Prologue- 100 AG- 16 Years:

In the darkest times, hope is something you have to give yourself

Food…

So thirsty…

It hurts…

Am I going to die here?

No I refuse to.

I am not dying in this damn forest.

My name is Kari.

My first interaction with fire was when I was 3 years old. I was surrounded by a bright gold and black that adorned the clothing of the men around me. They were yelling and I remember a fancy man with a red, gold, and black helmet letting a bird into the sky. He then bent down to my level, a pleasant smile on his face.

"You will behave yes?" He whispered, holding a dancing flame close to my face.

At 6 years old, I was crying and holding out a shriveled up blue flower that had once resembled my eyes. A blue flame had put it out and I immediately had run to my kind mother.

"Mother! Mother! She burned it! Azula burned it!"

"A Waterbender! She's a Waterbender!" I heard the gasps and whispers around me as I defiantly stared into those cold, golden eyes of the Fire Lord. Zuko lay behind me clutching his eye in pain and the pot holding the water had fallen on the platform. At 13 years old, I had extinguished fire.

"Throw her in prison"

Fire chased me now as I narrowly dodged its burning touch. It hit a tree instead and lit it on fire, a glowing ember in the inky darkness of the night. How ironic, my only source of light was the thing I should be running from. The moon's comforting light was lost in the vast swathe of trees around me.

I ran quickly to the river in front of me ducking and not even slowing down for the branches that scratched my cheek. I stumbled into the open and I felt moonlight glowing on my back. It illuminated the river in an ethereal glow.

"Got you now!" I turned around to see 4 Fire Nation soldiers in battle stances and I smirked feeling the moon glowing above me and I lifted my arms. I felt the water lift up behind me and spiral around my arms. The soldiers took a step back and I smiled.

"No, I've got you"

I held a hand to my stomach as I walked through the village in my bright red clothing. Damn, I needed some food in me now. I felt bad for the woman who had owned these clothes previously but I couldn't walk into a Fire nation town in distinctly blue clothing.

"Ah, milady, would you like to buy a flower? A Fire Lily maybe?" A vendor said pleasantly as I passed by but I simply shook my head and tugged at the dress I was wearing. Compared to the loose fitting tunic I usually wore, this red dress felt like it was hugging me too much. Complete with red flats and a golden bracelet, I looked like a Fire Nation Citizen. But when I passed by soldiers who were patrolling the area, I tugged my cloak around me tightly.

I quickly pulled out some coins at the next food cart and bought some snacks and water, sipping the latter as I walked around the village. I couldn't stop thinking about my hidden items back in a tree trunk that I had carved out and sealed with ice. Hopefully, no soldier had noticed the ice as they patrolled the forest.

When I had gotten what I had needed, I hurried back to the tree with a bag that I had used almost all of my (stolen) coins on. With one single motion of my arm, the ice melted and fell to the ground.

I stripped and pulled on some baggy pants, my blue tunic and belt. I secured two knives that I had stolen and shoved them into their spots on the belt before pulling my cloak on once more. I shoved the extra food and water into the bag along with my clothing and slung my canteen of water over my shoulder. I pulled on snug black boots and checked to make sure my stolen map and waterbending scrolls were secure.

I started moving quickly through the trees avoiding any soldier that I came too close to. I stopped for a moment however as I observed a soldier walking through the trees a few yards away from me. I needed a map desperately if I wanted a chance in getting out of this nation. My best hope was the Fire Nation Colonies and from there laid the Earth Kingdom or the Northern Water Tribe. If I could just get there, I could at least stop looking over my shoulder.

In one swift movement, I stood back up and tiptoed slowly until I was behind the soldier. My foot found a spare twig that snapped immediately and the soldier stiffened. His hands lit up with that familiar ember glow and he was whipping around but my hand was much quicker. It descended upon his neck, knocking him out and leaving him to collapse on the ground.

I crouched beside him and unbuckled the armor around his waist aside revealing a few documents shoved inside his pockets. I grabbed them quickly and held them up to the moonlight, examining them. The first document was an identification document. Jian from the colonies huh?

I swallowed. Sorry Jian.

I threw the document aside before examining the next couple. One was troop patterns, particularly his. Good, I needed that. Then there was that map of the Fire Nation I desperately had needed. Others were executive orders.

Jian here was ordered to patrol these villages and help with the collection of taxes. He also had a wanted poster for the Avatar. I couldn't help the bitter smile that spread across my face. The Avatar huh? Just 100 years late to the party isn't he? Another had my face printed on it.

I actually felt quite proud when I saw the words "Dangerous Criminal Escaped. Powerful Waterbender" The bounty actually was nice and reasonable too. It was quite the reward they had for me. Although, if I had seen my face printed on a wanted poster 3 years ago, I probably would have been incredibly upset.

No matter, dwelling on the past did no good. I stuffed all the documents beside Jians' personal executive order and his identification document. I contemplated taking the Avatar poster and my own but instead I stuffed the Avatar's wanted poster into my bag and my own wanted poster back into Jians' pockets.

I didn't know if Jian was smart enough to realize that if the Avatar and my own wanted poster were taken and the Avatar was far away from the Fire Nation, who would take the wanted posters in order to conceal their identity? It would obviously the girl in the wanted poster.

I stood up and buckled Jians' armor back up. No need to let him know that his papers were missing until he really needed them. I then started moving once more, delving deeper and deeper into the forest and away from the villages.

Once I could no longer see the faint trails of smoke from the villages or hear the sounds of laughter, I stopped by a river and slumped down a tree. I tilted my head back staring up at the moon and it stared back with a cold but comforting gaze.

Maybe I overthought the whole poster thing. That's what Zuko always said. 'Stop overthinking everything' He had always told me and I would always tell him that if I didn't overthink, I wouldn't be able to get every possibly scenario. He would always get silent and say 'But then you would never get the simple solution' Then it would be my turn to be silent.

I spent 3 years alternating from prison to prison waiting patiently for my opportunity to escape. My overthinking of the whole process allowed me to account for everything and I managed to get out. At what cost though? I failed to realize that all I had to do was bend the water from the trees once I had gotten out of my handcuffs and I could take out every guard using windows. Instead, I had engaged in a battle that left me almost dead.

It had been just a few months since then and I had concentrated on honing my waterbending abilities. Unfortunately, the scrolls could only take me so far. I needed a real waterbending master. But in this fiery nation with the cold waters of the North Pole too far away, that hope was slipping away from me. I did what I could, combining the simplest of firebending moves with my own waterbending. It was a work in progress since fire bending was the complete opposite of waterbending but those moves combined with the ones I had learned from the scrolls would get me somewhere.

I felt sleep ensnaring me in its whispering fingers so I decided to let it take over and I relaxed, closing my eyes and I hoped that no one found me while I dreamed.

So it's been a really long time since I published a story. My friend and I co-owned this account went through some tough times and we are no longer friends so it was pretty hard. Hopefully, this new story will renew my love of writing once more! Hugs and cookies to you all if you review so please do! Thanks!