AN: Quickly in regards to those who have asked about story length; kind of up in the air right now, but I would tentatively guess that this will be perhaps a little longer than part one in terms of total length.
Hope you enjoy, always love getting to read those reviews!
Chapter 6: Legend and Burden
The comforting and sleep-inducing cushion of the guest bed lay vacant as the room's only occupant sat with her back against the wall near the corner, trying to keep herself from having a panic attack. Toph rocked gently back and forth, drawing swift and shivering breaths as she tried to take control of her racing mind.
It was terrifying really, how little she had been able to do when she heard his name, such a devastating trigger that had been. Not a day went by when she didn't think about him, try to remember his touch, his voice, but hearing his name… that had been something that she couldn't have possibly imagined would affect her that way.
How long has it been since I've heard his name aloud?
The reporters had all fired it off incoherently earlier that day, but there had been something so impersonal about how those vultures had said it, it had only been enough to numb her and force her to simply try and remain ignorant of the fact that hearing his name against her ears wasn't doing something very serious to her. But then, hearing it again from the voice of Aang had been enough to nearly launch her into tears then and there.
And then hearing it from Soza's mouth…
That had been the worst by far. It was one thing to hear it from one of her closest friends, much more so than those reporters, but having it come out of Soza was something that had pounded her gut with such an overwhelming sense of dread that she had nearly collapsed then and there. It was all she could do to keep herself from going into hysterics to falsely pretend she was fine and offer to take Soza to bed. She knew Azula must have seen through the episode she was trying to prevent, but had let her go with her daughter anyway; in a sense that was even worse than the princess keeping her from practically rushing out of the room, the idea that Azula had surely been smirking up a storm seeing Toph squirm like that was maddening enough.
And then again.
"Who's Sasuke?"
Toph knew that Soza had gone most of her life seeing not the slightest bit of disrespect, at least not anything that she could immediately punish for its rudeness, so her cold shouldering might be something she would have to deal with later. But in that moment, she knew she might explode if she wasn't able to get away from Azula's daughter as quickly as she could. Toph had made it to her room, slammed the door and made it as far as a few steps before she had dropped down and leaned against the wall, trying to stave off an awful anxiety attack, something she was well into the second hour of doing.
It seemed like it would be so easy to cry and so difficult at the same time; it had been years since thoughts of Sasuke had been enough to bring her to tears, but she knew if her mentality let her slip past that barricade she had spent so long building up, she'd probably spend the rest of the night sobbing.
In between puffs of breath, Toph felt something very strange in the feel of her room and she jumped to her feet, her voice cracking as she shouted out.
"Who's there?!"
She bent her knees slightly, digging her energy into the stone, the brick, the metal, everything between the timber that made up the palace, ready to blow her room to pieces towards what could be a potential assassin. Toph realized as well how clumsily she had played this; someone slipping into her room to bring her harm might not know just how attuned her senses were. She didn't need to be standing on dirt and earth to be as much in her prime as she ever had been, and she could have easily played herself as being unaware of the intruder and thus catching them off guard. It was a testament to how worked up she was that she had just jumped to her feet, yelling like she was already in a panic, when it would have been so much smarter to fake ignorance.
Her fear was to be for naught however as a calming voice reached out to her, somewhere near the ceiling.
"Please don't fucking pulverize me with mortar, Toph."
Toph heaved a sigh and lowered her arms as Ty Lee gently dropped to the floor in front of her.
"You should have said something sooner, I damn near took your head off," she muttered as her friend approached.
Ty Lee chuckled, "I would have, but I wanted to make sure I was in the room first. I think Azula or Aang or someone was out on their balcony, and I knew we're forbidden from working our away around the palace after hours, just because of security. I'm sure they've got guards all up and down beneath our floor on the grounds, waiting for someone to slip up. Didn't want anyone knowing that I was going to be stopping by."
Walking her way over to her bed, Toph sat down on its edge, the exhaustion the day had brought her feel like Appa was sitting on her shoulders. It was something of a
"And what is it I can do for you that Mai couldn't? She boring you already?" she said, forcing herself to smile and appear that her mood was lighter than it was.
Toph could feel her friend stretching as she toed her way around the room, her nimble feet carrying her so gently that Toph could barely tell she was even present.
"I mean, Mai's never been as much for conversation these days," Ty Lee sighed as she came to a stop leaning against the wall next to Toph. "You know how she gets when she's having problems with his highness."
Letting out a noise of exasperation, Toph leaned back on her hands. "Zuko giving her grief again?"
Mai and Zuko's relationship had been on and off through the years, never getting quite to the point where marriage was something that felt like it was on the table, but never diminishing to where a breakup actually happened.
"She said that she and him are 'on hold' for the time being, again," Ty Lee muttered and Toph rolled her eyes. This was certainly not the first time she heard these words and they again only brought aggravation to her already roiling mind. She had run the gambit of silently judging the situation by her own merits and had taken it in both directions, having been both resentful to Mai and Zuko in the past, harboring feelings that they both were in the wrong.
"Who's in the wrong on this go?" she asked, feeling fairly confident that she knew what would be said in response to that.
"Ugh, when is it ever cut and clear with these two," Ty Lee groaned. "I don't know, I don't think either of them is really dealing with anything we haven't seen before. Mai's just struggling again with him not always being able to give her the attention she wants."
Toph nodded. This was also nothing new, and while she often felt herself finding Mai rather silly for thinking she would be able to take so much of the Fire Lord's time, especially when she knew how badly Zuko felt for not being able to give her the attention, Toph also felt very much like she could sympathize with Mai at the same time. She thought of Mai wandering the halls of the noble grounds near the palace, occasionally glancing towards where she knew Zuko was hard at work, wishing she could be with him. That feeling of being alone, of knowing who she wanted but never being able to have him that way.
With a start, Toph realized she wasn't thinking about Mai anymore.
"I don't suppose you broke curfew to tell me about Mai's never-ending love problems," Toph remarked thickly, before swallowing and hoping that Ty Lee hadn't picked up on the change in her tone of voice. There was a long enough pause between their words though, that Toph knew not only that her friend had heard the stress in her voice, but also had come over knowing full well what the matter was.
"I know what happened today," Ty Lee finally said quietly, her toes rubbing nervously against the floor, even as her voice remained steady. "When we met up outside the palace, everything seemed good, but after Aang's interview… through the gala, and then in Sokka's room, everyone had a bunch of stuff on their mind I know, but don't think I missed it."
