Chapter 3
Katara sighed heavily as she leaned on the banister of the ice bridge she and Yue were standing on, morosely watching as fireball after fireball launched from the line of black dots that stood on the horizon, where the bulk of the Fire Navy's main force had held their position. She wished she could be back at the wall, fighting alongside Master Pakku, but...
She glared at the ice beneath her hand as she raised her arm slightly, straining as hard as she could to move it, shift it... but to no avail. She was utterly spent, her chi at an all time low. She was lucky she could move. Bending, on the other hand...
Katara was snapped out of her thoughts by a hand on her shoulder, prompting her to look around at the concerned face of Princess Yue.
"Are you alright?" The Northerner asked anxiously.
Katara hastily plastered a shaky grin on her face. "Y-yeah," she nodded tiredly. "It's... I'm just tired. Really tired. I'd... I'd have died earlier today if..." She gestured futilely at the vines of ice that were still stretched all over the city. "If it weren't for whoever did that..."
Yue pursed her lips as she looked over the feat of bending. "Yes... as far as anyone can tell, the ice originated outside the city. Which is... odd, to say the least. No one lives on the plateau, the blizzards alone... and the other bending experts have agreed, whoever did this was a master, on par with Pakku himself. Some..." She crossed her arms uneasily. "Some are even saying this person was as skilled as Avatar Kuruk himself..."
The Southern waterbender swallowed nervously as she took the information in. The idea of someone being able to match the guardian of the whole world, who maintained the balance was... she shivered violently as an image of Aang in the Avatar State bending a cyclone of water popped into her mind's eye. It was not something she wanted to think about. As such, she hastily shifted the subject of conversation. "I... think that I saw the bender who did it.
Yue gave her a shocked look. "Really? What was he like?"
Katara shook her head in denial. "I don't know, he was too fast. He was riding on top of the vines, went right down into the fleet... I hope that Aang's alright." She gave Yue a nervous look. "What... what if he ran into him?"
Yue made to answer... when she suddenly snapped her head towards the ocean. "Listen!"
Katara blinked in surprise. "What are you-? I can't hear a... ny..." The words died in her mouth as she turned to follow Yue's line of sight. She couldn't hear anything. After several hours of consistent, traumatic-memory invoking artillery strikes, things had finally fallen quiet.
"They've stopped firing..." Yue breathed in numb disbelief.
Katara stared at the silent line of ships in disbelief before noticing something flying through the air. Or rather, someone. "Aang!" She cried in relief, pointing at he and Appa as they descended towards a nearby square. Katara and Yue made their way towards a nearby staircase that led to their landing zone.
Almost as soon as they landed, Appa collapsed on his stomach and Aang slid off his head to the ground, groaning as he lay against his bison's leg. "I can't do it..." he moaned as he clutched his head in despair. "I... can't do it..."
Katara ran up to her friend, kneeling next to him in concern. "What happened out there?"
Aang panted heavily as he regained his breath. "I must taken down over a dozen Fire Navy ships, but there's just too many of them. I... I can't fight them all..."
"But you have to!" Yue pleaded, desperation seeping into her voice. "You're the Avatar! If you can't..."
Aang shook his head flatly. "I... I'm just one kid."
Katara bit her lip nervously as she searched for a solution. Finally, she jumped on the only solution she had. "Wh-what about the bender who manipulated the ice?" She tilted her head towards the vines. "They saved my life, maybe he could-?"
"NO!" Aang's head shot up instantly, his eyes filled with a mixture of anger and panic. "She can't fight again, I won't let her! I..." He shivered violently as he hugged his legs. "I can't let her do that again!"
Yue blinked in shock. "Aang, are you saying that the bender who caused all this... was a woman?"
The airbender shivered slightly as he nodded. "She... she killed them. She killed so many people..."
Katara and Yue glanced at each other anxiously. "Aang..." Katara started gently.
