Bit of a disclaimer guys. I do not own Avatar The Last Airbender and I don't even own the idea for this story. All credit goes to the creators for the characters and plot but the story idea credit goes to Falkyn's Flight. She completed the story some time ago so go check out the original work. This is just a fanfiction of a fanfiction with an OC thrown in to see where this goes. Some parts may be no different from the source material while others may have a drastic change. It'll depend on what suits my path.
I sat at the edge of the tiny pool. My breath was relaxed and I was focusing on the movements of my body as my chest moved up and down with each breath. Everything seemed calm and peaceful on the outside but inside of me was chaos.
Memories and images bombarded me with every breath unwilling to let me rest. The earth shook waking up the cars outside and sending them into panicked screams as they recognized their doom. The people around me were startled at the sudden outburst of the earth. The ground beneath split apart creating a wide chasm that began to devour everything in its path. People, cars, cement, buildings, everything. Heat began to scorch my skin. Blistering heat was everywhere, there was no escape. But now I was falling out of the skyscraper where I witnessed all the chaos. There was nothing I could do as I watched myself enter the dark chasm other than look at the city that was in flames as everything fell. A moment later I hit the water.
A man was standing in front of me in the dark of the void. He looked old, ancient even. Yet he also looked so young somehow. His appearance seemed to shift with every breath he took. Wherever we were there was a lot of wind.
You know what you must do.
My eyes opened. I must've felt the need to keep myself upright during meditation since I was grabbing onto the grass tightly. I'd even torn some of it up. That man always showed up in every meditation I had. Ever since I came into this world.
Sweat slid down my face and into my eye causing salty agony. I tried to blink it away but it persisted on existing. Despite the cold environment, my Parka was already moist and uncomfortably drenched in my sweat. It was succeeding in making me freeze however. Since my parka wasn't performing its job properly anymore, I decided to shed it off.
My eyes wandered back to the pond tracing the movement of what was underneath the surface. The movement belonged to the two spirits of the water tribes. That of the Moon and the Ocean. La and her lover Tui. They were the ones who granted me the ability to protect myself.
I walked over to the edge of the oasis and froze the water surrounding me in order to leave.
I'd been struggling to meditate as instructed back then just like right now. During the nightmarish process, I managed to fall into the pond with the incarnation of the spirits. They appeared in their splendour as I did. "I can see what he sees in you. You're just like her." La told me. She was followed by her lover, "He told us to give you some way to protect yourself until we can meet formally. We didn't do this with her because there was no way to come into contact with her before. I give you the gift of water, use it wisely." It was La's turn now, "And I the gift of knowledge to keep you safe."
Over the course of the time I was here I was able to train with the powers I was given and learned the basic movesets including Ice formation.
"Focus your mind into being free. Flow like the water, and then harden yourself. Steel yourself as though you were to be attacked."
I followed his instruction. I calmed my breath and relaxed my limbs as I moved my arms around freely. Then just as I started to pick up my arms I hardened myself and opened my eyes. Finally. The water in front of me had turned into ice. It only took two weeks of failure for me to get this. But Master Pakku maintained his idea that I was the best student he could have.
I looked up at Master Pakku. I'm sure that my eyes were gleaming with pride because he nodded with confidence at my success. I was elated at my ability. "So will we move on to more advanced forms?" I smiled.
"You are ready," he nodded with a smile.
"You did it!" his niece who was watching the whole session rushed and gave me a hug.
I slipped on the ice and took a plunge into the icy waters. The cold was threatening to overtake me as I struggled against the water. Thankfully I took off my parka earlier so I wasn't going to drown thanks to suffocation. My arms flailed in panic for a little bit before beginning to paddle up to the surface just like I was taught. That was the positives about swimming lessons. You might not become a class A Olympic swimmer like Michael Phelps but you did learn the basics for surviving in deadly situations like these. I broke into the surface and began gasping for air. My arms were heavy as I heaved myself back onto the icy platform that I created.
