((Thanks Rad for the review. Well here is the next chapter))
Chapter 22: Crash and Burn
Zuko sighed heavily as he watched the quite port from a far. It has almost been five weeks since Ciara left. Zuko desperately wished he could be with her right now, but was constantly reminded by a voice in his head that Uncle Iroh is there with her. Zuko, stop worrying…she's alright. She's probably coming home right now…
Ever since Ciara left he fell into a habit of dreaming about her, which seemed to ease his pain for a while. But when he woke up in the morning he felt empty and unsatisfied. These feelings that stayed with him until nightfall, this routine, left his mood more irritable and impatient then before.
"Sir. There is a solider from the Earth Kingdom mission." stammered a voice from behind the young fire lord. Zuko was soon facing the guard that spoke with him, his amber eyes flashed with anger and eagerness, "Well then, send him in! What the hell are you waiting for?" The guard flinched and dashed off to get the soldier, before Zuko could mutter a sarcastic comment, the guard came back with the soldier.
Zuko studied the soldier with interest; he appeared to be in good condition except for the large gash on his side. "My lord, I bring you troubling news….are men cleared out seventy-five percent of the rebels. But the leftover quarter of the rebels captured Commander Ciara and is holding her hostage. Or so the rest of us believe, General Iroh sent me to tell you this and asks if you will aid him." the soldier started out, he resisted the urge to clamp his hand on his bleeding side.
Zuko frowned and turned his attention to the guards by the door, "Get a ship ready to depart in an hour. This means I need soldiers, supplies and a healer. So stop standing and looking at me, go get the damn stuff!" The guards nodded their heads jerky manner before running off in fear of Zuko's rage.
He turned to the soldier that reported the news and spoke in a softer tone, "Go and rest." The soldier nodded and walked off quickly, not wanting to wait any longer with the angry lord. Zuko leaned against the wall and whispered to himself, "I wonder why they just took her?"
Ciara coughed up dark crimson blood; her head throbbed with pain which matched the beating of her fast-paced heart. The metal door opened to reveal three pairs of feet; already she could see that one pair belonged to Katara but the other two were different.
A rough hand moved Ciara's head upward, a pair of green eyes stared back at her, "Hmm. She's still alive." The rough hand moved away from her, making Ciara hiss in pain as her support was taken away. The muscles in her neck screamed with pain which forced her to hang her head downward as before.
"Sokka, I guess it's time for round two. You do the honors." Katara spoke in a laughing voice. Ciara grinded her teeth angrily, she wanted desperately to rip out Katara's neck with her bare hands. "Right, Katara you can go then." Sokka replied, motioning the guard that came with them to come to him. Katara frowned but finally left them to do they're questioning.
"Alright, first question. What is your name?" Sokka asked in a dry tone. Ciara managed to lift her head up and replied, "You got to be kidding me." Sokka sighed and motioned for the guard to grab an object on the table. Ciara looked at the object the guard picked up and growled softly in anger. The object was a leather whip but instead of just one there was numerous of leather strips attached to one end and on the end of each of them had a small metal arrow.
Crap. So I guess not a lot of people make it after round two.
The guard walked toward Ciara and raised his hand menacingly. She looked away from the guard before he brought down his weapon on her armor-less back. Ciara winced as she felt each seven points drill into her skin. But unfortunately the worst wasn't over yet, the guard pulled back on the whip and the seven metal arrows grabbed her skin and pulled it with them.
Her eyes widened in pain and in disbelief, how can this be happening to me? Whatever god that watches over me…you are doing a crappy job. Sokka nodded to the guard to stop before asking once more, "What is your name?"
Ciara replied sourly, "Ciara." Sokka ignore the death glare he received from Ciara before asking another question, "What is your rank?" Ciara raised an eyebrow and replied, "Just look on the damn armor I wore. Should tell you on the back, smart guy." Sokka glared and made a gesture to the guard, once again the guard brought down the whip on her. Once again she could feel the arrows tearing chunks of her skin off. But she forced herself not to let out the tears that swelled in her eyes.