It had been a few days since the group had arrived in Omashu, due to Ty's injuries Aang had suggested they stay for a few days to give Ty some time to rest up and heal some. Ty had voted against this saying that they had to keep going but he was out voted three against one, so he reluctantly accepted it.
One thing that made it a little easier on him was the fact that he was now very well off in the money department, a hundred years' worth of interest in his account had left him with plenty of money to burn due to the years' worth of glass that he had supplied the city with, the money had just sat there in the account building interest, technically any account that hadn't had any activity for twenty years would have went to the royal treasury, but Bumi had let Ty's account slip through, and now he was reaping the benefits.
Their little group was laid up in a very nice high end house in the rich part of the city, which Ty had bought flat out with his money, and had it fully furnished saying that if they were going to be staying they'd at least stay in style.
He'd also bought all the supplied they'd need to keep them for a few months when they set out on their trip again and had given each of the others some cash to go and buy some new clothes given they'd been swapping between two sets of outfits for the past two weeks or so Ty though some new clothes would suit them.
Aang was now kitted out in dark brown pants and leather strapped sandal boots with a yellow shirt cloth over him with an orange sash and leather strap belt.
Katara had gone for a lighter outfit and was now wearing a short sleeved light blue shirt with long dark blue trousers and a white belt that held a white cloth wrapped around her waist like a skirt, she still wore her mother's necklace and her fur boots
Sokka had went and got himself kitted out in more of a combat type clothing, he now wore a navy dark blue shirt with darker blue pants held up with a dark leather belt, and a grey vest shirt over the shirt that he had made shoulder guards for that resembled wolf heads, he also got a pair of gloves with metal backings and thick boots with fur linings.
Ty had went for the more subtle combat attire, he had lost the vest shirt and had gotten a longer darker no sleeved grey coat instead, his white pants he had changed for a light brown version and a leather belt with a large buckle, around his waist was a dark red Haramaki that he had custom made with metal plating and inner padding leaving the top half of his chest bare, he had kept his smaller gourd of sand attached to the belt on the opposite side of the buckle.
While out shopping they had been extremely lucky and came across three water bending scrolls that depicted healing the body, Katara had taken to studying them alongside Aang with great interest, and they had convinced Ty to let them be their test subject after a lot of begging. The healing had helped some, the bruising had gone down and they think they had healed most one if not two of the ribs and partially healed the other two, but it had been draining on Katara to try and Aang couldn't wrap his head around it at all, Katara had said she would rest and complete the process but Ty had said it was good enough that the rest could heal on its own as a way to remind himself to be more vigilant in the future, so it wouldn't happen again.
The stay had been interesting for a while, especially with Ty and Sokka watching Katara and Aang go about. After Ty had told Katara about Aang's feelings in the village before she hadn't had a chance to broach the subject with Aang about it, but the short stay had given that chance. After a long and rather embarrassing chat the two of them had decided to take it slow, Katara admitted that she had felt something towards Aang after he had admitted it first and things had just slowly grown from there. Of course both Sokka and Ty had been listening in, the whole time, after the fact Ty had teased Aang about finally growing a pair, and Sokka had given Aang the protective big brother speech which had ended with Katara freezing him to the wall for the day. The two had gone out for some fun in the city leaving Ty laughing at Sokka's predicament at the house.
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-Day five of the stay in Omashu-
Ty was out the back of the house with his polearm in hand and was spinning it all the while feeling the pain in his ribs, they were starting to mend and thanks to the pain pills the pain was manageable.
Bringing the polearm down in a slash Ty winced and his left arm went to his ribs, 'damn it, even with the pills I still feel the pain,' he thought as he leaned on the pole, 'I'm going to be out of commission for a while yet, but, I can't let this slow me down, I'll just have to fight through the pain,' he thought before turning back to walk into the house. When he did so, he saw Sokka watching him from the back porch with a telling frown on his face.
"You shouldn't be training, Katara said it will take another week or so for those ribs of yours to heal, you should be taking it easy," Sokka said in a scolding tone.
Ty rolled his eyes, "if you've got time to run that mouth of yours then you've got time that would be better spent in honing your skills rather than worrying about me. I've had worse injuries in the past than this, I know my limits. You may be older but you're nowhere near ready to be giving me a lecture on what I'm capable of," he said as he walked past him.
