Here you guys go... 24 pages long! Just for my readers. Enjoy it!
The mind was an odd place, he knew that by now. Kuseron shifted slightly, there was another presence... He could feel it. It was far away, buried deep in his mind, in his soul. Shadowbending, it wasn't like the other elements. It required you to look through the obscurities of life. It required devotion and hours of practice and time consuming walks through the darkness. Meditating was not on the list of to-dos for Shadowbending. No... This was for something else. It was to help him look into himself. The Mind was a place unlike any other. Kuseron could see things, hazy but he could see them and hear them. It came out broken up, like a scratchy record.
In... Out...
"Another"-fzzt-"Kio!"
Kuseron pressed on, trying to break the haze around the memory. It had to open up. He flinched slightly, he felt a wall break. The memory was of the night he had killed that Thug that had dared to spill his drink...
He raised the cup to his lips, letting the bitter tonic roll over his lips, through his teeth and across his tongue. The cool, bitter liquid quenched his dying need for the drink that would later only make his head hurt and his mouth parch. Kuseron scowled slightly. "Another Kio." He grumbled to a baldheaded man. Kio was a light tan, with a dirty look to him, but he was a rather nice person once you got past the looks. "Rough night?" Kuseron placed a few copper coins down. "What do you think?"
"I see." Kio quickly fixed up his drink, taking the empty glass and replacing it with the filled one.
Kuseron didn't usually pay attention to the other thugs and thieves that entered the bar, but a loud man came bustling in. He had a few other thugs following behind him. "Hey Kio!" He brandished a small dagger. "Get us a round of your finest." The Thug grinned devilishly. This guy, the Shadowbender remembered him. He was a top-notch thug apparently. Kio didn't ask for money. Status held power, power gave you pawns, and Pawns gave you what they had. It was a simple process.
The Thug pushed his way to the bar, his train making people move. Kuseron did not move. He wasn't going to move, just because they wanted the bar to themselves. Kio looked at him with wide eyes, "You better move!" He hissed.
He still did not move.
"Hey Worm! Move your scrawny ass!" One man pushed him aside, causing his drink to spill down his shirt as he landed on the ground. Laughter came out from around the bar, some of it was hesitant. The Shadowbender lifted his gaze, eyes deadly and a hiss slipped through his lips. "Bastard!" The head thug turned to him, glaring down at him. "What did you just call my friend?"
Everything went silent.
"You heard me." Kuseron growled, pushing up onto his feet with a scowl that held every ounce of anger in his body.
The thug loomed over him. "Are you asking for a fight kid?"
Kuseron lifted his gaze, returning the man's glare. "Maybe I am..."
The thug brandished his dagger near his throat, pressing it near his jugular. "You're pretty stupid kid. Do you know who I am?" Kuseron didn't answer, slamming his palm into the man's stomach, pushing him back with a single thrust. "Do you know who I am?" He whispered, eyes deadly.
The thug grabbed the hilt of his dagger, "You just asked for a whole lot of pain worm."
Kuseron only snorted, "You should know something, I'm not normal. Never was... I was born with—"
Kuseron flinched again, the memory faded, something bringing him back to the present. His red eyes opened and he about jumped out of his skin, eyes wide as he stared into the sightless eyes of Toph. "Hullo? Anyone in there?" Kuseron backed up quickly, breathing heavily.
"Spirits! Toph...!" He groaned, leaning back into one of the cool metal walls, color creeping up his neck. She had been... Very close. The blind girl frowned back at him. "Did I disturb you?" Kuseron rubbed his eyes. No, he felt horrible. Tired too. Extremely tired. Maybe his memories were fuzzy for a reason. Toph stood, walking over to him and she extended a hand quickly. "I brought you some food." He took her hand and was pulled up quickly.
"Thanks." He replied, coming back to sit on the bed that was his. Toph sat down beside him, holding out a tray for him. He took it and devoured the food, hungry too. He made a mental note to return to that memory when he had time. Toph nudged him. "Are you alright? You wouldn't answer me for a while."
"Uh..." He hesitated. "I'm fine. Just was thinking about something."
The girl nodded and stood, walking towards the door. "Just come find me if you need anything."
Kuseron sniffed. "S'alright."
Later. Maybe after his nap. He looked out the window. Had he been meditating that long? It was nighttime. The Shadowbender slipped under the covers, hearing the loud but hard footsteps of Katara. Did she want something? He strained slightly. Who was she talking to?
"This way Aang, You're room is a little more down this hall."
"Where's Kuseron?" A groan followed this. "Did he come with us?"
Katara paused in her walking. "Yeah. He's been resting ever since we got to Chameleon bay. He's completely healed..."
He heard nothing else except the sound of a closing metal door and he curled up. Aang was finally up and about.
Later. Later you idiot...
"—Just stay quiet until we get safely across the ramp, then we'll sink this ship."
