Letting out a choked gasp of panic, for the second time since he had shrunk, Shu felt the familiar sense of vertigo as he plummeted through the air. Accompanied by the whine of the wind surging passed his ears, the captive’s twisted laughter instantly transformed into a shriek of alarm as he fell backwards through the air. Flailing in an attempt to right himself, the man fell through the air for several terrifying seconds before the spongy surface of the sole of Asami’s boot rose up to crash into the man’s back, driving the air from his lungs.
His heart racing, Shu was dazed by the impact with the soggy leather beneath him, but otherwise unharmed. Due to his new size, the cushioned surface beneath him, and his landing posture, what had seemed like a twenty foot drop had merely left the man winded and a little startled. It would take a long time before he got used to his new, smaller perspective, not that he intended to live for that long. Struggling to regain his composure, Shu took a steadying breath, his lungs seizing at the tainted air which passed between his lips.
Before the man could even recognize the stench slithering its way through his sinuses, his body reacted in instinctive repulsion, his lungs squeezing tight to stop any further violation by the miasma all around him. It was like a palpable force had reached into his chest, squeezing his lungs with a fierce grip. A mixture of nausea and panicked asphyxia overcame the Shu as his body struggled between its need for oxygen and it’s absolute revulsion at the quality of air which was available until eventually his need to breathe won out. With a choked breath, the captive inhaled, taking in the fetid air around him.
Unsurprisingly, the boggy stench of marsh water suffused the boot, but Shu had long since grown used to the fetid stink of stagnant water. It was the other smells that caused the shrunken man to gag. The boots around him had seen miles of hard wear, as evidenced by the sour and salty stench of sweat that even the fetid waters couldn’t wash away. The familiar odors of worked leather and wax mingled with the musky aroma of foot in a juxtaposition that made the captive’s head spin. The cloying reek of soured socks and the faintly sweet smell of floral soaps entwined together to cap the disparate bouquet within the footwear.
The appalling stench clinging to the air was enough to make anyone gag. It brought to mind long treks on hot afternoons, many days spent roughing it through the wilds without access to bathes, and the insufficient laundering of socks. Despite the seemingly clean state of the avatar’s companion, the putrid state of her boot spoke of the hardships she had faced which no amount of washing could wipe away. Shu felt his nose begin to burn and his mouth water as rancid air poured into his lungs.
However, although the smell was enough to cause anyone to gag, Shu’s repulsion wasn’t purely physical. The former equalist was no stranger to the stench of filth, he had spent no small amount of time scrabbling around in the back alleys of Republic City, but still the stink of Asami’s boot assaulted him in a way that the back alley’s filled with rotting garbage could not. It was the organic notes that truly repulsed the man, dragging up memories he struggled every day to keep buried. Sweat, body odor, and leather mingled together with Asami’s residual body heat and feminine smell, filling Shu with a separate sense of revulsion unrelated to his current circumstances.
Violation, repulsion, and sheer guttural nausea overcame Shu, washing even his anger away with the baser intensity of his reaction. Before he even realized, the shrunken man found himself on his hands and knees, facing the soggy sole beneath him as he retched with such a painful intensity that it were as if his body were struggling to turn itself inside out. Only once the burning asphyxia within Shu’s lungs was too much to bare did the man’s body finally relax enough to permit his lungs to inhale once more, starting the process anew. For several minutes, the shrunken man suffered at the bottom of the boot before the painful seizing of his body finally subsided enough for the man to do anything other than puke.
Trembling, Shu wiped the vomit from his mouth as he struggled to stand. He had experienced far worse before, but that didn’t mean he was eager to suffer some new indignity or to endure the constant reminder of the past ones. A sheen of sweat coated his body as the urge to escape the phantoms of his prior traumas mingled with the physical repulsion at his surroundings, eating away at his composure. He needed to get away. Struggling to stand, Shu turned his attention towards the opening of the boot above, his vision filling with his captor’s face.
“Listen here you little…” As two watery green eyes bore down at Shu with undisguised hatred, Asami let out a low growl through gritted teeth, her voice seething with a hatred Shu was all too familiar with. Whatever restraint Asami had shown in front of the avatar was lifted now that she found herself alone with her captive, filling Shu with the faint hope that she might lose her composure and end him in her fury. However, Shu was not so lucky. Realizing she was tempted to do something reckless, Asami took a breath, quickly sweeping the tears from her eyes as she collected herself before returning her focus to the shrunken man beneath her once more.
“I don’t know your history, and I don’t care.” Asami’s green eyes seethed with barely restrained rage as she stared down at the shrunken man held within her boot. Unnerved by the miasmic stench all around him and the vile memories it unearthed, Shu couldn’t help but shiver at her gaze. He felt helpless and trapped, a feeling he’d sworn he’d never experience again.
