Drip...Drip…Drip…

The interrogation room was damp and cold. The lantern swinging slightly over Rei's head provided the only light in the windowless room. The floors and walls were made of metal, which made the chill in the room even more cold. Her hands were bound in chains, which went through a loop of metal welded to the metal table in front of her. The chair she was sitting on was creaky and uncomfortable, but she wasn't really expecting any sort of hospitality from the fire nation. Rei shivered. She only had on the green short-sleeved shirt and loose earth nation pants that she put on earlier in the day, so she didn't have much to keep her warm. One would expect a FIRE nation ship to be warm, but she guessed that they purposefully had a cold room for interrogation or something. She's been in this room for what seems to be hours, with nothing to distract her from the current situation except for the occasional drops of water dripping from the ceiling. If Zhao was aiming to create an air of uneasy anticipation, then he was doing a good job.

When they first arrived at the ship, Rei was completely in awe and shock from the mere size of the ship. It scaled larger than any other ship or building she's ever seen in her life. The bulk of the ship was dark grey with red-tinted windows and fire nation banners swaying in the breeze. It bore the distinctive angular shapes on the head and tail of the ship that the fire nation was so proud of. It smelled terrible as well, emitting a smoggy, charcoal odour into the air. It was probably coal-powered, which could explain the terrible smell. When Rei arrived at the foot of the boarding bridge, she jumped back and let out a high-pitched squeak in fright from a sharp hiss of steam emitting from the ship. She saw the sides of Zhao's lip creep upward into a terrible smirk at that. She hated him already.

She was immediately led into this dark room to await questioning. She tinkered with the chains for a while but it was clear to her that there was no way she could think of to break out of the chains without a key or a lockpick. Air bending would be completely useless in this situation. Well, it would be useless in any case since she hardly knew what she was doing in the meantime. She had played a bit with her bending by swinging the lantern above her with her breath, but nothing awe-inspiring. Now she was listening to the drip drips of water trickling down from the ceiling. She could also make out muffled footsteps above her, on what she assumes to be the main deck, but she couldn't be sure how deep in the ship she actually was. Nope, she was just a sitting turkeyduck waiting for what happens next.

What she couldn't believe is that they thought she was the avatar. Sure, the last avatar was an airbender but they haven't been seen in over a century. Did she look like a century-old monk? No, no she did not. She wasn't even a monk, nor was she near an airbender temple. Whoever it was must be dead and gone at this point, probably like the other airbenders. It was better to think of the avatar as dead and gone rather than just separating themselves from the world, letting the fire nation rage on with the war. It would be terrible to think that the Avatar left willingly, letting all hell break loose.

She stroked her necklace gingerly, grateful that she had it on when the fire nation platoon attacked. She didn't know what she would've done if she lost it. She hoped that Terra and her family was ok. The flames were still burning bright when she was led away by the fire nation soldiers. She can still see the look of confusion and fear on her sister's face, watching her being led away. Rei's heart quivered at the thought of her sister. There was no way she would be able to be a kid anymore, being the only family member other than her mother left. No more playing sentry with Ling, no more bothering grumpy Mr. Quabbles, all because of Rei. All because of this stupid "gift". She never wanted this damn gift anyways, all it does it bring her misery. How the hell did this happen anyway? She hasn't heard so much as a peep from Sora since she got here. Rei thought that at least she would hear some words of wisdom from her but she's remained silent this whole time.

Rei snapped back to the present when she heard the jangling of keys at the door. The lock on the door clicked and creaked open to reveal Zhao accompanied by two other fire nation officers in skull masks. The two soldiers stood at the doorway while Zhao approached the table, his hands held behind his back. Shadows fluttered across his face which paralleled the shadows emitted by her burning village just hours before. He scowled down at her, searing through her with his fiery, amber eyes. She stared right back, not giving in to his intimidating look. He walks up slowly to the table, stopping at its edge.

"So this is the Avatar…" He started, his voice leaking with malice and contempt. "Master of all the elements."

Zhao was masked in the shadows at the far end of the room, away from the firelight. He stepped forward, his armor glittering and shadows dancing around his body. The corner of his lip was raised in a half-amused smirk, seeing Rei bound in chains at the table. Rei hated his stupid, sideburn face. He began to pace around the table, each step he toke making a deep clanking sound on the deck. He circled around Rei, like a serpent circling around prey. Rei kept staring back at him, but she was getting antsy with Zhao's mind games.

"I did not expect to find the last airbender in a pathetic excuse for a village, let alone being a little girl." He stopped directly behind Rei. She curled her hands into little, tight balls with her nails breaking skin. Little girl? I'm sixteen fuck's sake, she thought angrily. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand on edge as he leaned in closer to her.

"I expected more of a challenge." He purred into Rei's ear.

Rei whipped her head to the side. "I told you, I'm not the damn Avatar." She hissed.

Zhao clicked his tongue. "We shall see."

Zhao paced past Rei and sat down on the opposite side of the metal table. He motioned towards the two soldiers behind him, and one of them knocked on the door. Another fire nation soldier came into the room, bringing a tray of various items and placing it on the table. It seemed to be a rock, an unlit candle and a cup of water. Rei looked from the tray back to Zhao, who lost his "better than thou" attitude and went back into his natural scowl. He took the rock into one of his hands.

"It is said that a pebble falling from a cliff, when in the presence of an earthbeder, would naturally fall in the direction of said person." Zhao said, twisting the rock in his hand. "A bender has a certain influence on their element, whether they are conscious about it or not. Earth is naturally attracted to earthbenders, water to waterbenders…"

Zhao slammed the rock down on the table. The act rang out a low bang and Rei jumped back in her seat. Zhao eyed her coldly, and bent a flame in his left hand.

"Fire to firebenders."

