A/N: I often use music to inspire my writing, and wrote the portal scene while listening to the song Child of the Elder Blood from the Witcher 3 soundtrack. If you wish to enhance your reading experience, you can find the song on Spotify and YouTube.
Katara sprung to her feet, Lu Da snatching up his crossbow, and the sudden burst of movement betrayed them. Lady Luck had given them a moment's advantage. But it wasn't enough. All five guards turned, quickly shifting into the offensive.
Thrusting her arms out, Katara curled her fingers and rendered three of the guards paralyzed, but a fourth was already stomping a mass of earth up from the ground to her wrists, binding them together in manacles. She yelped and tried to jump back but the earth swallowed up her feet and Katara fell to the ground hard.
"They're here!" a male guard bellowed. "We have them!"
In a single beat, Lu Da nocked an arrow, quick as a breath, the shrill scrape of metal as Ozai lunged with his blade. The guard ducked back but Ozai sliced him shallow across the arm just before earth shackles bound his legs and arms, sent him buckling to his knees. An arrow hissed, sinking into a female guard's chest, another straight through a second guard's eye socket, gore splattering, a gut-churning scream piercing the air. Lu Da nocked another arrow as a chunk of rock sent the weapon hurtling from his hands. It landed several feet away and Lu Da sprinted toward it just as the ground came up to engulf him waist-down.
A guttural growl rumbled as the three remaining guards advanced and in a flash Lady Luck sprung into attack, bowling a guard over, her powerful jaws coming down on his shoulder, wrenching and tearing. The guard screamed and Katara's earth manacles crumbled. In the span of a breath, she was on her feet, arms outstretched, and the guards froze in their tracks, eyes widening an instant before rolling back in their heads. They hit the ground in a series of thuds.
Ozai and Lu Da shot to their feet, the captain seizing his crossbow, Ozai grabbing the satchels as they tore into a sprint. A ruckus of shouts rose up behind them not far behind and Katara's stomach sank. There were more guards. And they had just found their fallen comrades. It wouldn't be hard to know which direction they'd run, and now Katara had added attacking Earth Kingdom guards to her expanding list of crimes.
"The Matriarch. The portal," Lu Da shouted between panting breaths as they ran. "We go there now, open this bitch while we can."
"No," Ozai huffed. "We still haven't found the Sunstone."
"Forget that. We have guards hot on our trail, we can find the Sunstone later. This might be our best chance, maybe our only chance, and if we're right about the Matriarch being a portal we only need the Earthstone and the Windstone right now – 'when earth and air embrace.'"
Katara's legs were on fire, the air sawing in and out of her lungs as they ran and ran, not daring to stop. She glanced to Ozai, saw the conflicted knit of his brow.
"You know I'm right. If we succeed, this clusterfuck'll be half-over," urged Lu Da.
Faint shouts drifted on the air. Katara risked a glance over her shoulder and saw nothing but empty moors. But it wouldn't be empty for much longer.
"I don't think we have much choice," Katara panted, and Ozai finally nodded. They were nearing to the mountain range now. It was their best chance and the ridges could provide some cover.
They sprinted up the rocky mountainside, as quick as the loose rocks and moss-covered boulders would allow, clambering ever toward that strange peak, the aspect of a woman reaching toward the sky.
And in her breast, a path to the sun where earth and air embrace.
Breathless and aching, they reached a precipice and Lu Da gestured toward the highest point, not so far above their heads now.
"This should be it. The broad's chest, the portal."
Ozai took a step back, gaze sweeping from the side of the precipice up to the peak, and then nodded. He locked eyes with Katara and her insides knotted tight.
"This is it. Are you ready?"
Katara hesitated, her stomach hard as a stone.
Bloodbending was not the same as blood magic. She'd heard enough stories to know that it wasn't just tricky. It was dangerous. Blood was your essence, after all, your own unique fingerprint. A more orthodox ritual might carry your intent, your purpose, your focus and drive. But add blood to the mix, and it carried all that plus a piece of you. Even outside of your body, even after it dried, the blood was still you. Your signature. Using it for magic meant binding yourself to whatever it was.
"Katara." Ozai's deep voice drew her gaze, and she gulped down a breath. "This is what you agreed to."
"Ozai, give her a minute."
"Every minute we waste brings those guards closer and puts everything we've fought for at risk. Now… are you ready?"
She expelled a shaky breath. "Ready as I'll ever be."
