Save Me
Author: YolandaFriella
Hey! How's it going? I hope you all like this chapter, because for some reason, it was difficult for me to write. I didn't want to explain too, too much, but I wanted to know how Katara felt as she completed her "forbidden" task. Please, please, if you read this leave me a review telling me how you thought of this. This will now be the pick up of the story, where the plot will uncurl and do its magic :). I hope I didn't take too long to update, seeing it was only a day or two, but like I mentioned previously, I love updating. I don't know if it's the beginning of the story, where I'm most excited about it and tend to update quickest, or I'm eager to get this going! Whatever it is, I like it because I update easily! Like I said, please review :)
Thanks to my awesome reviewers: angelkenzie022, AnnaAza, Anonymous I Think, spockjasperzukowriting, sokkantylee, Bunzilla894, Densharr, I'm-INSANELY-aweSOMEful, and Draminoe-Fan 17. Hey! That's more than the other chapter! Haha thank for the new people! Hope you like the story. I'm also pondering over making a banner, which I won't make until this story really gets going, and I'll let ya'll know when I put it up! Thanks again!
Special thanks to I'm-INSANELY-aweSOMEful for her "frenzied" review, which really made me get off my butt and update. Haha sorry for leaving it so abruptly! I'll try harder next time ;P oh read her avatar stories as well. I love them both.
Well, without further ado, I shall unleash the story! Yes I can get overly dramatic sometimes...GET OVER IT! (laughs)
Chapter Three: A Scarred Future
I ate the second roll before the guard let me out of the cell.
There were countless times when I dreamed of being liberated. The majority of all of them, I somehow escaped and ran off without an additional glance. There was even a disturbing one that one of the guards betrayed the nation and freed me, revealing his true character. But I knew that would never happen. And this time, I was being freed by giving in—set to mind to heal some boy I've never even met.
"He's in pain," The guard told me, his voice muffled on account of the mask. I stared at him in aversion. Isn't it hard to breathe through that wretched facade? "So we must hurry."
"Who are you?" I asked, watching him as he grabbed my arm, not in the usual forceful way, but in a hurried demeanor. I waited unwearyingly as he closed the opening, and he hurried in front of me. My eyes took him in, and I saw he had a rather plump, short body. How could've he even made it into that sort of position with a body like that?
"Hurry," He urged, overlooking my question and began striding away. I followed behind, wondering why it was suddenly so simple to walk. I've always thought it would hurt to even stand.
"So who's the," I brought up peculiarly, "guy I'm tending to?"
"You will see."
"You know what?" I halted, giving him a determined glare as he turned to me. "I'm not moving from this spot until you tell me—"
"He's in pain!"
"—who the heck this guy is!" A strand of hair fell in my eyes, and I blew upwards through my mouth to send it back over my head. I must've looked pretty childish, but I didn't mind it. As long as I got my answer, I was fine.
"It doesn't matter who he is. His face…please hurry." The guard grabbed my arm and began dragging me to the end of the room, letting go to open the door.
The humidity was like a slap in the face. I felt my face heat up from the dampness in the air surrounding us. The guard practically got into a lope before me, so I followed behind, feeling the air particles part way as I passed.
I stared at his metal-armored back. The water was so abundant around me, that I even considered attacking him right here—right now. My hands responded to my thoughts intuitively, curling to congregate and immobilize the water nearby towards me, while waiting for an order. I might have the slight chance of winning, despite my currently inexperienced bending so far. In my tribe, I didn't have a master to teach me. I was the only one who was able to bend. I was the last one.
As we walked past a garden of some sort, with fresh, healthy, green grass brushing against my bare ankles with the leftover water staining its tips, I thought back to the mysterious woman who paid me a visit beforehand. The roll gave me strength, reminding me of her pleasant personality, and how she saved my life, for one undemanding and modest request: to save her son. I withdrew my hands, feeling the water leave in dismissal, and impulsively pulled back my hair.
My mind panicked. I couldn't let these, these strangers see my hair down! My tribe was entirely against that. I was already ruined for allowing this guard for laying his eyes upon my hair, but I knew there were many more to come. My mind relaxed. I'm positive the spirits wouldn't mind breaking one regulation in order to help someone…even though they were fire nation. Besides, the spirits were nonaligned; they never picked sides, no matter the situation.
"Sir," I spoke out suddenly, my voice strained, "do you think the spirits would be upset if I broke one rule to achieve a moral deed?"
He paused, but continued trudging forward, jerking on my arm to keep me in motion. "The spirits are….very merciful if the person has a reasonable reason."
"You're right," I assured, mostly to myself. As I followed behind the guard, I prayed confidently to the spirits, praying for mercy and reasoning.
