Behind the Flames .:H2OVanoss:.

.:Chapter 28:.

          "I bet you can't catch me, Luke!" Jonathan's bare feet sunk into the warm golden sands. Maskless, his young flushed cheeks embraced the sun's warmth, eagerly soaking it in like a sponge. His friend slipped around in the sand behind him, close in pursuit with a smile plastered on his young face. All of their friends fanned out in every direction to avoid him.
          "Is that a challenge?" Luke smirked, running even faster. Jonathan squealed and pushed past Evan.
          "Evan run!! He'll get you!" The little water bender laughed. His giggles lessened once he realized that Evan had not followed. "Evan? Come on, run!" He waved for him to follow, but his friend only stood there, staring at him. Luke caught up and roughly tagged him. Instantaneously, Luke evaporated into a cloud of mist. Everyone else had completely vanished by the time Jonathan looked around, leaving only him and Evan on the darkening beach.
          Evan's eyes were lonely. They stared at him in grief. Jonathan took a step towards him, reaching out a hand. "Evan, what's wrong? Are you ok?" He almost reached him when the air around him suddenly grew cold. The wind stirred and the blue sky grew dark with gloomy clouds. The tropical trees swayed more violently each time he took a step closer. "Evan? Tell me what's wrong! I'm here to help!" Five steps away, and the wind blew so strong it forced him to a standstill. He covered his eyes from the sand and endured the storm whilst Evan just stood there, unphased by it all.
          Jonathan was determined. He pushed through the wind and took another step. The sky suddenly cracked with anger, flashing them with bright, flickering lights. Jonathan's body reflexively dropped to the ground and he slammed his hands against his ears. He cried out Evan's name in panic over and over again. "EVAN HELP!! PLEASE!! EVAN! EVAN!!"
          He finally looked up, but the man standing before him was no longer his best friend. This monster towered over him like a ten story building, with a freshly burned face and tiny spikes of a silver beard dappling his chin. Hardly any hair could grow on his head due to the scars and the fleshy wounds. He wore no shirt, boasting the slashes and burns all over his chest. His left arm was twisted awkwardly while his right arm had close to no skin covering the throbbing flesh beneath. Blood that dripped down his legs was immediately sucked into the windy vortex. Behind him in the mist was the bloodied woman, sobbing into her hands, crying out in hopelessness.
          The creature opened its mouth to speak but it could form no words. Instead, it let out a horrifying moan, dragging both arms into the air like something dead but living. A bolt of lightning struck his twisted hand from the heavens. The lightning took the form of a dragon, dancing with his hands as both their eyes made contact with Jon's. Then, on the dragon's command, he fired straight into Jonathan.
          His eyes ripped open. His body burned as he lay paralyzed in the small bed. The pain and the noises of the storm faded into feverish throbbing as his eyes adjusted to the light of a small candle in the darkness of night. David slept deeply in the bed next to him, with sounds of a gentle conversation murmuring from behind. He listened in, registering voices that belonged to Ohm and Luke.
"-all I really cared about was getting answers, so I helped them escape, but Craig got caught in a snare and Marcel couldn't have fought all the soldiers by himself. So I decided I would be the one to stay behind with Craig while Marcel escaped. They surrounded us easily, and when we were taken back to the camps, the admiral thought he'd teach me a lesson by taking my eye. Took a knife and carved over it like I was a wooden doll. Poor Craig had to watch it all, too. The admiral spat in my face and left me to die, but there were some sympathetic soldiers who were willing to help me get better. They snuck fresh water and medicine as often as they could, one woman even used the last of her threads to sew it shut and stop the blood. Goes to show, not everyone in the Fire Nation agrees with the Fire Lord. Some of them were even willing to die for what they believed. I'll never forget them." Luke wrapped up his story with a sigh.
             "Holy shit." There was much sympathy in Ohm's voice. "The Fire nation sounds like it's so messed up right now."
              "It really is. The people have no idea what's right or wrong anymore, but the only direction they are allowed to follow is the Fire Lord's. Those who have the right morals either get brainwashed or killed when they stand up for themselves. It's so brutal and cruel. More than anything I just want to go and help them, even if I get killed doing it."
"I.. I guess I never really thought about it that way." Ohm paused and Luke looked over to him questioningly. "I mean about the Fire Nation people being the ones who need help. I've only ever been on the outside, seeing the things they do to us and kind of forming the idea that we are the victims, and that all Fire Nation people are as ambitious as the Fire Lord. For so long I had so much hatred towards the Fire Nation for taking our homes away. I thought the whole world should just team up against it and destroy it completely, without sparing anyone. I never cared to make the effort to believe that they actually contributed to balance in the world."