Toph let her eyes grow wide. They knew! Why did they have to known? She scowled, stepping up quickly and pointing in the three firebenders general direction. "They know!" She let the alarm slip from her throat quickly. The earthbender slammed her hand into the cold metal, twisting slightly. She heard yelps of surprise as the ramp fell into the water. She ran to the edge and could tell from the vibrations that flowed through the cold metal, that Katara, was bending water between them.
Toph ran to where the Duke and Pipsqueak were, the boat shook vigorously from the impacts of the flaming, oil covered rocks thrown at them. "Load the Toph![1]" She growled. Pipsqueak hefted up a large rock in front of her. She shrunk down to a good enough size and quickly launched it forward.
She heard a satisfying crash from the Fire Nation boat. One of the catapults were down. She gave a small smirk before returning to shooting another rock into the air. The Duke was behind her, probably pretending like he was bending from what she could tell at the moment. She heard a loud crash, the rock of hers had collided with another flaming rock.
The boat shook again when a large metal hook tore into the boat, ripping open a hole for water to seep into. Toph's eyes widened. Kuseron was on the lower levels! What if enough water seeped in to drown him? Toph let out a breathe of relief, Katara froze the hole over and shouted, "I'm going to give us cover!"
She could feel the steam around them, Toph began to relax, until she heard another fireball whizzing towards the boat. Everyone began to run for cover, and she was left alone. She had no idea where the fireball was! Why did people always do this to her? She scowled, ready to tear up the boat to pull a metal shield around her but someone[2] came out of nowhere, she couldn't even tell if this person was a person. The person tackled her around the waist, arms wrapping tightly her waist and she was thrown to the deck near the Duke.
"Aang! No!" Sokka's voice rung out from the boat. She could feel Twinkletoes running across the deck, but Sokka caught up to him.
"You're still hurt! And you have to stay secret. Just let us handle this." Aang walked away, grumbling for a minute before grabbing his staff from the water tribe warrior, "Fine!"
Sokka seemed pleased, until another fireball came and hit the ship. The person who had helped her earlier was gone. She had wondered who had been the one to help her, when everyone had been elsewhere. She stood up quickly, "How we doing?" She asked.
Sokka turned to look at her. "Things couldn't get much worse."
As if a cue, the Sea Serpent from Serpent's pass showed up, letting its bone-rattling screech into the air. Toph mentally cringed at this. Why did Sokka always have to jinx things? He made everything so much worse!
"The Universe just loves proving me wrong, doesn't it?" Sokka had turned to look up at the beast.
She groaned. "You make it too easy!"
The Serpent let out another terrifying screech when a fireball hit the beast. Sokka ran to the edge when it began to attack the ship. "Thank you, the universe."
Toph rolled her glassed over eyes, turning and heading towards the ship's housing unit, down two levels and into Kuseron's room. She could tell he was looking out the window. Kuse sighed sleepily. "Must we always find trouble?" He grumbled, almost incoherently. Toph smiled. He was alright.
"Well Mr. Tall, Dark and Creepy, it's just that we're a little too good for going unnoticed." She replied. The Shadowbender turned to her, chuckling slightly. "When do we ever go unnoticed?"
Kuseron stretched as he made his way to the deck. It was time to get some fresh air. Everyone had left to go out and eat. He had stayed behind, and apparently Aang had as well. The bald monk hadn't been in his room, so he suspected the boy was out for so fresh air as well. The Shadowbender stopped when Chiel popped out of nowhere, running in between his feet. He laughed, "Where are you going?"
His pet Armadillo-wolf ran around his feet before exiting onto the deck. Kuseron lifted his red eyes, spotting Aang. The boy was... running? He gave a momentary sound of surprise before spinning around, slamming a heel into the metal and thrusting his hands forward, his left hand outstretched while his right was pulled in, looking like a hook. Aang was stopped, dead in his tracks.
"Aang! What are you doing?" He hissed. Pinning his feet to the metal with the darkness around them. He was glad the sun had set. This was his prime element, his prime time. Aang twisted his head around, glaring at him. "Let me go Kuseron!" Chiel darted forward and tugged the monk's flying staff out of his hands.
"Hey!" Aang moved after the Shadowbender's pet but Chiel darted away and stood behind him. The monk began to struggle, vainly. He wouldn't stop moving. He was still very fatigued from the earlier breakthrough in his memories, but now, he was focused on keeping Aang where he was.
"Stop it Aang." He muttered, his voice deadly and commanding. The Avatar stopped struggling, looking back at him. "If I release you, will you not go after my pet?"
Aang glared at Chiel for a second before huffing. "Can't promise anything."
Kuseron raised a hand, the shadows engulfing Aang up to his neck. The boy looked like he was striking a pose, running after a leaf or something. "Okay then..." The Darkness released its grasp around the Avatar. Aang landed on his feet lightly. Kuseron crossed his arms. "Where do you think you were going?" He chided coolly.
Aang's blue gaze grew colder. "I'm leaving, to redeem my honor."
