The Caged Phoenix
The gondola starts moving toward the boiling rock. Xiong looks around the area freely, as he is the only prisoner on the gondola. He sees the boiling lake the prison is known for. He sees that the gondola that is the only escape at first glance. He sees the coolers that lie on each side of the prison. During his gazing around the prison, the gondola arrives at the prisoner drop off point. The two guards near the front of the gondola open the doors and walk outside. The two guards in the back head up to Xiong and push him forward. "Okay, okay, I'm moving." Xiong says as he turns to face the two guards that left the gondola and walks until he's directly behind both of them. The guards walk with Xiong, making sure he doesn't try to escape. The gondola starts moving back toward the only exit from the prison. The guards remain behind Xiong as the warden walks up.
"Welcome to the boiling rock. The most secure prison in the world. No prisoner has ever escaped from it, and I'd rather jump into the boiling lake myself than let that record fall during my time as warden." The warden says as Xiong looks at him. "At least this is better than listening to Zhao all day." Xiong says relaxing. "That's what you believe. As long as you follows orders, you'll find your time her at the boiling rock to be at least slightly enjoyable. Take him to his cell." The warden replies before he heads off. The guards lead Xiong to his cell.
"Enjoy your new home." The guard says as all four guards laugh. Xiong walks into his cell and the guard closes the door. "Is this where it all ends for me? Avatar, please end this war how it should end. I have yet to tell Ty Lee how I feel." Xiong says looking at the ceiling. Xiong looks over at his bed and heads over to it. He lays down on his eyes and falls asleep.
Several minutes later, a knock is heard on his door. Xiong wakes up and sits up on his bed. A guard opens the door. "Time for you to meet your new friends and enjoy some fresh air." The guard says as Xiong walks outside of his cell. Another guard closes the door behind Xiong. The guard leads Xiong to an open area of the prison. Once Xiong is outside, the guards head back up stairs to watch over the prisoners.
Xiong looks around. He sees several prisoners fighting with guards, some prisoners are fighting with each other, and a small portion of the prisoners are playing sports. Xiong walks over to a wall and sits on a bench. "You must really be formidable if you are the only prisoner on a gondola. Normally it's packed with new guys when it comes over here." An unknown voice says to Xiong. Xiong looks over in the direction of the voice and sees Chit Sang looking at him. "I am the second best fire bender of my generation." Xiong says relaxing on the wall. "Wow, that's really something. Why are you here though?" Chit Sang says sitting down next to Xiong. "Publicly showed my dissent towards the war. Had the men that were under my command attack me so they wouldn't fall with me." Xiong says before looking at Chit Sang. "Wow, you have guts. I like you. When the opportunity arises, we'll break out of here together." Chit Sang says holding out his hand toward Xiong. "Yep, we'll get out of here yet. Why are you here?" Xiong says shaking Chit Sang's hand. "I got accused of something I didn't do and I was sent here." Chit Sang says exaggerating the situation.
"That really stings. I should introduce myself. I'm the young phoenix, Xiong." Xiong says getting up. "The name's Chit Sang." Chit Sang says getting up.
The next several days, Xiong and Chit Sang think of several different ideas of how to escape from the boiling rock, all of them revolving around the gondola, all of them also being shot down by the fact that the Warden would probably just cut the rope if they tried to use the gondola to escape. As the days passed, Xiong and Chit Sang began to lose hope of escape and began to talk instead of what they were doing before getting sent to the boiling rock.
"So, you battled the Kyoshi Warriors and later met the avatar. Seems like quite the life." Chit Sang says impressed and slightly to moderately jealous. "Yeah, I don't want the rest of my days to be spent in here. I just hope to meet either Suki or Aang again." Xiong says depressed. "You'll most likely meet this Suki chick again. Some of the guards are saying that the Kyoshi Warriors were defeated by the fire lord's daughter and her two friends." Chit Sang says hoping to cheer Xiong up. "So Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee took down the Kyoshi Warriors?" Xiong says making sure he heard the news correctly. "Yeah, you know the three of them?" Chit Sang asks looking at Xiong.
"Yeah, me, the three of them, and Prince Zuko were childhood friends. My parents served under General Iroh." Xiong says as he closes his eyes.
