Hey guys! Puzzle here with a new story! Now, this is kind of just a side project, as Guildless is my main focus when it comes to writing fanfiction, but I've been sitting on this idea for a long time, and I'm really excited to share this with all of you! Remember to review/follow if you liked it!
P.S., I was given the idea for this story by Sapphire-Raindrop's AtLA series!
Chapter 1: Imprisoned
It was near the small, coal mining village in the Earth Kingdom that Aang, Sokka, and Katara first met her. Investigating the sound of crashing deeper into the forest, they found themselves in a shallow gorge, two people there. A girl and boy in Earth Kingdom clothing were in the ditch, the girl cross-legged and watching the boy as he Earthbended.
As he lifted a boulder, the girl ordered in an even and commanding tone, "Remember, don't shift your weight until you have the boulder in the air. Earthbending is about being solid, reactive and not active. You wait until the right moment, then strike!"
The boy sent his boulder across the ditch, the girl nodding. "Good, but make your motions quicker, more sudden. Move less like a Waterbender and more like an Earthbender! You aren't a flowing river, you're a jagged cliff crashing rocks on your foes! Act like it!"
Katara marveled, "An Earthbender! We should go meet him!"
Sokka warned, "He might be dangerous, so we should approach cautiously.
Katara called, "Hello there! I'm Katara! What's your name?"
The girl whipped to her feet, fists raised to fight as the boy ran. Aang could only see a whirl of dark hair as the girl ran after the boy, the two disappearing quickly, the boy making a landslide block off the path after them.
Aang obliviously called, "Nice to meet you!"
Katara shrugged disappointedly. "I just wanted to say hi."
Aang realized, "They must be running somewhere! Maybe we're near a village. And I bet that village has a market!"
Katara came to the same realization. "Which means no nuts for dinner!"
As Aang and Katara took off, Sokka protested, "Hey, I worked hard to get those nuts!" He watched Momo fly after, then admitted, "Yeah, I hate them too."
"Great hat! I'll trade you some nuts for it."
As Aang received a wicker hat, Katara watched the girl and boy from before slipped into a small shop. "Hey…"
Inside, the boy was already talking to an aged woman, the girl off to the side, meditating out of the way.
"-You're late! Get started on your chores."
Katara opened the door, saying, "Hey, you're that kid." She looked to the side, the girl next to her. "And you're that girl! Why did you run away before?"
The girl opened her eyes, glaring at Katara suspiciously, the Waterbender suddenly feeling vulnerable under her deep green gaze.
The boy denied, "Um, you must have us confused with some other kids."
The girl muttered angrily, "I'm not a damn child…"
Aang walked in, Sokka behind. The Water Tribe boy said, "No, we saw you Earthbending." He looked at the girl, unaffected by her harsh gaze. "And you were coaching him."
Gasps came echoing, the girl standing and quickly shutting the shades and door.
The woman accused, "They saw you doing what?!"
The boy attempted, "They're crazy, Mom! I mean, look at how they're dressed."
The woman looked at the girl. "Aika, I thought I asked you not to teach him more Earthbending! Do you want to test my hospitality?"
Aika excused calmly, "Technically, I haven't taught him any. I'd have to be an Earthbender for that. I just corrected his stances from what I've seen before." She sighed. "And I promised you already that no harm comes to you or your family. Assuring that your son doesn't get hurt under that promise is included."
Aang's face fell. "So you're not a bender?"
Aika shook her head. "No, I just know a thing here and there about Earthbending."
"And you should keep it to yourself!" The mother sighed, looking back to her son. "You know how dangerous that is, Haru! You know what would happen if they caught you Earthbending!"
Suddenly, someone was pounding on the door. "Open up!"
Sokka reached for the shades, but the girl- Aika- swatted his hand away. "Don't bother- Fire Nation soldiers. Just stay calm and don't act stupid."
So of course, as soon as Haru's mother had opened the door, the soldiers found Aika meditating, Haru and Sokka staring at an apple, Katara stuffing her face with berries, and Aang awkwardly grinning and leaning on a barrel, its lid sliding and Aang's arm slipping in, becoming soaked.
