To see beyond what cannot be seen.
An Avatar the last Airbender fic.
Summary: There is a strange girl on the way to Ba Sing Se, travelling at night, and by cart. There are many other travelers like her, but not with emerald green hair! That's why she keeps her hair in a thick scarf. Suddenly there is a jolt as they are going across a bridge, high above a river. The girl is flung out of the cart by an inevitable force and gravity takes her down. This is where our story takes place…but we shall start a couple of years before this. It might help you in figuring her out.
To look beyond your world...
A girl around the age of 13 was gathering wood and materials for her water tribe. Her long eye catching green hair tied back in a plait. Her water tribe clothing was hidden by a navy and black long coat that went down to her ankles. She wore thick soled boots with good grips on them, for gripping the slushy ground (they live close enough to the Earth Kingdom for there to be four seasons, this is the beginning of spring, when the snow is not quite water and not quite snow.) Her long coat also had a hood, lined with thick black fur, but the hood was hidden and only to be used on outings from their tribe's land. Her aching muscles strained as she remembered that she had not done her stretches that day. Grumbling, she tied the two bundles of fire wood together and slung both diagonally across her back, the cords making an 'X' shape on her chest. The girl trudged moodily back to camp. Her sapphire eye held a tired glimmer to them as she stepped through the bushes that encircled her tribe's campsite. She then looked down at the ground and noticed that there was ash on the ground. This could mean only one thing. Fire Nation Navy ships had attacked! Her feet ran quickly through the campsite, everyone was dead; the ground was red with blood and severed body parts. She rolled another body over and it moved a bit. The young teenager recognized her mother, Kilani. Kilani was the last living female water bender in their tribe, but she was bound to healing, not to fighting.
Kilani suddenly opened her crystal blue eyes and spoke her last words. "Delia, my child. Get away from here as fast as you can. I am the last person here to die. You shall go to find the Avatar. cough, cough wheeze. Take any supplies that you can and change into your warrior clothes. We were to present them to you today…coughing up blood But time ran out. You are now a fully fledged female water tribe warrior. Be proud, your grandmother was the first to get that far with her warrior training…and now it is your chance to take her place in aiding the Avatar. I must leave; the tribe's spirits are calling me to them. Good bye Delia, my much loved daughter. We will always be with you. Your sister, Din says goodbye too." Delia's mother's face relaxed after those words and tears plopped onto her beautiful face. Kilani's bright green hair dulled and a trickle of blood came from her closed mouth.
Delia's eyes shed plenty of tears to last her a lifetime as she buried her dead people. She stopped when she reached Din, her younger sister. Din had been by the shore, obviously she had been sent to fight…but she was only ten years old! How could they send Din out to fight?! Delia turned her sister's face and kissed the smooth cheek in farewell. Din was buried next to Kilani and a lotus (water lily) was placed on both graves. Delia grabbed many herbs, mostly healing ones and changed her blood soaked clothes and chest and abdomen bandages. Her warrior's attire was made to be thin, for easier travel. She equipped herself with two long, curved daggers, wrapped thickly in their sheaths in her boots. Her long coat had lightweight weapons and lock picks secreted in their stitching. Her two swords were made the day before. One she strapped to her back, the other at her waist, on her utility belt. She carried a knapsack for all the herbs and food she needed and another warrior outfit and a kimono.
The young girl set off at midday, making sure to leave unnoticed. She climbed the first mountain at around midnight and pushed onwards. Delia's stomach growled fiercely and she ate a refreshing herb in some cold, lumpy soup from the cooking tent of her tribe. She pressed on once more, determined to find the Avatar.
Long story short she travelled far into the Earth Kingdom, following sightings of the Avatar. Finally she decided to take a break and go to Ba Sing Se for a 'holiday'. This was when she joined the cart and was thrown off it into the river below.
….Is to find a completely different one just waiting to be explored.