"To be honest, I thought that way too. And I'm their own blood!" Luke placed a hand on his chest and laughed. "But after being forced to live and breath Fire Nation every day for ten years, and meeting so many children, adults and elders who all have different opinions on the matter, it's just not right to claim that an entire Nation or race of benders is evil. The only thing the outside world hears is the voice of a single evil man, flaunting his power with a dragon's heart on a spear and bloody fist. When you don't actually make the effort to climb the wall and see over the actions of the leader, nobody's going to think twice when they see a helpless child or an old woman with Fire Nation in their blood. They'd kill it where it stood, innocent or not. It's horrible how we all think this way."
Ohm nodded his head and Luke continued quickly, "This doesn't mean I'm brushing off the actions of Sozin. He's a horrible man that needs to perish horribly for the things he's done and made us do, but what about the actions of your own king, in Ba Sing Se? He tried to murder us, saving only one for breaking and gathering information. Think about Craig and Marcel! They both have been opposing Sozin since the very beginning, yet the Earth King couldn't care less if they died. He wasn't even planning on keeping them around, just because they were Fire Nation. He had no right to assume they were horrible people because they bend fire."
Ohm nodded again, this time bowing his head. Luke sighed again, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to rant for so long. Oh shit, did I wake you up, Jonathan?" He perked up as he noticed Jonathan roll to his side with droopy eyes.
"No-" he coughed violently over his words. "No, just had a nightmare. Couldn't really sleep and my head hurts like a bitch." His body shivered and he snuggled deeper into the bed. Ohm gave him a sympathetic smile.
"Don't worry, Jon. Tyler and the others will be back with the lizards soon."
"I think he said they were crabs." Luke scratched his beard. "Or did he say slugs?"
Ohm shrugged. "I don't know. Some kind of small creature that you have to eat."
"I think he said they only have to suck on them."
"Oh ya, suck on them! But what would sucking do? Is it just the slimy stuff on the outside it that has the medicine in it? Wouldn't it make more sense to eat the insides?"
"Maybe they have to swallow the whole thing at once."
"And I am now done with this conversation." Jonathan gagged and rolled back to his other side, facing away from them.
Luke chuckled and whined for him to come back. Ohm laughed along, leaning closer to Luke, whispering, "what if they swallow it whole and it like, defrosts in their stomach and comes ali-"
"I said I'm fucking done, thank you." Jonathan plugged his ears and coughed into the dusty pillow.
The timing was impeccable, Doe and her very swollen belly opened the bedroom door in a rush with a smile on her face, "Them boys is back! You's be feelin' fine 'n dandy here in a few! Jus' hang in there!" She smiled and cracked the door gently.
There was a lot of noise outside the house until sounds of the front door squeaking open and many footsteps pattered over the wooden floors. Tyler pushed the bedroom door open, followed by Evan and Anthony, Marcel, who looked severely traumatized for some reason, and the rest of the squad soon after.
"Marcel, why the look of such horror?" Ohm mimicked his expression, snapping Marcel momentarily out of his state.
"I don't wanna talk about it."
Anthony let out a hearty laugh. "He dun seen some scary thangs hahahahaaaa!!!"
They looked to Tyler curiously, who was trying to conceal his laughter. "He tried to help Anthony wrestle a gator, and Anthony's little ding-dong cloth got pulled off right in Marcel's face. I don't think he'll ever unsee such a horrible thing. Hell, I'm traumatized and I was halfway across the swamp."
"I want to rip out my eyes and throw them into a volcano." He looked like his soul had just given up and abandoned his body. By the look on his face they could see it floating deep into the black abyss of nothingness.
"Haha, ain't nothin we ain't used too! The less clothin' we wear, the less likely them gators and leeches can rip 'em off!" Anthony stretched the band of his cloth and snapped it against his hips.
Ohm covered his mouth to keep down his giggles. "Or maybe Marcel is just really unlucky."
"Ok! Let's focus on more important matters, what do ya say??" Brian clapped his hands together impatiently.
Anthony approached David's bedside and reached into a small brown sack, pulling out a hand sized, silvery brown, frozen fro-
"FROGS!!" Ohm and Luke pointed at each other with wide grins.
