Sozin felt his cheek with the pads of his fingers. He winced in pain. The wounds from last night were still relatively fresh, and they would leave behind a scar, no doubt.

He stared at his reflection as the water's surface glistened in the afternoon sunlight. His eyes were hazy. Langorous. Swimming with thought. He let himself sink against the railing of the wooden bridge that went over the pond in the courtyard. As the heart of the Daihachi residence, the entire courtyard had been organized into a beautiful and carefully designed zen garden. Right now, he was alone, but he liked to come here often. Of course, even though this was one of Sozin's favorite spots to linger out of the entire estate, it wasn't doing much to cheer him up at the moment. He used to come with his mother before she turned into what she was now, and they would sit around and talk and feed the ducks and koi fish that made this sedative place their home. Even though she probably wanted nothing to do with him anymore, part of Sozin still wished she were at his side, thinking back to how they used to get along. Then again, he felt his cheek once more, and another part was glad she wasn't around. Still, the silence of the courtyard was beginning to get to him, and it was always nice to have someone to talk to. The idea of having another person to confide in was sometimes more tempting than he could comfortably handle.

Sozin let out a depressed sigh. Despite everything he had done, the silence had always been there to either comfort him or harass him—an ally of some sort because he didn't always want to be rolling around in the messiness and misery that human relationships brought but also an enemy at times whenever he did happen to desire companionship. And he most certainly did. For better or worse, even if you were a loner or an outcast, it was just part of being a person. It liked to mock him, a paradoxically painful beast seemingly unknown to everyone except himself. It was everywhere he looked. Whenever he glanced at his sides, where there should've been friends, there was only the thought of friends. And whenever he looked inside himself, where there should've been happiness, there was only the thought of happiness. He hated it so much. Things had been that way for as long as he could remember, and, at times, it was almost too much to bear. But he managed, somehow. He always managed.

Sozin reached into a small bag of feed he had brought with him and threw some into the pond. A few koi fish immediately gathered around and gobbled up the food from amongst the lily pads.

As he stared at his reflection, Sozin could feel the weight of the silence slowly crushing him as he sank into its depths for yet another day. Sozin didn't like many things, but he held a particular kind of loathing for his own life. It didn't really help that he was becoming more and more of a pessimist as he got older, the proverbial glass just emptying before his very eyes, but for now, and who knows how much longer, he could still see the good in life and could try to keep himself going. On the bright side, at least he was part of a rich family and never had to worry about having an empty stomach. It was one of the perks of being wealthy, but for all its glamour, money could never buy what he lacked the most.

Sozin let his guard down for a moment—a bad idea in the presence of negative thoughts. His heart took advantage and seemed to finally twist from all the pressure that had built up inside of him from the past few months, unraveling and lashing out like a coil into a harsh grimace that immediately found its way onto the boy's face. Sozin's life had never been that great outside of home, but now, his only and final salvation—his mother— wasn't there for him either. The one thing that had always kept him going was his desire to become a shinobi like his father was, so he could make him and his mother proud. Like his brothers were getting to do. He'd lost his father's confidence years ago, but now both halves of that dream seemed like such a distant fantasy.

Snorting in disdain, anger, an unfamiliar emotion, began to rise to the surface. Sozin still couldn't believe that father had rejected him yesterday. He had tried his best and isn't that what mattered? The only reason father favored his brothers was because they had been born with something he hadn't. They were older, they were bigger, stronger, and faster due to no fault of his own. They had potential as father called it. The potential to be shinobi. Even though that's the way things were, he did have one thing over his brothers that father cared little for and that was intelligence. But was that enough for him to be happy?

Sozin's ears seemed to perk up. In the distance, he recognized the familiar sound of two certain pairs of footsteps approaching him. Speak of the devil, he thought.

Usually, the courtyard acted as a nice little safe haven for Sozin. It was a place away from his siblings, his father, and any of the servants on the estate grounds who might bother him, but it seems the peace wouldn't go undisturbed today. He didn't have to look to be sure of who was coming. Their padded shinobi footwear, tabi boots, made much less noise than the click-clack of the wooden geta sandals most of the servants wore.

Sozin allowed himself a sideways glance, hoping that maybe, just maybe, if he looked he might actually be wrong about who was coming his way.

He wasn't.

Sozin averted his eyes. Not daring to look at his brothers, he preferred to stare straight down into the waters below.

"How's your face, little brother?" Ukon asked, strolling up alongside Sozin like he actually cared.

