Avatar: The Lost Arts
Part 1 – 'Blue Planet'
Foreword: This is a modern AU, the chapters are adaptations of the A:TLA episodes, set around a fictional world war, loosely based off WW-II, just more modern and different countries… But I don't want to give too much away, the history will all become clear as you read. This idea came to me after reading Dearing's 'A.V.A.T.A.R. - The Last of the Black Core', and I give him credit for being a large source of my inspiration for this story. If anyone hasn't that story I highly recommend you do!
This story however is my own and takes place in a hatch of the Avatar world and ours... Can't say any more I'm afraid, but it does pretend that the fire nation never invaded (The A:TLA story from the show has never come to pass – yet) again, I don't want to give too much away, all will be explained. Oh, and all the characters are older – Aang 16, Katara 17 and so on, pretty much the same age gaps. Again, this will all be explained in the story, so enjoy!
Sorry for Toph fans, but she does not feature in part 1, like book 1 of the show, so if you wanna see some modern AU toph ass kicking read and review this to convince me to continue for Part 2! ;)
I own neither A:TLA or anybody else's work. Please note that there will be references to real places and historical events, (like the holocaust and cities and such) these accounts are all fictional and in no way reflect real life. Some may be offensive to some people, so please don't flame me for this.
Rated (M) for violence and themes
(No sex content planned – I will notify if this changes).
So thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoy the ride!
~BENIGNviewer~
[Chaper 1] - The Boy in the City
The sun rose spectacularly over the City skyline. Tall skyscrapers rose all around as the new age continued to develop. The streetlights flicked off as the morning rays touched them, and the roads began to buzz with the sound of motor vehicles taking people from place to place at speed. Hot air balloons were a thing of the past, Steam power ancient technology in this day and age. Somewhere far above the engines of a plane roared, carrying passengers from one side of the world to other, over oceans and mountains, above the clouds. Not even the stars were sacrosanct, the moon bearing the footprints of mankind. Technology grew apace, and yet as people tried to open their minds outwards, they closed them off from themselves. What was once history became myth, and myth became legend, and some things which ought not have been forgotten, were lost.
Cracking an eye open he looked at the world around him. The sun kept rising, the world kept turning. It all seemed so… pointless. Picking himself up off the sidewalk which had been his home for the night he trudged on. The suns rays reminded him of the beauty in the world, the clouds lighting up in brilliant hues of orange and pink. Then the sun rose a little higher and the brilliant spectacle was shadowed by the gargantuan buildings above. The shadows brought solitude along with the chill air, and as much as he sought out exile from his pain, he felt the loneliness and guilt from before eating at him. He glanced up at the sky once more, but couldn't see anything beyond the dark and oppressive buildings. Setting his eyes forward, he focused on the here and now, his next challenge, surviving. Only he was beginning to question what for.
~~ A V A T A R ~~
The street looked foreboding in the dark gloom of the city, but then everything did. The shadows of the tall buildings loomed over everything, Day was little more than an extension of night, with only the dawn and sunset lighting the world up. Above swirled the dark clouds of pollution, but no one seemed to care. It was all in the name of progress these days, and she felt sad that so much was being given up for something so pointless. Yet they built the buildings ever taller, the factories ever larger, and the walls ever higher.
"Katara!" the irritated voice of her brother startled her from her reverie.
"What is it?" she replied with the same tone.
"Are you helping with the shopping or not?" he grunted.
"Helping? I'm doing the shopping Sokka! What are you doing anyway?"
"Trying to find us some fish" he grunted, looking over a shabby fishmongers stall.
"If you could even call that a fish" she said, disgusted. "Besides, I already got us some, from the supermarket-"
"What? No no no, that stuff isn't real fish! It's all processed; they probably don't even put meat into it!"
"Sokka, it's a fish!" she said exasperated. "What are you going to do, catch your own?"
"That's a great idea!" he said enthusiastically.
"No you idiot, it's not, by the time you manage to snag an old boot we'll be starving and I want to eat tonight."
"Fine" he huffed "But really I think-"
"-No" she cut him off.
"What? Every time I have an idea you have to go and shot it down, you're just a girl after all what do you know?" she sneered disdainfully.
"What do you mean, 'just a girl'?" If Sokka had of been paying more attention to his sister he would have recognized the danger in her tone, but he was too caught up in his latest idea to realize.
"Exactly what I said, you're just a girl. What would you understand about providing for our family, or more importantly fishing?"
Katara didn't know what to be more affronted by, the fact that her brother thought she didn't provide for their family, or that he thought fishing was more important. "You…" she trailed off, her temper tying her tongue momentarily "You are the most sexist arrogant jerk I have ever had the embarrassment of knowing! And in this day and age!" she screamed at him.