"Missed what?" Toph asked in a light inquisitive voice, wondering why it was that she was even bothering trying to hide it; she and Ty Lee had gotten to know each other so well, and Toph knew even as she feigned casualness that her friend was probably crossing her arms and looking at her sadly.
"I've never gone out and just tried to talk about this with you, Toph, you know I haven't. But me and Jin have talked about it, we both have felt the same way. You've grown into a beautiful woman, seriously gorgeous. And I know you've had plenty of brushes with some guys that—"
There was a burning shake in Toph's chest and she pushed herself to her feet, angrily firing off a reply before Ty Lee could get any further and perhaps break her then and there.
"So what? You think that I'm lonely and miserable, just because I haven't dated anyone? Is that what this is? I don't particularly seem to recall you or Jin spending too much time pairing off, so that's awful bold of you two to act like there's something wrong with me for choosing to stay single."
"Toph, you know full well that the only reason I haven't is because of how busy I am; running around with Azula and spending time with the Kyoshi warriors doesn't give me any of the time I'd like to really peruse the dating scene. And Jin has been going on and off with more than a couple guys, and I know you know that, being in Ba Sing Se as much as you are," Ty Lee replied, not missing a beat.
Toph swallowed and bit the inside of her lip, desperately grabbing for some semblance of what she could say to turn this around. Her heart was starting to race, but she snapped off a retort nonetheless.
"Yeah? And you're never around, and Jin isn't with me as much as she might say she is! You both don't know that I haven't been…"
Her motivation to argue suddenly gave out as she realized how weak her argument was and she trailed off. Even as she felt her will to fight die away, Ty Lee spoke quietly.
"Toph. We know."
Dropping back down to sit on the bed, Toph put her hands in her lap and tried to keep herself together. She was able to keep her face calm and passive, but with a stab of hate towards her own weakness, she couldn't keep the heat of tears from building up behind her eyes. It was all she could do at this point to keep it from appearing as though she was really hurting as much as she was.
"You've got to let him go."
She heard the pain and sadness in Ty Lee's voice and as she was forced to contemplate what her friend had said, Toph lowered her head and let the tears come. It had been buried for so long, this aching, and as it pushed to the front of her mind, she realized just how monstrous it was. She dug her fingers into her knees and tightened her body, trying to will the hurt out of her.
"I c… I can't…" she managed, feeling the flush of shame on her cheeks as a sob cut off her response, bringing more tears to come spilling down her face.
"Oh, honey," Ty Lee practically moaned, and walked quickly over to sit down next to her. Feeling Ty Lee's arms wrap around her, Toph let her friend pull her close and hold her while she let the tears come.
"You can't let him haunt you like this," her friend whispered above her head, and Toph reached around to hug her back, finding solace in the warmth and comfort in the embrace they shared.
"You think I don't want to?" she asked wetly. "But I know that the second I do… that's when I have to accept the fact that… that he's gone."
Ty Lee squeezed her. "Toph, it's been ten years."
Toph grit her teeth and jammed her eyes shut, burying her face in her friend's chest and gripping her tightly. "I can't, Ty! I just can't!"
For this, Ty Lee didn't reply immediately, but a hand withdrew from holding Toph and moved to gently stroke her back through her clothes, brushing against the one thing that had always given Toph hope.
"You've never felt anything from it, have you?" Ty Lee asked quietly and Toph shivered as her friend's hands gently caressed the most precious part of her body.
"It doesn't matter," Toph muttered stubbornly. "I know I will one day. No matter what he said, no matter what you or anyone else says, I'm going to feel him again."
Ty Lee said nothing for a few long moments before quietly asking, "What if he's gone? Back to his own world?"
"Then he'll come back," Toph said, as much a repeat of her words as outright saying them verbatim.
Her friend's voice became desperately serious. "Toph… what if he doesn't?"
Toph didn't reply to this and it would wind up being the last thing said about the matter. Ty Lee didn't press it beyond that, and Toph was glad she didn't. She somehow knew the matter was far from closed and that Ty Lee would no doubt be taking this matter to Jin when she next saw her, and the pair would likely try and stage an intervention of some kind, maybe introduce Toph to some appealing young man they thought could pull her out of this slump.
Toph thought to this notion sadly as Ty Lee gently pulled her down to lay on the bed where she would fall asleep in her friend's arms. Because she knew deep down that even if she could somehow give up Sasuke, that would never be enough to let her move on.
The traveler looked onto the deck of the Bjorn at the two dozen or so men that made up Captain Ursa's crew. For a ship that size, it was a rather small crew, but as he regarded each of them, it was clear that no weak links or unnecessary implements were a part of this ship; every man looked more mercenary than sailor, powerful or nimble, garbed in the dark garments, many with hoods and most of them all sporting a wide array of weapons, sword pommels protruding from cloaks, daggers strapped to thighs, axes holstered to backs. Every one of them was watching him with all the comfort one might receive from a predator, but the traveler knew that this was just as much for show as anything. Their captain had let him on the ship to speak with them, and this likely wasn't something that happened every day; this was no doubt a silent ploy to at least somewhat try to intimidate him.
Very cute, the traveler thought somewhat condescendingly. If they only knew who they were dealing with.
"We have here the prospective client that I spoke to you all about this morning. He will be filling us in on the details of his proposition and I ask that you all lend an earnest ear. It was his request that he speak with all of you, as opposed to just myself," Ursa said, and the traveler found some gratitude in that. The way she posed it made it come across as if the he was putting a great deal of stock in their opinions when in reality, this was just as much an exercise in the captain and crew's character as anything. Even if they agreed to his proposition, the traveler would have no difficulty turning them away if he didn't see what he wanted to in the next couple minutes.
"It can't be done," a crewmate with a grizzled face and mangy beard growled, tapping the hilt of a broadsword that was slung at his side. The traveler spared him a moment's glance before spreading his arms slightly and addressing them all.
"I understand that talk of traveling east is something that surely is frightening to some of you."
This was a bait, done intentionally. Suggesting that it was fear, rather than common sense, that kept them from wanting to take this venture was something the traveler hoped would rile some of the less keen crewmembers and he saw shifts in stance and eyes darting angrily his way, he knew that it had succeeded somewhat.
"Long has the Eastern Sea been a place no vessel has dared go, for fear of disappearing and being wiped away without a trace. It's as much legend now as anything can be, but I'm asking today if you would be willing to throw aside the horror you might feel related to such old fables at the prospect of riches and history. I have need to cross the Eastern Sea, something I have done once before, coming from the other way. I am from the other side of the sea."