"Don't call me that," Sozin cut back.

"I'll call you whatever I want," Ukon said. He leaned over the railing and pressed against Sozin with his bigger body. He cocked his head. The daggers in his staring eyes made a beeline right for Sozin's own. "Unless there's something you're gonna do about that?"

"What do you two want from me this time?" Sozin asked joylessly. "Here to beat me up some more?"

Hakoda came slinking over to Sozin's other side and trapped him inbetween the two brothers. Like a pair of wolves, they were, dwarfing a young lamb. "No, actually," Hakoda said, his lips curving upwards into a snide smile. "We're here to talk to you. We saw what father did to you yesterday. Mother wasn't too happy either, was she?"

"So? What's it to you? You've never cared before," Sozin said.

"What's it to us?" Hakoda grinned and let a sly chuckle escape his lips. "A lot, actually. Y'see, we want to strike you a deal."

"Oh, yeah?" Sozin raised his eyebrows. "Why would I ever want to make a deal with you two?"

Hakoda and Ukon exchanged knowing smirks with each other.

"Because we can both benefit from it. Just hear us out," Ukon said. "We both know father won't train you anymore after your spectacular failure yesterday, but we also know you still want to become a shinobi. Obviously, you can't anymore. At least not overtly, maybe. But..." he said, his voice turning persuasive, "...what if I told you we'd be willing to train you behind father's back if you stole his scroll for us?"

Sozin's eyes widened.

Father's scroll?

Sozin had only laid eyes upon it once, and that was many years ago when his father had strictly told him and his brothers never to mess with it until he deemed them ready. All him and his brothers knew was that the scroll harbored instructions for how to perform a forbidden shinobi technique. Many forbidden techniques existed throughout the lands, some detailed in scrolls, like the one his father had, while others were too valuable for even that and were only passed down orally in training from master to student. The techniques were secret in nature and for good reason. They were dangerous, not only in what they could allow the user to do once mastered, but also in the threat they presented to someone attempting to learn them. If the techniques were ever to become widespread, any one person could become too powerful from knowing so many, and that would bode certain destruction for any who opposed the practitioner. Thus, all the forbidden techniques were heavily guarded by the few who knew them. In the past, many unprepared warriors have died attempting to learn forbidden techniques. Clearly, his brothers thought they had progressed enough in their training to warrant a try.

"What? Are you two crazy?" Sozin exclaimed. "Do you know what father would do if he found out we were trying to get the scroll from him?"

"Exactly. That's why we want you to steal it for us," Hakoda said. "Think about it. You'll get to be a shinobi in return."

"You've already earned yourself father's scorn anyway," Ukon reminded Sozin. "What difference will it make if he catches you?"

Sozin shuffled in his feet. Getting the scroll in exchange for having his dream fulfilled did sound nice. It was wrong but it felt so right. "I don't know..." Sozin said, the consideration in his eyes bouncing back and forth. "It's dishonorable."

"Since when has father ever placed any importance on honor?" Hakoda shot back.

"True—you're right about that. But to go behind his back like this? That's different," Sozin said. "Besides, do you even know where it is?"

"No, but you're smart, you can figure that out, right? Look, how about we sweeten the deal then?" Ukon said. "If you steal the scroll for us, we'll even teach you the forbidden technique once we learn it for ourselves."

"Ukon..." Hakoda chimed up, the dissatisfaction in his voice ringing clear. "This isn't what we talked about."

"What?" Ukon said like it was no big deal, "If it means he'll get us the scroll, that's a good thing. I doubt he'll even be able to learn the technique anyway. After all, he's only a runt."

Hakoda crossed his arms. A grumble of agreement was all he responded with.

Sozin pursed his lips at their remarks but decided not to say anything. Reminding himself of what he had to gain from this deal, he scrunched up his eyebrows as he thought about it, entertaining the idea. To become a shinobi was great enough as it is, but to learn a secret technique as well? He supposed it was wrong to betray his father's trust like this and go behind his back, but perhaps if he got a real chance to train he could finally show him that he was just as good as his brothers. It could be a surprise. His father would have to recognize him at that point, if only through sheer undeniability of his progress. Everyone would start paying attention.

Sozin glanced to his sides. His brothers were waiting in anticipation.

"All right..." he murmured. "I'll do it..."

And just like that, the next thing Sozin knew was that he was at the door to his father's room.

Off to the side, Hakoda and Ukon stood at the end of the hallway just beyond the corner. They bid Sozin a commencing nod before disappearing into the rest of the living quarters.

