This chapter is going to contain graphic depictions of a severe bodily injury, the tending to of that injury, murder, a touch of underage drinking, and infection. Reader discretion advised.
Chapter 16- Crystallize
crystallize (intransitive verb): to cause to form crystals or assume a crystalline structure.
Pop.
Pop.
Boom.
Tao falls back once again as the attempt at generating lightning explodes right in front of his face. This was his third day of constantly, unrelentingly drilling the technique over and over and over again until he was simply too exhausted to stand up and try again. The group had found a canyon across the valley from the shack they had left Iroh at to settle in for Aang to begin his earthbending training, and planned to stay here for about a week, maybe two if it was needed. The first day hadn't gone well for the young airbender, who was working suddenly with his natural opposite. Tao had taken the opportunity to go off by himself to practice the techniques that Iroh had shown him. It wasn't going well. The first day he had returned at nightfall, bloody, bruised, and filthy, his fingertips blistered and burned, small burns and cuts all over his face and neck and arms from the explosions, a small rip in the back of his shirt from falling back on the rocky ground dozens of times. He had been barely able to move, and only nodded along as Katara scolded and healed him at the same time.
Pop.
Pop.
Boom.
Again he falls back, nearly cracking his head against a larger rock, shoulder straining as he catches himself. The second day hadn't gone any better for him. While Aang had started to make progress with Toph, learning more forms and techniques from the tiny girl, strengthening the base she had already given him, Tao continued to make no progress. He knew why, but part of him hoped he could stubborn his way through and make it happen anyway. When he had collapsed on his bedroll by the fire that evening, he had heard Toph talking quietly to his other friends, and he swears he hears concern in her voice.
"What's with Sparky? He's been training like he'll die if he doesn't almost kill himself." she remarks. Tao hears Aang sigh heavily.
"Its complicated to explain but... that's probably how he feels. His dad wasn't a... nice man and would train him until he literally collapsed. He expected perfection out of Tao, so now I guess Tao expects perfection out of himself." the airbender remarks. If he had more energy, Tao would roll over and tell Aang to be quiet, that his personal problems weren't the problems of the rest of the group. But he was doing good laying there and breathing, so he doesn't move. "And... he'd hurt Tao if he didn't show enough improvement... sometimes hurt him badly."
"Huh. He did say he had a rough childhood. I didn't think it was that rough." Toph states, sounding like it was around a mouthful of rice. Tao's stomach growls quietly, but he didn't think he could get his limbs to move to sit up and eat something. He's also grateful that Katara wasn't scolding him again. He wasn't as scuffed up as the first night, but he still had a few small cuts and burns on his hands and arms.
"Even I don't know everything, and we've been friends for a couple years. Its hard for him to talk about." Aang murmurs.
Pop.
Pop.
Boom.
And now here he was, getting towards evening on the third day, having made it no further than the first day. Just more explosions, more getting thrown to the ground, more exhaustion and pain and frustration. He knew he should sit and meditate, try and find peace of mind, calm himself and try after doing that, but sitting still too long felt too much like he was doing nothing. And doing nothing made him worried that the shadow of his father was going to step out of the shade of the canyon walls to yell at him and strike him.
Laying on his back, panting heavily, dust making his throat raw, Tao stares up at the clear blue sky between rocky walls, sweat turning dust to mud on his temples and arms, fingers twitching involuntarily with pain and exhaustion. He could feel more small burns and cuts on the pads of his fingers and palms, he was pretty sure most of his nails were split or broken, and he had blood smeared on his arms and face from getting debris and embers blown back at him. The area he had chosen to train in was a mess, scorch marks and small craters and pockmarks everywhere in the ground and walls. It somehow looked worse than the clearing where he had first started training his movement technique in, which he had also been working on when the frustration of not getting anywhere with the lightning got to be too much.
He blinks when gray eyes and a blue arrow enter his field of view, looking up at Aang, who was leaning over him, looking worried. "You really should take a break." the Avatar says, sounding even more worried than he looked. Tao sighs, sitting up and rubbing his palms a little as his hands ached.
"I can't. I need to get this." he grunts, forcing himself to stand on shaking legs, taking a breath and closing his eyes, going through the motions, hearing the now familiar crackling of sparks trying to generate off the tips of his fingers, which tingle painfully in response.
Pop.
Pop.
