A:tLA : Around the Campfire [1]
Around the Campfire is a small drabble-based series, stemming from all sorts of disconnected ideas in my mind that I take the fancy to create and write.
This has been posted to FF.net as well if you're interested.
Around the Campfire
Scarlet Rose
I’m Surrounded by Animals
Avatar Aang, the world’s last hope, the last airbender, and usually a very bright child despite this, was ready to pull his hair out. If he’d had any, anyway. It was just like any other day, and perhaps that’s where it all started: the fact that their days were anything but routine anymore. The only routine thing about the group was the meals, thanks to Katara. Whoever felt available that day would go scout and hunt for food. Someone, usually Katara, would clean clothes and linens, and as the Avatar he would always train.
Some days, he’d train with Toph, then, at times, Haru would welcome himself to their training session and it would become a very heckling and stressful battle of wits (Toph) and multi-tasking (Haru). Contrary to what was popular belief, Haru had a knack for subtle and inventive earthbending moves. Which made Sokka comment on how he was subtle like a woman, but that’s another story.
Other days he’d mix fire and water training in the morning and evening respectively. The worst of these days were when one of his teachers would observe the other’s sessions - “You’re too easy on him!” “You’re too aggressive!” - and more often than not Aang would observe their upcoming bending battle for pointers rather than stop them from fighting anymore. He’d learned that the two were always calmer after fighting, probably because they were always exhausted afterwards. Zuko never gave up, and Katara never gave him a break physically or verbally.
There were times where he could disappear with Teo, and the Duke to really have fun, but he was found again more often than not. In between training, his temple was filled with snide comments (Katara), sarcastic annoyances (Sokka), restrained fury (Zuko), and witty rebuttals (Toph) while the group attempted to plan a newer battle plan (insisted upon by the ex-Prince).
“You stupid, war-mongering qinmiq!”
“Self-serving, feral, bakeneko!”
It just wasn’t worth it, he swore. The Avatar couldn’t make them stop arguing to save their lives (which worried him, a lot), and as himself they would barely hear him (he’s only twelve after all). So he’d stopped trying, he couldn’t even understand what they were saying half the time, and he had a feeling neither knew what they were being called. They barely used the Common tongue when they got angry enough.
He glanced across the circle to where Sokka was watching the insults fly with vague interest. After so many days, it grew old and un-amusing, even to the joker of the group. Toph sat as still as possible, and seemed to be restraining various amused emotions. Aang had an idea that the girl had taken language lessons and knew what they were saying.
It was Toph who stopped the fight this time, though Aang couldn’t condone her reasons.
“Hey Hotman, what was it that you called Sweetness just a few minutes ago?” Zuko suddenly turned red, seeming to realize that he was arguing with Katara in public yet again. Katara was glaring whole heartedly (and uselessly) at the blind girl.
“Eh, kusekke?” Wavy-haired.
“No, after that.”
“Jingai?” Foreigner.
“Uh-uh.”
“Otokogirai?” Man hater.
“No…”
“Neko?” Cat.
“Yea!” she bounced, literally, to her feet, “It was like that, but more… Beke-neko… Buke-neko…” she mumbled, attempting to find the right pronunciation. Zuko’s ears burned, but from sudden shame or something else no one was sure. Sokka watched him closely, not liking that his sister was being called names that he didn’t know of. What if the jerk was calling his sister sailor-things?
“Bakeneko.” Monster cat.
“Yea, what’s that mean?”
“Yea, Zuko. What’s it mean?” Sokka harassed. Zuko looked mildly uncomfortable, but also relieved. The red embarrassment ebbed from his cheeks. The watchful Avatar thought that perhaps Toph already knew a lot of insulting language anyway.
“It’s just a cat, but really wicked and vengeful.” Strange looks were thrown his way for that definition.
“A cat? You mean, not a wolf-cat, or squirrel-cat, or cat-owl?” inquired Aang, for once actually interested to what the conversation had led to. It was similar to their discovery of Bosco the bear. Equal curiosity was expressed by the rest as well. Even Katara looked at him strangely. “How is a wicked cat insulting?” she thought. Zuko attempted to explain himself.
“They’re evil cats. They walk on their hind legs and sometimes disguise themselves as humans,” he started. The others looked intrigued, and against his self-preservation thoughts that wanted him to leave, he continued, “They can reanimate the dead by jumping over them and whisper orders in their ears with their whiskers. Or if they had a mistress or master they’ll haunt them in their sleep. They grow larger than any other cat, over five feet long, and when they get older their tails spilt into two. We call those nekomata.”