Ozai drew his blade and handed it to her hilt-first. Katara took it, swallowing thick, staring down at the glinting steel in her hand for a long moment. There was a soft whine as Lady Luck nudged her head against Katara's side, and despite her fear, she smiled slightly.
"It's okay, girl," she said without an ounce of conviction, patting the dog's head once. And, taking a deep breath, she drove back the demons of fear and drew the blade across her palm, wincing as the cold metal bit deep.
"I bleed and surrender myself to the universe…" she recited tentatively, "…becoming one with its heart as it fills me. And from these roots I am thus unearthed."
Katara braced herself for something to happen, gazing around nervously, her muscles drawing tight. But not even the breeze seemed to change. She released a breath. Blood trickled down her wrist as Ozai took the dagger back and Lu Da handed her the two stones. He met her eyes with a solemn, bolstering look.
"You got this, chickadee," he said, squeezing her shoulders before stepping back.
She nodded, thankful for the gruff, warm-hearted captain's presence. With a deep breath, Katara locked the stones together. All at once, there was a faint tremor, traveling through her hands down to her feet, and the stones began to glow. Holding them tight, she began to bend ribbons of red through the air around them in three intricate spirals, the way the tablet had depicted. It was difficult at first, using her will and energy alone to manipulate the blood, but after a moment it became easier, almost effortless, like some invisible force were sustaining it. And finally, closing her eyes, she softly began to chant the inscription she'd memorized on the tablet.
"I call to earth to bind this plea, and air the swiftest travel be. Bright as fire may it gleam, deep as tide of water stream." A sudden wind picked up, tearing leaves off the spindly mountain trees and whipping the hair around her face. "Four seasons, four elements, four powers, four-fold. With the fifth I bind them and the magic will hold."
It began with a whisper. A dark echo in her head. Words in a tongue she couldn't understand, but a voice so noxious and full of malice it turned Katara's blood to ice, and soon more whispers joined, a harsh, hissing wave of sound that threatened to tear her head apart.
Like a dam breaking open, a surge of unthinkable terror and anguish and dread began pouring into her, filling her like a vessel, quickly spilling over the brim. Her heart was racing, her skin growing clammy. Rasping breaths cut quick and sawing from her lungs as her eyes grew wide.
The pain tore through her, its sudden grip blinding in its fury. Searing, fiery bursts pulsated through her veins, over her skin, and Katara couldn't feel the ground anymore, couldn't feel anything except the unbearable agony and horror, her racked body quivering, consciousness ebbing. Black mist churned at the edges of her mind and vision.
And Katara screamed.
.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.
Ozai's hackles rose up along his neck as he watched Katara's feet leave the ground, molten red cracks spiderwebbing under her skin, her veins glowing like threads of hot magma beneath. Her blue eyes were widened to whites, the smoldering red consuming them from the edges in until they were two blazing orbs of red. And suddenly a hair-raising scream ripped from her throat unlike anything he had ever heard. It split the air, tearing through him like shards of ice. And in an instant, Ozai slipped from nervous to downright terrified. For her. Of her.
Ribbons of blood, her blood, swirled chaotically around the stones clutched in her white-knuckled grip as she rose higher in the air, her spine arched, head thrown back, that terrible, unearthly scream cording the veins and tendons in her slender throat.
"Holy fucking hell…" Lu Da uttered on a breath, taking half a step back, his face drained of color. "This is gonna kill her. Ozai…"
Ozai could only watch in abject horror as the red beneath her skin continued to spread, like cracks splintering across a vase, blazing from her eyes and now her gaping, screaming mouth.
"We have to stop this," he heard the captain say. And despite what it would mean if they did, a part of Ozai wanted to stop it. The sight of it alone was harrowing – he could see no way the girl would possibly survive this and the thought hit him like a blow to the chest.
Katara was going to die. Dismay gripped him, the force of it catching him off guard, but there was no time to question it as the piercing, terrible scream stopped dead suddenly, as though strangled.
Ozai's ears were ringing in the stark quiet that followed. He watched, aghast, as Katara hung there, arched and suspended in mid-air. Eyes and mouth agape in silent terror or agony or both, ominous red light seething out, threaded beneath every inch of her skin. Along the side of the mountain wall, a vague arch began to glow, shading in to a deep, impenetrable black.
Without warning, Katara's body went limp, the red extinguished as quick as a flame, and suddenly she was plummeting toward the ground and the soaring drop below.
