WARNING: Contains some very bloody and violent scenes.
Wrath – Ira
Sokka know the way very well by now. Through the bustling Capitol out to the rural countryside and out into the wilderness. The journey took some time but in return you were witness to some really breathtaking views. Overlooking the Caldera when the sun sets, wandering through valleys where mist made the earth ever closer to the spirit world or over cliffs at night so clear and with a moon so large that to your imagination you walked among the stars when it basked down on you. It was a long way to the asylum and to Azula but Sokka didn't mind, not at all.
When he walked toward the Asylum for Troubled Fire Nation Citizens, Sokka thoughts was always filled with images of Azula, of their past conversations, her smiles and the little quirks that made her so enchanting to him. He was filled with joy at those memories. It had been a long time since he first arrived with his sister and Zuko to visit the fearsome princess Azula. He still hated her at that time but seeing the broken and abandoned girl made his heart ache. So he took it upon himself to be there for her. And it was not easy, probably the hardest undertaking he had ever done. At times he had despaired, but the last year had been marvelous in so many ways. The princess had come around and a deep bond of trust now existed between them.
Perhaps even love? Sokka couldn't tell really if Azula had any stronger feelings for him. She always lived up when he came to visit thou and they always had such great fun together. Sokka had already given in to the very obvious, he was in love with princess Azula. It was still a somewhat odd feeling to have, in all truthfulness. She had been his greatest adversary and his friends hated or feared her still. That would become a great obstacle. But Sokka was confident, he and Azula could overcome it with time.
All thoughts of the future dissipated from Sokka's mind when he finally reached the valley where the Asylum was located. Instantly Sokka perceived that something was wrong. The building was on fire, large clouds of black smoke billowed out from windows on the top floor. Azula's floor. Sokka felt something twist in his stomach and with all blissful thoughts gone, Sokka hurried toward the building.
When Sokka came closer the building his initial panic was gone and he could now actually see that something was very wrong with the whole situation. Terribly so. No one tried to quench the now raging fire, there were no patients being evacuated from the premises and he could hear no sounds from anything but the crackling of the fire…
Sokka slipped silently past the great gates into the Asylums courtyard. He immediately spotted two guards, heavily armored actually. Sokka quickly moved to stand behind a statue of some long dead Fire Lord. He had to move over several dead bodies of the gatekeepers. Sokka noticed in a detached way that the dead had been surprised, they had not stood a chance. And the two armored guards that now watched over the courtyard had not the usual designations that military units in the Fire Nation should have. But they were very well equipped indeed. And they made sure no one exited the Asylum. That little detail was not lost on Sokka…
This was dangerous and the assailants were elite soldiers, that was given. What to do? What to do?
"You have been in a tighter spot than this old boy!" Sokka whispered to himself while he tried to find the best way over the courtyard. "You can take these jokers out with not much trouble and after that find Azula and get out of here like a spirit of soap!" Sokka said to bolster his confidence.
Sokka threw his trusted boomerang with all his might at the enemy to the right as he swiftly ran down against the enemy to his left. When he reached the soldier Sokka had already drawn his club and swung it in a great arc against the enemy's head. With a curse the soldiers leapt out of the way and even managed to bend fire at Sokka. It was harmless but Sokka swore under his breath nonetheless, he needed this fight to end fast! He heard a satisfying sharp thud from the first soldier and then a soft sound when the soldier fell to the ground, dead or unconscious he did not know. With a silent roar Sokka swung hard and furious at his remaining enemy, not giving him a chance to gain momentum or initiative. He could see the soldiers eye widen under the stress of being under attack. He defended himself very well, oh how Sokka wished he still had Spacesword… With a vicious stroke Sokka managed to land a glancing blow at the enemy soldier. It was enough to nudge him off balance and make him unable to dodge Sokka's next and final thrust. It clipped the soldier over her head and with a sickening crack the man fell twitching to the ground.
Sokka breathed heavily and looked down on the man he had just killed. "Your luck has ran out, friend." Sokka said softly to the corps. It was a long time since he killed a man and the feeling was not pleasant. Sokka tore his gaze from the dead man and skulked to where his boomerang lay. It seemed like the second soldier was out cold and not dead thankfully. Just as Sokka picked up his beloved boomerang four soldiers came walking around a corner a bit down from him. They saw him at the same time Sokka spotted them. Sokka reacted first and bolted toward the main building. The four soldiers in hot pursuit. "This is not good. Not good at all! Where are you Azula?" Sokka harshly said to the world in general.
