AVATAR: An Icy Burn-Out (BennyQ/Sketchyequine)

[BennyQ]

Water. Earth. Fire. Air.

Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them. But when the world needed him most…he vanished. A hundred years have passed and the Fire Nation is nearing victory in the War.

In the Southern Water Tribe, the men of one tribe journey to join their brethren in battle at the North Pole. Hope for total victory is forlorn, though the warriors are adamant in their resolve, for none wish to live upon their knees when they can die a warrior’s death upon their feet.

It is still believed that the Avatar will return to save the world. But until then, the fate rests in the hands of ordinary men and women, benders and warriors alike.

---

The trio of ships, blue sails and wooden hulls, cruised swiftly through the clear waters. Each carried a complement of some thirty to forty warriors, armed with spear, club, and arrow, though there were two or three per ship who knew the art of Water Bending. They wore heavy furs of black or dyed blue, showcasing their allegiances proudly, and many had caps and helms in the shape of sea-beasts, their husks and teeth forming cheek-guards. Each warrior burned with the urge for battle, their lands and tribe having suffered at the hands of the Fire Nation from their relentless raids. By conjoining with their kin at the North Pole, perhaps they would have a chance to return such fury to their foes.

That is, if the enemy had not found them first. A clear sky it was, as blue as the deep waters around, and that should have been enough to conceal the small fleet as it crossed the world to reach their allies. But not all ports were safe in the Earth Kingdom, where they stopped for supply and rest at times. Though their allies still seemed to hold sway over some regions, opposing the armies of the Fire Nation as best they can, spies and informants still got through. Cruelly, it was often those forced to do so who should have been their allies, having some relative or friend in a Fire Nation prison camp. Falsely promised their freedom, or for the mere greed of coin, many served their oppressive tyrants. The reinforcing fleet was marked and was soon swallowed into a trap.

It was made evident to the warriors on the ship when blackened soot began to fall. They all knew it well. Laughter ceased. Music stopped. Men dropped oars and grabbed their weapons. Soot always fell before the Fire Nation, in their metal ships spewing ash into the air, would attack. They had tried to take the war to their enemies. Now that war had come to them again. And they were far from their element.

The sun was sinking and there would be no Moon that night, the source of all water-bender’s powers. But all were resolved to fight. Despite the sea being their element, they were clearly outmatched, for soon many vessels were spotted off their stern and bow, on a fast course to intercept. The only choice was to dip towards the land and perhaps find a suitable location to defend and repel the attackers, perhaps some high ground, for there were great cliffs that lined the shore to their right. So the Water Tribe ships dipped towards it, presenting their flanks to the advancing ships. They had no idea what was in store for them when they would land. If they had to abandon the ships, that was fine. It was decided they could seek to redress their wrongs by joining the Earth Kingdom instead.

Rikkar rubbed his hands together and brought them before his mouth, huffing slightly. Despite it being a warm day, even in late evening, his breath came out like a puff of fog, as it might during winter, perpetually so in his home. His mind he focused with incantations, fluidly and flowing like passing water back and forth with one of the elders who had taught him and the others. He was one of the few Water Benders in the fleet, practiced and quite sharp, though not as battle-tried as he ought to be. He was still young, nineteen years, and had participated in a few defenses of his home. But that was only against raiders and cheap banditry level troops on part of the Fire Nation. But each boosted his courage and confidence for battle and he was indeed good, fighting off one or two Fire Benders in his lifetime.

His parents did not like it though. Displays of water-bending, even to repel Fire Nation warriors, only seemed to draw them back. It was not known to the Southern Water Tribe that the eradication of the art of water-bending was their goal. Rikkar had a large target on his back, whether he knew it or not. Their tribe was a small one. Most water-benders had gone to the main settlement and thus with the convoys of warriors sent in earlier times, leaving few to teach the art. His training had not been completed and he was still rough around the edges. Now all the men of his tribe were here, while those who could not fight were sent to join the main village at the South Pole. If they did not return…

No, they had to return, otherwise they would die out. Just like the Air Nomads.

“Move it! Take cover behind those rocks!” Chieftain Hiddock shouted, using his club to point and gesture. “The rest of you, set up a camp there. We’ll use it to draw them in and hit them on three sides.” He said and the men hurried began to unpack and move about. Rikkar moved up with a dozen others armed with spear and boomerang, taking cover behind some large boulders out of sight of the sea. The Fire Nation ships would be upon them soon. Hopefully they took the bait. Or perhaps they were entrapped themselves.

Water benders had one disadvantage though. Next to the water, they had unlimited access to their bending. Without water, they were useless. And there was much land and solid stone where there wasn’t water, whereas the Fire Benders could produce it from their very bodies. Thankfully, Rikkar carried a flask at his side, filled to the brim with water, which provided on-the-go means to bend if he had to. But would it be enough? Steam he could recover into liquid form and into ice or from ice he could manipulate. He waited as the Fire Nation ships approached, already seeing the fires being ignited behind their artillery bastions. Those on the shore would be under severe bombardment very soon.

“Spirits guide us.” Rikkar murmured and prepared to give battle.

 

[Sketchyequine]

The ships cut through the water with a sharpened point at the front designed for cutting through ice and rough waters; however, for most that saw the fire nation approaching it also seemed to cut away the freedoms of man. The fire nation was brutal and left no stone unturned. This war between the nations was far older than any of the warriors in the fleet of twelve ships. Each ship held 50 warriors for a grand total of six hundred, and, unlike many of the other nations, they had plenty of benders to work with. Each ship housed ten firebenders, and all ten were all highly skilled in their art. The fire nation didn’t send out their benders until they were moulded into lethal warriors who would not be easy to take down. At the head of these fifty men and women who made art out of flames? A woman.

This woman had been at the top of her class. She was a skilled combatant and leader with a set of skills that made her a force to be reckoned with. Daughter of a commander and betrothed to a man with a powerful name, she had influence in the fire nation, but more important she had influence over this fleet. In fact, she lead it. It was Zinni that called the shots with these men and women, and they were going after those ships. At first she had planned to intercept them in the water even if that was where they would be most powerful: after all, they were outnumbered and undoubtedly outskilled as compared to Zinni and her troops. But when the fleet turned tail and ran like a group of damn cowards.

“After them.” She called, standing at the bow of the lead ship. Her voice was cool and collected even as she planned to go into battle. Zinni could see no reason to be worried. He fire nation might lose a handful of foot soldiers, but the loss was outweighed by the gain. These ships were on their way north, no doubt toward the northern water tribe. There would be benders on these boats. “We’ll throw anchor a mile north of them and loop around on the rhinos, attacking them on all sides.” She nodded and started her trek from the bow down into the belly of the ship were she alerted the soldiers in charge of the care of the animals to hurry up and get the beasts ready. They were taking this battle to land.

The woman’s pale hands cupped he nose of one of the beasts gently, rubbing her thumbs softly over his rough, thick, tough skin and took a deep breath. There were few joys in life for Zinni. Unexpected, yes, that such an esteemed firebender would be unhappy, but it was true. This beast, affectionately named Ze, was Zinni’s war mount, and he was quite possibly her only true friend in the world. He had seen countless battles beneath the woman and had served her faithfully in each one of them. The beast had been a gift to Zinni upon her completion of training at age eighteen and also an offering in exchange for her hand. Now, four years later at the age of twenty two, Zinni liked the rhino better than she liked her fiance, but tradition was tradition.

Within the hour the ships were anchored and the hundreds of rhinos and men were unloaded and armed for battle. Everyone, save for the few leaders, were dressed in traditional fire nation armor, but Zinni had a little more flare in her battle attire. She hopped onto the back of her armored rhino and fastened her sword to her side before moving the beast forward to speak in front of her soldiers.

“Attention gentlemen.” She began. Her voice was loud and authoritative. “You are all to circle around back silently at just enough distance to go undetected and begin to subdue the natives. We are not here for a genocide although some casualties are to be expected. Do you best to keep at least the benders alive. They are of value to me.” She nodded. Tightening her grip on the reins. “Non benders, you go first. The firebenders will make up the second wave. As soon as the battle is won head back to the ships and lock all prisoners in the cells. Anyone still on land when the lock up is complete will be left behind. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes captain!” The men cried.

“Onward!” She shouted, and without hesitation everyone began to move.

They made their way through the woods quietly and efficiently. Those mounted and those on foot each kept their mouths shut and their helmets on as they moved, saying silent prayers in their minds that things would go smoothly with this capture. The last thing that Zinni needed was to have to explain significant casualties to her father and the rest of the council. She needed to do this swiftly and easily without getting her own or even the enemies killed. They were destined for prison camps, not for unmarked graves. While she was happy to hurt anyone who crossed her she always attempted not to walk too close to the edge of death. Thus far? Her murdering had been minimal and most of her captives now made themselves useful working in coal mines or doing some other useful trade while still keeping them away from their elements. However, in her experience, waterbenders were tricky.

Their element had to be provided on a silver platter to them otherwise they would die of dehydration: increasing the death toll. Unlike with the air nomads, the fire nation had decided not to wipe out the water benders for one reason or another, but they were the main targets for leaders like Zinni. Any intel that could be gained on camps, ships, and strategies were highly valuable and would be extracted from victims at great cost to their own personal health. While Zinni didn’t like to murder age was more than happy to torture. The beauty of it with water benders was that she could torture them within an inch of their lives and by the next day, if provided a cup of water, they would be as good as new again and she could start all over on them again: feeding on their screams until they have her what she wanted.

Once they had the pathetic little camp of the water tribe surrounded, still hidden within within the shrubbery. The foot soldiers lined up in front of the mounted and all waited for the word from Zinni. As soon as their leading lady gave a nod of her pretty little head they charged: hundreds of armed soldiers moving in on probably less than a hundred strong water nomades. This fight was won before it had even started. The soldiers got to work restraining who they could or murdering if they must, but most of the nomads were no match for the fire nation warriors. Within minutes everyone in that quaint little camp was either subdued or dead except for a few more talented benders were we’re putting a bit of a dent in Zinni’s army.

“Firebenders… it’s our turn.” She nodded and her men went forward ahead of her while she held back. With this method she would easily be able to pick out the most dangerous water bender and take he or she one herself. All of her soldiers were highly skilled, but not even they could take on the young and beautiful Zinni. She counted 30 beats in her head before running the rhinos neck and asking him to charge full speed ahead. The thundering of his monstrous feet, nearly twice the size of all the other rhinos, rang through the tree line as she let out a battle cry of her own. As soon as she broke the tree line she let out a puff of air that quickly formed into a wall of flame flying outward and singing all the nomades not wearing proper protective gear. At that moment all eyes were on her save for her warriors who were working their own magic on the water benders.

Zinni’s eyes fell on a young, handsome man with long, dark hair who was causing obvious trouble with some of her warriors, and she urged Ze forward into another charge directly at the man who, despite being younger than even Zinni herself, seemed to have the most spunk out of his group. A trouble maker no doubt. The rhino hit him: catching the fabric of his pathetic clothing of his forward most horn and carrying the man back into the tree line away from his people without any trouble whatsoever. Zinni spurred on the beast until the rest of the battle was well out of sight then she yelled “Drop him, Ze! This is far enough!” And, like a well trained beast, the rhino lowered his head just enough that the boy dropped to the dirt with a loud thud forced to roll to a stop just inches from being crushed under the rhino’s trampling feet.

The animal wheeled around to face the fallen waterbender with a silent command from his rider and slid to a stop facing him. Zinni gave him a quick back and jumped off of his back in a graceful maneuver: landing on her feet. Without hesitation Zinni walked forward, her hands twisting and turning in front of her until they formed a fireball engulfed in blue flames. In an instant she planted her feet, hurling the skin melting ball of flame at the man without an ounce of regret on her face. It probably wouldn’t kill him. Right?

 

[BennyQ]

It took the greatest amount of willpower to stay put and hidden as the Fire Nation ships hit the shore and began to unload men and material. Dozens of foot soldiers and rhinos but were they fighters? Conscripted peasants or bullies and thugs looking to oppress others, they had nothing on true freedom fighters and those who fought with the heart. Rikkar and his people were fighting for their very lives, while the Fire Nation were only looking for conquests and riches. They could do this. All they had to do was stand their ground and the foe would break themselves like water on a rock.

