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icrowler · 11 days ago

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Chapter 3

Sokka didn’t know if they were stupid or smart for staying. It was all too easy to leave the place that was being attacked but to survive actually leaving? While Sokka hated Kayla with every fiber of his being right now he couldn’t help but hope she was okay. That Oska was at the very least.

She hadn’t broken anything. That didn’t mean Sokka wasn’t hurt. He was under infection watch for four days after Gran Gran bandaged his head, the gash from going down and hitting the ice barrels knocking him dizzy. His chest hurt too. Again, nothing broken but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a walking bruise. He mostly lay next to Zuko in those few days. Mainly because Sokka looked pathetic enough Zuko took pity on him and lay his warmer than usual hands on Sokka’s bruises. The heat actually helped.

Time was hard to tell really during the Dark Days, usually Sokka worked it out by how hungry he was. With nothing to break up the monotony of the day that was usually all the time. The women put him on babysitting duty when he was feeling better. After their second day in confinement everyone had started venturing out again. They didn’t stay in their homes, the dome unanimously deemed safer than a flimsy tent but they did venture out for supplies. Food, extra pelts and the like.

It was when Sokka was outside, his own turn to grab something from the stores for them to eat when he felt Zuko’s hand grab his coat. His grip was tight, his body still, his eyes glowing as they looked at something over Sokka’s shoulder.

He turned his head slowly. There wasn’t much to see. They had dimmed the fires around the village, doing their best to conserve what little they had that wasn’t destroyed or taken by the others. The only ones that burned bright were those outside the dome, Zuko seeing to them personally every hour or so. Maybe that was why Sokka didn’t see it at first. His eyes drew themselves to the fire, glancing almost instantly over the light that hid behind the dome.

Because it was hiding.

Its body lay outside the wall, its bulk mostly concealed save its eyes that peeked around the dome to watch the two humans it had found.

Sokka felt his breath catch, his heart start to pound as he thought about what they should do. Zuko thought faster, his hand flaring bright in warning as he slowly backed the two of them towards the stores. “Be quick,” he murmured, letting go of Sokka’s arm.

Sokka tried. He stuffed as much as he could into his sack. He even piled fish into his coat, up his sleeves and in his hood. He dragged a vat of fat and filled the bucket he’d brought with him. The spirit hadn’t moved when he eventually walked outside.

“Do we run?” Sokka whispered.

Zuko’s eye narrowed slightly. “We’ll die faster if we do.”

Walking it was.

They did so carefully, Zuko’s hand glowing brighter the closer they got to the dome. Sokka watched the fires burst around the dome too, one of them making the spirit jump. Zuko did it again, then again until they were safe inside the tunnel.

No one was happy when Sokka told them the news.

“Can you not chase it off?” They asked Zuko.

“It’ll only come back angrier.”

They couldn’t move out of the dome either, the small hope some people had been holding onto shattered as they accepted they would be spending an extended period of time together here. Sokka wished that was the extent of their worries.

It was fine at first. Their biggest problem were the close quarters. The dome was big but not that big and, loathe as Sokka was to know about it, he could tell the exact day the women grew that little bit more aggravated with each other. It didn’t help he had to do his share of laundry, Gran Gran muttering about what he would do when he found himself a wife as he scrubbed another blood stain from someone’s clothes.

He thought of Suki. He didn’t think Suki would let him wash her blood stains. Katara yes but his sister was evil like that. But Suki? Beautiful Suki? So long as he washed his own clothes she wouldn’t have to ask for them to share a load between them. Equality and all that.

At least he thought that was how it went. Zuko was none the wiser. But then, Zuko was a prince. He probably hadn’t done laundry himself until he was dragged here. Speaking of, “You couldn’t dry while I wash could you?”

Zuko said no. If only because he was on babysitting duty, his hands full of a clingy Korra who had barely left Zuko’s side since they were trapped in here.

So yes, the washing was bad. The fights were bad. But ultimately they were small in comparison to what awaited them a week later.

“What do you mean it’s gone?” Lena demanded.

Zuko set the bucket he’d been carrying down. “I mean, they took whatever we had left.” The fat. The fat they had done their best to collect. Sokka had hunted down so many seals but it paled in comparison to what dad used to bring in. Zuko and him were only two people however and two people couldn’t take down and bring back anything bigger than a seal.

