2
~Book One~
Water & The Howling Wind
~Chapter 2~
~The Girl With Scarlet Hair~
Riona gazed at the surface of the still water. A young elf girl stared back. Her emerald eyes set in a freckled face framed by shoulder length scarlet tresses. Every time she saw her own reflection, she had to do a double take. It was definitely her own face, but too young. Her freckles were more prominent, her features still showed signs of lingering baby fat and together with other small discrepancies they made the sight of her face just alien enough to be unsettling. Her vallaslin hadn't returned with her renewed youth though, which was a small blessing.
"Riona!" Katara's call yanked the elf out of her contemplation. She turned away from the water's edge. The waterbender waved as she approached. Riona suspected the reason Katara was so thrilled to have her around was simply the lack of other girls her age around the village, but the compassionate girl was growing on her.
"Hi Katara," She said, smiling in spite of herself. As she approached, Riona was confronted with perhaps the most annoying aspect of her transformation: her height. She'd had a late growth spurt as a girl and elves were smaller than humans to begin with. Katara was a full head taller than her despite them being physically about the same age. "I was actually about to go looking for you. I have a few questions."
"Oh, sure." The water ended glanced toward the village over her shoulder. "Let's talk on the way back, I still have some chores to do." For that matter, Riona was supposed to help Gran Gran prepare meals today. The Southern Water Tribe had been gracious enough to let her stay in the week since her arrival, but that meant pulling her own weight. She didn't mind actually. It reminded her of growing up with her clan in the Free Marches.
"Alright," Riona took a breath as they fell into step beside one another. Katara had been the one to answer a lot of her questions when she first arrived. She spoke of three major nations. Each was renowned for a specific type of bending, which was some kind of extremely specialized elemental hedge magic as far as she could tell. There was also a fourth culture that had died out. And none of them had ever seen or heard of an elf before. Katara was one of these benders, a waterbender, which she had been happy to demonstrate when Riona was skeptical. "You told me about the war with the Fire Nation. You said it had been going on for a hundred years?"
"Yeah..." Katara instantly became somber. "They say the Fire Nation is close to conquering the Earth Kingdom. My father took our warriors to go fight there two years ago."
"I see... " Riona looked on the waterbender sympathetically. She'd seen the same look on the face of refugees uncertain what had become of their loved ones. "I'm sorry, I hope they're safe."
"Thanks," Katara smiled. "Hey, can I ask you a few questions too,"
"Of course…" Riona tried not to let her exasperation show. She had been hesitant to share details about herself. The elf didn't know how to explain the disparity between her physical age and her actual age, so she let them think she was a child. So she gave them vague details about Thedas and her life with Clan Lavellan, that was strange enough to them that they didn't think to ask for more. Though Sokka still swore she must be a Fire Nation spy.
"Okay then," Katara said as they entered the village. The younger children stopped what they were doing for a few moments to stare at her, and not just her ears. Red hair seemed just as alien to them as pointed ears and they hadn't become used to seeing either yet. "I was wondering, have your people ever heard of the Avatar?"
"Refresh my memory."
"You know, the Avatar! Master of all the elements, sworn to bring balance to the world?"
"Oh," Riona blinked. "No, I don't think I've ever heard of anything like that. We have mages, people who can use the elements, but not like you do." She remembered some of the stories she'd heard of this Avatar figure in the village. It sounded like just a story to her, but then again the Inquisitor had been the subject of such stories not too long ago.
"Well, I was just thinking," Katara continued. "If where you live is so far away that you've never heard of the Avatar, maybe that's where he's been these last hundred years."
"I guess it's possible," Riona said doubtfully. "But what brought me here was a freak magical accident, so I don't know where home is from here…"
"I'm sorry we can't help you get home," The waterbender stopped and turned toward the elf. "Have you at least been sleeping better?" There was a good question, for the first time in months the wolf had been absent from her dreams. Instead of comforting her, his absence was unsettling. Where could she have gone that he couldn't touch her dreams? Last night's dream had taken her back to the tundra, that strange light pierced the sky again but this time there was fire burning away the ice.
"Better, yes." She lied. "We can talk in a little bit, Katara, I need to get some practice in before my other."
"Oh, alright, just look out for Sokka, he gets really jealous when you practice your sword skills."
"Thanks," The memory of leaving the young water tribe warrior sprawled out on the ground when he tried to assert that he was the better warrior.
"Speaking of, me and Sokka are going to take a canoe out fishing later. Want to come?"
"Sounds better than helping Gran Gran wash clothes. I mean, sure, that sounds great!" Riona recovered and forced an enthusiastic smile. She kept it up until Katara was out of sight. Then she went to the tent she had been sleeping in and pulled out a rolled up pelt. The elf carefully unrolled it to reveal one of the few items that had made the trip, Mi'Hellathen, her sword. Riona held it up to the light. It was relatively unadorned, heavily weighted toward to the end of the blade. She'd had it made based on designs they'd discovered in the Deep Roads and given it an elven name. It was a good sword, it was also very heavy.
When she talked about practicing with it, she meant reinventing her fighting style. At her reduced size and strength, she found that she needed to alternate between holding the blade with one hand and both hands to properly handle the momentum of the weapon. If she ever encountered enemies in this form she would have to be more mobile, standing and taking hits as she used to with sword and shield wasn't an option. That initial fight with Sokka had been much closer than she wanted to admit. So Riona chose a spot just outside the village and began practicing, shifting through movements she hoped would allow her to use her weapon effectively in real battle.
Knowing her luck, she'd be encountering a real battle soon enough…
Frigid winds tore at her numb face as she squinted against the icy pinpricks of a blizzard. Riona couldn't see anything. There was no light, only cold biting darkness. Panic began to rise in her throat. She fell and hit hard slick ice. The elf struggled to find some purchase but there was none to be had. She slid helplessly in the howling dark, until she hit water. The shock of the cold ocean forced all the air from her lungs and paralyzed her for several precious seconds. For those precious seconds, she sank into the inky depths, the cold striking to her very bones. She tried to breath only to take in the dark water. Suddenly her limbs burst into activity, clawing her way through the water, but which way was up?
Riona blindly flailed in the blackness, but then there was a light, at once brilliant yet gentle, above her. The elf swam towards it. Even as darkness began to close around her vision, she broke the surface and gasped for breath. That was when she saw the source of the light. It was an iceberg, glowing with an internal blue-green gleam. It was translucent, and at the center of the light was a silhouette, one that looked like… a child?
Her attention was swiftly torn away from the glow by a sound at the edge of hearing, the sound of a wolf's howl in the distance…
Riona woke with a gasp. She saw blue sky above her head and heard water. It took her a moment to remember where she was.
"Hey, rise and shine! Just in time to see how real fishing is done!" Sokka bragged as he leaned intently over the edge of the canoe with spear in hand. Riona sat up and rubbed her eyes with a groan. She must have dozed off after she joined Katara and her brother for their fishing trip.
"Another bad dream, huh?" Riona twisted around to look at Katara, who was sitting at the back of the boat.
"You could say that... it feels like something's hunting me."
"Hunting you?" Katara's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"Hey girls, hunting fish is what's going on here, be quiet!" Sokka snapped. Katara's older brother was a lanky boy with a partially shaved head that fancied himself a comedian and an alpha male. Riona scoffed at him.
"Well sorry for interfering with your attempts to show off." Sokka didn't seem to hear her. He stabbed at the water with his spear. He growled in frustration when it came up empty.
"Dang it! You distracted me!" He wheeled on the elf and jabbed in her direction with his spear point.
"Hmph." She folded her arms and looked unimpressed. Sokka glared at her for a few moments, then turned back to the water, grumbling to himself.
"Stupid girls, always ruining things…" After awhile he seemed to regain his composure and returned his focus to the water's surface. "It's not getting away from me this time, watch and learn, girls. This is how you catch a fish." Riona sighed, wishing she'd thought to ask for a spear of her own. She scanned the horizon until she heard a splashing sound behind her.
"Sokka, look!" Riona looked up to see a globe of water hovering in the air over her head with a fish swimming inside it. Her jaw dropped in surprise and she twisted around to look at Katara, who was moving her hands with a look of intense focus on her face.
"Shhhh," Sokka shushed his sister without looking up. "Katara, you're gonna scare it away. Mmmm… I can already smell it cookin'!" Riona could already see where this was going, even if neither sibling did. She edged away from Sokka as the water globe passed over her head.
