These creature things attacked Caer Scima along with the Seelie. When they knocked down the big doors, Morla's voice was in my head. They were really big, like the size of an ostrich horse. And they had these claws ... [ he doesn't really know what a spider is. his voice shifts into uncertainty as he mulls it over aloud, ] It kind of looked like a spider cat? But it lacked the fur.
[ but he shrugs it off. it's neither here nor there as he doubts they're lingering within caer scima anymore. ] I was able to burn them and turn them against the Seelie, but I don't know what they are. I don't know if there's more to come.
Yes. I kept thinking maybe if I made my fire hotter, the magic of them might burn. [ but they really hadn't; immune to fire, he thinks toph would've had better luck than he. ] I think I managed to shock them, but that's all I needed to get away.
[that's all the warning he gets before she shuts the locket, buries her face in her hands and screams in frustration. fucking Tarz. maybe if she had fought harder, he wouldn't have had the chance.
but she can't regret things now. there's no room nor time. and she has to call Zuko back.]
I know who sent those. Hopefully he'll have fled Caer Scima.
Which brings me to my point -- I was told you have a lasso.
[ zuko doesn't know anything — from tarz to the creatures, to him, it'd merely been a creature of the seelie, not a specific man. didn't everything inevitably come from the seelie core? ]
It's what I used to try and tame them. I know I shocked them; I tried to make them obedient to me, but I didn't stick around too long to see if it worked. Some of them followed me and seemed to do as I say, but I don't know if it worked. [ reluctantly, he admits: ] I really didn't like the look of them.
Their master is no better. [he hurt her, he hurt the Brucolac, he hurt Ennis. and now he hurt Caer Scima.] Do you think the lasso will work on the Jabberwock?
You know how it's rumoured La Llorona tries to kill you sometimes? It almost got me. I tried to burn it, but a part of me knew the lasso would protect me. And it did.
[ he had never wanted to use it. after morla's explanation of its capabilities and very few limitations, he had felt uncomfortable with the notion the weapon he had latched upon his hip was able to make anything obedient to him. controlling someone, rendering them empty of their true selves, wasn't what zuko wanted in life. ]
La Llorona's the biggest forest in Caer Scima and it listened to me. [ he's still surprised by such a thing. no one listens to zuko. ] I think it will work on the Jabberwock. It has to; Morla enchanted it for me, and if what El-Melloi said is true about her probably being the only one to control it, it's our only chance at stopping it.
Our only chance at returning it to where it came from. If it can calm the forest, then it's more than likely you're right.
Right now I don't have a definite location of it -- Professor's supposed to contact me when there's one. But the instant it is...how quickly can you get from place to place?
[ he hopes so, too. but whenever zuko wishes for something to go his way, it never does. and the drabwurld has shown its true self to be no different to his own world. ]
Not exactly, but when it settles, I'm going to go over and see if I can get near it. Touch is supposed to help soothe it. If I wasn't needed here, I'd be following its path, but such as it is.
[ his voice is hot and unwavering. ] And if it fails, we're getting out of there.
[ even if he has the lasso that can tame almost anything, he's not going to stand idly by trying to whip the jabberwock into a trap within its rope if grell's slowly rotting away. the unseelie will find a way to tame it without him — he has faith that their castle may be destroyed, but their spirits aren't. ]
No. [ he'll never properly discern himself as a leader among friends. he isn't the fire lord with them — he may take to the leadership role out of duty and his own desire to spread peace over the world, amending for the mistakes of his father and his father before him, but he never wants to abuse his power. ] I'm saying that as your friend.
[ he doesn't know what he was expecting. did he want her to fight him on it? to stomp her foot and inform him he had no right to tell her what to do? even toph, at her most wilful, would, in her own way, give into him. zuko may consider a lot of people to be friend potential — and he'd even lay his life on the line for anyone, even a mere acquaintance — but only for those he truly likes and respects would he jeopardise a mission that he can easily accomplish in order to save someone else. ]
[ he's glad she doesn't say anything. it'd be too confronting otherwise. ]
Morla will be able to figure out a way to stop it. [ she has to; he believes so much that it's her essence within the lasso that will stop the jabberwock. why else would she request they bring it back to her? ] But I doubt it's going to come to that. If you know you can touch it, I believe you. And I'll try and help you in any way I can — maybe that's what it needs, anyway. [ he shrugs. ] A touch.
It won't have that chance. [ and it's with confidence he'll need to begin to feel, he says: ] I won't let it.
[ lasso of obedience, remember? zuko will make it lick her hand with no teeth. if it so much as thinks to harm her, he'll damn morla's own rules and burn the jabberwock as if he's a dragon himself. it doesn't deserve to die — he thinks it should be given a chance to live, but zuko's too easily swayed to anger when someone he cares for is in danger. before, that'd been too muggy, rendering him blind to those who flanked his sides unwaveringly, but no, with a plethora of worldly lessons under his belt, he knows someone or something like ozai doesn't deserve leniency (even though he often grants it, regardless). ]
[she has to. she has to trust her allies, those dragged across time and space to be here, to rage against the forces of light and order lest they all lose everything far too soon.
