Chapter 5

Little boy lost

Bleary sunlight leaked through the window as a storm was making its way to the port city. Tikaani stirred from his nest of warm furs and fleeces, his body giving him information he couldn't read; such as hunger and the need to pee. Tikaani struggled to process that his whole routine was now gone and he had no idea what to expect now. He whined in frustration, now realizing that his body disobeyed him, and he relieved himself on his bed mat. Tikaani didn't realize this; he also didn't know why there wasn't a chamber pot anywhere. His discomfort was made known to Katara, as he pulled on her hair.

Katara woke up immediately when Tikaani gave a sharp tug on her hair. She was going to scold him when she smelt the sharp scent of urine, and noticed the wet stain on his mat under the desk. Irritated, and annoyed with being woken up, she got up and bent the urine out of the mat and out of the window. However, she made no effort to help Tikaani out of his soiled loincloth. She looked for clothing for herself before grumbling to him.

"Couldn't you at least use a toilet or warn me?" she asked irritably, but not before she realized that there wasn't a chamber pot or that Tikaani probably wasn't aware. She sighed at her loose temper and left to go get dressed, just as Aang awoke grumbling as Tikaani tried to get into the bed.

"Katara why does it smell like-oh.." He sighed and got Tikaani out of the clothes and into some fresher ones. He shook his head at the whole situation, and took the boy to the gallery.

"Next time we'll get you a pot so you won't do that again."

Aang noticed that Suki and Mai were not present at the breakfast table, as Katara was making rice porridge for everyone. He was going to ask why, when Sokka answered his unspoken query.

"Mai left to take over Zuko's duties for a short time in the Captial. Suki left with her to help out, and she is planning to go back to Kyoshi Island." Sokka said matter-of-factly as he ate his jerky. Aang seemed upset at the thought of two of his team members leaving without his knowledge.

"Was it because of Tikaani, too?" He asked, letting Tikaani find a spot next to Toph. Sokka shook his head and finished his breakfast.

"No, Mai is just trying to do Zuko a favor, and Suki admitted that she thinks that it only take few of us to find this guy. She did say she'll definitely come back to our aid when we need it. Honestly, I think she was the only that was uncomfortable with Tikaani, but it's her problem." Everyone seemed uneasy at that statement. Toph got up from the table and took her pack and threw it over her shoulder.

"So, I'm gonna cause some trouble and scout the area. Hey, Spunky, want to come with me and see some nifty stuff?" Toph asked Tikaani who seemed to be playing with his porridge rather than eating it. Aang was going to object to it, but Katara beat him to it.

"Toph, I think Tikaani would be happier here in the safety of the ship than the city." Katara said gently, smiling knowingly at Tikaani. Toph didn't seem at all pleased with this answer and raised a skeptical eyebrow before taking Tikaani's hand and leading him to a wide window overlooking the harbor.

"Look! Do you see the port Tikaani? We're in a city, do you see it? Can you tell me what you see?" She said cheerfully to Tikaani who seem disinterested at first until a large steam ship came into view. Tikaani made gleeful squeal and pointed outside.

"BOATS, LOTS OF BOATS. I see docks and people and BOOAATS! I want to go out. I want to see the docks and boats and people!" His hand flapped happily as he went on about the boats and carts nearby. Toph smiled smugly at a frowning Katara, who crossed her arms and stood up.

"Fine. Just keep an eye one him, and don't be out long." Katara's voice was sharp with bitterness as she left. Toph called out to her, gloating.

"Next time, try asking him before you assume he can't answer!" Toph took his hand headed towards the gangplank. Aang called out to her,

"Try to see if you can get any information on the ship we're tracking." She gave him a thumbs-up as she walked outside.

Oh it's so loud and bright and green. My home is so blue, but there is green and red and yellow, and oh look at all the people in red and there are carts with lots of stuff. It's green too, oh there is so much. It's almost too much. Tikaani eyes were on everything that walked, trotted, or rolled. Holding on to Toph's hand tightly, he made giddy squeaks and chirps as he walked through the harbor town. It was all amazing to him, and, at the same time, so scary. He jumped as a moose-dragon cantered down the road. And with a very loud voice yelling at it.
"What's that?! What's that it!? Is it bad!?" Toph pulled him along and said, candidly,
"Moose-dragon, and it won't hurt you." Tikaani believed her, but pointed at a man smoking a pipe.
"He's smoking! What is he smoking? I want to see it." Tikaani said adamantly. Toph laughed and told him,

"That's probably tobacco by the smell, and I think we should leave the man alone to spoke his pipe." Tikaani furrowed his brow and made an interested noise before stating loudly to Toph.

"Maka smoked a lot!" He said, pointing at more things. Toph looked down at Tikaani got his attention.