“But there should still be some left,” Lena barked. “We barely have any fires. Where has it all gone?”

The answer was the fires. Lena was right that they had barely any but the fires they did have needed to be lit at all times. Not to mention, “I… I needed to scare it off more than once. It takes fuel Lena. It was by the tunnel last time.”

Lena knew that which was why she yelled but did nothing more. She was just frustrated. They all were. Only now there was a definitive countdown until they were going to be left in the dark with the monsters that hid within it. It wasn’t just the monsters either. Without the fire how would they eat? How would they drink their water? For a tribe dedicated to water they needed fire more than any other nation out there and while Zuko was looking marginally better than last year he was only one man. He couldn’t protect them and keep them alive at the same time.

“We need to hunt,” Gran Gran said. “It’s the only way we can get more fuel.”

She was right but no one wanted to volunteer. It wasn’t a simple fishing trip they could dig an ice hole for and come back later. They needed to go onto the boats and hunt. “Do we all go?” someone asked.

Sokka looked around as everyone else did. There weren’t many of them left but, “We don’t know how many boats were taken,” he realised.

Someone swore.

“If I ever see Kayla’s face again I’m going to carve it from her skull,” Lena muttered. Murmurs of agreement went up.

They needed to scout, they also needed a hunting party once everyone realised it was just cruel to bring the children. “Maybe Kanna can stay with them,” Senna said. “If we leave her with the fat and take the firebender the children should be fine until we come back.”

“And if we don’t come back?” Lena asked. “I’d rather leave the firebender here. You’d keep them safe wouldn’t you?” she pressed.

Zuko nodded and at least Sokka could thank the spirits for doing one thing in softening Zuko to the village. After that first night Senna had no problem letting little Korra follow after Zuko. With Korra came Anhah and pretty soon Zuko had a rota in place for whose kids he would be watching that day. Most of them just liked to leech the warmth off him but quite a few liked some of the plays Zuko tried to teach them.

So yeah, they had no problem with Zuko looking after their kids now and Sokka too would feel better knowing they were going to be okay. But leaving Zuko meant taking the fat.

“We need something else to burn,” Yura said.

“The pelts?” Someone suggested.

“The tents?” another.

It seemed everyone agreed they would rebuild as soon as the sun was up but for now the whole village would burn if it meant they would live another night. Sokka listened as they made a list, made a plan on how to bring these things in without using too much fuel.

Then it dawned on him. “The ship.”

He felt a number of eyes land on him. “We can’t burn the ship,” Lena said. “We need it.”

Sokka shook his head, “Not ours.” He thought about it for a moment longer before turning to Zuko, “The fire navy ship.” The one they had gone to for Momo’s goodbye. Sokka remembered crates of fuel, coal, oil, wood. Not all of it was usable but some of it had been. The only problem they had was finding something to make it catch on the snow. “If we can go there we won’t have to hunt at all.” It was less risk for everyone. No long stints away with no promise of game. They could be there and back within the day.

He saw more than one person remember its existence, a spark of hope igniting in everyone. The plans changed. Sure, they still needed to fetch those things from the village for the fires here but the rest of the resources went into planning how to bring the fuel from the fire navy ship.

Zuko led people one by one, their arms laden with everything they could carry until he was slumped, tired, against the tunnel wall. Gran Gran gave him a tincture and sent him to rest but thankfully he’d managed to last long enough that they had enough to start preparing for their expedition.

Not all of them needed to go. It was stupid for them all to go. They drew lots instead, Gran Gran overseeing all of it. Apparently this was what they did when Sokka had left last time, the losers forced to hunt while the winners stayed at the village. This time was different. People wanted to go. They wanted to be that helping hand that might mean another few days of survival. They also didn’t want to see their children’s faces if no one came back.

Sokka put his name forward. If only because he knew where the booby traps were in the ship. Zuko tried to go too but, “We need you to look after the kids.” and Zuko, tired as he was, simply accepted it.

