[Lightning at Sea] Breath of Air
Title: Breath of Air
Characters: Ketu/Tashi (OCs), Lu Ten, Zuko/Toph, Nima (OC), Jae Hwa (OC), sky-bison
Rating: G
Word Count: 1900+
Summary: Ketu takes Prince Zuko and Lu Ten south to rendezvous with a ship, then spends a day among his own people.
Author's Notes: Jae Hwa belongs to dark_puck and is used with her permission and encouragement. This story follows on a few days after Volcano.
---
Breath of Air
***
Ketu worked a stick between Teikiatsu's middle left paw, scraping out caked dirt onto the garden grass. His bison rumbled in pleasure and thumped his tail against the ground. It startled the birds in the Bei Fongs' trees to flight, and Ketu grinned. He didn't much like the formal gardens of the Earth Kingdom; the false aesthetic of wildness grated. Everything was kept a little too neat and well-shaped to be truly wild, and so the artistry of the gardener was always wasted.
The wedding had been two days ago. Everything except the most important part, but the children were much too young for that. As soon as Lu Ten could deliver good-byes to his new relatives, he and Prince Zuko needed to go south.
The airbender finished working dirt out of Teikiatsu's paw. "Done. Try not to make a mess before we get the Dragon again, eh?"
Teikiatsu whurbled and twisted to lick him.
Ketu laughed and rumpled the thick fur on his bison's head. "Silly beasty. You be good while I take care of my own grooming."
He washed his hands in a servants' sink outside, then climbed into Teikiatsu's saddle to dig out a fine metal razor and a jar of engine-grease. The razor's handle was spiral-carved with a mantra of compassion; it was one of the few remaining items he had from his time in the temple. Most of his gear was Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom make now.
He slathered the grease on his head, except for the strip of long black hair covering his mastery arrow. Then he shaved his scalp smooth, flicking the grease off his razor-blade with the ease of long-familiarity. He cleaned the razor and sharpened it when he was done, then packed it away carefully. After that, he pulled his mane of hair back into a tail so it wouldn't get in his way when he flew.
"You ready?" Lu Ten said as he grabbed a climbing strap and hauled himself into the saddle. Prince Zuko was close behind him, looking worried.
"Ready," Ketu answered as he walked to Teikiatsu's neck and sat there. His bison rumbled and turned his head towards the Bei Fongs' house.
The little girl stood out there with her parents. Her face wasn't even turned in their direction, but there wouldn't be much point in it if she bothered.
Ketu patted his bison's neck. "Yip-yip."
Teikiatsu thumped his tail and launched himself in the air, and the little girl jerked towards where they had been. Something like anger crossed her face, then she yelled, "Hey, Firestarter, you'd better come back!"
Her mother immediately went to shush her, but Ketu glanced over his shoulder to see Prince Zuko smiling.
"I will!" The young prince called back.
***
Flying south as far as they were going would take several days, so Ketu used the time to refresh the henna patterns on his hands. Long ago, before the Air Nomads had settled in temples, they had used henna to mark their allegiances to different khans. Ketu had revived the practice a few years after he gave his allegiance to Ozai.
He wore dragons sporting in storm-clouds on his hands. It said everything that needed to be said, he felt.
The days of traveling passed a little differently than they usually did when it was Lu Ten and Ozai. With Ozai, Lu Ten would be up joking with Ketu or examining battle plans while Ozai watched the ground fly by. With Prince Zuko, Lu Ten concentrated on drilling firebending basics and tactics into the young prince.
Ketu gave himself to the rush of wind and waking dreams when he finished his henna, remembering lessons from the temple. 'Do no harm' had been a theme that ran through everything, from fairy tales to lessons to histories.
It had been difficult, almost insane, to say that was wrong. To say their choosing not to fight was as good as helping the Water Tribes.
But he'd done it anyway.
He was a soldier in the Fire Nation, someone with honor. But he knew to his own people, he'd never be much more than a murderer.
***
At the far southern end of the Earth Kingdom, Ketu settled his bison in a forest clearing. "You two will have to walk from here on in."
