Disclaimer – all original Avatar: The Last Airbender characters in this fanfic (excluding my OC's) are the property of Bryana Konietzko and Michaela Dante DiMartino.
Chapter 6. The Good and The Bad.
Year 70 AB – Fire Nation Central Island, Hama's Village, The Marketplace.
When Yan Zu told Hama about Huo's spiritual connection and his first meditation into the Spirit World, she wasn't sure she liked that at first. There was a risk of getting hurt or worse, but Yan Zu assured that he'd keep Huo safe and even told his son to never meditate into the Spirit World without him, which Hama strongly seconded. She was also worried that Yan Zu could witness Huo waterbending when the boy would use his powers by accident or impulse. Hama discreetly warned Huo about it, but he told his mother that he was not able to bend in the Spirit World without a physical body. Therefore, there was no risk of his father finding out about his bending.
For two years, Huo trained his waterbending skills in secrecy during the night with his mother and learned about the spirits and their world during the day with his father. Hama was pleased with Huo's progress. The young boy was eager to learn and had excellent skills in waterbending. True, they only trained at night when the waterbending was strengthened and enhanced due to its lunar affinity. Still, Hama could tell that the boy was a true prodigy. With enough training, he could easily become a powerful waterbender.
However, there was one problem that Hama failed to notice. As Huo got older and smarter, he pondered about what his mother told him about the Fire Nation. The people of the village were friendly to him as well, and it seemed hard for him to believe that they were bad people. Yes, sometimes the villagers argued with each other, were in a bad mood, or were simply grumpy, but that didn't mean they were evil. Huo never even heard that any person in the village talked badly about waterbenders or any other nation.
His father told him about the Avatar, the Fire Nation, and the war started by Fire Lord Sozin. What Yan Zu said about the people of the Fire Nation had more sense actually to Huo. There might be plenty wrong with the Fire Nation's nobility and royalty, but their citizens were pretty much ordinary people. In fact, a lot of them even seemed to be fed up or sad with the hundred-year war Fire Lord Sozin started. Since Fire Lord wielded absolute power over the Fire Nation's policies, and his orders were to be carried out immediately, and without question, the citizens didn't dare to oppose him even if many of them thought that what he did was wrong.
"Okay, Huo," said mister Zuon, giving a six-year-old Huo a basket with fruits. The boy grew fast, and many villagers said he'd be tall just like his father. "Five ash bananas, five mangos, seven figs, and four lemons. I added a few extra ash bananas since you helped me carry those heavy boxes yesterday. I know that you like them just like your father."
"Thank you, mister Zuon," Huo replied with a big smile and walked away from the fruit stall, heading back to the inn.
"Huo, tell your mother that I have fresh sea slugs for her!" miss Suri waved to Huo as he passed her fish stall.
"I will, miss Suri!" Huo reassured and waved back. Like his mother, Huo had a good reputation around the village. He was helpful and kind to everyone, just like Hama told him to be. As he walked through the market, a girl's voice called out his name. "Huo!"
Huo stooped, turning his head and spotting Eilu, a slim girl in his age with long black hair, tied back in a ponytail, and amber-brown colored eyes. She was clad in a strappy reddish dress that reached her knees and brown sandals. Right behind Eilu stood Shaku, a chubby boy with short brown hair and brown-colored eyes. He wore a brown shirt and dark pants with reddish sandals.
"Hey Eilu, hey Shaku," Huo replied and smiled as the two ran up to him. "What are you two up to again?"
"Eilu is once again pretending to be a guard," Shaku sighed, earning a stare from the girl. Eilu lived alone with her mother while her father was in the Fire Nation Capital working as a captain of the Domestic Forces. Huo knew that the young girl wanted to follow in her father's footsteps and protect the people of the Fire Nation from criminals.
Eilu grabbed Huo by the hand and pulled him behind one of the houses while Shaku followed. "Woah, careful with the fruits," Huo said, trying not to drop the basket.
