(A/N)- *cough* So I know it's been a while. I apologize. Life was kicking my butt for a bit there and also one of my other stories completely took over my time and attention. I actually had this finished two weeks ago and just hadn't gotten to posting yet.
Mea culpa.
In any case, the long-awaited Kyoshi Warriors chapter is here! I'll let you get to it and talk about all the boring metatextual decisions and stuff in the ending Author's Notes. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Yeah, not seeing anything saying I own the series.
Prickles
"Hey Katar?" asked Angka.
"What?" Katar grumbled irritably, not turning around or looking up from the dishes he was furiously scrubbing.
Angka thumbed over her shoulder, expression concerned. "Your sister's being really weird about that Kyoshi boy, Suko?" Her eyes crinkled. "You think we should be worried?"
Katar scrubbed even more furiously at a particularly stubborn grease stain. "It's fine, Angka," he said through gritted teeth. "Sokki can do what she wants."
Even if she wants to fawn all over a pretty boy just because he's good with a sword, his inner thoughts grumbled.
Reading his foul mood, Angka turned her concerned look on him.
"This isn't about your argument yesterday, is it?"
Katar's scowl deepened at the reminder.
-ATLA-
There was a nip in the air, a frigid chill that had Katar concerned, given Angka's plan to take a dip in the freezing water.
Sokki's only concern was moving on.
"Do we really have time for this?" she complained. "I thought we were going straight to the North Pole."
"Yeah but that's like, on the other side of the world right now," Angka pointed out, as she stripped down. Katar tried not to stare at her tattoos as her bare arms and legs were exposed. "We're here now and those koi are just begging to ridden!" she added with a grin.
Not swayed, Sokki crossed her arms sourly. "And the North Pole is going to stay on the other side of the world if we don't get moving," she pointed out.
"Oh lighten up, Sokki," Katar chided, whapping her with one of the bedrolls. He turned his eyes on Angka again, his voice softening. "Let her have a little fun."
"That's all we've been doing!" Sokki protested. "I say, we skip all this nonsense," she said as she reached down, trying to gather up Angka's shirt and slacks in order to hand them back to her, "and focus on our mission—getting to the North Pole." She emphasized the last part with not-so-hidden irritation.
Katar grabbed the clothes out of his sister's hands in aggravation. "Well, you're not the leader, I am," he said. He looked at Angka again, with a quiet swell of relief at how genuine her smile was, how undampened her excitement. There was no trace of the hollow emptiness behind her happy mask. He hadn't seen it disappear like this for days. "And I say we could use a little break," he added softly.
Sokki scoffed at him. "Since when are you the leader? Who decided that?"
Rounding to face her he argued, "Look, I've been taking care of practically the whole village for ages."
"Mending blankets, cooking and cleaning, and watching children!" Sokki exclaimed. "That's not leadership, that's babysitting!" she protested. "If dad had left me in charge then—"
"Then you would have made a mess of everything!" Katar interrupted hotly, actual anger behind his words now. He was in no mood to be lectured on manhood and leadership by his sister. "You're not a warrior, Sokki, so just stop pretending to be one!" he spat.
He almost regretted his words when he saw the pinched sting on Sokki's face, but didn't have time to apologize before she was angry too, and shouting her own harsh indictments at him.
"You're not a warrior either, Katar!" she yelled. "So don't get all high and mighty with me! At least I can fight!"
Katar avoided her eyes guiltily. "I can... fight..." he mumbled, flustered.
"You never fight! Not even when it matters! That's what's going to get people hurt!" Sokki yelled.
The weight of the unspoken meaning behind her words caused palpable tension in the air for a few seconds.
Angka had been looking awkwardly back and forth between the siblings for a while, sensing that there were more layers to this argument that just what had been said on the surface level, and quickly deciding she probably didn't want to know about it.
"IIIIIIII'm gonna go ride the koi now," she announced.
-ATLA-
Of course not long after that they had been ambushed by Suko and the Kyoshi warriors and Sokki had practically fallen all over herself at the idea of a boy who could fight, who was an elite warrior, not at all like her useless pansy wuss of a brother—Suko had been having a bizarre effect on his sister and her ability to hold a conversation; she rambled at a thousand miles an hour, babbling unceasingly, and hadn't taken much care to censor her unfavorable opinions about men.
Or more specifically, him.
Remembering that Angka had asked him a question, Katar resumed scrubbing and finally answered with a terse, "No."
"Okay, that's good!" Angka said, tone awkwardly light, like she knew whatever she said would be useless at helping him work through his foul mood. "I'm sure she doesn't really mean it, you know? I know plenty of guys who aren't fighters, and they're all great!"