"But Sokka, I caught one!" Katara called as her brother cocked his arm back to thrust his spear, driving the butt of it straight into the water globe. Sokka was soaked instantly as Katara lost control and the water globed 'popped' right over his head. Riona yelped as some of the freezing water splashed her. Sokka wheeled on his sister in exasperation.
"Ugh, why is it that every time you play with magic water I get soaked!?"
"It's not magic, it's waterbending." Katara matched his exasperation. Riona tried to squeeze the water out of her borrowed water tribe coat before it froze as she did her best to ignore the squabbling siblings. "and it's-"
"Yeah, yeah, an ancient art unique to our culture, blah blah blah." Sokka was trying to squeeze the water out of his own hair. "Look, I'm just saying that if I had weird powers, I'd keep my weirdness to myself."
"You're calling me weird? I'm not the one that makes muscles at myself every time I see my reflection in the water." As Katara and Sokka were talking, Riona sighed, being around these two seemed to make her do that a lot, and resumed scanning the horizon. Then she froze.
"Um, guys?"
"What!?" Sokka shouted. She pointed in front of them, at the field of icebergs the current was carrying them into. The same current that seemed to be speeding up alarmingly.
"Aah!" Both water tribe siblings screamed as their canoe was dragged into the pack ice. Riona couldn't stop herself from joining in as they bumped up against one of the icebergs.
"Watch out! Go left! Go left!" Katara shouted at her brother as the ice collided around them. All the elf could do was grip the sides of the boat until her knuckles turned white. The canoe narrowly slipped between the ice by narrower and narrower margins. Riona couldn't tell if the waterbender's instruction would do any good, there seemed to be icebergs everywhere. Then all at once, their luck ran out. Three icebergs converged on them at once. Riona and the water tribe sibling scrambled up out of the cane just as the hull began to crunch under the force of the ice.
They landed on top of the closest piece of ice. Sokka and Katara gained purchase on the edge, but Riona slipped a little too far and her head went straight into the cold water at the other end of the iceberg. The cold was shocking, but a pair of hands pulled her back up on the iceberg with the rest of her body. She gasped for breath and did her best to hold onto the edge between her two comrades as the current tossed them around. Eventually the seas calmed and the three of them simple lay panting on the iceberg for a few moments.
"You call that left?!" Katara snapped at her brother as they pulled themselves up to sit on the ice.
"You don't like my steering. Well, maybe you should have waterbended us out of the ice."
"Ugh, both of you shut up, please." Riona's teeth chattered. Her wet hair was already starting to stiffen in the frigid air. "Can we concentrate on getting out of here?"
"Well maybe Katara can waterbend us out." Katara grit her teeth at her brother's comment.
"Well maybe I will."
"Yeah, sure." Sokka said dismissively. "If you can get that right. I knew I should have left you home, leave it to a girl to screw things up."
"Sokka, keep talking if you want me to push you off this piece of ice." Riona chattered. Katara's reaction was more explosive. She was quivering with frustration and rage, then she exploded.
"You are the most sexist, immature, nut brained..!" Riona wasn't really paying attention, being occupied by how cold she felt, but started when the ice beneath them started to heave. "Ugh, I'm embarrassed to be related to you! Ever since Mom died, I've been doing all the work around camp while you've been off playing soldier!" Now Sokka noticed it too and the two of them gaped at the massive iceberg looming behind Katara, or more accurately at the massive fractures appearing on it as Katara spoke.
"Uuh, Katara?" Sokka croaked. Riona didn't say anything, she was still in shock. She had never seen Katara manipulate anything larger than a puddle in the time she'd been here.
"I even wash all the clothes!" Katara shouted over her brother, shoving her finger in his face. "Have you ever smelled your dirty socks? Let me tell you, NOT PLEASANT!" More fissures erupted from the ice. Riona found her voice finally.
"Katara, maybe you should-"
"No! Not anymore." She threw up her hands and glared at her brother. "I'm done helping you. From now on, you're on your own!" With that final shout, Katara threw down her hands and the the iceberg went with them. With a thunderous crack it split down the middle and huge chunks fell into the water, creating waves that sent all three of them back to clinging to the ice.
"Oh not again!" Riona grit her teeth as she swore to herself she would never go fishing with these two ever again. "What's wrong with you two?"
"Don't look at me!" Sokka cried.
"You mean I did that?" Katara seemed awed by her own abilities
"Yes Katara, you did do that." Riona said exasperatedly. "Almost drown us, that is." She muttered that last part.
"Congratulations." Sokka added. The elf contemplated that this was probably the worst fishing trip she had ever been on, probably because it was the only one that might well end with her freezing to death. That was when all three of them noticed that the water in front of them was starting to glow. To Riona it looked… familiar. The light grew larger and larger, something was approaching the surface. The three of them scrambled backwards on their piece of ice as another larger iceberg broke the surface. Riona gasped. It was a sphere, a huge glowing sphere of ice. There was a figure at its center.
It was exactly what Riona had seen in her dream.
"How…" She had no idea how that was even possible. Then something even stranger happened. The figure's eyes began to glow, then strange arrow shaped marking on his head and limbs began to glow with a white light.
"He's still alive!" Katara cried. "We have to help!" She snatched up Sokka's weapon and began running towards the strange iceberg, leaping across smaller pieces of floating ice to reach it,
"Wait, I don't think that's a good idea!" Riona started to her feet and started after the waterbender. Running towards a strange magical phenomenon rarely had good results in her experience.
"Katara!" Sokka, surprisingly, agreed with her as they both chased after his sister. "Stop! We don't know what that thing is!" Neither of their words seemed to have any effect on the willful waterbender. When she got to the iceberg, she immediately began hammering at it as hard as she could. Almost as soon as Riona and Sokka landed next to her, the ice began to fracture. Then it exploded into a blinding white light that forced the trio to shield their eyes. A great pillar of light pierced the sky… Just like the one she'd seen in her vision the day she arrived.
Sokka covered his sister with his own body to shield her. When the light cleared, the trio looked up to see that most of the iceberg had vanished. The boy, for it was clearly a boy, stood at the edge closest to them. His eyes and markings glowed brightly. Sokka leveled his spear at the boy and Riona wished she had brought her sword.
"Stop!" He barked. The boy stood above them as the glowing energy faded. Then he went limp as a sack of potatoes and toppled forward, sliding down the ice toward them. Katara lunged forward to catch him and stop him from sliding too far. Riona quickly moved to stand beside to get a better look at this strange boy. His clothing was strange and the arrow shaped markings appeared to be tattoos, otherwise he looked unremarkable. Sokka poked his head with the butt of his spear.
"Stop it!" Katara smacked the spear away and turned to the boy. Riona found herself leaning in closer to get a better look. The waterbender turned the boy over so they could see his face. His eyes fluttered open and his breathing was shallow.
"I need to ask you something." He whispered.
"What?" Katara leaned in.
"Please… come closer."
"What is it?" Katara asked again as she leaned in further. Riona's mind was working fast as she too leaned closer to hear what the boy had to say. That vision she had when she got here was clearly linked to this boy. He could very well have the answer to getting her home.
"Will you go penguin sledding with me?" Or not.
"Uh, sure, I guess." Katara gave the boy a weird look, but otherwise took it in stride. Suddenly the wind began to pick up and the trio could only stare as the wind itself seemed to push the boy upright onto his feet. Sokka screamed. Riona had seen enough magic not to be too fazed… but hadn't Katara said…
"What's going on here?" The boy asked as he looked around. He looked just as surprised at waking up at the south pole as they were to find him, though also strangely unperturbed.
"You tell us." Riona found her voice, this was all interesting enough that ignoring how cold her wet head was became easy. "You're the one that just emerged from a glowing iceberg."
"How?!" Was all Sokka could exclaim as he poked the boy with his spear. The boy swatted the spear away absentmindedly as he scratched his head.
"I'm not sure." Just as he spoke, an incredibly deep animalistic groan came from behind him, behind the remaining wall of the iceberg. He brightened instantly and started scrambling back up the ice. Riona opted to follow the water tribe sibling in walking around the ice instead.
