Shadow Lands: Palace of the Spirit King - Kiharu's Plight

A subtle pounding behind her eyes brought Kiharu back to consciousness. Her mind registered the telltale signs of a dissipating migraine, thrumming with warm pain at the base of her skull. Slowly, slowly, she opened her eyes, squinting in the harsh morning light.

Flickers of color danced across her vision. She hadn't felt this miserable in a while. Faintly the girl wondered where she was, the heavy silk beneath her fingers unfamiliar to her. She always preferred cotton, so she was sure this wasn't her bedroom.

Was this even the palace???

Suddenly the events of the night before flooded back to her, but it all didn't add up. Kiharu was certain that the last thing she remembered was a lake -- stars twinkling from high above. A full moon in the sky. Her date, the Avatar, Kagutsu --

What the Hell was going on?

That name elcited a touch or anger and fear from within her. Why? She recalled him asking to be her husband ... and she had refused.

"Oh, hell no," she said aloud, finally realizing what was going on.

She'd been kidnapped.

Kagutsuchi quietly walked from the shadows, he had stood there for the past hour watching Kiharu sleep. "How did you find your night at the palace?" he asked her "These are the softest silk sheets in the world, you like them?"

Kiharu frowned, her eyes narrowing. "Why did you kidnap me?" she demanded, scooting as far away from him as possible. Though, she had to admit, the silk felt rather nice.

"You have only yourself to blame for this" he said "You could've said yes to my question...however you don't need to worry...while you are here no harm will come to you...this I promise." Kagutsuchi walked towards her as she back up, he leaned forward and put his hand on her cheek and kissed her.

Kiharu recoiled from the kiss and flung her hand as hard as she could across his face. She shot out of the bed with a kind of graceful urgency. The instinct to escape screamed in her ears. She had to get away.

Kiharu's hands closed around the door's brass handle. She pushed down.

But the knob didn't turn. The door was locked.

A moment of shock consumed her before her dark eyes searched for at least a window to escape from. Nothing. Nothing except another door, partially open to reveal the lavatory. It made her lip curl with frustration.

"Let me go," she demanded sourly, although she already knew the answer.

Kagutsuchi sighed "I'm afraid I can't do that" he said "See you are now my queen...and you will be stuck here...whether you want to be or not..so I'd learn to love it, because untill you do you're not leaving this room." Kagutsuchi walked over to the wall and started to walk through it, he turned around and pointed to the bell beside the bed "If you need anything...ring that" he said before dissapearing.

Kiharu sucked her teeth, her mind already attempting to form a plan. She stepped into the bathroom, a hand trailing along the wall. She could feel the water surging through the pipes, urged to where they were summoned.

She had water, her primary weapon. Now, to utilize it ...

Kiharu doubted her room rested against the outer wall of the palace (hence, the fact that there were no windows). If she could somehow burrow through the wall, she had a chance of escaping, but something told her that she was maybe seventy feet in the sky.

The girl went back to her bedroom and pressed her body against the wall. Just as she expected -- she didn't sense any kind of fresh atmosphere beyond. She was enclosed somewhere. Undoubtedly her bedroom door simply lead to another room. A room where she would immediately be captured again if she were to walk out.

Kiharu sighed and closed her eyes. She felt along the wall, the water pipes drawing her back to the bathroom. She sensed the system of pipes, all leading throughout the huge building she was in. A palace?

A palace where?

It didn't have the familiar structure of the Earth Kingdom Palace, and Kiharu was sure it wasn't wasn't the Fire Nation or Water Tribes. Other than that common knowledge, Kiharu hardly had an idea of where she was. Finally getting a vague idea of the palace's structure, Kiharu closed off her connection and sighed once more.

She needed to devise a plan to get herself free.

Pressurizing the water so it broke the pipes? Then what?

Knock down the wall, then run like hell? No.

Drawing Kagutuchi into the room so she could drown him?

Kiharu frowned. She could at least lure him into a false sense of security, then asphyxiate him until he was out cold. She couldn't imagine killing anyone.

But in order for her plan to be fool proof, it would take time. And a lot of acting.

However, the more Kiharu thought about it, the more she liked it. Instead of drowning him, it'd work best if she simply froze him in a block of ice.

Kiharu fingered the amulet under her shirt and returned to her bed to lie down. Her headache thrummed painfully. It was as if her brain was being squeezed. She closed her eyes. Time for some rest ... then more scheming.

Kagutsuchi sighed as he sat in his office seat, he couldn't help but think, perhaps was a bit harsh with Kiharu. He figured he'd better go check on her, he stood up and snapped his fingers, causing a cart filled with food to appear. He grabbed it and wheeled it up to Kiharu's room, it was right next to his own. Kagutsuchi walked through the walls, noticing Kiharu asleep, he figured he'd let her rest. He pulled out a pen and paper and wrote a note placing it next to the food cart it read "Rest Easy My Love, Here's Some Food, I'm Sorry About My Actions Lately....Please Forgive Me?" Kagutsuchi smiled at Kiharu and dissapeared once more.

Kiharu didn't know whether it was night or day when she woke, but she felt as if she'd gotten at least an hour or two of light rest. The girl pushed herself to her knees, stretching and taking a moment to collect her thoughts.

Her large brown eyes explored the room again and found something new. A platter of food waiting for her, and beside it was a note. Kiharu's suspicions were confirmed as soon as she read it: "Easy My Love, Here's Some Food, I'm Sorry About My Actions Lately....Please Forgive Me?" It was from Kagutsuchi.

Kiharu's eyes narrowed to slits. She punted the platter across the room, delighting in hearing the glass shatter against the wall. Of course he was planning on drugging her -- she wasn't stupid. The girl proceeded to rip up the note, and sent its papery particles all around her in a cloud.

Kiharu turned and punched the wall as hard as she could, feeling it dent under her blow. Some of her skin chaffed off, but she didn't care. The haze of her anger numbed it. "Do you hear me?" she screamed. "Let me out!"

Kagutsuchi sighed as he appeared in a flash of black shadow. "You have alot of spirit you know that?" he said, he looked to the destroyed tray "You know that was good food you just wasted there...is there a reason you're particulary mad?"