Lu Ten nodded and clapped him on the shoulder. "I won't be back for four days. Tashi and Jae Hwa should be somewhere around, though."
Ketu nodded. There was a secret shipyard near here, though he had no idea exactly where. Better that way, since the Fire Nation was building up their navy in it, preparing for when the Great Comet would come next summer. The Air Nomads who helped the Fire Nation didn't go there, because sky-bison flying in were much too easy to spot.
Lu Ten and Prince Zuko slid down to the ground with some supplies. Prince Zuko gave him a small wave and mouthed 'thank you', before the two of them headed off into the woods.
Ketu closed his eyes and recited one of the longer mantras. When he finished, he ruffled Teikiatsu's fur. "Let's go follow that river we passed over an hour ago, boy. You remember how nice the delta is, don't you?"
His bison nodded his shaggy head in agreement, then launched into the air.
***
There was another sky-bison on the delta, and for a moment Ketu's heart soared. But then he caught sight of the Air Nomad woman scrubbing the bison. She was older than him and did not wear the Fire Nation-style armor both Tashi and Jae Hwa did. She wore her hair in the temple-style still, with the shaved forehead to show her mastery tattoos and her hair pulled into a long tail.
Nima. Probably. Almost certainly; any Air Nomads from the nearest temple would be male. None of the other female renegades kept their hair temple-style anymore.
He frowned, then urged Teikiatsu down anyway. She'd given up the temple to fight the Water Tribe. That should have been good enough. Just because she'd been a woman of rank in the temple didn't mean she had any rank out here.
It still grated that a number of other renegades called her lady.
Teikiatsu landed, and Nima's bison lowed a greeting. The woman waved at him, the sun shining on her dusky skin. She was barefoot, he noticed, and the hems of her orange robes were wet.
"Hello, Ketu," she called cheerfully. "If you're looking for Tashi, she took Jae Hwa to gather mussels while the tide was out."
Ketu blinked. Mussels? Meat? "Tashi went along with that?"
Nima shrugged. "Jae Hwa seemed like she would go with or without Tashi. The little girl's gotten rather carnivorous, hasn't she?"
She didn't sound particularly bothered by it, and Ketu stared at her. He'd only started eating meat himself in the past two years, and he still mostly couldn't stand the stuff.
"Huh," he finally said, then alighted from Teikiatsu. He went and started loosening the saddle-ties, getting the heavy thing off his bison so he could give Teikiatsu a proper bath in the river.
The river moved sluggishly here but it was deep. The water was warm, and the sun was hot, so he stripped down to his pants and left the rest of his clothes in the saddle. He attacked Teikiatsu with sand and a long-handled brush, scrubbing his bison thoroughly. In return, Teikiatsu dunked him in the river three times and splashed several waves on Nima and her bison.
Ying responded by slapping her tail on the river to send a small tidal wave to half-drown Teikiatsu and Ketu both.
Ketu came up laughing, and Teikiatsu lowed mournfully about the heavy fur plastered over his eyes.
His bison settled down after that, and Ketu led him out of the river to dry in the sunlight. Teikiatsu shook himself, of course, but Ketu had been expecting it. Then he settled in to brush out mats and knots in his bison's fur.
***
Towards evening, another bison flew in from the north. It circled once then landed, Jae Hwa waving wildly from her place on Shizukesa's neck. The little girl hopped off her bison as soon as she'd landed, then leaped back up into the saddle to help Tashi bring down several baskets of food. One was filled to the brim with mussels, while the other held layers of watercress and other salt-loving plants.
Tashi smiled wanly as she caught sight of Ketu. Her brown hair was in its typical arrangement, one side shaved, and the rest of her hair pulled to the right in a heavy net of braids. Her mastery tattoos were obscured but not invisible.
She'd added a new piece of armor to her clothing, he noticed. Greaves protected her shins now, as well as the burnt orange breastplate and bracers she already wore over her clothes. Jae Hwa wore just the breastplate, favoring leather for bracers. But she was fourteen years old and growing like a weed, so he could understand why the smiths didn't make her the kind of armor Tashi favored.
