Yeah, fair warning: this chapter really earns the M rating. And not in the sexy way (because she's ten, people). So, yeah, major gore. Skip the last half of this chapter if that's an issue.
To continue the topic of the M rating, this story probably won't have sex in it. I'm as virginal as they come, and I'm incapable of writing erotica, let alone tasteful erotica. So if there's sex, it will only be implied.
Anyway, on to the adventures of Katara and friends! And by adventures, I mean all the horrible shit that's gonna go down from this chapter onward. Enjoy!
Katara quickly decided that, of all the places she had been imprisoned, she liked the compound best.
The food was the best she had been given in years, hearty and nutritious. Having spent so long with only rice and dry, tasteless biscuits, Katara ate herself sick.
She was not allowed to take her meal with the others, and normally would have been made to in an empty cell. Instead, upon Hama's request, she ate with her. They were not trusted around the drinks of other prisoners. Katara, thrilled to meet another Southern Waterbender, was actually grateful for the privacy.
Hama sat at her desk, and she took her place on the rug, at the feet of her village elder, as all Water Tribe children were expected to when requesting guidance or wisdom. An adult's place was to stand respectfully, but she would not have to worry about that until she turned sixteen.
Hama interrogated her about the state of the tribe, and Katara answered every question she could, unspeakably grateful for the chance to reminisce without grief. In turn, she begged Hama to teach her about Waterbending, and the Puppetmaster agreed just as eagerly.
"Have you had any training, child?" Hama asked.
"No," Katara admitted, looking down at her clasped hands, "There was no one left, and I was taken when I was eight."
"Did our sister tribe not offer to teach you?"
"They don't leave the north," she said, confused.
Hama's face turned bitter and melancholy. "Typical."
Katara said nothing, though the resignation in Hama's tone made her wonder, for the first time, if there was something strange about their sister tribe's willful isolation.
"Well, no matter. This leads to the first lesson that I will teach you, Katara: a bender must rely upon themselves before any other. To expect anyone else to protect you, even your own people, is suicide."
When curfew arrived, Katara followed the guard to the main hall without protest. Hama had told her a lot, and her mind was whirling with uncertainty.
The hall was where the vast majority of prisoners slept. The more dangerous ones, like Hama, were isolated from the rest, although to Katara that seemed more like a perk than anything else.
The newcomers were sleeping side by side, with a noticeable distance between them and the other inmates, and Katara headed towards them, eager to talk to Chen. She was curious to see that, with the exception of her group, the other prisoners slept as far away from each other as possible.
Katara laid her threadbare bedroll beside her friend, who offered her a smile that was difficult to discern in the dark. Guards were patrolling the room, so she said nothing, but she made sure to squeeze Chen's hand before drifting off into an uneasy slumber.
"GET UP, YOU BASTARDS," a guard roared, startling Katara awake. She rolled off her bedding, onto the chilly metal floor, and jumped to her feet before she fully registered what was going on. Beside her, Chen was sitting up stiffly, blinking wide, dazed green eyes. All around them, prisoners were rolling up their bedding and lining up in the hallway. The newcomers looked around uncertainly and then copied them.
Katara was heading towards the line with Chen when a rough hand gripped her shoulder and spun her around.
"Oh, no you don't, Waterbender," the guard growled. One of her eyes was missing, a wide horizontal scar bisecting the socket. "You're coming with me."
Katara shot her friend a trepidatious look before she was yanked away down another hallway. The guard eventually shoved her into an unoccupied cell and slammed the door. Katara would have wondered if she had done something wrong, but the object in the center of the room had taken her full attention.
Water! A tub of glorious, glorious water awaited her, and Katara darted forward with a cry of glee. She had not bent in years, but when she reached out with her chi and pulled, it felt as natural as breathing. Water whirled clumsily around her, splashing the walls and the floor, separating into globes and then soaking back into one large stream. In the middle of the chaos, Katara danced, and smiled so hard her cheeks hurt.
She soon realized that she was meant to bathe, not play, when she noticed a bar of soap lying nearby. It thrilled her almost as much as the water had. She had not had access to soap her entire time in the Waterbending prison.
Katara stripped and lathered herself up, swirling the water around her body and hair to wash the suds away. Her lack of control meant that more of it ended up on the floor than on her, and she soon had to drop it back into the tub to avoid losing all of it and rinsed herself the normal way.
The scarred guard banged on the door. "Time's almost up! If you're not ready in three minutes I'll drag you into the arena naked myself!"
Katara's good mood came to an abrupt and messy end. She didn't doubt that the guard would make good on her threat. Hama had let her know exactly how vicious their captors could be, and Katara had her own years of experience that added credence to their claims.
