Maude

Welcome, Welcome

"This is delicious. I didn't even know this sort of food existed. What is this? I think I'm going to cry. My mouth is crumbling to ash. I demand to become best friends with your cook." Between each bite, Maude made it her duty to say one of these several sentences.

"I'm glad you think so. But it's probably just the lack of nutrition that's making you feel so thankful for edible substance-"

"Shut up. Don't repel my lovely compliments. It's splendid, really. Spectacular. Superb. Sumptuous. Stately. Sublime-"

"Now you've really got to shut up. Honestly, your mind has no limit. That's going to be useful," he grinned.

"Thanks Marshmallow."

"Any time."

"So, what do I get to do?"

"What are you good at?"

"Um. I have sufficient sketching skills. Math and stuff. I.. I don't know."

"We can work on that. As for a job, we're going on a mission tomorrow night. Art, Winnie, Navy, Nox, Melisande and Myself. If you think you can help, you can come along."

"That sounds very serious. I'd like to- but I'd probably just screw it up," she replied glumly. Before he could reply he was rather enthusiastically interrupted.

"Ohh! Who's this, Marv?" a girl about the same age as them both skipped over.

"Maude, this is Colette. Colette, this is Maude," he sighed, suddenly Marvelow looked years older.

"Pleasure," Colette grinned, throwing herself at Maude with a generous hug. Awkwardly, Maude patted her on the back.

"Likewise." "So, how long have you been here? Marv never tells me about these things, we get new people all the time- and I dont even know they're new until months after when I meet them! Of course, by then they're not actually new-"

"Col, stop it."

"Oh. Sorry," she apologized dramatically and collapsed into the chair next to them.

"So what do you do here?" Maude asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"I help. You know, with so many smelly young adults the stench can get really awful here sometimes, so I do the laundry, I clean and organize, I help with the cooking-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Maude stopped her, "Did you make this?" she pointed at her soup.

"Oh! Yeah, I didn't know that was for you-"

"-This is the most filling, mouth watering, inexplicably, lip-smacking, melt-in-your-mouth delectable dish I've every consumed in my life. Thank you." Maude bowed her head.

"Oh! No one's ever complimented my food before! I feel so loved.." she went on.

"Anyways!" Marvelow eventually finished her off.

"Maude, I think you should come tomorrow night. It's only a small mission. We're going to sort of prank the Fire Lord's leading Council Member's seventy second birthday party."

"Oh, that doesn't sound small at all. What's the prank?"

"Winnie is going to rig their fountains up to a hand controlled device and it's going to flood the gardens and the main halls." "Wow, all those lovely dresses and gowns will be ruined," Colette lamented.

"Well, er, I suppose I could do something.."

"Great, I'll talk to you tonight about it."

"Why not now?" Maude asked.

"I have a sort of agenda, or, well, Maeve has an agenda," he explained, standing up from the table and nodding at them.

"Who's Maeve?" she directed at them both.

"Marv!" somebody from across the room walked over, or rather strutted. With her Creamy black hair swishing behind her in a high pony tail, and her toffee colored eyes glittering, she really rather collectedly made herself known by planting a massive kiss on his lips and linking her arms around his neck to which he responded with much enthusiasm.

After (long, long after), she introduced herself as Maeve and dragged him away.

"That's Maeve." Colette spat bitterly.

"O-oh. I didn't know he had somebody-"

"-He's had PLENTY of somebodies. Maeve was quite the surprise though, I actually didn't believe he could stoop so low," she explained.

"I'm such an idiot.." Maude put her head in her hands.

"Oh sweetie, don't tell me you were interested in him. Honestly, he's just a magnet," Colette said the last part to herself.

"Oh god.." Maude moaned, lifting her head up.

"It's fine, there are loads of other incredibly good looking guys here!"

"Oh, no its not like I was looking for anyone.. Uh.. He was just really-"

"No, trust me dear, let me explain, you don't want to make the same mistake twice." Colette paused, took a deep breath, and continued: "There's Timothy, though he's a bit emotionless, Tru, who'll steal everything from you, Oliver, he's pretty attractive actually, and really thoughtful, Navy, oh wait.. No he's dating Nox, they've been together for a very long time, and Felix, oh, wait, Felix is actually thirteen. Never mind. Also, forget Tru, he's not available either."

"Why not? Who's his girlfriend?" Maude asked.

"Oh, no one really..." Colette continued.

She could see where this was going, and so Maude pressed on. "Is that so? Do continue."

Colette squirmed. "Okay, fine! I sort of maybe am a little bit in love with him," she snapped.

"Ohh, who's Col in love with?" a guy their age with spiky, shocking red hair sat down across from them in Marv's previous seat.

"Nobody. I didn't think there were gingers here," Maude covered smoothly.

"Speak for yourself."

"Yes, well I'm not from here."

"Where are you from? And who are you anyways?" he asked rudely.

"I'm Maude. And you're Tru?" she assumed.