"Hey… Calm down" he said placatingly, but she was having none of it.
"No! I will not just 'calm down' until you see some sense! I look after you and Gran day in and day out! I wash your clothes, cook your meals and clean the house!"
"But that's what you're supposed to do…" Sokka said, evidently not getting what she was so worked up about.
"I don't believe you sometimes! I cannot comprehend how I'm related to you!" She swung her arms behind her in frustration her emotions running wild. Somehow she managed to crack a water pipe running down the side of the building beside her. The pipe drained water from the gutters of the building above, and just so happened to be full, spraying Sokka with water from where it broke.
"What was that for!" he spluttered, indignant and confused as to how Katara had drenched him.
Katara just gave him a pointed glare before stalking off, not thinking about the incident beyond the savage pleasure of getting back at her brother for once. Leaving him behind she rounded the next couple of corners without even paying attention to where she was going.
"Stop right there."
~~ A V A T A R ~~
The voice was smooth yet hard, not as deep as her brothers, but neither did it crack or squeak as Sokka's was prone too. "What?" she said, more surprised than afraid as she turned to face the voice's source. That was before she took in where she was.
She was in a dark and narrow alley, and there in front of her stood her assailant a wiry boy who looked about her age. They were almost par on height, with perhaps him looking up at her the slightest bit from where they stood, maybe ten feet apart.
He didn't look in any way phased by their height difference and desperation clouded his warm grey eyes. He was blocking the only exit she could see from the alley and to all extents and purposes he looked like any other youth that roamed the streets. His clothing was rough and tattered, yet he held a long an elegant staff of some sort, which was an uncommon weapon for a mugger.
"What's in the bag?" he demanded, sounding sure of himself, yet at the same time… reluctant? She couldn't be sure that it wasn't wishful thinking on her part.
She looked down at the bag in her hand, which contained all the supplies she could afford, which her family desperately needed. Her common sense was screaming at her to just hand over the bag to him and run, but then what would happen? She would end up in the same state as the boy across from her.
He seemed to sense her reluctance, and held his staff out in front of him. "I don't want to hurt you" he said so softly she could barely hear him, and despite the situation she felt herself welling up with sympathy for him.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked carefully, meeting his eyes again.
"Please" he whispered, not answering her question as his grey eyes locked on hers in return. In their depths she saw a different sort of desperation. His was a desperation to survive yes, but also not to, he seemed aware of who he was, who he had become, and hated it. He looked conflicted against his will to survive, and she felt for him.
"Katara!" a loud yell echoed through the alley, and behind the boy appeared the solid form of her brother. "Stay away from my sister, filth!" Sokka yelled.
"I had no intention of hurting her…" the boy said pleadingly, but Sokka didn't listen. Katara watched on in frightened fascination as the fight, if you could call it that, unfolded.
Sokka rushed at the boy, waving his whale tooth knife through the air in an impressive arc. The boy didn't move at all while Sokka rushed him. He kept his back to the wall, and his eyes constantly flicked between Katara and Sokka, seemingly prepared to deal with them both if needed. Something in his glance held Katara still, and there was that reluctance again in the lively grey eyes. All of this transpired in seconds, and when Sokka was barely a foot from him, he reacted.
The boy moved faster than anyone Katara had ever seen. One moment he was standing in the middle of the alley, the next he waved to the side like a reed. He pivoted on the spot, thrusting his staff out in front of Sokka's ankle and in the same moment completing a full spin, catching Sokka in the back with the other staff's other end. The boy moved with grace and a strength which belied his frame. Sokka in contrast was sent pitching forward in a comical motion and landed sprawling at Katara's feet.
Katara smirked at Sokka for an instant, barely restraining a giggle, thinking that he deserved a good beating for all his pig-headedness of late. Sokka for his part was still dazed on the ground. Katara looked up from the heap of her brother's tangled limbs and looked back at the boy. He looked shocked at what he'd done, like he'd known he could do it, but horrified that he'd actually done it. Again that desperation to escape himself haunted his eyes, along with something else Katara recognized as self-loathing.
"Sorry…" he mumbled to her, grey eyes softening as they locked on hers, and then he was gone, running away as if she were the one threatening him and not the other way around.
Without thinking she took off after him, her legs straining as she tried to catch up with him. "Katara, wait!" Sokka called, the bag of food abandoned beside him, but she payed both no heed. She raced through the streets, just keeping up with the boy. He was as fast running as he was when he knocked Sokka down, but she could tell he was tired and weak. Maybe a hundred yards more through the winding alleys, and she caught up to him abruptly, wobbling on his feet. This time as she faced him, she didn't hesitate to approach, reaching his side just in time to catch him as he collapsed.
