Warden Masaki has been running himself ragged, flitting between different groups of guards like a busy humming sparrow and issuing orders as he kicks the entire prison into activity around the visiting Fire Lord and great spirit. As a result, Kitaika is now buzzing like an angry hive. Or maybe just like an agitated hive? There has been a surprising lack of anger, all things considered, Sergeant Yasu thinks. That can probably be pinned on the lingering shock.

The sergeant watches from the corner of his eye as the warden disappears in the direction of the kitchen once more. Yasu doesn't envy the man his job. Greater good can be done with greater authority, theoretically, but the stress and headaches seem enough to destroy a person not suited to the task. Yasu sometimes struggles under the weight of just his sergeant's rank and low-level guard assignments.

Still, Masaki is as kind as a warden can afford to be toward his charges, whether guard or prisoner. It's good, especially compared to what Yasu has heard of Warden Akira. Apparently, the last warden had been so cruel that he created a witch that had stolen his honor and left him an empty husk. The upper brass had had no choice but to cart Warden Akira off to a seaside home for 'recovery' and early retirement while his soulless body slowly wasted away.

...Yasu isn't sure how much of that particular rumor he believes, but it's clear that something bad had happened at the end of Warden Akira's tenure overseeing Kitaika. It would be nice if the older guards weren't always trying to find new ways to frighten the freshly assigned sergeants, though. How is he supposed to perform his duties properly if he can't even trust the information given to him from the established personnel at Kitaika? The behavior is endlessly frustrating but, after almost a year's worth of experience, Yasu has some idea of who is more likely to lead him astray and who will give him reliable facts. Mostly.

A throat clears from too nearby and Yasu has to stifle a flinch when he realizes he's been so distracted that two waterbenders have been able to draw far closer to him than he is comfortable with. He relaxes slightly when the two enemy -- non-enemy? -- benders refrain from coming any nearer than they already are. His fellow guards offer no support or guidance, pretending not to notice the situation at all. Traitors! He knows he isn't popular, but would a little backup from his compatriots be too much to ask?

...Possibly. The Fire Lord's unexpected orders have upset everything and no one is sure of where the lines are anymore. It would be strategic, as a matter of self-preservation, not to engage unless directly pulled into a matter and to otherwise avoid at all costs any interactions with the waterbenders. At least until such a time as the rules of conduct have been reestablished.

Good to know his usual luck is holding up even in the current circumstances.

"Sergeant Yasu," says one of the waterbenders, voice calm and level. It's a marginal reassurance that he doesn't seem actively hostile.

Yasu is almost sure his name is 'Kallik.' (Learning the names of the prisoners --ex-prisoners? -- isn't encouraged, but it's not outright forbidden, either.) Almost-Certainly-Kallik is usually one of the less aggressive and more inquisitive waterbenders. Yasu isn't foolish enough to mistake the behavior as 'safe' rather than dangerous in its own right, but the old waterbender's words have proven helpful before.

Yasu is less certain of the waterbender standing at Almost-Certainly-Kallik's shoulder. He's usually in the cell across from the other waterbender, but the man has thus far been all silent, menacing stares throughout Yasu's stint as a guard. The sergeant has a tentative thought that the second waterbender's name might be something like 'Nanook.'

Might-be-Nanook merely grunts in response when he catches Yasu's wary gaze. It could possibly be meant as a greeting of sorts? It seems dismissive, regardless.

Almost-Certainly-Kallik says in an exasperated tone that reminds Yasu of his father, "Nuniq, could you be a bit less like a polar-dog with a toothache?"

...Yasu had been close on the second watrbender's name.

Another grunt. "You're lucky I'm this cordial while you're trying to get yourself killed," Nuniq rumbles, "Again."

And there is the long-suffering sigh from Almost-Certainly-Kallik that Yasu had been half-expecting based on the previous tone. "Sergeant Yasu," the man begins again, apparently deciding to ignore his companion's simmering discontent, "I have a request, if you would hear it." He bows shallowly over the sign of the flame.

Huh.

Yasu fumbles through mimicking a half-glimpsed sign of the moon from the Fire Lord's earlier demonstration under the Moon Spirit's instruction and offers a return bow. "What is your request?"

Almost-Certainly-Kallik stands a smidge less rigidly and Nuniq's expression shifts... somehow. Yasu won't pretend he's ever had any talent in parsing other people's facial expressions.

"Information gathering," Almost-Certainly-Kallik says, getting right to the point, "Neither of our people will feel settled until we can be sure of the new situation between us, and stress has a way of leading a person to make poor decisions. With the promise of peace close enough to grasp, a riot now would be a detriment to us all."

