Yoshi threw a towel on Eztril's face. "Get up maggot."

Eztril grumbled. He was laying back on the ship's deck calmly letting the ice wind slide pass him. Eztril and Yoshi both had on their winter jackets. Despite the both of them coming from the fire nation, the south pole's old was something they both refused to complain about.

"I'm meditating," Eztril said.

Yoshi glared, "you're sleeping."

"I was meditating while lying down."

Yoshi kicked her foot on Eztril's chest. "You're a disgrace to the fire nation, you know that?"

"Says the waterbender," Eztril stuck her tongue out at the taller girl. Eztril was from a small village in the Fire Nation. He'd come from a long line of Sun Warriors, but he never had the fiery passion any of his ancestors had.

Yoshi was a waterbender from a water tribe reserve. He often did his best to mimic fury of the fire nation. It was comical, Ezril had the size and brute strength of a bulky warrior, and Yoshi was so naturally scrawny that he could be mistaken as malnourished.

Yoshi kicked Eztril's body again, "get up you lazy waste of space."

Eztril's body turned. He laid on the hull of the ship, unconcerned by the cold surface of the floor. Despite the strong wind blowing across his face, Eztril didn't feel the need to wear a jacket. "Being lazy never hurt anyone."

"Yeah it did, it got the air nomads killed. Now get up before you rot."

Yoshi kicked Eztril a few more times. HIs body was soft, and Yoshi's kicks were nearly cushioned by Eztril's large body. Yoshi wished he and Ezril could switch bodies.

Eztril sat up slowly, "why?"

"Varrick is almost done," Yoshi moaned, "Varrick just finished his project. Him and Drisana are gonna be out here soon."

Eztril laid back down. "I'm busy."

"How the fuck are you a sun warrior?"

"Priest parents," Eztril raised a finger in the air, "I'm a pacifist, so I'm technically allowed to not do anything."

Yoshi rolled his eyes, "you're a disgrace for the both of us."

"I can live with that."

Footsteps came from the bowel of the boot. Yoshi tightened up at the sight of him. He stood up straight and gave him a heavy bow. "Chief Unalaq."

Unalaq smiled at the teenager. Like most waterbenders, Yoshi had tan skin like people from the tribes, but his cloth's color schemes distinctly portrayed fire nation customs. Unalaq placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright Yoshi, I'm just here to see Varrick again."

"Yes sir," he said quickly. "I'm sure he-"

"Blue!"

Yoshi shivered at the sound of his voice. Varrick stepped forward from the deck and said, "I'm parched blue, do me a solid and go get me the best sparkling water this village has to offer."

Yoshi murmured, I'm not blue, he wanted to say. But he held his tongue and instead obediently replied, "yes sir…", he quietly made his way into the ship's kitchen quarters.

Heading into the ship, a white haired girl walked passed him. She patted him on the shoulder as they walked by each other, "and get me some normal water you mindless lackey!"

'Fuck you,' he whispered just enough for her to hear. Drisana was from Kyoshi island. She was his age, with tan skin and aviation goggles. While Yoshi wore a typical winter fur coat with fire nation insignia, Drisana preferred a brown leather jacket that made her look like a natural born pilot. Mechanical watches went from her wrist to her shoulder, and she was the only one that could fuel Varrick's enthusiasm.

Varrick turned to Unalaq, "Glad you could make it chief. You're just in time to watch the fireworks. Green, get me the thing!"

Drisana stared at him for a moment. Varrick squinted at her, "Assistant green, I said, get me the thing."

Drisana looked at Ezril, "um, which thing?"

Varrick groaned, "Zhu Li never asked me which thing…"

Drisana said, "I still don't know who Zhu Li was, and I'm now convinced she was a mind reader."

Ezril said, "I still think she was a robot."

"The remote!" Varrick shouted, "that's what I meant when I said the thing!"

Drisana's eyes shot up, she digged into her satchel and took out the remote. "Do the honors, sir!."

Varrick took the remote with frown, but quickly smirked once he pointed the remote at the sky. A crackling launch went off. Lights from the back of t he deck simmered as smoke shot up into the air. The head of the rocket was like a ball of light. It hissed before hitting the highest altitude, and then exploded into a dozen miniature rockets. Those rockets exploded into a dozen more, and then another dozen exploded into the air. They hit the sky in a single movement, and banging blasts expanded miles in the air as fiery explosions.