Boom.
Tao gasps as he's thrown back against the canyon wall, coughing and wheezing as the air is knocked out of him. Aang had flinched back at the explosion, but hadn't left, and he moves over to Tao as he gasps and tries to get air back in his lungs. "Why are you treating yourself the way your dad would?" he asks, making Tao stiffen, his body going cold as he turns wide eyes over to his friend.
"Excuse me?" he rasps, voice feeling tight.
"You've been drilling the same thing over and over from sunrise to sunset for three days. I don't think you've eaten since the first day we got here, because I sure didn't see you come back for lunch, and you didn't eat when you limped back into camp last night." Aang replies, looking uncharacteristically serious, crossing his arms as he frowned at the other. "You don't need to push yourself this hard, Tao. Your dad isn't here to loom over you anymore. You can take it easier than this."
"You don't get it, Aang. If I take it slow or take breaks, it just makes me more anxious. I have to get this technique right. I can't waste the kindness that Iroh showed me by teaching it to me."
"Well if you seriously hurt yourself, then you're really not going to be able to do it. You have to take care of yourself, otherwise bending will just get harder." Aang replies, seeming resolute. "You're abusing yourself by pushing yourself this hard. Hurting yourself and starving yourself won't make it easier for you to bend lightning. It'll make it harder." the airbender's expression softens and he smiles gently at his friend, sitting down beside him and resting a small hand on his shoulder, his touch nearly feather light. "Take a break. Its almost dinner time anyway, and Katara is already getting ready to scold you for hurting yourself again. But you have to rest."
"I can't Aang."
"Yes you can. You're on the brink of collapse anyway. Haven't you been out here since dawn again?" Tao grimaces a little and nods, looking down at his abused hands as they sat limply in his lap. He knew Aang was right, of course he did. But this was the only way he knew how to train. When his silence stretches on, Aang sighs, giving Tao a small squeeze. "How about we make a deal? Tomorrow, you can come and train with Toph and I. And when we take breaks, you take breaks. Take a break from the lightning and just focus on your normal firebending for a while, get back to the basics with me. Maybe by doing that, you'll be able to figure out lightning a little easier. Then, when we're done for the day, if there's still some sunlight left, you can come back out here and drill the lightning until dinner time."
Tao frowns unhappily at Aang, feeling like that was a lot of not doing what he felt he should be doing. But eventually he sighs, nodding a couple times. This gets a grin from the airbender, who floats to his feet and offers a hand to Tao, hauling him to his feet and refusing to let go of his hand until they get back to camp, probably to make sure Tao didn't turn back around and go back to exhausting himself. He winces when they step into camp and Katara's head immediately snaps up with a hard glare. He felt like he was four years old again about to get scolded by his mother for breaking a vase.
"Sit." Katara states bluntly, pointing to a spot next to her. Tao kneels obediently beside her, hands fidgeting on his thighs nervously as she silently stirs their pot of dinner with her waterbending. He could feel the irritation and frustration oozing off of her, and it makes him swallow hard.
"I'm sorry..." he whispers, hoping it might take the edge off, anxiety clawing at him, a dark voice whispering that he was about to be punished for his foolishness. His heart was hammering in his throat, and his eyes itched with anxiety driven tears he refused to let fall, bowing his head a little to hopefully hide his eyes and his shame in the shade of the setting sun.
"An apology carries an expectation of change. But you're going to go back out there and do this to yourself all over again tomorrow aren't you?" Katara replies, her tone clipped, and Tao couldn't tell if she was more angry or disappointed.
"I'm training with Aang and Toph tomorrow." he nearly whispers in response, keeping his replies short and sweet, not sure if too many words would sharpen her anger at him, feeling very much like a little boy.
"Are you?" she asks, sounding skeptical as she glances over at him. He doesn't see her expression but he does see her head turn a little out of his periphery. He nods and she turns back to the food. "Well good. You need a break from almost breaking your fingers." she says, tone a little softer, but still very much scolding. Tao just nods, fidgeting with his fingers a little against his pants while she finishes up dinner. He jumps when a bowl is thrust under his nose, finally looking up at Katara, who softens her expression as their eyes meet. "I'm not mad at you, its ok. I'm just frustrated that you've been hurting yourself so much."