Yasu stiffens. It's not as if that isn't a worry on every guard's mind tonight, but none of them have dared to speak the words aloud.

The sergeant sets his stance and steels his nerves. "What are you proposing?" he asks.

"There are only two people with the needed answers," the man replies, nodding toward the center of Kitaika's open-air courtyard, "I'd also feel better if I knew those closest to them were of the sort inclined to protect them."

Yasu follows the ex-prisoner's gaze to the conspicuously clear area in the growing crowd with the Fire Lord and great spirit at its heart. The two men -- Is it proper to refer to a great spirit as a man? It feels like it might be blasphemous. -- The two sit together on a spread of rarely used but ancient prison blankets, absorbed in whatever conversation they are having and paying no attention to the tense mob surrounding them.

Oh.

Yes, Yasu would likewise feel better if some form of protection detail was close at hand for their inarguably important visitors. He's shocked Warden Masaki hasn't already ordered one. It's a horrifying oversight.

"Let's go."

Almost-Certainly-Kallik gives him a relieved grin. "Thank you."

Yasu shakes his head, eyes already straying back toward the goal set before him. "It's my job as part of the Fire Nation Military to protect the Fire Lord and any visiting nobles or dignitaries," Yasu dismisses.

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It's more obvious under the night sky than it had been in the torchlight of the prison's interior that the two beings are something more than human. The Moon Spirit emits an undeniable glow that matches the full moon in the sky, as perhaps should be expected, and the Fire Lord's eyes burn through the dark in a way that no normal human's do. It is probably only that otherness that has maintained their bubble of space and relative safety in the middle of the filling courtyard.

Better to close that gap in security before the wrong people notice it, too.

Yasu takes precisely one step forward only to find himself stumbling under an unexpected weight. "Get off me!"

"You wouldn't leave an old, emaciated man to walk without support, would you?" The-Annoyance-that-is-Probably-Kallik asks, arm thrown carelessly about Yasu's shoulders.

"Don't startle a firebender! Weren't you just going on about tense situations and stress leading to bad decisions?" Yasu demands as he recenters his balance. He rolls his shoulders before repositioning the arm across them for a more stable hold and loops his left arm around an admittedly too-thin waist. "What if I'd burned you? We could have started that riot you were talking about!"

"Kid's right," Nuniq grumbles with crossed arms and a glare for his fellow waterbender, "Stop acting stupid just 'cause you've got a soft spot for guards that act half-decent, Kallik."

"I'm not a kid!"

Traitorous laughter comes from Yasu's right. "Don't act surprised, Yasu!" Sergeant Michi cajoles, "You can't fraternize with the pri-- the waterbenders and expect that none of them will take a spark to you!"

"I don't fraternize!"

"Friend of yours?" Actually-Kallik-and-Definitely-an-Annoyance asks, sounding entirely too interested as he leans around Yasu to look at Michi.

"No!"

"A few squads are still trying," Michi offers unhelpfully, "but the kid is as snappish as a catogator and thick as a Komodo rhino."

Yasu glares for all he's worth as his cheeks burn. Michi only shrugs back.

"I'm burning your tea, next time," Yasu promises.

"Not my tea!" Michi says with a laugh as he mimes clutching at his heart.

"We're wasting time," Yasu huffs, marching forward and half-dragging the nosy waterbender using him as a crutch.

Kallik gets his feet under him in short order, in part because the ever thickening crowd forces Yasu to go slower than he would prefer. Even in the open air of Kitaika's lone exercise courtyard, the closely packed bodies are quickly producing a terrible stench. To say nothing of the odor coming off the waterbender draped across him.

The prisoners are bathed regularly enough to ward off infections and other health problems, but Yasu's nose would nonetheless appreciate a more frequent routine.

Kallik opens his mouth to say something, but Yasu has suffered enough indignities in the last degree and he doesn't want to hear whatever it is that would tumble past the old man's lips.

"I'm making sure tubs are on the next requisition order," Yasu says, rattling off the first thing that comes to mind with no thought as to how his words may be taken, "If you waterbenders are going to be allowed access to water, then there's no reason to keep tormenting all our noses with the smell of unwashed bodies."

There is a distinct pause before Kallik breaks into laughter, which quickly transforms into a coughing fit.

"Are you... alright?" Yasu asks, trying not to panic. They're halfway through the crowd at this point and the ruckus is drawing more stares from the surrounding waterbenders than their odd combination of persons already had been. Is there a healer nearby if Kallik needs one? How does one identify a waterbending healer?

Kallik waves both the question and the stares off. "F-fine," the old waterbender says with a lingering chuckle, "You just continue to surprise me with your ability to say the sweetest things in the most insulting manner."

