chapter 1

There was so much water, Saila couldn’t keep his eyes off of it. Even growing up at the south pole, he had never seen such an abundance of ocean; whenever he would go fishing with his brother and father and later, his friends, the shoreline would always stay visible, a speck of dark on the horizon reminding them that they weren’t lost. But here, a few hours from the eastern Earth Kingdom base they had left, there was nothing surrounding them but the ocean.

“Careful. You don’t wanna fall off the boat.” Jokichi warned. He was a fire nation man in his late forties and wore his hair in a high topknot as most Fire Nationals did. In addition to driving the speedboat, the firebender was Saila’s elder in the White Lotus and would be his mentor for the coming few months, until Saila got enough of a hang of the guard duties to not need his assistance.

Saila realized how far he was leaning outside the boat and promptly sat down, refocusing his vision on the ocean in front of them. He could faintly see a craft in the distance- at first a dark spec but growing in size as they got closer.

It was a boat- a massive wooden barge- out in the middle of nowhere. As their speedboat got closer, Saila could distinguish the guard’s quarters and watchtowers framing the singular cell on the center of the boat.

As Jokichi and Saila docked and deboarded their speedboat, they were greeted by a woman, about the same age as Jokichi and wearing the same blue-and-white robes as both of them. Saila recognized her features as water tribe, though her eyes were a grayish-brown instead of the typical blue, like his own.

“Hey, Jokichi, this the rookie?” She asked, her voice mature yet lighthearted, she sounded like Saila’s mother. The firebender nodded but stayed silent.

The woman turned to Saila and extended her hand. “Hey, I’m Aaravi. Sorry, you got stuck with Kichi over there, he’s kinda a buzzkill.” She laughed, and Saila laughed with her, albeit awkwardly.

“I’m Saila.” Saila shook Aaravi’s hand and lowered his voice. “Actually, can I ask you something?”

Aaravi shrugged with the confidence of someone sure they knew all the answers. “Sure.”

“So like-” Saila unintentionally hunkered down as he spoke, as if the subject matter was illicit. “Who is this guy, anyway? Why’s he being held all by himself? Why a boat?”

Aaravi nodded, gave a small laugh, and put her hand on Saila’s shoulder. “All the rookies have the same questions. The guy’s an extremely powerful earthbender, that’s why we’re out in the middle of nowhere. Also why all our guards are waterbenders like yourself and I, firebenders like Kichi over there, or nonbenders.” She gestured to the firebender, who had moved to making small talk with another guard. “As for why it’s just him… most of that’s confidential but it boils down to him being very very dangerous with some very dangerous allies. We don’t want him getting out.”

“Oh.” Saila looked at his shoes, a knot forming in his stomach.

“Ah, don’t be scared.” Aaravi. “The guy’s… well he is pretty intimidating when you first meet him but he’s alright. You’ll see.”

It took quite some time for Saila to even meet the prisoner, but after a week and a half of watchtower duty, he was finally entrusted enough by his coworkers to move to food delivery.

“Don’t stress about it, he’ll probably want to talk with you but there’s no big rules about not talking as long as you watch what he’s doing.” Aaravi had suggested when Saila told her about his assignment. “Plus, it’d be weirder if you just stood there watching him eat. He probably gets bored all day long.”

When he had asked Jokichi for advice, the firebender hadn’t looked up from his oden and had simply muttered, “Don’t give him any private information. Or any rocks, if ya have ‘em.” As earthen material was strictly prohibited on the barge, he only had to worry about half of his mentor’s warning.

Despite the advice of his elders, Saila couldn’t help but feel a sickening dread as he approached the singular cell, food tray in hand. He nodded to the guards patrolling the sides as he made his way across the open flooring, trying to keep as steady as he could.

The first thing he saw of the prisoner was his eyes- bright golden eyes that caught him off guard. He almost stumbled backward before stammering, “I’m- I’m here with your food.” He placed the tray on the floor and pushed it through the small slot. The man- whom he could now see was sitting on the floor- gratefully took it. He was tall and muscular, with geometric tattoos inked across his arms and bare chest- Saila felt jealous, the white lotus uniform he was dressed in didn’t do much to combat the oppressive humidity. The prisoner’s hair was long, both on his head and his face, and he looked like he hadn’t showered in quite some time.

“So, you’re new here?” The prisoner said between mouthfuls of rice. “Haven’t seen your face before.”

Saila nodded and clasped his hands behind his back, near his waterskin. If anything happened, he would be ready.

The prisoner nodded, as if he had been expecting the response. “Yeah, you seem too jumpy to be used to this. Waterbender?”

