Heart of Ice

She ran through the snow, not stopping until the village was a small dot on the horizon. Catching her breath, she looked back at the small, broken village. Sighing, she then looked the other way to see the sun setting, making the snow fiery oranges and gentle golds. Fisting her gloved hands, she scowled and plopped down on the cold hard ground.

Katara was tired. Tired of the stress. Her father had just left to go back to the hundred year war, only after a short visit. He had his arm in a sling, and his wolf tail held more grey hairs than the last time she saw him, two years ago. He was hurt, but he claimed he was fine.

She wanted to go. But war was no place for women, according to their traditions. Although, she had heard of great female warriors, even armies of women fighters, so why couldn't she fight? She was a water bender anyways, why just waste away her gift only to dry clothes and clean?

He just left. The boats pulled away. She had begged. But no, no girls could go to war. So he just boarded that ship, and sailed off again. It was only when the boat disappeared over the horizion when she realized…

She never got a hug goodbye.

Sure it was just a hug…why would she cry over that? He was going back to war though. That could've been the last time she saw him, and all they did was make eye contact. Sokka hugged him though, but Katara was to upset. She was stuck in the past, two years ago. Their mother had just passed away, and two months later he left for war, leaving Sokka and her all alone to grieve their loss. He left them when they needed him most, and Katara still remembered that.

Katara was never quick to forgive.

How could she be so foolish though! That was possibly the last time she would ever see her father!

Standing up, Katara let her emotions burst out, as she flicked her wrists and swayed her arms, sending ice walls and swirls of snow with each fluid movement. But instead of the ice being smooth and sleek, the edges were jagged and messy. They reflected her feelings well at the moment. Taking in another breath, she twirled and sent up a towering wall of glittering ice up, watching as the top became pointed like a spear. It glowed orange and red in the sunsets light.

Carrying on with her bending, Katara wandered farther off, creating more towers walls and strange structures. The air around her was snowy and colder, from the uplifted drifts of powder created by her bending. The snow whipped and flipped around her, but she ignored the cold as she channeled her stress, pain, loss, and regret through the tips of her fingers.

Finally she simply screamed, spikes of ice crashing up, creating walls of frost and snow around the troubled girl. She shrunk to her knees, eyebrows furrowed and lips set in a straight line. Tears came from her sapphire eyes, running along her soft brown cheeks and soaking into her parka. Frost crept up the ice walls like vines, leaving fern like patterns. The fading sunsets light leaked through the white ice, now dark red and hauntingly strung across Kataras slumped form.

She let the ice crack under her knees, watching through slitted eyes as it split, drifting gently apart inside her small fort. The thick ice had been disturbed by her constant, anger fueled bending, and was starting to fall apart. She let it. On a small raft of ice, she floated on it, in the middle of her fortess with its red light. Katara felt nothing anymore. She was empty now, all her emotions now on display as the ragged ice sculptures she had created, each one a thought. She was hollow.

The freezing water gently lapped at her raft, in a lulling motion. Katara closed her eyes again, hugging her knees. The red light was now fading as the orange and gold had, turning a coal black. The ice gave off a dull blue light.

Deep blue water splashed up the side of her raft, and specks of cold water dotted her already tear streaked cheeks. Snuffling, she raised her head and looked at the disaster she had created, the danger and maliciousness her fort gave off. The frost. The water. The ice.

Standing shakily, she blew out some air and sagged her shoulders. This wasn't her…she wasn't this…this storm of anger her structures represented. It was wrong to her. Wiping away her tears, she spread her arms in one swift motion, shattering the ice surrounding her to pieces. The crystals of frozen water plopped on the ground one at the time, almost musically. She hopped off the raft, and onto the solid ground. She wasn't ready to go back though.

In the soothing moons light, she wandered the frozen tundra, thinking and thinking. Soon she made it to the ice flows, where her and Sokka usually fished. Sokka…

He must be worried. She thought helplessly, turning around again. Maybe she should get back…it was late…but she still wasn't ready. No, not for a while. Taking a small step, she came to the edge of the ice flow. Water rushed past her boots, and chunks of ice flowed and flipped along with it. She inched closer to the edge, until her toes hung over the edge. She then jumped, landing on a flat of ice. Gripping the edges, she rode it down the ice cold river. It was thrilling and daring, and she enjoyed it thoroughly.

Her hollowness now filled with joy, she laughed aloud as it sped up, and she tried her best to use small waves of water to evade other chunks of passing ice. Her worries and regrets forgotten for the moment, she rode the ice under the moonlight, laughing and cheering to herself. Eventually, she saw a larger ice chunk coming up, and gasped as she slammed into it, sending her flying. She crashed onto the bank, rolling then coming to a painful stop. Rubbing her bruised arms, she stumbled to her feet, annoyed.

Her annoyed look shifted to concern.

Where am I?

(-)

First chapter up :3

I hope you enjoyed, reviews are greatly accepted. I like reading your opinions :) anyways, thanks for reading and I hope you'll be excited for the next chapter. :D