Chapter 7: Threats and Conversations

Book 2 Episode 3

Our first order of business is to confirm Aang's status. Is he still fighting, or have he and Bumi gotten away somehow? If so, where are they? Where is Azula? She must have plans for capturing Aang. She must also be aware of the unnatural mist by now. It has probably made her more cautious.

Since the chutes are sadly too conspicuous a mode of transportation, O-Ting takes us to where they end and which one he thinks Aang and Bumi ended up taking. The fog is less thick down here and as it is, we are incredibly lucky to immediately find their trail. The two aren't far, but the ease with which we track them worries me. Aang needs to be a bit more cautious.

"… I'd have really liked for you to be my teacher", Avatar Dejected says.

There is a beat of silence before Bumi yabbers, "Your teacher will be someone who has mastered the third Jin. They will be someone who waits and listens before striking."

"But I already know someone who does that!", Aang protests and I can feel a sneeze tickling my nose.

We round the corner and find them having a conversation where Aang sits on top of Bumi's coffin. Has Bumi revealed his facebending skills yet? And where is the princess?

"Who? Them?", Bumi asks shrewdly, one eye widening as he zooms in on us, the other narrowing. It's quite a sight. As his eyes pass over O-Ting, Sokka and Katara I wonder what he is basing his conclusions on. Certainly, most teenagers won't be the ones to wait and see, but O-Ting is an earthbender and he will have been in enough combat situations to know when and where he can best strike. Me, though? I've got the baby strapped to my chest and so, don't look even vaguely threatening, even with the mask on.

For a long moment, our eyes meet. Then he grins insanely, "Him! But no! He hasn't mastered the third Jin! He mastered the twenty-fourth!"

What? Can he see my stats? What level am I?

"And what is the twenty-fourth Jin?", Aang asks.

"Pre-emptive striking!"

That does fit me. I used the sequence Aang showed me to create the means to repel some of the Fire Nation fleet before the invasion. Instead of allowing General Fong to put horrible ideas in Aang's head, I argued with him in a way that made Aang question everything the man said. When we went into that ambush today I was careful to give us some advantages.

"Ah, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, King Bumi", I manage to say over my thoughts.

His grin widens, "Likewise!" Oh spirits, I did not anticipate how creepy he is in real life. I need to learn that eyebrow-thing to freak people out.

"It's good to see you again", Katara says, smiling warmly.

"That it is, young waterbender!" So polite. I suppose, being a King and all, he can be cordial if he wants to be.

I'm still waiting for Sokka to greet the King, too, when O-Ting stiffens beside me. "We are being surrounded", he mutters, just loud enough for everyone to hear.

Lovely. Thankfully, I have King Bumi, the Avatar, Katara, Sokka and O-Ting on my side of the metaphorical trench. It makes me feel a little more confident. That, and the mist I draw towards us. It will only be useful until Aang has used maybe two or three attacks, but I'm not too worried, since I'm already in the process of freezing the seams of Bumi's coffin for O-Ting or the man himself to break open.

Thankfully, neither of them has to be told what I want them to do, and I can turn my mind towards those lovely empty storage crates to line them with ice and fill them with water from the mist. I take care not to let any sloshing be heard over the sounds of metal tearing and groaning. It's always good to have options.

While the mist swallows up some of the noises, I can now hear twenty or so armoured soldiers approaching, blocking off our escape routes. Among them must be the lighter, unheard footsteps of Azula and her two friends, I'm sure of it. Once I locate them properly, I think it would be best for me to engage Azula, baby strapped to my chest and all. Of course, she will hardly care, and usually I would judge Bumi or Aang to be best suited to take her on, but at this moment, while there is still mist impeding her sight, I can slide around most of her attacks and unbalance her.

After all, one moment is all I need to tear a hole in her guard and maybe her throat. Not, that I'm a fan of killing one of the main teenage antagonists Aang has. Sadly, her living could mean a great deal of horrible moments of regret for me. That is, difficulties that could have been avoided. Difficulties that could cause my death. Azula is just that kind of dangerous to deal with.

And she's insane. Let's not forget that she was raised to become a sociopath.

There isn't much to be done for me now, but to wait and listen for a time to strike. I am so glad the baby is still asleep.

