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such-as-it-is · 6 years

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The World Is Round - Chapter 9

Maro sat with her head buried deep into her arms, which were resting along the great table she was sitting at. Her stomach felt hollow as she struggled to keep her eyes open. She heard a door opening and judged the rest of the sounds around her to deduce that someone had just walked in and sat opposite her.

She lifted her head and peered through her knotted hair at Bartoq who was sitting in a very dignified manner. She fell back into her own arms.

“Good morning” he said. “I heard you slept on the couch. I hope you didn’t sleep too badly…” he paused for some moments. “I apologise that Theoden couldn’t be a better host, but as you can imagine things have been pretty hectic since you showed up”

Maro was silent.

The doors of the great council room opened up again and Maro lifted her head in time to see a lady on a wheelchair being pushed by an old man with white hair and a great moustache.

Bartoq spoke again. “Tarn… You look terrible”

“Well, at least I look as I feel” she replied in a washed out voice.

“I’m sure your strength will come back to you. No matter what happens though, it’s ok. We’re here for you”

The old man greeted Bartoq; “Bartoq”

“Maes” was Bartoqs reply greeting.

Someone else came through the doors and sat down next to Maro. Maro didn’t even lift up her head this time. She felt like she was half dreaming.

“I must say, you’re rocking that eye patch damn well” said Maes.

“Oh, thank you!” Said a female voice. “But then again, my bad aresery was never really that hard too.. SEE!”

“Oh spirits, Ferra” said Bartoq.

Ferra spoke again: “Why does everyone look so gloomy? We won! Yay!” No one replied. “Is this her? You know…”

“Wait, you mean to tell me there’s a person under all that hair?” Came Maes’ voice

“That’s her” came the faint sound of Tarn. “I’d recognise that hair anywhere”

At that moment the doors were opened with a loud thud and someone waltzed into the room.

“Sorry to keep ya waiting fellas” came the voice of Theoden who sat at the head of the table.

“That’s ok, we’re still waiting on Danji, anyway”

“Late as usual” said Maes and Theoden in sync which was followed by a laugh from everyone.

“Your guest is over tired…” said Bartoq

“I think we’re all over tired. No?” was his reply.

“Speak for yourself!” said Ferra.

And then for the last time the doors opened and someone walked in and sat down next to Ferra.

“Sorry for being late” he said.

Maro lifted her head up and removed her hair from her face.

“Dark spirits… You look nearly as bad as me!” said Tarn.

“Yeah, one would think you just fought a war or something…” said Maes followed by small laughter.

Theoden spoke.

“Before we start, I wanna say sorry to Maro. At least, I hope you were fed something… Yes? Well, look on the bright side, you have it way better than those folk we decided to throw in prison; especially considering what I’m about to tell you regarding them. But I digress, more on that later.

“I would like to start off this meeting with some good news! We found Heathahs body, and will give her a most honorable military funeral. I will carry out the discharge myself. May her soul ride the eternal currents of peace”

Maro jolted her head and turned to look at Theoden at the mention of Heathah. As theoden finished saying that, the others chanted all together: “May her memory be a blessing of the moon”

Maro shivered and spoke for the first time. “May her memory be a blessing of the moon” she said softly before Theoden continued.

“As you already could have guessed, Xeo and Kolt are getting third deg. The officers we caught will get second deg if they’re branded first otherwise. I wanna offer first deg to anyone who talks. I need to make sure we fully understand what is going here and that nothing like this ever happens again. Everyone else will be sent away and mass brandings will be given to those to don’t already have, regardless of who they are and where they came from”

“I’ll make sure it all happens as quickly as possible” said Danji. “I’ma get this spirit damned mess cleaned for all our sakes”

Theoden continued again.

“All that aside, I can’t think of anything else that needs addressing at the moment other than the obvious, which will come at another time. It’s a great thing they didn’t get anywhere near the Tribe or any neighbouring villages, or else this would make a much larger problem for us like after the battle of Koizilla… Anyway, Tarn, I wanna hear what you have to say”

“Yes sir. Chen and I were doing patrol on the wall over the front gate. I figured it would be good for me. It seemed fate was at my side that day. When Maro appeared at our gates it was hard to say, but I looked at the time candle when I took her to base. It was around 6:20 in the morning. Usually I would just send lost people on their way, but she had some pretty loaded connotations to say. She told me about the Kotls and Heathah. None of us had any idea Heathah was on the way though. I really didn’t believe her and it made me really mad, but I couldn’t let something so serious slip by, so I threatened her with second deg and called a routine but full-scale mobilisation drill. I figured it would be good practice even if it were wrong. How I wish Maro was wrong” concluded Tarn with a short high pitched gasp. “There’s… there’s nothing more to say really” she finished with a slight stutter.