(maybe, they're friends. it's a word she's hesitant to overuse, unless she knows the sentiment is the same she'll never voice it.)
she would trust him regardless, from what he's taught her, what she's seen with him -- but this cements it. they have to do this.]
[ and that's the diamond in the rough — trust. she trusts him. she trusts him to ensure her life isn't crushed beneath the foot of a jabberwock, just as zuko reciprocates with his hand in hers, knowing she'll have his back regardless of what's to transpire. ]
[ it's a scary thing, but it's one that instills him with confidence. ]
I'll try and keep an eye out for it. But once I'm done here, making sure those things aren't coming back, I'm going to the Station.
[ it's with hesitancy he even adds: ] One of those things got me. [ he's quick to add: ] I'll be fine. But the Station's less in shambles than the infirmary at the castle is.
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[people, she expected, but...]
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[ but he shrugs it off. it's neither here nor there as he doubts they're lingering within caer scima anymore. ] I was able to burn them and turn them against the Seelie, but I don't know what they are. I don't know if there's more to come.
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[spiders. don't tell her...]
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[that's all the warning he gets before she shuts the locket, buries her face in her hands and screams in frustration. fucking Tarz. maybe if she had fought harder, he wouldn't have had the chance.
but she can't regret things now. there's no room nor time. and she has to call Zuko back.]
I know who sent those. Hopefully he'll have fled Caer Scima.
Which brings me to my point -- I was told you have a lasso.
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It's what I used to try and tame them. I know I shocked them; I tried to make them obedient to me, but I didn't stick around too long to see if it worked. Some of them followed me and seemed to do as I say, but I don't know if it worked. [ reluctantly, he admits: ] I really didn't like the look of them.
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[ he had never wanted to use it. after morla's explanation of its capabilities and very few limitations, he had felt uncomfortable with the notion the weapon he had latched upon his hip was able to make anything obedient to him. controlling someone, rendering them empty of their true selves, wasn't what zuko wanted in life. ]
La Llorona's the biggest forest in Caer Scima and it listened to me. [ he's still surprised by such a thing. no one listens to zuko. ] I think it will work on the Jabberwock. It has to; Morla enchanted it for me, and if what El-Melloi said is true about her probably being the only one to control it, it's our only chance at stopping it.
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Right now I don't have a definite location of it -- Professor's supposed to contact me when there's one. But the instant it is...how quickly can you get from place to place?
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[ and if it isn't, then they're fucked. zuko may be a quick runner, but he can't outrun a jabberwock. ]
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Are you going to chase it?
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[even with the warning about the aura of rot. she knows her endurance is above a human's, she'll take this risk. (besides, Waver gave it a pass.)]
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[ even if he has the lasso that can tame almost anything, he's not going to stand idly by trying to whip the jabberwock into a trap within its rope if grell's slowly rotting away. the unseelie will find a way to tame it without him — he has faith that their castle may be destroyed, but their spirits aren't. ]
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[if she has to, she knows, she'll command him to save himself.]
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[ if you jump, i jump, jack. ]
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Understood. If it fails, we leave at once.
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[ he's glad she doesn't say anything. it'd be too confronting otherwise. ]
Morla will be able to figure out a way to stop it. [ she has to; he believes so much that it's her essence within the lasso that will stop the jabberwock. why else would she request they bring it back to her? ] But I doubt it's going to come to that. If you know you can touch it, I believe you. And I'll try and help you in any way I can — maybe that's what it needs, anyway. [ he shrugs. ] A touch.
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[newly born, even. what a way to be born.]
If it bites my hand off, then we'll know it isn't working.
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[ lasso of obedience, remember? zuko will make it lick her hand with no teeth. if it so much as thinks to harm her, he'll damn morla's own rules and burn the jabberwock as if he's a dragon himself. it doesn't deserve to die — he thinks it should be given a chance to live, but zuko's too easily swayed to anger when someone he cares for is in danger. before, that'd been too muggy, rendering him blind to those who flanked his sides unwaveringly, but no, with a plethora of worldly lessons under his belt, he knows someone or something like ozai doesn't deserve leniency (even though he often grants it, regardless). ]
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[she has to. she has to trust her allies, those dragged across time and space to be here, to rage against the forces of light and order lest they all lose everything far too soon.
(maybe, they're friends. it's a word she's hesitant to overuse, unless she knows the sentiment is the same she'll never voice it.)
she would trust him regardless, from what he's taught her, what she's seen with him -- but this cements it. they have to do this.]
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[ it's a scary thing, but it's one that instills him with confidence. ]
I'll try and keep an eye out for it. But once I'm done here, making sure those things aren't coming back, I'm going to the Station.
[ it's with hesitancy he even adds: ] One of those things got me. [ he's quick to add: ] I'll be fine. But the Station's less in shambles than the infirmary at the castle is.
You call, I'll come.
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[it's more than she gives most, to say that aloud. but if he could make her a promise, she could give him that much.]