Outwit Element
Chapter 1 – Engagement?
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar. Only the plot and whatever original characters that may pop up.
Katara stared, fury mounting just like the ever-rising tidal wave that had broken through the ice. This was ridiculous, and the spectators watched in mild awe as the tidal wave grew, damaging their precious white ice flooring. Katara didn't care though. She was definitely more concerned with the task at hand: demolishing the royal room to prove that she was serious. She refused to believe what her ears had just seconds ago heard. She had to prove these snobbish people idiots. If they think Katara is a mild tempered pushover sweet girl, they are dead wrong. Katara was as untamable as hurricane rainwater: full of life, furious, unrelenting energy, and pride.
If the elders were surprised that a 16-year-old girl was ripping their throne room apart, they didn't show it. Instead, their faces said nothing but impassive silence, waiting for the living hurricane to blow itself out. Yue, the perfect, comforting, always-there-for-you-kind of big sister was always missing. Note the sarcasm.
It was a while before one of the older elders spoke. She was obviously pained by the thought of spending hours of back-breaking water bending on remodeling the floor. "It's for the best, your ladyship." She said silkily. To Katara, the noise was nasal and unpleasant. Her tone took a hard and reproachful edge to it. "Yue never had a problem with a brilliant arranged marriage."
Katara glared. "Yeah, yeah, you old hag. You've always favored Yue, haven't you? So why don't you focus on Yue? Take your engagement crap and scram!" Feeling especially malevolent for a minute, Katara smashed an ornate pillar.
The elder twitched as she eyed the broken shards of her favorite piece of art. That does it. Yue never threw temper tantrums. "Such disrespect, miss," she said. She lifted her hand, and a servant immediately scurried forward, holding a small, deep blue box tied with a soft blue ribbon. Her long and bony fingers snatched it, and approaching Katara with absolutely no fear held it out to her. "Take it." She said forcefully, looking her square in the eye.
"I don't want it, whatever it is." Katara said, giving the box a look of utter loathing and disgust.
"Take it, Katara." Growled out a deep voice. Her father entered the room, making Katara swallow nervously. Her father wasn't one to be trifled with.
With hesitant fingers, Katara opened the little box. Her eyes widened as she saw the shimmer of blue light. It was a choker. A single brilliant light blue stone, perfectly round and smooth was threaded through a silken, navy colored ribbon. She held it up, examining it. Etched delicately on the both sides, was the intricate design of a rose. Katara hated roses. She hated how they were the color of blood, how the thorns always found a way to pierce her fingers. She knew what it was. It filled her with dread. It was the official engagement necklace. The sign that the engagement was made and on its way.
With a quiet, soft voice that shocked every one in the room, she asked, "Who carved it?"
A soft, husky voice seemed to appear at her ear. Hot breath hit her bare neck, and despite herself, she shivered. "I did." His arms snaked over her shoulders and took her hands that were still holding the necklace by the ribbon. He brought it back, and fastened it to her neck before she could protest.
The sound of the ominous click and the feel of his fingers beginning to caress her cheek snapped her out of her sudden paralysis. She whirled around, enraged.
She knew the man, and if she wasn't mistaken, his name is Heizen, possibly the most eligible young man in the Tribe. He had glossy black locks thrown carelessly over his dark brown, daring eyes. He was a player, beyond a doubt, and a notch or two better at bending than Katara. He was handsome, Katara had to give him that. But she didn't love him, and never will. Her fingers shot up to her neck, where the necklace hung in the hollow of her throat. She frantically looked for the clasp, but all she could feel was the cool touch of ribbon. Just to be sure, she double-checked, but it was futile. It was ribbon, all the way around. She felt so trapped, so much like a possession that was tagged to make sure it wouldn't get lost.
"Father, I'm not marrying him, am I?" Her temper began to flare again, seeking to restore the fire that Heizen's sudden appearance had subdued. "And how do I get this stupid thing off?!"
"You can't take it off." Heizen's lilting voice said. His tone was flirty, teasing, and smug. His arm snaked around her again, this time at her waist, drawing her closer. She stumbled, and tumbled onto his chest.
"Get off me, you sicko!" She screeched. With inhuman strength that the Water Tribe wasn't supposed to have, she shoved him away.
"Katara." That dratted voice came. The sound of her father, a man that if disobeyed could end in disaster.
Katara gritted her teeth, but found that she couldn't bear to stay any longer in the same room as her father and future husband.
As she fled from the room in anguish, she could still hear her father's next words: "We need this marriage to help fight the Fire Nation. The Air is destroyed and Earth is nearly completely enslaved. Our hidden tribe is the only defense for the next Avatar. Don't fail us."