"Hello Dave."
"Rose? What the heck are you doing here?"
"Put those groceries away and come talk with us," Rose smiled.
Dave looked at the odd bunch before shrugging and heading into the building, completely ignoring Karkat's glare. Dirk made two more seats and got rid of the wall before going back in as well to get more cups.
"I really am sorry. Are you sure you're alright?" Jake asked with concern as he sat down, "Oh you're Rose, Roxy's little sister aren't you?"
"Yes hello Jake, it's been a while. I'm perfectly fine. Only the poor cup was hurt. I apologize for my friend."
"Sorry for being fucking concerned," Karkat grumbled to himself.
"No no he was in the right to be yelling at me. I get carried away sometimes. Hey this bloke is the friend John keeps talking to isn't it. Karkat I believe?"
"Yeah," Karkat casually responded.
"Nice to see you. Oh could it be? Jane's delicious confectionaries?" Jake's attention soon caught the brownies sitting before them.
"Yes help yourself. I know you love them," Dirk returned with Dave, "I was going to call you over but I thought you were on duty for the next week."
"I thought so too but it turns out I wasn't needed. I'm just a substitute after all," Jake shrugged and helped himself to the brownies.
"Substitute for what may I ask?" Rose asked curiously.
"The military! One day a few men came over and saw me and Dirk in one of our daily scuffles and they asked us if we were interested in joining their troupes because they needed a few substitutes just in case one of their own were down for the count or ill. I joined because it sounded like quite an adventure. Dirk of course turned them down unfortunately," Jake explained.
"Even as a substitute I'm not a military man. Just not my thing. I don't like the idea of being a government minion."
"Come now Dirk where's your adventurous spirit? Even Dave agreed to be a substitute in the future."
"I said maybe. Little pestering princesses wouldn't take no for an answer. They kept spouting bullshit about how it would be a waste to not put my skills to good use. Even tried to sign me up for some Girl Scouts called the White Lotus in case I refused them," Dave expressed his annoyance for the military.
"You Striders have no sense for adventure. It's just substituting. It's not as if you are a permanent stationary army man," Jake sighed at them before helping himself to more brownies.
"It's not a surprise though. Of course the military would want to recruit some skillful Striders. They know of your talents and wish to have some of the Strider action ready at their disposal," Rose smirked, mostly about the White Lotus part.
"Whoa Rose just complimented me. Quick someone call the Ba Sing Se corps. She might be one of the leftover hypnotized greeting ladies," Dave held his hands up in defense as Rose rolled her eyes.
"Hey if she's complimenting a Strider here it ain't you," Dirk pointed out, "If I'm not mistaken, they tried to recruit Roxy too. Well that was before they realized her little habit."
Rose and Jake chuckled at that.
"So Rose what brings you to this little Fire Nation Island? I'm sure if you had scholarly travels to do it'd be somewhere more interesting," Dave asked before directing his attention to Karkat, "And what's with chuckles? He keeps looking at me like a love struck fool. I know I'm everybody's dream but-"
"Love stru- What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Karkat cried out in disgust, "Not every fucking thing revolves around you, you know. Oh look at me I'm Dave fucking Strider and I thing I'm cool as fuck. Do you know ow annoying you are? Your sunglasses are lame and your attitude makes me want to punch you in the face!"
Dirk held back a laugh as Dave responded with raised brows, "Whoa hold up, we just met here sweetheart. This confession is just too much."
"Fuck you asshole. You're worse than I remember."
Dave blinked at him before letting out a chuckle, "Haha shit. Memories and nostalgia just hit me like a tidal wave. You're Cat-Car."
"KARKAT!" the water bender snapped back.
"Damn I think you got louder since the last banquet."
"I wasn't at the last banquet smartass."
"Well that explains why it was peaceful for once."
Karkat slammed his hands down on the table and stood up, "Why you fucking little-"
"Dave we are here in search for a teacher for Karkat," Rose interrupted.
"I thought that was your job."
"A fire bending teacher."
". . . Wow Rose can make a joke too, seriously were you just in Ba Sing Se before coming here or what?"
"Dave she's serious," Dirk stated, "And that Ba Sing Se hypnotizing thing ended centuries ago stop bringing it up."
"Wait why does Karkat need a fire bending teacher? Isn't he a water bender?" Jake asked confused. He obviously didn't get it as fast as Dirk and Dave did.
"There is no way it can be him. It's impossible. You're crazy."
