Erythema ab igne
The Water Tribe captures a Fire Nation soldier and Hakoda can't understand why every conversation with the kid makes him furious and wanting to hunt down someone else in the Fire Nation to give them a piece of his mind.
AU: Zuko is stripped of his title and serves in the Fire Nation army as a foot soldier until he gets captured by the Water Tribe.
It was an unlucky night. Really, it was. The Water Tribe had been scouting the area when they stumbled upon Fire Nation soldiers. Fortunately, it was a small group and the raid should have been easy since they had the advantage of darkness, but they were having trouble containing the enemy, in particular, because of one soldier wielding dual Dao.
His swords flashed dangerously in defensive circles and a number of Hakoda's men were getting injured, but the soldier was also slowing down due to his own injuries and fatigue. Bato managed to duck under the swinging blade and landed a brutal blow with his bone club in the soldier's left side. There was a sickening crunch and then immediately, the soldier started wheezing as he rapidly backed up. He had somehow retained hold of both his swords but was only able to hold one of them up as his other arm curved protectively around his injured side. He had also managed to stay on his feet though it was a near thing and he warily backed away from Hakoda's second.
Gold eyes glinted under what little light the new moon provided as he quickly surveyed the area. There were no other fire nation soldiers around to help. He was alone. Instead of panicking though, he seemed relieved?
"You should surrender. You're alone and surrounded." Hakoda stepped forward. The soldier's eyes snapped to him and studied him. The Water Tribe Chief hadn't noticed earlier, but the soldier's one eye was squinted. Perhaps a head injury?
"You're going to kill me anyway. I'd rather die standing if it's all the same to you," he gasped back, grimacing. His arm seemed to clutch harder at his side as if pressure alone could heal him, but even as he said that, everyone in the vicinity could see that the soldier wasn't going to be on his feet for much longer. He was already splinting to his left and his sword kept drooping, nearly brushing the ground. His breath was coming out in small gasps. If he wasn't the enemy, Hakoda might have felt bad for him.
One of the other water tribe warriors came up on the soldier's injured side and easily subdued him by throwing him into the ground. The swords scattered, landing nearby and there was a pained groan from the man - most likely from his injury and now how his arm was twisted up behind his back. He didn't try to fight back seeming to understand that struggling was futile.
Hakoda kicked one of the swords so that it was further away from enemy hands and then approached the Fire Nation soldier.
"They were calling him 'Captain'," Bato offered.
"It's a joke," the kid wheezed into the ground, and he really was a kid, because now that Hakoda had a better look at him, he looked way too young to be fighting. Tui, he had to be Sokka's age! Hakoda did a lot of things he wasn't proud of in the name of war, but he wouldn't - couldn't - cross the line and harm a child.
He could feel a headache growing and he knew Bato had also gotten a good look at the kid if the sigh was any indication.
"Tie him up and keep a watch on him until we decide what to do with him," Hakoda ordered. "And let's clear out before reinforcements come."
Tulok, who had been pinning the boy down, yanked the child up and a small gasp escaped from him and he fell limp, passing out from the pain. Well, it was probably for the best. La, what in the world were they supposed to do with this Fire Nation child?
It didn't take long to clean up. It seemed that it was only a Fire Nation scouting party, so there were few belongings and tents. Still, they took what they thought could be useful - food, weapons, etc - and hid the rest. In that time, Hakoda took stock of his own people. A few had been injured from the deadly blades, but no one was seriously hurt. That was fortunate. Unfortunately, other than the one Fire Nation child they had in custody, they had been unable to capture any others.
He sighed as he thought about their latest problem again. What in Tui was he supposed to do with the child? He pinched the bridge of his nose trying to quell the growing headache as he headed toward the boat with the rest of his men.
"What are we going to do with the prisoner?" Bato came up to walk in step with him.
"I can't kill a child, Bato."
"No one is asking you to, but what are we going to do with him? If we let him go, he might give away our position, and he's seen our men. Who knows what else he might have garnered."
"What do you propose then?" Hakoda stopped abruptly and turned to his second.
Bato shook his head. "I don't think there are very many options here.."
"I'm not killing a child," Hakoda growled back, effectively ending the conversation for now.
They had the boy sequestered in the meeting room for the time being. There weren't many optimal places to house a prisoner on a fishing boat gutted and remade for war. His arms were tied behind his back and his feet were also tied together in a variety of sailor's knots. He was propped up against the wall and appeared to still be unconscious. Under the lantern light, the boy seemed very pale, and Hakoda had to do a double take. What he thought was a head injury under the dim light of the new moon was actually a large burn scar that spanned the youth's left face. There wasn't really a question of how he got it (who else but a firebender could do something like that?) but rather why?
It could have been as simple as a training accident, but it also could have been done purposefully and to someone who was so young… Hakoda gritted his teeth, allowing himself to be angry for just a moment at the Fire Nation. The whole time the Water Tribe had been attacking the scouting group, there had been no firebending. The men there weren't firebenders, so their army used firebending as what? Discipline? A scare tactic against recruits? And the Fire Nation called the Water Tribe the barbarians.