"I'm sorry." he rasps, taking the bowl from her hand. "I... I appreciate you looking after me." he stops himself from saying that she reminded him of his mother in many ways. The scolding while tending to him, the worry, the look in her eyes when he stumbles back into camp ragged and half dead on his feet.
"I'll always take care of the people I love. That includes you, Tao." Katara replies, a small, cool hand resting on his shoulder. He can't bring himself to reply right away, a lump forming in his throat as emotion overwhelms him, feeling raw from three days of relentless, exhausting training.
But when he can speak, he smiles, reaching up and placing his free hand, burning compared to hers, over her hand. "Thank you, Katara. Really. I... I was always an only child but... I like to think that the way I feel about you is what having a little sister feels like. Aang and Sokka are very much like brothers to me too." he says, glancing over to where the two other boys were going through their supplies by where Appa was lounging.
"Hey! What about me?" Toph's loud voice says from behind Tao, making him jump hard, nearly sloshing his dinner all over himself. The earthbender saunters up beside him and plops herself down next to him, punching him lightly in the shoulder. He winces, muscles aching already, and being hit didn't help.
"Well, we really haven't had much of a chance to really sit down and get to know each other. But, I do consider you a good friend already." he replies honestly.
This seems to satisfy Toph, who grins widely, taking her own bowl from Katara as its held out to her. "Good. That's what I want to hear." she says, taking a bite of her soup. Tao does the same, his stomach roaring at him as the smell of the food really hits him. Aang was right, he really hadn't eaten since their first night here, and the nausea of hunger was almost too much to bare right now. "Twinkletoes says you're training with us tomorrow. I can't wait to kick your butt. I've never had a good chance to fight a firebender. I hope you're not as flighty as Aang is."
"I don't think so. But I'm not the most offensive fighter for the most part."
"I figured. Doesn't seem your style." Toph says, sipping down some broth while Tao concentrates on the potatoes and carrots, needing something solid in his stomach. "Just don't set my hair on fire and we'll be good."
"I'll do my best." Tao replies with a small snort of amusement, smiling as Toph gives him a toothy grin.
oOo
Tao was sore in a wholly different way as he staggers back to camp with Toph and Aang. Earthbending was a wholly different animal compared to what he was used to fighting. With fire and air, there typically wasn't a solid substance that could hit him and cause bruises and potentially break bones. Even with water, unless he was getting slammed with a block of ice, getting hit didn't usually hurt that bad. At least in a training situation. But training against Toph, Tao quickly realized that she had no intention of holding back. And he realized that by a fairly large boulder right to the stomach. It had taken him several minutes of seeing stars and wheezing to get to his feet again while Toph cackled like a madwoman. He was glad that he had so much practice to this point with his mobility enhancing technique, because that saved his bacon several times, using a boosted jump or step to dodge out of the way of a boulder or pillar of rock. He hadn't even felt up to going off alone to continue working on lightning bending.
That sort of cycle continues for the rest of the week they planned to stay in the canyon. Aang improved quickly now that he really had the basic technique under his fingers and was constantly putting it into practice, and Toph was starting to move him into somewhat more advanced moves. He was really shaping up to be an impressive Avatar, and it gave Tao hope for when summer came to an end and Aang had to face the Fire Lord. Hope that Aang would be able to do it after all. It made the doubts that lingered in the back of his mind seem smaller and quieter.
Once the week was up and they leave the canyon, they decide they needed a short break from the constant, unrelenting training, and Aang proposes they all pick mini vacations. Aang himself picks a field of singing prairie dogs, making them pop up one after the other with a wooden flute. Sokka wasn't overly thrilled about them taking it easy, very aware of the time crunch they were under, and also very aware that they lacked intelligence about the Fire Nation, especially the capitol city. Tao couldn't be of much help since he had spent most of his time on his home island in the far south of the Fire Nation, and it had also been one hundred years. A lot could change in that time.
When its Katara's turn to pick her mini vacation, she chooses the Misty Palms Oasis, which on the map looked rather impressive, but once they get there, was rather underwhelming. A low sandstone wall surrounded an open courtyard with a small spire of ice in the center, and edged by low, flat buildings, a single street stretching off to one side with several more buildings and houses. As they make their way through, Tao spots a small but familiar symbol in the carvings that ringed one of the buildings down the single street. A white lotus. Reaching into his shirt, he finds one of the small internal pockets Katara had sewn into it for him shortly after buying it, and pulls out the ivory charm that Master Pakku had given him, looking between the two. They looked identical. Odd. Replacing it, also making sure that his dagger was in place and well hidden next to the pocket, just in case, he trots a little quicker to catch up with the others.
