Chapter 1: Origin of Legends
Hey Guys! This is my first ever fanfic so please be patient with me! I decided to do a little OC story. I haven't found a fanfic like this without a romantic interest. I find that sometimes that draws away from the main story, plus I don't want this to be a 'Mary Sue gets the main character guy!' type of story.
I'll try to not make the character too perfect or anything, perfect is boring. Please tell me if I am and I'll try to fix it. Constructive criticism is appreciated and encouraged! –Cleo0421
Disclaimer: I own nothing, just Kai.
The Legend of Kai
Life never turns out the way you expect it to. Whether it be a happy surprise, a tragic loss, or even waking up to a lemur in your face. Life always finds some way to throw a curveball at you. In my case, that curveball started with a bald air bender frozen in ice. But, I'm getting a little ahead of myself.
Let's get to my introduction first.
"Kai!" shouted an elderly woman waving a bucket in the air." Get back here this instant and do your chores or so help me I'll-!"
"Not a chance Gran Gran!" I shouted back, laughing as I leaped over the wall of ice surrounding the village, the villagers just shaking their heads in amusement at the familiar scene. Like that woman could ever force me to wash a pair of Sokka's socks! I shuddered at the mere thought. Katara could handle that.
After I had cleared a reasonable amount of distance from the village, I allowed myself to slow into a walk. I patted down my dark blue parka trying to get all the snow off, and grabbed at my neck to make sure my necklace hadn't fallen off. I sighed in relief once I felt the familiar metal in my hand. The necklace was a small, gold medallion. It had an image of three swirls in, what appeared to be the outline of a flower, and a flame on the back. It was all I had left of my heritage.
I wasn't born in the South Pole. I was found by Chief Hakoda, in what looked like an abandoned merchant ship. They were looking for supplies; imagine their surprise when they find an adorable baby instead. Luckily they took me home instead of leaving me for dead. I was raised in Hakoda's house with his children, Sokka and Katara. My necklace being the only thing with me the day I was found.
Despite not actually being related to them by blood, Katara and Sokka treated me like a true sister. You'd never know I was adopted if you saw how we treated each other. And Kaya, our mom, had been the kindest woman ever who raised us all lovingly. I never questioned it, she was my mom. Until the day she was taken from us by the fire nation.
After that fateful day, everything had changed. Katara had taken up the mother role, her having 14 years to my 12. It was nice to feel cared for and all, but sometimes it's a bit overboard. One time I had fallen out of Sokka's watchtower and I broke my arm. It took a couple months for it to heal, but it didn't help that Katara was running around like a headless chicken.
You'd think that she was the one hurt not me. She basically put me on 24/7 watch, always trying to take care of me. I have limits to how long I can stand her constant worrying. She far exceeded them. Sokka thought it was hilarious of course.After Hakoda left to fight, though, Sokka had also started to be more protective. Even though I learned how to fight from Hakoda at my request, he treated me like I was a little kid. I'm 12, it's not like I was going to do anything horribly stupid. They wouldn't even let me come with them on their fishing trip in fear I'd 'fall into the icy waters and freeze to death'.
I blew my raven black hair out of my face, regretting not putting it in a braid, as I looked down at my reflection in the water. I pulled at my long black hair. It was probably going to need to be cut soon. My eyes were an amber shade. Something strange, but nobody really thought twice about it around here. Or, at least they didn't mention it around me. My skin was a bit paler than everyone else. Not paper white, but white enough that I had to worry about being out in the sun for too long. A loud ringing noise broke me out of my reverie. I quickly looked behind me in alarm as I saw a giant beam of light shoot up in the distance behind the village. Gasping, I quickly dashed back the way I came.
I climbed the ice wall and leaped off the top, running back to the house.
"Gran Gran!" I shouted, looking around frantically for the elderly woman.
"There you are! Wait til I get my hands on you! You-"She suddenly stopped her rant as she saw my panicked expression. "What is it Kai?"
"There was a giant beacon of light that shot into the sky a second ago!" I pointed outside. "It came from the direction Sokka and Katara went! Do you think they're okay?"
Gran Gran's face suddenly paled as she hurried outside. I quickly followed her. We both went the small river in which the siblings had used this morning. I looked around for any sign of their return.
I spotted something coming down the river. I looked at it curiously. Is that a fluffy chunk of ice? I inwardly questioned my sanity.
"Gran Gran, what's that?"
She also took a look at the fluffy iceberg, that was slowly coming closer and now looked like a fluffy giant animal. I let out a squeak as I realized how big it was!
"Gran Gran! Quick! Run before it sees you! It'll smell your slow, old age and target you first!" I pointed out helpfully.
She quickly smacked me upside the head.
"Be respectful." She glared at me as I cradled my injured head. "Besides, it looks like the monster brought your siblings home." She said as she pointed at the fluffy monster. Hmm..I think I'll call you..muffy.
"Wait, what?" I quickly looked at it again, and I did see 2 blue figures and 1 orange figure on the muffy. Sokka? Katara? Wait, who wears orange in the South Pole?
