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AN: I'm back at college now, so updates may be less frequent, but they're not going to stop, don't worry.
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Chapter Sixteen
The Feud
Huǒyàorì (Tues) 22nd dōngyuè (Nov, Win); 99 AG
"Here it is," Asha gestured grandly at the huge canyon. "The Great Divide."
"It's amazing," Kai breathed, gazing in awe. "I could stare at it forever."
Sokka shifted, glancing around. "Alright, shall we get moving? We're on a deadline."
"Take a moment, Sokka," Iroh replied cheerfully. "This is the biggest canyon in the world. Let yourself take it in."
That was when the Gan Jing and the Zhang tribes arrived.
"Asha, you should do something," Kai urged her quietly as the two tribes argued over which should be guided across the Great Divide first. Asha gave him a look of alarm.
"Do you realize that they have been feuding for over a hundred years?!" She hissed back. After so many weeks of travelling and living as fugitives together, Asha had relaxed enough to feel comfortable letting her companions (and only her companions) see beneath her façade of calm confidence. "I never received my training in negotiation and diplomacy! How can you think that I-?"
"This is good practice for you, Asha," Iroh interrupted her lowly. He too had become comfortable enough to treat her more as a student than his superior, though of course he maintained his respect and reverence for her position as Lamane and his liege lady. "The Kashō is a diplomat, the Peace-Keeper of the world. This is a small, but long running feud. It is a good way to get your feet wet, as the Tribespeople say. Preparation for later." He carefully alluded to the fact that Asha would have to forge a peace between the remaining three Nations, despite all the crimes the Fire Nation had committed against their fellow peoples of the world. It was a tall order, but one the Avatar would conquer, as she had always conquered every obstacle in her path.
Still, despite knowing they were right, Asha cast her teachers doubtful looks but gave a sigh and bowed her head in acceptance. Sokka stepped forward with a dramatic wave in the direction of Asha.
"Fear not, good people," he declared. "For this is Asha of the Eastern Air Temple, the current Mahant and she is willing to negotiate between you and settle your arguments."
There was a chorus of gasps and whispers, and Asha smiled and bowed, enclosing her right hand in a fist which she covered with her left, the traditional Earth Kingdom greeting. The guide was the first to fling himself to his knees to genuflect, and the people of the Gan Jing and Zhang tribes fell over each other and pushed one another out of the way in their eagerness to pay obeisance to the Host of Aditi.
"Great Brihaspati, you honour the Gan Jing with your willingness to condescend to trouble your great self with our troubles!" The Gan Jing leader declared. Not to be outdone, the Zhang leader started speaking even before the Gan Jing man had finished speaking.
"Great Mahant, you have the dearest thanks of all my tribe for lowering yourself to consider our petty problems, especially in these troubled times," he said eagerly. "Your generousness surely exceeds that of all your antecedents."
The pair exchanged derisive sneers before turning back to Asha, who was putting careful effort into hiding her dismay at their excessive servility. Behind her, her four companions exchanged incredulous looks at the ridiculous speeches.
'Confidence is key here' Roku whispered in the back of Asha's mind. 'Look as if you know what you are doing, and they shall believe it also. Have faith in yourself. You know how to do this. You have done this.'
Asha cleared her throat before speaking. "Greetings, good people. As my varlet stated, I am Avatar Asha of the Eastern Air Temple. Please, will you tell me your names?"
"I am Dorji!" The Gan Jing man cried. "Leader of the Gan Jing tribe!"
"I am Jigme!" The Zhang man exclaimed at the same time. "Chief of the Zhang tribe!"
"Well," Asha began. "This is what will happen first. The invalids, elderly and young of both of your tribes will take Appa across the canyon and wait there for the rest of us."
The tribes erupted in protests, pleading for the groups to cross separately. One pair of young men nearly got into a brawl, arguing over who should be allowed to go first.
"Enough!" Asha bellowed, amplifying her voice with airbending and making everyone fall silent and stare at her with frightened awe. It made her stomach sink, but she was used to the look by now, and went on without faltering. "I said that both groups of ill, elderly and youth will go together, and my mind will not be changed. The word of the Avatar is final."
Tentatively, a woman stepped forward, a young babe clutched to her breast. "Great Mahant," she quaked. "Forgive me, but my babe is still nursing, she is too young to be separated from me, though I myself am fully recovered from the birth and can traverse the canyon on foot. Please, may I-"
"You may go with them," Asha cut across the woman, who smiled in relief.
"Thank you, Your Reverence!" The young mother squeaked, before stepping back into the centre of the group of Gan Jing.
Asha directed the people onto Appa, giving a strict warning to them not to fight while he was flying. "Especially not physically," she emphasized. "Twenty-two people are leaving here, and twenty-two people are to await our arrival on the on other side of the Divide. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Great One," the Gan Jing intoned, the children echoing them a second later.
"Yes, Honoured One," the Zhang said at the same time. Asha bit back a sigh as they shot each other poisonous looks.
She really hoped that she would succeed in healing this feud. She had failed enough in her responsibilities as Avatar already.
"Many of you are probably wondering how something like this could exist," the guide, Bao, stated, gesturing to the large expanse he hovered in front of. "Well, experts say that this canyon was probably created by angry earth spirits who resented the local farmers not bringing them sacrifices."
