|
Changes
Jul 21, 2006 18:17:30 GMT -5
Post by mikomi on Jul 21, 2006 18:17:30 GMT -5
Chapter 1
Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Mikomi were inside a temple they had found in the Earth Kingdom. They were using this place as a temporary sanctuary from the violent storm. With Sokka being sick from his trip with that fisherman into the massive storm, it seemed like a good idea to stay put for a while.
Sokka lied on Appa in his sleeping bag, with Appa’s fur helping to keep him warm. Katara sat on Appa next to him caring for him. Sweating profusely, he started to say odd things.
“You know what I love about Appa most? His sense of humor,” Sokka said delusional.
“That’s nice, Sokka,” Katara said forcing a worried smile.
Appa responded with a groan, acknowledging what Sokka said about his supposed sense of humor.
“Haha, you’re killing me,” Sokka said.
Aang sat in front of Katara on the floor watching Sokka with a confused look on his face. Mikomi sat in a shadowed corner, leaning against the wall, with one leg bent up and the other stretched out. Her eyes were closed with her arms folded and her double-ended spear sitting next to her. Aang looked over at her, he knew she wasn’t asleep. She always did that when she was thinking or just relaxing.
“Did you find any ginger root Aang?” Katara asked him with a worried voice.
“No, but I did find this map. There’s an herbalist on top of that mountain. So, I’m going to go see if there’s someone there who can help us,” Aang said.
Katara began to argue with Aang about the usual, it’s not safe deal. But Aang retorted, “I have to get something Katara! Sokka’s starting to think he’s an earthbender!”
“Take that you rock!” Sokka said waving his arms around like a lunatic.
Katara began to cough badly, and Aang began to worry about her as well. Mikomi sat in the corner listening to them. Aang finally got up and began walking toward the entrance of the temple. He stopped when Mikomi had said something for the first time since their arrival.
“I’m going with you,” Mikomi said opening her bright, blue eyes and standing up. She brought something that looked like a small, silver pole out of her belt. It was actually a retractable fighting pole. It was one of three of her weapons: her double-ended spear, the retractable pole, and a dagger in a sheath on her belt. “To make sure you don’t get into any trouble.”
Her face was blank as usual. No signs of any emotion decorated her face. She walked up next to Aang. Mikomi was sixteen, but she was only about an inch or two taller than Aang and he was twelve. Well, technically one hundred twelve. Lightning split the sky, and Aang put his glider against the wall of the temple. They would have to go on foot.
“I’m going to be running as fast as I can, Mikomi. I don’t think you’ll be able to keep up. So I guess you’ll have to ride piggy-back,” he said smiling a little.
Mikomi glared at him for a moment and then sighed, stashing her retractable pole back into her belt. She unhappily got on Aang’s back. Then he sped off toward the herbalist institute. Aang noticed how light she was, being so small and slim. Mikomi definitely did not like traveling as fast as the wind. It made her eyes water very badly. So she ducked her head behind Aang’s. Once they had made it to the herbalist, Aang bent down a little so Mikomi could get off. She climbed down, with her jet-black hair completely wind-blown. Aang laughed, holding his stomach, at her wind-blown appearance.
“Moving as fast as the wind is not fun,” she said attempting to fix her hair, which was pulled into a high ponytail that extended to her mid-back. Two thick strands of hair angled around her face.
Aang smiled in response and then turned towards the herbalist institute and jogged to it. Mikomi followed him after she had finished fixing her hair.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aang and Mikomi left the herbalist institute after they found that their friends would be healed if they sucked on frozen wood frogs. Which Mikomi found completely crazy, but if that’s what the crazy herbalist said, she would help Aang find the frogs.
Aang and Mikomi were exiting the herbalist’s building when an arrow landed right in front of Aang. Mikomi instinctively pulled out her retractable pole and extended it to full length, which was taller than her. She searched the trees for the source of the arrow, but she couldn’t see them.
Aang must’ve spotted them because he looked into the trees and said, “Uh, I think you dropped this.”
Mikomi would’ve blown up on him for sayingsomething so stupid,but she was too worried about being killed. She grabbed him and yelled, “Run!”
They both ran towards a cliff with arrows landing behind them with every step they took. Aang was a little bit ahead of Mikomi, but Mikomi being so fast could keep up when he wasn’t running full speed. Aang jumped over the cliff, Mikomi hesitated a bit but then jumped.
Aang was now in the trees. Mikomi also fell throough the trees with the branches cutting and slapping her face. She used her pole to slow her self down when she thrusted it into a tree. Aang was below her jumping down the trees and she followed jumping gracefully down through the trees. She saw that Aang was down in the water looking, so she jumped down splashing loudly, holding her pole above the cold, murky water.
“Aang, what are you doing!” she said growing frustrated.
“Getting the frogs!” he said bending over to scoop up the frogs. They were both standing by a log. An arrow flew through the air and pinned Mikomi’s pants to the log, she tried pulling it out of the log, but it was too deeply planted into it. She looked up and saw them. The legendary Yuu Yan archers. Their extreme precision preceded their reputation. She knew that they had no chance now. Mikomi quickly made her pole shrink back to carrying size and slid it into the back of her belt. Looking over at Aang, who had formed a wall of ice in front of them, she noticed that he was also pinned to the log. She heard the arrows beat upon the ice wall. Then it shattered, ice splashing into the water.
Just like the ice wall, her hopes of any escape shattered.
Looking into the trees, she saw the Yuu Yan archers with a net, their cold eyes piercing into their prey. They first fired the net at Aang, of course because he was the Avatar. Then Mikomi saw the net coming towards her. She stopped struggling, deciding just to give up. But her temper rose, because of her dislike of being defeated. She had to use all of her effort not to set the log behind her on fire. Looking over at Aang, who looked terrified, she whispered as silently as she could, “It’ll be alright.”
Aang nodded looking nervous as the Yuu Yan Archers came to pick up their prey.
|
|
|
Changes
Jul 21, 2006 18:19:48 GMT -5
Post by mikomi on Jul 21, 2006 18:19:48 GMT -5
Chapter 2
The chains were heavily weighing down on both Aang and Mikomi. They were chained between three columns. Mikomi was on the left and Aang on the right. The room was desolate and both of them had remained quiet. Mikomi, trying to think of some escape, but failing thus far and Aang, thinking about Katara and Sokka.
Their thoughts were disturbed when they heard the creaking of the door opening. Both of them looked up at the sound. They saw a Fire Nation armor-clad man. When the man walked up and was now in the light, Mikomi and Aang both recognized him as Zhao.
“We have finally caught you Avatar,” Zhao said smirking down at Aang.
Aang just glared up into his eyes and said, faking bravery, “Let me go!”
Zhao glared at him then pulled out a scroll. He smirked and opened it saying, “That will not happen, Avatar. You are wanted.” The scroll he had was a detailed wanted poster that showed Aang. It was drawn very well, even including his glider.
Zhao closed the scroll and placed it in his belt. He then walked over to Mikomi who was glaring at him from the moment he walked in. “You are wanted as well, girl,” he said opening up a scroll identical to Aang’s, except there was a drawing of her within it. Again, it was a perfect drawing, including detailed images of all of her weapons.
“And what am I wanted for?” Mikomi said becoming infuriated. She had a horrible temper that she lost control of easily, at times. Within her closed lips, she was clenching her teeth to refrain from losing her temper.