~~ A V A T A R ~~
Zuko impatiently strode the deck of the trade ship he was on. It disgusted him that he had to resort to such measures to creep around the globe; he could hardly show up in the home of his enemy with his warship, the proud Canadians would blast his Dynasty ship on sight. So he was relegated to sneaking into the large metropolis that was Halifax. It all seemed so uncivilised compared to back home, but he supposed that was just the capitalist way of life. Soon he knew, his father would burn their putrid cities to the ground, when they avenged the first defeat of the Sozin dynasty.
"What exactly are you hoping to find, prince Zuko?" the voice of his old uncle broke his reverie.
"I know he's here" Zuko growled at his uncle, angrily staring down the looks from the crew around him.
"We've been down this path before nephew, the last of the Tibetans are surely deep in hiding now, there's no chance you'll find the last one, your father, your grandfather, and your great grandfather all tried to hunt them down before you, and failed." Iroh said reasonabley. "Please sit, why don't you enjoy a cup of calming Jasmine tea?"
"I don't need any calming tea!" he yelled at his Uncle's irritating attitude. "I won't fail! And I won't give up, because my honour depends upon capturing this last miserable coward, the last of the race that betrayed our family."
~~ A V A T A R ~~
"Katara! What do you think you're doing?" Sokka said angrily, when he finally caught up with his sister. The sight he found almost put him in an uncontrollable rage. There his sister was holding the boy who minutes ago had been trying to mug her and attacked him. Sokka of course conveniently left out the fact he had charged the boy when he was attacked, and that he hadn't actually laid a hand – or stave – on Katara for that matter, either. Still it didn't stop him from speaking his mind "Do you ever think?" he yelled "He tried to mug you for Christ's sake! Not to mention he attacked me!"
"So far that's only raised my view of him." Katara said drily, staring her brother down. "Shh, he's stirring." Sokka just rolled his eyes, trying to think of a good comeback.
"Urgh…" The boy groaned looking up into Katara's eyes right above his, dazed for a moment. "I have to ask you something…" he whispered hoarsely "closer" Katara leaned in, their faces so close to be almost touching. "Do you have anything to drink?"
"Um… sure" Katara answered, not sure about what she'd been expecting but it definitely hadn't been that. She passed him a skin of water she wore on her hip, and he took a gulp greedily. Katara wasn't sure why she always carried that skin of water with her, but for some reason it comforted her, just the feeling of having water close by soothed her although she had never told anyone else. Right now she was glad she had it with her, as she saw some semblance of life return to the boy's face.
He startled her by jumping up swiftly and landing lightly on his feet; with his long dark hair finally out of his face she could for the first time see him properly beyond his grey eyes. He definitely was not native to this area, and yet despite being very pale skinned there was something striking about his angular features, refined and graceful. Yet she was once again drawn back in by those warm grey eyes which were appraising her and Sokka with fear and a certain morbid curiosity. He looked set to run off again, when Katara placed a hand on his arm, stopping him. "What's going on here?" he mumbled to himself confused, seemingly unable to understand her compassion.
"What's your name?" Katara asked, seeing nothing in this boy that threatened her.
"Um… Aang" he answered, puzzled. "Just Aang…" he continued at her curious expression "I don't have a last name."
"Oh… Well I'm Katara by the way," She introduced herself, finally provoking a gaping Sokka into speech.
"Katara! Don't tell him anything, he might try and track us down and rob us again!" Sokka exclaimed indignantly.
"Yeah because he so looks like he's gonna rob us." Katara shot back at her brother "Face it Sokka, if he wanted to he could have taken everything on you back in that alley" she had the satisfaction of seeing Sokka's cheeks colour in indignation. She turned back to Aang "as you've no doubt gathered the paranoid one is my brother Sokka"
Aang barely managed to stifle a laugh, Katara was grinning too. It was odd how familiar everything felt, and he was suddenly very glad that he hadn't been able to mug this girl – and that she had for seemingly no reason whatsoever come running after him. "So you guys live around here?" he asked.
"We live with our grandmother" Katara answered, ignoring the glare Sokka shot her way. "Where do you live? Do you have a family?"
Aang immediately looked away at the mention of his family, trying to hide a feeling of shame that always returned whenever he thought about his home. "I uh, kinda, left home" he finally answered.
"Where are you from, anyway?" Sokka asked, eyes narrowing on Aang.
"Tibet" he answered, noticing the shocked looks on both Katara's and Sokka's faces. "Why, shouldn't I be here?"
"No, no, nothing like that" Katara said hurriedly. "Do you have anywhere to stay?" Aang shook his head in answer. "Ok then it's settled, you can come back with us."
