A/N: Hello, I know I haven't updated in a long time. Now I finally produced something new. It feels amazing to write again. I hadn't been in the right mindset for a very long time. Please, enjoy the new chapter.
12. Under the veil of darkness
"Captain, there was a group of three attackers. One of them was a firebender," informed Suki after she unlocked the front door.
Hideko arrived with ten other warriors who were helping the girls knocked unconscious outside.
"I am very sorry, captain. It was a surprise attack, we were not expecting…"
"Of course, you were not expecting an attack, except there is a Fire Nation fleet circling the island for a week. But we will discuss this later."
Hideko looked at Suki. "Take six of the girls and pursue the group. If you get a chance to capture them, do it. Don't engage in a battle you can't win. Report back as soon as possible. I'll deal with preparations and our prisoner in the meantime."
Suki did not waste time, the attackers had a large lead. She let herself spare a last glance at the lying form of Lee in the snow. She grinded her teeth. There was no time to spare. She could not disobey a direct order just to look out for the boy. After all, he brought it upon himself.
She readjusted her weapons and shield and checked the girls.
"Mika, Cho, Aki, Lian, Yana, Nori …. Follow me!" Suki rushed in the direction where the dark clad group disappeared. The girls followed without questioning.
At least the weather was on their side. The footprints in the snow could be easily tracked, even in the little light the two lanterns provided. They moved silently, snow muffling the noise of their pursuit, quieting their steps but still not deep enough to creak.
Suki doubted the group would attempt an ambush as they were. Outnumbered, her group of Kyoshi warriors would easily take them down. They needed to be careful in case the fleet had already disembarked at their shores.
"Don't worry, girls. They were clearly a group of scouts or spies. Only one of them is a firebender. So have your shields ready. We can take them out."
"Yes, Suki!" Cho on her right responded with a clear voice of resolution and the others joined her. A small flicker of pride twinkled in Suki's heart. All the girls in the group were her own students. She was feeling confident. If they managed to chase down the intruders, they would definitely defeat them. They knew the terrain, unlike their enemy.
And therefore she knew that heading straight south through the forest, they were going to arrive at the cliffside. The tracks were clearly headed straight on without hesitations or turns. Still, they couldn't catch up with them.
The edge of the forest was already visible and the trails of footsteps were not budging from the straight direction.
"Slow down," she said and motioned for the lanterns to be put out. The enemies couldn't have been far ahead.
Suki slowly led the group out of the forest along the tracks, heading to the high rocks of the cliffside. She looked over the edge and recognized the small group already moving on the beach to a small steam skiff.
"They must have scaled down the rocks. We won't catch up to them." Suki was angry. The attackers were obviously very skilled at infiltrating foreign places.
"Suki! Look!" Mika pointed to the cape of the small bay. A huge shadow was moving out of the cape´s outline as a silent spectre. It surely was the skiff's place of origin.
"Come! We need to get as close as possible!"
Suki ran along the cliffside with the girls in tow never leaving the skiff from her sight. The group of infiltrators was already on the board of their small boat slowly moving in the direction of the large vessel.
Arriving at the end point of the cape, Suki climbed to the top of the rock formation for a better view of the black ship. She caught just the last glimpse of the small skiff being pulled inside the ship's belly.
From this height she couldn't recognize any members of the crew or if there even was anyone on the deck. But she did get a final glimpse of a noteworthy detail before the vessel slided and vanished in the darkness.
A large red flag was swaying on the very top of the command tower with a circular depiction of what Suki could only recognize as a bird.
Zuko slowly woke up to a feeling of utter cold. His body was shaking so much, he wouldn't be able to stay upright if only it wasn't… it wasn't for …. For what exactly?
He tried to open his eyes, but even his eyelids were not cooperating.
"Want another bucket? Or will you wake up already?" A vaguely familiar female voice reached him through the thick fog in his mind.
He tried to grumble in annoyance, but his voice was so weak that it sounded more like a pathetic moan even to his own ears. His legs were barely supporting him and after a futile attempt to stand up straighter, he realized his body was held up only by his hands, which he almost couldn't feel at this point. They were tied behind him and around a wide wooden column. The jerky movements of his shaking body were worsening the strain on them by every passing moment. Water was trickling down his half-bald head and clingy, drenched, icy cold clothes seemed to increase the weight of his body.
