"The great avatar, master of four elements and the bane of fire lord" Zhao's voice held contempt and mockery as he looked down, both figuratively and literally at the air nomad.
"And yet defeated by soldiers of the fire nation who couldn't even bend. I don't know where you hid for the last hundred years, but that doesn't really matter now does it. You are no threat."
"I don't need to hide from you!" Aang shouted, " remove these chains and I'll show you whose not a threat." He wanted to escape as quickly as possible. Both Sokka and Katara were severely sick and he needed to bring the colorful frogs to them as fast as possible. They needed food, and water. Who knows how long they could survive.
"Aah... no. " However Zhao didn't take the bait. "You are going to stay here, preferably for life. Who knows where you might pop up again if we kill you."
Zhao turned his back before walking away fearlessly. If it was some hours prior, then he might have stayed vigilant of attacks to the back, but after constant provocations, and psychological games, he made sure that the avatar had lost hope of escaping. He noticed the edge in the avatars voice had gone. Even his taunts to be released were nearly words. They did not carry the same weight it did before. Zhao opened the door and walked outside before twisting the door lock.
"Sir, fire lord has sent a reply."
A timid looking man in scholarly robes brought up a red scroll with gold decorations from his sleeves before presenting it to General Zhao, who read it briefly and placed it on his belt. However his face held a grin unlike before.
"The princess herself will be coming here, huh?" He turned to the messenger who had brought the scroll. "Tell the commander of the garrison, that the fire princess herself will be arriving here in two weeks. So better make the preparations fast."
They walked away, the sound of their footsteps grew silent, and the young air nomad opened his eyes with renewed vigour.
'Haaah...phwoooooooo'
Air battered against the pillars that held the chains as Aang bend the air around him with the precision of a grand master. The strong but focused winds buffered against the pillars, making the pegs that held the chains loosen a little. But only a little.
Aang only had a few more hours, and he did not know how to escape this predicament. But he knew one thing. He will save his friends no matter what. His tattoos glowed for a second as the wind grew stronger for a moment.
But he, nor the knocked out guards of the avatar saw it.