Yang Lo was bored. It had been three months since he was dragged onto this ship, and nothing had happened. He was told that he was "serving his nation," that he was a "brave young man," but this wasn't bravery, it was pure boredom.

The Fire Nation Navy was amazingly dull company; one would think that men with such hot heads and quick words would be able to hold a conversation, yet here Yang sat, alone on the deck, yet surrounded by people. Here or there he would catch word of their assignment from the captains' conversations.

"Just remember to be careful when you land at the South Pole, I hear those savages will stew you up like a hog-monkey if they catch you."

"Disgusting. And they call us the monsters. I'd better return to my post, we only have a day or two before we hit the shores, and I have to make sure we stay on course. Don't want to end up like Wu's fleet."

Yang's ears perked at the last statement. He had heard of Admiral Wu, as most had, but he never knew the whole story. He gave chase after the navigator, though he was careful to choose his words wisely, his low rank becoming increasingly obvious to him.

"Uh, Mr. Captain, sir?"

The Captain looked over his shoulder and grunted his reply.

Yang took this as a sign to keep going and continued.

"I, uh, was wondering what happened to Admiral Wu's fleet, sir?"

The captain turned to face him, a tired gleam in his eye.

"You've heard the stories haven't you, kid?"

The boy's face and temper got slightly heated with the patronising tone, and he couldn't control his lack of formality.

"Yeah, yeah, everyone has, but they're so exaggerated! I once heard the story where a herd of Sky Bison swooped down over them and their fur was what set them off track! I wanna know what really happened."

The Captain regarded the young man for a second, weighing in his mind if the story was worth telling to him or not. Ultimately, he shrugged, turned on a heel and walked off, casually beckoning the lad.

"It's a long story, and I have a post to get to. If you want to hear, then follow close."

Yang's dark eyes lit up, and he ran off after him.

"Admiral Wu was a master navigator, the man could find his way out of Ba Sing Se blindfolded and drunk on Pila Berries," the Captain went on, "so it was a huge shock to all of us when we found out he was lost on the way to the South Pole."

Yang, a little puzzled, scratched his head.

"How did you find out?"

The Captain's eyes slammed shut, and he exhaled a column of steam from his nostrils, exasperated.

"Do you want to talk, or do you want to hear the story?"

Yang's hand went over his mouth, and he nodded furiously, his curiosity nowhere close to satiated.

"Anyway," The Captain began again, "Wu had sent out a messenger hawk telling us he had gone off course, and would try to find his way back. We didn't hear from him for two years, no doubt due to his pride. When we did, it was when he landed back home, his head hung low, the stench of defeat on him and his crew."

"When he gave his report, he said that, when he was almost upon the shores of the South Pole, heavy fogs and rough storms started disturbing the ships, and, when he came out of it all, it seemed as if he were on the other side of the world. He simply blamed his failure on the storms, and tried again, and again, and again."

"Eventually, the man knew when he was beat, and gave up, returning home a failure rather than dying a hero, the fool."

The Captain looked down to the deck of his ship and his eyes narrowed with disgust.

"That's the story, now go train down there, you need to be sharp for the days to come. You a bender, son?"

Yang's eyes lowered to his shuffling feet. Barely, he thought.

"Yes, sir, I am."

The Captain raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"You don't seem very confident in yourself, where's that can-do Fire bender attitude?"

Yang, as if possessed, shot up straight, gave a Fire Nation salute, and repeated the adage that had been drilled into his head from basic training:

"I am a Fire Nation soldier! It is my honour and privilege to uphold the honour of Firelord Ozai, long may he reign!"

The older man gave a hearty laugh, remembering the days when he was a stiff new recruit.

"There you go, boy! Now, go out there and show me some moves!"

Yang spent the remainder of the afternoon training, looking up every once in awhile to notice the Captain's eyes trained on him. He was never any good at Firebending, and barely made it through training with his head, but he knew basic sets, and that was what he practiced.

After 4 hours of shooting what could pass as fire out of his hands, Yang decided to retire to his quarters; with a rather large ship and a relatively small crew, Yang had the luxury of having his own room.

He lit a bar of incense, and sat in meditation for a while, working his body down to sleep after all the energy he had expended. The smoke that entered his lungs soothed his nerves, and, in little time, he could feel himself being pulled away into his dreams.

Sadly, the dreams didn't seem to last long. Yang was quickly and rudely roused from his sleep by the violent rocking of the boat. He stumbled into his uniform and walked out to the deck, where there was a truly terrifying sight.

The ocean was definitely angry at them, dark clouds yelling at them with thunder, and the waves pushing them around like ragdolls made that obvious. Finally, the waves seemed to stop, and, just as everyone was feeling safe, the final blow was delivered to the ship. The biggest wave Yang had ever seen, and it was cresting right on top of them. He could hear the Captain barking orders at his crew, before giving the final bellow to "Get below deck!"

Yang rushed for the door, but, right before he got to safety, the wave hit, and sent him flying to the sea. Luckily, or unluckily, a drifting piece of ice broke his fall, and Yang lay there, out cold, and out in the cold.

He dreamed of the ocean.