"In the flesh," he grinned. "So Col, who's the lucky guy?"

"Nobody, unlike yourself, Maude has the human capacity to tell the truth," she retorted.

"Wow, that's funny. Your name is Tru, and you can only lie? So-" she paused. "Are you actually named Tru?" Maude scrunched up her brow.

"I don't only lie..." he trailed as he stood up again.

"I steal too," he concluded, and produced The tie to the red robe Maude wore with a childish grin. He dropped it on the table and ran out of the dining hall before Colette could scold him.

"What on earth do you see in him?" she wondered after some time.

Florence

Hot and Cold

"Listen, uh, my dad isn't like me, or- I hope he isn't. You just need to know that now. Before- or whenever you meet him. It might be a while, he's got a lot of.. Work."

"Alright," she nodded to him, inspecting his expression; a vague mixture of worry, warning and weariness.

"I know you'll like it there," he put his head on his crossed arms to gaze up at her.

"How? Tell me," she wondered.

"It's cold there, and that's sort of a put off, but when you take a while to look at the scenery, you see the tall ice buildings and snow sculptures, the Water Tribe also happens to have a huge selections of plants and flowers," the corner of his mouth turned and he gazed off in a stupor.

"Cara loves flowers, but she'll never talk about her interest in them. She and Maude know the names to so many, sometimes they had contests on who could remember the most species without repeating one," Florence noted. "Oh. That was really depressing. Still, tell me more, what are your favorite flowers?"

He looked at her unsurely, confused by her sudden enthusiasm. "I like Crystal Lace and Ice Blooms," he said slowly.

"They sound extravagant! How many times have you been to the Water Tribe?"

"Only once. I've been to the Fire Nation Colonies, and the outskirts of Ba Sing Se, though never the Water Tribe Cities until a few weeks ago, after the Tribe had been conquered," his voice dulled. "I've really only seen the pictures of those flowers. They're sort of similar to Fire Lilies, so I can imagine."

"Well when we have some free time I'm sure we can go check them out," she smiled at him and he shifted his chin to smile just as happily back.

She looked away to see Cara stalk out of the room, immediately she turned to look at Nico, who seemed rather unaffected. Minutes later, Nico made some announcement over the sound-resonating intercom, and Cara came right back in without anything to remark.

They remained quiet, and soon Cara notified them they were allowed to talk (almost as an order) so they couldn't help but do exactly that.

"Where are we going to stay?" Florence asked idly.

"I'll try an sort out somewhere for us, honestly, I don't think I can spend time around my father right now."

"Anything is alright for Cara." Flo looked up again. "Speaking of.." she paused. "Where's Cara?" she called across the room.

"Reading or something," Nico replied.

Flo raised her eyebrows. Where could there be books on an army ship? "I think I'm going to go have a look for her," she cut short. "Where is she reading?" Flo wondered, loudly again.

"A couple rooms down from her own." She nodded, taking this into account, and hopped off her stool. Once out the doors, she made a mental map in her head of the ship and then, once at the porthole, knocked lightly.

"Come in."

"Hi," she smiled as she closed the slab of iron behind her.

"Hey," Cara replied, setting down her book.

"What is this room?" she inquired, gazing at the tall shelves and the paintings.

"I think it belongs to the jerk steering this boat."

"Riiiight. Sort of messy, isn't it?" she commented.

"I've always felt more at home in a messy environment," Cara shrugged and patted the spot on the bed beside her. "Come sit down," she instructed.

On her way to the bed, she picked up a couple pillows to sit up on.

"So, you were getting pretty comfortable with Landon just a few minutes ago, no?" Cara questioned. She tapped her fingers on the hard cover of the book, as if she wanted to get the conversation out of the way immediately.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh come on, drop the shit, you like him. Like, you like like him." She paused and snorted. "I can't believe I just said that, I sounded like a thirteen year old girl," and then she furrowed her brow. "I can't believe I just compared myself to a thirteen year old girl."

"I like like Landon about as much as you like like Nico."

"Lie of the century. Seriously, you know you cant lie to me. How many years has it been? Six? Honestly Flo."

"Well, I mean, he's very sweet. And he smells nice. You could say.. I have growing interest in him."

Cara choked on what could only have been the air and burst into giggles. It took several moments for her to calm, and when she finally did she shrugged and admitted; "Fine, I can see where this is going. I'll drop it if you're going to be in denial."

"Denial about what?" Flo pressed stonily.

"Precisely."

"What are you reading?" she wondered.

"An Overview of Water Tribe Metalwork. It's really interesting. They haven't progressed to automatons or proper electricity, but they know how to make gears move. Wow. I haven't checked my cell phone since last week. I'll never get to again- since it's burned down with the rest-" she stopped in realization of what she was about to say. "Sorry, Flo," she muttered.

"It's fine, there's no reason to be sad," Cara looked at her like she was crazy.

"They didn't find a body, did they? Maude is clearly still alive."

"Oh not this again-" Cara held her breath.

