CHAPTER FOUR—AQILA
A slender woman with hawk-like features stepped forward. She looked to be in her forties or fifties, perhaps, and moved with an unmistakable air of strength and authority. She had a smooth, stalking gait like a tigerdillo. But when she spoke, her voice was surprisingly soft and lilting.
"Zafirah and Basam of the Janan Tribe," she remarked. "It certainly has been a while, hasn't it?" She then lifted her hands to them and proclaimed, "We welcome you, friends born of our sister tribe. May you find peace and shelter within our caravan."
Kuei recognized the intonation of ritual speech. He'd heard it often enough in the Royal Court. Bosco huddled behind him as he watched the scene unfolding before him; the bear whined quietly and Kuei anxiously thought of the gash on his companion's shoulder. Zafirah and Basam echoed the movement and bowed their heads as they lifted their own hands.
"We thank you, chieftain of our sister tribe," said Basam. "May the Spirits bless our reunion."
With the ritual greeting done, Qamar looked back and forth between them curiously. "What brings you out here, just the two of you? And with... unusual company." Kuei didn't miss the dubious sidelong eye she gave him and Bosco.
"It's... nothing good," Zafirah said quietly, crossing her arms tightly. "The Fire Nation's here, Qamar."
"They came for the Oasis," Basam explained. "They, uh, they... there were these flying things, and there was so many soldiers, and- everyone's gone. They took 'em all. Everyone from the Oasis, except us."
"Flying things?" Qamar asked, frowning.
"Yeah. Big red things with a cart or somethin' hanging underneath it, floating up in the sky," Zafirah said.
"Spirits and ancestors," Qamar breathed, paling in horror. "If they can travel by air, then none of us are safe."
"Exactly," Zafirah agreed bitterly. "They can go as far into the desert as they want now, and they're gonna be coming back for the rest of us. Their commander said they'd be back."
Qamar nodded slowly as she processed this, and then she turned to Kuei with a scrutinizing stare. "And who is the outsider you've brought here?" she asked, wariness etched into her weathered face.
"This is Kuei of Ba Sing Se," Zafirah told her. "He's on our side. He did what he could to help us fight off the Fire Nation that night, and he helped us cross the Spirits' Furnace." Here she hesitated, and Kuei saw her eyes dart sideways towards him. "Besides that... he defended me from the Firebenders. I owe him a debt."
"What?!" Kuei blurted out, whirling towards her, then immediately clapped both hands over his mouth, mortified. The Sandbenders' stares turned to him. He stepped back from their probing eyes, no less confused than they were. Did she really see herself as being indebted to him?
Qamar chuckled thinly. "I think that's as much news to him as it is to us. All right, then. We welcome you, Kuei of Ba Sing Se, ally of the Janan Tribe."
He recovered his wits hastily and bowed deeply. "I thank you, Qamar of the Aqila Tribe." If there was one thing Kuei understood, if there was anything he was good at, it was courtly rituals. Qamar nodded in satisfaction, then motioned for Zafirah and Basam to join her a few paces away. As they walked past Kuei to go to her, Zafirah lightly rapped his shoulder with her knuckles. He jumped slightly at the unexpected contact.
"These guys are gonna go dig up the sailer and take whatever they can salvage. Go see if you can help 'em," she said, jerking her thumb towards the Aqila tribespeople. "They might not let you, but stick close to 'em. That way, you can grab some medicine for the furball before it all gets stowed away."
"Thank you," Kuei said, relieved that she'd noticed Bosco's injury. But then her words sank in a little and he asked, "But what if they won't let me take any?"
Zafirah shifted her weight, arms crossing. "Look, you are an outsider here, but you did help us get this far. The Aqila tribe will have a little extra stuff and you helped bring it here, so you've got a right to use some of it. Don't let 'em tell you otherwise."
Kuei nodded with more than a little trepidation, and she left, patting him on the shoulder as she went.
As the two siblings went to talk with Qamar, Kuei fretted about Bosco's injury. The cut on Bosco's shoulder wasn't too terribly deep, but it was still worrisome. He hoped they'd be able to find the medicine from the wreck quickly. He bent down and scratched behind Bosco's ear reassuringly. Then he turned to the rest of the Sandbenders, about twenty in total, and found all of them staring right at him. He froze and stared back, suddenly at a loss for words. They were all watching him expectantly and he flushed slightly under their focused attention.
