Post by honoo on Jul 23, 2008 13:19:05 GMT -6
The Duke watched the forest floor from his perch high in the trees. Guard duty. Right. By himself. At night.
Okay, maybe this wouldn’t be a fun as he’d thought. Every woodland creature scampering through the fallen leaves, or through the thick foliage above gave him a start. He was supposed to be listening for Fire Nation soldiers from the nearby town that might be in the woods, looking for the hidden band hidden somewhere in the trees. That was fine; The Duke had done this sort of things more times than he could count (though he was still stuck on numbers over twelve. He never got much of an education…). Just not, you know, without back-up.
Why do I have to suffer when they drink themselves silly on stolen Fire Nation fire-juice? he moaned silently to himself.
Just then, an owl cried out in the dark. The Duke jumped and grabbed the branch above him to keep from falling out of the tree. His oversized helmet slipped,, but he managed to catch it on the tip of his quarterstaff. Get a hold of yourself! he reprimanded himself sternly while replacing it on his head, The Duke is not afraid of anything! And with that, he settled down and stared at the dark floor of the forest, ignoring as many of the night noises around him as possible.
The Duke remembered another dark night, just like this, about a year ago, when he had also been climbing through the trees. Only then, he hadn’t really known what was up here.
It was that smell, up in the trees, the smell of cooked food that set his mouth to watering and his stomach to gurgling. The boy (he couldn’t remember his name… something beginning with an S. Shen? Shuan? Sowen?) normally tried to avoid people, but this time he was just too hungry. Besides, by the time he climbed the tree that the scent was coming from, they probably would have finished eating, and he might be able to sneak in and steal a morsel or two. It worked on the Fire Nation soldiers, after all.
About fifteen minutes later, he found the fire. No one was near it, but there was a pot of something bubbling softly on it, and a pile of bowls. His eyes darted back and forth as he dashed forward into the firelight to grab and fill a bowl before backing away. He forgot to look behind him, and bumped into something large and warm. He froze.
“Why hello there!” boomed a deep, jovial voice. The small ten-year old was lifted bodily into the air and turned around to come face to face with the largest man he had ever seen. “It’s not nice to steal people’s food, you know,” continued the man.
The boy glared at him despite his stomach clenching fear, and drank down the bowl quickly, swallowing hard despite the fact that it scalded his tongue.
The man laughed. “You’re kinda funny,” he judged.
And that was how he met Pipsqueak (yes, the big man was named Pipsqueak), who was now his best friend. That was also when he met Jet and the Freedom Fighters, and how he became one of them. His audacity in eating the food earned him his nickname, remembered The Duke with pride. Only some sort of Lord or Duke would so shamelessly steal someone’s food, they had said. That was the only name he went by now. The Duke. It was better than not remembering his real name (or anything else for that matter; all his life he had traveled around scrounging for food. He might not have had a name in the first place…) His helpful attitude but boisterous persona let him fit in with the Freedom Fighters, all teens without a home, like him.
A grumble in his stomach woke him from his memories. Dinner seemed so long ago now, with him keeping watch in the dark forest. He tried to distract himself by trying to remember his parents. He only got what he always saw in his memory’s eye: one bracelet-clad hand patting him on the head, long brown hair, and a comforting presence. His parents probably had been displaced or something by the war, leaving him alone. Either that, or they had abandoned him. He couldn’t remember, of course, but he hoped it was the first one.
These thoughts weren’t cheering him up much, so instead he tried to think about happy things. Tomorrow Jet said they would be raiding the Fire Nation encampment nearby. He would get to be the distraction, his favorite job. His freckled, mischievous face always got the Fire Nation soldiers to look at him, and not be on their guard to attacks from above. His Earth Kingdom-style helmet didn’t hurt either.
The Duke grinned impishly at the thoughts of the raid. That would be a lot more interesting than guard duty. Speaking of guard duty, wasn’t he supposed to be relieved soon? If not, he’d have to give Pipsqueak a wake-up call. That'd be fun. But where could he get the blasting jelly?