I started running down the riverside, hopping along chunks of floating ice as need be. I neared the muffy and I realized that was Katara and Sokka! Plus orange boy, who looked asleep.
"Katara! Sokka!" I shouted as I neared them. Katara's head popped out the side of the saddle.
"Kai, stop jumping on the ice before you fall in!" She all but screeched. See what did I tell you? What a drama queen.
"What?! Kai fell in the ice?!" I could tell Sokka had just woken from a nap by the sound of his groggy, panicked voice.
I rolled my eyes at them before deciding to step onto solid ice.
"Calm down." I mumbled under my breath.
Katara quickly jumped off the saddle and ran to me, pulling me into a tight hug.
"You scared the daylights out of me!" She shouted in my ear. I tolerated the hug knowing that if I resisted, it would only be worse. I secretly enjoyed the concern. I enjoyed it less as Sokka suddenly grabbed me too, all of a sudden I couldn't breathe.
"Sokka-! Air-need-Now!" He quickly dropped me onto the snow, and I gulped down fresh air.
"Geez, you two need to learn to calm down! I can handle myself!" I shouted.
They both looked at each other, before turning to me with disbelief on their faces.
"Oh really? Like when you fell out of the watchtower because you were leaning too far out?"
"Or when you got lost for a day after running after a penguin?"
"Or that time when you ate a poisonous fish?"
"Or when you-"I quickly cut off Sokka.
"Okay! Okay! Whatever, you make a few minor mistakes and it's held over you forever." I sighed. A low groan behind me reminded me that we had other company.
"Muffy!" I shouted running over to the giant fluff monster. I jumped onto his tail and climbed into the saddle. I giggled as I pet his side. He gave a grunt of appreciation.
"Who's a good fluff monster?" I cooed at him. Meanwhile Katara and Sokka stared at me as if I had grown a third head. I huffed at them. What? I can like a muffy if I feel like it!
"Who's muffy?" Sokka asked. I rolled my eyes at the stupid question.
"Obviously him." I pointed below me at the animal. "Flufffy+Monster=Muffy. Plus it's easier than referring to him as 'that giant piece of fur' in my head." I explained.
Katara rolled her eyes at my weirdness before saying, "His name is Appa. He's Aang's flying bison." I looked at her confused.
"Aang?" I questioned. Her eyes widened as she suddenly remembered.
"Oh yeah! He's the kid on the bison's head!" I quickly scrambled to Appa's head and glanced down. Ohh it's the orange kid! He has weird tattoos.
"He's sleeping." I sighed. I was hoping that he could entertain me. It was so boring around here. Sokka came up on Appa and put Aang on his back.
"We can't leave him out here. And we can't let Appa into the village, he's too big. C'mon, let's head back." Sokka took Aang and began to walk home.
"What happened to you guys out there?" I questioned Katara. She explained to me everything. From how she water bended the iceberg (I congratulated her for that), found Aang in the iceberg, and how they rode Appa back.
I whistled, "Wow, an air bender! Crazy fishing trip." Katara laughed and we hurried to catch up to Sokka and Gran Gran.
"Aang, meet the entire village. Entire village, Aang." Katara waved her hand at us as. Aang bowed to us, and I waved at him, but the village just stared at Aang looking scared, yet in awe. He stood back up and looked at us confusedly.
"What's wrong? Did Appa sneeze on me?" He quickly looked himself over as Gran Gran stepped up.
"It's just that no one has seen an air bender in a hundred years, we thought that they were all extinct." She said, rather bluntly in my opinion.
Aang looked at her in horror. "Extinct?" he asked. Katara just pointed at Gran Gran.
"Aang, this is my grandmother." She said.
"Call me Gran Gran."
Just then Sokka decided to be the 'warrior' he was and grabbed Aang's staff.
"What's this? You can't stab anyone with this!" He looked rather disgusted at the staff. I rolled my eyes again. Oh yeah, like he's gonna go around stabbing people anyways.
"It's not for stabbing, it's for gliding. I bend the air currents around my glider to fly," Aang explained as he popped open his glider and moved it around.
"Last time I checked, people can't fly!" The pessimist—uhm, Sokka, shouted.
"Check again!" Aang suddenly flew into the air in a burst of motion. I gaped in awe as he flew around effortlessly. He looked so...free. He suddenly glanced at Katara, and then started to show off. I hid a laugh behind my glove. How cute, Katara has a fan. Then Aang suddenly crashed into Sokka's watchtower.
"My watchtower…" Sokka whispered brokenly as he stared at the crumbling structure with an orange figure sticking out of it. I snorted. Good riddance, that thing's a hazard to people's health.
I ran over to the pile of snow and spotted Aang struggling to free himself. I walked over to him, grabbed his shirt, and pulled him out.
"Thanks!" He shot me a big smile. "What's your name? I'm Aang!"
"I'm Kai, nice to meet you Aang." I replied, happy to meet someone who's the same age as me. It's annoying always being treated like a baby.