Zhao closed the scroll and began walking around the chain-bound Mikomi, like a hawk eyeing its prey. “You are wanted for attacking Fire Nation soldiers, for sabotaging Fire Nation traveling equipment, for stealing numerous items from the Fire Nation, and for many other crimes against us.”
Aang looked at her questioningly because when she was with him, she had never done any of those things. Mikomi noticed Aang’s confused look and said, trying to remain under control of her temper, “I did those things before I met up with you.”
“So, you have confessed to your crimes,” Zhao said smiling widely. He loved it when he won. “Well, then we must decide your punishment. Death seems suitable. Should it be done quickly or drawn out slowly and painfully?” Zhao was now standing in front of Mikomi, watching her as she glared into his cold eyes. “I like the second one. Perhaps we could give you to one of the soldiers to have some fun with you, first. Many men would enjoy that chance with a pretty, young girl like you.”
Zhao was right. She was a pretty, young girl. Her figure was slim and slender. With her smooth, black hair she was pretty. But if you included her bright blue eyes, she was beautiful. Zhao looked into those eyes and then noticed something; they had changed to gold. He was baffled by the sudden change. Hadn’t they just been blue?
Zhao’s thoughts were interrupted when out of Mikomi’s mouth came a stream of fire. She had to release the heat somehow. Fearing that her body would heat the metal chains around her and melt them causing her great pain, she let all of the heat and anger she contained through her mouth. The little trick she just performed was one of the few things she could do without losing control. Zhao had just barely dodged it, as he was standing directly in front of her. Her eyes now returned back to their normal blue.
“And you’re a firebender! You traitor!” Zhao shouted as he was straightening himself from dodging the stream of fire. “Why did you do all of things to soldiers of your own nation!”
“The Fire Naiton is not my homeland! Yes, I was born there, but I was raised in the Earth Kingdom!” Mikomi shouted her response at him.
Aang watched the two nervously. He knew that Mikomi would go too far and get herself hurt.
“But you still are a firebender! Why did you attack your fellow firebenders, you disgusting coward!” Zhao screamed at her, his eyes filled with rage.
“I am no coward! And secondly, I attacked them because I am against this war! The Fire Nation has no reason to continue this war yet you do! It’s all because of Ozai! The power hungry fool has no right to continue this war! He’s a horrible excuse for a leader!” she shouted unleashing all of her rage through words.
The insult against his lord enraged the admiral. So he lifted his hand and swept it down across her face, backhanding her with much of his might. Mikomi winced for a second, but his vicious attack didn’t stop her from speaking her mind.
Mikomi leaned her weight against the chains so she was now closer to Zhao so she glared into his eyes. “I GUESS A LAP DOG DOESN’T LIKE IT WHEN HIS MASTER IS INSULTED!” Mikomi screamed at the top of her lungs, accusing Zhao of being Ozai’s lap dog, which was completely true.
Aang knew it. She had finally gone too far.
Zhao had enough of her insolence. He drew his fist back and hit her with all of his might this time. His fist landed in her stomach knocking all of the air out of her. Some spit flew for her mouth as her eyes narrowed and widened from the impact. Mikomi’s weight fell on the chains as she inhaled heavily trying to retain her lost breath. Her eyes were now closed, and her face was contorted into a grimace.
“Stop it! Leave her alone!” Aang shouted at Zhao who was now smiling over the heavily breathing Mikomi.
“She has learned her place. Thanks to her mouth, her torture will be twice as worse,” he said. Zhao turned and opened the door. He left the room smiling thinking about his job well done on the girl.
Once the door had shut behind Zhao, Aang turned to Mikomi and saw her in the same position. “Mikomi! Are you alright?” Aang asked worriedly.
“……f-fine…,” Mikomi muttered still trying to catch the lost breath. Aang decided to help her and just using his fingers, he created a small, thin stream of air. Mikomi looked over at him and noticed what he was doing. She watched as the string of air flew over in front of her mouth. Realizing what Aang meant to do, she opened her mouth and inhaled the stream of air. She exhaled as her breathing returned to normal.
Mikomi looked over at him and said, “Thank you.” She even cracked a small smile for a second, but the next it had disappeared, because she had tried to stand up straight, but it hurt her stomach too badly.
Both of the prisoners stared at the door, with most of their hope of escaping gone.
Zuko/Blue Spirit Point of View I was standing at the door after defeating the four guards that were posted here with ease. It was just as easy getting into the fortress. They really needed to find better guards, especially since they have the Avatar. Opening to door, I saw the Avatar and another person, both chained. The Avatar was standing straight up, but the other was hanging limp on the chains and their head drooped lifelessly. Once I had entered the room and closed the door, the drooping form’s head lifted and revealed the face of a girl. It was the girl who always wore black that traveled with the Avatar. I wondered why that idiot, Zhao, had captured her, but then decided I couldn’t leave her here. She was wearing black, which was of an advantage, so at least it would add to her stealth.
I pulled out my double swords, swinging them expertly and slicing through the air. Charging the Avatar, I heard him start screaming stupidly. He closed his eyes and then clenched his teeth, expecting a blow, but I cut his chains instead and then cut off the metal handcuffs. The boy looked up at me with a questioning glance. I was wearing a blue mask that my uncle had bought on one of his ridiculous shopping trips. He had bought a whole set of different colored ones that were exactly alike. At least they were of some use.
I walked over to the girl now who still drooped on her chains; she just looked up at me. As her face came into the light and I saw a large purple bruise covering her right cheek. I wondered for a moment how that had happened because it was a large bruise. I lifted my swords, but the girl didn’t show fear. She just stared at me with a blank expression, her blue eyes shining along with her black hair. I then cut her chains, but right after I had cut them she fell to her knees, clutching her stomach and moaning. The Avatar ran over to her, grabbing her arm and saying, “Mikomi! Are you alright?”
The girl, Mikomi the Avatar had said, just pulled away stubbornly and said, “I’m fine.”
She stood up after some difficulty, then her eyes turned to something in the corner of the room. It was a small, silver pole of some sort. She walked over to it and grabbed it sticking it into her belt. I didn’t understand what she needed with a stupid, little pole, but I walked toward the door and motioned for both of them to follow. Opening the door, I stuck my head out to see if anyone had come. The two followed me slowly. I walked past a room that had half frozen toads it in, wondering what frogs were doing in a Fire Nation fortress, but I just continued on. The girl passed the frogs without a word, but the Avatar stopped and started grabbing them.
“The frogs! Stop unfreezing! I need you!” the Avatar said foolishly as he scooped up the frogs. The girl jogged back to him and grabbed his arm and pulled on him saying, “Aang come on! We can get those on the way back!” She pulled and pulled but couldn’t budge the Avatar. I sighed to myself and walked back grabbing the Avatar by his collar and picking him up with one hand dragging him along, with the girl jogging behind me.
“Wait! My friends need to suck on those!” the idiot said. I let the comment slide by without any further thought.
The three of us, the girl, the Avatar, and myself, were out of the building, now crossing the dark grounds within the fortress walls. The Avatar, of course being an airbender, was very light and quick during the escape. I was most surprised by the girl, even though she seemed injured, she was extremely agile and very docile. She moved silently and quickly through the grounds. I lifted my sword pointing to a rope that stretched over one of the walls.