"Spirits!! Calm the fuck down!" Tyler grabbed his chest to calm his heartbeat.
          Anthony howled with laughter. "I dun' ever met a persin who like frogs this much!!" He held it out for them to see its perfectly sculpted body. After a moment he lowered it close to David's sleeping face. "Open wide, big guy!!" He stuck his muddy fingers in David's mouth and pried his jaw open, shoving the frog all the way to the back of his throat.
David woke with a start, gagging and coughing and struggling to breath. Then Anthony walked around him and kneeled down in front of Jonathan. He casually grabbed the base of the mask and lifted it over his mouth.
The moment Jonathan saw the frog, his gut screamed at him not to eat it.
"Oh, hell no. Fuuuuuck that." Jonathan pulled away from the frog Anthony offered.
"Aw come on now, Joan! You's need it! Can't risk ya dyin' on us!" He shoved the frog up to his lips but Jonathan wouldn't budge.
He roughly shoved his hand away. "It's Jon. Isn't there some kind of plant I could eat? Or any tea I could drink?"
"Ain't much out here 'cept mosquitos, leeches, an' people-eatin' plants. Ain't no fancy tea or nothin. Now suck on them frogs." Anthony grabbed Jon's head to keep it still, but his mouth refused to open. He groaned in disgust at the sight of the slimy creature.
"Jon, you have to do it if you want to get better. It's only for a minute or two." Evan tried to reassure him by resting his hand on his shoulder, but Jonathan rudely smacked it away. "Jon." He persisted.
"Evan." He growled back. Evan raised an unamused eyebrow at the challenge. Jonathan scoffed, "I'm not going to eat that shit." Anger steamed in his tone.
Suddenly Jonathan blinked, for a split second catching sight of a large shadow by his bedside, but when he blinked again, it was gone. Fear and confusion took over his gut feeling until anger came back down like a hammer. He began to realize that something may be wrong with him.
"Jonathan, please stop being stubborn. David already looks better, see?" Evan pointed at David as the sickly pushed himself into a sitting position. His eyes were dull and exhausted but the slowly defrosting frog seemed to put a halt in his shivering. "I know it's gross but you need t-"
"Fuck off!" The water bender spat. Shocked and unsure of what to say, Evan stepped back.
Jonathan immediately regretted his reaction. He didn't mean to snap, the words came out of his mouth faster than he could process what he was saying. He blinked and a shadow completely blocked his vision. A sharp pang in his head made him grit his teeth in pain. After another blink, it was gone, but the pain and ringing remained.
"Jonathan, calm down, it's fine." Tyler ordered.
Jonathan grew aggravated again. A distant whisper tapped into the back of his mind, making his head hurt even more. "Shut the hell up, Tyler! You don't know shit! I'm not eating that damn frog! You can't make me!" An incredibly strong guttural feeling told him he had to avoid eating the frog at all costs. He hated it, he hated it!
"Jonathan, you need to eat the frog so your sickness doesn't get worse. This could be a matter of life or death." Tyler took a step closer.
"Then I guess I'll just fucking die!!" He glared at Tyler, radiating with so much hatred the entire room recoiled from it. The whispers grew louder and his head throbbed so bad he wanted it to explode. His vision flickered and the shadow made him fog in and out. The whites in his eyes dimmed pink and his pupils dilated wide, covering near all the blue color.
"Jonathan? Are you ok? Don't you want to get better?" Evan reached out again. This time, Jonathan snapped at him like a feral dog. Evan jumped, eyes wide with confusion and betrayal.
Lui swallowed. "Something's not right. I don't think this is Jonathan talking."
"Fuck you!! I'm fine!!" Outwardly he screamed this, but in his mind knew something was terribly wrong. He was overly upset at something so stupid and couldn't get himself to calm down. He had no control over his body or his words and his soul was getting dragged further and further into the darkness of his mind, into the loud mess of whispers and shadows. This seemed to be a common occurrence whenever he was in the swamp.
"It just- I don't know, I feel a really dark presence in the room right now." Lui scrunched his eyes closed.
Everyone quieted and watched Jonathan wearily. He shifted uncomfortably and groaned at the pain in his head. Then he started coughing. He coughed and coughed and didn't stop. It wasn't until the coughing turned to choking, his body convulsed into violent spasms, and blood started soaking the pillow that they reacted.
"Hold him down!" Tyler instructed Evan as he grabbed one of his flailing arms. Jonathan kicked and screamed and choked on the blood that pooled in his throat.