savedtheworld | Book 9: Refreshed Air [Action/Video]

Book 9: Refreshed Air [Action/Video]

[Action]

[This morning, Aang did not wake up in his bed. No, he woke up some ways outside of the village, with an old friend. It took soe time for Aang and Suki to come to grips, but eventually the facts became clear. Suki had come back to Luceti without memories. At the same time, Aang had spent an overnight trip home. He lived out several days at home, where he saw the Yu Dao conflict through to its end and founded the air acolytes.

And now he was back. In Luceti. He knew who Ikki was again. One of the first things he did upon realizing what happened was scribbling a journal message for everyone at home - assuring them he was still around. It might be hard to tell he was gone if anyone was awake that early. After all, he didn't have many possessions, and his room was shared with Roku who was keeping a more irregular sleeping schedule during the draft. The only visible evidence would be the absence of the prayer beads which he had given to Ikki.

So Aang spent most of the morning helping Suki to adjust, hoping that her memories of her previous stay would be awakened. He wasn't really so familiar to people returning without memories. But eventually they parted ways so that Suki could be reunited with Sokka. Once he saw that only a night had passed during his absence, he had guessed that he might have been the only one to go home. The others might still be there. The same as he left them. So he headed to House 56 to check in with everyone next and give the physical proof of his presence. He came fully clothed in his air nomad robes, wielding a set of prayer beads that were notably missing a Fire Nation emblem.

Once all the bases are touched, Aang tries to go about his daily schedule as usual, probably being late for school and skipping out on the Welcome Center to instead explore the forest. Now that he remembers, he looks around carefully for any sign of Moro's presence.]

[Video]

[And this video message is recorded before dinner, when he stops back at the house between forest treks.]

Hey, everyone. It's me, Aang. This place is really weird sometimes. I used to think when people went home, they stayed home, at least for a long time. But sometimes people have been gone for just a few weeks, and me... I was just gone for one night. I doubt anyone noticed, but I'm still sorry if I worried anyone. And my friend Suki came back too. Really unpredictable, right?

Still, some of you might be pleased to know that at home, only a few days passed, but things are really turning out for the better. Things are even more at peace, and I feel more connected with my people than ever. I hope everyone's having a great autumn, while it lasts.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Her brows knit together as the confusion grows. She can understand part of what he said, to respect all life. It's something she tries to do as a hunter. She won't hunt mothers, won't hunt the very young. She won't over harvest, won't do anything to jeopardize the ecosystem around her.

But to not eat meat?]

You're lucky. [She finally concludes.] We didn't really have an option about what we ate. When we even had enough food for a full meal.

I'm sorry. [He frowns. With all the different worlds here, it's hard for him to tell which subjects are sensitive for others.] You... you didn't have a lot of food, then, where you come from.

[She shrugs and then steals another fry. She can't find anything for him to be sorry about, not really. It was the way she lived her life. Maybe it made her envious of the people who could afford to be picky about what they ate or use pills to empty their stomachs in order to partake in a second round, but she tried her best not to begrudge them.]

Not all the time. My district was the poorest. Especially the people who lived where I grew up, in the Seam.

[He'll always feel sorry when faced with someone who has or had less then him. Of course, when he and his friends lived on the move, they didn't exactly have their pick of food, but they were still always able to find something that Aang could eat. But the "poor district" places it. It reminds him of the walls of Ba Sing Se, where the poorest people lived in the outer ring. Aang had never liked that kind of place that split people like that.]

I see. What was it like, there?

[For a moment, she's not sure where to begin. She fills the silence by eating another couple of the fries. District 12 isn't the same as it used to be before the uprising, before the rain of fire that fell on the town. There's little of that town left. But people came back, the Capitol - the new Capitol - promised aid. Rebuilding had begun.

If she ever returned, she wondered if it would be the same home she grew up in.]

I lived in the Seam. That's the poorest part of the District, where all the coal miners and their families lived. We'd have blackouts and brownouts often. People died young of illness or injury or malnutrition. Being old was considered a sign of dignity because you had somehow survived it all.

And then there were the Hollow Days. The days where you could eat and eat but never seem to fill your subject. There wasn't a lot of money, or a lot of food, to go around. It's why my dad hunted. And why I eventually continued after his death.

[He listens carefully. It's even harsher than he expected. Even in the poorest places he's visited, there were people who lived to old age. Although... it always was somewhat odd that there was only one elderly woman left at the Southern Water Tribe.]

I see. You... you did what you had to.