Aang just stared at Katara as she said this, surprised at the turn of events. Surprised barely even described Sokka's reaction, "What! It's not decided at all, you can't just take people in Katara! He could even be a part of the Dynasty!"
"Sokka…"
"I mean you done some crazy things before but this has to take the cake! Why oh why dear lord did I have to get stuck with the sister that-"
"SOKKA!" she yelled, and he subsided.
"Alright, I get it, just don't splash me again. But I'm warning you, Gran-Gran is gonna toss him out."
"We'll see about that."
Aang just watched the argument in a kind of stunned fascination; he was actually going to have somewhere to stay for the night! His thoughts continued, turning to Katara, and he thought about her for a moment. Who was she to offer up her home to someone like him so readily? He looked her over, taking in the dark skin and the long chocolate brown hair which perfectly complemented her deep blue eyes. Eyes that spoke to him, that said more than words could when they were locked on his. His mind drifted back to the scene in the alley, and replayed it again, slowing over the moment her eyes met and held his. He wondered again who she was to take him in after what he'd been about to do.
"Hey Aang, you ready to get going?" her soft voice snapped him out of his contemplations.
"Huh? Oh yeah." He smiled warmly.
"Oh crap." She muttered looking at the darkening sky, then the street around her. "Sokka do you know where we are?"
"Not a clue, sis. I'm just following you now" he smirked bitterly, seeming to enjoy the fact that she'd gotten them lost.
"Don't worry, I know where we are, or at least Appa does" Aang smiled brighter than before, looking beyond them at something they couldn't see.
"Appa?" she asked curiously, wondering what other surprises this boy had. Katara finally saw 'Appa' as he came bounding out to greet them. He was a dog, and not just any breed of dog he was a supposedly extinct Tibetan Mastiff. Katara hadn't thought there were any of those dogs had survived what happened to the Tibetans. Appa was unlike any other dog she'd seen, he had a fluffy white coat with a brown streak running down his back from his forehead. It looked startlingly like an arrow.
Appa for his part seemed to look at her and Sokka appraisingly for a moment before he let out a happy bark and began to lick Sokka. "Urgh, get him off! He's gonna slobber all over me!"
"Don't worry it'll wash out" Aang said grinning broadly. The big dog barked again and bounded over to his side. "Ok you ready boy?"
"We're following the dog?" Sokka asked, as if they were nuts.
"Don't worry, Appa has a great sense of direction, don't you buddy?" Aang said lovingly to the dog. "He can get us back to the main street in no time, then we can go home." Aang smiled warmly at the two of them, surprising himself at how quickly he had accepted and been accepted by them. Well by Katara at least.
"Wait, since when did we decide to follow him and that fluffy saliva monster" Sokka said pointedly, clearly not happy with the arrangement.
"Well if you prefer something else that roams the streets to lead you home, by all means be my guest and wait around." Katara said smirking.
Sokka hesitated a moment longer before, reluctantly following the two of them, noticing how late it was getting. Sighing he watched as Aang told a joke of sort to his sister, and she laughed like hadn't seen her do in years. What was it with those two, heck what was it with the world today? Why did he feel like he was the only one being left out of some great big joke? Probably coz I am he thought bitterly, still watching Aang closely. Just because Katara trusted him – and for no good reason that he could tell – didn't mean that he was going too.
~~ A V A T A R ~~
"Aang! Aang, wake up!"
"What!" The boy sat bolt upright, as if still in the grips of some nightmare. He calmed as he remembered where he was, and how he got here. It had turned out to be a surprisngly long walk with the groceries he had tried to steal earlier that same day, and by the time Sokka nd Katara had escorted him to their house they had all just collapsed and gone to sleep. Even Sokka didn't complain for once.
"It's okay Aang; you're at my house now." Katara said reasuringly, and he smiled a silent thanks to her. "Come on, everyone's waiting to meet you!" Katara said brightly, pulling off of the makeshift bed. She gasped as she saw Aang in just his sleeping trunks, not least because of his toned form, but also because of the pale blue tattoos that ran up his arms and back. The blue lines twisted down around his hips where she couldn't see them beneath his trunks, down his legs and arrows across the arch of his foot. The tattoo continued up his back in the same manner, branching at his shoulder blades to twist around his arms, forming similar arrows on his wrists to those on his feet. The tattoo also continued up his back to the nape of his neck where it was obscured by his shaggy mass of hair. She imagined that there was another large arrow in his beneath it, and when she looked closely she could just make out a blue point in his forehead.
"What is it Katara?" The boy asked, dressing quickly.
Hiding her sudden blush she turned away from him. "It's nothing…" she assured him. "Come on hurry up!" and with that she grabbed him by the wrist and protesting dragged him down into the living room of the small house.
