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earlybirds-atla-au · 4 years

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everyone collectively deciding to skip the Great Divide

This one was submitted by TheEmeraldDoe over on AO3. It’s tactical skipping, lol.

~~~

“Here it is! The Great Divide!”

The Water Tribespeople all stared at the massive canyon. They hadn’t gotten a good look at it when they’d made camp the night before, but now the rocks and cliffs were bathed orange and pink in the light of sunrise.

“Well that’s different,” Hakoda said.

“It’s a...really big hole,” Bato added.

Aang grinned and turned his attention back to loading their supplies on Appa’s saddle. “Isn’t it cool? It’s the biggest canyon in the Earth Kingdom!”

“It’s breathtaking, Aang,” Kya said. “And it definitely looks like a place that belongs in the Earth Kingdom.”

“How do you even get a hole this big?” Hakoda wondered. “Is the ground here just unstable?”

Aang laughed. “No, it didn’t just collapse on itself! The ground’s stable...well, maybe not right by the edge.”

Bato took a step back, still looking down. “There’s a river,” he observed, peering at a thread of green-blue winding through the bottom of the canyon.

Aang grinned. “Yep.”

It took Hakoda a moment, but then his eyes widened. “Wait, did that little river create this?”

“It only looks little from up here,” said Aang. “And yeah, that’s the theory! Though I’ve also heard the canyon was formed by angry spirits who were fighting each other.”

“But this is huge!” Hakoda said, flinging his arm out at the landscape. “How did one river manage to carve out all this?” The canyon was deep and wide and long.

Aang began to answer, but Hama beat him to it. “Don’t be so surprised, Hakoda,” she said. “Water is the element of change. It adapts to its environment and it transforms its surroundings, and it’s stubborn as hell.” She was standing precariously close to the cliffedge, staring down at the river below with a proud look. “Never underestimate the power of water.”

All the kids liked to think that they knew better than that by now, after a few months of travelling with Hama.

“That’s kind of funny,” Kya said. “Here I was thinking this place was definitely Earth Kingdom, but it was created by water.”

“Well, water and a few million years,” Aang said, and he floated from the saddle to Appa’s head to check the reins. “Anyway, we’re gonna have to fly over it to the other side so we can keep heading north.”

“We’re crossing this?” Bato said.

“Yeah, I told you guys last night when we were talking about our route, remember?”

“Yeah, but…” Bato looked at the canyon, across to the other side. Looked to the left and the right, which was still a canyon for as far as the eye could see. “I didn’t realize how big it was.”

Aang grinned. “Don’t worry! It’ll take ten minutes tops on a flying bison!”

“That’s not what I - I mean, we’re crossing this, so the Fire Nation will have to…” Bato was still staring at the canyon. “Holy schist.” An Earth Kingdom epithet seemed appropriate for the situation.

“Aang,” Kya said, “how big is this canyon?”

Aang tapped his chin, theatrically thinking. “Well if I remember correctly...it’s over a mile deep, and about ten miles wide. And almost three hundred miles long!”

“And where are we, in terms of the length?” Hama asked, looking amused.

Aang grinned cheekily. “Right in the middle. Sure is a shame the Fire Nation can’t fly, huh?”

Hakoda burst out laughing. “Aang you’re brilliant! Can you imagine what the princes are gonna think when they get here? Oh man I wish I could see their stupid faces!”

“Holy schist,” Bato said again, grinning.

“Talk about a roadblock,” Kya snerked.

Hama shook her head, smiling. “Come on,” she said, clambering aboard Appa. “Much as I’d love to see their faces, I don’t want to stick around to see the rest of them. Let’s get out of here.”

#early birds au #atla fanfic #avatar fanfiction #avatar the last airbender #atla

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earlybirds-atla-au · 4 years

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Obviously Zhao hasn't been to Wan Shi Tong's library yet, so... what will be replacing the Moonslayer Incident?

Y’know, the key word in that question was yet. ;)

Also, way to make me seriously consider some major plot point timelines, thanks for that. :P

~~~

Hama didn’t like the desert.

Intense heat, dry air, not a drop of water to be seen for miles. It reminded her far too much of the hell she’d escaped, the hell she’d abandoned (their choice! they refused!) her fellow Waterbenders to. The only difference was that here she wasn’t in a cage.

Well, alright, that wasn’t the only difference. There was also the fact that for the last few days they’d been sheltering in a library straight out of spirit tales, hosted by an owl spirit so massive he could probably give Amaroq a run for his money, and his persistent little foxes.

One of whom was staring up at Hama with imploringly huge eyes, whining.

“We’ve been over this,” she said firmly, looking back at the book in her hands. “I made it very clear to your master that I am not going to share that knowledge. He accepted the other payments we offered. This matter is closed.”

The fox barked.

Hama huffed back at it. Whatever it wanted, it couldn’t possibly be more important than - she looked back at the book she hadn’t really been reading - than Methods of the Caj-Bolorian Tribes in Taming Wild Tahki-Goats, And the Uses Thereof.

What the hell was a tahki-goat?

She should’ve stuck with the plantbending scrolls, even if there weren’t any plants to practice on here. She missed the swamp. It was by far the nicest place the kids had dragged her to so far. This damn desert was definitely the worst.

The fox wasn’t done with her, though. It barked again.

“What?” she snapped at it. “Did Hakoda fall down a well?” Actually that was a worrisome thought. Hakoda had taken to this library like a polar bear-dog took to water, and he’d spent the last few days voraciously reading everything he could reach. He’d been trying to map the whole place out, too, because giant omniscient spirit owls didn’t have a need for proper maps or catalogues of their premises.

The fox snarled, but it sounded more aggravated than aggressive. And then it surged forward and caught her skirt in its mouth.

“Whoa!” Hama said, dropping the book in her shock. The fox managed to pull her forward a few feet before she got her balance and stood firm. “What on earth - what’s wrong with - ” She broke off then, as the fox dropped her skirt and whined again. No, not a whine. A whimper. “What’s wrong?” Hama demanded, and the fox took off running. Hama followed, patting her waterskin to reassure herself it was still there, meager though its contents felt in a place this dry.

She expected - hoped - for something simple. Something ridiculous. Something in-character for the headstrong children who’d wormed their way into her shriveled heart. Hakoda had uncovered a tome of ancient but still-viable pranks. Kya had gotten her boomerang stuck in the architecture. Bato had…actually no Bato was decently responsible and rarely ever caused trouble, only followed others into it. Hama supposed she had Anana to both thank and blame for that. Maybe Aang was having a meltdown over some Air Nomad history?

She was not expecting the fox to lead her to a wing of the library labeled Fire, nor for the shelves there to actually be on fire.

“What the hell?” she blurted, uncorking her waterskin, and that was when the teenager came striding out of the flames.

“Ah,” he said, probably trying to sound completely collected and unfazed but actually sounding like a snot-nosed brat who practiced witty one-liners in front of a mirror, “the Avatar’s waterbending teacher. I suppose that means your charge isn’t too far behind? This trip is proving even more productive than I was expecting.”

I’m not his teacher, Hama wanted to snap, but she didn’t, because every bit of information the Fire Nation didn’t have was an advantage.

A Firebender stood in Wan Shi Tong’s Library. Hama wondered how many advantages they’d just lost.

“You’re a long way from the ocean, Naval Cadet,” she said, water flowing up her arms.

Cadet Zhao smirked. “So are you.”

#early birds au #atla fanfic #avatar fanfiction #avatar the last airbender #Anonymous

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earlybirds-atla-au · 4 years

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SO, my current list of prompts to pull from looks something like this...

Questions about the Southern Air Temple and Momo. I really need to figure out if I’m committing to Momo or not. I wish we knew more about Momo’s family. Can I make up Momo’s great-grandmother? Or should I just keep the lemur Momo?

A few prompts concerning various oneshot episode minor characters, which I’ll happily work on once I figure out how to approach them in this time frame.

A whole two questions about the Northern Air Temple and the Mechanist! He’s definitely not there right now, you guys are totally right on that. I have no idea how to proceed with that at the moment. No Mechanist means no crazy inventions and idk what to do without tanks. :(

A few questions about the Northern Water Tribe! I am also very excited for the NWT, guys!! I’ve got a few surprises up my sleeve there and things I’m looking forward to playing with. But there’s a major event that I have to figure out the timeline of, and someone said they want to see me do for the NWT what I did with the FN royal family, and I am TOUCHED but also that will involve developing OCs, lol. Also also I think I need to get Hama some more screentime before we go up North. So I’m holding off on NWT prompts for the time being...