Haru's mother growled, "What do you want? I've already paid you this week."
The lead soldier answered coolly, "The tax just doubled. And we wouldn't want an accident, would we?" Haru's mother stepped back nervously as the soldier formed a flame in his hands. "Fire… It's sometimes so hard to control."
Aika glared at the soldier as Haru's mother got her money box out. The soldier met her gaze, returning the glare. "So you're still here, are you, tramp?"
Aika growled, "Yes."
He threatened, "Well, don't get too comfortable. You aren't welcome for much longer, mutt."
Aika clenched her fists. "Don't worry. I'll be gone soon enough. Until then, just keep on puffing smoke."
The soldier stepped toward her threateningly, though she didn't even flinch. "You've got until tomorrow to be out of this town, got it, mutt?"
Aika glared at him, then suddenly smirked, closing her eyes smugly. "Clear as genomite."
Haru's mother gave the last of her money to the soldier and he angrily tossed a few back. "You can keep the copper ones."
Sokka looked at the closed door. "Nice guy. How long has the Fire Nation been here?"
Haru's mother sadly said, "Five years. Firelord Ozai uses our town's coal mines to fuel his ships."
Haru growled, "They're thugs! They steal from us, and everyone here is too much of coward to do anything about it."
"Quiet, Haru! Don't talk like that."
Aika didn't bother opening her eyes as she assured, "I'll get your money back tonight. Then I'll have to leave in the morning before he comes back to cause more trouble."
Haru crossed his arms. "I know you could beat them, Aika. Why don't you fight instead of just stealing from them?"
Aika sighed. "Because I'm talented enough to survive, not to thrive. Without bending, I have to work with what little I have. I have an advantage over Firebenders at night. Simple as that. Until the Fire Nation wins this war, that's how we survive."
Katara interjected, "Win? But Aang- uh, the Avatar's going to beat the Firelord!"
Aika scoffed. "And every one of his minions that continues fighting after?"
That made then falter. Katara hesitated, then urged, "But for this town, at least, Haru's an Earthbender. He can help!"
"Earthbending is forbidden. It's caused nothing but misery for this village. He must never use his abilities."
Katara asked, "How can you say that? Haru has a gift! Asking him not to Earthbend is like asking me not to Waterbend. It's a part of who we are."
Haru's mother was adamant. "You don't understand."
"I understand that Haru can help you fight back! What can the Fire Nation do to you that they haven't done already?"
Haru's mother cried, "They could take Haru away! Like they took his father."
Hours later, after that hard conversation, Haru was showing Aang and his friends to the barn where they could stay. Aika already was there, hanging from the rafters by her knees, deep in concentration.
Haru seemed unaffected by this, as it was apparently a common sight. "My mom said you can stay here for the night, but you should leave in the morning."
Aang said, "Thanks! I'll make sure Appa doesn't eat all your hay."
Yet the bison was already chopping down on the hay. Aika opened her eyes, tilting her head at Appa. "What the…?"
Aang waved. "Hi, Aika! That's my flying bison, Appa."
Aika swiftly flipped down, landing softly on the hay. Aang really looked at her for the first time then, taking in her emerald shirt, light green leggings, leather boots, and the dirt-brown fingerless glove on her right arm that reached from elbow to her hand, only her fingers showing. Her black hair was pulled back in a braid, though a few strands fell to the side of her face, showing her right ear was strangely notched, a triangle taken out of the top of her ear. Her calculating green eyes were even more piercing, considering her strangely pale skin.
She looked at Appa with razor sharp eyes, taking him in. She suddenly walked up to Aang, towering a good foot over him. Aang awkwardly looked up, seeing her green eyes speckled with amber. She suddenly ripped his hat off, calmly announcing, "I knew it. You're the Avatar."
Aang took his hat back, Aika staring at him. "Yeah, I was afraid that someone was going to freak out and try and capture me. That happens a lot."
Sokka slinked up to Aika. "Wait, are you going to freak out and try to capture Aang?"
Aika shook her head. "No. That would be a waste of my time."
