Legacy of the Headband Chapter 17: Holes in the Fishing Net
"Hurry, hurry this way! He went out around back, right here!"
As Shoji took off at a breakneck pace that was quite remarkable considering his recent unconsciousness, Senyo and Urdu huffed and puffed as they struggled to keep pace with him. Senyo was covered in dirt and abrasions; in fact, the adrenalin of the entire situation was probably the only thing keeping her going. She was exhausted and overwhelmed and terrified of what the morning would bring for her and all of the other students who attended Kuzon's dance party. Yes, they had chosen to take the risk, and for what? The amusement of some strange earthbender who had no idea what kind of danger he was putting them in?
Senyo was confused and hurt that Kuzon apparently hadn't been anything close to the boy he said he was. Was all of it truly a lie? What about Gyatso? What about that drawing of the Avatar? What about the game of Hide and Explode and all the laughter they'd all shared together? Was Kuzon some sort of spy? Had he only been playing them for information? Although, Senyo mused as she ran, that didn't seem very likely. After all, what information did she or any of her friends have that would be useful to an enemy of the Fire Lord?
So, Kuzon was an enemy of the Fire Lord. He had to be, right? Anyone outside of the Fire Nation was an enemy. That's what Senyo's parents, all her school teachers, and the newspapers had always taught her. People outside the Fire Nation just didn't understand how wonderful it was that the Fire Nation was sharing its greatness with the world. They practiced inferior bending arts and lived simple, savage lives without modern technology or proper discipline. By taking control, the Fire Nation was giving them a better life. Why couldn't they see that?
But, a small dangerous voice in the back of Senyo's head piped up, was it really a better life? Sure, Senyo had nice clothes and a solid home and good food to eat- all the good things that came from the Fire Nation's modern agriculture and industry, as Ms. Kwan frequently noted. But she was constantly scared of doing or saying the wrong thing, and everything that seemed like it might be fun was wrong or forbidden. Like dancing, or playing music that didn't sound like a funeral dirge, or dating someone that you liked and not one that your parents picked out for you. Senyo had never really questioned these kinds of prohibitions before, but now that she'd had a taste of them, she really wondered. Why were all of these things so wrong if they made people feel good?
Bad things were bad because they hurt people, right? So if Kuzon was doing all of these 'bad' things, shouldn't he have seemed more… sad, or angry, or just plain unhappy? Kuzon was mysterious, for sure, and sometimes he got kind of quiet or serious, but most of the time he'd been around them, he'd been cheerful and enthusiastic and lighthearted. That didn't exactly fit the image of "miserable savages" that Senyo had learned in school. Kuzon was the first person Senyo had ever met from outside the Fire Nation, and he certainly wasn't a monster or backwards or a freak. He was… a kid. A kid who actually said what he was thinking and talked back to adults. A kid who cried and laughed and tripped over his own feet and drew really well and blushed around pretty girls. A kid who somehow was an earthbender and also… a human being, just like her.
They're wrong. It was a revolutionary thought, a dangerous conclusion, and yet Senyo could not stop the dominoes cascading through her brain. Ms. Kwan was wrong. Her parents were wrong. The newspapers were wrong. They were all wrong about Kuzon, and probably about other foreigners too. And if they were wrong about Kuzon… what else were they wrong about?
But before Senyo's thoughts could take her any further along such a radical path, the trio arrived at the back of the cave and hurried inside as far as they could until they came to a sudden halt in front of a large, impassable wall.
Urdu gasped. "But… Kuzon definitely had to come out this way. There's no way he got out the front entrance past the guards!"
Shoji nodded. "It's just like I told you guys! Look at the ridge along the center here! See how these two pieces of rock came together, one slab from the top and one from the bottom? It's like a mouth made of earth!"
Senyo saw the mouth. She'd spent enough time out by the quarries and caves to know that rock didn't move like that on its own. "So, that's it then. You were telling the truth, Shoji!"
Shoji stood up straight. He seemed taller to Senyo than she'd ever seen him before. There was a new look in his eyes. "Kuzon got away, and from the looks of it, he can handle himself. But On Ji might still be in trouble. Can you guys hear anything? The cave's gone awfully quiet."
Quickly, the three friends turned around and raced around towards the front, only to skid to a halt just outside the entrance. Senyo cried out. "Look, guys! It's all dark inside! There's no one here!"
Shoji turned and slammed his fist against a boulder. "No! We got here too late. They've already taken her."
Urdu, still gasping for air, hesitantly spoke up. "Taken her where, Shoji?"
Shoji's next words came out hollow and choked. "They've taken her to the coal mines."
Cold. Nauseous. Tired. As she was jostled back and forth over Mr. Wei's shoulder, On Ji's thoughts only came in small sentence fragments. Her mouth, hands, and feet were still bound and she was incapable of doing anything more than surveying the ground behind her with her eyes. The only thing that was keeping her even remotely calm was the whisper that she'd barely caught on the way out of the cave.
"Don't be afraid. Trust me."
