Animation Source Forums

Jaci, smelling meat, padded up behind Yuumi. He was much, much larger than the child, but Yuumi had known him since birth and was not afraid in the least. Once the meat had been analyzed by Jaci's golden gaze, he leaned down and playfully licked the child, cublike friendliness sparkling in his older feline eyes. Yuumi responded with light, young laughter, turning with a goofy smile and patting the Blue Lion on the nose.

Maddy wasn't a big fan of Jaci, and scooted away nervously. Sure, he seemed nice to Yuumi. But that didn't mean he'd act the same to her.

After a while, Rue looked at the meat closely. "Food's done!" she announced, taking the spit off the fire, meat attatched.

Gale felt his stomach growl, and he quickly stepped closer, eager to get some food. He was starving.

"Yeah!" Tess cheered, following Gale's lead and moving closer to her mom. And the meat.

"Did you say the food was ready?" Tariq asked, appearing suddenly.

"Yep," Rue said.

Kya felt her stomach growl at Rue's exclamation. Finally, food! But before going up, she stopped herself. The younger children needed food, probably more that she did. She could wait, right? Her nagging stomach insisted, "Probably not." But her mind won the battle, and she stayed back. Though the answer of the question was slipping from "yes" to wavering "maybe."

Yuumi clapped his hands for the mention of finished food, eager to have some, even though meat was tough on his tiny teeth. Setsuko just looked relived.

Gale handed her the sticks he had "cleaned", by shaving the bark off, leaving the pale wood underneath. "Where did you get the knife?" Rue asked suspiciously. It had been by her the whole time. Gale flushed, guiltily turning away. Rue sighed, but left the matter alone. Sorta. "Could I use the knife? This one's a bit...dirty to cut meat."

Gale looked surprised he wasn't getting scolded, but slipped the pocketknife out of his jacket, handing it to her. Rue sliced the meat, spearing it on the sticks and passing it around.

Yuumi accepted happily, taking the stick and chewing the cooked meat as best he could.

Kuilak, roused by the smell of food, stumbled over, eyes still a bit dragging from tire, but nowhere near as bad as they had been, and the deep blue shone much brighter rays of alertness. "What's this? Food?" He droned playful, a hint of childish sarcasm slipping into his words. "Mmm-hmm," Setsuko confirmed, handing her husband a stick speared with meat. "Eat up."

ooc--I forgot, did Sumi ever come back? O_o -is too lazy to check previous pages-

Ooc:// I think so...

----

Gale was almost done with his already, and Maddy was holding a stick, devoid of meat. Tess ate a bit slower, being younger, but due to their need for much more calories than a "normal" human, they still finished sooner than most of Setsuko and Kuilak's family.

ooc--Blah. -grumbles and checks- Ok, yeah, he did.

~~

Sumi wolfed down his meat, devouring it as quickly as humanly possible. A night on a boulder and a nasty fight can give one a killer appetite, after all.

Recalling the fight, Sumi eyed Gale warily, but said nothing as he licked away all the remains he could salvage off the stick.

Rue and Tariq were done too, and Rue eyed the rest of the meat longingly. Tess, Maddy, and Gale were sure to be hungry too, but they should save it for later.

By the time the families were finished eating, they were all oddly silent. Setsuko finally broke it. "Well," she murmured, voice scarcely above a whisper, "I suppose it's time now, isn't it?"

Rue's dread returned full force, and her mouth became sand-paper dry. She managed a swallow. "Yeah. I guess it is," she said softly, tossing her stick on the ground. She looked at Setsuko, worry and dread obvious in her brown eyes.

Setsuko solemnly returned the gaze, defeat glistening like prey's blood in her eyes. She stood. "Let's go, then. Kuilak and Li can ride with me, Kya with Sumi, Kanna on her own, and I think it would be best for Jaci to carry Yuumi across."

Rue nodded, standing up. She partially unfolded her wings, waiting for everyone to get ready. She was as tense and taut as a drawn bowstring, her freckles standing out clearly on her pale face. She hated to have to do this, she really did. But what choice did she, they, have?

Setsuko strapped Li into the baby-pouch and situated each non-airbender in her family so they were across the back of another's glider as Jaci had been to Setsuko's so many years ago. She sat Yuumi atop the now much larger blue lion, whispering to him, "Hold on tight, now," and to Jaci, "Be careful." She then situated her own glider, Kuilak clinging to the back. She gaze meaningfully into Rue's deep chocolate eyes, and they all took off.

Rue returned the glance, and then they were all in the air. She couldn't fly as high as she normally did, due to the fact she could breath high up, where the oxygen was thin. Being completely human, Setsuko and her family couldn't. So she was left flying at what felt like almost too low.

It was a nice day, but Rue couldn't take the time to notice it. Her mind was racing with her fears and doubts. Were they really doing the right thing?

Jaci kept pace with the fliers above, though still being as careful as he could to run smoothly so that the frightened three-year-old atop his back wouldn't have too much of a bumpy ride. Yuumi, who had never ridden Jaci during a run before, followed his mother's advice and clung tightly to the dark, thick mane around the Blue Lion's neck. He whined softly, missing his parent's comfort.