Avatar the Last Airbender: Lake of Still Fire

Chapter 12

Book 1: Prodigy
Chapter 12–Trust

Waking up always felt weird. Ever since he died, he never could escape the feeling that he wasn't supposed to be here. He wondered constantly, wanting to know just what brought him back. What was the purpose to it? Or was there even a purpose?

This time was no different, it still felt so foreign. But he didn't wonder. He didn't have time. He awoke to darkness. When his eyes adjusted, he found himself surrounded by concrete and metal bars. He panicked, memories from only just a couple of hours ago having not reached him yet, and tried going to the bars. He hadn't realized he'd been tied up. He didn't go far, the metal chain wrapped around a pipe straightened nearly instantly and pulled his arm back painfully. He felt like his shoulders nearly broke from the sudden jerk, and he fell to his knees. His face nearly hit the ground.

He grimaced and turned around to face the slackened metal chain, now lying on the ground. He briefly wondered if he could use the Body Flicker to escape, but his hands weren't tied together in a position that would make a hand sign possible. They were tied at the wrist, one behind the other and, unlike the part of the chain attached to the pipe, he had no leeway. His struggle against the binds proved he had no way to move his hands.

"Stop all that noise, jeez!"

A familiar voice stopped him in his tracks. He was alone in his cell, it was far too small to fit another soul. He squinted his eyes, looking past the metal bars. Across from him, in her own cage, Mai was seated on the stone ground, looking back at him and with no sign of a chain holding her down.

"Mai? You aren't chained up?"

"Clearly." She deadpanned, picking at a strand from her hair. "Smart on their part honestly. Without my weapons I'm pretty much useless."

Shisui grimaced. He could tell that she had woken up before him and had already tried escaping. In the end, she decided to give up. He sighed and situated himself so that he would at least be sitting semi-comfortable.

He tries to come up with some sort of plan to get them out of this mess. He was surrounded by nothing but wall that he couldn't break with his legs, and nothing else he could use to break the bars. Even then, with his arms locked down he was at their captors mercy. He didn't like that one bit, but if he thought about it positively this meant that he could learn more about their plans. First, he needed to establish where they were. Second, he needed to learn their plans, and third, he needed to find a way to escape.

He just realized how difficult all of that was going to be.

"Why are you here?"

Shisui raised his head, looking at the scowl on Mai's face. He should've had some sort of excuse ready.

"Hello," she stretched the word out in aggravation. "I know you hear me!"

"I followed you."

"Clearly," she sneered. "I'm asking why?"

Clearly, he wouldn't be getting out of this with a sideways response. He sighed and leaned back against the pole, letting his head rest on it and his vision hit the ceiling.

"I'll tell you, since it doesn't matter now anyways." His eyes narrowed at the ceiling. "I didn't trust you to hold up your end of our deal. So I followed you to make sure that the information you were providing would be correct."

Her features grew fierce. "Are you kidding me? Are you dumb?"

"I barely even know you." He said, gripping his arm. "There's no reason for me to trust you. Especially when you are so close with Azula." The image of her grinning flooded his mind, possibly choosing the worst moment to do so. He'd come to the consensus that Azula could not be trusted and he held the same position on anyone that associated themselves with her.