Lu Da shouted a curse just as Ozai shot forward, catching her a second before she hit the edge of the precipice. The jolt of the impact nearly sent them both over, and Ozai lost his footing, staggering back in counterbalance toward the mountain wall.
There was an odd snapping sensation around him, like a membrane rupturing, a darkness engulfing him, and before he could even register what happened, they were falling.
"Don't look so glum, Zuko," Aang said as they walked out of the war room. "This is good news."
Sokka glowered. "What part of this is good news, Aang?" he scolded, shaking his head, and Aang winced.
"Sorry, Sokka, that's not what I–"
"My sister helped the loser lord mug an old man last night to break into his shop, spirits know why, and there's already a bounty on her head. I wouldn't call that good news."
"It's not anything until we have them officially in custody," Zuko responded tightly.
"I'm just saying," Aang went on, "we should focus on the positive. You read what the letter said. Ozai and Katara were in Tiankong last night, and their trail was picked up this morning. Guards are homing in on them as we speak, it could be a matter of hours."
"They've given guards the slip before," he argued. "You focus on the positive, Aang, the rest of us'll keep our feet on the ground."
"I don't know, guys, I'm kinda feeling Twinkle Toes on this one."
Zuko arched a skeptical brow as they walked. "You, Toph?"
"Me, Sparky, and I'll tell you why. You know what Ozai's problem is?"
"No moral compass?" Aang suggested.
"Rotten parenting skills?" grumbled Zuko.
"That ugly chin leech he calls a beard?" Sokka chimed in.
"No–" She stopped short, held a finger to her lips in thought. "Actually, yes. All good answers. But, no. Single-minded, unbending determination, that's Ozai's problem."
"…How is that a problem, exactly?" Aang asked.
"Think about it. If there's one thing we know about the Father Lord, it's that he's incapable of giving up once he's set his mind to something. He'll fight tirelessly, tooth and nail, duck back and sidestep till the end of time, till he either wins or he dies. He's a power-hungry megalomaniac who doesn't know when to quit. And that, gentlemen, is about to be his downfall."
"Don't get cocky, they haven't been arrested yet, and–"
A terrible groan ricocheted off the halls. Zuko turned with a start to see Aang bowl over suddenly, clutching his abdomen, his face twisted.
"Aang!" he gasped, blinking wide. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know…" the boy slurred, his skin draining of color. "I don't… I don't feel right all of a sudden."
The paling boy swayed, then collapsed to his knees, one shaky arm keeping him from falling over completely, the other wrapped around his stomach. Zuko rushed over, Toph and Sokka at his side, wrapping his arms around Aang's torso to hold him up.
"Fetch the healers!" he barked to an alarmed servant. "Something's wrong with the avatar!"
.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.
The room was silent, the vast, heaviness of fear and confusion pressing in around them as the healers stepped back from the unconscious boy, shaking their bowed heads. Something was wrong with his energy, they had said. They had tried to bring him back. Over and over, they had tried. But his chi felt frayed, his spirit partially severed somehow, the way a damaged cord might unravel. They could give no explanation for the disturbing affliction.
In a grim, somber line, the healers filed out on the promise to try again later, leaving the rest of them to watch the sluggish rise and fall of Aang's chest in that strangling silence.
"I don't understand." Sokka's voice was hoarse under the weight of worry. "How could his energy be partially severed? What could possibly cause that to happen?"
Hakoda only shook his head in answer, exhaling the hope inside, Toph pinching the bridge of her nose. But Zuko's mind was awhirl, thoughts connecting like pieces of a puzzle. Dreadful, horrible thoughts as the memory of Ambassador Hato's discovery clicked into place.
"The pillars," Zuko breathed, his stomach hardening to ice. "No…"
Sokka turned, raised a brow. "Zuko?"
"You mean what Ambassador Hato told you about? Portals and pillars and stuff?" Toph asked, stepping toward him. The warrior boy looked at her, then at Zuko, the appalling realization dawning on his face.
"Wait. Didn't Hato say the cosmos and the avatar spirit are–"
"Directly linked and sustained by those pillars," Zuko grated. A dark cloud of dismay and rage and helplessness was building inside him as he stared at his lifeless friend, fists clenched, his head shaking slow. "My father's trying to wipe out the avatar for good."
All of them exchanged a horrified look. Sokka rubbed his temples, eyes squeezed shut.