There was a moment of awkward silence. It wasn’t every day they learned something about each other’s cultures. Learning of the Fire Nation was rare, save for the Summer Solstice Festival. The moment turned into one of contemplation.
“Well, it’s no wonder you guys would call each other that, you fight like real cats and dogs. It’s strange how we got wolf-cats really…” Sokka thought out loud. Zuko blinked, and then glared at the waterbender across from him.
“You called me a dog?” Katara looked smug.
“A mongrel, really.” The ex-Prince’s eyebrow ticked in agitation, but he took a deep breathe and sat down, concluding their fight. Toph and Katara followed, but Sokka wasn’t done contemplating.
“So Zuko’s a dog, Katara’s a cat, what are the rest of us?” It was a stupid question really, but one curious enough to hold Aang’s attention.
“Well, I’m probably a mule, if anything.” Toph answered first.
“A mule?”
“Yea, before there were ostrich-horses there were mules. Bad breeding that. Donkeys and horses didn’t make good babies, but they were pretty kickass so I was told.” Toph explained. Sokka look sated for a moment, but questioned once more.
“So what am I?” There was a look of deep concentration on Toph’s face as she looked in Sokka’s general direction. She couldn’t miss him because they were sitting next to each other.
“A wolf I guess…” she started, “That’s an animal from your ice right? And on your helmet?” Sokka looked flattered for a moment. Wolves were long extinct and sacred to their culture. At least in the south; the north favored the local reindeer legends. Aang asked his animal next. Toph was now their unofficial inner-animal guru, along with nickname-maker.
“Birds. Some kinda bird, cause you’re really flighty sometimes.”
“Hey, you could be like that one bird,” Sokka bit his lip and furrowed his eyebrows. For the life of him, he couldn’t think of the name, “You know, it’s rare now… Huge gold wings, real gentle and keeps coming back to life…” The turnings in Aang’s head clicked suddenly. That was a bird he knew of, they migrated to the temples every spring for their chicks.
“You mean the phoenix!” he exclaimed. The smile stretched across his face, but Zuko looked at him sharply. The smile slowly faded as he noticed his teacher’s grim look.
“There’s only a few left now. I know there were a lot a hundred years ago, but cities and humans took away a lot of their habitats in the Fire Nation.” His sudden excitement about the past faded. A silence settled around their places, weighing down the map in the center of their circle despite the eased wind.
“So, a wolf, mule, dog, cat, and a phoenix,” Sokka concluded looking up to the ceiling depicting various bison of the temple. Attention drew to him as he suddenly laughed, “Hey Hotman, you are so not going to live this down.” Zuko watched him apathetically.
“We’re not actually animals, moron. I’m sorry you couldn’t understand that, but you’ll get it soon enough,” he mocked, tilting his head back and looking down his nose at the warrior in faked seriousness. Toph giggled, listening with amusement.
“You little…” the blue-eyed fighter started, his upper lip rising in a sneering gesture, showing his teeth. The blind earthbender felt the adrenaline rush of Sokka’s vibrations and knew he wanted to knock the smirk off Zuko’s face (jerk had it coming). But for the moment, Zuko was in her favor, so she rescued him, in her own way.
“Hotman! Time to make with the piggyback,” she said loudly. Sokka halted and Zuko looked displeased. Katara and Aang watched with vague amusement. Toph was playing referee.
“Your feet are healed, I don’t know why you-”
“Come on, before I slam you into another wall.”
Grudgingly, Zuko shifted to kneel and turned his back to the girl. By now Sokka was irritated again, but was mildly satisfied by seeing Zuko be Toph’s ostrich-horse. When the firebender hoisted her up and asked her where she wanted to go, Toph said only one thing.
“What a good-boy!” and vigorously scratched the top of his head, tangling his hair. Zuko growled as he heard the sudden howling laughter from Sokka. The other two giggled noisily. Toph only smirked (it was Sokka she had a crush on after all), and Zuko looked at her over his shoulder.
“You and I are gonna have a long talk about this.”
“We’ll fight later, dog-boy,” she said, gripping his shirt and digging her heels into his sides in a “move” gesture. He automatically started walking and she praised herself for training him so well.
“For now, snack time. I want something sweet, and I think we could find you a bone somewhere!”
Howling laughter chased them down the halls as they headed for their make-shift kitchen.