Once there the girl was the first to go up the rope, then the Avatar, then me. We were being completely silent, but the alarms suddenly sounded. One of the armor clad guards came up to the top of the rope and sliced it leaving us to fall. The Avatar did some sort of airbending trick letting all three of us land on our feet. I saw an open gate and again lifted my sword and pointed to it.
The girl nodded and the Avatar said, “Okay, stay close to me.” He began running at a fast rate. The girl followed directly after him being extremely quick. I was to the side of her and I saw her pull the silver pole out of her belt, as she saw guards coming toward them.
‘What is she going to do? Beat them with that little stick?’ I thought sarcastically to myself. But then the pole suddenly grew in size as she pressed some sort of button on the side of it. I remembered in their previous encounters that she did have a pole that length and I remembered that she was skilled in the martial arts. My thoughts were distracted when the Avatar had met a group of soldiers, whom he blasted to the side with a powerful gust of wind. As those guards scattered, more guards encircled the girl and me. I began to attack them, as did she. She was extremely fast and twirled her pole expertly, hitting any of her opponents, knocking them into the ground. We both fought for a while, but then all of the men around us were blown away. I turned and saw the Avatar holding a spear with the blade broken off.
“Hold, Mikomi!” he ordered me pointing his stick directly at me.
‘Who does he think he is giving me orders? I’m the one rescuing them!’ I thought to myself.
Aggravated, I picked up the girl bridal style, not knowing what the Avatar was going to do. He lifted the stick he was pointing at me and catapulted the girl and myself through the air. The girl didn’t make a sound as we landed. I dropped her once we landed and then even more men surrounded us again. We took up our fighting stances, but then the Avatar came over the wall, twirling his stick over his head to fly. He used his legs to grab me under my arms, but he didn’t grab the girl so I sheathed my swords quickly and grabbed her by the waist. The three of us flew over the wall. I held the girl close so that nothing would hit her, but spears started to come at us, and the girl held out her pole and said, “Lower me as far as you can.”
I stretched out my arms lowering her as far under me as I could. She began twirling her pole just like the Avatar was doing above us. Her pole blocked all of the spears that came our way. We were almost to the next wall, when the Avatar began to grunt with the effort he was giving. He was beginning to scream and we landed on the wall. I landed on top of the girl and the Avatar landed on top of me. When I got up I saw that the girl had had her face planted into the cold stone. She stood up blinking, and said, “Ow…”
It was somewhat funny knowing that the girl had to land underneath of us, but the humor didn’t last long as the soldiers had ladders made of bamboo that they were setting up so that they could capture us. There were three ladders. One of us was at each of them. I was using my swords to beat down the soldiers, the Avatar used his airbending, and the girl used her pole. Once the Avatar was rid of his soldiers, he helped the two of us defeat ours. He ordered us to pull up the ladders, so we did. The Avatar left his standing and he jumped out on it and ordered me to jump on his back. I did so and the girl jumped on me so she was sitting on my shoulders. I held her legs as the held onto the other ladders.
This escape plan was absolutely crazy. The Avatar used the ladders as giant stilts to get across to the next wall. We were almost there when one of the soldiers set our ladder on fire, making the Avatar jump off too early. He had to use his airbending to propel us far enough. I grabbed onto the wall, but I couldn’t hold on. The girl didn’t dare hold onto the wall because if I dropped with her legs still wrapped around my neck, she could hang me. We fell landing on the ground, this time the girl landed on top. The guards charged us and the Avatar grabbed my shoulders and spun me around, but before he could I grabbed the girl by the waist and took her with me. Now the Avatar was facing the guards and I had my back to them, using my body to shield the girl. I felt a great gust of wind go around us as the Avatar blocked an attack.
I heard the familiar voice that I despise, “Stop! The Avatar must be captured alive!”
I turned and saw Zhao standing there, looking somewhat nervous of losing his precious capture. Realizing a way out of the fortress, I grabbed the girl and the Avatar and put my swords at their necks. I doubt Zhao cared about the girl, but I had to have her under my blade so I could take her with me.
The anger that spread across Zhao’s face brought me great joy. I smiled underneath the mask I wore.
“Open the gate,” he forcedly said. The gate slowly opened and I back out just as slowly, showing them that the Avatar was an inch away from death. I watched them as I back away. I saw Zhao at the top of the wall as I was nearing the forest.
‘Almost there,’ I thought hopefully. I thought we were going to make it, but then I heard something whistle through the air. By the time I spotted it, it was too late. An arrow hit me. My head throbbed with pain as I fell to the ground releasing my hostages. My vision blurred and then everything went black.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you guys are enjoying this so far. Comments are much love.
|
|
|
Changes
Jul 21, 2006 18:20:42 GMT -5
Post by mikomi on Jul 21, 2006 18:20:42 GMT -5
Chapter 3
Now in the forest, Aang sat under a tree, staring down at the ground, thinking. Mikomi was lying in a bed of leaves. She was in a lot of pain from the previous night’s escape. Her abdomen hurt from overuse. Wide-awake, she stared up at the sky. Turing her head to her left, she observed an unconscious Prince Zuko. He was lying in his own bed of leaves. Mikomi was still pondering over any reasoning she could find to why he would rescue them. Then she looked at Aang, who had a somber expression that was even more noticeable in his eyes.
Sighing, she got up after some difficulty and walked over to Aang.
“What troubles you Aang?” she said seriously, looking down upon him.
“Nothing…” Aang kept his head down. He was a terrible faker.
“Aang, I can tell when something troubles you. Now tell me. It will feel better to talk about it,” she said folding her arms.
“I just don’t understand it, Mikomi. Why would Zuko save us?”
Mikomi would’ve sat down, but she didn’t want to go through all of the trouble of standing back up again. “I don’t understand it either, Aang. There must have been some benefit for him”
“I don’t know,” Aang said looking up into her eyes.
Both of them were silenced when they heard a groaning. Their heads snapped to the source and they saw Prince Zuko, now conscious. His unscarred eye looked upon Aang.
“I had a friend 100 years ago. We used to get out of a lot of trouble like that. And he was from the Fire Nation, just like you,” Aang said turning his head to look at Zuko. The memories of a better time brought a smile to his face for the first time that morning. “Do you think we could have been friends?”
Zuko looked at him for a second then stood quickly, sending a blast of fire in Mikomi’s and Aang’s direction. Aang jumped above it agilely and completely avoided it. Mikomi sidestepped, barely getting out of the way in time. After that effort, Prince Zuko noticed her clutching her stomach, obviously still pained for some reason in her stomach.
Aang ran away from Zuko, but not as fast as he could so Mikomi could keep up. She followed Aang, but in serious pain. Her normal run was reduced to a jog. Zuko ran after the two, going as fast as he could. He gained a lot of ground on Mikomi, who was slowing by the second and her breathing became much more labored. Suddenly, she stopped still clutching her stomach and fell to her knees. Zuko took advantage of this moment and picked up his speed. Aang had just noticed that she wasn’t behind him and saw her on her knees, breathing heavily and holding her stomach. Then he noticed that Prince Zuko was right behind her. Aang turned and ran toward Mikomi, but he was too late.
Prince Zuko grabbed her arm tightly and pulled her to her feet. Wrapping his arm around her neck, he held her above the ground and had a free hand to attack the Avatar if necessary.
“Give yourself up Avatar,” Zuko demanded. “Or else your friend will be coming with me.”
“Let her go!” Aang shouted at him, fear filling his eyes.
Aang didn’t hear the response from Zuko, because as Mikomi was using both of her hands to hold onto the arm that was suspending her in the air, she spoke.
