CeCeHigganbotham: "Whew! To crack or not of to crack?" Lmao I figured that I needed something a little less heavy to go with this one. (Though I don't have time to work on the cabbage fic today). "I like how Li serves as an anchor for Azula." Thanks. :) I've been meaning to work with Azula's dynamic with Lo & Li (or in this case, just one twin). "It has always been interesting to me how people reveal who they really are in a crisis. Bujing has always been looking out for number one. I feel like he'll get eaten first..." I agree with this. When all goes to shit, you see who people truly are. As for who gets consumed first, that is to be seen.
gemsofformenos: "I really like the way you're written them here so far." Thanks, I'm hoping that this fic will give me a chance to really get a feel for how to write Li as a character. "Bujing still sees in her a dead weight and Azula addresses herself so to some degree." While he is harsh about it, the reality of it is that she does have limited abilities at the moment which will make tricky situations even worse. "It's hard to see her in this fragile state as more it is important for her to see that there are people, who still stand up for her, even if she has treated them bad before." Agreed, it's always hard to see a strong character so vulnerable. "I really love your choice that she seems to care for Azula..." I feel as though Li, since she has raised Azula from the very start, would just have a soft spot for the princess. "A haunting idea, I love it." Thanks! My goal is to keep the ball rolling here. It is a challenge to work with more ambiguous horror because the more you write it the easier it is to lose that ambiguity. "We will se what you have in mind." Dreadful awful things lmao. They will suffer.
Her dream wasn't polite but her awakening is much ruder. So abrupt that she can't grasp onto the remaining visages of her night terror. It comes in the form of a thundering crash that echos down hallways that have grown so hauntingly silent.
Somehow she has an inkling that the day horrors waiting for her will be boundlessly worse than those conjured up by her beaten psyche.
"Fuck!" She hears someone scream, she thinks that it is Chan.
"I thought that you said we had it secured!" This she knows is Bujing.
The whole of her tenses as the weight of what he had just shouted sinks in. She stares down at her useless leg and an icy feeling ebbs into her core. She can't fight and she certainly can't run. Hiding is always an option, but never a good one.
There comes a great roaring and crackling sound. Several bursts of it.
Firebending.
A lot of it.
A dreadful sign.
How long will it be before the breech reaches her room? She dreads what will happen when it does. A shrill scream coaxes her into action. Gathering her makeshift crutches she makes her way out of bed, noting somewhat miserably that she probably won't be sleeping on it again if they can't hold their ground.
She isn't quite sure what she thinks she is doing, and she resents that she still doesn't have a clear picture as to what she is up against.
Azula's stomach sinks as the hushed chatter increases its volume. With them, the throne room is somehow lonelier. There is an uncanny chill in the room now that it lacks the warm ambiance of the firelord's flame. Even the ghostly blue of her fire had been more inviting than this eerie gloom. She can only faintly smell the last visages of the flames that once blazed.
She spares the throne itself a look; only a week or so prior she had been sitting there. Things had been...no, not normal. Far from. She lowers her gaze only to be met with something more disparaging. At the foot of the throne, the Fire Lord's crown rests. Its glint and gleam is replaced by a layer of dust.
Absurdly enough, she finds herself making her way to it, the sound of her crutches bouncing off of the walls and between the pillars. She carefully stoops to pick it up and dust it off. Her reflection in its gold is beaten and rugged, her cheeks are hollow and her eyes tired. She looks just about as healthy as the rest of her sorry gaggle of survivors.
The whispers make themselves apparent again so Azula quickly tucks the crown into her pocket and resumes her venture into the entrance hall. The sounds of the fight are growing fainter as the voices rasp louder. There is an awful sense of dread rising in Azula's belly. She hastens her stride, cursing the shadows. Shadows that probably shouldn't be there at all now that the fire has died. The whispers seem to double.
If you're lucky you can hear it coming…
Her stomach sinks further at the sound of a snap.
There is another crunch as she hits the floor. She can't help but cry out. Not that it matters, they already know where she is. She could strip off every scrap of clothing on her body and would be less exposed than she is now.
Trembling with pain, she brings her hand to her nose, finding it as broken as her leg. Bile rises in her throat and she fights the urge to vomit right there as blood leakes between her fingers. There is a lot of it, her nose is gushing.
The voices seem to close in and she finds herself praying that her mind is simply unraveling again. She wishes for her own insanity. She has to make it to the entry hall…
She has to make it to a place where she can at least have an illusion of safety. But her crutch is unsalvageable and the remaining one simply won't cut it.
