Naya and the Last Airbender

ii. Hopeless

Kanya's henchmen took off my blindfold. I was tossed into a large opening outside. It was desolate with no other sign of life than the animals that flew overhead. We were encased in a stone wall that looked just as menacing as the woman that stared down at me. Was this it? Was this where I die?

I glanced up at the sky and stared at the moving clouds. Maybe I could get just one last, peaceful glimpse before I go...

"Now, I'm going to give you one chance to redeem yourself and say the Oath of Betrayal willingly so you don't have to get hurt," Kanya said slowly.

I glared at the woman and spit at her feet. Kanya took my obvious no to heart and gestured for Gon and Imim to stand me up. They wordlessly yanked me off of the ground.

"It looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way, then," she sighed.

Another Fire Nation guard scampered onto the pavement with a large bucket in his hands. Water spilled over the edges as he walked, but stopped once he placed it at Kanya's feet. The woman who raised me then bent a stream of water around her. I closed my eyes, preparing myself for what was to come.

I felt the first lash of water hit my face. Again. And again. And again. She moved all around my body, whipping me with the stream of water that made gashes into my skin. I tried not to show any sign of pain, but I couldn't help but have tears stream down my face. By the end of her session, I was bloodied and bruised, and barely able to open my eyes.

"Now, will you recite the Oath of Betrayal?"

"Never," I mumbled, slumping over and needing one of the men to catch me.

Kanya let out a groan. "Take her back to her cell. We'll continue this tomorrow," she spat with immense hatred.

Gon and Imim had to carry me back to my cell since I could barely walk. My body radiated pain and I wanted to cry out for it to stop. My muscles couldn't stop twitching from how badly I had been hit. I was in an endless nightmare.

The two men threw me into my cell and I landed on the cold, damp cement with a groan.

"You're pathetic," Gon said with a laugh. Imim joined him. Together they walked out of my prison, leaving me in nothing but darkness.

I laid still on the floor, trying my hardest not to cry. I couldn't help but think of my friends and what they were doing. More so, I thought about how much I hated having this burden of power— look at where it put me. I couldn't even lift a finger without wanting to scream.

With a defeated sigh, I closed my eyes and let the misery and darkness take over and bring me to a place that was hopefully much better than here.

+

          MORE weeks passed.

More weeks of me being beaten and starved. In hopes to get me to recite the Oath of Betrayal, Kanya ordered the guards to give me only one meal per day. In the short amount of time that I've been here, I've noticed a gruesome change in weight.

I was weak, fragile, something that I once was long ago, here in the Fire Nation.

And every day Kanya brought me out to that same gated area and beat me until I couldn't see. Sometimes, to get some fun out of it, she would switch and let Gon or Imim pummel me. With each day I grew weaker, she only seemed to grow stronger.

I couldn't believe that I once called that woman my mother. She raised me. However, could she have no sympathy? No ounce of regret running through her veins as she beat her only child unconscious?