Moments later they were down stairs, and Aang was surprised to see a large gathering of people in the living room. "Aang meet the family. Entire family, meet Aang"
"H-hi" he waved shyly, noticing the looks they were giving him. "Um why are they all looking at me like that?" he said aside to Katara "Did Appa drool on me?"
"We just aren't used to strangers around here, people are desperate these days, and most of them are bad sorts." An old woman stepped forward and spoke gratingly as she seemed to measure Aang up.
Aang started guiltily, remembering how he had been one of those desperate sorts before he met Katara.
"Aang this is my Grandmother, Kana" Katara spoke up, seeing his discomfort, ignoring the smirking Sokka in the background. "The rest are our neighbours, although they're practically family."
"Call me Gran-Gran" The old woman said smiling warmly now.
"Gran-Gran you can't be serious!" Sokka exclaimed from the back of the room.
"Sokka, be nice to your sister, she seems to have rescued a nice young man."
"Rescued? He tried to mug us!" Sokka said angrily.
"Um, not really" Aang felt he had to say something here. "I never had any intention of hurting anyone, and I never actually mugged anyone either." He mumbled, scratching the back of his neck nervously.
Kana's eyes narrowed, she didn't pay too much heed to Sokka's fussing, although the allegations were serious. Instead her eye caught on the sight of the blue tattoos now visible on the boy's wrist as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I've only seen tattoos like those once before, boy." She said haltingly.
"Really?" Aang asked curiously.
"Yes. You're a Tibetan aren't you?"
"Well I was raised there" he said, rubbing his neck even more furiously as everyone stared at him again. "What's with the looks this time?" he asked Katara, but Kana overheard.
"No one has seen anyone from Tibet in over a hundred years. We thought they were all extinct."
"Extinct?" he asked confused, but everyone seemed to have lost interest in him, trundling out to do whatever tasks were required of them.
"Come on Katara, you have chores to do" Gran-Gran said pulling a reluctant Katara away from Aang.
"I told you Gran, he's the real deal, he can help us, and if he was raised by the monks then he's our best chance to stop the Dynasty."
"Katara I don't want you to put all your hopes into this boy" Kana said slowly.
"Well we haven't had hope in anything in a long time," Katara said pointedly "besides; I sense he's filled with much wisdom. He has the right to everything the Dynasty has taken." She cast a long look back at Aang as he made a rather comical demonstration of his martial arts skill to the little children of the neighbourhood. Katara couldn't help a small giggle at the sight, he really was very sweet.
Behind her, her grandmother smirked to herself, before pulling her granddaughter away again.
~~ A V A T A R ~~
Zuko stood on the deck of the trade ship facing up against two disguised members of his crew. In a quick series of movements he closed the distance between him and them, attempting to take the first down with a sweeping kick. The man blocked him with a solid stance, but was unprepared for Zuko's fast follow through. Still he was able to hold his ground.
The second man Zuko was sparring with closed in now and Zuko back flipped to avoid his vicious round house kick. Executing a quick spin upon landing Zuko met the second with a series of rapid punches and jabs, breaking through his defence through shear force.
"No Zuko!" The voice of his uncle interrupted him. "Power in the Bak Mei and southern arts comes from your stance! Control your breathing, move your feet, make your opponent move around you and then utilise your strength when you have him where you want him!"
"Enough! I have been drilling this sequence all day! Teach me the next set, I am more than ready." Zuko glared at Iroh.
"No, you are impatient! You have yet to master your basics. Drill it again!" Iroh reprimanded him.
Furiously Zuko spun and kicked one of the men behind him, sending him skidding across the deck. "There!" He grinned cruelly. "Uncle Iroh, the Sages tell us that the Tibetans had the first claim to our land. If the last one gets away and rallies support then our whole nation's honour will be forfeit." Zuko met his uncle's hard gaze, and sore him wince sadly at his words. "This last monk has had up to a hundred years to gather followers and master the techniques since he fled; I will need more than basics to defeat him! You will teach me the advanced set!"
"Very well" Iroh said gravely, "but first let me finish my meal!" Zuko groaned as the old man pulled out a bowl of roast duck and began tucking into it with gusto. He readied himself as he waited for his uncle to finish, his grim determination fuelling him like nothing else could.
~~ A V A T A R ~~
"Now listen up men! It is important that you show no fear when you face a soldier of the Dynasty! Here, we fight till the last man standing, for without courage, how can we call ourselves men?" Sokka spoke passionately, sighing at the confused faces looking up at him.
The group of kids no more than five years old sat silently and Sokka hoped that maybe they'd gotten the message. "I gotta pee!" a voice called out from the group.
