"G-guard, guard duty. This one wanted to t-talk," Yasu sputters with none of his usual rigid certainty. He assists Kallik down to the pad of rarely-used blankets on the ground, seating him just off to the side of the Moon Spirit and Fire Lord. Once the waterbender is settled, the sergeant blurts as an afterthought, "His name is Kallik."
Kallik tips his head back to watch as Sergeant Yasu then straightens and spins to face the courtyard rather than the small group gathered at its center. The young man takes up a standard guard position behind him, effectively abandoning Kallik to deal with two beings beyond mortal men on his own.
In another scenario, Kallik probably would have found the other man's retreat and subsequent vigil at his back to be humorous. (Novel to have a guard stationed to protect him, rather than detain him.) With things as they are, however, he is not having an easy time finding that humor.
Maybe it should have been expected. Yasu is barely more than a boy. It was always asking a lot of the young man to approach the leader his people revered almost as if the Fire Lord was a spirit himself.
As close as he is, Kallik is no longer so certain that the Fire Lord is not some manner of spirit. He'd thought the man's eyes odd before under the torchlight, but now they appear to pierce through the night like twin stars. However the Fire Lord began life, Kallik hesitates to say he is fully human today.
Kallik watches as Tui and the Fire Lord exchange a glance. The Fire Lord's face twists into a grimace while the Moon Spirit offers a rueful smile.
"What is it you wished to speak of?" Tui asks.
Sometimes, Kallik wishes he could bring himself to listen to Nuniq more often. Not that he will ever tell his grumpy, pessimistic cousin as much.
Kallik clears his suddenly tight throat. "I was wondering if a time had been set for our return to the South."
The Fire Lord frowns. "We've learned the hard way that traversing icefields during the seasonal shifts of spring and autumn is unnecessarily hazardous. Winter creates miles of additional ice that would require more fuel than our ships carry. The voyage will have to be made during a southern summer, but returning starved people to a polar climate would be nothing less than a death sentence.
"The earliest window is just over half-a-year away. Seven, perhaps eight months. It's possible that some of you could be ready to return at that point, but most of you won't have recovered enough in that time frame and will have to wait another year." The man's burning gaze roves over the crowd. He grimaces once more as he says, "In a group this large, deprived as long and severely as you have been... There will inevitably be complications. It's likely that some of you will have to wait multiple years, and a small portion may never be fit to return to the South Pole."
Kallik fights not to react to that statement. He's not a fool. He'd already suspected that it would be several moons and possibly full years before they might return to their homes. That they are being presented with the opportunity at all is nothing less than a miracle of the spirits, as evidenced by Tui's involvement. He hasn't yet had time to think through all the probable hiccups, though. The news that some of his fellow waterbenders might not see their homeland again after all... Well, it hits like a harpoon.
"And what will happen," he forces himself to ask, "to those who cannot return?" What will he do if he is one of them? Could he endure a prison made of his own weakened flesh after being freed from this prison of steel bars and walls?
The Fire Lord looks at him. The gaze is unsettling both for its intensity and its unnaturalness.
"I'm not sure," says Fire Lord Ozai, "but my goal is for them to have options. A chance to return to the South Pole with the understanding of the risks with their health. Another possibility would be to remain in the Fire Nation, though I'm not sure what it would look like yet. It's difficult to plan years into the future when I don't even know how many people I will need to accommodate. I'd like to think there will be an option to help them immigrate to the Earth Kingdoms, but that isn't something I can guarantee will be available."
Kind options, all things considered. Time will tell if Fire Lord Ozai has the will to fulfill such pretty promises or if his words are as hollow as the howling winds.
While he is thinking over what he has been told, and before he can decide on his next question, a loud cry rises up from the far side of the courtyard and is quickly taken on by more of the crowd. Kallik tenses and hurries to stand so he can see what the commotion is. He is not as spry as he once was and in this moment he bitterly misses the easy movement of his youth.
"Calm down," Sergeant Yasu says, voice pitched low. Despite the young guard's words, he catches the waterbender's arm and helps Kallik to stand. "The first female cellblock just arrived."
