Chapter 2

"Quit yuh cryin' already," the guard snapped irritably, pulling impatiently on the sleeve of Katara's parka.

"No! No! Lemme go!" Katara shouted, hitting her other clenched fist against the back of her captor.

"Hey, now stop that!"

"I said let me go," she continued stubbornly, "You big fire-breathing dum-dum head."

"Listen here, you little brat," the guard sneered, suddenly stopping and lifting Katara up in mid air with his both hands. "If I have to hear one more insult from you, I'll smack you right upside your head. Got that?"

Katara folded her arms sullenly and showed him a monkey face. "My daddy says I don't have to listen to your dum-dum kind. You wait and see, my daddy will break free and beat you up."

"Oh really?" the guard laughed, "I'd love to see that happen. But until then, shut the hell up before I burn that mouth of yours right off your ugly face."

He said the last part out through clenched teeth and held a fierce frown on his face. Katara glared back at him with equal fury but wisely kept silent.

"Good." he gave her a creepy smile and continued walking.

They came upon a huge gate which was in the middle of long, continuous tall walls. At the tip of the walls there were red and gold decorative shingles. The ivory walls went on for miles and Katara had to bend her neck to see how far it stretched for.

"Halt! Who goes there?" a loud voice boomed from a tall steel tower that soared skyward.

"Lieutenant Fong Cheng from division four. I have a new servant for the palace.

"You're cleared."

The gate swung open and the guard tugged a gaping Katara. What Katara saw next had her eyes wondering all over. She'd never seen anything like it. They had entered some sort of lavishlt decorated garden in which the ground was covered in this strange green-like... fur? The fur was also on tall, thick looking sticks which seem to have grown from the ground. What was this place? She looked up at her captor, puzzled and curious, wondering why he wasn't reacting like she did.

Was it normal to have this strange fur covering the ground? And the amazing thing was, there was alot of it. What was it called? In all her eight years of living, she'd never seen such a peculiar fur. She was more accustom to seeing ice, snow and water, after all, she did spend most of her life in an icy tundra. Must have been some big animal they killed and skinned to cover this amount of ground, she concluded. Fire Nation people were definitely strange. Why would they put fur on the ground and leave it there? If only Sokka were here... Her thoughts trailed off. Sokka!

Her heart suddenly accelerated in her chest. Where was Sokka? The last time she saw her brother before the Fire Benders tossed her on their ship was back in their village trying to defend the other villagers. She had no idea if he had been put on the ship as well since the men were separated from the women when on board. And after seven months at sea, the only time she had seen her father after the attack was just a few moments ago...

"Hurry up now," the guard snapped, tugging roughly on her arm.

Katara stumbled forward a bit and tried her best to keep up with his long strides. He wasn't particularly mindful that she tripped, only frowned down at her and quickly snapped at her to watch where she was going. Finally they reached a carved wooden door with a heavy black knocker at the middle of it. The knocker was shaped as the head of a fierce dragon with its tongue swirling out its mouth and its sharp eyes staring mercilessly at her. Katara whimpered softly and slid behind the guard to avoid it's eyes. He smirked at her fear and knocked twice and stood stiffly with a firm grip on Katara's arm. The door immediately swung open and there stood a heavily wrinkled old man with a sharp set of golden eyes. He had on the traditional fire nation colours along with a dirty apron. His arms were folded and he glared at the lieutenant with unflinching eyes.

"Can I help you, Lieutenant?" he asked in a dead pan tone.

"Yeah, " the lieutenant replied, scratching the back of his head, "Gotta new servant for yuh. Young and able."

The old man's eyes shifted to head peeking from behind the guard's legs and immediately narrowed. "You brought me a worthless water peasent? Are you alright in your head? We don't have enough food to spare another hungry mouth. Especially those that aren't our kind. Take it back."

"I have strict orders from the General. You are to take her as a servant. Make her work for her food."

The guard pulled her from behind him and shoved her forward into the arms of the old man. He caught her arm swiftly and pulled her to stand besides him. "Very well," he muttered, frowning at the mention of the general's name. "I will take her in. But I have by all means the right to punish her if she disobeys."

"I couldn't care less what you do to the girl, just make sure she works."

