Chapter 2 - I Want To See You Be Brave

"And then he was gone, like my mother before him. And I wasn't sure I'd ever see my father again."

.

The arena was in the located in the center of Royal Caldara city. Aside from the grand palace, the building was the largest thing in sight. As they crested the mountains and looked into the valley, the two children thought the royal city was inside a giant gapping mouth, ready to eat them all. They were unaware that the jagged cliffs and rocks that surrounded the rest of the royal city in a natural barrier were actually the sides of a long-forgotten volcano. It was fitting for the center of Fire Nation culture.

The arena was a massive building. It sparkled with gold that embellished the intricate columns around the edge of the building. From the outside, it was impossible to see inside.

The carts moved inside the building through large steel double doors. Once inside, the tribe was overwhelmed. Three stories of mostly empty seating towered over them. The building was nowhere near full; very few people stood on the upper levels, most of the crowds and the noise came from the ground level that they stood on. A crowd of fire nation citizens gathered around a makeshift platform. The moment they spotted the carts, the crowd rushed to them. Voices shouted over each other, pointing and bickering. The soldiers settled them enough to get the prisoners off the carts.

"Keep hold of Katara," Hakoda shouted over the noise. Kanna scooped the girl into her arms once more. The old woman hoped she wouldn't need to hold her for long; her strength hadn't abandoned her yet, but the heat was getting to her. The moment their cart was unloaded, the soldiers immediately separated them. The men were sent to the left and the women to the right. Hakoda struggled to stay with Kanna and his daughter, but the soldiers kept a good grip on him and the others.

Even as he fought to get back to the women, Hakoda knew it was a losing battle. He could feel Sokka's confusion as the child struggled to stay with him against the force of the others around them. Hakoda called out to Kanna, begging her to keep Katara safe once he felt Sokka's grip slip. He turned away from his daughter, safe for now in her grandmother's arms, and grabbed up his son before the boy could be parted from him as well.

Sokka seemed to realize his father knew as much as he did as to what was going on and refrained from asking questions. The boy was the shortest of the men and unable to see anything other than the other tribesman around him.

Hakoda felt the child's grip tighten on his wrist. He took a deep breath and sent a prayer to the moon and ocean spirits to watch over his daughter while he was unable. He was unphased even though he knew his tribesmen saw him close his eyes and tip his head to the sky. Under any normal circumstance, sending pleas to the spirits would have resulted in jokes calling his manhood into question. Only women asked the spirits for help openly, but this was an extenuating circumstance. He would be surprised if he was alone in seeking their assistance.

The Fire Nation soldiers herded them into a space cut out from the building under a balcony of what they assumed was seating above. The great building was entirely metal as they looked up the walls on the inside. It rose many stories above them. The stadium was massive and surely held the entirety of the capital city and then some if necessary. The reddish stone facade on the outside of the structure appeared to be just for show. This underground room was very similar to the holding cell in the ship and crisscrossed with supporting metal beams to keep the weight of the stadium above from crashing down on top of them.

The slight opening on the main level underneath the seating where they gathered for just a moment lead them through the doorway and down a single set of twenty stairs underground. The door at the stair's base was unlocked by the first guard, and they were pushed along the rows of cells. The Water Tribesmen noticed that the hallway separated the two sets of the cells. Each was the same, though one was on the inside of the Arena, and the other backed up to the wall that made up the outside of the building. Hakoda wondered if there were prison cells that ran that entire length, and if they were all truly filled.

Prisoners both old and young watched as the firebenders pushed the new men along the cell line and finally into almost-empty enclosures. The cells closer to the door had been full, while these farther away were not. Hakoda and Sokka found themselves placed with two other tribesmen in addition to a non-bending Earth Nation man and the three previous occupants of the cell.

The chieftain watched the rest of this village while they were separated into similar cells on the same side of the prison and locked in. He put his hands to the bars separating him from the pathway. They were vertical bars made from sturdy metal with intersecting horizontal ones every third foot. The spaces were too small to fit through, even for Sokka.

The earthbenders from the boat he noticed, were placed in completely reinforced metal cells on the other side of the walkway: the arena side. They had the same iron bars separating them from the rest of the room, but the floor, ceiling, and far wall were solid sheets of metal.

