Cause Some Trouble, Chapter 9
This is a short chapter. Oh well.
CAUSE SOME TROUBLE
It was morning in the forest, and Kuei had his nose buried in the map again. He was frowning at it like it had just tried to bite him. He sighed and leaned back against Bosco’s furry flank. The bear growled and Kuei absently reached back to scratch the animal’s ear.
Basam rolled up his sleeping blanket and stood up, stretching his arms over his head. He looked around and gave a satisfied nod. He had to admit, he could definitely get used to waking up to these trees. There was just this nagging feeling at the back of his mind that something was off, somehow… He shook it off for the moment.
“Morning,” he called over to the other man.
“Good morning, Basam,” Kuei said distractedly. “Oh, by the way, Zafirah asked me to tell you that she, er, had some things to take care of and that she’ll return soon.”
“Things? Did she say what kind of things?” the Sandbender asked. Kuei’s frown deepened.
“She didn’t, but she looked quite agitated. Do you think she’s all right? Perhaps we should go check on her-“
“Kuei, relax. If it was something really serious, she’d have told us. If she says she’ll be back soon, she’ll be back soon,” Basam said. He’d seen his twin get in these moods before; all she needed was some time alone to deal with whatever it was.
“Well… all right, if you say so,” Kuei said. He shot a nervous look off into the trees to the right, and then turned back to his map. Basam walked across the campsite and peered down at the parchment.
“What’re you up to?” Basam asked.
“I’m trying to work out the number of towns we can reach before the day of the eclipse. I thought that we’d want to reach the last town at least four or five days prior to the Day of Black Sun itself, so the townspeople will have at least a little time to prepare,” Kuei explained.
“And the eclipse is a month away, right?”
“Less than that, actually.”
“Doesn’t give us much time,” Basam pointed out.
“No, it doesn’t,” Kuei agreed grimly. Basam tugged the map out of the other man’s hands for a closer look. He tapped his foot against the soil and scowled. That feeling had just come back stronger than before. Something is seriously not right here… he thought, digging his toes into the dirt.
“What’s this thing here supposed to be?” Basam asked. He pointed to a spot on the western coast of the Earth Kingdom. Kuei squinted at it, then nodded.
“Ah, that’s the symbol for a military base,” he said.
“Military base? Huh,” the Sandbender muttered.
“Are you getting any ideas?” Kuei asked hopefully. Basam rubbed the back of his neck and considered.
“Maybe we should go there, instead of a bunch of villages. I mean, we can visit some villages too, but… what we want is to tell as many people about the eclipse as we can, right?”
“That’s true.”
“Well, the folks at that base could send messages about it to other bases around the Kingdom-and they could probably spread that knowledge around faster than we could.”
“A fair point,” Kuei agreed. He thought about it for a moment and smiled. “I think it’s an excellent idea.” Basam grinned back.
Just then, Zafirah came crashing through the bushes behind Bosco. The look on her face wasn’t promising. “Uh oh,” Basam murmured.
“’Uh oh’?” Kuei echoed. He jumped to his feet and stared worriedly at Zafirah. “What’s going on?”
“I need to borrow my brother for a minute,” she said darkly. “My Bending’s broken, and I’d bet my last copper piece his is too.” Basam sucked in a breath between his teeth. Suddenly, that strange feeling made sense. Out in the desert, Basam had always felt… rooted, somehow. He felt connected to the sand. The further they got from the desert, though, the more it seemed like something was missing. And that something was his Sandbending.
Kuei reeled back, stunned. “Wha-broken?! How is that even… what happened?” he spluttered.
“I think I might know,” Basam said quietly. “See, Sandbenders can’t Bend rock like regular Earthbenders. They’re pretty different kinds of Bending.”
“Yeah. Sand is more like water than rock. It flows and shifts,” Zafirah added. She sighed and jabbed at the dirt with her toes. “Try it,” she told her brother.
Basam took a stance and swept his arms back and forth, just like he would on a sand glider. Clumps of soil flew sluggishly into the air and plopped to the ground a few feet in front of him. It was even worse than Bending while drunk. He straightened up and flexed his fists, trying to hide his feeling of alarm.
“Oh, Spirits, this is bad,” he muttered.
“Way to make an understatement,” his sister grumbled.
“What will you do now?” Kuei asked. “Do you think there’s any way to, I don’t know, get used to Bending soil instead of sand?”
“We’ll have to,” Zafirah said. She rubbed the back of her hand against her forehead, and Basam noticed something odd: Kuei’s eyes followed the movement, and they seemed to hang on her for a moment. Then he dropped his gaze, grabbed the map from Basam and started fiddling with it again. If his sister noticed, she didn’t show it at all.
Well, that’s interesting, Basam thought. He’d learned long ago not to interfere when it came to his sister and men, so he’d keep quiet for now and see what happened. Zafirah leaned over the map.
“I think I heard you guys sayin’ something about the military?” she asked.
“It was your brother’s idea,” Kuei said brightly. “He thought it would be more efficient to take our information about the eclipse to the nearest military base.”
“Sounds good to me. Of course, lookin’ at this map, we’ll be pretty pressed for time if we try to make it there on foot,” she pointed out.
“Good point,” Basam agreed. “Maybe we’ll find someone traveling that way by cart, and we can hitch a ride.”
“However we get there, we ought to get back on the road,” Kuei said.
“Yeah. Whatever we’re gonna do about this Bending problem, we’ll have to figure it out along the way… and hope we have it settled by the eclipse,” Zafirah said.