Kuseron snorted, "Yeah right. How far do you think you'd get?" He bit back the response. Aang visibly flinched at his tone. "Oh, wait, I know... Not far!" He took the staff from Chiel, who had decided that it was the best time to get away from Kuse. Chiel knew all about Kuseron's times of anger. If that what it should be called.
"You've been injured Aang. We're sorry that you don't like being cooped up like this and we know that you hate the fact that everyone thinks you are dead!" He spat, eyes narrowing dangerously. "I know for a fact what it's like being cooped up, how it feels to think about people you have failed."
He took in a deep breath. He didn't know what he felt, but it felt similar to what he had said. It felt like thousand of years of that. He just... He snapped his gaze down to the markings on his hands. They were strange markings.
He lifted his gaze back to his friend. "I'm not one to incite wisdom here, but... You can't save the world alone. Didn't they teach you that in Avatar school? Besides..." He trailed off for a moment, holding out the staff to Aang. "If you leave, I'm pretty sure someone won't be too happy about it."
Aang looked at his staff before looking back at Kuseron. He could tell the Avatar was thinking about Katara. She meant a whole lot to Aang. "You can go or stay." Aang shifted uncomfortably before reaching out to grab his staff. Kuseron didn't let it go. "I have to reclaim my honor." Aang whispered.
Kuseron couldn't help but sneer. "Doesn't that sound all too familiar." The Avatar looked him squarely in the eye.
He lifted his hand, placing it over his left eye. "I must reclaim my honor by capturing the Avatar." He mimicked the Fire nation Prince's voice perfectly. "Look where it got him." He hissed.
Aang visibly gulped at this but pulled his staff out of the Shadowbender's hand. "I know what I'm doing."
"You're taking the dark path Avatar Aang, turn back while you have a chance." Kuseron whispered.
Aang backed up a few steps before turning away and running off, gone into the distance on his glider before Kuseron could even blink. As if a cue, the others had come back on. Aang was far away now, gone, couldn't even see his small silhouette. Toph walked over to him. "What are you looking at?"
"An enemy, a familiar friend. My beginning and my end, the known truths and the whispered lies..." He replied.
Toph's brows furrowed in confusion. "What?"
"It hurts again. What I fear and what I've tried, Words I say and what I hide. All the pain, I want it to end..." Kuseron turned around, watching Katara run to her father on the deck overhead. Toph peered up at him with a frown. "Heh-low? Anyone in there?" She lightly knocked on his head and he looked down at her.
"Sorry." He replied, brightening up at bit. She was here. That was all that really mattered at the moment. "Soooo? What'cha got for me?" He asked with a small grin.
Toph raised a brow at him suspiciously but held out a bowl of white rice for him. "That's it?" He questioned.
"No, unless this is all you want." Kuseron looked past her, there was a tray in her other hand and it had some nice looking fish on there, with a side of noodles mixed in with some vegetables. He went to reach around her for it, but she pushed him back a step. The Shadowbender looked at her with a frown. "Toph, give it here." He pouted. Which he usually did not do, but his stomach was hungry. It was growling for some food. He moved forward, reaching for the tray but Toph grinned mischievously and metalbended his feet in place.
"Toph!" He cried and looked down at his feet. "That's not fair!" She shrugged a bit, taking the chopsticks in her hand and began to munch on the fish. Kuseron's mouth dropped and he reached forward, a determined look on his face but she simply stepped out of his reach. He flailed for a bit before giving up, and just glaring. Fine. Be that way. Katara came running up after a moment, eyes still fresh from tears she had shed. "Guys, we have to go after Aang." Kuseron turned his head to the water tribe girl, smiling nervously. She looked at him questioningly. "What do you know?"
"Uh... Not much. My memories from earlier is a bit hazy[3]. Matter of fact, a lot of my memories are fuzzy." He grumbled and slowly lowered his gaze at Katara's outraged look. She fumbled for words for a minute before bursting out. "Why did you let him go?" Katara glared at him with eyes as sharp as flint.
"Can't you remember anything?" She grounded out at Kuse.
The Shadowbender shook his head slowly. "No, I'd have to meditate on it Katara. I have these times in life were I don't feel like myself, and when I try to remember what happened, I can't." He muttered gloomily. Toph suddenly grinned. "I could beat it out of him." The Shadowbender looked at her with a scowl. "You are not helping."
"But I think... I think I know which way he went." He said a bit hopefully. Katara wasn't so mad at him now, but she was thinking. Sokka had joined up with them. Kuseron licked his lips. "I have an idea."
"We can leave on Appa to search for Aang, maybe get more insight on the Fire Nation. I mean, we'll have to split from the group but we can meet up with them for the Invasion." He spoke quickly. Sokka and Katara were thinking this over quickly.
"It sounds like a good idea." Sokka said quickly. "That way, they'll be less of a target if the Fire Nation figures out that this ship was captured."
"Alright. Let's go find Aang." The three of them ran off, leaving him there. Kuseron sighed.
"GUYS!"