“But Korra means a lot to me, and you don’t.” Asami’s voice grew lower as she spoke, her heated anger giving way to a cold malice that prickled at Shu’s spine. The man was familiar with that tone of voice, a cruel cold apathy that promised pain if one didn’t comply. Once again, Shu shivered as he repressed the memories of traumas past.
“So you’re going to play nice and keep your hatred in check until we find a way to undo whatever it is you did.” Even at the bottom of her boot, Shu felt Asami’s sweet breath wash over him as she leaned in menacingly, eclipsing the opening to the boot above. Her mouth as open in a silent snarl as she stared down at him, each of her porcelain-white teeth larger than his head.
“Because if you don’t, I’ll make whatever injustice you blame Korra for seem petty compared to what I’ll do to you.” Staring up into those emerald orbs, Shu felt transfixed, like a mouse before a snake. There was a note of determination in Asami’s voice and a tone of malice that had been absent while the Avatar was present.
Suddenly, Shu was confronted with the sheer precariousness of his situation. Between Asami’s looming snarl, the ease with which she had handled him, and his current location within her boots, the captive couldn’t help but contemplate his own frailty. Were it not for the fear that his death might bring the avatar some harm, Asami could have snuffed him out with a pinch. In fact, there were far crueler ways she could end his life. Shu couldn’t help but feel his eyes drawn once more to the ruby lips above, shuddering at the shadowy abyss that lurked beyond.
Surrounded by the sickly stench of body odor and sweat and confronted with the giantess’ cold voice, Shu couldn’t help but tremble. This feeling of oppression and helplessness was familiar: Too familiar. It brought him back to the days before the equalists had rescued him from his hell. He felt like a child again, small and helpless.
However, Shu’s moment of weakness was short lived. His hatred was not so shallow as to be washed away by mere reminders of his past, nor did the pathetic threats of this pampered rich kid even compare to the injustices and suffering he’d already endured. In fact, the filthy scents around him only served to harden his resolve, reminding him of everything he had already endured and everything the avatar had taken from him, kindling his hatred once more.
Nonetheless, Asami’s efforts weren’t fruitless. As much as Shu’s hatred was directed towards Korra, having some rich kid from Republic City dare to threaten him was enough to direct his anger towards herself. How could this rich brat even dream of the hardships he had endured as she grew up in her mansion? How could she even imagine what it was like to sleep on cold stone exposed to the elements when she’d only ever slept on the softest sheets? How could she know what it was like to suffer and struggle for what little you have, only to have everything taken away? Yet she dared to threaten him? Shu screamed his profanities at the looming face above in response, and when his tiny voice failed to reach his captor, he made crude gestures instead.
Asami eyebrows lowered as her glare deepened, but she remained silent, instead letting her actions speak for her. All of a sudden, Shu felt the boot around him shudder as it tossed and turned, helplessly taking his feet out from under him. In a moment, the man found himself rolling across the sole of the boot, bouncing from wall to wall as the larger woman tilted the boot in various directions, sending her captive tumbling around inside her soiled boot. After a few seconds, Shu felt the boot contact the ground once more as the world around him suddenly became still once more.
Once again, Shu found himself on his hands and knees, though this time the world around him seemed to spin and twist with vertigo. His body heaved as motion sickness overwhelmed the man, and a guttural groan erupted from his throat, though this time only bile poured out. It took several minutes before Shu managed to recover enough to stand once more, turning to face the titaness above with defiant eyes.
“Consider this a warning.” Seeing him as defiant as before, Asami sneered at the shrunken man beneath her. Suddenly, the world around Shu began to shift once more as the leather sole beneath him began tilting towards the toe of Asami’s boot. Losing his balance, Shu was sent tumbling downward along the soggy leather slope, slamming into the pointed depth of the footwear. The world around him jostled as Asami shuffled around outside until the light with the boot was cut off.
The scratch of wet wool on leather and the sour stench of mildew was Shu’s only warning before Asami’s soggy sock pushed against his body, locking him in the deepest depths of her boot. The cool, wet cloth slithered against his bare skin before pulling away as his giant captor withdrew it a little, sparing the shrunken man some breathing room. Moments later, another wad of soured cloth was wedged behind the first, entombing Shu within.
Old memories struggled to resurface as Shu’s claustrophobic surroundings reminded him of his past suffering and imprisonment. Gritting his teeth, the shrunken man harnessed his hatred as a shield, his wrath directed entirely at the black-haired woman whose boot he now lay entombed within for making him experience captivity once more.