/////////////////////////////////
CAUSE SOME TROUBLE
It was morning in the forest, and Kuei had his nose buried in the map again. He was frowning at it like it had just tried to bite him. He sighed and leaned back against Bosco’s furry flank. The bear growled and Kuei absently reached back to scratch the animal’s ear.
Basam rolled up his sleeping blanket and stood up, stretching his arms over his head. He looked around and gave a satisfied nod. He had to admit, he could definitely get used to waking up to these trees. There was just this nagging feeling at the back of his mind that something was off, somehow… He shook it off for the moment.
“Morning,” he called over to the other man.
“Good morning, Basam,” Kuei said distractedly. “Oh, by the way, Zafirah asked me to tell you that she, er, had some things to take care of and that she’ll return soon.”
“Things? Did she say what kind of things?” the Sandbender asked. Kuei’s frown deepened.
“She didn’t, but she looked quite agitated. Do you think she’s all right? Perhaps we should go check on her-“
“Kuei, relax. If it was something really serious, she’d have told us. If she says she’ll be back soon, she’ll be back soon,” Basam said. He’d seen his twin get in these moods before; all she needed was some time alone to deal with whatever it was.
“Well… all right, if you say so,” Kuei said. He shot a nervous look off into the trees to the right, and then turned back to his map. Basam walked across the campsite and peered down at the parchment.
“What’re you up to?” Basam asked.
“I’m trying to work out the number of towns we can reach before the day of the eclipse. I thought that we’d want to reach the last town at least four or five days prior to the Day of Black Sun itself, so the townspeople will have at least a little time to prepare,” Kuei explained.
“And the eclipse is a month away, right?”
“Less than that, actually.”
“Doesn’t give us much time,” Basam pointed out.
“No, it doesn’t,” Kuei agreed grimly. Basam tugged the map out of the other man’s hands for a closer look. He tapped his foot against the soil and scowled. That feeling had just come back stronger than before. Something is seriously not right here… he thought, digging his toes into the dirt.
“What’s this thing here supposed to be?” Basam asked. He pointed to a spot on the western coast of the Earth Kingdom. Kuei squinted at it, then nodded.
“Ah, that’s the symbol for a military base,” he said.
“Military base? Huh,” the Sandbender muttered.
“Are you getting any ideas?” Kuei asked hopefully. Basam rubbed the back of his neck and considered.
“Maybe we should go there, instead of a bunch of villages. I mean, we can visit some villages too, but… what we want is to tell as many people about the eclipse as we can, right?”
“That’s true.”
“Well, the folks at that base could send messages about it to other bases around the Kingdom-and they could probably spread that knowledge around faster than we could.”
“A fair point,” Kuei agreed. He thought about it for a moment and smiled. “I think it’s an excellent idea.” Basam grinned back.
Just then, Zafirah came crashing through the bushes behind Bosco. The look on her face wasn’t promising. “Uh oh,” Basam murmured.
“’Uh oh’?” Kuei echoed. He jumped to his feet and stared worriedly at Zafirah. “What’s going on?”
“I need to borrow my brother for a minute,” she said darkly. “My Bending’s broken, and I’d bet my last copper piece his is too.” Basam sucked in a breath between his teeth. Suddenly, that strange feeling made sense. Out in the desert, Basam had always felt… rooted, somehow. He felt connected to the sand. The further they got from the desert, though, the more it seemed like something was missing. And that something was his Sandbending.
Kuei reeled back, stunned. “Wha-broken?! How is that even… what happened?” he spluttered.
“I think I might know,” Basam said quietly. “See, Sandbenders can’t Bend rock like regular Earthbenders. They’re pretty different kinds of Bending.”
“Yeah. Sand is more like water than rock. It flows and shifts,” Zafirah added. She sighed and jabbed at the dirt with her toes. “Try it,” she told her brother.
Basam took a stance and swept his arms back and forth, just like he would on a sand glider. Clumps of soil flew sluggishly into the air and plopped to the ground a few feet in front of him. It was even worse than Bending while drunk. He straightened up and flexed his fists, trying to hide his feeling of alarm.
“Oh, Spirits, this is bad,” he muttered.
“Way to make an understatement,” his sister grumbled.
“What will you do now?” Kuei asked. “Do you think there’s any way to, I don’t know, get used to Bending soil instead of sand?”
“We’ll have to,” Zafirah said. She rubbed the back of her hand against her forehead, and Basam noticed something odd: Kuei’s eyes followed the movement, and they seemed to hang on her for a moment. Then he dropped his gaze, grabbed the map from Basam and started fiddling with it again. If his sister noticed, she didn’t show it at all.
Well, that’s interesting, Basam thought. He’d learned long ago not to interfere when it came to his sister and men, so he’d keep quiet for now and see what happened. Zafirah leaned over the map.
“I think I heard you guys sayin’ something about the military?” she asked.
“It was your brother’s idea,” Kuei said brightly. “He thought it would be more efficient to take our information about the eclipse to the nearest military base.”
“Sounds good to me. Of course, lookin’ at this map, we’ll be pretty pressed for time if we try to make it there on foot,” she pointed out.
“Good point,” Basam agreed. “Maybe we’ll find someone traveling that way by cart, and we can hitch a ride.”
“However we get there, we ought to get back on the road,” Kuei said.
“Yeah. Whatever we’re gonna do about this Bending problem, we’ll have to figure it out along the way… and hope we have it settled by the eclipse,” Zafirah said.
/////////////////////////////////