Hello, and welcome to the next exciting episode of Walking a Wire. 1700 hits, and I haven't even hit Day of Black Sun yet. Amazing, simply amazing. In other news, I still own nothing Avatar beyond DVD's, so I hope you enjoy the story!
P.S. This chapter was written nearly exclusively while listening to Metallica, so any "What the..." moments are partially their fault.
Chapter XXII: Experiments in Inhumanity
"So, how goes the progress in your 'interrogation'? I know it's only been a week, but I was just curious."
"She knows nothing, or else she is far beyond my methods. On the other hand, she is remarkably resiliant and has a most impressive vocal range. Even more so than the Kyoshi, which itself is a feat. I plan to explore matters more thoroughly after the eclipse, but business has been keeping me of late."
"Do you remember my conditions?"
"Of course, no visible marks. I assure you, we are doing nothing that would be noticed without a thorough examination."
"Good, although as for your plans after the eclipse, you may have to cancel them."
"Princess?"
"Don't worry, you shall recieve all the details soon. But for now, we must prepare for the Avatar and his ridiculous invasion plan. Tomorrow is the eclipse, and Father and I are very busy. You may go now."
"Thank you for bringing us all the way out here."
"It was nothing, anything to help the Avatar and end this awful war." Ashani looked out over the hidden bay where they had set up camp. Tomorrow morning the invasion fleet would arrive, and the push to topple the Fire Nation would begin.
"So, have you gotten any better on the last technique I showed you?" Ashani smiled as she went through the movements, bringing her hands apart with a swirling column of air between them.
"Wow, that's great! It took me a month to get the hang of that!" Aang was literally jumping with excitement, much to Ashani's amusement.
"Well, I've had a wonderful teacher." She looked out over the group's campsite, where Katara and Sokka were, as per usual, arguing about setting up the tents while Toph lay on top of her own and idly drummed her fingers along the edge with a decidedly bored expression.
"Before travelling to this site with you, I had no idea you kids were so--self-sufficient. I almost feel like a burden."
"Oh no you're not a burden at all! It's--it's actually kinda nice having you here."
"Thank you, Avatar Aang. Although, I do believe it would be best to set up our own tents now."
"Oh! Yeah, uh right..."
He pushed through the torch-lit hallways, willing himself onward as he felt his throbbing head give a particularly nasty jolt. Ling's words continued to run through his mind, along with the ever-clear warning of the dream conversation and a growing fear of what he was going to face in the cell.
Just calm down and think clearly. Run through the objectives again.
Talk with Ty Lee, rejoin the Wolves and talk with them, meet Ling and recieve orders on what the heck we're supposed to do on the Day of Black Sun, relay orders to the Wolves, sleep through said Eclipse if at all possible, aided by whatever Yarin recommends to get rid of this blasted headache.
"Excuse me, Sir, but no one's allowed access to that corridor unless it's the Princess or her Chief Interrogator." The pudgy guard hurriedly placed himself between Akira and the heavy doorway.
"Are you stupid or devoted?" He frowned as he ran a hand through his hair--he would have liked to have worn the armor for this, but it would have only made him more exhausted than he was and worsened his headache. A week of solid sleep, according to Ling, and I feel like I haven't slept in a week. Figures.
"I'm sorry, Sir, but I'm not allowed to let anyone in except the Princess or her--"
"Yeah, I heard you the first time." He raised his gauntlet so the Captain's emblem was readily visible, "And you're not letting me in--"
He gave the command, and the heat-activated climbing spike sprung from its housing, stopping dangerously close to the man's nose.
"I'm going in, and if anyone disbelieves you, tell them it was a High Guard, White Unit. They think we're all crazy anyway."
"Y-yes Sir. G-go right in."
"Thank you. See how easy it is when you're reasonable?"
As the door swung open, he roughly pushed the pudgy man aside and stepped forward into the darker corridor. As the door began to shut behind him, he stuck out a foot and whispered back to the guard, "If this door isn't opened the moment I want to come out, I'm going to be extremely annoyed, understand?" After recieving a terrified nod, he let the door continue shutting and walked onward.
The first thing he noticed was the smell. In the prison outside, it certainly hadn't been a garden of fire-lilies, but in here...Blocking out the scents of blood and far worse, he slowly scanned the cells. Sad, broken faces met him, often with broken bodies to match. If they hadn't put them through a special training session on coping with battlefield injuries, he thought he would have been physically sick every two steps. This isn't a prison. It's a nightmare playroom for a madman.
Burns were expected. What he saw, however, were intricate designs sprawling across skin with surgical precision and, he was sure, surgical patience. Cuts, stab wounds were expected, but not administered with the eye and training of an acupuncturist. This went beyond interrogation, beyond reason.