Holding his nose, Shu fought the urge to vomit as his odorous surroundings invaded his nose, his nausea more psychological than physical as his body began to acclimate to the filth. This was his chance. With any luck, his captor might assume the socks were enough to trap him in place and drop her guard, allowing him to escape. Groping around blindly in the dark, the captive reached out towards where he knew the woolen barrier to be.
As Shu’s palm made contact with the fetid sock, the man couldn’t help but shiver as the soggy cloth let out a sickening squelch beneath his touch. The smell was abhorrent, even when compared to the boot, like human filth and armpit. Trapped in the toe of the shoe, the stench of sour fabric only continue to build as Shu made his way to the edge of the fabric blockade.
Reaching the border between leather and wool, Shu feverishly worked at the divide, shoving his arm into the gap and ignoring the tainted water which oozed in response. He was eager, no desperate to get out, to see the light of the sky and take in the relatively fresh air he knew to wait just beyond his clothen prison. However, after several minutes of effort, it soon became apparent that the soured cloth was wedged too tightly for the him to squeeze passed. With a curse, the man smashed his fist against the soggy leather to his side, getting little more than a soft squelch for his efforts.
Resigning himself to his fate, Shu tucked himself in the corner of the boot, the radiant heat of Asami’s body on the other side warming the toe of the shoe. He had been through worse. He had suffered torments beyond this pampered brat’s imagination. In fact, the memories of his past were far worse than his current circumstances. He would not be broken.
Damp and reeking with the sour stench of wet feet, again the familiar heat of hatred suffused Shu’s soul, although this time it was directed towards Asami. The woman might not have been responsible for his suffering, but her current actions were a constant reminder of the many abuses he had endured, and he couldn’t help but overlap the image of the black-haired woman with that of his previous tormentors within his mind. Cowering in anger, fatigue eventually overwhelmed the shrunken man, luring him into a deep slumber.
***
“Enough of your excuses Kozu. Where’s our money?” Despite the heavy shroud which seemed to cloak his mind, Shu immediately recognized his surroundings for what it was, a dream. Shu was no stranger to dreams, especially nightmares, though he wished otherwise. In fact, it was a familiar dream, a haunting vision that often plagued his sleep though he had never dreamt it so clearly before.
Shu found himself peering at the squalid apartment he and his father had shared through the eyes of his eight-year-old self. It was a smaller flat, too small for most people, let alone the father and son who shared the space. Adorned with only single bed, a chest for clothes, and a stove, the room was a barely livable slum that hardly kept the winter air out, but it was home.
“Please! I’ll have your money shortly. I just need a little more-“ Before him, his father kneeled upon the ground in front of three men. He was a giant of a man, six and a half feet tall with muscles shaped by years of manual labor. Yet, before the benders in front of him, his strength meant nothing. He was neither a martial artist nor a bender himself, just an honest man who did honest work, unlike the three towering over him.
“Time!?” The leader of the group, an earthbender by the name of Yutao, interrupted his father’s pleas for mercy. A year before, when Shu’s mother had grown sick, his father Kozu had been forced to take out a loan to purchase medicine; Medicine that had ultimately proved fruitless. In the span of a fortnight, the man had found himself a widow, a single father, and hopelessly in debt. Now, a year later, his lenders had grown tired of waiting to be repaid.
“That’s what you said the last time and the time before.” Yutao smashed his fist against the wall in anger, causing the neglected plastered surface to crack. Once his wife had died, Shu’s father had struggled to balance repaying his debt and making ends meet, failing at both. With only one income, the man struggled to feed himself and his son while keeping a roof over their head, let alone make any progress on the money he owned. Slowly, the interest had accrued until repaying his debts became hopeless.
“Please, I beg of you. One last chance.” Despite knowing it was a dream, Shu couldn’t help but feel like a child again, watching his father kneel and beg. He felt hopeless and powerless, his eyes watering in fear as he watched the benders lord over his father. Kozu had done nothing wrong, yet in order to try to save Shu’s mother, he had been forced to borrow money from the wrong people. And, for the simple fact that he hadn’t been born a bender, the larger man now found himself at the mercy of these three thugs.
“We told you, this was your final chance.” Yutao’s foot rose faster than Kozu could react, stomping against the kneeling man’s face and sending Shu’s father sprawling onto his back in a daze. Seeing his father struck, the boy flinched, cowering where he stood around the corner of the stove. However, rather than retaliate, his father merely pulled himself forward once more, kowtowing before his assailant.
“Please! Take whatever you want. Everything I have is yours.” His nose bleeding, Kozu pleaded with the thugs, his voice desperate. Although Shu didn’t know it at the time, the San-Tao gang had a reputation as both one of the fairest and one of the cruelest gangs in Republic City. They offered the most reasonable terms when lending money, but had one of the cruelest responses to those who failed to pay their debts. His father was one of the latter.
