Fan Fiction ❯ Finally Woken ❯ The Fenris Wolf and the Midgard Serpent ( Chapter 3 )

There was utter silence as Appa glided to a smooth halt on the beach of a small, uninhabited island. Aang had to keep jerking himself awake, Sokka was snoring loudly at the back of Appa's saddle, the strange nameless boy was sleeping silently at the opposite corner from Sokka, and Katara was drifting somewhere between sleep and wakefulness.

 

Seeing as the new boy was currently the most interesting object on Appa's back, and seeing how bored out of her mind she was, she let herself stare at his back while she slipped out of consciousness. His side rose slowly and steadily, and as she watched, he turned over in his sleep, a slight frown on his face and his dark eyebrows curling towards the center of his forehead in a slightly troubled expression. Katara found herself waking up a bit more, wondering what would worry him in his dreams. She would understand if Sokka or even, perhaps especially, Aang wore that frown in their sleep, but she knew nothing about this boy, and could only guess at what was troubling him.

 

Then he gave the softest, faintest sigh and his features relaxed. He curled up tighter in his little ball and buried his face in his arms, dark-brown curls tumbling over his pale skin. Aang had finally drifted off, sprawled on his back Appa's head, breathing lightly with Momo curled on his belly. His face was untroubled and happy; his cherubic visage plump and smooth in his youth, though one could argue that he was technically one-hundred-and-twelve. Finally, Katara's gaze moved to her brother, who lay on his side, his fingers twitching once in a while, a look of bliss on his face. She wondered what he was dreaming of, but it became apparent when he mumbled softly, “Pass the gravy…” and rolled over, snoring loudly.

 

She giggled, covering her mouth with her hands to keep from waking any of them. She knew Aang and Sokka slept like rocks, but who knew about the nameless boy. Silently, she undid the braid dangling down her spine and shook out her sheet of brown hair, digging in her bag for a comb to untangle it. Her hair was wavy from being kept in a braid, but nowhere near as curly as the new boy's ochre mane. His wild spirals swirled downward in loose ringlets while her tresses fell in soft sienna waves, like the water she struggled so hard to control. Expertly she spun the trepid waves back into their braid and leaned back against the saddle with a contented sigh. A moment of silence. Peaceful serenity. A rare and glorious moment in which she could enjoy life.

 

She sighed again, more deeply this time, and the nameless boy jerked up.

 

Damn.

 

So much for peace and quiet.

 

He turned those big brown eyes on her and she met his gaze almost challengingly. Why, she didn't know. He wasn't challenging her. Just wondering what woke him up. It was those eyes of his. So innocent at first glance; big brown puppy eyes. But once he stopped pretending to be the helpless little boy she knew he wasn't, she could see a catlike intelligence there, constantly alert and watchful. Even his movements reminded her of a cat; he moved with an agility and ease that spoke of the most intelligent feline, and even now, as he stretched, he arched his back and made a little grunting, sighing noise that sounded suspiciously like a purr. She eyed him warily.

 

“You're sure you don't remember anything before you met us?”

 

He stopped in mid-stretch, and those sharp eyes flicked to her deep blue ones.

 

“Yep.”

 

“Hm.”

 

“What's that mean?” Said with perfect feline nonchalance.

 

“Nothing. Just `hm.'”

 

“Mm-hm.” Sarcastically.

 

“What's that mean?” Said with a slight edge in her voice.

 

“Oh, nothing. Just `mm-hm.'” His eyes moved away from her, breaking her scrutinous glare.

 

She frowned. He always did that, turning away at the last second, just when she thought she was breaking through that outer layer of his eyes. Maybe Sokka was right… She snorted; what was she thinking?! Her brother? Right?! HA! He was a paranoid delusional older brother. He was never right. Well, almost never.

 

So he might be right this time.

 

“Whatcha thinkin'?”

 

He was watching her again, and she almost expected him to sidle over and purr while rubbing against her calves on all fours with the way he was sitting there, or more crouching there. One hand helped him keep his balance while he crouched on his toes, the other hand resting idly on one of his bent knees. It was a defensive stance, but he looked so natural doing it that she might have thought it was actually comfortable. But she'd been in that crouch before while hiding with Aang and Sokka from the firebenders in the bushes, and knew just how long it took for the calves to start cramping. Exactly six seconds and she was in excruciating pain. She started counting the seconds.

 

“Oh, just wondering how close we were to the nearest town.” Liar.

 

“Three miles.” Damn him.

