Summary: Daemon AU. Daemons usually settle by fourteen, fifteen at the latest. Lin is sixteen when the catalyst for Sabrael's settling occurs. Refers to events in my other fic Battle.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Avatar-verse.
When Zephyrus settled shortly after his eleventh birthday, Tenzin and Lin dashed to the Temple's library to research his form. They determined Zephyrus to be a peregrine falcon.
They ran to inform the rest of his family. Zephyrus was admired and fussed over by his parents and their daemons. Bumi and Kya pretended to take little interest but their daemons, raccoon and harp seal respectively, nudged and sniffed Zephyrus until the peregrine "keked" sharply to get them to back off.
A few of the acolytes were startled by Zephyrus' choice; Air Nomads tended to have songbirds, dragonflies, butterflies, or hummingbirds with the occasional owl. Predators of the falcon and hawk variety were rare. Air Nomads were supposed to be gentle, to be peaceful – and no one could mistake Zephyrus for anything other than a keen predator.
Yet, it made a certain amount of sense. The massacre of the Temples haunted the new Air Nation. The first Airbender born since then might be inclined towards a protective, powerful daemon.
...
At eleven, Katara eyed Sabrael and wondered if she would soon settle.
At twelve, Sokka speculated that Sabrael would settle as a mole like Toph's daemon.
At thirteen, Kya teased that Sabrael would settle as something useless like a moth.
At fourteen, Aang observed Sabrael staying in one form, a fox, for an entire day and thought she might have settled; he was wrong.
At fifteen, Toph demanded of Sabrael when she was going to make a choice.
At sixteen, Bumi half-jokingly suggested to Tenzin that there was something wrong with Lin because Sabrael had yet to settle.
Tenzin punched him.
Later, his best friend inquired why he thought it would be a good idea to punch a United Forces sailor.
Tenzin admitted he hadn't thought, just reacted. Lin told him it was sweet of him to defend her but next time to send Bumi straight to her. She finished bandaging his heavily bruised knuckles and patted his cheek.
"It's a good thing for you your mother has an uncanny knack for knowing when there's trouble," she said, "and stopped Bumi from retaliating."
"I know," he replied. He watched Sabrael, currently a lynx, who was checking Zephyrus for injuries despite the peregrine's squawks of protest.
"It's not as if he was saying anything new," Lin remarked in a far too casual tone. "My teachers think it too and my classmates. I've even heard your mom talking to my mom about it. At school, I'm the only one in my class and the class below me whose daemon hasn't settled and all but two in the class below that."
Tenzin insisted, "There's nothing wrong with you, Lin, or with Sabrael."
...
"Is he going to be okay?" Lin's trembling voice came from the doorway. Aang's and Katara's heads whipped around. Aang rose, leaving Katara seated on Tenzin's bed. The unconscious young airbender had thick bandages wrapped around his left shoulder and chest. Zephyrus huddled against Tenzin's side with Katara's glaucous gull, Nodons, and Aang's Saranyu, presently a swan, flanking him.
Leaning against the door-frame for support, Lin sported her own bandages, one wrapping the entirety of her left arm. Someone had managed to get her into a loose shirt and pants that weren't bloodstained and torn.
"He's going to be fine, Lin," Aang assured her. As he stepped towards her, Sabrael came out from behind Lin. Aang halted with a lurch.
Sabrael had left the palace in the form of a kestrel, flying alongside Zephyrus.
She was a kestrel no longer.
Instead, Aang stared at a massive jaguar with golden eyes and a red-and-white coat. Except – as he looked closer – the red looked like – blood. Blood spattered over a coat of snow-blinding white.
"What? Is something wrong?" demanded Lin, not realizing to what he was reacting.
From the bed, Katara leaned sideways to find out what was making her husband stare. She gasped. Nodons and Saranyu raised their heads to see and froze.
"What?" repeated Lin, following their gazes, "What's – why are you – it's just Sabrael – what's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong," Aang said, but he couldn't take his eyes off the daemon. Sabrael crouched down as if trying to make herself smaller.
Lin looked from Aang to Katara and back Aang. "Why are you staring?"
"You've settled, haven't you?" asked Saranyu from the bed, addressing Sabrael.
"Yes," answered Sabrael quietly.
"Well – um – congratulations, Lin, Sabrael," offered Aang.
"Can I see Tenzin now?" pleaded Lin.
"Of course, come over here," said Katara. She gestured Lin over to the bed. Lin came with Sabrael padding along at her heels. "But only for a little while, you should still be in bed yourself."
Lin reached out and gripped Tenzin's hand tightly. Sabrael placed her front paws on the bed so she could touch Zephyrus' beak. They both would have stayed that way if not for the dizzy spell which sent them swaying and had Aang guiding them back to their own alcove in the healing wing.
On his return, Aang remarked, "I didn't expect that."
"Neither did I. I mean…Lin's always been a fighter, she's Toph's daughter but – a jaguar? And she's enormous," Katara replied.
"I know. Well, at least she's settled. Even I was beginning to worry," Aang admitted. "Wait till Toph sees –well, not sees, you know what I mean."
"She'll probably be proud of Lin for having such a strong daemon." A low moan from Tenzin focused their attention completely on their son, supplanting any thoughts of Lin and Sabrael.
Author's Note: In my head, daemons retain the ancestral forms of animals which once existed in the Avatar world and became the crossbreed animals in ATLA canon. Some humans do have crossbreeds, they're just much rarer.
Names:
Sabrael - variation on Sabriel, archangel according to some texts, guardian of the 1st Heaven (which is the atmosphere of birds and clouds), one of the chiefs of the virtues
Zephyrus - Greek God of the west wind, bringer of spring, the gentlest of the winds
Nodons - Celtic deity associated with healing, the sea, hunting, and dogs
Saranyu - Hindu goddess of clouds, wife of Surya (chief solar deity), feminine adjective meaning "quick, fleet, nimble" used for water and wind
Thanks to Wikipedia. And honestly, I went for sound and meaning first so I apologize for these being mostly Western deities.