The Mysterious Traveler

Just a fair warning, I am posting this alongside Chapter 30 as of May 10, 2020. So if you haven't read the other chapter, I highly recommend doing so to understand what is going.

Enjoy chapter 31!

Chapter Thirty-One:

The Master & The Apprentice

Severus had stayed up most of the night after the others had gone to sleep, especially Aang and Katara, who were supposed to begin their waterbending training in the morning with Master Pakku. He questioned himself if he was truly ready to go through with what he was considering. If it was time to take the next step.

After some time of debating with himself, he finally made a decision and went to sleep that night with confidence.

Before the sun had risen, he was the first to awaken and fresh up before the others. Approaching the bed that Kori and Kiri were sharing, he woke the little girl, who rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"We begin in an hour."

"Hm? What?" she asked, trying to wake up.

"Your training begins in an hour. I'll be waiting outside."

The girl's eyes widened as she leaped out of the bed, "Yes!"

"Honey?" Kori awoke, disturbed from her sleep. "What's wrong?"

"Mom, I'm starting my training in an hour!"

Kori's eyes widened as she turned to Severus, "This early?"

"It's a good for her to get used to this," he explained. "Training is a good way to get the body awake and going."

Though hesitate, she slowly nodded, resting her head on her pillow to sleep, "Alright, just don't make it too early for now on. And please, go easy on her."

Severus rolled his eyes, turning to Kiri, who struggling to hold back her excitement.

"One hour. I'll be waiting."

Kiri nodded as she ran to her belongings, finding something to eat and some new clothes before rushing off to take a quick bath.

Severus exited the room, watching her disappear down the corner as he headed for an area he spotted out the window the previous night. A small, disclosed area that rested next to the icy cliffs of city, allowing them peace and quiet.

Having some time to himself, he resumed his own training, remembering the technics they had managed to come up with on his own. He only hoped that he had enough energy for himself and for his apprentice.

"Ah!" Zuko roared as he blocked the fire from his opponents as he did flips in the air, moving ease and stride. He landed on his feet, doing a stance as his two opponents waited to strike.

"No!" a voice called out. "How many times do I have to tell you?"

They all turned to General Iroh, who was sipping his tea.

"Breath is the source of power and firebending, not the muscles. I've told you this before."

"And yet, it offers no improvement."

"Because you refuse to listen. You believe that your strength comes from your physical body and your inner hate, but they're not the source."

"They've helped me before," Zuko glared at him.

"They've been the reason you've failed before, and why you'll keep failing. One who holds onto his hate will always be blind to the truth."

Zuko approached him, "The only truth that matters is capturing the Avatar and Alexander Prince. The advanced set you've been teaching me has gotten me closer to doing so."

"And yet, you still failed to do so at the Northern Air Temple."

"Because I was tired from the climb, but I still came close."

Iroh shook his head, standing up, "Zuko, have you ever stopped to actually think things through? You went up there with a plan that wasn't fully guaranteed, and you nearly died when the temple collapsed."

Zuko glared at him, "So?"

"The very fact you cannot see is all the proof I need to know. This mission you are so desperate to follow through is suicide. It's not worth it."

His eyes lit up as he firebended at one of the trainees he was practicing with, sending him back against the ground.

"It's worth everything!" he shouted.

Iroh stared at him and sighed, "Very well. But if you're so keen on this mission, then please try my way."

Though very hesitant to do so, he nodded and resumed his training, taking a deep breath and-

Striking the ice with a spell, cracking it, as Severus continued his little solo session. He kept going, never slowing down or stopping. He felt the magic flowing through him.

In the weeks following the Freedom Fighters' hideout being burnt down, Severus put more effort into his training with wandless magic, while still developing his body with the help of Jet's own training. And since then, he felt an increase in his abilities, though he did become tired from doing so afterward.

His running theory was that the magic he was using used physical energy to make his spells and curses more powerful. It was all about stamina, so he made sure that he developed that as much as possible.

Speaking of which, ever since the last dream he had of the orb, his magical abilities and his stamina had increased on their own.

He continued for a while longer, forgetting the time as sweat rolled off him, remembering the spells and technics from Hogwarts during his studies. He even made sure to keep a journal of them, noting everything down that he could remember, as well as keeping a section for his own created methods.

Suddenly, he became aware of someone watching him and stopped, turning to find Kiri watching in awe.

"You're doing great, master!" she called out.

Severus sighed, wiping the sweat off his forehead, "How long were you there?"