Saila’s heart lurched as if he had been exposed for something that wasn’t near obvious from looking at his eye color. He nodded.

“Once knew a waterbender…” The prisoner mused. Saila moved his hand to hover over his waterskin, the prisoner wasn’t supposed to mention his affiliates- it was against protocol, which he had read over almost a billion times leading up to the assignment. “Anyways,” The prisoner continued. “Ya got a name?”

“Saila.” Saila stated, trying to sound intimidating, or at the very least, uninterested. Aaravi’s nonchalance about the prisoner had not infected him yet.

“Cool.” The prisoner smiled. “I’m Ghazan.”

It struck Saila that in the few weeks he had been there, he hadn’t bothered to learn the prisoner’s name. It seemed so arbitrary then, but thinking back it would be stranger to not know his name.

Ghazan finished the rest of his meal in silence and returned the tray to the slot, as was protocol. Saila gathered it up and gave him a nod before returning to the guardhouse. His first interaction with the prisoner couldn’t have gone more unexpectedly.

chapter 2

“What is up with that guy?” Saila complained over his soup the evening after his encounter with Ghazan. “What’s his problem? Why’s he so… weird?”

Aaravi shrugged. “He’s just kind of… like that. What even happened with him?”

Saila gestured around aimlessly, struggling to justify the absurdity of his simple conversation with the prisoner. All they had really done was exchange names. “He- Prisoners aren’t supposed to be like that.”

Aaravi chuckled. “Try telling that to him. Hey, Jokichi, remember when he kept throwing his spoon at you?”

The firebender grunted in response, clearly not looking back on the memory fondly.

“That was about… two years ago, I’d say.” Aaravi mused. “He doesn’t get a spoon anymore, to say the least.”

“Huh…” Saila though, looking down onto the wooden spoon in his hand. He had noticed the lack of utensils when he had delivered Ghazan’s meal, but didn’t pay it any mind. “He mentioned a waterbender.” The young guard added.

“Yeah,” Aaravi nodded. “He’s technically not allowed to talk about his… uh, friends, especially with the younger guards, but I don’t know. He probably misses them alot, and mentioning them once or twice can’t do any harm.”

Jokichi scoffed, giving away his position on the matter.

“Anyways,” Aaravi continued. “I heard from the captain, you’re on meal duty for the next week.”

“What?” Saila nearly slammed his hand down on the table. “Really?”

“Sorry, kid.” Aaravi smiled apologetically. “You’re new here, and apparently Ghazan likes you. It’s not my call.”

“Well, I don’t like him.” Saila replied, leaning back in his chair. He was fully aware of how immature he sounded.

Aaravi laughed as Saila pouted. “Not my problem. Update me on what happens, though.”

As spring was slowly becoming summer, the humidity of the region was only becoming more unbearable as time went on. Saila lamented how thick and layered his white lotus robes were- the ornate blue uniform did nothing to help the heat. He kept pausing to adjust his collar while he walked to Ghazan’s cell. It was so damn hot, whoever designed the uniforms hadn’t considered their usage in warm climates.

“You’re back.” Ghazan greeted as Saila approached him.

The waterbender frowned. “I’m here with your food. Again.” He slid the plate through the slot and looked Ghazan in the eye, measuring what he would do.

“Damn, what’s got a stick up your ass?” Ghazan gave him a cocky smile as he pulled the tray closer to him.

Saila didn’t respond. Ghazan laughed to himself and started to eat.

“Do you think I could get some salt on this?” He smiled ingenuously. “No offense to the guy but the ship cook is a little… eh.” He gestured, as if Saila was supposed to gather what he meant by just that.

Saila closed his eyes and tilted his head up , a subtle sign of superiority. “No, all earthen material is prohibited in this prison. Including salt.” Ghazan, having spent the past few years aboard the craft, no doubt already knew the rules even the guards had to live by. There wasn’t even any salt they could give him.

Ghazan laughed. “Worth a try. Anyways, while you’re here, you mind doing something with me?”

Saila narrowed his eyes. “What do you want?”

“I wanna play a game. Have you ever heard of… what was it called- I spy? You had to have played it as a kid or something.”

“I’m familiar.” Saila said cautiously, not wanting to give into Ghazan’s theatrics more than he had to. “But I don’t-”

“Great!” Ghazan smiled, his voice clearer with excitement. “I’ll go first. I spy something blue.”

Saila looked around the small cell, then down at himself. “Is it my shirt?”

“Nope.” Ghazan said with a content smile. “It’s the fucking ocean.”

Saila blinked a few times, the statement taking a while to settle in. “Really?” He said.