"Please, let Ty Lee be okay. Agni, please." Rounding a corner, he saw a final set of cells coming to an end with an unfinished stone barrier, left purposefully to allow for expansion. Trying very hard not to think about what this row might reveal, he pushed himself forward.
The first cell he came to held a pale-skinned girl with dark brown hair, looking surprisingly whole amid this horror camp. As he looked, however, she spat out a mouthful of something distressingly similar to blood, and he saw the pale cream of a tooth amid the crimson. He simply shook his head and moved on to the next cell, and felt his heart stop, fall into his boots, and hit everything on the way down.
"Ty Lee..."
The pale, wasted girl hanging from the ceiling, clothed in shredded prison rags was nearly unrecognizable. Her braid was gone, and the ends of what hair remained looked burned. Only the fact that her raised face was unharmed allowed recognition, and when her eyes met his, all he saw were dead brown mirrors in place of the dancing sparkle that normally shone through.
"Agni, have mercy. Ty Lee, I'm sorry I left. I--I'm sorry." He could feel the bar heating under his hand, but knew that his armor would melt before the treated metal would do more than glow, "I never would have left--I never should have left, not without--"
"What could you have done?" The voice asking the question was nearly inaudible, reduced to a hoarse whisper that was just as out of place as the deadened eyes.
"I--I don't know, but I could have done something! Instead, I leave and you get--"
"Do you know about the festival yet?"
He felt a chill run through the room, but he forced himself to respond. "White Unit has been ordered to attend, to keep order. 'Keep order', of course, and those comments of Azula had nothing to do with it."
"So you know what's going to happen."
"No, not yet."
"Oh. So, they didn't tell you that I'm--"
"No, they told us about--about that. What I meant is that I don't know if it's going to happen or not."
"Akira, don't--"
"I'm not going to sit still. Ling--he talked to me on the way back from Sodai. He told me a lot of things, and I didn't believe him at first, but up until now I wasn't sure what to believe, I didn't know what I was supposed to do. It hurt, Ty Lee, and I know that sounds stupid, but--"
"I understand. I can't blame you--you're a soldier, sometimes you have to sacrifice one for the rest."
"Agni, are you insane? Do you actually think--nevermind. The point is, it was almost physical, how much that confusion hurt, and I wish to every spirit that would listen that it hadn't taken this to show me, but--" He let his head hit the bars as he let out a deep breath, "I'd rather feel this pain than nothing at all. That's why, if I can convince the Wolves, we're going to do something about this."
"And if you don't?"
"I don't think they would attack me, if that's what you're asking."
"Ty Lee, who's your friend?" Akira stiffened at the new voice, but Ty Lee called back cheerfully, "It's Akira. He's come back."
"I told you he would. He was too nice a guy not to."
"Midori!"
"Still standing there? Tell him to come over here and say hi!" Akira opened his mouth to reply, but approaching footsteps cut him off. Turning, he spotted a tall, thin sillhouette standing at the end of the corridor.
"And who might you be? The mythical Akira, I assume?" The man smoothly moved across the torchlit distance, and Akira noticed the man appeared thin due to a missing arm. Glancing at Ty Lee for an explanation, he saw her quickly shut down, reverting to the mutely terrified doll he had found when he entered.
"Yes--yes, I'm Captain Hideyoshi. The Wolves will be at the festival tomorrow, and I was wondering just who the Princess had lined up for slaughter." He smiled good-naturedly at the man as he pushed past him, "Oh, and sir, whoever you are--"
"Yes?"
The knife flashed in the torchlight, and the man let out a hissing screech as he fell backward. Looking up from the floor, his baleful stare was lessened by the thin line of blood across the bridge of his nose.
"Don't give me a reason to do that again, or you'll have an eye to go with that missing arm."
"Why you--!"
"Let me guess, if the Princess finds out, I'm dead? You'll burn before I will, you sadist son of a baboon-dog." He felt the door shudder in the frame as it slammed behind him, and he wiped the blade on the guard's tunic as he blindly rushed from the building.
I'd just like to take a moment to point out the complete awesomeness that is MacFie. Parts of a Whole and its sequal, Clasp, contain some of the best OC's I've seen--possibly ever. The story is wonderful, all the character's actions feel natural, and the war's end and aftermath are very well done.
I would also like to give props to the story Broken Wing by taffy0823, for its wonderful treatment of the Freedom Fighters--Jet and Longshot especially--and the interesting OC it introduces. Well, faithful readers, until next time!
--NullChronicler--