Author's Note:
Written for Pro-Bending Circuit, Season 4 Round 2: Jekyl and Hyde
Total words (excluding note): 1672
Prompts used: mirror (object), The North Pole (location), No use of the word "and" (restriction)
Bonus: Include your element (water)
The old man looked at her in fear. He wasn't much to look at, but he was ready to shield his family from her with his body. You had to give him credit for that. "Elder Kanak," she addressed him. "You have spoken against Chief Unalaq's plans of unification."
"Plans of conquest you mean. If we go down this path, the North will be cursed by this generation as the Fire Nation was by the previous one. You've come to silence me, I suppose."
She shook her head. "I've come to get you safely out of the city. But you'd better hurry. The ones who are supposed to silence you aren't far behind me."
Eska woke from strange dreams. Jumbled images flitted but faded as she tried to make sense of them. A hurried run through dark alleys. A fight on the docks. Some tiresome old man fawning on her in gratitude for something.
After she rose, she gazed at herself in the mirror. Dark circles under her eyes. Displeasing. Her eye makeup would have to conceal this distasteful sign of human frailty.
Desna was not fooled. "Sister, you look awful."
"Satisfactory sleep eludes me of late."
"You should take better care of yourself. Father will have need of us soon."
Eska did not do anything so crude as scowl, but she held Desna's eye firmly. He looked away first. "I am aware of this fact. However, first we have a tedious journey south, followed by an equally tedious time at the festival. When the time comes for action, I will be ready."
It seemed to be Desna's day for fretting. "Father is upset. Someone interfered with the arrest of Elder Kanak."
The shadow of a memory nagged at Eska. But when she tried to pursue it, it vanished. She shook her head. "A foolish, sentimental gesture. Father will prevail. He always does."
Desna nodded. "Father will prevail."
The voyage from the North Pole to the South was every bit as tiresome as she expected. Father lectured them incessantly on his plans, his hopes, his vision. She would do as he commanded, as she always had. Efficiently, effectively, without question. She just wished he would stop trying to engage her enthusiasm.
He's insane.
She shook her head. What a strange thought. He was Father. Sane or insane didn't enter into it.
Once they started, the strange thoughts wouldn't leave her. One night out from their arrival in the South, as father spoke at dinner, it got particularly bad. Father spoke of the unification of North with South. Subjugation. You know Kanak was right. Of his plans for the Avatar's education. She's been doing fine without him so far. Of the promises of Vaatu. He's trusting the Spirit of Chaos to bring order to the world. Are you even listening to this?
"Is something wrong, Eska?" Father gazed on her with displeasure. Had she spoken the strange thoughts aloud? "You were frowning."
"I apologize, Father. I have the feeling that there is something I have… forgotten."
"Well, I'm sure it will come back to you," Father said tolerantly.
Eska hoped not.
The South Tribe people didn't take kindly to having Northern soldiers occupying their lands. She seriously couldn't understand how this came as a surprise to anyone, but apparently it did. From Unalaq on down, the invasion force seemed resentful that the South hadn't just rolled over smiling. She watched the patrol walk down the street from her vantage point on the roof top.
Even the best of the soldiers were too ready to bash heads first, ask questions later. This lot were not the best. Maybe not the absolute scum of the service, but that was scant credit to them. Bullies looking for soft targets.
One house had shutters that didn't seal tight enough to keep all the light in. Curfew only meant that people weren't allowed on the streets, but the soldiers weren't going to let that stop them. Before she could react, a boot kicked the door in. She launched herself into the air, ice darts flashing out before her. The soldiers who hadn't made it through the door yet cried out in alarm.
Some summoned water from the snow on the streets to try to defend themselves. She diverted the attack with barely any effort. Amateurs. She swept the street clear for half a block, creating a tidal wave that swept most of the patrol into a wall, knocking them cold. She followed the last of the soldiers into the house.
There were two of them. One stood over a man, who clutched at his arm, face wracked in pain. The second menaced a woman who tried to shield two children with her body.
