(no subject)
Aug. 2nd, 2005 02:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
moonsheen...well, it had to happen eventually. This is dedicated the sunburn I got while scribbling it on the beach. Ow.
Suna worked at the docks that morning. It was supposed to be his brother, Hara, but Hara was lazy and wanted to go see a girl. Just as well. Suna always figured he was big enough to push the crates around this year. True, it was a slow morning in the middle of the storm season—but darnit it was something. Suna shoved and pulled and hefted with great enthusiasm. The ship came through at noon; towards the end of what was really his brother’s shift.
Fire Nation, naturally. All ships were, in the storm season. No one else had them that sturdy anymore. Sturdy the ship was; big and wide and dark gray, like a floating wall.
“Whew, that one’s seen better days,” said Kirie, the fisherman’s wife, who’d been watching them all morning.
“Good!” spat Kaja, the neighbor who’s father’d been an Earthbender. “Wish it’d sunk.”
“Shaddup,” growled the dock master, passing through. “They’re good for us. Back to work, you!”
Back they went. Suna too, while the beat up, sleek nosed vessel docked. Makie on the ropes said it was a small one and Neeka doing some stacking guessed how many men must’ve been aboard. Kaja just worked with a dark look on his face and stuck his foot out into bustling Tari’s path when he started going around collecting bets on how many other ships it had ever sunk. Suna was about to guess ten, but Kaja looked pissed—and Makie handed him a rope and said it was probably just a scout ship anyway.
Then the prow opened up and they all slowed down to get a look, craning their heads while trying to act busy.
The first to come stalking down was just a kid. Everyone said so—though Suna didn’t think he looked that young, just maybe around Hara’s age. It was all just guesses though. He was in a full get-up, wearing strong reds and dark blacks. He had an aggressive step and a haughty turn of shoulder. It was no sooner than the moment his boots touched wood that he was barking orders to the dock master, who looked startled to find himself jumping to work for one so much younger. People scuttled. The Firebender boy put his hands on his hips and watched. Profiled in the noon sun, his brown eyes were so light that they looked almost gold, his skin was pale, and—
--and Suna saw, when he turned his head to address the grizzled but calm old man behind him, he had a shiny, dark spread of scar tissue across the side of his face. It twisted his left eyelids into a permanent, angry glare—
“…looked burned,” Suna said to his brother that evening, when he told him what he’d seen before been chased off at the end of the shift. "Didn't think Firebenders got burned."
Hara listened and Hara laughed.
“Dumbie,” he said, slapping him on the shoulder. “ ‘Course they get burned. They’s made of the same stuff as the rest of us, ain’t they?”
And then he got a distracted sort of look, like he sometimes got when their mother asked ‘em a tricky question or he was thinking of a girl.
“Nah, Suna. They burn. Every one of ‘em—cept the Fire Lord and his kin, I mean!” He laughed again. “They’re protected. Now hurry up, stupid, we gotta get home ‘fore mother pitches a screamfit- ”
“Yeah yeah I gotcha,” said Suna, and he broke into a run.
Suna worked at the docks that morning. It was supposed to be his brother, Hara, but Hara was lazy and wanted to go see a girl. Just as well. Suna always figured he was big enough to push the crates around this year. True, it was a slow morning in the middle of the storm season—but darnit it was something. Suna shoved and pulled and hefted with great enthusiasm. The ship came through at noon; towards the end of what was really his brother’s shift.
Fire Nation, naturally. All ships were, in the storm season. No one else had them that sturdy anymore. Sturdy the ship was; big and wide and dark gray, like a floating wall.
“Whew, that one’s seen better days,” said Kirie, the fisherman’s wife, who’d been watching them all morning.
“Good!” spat Kaja, the neighbor who’s father’d been an Earthbender. “Wish it’d sunk.”
“Shaddup,” growled the dock master, passing through. “They’re good for us. Back to work, you!”
Back they went. Suna too, while the beat up, sleek nosed vessel docked. Makie on the ropes said it was a small one and Neeka doing some stacking guessed how many men must’ve been aboard. Kaja just worked with a dark look on his face and stuck his foot out into bustling Tari’s path when he started going around collecting bets on how many other ships it had ever sunk. Suna was about to guess ten, but Kaja looked pissed—and Makie handed him a rope and said it was probably just a scout ship anyway.
Then the prow opened up and they all slowed down to get a look, craning their heads while trying to act busy.
The first to come stalking down was just a kid. Everyone said so—though Suna didn’t think he looked that young, just maybe around Hara’s age. It was all just guesses though. He was in a full get-up, wearing strong reds and dark blacks. He had an aggressive step and a haughty turn of shoulder. It was no sooner than the moment his boots touched wood that he was barking orders to the dock master, who looked startled to find himself jumping to work for one so much younger. People scuttled. The Firebender boy put his hands on his hips and watched. Profiled in the noon sun, his brown eyes were so light that they looked almost gold, his skin was pale, and—
--and Suna saw, when he turned his head to address the grizzled but calm old man behind him, he had a shiny, dark spread of scar tissue across the side of his face. It twisted his left eyelids into a permanent, angry glare—
“…looked burned,” Suna said to his brother that evening, when he told him what he’d seen before been chased off at the end of the shift. "Didn't think Firebenders got burned."
Hara listened and Hara laughed.
“Dumbie,” he said, slapping him on the shoulder. “ ‘Course they get burned. They’s made of the same stuff as the rest of us, ain’t they?”
And then he got a distracted sort of look, like he sometimes got when their mother asked ‘em a tricky question or he was thinking of a girl.
“Nah, Suna. They burn. Every one of ‘em—cept the Fire Lord and his kin, I mean!” He laughed again. “They’re protected. Now hurry up, stupid, we gotta get home ‘fore mother pitches a screamfit- ”
“Yeah yeah I gotcha,” said Suna, and he broke into a run.
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-02 07:01 pm (UTC)Owch. Just. Owch. The line that makes the fic, wow.
Rockin' as always.
Psst, I put 184 and 185 sometime up yesterday. Aaaand... 43 had shoddy animation, obviously, but that's because 44 is going to FREAKING ROCK. HARD. YES.
--Ichigo was also very put off in the preview dialogue that he won't be appearing much. Ishida seemed superiorily smug. Yoruichi was just amused
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-06 01:56 pm (UTC)