For@the-power-of-stuff ‘s wonderful Sokka/Suki piece for the @atla-bigbang I really loved working on this art, it was just such a calming scene to bring to life.
You can find “Count Herself Among Them” on their AO3 and their blog!
Chapter 4: The Japanese Inspirations for Kyoshi Island
Chapter 4: The Japanese Inspirations for Kyoshi Island
Kyoshi Island and the Kyoshi Warriors draw inspiration from Japanese history and culture in a number of ways, but some Chinese influences can also be seen.
Names
Kyoshi – 京士, is actually a Japanese male first name, Kyo means capital, shi can mean samurai
Suki – すき or 好希 using Kanji, is a Japanese female first name, the Kanji mean good and hope, respectively
I’ve binge watching avatar series , because I’ve watch Avatar when growing up.
I had a crazy crush on Zuko , in Season 1 I didn’t like Zuko because of his hair why is his hair like that but in season 2 I was like how and he’s cute after the series ended , then it was legend of Korra, I was suppose to like Mako but then Zuko’s grandson Iroh II, he has a grandson damn he is a fine looking specimen .
I made a fan comic called the Raise of Phoenix King it’s like Crimes of Passion
Iroh and Eun have to investigate a cult targeting whose related to Zuko. I wanted to bring the Kyoshi Warriors in Korra’s timeline, I like the Kyoshi Warriors they’re cool. Eun is Lin’s illegitimate daughter whose a non-bender
this is a sneak peek
there some characters I will make. I got @heleneplays character for the story . i mean we besties.
“We’re both warriors in our own right, and too good to be surrounded by stupid boys all the time.“
Crossing back over the Serpent’s Pass was easy. The heavy weight on her chest that pummelled her out of nowhere was infinitely hard.
Across the deep-water chasm, Y/N carried Suki, ignoring the strain on her calves and arms. Without the serpent or the extra people holding them back, the girls made their way over the Pass before night fell. The biting cold was not a problem either as Y/N kept a flame lit in her hand as the sun began to lower in the grey sky, enveloped by a cluster of clouds.
“I sent a message ahead of us,” Suki told her idly, adjusting her headband as they walked.
“Oh?”
The Warrior nodded. “The other Kyoshi Warriors will meet us back past the docks and into the wooded area westward.”
Nodding, Y/N focused on the ground beneath her feet. It was unchanging, dusty and sharp, as they began to exit the steepest climbs of the Pass, watching it plateau with little interest. If she could analyse the rocky path they were on, it would distract from the rocky terrain she and Sokka had metaphorically stumbled onto.
“Why did you invite me to come along with you, Suki?” Y/N said, her voice too loud in her ears after hours of endless silence.
Suki smiled at her. “Call it a hunch, but I think we’re like-minded people.”
“Because we’ve both had crushes on Sokka?”
“What?” She snorted, a massive grin now on her face. “No! What I had was a fleeting moment of ‘oh he’s cute’ and that was the end of that.”
“Oh,” Y/N said, flushing with embarrassment. “Well now I feel like an idiot.”
With a gentle nudge, Suki shook her head. “Don’t. We’re both warriors in our own right, and too good to be surrounded by stupid boys all the time.”
The joke summoned a low chuckle in Y/N’s throat, suddenly washing away the bashful feeling settling in her gut. Suki was easy to talk to, it seemed, but that ease with soon disappear. At the end of the journey, the she saw the other Kyoshi Warriors. They were in full garb, waiting.
She felt more out of place than ever. Frowning, Y/N smothered the fire with her shame. A furious grey stretched over the atmosphere, the colour of smoke. Inhaling a deep, controlled breath, she tried in desperation to replace the pressure in her chest with warmth, and for a moment she succeeded. The blossoming fire lily of energy spread, easing the tension in her muscles, her intense scowl softening.
“Warriors.” Suki announced their presence with all the nobility of a Fire Nation general. “This is Y/N. She will be travelling with us for a while.”