I really do need to pound out that one major event’s timeline, tho. Hm. And the kids and Hama need to go through some relationship development. Also, how can I get Zhao in the middle of the desert? These are are very serious questions.

#early birds au #the writing process is ridiculous

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earlybirds-atla-au · 4 years

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Early Birds: An ATLA AU

Since I’ve been stuck at home (generally happily because god I’m a shut-in), I’ve been doing some more work on my Early Birds AU! And if anyone’s bored and looking for some fic to read, I invite you to check it out! You can read it on AO3 here, and it also has its own tumblr @earlybirds-atla-au.

Early Birds goes much the same way that canon does…except 30 years earlier! The Gaang, comprised of Aang and 15-year-old Hakoda, Kya, and Bato, journey towards the North Pole to find the Avatar a waterbending teacher, because they sure as heck don’t have any left in the South! Along the way, they dodge Fire Nation Princes Iroh and Ozai, meet younger versions of minor characters we know and love, and pick up a certain escaped Waterbender prisoner who is in desperate need of therapy!

Will Aang learn all the elements in time to defeat the Fire Lord before the comet comes?? Well yeah he’d better cuz he has a whole three decades to do it in now, lol.

But will Iroh ever convince his cousin that herbal teas are totally valid? Will the Gaang ever figure out why Hama is so adamant about refusing to teach Aang waterbending? Will soon-to-be-Princess Ursa figure out how to deal with her strange feelings of grandparental disappointment? Will someone still beat up Pakku if Katara hasn’t been born to do it? Will baby Prince Lu Ten ever stop being cute? Will Fire Lord Azulon’s headache go away? Will Caelum ever decide if Momo is in this story or not?

I literally have NO IDEA, because I’m only writing what prompts the readers leave for me, lol. That’s right - this story is getting written in prompt meme format so I don’t have to stress out thinking about it! So feel free to join me on this crazy adventure of creativity! Scream your questions into the void that is my inbox! Leave prompts in your comments to help me figure out how to tell this ridiculous tale! I and the screaming bird that is this fic’s muse will thank you.

#early birds au

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earlybirds-atla-au · 4 years

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Did Aang still get to have an adventure into the spirit world and meet Hei Bai?

“Okay,” Hakoda said when the sun came up and neither Aang nor Kya came with it. “Okay, let’s just...remain calm...and…”

Bato waited for his friend to gather his thoughts. Hakoda was the one with ideas, who could give you a direction and a purpose and make things happen. Bato didn’t have any of those right now, but he trusted Hakoda would.

“Can we track it?” Hakoda wondered, looking at the path that led out of Senlin village into the forest.

“It’s a spirit,” Bato said dubiously. “I don’t think it left footprints.”

Hakoda took a few steps forward, squinting at the ground. “...Yeah,” he conceded. “Something that big should be heavy enough to leave tracks, but…”

“Nothing,” Bato said grimly.

Hakoda straightened up and stared down the path into the forest. “Well,” he said after a moment, “we know what direction they were headed.”

“And we have a flying bison.”

Hakoda grinned at him. “Exactly.”

Even with Appa’s help, however, they didn’t have any luck finding their friends.

“I don’t like this,” Bato said after an hour of searching. He was leaning over the front of Appa’s saddle, peering down at the burnt forest below. “If they’d been taken by a regular animal, there would’ve been...something by now. A trail. Signs of a fight. Anything. But it’s like they just…”

“Disappeared into thin air,” Hakoda nodded, his knuckles white around Appa’s reins.

“Yeah. Without a trace.”

Hakoda was silent for a moment. “Do you remember anything your grandfather might’ve said about spirits? Something that might help?”

Bato snorted. “Respect them. Don’t dishonor them. If you anger them, throw yourself down and pray for mercy.” The Southern Water Tribe wasn’t exactly a spiritual hub these days. Their most powerful shamans had been Waterbenders, and those traditions had been stolen away decades ago. Bato’s grandfather and the other non-bender shamans had done their best to make up for the spiritual imbalance, but it was like trying to stop the tides from changing the shoreline. Despite their efforts, the celestial lights had dimmed as spirits stopped dancing in the sky, and dark shadows had started roaming the tundra.

“Is there any way to pacify an angry spirit?” Hakoda asked, even though Bato knew he already knew the answer.

“A Waterbender shaman could do it. I don’t know about us.”

Hakoda nodded. “Who knows if it would even work here, anyway?” he said. “This is an Earth Kingdom spirit.”

“Yeah,” Bato said, peering down at a road winding through the forest below them.

“Really that’s the only reason I’m not completely freaking out,” Hakoda added, sounding like he might be slightly freaking out. “It was an Earth Kingdom spirit that took Kya, not one of ours, maybe it has different rules, it’s not like she got taken by Amaroq.” The giant wolf spirit was a fierce fighter and a wise mentor in their legends, but he also dealt out stern punishments and lessons. If you were foolish enough to go hunting alone at night, Amaroq would take you, and he wouldn’t give you back. “And Aang’s the Avatar, right? If he’s really the great bridge between our world and the spirits, then...he should be able to do something...right?”

“Right,” Bato said. “That’s a good point. Uh...hey, what’s that?” He leaned further over the edge of the saddle, pointing down past Hakoda. There were a pair of figures down on the road riding large animals. “Do you think maybe they’ve seen...oh ashes,” he broke off when it became clear that the animals were Komodo rhinos, and the figures riding them were wearing red armor.

“Up, up, up!” Hakoda ordered Appa, who swiftly slapped his tail to the wind and ascended. “Good boy, come on, faster, get us above that cloud! Bato, did they see us?”

“I don’t know,” Bato said, feeling sick. “Think it’s the princes?”

“Who else would it be? We need to make sure we don’t lead them back to the village. Come on, Appa, yip yip!”

~~~

Ozai stared at the giant bison as it flew away. “The Avatar,” he said, and turned his rhino around.

“Uh,” said Zhao, “your brother and Sifu Jeong Jeong are this way.” He gestured pointedly at the ostrich-horse tracks they’d been following.

Ozai scowled at the tracks. “My brother,” he said haughtily, “and Admiral Jeong Jeong are grown men, master Firebenders, accomplished military leaders, and complete idiots for getting themselves into this situation in the first place!”

Zhao snorted. “So...they can get themselves out of this mess?”

“Yes!” Ozai snapped. “Come on, the Avatar’s our priority. Iroh is fully capable of saving himself, and if he isn’t Father will forgive me.” As long as Ozai had the Avatar to show for it, anyway.

“Whatever you say, my prince,” Zhao said, turning his own rhino around and following Ozai. “I have to say though, it feels kind of...wrong, just abandoning the crown prince and my teacher like this…”

“They’re both probably naked.”

“Okay, let’s go after the Avatar!”

~~~

“Bah, I was hoping Ozai would come and rescue me,” Iroh sighed, searching the Earthbender captain’s corpse for the keys to his chains. “It would have been a wonderful family bonding activity!”

“This is my punishment for allowing you to talk me into a hot spring,” Jeong Jeong muttered.

Iroh produced the keys with a flourish. “Now Jeong Jeong, you know how important it is to enjoy the finer things in life! You have to take some time to relax.”

“Iroh, they were going to kill us, and we are on a mission to hunt down our nation’s greatest threat.”

“That doesn’t mean we can’t take a break every so often,” Iroh said sagely, freeing himself from his chains and passing the key to Jeong Jeong. “If my grandparents taught me anything, it was that we must live all aspects of life to the fullest - both work and pleasure!”

“If your grandmother taught you anything, it was how to flirt with every girl you see,” Jeong Jeong muttered, tossing his chains to the ground. Then he started on the nearest dead Earthbender.

“...Jeong Jeong, what are you doing?” Iroh asked, just in time for the Earthbender’s shirt to hit his face.

“Put that on.”

“Jeong Jeong!” Iroh exclaimed, pulling the shirt off his head. “We ought to have some respect!”

“What a sense of humor you have, Iroh. Remind me, what was that approved strategy for Nanyue that we were fully planning to enact just a month ago? I don’t seem to remember it being very respectful.”

Iroh looked uncomfortable. “My father was just being thorough in his planning,” he said. “I doubt it’d truly go that far. Also,” he lifted the shirt with a huff, “it’s green.”

Jeong Jeong scowled at him. “Iroh, I have had to look at your - perfectly sculpted chest for the entire damn day. Put on the Agni-forsaken shirt!”

Iroh smirked. “You didn’t have to look at me…”

“Iroh!”