"Appa! Are you alright? Wake up, buddy." They could hear the child talking as they walked around. Turning the corner, Riona realized that the iceberg now resembled a crater with a hollowed out basin in the middle except one side that had dissolved entirely. Riona openly stared and felt her jaw drop when she saw what was in that basin. The strange child was getting licked by the most bizarre creature the Inquisitor had ever seen, which was saying something. It was huge, covered in white fur with a brown pattern resembling an arrow on its head. It's body looked to be several meters long with a flat tail nearly as long and wide as its body, which was supported by six legs. A pair of thin horns jutted out of its huge fluffy head. It seemed to be wearing some kind of saddle on its back. The good news was that its big mouth was filled with flat teeth, so it probably wouldn't try to eat them. The boy was ecstatic, hugging the beast's head. "Haha, you're okay!"
"What is that thing?!" Sokka said what they were all thinking.
"This is Appa," The arrow-headed boy said matter of factly, "My flying bison." as if that explained everything.
"Right. And this is Katara, my flying sister." Sokka didn't miss a beat.
"It doesn't even have wings." Riona muttered, mostly to herself as she stood at Katara's side. It annoyed her that she was actually agreeing with Sokka so frequently just now.
"He doesn't need wings, he-" The boy started, but cut himself off as Appa reared his head. The beast's nostrils flared and then he gave the loudest sneeze Riona had ever her, sending a splattering of thick, viscous, green mucus splattering all across Sokka's right side. The teen was frozen in place for a moment, a look of growing horror on his face.
"Ewww! Aah!" He frantically tried to wipe the mucus off and threw himself to the ground in an attempt to scrape it off on the ice
"Don't worry, it'll wash out." The boy offered as Sokka struggled.' "So, do you guys live around here?" Riona was about to say 'Not me' but got interrupted.
"Don't answer that!" Sokka shot up immediately, having surprisingly rid himself of most of the mucus. He leveled his spear at the boy again. "Did you see that crazy bolt of light? He was probably trying to signal the Fire Nation!"
"That's a bit of a leap, don't you think?" Riona offered. "He's a kid, how do you get that from an inexplicable bolt of white light?"
"Yeah, I mean look at him." Katara added. The all glanced at the boy and he grinned at them. It was actually kind of adorable, Riona had to admit. Katara smiled back and indicated her brother with her a hand gesture. "The paranoid one is my brother, Sokka. And this is Riona, who we actually just met a week ago. You never told us your name."
"I'm A…" The boy wrinkled his nose. "aaaahhhh... ahhhhhh... aaah aaah aaah," Riona discretely stepped behind Katara to avoid any more projectile mucus. "AAAAAAACHOOOO!" Rather than send disgusting mucus flying everywhere, the boy sneezed at the ground.
Which sent him flying straight up into the air, over ten feet up. The elf decided to stop feeling surprised by anything this boy did. He gently floated back to earth and wiped his nose.
"I'm Aang."
"You just sneezed," Sokka stared incredulously, "...and flew ten feet in the air!"
"Really?" Aang glance up. "It felt higher than that."
"So, does that mean you're a…" Riona started but Katara finished.
"An airbender!" The waterbender gasped.
"Sure am." Aang grinned.
"Giant light beams... flying bison... airbenders... I think I've got Midnight Sun Madness. I'm going home to where stuff makes sense." Sokka did an about face and marched to the edge of the iceberg… where he stopped when he realized they were still trapped on an iceberg.
"Well, if you guys are stuck, Appa and I can give you a lift." Aang offered. He airbended himself up onto Appa's head. Riona folded her arms dubiously.
"You really think that thing can fly?"
"Of course he can, right Appa?" The airbender reached down and rubbed the bison's head.
"What she means is, we'd love a ride. Thanks!" Katara nudged the elf as she ran to clamber up onto the giant saddle on the beast's back. Riona sighed. She supposed the only other option was freezing to death anyway. She followed Katara and Aang reached down to help her climb onto the huge creature's back. The elf sat down and considered the airbender for a moment. He seemed strange, but she rather doubted he actually held some secret that would get her home at this point. Still, there was definitely some connection between them...
"Oh no, I am not getting on that fluffy snot monster!" She looked up to see that Sokka hadn't moved from where he stood.
"Are you hoping some other kind of monster will come along and give you a ride home?" His sister was unimpressed by his attitude. "You know… before you freeze to death?" Sokka started to say something but gave up before the words left his lips. Riona settled herself near the rear of the saddle as Sokka climbed aboard, rubbing her arms to stay warm. She had always hated the cold, even before getting lost in that blizzard after Haven was destroyed. That Skyhold's magic seemed to keep the temperature within the walls eternally pleasant was one of the few reasons living in the remote mountain fortress was tolerable. She found herself daydreaming about the warm fire in the hearth at Skyhold. What was going on back there now? No doubt her vanishing had set off a panic. Had word of her disappearance gotten to Val Royeaux yet? Cassandra would probably have Dagna and Cedric locked in the Undercroft until they found some way to bring her back. She would be very cross.
"Okay, first time flyers, hold on tight!" Aang's voice dragged her back to the here and now. "Appa, yip yip!" He shook the reins. Appa let out another low growl and with a flap of his enormous beaver-like tail he launched into the air… only to come crashing down into the water a second later and start swimming. Aang shook the reins again. "Come on Appa, yip yip."
"Wow, that was truly amazing." Sokka deadpanned.
"Appa's just tired," Aang defended his furry friend. "A little rest and he'll be soaring through the sky. You'll see." They cruised in silence for a few moments before Riona heard Katara speak.
"Why are you smiling at me like that?" Riona couldn't actually see the airbender from where she was sitting, but she groaned internally.
"Oh... I was smiling?" Aang said.
"Great, now I have to deal with adolescent crushes." Riona muttered to herself. Sokka summed up her feelings rather nicely.
"Uuuuugh…"
After a time it became dark. Sokka was the first to fall asleep. Katara stayed up long enough to ask Aang if he knew the Avatar, he claimed he didn't. Riona listened and waited. When Katara closed her eyes, the elf crawled up to the front of the saddle and looked down at the bald airbender.
"Aang,"
"Hm?" He looked up her and smiled. "Oh, hey Riona."
"I was wondering if I could ask you some questions… and maybe you have some questions for me." She began slowly.
"Oh, sure, why are your ears pointed?" Riona blinked. That was unexpectedly blunt. "I mean, they look cool, but I've never met anyone with pointed ears before."
"Okay then, we'll start with that." Riona let out a breath. "They're pointed because I'm an elf. I'm not human and I come from very far away.."
"Really? Wow." Aang scratched his head, impressed but not sure what to do with the information. "So how did you end up fishing with Sokka and the South Pole?"
"There was an accident involving magic, I did something reckless." That was about as much as she told Katara. "But as I arrived I had a… vision, I guess, maybe a dream."
"About what?"
"You, I think." Aang's eyes widened in surprise. She continued, "I saw that bolt of light you gave off when you got out of the ice. Then, just before we found you, I dreamed about you in the iceberg."
"Wow, what does that mean?" Aang leaned forward eagerly.
"I was hoping you could tell me." Riona sighed. "I was hoping you had some idea how I could get home."
"Oh," Aang blinked then hung his head. "I'm sorry, I don't know anything about that…"
"I see…" Riona tried not to let her disappointment show, but didn't do a very good job of it. Aang looked thoughtful for a moment, then grinned widely.
"But I do have Appa! We can fly you home!" He was so excited it was hard not to crack a smile, but Riona shook her head.
"I don't even know where home is from here." Riona said miserably.
"Well," Aang looked thoughtful again. "I've flown around all over the world, throw some names at me, maybe I'll recognize one." Somehow Riona doubted a boy with arrow tattoos and a six legged bison could visit Thedas discreetly, but stranger things had happened.
"Orlais,"
"Nope."
"Ferelden,"
"No,"
"Tevinter,"
"Nope,"
"Antiva,"
"Wait…. No,"
"Thedas?" Riona let out an exasperated sigh as Aang shook his head. "Well, thanks for trying."
"Sorry I wasn't able to help." He looked dejected.
"Don't worry about it." She felt a pang when she looked at him, she understood the feeling of helplessness when you wanted to help someone and didn't know how. "I'm going to get some rest, thanks Aang."