Sokka turned to look at him, "What's your problem with me anyway? I'm just trying to help you and yet you treat me like I'm a kid when I'm older than you."
Ty scoffed, "My problem is that while you may be older you know next to nothing about how this world works, but yet you seem to constantly think you do. You may be physically older but you are in no way, shape or form wiser than me, and as far as life experience, compared to me you've lived the life of a sheltered brat."
Sokka's eyes narrowed, "Sheltered life Hm, and what the hell do you know about my life, I've grown up in war, I've…" Sokka was about to continue when Ty turned frigid glaring at him.
"You grew up behind the sheltered walls of your village, looked after by all those around you. I know all about how your mother was killed, and how your father left to fight in the war, and should I ever meet the man I'll shake his hand for that, but you do not know war. You've had your village to look after you your entire life, I had that till I was seen as a man at the age of seven then I had to care for myself and prove myself useful or I was left behind, we're completely different in all aspects. You grew up in the cold being loved by those around you, I grew up in the blistering heat fighting every day for my survival. You claim to know what war is all about? Well I've got news for you Sokka, you know nothing of the kind. The war was going on so far away from you, you never took part in it. "grown up in war". Don't make me laugh. You've grown up watching war, well I'm sorry to say Sokka that war is not a spectator sport. When you've fought in wars, taken lives, seen your brothers in arms fall, held those you loved in your arms and watched as the light fades from their eyes, only then can you say you've "grown up" in war," Ty said in a dark tone gripping his polearm so tightly his knuckles were white.
Sokka couldn't speak as he looked into Ty's eyes they were cold, he couldn't even contemplate the things that Ty was talking about, but the meaning of Ty's words rang true to Sokka, this boy, no this man in front of him had done all those things, lived through it all, and come out the other side and this was what remained, not a boy but a hardened warrior who'd seen hell and spat in its face.
Ty turned from Sokka with a final glair and headed into the house wincing slightly at the throbbing coming from his ribs as he walked on, "I'm heading out for a while, I'll be back when I'm back" he said with an heir of finality as he walked out the front door, not wanting to wait until Sokka decided to say another stupid thing to piss him off, and likely do something that he would regret.
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-Scene break-
Hovering over the city far above the buildings, Ty lay on a platform of sand with his eyes closed as he tried to calm himself after his argument with Sokka. Ever since waking up he had found himself out of place in the world around him, not that it was a particularly new feeling as he had felt it ever since the day he had begun his travels. He had been lost searching for his place in the world, trying to find a new home.
He had thought that he had found it at the southern air temple with Aang, sure the older monks were less accepting of him but he could put up with them, it had actually started to feel like home for a time, until he had went to follow Aang after he had been told he was the avatar.
And now they had both been pulled out of their time and put a hundred years into the future, Ty didn't know how it was possible but he felt even more lost than before.
Opening his eyes he looked up at the sun overhead and sighed as he thought back to his past and when times were simpler, when he didn't feel so lost in the world and everything wasn't so messed up
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-Flash back-
The sun was blazing overhead, the air was scorching in the desert heat as the sands whipped up from the ground under his feet blew around him as the winds showed signs of starting to pick up.
"Ty!" A voice called from behind him and he looked back to see five others coming up the dune behind him. Each garbed in brown cloth covering each part of their bodies to shield their skin from the sun, their faces covered as well, with only narrow slots left for them to see out of.
"How much further until we're back" one of them asked as he came up the slope carrying two large barrels under his arms.
"Not far now," Ty responded and pointed ahead of them to one of the dunes, "we're almost there."
"Good, my feet are killing me," a third said in a muffled femine tone as she came up behind him carrying a sack over her own shoulder, "it was a good haul, we got out clean, best not to be out in the open for much longer."
Ty smirked under his own wrappings, "That's what good planning is for, good planning means good results" he mused as he reached down and lifted his own load and began to make his way down the dune as the others caught up.
After another few minutes of walking they made it to the next dune and Ty came to a halt as he lifted his right arm and waved it ahead of him. The sands in front of him began to move and in seconds revealed a buried entrance to a tunnel that went underground.
"Alright, all in, you know the drill, last one in closes the entrance '' Ty ordered as he walked into the tunnel letting out a sigh of relief as the air got cooler and he was shaded from the sun.
