Chapter 1 - Arrival

Their journey had been long and dangerous, dodging Fire Navy ship after another and never seeing outside their Water Benders generated fog to conceal their ship had made it feel very isolated. Water gently lapped against the hull as it slowly cut through the shallow waves. The crisp cool frigid air of the Southern Waters felt alien on his face. He stood at the bow of the ship, squinting into the thick mist but he could hardly identify anything as the sunlight of dawn barely pierced the vapor. They had been closely following the coast of the icy continent said to be home to the Southern Water Tribe. Their voyage was nearly over.

"Arnak, you should come below, we've prepared the last of the food" Khanra almost whispered as she approached behind him, with her arms crossed over her very pregnant belly.

"You can have my share, you're eating for two." Arnak turned to search for the fishing equipment, giving his wife the best smile he could muster in his exhausted state. Before he passed her she grabbed his shoulder and pointed ahead of the ship. His gaze followed her finger; he could barely make out the outline of a small, but unnatural, wall set against the shoreline. "I'll get Pakku."

Khanra followed him below deck as he went to where their captain usually sits in his back corner of the ship, with one lantern slowly swinging with the roll of the ship casting ominous shadows. As usual, Pakku had his maps out across the barrels he used as a desk.

"Master Pakku, you're needed on the deck; we believe we have spotted the village." Pakku slowly straightened his back, blinked a few times, then looked at him. Without saying a word the grumpy old man passed them with a mumble, headed up the ladder to the deck and over to the helmsmen. Pakku raised his right hand to about his shoulder height, palm down and quickly lowers it making a fist as if grabbing a fly in front of him. The fog around their ships instantly fell into the water like rain, as if it had been waiting impatiently to succumb to gravity. They could clearly see the village now, the sun half risen over its walls.

It was smaller than Arnak assumed it would be, much smaller. They were told that the Southern Water Tribe used to be a great city, like in the north; but the war had been less kind to their sister village. An obvious scar pierced into the village from the ocean through the wall, he recognized that a Fire Navy ship had breached their defenses much the same way they had several weeks ago during The Siege of the North. These people undoubtedly have lived a struggled past. As they neared the port just outside the village entrance several children and elderly women gathered around to watch with confused faces. He put an arm around his wife and held her close.

"Our crossing is at an end my people," Pakku called out to all the crewmembers and passengers aboard his ship that Arnak hadn't noticed had all come to the upper deck to see the village and their new home. Pakku quickly bended an ice bridge to their ship and was the first to step off the ship when they beached into the snowy bank of their docking ramp. One of the elderly women he didn't recognize gasped and stepped forward from their crowd. Pakku approached the woman, spoke a few words Arnak couldn't hear and finally turned and motioned for everyone to begin unloading the ship.

Over the next few weeks the ships that had left the Northern Water Tribe arrived at the now rapidly growing Southern Water City. With the now several dozen igloo huts the establishment looked nothing like the village it was when they first arrived. The new arrivals quickly became good friends and neighbors of the native tribe. With many hands able to fish and tend to the village necessities, and now with benders around, the city's people began to flourish once more. The scar left by Zuko's fire ship had been expanded and became the start of their new dock. A town hall was erected at the center of the city and one wing of it was established as a school to teach all the kids. Even though the Northern Water Tribe members greatly outnumbered the natives still there, they decided to adopt the Southern Water Tribes traditions and way of life. Pakku, along with his students, built a new barricade around the city that a Fire Navy ship would think twice before ramming again.

*****

Arnak was furious, he wanted to be in the healers hut with his wife, especially now. Khanra was in pain and he couldn't be at her side. She was in labor with their child and Kanna, the Southern Water Tribes Senior Elder, had thrown him out. He stormed back and forth in front of the entrance with clenched fists.

One of the assistants leaned around the bearskin hanging over the doorway and motioned for him to come inside. He knew something was wrong by the look on her face.

"I'm sorry," Kanna said in a hoarse voice not looking up at him as he entered the small room. Khanra was breathing heavily with sweat streaming down her face. Kanna turned around with a small child crying in her arms and handed the baby to Khanra. Kanna finally shifted her gaze to Arnak who stood frozen just inside the entrance, "Your wife is not likely to survive the delivery. She's lost a lot of blood and there's nothing I can do. We need a healer and your wife is the only one in the city. However she's in no condition to be able to bend."

Arnak walked up to her side, trembling with joy and sadness, he was too confused to speak. How could the spirits give him one life and take another at the same time? He placed his hand on his wife's shoulder and stared into the bright blue eyes of his daughter.

"Kytah," Khanra weakly whispered with a smile to their child. "Take care of her Arnak."

Update 5-6-09

I need to know what you readers think of the story, I'm writing blind at the moment without your feedback. Do you like the characters? Am I going to fast with just plot and I should add more goofing off? I need your reviews.

Thanks for reading, its kept me writing.