Early
Evening Day Two, Mining Village of Tilong
“Well,
the first thing you have to understand about me is that I come from a
big family. A huge family. I mean, I guess you can understand with
your brother and all. Me, I had brothers and sisters coming out of my
ears.” A ghost of a smile drifted across my face. “There were so
many of us I can't even count them sometimes.
“Have
you ever had a private moment as a kid? I haven't. You couldn't even
go to the bathroom without someone constantly banging on the door for
you to finish up. The house was always full of noise. Shouting and
screaming and crying and yelling and hollering...” I drifted off.
“Not
anymore.”
“What
happened?” Ed asked softly.
“They
all died,” I responded, trying to keep the hitch out of my voice.
“Or... more accurately, they were murdered.” Ed's eyes widened
sharply.
“I...
I don't know...” Ed clutched his right arm tightly. “When did...
how did you...?”
My
jaw ached and my eyes burned but I pushed down the feelings. “It's
just one of those things that happens in life, I guess. You don't
even understand what it means to loose them until they're gone, do
you?” Ed nodded mechanically, his eyes haunted. “Yeah, when we
grew up we were all constantly arguing. I swear, we must have sounded
like horrible enemies to outsides with how much we fought. We even
came to blows more than once. Moving days were the worst.”
“Moving
days?”
I
pursed my lips, rubbing at the corners of my eyes. “Father worked
for someone very important. We were constantly moving all over the
place. I remember living in cities and on farms and near rivers and
the ocean and in deserts. That's how I know so many languages, I
guess. I remember speaking with so many people all over the world
that they all blend together. There are so many faces from my youth,”
I explained and then paused. “But I can never really remember most
of them. Just flashes of places and people and things and then moving
on. But my siblings, my brothers and sisters they were always around.
It was always noisy with them around, and they just wouldn't go away
and then...
“I
remember sometimes wishing they would all just go away.” Oh God,
why was I telling him this? I couldn't tell him about what had been
done to my body but I could tell him this? But now that I had started
speaking I couldn't seem to stop. “I just wanted to shut them all
up and be alone for once in my life. I loved being alone. I yearned
for silence and the ability to just contemplate without anyone
interrupting.”
“It
wasn't your fault!” Ed broke in.
I
didn't disagree with him, just lowered my head and shook it gently.
“I'm getting ahead of myself. Though there really isn't much else
to say. My life was painfully average except for my siblings. Average
houses, average schools, average everything.” I laughed a bit, more
in relief than humour. “I bet if you went through the lives of
everyone in the world I probably experienced something a lot like the
vast majority of them. We weren't rich, though our fortunes waned and
waxed like anyones and sometimes we lived in very nice houses and
sometimes we lived in hovels. The only constant was the family, and
their constant voices.”
“What
would you do, if you could bring them back?” I stared at Ed sharply
for a few seconds.
“Is
this some kind of test?” I asked, more than a bit annoyed.
“There
are... secrets in alchemy. Forbidden secrets.” He looked up at me.
“I told you about them, earlier. Bringing back the soul, it costs
too much. But I have to know, if you'll make the same mistake I did.”
I
frowned, turning my eyes back to the ground. I considered his
request. If I could bring them back...? Seeing all their faces.
Hearing all their voices. Holding them in my arms. Drops fell into
the dust on the floor. “In a heartbeat,” I said with a hiss.
“What kind of a sick question is that? Who wouldn't? I'm not
some... monster! If I thought for a second that it would actually
work, that I could...” I gestured vaguely. “In. A. Heartbeat.”
Ed
shifted uncomfortably. I stared at him after rubbing furiously at my
eyes again. “So, does this mean you won't teach me?”
Ed
met my gaze without flinching. “How could I blame you for those
feelings, when I know them so well myself?” He crossed his arms
over his chest. “But I'm just going to have to be a better teacher
than my teacher was. Besides, you seem eager to learn I doubt I could
stop you, so I want to make certain you don't make the same mistakes
I did.” He grinned suddenly, his teeth flashing in the waning
light. “That's how we learn. We stand on the rubble our teachers
made before us, and learn how to build better.”
I
grunted and looked out into the steadily dimming light. “I guess
I've always been a curious sort. I studied a lot of things. History,
medicine, finance, physics, literature, chemistry... sometimes I
think I've read every book every written.” I chuckled, the grief
receding. “It's my way of living for them, I guess. Learn. Learn
everything. Experience everything. The world is so huge!” I stepped
out of the barn and tried to encompass it all with my arms, but of
course, that was impossible. “Even this strange land, that I barely
recognize except as something out of a history book or fantasy
story... it's all there and full of life and stories and new
discoveries just waiting to be made!
