I'll give you some background on who I am. My name is Hotaru and my brother was called Zuko, my sister was called Azula, we were all fire benders. I ran away when I was young, I ran to the southern water tribe and learnt to survive in the wilderness. I had a pet tamed polar bear dog which I had a rope that she would let me ride her with, she was my best friend, her name was Sadie. I lived with otter penguins, they were fun to ride. I had long dark brown, almost black hair that went down to my waist; I tied it to the side in a braid all the time. I had on water tribe clothes but they were ripped and slightly dirty. I had very big, dark, brown eyes flecked with gold. I was very short and only thirteen years old. I usually didn't fight with bending; I fought with a bow and arrow, which was basically how I survived all this time, although I did have a knife that I used some of the time as well.
One day I was sitting and eating some fish that I had caught when I saw a very bright light beam shoot up into the sky. I got up and let out a shrill whistle, Sadie plodded out. I unfurled the rope from around my waist and hopped on her back. I rode towards the light. I saw a young girl and boy from the water tribe, then I saw an even younger boy dressed in air nomad clothing? He was passed out. But, they were extinct; the damn fire nation killed them all so that the avatar wouldn't be born. I ran over and said "Who is this?" The older boy turned around.
"This is a creepy kid we found, I am Sokka and this is my sister Katara." He said. Katara turned the boy around and led him down on the ice. Sadie walked over to the younger boy and licked his face. Sokka screamed like a girl, I raised an eyebrow "Really?" I said in an unamused voice. I saw the younger boy start to wake up, he was groaning and it looked like he hadn't been awake in a while. He had silver eyes, and a bald head that had a big arrow tattoo on it.
"I need to ask you something." The boy said quietly.
"What?" Katara answered.
"Please, come closer." He mumbled.
"What is it?" Katara said.
"Will you go penguin sledding with me?!" He asked in a spritely way.
"Uh…sure." She said.
"Come on, we can take my polar bear dog!" I chirped. He grinned and nodded. Sadie poked her head near to the boy. Sokka screamed again "Seriously? Again." I said. The boy pushed himself up with what looked like air bending.
"What's going on here?" He said, rubbing his head.
"You tell us!" Sokka said, pointing a spear at him. I pulled out my knife.
"You hurt him, and I kill you." I said sweetly.
"Oh please, you couldn't kill a warrior like me." He said. I grabbed his hand and flipped him; I put my knee on his back and bent his arm around so he couldn't get up. I waited for a few moments before letting him get back up. I brushed myself off and said "I think I can."
"Anyway, how did you get in the ice?!" Sokka asked "And, how aren't you frozen?!" He started poking the boy with the end of his spear.
"I'm not sure." The boy said confusedly, he shooed the spear away. I heard a growling sound, it wasn't Sadie but she started growling as well. I grabbed her muzzle shut and shushed her. He started clambering up the ice and into a crater like space. "Oppa!" He said gladly "Are you alright? Wake up buddy!" I started to climb the ice to see what he was doing. When I got to the top I sat down and gasped, it was a sky bison, but, they were also meant to be extinct, I was so confused right now. Sokka and Katara came around the edge and also gasped. I slid down the ice wall. Oppa woke up and licked the boy, who was about 12 years old. I saw Sadie run around the corner, tripping Sokka up with her tail, she ran to Oppa. I was afraid she was going to attack him but she just licked him. "She likes him." I said.
"What is him exactly?" Sokka asked.
"It's a Sky Bison." I said, scratching the side of Oppa.
"Yeah, this is Oppa, my flying bison." The boy said.
"Right, and this is Katara, my flying sister." Sokka said sarcastically.
"If you're going to make a joke then at least make it funny." I said.
"Do you guys live around here?" The boy asked all of us.
"Don't answer that, did you see that crazy beam of light, he was probably trying to signal the fire navy." Sokka said. I froze, should I tell them I was the daughter of fire lord Ozai? Nah, I will if I have to.
"Suuuure, I'm sure he's a spy for the fire navy. You can tell by that evil look in his eye." Katara said sarcastically. The boy smiled, I laughed. "You are so paranoid; anyway, you never told us your name." She said to the boy.
"I'm Aaaa-" He started to sneeze. He sneezed towards the ground and flew up into the air. He then fell down and slid down a slope and came to a standing halt "I'm Aang," he said "So, you're Sokka, you're Katara…and you are?" he turned to me.
"Oh, I'm Hotaru." I smiled.
