Wolf turned out to be some kind of sky-bison, husky elephant hybrid. Dick had been able to identify Wolf by his distinctive nose, large grey-brown arrow, and the flat tail of the sky-bisons of the different Air Temples. However, besides those features, Wolf looked distinctively like a large, well, wolf. Dick wasn't quite sure why a sky-bison decided to mate with a husky elephant, but decided not to dwell on it too much.
Wolf was big enough to carry all six of them, so long as they stopped for breaks every night. Connor managed to buy a gigantic-sized goat gorilla saddle and fastened it onto Wolf. Megan sewed together two very long pieces of leather for reins and they were set. It seemed that Wolf had been previously trained, due to long, angry pink whip marks on his belly. Wolf seemed most responsive to Connor, so it was Connor who was elected to navigate. Kaldur, upon realizing they may be able to cross over water now, pointed out a shorter, alternative route over the ocean that would shorten the traveling time by about four days. Artemis seemed skeptical, because the planned called for a stop at an unknown island in the middle of the sea for rest, but she fell silent when Wally asked if she wanted to walk for six days just because, 'that little green thing looked suspicious to you.'
Artemis was thoroughly annoyed, but fell silent.
They managed to pack quickly the morning of their departure; Connor and Kaldur quickly dissolved their Earth dome, Artemis and Megan packed the group's belongings, and Wally and Dick loaded up Wolf. They departed shortly before lunch, and were soon flying quickly over pristine blue waters. The ride was generally and unusually quiet, but most of them were too in awe of the feeling of being up in the clouds to make conversation. Night fell, and Connor soon spotted the green island from before they would be stopping at.
Connor steered Wolf down and Wolf landed with a loud thud and a satisfied growl. It seemed to be uninhabited, and the group jumped down off of Wolf's saddle, looking around. It was hard to see, and the only noise seemed to be the sound of the ocean lapping onto the shore of the island.
Connor had only been able to walk two inches forward before he heard a sharp whooshing noise, and felt a burst of pain before everything went dark. As he slipped into unconsciousness, he heard the startled cries of the rest of his group, and he wondered numbly why they were screaming…
][][][][][][][
Artemis awoke with her head pounding, tied to a pillar. It was day time, and the sun was high in the sky.
"…Artemis?" a voice hissed from right next to her, and she turned her head slightly, able to see Wally out of her peripheral vision.
"..Wally?..." Artemis managed to eke out, squirming in her binds, "What's going on?"
"I… I have no idea," Wally said, who had seemingly also just woken and was also attempting to squirm out of his binds.
"Good," a cool female voice said, "You're awake."
Artemis looked up, seeing a woman dressed in armor, her blonde hair held back by a large gold head band. Her armor was green, gold, and black, and her face was painted white and red, her arms crossed over her chest. She looked to be in her late twenties to early thirties, but Artemis couldn't be sure because of the make up.
A groan elicited from the other side of pole, sounding distinctively like Dick. Megan was pressed up beside Artemis, still unconscious, and Artemis hypothesized that Kaldur and Connor were probably on the other side of the pole.
"Who are you?" Dick asked, his voice cutting through the tense silence.
"We are the Kyoshi Warriors," another voice said. A girl about Dick's age emerged from behind the earlier woman, dressed the same but with a plain, green head band and wavy black hair tied neatly into a bun. Artemis guessed the woman was the leader, and the gold head band was the sign of her rank, "The better question is, who are you. Why have you invaded our island?"
"Invaded?" Connor asked, "We just landed here to rest for the night and replenish our supplies."
"Kyoshi? As in Avatar Kyoshi-inspired?" Wally then said hopefully from his spot next to Artemis.
The girl scoffed, jutting her chin up above them. Artemis looked up, and then recognized the thing they were bound to was actually a pedestal for a large statue of a woman in similar garb as both of the females.
"Great!" Dick said, his voice a little stronger now, "Well then, you must be on our side because I'm the Avatar!"
The woman squinted at Dick for a second, "Prove it."
Dick thrust his hands down, and he shot up into the air, the ropes seemingly falling in slow motion and whipping in the automatic breeze that Dick created behind him. He then clamped his fists together, making a great swirling ball of air and then seemingly sat upon it, whirring around and around in circles around the woman and the girl. The women watched in awe, and when Dick stopped, the woman and the girl placed their hands together respectfully and bowed.
"So, um, now that I've proved myself… Can you free my friends?" Dick asked, and the woman nodded, motioning to the girl. The girl nodded and retrieved a sword from the side of her hip. Artemis snickered as Wally made a soft, girlish squeal at the sight of the sharp sword, but with a quick flash, the ropes fell down, severed.
"Name's Dinah, leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. This is Zatanna, my second-in-command. Welcome to Kyoshi Island," the woman said.
"Man, I'm starving…" Wally groaned, rubbing his stomach as it growled loudly.
Dinah smiled, "Come on, we'll have a feast and festivities to honor the Avatar's visit."
