Beta-read by Scribbles I
Healed and Hunted
Out of Control
Chapter 3
In the Living Room
Suki
Her hand was over her mouth, trying to contain the horror and shock. The screen showed Katara, watching her as the producers waited for the signal to cut to commercial. Suki couldn't believe it. Refusing to fight, when the school had already sold tickets and televised the event? Could she do that without getting in trouble? Or, perhaps worse, was she doing so to get in trouble?
Sokka was sitting on the couch, his elbows on his knees and his intertwined hands nervously hiding his mouth. She sat next to him and grabbed one of his hands. He shook his head slowly in disbelief.
"They wouldn't air these at the schools, would they?" He asked quietly. It had never occurred to them that little Kyoshi watched these matches while at school. They thought it was safe to watch while she was away, but now this idea entered their minds.
"No... Surely not. These viewings are too violent... maybe in the high schools... but not in elementary," Suki answered, trying to convince the both of them. In normal situations, that would be true. But this place wasn't normal. Evidence enough of that was the fact that they were now staring at an angry crowd throwing things towards Kat. Cups and popcorn and cans, all hurled as the crowd booed and complained. She felt Sokka tense.
"What is she doing?" he whispered.
Suki looked to the screen. While she had been pondering, the camera view had switched to the young man who was to be fighting Kat. He seemed as confused as the rest of the screaming crowd. In the background, Suki could make out uniforms. The police were controlling the rambunctious spectators.
"Whatever it is, she'll be alright," Suki said as the TV cut back to her sister. There was a bleeding cut on her cheek, from who knows what. Katara hadn't so much as tried to rub the wound.
"You so clearly want me to lose. Just look at what you've done to the pit. So I quit," Kat said from on screen. The editors added subtitles, as it was hard to hear her over the noise.
And then the commercial came on, and the parents sat together in silence. They waited, but an announcement took the place of the 'scheduled programming.'
"They canceled it," he said. "I guess they're going to let her do this."
Suki didn't want to say it, but she couldn't stop her mouth, "Or they don't want anyone to see what they're really going to do."
Sokka's face was beginning to sweat.
The Stands
Toph
"What is it, Aang, what's going on?" Toph could only hear the madness. It sounded like it used to-loud and deafening. But something was different in the fact that the three of them hadn't intentionally caused this.
"I can't see her. Toph, hold on to me," he yelled. She had already been holding him, but she tightened her arms around him. She felt the air rushing by and knew something had gone horribly wrong.
"I don't understand," Toph shouted.
Aang pulled her out of the way. She could feel someone almost step on her.
"She's... They moved her. Damn," Aang hissed, grabbing her and pulling. She didn't know where they were going, what they were doing, or even what was going on around her. She hated being blind to the world, forced to listen the the chaos around her.
"Why didn't she fight?" Toph wondered, when the noise was muffled by the closing of the door. They were in a hall now, she thought. Sound seemed to echo.
"They wanted her to lose. They set it completely against her," he said as he continued. Toph was finding it hard to keep up. The shoes she wore kept catching on the floor and squeaking as she struggled to keep his pace.
"But why? She could have easily-"
"I don't know. There was something else. We'll ask when we find her."
Toph sighed and yanked her hand away from Aang. "You'll go faster without me. I'll wait here."
She wondered what his expression looked like. She felt him place a kiss on her temple and promise to return shortly before she felt the breeze of his running.
How quickly things had gotten out of hand.
Detention Block
Kat
Despite how hard she had fought the school, she had never been here before. She knew that Fire Inheritors had special cold storage in this place. She had heard a few of the trouble makers talking about it. But, she wondered, what would they do to her? Stick her in a sauna?
"Hey, where are we going?" she asked, fidgeting with the plastic ties around her wrists. The thought that little, plastic zip ties were the only thing between her and freedom was rather irritating.
The man who was leading her - she thought he was the director of the pit - simply glared her way. She sighed, growing tired of the silent treatment. She had done nothing wrong. She checked. They couldn't punish her for not fighting.
"And why the ties? I'm not hurting anyone. Obviously I'm in no mood to fight anyone." That was a lie, but that that didn't matter.
"In there." The man pointed. Kat could see the veins in his neck bulging. His face was red, and she nearly laughed at his similarity to a tomato. But she managed to control herself.
"Yes, sir." She gave a mock salute - both of her hands together made it silly anyways - and nearly skipped into the room. She thought she was being reckless, but it was too late to change it.
The people waiting for her all had the same thing written on their faces, though she couldn't exactly say what it was.
