Birth of the Four Elements
Entry: The Polar Tribes
Citizens from the Western Nations and the CentrEast Kingdoms migrated to the North Pole in order to escape the modernizing world that they themselves do not want to achieve. The Polar Tribes lived peacefully as savages of the land with Patriarchal Tribalism as their dominant and only governing system, where the strongest male leads a tribe. They hunt whales, seals, polar bears, fish, and other seafoods that surrounded the vast oceanic area that they occupy. Their customs of arranged marriages have been retained since the early tribal days, and the females of the tribes have lesser privileges than the males. While the males hunt, build, earn a living, and fight to war between tribes, the women are to cook, tend to the house and family, heal the sick, and please their husbands. Different tribes are scattered around the North Pole each containing at least 200 members and headed by a chief and his family. Though they were able to adapt to the relentless winters, the Polar Tribes will have to learn to survive the blizzards, icebergs, dangerous icy terrains, and wild polar beasts that roam the lands.
This is the story of how the Waterbenders came to be.
The night was cold and the blizzard rages. The men of Chief Lo Qi are taking refuge under an icy dome hidden under the colours of the snow. There were 3 women inside, making the meals and medicines of the injured men. The Chief had only 12 men left, and their home tribe is 3 miles away. They cannot call for reinforcements, and Chief Kim's 32 men are marching even through the night searching for their enemy. The weapons were few, with a few broken spears, half a club, and blunt scimitars at the corner of the dome.
Outside, the moon shone very brightly illuminating even the darkest portions of the polar lands. The sun has not been seen for a long time. Chief Lo Qi and his men are warming under the dome and staying for the night.
"Yula, my love," says Lo Qi. "You must return to the village and take care of our son. By first light tomorrow, Kumon shall take you home. If in 2 days we do not return.......pass on to Gokku my club and my seat as the new Chief."
He hands over his sharpened club to his wife.
"But Gokku is too young, replied Yula. "He cannot take over the responsibilities of the tribe as of now. He has not fully completed his studies and his training as a warrior like you."
"Then tell him I trust him. Tell him his father brings him his blessings."
Soon the small band fell asleep. Chief Lo Qi was still awake so he prayed to the Moon Spirit in guidance and strength. Lo Qi heard footsteps from the outside. Suddenly he heard screams of war from at least a few meters away. Lo Qi woke up his men and they gathered their weapons.
"Chief," said Kumon. "They don't look like Kim's men. The Turtle Seal tribesmen of Chief Kim wear grey-dyed clothing. These men belong to the Chun tribe of Chief Tai Chun. But what they are doing here I wonder?"
"If they know we are here," replied Lo Qi, "then they are our enemies or perhaps they could've noticed us. If they are the allies of the Seal Tribe then, then we are doomed. Our allies from the west are far from our current location. It is likely that we will not survive."
The men marched on not noticing the concealed dome behind the wall of snowy ice just 19 inches to their east. Lo Qi laid down his weapon and revealed himself.
"Men of the Chun tribe! I am Chief Lo Qi of the Qi tribe. I and my men and our wives are taking refuge under our hidden dome. It may take a while for us to reach home under this blizzard. We have sick and injured men during our war with the Turtle Seal....."
"We know who you are," interrupted the General. "We are men of the Chun tribe and we do not mean harm to you and your men. We are passing by the Crystal Bridge of Kwan. We are off to war with the Bei tribe. We will offer you a portion of our food and weapons."
The General handed them three spears, five scimitars, and two packs of food and medicine.
"Thank you General, said Lo Qi. "We are in you debt. If your chief approves, we shall soon form an alliance."
"It is our pleasure, replied the General. "In fact we are already allies. Your ally, the Wei tribe, has recently formed an alliance with our tribe. It is very likely that our chief approves your proposal of alliance. Now we shall not waste any more time....MEN! OFF TO WAR!"
The Chun tribe warriors marched forward without looking back. Lo Qi bid them farewell.