"Um..." he said. "P-pardon me, but we had some medicine in our supplies, and I'd like to- no, I need to use some of it." And then something occurred to him, and he muttered, "Actually, where is the sailer?"
He turned hastily to look for their sand sailer, or whatever was left of it. A few of the Sandbenders edged closer while he scanned for it, as if he were a wild animal to be approached with utmost caution.
"Oh... there it is," he said faintly. The upended wreck sat half-buried in sand some distance away— it was, in fact, well beyond where they'd hidden. The entire wreck had tumbled several yards past Si Wong Rock. Kuei gaped at the tangled wreckage, stunned, and extremely grateful that none of them had ended up over there with it.
"W-well, um… best to get started, right?" he asked, laughing half-heartedly. He turned and started to make his way across the sand, and the Sandbenders filed after him. One of them, a teenager who scarcely looked older than Sokka, hurried to catch up to him.
"You're really from Ba Sing Se?" he asked.
"Yes, that's right," Kuei said, mustering a smile in spite of his sudden nerves.
"I heard the Fire Nation took over the whole place, did that actually happen?" the Sandbender asked, sounding more curious than worried.
"I'm afraid so," Kuei told him, swallowing down a stab of guilt.
"How did you get out of there?" the boy asked.
"Luck?" Kuei tried, sweating uncomfortably.
"I heard that the Earth King fled the city, did that happen too?" the boy pushed.
Kuei's mouth went dry as his heart forgot how to do its job for a beat or two.
"I- that is, well-" he sputtered. Had word really spread so far, so quickly?
Luckily, a young woman grabbed the boy's arm and pushed him aside.
"C'mon, knock it off! Don't be rude," she chided. She whirled around, tugged down the cloth covering her nose and mouth, and beamed up at Kuei; she was quite short, the top of her head not even reaching his shoulder. "Sorry about that! I bet you probably don't wanna talk about that stuff."
"It is a rather sore subject," Kuei agreed, clearing his throat uncomfortably. She was right, but for all the wrong reasons. Still beaming sweetly, she sidled closer.
"So, your name is Kuei, right?" she asked. "I'm Amaris!"
"It's nice to meet you," he said, smiling back at her.
"What's that beastie you got over there? He's so fluffy!" Amaris said, peeking at Bosco over her shoulder.
"Oh, that's Bosco! He's a bear. He came with me from Ba Sing Se," Kuei told her.
"A bear, huh? I've never heard of any animal like that before," she commented.
"Bosco is quite uncommon," he said proudly. But his smile faltered as he thought of the wound on Bosco's shoulder. "We need to find the medicine in our supplies as soon as possible. Bosco was injured when the sailer crashed. It... it could've been worse, but-"
"Don't worry, we'll take care of it," Amaris reassured him. "We can get that wreckage dug up and raided in no time, just you wait and see! Let's hurry!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him along. He stumbled after her, startled by the sudden contact. But as they ran along, that boy's last question echoed in his head.
The wreckage of the glider creaked and groaned from the pressure of the sand piled against it. Kuei approached it cautiously, but the Sandbenders walked right up and got to work. Kuei followed them and moved to start digging, but two of the Sandbenders stopped him, shaking their heads wordlessly. He quickly stepped back, sheepish- it was for the best, probably, to let the experts handle this.
They excavated the wreck cautiously, pushing the sand away with great sweeps of their arms, and it wasn't long before the wreck began to shift and lean, its shattered planks screeching. The Sandbenders jumped back as it toppled over and crashed down in a cloud of sand. Kuei stared in amazement, then ran over to it and started searching for their supplies. The Sandbenders join in, dismantling the wreckage as they went.
Soon enough, they'd excavated everything they could take from the sailer. Once Kuei found the pack with medicine in it, he seized it and sprinted back to Bosco, who hadn't budged from their hiding spot. As he did, he saw Zafirah and Basam still in deep conversation with Qamar. They were far enough away that he couldn't hear their words, but he could see the twins' solemn expressions. He wondered briefly what they were discussing. Bosco spotted him and sat up, favoring his right leg and whining.
