Chapter 31

Izara woke later, the cloth hood still covering her face. She felt groggy and sore, smelt the blood from her shoulder, and shifted slightly to try and feel if her clothes were still wet from the blood. They weren't, so she must have been out for some time. She mentally scanned her body, seeing if she'd had any other wounds inflicted aside from her stab wound. Thankfully, she was in pretty good shape aside from that. The dizziness had faded, but she knew she would struggle if she tried to get up and walk. Her wrists were bound behind the seat she was on, so she wouldn't be getting far anyway. Clearly, they hadn't expected to take any prisoners since they hadn't put her in shackles. The rope was heavy and thick; they'd smell the smoke if she burned her way through it. They probably also expected it was improbable for anyone to try and get away while in the middle of their camp.

The rustle of a cloth tent door opening grabbed her attention. She recognised the voice as the man who had captured her.

"You're awake, I see." He said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

Izara felt a hand pull the hood off her and squinted at the sudden brightness. Slowly, her eyes focused, and she saw the Supremacist who had grabbed her before and looked at him with a bored expression. He had sat down on a chair about two metres from her and stared back at her before laughing. He seemed pleased with himself, and she rolled her eyes. He would never have caught her if she didn't let him. Zuko would have struck lightning through him if she had given him the okay, which would have ended it.

"I take it you are fairly important for the Fire Lord himself to try to stop you from being captured." He spoke, and she simply stared back at him quietly, blinking slowly. "So, who are you then, hmm? You can't be a general. I know all the generals, and you do not match their descriptions."

Not rising to his terrible attempt at provocation, she turned her head away to look around in the tent, getting a feel for her surroundings. There wasn't anything else in the tent besides a small table and three chairs. She was sitting on one, he was on the second, and a third was empty at the table. Although it had been a long time since she'd done this, muscle memory and instincts did the work, immediately absorbing every piece of information that might help her with any possible sabotage and her eventual escape.

"Woman." He hissed to get her attention, and she glanced at him briefly before looking at the floor. "Answer me, bitch!"

Instead of giving in, she ignored him and tilted her neck to either side as if she was stretching, but she was trying to get him to lose his temper. If he was easily angered, that would only serve her purpose. When she was ready to get out and attempt escape, it would make it easier to get away if he was closer to her. Then she could decide if she wanted to stab him in the shoulder in retaliation for her wound or just slit his throat. De

The back of his hand landed squarely along her cheek, and she felt the sting as her head snapped to the right from the force. Just trying to push his buttons more, she began to smirk and looked back up at him before laughing right to his face. He hit her again, and she just laughed louder still. He growled and stomped out of the tent, and she heard him cursing loudly as he walked away.

She hissed at the combined pain from either side of her face and shoulder, then sighed in annoyance. Though she couldn't be sure, it seemed to be late in the afternoon, judging from the amount of light she saw from outside before the tent door swung shut on his way out. She wondered idly whether it was the same day, knowing she had been taken away around two hours after sunrise. If it was, it meant that the camp she was currently at had to be at least four hours of travel time away. Unless they had travelled for a full day while she was unconscious. To keep her out for that long, they would have to drug her, and she didn't feel any aftereffects.

With a sigh, she realised there wasn't any water in the tent and hoped they would give her something. If they were planning on getting information from her, dehydrating her wouldn't help. There was already a tiny ball of fear in her stomach that she couldn't escape, but she didn't let it grow. It had been a long time since she had done a breakout. She needed to keep a level head to get out of this, and she willed herself to be calm with a few breaths. Despite the period that had passed and her decision to leave that life behind, she certainly hadn't forgotten what she was capable of.

After an extended period, a foot soldier gave her a mouthful of water. He had a helmet on, so she couldn't see his face, and she was polite enough to thank him before he left. Just because they were fighting on opposite sides didn't mean she couldn't be civil and appreciative when she was given water.