As the last one of them entered the sands behind them began to move and once more the tunnel entrance was covered up from the outside while the inside of the tunnel was completely shut off from any light at all.
Unperturbed from the lack of light the six continued on in the darkness for another minute before small points of light could be made out on the walls, proving to be crystals that lit the way ever so slightly onward.
Following the path it was only a few more minutes until the six of them could see light towards the end of the tunnel where it opened up into a large underground cavern area. As they neared it they were met by two much older men wearing similar clothing to their own.
As they came into the light Ty undid his wrappings to reveal his face as he smirked at the pair of them, "raiding party four, reporting back from a successful raid of the eastern tribe stores" he said with amusement in his tone.
Both men smirked back at him, clearly amused by his tone as the more feminine figure came up alongside Ty pulling down her own wrappings to reveal her sandy blond hair and pale amber eyes, "And we even beat the sand storm that's about seven minutes out, not bad for a day's work" she mused as she dropped her bags on the ground and sighed in relief.
The men laughed, "What's the haul this time, did you guys clean them out?" he said looking over all their cargo.
Ty shook his head, "Na we left'm plenty, it will be a few days before they even notice we took anything, we weren't spotted" he mused as he gestured to the others to show their cargo. All in all, it was an exceptionally good haul by regular standards.
One of the boxes was full of multiple water skins, each full and ready for distribution, another box was crammed full of various salted meats, the two barrels were full of drink and the two bags that Ty and the girl had been carrying were full of gemstones of various shades and sizes.
Both guards whistled, "Nice, the elders will be pleased with all of this, it's been a few weeks since anyone's brought in a haul this good," one of them mused.
Ty grinned, "well what do you expect, you know no other squad can match ours" he said before picking up two of the water sacks from the open crate and tossing them to the guards before looking back to the others, "Take all these to the distribution house, me and Mira have to report to the elders"
They all nodded as they began to lift their cargo once more and began to walk towards a large building that had been carved into the side of the cavern not far from the entrance that looked like a warehouse of sorts.
Ty and Mira began to walk on into the cavern towards the central area where at least a hundred or more tents had been set up, all circling around the largest light source in the cavern, that of a towering crystal that rose up high from the ground touching the top of the cavern's vast ceiling far above.
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Mira sighed as they walked, "Do we really have to report now, you know those old farts will want a play by play, we've been walking for hours, I need a cool drink and a nice nap after all of that" she complained.
Ty shook his head with a twitch of his lips clearly used to her complaints, "You know we have to Mira, if we don't one of the other squads could take credit for our haul, I don't know about you but I don't want a repeat of last months tally, do you want Tarker or Leotus to pull a fast one on us?" he said with a knowing look.
Mira scowled, her amber eyes burning with barely restrained anger, "Oh not a chance in hell, I swear those bastards pull something like that again and I'll do worse than just break Tarkers' nose next time, those skins and ropes were our haul Damn it!" she said in irritation at the memory of what happened during the last months' talley.
Ty grinned, "Good, then let's go then" he mused before giving her arse a smack to get her moving. Mira jumped and gave a gasp at the action before grinding her teeth.
"Why you!" she snapped, but her smirk took any of the malice out of her words as she lunged for him.
Ty smirked back before sidestepping her and starting to run towards the centre of the camp with Mira chasing him.
As they got closer to the centre of the camp the pair gradually calmed down and started to walk beside one another as they reached the central plaza. But just as they did Mira stopped her attention taken by something as she sighed.
"Not again," she said, sounding fed up and exhausted suddenly.
Ty stopped and looked at her before, realisation seemed to come over his features and he sighed as well, "Don't tell me" he said before a much younger voice called over.
"Ty, Mira!"
Both Ty and mira sighed before looking at each other with small knowing smirks on their faces, like they were used to this occurrence happening and turned to see the small figure of a ten year old boy running towards them.
He wore light colourd baggy shorts and an open vest shirt that seemed a couple sizes too big for him, his hair was a light brown and his bright blue eyes glistened with joy as he saw them.
"You're back!" the boy cheered happily as he reached them and hugged Mira.
Ty sighed and shook his head, "Of course we are Zeph, we always come back" he mused to the younger boy. Not taking his actions as anything other than what they were. Zephyr was a common annoyance that both he and Mira had come to both love and hate over the past few years since they started their raiding together, he looked up to Ty like he was the coolest and saw Mira like a big sister to him, and while his constant pestering lately had become annoying neither of them could really hold it against him.
