Chapter Text
Michael sat up with a jolt. Panic rushed immediately through him, even though his mind was still cloudy he knew something went terrible wrong. They had been on their way to the capital of the earth kingdom when Franklin wanted to make halt at a small village. A little array of huts, nothing big, nothing threatening, that's why Michael had given in. Stupid, stupid idea, why had he such a hard time saying no to the kid? Images came flooding back to him, the villagers, who seemed over joyous to meet Frank, the family who had invited them for dinner, the great food and the short feeling of normality. As if there wasn't a war, a death crucial destiny on the shoulders of a kid. But something had to go wrong. He remembered feeling strange after the meal, the mother of the family saying a soft sorry before everything was consumed by darkness.
They must have done something to the food, but apparently without the intention to kill. He cursed under his breath, when will he learn not to trust even the most innocently looking person? He couldn't allow to slip up, his job was to protect Frank and to teach him waterbending, not get them both killed by trying to pretend that the firenation wasn't breathing down their neck.
Michael tried to make out the room in which he woke up. Thankfully it was dimly illuminated by two barred windows, he could even see the moon grazing him with her powers. Thus they weren't underground, which was a good sign that their captors weren't earthbenders. The wall on the opposite of the windows was made completely out of metal bars, but only showed a small metallic corridor behind them. Besides that the cell was empty, Franklin was nowhere in sight. Shit.
A new rush of dread flooded though him, they had to have captured him as well, so where could they have put him?
Michael forced his legs to carry his weight and stand up, only then noticed he that his hands where tied. How could that have escaped him till now? It was yet another bad sign, he couldn't bend like that, damn it.
His legs were still a bit shaky, but he managed to walk the way to the bars and get a look at the corridor by sticking his head against one of the small gaps between the metal. The hallway stretched not too far to his left and ended in a heavy metal door. He couldn't see if there was another cell to his left, with the possibility to contain Frank. He was truly fucked, it appeared.
Not ready to give up, he tried the windows next, they were a bit higher up so he couldn't really see through them but something else hit him in that moment. A pull at his navel, something that flooded his veins with a calm feeling of power. Water. There must be water on the other side. He focused on the calling of his element, letting it flood through him, waiting for him to call back. There must be a lot of it outside... Then it finally struck him. A ship, he must be on a ship. And a metallic one at that.
The dread formed quickly into panic again. A metal ship. Only the firenation build and used them.
Oh god how? How had they found them? He needed to get out in an instant.
He needed his hands untied so he could summon his element, but how?
Before he could finish his thought a loud creak echoed through the cell, followed by a shine of light, someone was coming to his cell. Not having enough time to plan, Michael tried to shuffle as far away from the bars as possible and look as threatening as he manged besides his still fatigue body. Not soon after, a person came to halt in front of him, carrying a small lantern. Of course the man was clothed in the military uniform of the firenation, he never had hated to be right like in that moment.
“You're finally awake it appears, water peasant.”, came a haughty voice and Michael wished to punch the smugness right out of him. After a short pause, the guard began to speak again.
“Not very talkative huh? Or don't they teach you savages down there any intelligent language? Should I repeat myself in grunts?”
It was a taunt, Michael knew that he just wanted to rile him up while he couldn't defend himself. Nevertheless his blood started boiling and the wish to inflict pain grew uncomfortable strong, but he managed to keep his mouth shut. He wasn't going to give him the satisfaction to show any anger. The guard came closer to the bars, seemingly unhappy to get nothing out of him.
“Alright keep your mouth shut then, they will make you talk once we're in the capital. Guess you don't want to know where your little friend is as well. Shame.”, with that he turned and began to walk away.
“Where is he?”
The guard stopped immediately and turned around in a swift motion, probably smiling under his stupid helm. “Ah so the savage can talk. Well he's not here.” If he only had his hands to bend...
“I can see that. Where did you put him?”, Michael answered nonchalantly. A small laugh filled the cell, making him cringe.
“Continue being a smart mouth and we'll see about your food rations, I could use the extra calories.” That piece of.. He exploited his 'superiority' and got off on every second of this. Probably a low ranking soldier who had finally someone under him. Guessing from the lamp a non-bender.