Part of Sozin was excited. In a way, this was like his first real shinobi mission. He figured that this was the most likely place the scroll was going to be. It was the only room in the entire residence that him and his brothers weren't allowed to go in. His father had never given them a reason, but for Sozin, his father didn't have to. To him, the answer was as clear as a crystal day.

A vigilant and cautious person by nature, Sozin glanced down both ends of the hallway, listening carefully to make sure no servants were coming. When he thought the coast was clear, he quietly slid open the paper doors to the room—doors which had been designed magnificiently with the image of a raven on them, father's infamous spirit animal—and slipped inside. He knew father wouldn't be in his room. Given the startling developments on the front, the Interior Ministry had requested his counsel at an important war meeting today, and he would be gone for quite a while. Even so, Sozin decided it would be best if he didn't waste any time searching for the scroll; he didn't want to stick around in case his father happened to come back. But that was the thing. Where could the scroll possibly be hidden? A room seemed like a small place, but shinobi knew better than any other kind of warrior how to make use of limited resources.

Rays of late evening light filtered in through the two paper windows in the room, giving it a distinct orange tinge. At the other end of the room, opposite the door, was a desk and a couple of bookshelves packed to the brim with father's literature. Paintings of great shinobi masters from past generations and all across the continent looked outwards from the side walls as though they were there to keep watch. It'd been so long since Sozin had seen this place that he had almost forgotten what it'd looked like. In particular, Sozin's eyes lingered upon a certain corner of the room where father's old shinobi gear was on display from when he was nothing more than a low-level grunt. Sozin's lips raised into a smile just looking at the clothing in all its magnificence. Each and every piece for the arms, the chest, the legs, and the head all combined into one grand outfit that made his nerves tingle with excitement. Someday, he would have his own gear. He would make it so.

Snapping out of his trance, Sozin remembered what he had come here to get. All great shinobi kept their focus on the mission, so that's what he was going to do.

Sozin checked the entire room: the walls; the desk; the drawers; the bookshelf; behind the bookshelf after struggling to move it; behind the books in the bookshelf after painstakingly removing each one and then having to put them back; behind the paintings; under the chair; under the desk; under, behind, and below other furniture; pretty much anywhere he could think of that could contain the scroll, all to no avail. As he searched, the light bleeding into the room through the paper only got dimmer and dimmer, signalling that the day was coming to an end. Sozin's hands were beginning to ache from everything that he'd been doing with them and his mind wasn't faring much better from all the racing thoughts and wild ideas he was now forced to consider and explore if he hoped to find the scroll at this point. But like any rational person, he also had to consider another, less attractive possibility. Sozin was starting to think he had been wrong.

Damn it!

It should be in here!

But it wasn't. At least not in the places he had checked, and he had checked pretty much everywhere.

Was he just wrong?

Sozin was open to the possibility, but how could that be? As was often the case when he needed to do some heavy thinking, Sozin's index finger and thumb had found itself cradling his jaw from between his lips and down to his chin. His eyes glazed over and he seemed to lose focus on the material world. Sozin supposed it would be unwise for someone to keep a scroll as important as father's in any normal place. It would have to be in a secret compartment of some sort, and he hadn't really checked inside anything during his search.

Hmm, Sozin thought. That would explain my lack of success.

With that in mind, Sozin went back and forth across the room, doing a second sweep of the area to see if he had missed anything. He decided to check the bookshelf again—planning on opening up each and every book in case there was a hollow one if he had to—and just then, as he walked across the middle portion of the floor, he felt as though he was walking on something cavernous. The empty sound his heel made when it hit the floor was particularly arousing and distinct to the ear. It had been a specific section of planks that caused the sound. A clue, perhaps? Sozin walked over that portion of the floor again, this time stepping on the wood with careful intention so as to test it. The empty clack of his heel against the wooden planks was as clear as day. Whatever was lying under his foot was certainly not solid all the way through like a normal floor would be.

Of course! He had forgotten to check the ceiling or the floor—two places that seemed so obvious in retrospect.

Well, then. Now he felt stupid. How could he have missed that with all the walking around the room that he'd been doing? He knew he had walked over that particular area multiple times.

To be fair to himself, he hadn't been looking for anything like this earlier because hadn't considered the possibility of a hollow floor, so the sound would've have been easier to miss than if he had already known to search for it. That's probably why the sound had went over his head until just now. Under normal circumstances, he probably would've blown off the strange hollowness as just a quirk of the floor, but luckily, he managed to make the connection. With shinobi, you could never be sure. The sound had to be something important.