He paused a moment, letting his words wisp through the ears of the crew. To their credit, they did not break into a rabble of loud murmurings as a common rabble might, they simply continued to regard him, even as many of their expressions adopted tones of disbelief, surprise, suspicion and denial.
"You traveled from beyond the Eastern Sea? To come to the Archipelagos?" the crewmember that had been at the pub with Ursa called out, the one with the hooked hand.
"I did," the traveler said. "I journeyed aboard a vessel in a company numbering a half dozen ships. Not knowing what lay before us, every ship in the company was sunk and I only survived by drifting on a piece of driftwood for several days before landing on the shores of one of the southern islands under Callaghan control."
Another crewmember seemed keen to get to a point that the traveler was sure had been eating at all their minds since Ursa had brought the prospect forward, a stouter and more paunchy looking fellow with a light voice.
"So, you're saying you know what lies to the east?"
The traveler looked among all of them and watched various flashes of eagerness, excitement and even hunger seem to pass among the hardened expressions that gazed up at him. It was an encouraging sight; the idea that they might be the first to make this impossible fabled passage was a reward that couldn't have a price put on it, even if the traveler had offered an exceptional sum in return for their aid.
"I do," he replied and another man immediately shouted his way.
"What then?"
This question brought an even more noticeable eagerness to them and the traveler moved his gaze briefly to his right to see Ursa looking at him expectantly and unblinking, and then to his left to see his companion watching him with tight lips and a distantly stressed expression. She made no movements to him though or whispered in his ear that she thought ill of his plan; they had spoken about through the mornings nearly ad nauseum, and she had raised her concerns then. But she had finally relented when he told her just how this very well could be their best chance.
Now though, he saw something else in her eyes, something like… betrayal? If that was the case, it would need to be dealt with, but now was not the time.
"You've surely heard stories of storms, or unnatural happenings, of great monsters and white capped waves a hundred feet high," he said, easing into what he knew was going to be a difficult pill for all to swallow. "And I can tell you that some of those stories are accurate. What lies to the east, resting beneath the water, is a sea serpent."
There it was. The truth he didn't expect any of them to believe. He likely wouldn't have believed it himself, a snake that made the likes of Aoda or Manda seem mere hatchlings in comparison. He had spoken to his companion of this monster, the reason no ship had passed to the east before and been heard from again, the same serpent that would have made traveling to the west from the Nations equally impossible.
He let this sit a moment and watched as the men looked about to one another, surely unsure of what to make of this; Ursa spoke up then, voicing the sentiment that the traveler knew he had forced upon the crew. It was somewhat humorous, he thought, that Ursa knew full well what he was talking about, but was asking a question that was deeply rhetorical to her, but not to her crew.
"We've seen many a sea serpent during our sailings. You cannot mean to tell us that this is the cause centuries of fear?" she inquired and the traveler met her question with a hard look.
"I don't mean a two hundred foot snake with a body the girth of a small house. No, this serpent's body is the width of a small mountain, its head perhaps the size of this port. I have no doubt its length stretches for many kilometers beneath the waves."
The traveler watched the expressions of the men carefully, picking up on the emotions they looked to be trying to hide like awe, and cynicism, and confusion. Wanting to keep their attention and lay everything he had on the table, the traveler continued to speak, every word he spoke, a hard truth.
"For reasons unknown to me, dark clouds seem to amass above where this serpent rests. I noticed them on my first crossing and again on a separate outing when I took a sloop as near as I dared to the serpent's waters and saw the clouds far off in the distance, black and looming. It seems to lie dormant beneath the ocean, until it senses something large enough above it to give it cause to rise from the depths. It struck without warning when the sees were only somewhat choppy, its head bursting from the ocean and its massive body no doubt writhing beneath the rest of the ships and sending them rolling about wildly as a rubber toy might splash about in the tub of a child. It's head was enough to nearly blacken what little light shone through the clouds and it pulverized the first ship, its size massive enough to utterly shatter the ship I was aboard as well. I was flung likely several hundred meters and might have drowned, had I not swam to a piece of wreckage from one of the vessels that had been capsized. From there, I watched the serpent destroy the other ships, as well as I could over hundred foot swells that rocked and thrust me away from the serpent with tremendous speed. When all the ships were gone, the serpent disappeared beneath the waves, though the waves it had whipped high up continued to thrust me away for hours. I looked about a good deal but could see no survivors and a day or so later, I washed up onshore."
His dumbed down story was hopefully enough to bring across the gravity of what he was suggesting and while he knew his story was surely not to be believed by all, he saw enough attentive expressions to suggest that his words had made a strong impact. The idea of a serpent perhaps the size of a continent beneath the waves seemed like it was enough to inspire a good bit of fear in them, at least to the more imaginative folk.
After something like a minute, another man spoke up, this one being the other one who had been in attendance at the bar with Ursa and the hook-handed man.
"Say we believe your fish story. How do you suggest we avoid this monster, get passed it? Go around its territory, which you say is marked by this storm?"
"When I ventured east in my sloop, I made several trips. I sailed a week both north and south and the clouds never diminished, and that was with good wind. Whether that is a specific to the monster's habitat, or because perhaps it denotes there are more than one of them, I cannot say. But I believe passing it by would do us no good."
"So, what then?" Ursa asked beside him, and he could sense her growing lack of restraint; he had just likely told a story that was very similar to her own, at least in the broad strokes, and she now must have known that he wasn't lying about having passed through the Eastern Sea. But she was growing impatient and wanted to know how he proposed to manage this seemingly impossible task of getting past the monster that would have held any dreams she had of venturing home at bay.
The traveler decided to ease into this next bit of information, knowing that this was also going to be quite the difficult thing to accept. "Based on what I observed, the serpent chooses to attack the largest thing sailing the waters above it. It senses them, before anything smaller anyway. The smallest ship in my company, a modified oarboat, made it well past the serpent's coils, and was only destroyed when all the other ships were gone and the monster's attention turned to it. I believe all we need to do is distract the serpent similarly, with something large enough to draw its attention and them slip past as its attention is hindered."
He could sense the unease and lack of confidence and belief that was spreading before him.
"And what do you suggest we use to do that?" another man called out, and the traveler let loose with perhaps his most antagonizing comment to that point.
"I believe we're standing on it."
It took a couple brief moments of silence before the deck exploded in a fit of outrage. The traveler let them shout and shake their fists at him, as he had guessed would have been their reaction; he had after all just suggested they have their vessel be destroyed in pursuit of this goal and this was not a hurdle he expected any of them to clear easily, if at all.