"Where do you want to go down? The right or the left?" Toph said point to each direction and asking him several times. Tikaani pointed to the right and the headed down that direction.

Tikaani was floored. This was the first time since he was with the gang that he was allowed to make a choice. It was an incredible feeling to make a decision like that. Toph pointed at two shops.

"Do you want to see the weapon shop or the shop with the plants?" She did the same as she did before and repeated the question before Tikaani pointed to the apothecary. Toph lead him inside and let go of his hand, allowing him to browse.

This feel-good free feeling! I like it. I feel good all over. I feel like an adult, making choices like this. She trusts me, she doesn't think I am 'Far-Too-Young.' I like her. Tikaani played with the ginseng roots as Toph chatted to the owner before getting a bag of sugared ginger cubes. She handed him one, chuckling.

"OK, so do you remember my name?" she asked brightly as Tikaani rocked back and forth, trying to think and verbalize a good answer. Then he repeated what Toph said two nights ago.

"Sorry, I didn't be mean to bug you. I brought some food: rice with miso. I'm Toph. You're probably scared and stuff, I guess." He repeated 'I am Toph' over and over before he popped the candy into his mouth chewing. He blinked once and then clapped his hand over his mouth and made a surprised noise. Toph laughed as he stuck out his hand. "Oh, I knew you'd like it! You have pretty good memory, so you can have one more." She gave him a second piece as Tikaani ate it grinning.

Hot, sweet…I like it! More spicy-sweets! I like it a lot. Toph likes me too! Toph was going to take him down another street ,when Tikaani took off running at the sound of drumming down at a music store.

An older man with salt-and-pepper hair and brown eyes was drumming on an ox-hide drum. People gathered around the man as his younger brother worked, selling their products. The younger man shouted to the drummer.

"Hey Zha Dan! Do we still have some of the mini bongos?" Zha Dan chuckled and shouted back to his brother.

"Check the back Bao." He continued to drum just as Tikaani arrived to watch. Tikaani flapped his hands and waved side to side at the sound of the drum. His eyes were bright with amusement as the pulse reverberated all around him. Toph arrived and took his hand again as she watched Zha Dan drum.

"Hey, try to give me more of a warning next time Spunky."

Zha Dan stepped away from the drum to talk some customers into getting a set of bamboo pipes, when the crowd turned their heads at Tikaani who started to bang on the drum. Not randomly, but in the exact sequence that Zha Dan previously played. The patrons were impressed, as was Toph, who gawked at Tikaani's drumming. The boy finally stopped before getting up to look at a sitar. Bao and Zha Dan looked at each other before looking at Toph.

"Who is this kid? How can he do that?"

Toph recalled when Tikaani repeated the same sentence that she told him two days ago.

"His name is Tikaani, and he has a really good memory, apparently." Zha Dan wanted to test this. He called Tikaani over and started to play a harder beat. Tikaani listened to the sequence twice before picking it up and playing over as he did. Zha Dan did another, and Tikaani again mimicked the rhythm. Bao got a pipe out and walked over to his brother.

"See if he can do the same on another instrument." But, Tikaani seem uninterested at the pipe. Suddenly, a loud crack of thunder changed everything. Tikaanni screamed and ran out of the shop and through a throng of people. Toph didn't have time to earthbend and restrain him. He was gone down the roads just as she turned around.

"OH SHIT!" Toph shouted in anger. She was just ready to bolt out into the storm when Zha Dan gave her an umbrella.

"I'll come too; he's probably going to be hiding under something. If we go now we can find him before he runs into something nasty." Zha Dan said, following her out into the rain.

OH GODS! Make it stop! Make the booming stop! It's too much, just too much. It makes me feel like the time the moon died and fire people we're killing everyone. Maka and Amana were gone and I was listing to the booms from under the table. Auntie was crying, everyone was dying...I just want everything to stop.

Tikaani turned corners randomly as he tried to escape the roar of the thunder and the flash of the lightning. He nearly ran into several people. A few shouted some obscenities at him as he ran down the roads, terrified. He kicked off his moccasins and ripped off his tunic as he veered down an alley. He crawled into a box and curled up rocking, with his hands over his ears. His eyes were wide with fear as he winced at each rumble.

A little while later, as the storm was beginning to pass, Tikaani heard heated talking and footsteps entering the alley. He only heard voices and saw only the feet, but the conversation was one he could never forget.

"You're a damn fool, Itigiaq! You should have killed the boy and his aunt, now he and the Avatar our on our tail." said a sharp, hoarse, and gritty voice. Tikaani knew it, for some reason, but couldn't pin it down. A meeker voice spoke next.

"Don't blame this on me Aningan, you shouldn't have took off after my blunder." Itigiaq growled, not liking the blame being placed on him.