Minutes later, the man from earlier came back in, looking calmer than he did when he had stomped out before. He sat in the chair across from her, linked his fingers together, and rested them on his lap.

"Look, I don't want to make this more difficult than it needs to be. Just give me the information I need, and I will ensure you are given plenty of food and water and your wounds are treated." He was trying a different approach now, but it wouldn't work.

"Why the fuck would I tell you anything?" Her voice was weak and raspy from thirst and lack of use.

"Otherwise, this will not be a pleasant experience for you. I have no desire to hurt my countrymen, but I will if you don't give me what I want..." Izara stared at him, her bored expression threatening to break his calm exterior. "Firstly, I would like you to tell me how to get to the bunkers under the palace."

"Okay, so when you get to the Palace doors, you want to go down the hallway, turn right." His eyes widened in surprise as she began talking. "Then keep going until you can only go left. Once you've reached the blue hog monkey, turn right and then right again when you've passed the talking rabaroo."

His fury became more evident as she continued, and eventually, he stood up with such gusto that the chair beneath him fell backwards.

"Do you not realise the situation you're in? Tell me what I want to know!" He yelled at her angrily.

She stared blankly before answering him. "And why do you think I would know where the bunker is?"

"I saw how angry the Fire Lord was when I grabbed you. Clearly, you have some importance." He replied rationally, trying his best not to lose his temper again.

"Well, you clearly don't understand what a good Fire Lord looks like. It wouldn't have mattered who you took. He would have been just as angry to have any one of his people captured before his eyes." Her tone was condescending, and his brow twitching showed her it was working.

"I strongly doubt that. He looked like he was about to cry." The man pushed his bottom lip out to mock Zuko, but Izara snorted in amusement.

"As I said, you clearly don't understand. It's obviously because you have been cooped up with this ridiculous cult, who are so short-sighted that they would prefer to send their family and friends off to die at war all over again because you are so insecure about being 'superior' to everyone else. Are you so self-conscious about the size of your dick that you have to subjugate the rest of the world?"

"What did you say, bitch?" His voice was low and dripping with venom.

"For someone who wants information, you don't listen well. I said that your group is narcissistic, war-mongering, narrow-minded, not to mention-"

She was cut off by his fist slamming into her gut, and the wind was knocked out of her. She was reasonably sure that at least one or two ribs had cracked with the force since she was unable to absorb the blow with her arms tied behind the chair. After a moment, her breath returned, and she spat blood at his feet, then smiled at her captor, her mouth reddened with a mix of blood and saliva. The musty smell in the tent combined with the metallic smell, and Izara scrunched her nose up.

"Look, you aren't leaving here until you give me the information I need," her captor said in a tired voice, and she scoffed.

"You mean I won't be leaving here, regardless of whether I give you information or not." The meaning behind her words made her captor stare at her for a moment.

"I don't want it to come to that. You are from the Fire Nation, too."

"Like you give a fuck. You have your goal and will do whatever is necessary to reach it. You displayed your lack of concern when you attacked and killed our countrymen today!" she glared daggers at him and watched him pace back and forth across the tent.

Instead of replying, he glared at her, shook his head and stomped out of the tent. This was a perfect time. She guessed he wouldn't return for at least an hour from his earlier storm-off. Now that she was a little more alert, she began to meditate and quietly listen to the sounds around her. She heard the clang of metal, the swish of uniforms and people talking. They all had Fire Nation accents, obviously enough, and she could listen to a brief section of a conversation as two men walked past her tent. Unfortunately, it was useless, but she persisted and listened for something good.

She had no idea how long she had listened, but finally, she heard something interesting. It seemed to be two engineers talking to each other. They were talking about the maintenance of war balloons, and Izara made a mental note of the specifics of the repairs. She would need to do something about war machines before she left if they had war machines. It might mean that they would lose the upcoming battle if they were without their full strength. They mentioned that two of them needed to have some parts of the engines repaired before they could fly, and another one was getting a new chain to drive one of the large fans tomorrow. Knowing they had air support would change how they were dealt with and help the Capital prepare appropriately for another attack. They had been testing the waters today, likely recording the response time and defensive capabilities. It made sense; Izara needed to return this information to Zuko immediately.