"You just sneezed…and flew 10 feet up into the air!" Sokka said.
"Really? It felt higher." Aang said. Katara gasped.
"You're an air bender?" Katara asked.
"Sure am!" He chirped.
"Giant light beam, flying bisons, air benders, I think I got midnight sun madness, I'm going home to where stuff actually makes sense." Sokka said, he walked to the edge of the ice berg and saw that he was surrounded by water.
"If you guys are stuck, Oppa and I can give you a lift?" Aang said, he jumped onto the bison.
"We'd love a ride! Thanks!" Katara said. I ran around with Katara and was helped up by Aang.
"Oh no, I am not getting on that fluffy snot monster." Sokka said.
"Are you hoping some other kind of monster will come along and give you a ride home, you know, before you freeze to death?" Katara said. I put two fingers in my mouth and whistled twice, Sadie bounded onto Oppa onto the big saddle that was on him. Sokka started to object but then he sighed and got onto Oppa with us. When he was on Aang said "Okay, first time flyers hold on tight! Oppa, yip yip!" Oppa's tail went up and then when it went down he took off. Oppa then fell into the water and started to swim.
"Come on Oppa! Yip yip!" Aang said, tugging on the reigns.
"Wow, that was truly amazing." Sokka said.
"Oppa's just tired." Aang said happily "Just a little rest and he'll be soaring through the sky. You'll see!" Katara started to look around, Aang was smiling at her non-stop, it was a little creepy.
"Uh, why are you smiling at me like that?" She asked, also sounding very creeped out.
"Oh, I was smiling?" he said. I laughed at his expression.
"Where do you live?" Katara asked me.
"Me, oh, um, I live with the penguins, on my own, I don't have a family so I stay with the animals." I answered her. She could see that I didn't want to talk about it anymore so we carried on swimming in silence. The silence didn't ask long. Katara asked Aang "I've been thinking, with you being an air bender, if you had any idea what happened to the avatar?"
"Uh, oh, no, I didn't know him, well I mean, I knew people that did, but I didn't, sorry." Aang said.
"Okay, sorry, I was just curious, good night." Katara said.
"Sleep tight." Aang said. Katara led down. Sadie bent down and put her head on her paws. I scratched her behind the ear before I led down against her fur; she was warm so I always slept against her.
I was woken up right before we got to the village. Katara said "You can stay with us if you want?"
"No, it's fine; I have a home with the penguins." I said, I didn't want her to do anything for me until she knew who I was. When we got there I woke Sadie up and hopped off Oppa with her. I got Aang down and out her on Sadie. We then walked to Katara's tent and laid Aang down so that he could get some more sleep. Katara talked to the rest of the villagers and I just sat on the edge of the village, combing Sadie's fur. I got up to go and see what was going on in the village. I saw that Aang was awake. "Hey sleepy head." I mocked. He had just pulled his head out of some sort of snow building. Sokka said "Great, you're an air bender, Katara's a water bender! Have fun."
"You're a water bender?!" Aang asked.
"Sort of, not yet." Katara said.
"All right, no more playing, come on Katara, you have chores." An old woman said, I was guessing that she was Katara's grandmother or something. I was playing around with Aang when Sokka walked over and said "I need to train the new recruits, I will need help."
"Sure." I shrugged before going around the back of a building with him. There were a lot of little boys, the oldest looked about 4 years old.
"Now listen men, it is important that you show no fear when you face a fire bender, in the water tribe, we fight to the last man standing. For without courage, how can we call ourselves men?" Sokka said.
"By being actual men?" I suggested.
"I gotta pee!" One of the boys said.
"Listen, until your fathers return from being at war, they're counting on you to be the men of this tribe!" Sokka complained. I rolled my eyes.
"Look, if you fight, you kick, you aim for the solar plexus, the weakest point in the torso," I pointed to where the solar plexus was on Sokka. "Or, if it's a dude, just kick him in the balls, both are equally effective." I said.
"No potty breaks!" Sokka said angrily.
"But I really gotta go." The boy pleaded.
"Go on." I smiled.
"Who else wants to go?" Sokka asked. All the boys put their hands up. Sokka face palmed and let them all go. I went with the boys to make sure that none of them would do anything wrong. Aang came out of the bathroom and said "Geez, everything freezes in there."
"Ugh, get him outta here!" Sokka said to Katara, who was now with him "This lesson is for warriors only!" The boys were playing with Oppa, sliding down his tail.
"What is wrong with you?! We don't have time for fun and games!" Sokka yelled angrily "Especially not with a war going on!"
"What war?" Aang asked. I frowned; The Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes had been at war with the Fire Nation, not for a short while but for 100 years. The Air Nomads had been wiped out. "What are you talking about?" he asked again.
"You're kidding right?" Sokka said.
"Penguuuuiiiins!" Aang yelled, he had seen some penguins behind us. I turned around and ran with him. We followed the penguins until we found where they all were. I saw my den from where we were standing. I walked down to the den and grabbed the cooked fish I was eating earlier. I chucked some to Aang and said "Welcome to my home." He smiled and ate the fish in one bite. I shoved my fish down and said "Let's go and ride some penguins!" He grinned and nodded. Katara was there when we came out of the den. Aang started following around penguins and tried to catch one for sledding. I said "That's not how you do it." I put a fist to my mouth in a certain position and blew, making the noise that the penguins make. At least twenty of the penguins came and huddle around us. I said "Take your pick." and gestured to the penguins around us. While Aang was choosing a penguin Katara came down. Katara said "I'll help you choose one if you teach me water bending?"
"Deal, except, I'm an air bender, not a water bender, isn't there anyone else who could teach you?" Aang said.
"No, you're looking at the only water bender in the south pole." Katara said sadly.
"Well, a water bender needs to master water, what about the North Pole?" Aang said "There's another tribe up there, maybe someone there can teach you."
"Maybe, but we haven't had contact with our sister tribe for a long time," Katara said "It's not exactly turn right at the second glacier, It's on the other side of the world."
"But he has a flying bison." I said.
"Yeah, we can fly you to the North Pole! We can find you a master." Aang suggested.
"That's-I mean-I don't know. I have never left home before." Katara said.
"Well, just think about it." Aang said "In the mean time, let's catch some penguins!" I nodded and chose my penguin with Katara and Aang. We hopped on the penguins and started to slide along on them. We rode around curves and did some jumps; I even taught them some tricks. When we raced we went fast down a valley and over some hills then through a tunnel, Aang used air bending and won though. `We were laughing when we got to the bottom of the large valley. We let the penguins go and walked forwards, we had seen something interesting.
"Whoa, what is that?" Aang asked.
"It's a fire nation ship." I said angrily.
"And a very bad memory for my people." Katara said. Aang started to walk forwards to the ship. "Stop, we're not allowed to go near it."
"Rules were made to be broken." I shrugged and followed Aang.
"The ship could be booby trapped." Katara warned.
"If you want to be a bender then you have to let go of fear." Aang said, I nodded in agreement. Katara walked forward cautiously. We all walked forward towards the abandoned Fire Nation ship. We climbed up some shattered ice and into a hole in the ship's side.
The abandoned corridors and rooms were scary and I could see Katara get more scared with every step, I just liked the thrill. We got to an even darker room with weapons of all kinds. "This ship has haunted my tribe since Grangran was a little girl; it was part of the fire nation's first attacks." I frowned, I can't believe my nation and my father would do this.
"Okay, back up, I have friends all over the world, even in the fire nation, I've never seen any war." Aang said worriedly.
"Aang? How long were you in that ice?" Katara asked.
"I dunno, a few days maybe?" Aang replied.
"I think it was more like a hundred years." I said.
"What?! That's impossible; do I look like a hundred and twelve year old man to you?" Aang said to me.
"Think about it, the war is a century old, you don't know about it because somehow, you were in there that whole time?" I said.
"It's the only explanation." Katara said.
"A hundred years?" Aang said in surprise, he fell backwards and sat down. I sat down next to him and put my hand on his shoulder. "Let's just go." I said. I grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet. We walked out of the room and kept walking around the ship. "Come on guys, let's go back now, it's so creepy." Katara quivered.
"Pfff, scaredy cat." I muttered under my breath.
"Huh?" Aang said, his foot pulled on a piece of string, a grated door fell down, locking us in the room. "What's that you said about booby traps?" Aang asked Katara. Loads of cogs turned and steam flooded the room. I looked out of the window, a flare had gone off. "Oh no." I said. There was a hole in the roof from where the flare fired out of. Aang jumped up carrying Katara bridal style before reaching down and helping me. When I got out I whistled loud and clear. Sadie came leaping forward; she was a really fast polar bear dog. I jumped on and let Katara and Aang come on as well. All I could think about was 'damn, if my brother had seen that flare then we're dead!'