By the time they arrived in the village, Aang was dead to the world, sleeping like a rock. Riona helped Katara carry him to into the village, where they lay him under a blanket in one of the tents. While Katara regaled her grandmother with the story of what had happened, Riona went to her own tent for a night of fitful sleep. Her dreams were once again filled with dark skies and the howling of a distant wolf…
"Hah!" Riona cried as her swing beheaded a snowman. She smiled down at the fallen snow head with satisfaction. She was finally getting the hang of her new fighting style, though the elf wasn't just practicing for her skills. Practice kept her mind off the nightmares that assaulted her sleeping mind last night. Aang hadn't been present in them, but she'd once again found herself in darkness, pushed and pulled by storm with a wolf in the distance. The wolf was looking for her. He was looking for her, she was sure of it. What gnawed at her was why, both why he was so desperate to find her and why it was so hard. He'd never have difficulty entering her dreams before.
And now she was thinking about it again, time to start swinging. With another cry she whipped Mi'Hellathen around and sliced through the snowman's torso, barely letting its snowy girth slow down the blade.
"Mr. Snowdrop!" The cry surprised Riona so much she nearly let the momentum rip the sword from her hand. She looked to see one of the little village girls on her knees in the snow, staring at the fallen mound of snow in horror. "You killed Mr. Snowdrop!" She wailed, distraught. Riona looked down at the mound of snow. Oh. Oops.
"Um…"
"Hey, Riona!" Just then, Aang swooped down from the sky on the gliding contraption he had revealed earlier in the morning. Riona had missed the display, but she'd seen him crash into Sokka's attempt at a watchtower from a distance. He zipped by her, throwing up a wake of snow with the wind of his passage.
"Gack!" Riona got a face full of it, lost her balance and immediately fell flat on her back into the snow. "Umph." She heard the start of little girl's giggle. The elf forced herself to sit up. Seeing Riona get knocked over with snow on her face seemed to cheer the girl up. She was watching Aang now, following his glider through the air with open mouthed excitement. All the children of the village seem to have fallen in love with the energetic air nomad. The airbender came down for a landing right beside her.
"What're you doing?" He asked as if he hadn't just knocked her over.
"I was practicing." She grit her teeth as she pulled her sword from the snow to show him.
"Woah, neat!" He said as he examined the blade. "Did this come from where you come from?"
"Yes."
"She killed Mr. Snowdrop." The little girl pouted.
"Sorry, but how was I supposed to know that your snowman was so important to you?" Riona protested grumpily. The girl glared at her and opened her mouth to talk but Aang put his hands on each of their shoulders and crouched between them.
"Hey, I have an idea." He looked at the little girl with a big smile. "How about me and Riona help you build Mr. Snowdrop the Second!"
"Are you kidding?" Riona looked at him critically.
"Trust me, it'll be fun!" Aang assured her. "Let me help you get started." With that he twirled his staff and tracing a circle above his head with it. Gusts of wind whirled around him and Riona raised a gloved hand to shield her face as the wind pushed the snow together around him. By the time he was done, there was a mound of snow as tall as he was in front of him. The little girl squealed in delight at the show. She rushed to the snow mound and started compacting chunks of it into a rough ball.
"Aang, I really don't-" Riona started, but Aang was already on his hands and knees, pushing snow together.
"Come on! You owe her a snowman." The elf rubbed her temples at his antics before finally relenting. The snowman started to take form slowly thanks mostly to Aang and the girl's enthusiasm. Despite herself, Riona began to find their energy infectious. When the snowman's second layer began to topple towards the little girl, the elf reflexively moved to hold it up with her hands.
"Woah, okay there?" She asked the girl. At her nod, Riona asked, "Um… What's your name?"
"Miki," The little girl squeaked as she padded the snow.
"Well, uh, nice to meet you Miki, I'm Riona." Riona gave the little girl an awkward smile. When she actually thought about it, she couldn't remember the last time she'd been around a child this young. It might have been one of the younger children in the clan before she'd left for the Conclave. Almost three years ago...
"Ready?" Aang popped up from the other side of the snowman, already done with the head.
"Just a moment," She firmed up the snowman's middle and paused. Then she looked at Miki. "Do you want to…?" The girl nodded vigorously. Riona nodded back. "Aang, give her the head." As the airbender handed off the last piece of the snowman, Riona grabbed Miki under the arms and lifted her up. Thankfully swinging around a heavy sword had its advantages. The child was easy to lift, even at her current stature. Miki plopped the head on the finished snowman with a satisfied grin and Riona realized that the airbender had taken the time to draw an arrow on its head.
"That is a good looking arrow." Aang quipped as he took a few steps back to survey their handiwork. As Riona let down Miki, the little water tribe girl looked up at her and smiled.
"Thanks!"
"You're welcome." Riona rubbed her neck sheepishly and smiled back. She knelt to pick up her sword and noticed Aang looking at her with a pleased expression on his face. "What?"
"It's good to see you smile," He grinned as if to demonstrate. "I know you want to go home, but you can't be glum all the time. That's not good for anyone."
"I suppose that's true." She breathed. "Thanks, Aang."
"You're welcome! I'm gonna go look for Appa now, see you later!" With that he was off, kicking up a flurry as he took to the air with his glider.
"My, that must be convenient." Riona said as she watched him go. Then she set about looking for the pelt she used to wrap the sword. She was going to need a new sheathe eventually...
"Weeee!" Riona heard a child's voice just as she found Aang again. It looked like he'd found Appa. The village children were using the flying bison's back and tail as a slide, laughing and giggling as they launched themselves into a pile of snow. Riona didn't bother holding back a smile.
"Stop it! Stop it now!" Sokka stormed up to them. "What's wrong with you? We don't have time for fun and games with a war going on!" Aang frowned.
"What war?" He hopped down off Appa to stand by Sokka. "What are you talking about?" The older boy gave him an incredulous look.
"You're kidding right?" The airbender looked like he was about to respond, but he suddenly focused on something behind Sokka. His eyes bulged.
"PENGUIN!" He shouted at the top of his lungs and suddenly he was speeding across the landscape past Sokka and Katara like the wind itself was carrying him, which it probably was. The young warrior looked to his sister.
"He's kidding, right?" Katara didn't answer her brother, she started after Aang.
"Two of you in a week," Sokka grumbled and glanced at Riona. "What, have you both been living under a glacier the past hundred years?" The elf gave him an unreadable look. "What?"
"You may be right…" She muttered as she began following Katara. She obviously had no way of knowing about this hundred year war, but Aang appeared to be from a culture Katara had told her was extinct, had been since the beginning of the war. Could Aang really be over a hundred years old? By the time she caught up with Aang and Katara, they were amidst a large flock of… penguins was the word Aang had used. They were some variety of flightless bird creatures with four flippers in place of wings and whiskers on their faces. Most of them were wandering around aimlessly, a few were sliding down slopes on their stomachs.
"Aang, I'll help you catch a penguin if you teach me waterbending." Katara was saying as she walked into earshot.
"You got a deal!" Aang smiled, but it quickly faded. "Just one little problem. I'm an airbender, not a waterbender. Isn't there someone in your tribe who can teach you?"
"No," Katara cast her gaze down and turned away. "You're looking at the only waterbender in the whole South Pole." For the first time since she'd met him, Aang looked perturbed.
"This isn't right. A waterbender needs to master water. "What about the North Pole? There's another Water Tribe up there, right? Maybe they have waterbenders who could teach you."
"Maybe." Katara said doubtfully. "But we haven't had contact with our sister tribe in a long time. It's not exactly 'turn right at the second glacier.' It's on the other side of the world!"
"But you forget: I have a flying bison. Appa and I can personally fly you to the North Pole. Katara, we're gonna find you a master!"
"Always trying to help," Riona muttered to herself. "Reminds me of someone," Katara didn't look so certain about the idea. Aang noticed her approaching.
"Riona! Want to go penguin sledding too?"
"Uh, sure," She glanced at the waterbender. "Planning a trip?"
"I mean...:" She looked conflicted. "I want to learn, but I don't know. I've never left home before."
"Well, you think about it." The airbender didn't seem at all bothered by her ambivalence. "But in the meantime, can you teach me to catch one of these penguins?" Katara smiled back. Aang seemed to have a way of putting a smile on people's faces. She assumed a tone of mock wisdom.
"Okay, listen closely my young pupil. Catching penguins is an ancient and sacred art. Observe." She produced a small fish from her coat and tossed it to Aang. Penguins instantly began swarming him, attracted by the tiny meal.
"Coming?" Katara asked Riona. The elf cast a look at the strange animals.
"Huh, 'when in Orlais' I guess. This will be… new, at least."
