Day 2: Lonesome
Title: just right
Word Count: 1,424
Characters/Pairings: Jet, Smellerbee, Longshot, Sneers, mentions of others; slight Smellershot
Timeline/Spoilers: pre-series; no spoilers
Summary: And suddenly they weren't so empty, and the world wasn't such a lonely place anymore.
Notes: Welcome to Day 2 and my personal headcanons concerning these guys' origin stories.
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"Hey, kid. You okay?"
Her hand leapt to the knife at her side instantly, as she was startled awake from her light slumber. They wouldn't get her this time. This time, she was ready.
"Whoa there, take it easy. I'm not here to hurt you."
She scoffed. As if she'd be foolish enough to believe that bullshit. Did she look stupid to him?
"Hey, come on."
The girl merely growled at him. "What do you want?" Her voice came out raspy. Had it always sounded that way? She found it difficult to recall.
"I just wanna help you out."
A dry laugh escaped past her cracked lips. "And why would you do that?" It was a dog eat dog world out there. She'd learned that much in the past few days. And far too late, the small child lamented.
He smiled, then, the stick of wheat between his teeth bobbing upwards. But it was anything but happy. "Because I know what you've been through. The Fire Nation did this to you, didn't they?"
What was this guy getting at? She gave a curt nod, despite herself.
"Trust me. I know all about that. They did the same thing to me. My village was burned down, not a month ago." His words were laced with bitterness. "My village... My family..." He paused. "You must be hungry, eh kid?"
"What of it?" she barked, suddenly defensive.
"Again with the attitude," he smirked. "Like I said, I'm just trying to help ya out." Leaning down, he pulled an apple from his sleeve and urged her to take it.
Her gaze bore into him, suspicious. Just who was this guy? She contemplated it a moment longer, then grabbed the fruit swiftly and proceeded to scarf it down.
She'd been hurt badly; he could tell. Angry, red slashes marring both cheeks, hair singed at the ends made the message clear. And then that voice. No doubt it was from too much smoke inhalation. She was even worse off than he was. At least he hadn't been caught in the crossfire. No, he'd just been forced to watch from afar, helpless as they tore down everything he ever cared about.
A gruff voice interrupted his reverie. "Why are you doing this? Why are you helping me?"
"Because. People like us, we gotta stick together. Or else none of us'll make."
She seemed to accept his answer, not acting as hostile as before. Slowly, he sunk down next to the girl.
"Hey, what's your name, kid?"
She tossed the apple core towards the back of the alleyway. "Does it matter? I'm not who I was before." No, she was just empty inside now.
"Fair enough."
.x.
"Come on. Let's get outta here." A girl, roughly his age, reached down, offering her hand to him.
And go where?
"To the forest. We've got a little group out there. The Freedom Fighters," she proclaimed with a hint of pride.
"…"
"Of course I can understand you. You're not that hard to figure out." Gloved fingers weaved their way through the thick, mossy mess atop her head. "We're all the same there. No home, no family. We stick together. Cos we're all we've got."
He raised a skeptical brow then. ...Freedom Fighters?
"We ambush Fire Nation troops and help out the people that need it. You look like you need someplace to go."
And those were just the bare facts. The Freedom Fighters meant so much more than that. It was the very group that she'd helped form with J- No. Jet and Smellerbee had not yet existed back then. The names they had made for themselves were who they were now. This congregation, it gave her a new drive in life, a purpose. Something had begun to seep into that seemingly endless void left behind by two vicious soldiers on that night two years past now. What that something was exactly, she wasn't certain of.
"So what do you say?"
His eyes lingered on the outstretched arm an instant longer. And then, "Okay."
.x.
"This is Sneers, that over there is Gauntlet, and you've already met Smellerbee. We don't have much, but we get by. And we make sure to knock a few Fire Nation heads along the way. We've all been hurt by those bastards, and this our way of paying 'em back and making sure no one else has to end up like us," the young man concluded. He couldn't be a day over twelve, but already he'd taken on the responsibility of leading this ragtag gang in small scrambles against the world's largest and most powerful military force. What the Fire Nation did to children like them...forcing them to grow up far too soon and to live like this... It was unforgivable.