Aningan snarled and stomped on the ground.

"We need to kill the boy! If he finds out who we are and tells the Avatar then all of our plans will be ruined. My chance at chief will be gone and your chance to marry Misiqa will also be forfeit," Aningan warned, his gritty voice dangerous. "Not only that, but our lucrative business with the Feng Bo pirates and the Hei Yong will be threatened. However, we can worry about the Avatar later. We must go to Ba Sing Se to eliminate Tulok, and then to the South Pole to end Pakku. As for the boy, once we find him, I am expecting you to do your damn job, little brother, and drown the little retard!" Itigiaq winced and sighed.

"Yes, I'll make sure I'll do it right, we should go down to the Nang Ng-uek and talk to Fire Dog about those explosives.

There was disapproving grunt from Aningan, then he started out the alley.

"Yes, it's bad from to keep the captain waiting, but I expect you to do your job next time. If you don't, there will be serious hell to pay."

With that, the brothers left.

Tikaani curled up deeper into the box replaying the conversation over and over in his head. His heart almost stopped as he finally figured out who the gritty voice was.

He killed the chief. That man killed the chief. I know his voice. That gritty, thick voice. Oh gods, why do these things seem to happen to me? I don't want this anymore, I want Auntie, I want to go home, I want to see the ice the blue of the glacier, hear the howl of the tigerwolves, and smell the fire. I don't want to die. Maybe if I close up and don't talk, nothing will happen to me. I'll just stay with Aang and Toph. I don't want to die, could they protect me? I don't want to die...I don't want to die.

The rain finally let up as Toph walked about town, asking about Tikaani, while Zha Dan called his name out into the road. Toph was currently talking with a person selling turkey-ducks, asking if he had seen Tikaani.

"Bony watertribe boy, long hair, wearing a lot of gray-blue, and screaming like 'Yuki-onna'?" The man shook his head as Zha Dan gave her tunic and the moccasins.

"He ran into the alley, so he's probably in a box, hiding. See if you can coax him out."

Toph took the clothes and thanked him as she walked into the alley. Zha Dan wished her luck and headed back down to his shop.

"I have to get back to work, but I hope he comes back, he'll definitely grab me more customers." He left as Toph walked down the alley; her earthbending sight showing her that he was hiding back of old wooden box. She knelt and stuck her hand inside.

"Hey Spunky, got spooked by the storm?" Tikaani was sobbing. He grabbed her hand and squeezed. Toph pulled him out of the box.

"Hey now, it's okay. We can go back to the ship. You want a nice hot bath?" Tikaani didn't respond, but bit his hand, still crying.

Sighing, Toph held the umbrella over his head and headed out the alley, taking him down the road. Then she was stopped by a pair of guards.

"Ma'am we got a report that this man was being disruptive to the public and disturbed a few people. Is everything alright?" asked a portly guard with his spear out in clear view. Toph raised an appraising eyebrow at the first guard.

"He got terrified of the thunderstorm, and I have him now." Toph said shortly as she was trying to get Tikaani to stop chewing on her fingers. The guard looked over Tikaani before holding his arms akimbo.

"You know public intoxication is considered illegal here." He said accusingly, the second guard nodding. Toph rolled her eyes and started to down the street.

"He's mentally disabled, dumbfucks, not drunk." The guards were going to object, but Toph earthbended a wall and headed back to the docks pissed as hell. "Dumbasses getting into other people's business, I hate nosy people." However, she was interrupted by her ranting when a voice chimed in.

"I agree, people should mind their own business." Toph cracked a huge grin and her stormy attitude dissipated.

"Fancy to find you again Toph. I knew if I stuck around long enough, I would run into you." Toph laughed as her smile grew bigger.

"Nice to see you again too, Iroh. So, what are you doing here in this nobody town?" Iroh took off his wide brim hat and started to walk with Toph, smiling at Tikaani.

"I heard that Arnook has been assassinated and that the Avatar was here, I took a break from my shop to assist him and my nephew. Now, why don't you introduce me to this shy one?" Iroh said pleasantly, waving at Tikaani, who had his fingers in his mouth and was chewing on them.

"Oh well...this is Tikaani, he happens to play a big role in the murder. We're protecting him, but right now I need to get him back on ship to chill out." Iroh reached down to ruffle Tikaani's hair when the boy jerked back with screech and hid behind Toph. "Uhhh, he is also not fond of people he doesn't know. But trust me, he'd love to get to know you. You kind of need to have patience with him. He is a bit different, but he's still a really smart kid." Toph said, keeping him close as she climbed up the gangplank. Iroh had a wise and knowing smile.

"And different is not a bad thing at all. I am sure he will warm up to me in time. Now, I am sure everyone will want a nice pot of Jasmine, we have lot to catch up on."