(7) text

[ex_fintastic398]

Note to s)(ellf!
Sleeping in a )(ole in t)(e sand for a week is not suc)( a great idea!
It's not only very disorienting but t)(en you also get sand all in your )(air and mout)(.
Yuck!!

So didn't I miss anyfin big, did I?
No one died or went missing w)(ile I was gone, RIG)(T? 38)

[ ooc; DEHIATUS go. I also dropped pretty much all of my old threads for both Feferi and Alexstrasza and won't be picking them back up, but feel free to PM me to talk out a resolution. ]

Comments

[video]

[flammatory]

No, they weren't here for a week, and I wasn't asleep! ... I think. I don't really know what happened, I don't real with this stuff.

[video]

[ex_fintastic398]

Uhuh. Whatever it was, it was probably all fake anyway! Like the time I turned into a dragon!

[video] 1/2

[flammatory]

[Okay, Zuko has a thing about dragons, so there's a blank moment in which he stares at her incredulously.]

[flammatory]

--You turned into a what?!

But you can't just-- and there aren't any more dragons! How did you even do that?

[ex_fintastic398]

Only for a week! It was really neat!

...are there really no more dragons where you're from?

[flammatory]

They were hunted to extinction not too long ago. Where I'm from, they were the original firebenders, the ones that taught us how to do it. [Actually, there are still a couple dragons, but Zuko had been sworn to secrecy on that, for their own protection.]

... What was it like?

[ex_fintastic398]

What was it like being a dragon?

[ She pauses, trying to remember it. That whole week was pretty hazy. ]

It was really cool! I don't think I did much fire breathing or anything like that, but I did get to fly a whole bunch, and I went on a quest!

[flammatory]

You went on a quest? Uh... wow, that does sounds pretty cool. [He rubs the back of his neck a little, embarrassed to be caught liking something.]

I wish I could see one again. It's just another thing my family's taken away from the Fire Nation, and the world.

[ex_fintastic398]

I heard there are dragons here in the bubble! But I've never seen them, and you'd think that's the sort of thing that would be easy to notice.

[ She pauses, like she's actually debating for once whether this is a question that should be asked. It isn't, but she goes on anyway. ]

So what about your family, anyway? You keep mentioning them but you haven't said a whole lot about them!

[flammatory]

There are?! Wow. [He actually looks impressed for once, and curious, and maybe a little overwhelmed at the idea.] I'll have to look out for them. Thanks.

[Zuko's family is always a hot topic, apparently, but he's used to it being one. Kind of hard to avoid it when they're taking over the world.] ... Yeah, I guess I do mention them a lot. My uncle's here, at least-- his name's Iroh. Other than him it's just my dad and my sister, and they're... [He pauses, decides how to put it.] Let's just say they're where they deserve to be. In jail.

[ex_fintastic398]

...oh. I didn't mean to bring up something uncomfortable.

[ Whoops. Now Feferi definitely feels a little bit sheepish. ]

[flammatory]

It's fine. [He rolls his eyes, totally dismissing the idea.] The whole world back home knows what happened to them-- it's weirder to me that you don't know. They were the last two Fire Lords, so it didn't exactly miss the news.

[ex_fintastic398]

Fore Lords... is that some kind of, like, nobility? Or something?

[ She's really bad at this don't-ask-awkward-questions game. ]

[flammatory]

[Zuko's bad at the entire don't-be-awkward game, so you look like a paragon of politeness in comparison anyway, Feferi.]

It's the undisputed ruler of the Fire Nation, the most militaristic country in the world, [he says bluntly, and then folds his arms.] Right now, it's me. Remember, I was yelling about 'who dared kidnap the Fire Lord' when I first arrived? [He says that as a dig at himself, not at her.]

[ex_fintastic398]

[ Just look at her face light up. ]

I didn't really think about it! I kind of forgot... so that means you're like, a prince? Well, more than a prince, I guess! That would kind of be like the Empress!

[flammatory]

I used to be a prince -- the crown prince. Emperors have empires, which is what I don't want. The Fire Lord is more like a king; I rule over my country and our colonies, and that's it.

[Zuko is firm on this point, determined to shake off any imperialistic implications.]

[ex_fintastic398]

What's wrong with empires? I almost had an empire once!

[ She ain't even bothered, just seriously curious. ]

[flammatory]

You did? ... Oh, yeah, Sollux mentioned that.

What's wrong is that it ruins the balance in the world. The Four Nations need to coexist together, not have one stamp out all the rest.