"Will you go penguin sledding with me?" He asked with a gleam in his eye. What's the worst that could happen?
"Sure! I've never gone before because Sokka and Katara never let me." I rolled my eyes, again. Wow, I'm doing that a lot nowadays.
"Where are you going?" I flinch, and turn to the source of the voice. Katara.
"Uh…me and Aang were just gonna…maybe…go penguin sledding?" I asked her with hopeful, pleading, puppy eyes. Katara's eyes widen as she forces herself to look away. She could never resist this look. I thought smugly. Katara stood like that for 2 minutes before sighing and saying. "Okay, fine you can go. On one condition." She said as soon as I was about to celebrate. "I have to come along to make sure you don't maul yourself." I frowned at the accusation, and just nodded my head. Did she really think I'd get mauled by a penguin?
"Awesome!" Aang shouted happily next to us. He pumped his fist into the air. I looked At Sokka as he walked over to us.
"Great, you're and air bender, Katara's a water bender. Together you can waste time all day." He grumbled as he walked off to fix his tower.
"You're a water bender!" Aang said in awe. Katara looked down modestly.
"Well sort of, not yet." She explained.
Then suddenly I remembered something as I glanced back at the village.
"Uh, Katara. What about your chores?" I questioned. While I was a rebel and liked to run away from chores, Katara was the opposite. She gasped as she realized the same thing as me.
"That's right! I have to finish them first!" She then began to jog back to the house. I then had an idea.
"Hey Aang, let's go before she gets back! I'd rather not have someone looking over my shoulder the whole time we're sledding." I explained to him. He looked at me with wide eyes.
"Won't Katara get mad? She told us that she had to go with us." He looked nervous.
"Don't worry! I'll take the blame. You were just coming along to make sure I don't get hurt." I said, winking slyly. "Life is nothing without a little bit of rebellion!" He looked at me unsurely, but then a huge smile spread across his face.
"Okay then, let's go get a penguin!"
"Oomph!" Aang grunted as he failed to tackle a penguin. "C'mon little guy! I just want to ride you!" He complained. I laughed as he ran around trying to get a penguin. I suddenly had a thought.
"Hey Aang! I'll teach you how to catch a penguin, if you help Katara learn water bending." He looked back at me from the floor.
"Deal! Only one problem, I'm an air bender, not a water bender. Isn't there someone who can teach Katara water bending in your tribe?" He questioned.
I sighed before saying, "No, the water benders of our tribe were wiped out years ago. Katara's the last one in the whole South Pole." I explained sadly.
Aang looked down as he said. "That's not right. A water bender needs to master water bending." He thought for a second before asking, "What about the Northern Tribe? There must be water benders who can teach her there."
"Probably, but we haven't had contact with them in years! They're on the other side of the world for Pete's sake." I explained. In truth I was a little annoyed at our sister tribe. If they had sent some water benders when the fire nation attacked us then Katara wouldn't be the last water bender, she would have a master, and most of all Kaya would still be alive. I shook my head trying to rid it of the negative thoughts. What's done is done.
"You forget! I have a flying bison, Appa and I could fly Katara there!" Aang said excitedly. I gasped.
"Really?! That would be amazing! We'll ask Katara when we get back!...And after she's done yelling at me." I remembered with a grimace.
"You've got a deal!" Aang said happily. I then remembered my side of the deal.
"Okay! Time to catch a penguin! Catching penguins is simple. Observe." And I tossed him a fish from my pocket. We both laughed as Aang was mobbed by penguins. Then I went off to get my own penguin.
"Wooooohooo!" I shouted as I shot off a ramp and over Aang's head. We raced around each other on penguins and shot off ramps getting high into the air. We zoomed into a tunnel and did all sorts of loop-d-loops. Aang suddenly shot ahead of me using air bending. I glared at his back.
"Cheater!" I yelled at him. He only laughed in response. Soon we shot out the exit and our rides slowed to a stop. We got off and thanked the penguins before looking in front of us.
"What's that?" Aang asked gaping and the ship sitting on top of large pillars of ice.
"That's a fire navy ship, and a very bad memory for my people." I explained darkly. He started to walk towards it, but I grabbed the back of his shirt.
"What are you doing? It could be booby trapped!" I exclaimed.
He looked at me oddly before saying, "Weren't you the one who told me to be a rebel?" He had a good point. "Besides, I doubt the fire nation would booby trap their own ship." He continued walking towards it, and I followed him. *Sigh* Katara's gonna kill me now.
Once inside the ship, me and Aang looked in the rooms, and down the halls.
"Fancy ship." I whistled. We walked into a room full of weapons. Aang looked shocked as he walked to a spear and grabbed it. He held it gingerly with a confused look on his face.
"This ship was for war. It came here years ago when the fire nation began taking our water benders." I explained quietly.
"This doesn't make sense! What war? I have friends all over, even in the fire nation. There was no war! Why would the fire nation do this?" He sounded so lost and confused. But, I just stared back at him just as confused.