"It's all right, Bosco! I found plenty of medicine, you'll be healed up in no time at all!" Kuei assured him. He crouched down beside the bear and tugged at the ties holding the pack shut. In his haste, he fumbled with them for a moment before the pack finally opened. As he rummaged through the pack for bottles that might be disinfectant, hoping they would be labeled, someone appeared in his peripheral vision.
"Need any help with that?" she asked. He looked up to see Amaris standing there, leaning forward with her hands on her knees.
"Oh… well…" He examined the supplies in the pack, and immediately saw a problem: he'd done plenty of reading on the subject of medicine, but he really didn't know how to put it into practice. Turning to Amaris, he asked, "I don't suppose you have much experience with treating wounds…?"
"As a matter of fact, I do!" she proclaimed, smiling widely. Crouching down next to Kuei, she took the supply pack from his hands and made a shooing gesture. "You keep him calm, I'll get this little problem all taken care of."
Kuei nodded and moved to sit on front of Bosco, stroking the top of his head while Amaris cleaned and treated the wound on his shoulder. It was over and done with sooner than he'd expected, and with nary a whimper from Bosco— Amaris sat back on her heels and nodded in satisfaction.
"There, see? He's all patched up," she told him, smiling sweetly. Sure enough, the wound had been bandaged neatly and Bosco was hardly favoring the leg; he sat with his right forepaw almost flat on the ground. The bear gurgled happily and licked Amaris's cheek. She giggled and patted Bosco's head.
Kuei couldn't help but smile himself as he studied her handiwork. "Thank you, Amaris, that was some swift work!" he remarked.
"Yeah, well, it wasn't that bad of a cut. I'm not a healer or nothing, I just know the basics, like we all do," she replied with a casual shrug— downplaying the praise, but her proud little grin said otherwise.
With Bosco patched up, Kuei went to see what the rest of the group was doing. The other Sandbenders were busily taking apart the wrecked sailer, organizing parts of it into different piles. Amaris hurried over to help them and Kuei followed, figuring he could at least offer his assistance. Given the wary glances they'd shown him before, he wasn't sure that they'd accept it. Bosco trundled along behind him, only limping slightly now.
As he'd suspected, the Sandbenders waved away his offer of help; they clearly had their own system for this and he imagined that they wouldn't want an outsider getting in the way. So instead he helped lug the cargo away from the wreck as they pulled it out, helping them to pile it all up. It was all he could do for the moment.
Eventually, the Sandbenders finished dismantling the sailer and they bundled all of the useful bits onto the Aqila tribe's own sailers. Amaris went off to assist them, waving goodbye with a wiggle of her fingers as she left. Zafirah and Basam rejoined him, and Qamar strode off to the sailer at the head of the group.
"Time to go," Zafirah announced. "We're heading back with these guys to the rest of the Aqila tribe."
"Oh— of course," Kuei said, taken off-guard. He couldn't help but feel a slight flash of disappointment. He'd known that he would have to say goodbye to these two soon, but this was so abrupt! Then again, this had been their agreement. "I suppose this is where we part ways, then?"
"Huh? What're you talking about?" Zafirah remarked, raising her eyebrows. "I said 'we', didn't I? You're coming too, at least for a little bit."
"Turns out that this was a supply run— they just came back from the desert's edge, they gotta get back to their encampment to switch out their crews before they can make another run out there," Basam explained.
Wryly, Zafirah added, "Sorry, you're stuck with us for a couple more days."
"Ah, I see!" Kuei exclaimed, and he was actually somewhat relieved. Not to mention, he was curious to see the Aqila tribe encampment. Zafirah, however, was frowning as they walked towards the Aqila sailers— she frowned contemplatively at him from the corner of her eye. "Is something wrong?" he asked.
"I can't make any promises about what kind of welcome you'll get," she cautioned. "Qamar says you can come along, so no one's gonna hassle you or anything like that. It's just... well, they're not used to outsiders around here, and not all of 'em are gonna be happy to have an uninvited guest."
