Chapter 1 – The Boy in The Forest

"Are you sure you know where you're going Sokka?" Katara asked, irritated.
Sokka's face contorted with confusion as he turned the map around in his hands, hoping the right path would come clear to him. "Yyyyeeeaahhh, sure I do Katara. I'm an expert Water Tribe navigator."
Katara shook her head and Aang stopped quickly as the path they were following led right over a cliff. Sokka bumped into his friend, "What are you stopping for Aang? I'm telling you the-" Fear and shock caught Sokka's breath short as he saw the steep decline to a rocky death below.
Katara growled in anger at her brother who was still transfixed by the idea that he had almost walked blindly to his demise.
Aang sat down with a thud and put his chin to his hands, "We've been walking, flying, and swimming for hours." He groaned and Momo chattered in agreement, curling up on Aang's head.
"Well we can thank the 'Master Water Tribe' navigator for his incredible path finding skills." Katara snapped sarcastically, sitting herself on the ground too.
Sokka, regaining his confidence, puffed his chest and turned to them. "T-this cliff is obviously new! Made by some- uhh… renegade Earthbender! Yeah, that's it!" He retorted desperately, "Don't worry every one, I will guide us out of this forest without the map." He declared confidently, tossing the map over the cliff.
"How? All these trees and bushes look the same." Aang pointed out.
"Not exactly! See, that bush over there is moving." Sokka said, a confident grin appearing on his face momentarily, before disappearing after realizing what he had said. In a flash, he had his boomerang out, Aang readied his staff, and Katara had a ball of water ready to go. The braced themselves and stared at the rustling bush, waiting for the worst. What they saw was no fearsome beast or Fire Nation assassin; it was a teenager who collapsed in front of them wordlessly. Katara and Aang dropped the water and staff and ran to the boy's side. Sokka, however, was not moved.
"Get away from him, you don't know who that is!" He shouted.
Katara turned to him, "He's a kid who needs our help! So put down your boomerang and get over here!" She snapped. Sokka instinctively did as he was told, but was none too happy about it. The boy's eyes flickered open slightly, squinting as he scanned the group. "Please…food…water…anything." He croaked.
Katara bended some water from her canteen into the teen's mouth and Aang pulled out a small sag of snacks he kept for emergencies. They nourished him slowly, not wishing to overwhelm his empty stomach. Finally, he gained the strength to open his eyes fully and sit up, albeit with the assistance of a tree trunk behind him.
"What's your name?" Katara asked him.
"...Daniel." He replied cautiously.
"We're not going to hurt you, we wanna help." Aang said.
Daniel shifted his attention to the young Airbender, "Those tattoos… you're an Airbender." Daniel said slowly, as if he had great doubt it his assumption.
Aang nodded, "Yeah that's me! These are my friends, she's Katara, and the guy with the club is Sokka."
Daniel regarded them each with a nod and a smile, "I can never repay you for your kindness." He said solemly.
"It was nothing. Tell us a little bit about yourself." Katara said in her motherlike tone.
Daniel shifted uncomfortably, "I…I'm a wanderer. Nothing else more."
Sokka walked over to him and examined him closely, "Hmm don't like sharing your past eh? Veeerrryyy suspicious, how do we know you aren't some spy sent by Prince Zuko to capture Aang?" He blurted out.
Katara cast him a dirty look, but Daniel smiled. "I respect your suspicion. In a position like yours', I would feel the same way. I can assure you I am no assassin, " Daniel said, "And if I was, I would most likely be dying of embarrassment right about now." He said, chuckling slightly.
Katara and Aang smiled, but Sokka still was not entirely convinced. However, he sheathed his club and sat down with them.
"So what's our next move?" Katara asked them as she bended them all cups of water.
"Well, it's getting dark out and we've been flying all day. You need a rest, don't you buddy?" Aang said with a smile, stroking the bison's nose. Appa yawned in agreement, causing Aang to chuckle.
"Okay so we set up camp here. But what about him?" Sokka hissed, motioning to Daniel.
The tall, blonde teen slowly got to his feet, causing Katara to get up to assist but was stopped by Daniel holding his hand up in protest. "I know my presence here will be a concern for Sokka and I hold nothing against him for being cautious." He was cut off by Aang using his Airbending to jump into the air and land behind him. blocking his path.
"Daniel, you are our guest. I apologize on behalf of Sokka for his rudeness. We would like you to stay with us for the night, but if you were to share some of your past and where you come from, I'm sure Sokka would feel a bit more relaxed." With that last part of the sentence, Aang and Katara shot Sokka a 'shut up' glance, forcing him to patiently hear what Daniel has to say.
Daniel thought for a bit, and nodded. "Very well, I believe I can trust the Avatar and his companions to share my story with." He eased himself back down against the tree and took a deep breath.
"My name is Daniel, I hail from the Fire Nation colony of Yu Dao. Before you kill me, I can assure you I am no Fire Nation loyalist. I am merely from a family that found itself in the colony years ago."
Sokka pointed his boomerang at Daniel, "Aha! So you're from the Fire Nation! How do we know you're not gonna report our location to the soldiers and get yourself a grand award from the Fire Lord?"
Daniel sighed, "This is why I didn't want to say anything… Well I am not from the Fire Nation. My family is composed of Earth Kingdom citizens who are forced to serve the Fire Nation occupation forces. Obviously I ran away from home because I had no desire to have a life of servitude to fat Fire Nation lapdogs."
Sokka's looked him over, "If you're lying, you're good at it." He finally said.
"I am not lying. I have a price on my head since I am 'owned' by a Fire Nation family in Yu Dao but ran away. You can check most Fire Nation bounty boards and you'll most likely find a poster describing me." Daniel explained.
"I believe him." Katara said.
"Me too," agreed Aang.
The three of them looked at Sokka. "Ooooookay I guess I believe him too. You can keep him." He replied, defeated.
Daniel, Katara, and Aang smiled. "Thank you Sokka. If you don't mind, I would like to travel with you for awhile. I want to repay my debt to you and help the Avatar kick those Fire Nation scum out of this land." Daniel said.
Aang bowed to him, "We'd be happy to have you. But forget about that 'debt' you keep mentioning. You owe nothing to us."
Daniel sighed, "Thank you. "

This story is basically gonna stick to the same chain of events in A:TLA so don't call me out on the story following the same path. Certain things will be changed due to the OC's involvement but this is sticking to the original plot. Please remember to leave a review on things you liked and things you didn't :)