Bending down, Sozin tried to wedge his fingers into the cracks between the floorboards but found them too big for even his own slender fingers to manage, let alone his father's. If that was the case, then for his father to access the scroll himself, considering the man's burly fingers, he probably kept a tool of some sort around somewhere specfically for the task. Sozin would need something thin that he could use to pry the floorboards off. Earlier, he recalled seeing a small, ornate tanto blade embellished with designs on his father's desk—little more than a paperweight or so it seemed. Immediately, Sozin went to retrieve it. The short blade had a grippy handle that sat well within the boy's small hands, but the grip wasn't to make stabbing or assassination any easier. It was an exquisite blade, more of a trophy than a weapon, and a fine reward for his father's long and decorative service as an agent of the Ministry.

Wasting no time, Sozin jammed the blade into the cracks of the floor. The floorboards gave way without much resistance, almost seeming to unlock as Sozin pried off several of them. He revealed exactly what he had suspected: a secret compartment hiding right under his nose.

An aged smell wafted out and met Sozin's nostrils. The scroll was the only thing inside the empty box of space besides dust and a little bit of dirt. It sat neatly upon a small wooden rack. Yellow and moldered from the ages, the scroll itself had certainly seen better days in the past. The scroll was exactly how Sozin had imagined it would be this entire time he'd been looking for it. Frayed along the edges and torn in some places, the delicate parchment had been rolled up and tied secure with a beautiful red string that was just waiting to be undone.

Judging from the level of decay, the technique contained within the scroll was most certainly an ancient one. How did his father ever manage to get his hands on this? Many scrolls containing forbidden techniques had been lost to history and those that weren't were a closely guarded possession by their owners. Considering the fact that his father was a shinobi, Sozin figured he must've assassinated someone, stolen it, recieved it as a form of payment, or maybe even gotten it as a gift like the tanto was. Regardless of how his father got his hands on the scroll, that didn't really matter right now. All that mattered is that he would get to be a ninja like his brothers had promised him.

Sozin picked the scroll up with great care and set it aside on the floor. As much as he would've liked to drop everything right then and there and start reading the scroll, it was best if he didn't stick around. Well, at least that's what the rational part of him was saying to do. His thoughts were already starting to churn and pick up speed. Like a descending avalanche, curious thoughts moved quickly towards the contents of that weathered piece of parchment. Curiosity managed to get the better of him, and Sozin decided to refrain from putting the floorboards back in place for now, instead allowing his fingers to work at the string binding the rolled up scroll. A quick glance couldn't hurt, right?

Sozin was careful when unravelling the scroll, making sure not to grab it from where the slight tears were on the fringes—it seemed like the slightest misapplication of force would be enough to make those tears even bigger and that was the last thing he wanted.

Holding the scroll lengthwise, the title read in calligraphed kanji:

Breath of Water

Aquatic Breathing Technique

The title had been meticulously written in black ink. Below the title was a modest sketch of a person diving into water. There wasn't much to read, the drawing itself took up most of the space on the paper, but the instructions to perform the technique were detailed on the sides of the scroll, starting on the left side and picking up again over to the right.

Sozin ran his eyes all over the paper. The back of his neck tingled just skimming over some of the words.

The opportunity to breath is the opportunity to live for a shinobi. One must focus their soul on the breath of water and nothing else. In doing so, one may breathe the breath that cannot be taken. Savoring and memorizing the feeling will enhance the effects of the technique and reduce pain.

The sound of steps met the boy's ear.

Sozin tore his eyes off the scroll. His brothers again?

Sozin strained to listen, the hair on his nape then standing up like a frightened animal. Fear instantly replaced the tingle of excitement. These steps were heavy, like a silent tiger making its presence known, and they moved with decisive purpose.

The only person those steps could belong to...

An ominous weight bore down upon Sozin's shoulders. He felt as though the very fabric of his spirit had been suddenly ripped out of him by the tendrils of a cold hand. His thoughts immediately went back to the scroll. He didn't want to think about what would happen to him if he was caught with it red-handed, and he didn't have time to think about it either. He hastily stuffed the scroll back where it belonged, and then his hands were fumbling with the floorboards, desperately working to hide his intrusion. The sound of footfall only got louder and louder with each harrowing step. Sozin managed to get the last floorboard in place and shoot up into a standstill as soon as the doors slid open.