"Dave you know I'm not one to keep a joke this long. I'm not John," Rose calmly enjoyed her new drink.
Dave scratched his head, "Alright so if he really was the one, not saying he really is yet, why me as his teacher? I know there's not many benders to go around like before but there are other fire benders besides me."
"Karkat doesn't do very well when learning under the elders. He learns better from ones closer to his age. Technically we know three fire benders including you, one is a pirate, and Roxy is well . . . you know."
"You have got to be kidding me. Why does crabby have to be such a little princess?"
Karkat held back a snarl.
"What's going on? Is there something special about our little friend here?" Jake asked, feeling out of the loop. Karkat eye twitched upon hearing the word 'little'. Eridan always picked on his height whenever he could.
"Really Jake can't figure it out?" Dirk teased.
"Come now just tell me. Help a bro out."
"Nah this is funnier," Dirk ducked from a playful blow from Jake.
"What makes you think he'll even listen to me?" Dave asked Rose as if Karkat wasn't there which annoyed the water bender, "And what makes you think I want to teach him?"
"He has no choice in the matter. And it would be ever so helpful if you could teach him. Both of you could learn something from this experience."
"Yeah learn how much this guy is going to try to hit me after every time I tell him he's doing stuff wrong if he really is the one."
"God dammit can someone tell me what you blokes are all blubbering about!?" Jake called out. Dirk just sympathetically patted his shoulder.
"You could always see for yourself," Rose suggested.
Karkat groaned, "It's another match isn't it."
"How else can we show him? He's the kind that must see before he believes."
"That's not me all the time," Dave tried to defend himself. Dirk snorted, Dave gave his brother a glance before sighing and turning back to Rose, "Let's see what you got Crabby."
"Alright then," Karkat stood up and Dave did as well.
"Let's all go to the back field to watch shall we?" Dirk got up along with the other two.
The table and stools went back into the ground as the group headed to the back of the sword smith. In the back was a large empty field that looked like it had faced many battles. The Striders along with Jake must have used this worn out field many times. Bumpy earth, burnt areas and small holes, most likely from gun shots, could be seen all over the field. Karkat heard a strange sound and looked behind him to see Dirk carry out a large bin of water for him to use. It was probably from what they used to cool down the swords when molding.
"Don't worry short stuff. I'll go easy on you," Dave casually walked to the other side of the field. The sound of moving water made him jump forward and roll. A crack was heard. Still in his crouched position the Strider turned and narrowed his eyes at the bender with the stream of water between his hands. Well it felt like he was glaring, not like Karkat could actually tell with the shades in the way, but he felt the intense gaze in his direction.
Karkat expected the blonde to throw a blast his way but the boy didn't. Instead he calmly stood up and took a ready position. Karkat blinked at him a few times until the Strider smirked and made a beckoning motion with his right hand. The water bender bought the bait and lashed the stream at him again. Dave ducked down and took a large step before standing again and becoming considerably closer to Karkat. This motion continued until Dave was a meter away from the water bender and that's when Karkat began lashing the water more furiously than before. Dave hadn't even sent out any fire yet and he just continued to dodge every single attack.
"His movements have gotten better," Rose commented from the watchers bench Dirk made for them, "He's gotten smoother and does not act as rashly as before."
"Of course, who do you think teaches him? Even if we're different elements you have to have the right attitude and stay calm in any sort of match. Of course I still beat his ass everyday but yeah he's gotten better," Dirk sat back proudly. Jake decided to stop asking questions and just watch to see what would happen.
After a while Dave was just dodging with his hands in his pockets. Karkat became more frustrated after each attack. The poor beaten earth around them held the remains of lash marks from Karkat's furious bending along with a few icicles stuck into the ground that were melting under the fire nation's burning sun.
"You done?" Dave looked down at Karkat who was bent over and supporting himself with his hands above his knees, trying to regain his breath.
"Fuck . . . You! You aren't even taking . . . me seriously!" Karkat took in a deep breath and roared, "ATTACK BACK!"
Fire flew out of his mouth which caught Dave off guard and the boy hastily pulled his hands out of his pocket. His arms flew up to shield himself. The attack was too close and gave him no reaction time to do anything because he wasn't expecting it. Karkat with wide eyes quickly closed his mouth and put his hands over his mouth. He stepped back but lost his balance and fell on his ass, hands still covering his mouth.
"By golly he's the Avatar!" Jake finally clued in.
