Author's notes: MY GOD!!! I promised another chapter before christmas, and here it is, a bit more than an hour before midnight. I've never done anything with so many POV's before, and it's long too. This chapter is dedicated to Animefangirlwrites4ever, my most faithful reviewer, who's story's I also enjoy. Lioness also deserves a mention, so THANK YOU EVERYBODY!!! Merry Xmas everybody!!!
Chapter IV : THE STOWAWAY
The door creaked open quietly, casting a long, flickering shadow in the torchlight that glowed gently in the cold, musty prison. A young soldier in fire nation uniform poked his head around the door, shyly. He let his eyes wander to the centre of the room, where the captive was held in tough bonds of a fairly glowing blue metal, and when he saw that the prisoner was tranquil, cautiously placed his right foot within the boundaries of the supposed impenetrable room. Stepping inside, he mentally prepared himself for whatever might come flying his way from the incarcerated youth, but none came. Letting his gaze drop, he saw the man's meal sitting beside him in a plain wooden bowl, and could guess why he had not yet been burned to a crisp: there was no way that the detainee could possibly eat that by himself, his hands were hardly able to move more than the width of his palm in any direction, and besides which, he looked like he might just drop if it weren't for the chains holding him upright.
"Let's get this over with."
"Aaah!" he soldier jumped in surprise, losing all sense of self-discipline for a moment, but quickly regained control, and focused on the job at hand. The person who had spoken to him was not even looking in his direction, but his voice carried well in the empty space, greatly impressing the already unsure guard. After all the guy had been through, he still had enough pride and will power to speak up for himself, which was more than most of the prisoners of the residence could do after a mere week of the supreme conditions applied here.
"Right…" the guard advanced on the prisoner slowly, as if waiting for the prisoner to attack him, but the youth didn't even bother to look up, thus unnerving the uniformed soldier more than necessary.
Shuffling forwards, the soldier hesitated before picking up the bowl, and looked up into the prisoner's eyes. For the brief second they met, the guard could read what was written in the seemingly endless orbs of gold and glass, and the sheer determination he found there was almost scary. He bent over again, and picked up the bowl, and the chopsticks next to it, but lost his nerve again. Instead, he took a ring of keys from his pocket, and turning to face the spot where the shackles binding the prince were attached to the metal post securing his to the ground, and loosened the chains just enough so that the prince's hands could almost meet; almost, but not quite, and handed him the uneven, clay bowl with rice, the pair of wooden chopsticks stacked neatly on top.
The fire nation royalty seemed surprised at this gesture, but took the earthenware dish all the same, though before he began to eat, he placed his feet firmly on the ground and stood, straight and tall, so that he stood easily a head higher than the other man. Once he had accomplished this, he picked up the chopsticks with gentle fingers, and began to consume the white grain.
The simple rice tasted delicious to Zuko. How strange: there were flavors he could find now that he had never sought out or discovered before, and they were divine. He closed his eyes, imagining the flavors as colors, flowing from the cutlery into his mouth, right onto the tip of his tongue, and they seemed to dance in his mind for him, forming pictures not even the most carefully chosen words could describe.
He took his time eating the rice. It was so good, he wanted it to last forever, for the taste to leave his mouth dry and tasteless, as it had been for the last few weeks of his stay at the mortal chamber of horrors. Finally, his chopsticks made contact with the bottom of the bowl with a gentle 'chink', and Zuko sighed quietly to himself. Glancing over at the guard, who was absent mindedly fiddling with his finger nails, he took a firm hold of the eating utensil in his right hand, and slid it up his sleeve as discreetly as he could. Once it was held in place where he was sure it wouldn't move, he dropped his bowl tiredly on the metal floor, with a clang that resounded throughout the cell. The left chopstick followed suit, with a much more metallic sound than the first, and came to rest just next to the largest piece left from the bowl.
At the noise, the guard seemed to awaken from his trance, and quickly withdrew the keys from his pocket again, rushing over to the prisoner, hissing from the corner of his mouth, ordering the prince, "Not another sound, you here me!"
