Chapter Text
Chapter 1
He found her locked up in a wooden room, unconscious, she was heavily drugged, there was no other way she would have been quiet.
Gently he lifts her into his arms and struggled to put her onto his back, it was going to be a lot more difficult to make a quiet escape, and he was not counting on the hostage being out of it. He managed to strap her onto his back with an improvised harness make out of the silk sheets available. Once she was secure, he makes a run for it. The state was crawling with guards, but none of them was really paying attention, they thought that their biggest threat was controlled, and they always forgot to look up.
Once he was on his way out there was only one old servant that saw a shadow carrying the small body of the lady of the state, he froze, thinking the old lady was going to call the guards, but she just smiled and keep on working as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening, it was not her place to have an opinion on his master decisions, but she didn't have to approve, and if a spirit came to rescue that girl from her parents plans she was not going risk angering him.
Like a shadow they slipped away from the state, and he was sure her breathing became more relaxed the farther away they got, he really wished he could stop and check her over, but at the moment they needed to be as far away as possible, it would bring up far too many complications if he was found.
Finally, they reached the edge of the forest where he had left his ostrich horse, not even trying to unstrap her from his back he quickly jumped on and they were on his way, still no alarms could be heard from the state, so if they were lucky, they'll be far away by the time they realised she was missing.
When his uncle opened the door of the small house, they were renting in the nearest colony to Gaoling was just before sunrise, his nephew slipped in like a shadow cradling a small body in his arms, a very small and unmoving body, what on Agni’s name had happened to her!
The lady in question regardless of her size has always been larger than life, seeing her like this, set all his nerves on edge.
His nephew set her down delicately on the stone floor, and to his raised eyebrow all he said was that she was drugged and suffering from element deprivation.
Well that explains the preference of stone over the small cot in the corner, he busied himself preparing some strong tea when he heard his nephew swearing like the marine he really was.
"What's happened nephew? The lady maybe unconscious, but that's no language to...." words died on his mouth as soon as he saw what has been done to her feet, they were bound in silk and blood, trying to make them look smaller, a disused practice from the earth kingdom that seemed to have make a comeback, together with some other frankly horrifying ones.
In this case it was make worse for the fact that the blind earth bender used her feet to see the world around her, by doing this they had make her truly blind and left her completely at their mercy.
"Those bastards!"
"It wasn't enough to lock her, up drug her, they also left her defenceless, and they were going to marry her to some old pervert!"
"She is a child for crying out loud! The earth kingdom will have to abolish all these stupid traditions if they don't want another war on their doorstep, she is not the only little girl that's suffering right now, I promise you uncle, if they don't stop this stupidity now, there will be a new war, and this one will be justified"
To the honourable king Kuei of the earth kingdom
It has been brought to my attention that some practices that were outdated and in the case of the colonies outlawed have being brought back, such as underage marriage, feet binding and a thorough disregard for women rights and opinions, I do understand that the war left deep scars in our cultures but there are traditions that are better left in the past in lieu of advancing towards the future. I do not intend to tell you how to rule, but there's no world where I can agree in giving back colonies and territories back peacefully if by doing so I am dooming half the population to gender violence and torture, yes Kuei it is torture to bind a young girls feet till they are bloody, it is rape if she will be married to someone old enough to be their grandparent so till all this issues and "traditions" still stand you can forget of any agreement. No colony will be back in the earth kingdom hands while this is not sorted.
Regards
Firelord Zuko