The flames disappeared in the air and in front of him was a large block of earth. He looked to the side to see Dirk standing in a position and with a few movements the block returned to the flat terrain. Karkat looked back to see Dave also on his ass but with his head hung low and his hands on his chin. His body trembled for a few moments before he snapped his head up.
"FUCK BRO THAT HURT!" the Strider broke his impassive face and barked. It looked like when Dirk brought up that wall to protect Dave, he also smashed the earth into his brother's chin. The blood falling down the blonde's neck was proof.
"Shit it's your fault for not expecting the unexpected," Dirk said with slight irritation. He felt that he had taught his brother better.
Rose quickly walked over with a bowl of water and a cloth. She swiftly cleaned off the blood before healing the boy's chin. Karkat stayed in his spot a few meters away and quickly looked away as the blood seeped into the white cloth. His hands stayed over his mouth. Dirk and Jake walked over and brought Dave inside to get a bandage while Rose confronted Karkat. The boy flinched when Rose put a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you alright?"
The Avatar quickly nodded.
"Karkat remove your hands."
He shook his head.
"Karkat."
After a short glare off Karkat hesitantly took his hands away from his mouth. Rose instantly tilted his head up to see better, "Hm it appears you have managed to not burn yourself. With that large mouth of yours yelling all the time I should have expected it."
"Instead you expected me to burn myself," Karkat frowned at her.
"You have surprised many today," Rose stood up and extended her hand towards him. He ignored the hand and just stood up on his own.
They walked to the back door of the sword smith where Jake was waiting for them, "Dave will be alright thanks to Rose's healing. Dirk is giving him a patch right now so he will be fine. But wow the Avatar! How exciting! You get to travel around the world and learn all the elements, what an adventure!"
"Yeah hey do me a favour and don't tell anyone," Karkat declared.
"What why not? The world should know that the Avatar has been found."
"I don't want to attract any unwanted attention."
"Jake the world has changed in the past few decades. We are not sure how the world will react to the new Avatar's arrival so perhaps it is best to keep it a secret. At least not until he has learned the other elements," Rose explained.
"Well alright then. Your secret is safe with me," Jake smiled.
"While we wait for Dave to recover and give us his answer shall we go shopping Karkat?" Rose asked.
"Shopping? Why the fuck do we need to go shopping?" Karkat frowned.
"If we are staying here for a while then we will need some suitable fire nation clothes don't you think? That way we attract less attention?"
"Oh yeah a water bending fire nation citizen is totally normal and won't attract any fucking attention at all."
"If you want I could get you some earth nation outfits instead like Dirk has or a mix like Jake. Our water tribe outfits appear to stand out more than the other two."
Karkat looked at Jake who just continued to smile which reminded him of another buck toothed boy that always smiled before looking back to Rose, "Just get me whatever. I'm gonna go take a walk."
"Alright then, Jake will you accompany me since I do not know my way around?" Rose quickly interrupted Jake who looked like he was about to volunteer to walk with Karkat.
"Oh of course," Jake took Rose's offer.
"Don't get lost now Karkat," Rose turned and left with Jake.
Karkat just glared at their retreating figures before heading towards the forest at the back of the sword smith. He aimlessly walked through the trees and lush green terrain. His mind was stuck on the match. He could not land a single hit what so ever and the blonde didn't even let out a tiny bit of fire to counter. He knew that the Strider could have probably beat him without using bending at all if the boy even bothered to attack.
His phone let out a little tune and he pulled it out to see a text message.
)(ey t)(ere all powerful Avatar. You reac)( t)(e fire nation yet?
YEAH
So? Did you find a teac)(er yet?
NOT SURE
W)(at's t)(at supposed to mean? Quit being so vague and tell me. 38|
I JUST HAD A MATCH AGAINST ROSE'SCOUSIN WHO'S APPARENTLY REALLY GOOD AND WELL SOMETHING HAPPENED AND WE'RE KIND OF JUST WAITING UNTIL HE GIVES US AN ANSWER
Cousin? T)(at cool guy wit)( t)(e s)(ades rig)(t? Dave!
YEAH
O)( )(e's really good. It'd be awesome if you learned from )(im. 38)
I DON'T KNOW I REALLY DON'T LIKE HIM HE'S LIKE A REAL FUCKING ASSHOLE LIKE HE'S MORE OF A DOUCHEBAG THAN ERIDAN AND SOLLUX COMBINED THAT'S HOW MUCH OF AN ASSHOLE HE IS
Really? I remember )(im as being really nice and cool from t)(e last banquet. )(im and Jo)(n were all )(aving fun toget)(er and making everyone laug)(.
