Chapter 8 - Darkness Down Below
"So, you were the Avatar, but for some reason you couldn't bend any elements?" asked Nerrivik
"I know right, imagine how freaked out I was," drolled Kunchen. The two shared a small chuckle at this. "It was a weird dream, ok. But meditating for hours makes you doze off sometimes."
"I can see. It was actually a good call, I feel pretty relaxed now, and Yuan doesn't look like he wants to kill everything in sight now." Nerrivik cracked her neck a little bit.
Kunchen beamed a little at this. "Yeah, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I actually remember a few stories my grandpa told me, and without The White Lotus that might be all we have to go off of. One thing that I remember pretty clearly is that the Avatar needs to learn the elements in a specific order, the same as their reincarnation cycle. So maybe we should try looking for a firebending teacher for him."
Nerrivik chewed on the idea for a moment. "That could actually work. It depends on if Yuan is willing to risk working with someone. He's gotten a little paranoid recently."
"Yeah I've noticed. Why don't we ask him, he's been outside for like 15 minutes now." The airbender hopped off the bed, and moved towards the door. He slid back the blinds and froze in place as he saw the empty balcony. Nerrivik moved to get a better view, and had the same reaction upon seeing nothing where there should have been an Avatar.
Kunchen threw open the door, raced to the railing, and began frantically looking over the edge. Nerrivik was only a few seconds behind and joined in his futile search for their lost friend on the ground.
"YUAN!"
Yuan felt fear like he'd never felt before. His breath caught short as he heard the door to the room swing open. He'd been fleeing these footsteps just a moment before, and had found himself a hiding spot underneath a table, with a cloth dangling over it's side. He couldn't remember what he'd been running from or why, but he had this primal fear of it, something he couldn't explain.
Slowly footsteps echoed in front of him as he held his breath, refusing to give himself away. He peeked underneath the cloth and saw that the feet had stopped in front of him. His heart froze in place as he waited for their next move. To his relief the person continued forward, seemingly taking no notice of him. His ponytail lightly smacked against his back as he let out a large exhale, and Yuan took a second to wonder when his hair had grown out.
This brief respite was cut short, as he felt his body suddenly seize and constrict. He was dragged from underneath the table, even with nothing touching him. His mind flashed back to the basement several days ago, as this all too familiar sensation of forced motion coursed through his body.
As he was lifted into the air, he saw another man emerge from around a corner and begin shooting fireballs at Yuan's attacker. The attacker gracefully dodged these attacks, and seized the firebender the same way he had the Avatar. Yuan caught a clear view of the bloodbender and saw the man had a cowl pulled over his head, with a red and white mask hiding his face. This figure moved his arm, and brought Yuan down in front of him. The Avatar struggled fiercely, but it made no difference as his head was forcefully snapped backwards. Terrified beyond rational thought he was forced to stare into the masked man's eyes and could feel a cold smirk from underneath his mask. The attacker placed a thumb on Yuan's forehead and he could feel a new force tear through him, as if it was destroying his body on a spiritual level.
Yuan awoke with a start to an environment that did little to console him after his nightmare. His motion was just as restricted as it had been in the dream, only this time not by bending but by metal bands strapped around his head, arms, and legs. These bands were firmly attached to a steel wall that Yuan was tightly pressed against in a spread eagle position. He struggled for a moment trying to break the bands or to bend anything, but found both efforts pointless.
Opting instead for a more observant approach, he began to survey the room in front of him. It was a decent size, yet dimly lit room with no windows and only two doors. There were cabinets and shelves all over the room and a small table on the opposite side from Yuan. Hanging from the walls were various pieces of metal weaponry, all polished and in fine repair. Suddenly a dark green lump sitting in the corner of the room lurched forward, and Yuan realized he wasn't alone in the room.
"Hey, you there. Who are you? Where am I?" he asked, his voice wheezing from dehydration.
The figured turned to look at him, although it was difficult to make out his features, "You're awake? That's good, I was wondering how long you'd be out for." The figure grabbed a cup from the table and dunked it into a bucket. He slowly sauntered over to Yuan, who now got a good look at him. He cut a tall imposing form, clothed in a dark green coat over what looked like steel armor. His torso was covered in a steel plate, while it looked like he had large pads covering his shoulders. His face was hidden by a metal mask, that completely covered the lower half of his face, coming to a point at the bridge of his nose. Green eyes beamed from above the mask, and his hair fell shoulder length behind him. He lifted the cup to Yuan's lips, who sniffed it quickly before drinking it. The water soothed his throat, and after enjoying the sensation for a moment he looked again at the man.