Sozin turned around.

Their eyes met.

"Boy..." Danzo started in a low voice. His father's frame took up the entirety of the doorway.

Sozin's insides began to cave in. "Father, I can explai-"

In a flash of movement, crushing pain seared its way across the side of Sozin's skull. He staggered sideways, nearly collapsing into a heap on the ground from merely the flat of his father's palm.

"Explain what?" Danzo exploded, bursting into the room. "Explain why you were snooping around in my room? There is no excuse for trespassing of any sort! I leave for a short while and this is what you do?"

"I meant no disrespect," Sozin apologized weakly, peering up at his father.

Danzo leered at Sozin. "This is more than disrespect... This is a violation of my privacy... What did you mean, exactly, if not that?"

Without hesitation, Danzo grabbed Sozin by the thin of his wrist and hoisted him off the floor to eye level, all with one hand like it was nothing. Danzo's massive hands, heavy like the end of a sledgehammer, engulfed Sozin's forearm. The only thing that stopped the man from doing what he was about to do next was a third person speaking up from behind.

"Father, we warned him not to go in there, but he wouldn't listen," the voice said.

"Ukon!" Sozin blurted out.

"Yeah," Hakoda added. "He tried to convince us to join him as well. You should've seen the grin on his face when he realized you were gone for the day."

Sozin's heart dropped like a falling star. The devils were both standing there hiding another dirty smirk behind their faces. For a brief moment, Sozin wasn't sure what to feel. Shame? Misery? Anger? It all wanted to wash over him and drag him out to sea into its dark depths.

Desperation flooded Sozin's voice. "Don't listen to them, father! They're lying, they're-"

Danzo's other hand gripped him by the neck.

Sozin choked. He tried to speak, but his words coming out in a sickening gurgle.

"How dare you defy me, boy..." Danzo growled. With a single arm, the man threw the boy across the room towards the door. Sozin stumbled back, falling rearwards onto mortified hands in front of his brothers. "You don't belong here," Danzo said. "Leave and don't come back."

"What? But father-"

"Leave, boy! Or you'll incur my wrath for a third time this week!" Danzo stormed. "Don't come back until you've thought about what you've done!"

Sozin's cheeks burned.

The air became deathly quiet at the drop of a hat.

Sozin glanced furtively between his father and his brothers, wishing so badly for the world to just swallow him up and hide him away, never to be seen again. In the silence, they all stared at him, and again, they gave him the same look of disgrace everyone in his life had ever given him. Their penetrating gazes, so full of contempt and disappointment, seemed to shoot right through Sozin's body like a harpoon, strapping him down so he could drown in the suffering of his humiliation. Hakoda was smiling. Ukon was smiling. And Sozin's legs had turned into jelly all in one traitorous instant. No matter how many times he'd been on the recieving end of that look, it still hurt all the same because he knew things would never change. People would always look down on him, and even his own family were no less willing.

Everything seemed to be so pointless right then and there. Sozin almost didn't want to get up— part of him wanting to lie down, and rot, and just accept that things were always going to be this way no matter what he did—but somehow, from that strange well deep in the back of his mind, the boy gathered up enough strength to pull himself together and muster onto his feet. Standing up lasted for what seemed like an eternity. All he could think about was their eyes and how they judged him so harshly and without remorse. When Sozin finally stood, his sheer will being the only thing binding him together, his brothers were standing inbetween the doorway, blocking his exit as though to deter him from leaving. At this point, Sozin didn't care about them anymore. He just wanted to start running and get as far away from this place as possible, from his brothers and his father.

Sozin pushed past his brothers, knocking into their heavy shoulders as tears began to well up in his eyes. He started down the hallway. Though his feet hadn't been shackled, they weighed him down nonetheless. As he plodded along, he could feel the piercing stare of his brothers burning a hole through the back of his head when they turned to watch him go. Sozin grinded his teeth, muttering in disgust. Part of him should've known this would happen, but he'd let his desires get ahead of his rationality. If he had just put the floorboards back... How could he have been so stupid? How could father be? Father hadn't bothered to listen to him at all!

Father always favored his brothers and gave them the benefit of the doubt. The fact that it had happened again for something as serious as this stirred Sozin's insides with mixed emotions: pain; fear; regret; and perhaps something new this time, a spark of a feeling that made his blood boil and his fist curl up silently into a ball. Why did he even care about his father? Why did he care about anyone? He shouldn't care about someone who never bothered to do anything for him. Father was just like everyone else. Everyone else was only there to laugh at him, or use him, or hurt him in some way, and he had never been given any reason to think otherwise.