Toph turned back to him with an ever-growing grin before releasing his feet from the metal that kept him in place. Kuse ran after them. With sudden, quick goodbyes and packing ... They were ready to go. "Which way did Aang go?" Katara asked him. Kuseron faced towards the moon. "That way." He said simply. Not the best directions, but it was a start. Kuseron wasn't sure where they were when the sun had rose. The Shadowbender stretched a bit. Toph was laying against him, unbeknownst to her. She had fallen asleep near him. Apparently, she was a restless sleeper.
He lifted his head, staring down at an island that looked like a crescent moon. He narrowed his eyes slightly, "Why is there a person...?" He trialed off before jumping up, sending Toph into a small fit. Who woke Katara and snapped Sokka out of his sleepy daze. "There! Aang's there!" He cried.
Sokka snapped Appa's reins, who responded and slowly descended towards the ground. Chiel was whining a bit but his tail began to wag happily. Momo took off of Appa and flew down to Aang. Everyone was running up pretty quickly, except him, he was still on new terms with everyone, excluding Toph. Kuseron slowly walked to them. "You're okay!" Katara cried, sliding across the volcanic ground and into a quick hug for Aang. Sokka and Toph joined the two and Kuseron did too, albeit he didn't like it.
He wasn't a hugger. Simple as that. The hug was over quickly and Kuseron stood slowly while the others stayed down. "I have so much to do." Aang whispered with a frown.
"I know, but you'll have our help." Katara murmured.
Toph was grinning. "You didn't think you'd get out of training by coming to the fire nation did you?"
Aang looked to him. Kuseron nodded in response, although, if anyone else had been looking at him, they would have seen that his eyes were glassed over. Aang gave him a quizzically look before turning to Sokka. Kuseron's eyes returned to normal. "What about the invasion?"
"We'll join my dad and the invasion force on the day of the Eclipse." Sokka replied.
Kuseron blinked as he saw Aang's glider appear. Toph was frowning. "Hey? What's this? Oh it's your glider." She muttered as everyone began to stand. Aang shrugged at this. "That's okay. If someone saw it. It would give away my identity." Aang looked forlorn.
The Shadowbender knew that this was something he was going to have to give up, even if Aang didn't want to. "It's better for now, that no one knows I'm alive." The monk leapt upwards and landed on a small rock that was venting gases and spewing lava. Aang spun his staff around before placing it in the lava. It was an honorable sacrifice.
"Tell me why again, why are we a really fast cloud on a windless day?" Kuseron grumbled. This was absurd, like everything else they did. Nobody answered him of course... Well, that was because only he and Aang were awake at the moment. The airbender looked back at him. "Don't worry Kuseron, no one's going to see us." The Shadowbender sighed, glancing down at Toph, who had, again, fell asleep and then rolled over to his side. "I like subtle, it's better than this..." He muttered.
Aang gave him a small smile. "Subtle can be your thing, but our thing is just going at it however we can."
Kuseron narrowly avoided one of Toph's hands as she flopped again, snuggling into his side. He couldn't help but reddened ever so slightly... He wasn't sure what he was going to do. Aang was facing the ocean again, but he spoke to him and not the wind. "Thanks." The Shadowbender raised a brow. "For what?"
"You pointed me to the right path," Aang paused. "I probably would have ended up getting myself hurt again if I hadn't pulled myself from the path I was going along..."
Kuseron blinked his blood red eyes. What was he talking about? He kept the question to himself, but quietly replied. "No problem."
Kuseron could see through the cloud that they were coming across islands, and everyone was beginning to wake up. Sokka had been feigning sleep, because he was up and wary as they began to cross into Fire nation territory once again.
Toph snuggled against his side again before stretching her legs out and yawning, a sign that she was finally waking. "Cozy?" Kuse asked softly. The earthbender stopped and turned to look in his direction. The blush on her cheeks could not be hidden, he had seen it now. Kuseron chuckled lightly. "Don't worry. I promise not to tell anyone that you were snuggling against me." She jabbed him in the ribs but hardly flinched, still grinning.
"I think I see a cave below." Aang muttered as they began to descend. Sokka looked at Aang angrily, "Shhh!" He crawled over to Appa's head and looked Aang dead in the eye. "Keep Quiet!"
Aang quickly airbended the cloud away, making some birds squawk in protest. Sokka jumped off first and pressed himself against a rock, glaring to his right. "Nice job with the cloud cameo," He looked at the rest of them. "But next time let's be a cloud that knows how to keep its mouth shout."
Kuseron leapt down on the ground, Chiel leapt down after him. The Armadillo-wolf was too big to be put in his bag now. Chiel sniffed the ground before sneezing. "Yeah, we wouldn't want a bird hear us chatting up there and turn us in." Toph muttered dryly. Sokka looked at her, his eyes twitching. "Hey!" He put his hands out slightly. "We're in enemy territory," He pointed up at the four birds that had flocked up above his head. "Those are enemy birds."
