If only. That was Karida's thought during the long, drawn-out agony of the march south. If only she had gone east rather than west, she would have simply died in the sand sea of the Empty Quarter. If only the Fire Nation soldiers had killed her rather than taken her captive. If only she could find the strength to try and escape so they would kill her now. If only, if only, if only. That was her thought and little else, not the aching weave of scars upon her body, the brutal pace, nor the fate awaiting her at the journey's end. If only she was brave enough to kill herself. But the Blood Drinker was not to be disobeyed, even now.
She awoke from her thought when an iron cell door slammed shut and for the first time in months, someone spoke to her as people spoke to her before. Before the Blood Drinker, before the scars, before…everything.
"Hey, my name's Jomei," he said quietly, "What's yours?"
"It doesn't matter," she said, leaning back against the wall. Slowly, she slid down to sit on the floor, knees tucked up against her chest. "Nothing matters."
She heard the shrug in his voice.
"I have to have something to call you."
"Why?"
He knelt down in front of her and she looked up to see brown eyes boring into her own. He looked like a predator ready to pounce.
"Because I need to know if I can trust you or if you're going to kill me in my sleep. Anyone who cuts themselves up like that is dangerous."
Karida burst out in a fit of giggles, unable to stop herself, though she clapped a hand over her mouth to muffle the noise.
"What's so funny?" Jomei demanded, backing away, warier now. One hand reached out and picked up his hammer from where he'd set it down upon entering the cell.
"I didn't do this to myself," she said at length. He stared at her, eyes wide as coins and jaw hanging open. When he recovered enough to speak, he set the hammer down again.
"Was it the Fire Nation?" he asked.
She shook her head, starting to shiver. I can't talk about it, please don't ask me who it was. I can't talk about her. I can't. Just leave me alone.
He opened his mouth, then closed it again and just looked at her for a while, thinking. After a long moment, he nodded slightly to himself.
"I'm going to trust you," he said.
"Why?" she blurted out, astonished in her turn. There's nothing to trust. There's no one here. She took it all. What does he see? Is he a fool or a madman or both?
"Because some bastard who's crueler than the worst Fire Nation ash-eater in this village went to a lot of trouble to hurt you. Anyone someone like that hates so much is a friend of mine."
"I could be as bad as…them," she said, "How do you know I'm not?"
He smiled, a bitter expression on his gaunt features, eyes gleaming in the starlight.
"Even if you are, the Fire Nation didn't do that to you, so you can help me fight them."
"I'm not going to fight," she said, lowering her head to rest her brow on her knees. "I don't know why I'm even talking to you."
"I do," he said, reaching down a hand. "You want to sit around until you die. I've seen that sort of thing before. But the Fire Nation will make you die working, if they do at all. They've gotten pretty good about keeping us alive."
Slowly, she reached up and grasped the proffered hand. He hauled her up onto her feet with no more strain than lifting that hammer of his.
"I still need something to call you," he said.
"My name is Karida," she replied. It's okay for me to use that name. She said I could.
"Well then, Karida, get some rest. We can talk more tomorrow night. We've got plenty of time."
