Chapter 10: Sokka

A few hours earlier…

Sokka's head hurt a lot. With every movement, his arms burned and brushed against what felt like rough fabric. He was simply in a lot of pain. His body was being half carried, half dragged through the ground. There was a faint sound of water in the distance. He forced his swollen eyes to open the slightest. They were approaching an enormous black ship, docked at a small pier. It was a fire nation ship. He vaguely remembered the ship's structure from the past.

The soldiers taking him seemed to hurriedly stagger up the ramp. Why were there so few of them? The last time he remembered, he was cornered by at least thirty other soldiers. Katara… was she okay? Did that boy protect her? His stomach took flips when he thought of what might have happened after he was knocked out. But seeing that she wasn't being dragged along with him, he wanted to assume the best and that she was able to get away.

They walked up to the deck and stepped before two large double doors. The doors were huge; Sokka thought ten soldiers could walk side by side and still pass through easily. The fire nation symbol was elegantly crafted at its center. Suddenly, the doors opened and a girl stepped out. If Sokka could have dropped his jaw in surprise, he would have. She was a young girl, her age definitely unfitting the dark emotionless expression she bore. She stood in fitting, refined armor, and her long, jet-black hair tousled in the high winds. But what surprised Sokka the most were her eyes; intense golden tinted eyes that seemed to pierce wherever they looked. It was unmistakable.

The men abruptly dropped Sokka onto the cold metal floor, causing him to bite his tongue. He wanted to cry out in pain but he knew he wasn't in any situation to do so. Blood tricked down the side of his face, but he kept his mouth shut. The men dropped to one knee and bowed their heads to the girl. She remained silent, and stared down at the men.

"Princess," said one soldier near the front. "We have returned." Sokka was stunned. He wanted to turn his attention to the man, and ask him what he was talking about. Princess? Ridiculous. The Fire Nation Princess? He waited for someone to prove his thoughts wrong. No one spoke up.

"Lieutenant…" she said quietly. Her sharp voice silenced the air once again. "Why is it, that although I deployed you forty of my soldiers to capture one person… you come back with only four others." She paused before looking over at Sokka. "…With the wrong person."

The soldier at front quietly gulped and his fists trembled against the metal. He kept his head low and looked at the bare floor. "P-Princess… there were unforeseen circumstances, but we believe this man to be our target's brother," he stammered. "He would very useful as bait—to lure in the girl—"

Suddenly, the girl extended her hand out over the man's head. At her touch, the soldier erupted into flames. The fire was unbelievably hot; Sokka could feel his facial hair singing even though he was on the other side. Screams of agony from the solder could barely be heard through the roaring of the flame. After focusing his eyes again, he realized that the fire wasn't a glowing orange, but a searing blue.

Sokka stared shocked and open-mouthed at the scene before him. He could no longer deny it. This girl was indeed the princess of the fire nation. He remembered hearing about her strange flame that burned to temperatures so high that the color of her fire appeared blue. She was the firebending prodigy, a genius in hand-to-hand combat, and was the manipulative mastermind behind many of the successful battles.

He watched in silent horror as the soldier crumbled to the metal surface. She closed her hand into a loose fist, and the fire suddenly disappeared. Sokka couldn't bear to look at the man, but he was unable to turn his head. Most of the soldier's armor had melted into his skin, which was now black and disfigured. His bones were visible through the broken skin, some turned into grey ash, and some, still held their shape.

"Details of your failure do not interest me," she simply stated. She glanced over at the next soldier. "You," she called. "Report to me." The soldier shook and breathed hard. "Y-Yes princess! We were about to capture the girl, however an unexpected situation occurred, forcing us to pull back." He stammered.

She paused, waiting for him to continue. Sokka froze. It couldn't be… He didn't want to believe that his worst nightmare might have come true.

"We cornered the brother and followed after the girl. But the girl was extremely powerful. S-She wiped out half of our team in seconds. We couldn't even see how she did it, or what was going on… Only the men seemed to drown in their own blood… and died," he mumbled. "Then the lieutenant called for an emergency retreat…"

She looked over at the other three soldiers. "Do you concur with what is being said?" she asked. The three other men nodded quickly. All of them still looked down, unable to lift their heads to answer the young princess.

Sokka felt a shiver run down his spine. It was true. He cursed inwardly at himself. No… not again. God dammit, how many people this time…? What triggered it? Just please be okay. He thought of his last words to Zuko. Was that boy killed as well? Damn, this is the worst situation… Sokka's thoughts flew wildly throughout his head, unable to take the news in.

"I see," she remarked, holding her stone face. She turned on her heel and spoke to the other soldiers standing on the deck."Take this man and follow me," gesturing to Sokka. She looked briefly at the kneeling soldiers and extended her hand out again. "Clean this up," she stated.

"Wait! Plea—" Before one of the soldiers could beg for his life, blue flames engulfed the remaining four men and ate away at their flesh. Sokka lay on his side, silently watching the soldiers burn away. He still couldn't believe it. She waved her hand again and the heat disappeared, leaving four freshly burned corpses. At her wave, the soldiers that stood guard at the deck ran over to the mess. One of them had brought a large crate and they began to haul the bodies into the crate.

"Inform everyone of the situation," she called to one of the soldiers. "We will be departing soon. Call the bending infantry to the deck." The man nodded firmly at her orders and ran out of view. Sokka closed his eyes as he felt two soldiers lift him back up, one supporting him with his shoulders and the other holding his ankles. The crate was shut with a clank, and a voice spoke in the distance. "Let's get this disposed of…"

Sokka was glad the soldiers were actually properly carrying him this time. His arms were still tied to the sides of his body with a thick rope, but he felt more comfortable than ever. They were ascending down a long stairwell, quietly following the princess. After a sweet moment of silence, they suddenly came to a stop. Sokka slightly peered through his eyelids, to see the situation.

