100 Days, 100 Drabbles (#80: Tales of Ba Sing Se)
Genre: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Title: 100 Days, 100 Drabbles
Chapter Title: Tales of Ba Sing Se (080/100)
Author:
catalyst283
Word count: 400
Rating: PG
Warnings: sadness :[
Notes: This is something I hesitatingly started-and then it just kept going and going and going. I will tell you straight up that it is extremely sad-but you will find it emotionally satisfying, the power in the words overcoming the tearful theme of the piece.
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Tales of Ba Sing Se
A flash and images crowd the space, each vying for placement. The most vivid memory of all grabs at the edges, finally shoving itself into the center.
The battlefield strewn with corpses, bloody outfits and men that belong to neither side anymore. A grasp at his boot and he turns, ready to shake off a person that is not the one he is looking for. The man clings to his boot, gasping in pain at a chest wound. The soldier’s outfit is half-ripped off and torn in places, bloody in others, and he is about to move on when the man speaks.
Please, and his voice cracks, end my pain. The once bright gold eyes are dim amber now, delirious from the screaming pain, and they do not hold any recognition in them. Please, the soldier begs again, let it be over now.
He is crying now, kneeling down beside the soldier and grasping his palm, as if he is the one fighting for his life. The soldier screams and his breathing coming out in pants muffles his words, each syllable coming out choked. Please…end…it…all… And he cannot do anything but watch as the man convulses again, the pain beyond the point of words. He is frozen in his spot, not able to save the man but not willing to end his life either.
The man is ghastly white now, the blood loss causing the rest of his body to shut down. And it takes only a moment before the body goes limp, the hand falling weakly out of his own.
It is over.
And he has done nothing.
The water falls down his cheeks, each tear a regret. He has wished for so many things over the years, but he wishes more than anything to go back to that day. He would move mountains to change history, to change time and space and words. His whole life has been about power, but it was when he was at its peak that he found himself at the very bottom, more powerless than he could have imagined.
Later he will tell the Avatar power is overrated, saying that it is better to choose love instead. He learned the hard way, the most painful way of all. He cannot let anybody else make the same mistake.
Happy Birthday, my son. If only I could have helped you.
Title: 100 Days, 100 Drabbles
Chapter Title: Tales of Ba Sing Se (080/100)
Author:
catalyst283
Word count: 400
Rating: PG
Warnings: sadness :[
Notes: This is something I hesitatingly started-and then it just kept going and going and going. I will tell you straight up that it is extremely sad-but you will find it emotionally satisfying, the power in the words overcoming the tearful theme of the piece.
----------
Tales of Ba Sing Se
A flash and images crowd the space, each vying for placement. The most vivid memory of all grabs at the edges, finally shoving itself into the center.
The battlefield strewn with corpses, bloody outfits and men that belong to neither side anymore. A grasp at his boot and he turns, ready to shake off a person that is not the one he is looking for. The man clings to his boot, gasping in pain at a chest wound. The soldier’s outfit is half-ripped off and torn in places, bloody in others, and he is about to move on when the man speaks.
Please, and his voice cracks, end my pain. The once bright gold eyes are dim amber now, delirious from the screaming pain, and they do not hold any recognition in them. Please, the soldier begs again, let it be over now.
He is crying now, kneeling down beside the soldier and grasping his palm, as if he is the one fighting for his life. The soldier screams and his breathing coming out in pants muffles his words, each syllable coming out choked. Please…end…it…all… And he cannot do anything but watch as the man convulses again, the pain beyond the point of words. He is frozen in his spot, not able to save the man but not willing to end his life either.
The man is ghastly white now, the blood loss causing the rest of his body to shut down. And it takes only a moment before the body goes limp, the hand falling weakly out of his own.
It is over.
And he has done nothing.
The water falls down his cheeks, each tear a regret. He has wished for so many things over the years, but he wishes more than anything to go back to that day. He would move mountains to change history, to change time and space and words. His whole life has been about power, but it was when he was at its peak that he found himself at the very bottom, more powerless than he could have imagined.
Later he will tell the Avatar power is overrated, saying that it is better to choose love instead. He learned the hard way, the most painful way of all. He cannot let anybody else make the same mistake.
Happy Birthday, my son. If only I could have helped you.