][][][][][][][
Wally wanted to eat everything. Large, roast turtle ducks, glazed cakes filled with the succulent juices of ginger berries, and the aroma of baking something that was making him dizzy with hunger. Artemis and Megan had been kidnapped by the Kyoshi Warriors earlier, unable to escape their clutches and Zatanna's cry of, "Fresh meat, girls!"
They had yet to make an appearance at the extravagant, last-minute feast Dinah had managed to put on.
A stream of giggles then trailed through the room, revealing a large pack girls standing in the door way. Wally spotted Megan and Artemis right away near the front. Their faces had been painted to match the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors, and they now donned the expressive, heavy green and black armor like the rest of the girls. Megan looked gleeful, as per usual, while Artemis wore a sour, disgruntled expression. She kept attempting to scratch her nose but at warning glares from both Megan and Zatanna, she would put her hand back down, scowling.
Wally laughed. Artemis settled in next to Wally, and Wally grinned at her, in a good mood due to the food. He handed her chop sticks and their hands briefly brushed each other in the process. Artemis's frown deepened, and Wally blushed slightly, embarrassed that the slight touch had caused so much. Megan was whispering to Zatanna across the table, who was sitting on the other side next to Dinah and Dick. Dick was eating, stuffing his face with various goodies while stopping every so often to sneak a peak at Dinah's pretty second-in-command. Wally noticed and snickered, but at Artemis's sharp glare, Wally retreated.
He hadn't really realized it at first, but Artemis was pretty cool. She was smart and funny and pretty, and he supposed that if she wasn't Fire Nation, he probably would've been scrambling to talk to her.
"I think I'm going to head out," Artemis said quietly, and she set down her cup gently and then got up quickly, her dress flapping gently in the wind.
Artemis had been oddly quiet all day, actually, mostly quiet and without the usual, sharp retorts. His gaze followed her as she stood up and exited outside and onto the balcony of Dinah's house. Kaldur was also looking worriedly in the direction she had exited. Kaldur seemed torn between the shy-looking red-haired girl seated next to him and going after Artemis, but Wally shook his head, motioning that he would handle him. Kaldur smiled gratefully and turned his attention back to the red-head.
Wally went out into the balcony, the cool sea breeze blowing through his hair. Artemis was leaning against the balcony, using her sleeve to wipe at some of the paint on her face. She let out a long sigh, and she stared up at the twinkling stars, glaring at the sky as if it had done her wrong.
"…You okay, princess?" Wally asked suddenly.
Artemis jumped, and turned, startled. Wally was shocked to find that was near tears, fat droplets threatening to brim over.
Wally stood awkwardly, unsure of what to do, "….Erm… What happened?"
Artemis turned back to the ocean, watching the waves lap on the shore. She sighed, "The night's so clear," she said quietly, a slight breeze whipped through her hair, which had been done up in a loose bun to match the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors. The paint on her face was nearly all gone, only slight residual traces of white paint on the edges of her cheeks, "It's never like this back home."
"Home?" Wally asked, drawing up next to the Artemis, and dangling his hands off the edge of the balcony.
Artemis frowned to herself, "You know, back at the Fire Nation."
Wally nodded, "So… um… you want to talk about it?"
She pursed her lips, seemingly fighting an internal conflict before biting out, "My mom died seven years ago, on this day."
Wally turned to her, fully staring at her face now.
"My dad woke me up, and he said, 'your mom's dead,'" Artemis said in a breezy, faraway tone of voice.
Artemis blinked up at the stars, her eyes shiny, her hair shimmered in the light of the moon, and a gentle breeze blew it backwards slightly,"You know… sometimes, I like to believe that she just ran away… and she's out there, waiting for me to find her."
Wally hesitated, but placed a shaky, awkward hand on her shoulder, grinning meekly in an attempt to diffuse the tension, "Well, we have a giant flying mutant elephant-wolf now, why don't we find her?"
Artemis's gaze fell, and then glanced at Wally, a small smile on her face, "Erm… Thanks, Wally. But…" she sighed deeply, her shoulders slumping. She shook her head, straitening her spine and adjusting her robes, "Anyways. Thanks for the pep talk."
And just like that, the connection vanished.
NOTES:
1. Wolf can fly now. And other than sky bisons, I don't believe other animals in the Avatar universe can fly. So, now, a sky bison and a husky elephant got busy and the product was Wolf. And Wolf can fly.
2. In the Avatar Universe, Suki wore a golden head band that differentiated herself from the other warriors. Since Dinah is the leader here, she wears the golden head band that marks her as the leader.
3. Zatanna. Finally, right?
4. I got a PM a week or so asking me why Kaldur isn't a water bender. I considered and toyed with the idea for a little bit, but I feel like Kaldur is more grounded and a kind of under-the-earth kind of guy. While not stubborn like most other Earth benders, I felt like he would be more like an Earth bender. And the ratio of water benders to earth benders was kind of uneven. So... Yeah.
Thanks for all the positive support! Sorry for taking so long... :/