The scene changes to the fire nation capital. "Azula, give that back to me." Young Xiong says running after Azula. Azula runs away with a small piece of paper with writing on it. Azula burns the paper to ashes. "Oops, sorry." Azula says sarcastically. "That was given to my by my parents. It houses a protective spirit that protects my family from harm and promotes good luck to the person who holds it." Xiong says as he runs over to the ashes, but the ashes blow away in the wind. "Why don't you hold Ty Lee? Maybe she'll give you good luck." Azula says before laughing. Xiong's face becomes red. "Not funny." Xiong says pouting. "Xiong, your parents are here to see you before they head off with General Iroh." Lady Ursa says from inside a building. "I'm coming." Xiong says running over toward Lady Ursa.
The scene changes back to the boiling rock. "My parents died during the attempt to capture Ba Sing Se. Following their deaths, I enlisted in the fire nation army. My skills with firebending made me an officer. After he returned from the failed assault, General Iroh declared he's leaving the fire nation. He said that my destiny isn't what I take it to be, but as long as I keep an open mind and an open heart, in the end, my destiny will reward me." Xiong says making the impact of the events evident.
"Yeah, Iroh's known for making sense even when it doesn't seem like it." Chit Sang says resting on the floor. A bell rings in the prison. "All prisoners shall return to their cells. All those who resist shall be taken to the coolers." The warden calls from high above the ground. "Talk to you later." Chit Sang says as he separates from Xiong. "Later." Xiong says as he and Chit Sang head to their cells. A guard opens up Xiong's cell and Xiong walks inside. The guard closes the door after Xiong's in and Xiong rests against a wall of his cell and falls asleep.
Several minutes later, a knock is heard on the door and a small door on the door opens up and food slips through and onto the floor. "Chow time, enjoy." The guard says before laughing as he walks to the next cell. Xiong walks over and starts eating the food. Despite his distaste for the food, he keeps eating until there's barely anything left to eat.
Xiong and Chit Sang talk regarding what they will do when they get out from the boiling rock if they do. "Hey Xiong." Chit Sang says looking over at Xiong. "Yeah?" Xiong says interested in what news Chit Sang has overheard this time. "I heard that the Kyoshi Warriors are being brought over today. This is your chance to meet the leader as she'll certainly be transported over here." Chit Sang says with a grin. "This is perfect. I can hopefully show her that I kept my word." Xiong says joyful about this turn of events.
Xiong heads up to where the prisoners are dropped off at and looks around at the new prisoners. He only recognizes Suki, but that's enough for him as he heads back down. He watches from behind the staircase on the base level as the guards lead Suki to her cell. Xiong waits until the guards leave the area around her cell before he heads up to her cell. He looks around to make sure the coast is clear. He knocks on Suki's cell before opening it. "What do you want?" Suki says getting into her battle pose. "I just want to talk." Xiong says closing the door before turning to face Suki. "Xiong? Is that really you? What are you doing here?" Suki says surprised to see Xiong at the boiling rock.
"I was sent here for denouncing the war in public." Xiong says abnormally calm. "I can't believe that you actually stuck to your word. I guess there are a few firebenders that are still good in the world." Suki says smiling. "Yep, does this mean we're friends now?" Xiong says in a low voice so their conversation isn't heard. "Sure, we're friends now. You proven you aren't someone to go back on your word. So what's happened since our fight?" Suki says placing her hand on Xiong's shoulder.
"I met the avatar, distracted the fire nation to allow Aang to escape from them twice, surrendered to delay the fire nation's following of him, got sent here and been here since. How about you?" Xiong says staying against a corner of the wall. "I met this boy Sokka, really enraging with his views on women at first, then got enamored with him, he left when you arrived. Met back up at the Serpent's pass, dealt with a giant snake there, and a fire nation ship. Headed back to Kyoshi Island. Got beaten by the fire lord's daughter and her two friends. Rest of the warriors got sent to other prisons, I got sent here as the leader." Suki says giving Xiong a brief overview over the events that transpired slightly before and after their battle.
"So, do you got any ideas of how to escape from here?" Xiong says as he hopes she has an idea. "Nope, sorry Xiong, we'll just have to wait for someone who can think of an idea." Suki says sadly. "Alright then, if someone like that comes by, let me know and we'll get out of here." Xiong says keeping an upbeat attitude. "Gotcha. You should probably get going. Don't want to get caught by the guards." Suki says as she looks outside the door and sees the coast is clear. "Agreed. Talk to you soon Suki." Xiong says as he opens the door. "See you soon Xiong." Suki says as she stays against the wall of her cell. Xiong closes the door behind him and heads down to the bottom floor.
Xiong and Suki maintain rare but solid occassions of communication. Xiong keeps his head down and his profile low to avoid getting attention drawn to himself.