“Damn, you really fell for it.” Ghazan laughed. “I play that on all the new guards, think you’d be getting smarter by now. Course, you are wasting your life here.”

“How long have you been here?” Saila asked, the words falling out of his mouth. He did want to know, but figured he could’ve just as easily pried the answer out of Aaravi or Jokichi. It would’ve been a more reliable answer, at least.

Ghazan stopped what he was doing, as if the question took a while to answer. “I think about… fuck, it’s had to be four or five years now.”

For some reason, that startled Saila. Four-or-five years was quite a lot of time. Five years ago, he was still in the White Lotus training program up in the North Pole. “That’s a lot of time to be on a boat.” He commented.

“Ya think?” Ghazan replied. “You’re lucky, you get to ditch this joint in, what, three months, for the shift change? I’m stuck here.” There was a hint of resentment behind his joviality, a reminder of what situation they were in.

Saila nodded. With how accustomed he had got to life aboard the barge, he had nearly forgotten that it wasn’t permanent, at least not for him. He would get to go back to his home and see his family. “When I lived back in the south pole,” Saila said, trying to break the silence and change the subject, “my dad, my older brother and I would go out on fishing trips, sometimes for months on end. I think once we were out for six months.”

“You have a brother?” Ghazan asked, his curiosity sparked.

Saila nodded cautiously. Guards sharing family information wasn’t prohibited, but it wasn’t exactly encouraged. “Yeah, his name is Jotah. He’s a businessman now, in republic city.”

“Ah, the successful one in the family.” Ghazan sneered.

“I’ll have you know that-” He cut himself off, realizing just how stupid he sounded. “Anyways, he’s gonna get married soon.’

“Really?” Ghazan asked. “I’m assuming when you aren’t spending time with me.”

Saila nodded. While Jotah didn’t know the details, he knew enough about his brother’s line of work to schedule around the long shifts and confidential information.

“Lucky guy.” Ghazan commented. “I mean, I don’t believe in the institution of marriage, but I’m sure he’s a chill guy or whatever.”

Saila nodded awkwardly, unsure of what Ghazan was getting at. “So…” He asked, fidgeting with his sleeve. “Do you have any siblings?” It was the natural next step in the conversation, even if it felt awkward.

“Yup.” Ghazan nodded. “Older sister. Guess that’s something we have in common.”

“And?” Saila asked.

“And that’s all I’m allowed to tell you.” Ghazan replied, then noticed something behind Saila.

The waterbender turned on his heels, following Ghazan’s line of sight, and was confronted by the image of Guard Captain Jung marching towards him.

Jung was a non bender from the earth kingdom, intimidatingly tall and well built. As the guard captain, he was permitted to style his robes in a more comfortable fashion and not wear the pointed had mandatory all the regular guards. Saila had only crossed paths with the man a few times, when he first arrived on the ship and when receiving his assignments, and he managed to send a shiver down the young guard’s spine every time he saw him. Jung had the persona of a critical teacher, always managing to see exactly what someone had done wrong in a situation.

“Guard Saila, you are ten minuets behind on the post delivery check in.” He glared at both Saila and Ghazan. “If you stop now, I can let it slide.”

Saila glanced at Ghazan. He had been late. He had gotten so caught up in his conversation with Ghazan that he hadn’t kept track of the time and reported back into the kitchen like he was supposed to. Without saying anything, Saila gathered up the wooden tray and turned his back on Ghazan.

“Don’t trust him.” Jung muttered as he escorted Saila to the kitchen. “He might pretend to be your friend but he’s a monster. Don’t forget that.”

Saila nodded and swallowed the lump in his throat.

chapter 3

“Your turn.” Lamai slammed an air card down onto the pile and looked up to lock eyes with Ghazan. “Water’s up next.” the firebender smiled coyly.

The earthbender stroked his beard as he reviewed what cards he held, clearly pondering what move to make. “Hmm… don’t suppose we could just skip water…” He joked.

Saila tapped on the wooden floor and glanced around. “Are you sure we’re allowed to do this?” He and Lamai, a younger, firebending guard from the Southern Fire Isles, were supposed to be watching Ghazan and making sure he wasn’t escaping, not playing cards with him. If Jung found out, he would be furious, not just at them but at everyone. Saila didn’t want to face an angry Jung, much less inflict his anger on his fellow guards.

“Relax!” Lamai drew out her words as she leaned back on her arms. “It’s not like he’s going anywhere.”

“Can confirm, I have nowhere to go.” Ghazan commented as he pulled another card from the draw deck. “Also, staging an escape in the middle of a sunny afternoon isn’t ideal. Or smart.”

