Sokka leaned back against the wooden bars and looked out at the men in the other cages. This had to be a nightmare. There was no way that this was a possibility. He turned and looked at Haru and shook his head. It had been a few hours and Haru was completely awake. The marks on his neck had swollen a little, but were no longer bleeding of oozing. Sokka looked over at Zuko and let out a huff.
"Any ideas?" Zuko shot Sokka a glare and shook his head. He brought his hand up and pinched the bridge of his nose. He could feel the headache settling in between his eyes. He dropped his hand and leaned his head back against the bars.
"No." Haru looked up over at Sokka and shook his head.
"If we could get out of the cages we'd be home free." Sokka nodded and looked at the young Earth bender.
"Yeah, but what about the rest of these guys?"
"He''s right Haru. For one, there is no justifiable reason that these men should be caged. And two, Aang and Katara would never let any of us live it down." Haru nodded as he looked across the cage at Zuko.
"I couldn't stand either of them mad at me. They would drive you crazy with guilt." Sokka let an amused smile grace his lips for a moment. It was a small smile, not like his usual grin.
"What is with you and my sister anyway? Are you two going to get together or what?" Haru frowned at Sokka shooting invisible daggers in his direction.
"I don't think this is the time for that Sokka." Haru said as a light blush crossed his face. Zuko frowned and shook his head.
"Hn. She''s probably to wrapped up in Aang." At this comment he got dirty looks from Haru and Sokka. Zuko smirked and rolled his head to the side to look at Haru.
"Don't tell me you two haven't noticed their little way of acting around each other?" Sokka caught something in Zuko's voice and cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Jealous?" Zuko frowned and turned to fully face them.
"Of what?" Sokka shook his head. This was too much. Too much love drama for the shit they had going on anyways. He leaned his head back again and looked over at Vitani.
"Vitani. Is there anyway of getting out of these cages?" The fire bender looked at him for a moment and shook his head.
"If these cages were tall enough to stand up in then one of you could possibly kick the wooden bars to breaking." Kercha laughed behind Sokka and touched Sokka's shoulder through the bars.
"You have to stand up to get enough power behind the force of your kick." Haru looked over at Kercha and frowned.
"How many people have tried to escape from here?"
"Thousands……" Haru turned to look up at Xia. He jumped away from the cage and moved to the back next to Sokka. Xia bent down and looked over them. He smiled as he looked directly at Haru.
"You look much better when you aren't drugged. I can tell that you will be one of my best prizes." Haru shook his head as a hard look took over his face.
"I am not an object. I belong to no one."
Xia smiled softly. He truly was a beautiful man, and appeared to be so soft tempered, but there was something there, something faintly moving behind that peaceful face that proved a viciousness hide behind those blue eyes.
"You are no object, my love. You are a treasure; a rarity that the Earth kingdom often surprises me with." Haru narrowed his eyes and just glared at the man. Xia stood up and turned to look at the door. He walked over to Vitani's cage and knelt down, his black fur coat pooling around his feet.
"I have a friend for you. Will you be nice?" Vitani snarled up at the man.
"Go fuck yourself." Xia smiled and shook his head.
"I think you will have a different opinion in a few seconds." Xia stood up and turned around again to look at the door. Angus and Brutus walked in dragging something behind them with difficulty. Vitani's eyes narrowed as he focused in on the man they were fighting to drag. His hands and feet were cuffed in metal covers. Vitani felt his stomach turn as he recognized the metal covers. The man's mouth was covered as well with a metal band. After Vitani forced himself to look at the man instead of the metal, a growl started low in his throat. Vitani hit the cage door with all of his might, and grabbed Xia's leg and jerked it against the cage, Causing Xia to hit the floor. Xia turned his eyes calmly to look at Vitani.
"Let go of my leg." Vitani snarled his nose and did as he was told. His eyes locked on the man about the time the man's eyes set on him. The man instantly became still. Xia reached down and opened the pad lock on the cage as Angus and Brutus threw the man in, cuffs and all and slammed the cage door. Brutus bent down and helpt Xia to stand up. Vitani grabbed the man and pulled him to the back of the cage. He turned and snatched the key for the cuffs out of Angus's hand.
Sokka watched as Xia and his brutes walked out and shut the large metal doors behind him. Sokka and Haru crawled over to the bars that bordered Zuko''s cage and watched to see if Vitani was going to kill the new man or what. Vitani cussed as he unlocked the cuffs with the tiny key. He threw them to the side of the cage once he got them off of the man''s feet, then the ones on his hands. Vitani hastily unlocked the mouth bar and tossed it aside.
He looked over the man and ran his hand over the man's face where the bar had been. Zuko frowned as he watched the new man lean into Vitani's hand. Vitani sat back on his heels and shook his head.
"Kilani, did they hurt you?" The man shook his head and worked his jaw side to side. Vitani nodded and looked at the steel door.
