Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender, only my OC, Joshua Harris. If you people haven't noticed, I use him a lot in my stories.
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The Adventure Begins
January, 2010, off the coast of the Island of Abaco, The Bahamas…
The bright sun was high in the sky, partially obscured by the clouds, as its light sparkled on the tops of the waves as the rocked the sailboat sitting at anchor a few miles from the shore. The twin-hulled boat rose and fell with each wave, causing the single mast to tilt slowly from side to side. The stars and stripes fluttered in the wind at the very top.
Steel drum music could be heard playing faintly over the sounds of the wind rustling the rolled up sails and the creaking of the boat as it moved with the waves. A boy, looking to be about eighteen, lay reclining in a folding beach chair while resting his bare feet on the boat rail. He wore a baggy white t-shirt, with a surfing logo, and a pair of blue swimming trunks.
His skin was tanned from the tropical sun and he had a slightly built body. A dark green bucket hat rested over his face exposing short brown hair as the sound of light snoring could be heard from underneath. A fishing pole, sitting in its holder, made a creaking noise as the line jerked. The snoring stopped, the boy, now awake, listened from under his hat. The line jerked again and then the pole bent hard.
The boy leapt from his chair, pushing the hat back on his head, revealing hazel eyes and a smirking mouth surrounded by a goatee. He grabbed the pole and pulled with all his strength, smiling at the weight on the end of the line. As he began reeling it in he smiled down at the dog, dozing at his feet.
"I think I got a big one this time, Katie girl! We are eating good tonight!" he said excitedly.
Katie, a two-year-old Golden retriever, lazily opened an eye and looked up at her loving owner and friend, wagging her tail slowly. The boy smiled again as he continued to pull in his catch, it fought him for every inch he reeled in. Soon a red blob could be seen weaving back and forth under the waves, getting closer and closer to the boat.
Finally, with a few more reels, a good sized red grouper, lay flailing on the deck. The boy quickly grabbed a yellow rope and expertly hooked it through the mouth and gills, then he pulled the hook out and placed the now still fish in the cooler beside his chair. The boy yanked his hat from his head and waved it wildly about and he did a small dance.
"Oh yeah! Whose the man? Whose the man? Josh is! That's right!" he yelled out, Katie barking as she wagged her tail happily, following him with her head.
Josh Harris stopped dancing and kneeled by his dog and scratched her behind the ear. He laughed as she leaned into his hand, tongue lolled out and panting happily.
"We did good today, Katie, we sure did," he said in a low voice.
Katie nuzzled his chest, causing him to chuckle as he rubbed her head. Josh rose and was about to pick up the pole when the music stopped playing replaced by a man's voice.
"This is your local broad casting service, from the Island of Abaco, with your daily weather report: Today at 1:30pm, a thunderstorm warning has been issued for The Bahamas and the surrounding water. Be advised: heavy rain, tropical storm powered winds up to 50mph, and lightning are expected to occur. It is recommended that all boats and ships head for the nearest port, again, it is recom…"
Josh tuned out the rest of the broadcast and looked up at the sky. He could see thick dark clouds off in the east slowly getting bigger. He quickly picked the pole up and grabbed the chair. He ran to the open cabin door and threw them inside, then sprinted back toward the cooler.
"C'mon, Kate! We gotta get going!" he called to the dog.
Katie looked at her owner and feeling his nervousness, barked as she ran to his side. After Josh carefully placed the cooler with his latest catch inside the cabin, he quickly ran out on deck toward the wheel. The Wheel was situated under a canvas awning and was surrounded by a 'U' shaped leather bench seat. Josh pushed the button to raise the anchor and then pulled out his key. Now even though it was a sailboat, it also had two motors that could be used if there was no wind, as soon as Josh reached the wheel, he plugged in the boat key and started them.
The motors rumbled to life as Josh pushed the throttle forward and the boat slowly began moving toward land. Josh looked up at the top of the mast and yelp as he saw his country's flag flapping in the increasing wind.
"Aw man! I forgot to take the flag down!"