Hakoda felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. "No one in your group was a bender?"

"How did you know?" Hakoda, shaking his head in response to the question. The asker, one of the Earth Kingdom men already in the cell shook his head.

"The guards divide the prisoners into benders and nonbenders to make it easier for them when they pull you to fight. Your entire group went into these cells. It would seem your whole village was brought in."

"It was," one of the Hakoda's men stated. "Our whole tribe is here." The men in the cells lowered their heads to acknowledge the statement.

"Where were you from?" The man looked to be Earth Nation, though the grey tunic he wore was no help in distinguishing nationalities.

"The Southern Water Tribe," Hakoda stated. "The Southern Raiders burned everything they could to the ground."

A man in the next cell sighed. "So the last stronghold in the south is gone." With Hakoda's confused look he elaborated. "The rest of the islands have been raided as well. I was from Whale Tail Island. I think Kioshi may be the last free island south of the Fire Nation, but they aren't known for their benders of any discipline. They might escape this."

"Why was your village taken?" asked one of Hakoda's men. The man looked down at his tattered grey outfit and smiled to himself. The pants came to his ankles, showing off his bare feet. The patch at his knee was threadbare.

"We ambushed a trading ship. Our island needed imports to survive, and the ship was supposed to come to us earlier. We were a trading island. We can't support a town without fresh imports from any nation. That was the 3rd time they skipped us and we were running out of supplies. So we took a risk and went for it. We only had two benders on the whole island, but even so, it made it easier. Of course, word got back to the Fire Nation and they invaded. Everyone was taken prisoner when we lost the fight a year ago. We weren't warriors; we were fishermen, traders, and whalers. There are only three of us left now." The southern water tribe warriors fell into silence, listening as the other cells continued with their own conversations. The humidity of the dirt and foundation stones seemed to dampen the noise level overall.

"What are we here for?" Hakoda finally asked. Sokka watched his father ask the question and then looked around the cell to see who would answer.

"Do you know what the Fire Nation does with its prisoners?" asked the single man with a long ragged tunic. Hakoda, his two tribesmen, and the Earth Kingdom man gave looks of non-commitment.

"My village was under the impression that prisoners were used for sport," the Earth Kingdom man said.

"And we always heard the penalty for going against them was death," one of the tribesmen added. Hakoda noticed that Sokka seemed to be paying attention now. The boy had been examining the cellblock while they talked about where everyone came from, but this directly applied to him. He worried about the young boy. He worried about all the children.

The tribe had seven children under thirteen when they left the South Pole. One had died already. Hakoda saw two of the other boys in a nearby cell with their own relatives; they were just older than Sokka. He was especially thoughtful of the girls. One was a toddler and the other was thirteen, but she looked older and was fairly pretty. He had no idea what their captors would do with them. Would they be separated from their mothers and guardians? The adults could handle themselves, but the children were still dependent. That girl was still a child. Katara was still a child. His throat tightened.

The man nodded in respond their answers. "You're both right. Every seven days this building, called The Arena, hosts a tournament. The stands are filled with Fire Nation citizens who come to watch us fight to the death. It's not a pretty sight. And of course, us nonbenders have the highest mortality rate." Hakoda closed his eyes, feeling Sokka shiver beside him. The chieftain nodded, accepting the fate that had been given to them. His tribe was made up of warriors; they would fight for their right to stay alive.

"Though, some of us escape this fighting when nobles come down to search for laborers," another man said. "They'll buy up your contract from the Arena and take you back to work for them. It's hard work, but at least you won't die in this spectator sport."

The first man spoke again, adding a glimmer of hope. "But if you win ten straight matches here then you'll win your freedom." That seemed to lighten the new men's faces some.

"I haven't heard of anyone doing it recently."

"Then someone is due to win soon," Hakoda stated. The conversation faded as the new occupants turned to themselves and their own thoughts.

Sokka kept close to Hakoda even when his father leaned against the back wall of their cell to rest. The child took the sudden change hard. He had been parted from his sister, lost his mother, and then told he would probably die in their captors' version of entertainment. The chieftain put his arm around the boy's shoulders and held him close. He would do what he could to keep his son safe.