He wasn't sure how, but somehow they end up agreeing to give some professor from Ba Sing Se a ride on Appa out into the desert in search of some... spirit library. Sokka insisted that it could be useful to them as far as gathering intel went. Tao for his part had had about as much of dealing with spirits as he could take for one lifetime, and when they land outside a tall, thin tower, he elects to stay outside with Appa and Toph while the others go inside to check it out. Taking a seat in the shade of the tower, glad that as a firebender, he was more adapted to high temperatures, he listens as Toph talks idly to Appa about how the sand messed with her seismic vision. "So, do you think I could use my firebending to achieve something similar?" he asks, a little amused as Appa squatted down a little like he was trying to feel vibrations with his huge paws the way Toph explained it to him.
Toph shrugs, joining him in the shade, Appa not far behind her. She plops down in the sand beside him, crossing her legs. "I dunno. I mean... everything puts off some kind of heat right? Even rocks and trees. Everything has some kind of temperature. Maybe if you could figure out how to sense that, you could use your firebending to see. It could come in handy, if you're ever stuck somewhere dark but can't bend a flame."
Tao hums, crossing his legs and resting his hands in his lap like he was going to meditate, closing his eyes and focusing. He reaches out with his chi slowly, gradually. Instead of searching for a flame to focus on, he tries to focus on just temperature in general. For a long time, what felt like close to an hour if the slow heating up of one of his knees as the tower's shadow shifted was anything to go by, all he sees and senses is the backs of his eyelids and the general heat of the desert around him. But slowly, he thinks he notices something different. As Appa gets up and moves to get back into the shade, it felt like a mass of heat was moving with him. It wasn't precise by any means, but he opens his eyes with a gasp, blinking a few times, half blinded by the sunlight reflecting off the pale sand.
"Got something?" Toph asks, sounding genuinely curious.
"I... I think so. I'm going to have to really find some time to sit down and focus on this, see if I can tune it."
"It took me a long time of trial and error to really get my 'sight' to work properly. Now I can sense even the smallest insects. I can even feel people's heartbeats. I can tell what they're feeling, if they're lying, if they're nervous or angry."
"That's amazing. And it sounds overwhelming."
"It was at first, but now I know how to focus on the things that feel the most important. Like opponents in a fight. Or... my friends." Tao glances over at the tiny girl sitting next to him, smiling a little when he sees a light redness on her face that probably wasn't because of the stifling dry heat pressing in around them. She slugs him in the arm to cover her embarrassment, huffing and crossing her arms. "But out here its hard to feel anything precisely. I know where you and Appa are, but I can't feel the details I'm used to. It feels like I can't feel as far either. The sand isn't solid enough for the vibrations to travel like it can through even loose dirt."
Tao couldn't imagine how frustrating that must feel to her. She already had to deal with true blindness when she was flying on Appa. He had sort of made it his permanent spot in the saddle to sit beside her, so she could put one foot against his leg or her elbow against his arm and know that she had someone next to her, just in case something happened that she couldn't see. He knew her pride would refuse to let her thank him, or even admit that she needed his or anyone's help, but that didn't stop him from doing it every time they were in the air. Sokka had also figured it out, and had moved from his spot at the very back of the saddle to closer to the middle so he and Tao could still run their war games or play their mindless games to pass the time. "I wonder if they're finding anything useful in there. They've been gone a while." he hums, getting up with Toph to go lean against Appa in the shade, the great beast letting out a low rumble as Tao pats his nose.
"Who knows. Why didn't you want to go in anyway?"
"I've... had my fair share of run ins with angry spirits. I got pulled into the Spirit World around the winter solstice, Aang got possessed by the ocean spirit at the North Pole, and then I had some kind of... encounter in the swamp. None were pleasant experiences. I almost died in the Spirit World. So, if I can avoid more spirits, even the chance of running into them, I'll avoid it every time."
"Fair. Boy, you've really been through it Sparky." Toph puffs, blowing a bit of hair away from her eyes.