They ripped pelts into smaller strips, tying them together to make rope when their own was either too far to get to or used for something else. They tied them to the sleds, packing the rest for bandages or spare rope should they need it. Sokka let Gran Gran fuss over his mostly healed bruises, her fingers pressing gently on his stomach. It hurt but not as much as it had done. He could make it there and back.

They had Zuko melt snow for their water skins, collecting extra for those staying behind. Food was divided between them along with weapons. Sokka strapped his boomerang to his back, one of Zuko's swords to his waist. The women wrapped their spears, knives tucking themselves away in belts and boots.

Eventually they were ready.

“We’ll stay in a diamond,” Lena said. “Everyone keep your lanterns lit and spears to your sides. If you're not ready to throw, stay in the middle, you'll be carrying most of the load back.”

Sokka nodded, his stomach covered by a makeshift rope tied to a sled. He gave Gran Gran a hug, her whispers of being careful making him swallow heavily. He looked at Zuko. “Look after the kids. Please?”

“I will,” Zuko promised and Sokka really hoped Zuko would. “Be careful,” he tacked on. “I-” his face twisted before he said, “there might be more in the dark. Don't trust anything out there.”

“Like what?”

Zuko looked away. “Just be careful,” he said, and then Lena was calling him away, the rest of the pack closing ranks.

Sokka took his place, his head turning for one last look at Zuko's face. His hair that hung a little too long. His borrowed coat as his own dried a little further in the dome. Those hands, uncovered now and being taken by Korra who clung to the warmth that was no doubt there.

Mainly Sokka looked at Zuko's eyes. The gold that glowed that little too bright as they looked back knowingly.

Something foul settled in Sokka's stomach.

Unfortunately it was too late. They were moving, the torches burning bright and the lanterns brighter.

They scaled the wall one by one, Sokka's heart pounding as he saw the beady eye of the spirit looking from their left. His feet touched snow, the sled coming down with him, he hurried back in line.

They walked slowly. The spirit followed just as slow, keeping pace but never drawing near. Sokka hated it. He knew the thing was angry, that humans had caused this to happen but he still hated it.

He hadn't caused this. Why did he have to be punished when it wasn't his fault? Hadn't he suffered enough?

They came upon the boats, Sokka letting loose a curse as he saw his and Zuko's boat gone. They ended up loading into a smaller boat, its sides worn and mended harshly but it held. They kept their formation as they readied to sail, Sokka untying himself and unfurling the small sail. The spirit watched from the snow bank.

The sail caught wind, Lena pushing off with a spear. The spirit still watched. The boat drew away, the village with its dwindling lights now a speck on the horizon and the spirit with its bug eyes and large curved body disappearing into darkness.

Sokka swore he could still feel eyes on him.

He wasn't the only one. “It didn't kill us,” Yura said.

“No,” Lena murmured, her eyes still on where the bank would be. “Makes you wonder what else is out here.”

Sokka shivered.

They navigated with a lantern poised ahead. All eyes were on the water, calls for ice or animals going up when seen. None came for spirits.

The minutes seemed to stretch. Sokka had never felt three hours go as slow as they did. Then the call came up for land. Sokka felt the boat slow before they hit it. Well before. Lena told them to tie back in. “Whatever break we had on water might not be true on land.”

Sokka double knotted the sled.

Lena walked onto the snow first. She kept her lantern high, her breath clouding around her as she searched the bank for danger. Sokka watched that small light turn back and forth with only centimetres in front of her lit. He kept his breath low, his ears strained as Lena called them onto land.

All too soon the heavy pants and drag of a sled was all he heard. He knew Lena was relying on memory more than directions now. All of them had sought out the ship as a kid despite many generations saying not to. Beyond the valley and next to the mountains.

The valley came, Sokka's feet dipping down as he lost the light a moment. As soon as he felt the upslope he knew it was time to start looking.

It was hard to see colour in complete darkness. Seeing black was impossible. Sokka felt more than looked, his feet keeping close to any source of light as his hands reached out for where the boat might be.

It took an age for them to find it, the call coming up a ways down from where Sokka had been searching. He scurried over, Lena looking along until she found the rung of a ladder. “Keep the sleds down here,” she ordered then ushered Sokka over.