As the others shift into positions they will use to their advantage, I get a better grasp on the mist surrounding us and try to spot Azula's exact position. She wears armour, doesn't she? And she's about of a height with Mai who is taller than Katara. As I make the mist brush up against the individual enemy ambushers, I find both Mai and the Circus Girl, their clothing making them easy to distinguish from the rest. They are closer to Bumi and Aang than any others. Azula could be one of two, either closest to Sokka or myself and O-Ting, who has remained close by my side.

I shift my stance into something of a grounded one, purposefully dragging my feet over the ground audibly. It creates the sound of gravel against stone and vaguely reminds me of what earthbending sounds like, if it's on a very small scale. It also makes the one Possibly-Azula only a few paces away hone in on my location. A few muttered words drift to my ears, but I can't make out the syllables.

Am I doing this Third-Jin-thing right? I'm not sure. But what I do know, is that I have goaded her into an attack.

Her initial blast of flames serves to confirm my position. I allow it and sidestep audibly. Then she moves as close as she dares. She kicks two rapid swaths of blue flames. One is at the height of my knees, the other comes level with my chest. Two equally quick slashes of water intercept and cancel out the attack.

Throughout our entire confrontation, the mist is a great asset to me. It allows me to 'see' her movements and intercept any attacks easily. Too easily. This is not Azula. The princess would have recognised this from the very beginning. She would not bother with bending until she is close enough to touch.

As I come to this conclusion, I concentrate, take hold of my opponent's ankles and bend an icy projectile to knock her out with a blow to the back of her head. She crumples to the ground. No one else has moved during out exchange. Suspicious. And how come the 'Fake' Azula also bended blue fire? It's something I might be able to ask Iroh when I meet him again.

No matter, we will find out soon enough. With another slash I attack Azula, who dodges deftly and hones in on my position. She charges. My heartbeat drums in my chest. She is fast. Spirits, is she fast. I have a new respect for Zuko now.

But the mist still gives me an advantage. Before she can reach me, I've frozen the ground beneath her feet, bended a slash of water at the height of her waist and gotten a grip on her spit to yank her head forward. The result is a truly impressive flail that produces just enough of a firebending attack to remove the slash of water. She skates closer. On flames.

Ah, I wish there weren't any other people around, so that I could lead her on a merry chase. As it happens, I've got a baby strapped to my chest and friends at my back.

She blasts right through the wall of ice I form in her path, but a simple slide to the side on my part has her skidding past me, even as hot flames attempt to lick at my face. While she is agile enough to use one of the buildings to flip herself around and charge again, I manage to bend a large tendril of water, hidden by the mist still cloaking most of the area. It slaps her to the ground with a splash.

I wish I could see her face.

Quickly, I take the opportunity to freeze her to the ground, covering her entire body. She will melt through it, but I have no time to worry about that, because there are soldiers closing in on me, as well as the Circus Girl.

They are as annoying as they are tenacious. Soon, instead of mist, the area is covered in steam. Just as well, it's still water. Hot water that burns the skin it touches. Screams of pain surround me. Lovely, just what I need to fuel my nightmares. Maybe Aang's too.

Only the Circus Girl is agile enough to avoid my attacks. I figure any spikes of ice I send her way will be easily dodged, since she's been friends with Mai and Azula since she was a little girl. And the icy ground doesn't work on her twice. She's a challenge.

My best bet against her are moving miniature icebergs that block her on every attempt to close in on me. It's funny hearing the 'thunk's as she slams against them again and again. The baby giggles. He must have woken up at some point. Spirits, this one's going to be a handful once he can run.

While I deal with Circus Girl and the annoying firebenders, Katara is in a vicious fight with Azula while O-Ting is taking on a very competent Mai. Bumi, Aang and Sokka are fighting the benders, as well as the normal soldiers. None of them aim to kill.

My remaining two firebenders blast one of the moving icebergs and while I take them down with hard yanks on their necks and consecutive choking, Circus Girl manages to use my distraction to her advantage. She vaults over the iceberg blocking her path, closes in on my right side and gets two hits in on my arm. It goes limp immediately, releasing one of the firebenders and making two of my ice constructs splash into water.

Even as she goes for a third hit, I kick her somewhere in her stomach area hard enough to smash her against my last iceberg. The firebender she managed to save attacks me from behind. I would dodge. I would. Spirits fucking damnit, Circus Girl is one of their own and their best bet against me with Azula now focussed on Bumi somewhere to the left. I know that intercepting that fireball is magnanimously stupid, even if my arm's already hanging limply from my shoulder. It's moronic on a level that should be a criminal offence.

