The steam from the ship filled the air as the terrifying, metal ramp crashed down onto the wall of my village. My brother ran towards what I presumed to be their leader. He got up the ramp, and the man kicked him to the side, and he fell off the ramp into the snow. All the women in the village were behind me, some silent, some quietly crying to themselves that this couldn't be happening. The man walked towards all of us, scanning the small group.
"Where are you hiding him?" he asked. The question confused me, who specifically could this Fire Nation slime be looking for?
He suddenly reached his hand out, pulling my Gran Gran away from me. We both simultaneously gasped, and I tried to hold on to her, but his grasp on her was too strong. He pulled my grandma around and showed her to the crowd, stating "He'd be about this age, master of all elements!"
The man, who I now realized was just a teenager, was already fed up with our lack of knowledge/input on who he was trying to find. Master of all elements...he's looking for the Avatar! He pushed my grandmother back to me, I caught her in my arms and held her close, my gaze becoming noticeably cross at this no-good piece of Fire Nation soot.
Then he rounded on us and threw a wave of fire, just above our heads, causing us all to cry out in panic. What is wrong with this guy?!"I know you're hiding him!" He yelled at all of us. Suddenly I heard my brother shout as he picked up his weapon and came at the enemy from behind. If you want the element of surprise, don't shout Sokka.
The boy grabbed him and flipped him over his head, Sokka was seriously underestimating him. Sokka then preceded to land on his ass in the snow, and yelled again. What's with the yelling? It's not getting you anywhere!
The boy threw a fire blast at him which Sokka narrowly escaped by rolling away in the snow. He then threw his boomerang at him, which did surprise him, he barely had enough time to lean back out of the way before the boomerang whizzed past his head. He turned to watch is go, and a little boy from our village shouted the words Sokka had been preaching not even an hour ago. "Show no fear!" and then he proceeded to throw a spear to Sokka. A tiny bit of pride struck my heart, the child was truly brave.
My brother looked up at the boy, then ran full speed at him. The boy side-swiped his spear, knocking the dangerous tip off, then took the rest from Sokka, and proceeded to hit him repeatedly in the head with it. Sokka fell back and rubbed his head, an obvious look of embarrassment on his face. I heard a sound coming from behind the boy, and saw the glint of Sokka's boomerang, boomeranging it's way back to us. I smiled quietly to myself, this should be interesting.
It came around and hit the boy in the head, well the helmet on his head. He stumbled forward and made an uhghhsound. He straightened himself and his helmet, growling at Sokka. We all looked at him, in anticipation of his next fire blast. He balled his fists, and fire slowly came out the bottom. Does this happen when all firebenders get angry?
Suddenly Aang, riding a penguin, came rushing in from behind the boy, and flipped him over. The boy fell and slide towards his soldiers, his helmet having been thrown off of him. I noticed a huge scar over his left eye, and instantly wondered what caused that big of a burn.
Aang skated in, the children in the village cheering. He slid past us, spraying snow all over us, but the kids continued to cheer. He stopped near me, and the penguin abruptly stood up and walked away, leaving Aang sitting in the snow.
"Hey Katara, hey Sokka" he smiled at me genuinely, like it was a normal day and there were no Fire Nation soldiers just behind him.
Sokka half-heartedly waved, "Hey, Aang. Thanks for comin'."
We all turned to look as the boy with the scar stood up, an angry, determined look on his face. He held up his arms and his soldiers spread out around Aang, as the boy assumed a fighting stance. The soldiers closed in on Aang as he looked around him, worriedly. He held out his staff, then threw it down, blowing them all away from him and us with a big, airy-cloud of snow.
The boy was still standing, a little bit of snow on his shoulders, but he was not at all deterred. "Looking for me?" Aang called indignantly.
"You're the airbender? You're the Avatar?!" the boy with the scar exclaimed.
"Aang?" I quietly said, my eyes wide with shock. Sokka's face reflected mine, as we stared at him together. "No way," Sokka said quietly.
Aang and the boy started slowly circling each other, the boy with his hands out to protect himself or fight, and Aang holding onto his staff.
"I've spent years preparing for this encounter. Training, meditating, you're just a child!" he called at Aang, spite in his voice. Aang straightened up from his stance, "Well you're just a teenager." he said bluntly.
The boy with the scar threw a blast of fire at Aang, which he mediocrely deflected by spinning his staff around. This happened about three or four times before the fire blasts came near us and we all cried out. Aang turned to look at us, then quickly turned back around. "If I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?" he asked in all seriousness. The boy stood for a second, then silently nodded. The soldiers grabbed Aang, and pulled him towards the ship.
I walked after them, "No Aang, don't do this!"
He turned to me, a smile on his face, "Don't worry Katara, it'll be ok." As he was pulled closer to the ship, he called back, "Take care of Appa for me until I get back!"
The boy called to his crew, "Set a course to the Fire Nation! I'm going home."
Steam filled the air once again as the ramp slowly closed, the boy and Aang standing there, looking at us. Aang smiled wearily, then the ramp shut him and the boy out from my view.
That was the first time I met the boy with the scar.