#like perhaps its a bit on the nose considering what a thousand suns is um. referencing

[mesopelagos]

i am not a pattern to be followed

[missturtleduck]

The Girls of Ba Sing Se - (Sokka x f!Reader) Pt. 8

Part Seven│Part Nine

“You, girl of secrets, may stay.”

The library was surprisingly easy to find, considering it was buried under centuries of sand. Watching Toph siphon it up as smoothly as Katara could shape water, Y/N stood pointedly ignoring Sokka and Professor Zei rambling to each other. Sure, she was as much of a nerd as they were, what with learning languages and arithmetic from a young age, but it wasn’t like she was about to drop Sokka’s attitude and divulge in ancient secrets with them. 

They did sound like pretty cool ancient secrets though.

Trying not to pout, Y/N sighed and began to scale the tower freehand. Was it to spite Sokka, who had just thrown a grapple to the top window? Perhaps. Only beaten by Aang, who had the power of airbending on his side, Y/N sat on the ledge of the window, staring down at Toph, Appa, and Qin.

“You sure you’ll be alright, Toph?” She called down to her friend, who had a firm hand on Qin’s back.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Toph brushed her off. “Like I said, books don’t do it for me.”

With a nod, Y/N readied to descend. “Send Qin in after us if you get in trouble.”

Satisfied that Toph would be okay, she leapt from the window, Aang catching her in a swirl of air. It was fun, almost like jumping onto a bed laden with pillows, although she never remembered jumping on her auntie’s bed to ever be that dangerous. The inside of the tower was beautiful, even Y/N had to admit in her bad mood, decorated with mosaic depictions of owl, glittering dark onyx and blues as the sun filtered through the cracks in the old brick. Three guesses on what form the spirit of the library took, Y/N chuckled to herself.

Rustling interrupted her admiration as she pulled the nearest person behind a great pillar. Peering around it, she held the person close to her chest, listening for any signs of movement, praying to Agni that it was just one of those cute fox spirits.

“I know you’re back there,” A voice said, menacing and low, leaving goosebumps up her arms; it was pure adrenaline, a fight or flight reaction.

Eyes wide, she went to hiss at Professor Zei, who had stepped out from behind the pillar. A hand clamped over her mouth – Sokka. Nose wrinkled in disdain, Y/N fought the urge to lick his hand then and there, grossing him out enough to reveal him too. Maybe the owl spirit would keep him as a pet.

“Hello!” Zei said, the word Y/N had been stuck on finally coming to her head: naïve. “I am Professor Zei, Head of Anthropology at Ba Sing Se University!”

The avian monster leered down over the professor, who seemed unfazed in his thirst for knowledge. “You would leave the way you came, unless you want to become a stuffed head of anthropology.”

As much as she disliked the man, she wouldn’t let him die. Pushing off of Sokka’s chest, not thinking about how he felt under her palms and pressed that close in the moment, Y/N rushed forwards, bowing lowly. “Oh, great spirit!  Are you the magnificent one who brought all of this knowledge into the physical world?”

“Indeed,” The spirit said, a tad less malicious than before. “I am Wan Shi Tong, ‘He Who Knows Ten Thousand Things’.”

“Oh, how marvellous!” Y/N exclaimed, coming out of her bow to look at Wan Shi Tong with as much respect and as little fear possible. “To grant the physical world, the world of humans with such a resource! You are far too benevolent.”

The spirit peered its head up as Sokka, Katara, and Aang came out of their hiding place. “Yes, and you are obviously humans, which, by the way, are no longer permitted in my library.”

“What do you have against humans?” Aang blurted out, not unkindly, but with a lack of respect that made Y/N cringe; surprisingly, she had no intention of being eaten by a giant owl spirit!

“Hmph!” Wan Shi Tong sneered, standing tall to look down on them all. 

“Humans only seek knowledge to get an edge on other humans, like that firebender who came to this place a few years ago seeking to destroy his enemy. So, who are you seeking to destroy?”

“What?” Sokka said, stretching the vowel too long to be anything but suspicious. “No-no-no-no destroying of anyone! We’re not into that.”

Wan Shi Tong blinked with his great, owlish eyes. “Then why have you come here?”

“Um... knowledge for knowledge’s sake?”

His shadow loomed over the boy. “If you’re going to lie to an all-knowing spirit, you should at least at some effort into it.”

This was it then. Y/N steeled herself, ready to see Sokka eaten in front of her. He’d be sorely missed of course, the git, but what happens had to happen, right? Although, what would happen to the rest of them if he was eaten? Would they be resigned to the same fate? She knew Katara would never forgive herself, that Professor Zei would manage to turn Sokka into some sort of parable – a caricature of the person he truly was. Eyes widening at her sudden epiphanies, Y/N darted in front of the men making fools of themselves, offering her bō staff out in a low bow.