On Ji really had no good reason to trust Mr. Wei. She didn't even know the man; the only time she saw him at school was during gym class warm ups before the benders and non-benders were separated for their lessons. She'd heard rumors from other kids that there was something a little odd about him; he was a tad too quiet to be trustworthy. And of course she'd heard about the sparring match where Kuzon had nearly beaten him in hand to hand combat two days ago. But, by all accounts, he was just another authority figure, which meant that she was still likely in severe danger. Except… he had bypassed the Headmaster and slightly delayed her deployment to the coal mines. That had to mean something, right?
On Ji blinked rapidly, trying to will away the tears welling up against her eyelids. If she even allowed herself a moment to think about what awaited her at the other end of that boat ride, she would completely break down for sure. And she couldn't do that; not with Hide walking right next to her. If this was to be her last free night, she was not going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her weak and scared.
The coal mines were infamous, discussed in whispers and rumors all over the Fire Nation. They put the fear of Agni into every Fire Nation child from the moment he or she could speak. Backbreaking physical labor. Famine rations. A stone slab and shackles for a bed. Officially, they were called "juvenile reformatory camps." But their real purpose was to provide slave labor to power the Fire Nation's petroleum war machine. Depending on his or her crime, an offender could be sentenced between three months to five years and have the initial period increased arbitrarily at the discretion of the overseers. Many kids never came back. Those that did were social pariahs, and often became reclusive, anti-social individuals.
On Ji knew all of this because her cousin Li Pan had confided in her when he returned to town after half a year in the mines. Li was seven years older than On Ji. He had always been an intelligent, curious boy. One summer, his family went on vacation in some of the Earth Kingdom colonies for two months. When they returned, Li's normally laid back attitude had turned bitter and angry. He had started getting into fights at school and refusing to do his homework. Then, one day, her parents told her that Li had been taken away to the coal mines. On Ji never found out exactly what he had done, but when Li had returned, he had been a shadow of his former self. His skin had been gaunt and loosely hanging off of a skeletal figure. He had looked as though he had aged ten years in six months.
Obviously, On Ji's parents didn't want her to associate with the persona non grata that her cousin had become, but then ten year old On Ji had found a spark of rebellion within herself and snuck away after school one day to her cousin's house. His family had refused to welcome him back, and he'd been living in a tent out back. When she had arrived, he had been packing a rucksack with the few possessions he still had left. On Ji had never forgotten his last words to her.
"I can't stay here anymore. Look what they did to me. All of this is so wrong and I hope that one day you'll see it. They're all lying to you, On Ji. There is another way to live. Keep your eyes and ears open, and always trust your gut instinct. I hope that someday, when the time is right, we'll meet again."
That night he had vanished, never to be seen or heard from again.
'Are you proud of me, Li?'
On Ji thought hysterically. 'I'm following in your footsteps, cuz. My life is over now, just like yours.' She tried to feel regret or guilt or shame, but to her deep surprise, On Ji could not conjure up any of it. She realized that she had done exactly what Li had told her to do; she had trusted her gut instinct. She had trusted Kuzon, and all of the new possibilities he represented. There is another way to live. As she shivered, a child twitching and bound, On Ji wished with all her heart for that powerful phrase to be true.
Suddenly, her meandering gaze registered that Mr. Wei had taken a sharp turn and was no longer walking towards her home. Hide must have realized it too (Agni knows he had been to her house often enough for supper), because he suddenly stopped short.
"Hey! Mr. Wei, where are you going? The prisoner's house is this way!"
On Ji boiled with indignation. He couldn't even be bothered to address her by her name. Hide really was the worst boyfriend ever. But before she could blink, she felt Mr. Wei halt and lower her to the ground a little less than gently."Mmmph!" From her position, she couldn't see what was going on, but it sounded like Mr. Wei was advancing towards Hide.
"Hey! What do you think you're… gah!"
On Ji felt a wave of warmth and heard a blast of fire and several grunts and cries of pain from Hide. The ground beneath her shook slightly and she struggled, not knowing what was going on. Within mere moments, everything fell silent. The next thing she knew, On Ji felt a cool hand grab her wrists as a pick jimmied at her shackles. Her arms and legs sprung apart jarringly as they were released. Finally, her mouth gag was removed and her head was turned to look up into the deadly serious face of Mr. Wei.
"Can you walk? We've got to get out of here before anyone realizes that you're missing."
On Ji's head spun. "You… what? But… Hide…?"
Mr. Wei waved a hand distractedly. "I pinched his nerves and knocked him out. He'll be fine. Listen, we don't have a lot of time to linger here. I promise I'll explain everything once we're safe. Are you coming with me or are you going to let them take you away?"
On Ji got to her feet, still trembling. She still had no idea if she could trust this mysterious teacher, but what choice did she have? "All right. But I don't think I can walk very well right now."
Mr. Wei nodded. "Very well. Climb on my back, and hang on tight!" As Hide lay unconscious in the middle of the road, On Ji and her rescuer slipped away into the shadows, guided only by Yue's pale luster casting a beacon of light into the swirling darkness.