Ah.
That would easily explain the sudden clamor.
He and his fellow prisoners had known at least some of the women were also held in this facility, but information concerning the other cellblocks was always difficult to come by. The most Kallik has seen of any of the women is during brief moments following death. It has been an unfortunate but nonetheless heartening association.
For his entire tenure running the prison, Warden Masaki has placed a priority on keeping prisoners meekly passive. Kallik is just grateful Masaki prefers to utilize small acts of mercy and appeasement before he resorts to the harsher tactics. (Warden Akira had instead started with the greatly unpleasant and escalated punishments from there. As a result, there hadn't been much room left between first infractions and final offenses.)
One of the first changes their current warden arranged for was burial rites. The warden never allowed for a team of more than three women, and those women were under heavy guard throughout the whole process. Still, for the first time since their capture, they had hope that when their deaths came for them, they would be tended to properly and returned to La rather than being burned into so much ash. It was a thought of comfort, however small, to cling to when the walls pressed in too close and the days passed too slow.
"Have you someone to look for?" the Moon Spirit asks him.
"No, not me," Kallik answers, "My parents rejoined the waves ahead of me, my wife was no bender, nor were any of my siblings, and I have no daughters."
He'd had two sons, once. The first had perished to illness before his capture. The second had barely reached his hip when Kallik had last laid eyes on his boy. Neither had been waterbenders and, spirits willing, Kallik's second son remains in the South, alive and with a prospering family of his own by this time.
...Perhaps he will have a chance to meet that family, if they do exist.
Kallik tucks that fragile hope away in his heart. Although future dreams call for the first time in many decades, the present demands his attention.
Even with the crowd blocking his view of the women, and knowing he will have no direct connection with any of them, it is still difficult to look away. These are the first steps to the healing of their tribes. There is much work ahead before they can rejoin their people properly, but simply being allowed to mingle across cellblocks is a privilege to be cherished after so many decades kept isolated from each other.
Another ruckus rises up from off to the left.
It isn't women this time. Guards are herding waterbenders away from the entrance Masaki had last disappeared through. Soldiers wearing red armor continue to pour into the courtyard carrying... a very eclectic collection of empty bowls. There are the tin cup-like vessels Kallik is better acquainted with attached to metal arms and thin enough to be maneuvered past steel bars. There are also wider, wooden bowls that he can only assume are typically reserved for the guards' use.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Warden Massaki himself brings up the rear, a pair of gleaming white bowls in his own hands. Kallik can tell the precise moment that the warden spots him sitting next to Tui and the Fire Lord. The other man halts in his tracks and Kallik can practically see the political calculations happening behind the warden's eyes.
Masaki has been the best of their captors, and Kallik holds no particular animosity for the current warden, but he is still a high-ranking ashmaker. Politics is what they do.
(From what his wife used to tell him, their sister tribe suffers from much the same. Kallik wonders if he has been infected with enough political thinking over the years to pass for a Northern man. He hopes not, but he cannot deny that learning to honey his words has served him well in this place.)
Masaki collects an additional bowl from one of his nearby guards. Kallik can at least count on not being removed or punished within the sight of their visitors then. He will likely not have a chance to discover Warden Masaki's long term intentions until after their guests leave.
"Fire Lord, Great Spirit," Masaki greets, bowing over his short stack of bowls, "The meal will be presented shortly. I am afraid it will likely not be up to your usual standards. While our cooks have taken to the task with fervor, the current stock has limited their efforts." Kallik would bet that much is true. He certainly wouldn't want to fail the surprise inspection by the Fire Lord if he were in the cooks' place. Never mind being asked to serve a great spirit such as Tui. "I would humbly request that you not judge the meal harshly."
"I wasn't expecting otherwise," the Fire Lord answers, "I'm aware that I left you no time to prepare. It's just as well, in the end. From the look of things, the waterbenders won't be able to stomach richer foods any time soon. You may proceed."