The prince snarled, but obeyed hastily, allowing his arms to be confined to their previous limits, as an older, more experienced guard stepped in to investigate the source of disruption. A quick check around the room told him almost everything he needed to know: The prince was secured, the guard had just dropped the bowl by mistake, nothing was wrong. It wouldn't surprise him if the youth had started spitting fireballs at his inferior; once the bowl was empty there was no reason to keep his mouth shut. Snorting, he reached for the door handle, turning his back on the young man chained to the pillars, but as he was opening it, he heard the burnt teenager take a deep breath, and wheeled around, but he was just a split second too late. One of the prince's trademark balls of fire came flying at him, hitting him forcefully in the chest. He fell backwards, right out the doorframe leading to the room with the royal prisoner, into the hallway to the peering eyes of patrolling guards as they wandered around the dreary corridors, bored.
Spluttering he stood up, grasping his heaving chest with both hands, before giving an order that would affect the prince's time in prison greatly:
"Gag him! I only want him to have usage of his mouth during meal times, you hear me!"
Turning to face the prince, he felt no harm in adding, "Which, by the way, you won't be receiving for a while yet, until you learn to behave yourself."
He then staggered out the door as three other guards rushed in to do his bidding, and secure the once distinguished Prince Zuko. Mustering up his strength, the superior trudged along to the infirmary, where he was dreading having to face the head, the woman he was supposed to refer to as his wife…
Zuko was seized forcefully from behind, hands grabbing his neck and his hair, (which had now grown right down to his waist) and yanking his head upwards, much farther than it would normally go. A thick, calloused hand clawed at his face, suffocating him for a bare moment, which was all the time it took for the prison guards to efficiently bring a greasy white cloth round in front of his face and pull it tight, tying it in a firm knot at the back of his head, so that he was unable to shake it off in anyway. The men holding him then let go and he fell, forwards, until the chains binding his hands caught him, causing further bleeding on his wrists, which had already been rubbed completely raw from the endless metal dangling there. The uniformed men all then hastened from the room in single file, lest one of them get stuck in the doorway. The door slammed shut, and the former crown prince was left all alone.
From the minute the door shut on Aang's face, things went from bad to worse. He might have felt somewhat better, had his conscience not still been on the fact that he's lied to everybody, just to fell like a normal kid, rather than some all powerful avatar that he wasn't. His thoughts drifted back to reality as Azula spoke to him, her voice both menacing and innocent at the same time.
"Take the avatar below deck! He is mine now!"
Aang listened to her intently, and observed the deck around him. There was no obvious escape around, but he was sure that he would figure out a way—two hands grabbed him from behind, and with his hands bound he couldn't fight them off. A voice spoke from the direction of which the hands had come from.
"Don't struggle, will we now!" Warned one of the men. Next thing Aang knew, he was being fairly dragged along the corridor towards and open door made of heavy metal-
"No!" Aang shouted. Up on deck, Azula heard and smiled. They were doing their job well.
Three days later, Aang was still stuck, and there was no further visible means of getting out either. He had not yet received anything to eat, save around mid-day yesterday, when they had served him something that vaguely resembled the meat Sokka and Katara had cooked for themselves at the South Pole for dinner that one time. They had called it caribou, and had devoured it. Aang, however, had been taught by the monks that all life was sacred, and as a result, was a strict vegetarian. He wouldn't anything that had once been a form of animal life, no matter how irrelevant, so both the meal at the South Pole and what he had been served on the ship were completely out of question. Pushing it aside, he listened at the key hole, trying to hear any clip of conversation that might tell him something about where he was going, or if Sokka and Katara and the others were ok, anything at all, really, but all the guards seemed to talk about were what had happened to some guy with a really high status had been thrown in jail, about last night's meal, about anything except he wanted to hear, but tonight, as he eavesdropped again, there was actually an interesting conversation going out-almost right outside his door.
"Yeah, so tomorrow the princess said we'd be docking in Yäzan to put the avatar ashore at the prison there, am I right?"