“A-Aang,” she said as she pulled herself up so she could speak. “Go…back to….Katara and…S-Sokka.”
“But, Mikomi. I can’t just leave you here,” he said saddened by her wish to sacrifice herself.
“You c-can’t…afford to be…c-captured,” Mikomi said stuttering.
“But…”
“G-go, I’ll…b-be fine,” she said trying to get some air into her lungs.
Aang took one last regretful look at Mikomi, and then bounded off into the trees.
Prince Zuko was astonished by her sacrifice. She gave herself up just to protect the Avatar. He was infuriated by her decision, for it had cost him the Avatar.
He let her out of the headlock and let her fall to the ground. Mikomi landed on her feet, but instantly fell to her knees, still in extreme pain. Zuko watched her for a second and then picked her up again, slinging her over his shoulder.
She shrieked in pain, because it was her stomach that was indeed in pain. Prince Zuko remembered that her stomach was hurt, but he didn’t care. He began to walk towards his ship.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A little while later, Mikomi was relatively still, except for the occasional shift in position trying to make it less painful. Prince Zuko was caught by surprise when something wet penetrated the clothing on his back. Turning, he looked for the source of the wet sensation, and then he realized it had come from the girl. The prince took her off his shoulder and held her up so that he could see her face. The girl’s face was wet with tears, teeth gritted, and she let out a moan of pain. He felt a small twinge of pity for the girl, because she had kept quiet about her pain for the entire time he had been walking.
“Can you walk well enough?” Zuko questioned glaring into her tear-filled eyes.
Her sole response was a small nod. But before he set her on the ground, he said, “Do not try to escape. You will regret it if you do.”
“Do you think I’m some kind of idiot?” she questioned sharply wiping tears from her face. Prince Zuko let her drop to the ground. Faltering a bit, she stood up and added, “You and I know very well I can’t get too far in my condition.”
He glared at the girl knowing she was right. Grabbing her tightly on the forearm, he said “Come on.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- They walked for quite some time, Mikomi would occasionally slow and Prince Zuko would pull her roughly beside him. His tight grip never loosened and hurt her arm. Now at the bottom of his ship, Prince Zuko had to nearly drag Mikomi up the walkway to board his ship.
He was irritated by her lack of desire to walk on her own, so his grip on her arm didn’t loosen. Stomping up the walkway, he began to hear the sound of a Sungi horn. When the two reached the deck of the ship, they saw a man sitting on a bench by the railing playing the horn.
Zuko realized it as his silly, old Uncle Iroh. But, Mikomi realized him as something else: the Great General Iroh, Dragon of the West.
“Hello, Nephew! You missed music night! Lieutenant Ji sang a stirring love song,” Iroh said happily to his nephew.
“Not now, Uncle,” Zuko said walking past him.
The Dragon of the West noticed the girl that Zuko was dragging on to the ship and said, “Who is that, nephew?”
“No one,” Zuko replied angrily.
‘Oh, so now I’m a no one,’ Mikomi thought to herself. From the point where Zuko was strangling her arm to her hand, it was now numb and she was sure she’d have a good bruise to prove it.
Zuko dragged her all the way to the prison cells. He opened up one of the cells and shoved her in. The cell had bars on three sides and a steel wall in the back. There was nothing in the cell, not even a chair. Zuko watched her examine her surroundings.
“Comfortable?” he asked smirking.
Mikomi glared back, but then, with a false sound of cheeriness in her voice, said, “Oh, yes most comfortable. The less nice Fire Nation prison cells had water on the floor, cockroaches, and rats. This one is definitely the nicest I’ve ever stayed in.”
Zuko’s fists were beginning to glow an orange color. Her smart mouth really annoyed him. Walking out of the room, his whole body was almost glowing and steam began to pour from his mouth.
Mikomi was satisfied with how she enraged him. If he was going to keep her here, she surely wouldn’t make it easy for him.
Looking at her surroundings, she noticed that there were no vents coming into her cell, so she didn’t have a way out. Unless she melted the bars of the prison cell, but that would take time and she wouldn’t risk it. The firebender often lost control of her fire.
She walked over to the corner and noticed that her pole and her dagger were no longer on her belt.
‘That arrogant Prince must have stole them off of me, when he was dragging me here,’ she thought to herself.
Sitting down slowly, so she wouldn’t aggravate her abdomen, she quickly became worn from the previous days activities. She sat straight up with her legs stretched out in front of her and her arms crossed. Her eyelids quickly became heavy and finally she gave into to her weariness and drifted into sleep.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Wake up!” That was the first thing to greet Mikomi the following morning, someone screaming at her.
She realized it as Prince Zuko’s voice and opened her eyes. Mikomi was still in the same position she had fallen asleep in.
“I called you three times! Answer me the first time! What’s the matter with you!” he said bossily. Mikomi’s vision cleared and she saw the Prince in his armor and holding a tray. His face was contorted into a glare.
“Well, being captured twice within two days can take a lot out of you,” she said returning the glare.
“Here’s your breakfast,” Zuko said sitting it on the floor and using his foot to push it over to her. He stood in the door of the cell and didn’t want to move so she couldn’t escape. Mikomi noticed his boot touched the bread and gave it a look of disgust.
“Oh, wonderful! I get to taste your boot on my bread this morning! How nice,” she said smartly.
The next thing she new Zuko was standing above her with a flame right in front of her face.
“Say something smart again, and you’ll be eating this flame for breakfast,” Zuko said.
Mikomi didn’t even flinch, because, unbeknownst to him, he was shoving her element in her face. She stared at the flame for a second and then looked up at Zuko.
Seeing that the flame didn’t bother her, he moved it away from her face. He returned to the door of the cell and leaned against the frame of it and watched her, crossing his arms. Mikomi took a look at the food. She picked up the tray and sat it on her lap. Picking up the bread, she noticed something. A very thin layer of white powder was on the bread.
‘How pathetic,’ she thought to herself smiling. Prince Zuko noticed her smile and began to worry.
‘She hasn’t noticed it has she?’
Then Mikomi picked up the class of water that was in a tin cup. She looked in the water and noticed that it wasn’t entirely clear. Looking at the rim, she noticed the same film of white powder. There was a bowl of soup as well and she saw the same thing on the rim of the bowl.
Then Prince Zuko saw her look around the prison room. He didn’t know that she was looking for a sign of a rat or mouse to test the food, but she saw none.
‘I guess I’ll have to find out the other way,’ she though to herself smiling.
Taking the end of the black wrapping on her forearm, she tore of a piece that was about the size of her palm. Then she picked up the bread and wiped it with the piece of black cloth, getting much of the powder on it. Examining it she threw it so it sat right between her and Zuko.
“Prince Zuko, would you be so kind as to set that piece of cloth on fire for me?” she asked grimly.
“Why?” he asked roughly.
“Oh, I just want to see the beautiful colors of the flame. A small flame will do,” Mikomi said smiling a false smile.
He decided to comply with her silly wishes, just to shut her up. With a flick of his wrist, he set the cloth on fire. At fire the flame was a light blue, then it turned green and went out leaving the cloth as ashes.
“Just what I thought,” she said grabbing the tray and putting the bread back on. Glaring at Zuko, she said, “Thanks for the food, but no thanks.”
After that was said she pushed the tray over towards him and it stopped at his feet.
“Why don’t you want your food!” he asked getting infuriated.
