Ho! Been a while. I'm still working on my multi-chapter fic, and have it almost half completed. However, I've been forgetting to update this series with more Avatar Spirit Drabble contest entries. This one was for the following criteria:
Song
Lyrics - the lyrics to said song must be in there. Bonus points for original lyrics.
Time Frame – I'd like for it to be in the normal Avatar Universe, but before, after or during the show doesn't matter. Just no AUs.
Tavern Song
Sokka enjoyed this kind of work. He was sitting in a busy tavern on the Western coast of the Earth Kingdom, in one of those port towns where the shopping was world-class and taxes non-existent. He had a sweet drink made from fruit (something Water Tribe members all enjoyed), a hot bowl of soup containing tender shellfish meat, and a beautiful girl leaning against him. Plus, he was in town hunting pirates!
What wasn't to love?
Suki wasn't enjoying herself as much, having to stay in the shadows and keep her hood up. It was her choice, though. She was the one who wanted to wear the full Kyoshi Warrior regalia. Sokka tried to tell her that tonight was reconnaissance, hitting all the instances of the local nightlife and listening for pirate accents. (Odd that pirates talked differently from everyone else, but it made Sokka's work easier.) Hopefully, there wouldn't be any fighting at all. Suki, however, talked about the honor of Kyoshi Warriors and what the makeup and dress meant and how in case they had to fight the reputation of her homeland might very well save their lives, and all kinds of other stuff that meant Sokka gave up the argument and Suki had to wear a disguising cloak.
Ah well, her choice. Sokka dug happily into his soup and kept an ear open for the surrounding conversation. A voice called out above the din, "Hey, let's have us a song!" There was a gruff shout of agreement from the gathered men, and one produced a simple accordion. "What tune do we be wanting?" A few voices ventured suggestions, but no one backed them. A man sitting on the opposite side of the tavern from Sokka shouted something that sounded like, "Girls Painted White," and the crowd laughed and offered affirmations.
The man with the accordion smiled broadly and began playing. Sokka recognized the basic music as a rowdy song about a bunch of people on a cruise who became shipwrecked on an island for an indefinite period of time. The song itself was so famous that the tune was used for all manner of less popular chants, and was a favorite for improvised sessions. Sokka hoped this would be a funny song.
Then the singing started, and his stomach lurched.
"In the waters where great monsters swim even brave men fear to go,
But hidden on Kyoshi are treasures to which I'd row!
The girls there are all enchantresses who worship the Avatars,
Immortal pretties painted white from head to toe to arse!"
Sokka's eyes darted to the girl at his side. Suki looked like a good friend had just punched her in the gut. As the first verse ended, her face colored so deeply that the blush shone through her facepaint. "We can leave," Sokka whispered to her, but she didn't reply. The second verse rang out, louder than the first, with laughter coming from every corner.
"Finer beauties you will never touch if you drop coin far and wide,
And men down on Kyoshi Isle don't have to pay for rides!
Warriors the girls claim to be but they dress in green silk gowns.
And as they dash around their lands, they smile and laugh like clowns!"
Sokka himself blushed slightly at the first lines, and then felt his face become a positive inferno at the last two. He had once seriously believed something very similar, and the reminder was not a pleasant one, not in this context. He looked at Suki again. She was biting her lip, but her expression was no longer wounded. Her eyes were hard, and she had gone very still. She tugged her cloak's hood down further over her face as the third verse started.
"Upon their hips hang katana blades, the steel so curved and sharp,
But unsheathed only in kitchens to fillet and serve the carp!
When playing with their island's men they unfold fans made of gold,
Held to cover naughty sights as they dance nude in the cold!"
At the word, "naughty," Suki stood up. She looked down at Sokka and spoke soft enough that only he would hear. "I think the reconnaissance is done for the night. We're not going to learn anything more here." Sokka nodded and got up to leave with her, but to his surprise, she walked not towards the door, but into the center of the room.
Realizing what was about to happen, the Water Tribe man beat a hasty retreat. The next verse had already started, going into detailed speculation as to why Kyoshi Warriors wore skirts into battle, when Suki threw off her cloak and drew her sword. The katana didn't look very much like a fish knife in her hands.
The singing died.
Suki smirked. "Clowns, huh?"
As she broke into motion, Sokka dashed through the door and closed it behind him.
Outside, the air was warm and the night was clear. Sokka leaned against the tavern and gazed up at the stars. From within the building, the sounds of crashes, thuds, and screams wafted out into the darkness. There was almost a kind of beat to the noise. He hummed along, and then quietly warbled a final verse.
"I would never sing with disrespect of women of any kind,
I'm not a jerk or misogynist, however unrefined."
END
