Yet another 2nd place win for Avatar Spirit's Drabble Contest. The prompt was...

Theme - Democracy

"We all know that there are a lot of powerful people in the Avatar world who were not appointed by the people, including many of the good guys. So I want you to explore what happens when people don't fall in line with the desires of their king/chief/fire lord/avatar etc."

Judging Criteria
1 - Conflict - I want at least two opposing intellectual/moral positions (multiple contradictory positions being held by one character is fine).
2 - Show, don't tell. - Just like Grey Fable's challenge. Although this is an ideological theme, try and avoid having characters just giving each other lectures.
3 - Moral turmoil. - I want to see characters struggling with figuring out what path to take. Extra points for subtlety and complexity.


The Democracy of Omashu

When Bumi felt he was ready, he challenged the King Of Omashu to an Earthbending duel.

It was his legal right, of course. Omashu may have been a peaceful city, but in the time before time, the ancestors of its people had been warriors, fierce and merciless. Although a love for Earthbending had replaced the love for taking life, there was still a hereditary toughness that had persisted, and a fondness for the city's peacekeeping warriors as strong as for its Benders. Being the ruler of the original home of Earthbending, Omashu's monarch was expected to be a formidable Bending fighter. Not the greatest, necessarily, as the Challenge Law was only invoked at the greatest need.

That's why everyone was surprised when Bumi made his bid for Kingship.

He didn't bother proclaiming his reasons, or even saying anything about the King at all. When asked why he was making the challenge, he just replied, "Don't you think it's a good idea?" No one ever answered him back.

He won, naturally. There was, and never would be, an Earthbender quite like Bumi.

Upon taking the throne, he supposed that something placating to the people, like a holiday or citywide feast, should be declared, just to keep everyone happy. Really, though, he had a lot of things we wanted done, and there was a war on. Revelry like that needed a good reason, something other than a lunatic stealing control of one of the Earth Kingdom's greatest City States. A hanging might be more appropriate, but Bumi couldn't think of anyone he wanted dead at that time, at least amongst the city's prisoners.

The palace staff did whatever he told them. That was lots of fun. They learned to stay on their toes, and be ready to do anything while keeping a respectful straight face. Some may have even learned to enjoy themselves (it was hard to say). The Peacekeepers were also very reliable, but a lot less fun. Bumi couldn't risk ruining the people's (or the enemy's) respect for the Omashu soldiers.

The people themselves were a different matter. They felt, if anything, a little trapped. There was a war outside, a nasty one. People were dying. Even Ba Sing Se was drawing into itself. (Bumi considered going over there and challenger their King to a duel, but he didn't know if they had the same Law, and going all that way just to be disappointed didn't sound like a good use of time.) Yet here the people of Omashu were, stuck in a realm with a lunatic ruler who was too good a fighter to be deposed any time soon. His regular rides on the Mail Slides probably didn't inspire any confidence, either. That's why he made his little trips. As much as he might want to spend all day riding the world's greatest super slide, he would often emerge from his latest crash, dust himself off, and start walking and talking with whoever was around.

"So, what do you think of the current tax rate? I think it's a little low, especially if we want to fix those bridges. Good Earthbenders with that kind of fine skill don't come cheap, and I think we really need to look at them."

"I'm doing some urban renewal, and I was wondering what neighborhoods you thought I should look at. You're a merchant, you get around a lot, right?"

"Hey, you want to stay at the palace for the night? In the morning, I'd love it if you could do me a favor and tell me about how the rooms were. I think they're getting a little run down, and we want to make sure any guests of the city are good and comfortable, but I really don't want to tear the place apart unless I need to. I'll even give you dinner. We have fresh cabbage tonight."

"Hey, you look smart. Want to be a minister?"

The people found it a little disturbing at first, and to be sure, he was always making decisions that confounded and angered many. Yet there was still a sense of trust developing. They rarely understood it, but they found themselves doing whatever it was Bumi ordered without hesitation. (Complaining was another matter.)

"So that's why I consider my city a Democracy, young Toph. I may be King, but they all do what I say because they want to. I'm just their will, with all its strangeness and insanity, personified. The previous guy wasn't, so that's why I challenged him and tossed him out."

"So, I can challenge you right now, and become Queen of Omashu if I beat your old butt?"

"Sure! But watch out! Even if you win, you might not be in charge. How many around here will take orders from a little girl?"

"What about the people of the Fire Nation. They did what Fire Lord Ozai ordered because they wanted to? That was a democracy, too?"

"That's one way of looking at it. I can't really say. I've never had dinner with any of the people in the Fire Nation, so I don't know what they were thinking. It's too bad, because I used to like that spicy food when I was young. We didn't get any after the war broke out, and traveling there was just impossible, of course. Even Iroh was eating jook before we attacked Ba Sing Se."

"Unless I want be eating more than Sokka, I guess the only way to find out about this place is to beat you up and see."

"That's one way of looking at it. Good pun, by the way."

Toph twisted her feat, and the Earth loyally launched her at the mad king.

Bumi smiled.

END