Sokka entered the Asylum at a dead run, not knowing what to expect when entering. More soldiers? Dead bodies everywhere? To his relief he immediately saw several patients and caretakers that cried out in fear when he came storming in. They shied away from him and silently huddled in small groups. He ignored them and ran on and up toward Azula's prison. He tried to run silently and swiftly, and he was helped by the fact that the halls echoed of the inmates terrified mumblings and occasional scream and the pursuing soldiers were heavier equipped so their heavy boats thundered in the hallways. Sokka soon managed to lose them in the buildings twists and turns, to his great relief but soon he was dead tired.
Franticly he scrambled through the great and dark building. Past huddling inmates and asylumguards. He turned a corner and nearly collided with two enemy soldiers. Sokka reacted first and managed to punch a sergeant in the eye. The man fell down but was not out of the fight just yet. In the moment Sokka was overreaching the second soldier managed to pummel Sokka and pin him against a door. Sokka felt so weary and he could feel his muscles scream in protest, he could see the sergeant come to his feet to help his comrade while bellowing that they had found the intruder…
At that instant the door gave away and Sokka and his assailant shot through the door. Sokka managed not to fall. The soldier was not so lucky, he fell face down with a crash and a curse. Before the sergeant could reach him Sokka bolted and throw himself out of a boarded window. "I can't keep this up much longer.." Sokka said under his breath before smashing down the planks. Luckily he had calculated correctly and he landed in the garden where Azula use to take walks. It was a small garden, triangular in shape and buildings arose on all sides. Sokka landed with a groan and stumbled to his feet and ran toward the other side, he had a sour taste in his mouth. He heard the soldiers behind him shout but he didn't care about that, all he cared about was getting to the other side. His breath was heavy and there was blood on him.
And suddenly he saw her.
She had a furious expression in death and she managed to convey contempt to her killers. Sokka's mind could not grasp what he saw before him and he sank to his knees. Her golden eyes looked right at him and they seemed to accuse him of being late, for not saving her. She had been unable to bend fire but there still were three dead bodies scattered around her. She had two very nasty stabwounds through her chest. She had died in seconds. Princess Azula was dead.
Several soldiers moved around the small garden and quickly and efficiently surrounded Sokka where he kneeled. His numb mind could not wholly comprehend what he saw and what happened around him but he did understand that it was over. His life was coming to an end. He was so tired that he barely could lift his club anymore. And Azula's murderer wound go free… He felt something cold in his stomach…
…he had blood on him and that was good. But he was kneeling and that was wrong. The Wolf kneels to no man or woman. He hurt in several places and that was good, because pain made him alive. The pain made him smile. Something moved in the dim light. Soldiers with drawn weapons. Enemies. Good, that made him smile even more.
"You are hurt watersavage." A soldier called out. "Give yourself up and your death will be swift." The man continued with a smirk and dark laughter in his voice.
The Wolf threw back his head and laughed. It was a dark and cold laugh that held the promise of death. It made all soldiers stop and look more closely to the young man standing between them. "I will show you pain little soldier." The Wolf laughed. "I will show you death." The Wolf whispered.
A vicious spear was stabbed at the Wolf but he sidestepped it and with a strong swing his club smashed in the soldiers kneecap and with a crack the leg suddenly pointed in a wrong direction. The soldier screamed in pain. Two other soldiers attacked the Wolf, one with a sword and one with an axe. The Wolf stepped forward and flowed under the axe and parried the sword, slippery like a fish in the river. With a sickening noise the club connected with the sword wielders mouth and nose. Blood and teeth sprayed the garden in a muffled scream. Something bit at the Wolf's back. The axe wielder had managed to hit the Wolf with a glancing blow. Swift like an uncoiling snake the Wolf turned around and buried two fingers in the soldiers eye socket. The man fell down without a sound. Before he could hit the ground the Wolf snatched the axe from the man's dead hands. The Wolf dropped the club, he craved a more deadly weapon now.
A dagger, long and deadly, came whistling and buried itself in the Wolf's shoulder. The Wolf smiled at the pain and with a swift movement he tore the dagger out and tossed it aside. Blood, wet and warm, bloomed out of the wound but the Wolf only smiled. A soldier stood on the other side of Azula's body. With a howl of fury the Wolf leaped over Azula and took a swing at the soldier. The enemy was nimble and quick. He managed to avoid one swing, two swings, three swings. But then the Wolf managed to hit the soldier at the side. The soldier screamed in pain and he stumbled. A fatal mistake. The scream went from pain to fear when the Wolf's last swing came down and cracked open the soldiers head.
