Mer led the way into the dining hall, where many of the councilmen and Chieftain's advisers had gathered already. The whole room was made of ice, strong solid white ice, tinged with hues of blue. Even the floor was ice, although it had more texture to it so that people didn't start sliding around. The table wasn't ice, however, because it could potentially melt under the hot plates of food. A hallway at the other side of the dining hall in the Chieftain's home that most likely lead to a kitchen of some sorts. Servants began streaming out of the doorway carrying delicious and rich plates of all kinds of food.
"We understand that some are vegetarians, like you Air Nomads, so there are plenty of plates that are only fruit and such. But we still encourage you to eat meat because that stuff is good!" Mer reached over and pulled a chicken leg off a plate and took a bite of it. Behind her, she could hear Sorella explaining to the Air Nomads that if it offended them they could take away all meat plates entirely during their stay.
"Don't worry, Sorella. We do not want to begrudge the others of their delicacies. Plants are much harder to come by in the cold areas, and animals are your main source of food and warmth." Elena explained with wisdom beyond her years.
"Wow are all Air Nomads that smart?" Mer wondered out loud. "You're, like, twelve years old!"
"I guess we just learn things about wisdom and stuff like that as well as airbending... No offense." Maria said.
"What she means is that we try to meditate and figure out the deeper meanings of things." Momo corrected. Maria sighed and nodded to Momo, grateful she had covered up for her. If the waterbenders had thought she meant they weren't smart...
But Mer didn't care about such things. She knew most of the waterbenders around the Northern Water Tribe were idiots anyways.
"So Dad, this is Avatar Elena and her friends Momo and Maria." Mer introduced the newcomers as she approached her father. He had black hair with a few strands of gray streaking through it. He had a bushy beard that was braided into two long strands. He was very tall and thin, but it was obvious that he was very strong despite his age. His face looked stern but his eyes twinkled with intelligence and love, much like Sorella's eyes.
"Hello, it is an honor to have you visit our city to learn the ways of the waterbenders. I am Chieftain Silas. This is my wife, Chieftainess Reine." Silas scooted back slightly to reveal a small woman. She had light brown hair that cascaded down her back like a waterfall of wavy brown water, hazel eyes, and small lips with a plump and rosy face.
"Welcome to our home!" Reine stood up and raised her hands for silence. "Today we welcome the Avatar and her friends! Let us dine in peace today, for the Avatar is here!" Everyone around the table cheered at Reine's announcement as she sat back down.
"Please, sit beside us," Silas motioned to the empty chairs beside them. Sorella took the lead and sat down next to her father. Mer plopped down into the chair next to her sister and then dragged Elena down so that they sat right next to each other. But there was only one chair left, and two people.
"Don't worry Maria, you can sit here." Momo pushed Maria into the chair playfully and transformed into her winged lemur form and scampered over the table to a bowl of assorted nuts. Screams resounded from the women around the table while the men roared with laughter. Momo's wide green eyes darted around the table, staring at everyone.
"That's a cool animal companion," Mer smiled as people finally calmed down and began to eat. Mer herself grabbed a portion from almost every plate on the table.
"Yes, Momo is quite... unique." Elena laughed as Momo began doing tricks across the table, causing people to throw her small pieces of food. "Do you have an animal companion?"
"Yes, I have Eau. He's the coolest wolf ever! Do you want to meet him?"
"Uh... Right now?" Elena stuttered as Mer whistled loudly. Within a few seconds, a huge white wolf ran through the dining hall. Apparently, everyone was used to this happening, as they paid no attention and kept eating. But Elena's eyes widened in fear as the big cuddly creature bounced up to Mer and licked her face.
What do you want, Mer? He asked.
"Meet Elena! She's the Avatar." Mer pointed at the little airbender behind Eau. She was cowering in fear.
Looks like dinner to me! Eau joked as he licked his lips.
"Wow Eau that's just totally rude, she is not dinner." Mer slapped Eau upside the head, but it barely even affected him. Elena gave a little shriek of fear when Mer said that, and began to slowly back away.