"We're going to find her, after this is over. I know she's still alive," Flo concluded.

"Right, sure. Don't you have a boyfriend to get back to?" Cara grumbled in not all of a teasing way.

"If you want me to, I'll go. See you later Cara."

"Yeah, dinner or something. Whatever." Florence stood and brushed off her long tunic, glared at Cara, who glared just as meaningfully back, and left swiftly. Mumbling to herself through the halls, she found herself standing outside, at the front of the rapidly moving ship, the black metal rough under her shoes.

She walked over to the tip and leaned on the rail, taking in the spray and the sun and the vastness of the deep blue ocean. She thought about her cottage in Canada, where she owned her very own boat and where she'd jump off cliffs everyday.

Did she miss it? Yes, she most definitely did. But did she regret finding the valve, really? Did she? No, Maude wasn't actually dead, she was sure of it- and never in her life did she picture herself going on an adventure quite like this. She sighed deeply.

"May I join you?" she heard a voice and spun around.

"That all depends," she settled for.

"On what, if I might ask?"

"How about, a riddle? Which is faster, hot or cold?" she inquired. He thought for a moment.

"Hot," was Landon's final answer. "You can catch a cold."

She smiled at him bashfully. "Well done. Yes you may join me."

Cara

Sort of Strange

She let out a deep, dramatic and very audible breath and she shut her eyes. They'd woken up really early, and she'd decided that she was never and never would be a morning person.

Cara was tired, it was not much surprise to her when she fell into a sound sleep. She wasn't so big on dreams either, at least she didn't have as many dreams as Flo or Maude would usually have.

Though in this slumber she could see shelves of books, not like the ones in this room, and a specific paper, she could make out seldom sentences throughout reading all those novels like; three leaving ten, and one hundred thirteen. She was shaken awake by a jerk of the ship.

"Ugh." she wiped her eyes and pushed herself out from under the blankets. Dreams hadn't been pleasant for her since she was young. She'd often envied Maude and Flo's reoccurring typical romantic or adventurous 'Alice in Wonderland' dreams.

"Of course I leave for ten minutes and some first time idiot almost kills us," somebody mumbled. She looked around her.

"Oh, you," she muttered.

"You've woken up."

"No I haven't."

"Hysterical."

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm writing a letter," he replied bluntly.

"To who?"

"When was it decided that I would share every personal shard of my life with you?" he asked.

"Okay, okay. Why didn't you wake me up then? If you like privacy so damn much," she coerced.

"You looked perfectly fine there."

"Creep."

"I wasn't watching you sleep!" he claimed.

"Then you should have woken me up!"

"Well then, I'll remember that for next time."

"What next time?" she snapped.

"Never mind!" they stayed like that for a moment.

"Don't you want me to leave or something?"

"Stay or go, I don't care."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"I'll just stay here."

"Okay." She picked up her book. He picked up his paint brush. She did try, really, to stay quiet just for a little bit, but- "Do you not have other writing utensils? Only paint brushes?" she wondered.

"How long have you been here for?" he asked incredulously.

"A few days."

"I'm talking about this world."

"I am too."

"Alright. Uh, no, we don't."

"Do you actually use it for painting as well?"

"Where are you really from?" he demanded.

"I asked first," she retorted.

"Yes, I do use it for painting."

"Are you any good?" she wondered.

"No, you have to answer mine now."

"When was that ever established?"

"What- but-"

"Okay, I'm from Toronto. It's in Canada. You haven't heard of it."

"Huh. Well, I think I'm pretty good at painting actually," he decided after some thought.

"Can I see your art?"

"Nah. Can I see your home city?"

"Maybe when I can find it again, that all matters on something else entirely. You're sort of odd," she said, standing up and walking over to lean against a book shelf.

"You're sort of peculiar."

"Bizarre."

"Uncanny."

"Eccentric."

"Offbeat."

"Puzzling."

"Curious."

"Uncommon."

"Irregular."

"Fine, you win."

He grinned triumphantly.

"Well then, I suppose I'll let you get back to your twirly calligraphy."

"That sounds funnily referred to as if it were only a female pass time..." he trailed.

"How could you say that? Why, by my spirits, would I dare call you girly?"

"I have no idea in the slightest." It was her turn to grin.

"You're kind of perplexing," he sighed, frowning.

"You're kind of atypical," was what she managed to shoot back as she stepped out the porthole.

Cara's memory drifted from wavy haired quick wits to her dream. One hundred thirteen. Why did that number make her want to curl up in her mum's arms? Why was she thinking of her mum? Because she bloody missed her, idiot, she told herself. It had been a while. She wondered if her family was worried. How many people would be searching for them when they were off on a manic adventure with some practically strangers in an ongoing war?

She cursed a few times under her breath, at one point it was because she'd stubbed her toe, but mostly to vent. She hadn't properly vented in a while. And actually, she wasn't sure how to do so exactly. Cara made a decision in that moment, to change back into her thick combat boots, and to not ever think about her family until she had a single chance at getting home.