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It felt almost surreal, like a fever dream or a nightmare or something caught in between. They’d been in Karim for months now, never once straying from within the city’s walls, and all of a sudden they’re going to pack up and leave?
Ty Lee watched as Zeke and Ji'hira tore down the tent she’d called home on many a dry, cold desert night, a sick feeling settling in the pit of her stomach. A few people passed by, obviously noting the street performer troupe’s departure from the markets, but they never spared anything more than a quick glance. It was like they wouldn’t be missed at all. Just another group of rowdy, dirty wanderers trying to turn a quick buck, leaving at the first sign that they might find greener pastures somewhere else.
Twisting her braid between her fingers, Ty Lee frowned. She was… sad wasn’t the right word for how she felt, but she was feeling something and it was nowhere near pleasant.
The truth of the matter was, it probably wouldn’t have bothered her so much if they’d been moving around right from the start like a real traveling circus, but she’d thought they were pretty well-established here in the city. She’d even come to know some of the locals; the tea shop lady at the corner of the market had even started giving her a discount for playing pattycake with her toddler grandson! Why did they have to leave now? There were people she’d miss in Karim.
Zeke looked over at her, sweat dripping from beneath his head wrappings and into his eyes. He smiled at her, teeth seemingly impossibly white against his deep gold elven skin. The smile faded when Ty Lee was only able to muster up a small smile in return— more of a weak cringe, if anything.
The elf lightly tapped Ji'hira on the arm, drawing the broad-shouldered Khajiit’s attention. Ji’hira followed his gaze to Ty Lee, her feline features pinched in confusion. Shrugging, the brown-furred and tiger-striped warrior turned away, back muscles straining as she went back to tearing down the metal trapeze set Ty Lee has spent literal hours practicing on.
That rickety old set of bars had always shimmied in the wind, and creaked, and in general seemed massively unsafe, but that was just part of its charm. She’d never felt more free than when she was performing tricks a couple dozen feet above the ground, swinging around like a sparrow flits between flimsy tree branches.
A stinging heat built behind her eyes, dry as the desert. She was really going to miss this place.
“Hey, Ty Lee. You good?” Zeke asked, lifting a waterskin to his mouth to take a few eager pulls from it. An array of silver metal rings, no jewels in sight, glinted across his knuckles. He’d discarded his glittering cape and robe ensemble for a simple light brown tunic, altogether a far more breathable option for walking around in the desert heat. Like Ty Lee’s own clothes, though she knew Zeke’d prefer to be wearing his showman’s ensemble all day long.
The heat of the day was evident in his flushed cheeks and the few strands of sweat-soaked hair she could see sticking out from his head coverings, though his green eyes gleamed brighter than ever, focusing on her with genuine concern.
Ty Lee cringed internally. Ack, he’d set aside the time to check in with her and everything! She really shouldn’t have made things any harder on him and Ji’hira— they’d both been so good to her, taking her in, showing her the ropes in this weird new world, giving her a purpose. But, still—
“I just don’t get it!” Ty Lee exclaims, gesturing with both arms at the open-air market around them. “What does this Uruk place have that Karim doesn’t? The name sounds like someone throwing up in their mouth!”
Her elven friend blinked, startled by her outburst. “Well, uh, for one… a new audience. And that means new money. Uruk’s king put out a notice welcoming anyone into their city, so we’ll be getting the jump on any other traveling bands moving in for the kill,” said Zeke. He shrugged then, smiling a bit bashfully. “Plus, I think it’ll be good for our little group. A real fresh start.”
That might’ve been true, Ty Lee supposed, and if anyone was going to know anything about stuff like this, it would absolutely be Zeke. Zeke was more of a showman than Ty Lee and Ji’hira combined. He had the right flair for it. While Ty Lee liked attention, she was less sure about strutting around and attempting to hype people up for her own performances. Zeke was the reason people stopped in their shopping to come see what all the fuss was about. Ty Lee and Ji’hira were what they stuck around for, though Zeke did a lot of prancing around and boasting to keep them on the hook.
Ty Lee sighed. “I don’t know… it’s just, it’s so sudden. I haven’t even gotten used to this place, Zeke!”
It wasn’t something they talked about much. Where she was from, her past. How she ended up here at all.