"Aaaah! Hah ha!" Riona was breathless, her energized by a mixture of fear and exhilaration. Aang whooped and Katara laughed ahead of her as they plunged down the slope aboard their flightless steeds. She had worried about hurting the poor things, but they didn't seem to mind holding a child's weight. Using such a strange animal as a sled might just make the list of the strangest things she'd ever done... Aside from walking the Fade, time travel, drinking from the Well of Sorrows, get turned into a child and... Okay, maybe it wouldn't make the list, but she still felt absurd doing it.
"I haven't done this since I was a kid!" Katara laughed.
"You're still a kid!" Aang cried as he sped ahead.
"Oh no," Riona's eyes went wide as she watched the pair head into a tunnel in the ice. She grit her teeth and nudged her penguin in the right direction, praying she wasn't about to smack into a dead end or sharp corner. She couldn't hold back a short scream as she sped into the tunnel. Light from holes in the tunnel lit her path. The elf could hear Aang and Katara's laughter echoing behind them. Then she emerged, sunlight blinded her for a moment as she slowed down. When she came to a stop, Riona stood off her penguin. The penguin found its own footing and started wandering off with a series of indignant honking noises.
"Whoa…" Riona heard Aang say as she shielded her eyes from the sun. She followed the sound of his voice. "What is that?" Her eyes finally adjusted when she was just behind the other two. A massive dark shape was silhouetted against the sun, a ship atop an outcrop of ice but unlike any ship Riona had ever seen before. It was made entirely of metal, with some sort of chimney instead of a mast and sails. A tattered flag still flew from it, a black flame on faded red. It definitely didn't look like anything the water tribe was capable of constructing.
"A Fire Navy ship, and a very bad memory for my people." Katara's voice had turned deathly serious.
"Fire Navy…" Riona muttered to herself. That would mean this ship belonged to the nation that had plunged the whole world into war, according to Katara. Her theory so far had been that what Katara thought constituted the whole world was just one region. This ship seemed to suggest something a bit bigger than she first thought. Aang started towards the ship.
"Aang, stop!" The airbender stopped short at Katara's shout. "We're not allowed to go near it. The ship could be booby trapped."
"If you wanna be a bender, you have to let go of fear." He smiled and continued toward the ship. Riona actually thought Katara had a good point, but she was curious about this Fire Nation. She went after Aang and the waterbender followed hesitantly. They made their entrance through a hole beneath the waterline of the ship. The interior was utterly silent, only shadows and the wind remained in the metal hulk. Riona noted pipes running along the wall, though she had no idea of their purpose.
"This ship has haunted my tribe since Gran Gran was a little girl. It was part of the Fire Nation's first attacks." Katara explained as they wandered into a room that looked like an armory, filled with frost covered spears, swords, and clubs. None of them had familiar designs.
"Okay, back up." Aang frowned as he picked up a spear from the wall. "I have friends all over the world, even in the Fire Nation. I've never seen any war."
"Aang, how long were you in that iceberg?" Katara gave voice to the question that had been on Riona's mind for an hour now. The elf folded her arms and watched the airbender closely.
"I don't know…" Aang shrugged. "A few days, maybe?"
"I think it was more like a hundred years!"
"What? That's impossible. Do I look like a hundred and twelve year old man to you?" The airbender turned on them both with a skeptical look.
"I've seen stranger things," Riona supplied. They both gave her odd looks but she pressed on. "If there was no war last time you traveled to this 'Fire Nation', and the war really has been going on for a century, it stands to reason that you may have been in that iceberg a lot longer than a few days." Aang put a hand on his forehead and stumbled backwards, a shocked and disturbed look on his face, then sat on the floor.
"A hundred years! I can't believe it." Riona tried to think of something comforting to say to him, but Katara beat her to it. She kneeled by the airbender.
"I'm sorry, Aang. Maybe somehow there's a bright side to all this."
"I did get to meet you." Aang looked up at Katara. She smiled back.
"That's sweet, Aang." Riona wasn't sure whether to smile or roll her eyes. They were cute kids. "Now, let's got out of here." Katara helped Aang to his feet and they set off through the halls of the ship with Riona leading the way. The dark cold corridors were starting to make all of them uncomfortable, all of them except for Aang.
"Aang?" Katara whispered. Riona turned to see the airbender stepping into another room. "Let's head back, this place is creepy." The girls followed him into the room.
"Huh?" He said, just before a very ominous click. Riona jumped with a yelp as a metal grate screeched down behind them, blocking the door. All three of the kids immediately rushed to the grate, but despite its age it was still quite solid. Aang looked at the two girls sheepishly. "What's that you said about booby traps?"
"What's that?" Riona said, looking back into the room. Old pipes seemed to come alive, shaking and whistling with pressure. Hot steam hissed from joints worn by the strain of years. There was a sound like a small explosion, then the ship seemed to settle. The pipes stopped shaking as the ship settled back into its icy grave. That was when they saw the flare. This room had windows and was raised above the rest of the ship. A smoke trail from somewhere below them led straight up into the sky where a bright flare burned above them.
"Uh oh," Aang looked at a flare, then to a hole in the ceiling. "Hold on tight!" Was all the warning he gave before he swept Katara off her feet. He looked at the elf. "Be right back!" He leapt up through the hole with a gust of wind. Riona blinked at his sudden exit, then looked up through the same hole he had left through. The flare was slowly falling toward the ground. Katara had told her that the last raid had been years ago. The Fire Navy probably wasn't so close that they'd see the flare.
Or at least that was what she hoped.
By the time the trio had returned to the village, the sun was setting and what looked like the entire tribe had assembled to wait for them. Whether or not the Fire Nation could see the flare, the village certainly could. Sokka looked both angry and unusually serious. As they approached, the village children surged forward and gathered around the airbender.
"Yay! Aang's back!"
"I knew it!" Sokka stormed through the children and pointed at Aang accusingly. "You signaled the Fire Navy with that flare! You're leading them straight to us, aren't you?"
"Sokka, stop." Riona stood in front of the airbender and gave the water tribe boy a stern look. "The flare was an accident, a trap on the ship, Aang wasn't trying to signal anyone."
"Oh yeah, well what about you?!" He jabbed his finger at her chest. "We don't know you, maybe both of you are Fire Nation spies!"
"That's ridiculous!" Riona bit back.
"Oh yeah, well… your hair's red!"
"What?"
"The color of the Fire Nation!"
"...That is the stupidest logic I have ever heard."
"Katara," Gran Gran interrupted their exchange, shaking her head. "You shouldn't have gone on that ship. Now we could all be in danger!"
"Don't blame Katara!" Aang broke in. "Or Riona, I brought them there." He looked at the ground and bowed his head. "It's my fault."
"Aha! The traitor confesses!" Sokka pounced on his admission. "Warriors, away from the enemy! The foreigner is banned from our village!" The children hesitated, then started moving away from Aang back into the village. Katara stepped up and glared at her brother.
"Sokka, you're making a mistake!"
"No! I'm keeping my promise to Dad. I'm protecting you from threats like him!"
"Aang is not our enemy!" Katara gestured to the airbender. "Don't you see? Aang's brought us something we haven't had in a long time. Fun." Riona stole a look at Aang. He had helped have some fun, that was true. While she was fighting Corypheus, she had helped Sera play pranks to make sure people forgot their troubles. A crisis was exactly the time to remember that there is more to life… She frowned. When had she forgotten that?
"Fun? We can't fight firebenders with fun!"
"You should try it sometime." Aang grinned earnestly. Sokka was not amused.
"Get out of our village. Now!" Frustrated, Katara turned from her brother to face her grandmother.
"Grandmother, please, don't let Sokka do this."
"Katara, you knew going on that ship was forbidden." The old woman said firmly. "Sokka is right. I think it best if the airbender leaves."
"Then I'm banished too!" Katara snapped. She turned and grabbed a confused Aang by the arm. She started dragging him in the direction of Appa. "C'mon, Aang, let's go!" Now Riona stood between them and found herself feeling conflicted, unsure if she should stop Katara from doing something rash or go with them
"Where do you think you're going?" Sokka shouted at his sister
"To find a waterbender! Aang is taking me to the North Pole!" She shouted right back. Aang, however, seemed oblivious to the seriousness of the situation.
"I am? Great!"
"Katara!" This time her brother's voice brought her to a stop. "Would you really choose him over your tribe? Your own family?" Riona walked up to Katara and saw indecision in her face. She had long abandoned the idea of returning to her own clan… but Katara was still a child.
"You should stay, you're too young to go off on your own like this."