Maybe it's that I know her to ultimately be one of the good guys. Maybe it's that she looks so much like a child with that wide-eyed, disbelieving look on her face.

All I know is that this is the last time I'm ever taking a hard blast of flames from a firebender at point-blank range for an enemy. It fucking hurts.

Even as I go to one knee to protect the baby and my throat from the other fireball coming my way, I am given another reason to regret this lapse in judgement: Aang goes into the Avatar State. A quick look around tells me that Azula has defeated Katara and Sokka is on his knees.

This has one positive side-effect. The soldiers around me need a moment to gather their bearings. Not only them, but also the Circus Girl recovers a little more slowly, so that I can struggle to my feet. But instead of resuming our fight, as I had anticipated, she spins away from me.

She spins away from me towards a slowly standing Sokka. His back is turned, eyes fixed on where his sister is being held to the ground by four Fire Nation soldiers. Her hands ball into fists, her intention to take him out is clear.

His unprotected back is suddenly my entire world. She will not harm him, the Firelord-worshipping, shit-throwing little cunt of a Circus Whore! She's going down!

A hard leap and she's on the ground, gasping. She desperately struggles to breathe, but I press my knee to her breastbone, all of my considerable weight bearing down on her lungs. Her already abnormally large eyes bug out of her skull. Her earlier so strong and precise hands flutter uselessly against my thigh.

With a grunt, I bare my teeth, a facial gesture that collects her saliva in her throat. Ineffective coughing adds to her struggle. I open my jaws, and clamp them shut to slice her neck open from the inside. The sound of my clacking teeth reverberates within my head.

"AANG!", Katara's desperate shout cuts off the noise as it is made. It breaks my concentration. There is now blood lining Circus Girl's lips. My eyes dart towards the Avatar.

The sound of bones snapping as I push off from her limp body registers. I ignore it.

I ignore it in favour of shoving all my strength behind a kick that shatters Azula's forearm. A forearm sparking with lightning.

Shit. But even as I go down, landing hard on my burnt shoulder to protect the baby, Azula howls with pain, so that has to be a good thing.

As I lie on the ground, my eyes seek out the prone form of the Circus Girl. She has curled in on herself, around her broken ribs, and is hacking out blood, which can't be helping. Damn. What a mess.

And we're not halfway done.

This is proven by Azula's foot about to make its violent acquaintance with my face. I manage to roll out of her way just so, straining my remaining functional arm far too much, so I don't squish my precious cargo.

A slashing motion with my left hand sends another swipe of water her way and she blasts it. She has me on the defence and she knows it. "Time for payback!", she declares gleefully, as I am forced to retreat, step by step, only dodging or nullifying her attacks to protect the baby.

I'm only glad that she's temporarily forgotten Aang as he violently takes out every single one of Katara's captors. I wonder if he can actually remember what he's doing once he's back to himself. It seems kind of like a berserker-state. He does dream about it, so I suppose at the very least his subconscious remembers somewhat.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watch O-Ting deal with two benders at once, and Bumi catches a slumping Aang. I see Sokka blow Appa's whistle. Good thinking. With Aang down and Katara's condition unknown, we should beat a hasty retreat. Not to mention my limp and burnt arm.

My back hits a wall. Fuck.

I search for a means of escape. I only need to hold out until Appa appears. The crates! The crates I prepared are to my left. Thank my penchant for preparedness!

Azula's eyes scream triumph as she makes a motion to blast me with fire.

She catches the movement of my left arm and widens her eyes in surprise. But her foot his halfway to my face already, flames about to burn my skin. The violent burst of water that slams her to the side takes her down hard. I think I see her head ricochet off of the ground.

Something sharp and steely almost buries itself in my neck. I manage to throw myself to the side just in time. Nasty. I put a comforting hand on the back of the baby strapped to my chest.

With relief, I see O-Ting engage Mai in a game of dodging. A closer look at Azula shows that either she's very good at pretending to be unconscious, or she is out for the count.

Appa announces himself and slaps down his tail with a gust of wind that blasts all remaining soldiers to the ground. Quickly, we all pile on. Aang is a limp noodle where Bumi's deposited him, Katara's bleeding from a wound on the back of her head, Sokka looks like Mai made him tapdance and he's the worst dancer in existence. Bumi and O-Ting appear relatively unscathed. Sokka takes Appa's reins.

So, Katara's headwound needs fixing first, then my arm as she looks Aang over. There is enough moisture in the air for me to heal the worst of it.

Once she's fussing over Aang, I concentrate on unblocking the chi in my right arm.

It's trickier than I remember when I learned it from Yugoda, but I do manage. I even tend to my burn enough that it's only the outer most layers of skin that are damaged.

Again, I am ready to fight just in time.

Hot airballoons with the Fire Nation flag appear out of the mist. They must have been lying in wait ever since the failed hostage exchange. That they would use our own cover against us…

I'm quick to slice open balloon after balloon. But I'm unable to deflect all of the chains they shoot to wrap around Appa. The combined weight of two of them pull Appa to the ground and us with him.

We're just above the canyon where the resistance is still hiding. I hope they have a look-out for the sky. There could be dozens of people about to be crushed beneath burning hot metal and wood.

"Bumi, will you protect Aang?", I ask, already thinking about how much time we've got to free Appa.

"Sure thing!", the man grins madly, just as we impact the ground. Appa has managed to cushion the fall with a heavy swat of his tail. He's a smart one.

"Katara, we need to free Appa as quickly as we can! You need to inform the Commander of what's happened and help defend the resistance. Sokka, you need to bring O-Ting to the other end of the canyon and raise a wall to delay the Fire Nation troops stationed there. I will negotiate with the governor and see how far the princess has recovered", with the plan put into words, the horrified looks on Sokka and Katara's faces ease into determination. O-Ting appears as a man ready to do his worst. The baby strapped to my chest seems ready to cry his eyes out, but a soothing hand on his back has him stifle his tears with a sniffle.

I don't think this is normal behaviour for a baby. In fact, most of his behaviour up until now is suspicious…

Katara and I freeze the chains and Bumi fissures them easily. Katara and Bumi leave to speak with the Commander with an unconscious Avatar in tow. Sokka makes a reluctant Appa take off in the direction of the Fire Nation troops. I tend to the worst of his cuts.

Once we reach the slimmest part of the canyon, O-Ting and Sokka get off of the flying bison. I waste no time returning to the city. Once again, I enter through the sewers. A thought occurs to me. I unstrap the baby from my chest while we're still in the tunnel, take off is diaper and have him do his business where it belongs. He'll be fed as soon as he's with his family or I find some baby-safe food. I don't re-strap him to my chest.

The governor is in Bumi's palace with his wife and daughter. While I hesitate to approach while Mai is present, I have no time to lose. Stepping from the shadows, I have the pleasure of seeing Mai's eyes widen in surprise. I'm sure very few have managed that.

"Tom-Tom!", the governor's wife exclaims and the baby turns his head to look at his mother. He makes grabby motions at her.

I smooth a hand over the back of his head. He's been exceptionally brave these past few hours. "Good afternoon", I say, enjoying the apprehensive way they look at me maybe a little too much.

"He-Hello", the governor greets, exchanging a worried glance with his wife.

"I've come for re-negotiations", I say and cast a wry look at Mai. Her lips thin. "How is the princess, by the way? I hope I didn't give her a concussion."

The governor stiffens and Mai's face twists into something I'd be more afraid of, if I hadn't met Yue. Or Azula. "She is recovering just fine."

"Lovely to hear", I lie. I make a show of moving on, "I will just lay out our demands, shall I?"

She makes a get-on-with-it gesture. So impatient. Well, that does suit me rather well today.

"In exchange for…", I look down at the baby, "The brat", he puffs out his cheeks and tries to dislodge the mask I have over my face. I catch his grabby little fingers in my hand gently. "We would like you to remove all Fire Nation troops from the area surrounding Omashu."

"What", it is a flat statement instead of a question.

I grin at her as I distract her brother with my fingers, even if she can't see it with my mask on. "I don't think I stuttered."

"Unacceptable."

I raise a brow. "I'll just go then, shall I?"

She pulls knives from her sleeves. "Without my brother."

Hilarious. I raise my hand from little Tom-Tom's grasp and clench it into a fist. Mai's mother begins to choke on her own spit. The baby makes a distressed noise. I don't like it, but I'd rather threaten his mother than the brat himself. That, and I've already got him in my arms. The threat to him is obvious. But a threat to me personally means I need to make a direct one as well. That's how negotiations work today. Mai looks even more murderous. Nice to know she cares.

