A Different Destiny

Chapter 36

To Katara's utter dismay this woman lacked the skill needed to fix Katar's injured arm. The water began to glow beneath the woman's finger tips and she moved her hands slowly across the injured area. The water felt warm - comforting almost against Katara's skin, but when the woman had removed her hands the bone in Katara's arm still stuck out unnaturally.

Captain Zhou didn't need to be told that she had failed, and with a roar of anger he reached out and snatched the woman by the back of her robes and flung her roughly backwards. The other waterbender let out a terrified scream, cut short by a resounding thud as her body hit the metal walls.

Although undoubtedly painful the woman at least seemed okay, she hadn't seemed to hit her head or lose consciousness but she remained a heap on the ground whimpering apologies to Captain Zhou.

He turned away in disgust, "Get her out of my sight" he spat to one of the soldiers who had brought her in. With a quick nod of respect to the Captain, the soldier grasped the woman tightly under the arm, hauling her to her feet. The woman continued muttering apologies, keeping her head bowed low as she let herself be led from the room.

Captain Zhou looked back at Katara an unsettling smile on his face, "not to worry we will arrive to North Chung-Ling soon and find a better healer."

Without meaning to Katara shrank back in her cot, trying to put space between herself and the leering Captain Zhou. As if sensing her unease, he strode forward and reached for her face. Instinctively she raised her uninjured arm to stop him, she didn't know what he wanted at this moment but it couldn't be anything good.

As she raised her arm, anger flashed across his face and almost before Katara could process what was happening there was a loud crack and she doubled over clutching her face. "Learn your place." he snarled. And with that he reached out and roughly grabbed her beneath the chin, forcing her to look at hims. Although his eyes were as dark as coal they seemed to gleam with delight as he took in the frightened look in Katara's eyes.

Slowly he leaned forward, so close that she could feel his breath on her face.

She wanted to spit in his face and shove him away from her. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs until someone came and took her from this horrible place, but not wanting to be struck again she stayed silent. She could see the look of smug satisfaction on his face as she drank in her reaction.

"You are nothing but property. Your purpose is to serve me and once we get you fixed up and evaluated properly, your new master." He made sure to place extra emphasis on the last word, "it would serve you well to not forget it."

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Captain Zhou and his men left the room after this, slamming the steel door firmly behind them, and swinging the heavy latch outside into place.

Despite coming to associate these noises with the sounds of her prison- her own personal hell on earth, she sighed a breath of relief. She may be in hell but at least her torturers had left her be for the moment.

She spent the next several hours trying to come up with a plan, some way to escape but every plan she came up with ended with the same thing, right back in this cell. She wished Sokka was here, he'd have a plan or two.

Sokka. She felt a deep pang of sadness in her chest thinking of her brother. Even though she didn't want to think of something so terrible, she wondered if she'd ever see him again. They had grown up together, spent their whole lives together in their icy little corner of the world. Now she didn't know how long it'd been since she'd last seen him.

Trapped in this room, with no windows for weeks on end, the days had begun to blur together and time and began to lose any meaning.

She had never felt this low, in the past it had seemed like no matter what her and her friends would see whatever situation they were in through. They would all wake up to new sunrises together and fall asleep under the stars knowing that at least for that moment, they were safe.

But after the first few days she stopped waiting for those doors to burst open with a rescue- she couldn't stand the disappointment. It was like every second that passed was further proof this was now the life was left with.