The mask on his face split down the center, and drew back to the side of his face, revealing his lightly bearded face. "Drink up, I need you in good shape."
"Good shape?" asked the Avatar, "What do you mean? Who are you?"
"You don't recognize me?" said the man in a flat tone in a tone bordering on insulted.
"Well I don't exactly …" Yuan paused mid-sentence. His mind had been pretty hazy since he woke up, but he was beginning to come more and more to his senses, when a sudden realization dawned on him. "You're The Iron Scorpion."
"There we go," the Scorpion smirked, "I was beginning to worry I'd damaged your brain with the poison."
The words stuck in Yuan's mind for a moment, before he remembered the balcony and what had happened. Anger shot through him and he resumed his struggles against the metal bands, much to the Scorpions amusement. "Well it's good to see your mind and body are both unharmed."
"Let me go right now, or it's not going to be my body and mind you need to worry about!" shouted a newly invigorated Yuan, as his muscles strained against his bondage.
"You're not really in a position to be threatening anyone, Avatar," spoke the Scorpion his voice taking a sinister tone.
Yuan froze at these words. "How do you know that?" he asked, his voice still dripping with resentment.
"You think I'd just kidnap a random wanted earthbender?" asked the terrorist, and Yuan silently chided himself for not realizing this faster. "I mean, it's only convenient that we already know each other."
"Oh, I know you. You're the violent, sadistic monster that's been terrorizing the Earth States and United Republic for the past three years. If there's ever a mysterious poisoning, or brutalized governor you're always the name I hear."
The Iron Scorpion nodded along as Yuan listed his previous exploits. "My reputation precedes me. Now why do you think I might have captured you?"
Yuan gave as much of a shrug as he could manage. "I don't know, probably to torture and kill me, before dumping me in a ditch somewhere."
"Come on, you're not even trying," said the Scorpion after a small snort. "If I wanted to kill I could have at the hotel. It's not like you have any information to give me. Guess again."
Yuan paused for a moment. "Why are you having me guess? What does that accomplish?"
The Scorpion gave his fingers a snap and pointed at the Avatar. "Very good. I'm asking to make sure that being that Avatar isn't the only thing you have going for you. Some critical thinking skills to match the power can go a long way."
"What are you getting at? Why are you testing me? Come to think of it, you never even answered my first question, how did you find out who I am?" Yuan was too frantic to feel patronized by his captor.
"I've been following you since Urumqi. I arrived a few days after you had fled, and heard from some of the villagers who you were. I found you ostrichhorse tracks, and I've been pursuing you ever since. I managed to catch up at the White Lotus Temple, but when I saw you start towards Republic City, I raced ahead to meet you here."
Yuan gritted his teeth. Everything this guy said just raised more questions. "Why are you following me? How did you even get into the city? What do you want with me?"
The Scorpion gave a little sigh, "I guess you're probably not going to guess at this point. I've got all I need to know anyway. The reason I've been following you is because I need your help."
A beat passed with the two just staring at each other, before Yuan burst into laughter. "Ok that makes things easier. No, I won't help you. Now let me go."
The scorpions mouth twisted into a scowl, "This isn't a request. With your help I can finally end all of the madness happening in The Earth States."
"I'm not helping you," stated Yuan, attempting to look as resolute as he could while strapped to a wall. "but I will put an end to the madness, by putting you in the ground."
"You think I'm the one keeping the problem alive? How were you welcomed into the city? Did they roll out a red carpet, and applaud as you walked by?" The Scorpion was irritated, but keeping his calm.
Yuan looked down and reluctantly answered, "No, they called me a clayeater and threw me in a cell for four hours."
"You're not the first person they've done that to. You're not even the thousandth. The United Republics continued interference with the Earth States and treatment of their citizens, has caused a continuous cycle of violence and hatred," pontificated the Scorpion.
"I've heard this all before," said an annoyed Yuan. "I know what the United Republic does is wrong, but that doesn't mean I'm going to start helping a crazed butcher."
The Scorpion looked away for a moment, as if he were pondering what Yuan had just said. Suddenly he turned and swung his arm up at the Avatar. A needle shot out from his sleeve and nailed Yuan in the neck.
He gritted his teeth and yelled, "What was that? What'd you just do to me?"
"There was a slow acting poison on the tip of that needle. It'll take about a day, but it will kill you. I know how to make an antidote, but you're going to need to come with me."
Yuan panicked as much as his restraints allowed, his mind racing. He'd just said there was no way he would do what The Iron Scorpion said, but it was harder to keep his word when he was poisoned. "Is this real? What does he want me to do? Will he even make an antidote, or is he just manipulating me?"
