Ozai and Bato - now you are lost in your way/deep in an awesome story/so I will find you againbeckyh2112September 12 2010, 03:31:39 UTC
I blame reading An Artificial Night last night.
Ozai crouched by the fire, coaxing the embers to life.
Bato ignored him. For once, it wasn't a struggle. It was easy as drowning; all he could focus on was Hakoda's lifeless hand in his, the frost riming his friend's hair, the barely-there breaths slowly coming from Hakoda's mouth.
"Give me your knife," Ozai said suddenly, and Bato lifted furious eyes to the fallen Firelord.
Strange gold eyes looked back at him, intense in a way Bato had never seen before. His lips peeled back in a snarl but he handed the man his knife anyway.
What did it matter if Ozai killed them both?
Ozai took the knife, his eyes falling back to the low-burning fire. He chanted softly in a language Bato did not speak, then slashed his fingertips with the knife. Blood spattered into the flames, and-
Bato stared, because gold eyes were gone.
Not literally, but wherever Ozai was, whatever he had done, the man was no longer there.
Instinctively, Bato reached for the pouch holding a protective amulet and other bits of luck he'd found over the years. Touching it felt like touching glacier-ice and his scarred arm burned.
Eyes blinked, and gold looked back at Bato. "The winter arrived and you buried me here."
"What?"
"The Winter Queen took him," Ozai said in a more normal voice - anger and contempt all wrapped around smoke-bound pride. It's almost soothing, amid all of this.
Except for what he was saying.
"What?"
"The Winter Queen took him," Ozai repeated, irritated. "She does that sort of thing."
"How do you know?" Bato growled, reaching for his knife. Ozai might have stabbed him, but Bato did not make the mistake so many did of trying to grab the fallen Firelord himself. He grasped the knife-blade instead.
Ozai looked down as the blade cut his fingers and blood trickled down onto the clear ice around the hearth-fire. Something changed in those gold eyes.
"Well," he said softly. "There's blood on the snow." He lifted his gaze to meet Bato's eyes. "My father meant for me to be a Fire Sage, Bato of the Water Tribe. I've had few uses for those skills over the years, but."
"But?" Bato demanded as Ozai held onto the knife.
"But I can put us on the path after him." The corner of Ozai's mouth lifted in a smile. "All it will take is knife, candle, and flame."
Bato gave him a suspicious look. "Why would they make you a shaman?"
"To keep me from being a soldier," Ozai said, voice soft as minksnake fur. "How many miles to Babylon, Bato?"
The answer came to mind and tongue before Bato could think. It was a rhyme he'd heard much - every child he'd ever met seemed to know it. "Threescore miles and ten."
"You can get there and back by a candle's light, if your feet are nimble and light." Ozai's smile was jagged, his gold eyes fell. "I need a candle."
"You need two," Bato growled, and something almost like respect flickered in those gold eyes.
Ozai crouched by the fire, coaxing the embers to life.
Bato ignored him. For once, it wasn't a struggle. It was easy as drowning; all he could focus on was Hakoda's lifeless hand in his, the frost riming his friend's hair, the barely-there breaths slowly coming from Hakoda's mouth.
"Give me your knife," Ozai said suddenly, and Bato lifted furious eyes to the fallen Firelord.
Strange gold eyes looked back at him, intense in a way Bato had never seen before. His lips peeled back in a snarl but he handed the man his knife anyway.
What did it matter if Ozai killed them both?
Ozai took the knife, his eyes falling back to the low-burning fire. He chanted softly in a language Bato did not speak, then slashed his fingertips with the knife. Blood spattered into the flames, and-
Bato stared, because gold eyes were gone.
Not literally, but wherever Ozai was, whatever he had done, the man was no longer there.
Instinctively, Bato reached for the pouch holding a protective amulet and other bits of luck he'd found over the years. Touching it felt like touching glacier-ice and his scarred arm burned.
Eyes blinked, and gold looked back at Bato. "The winter arrived and you buried me here."
"What?"
"The Winter Queen took him," Ozai said in a more normal voice - anger and contempt all wrapped around smoke-bound pride. It's almost soothing, amid all of this.
Except for what he was saying.
"What?"
"The Winter Queen took him," Ozai repeated, irritated. "She does that sort of thing."
"How do you know?" Bato growled, reaching for his knife. Ozai might have stabbed him, but Bato did not make the mistake so many did of trying to grab the fallen Firelord himself. He grasped the knife-blade instead.
Ozai looked down as the blade cut his fingers and blood trickled down onto the clear ice around the hearth-fire. Something changed in those gold eyes.
"Well," he said softly. "There's blood on the snow." He lifted his gaze to meet Bato's eyes. "My father meant for me to be a Fire Sage, Bato of the Water Tribe. I've had few uses for those skills over the years, but."
"But?" Bato demanded as Ozai held onto the knife.
"But I can put us on the path after him." The corner of Ozai's mouth lifted in a smile. "All it will take is knife, candle, and flame."
Bato gave him a suspicious look. "Why would they make you a shaman?"
"To keep me from being a soldier," Ozai said, voice soft as minksnake fur. "How many miles to Babylon, Bato?"
The answer came to mind and tongue before Bato could think. It was a rhyme he'd heard much - every child he'd ever met seemed to know it. "Threescore miles and ten."
"You can get there and back by a candle's light, if your feet are nimble and light." Ozai's smile was jagged, his gold eyes fell. "I need a candle."
"You need two," Bato growled, and something almost like respect flickered in those gold eyes.
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"How hard is the road to Babylon?"
"As hard as grief or greed."
There and back by candlelight- but I get the feeling there's a goodly ways before they can even consider the round trip...
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I like the way they interact, with Hakoda as the damsel in distress, and how Bato seems to very much be going with Ozai to get Hakoda back.
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