This is what happens when I get distracted, I scolded myself for the stupidity I performed.
My new way of life started months ago. I came to accept that. But by then I already knew what happened and where I was. I also knew that I would never see Sara again. She was gone forever. I doubt I would ever even see the real world again. The Avatar world was my home now. I have to admit that I don't know much about this place. I only ever watched a couple episodes completely and that was only because they were the most repeated ones. I always thought of it as boring. However, I was a huge fan of the sequel. I watched Legend of Korra passionately. So I was going to be travelling blindly for a majority of my time here if I ever decided to follow the avatar in his adventures which I was still unsure of. The only current checkpoint I knew of right now would be when Aang shows up for his waterbending teacher.
The Northern Water Tribe, my home, for the time being, was more of a city. I watched the season 1 finale and it didn't really do justice to how the place really was. While the show presented a small village, it was in actuality a gargantuan place. The main place the show showed us was just the main palace which was constructed to protect and hide the spirit oasis. To its sides were subsections of cities. They reached all the way into the Snow Wilds. It was mostly calm during the summer but the seasonal storm lasted all winter and spring which meant that I've only seen its stormy side.
"Decide to go for a dip after all?" Zartok joked as I came out of the cave. He guarded the spirit oasis during the day so he knew about my regular ventures into meditation. Including the nightmares that were usually there to accompany my troubles.
"Everyone else should be waking up soon. Besides, I'm starving," I reasoned with a smile as I waved goodbye.
Indeed people were waking up. No alarm clocks existed in this world and the North Pole clearly lacked in animal life which made me wonder how all these people knew when the sun was coming out to wake up and start their day. But then again I was also managing to wake up at the same time every morning without any of the things that I used to have to do the job for me. So it really didn't bother me as much.
At this time the sky was a light purple with some faint auroras decorating the dawn sky. The moon was full and alone above. We were both essentially one and the same.
"Come on Aiden, we're going to be late," a girl literally pulled me from my thoughts as she took me with her. I had to sprint in order to keep up, but even then I was mostly being pulled forward by her. She was the only person who still called me by my given name. With the time I spent in the Water Tribe, I was eventually granted an honorary name as well which was the name that everyone used when they called me.
"Slow down, Shinya," my pleas hit deaf ears.
"MY CABBAGES!" someone screamed as Shinya ploughed through a wooden cart with some ice bending. "That is the last time I accept a royal invitation!"
She jumped off an ice bridge and into the river separating the palace from the noble homes and forced me after her. If Master Pakku learned about her using waterbending for anything other than healing he would throw a fit. Speaking of, thanks to him taking me under his tutelage I was able to live in the nobility district, not that there was any difference. Other than it was closer to the training grounds the nobility district didn't really have any perks than any other district that surrounded the Palace. No one really used money here so the nobility was nothing more than a title given to the people close to the Royal Family. Everyone just lived together peacefully and helped each other out in whatever they could. Men would go out and hunt and protect the Tribe from outsiders while the women kept everything peaceful and managed the households.
Shinya and I arrived at the Icy Palace and were allowed inside. The whole building was made of ice. Waterbending architects would be the ones to thank for this glorious work. But it wasn't really used that much. It was just for show really.
I joined the royal family of three and Master Pakku and several other people who I still couldn't seem to remember the names of as I took a seat right next to Shinya.
"Hello Zizaku," the chief greeted me politely.
His daughter seemed to laugh at my entrance. She'd always puzzled me. Sometimes she seemed so serious and void of any emotion and other times she would struggling not to burst into uncontrollable laughter at the smallest of things. I felt a sharp pain in my foot and it took me a second to realize that I had been kicked by Shinya. I'd accidentally let my gaze linger on Yue for too long.
"You jealous?" I sneered playfully under my breath at Shinya.
Everyone was already beginning to eat and as a result were unaware of my silent conversation with Shinya.
