Chapter 1: Peasant Stock

"Can you call Sokka in?"

The assistant healer blinked, confused, "Who is that, Miss Yugoda…?"

An old woman looked up from her scrolls, "Oh, that's right, you're new here. Sokka Ingiullik. Tall young man, mid-twenties. Dark skin. He typically wears a warrior's wolf tail. Also check for a boomerang at his belt."

The healing assistant, though slightly amused by the boomerang part — why would a grown man need a boomerang?— nodded and stepped out into the waiting area. She approached someone who appeared to match the profile— well, save for the lack of a boomerang at his belt. "Are you Sokka Ingiullik?"

The tribesman looked up and nodded, standing up from the pelts, "How's my grandmother?"

"She's awake. Your sister and her fiancé are currently with her."

"Can I go see her, too?"

"You may, but Healer Yugoda wanted to speak with you for a moment."

Sokka followed the assistant into a different chamber of the healing hut. Yugoda gestured to the pelts across from her, "Have a seat, son."

He settled down on the pelts, "So, uh, how's Gran Gran, Auntie Yugoda?"

Furling the scrolls in front of her slowly, "Kanna has a heart condition, Sokka. Within the next two months, she will need surgery. The medicines have brought her along this far, but I think a procedure is very necessary." Looking at him, "It has to be done within the next two months."

"Then let's do it. Can you do it…?"

"Well, yes, of course, but you have to understand, Sokka. All expenses combined, the procedure will cost forty thousand gold pieces."

Widening his eyes, "Forty thousand? Auntie Yugoda, you know we can't afford that—"

"Kanna is my best friend, son. If it were up to me, I would've done this in a heartbeat with no cost at all. But I'm working under several supervisors, and I need to answer to them. We need some special equipment to be shipped in from the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation for this procedure." Upon noting his worried expression, she added, "It's normally fifty thousand gold pieces, Sokka, but I did what I could to offset ten thousand. I'm personally paying for the equipment shipping expenses. There is nothing else I can do other than this. But I'm sure if you apply for a loan at the central office, they will be able to manage something—"

"We already did, remember? For Gran Gran's last visit. We used some for Katara's engagement ceremony and the rest to pay off the debt on our igloo."

"Oh…that's right…"

Sokka thought for a moment before taking a deep breath, "We have two months?"

"That's the estimated safe harbor. After two months, her situation will get really complicated, and even a procedure won't be able to help after that…"

"I'll figure something out," he stood up, "Please don't say anything about this to Katara or Aang or anyone else. I don't want them worrying."

"If there was any other way I could've helped, I would, Sokka—"

"I know, I do," Sokka said, managing a weak smile, "I'll find a way, I will."

"Do you think there's something Master Piandao can do? He's the only other option we know of."

The suggestion did not bring him as much comfort as it otherwise would have. Sokka was aware that Piandao would do everything he could to help. Piandao had filled the void that was left by Hakoda, and there was no stone he would leave unturned to help them, but the older man had lost many things throughout his time in the South, having sold or pawned many of his belongings to help Kanna's family in their time of need. Forty thousand gold pieces was a daunting amount that even he likely couldn't arrange.

"I don't want to keep relying on him for everything," Sokka said. "He's given us too much already, and he's never asked for any of it back."

"Piandao thinks of Kanna as his own mother. He wouldn't hesitate to help."

"I know…but still. I don't want us to keep mooching off of him." Sighing, "When he gets back, I'll ask him how his meeting with the supervisor went. See if the higher-ups can sanction our claim. We should be able to get one hundred thousand gold pieces in total if the claim goes through. Fifty thousand per person. And my mom and dad both…" he trailed off, instead saying, "I'll find a way, I will."

Yugoda did not appear convinced, but she nevertheless nodded, "Alright."

"It is an outrageous blow to our rights and privileges, Zhao, and what you are not about to do right now is write them out of the books like they're calligraphy errors! Bring in your bylaws! Bring them here right now!"

A man in crimson attire with overbearing sideburns and raised eyebrows stared ahead at the owner of the vehement voice, "By Agni, I have never seen you this angry, Piandao. This is why you came to Whaletail Island?"

"Our people are working hard day and night to feed their families," Piandao glared. "To care for the elders in their home. To hold onto their igloos. To educate their children so they can lead better lives. Lives free of the filth of your factories. And you made the promise to compensate for the losses of these breadwinners if, Spirits forbid, anything happens to them. To this day, you haven't paid a single copper piece." Standing up from his seat, "The lives of the workers we lost are invaluable, but you seem to think they're not worth even a single copper piece."