"I do not!" Yasu objects, "And I'm not sweet!"

Kallik ignores his protests, "It's quite impressive."

Yasu continues to shuffle through the smelly crowd and tries not to let himself become irritated by the too-slow progress toward his goal and the increasing difficulty in navigating the packed courtyard as more waterbenders and guards filter in from all the prison's various cellblocks.

"Why do you stop to answer our questions?" Kallik suddenly asks, "Half the guards refuse to wait long enough to listen. Of those that do, few offer a spoken response."

Yasu glances at the old man before refocussing his gaze ahead.

Should he answer? Things are clearly changing, but...

No. It's too early to tell which direction the winds are blowing the brush fire, and it wouldn't just be himself that he would risk putting in the path of destruction. It would also be dishonorable to divulge the secrets that have been entrusted to him, particularly to a tenuous ally he is still uncertain won't turn the information into a weapon should the need arise.

"My reasons are my own," Yasu settles on saying.

Kallik hums. It sounds too contemplative for Yasu's liking. "Perhaps one day I will earn them," the tribesman muses, "It will be a while before any of us are fit to survive the South Pole, and your ships never came outside of the summer months."

Yasu grunts in response. Nothing he wants to say is polite and some of it might be knowledge he shouldn't be giving away.

Maybe Nuniq has the right idea.

As soon as they break past the final layer of waterbenders and step into the void of people surrounding the undeniable focus of the courtyard, both the Fire Lord and Moon Spirit glance their way. The two are not as oblivious to their surroundings as they first appear, then.

...Good. That's... Good. The Fire Lord and a great spirit should both be more than capable of protecting themselves so long as they are aware of what is happening around them. Especially considering what Yasu witnessed the Moon Spirit do to steel locks. ...It is entirely too easy to imagine what the great spirit before him might be able to do to steel armor with a soft human body inside.

Yasu can't help the shudder that runs through him. Against his side, Kallik likewise grows tense. It is vaguely reassuring to know that Yasu is not alone in his trepidation.

The Fire Lord and great spirit return to their conversation, but Yasu won't fool himself into thinking Kallik and he have been so easily forgotten.

"I would not hold it against you, if you chose not to proceed," Kallik says quietly.

Yasu straightens and scowls. "I'm no coward!" he hisses back.

Kallik hums in return. The note used is a study in neutrality, offering neither argument nor agreement.

Yasu scowls more as it occurs to him that maybe Kallik thinks Nuniq has the right idea, too. One waterbender might just happen to use a softer delivery than the other.

Yasu does his best to wipe the unwanted frustration from his features -- He likely doesn't succeed very well. He never does. -- and sets out to meet the Fire Lord and Moon Spirit at the center of the courtyard, shouldering one very irritating waterbender with him the entire way.

"...Anyway, I followed the turtle-seals through a network of underwater tunnels," the Fire Lord is saying as Kallik and Yasu draw near enough to hear the conversation past the murmurs of the crowd.

"The turtle-seals?" Moon Spirit Tui asks, face painted in open surprise, "Nephew, turtle-seals can go hours between surfacings. You are fortunate you did not drown."

Fire Lord Ozai snorts and then smirks at the great spirit. "Sokka said something similar when I told him the story, though he made an 'educated guess' based on tiger-seals and his phrasing was a bit more colorful."

The Moon Spirit's eyes gleam as a smile scrunches their corners. "I imagine that it was," he says with a laugh.

"You know most of the rest, but I can fill in the gaps at a later date if you wish," Fire Lord Ozai offers.

"I will look forward to it," the great spirit promises.

Golden eyes burn into Yasu's soul and his breath catches in his chest as the Fire Lord looks directly at him.

"I was beginning to think no one would approach," Fire Lord Ozai says, staring, staring, staring with those inhuman eyes, "Will you join us for the upcoming meal?"

Yasu panics.

Some embarrassing noise he cannot begin to categorize escapes his throat and Yasu rushes to state his purpose before he can do anything more mortifying than he already has. "G-guard, guard duty," he chokes out, "This one wanted to t-talk."

Yasu carefully sets Kallik down to sit with the Fire Lord and Moon Spirit. The waterbender probably doesn't need the help -- All prisoners receive a turn exercising under Agni's light, in this courtyard, at least once a week to maintain basic mobility and prevent wasting diseases rooted in long-term sedation. -- but it seems like the thing to do.

At the last moment, Yasu remembers to add, "His name is Kallik." He then turns to face the rest of the courtyard and the crowd around them before falling into parade rest as his face burns.

Maybe he is a coward.