"You're the same age I am." The waterbender responded. Riona almost said 'No, I'm over twice your age', but bit her lip. Who would believe her now? Luckily Aang came up next to her.
"Katara, I don't want to come between you and your family." The airbender offered her a smile, then walked towards his giant bison. Katara and Riona looked after him, both filled with mixed emotions.
"So, you're leaving the South Pole? This is goodbye?" Katara said unhappily. Aang turned around in front of Appa to face her.
"Thanks for penguin sledding with me."
"Aang…" Riona started, unsure how to start.
"Maybe you should come with me, Riona." Aang looked to the elf. "Maybe some of the other Air Nomads have heard of your lands."
"I…" That was exactly the question she was currently mulling over. Riona knew that if she was ever going to find a way to go home she would need to leave the South Pole. She also knew that there was some connection between her journey and this boy. But… if the Fire Navy really was as close as Sokka feared, then they would be heading towards the village soon. The village only had Sokka for protection… so no protection at all. She sighed. "I don't think so, Aang. Where will you go?" Aang put a hand on Appa.
"Guess I'll go back home and look for the airbenders." He looked thoughtful, as if something had just occurred to him. "Wow, I haven't cleaned my room in a hundred years. Not looking forward to that." With a spinning movement of his arms and body, Aang seemed to glide up to Appa's head and took the reign. He looked back at Riona and the assembled water tribe. "It was nice meeting everyone."
"Let's see your bison fly now, air boy." Sokka folded his arms contemptuously.
"Come on, Appa, you can do it! Yip! Yip!" The airbender encouraged his bison. Appa made another long deep noise and got to his feet.
"Yeh, I thought so." Sokka dismissed the effort. Riona was restraining the urge to hit him for his attitude when a tiny girl, Miki she realized, rushed out ahead of the other children with a cry, forcing her way between Katara and the elf.
"Aang! Don't go! We'll miss you!"
"I'll miss you too." The airbender said sadly. He took one more lingering look at Katara, then shook his reins. Appa started trudging away from the village and his rider's new friends. "Come on, boy." Miki started sobbing. Riona reached out a hand to the little girl but she ran right past, straight into the village. Gran Gran came up to them and addressed her granddaughter.
"Katara, you'll feel better after you –"
"You happy now?" The waterbender wheeled on her and snapped. "There goes my one chance of becoming a waterbender!" Katara stalked off toward the village angrily, leaving her grandmother with a helpless expression on her face. Sokka was directing the village boys through the 'gate'.
"All right! Ready our defenses! The Fire Nation could be on our shores any moment now!" He shouted at them, driving them into a frenzy of preparation. Riona made her way to the tent and gathered her sword. She practiced until it was dark as Sokka directed his tiny soldiers to help shore up their defenses. When she went to sleep, she kept her blade within arm's reach and prayed that she was wrong, that nobody had seen that flare...
The sky was once again black as pitch, but this time she was in a forest of barren trees with towering black trunks. She was running as fast as she could through the forest. A wolf's howl echoed through the woods, but she couldn't figure out if she was running away from the wolf or trying to find him. All the trees looked the same, several times she realized she was treading in her own footprints. The trees whipped past, twigs tore at her exposed skin, then all at once the trees gave way to a clearing. Riona slowed to a stop, panting for breath She looked up to see a massive black shape looming above her. It was a ship, the ship from yesterday, its metal skeleton groaning in the cold wind. A flickering light appeared within the windows and gaps in the hull. It grew and grew until roaring fire burst from every seam of the ship. Riona threw her hand up to shield herself from the flames as the heat rolled over her…
Riona awoke in a breathless sweat, feeling like the fire was beneath her skin. She sat up with a gasp and adjusted her collar. She had a feeling that she would go crazy if she couldn't do anything about these nightmares. The elf was so caught up in her dream it took her a moment to notice the shouting and screams coming from outside. Riona snatched up her sword and took a moment to steady her breath. Then she emerged into the village. It was chaos. The villagers were scrambling about every which way. It took her a moment to spot Sokka, standing atop the snow wall staring out into the mist.
The ice below her was shaking. Parts of the wall and Sokka's treasured watchtower had crumbled. A ship emerged from the mist, a loud cracking noise pervaded the air as it forced its way through the ice. It's massive black iron shadow loomed over the village, over twice the height of Sokka's wall. It wasn't stopping. Sokka wasn't moving.
"Move, Sokka, now!" Riona shouted as she bounded toward the stubborn warrior. Whether it was bravery or he was just petrified, Sokka didn't move. By the time Riona had pounded up the path to reach him, the ship was almost upon them both. "Sokka!" She grabbed him by the arm and the wall gave way beneath their feet. They struggled to stay upright as the ship pushed the collapsing snow down into the village. Riona lost her footing with a cry and fell off to the side. She went face down in the snow. When the elf picked herself up, spitting snow as she went, she saw that Sokka had amazingly still standing and the ship had come to a stop.
A column of steam rose between the hull and the ice. Then another hiss of steam signaled the prow of the ship dropping, revealing itself to be a ramp. Sokka yelped and fell back to the ground as the descending ramp nearly crushed him. Riona's grip on her sword tightened. Armored figures emerged from the belly of the metal beast, clad in red and black armor of a style she had never seen. Some carried spears. Their leader was startlingly young, only a teenager by the looks of him, but Riona's eyes were drawn by the scar covering the flesh around his left eye. This boy was no stranger to pain and danger She braced herself. That was when Sokka decided to charge their leader with an adolescent warcry.
"Sokka!" Riona grit her teeth, he was going to get himself killed charging in like that. The leader expertly kicked his weapon out of his hand, then kicked Sokka himself in the head, sending him headfirst into a snowdrift. The elf backed up to stand by the villagers. The Fire Nation soldier walked past Sokka and surveyed the village. When his gaze fell on her he did a double take, but then seemed to remind himself why he was here.
"Where are you hiding him?" He was met with silence. Riona wasn't sure what to do. She doubted her ability to handle even this group let alone however many troops were on the ship. Abruptly the lead soldier reached into the crowd and pulled Gran Gran forward, holding her in front of the village. "He'd be about this age? Master of all elements?" Riona blinked. Could he be talking about…
His face twisting in frustration, the soldier shoved Katara's grandmother away and unleashed a gout of flame over the heads of the villagers. So this was firebending. "I know you're hiding him!" That was when Riona attacked. She charged the nearest soldier, slashing from the left with all her strength. She struck him in the side, failing to pierce his armor but knocking him to the ground. She turned to move on to the next, ducking a fiery kicked and lashing her sword out at his leg. He fell to the ground with a crack of fractured bone and a cry of pain. The elf stood again only to find herself facing the enraged leader as he unleashed a burst of fire at her. The world seemed to slow down as the flame approached her. Then something tackled her to the ground as the plume of flame roared overhead and singed her hair. She was shocked to see Sokka kneeling over her. He flung his boomerang at the soldier, who barely dodged it.
"Show no fear!" One of the village boys chanted and tossed a spear to Sokka. The teenage water tribe warrior charged his enemy with the spear, only for it to be shorn to pieces against his armored wrist guards. The armored soldier snatched what was left of the spear away and poked Sokka in the forehead with it comically before snapping it in half. The water tribe warrior sank to his knees in a disorientation with his enemy looming over him. That was when the boomerang came back, smashing into the back of his helmet with a resounding clang. The soldier made an aggravated noise and fire sprang from his hands.
Then a blur swiped the soldier's feet out from under him. The blur slowed to a stop in front of the villagers and Riona stared in disbelief as the penguin pushed Aang off its back and waddled away. The airbender waved as the the children started to cheer for him.
"Hey Katara! Hey Riona. Hey Sokka."
"Hi...Aang." Sokka replied dryly. "Thanks for coming." Aang stood and face the firebenders, staff in hand. Riona got to her feet and stood with the villagers. It struck her that she was hiding behind a twelve year old boy, but she was clearly out of her current depth in this fight. The soldier rose to his feet revealing a mostly shaved head with some kind of ponytail in the back and assumed a combat stance. Aang swung his staff and sent two air blasts at the Fire Nation soldiers trying to surround him, driving them back. The airbender sent a third at their leader. He shielded his face with his forearms, but held his ground. "Looking for me?"
"You're the airbender?" The soldier said incredulously. "You're the Avatar?"
"Aang?" Katara seemed shocked.
"No way…" Sokka's voice was filled with disbelief.