Delia made no sound at all as she sped towards the body of fast moving water. A splash was heard and she swam strongly to the surface. She reached the edge of the river and dragged herself out. Unfortunately for her, she had just blundered into a Fire Nation campsite. A man yelled and a fire ball was sent her way. Drawing both swords she rushed forward and ran the man through. She pushed him off the end of her sword with one kick of her boot and whipped around at another Firebender, slicing off his hands. Delia placed a sword blade over his chest and he died as she cut the aorta (blood vessel in the heart). A shout and a fire blast alerted her to others in the campsite. Another fire attack was sent flying at her and it burned her at the hip, causing her to wince in pain but keep going with her massacre of the Fire Nation troops. She let the swords cut little niches in his body before crushing his throat. She smiled and torched a tent or two before burning their food stores. Another tent was filled with sleeping men. She put exploding jelly all around and over them before lighting a trail of gunpowder and leaping up into a tree, a jar of exploding jelly newly added to her items in her knapsack.
"5...4...3...2...1...0...Blast off!" Delia whispered in a vengeful tone as the tent and the whole camp blew up in a billow of fire and black smoke. The stench of charred and burning bodies alerted her to the fact that she had just massacred an entire group of Fire Nation troops. But she smiled softly and dismissed it as payback. She washed her bloodied clothing as dawn spread its great fingers over the horizon. A movement close to the bend farther upstream in the river caused her to look. A water tribe girl was collecting water from the river with waterbending. The girl suddenly looked up and screamed as she saw Delia and her blood soaked clothes. Delia swore and hurriedly put back on her clean warrior's outfit and calmly washed her pants. A water tribe boy was looking at the waterbender girl and Delia was grateful for her long coat to hide her clothing. The boy looked Delia's way and shouted in alarm. Two other figures appeared and Delia swore even louder as they ran back into the trees and a flying bison burst through the canopy.
She had just enough time to set a few traps before hiding in the trees. The bison grunted as it landed and its passengers got off.
"I swear she was right-" A girl's voice reached Delia's ears and then a horrified gasp. The boy water tribe boy moved into sight and uttered two words that Delia hated most.
"Fire Nation," The boy's growl sent a shiver down the hidden girl's spine. "She murdered the whole damn camp! Don't move…I bet she's still here. Don't touch anything; there are probably booby traps around." Delia grinned as the water tribe girl walked underneath the tree. Searching in her long coat she found a wickedly sharp looking skewer. An almost invisible string was attached to the tree she was in. Delia let the skewer flash as it reflected light and the girl noticed it. She decided to investigate.
"Sokka I think I found something! Wait! I see a string. Sokka! Hurry up!" The girl yelled and the boy named Sokka ran to the waterbender girl. He examined the string and cut it before tumbling backwards, holding the girl. A rope net shot upward and he got up.
"Next time don't go looking around on your own Katara. This girl is a lot craftier than I first thought." Sokka scolded and Delia let the skewer flash again, Katara noticed it again and pointed out Delia's shadowy figure. A sudden thought came into her head and she grinned. She put up the hood of her long coat and let some dappled sunlight fall on her shadowy figure. Katara cried out in alarm and Sokka roared in outrage, mistaking Delia for a man.
"Who are you and why did you try to capture my sister?" His icy word made Delia visibly calmer and she laughed softly.
"I cannot and will not tell you my name. I wasn't trying to capture your sister…I was getting you to figure out where I was. It took her a long time though. Longer than your blind friend Toph Bei Fong. Toph found me within seconds. Katara found me within 15 minutes." Delia' voice rang out and she leapt down from her tree branch and stood in front of them. Sokka looked furious and Katara looked worried as she noticed Delia's bleeding burn on her right hip. The blood was soaking through the bandages and Delia cursed colourfully before leaning on a tree, wincing in pain.
"Stop faking your injury! In fact…we'll help you. Now Aang, Toph! Knock her out!" Delia looked up in surprise and dodged the air and earth attacks. An air attack pressed her down, flat on the ground. A rock suddenly protruded into her bleeding burn and she struggled to get up before running away. She stumbled deeper and deeper into the forested area and lay panting from pain and exhaustion. She then fell into a pain filled sleep.
"Snoozles! She was actually hurt and bleeding from a burn! Katara could sense and see it too! I'm going to find her…you coming?" Toph rounded on Sokka as they had set up camp in a small clearing. Sokka had rolled his eyes and knew Toph was right. He had seen a spreading red stain on her shirt where the shirt had been momentarily pressed to her body. Toph stomped off to go look for the girl with Katara and Aang. They returned half an hour later they returned with the girl. Her clothing was bloodied and her coat splattered with the red substance too. Sokka was surprised that their attacker was the girl Katara had seen by the river.