He was first to climb, the lantern in his left hand and arm hooking over the rungs with his right. He almost fell when he reached the top, his hand swinging wildly until he clung to the lip of the ship. He hoisted his leg over, finding his footing before calling down for Lena.

She and another came, the two of them deciding on a system to pass down the goods as Sokka carefully inched open the rusted door to the lower deck.

Zuko and him had disabled a good few of the booby traps the last time they were here but a few remained active due to the cold freezing them too much for Zuko to destroy. One of them was a half deployed coloured explosive powder shell. Sokka found it inches from his head, ducking under and around as he ventured down.

The stairs creaked under his feet, the rail breaking more than once in his hand. Sokka kept the lantern low, his feet careful as he walked through the ice eaten steps.

The fuel was in the engine room and the cargo. Both were at the bottom of the ship. It felt like an age to get onto the first deck, his legs aching from how tense he was. The next seemed even longer, and not for the first time Sokka longed for the sun.

He set the lantern down as he reached the cargo door, his hands twisting the metal handle until it turned enough to loosen open. It creaked with a long low groan interspersed with small clicks. Sokka let it fall to its natural state, waiting for the clicks to stop before venturing forward.

Crates of coal awaited his greedy hands. Sokka nudged a few with his foot before deeming them too heavy to carry. He started emptying the smallest crate he could find, filling the sack by his side as he lifted the crate every now and then to see if he could carry it safely up.

Click. Click. The coal fell. Click.

Clickclickclickclick.

Sokka was yanked down, a hand covering his mouth. He felt his heart in his throat as something dark scuttled towards his lantern. It lingered overhead, Sokka seeing nothing more than an armour like body before it raced away, its gigantium shadow swallowing the door before clicking up the stairs it came from.

The thing around his mouth loosened. It dropped slithering around his shoulders and to his chest. Another joined it, Sokka fighting back nausea to look down and-

They were hands. Small child sized hands. They were clasped together, the arms hugging Sokka as tight as they could.

He shut his eyes, a sob heaving out of his chest. Another came, Sokka fighting the hands holding him until he saw it. Just for a second he saw him.

He screamed. It came bursting out of him. Months of guilt and grief coalescing into sound he couldn't control.

“Sokka!” Called through the shadows. “Sokka?”

Lena.

Sokka couldn't answer. He wanted him back. He wanted him back!

He was dragged up, Lena taking over as Yura led him back above deck. Sokka felt his body shake, his voice keen as he tried to get control of himself. He couldn't- he couldn't do this here.

People needed him.

He purposefully walked into a wall, the jolt helping him ground himself. He found that place of silence in his head. The one that told him they needed coal. Fuel. The voice that made him live when he didn't want to. It forced him to flex his fingers, wipe his eyes.

He was a warrior.

He'd fought losing battles before, and this wasn't a loss. Not unless he gave up.

So he didn't.

“I'll hand down,” he choked out.

“Are you sure?” Yura asked.

He nodded. “I'm sorry. I thought- I can do this.”

It took a moment but Yura eventually let him go. He took the rope from her, tying it into a loose noose as Yura went down for the first crate. He tied it when it was near, looping the rope around two gaps in the railing before slowly lowering the crate down.

He did that for the next four, Yura saying the rest would need to be carried. Sokka rubbed his rope tired hands as Yura left to start bringing the sacks up when he saw him again.

He felt sick. His body frozen as he saw Aang. He was a little more see through than Sokka remembered but that was his same build. Same arrow tattoos that had held him below. Same head slowly shaking no from a skull with no face.

Sokka felt bile pool in his throat as he heard a click behind him. Aang disappeared but the clicking didn't. Sokka didn't know what to do.

What did Aang mean no?

Eventually he did nothing. He just stood there as frozen as he had been when he saw Aang. The clicking left, disappearing somewhere behind him.

Yura came back up, Lena behind her as someone screamed below. More joined after a moment. Lena yelled, “Below!” Tossing the sacks over as she started climbing. Yura followed, her lantern cast low to help Lena see. Sokka grabbed his own, his eyes searching one last time on deck before he climbed onto the rungs.

The fire was waving when Sokka touched the snow. Every woman had something lit in front of them, their voices high as calls for a monster went up. That and “Senna’s dead!”