“That
is what I do. Learn about things, because they never can. So that
when I meet them again one day, and they ask me about my life I have
all the stories in the world to tell them.
“And
we'll never run out of things to talk about.”
Silence
descended on the barn. I shivered and crossed my arms over my chest.
“It's
late. We should get some sleep.” I didn't disagree with him.
*
“A
blacksmith?” The villager was older than most, his body bent with
the weight of the years. Unfit for physical labour he spent his days
watching the young children. They climbed over each other and shouted
and screamed around the room, so loud that I could barely hear the
old man speak. I really didn't mind.
“The
finer the better,” I said. “The best quality steel you can think
of.”
The
old man closed his eyes for a moment. “Unfortunately, young man,”
I winced a bit at that. “the best metalsmiths are probably in the
Fire Nation. With their firebending, they can control their forges
better than any of us. It's one of the reasons we're doing so poorly
in the war.”
“Well,
let's call that an option of last resort. Who else?”
“Omashu
has the best forges around here, but I imagine they are all dedicated
to the war effort. Other than that all the places I can think of are
a long way away. Ba Sing Se is the most advanced city on the
continent, but it is all the way across the land. I heard tales of
some fantastic forgers in the North as well, ah but those tales are
sometimes too fantastic. Some even say there are flying machines!
Bah, as if anyone has been able to fly since the airbenders
vanished.”
“Thank
you,” I said, bowing slightly and stepping out of the house I had
come to call the kindergarten. Ed was waiting for me, balancing on a
crutch he had improvised together from a broken spear.
“Well?”
Ed asked.
“Hmmm.
Not as useful as I'd hoped,” I told him. We lingered outside the
building, both because I didn't want to strain Ed and because I found
the clamour of the children comforting this morning. “Sounds like
anyplace that would have good quality metal would be a long walk
away, or straight into a war zone.”
Ed
scowled. “That makes things harder. We can refine the materials
with alchemy, if all else fails but the closer we start to our end
product the easier it will be. Just because you haven't suffered a
rebound yet doesn't mean I want to risk it on some insanely complex
array.”
“Yeah,
let's not.”
Ed
started walk-hopping down the path, his gold eyes deep in thought.
Even so he moved with an almost preternatural grace for a crippled
man, easily avoiding obstacles and weaving between the moving bodies
without pause. I followed him, wondering where he was going.
Eventually we reached the edge of the village and Ed was staring at
the thick stone wall.
“We
should leave,” Ed said.
“So
soon?” I asked.
“Sometimes
you have to keep moving,” he said. “Because if you stay where its
safe and quiet, it gets much easier to not work as hard as you
should. You grow complacent.”
I
nodded, understanding his reasoning but still finding myself
reluctant to leave the bustling village and start walking through the
quiet wilderness.
“Ah,
there you two are.”
I
looked over my shoulder and say Tyro striding towards us briskly. He
had about twenty young men, all of them hale and hearty so that he
stood out with his white hair and bald head. He stopped a few paces
away, looking between us and the wall. “Considering leaving?” he
asked.
“Yeah,
we have our own problems to deal with.”
“I
understand.” He gestured to his men. “My men and I are going to
go investigate the Fire Nation prison.”
“It
might not even be above the water anymore,” I pointed out.
“Even
so, we have to start looking for our missing people somewhere.” He
crossed his arms. “Though I have a proposal for you.”
“A
proposal?”
“What's
he talking about?” Ed asked.
“He
wants to make a deal of some kind.” I told him before turning back
to Tyro.
“You
come with us to the prison. I know you might not want to go back to
that place, but you'll be much safer with twenty armed earthbenders
watching your back. In exchange, we can use our ship to drop you off
somewhere along the coast. Not too far, because we have to stay close
to the village, but it would cut a few days off any walking you do.”
I
explained the proposal to Ed.
“Well,
there might be some information there we missed. Like where they took
Al.” He frowned. “But it might also be a complete waste of time.
Besides, if we head towards Barsinghey-”
“Ba
Sing Se,” I corrected automatically.
“Yeah,
then going up or down the coast doesn't help us.”
“So
we should turn them down?” I asked.
Ed
shrugged. “ I don't know. I'm not used to being this stymied. Al
and I never really had no idea where to go, we always had a
destination in mind, even if it was just chasing a vague rumour or an
ancient alchemy journal. I don't know enough about this continent to
have any idea where is best to travel.”
[
]Let's help Tyro. Pay him back for his kindness.
[
]We should head North, sounds like there may be more advanced cities
up there.
[
]It's a long walk, but Ba Sing Se sounds like the safest place on the
continent at this time.
[
]Head to Omashu. We're not afraid of any firebenders.
