gemsofformenos: Thanks lol! So far it's going much better and so far it looks like the ink isn't damaged.
"This one is my favorite chapter so far." It's one of mine as well. She kind of had to face and tackle a bit of trauma in being back at the place she was confined to for so long. Not to mention tackle with the guilt of having lost Xuia. She's rather self-punishing. She's also really worried about her own state; she is pretty sure that she is infected. But yeah, she keeps it to herself because she fears how others would react to finding out that she could see the parasites. "Azula tries to take the role of a strong leadership, she makes this dreadful decisions and it seems a bit that she somehow hopes to get accused for them," She's trying to be a good leader but she is put into a tricky situation. "She feels like a hypocrite for killing Xuia and for cringing at her own existence at the same time while being convinced, that she will also change and rot and kill all the others due to her own infection." And yes, she feels like a hypocrite for killing Xuia for her infection while possibly hosting it herself.
"The strongest part was the coronation hall scene in my opinion, where the hard struggle with herself broke free," I enjoyed writing this scene myself. I find if fun to write emotional turmoil. Luckily Ruon entered when he did. He tries to offer a little solace. "She hopes that her father could lift the burden from her in one way or another. He could give her advise, take the lead or responsibilities." Exactly, plus she kind of just wants the comfort of someone she loves.
Guest: Thank you. :) Yeah lol, you definitely had a creepy atmosphere gong on! I watched Paranormal Activity on a night like that and it was hella spooky.
Their outrage comes as no surprise when she announces the new destination. She is well aware that the prison is in the opposite direction and that they all resent the idea of backtracking.
She is also painfully aware that she looks indecisive and quite foolish.
An unreliable leader.
Which is precisely why she needs to find her father.
Her tummy flutters at the thought of seeing him again. It is both an anxious jitter and a sense of hope. She misses the man even if he'd scorned her the last time she'd seen him.
She tries not to dwell too much on the possibility that he is no longer alive, but she can't put aside a vivid image of him prowling about with his flesh rotting in places and silver-blue wisps in his eyes.
If a man as mighty and powerfully built as he could be reduced to nothing but decay then her lithe body doesn't stand a chance.
"You alright?" Ruon Jian asks. He means well but the constant asking of that question is becoming almost patronizing, as though he thinks that she cannot hold her own.
"I'm fine." She lies.
"Do you want me to…" He reaches out. She nearly swats his helping hand away.
"I can handle myself." They already think her weak, she doesn't need to flaunt it.
"It won't pay to push yourself." Li comments.
"It won't pay to grow lazy either." She counters. She is certain that there is a fine line between the two and that she is teetering between the two. It helps little that she occasionally finds herself feeling very faint. She wonders if it is the infection running its course.
The journey back to the palace has been especially drab without Xuia and her chipper demeanor.
"You're quiet today." Ruon gives another unsolicited observation.
"I'm always quiet."
"More than usual."
"What does it matter to you?" She asks.
He shrugs. "I don't know. I guess that I just don't like seeing you like this."
"You should worry about yourself."
He lets a few minutes pass in peaceful silence before pestering her further, why are we going to the prison?"
Azula frowns, she can't imagine that he would think highly of her if she revealed that she simply wanted the comfort of her father's company. "Security." She says at last. "The point of a prison is to keep things from getting out, it should work just as well to keep things from getting in."
"But we're getting further from the port." Bujing interjects. "That was our end goal, was it not?"
"It was, but we weren't fully prepared. Anyways we don't need a port, we can use any body of w..."
"You weren't fully prepared." He cuts her off with a scowl and a gesture to her leg.
"Yet I was the one who put things back in order after your rash decision."
"I wouldn't have had to…"
Azula feels a frail hand on her shoulder. "Leave him to his rants, princess."
She frowns but ultimately decides to listen to her advisor.
.oOo.
Two hours in and Azula finds herself wishing that something would happen. The only thing worse than that feeling of ominous and unseen doom is feeling nothing at all. Nothing but a nagging sense of paranoia; the itching feeling of anticipation. It claws at her mercilessly.
The hushed chatter around her tells her that she isn't alone in her discontent. Somewhere along the way, the group has become more compact. She hadn't noticed how close Ruon and Li had inched towards her. Or maybe it was she who had closed the space. More likely, all three of them made some unspoken agreement to huddle closer.
She finds that she has her chi at the ready. Shinu has been wandering with his sword drawn and his arm protectively around a woman that Azula hadn't taken much notice of until then. The woman is somewhat tall, on the heavier side, and with what has to be Earth Kingdom blood for her eyes are a blazing green.
Azula strains her ears for a whisper. A moan. A scream.
Anything.
But she only hears their foot falls and the slapping of fabric as a banner flaps in the breeze.
