Bad Moon Rising | Book 4

22: Anarchy

Art: Light Behind A Door by Elena Nayman

They were expecting her.

They had expected all of them. Sandbenders had materialized out of the walls and descended over them all.

It all happened so quickly that not even Aang was prepared to fight, easily getting knocked out before chains and metal gloves encased his hands and feet.

Before Kida knew it, she was upright, her whole body swaddled in rock up to her shoulders. Zuko, Katara, Sokka, and Suki were not much better off, their feet melded to the ground and hands capped with stone. Only an earthbender could free them now and they were fresh out.

"To be honest, you were better than we imagined," Jasper hummed.

Kida could barely hear his voice. The blood was rushing past her ears. Her eyes kept flickering between her captors and the people she had unintentionally walked straight into a trap.

"A whole world, and you found us in a week. I see why Ozai chose you," Jasper went on. "The guards always liked to talk about you," he was circling around her like a hungry animal deciding the best point to strike, "like you were some role model to live up to. They said you were already cracked when you got there. You never screamed, never begged, never showed fear. We were weak compared to you. Is that why you locked us away and threw away the key?" Jasper stopped and knelt to match Kida's level. "Were we too weak for you?"

Kida kept her gaze over his shoulder, watching as the sandbenders dragged the others down the stairs. She gritted her teeth as one flung Aang roughly over their shoulder.

"LOOK AT ME!" The sharp sound startled many in the room. One moment purring and the next roaring, Jasper was the picture of a rabid beast.

Kida did not flinch. Her words came out, venom dripping over clenched teeth. "I don't look at garbage."

Jasper's eyes flashed. It felt as if he had forcefully unhinged her jaw as he snatched her face with a crushing hand.

"Don't touch her!" Zuko bellowed, trying to kick and shake, but the stone around his feet remained stuck to the floor, only moveable by the benders who dragged him forward.

"Fire Lords are always so possessive, aren't they?" Jasper's voice had mellowed once more, pleased by the feeling of his nails digging into her flesh. "Ozai didn't like it when you left either. All of our visitors started disappearing. We hoped without his shining star around, he'd get rid of us too, put us out of our misery, but we weren't even worth that much effort. People in power always think so little of the suffering they can't see."

Kida gradually dragged her gaze to look into Jasper's eyes. His pupils were pin needles, the thick rings of green were dull in a way that no amount of light could ever fix. No one was home upstairs anymore. No matter how wide his smile cracked open his face, there was no soul left to give it life.

"You act like I care."

The manic face inches from her own did not appear to phase her. Her wide eyes had become hooded, the two-tone of blue rapidly freezing to ice.