When Sokka cast his light he saw the feet lying a few feet away. The body was still here, not taken. Prone on the snow, Sokka's breath caught as he saw the smooth skin where a face should be.

“We need to leave,” he choked out.

Everyone agreed.

He retied his sled, the weight barely registering as he pushed himself out of this valley and towards the boat.

They left Senna. They had to. Sokka promised to see if he could find her when the sun rose, bury her properly, but until then he had to get home.

They were less careful back to the boat. They stayed more in a line than a diamond, fear hurrying them on. Sokka kept his ear peeled for clicks. Then wondered if he even needed to. Was the clicking the creature or how it moved on the metal of the ship?

He hurried faster, his hands the first to start untying the ship when he reached it. He searched it countless times on the water, his lantern sweeping every shadow it could. They had to stop and check nearby bergs for landmarks home, even Lena losing her sense of direction as noises penetrated the endless darkness.

They found home by the small glow of a spirit. It looked to be running along the bank before going up a hill. Sokka wondered what it meant that more were here as he unloaded his sled and goods. He took his boomerang off his back. Useless it might be but it could also buy some time depending on the reaction of the spirit. His feet slogged through the snow, his legs burning as he climbed up and up until his lantern hit a wall of black. He didn’t see any sign of the spirit. No glow over the top of the wall or form running alongside it. Nor did the others around him.

Lena looked over first, her face stern when she said she only saw the fires around the dome. That didn’t mean there wasn’t danger.

They climbed over as slowly as they did before, the crates and sacks lowered as silently as they could make it. It took everything in him not to sprint to the dome. Instead he kept his hand poised, his boomerang ready to throw as he held his lantern down each and every dark crevice he came across.

Even in the tunnel he kept moving slow, only relaxing when he heard the chatter of those left before. He did run then, bursting into the dome ahead of anyone else, noises of surprise starting up before calls for loved ones followed. Sokka found himself crushed into a hug he happily returned, Gran Gran’s hair tickling his nose. “You’re back, you’re back,” he heard her murmur. It felt like years since he’d seen her instead of hours, his eyes squeezing shut as he fought just a little bit longer to be okay.

He pulled back, wiping the stray tears that had escaped. His voice wobbled as he asked, “Where’s Zuko?”

Gran Gran’s face darkened. “Sleeping,” she said.

Ah.

“He lay down almost as soon as you left. I don’t think he’s well Sokka.”

Probably not. Sokka ventured over anyway, fighting through Korra’s grouchy hands as she tried to keep him away to shake Zuko’s shoulder. It took a while but he eventually woke. His skin was warmer than usual, beads of sweat across his brow and neck but he was awake, his golden eyes sharp as they focused in on Sokka.

“You’re back,” he said.

“I’m back,” Sokka nodded.

They didn’t hug. Sokka hadn’t expected them to. Instead he wet a rag and put it on the back of Zuko’s neck, the cloth hissing as soon as it touched skin. He was a little wobbly when he stood but Zuko was determined to see how much they’d brought from the ship.

It was enough to keep them going. He didn’t say until the sun rose again but Sokka could feel the determination from everyone to make these stretch as best they could.

They swapped the oil for coal, Gran Gran and the others agreeing to do the majority of their cooking in the morning, dry everything out and do their best to mix the melted snow with wine that didn’t freeze as fast.

People didn’t sleep separate. In fact, there was a rota for the kids on who got to sleep near Zuko, more than one of them coming down with a fever from a night in the cold.

Energy was conserved so their food wouldn’t dwindle as fast as their oil had. Instead, Sokka found himself chief storyteller, reciting his adventures with Aang and making Zuko act some of their better fights out when the kids grew bored enough to spark mischief. He taught Zuko a few songs that lifted the spirits of those around them for a while, Gran Gran remembering more and more from her youth the longer they sat there in darkness.

Then, one morning, Sokka woke to light on his face. It was warm but not burning, his eyes opening to actually see the other side of the dome.

He sat up, noting the lack of people inside and ran to join them. The sun was up.

He closed his eyes, his head hanging back as he breathed in the outdoors once more.

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#this is honestly such a masterpiece...#im gonna need a jasminedragonart fanblog i can spam with <3 #emotionally not okay in the best way possible

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