--------------
Epsilon
Evening Day Two, Mining Village of Tilong
“Well,
the first thing you have to understand about me is that I come from a
big family. A huge family. I mean, I guess you can understand with
your brother and all. Me, I had brothers and sisters coming out of my
ears.” A ghost of a smile drifted across my face. “There were so
many of us I can't even count them sometimes.
“Have
you ever had a private moment as a kid? I haven't. You couldn't even
go to the bathroom without someone constantly banging on the door for
you to finish up. The house was always full of noise. Shouting and
screaming and crying and yelling and hollering...” I drifted off.
“Not
anymore.”
“What
happened?” Ed asked softly.
“They
all died,” I responded, trying to keep the hitch out of my voice.
“Or... more accurately, they were murdered.” Ed's eyes widened
sharply.
“I...
I don't know...” Ed clutched his right arm tightly. “When did...
how did you...?”
My
jaw ached and my eyes burned but I pushed down the feelings. “It's
just one of those things that happens in life, I guess. You don't
even understand what it means to loose them until they're gone, do
you?” Ed nodded mechanically, his eyes haunted. “Yeah, when we
grew up we were all constantly arguing. I swear, we must have sounded
like horrible enemies to outsides with how much we fought. We even
came to blows more than once. Moving days were the worst.”
“Moving
days?”
I
pursed my lips, rubbing at the corners of my eyes. “Father worked
for someone very important. We were constantly moving all over the
place. I remember living in cities and on farms and near rivers and
the ocean and in deserts. That's how I know so many languages, I
guess. I remember speaking with so many people all over the world
that they all blend together. There are so many faces from my youth,”
I explained and then paused. “But I can never really remember most
of them. Just flashes of places and people and things and then moving
on. But my siblings, my brothers and sisters they were always around.
It was always noisy with them around, and they just wouldn't go away
and then...
“I
remember sometimes wishing they would all just go away.” Oh God,
why was I telling him this? I couldn't tell him about what had been
done to my body but I could tell him this? But now that I had started
speaking I couldn't seem to stop. “I just wanted to shut them all
up and be alone for once in my life. I loved being alone. I yearned
for silence and the ability to just contemplate without anyone
interrupting.”
“It
wasn't your fault!” Ed broke in.
I
didn't disagree with him, just lowered my head and shook it gently.
“I'm getting ahead of myself. Though there really isn't much else
to say. My life was painfully average except for my siblings. Average
houses, average schools, average everything.” I laughed a bit, more
in relief than humour. “I bet if you went through the lives of
everyone in the world I probably experienced something a lot like the
vast majority of them. We weren't rich, though our fortunes waned and
waxed like anyones and sometimes we lived in very nice houses and
sometimes we lived in hovels. The only constant was the family, and
their constant voices.”
“What
would you do, if you could bring them back?” I stared at Ed sharply
for a few seconds.
“Is
this some kind of test?” I asked, more than a bit annoyed.
“There
are... secrets in alchemy. Forbidden secrets.” He looked up at me.
“I told you about them, earlier. Bringing back the soul, it costs
too much. But I have to know, if you'll make the same mistake I did.”
I
frowned, turning my eyes back to the ground. I considered his
request. If I could bring them back...? Seeing all their faces.
Hearing all their voices. Holding them in my arms. Drops fell into
the dust on the floor. “In a heartbeat,” I said with a hiss.
“What kind of a sick question is that? Who wouldn't? I'm not
some... monster! If I thought for a second that it would actually
work, that I could...” I gestured vaguely. “In. A. Heartbeat.”
Ed
shifted uncomfortably. I stared at him after rubbing furiously at my
eyes again. “So, does this mean you won't teach me?”
Ed
met my gaze without flinching. “How could I blame you for those
feelings, when I know them so well myself?” He crossed his arms
over his chest. “But I'm just going to have to be a better teacher
than my teacher was. Besides, you seem eager to learn I doubt I could
stop you, so I want to make certain you don't make the same mistakes
I did.” He grinned suddenly, his teeth flashing in the waning
light. “That's how we learn. We stand on the rubble our teachers
made before us, and learn how to build better.”
I
grunted and looked out into the steadily dimming light. “I guess
I've always been a curious sort. I studied a lot of things. History,
medicine, finance, physics, literature, chemistry... sometimes I
think I've read every book every written.” I chuckled, the grief
receding. “It's my way of living for them, I guess. Learn. Learn
everything. Experience everything. The world is so huge!” I stepped
out of the barn and tried to encompass it all with my arms, but of
course, that was impossible. “Even this strange land, that I barely
recognize except as something out of a history book or fantasy
story... it's all there and full of life and stories and new
discoveries just waiting to be made!
