Luke

Something woke me up, and all I saw was black. The color black. I made the motions of trying to open my eyes, but nothing seemed to change. I wondered if my eyes were even opening or just felt as though they were. Going through the same motions yielded no results. Black was the only thing I could see, except for…except for a haze. A haze of light. Orange, yellow, colors dancing in a small shade, a layer of darkness between us. Cloth. I had a hood around my head. I could feel its material. Was I blindfolded, or hooded? In a rather juvenile move, I stuck my tongue out, but when it touched more fabric, I knew I had a hood around my head.

Then I felt an impact against my head. Something told me it wasn't the first time. I think I'd deciphered how I'd been woken up. "I said wake up, fucker!"

"I'm up, damnit!" I muttered, not allowing myself to show the fear I was certainly feeling. I'd been in situations like this before, in Citadel, but back then, I'd known who had me captive. That's how it worked there. No need for secrecy, espionage, they wanted you to know who had the power to nab you off the streets with impunity. But not this time. And that's what scared me. I had no idea who I was talking to. No image to work off of. So I had to make my own.

I was kneeling, my legs were tied at the ankles and at my wrists behind my back. Rope. Not cuffs. I'm not under arrest. At least not by Fire Nation. They like their cuffs. Or maybe I am, but I'm just not in any formal institution, which could very well mean more bad news for me. No overlooking eye, not conventions of war that weren't exactly followed anyway, but served as some comfort in time such as these. I didn't have enough to work off of, but I did have the creaking beneath my feet. Wood. And it was unsupported. No dirt beneath us. We were on a platform. A second story? "About damn time" the voice said again.

Young voice. Some boy trying to sound older than he was. Not like I'm one to talk. I'm no different. A small tree trying to give off a large shadow. "Can you hear me?"

"I can't see anything right now." I know he asked not if I could see, but if I could hear, but I wanted to think that if I made it seem as though sight was the issue at stake, they'd at least give me some wiggle room in that regard.

They didn't.

"I didn't ask if you could see. I asked if you could fucking hear me."

"In that case, I can hear you just fine." Damn.

"And you can talk too. Good. So I'm going to answer some questions. And you're going to give me some answers. First and foremost. What's your name? And don't try lying to me. We already asked your lady friend and she told us what we want to know."

And now multiple new possibilities arose. Some worse than others. The first possibility, the least likely of them all. He was telling the truth. He interrogated Ka'lira, and learned everything he needed to know from her, and I was just here to confirm what they already knew. But as I said, that was the least likely possibility. There were 2 ways he slipped up, but the way in which he slipped up opens the question of whether he was making mistakes accidentally, or with a purpose. For one, he started off by saying he already knew the truth, and just wanted to hear it from me. Normally, one would let the captive say his part first without knowing his partner had already spoken, so the interrogator could try to catch him in a lie and get a better sense of who he was questioning. But then came in the second slip-up. He didn't use Ka'lira's name, which begged the question, did he really get any information out of her, or a worse question, was she even alive? I had multiple options now. I could tell the truth, which wasn't going to happen. I could lie my ass off and see where it got me, or, I could play him the way he was playing me. I was trying to make my own image after all.

"Katia" I asked, thinking of some name that sounded Earth Kingdom off the bat. "Where is she?"

He paused. The pause could have meant 3 things, he was trying to figure out who I meant, he was taking a moment to remember the name to act like he knew I meant the girl, or he knew I was full of shit, but his next answer allowed me to eliminate the latter at the very least. "She's okay." Of course, that in itself was no assurance. She could be dead for all I know.

"I want to see her. Make sure she's alive."

"I can make her scream if you want."

"How 'bout I make you?" And I meant it. I was allowing the flame to build up in my hands, ready to burn through the rope regardless of the potential nationalistic sympathies of my captors. A similar fire grew in my breath in a technique I'd only heard about, but had been trying to learn on my own, but I wanted to think I had enough in me to be a dragon in this moment, both metaphorically, and literally. I heard him stand from where he was sitting, accompanied by the unsheathing of a blade, an overreaction on normal occasions, but this wasn't a normal occasion.