(Waking up in the middle of the desert, confused and alone. The sound of several buzzards squawking as she attempted to sit up, bleary-eyed and terrified, unsure of where she’d been, who she was meant to be fighting.
And then, a voice. A shock of white hair, so pale it looked practically translucent in the sunlight.
“Yo, kid? You alive in there?”)
“I understand that it’s hard,” said Zeke, snapping Ty Lee out of the wayward memory. He coughed, seeming almost embarrassed. “Well, not really. I was born here, so I won’t ever truly understand. But I can see how this is hard on you, and that you feel most comfortable here. If you really want to, I can put you up at an inn or something for a while. I think I have enough coin saved up to pay for a week’s stay or so. But, uh, after that… we go our separate ways.”
The young girl bit her lip and fiercely shook her head, braid swinging wildly with the movement. “No, I don’t want that. I guess I’m just nervous. Cold feet, you know? I’ve heard people talking around the markets and this place is so big. I’m not a huge fan of getting lost in the desert…” she trailed off with a tinkling laugh.
Zeke was all too eager to reciprocate with a chuckle of his own, almond-shaped eyes glittering. “I know what you mean! Mesa Roja is immense, and that’s not even bringing all the other worlds into it. The Crossroads are truly a marvelous place—”
Ty Lee tuned him out, only feeling a little bad about it. When Zeke really got into it, he could talk for hours on end. Besides, Ty Lee had other things on her mind.
It had almost been a relief, once she was settled, to learn about how people sometimes just appeared in the Crossroads, totally out of the blue. It was a relief that there was no longer a war to worry about, no prison cells to rot in, no wrathful Azulas to appease. For the first time in what felt like forever, Ty Lee was free.
But this particular kind of freedom didn’t taste very sweet. This freedom meant no family. No sisters. No connections… and out of all the various kinds of people she’d encountered thus far, no benders whatsoever. It was like she was a character cut out from a painted scroll, separated from where she rightly belonged. Sometimes, it was hard not to feel well and truly alone.
Something else bothered her about this whole situation, too. Something that niggled at the back of her mind, a constant and persistent weight on her thoughts.
What if… someone she knew was here? Like, someone she’d known. In her world.
Now that was a scary idea...
Ty Lee watched as Zeke and Ji'hira tore down the tent she’d called home on many a dry, cold desert night, a sick feeling settling in the pit of her stomach. A few people passed by, obviously noting the street performer troupe’s departure from the markets, but they never spared anything more than a quick glance. It was like they wouldn’t be missed at all. Just another group of rowdy, dirty wanderers trying to turn a quick buck, leaving at the first sign that they might find greener pastures somewhere else.
Twisting her braid between her fingers, Ty Lee frowned. She was… sad wasn’t the right word for how she felt, but she was feeling something and it was nowhere near pleasant.
The truth of the matter was, it probably wouldn’t have bothered her so much if they’d been moving around right from the start like a real traveling circus, but she’d thought they were pretty well-established here in the city. She’d even come to know some of the locals; the tea shop lady at the corner of the market had even started giving her a discount for playing pattycake with her toddler grandson! Why did they have to leave now? There were people she’d miss in Karim.
Zeke looked over at her, sweat dripping from beneath his head wrappings and into his eyes. He smiled at her, teeth seemingly impossibly white against his deep gold elven skin. The smile faded when Ty Lee was only able to muster up a small smile in return— more of a weak cringe, if anything.
The elf lightly tapped Ji'hira on the arm, drawing the broad-shouldered Khajiit’s attention. Ji’hira followed his gaze to Ty Lee, her feline features pinched in confusion. Shrugging, the brown-furred and tiger-striped warrior turned away, back muscles straining as she went back to tearing down the metal trapeze set Ty Lee has spent literal hours practicing on.
That rickety old set of bars had always shimmied in the wind, and creaked, and in general seemed massively unsafe, but that was just part of its charm. She’d never felt more free than when she was performing tricks a couple dozen feet above the ground, swinging around like a sparrow flits between flimsy tree branches.
A stinging heat built behind her eyes, dry as the desert. She was really going to miss this place.