Sokka nodded. "Good. We don't need anyone else after us. The Fire Nation's been after us for awhile. This one crazy guy's been chasing us-"
"What?" Aika grabbed the front of Sokka's shirt. "Who was it? A general? Answer me!"
Sokka exclaimed, "A Fire Nation guy with a scar on his face!"
Aika switched out of her sudden rage as quickly as it had come. "Ah. Sorry." She released him, both Sokka and Aang looking confused.
Sokka muttered, "You're crazier than Zuko." Aika ignored him, recognizing the name but not the insult.
Aang asked, "Sooo… I assume you don't like this general you thought was after us?"
Aika stiffened. "It's not your business."
Aang apologized, "Sorry, I wasn't trying to pry."
Aika roughly said, "Well you did." She turned away, walking to the side of the barn and creeping up the side and back to her place up in the rafters.
Sokka and Aang exchanged weird looks, Aika's cold and coarse personality making them uneasy. Fortunately, it was easy to ignore her disturbing personality when she was hiding in the rafters, absolutely quiet and nearly invisible altogether.
That is, until night fell.
As the Aang Gang fell asleep, Aika stirred, dropping down again, now a strip of black cloth tied over her face, hiding all but her eyes. She ran out of the barn, racing down the hill toward the town. At the edge of town, a Fire Nation outpost stood, a ten foot wall surrounded by torch braziers. At the gate, a soldier stood, mask and armor indicating Firebender rank.
Aika quickly ran around the back, vaulting up the wall, one foot hitting halfway up and pushing her the rest of the way to the top. She pulled herself up, quickly dropping to the other side as quietly as possible. The green yard, lit by a few scattered torches, was stained with burn marks from the soldier's practices, making it crackle as she raced across the yard to the small outpost.
She slunk up to the doorway to the back, carefully peering inside to make sure no one was immediately coming. Slipping into the building, there was only a single hallway she knew circled the building, but what she wanted was the central room. She'd gotten into these outposts enough to know their layout at this point.
She followed the left branch of the hallway, careful not to let her shadow cast too deeply into the open doorways to the outside rim of rooms until she reached the only door to the interior room, the only with a door. Now, it was a matter of patience.
She listened to the inside, hearing little, but soon, footsteps echoed in her direction. Diving into the empty room across from the door, she waited silently for the soldier to unlock the door, entering the central office. She raced out, softly holding the door open long enough to slip in before it swung closed. She dodged off to the side as the soldier moved forward, toward the only desk in the room. The soldier from earlier sat there, counting out coins, the first soldier approaching.
He saluted in Fire Nation style, greeting, "Sergeant Lao, we've had several reports today."
Lao didn't look up from his money, mumbling, "Get on with it."
Aika paid minimal attention- it didn't matter if she were dead, she would roll over in her grave at his name, and that was all the news she cared about. She quietly was stringing gold Earth Nation coins onto a thread silently, tying it off so tightly, not a sound could be made by the metal. Once she had about ten strings like this, she finally was satisfied, and with perfect timing.
Lao was just waving his hand at the soldier. "- take a squad to deal with it. I'll be right there." The soldier saluted again, exiting the treasury. Aika slipped out behind him, Lao still too occupied with his slowly shrinking riches to see the cause of his loss escaping. Aika tore out the hallway, jumping the rooftop again. She began her nightly routine, taking half a string to each house in the town, though it was difficult that night. The soldiers were off to something- Aika didn't realize soon enough where.
After finishing her rounds, she pulled the cloth off her face, breathing deeply. Those assholes had better step up their game. Stealing is getting too easy.
She started a calm walk toward Haru's house, she froze at the sight of torches ahead. Aika dove into the treeline, moving against the grain from them from within the safety of the trees. Why were they out here? I don't remember them mentioning Haru. Just an...
Oh no.
Aika ran towards Haru's house, muttering, "They couldn't know... They couldn't have found out..."
Yet Haru's mother stood in the doorway, sobbing as Aika huffed to a halt at the door.