After they took the clothes, they took the Earthbenders’ ostrich-horses. “Hopefully it does not take us too long to get back to the ship!” Iroh said cheerfully. “I could definitely use a calming cup of jasmine tea after this misadventure! Won’t Ozai be disappointed when he hears of all the fun he missed out on?”

~~~

“What do you mean, Ozai left without us?”

#early birds au

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earlybirds-atla-au · 4 years

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The kids have the first news of the tribe Hama’s heard in decades

“So if you’re Anana’s kid, who’re the rest of you?”

They’d settled themselves into Hama’s camp, for several reasons. It was farther back in the island’s trees, providing more cover from any Fire Navy ships that might be searching for them. It was already set up and decently stocked with supplies Hama said she got from a neighboring island that actually had a population. And it was Hama’s, and she’d offered it to them, the only thing she could offer them, the only thing she’d been able to offer her tribe in over two decades, and it would be unnecessarily cruel to brush that aside.

So Appa had settled into the undergrowth and gone right to sleep, and Aang had laid himself down on the bison’s massive leg and watched the rest of them curiously, and the Water Tribe teens had arranged their sleeping bags around Hama’s firepit. It was a shame they couldn’t light it - a night with your tribe around a campfire was just a part of daily life in the South Pole, and would’ve given them some grounding sense of normalcy.

Hama looked like she could use that right now. The full moon gave enough light to see by, at least, and she kept staring at them all like she couldn’t believe they were actually there. They all shared their food - a basic community practice in the Water Tribe, one that nearly reduced Hama to tears when she bit into blubbered seal jerky for the first time in decades. The kids tried the little shriveled fruits that were not unlike sea prunes, which Hama said were ocean kumquats. Aang had immediately decided he wasn’t a fan, but the Water Tribe teens had decided they were good. Not as good as actual sea prunes, but passable. And they had water now too, wonder of wonders - Aang had mentioned that Appa was probably thirsty and that their own waterskins were running low, and Hama had immediately gone to the sea. She’d come back with enough desalinated water to create an ice trough and fill it, leaving the kids gaping in awe. She’d given Aang and Appa some curious looks while the bison had drunk his fill, but she hadn’t asked any questions - her attention had soon been taken up with the Water Tribe kids.

“I’m Kya,” Kya said between bites of ocean kumquat. “Chief Oomailiq and Buniq’s daughter.”

Hama stared at her. “...Where do I even start with that?” she said at last. “Buniq’s a baby.”

Kya snorted. “Mom’s forty.”

“Tides, I’m old,” Hama muttered. “And Chief Oomailiq? Actually, no, that makes sense, kid always did have a good head on his shoulders. When did he get elected?”

“The first time? Ten years ago,” Kya said proudly.

“He keeps getting reelected?”

“He’s a good leader.”

Hama nodded, looking a little dazed at the fact that someone she only remembered as a teenager was now her tribe’s chief. “Good for him. What...what happened to Chief Akkikiktok?”

“Uh,” said Bato, “she retired.”

“And?”

“...Polar bear-dog,” Bato muttered. “It was years ago, we were just little kids. It spent a week prowling around the village, nearly killed my aunt. Akkikitok went out and took care of it before it could try to get anyone else.”

“Sounds like her,” Hama whispered. “At least it wasn’t the Fire Nation.”

“There haven’t been any raids,” Hakoda said quietly. “Not since...you left.”

“Good,” Hama said fiercely. “That was the point. I only surrendered because they said they’d leave the rest of the tribe alone.”

“We see their ships sometimes,” Kya said. “Not often. They’ll just...sail by the edge of the ice fields. But they never attack.”

“Probably because there’s nothing left worth attacking,” Hakoda muttered.

Hama grimaced. “I don’t know if I should be insulted or relieved. Are...aren’t there any Waterbenders now? Have any been born?”

“No,” Kya said quietly. “Not in any of the tribes. You were the last one.”

Hama closed her eyes. “Damn,” she whispered.

“...If you don’t mind me asking,” Kya said, “how did you escape?”

Hama took a deep breath. “I really can’t talk about that. Not right now.”

“That’s okay,” Kya said quickly. “You don’t have to. But...can you just tell us...did anyone else…?”

“No,” Hama said shortly. “No, I was the only one who got out. And there’s no way to save the others.”

The kids all perked up. “The others?” Kya repeated. “Are they - ”

“They kept us alive,” Hama said darkly. She looked at Kya. “If you’re Buniq’s daughter...that means you’re Arrluk’s granddaughter.”

Kya jolted. “Is - is he - ?”

“He’s alive,” Hama said. “Or he was when I left, at any rate.”

Kya put a hand to her mouth and started crying. Hakoda scooted to her side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Is there any way we could help them?” he asked, while Kya got her tears under control.

“I cannot even begin to list all the ways that’s impossible,” Hama said.

“But you got out.”

“And I told you, I don’t want to talk about it.” Hama frowned at him. “So whose kid are you, then?”

Hakoda straightened. “Uh...you know my mom. She said you were close friends. Kanna?”

Hama went completely still.

“And my dad’s Iluak,” Hakoda added.

“Kanna?” Hama croaked, looking Hakoda up and down.

“Yeah.”

Hama took a breath. And another, and another, very fast. “You’re Kanna’s kid?”

“Yeah...”

All three teens were looking at her curiously now, Kya having wiped away the last of her tears. Aang even sat up on Appa’s leg to say, “Hey, you’re, uh...breathing a little fast there. Are you okay?”

Hama looked on the verge of hyperventilating. “And she married Iluak?” It wasn’t quite a shriek.

“Uh,” said Hakoda, “yeah?”

“Iluak?”

Hakoda looked at his friends helplessly.

“Cousin,” Bato said gently, “are you okay?”

“Fine,” Hama bit out, still panting. “Would you excuse me?” She grabbed a clay jar from her pile of empties and stalked toward the beach.

“...What was that about?” Hakoda asked.

“No idea,” Bato said.

“Mom never said Dad and Hama didn’t get along!”

Kya opened her mouth, seemed to think for a moment, and closed it.

“Maybe your mom just...didn’t want to speak ill of the...captured?” Bato offered.

Kya opened her mouth again, only to close it again and put a hand to the lower half of her face and inhale around her fingers.

“...Kya?” Hakoda asked.

“Nope,” Kya muttered, “no idea.”

She didn’t look at either of the boys, but Aang caught her gaze. They exchanged a pair of looks that Hakoda couldn’t decipher - Kya’s face was blank, and Aang looked slightly amused - but then Aang’s eyes flitted towards the beach. “Whoa,” he breathed. “Now that’s waterbending!”

The kids all turned to see streams of water flinging themselves out of the ocean to swirl around one emaciated Waterbender, who was spinning around in the sand like some kind of frustrated liquid tornado.

“...She’s more upset about your dad than she was when I told her my grandfather was dead,” Bato said.

Hakoda put his face in his hands and groaned. “Why?”

Kya sighed.

“Do you think she’s gonna hate me?” Hakoda asked. “She’s supposed to be, like, my aunt, and now she’s gonna hate me!”

“She’s not gonna hate you,” Bato said, but he didn’t sound sure.

“What does she even have against my dad, anyway?”

There was a shout from the beach, and they looked back to see Hama fling the empty clay jar up into the air. The water streams followed it, and it shattered on impact. The clay shards rained down on the sand while Hama stared out at the ocean.

“Welp,” said Hakoda, “she hates me.”

“She’s coming back,” said Bato.

Hama was, indeed, coming back. She grabbed another jar - not an empty one - and ripped off its seal to chug several gulps of its contents while the kids stared.

“...Sorry about that,” she said after a moment, wiping her chin. “I just...was not expecting to hear that Kanna got...married.” She had another sip of whatever was in that jar. “She was pretty adamant about not getting married, after running away from the North.” Another sip. “What on earth possessed her to marry Iluak?”

“Uh,” said Hakoda, “Dad says he won her over with his sense of humor…?”

“His sense of - oh my moon,” Hama said, and she turned around and stalked right back out to the beach.

“She hates me,” Hakoda said miserably.

“She’ll get over it,” Kya said. “Give her some time.”

Hama came back again after just a few minutes. “Sorry,” she said again. “It’s been a weird night.”

“You’re telling us,” Aang muttered, doubtlessly thinking about everything that’d happened back at the temple that evening. And the flight to the Fire Nation that’d taken up the whole day. And the whole Hei Bai debacle last night. It’d been a weird seventy-two hours.

“So,” Hama said, fixing Hakoda with eyes that were now slightly glazed-over. “You’re Kanna’s kid.”

“Uh,” said Hakoda, “yeah.”

She stared at him. “...You have her eyes,” she said at last.

“Uh...thanks?”

“How...how is she?”

“She’s...she’s good.”

“Is she happy?”

“Uh...for the most part, yeah?” Hakoda rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean, she probably misses me, it’s been a while since I’ve seen her, and - ”

Hama immediately straightened, eyes becoming more lucid. “Since you - oh, gods, no. No, no, no, don’t tell me, don’t tell me you - they - what are you kids even doing here?”