Ah, yes— he did recall her mentioning something like that. He nodded solemnly, his enthusiasm tempered by sudden self-consciousness. It made sense, after all: these Aqila Sandbenders certainly hadn't been expecting to find a random outsider from Ba Sing Se on their supply run. Curious though he might be, he'd have to do his best to keep his head down and mind his own business.
The Aqila tribe's sailers were larger than the one that they had arrived on; two people stood on each of the platforms to power the sailer, and three stood at the navigator's post— one stood at the compass while another unrolled a map, and the third seemed to be taking up a position as a lookout. The Sandbenders who weren't crewing the sailers piled into the hulls, or sat on the platforms behind the crew. Kuei and his companions ended up in one of the hulls, virtually by themselves— several of the other Sandbenders had switched to the opposite hull to counterbalance Bosco's weight.
It wasn't a long journey to the Aqila encampment, but Kuei had more time alone with his thoughts than he would have liked. That boy's question rattled in his head. So, news of his escape had spread, after all. He wondered what the Fire Nation had said about it; were they calling it an exile? A cowardly abandonment? Were they claiming to have forced him out, or had they proclaimed that he'd fled in fear?
Not even Kuei knew which was true, but he had a bad feeling that one was more likely than the other. He sank down against the hull, arms folded on its bulwark and head rested on his forearms.
They stopped to rest for a few hours during the hottest part of the day, and set out again as the sun began to coast towards the west. By late afternoon, their caravan sailed in between two towering sand dunes and slowed down. Kuei stood up to see where they'd arrived to, and his eyes went wide at the sight.
He counted forty sand sailers, even bigger than the ones in the caravan, and each one had a tent set up behind it. They stood arrayed in a massive circle, hulls facing outward to protect the tents. The camp hummed with quiet activity, but people were noticing the returning caravan and more people emerged from their tents around the circle. The caravan eased into the center of the circle and came to a halt, and immediately swung into action to secure the sailers. Right away, the rest of the camp swarmed to life as those who had stayed at home emerged to greet the returning caravan.
As the Sandbenders leaped down from the hulls to begin unloading cargo, Kuei jumped down with them and moved to help- and was summarily waved off. I suppose that's fair, Kuei thought ruefully. It wasn't as if he knew their typical system for this, anyway. Instead, he turned to take in the sight of the encampment.
He'd had no idea that there were Sandbender settlements of this size. All of the texts he'd ever read on the desert had made the Sandbender tribes sound small and disorganized, and this was neither.
"This is incredible!" Kuei marveled. Bosco clambered out of the hull and toppled to the sand with a heavy thump beside him, and Kuei chuckled, reaching down to pat the bear's head. "Look at this, Bosco! What a sight this is!"
"Never seen anyone get so excited over a bunch of sand sailers before," Basam chortled, clapping Kuei on the shoulder as he passed by.
"I had no idea that the Aqila camp would be this big!" Kuei remarked.
"Yeah, there's a lot more of us out here than most folks seem to think," Basam conceded, then he grinned and added dryly, "Scared yet?"
"It's marvelous," Kuei said. He was starting to realize just how wrong the tomes in the royal library had been. There's still so much I don't know, he thought in awe, and a bit of dismay. How had he been so ignorant his whole life? Well, he knew the answer to that. He'd grown up hidden away from the world by virtue of his station in life, and by design thanks to Long Feng's ambitious greed. But now he had a chance to change that, and to open his own eyes. The Avatar and his friends had gotten him started, and now it was his task to continue his own awakening. There was no reason for him to remain the "king fool" any longer.
As soon as they disembarked from the sailers, the young man named Shai was at Zafirah's side in an instant, leading her aside and gently lifting her chin with one hand. Kuei recognized him as one of the three Sandbenders that had unearthed them after the storm.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah," Zafirah muttered.
"You sure?" Shai asked with a frown.
"Just a little shaken up. I'm fine." She pushed his hand off her chin. Although, even as she said it, Kuei wondered how true it was; she'd been silent on the Aqila sand sailer, staring absently out into the desert as they'd traveled.
Shai parted ways from Zafirah, pushing past Kuei as he went to go help with unloading- and he shot a sidelong glare at Kuei as he passed by. Before Kuei could start worrying about it, though, Amaris darted through the milling crowd and bumped her shoulder up against his arm, smiling widely.
