Chapter 9: Chapter 9
Avatar: The Last Airbender and franchise is the creation of Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and product of Nicktoons Network (Nickelodeon/Viacom). I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or its characters. This story is a unique fictional derivative of the original work, written (not for profit) by an Avatar enthusiast.
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Rated: K
Avatar Journeys
Chapter 9: Po-Kim
Aang sat in the middle of the table, rubbing his eyes, the cacophony of yelling men ringing in his ears. He felt pressure building in his forehead. He opened his eyes and panned the room through his fingers: overturned chairs and seasoned old men were pointing up, down and at each other. He had been the little hamlet of Po-Kim for three days. From the moment he landed he hadn't got a single moment of rest; starving families, inheritance rights, illness and feuds as old as himself were his daily agenda. Now he was at the council hall listening to two families (the Kangekes and the Sihis) bicker over grain prices and property rights for the third time. He inhaled deeply and exhaled. He scooted his chair back, got up, grabbed his staff and headed for the door.
"Hey! Hey! Where are you going?" called a hoarse and portly Kangeke.
"I'm leaving," Aang answered.
"But we're not done here!" said a middle-aged Sihi from behind his beard, "You still haven't resolved the property line-,"
"We all negotiated terms yesterday. I don't understand the problem," Aang said turning to them.
"Have you been listening?" said the portly Kangeke, "there's group of trees interrupting the lines agreed upon. And the Sihis!," he said leaping out of his chair and puffing his chest, "Are trying to increase their share by changing the line!"
They broke out into another fight. Aang blinked. How did I miss that? He had been sitting there for at least an hour. He shook it off.
"Take me to it," Aang said.
"Take you where?" said the middle-aged Sihi over the arguing.
"Take me to the line," Aang said.
They all left the council hall and headed to the carriages, then fought over which one the Avatar should ride in. Aang hailed a hay farmer and asked for a ride for all of them. The Kangekes and Sihis rode in the back in petulant silence while Aang rode up front with the hay farmer. They rode half an hour in blissful silence to the fields. The green and gold fields were a welcome sight. Aang thanked the hay farmer when they arrived and the two families led Aang down the property line, arguing. They reached a cluster of trees and began to accuse the other of breaking terms by mapping new (and overcompensating) lines through the trees.
"Step back," Aang said.
They stepped back and he inhaled. A slow buzz began in his bones, easing up to his head. He could feel the heat in his eyes and colors washed out of his vision. He could see the earth, moving and the trees living. He pictured a straight line splitting the ground in his mind. He aligned his fingers as power began to flow through his body, arm and gather in his fingers, he inhaled again and drove his arm into the ground unleashing the energy from his arm.
He blinked back to himself and looked at the green ground before him. A line a foot deep ran along the ground. He stepped around the tree and found the ground split accordingly. He looked at the men around him. One of the older men inspected the ground behind a tree and came back.
"This line is crooked!"
Aang's eye twitched then he headed toward the area along with the rest. They all looked at the ground and sure enough there was sharp deviation in the line before it returned straight.
"You can't even make a straight line! Now the Kangekes have more land!" the Sihi said. They began bickering again.
"ENOUGH!" Aang shouted startling them all. He reached down and finished digging the line by hand. "There! It's even! But all this fighting and arguing is ridiculous and petty! You're supposed to be the elders and you sound like children!"
They all stood quiet, letting the Avatar's words hang in the air.
"We're done here," Aang said walking away. They followed.
"But we haven't resolved the grain price," said the portly Kangeke. They all voiced their agreement.
"It stays where it is," Aang said impatiently.
"But we can't prepare for another year's harvest at that price. We need it to be higher," said a Sihi.
"If the Sihi's raise their price we will raise ours," said a Kangeke.
They rose to a low roil.
"No one is raising prices," said Aang, "If you haven't noticed your town is sick and starving. No one can afford a higher price. Rather than fight over who gets more land or a higher price you need to come together for the survival of your town."
"We wouldn't have to fight over the price of grain if the Fire Nation returned our reserves," said one Sihi cutting his eyes at Aang. Aang stopped and turned to them.
"Yeah," agreed a Kangeke, "And our prisoners!" They roiled anew with fresh anger.
"Why we can't raise our prices? We have to eat as well," said a Kangeke.
"Because no one can afford it," repeated Aang.
"Not on our village. Just with the Nationals, I think it's fair," said a Sihi. Agreement rolled through the crowd.
"No. Don't antagonize the Fire Nation in any way. We're not trying to reopen old wounds," said Aang.
"Well why don't you make them do it?" called a Sihi.
"It's not that simple," said Aang.
"It is simple," said a Kangeke, "They stole from us and we want it back."
"And you will have it back. After-," Aang began.
"After what? After we starve? After this town is too poor to live in?" said a Sihi.
"This area is one of the first that we're negotiating terms over with the Fire Nation-," Aang began again.