The guard turned on his heel and left Katara with the old man. He closed the door and flipped the lock. Katara held her breath at the sound and risked a glance up at man. Her breath caught in her chest as a smile broke out slowly across his face, inch by inch it lifted up until his wrinkled cheek rose and his eyes were no longer seen. However, what made his smile creepy was the fact that he had a perfect set of good teeth. No gaps, no discolouration. Katara shuddered visibly and winced as his grip tighten on her upper arm.

"So, I am to make you a servant, eh?" he said, talking to himself. He began walking down a dimly lit hallway. The floors were were made of flag stone and was disgusting and dirty while the walls were made of cobble stone with grime and blue-green moss filling the creases. An unidentifiable foul stench radiated off the floor and Katara had to hold her breath and breathe scarcely in order to avoid gagging on her own vomit that threaten to raise from her churning stomach. Finally they came out from the long hallway and into a small dirt courtyard. The sun shone over head brightly and the courtyard was enclosed with concrete walls dotted with random doors and small bamboo windows. The majority of the doors were opened and inside were women working.

"I am Head servant of Division six. We keep maintenance of the Palace's grounds." his lips curled at his words but kept his face with that creepy smile. He looked down at her and continued. "My name is Pai and as your superior you are to obey all my orders. You are to address me by Head Master. There is no slacking in my division and any disobedience is rewarded with severe punishment. You work for your food and the amount of food you get is determined by how much work you put out."

He released her arm and snapped his fingers at a young girl carrying a well size jar of water across the courtyard.

"You there, come here."

A flash of fear was seen in her eyes before she quickly complied and walked over.

"Yes, Head Master," she bowed respectfully after placing the jar besides her feet.

"Take this water brat and instruct her how things are done here." he glanced down at Katara once more and frowned, "And get rid of those filthy clothes she's wearing and put her in fire nation robes, her clothes disgust me. Burn them."

The girl looked at Katara before replying, "Yes Head Master."

"Good. I take my leave now."

He left and disappeared through the hallway from which they first came. Katara looked around at her new surroundings and bit her lip out of fear. She was so out of her element and she did not like it. It was too hot over here and the people here were odd. Something was wrong with them. Their skin were too pale and their eyes were definatley scary. And what was up with the strange bun on top their heads? Everyone she saw so far had their hair in that hair style.

"Come," the girl said to Katara, "We must change you out of those clothes or the head Master would be angry with you.

She picked up her jar and began walking toward one of the doors surrounding the dirt courtyard. Katara followed from behind, fearful and nervous about her new surroundings.

"Hurry up now, we don't have much time." the girl said.

Katara hasten her steps, keeping her head down and avoided the resentful stares coming from the rest off the servants.

They entered a small large room and the girl placed her jar besides the door then proceeded to fold up her long sleeves and tie her skirt around her hips. Katara cocked her head at her weird behavior, puzzled as the girl then bent down in front of an old wooden wardrobe and began rufflling through fabrics and accessories. She paused for a minute, looked at Katara then resumed what she was doing.

"Come here," she said, waving a hurried hand and pulled out a small red shirt with long sleeves and a matching skirt. Katara hurried over and stood uncomfortably in front of the girl.

"Hurry, take off your clothes and put these on." She placed the clothes on the wooden floors before turning her attention to the wardrobe once more. Katara glanced at the clothes, frowning at the material. She wouldn't dare put on fire nation colours, not after what they put her through. The girl sensed Katara's discomfort and rolled her eyes.

"Put on the clothes or the Head Master would have you punished. We don't have much time so you must hurry."

Katara's face became sullen and unhappily began taking off her clothes. When she was down to her undergarments she suddenly became shy and held her parka in front of her to block her nudity.

"No time to be shy, darling." She took Katara's parka which she had to pry slowly from the girl's hand and smoothly pulled the fire nation shirt over her head. She quickly pushed the skirt unto Katara's hips and was in the middle of putting her hair in the traditional fire nation bun when suddenly Katara began crying.

"What's the matter?" She paused for a minute and watched as Katara slowly stoop down and buried her face in her knees.

"I want my daddy." she said sadly.

"I know you do," she pulled herself closer to the crying girl and placed her hands on Katara's sobbing shoulders, "But your daddy isn't going to be here anymore and the life you once knew is about to become the worst thing you can ever imagine.