Carved In Rock || ATLA

All Around Me

The Swamp

"I can feel you all around me, thickening the air I'm breathing. Holding onto what I'm feeling, savoring this heart that's healing." - Flyleaf

🌊 ⛰ 🔥 🌪

The empty feeling in Zuko's stomach had long since become too much to ignore. It had been days since he and his Uncle had been able to eat a real meal. They had spent the last few nights camp in the streets of the small Earth Kingdom village they had stumbled upon in hopes they'd be able to scrounge up something. The Prince sat beside his Uncle on a straw mat in the dirt, their 'borrowed' ostrich horse resting behind them.

Iroh saw a farmer strolling the street before he and his nephew. "Spare change for weary travelers?" He asked with a smile while he held out his hat. The farmer tossed in a few copper pieces and kept walking. Iroh turned to Zuko proud of his collection but the boy wasn't nearly as impressed.

"This is humiliating!" Zuko hissed. "We're royalty! These people should be giving us whatever we want."

"They will if you ask nicely," Iroh assured before turning to a young woman now walking by. "Spare change for a hungry, old man?"

"Awh." The woman felt bad so she pulled a coin from her sleeve. "Here you go."

"The coin is appreciated, but not as much as your smile!" Iroh said making the girl giggle as she walked away. His nephew slapped his forehead in frustration. A younger-looking man with dual broadswords on his back wondered up to the pair.

"How about some entertainment in exchange for...a gold piece?" The man pulled a coin from his pocket with a flourish, a wicked grin on his face. He could care less about the beggars, only himself.

"We're not performers." Zuko ticked.

"Not professional anyway," Iroh said as he stood. He set his hat on the ground and began to sway as he sang. "It's a long, long way to Ba Sing Se but the girls in the city, they look so pretty!"

The man wasn't impressed. "Come on, we're talking about a gold piece here. Let's see some action." He withdrew his swords and the beggar boy looked sharply at him "Dance!" He began to slice at the old man's feet making the singer hop up and down.

"They kiss so sweet that you got to meet the girls from Ba Sing Se!" Iroh sang. A group of people had gathered around and stopped to watch now.

The swordsman put his swords away but continued to laugh. "Nothing like a fat man dancing for his dinner! Here ya go!" He dropped the gold piece on the ground and walked away content with his afternoon. Iroh picked up the coin while his nephew seethed.

"Such a kind man." He said as he stashed the coins together. As Zuko's glare followed the swordsman his stare fell upon a booth selling masks. The one front and center on the stand looked eerily similar to the mask he wore when he saved the Avatar.

🌊 ⛰ 🔥 🌪

Both the Avatar and Akira had been uncharacteristically quiet since leaving the city to the surprise of no one. The team's return to Omashu had been a failure. Bumi was still in Fire Nation custody even if it was by his own choice and now Aang and Aelita sat heavily on the royal family's radar. Seeing and walking away from people who had been so prominent in their old lives was taking a toll on both of them. Sokka and Katara tried to offer the support they could without pushing either too hard, neither of their friends ready to talk much about anything that had happened. As they found themselves flying through the skies above a foggy swamp Sokka sharpened his machete and Katara studied her scrolls while the other two sat unmoving at Appa's head. It was Sokka who noticed how low to the tree tops they were flying.