The terrorist grew tired of Yuan's thrashing, and grabbed at his captives chin to steady his head. "Stop panicking. It's just going to be a small trip. No fighting, no killing."
Desperate and scared, Yuan stared at his captor for a few seconds, before acquiescing. "Fine. I'll follow you, but if you try anything we'll both be dead by tomorrow."
The Scorpion gave a coy smile. "I'd expect nothing less." He drew his hand back, and the straps flew off of Yuan, who managed to land on his hands and knees. After letting the Avatar stretch and crack his joints the Scorpion spoke up, "We'll head out immediately."
"Right now? What time is it?" asked Yuan as he messaged his wrists.
"It should be about dusk right now, perfect for us. You slept all through today," answered the Scorpion as he began to grab supplies off of the walls. Yuan's eyes bulged, remembering Kunchen and Nerrivik for the first time since he'd awoken.
Kunchen lept along the rooftops of Republic City assisted by his airbending. He scanned the ground below looking for desperately for Yuan's familiar messed brown hair, or his short sleeved jacket. He'd swooped down and interrogated a few strangers already today, but nothing had turned up. The search was growing more and more desperate as the day continued, with Kunchen having already canvassed most of the downtown of the city.
After he finished his final block, he heaved a sigh of defeat and decided to check on Nerrivik to see if she had any luck. He swung back back to the hotel, entering through the balcony was sitting on bed, head in her hands watching the news channel from the previous night. "So no luck on your end either?" asked Kunchen tepidly.
"Nothing," her voice was soft and tired. The bags under her eyes were enormous and, if Kunchen wanted to die, he might have guessed that she had been crying. "There's no way we're going to be able to find him. The cities just too big."
Kunchen sat beside her. She was right, there was no possible way they could find him with just the two of them. They'd briefly considered going to the police, but decided Yuan probably wanted to avoid the inside of a jail cell. The two sat in silence for a few minutes while the telescreen droned on about a diplomatic meeting between the two water tribes.
"So we managed to lose the Avatar." Nerrivik's tone was flat and disbelieving.
"Well, I mean, it's not like we lost him. He ran away," Kunchen weakly defended.
"That's not better. That might actually be worse," her voice rose towards the end. "What are we gonna do? Why did he run? How are you so calm?!"
Kunchen didn't look up to respond. "I'm not calm. I've been panicking all morning. I saw someone that I thought was Yuan, and ended up pretty much assaulting a woman with a bad haircut. I made 5 yuan's because I was sitting on the corner shaking and people thought I was a bum." He slammed his head into his palms.
Nerrivik rubbed his back a little, "Sorry, I didn't mean to unload on you like that. We'll think of something. Come on, what would Yuan do in a situation like this?"
"Get really angry, yell at us about how everything's pointless, and stomp around looking for something to break?" Kunchen kindly afford.
This got a grin from Nerrivik, "Don't forget running off and not telling us anything. Why are we looking for him again?" The two shared a small laugh.
"As objectively horrible a friend Yuan has been, he did make a point sometimes. I've been letting things get to me way too much these past few weeks, and I need to relax. We're not going to find him by roaming the streets, and we're not going to think of anything better if we don't get some sleep. We've been up for two days now, we might as well try to get some sleep," Kunchen suggested.
"I can get behind that. We can tackle this in the morning." The two climb into separate bed's and fell asleep immediately. The day and night of searching had taken it's toll on both of them, and both slept well into the morning.
Nerrivik woke first, groggily sitting up in her bed, "Ahhhhh, that was so nice. Did we leave the telescreen on all night?"
Kunchen slowly roused himself from sleep at her questioning, "Huh? Oh yeah, I forgot to turn it off. It's ok Varrick Inc. makes some pretty durable stuff." As he said the words, his face sprang awake with an idea clear in his head. Nerrivik gave him a questioning look to which he responded, "I've got it! I know how we might be able to track down Yuan!"
Hour's earlier, the aforementioned Avatar found himself sitting in a boat with The Iron Scorpion, silently making their way across the bay under the cover of night. The terrorist was metalbending the motor silently, while Yuan sat on the bow looking forward. "I'm flattered, but a romantic boat ride isn't going to win me over," he joked in a deadbeat.
"I'm glad you're comfortable enough to joke," said the Scorpion. "But I thought you'd be more excited to be going to Air Temple Island. It's what you came all this way for isn't it?"
"You know, dropping info like that isn't impressive, it's just creepy that you spied on us that much," Yuan shot back, eliciting a nonchalant shrug from the Scorpion.