Then a door opened. To the right. Wood. Rickety. The entire structure was wood. "Jet!" I heard a new voice call. "We finished interrogating the girl." I then heard the boy, Jet, sheathe his blade again as he said, in his surprise from the sudden visit, "Kai, I wasn't expecting you yet." I let the flames in me die down. You got lucky, kid.

"You get anywhere with him yet?" So she's alive and he's an idiot, or she's possibly dead or alive and he's a genius, using casual conversation to make me think their guard is down so I'd believe what they're saying.

"I'm getting close. I swear he's about to break."

I decided to fuck with the kid. I already knew their names. Let's see if they can break before I do. "You kidding me? Your boy, Jet doesn't even know my name yet."

"Shut up!"

"Sit down, Jet." Kai said. "Let the pros handle this."

"Handle away." I said, smirking, though he couldn't see it. That was then the fist came, knocking me down backwards from where I was kneeling, and I finally felt the pull of something else, something new around my neck. A rope. I was being hung up from somewhere. The ceiling? And the wood beneath me. I was on a trapdoor. And things suddenly became a lot more serious.

"By now, I want to think you've noticed the noose around you're neck. You're kneeling on wooden trapdoor hundreds of feet in the air. You do something stupid like that, you become our new favorite decoration to warn other Fire Nation assholes like you that these are our forests."

"I'm not Fire Nation." I would have added 'dipshit', but a new awareness of my surroundings prevented me from doing so.

"I don't believe you, but we'll get to that later. First. I want to know your name. What is it? And no making shit up. We talked to Ka'lira."

Fuck. At least she's alive. Or was.

"Luke."

"Now that just sounds like a made-up name."

"That's because it is." Did Ka'lira lie for me? Or was he playing games?

"Then what's your real goddamn name?" Yeah. She lied for me. I smiled beneath the hood, but I was building trust here. So I'd tell the convenient truths, but make them sound like lies, because a good liar knew how to make his truths sound like deceit, so his lies sounded all the more honest.

"Don't have one. Or at least I don't remember it."

"You an anchor baby or some shit?"

An anchor baby, a nice little slang for babies born to pirates, traders, or passing sailors in the navy. A good guess for where we were geographically.

"Close enough. I was born in a slum."

"Where?"

"To the east of here." Northeast to be precise. The vaguer your truths, the more you can get away with when it comes time to lie.

"How did you get here?"

"We drove. I believe you knew that part already."

"You really want to get smart with me?"

"Shipwreck. We're marooned."

"And what kind of ship is it?" Could you be any more obvious? He wants to catch me in a lie so damn badly. He's probably here just for the fun of being able to make some grand spiel about how he knows I'm lying because A, B, C. He's overly cocky. So I'll let him have his fun.

An old Earth Kingdom carrack we found a few years back. Then there was a pause. Oh boy. Here we go. I'm willing to bet anything he ahs this cocky grin on his face, and he's about to walk up real close to me and say- "Here's how I know you're lying," He whispered into my ears. Called it.

"Your girlfriend, Ka'lira, she tried lying to us too." I bet he has such a huge stupid fucking smirk on his face. "She told us you came here on frigate that you hitched a ride on, but I knew better than that. Because, as clever as you are, and pretty clever, I'll give you that, you're not clever enough for me." I was trying so damn hard not to laugh my ass off behind that hood. I was even biting on my lip to suppress it. "We had scouts who've had our eyes on you from the moment you came ashore in that little lagoon you're all beached in-that Fire Nation ship of yours. These woods are ours, and there's nowhere you can hide where we won't see you, and we proved just as much. We counted the lot of you. 6 of you. Small crew for a small ship, but nothing we can't handle. Especially now that we have two of you here for ourselves, and your tank. I commend your effort to defend your Fire Nation comrades though, but it won't be enough. The girl will be upset to hear you made the same slip as her." He was so damn proud of himself. Have your victory moment yet? Good. Laugh it up, asshole. I learned more from this 'slip up' of mine than you did. Chief among them, Ka'lira is alive. I've seen victory highs like his, and he was in no state for bluffs.

"Still not Fire Nation"

"Enough!" He took a moment to regain his cool. "So," he said, returning to the business at hand. "I'm going to ask you. One. More. Time. Who. Are. You? And what are your crew? Spies, assassins, got lost from your blockade?"

"Well first you're going to have to accept that we're not Fire Nation."