Azula forces herself into a sitting position and stares glumly at her leg, the fall certainly hadn't done it any favors. She swallows and balls her fists. She refuses to feel as helpless as she had when bound to the grate.
This is different, she can still move, she can still get away.
Feeling completely pathetic, she drags herself across the floor, cursing the impressive expanse of the throne room. She makes it halfway when the first figure emerges. She lets out an anguished and frustrated cry before lunching a burst of fire at it.
The figure bends back; the sense of relief moves her to tears.
"Geeze, you couldn't just wait for us to come get you?" Chan asks. He bends down and cups her cheek. "What happened?"
She points to her halved crutch and he nods his acknowledgement.
"And you're still fighting…" He mutters. "You're something else. I'm sure that Bujing won't be able to say that your a burden now that…" his smile is so soft that she doesn't register it right away.
Not until his body seizes and his eyes begin to bleed. She scrambles away from him as quickly as her leg will allow. His body twitches, pops, and cracks.
She isn't sure what she had expected, no one has ever come to save her in the past and those who have tried had never made it very far. She is on her own. She is always on her own. At least she has a sense of familiarity in that.
She takes a deep breath and uses the closest pillar to stand. With her one good leg and her arms she propells herself with a burst of fire. It is no easy feat with her body in such a wretched strength. Having no food in her belly since the night prior leaves the task that much more dizzying; she hasn't the energy for this scale of bending.
She hasn't any other options.
Azula collapses as soon as she makes it to the entry room.
"Where's Chan?" Ruon shouts. "We sent him to get you."
Azula swallows. "It...they? Got him." Her voice is hoarse. "He's been claimed."
"See what happens!?" Bujing shouts. "It's only been a few days and someone has already died for her."
She snarls, "I could have saved myself. I did save myself."
"And you left Chan to die."
"I couldn't do anything for-"
"You couldn't do anything." He repeats, lifting her from the ground. "Chan saved the lot of us and now he's gone. And for what? A cripple. The weakest link."
Azula cringes. The weakest link…
Monster, evil, insane, lunatic, liar, bitch. She has been called a lot of things but never weak.
"Put her down Bujing!" It is the serving girl.
Instead he gives her a rather firm shake. "Oh, I'll put her down." He scowls. "I'll do it the same way I did my komodo rhino when it took an ice spike to the belly."
Decidedly, Azula has had enough of this. Leg be damned, she brings boiling heat to her palms. Bujing drops her with a hollar. She hisses in pain of her own as she collides with the floor. Bujing lifts his foot and she braces herself for him to bring it down on her leg. Instead the man lets out another cry as a ball of fire rams into his side.
"We fight those things not people." Ruon says simply. "And right now we need to focus on fighting them."
"How can we fight something that has no form of its own?" Shinu asks.
Azula closes her eyes and tries to slow her heavy breathing. She feels terribly faint, the sounds of conversation and bickering are growing distant. She clenches her fist, digging her nails into her palm. She has to stay awake.
"Azula." The shake she receives is much gentler, it rouses her from her oncoming daze. "We have to stop the bleeding…" Ruon's voice is muddled under the whispers.
She holds her hand up. "No time."
His mouth opens in protest, but he makes it no further. He changes directions, "we need to move!"
She thinks that even he is aware that they are already too late.
"She led them right to us!" Bujing accuses.
"Fool!" Li snaps. "They were already on their way."
"And you wasted our time with…" the serving girl starts. It is apparent that she has detected the same shift that Azula has.
The whispers fall abruptly silent. And what fills their place is much worse. Intangibly so. Whatever it is, it is crushing. A feeling so deeply evil that she can now say for sure that she is no monster.
If you feel it, someone is going to die, you just have to hope that it's not you.
She finds that her breathing is growing unsteady again.
Fight or flight leaves in search of some third option. One that her mind cannot find. There is only one whisper now. A single voice that chants something at a pitch she has never heard, in a language that might be spoken in reverse.
It is going to claim another, she looks around the room trying to assess just who it will go for.
And then it fades.
The oppressive foreboding fades.
No. It doesn't fade. It transitions.
Transitions into a sense of complete despair.
A sense of knowing that all is lost.
But who will be lost? She hopes that it isn't Li.
They all step back in uniform. Has it claimed all of them? Azula swallows, she is going to watch them all be overcome. The chant grows louder, something crawls beneath her flesh. An agitating prickle. They all retreat further, faces contorted in terror and she knows…
If you feel it, someone is going to die, you just have to hope that it's not you.