Kuseron snorted. "Yeah. Harmless enemy birds if you ask me." One leapt down onto Sokka's head and squawked. The others laughed besides Sokka, who's face contorted with anger. They broke off towards the Cave entrance, but Sokka, being the idiot... He leapt over the four of them, landing on his face but he pushed up and glanced around warily. The Shadowbender rolled his eyes. This was going to be a long week.
"Ok. So this is how we will be living until the invasion begins." Sokka was smiling contently at everyone. "Hiding in cave, after cave..." He head sunk down a little here. "After cave..." His head sunk a little more. "After cave." His head dropped and the boy stared at the ground.
Wow. He rolled his eyes again, patting Chiel lightly on the head as he watched the nutcase. "Sokka. We don't need to become cave people." Katara chided diplomatically. "What we need is some new clothes."
"Yeah," Aang placed his hands on his waist. "Blending in is better than hiding out." The monk spoke a better plan than Sokka's. Kuseron smirked to himself. "If we get Fire nation disguises, we'll be just as save as if we were hiding out in a cave."
Kuseron sat down beside Chiel as Aang spoke, leaning into his furry buddy as he watched. "Plus," Toph was sitting down between two rocks. "They have real food out there." She shook her head, putting a hand out in a 'Really?' kind of manner. "Does anyone else want to sit in the dirt and eat cave-hoppers?"
Toph slammed a fist into the wall, a bunch of white crickets hopped out of nowhere in particular. Momo dove for one and caught it, munching on the thing before looking back at everyone. The winged lemur spat the hopper out and Sokka frowned. "Looks like we got out voted sport." Sokka looked at everyone else. "Let's get some new clothes."
Kuseron didn't move as everyone began to file out of the cave. Toph stopped to look back at him. "Aren't you coming Mr. Dark?" The rest of the Gaang stopped, questioning glances at him quickly.
"Don't need new clothes. I'll fit in perfectly." He pointed down at his garments.
He had been wearing Black, red and some gold since he had been little. He wouldn't have to change clothes. There was no point in doing so... "You should come along anyways, we're going to town." Aang mused. The Shadowbender shrugged a shoulder and stood. Whatever.
They crossed over the island and came across outfits that were out in the open. Kuseron raised a brow slightly, "Huh. Must've been born in the Fire Nation..." He muttered to himself. Sokka looked at him, raising a brow. "Now that you mention it, you're clothes does seem really similar to that one..." The water tribe boy pointed across at some outfit. Thanks, Captain Obvious.
"I don't know about this. These are somebody's clothes." Aang muttered.
Katara was gone quickly. "I call the silk robe!"
Aang was a bit more hesitant but shrugged, "But if it essential to our survival... I call the suit!"
Kuseron walked through the outfits, ignoring them as he went along. He had no real reason to get new clothes. Although, the ones he had now were a bit worn... He stopped by the exact same clothes as the ones he wore now, looking between everything and then plucked it off. He pulled darkness around him and quickly changed, placing his old clothes on the hooks and then walked over to the man, placing a bag of coins on the deck quietly. He had found a stash of Fire nation money on the ship. Kudos for him.
He came up behind Toph as she was speaking. "Hmm... I should really wear shoes, but then I won't be able to see." She looked like she was contemplating a few things before she sat down, and pulled on the shoe. "Sorry shoes!" One sole flew straight into Sokka's face. The boy had a nice red mark on his face. Kuseron snickered a bit.
Toph stood and moved her feet a bit. "Finally, a stylish shoe for the blind Earthbender." She mused.
Katara came walking up, looking like the goddess he had met at the Earth King's party. Aang blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "How do I look?" Katara asked with a small smile.
"Oh... Uh..." Aang ruined the chance for himself. "Your mother's necklace."
Katara looked down and frowned slowly. "Oh. Yeah. I guess it's obviously water tribe."
She removed the necklace and began to put it in a pocket but He stepped forward. "Hold on Sweetcheeks..." He took the necklace from her hand, she glanced at him skeptically. Kuseron turned her around, pulling out the hair band she was currently using at the moment and replaced it with her water tribe necklace. "There. Nobody will be able to tell its there." He tucked the small trinket behind her hair. Katara faced him, "Thanks."
They made their way to the city, where they bought small trinkets to replace the ones for hair and neck. Katara bought a new necklace, Sokka bought a pin to hold his hair up in and Toph bought what could only be describe as a tiara to him. Kuseron was busy looking at some instruments, but he was pulled aside into an alleyway. They were discussing names. "We need different names." Sokka muttered.
Kuseron spoke first. "You can call me Kue." He muttered.
Sokka looked at him. "Kue? Why Kue?"
"Because it's short for Kue'sorn. That was my... Father's name." Kuseron replied with a small frown. He had found out on the boat, that he had once had a family. His father's name had been Kue'sorn. He had been named after his father. The letters had been rearranged.
"I thought you didn't have a family." Toph muttered.
"I thought so too." Kuseron grumbled.
Aang decided to butt in. "I used to visit my friend Kuseon here, a hundred years ago," He paused, looking out into the courtyard. "So everyone follow me lead and stay cool. Or as they say in the fire nation, 'Stay flaming'."