"It's good to see you," Tashi said quietly.
"You too," Ketu answered. "Let me get that-"
"I'll take it," Nima said firmly, stepping in to take the basket of greens from Tashi. "Jae Hwa, could you show me how to cook mussels over a campfire?"
"Sure!" The girl said brightly. "It's easy, you can just boil them and spice them, and they're pretty good. Umi showed me how to cook them."
Nima smiled indulgently and drew the girl away, the basket balanced on her hip.
Ketu reached out and clasped Tashi's hands. "How have you been?"
"Strained." Tashi sighed. "She's... getting very Fire Nation. She's losing what it means to be an Air Nomad. Then with carrying the princess-" She broke off, scowling. "I don't like the girl. She has too much of her father without someone to provide restraint."
"She'll be with her brother now. He'll hold her back." Ketu glanced over to where Jae Hwa was helping Nima clean the greens. "As for her, well, she's barely lived with other Air Nomads, has she? She's been with you since her father died-"
"I'm failing her."
"No! No, that's not it." Ketu blew a soft breeze at Tashi to twine through her braids. "It's just- She's not growing up the way we were. She's going to be different."
"She's going to be Fire Nation," Tashi said miserably. Then she shook the thought away, the winds in her braids rustling as they moved. "Did you convince Lu Ten-"
Ketu shook his head. "He doesn't think Zhao and Torao's plan will work. He's not going to risk the Dragon of the West in an early assault, not when Zhao could already be dead for all we know."
"Zhao isn't," Tashi hissed. "If Ozai and Lu Ten helped, we'd end this war months before the Great Comet. Without the moo-"
Ketu pulled her in close suddenly. "Don't say it. Even if Zhao is alive, it could still fail if someone hears too soon."
She nodded and sighed softly, her breath fluttering against his cheek. Her arms settled around his waist, and they stood there together for a long time. He inhaled the scent of her. Then she tipped her face and her mouth met his.
-End-
Characters: Ketu/Tashi (OCs), Lu Ten, Zuko/Toph, Nima (OC), Jae Hwa (OC), sky-bison
Rating: G
Word Count: 1900+
Summary: Ketu takes Prince Zuko and Lu Ten south to rendezvous with a ship, then spends a day among his own people.
Author's Notes: Jae Hwa belongs to dark_puck and is used with her permission and encouragement. This story follows on a few days after Volcano.
---
Breath of Air
***
Ketu worked a stick between Teikiatsu's middle left paw, scraping out caked dirt onto the garden grass. His bison rumbled in pleasure and thumped his tail against the ground. It startled the birds in the Bei Fongs' trees to flight, and Ketu grinned. He didn't much like the formal gardens of the Earth Kingdom; the false aesthetic of wildness grated. Everything was kept a little too neat and well-shaped to be truly wild, and so the artistry of the gardener was always wasted.
The wedding had been two days ago. Everything except the most important part, but the children were much too young for that. As soon as Lu Ten could deliver good-byes to his new relatives, he and Prince Zuko needed to go south.
The airbender finished working dirt out of Teikiatsu's paw. "Done. Try not to make a mess before we get the Dragon again, eh?"
Teikiatsu whurbled and twisted to lick him.
Ketu laughed and rumpled the thick fur on his bison's head. "Silly beasty. You be good while I take care of my own grooming."
He washed his hands in a servants' sink outside, then climbed into Teikiatsu's saddle to dig out a fine metal razor and a jar of engine-grease. The razor's handle was spiral-carved with a mantra of compassion; it was one of the few remaining items he had from his time in the temple. Most of his gear was Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom make now.
He slathered the grease on his head, except for the strip of long black hair covering his mastery arrow. Then he shaved his scalp smooth, flicking the grease off his razor-blade with the ease of long-familiarity. He cleaned the razor and sharpened it when he was done, then packed it away carefully. After that, he pulled his mane of hair back into a tail so it wouldn't get in his way when he flew.