The main body of the Water Tribe, the bait, would take the blunt of the Fire Nation landing force. Rikkar and his group, along with another on the far edge, would shadow and flank the Fire Nation group as they landed and tried to make headway, drawn into a trap. They wouldn’t have the conviction to match their icy demeanor in battle. It seemed so easy, the Fire Nation force so headstrong and arrogant. And so, without a doubt as to their own danger, when the Fire Nation ships and fighters pursued them up the beach, they got ready to spring their trap. They wouldn’t expect the surprise attack.

Just as they, the Water Tribe warriors and benders, didn’t expect the Fire Nation to ambush the ambushers.

The Water Tribesmen fell upon the Fire Nation landing party and tore them to pieces, half not even aware that Fire Nation soldiers appeared all around from the trees and mountains. Rikkar by some fortune spotted them a moment early, even as Chieftain Hiddock took three spears to his body and was slaughtered, along with many others who found themselves surrounded. Quickly, the three groups of Water Tribesmen were cut off from each other and each outnumbered by two or threefold their numbers. What was supposed to be a glorious ambush turned into a desperate struggle. But as he thought before, they had conviction and each fighter of his kin took one or more down with them. They would die here today but the Fire Nation would think twice about it.

Rikkar definitely put in his own dent in the memory of his foes. Forming two whips of water extending from his arm, he managed to keep a considerable space of safety about him as he whipped, lacerated, or outright grabbed Fire Nation warriors and flung them aside. He didn’t think at first of fleeing. His comrades, his kin, his people, they were all dying or captured here. He would not think of abandoning them even to save his own life. His teeth gritted and sweat tickled his forehead. He was already panting hard when a large beast began to rumble towards him. His water lashes barely affected it, splashing off its hideous hide as it bore into him. He reached out in some subconscious gesture, not really knowing what he was doing, as the creature struck him.

The horn tore through the fabric on his shoulder and hefted him right up, jerking his body roughly. He clenched his teeth and grabbed the horn to try and balance himself, struggling to hold on and not be trampled as he was carried far from the fight. The screams of his dying comrades was replaced with whipping branches and fluttering leaves but the solace of it didn’t distract him. The beast came to a halt and he struck the ground, heaving for breath, his arms feeling like deadweight. It took a moment to struggle to his feet, Rikkar expecting the cold brush of steel into his flesh at any moment. Instead he felt sudden heat and looked up to see a female fire bender preparing to attack him.

With a sudden leap, he threw himself aside and was only singed by the launched fireball. The cork of his water flagon flew off and a jet of water came out, clear and crystalline, swirling about him in a protective net. He kept his distance, his arms moving slightly in an elegant dance, matching the water flowed fluidly with his motions around him. His brow furrowed but he still panted, wounded from the carry and already exhausted from the previous combats. But he was not about to give up. I am ready to die for my people and land.

“Aren’t you the honourable one.” He mocked, trying to goad his opponent into making the first move. “Picking a fight with someone who’s back is turned, already preoccupied. Is this how you win all your fights? You must be so proud. Well come on then, I never had any issue teaching little girls how to dance.” Rikkar said with a forced grin, white teeth visible in neat rows, as bright as the ivory tusks of a walrus. He needed to preserve his water though. He had a limited supply. And he could not stoop to such a base level as taking water from vegetation, leaving it dead. There was water all about, but it would kill the grass and leaf if he did. This war is about protecting life, not destroying your enemy.

He waited for the Fire Bender’s assault. Fireballs he simply lashed aside with the water, producing puffs of steam which he promptly reabsorbed back into his swirling tendril of protection. As long as she didn’t output enough fire to completely reduce his water supply to steam, he could prevail in this. He just needed to wait for her to expend herself before he even dared to attempt an attack. But he was tiring. His bare shoulders, rounded like balls of iron and looking as hard, heaved up and down with his breathing. He had a cut on his forehead which began to bleed onto his eye, distracting him. His clothing was tattered. He was a desperate animal, cornered and wounded, but capable of biting deep. And Rikkar waited for it, ready to spring on any mistake his foe might make.

If she tried to come near, the water tendril would form into a lance of solid ice on his right arm, with a very sharp point, ready to jab and hack at her. But if she got close enough, within range, there was nothing he could do to stop her.

 

[Sketchyequine]

Zinni cocked a braw as he talked to her, hiding like a coward behind a wall of water. There was no honor in hiding. It made her hate him rather than the neutrality that she usually felt towards her captives. Spirits. It was so tempting to just kill him and report back that he gave her no other choice. A dishonorable man so happy to drop her soldiers deserved to die while engulfed in her flame. Yet, killing him would do more harm than good. It would be a bad mark on her stellar reputation to have the maan she singled out be one of the waterbenders who was killed during today's battle which, by all reason, should have been an easy one. These little drowned rats were putting up a fight.


“I have more honor than anyone from a tiny tribe could ever understand.” She spoke, using her own hands to create a small ball of flame between her palms. It was all for show. She wouldn't throw this one at him as it would be too small to do anything but sizzle in his pathetic little shield. “You just know little of good war strategy. Always hit when it’s least expected, little boy. You won’t be able to ever learn that though. This is the last battle you will see. Either I will kill you or I will put you in a camp until you grow old and die. However, at least in a camp you’ll still be breathing.” She reasoned with the man, but she knew that convincing him wouldn’t be nearly that easy. He would need much more convincing, but luckily for him Zinni was very good at persuasion via unconventional means.


“Give up now, you soggy boy, or this will be much harder for the both of us and I’ll end up winning in the long run anyway. “ She spoke, beginning to walk in a slow circle around him as Ze watched closely, standing close by. The looked he man over from head to toe as she walked: keeping her distance. She was too far away for him to make too rash of a move with his pathetic supply of water. He could whip her, maybe, but she was skilled enough to evaporate his water before it even came into contact with her flesh. His disadvantage was that he only had a canister of water. Zinni could conjure up flames to her hearts content as quickly as she was able to move her hands to do so. Not to mentioned she was more seasoned in battle.


In her walk, so observed that he was a handsome and well built soldier from such a punny army. It was truly a waste that he was born a waterbender rather than a fire bender. Those types of genetics and that drive would have been very useful in her army. It was a shame he was destined to be a prisoner insead. Hell. He was better equip for battle han half of her soldiers out there securing his comrades in chaos just through those trees. Such. A. Shame. He probably even would have made cute babies. “Listen, Don’t make me have to kill you. Get on your knees, drop the water, and I’ll retrain you and you can rejoin your friends. They won’t even know you surrendered which, if I do say so myself, is the best move for you to make, water boy.”


She got around him just enough that she could see a gap in his shield of water: a straight shot to his ankles. A hit to the achilles tendon would make it very difficult for him to keep up with the tall, slender, and delicious firebender woman. A firebender woman who had no intentions of being impaled on this little boy’s icy prick today. Or any prick for that matter, much to the complaint of some of her soldiers. Zinni was off limits and she was more than cold enough to enforce that even as she breathed hell’s fire. So she threw that tiny, pathetic fireball and hit her mark: the tapered part of the waterbender’s ankle and melting his flesh to the fabric as it seemingly instantly seared his flesh worse than a cut of meat left in the oven overnight.


Then she let out the most malicious chuckle this world had ever heard. Zinni loved causing men pain.

 

[BennyQ]

Little boy, huh? Guess it’ll be more all that more embarrassing for you when I give you a dirt-nap here in a few… The threats were what he expected. Imprisonment. Hard Labour. Death. At least Rikkar would still have himself. He could die just once, not a thousand times over if she chose to bow down and live his life as a slave to the Fire Nation empire. He had no doubt this woman knew her business well. An officer of some kind. Rikkar's tribe was simple. No nobles, no rulers, no superiors, nothing. One persisted on their own merit and virtue. Would his be enough?

He didn’t respond to the taunting. He knew it was meant to distract him. He kept his guard firm and never let his enemy out of his sight. The only problem was there was more than one of them and for a time, he kept woman and beast (the distinction was hair thin in his mind) in his sight, until she paced around, causing him to keep his focus between her and the creature. It clearly was comfortable in combat and not spooked easily. Rikakr didn’t doubt a simple whistle from her would send it charging at him again. He still had the bruises.

“On my knees? Sounds like something you’re used to. If you really knew honour, you wouldn’t even waste your breath with these words. So what are you really scared of, little girl? That you can’t take me in a fair fight?” Rikkar finally mocked in return, goaded by her offer to shamefully surrender. That was what this entire expedition of his people was about. They would never surrender. They were here to fight to the bitter end. The Fire Nation could be as arrogant as they wished. He had his convictions to power him.

Her assault came suddenly and Rikkar shifted a second too late. Her fire ball launched rapidly and his water flowed to parry it, reaching a little too late. The flame zipped past his ankle with a burning kiss, melting flesh and causing the tissue beneath to blister and ooze through the damaged skin. Rikkar hissed and lifted his foot protectively, though he maintained his balance perfectly. He lived on ice. Standing like a statue on solid ground was child’s play. He kept his guard up, expecting a second strike to follow. Instead he heard her laugh at his misfortune. She was taunting him and doing pretty good at it.

Rikkar was a tribesman, from the southern edge of the world. Maybe he was naïve, easily goaded and incapable of greater malice, never having witnessed it before. With clenched teeth, he dead gave it away he intended to attack and attack he did. But as the water swirled about him, his bending could take many forms and from the water came swirling stars of jagged ice, spinning rapidly and with deadly intent. Two flew straight for her chest. To return the favor, he launched his own at her feet.

He followed up quickly himself, ignoring the throbbing ache in his ankle. Oh he would definitely feel that after the battle. Maybe even be incapable of walking, as if he had a terribly sprained limb. But his back was to the wall now and it was do-or-die. Extinguished water, as long as he had his focus, was reclaimed at once into the principal swirl of water he kept around his torso, his arms moving it in an elegant dance. With a heave, he brought the entire globe of liquid about, intending to slam across a wide surface into the side of the Fire Bender and sending her reeling as if struck by a club.

 

[Sketchyequine]

It was foolish of the youngster to make it so obvious he was going to attack. Zinni knew it was coming just from the expression on the young lad’s face. It gave her just enough time to prepare before he flung the ice shards towards her with impressive speed and accuracy. But it wouldn't be enough to hurt her as much as she had already hurt him. In a quick movement Zinni flung her arm upward from thigh to the apex of her reach: a wall of hot flame following it and illuminating as blue as the ocean's water. The intense heat was enough to melt the icicles just enough to eliminate the sharp edges that threatened to impale her flesh and punish her for burning his. They instead hit with blunt force, causing bruises at the most.

It made Zinni angry as the blunt ends smacked into her sharp, chiseled collar bones, and she growled as she looked up, watching as he formed a large globe with intent to beat her with it. She planted her feet firmly into the soil beneath her and she formed her own globe in the form of a raging inferno. It surrounded her as she pushed forward. He could extinguish the flames with his wave, yes, but in the time it would take him to condense the vapor and attack again he would already be burned. This allowed her to get close enough to begin heating up the water he was bending.

"You're a fool for picking this fight. My goal is not to kill you or any of your little playmates. That blood is on your people's hands. You have given my men no choice but to murder some in order to capture the rest. I will not fail with you. You are mine, waterboy." She hissed the words as though she were some sort of fire nation born dragon and she continued to press forward with flames ablaze. She had already burnt him badly. How was he still standing? It didnt make any sense. In a way, Zinni admired the lad’s willingness to push himself beyond reasonable limits. She was finding that she admired his spirit far more than any of her opponents before him.

She stopped her push as her ears caught something in the distance. She could hear the thunderous sound of the rhinos traveling as a herd once more: back to the ships no doubt. Zinni’s men had finished their work and they were headed home. Zinni, on the other hand, had her hands tied here with this spunky little waterbender. She could kill him, yes, but there was no merit in having a rhino trample your opponent to death. Sge wouldn’t go back empty handed, but the clock was ticking. She needed to fish things up here or she’d be stranded with this blasted boy. “We’re running out of time. Don’t make me lame you, boy.” She hissed, glaring at him with eyes ablaze. It was no wonder why the spirits had combined this woman and placed her directly in the steel grip of the fire nation.