When they finally stooped, Huo sighed and looked at Eilu. "So what sinister crime have you witness this time?" Huo asked half-jokingly. Most of the time, Eilu simply looked for adventures. Although, she sometimes managed to notice as shady travelers try to steal something from the market. It was nothing serious, but it proved how serious she was when it came to becoming a guard.
"I found an entrance to a dark cave in the mountain," Eilu answered.
"Oh man, what a discovery," Shaku rolled his eyes, but Eilu punched him in the arm. "Let me finish!" She looked back at Huo and continued. "When I got close, I heard a faint, echoing scream. I have no idea if it was a call for help or something else. I would need to jump down to go further, but there was too dark to see anything."
"Maybe it was just a wind," Huo shrugged his arms, but Eilu shook her head. "No, I'm telling you there's someone down there."
"Did you told your mother about this?" Huo asked, but Eilu shook her head again. "No, I know she won't take me seriously. Plus, she kinda forbit me to leave the village on my own."
"Haha, a future guard breaks the rules?" Huo chuckled and asked teasingly. Eilu crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. "Hey! If breaking the rules means I'll save someone, then so be it!"
Huo sighed a smile. "So you want me and Shaku to come with you?" he asked, and Eilu quickly nodded. "Yes, we can go at night." Shaku wasn't thrilled about this idea.
"Count me out, I don't want to sneak out from home and enter a cave when it's dark," he refused.
"Do it or I'll never give you my mom's mochi ever again," Eilu replied, blackmailing the chubby boy. "And I know how you love them."
"Oh come on, that's not fair!" Shaku whined, and Huo laughed. The chubby boy sighed heavily, and his shoulders sunk down a little. "Fiiiine, I'll go with you."
"I knew I can count on you," Eilu grinned, patting Shaku's back, and looked at Huo. "And what about you Huo?"
"I'll see what I can do, but no promises," Huo replied and added a lie. "My mom is a light sleeper so I don't know if I'll be able to sneak out of the cottage." He always trained during the night with his mother, so he'd have to postpone this training somehow. "Wait for me near the cottage. If I'll be able to sneak out, I will, and if not, I'll give you a heads up."
"Okay!" Eilu nodded.
"Great!" Huo replied and gave Eilu and Shaku one ash banana. "See you later!"
Sometime later – Fire Nation Central Island, Hama's Village, Hama's Inn.
Huo and Hama sat at a small table in the kitchen and ate roasted komodo chicken. Yan Zu had important guests from Fire Nation Capital, who paid handsomely for lessons, so he'd be late for dinner. "Miss Suri told me she got fresh sea slugs for you," the boy said after swallowing a chunk of meat.
"Oh, that's good," replied Hama. "We haven't had smoked sea slugs for a while. I'll buy them after dinner."
Huo was silent for some time, pondering deeply about how to start the topic. His mother was very strict with her training. "Mom, can we postpone our training tonight?" he asked suddenly.
Hama looked at her son and arched her eyebrow. "Why?" she asked back. It was the first time since Huo suggested it. "You know you have to train."
"I know, but..." Huo didn't plan on lying since it would do him no good anyway. "Eilu and Shaku are planning to sneak out of the village; they could see us train in the forest," he explained.
"Ehhh... what is that girl up to again?" Hama rolled her grey-colored eyes. "I swear she's asking for trouble with such a behavior."
"Don't say that," Huo replied as Hama finished eating and got up with an empty plate. "She really wants to a be a guard and help people. That's why she thinks someone is trapped in a cave. She's not doing anything bad."
Hama reached the counter and suddenly stopped. "What cave?" she asked, turning to face Huo with a serious expression.
"I have no idea," Huo replied, shrugging his arms. "She told us that she found an entrance to a dark cave in the mountain and heard a faint scream, but she wasn't sure what that was and it was too dark to check. That's why she and Shaku are planning to check it tonight... and... she asked me to go with them. Can I?" he asked with an innocent grin.