"We all have. Its just been one thing after another since Aang and I came out of the ice after being frozen for a century. But I at least feel like we're making progress now. Aang's getting the elements learned, we're within days of Ba Sing Se. Maybe there, if this place doesn't turn up anything, we can get some information on the war, or talk to the Earth King about military support. Plan some kind of offensive."
Toph is about to say something more when Appa lets out a rough groan and stands up, dumping both of them over as he turns around quickly. A moment later, a deep rumbling shifts the sand under their feet, and as Tao looks up in horror, he notices that the tower was starting to sink below the sand. "Library sinking..." Toph says, almost like she didn't believe it. "Library sinking!" she repeats with more urgency, springing forward and slamming her fingers into the stone. It almost pulls her down with it, and she lets go for a bare moment to harden the sand by her feet, slamming her hands back into the stone, managing to stop the tower from sinking any more. It was an obvious strain on her tiny body though, sweat quickly beading across her face, her arms shaking as minutes dragged by like hours. Tao felt useless, standing beside Appa, unable to do anything but stare at the top of the tower and pray that their friends were on their way out.
Another roar from Appa and the sound of whipping wind gets his attention behind him though, and as he turns around, he grits his teeth when he sees the sandbenders from the oasis racing toward them on several sand-sailers. Cursing, Tao moves up beside Appa, who was growling lowly. "Toph, focus on the library. I'll handle the sandbenders." he calls, not expecting a response from the girl.
The sandbenders circle them quickly, ropes in their hands and their eyes on Appa, who lowers his head, just as ready for a fight as Tao was. Forming his hand into a fist, he steps forward and punches out, blue flame billowing from his knuckles, searing a scorch mark onto one of the sailers, the smell of charred wood mixing with the smell of dust. Ropes fly overhead, wrapping around Appa, trying to pull him over and subdue him. Tao burns several as Appa jerks away from the rest, slamming his tail into the ground, a blast of air pushing several sandbenders back. Gritting his teeth, Tao kicks out, a wave of flame racing towards several sandbenders that were now on foot. They draw up a wall of sand, pushing it forward and snuffing out his flames. Something sparkles in the sand that they push towards him, and as he cuts a blade of fire through it, he's quick to see what it was. Glass. His fire was so hot that it was turning the sand into small glass crystals.
Appa roars behind him, lifting off the ground, dragging a number of the benders with him who had thrown more ropes over him, and Tao lashes out with his flames, catching several of their clothes on fire, forcing them to release the ropes and use the sand to snuff the fires out. However, this also gets more attention on him, and Tao finds himself facing down at least five while Appa continues his struggle against the rest. Wave after wave of sand gets sent at him, which Tao does his best to avoid, jumping over them, dodging them, countering them with his flames, more glass crystals sparkling on the ground around him.
There was a sandbender on either side of him suddenly, both of them lashing out with whips of focused sand. One wraps around one of Tao's arm, and as the second begins to do the same, Tao lashes out, blue fire trying to push the sand away. But it tightens too quickly, and as it wraps around his arm, Tao shrieks in pure agony, pain greater than even the burn scar on his face had been erupting from his arm as the heat of his fire forms the sand into molten glass against his skin, which quickly cools and hardens, embedding itself into his skin, which smoked and blistered, his arm hairs burning away as every nerve in the left side of his body screams in pain. Or was that Tao screaming? He couldn't see or hear out of that side anymore the agony was so intense, hard, hot glass digging into his flesh and muscles, dyed red with his blood in streaks, which also dripped into the sand at his feet. His pained screams and gasps were cut off as a rope loops around his neck and he's wrenched back wards with a choking cry, falling hard onto his back as his hands were bound in front of him, the hard chaffing of the ropes against his burning arm making it hard to breathe. The last thing he sees before he loses consciousness was Appa, bound in ropes, being dragged away on a couple sand-sailers, the last thing he hears is the sandbenders asking what they were going to do with him, and then everything goes dark.
oOo
"Where's Appa and Tao?"
"Who's going to save us now?"
"That's all any of you care about, yourselves! Not them!"
"I'm going after them."
