Disclaimer: I do not own any of these (ingenious) characters, or the episode The Day of Black Sun part one and two. (It's one of my favorites) These ideas belong to fairycloud22, so please do not copy.
Note: I need at least 30-40 reviews before I make the next chapter on Haru!
"Treetop Twiddles"
-really can't say it any other way-
The Duke's thoughts are twiddles; they hop around and don't usually connect.
But that is part of who he is
Being thousands of feet in the air and having the firenation behind him did not change the fact that the Duke was an eight year old who was flying for the first time. Teeth chattering in the rushing wind, he hung on to the pointed front of the saddle for dear life with a monkey's grip.
Looking at the ruffled fur of the giant fluffy bison made him curious, so he leaned a little farther to try and get a look into the creatures face. Going closer and closer to the edge, his flapping too-big helmet began to slowly slide off. Scrambling to keep it from falling thousands of feet below, he grasped it with both little hands, and then suddenly looked down at the ground below him. Bad decision.
We're so high...
His head spun from dizziness; this was so much higher than he had ever been before.
I can't believe that that watertribe girl, the guy with the sword, and the avatar do this every day!
His enormous helmet, once back on his head, began to sway from the wooziness and air sickness.
I can't believe I just left the firenation, and...
His mouth turned down into a small boy's frown and his forehead creased with new worry.
Pipsqueak
The little Duke looked up to stare into the face of his gigantic friend.
I will REALLY miss you.
But all there was above him was expanse and sky, no one to take him on broad shoulders, and to give off a laugh like thunder.
And flying isn't fun.
Hugging around his knees the Duke stared off into space with the breeze in his face, not focusing really on anything.
The nice girl...what was her name...Toph was wrong. Being in the air is much worse than the submarine.
He lurched in his seat, hanging his head between his small knees. His stomach swirled and gave off unhappy gurgles, so he slapped one hand on his face to hold in his breakfast, cheek and skin puffing out between his stubby fingers.
At least I had Pipsqueak with me there...and it didn't move as much...I don't feel so good...
Letting his memories flash pictures in his mind, he pretended he was in the trees again, so he would not get sick.
The bark beneath me sure feels leathery.
With his beetle black eyes closed, he rubbed the saddle beneath him, frowning.
But never mind.
Sitting up again, his helmet fell over his eyes, filling his wide nostrils with something that made him even sicker.
The stench of Toph's BLEH is still there...I didn't wash it well enough.
Wrinkling his nose and eyes while sticking out his tongue, he waved it above his head to air it out, and then set it down beside him.
Oops, hope I didn't hurt her feelings.
Glancing to look and see the expression in her glazed eyes, something occurred to him.
She couldn't see me do that, could she? Cuz she's...blind.
He slapped his hand to his forehead at his stupidity, causing the boy with the mustache and green tunic to twist around at the sound of the crack.
The Duke waved embarrassedly with a guilty grin. The young man grunted, and then turned back away. The smile was wiped off Duke's face, and he sighed.
I miss them.
Curling up to lean on his helmet, he slowly relaxed.
Jet, Longshot, Smellerbee, the whole gang. It hasn't been the same since we split.
He let his thoughts wander back to times past. He could almost see himself asking Pipsqueak on the swaying metal boat...
"Why did we ever leave?"
The huge man had stopped laughing then, stooping over to be on the Duke's level. The wide mouth had stretched across into a sad sort of frown.
"Always did what Jet said,"
He had boomed quietly,
"and Jet told us to starta new life for ourselves, so we did. Even if it was hard and even if it meant we had to separate. Hey, but you and me have had some great times together, right little guy?"
Pipsqueak had noogied the Duke's helmeted head until he could hear clanging in his ears and his hat had tilted sideways. Then with a guffaw, he had scooped the littlest freedom fighter up, tossed him into the air and caught him.
With a whoosh, the Duke got the breath knocked out of him, but began to laugh as soon as he got it back. Then they had played hide in seek in the huge empty barrels to be filled with blasting jelly for hours on end.
Memories like these made him smile, and sleepy. His eyes drooped.
Wonder if Jet and the others started a new life, like they said they would.
This thought made him a little more awake.
Pipsqueak was all I had left of them, my only family.
He looked for a friendly face on the bison, and finally found the little blind girl.
Toph reminds me of them; she has the same sorta grit. That means she is a good friend to have.
He smiled at her even though she couldn't see it.
I've seen her in action today, and I think she's strong enough to defend anybody. She's small, like me, but inside, she's bigger than Pipsqueak!
Also, she had the same familiar tongue-in-cheek remarks he had heard from Jet and Smellerbee, along with the watertribe boy who sat beside her, hunched over in thought. Toph had made no move to hold onto anything since the bison had taken off, she just sat there with her legs crossed, staring out into the landscape with misted eyes.
She doesn't like flying either, so what is she goin to grab onto?
After a long while, he glanced back to see if the little girl hadn't fallen off. The Duke could see her look sightlessly up at the hunched figure beside her, wait a moment, "look" again and turn to roughly take hold of the tall boy's arm.
She's smart.
A grin spread out under/across the rim of the large helmet.
If Pipsqueak wuz here, I would have done somethin like that, but...he isn't.
He had almost forgotten for a second that his jolly giant was not there to catch him. The Duke did not know any one well enough to latch onto, but he had a grip as strong as the funny lemur on the avatar's shoulder; so he wasn't bothered.
I wonder if I'll ever get to hold 'is lemur? He sure makes alota wierd noises.
The lemur in question began to make a sound like the purring of a cat and another like a boinging bouncing ball. The Duke snickered, causing his laughter to echo in his metal helmet and ears.
Anyways, Toph was fine where she was with the warrior teenager. All the same, the Duke squinted through the wind to get a better glimpse at the tall boy who had directed some of the attacks in the fierce headdress of a wolf.
'is face...it's like Jet's. He looks like-a leader.
The Duke tilted his head to the side, recognizing a similar determination, grit, and purpose in his expression, but without Jet's anger, just a little sadness and frustration.
Probably since he left 'is dad behind.
The young man had been in their forest once, but he seemed a little taller now, and it had been different then.
What Jet did seemed right then, but now I don't know if what we did with Jet was right or wrong. Jet said he would start a new life, but did he? Do me and Pipsqueak really wanna forget it all?
Too many thoughts were cramming in one oversize helmet. The Duke clutched his hat, and took it off to empty it of its contents.
I don't.
Glancing back at the two sitting side by side, he felt a little more thankful that he had some people to relate to, to help him not forget...the blind girl, the watertribe boy, even the guy in the weelchair, Teo, could explode all sorts of things, like peanuts, with him. He smirked briefly, then his face saddened.
It's nice to have people like the freedom fighters, but for some reason, it makes me want to have my old friends back even more, especially Pipsqueak.
Trying to think of the future in a positive light, he wondered what he would tell Pipsqueak about his adventures.
This Western Air Temple thing sound cool...
He smiled in a smallish way.
...and it will be way up high...like our tree houses...
Grinning at the thought, he yawned, then started to doze off on his helmet...letting his memories wash over him.
Then the Duke forgot that he was flying, and fell fast asleep...seeing the light above him flicker green, like he was underneath the intertwining branches of many trees.
xxx
xxx
xxx
for any pronoun confusion, in Duke language 'is His
Now here comes Haru, (Horray, Harrah, Haru!!!!- inside joke with my little sister) mostache and all.