"Listen!" Sokka tried again "until your fathers get back from the war, they're counting on you to be the men of your families! And that means no potty breaks!"
"But I really gotta go!" the same boy repeated.
"Fine, who else needs to go?" Sokka groaned in resignation as a sea of hands rose and the rest of the kids chorused their need for a potty break.
"Have you seen Aang?" The welcome distraction of his sister's voice pulled his attention away from the little kids he was drilling. He wasn't too pleased about the subject matter however. "Gran-Gran said he disappeared an hour ago." The concern was evident in Katara's voice, although he had no idea why she cared so much.
"Weee!" A little kids voice rang out, and both Katara and Sokka turned to see Aang giving one of the kids a helicopter ride.
"Urgh!" Sokka grunted, angrily "Katara get him out of here! This lesson is for warriors only!"
"Maybe you should ask him to teach, seeing how he whooped you're but pretty good" Katara said smirking.
"Stop! Stop it right now!" Sokka was yelling at Aang who was playing with the kids, and Katara couldn't stop herself from laughing.
Aang turned his head at the sound, grinning at her widely. Katara felt better than she could remember in years. She burst into absolute hysterics as Aang was tacked onto the ground by the kids while he was looking at her. Se unconsciously wiped a tear from her eye, she hadn't laughed like this in ages.
"What's wrong with you!" Sokka finally pried Aang away from the kids, dragging the smaller boy. "We don't have time for fun and games with a war going on!"
"What war?" Aang asked confused, looking at Sokka like he was talking about nuclear physics. "What are you talking about?" But his attention was drawn to his dog which was running down the street before Sokka could answer. "Appa!"
"You're kidding right?" Sokka asked drily, staring at Aang like he was insane not for the first time.
"Appa, wait!" Aang didn't seem to hear Sokka as he ran after his beloved dog.
Sokka spared a long look at his sister, who was staring worriedly after Aang. "He's kidding right?"
~~ A V A T A R ~~
"Aang?" Katara called as she finally caught up with him. She realized he was standing amongst a pack of stray dogs, which were all licking him.
"I have a way with animals" he said, smiling at her by way of greeting. He tried his best to imitate a dog bark, which resulted in Katara in fit of giggles. His heart soared and his stomach felt light as a feather. She had a really pretty laugh. Without realizing what he was doing or how he did it, he propelled himself into the air and landed softly on his feet.
"What was that?" Katara asked, stunned.
"What was what? Aang repeated, completely oblivious to the fact that he had just levitated.
"You… you kind of flew, you were hovering in the air!"
"I wha-" a sudden urge to sneeze overtook him, and this time he felt it too as he lifted off the ground. He suddenly remembered an old lesson with his mentor Monk Gyatso. He had told him about the mysteries of the spirit world that balanced this one, and about the power to bend the elements of life that stemmed from them; Water, Earth, Fire and Air.
He turned back Katara who was regarding him with astonished eyes, like she couldn't believe what she'd seen. To some extent he couldn't believe it either, it seemed to go against everything modern society had proved, yet here he was. Bending.
The next thing Katara said surprised him. He had been expecting her to run away or be frightened by what he'd just discovered about himself, and the thought hurt. However she didn't run, or even seem scared. Instead she looked at him with curiosity and asked "can you teach me to do that?"
He was so taken aback by her, he was sure he just stood their mouth gaping. "I-uh, I don't know" he stammered, finally getting his muscles back under control. "I kinda don't really know how I did it."
"Oh… What exactly did you do? Do you know anything about this… this power?" He felt bad when he saw her disappointed look, but grinned again at her curiosity.
"Sort of… but I always thought of it as fairytales. When I was a little kid living at the Tashilumpo temple my mentor told me stories of ancient people who could meld the elements of life to their will."
"The elements of life?"
"Water, Earth, Fire and Air" he answered. "I know, very different from the chemical elements right? It's a part of initiate training I suppose, learning about the balance."
"The balance?" Katara felt kind of foolish for asking so many questions, but Aang didn't mind. He was enjoying every minute of his time with her.
"The balance is kinda like a principle the monks were taught to live by. See the balance in nature, the harmony of the elements, like the winds and the waves, the sun and the rain, the plants and the seasons" he explained.
"I think I see what you mean." She said softly, her deep blue eyes shining "Like the moon and the ocean." Aang looked at the beautiful dark skinned girl beside him and hid a growing blush.
"Yeah, in perfect harmony. That's the balance, which is something the monks swore to protect." He continued to think about what she'd said about the moon and the ocean, and a question formed in his mind randomly. Before he could stop himself the question burst forth from his lips. "Are you an Inuit?" He gagged as soon as he;d uttered the words, almost unable to believe he'd just asked that. It just seemed so stupid.
