Pro-Bending Circuit: Round 5
Main Character: Jet
Prompts used: cheese; One More Light - Linked Park
Bonus Prompts: The use of the element, earth.
I'm filling in for my teammate, Raggs, and I wrote this beautiful piece. I hope you enjoy it! Go Wolfbats!
"There is no war beyond these walls."
Jet was terrified. His legs, arms and head were rendered immobile by the rock hard stone cuffs placed on him.
The room was dark, its earth walls dull as a single lantern revolved around a circular rail. In the center stood a Dai Li agent.
He stood tall and passive as he stared at Jet.
"There is no war beyond these walls," the agent began to recite, his voice hypnotic as he spoke. "You are safe here. These walls shall protect you."
Jet began to protest. Were they crazy? The Fire Nation was busy taking over the world and they thought it was safe?
He tried to speak but the Dai Li agent's voice stood firm like earth as they continued to repeat his words like a mantra that was slowly seeping into Jet's mind.
The turning light began to lull him and pull him deep into his subconscious.
He was running but he did not know why. And his body, it didn't feel like his usual self but Jet kept on running, his bare feet meeting the cold earth.
The air was burning and cries of agony were everywhere. Jet stopped and snuck a look behind.
Fire. It was an angry orange burning a small village. People were screaming, crying as they watched their homes and loved ones burn down to ash.
Jet remembered where was. He was eight again and this was the day he lost everything. His parents, his home, and himself.
He knelt down, tears streaming down his face as he felt hopelessness overwhelm him.
Fire continued to roar as it continued to consume, and the earth embraced him as he laid on it alone.
Jet returned to the present, his throat dry as he tried to breathe. Sweat ran down his tan face and he sat still, unable to move.
He looked at the Dai Li Agent as he began to speak. "There is no war beyond these walls. You are safe here. These walls shall protect you."
After he said that once he looked at Jet expectantly.
Instead the words angered Jet more, his previous memory fuelling his emotion. "Are you crazy?! The Fire Nation will burn us all!"
His scream was in vain. The Dai Li Agent began his mantra anew as the light began to drag him into his subconscious again and into the same memory.
He had returned to his eight year self running. This time he ignored the disturbing sounds and just ran.
He didn't stop, his feet beating against the hard earth and his breath labouring but he continued on.
But the images of fire and screams of people he knew filled his vision as hot tears flowed. Jet finally stopped in an unknown forest and hid behind the thick trunks of trees.
"Should've stayed. Were there signs I ignored? Can I help you not anymore?" His mother's beautiful floated through the air and into his ears.
This was her favourite song, he still remembered. She sang it to him whenever he was afraid or had a nightmare, and it always helped him be strong.
The song continued as his mind flickered between his memory and reality. It gave him little strength to keep the words of the Dai Li Agent out of his mind.
Though like rock, his resolve was slowly chipping away. He was physically, mentally, and emotionally tired, sleep near but still out of reach.
And hunger. It was a pain he had grown accustomed to but it just rolled in waves, a constant reminder of how weak he was this moment. He was so hungry that even cheese would taste heaven (he hated cheese).
He didn't know long time had passed; was it hours, days? He just sat in his chair, immobile.
The agent continued his mantra and once again he entered his memory.
Jet was eight again and he knew the memory was fading. People were blurs and the cries almost inaudible. But the fire remained brilliant, Jet observed as he watched it from a standstill.
Instead of watching or running away from the fire, Jet decided to embrace it.
He walked unsteadily with fear but the earth was there with him, supporting his feet. He felt the hot flames lick his skin and his mother's voice fading in his ear.
"Who cares when if someone's time runs out of moment is all we are? Or quicker, quicker."
Jet but back a scream as the the fire felt real against his skin. The pain was scalding but Jet listened to his mother's voice and let the fire consume him.
"Who care if one more light goes out? Well, I do. Well I do."
Once his mother's song ended and her voice gone with the wind, Jet's will broke and the memory turned to white, forgotten.
The Dai Li Agent stared once more at Jet, impressed at how long he withstood the process but eventually, like any stone, he would crumble.
"There is no war beyond these walls. You are safe here. These walls shall protect you," he said and waited.
The boy looked at him and for the first time his eyes looked lifeless.
"There is no war beyond these walls. I am safe here. These walls shall protect me," the boy repeated, his voice dull and emotionless.