A Different Destiny

Chapter 38

For the first time in what felt like forever Katara had full movement of arm- the one that Gao had. She clamped her eyes shut without meaning to, as if this could save her from the memory of what had happened. Although she hadn't known Gao that long there was something his betrayal felt like salt in an already bloodied wound.

She had been injured more times than she could count during the various fights and scuffles that the Gaang had found themselves in but something about it was just different when it came from someone you trusted.

Without meaning to Katara's mind drifted back to the first time Aang had actually created fire. She knew he hadn't meant to but if anyone had asked her she would've told them the pain of knowing it was Aang who had hurt her like that was worse than the actual flame.

Katara remembered the moment as clearly as if it were yesterday. The surprise. The joy. The excitement that flashed across Aang's face. She knew that firebending was the element that at that time, Aang had been most afraid of. And she hadn't blamed him. After all, he had awoken from what had seemed like a long nap to find everything he had ever known in ashes. She shuddered even imagining pain like that.

If someday far from now, if she lived through all this mess, she made it back to her village at the South Pole only to find broken bones and black snow. Well she didn't think she would be able to live through such pain. She admired Aang for being strong but at the same time that felt wrong. When she was younger she always believed strong was something you chose or trained to be, not something that devastated every part of your being like this.

"You, come with us and don't cause any trouble."

Several guards had appeared in the doorway of her cell, some holding additional metal pieces. For a second she wondered what they were for, she was already chained to the bed in the cell. On top of that they had only given her the minimum amount of water over the past few weeks to stay alive. Even if she had anything to bend with she doubted she'd have the self-control to not drink it first.

Then she caught sight of the thin circular device in one of the guards hands and she shrieked involuntarily and flung herself as far away from the men as possible.

She swore she saw a few of them roll their eyes as if to ask, why did you have to make extra work for us?

Despite her struggles, it didn't take long for one soldier to grab both of her arms and force them behind her back. He took the opportunity while she was distracted to swiftly kick the back of her legs, forcing her to her knees, with her arms pinned behind her back she had nowhere else to go.

She could feel tears start to burn in the corners of her eyes. And she hated herself for being so weak. How could she give these monsters the satisfaction?

As if a well-rehearsed choreographed routine, the one holding the circular device fussed with some unseen lever. With a clicking sound the circular metal sprung apart and Katara had no doubt what this was for. This was a prisoner of war collar.

She had heard about the fire nation using them before. It was something their engineers of evil came up with early in the war to help subdue other benders. While Sozin clearly had no qualms about getting rid of an entire people, he and his successors have seen the other nations as lands rich with economical activity. But the air nomads with no money or formal system of trading? What use did the Great Empire have for them?

The design was more insidious than it initially appeared. Not only were they by nature created to dehumanize the wearer- make them feel no better than a common work animal. The fire nation took it a step further. On each side of the collar were small chained loops where a prisoner's wrist cuffs could be attached. This ensured that anything but the smallest and weakest of bending was off the table.