Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 1 - Water Chapter 1 - The Boy in the Iceberg - Part 2
Water. Earth. Fire. Air. My grandmother used to tell me stories about the old days; a time of peace. When the Avatar kept balance between the Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation and Air Nomads. But that all changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, only he could stop the ruthless firebenders. But when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years have passed and the Fire Nation is nearing victory in the war. Six years ago my father and the men of my tribe journeyed to the Earth Kingdom to help fight against the Fire Nation, leaving me and my brother to look after our tribe. Some people believe that the Avatar was never reborn into the Air Nomads and that the cycle is broken, but I haven't lost hope. I still believe that, somehow, the Avatar will return to save the world.
Previously on Avatar
Katara laughed, a welcome change from her previous mood "One fish it is. We wouldn't want to have you losing what tiny scraps of dignity you have left now can we?" she asked playfully elbowing him in the ribs.
"Hey I-ahhh" Whatever Sokka was going to say was lost as the boat lurched in the water and was pulled into a fast moving rip in the water. Acting with a swiftness born from years of practise he grabbed the single paddle from the bottom of the boat and attempted in vain to push them out of the rip. All around them ice was moving, converging on the rip and shattering against each other. Already it was becoming harder to get the paddle in the water for all the ice fragments around them.
One small berg hit the side of the boat almost capsizing them; it was pure luck that prevented both siblings getting lost to the tides. "Watch out!" Katara had noticed the place where the main glaciers neared each other was filled with large chunks of ice constantly smashing and grinding together, chunks that would crush them and their canoe without care or thought. "Go left! Go left!" Sokka struggled to control the boat and steer it to safety but it was all he could do to keep them upright, turning was fast leaving their list of options. More and more bergs crashed upon the canoe sending them crashing into more burgs and ripping a hole in the side of the small boat.
Two bergs loomed either side of them and, making a spit second decision they leapt onto the closest solid looking one, Sokka pausing in his jump only long enough to grab his fishing spear from where it rested on the bottom of the canoe.
Date: November 3rd 1406 102 Years since start of war
Location: South Pole
The fresh layer of snow on the small berg made their landing upon it slippery, and it was only Sokka planting his spear into the ice with one hand and grabbing onto his winded sister's ankle with the other that prevented Katara from falling into the deadly icy waters surrounding them. As the berg freed itself from its course in the rip Sokka released his grip on Katara, but his grip on the hunting spear tightened, his knuckles whitening inside his gloves.
The very second Katara recovered from the jump she stumbled backwards from her position on the very edge of the small berg to be next to her brother at the centre. For the longest time they sat in silence, each quietly contemplating the fate which awaited them out here in the icy water, far from help and the small comforts of home. It was Katara who finally broke the silence with a sarcastic quip that would normally be heard coming from her brother "You call that left?"
Of course, Sokka quickly rose to the occasion, protecting his 'manly' dignity "You don't like my steering! Well, maybe you should have waterbended us, out of the ice" The hand motions that accompanied his last sentence would have been rather comical had there been any others there with them; however they only seemed to further incite his sister's ire as she quickly rose from her sitting position and moved as far away from him as possible without falling off the berg before facing him again.
"So it's my fault?" Her tone was hurt and accusing, a fact that Sokka failed to notice, so caught up in his little world he was.
"I knew I should've left you home" He finally relinquished his hold on the spear, resting his arms on his raised knees and leaning on them, bowing his head slightly as he struggled to think of a way to get them out of this mess before they froze to death. "Leave it to a girl to screw things up"
Sokka's words cut deep and Katara could feel her eyes beginning to mist up. She clenched her fists and she struggled not to let how much he had hurt her show. It had been him that had invited her along anyway, saying that she was getting too worked up around camp and need to chill. Her fists drew tighter together as she fuelled her hurt into anger and released all of her frustrations about their current situation, and the situation of the whole tribe upon her older brother.