"Mind telling us what we're supposed to do about this?" One man gestured to the television screens behind him. Kat found herself watching her hand go up, and the subtitles declaring her surrender. A few other shots of the Nation she was supposed to have fought, and the crowd she had left in outrage.
"Well, I'll tell you what you're allowed to do." She winced at the stares she received, "Absolutely nothing. You can't even give me detention. Not legally anyways. Check your rule book. This was a televised event. I retain the right to submit. The ticket stubs never promised your spectators a fight, only admission into the arena. Which they were given."
A few eyes went wide while others looked around the room to see who else was lost. Kat pointed to the book sitting a few inches from her on the table, giving them all an encouraging wave. One took the book and started searching.
Trying to be helpful (and, secretly, earn herself more glares) Kat informed them, "Page sixty-three. Subsection B. The little asterisk down at the bottom."
"You planned to quit?" the pit-master asked.
Kat snorted. "Did you see how you built that pit? What were you expecting me to do?"
They were all silenced at this. She almost had them admitting that they were curious about her. Instead, they clammed up even more. It didn't matter, she had her answer. They were trying to push her and figure her out. Well, screw them.
"You didn't even tell me his name," Kat accused, "You gave him my information. Probably some little packet with all the little things you've noticed."
The pit-master shouted first, "And? This isn't the first time!"
This was new. So she asked, "Oh? And how did it work for all your others?"
They all stood straighter, almost defensively. She nearly laughed. They had forgotten, despite all their efforts, that they were dealing with an adult. Not some child who was afraid to be in the principal's office. She would hold her own, and they were going to watch as she did so.
"If we're done here," Kat said dismissively.
The tomato-man-slash-pit-master huffed. They had all been defeated, she thought, so easily. Had no one ever stood up to these people? At least, she amended, in a real adult way? They had spent their time bullying little kids who didn't know how to defend themselves. Disgusting.
"You gonna take these ties off, or shall I have the Ava cut them later?" Kat held her bound hands up. She loved watching them squirm. She rarely used Aang as a card to fight with, but it was always nice to have him. Of course, they didn't know she was bluffing. She had no desire to see this place destroyed whilst she was still inside.
It was moments after that that her plastic chains were cut and they told her to go back to her dorm. Katara decided she was behaving arrogantly, and she almost didn't care. She checked herself, though. Arrogant people made mistakes, as did stupid people. She would be neither, and make mistakes only due to circumstance.
"Oh, sorry." She bounced back from the chest she bumped into.
Aang was looking down at her, "Are you alright? Where did they...?" His eyes checked behind her, and darkened when they gleaned her location.
"I'm not in trouble." Kat raised her hands to his chest, feeling his already heavy breathing beneath her fingers. She sighed when he refused to be calmed. She rubbed his head and started to push him along, back down the hall.
"Toph was by the library," Aang said when they were far enough away.
Kat smiled when he asked exactly what had happened. It was fun enough explaining how she had handled the situation. She even got him to laugh with her description of the pit-master ("Red as cherry tomatoes"). He commented on her lack of a better vocabulary, but said nothing more.
Toph had fallen asleep on the floor.
"I don't think I was gone that long," Aang said as he bent to pick her up. The movement was so natural, Kat almost forgot to look.
Kat stared for a moment. "I think she's faking."
"C'mon, she wouldn't do-" He stopped himself. "She would."
Kat pulled a little water out of the air. "So, we drip water in her ear 'till she confesses."
Aang held Toph away from him, and the girl squealed. She struggled to lean back to Aang, willing herself to stay dry. Kat let the water disperse and smiled. Such was Toph.
"Ah, caught ya," Aang said, laughing. He flipped Toph onto his back and began walking.
Toph buried her head in his shoulder. "So what happened?"
"Nothing, really. Kat may have, unwittingly, started a revolution outside. Nothing important," Aang muttered.
It was then that Kat realized what she had truly done. She had defied the system. Shook things up. Accidentally made change. That meant lives lost. For a moment, the responsibility of it made her stop. She shook it off, and decided that nothing could be done. It was over. What happened was no longer under her control.
"Hey, Kat, do you think you'll end up in the newspaper?" Toph asked.
Kat snorted, "The headlines would read: The Dirty-No-Good-Gutless-Inheritor Refuses to Fight for her Life. Shocker."
"Or," Aang added, "Pretty Lady Surprises World by Outfit Choice."
Toph made a small sound. "You people. Always caring about how things look."
"You blind people," Katara teased, "Making us sound so shallow."
They all snorted, laughing at this old joke.
