Suki was able to put her plan into action the very next day. When all the cells were unlocked to allow the prisoners into the courtyard, the kioshi warrior stayed towards the back of the crowd. Unfortunately, four guards were right behind her, keeping them moving. Suki needed a distraction.
She worked her way back to the center of the crowd and pushed a small man into a large, muscled one with scars all over his body. The larger one turned and growled, grabbing the other man and tossing him out of the crowd. The prisoners cheered, and just as Suki planned, a riot broke out. Every prisoner started punching and kicking and shoving each other. One of them grabbed Suki's arm.
"Where do you think you're going little girl?"
He smiled, showing that most of his teeth were missing. Suki spun around and reversed the man's grip, jumping behind his back.
"I don't like to be touched." she whispered in the man's ear.
She then kicked him in the center of the back, knocking him into the rampaging horde of prisoners. Then she noticed a guard grappling with the scarred man who had started the riot. Another two guards had leapt onto the man's back. While they were distracted, Suki carefully plucked the key ring from the guards belt. She continued to dodge prisoners and guards alike until she reached the outside of the group stopping to breath a sigh of relief and took off running down the hall.
She wandered down several hallways, always dodging guards running by to help stop the riot, before she realized that she was lost. She had no idea how to get back to the hawk coop. She was about to give up hope when she saw the familiar tower at the end of a long stone hallway. She climbed the spiral stairs until she reached the heavy steel door at the top. After trying five different keys, she finally found the one that fit the lock, and she pushed the door open and shut it carefully behind her.
The room was dark, lit only by a couple lanterns on the walls. After taking a moment to adjust to the darkness, Suki clapped her hands to her mouth. This definitely wasn't the hawk coop. There was lavish furniture everywhere, and ornate banners hanging from the ceiling. In the center of the room was an enormous bed that seemed to be made of red velvet.
Her curiosity piqued, Suki decided to look around. There was a single window to the right side of the bed that looked out upon the prison. She could see far from out here, even spotting the outer wall of the prison beyond the steam clouds. Across from the bed was a single wooden door that was shut tight. Looking for something she could use to alert Sokka, she noticed a suit of red armor hanging on the wall. It was different from the armor the guards wore, yet similar.
"This is pretty nice. I wouldn't mind a suit of armor like this." she said quietly to herself.
She picked up a small blue box on a desk and opened it, revealing a headband with a metal fire nation insignia on it. After observing it for a moment, her eyes widened with shock when she realized where she was. She heard something from the other side of the wooden door and she quickly closed the box and threw it on a table nearby, climbing into a nearby bureau and shutting the doors, leaving only a small crack open.
The door opened, and a steam cloud emerged.
"It must be some sort of sauna." Suki thought. "I don't know why he'd need a sauna in his room after working all day in one."
After the steam cleared, Suki saw the warden, dressed only in a red robe, step out. He stretched and walked over to his armor. He undid the tie on his robe and Suki quickly shut bureau doors so she would see him dress.
She waited several minutes, than opened the door just as he walked past it. Suki held her breath as he stood next to her hiding spot for several seconds, than moved on to the desk where she had placed his headband. He removed it from the box and placed it on his head, looking at himself in a wall mounted mirror as he did.
After what seemed like ages, he finally walked away from the mirror and headed for the door.
"Okay, I'll just wait a couple minutes after he leaves, than I'll get out of her. I can find the coop on another day."
The warden opened the door and was about to leave when he stopped, staring at something.
"What is he looking at?" Suki wondered.
Then she had a realization. She felt around her prison uniform, than gulped. The warden reached down and withdrew a ring of keys from the keyhole, examining them. He turned around and scanned the room, stopping his eyes on the bureau just a second longer than anything else. When he seemed satisfied, he tossed the keys up in the air, catching them and shutting the door behind him.
Suki was relieved. After waiting what she thought was a good amount of time, she exited her hiding spot and peeked out the door. When she was sure she was alone, she went down the stairs and ran once she got to the hallway.
She reached her cell with perfect timing, as the other prisoners were returning. It seems the guards had only recently broken up the riot. She saw several prisoners being dragged away by the guards, probably to the cooler. Suki was satisfied with herself, but knew that the next time she attempted to contact Sokka, she would succeed.
As the prisoners were being dragged away, the warden interceded.
"Where are you bringing these prisoners?" he asked.
"To the cooler sir. They firebended during the riot." one guard replied.
"Put them back in their cells."
Everyone looked shocked.
"Sir?"
"We have more important matters to attend to."
The guards nodded and took the four prisoners back to the wall of cells. The warden grabbed one guard and held him back.
"Someone broke into my private chambers today. They used a guards keys to do it."
"That's terrible sir. It probably happened during the riot. One of the prisoners may have gotten away-"
"Or..." the warden interrupted. "A guard with a grudge did it himself."
He pulled the keys from his belt and held them in front of the guard.
"Missing something?"
The guard stopped and frisked himself, realizing that his keys weren't attached to their ring.
"Um...I might have dropped them in the chaos-"
The warden snapped his fingers and two large guards came up and grabbed the man.
"No please sir! It wasn't me I swear it!"
"You were mad at me because I refused to let you take a holiday."
"It was my daughter's birthday sir! I was only asking for one day!"
"Enough! Guards, take this traitor to a questioning room. I'll be in for him later."
The large men nodded and took him away.
"No! Please! NOOOOOO!"
The warden smirked and walked away as the screams of the guard echoed throughout the prison.