Varrick smiled, "I call it, rainlight crackers."

"Wow," Ezril said, "that could take down a biplane."

The others stared at Ezril. Ezril paused, "what?"

"What he means," Varrick said, "is they'll be a hit during the glacial spirits festival. Come on Chief, I'll have Greenie here make you some tea, because between you and me, earth tea is rancid when it comes from a Kyoshi warrior girl."

"That's racist," Drisana said calmly. "My crappy tea does not represent my people."

Ezril said, "Wait, isn't it racist to call the only Earth kingdom person greenie?"

Varrick clapped his hands, "no time for questions. Me and the big guy have important things to discuss in the privacy of my quarters." Varrick quickly swooped Unalaq away to avoid another awkward line of questioning from the kids.

XXX

Varrick took a seat in his office, he casually put his legs on his desk to make himself comfortable. "So what's the news chief?"

"Please stop calling me chief," Unalaq said with a sigh. "I'm on the tribal council, but I'm in no way the tribe's chief."

"Chief, you're modest, but you're just selling yourself short here." Varrick began counting on each of his fingers, "you're northern tribe royalty. Your brother's king of the north, you run the council like you own the place. Heck, you're the reason business guys like me love it here. You're the closest thing to royalty this town is gonna get."

Unalaq rubbed the temples of his head, "Varrick, I'm not here to discuss my place in the tribe, I'm here to ask about your promise. The ships we discussed, was it doable?"

"Not just doable, cheap too. The green girl up there is a natural mechanic, she came up with a way to make submarines that are as good as the Fire Nation's, but cheaper and faster to make."

Unalaq sighed in relief.

Varrick added, "it's funny really, Tonraq actually asked me make something similar for him a few hours ago."

Unalaq's eyes widened, "Tonraq? Tonraq asked that? When?"

"When he came to my office an hour ago."

Unalaq blinked at him, my brother is here? Unalaq knew Tonraq would come for the Glacial Spirits festival, but Tonraq normally came with a display of force, bringing elite guards with him to tout around the strength of the northern water tribe. To come to the city in secret, it was out of character.

Varrick picked one of his ears clean and said, "the guy said he wanted to talk to me before telling anyone, he wanted to get a feel of the city before letting to townsfolk know he was here."

Unalaq's voice stayed calm and direct, he was already formulating his own theory, "he asked more from you, didn't he?"

With a wide grin, Varric stepped up from his chair and put a leg on his desk, "he said he wanted me to work for the grand army in the north. I boldly told him that Varrick is not for sale!" He punched his chest to emphasize the point.

"Work… For the grand army…" He was at a lost for words.

Varrick shrugged, "beats me why he needs me. I knew he was paranoid of equalists, but I never thought he'd ask for war machines against them."

Unalaq's thumbs thumped at his hips. "Of course he wants war machines. He'll need war machines. I have to go now."

"Chief, you don't even know where he is."

Unalaq sighed, "actually, I do." Unalaq opened the door out of the quarters, "he and I-"

Yoshi dropped into the room as the door flung open. He had his ear pressed against the door, and he looked up at Unalaq caught in the act of snopping. Yoshi quickly kneeled to the ground, "I'm sorry, I was just."

"It's fine," Unalaq said with a sigh. "Please, anything you just heard, keep it to yourself. The last thing I'd want is for rumors of war to cause panic during the glacial spirits festival.."

Yoshi nodded slowly. He felt the need to ask, "is… Tonraq going to war?"

Unalaq didn't answer him immediately. He placed a hand on his shoulder, "if it ever came to that, it would never be under Tonraq."

It wasn't the answer Yoshi expected, but it was surprisingly comforting. Tonraq had a reputation of ruthlessness and tyranny, a war under Tonraq would've seemed more like a power grab than liberation war.

Varrick asked from behind them, "be honest Blue, if you had to pick between the fire nation army or the water tribe army, which would you join?"

Yoshi glared at Varrick, "Fire nation."

Varrick laughed, "I never knew the Fire nation took in Water benders in their ranks."

"They don't," Yoshi said with a frown, "so I guess I'll be the first."