"Good. Those bastards would have harmed a single hair on your head I would have personally gutted them each." Vitani's cold eyes turned to look at all the eyes staring at him. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head.
"Meet my brother."
Kilani stretched his hands and looked around. His eyes settled on Zuko and a samll smile spread across his face.
"Glad I'm not the only fire-bender that has been caught." Kilani was almost a mirror image of his brother. His hair was pulled back in a low pony tail, and his eyes had more orange in them. Zuko narrowed his eyes as he looked at the two. They were identical. It wasn't a rare thing for the Fire Nation to have twins, just unusual for them both to be the same sex. Vitani snarled and shook his head as he looked over his brother's arms, at the multiple stingers still in Kilani's skin.
"What were the metal cuffs for?" Sokka ask. He thought he might know but he wanted to make sure. Vitani shot him a glare and ignored his question. Kilani frowned at his brother and looked over at Sokka.
"We''re fire benders. So I would think that, the metal covers our hands and feet to keep us from using flames against them. It has to be that." Kilani looked down as his brother scraped each stinger out of his arm. "Where the hell am I anyway?"
"You answered your own question, my friend." Kercha said with a smile. Hiiu brought his eyes up to look at the newcomer for the first time. He had come back only a short while before Kilani was drug in.
"The metal is a precaution. To make sure you don't harm Xia or any of his pets." Kilani looked at him and frowned. Haru shook his head.
"Then he has been burned before." Haru said looking at the small Earth Kingdom man. Hiiu nodded as he hugged his knees to his chest. He wasn't going to risk getting close to the bars. He looked over at Zuko and the two brothers.
"If you see him without the coat, you will see the scars that are on his back." Zuko narrowed his eyes and glared at the man.
"We have all seen the scars flames leave behind. I really don't plan on being here long enough to see them. We are getting out of here." Sokka nodded.
"How can we get out?" Sokka said looking over at Haru.
"Again?" Haru said and looked at the two. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the bars. He thought for a moment and then snapped his eyes open. He turned and looked at Sokka and hit him on the shoulder.
"I have an idea."
Sokka and Zuko both sat up straight and looked at the boy. Haru crawled over to the bars so that they could hear him without him having to yell.
"All the water benders in here have been deprived of water. We need a water bender in here that is powerful and hydrated." Zuko nodded.
"That could be Aang or Katara, but why stop there. If we could get both of them and Toph in here, we'd clean this place out in no time, once we were out there would be no hinderance to our bending either." Sokka smiled.
"Yeah, that's good. Only problem is, how do we get out of here?" Sokka ask as the smile faded from his face. Zuko frowned and looked at Haru who was frowning himself.
"Dammit. I hadn't got that far yet." Haru growled and shook his head. Vitani leaned back against the cage and laughed. Kilani frowned at his brother and shook his head. Vitani looked over at the three young men and smiled weakly.
"If any of you can get out, you got me beat." Vitani said as the smile melted away. Kercha nodded and looked at them.
"We have all tried." He looked out around the cages. Each cage having a man in it, or some of them even had two. "We have exhausted all of our ideas." Haru shook his head.
"No. I have been caged before. I will not be caught again. I am not staying in here." Haru said and looked up at the ceiling.
"Only one of us would need to get out." Sokka said looking at the other two. Zuko frowned and crossed his legs.
"So which one of us is going to get out and get the others?" Zuko said as he narrowed his eyes. Haru shook his head.
"I don't think we can decided. I mean it won't be our decision. We'll have to wait until that man comes for one of us." Hiiu laughed out loud then at the sound of that.
"If that is your plan little boy, you may be waiting for years. Look around you. There are seventy eight men in here, counting you three. Xia picks and chooses the ones he wants and at what times. You three haven't been broken. It will take at least two weeks to break you." Vitani kicked at the bars between his cage and Hiiu's.
"You need to shut up. You just really need to shut up. I'm really surprised no one has killed you yet." Kilani frowned at his brother and knocked him across the shoulder.
"Vitani!" Vitani looked at his brother with a dark glare.
"Wait, Kilani. Just wait. You will see why I have threatened him. You will see that this little worm will throw you into the flames to watch you burn." Kilani frowned.
"Regardless. You do not threaten to kill someone without the order to do so." Vitani narrowed his eyes and shook his head.
"I have already promised him death. I get out of here, he will die." Sokka looked over at Hiiu while the siblings argued.
"Break us? Kercha hasn't been broken yet. Neither has Vitani." Hiiu looked at Sokka for a moment then glanced at Vitani.
"Vitani is one that burned him." Hiiu said with a small voice. Vitani stopped mid-argument and looked at Hiiu. Vitani glared at the boy and leaned against his cage.
"Better to burn then get burned." Zuko had grown up with that expresison but he had an idea start to formulate in his mind.
"Wait...explain that." Hiiu's eyes grew a little wider and he shook his head looking over at Vitani. Zuko turned and looked at Kercha who turned his head to look in the other direction. Zuko narrowed his eyes and turned back to look at Vitani. He was deathly still and his eyes were locked on Zuko. He narrowed his eyes and glareda t Vitani.
