#im already committed to one huge gd crossover au ok so help me god

[umbraastaff]

There are two figures silhouetted against the iceberg's eerie glow. Both humanoids. The first is curled over the second protectively, and the second seems to be reaching back, trying to do the same.

Barry contemplates this for a minute. He's for sure not powerful enough to bend the ice apart, and even if he was, there's no guarantee he could do it without hurting them. Assuming they're alive, anyway, which is a long shot in itself.

But he's out here alone, and this floating mass of ice might float away if he leaves it alone to go get help. So, feeling a bit like an idiot, he starts whacking at it with his club.

A few hits later and he's being blasted in the face by pressurized air. Oh, shit, the ice was hollow. With that knowledge, he smashes through more of it, to where the two figures have now fallen limp to the ground.

They're nearly identical, and they've both got long ears, like… elves. Like air nomads.

He hovers awkwardly over both of them, trying to figure out what the fuck to do. They are both comically underdressed for the weather, in elven wear designed for the light, free movements of airbenders, not for the warmth needed by earthbound (icebound) peoples. But he can see their breathing, so shallow and fragile; they're both going to die if he doesn't do anything.

Barry pulls his coat off; adrenaline lets him ignore the frozen air for now as he starts shifting them so he can get it underneath, keep their backs from lying flat against the icy ground. But as he lifts the first one, she groans, and he startles, jostling her slightly.

Her eyes fly open, and she punches him in the gut. It's definitely not at full power, being in an awkward position and half-frozen, but she clearly knows where to aim: the breath is knocked out of him, letting her shove him away and scramble to her knees.

Then she sees her twin, and she grabs his shoulders. "Taako! Taako, wake up," she hisses desperately. Her eyes only flick over to Barry once more, making sure he's staying back. Slowly, Taako comes to.

"Five more minutes," he says faintly.

"No! Get up! We're at the fucking– what pole is this?" She asks Barry sharply, pupils in slits.

"The– We're– South pole," he says, wide-eyed.

"We're at the south pole!"

That seems to wake Taako up more; he sits up of his own volition, at least. Then he twists and stretches a little, and hops to his feet with unnatural dexterity: the grace of someone being lifted by the air itself. A staff flies into his hand from the ground. "Who's this clown?"

"I don't know, I literally woke up five seconds before you. Where's my staff?"

She climbs back into the broken iceberg to look around, and Taako looks at Barry. "So what's your deal, Bluejeans?"

"Barry– I'm Barry," he says. "I'm, like, I live here. What were you doing in a fuckin' iceberg?"

Taako shrugs flippantly. Lup stands triumphantly, a bright red umbrella held up above her head. "Fuck yes!" It's in impressively good condition for apparently being frozen in this iceberg for however long. As are both of the elves.

Lup looks down to see Barry gathering his outer coat up from the ground, and her gaze softens a little in realization of what he must've been doing with it. "You should put that back on, dude, it's cold."

"I mean– I've still got thicker clothes than you without it, s-so–" Barry starts, clearly shivering. He tries to hold it out towards either one of them, but she shakes her head and nudges it back to him.

"We're good, but thanks. You should get that on before you get pneumonia."

He clearly doesn't find that a satisfactory explanation, but he can't find the words to object in the moment, either. He awkwardly starts pulling his coat back on.

"Barry, yeah? I'm Lup," says the one that isn't Taako.

"You're elves, right?"

"Uh, yeah," says Taako, ears a-twitch. "What, you can't tell?"

"Uh, how… How long were you guys in there?"

Lup frowns, turning to Taako with a furrowed brow. "Uh, like… a few days? However long it takes to float here from the Southern Air Temple? Speaking of, they're probably suuuper worried, so as cute as you are, we should probably be getting back–"

Barry's too shocked to even react to being called cute. "There's people there?"

"Yes?" Taako says; even he's letting concern color his voice now, though his ridiculously large hat covers most of his expression.

"Why wouldn't there be?" Lup asks, rounding on Barry as her expression hardens.

Barry covers his mouth with a hand.