"Um, he-hello," he said, flushing slightly at her sudden and unexpected proximity.
"Hi again! C'mon, let's go help unload the sailers," she chimed. "Once that's done I'll show you around the camp!" Linking her arm through his, she led him back to the sand sailer. He felt his face get redder at how close his arm was to her body; this was definitely something that had never happened before.
This time - perhaps thanks to Amaris' presence - the sailer crew let Kuei help. As they waited to have cargo from the sailer handed down to them, Kuei glanced back at Zafirah, who shuffled up behind them alongside Basam. Her gaze flicked up and their eyes met for a moment; her face was blank, inscrutable, and she quickly looked away. Kuei couldn't help but wonder what she was actually thinking.
Loaded down with crates and burlap sacks, Kuei trudged after Amaris as she made her way across the camp. His arms were already straining and he was focusing very, very hard on not tripping. Amaris, on the other hand, carried her own cargo as if it were a sack of feathers.
"This way!" she called over her shoulder. He followed her to the middle of the circle, where the rest of the foraging party had already laid out the newly-acquired cargo. As he watched, more and more of the tribespeople started to gather around the growing collection of goods.
"What's happening now?" Kuei asked as they set their loads down. Amaris straightened up and pushed back her headscarves slightly, wiping her forehead.
"It's loot time!" she said cheerfully. "Everyone's gonna line up to get their share of the cargo. We got a real good haul on this run, these supplies should last us all for a while."
"So then, everyone gets their portions now? And that's it until more supplies arrive?" Kuei asked, astounded. "What if someone doesn't have enough?"
"Ahh, that hardly ever happens," Amaris assured him, waving her hand dismissively. "And even if it did, somebody else would just share theirs!"
"So everyone takes care of each other, then," Kuei remarked.
"Yeah! I mean, we're not just gonna let someone go hungry or whatever just 'cause they ran out. If someone needs more of something, we just kinda give it to 'em. That way everybody is, uh, you know, taken care of," Amaris said, nodding. Kuei smiled as he watched the Sandbenders flock to the cargo pile.
More and more people were gathering around the newly returned crews, chattering excitedly; given the late hour of the afternoon, Kuei guessed that the rest of the tribe was waking up for the evening.
As the line moved along, Kuei noticed a small crowd beginning to form around himself and Bosco. The bear reveled in it, contentedly licking the faces of the children who jostled forward to get a better look at the unfamiliar animal. Their parents were less enthused, ushering the young ones away from the bear while stealing guarded glances at Kuei.
"Everyone keeps looking at me so cautiously," he observed.
"It's not that weird, is it? You're an outsider! We hardly ever get outsiders this deep in the desert," Amaris explained.
"I had no idea I was so exciting," Kuei said, mystified. Amaris giggled at that, although Kuei hadn't thought his remark had been quite that funny.
"Besides, word's probably spreading by now of why you're here, what it was that you did," she added.
"What I did?" he echoed worriedly.
"Well, sure! You're the brave hero who saved our Zafi from getting scorched," she said sweetly.
"B-brave?" Kuei echoed again, going red. He self-consciously reached to adjust his glasses, then winced as his knuckles accidentally brushed the bruise from his black eye. The salve that he'd brought from the Oasis was working well, though— the swelling was almost entirely gone already and only the bruising remained.
"Amaris, are you pestering the tourist?" Zafirah jibed as she walked by.
"No!" Amaris said swiftly, then she shot an anxious look at Kuei. "I'm not, right?"
"Oh— no, not at all," he assured her. Zafirah snorted, then turned and headed off.
"Lots to be done, don't stand around chatting for too long!" she called back over her shoulder.
Amaris heaved a sigh. "What a taskmaster. C'mon, I'll show you how we hand stuff out!" His arm went back into her firm grasp and he was pulled along once more.
Zafirah was helping the crews guide the sailers into a half-circle around the edge of the camp when she heard Qamar's voice ring out behind her.
"Ah, there you are!" Qamar called. Zafirah turned around and saw the Aqila chieftain standing with Kuei and Basam, who waved sheepishly at her.