"Since no one else care to elaborate...?" Zuko said as he cocked his eyebrow. Vitani shook his head and looked over to the center of the circular room.
"When I was first brought in here, Xia thought I would be an easy break. He picked me my first night here, I was stabbed several times with the needle." Vitani's yellow eyes seemed to be looking at somethign that wasn't there. "I wasn't knocked out but I became drunk from the venom. They threw me into one of the rooms beyond that iron door. I was in there for fifteen twenty minutes maybe when Xia came in. He thought that with my being at a disadvantage I would be unable to bend. But he was wrong." Vitani said as small smile curled at the corner of his lips. He shook his head and turned back to look at Zuko.
"He was dead wrong. I was coming to my senses a little by then anyway. He dropped that fur coat and walked over to me. He took that last step and bent over to pick me up and I knocked him backwards. I kicked him in his stomach making him roll over and I sent a flame up his back turning his white shirt to charcoal. I jumped up and grabbed him pinning his arms behind him. I can remember grabbed a hand ful of his hair, jerking his head back hard and telling him to let me go. I can remember looking at those blue eyes and becomign paralyzed with fear. He was calm. Even though I was seconds away from snapping his neck, he looked at me as nothing was happening." Vitani frowned and seemed as if he were concentrating. Fishing a memory up from the back of his mind. He shook his head and looked back to the center of the room.
"The next thing I remember I woke up in the center of the room over there. My wrists were chained to the floor. My hands and feet were covered int he metal covers. I had that bar painfully hinged across my mouth.My shirt was gone and there were these on my back." Vitani said turning his back to Zuko. Sokka and Haru strained to see. Sokka frowned as he looked at the man's back. Tiny spots ran down his back on either side of his spine. They were red and perfectly round.
"What is that?" Haru ask. Vitani shrugged and shook his head. Zuko frowned. Something was very off about this entire situation. Why was he unable to remember? And how did he go from having competely control of the situation to being in chains? His thought process drew short as Angus and Brutus walked into the room. Angus was quick to shut the door behind them. A loud clank signaled that the large lock on the door had been set.
"Fuck..." Vitani hissed and pushed his brother to the back of the cage. Kercha grabbed Sokka by the shoulder and pushed him backwards away from the door. Sokka frowned and looked around. All of the men were moving further back into their cages. So he did the same, followed close by Haru. Zuko frowned and moved back as well.
Brutus crossed his arms in front of his chest and stood in front of the door. Angus looked around and made a b line towards Sokka and Haru's cage. Sokka's eyes grew wide. What the hell is it now?! Angus knelt down and looked into the cage. He looked at Sokka and raised a large finger to point at him.
"You. Come here." Sokka cocked his eyebrow at him and shook his head.
"You are out of your fucking mind." Sokka growled at the large man. Angus wrapped his hands around the bars, and Brutus began to say something to him but before he could get his cautionary warning out, Sokka landed his foot hard against the man's fingers. Angus ripped his hand away from the wooden bars, sending blood splattering on the floor. He growled as he torn a chunk of wood out of his palm. Angus turned his eyes back to Sokka. Sokka shook his head and narrowed eyes.
"Keep your mother fucking hands away from me." Angus frowned and stood up walking over he grabbed the long pole off of the wall. Brutus shook his head and jerked the pole away from him.
"You can't do it that way and you know it. The master would have you for a midnight snack." Angus snarled and shook his head. He crossed his arms and stod in front of the door.
"Fine then you get him." Brutus nodded and walked over to the cage. He knelt down and looked in at Sokka.
"Listen cream puff, you have two seconds to get to the front of this cage, or my friend and I will snap you in half."
"Listen asshole, you have two seconds to get your shit away from me and on about your damn business." Sokka hissed mimicking the large man. The dark look that took over Brutus's eyes was not a good one.
"You are business now." Sokka curled his nose up and before he thought about what he was going to do, spit in the man's face. Brutus snarled and wiped his face off.
"You've been talking to the trouble maker I see." He growled and flung the door open to the cage. He reached in to grab Sokka, but Haru sprung forward and grabbed the man's arm. Haru fell back and gave the man a good jerk causing him to crack his head against the top of the cage. Brutus fell back cussing and Haru scrambled over him. Sokka was right behind him but the cage door was slammed shut by very pissy Angus. Brutus and Angus jumped up and ran after Haru. Haru made it to the steel door. He couldn't budge the lock. He turned and sent a wave of earth at the two large men. Brutus stopped and planted his feet sending it right back at Haru.
"Goddammit." Haru cussed. He quickly tented himself in rock. He starated to have the Earth swollow him so that he could get out when a sharp pain shot through his leg. It felt like fire traveling up to his spine and when the torrent hit his head the world went black.
Okay so the plot set up is going rather well. Let me know what ya'll think.