“Please forgive the indiscretion of my idiot companion,” She grovelled, ecstatic at the jibe she managed to fit in. “I offer one more bit of knowledge to your vast collection, if you’ll have it.”

Reaching with one fluid motion, the spirit practically absorbed the staff. “You, girl of secrets, may stay.”

Wan Shi Tong looked amongst the group, expectant. One by one, each of them gave away something precious; a scroll, a tome, and a poster were added to his collection. But what of Sokka? A special knot was offered with a grin.

“You’re not very bright, are you?” The spirit blanched, enough sarcasm to match the boy himself. “Enjoy the library.”

Flourishing out of sight, Y/N pushed down a snort, “He’s dramatic for a spirit.”

Falling back to walk with Katara, she allowed herself to breath in the atmosphere of such a grand place. Every tome had collected dust over what must have been centuries; it felt wrong, sinful, to touch them, let alone peruse through its words. This seemed to be a shared opinion of Katara, who avoided picking up every tome that seemed mildly interesting.

Aang and Sokka, however, were picking up works because they fancied the colour.

“Hey, look at these weird lion turtle things!” Aang said, shoving a scroll in their faces.

“Eh,” Sokka waved his hand, “I’ve seen weirder.”

Deeper into the library they ventured, the hallways growing darker and the tomes growing dustier –  rarer – as they went along. Though, maybe it wasn’t dust. All colour flushed from Y/N’s skin as she saw the room marred with burn marks and ashes. A firebender had done this. They had committed an atrocity she didn’t think possible. This was the human that the spirit had so spitefully told them about.

“They destroyed everything to do with the Fire Nation,” Katara gasped.

That’s what they do, Y//N thought bitterly.

Taking a seat in the remains of such precious knowledge, Y/N watched with some amusement as her friends chased after a Knowledge Seeker. The little fox led them away swiftly, and what they may find could be vital, but she couldn’t bring herself to follow. Something about the room they had discovered made her stomach turn, waves of guilt rolling continuously, growing greater and more violent until she wanted to be sick.

“I’m sorry,” She whispered, looking up to see the owl spirit stood over her. “I’m sorry on behalf of the evil person who did this.”

The spirit considered for a moment. “Would you indulge me with a secret? I find secrets to be the greatest knowledge of all.”

“Will it compensate you for the damage?”

“Not entirely,” Wa Shi Tong admitted, not nearly as menacing as he had been, “But enough for forgiveness,”

And so she spoke. She indulged the spirit in every secret she had in her soul, feeling lighter and lighter as every one left her lips. Y/N told him of the family she had lost, her lineage, her first crush, her greatest rebellion against her uncle. How much value could be put on her secrets, she wondered.

She didn’t wonder for long as a Knowledge Seeker came running up to them on four legs, propping itself to two as it communicated silently with its master. She wondered if the value of her secrets could pay the spirit for the insult that was just delivered to him. With a final look at Y/N, the spirit swept away with all the rage of a warrior.

It was when the ground began to shake that Y/N realised something was truly wrong.

Exchanging looks with the spirit servant, something that she would’ve never expected to happen, she sprinted out of the room. Following the creature, it led her through the maze of bookshelves until she recognised where they were. Back at the beginning, the fox gave a frantic little bow before scurrying away. With the open window filtering light, Y/N heard the desperate cries of Appa, Qin, and Toph. 

Panicked and determined, Y/N clambered onto the bannister that prevented patrons tumbling into the abyss of tomes. It was instant death, she noted, but she needed to get to the rope hanging from the tower. Inhaling a sharp breath, she leapt across, hands burning as she struggled for a grip. Darting her eyes back to the library, she spotted the spirit tormenting her friends and the professor.

“Oh, great spirit!” She called to him, shimmying her way up the rope. “Let me be proof that not all humans carry evil, even if you cannot see it yet.”

The rage he carried was chilling.

“I’m coming Toph!”

The wails had subsided since, Appa now silenced above her. Making quick work of the rope – darting ever downwards to ensure her friends were safe – Y/N clambered through the window, narrowly avoiding Toph. Qin caught her with her tail, groaning lowly, wincing. A gash was open on her back, creating a storm of blind rage within her. Appa, however, was nowhere to be seen.