“He's not on this ship.” The guard finally answered, the distaste clear in his voice, after failing yet again to get a rise out of Michael. Latter simply nodded. He was done with this conversation, he wouldn't get anything more useful out of him.
“Aren't you going to ask where he is?” The guard dug again.
Michael thought for a long while if he should answer at all, enjoining to have gained a leverage on the pompous ass. “Nah, I don't think they'll just tell anyone his position, especially not some prison guard.” That landed a hit, the guard stepped against the bars, pointing at him. “Watch it, don't make me come in there and teach you some manners!”, he blurted.
Michael simply took three steps forward, knitting his brows in displeasure, enough to make the guard step back, obviously afraid of him. It was good to see that he was being taken seriously and all of that talk was just hot air.
Without loosing another foul word the guard took of with the small amount of dignity he had left. The door felt shut with more force than necessary leaving him with only the moon to light him the cell.
After what had felt like roughly six hours of trial and error Michael had still not managed to get the handcuffs off him. He had made no progress with finding an escape plan either. Frustrated he gave up for now, slumping against the wall. The sun had risen about three hours ago, filling the room with a warm light, it did nothing to lighten up his mood. Daylight put the firebenders at an advantage, he had hoped for an opening during the night, but no one seemed eager to talk to him. His defiance against the guard had caused him to not get food nor water as well. If it would continue like this until they reached the firenation they wouldn't even have to tie his hands up. Maybe that was their plan, a dehydrated waterbender was good for nothing.
Michael let his head collide with the wall behind him, staring at the ceiling aimlessly. How could he have let it come to that? Completely at the mercy of the firenation, with no way of escaping and probably facing his death or something worse as soon as he would set foot on land. And even worse, he had failed Franklin. The boy could be anywhere, maybe in some top security prison or on a bigger ship with firebenders crawling on top of it like ants. Michael had sworn himself to protect the young Avatar and teach him everything he knew about bending and the war. While Franklin had mastered the basics of waterbending he still had a long road ahead of him, missing two elements completely. It would have taken them around three more days to reach Omashu and hopefully finding an earthbending master for Frank. Now the kid was on his own with his 16 years, facing a whole nation of maniacs. It would not end well, Michael may only have 8 more years of life experience but two were better than one. And Michael had mastered waterbending since the age of mere 14, he was pretty good at what he did.
Anyhow, Franklin was still the Avatar, maybe he managed without him, maybe he could escape and find an earth teacher. Maybe Michaels destiny had simply been fulfilled. Maybe he wasn't meant for anything greater than finding the Avatar and putting him on the right path. Maybe he hadn't been meant to leave the shitty south pole at all but instead continue to live in misery with his fiance. Maybe he should stop with his depressing thoughts, which led him nowhere.
He had to save as much energy as possible. His body was sore from whatever poison had been in the food, his wrists were bloody from his endless efforts to get the shackles off and the lack of fluids left his head aching. Overall he was in no good condition to fight. Deciding to sleep he balled himself up against the wall and let the tiredness of his body overtake him.
-
His restless nap came abruptly to an end. At first he didn't know what had woken him up, the cell was still empty, the sun still shining. That was until the turmoil reached his ears. Footsteps hammered through the ship, it had to be the greater part of the crew to make that much noise. People were shouting different things, each voice trying to shout over the others. Huge bangs made the metal shudder under the sheer force of them. Something was definitely not right, it sounded like they were under attack. But who would attack the royal navy? And sending them in such a panic at that. Michael shuffled to his feet, trying to see anything through the windows, but all he could see was an unhealthy amount of black smoke. Damn. If someone sank the ship he would go down with it, no one would come down to get him and without his hands he couldn't do shit.
He felt the familiar kick of adrenalin, mixed with a slight fear. It was now or never, maybe they would shoot a whole through his cell, or check the corridor for loot. He hated it that his life hang by a thread of fate, one he couldn't manipulate in the slightest.
Michael doubled his efforts to loose the shackles, causing blood to drip on the floor but he couldn't care less. No, his story would not end with him dying at the hands of his own element. A blast even more violent than the ones before shook the ship to it's core, followed by an unhealthy creaking sound, Michael had to steady himself against the wall to not tumble over. If it had been bad before, real hell broke loose after that, the shouts started to get pervaded by screams and the shuffling on board was like a tiny earthquake.
