Avatar: The Last Airbender Darkfic Comment Meme

[attackfish]

So I just finished writing something so impossibly sweet that I swear all my teeth just rotted in my head from it.  And since I have to write floranna's fic for help_haiti  (and her request is full of lovely angst) I need to get myself in a darker writing groove.  To further this goal, I’m watching Criminal Minds, and I’m asking you guys to send me your darkest, most angst producing prompts for Avatar: The Last Airbender.  Comment with up to five, and I’ll guarantee you at least one commentfic.  I’ll probably answer with more, knowing me.  weirdlet  and floranna  get seven requests and a guarantee of two fics, because I spawned a wild AU in weirdlet ’s head, that she has been writing delightfully twisted installments for, and because I delayed writing floranna’s promised fic to work on my novel.

Please no rape or sexually explicit requests.  I’m a big believer that there needs to be more gen darkfic in fandom.

Ganked from avocado_love .


Meme Closed and Finished

Despite the fact that I asked for no requests involving rape or sexually explicit requests, my brain decided to take me there all on its own in two instances.  I've done my best to warn as accurately as I can in both in a way that the warnings themselves are non-triggery.  I'd also like to put up a blanket warning for violence.

Fics:

for florannahelp_haiti :
Azula's lightning strike on Zuko has some far more serious consequences
Zuko hurt his leg on the run and it won’t heal:  Part One l Part Two l Part Three l Part Four l Part Five l Part Six l Part Seven
*Warning for heavily implied Rape by Coercion and Sexually Abusive Dialogue* Bonus: AU of “Sun Child”, Zura’s pregnant with Zhao’s child continued from Zhao: Wedded and bedded (AU of Sun Child), both of which are AUs of weirdlet 's Sun Child AU

for[Bad username or site: � animikii @ livejournal.com] :
Suki’s just as calmly insane as Azula is. She just hides it better

for weirdlet :
Zhao: Wedded and bedded (AU of Sun Child)  continued in Bonus: AU of “Sun Child”, Zura’s pregnant with Zhao’s child, (*Warning for heavily implied Rape by Coercion and Sexually Abusive Dialogue*) both of which are AUs of weirdlet 's Sun Child AU
Koh's eggs
Eric Bogle’s “And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda”
I sometimes imagine Jet's hiding a set of stripes under his shirt- how'd he come to experience such a flogging?

for blue_lacquer :
Zhao helps his chances of being promoted by getting rid of his competition
What Chit Sang did to end up in the Boiling Rock
Zhao destroying part of Wan Shi Tong’s library
The Omashu Earth Kingdom resistance succeeds in killing Mai’s family (but not her)

for avocado_love :
Why exactly the turtle-ducks fear Azula so much
Lao Bei Fong will do anything to keep his daughter safe, even from herself
Zuko: Directly after the Agni Kai
Bonus: some fluffy Toph/Zuko, all grown up (not dark)

for clockwerkchaos :
At the North Pole something goes wrong with La, and the Fire Nation sinks beneath the sea

for yma2 :
The story of Lu Ten’s death
Zuko finds his mother (or more accurately, Ursa finds him)
Aang isn’t rescued by the Blue Spirit and is imprisoned for a long time Part One l Part Two

for beboots :
S2, Iroh dies, leaving Zuko without his influence continued in Zuko breaks down in front of the Gaang and further continued in The Gaang in Ba Sing Se
Jet decides NOT to gather proof that Mushi and Lee are firebenders before he acts

Comments

Aang isn’t rescued by the Blue Spirit and is inprisoned for a long time. 1/2

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

So Floranna's not the only one inflicting massive multi-parters on me? You're doing it now too? Whaaaaaah!

~*~

The shoreline disappeared on the horizon, and somewhere, a certain prince was watching his chance to go home vanish as if it had never been. Zhao smiled widely, his footsteps chiming rhythmically against the metal deck as he sauntered off to tend to his prisoner.

~*~

The shadows came in and the shadows went out. Twice a day, the guards came in and held food and water to his mouth and wiped away whatever he couldn’t swallow. Sometimes he thought they’d only just left when they were back again. Sometimes, he didn’t remember when they’d been last. Four times they came in with bigger shackles, and cleaned away the blood, scabs, and pus on his wrists and ankles.

A few times, maybe once, maybe every day, Aang couldn’t say which, the Firelord came to visit him and examined him expressionlessly, derision glittering in the back of his eyes. Aang gazed back at them, hanging in the chains, and saw his own reflection.

Once, more maybe, he came with a girl. She wore her bangs in two thin points on the side of her face and she smiled at him like she knew something he didn’t. But what could she know? He was already in chains.

After that, she came alone, eyes half-closed and shadowed. She wasn’t smiling, and that was better, wasn’t it?

Before, when time wasn’t yet swirling around and around him and sinking into a pit at his feet, he had spun tiny wind tunnels around the room, just breathed them out and let them scatter. He sucked the air deep into his gut and let it go and sucked in another. This one danced and twisted around the points of her bangs, tossing them around.

“You don’t have much, do you?”

He just hung there, head down.

