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storypaint) wrote2015-02-16 12:56 pm
storypaint) wrote2015-02-16 12:56 pm
Entry tags:
[Avatar: The Last Airbender] waiting for a wandering poem (Sokka gen)
Title: waiting for a wandering poem
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Length: 594 words
Prompt:comment_fic: Avatar TLA. Sokka (and/or Katara). The first time they see the forest
Pairing: Sokka gen
Other: n/a
Excerpt: Katara says, "How long do you think it took for all these trees to grow?" There's wonder in her eyes. Aang has gotten her positively starry-eyed and he's not sure how to feel about it. He agreed to come with them, but he's not sure what they can really do against the Fire Nation, even with the Avatar. But she has always been the optimistic one.
The first time they see the forest is from Appa -- a sea of green far below them, which seems to go on and on forever. Sokka holds on tight to the saddle but looks and looks until he feels like he might be sick. He's never been this far from the village in his life, and this just reinforces the weirdness. No ice, and plants as far as he can see.
It's even stranger when they land. Sokka looks out toward the horizon and it seems so close, like the trees have crept up on them and are listening to them breathe. On the ice, you can see forever and ever -- a ship returning can be anticipated by days. You can't see anything coming out here, for the trees.
It worries Sokka a little as they pitch the tent and gather firewood. That's another thing that's astonishingly easy here -- the branches just fall off the trees all the time, no need to gather dung or driftwood. A firebender could be terrifying here, he thinks, and it for a moment paralyzed with worry. His knees lock. He cranes his neck and looks out into the forest, searching for red, for the glint of sunlight on metal. No one is there. He knows no one is there, that there isn't anyone around them for quite a distance. They don't know what their welcome will be like here in the Earth Kingdom, so they're trying to lay low for now.
When he gets back to camp with the wood, Aang is gone. Katara says he climbed a tree to get a better look, even though they had just seen the lay of the land from Appa. Appa is still there, a gigantic snuffling beast that smells like wild animal. The smell is comforting.
Katara says, "How long do you think it took for all these trees to grow?" There's wonder in her eyes. Aang has gotten her positively starry-eyed and he's not sure how to feel about it. He agreed to come with them, but he's not sure what they can really do against the Fire Nation, even with the Avatar. But she has always been the optimistic one.
"Probably like a hundred years," Sokka says, which is a total guess, and Katara knows it.
"It has to be longer than that," she says. "You can't even count them."
"Maybe that's what Aang is doing," Sokka says, and she laughs. It is a stupid sort of joke but she's his sister so she laughs anyway. It makes him feel a little better about the encroaching trees.
"I dug a fire pit," she says, pointing, and he puts the wood in and gets the fire going. Aang comes back, bubbling over with energy and plans, and eventually they all go to bed.
After a while, the trees seem normal. After the war is over, Sokka goes home, and when he looks over the icy plain he can see forever. The sky is wide and white, and nothing tall grows. When Aang comes to visit, they'll see Appa from miles out.
He kind of misses the cover that a forest provides, then, but he doesn't really need it anymore, he supposes. There is no more need to hide.
He smiles, trudging home, and when he makes it, his family is there to greet him.
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Length: 594 words
Prompt:comment_fic: Avatar TLA. Sokka (and/or Katara). The first time they see the forest
Pairing: Sokka gen
Other: n/a
Excerpt: Katara says, "How long do you think it took for all these trees to grow?" There's wonder in her eyes. Aang has gotten her positively starry-eyed and he's not sure how to feel about it. He agreed to come with them, but he's not sure what they can really do against the Fire Nation, even with the Avatar. But she has always been the optimistic one.
The first time they see the forest is from Appa -- a sea of green far below them, which seems to go on and on forever. Sokka holds on tight to the saddle but looks and looks until he feels like he might be sick. He's never been this far from the village in his life, and this just reinforces the weirdness. No ice, and plants as far as he can see.
It's even stranger when they land. Sokka looks out toward the horizon and it seems so close, like the trees have crept up on them and are listening to them breathe. On the ice, you can see forever and ever -- a ship returning can be anticipated by days. You can't see anything coming out here, for the trees.
It worries Sokka a little as they pitch the tent and gather firewood. That's another thing that's astonishingly easy here -- the branches just fall off the trees all the time, no need to gather dung or driftwood. A firebender could be terrifying here, he thinks, and it for a moment paralyzed with worry. His knees lock. He cranes his neck and looks out into the forest, searching for red, for the glint of sunlight on metal. No one is there. He knows no one is there, that there isn't anyone around them for quite a distance. They don't know what their welcome will be like here in the Earth Kingdom, so they're trying to lay low for now.
When he gets back to camp with the wood, Aang is gone. Katara says he climbed a tree to get a better look, even though they had just seen the lay of the land from Appa. Appa is still there, a gigantic snuffling beast that smells like wild animal. The smell is comforting.
Katara says, "How long do you think it took for all these trees to grow?" There's wonder in her eyes. Aang has gotten her positively starry-eyed and he's not sure how to feel about it. He agreed to come with them, but he's not sure what they can really do against the Fire Nation, even with the Avatar. But she has always been the optimistic one.
"Probably like a hundred years," Sokka says, which is a total guess, and Katara knows it.
"It has to be longer than that," she says. "You can't even count them."
"Maybe that's what Aang is doing," Sokka says, and she laughs. It is a stupid sort of joke but she's his sister so she laughs anyway. It makes him feel a little better about the encroaching trees.
"I dug a fire pit," she says, pointing, and he puts the wood in and gets the fire going. Aang comes back, bubbling over with energy and plans, and eventually they all go to bed.
After a while, the trees seem normal. After the war is over, Sokka goes home, and when he looks over the icy plain he can see forever. The sky is wide and white, and nothing tall grows. When Aang comes to visit, they'll see Appa from miles out.
He kind of misses the cover that a forest provides, then, but he doesn't really need it anymore, he supposes. There is no more need to hide.
He smiles, trudging home, and when he makes it, his family is there to greet him.