Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA. I do however own a little countdown calendar to SotFN which airs in only FOUR days.
Thanks for reviewing and helping me hit 20.
oxoxoxo
The soldiers tied me up to the village watch tower. For an hour I screamed and shouted at them yelling out every obscene word I knew. I roared out hollow threats but all of my efforts were in vain for no-one seemed to give a damn. Finally I gave up. My throat was too sore and dry for me to continue the verbal assault. No-one came to my aid. They were all too scared of Gal. I was living in a village of cowards, where any scrap of courage had been sent off to war or stomped out by thugs.
"He'll come to rescue me. I know it!" I snarled at any soldier that would come past. (By 'he' I meant the Stranger). I hoped the doubt in my mind didn't reflect in my voice but it was fast approaching sunset and Gal had said that we would leave for the nearest army camp when night fell. Why he didn't just pack me off straight away, I'll never know but I didn't want to question him.
Time trailed by and I had developed an itch on my nose that I couldn't reach. Flies buzzed around my face but I couldn't swat them away. I was desperately thirsty and the scorching heat was making me feel ten times worse.
I prayed that Mum was okay and that the Stranger would come to rescue me. I hoped Dad could find Shen-Shu and bring him home and we could be a complete family again. I clung desperately to my hopes but as the sky slowly tinted orange, I could feel despair gnawing in my gut. It felt like I was being suffocated in darkness. I hung my head in hopelessness. Everything seemed to be against me, like I was in an up hill struggle against fate.
The sound of approaching hooves reached my ears snapping me out of my self-pity. I opened my eyes groggily and saw someone on an ostrich-horse riding into the village. The person leapt of their mount and placed their hat on the saddle. Silhouetted against the tinted sky stood the Stranger and along with his arrival, hope came rushing back.
"I told you he'd come!" I exclaimed, finding my voice again.
Everything was going to be alright now. The Stranger would send Gal and his goons packing, Dad and Shen-Shu would come home and everything would be perfect.
Alerted by my call, the soldiers emerged from the shadows and leapt into position, shielding me from view of my friend. Townsfolk came out of their houses to see what the commotion was about and gathered in the alleyways. A fight was brewing in the air and everyone could sense it. There wasn't a soul in the village who didn't want to see Gal go down. The Stranger wouldn't just be fighting to free me; he'd have the hope of the whole village riding on him as well.
"Let the kid go," the Stranger said in a threatening tone.
Gal laughed mockingly and then replied in an equally threatening voice, "Who do you think you are telling us what to do?"
"I doesn't matter who I am. But I know who you are. You're not soldiers, you're bullies. Freeloaders, abusing your power. Mostly over women and kids. You don't want Lee in your army. You're sick cowards messing with a family who's already lost one son to the war."
I couldn't see Gal's reaction but I could picture his eyes narrowing angrily. Gal turned to his men after a pause as if he couldn't quite believe that someone had spoken to him so disrespectfully.
"Are you going to let this stranger stand and insult you like that?"
Gal's goons charged at the Stranger one by one but my friend sent them packing with ease. He didn't even have to draw his swords. The soldiers, minus Gal, fled, whimpering like babies while the villagers and I booed them out of sight.
Gal scowled at the Stranger and drew his war hammers. The Stranger too, unsheathed his weapons. The tension was so thick you couldn't cut it with a knife. Apprehension coated the village like an icy sheet but I knew the Stranger would be the victor, I could feel it. My friend wouldn't let me down.
The soldier made the first move slamming down his hammer onto the hard packed ground so hard that I could feel the earth tremble beneath me. A tower of boulders rose up at Gal's command which he sent flying towards the Stranger. The Stranger deflected them as best as he could, slashing through them as they came but one of them smashed through his guard. He doubled up winded but soon straightened. I cheered along with the villagers; nothing could keep the Stranger down. Gal was going to be defeated.
The Stranger charged at Gal but was knocked back again and sent tumbling. But he rolled over and leapt to his feet, ready to continue the fight.
However, as the battle raged on, a change seemed to come over the Stranger. The light reflected on his swords flashed menacingly like the glint of a tiger's eyes as it was about to take down its prey. He snarled and fought so ferociously that it frightened me. After all the hits that he had taken, it seemed that none of them affected him. I could see where his clothes had been torn by shards of rock and the grazes that now decorated his cheeks. He looked torn and tattered but still he raged on like an unstoppable demon. His eyes were narrowed into snake-like slits and every cry of rage he let out sounded more and more feral.
With a massive kiai, Gal sent a wave of rock slamming into the Stranger. It struck with a dull thud throwing the Stranger to the ground. Time itself seemed to slow down as he fell with every hope and dream of the village crashing down alongside him. Gal was going to be the victor; he would continue terrorizing the town. He would rip me away from my home and everything I knew, forcing me go to war and join the mass ranks of the dead. Tears welled in my eyes and dribbled down my cheeks. I couldn't hold them back. Everything was falling apart. I felt like I was trying to hold sand and the infinite grains were just slipping though my desperate fingers.
