He did as he was told. Nothing more, and nothing less.
He watched.
Disguised with feathers and a beak, the blue jay sat on the highest branch of the oak tree, and watched. He did his job without comment; without emotion or opinion.
He just watched.
The avatar has peculiar friends, the jay thought, as he studied the boy wearing the water tribe clothing, and yelling something about meat. He ruffled his feathers when the water-boy turned his gaze toward the jay, with a hungry expression. He flew to another tree, the one that groaned with the weight of old apples, and whose leaves fell like tears. Its gnarled roots spread to support it, weaving themselves around, piercing the ground and even growing into the river.
As his thoughts turned to the river, he saw a small girl. She had ebony hair, which he supposed was long when it wasn't kept in a bun; broad shoulders, and a petite frame. His heart thumped in his chest.
No. Impossible. She's gone, gone. Not Ummi. That's not Ummi.
The girl that looked like his loved turned her face toward him. Bangs overshadowed her foggy eyes, and her skin was slightly sun burnt and covered in dirt. She turned back to the river, and leaned over to get a drink.
Something moved in the water.
A giant mass of black…flesh? It slithered around, and the jay caught a glimpse of a white mask…something so familiar….
It squawked, and fluttered its feathers. Koh. Koh had come back, to steal again. To take another loved.
Never. Never again. Not Ummi. Never Ummi.
Abandoning his form, he dived into the stream, just as the girl who looked like Ummi was dragged in. He was aware of her friends screaming; the avatar's yell pierced the rushing sound of the water, but he moved onward.
The man with the water tribe clothing felt the water around him. He felt the way it connected; how the tides pushed at one another, forming the massive river. He stopped it, and pushed it back. Koh, not expecting interruptions, was hit by the force, and his grip on the girl loosened. The man grabbed her, and with a fierce kick that hit Koh and propelled him forward, he came to the banks.
Kuruk held the small girl in his arms. He lay her on the ground, and pushed her wet bangs from her face. Still there, he thought. Still there.
He heard the thumping of her friend's feet, and, transforming back into the jay, fled.
"Katara! Bend the water out of her lungs!"
Katara followed the avatar's command, and the next moment, the girl was spluttering, water pouring out of her mouth.
"Kuruk….." she said weakly, "Kuruk……you saved me…this time….."
"Toph?" The avatar said. "Toph are you okay?"
"Kuruk" she mumbled again, before falling asleep.
Ok, this may be a little crappy, but I've been wanting to write something about the koh/toph theory. This was inspired by one of riakitsuneyoukai's drawings on her deviant profile. She said something along the lines of "If Kuruk couldn't save Ummi, then I think he'd try and do his best to protect Toph".
Oh, and does anyone know when The Southern Raiders is coming out? And if it has, cana nyone tell me where to find it on the web?