"I know!" He interrupted hastily. "I... I know that... the Water Tribe warriors are..." He swallowed heavily. "Killing soldiers too. I don't like it, but I know they have to. But... but what that woman did..." Aang gave them a sickened look. "She was enjoying it. She liked causing pain, taking their lives..." Aang shook his head. "I tried to stop her, but she always kept ahead of me. I lost her when she escaped underwater. Whoever she is... she's a monster."
Yue bit her thumb in thought. "A female bender... ruthless in a fight..." Her eyes widened as a thought struck her. "Oh Spirits..." She looked at Aang in dawning realization. "Aang, did you get her name?"
The young Avatar thought for a moment before nodding hesitantly. "Yeah... she... she said her name was Hiuo. She called herself the Envoy of the Ocean..."
Both Katara and Yue hissed in a panicked breath simultaneously.
"Hiuo..." Yue breathed in awe.
"S-she's real!?" Katara sputtered incredulously. "But that's-!"
They were both struck dumb and stared at each other in disbelief.
"You know about-?" Katara started.
"Yes! Of course I do!" Yue nodded hastily. "I mean, I honestly doubt that there's anyone in the whole of the North who hasn't heard of her!"
Aang whipped his head back and forth between them. "Wait, you know who she is?"
Katara nodded hesitantly. "Yes, we have. The Ocean Blizzard. She's a legend. I've heard of her since I was a kid in the South Pole."
"And the same here in the North," Yue added. "There's not a waterbender or Tribe member who doesn't know the stories."
"You're telling me that a murderer like her is famous!?" The Air Nomad bristled incredulously.
The princess hastily brought her hands up in defense. "Wrong kind of legend. As a matter of fact, it would probably be more accurate to call her a myth than anything."
"Gran Gran told me about her," Katara explained. "It's said that she was the first waterbender to freeze water at will. According to the stories, she could turn as cold and uncaring as ice, striking down anyone who threatened either Tribe like a human storm. The story's been in the Tribe for the long time."
Aang blinked in surprise before frowning. "Wait... now that you mention it..." His eyes shot wide in shock. "I... I think I know her! But... have either of you heard of the Lady in the Ice?"
Katara shook her head in confusion, while Yue jerked in recognition. "I... think I might. A really old legend, about a person, or a Spirit, sometimes seen wandering around the tundra and performing incredible feats of waterbending. I only know about her because I was reading in the old archives while I was bored. Do... do you think they could be one and the same? They're so different. One casual, the other violent..."
"It must have been because of time!" Katara exclaimed in realization. "Time can warp things, so maybe a hundred years of war warped one legend to another?"
"But-but that would mean that Hiuo is over a century old! That's just not possible!" Yue protested.
"Er..." Katara rubbed the back of her head sheepishly and refused to meet Yue's eyes as she pointed a thumb at Aang. "We kind of have an example of that actually being possible right here."
"But I'm the Avatar!" Said airbender protested. "I might not like it, but I'm more of an exception to the rules than an example! Plus..." He trailed off nervously. "Hiuo... said she met Avatar Kiyoshi, and the way she said it... I think she was telling the truth. That would make her over three hundred years old!"
Katara shrugged helplessly. "Well... sometimes there can be more than one exception, Aang. And considering how I've crossed the world in less than a month, and in that time I've seen the full force of the Avatar three times and my brother has been kidnapped by a Spirit. I'm starting to think that the word 'impossible' is a really stupid thing to put stock in at this point."
Yue blinked in surprise. "Wait, a month!?"
"Sky bison are fast."
"Ah. Well then..." The princess shook her head before turning around. "I'm sorry I can't stay with you any longer, but I need to go and speak with my father, see what comes next. Considering how full the moon is, he'll probably be planning a counterattack of some sort... I'll be running inventory, speaking with the populace, seeing what our stance is. With any luck this will all be over soon. I can't believe our scouts were so stupid that they came in after catching you all..."
"Wow, you're really busy, huh Yue?" Aang asked in awe.
The princess shook her head tiredly as she walked away. "The work of royalty never truly ends. Try and rest up, Aang. Either tonight or tomorrow, things are going to get... energetic..."