"Where did you find her?" Sokka's question was ignored as they laid her on an earthbended table (courtesy of Toph) and started to remove her clothes. Off came the long coat which was passed to Sokka. He looked at the neat stitching and noticed periodical breaks in the hems. Geez this girl had weapons in there of every kind except for a boomerang. When the long coat came off, her freed hair fell around her. Sokka looked up and dropped the coat in shock. Her hair was a bright emerald green and the gleaming strands demanded to be touched. Sokka touched her hair hastily and his sharp intake of breath indicated how soft it was to touch. He tried to touch it again but Katara scowled and slapped his hand away.
"Go make yourself useful and wash the coat please Snoozles." Toph's simple statement earned a snort of laughter from Aang. Sokka washed the coat and Aang dried it with air. The two girls were taking care of the burn when it slowly knitted back together by itself. Toph smiled and said: "She ate some skin repairing herbs before we found her. She sure is smart, hey Katara? She should be waking up any second now." The two boys were alerted to the situation by a loud yell. The girl had obviously woken up. She walked around in her underclothes and the fresh bandages she searched her knapsack and dressed in her dry warrior clothes.
Delia held out her hand for her long coat and Sokka shook his head, gripping it tighter and putting it where he thought she would never find it. He had noticed the name stitched into its cloth with blue string, Delia Lee.
"You are too dangerous with that coat. It has heaps of secreted weapons in its seams and stitching. Why don't you have a boomerang if you have all of this water tribe warrior stuff?" Sokka asked her and he watched a guarded look come across her face and beautiful crystal blue eyes.
"I don't have a boomerang because the tribe I came from didn't need them or couldn't make them. I have all this warrior 'stuff' because I am a fully fledged female water tribe warrior. What are you? Some sort of Firebender?" Delia held and challenged Sokka's gaze as the rest of the gang watched them.
"You...a warrior? I thought only men and boys were allowed to become a warrior. Well at least that is the custom in our tribe. I am a warrior like you; I have no bending abilities like Aang, Katara or Toph. But I am obviously the better warrior out of the two of us...after all I am a teenage boy warrior. How old were you when you went out alone?" Sokka's arrogant behaviour made him not notice that her fists had tightened as they were by her side. Toph had noticed though, and earthbended him into the air with a rock pinnacle. Katara whirled around and looked at Toph in anger.
"Why did you do that Toph?! What did he do this time?" Katara's yelled words pierced through Toph's mood and Toph gestured to Delia.
"Look at her! He did that just by asking her about her past! She spoke about the Fire Nation with such hatred and distrust that Aang noticed. Her past is obviously a touchy subject for her Sugar Queen!" Toph shouted back and Katara looked at Delia. Tear tracks were not made but felt by the other three companions. Sokka came back and was worried about the way Delia looked at him.
"I want Sokka to prove he is better than me." Delia gritted her teeth as the words came out of her mouth and Sokka looked into her eyes defiantly.
"I will not fight you Delia." His soft words hit her like a bullet and Delia physically withdrew into herself.
"Fight me Sokka." Delia said challengingly and she looked at him with renewed energy as she reached for her two swords.
"No." Sokka spoke as he folded his arms across his chest.
"I challenge you to fight me Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe." Delia knew at this point Sokka could not and would not refuse the challenge she had made.
"Okay, but on two conditions. If I win you tell me or Toph what happened to your tribe because of the Fire Nation and you get a trial period in the gang. If you win you join us on our journey and you tell one person of your choice in the gang what happened to your tribe." Sokka took out his boomerang and mace before Delia looked at the others.