"Did she told anyone else about the cave?" Hama approached the table and leaned her hands on the tabletop.
Huo shook his head. "Her mom wouldn't believe her anyway," he answered. "Shaku won't tell anyone because he's afraid of Eilu not giving him anymore mochi."
Hama thought for a while. She then inhaled and exhaled through her nose. "Sure, go with them," she agreed, surprising Huo. "Really?!"
"Yes, but not a word to your father about this," Hama ordered. "Now finish your komodo chicken." Huo nodded quickly and replied. "Okay! Thank you!"
After Huo ate dinner, he helped his mom wash the dishes while his father finally finished giving lessons and came to eat. When Huo left the inn and went to play, Yan Zu spoke to Hama. "Is everything alright? You seem to be absent."
He was correct. Hama was absent because she thought intensively about the upcoming night. She needed to deal with the children, and there was only one way to do it. Since tonight was a full moon, Hama decided to use bloodbending to add Eilu and Shaku to her prison. She never thought she would chain up children in her cave, but if everything was meant to be kept in secret, there was no other way.
Hama allowed Huo to come along with them since he'd learn about their disappearance either way and would surely look for them. He even could tell his father and others about the cave, and the whole village would find the prison. That would be the end, so Hama couldn't allow it. While it was still too early, Hama needed to introduce Huo to bloodbending and reveal to him her secret.
"I'm just tired," Hama replied simply, covering her mouth as she pretended to yawn.
"Maybe you should give the innkeeping a rest for a while," Yan Zu suggested. "Or maybe you can start drinking the same tea you're giving me."
Hama chuckled and replied. "I'll think about it, dear." Of course, she didn't plan to drink the tea, but rest was a good idea. Hama had a vital night before her.
Nighttime – Fire Nation Central Island.
Eilu and Shaku waited for Huo near his cottage as planned, and the young boy joined them. The three kids headed towards the mountain, but they had no idea that Hama followed them. They were easy to track from afar since they had torches. A small part of her wished that Eilu would find a different cave, but unfortunately, they went straight towards the entrance to the cave with the prison.
"This is the place," Eilu stated, and Huo approached the entrance. Even with the light from the torch, it was hard to see anything. Huo grabbed a nearby pebble and dropped it down. He heard it hit the solid ground almost immediately, which meant that it wasn't a bottomless pit or anything of the sort.
"Okay, it's not deep," Huo stated. "I'll go first."
Holding the torch, Huo jumped down and landed on the ground. He looked around, making sure that no dangerous animals lived in the cave, and looked up. "Come down!"
Eilu and Shaku followed suit, and all three of them were now in the cave. "I don't hear anything," Shaku noted. "Are you sure this is the right cave?"
"Yes, I'm sure," Eilu replied with a frown and pointed forward. "Now let's check the tunnel."
With a sigh, Shaku followed Huo and Eilu. As they walked through the dark tunnel, Huo spotted lights from two wall-mounted torches and a metal door between them. "Huh, there is something here," he stated. Eilu ran up to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked.
"We need a key," she said, looking at the walls and hoping to find the key hanging somewhere.
"I don't think anyone would just leave a key around," Shaku replied. "Maybe it's a storage of some kind."
While Eilu looked for the key, Huo moved closer to the door and placed his ear against it, trying to hear something. "Hello? Is someone there?" he asked loudly. At first, he heard nothing, but then he heard many voices. "Help us! We're trapped in here!"
Eilu and Shaku heard the voices as well. "Ha! I told you!" the girl looked at Shaku and ran up to Huo. "We need to get them out of there. Mister Lao is a locksmith. He can open the door without the keys."
"I have the key so it won't be necessary," a voice came from behind the kids, and they all jumped. As they turned around, Huo recognized his mother, who came out of the darkness. "Mom?! What are you doing here?!"
