fire. As she exhaled, her eyes darted across the horizon, anxiously scanning the waters. Any moment now she was sure that a search party would land and find her. They would then drag her back to that floating nightmare and torture until her dying breath, the way they had done with so many others.
"Common, common!" She urged, but the fire would not come. Her body was too weak and her mind too preoccupied with fear to focus. All her strength had been spent keeping her and her fellow prisoner afloat, fighting merciless currents and massive waves the whole time.
Glancing at the man she was chained to she grimaced. She didn't even know his name. Not that she cared. In her mind he was nothing more than a useless burden. That might as well be his name, she thought, and when they catch us and execute us it would be: "the burden that got me killed". Angrily she yanked at the chain and the man uttered a groan.
"Wake up! Wake up you useless block of dead weight!" Hittori yelled, yanking the chain once more. "I'm not just going to let you nap while wait here to die. Wake up!"
The man groaned once more before raising himself slowly with his hands and coughing profusely. Seawater trickled from his mouth as the coughing grew louder and more erratic. Desperately, he beat his fist against his chest to clear the rest of it out. When the coughing at last subsided he took a deep gulp of air and collapsed on his stomach, breathing heavily.
"You really are useless." Hitori muttered.
"Believe me…I'm…" the man took another deep breath. "I'm not happy about being chained to you either."
"Well atleast you should thank me."
He looked at her puzzled, "What…for?"
"For saving your life!"
"Oh, well thank you." He scoffed. "For giving me another five minutes to live."
At that moment Hitori hated him more than she had ever hated anyone else. Furious, she went back to bending, trying to put him out of her thoughts. She had only seen him once before, one year ago when she was first brought aboard the prison barge Sea Vulture. He hadn't changed at all since then, still the same cocky expression and that cocksure way of speaking. You could see it in his dark brown eyes that prison life had not changed him one bit–but it had changed her a lot.
Before that fateful day she had been in all kinds of prisons, most of them decent, some of them good. She had even gone to school briefly, but that all ended when she stepped aboard that hellship. The Sea Vulture had been the first of its kind. There had been prison barges before, sure, but none on that scale and none of them able to stay at sea for so long. Over eight thousand prisoners on board at any given time, some for transport, but most for permanent detention. "The dregs of Fire Nation" society they were called. Many were just petty criminals, some were the victims of intrigue, and others still were "war criminals"–though that term was loose at best. The reality was that the Fire Nation was desperate to put the War behind them and what better way to bury the past than to criminalize it, exile it, and ship it off to where nobody would bother to look.
It truly was a hellship. Even the Boiling Rock was considered a step up from the Sea Vulture. There at least there was order and rules. Prisoners were treated fairly as long as they behaved. On the Vulture there was no order and no rules but one: don't try to escape. Murder, rape, and all forms of abuse were common. Guards and prisoners alike partook. Only the strong survived, though even their lives were never certain.
Seeing her continued attempts to firebend the man spoke up. "You know you should save your energy. You'll never break out of those shackles on your own."
Hitori scowled, "What do you know of it?"
The man smiled grimly, "Not much, but it's still more than you. That metal is heat resistant, made specifically for fire benders. Only master benders of the highest caliber can even hope to damage it. Someone like you has got no shot."
"Oh then what do you suggest?" Hitori seethed. "Just wait around here until they find us?"
"Precisely. Trust me, I have a plan." The man smirked at her open hostility. "Common, like it or not we're in this together." He yanked on the chain.
"Don't remind." She muttered. "So what's your plan?"
"Simple." He fiddled with the chain, "We get a key and unlock ourselves.
Hitori yanked the chain out of his hands, "Oh it's that simple, huh? Great plan genius! And just how do you propose we get one?"
"I believe one's on its way to us right now." He pointed towards the sea at a dark figure that was speeding towards the coast.
Hitori stared at him dumbfounded, "What? Are you insane? There's no way we can beat them. Not when we're chained together like this."
"Well then I suppose you have a better plan? If we can't get this chain removed we'll be arrested by the first Earth Kingdom soldiers we run into." He waited for a rebuttal but for once Hitori was speechless. "And anyway we don't have to fight them all, just one. We ambush a guard and take his key. Sound good to you?"
Grudgingly she nodded her acceptance.
"Good. Once we're free we can each go our separate ways. I wouldn't want my 'dead weight' slowing you down."
"Agreed."
"By the way I'm Wei." He said nonchalantly. "This way if we die you can curse my name in hell."