"Liars!" So Ka'lira defended us too. Good. "I see your armor. Your tank. Your Fire Nation!"

"We're salvagers. We salvage shit." I was risking it all on this lie. The last lie, the one I let fail, that was in my control, but this lie was out of it. I had no idea what he knew now and what he didn't. How much Ka'lira said or didn't say. If I got caught here, things could go horribly, but if he slipped up, I would be in a great position. And sure enough…

"That's funny. Ka'lira said you were traders." Idiot. Even if that's what she said, you've left me in the perfect position to play off of what she said. You should have said that she admitted what you believed us to be: Fire Nation agents, mercenaries working for them, anything, but instead…traders? You're an idiot, Kai.

"Well I don't know where she got that idea from," I said. "We don't do trading, just salvaging." I wished I didn't have the hood on just to be able to see the heat that was so obviously emitting from his face, but in continued all the same, confident that if I felt the door move beneath me, I could burn through the ropes around my hands and neck in time, assuming the fall didn't break my neck. "We just like to gather scrap metal, spare parts, hammers, rusty nails, and put them in a big pile for us to jump in and make scrap angels. Of course we're also traitors, you dumbass."

Then just like Jet, I felt the footsteps come close to me. Here we go again. But they stopped when the door opened for a second time, and the attention suddenly shifted from me to-

"Commander, sir!" The two voices said at the same time, spinning on their feels to face him. Military ranks. But certainly not military. Militarized, but not military. Resistance, likely.

More than one pair of feet entered the room. Two? Three? More? "At ease." He didn't say their names. He was smarter than that. And his voice, quiet, but not wispy, still strong, not as youthful, lower by a lot, but never weak. "Having some trouble here? I heard quite an awful amount of yelling."

"He's being stubborn, but I'm almost there."

"That's what the last one said before he got replaced." I commented. I was here to test the new man entering the room. And unless he was a complete psychopath, which his voice didn't convey to me, I didn't think the comment would result in me becoming a ceiling decoration any time soon. In fact, I believe I heard a chuckle from the man. Something that could've been a bad sign as much as a good one.

"Why is there a bag on his head?"

"We hooded him, so he didn't see the way here in case he woke up," Kai said.

"We're already here, are we not? So why is it still over his head?"

"Yes sir." I let the smile on my face die before the hood was removed, so as to ensure I didn't cause any more trouble then than I had to. Then the light of the room came to life. We were in a wooden hut. I saw the support beams. We were attached to a tree, likely multiple connected with a series of catwalks, judging by how easily the visitors walked in. And the supports seemed strong by how easygoing they seemed with 6 people in one room of a treehouse. There were 5 men in the room. The one closest to me, Kai, who was now walking back, was probably around 14 to 15 years old. He had spiky brown hair, and a thick set stature. To the back left of the room was the face I associated with the name Jet. His skin tan. His hair brown. His eyes black. The same age as me by the looks of him. What is that even? 12. What is it? Spring yet? 13? Who the hell knows anymore? Then there was the only real man in the room. His hair was gray and cut short. His beard was short too, only long enough to cover his cheeks, chin, and upper mouth. He had striking blue eyes as well that contrasted his pale white skin. He was flanked by two more boys, older than the rest, but no older than 16 or 17.

He moved to where Jet was sitting on a small chair, asking, "May I? My back isn't as good as it used to be." Jet shot up as though it was his highest honor to surrender his seat to the man, carrying the chair to where I sat, and seating it in front, so the old man could sit. "Thank you."

He settled down in his chair, adjusting to the point that he was comfortable where he was seated, which took around the whole of a minute until he found himself in a good enough position. I was unsure if the time he was taking was designed to make me more anxious, because it was working. I can deal with young, stupid, unpredictable, but this was different, this was wise, experienced, something I more than lacked.

He was looking at me now, investigating me, up and down, left and right, until he said, "I'm sorry if my followers treated you harshly. They are youthful and still have much to learn in the way of hospitality. I'm afraid their eagerness gets ahead of them sometimes. They may be young, but the fire of passion in them burns strong.

"I've dealt with worse."

"I do not doubt that. I can see it in your eyes. You have seen much of the world. More than a mere salvager or trader, yes?"

"You have good ears, don't you?"