"Thank you, my lord." The two white bowls clink -- Are those porcelain? -- as Masaki places them before their two guests before setting a wooden bowl in front of Kallik. The warden's brow furrows ever so slightly as he examines the waterbender's face. Kallik meets his gaze neutrally without displaying fear or challenge. He has no desire to invite unneeded aggression, not that Masaki has proven to be the sort so easily ruffled, but lessons learned under Akira and the wardens before him are not soon forgotten.
Masaki places a hand on Sergeant Yasu's shoulder, causing the young man to startle slightly, and asks in a near whisper, "Block D, cell twenty?" The slight nod at Kallik leaves little to doubt as to the warden's true question.
"Er-- Y-yes, sir," Yasu stammers back in an equally quiet voice.
Masaki nods, already dismissive of the young man and thinking of next steps now that he has his confirmation. "Thank you, Sergeant. As you were."
"Yes, sir."
Kallik tries not to be annoyed by the fact that the warden apparently knows him best by the location of his cell. They've spoken fewer times than Kallik has fingers on one hand and it's not as if he has ever been elsewhere than where the warden expected to find him before tonight.
Masaki settles between Kallik and Fire Lord Ozai. Kallik is unsure if it is to distance Kallik from the Fire Lord or himself from the Moon Spirit.
"Warden Masaki, will you not be eating with us?" the Fire Lord asks, noting the lack of bowl before the man.
"Ah. I am afraid not, your majesty," Masaki says, "There are not enough bowls on hand for the waterbenders without sharing. Including the guard and staff before the regularly scheduled breakfast hour is an unnecessary strain on available resources. I'll be sure to resolve the issue in the next requisition request."
'Requisition'? Isn't that the word Yasu had used earlier? Kallik is fairly certain it was, and the request for tubs will come better from the boy than it will from him, even with the young man's habitual social floundering. "Sergeant Yasu had an idea for the upcoming order."
The clank of armor plates shifting too quickly has Kallik glancing up and back at the young sergeant. Yasu stares at him with wide, betrayed eyes. Kallik can only offer a shrug in return. He wants those tubs and he's more likely to get them if the proposal comes from a Fire Nation mouth.
"Sergeant Yasu, I take it?" The Fire Lord asks wryly.
"Y-yes, sir!" Yasu squeaks, clears his throat, and tries again, "Y-yes, sir." It's a bit less pathetic the second time, but not by much. Poor lad. At least he'd managed to banish the gull-piper screech from his pitch. "I, uh, I thought that tin tubs might be added to the order, f-for the waterbenders to bathe themselves, since they're being allowed water, now. The showers would be cramped for so many people, and maybe too slick for them, and I'm not sure they wouldn't st-struggle to learn how they work, so... So, um... Yeah. Tin tubs."
Firebenders have always turned the most interesting shade of red when embarrassed. It's quite the drastic change from their normal pale skin. More importantly, however, how difficult can it be to learn to use a 'shower'? What abomination has the Fire Nation crafted for itself this time? Suddenly, Kallik is unbearably curious. He'll have to see if he can pester Yasu into showing him these 'showers' at some later time.
"It's a good idea," the Fire Lord says gently and coaxes, "Why don't you join us, Sergeant Yasu? Tui and I are capable of protecting ourselves if necessary."
"B-but --"
"Sergeant," Masaki says. He doesn't need to say more.
"Yes, sir."
Yasu still hesitates and Kallik takes pity on the sergeant, gingerly scooting on aged joints to leave space between himself and the warden so the boy doesn't have to muster up the courage to approach the Moon Spirit that clearly intimidates him as much as the Fire Lord does. Kallik's action is far from being subtle but the relief on the young man's face is painfully apparent.
"I'll see about adding tubs to the requisition," Masaki says, "Have you chosen Kallik as a liaison to the Southern waterbenders, your majesty? There are few who would do as well in such a role."
So, Masaki does remember his name. Kallik isn't thrilled with the man's attempt to thrust him into unearned responsibilities, however.
"If liaisons are needed," Kallik interjects and hopes his assumption of the word's meaning is accurate enough to carry him through this conversation, "it would be better to allow each cellblock to select their own representative. Someone they know and have grown to trust. I can't speak for the other cellblocks, nor my own. I came to seek answers, not to claim an authority I do not have."