"How was your raid? Did you get in and out okay? What was it like? Were you spotted? Did you have to fight anyone? Can I go out with you on the next one? I'm old enough now…" Zephyr began to bombard them both with questions, they were more than used to them and just smiled as he talked, asking question after question in rapid succession.
Ty raised his hands to try and get the hyperactive kid to calm down, but before he could speak another voice cut him off.
"Well well look what the Cat owl dragged in," a voice called, it's tone practically dripping with arrogance, as the owner sauntered over to them.
He was an older teen, standing a few inches taller than Ty, his body lean and long, with shoulder length black hair, tanned skin and mud brown eyes, he had a fairly handsome face, only it was marred by his semi-crooked nose that looked like it had been broken in the passed, dressed in similar clothing to both Ty and Mira.
Mira scowled seeing the older teen, "what the hell do you want Tarker," she spat as he came up to them, "want your nose broken again? I'll be more than happy to accommodate you." she added as she held her fist up with a sadistic glint in her amber eyes.
Tarker scowled at her, his lips pulling back in a snarl, "That was just dumb luck, you bitch, try that again and you won't get so lucky."
Mira went to respond but Ty placed his hand on her shoulder in a gesture not to take what was clearly bate. He went to respond himself, but again was cut off, this time by Zephyr.
"That wasn't luck," Zephyr stated in Mira's defence, "Mira kicked your ass fair and square, there's a reason why their squad is the best in the whole tribe."
Tarker directed his anger towards the kid as he growled, "what the hell would you know about it brat," he snarlled, "just because you're old enough to finally join a squad you think you're some hot stuff" he said before smirking, "well here's some news for you, no captain in his right mind would take a hyper little shit like you on board, you'd fuck up ten minutes in and get them all caught."
Zephyr took a step back as Tarker snarled at him, gulping as he swallowed back his fear, but then his next statement made him frown, "T-That's not true!" he tried to deny his words, "I'd be great on any squad, right…" he said as he looked to Ty and Mira for assurance, but what he saw made any hope he had evaporate like water under a hot sun.
Both Ty and Mira had uncomfortable looks on their faces, not saying anything, but they didn't have to, their silence said everything. Tears came to Zephyr's face, feeling the sting of betrayal in his heart, he turned and ran off.
Ty went to speak up to stop him, but this time it was Mira who put her hand on his shoulder to stop him and shook her head when he looked at her, "he needs some time." she said softly.
Ty sighed, he knew she was right, so put that matter aside for now and turned his attention back to Tarker glaring at him as he did so, "that was uncalled for."
Tarker barked out a laugh, "like shit it was, the kid needs to wake up, his old lady should have stopped coddling him ages ago. But just because we found this place, and she's the daughter of an elder she gets to do as she likes," he said with disdain, "just because we're comfortable now dosen't mean little shit's like him can get to do as they like, his grandfather won't be around forever." he said before he turned and walked off, having said his piece.
Ty clenched his fists, he wanted so badly to refute Tarkers words, but the fact of the matter was, the bastard was right, and he knew it. Zephyr had been coddled by his mother, the pair given preferential treatment because of their status as being the only remaining family of one of the tribe's elders. Instead of making him stand on his own at seven, like others his age, his mother kept coddling him and treating him as she always had, now at ten when he could join the raiding squads, he didn't have the right mentality that others his age did. He was too easily excited, undisciplined, chaotic. Any one of which would make him a liability for any squad captain to take out on a mission and put the rest of the squad at risk.
Ty was taken from his thoughts by Mira growling next to him, "I should have punched that bastard harder," she said as she watched Tarker's retreating form.
Ty shook his head and gave a small chuckle, "on that we can both agree." he mused before gesturing with his head toward the direction they had been going, "come on, we still have to report in." and both of them continued on with their task in mind, the thoughts about Tarker and Zephyr put to the backs of their minds.
The pair continued on their way until they reached the large crystal structure in the middle of the camp, it really was a sight, towering higher than anything around, well over seventy feet tall, and made up of hundreds of shards of crystal, each glowing a light blue.
