eachdraidh | 4 ☼ VIDEO / UNSEELIE

Entry tags:

4 ☼ VIDEO / UNSEELIE

[ if you know zuko, his hair is always hanging in his eyes. pulling his bangs up, it's almost as if he's run a hair straightener through it to keep it raised above his head before it thinks to deflate and droop down over his scar. he's as exasperated as he feels, as defeated as he's always been; a little girl with short, dark hair and red feathers braided into it sits beside him in a red coat, threading together blades of grass. ]

[ with his knees pulled up to his chest, zuko holds his hands out, fingers curling into fists, as his voice is a little sharp and exasperated despite his attempts to calm down. his communicator happens to be leaning against a rock in the grass. he's thought this over pretty well. ]

Ugh! [ he almost smacks his forehead. almost. his knuckles turn white for a moment. ] How do you talk to animals? All they do is eat your food and grumble!

[ the little girl beside him laughs, a tinkling sort of sound, as she continues to thread her grass together. sokka leaving has left a rather big void in zuko's life. he's had to turn to his dragon to brainstorm things sokka would readily help him with — and druk sucks at brainstorming. (zuko thinks he's pretty selfish; he's run out of apples to feed him.) ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I don't think you talk to animals, Zuko. They don't usually talk back. Maybe you shouldn't hit your own head so often.

I haven't — [ and as if she knows what he's about to do, jia throws her grass blades at zuko's face as though it's meant to be a stone. zuko seems to seethe. he mumbles, ] — hit my head.

[ his voice is restored to being as loud as it was before. ] Aang used to tell me his sky bison spoke back to him all the time! [ or, you know, acted like appa spoke to him all the time. as far as zuko knows, appa disagreed with aang each and every time the avatar asked for his opinion. ]

[ she covers up a smile. ]

That child seems to be trying to help. Perhaps she can tell you. What's a sky bison?

I'm very helpful!

No you're not. [ zuko plucks a bunch of grass blades from the ground and throws them at jia to distract her. some of them spark, singed by his hand, and she seems preoccupied in trying to find the blackened blades. ]

A sky bison is an animal that looks like a cloud. He's as big as a dragon, smellier than one, but softer, if he takes care of his fur. [ zuko doesn't know how to describe appa without saying he's appa. he can't think of any animals he's seen that may equate to a sky bison in some of the books sokka used to look through. ]

[ jia puffs up her cheeks. ] Like this!

[ jia is endearing, and katsa gives up hiding her smile, giving the girl an absentminded one while she tries to comprehend all that zuko is saying. ]

A talking, smelly cloud with fur. Is that as absurd in your world as it sounds, too, or just to me?

It's very ab — [ jia turns to look at zuko and pokes him hard in the arm with her index finger. her voice is a loud hushed: ] What did she say?

[ he doesn't look at her. he frowns, evidently annoyed. ] She said you're absurd.

What does that mean? [ she pokes him again. ]

It means you're strange.

You're strange. [ she pouts and looks to katsa. ] Isn't it strange he's talking about a fluffy cloud?

They're both strange. [ Katsa agrees with Jia solemnly. ] I didn't know he likes to watch the clouds. But I'd like to fly on one, perhaps. Wouldn't you, child?

[ zuko huffs and crosses his arms against his chest like a petulant child. ]

I'm a princess, not a child. Sometimes Zuko likes to watch the grass, too, like it can move! [ even though she's judging him, jia's voice sounds whimsical. she even rocks where she sits, peering up at the sky with her hands thrown out wide. ] I once drew a picture of a sky cloud bison! It was this big — [ she holds her hands, exaggerating the width of her drawing to be bigger than her. her hand knocks into zuko. ] — and super fluffy.

He didn't talk, but you always knew when he was hungry. [ jia mutters no, he can't talk because his mouth and tongue are made of clouds, but zuko ignores her. he sighs, exasperated at himself rather than at his annoying companion. ] I just want to know if there's a way to understand animals!

[ she roars, like a lion. ]

He sounded like that.

[ Katsa laughs. ]

Grass does move, Princess. The long grasses in my Middluns move with the wind sometimes, if you watch carefully: before I'd seen the sea I imagined it would look like the way the grass moved. Though the sea is much more impressive.