In rapid succession, Zinni formed balls of fire out of her shield and launched them at her opponent. This time, however, they had to travel through his shield of water before they could kiss his flesh only stinging like a hot cool before pittering out and extinguishing. The heat wasn’t enough to burn flesh to fabric like the shot to his ankle had been. Instead they only slightly singed his clothing leaving welts from first degree burns at the worst. It wasn’t going to be enough to take him down, she knew, but she just needed to distract him enough to trick him into messing up: revealing something vulnerable for her to severely burn and take him down. In good time… he would slip up. With bated teeth she kept throwing those balls of flame at the lad until he was peppered in singes.

 

[BennyQ]

With a heave, Rikkar slammed his controlled water into the firebender’s side, matched in intensity and strength by her own fiery defense. He gritted his teeth and his booted feet dragged skids through the dirt as he put pressure on her. He knew he ought to withdrew, her defenses far more formidable than he had ever imagined. His water sizzled and already the heat of his own liquid was beginning to boil and sear him. She taunted him over the fight but wasn’t it her people trying to massacre the rest of the world? She began to put her own pressure on and with his injured ankle, he found his leverage a lot weaker.

Rikkar didn’t answer her. It would only be a waste of breath to talk to a demoness. But still, strength of conviction and his back to the wall made him fierce. He growled back at her and obstructively gave way, his mind only working up a new strategy. Something seemed to catch her attention a moment but he was focused too much on keeping his water in match with her endless flames to pay it much heed. If she tried to distract him in advance of her new assault, it failed, though it didn’t make his defense of it any much better. The rapid succession of spewing orbs of fire punched through his shield, striking him like hard gusts of current to his abdomen and limbs. He hissed and was driven back from her, putting more and more room between them. He had to do something!

Smoke rose in tendrils from several places on his body, searing his bronze skin to brighter hue of red. His clothes spluttered and burst apart. His water, flushed into steam, before regathered, remained mostly intact, though there was little opportunity to switch from the defense to the offense. He had to do something and fast, otherwise he may never gain the initiative. He glared at her abruptly and the air around him crackled as the temperature dropped. His body was going to feel it regardless if he won or not.

The water split into two, forming jagged lances of ice around his forearms. No longer heeding the damage, he put pressure on his burned ankle, willing it for one last drive. He dodged her next fireball, hacked apart the second, and was suddenly upon her. But he feinted, not using his arms but delivering a hard kick to her midsection to whack her back to a tree. His arms flushed quickly after that, launching one of the icicle lances on his arm towards her, where it switched rapidly back to liquid, slapping her arm to the tree. Then it frozen again, pinning her there.

With his remaining water, formed into a lance, Rikkar lined it up with her heart and then gave a shout, charging forward with an intent to run her through and outright killing her. It was for his people’s survival after all. And what she promised him so far was only misery and pain. Not even a warrior’s death. But he would do better and gave her a clean, honourable finish, even if she did not deserve it. His ice sharpened tip was aimed straight for her chest and he could endure a blast or two while still inflicting great harm to her.

He wouldn’t get to.

The rumbling in the distance disguised the rumbling at hand. Before Rikkar could close, a grey shape swooped in and hammered right into his side. Ze roared in defiance as it leapt to his mistress’s defense, sending Rikkar flying a dozen or more feet where his torso struck a tree, diverting his spiralling crash to the ground.

For him, it was a whirlwind of sensation that he barely kept track of. One moment he was on the verge of stabbing the firebender. The next, his vision blackened and he could not breathe, his mind flipped on itself over and over again with such force he lost consciousness. Then when his body hit the ground after the tree and skidded to a halt, the blissful ignorance of unconsciousness left him. First the darkness shrouded everything, coupled with a throbbing, pounding sensation of pain throughout his entire body. He could only groan, unable to even open his eyes or wiggle his limbs, completely in shock from the blunt force trauma of the hit.

All water he had been controlling simply collapsed. From the firebender’s arm, his icicle lock would simply disintegrate and splash to the ground, soaked up quickly. And Rikkar was in no state to call it back. It all slipped away from him, leaving him defenseless and out of his misery.

Well, almost. But the waterbender was down for the count.

 

[Sketchyequine]

Zinni's brow furrowed as she heard the crackling in the air around her. What was that sound? It made her hesitate just enough for his blades of ice to form around his muscular forearms and her flame to weaken just enough to not melt it fast enough. He dodged her next throw, and he was coming at her fast. Zinni thought about running, yes, but she had to admit even to herself that he was faster than her: even though they were quite similar in height. His sure-footedness and muscular legs gave him that advantage over her leaving her with only one choice: stand your ground.


She grunted as he planted his foot into her toned abdomen and jolted her backward, slamming her back to a tree. By some miracle she prevented herself from hitting her head hard on the tree trunk to avoid losing focus, but it made no difference. Before she could make another move she felt the hard impact of the ice pinning her hand and forearm to the trunk of the tree, and he charged her yet again: this time with the intent to kill. She pulled hard at the ice, hoping she could dislodge herself and use both of her hands for bending, but it was no use. Amber eyes traveled upward to meet his own: making eye contact with the man who would likely kill her now before she allowed her lids to fall. She would die with some peace. Her ancestors would be proud of her.


The thunderous sound of Ze's charge went almost unnoticed as Zinni took a deep breath, preparing for it to be her last, but she furrowed her brow as the breath went rancid in her lung from being held too long. It shouldn’t have taken more than a split second for him to end her and for her to feel the shattering of her own existence, but she continued to live. Finally she opened one eye. Then the other. Her visage revealing to her just what had happened. Ze had just saved her life.


“That’s my boy.” She doted on the animal just as the ice became liquid water once more and fell to the dirt below, freeing the Fire Nation commander.


She stepped around the wet patch on the ground and moved toward her loyal companion and the unconscious man, rubbing the beast’s brow affectionately in reward for a job well done. Spirits, she loved that animal.


Luckily, the saddle bags of the beasts of burden were always fully stocked with everything one could possibly need when out in the wilderness finishing up a job, and proper shackles for unarming benders was among those supplies. It was easily to chain up the waterbender with shackles that completely encapsulated his hand in cold, sooty iron that would prevent any further shenanigans on his part and cuffs that would keep his ankles close enough together he could barely walk with the minimal stride, let alone run. The harder part for the tall and slender firebender was getting the hunk of dead weight up onto the back of the rhino for transport.


After enough heaving, pulling, and help from Ze, Zinni crawled into the addle of the beast and headed back toward the ships. Now all she had to do was load him up in a cell with one of his comrades and take him to their destination. It would be easy enough. What concerned Zinni, however, was the lack of noise she was hearing in the distance. This certainly didn’t seem right for the aftermath of such a battle. And she was right. Things certainly weren't right.


Zinni had galloped the lumbering beast all the way to the battlefield where corpses: both in blue and black, littered the clearing, but there was not a live man or woman in sight. Her eyes traveled from the bodies to the skyline where she was quickly met with the image of ship silhouettes sailing off into the distance.


Zinni had been left behind.


***


It took hours to set up camp. She looted what would be useful off the bodies then traveled away from all the carnage, finally settling down at the bow of one of the abandoned water nation ships. In her mind, Zinni hoped that a different fleet from the fire nation would see those ships and rush in to take her and her prisoner back home where she could get back to work, but she also knew that no other fleets were supposed to be headed this way. Zinni was most likely out of luck, and she would have to come up with a plan B. She would have to travel by land to meet up with another camp, and it wouldn’t be a short journey either.


With ropes found on the water nation ships, Zinni tightly secured hershackledman to the trunk of a sturdy nearby tree: propping his back up against it such that his head dangled in his unconsciousness. She removed Ze’s battlegear and released him to graze peacefully nearby and rest as he saw fit while Zinni busied herself with digging through any bags she had found on the water nation ships alongside the firelight as the night grew from indigo to pitch black. It was dark, and she was alone with this sack of scum. At last she had thought she was alone.


While scrounging through a leather backpack a wild beast can flying out at Zinni in a fit of wings and beak, and it made her scream and move aside to avoid have her nose taken off by the rabid creature. Whatever it was smacked the woman in the face with a feathered appendage before waddling away from her completely. “Ow…” She muttered, rubbing her rose as her eyes searched the fireglow for what it was that had attacked her. Her pride sunk down into a deep, dark hole when she found it.


A turtle duck. Zinni had been out matched by a turtle duck.

 

[BennyQ]

Rikkar dreamt that he was drowning. It was a struggle to fight to stay above water. All his powers seemed useless. In fact he had none. It was darkness, darkness all around on the horizon and sky and darkness below, in the depths of the infinite water he squirmed in. There was no escape and he could only resist for so long, each moment feeling like his last, in some never-ending struggle. But his limbs grew heavy, his head began to pound, and he found it hard to breathe. He sank, submerged into the darkness, silently screaming as he plunged to the depths…

…of consciousness. Very painful and agonizing consciousness. As his best buddy defended his honour Rikkar jerked awake with a kick and a gasp, squirming against his restraints. “What…the…fuck…ugh…” He groaned, feeling tremendous ache through his entire body. He barely remembered being struck though it felt as if an entire iceberg had been dropped on him, beaten and molded like cured meat. Spots flashed in his vision and the throbbing was ceaseless.

Milo the Turtle-Duck, who had sat in secret beneath his hard exterior shell, squawked in greeting to Rikkar’s grunting, glaring at Zinni. His beak was ready to clamp on any invasive fingers that wasn’t offering him food, for he was starving. He had no grudge with her personally. Had it been Rikkar, he would have done the same to him, biting his fingers. It was how they communicated such things.

Milo immediately pounced to nip at Zinni’s heel next.

Rikkar was still composing himself. He had been in a fight…and he was winning…and now he was here, tied up and…obviously beaten. His eyes rose, his vision still dazzled, as he finally heard the ruckus and saw the firebender in question. He tried to focus on his, his vision blackening and resuming with alarming vividness. Was it night already? Where was everyone else? He saw bodies and gulped hard as he saw the blue of his tribesmen scattered about. The bodies of the fire nation warriors had been removed by their comrades, the enemy dead left to rot. It made the battle look very one-sided and thus hopelessness to Rikkar. He groaned and strained his head back into the trunk of the tree.

Why was he still alive then?

He immediately began to struggle against his ropes. “Milo.” He stammered. “Milo, come…bite these damn ropes off.” He said, though he managed to see Milo leap, and miss, at Zinni’s ankle. He let out a chuckle that immediately devolved into painful gasping. Any type of shuddering causing his aching ribs and body to light up with pain. “He’s trying to tell you to put him in the water, so he could fish.” Rikkar gasped, though he doubted the heartless bitch would care.

“So they left you behind to do the robbing and stealing? How dignified. Seems fitting for a death hound like you.” Rikkar sneered, turning his head left to right and back again, taking in his surroundings. It was just…dark. And hard to see. Breathing hurt. What the hell had hit him? “Why aren’t I dead like the others? Feeling lonely?” Rikkar noted, hanging his head and simply shutting his eyes, vision flooded with spots in the darkness, trying to control the aching pain that throbbed mercilessly in his body. He could barely move his arms to struggle against his bindings.

 

[Sketchyequine]

"Jerk!" Zinni squaked at the turtleduck, lifting her ankle protectively much like how Rikkar had done when she burnt his to a crisp. She then looked up to her captive, almost a little relieved to see him awake rather than dead from the injuries Ze had inflicted along side all of his fallen men. Zinni was angry that this many lives had been taken by her soldiers. They weren’t in the business of killing. They were in the business of containment and nothing more. This? This was sloppy work, and she could have done better. They could have done better. Her men needed more training. She noted that.

“Water? I can do that…” she muttered and she gingerly picked up the angry little monster and carried him over to the bay where she set him in the water between the beached water nation boats. She then returned to be met with more insults. She shook her head, ignoring most of it as she approached the bound man and knelt down close enough to examine him but far enough to keep him from spitting on her or some other childish act of rebellion. “I did take things from your boats, yes, but it’s all in an attempt to keep us alive until we can reconnect with my fleet.”

