Carved In Rock || ATLA

Scream

Lake Laogai Continued

"Caught up in this madness, too blind to see. Woke animal feelings in me, took over my sense and I lost control. I'll taste your blood tonight." - Avenged Sevenfold

Trigger Warning: Scenes of violence that may be upsetting to some.

🌊🏔🔥🌪

Surrounded by nothing but silence and shadows Kyojuro lay in his bed in the room that Long Feng had prepared for him and turned his family's medallion over slowly in his hand. His concept of time had grown distorted in the fortress with zero access to outside leaving him unsure how much he had actually managed to sleep or how long exactly he had just been lying here lost in his thoughts.

Family.

Was anything he knew about the Hashibira family true? Growing up he was taught that his ancestors before him had lifted Ba Sing Se up from nothing and brought stability to the warring Earth Kingdom, allowing most cities or provinces to be led by their local governments but still maintaining their loyalty to the crown. But how much of that could he believe? Long Feng was the one that told him about his family's history and Long Feng was the one that lied to his face repeatedly for the last eighteen years. And dammit as much as he hated to admit it that hurt. His heart ached so badly he couldn't decide if he'd rather scream or cry. In all of his eighteen years of life, Kyojuro had never felt so small and weak as he did right now.

He wanted the feeling to go away and never come back. He wanted all of the sadness and anger to stop. He wanted his life to be normal just this once. He wanted his big brother.

Damn, Kyojuro realized just how long it had been since he longed for the comfort of Kuei's presence. When their childhood all too quickly faded away so did their bond. Sure, they were brothers still but things only continued to change between them the more they grew into their people. Was this what siblings were supposed to be like? Familiar strangers? Spirits, their lives could've been so different had they just been born into a normal family.

It was something Kyojuro had thought about often over the years. It was exactly why he had such little interest in the throne or his duties as a Prince whatsoever. Sure, he did the minimum of what was expected out of him and he did it with the poise and grace he could only assume his parents would expect out of him but that minimum was it.

What had being the King or Queen gotten his parents? An early grave and a lifetime of trauma for their boys to navigate on their own. Kuei could go and get himself killed if he wanted to but Kyojuro refused.

That was a lie and the young Prince knew it. Out of fear of his older brother's downfall Kyojuro purposely kept himself at a distance but the truth was if anything ever did happen to Kuei he wouldn't know what to do with himself. Barely having him as he might his brother was all Kyojuro had left, especially following Long Feng's deceit.

What game was the old man playing at? Sure, his reasons for keeping the brothers in the dark sounded solid in theory but the reality was things had gone to shit under his rule. Maybe Kyojuro was just as much to blame too. He had known that Long Feng has been playing his brother for quite some time, making all of the real decisions that affected Ba Sing Se from the shadows. How foolish the Prince had been to believe the conniving old man had their people's best interest at heart. The Earth Kingdom was falling apart and up until now, Kyojuro had done nothing to stop it.

So who's fault was it - Long Feng's, Kyojuro's, or the warlords of the Fire Nation? Most would say the latter but the Prince wasn't so sure. How bloody were all three of their hands?

How bloody were the Akira's? Kyojuro never made it to see Aelita last night or this morning or whatever time it was in the fortress void of life and light. He had been too stunned after Long Feng's last revelation to face much of anyone.