"I followed you here," Hama answered.
"Wait," Eilu narrowed her amber-brown-colored eyes. "Miss Hama, you have the key to that room? But there are people locked inside."
Hama looked at Eilu. There was no way to fool them or lie in this situation. Even if she'd tell them to leave, that would create even more questions. Hama knew they would come back, especially Eilu, or even tell someone about the cave. There was too much at stake to risk it. "Young lady, you have always looked for trouble," she stated with a serious expression. "I had a feeling that someday you'd put yourself in a dire situation, and that day has finally come."
The girl looked confused. "I don't understand," she replied, and Hama nodded with a sigh. "Exactly. You act first and then think. Did you tell your parents about your trip?"
Eilu and Shaku shook their heads, and Hama felt relief. "Children shouldn't meddle in the affairs of the grown-ups, but since you already here." Hama reached into her pocket and pulled out a key. She threw it to Eilu, who caught it.
"Open the door and see what's inside if you're that curious," Hama said with a smirk, which Huo didn't see before. Eilu, however, was very curious and eager to solve the mystery. The young girl approached the door and opened it. She peeked inside and noticed another tunnel to the right, leading somewhere.
"Is anyone there! We need help!" once again, someone called for help.
"Who's that?" Huo asked, looking at his mother.
"The bad people I've told you about," Hama answered. Huo narrowed his orange-colored eyes, remembering his conversation with his mother when they trained for the first time.
"Why would bad people ask for help?" Eilu asked, not convinced. "And shouldn't they be in a normal Fire Nation prison?"
"Go on and see for yourself," Hama replied and added reassuringly. "Don't worry, they won't hurt you."
Not realizing the graveness of the situation and that they walked into a trap, Eilu and Shaku went through the door while Hama and Huo walked right behind them. Huo was puzzled and not sure if everything was alright. Something was amiss.
When the light from their torches reached the large room, the children quickly noticed people chained to the walls in the cave. Like Hama said, it was a prison, and all the people here were evidently prisoners. Many of them looked tired and tried to sleep. Some of them looked at the children and Hama. "What are you planning to do now, witch?!" asked an older man. "Are you kidnapping children now?!"
"Kids! Get out of here! She's crazy!" warned a black-haired woman.
In response, Hama used bloodbending to jerk the woman from side to side, causing her to groan in pain as chains held her in place. "Silence!" Hama growled. Huo was just as shocked as Shaku and Eilu. He looked at his mother, not knowing what she had just done. Moving water was one thing, but moving people was something completely different. What's more, he never saw this side of her mother, and he didn't like it. "Mom, what's going on?" he asked.
"I think I wanna go back home now," Shaku was scared and wanted to leave. He turned around, but Hama blocked his way. "Unfortunately, I can't allow you to leave," she said and focused her bloodbending on Shaku and Eilu. Their arms began to jerk in all directions, causing them to drop their torches, and after a short while, both of them were lifted into the air.
"W-What's going on?! I can't control my arms!" Eilu's eyes widened in confusion and fear. Shaku tried to do something, but he couldn't control his body, just like Eilu. "This is weird!" the chubby boy exclaimed. "I don't like this!"
"Huo, help us!" Eilu cried out, pleading for help.
"Mom what are you doing?!" Huo asked in shock.
"What I must," Hama replied coldly and clasped her hands together, throwing Eilu and Shaku against each other. The sides of their heads collided, and they both lost consciousness. Hama lowered their limp bodies to the ground, and Huo moved towards them as the prisoners watched silently with disgust and horror.
"Eilu! Shaku!" the boy called out worriedly, crouching right next to Eilu. Hama was experienced enough to knock them out without causing any serious injuries. Huo turned to look at his mother. "Why did you do that?! You hurt them!"
"They knew too much," Hama replied. "Wait for me outside, I'll explain once I chain them up with the others."
"You can't!" Huo stood up and argued. "They're my friends! They're not bad people!"
