*relieved sigh* FINALLY! I don't get why this took so frigging long to write! I mean I had the chapter all written out in script form! Oh yeah that's right...I'm lazy :P
disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD or ATLA
It was evening before Katara finally returned home. It took her a little longer for her to get home than it usually would. On her way out of the forest she had to keep looking over her shoulder with her water pouch open in case the dragon came back. Any sound, a twig breaking, the wind, a bird fluttering from one tree to another, would make Katara stop and bend the water out of her pouch and at the direction she heard the sound then she would bend the water back into her pouch when she was sure that there was nothing there. This would happen repeatedly every few minutes before she finally made it out of the forest and when she did she ran for home. Judging by the flickering light in the main room either Sokka or Hakoda had started a fire in the fireplace. Katara was hoping it wasn't her father since she wasn't even supposed to be out of the house that day because of what had happened the night before. She gently pushed open the door, praying to the spirits it wouldn't creak. When she entered the house, pushing the door shut gently behind her, she squinted her eyes and looked around the barely lit room until she saw someone standing in front of the fireplace with his back to her. It was Hakoda. He hadn't seemed to notice his daughter had come home, he was just staring intently at the fire.
Daring not to make a sound, she tiptoed across the room toward the stairs. She put her foot on the first stair...
"Katara."
There was no anger in Hakoda's voice but Katara still flinched when she was caught. She stepped away from the stairs and went to him as he stood up.
"I have to talk to you, Dad." she told him
"I need to speak with you too, Katara." he said.
They both took a deep breath and spoke at the same time
"I've decided/I think it's time/I don't want to fight dragons/you learned to fight dragons. What?/What?"
"You first." said Katara.
"Alright. You get your wish."
Katara looked at him a little confused.
"Dragon training."
Her stomach dropped.
"You start in the morning."
Katara groaned and put a hand to her face to rub her eyes.
"Oh no, I should've gone first. Dad I don't think I-"
"You'll need this." Hakoda handed her his machete. It felt a little heavy in her hands, having never used weapons before in her life. "I know you're a Master Waterbender but one hit from a Tongue Lasher can not only paralyze you, sometimes it will take away your bending."
"I don't want to fight dragons."
He chuckled. "Come on. Yes, you do."
"Let me rephrase that...Dad I can't kill dragons."
"But you will kill dragons."
"No, I'm really very extra sure that I won't."
"It's time Katara."
"Can you not hear me?"
"This is serious Katara!"
Katara immediately shut her mouth at her father's hardened tone. He put his hand on her shoulder.
"When you carry this weapon... you carry all of us with you." he said gently. "Which means you walk like us. You talk like us. You think like us. No more of..." He gestured in Katara's general direction like Sokka had the night before. "This."
"You just gestured to all of me." she said, annoyed.
"Deal?"
"This conversation is feeling very one-sided."
"DEAL?"
Katara looked down at the machete in her hands. Knowing this was going to be a no-win argument, she said, looking resigned.
"Deal."
Hakoda pat her shoulder and went back to the fireplace to grab his club and duffel bag before heading for the door.
"Train hard." he said. "The warriors and I are going to try to find the nest again before the ice sets in."
Katara almost objected to that but said nothing, knowing it would be no use. Hakoda was almost obsessed with finding the nest ever since the death of his wife Kya.
Instead she said "Does Sokka know?"
"Yes. I already said goodbye to him before you got here. He's upstairs sleeping, you should be getting some rest too. You're going to need it tomorrow."
Hakoda and Katara hugged and he kissed her on the forehead. He pulled away and went to the door.
"I'll be back." he said before walking out the door and closing the door behind him.
"And I'll be here." Katara muttered, looking down at the machete. "Maybe."
"Welcome to dragon training!"
Bato raised a massive iron gate, revealing a vast stone arena. The new recruits filed through the gate, and followed Bato out onto the arena floor.
"No turning back." Jet muttered, more to himself than the others.
Despite facing dragon raids all her life, seeing the walls covered in scorched silhouettes of blasted warriors made Katara feel queasy. If she couldn't kill any of the dragons in this arena, will that be her fate? Scattered along the floor were dozens of shields with different designs on them.
"I hope I get some serious burns." said Pipsqueak.
"I'm hoping for some mauling," said Hahn, "Like on my shoulder or lower back."
Sokka and Katara looked at each other and rolled their eyes. They knew getting burns or mauling scars was no joke. A few years back during a dragon raid Bato had gotten a major burn on his arm and part of his back that took weeks to heal and was now a large scar. At the time Katara, the only female waterbender, didn't know that waterbenders could heal so she coudln't make the healing process go quicker and more bearable for Bato.
"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it." Sokka said sarcastically.
"Yeah, no kidding, right?" Katara said, also with sarcasm. "Pain. Love it."
The recruits turned to see Katara behind them. Hahn scoffed.
"Hey little girl, the cheerleading area is out there." He pointed to outside the arena.
Sokka clenched his fists. He had hated Hahn since the moment he set eyes on him.
"Actually Hahn, Katara's training with us."