Aika cursed herself a thousand times over inside. You heard Earthbender and you still focused on playing hero! This is why we stay on objective, not getting distracted by every sob story of every town, just to spite the Fire Nation! I have my own rights to wrong!
Aika moved to the woman's side, pulling her hand into her own, placing the last full strand of coins in the woman's hands. Aika whispered, "It's not much, but it'll hold you until I return with Haru, at the very least."
She looked at Aika's unreadable face. "Y-You-"
"I'm going to go get your son. I promised to protect you both, and I don't break promises." And with that, she was racing down the hill again, straight for town.
A Firebending soldier platoon was walking through the town, six in a line. They filed past several buildings, and with a soft cry, the final soldier disappeared into a doorway. Aika easily knocked him out, dragging him out back and managing to shove him into storage barrel- not before stealing his armor. She didn't have the muscles but they were at least similar in height. Switching into the armor, with haunting white mask slid into the face of the helmet, she quickly slipped out the building, off to the outpost.
A soldier at the front asked, "Where have you been, Chang? Your squad reported you missing."
Aika's voice turned rough and manly, "Sorry for the delay, heard some Earth punks talking shit."
The soldier smirked. "'Course. Anyway, your squad's escorting the ship to the Coal Prison."
Aika nodded. "Thanks." She slipped into the outpost, easily finding the group she'd be travelling with.
They didn't talk much before they marched to the ship, splitting them between lookout on deck and watching the prisoners, Aika assigned to the latter. Haru sat in a cell but Aika knew she couldn't take down an entire ship. She'd wait until the rig, where she could sneak him out quietly. Here, she'd have to overthrow several dozen soldiers, something she wasn't capable of without threatening her position.
Her enemy could never know she was drawing closer.
As Aika cautiously stood guard, she couldn't help but think of her search.
Five years, she'd been pursuing him now. It was hard, trying to follow a man with his status and resources, always running around. But she'd hung on, trying to predict where he'd go. Lately, his patterns were completely abandoned: he was after something, and Aika had a feeling what.
It wasn't coincidence that word of the Avatar returning came at the same time the Fire Nation general started racing across the earth. She just may have to use that to her advantage, if they were still in the village when she returned.
But for now, she just had to stay alive and hidden. She wouldn't let Haru be imprisoned for life when she had a promise to fulfill. Promises were so easily broken, she worried at times that just speaking would break them, including the one that directed her life.
Kill him. Kill him at all costs, even that of her life. Her purpose was this, nothing more or less. It was all she could bear, all she could be capable of. She knew after her job was done, she would never have existed, she'll have disappeared from the narrative. But to her, the end was worth the consequences.
As they reached the rig, Aika filed off, standing to the side of the prisoners as the warden lectured them. His condescending tone was annoying, though nothing that she couldn't withstand. As the rest of her squad returned to the boat, she instead followed to the guard outpost overlooking the yard.
Looking out through the mask eyes, she strained her ears to the sounds of the other guards talking.
"I heard that we're getting another shipment tonight, got a bunch of Earthbenders from along the coastline."
"Already? Five today, who knows how many tonight, when do these bugs stop coming out of the woodwork?"
"Once we squash them, Cho."
Aika fumed, glad she was hidden behind the mask. You could've seen her blood boiling with the rage in her eyes.
Yet she stood still, surveying the rig.
From the prison yard, little was accessible but if Aika could get Haru to the soldier's area... Knock out a guard, give Haru the costume, and they could leave on the next ship out.
She had to wait, if there was a ship tonight, she couldn't get to Haru and act in time- it was already noon. She needed to act at night, when Firebending was weaker and she could remain hidden.
She could see Haru, sitting with a cluster of Earthbenders through the mealtime until they were sent off to work on repairing the ships. Aika kept her eyes on Haru at all times, who seemed glued to the side of one of the elder benders there.
It wasn't until the ship arrived at sundown that Aika realized her job was getting difficult.
The girl who had traveled with the Avatar, the Waterbender, was here.
She stayed with Haru in the exercise yard until she pulled one of the most idiotic moves Aika had ever seen, standing on a table and attempting to start a rebellion.