"I'm Hitori." She replied. "And I have no intention of dying."
Dark storm clouds crept slowly towards Republic City. The faint rumbling of thunder could be heard in the distance, its sound gradually intertwining with the noises of the bustling metropolis. Stall owners and merchants hastily closed up shop while the milling crowds of pedestrians ran for shelter. Storms like this could be particularly brutal in these parts and as such were treated with a greater sense of fear by the populous. Pretty soon the streets were virtually empty and the city stood frozen in time. Quiet–but for the ominous sounds of the impending storm.
A powerful burst of lightning shattered through the stillness and the thunder that followed seemed to shake the very buildings. In the council room of City Hall the sudden bang appeared to have startled the council members. For a brief moment they sat in silence. There were four of them in total, three men and one woman. The tallest and by far the youngest of the three watched the growing storm with unease. He was a serious looking young man whose posture and composure made him seem far older than his seventeen years. The blue arrow tattoos on his head and arms and his bright orange robes identified him as an airbender.
"Perhaps we should postpone this meeting." He began, "This storm looks like it's going to get ugly."
"Tenzin, don't tell me you're afraid of a little rain." said one of the other council members with a smirk. He was a handsome man in his thirties with jet black hair, keen golden eyes, and the crimson robes of the Fire Nation.
"Come now Yuichi, don't tease him, you know how light on their feet airbenders are." said the woman. She was in her late thirties and clearly highborn. Her dark brown hair was worn in an extravagant style and her luxurious blue robes matched the ice in her eyes to perfection. The representative of the Northern Water Tribe, her shrewd looking face was a clear reflection of her personality.
"Enough of this." said the last member of the council. "We're not going anywhere until we address these matters."
His name was Lu Fang, and by the looks the other council members were giving him it was clear he was universally despised. A recent appointee to the council he had been sent to replace his well liked predecessor as the representative of the Earth Kingdom. Lu Fang was a harsh pragmatist and his lack of political finesse as well as common courtesy often caused him to clash with his fellow colleagues. As a newcomer to the politics of Republic City his goals were unclear and that only served to heighten the tensions of the already troubled council.
A second bolt of lightning crashed outside and the powerful blast of thunder, far louder this time, caused the chandelier above the council table to shake. The Fire Nation councilman watched the chandelier with unease.
"Perhaps Tenzin's right, Lu Fang." He said, "Maybe we should postpone this meeting."
"No, these issues cannot wait any longer!" Lu Fang said furiously. "This council cannot continue to function without an appointed Chairman."
"But we have a Chairman." Tenzin said, "Councilman Sokka."
Lu Fang scoffed, "And when is the last time Councilman Sokka attended one of our meetings?"
Tenzin glared at him furiously, "Councilman Sokka is one of the founding members of this city and he helped save the–!"
"And that makes him exempt from the rules?" Lu Fang overrode him. "One of the principles of this great city is equality. And equality means no one gets preferential treatment. Even war heroes."
Tenzin's hands involuntarily clenched into fists but the Fire Nation councilman cut him off before he could say anything rash.
"Lu Fang, the man's suffered a great personal tragedy. His wife died in childbirth. You can't just expect him to shrug it off and come back to work the next day. Wounds like that take time to heal."
"Yes, yes, I'm well aware of what happened." He replied tersely, "But it's been over a year now. Tragedy or not a Chairman has responsibilities and if he doesn't carry them out then he's not fit for the job. As leaders of Republic City it is our duty to relieve him of his post as Chairman and elect a replacement."
Yuichi sighed, "Very well then." He turned to the young airbender. "I'm sorry Tenzin, but he does have a point."
Tenzin fought hard to keep the anger off his face. This was the last thing Sokka needed to hear. Republic City had been his life's work and being behind the reins of it his greatest joy–second greatest, Tenzin reminded himself. His first had been Suki, the love of his life. Tenzin had never seen two people more in love. To be around them was to be part of an inescapable happiness. He wished Lu Fang had been there when she was still alive. Then maybe he would understand.
The day Suki died was the saddest day Tenzin had ever witnessed. Nothing else came close. At the funeral Sokka had been utterly despondent. As his wife and child were buried he didn't say so much as a single word. That was when Tenzin knew. That was when he realized that Chairman Sokka, the famed inventor and war hero, was truly gone. And as much as it pained Tenzin to admit it, he was never coming back.
"Very well." Tenzin said heavily. "But first a new representative of the Southern Water Tribe must be appointed. The election of a new Chairman requires all five councilmen to vote."