"Seriously though, Eau is the nicest, cutest, best wolf ever, trust me!" Mer grabbed Elena's wrist and pulled her right next to Eau, who proceeded to lick Elena's face clean.
"Ew this is so wet!" Elena complained.
"You get used to it." Mer laughed as Eau licked Elena some more.
Elena slowly got used to Eau over the course of the dinner. Mer tried to get her to calm down and feed him some chicken or something, but it seemed to Mer that she didn't like getting close to Eau's mouth.
Does your breath stink or something? Mer asked Eau.
No! Of course not, how dare you accuse me of such unhygienic things? Eau joked as he chomped up yet another chicken leg. Elena quietly ate her vegetable stew. Maybe Mer was just horrible at first impressions, but Elena had seemed like a talkative girl to her.
"Are you okay, Elena?" Mer asked quietly.
"I guess I just don't want to be the Avatar." Elena sighed as she dropped her spoon into the bowl with a clatter.
"Hey, you get to use all four elements! And the world is at peace, there's nothing for you to worry about. Besides, you have me! I'll totally help you if you need help!"
"Thanks Mer." Elena looked slightly cheery, but still tired. Beside her, Maria looked ready to drop. Only Momo looked energetic, flying around the table for food.
"Sorella, let's get them to bed." Mer nudged Sorella's side and she nodded, pulling Elena and Maria up and out of the dining hall.
"These are the softest beds in our home, I hope you enjoy them." Sorella gestured to two rooms down a long and bright hallway. Maria and Elena just nodded sleepily and walked inside the room. The doors shut, and Mer could hear snoring within a few seconds. Satisfied, she returned to her own room and began planning what she could teach Elena the next day before falling asleep.
Dawn. Mer's eyes blinked open and she immediately jumped up, prepared for waterbending action! Her hair was already perfectly brushed out, and she was already wearing her clothes. She ran over to Sorella's room and jumped onto Sorella's body, crushing her sleeping figure.
"OOF! Mer, what are you doing, it's dawn!" Sorella rolled over and got up, pulling on some pants and going to her mirror to brush out her dark hair. She put it up in nice braid as Mer began explaining in detail her plan to teach Elena.
"We can go over that octopus move and then how she can use her surroundings to her advantage and we can develop new moves together and -"
"We have to start with the basics, she's good but she needs to start at square one." Sorella interrupted. Mer nodded and thought back to what she had done the first time she had tried to bend water.
"I know what to do."
Sorella tied off her braid and ran to Elena's and Maria's rooms. There, they lay in their beds still snoring and resting.
"Wakeup, Avatar! Time for waterbending!" Mer screamed into Elena's ear. She woke up with a start, her dark messy hair even worse than normal. Her near-white eyes were wide and confused. Mer sighed in disappointment at Elena's lack of response and began running a brush through her hair. She then braided it up just like Sorella's, leaving some side bangs in the front to go along with her airbender tattoo.
"Why are we up at dawn?" Elena moaned as she pulled on her shirt and some pants. She splashed some water in her face and dried it off.
"Because then we can get the most out of the day and learn everything!" Mer ran out of Elena's room and into the next one to check on how Sorella and Maria were doing. Maria was already up and ready to... not learn waterbending. Mer hung her head in shame as she remembered that Maria would not be joining in.
"Come on, you can watch us do some boring waterbending exercises!" Sorella pushed Maria out the door. Mer smiled and grabbed Elena and pulled her out into the courtyard, which was surrounded by a manmade river.
"Right, so you have to do -" Mer began before remembering that Elena didn't know anything about waterbending. "Waterbending is fluid and graceful. You must be adaptable to anything, just like water. You must not try to fight the flow of energy, but rather flow with it. Waterbenders do not normally attack first, like airbenders. Instead, they turn their opponents' forces against them." Mer glanced at Sorella, wondering if she was doing it right. Sorella nodded.