A murmur rippled through the group as easy and detrimental as an ocean tide. Y/N had no real experience with other girls her age. Sure, when she had been to visit her father in the Fire Nation Palace, Azula had been welcoming, so to speak. By welcoming, she meant more that the princess seemed to want to add her to a collection. She seemed to keep friends like butterflies, pinned to a board by their wings. This would also be ignoring the age gap between them; the same could even be said for Toph and Katara.
This was going to be strange.
“Yes, she is a firebender, but I would trust her if I had to put my life in her hands,” Suki said, voice turning sterner, more sincere, overcoming the collective whisper of doubt. “You didn’t see her risk her life for the sake of others. Y/N is fierce, and she will fit in with us for as long as she needs.”
With that, Suki had finished. Quelling the uncertainty with swift decisiveness, Y/N couldn’t help but admire the leadership she was displaying.
Tents set up and food gathered, all that was left to do was set up a campfire. Rather than letting one of the Warriors ache over sparking flame with rock, the firebender ignited her forefinger, pointing it at the pile of dry wood collected and arranged with the neat discipline of a trained fighter. Y/N ignored the yelps of the girls around her as the fire hit the wood with fierce accuracy. Under the intense heat, the wood began to crack, splintering and cracking as loud as thunder. As it settled, no longer spitting like a vicious pygmy puma, the girls wasted no time lifting a cooking pot over the campfire.
“No meat in the soup tonight.” A gruff voice said, startling Y/N. “Is that okay with you, firebender?”
She looked at the owner of such a low voice; a tall, leggy girl was stirring different nuts into a broth, stoking the flames every now and then to keep it boiling. Other than a single braid that was slung over her shoulder, her head was completely shaved.
“I don’t mind,” Y/N smiled, swallowing her nerves. “When you travel with a monk, you get used to a vegetarian lifestyle.”
The Warrior looked at her with some curiosity as she continued crushing the shells off of the main ingredients for their meal. “Huh. The Avatar, I’m guessing. What’s he like?”
“Sweet,” Was the first word that blurted out of her mouth. “Young. Fiercely devoted.”
“Glad to know our saviour is sweet.”
“Hey, I also said devoted!”
The two girls stared at each other before bursting out with laughter. They sat there for a few silent moments. Y/N tamed the flames down to a simmering heat as her acquaintance stirred in some green herbs. It smelled divine, summoning images of pine, hiking in the rain, and home. Home was the strongest memory dredged up by the broth.
“I heard,” The girl said, a teasing smile playing on her pretty lips, “That you’re really here because you got into an argument with a boy.”
Perhaps if any of the other girls there had teased like that, Y/N would’ve lost her temper, but this one seemed kind. “You could say that we had a conflict of interests.”
“Those interests being fire and water?” She continued to joke, nudging Y/N’s shoulder. “I’m glad to know I’ll never have these problems with boys.”
Y/N furrowed her brows. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t like boys,” The girl shrugged with an easy grin. “Girls, however…”
“Wait, that’s an option?”
Now looking as confused as each other, they were interrupted by another Kyoshi Warrior. This girl had her face bare of paint, her entire body beaming with pure light. Wrapping her arms around the girl at the pot, she planted a kiss on her cheek before looking up to see Y/N, who sat shocked.
“Li, are you already bullying this poor girl?” The cheery one frowned – as much as she could looking like sunshine personified.
“Of course not, Yu,” Li said, clasping her free hand over Yu’s. “I’m just enlightening her to the many possibilities that being in the Kyoshi Warriors has granted me.”
This was a revelation to Y/N. It was her great grandfather who had spearheaded the criminalisation of ‘abnormal’ relationships, so she had never witnessed such explicit affection between two girls. It made sense though, why she never recognised her admiration of fellow women as anything more than friendship after a certain age. In fact, watching Li and Yu be so tender together reminded Y/N of an array of people she had considered close friends, those she would stare at a few seconds too long.