...

The next day, three nonbending cells including their own, were brought up inro the Arena to practice. A small group of firebenders stood guard at each closed entryway. A pile of wooden and rusted steel weapons lay in a cart off to one side.

The newest men stood confused as to what they were supposed to be doing. The stands were empty, so they obviously were not out here to fight to the death. Only after everyone seemed to get their fill of the morning sunshine did anyone move towards the weapons. The men who had been here before the newest shipment of fighters had arrived walked over first. Hakoda straightened up after his stretch and watched two men grab wooden swords and run through basic stances with each other. He knew nothing about swords, so Hakoda could not offhand judge how good they were.

"What are we doing out here Dad?" asked Sokka. The boy sat at his feet with his legs stretched out in front of him, copying his father. He had left his parka with the others down in their cell, and the weather was warm even then. The newest prisoners were still dressed in their original clothing. They had not been given the nondescript grey tunics and pants that the others wore yet.

"I'm not sure Sokka," Hakoda answered slowly. By now, everyone had transitioned to doing something fighting related. Hakoda spent another minute watching them and turned back to his son.

"We're going to begin your training." He pulled Sokka up and explained they were going to run laps. Sokka's excitement faded quickly, but he followed after his father without a word. The two of them jogged the edge of the arena.

Hakoda realized that the Fire Nation must have decided that the fights would be better if the fighters had practice and were in shape rather than simply rotting away underground. The other men had all gone to the weapons pile and picked them up to practice. Not sure how the fights took place, he would focus on what he knew would always be useful: endurance. He was positive he could utilize any weapon if pressed, but endurance could make or break a fight.

It was a simple concept that any hunter knew. An inexperienced fighter could still beat a more seasoned one if he could outlast him. After sitting on a boat for several months, they had a lot of catch-up to play.

The guards watched over them for three hours until they were called back into their cells. Back in the cool darkness, Sokka curled up and fell directly asleep. Hakoda took his time to stretch out his tired muscles after their workout. The two of them had jogged and did sprints as well as strength building exercises to wake up their forgotten muscles. Hakoda knew Sokka had not started his warrior training, and it would have been another two years until he would have back home, but he knew now would be as good a time as any to begin. Only towards the end of their free time did he lead Sokka over to the weapons pile. Together they went over each one. He wasn't sure what each one was called, but they discussed what they were good for, how to hold them, and weaknesses associated with each type. The day had been exhausting.

That evening, just before the majority of prisoners fell asleep, Hakoda sat up speaking with one of the men in his cell about the killing games they were about to partake in the next day.

The thin opening in the cell walls near the ceiling on the cells that lined the arena proved it was nearly dark outside. There was no light in the cells other than the sunlight from those openings, but the older prisoners promised their eyes would gain better night vision the longer they were trapped down there. The openings were only four or five inches in height and barred just in case. Sand and grit from the arena occasionally slipped into the cells, leaving the floor underneath with a steady growing pile.

A door opened and a light appeared down the hall. He wondered who was checking on them at this hour. Guards weren't posted inside the cellblock; the doors were reinforced iron. They rightly assumed that they were all trapped like rats down in the prison.

The light moved across the dark interior. The guard closed the door and then paused, jingling keys. The sound of a cell door opening filled the cellblock. Hakoda noticed his cell mates tense and was about to ask until he heard the muffled voices of a guard and a woman.

"There are woman prisoners?" Hakoda asked, trying not to visibly cringe as he spoke over the sound of the struggle down the hall. He didn't remember seeing any on the walk in.

He cellmate hung his head. "Only when they can bend. They don't last long down here. They lose their will to live much quicker than the men." Hakoda heard the woman call out, the voices of the prisoners nearby shouting at the guard, and the slap of a hand on bare skin. He was immediately grateful that none of his village's women were bender.

He used to wonder why no one from their village could bend. He even prayed to the spirits- when no one was looking of course, to send him a gifted bender to assist them in hunts and basic tasks. Life had been difficult without benders in a land of ice and snow, but they had survived when the last of them were taken away.