And what was worse, slowly opening his eyes he noticed dozens of people standing around looking at him. Zuko tried focusing only on the leader of the warriors who stepped closer, pushing the villagers out of his vision. But a familiar dread from being exposed was swelling inside his chest. It even pushed out the chronic cold feeling.
"Maybe we could try again with our previous conversation, now that you're with us. This is your last chance to explain yourself."
...Or you won't last the night, Zuko could finish the thought in his head.
"Anything you might be imagining about me is wrong. I got washed up here after a storm. It is only a coincidence that I ended up at your island. I am not here to report anything or hurt anybody. I want to simply leave this cursed island!" It took too much energy trying to speak without a shaky voice and his legs were already slumping down.
"Enough with what you want! This is all about the island! The people gathered here cannot sleep peacefully because the likes of you. Don't be mistaken, we do not want you here, but it is us who decide when or how you leave!"
Zuko grunted as he attempted to stand up straighter to face her, but it was the warrior girl who pulled him up by the wet tunic.
"And I'm starting to incline to the idea that the only good that could come of you is to become breakfast for the Unagi," she said and evoked agreeing whispers from the people around.
"Hideko, we might let the boy go with one of the merchant ships…" an older man stepped out of the small crowd, but was quickly silenced by the warrior leader.
"Oyaji, with all respect to you as the village leader, you still do not have the full picture here. This boy was followed here by a group of Fire Nation assassins. They tried to kill him tonight, but ran off after they were spotted firebending by our patrols. The boy here is targeted by the Fire Nation and as long he is here, Kyoshi is as well."
The old man frowned. "Then we need to return him to the Fire Nation. We should contact one of the ships around the island…"
"Captain!"
A strong shout came from Zuko's side. He barely had the energy to lift his head, but he recognized the voice without seeing her. It was only now that he realized she wasn't at the scene until this moment.
"Captain, we're back. We followed the group…" There was a small pause. "What is happening?"
Zuko felt her gaze on him, even without looking in her direction. He cringed and looked away. He didn't know why he had this reaction. The whole village could come and glare at him all they wanted, he wouldn't care, but he was not able to look at the girl. Only now did the shamefulness of the situation hit him hard.
"A thorough investigation is happening. What is your report?"
Suki hesitated still, kept glancing between the prisoner and the warrior leader. "I don't…"
"Suki!"
"Yes," she collected herself. "We followed the group of infiltrators. They had a small skiff hidden in the bay behind the forest. We were too late to engage them in a fight. However, we noticed a large ship waiting for them. It was close enough that we could see their flag. It had a black bird on a red background. The ship left with the attackers and disappeared from sight."
Zuko, of course, immediately recognized the flag from the description, what fleet was the culprit behind the attack, although it didn't make much sense to him at the moment. He wheezed weakly and the warrior leader took it as a cue.
"You finally want to tell us something?" She pulled him again by the tunic but with greater force. He bit back a cry as the rope dug into his wrists and sent electric shockwaves up his arms.
"S-southern raider, the flag she described….it's the Southern raiders."
The Kyoshi warrior's eyes widened and anxious murmur rose from the small crowd.
"Those are supposed to roam the seas of the Southern pole! Did their interest shift to northern islands? Why are they after you? Do you hear me, scum, speak!" The Kyoshi leader was shaking him, but he was no longer able to speak. His ears heard the question, but his tongue would not cooperate with his mind.
"You Fire Natio…"
"Captain, please, he can't answer, he's losing consciousness!"
"Suki, I am warning you!"
"Hideko, he will freeze to death! Please, let me untie him. This is…" she tried with a gentler approach, her voice quiet, so that the surrounding crowd wouldn't be able to hear.
"What, Suki? What is it? Am I too cruel? They didn't show any mercy to me or my family! You don't know what the outside world is like! It's war, Suki! Simple as that. The Fire Nation is enslaving the rest of the world and Kyoshi Island is lucky that it is so small and insignificant that we escaped the attention. But the time to be kind is over! We cannot hide anymore!" she looked at the old village leader who dared not to speak under her gaze.
"Tomorrow we will send a messenger boat to the Fire Nation fleet! We will negotiate over the prisoner. We will hand him over in exchange for their peaceful departure. If they turn out to be less cooperative, then their departure will be less peaceful."
The growing fear in the faces of the desperate villagers was the last thing his eyes registered before his body slumped.
