AtLA: Follow You Into the Dark
Title: Follow You Into the Dark
Fandom: Avatar the Last Airbender
Author:
kawaiispinel
Feedback: ...Is loverly.
Word Count: 1635
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: 33. Strange Smells (
30_romances)
Characters: Sokka, Toph
Pairings: Sokka/Toph, but it's light. It's mostly angsty.
Warnings: Angst and character death, ahoy. (Again?)
Summary: They had broken her when he found her again, an unforgivable crime in his eyes.
Disclaimer: Nope. Not mine. It wouldn't be fit for children if I ran the show.
Author's Note: Mwhahaha... I can't stop killing people off, can I? This is part of a weird little 'verse that decided it wanted to be written backwards. Go figure the Muses and their logic.
It was pitch black in the dungeons underneath the Fire Lord’s palace, the only light provided by the guard at the head of the group, a crimson flame burning above his outstretched hand. Despite the dim light, the other two guards seemed to have no problem dragging his bruised body through the halls, obviously having made this trip many times before.
He wondered half-heartedly if they were the same guards who had taken Toph to the dungeons when she was captured. Or would they have even bothered? Very few confines could hold the young Earthbender, after all. She was probably a commodity alive. A wave of nausea came over him as he pictured Toph’s tiny, although hardly fragile, body lying in a bloodied heap on the floor of the palace, and he almost choked on the bile that rose into his throat. She couldn’t be dead, he swore mentally. Toph was too strong to be taken down so easily by a group of Firebenders.
The guard at the head stopped in front of a cell, urging his companions to stop as well as he peered through metal grate at the top of the door, as if checking on something that was inside. He gave a satisfied little grin, and unlocked the door with his free hand. A moment later, the young Water Tribe warrior was tossed inside unceremoniously, scraping his chin on the oddly warm ground. The smell of blood stung his nostrils, too strong to be coming from his superficial cuts, and he sat up quickly, eyes scanning the darkness.
Someone else was in this cell... Someone hurt badly. He had only hope for who it might be, and he could only pray that it was the person he desperately needed to see and that she was alive despite the nauseating odor of blood and a stranger smell that he couldn't quite place yet.
"Toph?" He called into the black, his voice was hoarse, barely a whisper. He didn’t know if it was the panic or the fact that he hadn’t spoken a word since the soldiers decided to use him as a punching bag in order to figure out Aang’s whereabouts.
Something moved. He practically felt it. "Toph?" He said, louder this time.
"Sokka," a joyfully, painfully familiar voice called back. It was weaker than he remembered it, but it was unmistakably hers.
"I’m here," he said, unable to contain his joy. "Keep talking, Toph. I’ll find you."
"Kinda hard to talk," she murmured, but didn’t say why.
He managed to find her by feeling along the floor, knowing he was close when his fingers brushed against dried blood on the floor, which he hastily pulled away from. He reached through the air, desperately, and managed to lay a hand on soft flesh. He brushed the skin, attempting to feel out what part of Toph he was touching when his fingers scraped across something that shouldn’t be there- a patch of skin rough to the touch like a piece of dry leather. The other strange smell that had mingled with the blood hit him full force and he instantly recognized it as the small of charred flesh. He shuddered involuntarily and jerked his hand back quickly.
The Fire Nation hadn’t killed his mother instantly. She died over the course of a few harrowing days, suffering in silence as the healers tried their best to save her. Gran-Gran had told him (and Katara, as well) that they couldn’t see her, but he didn’t understand why until he was inside the igloo where she was resting, and his eyes fell upon her for the first time since the attack. Charred beyond recognition, her once pale and flawless skin a sickening black color, her body giving off the foul odor of burnt flesh and hair. He hadn’t shied away though. He had walked right up to her and touched her face, longing for any sign that it was still his mother underneath the ruined skin. She hadn’t stirred under his touch, and it was almost as if he wasn’t there at all. He had started to cry in despair at that point until Gran-Gran came and took him away.
He never forgot the feel of his mother’s burned skin, and now as he touched the mark on Toph’s flesh, he realized he had a new reason for it to never leave his memory.
