127Just a quick note; there will be some swearing later on in this story. One of the key elements in torture is to break down the victim's character until a new attitude has taken its place. This new attitude is usually very angry and violent, holding a great deal of hatred towards those who torture said victim. So, logically, Aang will become less and less of the mild-mannered, peaceful monk that he is on the series. Just wanted to let you all know.
Also, I'm going to assume that Aang's birthday occurred sometime between "The Crossroads of Destiny" and where I am now. I don't know why. I just like having Aang at 13.
I don't own Avatar.
Your New Home
Aang was roughly shoved down the scarcely lit corridor of the Royal Fire Navy ship. Two guards walked in-front of him, two behind him, with Azula trailing all the way in the back, staring at the young Avatar.
There was no doubt in the Princess' mind that her plan would be effective. The only issue she faced was how long it would take to get there. She was well aware that each mind was different, and the time it takes to break one can vary greatly, depending on what mindset and beliefs that mind holds. She needed her plan in effect by the end of the month, exactly three weeks away, and she couldn't risk rushing the process and accidentally killing the Avatar.
They came to the end of the corridor at the ship's stern; a lone room on the right side of the hallway. One of the guards in front opened the iron door and another guard shoved the Avatar into the room. It was dark and damp; a chair in the center of the room with just enough space for two other people.
Aang was forced into the seat as one of the guards lit four torches mounted on the cell's walls. The other guard locked his shackles onto the chair. The Princess walked into the room, her amber eyes almost glowing in the light of the fire. Aang's own stormy gray eyes glared at her as she walked to the rear wall.
"What is your name?" She questioned, still facing the wall.
Aang said nothing.
The Princess turned around and nodded at one of the guards. He decked Aang right on the side of his head, making a very painful contact with his temple.
"That was a warning," The Princess informed him acidly as she approached the chair. "Every time you don't cooperate, it will only get worse. Now, what is your name?!"
Aang groaned in pain from the punch. "It's Aang."
Azula smirked. "And your age?"
"Thirteen," Aang shot her another glare. "What's it to you?"
The guard punched again, this time harder and making contact with his jaw. Aang could taste the metallic flavor of blood in his mouth.
The Princess came around the chair to face the young Avatar. "This is a pin-prick compared to what we can do. Now will you cooperate or not?"
Aang raised his head to look the Princess in the eyes. With a hardened face, he spat the blood out of his mouth at the Princess' feet.
Azula's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Leave us." She instructed the guards.
All taking a quick glance at the Avatar, they retreated from the room and closed the door behind them.
She returned to her position behind Aang. Reaching into her sleeve, she pulled out one of Mai's knives. Slowly, the Princess began to circle around the Avatar; the knife gleaming in the light of the four torches.
"Apparently you are unresponsive to reasoning," She stopped circling and came to stand in from of him. She bent down to be at eye level with him. Bringing the small knife up, she twirled it around in her hand. "I promised you this wouldn't be pleasant…"
With Azula raising the knife up to his throat, Aang closed his eyes and swallowed hard. Suddenly, he felt a cold draft and opened his eyes. The Princess had used the knife to tear through his shirt. Removing the garment from his body, she tossed it to a corner of the room.
She looked down at Aang's hand. "Those really are some interesting tattoos," She said, raising his hand and following the blue trail up his arm. She placed the point of the knife on the tattoo on his upper arm, applying a slight amount of pressure. A drop of red liquid came out of his arm. "Getting them must have been quite painful…"
Applying far more pressure, Azula slowly ran the blade's edge down the blue path. Aang gritted his teeth and his eyes watered, growling in pain the whole time. Azula slowed down further more and cut deeper, a manic smile on her face as she watched the red substance rise out of his arm and run over the blue tattoo. She got to his hand, and with a final smirk, she quickly closed the distance, slicing all the way to his middle knuckle. His whole arm stung like hell.
Aang's breathing was heavy and labored as he fought to restrain his tears. With another smirk, she dragged the knife's edge back up his arm, not making an incision this time.
"You'd be amazed at what you could learn traveling with an acrobat and a knife thrower," She told him, running the knife softly up his shoulder. "For example, many nerves in the body are bundled right here," Her knife came to rest just above his collarbone. "In that hollow between the shoulder and collarbone. Needless to say, that area is quite sensitive."
And with no further warning, she plunged the knife deep into the hollow; Aang yelling out in complete searing pain. And with that same manic smile, she twisted the knife. Aang's whole body convulsed violently before the pain brought him to unconsciousness.
Azula pulled the knife out with a bit of a frown; she had hoped to do more. Walking to the corner of the room and retrieving Aang's shirt, she used it to wipe the blood off of the knife.
Just before exiting the room, she turned her head to face his motionless body. "Welcome to your new home, Avatar."
She opened the door and stepped out, leaving the door open behind her.
"Treat his wounds and stop the bleeding," She ordered her guards. "I'll be back to continue this later."
She walked down the corridor and disappeared around a corner.
Katara sat near the campfire, hugging her knees to her chest. There was an uncomfortable silence, as everyone was too afraid to speak.