"Are we ready to reconsider yet?", I ask gently and with deliberate motions she tucks her knives away. I open my palm. The woman coughs roughly and sucks in desperate breaths.

"I can't remove all troops from the canyons", Mai says flatly.

"Too afraid of what the princess might say?", I mock and her fingers clench into fists, "I'll take that as a 'yes'. Well, thankfully, we aren't too greedy today. In exchange for little Tom-Tom here, you will guarantee us safe passage through the mountains of Omashu."

She hesitates, like she wants to say 'no, fuck you very much', but a glance at her still wheezing mother has her give a nod.

"Lovely", I say and move to the balcony, drawing mist about myself. "You'll get him back once the troops have laid off on their assault and the resistance is safely out of reach."

At the moment, there is little point returning to the others. If they are losing the fight, one more waterbender will hardly make a difference in an environment where groundwater is sparse and the mist has already been burned away by the sun. There is something else I might be able to do once the baby calms down a little and has had something to eat. My stomach grumbles. It appears, I should eat, too.

The palace kitchens aren't hard to find and lo and behold, there is an entire cupboard dedicated to babyfood. The cooks eye me warily and even though they have the Fire Nation's colouring don't seem to mind me whipping up some sustenance for the two of us. It might be one of those moments where they weren't informed of any deals their master has made, but since I don't appear to be a fugitive and am only cooking, they figure I'm allowed inside.

They do seem rather weary of me, though. It might be the mask, it might be my obviously-watertribe garb, it might be the half-healed burn on my shoulder. The wound pulls and stings with every movement.

I take a bowl from the stack that are probably meant for the soldiers to eat out of, gather water from the trough that is filled by a continuous trickle through a deliberate-looking opening in the wall and sit down. The baby is still in my lap and is patiently waiting for the food to heat up. He also watches fascinatedly, along with every other person present, how I heal my shoulder.

Someone gasps. I look up and without my notice, the majority of them have gathered around me in a non-threatening half-circle. They all wear various expressions of awe and disbelief.

"What?", I ask in a flat voice, just to see if they will cower. Most do, but a few women remain standing. Odd. But then again, all the men are barely pubescent boys. They were probably born to this and have become used to cowering at hearing that tone of voice. Actually, don't the Fire Nation treat their servants like slaves? Azula does, doesn't she? What about nobility? Do the servants work for money?

"You can heal", an elderly woman states. It is probably meant to sound like a fact, but awe colours her tone.

I shrug my shoulders, glad I can use both for the motion now. "Waterbender."

More gasps and a few of the younger ones take a step back. What kinds of stories are they told? My disapproval must show because some of them step forward again. Or it's defiance of their own fears.

To see how they react to bending that isn't healing, I bend a tendril of the thick soup I've thrown together for the baby and myself. I watch them closely as I swallow down the soup. At first glance, it appears harmless, but I can see exactly who understands that what I can bend outside of my body, I can bend inside, too. They are the woman who spoke earlier and one of the boys. Smart one, that. I wonder why he's not being made into a soldier. I figure an expanding Nation such as the Firelord's would not dismiss intelligence from their ranks.

The soup is just warm enough to be perfect for the baby. I begin the game of feeding him with dragons and the like.

None of them step away, but both the woman and the boy stare at me closely like they think they can read my mind if they only try hard enough. Once the little brat is fed, I manipulate the earlier healing water into mist, watch all of them recoil a little and get my own bowl of hot soup. I watch them watch me with more than a little amusement.

"You have questions", I prompt. Which is something I'm not usually prone to, but I need to see what these people value. I need to see if they can be convinced of the fact that the people they conquer aren't inherently weak, or somehow lesser than they.

The woman nods and takes a seat across from me. "Who are you?"

"I'm from the Northern Watertribe", I contemplate adding my name, but decide on something else, "I've been teaching the Avatar."

She stiffens at the mention and I watch her expression closely. Her mistrust has grown. But her want for information doubly so. I don't believe she's only a cook. She probably knows everything that goes on in the palace. She's the kind of person I'll be needing on my side of the revolution.

"The Avatar", she begins carefully, "They say he is the one who disappeared a hundred years ago."

This seems like news to most of the others. Interesting.

"Aang is only twelve years old."

