Title: A woman of true fire
Character(s): Hakoda, Ursa
Pairing(s): Hakoda/Ursa (?)
Rating: K+
Word Count:
Warnings: /
A/N: Firebenders have killed his wife and threatened his tribe for sixty years, so Hakoda hates everyone of their blood. But then he meets a woman who is very different from her kind – or maybe not?
The scence has spooked around in my head some days now after wathching the episodes mentioned above in TV once more.
Please comment, I would be happy about it. And be nice, because I am no native speaker of the English language
Crossposted from arielen to avatar_fans and avatarfic.
Acknowledgments: Avatar:The Last Airbender was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko; copyright for this property is held by Viacom International, Inc.. I own nothing.
Dedication: To acocado love, who gave me the inspiration to write more stories in a foreign language.
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Hakoda, Chief of of the Southern Water Tribe was on the run.
The raid on the camp of a firenation coast patrol nearly turned into a trap for his people. They had been to confident in their abilities after the first victories over Firenation ships and now they paid the price. Everything went desastrously wrong. The soldiers and firebenders were more cautious than the others before, and not overwhelmed by the sudden attack of the warriors. The men hold their stand and fought furiously back.
And worst of all - some of their archers seemed even more skilled than all others. They knew the weaknesses of any armour, Hakoda and his men wore. The Chief experienced that painfully on his own.
At last nothing was left but to retreat or better - to flee. In this process, Hakoda was separated from his men. The last sound he had heard from the tribeswarriors, was an angry cry from Bato, who tried to reach him.
But there was no time for thinking about the last failures and his greatest fears.
The only thing that matters now, is to stay alive and better not be caught, Hakoda thought and stopped. With pounding heart and short breath he listened to the wind, while his left hand wandered to the shaft of an arrow in his side, who went through the straps of his leather armour.
He groaned, while he broke the wood in two. That had to be enough for now. He didn't dare to pull out the arrowhead, because the wound was still bleeding. With his fingertips he could feel the sticky wetness of the red liquid. It stained his unterclothes and the leather. And he could sense the weakening effects of the constant loss of blood.
He took a deep breath. There is no time for rest. I have to go on.
In some distance he heard the harsh voices of firenation soldiers. There must be three, maybe four men, maybe more, because not all could light their way with flames dancing on their hands. His sighed. So, they were still chasing him like bloodhounds on a trail. Maybe he had left to many visible signs, so that they cpuld follow him without any difficulty. That was bad – very bad.
I can not outrun them for long anymore, but I will rather die, then fall in the hand of the firenation scum! Maybe I should stand and die with…
Hakoda felt the first signs of weakness in his body and stumbled at his next step. But then he gathered all the strengh and drove away the desperation in his mind. For a moment he thought, to stay, stand and fight. But then the images of his two children appeared in his mind and reminded him of his responsibilities.
No, it is not the time to throw away my life in a such a stupid way. I must carry on for Sokka and Katara. I have to, because I will see them again, before I die. And I should never forget, who I am. My first aim is to stay alive to find a way back to my tribesmen.
Although dawn was approaching and the sun would rise in less than an hour, he had the hope to escape the men, who were hunting him. It was still dark enough, that they could not see every trail. And maybe he could find a hide – a hole - he might be save for a while.
Hakoda looked around, while he was walking faster and faster.
The beach was a hilly mix of sand, gras and rocks. Maybe he could find something, a hole, big enough to disappear in. And he had to find it fast – very fast.
The Watertribe warrior gasped, while he walked on. Every step took him more towards exhaustion.
Damned! No, that hasn't to happen not yet, not now.
At last dizziness caught him in a sudden attack. While he struggled to clear his mind and senses again, he lost ground under his feed and fell into a deep void full of darkness…
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The bitter and aromatic scent of fresh herbs was the first perception, while Hakoda regained consciousness. He was irritated, because that was very uncommon for a prison, especially in a Firenation ship. It had to be the foul stench of metal, of rust - and not fresh scent of plants, herbs and more he could not identify yet…
Then he discovered, that he was not resting on dirty straw or rags, but the matress of a bed. He opened his eyes, but closed them fastly again, when dizziness caught him once more.
I am hallucinating in the middle of a fever dream. Nothing is real. Am I near death now?
He groaned desperatly.
"Don't panic, Water Tribe warrior. You will be safe here. I do you no harm." A Woman spoke to him. Her voice was soft and warm, but also strong and fearless.
Hakoda decided to stay cautious.
Everything could have happened, when he had passed out at the beach. The soldiers could have taken him to the camp of the firenation. Because they considered him as no thread in his weakened state, they didn'd put restraints on him.
There was only one way to find out, where he had been taken. Hakoda gathered all his strengh, before he could drift in sleep again. "Where I am?" He asked with a hoarse voice, trying to open his eyes once more.
"You are in my hut, near the village of Han-shu in the Earth kingdom. Quian and Li, two teenagers from the village, seeking for eggs, found you crumbled in the sand at the bottom of a cliff. You were lucky enough not to fall on the harder ground or the Stones, so that there were no broken legs, arms or worse," The woman informed him with a low voice.
"They also mentioned the trails of Firenation Warriors nearby, but I think they retreated, wenn they saw them. This part of the coast is well watched by now, and the Earth Kingdom soldiers have had taught them to respect the borders before."
"Well, I hope that will not change," Hakoda answered. His dizziness was fading, so that he could open his eyes and look around.
"Only future will tell. And we are not the ones, who are allowed to look into it. For now it is safe, and you can recover in peace."
When he turned his head to the hearth's fire, he could see her figure, illuminated by the soft colours of the flames. She bowed over a kettle, her face turned away from him. She wore her hair plaited but with a topknot. He raised a brow. In the first moment it looked as if in were Firenation, but then he recognized, that it was more the Earth-Kingdom style.
"They told me, that they only discovered you between the rocks, because they directly went between them to find hidden bird's nests. So it seems, that your were really born unter a lucky star or that fate decided to give you one more chance", she chuckled. "And you did not die, although you have lost a good amount of blood. You're remarkably strong."
"But without your help, I would be dead by now." Hakoda felt tight bandages around his waist, when he slowly moved in a better position. "I must thank you for your help. You and the others kept me alive."
"It's okay. I only return the favour the old woman, who lived here before, granted me three years ago, when I was a fugitive like you", she answered. "She helped me to recover. And after she died, I stayed here as her successor as healer."
"Then you're not from here?" Hakoda stopped in his speech, when she turned around.
His eyes widened.
She was one of the most beautyful women he had seen in his life. Although she was of his age, she had a clear, young looking face with balanced features. She was tall and slender, with a figure in nearly perfect shape. And in her delicate hands she held a cup.
But that was not the reason, why he gasped in shock first, and then snarled in anger and hate.
Her skin was fair, her hair not dark-brown but of a deep black and her eyes were amber, no golden – a look he has learned to fear from his earliest childhood.
The woman, who had helped him, was of purest Firenation blood.