"Good for you," slipped out of his mouth in a dry grumble before he could stop it. He understood what she was trying to do, he really did, but Angka couldn't understand the kind of culture he'd grown up in, the expectations and pressures a young man like him faced in a decidedly non-pacisfistic society. The expectations Sokki held for him, that he consistantly failed to live up to, had been failing to live up to ever since...
He fell silent, focusing on the soft clink of dishes and the slosh of water.
Angka watched him for a few more moments before giving up and declaring, "Well, I'm gonna go. Koda and the boys are gonna show me around."
Oh, and then there was that.
Katar tried to keep his voice impassively disinterested as he said, "Fine."
"Bye!" Angka called, entirely too brightly and chipper for his liking.
Like any of them would even care if you weren't the Avatar or pay you the time of—
Katar stopped washing, leaning his hands on the edges of the basin with a long sigh.
This was ridiculous.
Sokki was right, much as he hated it. If he were stronger, tougher, like their father, he could have fought Suko and the others off when they'd gotten ambushed. He would be able to just walk right up to the group of clingy hangers-on that Angka had so recently acquired and tell them all to back off and leave—
Aaaaand he stopped his train of thought right there, before he could feel even more stupid. Spirits he was pathetic. Feeling insecure because of a bunch of kids fanboying their hero. It wasn't like he could blame them. Angka was pretty amazing. If he wasn't so busy stewing over Sokki dragging him in front of Kyoshi's esteemed warriors he might have joined in and just followed the group around as they toured the island.
Katar dropped his scrub brush into the basin and turned to head for the door. Dishes weren't helping anymore.
I need to go practice my bending or something, he thought.
-ATLA-
And yet, an hour later, here he was sitting on one of the wooden porches, still moping and feeling sorry for himself.
He sighed again. What was wrong with him?
He hadn't seen Angka or her fanboys in a while. Last he'd heard from them, Koda was tugging on her arm begging for a ride on Appa. Presumably they'd gone outside the village to do just that.
There were rustling footsteps in the grass just behind him.
"Uh... Hey Katar," came Sokki's voice, sounding reluctant to talk to him.
Katar pulled his legs up to his chest and hugged them. "Thought you were trying to play swords with the Kyoshi warriors," he said. Less snarkily, he asked, "Where've you been?"
Sokki's footfalls sounded on the wooden steps of the porch and then she was sitting down next to him, folding her skirt beneath her.
"I, uh... I made a fool of myself in front of Suko," she told him, cheeks flushing as she remembered the embarrassment. "I don't think he'll be eager to see me again."
Katar chuckled. "Couldn't take your self-taught Water Tribe techniques, huh?" he teased.
"No it's not—well okay yes, that too but—" Sokki conceded, stumbling over her words. She stared at a tuft of grass on the ground near the edge of the porch, Suko's chiding words echoing in her ears. She didn't even remember what she'd been saying, she was just babbling on about being the real warrior of their family—trying to make excuses for how miserably she'd failed to spar against him—and Suko had just suddenly come out with a harsh, "Why are you so hard on your brother? There's nothing wrong with a man who doesn't like fighting." He'd folded stern arms over his breastplate and said dismissively,"Maybe stop treating him with such contempt and I'll consider you worthy enough to teach."
It had made her insides sink, made her want to dig a hole and pile dirt overtop her head to hide from the shame. And she'd been dragging that guilt around since leaving the dojo.
She took a deep breath. "Look, I..." she began, looking at her brother. "I just wanna say... I'm sorry. I've been really harsh to you about the whole not-being-a-good-fighter thing."
"It's okay..." Katar mumbled, nose in his arms and avoiding her eyes.
"No, it really isn't. I've been a jerk," Sokki insisted. "You're right, I'm not the warrior I like to pretend I am. It isn't fair to make fun of you when I'm not any better."
Katar finally sidled a glance at her. "What brought this on?" he asked.
She shrugged, flushing again and finding the grass tuft very interesting. "Just something Suko said."
For a while the two siblings sat in silence. Then, Sokki straightened up.
She looked around. "So... where's Angka?"
"Haven't seen her." Katar drooped his head into his arms "She's probably still somewhere showing off for those boys."
His sister peered at him curiously, tilting her head. "Are you... jealous?"
"No," Katar denied at once.
"Of a bunch of ten-year-olds?" she asked incredulously.
"No!" Katar huffed and tightened his arms sourly and tried looking everywhere but at her. "That would be... stupid," he muttered.
Sokki grinned knowingly. "Yeah, it would be," she said.