To his surprise, it was the hook-handed hand who raised the curved piece of iron protruding from his arm and the cries of the other crewmates faded away.
"Let us hear out this plan," he said, and when he looked up, the traveler could see that he was no more convinced than a parent looking at a child lying about not thieving cookies when crumbs were on their lips. But whatever the reason, he was intent on humoring the traveler, a peculiar but welcome gesture under the circumstances.
"What would you have us do? The captain has informed us you are prepared to offer the sum of fifty thousand standard should we take this job, which could afford us a great deal more than another vessel. It would seem to me you have a great deal of confidence and resources at your disposal," he said plainly.
"This is true," the traveler replied and gestured down the pier, along the string of vessels that were moored there. The one he pointed to was a double-hulled canoe, and one that as of that morning, was in his possession. The two canoes were firmly connected by timber and each was wide and long enough to accommodate at least ten people, with outlets for supplies and storage on either end. The two masts that sprouted from the center of the vessel were tall and thin, their canvas tucked neatly and ready to be unfurled.
"My plan is as simple as I know it to be effective. The double-hull there I possess will be towed behind the Bjorn until we reach the storm. We all board the double-hull and lock the rudder of the Bjorn to have it sail northeast while we take a more southeast route, but only after we've given it time to make considerable headway. The double-hull is light and fast in the wind, even with weight, we'll be flying over the waves as the serpent picks off the Bjorn and we sail past unscathed and to the other end of the storm before it has time to notice there was even another ship in its vicinity; the lightweight make of it will act as extra assurance that we can avoid being detected."
A silence fell after these words and the traveler almost would have preferred them all to be shouting at him again, especially when one crewmate growled darkly, "Captain, this has got to be some kind of joke."
Ursa's voice carried out, strong and assertive over the muttered comment, "And why would you assume I would waste time with something like that?"
The man who had made the disparaging remark seemed to cow at the potency of his captain's words, but the man who had been alongside hook-hand in the pub raised his own voice, not seeming as against putting up something of an argument.
"Captain, there is no chance that we can take this man at his word, he speaks madness! A serpent the size of a landmass? And while no one has ever definitively known what lies east, and even if we take his words as truth, we cannot make to wager our own vessel as a sacrifice, especially when we haven't even seen proof of his payment! How do we know this is not all just some elaborate hoax?"
His words seemed to cause a stir amongst the men, and the traveler felt a gentle urging in his gut that he was coming to a point of no return. He had been issued very clear warnings in regards to using his abilities, but he knew that without passage, his self-imposed chastity of his powers would mean nothing. He glanced to Ursa who was watching him just as closely and looking like she was having a hard time herself trying to figure sense of his words. The traveler could understand why; his plan was so simple, yet so outrageous, the odds of it actually working were about as much a flip of the coin as anything could be. No one save him and Ursa had ever actually seen this monster that rested to the east, to the west of the Nations, and now he was proposing they risk just about everything in order to make passage on a journey that had been considered impossible for who knew just how many generations.
But you know it's possible to survive it, Ursa. I can see it in your eyes. That's why you're even entertaining this idea… but you're thinking about your crew as well, what you're also asking of them.
He looked back to the crew who had begun openly muttering and casting him openly venomous looks. It was clear they thought him a madman, a prankster, or perhaps both, and that except in a seldom few cases, such as with hook-hand and the stouter crewmember who were watching him with thinking eyes and pondering expressions, the rest looked like they'd be more than happy to throw him overboard.
Perhaps a show of my commitment to this, as well as my honesty, wouldn't go amiss.
It was a rash decision, one that he felt stabbing at his innards as he even made out with it, but he felt the throbbing in his head as his eye flashed purple. He saw the crew's expressions change from angry to taken aback at the flickering glow in his eye, so much so that they didn't quite draw notice to the strange swirling pattern that was twisting the air above their heads. The traveler's companion did though and moved quickly towards him, crying out as she did and grabbing his wrist.
"Sasuke!"
Without so much as a warning, a cascade of coins rained from seemingly nowhere to shower the deck in the middle of the crew. Those nearest jumped back and stared in shock along with the rest as the currency splashed down onto the deck. Ursa's eyes flicked upward rather than towards the shower of riches that clattered noisily onto the deck of her vessel, but by then, the swirl was gone and there was nothing to see. Her crew took up the gesture as well, turning their eyes skyward and looking around in every direction, trying to ascertain the source of the wealth that had just been thrust into their midst, but they too came up as empty-handed for a solution as their captain.
Sasuke looked out over all of them and waited patiently for attention to return to him, knowing by the awestruck expressions of the hardened men before him that he had just done a great many things to perhaps change their perspective on him.
"Who are you?" the large second mate asked, his expression more reserved, but Sasuke could see the trepidation in his eyes.
"I am no one of consequence," he replied, doing his best to maintain the same amiable expression he had adopted since he had boarded the ship. Maintaining such politeness was rather wearing, but it was as necessary as anything he had yet done to try and secure this vessel for his purposes.
"All I am is a man looking for passage to the east with his companion," he said and gave his arm a slight shake to free his wrist from his companion who had it in something of a death grip. "This here is proof of my commitment to pay you in full. This here should be enough for a new vessel as is."
The crew spent several long and rather comical moments looking between the pile of coins that had just amassed at their feet and then to Sasuke, as though expecting some sort of explanation to come about in their heads just by looking. It was quite suddenly that one of the crew reached into the depths of his clothing and whipped free a knife, and hurled it towards Sasuke; before it had even reached its mark, he had drawn his sword, pounding his way up the wooden steps towards where Sasuke stood.
"Witchery!" he bellowed, but stopped as Sasuke's companion stepped between the both of them, her hand reaching back to grasp the hilt of the greatsword that remained tucked out of sight underneath her traveling cloak.
"You'd better have a fast swing," she said warningly and he stared in disbelief at her, looking totally thrown off that he had just been all but challenged by a young woman about half his size, but looking fully ready to take him on. Sasuke knew too that she would dispatch him as quick as he could blink, and was rather glad when several of the other crew came up behind the man and drug him away; with their arms around him, he seemed to regain his composure and started yelling at them to let him go so he could kill them both and keep them from bewitching anyone and as he did, Sasuke stepped up to his companion, his voice low and only able to be heard by her over the howling of the man.
"What do you think you're doing?" he muttered.
"Keeping you from getting into trouble," she replied, just as testily.
