CHAPTER SEVEN

SYNGNATHIDAE

Their airship arrived at the Southern Water Tribe late in the evening. Hours had gone since the sun set. Stars twinkled to say hello and that night's waning crescent moon was visible.

They landed on a tundra with a view of the ocean hundreds of feet below which went on from eastern to western horizons.

Ronda and Tanya had put on furred overcoats of brown and white, gloves made of wool, and red scarves. They shoved their hands in their pockets, thankful to even have pockets, before they exited the hatch.

Later that night, everything that needed to be set up for a demonstration had been done, while the ladies gorged on southern food like roasted seal, cream cheese turnovers, and spiced wine mulled over hot coals. The Tribe chieftain and his best warriors sat around the table with them, perched on violet cushions and warmed by steam.

The congregation of leaders, Tanya, and her friend returned to the tundra's plateau with full bellies and red cheeks. There, she faced them at the cliff's edge. Brine and metallic cold tinted their nostrils. Wind came in from the North that chewed through their layers of clothing, into their bones. Water crashed hundreds of feet below where it hit the escarpment. The distant rush and boom and collapse provided white noise over which she projected her voice.

She straightened her back, laced her hands behind her, and spoke from her diaphragm. She magnified her voice with a mixture of vocal training and charisma. Her force in words climbed with each passing sentence, sounding more and more intent.

"Friends and enemies. Fuckboys and bitches and non-binaries. They say wars are won in the General's tent. I respectfully disagree. I prefer to win wars in the General's bed. With central heating. Fleece blankets." She quieted her swell of volume to a more pleasant tone. "And a little more intimacy." One by one, she met the men's eyes to press on them her meaning without having to rely only on speech. At one point, she met Ronda's.

Ronda put her fist against her chest to say yes, she got this, to encourage Tanya onward.

"In the absence of a good time, when you need to defend yourselves, find an excuse to let one of these serpents off the chain. I personally guarantee you the bad guys won't want to leave the bedroom.

"Fuckbois and bitches and nonbinaries, for your consideration: Syngnathidae."

She spread her arms to either side in a gesture that called attention to the ocean behind her.

Insert special effects here. Wow. It's stunning. I'm in awe of the spectacle. What a display. Doge meme would be so proud. Look at that. It's shwifty~ It's fine~ It's a dangerous demonstration. Wouldn't want to be on that receiving end. Damn, Tanya, look at that hot mess. Glorious! Destructive! Terrifying! Much weapon. So display. Wow. Very Sea Serpent.

End special effects narration, because fuck it. XD Maybe next time.

But wait, she has two more charges that haven't been set off, yet! That was just one use she demonstrated. This...isn't even her final form? That's a lot of damage. It's over nine thousand! She crushed the sunglasses in her grasp.

She moved past her audience who were stepping closer together to speak in hushed voices, notes of awe and enticement in them.

She only caught a few words here and there, like, "That's a lot of damage," and, "Who says?" and "Fire Nation". She went through their middle in the direction of her airship, which had also watched the whole performance.

Her crew members from the ship staff dressed in winter coats padded thick enough to make them seem bigger and bulkier. Two of them reached over the lid of a footlocker four feet tall made of an aluminum and alabaster-white shell. They unlatched a couple buckles on its longest side and together lifted the lid. A cloud of frost wafted out past Tanya. The chill wave descended the sides of her portable refrigerator and rolled across the ground.

The staff stepped back while she reached in, plucked a bundle of red grapes, and showed them to her audience. She popped one in her mouth and spoke while she chewed. "I'll be throwing in one of these for every purchase of three serpents or more."

Shelves inside the footlocker showed frozen strawberries, whole pineapples, and nests of grapes. Fruits and cornucopias stuffed the interior to its corners, barely leaving room to breathe.

She moved aside for three of the Water Tribe warriors to see for themselves with gaping mouths and stunned looks. Two of them high-fived each other.

At once, Tanya's guard pushed a phone into her empty hand, a brick-shaped device with one antenna stuck out from the top. When she put it up to her ear, Mako spoke to her, who had to be hundreds of miles overseas. The phone transported his voice via a live feed into her ear.

"Tanya, hunny."

She checked the night-time around her and judging the difference in their time zones, it had to be several hours into the dark morning where he was staying. "Daddy, what are you doing up?"

He mumbled, barely able to keep his words aloud. "I couldn't sleep until I knew how it went."

Tanya swiveled on the spot.

Water Tribe warriors dug into the cold box with armfuls of fruit. Glee lit them up and made them hoot and holler.

The chieftain and his partner escorted Ronda to the tundra's edge, where they emoted this way and that over the landscape. Ronda pointed there and over that way. Their deep conversation had stolen them away from the mass, going on and on about strategy, defense, and the sea serpent weapon.

The rest of the Tribe leaders were clumped in groups here and there, returning home with their backs facing the aftermath.

"Great," she said. "Looks like it's going to be a cash orgy."

"Hey," Mako cheered. "Well done, my girl. Way to go. Have a safe trip back, please?"

"Did you ever go on a second date with that chick?"

Mako lowered his tone to something grumpier, and Tanya chuffed with amusement before he finished. "That's none of your business. Good night, hunny."

They hung up at the same time. She handed away her phone.

The audience was so dispersed, now. Only stragglers remained chatting in high voices.

Somebody laughed at a joke their friend told.

Ronda was returning to the airship with the chieftain and their partner, in the midst of shaking hands and sharing farewells.

Tanya did the same with the chieftain, even saluted him with a casual flick of her wrist.

They had shelter and beds for the night, where they would be able to sleep.

Within ten minutes, Tanya was sacked out in one of their warm shelters. The moment she landed on her stomach on the bedding, she dropped unconscious. Her hands and feet dangled over the sides. Drool slipped out of her onto the pillow. She wore the same clothes as she had at dinner, but now they looked as disheveled as she felt.

Ronda came inside an hour later, to find her friend passed the fuck out. She covered Tanya with a wool blanket, left a note on the floor beside her, and before she poised on the threshold ready to leave, Tanya had clutched the blanket with a newborn girl's need to be warmed.

They parted ways so Ronda could stay behind. She described her reasons in the note.

Except this mortal mistake would live with both women for the months to come, once misfortune ripped Tanya out of her world, into a new future, when Air Raiders violated her airship.

Without Ronda anywhere nearby to save her.