"I --" Masaki cuts himself off and Kallik does not need to wonder why.
Even without looking, Kallik can feel the push and pull of water growing closer, approaching from the same direction the guards with the bowls had entered the courtyard.
"Ah," Masaki says, tense but making some attempt to cover it, "The cooks have arrived with the meal. Please, excuse me."
"Go," the Fire Lord says.
Masaki hurries to join the cooks and inspect the large vat of the promised broth they have brought with them. Seemingly satisfied, the warden moves on to address the crowd.
"Attention, Prison--" Masaki catches himself and clears his throat, "Excuse me. Southern Waterbenders. Tonight is a night of celebration. Fire Lord Ozai and Moon Spirit Tui have graced us with their presence and bring with them news of your impending return to the South Pole. Arrangements are being made to organize the effort but the process will not be a swift one. In the meantime, Fire Lord Ozai has generously ordered an increase to your rations, beginning with this evening's broth.
"Remain seated. The food will be brought to you." Masaki waves to the cooks to start doling out the broth to the waiting crowd.
It is not surprising that the first to be served are Fire Lord Ozai and Tui. By the sole virtue of having joined them in the center of the courtyard, Kallik has the honor of being served third.
...
Neither the Fire Lord nor Moon Spirit are eating.
Would it be inexcusably rude to partake of the meal before them?
Kallik's stomach twists with hunger and anxiety makes him itch to move. It is torment to have food so close and be uncertain of when he will be allowed to consume it.
The Fire Lord's brow furrows and a slight frown crosses his face. Kallik has only a moment to wonder about that before the man rises to his feet.
"People of the Southern Water Tribe," the Fire Lord addresses the crowd himself, "I understand you are hungry, and I apologize on behalf of my nation for what we have put you through, but, please, eat slowly. Your bellies will take time to grow used to food again, and eating too quickly could cause your body to reject the meal entirely. It is our goal to restore you to good health before sending you home. There will be more frequent meals going forward. So, please, be patient and kind to your bodies."
It seems to be a time for speeches. Tui scoops up both porcelain bowls and also stands. "Listen close, Children of the Southern Seas," the spirit speaks in a clear voice, "This is my nephew, Ozai the Reforged, Herald of Agni and reigning Fire Lord." Tui hands one of the bowls off to the Fire Lord. "He has my trust. If you will give him a chance, I have no doubts that he will likewise earn your trust. Already he has made moves to cease the Fire Nation's aggression against other nations and bring an end to Sozin's war without further bloodshed. An age of peace and brotherhood between nations is before you, if you will only accept it."
Tui extends his arm and waits silently as the Fire Lord hesitantly mirrors him. The Moon Spirit gives a subtle nod before linking their arms and balancing his bowl of broth between his hands.
The Fire Lord huffs a singular, quiet laugh, but Kallik is too stunned by Tui's gesture to form an opinion on the other man's reaction. Ozai mimics Tui with his own porcelain bowl. "The last time I saw something like this was Sokka's and Suki's wedding," the Fire Lord remarks in a low voice to the great spirit.
Tui smiles and answers, "It was a beautiful ceremony and I was gladdened to bless it. I did tell you that I am a spirit of enduring partnerships, did I not?"
"You did," Ozai acknowledges and grins, "To enduring partnerships, then."
"To enduring partnerships," Tui echoes.
"I don't understand," Yasu whispers from beside Kallik, "Weddings? Is this some kind of toast?"
"A vow," Kallik corrects, just as quietly, though most of his attention is taken up wondering if the Fire Lord is truly aware of the weight of his actions, "shared at weddings, yes, but also between chiefs to establish binding alliances between tribes." And apparently between Fire Lords and Tui directly. He watches and bears witness as the two step closer and drink, sealing the pact. "We needn't worry about your Fire Lord now," Kallik finds himself saying, "No waterbender here would dare strike him, for fear of offending Tui."
Just who is this man that consorts with spirits and possesses a gaze that burns like starlight? Kallik isn't certain, but it just became imperative for him to find out.