Now, he could see why the ocean and moon spirits ignored his pleas. They saw what was to come and were protecting their children from further disgrace. Hakoda bowed his head. For whatever his daughter would live through as she grew up in the Fire Nation, at least she would not be subject to both the cruelty of Fire Nation soldiers and fighting for her life against other prisoners. Hakoda had never been more grateful that Katara was a nonbender like the rest of them.

The screams echoed for the next several minutes until they died off suddenly. Looking down at his son, Hakoda noticed the boy slept through the event. He gave the child a sad smile and smoothed the loose pieces of hair back into place. He turned back to the other men, all of whom were awake now.

"Does that happen often?" The light had faded from the cells and hallway, signaling the guard's departure.

The Earth Kingdom man nodded. "Several times a week, and after any matches any of the woman in question wins. The guards call it a prize." The man spat the words. Hakoda frowned, his disgusted look hidden in the darkness.

"Don't the others in her cell-?"

"There isn't anyone else," came the answer. "All the women are put in their own cells just for that reason." Hakoda's opinion of the Fire Nation fell with each passing minute. He doubted tomorrow would be any better.

...

The Southern Water Tribe chieftain stood in the center of the arena with another man, one from the earth kingdom. They each held their weapon of choice. There were no boomerangs in the pile, so Hakoda had chosen an armored pike and the other man picked up a sword. They faced off against a firebender who seemed to be on a power trip. The enemy was just younger than Hakoda and went after the Earth Kingdom man first. It was obvious that his partner had no skills with the weapon he held.

Hakoda circled, hanging back, the loosely shot fire blasts and wild sword swings made getting any closer dangerous. He watched the firebender's movements when he attacked. It had only been a short fight, but both of the fighters were slowing already.

Hakoda charged into the battle, avoiding a well-aimed blast at the last second. His opponent knocked the Earth Kingdom man to his back on the ground and went in for the kill. Rushing in, Hakoda upset the firebender's balance with a thrust of his pike to the man's side. Since the firebender wore a thin armor, the pike's hit was not fatal, but the man still flinched. Hakoda pushed the pike deeper, struggling to get the dull blade through the thin metal protecting the man.

The bender grunted and twisted with all his strength, showering them with red sparks and hungry flames. Hokoda felt the skin on his arms blister; the metal in his hands became too hot to hold. He could smell burning hair in the air.

Hakoda stumbled backward, hiding his pain. He didn't hear the cheering crowd in the stands, the call for the firebender to kill them both. All he heard was the sound of his heartbeat in his ears. The firebender ripped the pike from his side, threw it to the ground, and attacked Hakoda as he knelt on the ground catching his breath.

The fireblast hit him square in the chest before he could attempt to avoid it. The fire singed the grey tunic that he had been given to wear with a set of matching grey pants. The dark blue belt was the only distinguishing feature from the other prisoner in the arena. His belt was green. Hakoda assumed they were given the colors of their nations to tell them apart.

The firebender looked down on him as he lay on his back. His vision swam. He was sure he had hit his head too hard, but the memory was already foggy. The birth of flames formed at the man's clenched fist, aimed directly from him. He watched in slow motion, expecting his own death. His vision cleared for second and the fire bender spun to face a surprise attack from the side. Both men flew out of his vision and Hakoda blinked, trying to refocus. He heard the swing of the sword colliding with a dull thunk on the armor the firebender wore. Another, this time followed by a scream amid and the roar of flames. The crowd drowned out the rest of the sound and Hakoda struggled to sit up.

As he did, he noticed the other man lay badly burned in a heap. He hoped the man was dead and no longer suffering. The firebender was gone. Hakoda missed him storming out of the arena calling for the arena's doctor to look at his injured leg where the sword had left naught but a papercut his skin.

Two guards appeared and escorted Hakoda from the arena, mostly through pushing and prodding after they gave him a cursory once over. Back in his cell, Hakoda put a hand to his head and felt all the pain rush back.

"Dad!" Sokka rushed to give his father a hug, and only once he saw his farther was in pain did he release him and hoover nearby, uncertain.

"What happened Hakoda?" asked one of his tribesmen, moving closer to see if he could help.

"Who did they put you up against?" asked another man. Hakoda closed his eyes for a moment and winced. His chest felt like it was on fire.

