And yet another difficult chapter I had to re-write a lot of times. I'll see what you guys think about it.
(No, totally not asking for reviews! What makes you think that? Not that I can complain, I already have a lot of reviews, compared to many other stories of mine.)
Rather than trying to talk to the group, I listen to them talking among themselves. Must have been some dance party they had.
They seem reluctant to talk about the Fire Nation in my presence, future plans they have. I didn't expect anything else. It's the Avatar's task to kill Firelord Ozai, as far as I know. What I don't get is why?
"Aang?" I do speak up in the end, leaning over the front rim of the saddle. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure, go ahead!"
"It's the Avatar's duty to protect the balance in the world, right?"
He turns around, one eyebrow raised. His face practically screams Where are you going with that?
"Yes?" he drawls, prompting me to continue.
"Shouldn't you be helping the Firelord then?"
"What?!"
Must have been quite an outrageous suggestion. Everyone looks at me like I told them to light the saddle on fire and eat it. Seems I have to elaborate a bit.
"See, balance means that there are no disturbances, right? Everything has the same measurements. Now, if the whole world were Fire Nation, then this condition would be met, right?"
"Do you even hear yourself?" Toph protests. "You don't believe the whole world can be assimilated like that, do you?"
"Toph is right, Kamina," Katara agrees. "It's not possible. There will always be differences, even if it is just the climate in some places to bring them forth."
"Besides," Aang adds, "balance isn't the same thing as equality, even if it were possible to achieve it. Balance means that there are different parties existing without disturbing each other. And also keeping each other alive. If the Fire Nation keeps waging war on the other nations..." He grips the fluff monster reins tighter and his tone darkens. "Sooner or later, they'll end up destroying themselves."
"What do you mean? I don't see that happening."
"It's hard to explain. The consequences would be on such a large scale, it's beyond human imagination. Let me try with a smaller example – the Fire Nation relies heavily on the production of metal, right? What do you think metal is?"
"Uhm... Metal?" Nothing wrong with playing dumb from time to time.
"It's earth. In fact, there is a metalbender among us."
Aang grins up the saddle, indicating Toph. The girl smirks and points a thump at herself. "The only one in the world!"
I can't help being impressed. "That's amazing, Toph!"
"Yeah, I know."
I blink perplexedly. That certainly wasn't the kind of response I expected. I guess, if there is something that girl isn't lacking, it's self-confidence. Envy...
"Some other 'onlys' I missed out on?" I wouldn't be too surprised. Only Air Nomad, only metalbender... What's next, the only flying platypusbear?
There is an uncomfortable silence, which stretches on until Aang snaps the fluff monster reins. "Well, none to be too happy about anyway. Come on, buddy! Katara, let's get that cloud camo going!"
The fluff monster makes a rumbling sound and I notice a decline in height. We're about to land. Aang jumps back into the saddle, now standing, and Katara gets up, too. Then they go ahead and use a bending form unknown to me in order to create a sort of fog around us. Slowly getting used to surprises, I already have my suspicions.
"So, if Toph is an earthbender, and Aang is the Avatar, then Katara is a waterbender and clouds are made of water?"
"Exactly!" Aang grins, and I can't help but mirror it.
"This is so amazing! I always wondered what clouds are made of!"
Fascinated, I reach out for the mist and, sure enough, little droplets of water start forming on my skin. I withdraw my hand, but before I can take a closer look, the lemur is clinging to my forearm and starts licking the water off. It tickles and a giggle crawls up my throat.
Aang laughs. "Well guys, looks like Momo approves of our new comrade."
"I'm happy to hear you say that, Aang." I gently shoo the lemur away and use my breath to airbend my hand dry. It's pretty much the only move I can pull off without problems. "So, what now?"
"Now we find a good spot to land," Aang explains and nods at Sokka, who is already leaning over the saddle rim. I follow his example and squint at the landscape below.
"Looks like a strip mine. There should be caves down there, if that's what you need."
"It's perfect!"
"But we have to check if it's abandoned first," Sokka objects.
"Then maybe we should find something else," Katara concludes. "But we'll keep the strip mine in mind as a backup."
I feel she only says it so I don't have to feel completely useless. Well, whatever. Aang soon finds us a nice trench a bit off the mine, and the two benders give up the camouflage, seeing how a sinking cloud would be just as suspicious as a flying fluff monster, and at least it won't divide their focus anymore.
"Well, I guess that does the job as well..." I comment the landing place of choice. Once we're safely on the ground, Toph wastes no time with jumping off, seeming very eager to feel the earth beneath her feet. I guess it makes sense, seeing how she is an earthbender and everything... The rest is a bit more relaxed about it. Aang glides down, the Water Tribe siblings nonchalantly slip off. Myself, I eye the beast suspiciously, searching for the safest way down and opting for the broad tail. Only that I end up belly-flopping and slide down in the probably most undignified way possible until I find myself prone on the stone floor. Both Sokka and Toph obviously think it's hilarious, Aang presses a hand over his mouth, choking on a chuckle, while Katara comes over to help me up. However, she's quietly giggling herself. I find myself joining in, but not before distributing a handful of death glares for good measure.
"And that's why I hate riding," I complain halfheartedly, the other half still vibrating with mirth, and dust off my clothes. "I never seem to be able to dismount properly."
"You'll get the hang of it," Katara assures, then another voice from somewhere behind startles me.
"Kamina!"
Aang waves me over to the face of the fluff monster. I do him the favor, though a bit reluctant. What if that creature considers me an appetizing snack? Aang doesn't even seem to notice.
"I want you to meet Appa, my sky bison!" he introduces his pet cheerily. "Look Appa, this is Kamina! She's an airbender!"