"Take him back to the hut!" Hideko ordered after Lee lost the last remnants of consciousness and motioned to the Kyoshi Warriors. "Ten of you will stand on guard in case those attackers return."
Suki was right behind the Kyoshi statue to cut loose the binding ropes from Lee's hands. He fell face down into the snow. She jumped next to him and tried to lift him by his shoulder.
"Lee...can you get up?"
"You seem more concerned about our enemy than your home village," Hideko's voice from above her fell upon her as a heavy rock.
"That is not true! But this treatment just….it's not right."
The villagers were slowly leaving the sight but the Kyoshi warriors stayed and all their eyes were on their captain and her second-in-command. They never witnessed a disagreement between them. Suki knew it was inappropriate to oppose her leader so openly in front of the girls, but she just couldn't recognize what was the right thing to do at the moment.
Healer Taska stepped forward from beside her husband and checked on the lying boy and lifted his hand - almost green in the yellow light of the lanterns. Hideko was watching her with ice-cold eyes and was visibly grinding her teeth.
"Do you want to draw him a nice warm bath and rub his hands? He will be handed over soon enough. There is no need to spend any of your precious salves on a prisoner who will be gone in a day or two."
"He might be gone by morning and there will be no prisoner to negotiate over," said Taska calmly locking eyes with Hideko. There seemed to be a silent power struggle between the two of them for a moment, then Hideko grunted in frustration.
"Do what you want, Taska. Cuddle him or nanny him, I am still sending out a messenger boat in the morning."
Taska only nodded and looked at Suki. "We need to lift him gently. No swift motions. And better not touch his hands."
Hideko was no longer paying them attention and was leaving with Oyaji talking over the details of plans for tomorrow and giving tasks to the rest of the girls.
"Cho, help me!" Suki asked the girl standing nearest.
"Take him to the hut. I will be right there. We will need bandages. Until I arrive, get those wet clothes off him," said Taska.
"Will do!" Suki grunted as she and Cho were trying to haul the dead weight of unconscious Lee up.
"Why am I even doing this?" she asked herself as she was once again pulling the boy across the village.
"I think you're right, Suki. We've been watching him for the whole week. He doesn't seem so bad, even if he is Fire Nation," Cho whispered over Lee's head. "I think we should be better than our enemies."
Cho's unexpected answer and her small smile gave her a bit of encouragement. Maybe, in Hideko's eyes they were naive, ignorant girls, but this was not how she would treat anybody, not even enemies.
Ten other girls followed them to the hut, which was still in a state of disorder after the fight with the attackers. The girls stayed outside on guard. Cho helped her bring Lee to the futon and pull the wet tunic over his head, then she excused herself. His skin was ice cold to the touch. She didn't bother to count how many times she was undressing the boy, but it was getting ridiculous.
Taska arrived right when she was putting a blanket over him.
"Not just yet!"
She put down a steaming kettle beside the futon and took out rolls and rolls of bandages from her satchel.
"I will need to wrap his hands."
Suki took them out from under the were visibly swollen with a hint of blue in his skin, either from lack of blood circulation or the cold, or both of them combined.
"He will not lose them, will he?"
"No, hopefully not." She examined his hands carefully. "Most likely he will get blisters, which will hurt a lot for a few days, but it could be worse."
Taska proceeded to lightly wrap the bandages around the swollen hands. "Right where we were a week ago," she sighed as she sat down.
Suki was watching her work around each finger separately. Small tremors were starting to shake the boy's arms.
"Is he waking up already?"
"You said to Hideko, he may not last till morning."
"I may have exaggerated a bit," said Taska and winked at Suki. "But it doesn't take away from the seriousness of his condition. Being exposed to the cold so often, even without the mysterious disposition that took his bending away... It can take a toll on his body."
"No need for warm bath then?"
"Probably not. But we will have to come up with something different. Hideko wouldn't appreciate it if we put up a fire."
Suki nodded. At the end of the day, Taska's fears about Hideko were all realized. The evening ended in a worse outcome than anyone could imagine. It wasn't so late, it wasn't even past midnight and yet, Hidekos arrival to the village seemed almost like days ago. Everything went downhill from then. She was so sure of herself until then, she was handling the situation well, the prisoner was, well... if not cooperative, at least he was not hostile towards them. Hideko was the one who showed more aggression than him. But then the attackers appeared and now… who knows… tomorrow they might be attacked by the Fire Nation.