Strays of darkness clouded Sozin's eyes.

This was the last time he would fall for their tricks ever again.

In that moment, a dejected grumble, almost a cry, escaped Sozin's lips, and he remembered. If he had just been born a little bit different, things would be better for him right now. People wouldn't think of him as a target anymore. Father would be proud of him like he was proud of his brothers. Mother would too. But that was the saddest part. He wasn't like his brothers. He was a scrawny, frail, talentless boy, and there was nothing he could do about that now or later. There was nothing more worthless to world than that. That much he knew for sure—the world reminded him of it every day.

There truly was nowhere to go, was there?

For a while, Sozin didn't want to do anything other than let his head hang and his eyes stare at the ground as he walked. He drifted aimlessly down a lonely dirt path, not sure where he was heading or if he even wanted to head anywhere. It was hard to walk, like dragging his feet through sludge and mud, but it gave him something to do. In the distance, the sun had nearly finished setting behind one of the many mountains belonging to the countryside. Dashes of pink, and orange, and red managed to escape just beyond the horizon and paint over its blue canvas.

After a little bit of walking, Sozin's legs loosened up, and soon, the heavy numbness saturating his bones subsided, replaced by pangs of hunger in his stomach. Confronted with this new sensation, Sozin decided to walk towards town. He glanced to the sky, looking past the thick forest canopy. Though it was late, he could see past all the leaves and saw that night hadn't fully gathered yet. Most establishments wouldn't close until well after dark.

Sprawled out inside a large valley, the village of Wakota was surrounded by tall, snow-capped peaks. Dark trees engulfed the perimeter of the village, but the interior was marked by vibrant cherry blossoms. Growing ever more beautiful as the night drew closer, Wakota's paper lanterns shimmered with an orange glow amongst the shadowed marshland. They were scattered all over town like stars in the night sky, beacons in the darkness.

Now that Sozin was here, he just had to find his way to his favorite spot in all of Wakota. Even for someone like him who had lived here since birth, that wouldn't be an easy task. It'd gotten easier, of course, as anything did with practice, but the entire village was a large and densely-populated maze of twisting alleys and unusual architecture. All of it had been integrated into the surrounding nature. Frequent flooding necessitated a push skyward, so stilt houses and buildings were not uncommon in risk-prone places, particularly at the fish market by the river that cut right through the center of town. The highs and lows of the mossy landscape meant there were multi-tiered neighborhoods at varying elevations that made navigating the area still a significant challenge at times for residents, visitors, and any potential invaders alike.

Ladders and ropelines were everywhere and people could always be seen on the rooftops. Even at this hour, the streets down below were still loud with the shuffling of feet and sounds of bustling commerce. The blend of chaos that the noises and people created at any level of the village made navigation more difficult than it should ever be at times, but the ruckus was beginning to die down as the day did. If Sozin ever lost his way, a little trick he'd devised for him to get his bearings was to simply find the river flowing through town—the fact that it ran straight through the middle and out the other side made it great for figuring out where he and everything else was.

Sozin placed a hand on his stomach. Feeling it rumble from the hunger, he began weaving his way through the various buildings and people littering the crowd—peasants, merchants, and nobles all going about their business. He was craving dumplings right now, and if there was anything that cheered him up, it was certainly his favorite food. He had a particular restaurant in mind that made them well, and he wanted to get there before they closed for the day. In the interest of time, Sozin decided to take a shortcut through an alley.

Sozin kept his eyes at his feet. The sound of voices from the crowd muffled as he entered the alley, and it was enough to hear his own footsteps. He thought he was alone, but then dark shadow appeared at the top of his vision, and he raised his head.

There was someone in front of him blocking his exit. The light obscured their face.

A dark chill ran down Sozin's spine. The crowds had all but vanished. Sensing a hidden malice, he turned to leave, but then someone else appeared at the other end as well.

"Going somewhere, brother?" the second figure said.

Hakoda!

Ukon and him must've followed me.

Sozin glanced at both ends of the alley, clenching his jaw. A mix of fear, pain, and anger coursed through his veins. "What the hell do you guys want? Just leave me alone! You betrayed me... like the two of you always do!" he cried.

"I'm afraid we can't do that, little brother..." Hakoda said, inspecting his fist.

"Father let him off too easy, didn't he, Hakoda?" Ukon said.