"Of who? Little miss perfect?" her nose turned up in distaste away from the Princess. "Never. And a careful word of advice. Don't play with fire. You're not a firebender after all," she kicked one more time, this time a bit harder.
"You've been meditating every morning for the past 2 months. Any progress in that?" Master Pakku suddenly asked.
"Uh, no. I mean yes. Gah, uh, actually no," I answered nervously. The Northern Water Tribe were very spiritual and meditation helped them in that a lot so someone not knowing how or not being able to meditate was a disgrace in the culture. And I really didn't want to be labelled that.
"Don't worry, Aiden. There have been some students who aren't able to grasp meditation within a year of lessons. Let alone 2 months of practice," Shinya offered.
"Do not encourage him, my niece," Pakku scolded. He let out a huff and went quiet.
"What she says is true," Yue continued, "It took me 2 years to be able to fully meditate," the princess smiled.
"No one asked you," Shinya glared as she muttered it out of her earshot. I chuckled slightly.
"How about your Academic studies?" Pakku inquired with steely eyes.
I gulped. I'd never been really good at the academics. I was all right enough to get a job but the academics the water tribe taught were very difficult. At least for me. I cleared my throat and took out a piece of paper. I froze as I realized it was a bit wet from the dive I took in the morning. I was already making a fool of myself without even starting. I knew because Master Pakku was already frowning.
"As the sun sets west, We are up for the rest, And enjoy the sun." I looked up at them and pocketed the paper waiting for a reaction from them. Sweat slid from my forehead as I did.
I tensed as Shinya slightly touched my hand.
"One syllable short but respectable." Pakku's expression remained hard. I really wasn't an expert at making him proud in anything other than my waterbending. Then again, he might only be proud to teach me the art because I was given the gift directly by the spirits while I was on their land.
"Come on, Pakku. That was great. Especially for a learner like him," the chief offered me a short clap accompanied by half the people sitting around the table. Even the chief knew how difficult it was to please the Master Bender.
After breakfast was over it was time to start my training with Master Pakku. We always began with a series of small drills. They consisted of passing water between us in a little dance. Shaping the water as we connected our emotions with it. And converting it back and forth between its two states. We were done now and I was ready.
"I am too old to demonstrate this new technique I am about to teach you. Very few people can ever learn it so do not be disappointed if you can't understand what I'm going to teach you," this made me nervous. I wanted to please my master, but how was I going to be able to do that when he couldn't show me properly how to do something new or when many others haven't been able to get it?
"I call it the sea serpent." He entered his stance and I copied him. Our hands were facing each other as our arms contorted into something a snake would do when striking its prey. "The key to this form is to be light on your feet, and strike hard."
A misshapen stream of water rose from one of the surrounding pools and smashed into an ice boulder nearby as Pakku ran toward it.
"Come on Aiden! You can do this!" Shinya encouraged me from where she was sitting on the stairs.
"So how is it supposed to look like?" I asked.
Master Pakku closed his eyes, "It is supposed to take the form of a Sea Serpent and follow your command of where to strike. It is a beginner's move for the more complex form, the Water Dragon."
Yikes. So this was just a beginner's form. A complex move for a beginner.
I planted my feet firmly on the ground and summoned two streams of water around me. With a deep breath, I began running trying my best to keep myself light. The streams of water began to whirl around me and converged into one surrounding me completely. That's where all the fun began. The water was solid against my feet as it picked me up into the air. It was fast. Master Pakku formed Icebergs and started launching them high into the air. I directed my waterbending at each of them and slammed them into snow particles. But I wasn't able to keep the Sea Serpent together too long and ended up crashing down on the floor in a wet heap.
"That was wonderful!" Master Pakku praised. "You've finally stopped fighting like a firebender."
According to him, this was the first time any student was able to even shape the water. Most students would just keep their water when bending as a simple cylinder that would snake around. And mine had as much detail as the real Sea Serpent despite me not knowing how it looked like. I'm pretty sure that there was an episode about one but I forgot about it.
