Author's Note:

Here is the first chapter of my story. Since it is the first time I am writing something like this I doubt that it will be very good and it gets most likely changed and corrected once I get some feedback on what is all wrong. Please note that I am not writing in my mother language and while I do my best and use spell checks there will be most likely more mistakes then from a native speaker.

Three weeks after the fall of the Earth Kingdom

The caravan was still a days march from the recently fallen Earth Kingdom capital Ba Sing Se away, but the heavy cargo of arms and supplies for the garrison of the occupation troops of the city were slowing the Fire Nation troops and their animals down. The rocky and uneven terrain did not help either. Their route was filled with hills and mountains to all sides and the path they were tacking was hard to recognise as it was filled with dirt and rocks.

Despite a century of war against the Earth Kingdom the soldiers still felt uneasy in this kind of terrain. It lacked the familiar heat and flames of their home, and worst of all, it was prone to attacks. The Earth Kingdom was defeated, but some still resisted, and while their numbers were small it was hard to track and find them, especially since they knew every inch of this land.

The commander of the caravan was leading his troop from his Komodo Rhino trying to keep an watchful eye on the surroundings, but it was hard to see anything in this dark moonless night and he had forbidden the use of torches while travelling, as they would have easily given away their presence and he did not want that his men would become the next prey for those too stubborn to accept the defeat of their nation.

They were about to reach another hill which they had to climb as no other route was available. The Lieutenant did not like the situation at all as they were unable to see what was on top or behind of it.

"Halt!" he ordered his men.

"You two!" he pointed his arm at two of his unmounted soldiers.

"Scout ahead and make sure the area ahead of us is clear. Return when done. The rest of us will wait here. I don't want to walk right into an..."

"AMBUSH!!" he was interrupted by one of his men. At least a dozen figures were appearing out of the shadows of the night, closing fast onto them, too fast to be running humans.

The Lieutenant needed a second to catch himself, but then started yelling out commands. "Lights! Turn on the Torches! Formate yourself between the attackers and the wagons. Use your spears and keep the swords in the holsters, they must be using cavalry! Infantry in the middle, riders to the flanks!"

His men were hurrying to follow his orders and to fall into position. The enemy was approaching fast, but his men had discovered them early enough to give them time to prepare themselves. He had twenty men on foot who were now standing a few meters in front the wagons pointing their spears towards the fast approaching attackers bracing them for the onslaught. To each to their side were three Soldiers mounted on Komodo Rhinos, sightly ahead of them, forming a crescent formation. The Lieutenant was standing with his mount behind the Infantry trying to get a better picture of the Situation.

He was surprised that the attackers had chosen to engage them from the north were they were much easier to detect thanks to slightly more even terrain. If they had attacked from the south they had most likely not even had enough time to form a formation. And while he had no benders under his command he was confident that they would be able to repel the assault.

Unless they wanted us to see them. A troubling though started to rise in the back of his mind. He was about to turn his mount around so he would face the Bull Antelope-pulled wagons behind them, when he heart one of the animals crying out followed by the other four. With distress he saw how a second group, that must have sneaked upon them while they were distracted by the first one, released the Bull Antelope from the wagons and sent them into the wild by giving them a clap on the back causing them to start running away at high speed. At the same time some of the second group searched through the supplies and picked up some of it and then used the torches the Lieutenant had ordered to be lit to set the rest on fire.

The Lieutenant realised that he was already beaten before the first blood was drawn. He shouted out in anger and turned his mount to the closes attacker of the second group and charged. His cry went not unnoticed. The enemy he had focused on looked straight at him. He was riding an Ostrich-Horse and his head was covered behind a masked wolf helmet. In this dark night, with only the stars and the flames of the wagons to bring some light, he looked more like a monster from a horror story people tell each other at campfires then a human. The Lieutenant's spear was aimed at the masked warrior as his Komodo Rhino raced toward him.

The wolfhead turned to him, but instead of charging as well or trying to evade him. He simply kept still on his Ostrich-Horse, waiting calmly for the attack without showing any indication that he would attempt to defend himself. He did not even raise the exotic club like weapon in his hand. If his eyes were not fixed on the Fire Nation soldier one might even believe he had not noticed the danger at all. It was just in the second before getting pierced by the soldiers spear the warrior reacted by letting himself fall off backwards from his Ostrich-Horse rolling on the ground, his mount now between him and the Firesoldier and his Komodo Rhino.

The Lieutenant aimed his spear once more but before he got deliver a second attack the wolfman raised from the ground with surprising agility and escaped the reach of the weapon with a mix of jumping and running. As soon as he was about 20 yards from the soldiers away he simply stopped. He did not try to flee, nor did he seem to want to launch a counter attack. He just waited for his opponents next move.

The Lieutenants rage reached another level, first he was led into an ambush, then tricked and now this masked clown did not even engage him in an open battle but was toying with him. He led his Komodo Rhino to another charge on the warrior, holding his spear tight. And once more the wolfman did not react until the seemingly last moment.

He tried to roll out of the path of the Komodo Rhino but this time the Lieutenant had expected something like this. He had thrown his spear shortly before reaching his enemy hoping to hit him before he could evade his attack again. And he did hit. The spearhead cut through the light armour on the left shoulder and sliced into some of the skin before impaling itself into the ground behind the warrior.

Despite the light injury the wolfman did not slow down and kept moving. Pushing himself up from the rocky ground and again jumping away from the Lieutenant. Trailing him further away from the the wagons now blazing in fire. The soldier drew his short sword and pushed his mount toward his enemy, but before he could charge him again he saw that this time something was different.

The masked figure was now not only holding his club in one hand, but also another weird looking weapon in the other hand. He could not identify the weapon in the darkness, but assumed it was a weird formed dagger or something similar. He was wrong. The warrior raised the arm with the exotic formed weapon and drew it behind his hand before pushing it forward in a sudden movement releasing it into the air. The Lieutenant prepared to block the incoming weapon with his sword but sighted in relief when it simply flew past him, missing him by several feet.

What he did not see was that the weapon changed its course after it passed him and returned. He felt a blunt sudden pain in his back and cried out, more out of surprise then of actual pain. His body turned stiff and he without realising hit the edge of his sword cut into the skin of his Komodo Rhino. His mount let out an angry growl and rose itself on his hind legs, trying to shake off the source of its pain. Losing control the soldier felt down from his mount hitting the ground. The masked warrior slowly walked to him in calm steps.

The soldier started to desperately search his surroundings after his sword, which he had lost during the fall, using his hands rather then his eyes as he could hardly see anything. His heart went from rapid beating to a sudden stop when the saw the wolfman standing just a few feet away from him, picking something up from the ground and moved it behind his back, seemingly fitting it on his armour. After he was done he turned his head once more to the Fire Nation soldier, who could for the first time see the blue eyes behind the mask. His left hand finally found the swordgrip. Still lying on the ground, he rapidly closed his fist around it and moved the sword before his body, the point aimed at the warrior.

The wolfman overcame the remaining distance between them with a quick jump. The Lieutenant tried to stab him with his sword, but his attack was easily blocked by the club. In a swift move the blue-eyed warrior pushed the attacking sword and the arm that held it to the side. He put his right foot onto the forearm with enough pressure that the soldier was forced to let go of his weapon. Unarmed and completely defeated the soldier looked at his victorious enemy and asked with a weak and yet angered voice

"Who are you?"

The warrior attached his club to his belt. Bolt was dripping from the shoulder wound he had received from the spear. He raised both hand to his helmet, lifting it, revealing his face.

"I am Sokka. Warrior of the Water Tribe."