Carved In Rock || ATLA

The Webs We Weave

The Guru

"The webs I weave, I am caught in this game. My passions dead, the life I've lead has drown me in vein." - Escape The Fate

🌊 ⛰ 🔥 🌪

Every muscle inside Kyojuro's body cried in protest as he moved slowly about his room. Katara had granted him his wish to test his skills against a waterbender, and she had only made him slightly regret even asking in the first place. But if she were any representation of her people's strength, the Prince would be grateful to know his kingdom would soon be allied with the Water Tribe when Sokka returned with the Southern Chief in tow.

Kyojuro had held his own in every regard, of course. He had even made the waterbender sweat and think outside the box but Katara had used a move of his own against him and sprayed his molten rock down to create a thick cover of steam. With the Prince near sightless, she slammed him backward and sent him toppling across the grounds that his brother had allowed him to morph into a training ring. Against every rule of defense and falling he had been taught, Kyojuro stupidly reached for the ground in an attempt to stop himself. He ended up biting his lip so hard that he drew blood when he felt his elbow pop out of place.

Katara had been kind enough to heal him, apologizing along the way like the match hadn't been his idea in the first place. The Prince had to lie and assure her that the rest of his body completely felt fine to quell her remorse even though he would've gladly let her heal his muscles too if it would've meant he could've avoided aching the way he did now.

Still, even as he struggled to pull a clean shirt over his head, he wouldn't deny he had enjoyed himself this afternoon. While the conversation on his end had remained largely surface level, Katara had been open with him as she filled in many of his gaps in the history of the past hundred years, not shying from the ways this war had affected her and her brother personally. Their story had only further fueled his desire to end Fire Lord's reign of terror and armed with the information she had given him, he dressed albeit slowly after washing up and set off for the old study that had been effectively morphed into a war room. He found his brother there with Murata and quietly joined them at the table as they discussed relief plans for their city's refugees.

Murata took one look at the younger man he had befriended and announced, "You look like hell, Prince Kyojuro."

"Thank you for the observation, Murata." The Prince rolled his eyes. "How is your family settling?"

At both brothers' insistence, the Dai Li captain had set off at first light for his parent's home in the Lower Ring with a team of ostrich horses, two large wagons and a thank you from the royal family. Both his mother and father wept when he knocked on the door of a too-small apartment he hadn't been able to visit in several years. A few moments later Murata was knocked to the ground as his brothers and sisters barreled past their parents to fling themselves at their eldest sibling.

It had only taken one wagon to carry the few meager possessions inside the home, the other carting his family as he assured them all of the Hashibira's kindness, promising change for not only his own family but for the many others like theirs that had been displaced by the war. The whole family then wept freely together when Murata continued to rattle off more and more of the brothers' generous offers.

A home in the Upper Ring, free schooling at the University for any of his siblings that desired, and jobs for his parents that paid more individually than they had ever made combined since coming to the city but only if they truly wanted them since the King had assured they would never need to work again had they not wanted to.

Murata smiled. "They were too thankful to even notice the number the Beifong girl did to the place, though it was generous of Katara to offer the home up in the first place. I know she insisted she and her friends won't mind staying in the palace until the invasion, but I'm still grateful for them and for you." He said to the brothers with the kind of raw and genuine emotion on his face that was rarely seen amongst the Dai Li, a sharp contrast to the scar across his cheek. "I can't thank you enough."