I, too, felt like I was praying to my mother.
"I never had a policy; I have just tried to do my very best each and every day."
~Abraham Lincoln
Nobody seemed concerned.
The guard parted a pathway for me to follow behind as we traveled through a sea of royal people, the women fanning themselves with luxurious fans and their best dresses decorating their bodies, and the men being complimented on their particular doings. The halls were filled with perfume, a purple essence that floated through the air, reminding me of thick, overcast smoke, and the royals talked amongst themselves in low, secretive voices.
I felt….like a barbarian. Wearing only a thin, ripped clothe that left my shoulders for all to see, which were both sheltered with my long-lasting curls, and my bronzed legs comprehensible since the material wasn't very careful to cover all my body. Feeling naked in the middle of this crowd, I felt my confidence slip through my fingers in one eye.
They whispered to the other person, but they didn't seem bothered. The guard; however, did seem troubled. Shoulders overwrought, legs moving rapidly, and pushing past people without thinking, he reminded me of a very apprehensive father. Perhaps he was related to the guy I was going to heal? Judging by his aged looking body, he had to be his relative, judging how young the woman seemed.
"We're almost there," He explained briefly as we broke through the people, and I could breathe easier now. Not moments before I was freed from the tangle of people, the guard grabbed my hand once more and led me to the back rooms.
I grew nervous. These were becoming further reserved. This was visibly the quarters of the most extravagant figures here, such as the lords or ladies. My heart pounded in my chest, thumping through my clothes as I followed behind, almost tripping over my feet as the guard slowed down. My feet were beginning to feel unsteady….my body feeling tipsy.
I felt close to fainting when he stopped in front of a double door with the fire emblem imprinted on it. This had to be the room to some kind of royalty…
"She's here," The guard announced as he swung open the doors, and I followed timidly behind, my confidence diminished into a lowly shadow.
My eyes swept over the room. The lights were dim, only a few candles lit, and a window was across the room, tightly shut. The floor was the color of the throne room, with a giant carpet decorating the middle of the room, where the bed awaited. My eyes widened as my breath was taking. This room…had to be larger than my entire house at the water tribe. For the most part, there were hardly any decorations for the room, except for a canvas on the wall behind the bed, showing the fire nation symbol. The more I studied the room, the more nervous I became. The guard made his way to the bed, saying something to the teenage girl, who was apparently tending to the guy, but whatever the guard said made her abscond in a hurry, not even looking up at me. My feet felt glued to the floor, not obeying my command to move.
I inhaled, and instantly regretted it. It smelled….like burning flesh. Not able to hold it back, I gagged into my hands, the roll that was in my stomach threatening to make its way back up.
"Healer," the guard said, breaking through my gag fest and motioned me over. "Please hurry….he's in intense pain."
Indecisively, I approached the bed, a few steps introducing me to the carpet, and I gulped nervously. The room suddenly felt a whole degree hotter, reminding me of the throne room.
I could still back out. I could still choose this moment to raise a fight against this unsuspecting guard and escape with my dignity—and life. The guy in the bed obviously was in no condition to fight, no matter how skilled he was. Once more, my lips pursed as I hesitated, and my hands ground into tense fists as the meager water came to me with my dominion.
A groan entered my ears and the water vanished. The guy on the bed groaned in pain, his voice making my heart clench. Yes. That had to be the woman's son.
With no further thoughts, I was before the guy, seeing the most revolting, heart-aching spectacle in all my life.
No wonder why I smelled burning flesh. This guy's face was halfway dead—literally. Half of his face held a pale, handsome, young skin with a honey-golden eye staring up at me, reflecting nothing but agonizing pain. His face complexion was narrow, with a high chin. My eyes grazed in awe over the very beautiful and even striking features of this adolescent, putting Sokka's looks to shame. My face filled with a shocked blush, my heart stopping abruptly. Never in my life have I seen a guy this…..faultless.
My thoughts swerved direction as I looked over at his right side of the face, and I successfully held back another gag. Blood was seeping through the currently burning flesh, the leftover flames eating away the flesh. My eyes widened, and I wondered how this guy was even alive.
Pity swarmed inside of me. He was obviously a highly attractive guy, but now with this scar…..the only thing a person would notice was the reflective blemish tainting his face.
I knew what to do, and I hoped it worked.
"Sir," I spoke raucously, "I need water. Quick!"
Nobody was in this room, comforting this poor, battered guy. They were all out in the hallways, gossiping about the latest news—which had to consist with this guy.
Who did this to him? Was he in a fight? Seeing his serious eyes, I knew he had to be a fighter—a warrior. I paused again, remembering how I promised myself I would never heal someone who killed innocent lives.