"Okay, just… hold on. We don't know this is what's wrong with Aang. Right?" He held his hands out as though in petition. "You said the only way to open the portals without other benders was through a bloodbending ritual. Now, come on, guys, I admit Katara's done some bad things, but… she would never–"
"She did, Sokka," Zuko snapped. With a dark, gloom-ridden look, he continued quieter. "You know she did. One of the portals has been opened, which means one pillar's bond to the cosmos has been severed. Aang's spirit is withering. And the only way my father could have managed this is with Katara's help."
The warrior boy grimaced and hung his head, his shoulders slumping. Silence filled the room anew. Everyone was digesting those words, that hopelessness.
"I could never have imagined my daughter to do a thing so horrible," Hakoda rasped, his voice thick with grief. "What's happened to her? How could she do this, knowing what it would mean for her friend?"
Sokka looked up again. "What if she doesn't know?" he said, looking earnestly from face to face. "Ozai is a skilled liar, right? I have to believe that, even if Katara may have gone to him willingly, she would never agree to do something that would hurt Aang, or anyone else she loved, if she knew it."
"I agree," Hakoda nodded solemnly, placing a hand on his son's shoulder. "There's a missing piece here, and far as Katara's fallen, I believe there are some lines she simply wouldn't cross."
"Even if you're right, it makes no difference now. My father's already halfway there."
"There's gotta be a way to stop him. Didn't the report say guards were–" Toph began, but Zuko cut her off.
"Ozai has the stones and the tablet. The portal is open. And if they make it through the before guards get to them…" He swallowed through the tightness in his throat. "…Then all hope is gone."
"…Katara…"
darkness
…infinite…surrounding her…filling her…
agony
…deep…fathomless…engulfing…
"…Katara…"
terror
…unspeakable…strangling…devouring…
Katara gasped, eyes opening wide. The memory of pain, of fear and horror, flooded back in a torrent and she flailed, crying out.
"Katara! Stop, it's okay. It's over–"
She writhed and fought to sit up but the contents of her head didn't quite sit up with her. The edges of her blurred vision went dark, cold sweat beading over her skin, and her stomach rolled. She swayed forward, tipping toward the ground just as strong arms caught her fall. Her heart was racing, pounding hard against the wall of her chest.
It felt like an eternity before the world stopped spinning, before the last traces of fear receded and her thrashing heart began to slow, but when it finally did, Katara peeled her aching eyes open and found herself wrapped in those arms… and looking up at Ozai.
Butterflies rose from the ashes to flutter faintly in her stomach. A soft sigh passed her lips. She didn't have the energy to crush the butterflies back down and helplessly felt warmth bloom over her clammy skin. A tight swallow told her that he noticed. But he didn't move to put her down.
Ozai's eyes flitted over her face warily, as though she were a serpent, yet unsure whether she might be dangerous.
"Are you... all right?"
"I think so," she managed, her heavy eyes blinking long. "Just weak."
His golden gaze traveled down her arm to her hand, still oozing generously with blood. Shifting her against one muscular arm, Ozai lifted her wrist, inspecting the cut on her palm. Slowly, he helped her sit up, and when she was steady he pulled back, still holding her wrist in one hand, and removed the sash from his chaofu with the other. They were still wearing their formal attire, she realized. His strong hands were unexpectedly soft and gentle as Ozai wrapped the fabric around her palm carefully, securing it with a knot. Goosebumps fanned out from his touch and Katara suppressed a shiver. When he was finished, she drew her arm back and hugged it to her stomach, hoping he hadn't noticed.
Turning to reach into the satchel, Ozai brought out the canteen and uncorked it, holding it out to her.
"Drink. It might help with the fatigue."
Katara took it gratefully, downing a few shallow gulps before handing it back. She gazed around the cool, vast darkness. Monotone shades of rock surrounded them as far as she could see, distant notes of fluorescent light emanating from somewhere out of sight. Her voice cracked, hoarse and brittle. "Where are we? What happened?"
Ozai studied her, his voice thrumming in her breast. "…You don't remember?"
Katara didn't want to remember. She could still feel the memory of that burning, splitting pain, hear those terrible voices, their horrifying words echoing in her head.
"I remember the pain. I remember screaming." She shuddered and shook her head. "Where's Lu Da?"
Ozai's lips pressed tight and he looked down, frowning. "On the other side. He was supposed to come."
"What do you mean?"
