I have a life! And access to the university Internet!
The Q&A game continues a while longer. I learn that Maila and Li Yu were out camping when they were captured. Ambush in the night, Li Yu was asleep and never even had the chance to fully wake before he was trapped in a block of earth. Maila has been away following the call of the bushes, and when she returned, she fought with everything she got, earning her the scars on her cheeks.
Kiran's story mirrors mine, he was taking a walk when the mountain just swallowed him up. Turns out that, after he disappeared, people started avoiding the woods, and only one other child from Rubona is missing.
Judai has the most interesting tale to tell. He was running an errand for his grandmother (he lives with her, apparently, not his parents), tasked with buying some foodstuffs for the inn that they don't sell in Kalai. So he took an ostrich horse and was on his way to the nearest town. And then, during a rest, he too found himself encased in stone, and his ostrich horse run off.
The interesting part is that he managed to escape. He didn't get far, obviously, but he explains that he always carries a dagger for self-defense in a concealed back pouch, so the following night, he cut himself loose. He even avoided the sentry and probably would have made it if it hadn't been for the slavers' ostrich horses stirring up a ruckus. And because simply recapturing him couldn't possibly be enough, they used his own blade to cut his arms.
I kind of scoot over to him while he's narrating, take his hand into mine. I don't know why, but considering that we have known each other for about two hours tops, we've grown awfully close. I guess there is something about sharing a terrifying experience that makes you feel... connected in some way.
I'll miss him.
The realization strikes me hard. Agni, I'll miss him! I'll miss his laugh, his playfulness, the way he seems to find delight in practically everything. Just like I can find a downside in practically everything. We're complementing each other beautifully, aren't we? (Mark the sarcasm. Agni, I barely know him! Two hours at max, and a good chunk of that time was spent passionately shutting our respective pair of ears to the other. And yet... Misery loves company?)
I'll miss Maila and Li Yu, too. And maybe even Kiran, a little tiny bit.
I guess it's a bit petty, but I'll miss the admiration as well. I don't like to admit it, but the more I come to terms with the idea that yes indeed, I did well, I'm stronger than I ever thought possible and maybe, maybe, maybe being an airbender is not the kind of trait you need to be ashamed of... The more I feel that I don't have to hate myself quite as much as the history books claim, the less conflicted I feel about the praise. And who doesn't enjoy some well-deserved ego-stroking?
I have no illusions about staying for too long, though. The longer we stick around, the greater the likelihood of some sort of mishap. Someone slipping up with the cover names, me hurling myself across the room, stuff like that. Stuff I'd rather not have.
Urgh, my brain is going off on tangents again... Pull yourself together, Kami! Where have we been? Right, I suppose Judai needs a new dagger. And once that issue is clarified, the question I've been dreading this whole time is asked.
"How did you escape?"
I tighten my grip on Judai's hand. I don't want to hurt him, but I need to answer that myself.
"It's like Li Yu said: I was captured, and my friends came looking for me. They freed us. They're really strong and had surprise on their side. I don't think the slavers expected opposition from other earthbenders."
Quick and easy. No suspiciously inexplicable awesomeness on my part. Kiran raises a brow, Maila and Li Yu share a look, and Judai forgets to retaliate. But they seem to respect my unspoken wish and remain quiet while Guard Li jots down my words.
"Thank you, kids," he concludes the interview. "Usually, this would be the point where we ask if you would mind to be contacted in case of further queries," he adds jovially, "but I'm afraid we don't have enough messenger hawks to send them all over the Kagio Channel."
"Well, I'm not going anywhere in the near future," Kiran notes. "Besides, Yulika is up there as well. I think we can make all the statements you need."
Yulika? The firebender girl I more or less carried to the mountain stream before diving in myself? So she's from Rubona? Good to know.
"Thank you, Kiran," Guard Hina finds her way back into the conversation. "That will be very helpful."
"Anything to get those bas- Ow!" Kiran glares at Lori, who took advantage of their close proximity to shove her shoulder into his. "Come on, they deserve it!"
"There are soldiers in this room," she points out, causing her boyfriend to tense up and turn back to the guards.
"I'm sorry," he states with a bow. "I didn't mean any disrespect."