Zhao lit the candle in front of him. Rei could see, although it seemed to dance randomly in many directions, the flame was more attracted to Zhao's general direction than anything else. It seemed alive, reaching out to the firebender like a child reaching its arm out to its mother. Rei stared at the flame, then back up to Zhao.

"And what is this going to prove, then?" Rei prodded.

Zhao tapped his fingers on the table. "You won't be able to hide your influence on the elements, Avatar." Zhao however did not look at Rei, but at the rock sitting in the middle of the table. It didn't move from where Zhao had slammed it. Zhao's scowl deepened, and he pushed the candle towards Rei.

Rei looked at the candle, with its flame dancing wildly. The flame still flowed slightly more towards Zhao, but it did not have any distinct direction of influence. The flame started dancing wildly after a few moments, darting in many different directions. The flame flickered more intensely, as if it was greatly distressed. Suddenly, the flame went out with a small gush of wind. The small trail of smoke rose up into the air, making the room smell slightly of wax and smoke.

Zhao lets out a low grunt and spills the cup of water in Rei's direction. The water trails towards her, but loses velocity and spills off to the sides. Rei looked up at Zhao, who looked as if he should have smoke coming out of his ears. She looks into his eyes defiantly and says,

"Like I said, I'm not your Avatar. I'm just an airbender."

"Useless." Zhao sneered, and pushed away from the table in a rough manner to a standing position.

"I guess the Fire Nation will have to look elsewhere for the Avatar." She adds, letting the corner of her mouth lift up slightly in a smirk.

He looks down onto Rei, eyes blazing. He leans in with his hands on the table.

"Then you should join the rest of your kind." He growls.

He pushes back and stomps towards the doors. He motions towards the soldiers on guard, saying loudly so Rei could hear, "Dispose of the prisoner."

"Wait, what?!" She shot back.

Rei's heartbeat picks up, sending her into a silent panic. What did he mean by that? Oh fuck, what were they going to do? The two soldiers stepped towards her as Zhao exited the room. Rei jumped up and pulled back away from them, but her chains prevented her from getting very far. The soldiers stepped closer, reaching out towards her. She swatted back at them, trying to get them as far away as possible. Rei pulled at her chains, but was detained by one soldier while the other unlocked the welded loop on the table. They grabbed Rei by her arms and escorted her to the door, all the while with Rei kicking and yelling.

"Where are you taking me? Let me go!" She cried out.

"Silence." One soldier ordered.

She was led out of the room and into a long, dark hallway. Zhao was on the left, talking with another fire nation officer. He listened with silent interest as he watched Rei being pulled away. The soldiers escorting Rei turned right and began marching down deeper into the unknown. Rei continued to kick and yell as hard and as loud as she could, trying to mask her terror with rage. She thought of trying to airbend, but the soldiers had a tight grip on her arms. She was panicking. She didn't know what was going to happen. They were leading her deeper into the bowels of the ship where who knows what will happen to her.

"Halt!"

Zhao's voice boomed down the hall. The two fire nation soldiers stopped in their tracks and turned to face Zhao. Zhao was still listening to the words of the officer he was conversing with. Rei could barely make out what they were saying, but she could hear the tail-end of the accompanying soldier's remark.

"…serve as a decoy...believe we have the Avatar…control the rebellion."

Zhao nodded and gazed in Rei's direction. He gestured for the soldiers holding Rei to come forward. Rei stumbles slightly as they walked up to Zhao. Zhao looks down at Rei, never breaking eye contact.

"Bring the prisoner to a vacant holding cell. We'll deal with her when we reach the harbor."

With that, Rei was whisked away down the opposite side of the hallway. As she was led away, she could feel Zhao's eyes burning a hole in the back of her skull. The two soldiers led her to an iron door, where one took out his keys to unlock it. Rei thought for a split second that she could try to make a break for it, but decided against it. How could she get past any of the other guards? Even if she did, where would she go? She has no idea where the harbor the ship was going to is located, plus after the preceding situation, she thought it was best to not "rock the boat" as it were.

The soldiers pushed her into the cell, chaining her to the wall in a sitting position with her hands above her head. Damn, it was really uncomfortable. After they finished, the soldiers took their leave and locked the door, leaving Rei alone in her cell. It was cold, and somewhat damp. The familiar drip drips of falling water sounded once more. Muffled voices and footsteps could be heard overhead. Rei's heart was still beating uncontrollably from the struggle and blind panic. Rei took a few deep breaths to calm herself, and twitched her feet and legs a bit, kind of wishing she could've walked a bit more before being chained up again. She looked around the dark room, eying the torch lit on the side. The flames flickered passively, sending shadows flashing in its wake. She blew in its direction, sending the flames to flicker uncontrollably in response then settling once more. A flame can switch from passive to aggressive in an instant, with the capacity of destroying everything in its path. Rei couldn't help but think of Zhao's switching moods during her interrogation, from being a smirking bastard to an enraged fiend. She knew that she had to be careful, but at the same time she knew that she wouldn't allow herself to be walked on by the likes of him. At least she was alive, which was the good thing from all of this. It was going to be a long trip to wherever that wretched boat was going, but she knew that she needed sleep. And a visit from Sora. Rei closed her eyes, listening to the quiet droplets of water as she sunk into slumber.

Drip...Drip…Drip…

Yes I know, I took inspiration from the terrible movie that shall not be named. I found the test interesting, and thought it would be a cool way to prove Rei wasn't the Avatar. I wanted to accent Zhao's switch between moods since I see him as a sadistic, cruel character who can switch from being perversely happy with himself to spitting fire in a second. Anyways, please give me your thoughts and constructive criticism cuz every review helps! I'm going to try make Saturday my posting day, so hopefully I can keep to my schedule!

Have a great week my lovelies! X