Under the Cherry Blossom ↠ Zuko x OC ✔️

02 | The Prison

Prince Zuko quickly walks through the corridors of the prison tower. A guard hears his footsteps, spins around, and raises his spear.

"You again? Stop where you are." The guard commands.
Zuko lifts his head and reveals his well known scarred face. 
"Prince Zuko?!" The prison guard exclaims. The Re-Crowned Prince grabs him by the collar and slams him against the wall. The guard groans.
"I'm going in for a visit. You're gonna stand guard here, and no one is going to know about this." Zuko threatens, his voice is menacing. He leaves to find his uncle.

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Uncle Iroh's cell is bisected by a wall of bars so that one half is accessible from the door and the other half serves as a cage. Iroh, unkempt and dressed in rags, is seated crosslegged on a mat, facing the wall to the right of the cell door. Zuko walks in and up to the bars.

"Uncle. It's me." The Prince removes his hood. Iroh remains quiet. Several moments of silence pass before Zuko speaks again.

"You brought this on yourself, you know. We could have returned together. You could have been a hero! You have no right to judge me Uncle. I did what I had to do in Ba Sing Se, and you're a fool for not joining me."
"Does that make Arlington a fool too? Choosing right instead of wrong?" Iroh counters.

Zuko's face falls. He never thought that about Arlington. He takes at good look at Uncle Iroh. His hair is oily and messy and his clothes are dirty and torn. Zuko can only imagine what Arlington looks like. She's probably being asked questions she doesn't know the answer to and tortured because of it. The thought makes Zuko shutter.

He then becomes enraged at his uncle for bringing Arlington up. Prince Zuko kicks a stool and bends a blast of fire at the wall.
"Argh! You're a crazy old man! You're crazy, and if you weren't in jail, you'd be sleeping in a gutter!" He leaves, slamming the door behind him. Iroh bows his head, closing his eyes.

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Three Fire Nation guards came to get Arlington at dawn. She was sleeping peacefully on the cold, stone floor; which felt pleasant considering summer was approaching, bringing loads of heat.

The squeaky sound of the cell door opening wakes Arlington. Two prison guards stand by the door, while a third one enters the cell.
"Up." The guard commands. Arlington rolls over and rubs her eyes.
"Why so early? Can't this wait until lunch or something?" She tries to hide her nervousness. Arlington knows something bad is going to happen. In all the books she's read, whenever the character is taken from their cell, it's usually to be punished.

The guard ignores her and roughly pulls Arlington to her feet. She's led out of her cell and down the hallway, making two lefts and then a right.

Arlington is seated in a chair and strapped down. Her wrists, ankles, and torso are are bound. 'This is bad. This is very bad. What do they want? I'm a pretty good liar, yeah. Hopefully they'll believe me and I'll be fine.' Arlington tries to calm herself.

Two men walk into the room. One is heavily muscled with several tools hanging off his belt. The other is rather scrawny and has his hair neatly parted and wears circular glasses. He takes a seat and pulls out a blank scroll. The scribe nods at his bigger counterpart. 'Let the games begin.' Arlington puts on a poker face.

"I'm going to ask you some questions. If you corporate, you will leave unscathed. If you don't, you'll wish you were dead. Do I make myself clear?" The scribe has a much more menacing voice than one might think. Arlington nods.