"No... No!"
oOo
Tao starts awake suddenly, gasping, breathless with pain as his left arm spasmed out of his control in the ropes chafing against the raw, swollen, blistered wound that wound in a spiral from his wrist to his elbow. Shuddering, nauseous, he flops onto his back, panting, eyes streaming with tears as white hot fire set every nerve in his body on fire. His back arches uncontrollably as he groans, gritting his teeth so hard he thought they might break as he resisted screaming. His fingers twitch and spasm, clenching and twisting on themselves as he shudders, his entire chest shaking violently as he sucked in harsh breaths between his teeth.
It feels like an eternity before he can open his eyes, his surroundings blurry for a moment before he's able to finally blink away the tears and look around, his throat tight as his arm continued to throb and burn with pain. He was in some sort of tent, thick canvas fabric shielding him from the sun, which he can sense was starting to creep near the horizon. Looking around, he can see stacks of crates, some open, some closed, as well as stacks of clothing, rugs, racks with weapons. It looked like a merchant's tent. Vaguely, he recalled reading about some of the nomadic tribes of the Earth Kingdom that lived in the desert, some more mercantile than others. He hoped this was one of them.
Forcing his arms to move, he pats his chest, relaxing a little when he feels that his dagger was still where it always was. The sandbenders hadn't searched him when they handed him over to whoever was holding him captive now. He was so tired of being taken captive. First Zuko, then the Northern Water Tribe, and now sandbenders. He also couldn't help the ironic laugh that forces itself out of his raw throat at the fact that they had bound a firebender with rope, hadn't searched him, and had bound him in the front. Clearly, these people weren't well versed in kidnapping. He could only hope that Appa had been able to get away and make his way back to Aang.
Reaching into his shirt, afraid to firebend and aggravate his injury, he pulls his dagger out, and was about to cut through the ropes when he hears footsteps approaching the tent. Grimacing, he rolls over, gasping a little as he puts weight on his left arm. He forces himself to breathe evenly as the tent flap opens and he hears three sets of footsteps come inside. "Alright let's take a look at this kid. Hopefully he's not as much trouble as that blasted bison." one man's voice sneers, making Tao's chest seize a little, his hand tightening around his dagger, the blade held between the ropes, ready to cut them in a moment.
"He'll make a good pet for some noble in Ba Sing Se. Those rich types love exotic goods." another man's voice laughs, and Tao can taste bile in his throat. Were they really going to sell him like some poodle-monkey to be some rich noble's toy? Something hardens in his chest, something cold as ice, and he grits his teeth, adrenaline making the pain in his arm feel somehow less. A hand grabs his shoulder, and in a moment, Tao pushes the knife through the ropes, slicing them and whips around, slashing out with the dagger, eyes wide, wild, and unblinking. It buries to the hilt in the throat of a man wearing a beetle hat, who chokes in shock and on blood before Tao rips the blade outward, cutting out his throat. The man collapses, gurgling and spasming as Tao surges to his feet, moving forward a quickly as he could, jamming the dagger between the ribs of the second man and then reaching out with his injured arm, agony surging through his chi pathways as his hand closes around the third man's face, blue fire erupting from his palm and scorching his face and into his mouth and down his throat. The two men collapse, dead or dying at his feet as Tao stands there, gasping, panting for breath, splattered in the blood of the people he had just killed.
Murdered.
A part of him rationalized what he had just done quickly. It was self defense. He had to do it, otherwise he wouldn't be making it out of here. He'd be sold off, or worse, and never see his friends again. Who knew what the people of other kingdoms did to Fire Nation 'pets' after a hundred years of war. That part of him looked at the men at his feet and didn't care that he had killed them, and that part was like a shaft of ice burying itself in his chest. But another part, a part that sounded suspiciously like Aang, said that he had gone too far. He could have just as easily subdued the men without killing them. He squashes that part quickly. If he stopped and thought about what had just happened for too long, he would break down. He couldn't afford that right now. Once he was out of this situation, he'd have a mental breakdown, but not before.
Grimacing as his arm throbbed, he looks down at his injury for the first time. It spun a spiral around his arm, tubes of red streaked glass protruding from the flesh, embedded deep into it. The edges were swollen, his pale skin red and splotchy, black dried blood caked around the huge, fluid filled blisters, bloody sand caked into every inch of the entire wound. A high pitched wheeze rakes out of his mouth as he exhales, the fingers on his left hand twitching, which makes the entire arm throb and burn. Swallowing back bile and nausea, Tao looks around, vision swimming a little at the movement. Crates. He was surrounded by crates.
