Chapter 20: Zek
I listened at the door to my room first before entering. Is anyone inside. I pressed my ear to the steel door. No. That's not going to do anything. It's too thick as is. I moved the clothes over to my right hand, draping the smallest shirt I could find and the smallest pants I could find in our inventory here over my right arm as I knocked on the door with my left.
There was no answer. She was breathing when I found her, right? Yeah. She had to be. I could feel her heartbeat when I carried her and when I cleaned her nose. She had to be fine, right?
I knocked again, with a similar response. She must still be asleep. Okay. I'll walk in, put the clothes over the chair, and leave her be. When she wakes, she can put them on herself. I reached to open the door. Should I leave a note? Say that we're docked? That she's safe? Where to find me? I reached for a piece of paper. No. I don't have any paper. What if I just wait outside? The hall's not too uncomfortable. I could only slightly hear the work of the repair crews underneath me. It wasn't loud. Just a silent buzz of activity from below us. If anything, it was comforting. I was back at the Fire Nation. Or as close as I got to it, I supposed. Okay. I'll leave a note. I'll drop off the clothes, get a piece of paper, write a note, bring it back, then wait outside, in case she doesn't get the note. Okay.
I, ever so softly, with my free arm, turned the wheel on the door as it depressurized, and slipped open. I took my first step inside, and as though today's earlier events were happening all over again, she popped out of bed, opened her mouth to scream, half-naked just as she was before, but this time, no sword hilt knocked her down. She screamed.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I yelled, immediately entering the hall again. "I didn't know you were up!"
She was done screaming. At least so I thought, until she screamed again when I reached in to set down her clothes. This time, at least, she mixed in the occasional question with her yells. "Who are you?! What do you want?!" Her voice wasn't high. It wasn't low either. She didn't sound like a little girl, and she certainly didn't look so young as she did before, though the look had been short. I was out in the hallway. Back against the wall, facing the opposite wall, not looking anywhere in her direction.
"I'm a friend," I said. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to help you."
"Where am I? This is a Fire Nation ship, right?"
"Yes. But don't worry. We're not going to hurt you."
"You're Fire Nation. Of course you're going to hurt me."
"No. I promise. I'm not. We're not. Can I come in? I have some clothes for you. I'll close my eyes."
"No! You can't trust the Fire Nation."
"Please. I promise you. We won't do anything."
"We? There's more of you outside?"
Damn it, Zek. "No. Just me. I'm the only one here. I promise. Can I at least leave the clothes for you by the door? You must be cold."
There was a pause. I imagined she was thinking of what I said. Wondering how she could make sure I was telling the truth, or at least safely go about this. I didn't blame her. In her position, I'd likely do the same. "Fine!" She said. "Leave it by the door. Then walk down the hall. And don't face the door."
I did as she said. I set the clothes gently on the ground in a single pile. They were men's clothing, the smallest we had. They wouldn't fit her. Not even close. But she'd be covered, and not exposed to the Winter atmosphere. I took 10 audibly loud sounds away, not changing the pressure of my steps so she could know I was further away. I stood there for a while. A minute maybe. I heard the rustle of cloth behind me. I didn't turn. I waited. Another minute. Then asked, "Can I turn around now?"
I didn't leave anything sharp in there, right?
"Okay. Turn around." Damn it, Zek. She had me at knifepoint. My knife. Yet I wasn't focusing on the knife. I was focusing on her. The clothes barely fit around her. She was a stick compared to the smallest sizes we had. Her hair was soaked in sweat, hanging over her shoulders. She was shivering still, despite the sweat already accumulating on her clothing. And her face. Even with the nose that may well be broken, she housed a peculiar beauty. A particular cuteness. She was by no means unattractive. I could hardly take my eyes off of her. Until, of course, I realized the severity of my situation, and refocused on the knife pointed at my face.
I sighed. "Look. It's as I said. We're not going to hurt you."
"Of course you are. You're no different from the rest. Fire Nation. Earth Kingdom. You don't care who you come across. You all take what you want."
"We're not like that"
"Oh shut up. Of course you are. Southern Raiders too. I heard the captain say that before he left to fight you all. Before you sunk that ship and knocked me out."
"I'm sorry about that. I'm really sorry about your nose. We didn't-"
"Shut up! I'm talking. I know what the Southern Raiders are like. Thieves, murderers, rapists. Nuh uh. I'm not sticking around for this."
"We're at a Fire Nation port. You go outside, and I guarantee you, you'll be far less safe than you are in here."
"Maybe if I cause enough trouble, they'll just kill me. That's better than what you raiders will do to me."
She motioned me against the wall, I complied. She was moving past me. I couldn't let her. I moved in her direction, blocking her path again. She waved the knife, but this time, I didn't move.
"Please," I said. "Just wait for a second. And let me talk."
"No. Now get out of my way. I'll stab you if I have to. Believe me. It would be my pleasure to slice up a raider."
"My name is Zek. I'm from Yu Dao. I used to serve the Crimson Battalion under Lu Ten. I was at the Siege of Ba Sing Se. There I defected."
"Wh-" She paused. That got her attention. "Defected?"
"Yes. I left the Fire Nation army. Along with everyone else on this ship."
"But the ship."
"We stole it. From the Fire Nation. We're hiding out on it now. Getting odd jobs from here to there, trying to help those suffering from the war. Those being targeted by the Earth Kingdom and by the Fire Nation."
"H-How do I know I can believe this?"
"I have papers. They say I was honorably discharged, but that's a lie. Our commander just did that so we wouldn't be hunted. We chose to leave."
"Papers? Papers can be faked."
"Maybe, but I think there's a certain degree of trust that comes from announcing I'm a Fire Nation traitor while in the middle of a Fire Nation port. Don't you think?"
"M-Maybe."
"So. Do you think, seeing as how I trust you, you can at least give me your name?"
She lowered her knife. Not to the ground, but only slightly so that if it were a crossbow, it would go through my stomach rather than through my eyes. "It's. It's Ka'lira."
"Ka'lira," I said, slowly closing the gap between us. Putting 4 feet between us in place of 5. "That's a really nice name. Where are you from?"
"I'm from. I'm from Omashu." She lowered her knife a bit more, and I reduced the distance between us to 3 feet.
"Omashu, huh? I heard of that city. Always wanted to go. Fast mail system, right?"
She chuckled. "Yeah. You have that right, at least."
"Yeah," I said, closing the distance between us to 2 feet. "Yu Dao always did have that problem. Never could trust our messenger hawks. Lot of them die in the smoke from the industry. It's sad. What's sadder is that the colonial government tried sending out invoices to everyone in the city to not send messages my messenger hawk. Sadly, they sent those invoices by hawk, and none of the messages made it."
At that she actually did laugh. It was a horrible joke. One based off of real events in Yu Dao. Or rather, a simple interpretation of events. The foundation was real, that the colonial government sent warnings by hawk. But only 5 of the hawks died. We just took creative liberties and said that all died. More entertaining that way.
I was now a foot away from her, and I extended an arm for her to hand me the knife. "Can I have the knife back, or you can keep it if you want, but can you at least not point it at me?"
She nodded and handed me the knife. Good. We're on the right track then. "Okay," she said. "I-I'm sorry about that."
"No no. It's fine. But we don't have to stop talking. How about you tell me more about Omashu's mail system?"
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