"Hey, Qamar. What'd they do?" she asked, nodding at her two companions.
Qamar chuckled. "Nothing yet. I'd like the three of you to come with me for a moment. We have something we must talk about."
Zafirah's stomach sank; she had a feeling she knew what this would be. They'd come out here into the open desert for a reason, after all. There was, in fact, a lot to talk about, and it looked like Qamar was getting right down to business.
The three of them followed Qamar to her tent- along with Bosco, who trundled along closely at Kuei's side. Kuei leaned down to her, eyebrows furrowed anxiously.
"Do you know what this is about?" he whispered.
"I think so. I told you before that we needed to tell the rest of the tribes about the Fire Nation coming for us, right? We got this far, but that's not the end of it," she muttered back.
"That sounds... vaguely ominous," Kuei remarked, crossing his arms uncomfortably.
"Does ominous mean 'not good'?" Zafirah asked, frowning.
"More or less," Kuei agreed.
Zafirah heaved a sigh and said grimly, "Well, in that case, it's kind of an ominous situation."
When they ducked into Qamar's tent after her, Qamar sat down beside a small writing table at the back of the tent and gestured for them to sit. Zafirah settled herself on the thick, patterned rug in front of the desk, Basam and Kuei seating themselves on either side of her. Behind them, Bosco poked his head into the tent and flopped down, half in and half out.
"I'd, ah, tell you to invite your... companion... inside, but I think it would be a little crowded," Qamar said, raising an eyebrow.
Kuei smiled faintly. "That's fair enough. Is it all right if he waits there?"
"I don't see why not," Qamar said with a shrug. "Now, Zafirah and Basam, I'm sure you already know what this is about."
"The pact?" Basam guessed.
"Exactly," Qamar agreed. Pausing, she glanced at Kuei and added, "Let me explain, since you're involved in this too: ninety years ago, the Sandbender chieftains gathered and decided together that if the war reached the desert, those attacked first would sail out and gather the other tribes- both to warn them, and to prepare ourselves to fight. The chieftains of the past knew that if the war came here, we would have to band together if we wanted any chance of defending our tribes and our lands."
"And the war's never come to the desert until now?" Kuei asked, eyebrows rising in astonishment.
"No, thank the Spirits. I can only guess that the difficulty of crossing the desert stopped them from trying it. We don't have anything worth taking," Qamar said.
"Aside from slaves, looks like," Zafirah muttered sourly.
"Exactly," Qamar agreed grimly. "You three brought us word of the attack, and now we must gather the Chieftains as soon as possible."
"What can we do?" Basam asked, leaning forward.
"I think you probably already know," Qamar said gently. "I hate to say it, but you'll need to tell the Chieftains exactly what happened at the Oasis. Can I count on you two?"
Zafirah glanced at Basam, who met her eyes with an anxious frown. Talking about the attack, telling everyone in detail about the fall of the Janan tribe... Zafirah's hands clenched into fists on her knees. As painful as it would be, could they really say no?
"Yeah. We'll do it," she said.
Qamar nodded slowly. "Thank you. I'll start sending up signal flares tonight." She paused, glancing at Kuei; his puzzlement must've shown on his face, because she added, "A signal to the other tribes, that we're to meet at Si Wong Rock. We'll set out for the rock ourselves in a day or two, give the others a chance to see the flares and get on the move. In the meantime, you three rest up and recover your strength. Unfortunately, I think you're going to need it."
"Sounds like it," Basam said, heaving a sigh.
Qamar smiled sadly. "I wish I didn't have to ask it of you. Now, you go and get some rest. You've made a long journey."
As the three of them bowed and stood up to leave, Qamar spoke up again.
"If I may, I need to speak with your traveling companion," she said. Kuei, realizing she meant him, froze for a moment before turning around pointing questioningly at himself.
Zafirah and Basam shot him a questioning look; he shrugged, no less in the dark than they were. The two of them filed out and Kuei turned back to Qamar.
"Is something the matter?" he asked tentatively.
She smiled slightly. "Don't worry, you're not in any kind of trouble. First, I wanted to thank you personally for helping those two. It's not often that an outsider shows such concern for our people."
"Oh." Kuei blinked, taken aback. "Well, I... it didn't seem right not to help, so I..."