“I don’t like eating food that is drugged!” she shouted in response to him.
“What do you mean!”
“Oh, you can drop the act, Zuko! You drugged my food with Drowsiness Drought! I’ve seen it so many times before in the other prison cells! It is a fine, white powder that causes people to become extremely drowsy. It’s used to make people easier to handle and, I don’t know, easier to question about the Avatar!”
“What if that wasn’t Drowsiness Drought! Many drugs are white!”
“Only Drowsiness Drought, burns blue and then green. Thanks so much for setting that cloth on fire for me, because I would’ve had no idea what is was if you hadn’t!”
She had completely outsmarted him. Prince Zuko’s whole body was flaming now and smoke was falling out of his mouth. Mikomi felt the intense heat radiating off his body, but was not affected by it. She had endured extreme heat before, because fire was indeed her element. Then Prince Zuko, in his rage, fired two fireballs toward Mikomi. She jumped up over top of the first one and spun in the air as the second fireball came at her. It clipped her right shoulder, sending her down landing on her stomach.
Holding her arm and gritting her teeth, she looked at Zuko whose eyes were glowing with rage.
“What is your problem!” she shouted at him. Her shout seemed to wake him from some sort of trance. He realized what he had done and instantly regretted losing control like that. The memories of his father hurting his mother like that instantly came back to him. Then he looked into Mikomi’s eyes and was terrified by himself. Backing away out of the cell, he locked the door. Then he ran out of the prison to escape the pain of his actions.
|
|
|
Changes
Jul 21, 2006 18:21:39 GMT -5
Post by mikomi on Jul 21, 2006 18:21:39 GMT -5
Chapter 4
Mikomi held on to her charred shoulder, trying to bear the pain. The cool feel of her leather gloves without finger coverings made it feel a little better. It still stung badly though.
It had been a while since Prince Zuko had thrown his temper tantrum. Mikomi didn’t know exactly how long, because there was no way to tell time in her cell. She began to desperately miss Aang, Katara, and Sokka. Although Aang could be too energetic, Katara could be too much of a good girl, and Sokka could be too much of an idiot, she missed their company. At least they never threw violent temper tantrums and tried to drug her.
Two soldiers walked into the prison and were greeted by a pair of shocking blue eyes glaring at them. Mikomi was not happy to see them and wondered why they were here.
The two armor-clad men walked over to her cell and one unlocked it. They opened the cell and walked toward Mikomi, who was sitting in the corner. She blended in well with the dark wall of steel, as she was dressed entirely in black and her hair was jet black as well. The things that were most noticeable were her eyes. They stood out above the black; they were large and filled with emotion.
The men grabbed her forearms and pulled her to her feet. She was at about shoulder height to them. Mikomi was about to start fighting them, but she figured it was pointless and just let them lead her out of the prison.
The three of them walked down many corridors and finally stopped at a room. They walked through the door way and Mikomi took in her surroundings. The room was of average size and had a metal table that was bolted to the floor in the middle of it. A chair sat behind it. The only other things in the room was a strange monkey statue that had a ring of red jewels around its neck and masks on the wall. Mikomi recognized the mask on the wall. It was the blue mask Prince Zuko wore when he had rescued her and Aang. There were 3 other masks; a red one, a green one, and a black one. All of the masks were identical, except for the colors.
The soldiers walked Mikomi over to the chair and forced her down into it. They pushed on her shoulders to sit her down and she winced when one of them touched her right shoulder. One of them grabbed her wrists and brought her hands behind the chair. Putting handcuffs on Mikomi, the soldier had Mikomi attached to the chair. She realized this to be an interrogation.
Zuko probably will be the one to question me. Too bad he won’t get any information out of me.
After the soldier had inspected hishandcuff work,the two of them walked over to the door and stood at the entrance, staring her down. She stared back and at one point began glaring at them.
Her glaring was cut short when Prince Zuko strode into the room. Looking at Mikomi, he gave the soldiers the command to leave the room. The two saluted and left without a word. Prince Zuko quickly locked the door behind him, apparently not wanting to be disturbed. He turned with his hands clasped behind his back and looked at Mikomi.
He noticed that the bluish bruise on her left cheek was still as vibrant as ever, stretching from her lower cheek, up next to her eye. The girl stared at Prince Zuko with an emotionless look on her face.
“This is an interrogation. Answer all the questions I ask you and I won’t have to do anything…regrettable,” the Prince said now standing at the table looking down upon Mikomi.
Prince Zuko waited for some kind of response, but never got one, so he began with the questioning.
“What is your name?” He decided to start with the simple questions that she would answer.
There was a long silence and then Mikomi muttered, “Mikomi.”
Zuko began to walk in a circle around the table and her. “How old are you, Mikomi?”
“16,” she replied.
Prince Zuko was genuinely shocked by this. She looked a lot younger than she actually was, being so small. Mikomi noticed the shocked look on his face and then asked,
“What?”
“It’s just that…well…you don’t look 16,” he responded as he stopped circling her.
“And why is that?” Mikomi asked, with her temper rising. She knew why he thought that.
“Well…you’re just so-.”
“Short,” she cut him off. “You don’t need to tell me. I’ve been told enough already.”
Zuko noticed that she was becoming angry, and decided to avoid that topic and continue with the questioning.
“What nation where you born in?” he asked continuing his circling of the table.
Oh no. If I tell him what nation I was born in he might find out that I’m a firebender.
Mikomi turned her eyes to the wall and stared at a mask. She sat in silence in for a while, when Prince Zuko walked up to her and glared down on her and lifted his hand into her face. Flames jumped to life around his fist and he said, “I said, what nation were you born in?”
Mikomi would have not worried about the flame in her face if her hands weren’t bound behind the chair. So she muttered, “Fire Nation.”
Prince Zuko didn’t hear her so he pulled his flaming fist away from her face and said, “What did you say?”
“Fire Nation,” she said looking into her lap.
“You were born in the Fire Nation?” he asked shocked.
“Yes, but I was raised in the Earth Kingdom.”
“Are you a bender?” he asked.
He didn’t know it, but he had just asked the question she had hoped to avoid. Again, she went quiet.
“Answer my question!”
“Yes…” she answered quietly.
“What do you bend?”
“…fire.”
Prince Zuko was being shocked a lot during this interrogation. First this girl was born in the Fire Nation and now she’s a firebender?
“But I never saw you firebending when you fought against my men,” Zuko said.
“Like I said earlier, I was raised in the Earth Kingdom, and there are no firebenders there. I never bend, because…I don’t know how to control it,” she said as her face revealed the shame within her. A firebender who couldn’t control her fire.
“You said you were born in the Fire Nation though. Why were you raised in the Earth Nation?” he asked, standing next to her.
“I’m not exactly sure. The man who raised me told me that my father was a soldier in a young regiment that was supposed to act as bait to an Earth Kingdom regiment, somehow I stowed away and got on the boat over to the Earth Kingdom. I was only two at the time. My father found me when we docked at the Earth Kingdom and took me with him, because he couldn’t just leave me on the ship. My guardian told me he died as bait, a tactic Ozai used often. My guardian found me and raised me, teaching me everything he knew about the martial arts. I left him about a year ago.”
“So you had no one to teach you,” Prince Zuko said.
Mikomi nodded gravely. She was so ashamed of her lack of control. “My guardian knew I was a firebender, but anyone else I met didn’t.”