Suki felt tired. The peaceful moment as she watched the old woman's hands move delicately over the fragile looking skin was making her eyes lull.
"Here, hold his hand in yours. It needs to be kept warm." Taska held out the bandaged hand to her. Suki was taken aback for a moment by the request.
She took his hand and felt it trembling. A sudden urge to squeeze it overcame her.
"Hold it gently. The skin is sensitive now," Taska warned her.
"O-okay," she reduced the pressure in her hold immediately.
The moment felt strangely intimate, it was making her cheeks warm. She was lucky, she still had her warrior make-up on. Hold yourself together, she scolded herself. You've seen him naked at least three times now, and this the moment to blush? Taska, thankfully,continued to bind his other hand without noticing.
"Taska, what are we doing? Why are we helping him? Hideko is going to send him back to those assassins," Suki changed the topic of her thoughts.
"I am a healer, I help those who are in need of my knowledge. It doesn't matter if it is the neighbor's child or a stranger. It is my duty to help."
"And me?"
"And you are more caring and brave than you'd like to admit."
Suki scoffed. "Yes, braveness can be easily confused with stupidity."
"I don't think that is your case, my girl."
"If I were more clever, I would find a way to save the boy and the island. Only if he wasn't so stubborn, it would be easier."
"It is not your responsibility to save the island or this boy by yourself," said Taska as she finished with the other hand and put it carefully down.
"But I'm the only one who cares about both."
"Suki, don't blame yourself for caring. Now it's best to rest. It was a long night. Tomorrow is a new day." She smiled and took the kettle.
"You can help me hold his head. We will make him drink something warm and then you can go sleep the day off."
Suki held the boy's head up while Taska slapped his face lightly to make him lucid enough to drink a few gulps of tea. He managed to make small noises of protest before the healer wrestled the spout of the kettle into his mouth.
"Men can be such babies," she smiled and Suki smiled back.
He managed to drink quite a lot actually until he started coughing. "Easy, easy," Taska calmed him down. "Turn on your side…. No, don't use your hands...Suki!"
Suki wrestled him back down as he tried to sit up. When he stopped coughing he also stopped fighting, laid back on his side, his body still shivering.
Taska put the kettle near his stomach and pulled back up the blanket he threw away during his fit.
"It's still warm. It's not much, but it can help him. It's his hands he should be mindful about. I don't know, maybe I can stay for…"
"No, Taska, I stay," said Suki resolutely. She didn't like the idea of the old fragile lady staying in the cold hut for the night.
The old healer cast her a compassionate look and nodded.
"Alright, then. Try to keep his hands out of harm's way. Probably the best way is to hold them, that could keep them warm as well. If you don't want to…"
"Taska, I can do it. He is also a prisoner. He shouldn't be left alone with the village's only healer," Suki deflected as the task sounded embarrassing enough without the details and led the elderly healer to the door.
"Good night, Suki," and quietly added: "Warm breath would also help."
Suki didn't respond. She opened the door and practically pushed Taska out.
"Thank you, healer Taska. We will take it from here. If anything changes, we will call you."
The healer waved her and the girls on watch goodbye and left.
"I'll stay inside to monitor his condition, ehm, good night," she told the girls by the door and quickly closed the door before she would embarrass herself further.
"Tch," she sighed irritably. The room was a mess. And in the middle was the biggest part of this whole confusion, reduced to the shaking form again she got to know a week ago. Just a few hours ago, he was keeping up in a fight with a group of assassins and instead it was the treatment of her own captain that turned him into this state again.
She picked up some of the rubble and was reminded that she was also taking part in destruction of the table had a broken leg, so she used it to board up the window she broke to get in the hut during the attack.
She found more covers and blankets they got the boy last time, while he was recovering and prepared a place by his side to lay down. She took off her outer armor and blew out the single candle that was lighting the room.
In the dark, the task seemed less awkward. Suki reached out and found his hands still cold to the touch even through the layer of bandages. She scooted closer, until she felt the warmth of the kettle between them.
"P-please," she heard a quiet plea. He must have been dreaming.
"Don't leave...please...mother." It sounded desperate and childish. Suki's heart squirmed.
"Shhhh, I won't leave," she promised and cradled both of his hands to her lips to warm them with her breath. Sleep came sooner than she would like to admit.
