Pairing(s): Zutara; possible hints to other pairings (but you'll have to wait and see!)
Genre: Adventure, Family, Angst, Romance
Rating: K+ (mostly conforming to the movie's rating, though there might be a little more violence now and then)
Hi everyone! So, this is the first story I ever publish, so don't be too hard on me, haha. It's a Mulan-ish story set in the world of Avatar, taking place in an alternate universe where the war started by the Fire Nation ended without the Avatar and the world lives in peace. Please mind that I'm not a native english speaker; so it would be helpful and MUCH appreciated to receive some criticism especially on the language, which I hope is at least decent here. I'm working hard to improve my english writing, and this is a good way to learn :) so don't hesitate to point out all my grammar and vocabulary mistakes and misunderstandings (I'm afraid you might find some, ugh).
Also, this story is Zutara. But it's also about Katara as a character, her family, and the world they live in. In other words, this fic is not 100% pairing centered, even though the romance is always there, more subtly at times. However, I already have the sequel planned out (based on Mulan II, obviously!).
If you have any question, or you want to check my art or anything, you can find me on tumblr (I am paintedfirelady even there!).
Either way, I just really hope you enjoy this!
p.s.: I think it would be quite useful, to read this story, to check the Avatar world map once in a while. To find the map I took as a reference, check the links in my bio!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or the world of Avatar: the Last Airbender. Credits belong to Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante Di Martino. Mulan belongs to Disney.
Prologue
The night could be surprisingly cold in the woods around Ba Sing Se. Nothing like the Poles, of course. Chen knew that. And he also knew that being a soldier implied much more than complaining about the cold.
Spring was already in bloom, and yet, that part of the Earth Kingdom had been left out from the mild and warm winds of the season. The sky was black and somehow it had a metallic glow about its black surface–and that had little to do with stars. It felt like it was heavier than usual.
Around the bastion, the forest showed a sinister look; and fog covered the mountains towering over the other side of the river, making it impossible to see through the distance. That river coursed around the base of the bastion, and its constant, thundering sound would only get even more annoying for a man who had to listen the whole night. The full moon had nothing reassuring either– her round, flat, pale face stared boringly at the landscape, its silver light cold and dull; and Chen was suddenly afraid of old spirit stories from his childhood.
He held his spear tighter, and forced himself to look right ahead, and not up in the sky. What a stupid thought—he had to focus on his job. A few hours left ahead, he was in charge until dawn. Usually, his eyes would barely even blink when he took the watch at the bastion and he didn't want to distract himself even now.
His mind was about to clear up, when a flashing light coming from below caught his attention. His eyes rushed down below the walls, and then up to his comrades along the wall. They all heard that sound—it was a thud, an unmistakable sound of something huge crackling and then rising up against gravity. Like earthbending.
Moving in unison, Chen and all the soldiers along the wall stomped their feet and lifted their hands. Massive piles of solid rock came up from the ground ahead and behind the bastion. But before their hands could wave together and pull forward, their rocks were completely frozen, and one moment later there were hundreds of cannonballs and daggers revolving towards them. Suddenly, sharp ice and earth were everywhere.
Chen saw his comrades fall off the wall, be pinned on the ground by those daggers with their cloaks—if they were lucky it wasn't in their flesh—unable to move and fight those incredibly fluid monsters of ice and rock; then he noticed that those monsters were covering his feet and legs fast. But something creeped him out more than anything—he noticed how some of them just seemed to fall on their knees without even being touched. He shook his head to focus and moved faster, calling up as much earth as he could, and fighting with all his might.
Until he felt his own body stop. And then he knew there was no way to fight it. He fell helplessly on the ground, his face looking straight ahead, his eyes never blinking. A few moments later he was completely wrapped up and he felt the cold sting on his skin, the rocks crunching his body in a grasp that seemed to grow suffocating. Chen tried to bend the earth inside, but only then did he realize he couldn't reach beyond the ice.
And then he saw them—they stood on grass and earth plates suspended around the top of the walls. He wasn't able to see them clearly, though, until they jumped heavily on the bastion right in front of where he lied, and the stone wall trembled under the weight of those men landing on a line, all at the same time.