There was no doubt in his mind: They had been boarded by whoever was attacking them. And if the sounds were any indicator, whoever it was would probably not simply let him out. But even though the blood had made his wrist slick there was no way of getting them free. He would have to wait.
As soon as the hell aboard rose it died down again, leaving the whole ship suddenly in an eerie silence, what the hell was happening? Had they won? Probably. The ship must be stacked to the brim with benders and soldiers. But then again the screams had sounded different...
Just then a noise rose above the strange silence, footsteps. Someone was making their way towards his corridor. Michael felt his whole body go tense, that could be it. What it was he was just not so sure. Rattling. Cursing. Again rattling. A crash broke the silence and made his heart jump, someone had kicked down the door. Every step the person took felt like a lifetime, until finally someone appeared in front of his cell.
The golden sunlight illuminated his visitor, allowing Michael to quickly asses the stranger.
It was a man dressed in nothing but slacks, boots and a tunic in the godforsaken colour of the firenation. He didn't look much older than Michael himself, but his expression was what caused Michael's heart to stop. It was such a pure and unmasked rage that he was suddenly certain to not get out of this with his life. The man stepped right in front of the bars and Michael could have sworn that there was steam enclosing his skin.
“Well isn't this nice? Might I ask what the fuck you're doing down here?” The man's emphasis was all over the place, probably trying to contain the anger that came with it. Michael found himself for the first time unsure what to make out of a situation, so he decided to play it safe.
“I-”, he had to swallow to get his voice working again, “What the hell does it look like I'm doing?” Excellent. Fucking A, that's how you play it safe Michael. To his further confusion and maybe luck the stranger seemed to not get angrier at his comment. Or there was simply no intensification.
“Oh I'm sorry maybe I wasn't clear enough. Who the fuck are you and where the fuck is the Avatar?” The first sentence was spoken in such a sweet manor followed by the second spoken in a heavily threatening tone that it was hard to differ what was being meant serious and what not.
The guy was nuts. There was no other way to put it.
“He's obviously not here. And I'm none of your fucking business.” Michael bit his tongue, why couldn't he shut up with the snark remarks? It wasn't going to help his situation, if he planned to somehow survive this. The guy grabbed the bars and now Michael was almost certain there were small clouds of steam rising from his body.
“Oh I'll decide if you're of my fucking business alright, porkchop?”, came the eerie calm response, betrayed by the murderous stare he was giving him. Porkchop? Michael simply stared back, not ready to admit defeat. The eye contact quickly became uncomfortable, the stranger wasn't blinking whatsoever and the way his gaze sprang from Michaels left to his right eye only confirmed his suspicion that he was nuts. But he managed to stand his ground. After another eternity something changed in the body language of the man, if it didn't sound insane Michael would have described it that he all of a sudden didn't look like he was going to tear his head clean from his body.
Michael decided that it was finally safe to bargain. “Maybe, but I think we can give each other a hand here. I want to get out and you want information from me.” He tried to speak as nonchalant as possible, for one to not anger him again and for second to not let shine through that he hadn't the kind of information the man sought nor would give it to him even if he knew where Franklin was.
Something flashed in the golden eyes of the man. “Wait I know who you are.” Before Michael could play stupid the stranger fished for something in his slacks, retrieving a crumpled piece of paper, holding it in front of himself to look at it.
“You're the Avatar's little mermaid! Man... they drew you a couple pounds lighter, and maybe a bit more evil looking.” Michael cringed inwardly, not good, if he was really looking for Frank then it was a huge disadvantage to be recognized, but there was no way to do any damage control anymore. The bribes about his weight settled wrong with him as well but that couldn't be a priority right about now.
“Yeah I am, that's why I think my offer isn't too bad.” Michael was surprised to hear that his own voice sounded strong and collected, not revealing his weak condition in the slightest.
The Stranger's demeanor had changed completely in the last two minutes, the pure anger was nowhere in sight instead he appeared... normal? No that was not it, there was nothing normal about a man boarding a huge fire navy ship with nothing but worn out clothing hunting for the Avatar.
“Planning on ratting out your little friend? I don't know why I don't believe you. But that doesn't matter, turns out you'll be useful either way.”
