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Chapter 4
He knows….
'Must run! Must hide!' I thought frantically. I saw the man I had knocked down run towards me. I turned and ran across the deck, pushing past crewmembers and crates in my desperate attempt to get away.
"Stop! Stop!" I heard the man with the scar shout at me. He sounded close, to close. I barged through a door and leap down a flight of stairs. I heard shouts of surprise and alarm come from the men that I passed.
I turn a corner and went down more steps. Running through a doorway I found myself in a storage room: Boxes, barrels, and crates were everywhere… a lot of hiding places. I closed the door behind me and hid myself behind a box that was surrounded by barrels. I sat; trying to calm my rapid heartbeat, I was exhausted. Three years with space exercise and sunlight did not make me an athlete or able to run for long distances.
I felt lightheaded but I forced myself to stay conscious. The door to the room slammed open and the scarred man came in. There was a horrific scar on his left eye and ear, and his head was shaved except a hunk of black hair that was tied up into a ponytail. He also wore a full set of armor, he looked older then me. I watched him through a space between the barrels. He scanned the room, looking for me no doubt. I held my breath as his gaze drifted to where I was. But thankfully, his gaze passed.
'Who is he?' I wondered, watching him intently.
"Are you in here?" The man called. He waited for the answer I would never give. But he smile… as if I had answered him.
"You are in here….I know you are. Come out where ever you are." He said imperiously…but I stayed where I was, hoping that he would give up and look elsewhere. But instead, the man sat down on a crate that was not far from my hiding spot. I held my breath, he didn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.
'Go away, leave me alone please!' I begged silently, I could not stop the tears that fell.
The man crossed his arms and looked around the room.
"You can't hide forever." He said matter-of-factly. I knew he was right, but I can try. I have nothing to live for anyway. My parents are dead, my village destroyed…I have nothing.
The man got off his crate and began walking around the room, moving aside boxes and crates, looking behind them in hope of finding me.
"Where are you?" He asked calmly. I didn't answer. Did this man honestly think I would give away my hiding place? The man stopped, his mouth in a small frown.
"Those marks on your back," He said softly, "he did them to you…. Didn't he?"
I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood. 'Yes' a tiny voice whispered in my head…
(Warning, read at your own risk)
(Flashback)
The new admiral took out his favorite dagger; he inspected it with an evil gleam in his eyes as he ran a loving finger over the wicked sharp edge. He looked at me and came towards me. I knew what was going to happen next, it had happened before.
"No Master! Please!" I begged, trying to move as far away as I could from him. I pressed myself into a ball in the far corner of my cage.
Master grinned wickedly, "Yes Bird… come here…" He reached for me, but I cringed away from him.
"Nonononono!" I cried. Master grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the cage.
"Come here…don't fight. It won't hurt…much." But he was lying. It hurt horribly, excruciatingly. Master threw me to the floor, I landed on my stomach: I felt something crack and pain flooded through my chest and stomach. He got on top of me, pulling up my ragged shirt in the back, pulling it up to my head. I cried, begging him not to do it again. He slapped me, telling me to shut up or he would mark all over my body. I felt the cold metal of the blade touch my skin. I closed my eyes, shuddering on contact.
"People will know whom you belong to," Master said as he pressed the point down. I cried as I felt it piece the skin and blood trickle over my side. But Master did not stop. He dragged the point across my skin, slicing it to his own design. He talked while he did it, but I barely heard him, my own voice was screaming in pain inside my head.
"You will always know who you belong to…" He said, ending the first letter and stabbing down for the period. I felt my blood stream over my back, collecting in little pools under me, "…marking you as mine…you'll never forget…" He dug the point deeper on the last letter he was engraving. I was feeling dizzy with pain. I wanted him to stop, or just stab down hard enough to kill me, ending this pain…. anything to end it.
"…you will never forget…that you belong to the new Admiral Zhao!" He said as he took the blade out. I cried harder because I knew what came next was a lot worse. Master got the black ink and holding me down by the neck, he spread the ink over the raw bleeding cuts.
I screamed as the ink touched the open wounds. It felt as if my back was on fire. Master covered my mouth, muffling my screams. After what seemed like forever, the pain dulled, leaving a painful pulsing ache. Master got off me and smiled, looking down as me as I cried.