"When you live, nature all around you, and nothing but your senses to survive, you learn to use them to your advantage at all times. I also know your name is Luke. Made that up, did you?"

"It's a whole story." I thought of Mini at that moment and for some reason, felt sad about it all over again.

"I can imagine. You'll have to tell me one of these days. I'd like to, at the very least, get off to a good start with you. I know your name, mine is Kiu. That's Jet, Kai, and my two bodyguards are Kanji and Tonik." I saw what he was doing. False sense of security. Making me feel welcome, like I was a guest, not a prisoner.

"I know what you're thinking. That no matter how nice I talk, at the end of the day, you're still a prisoner here." Smart man. I didn't verify nor refute his claim.

"No matter, but you are no salvager. I know that much. So what are you then, lad?"

I wasn't going to get away with the same outright lies that worked on the others. Half-truths and half lies would have to suffice for now. I could make up fake details and stay consistent if I had to, but I'd rather avoid that as long as possible. "We're mercenaries."

"You and your crew?"

"They're not my crew, but yes."

"And you're the ones with the Fire Nation ship out there?"

"Yeah. A destroyer."

"Those were out phased."

"Well I'm sorry that we're not up to date on the latest naval fashion trends."

"What was your last job?"

I knew better than to talk about the job at Jianghe, so instead I went back further, saying, "We helped a small fishing village fight off some sea raiders."

"How noble of you. You ever take work from the Fire Nation?"

"Back in the day, maybe, but that would've been months to a year ago." I didn't dare bring up anything that implied actions against the Earth Kingdom, so I settled by saying, "Mostly serving as security in the colonies. It was easy work then. Fighting off bandits and raiders who wanted easy pickings, but then the Fire Nation stepped up their advance with the Siege, and after that, wanted us to cover their retreat, scorched earth, all that stuff. Didn't sit right with us."

"We heard about an incident a few weeks back. Some Fire Nation mercenaries stopped the Earth Kingdom from occupying Jianghe. Bloody battle, that business."

"Don't know anything about that. We cut off our work with the Fire Nation long ago. Must've been one of those other mercenary bands. The Bleeding Suns, Dragonborn, -"

"The Rough Rhinos" interjected Jet, and a cold silence fell over the room as none spoke, and a few pairs of eyes turned to him where he leaned against the wall, seething by the looks of him. Either they've had run ins with the Rough Rhinos before, or it's a very clear part of that kid's life. I didn't know much about the Rough Rhinos, only enough to tell me how their depictions changed. In the Fire Nation, they were heroes of legends, with their own books, plays, toys, festival costumes, you name it. They were the source of festivities and joy. In the Earth Kingdom on the other hand, they were the thing of nightmares, the stories parents told their kids to get them to behave well and go to bed on time. During festivals, they weren't the subject of costumes to scare the monsters away. They were the monsters.

"Them too," the old man said, almost apologetically.

"One of them," I finished. "But not us. We don't work with killers like them. Not anymore. Fighting a war is one thing. Targeting the innocent, that's another."

"A moral mercenary, eh? But you do still work for the pay, do you not?"

"Indeed we do. Something we have in common; I imagine."

Kai spoke up now, heated, yelling, "How dare you!" until he was silenced by Kiu with an upraised hand so as to tell him, "It's okay."

He then returned his attention to me, saying, "We do not fight for profit or glory. We fight to restore this land's proper leadership: The Earth Kingdom, to the people here who have been oppressed by Fire Nation occupation for long enough."

"But I don't imagine you just walk away without receiving some compensation for your efforts."

"We receive aid to help us in our fight, be it food, water,-"

"Weapons, armor, coin, same as us."

"Weapons, armor, and coin from fishermen?"

"You asked what our last job was. I never said it was our most glorious. We've taken jobs for the Earth Kingdom too. The materiel comes from them. The fishing village. Well. They mostly just gave us fish."

Kiu chuckled. It seemed lighthearted, but for some reason, it unnerved me, and that was probably due to what he said next. "I think we might just get along. I think we're going to get along just nicely. Jet, get the girl. Kai, put the hood back on him. We're going for a walk. And so the darkness returned, and that's just what it was: one color. Black. But the hood meant something else in addition to the darkness. It meant that I wasn't dead. Not yet.