“That
is what I do. Learn about things, because they never can. So that
when I meet them again one day, and they ask me about my life I have
all the stories in the world to tell them.
“And
we'll never run out of things to talk about.”
Silence
descended on the barn. I shivered and crossed my arms over my chest.
“It's
late. We should get some sleep.” I didn't disagree with him.
*
“A
blacksmith?” The villager was older than most, his body bent with
the weight of the years. Unfit for physical labour he spent his days
watching the young children. They climbed over each other and shouted
and screamed around the room, so loud that I could barely hear the
old man speak. I really didn't mind.
“The
finer the better,” I said. “The best quality steel you can think
of.”
The
old man closed his eyes for a moment. “Unfortunately, young man,”
I winced a bit at that. “the best metalsmiths are probably in the
Fire Nation. With their firebending, they can control their forges
better than any of us. It's one of the reasons we're doing so poorly
in the war.”
“Well,
let's call that an option of last resort. Who else?”
“Omashu
has the best forges around here, but I imagine they are all dedicated
to the war effort. Other than that all the places I can think of are
a long way away. Ba Sing Se is the most advanced city on the
continent, but it is all the way across the land. I heard tales of
some fantastic forgers in the North as well, ah but those tales are
sometimes too fantastic. Some even say there are flying machines!
Bah, as if anyone has been able to fly since the airbenders
vanished.”
“Thank
you,” I said, bowing slightly and stepping out of the house I had
come to call the kindergarten. Ed was waiting for me, balancing on a
crutch he had improvised together from a broken spear.
“Well?”
Ed asked.
“Hmmm.
Not as useful as I'd hoped,” I told him. We lingered outside the
building, both because I didn't want to strain Ed and because I found
the clamour of the children comforting this morning. “Sounds like
anyplace that would have good quality metal would be a long walk
away, or straight into a war zone.”
Ed
scowled. “That makes things harder. We can refine the materials
with alchemy, if all else fails but the closer we start to our end
product the easier it will be. Just because you haven't suffered a
rebound yet doesn't mean I want to risk it on some insanely complex
array.”
“Yeah,
let's not.”
Ed
started walk-hopping down the path, his gold eyes deep in thought.
Even so he moved with an almost preternatural grace for a crippled
man, easily avoiding obstacles and weaving between the moving bodies
without pause. I followed him, wondering where he was going.
Eventually we reached the edge of the village and Ed was staring at
the thick stone wall.
“We
should leave,” Ed said.
“So
soon?” I asked.
“Sometimes
you have to keep moving,” he said. “Because if you stay where its
safe and quiet, it gets much easier to not work as hard as you
should. You grow complacent.”
I
nodded, understanding his reasoning but still finding myself
reluctant to leave the bustling village and start walking through the
quiet wilderness.
“Ah,
there you two are.”
I
looked over my shoulder and say Tyro striding towards us briskly. He
had about twenty young men, all of them hale and hearty so that he
stood out with his white hair and bald head. He stopped a few paces
away, looking between us and the wall. “Considering leaving?” he
asked.
“Yeah,
we have our own problems to deal with.”
“I
understand.” He gestured to his men. “My men and I are going to
go investigate the Fire Nation prison.”
“It
might not even be above the water anymore,” I pointed out.
“Even
so, we have to start looking for our missing people somewhere.” He
crossed his arms. “Though I have a proposal for you.”
“A
proposal?”
“What's
he talking about?” Ed asked.
“He
wants to make a deal of some kind.” I told him before turning back
to Tyro.
“You
come with us to the prison. I know you might not want to go back to
that place, but you'll be much safer with twenty armed earthbenders
watching your back. In exchange, we can use our ship to drop you off
somewhere along the coast. Not too far, because we have to stay close
to the village, but it would cut a few days off any walking you do.”
I
explained the proposal to Ed.
“Well,
there might be some information there we missed. Like where they took
Al.” He frowned. “But it might also be a complete waste of time.
Besides, if we head towards Barsinghey-”
“Ba
Sing Se,” I corrected automatically.
“Yeah,
then going up or down the coast doesn't help us.”
“So
we should turn them down?” I asked.
Ed
shrugged. “ I don't know. I'm not used to being this stymied. Al
and I never really had no idea where to go, we always had a
destination in mind, even if it was just chasing a vague rumour or an
ancient alchemy journal. I don't know enough about this continent to
have any idea where is best to travel.”
[
]Let's help Tyro. Pay him back for his kindness.
[
]We should head North, sounds like there may be more advanced cities
up there.
[
]It's a long walk, but Ba Sing Se sounds like the safest place on the
continent at this time.
[
]Head to Omashu. We're not afraid of any firebenders.
--------------
Epsilon