Chapter 11: Beginnings
They flew northeast along the river that led into West Lake and formed one side of the peninsula the city was on, Katara guiding Appa to follow the shining road of water. The first town on the map, Langmar, was tucked in the river valley further into the mountains. She flew in silence, focusing only on her goal of reaching Langmar as soon as possible. Everything else about her life was too difficult to think about right now, so she let her mind empty, the river below her the only thing in her thoughts.
After what seemed like a short time, she heard Zuko yelling her name and snapped out of her reverie. "What?" she barked.
"It's getting dark, don't you think we should land soon?"
She belatedly realized the sun was indeed setting. "I'll look for a clearing," she called back, searching the dimming ground beneath her. The land here was relatively treeless, as they were only on the outskirts of the great southern forest, and finding a good spot to camp wasn't difficult. She spotted a likely open area on the east side of the river and landed Appa, clambering to the ground on unsteady legs. Zuko, of course, jumped off and landed gracefully after tossing down their bedrolls and bags.
"If you want to set up your tent I'll start a fire," he offered, earning a silent nod of assent from Katara, who removed her tent from its bag and tried to remember how to set it up. She had at one point been able to do it very quickly, but that had been years ago. It took her a while to figure out how it went together, especially since the one Sokka had picked out was slightly different from the Water Tribe ones they had used when they'd been first traveling with Aang.
Eventually, she had it set up satisfactorily, a tarp tidily placed overtop and her bedroll spread inside, turning to see that Zuko had apparently collected wood and made a decently sized fire. Something was bubbling in a pot over said fire, something that smelled good enough to make Katara realize she hadn't eaten since very early this morning. "What's that?" she asked him, remarking internally that a firebender was very useful when camping.
"Stew," he replied flatly. "I bought fresh meat and vegetables to last until we get to the first town."
"Oh." She sat down on the opposite side of the fire, watching Appa eat the grass that grew on the riverbank. "That was a good idea." Tapping her hand against her leg, she looked around the clearing. "No tent for you?" She had surmised from their quiet flight earlier that Zuko was comfortable with silence, but now that they weren't in the air the awkwardness was palpable.
He looked at her in confusion. "Why would I need one, it's clear and pretty warm. I didn't bring one on my way up here."
Katara rolled her eyes. Men. Sokka had always been like that too.
"Stew's ready," he said quietly. He spooned some into a bowl and handed it to her. Katara was… not exactly surprised, but pleased that it was actually quite tasty. She hadn't had a meat and vegetable stew since she'd visited Kyoshi last and enjoyed the greasy saltiness of the meat.
Zuko showed all signs of being prepared to eat in silence. Katara, however, couldn't take it after wolfing down her stew in a couple of minutes. She knew he was trying to be polite, but this trip wouldn't work if they didn't talk at all. She could fix this.
"I told Aang it was over," she blurted, then covered her mouth. That probably wasn't the best way to start talking again.
His unscarred eye widened as he met her gaze across the fire. "You did?"
Katara picked at her nails nervously. "Yeah, I…. well, your letter made me think and I talked to Sokka about it and so I told him before we left."
"Did he… what did he say? I mean, if you want to talk about it."
"He wasn't happy." She shrugged. "I'm not sure he accepted it. Maybe he will by the time I'm back, I don't know."
Zuko sighed and moved to sit next to her, their thighs barely touching. "I know things are… kind of weird between us now, but I'd like to be your friend. I'm here if you need me."
She leaned into his shoulder and his arm went around her, his touch helping to fill the empty space inside of her. "Thanks," she replied simply, feeling the awkwardness between them recede. "I'd like that." They sat that way for a while, watching the twilight fade and stars come out. The air grew colder and Katara shivered, drawing closer to Zuko's warmth. "I really loved him, you know," she said eventually, "even if he wasn't that good of a husband."
"I know." She could feel his voice rumbling in his chest. It was nice.
"Do you think I did the right thing?" Before he could answer, she continued. "No, don't answer that, I already know you do. Your letter helped, by the way."
"Good," he murmured sleepily, leaning back onto his hands.
"Although one day you're going to have to explain all the stuff you…" she yawned widely, "alluded to about your life." He gave no response other than a yawn of his own, the fire now only embers.