Kuseron lifted a brow. Right. That was a hundred years ago bud. Nevertheless, he followed after the four with his trademark scowl.
"Greetings! My good hotman." Aang mused as he passed a man eating something off a stick. Sokka shrugged as he passed the man. The man watched them, "Uhm... Hi. I guess." Kuseron stopped, looking at the man. "He's a bit excited, it's his first time away from the colonies." He muttered and walked away.
They stopped outside a restaurant, and Aang was obviously displeased. "Oh. We're going to a meat place?"
Kuseron rolled his eyes. Right, he forgot... Aang was a freaking vegetarian. Sokka shrugged. "C'mon Aang, everyone here eats meat... Even the meat." Kuseron saw a cow-hippo eat some kind of animal meat. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know.
"You guys go ahead. I'll go get lettuce out of the garbage." Aang was left alone as everyone else filed into the restaurant.
Kuseron sat down at one of the tables. He wasn't that hungry in the first place. Everyone quickly ate and then turned to go back out. When they exited, Katara quietly spoke. "Where's Aang?"
"Twinkletoes is probably roaming around the market. We'll split up and see if we can find him." Toph mused.
And so they split up. Toph tagged along with him. He wasn't really searching for Aang, wasn't really worried for the kid. Even if Aang was technically his elder. Right now, he was the eldest of the group. He was 15. Somehow, he knew that someone else would join their group that would be older than him.
"Kuse?" Toph mused as they stopped by a small fountain. Kuseron glanced at her before looking down at his reflection. "Yeah?"
He knew what was coming. She was probably going to ask about his family... He hardly knew anything from the memory he had seen, so he knew little. "I thought you grew up on the streets, why are you revealing now, that you had a family?"
Kuseron walked forward again. "I thought I didn't have a family, but I've been having dreams, premonitions of them. I only found out a little while ago," He sighed. "Been meditating on it for a while, but nothing comes around."
Toph grunted in response but said nothing negative to him. "Why don't you remember them?"
Kuseron shook his head, stopping at an instrument stall. "I don't know why..." He began to browse through the instruments. Fascinating... He had a knack for music. Kuseron pulled out a bag of money, looking down at one of the Lutes. "How much for this Lute, kind sir?" The man turned to him and smiled as he crossed over to him. The Lute was a fretted, eight-string instrument with violin-style tuning pegs, it's struts looked like the head and neck of a dragon. It was a nice Lute, vaguely reminded him of his friend's Lyre.
"Why this Lute is 5 gold pieces son." Kuseron dipped his head in acknowledgment. He picked the Lute up, strumming down the strings. It was a dreamy note that escaped it. He smiled softly. It would be nice to have something like this. "Alright, here." He held out 5 gold pieces to the man. The transaction was made and he took the Lute with a small happy air to himself. Toph was watching him in confusion.
"It's for a hobby, I can't really be a thief around here, now can I?" He mused softly.
The Earthbender shook her head. "Then where did you get the bag of money?"
He shushed her and they took off back to where they began. Sokka and Katara were waiting for them. "You bought a musical instrument instead of looking for Aang?" Sokka asked, he looked dumbstruck. Kuseron gave a small shrug, he really did not care.
"It's not going to matter, let's just go back home." Katara muttered half-heartedly.
They returned to the cave that they were prematurely calling home. Kuseron leaned into his furry buddy, Chiel licked his hand before he sat down, and began to play the Lute. The music was beautiful, once he had the hang of it. [If you want to know what he was playing: watch?v=0WRrFWQzipk&feature=related ]
Kuseron sighed placing his Lute away after a time. Now he was slightly worried as to where Aang was. The Airbender was missing. It was almost nighttime.
He almost jumped when he heard what sounded like a zooming something... The Shadowbender lifted his head to the entrance of the cave and raised his eyebrows in surprise. Aang was a mess and well, he looked tired out. "Where have you been?" Katara was looking at the monk with a frown. "We've been worried sick!"
"I got invited to play with some kids after school." Aang replied. Kuseron's mouth dropped open. School? What? What was wrong with this picture? Aang had gone to school? School? Of all the things he could have done? School? Everyone must have been agreeing with his shocked face because they were equally surprised as well. Sokka, who had been laying down, was suddenly up like a plank. "After what?" He cried.
Aang was exceedingly happy about this. "I enrolled myself in a fire nation school." He placed his hands on his hips. "And I'm going back tomorrow."
Sokka gripped his head. "ENROLLED IN WHAT?" The boy fell backwards in a slight faint.
Kuseron rolled his eyes and began to pick at the Lute again, humming under his breath. "Let him live a little, besides he might learn something." He picked lightly at the strings, playing minor chords. Sokka was back up and everyone was situated to talk to him, he was leaning against Toph's rock seat, picking at the chords.
"Aang, I'm trying to be mature and not immediately shoot down your idea," Sokka paused. "But it sounds really terrible."
"Yeah. We got our outfits. What do you need to go to school for?" Toph asked.