Despite what she may have said afterwards, Toph was crying. With all of her strength, she was preventing the spirit from killing them all. Once Katara, Sokka, and Aang leapt out onto the sand, Y/N made quick work of pulling Toph into a tight hug, whispering apologies over and over again until the words merged into numbness. Any spite she may have felt only hours ago had dissipated as quickly as it came. Y/N had hit her limit.

TAGLIST: @lunariasilver​ @maragreene​

[wanderingsofal]

An Act of Rebellion - Chapter 3 - Converge

Chapter summary: Keith goes to meet the Champion. Fic can also be found on AO3. Edit- fixed the readmore, since it didn’t work the first time. Sorry about that!

———–

The area where they kept the prisoners was dark and cheerless. The air smelled of dried blood and urine, afflicting Keith’s sensitive nose and causing him to gag until he remembered to breathe through his mouth. At least it wasn’t hard to find the human’s cell. A quick check on the computer pulled up a map of the prison, and another few keystrokes brought him to the controls for the cameras and sentries. A technique learned from Ulaz let him tap into the cameras and replace the live feed with a loop of old footage. There. Now he had at least half a varga before anyone noticed something was up with the camera system. Longer, if the lieutenant on duty managed to live up to expectations and not even look at the vid screens for the rest of his shift. All that was left was to slip around the sentry patrols until he found the human’s cell.

Keith was in luck. The prisoner was already back in his cell, and because of his status as Champion (or perhaps because they were afraid he would attack other prisoners if left alone with them) he was given his own unit. From where he was lurking in the shadows, Keith could see the human slumped against the wall, head on his knees. He looked so vulnerable there; far cry from the angry, dangerous man that had so easily destroyed hundreds of opponents in the arena.

Then the Champion raised his head and looked directly in Keith’s direction. The Galra froze. Hidden in the shadows as he was it would be difficult for anyone to spot him, but even a small sound might have alerted a being with sensitive hearing to his presence in the otherwise deserted passageway. He watched the human scan the area and noticed the bandage across his nose. The healers must have worked their magic on him, because he didn’t seem to be in any pain. The wound would probably scar though, giving him an older, more dangerous look.

“I know you’re there, whoever you are.” The prisoner’s voice was tired and resigned, not at all what Keith had expected from the fighter he’d seen in the arena. He kept still, unsure of what to do now that he’d been spotted. Ticks passed, and the man sighed. “You can come out, you know. I can’t hurt you from in here.”

Keith slowly stepped into the light, hands raised and empty. The human followed Keith’s approach with his gaze but didn’t move from his position against the wall. He just watched as if waiting for whatever would happen next. So Keith moved carefully, trying to project a nonthreatening demeanor until he stood next to the force shield. Then he waited, unsure of what to say.

The Champion looked up at him with those beautiful grey eyes, and once again Keith was lost. This close his sharp sight could pick up on the threads of darker and lighter grey that ran through them, and he wondered if this was what the sky on Earth looked like before a storm.

“What is it now? Or are you just here to stare at ‘The Champion’,” the human asked, voice flat with a hard edge of sarcasm creeping in at the end.

Keith shook his head, breaking the hold of that wonderful gaze and mentally berating himself for behaving like a stunned tree-rat from that planet with the three suns.

“I, um. Here.” He dropped a bag he’d had slung over his shoulder and pressed a few buttons on the force shield controls, opening the small door in the bottom that was used to feed the prisoners. Then he pushed the bag through with his foot and closed it again. “Its medicine, should help with your wounds. Ah, and ease the pain. And there’s some food. I know they don’t give you much. You’ll probably want to hide it from the guards, but what you don’t eat should keep for a while. It’s just standard ration bars, which, I know they taste awful but… I’ll shut up now.” Keith trailed off as he noticed the human staring at him as if he’d suddenly grown an extra head.

“Why?” he asked, frowning at the bag and then back up at Keith.

“Why what?” Keith cocked his head to the side, watching a series of expressions cross the human’s face as he thought.

“Why give me this?” He pulled the bag closer and carefully reached in, pulling out a meal pack and a box of painkillers that Keith had appropriated from an unwatched supply room.

“I…” Keith blinked, and then shrugged. “Honestly, it was my friend’s idea. Said I’d need to earn your trust. I figure food’s as good a way as any.”

Surprisingly, the human laughed. “And telling me that is supposed to help?”

“Well… no.” The spy shook his head and slid down the wall extending from the opposite side of the cell, pulling up his knees as he sat in a mirror of the Champion’s posture.  “But lying didn’t seem like the best idea to start off with.”

The man narrowed his eyes, watching Keith’s face with suspicion. “You people seem to prefer torture to get what you want. Why the change?”

“They’re not ‘my people’,” Keith said, ears going back in irritation. “And everyone knows torture is a terrible way to get information.”