Aang groaned and flopped back against Appa's leg.
-o-
Yue sighed wearily as she strode through the streets of the Northern Water Tribe, the lazy heat of the setting sun beating against her back.
"Alright, let's see..." She mused to herself. "I've met with the heads of the Anana, the Cikuq, the Iluq, and the Siku. Our stores will definitely last, and we can hunt on the tundra between storms... morale is low, what with us being so unused to all this... so what next...?"
SQUELCH! SCRUNCH! SCKRITCH!
The very, very disgusting sound of raw meat being devoured drifted out of a nearby alleyway.
Yue glanced around for any nearby guards, and sighed wearily when she acknowledged that none were in sight. "Well, that answers that question." And with that, she stepped forwards and, with much trepidation, rounded the corner.
She froze almost immediately in shock, and had to fight to keep from emptying her stomach.
Crouching on the ice next to one of the canals was a woman matching the description that the soldiers had given her of Hiuo. Clutched in a set of over-sized claws of ice that were poking out of her sleeves was the cracked shell of a turtleseal. It's limbs were retracted into its body, but its head... well, what remained of it was being gleefully and liberally chewed by the teeth of ice that were in Hiuo's hood. The icebender hummed contentedly as she munched away at her... disturbing meal.
"Schooo good..." She mumbled. "Deeeleeeshoooush..."
Suddenly, without warning, the woman froze in her movements. Slowly, her eyes shifted around to stare emotionlessly at Yue.
Yue swallowed heavily, and slowly, slowly took a step back.
Hiuo threw away the shell and sprang at her like a catwolf, arms extended at her sides.
The princess prepared for very sudden and very painful death...
"COUSIN!"
And was shocked beyond belief when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her, sweep her up and swing her around.
"Uh..." was the only response Yue could manage.
Hiuo was far from being that subtle. Once she was done swinging her around, she dropped Yue on her feet and held on to her shoulders, vibrating with energy. "Ooooooh, it's so good to see another cousin after so so soooo long! I've missed you, you know? So many patch-jobs, it really stings and itches at times! You just have honestly no idea how much I've miss miss missed you! How are you, what's your name, how strong are you, what can you do?! Tell meee!"
Yue worked her jaw as she searched for an answer. "W-wait, who- what are-?!"
Before she could react, the icebender's lense-eyes flashed an ethereal dark blue for only a moment before fading away and leaving behind the previous muddled ice. Hiuo's smile shifted from manic to sad as she suddenly hugged Yue again, albeit more lightly. "Awww! I'm so sorry for you! Hopefully everything will get better and you'll have a chance to reach your full potential. You'll do great things, Yue, I know it! It's the destiny of the Clan, after all!"
"Huh- bu- w-wait!" Yue struggled her way out of Hiuo's grip, stumbling back from the woman and look at her with a good amount of fear and confusion in her eyes. "I- what are you talking about!? What's the Clan, and how do you know my name if you just asked it! What's going on!?"
Hiuo's 'face' remained unreadable as she crossed her arms behind her back and started swinging back and force on her heels. "Oh you poor poor thing," She cooed. "You must be so confused by all of this. The normals always are, and if your Patron doesn't help you, then you're as good as one of 'em. To answer you, Lord La just filled me in on everything I needed to know!"
Yue blinked in confusion. "Lord... La?"
The icebender nodded eagerly. "Yup! Lord La! My Patron! He's very intelligent! His knowledge is as great as he is vast! And he is very, very vast!"
The princess processed the statement for a moment, made to respond...
And was cut off by Hiuo slowly giggling before breaking out into full-blown laughter. "O-Ohohoh my Spirits that sounded wrong! HAHAHA! Ohohohoh, he. Is. Pissed! HAHAHA!"
Yue was dumbstruck for a moment before scowling and drawing on the many experiences she'd had with royalty and other slightly mentally... unique people she'd dealt with in the past. "Hiuo! Focus!"