Kuseron grinned to himself, lifting his head from the lute to look at Aang. "Hey, he can at least make up for the education I missed when I was little." Sokka glared at him. Katara blinked. Toph grinned slowly at his remark. "Every minute I'm in that classroom, I'm learning new things about the Fire nation. I already have a picture of Fire Lord Ozai." Aang pulled out a picture of the man. Kuseron shied away from the picture slightly, messing up his Lute music as he did. The Shadowbender scowled. Fear was a nasty thing. "And here's one I made out of noodles."
He couldn't help but chuckle. Sokka glared at the picture skeptically. "Impressive, I admit..." Sokka put a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "But I still think it's too dangerous."
"Well I guess then we'll never learn about the secret river..." Aang said slyly. Kuseron grinned. That was thief tactics right there. "It goes right to the Firelord's palace, we were supposed to learn about it in class tomorrow."
Sokka went into deep thought for a few minutes. "I am a fan of secret rivers..." He narrowed his blue eyes. "Ok. I guess we can stay for a few more days."
Aang stood triumphantly. "Flame-o Hotman!" He cried into the open air. Kuseron paused in his music, blinking a few times to understand this concept of 'Flame-o'. He shook his head after a moment. Whatever. It's not like I need to know. He strummed down the strings before sighing, leaning his head into Toph's leg. She looked down at him, even if it served her no purpose. "What's Flame-o mean?" She mused softly.
Kuseron grunted. "Don't know..." He stood and crossed over to Chiel, where he sat down into his friend and curled into the furry beast, slowly falling asleep.
He wasn't sure how long he had slept that day, but he and Toph were the only two in the cave when he woke. He stretched out with a yawn. "What did I miss?"
Toph lifted her head. "Well Aang seems to have gotten into trouble when he went to school today. Katara and Sokka went to the school to act like his parents... You can ask them yourselves when they get here." The blind earthbender leaned into her rock chair and closed her eyes. "Are you alright Toph?" He asked, rolling across the floor and over to her side.
She looked down at him. "I'm fine. It's just a bit boring."
He pushed himself up a bit on his elbows, frowning a bit. "Do you—"
He was cut off rudely when Sokka, Katara and Aang appeared out of thin air. Sokka was bristling with a... Fake beard? Kuseron raised a brow and watched the new scene unfold. "That's it young man! No more school for you!" Sokka cried, stroking his beard.
Aang frowned. "I'm not ready to leave. I'm having fun for once," He kicked a small pebble. "Being a real kid. You don't know what it's like Sokka. You get to be normal, all the time..."
Kuseron grinned. That was below the belt. Insulting Sokka's nonbending abilities... Toph too, grinned. "Ha-ah~" She said in a sing-song voice. Sokka glared at her. "Listen guys. Those kids at school are the future of the Fire Nation, if we want to change this place for the better, we need to show them a little bit of freedom." Aang muttered.
Kuseron picked up his Lute, strumming a few chords. "And what do you think we should do?" He asked, lifting his blood red gaze to the Air Nomad.
Sokka shrugged. "Yeah. What could you do for a country of depraved little Fire Monsters...?"
Aang did a little step dance as he spoke. "I'm going to throw them a secret dance party!" The Shadowbender sputtered and messed up his music, looking up at Aang again. "This guy says, What?"
Sokka lifted a hand, slightly angry by his look. "Go to your room!"
This was so sad... He hardly paid any attention to the argument that ensued, well, until his name popped up. "And Kuseron could play his Lute along with the band!" The Shadowbender plucked at another chord, trying to ignore the glares. Then, with a yelp, he fell backwards as the rock chair disappeared. Toph grinned slightly at him. They were already setting up for the Party... Why are we going through this?
He sighed. "Do I have to play?" He grumbled.
The Shadowbender didn't have a choice in the matter...
"I can't believe we're having a dance party," Sokka trailed off for a moment, frowning. "It seems so... Silly." He shrugged.
The Avatar turned to Sokka with a bright smirk. "Don't think of it as a dance party," He paused. Kuseron couldn't help but snicker as Aang began to do a little dance again. "Think of it as a cultural event celebrating the art of fancy footwork."
Toph froze and looked at everyone else. "Everyone stop bending! They're coming."
Kuseron took up a position on the stage, but drew shadows around him, just to wait and watch. The band filed onto the stage and Kuseron found himself beside another Lute player, but she couldn't see him. He smirked slightly as they began to play, playing his own melody that fit rather perfectly with it. The Girl beside him blinked as she tried to figure out where the other Lute was coming from but only turned her attention to Aang as he announced them. "Ladies and Gentlemen! The Flame-os!"
"Yeah... This ought to get everyone moving..." Nobody was moving. Aang turned around to face the crowd.
One boy stepped forward, a frown on his face. "Now what do we do?"
"This is when you start dancing." Aang replied with a beaming smile.
One boy shrunk into his uniform slightly, "I don't think my parents would want me dancing in a cave."