Katar sighed. "I should probably go look for her though," he decided, uncurling and standing up. "See if she's all right."
He was halfway down the steps of the porch when he stopped and turned back to Sokki.
"You know... I bet Suko would give you another chance if you asked him nicely."
She wrinkled her face at that, uncertain. "You think?"
Katar smiled. "Just don't let your big ol' mean warrior ego get in the way," he teased.
"Right," she said, shrinking into her shoulders with embarrassment.
-ATLA-
It was lucky that he'd gone looking for Angka when he did. For some reason, she'd accepted a dare from one of the boys to go ride the Unagi—a nasty-tempered sea serpent that had rudely interrupted Angka's delightful water romp with the giant Kyoshi koi the other day.
The Unagi hadn't shown at first, prompting the bored boys to wander off, but all too soon after Katar had gotten to the scene showed its ugly face.
And then the Fire Nation had shown up too.
Heart in his throat, Katar clutched Angka tight to his chest as he waited for the rhino-mounted firebenders to move on. The clumping footsteps of the lumbering creatures slowly faded from hearing.
Letting out a shuddering breath, Katar uncurled Angka's body and laid her out flat. She'd taken a nasty hit from the Unagi's tail and didn't seem responsive. He tried not to panic, reaching a hand over her chest to check if she'd inhaled any water.
He could feel some responding to his grip. Carefully, he drew it out of her lungs and up her throat, relieved when Angka immediately coughed in response.
Her eyelids lifted and she blinked, blearily. "Katar..." she rasped. "Don't ride the Unagi. Not fun."
"I can imagine," he joked, smiling in spite of the close call. His nerves shuddered in relief, the frantic pace of his heart beginning to calm. He reached out to offer her his arms. "C'mon. That was Zuka's ship. She's probably on her way to the village right now."
Angka looked stricken at that, a horrified expression flashing across her face. She hurried to retrieve her clothes, tangling them in an effort to get them back on her body as quickly as possible. Katar had to come help straighten her shirt before they both took off running, heading back for the village as fast as they could.
Zuka was in the middle of the street, surrounded by tiny burning fires and temporarily downed Kyoshi warriors, when they arrived.
"Hiding like a scared little girl behind your bodyguards? Come out and fight, Avatar!" she shouted in challenge, her harsh gold eyes flashing with fury.
Katar shuddered, but Angka wasted no time in confronting the Fire Nation princess.
"I'm not hiding!" she declared. "I'm right here!"
Zuka looked almost relieved a moment, before her eyes hardened determinedly and she was sending fireballs sailing through the air towards the airbender.
He hated to stand by and watch Angka face the girl alone. But Koda and another boy were tugging fearfully at his clothes, cowering behind him. Katar turned around and scooped them both up, tucking low and bounding up the steps to one of the huts. He glanced back as he set the boys down.
He needn't have worried so much. No sooner had Angka gotten her hands on a pair of fans—one of the signature weapons of Kyoshi, an accessory to the light, aerodynamic swords they carried—then the fight was over. Zuka was blown comically into the side of a building by a gust of strong wind. The sight was so funny Katar forgot how intimidating the Fire Nation princess was.
"Get inside!" he whispered to the boys nonetheless, pushing them towards the open door and shelter, where a handful of other villagers were already hiding.
When he turned back again Angka was beside him, looking sadly at the smashed buildings and the fire licking up Avatar Kyoshi's brightly-painted statue, the Fire Nation soldiers futher down the street, battling the Kyoshi warriors atop their rhinos.
"Look what I brought to this place," she said miserably.
"It's not your fault," Katar assured her.
She shook her head. "Yes it is," she insisted. Her eyes were full of despair. "These people got their town destroyed to protect me!"
Katar inhaled slowly, accepting the truth in her words, and said, "Then... let's get out of here. Zuka will leave Kyoshi to follow us."
Running instead of fighting. Again, came the thought, unbidden, to him.
He drowned it out by saying, "I know it feels wrong to run, but I think it's the only way," half trying to convince himself of it.
Angka seemed to agree with him, her shoulders slumping. "I'll call Appa," she said.
They shuffled out of sight of the main street, behind one of the buildings. The giant air bison came at once when Angka yelled for him, and with a quick boost up from Katar, she was quickly in the pilot's seat.
Katar scrambled up into the saddle a little awkwardly, then had a sudden panicked thought.
"Wait—!" he said, looking around frantically. "Where's Sokki?"
Angka peered over Appa's back, towards one of the rear porches. "I think that's her," she said, pointing.
