Note:
Hey guys! I am so so soooo sorry this took me a couple weeks. Next week is my last week of school, so hopefully once I'm done with it, I will be able to update regularly, possibly with longer chapters even. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this little bit of a filler from the first couple days of the kidnapping. Next chapter will be about the third day, and let me say, shit will go down (insert evil laughter here). Stay tuned for next week (I will get to it on time, I PROMISE)!
P.S. I'm also sorry for any typos xP
Day 1:
Korra could only remember one thing when she awoke in the cell: Asami was gone. Panicked by her unfamiliar surroundings, the tan woman desperately tried to whip herself around and run towards the door, but she was chained. The metal that held her down to the floor was pure and extremely heavy, indicating it was platinum, which is unbendable by anyone.
She quickly scanned her surrounding of the small, confined box. Its walls were also solid metal, and there was only a small slit at the top of the hinged door, just enough for eyes to peer through. Looking down at her restrained limbs, Korra found herself entirely covered with cuffs that bolted her to the box with only enough give so that she could move a couple of inches at the most.
There was a low growl outside of the box that alerted the young woman. Her muscles tensed, ready to defend herself from whatever was outside. The faint sound of men arguing made its way to the box, but their voices were too muted to be able to determine their dispute. Adrenaline pushed itself through the Avatar's body, forcing her energy and senses to spike intensely. She became aware of everything around her: the smell of the old, rotting wood; the bitter air; and the taste of iron that filled her tongue. She licked her lips, trying to get rid of the blood that covered some of her upper lip. The blood had reminded her of the thoughts she'd discarded when the men outside started to argue. Asami. She could only recall the radio call, the sound of the someone's hand coming in contact with the raven haired beauty's skin. The remembrance brought her grief; it rolled over like a tsunami, washing away the joy and fun they had last night.
Thinking back last night, Korra could remember the slight details of her captor. He wore a hood that shaded his eyes, a green Earth Empire uniform, and had a radio slung over his right shoulder. He appeared no older than in his late twenties. The man that had taken her hostage stood slightly taller than her, probably just as tall as Asami. Asami. Korra fell into a daydream, thinking of the woman she loved. A tear fell from one of her eyes; it slowly slithered down her cheek, leaving behind a trail of salt.
Nothing came over the thoughts of her girlfriend, the woman she loved. Korra would never let them hurt Asami, but she was in no position to promise that. Slowly gathering up her strength and self-confidence, the Water Tribe girl brought herself to make an escape plan, instead of sulking and throwing herself down about her girlfriend. A devious look crossed her face, showing half anger and half duplicity.
When the man finally returned to his post after the long debate, he opened the small box in the door and distributed a cup of water to Korra. As he peered through the looking hole, he could see the Avatar, hunched over in a ball near the corner of the platinum box. She looked broken; her eyes were puffy from crying, her shoulders were slumped over, hiding her body, and her whole body in general looked weak.
In a soft tone, the man gently asked her, "are you going to take the water, or should I just leave out here for some other time?"
Korra only responded with a weak look. Her sharp blue eyes were half opened, and her eye lids drooped over them, giving the man a look that only showed her weak side.
"Look," he said, "I don't want to have you or her hurt at all, but if you don't cooperate with us, he's going to force you to. I'm not much for violence. We're quite opposites, actually, despite us being brothers. The name's Quang, by the way. I already know your name, Avatar Korra. I'm sorry it's come to this, that we're meeting each other this way." He looked down from the broken figure that lay in the cell, staring at his feet. "I just think the world will be better once the President is gone. He's caused you some trouble, too, in the past from what I hear."
There was a silence for a few seconds, almost like the guard was expecting her to reply. Korra broke the quietness with a soft grunt and huff.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," he let out a soft chuckle, "You know, once this is all over, the world will be a better place. Having a presidents is almost like having a king or queen, but he's elected by the people. Once in power, he controls everything. Republic City will be better off under the command of the United Earth Republic and its leaders. The Red Lotus was on the right path of taking down world leaders, but they were wrong to leave a whole nation under no control. There needs to be a council that governs everything, multiple people to make choices instead of one. You get what I'm saying?" He looked up again at Korra, hoping for a response. He only got silence. She was a prisoner after all, let alone the enemy, but Quang never saw her that way. He always pictured her as a leader but as one of the world leaders, instead of one power-hungry individual.