Staggering over to one, having to step over the body of the first man he had killed, Tao uses his good arm to open a crate, seeing that it was filled with lidded jars. Opening one, he takes a smell of it, smelling a strong liquor inside. Scooping some out with his hand, he sees that it was a clear liquor, and when he takes a sip of it, face twisting at the burn, he realizes that it was a type of liquor that was common in the Fire Nation, specifically on the island he grew up on. But he couldn't focus on that right now. Leaving the lid off the jar, he moves to another crate, opening it up. This one didn't have anything useful in it, just some blank parchment and other calligraphy supplies. The third one though had something very useful. Medical supplies. Bandages, dried herbs, and best of all, tweezers.
Pulling some out, he sets it down near the crate of liquor and pulls one of the jars out. First, he takes a deep gulp of it, coughing a bit as it burns his throat and stomach, but the pain killing effects were nearly immediate. Then, after putting a roll of bandages in his mouth to bite on, he holds his injured arm out pours the liquor over it, which had a twofold effect. First, it washed the dried blood and sand out of it, and secondly it disinfected the wound. Biting hard on the bandage, jaw aching as he lets out muffled screams into it, panting hard, Tao sets the jar down heavily, leaning against the crate, closing his watering eyes. Once the worst of the pain is gone, he takes the bandages out of his mouth, takes another drink of the liquor, puts the bandages back in his mouth, and then after dipping the tweezers in the alcohol, he looks at the glass in his arm. Taking a deep, bracing breath, he takes the first piece in the tweezers, closes his eyes, and yanks. It comes out easily, but the pain that follows nearly makes him pass out, black creeping in at the corners of his vision as he starts bleeding anew. What he wouldn't give to be a waterbender right now, and able to heal his wound quicker and hopefully less painfully. What he wouldn't give to have Katara right now. He could just hope that they weren't lost in the desert right now without Appa, saying a quick prayer to whatever spirits were bothering to listen to his pained mental whining to keep them safe.
Once his vision clears, his pant leg and the sand under his leg turning red with blood now, Tao focuses on another piece of glass. The process of getting all the glass out of his arm feels like it takes hours, and he was noticeably weaker by the time he's done, having lost a lot of blood, and also trying to resist going into shock from the pain and trauma of the wound. Hand shaking, he picks up the jar of liquor again, not even having the energy to scream as he pours it over his arm to wash it clean. Taking the lid of the jar and some of the herbs, he uses a small stone to crush them up and mixes them with the last of the liquor in the jar, eating some of it, and applying the poultice to the spiral of blisters and the deep slice swirling up his arm, shuddering as his fingers twitch, nerves screaming for mercy. Good hand dropping into his lap, sweat streaming off his forehead, he blinks up at the canvas top of the tent, noting that it seemed much darker now than it had before. He wondered if the three men, stiff and cold, on the other side of the crate from him, had been the only ones in the camp. He hadn't heard much outside of his own pulse in the last... however long it had been, but he hadn't noticed anyone coming to check and see what was taking them so long.
When he can focus a little again, Tao takes the wrap of bandages out of his mouth and starts wrapping it around and around his arm, making sure it was snug but not tight, securing it at his wrist. Then, using his good arm, holding his injured one close to his body, he uses a crate to push himself to his feet, staggering over to a pile of clothes and starting to go through it. His pants were ruined with blood, so he had to replace those, but his shirt was still good. Cleaning his dagger off with a shirt that would have been too small for him anyway, he replaces it back inside its sheath in his shirt, starting to unfold article after article. Eventually he's able to find some pants that will fit them, changing into them, entire body feeling shaky and weak, but also warm from the liquor he had consumed. Which was good. As the sun set and Agni's influence faded from his chi, the desert becomes frigid quickly.
He's able to put together several layers of clothing, including a scarf and headpiece that he could use to insulate himself from the heat and the sun. It looked somewhat like what the sandbenders had been wearing, though the clothing overall was more olive and dark green than it was tan or gray. It would do though, and it would also work as a way to conceal his identity if he needed to.
Finding a backpack near one of the other crates, Tao picks it up with his good arm, tucking his injured one into the robes he had put on so he wouldn't be tempted to use it automatically. He goes around the tent, putting food, also eating some, medical supplies and camping supplies into the backpack. He also makes his way over to the stiff bodies on the ground, the stench of death and blood nearly making him gag, but he steels himself, holding onto that something that had hardened inside him. Forcing his hand to move, he goes through their pockets, taking any money they had and gathering it into a pouch and tying that to his belt. Then he finds a couple canteens and a water skin, tying them to the backpack, not sure how long he would be out in the desert.