"What war? How could you not know! It's been this way for a hundred years!" Something was off. "How long were you in that iceberg?"
"I dunno, a few days?" He replied, still looking at the spear. There was only one solution.
"Aang, I think it was more like years! A hundred to be exact."
He looked at me in disbelief. "No way! Do I look like 112 years old to you?" He barely looked 12 to me, but that's not the point.
"Think about it! It's the only explanation to why you have no idea about a 100 year war! Somehow you were in that iceberg the whole time." I explained. He looked at me in realization.
"100 years, I can't believe it." He said breathlessly. This was all way too weird for my little brain to handle. I just hugged him with a sympathetic look on my face, trying to comfort him. He didn't respond at first, but he soon hugged me back. Hiding a few tears in my parka.
After a few minutes we pulled away. Aang wiped his face some more.
"I'm sorry Aang. Maybe there's a bright side to all this." I said trying to be positive.
"Well I did get to meet you, Katara, and Sokka." He said happily. He then smiled gratefully at me. I returned the smile as I said, "C'mon old man, we have to get back before Katara blows a fuse." He laughed at me before nodding.
"Wait!" He yelled. "I haven't seen the control room yet! I want to see how it works!"
I sighed, "Okay, but we need to hurry back! The longer we're gone, the more painful my death." I shivered. We got to the front of the ship and looked around. We examined the controls and equipment while telling each other guesses about what they do.
As we were walking out Aang suddenly stepped on a wire. I gasped as I heard a loud canon shot from outside. We glanced at each other in horror.
"What was that you said about booby traps?" He looked at me with wide eyes. I was also inwardly freaking out, but first I just had to say, "The fire nation's freakin paranoid."
Me and Aang had gotten out of the ship as fast as we could. We ran back to the village. As we were nearing the entrance we saw that the whole village was waiting for us at the entrance.
"Uh-oh." I said to Aang. All the little kids of the tribe ran up to us happily.
"Yay! Aang and Kai are back!" They all exclaimed happily. I was secretly preparing to use the wall of toddlers as cover for my escape. Just as I was about to book it, Katara suddenly appeared and wrapped me in a hug.
"I told you to wait for me! What if you'd gotten hurt?!" She exclaimed as I pried her off of me.
"I'm fine Katara! I had Aang looking out for me." Oops, wrong thing to say. I realized as Katara turned her glare to Aang.
"You shouldn't have let her go without me!"
Aang flinched back, and looked down in guilt.
"Don't blame Aang! I made him go with me! I was gonna go with or without him, so I told him that he should come with me if he wanted to look after me." I explained to her. Katara's glare softened as she let out a sigh, and then quickly hugged me again before stepping away.
Sokka suddenly stepped out of the crowd of villagers.
"I knew it! You signaled the fire nation with that flare! You're leading them right to us aren't you?" Sokka accused Aang.
"Aang didn't do anything! It was an accident!" I shouted.
"Yeah, we were on this ship and there was a booby trap. We…well we boobied right into it." Aang said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.
Gran Gran glared at me. "Kai you should know better! You know you're not allowed on that ship, now we could all be in danger." I looked away, pretty mad at myself. But, I would never let her know that.
Aang tried to bail me out. "Don't blame Kai! I convinced her to go with me. It was my fault." Sokka jumped at this.
"Aha! The traitor confesses! Warriors, away from the enemy! The foreigner is banned from our tribe." He said.
Who died and made you king of the ice cap? I thought angrily. He had no right to banish Aang from anything. Luckily Katara thought so too.
"Sokka you're making a mistake!" She insisted. Glad she's on our side now.
Sadly Sokka was stubborn and pig-headed. "No, I'm keeping my promise to dad. I'm protecting you and Kai from threats like him!" He pointed an accusing finger at Aang.
"Aang is not a threat!" Katara yelled. Sokka just stared disbelievingly at her.
"He already put Kai in danger by taking her on that ship, he signaled the fire nation, and you want to defend him?" I rolled my eyes at his accusation of putting me in danger. Katara shot me a glare as she said,
"Oh, I'm plenty mad at both of them," Cue the flinch, "but Kai is her own person Sokka. It's not like Aang tied her hands behind her back and forced her to get on the ship. And they already said the flare was an accident, I doubt either of them meant to set it off."
"Thank you!" I shouted, happy that someone finally admitted that I could make my own choices. She and Sokka just glared at me.
"Sokka, please don't banish Aang. He's the first friend I've had in a long time. You and Katara don't count, you guys are my siblings. I haven't had fun like this since we were little." I told him honestly, hoping that he'd be sympathetic.
Sokka's glare softened for a second, before hardening again and he said, "Sorry Kai, but you can't fight the fire nation with fun."
"You should try it sometimes." Aang replied. I grimaced. Bad timing. Sokka just glared harder.
