Hi girls/guys! After a couple of months being…Less active on this site (Just one new story I've been too lazy to update and a few reviews over the past couple of months), I've started another project I had ideas for months ago. I've been in a dark state of mind lately, which really gave me the creative energy I needed to truly get this thing started.

I do not own Avatar. I only own a few OCs that will appear soon.

Hope you like it, in spite of the dark vibe this story's going to give off.

Chapter I

Nightmare. Death. Shattered hopes. Those were just a few words apt to describe what Katara could see in her dream a few nights after Sozin's Comet streaked through the skies. First it was a searing blast of lightning tearing through Zuko's chest. The maniacal, heartless laugher of the deranged Princess Azula, his sister and murderer, tore through the air. It was the laughter of a being that enjoyed such acts of fratricide.

Now she looked at Katara, staring into her soul with terrifying amber eyes. "I'd rather our family physician look after Little Zuzu if you don't mind." With an evil grin, she launched a combined blast of lightning and fire. Katara attempted to summon a jet of water to ward off the attack, but it was not enough. The flames engulfed her in their eviscerating embrace. There was no escape for her.


Aang heard a scream and bolted upright from his position in the saddle of his sky bison, Appa. Glancing to his right, he saw that Katara was also sitting up, and was using her hands to move herself backwards. In the dim moonlight, he could just see tears spilling from her eyes and cascading down her cheeks.

"Katara!" He ran up to his friend and placed a firm, but comforting, hand on her shoulder. "Katara, what's wrong?" He asked, although he thought he already knew.

Katara collapsed into his arms, buried her face into his shoulder, and sobbed. She did not need words to explain things; this had happened enough in the past few nights that Aang could tell when Katara had just woken up from a nightmare. The only thing he could do to comfort her was to hold her, and even that was feeble.

"They're gone!" Katara cried in a muffled voice. "They're-"

"Shh…It's okay…It's okay…" He kissed the top of her head and stroked her dark, waist-length hair, waiting for her tears to run dry and for her anguished cries to end. The nearest town was a couple of miles away, making the risk of detection minimal, but that was not what concerned Aang.

It was the sight of his friend in such a broken state that got to him. Ever since he had met her, Katara had been the strong one among his friends. He and the others in his ragtag group, which maxed out at six members not very long ago, often turned to her for reassurance. She had convinced Zuko to seek his Uncle's forgiveness for past treachery, been to Toph, a young earthbender, the older sister figure she never had. But now everything had changed for the worse.

Zuko, who had just now redeemed himself, was dead, and Katara barely escaped with her life. The same was to be said of Aang in the aftermath of his duel with the notorious Fire Lord Ozai. And from their other friends; Toph, Suki, and especially Katara's goofy older brother Sokka, nothing had been heard. They were missing in action, and probably all dead, having all been on one of Ozai's airships that went down on its way to the Earth Kingdom.

"What are we going to do?" Katara asked weakly, with little attempt to hide the fear in her voice.

Truthfully, Aang had no idea what they were doing. They had merely been flying around on Appa, taking random directions to keep any possible pursuers guessing. Ozai knew the Avatar remained at large, and probably had search teams out for him, although Aang and Katara had not encountered any Fire Nation soldiers since Sozin's Comet.

However, just flying in random directions would not help for much longer. Sooner or later, Aang would need to either end the Fire Nation's century-long reign of terror or die trying. But as long as it was him and Katara against what seemed to be the world, doing so would be foolhardy. He had no plan to speak of, anyway.

What if I'm only delaying the inevitable? Aang mentally kicked himself for thinking so pessimistically. Stop that! She's been strong for you for months, ever since she met you. Now it's your turn.

"Everything's going to be okay, Katara."

"How?" Katara let go of Aang and looked into his eyes. "We don't know what we're doing anymore, and our allies are all either dead or missing. Hope is the one thing we always had, but now I'm not sure if I even have that anymore."

Aang had to think for a moment before he could respond to this. As bleak as their situation appeared at the time, it could still have been much worse. "Not everything is lost," He said after a few moments of trying to find the right words, "Your father wasn't in the fight, nor were the other men of the Water Tribe, so it's very possible that they're still out there somewhere. And the airship fleet was destroyed before it could do too much damage to the Earth Kingdom. We still have a chance."

And then it occurred to him; why had he not set course for the Earth Kingdom yet to curry support? Surely there were some people there sympathetic to their cause. The Fire Nation hadn't exactly treated the Earth Kingdom citizens in their colonies that well. Why should they expect them to support their oppressors?

"You should get some sleep. We're headed for Haru's village tomorrow."

"You think he's there now?"

"I think so. Now seriously, get some sleep. I'll keep an eye out for Fire Nation soldiers."

Katara nodded wearily. "Okay. Thank you, Aang." She wrapped her arms around him, then walked over to Appa's saddle.

Aang remained seated and pretended to actually keep an eye out for people. He heard footsteps in the distance and got up to investigate. "H-hello?" He called hesitantly.

More footsteps approached, seemingly quicker than before. Aang used his earthbending to pick up a nearby rock, and prepared to launch it at the first true sign of trouble. In the distance, through the trees, he could just make out the shape of a person running, and he was approaching fast. The dark shape did not appear to be wearing a Fire Nation helmet.

"Hello? Who are-?"

Suddenly, the figure leapt and tackled Aang to the ground, knocking the wind out of the airbender. As he gasped, the person drew a knife, and raised it above his head. It started to bring the blade down, but stopped suddenly upon noticing the blue arrow tattoo on Aang's forehead.

"Avatar Aang…" The person's masculine voice said somewhat raggedly. The stranger got up and offered a hand to Aang, who hesitantly took it. The Avatar stood up for a moment, then kneeled over, as he had not yet regained his breath.

"I'm sorry," The stranger said, "For some reason I thought you were a Fire Nation soldier."

Aang looked up at him. The stranger appeared to be a boy of about fifteen. He was tall and slim, with toned biceps. It was a similar build to Sokka's. His hair was dark and shoulder length, allowed to hang loose in the back while the rest was tied back with the exception of two slim braids on the left side of his face. He was wearing what looked like the battle armor of one of the Water Tribes.

"Don't worry about it," Aang replied once he regained his voice, "It's hard to tell these things in a dark forest, even if we're not too far from a clearing." He paused. "Who are you, anyway? You look like you're a Water Tribe soldier. Where are the rest?"

"My name is Markka. And I've been separated from the others for a while." Markka looked at him wistfully. "Do…Do you have any food? I've been on the run for a week, and I've hardly eaten anything for a couple of days."

He sounded desperate, and Aang could tell he was telling the truth. Markka really did look as if he had not eaten much lately.

"Come with me. Katara and I have some food left, and I've got some questions."