“What? The pots and pans? Do you think we’re a pawn shop?” Yutao’s face twisted in disgust as he motioned around, gesturing at the nearly barren apartment Shu and his father lived in. As soon as Kozu had fallen into debt, he had sold everything in order to repay it as soon as possible, eventually moving from a humble but livable apartment to their current squalid shack, but it had proven fruitless. Besides the absolute bare minimum needed to live, the father and son owned nothing.
“You’ve been late too many times. It’s sending a bad message. How are we supposed to do business if our lenders think they can put off repaying us as long as they like?” Yutao voice was cold and uncaring. If he felt any pity for the man at his feet, he didn’t show it.
“Please, I’ll do anything. I’ll sell everything. I’ll get your money.” Even as a child, Shu had realized that everything they owned still wouldn’t be enough. Yutao was no fool. Whether it be a month or a year, he knew Kozu couldn’t come up with the money. The only reason they had even permitted this farce to continue for so long was because their gang’s reputation demanded it; the same reputation which now demanded reparations.
“You should have done that after our last warning. It’s too late for that now. We want our money now, and if you don’t have it, we’ll just have to take something else as compensation.” Yutao coldly shook his head, his voice leaving no room for discussion. The money wasn’t important by this point. His gang’s reputation was at stake.
“You, boy! Come here.” In the dream, Shu felt his eight-year-old self jump in fear, feeling once more the helpless terror as if it were that very day. Seeing Yutao’s dark gaze falling upon himself, Shu’s younger self finally burst into tears, knowing little more than that the scary man had focused his attention on him.
“Please, no! Not my son!” Seeing the direction of Yutao’s attention, Kozu quickly clutched at the bender’s pants leg, begging for mercy. There was fear and desperation in his father’s voice that Shu didn’t understand at the time, though he would soon find out. As a child, he hadn’t known what it would mean to be taken by Yutao’s men. Not yet…
“Get off me you little…” In response to his father’s desperate begging, Yutao stomped his other foot. It was a subtle gesture that might have been insignificant, had the man not been an earthbender. From Yutao, it was enough to destroy Shu’s life.
Desperately, Shu wished to turn his head, to look away at his father’s final moments, but the dream didn’t allow that. Helplessly trapped within his younger self, he was forced to watch as the pointed spear of stone broke through floorboard, embedding itself within the bottom of his father’s skull and lightly protruding from the top. Only the briefest spray of blood escaped, splattering against the ceiling along with a few chunks of gray matter. Yet, despite the subtlety of the violence, the deed was done. Kozu let out a sudden twitch before his body grew slack and the light faded from his eyes. With but a simple gesture, Shu found himself an orphan.
Once more, Shu was forced to endure the shock, the dread, and the incomprehension of losing his father as if it were that very day. His eight-year-old self simply couldn’t make sense of the overwhelming sense of loss that assailed him, beyond anything he had ever experienced before, causing the child to freeze. Even to this day, Shu cursed himself for remaining. He cursed himself for not running away as fast as he could. Even if it was futile, even if his fate wouldn’t change, he cursed himself for meekly standing there as Yutao sauntered up to him, not so much as putting up a fight.
It wasn’t until Yutao’s hand grasped him by his shoulder that the grieving child snapped from his stupor, struggling to pull himself away from the adult whose iron grip locked him in place. However, by then it was too late. The far stronger man hardly even noticed the child squirming against his grasp.
“Take anything of value. With any luck, we’ll break even.” As Yutao’s cold, dispassionate voice echoed in the smaller room, despair and terror warred within the child, a mere shadow of what was to come. Struggling and struggling, the child fought to escape, kicking and screaming…
Choking back a sob, Shu found himself screaming as he jolted awake, his head bouncing off of the leather ceiling above as he jolted up in terror. For a moment, he was his eight-year-old self, waking up in the dark, mourning the loss of his father.
“Korra!” Asami’s cry of alarm brought the man back to reality. His days at the mercy of Yutao were long behind him. The man was long dead. Grasping his head in the dark, Shu had almost regained his composure until a soft, weak voice reached his ears, sending a chill down his spine.
“No! Let me go! Dad!” Far away, muffled by leather and cloth, Shu could just make out the voice of Korra as she screamed in the cave. His stomach grew cold at the anguished cries that echoed the ones from his dream. Hearing the words from his darkest nightmares spoken aloud once more caused a surge of emotions beyond description to well within the shrunken man.
Without warning, Shu felt the world around him tilt as the boot he was in was knocked over. Feeling the shoe around him crash to the side, he couldn’t help but retch once more, spitting up bile as emotions, disorientation, and the stench overwhelmed him. Dully, the far off sound of bare feet on stone could be heard as Asami rushed into the cave.