Toph who hadn’t said a word or made a move since he found her, suddenly stirred under his fingertips, inhaling sharply as though in pain. He moved his hand along her body, tracing her shape- she was lying on her side- until he found what he suspected was the problem- a misshapen rib jutting out an awkward angle, threatening to pierce the skin at any moment. Judging by the blood which still hung in the air, it was one of several serious injuries.
"Oh Toph," he whispered, now understanding why she seemed disinclined to speak.
Something brushed against his bare shoulder- Toph’s hand. Her palm and fingertips felt the same as the other mark and he wondered how many more burns she’d sustained given the intensity of the smell in the air. He was almost glad that he couldn’t see her, afraid her marred looks would break him and incite him into an action that would probably prove fatal for both of them.
"Azula has clever torture methods," she finally said. "She burned my feet and my hands until I couldn’t feel anything." She took a shuddering breath. "And then I tried to fight her, but... I couldn’t see. I still can’t."
"It’s pitch black in here," Sokka offered. "I can’t see anything either."
"I could feel the vibrations before," she murmured as if she hadn’t quite heard him. "Now I don’t feel anything." A sound like a small whine escaped her throat. "I’m scared, Sokka."
So that was what they had done when they captured her. She put up one hell of a fight, and so they decided to break her and leave her for dead in this cell, for broken was the only word that could describe the state she was in right now. He could feel her shudder under his hand- now resting on her shoulder- as if she was trying desperately to contain sobs.
They had broken her- his strong, brave, unconquerable Earthbender- the one person he thought could never be broken. That was a crime that almost made every other crime they had committed pale in comparison. He gritted his teeth, wanting nothing more than to take her away from all this and hurt the ones who had dared bring her to this state, but he couldn’t. He was stuck here and the only thing he could do was stroke her skin, ignoring the partially healed scrapes and cuts and the sharp contrast of the burn marks on otherwise unmarked flesh, trying to calm her, allowing her to know that he was here and would remain here, protecting her until there was nothing left to protect.
There was still hope though. As long as Aang was out there fighting, then there was a chance the war would end. But as far as they were concerned, he felt it was already over, especially when he took another heartbreaking look at Toph’s injuries. The thought of being alone once she was gone frightened him to the point where he tried not to think of it, but it lingered on the back of his mind constantly.
The hours passed like centuries and he found himself calling Toph’s name every time she got the least bit still, desperate to make sure she was still with him in the horrifying darkness, and she always answered without fail. He wished she’d say something sarcastic or wry to give him an inkling that the girl he adored so much was still in that broken body somewhere, but it was a false hope. That girl had died and this husk remained.
Her pulse was starting to grow weaker, and the painful thoughts resurfaced, too true to ignore. Not knowing what else to say to her in what were probably her final moments, he merely murmured, "I’m sorry."
"What have you got to be sorry for?" She whispered. The dreamlike quality of her voice made it seem like she was merely talking in her sleep.
"I didn’t protect you. I shouldn’t have let you out of my sight... If..."
"Shut up," she practically hissed. He obeyed, understanding that his whining was the last thing she needed to hear right now.
"Promise me something, Sokka," she said after a moment’s pause.
"Anything," he answered without thinking about it.
"Don’t do anything stupid."
"I promise," he swore involuntarily, feeling that he would have given her anything at this moment whether it was in his power to give or not.
There was silence again, one that lasted for too long for Sokka’s comfort. Finding himself longing to hear her voice again, he started to call her name, but she spoke before he could.
"Sokka... I forgive you."
"For what?"
"For not protecting me." Her voice suggested that she was smiling.
"I thought it didn’t matter."
"It doesn’t. I just wanted you to hear it."
That was the closest he’d ever get to hearing the real her again as silence once again settled over them. He didn’t hesitate to call her name this time, but no answer met his ears, and he knew she was gone. Fighting back a wave of emotion, he felt his way through the dark cell to what he assumed was the door and began yelling insults at the guards, taunting them, wondering how long it would take him to make them angry enough to lash out at him. He hoped it would be quick.
He was going to have to break that promise he made to her. It wouldn’t be the first time.
