Anger Rages in a Scarlet Color

In the last… 'Chapter' we learned about Scarlet. Now the story can begin.

Sparkly love from sparkleeyes20.

I hate this hood

A young girl the age of sixteen went out of her small Earth Kingdom village home and headed towards the water pump. She allowed a sigh to escape from her lips and travel out the opening of her hood. Yesterday's fiasco of trying to drown herself failed thanks to that fisherman. She had tried to die for a reason. In fact, she had tried many times to kill herself. She just couldn't take it anymore. She wanted so badly to join her mother and father in the spirit world. She knew they would accept her for who she was. But that wasn't her parent's wishes. No, they had wanted her to keep living on in their places and live as normal of a life as possible. That was never going to happen for her but it was a nice pep talk from her parent's last breaths. She got to the water pump, placed the bucket on the ground, and sat next to it. She wouldn't lie to herself. She hated it. Everything about it. Her name was it. Her hair, lips, and eyes held it. It was a horrible color as well as a horrible reminder of a life she didn't have anymore. That she lost. It was the color scarlet. Scarlet wasn't a happy child and never really was. She had formerly lived in the fire nation with her parents, who were killed by an assassin when she was age five. She remembered the blood. That horrible color tainted her parents at their final moments of life. Scarlet. She felt like screaming. She felt like crying. But she didn't. She was used to everything that happened because of that color now. She then picked up her bucket and resumed her daily life. Doing chores for her foster parents, who had kindly taken her in during her hour of need. Everything was going fine until the afternoon. Then, the teasing began. Kids, teenagers, and even some adults came from all the homes just to make fun of her hair or her eyes. When she would walk by she would hear, 'hey look! Here comes blood hair!' or 'don't go near her so and so! She's a demon!' She endured it but the villagers always wanted a true reaction. So they would all back her into a corner and would begin to punch and kick her. She would always flinch back but would never say anything. In fact, she hadn't spoken to anyone in months. Today was no different except during the beatings…

"Hey! Get away from her!" a male voice called out to the mob.

They all stopped swing on her and the one closest to the voice spoke softly and calmly. Scarlet struggled to hear what they were saying but couldn't hear anything besides her own ragged breathing and the thudding of her heart in her ears. The group began to separate away from her, some giving her a punch or a kick before they left. She weakly sat up and looked down at her hands. Scarlet colored blood. She tucked her hands underneath her so she wouldn't have to look at them anymore. An older looking gentleman approached her. She immediately flinched away, thinking he was going to hit her.

"Don't worry I won't hurt you," he told Scarlet calmly.

She looked at him with a slight bit of fear. He couldn't tell this because of the hood she wore though. He held out a hand for her and again she cringed away. He smiled to her softly and she shakily took his hand. The man pulled her to her feet and allowed her to lean on him until she got her balance back.

"SCARLET!" a woman yelled.

A woman and her husband raced on the path to where she and the man were standing.

"Scarlet! We're so sorry! Some neighbors were holding us up so we couldn't stop the beatings from coming to you this time," the woman apologized while hugging Scarlet.

"This time?" a teenager came up beside the man said.

"Yes, it happens every day. Normally we would have stopped it but we got held up by neighbors. Thank you for saving our adopted daughter," Scarlet's father said kindly.

"Not a problem. But you really should be thanking my nephew. It was his idea to save her," the man said.

"Go ahead Scarlet," the woman said.

Scarlet opened her mouth and calmly said, "Thank you, kind sir."

The woman engulfed her in a hug once again.

"That's the first time you've spoken in months," the woman said happily.

"I just wish we could find a way to stop the beatings," Scarlet's father said.

"What if I told you I know a way but it has a sacrifice on the young lady's part?" the older man said.

"Then it would be up to Scarlet to decide," Scarlet's mother said.

"Young lady how would you like to come with us and away from this place?" he asked her.

She was surprised to say the least and didn't speak for a few moments.

"Now you don't have to answer right away but…" he began.

"I'll do it," she interrupted him.

"Wonderful! Shall we leave now with our new crew member nephew?" he asked the teenager.

"Yes Uncle," he replied.

Scarlet followed them to a ship and climbed aboard with them.

"By the way, my name is Iroh. This is my nephew. His name is Zuko," the man told her.

"Very nice to meet you both. As you heard, my name is Scarlet and I am forever in your debt," she replied calmly.

"Let's set sail!" the teen called Zuko shouted.

The ship moved and lurched in the water and they were off. Scarlet's adventure had begun. But to begin, she did one last thing. She went to the nearest railing, took off her hood, and let it float in the wind.

"Why did you do that?" Zuko asked her.

"Because I hated that hood," she replied.

"By the way, I like your hair," Zuko said as he walked away.

She smiled for the first time in over eleven years.