ACT ONE. a game of cat-deer and mouse!
CHAPTER xvii. ❛ A GOLDEN CAGE IS STILL A CAGE! ❜
zuko's ship,
earth kingdom waters.
WHEN JING-HAI WOKE THE MORNING AFTER HER FEVER, she feared she may still be hallucinating. Because waking up in the spoiled Prince's arms? That was certainly not real. It couldn't be. With sunlight in her eyes and ginger in her mouth, the girl begun to slowly comprehend where it was she was. His hammock. The events of the storm come raining down on her almost as hard as the hail and the lightning. Zuko had almost drowned. That was the last she remembered, as well as that terrible chill. She knew not how to qualm it. But Iroh did. The mystery tea had cured her. And not only that, it had replenished her entirely. She was glowing. Oh, how she loved that ridiculous old man!
But the boy whose chest she was currently laying on?
That was a whole other tale.
Making sure she didn't wake him (it'd be far too awkward otherwise), Jing-hai untangles her limbs from his and creeps out onto the lower deck.
Above ground, she finds the crew repairing the wreckage of the storm. Overall, they were pretty beaten up but it could have been far worse. Thank God for her, right? Not that Jing-hai had received any praise. That was, until she stepped on deck. As if rehearsed, the crew stop what they're doing and clap and cheer. Celebrating their victory. Her victory. Jing-hai blushed and couldn't fight a smile. Especially as she was handed a wildflower by one of the passing men. But the second she remembered they work for the Fire Nation, her blissful mood was soured.
"Ah, Princess Jing," Uncle Iroh grinned. "I was wondering when you two might wake up. I see you're feeling better."
Jing-hai smiled. "Better? I'm feeling wonderful! What the hell did you put in that tea?"
Iroh tapped his nose. "Secret recipe. So, how did my nephew sleep?"
The girl's smile dropped.
"I'm sure he slept like a baby," Jing-hai said. "Since he sure does talk and act and do everything else like one."
This he laughs at. But their moment of peace didn't last long as Jing-hai's eyebrows furrowed. She had a lot of questions she needed to ask but couldn't find the words. Things felt...different on the ship. No longer did she feel like the prisoner she was. Is. Instead, she felt respected. Adored even.
By all except the Prince.
"Was that really all for me?" Jing-hai asked of the applause.
Iroh nodded. "Of course. You did a brave thing yesterday."
Jing-hai swallowed. "I don't feel brave. I feel like a traitor."
Iroh doesn't speak for a long while ━━━━━━ taking the time instead to groom his perfect beard. Then, finally, he talks. And he talks in a way like he knows her hardships. "Cowardly people don't risk their lives to save others. I should know. I've been around them all my life. But you are bolder than you look, Princess Jing. And tough. And fiercely loyal. But you're also kind. Those two things are not mutually exclusive. But it will make things difficult for you. On your path, I suspect there are many moral quandaries. But only you can make those decisions. And when you do, I know it'll be the right one."
Jing-hai's smile crinkles her eyes.
Meanwhile, Prince Zuko stirs in his hammock. He greets the day with an indescribable feeling ━━━━━━ almost as if he'd lost something. So the boy got up to find it. Slipping on his armour, Zuko took a stroll up onto the foreground. There, he finds his men hard at work. And his prisoner lazing in the sun. The girl was wearing a lilac tunic with ridiculous wildflowers tucked into her hair. Zuko watched her with no air in his lungs, just like the night before. He thought about the steady way she had looked at him down in those treacherous depths. When her eyes had sparkled like the fallen snowdust the day the two first met. Jing-hai was giggling and beaming now at something somebody had said. Her laughter carried in the morning breeze. He decided then (begrudgingly, of course) that he must thank her. She had saved his life after all.
But before he could, one of his men (or rather, boys) interrupted.
"She's a pretty one, isn't she?" he nudged absentmindedly as he worked on fixing the mast. "And here I thought the girls back home were the finest in the lands. But they don't even compare. Don't you miss girls, Prince Zuko?"
"No," he blurted a little too quickly. Then, with a bite of annoyance and a second extra thing, he snapped. "And she's not to be worshipped. She's the enemy. It would do you well to remember that."
The boy nodded awkwardly and made himself scarce.
When Zuko looked over at Jing-hai, he glared. He supposed she was kind of beautiful ━━━━━━ for a waterbender, that is. He would admit, there was no one in the Fire Nation that looked quite like the princess. She had curves and softness where his people were tall and sharp. A celestial lightness to the typical dark features he was used to. As pure as the driven snow she was born in. But her wide doe-eyes and full pink lips had no effect on the boy (or so he claimed). Still, he must speak with her. So, taking a deep breath, Zuko swallowed his pride and marched over. Only, as he does so, he notices a giant Fire Nation ship quickly emerging from the horizon. The crew turn and stare in shock as it looms over their boat like a shadow.