"Waterbending is special. Every other element was learnt from an animal, the original bender. But for waterbending, people observed the moon, pushing and pulling on the tides. They copied this movement." Sorella added in.
"Tui and La were the original Yin and Yang, Moon and Ocean spirits. Tui was killed by a firebender long ago, and my mother, Yue, gave her life to replace him, so that now she is the Moon Spirit." Mer explained.
"So we must start with the basics. We will push and pull the water, just like the moon did so long ago." Sorella said. Mer brought a blob of water into the middle of the clearing and laid it evenly over the icy floor. Mer connected her chi to the water and when she moved her hands back and forth, the edge of the water moved along with it.
"That's how you do it. Now you give it a try." Mer and Sorella took a step back and watched as Elena pushed and pulled the puddle of water.
"Now, this is a bit harder, but you did it yesterday. Pull the water up into a ball and hold it there." Sorella demonstrated by pulling the water up and holding it in the center before letting it splash back down.
As Elena copied Sorella, Mer began to fix her stance. "Wider legs. Hold in your core, and pull your hands in closer to protect that core!" Elena nodded and corrected herself, all the while holding the ball of water in the air. "Good."
"Now, this is much harder. You must hold your ball of water..." Sorella grabbed another ball of water from the river. "And compact it into a ball of ice." Sorella clenched her fingers slightly and the ball of water froze with a crack into a perfect white sphere. "The more compact the better."
Mer stood there observing as Elena closed her eyes in concentration. She didn't expect Elena to get this the first time. She wasn't that perfect, was she?
But to her dismay, the ball of water gave a resounding crack as it turned to ice.
"Great job, Elena! But that's not a sphere..." Sorella began to laugh. Elena's ball of water had turned into an irregular blob of ice that looked almost like Eau. It was very thin ice, and it was already beginning to melt in the morning sun.
"You're thinking of making it ice from the outside in. That's much harder than starting at the core and moving outwards." Mer advised. "Try again."
Elena nodded, grateful for the advice, and grabbed a new blob of water. This time, she went about it slowly, and Mer could hear the crackling of the core turning into ice, slowly but surely. Soon, the water had turned into ice, and although it wasn't a perfect sphere, it was solid ice. Mer was secretly glad that Elena wasn't perfect with her waterbending.
"Wonderful!" Mer encouraged. "Try again, and this time faster." Elena smiled, happy she had gotten it. She got yet another ball of water and this time, with a loud crack, the blob of water turned into a nice compact ball of ice.
"Hold it there!" Sorella commanded just before Elena dropped it. "Now make it melt again, and make sure the water stays in blob form."
"Don't let any water drip out of your control. You are the master of the water. And when melting, it is better if you start from the outside." Mer suggested. Elena nodded, too concentrated to say anything. Mer looked around and saw Maria playing with Theo in the distance. She whipped her head back around as she heard a splash of water hit the floor. Elena looked defeated. She had melted nearly the whole ball, but she had lost control and dropped everything.
"How about we try with a smaller ball of ice first?" Mer kindly suggested. Sorella agreed and made a ball of ice that was half the size of the previous one.
"Here's a fun activity! Catch the ice ball without touching it!" Sorella tossed the ice ball high into the air, and Elena caught it just before it hit the floor.
"Nice! Let's see if you can throw it back!" Mer laughed. Elena looked bewildered at the change in her objectives - was she supposed to melt the ice or toss it?
"Throw it! As hard and as fast as you can!" Sorella got ready to catch the ball. Elena nodded and pushed the ball of ice forward. It hurtled towards Sorella, who sidestepped it. She melted it as it came near her right side and pushed it around her body and shot it back towards Elena from her left side. Elena, surprised and unexpecting, didn't have time to stop the spear of water as it hit her and threw her backwards.
"Elena?" Sorella called out as the Avatar hit the floor with a thud.
"Elena?!" Maria screamed out when her friend didn't respond.
"Shit, we just killed the Avatar." Mer muttered.