Footsteps signalled someone approaching the tent, and she opened her eyes, coming out of her trance-like state. A guard allowed her a few mouthfuls of water before he left just as quickly as he came. The water was cool as it went down her throat, and she exhaled satisfactorily.

Luckily, she could see that it was dark now. This would be a good time for her to try to free herself and explore the camp a little. She had no doubt that her reconnaissance skills would be rusty, but the adrenaline would give her an edge. Her hands were bound tightly to the chair, and they had taken all her weapons, but she needed to see if they'd checked her hair.

Izara had a habit of concealing a small, folding knife in her braid since she had been captured once before and barely managed to escape after they had stripped her of all her other concealed weapons. She would pull it out and use it to free herself from her bonds when the time was right. Shaking her head from side to side gently, she was relieved when she felt the weight of it in her plait still. This was the main reason she kept her hair long despite it taking more effort to maintain.

It was good timing as her captor returned with two other men who looked to be about his age. She gave them a sardonic smile, and her captor rolled his eyes in frustration. It was far too easy to rile him up, and she enjoyed getting a rise out of him.

"This is the one we captured from the Capital. I have reason to believe that she is important to the Fire Lord somehow." He spoke to the other men, acting like she wasn't there.

"Got anything out of her so far?" The man on the far right asked, also ignoring her.

"Nothing."

The three men turned towards her, and she looked bored as they stared at her momentarily.

"Deprive her of food and water for now." He said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

He then nodded to the third man, who walked towards her and drew a knife from its sheath at his hips. It seemed he was the enforcer, and she eyed the blade carefully, but she knew what was coming. His fist collided with her face, landing on her jaw. The chair rocked beneath her with the force, and she grimaced in pain but didn't let herself make a noise. She wouldn't let them break her or show them a hint of weakness. He held the knife up to her upper arm and dragged the back of the blade across it in a threatening gesture. When she just stared blankly at him, he narrowed his eyes at her and then turned the knife in his hand. As he had silently promised, he sliced across her arm, cutting her sleeve in the process.

Blood began dripping down her arm, and she clenched her jaw but still didn't make a sound. She stared at the man again as if unaffected by what he had done, and he grunted in irritation. He released the tie around one of her legs and held it up in a vice grip so she couldn't kick him. The first thing he did was cut across her shin and then deep into her calf muscle, which would impede her movement. Then he held up her leg as he crouched down, using his free hand to summon a small fire under her calf, and it began burning the skin that he had just cut and the surrounding flesh. She tensed her body in reaction to the pain of her skin bubbling and groaned silently.

Letting her leg go abruptly, it hurt terribly as it fell to the floor, sending waves of pain from the cuts and burns. Her leg was tied to the chair again, in a particularly uncomfortable position. She was hit in the stomach again, and another hit to her face dazed her to the point where she thought she would pass out. Holding on as best she could to her consciousness, she glared at the three men defiantly.

"She might talk after the hunger pains set in." The man in the middle spoke, and he seemed to be in charge. The other two nodded in understanding before he left the tent first.

That was a good thing to know, and as they left her alone, she mentally made notes of what she had learned so far today. She knew who was in charge at the camp and who was directly beneath him, and she knew that they must have travelled for most of the day to get here. They had war balloons and engineers here to repair them.

Now, all she needed to do was find out how many of them there were and get a rough idea of how strong their force was, if this was their main camp and any upcoming battle plans. Once she had as many details as possible, she would break out, steal any correspondence, and sabotage some war balloons.

For the moment, though, she needed to conserve her strength and let her wounds close up. Letting herself fall into a light trance, she allowed her mind to drift and her body to relax until the time was right…