"Yäzan? But that's where the prince is right now!" Aang groaned silently in his head. He just hoped that this new obstacle, the Fire Nation prince, was as easy to ward off as his sister, seeing as if he were to try and escape, by the sound of it, they were going to have to fight.
"Exactly. It's the highest security in the Fire Nation, I believe, and if the 'almighty avatar' hasn't managed to escape the ship yet, there's no way he's going to escape from that place!"
The other guard shrugged in response. "If you say so…"
They walked past Aang into the corridor beyond where the conversation was lost amongst the other quiet babble in the ship's hold. Aang's head slumped down on to his knees, touching his brow to them in a defeated manner, and he could feel the tears welling up once again in his grey eyes, although he would not allow them to fall. It was then, more than ever, that he first truly felt alone.
Katara paced back and forth, over the snowy land she had entitled as here home. Discreetly, she rolled up her fluffy blue sleeping bag, and along with it, some odd bits and pieces of food she had gathered from the village storehouse, almost her entire share for the winter, and some dry grass, for Appa. She quietly put all this into one large bag, the only one big enough to fit both those items plus an extra change of clothes, should she need them, and her boomerang, but still have space left over for some of Aang's stuff, because that's where she was going, after Aang. She had checked on Appa earlier that day, and much to her surprise, she had found that the young avatar had already packed himself some provisions similar to the ones she herself had just packed. She slung her bag over her shoulder, groaning slightly under its weight, before creeping out to see the giant sky bison. She used her primitive waterbending to whip up a fog cover as she left her tent, then slipped out of the village unseen by anybody. Then, she ran.
When she finally reached Appa, she flung her bag up, and climbed up after it, landing in the saddle with a gentle plop. She took the airbender's stuff and shoved it into the big bag, slid out of the saddle again, and finally patted Appa on the shoulder before she left again. She hadn't intended to leave just then, it was getting to be 'night' in the South Pole-even though at this time of year, the sun never set, she could feel the moon coursing through her veins, and she was tired, after hurrying all day to get her chores done so she could pack. She would leave first thing tomorrow, before anyone else was up, she decided, and crawled back into the tent she and Sokka shared, and curled up to fall asleep.
Sokka watched his sister leave the village, with her grandmother's blue bag slung over her shoulder. 'She must be going to find some berries or something, I'll see if I can help her' he thought. 'It might take her mind off the arrow head.' Picking up his club and slinging his boomerang over his back, just in case, he walked after her at a quick rate, intending to catch up with her. "Hey, Kata-" He silenced himself as he saw her true destination, the avatar's flying bison. "No…" He whispered to himself. "She wouldn't leave us-leave me—behind, would she?" He kept his eyes glued to the front, as his sister jumped aboard the flying creature, and placed a bag there-he was just about to jump on after her, when she slid off again. He breathed a sigh of relief. But, her bag, she had left it atop! Then in dawned on him, she couldn't leave tonight, it wasn't safe in these weather conditions. There was a thunder clap in the distance, but if she noticed, she certainly didn't show it. She hastened back to the village, where she would sleep for the night. Sokka's brows furrowed in deep thought. 'Well, Katara, you wanted to play this game, only I'm going to beat you at it.' And with that silent declaration, he climbed up onto the flying fluffy great beast, and opened the drawstring bag that everything was stuffed in. There wasn't much room, but he could just about squeeze in, in between his sister's sleeping bag, and the airbender's yellow tunic. Making himself as small as possible, he eventually fell asleep.
Katara woke up bright and early the next morning, according to plan. Glancing next to her, she noticed that Sokka hadn't some in all night-he never made his own bed. Wondering what could have happened, she was about to creep out when it dawned upon her that her gran-gran might worry if she left for no apparent reason, so she wrote a quick note on canvas of her tent, explaining in a few, well chosen words what she was going to do, and that afterwards, she was going to continue on to the Northern Water Tribe to learn waterbending from a true master, before finally truly leaving her tent. Quietly she took down the poles; Sokka could sleep with Gran Gran for a while, she'd be back.
