Chapter 2: The Forgotten People

The cold arctic wind knifed through the air, and Kanoda drew closer to the fire for warmth. Looking around himself, he saw the other people of the village doing the same, pulling closer to the flame and scrunching up in their furs, looking almost like children rather than the last remnants of a great people. Kanoda had never lived to see the glory days of the Southern Water Tribe, and had certainly never seen the lands their mightier cousin in the north had once ruled, but he knew about the past through his grandfather's stories. It saddened him to hear that and then see what his people had come to, and he suspected that was the old man's purpose.

Grandfather stood now, looking dignified and almost regal. As the oldest person in the village, he was the closest thing the Water Tribe now had to a chief, since no one had been formally elevated to that position in the century since Chief Hakoda had traveled with his warriors to battle the Fire Nation and never returned. None who lived now could even remember the great leader's face- even Grandfather had been a toddler when he'd left. But Grandfather did remember Hakoda's son Sokka and daughter Katara, and the day that the Avatar had come to the Southern Tribe.

Grandfather would tell that story tonight, saving it for last. He began, as always, with the beginning of the Water Tribes, when the Moon and Ocean Spirits descended from the Spirit World and became the two forces that shaped the existence of all seafaring people. But it was the Water Tribe that followed the rhythm of those two great beings the closest, and so learned how to control the water themselves.

At that point of the story Grandfather always paused, and the entire village lowered their heads in quiet mourning. There had been no waterbenders in a hundred years- the last the Southern Tribe had produced was the same Katara who left with the Avatar and was never heard from again, and the Northern Tribe had been destroyed by fire and sword on the day of the Comet and the birth of the Fire Empire. Even if, against all odds, a new waterbender was born, they would have no master to help them perfect their powers. Waterbending, as an art, was dead.

Water and air- two elements gone, and if the stories were true the earthbenders had become little more than slaves in the lands their people once ruled. Kanoda wanted to rage at the injustice of it all- something was terribly wrong with this world, and everybody knew it, but they were all too afraid to act! If any time needed heroes it was now, but heroes didn't seem to exist anymore except in Grandfather's stories.

Kanoda's attention returned to the present and he found that the old man had turned to the part of the history he knew best- the finding of the Avatar. The young man leaned forward as his grandfather told of how Sokka and Katara had found the Avatar frozen in a block of ice, and brought him back safely to the village. Then came Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation is his monstrous metal warship, but Sokka and the Avatar were able to humiliate the prince and escape his clutches, and together with Katara set off for the Northern Tribe and a waterbending master. Zuko's ship steamed off in pursuit, leaving the village unharmed.

And there the story ended. None of the three young people had ever been heard from again, at least not in the South Pole. The Fire Nation won the war and became an empire- the only reason the Southern Water Tribe survived at all was because the Imperial government didn't consider them any kind of threat, on the rare occasion they thought of them at all.

Grandfather said none of this last, of course. He didn't have to- everyone knew it. They were a last pathetic remnant of a great people, but Grandfather's stories were meant to remind them that the seeds of greatness were still within them. That belief, coupled with simple, stubborn endurance, was all that kept the tribe alive.

But years of listening to them had done something else as well- they had lit a fire in Kanoda that would not die. This world needed heroes more than it ever had, and one young Water Tribe hunter hoped to provide it with one.

/

Kanoda is five when the Imperial warship comes, blown off course in a terrible storm. The winds howl and a curtain of snow prevents visibility for more than a few feet, and the people of the Southern Tribe hide in their huts and wait for it to end. When the storm clears, the warship sits in the bay, belching steam from a smokestack. It looks like a metal monster belched out of the depths, or crawled forth from one of Grandfather's stories, but this monster is not the true peril. What it carries inside is.

Kanoda doesn't know why they attack- maybe the firebenders needed food, or supplies to repair their ship. Or maybe they were frustrated by the storm and just wanted the pleasure of dominating something. For whatever reason the warriors swarm ashore, and the villagers are forced to flee in terror and confusion. Kanoda's father is cut off in the chaos and finds himself facing the enemy alone. An Imperial officer cuts him down with a contemptuous fireblast- the boy will never forget the way the flames reflected in his golden eyes, or the smile on his brutal features. Someday, he vows, he'll meet the officer again as a grown man, and then he'll be sorry. Then Grandfather's hand digs into his shoulder and drags him away.

The village is destroyed, though there are only three casualties- Father, another man, and a woman. The tribe moves down the coast and establishes a new village, and there they mourn their dead. Later scouts return to the old site and find it ransacked, anything of value taken away. The Imperial ship, of course, is long gone.

It is a day that Kanoda and his tribe will never forget.

/

Kanoda came awake with a start, shaking his head to clear sleep from it. He'd never forgotten the day of the raid, but he was fifteen now, not five, and he had the skills to make a difference. Tonight was the night his plan went into action.