{Not a fan of the end. Sorry...}
Okay, maybe this wouldn’t be a fun as he’d thought. Every woodland creature scampering through the fallen leaves, or through the thick foliage above gave him a start. He was supposed to be listening for Fire Nation soldiers from the nearby town that might be in the woods, looking for the hidden band hidden somewhere in the trees. That was fine; The Duke had done this sort of things more times than he could count (though he was still stuck on numbers over twelve. He never got much of an education…). Just not, you know, without back-up.
Why do I have to suffer when they drink themselves silly on stolen Fire Nation fire-juice? he moaned silently to himself.
Just then, an owl cried out in the dark. The Duke jumped and grabbed the branch above him to keep from falling out of the tree. His oversized helmet slipped,, but he managed to catch it on the tip of his quarterstaff. Get a hold of yourself! he reprimanded himself sternly while replacing it on his head, The Duke is not afraid of anything! And with that, he settled down and stared at the dark floor of the forest, ignoring as many of the night noises around him as possible.
The Duke remembered another dark night, just like this, about a year ago, when he had also been climbing through the trees. Only then, he hadn’t really known what was up here.
It was that smell, up in the trees, the smell of cooked food that set his mouth to watering and his stomach to gurgling. The boy (he couldn’t remember his name… something beginning with an S. Shen? Shuan? Sowen?) normally tried to avoid people, but this time he was just too hungry. Besides, by the time he climbed the tree that the scent was coming from, they probably would have finished eating, and he might be able to sneak in and steal a morsel or two. It worked on the Fire Nation soldiers, after all.
About fifteen minutes later, he found the fire. No one was near it, but there was a pot of something bubbling softly on it, and a pile of bowls. His eyes darted back and forth as he dashed forward into the firelight to grab and fill a bowl before backing away. He forgot to look behind him, and bumped into something large and warm. He froze.
“Why hello there!” boomed a deep, jovial voice. The small ten-year old was lifted bodily into the air and turned around to come face to face with the largest man he had ever seen. “It’s not nice to steal people’s food, you know,” continued the man.
The boy glared at him despite his stomach clenching fear, and drank down the bowl quickly, swallowing hard despite the fact that it scalded his tongue.
The man laughed. “You’re kinda funny,” he judged.
And that was how he met Pipsqueak (yes, the big man was named Pipsqueak), who was now his best friend. That was also when he met Jet and the Freedom Fighters, and how he became one of them. His audacity in eating the food earned him his nickname, remembered The Duke with pride. Only some sort of Lord or Duke would so shamelessly steal someone’s food, they had said. That was the only name he went by now. The Duke. It was better than not remembering his real name (or anything else for that matter; all his life he had traveled around scrounging for food. He might not have had a name in the first place…) His helpful attitude but boisterous persona let him fit in with the Freedom Fighters, all teens without a home, like him.
A grumble in his stomach woke him from his memories. Dinner seemed so long ago now, with him keeping watch in the dark forest. He tried to distract himself by trying to remember his parents. He only got what he always saw in his memory’s eye: one bracelet-clad hand patting him on the head, long brown hair, and a comforting presence. His parents probably had been displaced or something by the war, leaving him alone. Either that, or they had abandoned him. He couldn’t remember, of course, but he hoped it was the first one.
These thoughts weren’t cheering him up much, so instead he tried to think about happy things. Tomorrow Jet said they would be raiding the Fire Nation encampment nearby. He would get to be the distraction, his favorite job. His freckled, mischievous face always got the Fire Nation soldiers to look at him, and not be on their guard to attacks from above. His Earth Kingdom-style helmet didn’t hurt either.
The Duke grinned impishly at the thoughts of the raid. That would be a lot more interesting than guard duty. Speaking of guard duty, wasn’t he supposed to be relieved soon? If not, he’d have to give Pipsqueak a wake-up call. That'd be fun. But where could he get the blasting jelly?
{Not a fan of the end. Sorry...}