Commander Zhao.
"What do they want?" Zuko scowls.
His Uncle grins. "Perhaps a sporting game of Pai Sho?"
Jing-hai, who had been idling in the sun all of this time, was comically oblivious to their brand new friends. Squinting, the girl cranes her neck. "Hey! Who's blocking the sun?"
Just then, two fierce-looking soldiers and a brute of a messenger march towards the Prince. Huh. Zuko must have missed the part where he'd given invitation for Zhao's men to infiltrate his ship. He folds his arms as the messenger presents him with a wanted poster of Aang.
"The hunt for the Avatar has now been given prime importance. All information regarding the Avatar must be reported directly to Admiral Zhao," he declared.
Admiral Zhao?
Great.
That was just what they needed.
For the thorn in their side to be made sharper, have more power.
"Zhao has been promoted?" Iroh asks before cheering. "Well, good for him!"
Zuko ignores his uncle and glares at the men before him. "I've got nothing to report to Zhao. Now get off my ship and let us pass."
"Admiral Zhao is not allowing ships in or out of this area," the man replied. "And besides, we're not finished yet."
He hands the boy a scroll of paper.
"What is this?" Zuko frowned.
"This is an order from your father commanding you to hand over the prisoner," the man explained. Jing-hai quickly shot up at this. She looked at Zuko with sudden fright and silently pleaded him to fight it.
"That's not happening," Zuko argued. "It's not fair. She's been on my ship for weeks now and-"
"And you still haven't made any progress," the messenger interrupted. Then, with a triumphant smirk, "I think you'll find our methods are a lot more persuasive."
When the soldiers snatch up Jing-hai and squeeze her arms so roughly it leaves bruises, Zuko's hands grow hot. He advances on the soldiers in one swift move but the three are quick to overpower him. He cannot break their defences. Then, as they begin to haul his waterbender away, Iroh holds him. He gives a sharp look over at the many, many ships behind them. Zhao and his evergrowing army. They couldn't beat them. They couldn't defy them. They couldn't do anything.
They were powerless.
"No!" Jing-hai cried, kicking and flailing her limbs like a troubled child. "You can't do this. Please!"
Panic clutched the girl by the throat.
She thought back to the docks that Halloween night and how he'd hunted her like an animal. Like a prize. The way he'd spoken about the girl had her terrified. Whatever it was he wanted, it wasn't good. For her or her people.
Zuko's anger simmered. A ring of fire balls up in his fist but Iroh shakes his head. He lowers his voice.
"Prince Zuko, if this is truly your father's wishes, it's wise to obey them. Zhao is a dangerous man and the Fire Lord will not take disrespect. You know that better than anyone."
He was right.
Zuko hated when he was right.
Shaking his arm out of his grip, he watched her get dragged away. Perhaps, he thought, this will be the last time he ever sees her. Her eyes filled with tears and her skin a pale and worrying complexion.
What does he care?
∘₊𖦹─── ·࿐࿔· ───𖦹₊∘
pohuai stronghold,
western earth kingdom.
"WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME?" JING-HAI DEMANDS as the firebenders drag her further into the military base. After an hour of sailing and two more of travelling (with a sack over her head, mind you) the girl was tired and frightened. There had been little words exchanged throughout the journey (though a lot had left her mouth) and she was struggling to remain resilient. Zhao's men had taken her to the Pohuai Stronghold ━━━━━━ a once powerful Earth Kingdom military depot and now an impenetrable Fire Nation Fortress: home to the mighty Yuyan Archers whom have recently been promoted under Admiral Zhao's command. Yet another piece of history left destroyed by the war. "Hey! You better answer me or else I'll-"
The sack is removed from Jing-hai's head.
As her eyes settle and the darkness fades away, the waterbender blinks into focus. She was enclosed in a tiny room with ceilings as high as her heart rate. There were no windows nor furniture nor even decor. Just the strange mechanical device before her: all chains and metal. She stared at it oddly. What were they going to do to her?
"Or else you'll what?" Zhao taunts.
Jing-hai whips around to find the tall man towering over her. He was clad in a blood-red set of armour ━━━━━━ a much darker shade than the last she'd seen him in. It seems a lot had changed since his promotion. Then again, some things were exactly the same.
"What do you want from me?" Jing-hai asked, her voice low and shaky. "I know you want me alive. I heard what you said on the docks. But why?"
Zhao smirks. The soldiers hold her down as the man strokes her cheek. "You'll find out in due time, pretty girl. But you're smart, I'll give you that. I do want you alive. But barely. So if you don't give up the Avatar and your little friends, you're going to wish you were dead."