Putting the backpack on his back, grimacing deeply as he puts his bad arm through one strap to fully secure it, Tao approaches the tent flap. It was fully dark and very cold at this point, and as he carefully scans the small camp, not seeing or hearing anything. It seemed these three men were the only ones that were here at the moment, but he didn't know how long that would last. Despite how weak he was right now, he had to leave before anyone returned and saw the crime scene he had created. So, taking in a bracing breath, Tao steps out of the tent.
It takes a moment for him to orient himself, recalling the direction he had felt the sun set in. He knew they had flown northeast from the Misty Palms oasis to find the library, but he didn't know how far he was from the library. Or what remained of it anyway. But that was his best hope. He had to go south at the very least, and pray he wasn't too far into the desert that going any other direction would be the better choice. But one step at a time, he would make it back to his friends.
oOo
Days. It had been days that Tao had been walking through this spirits cursed desert. Or he supposed nights was a more accurate statement. He only traveled at night so he didn't get sick from heat exhaustion, and slept in the shadows of the dunes and the rudimentary tarp and poles that he had taken from the beetle merchants. He could feel that he was weaker than even when he had left the merchants' camp, his arm throbbing and swollen, getting infected even with his best efforts to keep it clean and treated. He could only use so much of the water he had taken though, which was starting to run dangerously low. He had also run out of herbs and the small jar of liquor that he had taken two days ago, so all he could do at this point was try and keep sand out of it when he changed the bandages.
On the fifth day, he could feel the fever set in, laying there shivering and sweating at the same time, freezing despite the sun blazing high overhead. The wound had been oozing with yellow and green puss in several places when he had changed the bandage as the sun came up, also using the last of the bandages he had. He had one canteen of water left, and very little food, and it was starting to seem like he was going to die out here. Perhaps as a punishment for the cold blooded murder he had committed. Or had it been? He fought with himself constantly over it as he laid awake in agony during the day, exhausted but not able to sleep, swearing he could see shimmering mirages of his friends, of the men, of a shadow with amber eyes, standing at the peaks of dunes in the distance. He doesn't dare go towards any of them though, knowing he'd get lost. He just had to keep moving southeast.
It wasn't until the seventh day that he finally, at long last, comes over a dune and sees the walls of the Misty Palms Oasis in the distance. He was out of water, out of food, his wound was deeply infected, stinking, throbbing, and had been pushing through the night and day in a desperate attempt to find someone, anyone, who could help him. He falls on his way down the dune, coming to a rest on his knees and vomiting up bile and what little water he had in his system, barely able to pull the scarf down to avoid making a mess of it. Panting, shivering, freezing cold with a fever, his limbs feeling numb with exhaustion and sickness, he forces himself to his feet, grimacing under the loose wrapping he replaces around his head and neck.
He's stumbling when he reaches the gates of the oasis, breath feeling wet and tasting of sand and iron, he comes to a stop in the courtyard, looking around with fever glazed eyes. No one seems to notice him, he was just another traveler to them, half mad with sun stroke and dehydration. Then his eyes land on the building he had noticed when he had first been here. The one with the lotus carved discreetly into the decorations circling the roof. Groping around inside his shirt, he staggers towards it, feeling what precious little strength he had left quickly waning. Pulling the lotus tile out of his shirt, praying, hoping, begging the spirits that Pakku had given it to him for a reason, that it meant something and wasn't just some stupid trinket from an old man, he nearly falls against the wooden door at the front of what looked like a plant and flower shop. Pounding on the door, throat dry, vision starting to go fuzzy, he holds up the ivory tile as the door swings open, a man in simple tan robes behind it. The man's eyes go wide and he ushers Tao inside, asking him questions that Tao couldn't understand. Everything was muffled. All sounds reached his ears like they were stuffed full of Appa's fur, and his vision was quickly going dark. He's able to take two staggering steps past the door before his eyes roll back and his strength finally gives way. The last sensation he's aware of is warm, strong arms catching him as he falls forward, and then there's nothing but pure, blissful blackness at long last.