He just couldn’t bear the thought of both of them being alone in the darkness.
Fandom: Avatar the Last Airbender
Author:
kawaiispinel
Feedback: ...Is loverly.
Word Count: 1635
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: 33. Strange Smells (
30_romances)
Characters: Sokka, Toph
Pairings: Sokka/Toph, but it's light. It's mostly angsty.
Warnings: Angst and character death, ahoy. (Again?)
Summary: They had broken her when he found her again, an unforgivable crime in his eyes.
Disclaimer: Nope. Not mine. It wouldn't be fit for children if I ran the show.
Author's Note: Mwhahaha... I can't stop killing people off, can I? This is part of a weird little 'verse that decided it wanted to be written backwards. Go figure the Muses and their logic.
It was pitch black in the dungeons underneath the Fire Lord’s palace, the only light provided by the guard at the head of the group, a crimson flame burning above his outstretched hand. Despite the dim light, the other two guards seemed to have no problem dragging his bruised body through the halls, obviously having made this trip many times before.
He wondered half-heartedly if they were the same guards who had taken Toph to the dungeons when she was captured. Or would they have even bothered? Very few confines could hold the young Earthbender, after all. She was probably a commodity alive. A wave of nausea came over him as he pictured Toph’s tiny, although hardly fragile, body lying in a bloodied heap on the floor of the palace, and he almost choked on the bile that rose into his throat. She couldn’t be dead, he swore mentally. Toph was too strong to be taken down so easily by a group of Firebenders.
The guard at the head stopped in front of a cell, urging his companions to stop as well as he peered through metal grate at the top of the door, as if checking on something that was inside. He gave a satisfied little grin, and unlocked the door with his free hand. A moment later, the young Water Tribe warrior was tossed inside unceremoniously, scraping his chin on the oddly warm ground. The smell of blood stung his nostrils, too strong to be coming from his superficial cuts, and he sat up quickly, eyes scanning the darkness.
Someone else was in this cell... Someone hurt badly. He had only hope for who it might be, and he could only pray that it was the person he desperately needed to see and that she was alive despite the nauseating odor of blood and a stranger smell that he couldn't quite place yet.
"Toph?" He called into the black, his voice was hoarse, barely a whisper. He didn’t know if it was the panic or the fact that he hadn’t spoken a word since the soldiers decided to use him as a punching bag in order to figure out Aang’s whereabouts.
Something moved. He practically felt it. "Toph?" He said, louder this time.
"Sokka," a joyfully, painfully familiar voice called back. It was weaker than he remembered it, but it was unmistakably hers.
"I’m here," he said, unable to contain his joy. "Keep talking, Toph. I’ll find you."
"Kinda hard to talk," she murmured, but didn’t say why.
He managed to find her by feeling along the floor, knowing he was close when his fingers brushed against dried blood on the floor, which he hastily pulled away from. He reached through the air, desperately, and managed to lay a hand on soft flesh. He brushed the skin, attempting to feel out what part of Toph he was touching when his fingers scraped across something that shouldn’t be there- a patch of skin rough to the touch like a piece of dry leather. The other strange smell that had mingled with the blood hit him full force and he instantly recognized it as the small of charred flesh. He shuddered involuntarily and jerked his hand back quickly.
The Fire Nation hadn’t killed his mother instantly. She died over the course of a few harrowing days, suffering in silence as the healers tried their best to save her. Gran-Gran had told him (and Katara, as well) that they couldn’t see her, but he didn’t understand why until he was inside the igloo where she was resting, and his eyes fell upon her for the first time since the attack. Charred beyond recognition, her once pale and flawless skin a sickening black color, her body giving off the foul odor of burnt flesh and hair. He hadn’t shied away though. He had walked right up to her and touched her face, longing for any sign that it was still his mother underneath the ruined skin. She hadn’t stirred under his touch, and it was almost as if he wasn’t there at all. He had started to cry in despair at that point until Gran-Gran came and took him away.
He never forgot the feel of his mother’s burned skin, and now as he touched the mark on Toph’s flesh, he realized he had a new reason for it to never leave his memory.