"The portal. We stumbled into it when I caught you." She searched his eyes bewilderedly, and he must have seen the question there. "You were… in the air. Hanging there, and nearly went over the side of the mountain when you fell. The portal closed behind us."
Katara swallowed. Hanging in the air… "Where are we now?"
"I don't know. We need to find a way out. Can you stand?"
Ozai stood first and extended a hand down to her. She took it and he clasped her arm with the other, helping her to her feet slowly. No sooner had she stood than the world began to tilt, all her blood running down into her feet. Katara felt queasy again and she listed forward, her wilting body collapsing against Ozai as his arms came up on impulse to grasp her. Distantly, she felt him tense as he all but embraced her, but Katara could only lean against him, arms limp where they caught on his, her strength extinguished quick as a flame in a breeze.
Eyes squeezed shut, breaths quick and shallow, she tried to focus on the feel of the ground beneath her feet, the feel of Ozai's strong body steadying her. Focused on the soothing cadence filling her head, the deep rhythmic beating of his heart where her cheek was pressed to his solid chest. All of it finally grounding her, bringing the spinning world to a slow stop.
When her balance returned, Katara lifted her head, still braced in his arms, and looked up. She drew in a breath and blushed furiously as their eyes met, his arms stiffening where they wrapped around her middle, both of them frozen.
"I– I just felt so dizzy," she sputtered, her face burning as she looked down quickly and tried to gather her strength.
His voice was cool, like a deep, dark lake, and if she heard a hint of a tremor there, she was sure she'd imagined it.
"I suppose I'll have to take your word on that, seeing as how you have a good reason."
Katara breathed an awkward almost-laugh, not sure whether he was being snide or not. With as much strength as she could muster, she did her best to pull away and stand up fully. Despite the cool air around her, Katara's skin felt warm as Ozai's hands lingered on either side, prepared if she were to fall again.
She didn't, thank the spirits, and when she was finally steady, Ozai quickly pulled back, taking an ample step away from her and slinging the satchel over his shoulder. Katara shuffled behind him as they crept along the ridge toward the faint blue-green glow.
Pebbles shifted under their feet, the sound an intrusion in the heavy silence. Every step echoed off the dense stone walls of the cave, the mineral tang of rock so thick in the air she could taste it. As they reached the end of a very large outcropping, Katara inhaled a lungful of that dank, mineral air, her mouth falling open.
It was a yawning, soaring cathedral of rock, illuminated by clusters of massive glowing mushrooms in fluorescent shades of greens and blues. Motes of dust drifted idly in the stagnant air, catching the light in little specks of glitter.
Above her head, several long, wafting streaks scored the darkness like thin rays of starlight and Katara looked up, stepping back with a gasp. A giant jellyfish glided down in front of her, luminous and moving through the air with graceful, hypnotic strokes. Two more floated out from a large pillar of stone further away, and at least one more in the distance, their enormous, opalescent forms aglow like sleepy, wandering moons.
"What… What is this place?"
Ozai only shook his head faintly, saying nothing at all. Katara raised an eyebrow, studying him with growing disbelief as the realization began to settle in her gut.
"Wait. You didn't know where the portal would take us." It wasn't a question and Ozai's bearing hardened in defense.
"There's no literature on the matter, I combed it all. I assumed it might just lead to the other portal…"
"Well, obviously that assumption was wrong," she scoffed. Ozai turned to her with a scornful glare.
"What a misfortune that ritual didn't weaken your tongue as well."
She returned his glare with one of her own. "We could be trapped here forever, this place is endless."
"Then I'd say we better get started."
Katara grumbled a sigh and shook her head, but held her tongue as she followed him down the long slope of the ledge to the ground below.
The mushrooms were even larger than she'd first thought, towering over them now like broad trees, bathing the cavern in an ethereal turquoise light. Katara walked slowly, gazing up in awe at the gills of those radiant blue and green caps, at the oversized jelly-creatures gliding dreamily overhead. It was like a scene out of one of the fairytale books she'd loved as a child. Almost too beautiful to be true.
"Which way do you think we should go?" she asked, pivoting slowly, searching for the tiniest hint of external light. The stone cathedral seemed to stretch infinitely in every direction, each passage fading into eventual darkness. Ozai gestured straight ahead.
"We'll try this way."
She followed him slowly, gazing around in wonder. Ribbons of opaline tentacles sailed softly past and, unthinking, Katara reached up, her fingertips grazing the silky strands. A sharp, burning jolt shot up her arm and she yanked it back with a cry.