"Cowards!" That got their attention. Disinclined to be gentle, she slammed a fist-sized chunk of ice into the first man's face. The second, unfortunately, grabbed hold of the woman, pulling her in front of him as a shield.
Seeing the fear in his eyes, she raised her hands slowly, placatingly. "Do not do anything you will have cause to regret."
"You're going to let me out of here. I'm taking her with me to be sure."
She considered saying something else calming, but then decided she couldn't be bothered. "That is unlikely." She pulled hard on the water in a teapot on a nearby table. The entire pot flew across the room, hitting him in the back of the head. He cursed, as it shattered, spilling hot water all over him. She stepped forward, pulling the woman free from his grasp. She then took great pleasure in finishing him off by yanking him by the tunic to slam his head into the door frame.
One of the children, a little girl, darted forward to where the man of the house lay on the floor. "Daddy?" she said, the panic clear in her voice.
Gently, she laid her hands on the little girl's shoulders, guiding her out of the way. "It's all right. I can help him." She felt at the man's arm. "There's nothing broken." She summoned the water from the broken teapot. It engulfed the man's arm in a soft glow. His features relaxed as the pain receded.
She stood. The mother looked on, holding her second child close. "I'm sorry I could not prevent this," she said to the woman. "You didn't deserve this, but you'll have to leave. Find somewhere to hide."
The woman nodded at her. "Spirits bless you."
Out on the street, people from the nearby houses had come out to stand menacingly over the unconscious soldiers. An ugly grumble ran through the crowd. "Don't kill them," she said. The neighbors looked at her in surprise. "There will already be payback for tonight. Don't give them more excuses. Fade back. Deny them a justified target. Save it for later when it will count." Heads nodded slowly.
A hand tugged at her sleeve as she made to leave. It was the little girl. "Yes?"
"Why do you wear a scarf over your face?"
She knelt down. "Because, small person, I am in fact Princess Eska of the Northern Water Tribe. No one must ever suspect that I am working against my father's plans."
As shocked silence descended over the crowd, broken when the little girl burst out giggling. "You're funny." She reached up to ruffle the little girl's hair. All the grownups relaxed.
As she left, she heard one of them say "I was actually fooled for a moment. You know, she sounded just like the princess when she said that?"
"Maybe someday, she'll sound like me," she said to herself as she disappeared into the night.
The resistance continued to cause Father trouble. The other nations were keeping out of the affair, but how long would that last? The Avatar was missing, which was absolutely not her fault. Or Desna's she supposed, but mostly not hers. On top of it all, the voice in her head was getting more insistent. Her dreams were staying with her more as well. Eska didn't even want to think about what they implied.
Now Father had lead them into the spirit realm to try to open the Northern Portal.
This is an extremely bad idea.
"Get out of my head," Eska said under her breath.
You know I can't do that. I'm you.
"You're nothing like me."
I'm the you that you hid away from Father. But no matter how much you try to please him, you never really stopped being me.
Eska pretended to ignore the voice.
Father, who had always taught control, now tried to break open the portal with brute force. She added her strength to his, as did Desna, but she had to admit this plan smacked of desperation. Did she dare think it, of insanity?
The portal lashed out at them. The blast narrowly missed her, leaving the stink of lighting in her nostrils. Desna's screams assaulted her ears. She turned to look at him in horror. Father ignored him, ordered her to continue.
She waited for the voice to say "I told you so," to tell her to defy Father. Silence. She let out a breath. Really, why should the voice bother? Anything it said at this point would be entirely redundant. She draped Desna's arm over her shoulder, hauling him to his feet. Taking as much of his weight as she could, she guided him back to the Southern Portal. To safety. To whatever help they could find in a land with every reason to hate them.
Desna slept. Eska sat by his bedside, wishing she could sleep as well. But every time she closed her eyes, she saw him bathed in that horrible purple light, screaming his pain out, while Father ignored him.
He'll live because of you.
"Don't get smug," she muttered. "I didn't do it for you."
You did it for you. That's better. Sleep. I'll keep the dreams away.
Eska closed her eyes, drifting at last into oblivion.