Ridiculous. The Fire Nation was beyond anyone's power to resist anymore. This stupid girl was brave, Aika would admit, but still stupid.
Night fell and Aika patrolled the perimeter, having found out that the next ship to arrive would be in a week. She just hoped that nothing would interfere with her plans until then.
A flash of movement caught her eye, something moving outside the rig.
Aika moved to the rail, curious, finding a familiar sight: a flying bison.
The Water Nation boy, Sokka, sat on the bison, the Avatar and Katara on the edge. Aika would never give the Fire Nation the satisfaction of having the Avatar, though she wasn't about to stand and watch.
She slowly approached, hissing, "What are you three doing here?"
Aang whirled, about to blast her back with air, but she slid the face mask off, showing her angry glare. Aang wondered, "Aika?"
Aika didn't answer, just repeating, "Why are you here?"
Katara said, "We came to save Haru."
Aika growled, "I have that covered, now get out of here before you screw over my position here."
Katara protested, "But we can't just leave all these people here!"
Aika sighed in exasperation. "You can and you will! A mass prison break in this area would be impossible. I'll get Haru out of here, just go before you cause trouble for me."
Sokka agreed, "Come on, Katara, the scary lady with the armor has a point. Staying won't help anyone."
Katara wouldn't bend though. "I'm not leaving these people!"
Aika cussed under her breath, eyes flicking to the path. "Soldiers incoming. Either leave or follow me." She softly ran to a collection of shipment crates, the others following as Aang sent off his bison.
In the cover of the crates, Aika pulled off the helmet, letting her pale skin gleam, her braid tied up so not to show under the helmet. "Okay, if you insist on getting Haru out of here yourselves, fine, but don't you dare do something that's going to get me killed."
Katara scowled. "Wow, aren't you selfless?"
Aika growled, "I have a purpose, water girl. I intend to live long enough to fulfill it. Now, if you have some genius plan to get all the benders off this rock, be my guest, I'll pitch in what I can, but if not, get Haru and go."
Katara looked down. "If we just had earth... They could bend their way out without any trouble."
Aika pessimistically muttered, "And this place is made of metal. There's no earth to bend."
Aang looked up. "Yes, there is." He pointed at the smokestacks. "I bet they're burning coal in there!"
Aika blinked, staring at the black smoke. "Yeah, it's coal." She'd seen the boiler system inside on her rounds. She couldn't believe she hadn't seen it before. "But there are hundreds of pounds and no way to move them without bending. It would take every bender down there to move all of that down to the yard."
Sokka brightened. "But the system is ventilated! We can force the coal through the air shafts!"
Aika stared at the rig for a moment, considering, then slowly said, "That... just might work. But you'd have to be guaranteed the Earthbenders would actually take their chance."
Katara questioned, "And why wouldn't they?"
Aika looked at her seriously, eyes seeming much older than 16. "Kid, some things you can't bounce back from. These guys may be too deep to come back up." She slipped on her helmet, holding the mask slide. "If the Earthbenders take the coal, I'll take down the Warden. So I'd appreciate it if you'd avoid hitting anyone in my costume too hard." She put the face slide in, turning away and resuming her walk.
Aika took a flanking position behind the Warden when they approached a rebelling Katara, Aika carefully watching as the coal flew up from the vent.
Katara yelled, "Here's your chance, Earthbenders! Take it! Your fate is in your own hands!"
Yet very few moved, most away from the coal.
The Warden laughed hysterically. "Foolish girl. You thought a few inspirational words and a few pieces coal would change these people? Look at these blank, hopeless faces. Their spirits were broken a long time ago! Oh, but you believed in them? How sweet. You've wasted your energy, little girl. You failed."
Suddenly, a boot hit the Warden across the face. He staggered back, gasping. Aika removed her helmet, tossing it aside, looking quite annoyed. "Getting sick of your shit, Warden." She grabbed him by the front of the shirt, pulling a dagger from her sleeve and putting it to his neck. "I don't like listening to men yelling about how they're superior to others. Especially not cocky assholes like you." The Firebenders around them readied to attack her but were suddenly pelted with a quick assault of coal clumps.
