"Who...who are you?" The man asked, unsure of his surroundings. Pain and agony wreathed through his body as he realized that he was blindfolded as well. His face, like the rest of him, was buried beneath a mountain of bandages.
"You were hurt in your last battle" The visitor said matter-of-factly. "We are transferring you to the interior for further treatment, but the engagement you took part in has piqued the interests of some higher ups. I'd like to know more myself."
"Sir?" The man asked, slightly confused, but assuming that the visiting figure was someone of importance.
"Let's start from the beginning." The figure said patiently, leaning in over the officer. "Tell me what you saw."
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It was a full moon tonight, and the sergeant of the watch grumbled impatiently as he and his men made their rounds on the outer fort walls, hoping the time would pass faster during their shift. These nights were usually more trouble than they were worth and extra precautions were taken with the waterbending prisoners in the Prison. Just before dusk, they were all quarantined in solitary, their arms and legs chained to the walls so that they could not move for the rest of the night and make use of the moon's power. It was an uncomfortable experience, causing many to collapse in exhaustion the next day, but it was a necessary precaution against them. As much the firebending guards loved to lord over their helpless prisoners, none of them relished the prospect of facing a waterbender powered by the light of a full moon, and with the recent influx of new prisoners, the warden didn't want to tempt the chances of a rebellion, no matter how broken spirited the water benders were.
The rumors of the recent riot and revolt in one of the outer colonies made the precautions even more necessary, and many of the guards were more cautious around their stations than usual. Despite that, many believed that the waterbenders who may have broken free would not dare attack the prison while they had their families locked up, nor could they hope to take down the most powerfully constructed fortress in the land. Indeed, the image of a bunch of desperate water tribals howling uselessly at the gates would have brought a smile to any of the guardsman's faces, and that knowledge was what gave the Fire Nation soldiers of the out gate comfort while they surveyed the frozen tundra from the safety of their tower.
The sergeant of the watch shared that confidence in his watch, so much so that he did not notice as two of his soldiers overlooking the ramparts disappear wordlessly over the wall and onto the snow banks below. As he retreated to his quarters inside the tower, another one of his guards, a heavily armored pikeman turned to see a shadow scale over the wall where the two soldiers had previously been. As he lowered his pike and prepared to shout a warning, a tendril of water shot forward trapping his scream in a case of ice that wrapped around his mouth and face. The water whip then retracted back, wrapping itself around the legs of another guardsman, sweeping him off his feet and onto the stone floor, out cold.
"What's going on?" The sergeant turned and to his shock, instead of his squad of guards, he saw two young waterbenders dressed in the dark blue tunics of the Wolf Tail Warriors.
The sergeant's eyes darted quickly toward the alarm panel, which was just feet away from him. His instincts took hold and without a word, he sprinted for it, but before he even took his first step, he felt his arm seizing up uncontrollably as he reached out to push the button on the console. The soldier struggled and groaned, but he soon found himself falling to the floor like a huge weight had been dropped onto his body, his muscles and tendons constricting against his will.
"Don't even think about it." Noatak said in a low menacing voice, his body already in a bloodbending stance.
The man could only gurgle helplessly in response as he felt the fluids and bone crushing together inside his body, which caused even Tarrlok to flinch.