Another boy hopped forward. "Yeah! What if someone finds out?" What a bunch of wimps... Kuseron sighed to himself, keeping to the music he was playing. What was Aang going to do?
"Oh boy..." The Air nomad rubbed his head. "Look guys, dancing isn't something you think about. It's a form of self expression that no one can ever take away from you."
"Maybe it was different in the colonies Kuseon, but we don't do that here." One boy mumbled.
Aang frowned, but spoke again. "Sure you do..." He threw his hands up. "You have for generations. It so happens that I know several classic Fire Nation dances."
Aang began to do some fancy footwork alright... "A Hundred years ago, this was called the Phoenix Flight." He looked like one of those lizards that ran across the ground on its two back feet.
"And this..." He went side to side doing whatever the thing was. "Was the chamelephant strut."
Kuseron rose from his shadows, surprising the other girl, but he only flashed her a sweet smile, strumming on his Lute as he watched the Air Nomad dance more. There was mixed reactions from the crowds. The girls were giggling and the boys were absolutely in awe.
Aang flipped over to one girl and took her hand, pulling her along into the middle where he began to do a typical Earth Kingdom dance. He knew it well because it was often sported in the palace... "And this is how they do it in the ballrooms of Ba Sing Se." The girl joined him and Kuseron caught Katara looking a bit jealous. Others began to join in slowly. "Yeah! That's it... That's the sound of happy feet."
"Alright! Go with that!" Aang cried.
Kuseron slipped away from the stage. He didn't want to play Lute for the whole time. It would seem a bit absurd of him to stand there like an idiot. He walked over to where Toph was. "Hey." He said with a smile. Toph looked up at him. "What's up?" He rolled his eyes. "I think you know why I'm here." He mused lightly, placing his Lute down.
Toph shook her head. "I can't dance." She replied.
He took her hand and pulled her up onto her feet. "So? Just stand on top of my toes..."
The blind girl blushed slightly and took his other hand, stepping gingerly on top of his feet. He chuckled slightly, swaying to the music. "See? You can dance." He teased slightly. Toph looked at him prudently before leaning her head into his chest. "Thanks." She murmured softly. He almost didn't catch it.
"No problem..." He remarked.
Although, the dance ended quickly, because the teachers had showed up. It was such a rush and blur... Kuseron hardly had time to grab his Lute, be he was still able too of course.
They were in air quite quickly. Katara was glaring across at her brother. "We're safe now Sokka... You can take the mustache off now."
Sokka began to stroke the beard. "Oh no, I can't... It's permanently glued to my skin."
Kuseron snickered to himself before tugging on the beard as hard as he could. Chiel made an effort to help him by pulling on his shirt. Sokka's beard popped off with a loud scream from him. Everyone laughed. The Shadowbender put the mustache to his face and pursed his lips. "Look how much of a doofus I am!" He mocked his friend lightly before throwing the beard into the air, Sokka tried to go after it but he missed it and the beard was gone.
"Way to go dancypants." Toph mused. "I think you really did help those kids. You taught them to be free." She turned to look at him. Kuseron grinned to himself, unbeknownst to the others. Aang shrugged half-heartedly. "I don't know, it was just a dance party after all."
"Well that was some dance party Aang." Katara crawled over to the monk and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Kuseron let a smile tug his lips upwards, he strummed on his Lute a bit, picking up a slow tune. Sokka was clapping. "Flame-o sir, Flame-o."
Kuseron ran a hand through his hair, as Toph crawled over to him and sat down beside him. "You're really good at that." She murmured.
He looked down at her. "Thanks. I think..." He trailed off for a moment. "I think my Mother used to play."
The blind girl frowned at this but curled up against him. Maybe... Kuseron set his Lute aside, the others were already falling asleep as well. He slipped his arm around Toph, who smiled slightly in her slightly sleepy self. The Shadowbender took in a deep breath before leaning his head against hers.
This was the beginning of a relationship, well sought out...
[1] After watching the first episode many times over, I could only decipher that Toph said 'Load the Toph'. It is what it sounds like to me, but if one of you guys know what she actually says, don't be afraid to tell me! I don't bite... Much.
[2] This was Kuseron's doing, but it wasn't actually him at the same time... He was on the deck during the whole scene with the Fire Nation ship, because well... Who could sleep through all that racket? Kuseron had manipulated the Shadows into the form of a person and helped Toph not get hurt.
[3] Kuseron has fuzzy memories for a reason. He's a Shadowbender for a reason. I'm make this all to intricate, but I will explain a bit now. My lovely Oc harbors a dark spirit inside him. His spirit and the other spirit often fight for control, the other spirit, which I am now dubbing MURMUR, usually wins a lot. So Kuseron is going to have to go through the process of discovering this spirit and discovering who he really is and why he is a Shadowbender. There. All of it in a nutshell.
Love it, Hate it, Review it... IDC it. Stuff it up where the sun doesn't shine for all I care. [Lol. I'm rude...] And it is rated T for a reason. There will be language in future chapters.
THANKS!