 

“Oh? How'd you know?” …Four seconds, five…

“I checked the map before I fell asleep. I guessed we'd stop here to rest.” …Six seconds, seven…

 

“Are we that predictable?” …Eight… Nine…

 

“Only if you know when and where you took off and which direction you were headed.” …Ten… Eleven… Twelve… Thirteen… Fourteen…Fifteen… Sixteen… Seventeen… Eighteen…

 

He shifted slightly, but didn't move from his crouch, his eyes still fixed on her, waiting for a reply.

 

…Nineteen… Twenty… Twenty-one… Twenty-two… Twenty-three…

 

“Katara?” She lost count, lifting her eyes from his calves to his face.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Will we… Are we going to die?”

 

She was shocked. Die?! But she knew that she couldn't say no. There was always the possibility that one of them would lose their life on a mission as dangerous as this.

 

 

 

Her silence was his only reply, and Lucien couldn't help but look away. What would happen if he died here? Would he wake up back home, sprawled in front of the TV with some Nickelodeon show blaring in the background and Cricket yowling for food? Or would he be gone forever, lost in this strange and unfriendly dimension that most certainly wasn't home? He had no answers for himself, just as Katara had none for him. He finally flopped onto his rump, unconsciously massaging his calves to get rid of the cramping threatening there. He didn't notice that Katara relaxed a great deal when he did this.

 

 

 

Thirty-eight seconds. She frowned. Well that beat, laughed at, and shamelessly squashed to a bloodied pulp her record for crouching.

 

Then she noticed the look of worry on his face, and her own expression changed.

 

“Look, I know it sounds rough, but really, anywhere you go has that chance. I mean, the firebenders are probably more likely to kill you if your just on your own in some village than if you're here with us.”

 

To her surprise, he shook his head and said, “It's not that… It's just…” He seemed to be struggling with something, as if wondering whether to tell her something, which he was. After a long pause, he heaved a sigh and said almost dejectedly, “Never mind…”

 

“Tell me.”

 

“I… I can't…”

 

“Sure you can! You can't keep secrets locked up in you. It's unhealthy.”

 

He glanced sideways at her, then shifted his gaze to the ground again.

 

“It's not really like that, Katara. You'd think I was insane if I told you.”

 

She raised an eyebrow, and the sarcastic motion was not lost on him.

 

“I'm not kidding!”

 

“Tell me. I won't think you're any more insane than I do now. Which would be pretty difficult to do anyway, quite honestly.”

 

He didn't laugh, but instead turned his back on her with a look of disappointment and hurt on his face.

 

“I'm sorry… I didn't mean it… It's just that you're a little… Strange to us.” She motioned to Aang and Sokka, staring helplessly at his back, which hunched over as he hugged his denim-clad knees.

 

 

 

 

Lucien stared out across the beach and wondered what to say. She was letting him into her world, quite literally, and he was hesitating about letting her into his. That made his heart ache painfully, but he ignored it. How could anyone be so good? She was so sweet and kind and innocent. Should he tell her?

 

Now he fully understood the meaning of teenage angst. Damn.

 

“Well,” he said finally, turning back around. The girl (Katara, remember?) smiled at him and those big blue eyes twinkled. He took a deep breath, opened his mouth, and… Aang jumped in his face.

 

“Morning!”

 

Lucien shouted with surprise and jumped backward, away from the kid's unflagging enthusiasm, hit the backs of his knees on Appa's saddle, and fell off, landing on his back in the sand.

 

“Whoops! Sorry!” Aang's apologetically grinning face popped over the edge of the saddle and Lucien could hear Katara laughing on the other side.

 

“Huh?! Wha?!” Sokka was awake, apparently. Not shocking, really, considering Lucien's yell could have woken the dead. Or a banished prince camping on the other side of the island, waiting for news on the Avatar.

 

 

 

“Uncle Iroh! Did you hear that?” Zuko jerked out of his trance, his meditation ruined.

 

“I heard a bird call, if that's what you're talking about.” His uncle glanced up from the board game in front of him as his opponent studied his new move.

 

The royal stood stiffly up, reaching for the armour lying across a chair in his temporary tent.

 

“That was no bird, Uncle. It was a human.”

 

“Hm. On an uninhabited island? Undoubtedly you believe it is the Avatar.”

 

Zuko's eyes narrowed. “Of course, Uncle. Who else would be here?”

 

“A weary traveler, perhaps?”