"Fine then! If he's banished so am I! C'mon Aang!" I shouted walking away. I grabbed Aang and Katara's hands as I walked by them. "You too Katara! Aang's taking you to get a water bending master!" This is my version of 'asking'.
"He is-?"
"I am-?"
"Great!" They both shouted simultaneously. Oh good, Katara's coming. I can't cook to save my life.
"Katara! Kai! Would you really choose him over your own family? Katara, would you willingly take Kai knowing the risks?" Sokka questioned.
I paused guiltily. This was the place that took me in when I had no where else. This was the home I grew up in. Me and Katara both stopped walking and glanced at each other. Aang decided for us.
"I don't want to get in between you and your family. I'll just go." Aang said sadly. He walked up to Appa and hopped on. I watched him sadly, knowing I had to stay here.
"Where will you go?" Katara asked. He looked at her thoughtfully before saying,
"I guess I'll go back to the Southern air temple. Wow, I haven't cleaned my room in 100 years. Not looking forward to that." I smiled at his attempt to lighten the mood. Aang looked at me with a sad smile.
"Thanks for hanging out with me Kai. I haven't had a friend in a long time either." We smiled at each other before Sokka decided to butt in.
"Let's see your bison fly now." He said sarcastically. I glared at him.
"C'mon Appa, you can do it! Yip yip!" Appa groaned and only stood up.
"I thought so." I decided to start ignoring Sokka now. A small girl ran up by my side.
"Aang, don't go! I'll miss you." She said, close to tears. Aang just looked at her sadly.
"I'll miss you too." He replied, but he looked at me and Katara as he said it. Then he and Appa walked away. I just watched as they slowly disappeared behind a snow mound. Gran Gran came up to me and Katara.
"I know you girls are upset, but this is for the best-." I cut off Gran Gran.
"Are you happy now? There goes my first friend! And Katara's only hope of getting a master!" I angrily stomped off, not wanting to hear excuses. I vaguely heard Katara also shouting angrily. I stared out into the distance.
Goodbye Aang…
Everyone in the village began to prepare for the fire nation to arrive. Sokka, being the only man, was putting on his war paint. I don't see why he wastes time doing that. What? Does he want to go into battle looking good or something? I rolled my eyes. Sokka grabbed a spear and was now standing watch on the wall. I can't stand here doing nothing! I had to help in some way. I looked around our house, hoping that I could use something to my advantage.
I walked into Hakoda's old room. I knew he should've left some weapons lying around. I noticed a small box near his bedside. Walking over to it, I grabbed it and inspected the small container. I unlocked the hatch and opened it. Lying inside was a beautiful dagger. Unlike most of the weapons in the South Pole, it was made of actual metal instead of bone. It had a curved blade that had a glow to it under the firelight. It had a finely crafted handle with some inscriptions on it. We Choose Our Own Destinies. Huh, go figure. I carefully hid the dagger in my parka and put the box back. Now I had a way to help defend my home. I walked out confidently.
I walked to the edge of the village near the wall. Sokka was watching the waters intensely. The villagers were all looking around fearfully.
All of a sudden a loud *CRACK* was heard. Everyone immediately stilled as they waited with bated breaths. Then the ground started quacking, with the cracking noises getting closer. Sokka's newly rebuilt watchtower decided to fall over again. Hah! Deserved! I gleefully looked at the now ruined watchtower. Sokka however was less than pleased.
"Oh man!" He complained.
Then suddenly a giant, looming figure appeared through the fog, covering the village in its shade. It easily was 3 times higher than the measly wall. I watched in horror as a large crack ran through the middle of the village. Me and Katara hurriedly pushed people into their tents and igloos. I breathed out a sigh of relief as Katara saved the last child and put him into the tent. But, my horror returned as I realized that Sokka still hadn't moved. That idiot! He's going to be crushed!Katara apparently had the same thought.
"Sokka! Get out of the way!"
Sokka just glared at the ship and stood his ground. Just as he was about to get run over, the ice wall beneath him crumbled, and the snow carried him further away. Then, the ship stopped. The villagers slowly came out of hiding as we all watched the ship. Suddenly the front part of the ship lowered, nearly squishing Sokka. 5 figures appeared from the ship. All wearing armor. As they began to walk down the plank, Sokka decided to stupidly attack.
"AHHHH!" He ran at the men…and was promptly kicked in the head, and into the snow. I smacked my head at the ridiculous display. The men just continued forward. They stopped in front of the gathered village.
The one in the front looks like the youngest. I'm pretty sure he's a teenager. He glared at all of us, but he looked like he was looking for something. As his eyes reached mine, I glared my hardest at him hoping he would spontaneously combust. His glare just intensified in turn. Katara realized the glaring contest going on and pulled me to stand slightly behind her. The teenager just turned his glare at her before asking,
"Where is he?" He looked between all of us again as if this He would suddenly appear. I was confused. He? The only 'he' here was my brother, and the little ones. But, he obviously was looking for something different.
"I know you're hiding him." Like saying that was making it any better, I rolled my eyes.