"It was an Earth Kingdom man and me against a firebender. He killed the other man."

"He won the match then. Most wouldn't leave any enemies alive. You got lucky, even if you didn't win." Hakoda could only nod. Even that brought pain.

"I'm scared Dad." Back in the Southern Water tribe, Hakoda would have given his son strong words, but now he had none. There was no room in his pounding head for anything but pain.

Another man tried to comfort him. "Don't worry kid. You won't face any firebenders until you turn twelve- or you look it at least. Little kids only wrestle with each other or fight together against troops of hog monkeys before the actual fights in the morning; no one dies in those contests."

His eyes still closed, Hakoda missed the relieved look on Sokka's face. He felt the child physically relax beside him and let out a breath. His son was safe for several more years. That would be enough time to get some real training into him before he would actually need it. Hakoda did not think about what would happen if his last match came before then; he would not let it. His son needed him to live through each fight. If that meant winning each one or just being too injured to pose any real threat to the enemy then so be it. He had to survive for his son.

"Hakoda." The chief felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes in response. He didn't remember sitting down against the back wall. "That man says he can help you if you come closer to the bars."

"What?" Hakoda moved to sit up. His vision swam and spun, so he shut his eyes once more.

"He says he's a healer."

Sokka helped the other man walk his father to the bars where an old man stood in his own cell across the pathway. Hakoda opened his eyes and gripped the iron bars to keep his balance. His knuckles quickly turned white with the effort.

"Where are you injured?" asked the old man. Hakoda guessed he was around his late fifties, quite an achievement here. His silver hair was kept long and in what seemed like five thick dreadlocks. Before Hakoda could speak, the man fell into a bending stance and pulled a string of water from his clothing. No one seemed to have noticed before that the bender was in soaking wet clothing. The man fell into a lose stance and water from his clothing was sent to Hakoda's temples and the back of his head. The newest prisoners were completely awestruck at the demonstration. No one in the Southern Water Tribe had seen healing in a long time.

The water against his head felt cool, and the light it emitted did not bother his eyes as much as he thought it would. Instead, his vision returned to normal and the pain receded from the back of his head. The old man, using the small leftover amount of water directed it to the burn on his chest. The chief had not even noticed it. The water felt better than anything he had ever experienced before, but it was soon used up and the tingling sensation was gone.

"How do you feel now?" The old man asked. His sight normal once more, Hakoda gave the man a weak smile.

"Much better. What did you do?"

"Some waterbenders are healers, as I'm sure you know," the man explained as he looked to the other men in his cell. "Not all of them, but sometimes when our spirits are strong or The Spirits deem it necessary, we discover we can help others with our bending. My ability would not have been prized back home in the Northern Water Tribe, but I'm glad to put it to use here."

Hakoda bowed his head. "Thank you." The man smiled and turned to sit back down against the wall of his cell. It was directly across the walkway from their own.

"Why are you all wet?" asked Sokka, staring at the man.

"I made sure to fall into the water trough after my match today," the man explained. "The guards won't give us benders more water then we need to drink since they fear we'll escape. So I bring my own water. I've been doing it for years. The guards don't think anything of it."

Hakoda realized that the water the man brought down could have been used long ego to escape, just as he said, but instead, he used it to help the injured. The old man coughed, his entire body shaking. The wet clothing clung to his thin frame.

Only then the man's sacrifice truly hit him. Being soaked in this damp and chilly environment would be the death of this old man. Hakoda hung his head for a moment in thought, and then lifted it to send another prayer to Tui and La. He would take this old man's example to heart. He was living here without attempting to escape, simply to help the others who could not, his own people or not.

Kya had been right, Hakoda thought as tears filled his eyes; the Fire Nation may have taken everything from them, taken their homes, their families, and their freedom, but they could never take away their will to live. That was theirs and theirs alone to give.

(Original Author's Note)

And there's chapter 2. I know it isn't about Katara, but I couldn't share even half of this information about The Arena from her point of view, so we see it from her father's. Worry not, we shall return to little Katara next.

Still interesting? I hope so.

*The chapter title comes from the Sara Bareilles song Brave*