“Are you sure? I thought you would have more to say…”

“Well I’m sure things are more complex from Maro’s perspective”

“Hmmm… Yes, I see” Theoden turned to face Maro.

“Maro, you are not a member of military, therefore you have no obligation to say anything. But please, if you will, I ask that you tell us as much as you can. You have already done the greatest service to us, and although it might not look it now, but you will be rewarded. I ask of one more deed, and that is all the tribe will ever ask of you. Such is my promise to you as chief of the Northern Water Tribe”

And so, Maro did as Theoden asked of her. She gave a full recount of her story, with regard to the series of events that led up to the siege in the north. At first she was slow and soft. Often pausing and speaking down into the table. Her fatigue impaired her cognition and ability to relay and keep track of thoughts, but then she began to awaken and words came from her mouth true and strong. Various party members occasionally asking the odd question. And then Maro finished, and there was silence for a while as members of the council absorbed all that was just given to them. In the meantime, Maro was struggling to keep herself lucid.

Theoden broke the silence. “Well, you’ve made it now. Well done! You’ve come quite a long way”

Maro smiled from underneath her hair. “Not too far”

“But what now?”

Maro paused. “I ahh… I don’t know? I…” suddenly Maro was transported elsewhere and a smiling friend appeared before her. “I wanna learn waterbending” she stated as the council started to refocus around her. But before it could finish she was met with images of Heathah, doing what she did. “I wanna learn how to fight. I wanna fight… In the army” She finished and pulled a bunch of hair away from her face.

“Haha! Is that so!” interjected Maes. “Even after all you’ve been though? Well then, you’ve come at a prime time”

“An interesting time… I wouldn’t call it anything more than that” said Ferra.

Bartoq sank in his chair.

“How old are you, Maro?” asked Theoden. “Any patrons in the Northern Armed Forces must be 18 years or over”

“I’m not sure…”

“Do you know what day you left by the swamp callender?” asked Bartoq.

“Nanni, 111”

“Wow, that’s a good recollection”

“It’s my birthday!”

“Oh I see. Well then, you’ve been travelling for about half a year then. That’s impressive!”

“Are you sure about that? That doesn't seem to add up in my mind”

“Wait, wno that can’t be… That would make you impossibly fast. A year and a half seams reasonable, actually. Does this sound about right to you?”

Eyes widened around the council at that remark. Everyone turned to face Maro. Her hair fell down her face again and she shrugged.

“Ok. That makes me 18 in 6 months”

“And only then can you join the military, so we’ll have to find something to do with you until then” said Theoden. “Something suitable”

“I’ll lean to bend water in the time period”

“Splendid idea! Now if only we knew someone who would be willing to teach a young lady how to bend water…”

This time everyone turned to Bartoq, who blushed and sank in his chair for the second time.

“Th… There isn’t a level we can start her at” He said

“That’s ok, she can have private tuition” came Danji

Theoden bellowed: “The Tribe’ll pay for everything. We are in dept to this young traveller anyway, are we not? So it’s settled then, Ok? Great! Bartoq, you and Maro can leave now. It looks like Maro’s had about enough of our shit for today. I’m afraid we’ll need to continue without her anyway”

Bartoq stood up. “C’mon Maro, let’s find you a bed”

Maro too stood up from her chair and now followed Bartoq out of the room and out into the open.

The council room was right in the center of town. Although it was well into the morning, the blackened clouds voided the tribe of most of it’s light, as if Maro was feeling dead enough as it was. She turned her head around to try and see the place that she dreamt so much about. But all she could see where flickering lights coming out of windows. Even still though, the positioning of the lights intrigues Maro into the structure of the building. It seemed like it could have been similar to Namal. All of the infrastructure seemed to made of snow and ice. Maro and Bartoq walked for a while, turning corners, crossing bridges and going up and down stairs.

“I know I don’t look like it… Or sound like it either… But I’m really excited to learn to bend water”

“Glad to hear. Hopefully we can find you a good teacher”

“Wait, was that a joke? I don’t understand… Aren't you teaching me?”

“Nope”

“Why did everyone stare at you then?”

Bartoq sighed. “I suppose there’s a bunch of things you need to be filled in on.

Some years ago, we received a visit from the Avatar Aang. He and his companions inspired some of the village elders to change tradition. Beforehand females could only learn water to heal. They wouldn’t learn it as an art or as fight style. The change didn’t go down too well with some people. There will always be those that oppose change, I guess.