But for a strange, unexplainable reason, I felt a sensation wash over me. Something told me that this guy was different….that he didn't kill anyone, and that his soul wasn't soiled yet, unlike his face. He was still blameless—for now.
As the guard rushed off to fetch water, my hand reached out to touch his unscathed face, feeling the soft skin brush against my arctic palm. His eyes widened in response, eyeing me while he said nothing; probably not being able to. I knew my touch felt soothing him, the coldness feeling better than that scorching sensitivity.
"You'll be fine," I whispered, seeing nothing but those hurt, golden eyes, "I'll take care of you…."
"I promise."
The guard returned moments later, holding a bowl of water.
Taking a deep breath, I smiled positively yet doubtfully down at the boy as I placed the bowl in front of me.
"I've never done this before," I explained, forgetting the guard was witnessing everything in his very eyes. "So…..let's see what happens."
"Will you be able to take away the scar?" The guard asked, breaking through my concentration.
I sent an aggravated look at him. "I would know if you let me actually do this. I need absolute silence to perform my healing, so…." I sighed and trailed off, bringing up my hands to focus on the water.
Healing was highly dangerous. If I did one thing wrong, I could damage his nerves, which were probably burnt by now. The other dangerous, bothering aspect was the fact that I've never, ever healed a burn before. This was, once again, another first for me.
"I doubt I can mend his completely," I confessed lightly, waving my hands slowly in a liquefied motion to stimulate the water, seeing it respond with small waves rocking against the borders of the basin.
"But I can probably ease the pain….a little." The water was now rising into the air, my voice silent now. My mouth was slightly open, my tongue uncurled as I focused entirely on the water.
I steered it down to the guy's face, my concentration faltering when I saw the burn again and as his eyes flickered to the water, but I quickly regained it before it lost control and went splattering all over him. My hands began shaking as I lowered it specifically to his face, seeing his eye was closed, welcoming my ability.
The water made contact with the burn, and vapor steamed from the surface, and the guy flinched. The guard held his hand comfortingly, and I paused before adding more of the water, more steam rising into the air. I winced silently, knowing at first the water burned, but now, it felt good, seeing the guy's eyes slackened. The coolness felt so heavenly on the burn, I could openly read his eyes, which reflected just as I thought.
Closing my eyes, I felt the tendons and muscles right before me. I opened them again as the water began radiating, my bending working, as I tried my best to heal the scar. I fixed many of the tattered skin, which was located mostly at the bottom. That was my style—working from the bottom up. The steam was thinning as I began healing, my mouth drying.
Never have I worked on such a wound as this. It was physically draining my power; I could feel it like a whiplash, my hands beginning to shake. Sweat drenched my clothing, my hair looking rather damp on my head. I began to feel faint as I continued working, the water doing its magical purpose.
Water was the healing element, in my opinion and to what the people of my tribe said. Air was the carefree element, representing freedom. Along with earth, this was sturdy and resolute. Fire….my people always explained fire as aggression—destroying whatever it made contact with. Fire couldn't touch anyone and heal them, nor could it free people from incarceration. No, it only stole lives and vanquished whatever it lay on.
Fire was evil, as concluded in my tribe.
And I couldn't agree any more than that.
A weak whimper left my lips as I glanced over at the guard, seeing his face tilted to watch me intently. The water was still doing its job—healing this guy who deserved it….
I stopped myself, seeing the scar once more. What has he done that made him deserve this? Not only could it take his life, but it will take toll on his future. Women would always think about him and that scar, and men would laugh at his battered face. Was he a thief?
"He doesn't deserve what happened to him! He doesn't! He did it because he stood up for something good."
The woman's frenzied, importunate voice shivered my mind. No. He couldn't be a bad guy if he did this for something rightful, so she claims. But could I believe her? I had to! She did, after all, save my life. That had to take a nice soul to do. I had no choice but to have trust in what she said, and believe that what the guy did, did nothing to deserve this kind of….whatever it was. It scarred his entire life ahead of him, which included many, many upcoming years.
"I believe you," I whispered to myself, my vision becoming faint. I couldn't even concentrate anymore, and I stumbled back when the water fell onto the guy's face, the guard saying something but my ears didn't take it in.
My vision blackened as I fell backwards, my head falling against the tile brutally.
I worked too hard for a beginner. Now, I must pay the price.
TO BE CONTINED! :D
PS: Don't think Katara's weak or anything because she fainted. The fainting was because she's so inexperienced of healing and the fact that she did so much in that ammount of time. Her body was weakened too strongly so her body responded by fainting. Please review and thank you for reading!