They made landfall on a rocky part of the islands coast, both carefully stepping over the edge. After the Scorpion had secured the boat, he lead his captive through the rocks, until they came across a small pile. Here he earth bent one conspicuous boulder to the side, revealing a secret tunnel behind it. He crawled in, before beckoning the Avatar to follow him. After the tunnel was resealed he pulled a small flashlight from his pocket and illuminated the passage.
"Where are we going?" asked Yuan, now thoroughly intrigued.
"You'll learn soon enough," the Scorpion cryptically answered. Yuan rolled his eyes, but the Scorpion continued, "From here on out we're going to need to be quiet. This tunnel carries echoes." After receiving a nod in affirmation, he lead down into the depths.
It was a narrow path, with the two frequently forced to their hands and knees to continue through. It also became exceedingly steep at times to the point where they had to use their earthbending to descend. The worst of it was the darkness, however. While the Scorpion seemed to know the tunnel by heart Yuan continued to trip and stumble over what felt like every stone. After about 15 minutes of walking, crawling, and stumbling the Scorpion placed a firm hand on Yuan's chest.
"What is it? Why are we stopping?" Yuan whispered.
"Hold on," was the reply he heard. After a beat, heard the almost inaudible sound of metal shearing slightly, before the Scorpion grabbed his shoulder, forced him into a crouch, and lead him into what he guessed was some kind of metal tunnel. He looked forward and saw a shaft of light appearing around a corner. The two crawled towards it, and when they rounded the corner they saw the grate letting in the light. The Scorpion made a series of small hand gestures and the bolts on the outside of the grate came undone. He grabbed it and pulled it inside the vent. After signaling Yuan to follow him the Scorpion jumped out and landed in a small hallway.
It was dimly lit, but compared to the tunnel they had just exited it might as well had been the surface of the sun. The floor and walls were all concrete with no ornamentation or color, so little was lost in the poor light. There were a series of steel doors along the opposite side of the wall, spread far apart from each other. After placing the grate back in place the Scorpion examined the doors briefly before deciding on the second one to their right. Using further metalbending he opened the locks causing the door to swing open for them. Here they entered a similar hallway, except instead of steel doors blocking the way, there were openings in the wall blocked by metal bars.
The realization of where they were suddenly dawned on Yuan. "Why did you bring me to a prison?"
"This is a secret prison designed by The United Republic to detain terrorism suspects. I figured since you've already witnessed the evils they commit in public, you should also see the ones they commit under the cover of shadow," the Scorpion explained as he sealed the door behind them.
Yuan looked around in discomfort. Some of the prisoners walked to the fronts of their cells and stared in silence at the two in the hallway. "Why aren't they saying anything?" Yuan asken in a more timid voice.
The Scorpion was walking forward, and didn't even bother to turn as he answered. "Making a noise will only annoy the guards, which means a round of beatings for whichever cell block makes the disturbance."
Yuan gulped at the thought of this. "So what, you think making me see this would just make me up and join you."
"Not just this, but him." They stopped in front of a cell towards the end of the block. Yuan peered inside and saw the outline of a man slowly rouse from his cot. The man stood up and slowly sauntered over to the bars. He held on to them, as if to support himself as he gazed at the two men in the hall. Suddenly his eyes bulged with comprehension.
"Yuan?"
The Avatar needed no time to recognize the voice. "Phen?"
The man's face instantly lit up, as Yuan rushed to the cell and embraced the man in a hug. After they released Phen gave him a quick inspection, "It's only been a few weeks, you look really different."
"Your one to talk." This statement came with a dark humor to it. The man standing in the cell was almost unrecognizable from the Phen back in Urumqi. This man had long unkempt hair with a beard consuming most of his face. He looked emaciated, with his green prison garb hanging loosely over his shrunken torso and shoulders. His legs shook slightly, as if standing was a great pain for him. Worst of all were the scars and bruises that could be seen up and down his face and arms. "He looks like he's been pelted with rocks" Yuan thought, before realizing that might have been the case.
"Yeah the meals here suck, and I can't find a decent barber," Phen replied with a small good natured chuckle. "What about you? Where have you been? I've been worried sick about you?"
"Well," Yuan scratched the back of his head as he thought about all he had been through in the past several weeks. "It's been a weird trip, but basically I've been lying low and trying to find a place where I can settle down for a little bit."
"So you thought a United Republic prison would be a good place?" Phen asked in his familiar sarcastic tone.
"Wasn't exactly my first choice. I'm guessing it wasn't yours either?"