"I had it handled," he said back, spinning the man's knife that he had snagged out of midair. His companion whipped her hand out and snatched it away from him, fixing him with an angry stare.
"Oh sure, just like you handled using your powers just now, after what Roku told you."
She looked away sharply, her silvery hair whipping around her shoulder and Sasuke stared at the back of her head a moment, feeling somewhat slighted.
She had to know we'd never be able to make it back without me tapping into my abilities at least a little, didn't she? Tapping into Kamui for just that briefest moment can't have had that much effect on anything, she's overreacting.
Below where they stood on deck, the crew had successfully subdued the single errant member who pushed away from them, looking back at Sasuke venomously, but he made not another move to attack or speak out. The hook handed man, who had only watched as the man had been restrained, slowly looked around at the rest of the crew before turning to look up towards Ursa.
"Captain, I trust you understand if some of the men might have some… reservations about what this man says, and offers, and has shown us. But I believe I speak for everyone here when I say that, should you find his proposition worthy, it would be our honor to sail with you again, even on such a potentially deadly venture."
And there was the real test, the reason Sasuke had wanted to give this rather pointlessly elaborate explanation and presentation. His preference would have been to just go to Ursa with his offer and solution for avoiding the sea monster, and go from there, but there had been a significantly important facet that he had not wanted to overlook. A less loyal crew would very possibly have staged a mutiny right then and there, or done so at sea, but as Sasuke looked at them all right then, from angry, to resentful, to fearful, to curious, they all looked respectfully and expectantly to their captain. That was the power she commanded aboard this ship, Sasuke understood. He had needed to know if what he had asked was something that would have made some or all of the crew turn tail or worse, but even when confronted with this highly unusual set of circumstances, they looked to their captain to lead the way, even into madness should she deem it so.
Ursa's face was a hardened mask of thought, as her eyes continued to storm. She remained relatively motionless, though her finger traced around the pommel of one of her twin swords as she carefully regarded the men before her. Sasuke expected her to present an ultimatum perhaps, to offer those uncomfortable with this proposition to exit the ship, to give them a chance to back out should they want to, but it seemed that just looking at her men, she saw all that she needed to.
"We set sail in two hours," she barked and turned away from the railing; beneath them, the crew began to mill about, some collecting the coins that Sasuke had brought before them, others starting to make preparations. He saw not a single one of them whisper or mutter quietly, not one of them showed any signs of dissatisfaction or sedition. They were loyal to their captain, and their captain had given orders. Sasuke found himself very much respecting the relationship between Ursa and her men, and as he turned towards her, he felt a new appreciation for her tenacious leadership.
Her steeled expression didn't soften in the slightest as she stood in front of him, her hands clasped behind her back. Sasuke could see it in her eyes now, a thinly veiled hostility towards him; he had expected this might happen when he performed his little magic trick, but it was still somewhat disheartening to see the newfound wariness and suspicion she regarded him with.
"This plan, this diversion using the Bjorn, you are confident in it?" she asked, and Sasuke sensed no doubt in her voice, only something he could only describe as hope.
"If executed properly, I have every faith we will be able to slip past the monster unscathed," he said, and she nodded slowly. Her gaze dropped a moment, and he saw the vulnerability there, and chose to pounce.
"You remember it well, don't you?" he asked and she looked back to him, her mouth a tight line.
"There won't be a day in my life I won't remember that monster," she said through gritted teeth. "The sheer size of it… I'm surprised I didn't go mad then and there."
"A weak person might have," Sasuke said and for a long moment, he and Ursa regarded each other, both trying to piece the other together, trying to guess the other's motivations.
Finally, Ursa asked, "The double canoe on pier nineteen?"
Sasuke nodded without looking and she looked out across the port side of the ship to look at it a moment.
"Alright, I'll send some men aboard and arrange the tow."
"How fast do you anticipate we'll reach the Eastern Sea," he asked and she glanced up at the furled sails, the loose edges being gently tossed in the breeze.
"If this southern wind keeps up, I'd imagine we'll be there no later than tomorrow evening, perhaps earlier."
Ursa looked between Sasuke and his companion, and she narrowed her eyes slightly as though trying to draw some conclusion between the both of them before seeming to give up on such an endeavor.
"Make yourselves comfortable; the Bjorn doesn't exactly have the sort of design that is built to accommodate good-paying passengers, but you're more than welcome to use my cabin, there's a bed large enough for both of you there, I don't intend to do any sleeping myself prior to our crossing."
She paused there, clearly looking for some sort of reaction at her suggestion, but Sasuke only replied, "Thank you very much, captain."
He hoped that his companion hadn't made any sort of reaction and based on the slightly disgruntled look on Ursa's face, she hadn't. Turning away, Ursa added over her shoulder, "Delrin is the name of the man who attacked you. I'm going to have a word with him, but I'd do my best to avoid him just in case. He'll stay his hand on my orders, but anything to antagonize him would be imprudent."
Sasuke nodded in affirmation at her request and she turned to walk towards the stairs that led down to the deck. He saw her pause and look down at the vessel, running a hand along the wooden railing and saw a hint of sadness in her expression. Not at all the sentimental type himself, Sasuke still found himself pondering the fact that after sailing that ship for perhaps two decades, she had been so ready to wager the ship and the lives of herself and her crew, all to cross the Eastern.
What are you hoping to get back, Ursa?
As he mused over this, his companion shouldered him aside and marched to the aft end of the Bjorn past the wheel and leaned against the side of the port rail where upon a lamp was settled, complimenting the one on the starboard side in perfect symmetry. Sasuke looked at her a while, trying to mentally force himself to leave her standing there and perhaps go take a lie down in the captain's cabin. But as he looked at her back and could very much sense the tension in the air, he fought back a scowl and stepped her way. Stopping a few feet behind her, he crossed his arms and lowered his gaze to the deck for a moment, trying to think of how best to quickly solve this issue.
"Roku told me you were reckless, but I guess I had hoped you wouldn't be this bad."
Her voice was bitter and cynical, and Sasuke found himself rather genuinely pleased at how she snapped at him. This wasn't the first time they had come to odds over his decision making, and she had never shied away from telling him exactly how she felt. He had spent the last decade of his life having beings cower from him, when they knew what he was capable of, saying whatever they thought would appease him, telling lies and groveling at what he posed. But not her.
"We wouldn't have gotten away with this if I hadn't been able to pay something up front," he said. "And you know that we were never going to make it all the way back to the Nations without me having to dip into—"
"We were getting along pretty well for the past few weeks," she snapped. "If you're so eager to risk everything we're fighting for, why not just use your powers to mind control everyone on the ship?"