Katara woke up the next morning as the sun rose, turning to bury her face in her very warm and surprisingly firm pillow. Startled, she sat up and yelped. "Sorry! I didn't mean to fall asleep on you."
Zuko propped himself up on his elbows and blinked at her sleepily. "It's fine."
Standing, she made an attempt to straighten her now rumpled tunic. "No, it won't happen again, I promise."
Zuko looked about to say something, but kept silent.
"I'll make some porridge, how about that?" The ease of last night was gone, so Katara chattered to fill the silence as she rinsed out last night's pot, filling it with rice and water only to realize the fire had gone out. "Oh, I guess there's no way to cook this."
Zuko took the pot from her hands and dumped it onto the ground. "It's okay, we can get food at the town, uh..."
"Langmar," she supplied as he began packing up his things.
"How far is it?"
"It shouldn't be too far, I don't think. Maybe another hour or two." She started dismantling her tent, which had been completely useless last night. You and Aang just ended things, she told herself severely, don't get too close to him again.
"What's it like?"
"It's one of the larger towns we'll go to, probably. It's right on the river so it's convenient for trade, and exports lumber and gold that's mined farther up in the mountains. I can't remember the mayor's name, but I know it's on my list."
Zuko tossed his bedroll and bag onto Appa's saddle. "You know a lot about this place."
She shrugged, then tossed her things up after his. "It is… was kind of my job. Don't you know about all the Fire Nation islands?"
"Good point."
In a relatively short amount of time, they landed outside of Langmar. Katara instructed Appa to wait for them on the outskirts, and they hiked into the main part of the town, finding a square in front of a large house at the center. The town was decently sized, with paved roads separating what appeared to be different districts. The square was in the district with the largest houses, separated by the river from the area where most of the trade took place. The bridge joining the sides of the town was beautiful, a graceful arch of stone carved with various views of the mountains to the north intermixed with Air and Earth symbols.
"This is bigger than I expected," Zuko commented as they entered the square. "I thought it would be a tiny village."
"Oh, I'm sure we'll see plenty of those. Like I said, though, Langmar gets a lot of trade, even up from Ba Sing Se. It's a pretty easy trip by ship, and this is really as far up the river as the bigger ships can go. Most of our mineral export from the mountains goes out through here."
"Mmm," responded Zuko noncommittally. "And you think this is a good place to stash refugees?"
"It's not religious, really, it's more of a trade town. Do you really think Ozai would destroy it?"
A few people walking by looked at her intensely and she made a mental note to keep her voice down.
"Probably not, if you put it that way. At least I hope he's not that crazy. I don't know anymore."
"Ah, we're here." Katara stopped at the foot of the largest house's steps and consulted her list. "The mayor's name is Yonten, and according to my list he's half Air Noble and his mother was from the Earth Kingdom. He's supposedly not particularly religious, so we'll see how receptive he is. You know, I think I remember him from a few years ago. He wasn't particularly pleasant." She strode up the stairs and knocked firmly on the door, wishing she'd changed into something more queenly.
A pale-faced woman answered the door. Katara guessed she was a servant; from what she remembered of Yonten, he would be someone who kept servants to remind people of his status. "Can I help you?" the woman asked timidly.
"We're here to see Mayor Yonten," she said boldly, "with a message from the Lama and High Council."
The woman bobbed a hasty curtsy and closed the door.
"Maybe she went to get Yonten?" Zuko suggested.
Katara sighed. "Let's hope."
She returned a few moments later, opening the door and bobbing her head again. "You can come in." They followed her to a comfortable living room, the couches decked with furs, giving it an appearance of luxury. Yonten, a balding man with a full beard, waited for them there, holding a cup of tea.
"A message from the Lama and Council, you say?" he began, then stopped when he noticed Katara and bowed deeply. "Your Grace. It's been too long."
Katara bowed her head graciously. "You're too kind, Mayor Yonten."
"Please, sit, sit." He gestured at the plush couches, and Zuko and Katara sank into one. "What brings you all the way to Langmar, Your Grace? And who is your… intriguing companion?"