Katara stared into the fire and could only imagine the horrors that Aang was facing. Well, really, it didn't do too well to dwell on that, but she found it impossible to think of anything else.
"Hey," Toph's voice shook Katara out of her thoughts. "What do we do now?"
Everyone else kept quiet. No one dared to say 'go home.'
"I told Twinkle-Toes that we'd get him out." She continued.
"Toph," Sokka's voice was surprisingly sad. "Aang- he's as good as dead by now."
"No," Katara's voice seemed distant. "Azula said that they weren't going to kill him. She said they were going to do worse."
Both Sokka's and Toph's heads dropped when they heard this. That meant that right now, their friend was somewhere screaming his lungs out in pain and agony and they couldn't do anything about it.
Suddenly, Katara's eyes widened and her head shot up. "That's it!" She exclaimed, gaining attention from Sokka and Toph. "He's not dead! We can get him back!"
"Katara," Sokka's voice seemed even sadder. "We don't even know where they took him. They can be anywhere by now."
"Get the map." Katara's voice had a newfound strength and determination in it.
Sokka dug through their assorted items, although he didn't see the point in trying, and pulled out the old cartograph.
Katara unrolled it and pointed at the Lake. "Look, here's the northern shore of Lake Nuo, and here's the shore of the ocean. They brought me to the Lake in one of their tanks; the ride was about a couple hours long. They were keeping me on a ship docked on the ocean. When they left with Aang, they were heading west. That means that the dock is somewhere around here," She pointed at the shore of the ocean, just north of Lake Nuo.
Sokka's eyes widened as he leaned closer to the map. "And there would be two most likely places for them to go, the nearest Fire Nation docks or the Fire Nation Capital. And since this is Azula, chances are it's the Capital."
Even Toph, who couldn't see the map, began to understand where this was heading. "So if we fly towards these docks you were at and then head in the direction of the Capital, we should come across the ship."
It seemed like now they had a plan of action. A plausible plan of action. Katara smiled; the first time since the trade took place. We're getting you back, Aang. Just hold on…
The Princess' shoes clanged on the iron floor of her ship. Walking down that same corridor, she came up on the Avatar's cell. The guard at the entrance opened the door. Azula smiled at her work. He had a large bandage that wrapped under his arm and over his shoulder. There was a dark red blotch just under his shoulder.
The long cut from his upper arm all the way down to his hand, tracing the arrow, was stitched up. He'll never lose that scar… the Princess though with a mental laugh. The idea of the Avatar's race's last surviving traditions being defaced just seemed like perfection.
His shirt still lay useless on the cold floor, the blood stains clearly visible in the bright yellow fabric. And finally, she bore a genuine smile, one of joy as she thought how proud of her her father would be.
Her focus returned to the boy sitting in the chair, his head hanging to the side in his unconsciousness. Slowly striding over to him, she gave him a forceful push to wake him up.
Aang's eyes flew open and he sucked in a breath, suddenly wincing at the sharp pain coursing through his left shoulder where Azula had plunged her knife into his nerves.
"Have a nice nap?" She asked him, tauntingly.
"Could've been better," He replied with the same tone.
Azula actually laughed, although it seemed more like a snicker of mockery. Reaching into the same sleeve she pulled out another knife. Aang's eyes widened.
"What, again?"
For seemingly no reason, Azula's eyes narrowed. "Yes, again. And again later today, and again tomorrow and everyday after that until I have what I want."
"And what do you want?"
"All things in time," She responded quickly. "But until then," She began lightly dragging the blade along his bare skin again, searching for a place to damage. "Did you know that one of the most sensitive places on the body is behind the knee?" Azula slowly began raking the knife's tip down his leg. Aang's heart rate sped up rapidly. "That's because all the nerves are very near the surface of the skin," As the Princess got closer and closer to that area, Aang continuously began thrashing his leg around, cursing his shackles for taking away his mobility.
Azula found his fear amusing and simply continued to move towards that spot. "So to incite the greatest amount of pain," Aang's shackles wouldn't even let him draw his leg back to cover the area. He knew that shouting and screaming would be useless. "You don't even have to make a deep cut," The Princess angled the knife and pressed it up against that spot, as one would fillet a piece of meat. Aang started breathing heavily and kept thrashing his leg in a last-ditch effort.
"All you have to do," Suddenly the thrashing stopped. The Princess looked up at the Avatar; his steely gray eyes hard and focused, his face stone-like and devoid of emotion.
"I promise that when I get out of here, I'm going to kill you first. Then your father."
Azula dawned a proud smirk. The plan is working…
"All you have to do," She repeated. "Is make a larger cut." The knife's edge dug into his skin and slowly began slicing just under the surface.
The Avatar's screams were heard all the way down the long, metal corridor.
This isn't even close to the violence I had in mind. The next chapters will be far more gruesome. But, you read up to here, so you can stop patting your heads and rubbing your tummies if you feel like it.
I don't like this chapter as much as the last one. I really don't know why. I just think the last one came out better.
I want to make this its own fic, but I want to see some more feedback first. I only had 4 reviews on the first chapter and 7 on the second; I'd like some more opinions.