Jing-hai spits in his face.
Sharply, he strikes her and she gets a glimpse of the monster within.
Recomposing himself, the man turns away from her. "You can try to fight me, of course. See where that gets you. Just remember, we are the sons and daughters of fire, the superior element! And until today, only one thing stood in our path: the Avatar. And soon enough, with you in our grasps, we'll have him."
Jing-hai's rage got the best of her.
She tried to launch at him but the guards drag her back.
"I'm not telling you anything!" the girl cries.
Admiral Zhao waves his hand boredly.
"That's what they all say," he laughs with familiar malice. Then he comes back around to face her and the firelight from the surrounding torches casts a terrifying shadow across his face. Zhao finds pleasure in the darkness. It was where he'd been bred, after all. Where his evil festered. And now, with the ashes of his enemies, he'd reacquaint it to the rest of the world. "But they always crack eventually. So go ahead. Fight your restraints, scream all the profanities you like. Your situation is futile. There is no escaping this fortress and no one is coming to rescue you. Now, let us show you what being a prisoner under the Fire Nation truly feels like."
When the guards try and strap her down to the table, (the same strange contraption before her) Jing-hai thrashes her limbs. Their fingers jab and bruise her arms and her head cracks hard against the metal. Both her ankles and wrists get sorely bound in the restraints. Only, just as they're tightening the leather straps, Jing-hai bites the hand closest to her. Immediately, the firebender screams in pain. Her teeth let go the second she tastes blood and he grabs the girl by the throat. Suddenly his hand is as hot as fire. It sizzles into the tan of her neck as he strangles with all his might.
Jing-hai tries to scream.
Her mind swims and the pain is overwhelming. She chokes and cries as he tightens his grip until Zhao is tearing him off of her.
"I said I want her alive, you fool!" he yells furiously.
The rest of the guards toss him out.
Jing-hai's tears fall down the side of her face and Zhao catches one with his knuckle. She sobs quietly, trying to catch her breath. Zhao feigns sympathy.
"I know, I know, it hurts," he cradles her face. Then he drops her head back and laughs darkly. "Perhaps if you cry some more, they'll be enough tears for you to waterbend your way out."
The burn on her neck was searing so intensely now she was sure she'd been set aflame. But the girl knew nothing of real pain. That's something she would soon find out.
Zhao would make sure of it.
∘₊𖦹─── ·࿐࿔· ───𖦹₊∘
zuko's ship,
western earth kingdom.
WHEN UNCLE IROH FINDS HIS NEPHEW, the boy looks as grave as he's ever seen him. His face is pale, his jaw is clenched, his eyes are golden spite. After an hour of taking out his frustrations on the dummy they train with on deck, Zuko was shaking from the limb fatigue. He stood now at the bow of the ship, pensively overlooking the ocean. His thoughts stay trapped inside his brain. They feel hot and poisonous and so very unlike him but he cannot seem to let them go. Everything was slipping and Zhao won't stop. Not until he'd taken everything. But Zuko felt he already had.
"Is everything okay?" Iroh asks gently. "It's been almost an hour and you haven't given the men an order."
Zuko shrugs. "I don't care what they do."
His attempt to proclaim indifference fails him.
Iroh puts a comforting hand upon his shoulder. "Don't give up hope yet. You can still find the Avatar before Zhao."
Zuko turns to his Uncle, his face ripe with fear. When he speaks, his words are soaked in desperation. "How, Uncle? With Zhao's resources, it's just a matter of time before he captures the Avatar. My honor, my throne, my country, I'm about to lose them all."
"And Jing?" Iroh dares.
Zuko looks back to the sea.
"She's gone," he utters. A feeling of dread washes over him. "If he makes her talk-"
"She saved your life," Iroh reminds him.
This irks the boy. As if he needed a constant reminder. It's already always on his mind ━━━━━━ even when he doesn't want it to be. Yes, she saved his life...but what choice did she have? If she'd simply watched and let him die, the crew would have turned on her in an instant. Surely it was a calculated move? To have something to hold over his head? For situations like this, where the guilt was eating him from the inside out. Still, he never even got to thank her.
"I know, uncle," he begrudgingly mumbles.
"You have to help her," Iroh explains firmly.
A frown forms on his face. "But you said I couldn't go against Zhao."
"The Fire Lord's son cannot," Iroh nods. "The Prince cannot. But is that all you are, nephew?"
Zuko doesn't know.
✧ ▬▭▬ AUTHOR'S NOTE! ▬▭▬ ✧
me being the number one zhao hater in the world, iktr! he is my worst enemy but don't worry, I will give him the ending he deserves!!!!! anyways, this episode is going to be a lot but I'm very excited to write it so I hope you all enjoy!