"Negotiations? You're the Avatar. Why are you negotiating what's rightfully ours?! Why are you negotiating the atonement of their crimes?!," said a Kangeke.
"I keep the balance of all the elements. That includes the Fire Nation-,"
"But the balance is against them!"
"He sounds scared to me," said a younger Sihi, "afraid to upset your friend the Fire Lord?"
"He is a friend and a good man," said Aang firmly, "and he's invested in the Restoration."
"Then where is he?" said the younger Sihi, "better yet where are his efforts? I've been hearing lots of talk about the Fire Nation's 'alignment' with the Restoration but no walk. In fact, it's funny no one has seen him or his wife."
Aang clenched his jaw and said, "Change takes time. A good change takes even more time-,"
"Time!" shouted and old and frail Kangeke glaring at the Avatar, "how much time do you think we have?! We're in the throes of starvation and poverty and you need time?!"
"Peace isn't achieved in a day," said Aang.
"We don't want peace! We want justice!" called a Sihi.
"And it will take time," repeated Aang.
"You've had a hundred years of time! At our expense! We don't have anymore to give you! Don't you see Avatar?," said the old Kangeke shuffling up to Aang, "We don't need you to save us in time…we need you to save us now."
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It's not that simple, Aang repeated to himself. He looked over his shoulder at the shrinking town of Po-Kim. He had been up and down with these visits to villages but Po-Kim left a hollow feeling behind. He rubbed his eyes and inhaled.
Funny that no one's seen him or his wife.
He opened his eyes to the horizon; low hills rolled toward him. Zuko and Katara were two weeks overdue from their honeymoon. Many birds flew between him, Sokka and Iroh. More frequently now that they were closer to one another. Iroh consoled them with the reminder that the Fire Lord and his wife, the best waterbender alive, were more than capable of handling themselves. It didn't help. Though his concern for his friends was his ultimate concern, it was more than that. He was flying back and forth between the nations proclaiming the Fire Nation's alignment with the Restoration but their new leader was nowhere to be found and it was causing restlessness on all sides. Iroh appeared in Zuko's place as reassurance but his breach of Ba Sing Se was still fresh in everyone's mind. Every appearance that Zuko and Katara failed to make the more his words seemed hollow and he was receiving the brunt of it. Aang closed his eyes, pinched the bridge above his eyes, sighed and opened his eyes again. Appa grumbled wearily.
"I know," he said rubbing the bison's head, "It's been a long month."
He had finally reached the pinnacle summit between the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation. He had no misconceptions about this summit: it would be the first of a very long series of summits but at least the end was in sight. The peace he would accomplish between the two nations would seal the end of Sozin's War and mark a new era of peace.
We don't need you to save us in another hundred years...we need you to save us now.
"I'm working on it," Aang said to himself remembering the old man's face, "I'm working on it."
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Aang landed softly on the ground, he patted Appa and watched the bison lumber off in the fields. He looked around him. It was windy and there was a soft shush of grass in the air. He couldn't stand the idea of staying in the city tonight. There was no way he was going to get any rest there. He and Appa would rest here and arrive in Makapu early tomorrow. He looked at Appa, his white fur capturing the neon tints of twilight in the green grass. He looked up at the sky. A flock of birds flew over head. As he followed the flock Appa came into to his view watching them as well.
"There are many birds but only one sky bison!" shouted Aang to Appa smiling.
Appa looked him then returned to grazing. The truth of his statement struck him and his smile disappeared. He looked at Appa. There was only one sky bison and when he died there would be no more. He's truly the last of his kind. Appa would spend the rest of his days alone. Alone. Suddenly Aang was tired. He was too tired to airbend so he walked slowly to the nearest hill and sat upwind. He set his staff underneath him, tucked his arms in his robes, crossed his legs and leaned back against the hill. He heard Appa walking toward him. His giant white head came around the hill and he grumbled.
"Not hungry," he said to the bison. Appa huffed air at him, "I appreciate your concern but really I'm fine." The bison huffed again and began to move Aang aside.
"Oh, you wanted me to move," said Aang getting up with his staff. Appa settled himself against the hillside and Aang settled himself on Appa's side.
Twilight gave way to dusk and the stars came out. He couldn't bring himself to meditate but the sounds of night drowned out his earlier concerns. One fact cling to him though and the night seemed colder for it. Everything seemed be reminder of it..the field they were in...the stars in the sky... memories of a people that he once belonged to...of all the years he spent sleeping...of the twinkling of a girl's eyes...of the only sky bison in the world.
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Next
Chapter 10: Makapu Summit
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Hey! It's been months since the last update for anyone who's actually keeping up with this, I apologize. For all the new readers, thank you and don't get worried. I'm glad to say that I got a job and now my schedule is more steady so Ican be more consistent with updates. I'm going to commit to biweekly updates but in all likelihood I will end up on a monthly update schedule. As usual reviews and concrit are welcome.
Thank you for reading,
Uitori.