I can't help you talk to animals, though. I've not heard of such a thing. But your cloud bison sounds fearsome if it's like that.

[ with astonishment, jia latches onto the word: ] Middluns.

[ abruptly, she turns to zuko and punches him right in the arm. he winces and glares at her, lifting his hand to rub at his upper arm. ] Take me there on my cloud bison!

No.

[ she punches him again. she turns to katsa, ] You'll show me the sea, won't you?

[ she loves this child. she loves her and sorry zuko but she's still laughing at you ]

Neither of us can take you to the Middluns, I'm afraid. But I'll show you the sea. I've a house that overlooks it, and you'd both be welcome to visit. As long as you promise not to beat Zuko before you get there.

[ the moment katsa informs jia she can't ever see the middluns, her face falls and her lips form a pout. she lets the grass blades in her hands drop rather pathetically. as soon as she droops, she brightens up once more, peering up at the locket and grinning. she grabs zuko's sleeve and tugs on it harshly. ]

We're not going now.

[ jia thinks to punch him again, he can see that, but she refrains from doing so. ]

I promise! Middluns' Katsa! [ she looks to zuko, then back to her newly acquired friend. ] Do you have a boat? Is he allowed on it? He'll set it on fire!

I won't set it on fire.

[ katsa's still laughing at this girl and her excitement and poor zuko's grumpiness. there's a sudden pang in her heart for another girl she hasn't seen in years. bitterblue—how katsa can't help but think of bitterblue. ]

No, but I have towers, and you must be careful on them for if you fall you would fall directly on the cliffs and the sea below. They're made of stone, which is lucky, for Zuko can't set them on fire. I would have been likely to set them on fire, when I was still his student.

[ jia gasps, eyes going wide. ] You were his student? [ she looks between the two of them, head moving so fast zuko thinks it'll fall off. he looks at her with his eyebrow arched, a silent challenge for her to say what she will inevitably insult him with. ] But ... He's Zuko! He knows nothing!

[ zuko shoves her shoulder. she teeters back and forth with a laugh. ]

He knows plenty more than I do about some things. Particularly about firebending. I have other skills that he might not, but in a fight, that's something he can do that I can't.

[ she smiles briefly at zuko instead of jia this time. ]

Give him some credit. How did you two meet?

[ zuko blushes. ]

He scared a spirit away! [ she turns to zuko. ] Boo! [ she looks proudly to katsa, even though zuko doesn't jump in fright at all. ] Like that. And then he stayed.

[ zuko shrugs. ] She lives in Azure. [ with a laugh: ] She won't let me leave!

[ jia rests her head on his shoulder. ] Nope. He's my shardbearer now. You can't have him, Katsa Middluns! I will fight you. I'm really good at throwing snow. You could've asked Sokka, but he left to be with Suki. [ she makes kissing noises as quickly as she says sokka's girlfriend's name. ]

A spirit?

[ katsa completely misses the blushing, luckily for zuko. but jia sure is a charmer. katsa claps a hand over her grin. ]

I don't know who either of those people are. But I bet you're a good fighter. I'll fight you someday too, Jia. Perhaps Zuko needs a rescue.

[ jia puffs up her cheeks, as though she'll look tough when zuko thinks she looks funny. with her preoccupied in trying to make her small frame look bigger, zuko finally finds he has a chance to talk to katsa. ]

There was a spirit haunting their village. Some people were killed by it, so I helped them out. [ he shrugs his shoulders. ] They're nice people in Azure. You should come by again sometime.

[ jia lets the air out of her cheeks and doesn't inhale, sounding slightly winded, ] You can stay with me! I make good tea. Zuko even said so!

Don't forget to breathe, child. [ said absentmindedly. ] I'd like to hear that story.

I'll return soon if I can, and you know you're always welcome to visit Srathmarbh whether I'm there or not, so that Jia can see the ocean.

[ there's a note in her voice that she tries not to let slip through, for jia's sake: a note of worry that the ocean may not still be there, of the void that she's been watching from her towers and knows grows closer day by day. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

4 ☼ VIDEO / UNSEELIE

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;