As they approached it, two of the large crystal shards moved to the side revealing a corridor that other members of the tribe walked through, leaving the structure. Ty and Mira nodded to them in greeting as they passed, getting the same in turn as they entered the large structure.
The inside of the large crystal was a catacomb of tunnels that went up and down, a variable maze that any outsider or non-earth bender would easily get lost in, yet both Mira and Ty traversed it with ease as they came to a crystal door that opened on their approach.
Inside the room beyond an elderly man sat behind a stone desk looking over paperwork, his head bald except for a small patch at the back of his head, the majority of his hair residing on his face in a large bushy beard that was neatly combed and kept together with three bronze bands. He was busy sorting through various pieces of paper on his desk with a frown on his face, but when he looked up to see them, his frown immediately vanished and his green eyes warmed, "Tiberius, Miradia" he said as he rose from his seat and came around his desk, a large smile stretching across his face as he did, "Welcome back you two."
Both Mira and Ty stopped just shy of him before bowing at the waist as they brought their hands together, fist against fist as they spook, "Greetings, Elder Taric"
The now identified Taric laughed, "come now none of that," he said before stomping his foot as three chairs of crystal rose from the floor and he gestured to them, "come sit, I'm sure you're both tired after your four day excursion," he mused as they sat down, "I trust everything went well?"
Ty nodded "It did Elder," he said as he began to give his report on how their latest mission went, recounting how it took them a day to arrive at the opposing tribes encampment, before slipping by their perimeter defences in the dead of night, and raiding their stores with little problems and slipping away to return home, the returning trip taking longer due to the excess of supplies they were returning with.
"Good, good," Taric nodded, "and I trust you made sure not to take too much." he said, stressing that point.
Ty shook his head, "No elder, as always we took only what looked to be in excess and what was needed for the tribe, the eastern tribe will not suffer for what we took," he told him as he took out a piece of parchment and handed it to him, containing a list of what they had acquired from the other tribe.
Taric looked over the list and smiled even wider, "ah, most excellent" he mused as he got up and made his way over to a crystal wall with various markings on it, "this was an excellent haul," he mused as he began to add further markings to the wall, using his finger to score them in the crystal like drawing in sand, "and there were no complications at all?"
Ty shook his head once more, "not a one, Elder, we were in and out, completely unseen, but I don't doubt that as soon as the missing supplies are noted that the tribe will double their guards, it won't be wise to raid them for at least another few months."
Taric nodded as he noted something more on the wall, "that is always the way of things, though we may be living comfortably here now, the traditions of old still hold true, the tribes extorting one anothers weakness for their own survival, but never taking more than what is needed," he mused as he walked back to his desk to check over the papers there, adding the parchment Ty gave him to a small pile of others, "it is a delicate balance that has been going on for much longer than I have been about, the eastern tribe will no doubt be angry about the loss of supplies, but with no one to clearly pin the blame on, it would not be worth starting any conflict over, and if they did and accused the wrong tribe, well it would make them seem weak, and weakness is not something that any tribe wishes to expose if they wish to survive."
Taric turned his attention back to the wall and smiled, "a good haul your squad is keeping a good lead ahead of the others, if you keep this up, you'll be the celebrated raiders this month once again, just like the last three months"
Mira rolled her eyes as she sat back in her chair, "yea that's if Tarker or the others don't try to pull another fast one."
Taric laughed, "you only have yourselves to blame for that misfortune, you gave them the opening and they took it."
"Well it won't be happening again," Mira frowned.
Taric smirked, "that's good to know, you learned your lesson on the matter," he mused giving them a knowing look, "I understand that the young have their needs and urges but do not let them get in the way of your responsibilities"
Both teens immediately went pink in the cheeks from being called out by the elder, knowing exactly why they had forgotten to report in their haul that time. A full week outside of the camp, a very rich haul that was one of their best yet, and so close to the monthly tally. The two of them had wanted to celebrate alone when they got back and one thing had led to another.
Taric laughed long and hard when he saw their blushing looks, "Ha, I may be getting old but I'm not that bit slow," he mused as he fell backwards as a chair of crystal came up to meet him as he fell into it, "You two have been best friends since you were barely taller than my knee, and now look at you both, a pair of the finest benders in the tribe, young and full of energy, it's only natural" he laughed before shaking his head with a fond smile at the two of them, "just make sure it doesn't happen again, I'd hate to be forced to have to separate you two to differnt squads in order to keep you both on task, especially when you both work so well together in the past."