"Princess Azula!" someone called out. A stout man walked over to them. He had practically no armor, weapons, signaling that he was a soldier. He had a dark pointed beard, making his plump face seem out of place. He seemed to frown at the girl and walked with someone who had authority.

"What is it, captain?" she asked, clearly mocking him. The man breathed heavily through his nostrils but didn't seem to shake with fear like the other soldiers.

"Princess," he continued. "You need to stop killing off the soldiers. Even if they fail their mission, they are still useful. You are shedding off the Firelord's army!" Sokka was shocked. He desperately feared for the man's life. How could he talk to the princess like that? However, she didn't seem affected by his words. Her face stayed solid, emotionless to the man's words. "You left with three hundred soldiers in the beginning. And now they have been reduced to only a few dozen!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

"Is that so," she replied quietly, apathy in every inch of her tone. "Then I apologize, captain. Or should I say, adviser?" The man flinched at her words and took a step back. She scoffed at him again narrowed her eyes, taking a step forward. "Let me, your humble pupil give my adviser a piece of important information." Her voice turned icy and sharp and took another step towards the man.

"P-Princess, I am fully aware you are not allowed to harm me," he stated, pulling his hands up in a form of defense. He didn't seem convinced with his own words. "The Firelord would be furious…if…" he trailed off, not wanting to finish his sentence. She continued to stare down the man and leaned in. She whispered something to him, making the man widen his eyes and open his mouth in shock. She pulled back and quickly walked passed him after her words. Sokka closed his eyes again, feeling the soldiers move him past the man. Just who was he? What did she tell him? If he's an adviser monitoring the princess, why are they at such odds?

They walked down another floor of stairs and came to a final stop. Without warning Sokka felt the burning heat of her fire explode in front of him. He focused his vision just in time to see the metal wall move open for a hidden room. The soldiers shuffled inside, obviously tired from carrying him all the way there. And he had to give them credit; he was a big guy to transfer down two floors of stairs.

They set him down on the cold metal floor, and began to untie the ropes around his arms. Sokka couldn't even consider escaping. He knew the moment the princess knew he was conscious and try to escape, he would end up like the soldiers before him. Besides, his body was already battered and exhausted from before, he didn't know if he could even take on the regular soldiers.

Heavy chains were locked around his wrists and ankles. He was free to move, but the metal that held him down were unbelievably heavy. The two soldiers then gave a low bow to the princess, before she dismissed them with a wave of her hand. After their leave, the doors shut automatically, leaving the two of them alone in the cold room.

The sound of her footsteps echoed throughout the room, as she approached Sokka.

"I know you're awake," she said in a low voice. He felt his body stiffen at her words. He slowly opened his eyes and looked up at her emotionless face. His neck strained and the bruises on his cheek bone hurt, but he gave the princess his best I-won't-back-down glare.

She cocked her head to the side and seemed to be amused with his pointless efforts. She took another step forward and crouched in front of him, her unyielding eyes pinning him down. Why couldn't I see it before? The glaring shade of her golden eyes was a unique trait passed down the fire nation royalty. It was incomparable compared to the rest of the nation's bland light brown eye color.

But that guy… Zuko. What is he? Was he some royal family spy? Impossible. Sokka had never heard of the fire nation having a prince. But everything about his features reminded Sokka of that cursed man, sitting on his throne, mocking him.

The princess watched him carefully. Her cold, calculating eyes seem to look through his soul. She stayed silent, simply staring emotionlessly at his face. He stared back at her, unwilling to open his mouth for anything. Even if he was burned to death or slowly tortured, he would keep the promise he made with his parents to protect Katara. He would never allow his sister to be taken by the fire nation for their selfish reasons. Sokka gritted his teeth and deepened his scowl at the girl.

In all honesty, he felt bad for the girl. She looked to be the same age as Katara but had a soul and facial expression of a forty-five year old man. Showing no hint of mercy or having a guilty conscious when killing off her soldiers brutally.

"What is she?" she suddenly asked, breaking the silence. Confused, Sokka shook his head slightly. What was she talking about? "You know, don't you." She continued. "Enlighten me on why I am chasing some girl. From what I heard before, she's not normal is she?"

Sokka pressed his mouth into a hard line, refusing to answer or speak to her. She wanted to know about Katara? Hell—even he didn't know the full story. The silence between them stretched far beyond his comfort zone, but she didn't seem affected at all. He shifted his weight back, bracing himself for the wrath of her fire. He figured her patience didn't extend too long. She slowly stood up from her crouching position.

"Even if you don't answer, there is no escape," she said, lifting her head up. "These chains can only be melted off by a skilled firebender." Sokka cursed inwardly. He guessed then no one else could remove them from his body but her. He was tempted to respond with a snappy comment, when she suddenly disappeared from his view.

Before Sokka could react, he felt a sharp jab to the back of his head, sending waves of pain throughout his body. His vision blurred quickly, and the last thing he saw was the princess turn away from him and walk out, before he lost consciousness.

A/N: Awww.. Poor Sokka. And damn Azula is scary. If you were confused of the timeline, this happened before Zuko and Katara infiltrated the ship, and right after Sokka was captured. And I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while, things have been quite hectic... -.-
Anyways, this chapter was more of an experiment, writing it in Sokka's perspective so you guys can get a little more back story. How did it work out? Please review especially for this chapter, so I know whether I should continue with this perspective change later in the story! Who knows, maybe I can go to Katara and Azula's perspective as well. (:
Lastly, my drawing of Azula is on my DeviantArt page! I'm quite proud of it, and it looks a whole lot better than the other two, so go check it out! Link is on my profile.

See you soon! Don't forget to review C: