Day 152

[daughterofursa]

Who: Princess Zuko and anyone!
Open: Open
When: Day 152
Where: Skyway
What: A new arrival
Format: I'll match!
Warnings: Honor

Zuko knew something was wrong the moment she opened her eyes, and instinct made her try to leap to her feet to face any attackers. Her still-healing body protested, and with a wince she only managed to sit up.

Looking about her, she quickly discerned that there was no one in sight, and nothing familiar. She had been in the palace, but now she sat outside, not even the walls of the caldera rising up around her.

Her swords were nearby, and though she was in no condition to wield them, she slung them up over her shoulder before pushing herself to her feet. She stifled a groan with the motion, one arm hugging her ribs. When it passed, she looked out ahead of her and froze.

"What..."

She was on an island... in the air. She had never had a dream this vivid, but it had to be a dream, right? There was no way this was real.

Comments

[daughterofursa]

"That's crazy. Not even the Avatar has that much power." Her voice is starting to sound hoarse. As impossible as this is becoming, she isn't waking up.

[wayofvoice]

Well, there is only so much denial that can be done. "Not many in my world could as much either." A sad deep sigh. "There is safe harbor- the Bastion. You are weak and should not be on the Skyway."

[daughterofursa]

No, Zuko is pretty good at denial. Also shouting. Being angry at the situation is a lot easier than accepting it. A lot less likely to make her break down.

"Of course I shouldn't be here! I should be in my home. I have responsibilities to my nation, my people... You're telling me that's all gone? Well, I'm not buying it! You're going to take me back there."

[wayofvoice]

For a long and possibly uncomfortable moment, the large dragon simply stares at Zuko and her anger. It doesn't seem to phase him very much. Finally, he shakes his head. "What you may find may not please you, yet perhaps confronting it will eventually bring you peace." Eventually. Maybe. "Onto my neck then, if you find yourself strong enough." There's a few places for Zuko to set herself- there's right behind Paarthurnax's skull where there are plenty of horns to grab hold of but there's also a decent place at the base of his neck.

[daughterofursa]

Zuko glares back at him, although there's a small voice in the back of her head that tells her maybe it's not such a smart idea to be shouting orders at a motherfucking dragon. She'll get back to that later.

His response isn't what she was expecting. He's agreed to take her somewhere? It won't be home, if he's going to keep insisting it's gone, but there isn't much point in her staying on this island either.

"Fine." She grabs hold of those horns and pulls herself up behind his head, gritting her teeth to keep quiet. She'd prefer the dragon think she's in better shape than she is. "Let's see what you have to show me."

[wayofvoice]

So long as she holds on, then Paarthurnax won't worry. He moves his head from side to side a bit, just to test her grip. It's only when he's satisfied does he launch himself into the air with a mighty heave. He's careful as he hovers in place and then begins to fly above the barely held together pieces of land.

"Your homeland- what does it look like?" Once they find proof that the Calamity has touched her land, then he'll head back to the Bastion. Best to get such a thing out of the way, in his opinion.

[daughterofursa]

"Nothing like this," Zuko says. Even from the air, the strange archipelago seems to stretch away in every direction. These aren't at all like the islands of the Fire Nation.

"I was in the royal palace, in the crater of a volcano. I don't see any volcanoes."

[wayofvoice]

"I would be surprised if such things survived this Calamity." A heavy sigh that goes all through him. It's a rather small thing, but Paarthurnax does earn for some sort of mountain. It doesn't feel right to lay on flat land. He needs something to dig his talons into.

"And the buildings of your land?"

[daughterofursa]

"Mostly white stone walls with red tile roofs. You can't expect to see..."

She trails off, because she thinks she has caught a glimpse of something like that. But it could certainly be something else. Something unrelated and just as unfamiliar as everything else here.

[wayofvoice]

Zuko is right at Paarthurnax's head. There's no way to miss the way he trails off.

"What is it?" He'll slow himself down to a hover.

[daughterofursa]

"Ahead, to the right." Her voice is tense again. She doesn't want it to be what it looks like at this distance.

[wayofvoice]

There's a lot of things many of them don't want to see here. Paarthurnax is somewhat sorry that they still must be seen. So he twists his body through the air to push himself forward, making his way to where Zuko is pointing.

[daughterofursa]

She's ready with more refutations as they approach. Anyone could make a building like that, there's nothing remarkable about it. It's only the corner of something larger, the rest having crumbled away, and from the outside it could be the remains of any building in the capital, or any building at all.

But as they come around the side, Zuko recognizes the exposed interior. It's Mai's house.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

[wayofvoice]

That's a cue for landing, then.

Hopefully Zuko is still holding on tightly, for Paarthurnax comes to a stop, wings flaring out and allowing him to rest his feet upon the earth. His large body flows downward, large wings holding his front up.

"Off, then." It might help to have some solid ground under her.

[daughterofursa]

Zuko slips clumsily down from his neck and falls onto her knees.

Destroyed. How can everything be destroyed? They just saved the world, things were supposed to be getting better from now on. After everything she went through, to have that accomplishment, the peace they fought so hard for, not only torn away but rendered completely meaningless... This goes beyond a slap in the face.

And Mai, her uncle, the Avatar and his friends-- Are they gone, too? The bile in the pit of her stomach just sits there, feeling like a poison. But there's something else that doesn't make sense.

"Why am I here, if everything is... gone?"

[wayofvoice]

Everyone needs their moment to mourn. Paarthurnax knows this. It is not something he has done often, but enough times to know the value of such a thing. Mourning for his friends so many centuries ago. Mourning for his poor foolish brother and that treacherous pride. He stays quiet, only his deep heavy breaths making him known there. When that question finally comes, he gives a heavy sigh.

"That is the question of all survivors... Grik los lein. That is how it is. For better or worse, your fortune has kept you safe. Yet you are not alone. There is a Bastion. A place of safety."

[daughterofursa]

Zuko doesn't take as much time as she really needs right now, because she grasps on to something the dragon has just said.

"I don't care about a place of safety. If there are other survivors, there might be others from my world?"

[wayofvoice]

"I have seen no others with your dress." There's no lying about this. He hasn't seen anyone wear the same kind of clothing Zuko is wearing right now. Still... "Perhaps you would know better than I."

[daughterofursa]

"Well, they might not be from the Fire Nation," she says quickly. Or they might not be dressed like it. Not having been exposed to anything else, Zuko isn't accustomed to thinking of the four nations as having similar styles of clothing. Besides, like he said, how much is a dragon going to know about it?

She pushes herself back to her feet, ignoring the effort involved. "I have to look for them."

[wayofvoice]

The fact that it takes so much effort concerns him. It would be best if they returned to the Bastion as soon as possible. There's plenty to do there at any rate, and perhaps one of the others will know more. He offers his neck once more.

"Then come. And lest I forget myself... I am Paarthurnax."

[daughterofursa]

Oh. Introductions. That's probably a good idea seeing as the dragon isn't a figment of her imagination.

"Paarthurnax," Zuko repeats. It's a pretty strange name. "I am Zuko, Crown Princess of the Fire Nation." She realizes only after she's said it that the title doesn't have much meaning, without a nation to rule. But maybe, maybe some of her people have survived.

She takes a breath and climbs back up onto the dragon's neck. "Let's go."

[wayofvoice]

Yeah, he's pretty real.

"Princess," Paarthurnax muses as Zuko pulls herself up onto his neck once more. "There is another of similar rank within our Bastion. Perhaps you and she may have much to speak of." Or they might not get along at all, but it's too soon to say. Once again, he takes to the air and turns so that he may travel back to the Bastion.

[daughterofursa]

"As long as her name isn't Azula." Which seems unlikely, if Paarthurnax hasn't seen anyone who looks like her. The realization doesn't give her any satisfaction, only a faint sinking feeling. As bad as things got between them, she wouldn't have wished this end on her sister.

[wayofvoice]

Azula... A name to keep in mind, then. "The Princess Zelda. That is her name. She will be noticeable." Green skin does that. He keeps up the pace and, soon enough, the Bastion is visible. It's still at some distance but with Paarthurnax's advantages, well, they'll be there soon.

[daughterofursa]

It's an unfamiliar name, but it does at least sound a lot less foreign than 'Paarthurnax.'

She spots the settlement ahead, larger than the other islands, but still too small to hold as many survivors as she would hope for.

"Are there other dragons here?" It didn't occur to her to ask before now, if he's on his own the way she desperately hopes not to be.

[wayofvoice]

The question is a sad one. His kin were not perfect by any means, and most were difficult to convince down the Way of the Voice. Still, they were his kin. Alduin could not have been helped but the others..

"Niid. None who shared the skies with me are here, although perhaps the coming days will change that. I have much more distant kin, however. Ryu is not as I am, but he is dragon regardless."

[daughterofursa]

"I'm sorry."

The apology is, at least in a small part, a personal one. Maybe if her family hadn't hunted dragons nearly to extinction, at least those from her own world would have had a better chance to make it here. It's sad, though not nearly as painful as her own losses.

[wayofvoice]

"Was it your hand that brought such ruin? Niid. There is little reason for you to apologize. I have seen much, and am used to such loss."

Soon enough, he's circling about the edges of the Bastion and letting Zuko get a good look at the small island that they've all come to call their home, for now. The buildings are certainly different from those of the Fire Nation in terms of architecture, but they've held up well enough. There's the small farm to the side, and Dragonfield with its small hills and some trees. No one seems to glance twice at Paarthurnax's presence; he's been here enough that it's not so unusual for most.

He finally brings himself down to land besides the Monument and lowers his neck for her. "One of the others should bring you an amulet. Such things make traversing the Skyway easier."

[daughterofursa]

Zuko climbs down more carefully this time, making sure she's steady on her feet before releasing his horn. She looks around at what she can see of the Bastion from where they are. The buildings are a little strange, but mostly the place just seems incongruously peaceful.

"I'll look into that later," she says. Her first priority is searching out familiar faces. She takes a step, hesitates, and turns back to Paarthurnax. Placing one fist against her palm, she bows to him. "Thank you."

[wayofvoice]

In return, there's just the slightest bow of his head. "Pruzah wundunne. Do not strain yourself. These place offers room for all." With that bit of warning given, Paarthurnax begins to move away.