She sighed, reaching out and patting him on the cheek when his eyes closed again. Things weren’t looking good for this guy. “Spirits, Ze. You hit him too hard.” She muttered to he beast who was munching away nearby, but mostly to herself as she examined him. This man was at risk of dying or going into shock. Being called a murderer, even by uncultured swine like the tribesman. It cut deeper than she could ever allow anyone to know. There were casualties in war and Zinni had caused a fair share of them, but she never wanted to kill. If people would cooperate they would never have to die. Not like this. Hurt? Yes. She could support hurt, but not kill.

“You look bad.” She muttered before standing up and pacing a bit in between the man and the fire. Her feminine figure silhouetted and the gold accents in her hair and on her uniform sparkles in the firelight: glowing like flames attached to her body. Exactly where flames belonged when a firebender was involved. She rubbed her chin, carefully contemplating her options. She needed him alive for so many reasons. If he died, she had failed and the blood was on her hands. Not only that, but she wouldn’t be able to interrogate a dead man. She needed answers from him so she could get more waterbenders into camps where they wouldn't agitate this war any further.

“Waterbenders are healers…” she muttered, looking down at him and sighing. “But you can’t be trusted. How do I know that giving you water to bend wouldn’t just end with you punching a hole through me with an icicle?” She snapped at him, anger painted all over her face as she glared. Oh how she’d love to melt that look off of his face, but that would surely kill him. She sighed and flopped up against the side of Ze, burying her face in his thick, rough skin and sighing. She had never dealt with a waterbender who wasn’t caged and without backup standing behind her. She didn’t know how to do this alone.

 

[BennyQ]

Rikkar eyed the other woman, his captor, fiercely and without pity. He was motionless as she neared, all his senses geared to pounce despite being tied to the tree. He figured she would take a few cheap shots out of him for his words and his hands balled into fists at his own helplessness. Not even capable of defending himself, is that how lowly these firebenders were? But she didn’t, merely trying to explain why she robbed his people’s ship. “The thief says the same about stealing bread because he’s hungry. Doesn’t make it right to take what isn’t yours.” He growled back, turning his cheek and gritting his teeth when she reached out. He figured she would burn him. Except she only patted his cheek, leaving a tingle of senses there.

“Yeah, get your war beast to do all your fights for you, little lady.” Rikkar muttered back when she noted how beat up he was. He was aching bad. It hurt to breathe even and every moment was stretched to infinity because of the throbbing hurt. He mentally rolled his eyes at her remark on his appearance. She still didn’t answer why he was still alive, watching her as she paced. She glowed like a firefly and he might have called it pretty if she wasn’t who she was. It was all hopeless anyway. His kin and tribe were dead. He was alone, cut off, separated, and captured. His friends seemed to have gotten the better of it. They went down fighting like true warriors and he got outsmarted by a beast. If he wanted to survive this, he needed to do some similar outsmarting himself.

She saw him in pain. Water would definitely help. He could mold it to his side like a skin made of ice and help alleviate the pain in his sides where Ze had struck him. Just thinking of it, coupled with the unrelenting pain all over, it seemed the best and most desirous thing to have at the moment. Water. To drink, to heal, to distract his mind. The sea was right there too, within sight, but too far away for him to control. He looked back to the firebender who trudged over to her mount and fell against it like some helpless child. That was…weird to witness. He thought her some brutal and cold fighter who had no emotions, yet there she was drooping like a hurt child. It looked rather adorable for someone as fierce as her.

Rikkar could help but let out another laugh, which quickly dissolved into groans as shaking his sides flared up all his bruises. “You can’t trust me, no.” Rikkar told her softly, looking over to her. “But if you don’t get me any water to heal myself, you’re going to get a whole lot lonelier very soon. Not that I give a shit.” He snorted, before pulling himself back and reevaluating. He wanted the water to help soothe himself. He wouldn’t die of course but it was going to be severely painful. He couldn’t antagonize this woman if he wanted that peace of mind and body tonight.

“Look, do I look like I’m in any condition to fight? I’m beaten up and even talking is painful, let alone dancing with you. I know you’re flattered at the opportunity but I’ll pass.” Rikkar said with a smirk. “Do this then, keep one of my arms tied above me and let me use one hand to heal myself. You aren’t scared that a one handed waterbender might kick your butt are you? A second time?” He said suggestively, unable to throw out that snide. He was going to win, if it hadn’t been for her beast.

 

[Sketchyequine]

Zinni groaned up against the rough skin of her rhino as the captive started talking again. She sighed, rolling her eyes and reverting back to his previous questions before she addressed everything that was new as he muttered, probably trying to trick her so he could get another stab at her. She was disgusted by how bloodthirsty he was. “You’re alive because I never wanted to kill you. You were supposed to be in a cell on my ship next to all of your surviving friends and we were supposed to just take you back to the fire nation where you would be contained until you saw the error of your ways. I deliver live men and women to my boss for conversion. I’m not an executioner. That’s why you’re alive.”

Pushing away from the rhino she stood tall, folding her hands together behind her back and looking down on him from her position in authority. “You’re a stupid man.” She confronted him. “You wish for death even as I offer you life and that is foolish. You’re no good for anything if you’re dead. You cannot help your own people nor mine if your heart no longer beats. You cannot win nor lose. Why would you chose death over a chance to do something big? Your fallen comrades out there? Fools. Just like you. We wouldn’t have killed a single one of them if they would have cooperated. And now their cause is lost. If you truly cared for anything, sir, whether it be saving your people or murdering me in cold blood for revenge, you would not sit there and treat death as a viable option. It’s very sad that your men had to die, and it’s more sad that you’d rather join them than be alive in the arms of a human with a different viewpoint than your own.”

She sighed. Zinni herself tried not to pay any mind to the death that surrounded them. Death was a part of her job, but it never got any easier for her to witness it. She didn’t want to kill or be killed, but she had killed and would kill again if she wasn’t killed first. Everything came full circle here. “No. You’re not in any condition to fight, but that won’t stop you from taking cheap shots if you’re a typical water nation boy.” She rolled her eyes at the dancing comment. Cute. Flirting with the enemy to lower their self esteem was below her. Sge may not have been as pretty as he was, but she was still sought after I’m the fire nation and betrothed. His disrespect was uncalled for even if he did find her ugly.

Against her better judgement Zinni exited the conversation to fetch water instead. Using a bucket found in the water nation camp she scooped up a sizable amount of the wet stuff and went to turn back… only to be surprised by that damned duck again. It popped out of the water and splashed into the bucket: coating Zinni in water and making her clothing stick to her chiseled abdomen. She grunted at first in frustration, but soon after she found herself laughing it all. The turtle duck was the definition of a child: grumpy, innocent, and helpless. She couldn’t help but like that about him. Carrying the bucket with duck within she side. “Please don’t make me regret this, Soldier.” She sighed before approaching him.

One would think a firebenders hands would be rough and calloused over from the scorching heat they were constantly exposed to and the rough work they did with their hands. That’s why it would likely come as a surprise just how soft Zinni’s skin was and how light her touch. With an arm under each of the man’s shoulders she heaved his battered body to his feet, rigging the rope over a tall branch and securing it through a loop in the chains that restrained his hands in order to hoist them both, temporarily, high above his hand. She then left him once more, reaching into her bag and retrieving a metal cup that she filled with water. She downed the first glass herself then dipped in again for the waterbender. She approached and drew her dagger, pressing the blade to his throat and the cup to his lips.

“Drink.” She instructed. “And if you pull any funny business I promise I can reach as fast as you act: dropping us both dead on the spot. Even if you do somehow manage to outpace and kill me, just know you’ll be chained here until you die of exposure and rot away.” She tipped the glass, sending water rushing down his gullet. If he behaved himself now she would allow him access to water that could be used for healing. Her blade pressed close, daring to slice him open like a slaughtered beast to bleed out on the shore, but she did not hurt him and she did not trick him. Her words would hold true. No blood was drawn.

The close proximity between Zinni and the man chained at wrist and ankle would have been almost romantic in any other scenario. She stood so close that her unusually warm body heat radiated and struck him with the closeness. It wasn’t warm out, but it was warmer than it would have been in the water nation. There was no ice only a chilling breeze in the night sky. A breeze that Zinni’s body blocked from the water bender as she stood upon him while she allowed him to slowly drink the beverage. Hydration was painful in his state, no doubt. He was bruised everywhere and she could see how bad he aches just from observing even his small movements.

Zinni herself was not unscathed, but to far less extent. She had an observable deep tissue bruise on her collarbone where he had struck her with the blunt icicle, and similar bruises could be found elsewhere too if she were less dressed. Her arm, which he had pinned, showed bruising as well from where he had slammed it into the tree trunk with the force of his icicle. Her bruising, however, was nothing compared to what Ze had gifted the waterbender with.

“What’s your name, Soldier? It looks like we’ll be together for awhile. I might as well have something to call you besides ‘boy’.”

 

[BennyQ]

The error of his ways Rikkar could have laughed loudly if it didn’t already hurt to do so. His people were wrong? For wanting to live free and by their own laws and customs without enforced demands from an outsider people? This girl was really deluded if she thought that sort of freedom and liberty was erroneous and he’d happily die to defend such freedom against those who wanted to take it away. If he was stupid for it, so be it. But he would be more stupid to obey a foreign power, to have his life in the south pole dictated by people who never been there or did not care for it.

“I live for my people and I die for my people. The difference is trivial to me. As long as we fight against your enslaving and oppressive ways, we will never lose to you or your pitiful kind.” Rikkar simply sneered, ignoring the girl’s rant about how it could have been better. Maybe she ought to follow her own advice and try to see it from his own viewpoint. Better to die on one’s feet then live on their knees for all eternity, not to mention the shame and humiliation of surrendering and seeing one’s life and culture torn down around them, simply because others thought their own was superior and greater. He wasn’t going to debate it with her though.

He only gave a suggestive half-smirk as to what he could do as a typical water tribe boy.

But the firebender seemed to trust him and went to fetch the bucket of water for him to drink and heal. Milo seemed to trust her as well, hopping casually into the bucket and enjoying the ride. He squawked at Rikkar and he only managed a grunt before the firebender lurched him to his feet, the ropes dragging up along with him to keep him locked to the tree trunk. He didn’t care how her touch felt. All he remembered of it was the scorching heat she inflicted to his flesh. And if she thought she was doing him a favour by making him stand, she was wrong. Pressure on his ankle welled up tremendous pain, not to mention stretching his bruising out all over his side, awakening tremendous throbbing all over. He could only drink in small sips, as the need to breathe off the pain was more profound in him. The way he breathed, his own throat seemed willing to cut itself against the knife.

With the water done, Rikkar took a moment to just pant and feel the refreshing liquid pool in his gut. His throat wasn’t as dry either. But the firebender remained close, leaning into him with her knife to his throat and her face glaring into his. He barely paid it any mind, as best as he could manage. He looked to the side where she wasn’t standing, for she did have pretty eyes and it felt shameful to even think so about her. A typical water tribe boy would have appreciated the closeness to a nubile female body.

She asked his name and he almost snorted in laughter. Oh, just because she wasn’t killing him that somehow made them friends? At least he managed to retain his laughter and not throw his body into an agonizing groan. “Maybe I prefer boy.” He mused with a grin. “And I’m not a soldier. I do not fight for a living.” I fish and collect bone and antler for the village craftsman to forge into tools. “I am trained as a warrior but it’s not what I intended to do with my life. Besides, whatever you might think or feel about it, I doubt your superiors will let me live so why ask a dead man his name anyways?” He said, looking at her and feeling bemused by rejecting her inquiry. His name was his own, his one link to the tribe. After having everything else taken from him, he was going to guard it and other facts about himself quite jealously.