I was one of the biggest advocates for freedom of bending practices. I established the first women fighter bending unit in the military and the first and only multisex waterbending academy”

“Cooool! Was Heathah in that unit?”

“Heathah? Heathah wasn't a combatant at all… What even made you think that? Her role was as a senior logistics officer. Towards the end of her career I think she may have become a tactician or something. That would explain her role on the secret council, I think. Not that I know too much about that to be honest”

Maro took a minute to absorb all this. She lagged ever so slightly behind him, and noticed that she slouched as she walked, and he was walking slowly, although that could have just been for Maro’s sake.

“Wait wait wait, but what does that have to do with you not teaching me? I saw you take on Xeo, you’re an amazing warrior!”

“Me? Maybe. But there’s no doubt I’m not a good teacher, from past experience. Tarn is an amazing warrior”

“Heathah too”

“What? Heathah never fought… What are you talking about?”

“What! But she was so good with her sword! I saw whitnessed her go at it on multioke occasions…:

”She must have had private lessons at some point. Anyway, I didn’t really know her, however Tarn knew Heathah. Anyway, when we get to the academy, we’re gonna find you a room to stay in for the next 6 months, and then we’ll see to a good teacher”

“But I want you to teach me, Bartoq. Your fighting was mesmerising! It was almost… Almost...”

“Rhythmic?”

“Hypnotic, I was gonna say. Will the teacher you find me teach me to bend like that?”

“Ahhh… No”

“Well then, I’m afraid you’ll have to teach that to me”

“While you were travelling, did you meet many other benders?”

“Oh yeah! Earthbenders, firebenders, waterbenders… You name it! Except airbenders as you can imagine”

“I see. Maybe I will teach you then”

“Yayayayay!’

“Probably not”

And with that, they walked down a large hill towards a large building.

They walked into the wide doorways into a very long horizontal room. There were benches along the walls, and people were sitting around talking and writing. Along the wall opposite the one from which they had entered, where a bunch of doors as large as the one that they entered from, except for right in front of them where there was a desk and a man slouching in a chair.

“Yo, Bartoq, what’s up”

“I’m tired”

“Spirits, I’m tired and I didn’t even fight a war. You gotta tell me all about it, eh?”

“Not now Warken. But we’ll catch up, for sure. But for now, can you find me an unoccupied room in the women's dormitory for our newest student?”

“Yeah, sure. There definitely should be a bunch of rooms free, though I don’t know if there are any single bedrooms left... But this is an awkward time to start studies… No?” He started flicking through some papers he pulled out of a draw under his desk”

“Let us worry about that”

The guy behind the desk put on a pair of reading glasses. “I’ll allocate room b261 to her. Shall I fetch you a key?”

“No, thanks. I’ll get it”

He nodded and with that he made a left turn. The doors to their right had large windows and Maro could see a large courtyard outside though it was still pretty dark. There were people sitting in the snow around the trees. There was a small stall around the edge that was selling some sort of warm food, apparent by the line and the steam surrounding it.

“This is reception, and out there is the Koi Courtyard” said Bartoq. “You’ll be living in building b on the floor two. Hence the first two parts of your room code. Building b is the women's dormitory. You’ll learn your way around this place pretty quickly, I think”

They made a right turn into another long corridor, also with benches and also with a view of the courtyard as they were now on an adjacent edge of it. Bartoq unlocked one of the doors on the left and went in. “Wait outside”. Maro peered into the room to see a whole lot of hooks on the walls with keys hanging from them.

“Catch” came his voice and after it a key flew from out the door. Maro caught it. It was as long has her hand and had ‘a261’ indented on it. “Don’t lose that” he said and he came out of the room and locked it again. They exited into the courtyard where they proceeded to walk and weave around between buildings until they reached building b. Occasionally someone would greet Bartoq. Maro absorbed it all.

“Is all this the acadmy? All the buildings here?”

“Sure is”

“You founded this place? All of it?”

“Sure did. Only the spirits know how hard it was. But in the end, it was totally worth it”

“Wow”

“You can accomplish anything, Maro. If you will it; it is no dream”

They made it to a large building. “In here is where you stay. Only ladies are allowed in. In general though, if you're looking for something or some where, simply ask anyone around. The people here are pretty friendly. Also” he pointed in a direction behind “in that building over there you can grab a meal at any time between dawn and dusk. Just bring your room key or they won't let you in. I’ll have someone bring you a study schedule soon enough. But for now, you get to rest.