"Don't argue with me and do what I say, Huo!" Hama raised her voice with a frown, staring down at her son. Tears began to gather in Huo's eyes from anger mixed with sadness. He formed his hands into fists and ran off towards the metal door.
After a short while, Hama left the prison while Huo paced in front of the metal door. She retrieved her key from Eilu and closed the door behind her. "Did you calm down?" she asked sternly, turning to look at Huo.
"Why did you do that to them?!" Huo asked with teary eyes. "Eilu and Shaku are my friends!"
"They're like all the rest," Hama replied coldly. "As soon as they would discover your waterbending, they would turn against you. That's why I had to put them here with all other wretched people from the Fire Nation. So that our secret remains safe."
"No, they would never do that!" Huo disagreed with Hama, who sighed and shook her head. "You're naive thinking that your friendship would be stronger than the fact that they hate waterbenders. You're too young, and you haven't experienced the horrors of war like I did. They tried to wipe us all out. Our entire culture. I won't allow them to take you away from me."
"Dad said the Fire Lord is the bad one," Huo stated. "Not the normal people."
"He's the worst, that's true," Hama agreed. "But the Fire Nation is rotten to the core. Nobles, soldiers, common people, everyone is the same in the Fire Nation."
"But-" Huo wanted to say something, but Hama interrupted him.
"I don't care about mine, but do you really want to risk your safety, Huo?" Hama asked. "The people of the Fire Nation would kill us and maybe even your father by branding him a traitor. Of course, assuming he wouldn't do that first." She approached Huo with the key in her palm. "But if you really believe in your friends more than in the word of your mother, then go ahead and free the prisoners. Just be prepared for what will happen next."
Huo simply stood there and didn't know what to do or say anymore. He was so confused and had no idea who was right or wrong. Who was good and who was evil. He fell to his knees and began to cry. Hama knelt in front of him and hugged him. "Shhhh, calm down, Huo," she said gently, and the boy wept on her shoulder.
When Huo calmed down slightly, Hama spoke again. "They don't deserve your tears. They are our enemies, and we need to fight them in any way we can. That's why you must learn the ultimate technique of waterbending and carry on my work."
The boy pulled away from his mother and sniffed and few times. "What technique?" Huo asked, wiping his tears. "What work?"
"A technique I've discovered in the Fire Nation prison," Hama explained. "The guards were always careful to keep any water away from us. They piped in dry air and kept us suspended away from the ground. Before they gave us any water, they'd bind our hands and feet so we couldn't bend. Any sign of trouble was met with cruel retribution. However, each month, I felt the power of the full moon, and I knew there had to be a way for me to escape."
"Then, I realized that wherever was life there was water," Hama continued. "The rats that scoured across the floor of my cage were nothing more than skins filled with liquid. It took me years, but I developed a skill, which helped to escape... bloodbending. It allow to control water in another body. Once I've mastered the rats, I was ready for the men. During the next full moon, I walked free for the first time in decades as my cell was unlocked by the very guards assigned to keep me in."
Huo's eyes widened. "You... you're the moon spirit," he realized. "You were kidnapping the villagers?"
"Yes," Hama admitted with a sinister smirk. "They threw me in prison to rot along with my brothers and sisters. They deserve the same. At least, they get water and food. After I'm gone, you're going to carry on my work and make sure they pay for everything they did to us. Once you perfect this technique, you can control anything or anyone."
Huo saw bloodbending in action, and he didn't like it. "But I don't want to use waterbending like that," he said. "It's cruel."
"Not as cruel as the things the Fire Nation does to win the war," Hama replied and stood up. "But you're still too young to try it anyway. Now let's go home. We spent enough time here, and you need to rest so that your father won't notice that you cried or he'll ask questions."
Huo sniffed and followed his mother, glancing at the metal door. He was sad since he had just lost two of his friends. He hated this stupid war and wanted it to end as fast as possible.
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