As was mentioned, the Polar tribes still lives on with the ancient way of tribal rule. Many tribes exist within the North Pole; many of them fight and ally with another. This type of savagery is frowned upon by the citizens of the Western Islands and the CentrEast territories.
By morning the tribe was attacked by a few forces from the Turtle Seal tribe. The men of the Qi tribe fought valiantly. Twelve men fought on Lo Qi's side against a number of 25 men from the Turtle Seal forces. Kumon and 7 others were killed in the struggle.
"FLEE!" shouted Lo Qi. "We are outnumbered, Kumon has been killed!"
However before they could escape the hoard of 18 men left from the Turtle Seal tribe, an arrow pierced their General and he fell dead. Without their General the Turtle Seal warriors turned back and departed. A few more arrows flew and one by one the Turtle Seal warriors fell. Lo Qi and his men looked back and saw the arrow on the General's corpse. It had a red tail. Lo Qi recognized the arrow as his son's. Gokku always coloured his arrow tail red. The Qi warriors looked to the direction of the arrows' emergence and they saw 20 men under the command of Gokku, wielding a complete set of weapons, They had 4 women with them carrying food and medicine.
"Father!" cried Gokku. "We have arrived; we have come to help you."
"Yula come!" shouted Lo Qi. "It is our son. He has come to save us!"
The reunion was very merry indeed. Lo Qi was proud of his son's courage and therefore has deemed him a true successor to his tribe. Lo Qi was so happy that he decided to make peace with the Turtle Seal tribe. He sent messengers with a treaty and tributes to the Turtle Seal tribe and luckily their feuds ended and an alliance between them had arised.
One night Lo Qi and Gokku were walking around the outskirts of their village under the light of the full moon. The Qi tribesmen have always been fascinated by the full moon. They watched how the Moon pushed and pulled the tides and hoping they could do the same.
The Polar Tribes used martial arts just as they did once when the world was still united at the CentrEast lands. Even after the migration to the Western Islands, to the North Pole, and to the compass Mountains, the civilizations share the same form of martial arts called Kung Fu. The Nomads have created their own variation in conjunction with their belief of "sacred life," called Ba Gua. With the quick ability to evade and counterattack, plus circle walking which makes their form faster, quicker, and more efficient. The Polar Tribes developed something slow called Tai Chi Chuan, which allowed them to turn back the opponent's attack against them. The Western Nations developed a form that involves total offense in exchange for little or no offense, with quick and agile movements. Their form was named Shaolin Style. The CentrEast Kingdoms developed a form that includes strength, endurance, force, and a balance of offense and defence with the Tiger styles for raw power and Crane styles for finesse. Their form was called Hung Gar.
As Lo Qi and Gokku walked the shores of the ice they gazed at the glorious moon, breathing in its spiritual power and then performing Tai Chi movements. Unnoticed to them, the waves of the nearby sea gracefully flowed with their movements. Lo Qi requested that his son perform it himself. And as he did, Lo Qi noticed the ice beneath them transforming to water, along with the snake-like movements of the waters of the sea. This is how they discovered Waterbending. Both father and son practiced the manipulation of water until after 8 days of practice; they have mastered the movements of the water. They can perform waves themselves, levitate water, heat it until it becomes mist, harden it to ice, transform it to snow, create a blade, and launch bullets at each other.
They returned to the village and taught their members, all except the women. Lo Qi's first impression of the power was to be used for battle and since women cannot fight, they were not allowed to learn Water Dancing, the name they called it since its discovery. They were taught how to heat water, and freeze water for home use.
Soon they spread their power over the tribes of the North Pole and because of that special discovery, it lead to peace and prosperity over long years at the North Pole. They all changed their civilization from the Northern Tribes to the Northern Water Tribes and then just "Water Tribes."
Author's Note: Here is my story on the side of the Water Tribes. Well I may not be too accurate but I have noticed that almost all the Water Tribe characters in the show had "K's" in their name.