“I have no idea why my brother had so much trouble with you.” She tried to force that same smile but it just looked ghastly and stretched out. “But then he is Zuzu, isn’t he.”

~*~

There were shadows at the edge of the darkness that weren’t quite part of it. Some of them floated in on the wind, and if he could just hold them...

The girl wore a braid now. But was she... She smiled real smiles, and looked at him like he made her sad. “The guards told me you weren’t eating. You’re going to get sick if you don’t eat.”

The words ran together between her and him like wax dripping down the side of candles. His head didn’t raise, even though he tried.

“I’ll- I’ll try to get them to make something you like,” she wheedled, “If you just tell me what you want.”

His eyes closed.

“I’ll even try to get them to leave the medicines out.” Her face fell and her eyes got huge. “Everybody’s really worried about you.”

He breathed out a ribbon of air and let it turn in on itself and fly. For a moment, he thought he saw her holding it in her hand, but it must have been a dream.

~*~

The shivers wracked his body and sweat poured from every pore. The air pressed tight around him and then slipped away. He tried to grab it in his hands, but it wouldn’t stay put.

The food tasted empty on his tongue, and he didn’t eat it, but the water... Why did they only come twice a day?

Slowly the hours gathered themselves back together and lined up in a row.

He wondered when the shaking was going to stop.

~*~

He opened his eyes. The guards were back. He breathed in. Their clothes moved. The wind he called tugged at their armor so so sosososososo slightly.

He let the air fall.

One of the guards held the bowl up to Aang’s lips. “There’s nothing in it,” he soothed. “I guess Ty Lee really took a shine to you, huh?”

“Oh come on, if he’s not going to eat again, just let him starve.” She didn’t bother to keep her voice low.

Aang ate. One handed, the guard soothed his charge, running his fingers along Aang’s scalp and tucked his long, scraggled hair back behind his ears. “I guess it’s not like you can really do much, even without the powders.”

Aang lifted his head, his face twisted in a miserable grimace. His head fell down, and he lifted it up again, and it fell down again. He supposed it was a nod. The guard smiled sadly as he held up the water and Aang drank deep.

“Thank you,” Aang rasped as they left. The guards whirled around and blinked at him before walking down the hall.

Aang isn’t rescued by the Blue Spirit and is inprisoned for a long time. 2/2

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

~*~

The keys clattered to the floor. “Oh Spirits,” the guard muttered, picking them up. Aang ground his teeth. He smashed the little bits of air together under the keys once again hanging from guard’s belt and held them. His wrist bent against the shackles, and the cushion of air holding the keys moved with the guard all the way to him. He relaxed.

When he had eaten and drunk, and they had swiped away the dribbles, he flexed his fingers and carried the keys just barely higher than their hook on the belt all the way out of the room.

~*~

He practiced. Every day he practiced, every day and every evening, until he could do it every time. And then he waited. And smiled.

~*~

He held the keys, and as the guards rounded the corner out of the room, Aang eased them up with one hand, the other pushing a whisp of air down on the hook, lifting it oh so slowly so the guard wouldn’t notice they were gone. The keys shot to him.

He lowered them to the ground, panting and closed his eyes until he couldn’t wait anymore. His arm twisted in the shackle, and the keys jumped up. Fingers twitching, he pulled up key after key until one fit in the lock. His arm slumped to his side. Sweat coated his forehead. He found the next key and freed his first leg, and then the other, before, at last, his other arm.

And he fell to the floor.

His legs shook. His arms shook. Slowly, laboriously, he pushed himself to his knees and crawled.

The floor inched past. He counted the planks of wood and breathed, letting the blood flow. It felt like hours until he rounded the doorway, but it probably wasn’t. He... hoped it wasn’t.

The hallway wasn’t empty.

The realization hit him like a punch to the kidneys. He sank into the shadows and tried to breathe. The guards passed by and didn’t notice. They weren’t really looking.

He crawled further. Time seemed to stop for him.

“Hey!-” Aang ripped the air out of his lungs.

Everything sped back up. If he could crawl and run at the same time, that’s what he’d be doing. He didn’t know what to call it. “Please don’t be dead,” he begged. As soon as he was out of sight, he rammed air into the guard’s lungs and lifted himself into the air. And stumbled. And lifted himself into the air. And stumbled. And lifted himself into the air.

There were a cluster of war balloons and airships. Aang’s hands were week on the basket, but the knots came undone with a flick of his fingers.

~*~

The stone was good, black volcanic glass. A few sharp knocks against the beach rock gave him a razor sharp edge, and that was what he needed. The hair caught and clung to the stone, but he sliced, and sliced, until it all fell away.

There were lines of blood on his scalp from the uneven blade. He stayed on the beach until they healed and he could walk, and then until he could run.

~*~

He brought the air together and forced it high into the balloon and let the winds carry him north to the pole. The wall shimmered in the moonlight, blue and impenetrable and frightening. But behind the wall...

“Aang!”

“Katara! Sokka!”

