kiss the skies.

soaring and bending with: @airlegacy (aang)

PRIMARY MUSES:

DRUK. APPA. MOMO.

TEST MUSES:

VAATU. WONG-SHI. (infant lion turtle oc) TIYA-NA. (emerald dragon oc) RAN AND SHAW.

rules under the cut.

wakes up in a cold sweat

Rewatching some scenes that I haven't gotten to in my rewatch and rethinking Druk's lore.

The small, rippling waves lapped against the shore of the pond. It was nothing substantial; more of a puddle than anything. Appa couldn’t drink from it. The others couldn’t bathe or swim in it. Momo had taken to prodding the surface once, then shaking his wet paw back and forth with regret.

Appa lowered his massive head to the murky water, nostrils flaring. But the gentle disturbance wasn’t caused by his rumbling exhales, nor Momo’s prodding.

Something bobbed to the surface of the water, the sky bison leaning back with a snort of surprise.

He’s at an age where he’s young, naïve, and worst of all, mischievous. Many moons had rose to the skies and fallen behind mountain ranges since he had broken free of the golden shell that protected him for…he didn’t even know how long.

Nor did he really care, as most children do—no matter the species. All that mattered to the young dragon now was exploring, playing, and eating.

Druk flapped his wings rapidly, making him look more like a frantic insect instead of the powerful fire being he would become. He spun in a circle once, hopping up and down, chirping loudly at Katara’s feet. Finally, with just the right amount of momentum, he launched up into the arm and scrabbled up to her shoulder.

The steady beat of wings filled the air as Druk descended onto the palace balcony, whiskers flowing in the air. The stone path beneath his feet seemed to tremble, heating up beneath his scaled touch.

He scanned the area, a gentle rumble rolling up his throat and off his forked tongue as he padded forward, looking for his bonded. Looking for Zuko.

He stilled, one of his claws still raised in the air, talons flexing.

Izumi crossed into his path, and he exhaled a puff of steam in greeting. Izumi was precious to him, just like his bonded. She was the daughter of his chosen person, and thus Izumi was kin. His own blood, without sharing a drop.

Momo shifted his body weight just a little, leaning into the wonderful scratches his companion provided him with. His large eyes slipped shut, a gentle purr roiling out of his throat. Of course, he cracked one eye open to keep an eye on that tart that was so tantalizingly being shielded in the Avatar's hands.

Appa made a sound akin to a low grumble, rising to his feet and stretching in a downward dog bow. He shook the remaining of dredges of sleep from his body as if they were annoying flies swarming his hide before he joined on on the action.

The sky bison grumbled again, nudging his large head against Aang's unoccupied shoulder.

When that didn't work. Appa looked at Momo.

Momo looked at Appa.

Three sets of heavy footsteps leave imprints in the snow. His tail drags behind him, furrowing the white in his wake, flattening the shape of his paws into a mess of nothing.

He wonders, mindlessly, if that tiger-thing will be upset that all this snow has been trampled.

His tail flicked once, twice. A gesture that would have been easy to ignore if one did not know the crimson dragon. The long appendage coiled around his bonded, the one that cared for him, raised him, protected him.

But the ember eyes of Druk were distant. Unfocused.

He pulled Zuko closer to his upper body, wings folding neatly against his back. A lip twitched, curling to expose some of his jagged teeth in an expression that the untrained eye could perceive as aggression.

Druk was acting strange.

He's been aloof- not really to his bonded, no. Never to Zuko. But his behavior was notably different. He would pace around the palace balconies, his gaze distant as he stared out to the horizon with a twitching tail.

The great beast was, for a lack of a better word, twitchy. He would raise his head and flare out his furred ruff, rumbling low in his throat like a volcano about to erupt.

But it didn't seem to be aggression.