"A girl in dragon training?" Hahn laughed. "She won't last two seconds."
Katara had to hold Sokka back so he wouldn't attack Hahn. Jet went to them.
"Don't listen to Hahn." he said. "He's so much of a moron it's a wonder how he's been able to survive the raids."
"Let's get started!" Bato called out to the recruits. "The recruit who does best will win the honor of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village."
"Katara already killed a Comet Eye," said Hahn, smirking at the waterbender. "So does that disqualify her or...?"
The besides Sokka and Katara, the others laughed with him. Bato lead the recruits to the other side of the arena where thee were five iron doors with large locks. Sokka threw a supportive arm around Katara's shoulders as they approached the doors.
"Don't worry." he said confidently. "You're small and weak. That'll make you less of a target. They'll see you as sick or insane and go after the more warrior-like teens instead."
Katara gave him a deadpanned look. "Gee thanks Sokka."
The siblings stood in line with the others and Bato walked toward five giant doors. Katara could hear terrible roars coming from the monsters on the other side of the doors.
"Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight." Bato explained. "The Wind Arrow..."
"Speed eight." The Duke, sitting on Pipsqueak's shoulders, muttered under his breath. "Armor sixteen."
"The Tongue Lasher..."
"Plus eleven stealth." Pipsqueak said quietly. "Times two."
"The Royal Inferno..."
"Firepower fifteen."
"The Dart Shooter..."
"Attack eight. Venom twelve."
"CAN YOU STOP THAT?" Hahn yelled at The Duke and Pipsqueak who glared at him along with Jet, Sokka, and Katara.
"And...the Terra Club."
"Jaw strength, eight." The Duke and Pipsqueak muttered to Sokka and Katara who stood next to them.
Bato pulled a lever, raising the cross beam on the last of the doors.
Sokka started freaking out. "Whoa, wait! Aren't you gonna teach us first?"
"I believe in learning on the job."
The cross beam was raised all the way...
BAM! The Terra Club burst from its cave, charging into the ring and roaring like mad. It charged towards the recruits and nearly ran into the wall when they moved out of the way. It scooped up some nearby large rocks in it's mouth and crunched them with its teeth. The recruits scrambled in every direction to avoid being in the dragon's line of target.
"Today is about survival." Bato called out. "If you get blasted, you're dead. Quick, what's the first thing you're going to need?"
"A doctor?" asked Sokka.
"Speed?" asked Pipsqueak.
"A shield." Katara quickly answered.
Bato nodded. "Shields. Go."
The recruits scrambled for the shields scattered all over the floor.
"Your most important piece of equipment is your shield. If you must make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield."
Katara ran to the nearest shield and made a grab for it but as soon as she picked it up Hahn grabbed it too.
"Get your hands off my shield!" he yelled
"There are like a million shields!" Katara retorted
"Take that one, it has a flower on it. Girls like flowers."
Katara used the shield to bash Hahn in the face and he lets go. She smirked.
"Ooops, now this one has blood on it."
The Terra Club took aim at Hahn who picked up a different shield at the last minute. As soon as the molten rock hit Hahn's shield he skid on the ground on his back.
"Hahn, you're out!"
The Terra Club scooped up another pile of rocks and ate them too. The teens gathered on the far side of the ring.
"Those shields are good for another thing. Noise. Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim."
Katara took out her dad's machete which was slung to her back, Sokka pulled out his boomerang, and Jet, Pipsqueak, and The Duke grabbed the weapons available in the arena and the teens began hammering on their shields. The Terra Club shook its head at the noise.
"All dragons have a limited number of shots." Bato explained. "How many does a Terra Club have?"
"Four!" Sokka called out
The Duke, who was sitting on Pipsqueak's shoulder, answered. "No, five!"
"Correct, five. That's one for each of you!"
Pipsqueak and The Duke's shield was suddenly blasted away.
"Pipsqueak, The Duke, out."
Katara was bouncing on her heels, ready to dodge a blast, her eyes never leaving the dragon. Jet approached her, smirking a little.
"So Katara, I got a place of my own." he told her. "You should come by sometime to work out. You look like you work out-"
The dragon turned its head at the two and before either teens knew it Jet was blasted onto his back.
"Jet! You're done!"
Katara rushed to Sokka and a fireball knocked Katara's shield clear off of her arm, leaving her exposed.
"One shot left!"
Katara chased after her shield as it rolled across the ring. The sudden movement caused the Terra Club to chase after her instead of Sokka. The dragon pounced and pinned her against the wall. Katara tried to free herself or waterbend at the dragon but she couldn't move her arms or reach her waterskin. The dragon opened its mouth and cocked its tail, ready to fire point-blank when Sokka lunged in and hooked the Terra Club's mouth at the last second with his boomerang, causing its head to jerk back and fire against the stone wall above Katara's head.
"And that's five!" Bato rushed over and wrestled the Terra Club back into its pen. Now that it was out of shots, it couldn't do more than snarl or snap at him. When the Terra Club was locked back in its cage, Bato turned to the recruits.
"Remember... a dragon will always...always go for the kill."