He just glared at me once again, but his eyes shifter to Gran Gran. Then, faster than I could react, he reached forward and grabbed her by the hood of her parka, pulling her to him. My glare intensified. Oh heck naw, you don't treat someone's Gran Gran like that!
"He's about this age! Master of all 4 elements?" He shook her a little. I thought the guy must be very misled. He's describing the Avatar. The Avatar's been gone for 100 years…wait. Something sounds familiar. But, before I could think more on it, the guy yelled in anger and gave Gran Gran a shove into Katara's arms. Too far. I glared at him. I wasn't going to sit there and watch as he literally pushed my family around!
"Hey angry guy! Cool it! How would you like it if I came up to you and grabbed you by your ponytail and-!" Katara quickly put her hand over my mouth as I continued to yell angrily at the stranger. He glared at me and began to stalk forward. As if you scare me! I thought. Sokka stopped his approach though as he ran at him again. This time Sokka actually flew through the air and landed on his butt. I would've laughed under different circumstances. He gave an angry grunt as he rolled away from a blast of fire. He quickly threw his boomerang at the stranger but it missed. One of the toddlers shouted at Sokka,
"Show no fear!" and promptly tossed him a spear. Do we just leave weapons lying out or something? If a small child could easily access a weapon, we really need to reevaluate our choices.
Sokka rushed at the stranger, who just broke the spear twice with his wrists, grabbed the spear, poked Sokka in the head, then threw the remains of the spear into the ground. Sokka just glared at him from the ground, rubbing his injured head. I saw a gleam in the distance before suddenly, it was the fire bender that was holding his head.
"Yeah! Take that you-!" Katara promptly replaced her hand on my mouth.
I guess he got mad. Fire daggers appeared in his hands as he glowered at us. All of a sudden, something flew beneath his legs, causing him to fly backwards and fall on his face. I laughed when I saw his helmet fall on top of his bum.
I looked at what had caused this and quickly tackled said object.
"Aang! You're back!" I yelled happily. He just hugged me back before releasing me and waving at us.
"Hey Kai, hey Katara, Hey Sokka."
"Hi Aang, thanks for coming." Sokka replied glumly. Katara also ran up and hugged Aang before backing up.
The fire benders surrounded Aang preparing to fight. Aang air bended giant waves of snow at them before asking,
"Looking for me?" The teenager just stared back at Aang, disbelief on his face.
"You're the air bender? You're the Avatar?!" Everyone stared at him in awe.
"Aang?" Katara whispered.
"No way…" Sokka stared gaping.
I just snapped my fingers in realization. That's why it sounded familiar! It made so much sense. The hot headed teen started circling Aang.
"I spent years training for this. Meditating. You're just a child!" He sounded gipped. Aang just looked back confused.
"Well you're just a teenager." I smacked my head. Again with the badly timed comments. The fire bender apparently thought so too, as he began attacking Aang with blasts. Aang yelped in surprise before swirling his staff and deflecting the flames. On the third shot the fire rebounded and almost burned some of the villagers. Aang looked on in horror. He stopped swirling his staff and asked the teenager.
"If I go with you, do you promise to leave the village alone?" He questioned. I gasped in horror. No.
The stranger just lowered his hands and nodded. Two fire nation soldiers grabbed Aang and his staff. They began walking him away. Katara yelled out.
"No Aang! Don't do this!"
He sadly looked back and said, "Don't worry Katara, it'll be okay." But, I wasn't going to sit by and watch my friend get taken away. Before anyone could stop me, I ran out to the men holding Aang. I kicked one guy in the back of his knees, making him fall before I twirled around his helmet so he couldn't see, and kicked his face into the snow. I then decided to take the other guy out quicker and promptly kicked him in his no-no zone. Gotta get 'em where it hurts! Before I could do anymore damage, I was suddenly picked up by my parka and thrown into the snow, I looked back at my attacker and saw a very angry teen.
"You are getting on my last nerve!" He shouted in my face. Katara gasped in horror as she finally processed what had happened.
"No! Don't you dare hurt her!" She yelled at him. Her and Sokka were trying to wrestle out of the villager's hands which were holding them back. "Kai!" Sokka was yelling.
The teen glanced at my siblings before turning a thoughtful look at me. He came to a decision.
"You're coming with me." He said.
"No! You promised that you would leave everyone alone!" Aang yelled at the teenager. He just looked back at Aang before explaining.
"No, I said that I'd leave the village alone. This girl is obviously fire nation." Everyone gaped at him, including me. Fire nation? He looked at everyone confused.
"The black hair? The amber eyes? Key traits in the fire nation? None of you ever figured that out?" He questioned. I looked at him in horror. What? I'm from...the fire nation? He apparently didn't care either way.
"No matter, I'll put it in easier terms for you. This girl is now my insurance. She'll make sure you don't try anything on my ship. Unless, you don't care what happens to her?" Suddenly, fire was alarmingly close to my face. I flinched and tried to get away, but he had grabbed my arm and was holding me down.
