A/N: A drabble for ASN. Theme was Foreign Language.
First time actually writing an OC I made a while back, and it's the first fic I've done in a while, so bear with me. xD
Ignorance of other cultures can be annoying and downright rude. I've seen it done in real life, so why not the Avatar World.
Languages are Icelandic for the Earth Kingdom and Russian for the Water Tribe. :]
Disclaimer - I don't own Avatar. The only thing I own are the characters in this fic.
Also, I love the Icelandic language and how it sounds, but it seemed right language wise for an ignorant ass to say crap about it, considering how it's spoken. Same with Russian. Pretty.
So please don't kill me.
That is all. Read and Review.
"They sound funny."
The advisor looked at the lord with a quizzical expression. "Pardon?"
The Fire Lord looked lazily towards his advisor. "Pardon what?" He asked in a voice of faux kindness.
The advisor was quiet, wanting to choose his words wisely. "What you said."
"All I said is that they sound funny. You must admit it." The Fire Lord looked at his advisor.
The advisor gulped. He didn't want to disappoint the unstable lord. He looked to the cluster of Earth Kingdom officials who were standing before the throne. They were huddled together like chickens and sounded similar with their squawks that they call a language. He looked to the Fire Lord who was staring at him with fascination. "Yes… Like chickens." He finally spoke.
The Fire Lord clapped his hands and laughed like a child. "Yes, like chickens." He laughed.
The lord's childish laugh rang throughout the throne room. The Earth Kingdom officials huddled closer together while the hair on the back of the advisor's neck rose. The advisor looked at the Earth Kingdom officials who were huddled together and continued to squawk. He shot the translator a sideways glance. The translator returned the glance and scratched the back of his head.
The Earth Kingdom officials came to the Fire Nation to discuss trade routes, alliances, and other political means. There wasn't a grand parade for them when they entered the Palace City, or any fancy meals. They arrived when it was late and most everyone was asleep, including the Fire Lord. The nervous advisor remembered the translator complaining about the squawking officials. He remembered the translator saying that they compared the palace to the one in the Earth Kingdom. They called the palace dark, dingy, and frightening.
Secretly the advisor wishes he was in the Earth King's palace. The Earth King was probably more predictable.
"Hringbraut, hátign þín..." One of the Earth Kingdom officials squawked. "Eigum við að halda áfram?"
The translator looked to the Fire Lord. "They want to know if we want to continue…"
The Fire Lord looked at the translator with an amused expression. "How is it that you learned to speak chicken?"
The translator looked at the Fire Lord with complete shock. "Fire Lord Huanzhe, with all due respect it isn't chicken, it's…" The advisor shot him a warning glance.
"Make them say something more."
The translator and advisor stared dumbfounded and openly at the Fire Lord. Huanzhe stared at the Earth Kingdom officials, completely ignoring the others.
"Tell them to say 'I'm a chicken'. Go on." Huanzhe ordered, waving his hand in the translator's general direction. He still stared at the officials as if they were in a zoo. He looked to his translator with a grin. "Tell them to squawk too."
"Your highness," The advisor bravely cut in. "There are more important matters than chickens and squawking." He braced himself.
Huanzhe turned his head lazily towards the advisor. "Fine." He said curtly. "They can wait for as long as they want, but no one leaves until they say 'I'm a chicken'." Huanzhe smiled and began to play with his hair.
"Черт Господь пламени." The translator swore to himself.
"Oh? What language was that?" Huanzhe asked excitedly.
"The language of the Water Tribe, your highness." The translator said truthfully.
"What does it mean?"
"It means 'of course'." He lied.
The Fire Lord smiled. He looked to the Earth Kingdom officials. "Say it." He ordered.
The advisor whispered something into the translator's ear. The translator sighed and turned to the Earth Kingdom officials. "Ég afsaka innilega til batnaðar, en herra elds vill að þú segja 'ég er kjúklingur'og mun ekki láta neinn fara þangað til það er svo."
The foreign officials looked at each other with perplexed expressions. One of them looked up to the unstable Fire Lord. "Ég er kjúklingur." He said in a defeated voice.
Ignorant laughter rang throughout the throne room.
Just so you know, the last phrase means 'I'm a chicken'.
The other ones aren't that important. I thought it was somewhat obvious. My bad.
Google translate is magical.