He was a little relieved when Qamar cut him off with a wave of her hand. "It's all right, you don't need to explain yourself. The fact that you're here at all is more of a commendation than you realize."
"Really?" he asked.
"Think about it. One outsider against an entire tribe of Sandbenders, out here in the deep desert? You'd have to be pretty arrogant to have come out here with ill intent," Qamar said, chuckling. "That, or pretty much an idiot."
Well, more of an idiot than he already surely was, he thought to himself. She had a point though, which he conceded with a sheepish nod.
Qamar smiled, then said, "Now, those two told me that they had struck a deal with you- help them sail into the desert, and then you'd get a ride out of here. I intend to honor that agreement, although it might be a day or two before the sailers are ready to go again. In the meantime, I'll be asking you to take on some chores."
Kuei blinked. "You will?"
Qamar smiled thinly. "Everyone pulls their weight out here. Those that are capable, anyway, and you seem capable enough. Can I count on you to do that?"
"Yes- yes, of course! I'll do my best!" Kuei assured her. "It's simply that, well... Zafirah had warned me that I might not be... entirely welcome here, as an outsider. You... don't mind letting an outsider help out around here?"
Qamar shrugged. "Like I said, if you were willing to put yourself into this mess, that's a vote in your favor as far as I'm concerned. So, can I count on you?"
Kuei straightened his shoulders and nodded with what he hoped was a firm and resolute air. Whatever tasks they might assign him, he was going to try his very hardest. The last thing he wanted was to make a nuisance of himself! He'd already done enough of that for a lifetime.
The three of them had been volunteered into dinner duty, but Zafirah got sent off after nearly burning herself twice on the cooking fire. She wasn't entirely put out about it as she wandered off through the camp; she'd been lost in her own head all afternoon, and she wasn't feeling too opposed to a few minutes alone.
Hiking to the top of the crescent-shaped dune surrounding the camp, she sat down on the warm sand and leaned back on her hands, eyes shut. It would be getting chilly soon, as the sun retreated and the day's heat faded from the desert. Heaving a sigh, Zafirah flopped backwards and stared up at the blazing orange-pink sunset.
"Well... here we are," she remarked. The old pact from the early days of the war, sealed ninety years ago... they'd really set it in motion, the three of them. Now that they'd made it this far, it felt like a lifetime ago that they'd set out from the Oasis- a lifetime ago and so very far away...
"Hey, you," said a cheerful voice behind her. She turned and saw Amaris clambering up the crest of the dune behind her.
"Hey, you," Zafirah said back, mustering a smile. "So much for my alone time."
"Yeah, yeah. Deal with it," Amaris commented as she settled onto the sand next to her. "Oof, busy day. How're you holdin' up?"
Zafirah shrugged. "I mean, almost our whole entire tribe just got hauled off by the Fire Nation, probably to be worked to death as slaves of some kind. Except for the ones they already killed, anyway. And there's the thing where we almost died in a sandstorm. But, you know, other than that..." she said sourly; she couldn't hide the break in her voice. She looked away quickly, sniffling back the sudden stinging in the corners of her eyes.
Amaris made a soft humming sound under her breath and gently rubbed Zafirah's back. Zafirah drew her knees to her chest and dropped her forehead onto them, the tears springing up fast and forcefully. They cut trails through the sand and dust on her cheeks, and suddenly she couldn't stop. Amaris said nothing more, letting her pour out her grief in the light of the sinking sun.
The cooks in the mess tent were already parceling out dinner to everyone when Amaris returned with Zafirah in tow. Kuei looked up from his assigned task of handing bowls to everyone in line, relieved to see the two of them back in time to get their portions.
Except, as they got closer, he realized that something was very much not all right.
"Zafirah, your eyes are red. What happened?" Kuei asked worriedly.
Zafirah shook her head and shuffled to the back of the lineup.
Amaris waited till the line had gone through, then motioned Kuei to lean down to eye level with her.
"Listen, I think it kinda really hit her just now... you know, what happened at the Oasis," Amaris whispered. "I think maybe she wasn't letting herself think about it, what with crossing the desert and all. There was a lot else to do and think about. And now... well, she's kinda had time to think about it."
