Far from home on a road unknown

[actually112]

Who| Aang and YOU
What| Aang running away from ghosts AND another prompt with Aang at the banquet.
Where| Around the castle grounds.
When| Late at night, Week 4
Warnings/Notes| Sad little boys, references to violence and some violence against children.

Ghosts

Aang wandered into the catacombs and dungeons. That was a bad idea, especially on the heels of the horror that was last week. He's yelling as he runs out from the dungeons, going into the castle, but ghosts are still following him. One has the vague outline of a young woman, the other a younger man, neither of them older than nineteen at most.

"Of course you run. You're always running," the younger man says as Aang ducks down a hall and climbs into a little nook to hide.

"How many people are going to die before you stop running?" the woman asks as Aang curls up into a ball and covers his head, doing his best to stay hidden even as he shakes.

"Come out, Avatar!" the ghost boy shouts. "Face the consequences of your actions for once!"

Banquet, later on

Aang is not doing too hot. Last week was hard, and being chased by ghosts didn't help. So he came to get food in low spirits.

But he sees food he actually recognizes for once. Food he hasn't had in over a hundred years. He sits down in front of the modest collection of airbender cuisine--all vegetarian, very little salt. Overall unimpressive except for the fruit pies. Beautiful, perfect crust with fruit custard filling whipped to a cloud-like consistency by airbending.

It all looks mostly perfect, but there are telltale signs of no airbending used in the process. That would change the taste and consistency completely, but would he really be able to tell the difference anymore?

He loads his plate with the food, but he doesn't eat it. He just... stares at it. He moves to eat, then he stops, putting his hands back on the table. He looks to the nearest person, chewing his cheek gently. "Do you have any rituals before eating where you come from?"

Comments

ghosts

[ka_sera_sera]

It's the first time he's entered the castle. Hasn't considered it, even briefly. It doesn't look much like his home, not sitting there on its own like that, but the grand look of the lone castle sitting there is a little too much like a couple others he'd used to visit on trips to nearby baronies. It reminds him of the year-end festivals, all of them sitting close together underneath the stars. Roland knows he is not nearly popular enough in the Capitol to justify the thinking that the castle is mocking him specifically, but even so, he hasn't been at all tempted to wander inside and be reminded of the life that was, once.

This is a fair enough reason. And a fair enough distraction, too, once he gets inside. He keeps behind the shapes making chase until they stop, crowding around one spot. Then he walks up beside the spot too and hunkers near to it, paying them no mind. "Aang?" he calls, keeping his voice low and steady, but hopefully loud enough to carry over anything those spirits might say next. "Can you hear my voice?"