She however didn't seem to mind or notice. "A lot of people here are of Inuit descent." She answered "And yes, my family have been native to this land for generations." She idly fingered her hair loops, a striking feature of hers that Aang hadn't really noticed until now.
"Love the hair loops by the way" he said grinning cheekily.
"Thanks" she mumbled, and he fancied he could see a blush rise on her cheeks.
"Here come with me." He led her by the arm back towards the house, Appa leaving the pack of dogs and following on their heels.
"Where exactly are we going?" she asked, as Aang steered he past their neighbourhood and picking something up along the way.
"Sledding!" he answered, laughing freely. That was when she noticed he'd picked a a small sled of sorts, it was really just a wooden board with ski's underneath, and a rope which he tied to Appa. "Yip yip buddy!" he yelled, wrapping an arm around her pulling her onto the sled with him as Appa took off.
"Is this alright for Appa?" she asked, not wanting to hurt the dog.
"Of course! Back in Tibet he would pull me around sledding all the time, and it's not like you're a burden" he said, still smiling.
"I haven't gone sledding since I was a kid" she giggled joyfully, wrapping her arms that little bit tighter around him.
"You still are a kid!" Aang grinned, blushing ever so slightly, and she smiled brighter in response.
A moment of silence stretched between them, measured only by the happy panting of Appa and the rush of the wind as they careered down a quiet snow laden street.
"Do you have any idea where you're going?" she asked, finally breaking the calm between them.
"Nope" he said cheekily.
"You haven't been here very long" she observed.
"Uh not really" he mumbled "I don't really remember much about I got here actually, just waking up on a block of ice beside Appa, then black again before washing up on a beach here somewhere."
"How long have you been here?" she asked, surprised at his story.
"Maybe a week or two… I was kinda overwhelmed by it all really, I've seen some large cities in China" he didn't notice how she stiffened against him as the he said the word "And then some in Europe, but only in passing. I spent most of my life growing up in a secluded temple, and then I washed up here, and I just did whatever I had to, to survive I guess." He said sadly. "Until I met you that is!" he brightened immediately, she smiled as well.
She smiled back, amazed that they had only known each other for a couple of days. It felt like a lifetime already, A lifetime well spent she thought, blushing despite herself. However she felt like there was something he wasn't telling her about his story, but she respected it, and didn't push. She had heard the rumours of what the Dynasty did in Tibet and knew it must be a painful experience for him, and wasn't surprised he didn't want to talk about it.
"So what's your story?" he asked. "And what's this about a War that Sokka was going on about? Is it trouble in South Africa again? Or the Persian Gulf? I had a feeling that things weren't going so well there."
"Um…" she didn't quite know how to say this. How could he not know? "Aang… the world is at war."
"Come again?" he asked slowly hoping he'd heard her wrong.
"I don't know how to say this, but the Dynasty started the war nearly a hundred years ago! They've been trying to conquer the world ever since, and slowly, each year; they are getting a little closer to doing it" She smiled sadly "My dad went off to fight two years ago, somewhere in the Mediterranean to defend western Europe."
The sled suddenly pulled to a stop, and there they stood on a snow covered beach, looking out into the harbor. Not far away an old battle ship lay rusting against the shore, the huge holes in its hull a monument to the fierce fighting that must have taken place. "No no no…" Aang mumbled over and over again. "This is so messed up! How can this be possible! When I left there was no war, I had friends in the China Dynasty!" A choked sob escaped his throat it was a horrible sound, and it tore at Katara's heart.
"Do you know how you ended up here?" she asked, and he turned his head away as if in shame.
"The last thing I remember after I left was stowing aboard some ship with Appa north of Siberia. There was this terrible storm, and I fell over board… then all there was this feeling of cold, I guess I was frozen, it's the only thing that makes sense" he sighed, long and deep. "Then I was opening my eyes to see Halifax… and you kinda know the rest." He tried to muster a smile, but his eyes seemed hollow and empty.
"Is it possible… that somehow you survive in that ice for a hundred years?"
"I guess I had to have huh?" he said bitterly.
"Well perhaps there is a bright side to all this" Katara suggested, and was rewarded with his bright smile once again.
"I did get to meet you" he said, blushing. With forced optimism he began walking along the beech, calling back to Katara "Come one, there was a reason I wanted to come to the beach in the first place."
Katara looked at him puzzled as he skipped stupidly along the beach, and she ran to catch up, playfully tackling him, "What did you want to show me?"
"Um this is gonna sound stupid, but bear with me" he said waving an arm magnanimously at the ocean before them. "Can you feel the waves?"
"What?"