“What?” Hakoda asked.

“Why are you here?” Hama demanded. “In the Fire Nation? Are you kids alright, what - what happened? Were you captured? Who took you?”

“Uh, no,” Hakoda said, “we weren’t captured, we’re okay!” He ignored the look Bato shot him, which was very clearly meant to remind him that they had been captured several times since starting on their adventure, but Hakoda didn’t think Hama needed to know that right now. “We’re on a mission!” he added, very seriously.

“A mission,” Hama repeated. “Why are a bunch of teenagers on a mission?”

“We were kind of the only people available and time was of the essence - ”

Hama had another sip of whatever was in that jar. “What kind of mission brings a bunch of kids to the Fire Nation?”

“Actually this was just a detour,” Kya said. “We’re trying to get to the North Pole.”

“The North - why?” Hama blurted. “Did they send you kids for help? The North don’t give a turtle-seal’s shit about us! They abandoned us, they secured their own border and left us at the Fire Nation’s mercy!”

“Yeah,” Bato said, “but Aang needs to learn waterbending.”

Hama blinked at him. Then she looked past him at Aang, who was still reclining on Appa’s leg. He gave her a little wave. “Hi! I’m Aang.”

Hama stared at Aang’s yellow clothes, and his glider staff, and his sky bison. “...What?”

“I’m the Avatar,” Aang said sheepishly.

“...What?”

#early birds au

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earlybirds-atla-au · 4 years

Text

Swords! Ursa?

Ursa hadn’t expected much from the Winter Solstice ceremonies in her grandfather’s temple.

She’d expected maybe a little bit of pomp. A smidgen of circumstance. Solstices were important dates, after all, and her grandfather had been an important man, and with his reincarnation running around it was doubly important to honor him. So Fire Lord Azulon had sent Ursa off to Avatar Roku’s temple on Crescent Island to pay respect. Normally it was Ursa’s father or aunts or uncles doing this sort of thing, but Ursa was Avatar Roku’s granddaughter and a soon-to-be Princess, so she was now obviously the best person for the job.

She expected the Fire Sages to greet her with the respect a young lady of her station required. She expected them to honor her as an important guest and a focal point for the rituals. She expected solemn ceremony, filial piety, and an all-around easy night.

She did not expect to need her swords, but if her upcoming marriage into the royal family had taught her anything, it was that she should always have a weapon handy. Fire Lord Azulon was justifiably paranoid about assassination, and Princess Janya always had several knives up her sleeves despite being a Firebender. Ursa had followed in their example. Just in case.

This was a case.

“Was that an explosion?” she yelped.

“They’re trying to break into the sanctum!” one of the Fire Sages exclaimed, and he and his fellows took off for the staircase. Ursa ran after them, refusing to be outdone by a bunch of old men. Not a single one of them told her she shouldn’t come - she was a Princess of the Fire Nation and the granddaughter of Avatar Roku, and her place was fighting at their side.

Fire Sage Kuzon met them halfway down the stairs to her grandfather’s sanctuary. “The Avatar’s inside,” he said grimly.

“What?” one of the other sages yelped. “How? He can’t possibly know firebending!”

“I don’t know,” Fire Sage Kuzon said, “but there’s been recent fire blasted into the door locks, and there’s a shadow moving inside. He got in.”

The other sages cursed, and four of them ran on up the stairs. The fifth only paused to tell Fire Sage Kuzon, “Don’t tire yourself, sir, we’ve got this,” before running after them.

Fire Sage Kuzon huffed. “I’m not that old,” he muttered, but his next step was shaky.

“Let me help you,” Ursa said, taking his arm. If he’d gone up all these stairs to check on the sanctum, and then back down for help...that would be exhausting.

“Thank you, my dear,” he said, patting her hand, and together they made their way upwards.

They hadn’t gone very far when a shout came from below. “Ursa?!”

Ursa looked a few flights down and felt her heart stutter in her chest. “Ozai!”

She had definitely not expected to see her fiance here. Ozai looked just as surprised - he gaped at her for a full three seconds before dashing up the next few flights, leaving behind the cadet and the squad of troops he had with him.

“Ursa!” he gasped when he finally caught up to her. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here for my grandfather,” she said. Fire Sage Kuzon kindly extricated himself from her arm, and she reached for Ozai. “What are you doing here?”

He briefly allowed her to hug him before he shrugged her off, but he caught her hand in his and gave her a reassuring squeeze. “What else would I be doing here? I’m following the - where’s the Avatar?”

“In Avatar Roku’s sanctum,” Fire Sage Kuzon said gravely.

Ozai cursed. “We have to hurry. Zhao!” He turned and shouted back down the stairs. “Hurry up!”

There was grumbling from below.

“Prince Ozai,” Fire Sage Kuzon said, and Ozai and Ursa turned their attention back to him. He had Ozai fixed in a considering look. “Where is your brother?”

Ozai huffed and muttered something about hot springs.

“...Is Prince Iroh coming?” Fire Sage Kuzon pushed.

Ozai bristled. “No, but I’m here, and I can handle this myself!”

Fire Sage Kuzon released a breath that wasn’t quite a sigh. “Of that I have no doubt, my prince.”

There was a commotion from the stairs as Ozai’s troops caught up with them. “Come on,” Ozai snapped at them, “we need to hurry, the Avatar has breached the sanctum - ”

“Wow, I don’t even get an introduction?” the cadet grumbled.

“Zhao, Ursa, Ursa, Zhao,” Ozai snapped. “Let’s go!” He charged up the stairs. Zhao brushed past Ursa, the soldiers followed after, and Ursa took Fire Sage Kuzon’s arm again.

“Come on,” she said, “let’s get up there.”

They arrived to find Ozai and four of his soldiers furiously blasting fire at the sanctuary doors, which were...glowing, because apparently that’s what happened when Avatars convened. Ursa took a moment to take stock of the situation - the five Fire Sages who’d already gone up were standing off to the side, resigned, watching Ozai’s efforts. The rest of Ozai’s squad had taken up positions throughout the hall. Cadet Zhao seemed to be standing guard by one of the columns, which had three people chained to it. Two men and a woman - well, two boys and a girl, they looked to be about Ursa’s age, and they were wearing the strangest clothes she’d ever seen. Strange cuts and strange accessories and blue. Were these the Avatar’s Water Tribe companions?

Well, it looked like they’d captured the Avatar’s entire crew rather neatly, minus the Avatar himself. Despite Ozai’s best efforts. Ursa looked back to where Ozai had just taken another inhale, and Fire Sage Kuzon stiffened for a moment as they watched fireblast after fireblast hit the metal dragons’ mouths. But the door remained stubbornly closed, and he released a shaky breath. “I’m afraid it’s no use,” he said quietly, even as Ozai’s fireblasts became more and more desperate.

“Why not?” Ursa asked.

“It’s the light. The doors are sealed shut. Avatar Roku doesn’t want anyone inside.”

“Maybe my grandfather can help us,” Ursa said hopefully. “Maybe he’ll tell the Avatar to surrender.”

“Perhaps,” Fire Sage Kuzon hummed, and he patted Ursa’s hand. “Thank you for your help, my dear. I’m going to go check on things. Be careful, and don’t get in the way of the professionals please.” He headed towards the column where the Water Tribe people were chained up.

Ursa stayed toward the back of the room, where she hopefully wouldn’t be in the way, but would be able to jump into action if needed. She positioned herself so she could see the sanctum doors, the exit, and the captives all at once. The Water Tribe girl was looking at her, Ursa noted, but she didn’t deign to look back. Future Fire Nation princesses did not need to concern themselves with captive Water Tribe savages.

The girl was distracted shortly anyway, when Cadet Zhao held a fistful of flame in front of one of her companions’ faces. That Ursa wasn’t sure she could ignore, but Fire Sage Kuzon intervened before she could decide what to do.

And that’s how Cadet Zhao wound up standing beside Ursa, watching Ozai very nearly burn himself out against some very stubborn metal dragons.

“Well, Princess Ursa,” Cadet Zhao said.

“I’m not a princess yet,” she admonished him.

He shrugged. “Are you having a nice Winter Solstice?”

“Are you, Cadet?”

“It’s merry and bright,” he deadpanned back, shielding his eyes against the glowing door.

Ozai threw a few more useless fire blasts before he devolved into cursing up a storm. Oh dear. Well, maybe the anger would help him focus. Ozai was very good at channeling his frustrations into his firebending. But still...he had to be ready for whatever was coming.

Ursa took a few steps forward, pushing through the line of soldiers to take her fiance’s hand. “Hey,” she said gently.

Ozai froze mid-curse and stared at her fingers before looking back up at her. “...Hey,” he said back.

She smiled and squeezed his fingers. “We can do this. We can end this here, tonight.”

“We can,” Ozai nodded. “We will.” He squeezed her hand back before dropping it and turning back to the doors. “When those doors open,” he shouted to his men, “unleash all your firebending power!”