Pausing, Ozai turned to her, cocking his head in a scoffing look. "Jellyfish."
He said the word the way another might say "idiot" and Katara shot him a dirty look. She didn't retort, feeling foolish as she clutched her stinging hand, and making a mental note not to touch any more exotic glowing things as she trailed behind him.
They passed a still pool of water, appearing aglow from within, reflecting the ethereal light. A sudden ripple broke its calm surface, just the top of a reptilian head emerging. A pair of bulging, shifty eyes watched them suspiciously, two nostrils flaring wide at the end of a flat snout. Katara took a step toward the edge of the pool, leaning closer to get a better look, when it dipped quickly below the surface again and was gone.
She wasn't sure how long they had been walking when the exertion finally caught up with her. Twice they were forced to stop so that she could rest. Other times, she found herself leaning against Ozai in a desperate effort to keep going. The sudden tensing of his posture betrayed his discomfort, but nevertheless he quietly allowed her to use his strength when she needed it, helping her to stay upright.
As they ventured deeper into the cavern, the luminous clusters of mushrooms slowly grew fewer and scarcer, the darkness ever deeper. Katara shivered, looking around and seeing only murky contours in the gloom.
"Are you sure this is the right way?" she whispered close behind him, her voice echoing in the eerie quiet. Ozai didn't respond. Of course he wasn't sure, she thought with a sinking feeling. They were lost. Trapped.
In the corner of her eye, something moved. Katara gasped and turned her head in time to see a pale form slink back behind a boulder, obscured by the shadows. Her skin tightened, the sudden sense of unseen eyes watching them.
"Did you see that?" she hissed quietly, drawing closer to Ozai. The warmth of his arm brushed against hers as they walked. "Something's over there."
"It's a cave. Things live in it. Just keep moving."
She wanted to say this didn't look like a regular thing but instead, Katara stole one last glance over her shoulder, finding nothing but stone and shadow, and tried to take comfort in his composure.
A faint scuttling echoed somewhere in the darkness. Just a rat, she told herself, hollow breaths trembling. But it was bigger than a rat, she knew, more of a shuffling.
"I really don't like this," she whispered. "Maybe we should turn around, go back where there's more light."
Just then, from around a bend a little way ahead flitted several small, softly glowing figures. Katara drew to a stop beside Ozai, watching as they all changed direction at once, like a flock of birds, coming toward them. As they approached, the creatures slowed down, finally stopping to hover before them curiously.
The bizarre little critters reminded her of miniature dragons, except with none of the malice and a lot more adorable. Their slender bodies were covered in iridescent violet and turquoise scales with wings shaped like maple leaves beating gently at their sides. A pair of slender arms dangled from their upper halves, two wider clawed feet hanging down below, and long spindly tails swishing behind.
The one in front studied them inquisitively, cocking its head with an almost puppy-like innocence. And despite everything, Katara smiled. Slowly, she extended a tentative hand. The creature blinked large winsome eyes, tilting its head as it inched closer.
"Katara…" Ozai cautioned, but she was fairly certain nothing this cute could be harmful.
"Hey, little guy," she cooed, the tiny dragon thing making a cute little grunt as it faltered timidly. "You wouldn't happen to know the way out, would you?"
Just the tip of its smooth, cool snout skimmed her palm and Katara breathed a laugh when suddenly it flinched and drew back with a tiny cry. In an instant every one of them scattered, zipping through the air and out of sight in a luminescent frenzy. Katara's mind raced to make sense of what had happened, the near-darkness rushing in again in their absence and squeezing her stomach tight.
And then she heard it. A guttural rasping sound echoed from somewhere behind them, drawing steadily closer with unnerving speed. Before she could react, she felt Ozai take hold of her arm, pulling her with him as they scuttled back, quickly squeezing into a nook between two rocky outcroppings. Their rushed, hollow breaths were ringing in the tight space as they huddled there, her pulse hammering in her ears.
It was only a black stain against the gloom at first. A dark form growing larger, widening and stretching by the second like an oil slick in a sea of shadows. Katara's heart plummeted like stone as an enormous, eel-like creature of immense length emerged into view. Its front end resembled a lamprey's mouth, filled with serrated, jawless teeth gnashing in the eerie silence. Three hungry eyes flicked atop its triangular head as its dull greenish body snaked through the air, black slime lining the length of its belly, oozing like sap.