There had been a guard in Ozai’s palace with whom Y/N often walked the gardens when she would visit many years ago. Yes, she had been very young, but she remembered this woman with such intensity; she had these glittering gold eyes, as if someone had caught the sun in manacles and poured its blessing into her. She remembered, Princess Y/N, besotted with this woman and announcing to her that one day she would marry her. She startled at how panicked she had turned, and became sad when she never saw her again.
Even after her, there had been others she had admired; Jin who lived near her mother, Suki to some extent, and she was now realising how she had completely melted in front of Li.
But then there was Jìngyi and Sokka. Where did they fit?
“Sweetness,” Yu whispered to Li, “I think you broke the poor thing.”
“Hey, firebender,” Li said, brushing her companion off, “First bowl of soup fresh just for you.”
Numb, she took the bowl with a nod. “You can call me Y/N.”
That scent was back again as the pleasant nutty broth exuded heat. Swirling up in tendrils of steam, Y/N caught those glimpses of home again, but they were even stronger now – perhaps more melancholy and informed. But who was it she was seeing? Where was home?
Sipping a spoonful, her entire body warmed up in a way that could only be comforting. It was like the embrace of a fireplace after being caught in the rain. Spirits, it was good. It was definitely better than anything her and Katara had managed to cook up from the wilds. Watching her new acquaintances, Y/N realised their bond was forged in something other than affection; it seemed that Li was the cook and Yu the forager. Love, it seemed, could flourish somewhere that no one would ever expect it.
“This is lovely, thank you,” Y/N said with the utmost sincerity, bowing her head lowly.
Usually, she was all about etiquette, but the flavour and the sad pit in her stomach made her desperate to wolf the meal down. So many words to describe one bowl - splendid, delicious, homely – but Y/N could find none to describe how she was feeling.
“Tomorrow,” Li cut in past Y/N’s thoughts, “Yu and I, that being my Yu, will help you get ready for the journey ahead.”
Y/N allowed a small giggle to pass her lips at Li’s bad joke. “What do you mean?”
“If you’re travelling with the Kyoshi Warriors, you have to look like one!” Yu laughed, tapping her foot against Y/N’s knee as she took a seat opposite her.
“What, with the–” YN gestured to her face, mimicking the swipe of a brush over her eyes and lips.
“Yes!” Yu said, excited, “And with you uniform as well.”
“Is that okay?”
All three of the girls looked up behind Y/N’s shoulder to see a now bare faced Suki. Her red hair was tied back haphazardly in a pony tail, wisps of hair falling either side of her face. Out of any uniform whatsoever and in some comfy looking sleep clothes, she looked more relaxed.
Suki wasn’t looking at the other girls though. Suki was looking at Y/N.
“Oh!” Y/N flushed, sheepish. “Yeah, that would be great! Thank you for allowing me to travel with you.”
“Not at all,” She brushed off, taking a seat next to her on the ground, sandwiching her between her and Li. “Soup is going down a treat, girls. I’m sure we’ll all be sleeping warm in our sleeping bags tonight.”
A sleeping bag.
Oh no.
“Where am I sleeping, Suki?” Y/N asked, placing an empty bowl down on the ground – though it was refilled pretty quickly. “I mean, I don’t have problems with staying warm usually, so it’s fine if I don’t have a sleeping bag, but– “
“Y/N,” Suki interrupted, “You can have my sleeping mat and just lie between two of us just in case the winds pick up.”
“Okay, thank you.”
Crisis averted, Y/N thought as she dug through another bowl of soup. But what kind of crisis, she had to wonder. Crisis or not, she had no trouble getting to sleep under an ocean of stars, laid between Suki and Li. She felt comfortable – content, even – which was new. Perhaps she wouldn’t have too much trouble travelling with the Kyoshi Warriors after all.
ALT