"I'm sympathetic to the plight of those workers, Piandao, I really am. But you need to understand that this is not in my hands—"

"Cut the yakshit, Zhao! There is no reason, no excuse for you to be denying those families what they're entitled to. Making up stories and tossing the blame onto your boss when you're the one in charge of distributing the funds—"

"Yes, I'm the one in charge of the funds," Zhao huffed, "So what now? I should just toss thousands of gold pieces in those peasants' faces? All that money wasted on uncivilized barbarians—?"

"The nerve you have to insult them—!"

"The nerve you have to talk back to your superior officer," the businessman pointed out dangerously before taking a deep breath and shaking his head, "I don't understand why you're getting so worked up over this, my friend. You're Fire Nation. I don't understand what motivates you to roll around in the Southern tundra of all places like a pig in mud, making swords and teaching swordplay to heathens who don't even know what a sword is."

"They are warm-hearted people. Unlike the people of my birth nation, who did nothing but ridicule me for being a nonbender."

Frowning, "Those savages are fertile, aren't they? Don't they have large family units? Ten or twenty children per household? Surely someone else in that crowd can go to work on those breadwinners' behalf. We offer that, don't we? Any family member who offers to take up the deceased's job is more than welcome to walk right into our factories—"

"You need to realize that humans are not machines to be replaced," Piandao snapped. "These people need to support themselves with money. More than the meager salaries you're throwing in their faces. Do you know how many people were left in the streets this past year because they couldn't pay off their debts? They were relying on your funds, and they had breadwinners who were loyal to Arnook Industries! I'm not just going to sit back and watch all of this happen!"

"Fine, so you won't sit back and watch. What exactly are you going to do, Piandao? What can you do? Organize a strike?" Leaning back nonchalantly in his chair, "It's not going to affect me in any way. I will have them all fired for all I care. I'm not the one in desperate need of a job, and I'm certainly not in desperate need of workers. There are millions of capable men from the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom who are willing to travel across the world to feed their families under whatever terms I issue them. It won't take long for me to coax them here and replace these barbarians. But…if you keep quiet, I'm not going to do that."

"You talk about barbarians quite a lot for someone who works for a tribesman."

"Who, Arnook? Please, he's like a little hamster-puppy. Throw him biscuits and he licks your feet. He's nothing but my puppet."

Standing up from his seat, his fist clenched, "If you don't compensate these people, I'll have no choice but to take legal action against you."

"Hm…" Zhao mused, unperturbed as Piandao kicked his chair aside and made his way for the door. "By the way, who's that boy you helped raise when his parents passed? You know, that boy who has a sister. Those kids that you love so much like they're your own? Kanna's grandchildren, aren't they?"

The swordsman screeched to a halt before he could reach for the door handle.

"Sokka! That's right, that's the boy," Zhao said, "You wouldn't want him to go missing like Jet, would you?"

Like Jet. The image of the troubled teenage ruffian from many years ago flailed before Piandao's eyes. Jet, having gone missing for over a week, ended up floating as a corpse on the banks of the nearby river, covered in blood and stab wounds. Piandao refused to imagine Sokka in such a state, "Are you threatening me right now?"

"No, not at all, my friend," Zhao stood up. "I'm just reminding you that your investigations around Jet's predicament ended up nowhere…and a lawsuit against Arnook Industries will likely fizzle out, too."

Piandao gave him a death glare.

"You can proceed legally if you want. I'll sit in prison for a few days, and I'll find my way out. I have my connections after all. But once people are gone…they're gone…" He circled the swordsman, seeming to stare into his soul. "I won't stop with him and his sister, Piandao, I promise you."

"I would do you no good to harm innocent folk," Piandao retorted. "If you have a problem with me, you will deal with me head-on."

"But what's the fun in that?" Zhao grinned upon seeing a flicker of awareness blip in Piandao's eyes. "I will never be able to understand why you're wasting your breath. Instead of slowly rotting away for that peasant stock, why not come and work for me? I can use an assistant. One hundred gold pieces per hour. Someone with your education and expertise may even qualify for more. You can have as many assistants as you want…"

Piandao was not amused by the offer.

"Or if you want to stay close to your savages, then that's fine, too." Crossing his arms, "If you want to help them out so much, keep throwing them your own money. I don't care. But I strongly advise you to keep your mouth shut. Even if you don't, it is only going to work in my favor, and you will regret every bit of it."

Piandao kept his hand on the sword that hung from his belt, but he said nothing as he swiftly left, his blood boiling.

A/N: Inuktitut words for interested readers

Ulitsuak - "rising tide"

Ingiullik - "sea swells"