Milo hopped out of the bucket and squawked around Rikkar’s feet. When this woman went to sleep, for surely she had to given the exhaustion he seen in her earlier, he would try to convince his turtle-duck to bite through these ropes. “But if you care so much about me living, then you have to do me another favour. And try not to get excited about it.” RIkkar said. “You have to roll my tunic up on my left side, where you’re standing. Roll it up to under my arm.” He said to her. “Oh relax, why expose myself if I plan to hit you? Splash water on my side then if you feel so afraid to untie one of my hands. But unless you want to carry me from place to place, you have to let me put some ice to my injuries and help them heal and be cleaned.”

He decided to play a practical joke on her when she did move to splash the water. With his mind and squirming fingers, he froze the very surface of the water in the bucket so that when she tried to splash it, nothing came out as the ice blocked the liquid beneath. He chuckled to himself, which immediately flared up his injuries and caused him to groan in agony soon after. He tried to slide back down to a sitting position. “I hope you can find some new way to tie me because I would like to sleep laying down.” He added, further bemused by making the demands despite being the captive.

 

[Sketchyequine]

Zinni rolled her eye and pushed a palm into the tree this separating her from the literal child she found herself stuck with. “Fine. No name and no title.” She shrugged. It’s not like it really affected her anyway. He would scream just as any other man would when put over a flame and eventually he would speak. She had given him an ounce of respect in asking for his name and he threw it back at her. So be it. She would retain any respect from then on seeing as he was obviously unworthy of it. Being a soldier who could almost take down a captain of her rank was admirable, but being a punk who went out of his way to inconvenience the hand that fed him was far from. “I’ll just call you an idiot or a fool since that is what you so clearly are.”

She crossed her arms over her breasts, watching him bemusedly as he dared to ask favors of her after doing nothing more than disobeying and being a general thorn in her side. “You do not deserve comfort.” Zinni retorted, rolling her eyes at the man. “The only reason I will offer you any pain relief is for my own convenience. All the better for torturing you tomorrow, you fool. You have far from escaped my flame, so I hope you don’t mind being a little over cooked.” She smirked cruelly at the man. He would learn.

She reapproached and hooked her hands into his tunic. There were several instances of flesh on flesh contact as her hands carefully rolled it up before tying it out of the way with a strip of cloth. This left the garment bunched up around his chest and his lower abdomen completely exposed. Zinni had to fight not to show her intrigue regarding the appearance of the young waterbender’s body. Zinni had seen men exposed in this way before, but the way the firelight danced off of his caramel colored skin was beautiful in its own way. Not to mention the man had recognizable fitness that a lesser woman would have found undeniably tempting. Zinni was not a lesser woman. She would not be tempted so easily.

She stooped down to the bucket and her eyes went ablaze in frustration when she hit ice. He thought he was so funny. She wanted so badly to look away from him so as to not think so unclearly as she did when she saw him exposed like that. He was a distraction. Perhaps he would be less so when she gave him some scars to stay on that belly until his dying breath. She growled a bit before placing both palms on the surface of the ice and melting it almost instantly with a focused blast leaving the whole bucket of water as warm as a hot bath rather than the usual cold of water exposed to night air.

“Your jokes are childish.” Zinni muttered before reapproaching and using her palms to press the water into his waist where he could freeze it into place. I’m doing so she could also feel the sculpt of his musculature. That was quite a treat. “Are you always this infuriating? It might get you killed if you continue.” The threat was muttered, but there was little merit behind it. Zinni would do most things short of giving up her own life to keep this prisoner alive and deliver him as was her job. He would have to royally screw up if he wanted her to kill him. In the glow of the fire Zinni treated ever bump, bruise, or scorch sge could see on the man including his ankle which likely brought on a slew of relief.

Zinni sighed as she stood back and looked into his face for a moment having already untied his tunic and allowed it to fall back down to eliminate the exposure of his masculine form. He was less distracting that way when he looked shapeless in his layers designed to keep him warm in Icy climates. She knew she owed him no comforts, but she also knew sleep would be nearly impossible for a man strung up like that. If he couldn’t sleep surely he wouldn’t stay quiet long enough for her to sleep either. She couldn’t have that. Even now exhaustion was creeping over her.

Then she got an idea.

Zinni smirked. Brilliant. “Fine. I’ll make sure you can lay down.” She muttered before completely untying him from the tree and manhandling his sore body until they go to where Ze was laying down and half asleep. “This is Ze. You two have already met. He’ll be taking care of you this evening.” She smirked, tying a rope loosely around the animal’s neck and then tying the other end to the chain shackles around the fool’s wrists. Weighing several thousand pounds, Ze was no different than the tree in that there was no way the man could move him by force. Not only that, but Ze could pummel him if he tried anything. So Zinni allowed enough slack in the rope so that her prisoner could move about a bit, but most importantly he could lay down and rest near the rhino.

With that, Zinni dumped any water that he could attempt the bend and laid out the sleeping bag that had been tucked away in Ze’s saddle bags to sleep. She leashed the turtle duck, taking several bites from milo in the process, and tied him over near the water where he could attempt a bit of fishing. Leashing the animal would prevent any shenanigans the waterbender might try and also kept the cute little thing from running off to be eaten by something in the woods. Win win. With that, Zinni was able to style in and get some rest with the fire still burning near by.

 

[BennyQ]

Rikkar only grinned childishly and shrugged his shoulders as best he could. Idiot or a fool? “I’ve heard it said to me more often than you think, lass.” He chuckled, which of course was short as it quickly brought him to wincing groans of pain. He was always doing foolery when he was younger. Pulling the tails of polar-dogs or trying to race the otter penguins and losing. “Well it was worth a try.” He simply relented when denied comfort. But his bemusement and humour dropped when she mentioned torturing him on the morrow. Now his expression was grim and dark, remembering this was an enemy combatant and not the older brother of some girl he was flirting with who would give him a beat down and let him walk. She meant business. He had to mean business as well.

He said nothing to her threat. She rolled up his tunic but ran smack into his prank, much to his laughter again. “They are.” He agreed eagerly to his jokes being childish. His expression was suggestive at the thought of being killed. As far as he was concerned, he was a dead man already. And maybe provoking the firebending bitch to outright kill him might be mercy compared to being tortured as she threatened. She tried to treat his wounds and bruises, which confused him. All he wanted was the water slapped on him and he did his best to freeze whatever little got put to him, mingling a cooling sensation to the burning pain in his side. It offered some relief, allowing him to think clearer and plot an escape.

It was a quiet and yet awkward time between them as she looked to his wounds and burning. Why patch him up if she was only going to take him apart? He watched her as she focused and for a moment he might have regarded her as beautiful, with her dark hair and pale features. She had a very rigid and strong body, but her feminine curves were quite profound as well. He kept his quiet as she tended him and despite it, it seemed to grow a bit more comfortable that way. She wasn’t like the other firebenders he heard and knew of, strangely. Was this some deluded sense of compassion in her perhaps? Unlikely, he figured. She intended to make him hurt.

But she had other plans for now, untying him from the tree. That should have been his chance, had he been more recovered and healed. But every step awoke every burning pain in his side and he was already panting with exhaustion by the time they got to Ze, the giant rhino who put him in this misery. “Finally, some decent company!” He exclaimed sarcastically, grinning at Ze. He didn’t blame the beast for being loyal, though he lamented who he was loyal to. What had she done to be so deserving, this sadistic firebending bitch? He was roped to the creature and then left alone, peering down at his chained wrists, following its length to the beast’s neck.

What if…what if he jumped on its back and rode away with it? But would Ze listen to him? Maybe he’ll try it. First, he needed the woman to pass fall into a deep slumber. No you idiot, first you need to be one hundred percent healed before you can do anything like that. And she intends to keep you next to death’s door. So without a word, he sat down and lay on his good, unbattered side next to the beast. It stank but he had smelled worse. He listened with amusement as Zinni tried to deal with Milo but he offered no encouragement now. She was his enemy, not his friend. The mention of torture remained on his mind. Well, two could play at that game.

Barely a quarter hour would pass before Rikkar mimicked the sound of a duck gurgling in the distance. It was brief but it sent Milo off on a tidal wave of quacking, which in the middle of night was very loud and disturbing to hear. He chuckled to himself, hoping it would annoy the firebender and interrupt her precious slumber. He acted like he didn’t know anything, eyes closed and resting peacefully. He waited again for some time, for sleep was hard to get when half your body was on fire. He made the noise again and once more, Milo went off on a tirade, quacking very loudly in the night and awakening everything for a whole mile around. If he kept this up, the firebender might be too exhausted to do anything brutal.

But what about him? He had been up for an entire day and more. He was in pain. He was exhausted and beaten. He kept trying to keep awake for this childish yet worthwhile plan, before sleep eventually took him too. And it would be a deep and restful sleep, from which it would be difficult to awake him from.

 

[Sketchyequine]

Zinni’s sleep was definitely interrupted by the child and his pet duck. At a few different occasions she contemplated just slaughtering the beast to eat later, but she just couldn’t bring herself to injure the cute little thing let alone kill it. It wasn’t the turtleduck’s fault that it had such an unfortunate caretaker. Even Ze seemed to glare at the waterbender in the night as his sleep too was disrupted. Animals in the fire nation were trained to behave in a much more regal manner, and if they didn’t make the cut they became food for citizens or prisoners. There was very little slack in the rope concerning that manner. Luckily for the turtleduck, Zinni’s heart was a bit more fond of critters than the average firebender who likely would have just roasted the thing and made a nice soup out of him.


Even against the boy’s wishes, sleep eventually came for the both of them, and as soon as the sun started to peek over the horizon Zinni was awake. Being an early riser was in her nature, and even after an exhausting day and night prior the sunrise brought on a new list of things to do. They would begin their journey across earth nation today, but Zinni had to be sure she was completely prepared to do so before they headed out. At least with the waterbender asleep she would have some peace and quiet to work on her strategy.


The earth nation was split, and there were still plenty of them who hated the fire nation and had not yet been pressured into submission. If they ran into a troop of hostile earthbenders unprepared they would be dead. Surly the waterbender wouldn’t help her in combat, so she would be alone, and even if she killed them she would be outnumbered and overpowered before her and Ze would be able to fight their way through. The best bet was to avoid civilization and tribes all together. It wouldn’t be the most direct route, but safety had to be a priority over swiftness. The ships they were meeting with would be there regularly until the war was won, and Zinni suspected that was still a long ways off. People were not converting easily.


She laid out the map on the sandy shore and began to trace her route with her fingertip. If she traced it a few times she would easily remember it. Part of the appeal of Zinni as a ship captain was that age memorized routes and landmarks much quicker and easier than most of her cohorts. She was also pretty to look at, so that helped bring up some of the morale on the boats. Zinni was a full package, and that’s why it was so embarrassing that her men had left her behind. When they reached their destination in a few weeks, she was certain that her betrothed would humiliate her for it and never let her live it down. She didn’t look forward to that, but she needed to get back to work. The war had to go on and her people needed her.


After a few hours of plotting on the map the sun was high in the sky and Zinni could feel a grumble growing in her tummy. It was time to eat, but it was better not to dip into her rations when they were so close to resources. Zinni would fish and feed herself and her captive well this morning before they began their long and enduring day. They would travel most of the day, and when night fell they would set up camp and the interrogations would begin. The man would be useful to war strategy because he would be with Zinni long enough for her to get answers out of him. The water nation were strong willed, and usually didn’t respond to torture initially, but Zinni would have enough time with him to kill his morale.


Zinni began the process of removing her war clothes. There were lots of ties and clasps in the intricate design, but soon the majority of her clothing was hung over a tree branch nearby and she entered the water in her red undergarments that sported gold accents themselves. The lingerie was simple: a strapless bra that resembled a wrap to hold the firebender’s breasts in place and compressed to her rib cage and a pair of simple, red boyshort underwear with gold details over each of her hips and just enough exposure in the back to allow an onlooker a view of the bottom quarter of her rump. Standard underwear for the firenation, but likely more sexy than would be seen in some other nations.