"What is that thing?" Katara barely whispered at his side, her breath shaking. Even Ozai's breaths were shallow and tense as he managed quietly in response.
"Let's hope we don't find out."
It grew nearer, snaking dangerously close to their hiding place. And then the eel-monster just… stopped. Saw-like teeth gnawed the air as its head swayed this way and then that, beady eyes rolling as though looking for something.
Looking for them, she realized. Katara pressed herself further back into the cavity, squeezing tight against Ozai as she tried to quiet her trembling breaths. The moments passed in horrible slow motion as they waited for it to move again. And when it finally did, Katara's muscles snapped tight. It was heading in their direction.
Within seconds, hints of fetid breath layered the dank, earthy air, guttural rasps juddering in her throat and chest as the creature snaked inches from the opening of their little alcove. It paused, massive razor-sharp maw gnashing, hungry eyes rolling.
Something echoed in the distance. There was that shuffling again. A faint squeal, like a creature in pain. And the monster took off toward the sound, its back fin nearly slapping Katara in the face as it slithered through the air, fading into the gloom.
Silence rushed in again, heavy and unnerving. Breathlessly, Katara and Ozai waited there in the dark, listening for any sound, any movement. Somewhere, water dripped into water, the slow plink…
plink…
the only other sound in the darkness. It was a long time before either of them dared to move or speak.
"I think it's safe," Ozai whispered finally. "Come on."
He slid out from beside her but Katara didn't follow. Her heart was still hammering faintly in her ears, her hands still trembling. At her hesitance, Ozai turned. One corner of his mouth tipped down.
"Would you prefer to just stay here?"
"No, but…"
"Then there's only one other choice."
Though her insides were in knots, Katara let him lead her through the murk. Her stomach was ice, her legs heavy as iron as they crept on through a forest of knobby stalagmites. The hope of them ever seeing the sun again seemed to dim with every step. On and on, nothing but their cold stone prison as far as she could see.
"What if another one of those things comes?" she asked quietly. Ozai only half looked over his shoulder before responding low.
"We'll hear it before it reaches us."
"A lot of good that will do us if there's nowhere to hide. Most of these rock formations are shorter than me–"
"Shh," he cut her off abruptly, stopping short. Listening. "Did you hear that?"
Katara held her breath, muscles pulling tight. "Hear what?"
Ozai blinked, tilting his head, his eyes darting keenly about the cavern.
"It sounded like a bird."
Her posture deflated. "That's ridiculous. How could a bird be–"
But then she heard it too. A distant, brisk chirrup. Unmistakable. Relief washed over her so forcefully, she nearly cried tears of joy at the safe, familiar sound. If a bird was down here, then that meant an exit couldn't be far away.
The bird trilled, short and cheerful. They followed the sound. They were trapped in an eerie, endless cave and their only hope was a bird. Katara might have laughed at the absurdity of it if she wasn't so scared.
After what felt like an endless pattern of walking, stopping, listening, walking, up ahead the darkness seemed to thin. Just the barest suggestion of light diluting the shadows. Her heart leapt.
And immediately dropped ice-cold again.
She felt the deep, glottal rasping in her bones an instant before she heard it. Echoing from a wide passageway just to their right. The shadows within it were thickening quickly, but this time there was nowhere to hide.
"Run," Ozai hissed, but their feet were already pounding the cold stone floor.
They bolted hard toward that whisper of light, the slapping thunder of their heavy sprint resounding in the cavern as an ear-splitting roar shook the walls, filling the air with a foul, pungent reek.
Katara risked a frantic glance over her shoulder, caught the sawing of those massive jawless teeth as the creature snaked after them with terrifying speed.
They tore around a bend, Ozai's larger legs and powerful muscles driving him a pace ahead of her. Katara's foot splashing through a puddle of stagnant water just as the exit came into view. Heart pounding, lungs burning, she pushed herself past the point of pain, reaching with everything she had toward the golden light flooding in through the opening.
Jaws gnashed and a foul gust of sickly warm breath scraped her backside. Katara screamed between panting gasps, pleading for her legs to go faster, and Ozai cursed, daring one glance over his shoulder at her. Reaching quick, he grasped her arm, and Katara stumbled once as he yanked her forward toward the light.