"No no, I'll go with you!" Aang said as he realized the situation I was in. The teen merely nodded again before personally leading me to the ship. He stuck two more soldiers on Aang, and got some others to carry his wounded men on board.
Meanwhile, Katara and Sokka were nearing hysterics.
"No! You can't take her! Kai!" They were yelling behind me. I wanted to look back, to assure them I'd be okay, but the fire bender had a steady grip on me and wouldn't let me turn. A few tears fell down my face once the boat was closed up, and reality crashed down on me.
The room I was in was surprisingly nice. It had a bed and everything. The only thing that let me know I was a prisoner was the locked door. I huffed as I sat on the bed. I rolled over, but I felt something odd in my parka. Reaching in I grabbed the offending object and pulled it out. My eyes widened as I pulled out the dagger. I completely forgot about this! Stupid! I smacked my face. This could've helped! I could've…could've what? Stabbed him? I shook my head, I could never stab someone. I sighed as I put the weapon back into my parka. It probably wouldn't have helped much in hindsight.
I jumped in surprise as my door suddenly opened. In walked the angry guy, who had Aang's staff, followed by an elderly man. They both walked in and looked over me carefully. I shifted uncomfortably under their gazes. They continued to stare until I snapped.
"What do you want flame brain?" I glared at him. He looked startled for a second before looking at me, not amused.
"..." I rolled my eyes at his silence.
"Dude, you've got serious anger issues. Would you rather be hot head?" I questioned with a raised brow. He glared at me. He looked like he was going to say something, but then a laugh stopped him.
"She's got you there nephew!" The man laughed jovially. For the fire nation, this guy didn't seem too bad. He looked at me with a kind smile on his face.
"Forgive my nephew's rudeness. He must not have introduced himself. This is Prince Zuko. My name is Iroh, but for a funny young lady like you, you can call me Uncle!" Scratch that, Iroh was a very nice person. Zuko apparently disagreed.
"Uncle! Stop treating her as a guest! And she can't call you that! She's just a peasant!" I glared at the peasant comment. This is why I hate royalty.
"Hush Prince Zuko. I like her. Anyways, I can see that she is clearly fire nation. Who knows? She could come from nobility." Iroh mused. There was that fire nation thing again.
"What're you talking about? I can't be fire nation!" I exclaimed. They both just stared at me.
"My dear, you have the fire nation's signature black hair and amber eyes. Those traits can't come from anywhere but the fire nation." Iroh explained gently. I looked down and grabbed my head. I'm so confused. Iroh noticed my discomfort and gingerly placed his hand on my shoulder before beginning to ask me questions.
"Where were you born?"
"I…don't really know. I was…um, found on an abandoned merchant ship when I was a baby." I responded. Iroh merely nodded.
"Do you have anything that was with you when you were found?"
I thought about it before remembering my necklace. I reached into my parka and pulled it out.
"This was on my neck when I was found. I've worn it ever since." I explained. Iroh grabbed the medallion before carefully examining the symbols. He just glanced at the fire symbol before nodding and saying,
"This shows your fire nation heritage. Things like this are commonly worn by merchants and travelers to display their nationality." He said. I looked down. So it's true. Zuko was merely observing this whole exchange. I had a thought.
"Wait, what about the other side?" I asked. I wanted to know what that meant as well. Iroh looked at me confused.
"There's more on the other side?" He flipped the necklace over. His eyes widened at the image on the back.
"The White Lotus." He whispered. This time I looked at him confused. White Lotus? Zuko merely rolled his eyes.
"Uncle, now is not the time to be interested in your favorite game piece."
Iroh was broken out of his reverie by his nephew's comment.
"Oh yes! My apologies nephew! This mark just made me think about it. It's nothing; this is probably just the signature of the creator." He laughed nervously. But, he looked back at me with a curious look on his face.
"Apologies nephew, but I'm tired. I shall head to bed now." Zuko looked at him confused, but nodded anyways. Iroh walked away, glancing back at me at the doorway before leaving completely. Weird. Zuko looked like he was about to say something, but suddenly we heard a loud slam. He headed to the door, about to check the hallways, when suddenly the door flew open hitting Zuko and slamming him into the ground. I looked up to the doorway with wide eyes, then I sighed in relief.
"Aang!" I shouted. He looked at me with a huge smile on his face.
"Kai! I found you!" He quickly ran to me and pulled me into a hug. We released each other before running to leave the room. On the way out Aang grabbed his staff, and hit Zuko with an air blast one more time, just for good measure. We ran out onto the deck, and I frantically looked around. How are we gonna get out of here? Thank goodness for Appa.
I looked into the sky and let out a yell of excitement as I saw my siblings flying towards Aang and I on Appa. Suddenly Zuko ran out onto the deck and started shooting fire at us. I quickly ducked down, but he was focusing on Aang. He kept shooting fire at Aang until they were on the edge of the boat. I yelled as he managed to hit Aang, sending the air bender over the edge.