Half the Firebenders turned to Haru, who had another volley of coal spiraling his hand, the rest turning to Aika and their captive Warden.
Aika smirked at Katara. "I was getting impatient." A Firebender lunged for her, afraid to burn the Warden, but she shoved the high ranking bender into his lackey, the two toppling. Fire now flew freely at the girl, but she ducked and weaved, hair singed but her armor mostly protecting her body, though growing uncomfortably hot. She slashed her knife across the hand of a Firebender, the bender recoiling. She ripped off the shoulder pads of her armor, using it to violently hit the bender in the head, effectively knocking him out. She repeated this once again with another with the lower set of pads, her remaining two adversaries attempting to come from front and back and trap her in the fire.
Aika smirked, throwing the knife at the one in front of her, it hitting him in the head, ricocheting off the helmet but dazing him. Fire grazed her back as she ran forward, tackling the first down, ripping his helmet off and throwing it at the second, hitting him in the chest. She grabbed his arm and twisted, digging her elbow into his ribs then punching him directly under the mask, making him fall to his knees, clutching his throat.
Aika sighed. "They're not as good as they used to be." She stripped off the rest of the uniform, too hot with multiple layers of clothing on. Now back into her Fire Nation green and brown, she let her slightly burnt braid down, a few frayed pieces sticking out. She took in the Earthbenders who now had torn a hole in the prison wall, now flooding out.
She started after them until she felt heat growing behind her, causing her to instinctively sidestep, turning as she did to see the Warden back up, fists still smoking and aimed at her. "You dare to attack and insult me, mutt?! I can see it, you're one of those impure creatures who dare to mix Fire Nation blood with Earth Kingdom!"
Aika's eyes turned cold and hard as emerald. "Yeah, I'm a hybrid. So I'd be getting over it." She raised her fists. "And I may not be one of your pureblooded Fire Nation kids, but I could kick every one of their asses, without any damn bending."
The warden scoffed. "No half-breed will defeat me."
Aika recovered a dark smile. "No, I've never defeated a general or a soldier." She lunged forward, the Warden shooting fire but she leaned around it, grabbing his wrist from the side, eyes coldly peering into his. "But I've killed a few."
The warden panicked, his free hand latching onto her right. "Burn, mutt!" She wrenched her arm away as his hand gave off enough heat to burn through her arm guard, burning it off. Underneath, streaks of red in branching patterns, each thread thin, all originating at the center of her palm where her skin was ruby red in a starburst of of scarlet. The lightning-like markings covered her arm from palm to elbow, faint and weak at the fingers so it was difficult to see.
The warden stared at her hand, releasing and backing away nervously. "You... You're that mutt who's been terrorizing the Fire Nation's settlements!"
Aika scowled, pushing the charred remains of her glove off. "Yes. Finally understand why you should be afraid of me?"
The warden faltered, shifting uncertainly, Aika taking advantage to swoop in, elbowing him in the sternum, effectively knocking the wind out of him, picking up a discarded spear as he staggered and drove it into his back quickly. He gasped, falling forward.
Aika pulled the spear away, tossing it off. "Huh. You think your blood is so special. It just runs like the coward you are."
She turned to the boats, jogging over in time to jump aboard. She found herself standing next to Katara, Tyro, and Haru.
Haru said, "I wanted to thank you for saving us." He looked between the two girls. "All of us."
Aika glanced away. "Just keeping a promise." She awkwardly moved to the very front of the ship, carefully hiding her right arm behind her back.
Katara modestly said, "All it took was a little coal."
Haru shook his head. "It wasn't just the coal, Katara. It was you."
Tyro put a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you for helping me find my courage, Katara of the Water Tribe. My family, and everyone here, owes you much."
"So, I guess you're going home now."
Tyro nodded. "Yes, to take back my village." He raised a fist, proclaiming, "To take back all of our villages! The Fire Nation will regret the day they set foot on our land!"
A cheer rose from every ship as Aika muttered, "You're fighting a lost cause."