"Just hold on and listen" he said. "Feel the waves." He took a deep breath closing his eyes, and let it out again. Katara watched his suddenly serene gaze for a moment before mimicking him.
She let out a cry of surprise as she felt the waves rolling thorough her, and she immediately opened her eyes, expecting feel a wave wash over her at any second and soak her. But as she looked around she saw that she was standing beside Aang in the snow, and the waves were only gently lapping at the shore several yards away. What the…? "Aang what is this?" she asked, confused, and just a little bit frightened.
He didn't answer her right away. "Have you ever heard of the legend of the Avatar?" he asked softly.
"Yes of course. It was one of my favourite stories as a child." She raised an eyebrow curiously at him. "Why?"
"Doesn't matter" he said, slumping slightly. "I just think that maybe you can bend water."
"What!" she was shocked. What did he mean bend water?
"You can feel the waves through you, when you listen, like I can feel the breeze. Have you ever done something, like splashed some one or spilt something without ever really knowing how?"
"well there was this one time, right before I met you actually, when somehow I broke a drainpipe and sprayed Sokka with water" They both laughed, he at the thought of it and Katara at the memory. "Sokka was furious."
"Yeah he didn't seem so happy when we met." Aang grinned again. "Anyway, ever since you pointed it out to me what I was doing I realized all the time I've done things that couldn't really be explained, like how I'm so fast, or can jump so high." He sighed, and stared deep into her cerulean eyes "And I thought I saw something in you similar then." He swept his arm out over the waves, "And lo and behold I was right." He grinned cheekily. "Go on, try and move it" he said waving to the water again.
And so she stood there, rocking back and forth, feeling just a little bit ridiculous as his eyes followed her every move. However she felt it once again, the feeling of the waves inside her, the push and pull of tides, and as she looked over the calm water she saw it respond to her. She moved forwards, pushing slowly out, and the water near her on the beach moved with her, against the tug of the tide. This drained her quickly, and as she pulled the water back towards her, with the tide, she felt the water surge in response racing up the beach to where she and Aang were standing. Breathing deep she released her tenuous hold of the water and sagged a bit, before meeting Aang's gaze.
He smiled at her reassuringly, and his eyes shone with admiration. "That was incredible." He said. "You know, you looked a lot like you were doing Tai Chi, the way you moved with the flow of the water." He added as an after thought. "I could teach you some moves and see if that helps you control the water at all."
"You'd be willing to teach me martial arts? Wait, what martial arts do you know?"
"A lot" he muttered modestly "I only got these tattoos when the monks found worthy as a master."
"So what does all this mean? This bending?" she asked softly.
"To be honest, I don't know, but it does mean that we have the power to make a change."
"I like the sound of that" Katara smiled, and headed back towards the sled and Appa, with Aang by her side. I definitely could get used to this.
~~ A V A T A R ~~
Zuko stood on the Halifax dock looking aimlessly out over the beach, when something caught his eye. It was a large white dog, a breed that hadn't been seen since the Tibetan monks a hundred years ago, with a brown stripe running from it's forehead down its back. Pulling out the pair of binoculars he carried on him, he focused on it. And there approaching the dog now was a man and a woman, picking up a sled that was leashed to the dog. The man then kneeled and petted the dog, whispering something in his ear. As the man did this the back of neck became exposed and there below the mass of dark hair he could see the clear outlines of a blue tattoo.
"Wake my uncle!" He yelled, turning to the man beside him. "And tell him I've found the last Tibetan… and his hiding place." he said, a smirk reaching his face as his gaze followed the path the couple and dog took into the city.
Author's note:
So yeah, this story is almost a complete adaptation of the first episode, with a few of my one twists thrown in! Hope you like it, tell me whether I should continue or not.
Oh yeah, there are couple of things I'm gonna point out - I know I put katara and Sokka in the North Pole but I found it was more realistic having people of inuti descent living in Nova Scotia than say Tasmania. I'd also note that I've never been to halifax, and that the image I paint of it here is totally fictional, nothing like what the city really is. Just for the purposes of the story everything is kinda rundown and shabby due to the war.
On another note, all the martial arets referenced and described are real, the Bak Mei is a real southern Chinese martial arts whihc focuses on quick foot work and offene with fast powerful punches and sweeping kicks. I thought this was appropriate as a development of firebending without the bending.
I'd also like to mention that the Tashilumpo Temple is a real monastery in Tibet, and they historically raise Tibetan Mastiffs as well other breeds of Tibetan dogs there with the monks.
Also I promise to everyone who's reading 'Peace...' That I'll get back to that soon. Got a gargantuan chapter in the works for it as well
So yeah, if you like waht I've started, please let me know and click review below! (not meaning to rhyme, lol)
Regards!
~BV~