"Oh. Oh," Kuei murmured, understanding what Amaris was getting at. "Spirits, how awful..."
"Don't worry about it" Amaris said with a shrug. She paused, then added, "Uh, if you're thinking of trying to talk to her about it, I wouldn't if I was you. She doesn't know you that well. No offense or nothing, she's just..."
"A bit wary?" Kuei suggested.
"Yeah, that," Amaris agreed. "She doesn't take to outsiders very well. Basam's a lil' more open, but her? I'm amazed she agreed to bring you along on the sailer at all, really. She can't stand most people that aren't Sandbenders."
"Well, they did say they needed a navigator. I didn't exactly have experience, but I offered to help," Kuei explained. "And, um, well... I was quite literally the only other person there."
"Oh, honey," Amaris said, shaking her head pityingly. Kuei flushed, startled by the informality. "You could'a been the only other person in the entire Earth Kingdom and I'd still be surprised she brought you out here. She's a hard one, our Zafirah."
"She is fairly harsh, I'll admit," Kuei agreed. "But then, why did she bring me along?"
"I dunno. You must've done something that got through to her." Amaris paused, then added, "Anyway, I've gotta go, and it looks like you're being summoned." She pointed, and Kuei saw Qamar approaching them. She had a solemn look about her as she walked up to him.
"Is something wrong?" Kuei asked. He hadn't done something to wear out his welcome already, had he?
"No, no," Qamar assured him. "But, if you'd please walk with me for a minute? Don't worry, they'll save a bowl for you."
"Oh... of course," he said, perplexed but falling into step alongside her nevertheless.
"I've been mulling it over since we picked you three up out there, and it may be wrong to ask this of an outsider, but perhaps you'll understand my reasons for doing so," Qamar began. Kuei stared at her, now entirely lost.
"Well, I... I'll try my best to... uh, whatever it is," he said. What could he even say in response to that? Apparently, nothing coherent.
"I need to ask... is there anything you can tell us about the fall of Ba Sing Se?" Qamar asked.
Kuei stopped walking so sharply that he almost face-planted as the sand shifted under his feet. Stumbling and wheeling his arms, he caught his balance and quickly cleared his throat.
"Any- anything?" he echoed. "S-such as...?"
"I'm not entirely sure myself," Qamar admitted. "However, you and those two are the only ones here who have first-hand experience with the Fire Nation. They'll likely be back before too long, and we'll need to defend ourselves. If there's anything at all that we can learn from their past maneuvers, it might give us a better shot at victory."
"Right. Of course," he agreed weakly. Qamar said nothing, and it occurred to him that she was waiting for his answer. The issue, of course, was that he had no idea what to tell her. "I... wish I could help, but... what happened in Ba Sing Se was... it was a very different situation." That much was true, at least. Ba Sing Se had fallen from within, not from a siege.
"I believe that," Qamar said. "Well, it'll be a day or two before the sailers set out. If you can think of anything- anything at all- please come and see me."
"Of course," Kuei said, trying not to feel the stab of guilt as he said it. Qamar smiled thinly and nodded, then turned and walked away.
Kuei turned and shuffled back to the dining tent, although he suddenly felt much less hungry.
He did want to help- but what could he tell her? It really had been a different situation. And, besides that... how could he explain what he knew without also revealing his true identity?
He had no way of knowing what would happen if the truth of his identity came to light- and, in fact, in the travails of crossing the desert, he'd almost forgotten that no one here knew. True, his original intent had been to travel in disguise- he'd wanted to see the Earth Kingdom through the eyes of its people, not the eyes of a distant and isolated monarch. So it had been a natural choice to disguise himself and keep his identity wrapped up.
But these people had been kind to him, although understandably keeping him at arm's length. Was he wrong to keep this secret from them? If they knew, would they resent him for failing to protect Ba Sing Se? They didn't seem to hold any particularly great love or loyalty for the walled city, but they hated the Fire Nation as much as anyone else in the Earth Kingdom. What would they say, he wondered, if they found out?
Then again, he'd be gone in a few days anyway, so perhaps it was pointless to worry about it. The thought was, strangely, less than comforting.
Stay tuned for Ch5!