The wolf walked over to where the soldier with a broken nose and no more teeth where kneeling in pain. It was the sergeant. His eyes were closed so he never saw the axe that decapitated him in one swift motion. The soldier with a broken knee cried in fear and pain when he tried to crawl away. The Wolf possessed no mercy and with three vicious chops at the soldiers back the man was forever silent and unmoving.
Silence settled over the small garden like the stillness just before a dying man's last breath. The wolf turned to hunt, to kill, to maim. A slow and terrifying smile slowly crept over his face when he saw three men come out of a doorway. Good, let the enemy come to him. Here only death walks. Two of them where obvious firebending soldiers. But the third was far more interesting. He was a tall man, clad all in black and he had a blue mask that hid his features. The man in the mask stopped cold when he saw the Wolf.
"Sokka?" he called out. The Wolf thought he knew that voice. But what really caught the Wolf's attention was the man's curved swords. They were covered in dried blood. It was Azula's blood, he was certain of it. "What are you doing here?" The man continued with a pained voice.
The Wolf smiled in dark joy and he could hear the wrath in his blood grow. He stood before Azula's murderer. "You murdered her in cold blood, blue spirit." The wolf spat at the three men. The man seemed to recoil from the Wolf's smile. "And now I will kill you…"
With that the Wolf started to run at the three enemies. The two firebenders rushed to stand before the man in the blue mask and then punch several fireballs at the oncoming lone man. The wolf was a leaf in the wind and dodged, leaped and throw himself to avoid the fireballs. Suddenly one of the soldiers went down with a wet gurgle as a boomerang came flying and buried itself in the man's throat. This started the second soldier and for a vital moment he lost sight of the Wolf.
The Wolf suddenly appeared out of a dissipating fireball and with a great swing chop the legs out of under the soldier. He fell to the ground with a shrill scream. The wolf no longer cared for the dying men at his feet. His only focus in life was the man in the blue mask before him. With a clash of metal sword met axe.
The blue spirit was the better fighter and he had fire to back him up but the Wolf was more cunning. And the Wolf had nothing to lose. He was Wrath. Soon the blue spirit was the only one to attack and the Wolf the only one to defend. "Yield Sokka and I will spare you your life. For Katara's sake!" The blue spirit pleaded with the Wolf. Red blood flowed down the Wolfs features from a cut along his left cheekbone. The Wolf was still smiling and his smile was tainted red but the eyes shone with cold wrath. "Speak not of my sister." The Wolf hissed in murderous anger. "You murdered your own sister!" he continued. The man in the blue mask recoiled. In a sudden stillness the two man stared at each other. Two men in two terrifying masks. "Afraid to face the truth brother? You have been and always will be a coward!" The Wolf taunted.
With a roar the blue spirit attacked fast and ruthlessly. With fire and steel. The Wolf leaped and parried but it was not enough. He got burned and had several new bloody gashes all over his body. Suddenly the Wolf saw his chance. With a sidestep to the left he gave his opponent a wide opening. The blue spirit did not hesitate and plunged his right sword through the Wolf. The thrust was so strong the sword went all the way in until the hilt stopped it. It was a killing blow. But the Wolf was not dead, not just yet. Realizing his mistake the blue spirit tried to disengage but was not fast enough. The Wolf's axe came hurtling down and with that the blue spirits left arm, some inch down from the elbow, was chopped off. Behind the blue mask the man screamed in pain.
The Wolf dropped the axe and grabbed hold on the enemy before him. With great force the Wolf smashed his forehead in to blue spirits mask. One and the mask cracked. Two and half the mask fall off. Three and the nose under the remaining mask was smashed. Four and the remaining mask fell off. Five and a cheekbone cracked. Six and teeth rained down on the ground. Seven and the jaw broke. Eight and the man swallowed his tongue. The Wolf broke the man's neck like twig and looked down on the man beneath him, he was unrecognizable, not even a scar was visible in all that destruction. The Wolf took the sword that was still imbedded in his body and, with an inhumanly act of will, pulled it out. He tossed it down on the dead man before him. Then he turned and walked slowly back toward the dead girl.
With a groan Sokka laid down beside Azula and gathered her in his arms. "Let's rest for a little while my love." He whispered softly but kindly to the dead girl in his arms. He draw his last breath holding the love of his life, still smiling. But now his smile was just sad and nothing more.
§§
Author note:
Sokka can be really badass!:)
I have to give a lot of credit to Author Joe Abercrombie and his book series: The First Law.
Greed will also be a bit bloody but great (in my humble opinion). Sloth and Pride will not be as graphic violent as this one. Not at all actually.
I will now continue writing on my other story Opposite Elements for a while. I have a chapter that are dying to be written and published. I hope you check that story out. It is not as grim as this one but interesting on its own terms.