"You ready?" Lu Ten said as he grabbed a climbing strap and hauled himself into the saddle. Prince Zuko was close behind him, looking worried.
"Ready," Ketu answered as he walked to Teikiatsu's neck and sat there. His bison rumbled and turned his head towards the Bei Fongs' house.
The little girl stood out there with her parents. Her face wasn't even turned in their direction, but there wouldn't be much point in it if she bothered.
Ketu patted his bison's neck. "Yip-yip."
Teikiatsu thumped his tail and launched himself in the air, and the little girl jerked towards where they had been. Something like anger crossed her face, then she yelled, "Hey, Firestarter, you'd better come back!"
Her mother immediately went to shush her, but Ketu glanced over his shoulder to see Prince Zuko smiling.
"I will!" The young prince called back.
***
Flying south as far as they were going would take several days, so Ketu used the time to refresh the henna patterns on his hands. Long ago, before the Air Nomads had settled in temples, they had used henna to mark their allegiances to different khans. Ketu had revived the practice a few years after he gave his allegiance to Ozai.
He wore dragons sporting in storm-clouds on his hands. It said everything that needed to be said, he felt.
The days of traveling passed a little differently than they usually did when it was Lu Ten and Ozai. With Ozai, Lu Ten would be up joking with Ketu or examining battle plans while Ozai watched the ground fly by. With Prince Zuko, Lu Ten concentrated on drilling firebending basics and tactics into the young prince.
Ketu gave himself to the rush of wind and waking dreams when he finished his henna, remembering lessons from the temple. 'Do no harm' had been a theme that ran through everything, from fairy tales to lessons to histories.
It had been difficult, almost insane, to say that was wrong. To say their choosing not to fight was as good as helping the Water Tribes.
But he'd done it anyway.
He was a soldier in the Fire Nation, someone with honor. But he knew to his own people, he'd never be much more than a murderer.
***
At the far southern end of the Earth Kingdom, Ketu settled his bison in a forest clearing. "You two will have to walk from here on in."
Lu Ten nodded and clapped him on the shoulder. "I won't be back for four days. Tashi and Jae Hwa should be somewhere around, though."
Ketu nodded. There was a secret shipyard near here, though he had no idea exactly where. Better that way, since the Fire Nation was building up their navy in it, preparing for when the Great Comet would come next summer. The Air Nomads who helped the Fire Nation didn't go there, because sky-bison flying in were much too easy to spot.
Lu Ten and Prince Zuko slid down to the ground with some supplies. Prince Zuko gave him a small wave and mouthed 'thank you', before the two of them headed off into the woods.
Ketu closed his eyes and recited one of the longer mantras. When he finished, he ruffled Teikiatsu's fur. "Let's go follow that river we passed over an hour ago, boy. You remember how nice the delta is, don't you?"
His bison nodded his shaggy head in agreement, then launched into the air.
***
There was another sky-bison on the delta, and for a moment Ketu's heart soared. But then he caught sight of the Air Nomad woman scrubbing the bison. She was older than him and did not wear the Fire Nation-style armor both Tashi and Jae Hwa did. She wore her hair in the temple-style still, with the shaved forehead to show her mastery tattoos and her hair pulled into a long tail.
Nima. Probably. Almost certainly; any Air Nomads from the nearest temple would be male. None of the other female renegades kept their hair temple-style anymore.
He frowned, then urged Teikiatsu down anyway. She'd given up the temple to fight the Water Tribe. That should have been good enough. Just because she'd been a woman of rank in the temple didn't mean she had any rank out here.
It still grated that a number of other renegades called her lady.
Teikiatsu landed, and Nima's bison lowed a greeting. The woman waved at him, the sun shining on her dusky skin. She was barefoot, he noticed, and the hems of her orange robes were wet.
"Hello, Ketu," she called cheerfully. "If you're looking for Tashi, she took Jae Hwa to gather mussels while the tide was out."
Ketu blinked. Mussels? Meat? "Tashi went along with that?"