"So you got a name, new guy?" the older boy inquired.
He shook his head.
"That's alright. We'll find one for you yet."
.x.
"Oi. Smellerbee."
The warrior looked up from sharpening her swords. It was Sneers. "Hm?" she grunted.
"You know if the new guy knows how to use any weapons?"
Annoyance set in. What a stupid question. "No," she grit her teeth. "Why don't you ask him, not me?"
His face scrunched up, proving that he lived up to his namesake quite adequately. "He hasn't said a word since he got here." Three days ago. "Thought you might know since you recruited him."
She blinked in surprise at this new piece of information and set her equipment aside. "Feh, I'll go find out," the girl muttered as she stomped off.
.x.
"Archery, eh? Show me how this thing works."
Silently, he knelt down and strung his bow. Bee herself preferred blades — knives, daggers, swords, you name it. Anything possessing even a vaguely sharp end and she could transform it into a deadly tool. It gave her a sick sense of satisfaction that she could wield so proficiently the same weapons that had once been used against her.
"You have to keep them tightened just the right amount. Too loose, and you won't be able to shoot very far. Too tight, and it might snap on you."
Her eyes fluttered open and closed in rapid succession.
Meanwhile, he stood, ready for a demonstration. Before she could even comprehend it, he'd pulled his right arm back and released. The boy shot with a deadly precision, taking down a sparowkeet, a fair distance away, in midair.
A playful smirk flitted across her features.
Some unknown time later (they'd both lost track of its passage), both set down their preferred weapons, breathing hard. The surrounding trees were a mess with arrows and daggers pointing out from every which angle. They'd settled into a companionable silence. Until...
"Everyone says they haven't heard you say a thing since I brought you here."
A noncommittal shrug.
"Well, why not? Your voice sounds perfectly fine to me."
He raised an incredulous eyebrow, as if to say, "Well, they haven't asked."
"'Course they haven't!" the girl exclaimed gruffly. "Everyone here's got a story, a past. And it's nobody else's business unless they choose to make it so."
Ah. He nodded in unspoken understanding, feeling a little foolish now.
"So how come...? How come you talk to me?"
Were a gaze able to stutter, then his did just that. If he was being honest with himself (which he always was), he really wasn't sure. There was something about this girl, something he couldn't quite place... He stared at her meaningfully, willing her to comprehend.
And she did. For, if she was being honest with herself (which she rarely was), there was something about this boy, too. That hole she carried within, that was slowly being repleted with Jet and Freedom Fighters and a forest with red leaves and... Well, this boy sitting right before her, who she'd known for only a matter of days...he'd somehow managed to seep in, as well. He was filling the cracks in her heart and seeming them up good. She would never be fully whole again, but perhaps somewhere close. And for the first time in her life, she found that she simply did not care. Because this boy, he made 'almost' into 'just right'.
Their gazes locked. And suddenly they weren't so empty, and the world wasn't such a lonely place anymore.
"Let's go...Longshot." A fitting name.
And then his eyes were alight with something that could almost be called happiness.
"You an' me are gonna make a great team. We'll give the Fire Nation hell!"
And the rest was history.
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owaranai
A/N: Originally, I was going to use Pipsqueak along with Sneers as another the other earliest members, but a headcanon of mine contradicts this, so I gave you a made up Freedom Fighter. I mean, plenty of other kids inhabit the treetop hideout. Let's just say Gauntlet didn't survive and that hardened the other kids' resolves and hatred towards the Fire Nation even further. Hmm, I'm getting awfully caught up over a bit character that was only mentioned by name. xD Maybe someday I'll write more on Gauntlet and my theory for Pipsqueak's start.
Anyway, I put Smellerbee as about six when she lost her family and, two years later, Longshot lost his folks at nine years old.
Thanks for reading, and I hoped you enjoyed my take on the Freedom Fighters' history! Please let me know what you think! Any feedback at all will be greatly appreciated.