Ursa slipped back through the line of soldiers to a safer distance, even as Zhao strode forward to take her place at Ozai’s side. She retreated farther back, back to the columns, kept her breathing steady just in case she needed to firebend. She could just barely hear one of the Water Tribe boys whisper “How’s Aang gonna make it out of this?” and the girl hiss back “How are we gonna make it out of this?” Was the Avatar’s name Aang? Interesting. She didn’t think that was in any of the reports yet.

Her swords were a reassuring weight against her back, and she reached up and slid them out of their sheath with a flourish. Blades at the ready, she fixed her eyes on the door and waited.

It felt like ages, but in reality it was only a minute before it happened.

The smoke started pouring from under the door first. Ursa stared at it in shock - was something on fire in there? Had the Avatar set fire to her grandfather’s temple?

There was the sound of metal sliding on metal, and Ursa barely had time to register that the sanctuary doors were opening before the light hit her eyes. She squinted against it before she had to turn her face aside. In the blinding brilliance of it all, she glimpsed Fire Sage Kuzon and the Water Tribe prisoners doing the same.

From in front of her, she heard Ozai call out, “Ready…”

The light suddenly faded. Ursa blinked spots from her vision, and she looked up in time to see a pair of eerie, glowing eyes gazing at her from the darkness beyond the sanctuary doors.

One of the Water Tribe kids was shouting. “No! Aang!”

“FIRE!” Ozai roared, and he and the soldiers and Cadet Zhao all unleashed streams of flame at the Avatar.

The flames never hit. Instead, they swirled around into a sphere - a beautiful and dangerous defense tactic that master Firebenders used to intimidate their opponents and show off their prowess, one that drew strength from your enemy’s attack.

Ozai realized it the same second Ursa did, and he dropped his flames with a curse. Cadet Zhao and the soldiers were right behind him, they couldn’t give the Avatar more fuel to create a shield with.

But by all accounts the Avatar hasn’t learned firebending yet, Ursa thought, just as the swirling flames lifted.

Ursa expected the Avatar to look like what the reports said - young, bald, arrow tattoos, yellow clothes.

Instead, she found herself gaping at a very familiar man. One she’d never met, but whom she recognized immediately - from the portraits, from the statues, from her aunts’ and uncles’ recollections, from her family altar.

“Avatar Roku,” she heard Fire Sage Kuzon breathe.

Ursa’s grandfather brought the flames in close to his chest and flung them out at the assembled Firebenders. Ozai and Zhao and their men were thrown back, the Fire Sages cried out, the Water Tribe prisoners shrieked. Ursa watched the wall of flames barrel towards her and dropped her swords, swinging her arms forward to divert the inferno around her. The flames were hot enough to make her stagger back a few steps, to make Fire Sage Kuzon curse, to disintegrate the chains that held the Water Tribe prisoners in place. Ursa’s dress singed - but her skin didn’t.

The fire blasted past her towards the wall of the temple, which it unceremoniously exploded. Ursa gaped over her shoulder at the destruction. People were screaming, running - she turned in time to see the Fire Sages bolting towards the stairs, to see Fire Sage Kuzon stumbling behind a column, to see Zhao shouting at soldiers to run, to see Ozai scrambling to his feet.

To see her grandfather chop his arm at the floor, and raise up lava.

“GO!” Zhao shouted, already out the exit.

Ursa grabbed her swords - the metal was burning hot to the touch, but her skin didn’t blister as she slid them back into their sheath. There was a chasm in the temple floor, a chasm rapidly widening filling up with fire and lava, and Ozai was on the other side.

“Ozai!” Ursa shouted, reaching for him. Ozai ran and jumped and very nearly didn’t make it, but Ursa grabbed his wrist in mid-air and yanked him forward. He fell on top of her, and they rolled away from the fiery pit.

“Come on,” he said, pulling her to her feet. “We have to get out of here. Come on!”

Ursa got to her feet and felt herself freeze, because her grandfather was staring right at her. It was hard to read his face, what with the glowing eyes and all, but he didn’t look angry. He looked determined, and focused, and maybe a little bit the way her father looked when he was disappointed.

Then he raised his arms and a spike of lava erupted from the floor and blasted the ceiling off.

“Ursa, come on!” Ozai shouted, and she let him pull her down the stairs.

The lava rose. The temple fell. The Avatar got away.

This was not how Ursa expected the Winter Solstice to go.

She was bundled onto a ship in a daze - the volcano had been pushed into a premature eruption, it wasn’t safe to stay on the island. Ozai stalked around the deck barking orders, and Zhao marched around shouting other orders, and Ursa sat down on a convenient barrel and watched her grandfather’s temple burn to the ground.

Eventually, she became aware of another person standing beside her. She looked up to find Ozai, awkwardly holding a steaming cup. “...Ursa?” he asked.

She opened her mouth, realized she had nothing to say, and closed it.

Ozai pressed the cup into her hand. She sniffed it. “Not coffee?” she asked. The words felt stunted in her mouth, but it was all she could manage.

“It’s jasmine tea,” Ozai said, only bristling a little. “Iroh says it’s calming.”

Ursa felt perfectly calm. So very calm. Too calm.

She had a sip.

“Are you okay?” Ozai asked after a moment.

She took a breath. “That - that was - ”

“Frightening?” Ozai suggested. “Dangerous? More powerful than we were expecting?”

“That was my grandfather.”

Ozai stared at her. Ursa took another sip of tea.

“Ozai, my grandfather just - he just - he - ” She gestured at the ruined temple. “Why?”

Ozai leaned over and wrapped his hands around hers where they were wrapped around the teacup.

“Prince Ozai,” someone said, and they turned to see Fire Sage Kuzon hobbling towards them. Ursa was glad to see him - she hadn’t seen him escape the temple. “I saw the Avatar escape. He was heading northeast.”

Ozai dropped Ursa’s hands. “You’re certain?”

“Yes, my prince.”

Ozai nodded. “We need to get the Lady Ursa back on her own ship.” He gestured towards the ship that’d brought Ursa to the island in the first place, which was thankfully not sunken by the volcanic destruction. “She needs rest, and someone needs to report back to my father.”

Fire Sage Kuzon nodded. “It will be my honor to assist her, sir.”

Ursa reached for her fiance’s retreating hand. “Ozai…”

He leaned in close to her face. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I have to go. You have to go. We both have duties to fulfill, and we can’t waste time.”

She closed her eyes against the tears that’d suddenly decided to spring up and nodded her head. She felt Ozai’s lips brush her forehead.

“Take care of yourself,” he whispered. “I’ll see you again.”

“Please be careful,” she whispered back.

“I will.”

She was bundled onto her own ship and refused to leave the deck until the sun had fully set and it was too dark to see Ozai’s ship heading northeast.

“What an eventful Winter Solstice,” Fire Sage Kuzon tutted, bouncing on his toes just a little. The other Fire Sages had gone below deck a while ago, with a servant who had to find a place for the unexpected guests to sleep. Ursa could feel tiredness creeping over herself - the first thing she’d been able to feel, besides shock and confusion, in over an hour.

Ironically, despite his old age and busy evening, Fire Sage Kuzon seemed to have more energy than anyone else on this ship right now. Maybe his adrenaline hadn’t worn off yet.

“Are you alright?” he asked her gently.

Ursa looked up at the night sky. There weren’t any stars. The smoke from the eruption was blocking them out. “Fire Sage Kuzon,” she said, speaking slowly, “why did my grandfather destroy his temple?”

Fire Sage Kuzon was silent for a moment. “That is the question, isn’t it?” he said at last. “Why indeed?”

Ursa kept staring at the starless sky.

“Why do you think he destroyed the temple?”

“I don’t...I don’t know,” she said, a little upset, because that’s why she was asking him. He was the Fire Sage, he was supposed to know these things! “But…”

“...But?”

“He looked upset,” she blurted out.

“Hm.”

“He looked upset, and I don’t know why.”

“Perhaps the Fire Sages haven’t honored him properly,” Fire Sage Kuzon hummed. “I’ll have to meditate on it.”

“Maybe.” Ursa wiped at her eyes.

“Are you alright?” Fire Sage Kuzon asked, concerned.

“I’m fine. I’m fine, I just - he looked at me.” She wiped her eyes again. “He looked at me, and he looked upset.” It was stupid, so stupid, she shouldn’t be crying over this. It wasn’t like she’d ever desperately wanted to meet her grandfather - he was dead and gone, and she had other grandparents and other family members and she had a happy life. She’d never needed him in it. But now it was the first time she’d ever met him, and he’d been upset, and she didn’t know why.

She wanted to go home. She wanted to go home to Hira’a and leave offerings and bow before the family shrine.

“Come, my dear,” Fire Sage Kuzon said gently, guiding her inside towards her cabin. “Let’s get you some rest, yes? You’ve had a hard evening.”

#early birds au

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earlybirds-atla-au · 4 years

Note

What are the dynamics like between the water tribe trio? And what's their relationship with Aang like? Does Aang have a crush like he did with Katara?

I answered the crush question here.

