A. N. : With the amount of time I've spent in the past detailing my lengthy process of finding good chapter titles, I think it's only fair that I also share my defeat with today's title - I picked it almost at random. The only relevant bit is the canary mention. I don't know why it's gilded. I almost fell asleep trying to come up with this one. I guess after over 200 titles, some of them are bound to be losers haha
Two days have turned to three.
They set out early morning at Lady Ty Lee's insistence, to meet up with Lady Azula on her way back. Master Sai and Mistress Luó assured that they would wait for them before setting sail again, and Qin very carefully did not make use of any suggestion to reinforce the weight of that promise, out of respect for Lady Ty Lee. That, and the hefty compensation the two will receive should be more than enough to ensure a degree of loyalty.
Although, at this rate, the Ladies' travel funds will end up running out sooner rather than later. Qin will have to think of ways to manage the rest of their money better in the future.
Keeping their objective in their line of sight is surprisingly difficult, considering the massive size of the ruins, but the dense foliage above their heads makes it hard to see the sun itself, let alone the horizon. There is a vague trail here, however, likely the battered remains of an ancient road. They rely on it to make their way through the jungle, hoping to avoid getting too turned around.
Lady Ty Lee is visibly anxious. She tries to hide it by cracking jokes at the slightest opportunity, be it the shape of a tree or the sound of a beast in the distance, but the tenseness in her shoulders and the speed of her steps do not lie.
Qin can't deny that he shares some of her worries. He admires Lady Azula deeply, and cares about her, just as he cares about her two friends – and moreover, the reason he wished to follow her to the Fire Nation in the first place was born from a deep desire to see what she would do. To witness what greatness lies in her path.
Were that path to end here… It would be, without a doubt, a great tragedy.
It is no use spiralling over hypotheticals as Lady Ty Lee does, however.
Currently, there is nothing to be done but trust in Lady Azula's ability to grow and learn, and in the stubbornness Lady Mai so accurately pointed out during their altercation, back at Doctor Sekiji and Master Tao's home.
Grief can be saved for later, if the time does come for it.
He wishes he could help Lady Ty Lee, lessen the weight of her emotions to something she can manage. She doesn't trust him enough to allow this, however, even if all he happened to offer were breathing exercises and an open ear.
The consequences of his own actions, Qin supposes.
Lady Ty Lee's loud efforts to distract herself from her anxieties now land on the song of what she calls canary-lovebirds, which she jokes sound like they're having a lover's quarrel – and such a curiosity of nature that this song sounds so much like that of the Earth Kingdom native nightingale-robin, albeit somewhat lower-pitched. It is a song both familiar and not, that brings to mind memories of trying to copy the melodies of the caged birds from Qin's childhood home, as if doing so would somehow allow him to communicate with these feathered musicians.
The passing fancies of children. Perhaps this story would please Lady Ty Lee, lead her to see Qin as less of a danger and more of a person – although one does not exclude the other, far from it.
This memory leads to another, much less peaceful, much more recent. The children in Tenuht, the young Avatar and his friends, some of them seemed to communicate through the use of birdsong. Frozen as he was against a wall, Qin had quite the opportunity to observe and listen to the strategic whistles imitating – imitating Earth Kingdom birds.
Qin lowers his center of gravity, but he is too late.
Something drops down behind him – he barely expects it, can only slide his foot to try and shift the ground when something metallic circles his wrist and pulls him down. A flash of a memory, like Lady Azula's lightning, the earthbender with the Avatar trapping Agent Min in stolen metal cuffs, and then something hits the side of Qin's head and he stumbles, dragged to the ground by the hook around his wrist. A strong blow between his shoulder blades has his face finally meet with the forest ground.
The mulch tastes somewhat floral. Fascinating.
The foot pressing down on the back of his neck and the sharp sword nibbling at his ear are somehow only half as threatening as the voice informing Qin that any suspect movement will find him very dead. Not the earthbender, then, but the boy with the hookswords.
From where he lies, Qin can do nothing but listen to the sounds of fighting and trust in his two wards' strength.
He breathes, and tries to think of ways to manage this situation.