Katara turned to her, frowning. "What?"
Aika solemnly said, "They can't drive out the Fire Nation. If they could, they would've won this war already."
Katara's frown grew. "You don't believe that. If you did, you wouldn't have helped us."
Aika sniped, "I helped you because taking shots at the Fire Nation is my life's purpose. No one can beat them but I'm around to show that they don't own all of us. Not yet."
Katara warned, "Thinking like that is just asking for them to win. You're giving up."
"No, I'm not. I'm showing them that they can't rule the world, even if they've won. There's a difference. I play a one-on-all game with them."
Katara looked sadly at the girl as Haru shook her out of it. "Don't listen to Aika. She's just a bit down on her luck." He paused. "You should come with us."
Katara shook her head. "I can't. Your mission is to free your villages. Ours is to get Aang to the North Pole."
Aika's ears rang. The North Pole.
He'd been moving North. He was following the Avatar. If he was following the Avatar...
Aika suddenly announced, "I'm coming with you."
Katara blinked. "What?"
Aika repeated, "I'm coming with you. I'll help get the Avatar to the North Pole."
Katara frowned. "Why would you help us? I thought you were in it for yourself, to stick it to the Fire Nation?"
Aika smirked convincingly. "And what better way to give them the finger than to keep the one the think can take down their empire out of their hands?"
Katara hesitated. "...Well, if it's alright with Aang and Sokka, I guess you can come."
Aika nodded. "I'll take that." Keeping her arm carefully positioned so not to be seen, she excused, "I'm going to look below to see if I can find some food quick. I'll be right up." Katara watched as she moved below the deck, moving to Aang and Sokka on Appa.
She said, "Guys, we may have a new member of the group."
Aang smiled. "Haru's joining us?"
Katara shook her head. "No, Aika asked if she could come."
Sokka's eyes bulged. "You don't think she'll... ya know, attack us?"
Katara explained, "I think Aika's just trying to fight the Fire Nation but she's always had to do it alone. If she comes with us..."
Aang finished, "We could get her to be a team player!"
Sokka frowned. "I dunno. I feel like my place as the team's non-bender is being threatened."
Katara smiled. "You're the best non-bender around, Sokka. Don't worry, no one's replacing you."
Aang matched her smile. "I say she comes!"
Sokka considered for a second. "Well, she is a really good fighter, and we need all the help we can get..." He nodded. "Aika's welcome, if you ask me."
Katara smiled. "Great! I'll let her know." She dove below deck, following the corridor to find Aika at the end, standing in front of a collection of crates. Katara greeted, "Aika, good news!"
Aika whirled, half finished bandages around her right arm, showing traces of red on her arm. Katara looked at her with concern, the red looking like blood. "Are you hurt?"
Aika wouldn't meet her eyes, quickly finishing the bandage up to her elbow. "I'm fine, just a scratch."
Katara worriedly asked, "Are you sure? That looked bad."
Aika shook her head. "It's nothing. It'll heal up soon enough. So, good news?"
Katara seemed hesitant to change the subject but obliged, "The others agreed you can come with us to the North Pole!"
Aika smiled slightly. "Thanks."
Katara asked, "Are you really okay? You seemed pretty hurt."
Aika nodded. "It's nothing I can't heal from. Thanks for the concern, though water girl."
Katara asked, "Would you mind calling me Katara?"
Aika rolled her eyes. "Yes, I mind. To me, you're Water Girl until you prove me otherwise."
Katara giggled a bit. "Well, we'll have some time to work on that. Come on, we're leaving soon."
Aika nodded. "Then let's go."
They soon were on Appa's back, most waving goodbye to those on the ship, Aika barely glancing behind her.
Once they were in the air, Aang called back, "Hey, now that you're part of the team, can I ask why you hate that general? You were freaking out in the barn about it."
Aika sighed. "... I guess it's only fair to tell you." She closed her eyes. "I've been tasked by my old village to find the Fire Nation general who burnt my home to the ground."
Sokka's eyes widened. "You know his name?"
Aika nodded slightly. "Zhao. To be accurate, Commander Zhao."
