Boiling Point
Cooled

There was no escaping his new reality. "At least I can avoid going into that place."

In truth, Lu Ten knew from his own father's lessons growing up what he should fear regarding the place the soldier called the cooler – the loss of his Firebending, even if temporarily. Iroh drilled into his head from a young age how the cold was the enemy of every Firebender. As such, he knew the loss of a heat source would affect his ability to Firebend, but he'd also find himself cut off from the sun along with the passage of time in regard to a single day passing by.

In fact, the last thing he wanted was for his Firebending to be stripped away like everything else, even if it were only for a few days. As such, he headed out into the prison yard, completely planning on doing nothing to draw attention to himself, carefully taking measure of the other prisoners, knowing full well how long to look at them without drawing suspicions. In the back of his head, he planned on keeping his ear out so he might figure who he could trust, or in the least who he could trust more.

Listening, he heard one of the other prisoners bring up the cooler, almost as if laughing it off as if the cooler wasn't any major threat to them, almost as if they thought the soldier's guarding the prison were simply attempting to get a rise out of them. In the back of Lu Ten's mind he couldn't help but wonder if these prisoners were new, having not seen anyone be taken into the cooler, let alone themselves.

Of course, some prisoners shrugged off the coolers as if they weren't their problem, which made Lu Ten suspect they were not Firebenders and thus wouldn't need to worry about the cooler taking away their Firebending, though in the back of his mind he wondered if anybody other than a Waterbender would enjoy such a cold place as the coolers. "Still, it's not as much of a threat as it is for myself and other Firebenders."

Then there were those who cringed at hearing the candid manner some of the prisoners Lu Ten assumed were new spoke of the cooler, making him suspect they'd been there for some time, perhaps even experiencing the cooler. Without even joining in the conversation, Lu Ten knew even more he didn't want to go into that place. "They don't need to tell me I should avoid trouble if I can. No warning needed."

Of course, he didn't expect the warning to become reality.

One of the soldiers found him in the prison yard, seemingly amused. "What's your name?"

"Lee," Lu Ten stated after they spouted off the number he'd been assigned, what he'd been reduced to. He let out a deep breath and looked at them, waiting, but then said, "Do you need something from me?"

"You're being placed into the cooler."

In the back of Lu Ten's mind he knew he'd done nothing, yet everyone knew he'd just arrived. Heads were turning, meaning attention was being drawn to him. What this would mean for him, he didn't quite know beyond the fact he'd be going into the place he definitely didn't want to. Glancing around, he saw the ones he suspected to have been there for some time cringe, while the ones he suspected couldn't Firebend became curious. The new ones remained dismissive about that place.

He stood, not arguing the point.

Lu Ten also knew nobody would fight for him, but fighting for himself when there wasn't any real option of escape at this time would prove futile. He followed after the man, remembering he once wore the uniform of the Fire Nation soldier. Lu Ten let out a deep breath, knowing full well he wasn't in control of the situation, though he did plan on making the best of things. There was also no getting around the fact Ozai likely wanted to make an example of him.

"Fire Lord Ozai said we needed to make it clear to you that we mean business here."

Which meant truthfully that Ozai saw him as a threat, which Lu Ten couldn't blame him given the fact he'd breathed fire on the man when the man attempted to burn his face. Of course, he'd made the mistake of not holding his tongue then and today he decided it was best to hold his tongue in front of the soldier, one who obviously didn't recognize him as the dead prince. Or, if he did, the soldier likely didn't want to believe that something that sinister was going on in the great Fire Nation.

"You must have done something very bad on the outside to have been sent to the cooler the first day you're here without having done anything."

Lu Ten opened his mouth slightly, almost agreeing with them, telling them, "wouldn't you like to know", yet held his tongue. Instead, he braced himself, knowing he should expect coldness when he entered the room, yet bracing himself couldn't at all prepare him for the coldness which filled the place. "Only Ozai would think of something this inhumane."

Except, in the back of Lu Ten's mind he knew yet again Ozai was underestimating him just like he'd done before. After all, he was the son of Iroh and Iroh taught him proper breath control, let alone how to keep oneself warm. It was how Lu Ten knew the cooler was not a place to be trifled with. Yet, being Iroh's son didn't mean he could escape from the place. This thought crossed his mind as he remained in the cooler, controlling his eternal body heat.

For, in the back of his mind he knew escape wasn't something he could do on his own, but in this place he was definitely alone with absolutely no allies. For, when he got out of the cooler it took a few days to find out he'd been in there longer than the usual day as the other prisoners were interested in avoiding him. After all, he must have done something quite serious to piss off Ozai to find himself stuck in the cooler without having done anything on his first day.

The threat of that place was certainly real, but the worst part was he learned that day he didn't have to do anything wrong for the soldiers to stick him into the cooler. His mere existence was enough, as was the fact they likely knew Ozai wasn't fond of him specifically. This also meant no news from the outside came his way, as practically nobody wanted anything to do with him.