Avatar drabble dump
Attempt #8 at getting out of writer's block. sob so pretentious Everyone can clearly tell my character biases from this selection. Also spoilers for the finale.
Ritual
In the Southern Water Tribe, a boy is given a spear for his ceremony of manhood. It is the weapon of hunters and represents the survival of their tribe.
Sokka is three years too young when Hakoda sails off to war. Still, the chief bestows his best spear in parting. And like that, the responsibility is Sokka’s to own, passing from father to son.
Sokka practices everyday. He throws as far as he can, thinking it means he can reach his father if he hurries to grow up. But his favorite weapon remains the child’s boomerang because it always returns.
Colorblind
Being blind doesn’t mean she’s helpless, but Toph learns to accept that she can never fully comprehend some things-colors, letters, the ever distant horizon.
She doesn’t understand her father’s fear either. Though she can smell it in his sweat, hear it in his trembling voice and heartbeat.
When Toph’s mother takes ill, Lao Bei Fong’s fear is suffocating as he takes her hand and holds it close. “Don’t worry, your mother is fine. She just looks a little pale so we’re having her rest.”
Toph listens, wondering if all frailties are so arbitrarily determined by things she cannot see.
Thursday's Child
A mother and father of seven daughters devise a plan of dividing their favor. To prevent competition they treat them all equally by treating everyone the same. Each is assigned a day in which to be their daughter, nothing more and nothing else.
Ty Lee is given Wednesdays. She gets sick on Sundays, learns new tricks on Fridays. Falls in love on Tuesdays, but out of it by Saturdays. Never by their schedule.
When she runs away to join the circus she picks a bright Thursday morning and does not wait to see how long it takes them to notice.
Your Right Arm
The armor takes longer to remove tonight and Azula knows something is terribly wrong.
A dozen royal physicians have examined her, but none saw beneath the black and gold shielding. She wouldn’t let them. So they repeat their mantra. “There is no permanent damage, you have nothing to fear.”
Azula extends her right arm and makes a fist. She practices the forms for summoning lightning. Perfunctory. Perfected. Halfway through she reaches out to her side and finds nothing there. Her arm trembles.
There is only one explanation. The physicians are all lying to her and she cannot trust anyone now.
Nor Iron Bars a Cage
A prisoner by royal decree, Mai is used to it, save for the accommodations. And those aren’t so terrible. Being the warden’s niece has its advantages. Guards will give her almost anything she requests, although she doesn’t ask before stealing the kitchen’s knives.
And she’ll never ask for her freedom.
She could take it by force. But as long as Ty Lee remains within her cell and her uncle remains within the prison, escape holds no interest for her. Mai made her choice long before she ever acted.
There’s a war outside the walls, but nothing left to fight for.
Eye of the Beholder
The first time they disguise themselves as Kyoshi warriors it takes hours. Mai reconfigures her gauntlets four times to hold the stilettos. But worse is Ty Lee, who never wears makeup and only complies when Azula’s fingers are tilting her head back, smothering white paint over the flush of her cheeks.
The princess works fast and soon the face Ty Lee wears is not her own. When she finishes Azula’s hands linger, admiring her handiwork.
The last time Azula sees Ty Lee she is wearing that same disguise as she tells her good-bye. Done and undone by her own hands.
Without Doubt
Friend. Family. Ally, comfort, and last hope. Aang and Katara are so many things between them that it’s hard to know what they should feel toward each other.
She angers at his demands to define it. Upset, tired, and confused because her heart is pulling in a thousand different directions, too strained to answer anything except what keeps her going.
He could die. He has no right to make her choose.
He could die. She may not have another chance.
When Aang returns all she knows for certain is how grateful she is that he’s alive when she embraces him.
Ritual
In the Southern Water Tribe, a boy is given a spear for his ceremony of manhood. It is the weapon of hunters and represents the survival of their tribe.
Sokka is three years too young when Hakoda sails off to war. Still, the chief bestows his best spear in parting. And like that, the responsibility is Sokka’s to own, passing from father to son.
Sokka practices everyday. He throws as far as he can, thinking it means he can reach his father if he hurries to grow up. But his favorite weapon remains the child’s boomerang because it always returns.
Colorblind
Being blind doesn’t mean she’s helpless, but Toph learns to accept that she can never fully comprehend some things-colors, letters, the ever distant horizon.
She doesn’t understand her father’s fear either. Though she can smell it in his sweat, hear it in his trembling voice and heartbeat.
When Toph’s mother takes ill, Lao Bei Fong’s fear is suffocating as he takes her hand and holds it close. “Don’t worry, your mother is fine. She just looks a little pale so we’re having her rest.”
Toph listens, wondering if all frailties are so arbitrarily determined by things she cannot see.
Thursday's Child
A mother and father of seven daughters devise a plan of dividing their favor. To prevent competition they treat them all equally by treating everyone the same. Each is assigned a day in which to be their daughter, nothing more and nothing else.
Ty Lee is given Wednesdays. She gets sick on Sundays, learns new tricks on Fridays. Falls in love on Tuesdays, but out of it by Saturdays. Never by their schedule.
When she runs away to join the circus she picks a bright Thursday morning and does not wait to see how long it takes them to notice.
Your Right Arm
The armor takes longer to remove tonight and Azula knows something is terribly wrong.
A dozen royal physicians have examined her, but none saw beneath the black and gold shielding. She wouldn’t let them. So they repeat their mantra. “There is no permanent damage, you have nothing to fear.”
Azula extends her right arm and makes a fist. She practices the forms for summoning lightning. Perfunctory. Perfected. Halfway through she reaches out to her side and finds nothing there. Her arm trembles.
There is only one explanation. The physicians are all lying to her and she cannot trust anyone now.
Nor Iron Bars a Cage
A prisoner by royal decree, Mai is used to it, save for the accommodations. And those aren’t so terrible. Being the warden’s niece has its advantages. Guards will give her almost anything she requests, although she doesn’t ask before stealing the kitchen’s knives.
And she’ll never ask for her freedom.
She could take it by force. But as long as Ty Lee remains within her cell and her uncle remains within the prison, escape holds no interest for her. Mai made her choice long before she ever acted.
There’s a war outside the walls, but nothing left to fight for.
Eye of the Beholder
The first time they disguise themselves as Kyoshi warriors it takes hours. Mai reconfigures her gauntlets four times to hold the stilettos. But worse is Ty Lee, who never wears makeup and only complies when Azula’s fingers are tilting her head back, smothering white paint over the flush of her cheeks.
The princess works fast and soon the face Ty Lee wears is not her own. When she finishes Azula’s hands linger, admiring her handiwork.
The last time Azula sees Ty Lee she is wearing that same disguise as she tells her good-bye. Done and undone by her own hands.
Without Doubt
Friend. Family. Ally, comfort, and last hope. Aang and Katara are so many things between them that it’s hard to know what they should feel toward each other.
She angers at his demands to define it. Upset, tired, and confused because her heart is pulling in a thousand different directions, too strained to answer anything except what keeps her going.
He could die. He has no right to make her choose.
He could die. She may not have another chance.
When Aang returns all she knows for certain is how grateful she is that he’s alive when she embraces him.