Sorry there hasn't been much action in the last few chapters. Had to establish the setting, and also follow the plot of Avatar (the movie about the blue people, not the airbender) as best I could. More interesting stuff happening in the next few chapters, I promise. Also, there will be Zutara soon. Please take a moment to review! It would mean a lot to me.
Chapter 4
About three yards in front of me, there was a series of wide holes bored into the ice by something. Each one was big enough to fit a komodo rhino and there were so many of them that they spanned a vast distance of clear ice similar to what Uncle and Ty Lee were studying. That wasn't what caught my attention though. Sitting around the holes, dipping their heads into the water to catch fish, were massive creatures that resembled elephants with flippers. One of which was only a few paces away from me and was staring me right in the face. Before I could back away or do anything, it opened its drooping maw and bellowed. The immense noise nearly knocked me off my feet and alerted Uncle and Ty Lee to danger. They both came running to where I stood, eyes wide. Ty Lee quickly scampered back behind the ice hill, but Uncle stayed by my side, just slightly behind me. "Don't move, Nephew," he whispered. "These are elephant-seals and they are territorial. It is only threatening you, but if you run, it will charge." "Okay. Yeah. Makes sense." I hissed back, trying to keep eye contact with the elephant seal. It bellowed again, then made some noise deep in its throat and lowered its gigantic head. I took a bending stance, willing myself to stand my ground. If it attacked, I had my fire, as well as the Water Tribe knife in my boot. The great beast lurched forward suddenly, roaring and pushing off its massive flippers. I crouched lower and let out a war cry, fire springing to my hands. After a long, tense moment, the creature suddenly relented and began to move away, as did all the others. I smirked in victory and relaxed my stance, snuffing out the fire in my palms. But my ears perked up and my eyes widened as I heard a deep rumbling from behind me. The hairs on my neck stood on end as I slowly swiveled to catch sight of the blindingly white, cat-like brute crouched on one of the icy hills behind us. I vaguely noted the tiny squeak from Ty Lee from behind her little ice dune.
The creature was smaller than the elephant seals, but clearly more muscular and athletic. Not to mention considerably larger than me. It leapt from its perch, clearing both me and Uncle, landing near one of the holes in the ice. Its electric blue eyes trained on the retreating elephant seals and it roared, a numbing, ground-shaking sound. Then it slowly turned its gaze to me. Keeping my eyes on it, I asked Uncle, "What about this one, huh? Stay still, run, fire-bend?" As the beast started slinking towards me, Uncle yelled, "Run, definitely run!" I took off like a madman, ignoring the protest in my mind that told me I should stand and fight. I knew I had no chance against it, I couldn't generate a fire blast large enough to do much damage against an animal like that. Soon, however, my hip made it painfully obvious to me that I didn't have much chance running, either, especially considering how fast this cat thing was. I calculated that my best chance at survival was to find a place to hide, and quickly. Dodging one of its massive paws, I dove towards a mound of ice, hoping for a crevice to hide in. I found one almost immediately and wiggled my way into it, but the white fiend smashed through the wall of ice between us with one swipe from its claws. I ducked as shards of ice flew in every direction, protecting my face with one arm and scrambling to get away from the creature's teeth. I managed to escape on the other side of the crevice and sprinted away, desperate to put some distance between myself and the blue-eyed hunter. Following the path of a ravine between two mountains of ice, I could hear the pounding of its paws and its enraged roar as it realized I had escaped. My hip screamed in protest as I pushed myself to run faster. I knew I couldn't last much longer. This was the most I had exerted myself since my injury and I could tell that I was reaching the limit. I ground my teeth and ignored the pain as I continued to push myself. But my heart dropped into my stomach as I rounded a bend and slid to a stop before a dead end. The two mountains met in a jagged and formidable wall of ice. There was nowhere to hide and my hip was about to give out. I whirled as the cat rounded the corner. It slowly made its way towards me, seeming to sense its victory and wanting to enjoy it. In a final act of desperation, I turned and leapt toward the cliff, clinging to the slight divots and sharp protrusions just as the animal pounced for me. I was gambling on the hope that the creature's weight would not allow it to climb after me. I hurried to lift myself up further, relying completely on upper body strength since my injured leg was now useless. Having missed its first pounce, the beast growled in irritation and coiled its muscles, preparing for a second attack. By this time, I was considerably high above the ground and still moving upward, though my arms were burning and my gloved hands were struggling for decent grips. It hurdled upwards, its claws making contact with the ice right below my feet, taking a swipe at one of my boots. A single hooked nail sinking into the boot and grazing my skin below. Afraid that it would pull me off the cliff face, I kicked, the boot falling off my foot and hitting the creature in the muzzle, causing it to lose its grip on the ice. It fell backwards, but managed to twist around to land safely on its feet. Infuriated, it turned its piercing gaze on me once more. Agni, I thought to myself, save me. I clambered up the icy cliff even further and it jumped a third time with a great roar. This time, when its great mass slammed against the cliff face, I heard a loud crack. Blocks of ice started to dislodge from one another below me and I started to feel my grip slipping as the shards I clung to started to shake. I shimmied to the side, then continued up and out of the way of the unstable ice. The entire section that I had been climbing tumbled down on top of the white beast, while I finally pulled myself up and over the top of the cliff. I rolled over onto my back, panting with relief and exhaustion, listening to the sound of the remaining ice crumbling down the cliff. Finally catching my breath, I chanced a peek over the edge to see the fate of the white cat beast. Unsurprisingly, it was relatively unharmed. It stood up from the rubble, shook itself off and started pacing at the base of the precipice, growling with frustration deep in its throat. I ducked away quickly, not wanting to give it incentive to come after me again. I needn't have worried, though. I could hear it start to walk away, I suppose having decided that I wasn't worth the trouble. I let out a breath and collected myself. I assessed my physical condition, quickly coming to the conclusion that I was in bad shape. My hip refused to acknowledge my commands, making my right leg useless, and my arms and hands were shaking from overexertion. In addition, I was missing a boot. My foot, though still covered in a sock, was starting to go numb from the cold and the heel was bleeding from where the beast's claw had scratched it. Hating to admit it, I realized that I was basically helpless on my own. I had to place my hope in one of two options: either my uncle and Ty Lee would find me soon, or one of the Water Tribe natives would come along and be willing to assist me. Examining my surroundings, my confidence in the first option plummeted. I was nowhere near where we had been and that creature did not leave any trace of itself despite its massive size, so they had no way to track me. Furthermore, I was on much higher ground than they and hidden behind two large peaks of ice, which even I could not see past. My final deduction was, I would either be found by a native, possibly helped by them, but more likely killed, or I would die out here of exposure.