"So, Quang," her voice was soft and somewhat shaky, "what happens with all the other world leaders, like Firelord Izumi? Why Republic City and not one of the major nations?"
"Republic City is just the first stop. The Fire Nation is next, then the Water Tribes."
"You can't just go around and start killing all the nations' leaders!" Her voice had some hidden power within that made its presence in her tone. "Look, the world is finally at balance, but now, you're just bringing back the unbalance. As the Avatar, I should be the one to bring balance the world, not you. This is my job, and I think I've done a pretty decent job at it."
"Our ideas of balance are different. I find that balance means everyone has the right to do lead themselves. That's why I joined the Red Lotus. My brother was in Kuvira's army, and after both Zaheer and Kuvira went down, my brother and I both found harmony within their beliefs. The Earth Empire needs to be stabilized, which means Republic City needs to join it again, and the whole world doesn't need one leader for each nation. It just needs to have people who just live by their own rules and the basic rules of multiple elected leaders."
Korra hissed back at him, "That makes no sense. You want there to be nations, but no one leader or elected leader? Won't that just be the same as electing one leader?"
"It may sound weird at the moment, but once we reach our goals, you will see."
With those last words, he walked out of the room, leaving the Avatar in silence. She sat, thinking what this new group wanted. It didn't make complete sense to her. Was there a real difference between an elected leader and multiple elected leaders? Also, didn't Raiko have a council himself?
Korra was still sitting stiffly on the cold, metal floor. Her thoughts ran deep, causing her to slip into a hazy drift: half asleep and half awake. This brought her to the decision that meditation would be the best thing she could do, while trapped in a metal box. She was at peace.
Day 2:
Asami was tightly tied to the wooden chair that creaked with even just the smallest movement. There were two people in the room, rummaging through packs and looking for supplies. Asami decided to test their focus on her. She slowly shifted her weight to her right side, causing the chair beneath her to let out a small squeak. No one looked up from her. She then moved her weight to the left, and the chair let out another small sound. Still no response. Speeding things up a bit, Asami started a rhythmic shifting of side to side, making the wood under her to creak more loudly. One of the men's gazes crept from the bag to Asami. Letting out a small grunt, he stared her down until she stopped. Once again the room fell silent.
After a few minutes of sitting completely quiet, Asami tried to test them again. The pale woman tense herself and tugged up, allowing herself to haul the chair an inch off the ground. The bottom of the chair's legs smacked into the hard pavement of the cellar, and the wood throughout it let out a large groan. This time, both men pivoted their full attention to the tied heiress, their faces showing their impatience.
"I swear. One more time I hear a noise from you, I'll make sure you'll never be able to make another sound again. I'll smash you into pieces," the man from before spat. His hands curled into tight fists.
Asami only pulled up a brow, exhibiting that she was not at all intimidated. "What? I can't shuffle myself over to get that water on the table?" She nodded her head at a cup sitting on the table in front of her.
"You should've just said so," the man replied as he trudged over to the cup of water lying on the edge of the table. He held it to her mouth. "Here."
With her eyes still attached to the man's stare, her lips elegantly crept over to the edge of the cup to take a sip. Satisfied with her quenched thirst, she pulled away. The man peeled himself from her gaze and turned to rest the cup back on the surface. He made his way back to the other man and started sorting through the supplies again.
The heiress concluded her studies: they would respond to obvious sounds. For now, she had to sit, quietly, for the next who knows how long: minutes or hours, possibly even the whole day. There wasn't anything that she could do at the moment to figure a good escape plan. All she could do was sit and think, hoping nothing would happen for the next few hours at least.