And why was someone so young even on the battlefield? There was a reason Hakoda hadn't let Sokka come; he was too young to know of the harsh world and the depravities of men. Certainly, if the war kept up, he would one day learn, but it didn't have to be any time soon.
There was a sharp intake of air and then a groan as the Fire Nation boy winced and splinted towards his injury. He seemed to realize at that point that his arms and legs were tied and instead of fighting or panicking, he looked resigned. He slowly looked up and locked eyes with Hakoda.
"What were you and the Fire Nation soldiers doing there?" he asked, instead of asking the question he really wanted to - what in the world is a kid doing in the Fire Nation army?
The kid sighed irritably. "Look, I don't know anything. I'm just a foot soldier, and if you think I have information, you're sorely mistaken. Instead of wasting time interrogating me, just get on with it and kill me. We both know that's where this is going to go."
At first, Hakoda was flabbergasted, then for some reason, he got really angry. "Hey, kid!" The said kid flinched back. "Just because you're an enemy soldier doesn't mean we're going to kill you. We aren't the Fire Nation," and before he could do or say something he would regret, he quickly turned and left. It was dangerous to lose your head in front of the enemy, even if that enemy was too young to be fighting.
It was hard to say exactly what had set him off, though it was probably a number of things. The fact that this kid couldn't be older than 16, the fact that he was in the army, the fact that he thought he was just going to die and seemed to accept that fact without a fight… Where was the will to live?
On the other hand, why should he care about some Fire Nation brat. He was the enemy, so there was no need for this concern. Still, he couldn't help it; he kept thinking about what if this kid was Sokka instead? He let out an irritated sigh. It was too late to be thinking about this. Hopefully, tomorrow will bring some answers.
It didn't. The next day didn't either.
Any and all attempts to get information out of the kid was met with heated glares. Even just asking his name was met with silence. They thought that maybe his possessions might have some clues, but the kid didn't seem to have much on his person and none of it told them what the Fire Nation was doing in that particular part of the world.
There had been the well used swords (which were now in Hakoda's quarters) and some metal tags. Hakoda knew the Fire Nation had been using them to identify their soldiers should they fall on the battlefield so that the family could at least be notified, but the boy carried multiple tags. One of them was blank with no markings. Another had the 41st just legible on one side, but the name and information on the other side was illegible from the scorch marks. They had also pulled a knife off the boy that was hidden in his boot - an Earth Nation blade. He had been particularly upset when that was taken. Hakoda would be too if his hidden weapon was found and confiscated.
Today, Hakoda thought he might try a different tactic. "Do you want us to send word to your family? So they aren't worried about you?"
The response was not at all what the Water Tribe Chief expected. Instead of the usual silence or even maybe gratefulness for being able to let his family know what was going on, he was met with laughter. It was soft at first but quickly grew, but just as quickly, it died off as the kid groaned and tried to put pressure on his left side where Bato had injured him. "That's funny," he wheezed through dying chuckles. "Do you really think I would be in the army at my age if my family gave two shits about me?" He was glaring at the floor. "They sent me to die." His eyes shuttered - apparently he had not meant to say that.
Hakoda barely noticed; he was trying to quell his growing rage at the Fire Nation. It took him a moment of imaging himself finding the boy's family and shaking them really hard, but he was eventually able to control it. Besides, exploding in front of the kid was unlikely to help get information from him (was that all he wanted? Information?). Hakoda was finding more and more that interrogating the kid was a test in anger control. The things that came out of his mouth that he just seemed to accept as the norm infuriated Hakoda.
It suddenly came to him, and it was a guess but - "Is this why your tag is blank?" He pulled the metal from his pocket and held up the necklace. He had never actually seen a blank tag, but hearing what the boy had to say, it made sense to Hakoda. If he had no home to go to, why bother labeling the tags?
The kid's scowl grew more. "That's.. Part of it," he muttered, eyes fixed on the floor.
"So why not leave the army? Go somewhere else?"
His one brow lifted in an incredulous look like it was one of the dumbest things he'd ever heard in his life. "Are you kidding me? I have a better chance at being alive on the front lines then deserting!"
Well, that was fair. Hakoda had heard that there were some teams dedicated to hunting down traitors and deserters of the Fire Nation - to make sure their secrets weren't leaked.
"Why am I still alive, anyway?" The kid was now studying Hakoda.
Again, Hakoda could feel his irritation rise. Does this kid have a death wish?! "Because I want you alive," he snapped. The kid flinched. "Eat your food. I hear you haven't been eating," and again, before Hakoda could lose control of his temper, he left. Behind him, he thought he heard, "I don't understand him."
It goes both ways, kid.
AN
I needed more Dadkoda. Fight me
Erythema ab igne - "skin condition caused by long-term exposure to heat"
Don't ask me about the title. I don't know. I picked something.