That weird glimmer reappeared in his eyes, one Michael wasn't able to categorize. The words however were as clear as the sky. He would survive this for now, but not on his own conditions. The longer he lived the more time he had to come up with a plan and how hard could it be to overpower one man? Yeah right.
The man shuffled through his slacks again, this time revealing a bundle of keys. That's what had produced the rattling sound earlier, he must have gotten it from a guard, hopefully that smug bastard. The stare of the stranger finally left him, to try the endless bundle of keys in the lock and Michael had a moment to think again.
He couldn't think of any advantage on his account, making an escape near impossible. He didn't know the man thus he wasn't sure if he was a bender or something similar dangerous. He didn't know if he was alone, but probably not, such a huge ship couldn't be taken down single handed. Which rose the question where his allies were. Sure Michael was surrounded by his element but his hands were a bloody mess and still bound. Maybe he could convince him to untie him?
A clang filled the room as the lock sprang open. The man left the keys and made no hesitation to step right in his cell, there was no fear or uncertainty in him, he didn't take Michael as any form of threat. Michael was too surprised to react as the man stepped right in his personal space and jousted him up over his shoulder. “Man you're even heavier than you look, porkchop.”, grunted the stranger besides not appearing in any struggle to carry his weight. The situation caught up with him and he began fighting back against being lifted like a damn child, to no avail. The other man was skinny but his muscles were like wires, not giving him any room to wriggle out of the grip. Michael had to have pissed of the spirits at some point and the past day was his punishment. There was no other way how one hellish situation could turn into an even worse one like that.
“You know you never told me your name, I mean I have no problem to continue calling you porkchop, your decision.” His voice was cheery, no signs of exhaustion or anger even as he carried him out of the door and up the stairs. Michael thought about what to say but found that he didn't mind giving out his name if he could stop that stupid nickname.
“Michael.”, he said dryly.
Another chuckle came from the man, but he made no other indication that he had heard him. What was it with that guy? Michael had always been proud of his social skills, he never had a problem to categorize people and predict their behavior. But he couldn't even find a beginning to describe him, his emotions changed quick and he had yet not acted according to Michael's guessing even once.
“You know I can walk on my own?” Michael tried again, finding the man talking less eerie than his sudden silence. As answer the man patted his leg. “Assuming that you're not coming freely and that you're probably going to try to kick water at me I think that's the best solution for both of us right now.” He stated without any anger at his suspicions of Michael's willingness to get kidnapped yet again. The man was cleverer than Michael would have given him credit for.
He couldn't see where they were going but the sudden rush of power told him that they were about to step outside. Confirming his thought he felt a rush of fresh air and the warmth of the sun on his back. And he finally was able to tell why it was so silent. Fuck.
The deck was a mess to say it lightly. The metal was charred and filled with holes, formed from huge projectiles. There had been a fight, even though a short one. Members of the crew lay sprinkled like rag dolls around the floor, as if a hurricane had simply flicked them aside. The smell of burned flesh and horn was nearly unbearable making him slightly gag. Had they attacked each other? Whatever it was they never stood a chance, who was the man? Earthkingdom? Must be. The only remaining resistance was located there, besides the northern water tribe, but he looked nothing like water nation. The only thing that bothered Michael deeply was that he had to have heard of him if he so openly attacked the firenation, yet he didn't recognize the face from wanted posters. The more he learned the more of a mystery the man became. They made their way across a plank, which lay loosely between the ship and another one, he could see the ocean beneath it and felt a sudden longing, he had to reach out to the soft waves, had to feel the cool liquid in his hands.
“Wade, you useless piece of shit can't you see that we have a guest? Move your ass and get him, I'm not going to carry him over the doorstep like a damn bride.”
The sudden shout ripped Michael from his thoughts. So there was a crew. He heard someone running towards him and became hyper aware of his position, heat rose to his cheeks but there was nothing he could do about it. His captor lifted him from his shoulder and Michael couldn't suppress a yelp when he was literally thrown at another person. One that wasn't prepared to catch him and without his hands to catch himself he took them both to the floor. The body of the newcomer cushioned his fall but he still managed to hit his shin rather hard.
“What the hell?” Michael barked before he could think better of it. Free for the first time he shuffled to his legs, ignoring the man he had crushed beneath him. Thankfully the fruitcake did nothing to prevent him from standing upright again.
