Summer patrolling near the poles were the worst positions in the navy. The sea fog blinded the ship and the sustained warmth broke off large icebergs that "migrated." In order to make any sort of progress, scouting vessels were sent out to feel around the ocean, spotting potential hazards. The risk was much lower but it was boring, as the vessels were manned only by two soldiers and the fog made it feel like they were cut off from the rest of the world.
Zomomi and Yuuta had just finished their shift when they were rowing back to the warship. The fog cleared rapidly and Yuuta pulled up to the ship as Zomomi fumbled for his whistle. A piercing screech rang out and Yuuta exclaimed as he covered his ears.
Just as he looked up to scold Zomomi, he saw that his partner was staring behind him, his mouth agape, the whistle dangling silently on his bottom lip. Yuuta stood and turned to watch as the ship slid into a dense pocket of fog. The horrible screeching came from the thick white patch and Yuuta's stomach sank.
The violent rubbing caused more of the fog to clear and the large iceberg was suddenly visible.
There was yelling now, as soldiers on the battleship scrambled into activity. A klaxon was added to the din and it seemed to reach a critical volume, making Yuuta deaf. All he could see was the gash as the ship finally pulled away from the iceberg. As a sort of sweet twist of revenge, the iceberg started to crack.
But then the battleship started to sink. In their panic, some soldiers jumped ship and landed in the arctic ocean waters. They were yelling, or at least Yuuta could see the open faces of the unmasked soldiers. Zomomi was also yelling, kicking at hands suddenly appearing at the edge of their small craft. Yuuta looked up and saw the massive crack snap across the iceberg causing the top started to slide into the ocean.
With the iceberg, the grasping hands of drowning men, and the quickly sinking ship, the wave that was created overturned their small boat. Yuuta started swimming, grabbed a body, and dragged it up onto the floating ice isle. He knew they would die anyway, wet and stuck on the ice. Deep down within himself, he fully believed it was better than drowning.
As Zomomi vomited salt water next to him, Yuuta watched as the force of the sinking battleship pushed away their cracked iceberg and sucked under all of the men who had abandoned her.
In a matter of minutes, it was over. The ship and her crew were gone. And the sea fog had rolled over it all.
"Zomomi, I see now why the iceberg cracked. Look, it was hollow." Yuuta said as he rose to his feet again. Zomomi made gasping sounds from where he had curled up.
"Zomomi, there is a boy here. And his beast. He is tattooed." Yuuta crouched down next to the slumped form of a young boy. He was still half embedded in ice, and even with his thin clothes, he seemed to be alive.
"He's an Airbender Zomomi." Yuuta stated. He stood up again and unsheathed his knife. It was serrated, used mainly for cutting ropes in case his scouting boat got tangled in the fishing nets of the savage Waterbenders.
He knew what to do with Airbenders, though it had been a almost a hundred years since one had been seen.
"Zomomi, there is a beast here. We will have meat and we have our fire. Perhaps if we wait, we will be rescued." Yuuta said, after he finished. He did not think.
He did not think and he was far from a fishing village.