“What is the ideal?” Lamai asked nonchalantly.

The prisoner chuckled as he rearranged his cards. “I’m not that dumb.”

The firebender shrugged and turned to Saila. “You sure you don’t want me to deal you in? It’s not too late to add a new player.”

Saila shook his head. He was unfamiliar with the game and didn’t want to involve himself in the matter any more than he had to.

Lamai shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She put down a faded blue card, the next element in the cycle after air. “I can’t believe he’s only drawing fire.” She commented as Ghazan looked through his handfuls of cards once again.

“I can’t believe you shuffled them so shitily.” Ghazan said as he finally produced a stack of earth and fire cards. “Back to you.”

Lamai placed down an air card. “So Saila, you’ve been here for a month now. What’s it like?”

“You’re here too you know.” Saila replied. “You know what it’s like.”

Ghazan laughed. “I like this kid.”

“You know what I mean.” The firebender said, clearly urging Saila to share. “What’s it like for you? What’s the hardest part of it all? Who’s your least favorite person on the barge?”

Saila didn’t respond, instead fidgeting with his sleeve collars. He didn’t know why they were all required to wear uniforms even in the oppressive humidity.

“Bet it’s me.” Ghazan smirked. “Or Cap.”

“Nobody likes Jung, that isn’t saying anything.” Lamai retorted. The prisoner simply shrugged in response.

“I hate the heat more than anything…” Saila muttered, looking down at his boots. The sun glared so brightly in his face it gave him a headache, and he once again felt envious of Ghazan, a man in an arguably much worse circumstance than him. At least he got to sit in the shade. And not wear a three-layer uniform.

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Lamai said, brushing some of her thick, black hair out of her face. “You’re from the south pole, right? So you’ve never really had a summer before.”

“I’ve had summers before!” Saila stammered, grasping at any thread he could to defend himself over the trivial matter.

“Ah yes.” Ghazan nodded in mock wisdom. “Notorious Southern Water Tribe summers with their average 50 degree highs.”

“Yeah you’ve never seen real summer.” Lamai nodded in agreement. “Ever seen a day so hot you could cook an egg on the ground.” When Saila shook his head, the firebender smiled. “Thought so.”

“So is the weather like this where you guys are from?” Saila rearranged his sitting position to be less defensive now that he was engaged in conversation.

Lamai packed up her cards- a few moments ago she had won the game- and nodded. “Yep. Village I grew up in was pretty much this. Lots of heat, lots of humidity, lots of birds.” She gestured at the pelican-gulls that had gathered around one of the watchtowers after Aaravi had fed them.

Saila turned to Ghazan, anticipating his remark. Ghazan looked between him and Lamai, then leaned back on his arms. “I grew up pretty close to the desert so it was pretty hot, but not nearly as humid. I hate the humidity here.”

“You get used to it.” Lamai remarked as she boxed her cards.

“It’s been about five years and I’m not used to it yet.” Ghazan replied. “So I doubt that’ll happen.” There was a sourness to his voice, a present disdain that Saia hadn’t ever heard before, at least not coming from Ghazan.

Saila glanced at Lamai, wondering what to do. Before the firebender could respond, they were interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps. Their shift change was here.

Saila couldn’t sleep, the air too still for him to properly relax. Despite doing everything in his power to cool down, he always felt hot and uncomfortable, the thickness of the air making his skin crawl.

It must’ve been around midnight when Saila heard voices outside his cabin door. He had cracked it open to let in some air, but the only thing that filtered through was harsh golden light from the hallway lanterns and now, hushed voices standing just outside his door frame.

“I don’t know what’s wrong,” One of the voices whispered- distinctly that pf Jianhua, a non bender and one of the night guards. “He seemed sick.”

Intrigued by the conversation, Saila sat up in his bed. His sleep could wait.

“Sick how?” Another person, Jochiki, replied. “Was he vomiting?”

“Not yet.” Jianhua said. “But he seemed feverish, and complained about not feeling well,”

“We should help him.” Aaravi interrupted. Saila wasn’t aware of the other waterbender’s presence until she spoke. “If he’s that sick…”

“We can’t.” Jokichi responded sternly. “It’s against protocol,”

“He didn’t look too good when I last saw him.” Jianhua affirmed. “He was in pain.”

“What’s going on?” Saila opened the door to the small group and inserted himself into the conversation. They were talking right outside his cabin, he deserved to know what was happening. Of the three other guards, Jianhai was the only one in uniform, with Aaravi and Jokichi in their sleepwear like him.