She dressed in the new prison uniform they had provided, kicking her old one aside without regrets. The clothes worn by duelists were much more comfortable, and she even got boots! They were made of leather, and not the soft hide used in the water tribe, but they were durable and fit her fairly well. She didn't get socks, but her feet were so calloused from years spent barefoot that it hardly mattered.
Katara had been about to tie her hair into its customary braid when the guard barged in and yanked her unceremoniously out the door. She resigned herself to a day spent with her hair in her face, and resolved to get ready quicker next time.
She was hustled through the halls, tripping a couple times, although a good meal and a good night's sleep on real bedding had done wonders for her strength. She was shoved into Hama's cell, along with a hearty breakfast and two cups of steaming tea.
"So they mean to make you fight today," Hama muttered, brow creased and eyes dark. Katara blinked, surprised. "They always have the newcomers fight soon after they arrive, and you are a Waterbender. It's no wonder they're rushing it. The vultures have been anticipating it for weeks."
She recalled the excited people on the streets, eager to get a look at them and take bets. "But I don't know how to fight. Not really," she said anxiously. What if she lost? Would she be punished?
"They won't pit you against other benders. Not so early on. You'll be fighting criminals."
Katara gulped. That was worse! The benders were just regular people who had been taken from their homes, but the criminals were likely violent and dangerous. And they were Fire Nation, on top of all that.
Hama saw her apprehension, and smiled. "It is unwise to underestimate an opponent, but it is also unwise to let fear shackle you. Eat your porridge, but leave the tea. I will teach you some basic defense."
She forgot all about her fear. She was going to learn from a Waterbending master! Katara wolfed down her food, while Hama ate at a more sedate pace. She drew patterns in the air with the steam from their drinks, drawing delighted noises from her young cellmate.
Once her bowl was clean, Hama stood, a strangely fluid movement for such an old woman. Katara scrambled to copy her, unable to quash her eager grin.
"A bender's body is their finest weapon, and their element is an extension of that. Water is, first and foremost, a tool to protect yourself. Do not hesitate to keep yourself from harm, by any means necessary.
"Your objective in the upcoming duel is to keep yourself safe. Strike only when necessary. Use your opponent's movements against them. Water is the element of redirection, and that is the principle upon which combative Waterbending is based. Now, I will send the tea to you, and you must turn my force back upon me."
Hama brought up two streams of tea from their cups, condensed them, and sent a globe of liquid flying to her. Katara reached out, but when she took it into her control and tried to send it back, it just splashed everywhere.
"Oh no!" Katara yelped, but Hama was already bringing the tea back up from where it had soaked into the rug.
"Do not push, Katara. Catch. Catch, and send it back to me," she said, and sent it toward her again. This time, she managed to whirl the tea in an arc, and send it back in a wobbly stream.
"I did it!" she exclaimed.
"Yes, good job. Now work on making it smoother, and adding your own force instead of depending on mine. Try to hit me with it. We aren't playing catch. Your goal is to overwhelm your opponent so that they are forced to fall back."
Hama was a patient but firm teacher, drilling Katara again and again until she could do it without thinking about it. She gradually added force with each successful return, until it was flowing constantly around them both in a fragrant blur. Katara dropped the tea several times, but Hama just collected it each time and told her to try again.
Even though Katara was trying to hit her with all her might, she never got a single drop on her teacher's clothes. In contrast, Hama was going incredibly easy on her, turning each impact into a gentle splash every time she broke through Katara's defenses.
"You're a natural, little nuusiq," Hama complemented, once she had deemed Katara's redirection adequate. The nickname gave her pause, but she was proud to have earned both it and her elder's praise. "It takes most new students days to get this proficient at this exercise, and you have done it within hours."
"It's probably because of how old I am, compared to when you started," she demurred, flushing happily nevertheless.
"Do not sell your skills short. You are very bright."
"Thank you, teacher," Katara grinned, and Hama graced her with a gentle smile.
"Do you think that you can attack with such force with your water at a standstill?"
"Yes!"
"Show me."
By the time lunch arrived, Katara could jet water with bruising force, and spray shards of ice in a wide arc. Hama assured her that accuracy would come with practice. Her ice, once it met with the wall, clattered harmlessly to the ground, whereas her teacher's was thrown hard enough to shatter on impact and even left marks on the metal.
There was a tentative knock at the door, and Hama gave them permission to enter. A hulking guard with shoulders three times wider than Katara's skulked in, paling at the sight of the tea hovering between her teacher's hands, her fingers curled like claws. He set the tray on her desk deferentially, then lingered at the doorway.
"What?" Hama snapped, and he quailed.
"Um . . . w-we will be taking the girl after she eats, in preparation for the match."