The Stranger landed with a sickening crunch as his head hit the battle torn ground. His swords dropped out of his grasp and lay beside him. He lay motionless with his eyes closed like a slain dragon. Gal marched towards my fallen friend raising his war hammers above his head to land the final blow. I let out a cry of anguish. Gal had already won the fight, that was clear, but he wanted to finish of my friend as well? It was too much to bear. Gal had taken too much from me; he couldn't take away my hope and friend as well. I struggled against my bonds begging to the gods that the Stranger would rise again.
My prayers were answered but in the worst way possible.
The Stranger's snapped open. His hands grasped his swords and erupted with hungry flames as he touched them. He span around creating a whirl wind of fire, tossing Gal through the air as if he was nothing but a rag doll. Even from my distance I could feel the terrifying heat of the flames. The Stranger had gone and in his place was an evil firebender. The firebender stood shrouded in flames which danced violently around him. All around, the spectators screamed. The blazing tongues licked the air drinking in the fear that now cloaked the village. A searing hand of terror clutched my heart. If the inferno spread towards me, there would be nothing I could do for I was still bound to the watch tower. I imagined the agonizing pain of the blaze as it engulfed me, calling me to the pits of hell. Fire was destructive, fire was merciless, fire killed without thought. It was an insatiable monster out to do the bidding of a firebender, out to kill the innocent and tear families apart.
The firebender charged through the flames like a rampant beast. Gal, who had just recovered and was back on his feet formed and shield of rock in a futile effort to defend himself. The firebender brought his blades down in a slashing action. Fire blasted from the weapons destroying the petty earthen safeguard and powered into Gal. The soldier was knocked back into one of the stands; the force of the impact destroying the structure and collapsing on him. Gal lay in the debris, unable to do anything when the firebender approached. The flames died down now the battle had been won.
"Who… Who are you," Gal asked weakly sounding nothing like the fearsome bully I knew him to be.
I was dying to know but dreading the answer. Now the fight was over, the victor was looking less like a firebender and more like the Stranger I had befriended.
"My name is Zuko, son of Ursa and Fire Lord Ozai, prince of the Fire Nation and heir to the throne."
The firebender's voice was proud and strong as he announced his accursed identity. He sheaved his still smoking swords and turned towards the villagers as if for judgment. Muttering broke out amongst the people. Everyone was struck dumb by confusion. I couldn't get my head around what he was saying. How could it be true? He must have been lying. How could someone I called a friend be from the Fire Nation let alone be related to the tyrant who ruled such a ruthless country. He had hidden his identity from me, lied to me. I trusted him and he was a firebender. And worse, he was a prince of firebenders as well. He could have asked his father to stop the war. It was his fault that this war his going on, it was his fault that my brother wasn't here. Everything was his fault. I was clouded by confusion. I couldn't think straight. It was like an impenetrable fog had settled in my mind blinding me from reality. All I could see was a firebender; the Stranger's image had been cremated and turned to ash.
One of the villagers found his voice. I recognized the old man who spoke. He was the one who taught me and Hong every prank we knew. He was like a kid in an elder's body. He was never seen without a grin on his face but now he was the true image of anger.
"Liar, you're not a prince, you're an outcast," he accused the firebender. The villager turned to the rest of the crowd. "His own father burned and disowned him."
Whether he said anything else, I didn't her him. Mum ran forward from the crowd and enveloped me in a hug. I was so glad to see her and that she was okay. She quickly undid my bonds asking if I was alright and how I felt. I was too dazed to speak. All I could think about was the firebender and the Stranger.
The firebender walked towards us. I flinched, thinking that he would unleash another inferno. Mum hid me from view, spreading out her arms so the firebender couldn't get me. I tried to look over her shoulder though. I wanted to see Zuko, see if he was the Stranger or the firebender.
He knelt down and drew the knife that Gal had stolen and offered it to me.
"Here it's yours, you should have it."
An image of the flames dancing demonically around him flashed in my mind. The animal that had possessed him was all I saw and I said the first thing that came to mind.
"I hate you."
I knocked the knife away and turned to leave, ignoring the lost expression on his face. Mum held my hand as we walked away without looking back.
oxoxoxo
The entire village watched him leave. Some held weapons incase the firebender decided to strike. I still didn't know what to think. Should I hate him for what he is? I couldn't even look at him. I couldn't watch him leave. It filled me with too much doubt. It hurt to think that he was the Stranger. It was too hard to comprehend. So I convinced myself that I loathed every fiber of his being because it was easier to hate that it was to understand.
On his ostrich horse paying no heed to the hostile gazes he was receiving, the firebender rode out of the village gate, silhouetted against the setting sun.
oxoxoxo
That's it. It's done, finished, complete! Yes, that's right, my first multi-chaptered story followed through to the end. Just to clear up any misunderstandings, there will not be a sequel. I have no intentions of making Zuko meet back up with Li.
Thank you my reviewers, HLeiht, JillRG, Hotspur, Pirateninjelover, Rose Eclipse, KelseyAlicia, Songoftheskies, Starshinesoldier, Jen, Kereea and ithiliengirl108.
And a special thanks to JillRG, Rose Eclipse and Kelsey Alicia for reviewing multiple times.
And an extra special thanks to Hotspur for reviewing every chapter since the first one. I'm flattered that you found 'The Stranger' worth reading from start to finish.
Just one question, has anyone been able to get breaklines to work?