~*~

In the tiny, insignificant province of Gaoling, the governor had a native born second. The Bei Fongs prospered no matter what. As his daughter grew older, lost in a subordinated country in which she couldn’t be hidden away, she stomped her way through high society. Only her scarred, waspish secretary who ducked his head as Fire Nation citizens passed, could hold her back for a while. He was a blessing to the family.

He was standing behind her the day the messenger dashed in to tell the governor the news of the Avatar’s escape. She could feel his heart beat faster. She could feel him smiling.

The hunt was on again.

Re: Aang isn’t rescued by the Blue Spirit and is inprisoned for a long time. 2/2

[yma2.livejournal.com]

I -love- this! It was -just- what I was hoping for. Absolutely stunning! I love the feel of fever, of clostrophobia you're managed to induce here. The lingering taint of madness that hangs between each sentence. The thigns not said. I love the idea of Aang's strange sort of maddness, his loss of the will to live then, at last, his cunning and deviousness and determination in escaping. This was a fantastic story, as wonderful for all that it didn't say as that it did say. Splended stuff. I love it! Thank you so much.

Re: Aang isn’t rescued by the Blue Spirit and is inprisoned for a long time. 2/2

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

Aang's not actually going mad, they have him drugged to the teeth, and he gets so out of it he stops eating. And then he goes into withdrawal because the drugs were in the food. I'm not sure what they're giving him, because the exact symptoms don't match any plant or fungus based drugs I know of... Maybe some strange Avatar world plant? He does start to go a bit mad after the withdrawal, though, going into his "get me out of here!" phase.

I'm really glad you like it. It's not my usual thing, but it was a lot of fun... In a deeply twisted way.

Re: Aang isn’t rescued by the Blue Spirit and is inprisoned for a long time. 2/2

[beboots.livejournal.com]

Ooh... this was lovely! I do like the idea that Aang could eventually escape by himself (key word being: eventually). I really liked that Ty Lee kind of took mercy on Aang, and indirectly helped him. :) She's sweet - I don't think that she links seeing people hurt.

I think that you wrote a realistic progression for Aang's escape - how he practiced until he could get the keys. I think it really says something about his state of mind (and body!) that he was willing to take the air out of the lungs of the guard - but he's still Aang, so wanted to make sure he didn't kill the guy. Very in-character!

And ooh... I like the idea of Zuko being Toph's "secretary". :) But man, a Zuko with Toph on his side? Regardless of his planned endeavour, I'd say that's a recipe for AWESOME.

Re: Aang isn’t rescued by the Blue Spirit and is inprisoned for a long time. 2/2

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

It takes him a couple years, poor kid. Toph's been through puberty (frightening thought all by itself). Ty Lee, is a wonderful crazy person, and Azula's soft touch girl... Which backfires on a regular basis, lol.

Also, Aang is so not patient in canon, and this escape takes loads of patience. I'm packing the stress on him, and he still really really really doesn't want anybody to die. *pats him* awww.

Ah, but you see, he is her secretary, and she gives him all kinds of wonderful hell, and yes, it's Awesome, and when she joins the aged up gaang, Zuko's going to run into them and just boggle.

Re: Aang isn’t rescued by the Blue Spirit and is inprisoned for a long time. 2/2

[beboots.livejournal.com]

Heehee - I love the idea of an aged up Gaang meeting Toph for the first time. :3 And if Zuko comes with her - like, a matched set - that would be even more awesome. :D (I really want to read that scene, now. ;_; But I've already prompted the hell out of you.)

Re: Aang isn’t rescued by the Blue Spirit and is inprisoned for a long time. 2/2

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

So do I! But honestly, I have no idea where I'd go with it, which is really kind of...*headdesk*

Mostly I see Toph getting invited to join the gaang and Zuko chasing after the gaang catches up and then sees his old boss.

Aang: Zuko?
Katara: Zuko! *murderlook*
Sokka: Where's the ponytail, Jerkbender?
Toph: LEEEEEEEEE! *stomps foot*
Zuko: *from inside a rock cocoon, because that's Toph's idea of a hug* Oh no.

Re: Aang isn’t rescued by the Blue Spirit and is inprisoned for a long time. 2/2

[beboots.livejournal.com]

YES

And Toph's "love taps" totally look like she's utterly destroying Zuko, and the Gaang suspect like nothing until she gives him a hug or something and it slowly dawns on them that beating the crap out of people with Earthbending is how Toph shows affection, which doesn't bode well for Aang learning from her... D:

Re: Aang isn’t rescued by the Blue Spirit and is inprisoned for a long time. 2/2

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

Zuko: She must love me, I have bruises in unusual locations.
Aang: *whimper*
Toph: Good morning earthbending student!

Re: Aang isn’t rescued by the Blue Spirit and is inprisoned for a long time. 2/2

[beboots.livejournal.com]

XDD

SO IN CHARACTER!

Re: Aang isn’t rescued by the Blue Spirit and is inprisoned for a long time. 2/2

[weirdlet.livejournal.com]

I agree with those before me- I really like this! Very sharp and intriguing toward the end.

Re: Aang isn’t rescued by the Blue Spirit and is inprisoned for a long time. 2/2

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Took over my brain for a bit, there.