Nima shrugged. "Jae Hwa seemed like she would go with or without Tashi. The little girl's gotten rather carnivorous, hasn't she?"
She didn't sound particularly bothered by it, and Ketu stared at her. He'd only started eating meat himself in the past two years, and he still mostly couldn't stand the stuff.
"Huh," he finally said, then alighted from Teikiatsu. He went and started loosening the saddle-ties, getting the heavy thing off his bison so he could give Teikiatsu a proper bath in the river.
The river moved sluggishly here but it was deep. The water was warm, and the sun was hot, so he stripped down to his pants and left the rest of his clothes in the saddle. He attacked Teikiatsu with sand and a long-handled brush, scrubbing his bison thoroughly. In return, Teikiatsu dunked him in the river three times and splashed several waves on Nima and her bison.
Ying responded by slapping her tail on the river to send a small tidal wave to half-drown Teikiatsu and Ketu both.
Ketu came up laughing, and Teikiatsu lowed mournfully about the heavy fur plastered over his eyes.
His bison settled down after that, and Ketu led him out of the river to dry in the sunlight. Teikiatsu shook himself, of course, but Ketu had been expecting it. Then he settled in to brush out mats and knots in his bison's fur.
***
Towards evening, another bison flew in from the north. It circled once then landed, Jae Hwa waving wildly from her place on Shizukesa's neck. The little girl hopped off her bison as soon as she'd landed, then leaped back up into the saddle to help Tashi bring down several baskets of food. One was filled to the brim with mussels, while the other held layers of watercress and other salt-loving plants.
Tashi smiled wanly as she caught sight of Ketu. Her brown hair was in its typical arrangement, one side shaved, and the rest of her hair pulled to the right in a heavy net of braids. Her mastery tattoos were obscured but not invisible.
She'd added a new piece of armor to her clothing, he noticed. Greaves protected her shins now, as well as the burnt orange breastplate and bracers she already wore over her clothes. Jae Hwa wore just the breastplate, favoring leather for bracers. But she was fourteen years old and growing like a weed, so he could understand why the smiths didn't make her the kind of armor Tashi favored.
"It's good to see you," Tashi said quietly.
"You too," Ketu answered. "Let me get that-"
"I'll take it," Nima said firmly, stepping in to take the basket of greens from Tashi. "Jae Hwa, could you show me how to cook mussels over a campfire?"
"Sure!" The girl said brightly. "It's easy, you can just boil them and spice them, and they're pretty good. Umi showed me how to cook them."
Nima smiled indulgently and drew the girl away, the basket balanced on her hip.
Ketu reached out and clasped Tashi's hands. "How have you been?"
"Strained." Tashi sighed. "She's... getting very Fire Nation. She's losing what it means to be an Air Nomad. Then with carrying the princess-" She broke off, scowling. "I don't like the girl. She has too much of her father without someone to provide restraint."
"She'll be with her brother now. He'll hold her back." Ketu glanced over to where Jae Hwa was helping Nima clean the greens. "As for her, well, she's barely lived with other Air Nomads, has she? She's been with you since her father died-"
"I'm failing her."
"No! No, that's not it." Ketu blew a soft breeze at Tashi to twine through her braids. "It's just- She's not growing up the way we were. She's going to be different."
"She's going to be Fire Nation," Tashi said miserably. Then she shook the thought away, the winds in her braids rustling as they moved. "Did you convince Lu Ten-"
Ketu shook his head. "He doesn't think Zhao and Torao's plan will work. He's not going to risk the Dragon of the West in an early assault, not when Zhao could already be dead for all we know."
"Zhao isn't," Tashi hissed. "If Ozai and Lu Ten helped, we'd end this war months before the Great Comet. Without the moo-"
Ketu pulled her in close suddenly. "Don't say it. Even if Zhao is alive, it could still fail if someone hears too soon."
She nodded and sighed softly, her breath fluttering against his cheek. Her arms settled around his waist, and they stood there together for a long time. He inhaled the scent of her. Then she tipped her face and her mouth met his.
-End-