He stood slowly, quietly, careful not to disturb his mother's sleep. Wishing her a quiet goodbye, hoping that she would understand, Kanoda crept from the igloo and out into the night.

The village was still and quiet, and he made his way unnoticed from his home down to the beach. There, behind an ice-covered rock, was his small boat, stocked with food and weapons to last him until he reached the shores of the former Earth Kingdom. Kanoda turned to the village and stood there quietly for several minutes, taking in his last look at the Southern Water Tribe for what he assumed would be years- perhaps forever. Finally he turned back to the boat with a sigh- and stumbled back when he saw that someone was sitting in it.

"Where do you think you're going?" Grandfather asked pleasantly.

"How did you get here?" Kanoda demanded. "I was sneaking away in secret!"

"Hardly. The whole village knows what you're up to. Did you really think you could keep a secret in a town of less than sixty people?"

Kanoda deflated. "Fine. You caught me. I'll go back home and stay there until I'm older than you are." Try as he might, he couldn't quite keep the bitterness out of his voice.

Grandfather laughed. "Well, that's what I'm supposed to tell you- use this as a lesson that you can't just sneak away from your Tribe like that, make you promise to be a good little boy and all that. I just don't think I will."

"What?"

Grandfather's eyes turned hard. "Kanoda, you're impetuous, foolhardy, and far too idealistic for your own good. But you're right about one thing- this world does need people who are willing to fight. An Empire cannot live if its people would rather fight- even to the death- than be ruled by it. You're probably not going to bring it down by yourself, of course, but maybe if you inspire one other person to fight, and they inspire someone else, and so forth, the end result will be a wave that will crush the Fire Empire beneath it."

"That's not the only reason why you're letting me go, is it?" Kanoda asked. "You don't really believe that anymore."

Grandfather sighed and lowered his head. "I try. I really try to believe, but I have to give hope and pride to our people every night, and in the end there isn't any left over for myself. I'm tired, grandson. The Fire Empire cannot be beaten by one man, Kanoda- it is too strong, the Empress too cunning. The only reason we're still free is because they barely know we exist. If you try to bring it down all by yourself, it will only lead to your death. I hope that you learn that and return home, with your courage tempered by wisdom, to become a leader here. I'd ask you not to go, but I know it will do no good, and I will not forbid you, because I won't trap you here."

"You mean you've just… given up?" Kanoda asked. "I can't believe this, from the man who tells the history of our people every night! You think that story's just going to end here? You think that the man who killed your son should just go unpunished?"

"No," Grandfather said. "That is something you can accomplish. Find the man who killed your father, and show him how a true warrior exacts justice."

"I'll do that." Kanoda jumped into his boat, and Grandfather stepped out. Turning, the old man put his hands on his grandson's shoulders.

"Good luck," he whispered. "Show no fear."

"I won't. Good-bye, Grandfather. I'll be back- I promise." Kanoda pushed his boat away from the shore and pulled on his oars, sending himself away from the shoreline. When he turned back to look at it, Grandfather was gone.

Kanoda faced the north, his mind fixed on a mission. Not to find his father's killer- though he'd gladly face the man given the chance. This was a grander mission. He was going to prove Grandfather wrong- the history of the Water Tribe wasn't over.

Kanoda was going to find the lost secrets of waterbending and return them to his people.

/

Kanoda's grandfather stood beside the boy's mother and looked out over the sea in the dawn's light. "He'll be back in a week," the old man said, "maybe less. He has a strong heart, but it's too much for him now- something he needs to learn for himself. When he's older though- then he'll be a greater leader than I am, I think."

"You underestimate him," his daughter-in-law said. "He has his father's courage and your love of our people's heritage. He'll change the world yet- you'll see."

Together the two Water Tribespeople stood silently and watched the sun rise for some time before returning to their village.

/

And so we meet our second main protagonist, Kanoda. He's a bit of a blend of elements from both Sokka and Katara- like Sokka, he's a male non-bender with a tendency to think his way out of trouble, and like Katara he's a determined idealist and optimist. We'll see further examples of his arc paralleling the canon Water siblings as FotFE progresses, albeit sometimes with a bit of a dark twist to it. His having a dead father and living mother and grandfather also weirdly parallels Sokka and Katara's family except with the genders swapped, though it wasn't intentional. His love of stories and legends- and whether or not they've really done a good job and preparing him for what's in store for him- was the central core from which the character sprang, shortly after I created Jiazin.

One of my early reviewers wondered about why the Fire Empire doesn't seem to care about the remnants of the Southern Water Tribe and why they aren't worried about the Avatar reincarnating there. Let's just say that no, this is not a plot hole, and there are things going on in the world that go beyond what I revealed in the prologue…

And yes, Kanoda's name was supposed to sound similar to Hakoda's, and Kanoda's grandfather is one of the little boys Sokka was trying (and failing) to teach to be warriors in "The Boy in the Iceberg".

-MasterGhandalf