Sasuke breathed slowly, doing everything in his power to keep from getting frustrated with her discontent at his actions. He had been able to distract himself from the blistering hate that had driven him, but now, despite understanding her reservations with him, her words were having a festering effect on him.
"I needed only a moment to dip into Kamui and draw out the funds necessary; no one living passed through it, either in or out, and that's always the real drain on it. Assuming the plan goes well, I won't need to use anything again before we make it to Zuko."
She said nothing in reply to this, and kept her back turned to him. Sasuke watched her before bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. It was coming back, angrier this time. He assumed it would keep doing so; he despised how the restrictions on him kept him from delving at all into his chakra, assuming that Roku's hypothesizing was at all accurate. Both mentally and physically, he was being controlled and more than anything he wanted just to let loose, turn his wrath towards the sea, the sky. Such was his deepseated wrath that he found himself almost swooning at the idea of bringing his power to bear on the great sea monster that rested between him and his destination.
Sasuke remembered the serpent just as well as he was sure Ursa did. Its great form moving about the waves, its coils appearing just as much like underwater mountains raised up, its massive and luminous eye peering and seeing all. How much it would satisfy him to take the monster head on, rush at with Susanoo and send a Chidori coursing through its entire body, the asperity within him built up by bitterness and failure over what felt like countless years brought to bear against this monster that had made the Eastern Sea its home.
But Sasuke could not.
He grit his teeth and thought back to that night, that damned night. He had been ready to let his ire and resentment pass away, to give up and succumb, but of course, things couldn't have been easy even in that regard.
Four Weeks Prior
It was the sort of night that was at least peace-inducing. The breeze outside rustled the palms of the tropical trees that made up the forest, and adding just enough coolness to the warm summer air to make conditions quite comfortable.
Sasuke lay in his hammock, eyes closed and hating the soothing nature of the evening. He wanted to hate the world with all his might, but no such luck could be had for him. Years of stifling failure and mercilessly cruel dead ends had led him here, lying quietly in a tropical forest on some island he didn't even know the name of. It was here that he had come closest to admitting defeat.
He had failed, certainly. Over and over, and to a degree that would have led anyone else to surrender the hopelessness of such a quest long ago. But Sasuke had pushed on, believing he would find his way home, through some miracle, some epiphany that he hadn't thought to consider or that had remained unknown to him. But nothing, again and again, had led him to this point. An unknown man in a world he didn't belong to, hiding away; he could disappear then and there, and he knew he would not be missed.
And so he pondered it.
Accept failure as what had been all that defined him and let himself fade away from the memories of all. Was there anything truly that terrible, he thought, of living out the rest of his days within the woods of a place like this?
Were it any easier to continue on, he had thought often and keenly on the matter. But he had found that it wasn't about the ease of it. It was about the truth that he hadn't been able to accept, that denial that had sent him forging along for years after he had lost any semblance of a real lead.
I have nothing left.
He couldn't return home. And he couldn't go back. He didn't even want to. No one would accept him now, and nor should they, not after all the suffering he had caused, in both worlds.
Sasuke lay there, his hands clasped gently over his chest, thinking over his decision. In truth, it almost was enough to suffocate his angst in relief; to let go, he thought, was better than to let hope drag him through the harrowing mire of defeat that had loomed over him for so long.
The sun rose and fell three times while he lay there, coming to terms with his acceptance and what that meant for him. He couldn't even muster the effort to feel contempt for his own pathetic nature. As the chirps of crickets sounded in his ear, he allowed himself a small smile. Emotion was rather so burdensome after all.
His hand flew for his sword at the sudden disturbance in his self-built hut; he had trekked for days to make it this far from where he believed anyone would find him, and even if someone had made it out to him, he should have sensed them long before they got this close to his dwelling. Sasuke's blade flashed through the air to whip towards the intruder as he found himself on his feet in the blink of an eye.
The tip of his sword hovered just underneath the chin of a tall and bearded man, coated in a blue glow that was almost enough to match the shine of the moon outside, leaking in its lunar light through the cracks of the palm leaves that made up Sasuke's roof. He looked at the intruder for a long moment before his memory was stirred and Sasuke slowly lowered his weapon. He and the apparition stared at one another for a long moment before he turned back to his hammock and sat down on it, forearms resting on his knees.
"What, then?" he asked Roku in a quiet, bitter tone.
There was a pause before the ghost of the past Avatar replied to him.
"You don't seem that unsettled to see me. Were you perhaps expecting this?"
"No," Sasuke said flatly. "But if it's all the same to you, I'd rather you speak your peace and leave me."
Roku glimpsed around his dwelling, looking as though he were drawing up some judgement towards what he thought of Sasuke's present living situation.
"So you can do what? Abandon yourself to your loss? Waste away in this place forgotten even by the spirits?"
There came a rush then, a feeling that Sasuke had felt dwindle and rot away within him over years of his steady collapse. Only as he felt it burst back to life within his gut did he realize how much he had forgotten the feeling. Even rather missed it.
"What business is it of yours?" he growled. "If you were able to find me here, surely you've figured that I just want to be forgotten?"
Roku watched him as he got back to his feet, the feeling in his gut holding his motions hostage.
"I left! Isn't that what you wanted?! You spirits, wanting a disease like me gone?! Well, I couldn't leave! I tried, believe me! But now, I've come to accept it, that I'm never going to be able to go home and so here I came, to live with that loss! So, you tell me Roku, tell me what the fuck you want!"
He felt that burning making his insides quiver as he glared at the phantasm before him, finding himself wishing rather badly that he could just pull back his sword back and cut the man down as though he were physical and material.
Why can't you just let me disappear?
His vision blurred and he blinked aggressively to clear whatever ailment had taken over his eyes before he felt burning tracks slice down his cheeks. Turning away at the realization, Sasuke jammed his teeth together, furious at the sudden show of weakness. It had been so long since he had felt these feelings, and now they were all compounding into a disastrous attack at his mentality: desperation, regret, pain, grief and that most overpowering and intoxicating of emotions.
That hate.
That hate that had once driven him so strongly that had passed from his life. It flowed within him now and reminded him of so much that he had left behind. It physically hurt him and he put a hand on his stomach, wincing.
But damned, if the searing clenching didn't feel so good at the same time.
Sasuke drew a hand back through his hair, digging his fingers into his scalp, muttering as he did.
"Talk, Roku."