She strode into the water in her partial nudity, a borrowed water nation war spear in hand as she waded waste deep between the boats and waited for a kill. Zinni was rather unversed in the art of fishing, but she was a good aim and well determined. She missed a dozen times at first before spearing three fish consecutively with the spear: killing them instantly. Zinni grinned, laughing a bit in pride before heading back to the shore. The water made her lower body glisten in the dazzling daylight and accented her curverature. The water made the panties cling to her body boldly as she reapproached camp. She knew in her mind that this was a sight her pig fiancé would have drooled over, but he was far away.


She propped the speared fish against a tree and grabbed one of her blankets to began wiping herself of the water. As she dried off her eyes moved to Ze and her captive to see if either of them were awake. She couldn’t tell. “Rise and shine she finally called out, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders and shot a ball of flame at the burnt out fire pit to reignite it. It was time to start the day.

 

[BennyQ]

The sound of splashing water was what drew Rikkar from his deep slumber. The moment his consciousness became alert, it was impossible then to return to sleep as pain renewed it’s memory in his body. He awoke feeling tremendous ache on his battered side and a fierce numbness on the other. He didn’t open his eyes yet, letting the pain wash over him and hoping it would dissipate. It did not. Without sight, he let his other senses become keener. He could hear the splashing, yes but he could also feel the heat radiating off of the rhino and the sounds of woodland creatures in the forest about. It seemed tranquil still, as if forgetting there was a war going on. And that he was a captive.

Finally he opened his eyes, vision shrouded by his long, silky hair. Blue orbs regarded the jaded sight before him, seeing the vast horizon of water. But what was doing the splashing? From the waters a pale figure arose, nubile and beautiful, almost like a mermaid. With grace and skill, he watched as this strange woman speared and sought out fish almost in the style as if she was a member of the Water Tribe. Perhaps he had been rescued by this beautiful woman in the night, with the news to be given alongside a delicious meal. But as he grew more alert, he saw it wasn’t so.

No, it wasn’t no mermaid of legend or some Water Tribe heroine to his rescue. It was just the Firebender who captured him, stripped to her undergarments. And by the Moon, was she gorgeous and striking. Even with her tightly strapped bra, Rikkar could still make out the lavish mounds of her chest. And when she would bend to seek fish in the water, the roundness of her rear became oh so profound, causing Rikkar to lick his lips. Beautiful and deadly, something about it was carnally thrilling to the young waterbender, used to seeing women in thick robes, figures hidden. Never like this. Something began to tingle in his groin and he shamelessly drank in the sight for as much as he could.

But after successfully spearing three fish (it took her long enough), she began to return to the beach and Rikkar quickly shut his eyes again, as if to act as if he hadn’t seen any of it. But the memory would be imprinted in his mind, of those exquisite breasts and that well toned tush of hers. Maybe it was some sort of fate that kept him from killing such a beautiful woman. The world would have certainly felt that loss, let alone the Fire Nation. But what was he thinking? She was the enemy and no doubt had killed dozens of people, innocent or not. He could not, in any circumstances, allow himself to be seduced by her curves, wonderful though they may be. Perhaps he couldn’t kill her but escape was still his foremost priority. After all, this so called beautiful woman wanted to torture him. With fire.

When she called out to him, he dropped the illusion of sleep and let out a groan at the aching pain in his side. He realized something very profound was bulging at the front of his breeches and he rolled onto his back to try and conceal it. He found himself face to face with Ze next, who grumbled at him and Rikkar immediately sat up into a sitting position, terrified at the rhino’s attention on him. After all, it had been the one who knocked him aside like a doll.

Fire crackled. Its warmth was not comforting for him. “I was having a nice dream.” He simply remarked in greeting, turning to face her as he sat, arms tied together and leashed to Ze’s neck. In fact, he scooted back and even dared to rest his back against the rhino’s back. It accepted him with another low grumble, as Ze wanted to keep on sleeping. “So you went fishing huh? Do you even know how to cook those? Eating them raw is bad for your teeth, you know. But crooked fangs might suit you, lass.” He chuckled at her, his voice a little raspy but deep and strong. He felt a bit stronger. Maybe if he got near to some water, he might be able to do some action.

“You’re cooking them all wrong you know. I swear I saw some wild berries back in the woods. And with some root and leaf, you can make a decent meal even. Why don’t you untie me and let me go find some.” He said with a wide grin, knowing that would be unlikely and next to impossible. But who knew, stranger things had happened. “Or why don’t you go look and I’ll watch the fire. You’re going to burn the fish at this rate.” He added further in teasing. “And only three? Milo’s going to be cranky you left him out. Catch another or do you treat animals in the Fire Nation worse than slaves? Give him mine.” He said, speaking truthfully and indeed willing to give up his meal so that his pet could eat. He assumed Ze would be eating as well, for who could be so cruel as to eat in front of their animal companions and not give them any?

 

[Sketchyequine]

Zinni let out a small chuckle at the sight of the waterbender spooked by Ze. Tearing him down the day prior had certainly left an impression. If only the boy were as easily cared by her. Maybe then he would be more useful. "He's not going to go after you unless it's warranted. You have my word. Although I can't promise he won't go out of his way to irritate you. Right now you're just feeding my war mount's ego by acting so jumpy. He's not a killer." She assured him. She would be spending a lot of time with this captive boy. He might as well be a little more comfortable. "I'm more of a threat to you than he is, and right now I come bearing fish not flames. Relax."

"I can see you were having a very nice dream." She muttered, laying the fish over flame before exiting to redress herself behind nearby shrubbery. Her body heat and a bit of flame allowed the undergarments to dry remarkable quickly, leaving no wet smudges on her war uniform as she returned, sitting by the fire and watching the meat as it cooked on her flame. She listened to his remarks and made her face into a half-hearted snarl before muttering "Grr." Then she promptly drew her eyes away from the man and back to the flame. She was much less angry with the light of a new day than she had been last night, but she still could hardly be considered friendly towards her captive.

She rolled her eyes at him. "We can eat more on the journey. For now, you're getting a fish, so stop squawking at me. Don't push your luck, fool. I wouldn't untie you for anything. You'd just try to spear me through the heart again." She sighed. "War captives aren't to be trusted, so I wont be trusting you. First chance you get you'll trynd take my life again.. I don't have time for dying. There's too much to do." She said, half jokingly. She then looked up at the man and cocked an eyebrow. "Komodo rhino's are vegetarians, and Ze has had plenty of greenery to eat. He can hold off on fish for now nor do I think he's particularly hungry. He seems more keen on sleeping if you ask me. The third fish is for the turtleduck even though I was half tempted to cook him up for dinner after the stunt the two of you pulled last night. Although... I'm not sure why I'm even bothering to cook his fish." She rambled, talking more to herself by the last phrase.

She ignored the boy for awhile then, listening only to the crackling of wood as the fish cooked. When they were prepared she threw one into the dirt near where she had tethered the duck, and the quirky little thing scarfed it down right away before yelling out his desire to have another. I made her scoff. "Greedy little thing." She muttered, smiling a bit over her shoulder at the small beast before walking to her captive where he sat. "Your wounds haven't healed as much as I had hoped. You still look quite sore." She noted, hiking up his tunic to take a peek at his bruising. It had improved, but still needed more time. "This bruising is going to make the ride miserable for you."She admitted, pursing her lips.

She then took to feeding the man his breakfast. She tore flesh from bone time and time again and fed it to him by hand. She was gentle with the act, but a bit hurried. They were on a timeline today, and they needed to get moving as soon as possible. Once his fish was finished she threwthe reminants to the turtleduck and ate her own, repeating the process. It was then she grabbed another bucket of water and treated the waterbender's wounds a second time: carefully pressing the water into his flesh over each injury so he could freeze it there for his own benefit. "If you see any medicinal herbs along the way... Let me know and we'll gather some for you. I know verylittle about those types of things. It was not part of my training. I've just learned bits and pieces in my travels. "

Zinni then busied herself with packing everything up in Ze's saddlebags and preparing for the trek. She even fashioned a bed of sorts in one of the saddlebags using her blankets and stuck Milo within so that he could ride in comfort unlike his papa. Zinni then hopped in the saddle and grabbed onto the chains retraining her prisoner. "Up. You'll ride behind me." Before dragging him upward onto the beast with as much force as needed. She had left the rope tied between Ze's neck and the boy's restraints. That way he couldn't jump off and try to run. Once on, the boy sat close behind Zinni. Close enough that if she leaned back only slightly she would press into his chest, but even apart he could feel the heat radiating off of her.

 

[BennyQ]

The promise of a firebender meant nothing to Rikkar. She had promised to torture him too eventually, how could he trust her word? His expression was purely skeptical and he was not apologetic for his remarks at all. Feeding him was just a ploy to keep him alive for other uses, he deigned. Just like healing him. Perhaps he ought to starve instead and a soft smirk came over his lips as he decided on the idea. Let go through all that work just to tell her he wasn’t hungry anymore? He’d rather eat dirt than accepting the offerings of a genocidal maniac. It didn’t matter if she was beautiful either. She was his enemy and he had to fight her at every step.

She at least wasn’t dumb enough to set him free for anything. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He simply declared when she accused him and Milo of being up to some conspiracy. If you hurt Milo, I won’t hesitate to stab you through the hand you use to hurt him with. And then elsewhere to. And all over. Still, she gave Milo a fish and he was grateful for it and the fish began to smell heavenly, which had him doubting his earlier initiative to go on a hunger strike. If he ate, he would heal faster and maybe garner some strength to fight. But it also had the inverse effect of healing him as well, making him susceptible to torture. The trade off was a tough one to make but dying slowly seemed his fate in either case.

He stayed absolutely still when she checked his wounds again, rolling up his tunic. Just fluttering his clothes against the bruised areas was enough to cause the pain to awaken tenfold, making him hiss through his teeth and shut his eyes. “Your grasp of common sense is astonishing.” He remarked to her drily. Of course riding was going to hurt. Anything he did was going to hurt. He needed bed rest for days to fully heal and forcing him to do anything would only slow the healing process.

And then she tried to hand feed him the fish. He looked at her, then at the morsel. He decided death by hunger would be an easier way to die slowly. “I’m not hungry. Give it all to Milo. He’ll eat himself to slumber.” He simply said and turned to look away. How badly would he come to regret this choice, he wondered? But the harder he made it on her, the better. He could go to his grave with a grin of bemusement at least. He did his part in the war, however small it might be, frustrating this one firebender of her plans.

He scoffed at her request to point out medical herbs as well, as she began to pack up her rhino for transport. “Does it look like plants and trees grow in abundance where I’m from? Water, you idiot. That’s all I need to heal myself. But you won’t give me that so we’re at an impasse.” He simply said. He knew her training only had to do with death and he wouldn’t trust healing to someone who’s job was anathema to it. He rose staggeringly to his feet as she yanked his bonds. Maybe his sudden resistance to her offering of aid was borne from a crankiness, coming from a broken night’s sleep. He was in pain. Now he would be hungry. He didn’t plan on being a novel prisoner. She hefted him up onto the back of the rhino and he allowed that, though he didn’t make any attempt to hold on. Better to fall off and be trampled to death. Better yet, he’ll hit his head on a rock.

And if it wasn’t hot enough this day, much further north then he had ever travelled or been, the firebender made her own heat. He wanted to be cold, to gather water around his body and freeze it to his wounded side. That was the only way he would feel relief. With relief, he might act more rationally. He hissed as they started to move and Rikkar glanced over his shoulder, a look of regret as he left behind his fallen comrades in arms. “Goodbye, friends. I’m sorry.” He murmured to them, feeling guilty for having survived when they had all died or perished nobly in battle. His end would not be so glorious, he deemed.

“You’re not going to the shore?” He asked openly. “What happened to your friends? Left without you? There are the ships of my people, though I doubt you know how to handle them. Wouldn’t want you to break one of your precious nails huh?” He taunted her, feeling bored within the first few moments of their travel. “Ever been to the Earth Kingdom, besides raiding and burning their towns? I hear their bandits and thugs are a vicious lot, even against their own people. Even you alone can’t fight off a half-dozen attackers.” He said, trying to get the notion into her head, to distract her from whatever she was planning. It seemed doomed anyways.