He emphasizes the last word a bit, slowing down as if to savor the feeling of it rolling off his tongue. The boy certainly knows how to express himself.
The bison opens his mouth wide and emits a booming sound. I flinch back, but then Appa sticks out his vast tongue and proceeds to lick me good. In a matter of seconds, I'm covered in bison saliva.
I look down at myself, grimacing in a mixture of disgust and disbelief. "Uah..."
Aang grins. "It's okay, it'll wash out!"
"That's not the point!" I protest when Katara joins us, an encouraging smile on her lips, with a tinge of pity.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it!" she states and thankfully bends the slobber off me. "We've all been through it."
"I'm not sure if I want to get used to it..."
"The choice is not yours!" Toph calls from a stone she found to lean against. I'm pretty sure she's gloating.
"Right..." I grumble, but let the matter slide. "So, what now?"
"Now, we set up camp," Katara explains. "We'll unload first, then Aang and Sokka will take Appa to search for firewood. You can go with them. Toph will make a fireplace, then the two of us will fetch water, I've seen a creek nearby. Once we have the fire going, you can help me cook if you want."
"I'd love to!" I clap my hands in excitement. "Let's get busy!"
"Always good to see someone so motivated," Sokka comments without any motivation.
"You can stay cold tonight, if you like it better that way," Aang deadpans, before jumping into Appa's saddle and smoothly airbending the luggage to the ground. It's not exactly much, in fact, the whole pile is composed of two sleeping bags apparently belonging to Sokka and Katara, some money, a few weapons and scrolls and three baskets with groceries. While unpacking, spark rocks fall into my hands, and I catch myself toying with them for a moment before asking: "Spark rocks? I thought Aang's the Avatar? He can make a campfire, right?"
"And who do you think would have taught him to do that?" Toph shoots back, causing me to pause.
"Well..." I mumble awkwardly and drop the spark rocks back into the small pouch I found them in. I throw the pouch next to the food baskets and turn to the group. "But this isn't right! The Avatar has to master firebending!"
That may sound weird for a Fire Nation citizen to say, but even I accept that there are forces above the squabbles of the mortal world, forces we must bow to. And one of these forces is the Avatar. Aang is still young, and in a peaceful era, he'd have plenty of time left to master firebending. In these days, however, he can die any minute. He shouldn't rejoin the incarnation cycle before even getting a shot at firebending, that's just plain wrong!
Aang and Katara send me long-suffering looks. Toph stamps a fireplace out of the ground. Sokka, spreading his sleeping bag, is the only one to comment.
"Well, unless you can magically conjure up a firebender who'd be willing to teach Aang, I'm afraid he won't learn it in the near future," he remarks sarcastically, underlining his words by raising his hands over his head and moving his fingers around, as if trying to summon a ghost.
Hmm, improbable. Saving the Fire Nation from itself isn't a good enough reason to convince anyone. It's yet to convince me completely, and my experiences with Fire Nation folks aren't exactly fulfilling.
A thought occurs to me and I snap my fingers in delight. "I can teach Aang!"
I'm such a genius! The others can't appreciate it, though. Aang's eyes widen, he looks confused. Katara is shocked. Toph crosses her arms, head slightly tilted to the side. Sokka is... hard to describe. He looks like someone attached a weight to his face.
"How are you going to do that?" Aang asks. "You're an airbender, right?"
"So?" I retort tersely. "I may not be able to produce fire, but I still know the theory. I'd be happy to share that knowledge."
There is a major look-sharing going on in the group. Toph seems to be a bit out of it, but I can feel something pass between the Avatar and the Water Tribe siblings. I can't put my finger on it, but something tells me that my idea isn't greeted with the enthusiasm it deserves.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Aang states, but his tone and face tell another story. It makes me wonder, but it's obvious no one wants to tell me. Maybe later, once I earned their trust.
"So, you want me to teach you or not?"
Aang smiles and puts his fist and palm together for the traditional bow. I didn't think much of it before. I see plenty juniors bowing to seniors in my everyday life. But now I know who that kid actually is, the gesture suddenly means so much more.
"I'd like you to teach me, Sifu Kamina."
I feel my body temperature rising at the address, but I manage to keep my cool. This is a ritual, and it would be wrong to disturb the atmosphere. So I, too, place the heel of my hand on my fist and bow.
"Then that's the way it shall be, Sifu Aang." So much for not ruining the ritual.
Aang's my teacher, too, and thus a Sifu. Both people saying Sifu isn't very traditional, but I can't bring myself to mind. I think it's funny, so I just straighten and grin at Aang, who totally grins back.
We'll get along like fire and brimstone, I feel it in my guts.
The first version had a part dedicated to Kamina's family, but it sounded so forced that I had to edit it out. Next chapter will probably have it, but for now, there is just too much excitement, in other words - distraction.
A guest reviewer remarked on how technically, Sozin didn't empty the air temples, as flying lemurs obviously survived, resulting in Momo. Now, that's totally right. We also have a sky bison population in Avatar Korra which shows us that Appa can't be the last sky bison as well. Still, it's not a "mistake", because it's Kamina's first person POV and her train of thought just isn't specific enough for exceptions. Humans tend to think in human terms. I'd like to see someone who reads/reproduces information about genocide and thinks of the pets while doing it. It may come in hindsight, but it just isn't the sort of thing to think about unless confronted with it. It would have been a lot weirder to point out that lemurs survived the battles, wouldn't it? People call a lot of things "empty" which technically aren't. That's just what people do, nothing wrong with that.
But enough of that explanation, I guess it becomes increasingly tedious to read. Just wanted to get the point across.
Merry Christmas, everyone! Zentauria over and out!