The rest of the day was spent training me how to control it and how to make it last longer. I think I got the hang of it by the end of the day. Exhaustion was already washing up on me by the time training was over and the moon crept up. Master Pakku had decided that it was enough training for today and decided to give me something.
"This is packed ice chipped from the spirit oasis. Hard to melt, impossible to bend. It's what our people use to craft betrothal necklaces." I wasn't sure where this was going and I voiced my confusion to him. "I know how you look at my niece. You remind me of myself when I was young. Normally a girl like her would have already had her marriage arranged a year earlier. But because I'm her only guardian, and she's my only living family, I've been picky about whom I want her to spend the rest of her life with. But I also see how she looks at you. She likes you very much. And I would be honoured to have a great student of mine also be my son in law."
I was speechless.
"I don't know what to say," I confessed.
"Just make her happy," Master Pakku said and left.
The packed ice seemed to be plain and tasteless. And I've never seen how a betrothal necklace is crafted. Maybe the symbols weren't mandatory? But if I didn't carve them I would also be straying from the norm in a culture that valued tradition. I was very conflicted. The moon was up high by the time I had decided on what to carve and was nearly finished with it when I remembered that I had agreed to meet Shinya at the bridge by this time. She was so gonna kill me but this offering would surely more than make up for it. The ice knife I was using for the carving turned back into water as I got up and started running.
"You're late," Shinya smirked as she hopped down from the railing. She wasn't wearing her parka. I'd never seen her without it so she looked almost naked without it. Instead, she possessed a thin fabric that I've seen Katara wear later in the series but it was different. It barely had any sleeves at all and even then the shoulder bits were cut off, the skirt part stretched further down to the knees and she was wearing long fingerless pale blue gloves. Water Tribe Culture usually frowned upon tight clothing in public, but at least no one was around to see her.
I nervously put my hand in my pocket where the betrothal necklace was and touched it. I've never been good with girls. It's something that Sara always made fun of at my expense. Communication isn't something I'm good at but put me in anything that requires a task to be fulfilled and I'll do everything in my power to complete it. So I was going to treat this as such.
"Your uncle held me back. He wanted me to do something for y-him," I partially confessed.
"Ready to have some fun?" she ignored my hesitance at her touch. I was taller than her by a few inches. I was 5'9" so I'd say she was around 5'6" which should be taller than average. Every time we stood close to each other like right now I had the pleasure to take in her every detail. She had a soft face, pointed chin, brown eyes that seemed to be of an oval shape. Her nose was small but pudgy and her hair matched her eyes though at times it seemed to turn black. I was lost in her and didn't really register the kiss as it happened.
"Shinya, I know that I'm an outsider to the tribe. I've only been here for 3 months. But I feel like there's a connection between us. I'm not sure if you feel the same way but your uncle thinks you do."
"Uh?" I guess Shinya was still in a daze from the kiss we shared.
I got down to my knees, this was the first time I ever did that for anyone. I've never knelt. Not for forgiveness, not for respect, not for pleading let alone for a god I didn't believe in. But for her. For the woman in front of me, I was ready to do anything. "Will you join me in a shared life?"
Shinya snapped out of her daze as I pulled out the betrothal necklace. Her eyes widened and her pupils sharpened. "Did my uncle set you up to this? Is he really going to arrange a marriage for me as if I were just another Tribal girl?!"
At this time when it dawned on me what was happening, I should've been heartbroken. Just like any other guy who would face rejection. But that wasn't going through my mind. In my head, I was being compared to the misogynistic culture that was temporarily governing the people from here. She was making me out to be the bad guy and I didn't like that.
"Do you really think of me like that." I really didn't say it as a question. It was more of a 'How dare you. I'm done with this bullshit' sort of thing. No emotion was being expressed on my empty face and it brought out some worry in Shinya.
"I—I don't know?" She hugged herself and gazed at the water below.
I couldn't take any of this bullshit. I left her to herself and made my way to my home.