"Aang!" Katara and I both shouted out. I looked down at the water and desperately searched for any sign of him. I gasped as I saw something glow beneath the surface. I leaned back, falling onto my butt as Aang shot back out of the water on a giant geyser of water. His tattoos glowed as he swiped his arms around, picking up and knocking the soldiers out easily. Though, none of the water ever hit me. Once the deck was safe Aang slowly lowered himself down. He stopped glowing and fell forward with a groan. I ran over to him and made sure he was okay.
Katara and Sokka landed and jumped off Appa. They ran towards us and pulled me into a tight hug before checking on Aang as well.
"Hey Katara, hey Sokka. Thanks for coming." Aang said groggily.
Sokka smirked, "Well I couldn't let you have all the glory. Besides, you really think I'd let my sister be taken by Prince creepy? Yeah right." I smiled at that as Aang spoke up again.
"I dropped my staff."
"I got it!" Sokka ran over to the fallen staff by the side of the boat. As he was bringing it back to us, a hand shot out from the side of the boat, and Sokka looked freaked out. Zuko was trying to pull himself up using the staff. Sokka hit him on the head, taking revenge from earlier, and Zuko fell back down.
"Hah! That's from the Water tribe!" He shouted smugly.
Meanwhile, Katara and I pulled Aang onto Appa's head. I climbed on, but just as Katara was going to the soldiers regained consciousness and started walking to her. She took a deep breath and water bended a small stream out of the water left by Aang. Just as she was preparing her attack she threw her arms back then forwards, only to freeze Sokka's feet to the boat behind her.
"Katara!" Sokka began using his boomerang as an ice pick to free himself. Katara turned around and did the same thing, this time actually freezing her targets behind her. She quickly jumped on Appa before shouting back at Sokka.
"Sokka, hurry up!"
"I'm just a guy with a boomerang. I didn't ask for all this flying, and magic!" He grumbled as he finally freed himself. He joined us on Appa before shouting, "Yip yip! Yip yip!" We flew into the air just as Iroh stepped onto the deck yawning and looking at us in curiosity. I just waved at him. He laughed and waved back before helping Zuko back onto the ship.
"Shoot them down!" I heard Zuko yell. A large ball of fire was now flying at us. Aang jumped onto Appa's back and, with a loud grunt, set an air blast at the fireball redirecting it to the ice walls surrounding us. It hit the wall, and we all laughed as the fire nation ship was buried in snow as we flew away, free.
"How did you do that! With the water, that was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!" Katara yelled as we flew through the evening sky. Sokka just watched from the back, and I leaned against the side of the saddle.
"I don't know, I just sort of did it." Aang replied. He himself looked pretty confused. Katara decided to ask a different question.
"Aang, why didn't you tell us that you were the Avatar?" She asked gently. He looked down.
"Because, I never wanted to be." He kept his head down as he said this. I sighed loudly.
"I mean it was pretty obvious when thinking about it. Only air bender seen in a hundred years? I feel pretty stupid now. Sokka, I understand your pain." I nodded sagely at him. They laughed at me as Sokka cried out indignantly. Katara looked at me with an affectionate expression. She pulled me into another hug and sighed.
"I'm so glad you're okay, I would've missed you and your sarcasm."
"Oh so I'm only here for your entertainment?" I pouted. Sokka decided to join the hug.
"Of course. Why else would we keep a brat like you around?" He smirked as I lightly punched him. We all laughed. I looked back at Aang and gave him a hug too.
"Don't worry Aang, we'll always be here to support you."
He gave me a grateful smile before grimacing. "But the world's been waiting for me to end this war, how am I supposed to do that?" He questioned. Katara thought for a second before asking.
"Well according to legend; you first have to master water, then earth, then fire right?"
"That's what the monks told me."
Katara smiled. "Then if we go to the Northern Water tribe, you could master water!"
"We could learn it together!" He said excitedly. She turned to Sokka.
"And I'm sure you'll be able to knock a couple fire nation heads on the way."
"I'd like that, I'd really like that." He said happily. Katara then turned to me.
"I'm still against you going, but I can't stop you now." I gave her a thumbs up for knowing me so well.
She sighed, "Well, you get to have lots of fun on the way. Then we're in this together." Aang suddenly pulled out a map.
"Okay, but before I master water bending we have to attend some serious business. Here, here, and here." He said pointing at spots on the map.
"What's here?" Katara asked pointing to a small island.
"Here's where we ride the hopping llamas. Then way over here is where we surf on the backs of giant koi fish! Then back over here we'll ride the hog-monkeys. They don't like people riding on them, but that's what makes it fun!" Aang explained with a giant grin on his face. Katara and Sokka exchanged looks, but I just nodded along seriously to what he was saying.
This is gonna be awesome!
That's a wrap! Hope you enjoyed my first ever fanfiction chapter! I'm going to do a chapter per episode. This was technically 2 episodes in one, so it'll be the longest one for a while. Again sorry about the quality. I hope I'll get better as time goes on. See you guys next time!
