Wow, three chapters in one day. I'm on a roll. Thank you, all of my reveiwers, for reveiwing my previous chapters. This is less than half the size of OOTW, and it almost has the same amounts of reveiws, which is good. And good is what I hope you guys call this next chapter.
Zuko was snapped from his slumber as the cell door banged open, scraping on the rocks. "I warned you, didn't I? I told you my husband would get you back!" Su's voice rang out.
"What?" Zuko mumbled, stumbling off the rock ledge. "What happened?"
"Look!" Su pointed to where Katara usually slept.
The Waterbender was missing.
Alarm rose in Zuko's chest. "Where have they taken her?" he demanded.
"To the arena. Ji Li told me he's forcing her to fight other Benders to the death. He'll do this every so often, but he never forces girls her age to fight. I don't think he forces females to fight period, and never to the death if he does," Su added. "And anyway, she's gonna lose. There's almost no supply of water in the arena."
Zuko was relieved that the guards hadn't done anything to her, but when Su told him about the arena's lack of water, he worried. "Don't you have any bending powers?"
Su scoffed. "I'm a half-breed. Besides, do you think Ji Li would have married me if I could bend?"
Zuko started pacing. "What time is it?"
"The full moon has just risen. Why?" Su asked.
"What Bender is Katara fighting first?"
"Firebenders. The only possible challengers are Firebenders. Ji Li enslaves Earthbenders and Waterbenders, and kills most Firebenders. But, like I said, he's getting back at you for refusing a separate cell and defending the girl's honor."
Zuko stopped pacing for a minute. "She's got a small advantage. Firebenders are considerably weaker at night, and it's a full moon. But I don't think she would kill anyone if she could help it." He turned to Su. "What happens if she refuses to fight?"
Su shrugged. "She, and the other Bender fighters, get killed. Burning for her, drowning for the others. Ji Li told me."
Zuko stared at Su with a look that clearly said, "And you married this man?" Su got the look and stared right back at the prince.
"Take me to the arena."
"Can't. Ji Li said that no one, especially you, is supposed be in the arena except his men," Su told him. "And I'm supposed to be there right about now. Good-bye." Su turned to go, a look of pure apology in her eyes.
Zuko was furious, though he didn't know why. He didn't even care for the girl, just wanted to use her for bait. Which was why he was pacing the cell, smoke emitting from his balled fist. But if Ji Li had her killed, then Zuko would never capture the Avatar, and never return home.
"Psst." Zuko looked up.
"Psst. On the other side of the door, you dimwit!" Zuko walked over to the cell door, which was mostly solid metal with a grid at the top. A voice was calling to him.
"Don't worry, I'm not a guard. I'm an Earthbender."
"How can I trust you?" Zuko asked. He felt a small earthquake, which no guard, no matter how big, could have caused on his own. "Fine. What do you want?"
The door swung open, revealing an Earth Kingdom man. "First, I'm getting the door open, which I seemed to have done already," he said. "The girl, the Waterbender, you know her?"
Zuko nodded. "Good," the man said. Zuko could see the marks of slavery on him, giving him the look of a forty-year-old man instead of one not much older than the prince himself. "My sister, Kiena, is Madam Su's personal servant. She told me that the leader of the Ends of Fate had taken a Water Tribe girl and was going to kill her. Oh, he says it's going to be a fight, but the first Bender against her is Kuzu, and he's undefeated. She'll be a roast Waterbender after two minutes. She told me where the keys are and said to release any Bender prisoner I could find. You're the only one."
"Why did your sister tell you to free me?" Zuko asked.
The man laughed. "You're the first to challenge Ji Li and not get sliced instantly. Everyone down in the compounds had heard about you and the girl."
"Why did Ji Li take Katara? I'm the one who challenged him, not her," Zuko said.
"In case you haven't noticed, you're well-built. He knows that you could take down almost every fighter and barely get scratched. He wants to hurt you, and he thinks the girl, what did you call her, Katara, is the way do to that."
Zuko snorted. "Wrong choice. I was capturing her when they captured us. I was going to use her to lure the Avatar to me." The man looked at Zuko.
"The Avatar is alive? Wait 'til Kiena hears this!" The man stopped. "If you're trying to get the Avatar, doesn't that mean you're Prince-?"
"Zuko, yes," the Fire Prince replied heatedly. He waited for the Earthbender to step away.
He didn't. Instead, he nodded and said, "I'm Kyru. Now, unless you want the girl to be murdered, follow me. I don't think a dead girl is good bait for anything but Flying Sharks." Kyru had a point, so Zuko followed, the bright lights of the prison hurting his eyes.
Zuko was amazed when Kyru led him to the main part of the underground village. It looked like a world fair with the colors of every Nation showing everywhere. "Amazing."
Kyru shrugged. "It is at first, but don't let the colors fool you. Every soldier you see is really nothing more than a cutthroat or a thief. Ji Li is a monster, as I can guess you already know. Now, the arena is over there." Kyru pointed to a big, walled space. "The girl should be up to fight in a few minutes, so I'd hurry, and fast. Several captive Earthbenders are there, smoothing out the arena. They won't be able to help you, as they've got thick metal chains on, chaining them to the walls."
"I won't need their help, nor do I want it," Zuko muttered. "Just tell me how to get past the guards."
"Can you climb walls?"
Zuko was crouched on the roof of Ji Li's pavilion. He silently thanked the spirits that the tunic and pants he had worn under his armor was black silk. The prince waited as Ji Li spoke.