~~~

“Oh no.”

Aang stopped petting Momo to look up at Kya. She’d paused in sharpening her hunting knife to squint across the campfire at Hakoda and Bato, who were chatting quietly and using a stick to draw in the dirt. Well, Hakoda was drawing in the dirt. Bato was tilting his head and staring at whatever Hakoda was doing.

“...What?” Aang asked.

Kya gestured with her knife. “They’re scheming.”

Aang blinked.

“Well, Hakoda’s scheming,” Kya amended. “Bato isn’t much of a schemer, but unfortunately he’s a good and loyal assistant.”

Aang blinked again. “And...why is that bad?”

“Well, it’s not always bad,” Kya backtracked. “I mean sometimes it’s good. Hakoda’s come up with lots of good ideas! Hunting traps, and better ways to train the dogs, and when he fights he can get...very imaginative.” She smiled fondly. “Also his ice dodging test was very impressive.”

“Okay,” said Aang, who still didn’t really understand what the big deal with ice dodging was. Momo made an annoyed chittering sound, and he scratched the lemur’s ears. “So what’s the bad part?”

Kya’s smile fell. “Nine times out of ten Hakoda’s planning is going towards a prank.”

“Oh, fun!”

“No, not fun. He’s a master, Aang. He tried to lasso an arctic hippo. He put an octopus on his head and convinced his mother he was a water spirit. One time he released an arctic hen in town hall right before my father’s State of the Tribal Union. Remember those blubber bombs we used back when we got you off that prince’s ship? We didn’t invent those for war, Aang.”

“I’m getting the feeling you invented those for a prank war,” Aang grinned.

Kya shuddered. “We do not speak of the Great Blubber Fiasco, Aang.”

Aang kicked his feet against the log they were sitting on. “It sounds like fun!”

“You would. You’re just an innocent kid. You haven’t been through the horrors that I’ve seen. The only people here for him to prank are you and me, Aang! I do not want to get caught up in” - she waved at Hakoda and Bato - “whatever this is!”

“Aw, c’mon Kya,” Aang wheedled, “you should have some fun. I bet you’re great at pranks.”

“I’m fantastic at pranks,” Kya said. “Unfortunately, someone has to be the responsible one around here, and no one else seems to be volunteering so it’s gotta be me.”

Aang kicked his feet again, but it was more contemplative this time. “You are really responsible,” he said quietly, in a way that sounded like he was saying too responsible.

Kya shrugged. “Someone has to be,” she said again.

“We all can be!” Aang insisted. “Hakoda and Bato might be a little rambunctious, yeah, but they’re smart and helpful too and - well, they went ice dodging, didn’t they?” He might not understand ice dodging, but it seemed to be a good argument. “And I’m...a goofy kid, yeah, but I’m learning!” Just the other day he’d remembered to not immediately blurt out that he was the Avatar to the first villager they met, that had to count for something, right? “You don’t have to feel like you’re the only responsible one here, Kya.”

She mulled it over. “You’re right,” she said after a moment, and she stood up.

“Uh...where are you going?”

“I’m going to see if the boys are coming up with anything useful in that dirt, and if they aren’t I’m going to remind them that it’s their turn to do the laundry. Thanks, Aang.”

“You’re welcome!”

~~~

“They are...probably going to ban me from cooking for a while,” Hakoda said gloomily.

Aang watched Kya and Bato on the other side of the smoking remains of the campfire. They were all covered in dirt and so was dinner, but at least nothing was on fire anymore. “You did kinda start a grease fire. And make it worse. And ruin dinner.”

“I tried to fix it,” Hakoda grumbled. “How was I supposed to know you don’t pour water on it? It’s fire. Water puts out fire!”

“Not a grease fire!” Aang said cheerfully, examining the mechanism in his glider staff. “Doesn’t the Water Tribe cook with oil?”

“I’ll be honest, Kya and Bato cook more than I do,” Hakoda admitted. “I’m more of a cured meat kind of guy.”

“So water and oil don’t mix,” Aang said, opening and closing the glider wings. They hadn’t been hit by the flames, thank the spirits. “And oil is lighter than water and floats on top. So when you pour water on burning oil…”

“It sinks to the bottom of the pot,” Hakoda surmised. “And...explodes, apparently.” He thought it over. “Wait, no - it flash boils, doesn’t it? It boils and the steam tries to escape through the oil and ends up flinging burning oil everywhere.”

“That’s pretty much what happened,” Aang nodded. “Bato had the right idea throwing dirt on it after it spread, but next time just smother it with the lid to the cooking pot. Fire can’t burn if it can’t breathe!”

Hakoda stared at him. “...Aang, when you use your airbending to put out fires, are you removing the oxygen from the air?”

“Sometimes!”

“Sometimes?”

“I mean it’s really tricky and removing oxygen from an area can be dangerous, we need that to breathe you know!”

Hakoda stared at him. Aang busied himself with his glider, carefully opening and closing it, and waited for the questions about airbending that he wasn’t sure how he could answer. The little wooden mechanism that made the wings work was holding up alright, but Monk Gyatso had impressed the importance of proper glider maintenance onto him. Aang doubted there was anyone in the world who could fix it if it broke.

Hakoda watched the glider wings fan in and out a few times while he digested what Aang had just told him. Across the dead campfire, Kya was griping at Bato while she piled up fresh, non-oily kindling. Bato was nodding along to whatever she was saying while doing his best to rescue dinner.

“Hey, Aang?”

Aang looked up. “Yeah?”

Hakoda hesitated, and then he said, “So, grease fires. If there was more grease...and I’d thrown on more water...it would’ve been a bigger fireball, right?”

“Uh...probably?” Aang said. “I’ve never really experimented with it. Actually that’s the first grease fire fireball I’ve ever seen! And it was pretty impressive as it was.” He gestured at their ruined campsite.

Hakoda eyed the circle of soot. “There has got to be a way to weaponize this.”

“NO!” Kya and Bato shouted, so loudly that Aang and Hakoda both jumped in their seats.

Aang recovered first. “They’re probably right,” he snickered, opening his glider wings again.

Hakoda sighed. “Yeah, probably.” On the other side of the campfire, Bato and Kya exchanged glances, rolled their eyes, and went back to their work, grumbling under their breath. Hakoda turned his attention back to Aang’s glider. “...So, have you ever taken that thing apart?”

Aang snapped the wings shut and held the staff close to his chest.

~~~

“And there they are, the future of my tribe,” Bato sighed. On the other side of the campfire, Hakoda and Kya were...sparring was too dignified a word for it. Kya had lost her club and Hakoda had strategically thrown his machete to knock her boomerang off course half a minute ago, and the whole affair had devolved into something more suited to five-year-olds than to great warriors of the Water Tribe. There was hair-pulling involved.

“You’re the future too,” Aang said, biting into a fruit Bato didn’t know the name of and enjoying the show.

“Yeah, but they’re the future politically,” Bato said, wincing when Hakoda dodged a punch Kya had aimed for his shoulder. That looked like it would’ve hurt had it landed.

“...What?” Aang asked.