Both Ty and Mira rose from their chairs and bowed to him again, ""Yes Elder,"" they said at the same time.
Taric nodded and waved them off, "good, you're dismissed, I'll make sure the other elders are informed of your success, keep it up you two" he smirked.
Ty and Mira nodded and went to leave, but Ty paused at the door, a thought coming to his mind as he turned to look at the elder, an action that caught the old man's eye.
"Something more to say Tiberius?" Taric asked, curious.
Ty frowned, "Just that… you might want to have a word with Zephyr," he said with a frown, making Taric blink, before he continued, "on our way here we ran into him, and shortly after crossed paths with Tarker, he said some harsh things that weren't untrue," he said before shaking his head, "about him not being suited for raiding squads."
Hearing the explanation Taric seemed to deflate in his seat, the age showing more on his old face as he rubbed his brow and shook his head, "I see," he said with a weary voice, like it had been something he'd expected, "I will. Thank you Tiberius,"
Ty nodded and turned to leave with Mira, walking back out into the hall of the crystal structure as the doors closed behind him.
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-Flash back end-
"Hey Ty!" a familiar voice sounded as he was broken from his thoughts by it.
Looking around and then below himself towards the ground, Ty spotted both Aang and Katara on the ground below looking up towards him.
"Airhead, Katara," Ty said as he lowered himself on his bed of sand down to the ground.
"What are you doing out here?" Katara asked him, "We just came from the house, Sokka told us how you were practicing." she said, with a tone of disapproval in her voice.
"Yeah," Aang voiced, "and then he said you blew up at him and took off."
Ty sighed and shook his head, "Yeah, he was giving off to me about training with my injury and I got pissed at him, I needed to let off some steam okay."
Both Aang and Katara frowned, but both deflated seeing the sour look that Ty had.
Aang approached him and put his hand on his shoulder, "you shouldn't bottle things up Ty, we're here for you if you need to talk." he said, sounding concerned for his friend.
Ty clenched his fists and took a breath, "I just, hate feeling like this," he said gesturing to his chest, "Helpless," he said before shaking his head, "in the desert, an injury like this wasn't an excuse, if you couldn't pull your weight you were a liability on raids, not only putting yourself at risk but your team as well."
"But you're not in the desert any more," Katara told him, "you're with us, you don't have to push yourself, we're not just going to leave you because we have to work a little harder to make up the difference."
"Well you should," Ty snapped as he looked at her before looking away, "I'm practically useless until these ribs of mine heals, heck it's the reason we're staying here isn't it, because of me we're grounded, I'm holding us all back"
"That's what you think," Aang asked, frowning at Ty's point of view.
"It's what I know," Ty said before poking Aang in the chest, "and don't you dare try and tell me otherwise, you need to find a water bending master Aang, you won't find one here, so come tomorrow we need to leave to find you one."
"But.." Aang went to argue but Ty grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and pulled him face to face, cutting him off.
"We. Will. Leave. I will not be anyone's dead weight to carry around," Ty snapped at him before pushing him back, "I've pulled my own weight before, and I can do so now, I'm almost healed and we need to get moving." he said before waving his hand around them, "look around you Aang, the world has been in a war for one hundred years, too long, it needs you to master the elements so you can put a stop to it. I won't be the fucking reason that this war lasts a single day longer than it needs to."
"But what about your pain when flying," Katara voiced her concerns for him.
Ty shook his head, "I'll manage, I'm stubborn like that."
Aang snorted when he heard that before shaking his head, "that's an understatement, you're like a Gemsbok bull once you put your mind to something," he said before frowning slightly, "Gyatso used to say that about you." he said remembering his old mentor before sighing, "alright, if that's what you want Ty, then we'll leave first thing tomorrow."
Ty sighed and nodded, "thanks," he said before his sand turned him in the direction of the house they were staying in, "come on, it's getting late," he said as they nodded in agreement and started to walk back to the house in silence.
Two minutes into the silence, Ty decided to lighten the mood and asked casually, "so, how did your date go~" glancing back at them to see the scarlet blush on both their faces making him smirk, 'well at least the trip will be a bit more amusing now, that isn't going to get old any time soon.'