"You're mine…forever."
(End Flashback)
Those three words rang in my head, I felt hollow as if I had no soul. "You're mine…forever." He had done it once before, when he first got me. Marking "bird" on my lower back was one of the most painful things I have ever experienced. But that was nothing compared to the first night when Master had me…I was only thirteen.
I watched as the man sat down on the crate, he looked around.
"A.Z…"
Don't say it! Don't say it!
"Admiral Zhao, he did that to you didn't he?"
I could not hold back the chocking sob that racked me body. I cried, holding my face in my hands. It was too much, just hearing his name makes me physically sick.
"No! No! No!" I sobbed; I didn't want to hear his name again. I heard the crate being pulled away from my hiding place. I didn't even look up: I was found. Yet I didn't care. My hands were pulled away from my face, the man looked at me, pity in his amber eyes.
"You're safe. He can't hurt you here." He held my hands as I tried to stop crying.
My tears slowly slackened and the man took my shoulders, pulling me up so I could stand.
"Come on." He said, "lets get you back to the infirmary. You are still very weak. None of us will hurt you, you will be safe here. He can't hurt you, I'll stop him if he tries." He promised as he led me out of the storage room.
"W-Who are you? I asked finally. The man looked at me, he guided me by my shoulder gently.
"I'm Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation."
I pulled away, staring at him in disbelief, "You're the boy who defeated 'him' in Agni Kai?" I asked, incredulous. He nodded. I felt immediately safer. The one person who had defeated my master was now protecting me.
Prince Zuko led me back to the infirmary. Before we went inside, Prince Zuko stopped and looked at me, "In the Storage room… I won't tell anyone what went on. Its between us." He said quietly. I wiped the tears off my face and nodded.
"You've never told us your name. What is it?" Prince Zuko asked.
I had to think back. I was about to say Bird, but I stopped myself. That wasn't my name anymore.
;Zuko;
Zuko noticed that she hesitated when telling him her name. She thought for a moment, then answered.
"My name is Koima. But you can call me Koi."
'She has the name of a fish, but the tattoo of a bird. Strange.' Zuko thought. At that moment, Uncle Iroh came up to them, he had been watching them for some time. He looked at Koima, "Will you come with me miss?" He asked kindly. Koima looked at Zuko questioningly. Zuko nodded, letting go of her. Iroh took Koima into the infirmary while Zuko waited outside.
'Koima…nice name' He thought , 'I wonder how long she had been Zhao's…slave.' He didn't want to think too hard on that.
:Time Gap:
Uncle Iroh came out of the infirmary a few minutes later. He looked at Zuko with a perplexed look. Zuko frowned, " What is it Uncle?"
"What did you tell the girl?" Iroh asked, amazed, " she had started crying and smiling, saying that 'Master' couldn't hurt her now. She's in her bed fast asleep now… what did you two talk about?"
Zuko thought quickly, "Um, I told her that she was safe here. I found out her name. Its Koima." He said, changing the subject efficiently.
"Koima…" Iroh said the name slowly, "Well whatever you did Prince Zuko, it made a big difference. Come," He beckoned Zuko, "Let's go eat some lunch and have a nice cup of tea."
Zuko sighed and followed his Uncle, "But I hate tea."
There, you learned a little about Koima's past. Her parents are dead and her village is destroyed. But you will have to wait to find out how and why. It took forever to come up with a good plot. I do not enjoy flames…. or constructive criticism. I know I make grammar errors, but I am getting better and making sentences longer and adding more vocabulary. My friend and I complain that we have too much dialogue in our stories, so we are adding more details and narration. It's amazing that I'm passing English Honors II. We just killed Caesar in that class. I did it! I played the part of Brutus! When Mr. B was asking who killed Caesar. I was being a smart ass and said, "It was Colonel Mustard with the candlestick in the Dining room!" I expected to get in trouble…but no. Mr. B said that another kid last year said that it was Miss Scarlet with the lead pipe in the Kitchen. That was funny. I added a picture of me on my profile. I will be adding a picture of all my friends so you know what they look like in my story, Holy Sugar Honeyed Iced Tea. Which is rated T for teen.