"..." Riona stayed silent, she merely stared intensely at the airbender and thought about everything Katara had told her about the legend of the Avatar. He was an airbender, he had been in the ice a hundred years, all the pieces fit. It also meant that people would be placing the burden of saving the world on his shoulders whether he liked it or not. The elf couldn't claim to fully understand everything, but she had some understanding of what it could feel like to be thrust into that situation.
"I've spent years preparing for this encounter." The soldier huffed. "Training. Meditating. You're just a child!"
"Well, you're just a teenager." That response seemed to set the firebender off. He launched fire blast after fire blast at the young airbender, who twirled his staff in front of him as they circled one another. His airbending dispersed the fire, but did not stop it fully. The villagers cringed and cried as the embers flew around them. Riona saw Aang look at them over his shoulder, concerned. He stopped spinning his staff after the next fireblast and held it out in front of him. "If I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?"
"Aang, you can't trust him," Riona blurted out. Aang didn't reply. He stared silently at the firebender. After a few moments, the firebender straightened and offered a curt nod. He gave over his staff and allowed the soldiers to lead him toward the ship. Katara rushed forward.
"No, Aang! Don't do this!"
"Don't worry, guys, it'll be okay." Aang grunted as one of the soldiers shoved him roughly. "Take care of Appa for me until I get back."
"Head a course for the Fire Nation," The lead soldier ordered. "I'm going home." They entered the great metal vessel and the gangway began to rise.
"No!" Riona hissed. She sprinted toward the rising gangway and leapt, seizing the edge and dangling from it as it raised.
"Riona!" Katara cried.
"What are you doing?!" Sokka shouted incredulously. That was a good question, she realized. She held fast to the prow of the ship as it rose high above the village and the ship began to recede back into the sea. The elf grit her teeth as her muscles began to burn with the strain of just holding on. When the prow finally stopped rising, Riona dropped her sword onto the deck and winced at the clang it made against the metal deck. She had never trained for stealth. The elf pulled herself up onto the deck of the Fire Nation ship with a gasp. She would need to work on her upper body strength.
Fortunately there appeared to be nobody on deck. By the time she had picked up her sword a hatch had opened up on the deck. Riona froze. There was small table with some kind of game involving tiles on it someone had set up on deck. Riona scrambled over to it and flipped it, huddling behind it. It was a tight fit. She cautiously stuck her her head out just enough to see what was going on. The Fire Nation soldiers clambered out onto the deck, Aang tied up between them. Their leader carried Aang's staff, running his hand along it as he stood opposite the young Avatar.
"This staff will make an excellent gift for my father." He said. "I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers, being raised by monks. Take the Avatar to the prison hold." He shoved the staff into the hands of a rotund bearded older man beside him. "And take this to my quarters." As the soldiers began moving around, Riona huddled behind the table, waiting for the sign of slamming hatch that would signal her opening.
"Hey, you mind taking this to his quarters for me?" She heard what must have been the older man speak. Riona waited several moments. She heard another metal hatch open and footfalls vibrating through the metal deck below her. Some of them were coming closer. Her breath caught in her throat and she froze.
"Oh, it looks like cutting through the ice has disrupted my game." A disappointed voice reached her. Before she could react the shadow of the older man was looming over her. Their eyes met, hers filled with fear and his filled with bewilderment. Her grip on her sword tightened, but the man shook his head, a tiny subtle movement.
"Sir?" Someone said behind him. "Need any help?"
"No, no, I'm quite fine." The old man turned and smiled toward the voice. "Thank you," His smile faded as he looked back at her. "I don't know who or what you are, but Zuko isn't after you. You need to leave." With that, he vanished from her view. Riona stayed there for a few long minutes. When she crept out, he was gone. She took a few breaths to steady her breathing, then stole toward a hatch in the side of the ship.
"The Avatar has escaped!" Riona heard the cry as she rushed through the halls of the ship.
"You've got to be kidding me." She grumbled. Apparently her help was entirely unnecessary. Aang had freed himself within minutes of her entering the ship. She had greatly underestimated his abilities. So now the elf was pounding through the halls looking for an exit while trying to avoid the squads of guards charging around in search of the escaped airbender. She was cursing herself for her impulsiveness when a trio of Fire Nation soldiers rounded the corner in front of her.
"That girl was in the village!" One of them shouted and pointed at her. "Get her!" They charged her. One of them jabbed at her with a spear. Riona hadn't even fully come to a stop. She brought Mi'Hellathen up just in time to redirect the thrust. The second thrust his spear at her as well. The elf was forced to twist awkwardly to avoid it, throwing herself off balance. She tumbled to the ground with a cry and dropped her sword. The third soldier stood above her, he reached down to grab her. Riona lashed out with her fist to smack the arm away. There was a flash of light and heat. The soldier stumbled back with a cry of pain as he struggled to put out his flaming uniform. The elf and the other two soldiers all stared at her fist, dumbfounded.
Riona had just firebended.
Luckily she came to her senses before the soldiers did. Riona grabbed one of their spears and ripped it from his grasp. She took out his legs before the other had started moving. By the time he started to thrust his spear, she struck him in the head with the haft. He bounced off the wall and crumpled. The elf charged the third man just as he succeeded in putting out the fire on his clothes. He looked up just in time for the butt of the spear to strike him squarely in the head and knock him straight off his feet. Riona panted from the exertion, but she realized that she recognized where she was now, she could get out from here. When she turned she frozen. Behind where she had been when the guards spotted her one of the doors was opened. Just outside the door, the old man from earlier was staring at her, as if he too had witnessed what she had done. He probably had.
The elf bolted, sprinting around the corner toward the deck. A hundred questions flew through her mind at once, but she had no time to think. When she finally found the hatch, Riona threw all her weight against the heavy metal door. She burst out onto the deck just in time to Aang and the lead firebender, Zuko she remembered the older man calling him, tumble to the deck in a heap, the airbender clutching his staff.
"Aang!" Riona breathed a sigh of relief as the pair got to their feet facing each other and fell into fighting stances. Aang's was to her. He looked over his shoulder at the sound of his name.
"Riona?" He was shocked to see her. Zuko might have taken advantage of his distraction, be he seemed as surprised as Aang. Actually… he seemed to be looking past her.
"What is that?" Riona turned to follow the firebender's gaze to see… a giant six legged bison.
A flying giant six legged bison, carrying two familiar figures.
"Fenedhis." She swore, not believing her eyes. "Andraste's-" The sound of fire burning through the air cut her off and she turned to see Zuko throwing fire blasts at the Avatar once more. Aang spun his staff above his head, lifting himself off the ground to avoid the flames. He landed by the edge of the deck, nearly falling over the side. Zuko didn't miss a beat. Aang dispersed two more fire blasts before a third made him drop his staff. Riona was paralyzed, unsure what to do or what she could do to help Aang. He made a great show of acrobatic skill evading several more, until one maneuver brought him to stand at the very edge of the deck, teetering above the icy waters. A plume of fire aimed at his feet sent him over the edge.
"No!" Riona rushed to the edge. She could hear Katara calling out the airbender's name desperately as a crushing weight settled on the elf's heart. She had failed. He would freeze to death quickly in that water if nobody pulled him out. She could slay dragons and fight gods, but saving a child was beyond her reach now. Riona sank to her knees. A sudden sound drew her attention to the front of the ship and she didn't believe her eyes for a moment. Atop a swirling cyclone of water rising out of the cold sea and towering above the ship was Aang, his eyes and tattoos glowing with a white light just as they were when she first saw him in her dream.
"Aang? You're waterbending..." She murmured numbly. He hadn't been able to do that before. The Avatar's pillar of water set him down on the deck. He pulled it with him, spinning the water around him like a flowing wall. Then he released it, sending it forcefully outward across the deck. Riona threw herself to the ground with a yelp as it passed over her head. Zuko and his men weren't so lucky. The water struck them with such force that they were tossed from the deck with cries of indignation. The light faded from Aang's eyes and tattoos. His knees shook and he started to fall. Riona was there in an instant, catching the boy and cradling his head. "Aang! Can you hear me, are you alright?" The airbender groaned as he pried his eyes open, but smiled at her.
"Hey, Riona, what're you doing here?"
"I was trying to save you... though it looks like I wasn't needed."
"I appreciate it," He said with genuine gratitude as a loud thump signaled Appa's landing behind them. Katara and Sokka leapt off the bison.
"Aang! Are you okay?" Katara rushed to the airbender's side.