Her eyes narrow. "Is he the same one?"

I don't stiffen or change my expression. I gauge and watch. "I've never asked him. But he is an airbending Master."

The boy from earlier nods at the confirmation that it is. The woman gives a tight smile. She knows that I could be blatantly lying. She's in an interesting position. There is no one else here to tell her what to think. She gets to ask her own questions and has to sort through my answers by herself.

"They don't speak about the defeat at the North Pole. Was it entirely the Avatar who sunk most of the fleet?", she is rather well-informed. Or she understands the value of me believing she is and has the skills to make it a plausible conclusion to come to.

I smile even though she can't see it behind my mask. My eyes crinkle, though. "Although he gave us what we needed to win, the Avatar did not take direct action in the battle until he sufficiently communicated with the Spirits in the Spiritworld."

Her eyes narrow while various sharp inhales can be heard throughout the kitchen. I would really like to take a look at the syllabus they employ in the Fire Nation. Of course, Spirits are to be feared, mostly, but while they can be dangerous and full of trickery, there are those who are genuinely good.

"Is the Avatar here to free King Bumi?"

Ah, they fear for their livelihood. While the resistance is outside of the city, their powerful King is still within and a threat looming over their heads. "Yes. He has partially succeeded."

"What?", the boy bursts out.

I cast him a wry look. He shrinks back a little, but not by much. "King Bumi and the Avatar have left Omashu."

"It's New Ozai now!", a girl pipes up.

I can't hold back the chuckle. "Sure it is, sweetheart."

She just looks confused at that. Like whatever has been decreed by her ruler is automatically the truth. I stroke my hand over the soft hair on the brat's head with a sigh. "I don't know how it is in the Fire Nation, but the Watertribe has a long memory. So do the people of the Earth Kingdom, except for Ba Sing Se."

"What about Ba Sing Se?", the woman asks immediately. I'm not sure about saying too much. She will probably have contacts to tell her what goes on there if she asks the right questions.

"The Dai Li is dangerous in more than one way", I say cryptically, but I can see understanding flash in her eyes. So she knows of the secret agents. And now she knows to be wary for more reasons than the fact that they are secret agents.

"Dai Li?", the boy asks, confused. I remain silent and nod my head at her. He should ask that woman. They can hardly trust a word I say in the first place.

Instead of explaining, the woman suddenly demonstratively looks at the baby in my lap. "Is he your hostage?"

"Mmh", I hum in amused agreement. She is smart. By making it seem that she knows things that could be potentially useful for the others to know, I have slightly undermined her position. Now she needs to show them that I am dangerous and not to be trusted to protect herself.

"Are you allowed to be in the palace?"

"How else would we have negotiated?", I ask and just this once, I think she has fallen for a trick like that. Maybe threatening her position did the trick to diverting part of her mind to the task of damage control.

"Is it wise to stay? We could attempt to take him from you", she suggests, even though she knows their chances are very, very low.

While I decide on what to say, the brat has made up his mind on breaking his silence since we left his mother behind. "Ba!", he says and slaps his chubby hands on my collarbones.

I poke his nose with some quickly bended water from the trough. He giggles and attempts to catch it, but it turns into mist as he reaches it and becomes liquid again once he flails with a wriggle of my fingers. Her gaze has impossibly softened at the display. That was suspiciously good timing. Either this baby has superpowers for being convenient for me, or he can read the mood and make decisions that an adult would…

Am I being paranoid? Is it that because I know what it's like to be an adult in a child's body that I'm projecting?

I'll have to ask. Later. And consider the possibilities later. Once I'm out of this kitchen-conversation. Spirits.

Something occurs to me. "Is it true that none of your benders lead peaceful lives unless they're too old to go to war?"

The woman looks at me like I'm an idiot. That answers that, I suppose.

"What, were you a fisherman before you went with the Avatar?", one of the younger women jokes.

I shrug. "I could've been. As a waterbending Master it is my duty to defend my city, but beyond that I'm not obligated to do anything beyond helping the elders cross a canal."

That shocks them all into silence. I'm not sure if it's because I can do what I want, or if I just don't seem the type to help someone over a canal. "But what do you do for a living, then?", the woman sitting across from me asks.

My eyebrows climb up my forehead, "Depends. The Northern Watertribe is a community. We help each other out."

None of them know what to do with that. To be honest, I don't either.