Josh quickly ran to the mast, grabbed the rope and pulled the flag down. He unceremoniously threw it into his cabin; he would have taken the time to fold it carefully, if he had the time. The wind was quickly picking up and the waves, which had been calm before, became rough. The boat, named the Shell, rocked harder and faster with each foaming wave. Josh grabbed his glasses case from a compartment and put his glasses on.
He removed his hat and stuffed it back in the same place with the case. Josh returned to the wheel and turned it to starboard, heading for the safety of Little Harbor, on Abaco. The Shell tore through the waves as its twin hulls bore through them like a drill on wood. The sky darkened as the storm clouds hid the sun, Josh quickly turned on his lights. Rain began pelting the boat as lightning flared and the thunder rumbled.
Katie looked up at her owner and whined fearfully. Josh glanced down at her and forced a smile.
"Its alright Katie, we are going to be fine!" he said calmly, though he wasn't feeling calm at the moment.
Waves splashed over the side of the boat, soaking everything with sea water, the wind howled as it battered the boat causing the lines to creak from the stress. Josh quickly wiped his glasses off and pushed the throttle forward some more, increasing his speed. The Island of Abaco, which had previously been obliterated by a wall of rain and mist, slowly came into view, the lights of the buildings shined like beacons through the raging storm.
Josh sighed as he began to turn toward shore, when there was a brilliant flash of lightning that shot from the clouds and impacted on the sea not but a few meters from the Shell. The following boom sent a shockwave that knocked Josh and Katie off their feet and paws. The Shell shook and tilted hard to port as the waves slammed into its side. The boat stabilized itself as Josh got shakily to his feet, he checked himself over for injury and found none. He then looked to Katie and found the dog whimpering and shaking, but okay.
Josh grabbed the wheel and checked his boat. As he was doing that he realized something; the motors had stopped their noisy rumbling. He quickly looked at his gages and saw that the shockwave had knocked out the Shell's power.
"Crap!" he shouted, he then turned to Katie, "What the heck was that, girl?"
Katie, in answer looked out from under the awning and began to bark excitedly. It was then that Josh also noticed the storm had strangely calmed down.
"That's strange," he murmured to himself.
Katie continued to bark excitedly.
"Katie, what are you barking at, you silly girl?" asked Josh as he strode across the deck toward the barking retriever.
Katie looked at him with a look that seemed to say, get-over-here-and-look, then she turned and began barking again. Josh chuckled and shook his head.
"I swear, Kate, that you act to human at times," he said to himself.
He stopped at her side and gazed out into the now light rain. What he saw made his eyes widen as he stared in shock. A strange big oval, leather, thing was floating on the waves and on it were four teens and a dog, all unconscious. As he stared Josh could only think to say one word that, to him, summed everything up.
"Huh!?"
--==--
Katara screamed along with her friends as Appa twisted and turned through the stormy sky, dodging a lightning bolt here and there.
"Aang!" cried Sokka, "We need to find a place to land and wait out the storm! Or we're never going to be able to make it to the firenation!"
Aang chanced a look down and the looked back at his three friends and one screeching lemur.
"There's nowhere to land, Sokka! We're still over the Ocean!"
Another bolt of lightning flashed close to the flying bison, causing Appa to roar as he dove away from it. Toph screamed as she tightened her grip on the edge of the saddle and Sokka's arm.
"YEOOW! Toph! I can't feel my arm!" the teen howled.
Toph glared in the direction of his voice and yelled back.
"Well, it's not my fault that I am blind and I can't see what's going on, so deal with it Snoozles!"
Katara ignored her brother and friend as she turned to Aang as he tried his best to control the frightened bison. The storm seemed to be growing as was he worry.
"Aang, don't you at least think that we should fly lower, away, from these storm clouds?" A loud boom of thunder finished her question.
"Yeah, Twinkletoes, anything would be better than up here!" Toph shouted over the storm.
Aang looked a little worried as he hesitated to answer.
"I don't know guys…"
"Aang, we are in danger of getting hit by lightning up here, more than down there!" Sokka called out as Appa dove again, "I mean, seriously what can happen?"
Aang sighed and nodded his head as his face then grew determined.