"Either way I have to tell the story huh? Okay, deal. Prepare to lose." Delia suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind Sokka, he was ready for her. He blocked both of her swords. Sokka circled the swords and they didn't fly from Delia's hands. She grinned softly and showed him the leather straps that were looped around her wrists, connected to each sword. Sokka frowned and threw his boomerang at her. Delia remembered her grandmother's wise words: "If a boomerang is thrown at you, duck then count to three and jump." Delia misjudged the time between ducking and jumping and her feet were knocked out from under her. The emerald green haired girl gasped as Sokka stood above her and she let her eyes widen in false fear. Sokka's grin of satisfaction was immediately erased as she disappeared again and reappeared behind his back, a wickedly sharp dagger pressed to his throat. A trickle of blood came from the wound and she grinned.
"Do you yield?" Her soft question was whispered in his ears and he did a forwards roll, dumping her on the ground.
"No. I do not yield. Do you yield Delia?" he looked at her as she got up and she nodded abruptly.
"Yes Sokka, I yield." Delia spoke the words hollowly and swallowed her pride; she would have to tell someone some time. Her crystal blue eyes were expressionless as Sokka's eyes searched hers. The strange water tribe (female) warrior stalked to Appa and hauled the other's packs onto his back. Her fear of flying showed when she looked over the edge and scuttled into the exact middle of Appa's back. The flying bison had taken to her from the moment they'd met. Delia watched the airbending boy, Aang at the front with her head slightly to the side.
"What are you looking at Delia?" Katara's gentle voice dragged her back to her current situation.
"Nothing. I just feel like I want to be on the ground. Nothing personal Appa, but you fly very high." Delia's voice was serenely calm and Appa grunted in reply and suddenly sped downwards. Delia heard a scream from Katara and realised that she was being ripped off of Appa's back by the wind. Her body plummeted downward at an alarming rate but Delia grinned as she saw the glimmer of water below. She loved the water, absolutely loved it. A movement to her right caused her eyes to dart that way. Aang was flying toward her, his arms outstretched. Emerald green hair whipped into her face as she felt herself being grabbed by the arms and lifted back onto Appa's back.
"Are you ok? You picked a nasty place to get ripped off of Appa's back!" Sokka tried to joke but Delia smiled softly and went to the back of the saddle on Appa. She sat opposite Toph and the blind girl turned to her.
"Is that you Sokka?" Toph asked loudly as she looked at Delia.
"No, it's Delia." Delia grinned as Toph punched her in the arm and Delia punched her back twice as hard.
"Ouch! Hey Katara, I like this girl already! She's a much better puncher than Snoozles." Toph shouted above the wind and Katara's laugh floated back to them. A grumble from Sokka indicated that he'd heard Toph's comment.
They set up camp and Toph sat by the river. Delia stood in the shallows and practiced her warrior skills in her under clothes, she didn't seem to mind that Toph was there, watching her.
"Hey Delia, you're training in your under clothes aren't you?" Toph's question came as no surprise to Delia and she smiled softly.
"Yes Toph, I am training in my under clothes." Her voice betrayed her true feelings. Delia was totally serene and in tune with the world. The problem was, the male companions were walking down the clear path to the river at this precise moment. Delia had swiftly put on her coat, but the current snatched it away and Toph grabbed it. Aang had realised that he was going to have waterbending training later, and walked back to camp.
Sokka kept going, but stopped short when he reached the end of the path. There was Delia, her long hair freed from its ponytail and only in her under clothes. He cleared his throat and Toph turned her head to him, passing the long coat to Delia. Now swathed in her coat she grinned at Sokka.
"My tribe taught me to train this way. It is faster and it makes you feel at peace with your surroundings. Totally in tune with the world. Training in your underclothes was a must for boys. You want to try it?" Delia laughed as she guessed what thoughts were running through Sokka's mind. She dressed in her chest and abdomen bandages and told him to do the same. He frowned and complied.
"Now, take a swing at me." Her body moved in harmony with the current of the water as he took a swing at her. Delia dodged and splashed him with water.
"Try again Sokka." Toph cheered as Sokka took another swing at Delia. She grinned and tugged the ponytail holder off from behind him and placed it in his hands. Delia was back on two feet again and she took several quick strikes at him.
Sokka grinned and splashed her with water. Delia splashed him twice as hard and he fell over in the shallows, laughing. Sokka grinned and accepted her hand in helping himself up.
"Time to go back to camp ladies...Katara and Aang will be worrying about what's taking us so long." Sokka dressed and the trio walked back to camp serenely.