For a moment, he wasn't sure that he would be obeyed before the spirit behind him complied.
"You set in motion a series of events beyond what anyone could have foreseen, Sasuke, when you left the way you did."
"Yeah?" Sasuke replied darkly, trying to fight down the furious writhing inside him. "I don't think that's my problem anymore. I left. I left so they could all go back to their lives before a freak like me stepped in to cause all that havoc."
"Is that why?" Roku asked, and Sasuke heard the questioning in his voice, that lack of belief that he had told the truth. Sasuke drug his tongue against the edge of his teeth; he didn't want to have this become some sort of passive aggressive discussion about his motives. The faster he could clear up whatever it was Roku was here to intrude with, the sooner he could try and get these now ravenous feelings under control.
"Your fear of relationships says much about, Sasuke Uchiha," Roku said, and then the self-control didn't matter anymore. Sasuke was in the apparition's face in a flash.
"It's not your place to say," he snarled. "Now, are you going to tell me why you're here, or are you just going to stand there and glow, making quips?"
He studied the Avatar's face angrily and carefully before realizing that there was something like sadness there.
I don't need your pity.
"It might have been your understanding that leaving the Nations was in their best interest, or perhaps in yours, but the series of events that were caused by yourself, Madara and Obito set into motion a cataclysmic set of circumstances in the Spirit World."
Sasuke barely heard this last part; he hadn't heard either of those names in so long, nor thought of them for what likely could have been years now.
"Those two…" he said quietly. "Did they make it back? To our world?"
Roku didn't answer.
"I have fought hard to keep that what will develop soon from happening, but I am out of options, and out of time."
He gestured broadly. "Though it is far from the place of a spirit to interfere in the matters of the physical world, the spirits have been badly shaken and disturbed by the events brought about by your kind. A sect of spirits, those who voices have risen prominently in our world, have labeled what they see as cause for fear within this physical realm, instability and fracturing hostility between the Nations, weakness in the leadership of those in control, and a feeling that they cannot rely on Avatar Aang to keep peace, and instill balance."
Sasuke scowled, but was briefly caught off guard at hearing Aang's name again. Just like with Madara and Obito, it was something he hadn't heard in a very long time and nor had he thought about the person in question in quite some time. Nonetheless, he had no reservations in what he said next.
"You can tell those uppity bastards floating around in your little slice of heaven that I don't even need to be there to know that Aang is doing everything he can, and will continue to do everything he can to harbor peace. He's a damn sight more patient and amicable than any of these worked up beings you're referring to sound. Tell them to keep their noses out of what's going on, you're right, not their place to interfere."
Through their glowing and transparent sight, Roku's eyes flickered with desperation.
"You must understand, Sasuke… I have tried. I have tried for what is the equivalent of many lifetimes to try and foster a calming mentality among those who would find the material world so displeasing, but they have only grown in their fear and anger, drawing many more to their side."
He gave a somewhat helpless gesture and smiled sadly.
"You're all I have left. I have been trying to reach Aang for years, and though I will continue trying, he must be warned, as well as Fire Lord Zuko who I understand is now reigning over the Fire Nation."
Every part of Sasuke told him to blow this off, to tell Roku that this was no longer his problem. But he still heard the words come out of his mouth.
"Warned of what?"
"There will be an attack; they have been planning this for years now, but they are nearing a point where they will finally be able to actually make their move."
"Why've they taken so long to do this, if they're as pissed off as you say?" Sasuke asked flatly.
"Just as there is no easy way for people of the physical world to travel into our realm, it is equally difficult for a spirit to pass here, beyond the form I am presenting myself before you now. In actually stepping from the Spirit World to the physical world, a spirit will take on physical form, but this can only be done when a portal is opened that can withstand the passing of a spirit."
"Madara didn't find it too difficult to breach his way inside and then back out again," Sasuke growled. "And if you've been paying attention to me like it seems you must've been, you know full well I've had no luck myself."
He shot a hateful glance towards his satchel wherein lay the object that brought him such anger. Roku followed his gaze and looked back to him with another sad smile.
"That's because the key was never an object here, Sasuke… the key for them has been you."
There came a silence then as Sasuke stared down Roku, listening to the crickets chirp outside. How far he had made to distance himself from this, from anything like this and to stay from having to grow involved again, yet he had been found again. With every question he asked, he knew that he was drawing himself further back into the fray, and his own lack of control might have been what infuriated him the most.
"Explain," he said in a tone barely more than a whisper.
Roku didn't hesitate to comply this time.
"Madara would never have been able to activate the archstones and open a portal to our world had the borders between our realms not been deeply weakened. What rendered them unstable enough to be breached and split open was none other than the actions of the three of you; every time you dip into your chakra, so it is called, and cast those abilities that siphon that energy, the barrier that keeps our worlds from merging is struck a blow. The unnatural energy that you produce causes the space between our worlds to become less ethereal and more subjectable to tearing, so to speak. That last day of the war, the chaos you sowed on the battlefield, the barrier between our worlds was all but shattered and Madara was able to use the archstones, deeply weak conduits in their own right, to open a gateway."
Gently raising his hand at his side, Sasuke looked down to his palm.
"So… my jutsu and chakra… it's linked to the imbalance between this world and the Spirit World?"
"Yes. The spirits that have been trying to cross over likely would not have been able to get as close as they are now on their own, because…"
Roku trailed off, but his silence all but told the rest of the statement clearly and concisely. Sasuke clenched his fist.
"You're telling me I've been making their job easier, then, getting here?"
Nodding solemnly, Roku said, "Indeed. The barrier was set to mend by our kind quickly after the end of the war, an act that could not be undone by us, and something that those trying to breach your world now would never have been able to get past."
"This is not my world," Sasuke snapped and paced away in the dark of his hut a moment, trying to wrap his head around this whole notion. He found it all rather preposterous and not at all likely to be true, but deep down he knew that this feeling was just his own anger trying to keep him from stepping foot into this mess again.
"The jutsu I've been using over the years… it's been what's made them this close to being able to cross over?" he asked offhandedly.
"Correct. There is a very spiritual temple in the Fire Nation that they have chosen as their spot to reach the material world. It will serve as a worthy conduit as the barrier slowly continues to wear down."
"There's no stopping this then?" Sasuke asked, turning to fully face Roku. "Even if I never tapped into my chakra again, I couldn't stop what's happening?"
"The damage has been done," Roku said grimly. "Your actions over the years have been enough to slowly force down the barrier and it is showing no signs of holding. Were you to use any jutsu now, the process would speed up and time is already very much against us."