"Why did you lie to father?" Sozin demanded. "You didn't have to do that! You made things worse!"

"Because you got caught." Ukon glared in dissatisfaction. "We told you we wanted the scroll, and you failed us."

"Can't you do anything right?" Hakoda said.

Ukon flashed Sozin a murderous grin. "It's only proper that we finish what father didn't."

The two brothers began to stalk towards Sozin. This wasn't the first time his brothers had beaten him up, but for once, he wasn't stifled by his fear—he was roused by it. He wanted them to feel what he had felt his whole life. He wanted them to feel a blow from the weak.

And so he threw a punch.

Sozin aimed it at Hakoda, but the larger boy caught the attack within his palm as though it was child's play. Sozin's stomach twisted into a horrifying knot as Hakoda dug his fingernails into the back of Sozin's hand. It was impossible to hide the slight quaver in his voice as Sozin's eyes darted from his brother's hand to his predatory face. Hakoda's hand dwarfed Sozin's own.

Sozin desperately tried to yank his hand away.

"Hold him down, Ukon," Hakoda said.

Sozin threw another punch, but Hakoda caught that one as well and shoved him into Ukon's grasp. Sozin tried to resist, but Ukon clamped down onto his arms, twisting them behind his back until there was no chance of escape.

In the next instant, Hakoda's fist hammered into the Sozin's gut, stopping his breath short. As the wind left his body so did his energy, and he was helpless as his lungs froze up and he began to choke for air. Then the next blow came, harder than the first. Sozin tried to scream for help, but no words came out, only a desperate wheeze begging for mercy.

Despite the pain, Sozin began to thrash and buck, but Ukon's grip hardened as though his hands were shackles of iron. Hakoda continued to lay into him, the pain of each strike building on the previous and draining the boy's will to fight back. Sozin's lungs burned in agony. Looking through eyes glazed with fear, he saw Hakoda's own eyes festering with the same an emptiness and hatred Sozin had come to grow so familiar with. This time, Sozin knew Hakoda wouldn't stop until he'd beaten him into a bloody pulp.

Sozin's eyes filmed over. He drifted mindlessly along the border of consciousness, urged by the constant agony to fall over off the edge. Time quickly dissolved. He began to only think from one strike to the next, seconds turning into stabs of pain, thoughts into a mass of haze and confusion. He didn't know how long this was going to take. His eyes turned half-lidded. The blows just kept coming, relentless and unforgiving. Eventually, his brothers realized what was happening, and a punch snapped across Sozin's jaw, whiplash jolting him awake. The shock was enough for him to notice the gut-wrenching throb in his stomach. Hakoda continued to pound against the same spot over, and over, and over, and over again, desiring nothing but to grind his little brother down into a helpless mess. Sozin wanted to black out from the sheer pain alone, but they weren't going to let him. They wanted him to feel every hit as it shattered through his body.

Vaguely, amongst the twisting of his intestines and the slop of bone into soft flesh, Sozin still possessed enough consciousness to feel as Ukon placed a hand on the small of his back to brace him against the blows. Just when he thought things couldn't get any more painful, he realized that it would keep him from riding with every fistful of suffering the punches brought.

Even though it was only coming from one area, the pain paralyzed Sozin to the tips of his fingers and toes, filling his senses and making him well up with tears. They wanted to see him cry, but he would do everything in his power to avoid giving them the satisfaction.

Sozin fought and resisted the water in his eyes as much as any boy in his position could. After what seemed like an eternity, somewhere, deep in the back of his mind, he heard his brothers talking—the words blurred, angry almost, perhaps at his defiance—and Ukon let him go. Sozin almost thought it was over, but before relief could wash over him, he was sent flying back from a bone-crushing kick to the ribs, the crack emanating. For a brief moment, Sozin was weightless, but then the harsh cobblestone grinded into his back through his robes.

The ground, although cold, clammy, and unwelcoming, was like heaven to Sozin. It offered him a short respite from the onslaught of blows. Writhing in pain, he coughed and sputtered, sucking in whatever air he could. It hurt to breathe, but it hurt more not to. Lying there, something resembling a grin formed on his face. Somehow, the cold embrace of cobblestone was more comforting than the arms of his own brothers, and Sozin couldn't help but see the funny side in that. Was this how it should be? Was this what it meant to be a family? A weakened, morbid chuckle was all Sozin could manage but even something as small as that was much to the ire of the other two who seemed to think that he was laughing at them. Perhaps they just couldn't stand to see him laugh at all in the face of their brutality. With what little strength he had left, Sozin propped himself onto his elbow, gazing wearily with that newfound grin of his at his two brothers. Their expressions told him everything. It seemed to trigger something inside of them. They would show him no mercy, but what was there left to show? They had already shown him everything they needed to.

