Warnings (big warnings) for graphic violence, and blood, and death, and bad things.
~*~
"What's the point of practicing like that anyway?" He pressed himself against the bars of his cage, thin legs poking through. "There isn't any water here."
"Hush," she rasped, body too dry to wet her mouth. "I need to concentrate."
"Concentrate on what?" He let his arms fall away from the bars and swing to his sides, and Hama couldn't help staring at them, and how thin and knobbly they were, like twigs. She tried to place him. "You're not bending anything. None of us are ever going to get to bend anything again."
Yuna's boy. He was what, maybe fifteen or sixteen? He can't have been more than ten when she left, and now look, he was old enough to go to war and become a prisoner. She laughed at him, coldly. "Not if you think like that, you won't."
"The guards are going to catch you. They're going to take you out and beat you. You really want that to happen again?" He licked his cracking lips, but it didn't do any good.
Hama's eyes flicked back to him as she began her forms again from the beginning. "You can watch for the guards if you're so worried."
"I don't get it." He said flatly. "There's no water."
No. Not there, where the air was so dry it stole away their tears and their sweat as soon as they formed, where the cups of water they were given weren't enough to keep their mouths from tasting like dust or relieve the pounding in their heads, where the guards measured their piss and beat them if they didn't think it was enough. And it was never enough, because the water was never enough. "Yes there is, don't you feel it?"
He stared at her as she continued her way through her forms as if she had gone crazy, and she smiled fiercely back. She got it, and he didn't.
"There's water inside of me," she said, her voice low, and she wondered what he saw with his sad, terrified eyes. She was a young woman still. Did he see a grownup, someone who had already been fighting when he had been a little boy, or did he see the closest thing to a pretty Water Tribe girl he was ever going to see again? Was that why he was worried for her? "And inside of you, and inside the rats that scurry around this prison." She let her voice drop even lower until he had to lean into the bars to hear her. "And inside the guards carrying the keys. We'll bend their blood."
"That's impossible. Nobody's ever-"
"I already have." She grabbed the bars of her cage. "I made the rats come out of the shadows last month, and under the full moon, we will break free, and they won't be able to stop us, because I'll control their very bodies."
"Show me," he hissed. "If you're so great, show mw while the guards aren't looking."
Hama looked away from him. "I need the full moon and the power it gives us."
He shook his head. "I don't believe you."
"Wait." She smiled. "The full moon's in two days. I'll show you."
~*~
Hama pulled her arm back, and the rats slumped forward, and then, with a flick of her wrist, the rats flew out of her cage, and back into the shadows.
The boy's lips has parted in astonishment, and he closed them, siting there with his legs hanging out of his cage, silently until he managed to speak. "Can I try?"
He breathed out. His hands tensed into claws, and she could see him grab hold of the water in the rats' veins. Two of them jerked forward, into a patch of moonlight between the cages when he moved his arm. He let his arm fall, and they ran off, chittering into the darkness. "I think I can do more."
"That's good." Her eyes didn't leave his. "That means I'm not alone."
He pulled his legs back inside the cage. "It felt really..."
"Powerful?"
"Yeah, I guess." He gulped. "Weird.
"Help me." Hama reached her hand through the cage bars. "You want out too, don't you? We'll take our freedom together."
"Yeah." He nodded. "We'll get everybody out together."
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branchandroot
Hama - Katara wasn't her first pupil pt 1/2
Date: 2012-12-10 02:58 pm (UTC)~*~
"What's the point of practicing like that anyway?" He pressed himself against the bars of his cage, thin legs poking through. "There isn't any water here."
"Hush," she rasped, body too dry to wet her mouth. "I need to concentrate."
"Concentrate on what?" He let his arms fall away from the bars and swing to his sides, and Hama couldn't help staring at them, and how thin and knobbly they were, like twigs. She tried to place him. "You're not bending anything. None of us are ever going to get to bend anything again."
Yuna's boy. He was what, maybe fifteen or sixteen? He can't have been more than ten when she left, and now look, he was old enough to go to war and become a prisoner. She laughed at him, coldly. "Not if you think like that, you won't."
"The guards are going to catch you. They're going to take you out and beat you. You really want that to happen again?" He licked his cracking lips, but it didn't do any good.
Hama's eyes flicked back to him as she began her forms again from the beginning. "You can watch for the guards if you're so worried."
"I don't get it." He said flatly. "There's no water."
No. Not there, where the air was so dry it stole away their tears and their sweat as soon as they formed, where the cups of water they were given weren't enough to keep their mouths from tasting like dust or relieve the pounding in their heads, where the guards measured their piss and beat them if they didn't think it was enough. And it was never enough, because the water was never enough. "Yes there is, don't you feel it?"
He stared at her as she continued her way through her forms as if she had gone crazy, and she smiled fiercely back. She got it, and he didn't.
"There's water inside of me," she said, her voice low, and she wondered what he saw with his sad, terrified eyes. She was a young woman still. Did he see a grownup, someone who had already been fighting when he had been a little boy, or did he see the closest thing to a pretty Water Tribe girl he was ever going to see again? Was that why he was worried for her? "And inside of you, and inside the rats that scurry around this prison." She let her voice drop even lower until he had to lean into the bars to hear her. "And inside the guards carrying the keys. We'll bend their blood."
"That's impossible. Nobody's ever-"
"I already have." She grabbed the bars of her cage. "I made the rats come out of the shadows last month, and under the full moon, we will break free, and they won't be able to stop us, because I'll control their very bodies."
"Show me," he hissed. "If you're so great, show mw while the guards aren't looking."
Hama looked away from him. "I need the full moon and the power it gives us."
He shook his head. "I don't believe you."
"Wait." She smiled. "The full moon's in two days. I'll show you."
~*~
Hama pulled her arm back, and the rats slumped forward, and then, with a flick of her wrist, the rats flew out of her cage, and back into the shadows.
The boy's lips has parted in astonishment, and he closed them, siting there with his legs hanging out of his cage, silently until he managed to speak. "Can I try?"
"Go ahead." Hama smirked. "Nobody's stopping you."
He breathed out. His hands tensed into claws, and she could see him grab hold of the water in the rats' veins. Two of them jerked forward, into a patch of moonlight between the cages when he moved his arm. He let his arm fall, and they ran off, chittering into the darkness. "I think I can do more."
"That's good." Her eyes didn't leave his. "That means I'm not alone."
He pulled his legs back inside the cage. "It felt really..."
"Powerful?"
"Yeah, I guess." He gulped. "Weird.
"Help me." Hama reached her hand through the cage bars. "You want out too, don't you? We'll take our freedom together."
"Yeah." He nodded. "We'll get everybody out together."