... it's been a few years.
Stranded VIII
The sky was dark, yet lighter than it had been an hour earlier. The calming lap of the sea could be heard as well as the cries of seagulls from their duties in the heavens. A man dressed in a green hooded cloak sat on the deck of a well-sized metal vessel, designed specifically for the task it was now on. It's fuel canisters held enough juice to get her from the Southern Water Tribe to the Northern and back, yet the yacht's speed could outmatch even a Fire Nation Destroyer.
The man took off his hood and looked up to the sky. His eyes shined a bright hazel, almost yellow in shade. His hair was jet black and buzzed down to near baldness. A bit of stubble could be seen on his chin, with a rough 4 o'clock shadow covering everywhere else on his face. He sighed deeply and closed his eyes, listening to the light rhythm of the metal boat.
As he was drifting back towards unconsciousness, a rough hand shook him. He opened his eyes to see another green cloaked man, his mask off. He had slightly longer brown hair, his eyes the same hazel. They had very similar facial features, ears and nose included.
"What do you want Di..." His voice was average, yet deeper than usual and with a barely perceptible accent. He was obviously tired.
Di laughed in a voice even deeper, "Nothing but a bit of conversation. It gets boring seeing the same scenery over and over. Have you seen Qang anywhere?"
"Nope. He's been in his quarters."
"Hm... aw well."
They sat in silence for awhile, waiting for the other to say something.
"We got a letter from Song a while ago." Di said suddenly.
The other sat up, "Really? Where is it?" he tried to hide his enthusiasm with indifference, but his body language betrayed him.
"Slow down there, bro! Here." He pulled a letter from a small satchel attached to his belt, "Here you go, Yu. Now I have to go check on the engines and make sure the cook does a decent job with the grub. I'll be back in an hour to wake you for shifts. Take care little bro." He patted Yu's shoulder as he stood and walked back into the hull.
Yu opened the letter quickly, his hands fumbling with the glue sealed envelope. When he had finally ripped it open he unfolded the parchment within. It read:
Yu,
Much has happened. I wish you to come home soon. It is very urgent.
Song.
What was this? The writing seemed almost scribbled, with stains of water on the stiff, faded, yellowed paper. Was she in danger? Did the house get evicted? They had at least another week to pay the rent! And that's exactly what he was doing here, getting income. Or... maybe she was-
"YU!" the shrill voice of an old man broke his thoughts.
Yu stood and went to the door leading to the captain's quarters. "Yeah?"
An old man with liver spots on his sagging skin squinted towards the door. "Qang wants to talk with ya."
Yu's blood went cold and a feeling of anxiety swept through him. He tried to conceal his feelings and nodded.
"Well, are ya gonna get in there or am I gonna have to open the door for yer sorry arse?"
Yu shook his head and went for the door, opening it with goosebumps running up his arms.
Inside the room was a profound exclamation of Qang's wealth. A polar bear dog fur rug was on the floor, the head immediately facing the entrance. Furniture of polished rosewood, the feet carved into dragon claws, stood around a desk. The desk was a big rock, the top sanded down to gleaming lines and grooves of marble, while the bottom portion was rough, unhewn save the underside being cleaved to keep the whole thing even.
Qang rose as Yu entered. He spoke nothing and simply motioned for him to take a seat.
Yu sat in the hard wooden chairs.
Qang sat back down into his chair, the same as the others but larger and with gold lining the armrests and velvet plush lining the seat.
He still said nothing, simply stared with his cold, pale green eyes. He took a sip from his tea, ginseng by Yu's nose, and closed his eyes.
Finally he let out a breath and spoke, "Yu, I presume?"
Yu nodded.
Qang took another sip of tea, his eyes glaring with an even heavier stare.
Yu shifted in his seat.
Qang sighed and began running his finger through one of the grooves on the desk. "Do you know where this rock has come from?"
Yu shook his head.
"You are aware of the story of how the Avatar stopped Ozai?"
Yu nodded.
"The Avatar trapped the Fire Lord in stone clamps, then used his power to take away his bending... This block of marble was exactly three point eight miles below the surface of that very spot."