Katar almost had to double-take. What he had thought were two Kyoshi warriors huddled together in conference were in fact Suko and his sister, and she was decked head to toe in the same green and gold as him, distinctive white facepaint plastered on her face. He was just pulling away from her; her hand was on her cheek and she was staring back at him as if stunned. He heard Suko ribbing her playfully to go, and with that, the boy disappeared around the corner.
Sokki stood, turning and climbing up Appa's tail, and Katar gawped at her once again.
"Sokki?" he said in disbelief.
"Yeah?" she said.
He couldn't help it. Katar covered his mouth to stifle a giggle.
"Are you... wearing a dress?" he asked.
Sokki flushed immediately bright red underneath her white makeup.
"Yes I'm wearing a dress!" she snapped defensively. "What's wrong with that?! I can wear dresses! I am a girl you know!" she practically screeched.
"It looks good, Sokki!" Angka chirruped helpfully, snapping the reins. "Appa, yip yip!"
Sokki staggered a moment as the air bison lurched beneath her, but took her seat with a hot face, shrinking into the silken shoulders of the Kyoshi warrior robes and pointedly avoiding looking at her brother.
"Sorry Sokki I just..." Katar chuckled again. "You do look nice." He took a seat next to her, curling his arms around his legs. "Soooo... I guess you smoothed things out with Suko, huh?" he teased.
Her hand drifted back up to her pale white cheek, rubbing the spot self-consciously. "He says I've got promise..." she murmured. "So thanks, you know," she said, ducking her head. "For the advice. And... sorry for being up your butt again."
Katar nodded to accept her apology. For now, it would be enough to mend the tension between them. "You're forgiven," he told her gently.
-ATLA-
Angka's heart warmed privately as she listened in on their conversation. Things had been off kilter in their trio ever since setting foot on the island. Part of her had wanted to get all the way down to the roots of the conflict between the two siblings—clearly a philosophical disagreement about the societal roles of men and women wasn't all of it—and part of her was just a little bit terrified that if she did, her new little found family would break apart at the seams. The past two days had been extraordinarily awkward for her, overthinking everything she said, feeling like she was walking on eggshells. Showing off for the other kids had been all too welcome a relief. Katar was not fun to be around when he was grouchy.
But now, she thought giddily... his smile was back. The tension was gone from his shoulders. Even when she'd abruptly rolled herself off Appa's head to drop into the water below, bring the Unagi to the surface to get it to spray water across the rooftops of the village, putting out the fires, he'd merely agreed with her calmly once she was back in the saddle that it had been a dangerous and reckless thing to do, before wrapping his arms around her in a surprise hug.
She gasped happily, a dozen nameless thrills shooting through her. She closed her eyes, sighing in contentment until he eventually pulled away.
It was good to have Katar back. Even Sokki seemed to be less abrasive. Softer, somehow.
"You know," she was saying. "Suko taught me a few things... a few techniques I could show you... if you want."
"Really?" he said in surprise. "You'd teach me how to fight?"
She shrugged. "It's what we both want." She slung her arms on her knees casually, ruby-coated lips spreading in a grin. "Might as well do it together."
"You guys are so much more fun when you're not fighting," Angka commented as she headed back up to Appa's head to retake the reins. "Next stop, Omashu!"
A sense of satisfaction settled over her as she snapped the reins, steering Appa off into the sun.
Her family was back to normal.
(A/N)- Sokki and Katar butt heads over gender roles, Katar grumps around totally not being jealous, Sokki gets very flustered by handsome Kyoshi boys and gets a bit more in touch with her feminine side and also sort of starts to balance that with her desire to beat people's heads in, and Angka just really really wants everyone to get along please.
So! This chapter was kind of a challenge to figure out at first. I didn't want to do a straight genderflip plot reversal because for one it would be boring and for two, with the ingrained backstory I have for Dude!Katara and Girl!Sokka, it just wouldn't mesh with their characters well. Sokka said dumb sexist things because, well... he was just kind of an ass. Sokki's misandry I wanted to stem from something a little deeper. So I decided her negative feelings about men should be because of Katar's failings in particular... because she unconsciously blames him somewhat for their mother's death. And he sort of knows this too, which adds to his own guilt complex and feelings of inadequacy about the whole matter. This is something I'm actually really excited to keep exploring and eventually resolving between the two as this fic goes along.
Kyoshi Warriors are mostly unchanged, save for upgrading their primary weapon to a sword and relegating the fans to secondary accessory weapons.
Not quite as much Kataang content as in previous chapters but hey, the kids are at that awkward stage where they don't know what they're feeling yet. All Katar knows is that he's inexplicably shy about seeing Angka without her shirt on. XD
Thank you for reading and please review!