"Hey Katara. Hey Sokka." He said, obviously still drained. "Thanks for coming."
"Well, I couldn't let you two have all the glory." Sokka boasted.
"Sokka, how about you get his staff." Riona helped the wobbly airbender to his feet and toward Appa. "We need to leave, five minutes ago."
"Got it!" Riona didn't watch him go. She was helping Aang clamber up onto his bison, though he seemed to be regaining strength quickly.
"So that was the power of the Avatar..." She allowed herself to muse as she sat down across from Aang. He had displayed more raw power than she'd ever seen from all but the strongest mages and wielded it with more versatility than any. She had a lot of questions, but they could wait until they were safely away.
"Ah!" Sokka shouted. Riona whirled to see him holding one end of Aang's staff. The hand holding the other end belonged to none other than Zuko, clinging to the edge of the deck with an expression of pure rage. That was until Sokka jabbed him three times in the head with the staff, knocking him back off the deck and out of sight. "Ha! That's for the water tribe!"
"Well at least poetic justice seems to exist in this strange place." Riona muttered to herself as Sokka did a celebratory jig. She surveyed the deck. The soldiers not swept into the sea by Aang's attack were getting to their feet and advancing. "Hurry up!" She shouted. Katara saw the soldiers too. Her face creased in concentration, she waterbended some of the leftovers of and Aang's water cyclone into an amorphous pillar as tall as her shoulder. She made a sweeping motion toward the soldiers, but instead the water flew backwards.
"Katara!" Sokka cried as his feet were encased in ice.
"I take everything back, you two clearly need my help." Rion deadpanned. She reached for her sword... and remembered that she'd dropped it in the ship. "Fenedhis," She swore as she snatched up Aang's staff and leapt off the bison to help the teenage warrior, who had started hacking at the ice with his boomerang. She started bashing the ice with end of the staff. The ice was thick, but gave easily enough.
"Hurry up, you two!" Katara called. Glancing over her shoulder, Riona could see that Katara had apparently had better luck on her second try. Three Fire Nation soldiers were frozen in place under a layer of ice.
"I'm just a guy with a boomerang; I didn't ask for all this flying and magic." Sokka grumbled to himself.
"Get used to it." Riona bit back as she broke open the icy prison surrounding his feet. "Let's go!" Together they rushed back toward the flying mass of white fur and climbed aboard.
"Yip yip! Yip yip!" Sokka shouted. Appa seemed to respond to that, as the bison instantly threw itself into the air. Riona screamed. She'd never flown on anything before in her life and now she was soaring through the air on one of the most unlikely creatures imaginable. She looked behind them at the ship, just starting to recede into the distance. The older man she'd seen earlier was helping Zuko back onto the ship.
"Shoot them down!" The firebender shouted. He and the older man assumed mirrored poses and moved in perfect sync, launching a massive ball of fire straight at the fleeing bison. Riona's eyes grew wide as panic gripped her. Then she realized there might be a way to stop it. She had firebended earlier, maybe she could disperse it. But was that what she'd done? Could it have been magic, was she a mage now? She had no idea how she'd done it, let alone how to disperse a giant fireball. Luckily fate took it out of her hands, or rather Aang did. The airbender stood with his staff and swung at the fireball, creating a massive gust of wind that redirected the fireball into an iceberg.
The iceberg exploded, sending several tons of snow and ice crashing down onto the bow of the Fire Navy ship, burying the front of ship completely. Aang, Katara, and Sokka started laughing. Riona couldn't help but laugh with them. It was one part absurdity and one part relief. They had survived and for the moment it felt like everything would be okay.
"Good news for the Fire Lord." Iroh watched the flying bison disappear in the distance without looking at his nephew. "The nation's biggest threat is just a little kid."
"That kid, Uncle, just did this." Zuko indicated the buried prow of their ship. "I won't underestimate him again. Dig this ship out and follow them!" He turned and shouted at his men, only to see they were already occupied using controlled firebending to thaw out their compatriots the waterbender had encased in ice. "As soon as you're done with that." He amended.
Iroh looked after the fleeing children contemplatively, then examined the strange sword dropped by the equally strange girl in the ship. Her appearance was odd enough, but the sword was unlike any blade he had ever seen and when she had attacked that soldier with firebending... She looked just as surprised as he felt when he saw her do it. It was peculiar for someone to discover bending at that age. Normally a child discovered their bending much earlier. The girl was an enigma, one intriguing enough to look into.
"How did you do that? With the water? It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!" Katara exclaimed, giddy at the idea of learning how to do such a thing herself one day, no doubt. Aang was sitting cross legged at one end of Appa's saddle. He had a much more somber expression than Riona had come to expect from him.
"I don't know. I just sort of... did it."
"Why didn't you say you were the Avatar?" Riona asked. She thought she knew the answer, but wanted to hear it.
"Because... I never wanted to be." Airbender said, obviously depressed by the thought. The elf nodded. She understood perfectly well.
"But Aang, the world's been waiting for the Avatar to return and finally put an end to this war." Katara objected gently.
"No pressure," Riona muttered. Aang gave the waterbender another sad look.
"And how am I going to do that?"
"According to legend, you need to first master water, then earth, then fire, right?" The gears were almost visibly turning in Katara's head.
"That's what the monks told me."
"Well, if we go to the North Pole you can master waterbending." That put a smile on the airbender's face. He perked up instantly.
"We can learn it together!"
"And along the way, we can see if anyone knows about where Riona is from." Katara smiled at the elf.
"That... would be great, that's a great idea." Riona blinked at Katara in surprise. "Thanks." Spending time with the Avatar would also give her the opportunity to figure out what connection there was between Aang and her dreams. And if Aang was going to learn about firebending, perhaps she could also learn about this bizarre new skill. Speaking of which, she should probably tell them about it.
"And Sokka," Katara continued. "I'm sure you'll get to knock some firebender heads on the way."
"I'd like that. I'd really like that." Sokka said dreamily. On the other hand, maybe she should keep her new ability to herself for the moment.
"Then we're in this together." Katana pronounced with a broad smile. Aang produced a scroll.
"All right, but before I learn waterbending, we have some serious business to attend to," He airbended himself over to the middle of the saddle and unrolled the scroll. It was a map. Riona scanned it eagerly for familiar landmasses but there were none to be found. Aang started pointing to places on the map. "here, here, and here."
"What's there?" Katara asked.
"Here," Aang pointed to a spot on the eastern portion of what Riona assumed was the Earth Kingdom going by the coloration, "We'll ride the hopping llamas. Then waaaay over here,". He pointed to an archipelago of southern islands, "We'll surf on the backs of giant koi fish. Then back over here we'll ride the hog-monkeys. They don't like people riding them, but that's what makes it fun!"
Well, it promised to be an interesting journey.
Author's Note: So there you have it, she's a firebender. How do you think Sokka will react when he finds out? What might happen in a moment when she loses control of her untrained bending? What's up with the nightmares? Anyway, leave a review if you like it. And if anyone is a decent artist or knows a decent artist that would be interesting in drawing a redheaded tween elf girl firebending, contact me. Better cover art would be appreciated.
Riona's sword, Mi'Hellathen, was created from the Revered Defender Longsword schematic from The Descent DLC. If I have my elvish right, it should translate to "Blade of Noble Struggle". Imagine it a little smaller than it is in game, otherwise there's no way Riona could carry it around now. Most Dragon Age weapons are obscenely oversized to begin with.
I considered implementing a language barrier, but ultimately it didn't seem to be worth the trouble.
I'm hoping to get some feedback on my writing of Riona as a character. I realized as I was writing her that she was turning out to be a rather sullen character, which I think fits after the events of Trespasser and everything else. Also gave a good reason for Aang to try and cheer her up. She's based on my personal canon Inquisitor, though I actually chose to disband.
Anyway, I'm still working out which episodes I want to feature and which I can afford to skip. The next three (The Southern Air Temple, The Warriors of Kyoshi, and The King of Omashu) are all pretty important for the character introductions they feature, though I want to focus more on what Riona does herself rather than retread as many scenes as I did in this chapter (Which covered both episode 1 + 2, so other chapters will probably be shorter).
And yes, I am still working on Titan of Rapture, but this will probably be my last chapter of anything for awhile. I'm trying to write a thesis this semester and I have a lot of work to do. Writing fanfiction is a pleasant escape, but a time consuming one. I'll stick to the brainstorming stages for awhile.