"Apology accepted," Guard Li responds with a grin which unambiguously says, Really, we talk like that, too. But I can't say it out loud because then I'd fail as a role model. "Anyway, we've been wasting enough time on bureaucracy," (I can almost hear Judai groan on the inside.) "so we should gather some komodo rhinos and puma goats to get the children."
"Puma goats?" I repeat absentmindedly. I'm pretty sure I heard that before, but I have absolutely no inkling what kind of animal it is. Some sort of mount, apparently.
"Why, look at this, everybody! Our all-knowing city girl doesn't know everything after all!" Judai teases. Grinning, he slips his hand out of my grasp and proceeds to poke me in the ribs. I recoil at the sudden invasion of personal space, without really meaning to.
Okay, that does it! Challenge accepted!
"Hey!" I protest, laughing, squealing, whatever you may call it. And then I poke him back. He lets out a noise somewhere between a kicked hare dog puppy and a choke, and I have no idea how to interpret it. It's not like it should have come entirely unexpected, right?
Anyway, the sound is priceless. I giggle, while Judai pinches the bridge of his nose, grumbling in exasperation. Which I suspect to be fake and meant to cover up embarrassment. Seriously, I'm not the only one to snicker at the... achem, extraordinary expressiveness. Even the guards sport amused grins.
"That... never happened," Judai states flatly, daring everyone present to say otherwise.
Maila cheerfully jumps at the challenge. "You think?" she chortles. "You just made our comprehensive days!"
"Right, and you can thank me by keeping your mouth shut."
Maila smirks meaningfully.
"You would have been better off not saying anything," Li Yu remarks, trying to sound apologetic. With emphasis on trying.
"I can see that," my neighbor drawls, before sweeping at the table and expertly picking up his tea cup to finish it (or hide behind). I stifle a laugh, now I definitely believe that he works in an inn. Inns double as the local tavern more often than not, and I can totally imagine him cleaning tables or taking orders. He has the wits to deal with self-important patrons. On a less pleasant note, however, I guess that also justifies carrying a concealed dagger. And being handy with it, too. I can do very well in my life without getting between two drunk firebenders riling each other up... or... worse...
Well, anyway, I decide to follow Judai's example and finish my tea. Tea is always good!
It takes about half an hour to assemble a rescue party. Or more like a transport party, seeing how the rescuing part has been taken care of long ago.
I kinda glue myself to Judai, even when the rendezvous area – a field lying fallow at the outskirts of the village – gets crowded with potential new acquaintances. Or more like for precisely that reason. Strangers! Terrible!
He doesn't seem to mind, though. It's not like I insist on pressuring him. In fact, I reduce my presence to a minimum – follow his lead, don't speak unless asked, avoid physical contact.
That is, until I see the puma goats. They're muscly, white-furred creatures, with small heads which are adorned with cat ears and long horns contrasted by huuuuge shoulders, and then the relatively small rear end again. (Frankly, they look like you'd slide backwards if you try to ride them.) And yet, in spite of their bulk, they're stunningly light-pawed.
Once I see one of those magnificent beasts, I have an aha experience. I knew I've heard about them!
I smack the side of my fist into the palm of the other hand, delighted. "Ha! Now I remember!"
"What?" Judai inquires without actually paying attention, but I'm too excited to mind.
"The puma goats! I've seen a picture of one in my... history textbook? I'm not sure, but anyway... They were used for dragon hunting, right?"
"Possible," comes the offhand answer, and I curl my lips into a pout. He doesn't even look at me, instead, he stares at a farmer and his son(?) hitching a komodo rhino to a carriage, arms crossed behind his head. After another second or two, he perks up and lightly slaps me on the back, shoving without really shoving. "Come on, let's make ourselves useful."
Er... okay? I guess that's what you call 'pragmatic'.
Judai's already taken a couple of steps before I shake off the daze and give chase. Make myself useful, ha! Easier said than done, I'm totally out of my depths with all this hitching and saddling. Honestly, the place where I'm the most useful is off to the side, where I don't stand in anyone's way!
But I can't stop him on time. He makes his way to the two males and speaks up, "Excuse me?"
Both of them halt in their work. The older man, I estimate him to be in his late forties, scowls at the interruption, while the younger one whom I assume to be his son (mid-twenties, I guess) raises a brow.
"What is it, kid? Need help with something?"
"That's what I was going to ask. Is there anything we can do?"