Hiuo jerked back in shock, her teeth shifting into a scowl before reforming into a calm, serene smile. "That's why I really love you Cousins. You and Lady Tui, you're the more centered ones, you keep us in control. I'm mad. Don't!" She raised a clawed arm and cut off Yue when her expression shifted to one that was slightly reassuring. "Protest. I know that my mind has been warped, I've been alive a really long time. But..." She spread her arms wide. "I'm still kinda sane, see? I'm sane enough to do my duty. Sane enough to protect our home, and my Lord and your Lady. I'm cracked, but I haven't broken yet. I promise. Now..." She tilted her head eagerly. "What's your first question?"
Yue's expression ran the gamut, from frightened to disbelieving to curious, before finally settling on wary curiosity. "I... alright..." She slowly raised a finger and pointed at the remains of the turtleseal. "Why were you eating... that?"
Darkness slid over Hiuo's eyes in the facsimile of a blink before she started to giggle again. "Oh, now that's an easy one! You see-!"
GROOOAR!
Yue jumped, whipping her head around in shock as she tried to find the killer whaleseal that had roared in the middle of the city.
SQUELCH! SKRUNCH!
Her attention snapped back to Hiuo when the initial sounds that had drawn her to the alley started up again.
The icebender was crouched over the shell again, reaching into the hole where the head had been and scooping out chunk after chunk of meat and shoveling it into her mouth.
"To ansher..." She mumbled around the meat. "Yer queshion... I've been ashleep... For a really long thyme... My stomach... ish beyond empty... Didn't get a chance to eat... during the fight... so it was eisher this... or dredging the deeps... I'm depraved, I'll admit... but that's a low I'm not quite at yet..."
"And... you've been asleep how long exactly?" Yue asked uneasily.
Hiuo stopped eating, turning her eyes towards the sky as she chewed on what was on her mouth before finally swallowing. "Last time I was awake was close to four hundred years ago, when the Clan went up against Kiyoshi. Before that, about one or two, two before that... Wow, it's hard to say how long I've been asleep, really. About... two thousand years since it all started? All I know is that every time the Clan quiets down, Lord La tells me to go to either of the Poles, find a nice little patch of ice, and fall asleep. Not too close to the actual poles though, don't want anyone getting any bright ideas, last thing we need is him getting free somehow."
"Hi-?"
"Don't ask!" Hiuo cut her off hastily. "I'm trying to eat here, I'd rather not puke. Ask Lady Tui when she completes the contact, she'll definitely do it sooner or later considering how the Clan is coming back. All hands on deck, no casual Envoys allowed."
Yue grit her jaw as she finally caught on to another point she needed to expand on. "The Clan, and the animosity with the Avatar. Explain. Now."
A switch seemed to flip inside of Hiuo. She stood up, back ramrod straight and arms crossed across her chest as she focused all her attention on Yue. "Do you really think..." She started quietly. "That the one and only way that the mortal world and the Spirit world can interact is through the Avatar?"
Yue frowned in thought. "I..."
Hiuo cut her off with a cold, calculated laugh. "Ahhh, my poor poor dear. What a naive notion! Allow me to explain something to you: the Spirits... are powerful. No, no!" She lifted a sleeved hand up to wave off the Princess's unasked question. "You don't quite comprehend. The Spirits aren't just powerful, they're beyond, absolutely beyond powerful. We, as mortals, can't even begin to comprehend the extents that the Spirits possess. I mean... for La's sake, they represent concepts of all things! The Lord and Lady alone... the concept, the sheer notion that the only channel through which they can influence our world is via a singular individual every generation is..." She scoffed, bringing her sleeved up to her mouth. "Well and truly laughable."
The princess nodded hesitantly. "I... yes, I suppose that's true. So... what does that make the Clan then?"
Hiuo's smile grew several savage teeth. "Their channels. Chosen by them personally, the Clan is the sum collective of all Envoys chosen and bound to their Patron Spirits. So... How much do you want to know?"
Yue spent a moment processing what she had just heard before slowly tightening her hands into fists, a glint of determination flashing in her eyes.
"Everything."
Hiuo's smile grew ever more eager.