A. N. : Most of my braincells have shut down from sleep, so no witty comments this time. I'm still open to suggestions for the birthday short, though, so once again, if you've got something y'all want to read about, just say the word and there's a chance it might happen ! As for the title, the theme has now gone from divination to sacred trees. I should stop doing these themed chapter titles honestly, it's getting harder and harder to find clever ones without the constraint already. Ah well.
Toph has never been happier to find earth again.
Sleeping on Appa is probably the most terrifying thing she's ever done, but even that was nothing next to the day travel that came next. She might have been lacking most of her perception abilities – spirits, she hates flying – but the tension in the group was obvious, almost palpable, between Sparky's intense silence and Stalker's exclusive focus on teaching his dumb codes to Sugar Queen – she thought of singing them to at least remember them better, and they spent a good while on that, ruining Snoozle's sleeping time as well in one fell swoop.
The only time anyone dared talk to Sparky was when Stalker offered to hold the Fire-Turtle during lunch – smoked fish and rice crackers, Sugar Queen was clever enough to buy food that doesn't need to be cooked, thankfully, because somehow, Toph doesn't think Appa would've enjoyed a fire on his back. Also the reason no one aside from Stalker tried to talk with Sparky.
She's not sure what he was thinking, really. Maybe it was his way of apologizing for – for that – but it was the most awkward thing Toph ever witnessed. And she mostly only had sound to do that. So of course after that the mood got even worse.
Which brings Toph back to this. Landing ? Not being stuck on Appa's back anymore ? Not having to deal with that awful silence anymore ? Best thing in Toph life, easily.
Now, the plan is to take the evening and the night to rest – Appa and Snoozles both really sound like they need it, even if Snoozles is still finding the energy to complain about driving all night and Sugar Queen's singing hurting his head and how she is a terrible sister for doing this to him. Typical Snoozles complaining, all in all.
The plan is to rest, but Toph thinks a talk is in order. She doesn't like it, talks often turn into arguing or nagging and it's a pain in the ass, but if she has to sit through one more day of the worst silence in the world, she will break something. Possibly some skulls.
And she still doesn't get how anyone can accept the execution of a member of the royal family, and Sparky can't explain that one to her if he keeps on stubbornly not talking.
She opens her mouth – yo, Sparky – at the same time as Stalker does – Zuko, I – at the same time as Snoozles stops complaining – so, Jet – at the same time as Sugar Queen decides to mother everyone – we need to talk.
Well that's awkward. Toph wasn't expecting the others to have the same idea, so she stopped mid-sentence, and so did everyone else. She can already feel the you go first – no you – no you coming, and it's pissing her off to even just think about it.
So she goes on. The others can figure out what to say in the meantime. She'll leave the emotional talk to them in exchange.
Isn't royal blood sacred ? Uncle is a Prince, right ?
Ok, maybe that's kind of an emotional question too. Uncle is going to die if they fail and it hurts to think about, and Sparky probably has it even worse – the way his pulse beats the rhythm to a mad dance, the barely restrained heat of his body, like he is burning from the inside, the way his voice hitches during his explanation, almost too low to hear, almost too intense to bear, it says it all.
Royal blood is sacred. That's why royal executions are a rarity, and follow a strict protocol. He hesitates – he was never all that good at history, and that's not exactly something that's brought up often in the first place, but one thing he does know for sure is that Tenuht is the only place where an execution of that kind if allowed. He thinks it probably has to do with the troubled times before there was a Fire Lord.
Tenuht is the oldest floating city, and the oldest city people still live in to this day – at least in the Fire Nation. Some of its architecture is reminiscent of the Sun Warriors ruins – whatever that is – so there's a good chance it dates either from that period, or from very shortly after the fall of the Sun Warriors civilization. It's even older than some of the Fire Temples. So of course it's been a sacred spot for a long time – and it also saw a lot of blood spilled there. It's a miracle it was never destroyed, really.
And Toph has to stop Sparky here because she did not ask for a lesson on geography, history, or architecture. Make it shorter, Sparky. What's the protocol ? Can they make it so that Miss Lightning Princess won't be able to follow it, and so won't be able to legitimately execute Uncle ?
Snoozles lets out a shout – that's a good idea ! – but Stalker deadpans that it still wouldn't solve the issue of Snoozles' girlfriend, which earns him a why are you like this from Snoozles.
It's not possible anyway, Sparky says. The other requirements, on top of the location, are the Fire Lord's approval, the executioner being higher on the line of succession than the executed, and the killing blow being inflicted by lightning. The only thing they could prevent is the spilling of the ashes in Lake Tenuht, but by then it would be too late. There's no easy way out of this.
There was something weird in Sparky's voice, something tense and distant, when he mentioned the Fire Lord's authorization – which probably just means orders, really – and the order of succession, but Toph decided to leave the emotional talk to the others, so she won't question that.
In some way, she guesses everything Sparky said makes sense to him. The Fire Nation has some super weird traditions anyway. Toph remembers listening in on a private conversation between her father and some merchant woman, who mentioned the whole Agni Kai thing. That's just as messed up – fights are for fun, for the spectacle, or for war. Not to solve internal conflict. That's what judges and middlemen are for.
Anyway, well-defined rules for something that shouldn't even be a thing certainly sounds like Fire Nation, that's for sure.
So. Toph said her part, and got her answer.
Who's next ?