"You guys are right, Appa! Yip yip!" with that, Appa let out another roar and dove toward the rough surface of the ocean.
They leveled out about a good distance above the waves and continued on toward their destination. Sokka looked at Aang as he smiled.
"See, like I said, nothing hap-"
Just as Sokka started saying those words, Katara looked up and saw a huge lightning bolt headed straight for them.
"Guys, look out!" she shouted.
But her warning came to late as they turned to look up just as the lightning struck Appa.
ZZZZZAAAAAAAPPPPP!
Katara remembered hearing everyone scream, including herself, before her vision faded to black.
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The first thing that Katara heard when she came to was a low rumbling sound that just wouldn't stop. The first thing she felt was a rolling motion, like she was on a boat, then she felt the softness of sheets under her. Katara groaned as she slowly sat up.
BUMP
Katara hissed in pain as her head came in contact with a low ceiling. She carefully opened her eyes as she leaned on one arm while rubbing her head with the other and looked at her surroundings. She was in a spacious room that had what looked like bunks on all three walls and a thick pole that reached from the floor to the roof, situated in the middle of the room.
She leaned out and saw that the source of light was a small rectangle shaped window on the ceiling and four round windows on the walls, two on each side. Confused, Katara slowly slid her feet out from under the blankets she was covered in and glanced down at her self. She was wearing a robe made of some soft material that was white. She stared at it in confusion until she heard a moan from the bunk on the other side of the room.
Katara looked and gasped when she saw that it was her brother who lay snoring in the bed. Katara glanced at the rest and found Toph and Aang also still asleep. Katara tried to push herself up so she could see if they were okay when pain stabbed through her chest causing her to yelp softly. She opened the robe to see what was wrong and found her chest wrapped in bandages. Now she was even more confused.
'I don't get it, we were out in the middle of the ocean when the bolt struck! Where are we? Who saved us and why?' she thought to herself.
That was when Katara heard a strange sound she had never heard before. She looked around the room, but couldn't find the source. Katara listened to it carefully and then turned to the door that lead into the next room, it was partially opened. Katara carefully stood up, wincing as her chest burned with pain. She softly and quietly walked toward the door, listening as the strange sound now turned into music and someone singing.
When Katara reached the door, she heard a soft scraping sound and a clang here and there. Very carefully she leaned toward the door and pushed it opened a bit more.
CREAK!
Katara froze and the door stopped making noise, but it seemed that the person on the other side hadn't heard it, because they were still playing that strange music and singing. She push again, this time slower and then peeked out, only to be met with the strangest sight of her life. The room beyond wasn't strange, in fact, it looked like a normal dinning area and kitchen. What was strange was where the music and singing was coming from.
On a shelf hanging above an open doorway that lead to outside, was a black box with symbols and words on it, as well as blinking lights, wait, blinking lights?
Katara stared at the strange box as she listened to the even stranger song that came out of it:
"I got my toes in the water, toes in the sand
Not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand
Life is good today. Life is good today.
Well, the plane touched down just about 3 o'clock
And the city's still on my mind
Bikinis and palm trees danced in my head
I was still in the baggage line
Concrete and cars are their own prison bars like this life I'm living in
But the plane brought me farther.
I'm surrounded by water
And I'm not going back again
I got my toes in the water, toes in the sand
Not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand
Life is good today. Life is good today.
Adios and vaya con dios
Yeah I'm leaving GA
And if it weren't for tequila and pretty senoritas
I'd have no reason to stay
Adios and vaya con dios
Yeah I'm leaving GA
Gonna lay in the hot sun and roll a big fat one
And grab my guitar and play"
Katara's eyes had by now moved to the person who was standing by the…oven, cooking food and dancing to the music, even singing along.
"Four days flew by like a drunk Friday night as the summer drew to an end
They can't believe that I just couldn't leave
And I bid adieu to my friends
Cause my bartender she's from the islands
Her body's been kissed by the sun
And coconut replaces the smell of the bar and I don't know if it's her or the rum
I got my toes in the water, toes in the sand
Not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand
Life is good today. Life is good today.