Prince Zuko was surprised by himself, because he actually felt sorry for the girl. He was surrounded by firebenders growing up, so he always had a teacher, who was most of the time Uncle Iroh. He also knew that many people were prejudice against the Fire Nation and anyone who could bend fire. He couldn’t imagine having to keep his talents secret. Deciding to avoid that topic, he asked another question.
“Why did Zhao capture you along with the Avatar?”
Mikomi then told him about how she had caused troubles for Fire Nation soldiers, because she was against the war.
“I’m guessing Zhao gave you the bruise, am I correct?”
Mikomi responded with a nod.
“Why did he though?”
“I told him that the war was pointless and Ozai was only keeping it going because he was power hungry. I called Ozai a fool of a leader and he hit me,” she said cautiously. She was afraid that what she had just said would set Zuko off. She was right.
“My father is not a fool!” he shouted at her.
“He is. This war is hurting your country. The war takes away all of the men who manufacture goods that the Fire Nation trades with other nations. It’s killing your economy and it’s hurting your people.”
“What do you mean hurting my people?”
“All of the mothers, sisters, fathers, brothers worrying about their loved ones,” Mikomi said staring at Prince Zuko now.
Prince Zuko thought on her words for a second. She was right. The economy must be suffering badly and all of the people who lost their loved ones were suffering even more. Not wanting to continue with the subject, he continued asking questions.
“Did Zhao hurt you in any other way?”
“Well, you’ve probably seen me clutching my stomach sometimes. He punched me.”
Zuko was curious to see the results of Zhao’s attack. So he lowered his hands to her stomach and grabbed the bottom of her tight, black shirt.
“Excuse you! What do you think you’re doing?” she shouted now squirming, trying to avoid his hands to no prevail. For he had already lifted her shirt, to see her abdomen, which was very well defined. There was a great bluish-brown bruise covering her entire abdomen.
No wonder she was clutching her stomach all the time. That looks painful.
Lowering her shirt, he received a dirty glare from Mikomi, but he just ignored it.
Prince Zuko was disgusted by Zhao’s violence, especially towards a woman.
“I’m guessing you said something else that he didn’t like.”
“I called him Ozai’s lap dog, which is only the truth,” she said.
Mikomi was surprised to see that he was now smiling, while he was looking at her. Prince Zuko noticed the look of confusion she was giving him and said, “I’m glad someone finally told him.”
Mikomi was shocked by how happy he was that she mouthed off to a person of his own nation. He must really hate him.
“Were you surprised to find me under the mask?” he asked now smirking.
“Yes, both of us were,” Mikomi said.
“What happened after I was knocked out?” he asked.
Mikomi sighed and said, “Well, at first we were going to just leave you there. Then, we realized that you saved us so we had to repay the debt. If Zhao had found out it was you under the mask, who knows what he would’ve done to you. So Aang carried you away from the fortress.”
Prince Zuko was now thinking about what she had just said. He found another question to ask her.
“Why do you care if I get hurt or killed?”
“Aang and I cared, well, because you had just saved our lives. The honorable thing to do would be to repay the debt. Secondly because we’re both tired of seeing people die. We were given a choice. Let you live or let you die. Neither of us would have chosen to let you die. Even if you are trying to capture him.”
Zuko stared at her, thinking.
No one, other than Uncle and mother, has ever cared about my life that much.
Then the question that the Avatar had asked him came back to haunt him again.
Do you think we could have been friends?
He hadn’t had friends in years. He almost forgot what it was like. Prince Zuko wanted to have friends, people that cared for him, just because they like him. He wanted to feel liked again. A mask of hate and rage covered his pain. He wanted to be able to take off that mask.
Remembering his task, he continued on with the questioning.
“Where is the Avatar?”
Mikomi looked at him for a moment with a cold, stern expression, but then responded.
“I don’t know. He’s probably left the place we were at by now,” she said staring into his golden eyes.
“And where is the place you were at?”
“Well, considering that I didn’t have a good view from your back and that I have no idea which direction the place where we were is, I don’t know. Besides, I wouldn’t tell you if I did know,” she said, glaring at him.
Her ignorance was annoying Prince Zuko. He walked behind her and looked down at the back of her head.
“Where is the Avatar headed?”
Mikomi glared down into her lap. She really just wanted to pull out her pole and hit Zuko on the back of the head right now. Sitting in silence for some time, she wondered what Zuko was doing behind her.
Zuko wasn’t behind her now. He had jumped up from behind and now looked infuriated.
“Answer me!” he shouted at her.
“I will not give you an answer to that question. You have nothing to threaten me with and nothing to bribe me with. You’ll never get that information from me,” she said coldly.
Mikomi could already feel the room heating up. He was becoming more infuriated by the second. Jumping in front of the seated Mikomi, he held up flaming fist into her face once more.
“What if I threaten your life!” he shouted at her.
Mikomi’s eyes brimmed with tears as she said, “My life is of no importance to anyone. It would not matter if I died. I have no family, nothing that would make my life worth living. My life is put to greater use if it is used to help the Avatar to save this world. His life is more important than mine and I would gladly surrender my life to protect his.”
Prince Zuko was taken aback by her words, as a solitary tear ran down Mikomi’s face. She had just called herself worthless. He drew his fist away from her face. He had never seen anyone so…broken.
Mikomi tried to hold it back, but it was no use. 14 years of pain came pouring out. She sobbed and slumped in the chair.
“Nobody cares…”
That was the last thing she said before she started sobbing uncontrollably. She just let the tears come out. She felt so much: pain, depression, shame, and humiliation. Humiliation for breaking down in front of the Prince of the Fire Nation.
Prince Zuko was not entirely sure what to do. He had never dealt with sobbing girls before. He had felt something that had not felt in a long time: pity. This girl had gone through so much.
No parents, no family, no friends, no love. No one to teach her how to fire bend; he couldn’t imagine himself without his firebending. It was a part of him, as he was sure it was a part of her. Prince Zuko watched her and waited until she calmed herself.
Deciding to finish the interrogation with that, he walked beside her and grabbed her shoulder, pulling the girl to her feet, rougly.
Mikomi didn’t feel like resisting, so she just let him guide her out of the room with his hand on her shoulder. He led her down a couple of corridors and stopped at a room. It was relatively small, but had a bed with a metal frame in the corner, a wooden drawer chest, and a feeble looking chair. All of the furniture was nailed to the floor; Mikomi guessed that was to keep the furniture from sliding. There was a small window that let in the only light, other than a fire-lit lamp on the wall.
“This is where you will be staying, now,” he said, letting go of her shoulder.
“Why?” she asked.
“Since I found out you are a firebender, you could melt through the bars. It would take much longer to melt through a thick, steel door,” he said.
Prince Zuko grabbed the chain of the metal handcuffs on Mikomi’s wrists, and pulled her toward him. She grunted, as she was pulled backward so suddenly.
Prince Zuko pulled out a small, silver key and put them into the lock and turned the key until he heard it click. Once he did the same with the other cuff, he pulled them off.
Mikomi suddenly fell to her knees, in a bowing position, holding her stomach, quivering, and moaning.
Prince Zuko knelt next to her and lifted her head up, cupping her chin in his hand. He noticed that she was starting to sweat, obviously pained badly.
“What is wrong?”
“My…abdomen…can’t…take…it,” she said labored by speaking.