"If you can imagine. No, the day after you left Ryu came back and arrested me and Teng. Li Chen and Phu had both run off that night. Me and Teng tried to hide, but they found us pretty quick. Ryu decided to keep Teng around as a 'local liaison' while I got shipped off to this hole."
Yuan felt enormous pangs of guilt over this. "Phen, I'm so sorry I ran. I didn't know what to do and I was scared and I … I…"
"Hey, it's ok. I can't imagine what you've had to go through, you know with the whole 'Avatar' thing. No ones mad at you. Except maybe Bartok, but that's hardly a negative." Phen assured with another chuckle.
Yuan refused to be reassured. "But look at you! You're a ghost! And all those marks on your arms, what have they been doing to you?"
Phen's small grin disappeared. "It hasn't been too bad. They're just trying to get information out of me. I've got nothing to offer though, so it's essentially just a one on one session between me and whatever sadist they have on shift that day. Hopefully they'll realize I've got nothing for them and stop after the next few rounds. Seriously, don't worry about it, I'll be fine. Now the important thing is, why are you here?"
"I'm here with this guy," Yuan pointed back at the Scorpion, who was leaning on the opposite wall from them.
"Is that The Iron Scorpion? What are you doing hanging out with that guy? I thought you said you were lying low?" Phen tone fluctuated between shocked, impressed, and worried.
"That's kind of part of the long story," Yuan turned to the notorious terrorist. "Hey, what are you waiting for? Bend the bar's and get Phen out of there."
"Can't, the bars are platinum," the Scorpion replied in a nonchalant voice.
"What? If you knew that then why did we come down here?" Yuan's voice quickly became indignant.
"So you could see what's been happening. And now that you've seen we need to get going. The guards are going to start their rounds in a few minutes, so we have a choice between staying here a few more minutes or the rest of our lives," he gave this ultimatum with the same even tone.
"What? We're not leaving without Phen, we have to do …" Yuan began.
"No, he's right," Phen cut him off. "I don't want you getting caught. You need to get out of here."
Yuan gave his friend a desperate look, "But what about you?"
"I'll be fine," he reassured. "I've taken harder lumps from you mom then these guys."
Yuan looked between Phen and the Scorpion, before heaving a sigh in defeat. He began to walk towards the other end of the hallway, but turned before he went too far. "I'm coming back for you, Phen. I don't care if I have to rip the bar's out with my hands I'll get you out."
Phen gave one last chuckle, "I'll be waiting right here."
Yuan and the Scorpion returned to the surface without incident or a word spoken. It wasn't until they were about to board the boat again that Yuan finally spoke up. "So what's the plan?"
"What plan?" The Scorpion asked, keeping his annoyingly calm voice from before.
"The plan to break Phen and everyone else out from that pit," Yuan elaborated in an annoyed tone.
"There is no plan. We're not breaking anyone out from prison." His tone held steady.
Yuan was through with all of the Scorpions cryptic nonsense at this point. "Then why bring me down there? What was the point? To taunt me? To piss me off? Cause I gotta say, you did a bang up job."
"Tell me, what would we do after we broke everyone out? We'll have to fight through hundreds of guards and soldiers, so that's one problem. Then we have to get them all off an island and through the most militarized city on the planet, to escape to where exactly?" Yuan looked down at his feet when he realized he had no answer to these questions. "That's what I thought. And it's not even like that's the only prison of it's kind. There are dozens scattered throughout The United Republic and Earth States. The same prison's where they torture and kill people, just because they think they might have done something wrong. People like my friends, my parents …. my wife!" His voice rose in anger before exploding with rage at the last two words.
Yuan stared at the man, seeing him in an entirely different light. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea you had so many people who … were you ever …"
"Yes," the Scorpions voice regained some of it's composure. "I managed to escape, but not everyone is as lucky as me."
The two stood in silence for a few minutes, before Yuan finally looked up. "Alright, you said you had a plan to topple The United Republic, right. If that means we can free Phen and the others then I'll help. No killing though, I'll never cross that line."
The Scorpion chewed over these conditions for a moment. "It shouldn't be a problem, I hope at least."
"Awesome. Now get me the antidote, I can't help if I'm dead."
"Oh, that? There was never any poison. I just needed to get you down into the prison." For whatever reason this set Yuan off into hysterics, where he was shortly joined by the Scorpion. They both got on the boat and set a course for the mainland.
Coming Soon: Chapter 9 - The Scorpion's Sting Pt. 1
I'm actually really pleased with how this chapter turned out, and I'm excited to start writing a more plot driven story. As always, your feedback is greatly appreciated and helpful to the writing process.