 

“It's an island. It's too far away from any other land for a rowboat, and any other kind of boat would move along on it's own well enough if someone was asleep inside it, leaving out the need to stop. That leaves transportation that would tire easily after a day of travel.”

 

“Such as the Avatar's flying bison, perhaps?” The prince's fists clenched, his knuckles white with contained aggression. His uncle looked so smug. Humoured by his search. Bastard. He didn't understand. It had to be the Avatar. It just had to be.

 

The new boy had propped himself up on his elbows where he lay and glowered up at Sokka, who was laughing his ass off. Aang and Katara were both grinning.

 

Aang swung lightly over the bison's side and landed on his feet by the nameless kid, holding out a hand to help him up.

 

“Sorry,” he repeated earnestly, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

 

The new kid ignored him, choosing instead to snap at Sokka.

 

“Shut up already, unless you want to have that boomerang shoved up your- OOF!”

 

Both teens flew backward, Sokka trying to punch him and the nameless boy struggling to get him off of him. Then he caught hold of the Water Tribe warrior's wrists and with one swift swing of his knee, flipped Sokka over his head, while using the momentum of his kick to do a back flip and land in a crouch beside the winded boy.

 

 

 

Before Sokka could figure out what happened, Lucien had pressed his knee into the teen's chest and had his thumb up against his jugular.

 

Sokka glared at him with contempt. “What are you gonna do? Claw me to death with your fingernail?”

 

“No, I'll cut off the circulation to your brain and render you unconscious and helpless in less than five seconds by merely pressing down on this big vein here.” His thumb dug into the skin of Sokka's neck, and stars danced in front of his eyes.

 

Katara gasped, and Lucien was distracted. Sokka took the opportunity to swing his fist up, catching the other boy's jaw with his knuckles and throwing him sideways.

 

Both sat up, rubbing their wounded necks/jaws and glaring daggers at each other.

 

“Stupid weirdo kid,” Sokka muttered. Lucien, being the mature adult that he was, spat at him in reply.

 

“Enough already!” Katara glared down at both of them, her arms crossed and her ice-blue eyes blazing. Both cringed and hung their heads pathetically.

 

“Sorry…” they murmured together, though whether to each other or the girl, it wasn't certain.

 

 

“Hmph. Boys.” Katara turned away, rolling her eyes at the two sheepish, sand-covered figures on the beach. Then her eyes flew open and she screamed.

 

 

 

Zuko cursed the idiot soldier he'd sent to ambush the four with every bad word he'd ever heard, and his vocabulary didn't run dry until the Avatar had rendered the foolish soldier unconscious with a blast of air that threw him backward against a tree trunk.

 

The two boys that had been fighting (Zuko recognized one as the miserable peasant that had foiled his plan the last time and his fists clenched) were on their feet in an instant, and a stream of water was undulating between the wary girl's hands, ready to slam into the next firebender that approached. He heard the Water Tribe boy say, “Zuko,” and he watched (not without a hint of pride) each of them tense visibly.

 

“Go,” he hissed to the masked and armoured benders behind him, and they spread out, ready to rush out and trap the four against the sea. The waterbender would be a small problem, as the water would only give her more firepower (the irony of the term was not lost on the prince), so he would have to be careful of her. As for the other three, the two teenage boys would hopefully give up once they realized how outnumbered they were, and the Avatar would follow suit to keep from having either of the two hurt.

 

“Well, well, well. What have we here?” Zuko chuckled softly, his gilt eyes glittering maliciously as he stepped from the shelter of the trees and approached the four. The girl sent her stream of water at him, but a blast of flame evaporated it. Surprisingly, none of the others attacked. They merely watched him cautiously.

 

“Now, that wasn't very nice,” he chided her, a cruel smirk making the corners of his mouth twitch upward. She was fuming, and it delighted him to see her so furious at her ineffective attack. Quit wasting time.

 

Right. On to business.

 

He watched them with a dark amusement on his face for a moment, and noted subconsciously that the newer boy, unlike the others, who were all standing, had dropped into a defensive crouch. Intelligent brown eyes met his glinting amber ones, and Zuko made a mental note to not underestimate the seemingly innocent teen. Then the moment passed and Zuko fixed his cool golden gaze on the Avatar, his goal.

 

 

 

Without warning, the prince barked, “Now!” and a line of firebenders raced out of the trees, each with the right hand forward, palm facing out, and the left hand back with the fingers curled into a fist.

 

They were trapped.