Zuko forgot about the injury and didn’t even think about getting it looked at. He lifted her up, so she was sitting on her feet. Putting his arm behind her back, he said gently, “Lay back.”
With her teeth gritted and moaning, she slowly laid back until she felt Zuko’s arm. Once she had her back on his arm, he put his free arm under her legs and lifted her gently, and bridal style. He carried her over to the bed and laid her down as gently as he could.
“I’m going to go get the ship doctor,” he said to her, then turning to jog out the door.
|
|
|
Changes
Jul 21, 2006 18:22:42 GMT -5
Post by mikomi on Jul 21, 2006 18:22:42 GMT -5
Chapter 5
Prince Zuko, standing outside of his prisoner’s room, was awaiting the results of the doctor’s examination on Mikomi. The doctor had been in there for quite a while. Zuko heard the occasional groan, but nothing else.
Finally, the door creaked open and the doctor stepped out.
“How is she?” Zuko asked.
“Well, she has severe bruising on her abdomen, which I wrapped up, with some…difficulty,” he said frowning.
“What difficulty?” Prince Zuko said to the doctor.
“That girl is a little stubborn. She didn’t like it when I told her I had to lift her shirt up a little. The room got really hot. Is she a firebender?” he asked.
“Yes,” Prince Zuko said, smirking at the girl’s bad temper.
“Yeah, she had the temperament of a firebender. Well, I managed to bandage up her abs. I gave her a salve for that bruise on her face, which should make it wear off within days. She’ll use the same salve when the bandages on her abs come off. She also had a nasty burn on her right shoulder,” he said, recounting Mikomi’s condition to Zuko.
Prince Zuko frowned at the mentioning of that particular injury, since it was he who gave it to her.
The doctor noticed this and lifted an eyebrow in suspicion, but continued with his report.
“It was infected, so I fixed it up and bandaged that up. That girl has been through a lot,” he said with pity in his voice.
“How do you know?” Prince Zuko said.
“You should see all of the scars she has. Just terrible. Most of them look like burns, most likely if she was ever captured by other firebenders before. She has a lot of cuts on her forearms, which is why she always wears those black coverings, I assume. On her back, there’s a lot of whipping scars too. Poor girl,” the doctor said shaking his head.
“Thank you, doctor. That will be all,” Prince Zuko said.
The doctor made a low bow and walked away. Prince Zuko opened the door and saw Mikomi sitting up in her bed, rewrapping the black strips of cloth around her arms. Her eyes jerked up and connected with Zuko’s golden eyes. Zuko could see the weariness in her eyes. She probably had not had a decent sleep for awhile.
Mikomi’s left forearm was bare, revealing multiple, red scars and burns that took the shape of handprints completely covering it. The right forearm, which she was in the process of wrapping, resembled the other.
Zuko walked over to the bed and grabbed her left forearm, causing Mikomi to grunt. He examined it, wondering how this girl could have survived it.
“Who did this to you?” Zuko asked, with a business-like tone.
“When I was in other Fire Nation prisons, they did this to me often,” she said pulling her arm away to continue wrapping it.
“Why?” Zuko asked.
Mikomi sat in silence for a moment and then said, “I don’t know. For fun I guess, because they had no other reason to do it.”
Prince Zuko was disgusted by the brutality of his own nation. How people could do this to a woman was beyond him. He never did believe in hurting women.
Mikomi had finished wrapping her left forearm, when a loud growling sound caused her to stop. She clutched her stomach and grimaced.
Prince Zuko had just realized that she hadn’t probably eaten in two days. Mentally kicking himself for forgetting, he looked down at Mikomi.
“Why didn’t you say you were hungry?” he asked.
Mikomi glared for a second and said, “At the other prisons they beat me even more if I asked about food.”
Prince Zuko was astonished by how cruel they were toward her. No wonder she was so thin.
“Well, rest assured that you will not suffer any beatings here. If you do you are to inform me,” he said with his hands clasped behind his back.
Mikomi just stared at him, wondering why he would care. Prince Zuko didn’t feel comfortable with her remaining silent and staring at him so he turned and walked toward the door. He put his hand on the handle to the door, but stopped.
“I will return with some food,” he said, opening the door.
He walked out and with that Mikomi lay down in the bed, weary from lack of sleep. She fought a losing battle against the weight of her eyelids. Wanting to be awake for the food, Mikomi tried to stay awake. Five minutes later she realized that it was futile to force herself to stay awake, so she let her eyes close and her weariness sweep over.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prince Zuko carried a tray with some simple foods. Bread, soup, water. The same thing he had given her before, but this time he decided to hold off on the drugs. Opening the door, he saw the girl lying down, with her back facing the door.
He walked into the room, making as much noise as he could to wake the girl before he had to resort to physically waking her. Stomping over to her bed, the girl stirred a little in her sleep, mumbling something, and then fell silent again. Sighing, Prince Zuko would have to wake her himself.
He jabbed her in the shoulder with his finger, waking the girl so quickly that she jumped into a sitting position and put her arms into a fighting position. Realizing who it was that woke her, she stopped herself from attacking.
Her eyes were wide with shock, from waking so suddenly. She obviously was attacked often in her sleep, because it looked like a normal reaction. Then, with ravenous eyes, she noticed the tray of food.
Mikomi grabbed the tray so quickly; Zuko didn’t even have time to react. She devoured the food, because she couldn’t stand it any longer.
Prince Zuko was a little taken aback by her lack of manners. So he walked out of the room as the girl thoroughly enjoyed her meal.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mikomi was now sitting in the mess hall next to Prince Zuko, who had said that he doesn’t wish to act like a servant bringing food to her everyday, so she had to eat in the mess hall with all of the other sailors and soldiers. Mikomi had a wonderful sleeps the previous three nights, because she had slept in an actual bed the first time in two and a half years. Her appearance was rough with bags under her tired eyes. After she had eaten, she bathed, which made her feel so much better. Her injuries were healing well. The bruises on her face and stomach were gone, but her stomach still pained her.
The ship had set sail two days ago after Aang flew over them on Appa.
The food was very good to her, but any food right now was good. Even though she had a meal the previous days, her hunger was not satisfied. She bore through her food at a disturbingly quick speed. Now she sat, staring at a wall, while Zuko and Iroh ate.
“So where are you from, Mikomi?” Iroh said, getting uncomfortable with the silence.
“Earth Kingdom,” she said, breaking her stare at the wall to look at Iroh, who had finished eating.
“But you are a firebender aren’t you? How were you raised in the Earth Kingdom?”
“I’m not exactly sure, my guardian didn’t know. He just found me,” Mikomi said folding her arms over her chest and staring down into her lap.
“Who was your guardian?”
“I never learned his true name. I was more of a martial arts student to him than a daughter. He never acted like a father,” Mikomi said.
“So you are skilled in the martial arts, eh?”
“Yes,” Mikomi said, coldly.
“Maybe if Prince Zuko taught you firebending you could teach him martial arts,” Iroh said smiling.
At that moment Prince Zuko snorted as he was drinking. He looked up quickly and said, “Uncle, I will not teach a prisoner to firebend!”
“It would be a fair trade wouldn’t it Prince Zuko, both of you would become much better fighters. A skilled martial artist could easily defeat the most skilled firebender,” Iroh said, smiling knowingly.
“How?” Zuko asked impatiently.
“Martial artists are much faster than firebenders,” he looked at Mikomi for a second and said, “Particularly female martial artists, because women are more agile.”
