Burn and Bloom - Phan

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

TW: mentions of torture, torturous acts (such as whipping)

Dan cried out, a mixture of terror and outrage, as Phil crumbled to the ground. A soldier behind him had clunked him on the head with the butt of his sword. He took a stumbling step towards Phil before he remembered himself—remembered where he was, who he was in front of.

Dan forced himself to stop, to halt in his tracks and stand straight. He took deep breaths as he stared at the ground beneath his feet, as he slowly turned away from Phil and faced the man in front of him.

The man chuckled lowly, likely bathing in the absolute control he had over Dan. He felt so powerless, so weak and unable. He couldn't do anything to save himself, much less Phil. And now escape was definitely impossible. Dan wouldn't let himself be separated from Phil, wouldn't let a single person lay a finger on him again. He could feel fire crackling through his body, possibly escaping from his fingertips, but he couldn't help it. He was just so angry! He wanted to pummel all the soldiers around him into the ground—especially the one who'd hit Phil already.

"Daniel." Dan looked up, his mouth suddenly feeling dry. Were his legs shaking?

"Father," he responded. General Howell grinned wickedly.

"Take him away," his father commanded. Dan's eyes widened with panic as two sets of hands clenched around his arms, already pulling him backwards. Dan couldn't even fight back, couldn't even make any noise to protest. "And his friend too."

Despite everything, and despite how incredibly selfish it was, Dan felt relieved. At least he wouldn't be separated from Phil.

Another pair of soldiers approached, each carrying the reins for the ostrich-horses pulling a prison wagon. It was much smaller than the one Dan had only recently been in, cramped and uncomfortable looking. And this time Dan wasn't going to be on of the people guarding it (or at least pretending to).

He didn't bother to struggle as he and Phil were loaded into the vehicle. He knew it was pointless when his father was around, knew there was nothing else they could do other than cooperate. It was ridiculous how he and Phil kept having their plans ruined, kept getting kidnapped or trapped or outsmarted. He just wanted to settle down with his friends out in the woods somewhere, was that really so bad? That he didn't want to be a soldier? That he didn't want to operate under his father and hurt innocent people?

Dan grunted as the small wooden prison-car door slammed behind him, hitting him as it did. There were no benches or anything, just a tiny amount of floorspace on which Phil was already crumpled. The soldiers had just tossed him in here unceremoniously, uncaring that they were hurting him, that they'd already hit him on the head once and he didn't need other injuries on top of that.

The car started to rumble along and Dan sank to the ground, carefully rearranging himself and Phil until he was hugging Phil to his his chest, Phil's back pressed against his stomach. He carefully held Phil, gently shaking him from time to time and trying to persuade him to wake up. Phil remained completely unconscious, proving that he really had been hit quite hard on the head. He was still breathing steadily, thankfully, though it wasn't enough for Dan's anxiety to go down any.

This was all his fault, anyway. He should've known to be more careful, should've known that his father would be suspicious after such a high-scaled prison break-out. Of course he'd be in the area. And of course he'd have his eyes out for Dan, having known that he and an earthbender were together. Dan was an idiot and he'd gotten the both of them captured and now he wasn't even strong enough to do anything about it.

He could only hope that Pj and Louise would be able to help them out of this situation somehow—preferably sooner rather than later. He sighed and settled in for a long ride, hugging Phil closer to himself as he did. Whatever was coming wasn't going to be good, likely for either of them, and it was only a matter of time before the panic really set in and this overwhelming defeated sort of calm ended. He hadn't seen his father in years, having been sent of the soldier camp simply to be gotten rid of. His father had despised him for as long as he could remember, always sneering down his nose at the sight of his wretched son.