I finished another chapter already! I'm hoping to have another one done sometime by the end of this week. Let me know what you think!


Nima strolled, staff in hand, along the path her and Kesuk made over the last few years on their way to the beach. The woods running between the bay and village were dense, preventing any carts from passing through and forcing the villagers to travel a few miles south for their trade. The land surrounding the village was thick with clay which the water and earth benders worked together to dig up and sell. Kesuk started working at the clay deposits three years ago, and on his days off he and Nima would head to the beach.

A young saber-tooth moose lion trailed a few paces behind her nudging her back and craning it's neck for attention.

Sunlight burst at the edge of the woods as girl and beast arrived at the cliffside. "Sorry buddy, I have to leave you here." She stroked the end of his nose a few more times before jumping off the edge.

Barefoot, Nima jogged across the white sand burning her feet. Kesuk already stood at the shoreline in his trunks.

"You're here early!" Nima shouted.

"Or you're just late!" He yelled back. "And unprepared…" He gave her a once over. "Where's your swimsuit?"

In a light pant she replied, "I'm not wearing one today. Because I'm not going to fall in this time." She came up next to him and dropped her staff in the sand. "And if I'm late it's because I brought San with me today." She pointed to the top of the cliff.

Kesuk jerked back nearly tripping into the water and stared at the beast, slack-jawed. "Nima, it's a–"

"My saber-tooth moose lion." She finished for him and squatted next to the staff she'd made. "He won't hurt anybody." Carefully she let the fans out from their hidden compartments and locked them in place. "My family found him abandoned as a baby nine months ago."

"You mean he's not fully grown?" He asked in disbelief.

Nima nodded and continued fiddling with her winged contraption.

"Hey Nima," Kesuk folded his arms as he approached her, "before I forget I just wanted to say I'm really sorry for what I said a few weeks back. At the festival. I was just joking around–I didn't realize it… it was a sensitive topic for you." He piled wet sand from one foot to the other. "I'm actually surprised you came today."

Nima finished strapping her feet onto the staff in the middle of her now 'air-surfer'. "Okay." She bent her knees and kicked off toward the sky.

The waterbender shrugged, it wasn't a completely unexpected answer coming from her. With a swipe of his hand, he turned the next wave into a small sheet of ice and jumped on, gliding out into the open water. Nima circled above, swooping back and forth toward the water's surface, building up the wind to create waves.

The game began.

She knelt on her glider and spun, tightly, straight down in a dive. Faster and faster she spiraled pushing the water out in all directions—the closer to the water, the larger the waves.

Her head spinning, she pulled out to level her glider and floated on a warm breeze. She regained vision just in time to see Kesuk climbing out of the water onto his iceboard. "You fell already?" She shouted, swooping low toward him.

He teetered on the board as he stood up, the waves still unsettled. "You normally save that move for last!" He yelled back. "I wasn't warmed up!" He fell backwards again, caught off-guard by the latest wave.

Something burned in Nima's belly until it rose up and burst into laughter. Real laughter! Something about flying brought out the unexpected in her. The wind, the chill, seeing for miles and miles, the feeling of falling that tickled in the middle, reality didn't exist anymore. It was freedom, and so she let herself laugh.

Kesuk boarded the ice once more and propelled himself forward. Moving swiftly he began shooting pillars of water toward the sky. Nima weaved between the juts of water, avoiding so much as a splash. But something cold gripped her ankle, halting her in mid-air and dragging her toward the ocean. With a swipe of her hand, the ice shattered and she was free of it's grip.

"Whoa! Where'd that come from?" He bellowed.

Nima swooped in, stopping to hover upside down in front of him. The airbender held her hand up. "Rather than one sharp slice like last time and being stuck with ice you could control still wrapped around my ankle," fanning out her fingers she explained, "I created five thinner slices, shattering the ice instead."

"Like a claw...clever, when did you come up with that?"

"Last night." She smirked. "I came prepared."

They spent the rest of the afternoon in the same fashion – attempting to knock each other into the water. The sun beat down, soaking Nima's clothes with sweat. She almost wanted to let Kesuk succeed just once so she could cool off at least, but she wasn't wearing anything suitable for swimming and she'd left her hair in it's usual braid.

They took breaks every once in awhile to relax on the beach and for Nima to give San the attention he constantly begged for.

The horizon lost it's ball of light and was left with pink and purples clouds along the skyline. "One more." Kesuk called out.

"Sure," she shouted, "but you haven't gotten me all day!" Whizzing by his head she took off again toward the sky. Dodging towers of water and the occasion ice block Kesuk threw, Nima forced herself to use up the last of her energy. He was really pushing her limit and she glanced at him, attempting to read his movements. Out the corner of her eye though, she saw something break the surface of the water, then sink back down just feet from his board.

"Kesuk! Look out!" She screamed.

She turned to rush toward him, but instantly everything became a blur. She was being swallowed up by one of Kesuk's pillars of water and she could feel herself plummeting as gravity pulled the water back to it's body. Struggling to keep from flipping, her heart raced. She had to get out! Something was in the water.

Nima clapped her hands together above her head, using the glider to push against the flow, she dove out of the pillar at an angle, still heading straight for the ocean. Only having enough time to gasp for one breath, she took in all the air she could. With her hands around her mouth as if to shout, she released it, keeping herself airborne long enough to flip upright, level out and keep flying.

She clambered up in time to see something big and grey clasping Kesuk's leg as he fell into the ocean.

Her chest pounded and heaved. Her hands shook violently, her mind raced – this seemed all too familiar, and all she could do was hover and stare, her sister's face flashing before her, so full of terror. Something flickered somewhere deep. A suppressed rage boiled inside her and she clenched her fist, regaining control over her body. This would not turn out like last time.

Nima swooped low, ready to drag him to shore if she had to. Arms out she felt a strength and power she'd never felt before as she rushed forward. She kept close to the water heading towards Kesuk's last location. Energy rushed through her, she was getting closer, but something overshadowed her.

A monstrous wave had built up behind and above her, ready to crash over and crush every bone in her body. She nearly froze in terror. Adrenaline rushing, she pulled up, narrowly escaping the arc at the top.

The wave passed over the beach and smashed against the cliff, shaking the ground and scaring all wildlife from the premises. When the water sloshed back into the bay, Kesuk was left on the beach, looking like a rag doll.

Nima raced forward. Please be alive! Please be alive!

She struggled at stay upright. Her body ached and shore felt miles away.

Something broke through the water in front of her, coming straight toward her head. Instinctively she threw her arms in front of her face and clenched her fists, squeezing her eyes shut. This couldn't be it though, she had to save Kesuk.

Nothing, and then a loud splash and she felt the spray of salty water on her legs. She lowered her arms and opened her eyes to see an eel-shark drift beneath her glider, it's head floating, frozen in jagged ice. But she didn't have time to sit and stare.

She sped once more toward her friend. Approaching the beach, Nima unlatched her feet from the glider and jumped off to land next to him, tumbling slightly. She fumbled to find signs of life; they were there but he was going pale. The gashes inside his left leg and foot were covered in bloody sand. She pulled the sash from her waist and tore it in half; using one half to wipe off as much sand she possibly could before tossing it into the ocean, she used the other to bandage his leg well enough to hopefully get him back to the village.

San was gone, so there was no hope of him carrying Kesuk home. If she flew him into the village her parents without a doubt would discover her misuse of bending. But what did that matter now, she had to get him back to his mother – she could heal him. She had to.