“It’s Ghazan.” Aaravi had a concerned look in her eyes, like a mother worrying over her child. “He’s sick.”

Saila looked between her, Jokichi and Jianhau. “Sick with what?”

Jianhua shrugged. “Dehydration, I guess.” He took off his cap. “I don’t know, really, but it has to be pretty bad for him to openly complain about it. He asked me to get a healer.” The nonbender looked at Aaravi. “That’s why I got her.”

“He was really seasick when he first got here.” Jokichi responded. “Could be coming back.”

Aaravi moved to walk down the hallway. “We have to go help him.”

Jokichi stopped her by grabbing her wrist. “You can’t! Jung wouldn’t allow it!” He ordered through gritted teeth, to not wake any of the other guards.

Aaravi released herself from Jokichi’s grip. “I’m not going to just sit by while someone’s in pain!”

“He’s a criminal, Ravi!” Jokichi hissed. “There’s a reason he’s in jail.”

“He’s a human being!” Aaravi near-shouted, rising to her full height a half foot above the firebender. She turned to Saila. “Saila, do you know how to heal?”

Saila nodded swiftly. While nowhere near a master, he knew the basics.

“Good.” Aaravi nodded and took Saila by the hand, leading him down the hallway. He didn’t have the chance to look back at the others.

Aaravi led Saila out onto the deck, into the open air. Despite now being outside, the only main changes of environment were the more-present scent of the sea and the night sky above them. The air was just as thick out here as it had been indoors.

Saila stumbled as he walked, struggling to keep up with Aaravi’s quick pace. The elder waterbender brushed straight past the other guards, who all seemed alarmed at her presence but didn’t react. In a matter of moments, they arrived at the cell.

Another guard was crouched near the ground and stood up to greet them. Saila presumed she was Jianhua’s shift partner, similar to how Lamai was his. The woman looked a mess- her cap in her hands, her hair bun coming undone, a coat of sweat over her features.

“You’re here.” She greeted, clearly alarmed. “He- I don’t know what happened. Can you help?”

“That’s what we’re here to do.” Aaravi commanded respect with her calm control over the event. “Baatiya, could you get us some water?”

The younger woman nodded, clearly relieved to have a task, and ran off to complete it. Aaravi crouched down where she had been and directed Saila to do the same.

Ghazan had his side pressed against the wooden framing of the cell, his breathing heavy and rapid. Saila couldn’t see too well in the dim light, but he could’ve sworn the prisoner looked paler.

“Ghazan, are you alright.” Aaravi sat closer to the wooden framing. “How are you feeling?”

It took awhile for the earthbender to respond. “I… I feel like shit.” He muttered, his voice short and out of breath.

“I know.” Aaravi said in a motherly tone of voice. She reached her hand through the wooden bars and placed it against Ghazan’s cheek. He made no objections. “I need to know more of your symptoms. Are you feverish? Nauseous?”

“Yeah…” Ghazan muttered. “Both. And I feel like I’m falling, I tried to stand up earlier but fell.”

Baatiya arrived with a bucket of water. “It’s the fall that alarmed us.” She explained as she set the bucket in front of the cell. “I think he might’ve hurt himself, he looked like he fell on his head.”

Aaravi drew the water out of the bucket and directed into the cell. “Saila, could you get the light.” Saila nodded and angled the lantern he had picked up closer to Ghazan’s face, revealing a nasty cut across his upper forehead.

“I’ll get the cut first.” Aaravi muttered as she worked. The waterbender precisely bended the water through the wooden barrier and applied it to Ghazan’s cut. It produced a faint blue light as she healed, and the earthbender visibly relaxed.

“You probably got dehydrated and overheated.” Aaravi chided. “Have you been drinking water?”

“I’ve been drinking all the water you give me.” Ghazan replied, his voice monotonous.

Aaravi paused for a moment, taken aback. The entire world seemed to stand still for a brief moment until she cleared her throat and continued healing. “I’ll have to talk to someone about getting you more water. It isn’t very healthy.”

“‘Spose it isn’t…” Ghazan muttered.

Within moments, Ghazan had been healed enough that he fell asleep, leaving Saila and Aaravi to go back to their cabins and rest. As they walked back to the guard housing, Saila tensed. “Do you think we’re gonna get in trouble for this?”

Aaravi didn’t respond immediately, but focused on setting down the lantern they had commandeered with the other lanterns. When she returned, she sighed. “I don’t know. But it was the right thing to do. I’m not going to let someone just wallow in their own pain when I can do something about it, even if they are a criminal.”

Saila didn’t respond and looked at his shoes.