"You will do no such thing." The Puppetmaster's voice was colder than her homeland. "She will be staying with me until she is to be sent out into the arena."
"I-I will inform the head guard o-of your wishes," he stuttered, and fled.
"Disgusting," she muttered, and then turned to Katara with a smile. "Eat up, dear. You need to rest, so that you will be at your peak when you are in the arena."
"Thanks," Katara said cautiously. "I mean, I'll probably lose, anyway, so — "
"You will not lose," Hama hissed, leaning down and gripping her shoulders hard enough to leave bruises. "You are the last Waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe, and my pupil. You will do whatever you must in order to win. You must not lose. Do you understand?!" She shook her a little.
"Yes," Katara squeaked. She suddenly understood why this woman was so feared. "I won't lose."
"You won't," Hama said firmly, and they ate lunch in silence.
The time came for her to be taken to the arena, and, despite the twisting feeling in her gut, Katara was almost relieved. Although Hama had soon reverted to an amiable village elder, she still felt uneasy, and their conversation had been little more than a lecture on the spiritual side of bending while Katara nodded along mutely, worried that she might anger her again if she said anything wrong.
Once the cell door was shut and locked behind them, the male guard from before seemed a lot more intimidating. He seemed almost embarrassed that she had witnessed his fright, and made sure to treat her roughly as he manhandled her to join the seven other benders who had arrived to the capital with her. They stood in a tight cluster behind a pair of huge iron doors. The scarred woman from before, who was watching the other benders, sent her a nasty grin.
"What exactly are we supposed to do?" the boy who had gotten angry at her and Chen whispered.
"It's probably like a bending match back home," the middle aged man who had insulted her tribe said. "Just gotta knock the other guy out of the ring."
Beside her, Chen was trembling. Katara put a comforting hand on her shoulder and murmured, "We'll be fine, Chen. I'll keep you safe."
Chen stared at her for a moment, and she realized that it was the first time that she had spoken in front of her. Then her hand crept up to cover Katara's own, and she offered her a watery smile.
"Listen up, maggots," the huge male guard roared, silencing them, and then directed their attention to the scarred guard standing by the door.
"This will be a team duel. Your opponents are non-benders, so they've been provided with weapons." There was a ripple of unease among them. Chen stepped closer to Katara's side. "The match ends when one team wins."
"How . . . how do we win?" the teenage girl asked cautiously.
The guard grinned. It was an ugly thing, twisted and malicious, gaping like her missing eye. "You kill your opponents," she said simply, and the doors began to open.
The arena was vast, a long oval three times the size of a Fire Nation ship, the ground covered in sand. A huge dome of gridded steel loomed overhead, presumably to protect the audience if a duelist got any ideas. The stands were even larger than the dome, holding hundreds of spectators, though Katara had no doubt that they could seat well over a thousand. A red box, marked with the crest of the royal family, sat at the center of one side of the oval. It was empty.
On their end was a pile of boulders and a huge metal trough of water. Katara felt a spark of excitement, despite herself. It was quickly quelled when she spotted the rack of weapons on the other side, and the rough, vicious-looking people approaching it. Due to their milling around and her sudden, sickening fear, it was hard to count how many, but she guessed eight; one enemy for each bender. If they were non-benders, that meant they were in here for actual serious crimes, and likely wouldn't show any hesitation to hurt them.
There was a roar that started up as soon as they stepped out, followed by a spurt of booing and cruel laughter when the benders clumped together, dazed and disbelieving.
A solid young man from their side stepped forward and assumed a bending stance, yelling, "Snap out of it! They're coming!"
And they were coming. As soon as they selected their weapons, the criminals started to stalk forward with bloodthirsty grins. They obviously didn't see them as much of a threat. Even as she raced toward the water, heart in her throat, Katara noticed that they weren't in any sort of formation. She had assumed that warriors always worked in a cohesive unit, as they had in every fight she'd ever witnessed, both in the tribe and the Fire Nation, but apparently that wasn't the case.
As the other benders fanned out, she noticed Chen and the boy hanging back, hiding behind the pile of boulders. They both looked terrified. Katara was tempted to join them, but she had seen violence before, had seen how horribly it could end, and she knew exactly what would happen if she didn't fight back. So she ignored her trembling hands, her pounding heart, and the tears in her eyes.
She was the last Southern Waterbender. She would protect them.
Katara pulled as much water as she could around her, feeling marginally safer in its cool embrace. Their opponents paused; another roar of excitement went up from the crowd at the sight of the rumored Waterbender. The young man took the opportunity to send a boulder flying into the other team's midst while all were focused on her, and then they all exploded into action.