WELL HE'S NOT. HE'S THE BIGGEST ASSHOLE ON THE PLANET AND I DON'T THINK I CAN LEARN FROM HIM EVEN IF HE DECIDES TO TEACH ME WHICH I THINK HE WONT
W)(at if )(e does decide to teac)( you? You s)(ould at least try.
THAT FUCKING DEPENDS I GUESS
You can do it Karkat. I believe you can 38)
YEAH WHATEVER HOWS PRINCESSING
It's soooooo boring wit)(out you guys )(ere! All the EXCIT—EMENT is gone 38(
O)( but your Dad did somet)(ing pretty awesome last week. )(e caug)(t a giant squid! It's )(UG—E!
DID THAT IDIOT GO BY HIMSELF?
Yea)( t)(at's w)(y it was so awesome.
I TOLD HIM NOT TO GO ALONE OH MY GOD HE COULD HAVE GOTTEN KILLED
THAT THING ALMOST KILLED US THE DAY BEFORE I LEFT
)(e was perfectly fine t)(oug)(. Not a scratch)( on )(im.
)(e)(e but t)(at's pretty cute of you to be worried about your Dad like t)(at.
WELL WHEN HE'S DOING STUPID STUFF LIKE THAT
AND WELL HE'S THE ONLY FAMILY I GOT LEFT
Will it make you feel better if I watc)(ed over )(im for you? I won't let )(im do somet)(ing crazy like t)(at again.
I GUESS
Alrig)(t so you better try your )(ardest to learn all t)(e elements okay!
LIKE I SAID BEFORE NOT LIKE I HAVE A FUCKING CHOICE ESPECIALLY WITH ROSE AROUND
Karkat looked up from his phone and found a large field of red flowers before him. In the middle of the field was a rock that looked like it was sliced in half. He had never really seen flowers very often but he for sure knew that none could be as bright red as these. They just looked so unnatural. With a nauseating feeling in his stomach thanks to the red flowers, Karkat tucked his phone away to turn and leave but then realised he had no idea where he was. Recalling Rose's taunt from before motivated him to find his way back.
"You lost?" a familiar smooth voice appeared. Karkat twitched with irritation and whirled around to find Dave leaning against a tree. His chin had a bandage patch on it but otherwise he looked perfectly fine.
"No, just taking a walk."
"Right. Lead the way then."
Karkat turned back around and started walking. Dave followed his footsteps and the two remained quiet. They walked like this for about an hour and Karkat was somehow able to ignore the person behind him and not snap like he usually would. He thought to himself that the less interaction the better. Soon the sun was beginning to set and Karkat sighed before turning around to see the Strider just standing there nonchalantly.
"Alright I'm lost. You knew I was going the wrong way the whole time so why didn't you fucking tell me."
"Looked like you didn't want me to tell you."
Karkat sighed, "I'm too tired for this, just lead us back already."
"Sure thing your majesty," Dave turned to his right and began walking. Karkat didn't even bother with a fuck you that time.
They walked in silence for a few minutes before Karkat spoke up, "So are you going to teach me fire bending or what? Tell me now so I can tell Rose and we can get the fuck out of your hair."
"I'll teach you."
Karkat's brows furrowed.
"You got the attitude for it. It's a wonder how you were born a water bender but I guess I kind of makes sense with you being the Avatar since you have to learn everything else anyways. And Rose is totally depending on me to teach you so I should do her the favour."
"You're a douchebag you know that."
"And you're an annoying crabby little brat but let's get through our differences and teach you shit so you can get out of here and learn whatever other Avatar shit you gotta learn."
"Fucking fine by me."
The two reached the end of the forest and reached the sword smith where Rose was waiting. Inside Karkat could hear the sounds of a sword being made.
"You got lost didn't you."
"Shut up."
"Dirk will finish up with his last project soon and then we can rest here for the night. He has extra rooms for us if you would like. Either that or you can go stay on the boat."
"Here is fine," Karkat mumbled.
"Alright princess, get your rest. Tomorrow is day one of Camp Dave's fire bending. You'll need all the rest you can get," Dave stretched and headed inside, "Let's see how long you last."
Rose looked at him disappear before looking at Karkat and giving him a small smile, "Congratulations, it appears we will be here for a while."
i have alpha troll ideas to add in here but they will most likely be just minor characters y/n?