 

 

 

Lucien had felt a spark race up his spine when the teenaged boy met his gaze. There was an inhuman fury behind those calm eyes, and it scared him, but he stared right back, filling himself with as much courage as he could muster.

 

Then they appeared, running forward and pressing the foursome's backs against the ocean. Katara and Aang reacted instantly, throwing water and air at them tirelessly.

 

True, he'd pretty much freaked out inside when he figured out that the two could control elements, but after the initial shock, he took it into account that this world was different from his and maybe people could do real magic here, like command air and water. And apparently fire. After all, it's not that big a leap once you get used to the idea.

 

Sokka was chopping and smashing and generally having a good ol' time with his silver boomerang and club, looking right at home amidst a hopelessly enormous group of enemies.

 

Only Lucien was on his own, unsure what to do. Then a masked soldier lunged at him, grabbing at him, and he used the coiled spring of his crouched legs to fling himself into a backwards handstand and away from the freakish man's gloved hands.

 

“Hey! Oi! Over here!” he bellowed at the men, swinging his arms above his head.

 

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Katara shrieked at him, snatching his hand and yanking it down.

 

“Distracting them!” he shouted back at her over the roar of battle. “You were supposed to run!”

 

“Don't be an idiot! We aren't going to leave you here!” she barked right back, but their argument was cut short as a burly idiot in armour grabbed at her arm and she quickly pulled a stream of water from the waves and sent it cracking against his face like a whip, causing him to stagger back.

 

Then a huge fist sank into Lucien's gut and he doubled over, breathless, pain emanating from his stomach. He'd been hit before, punched before, slapped before, but that was by kids. Little teenagers. Not enormous, hulking masses of muscle like the men surrounding them. He fell to his knees, still doubled over with pain, but a strange calm overtook him as the man drew back his fist again, this time with fire encircling his knuckles.

 

As the flaming fist shot toward him, Lucien leapt sideways, into the surf, and splashed out into the water. The soldier, dumbfounded at first, quickly followed suit. After all, the kid had nowhere to go, and the taller man could wade out farther than some little kid.

 

But Lucien had seen the water with a bird's eye view from Appa's back before he fell asleep, and from the way the idiot of a man followed him blindly out, he had not. He had a plan. Zuko had been right to decide not to underestimate him.

 

As the water got hip deep and his movements slowed, the soldier began to catch up.

 

Almost there… Almost… Now! Lucien pretended to stumble, really diving into the water at the drop off he knew was there. From Appa's back he had seen where the water suddenly changed from shallow to very deep and he had calculated the distance from the shore to the deep water in his head.

 

The firebender knew nothing of the sudden drop off and he let out a shout of victory when Lucien fell, rushing through the water as fast as he could to catch his prey before it got up again. But Lucien was really hiding underwater just past the drop off, and as the man raced blindly forward, his foot met, not solid ground, but empty water. He fell downward, his heavy armour dragging him down.

 

Lucien hesitated, though his lungs begged for air, as he watched the man fumble desperately with the catch on his armour. In his fear, he tried to call for help, his mind clouded to the fact that no one would hear him underwater by the growing fear that was visible to Lucien in his wide eyes.

 

As he opened his mouth to scream, the air in his lungs burst free in giant silver bubbles, which rose, shimmering and undulating, to the surface, as their helpless master could not. The soldier's terrified eyes glazed as he sucked in a breath, filling his lungs, not with air, but thick, coursing, deadly water.

 

Lucien watched him die, drowning slowly and painfully, sinking ever lower into the darkness of the deep, and felt the weight of murder weigh heavily on his shoulders, nearly taking him down with his victim.

 

Only when the last scrap of scarlet fabric had vanished into the shadows did Lucien snap out of his horrified trance and rise to the surface to gulp the warm air. Katara was shouting for him, simply calling “Hello? Are you there?” because she had no name to call him by.

 

Aang and Sokka were both fighting the teenager; the only firebender left standing on the battlefield of churned-up sand and flaming driftwood.

 

He paddled back to shore, and as his mind filled with that same odd calm as he stumbled out of the water. He knew his name now.

 

Katara strode up to him, looking relieved, as the firebender turned tail and raced back into the trees, spitting curses over his shoulder.

 

“I remember my name,” Lucien told her, his voice emotionless and calm.

 

“Really? What is it?” Aang and Sokka had joined them, and the three looked at him curiously.

 

“My name is Loki.” The trickster-god of Norse mythology. A smile slowly curled his face as he turned to look back out at the sea, glistening and sparkling in the bright sunshine.