Burn in Circles
For #5: leaves
--
Wails of terror twisted their way up the hall. Blood caked eyes cracked open in fear. The pungent stink of burnt flesh still crawled its way through the windows, the floorboards, the cracks under the door. It wasn't the first time she had smelt it, and she only hoped it would be the last. The flowers on the table beside her did nothing for it, despite the healer's best efforts. Not to say she didn't appreciate the gesture.
Suki lifted her uninjured arm to wipe the dried blood off her eyes. She felt her forehead and was relieved to find the wound had stopped bleeding through the bandages. Her makeup and warrior's dress were long gone. Traded, they were, for the white robe of a patient and salve to heal the burns.
Another wail sounded from down the hall. From the whispers of nurses passing by, another man was suffering amputation. Both legs this time. Sounds almost as if the fire did half the work for the surgeons. Burnt his legs to a crisp; blood wouldn't even flow through them correctly. Unfortunately, the feeling hadn't entirely left them.
The man would scream all night. He'd curse the Fire Nation, curse the war. He'd curse the old fire bender that cauterized his wound so he wouldn't bleed to death. He'd curse the young girl who would sit by his bed the whole night to see that he didn't die, just because she was born in the Fire Nation. He'd scream for his leg, for his honor. For the child he was forced to kill because it is "war" and he'd just grow up to be a killer like the rest.
The girl would cry with him. And Suki, in her bed three doors down, would cry, too.
Turning her head to peer out the window, she watched the fallen leaves dance in the wind. In her mind's eye, she could see them all burning. She watched again as her friends and comrades melted under the flames of a psychotic army. She saw their faces fleeting for a moment, before they burnt up like parchment. Her mind forced her to see the avatar, the world's only hope, beaten and burnt until his blood poured out boiling.
It was autumn, and the leaves fell in burning circles behind her eyes.
--
A darker path, but still a path. Suki after the war in a mansion of sorts that had been turned into a hospital. While pondering over fire benders today, I came to the conclusion that they should be able to cauterize wounds with ease. But that may just be me. Drop a line, although I know this one is weird.
-mycrazylife