The breeze...Azula notes.
She looks skyward.
It is still blue, but the air tastes of rain.
They are long overdue for a storm.
"Is that it?" The green eyed girl questions. The abruptness and volume of her remark causes a flinch to ripple through the group. The ripple stops at Azula who replies with a plain, "yes." She aims to keep chit-chat to a minimum until they are securely within the prison walls.
It is still a good distance away. Maybe an hour or so, but she can see its looming, smokestack.
"Maybe we should go back to the palace instead?" Someone else suggests.
She isn't willing to write the idea off entirely. "If the prison doesn't work out, we will."
.oOo.
The storm breaks suddenly in a relentless downpour. Faintly, Azula hopes that it will wash some of the blood and gore from the streets. More likely it will just gather it in waterlogged clumps on the sides of the road.
The wind blasts her face and whips strands of hair into her eyes. They cling uncomfortably to her cheeks and neck. She squits against the onslaught of raindrops. Pushing forward is difficult between the force of the wind and the constant threat of her crutches slipping and sliding.
"I guess that we will be staying in the palace again after all." Azula calls over the wind. For once no one questions her judgement. She isn't sure that she will be able to make it to the palace, much less to the prison. But the howl of gusts in her ears reminds her of the urgency. The same howling gusts instill a new fear. A dread that she won't be able to hear the spectral parasites coming.
"Can I help you?" Shinu breaks away from the half blood girl.
She lets her pride get swept away on the breeze and nods, handing her crutches to Ruon Jian. This time when Shinu lifts her into his arms, Bujing keeps his mouth shut. At least the man knows to keep his mouth shut when it truly matters.
She finds only a hint of comfort in Shinu's arms. Soaked to the bone, she feels completely miserable. Miserable, dismal and terribly stressed. Three emotions that seem to ebb off of each member of their pathetic party.
Perhaps that is why it had been so easy…
She sees only the faintest glimmer of silver-blue before Shinu falls to the floor. Her body topples with him. Having already been well and ambushed her sharp, echoing, and attention grabbing cry matters none.
She can't help the whimper that leaves her lips upon seeing the state of her leg. The angle at which he dropped her has left it in worse shape than it had been initially. She thinks that she can see bone poking through skin. Her body shakes all over; the product of agony, rage, and fear.
She watches uselessly as phantom fingers branch out like roots, touching each member of her group. Someone tries to run; he doesn't see the shimmering wall of spirits, but he certainly feels it as it drifts down like a blanket in the breeze, enveloping him entirely. His body seems to fade as it suctions to his skin, he contorts violently as it sinks in.
The green eyed girl screams for Shinu as Bujing tries to pull her away. His efforts are a waste, wormlike tendrils are already crawling from Shinu's arm to hers. Though Bujing pulls her away just in the knick of time, the parasites fling up and latch onto her still outstretched arm. They look like stringy threads as they bury themselves within her skin.
Azula scrambles back on her remaining three limbs.
In such close proximity, Bujing doesn't stand a chance. For a moment it looks as though they aren't going to make a movie. "Put her down, Bujing!" Azula calls. The man hastily infected shoves the half blood away.
She scans him for silver-blue as he picks her up.
"Where are Ruon and Li?"
The man doesn't answer as he sprints for the palace stairs. With her in his arms he struggles to push the mangled gate open. She expects him to set her down and save himself. Yet he holds her with a degree of tightness.
"Find the breech." She rasps.
The man nods and scans the fence and finds the place where it has bent and collapsed. Her heart seizes when he puts her down. She turns her head and sees Ruon. He is bolting in the opposite direction. "Ruon!" She shouts, her voice is buried beneath the storm sounds. She watches him disappear into an alleyway.
She hears a grunt and the grind of metal and she is in Bujing's arms again.
She is too numb to feel any sort of relief.
The climb to the palace doors seems to pass in slow motion. She catches snippets of silver-blue and muffled cries. A rustle of clothes as someone or something rushes by. The sound of rain beating the pavement is amplified to her ears.
The door slams and Bujing sets her down. In a series of more huffs and grunts he pushes tables and chairs and suits of armor in front of the door. Never has she felt more worthless. This is her fault and she had done the least to fix it.
She had done nothing at all.
With his barricade erected, Bujing comes to sit next to her. "It's going to be a long night." He mutters as something throws itself at the door. "I hope that you know of a cozy secret annex we can hide in."
"There's one in the hallway. Move the decorative vase on the left side of my bedroom door and firebend into the hole."
The man carefully picks her up again.
"You should leave me here." She suggests. It is what she has earned for herself. The price of incompetence. She awaits his eager reply.
Instead he says, "let's get you somewhere warm and dry."