They were huge men, like no other you could see in the Earth Kingdom, or anywhere else in the world. Their wide shoulders and chests were covered with animal fur, along with their heads—not unlike Water Tribe soldiers—while their arms and feet were bare, and Chen somehow found a way to wonder how they could bear the cold. Their skin was olive-colored, their jaws incredibly large and squared.
Their clothing was raw, savage, almost primitive. Nothing like the people from any of the four nations for sure. They held shields and spears, but they were benders, too. And sure enough, they could do things no one had ever seen before.
One of them stepped ahead, and he was right in front of Chen. He had to be the leader, Chen thought, because his fur and armor were slightly different and richer than the others. At a sign of his hand, all the other warriors stopped instantly. Then again, not a guard would have made a move to attack them anyway.
Chen shivered. That man looked frightening from down on the ground where he was, and he was looming right in front of him and looking right down at him.
Then Chen heard something crack, and almost shrieked in horror when he saw the whole wall quickly freeze around him, and crumble on the ground a few moments later. All that was left now was a small patch where the invaders and he stood.
A spear fell dangerously close to his neck. Chen swallowed, and then he saw the chief lean towards him. He suddenly felt his body break free again, and he gave out a breath, because he was slowly choking in the grasp of his ice coat.
"Get up, soldier" the man said mockingly, and Chen boldy stood up. "We need you."
"What do you want?" Chen asked abruptly, looking into the man's eyes.
The warrior leant closer with a hideous grin on his face. "We have a message to deliver to your king."
The door slammed open in the face of the guard who had been ordered to open it. General Hao burst in, two soldiers following him on both his sides, and walked across the whole throne room in a few seconds, not even bothering to worry about manners.
The old king stood up, and his wrinkled face was suddenly grave and cold.
"Your Majesty" the general said, bowing in a hurry "the fortress around the forest has fallen during the night."
"Who?" the old king asked. His serious concern was something rare to be seen on his otherwise loony, grinning face.
"We don't know who they are, Sire" the General replied. His voice was steady, his frown harsh and unafraid, sturdy as a rock. "Invaders. Savages. We don't know where they come from. But a few of them brought down the whole wall along the edges of the northernmost provinces, and they're not going to stop. More of them are coming, they said. They call themselves the Shuang Xue Warriors. They wanted you to know—they're headed for Ba Sing Se." The general pursed his lips before adding, "And that will be just the beginning."
The king's face remained plain. "Earthenders, aren't they? There's no other way they could bring the wall down in one night."
"They're earthbenders, Sire—but they have waterbenders, too. They're nothing like other benders in the world. They have found a way to combine both bendings and fight together in a way we've never seen."
"Combined bending, you say. Very interesting."
"But that's not it, my king" the general said, a little hesitant this time "there's one more thing. They appear to have a power that... We don't know how, if that's related to bending, but all those who survived the attack said at some point they felt their bodies crack and suddenly slip out of their own control. Like a force had taken over them. Bending them. And eventually, breaking them."
The king flinched and stood in silence for a while, until the general wondered if he was even listening anymore. "The moon is full tonight, general" the old man said suddenly.
"Yes" the general replied, confused. He was used to the king talking nonsense sometimes, but not in times like this.
"The moon is full tonight."
A pause followed. The king paced back and forth on the dais on which his throne lied, mumbling to himself.
Then, interrupting his lucubrations abruptly, the king summoned a servant, asking him to wake the keeper of the palace library. Another silence followed after the servant left.
"Did they tell you where they come from, General Hao?" he finally said.
"They didn't mention that, but the only place we can think of is the mountain chain across the forest."
"Those mountains? It's... it's impossible for them to host human life. There's a glacier up there, and the sharpest icy cliffs. How..."
"I don't have a clue, Your Majesty. But" and the general finally got up on his feet" we must act as soon as we can. As far as we know they might have crossed the river fork even now and they will probably follow its course down until they reach the Capital. We can't afford any hesitation, if I am allowed to say so."
The king stood in silence, and the General's expression didn't falter for a moment under the old man's stare. "Do you have a plan, general?" he finally asked in halteur.