"You are the most sexist!" the water behind her stirred "Immature!" The burg they were on shifted in the water "Nutbrained!" She let out a small sound of frustration as she drew breath, the water rising and falling behind her with every move she made "I'm embarrassed to be related to you!!" Sokka finally looked up at the sound of cracking ice, doing a double take once he realised what had caused the rather substantial break in what was otherwise a very solid formation. Small pieces of ice continued to fall into the ocean as Katara continued her rant. "Ever since Mom died I've been doing all the work around camp, while you've been off playing soldier!"
More cracks appeared in the tower of ice and Sokka cautiously tried to call his sister's attention to the havoc she was wreaking "Ahh... Katara?"
"I even wash all the clothes!" Her gestures had stopped cracking the ice for the moment but now she was moving the water around them, making it look like it had just been exposed to a terrible storm "Have you ever smelled your dirty socks? Let me tell you, NOT PLEASENT!" She brought her arms down to her sides, emphasising her point. A large sheaf of ice fell from the ice tower behind her and into the water.
Terrified of his sister's anger (and also happy to have a justification as to why he had always feared her anger) he raised his arms in front of him, both to protect himself and as a placating gesture to his sister "Katara, settle down!" The fact that his voice was high and panicky did nothing to help his argument and Katara glared down at him from her standing position.
"No! You know what? That's it! I'm done helping you! From now on you're on your OWN!" The water behind her seemed to explode and hundreds of cracks and breaks ran up the ice showing the two siblings with ice and snow.
Sokka made of small sound of horror, staring at the tower.
The sound of cracking ice finally registered in Katara's ears and she gasped in shock and fear as the ice moaned and cracked apart, falling into the ocean and creating a wave that sent their small island flying through the water. As they launched Sokka grabbed his sister and forced her down on the ice, partly because he knew that she would be thrown into the water if her centre of gravity was too high, and partly so he could better shield her from the small chunks of ice that were flying through the air. Finally, the ocean around them calmed once more and all Katara could do was stare in shock at where the ice tower had once floated.
"Ok, you've gone from weird, to freakish Katara" Sokka took his arm from around his sister and rested it on the ice, the cold seeping into his clothes and reminding him of the fact that he was still wet from the incident with the fish and the magic water. Funny how it seemed so far away now.
Katara's eyes widened and her breath hitched slightly from the shock "You mean-" she hesitated "I did that?"
Despite their current situation, the pride he had in his sister overrode his other emotions and all he could do in the face of her shock was grin like an idiot "Yep," He nudged her arm in a friendly manner "Congratulations"
Then, the water below them lit up. Bubbles rose to the surface as though the water was beginning to boil and the siblings stiffened on the ice. For a moment Sokka thought that is was merely a reflection of the sun on the water, combind with the escape of some air which had been trapped within the ice. But, as the water continued bubbling and the light in the water grew Sokka realised two things. One, that this was not a natural occurrance, and two, that whatever it was it was getting closer and closer to the surface.
They stood up on the ice and backed away from the edge as the object emitting the glow finally broke the surface of the water. The waves it created pushed back their little island rocking it dangerously. Both siblings manageed to stay upright, their years of experience playing and working in the icefields, as well as balancing on the precarious and moody surfaces of drifts and glaciers coming to bare.
As the thing bobbed on the surface Katara stared, entranced by its presence. Gazing into the thing, which she now realized was made of some kind of strange glowing ice, she saw a boy. He had been frozen within the ice in a meditative position with what appeared to be a beast of burden lying behind him. She raised an eyebrow, wondering who would have been stupid enough to meditate until the cold froze him into an iceberg. Then his eyes opened and they, along with his tatoos, began glowing brighter than the midnight sun itself.
Both siblings let out cries of alarm, stumbling back a bit. "He's alive" Katara exclaimed in disbelief before snatching her brother's club from his back "We have to help!" Quickly, before Sokka could stop her she pulled up her hood and jumped out onto the small fragments of floating ice towards the boy trapped in the iceburg.
Slowly but steadily this story is taking shape. I've had a lot going on lately getting ready for Uni which starts on Wednesday. I got into my first preference so I've had to do a lot of prep for it seeing as I'm not the sharpest tool in the shearing shed. Review and get ready for the next part of the chapter to be released on Monday XD