“Not your people?” He raised an eyebrow.

Keith glowered. “That’s not important. What do you know about Voltron?”

The champion sighed. “Look, like I’ve told everyone else that’s ‘asked’, I have no idea what a Voltron even is.”

“Huh.” It was rare that they came across any race in the galaxy that didn’t know what Voltron was, at least as a legend told to children. Either the human was lying, or his species hadn’t encountered any other sentient beings before he was taken prisoner. If he truly didn’t know what it was, that might be why all interrogations so far had failed to yield results. At least that would be an easy thing to test, all Keith had to do was tell him what Voltron was.

 “It’s the most powerful weapon in the universe. It was created by the Altean king Alfor, and lost ten thousand years ago. Sendak believes you know where part of it is.” Hatred leaked into Keith’s voice at the mention of Sendak’s name, his ears going flat against his head until he forced himself to relax. He’d hated the man for years, but being so closely linked to him, having to spend every day in his presence, had brought about a kind of loathing that permeated his thoughts on the commander. It was a relief to let it out, even a little, in front of someone who wouldn’t reprimand him for it.

“How would I know that?” The human was leaning forward now, resting his elbows on his knees as he watched Keith. “Even if it’s on Earth, it’s a big planet. It could be anywhere.”

“It’s big then?” At the mention of Earth, Keith’s eyes lit up and he shifted, leaning towards the other man. All mention of Voltron was forgotten at the mention of his father’s planet.

The Champion stared at him. “It- Earth? Yeah. I mean, it’s not the biggest planet in our solar system, but it’s not the smallest either.”

“Does it have many people? How many sentient races? How advanced are they? Do you have oceans? Deserts?” Questions he had always wanted to know poured out of him like water from an upturned bucket.

“Uh, it’s… why do you need to know?” confusion morphed into suspicion on the Champion’s face, his eyes going hard and cold.

Quiznak. He’d let his excitement run away with him, forgetting that he human would likely see his questions as another interrogation. Keith forced himself to settle back against the wall, palms open and facing upwards on his knees, doing his best to appear non-threatening. “I’m curious. I’ve never seen a human before, and I’ll probably never see Earth.” It wasn’t quite a lie at least. Not that he had ever considered telling the man the true reason for his curiosity.

Suspicion turned to anger and the human glared at him. “You’re trying to get information out of me so you can invade my planet,” he accused. “Looking for this Voltron thing, or whatever it is that you people want.”

Keith shook his head, annoyed at himself. He’d screwed up by asking those questions, and he knew it. “That’s not why I asked. If I was trying to get information out of you for Zarkon, I’d already have it, and you’d be dead.”

The Champion leaned back against the wall, studying Keith’s face. “And this is supposed to get me to trust you?”

“Yes!” Keith snapped. Then, “No. I’m not good at this, okay?” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, letting his ears droop in frustration and embarrassment.

“Look,” the human said, corners of his lips turning up in what might be the beginning of a smile. “Let’s start simple. I’m Shiro.”

“…” Keith looked down. It was too risky to tell this man either of his names. Anyone who found out that Lieutenant Kogane was visiting the prisoner would be sure to mention it to Sendak, which would put both Keith and the Champion - Shiro - in serious danger. And Ulaz had a point about his real name. If anyone ever connected it to him, it would cost the Blade of Marmora years of effort, not to mention the death sentence it would get Keith.

“Hard question?” Shiro asked.

Keith shook his head. “Not exactly. I just can’t risk Sendak finding out I’m down here.” He carefully bit his lower lip, cursing himself for not coming up with a plan for this. He wasn’t the type of agent that could just come up with a new cover right on the spot, and he should have known the Champion would ask for his name.

“You’re not here on his orders?” the human sounded surprised. Keith glanced up to see him frowning again.

“If he finds me down here he’ll kill me,” he told the man honestly. “And that would waste all the hard work we did to get me here.”

“We?”

Keith swallowed a growl, annoyed at himself for the slip. This conversation was getting more dangerous by the second, and he didn’t have any good answers for the Champion. “This was a mistake,” he muttered, pushing himself up off the ground. He’d have to come back later, once he’d had a chance to think of better responses to any dangerous questions.

“Wait,” Shiro called, extending a hand as if to reach for him. “You don’t have to tell me.”

“You’re right,” Keith told him. “I don’t. Use the medicine if you want. There’s another match tomorrow. Try not to die. Sendak bet three hundred GAC you’d finally be beaten this weekend, and I’d hate to see him win.” Before the human could say anything more, Keith had disappeared back into the shadows.