"Sort of, Sir." The general stepped ahead. "I have guessed they won't actually move across the river before they are sure they will find no obstacles when they approach the city. If it's true they've been living on the Northern mountains all this time, then they will do anything they can to bring our armed forces there, where they can easily defeat us. Their bending technique is something our soldiers just can't take up there. I suggest we let them trace us and bring them down to the forest, away from the city, and start the fight there, in more equal conditions."
"You have a point, general" the old king said "but that would mean relying on conjectures too much. We really don't have a proof to say they're bluffing."
"Your Majesty, I..."
"General Hao, these are my orders. We must set our troops along the line of the river, where they attacked. Cover our borders with our best benders. Make them chase the invaders as soon as they can."
"But Sire" the General intervened in a sharp tone, trying to keep his face and tone neutral "that's suicidal."
"We can't afford being wrong and letting them get closer to the Capital. If they make it to the walls, which they can easily penetrate, then it's a catastrophe for the whole Earth Kingdom. And it might be for the rest of the world, as well. We need to warn the other Nations. Long Feng!"
"Your Majesty." The dark, slimy figure of the king's best man peered from the shadow, stepping in. The General had no idea he had been in the room the whole time.
"Long Feng. Bring some of your best men here, immediately. We have a urgent message to be delivered, and it must be done discreetely" the king said.
"Consider it done, Your Majesty. But, if I can just speak my humble op-"
"Just spit it out, Long Feng" the king said abruptly, with a flapping gesture of his knobbly hands.
"As you wish, your Majesty. This kind of enemy requires a lot of power we don't have. Defending our own borders won't be enough—it will take more than the best earthbenders in the nation to overcome this. They must be crushed—permanently. An enemy the likes of this is far more than any nation alone could take. This is why I think we must fight in a way we've never fought before, just like they're doing."
The king raised his bristly white brow.
"We'll have to alarm the whole world and get all the remaining nations to fight with us" Long Feng concluded after a brief pause.
The general startled, his eyes widened. "Sir, do you have an idea what you're even saying?"
"Judging by the little we know of these... Shuang Xue Warriors, we might be facing the worst threat we encountered after almost ten years of peace among the nations." The secretariat was going on with his speech, totally ignoring the general. "There's a new unknown civilization we knew nothing about—and they're hostile, dangerous, and willing to get the upperhand on our lands and destroy our civilizations. All nations should be concerned—the mountains are close to the North Pole, and right after they take Ba Sing Se and the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribe could be the next step."
The king kept his hunched back turned on both the men, pondering silently. The General stepped in again. "Your Majesty, on my honor, I must say this is completely foolish and inconsiderate and dangerous. How can we trust the Fire Nation after-"
"Long Feng is right" the old king said, suddenly turning around with a quirky smile that somehow felt out of place. "We must form an alliance. Our army alone is not enough to fight this."
"I beg to differ, Your Majesty. My army..."
"Your army can barely take these... mountainbenders, general. Nonetheless, we don't even know what else they're capable of with these mysterious powers. True, this is a challenge we've hardly ever met, and I can tell, these are enemies that won't let us win easily. Since we've lost the Avatar forever" the king sighed "our world lost its most powerful strenght—unity. But this might be our chance to prove that if we join our elements against the same common enemy, we can still win. And believe me," the king laughed "I have lived enough to know that it's times like these we all need to think like a mad genius." His wizened face melted down in what looked like a crooked smile, and his teeth uncovered to let out a weird sounding laugh. The general pursed his lips and hung his head. He knew king Bumi well enough to know nothing would work to dissuade him.
"Long Feng" the king said, and the secretariat stopped halfway out the door, already heading out. "I want the responses from the three nations here with their relative delegations within noon. And, make sure Fire Lord Ozai accepts the command of the mission. He has the best army in the world."
"Fire Lord?" The General's mutterings were aimed at himself only, at this point.
"Anything else, your Majesty?" Long Feng asked.
"Yes!" the king burst out again in crazy excitement, before his face got suddenly serious. "I want a troop of new recruits."
"New recruits?" the General shook his head in disbelief once again.
"Deliver conscription notices through our whole kingdom. Call up reserves and as many new recruits as possible. Even the slightest grain of rice can tip the scales. A single man can make the difference."