Yu's eyes widened and he looked at the block of marble with more respect than he kept even for Qang. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked.
Qang smiled and clasped his hands firmly together on the table. "I'll cut the theatrics... I need your help. And should you choose to accept, you'll have more money than even the Fire Lord can boast of."
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A blinding white light was all he remembered.
The scream that tore from his lips coming second.
The blank face of a woman with hair jet black, the color of a raven.
Or was it auborn? With a blue dress?
No. That wasn't it.
Invading thoughts racked his mind, fighting for control over the core.
Finally he recalled everything, as though a looking glass were put to his eyes and the fog rolled away.
"NO!" Aang screamed, his head beating as if a million shards of glass were rattling from within. Then, another pain, deeper and colder, stung his torso. He felt sweat at his forehead, and he felt hot. Too hot.
He tried to look around, but an inky blackness fell over his sight. He moved his eyes until they felt sore in their sockets. He tried to raise his hand to his face, but his strength only allowed him to raise it an inch before exhaustion overcame him.
He sat there, settling in the darkness for hours upon hours. Or was it minutes? A few seconds maybe? Days? Weeks? YEARS?
He was slowly becoming accustomed to his biome when a breeze gently touched his body, allowing him to finally feel something. It was soft and smelled of the sea, with touches of something else much more rotten and dead.
The breeze came again and this time he breathed it in fully, absorbing its aroma.
A seagull chirped.
A wave crashed.
Footsteps crunched the sand.
He opened his eyes to a full moon peering down on him from the heavens, the sky cloudless and a pure, deep blue.
He tried to look down at himself but he was far too exhausted. He grunted from the effort and the footsteps stopped.
His eyes widened as he realized he had just alerted someone to his presence.
The footsteps continued until they reached right beside him.
Two golden eyes stared down at them, almost feline in nature.
More sweat perspired on his brow and slid down his head to the sand. He hoped he, or she, didn't notice.
A voice, almost taunting came from the figure's mouth, "Well well, what do we have here?"
Aang froze at the voice. Azula's. His breathing began to increase.
"A tired little Aangy, all snug as a bug in the sand. Pathetic." she fell to her knees and looked with more interest. "I like that."
Aang began to sweat even more. His eyelid twitched.
"You. Sitting there. Practically paralyzed." she rolled the last words with a seductive tone. She got closer to his face and began tracing his cheek with her long fingernails, which seemed to be caked in something that smelled like copper.
Aang's heartbeat peaked. His ears reddened.
She got closer, their lips almost touching. "If I wanted... I could do whatever I-" Her eyes clicked and she stared blankly into space. "NO!" she screamed, practically in his ear. "Yes." came the seductive voice again. She staggered to her feet and held her forehead, her raven black hair, caked in sand and tangled from the beach fallig over her eyes. When she stood, Aang could see her legs. Blood came from numerous cuts bore into her skin. Apparently from fingernails.
"STOP TORMEN-"
"You deserve every second of it."
"WHY WOULD Y-"
"Because I love you."
"IF YOU LOVED ME Y-"
She froze in place, tears falling onto the sand. She stood completely still for so long it felt like hours. She only began moving again when the eastern sky began to turn a lighter shade of gray.
She moved the hair out of her eyes to see what was around her. Her eyes met with Aang's and she jumped, falling onto the sand behind her. She crawled backwards until she hit the water and stopped.
Finally she fell to the ground. Her hair spread across the ground behind her, the water lapping up to meet her every few seconds.
Azula was collapsed on the beach by the water, unconscious.
Aang was too weak to move, much less help her get up.
It was low-tide.
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Well, that only took a year to write.
Get it? No? Oh...
Anyways, it's been quite a while since I've written... anything. And it's a snow-day for me here in Tennessee. \(^o^)/
Welp, here it is. In all it's glory.
Oh, by the way. Don't forget Yu nor Di. They're important.
And yes it is the Song from the series, with scars and all dat on her legs.
And she's in trouble, as said the letter.
Well I have to go. Lots of xbox to play, not enough time.
It's 8:11pm when I wrote this.
I'm beat.
Alert & fav if you feel the need, review whenever possible.
Peace! :D