“If they catch you, you know what they do with female prisoners right? Me, I’ll be lucky. They’ll probably just lop my head off. But you, yeah they will have fun with you. An invader, a pretty girl, they’ll relish the day. You know this journey is doomed right? Might as well put up your armor and live like a hermit.” Rikkar sneered behind her. "We'll never make it across this landscape in one piece. Tell you what, take me to my ship and I'll sail you somewhere near to your people and leave you there. A fair deal." He said with a casual grin, knowing she'd never accept it. But later on if and when they did run into trouble, he could always laugh and say he told her so.

“Look. I think those are some medicinal roots at the base of that tree.” He then pointed out. No they weren’t, but he was hoping to waste her time and patience with the useless task.

 

[Sketchyequine]

Zinni knew well before it happened that it was going to be a long ride. This prisoner had proven not to know how to keep quiet more than a few minutes at a time, and that was thoroughly exhausting for the firebender. She had more than enough to think about without him rambling on about this or that. IT made her all the more eager to get rid of him. Or perhaps a few burns would teach him how to hold his tongue. It was a tempting idea, but she knew she couldn’t. The time would come when she got to burn him, but now, on the back of Ze, was not the time.



“No. We’re not going to shore. Yes. We were left behind. Under my order they packed up and left as soon as the battle was won. I wasn’t back in time thanks to your antics, so now we have to ride until we reach a fire nation settlement on the far shore. There we will meet up with my betrothed and things will be taken care of. If you could manage to keep your mouth shut until we arrive there it would most certainly me a miracle. However, I don’t think that will be happening. I’m stuck with you, your duck, and the loud mouths that reside on both of you. Lucky me.” She huffed.



“If they catch me and manage to take me down, I deserve whatever happens to me. I’m classically trained in combat and I should be able to handle a few thugs with no bending abilities. Ze will also happily help out with that even with you as dead weight to the both of us. I know you wish for death and to make things difficult for me, but it’s not going to be as easy as you think, boy. Plus… bandits I don’t mind killing. You were a target I wanted to minimally harm which proved difficult considering you packed a shit ton of water with you. Wasn’t that heavy?” She teased him, scoffing. “Probably not, I imagine, when you compare it to the weight of your thick skull. You’re foolish for refusing my meal. It will hinder your healing and next time I’ll just force you to eat through pain. Ask yourself if it’s worth it, boy.”



She ignored his comments about going back to a waterbending ship and those about medicinal roots. Even she knew better than to believe him so easily. He was on a path to self destruction and she knew he wouldn’t point her towards medicine no matter how much he hurt. His stubbornness was almost admirable in a way, but it was also a massive inconvenience. She just rode in silence for the coming ours, ignoring anything he or milo had to say. Though, she did intermittently reach into the saddlebag to stroke the turtleduck in reassurance. Most of the time her kindness was met with bites from the ducks causing her to curse to the spirits before she went back to riding Ze quietly, her hand resting on his wither soothingly. She loved that damn rhino.



The hours passed by slowly in the silence between the unhappy pair. Morning turned to afternoon and soon after that morning turned evening as they wove through the trees like a couple of nomads. he day had been rather uneventful: they saw no bandits of towns. The most dangerous things they saw other than each other were the natural fauna: all of which ran at the sight of massive, Lumbering Ze. When Zinni found a quiet clearing she hopped off of the rhino and rubbed her lower back which was sore from so many hours in the saddle. She didn’t even wat to imagine how the boy hurt. He was not only injured, but he also had no saddle or padding between his bum and the bony, rough flesh of the komodo rhino.



“That’s it for today.” She gruffed to the boy quietly before she dragged him off of Ze where he hit the dirt with a loud thud. If he wasn’t going to cooperate she wasn’t going to bother being gentle on his wounds. He was going to be a pain in her ass, so she was going to inflict pain on him. Simple as that.



There was no time for torture, however, until after camp was set up. She set about collecting firewood and starting a fire before setting up her bedding and other supplies: unpacking Ze as he babysat her captive. He would be released soon to graze and rest, and she would babysit the boy instead. More than that, she would start searching for answers. He would survive he torture even if he wasn’t as well as she had hoped he would be. She would just have to go easy on him for now. It have been quite some time since Zinni had gotten her hands dirty in an interrogation. Months. She was looking forward to it. Getting answers was the best part of the job.



Without hesitation she untied the man from Ze and quickly tied him to the trunk of a tree instead. His arms were stretched all the way up and secured to a branch and his ankles and waist were wrapped in ropes and pressed securely into the rough bark. He was getting nowhere. She didn’t speak during any of the process, even as the boy babbled and mocked her. It was easier to get into the right frame of mind if she half way pretended that her captive was not human, and for now that meant not talking to him. Not until she started to ask questions.



With careful hands, Zinni reached down to the hem of the man’s tunic and pulled it upward until she wrapped it around his head: refusing him the ability to see anything that was about to happen to him before she started to sharpen her blade against a stone near enough by that she was confident he would be able to hear the most likely familiar and obvious sound. Zinni was well known for her ability with a blade. Carving a ham like him would be easy.



“I’m going to start easy on you, boy.” She spoke solemnly. “And if you answer my questions you won’t get hurt. This game is simple. Understood?” She asked, eyeballing his masculine form as it was displayed in front of her… ready to bleed. She licked her lips at the thought of getting her revenge.



“Now…. What is your name, waterbender? Don’t make me have to ask again.”

 

[BennyQ]

Despite the strangeness of their encounter, the firebender seemed more than willing to open up about her motives and plans. Rikkar didn’t believe her for a second that she ordered her comrades to leave her behind. He knew very little of the world outside the South Pole so he didn’t know if this journey to this settlement would take a few days or weeks for that matter. He knew his people had tried to reach the North Pole by sailing by areas not touched by the Fire Nation so these raiders certainly came far from their homeland. Still, what did all this information do for him, besides help him waste the dull hours away riding like a rolled up rug on the back of this rhino?

“My thick, heavy skull is what’s responsible for all my muscles, carrying it around all day. Pays off in a way.” He simply replied casually. Perhaps he was stubborn and stupid but he could also be patient and observant. Let her think him an imbecile for now. It’ll help with the element of surprise when he finally did make his move. “I so do miss being fed like a baby though. Times were easy back then. Totally going to be worth it.” He responded with a grin but any further attempts to goad the firebender fell to naught. So Rikkar sat and enjoyed the ride, letting the smells and sights wash over him. This truly was a beautiful land. And to think these firebenders would wash it all over with fire and death. Despicable.

He also thought of this betrothed that this girl had. Probably another idiot and cocky firebender like her, though they all couldn’t be oppressive and rude. Someone had to be the lesser in their relationships. He wondered if this girl in front of him wore the pants in their relationship. Nonsense. Everyone wears pants. Otherwise frostbite will eat your legs off. The journey soon left him rough and sore, between his firm thighs as well as his battered side. The pain washed over him constantly in a throbbing sensation, not really allowing his mind to wander. He was forced to endure every minute of every hour extremely because of his ache.

Milo bit him as much as anyone else too. He was hungry. He wanted to be near water. Rikkar could only mutter apologies and promises he probably could not keep. It was the only time any sort of regret would come into his voice.

Finally they stopped and Rikkar cast a glance to the sky to gauge the time of day by the positioning of the sun. He sighed when she pulled him off and fell to the ground with a thud and a groan, simply laying there as he tried to recover from that lance of pain now. How many more hours and days of this could he endure before he cracked and broke? I have to do it for them, my dead friends, and my people still out there, counting on me. I have to fight. Eventually, as the girl went to setting up her camp, he sat up by the rhino and sighed, resting his head to Ze’s bulk. They seemed on good terms. Milo was still a general terror to everyone. But now he guessed there was going to be torture. “Run along now, Milo. Find some leaves to eat. You don’t need to see this.” He beckoned to the turtle-duck in that regretful tone. Milo did scurry away, disappearing into the woods.

The girl returned to him and untied him from the beast, only to drag him to another tree instead. Oh, this again. She pulled his arms up but he didn’t resist, still to much in ache from the battering. Trying to waterbend with the hand motions and gestures would be too painful. He needed to wait. But Rikkar knew now, with an increasingly fast heartbeat, that the torture would begin. He didn’t say a word to her, watching her silently as she did her work and then yanked his tunic up and over his head, exposing his strong chest and lean, narrow yet defined abdomen. His skin was like polished bronze, flexing and constraining with each laboured breath. His side was bruised purple and black in an ugly stretch from his hip up to under his shoulder where Ze had charged him. Beneath the shirt, his breath washed over his own face, muffling him and all his senses.

Except his ears. He heard the firebender’s warning as well as the knife sharpening. Each one sent an icy tingle throughout his chest. The torture was coming and he tried to steel for it mentally, for he had no chance of resistance physically. He didn’t believe her for a second about going easy or that he won’t get hurt. What did she even need to know? What did she think he knew? This was a trap, pure and simple. He had no knowledge of greater troop movements or defences of strongholds, in the Earth Kingdom or the North Pole. This was going to be a cruel game, nothing more. It’s what he expected of any Fire Nation scum.

She only asked his name though. That was innocent. It meant nothing to a man who might be dead in a short while so he gave it to her. “Rikkar.” He answered, voice muffled by his tunic. “And yours? Only polite that I ask back.” He snickered, more for himself than to mock her. It still felt he had some control, of his mind at least if not his body. He shifted his feet around, expecting to be cut anyways.

 

[Sketchyequine]

Rikkar.

The name resonated in the air around the both of them as they stood close to one another. It was certainly a surprise to Zinni that he had answered considering he had denied her that pleasure earlier. It would be easier to scold him knowing his name. At the same time, it was a disappointment. Zinni was so hoping she could show the manchild she meant business early on in this game. Alas, she would not break her promise. No harm would come to the pigheaded waterbender is he cooperated, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t scare him a little.

Zinni heated the blade with her own bending skill only to the temperature of a nice heating pad, then pressed the blunt side into the flesh of the waterbender. Seeing how he fidgeted and took labored breaths she knew he was afraid, even if he denied it. Being touched at all would be enough to make him jump even if she didn’t hurt him. She was counting on that even though, in reality, the temperature of the blade might even feel soothing in different circumstances. She grandly trailed the warmed blade downward over the captive’s washboard and her eyes followed suit: admiring his body as she remained careful not to even come close to cutting him. This body, when healed up, must be a marvel to see. They bred them well in the water nation.

“Good.” Zinni said simply, removing the blade entirely and replacing it with the palm of her free hand: cupping the man’s waist where it appeared the most painfully bruised. Again she heated up her hand while cradling his wound to the temperature of a soothing heat pack one might use to soothe aches, and she held it there: offering him relief rather than pain. Was it kindness she was showing him? Or was she giving him false hope? Only time would tell. “If you cooperate with me then this session might actually be pleasant for you. At least… as pleasant as it can be.” She assured him as she tucked the blade away into its scabbard on her hip.

With one hand still cupping his waist and providing it with a comforting warmth she reached up with the other to pull his tunic off of his head and away from his face: gifting him sight and fresh air. She looked up at him from her position: standing maybe a foot away from him with her hand comfortably planted on his flesh. Zinni’s amber eyes stared into those of the tribal man as she watched him catch his breath. He had nothing to fear in that moment even if he didn’t believe it. It meant Zinni’s honor to keep her promises.

“My name is Zinni.” She offered, voice fairly soft as they stood in the firelight. Both Ze and Milo had wandered off to find better grazing leaving the two people alone in each other’s company. “And I don’t have to be the girl that hurts you. I could just be the one who transports you.” She offered.

The tricky bit of this interrogation was that she had no way of knowing what this man knew. She knew not his rank or abilities. He could be the lowest ranking of the group they took down and she could be wasting her time. Or… he could be captain like her and know everything. She was going to have to catch on to whether he was lying or not and quickly. Seeing his face would be her best indication. Withdrawing her hand from his body, Zinni stepped back: increasing the distance between them. From there she just looked at him. The fury in her eyes had dissipated and her pinched expression relaxed as she just eyeballed the waterbender wordlessly. What do you know? She wondered. Well. He at least knew his own history.