In terms of what to do, well, I recommend you pick up a hobby or two. Being able to make your own clothes is a very useful skill here. Also there’s a theater not too far away. I recommend you find some extra curricular activities, because with that will come friends and such”

“Will you teach me?”

“Teach you what? How to make friends? Or clothes?”

“No, bending you fool”

“Oh right. I haven't decided yet. Probably not. But why won’t you believe me when I say you don’t want me too?”

“I wanna learn to bend like you”

“That’s irrelevant to my question”

“Well, why don’t you at least show me why I’ll hate having you as a teacher...”

“I see” and with that he walked off.

Maro was mid dream when to awoke to the sound of knocks on the door. Her heart started beating a little faster. She slipped of the bed and started walking to the door.

“It’s me” said the door. Maro let out a deep breath as her heart returned to equilibrium. She opened the door. Out the window was still as dark as it was in the morning of the next day.

“Theoden is holding a funeral for Heathah tomorrow. It was debated as to whether it should be private, but… err… well, Theoden decided that the people of this tribe deserve to send off someone they owe their lives too together. Um… Regardless, I’m sure you would have been able to come… and… Uhh... Oh yes, that’s right, Theoden wants to know if you’d give a eulogy”

“What’s a eulogy?”

“Ahh, well… a eulogy is a speech you give in front of everyone at a funeral so that you may express what that person meant to you, I think”

“Oh. Hmm… Tomorrow you say?”

“Yes, I’ll come get you”

“Can I give you my answer then?”

“Yeah sure. That’ll give you some time to think about it and maybe write something down. I’ll just get Theoden to be prepared for any situation”

“I don’t know how to write… Or read”

“Oh… not even a little? Well I guess that makes sense. Don’t worry about it. I’m sure you’ll be fine regardless.

“I have had the absolute pleasure of knowing Heathah every day since we were toddlers” Tarns words echoed through the greate chamber made from ice, carved into the side of the mountain that housed the great waterfall. “I know the old expression; everyone is a top bloke when they die. And you would think that this would apply 10 fold since I am the only one standing here before you today who actually knew Heathah on a personal level” It was a good thing the chamber was so sound conductive, because otherwise nothing would have been able to be heard over the crashing sound of the waterfalls running water. “But I can tell you that this is purely circumstantial, and I don’t want to in any way denote the 2 other beautiful eulogies given by Maro and Chief Theoden”. It was very smooth and rounded, made from clear ice that went deep into the mountain. “When we were young, I had lost a sweet role. I thought that I knew who had taken it, so I got into a fist fight with that person. Heathah insisted that she ate my sweet role, when I knew she didn’t. And that, I think is a testimony to nearly everything about what a character she truly was”. Maro was merely a small face in a large crowd of people who had gathered there to pay respects to the now legendary water tribe warrior. No one she could recognise was amongst her. “I say almost because the story does not end there. You see, a short while after she managed to defuse me (A very difficult task, I can assure you), she went to the place where I last saw my sweet role and managed to perceive some polar bear dog hairs, and thus led us to the real thief which we caught red handed”. Beyond the ledge, an absolutely mesmerising view of the tribal civilisation could be seen; for the sun had come out of hiding in light of this momentous occasion. “If it were not for some unfortunate mishaps, Heathah would have married and had a successful life and family”. Maro shoved through the crowd to the front where she could now see the waterfall and Tarn standing at the very side edge of the chamber. “She bore a mark; a mark which I am not here now to debate on weather was earned or not. But I know that if it weren't for the events that led to her demise, she would not have let a mark kill her love of the tribe, nor her will to live and love like a normal person”. Next to Tarn laying horizontally so that it was facing out of the cave was a block of pure white ice; inside lay Heathahs body unable to be seen through the cloudy texture of the ice. Her icy coffin was suspended over the ledge by two ice supports so that water from the waterfall trickled onto its end. “So it is with such a heavy heart that I may truly say that no matter what, her life was truly was cut short”. One tear from Tarns right eye was all she could spare for the departed today. “An even though it is clear that we all owe her our gratitude, we do so not just because we would all be under oppressive occupation right now but because she was a true Northern Water Tribe warrior who lay her life so that we could continue to live ours normally”. And with that, a moment of silence was bestowed upon the people of the tribe as Theoden made his way back from the crowd and took his position next to Tarn. They looked at each other, nodded and outreached their arms and clenched their fists in sync while the supports of the coffin shattered sending the icy coffin deep into the ferocious waters of the fall.

“May her soul ride the eternal currents of peace” Said to duo, to which the crowd all replied

“May her memory be a blessing of the moon”

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