[She nods. Does this boy have any idea how much those words apply to so much of her life? But they're not an excuse, no matter how much she wants them to be.]

Anything to survive.

People shouldn't have to live like that. Worlds are supposed to have... balance and togetherness. People who are whole and can all help each other get by. I'm sorry where you came from's not like that.

[The apology is easily and quickly dismissed. She doesn't need sympathy from others. It simply was. It had been all she had known for years and years of her life. Besides...]

It might be different now. The districts won the uprising. There's a new government in place. Maybe - no. It will be better now.

[There won't, at least, be any more Hunger Games.]

Really? That sounds great, Katniss. I'm glad that things are already changing for the better, and that your world still does have hope.

[So's she. All the fighting, all the sacrifices - it's good to know that they have, at least, been worth something in the end.]

What about your world? What's that like?

[He takes a moment to collect his thoughts as he nibbles on the latest fry.]

Well... there's different nations, for each of the four elements, that all are set up kind of differently. But they're all supposed to live in balance. The Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation are both really big and on their own landmasses, and they both live differently. Then there's two Water Tribes, at the North and South Poles. The North Pole has a big and beautiful city, and it's kind of prosperous, but they don't let women do all the things they let men do. And the South Pole... when I was there, it was just one small village, and they were suffering, but the North Pole's helping them to rebuild now.

And the last nation wasn't really a nation at all. It was my people, the air nomads, and we lived in four different temples throughout the world. We lived lives of freedom, but the Fire Nation wiped all the others out. Because they decided to be like an empire with how prosperous they were, and started a war to take control of the other nations, which lasted a hundred years.

[She listens thoughtfully at his words. It's probably the most detail she's been given about another world in a while now. Not that she's ever really been all that interested in the places others had lived. But some of this does sound familiar. Very familiar.

It takes her a few moments (and fries) after he finishes the explanation, but then she realizes where she's heard some of this before.]

Do you know Sokka?

[This gets a goofy smile.]

Yeah, he's my best friend!

[She smiles in return. It's not as bright, or at all goofy, but it's still genuine.]

He's a good guy.

He is! I've known him and Katara for what seems like a long time now. I bet he already told you some things about our world.

I've met her, too.

[But she knows, likes, Sokka better. A fellow hunter and a good craftsman. He had been willing to lend her one of his canoes when necessary. And had fought beside her that one draft. That was hard to forget. She had only talked with Katara once or twice. Not nearly as often as she had chatted with Sokka.]

Once, I think. When we had the refugees here in our enclosure. I had brought extra game I caught to help with the supplies.

Oh, right... during the Kin'corra thing. That's good of you to help. And Katara did a good job of organizing everyone that time.

[She shrugs. She had thought that she had gotten better at accepting compliments. Maybe it had been in her imagination. Or maybe it had been because of Peeta. It had been easier to think positively of herself with his constant reminder.]

I had extra meat. [She didn't help. Not really.] It didn't need to go to waste. It was more than Peeta and I could eat and in the summer, there's no reason to start stocking for winter.

[Oh yes she did.]

That makes sense. But it doesn't change the fact you helped others. That's the good thing about having extra - getting to share some!

[He sounds so positive. She wishes that she could be more like him. Happier, confident in herself and her good deeds. She had never been good at that, even before the Games. After, she had only found new ways and reasons to dislike herself.

She needs to focus, like he does, somehow on the positive. Because, at least, his words are true.]

It is. I like cooking for others.

That's nice! I'm still learning more about cooking, because Katara does most of the cooking around our house. [But he can only help out so much when he can't deal with meat.] Do you cook for others a lot?

[That gets a slight shrug. She used to cook for her sister and mother. Then for Rue and Peeta and, after the little girl's departure from Luceti, just Peeta. It had been nice. Almost a relaxing way to end a day's hunt.

Now...]

I cook for Richard sometimes. In return for the meat he'll share with me.

[Not that she needs it. She's more than a capable enough hunter. But it is nice to have that company sometimes. Katniss hadn't realized how sorely she missed it.]

[He gives an encouraging smile.]

Oh. That's nice. If you enjoy it, maybe you should try to find opportunities to do it more.

[Maybe that could help her make new friends. And get sad less, Aang thinks.]

[She does enjoy it. She's discovered how much she enjoys seeing the reaction on the faces of others when they sample her food. It's nothing special or fancy. Nothing like the baked goods Peeta could create. But it's edible and hearty. All that really matters.

Finding other opportunities though? That's not something she thought of. Nor something she considers all that possible.]

How?

Book 9: Refreshed Air [Action/Video]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]