Mikomi smirked tauntingly at Zuko.
“I could defeat her easily,” he said, poking his thumb in her direction.
“Oh, could you little prince? Why don’t we just see if you are correct? How about we spar?” Mikomi said.
Prince Zuko stood up, making his chair fall back, his fists now flaming.
“Fine! Meet me on the deck in half an hour!”
Zuko strode away, still fuming. Mikomi smirked after him.
“You know, old man, you’re exactly right. Firebenders are easy for me to defeat. They’re much too slow.”
After saying this Mikomi stood up and exited the mess hall.
“This should be a good fight,” Iroh said to a soldier next to him.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was around noon and the sun was blotted out by an overcast of gray clouds over the deck. Mikomi sat on the railing of the ship watching Prince Zuko, who stood on the opposite side of the deck staring out at the sea.
Some soldiers stood on the sidelines of the battle arena, because word had gotten around about the fight. Everyone knew it would be a good fight, because this girl had avoided multiple firebenders for the past 3 years and would be fighting the firebending Prince.
Iroh strode out to the middle of the battle area. Once Mikomi had seen him do this she got off the railing and walked toward him. Zuko turned as soon as he heard her footsteps on the metal surface of the deck.
She looked at him and stared into his eyes. They looked like molten gold. She knew he was trying to figure out how she felt, but with all of her years of training, her emotions never showed.
Zuko was staring deep into her eyes. He had once been told that the eyes were the windows to the soul. But, Zuko saw nothing. Her eyes were emotionless, except for one emotion that seemed never to leave her eyes: pain. The girl always looked sad. He had not once seen her smile out of joy. He guessed that joy was an emotion she rarely felt.
The two met Iroh at the same time, both never breaking their gaze from each other. Zuko was shirtless and wore his black, baggy training pants. Mikomi wore her normal outfit. The tight, black, sleeveless shirt and her baggy black pants. Her arms were adorned with the normal black wrapping and leather gloves.
Mikomi had to look up to still be able to continue staring into Zuko’s eyes, while Zuko looked down at her.
“This is a mere spar, no killing each other. Got it?” Iroh asked the two teens.
Zuko nodded, never breaking his gaze on Mikomi.
“I won’t try to, at least,” Mikomi said, tauntingly.
Zuko was now glaring at her, his rage coming out.
He angers so easily. A weakness that can easily be exploited.
Iroh sighed and said, “Shake hands.”
Zuko put his hand out first, smirking down upon Mikomi. He obviously was either going to burn her hand or crush it.
Mikomi took it, and once her hand was within his, Zuko strengthened his grip, in hopes of crushing her hand. He smirked at her, but the smirk was wiped off of his face once he saw that she didn’t even flinch and her facial expression hadn’t even changed.
He let go, disappointed, as Iroh continued his directions.
“Go to your positions,” he said looking at Prince Zuko, scoldingly.
Once the two were in position, Iroh lifted his arm.
“Are you two ready?”
Both nodded quickly and Iroh dropped his arm.
“Begin!”
The soldiers on the deck now all looked at the two fighters. Many were making bets; most of them that Prince Zuko would win.
Zuko began with his typical fury of fireballs. Mikomi just looked bored and sidestepped all of them. Prince Zuko charged Mikomi, who stood there watching. Prince Zuko created a fire sword and slashed upwards, sending an arc of flame at Mikomi, who jumped over top of it. She had jumped incredibly high, heading in Zuko’s direction. She landed one foot on his shoulder and pushed off, sending Zuko in the opposite direction. Zuko spun around and saw Mikomi, standing there smirking.
He growled under his breath and said, “Are you too afraid to attack!”
Mikomi, still smirking, said, “No, it’s just fun to let you tire yourself out. But if you really want me to attack that badly, I guess I will.”
Mikomi bent low and ran toward Prince Zuko, who awaited her attack. She was running incredibly fast, almost too fast to see. As Mikomi neared him, she clenched her hands into fists. Pulling her fists back as though to punch Zuko, quickly bent onto one knee and kicked Zuko’s feet out from under him.
Zuko was not even expecting this; he was expecting her to punch at him. Mikomi stood back up and jumped into the air and spun around and upside down, heading down upon Zuko. Quickly, Zuko rolled to the side as her feet came down, with a loud, resonating bang, on the spot where his stomach just was.
Zuko’s back was now to the railing, as he was getting up Mikomi ran up to him and fired her fists at him. Caught entirely off guard, Zuko backed up as Mikomi’s fists landed in his stomach rapidly. She stopped suddenly and dashed toward him. She dove out landing on her hands, springing herself toward Zuko. Her feet landed on his chest, knocking him backward and taking his breath away. His back hit the railing hard. He let his head hang down as he clenched his chest, trying to regain his breath.
Mikomi walked up to him and held a hand down toward him. He looked up, confused.
“I don’t attack someone while they’re down, so get up,” she said forcefully. Instead of grabbing her hand, he kicked her feet out from under her, standing up. Before she could even hit the deck, Zuko grabbed her wrist, holding her off the ground and thrusted his knee into her stomach, making her gasp for breath. Zuko smirked at the girl he still held off the ground.
Before he could even move, Mikomi had her legs pulled together on his neck, stopping him from breathing. He let go of her hand. Once she was free she let go of his neck and landed on her hands in front of Zuko. In her handstand, she pulled her knees to her chest and pushed off the ground, extending her legs and kicking him in the chin. Zuko, stumbled back, as his vision blurred a bit, but then focused again.
Mikomi landed gracefully awaiting Zuko’s next attack. After becoming tired of waiting, she charged this time. But Zuko made fire explode from his feet and it headed right towards her feet, making her jump up in the air, now flying toward Zuko. Instead of waiting for her to land, Zuko punched her in the stomach right before she landed.
Mikomi gasped loudly and cringed. Stumbling backward, as she held her stomach, quivering with pain. Zuko took advantage of the moment and pressed attack on her, punching and kicking her all over her body. Mikomi fell to the ground, her eyes closed. Iroh noticed this and was preparing to walk out to end the fight, but Mikomi’s eyes opened suddenly. Her face was contorted with extreme rage.
When she opened her eyes, Zuko noticed something different right away. Her eyes were golden, just like his. But they had changed from blue to gold so quickly; what happened to her?
Mikomi stood up shaking with rage. She let out a scream of anger as flame jumped to life around her body. Now her eyes almost looked like they were glowing. Unexpectedly she disappeared. Zuko looked all around him, but saw no trace of her. Then she reappeared quickly right in front of him, with the flame still engulfing her body. She spun and kicked him in the stomach, the flames burning him as well. The force of the kick seemed increased by the flame, because it send him back flying much more than her previous attacks.
He landed with his heading banging slightly on the metal, but enough to make his vision blur again. Mikomi was now standing over him, the flame still dancing around her body.
Iroh saw what was occurring. Afraid that his nephew might be murdered, he ran out as fast as he could and stood between the fire-engulfed girl and Zuko.
“The battle is over, you have won!” Iroh shouted at the girl, who was breathing heavily from her rage.
It was as though she had come out of a trance, her eyes widened and shock, but the flames did not die. She fell to her knees, her hands clasping each side of her head.
“Control it. Control it. Control it!” she repeated, trying to stop the flame.
The flames slowly diminished in size. Mikomi stood again and looked at Zuko who was staring at her with a shocked expression. She turned and ran inside, ashamed for losing her grip.
|
|