Adios and vaya con dios
A long way from GA
Yeah, and all the muchachas they call me "Big poppa" when I throw pesos their way
Adios and vaya con dios
A long way from GA
Someone do me a favor and pour me some Jager
I'll grab my guitar and play"
The boy, at least he looked like a boy, was just a bit taller than her with a slight build to his body. He was wearing a strange sleeveless shirt with a symbol on it and some type of blue shorts. On his feet he wore something that reminded her of boards with string. On his head he wore a funny looking hat over short brown hair, his eyes which were hazel, were staring at the cooking pan in front of him. A goatee surrounded his mouth as he continued to sing.
"Adios and vaya con dios
Going home now to stay
The senoritas don't care-o when there's no dinero
I got no money to stay
Adios and vaya con dios
Going home now to stay
I'm just gunna prop up by the lake
I've got my but in a lawn chair
Toes in the clay
Nat a worry in the world a PBR on the way
Life is good today. Life is good today."
And the box stopped playing the strange song, just as Katara felt something cold and wet touch her hand.
"AHHH!"
The boy jumped at her scream and dropped the wooden spoon in his hand onto the floor, as he turned to face her. Katara and boy met each others eyes for a second, causing Katara to lose her breath for some reason, when he looked down.
"Katie, come here, girl! You scared the living day lights out of her!" he smiled down at, what Katara could now see was a golden furred dog.
'Katie' turned to look at the boy and then back at Katara, who was by now staring at her with fear filled eyes. The dog whimpered and scooted closer to Katara. She closed her eyes.
'Oh, no!' Katara thought to herself.
She nearly jumped into the wall when she felt a tongue lick her hand. Katara opened her eyes and looked down at the dog that was tilting her head as if asking, why-are-you-afraid?
Katara looked up at the boy who was still looking at her with a smirk on his face, a pleasant smirk at that. She then reached a shaky hand toward 'Katie' and asked the question silently with her eyes. Almost as if he heard her, he smiled and nodded his head.
"Go ahead, you can pet her. Katie, loves meeting new people," The boy said in a friendly voice.
Katara couldn't help but return a small smile as she began to scratch the dog's head. Katie sighed as she leaned into the touch and began panting. Katara giggled as she continued with the other ear. When she looked up next, it was to see the boy holding the spoon he had dropped under a metal tube that was spraying water into a basin. She raised an eyebrow.
The boy looked back up at her and saw her looking confusedly at the sink. He raised an eyebrow and then shook his head, gaining the girl's attention.
"It's good to see you up and about after that storm," he said still smiling.
Katara just couldn't but to smile back.
"Yes it is, I guess. Thanks for helping me and my friends," She said back to him, causing his cheeks to redden as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"It was nothing, I just happened to have spotted you from my boat. Actually, its really Katie that deserves the credit! She was the one who spotted you first!" he said as he pointed at the dog.
Katara smiled as she rubbed Katie's head.
"Thank you," she said in a soft voice, earning a lick on her hand.
The boy chuckled as Katara giggled again. She then turned to look at him.
"How long have we been with you?" she asked.
The boy stopped what he was doing, set the spoon down and turned to face her with a serious expression on his face. Katara felt her smile slip away.
"You and your friends have been out for two days," he said softly, Katara gasped as the boy continued, "We found you all floating on a large…thing, all of you, including your dog and…I'm guessing a ferret were unconcious. All of you had burns in different places on your bodies, looked to me like you were struck by lightning.
"But, anyways," the boy said in a happier tone, "All that matters now is that at least one of you is awake and can explain to me why you were out on the ocean in the first place,' the boy paused and stuck out his hand to Katara, "Oh and by the way, names Joshua Harris, what's yours?"
Katara overwhelmed by the information she was just told could only shake Josh's hand numbly.
"Katara, my name is Katara," she said in a low voice.
Josh smiled as he shook her hand heartily, causing Katara to break out of her stupor.
"Well, Katara, let me welcome at least you aboard my boat, the Shell!"
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Well, there we go, the first chapter! What did you think? Like it? Hate it? Don't care? Please let me know! Review! Review!-Dune