Spark [Prince Zuko - Book One]

❃Chapter Seventeen❃

Asake didn't know how long she was in the bowels of the ship. It could have been hours; it could have been days. She wasn't really sure. The only light came from the lonely torch that sat above her cell. She couldn't even use the sun to figure out what time of day it was because there were absolutely no windows around them. That didn't surprise her, though. If there were windows, the ship would have capsized by now since they were in the underbelly. The only reason she knew she had been there for days on end was when the guards brought her breakfast. That was the only meal they brought to the prisoners, so she made sure to eat every bit of it to stay strong. She was surprised that Zhao would give her quality food, but there was another part of her that figured he wouldn't give her bad food. Unless the food was tainted . . . She would already have been dead if that were the case.

Lifting her head off of the frigid wall, she glanced around her. The torch light was slowly fading away as it burned continuously. She knew it would go out soon enough, leaving her all alone in complete and utter darkness. The other day, the Fire Sages had been taken out of their cells and up the stairs to the top deck. Even though most were quiet and angry, she still missed Shyu. He kept her sane. She assumed they were getting transported to a different ship; she was lucky enough to be Zhao's only prisoner now. 

With no one to talk to now, she resorted to talking to herself just to hear another voice. None of the guards ever spoke to her, and Zhao hadn't stepped foot down in the bottom of the ship since the last time she saw him. She thought that he would try to get answers from her or something like that, but she was wrong. She doubted he would come back down here because it was damp and nasty down here and someone like Zhao shouldn't be spending their precious time down here. 

"Asake, maybe you should practice your firebending," she whispered to herself. Her lonely voice bounced off the metal walls, echoing around her. Even the flame above the torch shivered in the breeze from her voice echoing around it. "It's been - what? An hour since you last firebended?"

She shrugged and blew out a breath. Fire flew out of her mouth, floating to the ceiling above her. The red of the fire shone down upon her like a red sky. She grinned slowly. Firebending was the other thing that kept her sane. It had a life of its own. She had no clue how amazing firebending was when she was younger. She always thought it was awful and destructive, but this feeling of warmth that spread through her was enough to tell her that it was what she was meant to be doing. It also let her know that she was still alive, that she could still feel something, anything. It gave her hope.

The small fire grew in the palm of her hands as she stared at it. It danced around like one of the performers she used to go see with her dad when she was little. Their town used to host a small festival every year for the summer solstice, and the Dragon Dancers were the highlight of it for almost everyone. She wished she could be a little girl again. It was much simpler back then. She wouldn't have been hurt or kidnapped or anything. She would still be happy.

Turning her attention back to the small flame dancing across her grungy palms, she flicked her fingers and the light grew slightly. Asake knew she wasn't a master, so her fire could get out of control anytime that she did this. She didn't care, though. She had seen a lot of Zuko's training sessions since she had nothing better to do and retained some of the ways to control fire. The fire grew ever so slightly, and it lit up her face even more.

A clang echoed through the bottom of the ship, and Asake dropped her hands. The fire dissipated just as quickly as it came. As of right now, she didn't want Zhao to know she was a firebender. It was her little secret, and she might be able to use it against him. Who knew? She could attack him and get away from this wretched ship.

The soft light of the torch was the only thing left for her to see from. It flickered in the breeze that came from the open door above. More light spilled down the stairs. It looked like sunlight! She hadn't seen sunlight in so long, and her skin itched to be back out in the open. Every fiber of her being yearned to get off of this ship and away from these people before something terrible happened to her. She wasn't sure if she was able to do that, though.