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31_days2008-01-25 11:25 am
rosehiptea.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2008-01-25 11:25 am
[January 25] [Avatar: The Last Airbender] A Dragon's Words
Title: A Dragon's Words
Day/Theme: January 25/I like your silence; the more it shows off your wonder
Series: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Character/Pairing: Sozin and his dragon
Rating: PG-13 for violence
Notes: The prompt kind of got away from me and went to a dark place. No major Season 3 spoilers.
Word Count: 541
“No one will ever know,” Sozin told himself as he rode his dragon away from the volcano. “No one saw.” But it was Ahn the dragon himself, curled in the great barn behind the palace, who seemed to turn accusing eyes to the Fire Lord every time he walked by.
“A dragon would not know such things or care,” he tried to tell himself. But then one morning as he observed the stable boys feeding his prized beast he heard the voice.
“You killed your best friend.”
The stable boys had not spoken, and the voice belonged to neither of them anyway. And Ahn had not moved or opened his mouth, but Sozin knew what he had heard. And then again,
“You murdered him.” The boys didn’t even look up. Clearly they had heard nothing.
“Dragons can’t speak,” he said to himself. But when the stable boys were gone he spoke to Ahn. “A volcano killed Roku.”
Ahn was looking at him, but still not moving, yet he heard the same voice in his mind.
“And you let him die.”
Sozin walked away. “Ahn couldn’t possibly understand what I have done. And even if he could speak to me like that, how could he tell anyone else?”
But the next morning when Sozin entered the barn alone, Ahn asked him, “Would he have done the same to you? Murdered you?”
“I murdered no one!”
Sozin began to insist that only he care for the dragon. He tried to convince himself there was some trick, though that seemed impossible. Dragons couldn’t speak, and they couldn’t even think in the same way humans did.
One week later Ahn said to him, “Loh, Avatar Roku’s dragon, died also because of you. She was my sister.”
“She could have escaped, but she flew back to him,” the Fire Lord said.
“Dragons do not betray the humans they agree to serve, especially the deserving ones.”
“And you would never betray me!” Realizing that someone might hear him shouting, Sozin stopped himself and went back to the palace.
The next day he finally flew on Ahn’s back again, to a clearing in the forest. When he dismounted and drew his sword, Ahn only gazed at him sadly.
“I know what you are going to do,” he said. “But realize this: every dragon knows what you did to Roku and Loh.”
“Who have you told?” asked Sozin.
“Dragons do not need to speak or even see one another to tell truths.”
“Enough words!” Sozin stabbed Ahn in the neck. The dragon did not even fight, just closed his eyes and died as Sozin stood covered in his blood.
For a moment he was able to believe that was the end that even if dragons knew his crime people never could. Any man who heard the voice of a dragon would only think he had gone insane.
“Yet Ahn spoke to me.”
The next day Sozin put out a decree that any nobleman should prove his worth by killing a dragon, and the first human Dragons set out to earn the title.
“The dragons will be gone, and the Air Nation as well,” Sozin said to himself. “The world will be perfect, and no trace of Roku will remain.”
Day/Theme: January 25/I like your silence; the more it shows off your wonder
Series: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Character/Pairing: Sozin and his dragon
Rating: PG-13 for violence
Notes: The prompt kind of got away from me and went to a dark place. No major Season 3 spoilers.
Word Count: 541
“No one will ever know,” Sozin told himself as he rode his dragon away from the volcano. “No one saw.” But it was Ahn the dragon himself, curled in the great barn behind the palace, who seemed to turn accusing eyes to the Fire Lord every time he walked by.
“A dragon would not know such things or care,” he tried to tell himself. But then one morning as he observed the stable boys feeding his prized beast he heard the voice.
“You killed your best friend.”
The stable boys had not spoken, and the voice belonged to neither of them anyway. And Ahn had not moved or opened his mouth, but Sozin knew what he had heard. And then again,
“You murdered him.” The boys didn’t even look up. Clearly they had heard nothing.
“Dragons can’t speak,” he said to himself. But when the stable boys were gone he spoke to Ahn. “A volcano killed Roku.”
Ahn was looking at him, but still not moving, yet he heard the same voice in his mind.
“And you let him die.”
Sozin walked away. “Ahn couldn’t possibly understand what I have done. And even if he could speak to me like that, how could he tell anyone else?”
But the next morning when Sozin entered the barn alone, Ahn asked him, “Would he have done the same to you? Murdered you?”
“I murdered no one!”
Sozin began to insist that only he care for the dragon. He tried to convince himself there was some trick, though that seemed impossible. Dragons couldn’t speak, and they couldn’t even think in the same way humans did.
One week later Ahn said to him, “Loh, Avatar Roku’s dragon, died also because of you. She was my sister.”
“She could have escaped, but she flew back to him,” the Fire Lord said.
“Dragons do not betray the humans they agree to serve, especially the deserving ones.”
“And you would never betray me!” Realizing that someone might hear him shouting, Sozin stopped himself and went back to the palace.
The next day he finally flew on Ahn’s back again, to a clearing in the forest. When he dismounted and drew his sword, Ahn only gazed at him sadly.
“I know what you are going to do,” he said. “But realize this: every dragon knows what you did to Roku and Loh.”
“Who have you told?” asked Sozin.
“Dragons do not need to speak or even see one another to tell truths.”
“Enough words!” Sozin stabbed Ahn in the neck. The dragon did not even fight, just closed his eyes and died as Sozin stood covered in his blood.
For a moment he was able to believe that was the end that even if dragons knew his crime people never could. Any man who heard the voice of a dragon would only think he had gone insane.
“Yet Ahn spoke to me.”
The next day Sozin put out a decree that any nobleman should prove his worth by killing a dragon, and the first human Dragons set out to earn the title.
“The dragons will be gone, and the Air Nation as well,” Sozin said to himself. “The world will be perfect, and no trace of Roku will remain.”