Ukon leered at Sozin, his eyes flaring in dark mania. "I'm going to knock those teeth right out of your fucking mouth!" he snarled. The older boy strided towards his little brother, winding up for what Sozin presumed would be a kick to the face. Then he saw it. His leg snapping at him and about to break his jaw.

But it never did.

Out of nowhere, a withered hand leapt out from the shadowed alley and caught the blow at Ukon's shin.

Ukon's eyes went wide. Startled, his gaze snapped to the gray-haired stranger that was now before him, a middle-aged gentleman in blue robes. Part of Ukon was wondering who in the village was skilled enough to get the drop on them—trained shinobi—and the other part trying to shake his leg out of the man's formidable grip.

"Leave him. The boy has had enough," the man said in a hard, stony voice. Lifting Ukon's leg up, the man pushed it back and Ukon stumbled away off his feet. His features softening, the man turned his attention to Sozin, kneeling down to check on him. "You all right, son?"

Son?

He just called me son.

Sozin almost couldn't believe what he had just heard. It'd been so long since that word was directed at him that it was enough to make him happy. He was weak to his bones but put on the best and most reassuring smile he could. He was also about to answer the man's question when Hakoda came running up from the rear, stepping downwards into a vicious punch. Sozin's untrained eyes could barely percieve the attack, but the man intercepted it as though it had been moving in slow motion and threw Hakoda onto his back using the momentum.

Hakoda landed with a thud, getting the air knocked right out of him. For a second, Hakoda was confused, and it took him a moment to realize what had happened, but when he did, he growled and flipped onto his feet with practiced flourish.

Sozin couldn't help but feel a pang of delight at seeing his older brother get a taste of his own medicine.

The stranger stood up, eyeing the two brothers as the air came to a standstill. He crossed his wrists—one palm facing Hakoda, and the other, Ukon—ready to take them both on. Realizing what was about to occur, Sozin rolled off to the side, forcing himself to crunch his ribs against the stone so he wouldn't get caught in the carnage. He could already tell that the man possessed skills, but he still wasn't sure about how things were going to play out. It was two versus one after all.

The brothers glared at the man, sizing him up.

Curling his lip, Hakoda flashed Ukon a nod, and they advanced on him from both ends of the alley, arms raised.

Ukon was the first to attack. With the speed of pouncing animal, he dashed forward and unleashed a flurry of punches. Sozin could hardly keep track, but the stranger effortlessly stopped each and every punch as it came. While the man was busy blocking, Hakoda went in from behind for a high, sweeping kick—fast enough to leave a trail of whitened wind in its wake—but the man, keeping his wits about him, swiftly ducked and pulled Ukon into the kick, sending him careening into the alley wall. Dazed, Ukon bounced off the wall and fell to his knees.

The man spun around, now focusing on Hakoda as Ukon recovered. Undeterred, Hakoda crouched into another blinding kick, this one low and wide like a blade determined to cut the man's legs out from underneath him. The man's sharp eyes followed Hakoda's kick, anticipating its movements. With crushing strength, he stomped down onto Hakoda's ankle, hearing a decisive crackle as he pinned the offending leg to the floor. Hakoda howled in pain, but he had little time to process it as the stranger followed up with a brutal kick to the chest. Hakoda was sent skidding back right next to Sozin.

Sozin went agape.

Ukon was on his feet now, and the stranger wasn't facing him. Seeing an chance to strike, he quickly jabbed with his elbow, expecting the blow to land, but the man craned his neck, blocked it, and used the opportunity to grip his arm. Latching onto him, the man hurled Ukon across the alley towards Hakoda, driving his heel into the small of Ukon's back after he let go. Ukon yelped, reaching for the spot with his hand as he staggered to a halt right next to his brother who was now struggling to stand on his broken ankle.

The two brothers exchanged a mutual glance. Neither of them wanted to fight anymore.

"This joker knows what he's doing. C'mon, let's get out of here..." Ukon murmured, helping Hakoda up. He shot Sozin and the stranger a dark, parting glare.

Sozin shivered in his skin. They both ran out of the alley, Hakoda limping behind Ukon.