"Nah, we're fine. Good old Kara is a bit moody. Right girl?" He barks a short laugh and hits the komodo rhino across the shoulder. The gray pachyderm fails to react in the slightest.
"Looks placid to me," Judai remarks skeptically. I wish he'd just shut up and leave it. Really, I don't like the look of the beast's sharp, pointy, unforgiving horns!
"Take one step closer and see how placid she is," the son challenges, but clearly all in good fun. It still causes me to tense up, ready to spring into action the very moment my friend dares to lift his foot.
He doesn't.
"Stop fooling around, Rinzo!" the father cuts in, scowl unwavering. He glowers at his son first, then turns at us. "And you kids run along! This is no place for children!"
Judai throws up his hands in what I'd title surrender if it weren't for the quiet, but definitely exasperated huff. "Fine!" he announces with thinly veiled bitterness before spinning around and briskly stalking off.
I dash after him, unsure what to make of the whole situation. However, when I catch Judai muttering "Cranky-pants!" under his breath, I raise an inquisitive brow, feeling maybe a teeny tiny bit smug.
"And that comes as a surprise, because...?"
"Because I was offering to help, not making selfish demands," he grouches, and I have to admit that he's got a point. It doesn't mean that I can't understand the reaction, though.
"I think they just felt that you're meddling in things which are not your business. Besides, you don't look like the trustworthy type right now." I tug at a loose thread of his robe for emphasis. It comes off easily. "More like a random street rat, really."
Judai concedes the point with a low grumbling noise, while I puzzle over the thread in my hand. What am I supposed to do with it? Leave it to the wind? Give it back? There is no trashcan far and wide. Guess I'll just keep it for a while... But I left the pouch with the grocery money back with Appa and I didn't bother with another bag. (Which is probably just as well, the slavers would have taken it away.)
I end up looping the thread around my pinkie for the time being. It's only afterwards that it occurs to me... I chuckle and raise my hand, finger outstretched to show off the fine line of color.
"Look, it's a red string!"
We stop in our tracks and Judai sends a wary glance my way. I blame it on his bad mood. "So?"
"Don't you know the legend?" I ask, lifting my other hand in preparation for gesturing. "It says that two people who are destined for each other are connected by an invisible red string wrapped around their pinkie fingers. Isn't it sweet?"
One corner of Judai's mouth lifts into a half-smile. "What, the string? Seems rather uncertain to me, if it can't even decide whether it wants to be red or invisible."
I click my tongue and groan in fake annoyance, then proceed to nudge his ribs with my elbow. "Aw, come on! You're taking all the fun out of it with your constant letter-happiness!" I complain, but I suppose it would have worked better if I had felt any need to contain the laughter bubbling in my throat. Or used a different word than 'happiness'.
The irony is not lost on Judai. "Could have fooled me," he smirks, and I flash him a toothy grin in response. Glad he's feeling better.
"Sooo..." Judai continues after a while, crossing his arms behind his head. Realizing that we're not going to take another step in the near future, I spin around so I don't have to turn my head anymore in order to face him.
Judai shifts his stance as well, but he doesn't look at me directly. I can still see his curled lips, he seems unsure about something.
"What?" I prompt, worry starting to gnaw at me. "Something wrong?"
He tilts his head, eyeing me up and down. I grit my teeth, giving it three seconds. If nothing happens until then, I'm going to explode!
Two seconds. Then Judai bursts into laughter and relaxes his arms. "No way!"
What. The. Flubbering. TURTLEDUCK?!
Tadaa!
One of the things I love about fanfiction is the communication with the readers. This chapter would have looked plenty different if it hadn't been for the guest reviewer who pointed out that ostrich horses have bird feet. Which in and of itself is not a new discovery, but I never thought too much about it. 80% of ostrich horse screentime is in mountain terrain, the only problem: It's in the Earth Kingdom. Where earthbenders are perfectly capable of creating ostrich horse-friendly paths.
That was when I remembered the puma goats from the comic "Dragon Days". And it all came together beautifully, because I wanted to turn tables anyway and write something what Judai knows better than Kami. School is not everything, after all. You gotta go out and do stuff, experience it. Knowledge is not limited to books.
So, many thanks to the guest, the inspiration for this chapter came from you!
Alright, that's all. For now. Maybe I remember something later, as traditional, but then you'll find out in the next chapter. Peace out!