“Sorry about that, I forgot how heavy you are.” Michael glared at his new captor but before he could give him a piece of his mind the other man came to his feet as well, inserting himself between them. He appeared to be rather young, maybe only a bit older than Frank, with shaggy blond hair that rested in a bun at the base of his neck.
He ignored Michael completely. “Sorry Trevor you were gone for quiet some time, I would have come sooner if I knew you had the Avatar!” It was spoken in such a strong dialect that Michael had a hard time to understand him. Trevor, huh? The name rang a bell but he couldn't place it where he had heard it before. Named individual swatted the kid against the back of his head.
“That isn't the damn Avatar you useless fuck. Now get him under deck before I send you overboard.” Trevor gave Michael another strange look before turning and stalking off to the bridge of the ship, vanishing behind a door. He really wasn't taking him serious was he? Wade didn't look like much and he was in the middle of the damn ocean, he felt slightly offended at that. The firenation had offered a huge bounty on his head and described him as a highly dangerous individual, Trevor must know that, he had the wanted poster with him.
The kid looked at him for the first time as soon as the door closed, there was still a hint of panic in his face but not because of Michael. What was it with these people? Well they had no problem taking out a huge navy ship so maybe he was the one with a problem by not being afraid of them. Then again Wade appeared not really dangerous and Michael had a deep trust in his own abilities.
“Hey, Wade is it?” Michael tried, aiming for a friendly tone. The kid bobbed his head, seemingly happy to be addressed, maybe...?
“Before we go, do you think you could get these shackles off of me?” There was a short moment in which he began nodding again only to stop mid motion and changing it to a shaking no.
“I don't think Trevor would like that.” Damn it.
“Nah why would he have anything against it? He just didn't have the time to do it himself, you know?”
That seemed to work, Wade tilted his head in thought before smiling at Michael. “Oh okay but I have to bring you to your room first, I'll need tools to get those off.” Without waiting for an answer Wade grabbed his arm and dragged him towards an open hatch leading downstairs. He had to play nice for another short while but he finally had a chance of freedom. The boat they were on was smaller, obviously made for speed, there couldn't be a huge crew maybe he could take them. He followed Wade down into a small corridor and through a door on their left. It opened to a small room rather than a cell, which surprised him. An actual bed was cramped to his left and one of the weird low fire nation tables stood in the opposite corner.
“I'll be right back.” Wade left and a click could be heard after he closed the door, of course he was locked in again. Michael sat down on the bed, the exertion of the last hours rushing through him without the layer of adrenalin to soften it. He had to pull through, once he was free he could let his body rest.
His head went oddly silent and he wasn't sure if he had fallen asleep, because it felt like Wade had been out of the room only a second ago when the door opened again and he came in with various objects.
“Sorry I had to ask Floyd for his tools.” Wade threw a collection of metallic objects on the floor and knelt next to them. He almost felt guilty to use the kid, he didn't seem like a bad person, just a bit dumb. Michael settled down next to him holding his hands out so he could get to work.
“Hey can I ask you something?” Wade looked at him with such an open curiosity that Michael couldn't help himself but nod.
“Is it pretty where you're from? You're from one of the watertribes, right?” That innocent question took him by surprise and he found that he had to think about it. Weeks ago he would have simply said yes, back when it had been the only thing he knew.
“Yeah. Yeah it's nice I guess. If you like ice and snow that is.” Wades eyes lit up. “I've never seen that stuff! But Trevor told me about it, it must be very pretty.” With a clang one of the cuffs rattled to the floor, followed by the other one. Michael felt ecstatic to be able to move his hands again. His wrists looked even worse underneath, they hurt like hell and the flesh was raw and bloody.
“That doesn't look so good, should I fetch some bandages?”An idea formed in his head. “Nah, but could you get me something to drink?” It was a bold question but if he had assessed him right he shouldn't suspect anything.
And just like that Wade picked up the tools and shuffled to his feet. “Yeah I can do that.” He seemed eager to please and happy to be given a task. It was nearly too easy. As the click of the lock could be heard Michael couldn't help but smile. He would be out of here in no time and then he could start looking for Frank. Just a slip up, nothing he couldn't contain.