Avatar: The Last Dicebender (A:TLA/A:LOK Quest)

okay, i wanted to try and flesh out the whole "older sister being instated as the heir" spiel we had going on, a noteworthy thing, is that i haven't slept at all tonight and have only given the piece a rudimentary read, so if anyone notices any major mistakes please inform me.

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bureaucracy in the desert.
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"But who else is there who can lead the tribe in case anything happens? Surely there is someone better than a teenage girl?"

'Dear sanity, what did I do to deserve this?' Makiw sighed internally as he continued listening to one of the older and whinier windbags on the council of elders rambling on.

He had, approximately half an hour ago, informed them of his son's condition and that Tié's new duties would disable him from taking over the tribe when his time came. They had, after a moment of shock at the revelation, started arguing about who should be the heir apparent after Tié's disqualification, this wasn't a new discussion by a long shot as they had been complaining for years as Siph began to gain a reputation.

Honestly losing his heir apparent was stirring up the buzzard-wasp nest once more, it was hardly a secret that the elders preferred Tié to his older sister but this was starting to get ridiculous.

The elders often measured the two siblings against one another and over the years they had often found sylph wanting.

Siph for all he loved her was sadly known to be somewhat of a firecracker, rash when she should take a moment to think, stubborn as can be when she sets her mind on something to the point where she'd deny any proof or criticism presented regardless of how valid it is.

To be fair she wasn't often wrong or unrealistic in her assumptions, they'd taught her well enough for that not to be a problem, but she still had a history of running headfirst into danger without consulting anyone or deciding that something was the case without verifying and then acting on it.

And then there was the problem of her "interest" in one of the guests of the tribe. Makiw personally never had a problem with his daughter's fleeting love interests, after all he had married his wife for love himself, but many of the more conservative council members had difficulties accepting his daughter's quest for love.

Finally, and perhaps the biggest nail in the coffin for her candidacy, was that Siph had on multiple occasions clearly stated that she wasn't that particularly interested in leading the tribe, she'd be willing to do it but had no problem letting go of her claim.

This naturally lead to the elders having a larger interest in Tié's education and attitude as he was raised.

'I suppose we're lucky that Tié never felt any enmity towards his sister for the increased amount of pressure he was constantly put under' Makiw pondered as a particularly loud elder started whining about how they should have arranged a marriage long ago.

"We already had this discussion years ago, it's her choice and as her father I'm leaving it at that. We were discussing the new heir, stay on topic." He interjected as the old man at least had the decency to look somewhat ashamed.

Thinking back on the how this came to be he accepted that Tié often came across as being more thoughtful and introspective than his sister, he took to meditation, history and philosophical lessons better than his sister did.

He also tended to be less quick to anger and had always been more capable of having his mind changed when he finds his ideas challenged in ways that he hadn't thought of yet.

What most people didn't know was that his son much like his daughter had also inherited his obstinacy, it just showed itself in different ways.

Simply put, Tié had a problem with collecting strays. Even as a child he disliked seeing animals and people in pain and this often lead to him taking home strays and nursing them back to health.

Even when told that he was caring for a dangerous wild animal he'd stubbornly refuse to give up on the creature.

He also had a distaste for hunting, true Tié understood that it was necessary for life in the desert and he also understood that he couldn't save everyone even if he tried, but Tié had decided early on that if he could alleviate someone's unnecessary suffering without any real cost to himself then he would always do what he could.

"And she keeps on hanging around with that vagabond, we can't seriously be considering her as a possible new chief can we!"

Slowly Makiv's rage started building again as they were still talking about his. Daughter. But he calmed himself taking a deep breath.

"Enough, Siph has been trained both in leadership and all other necessary fields necessary for becoming the village chief, she is a brilliant sandbender for her age." He paused for a moment to look at the elders who had been complaining about her relationship with "and her marriage status has nothing to do with her eligibility for becoming the next chieftain, unless anyone has a good reason for her not to become the heir apparent stop this ceaseless squabbling"

It seemed to do the trick as the following arguments started to be more qualitative and on point that before.

It wasn't often that he felt his old anger and temper rise but it was always there, just beneath the surface, hidden by the sand.

True not many people noticed when he got angry anymore as he had long since learned to hone and hold back both his temper and wilfulness, but he was sent on his journey for that very reason.

Accidentally meeting and spending time learning under Guru Pathik had done much to rid him of his youthful faults, or at least accept them enough to move on.

Paying more attention to the rest of the council again he noticed that they seemed to have reached a conclusion.

"Alright, I see that the debates have settled down as much as they will, I'm going to call for a show of hands, who here is for reinstating Siph as the heir?" it was a petty trick, after all as the chieftain the only real power you got was being able to brake ties with your vote, simply asking for or against first was a subtle way to show your approval of something, he finished counting, it was a solid if not an overwhelming majority but it would do.

"And now those against the motion." He waited a few seconds as the count was made official before continuing "and that concludes it, Siph will henceforth be recognised as the heir and replace me if I'm unable or unfit to lead, next issue should we decrease the amount of time spent trapping gillacorns in favour of other prey?" dear gods there were still so many issues they had to discuss and his headache was only growing.