After a few minutes of brisk walking, she saw her furry friend in the distance, and quickening her pace to a run, jumped on his head, and cast a long glance back at the village. A single tear slid down her cheek. If only Sokka was with her-but then, he would never understand, or let her go, for that matter. Another tear, but she wiped it from her face, and pulled the reins, a determined air about her. "Appa- yip yip." And the giant sky bison took off, jolting someone awake behind her…
Sokka was jolted awake by a sudden movement, Appa must have been taking off. His boomerang hit him on the head, causing him to see starts for a moment, but then it was smooth, easy flying, almost like walking on land, except with an odd sensation in his stomach, like it was in his mouth… He swallowed hard to avoid tossing his sea prunes, as Appa lurched and jolted, apparently loving the sensation of flying around in circles. Sokka would swear that he did a complete loop-de-loop once or twice. Settling down again, he decided he would just have to wait a little longer until they were far enough away from the Southern Water Tribe for Katara to want to turn back.
Three hours later, Katara's stomach started to rumble, and it was only then she realized that she had forgotten to eat breakfast before she went. Temporarily abandoning her post on the fuzzy flying beast's head, she shuffled over to her bag and pulled on the cream drawstrings. She reached her hand inside to where she was sure she had placed the food, and reached for it, but instead-"Aaaah!!!" She screamed. There was something alive, wriggling inside her bag! The creature made a groaning noise, and Katara screamed again. She used her waterbending to access a floating bubble of water from the ocean, and just as the thing started to exit the bag, she flung the water at it with all her force, sending it flying backwards, right out of the saddle. Satisfied, she turned back to the front, no longer even remembering why she had gone into the bag in the first place.
Sokka went flying as his sister's water hit him full force in the face. Tumbling backwards, he somersaulted over the back of the saddle, on to Appa's large, broad tail. Clinging onto the saddle for dear life, Sokka hollered at his sister, "KA-TA-RA! HELP!!" Katara sat bolt upright, and once again readied her water, prepared to pounce on the source of noise, but as she peered over the edge, she tossed it away, and yelled out in delight. She grabbed onto his already slipping wrist, and between the two of them, managed to wrestle Sokka up into safety.
"Sokka, I knew you'd come!" Katara cried, flinging her arms around her brother, nearly suffocating him.
"Woah, I thought you'd be mad at me for tagging along. Why did you decide to go?"
"Sokka, I knew you wouldn't understand. If Aang really is the avatar then we have to help him. In fact-"
"No, Katara, Why did you decided to go alone." She fell silent as the statement cut through the air, piercing Katara's heart.
"Because, Because…" She could only stutter and stammer, and her senseless babble made Sokka's head spin.
"Oh, just forget it. Maybe you'll make more sense once you've had something to eat. I know I will, I've been sitting in that blasted saddle all night, waiting for the take off." This was too much, and Katara broke down in tears. Using her waterbending to wipe them away, she smiled gratefully at her older brother, and turned back towards the reins, but was stopped by his arm grabbing at the back of her parka. "Oh no, you don't. Here." He stated, shoving some seal jerky in her face. "And in the mean time, I want a flying lesson." Katara giggled.
"No offense, Sokka, but unless you sprout wings, that's not going to happen!" Her only response was a glare from the warrior's direction. He started to explain himself, accompanied by angry gestures, but didn't get very far, as for a change, Katara decided to give him a taste of his own medicine and cut him off.
"Oh, you know what I mean, silly. It's pretty simple. To take off or speed up, say 'yip yip'. To turn left, pull the reins this way, " she indicated to him one direction, "and the opposite for the other way. To go down, you do it this way…" she continued. By the end of her brief conversation, Sokka could already effectively drive a sky bison. But their fun was spoiled by a sight in front of them: They had already caught up with Azula's ship. And it was headed towards what looked like a giant city made of the same material as the metal on the princess's ship, all in blood red and black. This didn't look good. The two water tribe sibling exchanged glances. And, taking a deep breath, they jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Does anyone have a good name for the prison? 'Cause I really need one...