A man with two long knives charged at her. Almost sobbing with fear, she sent a jet of water that knocked him off his feet, then encased his torso and limbs in ice. The spectators shouted indistinctly for blood, but Katara stumbled back, relief making her knees go weak.
All around her, the Earthbenders were joining the fight, pushing their opponents back. They pulled their punches when it counted, but Katara began to believe that there was a chance they would survive this.
And then the first bender died.
It was the middle aged man. He died with a gurgling shriek, his neck messily slashed by a woman with a katana. The benders stopped, shocked, and the non-benders surged forward, cutting down two more of her teammates and pushing them all back.
Another bender turned tail and ran, joining Chen behind the rocks. The only ones left to fight were Katara and the young man, versus six criminals. (Katara had frozen one, and the teenage girl, now bleeding into the sand, had crushed the legs of another.) The young man sent her a desperate look and launched himself into the fray.
Katara ran to follow, determined to help even as she sobbed. She pulled up more water into a massive wall to shield them both. The only other bender sent her a grateful glance and proceeded to shove and kick boulders through her makeshift shield, forcing her to work constantly to reform it. One rock met its mark with a sickening crunch, crushing a non-bender into a mess of blood and broken bone, and Katara dropped their barrier when she used her water to smack another into the arena wall. He slid down into the sand and didn't get up again.
A scream of pain came from behind them, and she realized with a feeling like being punched in the stomach that a few of the criminals had decided to go after the easy prey, still hiding behind the rocks. In her panic, she turned and ran, leaving the young man to confront two non-benders on his own so that she could go after the other pair.
One of the three benders that had run instead of fighting, a middle aged woman, was already dead. The boy her own age was bleeding profusely from a wound in his side that would likely prove fatal. Chen was cowering against the doors, fingers bloody from scratching futilely at the metal. A woman loomed above her, raising her odachi to deliver a killing blow.
With a furious screech, she launched a humongous wave, knocking her backwards and freezing her feet together. Chen turned towards her, mouth opening to shout a warning —
Something thudded into her and tore her shoulder open, sending her flying. The pain was unreal, and she was vaguely aware of the man who'd attacked her swinging back a studded club to hit her again — and then a rock flew through the air and smacked into his skull, throwing him to the ground and likely concussing him.
"Chen," Katara gasped. Her friend had saved her life.
Chen smiled tremulously, tears pouring down her cheeks, and bent to help her up. But then the man with the club lurched to his feet and charged them once again. Katara knew that the next blow would be for Chen, who was completely defenseless while supporting her. Her mind went blank and, without consciously considering what she was doing, she moved.
Before she knew it, she was forcing her hand into his stomach and up into his ribcage, her fingers sheathed in razor sharp blades of ice. Katara's arm was suddenly encased in soft, squishy flesh. She could feel his pumping heart against her palm. Something warm and foul-smelling spurted onto her face, catching Chen, who was still pressed to her side, as well. The man gurgled and dropped his club, losing the strength in his legs. Katara was pulled down with him, her arm plunged almost shoulder-deep in his body, his muscles tensed around the intrusion like a vise. Frightened and disgusted, she yanked her hand out with a moist squelch. Her frozen claws caught in his intestine on the way out, partially disemboweling him in the process.
Chen dropped to her knees and vomited, and she was quick to follow, only barely missing the corpse. Blinking blood and tears from her eyes, she looked up and saw the utter carnage they had wrought.
Blood was splattered everywhere, over sand, walls, rocks, ice, and even the dome. People lay dead and dying all around her. Someone had crushed the head of the man she had frozen. The young bender she had fought beside was going around and slitting throats with a salvaged knife, ensuring that all of the opposing duelists were dead or well on their way there. The rest of her team already was.
The stench was horrendous. She realized that the dome and the height of the stands were probably meant to protect the audience from that, too. They got all of the glamour of violence, with none of the mess. The sounds of shouting filtered through the pounding of her pulse in her ears, and she realized that they were cheering.
In the remnants of her first duel, Katara clung to Chen and wept.
Nuusiq: knife
So, yeah. That happened. To a ten-year-old.
oh god I'm an awful person
It's a little unrealistic, but people are capable of a lot in a life-or-death situation. Besides, Katara's already gone through over two years of hell at this point, so she's got a lot of fortitude already. And it's already been established in the show that she's basically a prodigy, able to become a master within months, and that wasn't even in a situation where she was constantly fighting for her life. I hope that excuses her quickly learned bending prowess, even if it is more raw power than anything else.
Edited July 22, 2018. Mostly just to make the gore a little more true-to-life, because I'm gross like that, but also to more accurately foreshadow some of the things I hope to explore later on in the fic.