“Your boat came from the southern Water Tribe, correct?” She stated, already knowing the answer. “How long have you been studying bending with your people? Weeks? Months? Years? When did you learn bending combat skills?” Her voice was soft as her eyes traveled to the fire and she turned her back on her captive. She did want to hurt him… right? So why was she hoping he wouldn’t make her have to? “Were you classically trained as a soldier for your nation, or were you simply drafted for this war because you could bend?”

 

[BennyQ]

He could feel heat beginning to gather in front of his naked abdomen. Bereft of his eyesight, his other senses grew more sensitive. Oh great, I told her my name and she still plans to torture me. Well, here we go. He felt the flat of the blade pressed to his body and he hissed, fearing the worst, legs jerking to find some purchase in the ground to help alleviate the pain. But it was barely hot at all, nor did she cut into his flesh. He was still panting hard, truly terrified and shocked for that moment. Was she messing with him? It was certainly unkind to do. The blade was soon removed and instead her hand was placed upon his strong, taut abdomen instead.

Rikkar had never been touched by a woman before. It did something to him. Tingles and goosebumps diluted outwards in his body, within and without. He shuddered and was thankful his face was covered. But wait, she’s my captor and enemy! Warmth spread over his body, like being draped in a heavy blanket on a cold day. It might have made him sleepy had he not been in the circumstances he was now. But still, what was this and what was she doing? Toying with him no doubt. The real punishment and hurt would come. Her words seemed only to have false promises and false assurances to him. She had gone through all the trouble of setting him up like this. She intended to torture and it seemed to him it would happen regardless if he cooperated or not.

Well, let her try her worst then! He was already a dead man in his own mind.

Surprisingly, the tunic over his head was removed, leaving him naked above the waist. His strong arms were flexed as they were tied above, his abdomen taut and constricting with each breath. As pleasant as it can be. “Says you. I wonder if a wolf says the same to the rabbit. Don’t fight and I’ll swallow you whole instead of chewing you into little bits first.” He snorted with disbelief. He looked up at her, his face one of incredulity at her words. “Zinni…does your mother know you stole her kitchen knife?” He couldn’t help but say with a smirk as he looked up at her. But he lost it at her next offer. “Just be the one who transports me…to my imprisonment. Where they will hurt and no doubt kill me.” He finished off for her. He knew how this would end. He didn’t believe her for a second.

She took her hand off of him and then he felt…cold. Not the sort of cold one feels in a place of perpetual winter but an empty sort of cold, like the void of night where there was no stars or anything. His body craved her touch again and he tried his hardest not to seem discomforted by that, or wanting more of it. Who knows, her next touch could be very painful when it happened again. She could sear his flesh off with her fire or cut him more. He stared back at her. He had given his name, what more was there to know? He wasn’t going to give up his home or friends, the ones who might still be alive. As she began to voice further questions, he could help but chuckle and drop his gaze to the forest floor.

“Could you take my boots off as well? If we’re going to talk, I’d like to be comfortable.” He said light heartedly instead when she finished her questions.

He sighed and raised his head back to the bark of the tree behind him, pretending to rest, eyes closed. “Let’s see…my boat? Well technically the shipwright who made it came from the North Pole, so in a sense it’s from the northern water tribe. Of course, since the material is imported from the Earth Kingdom, it’s actually their boat. But the labourers who made it are from the South Pole. So you can technically say it’s from everywhere. Except of course the Fire Nation. They make terrible boats, all that smoke and ash. It probably stinks on there. I don’t know how you do it.” He said at first, saying a bunch of useless information. None of it was true. Yes, the boat was from the Southern Water Tribe, solely and singularly.

Now the questions were about him. “I live in a place forever frozen and cold. You have to fight everyday to survive. Does that count as…classically trained? What does it mean to be classically trained anyways? I don’t know if you have ever hunted but nothing likes to be. It’s a terrible feeling when someone tries to hunt you down. I never do it for sport, like some people.” He said, shooting his eyes open and glaring at Zinni. Like you. Like your people. “Drafted for war? You mean you actually up and steal people away from their homes to go invade another people’s home? You Fire Nation lot are truly crazy in the head.” He added as well, which should answer her last question. He volunteered, because it seemed the right thing to do. Who does such a thing, to their own people too?

“Is that all? No, right. My bending. Let’s see…I was a toddler when I first…hmm…” He said vaguely, pretending to be unaware. The answer was all his life, really. First for healing and simple tasks and chores. Daming rivers, building bridges of ice, or just outright foolery like ice slides down a steep hill or pranking his sisters by forming ice on the ground in front of them unexpectedly. “As for my bending…well I was kicking your ass so clearly more than you’ve been studying. Take a guess.” He said haughtily.

 

[Sketchyequine]

Zinni rubbed her temples and planted her ass on a nearby log as the boy rambled on about the ships and his past. He wasn’t going to give her anything she could use and on top of that he was going to irritate her anyway. No straight answers and no cooperation was enough to drive a hardwired woman like Zinni crazy, and Rikkar was well on his way to stepping on each and every one of the young firebender’s nerves. How could any one person learn to be quite as annoying as he is? It had to take some kind of talent that Zinni and no one else in the firenation had. What an infuriating existence. And yet... she didn't want to punish him. Not if it meant truly hurting him again. Mild discomforts? Sure. Torture? It was sounding less and less appealing as time went by.

What is wrong with you, Zinni? She asked herself, still massaging his temples. Maybe it was because he was handsome and it should be a crime to defile a body like his. Maybe it was because she knew, deep down, that he was acting out because of fear. He had been instilled with a fear of the fire nation probably from a young age and made to believe that they were a horrible, power thirsty people. It was untrue. They were strict and skilled in combat, yes, but most of them were kind enough and would like the war to end as much as anyone else. Casualties were upsetting, and she wanted to preserve the sanctity of life. That's why she helped round up benders like Rikkar. To bring them to a place where they would be safe and secure: no longer a danger to themselves or anyone else.... at least at that was what Zinni had been told. She had no idea just how wrong she was. Maybe, just maybe, the fear of this man getting hurt by her people was why she didn't want to beat him to a pulp now. He was far from malicious or cruel... just annoying. You didn't deserve to be tortured for being annoying.

"Please!" She finally pleaded. "Just. Shut. Up." With a dainty hand she reached down and picked up a small pinecone before lobbing it behind her so that it would hit him in the gut. It was too small to really hurt, but it certainly got the point across: Zinni was annoyed. That was enough babble. She groaned before standing up and walking back to him and letting her eyes scan up and down "Fine. You want your shoes off? Done." She knelt down and pulled each of his shoes off of his feet and setting them out of reach and leaving him barefoot Now he had nothing covering his body but his trousers as the night air began to nip at them with an edge of chilliness. "I hope youre comfortable." She grumbled, walking towards her saddlebags.

Zinni reached into the bag and rummaged around a bit until she pulled out a sizeable stick of rhino jerky. A little protein before bed would do them both good, especially after a long day of riding. She slipped it into her mouth and bit off a small bit with her teeth, spitting it into the trees where she had last seen the turtleduck. As expected, the mean animal came waddling out with aloud squak and gobbled down the bit of meat she had given him. "You better be thankful for that." She muttered grumpily, biting the jerky again and this time ripping the remaining piece in half using her teeth. The pieces were small enough to fit in her mouth whole, so she chewed the half she had already soiled with her saliva and walked back to Rikkar. Without a word she squeezed his jaw such that his mouth opened and she stuffed the jerky inside. "Eat it or don't and spit it out for your duck. But. I suggest you eat. I'm sure you're getting hungry by now, Rikkar."

That was the last thing Zinni said to the miserable prisoner. She left him tied, half naked, to that tree as she got herself ready for bed and eventually crawled into her sleeping bag for her own slumber. He could scream and whine about her unfair treatment of him, but leaving him cold and tied to a tree was the kindest form of torture she had ever offered to anyone. He was lucky and she was too tired to be kept awake by any noise he could possibly make plus she was confident that the young man wasn't going anywhere.

Zinni slept soundly... until she heard an unfamiliar rustling in the bushes at daybreak.

 

[BennyQ]

Rikkar burst out with laughter when the Firebender couldn’t take it no more. It was a musical laugh, as mirthful as one could be when tied to a tree and threatened with torture and death to come. Getting on her nerves, this Zinni, was still a victory to him. He paused a moment in his laughter when the acorn struck his abdomen, pricking him no more than a fly might, but it didn’t stop him from feeling bemused. He was still grinning ear to ear when she got up and walked over. Perhaps to threaten him with the knife or fire again? Instead she did him a service, which only increased his amusement further. He even lifted his strong legs up so that she didn’t have to bend down so far. “Very comfortable. Thank you.” He said, wiggling his toes and stretching out.

Of course now there was little to do as she walked off to eat. And with nothing to do but watch, he began to realize just how hungry he was at the sight of food. His stomach rumbled like some angry beast in a den but Rikkar refused to beg or ask for it. Better to starve quicker than to die a slow death in a Fire Nation prison somewhere. Everyone seemed to be getting fed except him though and it was hard to stay disciplined with that assignation of his. Ze grazed the fresh forest grass. Zinni enjoyed her meat strips. Even Milo came rippling out to gobble up a morsel. Still he refused to ask, even when Zinni came over and stood in front of him. Such manners though! She grabbed his jaw and practically force fed him the morsel, which he didn’t deny.

Shame and failure. He ate it, because his whole body ached for it. Spirits, was this what they were going to do to him in prison? It was too late to spit it out. “Thanks.” He mumbled again. It did not satisfy him much. She strode off and settled for slumber as night fell. The sun sank and coolness swept over the forest, prickling his half-naked body. Well, he was used to that, living in a place of perpetual ice and snow. Yet he was still discomforted. He was tied awkwardly. His limbs fell numb and the tree pricked his back. Often he thought he felt insects crawling over him, causing him to jerk about. But he didn’t ask for a reprieve or any sort of service. Not from her. Not from the bitch who killed his friends and comrades.

Well, not her exactly. Not directly. But she belonged to the people who did. And she intended to do the same to him.

Trapped with a whirlwind of thoughts, of boredom, fear, desperation, and anger, Rikkar didn’t know when he slept. Vivid, phantom sensations of Zinni’s hand on his body would twitch him awake, only to realize it was memories deep in his subconscious and not the coming of dawn when she came to wake him. It happened often and he did not know why. Did he crave it? It disgusted him frankly to even consider that. She was his enemy, not his friend. Not ever to be his lover. The same whirlwind would pick up again, ignited by consciousness, and then he would fall back into a restless sleep. Morning came but he was too exhausted to greet the rising of the sun. He slept, chin tucked to his chest, arms above, legs stretched, breathing contently and without bother.

Not even when five pairs of feet approached.

Smoke from Zinni’s campfire the previous day had given them away. They had seen it. Desperate vagabonds, half of them soldiers who deserted the Earth Kingdom, or outright bandits, or those who had lost everything and had nothing else to lose. A motley collection of men and women, made cruel by their circumstances. They saw the beast. They knew there was a Fire Nationer around. And all alone. Crooked tooth grins where shared. Long moustaches were stroked eagerly. They would take this miserable bitch and make a sport out of her, as her people had done to theirs. They moved to surround. Only two of them were Earth-Benders. The rest were armed with spears and clubs.

Unfortunately, none suspected Milo to be lurking in the bushes either. One stepped on his tail. He squawked loudly enough to wake every living thing in a mile radius and promptly bit the foot. He cried out in shock.

Everything unfolded so fast. Rikkar groaned awake, fluttering his eyes, wondering what the ordeal was this time with his pet. He looked in the direction of the noise, seeing shapes, and no doubt Zinni would as well. But who would see the spearman break from the bushes behind her and rush at her silently and quickly, intent on whacking her behind her head with the base of his spear shaft.

Rikkar could tell they were no friends to any of them. “Behind you!” He shouted to Zinni, before trying to get to his feet as well. He didn’t get far, suddenly aware he was bonded and tied up. He growled and tried to wiggle, even as the fighting began.

Two spearmen leapt at Zinni, while one of the Earth-Benders, a middle aged woman, stomped her foot into the ground and caused a large boulder to rise. She spun and kicked it, sending it whirling at Zinni. There were just too many.