"Actually, it was created by Avatar Salai when she fought the Iron Army in aid of the First Earth King," Asha corrected absently. A hazy image formed in her mind's eye. Hundreds of soldiers in chainmail, feet bare and bending in synch, storming towards her. She could practically feel herself going into a bending position and preparing to rip open a chasm to drop the advancing enemy into. Thankfully, her real self merely twitched her fingers, rather than actually begin to bend.
The group stared at her in surprise and she raised her chin, giving off an air of being completely in control and suppressing her flush of embarrassment at her accidental confession.
"Now, Guide Bao, that you know the truth of the matter, perhaps you could continue," she suggested pointedly.
"Ah, yes, of course Your Reverence," the guide blustered, startled. "So, ahem, as I was saying, the canyon is a very dangerous place. As you can see by that avalanche over there." He pointed to a cascade of falling rocks. Uneasily, the young Avatar's lieutenants stepped closer to her, ready to shield her form with their bodies if it came to it.
"This way," Bao urged, creating a path down to the canyon floor with his bending. "Watch where I go and step exactly where I do."
To prevent an argument between the Gan Jing and the Zhang, Kai and Sokka went first, Asha after them and then the two firebenders. The Gan Jing and Zhang fussed at each other, but a stern warning from Asha had them going in pairs as well, a Gan Jing and a Zhang in each to stop arguments over which tribe should be allowed to go before the other. They carefully made their way to the canyon floor, where they came to a stop next to a large boulder that blocked the path.
"Alright, everyone stay back," Bao warned, before using earthbending to destroy the bridge they had used to get down.
"Why did you do that?" Kai wondered, a puzzled frown on his face.
"These people are fleeing the Fire Nation," Bao reminded the young waterbender. "We cannot leave a trail for them to follow. It is even more important with the Avatar as part of the group. She must be protected so she can end the War."
Asha felt her fist clench involuntarily at that and she hid a harsh swallow against the sudden dryness of her throat.
Less than a year until the arrival of Amaterasu's Eye.
No, she corrected herself mentally. Not Amaterasu's Eye or the Great Comet. It was Sozin's Comet now, forever tainted by its association with the Great Slaughter.
"We will be safe no-" Bao began to say, only to be cut off when a huge animal scooped him up. "Aarrgghh!" He cried.
"Ahhhh!" The Gan Jing and Zhang screamed in fear.
"We need to help him!" Asha exclaimed, blowing away the floating dust to reveal a large animal with four eyes on either side of its face and a forked tongue in a sharp-toothed jaw. Its body had two segments made up of a head and a trunk to which its four skinny, biramous legs were attached.
Even Asha, who sought the beauty in all creatures according to the Air Nomad beliefs, felt an instinctive shiver of disgust at its appearance.
Iroh and Lu Ten, who were disguised as Earth refugees and therefore couldn't use their bending, unsheathed their dao swords and took up defensive positions guarding the terrified tribes. Asha, Kai and Sokka meanwhile rushed at the creature. Sokka flung his boomerang at it, hitting it in the side and causing it to drop Bao and turn on the young Tribesman. Kai created a water whip from the water in his flask and used it to rip the legs out from beneath it. Then Asha finished it off by sending it flying away with a giant gust of wind.
"Avatar!" The canyon guide exclaimed as he bowed at her feet, expression full of adulation. "You saved me! A hundred thousand thanks for your aid! If not for you, I would have died!"
Asha smiled at him politely, not failing to notice that he had omitted mention of Kai and Sokka's efforts to aid him. "It was our duty and our honour, Sir," she assured him, emphasizing the plural. He flushed in embarrassment and turned to give thanks to the two young men, who responded graciously.
Asha failed to notice that her pleased look at their attitudes caused Kai to straighten with pride.
"What was that thing, anyway?" Sokka wondered.
Bao grimaced, casting a suspicious look around the canyon. "A canyon crawler," he answered grimly. "Blasted things. There'll be more of them around here somewhere. We must take great care in continuing."
"Worst case scenario we give them the Gan Jing to occupy themselves with while we flee for our lives," one member of the Zhang tribe whispered. Asha whipped around and glared at him, hoping that she looked intimidating, not like a child imitating an adult. Thankfully, although Asha did not know it, the white and blue flecks that showed the Power she Hosted in her grey orbs brightened with her anger and her braids seemed to float slightly, giving her an ethereal look that made her look very intimidating indeed.
The young man shrunk back, flinching.
"I do not find that amusing," Asha said icily.
The young man dropped to his knees and genuflected. "My sincerest apologies, Great One," he croaked out. "I was not sincere."
"I should hope not," Asha answered stonily. "I do not take kindly to murderers."
He shuddered at the cold rage badly masked in her voice. Asha kept her glare aimed at the two tribes for a few more seconds before turning back to a wary Bao, who knelt when she turned to him.
"Rise, Bao," she ordered. "I believe it would be best if we continued before anymore canyon crawlers arrive."
"As you wish, Your Reverence," he mumbled nervously, rising and beginning to lead them away. Asha stalked after him, shoulders tight.
Iroh and Lu Ten looked at each other, grimacing. "Well, Father, this little side trip is off to a wonderful start, is it not?" Lu Ten muttered sarcastically to his father.
Iroh sighed and patted his son on the shoulder. "Have faith, my son," he urged the younger man. "We are travelling with the Avatar because we believe in her ability to stop a century long War and repair a feud just as old. Why not this one?"
Lu Ten huffed. "It is not Asha that I have my doubts about," he muttered, eyeing the Gan Jing and the Zhang who were stalking side by side, shooting glares at one another and muttering snide comments every few moments.