"Yonten, I'm afraid I'm not here for a social call, unfortunately. This is Prince Zuko, from the Fire Nation. He's brought quite dire news, which I'd like to let him explain." She turned to Zuko, who took the hint and began retelling the story of why he had left and his father's new ambition. Yonten's round face grew increasingly grave.
"And this is what, a warning visit? Are there any plans to protect us?" he asked urgently.
Just breathe and ask him, Katara. Now came the hard part. "Although we of course wanted to warn you, that's not really why we're here. While the Lama and Council are working on plans to defend the City, we believe Ozai's only plans right now are to attack the City itself, so we're asking the more secure towns to take in the citizens of the City, to give them a place to live until this is over one way or the other."
He was shaking his head before she had finished. "Take in more mouths to feed with no plans to get help to defend my town? That doesn't sound like a good situation for me. What would we been gaining from this?"
Spoken like a true merchant. "Well, we wouldn't expect you to feed them on your own resources. We will supply you with enough grain to feed as many people as you decide to take in. Also, your status as a trade town that exports gold will protect you. The Fire Lord has no interest in destroying the infrastructure; he only wants to eliminate the religion." That was a little bit of a lie, but only a tiny one. It couldn't hurt.
Yonten was quiet, considering. His fingers stroked his full beard. "And how many people would you be expecting us to take in? We may not be able to find housing, even with the additional food."
"No more than ten percent of your total population. I know that's a lot and we don't expect you to have housing for all of them. Since we expect it to only be for a short time, we will request that the people use some of their assets to buy tents, and help them if they cannot afford them," she replied smoothly. "Additionally, some of them may be earthbenders who can easily construct their own shelter or help others to do the same."
Yonten nodded. "That's quite fair, actually. However, taking in so many people at once would strain our resources to the utmost. I don't think we could do it unless you gave us extra food, say, three times the amount required to feed that many people?"
Did they even have the storage for that much grain? she wondered. "We could increase the amount of food, but not that much, as yours won't be the only town with refugees. What would you say to one and a half times the amount?"
Yonten shook his head. "Double the amount would be the bare minimum to keep Langmar going through the rough times. A war is sure to decrease trade."
She sighed. "Double the amount is probably reasonable. I think we can do that."
"Shall we shake on it, then?" They shook hands politely, Yonten's hand sweaty in hers. "Should I show you and the Prince to an inn?"
Katara looked back at Zuko briefly, who shook his head with a slight motion. "We had probably best be moving to the next town before the end of the day, but I wouldn't say no to a good lunch." She flashed a smile at Yonten, who chuckled.
"Of course! Nothing but the best for the Lama's wife and the Prince of the Fire Nation. There's a great place just across the square; I have things to see to so I won't be joining you, but I will send my servant with you to tell them to put it on my tab."
She inclined her head again. "You are too gracious, Mayor Yonten. We greatly appreciate the help you're giving us; you will be helping to save many lives."
Yonten escorted them to the front door, telling the timid woman who had let them in to walk with them. She scurried across the square to a squat brick building anointed with golden phoenixes, leaving Katara and Zuko to hurry after her.
A/N: I have been doing what is probably an absurd and unnecessary amount of research into what the climate and resources of this part of the Avatar world probably are, not to mention appropriate names. From where this is on the Avatar map, I actually think the climate would be quite like Alaska, as Alaska is also subarctic and mountainous. The size and arrangement of the mountains seems to indicate there's probably a convergent plate boundary there, making it basically like a high latitude Himalayas, which makes sense as the Air Nomad culture (and the names I've picked) are more or less Tibetan. Places where there's a convergent plate boundary tend to be really rich in minerals like gold and zinc, hence the gold mining.
I might be a geography dork. Well, more like a science dork in general. It's kind of my job, so I totally have an excuse. :D
I would find a tectonic plate map of the Avatar world endlessly fascinating. I've been looking at the map a lot and based on the geography/location of volcanoes, it would probably be super complicated. Another fun fact, based on the desert locations it would appear that the predominant wind direction in the Earth Kingdom is from the east. Which actually doesn't really make sense for it to be the same in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, but WHATEVER. Clearly Bryke weren't thinking about it from a geological/climatology perspective. *cough cough*
Okay I'm done. No more geographical ranting that I'm probably the only one nerdy enough to care about. But MAPS, you guys!