Mare et Solis | Katara x Azula

Chapter 2 - The League of Assassins

Katara
I woke up in a large metal room with my hands chained to the floor. There were other people with me in the room, they were all women, some conscious others not. I didn't recognize any of the women that I could see. Some had their backs facing towards me but I noticed the clothing they wore were mixed between the nations. Two were fire nation, two were earth kingdom, and I was the only water tribe.

I woman walked into the room, head held high with her hands behind her back. She wore black clothing, not indicating any nation relation. The loud creak of the door opening woke the rest of the girls up. The woman looked at each one of us with an unreadable face and eyes that felt like they were looking right through you. Some of the girls curled into themselves and others looked back at her dead in the eyes. I kept my face expressionless, I didn't want her to see the fear I was feeling.

That's when I recognized one of the girls, it was Azula. What is she doing here and isn't she supposed to be dead by now. I guess the woman saw my questionable face and started speaking.

"I know you're all confused on where you are and why you're here," she had a stern voice that shook some of the girls.

"You have been rescued from different situations and recruited to the League of Assassins. Some of you might not be cut out for this but we only recruit the best." I look back at Azula and her face is pale with her eyes slightly wide in shock. She must know what this place is.

"You will be trained to hone your skills, you will be put into teams, we are a sisterhood. Turn your back on the league and there will be great consequences. There is no way to escape, you are to leave your old lives behind and forget about everyone before the league," she finished with that and left the room.

In her place 5 more women walked into the room attending to an individual girl. One walked up to me and unlocked the chains on my wrists. Replacing them with her own hands and pulling me down a hallway to a room.

The room had a set of bunk beds in the right corner, a simple vanity in the left corner, and a desk on both sides of the room when you first walk in. There was a small window on the far wall in between the beds and the vanity. In between the vanity and the desk was a for leading to a bathroom. It wasn't all too much or too little.the woman got me a set of clothes and told me to get dressed in the bathroom.

I heard another girl be brought into the room and told to wait for me to be finished. The clothes she gave to me were black pants and a black shirt. Surprisingly they fit me perfectly. When I got out of the bathroom I saw the girl on the bottom bunk with her back facing me.
"I'm done in there if you need to change too," I say in a kind voice. She gets up with her clothes in her hands and proceeds to close the bathroom door behind her, not saying a word.

The woman who gave me my clothes leads me out of the room to a yard with it other girls. They are all lined up in neat rows with a couple spots left in the back. That's where I'm put. A couple more girls stand beside me and a loud voice upfront starts talking.

-

Azula
I woke up with a start when I hear a door creak open loudly. I'm in a room, hands chained to the ground, with 4 other women. I notice that peasant Katara is one of them. A woman walked into the room and started speaking. I was half paying attention until something she said caught me.

"...and recruited to the League of Assassins." I knew I said I wanted a new life but not this one. I've heard of the league from father, they almost killed him once and I overheard about them from a meeting. The rumors about this league are never ending. Some say they are to help the world others say they will end it. Two things that I know for certain are one, if you refuse to join you're dead, and if you betray the league you're dead.

I was brought out of my thought when a woman walked up to me and unlocked the chains around my wrists. I see that none of the other girls are in the room anymore. The woman grabs my wrists with a strong grip and drags me down a hall to a room.

"There's already a girl in the bathroom, grab these and change after her." while saying this she hands me a set of black clothing. Once she leaves I sit on the bottom bunk, I can't trust anyone here except myself. The girl walks out of the bathroom.

"I'm done in there if you need to change too" she says this with kindness in her voice. She's not going to last long in here. Not speaking to her I walk in the bathroom and shut the door.

The outfit is completely black but fits comfortably. When I walk out the bathroom the girl isn't there. I'm lead out of the room by the woman from before outside to a yard. I join the girls that are in the rows in the back. Some are standing with heads held high with their hands behind their backs and others are just standing there clueless. I copy the others and stand up straight, hands behind me. Then the woman upfront starts talking.

-

Third Person
"You are now apart of the League of Assassins. There is not going back, you are to join or suffer the consequences. You have been shown your rooms, you will have a roommate that will be on your team. Your old lives are over, here you start a new one, the people you once knew, forget about them. They no longer matter, if you know someone in the league from your past, start on a clean slate. We will not tolerate any fighting unless instructed. You are to settle in today but know tomorrow we start, first by measuring your skill level, giving you a partner or team, then learning to hone and perfect you skills. I am in charge of training you, you will call me Viribus. You will all get your own names in time," once she was finished the girls were sent back into their rooms and locked in.

Katara and Azula are now locked in the same room. It's quiet for a long time until Katara breaks the silence.

"Look I know you don't trust me and I don't trust you, but we at least have to work together if we're going to make it here," she says holding out her hand.

"Truce?"

Azula looks at her hand questionably. She won't trust Katara she won't last long anyways, she thinks. She brings her hand up and shakes her hand.

"Truce, but I'm sleeping on the bottom bunk, you can go up there," she says pointing up.
"Fine by me, do you know anything about this place?" Katara asks.

"Not a lot but I do know the important stuff, don't try to escape and don't betray the league," she responds in a serious tone of voice.

Katara listens carefully and accepts that she is now apart of this so called sisterhood and there is no way out. Azula did this back in the yard understanding there's no other option.

They both see that it's getting dark out from the small window in the room. They lay down in there beds waiting to see what they will have to endure tomorrow.

A few hours later, in the middle of the night.

Azula wakes up to the sound of footsteps passing in the hallway. They don't sound like the women from before, more light footed. She gets up and puts her ear up against the door, listening.

"Hey! What are you doing out of your room?" a woman shouts. A quiet gasp escapes the lips from the girl who was in the hallway.

"I've heard about this place, I refuse, I don't want to be here!" the girl shouts.

The shouting wakes Katara up and she joins Azula at the door, still keeping a little distance between them. The girl in the hall makes a break for it but is caught in a heart beat. She is screaming as she's being dragged down the hall out of ear shot.

"What do you think is going to happen to her?" Katara asks with a mix of worry and curiosity in her voice and on her face.

"What they said, she will suffer the consequences," Azula replies while going back to laying down in her bed.

Katara follows back to her own, laying awake for another hour thinking. What happened to the girl who refused and what did I get myself into? After that she falls asleep awaiting for what comes the next day.

Tell me what you think so far and I'm hoping you are contempt with the second chapter. I'm having a lot of fun writing this. Have a nice day and don't forget to the smile.
- ally