“Kya’s dad is our tribe’s chief,” Bato said, watching said daughter of his chief practically flip Hakoda over her back. “And Hakoda is practically...his apprentice at this point. Kya’s got a head for leadership, but Hakoda has a passion for it. He’s been following Chief Oomailiq for years learning how to run a tribe.” Said political intern was desperately trying to get Kya in a headlock, to no avail.

“So...Hakoda’s gonna take over your tribe?” Aang asked.

“Well,” Bato said, “if he gets elected.”

“Is that hard?”

“It might be, but he’s getting plenty of experience under the chief, and he’s got a good track record on the few projects he’s helped with. Give him a few more years of leadership experience and I’d definitely feel confident voting for him.”

“Will Kya run for chief?” Aang asked. “Since her dad is and all. I bet she could give him some stiff competition.”

Kya had Hakoda in a headlock and was aggressively noogying him.

“She probably could, but she doesn’t want to,” Bato said. “She can take charge but she doesn’t want to be in charge. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah, it does,” Aang said. “Water Tribe politics sure are cool! I think it’s great you guys choose your own leaders. The Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation just kind of hand their thrones to whoever’s next.”

“That’s crazy,” Bato said. “What if the next person in line is an idiot? Or mean? Or just not a good leader?”

“You know, I asked Kuzon and Bumi that once, and they looked at me like I was the crazy one!”

There was a shout from their friends across the way - Hakoda had managed to catch Kya’s wrists in his hand, holding them up. She used the leverage he afforded her to kick him in the gut.

“How did the Air Nomads do it?” Bato asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Well, we had the councils,” Aang said. “Each temple had their own. They appointed their own members, but we could nominate people we wanted to see appointed.”

“Huh,” said Bato. He wasn’t sure if he liked the idea of that, but he wasn’t going to interrogate a 12-year-old genocide survivor on the intricacies of his people’s politics. Aang probably didn’t even fully understand his people’s government - and Bato didn’t want to remind the poor kid about yet another aspect of his culture he wouldn’t be able to resurrect. “That sounds interesting.”

“Yeah, I guess it’s probably closer to what the Northern Water Tribe does.”

“What the - what?”

“Uh...you know, how the Northern Water Tribe has their chief, who appoints his council members?”

“Wait, what - ?” Bato was only vaguely aware of Kya swiping Hakoda’s feet from under him. “What kind of a democracy is that?”

“Uh...I’m pretty sure chiefdom in the Northern Tribe is hereditary?” Aang said.

“What?” Miss Kanna had definitely left that part out when she’d regaled their tribe’s children with tales of her distant homeland. To be fair, they would’ve found politics to be boring bedtime stories.

“Oh, hey, look, I think Kya won!”

Bato glanced across the campfire and had to do a double-take. Kya had pinned Hakoda to the ground, and was smiling down at him fondly. Hakoda looked far too relaxed for a man whose wrists were in a deathgrip, gazing up at Kya with a goofy grin.

“Oh my moon,” Bato groaned, reaching out to cover Aang’s eyes.

The kid dodged his hand easily. “I’m not a baby, Bato, yeesh.”

“My tribe’s future power couple,” Bato sighed, gesturing at his dumb friends.

“I’m sure they’ll be great leaders,” Aang said.

#early birds au #Anonymous

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earlybirds-atla-au · 5 years

Note

Who’s this universes equivalent of Jet?

*DING DING DING!!!* YOU GET A CHARACTER REVEAL! :D

~~~

“This is Nanyue?” Hama repeated.

“Yep!” Aang said, securing the reins on Appa’s horns. “I can’t wait to find a village here, there’s this really good artichoke tea that they make in this area! And their music’s really cool, too, there’s this one instrument - ”

“Nanyue is a highly contested hotbed of occupying Fire Nation forces and stubborn guerilla fighters,” Hama said flatly.

Aang sighed. “Guess I should really just start expecting everything I remember to be awful now.”

Hakoda gave him a side hug. “How much of a hotbed are we talking here?” he asked Hama.

She shrugged. “It goes back and forth. A lot. The Fire Nation pushes, the Nanyuese push back. Sometimes one side wins, sometimes the other does. I used to listen to soldiers in the pubs talk about it, there’s one region that’s been taken and retaken five times in as many years. It’s a mess.”

Hakoda looked around the forest they’d camped in overnight. “Do we know if this area’s firmly in the Fire Nation’s control?”

Hama snorted. “If it wasn’t last week, it might be this week.”

“Doesn’t sound like a place we want to stick around too long,” Kya said.

“Yeah,” Hakoda nodded. “But also not a place we want to draw attention to ourselves.”

“Flying bison are a very good way to attract attention,” Bato pointed out. “We don’t know who might be in this area.”

“I think we should lay low for a while,” Hakoda said. “Literally. Let’s get walking.”

Aang was enthusiastic about the plan at first. It wore off after ten minutes. “Walking stinks! How do people go anywhere without a flying bison?”

“Come on, Aang, just a few more miles,” Kya said. “Maybe by then we’ll have a better idea about where we are and what’s going on in this area, and we’ll know if it’s safe to fly or not.”

Aang sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. No one’s lobbed a single fireball at us yet this morning!”

“Must be a record,” Hakoda said, parting the branches of a bush, and then he froze.

The Fire Nation soldiers milling around the campsite in the clearing froze as well.

“Run!” Hakoda snapped, but before he could even turn a fireball flew past his face and the undergrowth behind them turned to flame and cut off their escape route. Hakoda decided to do the next best thing, lifting his machete menacingly. “If you let us pass, we promise not to hurt you.”

He could feel the physical pain Bato went through to refrain from slapping his forehead. “What are you doing?”

Hakoda shot him a sheepish grin. “Bluffing?”

The Fire Nation captain laughed. “You? Promise not to hurt us?”

Hakoda took a breath and prepared himself for a fight, but then he was suddenly pulled back by a hand on his shoulder. Hama stepped forward, between the kids and the soldiers. “Well,” she said, her voice hard as ice, “me.”

“Hama what are you doing?” Hakoda hissed.

She popped the cork on her waterskin. “Not bluffing.”

“Hama!”

“The second you’re able to, fly Appa out of here and don’t look back.” She shifted into what the kids were starting to recognize as a waterbending stance.

That was when the first arrow whistled through the air and hit the back of the Fire captain. Three more hit his men in quick succession before any of them had the chance to react.

“THEY’RE IN THE TREES!” someone shouted, and that’s when people in leafy camouflage started dropping from the branches and taking out soldiers.

“...Or we can see how this plays out,” Hama amended, and then she jumped into the fray with a water whip. She hit one man right in the gut, the next in the neck, and then sliced through half the company’s spears, iron spearheads falling to the ground with little tinks.

“I guess we’re doing this,” Bato said, and he clubbed a soldier over the head.

Aang used an air blast to blow another soldier into a tree. “Do they have any Firebenders - oh, there’s one!” He dodged the fireball that came soaring at his head. The Firebender gave an angry war cry and charged forward. Hakoda and Kya shouted back, weapons raised.

And then the Firebender’s cry was cut short, and he fell to the ground with an arrow in his back. The teenage girl behind him already had another arrow fitted to the string, but she only had a split second to look grimly satisfied before a spearman came for her. She ducked, twisted, and fired short-range into the soldier’s gut when she came back up. He went down howling, and she whirled back around towards Aang and his friends, her next arrow aimed right for them.

They barely had time to react. The arrow loosed, and it flew right past Hakoda’s ear and Aang’s face and into the chest of a Fire Nation soldier Kya hadn’t even noticed coming up behind her.

“Thanks!” Kya shouted, and she returned the favor by throwing her boomerang at the head of a Fire Nation soldier fighting one of the girl’s compatriots. The girl nodded back, one fighter to another, and went back to shooting arrows.

She came to them when the fight was over - when her people had declared the area clear and started cleanup, and Aang was steadfastly not looking at the scattered bodies, and Hama’s breathing had slowed down. She went around to every single one of her people first, issuing quiet orders and listening to quick reports. Then she went and found them clustered around Appa, cleaning weapons and checking each other for injuries. They paused when she approached, and she took a moment to look them all up and down. Their blue and yellow clothes must have looked as foreign to her as her lefay outfit and strange woven hat did to them.

“I’ve never actually seen waterbending before,” she said after a moment, looking at Hama. “That was very impressive.”

“Heh,” Hama managed. Her breathing still hadn’t quite returned to normal. “Glad to give a good first impression.”

The girl inclined her head and looked to the rest of them, expression going uncertain. She’d seemed more comfortable taking out soldiers than she did trying to figure out how to greet a group of foreigners. Her gaze slid towards Aang, and she opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, only to close it again a second later.

“Thanks for saving us,” Hakoda said after a moment. “For a second there I really thought that was going to end badly.”

The girl smiled. “From what I saw, you’re all very formidable fighters. I’m sure you would’ve taken out a lot of them.” She didn’t say they would’ve made it out alive. Like taking out as many as you could before you went down was the best you could hope for.

“Maybe, but there were a lot of them,” Hakoda shrugged. “I’m surprised you managed to take them all out. There’s a lot less of you than I realized.”

She sent a proud look over her shoulder to where her people were still cleaning up. There were only a dozen leaf-clad warriors to be seen. “We don’t have much choice,” she admitted. “Our forces are spread thin, and we’ve suffered losses over the years. We do what we can with what we have.”

“Well, you did a lot,” Bato said, “and we appreciate it.”

“I should really be the one thanking you. We needed to ambush this camp before they moved on, but they were on high alert all morning. We were trying to figure out how to stage a distraction - and then you walked in. I couldn’t have planned it out more perfectly.”

“So...you’re Nanyuese?” Kya surmised.

“Yes,” the girl said. “And I’m sorry for being so blunt, but - you’re the Avatar, aren’t you?”

Aang laughed weakly. “Yeah, Appa’s kind of a dead giveaway, isn’t he?”

The girl chewed her lower lip. “Are you...here to help?”

Aang smiled. “I mean...I’m trying to help the whole world.”

“Right now, our focus is getting to the North Pole so Aang can learn waterbending,” Kya said.

“So...you’re just passing through.”

Kya nodded, apologetic.

“We were walking because we thought it might be too dangerous to fly on Appa,” Hakoda added.

The girl gave Appa a disbelieving look. “That thing can fly?”

“We call them flying bison for a reason,” Aang grinned.

She shook her head. “Well, it’s a good thing you were walking. The Fire Nation has garrisons and watchtowers all over this valley. You would’ve been spotted for sure.”

“Do you know how we can get through Nanyue safely?” Bato asked.

“There’s no safety here,” the girl said darkly. “The Fire Nation’s been burning away at us for fifty years. They take our land and our people and our culture, and every time we take any of it back, they get upset.”

“Sounds familiar,” Hama muttered.

“Okay, but what’s the best way out of here, then?” Hakoda asked. “Can you give us directions, or…?”

“I can do a bit more than that,” she said. “You should come speak with my aunts. We’ve got intel on the Fire Nation’s movements from here to the northern mountains. And we can get you a safe place to spend the night, too.”

Hakoda and Kya exchanged glances before looking at the rest of the group. Aang gave them a trusting look, Bato nodded, and Hama shrugged. “We’d appreciate that,” Hakoda said. “Thank you.”

She nodded. “For the Avatar? It’s an honor.”

“All clear!” someone shouted from the other side of the clearing.

The girl glanced over her shoulder and gave a hand signal of acknowledgement. “Move out in five!” she called to her fighters. “Come on,” she added, looking back at them. “We need to get out of here before any scouts show up.” She started walking back to her people.

“So what’s your name?” Kya asked as they followed after her.

“It’s Tien,” she said. “Tien Trung.”

#early birds au #jedimasterjaina

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earlybirds-atla-au · 5 years

Note

Hmmm, ok more prompts? I’m not sure if my Jet-equivalent one got eaten, but thoughts on that if you’re willing to share? Also, do they go to Omashu and meet Bumi? Also, how does Kyoshi go?

I’ll get to the Jet one, it’s very important! And idk about Kyoshi yet, but you just gave me an excuse for a snippet I’ve been dying to write, so thank you and enjoy!!!