Sasuke felt a sneer come to his lips. "And let me guess: you thought you and your good-hearted spirit pals would be able to handle this, and you're only now coming to me because you know there's nothing you can do to stop what is, as it sounds anyway, an invasion?"
Roku didn't reply, out of shame, out of pride, or something else perhaps. Sasuke shook his head, trying not to let his anger rule him. There was a last question to all of this, one that he hadn't really yet considered.
"What's their plan, Roku?" he asked distantly. "These angry spirits make it over here, what then?"
The longest pause occurred then and Sasuke wondered if the Avatar spirit was trying to find the best way to put something that he was really rather unsure of even saying.
"They will instill order as they see fit," he finally replied, sounding almost defeated then and there. "Leaders will be cast down, forces will be swept aside. They have a hatred that was born by your actions before leaving, and they will see balance restored as they see fit, however cruel a methodology that might impose."
"My actions?" Sasuke snapped. "Me killing Ozai, that's really what ticked them off?"
Something very odd happened then and Sasuke narrowed his gaze at the expression Roku had just made. There had been a flicker of surprise there, and something with a deep shade of sadness, beyond what Sasuke had seen thus far. Something had just occurred to Roku, something he hadn't yet considered.
"What?" Sasuke demanded but Roku only gave him a shake of the head.
"The sole advantage you possess is that they believe you far gone from this picture. These islands are unknown to the Nations, just as the Nations are unknown to the people here. You've seen what it is that keeps them apart and you will have to encounter it again before your journey is at an end. But the Spirits' only interest lies in the Four Nations and the restoring of them, as twisted as that mindset has become with its fear-driven course. They pay no mind to these places beyond, so rooted in the lands of the Four Nations as they are. We all knew you to be out there, but they have no belief you will ever return, not after what you did. You are the best hope; the spirits keep careful watch on all those in power or of any sort of influence. Even if I could reach Aang, I doubt I would have more than a minute or two before my actions were found out."
The expression came again and Sasuke had the feeling that the actions that Roku was referring to were not what he was thinking of himself.
Sasuke turned away and dug his fingers into his temples, feeling strangely helpless and frustrated. Hundreds of possibilities flashed through his head, things he could choose to do, and things that could happen regardless of whether or not he chose to act. Flashes of places and faces he had expected never to see again, and as one face in particular appeared in his mind, his breath left him in a defeated sigh.
"If I don't go back, will they die?"
He didn't need to specify who 'they' were, and Roku's reply was anything but helpful.
"I cannot say. I do not know how they will be able to meet the coming storm, and how well they might fare."
In that response, Sasuke knew his mind had been made up. Despite his urges and emotions trying to hold him down and keep him still, he knew there was nothing he could do stop this.
"Tell me what I have to do," he said quietly.
There came no response, but the hut began to glow much brighter from within and Sasuke turned to see Roku's hands extended before him, palms facing down towards where the light seemed to be emanating. Sasuke found his blade hadn't left his hand as he gently tightened his grip around the handle, expecting anything to come from this strange occurrence in front of him.
Or, he at least thought he was expecting anything as he blinked in surprised silence as the glow faded.
There was a young woman lying facedown on the floor of his hut. She was naked, her skin seeming to shine with a fading glow as she gently stirred, though she seemed unconscious. Beside her was a sword unlike any sort Sasuke had ever seen: the blade itself was quite wide, maybe ten inches and was the typical side for a greatsword, but it glowed with a very otherworldly light, a deep aquamarine color. Sasuke could only blink at the woman and blade beside her in subdued confusion before Roku finally spoke.
"Heed my words carefully, Sasuke Uchiha. The Nations must be warned of the looming danger that will come from my land; the attack will come from the Fire Nation, and the Fire Lord must be warned. When you reach the Nations you must travel swiftly and covertly, as to avoid being noticed by the spirits keeping watch from the Spirit World."
He gestured to the girl still slumbering at his feet.
"This is Yue. She has shared my sympathies and fears for the world she was once a part of. She will be able to tap into her spiritual side to guide you from this faraway land back to the Nations. She has also become rather adept with that blade, she will aid you well should battle arise."
Sasuke opened his mouth, but Roku seemed to have understood what he was about to say.
"You must remember, Sasuke: you cannot use your chakra, your unnatural powers to this world. They are what tear at the waning barrier between our worlds. Should that protective wall fall before they can be warned, and evacuations can occur, this will all be for naught."
"These spirits… they're going to kill people?" Sasuke asked and Roku winced.
"They are… single-minded on their goal. They wish for balance, and anyone in the way of that will be destroyed."
"We'll see," Sasuke growled. The thought of not being able to tap into any jutsu or chakra was a very unsettling feeling, but even more unnerving was the fact that for the years he had been using them, he had been deeply worsening this situation that was now about boil over.
"I must leave you now," Roku said. "Time is not my ally, and I must keep trying to contact Aang. Reach him, reach the Fire Lord. Mobilize whatever forces the Nations have, protect the innocent, get them to safety. Havoc and chaos will come, and all must be ready to face it."
Sasuke gave him no parting words, simply stared angrily at the ghostly figure until he faded away, his blue aura shimmering away into nothingness. Then, Sasuke was alone in his hut again, with this girl, and her glowing blade. He stared at her a moment before closing his eyes tightly.
"I think I love you, you damn bastard."
He suddenly felt himself filled with such a desperate sensation that he nearly grabbed the girl to shake her away and point him towards the Nations, before blowing away on his Susanoo to get there as fast as he could. There too was the fear mingling with his hate, and the helplessness that came with it.
She'll be fine. They'll all be fine.
He stopped himself and opened his eyes, frowning.
Why do I care? Why would they? They've surely all forgotten me and moved on. I'll be just stepping in again… ruining their lives again.
His hand made a fist and he suddenly found himself desperate to hit something hard enough to atomize it. It had all changed, so fast. Just like it had before.
Sasuke held his anger at bay for several torturously long minutes, distracting himself by taking a blanket folded in the corner of his hut and draping it over Yue's body, and placing his pillow beneath her head. In truth, there was nothing he could do but be patient and play his cards right. The archipelagos he had found himself in were vast with a plethora of islands, and moving by foot or sea would surely take weeks on their own, let alone how far to make the ocean crossing. And there was the monster to boot…
With as much self-control as he had ever forced upon himself, he moved quietly to his hammock and sat upon it, sheathing his sword and let himself wait for Yue to wake up.