003 "Bend Me Your Time And Space" by Abraxas 2009-12-18

I wander in search of destiny.

Sun rises. Wind stirs. And into that desert of grass walk I with the stallion.

We gaze at vistas unspoiled by man. The landscape rolling from shades of green to onyx. The horizon where silhouettes of mountains stand - shapes softened by fog into a kind of mirage.

We trek by water through a route my uncle, Iroh, forged the years he fought with Indians.

I should be afraid - out of my family's estate - yet I am calmed by freedom.

A recollection erupts out of time and space - I experience it as if anew.

A gunshot. A wail of despair. A bison tumbled; its life drowned by the cheer of the cattlemen.

I wept at the violence. Senseless. Cruel. And my father cursed the gods that Azula was female while snuffing my tear with the iron.

My uncle and I escaped into that wilderness. At the campfire we lit a pipe and talked about other, elder nations. It was the start of my education.

That night I awoke to a cough.

"Do not fight it, Zuko, calm, calm," my uncle said and despite fear I complied.

A figure, clad with the hide of a wolf, stood at the campfire. The stranger danced, dusting my wounds with smoke and ash. I watched, hypnotized, the fear transforming into the worship I gave cattlemen. Adoration reawakened by Sokka.

"Dragon of the West..."

The Indian, naked except where painted, embraced my uncle.

"Paku... Thank you. Thank you."

I with the journey were not just through distance but through time - to forget the tyranny of my father within another era of man.

Sokka - is my love real or an exercise of rebellion?

I intend to know.

I stray into your world, your eyes watching, following, while I reign my offering.

END