~~~

The messenger hawk flew into Avatar Roku’s temple and proceeded to nip and screech at anyone who tried to retrieve the letter tucked into its harness until Fire Sage Kuzon showed up. Then the bird became the sweetest, most loving animal in all existence. This might have had something to do with the hippo-beef jerky Kuzon brought with him.

“Not to worry, not to worry,” he reassured young Initiate Shyu, who was nursing pecked fingers. “She’s a persnickety old thing. I know how to handle her. It’s a personal message anyway.” He took the bird and decided it was close enough to evening to retire early for the day. He brought the hawk to his private chambers, set her up with more meat, made a pot of tea, and turned his attention to the letter.

It was a perfectly innocuous thing. Plain, undecorated parchment, a yellow wax seal stamped with a pai sho tile design that, when broken, revealed a message so simple and rambling, anyone reading it would easily assume it was nothing more than a letter sent between two old friends.

They would be perfectly right. And also completely wrong.

Greetings and salutations, my dear Kuzon!

I hope this letter finds you well. It’s been some time since I last wrote - your last move in our latest game was fiendishly clever! I have spent some time puzzling over how best to combat it, and you’ll see I’ve decided to sacrifice one of my flowers. We shall see how it plays out!

Kuzon paused his reading to look at one of the other papers tucked into the letter - a drawing of a pai sho board, with the positions of the tiles in play noted. One of the lilies had, indeed, been left vulnerable out in the open.

Things are well with me. The remainder of Fluffy’s pregnancy went well and she gave birth last week to a darling little thing I’ve named Flopsy. He’s quite the rambunctious little scamp!

Kuzon could only imagine what kind of trouble a newborn gorilla-goat could get up to.

But aside from that, there isn’t much to report on my end. The most interesting thing to have happened lately is the Avatar’s return! I’m sure you already know about that, though, you devoted Fire Sage you! I wouldn’t be surprised if you told me you were right there when the temple started glowing!

Kuzon had, indeed, been right there when the statue of Avatar Roku had started glowing. It had been terrifying, in a world-shattering kind of way that meant life had just taken an irrevocable turn for the weirder.

Couldn’t believe it myself when I heard the announcement! Who expects an Avatar to show up after all this time? I’m worried about how this will play out, but I will hope for the best.

Anyway, enough of that current events chit-chat, we’re too old to bother with that for long. So on an unrelated note, you’ll never guess who showed up for a visit the other day - our old friend Bonzu Pipinpadaloxicopolis!

Kuzon choked on his tea.

When he was done choking, he reread that sentence.

Then he reread it again.

Then he decided to read the next sentence just to see if it cleared anything up.

I know, I wasn’t expecting it either, but you know how the old fellow was always full of surprises. I must admit I’m jealous - he’s remarkably well-preserved for his age. Hasn’t aged a day! I suppose the ladies are right when they say you should moisturize, haha.

Kuzon stared helplessly at that paragraph. Then he glanced back up at the lines about the Avatar’s return. Then he thought about the report from Prince Iroh that Fire Lord Azulon had shared, detailing how the Avatar had apparently been frozen in an ice berg. “Mother of Agni,” he breathed.

We had a grand old time catching up. Played some games, showed off some bending, the usual. The old fellow’s still as energetic as you or me - even more so, perhaps. And he’s just as determined to travel as ever! Fortunately he has three new friends to assist him in that. I have faith they’ll be taking care of him when he goes a-wandering. I told him you’ve been doing well, and he was glad to hear it, but he knows you may not have time for him to visit given all your work with the Fire Sages.

And of course, we played a few rounds of pai sho while he was here! Please find enclosed one of his more interesting games, which I plan to continue via letter. Please let me know if you have any opinions on strategy!

Kuzon found another illustration of a pai sho board. The pieces in play were a sky bison, a boat, and two lilies - water lilies? - all clustered together. The white dragon was prowling the board alongside the knotweed and another ship - fire signs, the princes? the navy? In the center of it all sat the white lotus tile, unaffected and unused as of yet.

And I suppose that’s all I have to write about for now. Looking forward to your response! Don’t be afraid to crush me in our game, haha. The sooner you win, the sooner I can try again!

Your friend,

Kuzon put the letter down and stared at the window at the setting sun. There was so much information to process, so his brain latched onto something familiar - prayers, and thanks. Thanks be to Agni that he and Bumi had figured out a covert writing system years ago. Thanks be to Agni that a much younger Kuzon and Bumi had decided the risk was worth it and spent years writing each other under the guise of old friends, so that now no one would be suspicious with Kuzon’s correspondence. Thanks be to Agni that pai sho was so versatile both as a game and as a code. Thanks be to Agni that Aang was -

That Aang was -

Kuzon took a shaky breath. He’d given up hope so long ago. Everything he’d done in the last seventy years, he’d done for a memory. And now that remembrance was paying off, in ways he’d never dared to hope for.

To think, that when Avatar Roku’s statue had lit up last week, it had been Aang--

Kuzon reached for a piece of plain paper and an ink brush and got to work.

#early birds au #jedimasterjaina

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