ᴏᴏ3 : ᴛᴇxᴛ | ᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ

[honorbends]

Who: Zuko [honorbends] and YOU.
Broadcast: Fleetwide.
Action: On Ye Olde Ice Planet.
When: Now!

Why.

[ that is literally the only thing zuko texts, because he has stepped out onto the ice planet Hoth and is promptly regretting ever doing so. firebenders rise with the sun, and zuko is a morning person, and nothing is more claustrophobic than being on a ship with no natural light, or heat, or energy -- and being outside alone is rejuvenating for him, but --

there is so much snow.

so feel free to spot him wandering around looking furious in a scarf, stubbornly melting a small patch of snow, or perusing the markets for things to buy with money that he probably asked someone else for.

or you can hit him with snow and take advantage of the fact that he is, in fact, a firebender on what is apparently a recreation of the northern water tribe. with more salt.

this is the worst. ]

Comments

offline;

[honorbends]

{ he doesn't even bother responding to that.

but zuko will find sokka, looking somewhat sullen in his coat, but he's bounding a ball of fire between his hands to keep warm. also, to be spiteful. ]

... that thing floats?

[ he's looking at the kayak skeptically. ]

[alwayscomeback]

[Zuko will you stop with the fire. He hugs the kayak closer to himself.]

Of course it does! It's also flammable so less of the jerkbending, okay?

[honorbends]

I have control over my firebending.

[ though he extinguishes the fire between his hands, a small puff of smoke escaping between his fingers. ]

I won't light it on fire. -- what's it made out of?

[alwayscomeback]

It only takes a tiny little spark, and you don't want to be sinking in the freezing water, believe me.

[Oh yeah, he should be saying encouraging things about this, oops.]

Wood. You know, it comes from trees.

[honorbends]

I know where --

[ DEEP. BREATH. ]

Get in the stupid boat, Sokka.

[alwayscomeback]

She's a beautiful boat, give her some respect, she'll be floating you across the water.

[In he hops, looking at Zuko expectantly. Come on, Fire Lord, join him.]

[honorbends]

[ give him

a few more seconds as he eyes that thing in great hesitation ]

... are you sure we shouldn't have Katara?

[ you know

just in case. ]

[alwayscomeback]

[Just like...the flattest look ever. ]

Zuko, you don't need a waterbender to travel in a kayak.

[honorbends]

I know that!

[ god SOKKA ]

I'm just... -- fine.

[ zuko is completely out of his element (literally) in a boat, and while he's obviously travelled by boat before, he's never comfortable. he's far more comfortable on appa than he is on a dingy in the middle of the ocean. what good is a firebender in an ocean? not much, given his record against katara.

but he steps into the kayak, though he immediately balances himself with tiny flutterings of his arms before he gingerly sits down.

he's going to die today in a kayak with no one but sokka for company. :c ]

[alwayscomeback]

Graceful.

[Still, at least he got into the damn boat. Sokka uses the paddle to push them off from the shore. Weeeee. ]

Wow look, you've been in it for ten whole seconds and you're not dead yet.

[honorbends]

We don't exactly have these things in the Fire Nation.

[ tartly, and zuko tosses him a withering look at the declaration of having a victory from being in a death kayak for ten seconds. ]

And even if we had, I probably wouldn't have been the one steering it.

[ ozai thought he was incompetent, after all. though, really, he probably would've just shoved zuko on a boat and left him in the ocean to die.

... which, really, is kind of what he did.

zuko considers that for a moment before sighing, relaxing half an inch. ]

Do you know whether or not there's anything in the ocean like in our world?

[ like giant squid and shit, because if so, he's out so fast. ]

[alwayscomeback]

If you can steer the kayak, you only have to ask.

[Said in the sort of tone which implies he knows Zuko absolutely will not want to steer the kayak ]

What? Nah. There's fish? But nothing really big. I guess there's stuff like whales further out, but they wouldn't come so close inland.

1/2

[honorbends]

Who would have taught me to steer a kayak? My father? He would've just shoved me out of it.

[ flatly.

sometimes zuko can tell dadjokes. when he's having a good day. (it's secretly a good day.) ]

[honorbends]

[ but -- ]

The water has to be deep enough.

[ he ponders, as he glances into the water. ]

In certain spots, anyway. Are they just afraid of the people?

[alwayscomeback]

Yeaaaah, you got a point there. [Good sign for Zuko, but yeah. His dad is an asshole.]

Well for one they wouldn't want to accidentally beach themselves. For second...yeah, humans tend to hunt them, so they learn to stay away. They're smart like that.

[honorbends]

[ ozai is a major asshole tbh please adopt him ]

It's too warm in our waters for whales like that.

[ other marine life, sure, but you have to go super far to find giant whales with blubber or... whatever ]

Do they attack people?

[ sorry sokka he's a literal downer ]

[alwayscomeback]

[No, he's too gross for adopting. ]

Whales?

[Really, Zuko? REALLY? ]

Not...really. I mean there are some that eat other things in the ocean, but most of the just eat plankton.

...

That's a teeny tiny kind of shrimp.

[honorbends]

[ look zuko made a point to not actually go into the water while he was wandering around the ocean looking for the avatar and it's not like he had marine life lessons while he was trying to fix his fucking life, okay!!! ]

I know what plankton are.

[ with the same tone as i know what trees are made out of. ]

I'm pretty sure the only thing that came close to shore by our water borders were sharks. Or swam in our waters in general.

[ probably because azula fed them ]

[alwayscomeback]

[Not good enough. What if you got MAROONED and had to live off the sea? WHAT THEN? YOU COULDN'T LIVE OFF OF IROH'S TEA. ]

Yeaaaaah, sharks are definitely a different thing. Those totally will eat you.

[honorbends]

Azula used to feed the ones near our summer home and get them to come closer. My mother would let us go fishing and she would use the bait to bring the sharks closer.

{ because you know no one is surprised ]

She's probably why I don't leave land. That and water conducts electricity.

[ sokka are you feeling well adjusted in your friend choices yet ]

[alwayscomeback]

[Sokka sits back, mostly considering his life choices but also making a mental picture of that. ]

...You know that doesn't surprise me even for a teeny tiny second. Azula isn't just out of her tree, she's out of her forest.

[honorbends]

She used to be tolerable.

[ but only marginally so. they were close-ish, when they were little. but then azula started developing her powers, and that was the end of that. still, zuko is pretty sure azula wouldn't know what to do if zuko hadn't been around.

who else would ozai have hated. ]

Now she's probably better off as shark food -- are we going anywhere in particular?

[ talking about azula too much gives him a headache. ]

[alwayscomeback]

[Sokka falls silent. The last time he saw Azula wasn't exactly a great time, what with being shoved through a roof and all. But that's not the last time Zuko saw her, as far as he knows, she's safely locked away. ]

Yeah.

[Oh good, a change of subject. That's what he needs. ]

There's some good fishing a little further out, thought we could catch some for the Blue Fish.

[honorbends]

I can't promise I'd be any good at it.

[ zuko is very good at a specific set of skills, almost none of them practical. or, at least, that's what he tells himself. ]

But sure, if you need help.

[ zuko is 99% sure sokka is going to be the one helping him. ]

[alwayscomeback]

[He's pretty certain Zuko will suck at it. But it's a life skill that might save his life one day. Besides, it's a nice activity to do with a friend. Bonding. ]

Help would be great, actually.

[He'll play this game, Zuko. He will. ]