Toph who hadn’t said a word or made a move since he found her, suddenly stirred under his fingertips, inhaling sharply as though in pain. He moved his hand along her body, tracing her shape- she was lying on her side- until he found what he suspected was the problem- a misshapen rib jutting out an awkward angle, threatening to pierce the skin at any moment. Judging by the blood which still hung in the air, it was one of several serious injuries.
"Oh Toph," he whispered, now understanding why she seemed disinclined to speak.
Something brushed against his bare shoulder- Toph’s hand. Her palm and fingertips felt the same as the other mark and he wondered how many more burns she’d sustained given the intensity of the smell in the air. He was almost glad that he couldn’t see her, afraid her marred looks would break him and incite him into an action that would probably prove fatal for both of them.
"Azula has clever torture methods," she finally said. "She burned my feet and my hands until I couldn’t feel anything." She took a shuddering breath. "And then I tried to fight her, but... I couldn’t see. I still can’t."
"It’s pitch black in here," Sokka offered. "I can’t see anything either."
"I could feel the vibrations before," she murmured as if she hadn’t quite heard him. "Now I don’t feel anything." A sound like a small whine escaped her throat. "I’m scared, Sokka."
So that was what they had done when they captured her. She put up one hell of a fight, and so they decided to break her and leave her for dead in this cell, for broken was the only word that could describe the state she was in right now. He could feel her shudder under his hand- now resting on her shoulder- as if she was trying desperately to contain sobs.
They had broken her- his strong, brave, unconquerable Earthbender- the one person he thought could never be broken. That was a crime that almost made every other crime they had committed pale in comparison. He gritted his teeth, wanting nothing more than to take her away from all this and hurt the ones who had dared bring her to this state, but he couldn’t. He was stuck here and the only thing he could do was stroke her skin, ignoring the partially healed scrapes and cuts and the sharp contrast of the burn marks on otherwise unmarked flesh, trying to calm her, allowing her to know that he was here and would remain here, protecting her until there was nothing left to protect.
There was still hope though. As long as Aang was out there fighting, then there was a chance the war would end. But as far as they were concerned, he felt it was already over, especially when he took another heartbreaking look at Toph’s injuries. The thought of being alone once she was gone frightened him to the point where he tried not to think of it, but it lingered on the back of his mind constantly.
The hours passed like centuries and he found himself calling Toph’s name every time she got the least bit still, desperate to make sure she was still with him in the horrifying darkness, and she always answered without fail. He wished she’d say something sarcastic or wry to give him an inkling that the girl he adored so much was still in that broken body somewhere, but it was a false hope. That girl had died and this husk remained.
Her pulse was starting to grow weaker, and the painful thoughts resurfaced, too true to ignore. Not knowing what else to say to her in what were probably her final moments, he merely murmured, "I’m sorry."
"What have you got to be sorry for?" She whispered. The dreamlike quality of her voice made it seem like she was merely talking in her sleep.
"I didn’t protect you. I shouldn’t have let you out of my sight... If..."
"Shut up," she practically hissed. He obeyed, understanding that his whining was the last thing she needed to hear right now.
"Promise me something, Sokka," she said after a moment’s pause.
"Anything," he answered without thinking about it.
"Don’t do anything stupid."
"I promise," he swore involuntarily, feeling that he would have given her anything at this moment whether it was in his power to give or not.
There was silence again, one that lasted for too long for Sokka’s comfort. Finding himself longing to hear her voice again, he started to call her name, but she spoke before he could.
"Sokka... I forgive you."
"For what?"
"For not protecting me." Her voice suggested that she was smiling.
"I thought it didn’t matter."
"It doesn’t. I just wanted you to hear it."
That was the closest he’d ever get to hearing the real her again as silence once again settled over them. He didn’t hesitate to call her name this time, but no answer met his ears, and he knew she was gone. Fighting back a wave of emotion, he felt his way through the dark cell to what he assumed was the door and began yelling insults at the guards, taunting them, wondering how long it would take him to make them angry enough to lash out at him. He hoped it would be quick.
He was going to have to break that promise he made to her. It wouldn’t be the first time.
He just couldn’t bear the thought of both of them being alone in the darkness.