“Hey, Ty Lee. You good?” Zeke asked, lifting a waterskin to his mouth to take a few eager pulls from it. An array of silver metal rings, no jewels in sight, glinted across his knuckles. He’d discarded his glittering cape and robe ensemble for a simple light brown tunic, altogether a far more breathable option for walking around in the desert heat. Like Ty Lee’s own clothes, though she knew Zeke’d prefer to be wearing his showman’s ensemble all day long.
The heat of the day was evident in his flushed cheeks and the few strands of sweat-soaked hair she could see sticking out from his head coverings, though his green eyes gleamed brighter than ever, focusing on her with genuine concern.
Ty Lee cringed internally. Ack, he’d set aside the time to check in with her and everything! She really shouldn’t have made things any harder on him and Ji’hira— they’d both been so good to her, taking her in, showing her the ropes in this weird new world, giving her a purpose. But, still—
“I just don’t get it!” Ty Lee exclaims, gesturing with both arms at the open-air market around them. “What does this Uruk place have that Karim doesn’t? The name sounds like someone throwing up in their mouth!”
Her elven friend blinked, startled by her outburst. “Well, uh, for one… a new audience. And that means new money. Uruk’s king put out a notice welcoming anyone into their city, so we’ll be getting the jump on any other traveling bands moving in for the kill,” said Zeke. He shrugged then, smiling a bit bashfully. “Plus, I think it’ll be good for our little group. A real fresh start.”
That might’ve been true, Ty Lee supposed, and if anyone was going to know anything about stuff like this, it would absolutely be Zeke. Zeke was more of a showman than Ty Lee and Ji’hira combined. He had the right flair for it. While Ty Lee liked attention, she was less sure about strutting around and attempting to hype people up for her own performances. Zeke was the reason people stopped in their shopping to come see what all the fuss was about. Ty Lee and Ji’hira were what they stuck around for, though Zeke did a lot of prancing around and boasting to keep them on the hook.
Ty Lee sighed. “I don’t know… it’s just, it’s so sudden. I haven’t even gotten used to this place, Zeke!”
It wasn’t something they talked about much. Where she was from, her past. How she ended up here at all.
(Waking up in the middle of the desert, confused and alone. The sound of several buzzards squawking as she attempted to sit up, bleary-eyed and terrified, unsure of where she’d been, who she was meant to be fighting.
And then, a voice. A shock of white hair, so pale it looked practically translucent in the sunlight.
“Yo, kid? You alive in there?”)
“I understand that it’s hard,” said Zeke, snapping Ty Lee out of the wayward memory. He coughed, seeming almost embarrassed. “Well, not really. I was born here, so I won’t ever truly understand. But I can see how this is hard on you, and that you feel most comfortable here. If you really want to, I can put you up at an inn or something for a while. I think I have enough coin saved up to pay for a week’s stay or so. But, uh, after that… we go our separate ways.”
The young girl bit her lip and fiercely shook her head, braid swinging wildly with the movement. “No, I don’t want that. I guess I’m just nervous. Cold feet, you know? I’ve heard people talking around the markets and this place is so big. I’m not a huge fan of getting lost in the desert…” she trailed off with a tinkling laugh.
Zeke was all too eager to reciprocate with a chuckle of his own, almond-shaped eyes glittering. “I know what you mean! Mesa Roja is immense, and that’s not even bringing all the other worlds into it. The Crossroads are truly a marvelous place—”
Ty Lee tuned him out, only feeling a little bad about it. When Zeke really got into it, he could talk for hours on end. Besides, Ty Lee had other things on her mind.
It had almost been a relief, once she was settled, to learn about how people sometimes just appeared in the Crossroads, totally out of the blue. It was a relief that there was no longer a war to worry about, no prison cells to rot in, no wrathful Azulas to appease. For the first time in what felt like forever, Ty Lee was free.
But this particular kind of freedom didn’t taste very sweet. This freedom meant no family. No sisters. No connections… and out of all the various kinds of people she’d encountered thus far, no benders whatsoever. It was like she was a character cut out from a painted scroll, separated from where she rightly belonged. Sometimes, it was hard not to feel well and truly alone.
Something else bothered her about this whole situation, too. Something that niggled at the back of her mind, a constant and persistent weight on her thoughts.
What if… someone she knew was here? Like, someone she’d known. In her world.
Now that was a scary idea...