"We have a special surprise tonight in the arena! A weak Waterbender is going to fight as many evil Firebenders as she can before she dies." (Zuko's blood boiled at the comment made about his element.) "Let's see how long she can last. Hin!"
The big, ugly guard that had been in the first room when Zuko woke up opened a small metal gate, allowing Katara to be shoved out by another solider. The men in the seats laughed as she fell down in the dirt. Zuko saw the Firebender she was to fight enter the arena and take up a battle stance. Katara got up and did the same.
A split second before Kuzu could throw anything at Katara, Zuko willed the lanterns to go out. They obeyed, plunging the whole arena into darkness. Zuko heard Ji Li order a guard to find more matches. The prince silently jumped down from the roof and landed on the empty seat next to it. Effortlessly, Zuko dodged anybody he might have run into and jumped into the arena without a single person aware of his presence. He could tell by the warm air he had landed near the Firebender. The prince slipped over to where Katara was standing. The Waterbender heard him.
"Prince Zuko?" she whispered. Zuko placed a hand over her mouth.
"Yes," he whispered back. "Is there anyway to get out of this arena, short of the way you came in?"
He felt Katara shake her head. He removed his hand"How'd you get in here?"
"Not now. Just follow me." He took Katara's hand and led her back the way he came. Everything was good until the guard came back with the matches and lit the lanterns. Light flooded the arena.
Zuko swore as the guards noticed them. "On my word, run for the wall and climb down the rope hanging over the side. Got it?" Katara nodded. "Now!"
The girl made a mad dash for the rope, water whipping the guards that tried to stop her. Zuko watched as she climbed down the rope. Turning around, Zuko blasted the oncoming guards and followed Katara's path. He was gone before anything else could be done.
Zuko jumped down from the rope. "Prince Zuko, over here!" Katara was motioning him over to where she was standing. Next to her was the man that had helped Zuko out of the cell, Kyru.
"Kiena said to take you two back to the compounds. You'd be an idiot to go back to the cells," Kyru told Zuko.
"That Ji Li is not a dimwitted fool. He'll know we are at that compound," Zuko whispered hurriedly.
"No he won't. Another Waterbender and a Firebender are there right now, leaving a false trail. Ji Li will be thinking you two made it out into woods when you're really still here, under his nose."
Zuko looked doubtful. "We can discuss this later," Katara said. "Right now, we need to make ourselves scarce." Zuko nodded and followed Kyru to the compound.
The compound was a closed off space, surrounded by metal walls fifty yards high. Kyru went up to these walls, tapped twice on a certain spot, and was let in. He motioned for Zuko and Katara to follow, which they did.
A woman with a cheerful, work-lined face, greeted her brother and the two teens. "Thank the Spirits you're all right. Mother must be turning in her grave at the risk you took Kyru. Are these the two Benders?"
"I'm Katara of the Water Tribe," the girl said. "This is Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. Thank you for helping us."
The woman, Kiena, nodded, giving Zuko a wary look. "It was no problem. Why did Ji Li capture you two? Madam Su hasn't said yet, and I don't think she will."
Katara shrugged. "No clue. I don't remember doing anything to him."
"He wants you two fer yer connections," a voice said from the corner.
Kyru turned to the old man. "What?"
The man hobbled closer. "Th' Prince is related to General Iroh. It were Iroh's troops what killed Ji Li's parents. Everyone knows that th' general would do almost anythin' to help the Prince if he could. Th' girl was travelin' with the Avatar." The old man snorted. "Ol' Ji Li wants 'im so he kin convince all the Benders of the world to surrender to 'im. Then he'll say that his destiny is fulfilled an' kill 'em all."
"Who told you that, Chon?" Kyru asked skeptically. Katara had backed away from the old man.
"No one tells ol' Chon anythin'. He just knows." With that, the man hobbled back to his corner and fell asleep. Kyru rolled his eyes.
"Don't believe him. Chon lost his mind a few decades ago."
"Kyru!" Kiena admonished. "Chon is not crazy. Eccentric, maybe, but not crazy."
Kyru snorted. "He's more than a few teacups short of the full set, sis. Now, where are we going to hide the Prince and the girl?"
Kiena jerked her thumb over her shoulder to a small hovel. It was like one of many in the compound, small, dirty, and surrounding a central fire. "There's room for two more in the hovel. Besides, Madam Su is thinking about moving her personal servants to rooms closer to her, so I'll be gone before too long." Zuko remembered that Kyru told him his sister was Su's personal servant.
"But won't the guards notice us?" Katara asked. Kyru shook his head as he lead the two teens to the hovel.
"They work us in shifts, so there will always be people around. Plus, the guards are too stupid to do anything but stand around looking tough." Kyru held back the piece of cloth that acted as the door to the hovel.
From the outside, it didn't look like much. But on the inside, Zuko could see that Kyru and his sister had worked hard to make the hovel comfortable. There were two pallets in the hovel, with a small closed off section. Pieces of cloth laid on the floor in attempts to make a rug. "There's two more mats on the other side of the cloth," Kiena told Katara. "You and the Prince can take those two. Good night."
Zuko suddenly realized how tired he was. Holding back a yawn, Zuko followed Katara to the closed off section of the hovel. The exhausted prince collapsed on the mat, sound asleep in two minutes.
I needed some action in my fic, so here is the first majorly important action-y scene. I have to thank don'tbreakme, who gave me the idea for Ji Li getting Katara. I was having action writer's block something awful.