"Which brings us to my next point." Lu Fang locked eyes with Tenzin. "The real representative of the Air Nomads has not been in attendance for some time."
Tenzin forced himself to be calm. Losing his cool now would get him nowhere.
"Yes, my father has been quite busy these past few months. Avatar duties. But I am here to speak on his behalf."
"Interesting, because I've heard a very different story. I've heard that Avatar Aang is quite ill. Dying in fact." The other council members glanced at eachother nervously.
"Foul rumors." Tenzin said dismissively, "Nothing more."
Lu Fang nodded, "Well then I'm glad to hear it. I expect then that Avatar Aang will attend our next meeting, one week from today?"
"Count on it."
"Excellent." Lu Fang smiled and slammed his gavel. "Meeting adjourned."
The entire way back to Air Temple Island Tenzin felt uneasy. Rumors were starting to circulate due to his father's absence and he was running out of ways of putting them down. The truth was that Avatar Aang was indeed very sick. His previously robust health had suddenly and inexplicably left him. For the past month he had been confined to his bed and though he kept claiming that it was nothing, that he'd be back to his old self in no time, his health showed no signs of improving. On a good day, the Avatar could manage to walk a few paces, but the rest of the time he was virtually an invalid. With this latest pressure from Lu Fang Tenzin did not know how much longer he could maintain the charade.
Aang's illness truly could not have come at a worse time. With him and Sokka out of the picture the unrest in Republic City had become more and more accentuated. Political lines were being drawn, sides taken, and centuries old hostilities rekindled. The way things were going the city was well on its way to total anarchy. Of course the two chief players in this game were the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom. Both had previously sought to claim the former colonies for themselves and the United Republic had been simply a temporary means of placating them. But now time was running out. With the Avatar gone there would be no one there to stop an all out war. And no matter who the victor turned out to be Republic City and the dream of unity would be gone.
"All done." Wei took the shackles off Hitori's arm and threw them away.
They were now much further inland, safe, if but for the moment. Wei's plan had not gone as smoothly as he had hoped. The guard they had chosen to ambush turned out to be one of the few competent fighters aboard the Sea Vulture. He had nearly gotten the better of them. It was only thanks to Hitori's quick thinking and a lot of luck that they had in the end prevailed.
Gazing at her now naked wrist Hitori felt a strange sense of despair. It had been so long since she had been free that she had almost forgotten what it felt like. And now that she was finally free she scarcely knew what to do.
As if sensing her dilemma, Wei cleared his throat, "You know that was pretty impressive back there. I didn't think you had it in you."
"Thanks." Hitori replied, her tone of voice as lost as she was.
"I know that err, that I said we should go our separate ways, but maybe we should travel together." Wei watched her for a reaction. "The fact is it's a dangerous world out there–not that I need protection mind you–but it would be easier if we worked together. I mean, we did make quite a team out there."
Hitori sat there as if she hadn't heard him. Her blue eyes drifted slowly towards the moon that had only just emerged from behind the clouds. A cold wind rustled the trees around them and the rumble of thunder, now far away, echoed in the background as she stared at the glowing orb, lost in thought. All these years she had prayed for her freedom but now that she had it she felt worse than ever. The truth was she had never expected to get this far. What now, she wondered, what do I do now?
"Uh, Hitori?" Wei arched a brow, "Are you alri–"
"Tell me something Wei." She stood up suddenly. "Where do we go from here? How do we live?"
He looked at her puzzled, "What do you mean?"
"I mean what are we supposed to do now that we're free. Spend the rest of our lives on the run?" Wei chuckled.
"What's so funny?" She seethed.
Wei sighed, "You are. Spend our lives on the run? Come on. Do you really think the Fire Nation has the ability, much less the desire to hunt us? All the important prisoners are either in the Boiling Rock or the Capital. Trust me we're not worth their time."
"So then…we're free?"
"Looks that way." He smirked as she sat back down. "As for where we go, I'm thinking Republic City might be a good place to start."
"Why's that?"
"It's a giant city with hundreds of refugees and immigrants pouring in daily. No passports required and no questions asked. In short: the perfect place to blend in. Unless you have any other suggestions?"
Hitori shook her head weakly, "No, Republic City sounds good."
"Then let's get a move on." Wei said anxiously. "We might not have to spend the rest of our lives on the run, but this night is definitely an exception."
So what did you think? Reviews are greatly appreciated so please leave one. Thank you!