Golden warmth spilled over them just as a piercing, agonized shriek split the air behind them. They sprinted through the opening, grinding to a sudden stop at the edge of a low embankment, their feet skidding on loose gravel as they nearly careened off. Gulping breaths and shaking, Katara spun around to look back through the entrance, but there was only darkness visible as she stood in the light. Those echoing shrieks of pain grew fainter, fainter, until at last all she could hear was the carefree warbling of birds and a soft breeze in her ears.
She released a trembling sigh and looked at Ozai, saw him facing the other direction with unusual raptness. Katara turned, her face slackening with an exhale as she took in the sight before her.
The land was a rolling kaleidoscope of color, a boundless sea of hills and valleys, flowing on and on as far as she could see. A green that was almost too lush to be real, flecked with the purple of thistles, the sunburnt orange of butterflyweed, yellow sunflowers standing tall among the grasses. A crowd of poppies, burning like embers in the sunrise, swayed serenely.
Over a placid lake, long winged creatures soared peacefully. Something between a dragon and a bird, their bodies covered in snowy white feathers, edged with gold in the morning light. Katara watched them in awe, wings outstretched as they circled and dived and soared up again, lithe and graceful.
She shook her head slowly, overwhelmed by the beauty of it all.
"I've never seen land quite like this. This doesn't look…" familiar, she wanted to say, but that seemed flat. Katara searched for words, trying to make sense of what had happened, what she was seeing. "I think that portal–"
"Took us to another world," Ozai finished. Katara looked at him, watched him survey the land with the same bewildered wonder she felt, and turned back to it again.
She had heard the fables growing up, of other worlds existing parallel but separate from their own, in a different time and reality. As a little girl, she would close her eyes and make believe that she could travel to a different world, one where her mother was still alive and the Fire Nation never existed. But even then, Katara had known they were only tall tales, myths spun to add mystery to the banality of life. She had never imagined the stories might really be true.
In the distance, a span of grey snow-capped mountains cut into the sky, a crystal blue canvas aflame with shades of red and peach and amber as the sun climbed above the horizon. And high atop a green hill far ahead, just close enough for them to detect, was a lengthy stretch of gleaming white stone. A city, and not a modest one from the look of it.
"I don't get it," said Katara. "Why would the portal lead us here?"
A wave of understanding washed over Ozai's face, his expression slackening. "Because the Sunstone is here."
She quirked a brow. "What makes you so sure of that?"
"Moon above, Sun below. That's what the riddle meant. We found the Moonstone in our world, and the Sunstone–"
"Is in a mirror world," she breathed. "Like the insignia on that curio shop."
Ozai nodded once. A breeze carried the scent of dewy grass and wildflowers, tickling a loose strand of hair across her forehead. Katara tucked it back into her low bun, messy now from the chaos, her fingers brushing over the fancy brooch still pinned in her hair. The morning air was milder here than in the Earth Kingdom. She shivered, the thin satin of her dress pressing cool against her skin, and folded her arms tightly over her breasts.
Ozai stood beside her, quiet for a long moment, staring out at the sweeping color-rich land. And then silently he started down the embankment.
"Wait, where are you going?" she blinked, taking up pace after him.
"We have to start somewhere." He trudged through the grasses, gesturing toward that glistening slice of architecture. "I'm going to find out where the hell we are."
A/N: **IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ** So, when I started this fic, I kept going back and forth on whether to rate it T or M. I settled on T at the time because, other than some language and violence and some non-explicit erotic scenes, I didn't think it would warrant an M rating. HOWEVER, a lot can change over the direction of a story during the process. I write out of order depending on my vision and inspiration at the time (I have some of the fic written out through to the end), and it's become clear this is no longer a T story. I didn't necessarily plan on things going down the explicitly erotic route, but well, that's where it's headed (later).
So, SURVEY TIME:
A.) Should I just change the rating to M and make note of the rating in an A/N? Or…
B.) Do I keep the rating and tailor the sex scene(s) to reflect a T rating for those who have been reading and prefer to keep it that way? (NOTE: I joined AO3 after I started this story on FF, and when I added it there, I rated it M because I knew then what I know now. So I could still keep the T rating here, and anyone interested in more *detailed* scene/s could read the chapter/s over there.)
I just want to be respectful if any of you are enjoying this story as T who would prefer it stay that way. Please PM me your votes or opinions or leave it in a review, whichever! THANK YOU!
Side Note: I may write it, but rest assured I do not actually condone this relationship or any sexual activity involving a grown-ass adult and a seventeen-year-old minor. Just so we're clear. ;-)