She pursed her lips and hid her arms behind her back, "Almost half an hour."

Severus nodded, "Well, you arrived on time. Let's get started."

Kiri did a silent yes and approached him, "Soooo… what's first?"

Severus walked up to her and took her by her arms, "First, you must master the basics. The stance is most important, but we'll get to that later. We'll start off with the simplest of spells for you. The first one we will begin with is Stupefy."

Kiri titled her head, "Stupidfly?"

Severus shook his head, sighing, "No, Stupefy. It's a Stunning Spell to be precise. If strong enough, it can render your opponent unconscious for a time."

"Cool!"

He moved around her, guiding her to make sure she was in the right stance she needed to be in, "Now, I want you to cry out, Stupefy!"

She nodded and shouted, "Stupidfly!"

Severus choked by a laugh, "No, Stupefy."

Kiri frowned at him, "I'm trying!"

"Repeat after me, STEW-puh-fye."

"Stupefy!" she cried out.

Severus slightly smiled, "Again."

She continued for almost an hour, feeling embarrassed that the only thing she was able to do was yell out a single word. She was expecting a lot more, she wanted to do what her master was doing earlier. But she accepted it all the same.

As Severus watched and guided her, he found himself rather enjoying this. It felt like he had the power now over someone and could be bossy. It was rather a nice venting mechanism.

However, watching her, began to fear that maybe his situation was different from hers. What if she had to have a wand to perform magic, where he didn't? What if she would be unable to perform magic? These questions piled up as they continued for hours.

Katara and Aang approached the training that was owned by Mater Pakku, both were overly excited to begin their training.

The previous night gave Aang a good look at what kind of master Pakku was. He was a no-nonsense kind of person, someone who never took favorites, resented people who thought of themselves special and was never one to waste time. A little intimidating, if you asked Aang, but still an ideal master.

"I've waited for this day my whole life!" Katara exclaimed. "I finally get to learn from a real waterbending master!"

Aang smiled, "Ten times better than just a waterbending scroll."

Katara cringed, "Yeah, please don't remind me of that."

They climbed the steps to the school and appeared before Pakku, who was doing his morning warmup bending.

"Good morning, Master Pakku!" Aang cried out.

Pakku's eyes widened as his train of thought and focus was interrupted, making the water he had floating in the air to fall onto the ice and snow.

"No, please, march right in!" he cried back sarcastically. "I'm not concentrating or anything!"

Aang smiled, sheepishly, as he motioned to Katara, "Uh, this is my friend-Katara! The one I told you about."

Katara bowed to him.

Pakku turned around and his eyes widened, "I'm sorry, but I think there has been a misunderstanding."

The two looked at each other as the waterbending master form a block of ice to sit on.

"You didn't tell me that your friend was a girl."

Katara frowned and glared at him, "Excuse me?!"

Aang also glared at him, "What of it?! She's a capable waterbender and fighter!"

Pakku shook his head, "Allow me to explain the problem here. In our tribe, it is forbidden for women to learn waterbending."

"What?!" they both cried out.

"That's ridiculous!" Katara marched forward, getting into the master's face. "You must have waterbenders who are female! I didn't travel halfway across the world just for you tell me no."

"No!" Pakku declared. "Here, women are healers and housewives. I'm sure that Yagoda would be happy to take you as her student… despite your bad attitude."

"I have a bad attitude?!" she cried. "You're the one who's blinded by what's between the legs!"

"Excuse me, young lady!" Pakku rose to his feet.

"No, I don't excuse you!" she pointed at his face. "You dare judge me by my gender?! I took you for a master!"

"And I took you as a respectful friend of the Avatar. Our society has rules, traditions we work to keep alive in a world at war."

Katara laughed, hysterically, "War?! When has the Northern Water Tribe ever experienced a true war?! My village suffered and yet we survived! I was taught to treat everyone with respect, despite their gender!"

"Yet, you disrespect my village by claiming we are cowards."

"Well, where were you when my village was being attacked? Where was the great and proud Northern Water Tribe while my people suffered?! My mother died to protect me and her brother!"

"Then your mother's death was by her own admission, despite the one who did the deed, nor those who didn't come to help."

Her anger grew, fury burning heavily within.

"Your society is messed up and your rules are wrong!"

"Yeah!" Aang stood next to her, glaring at Pakku. "If you won't teach her then-"

"Then what?" Pakku turned to him.

"Then… I'll… find another teacher!" he turned to walk away.

"Well, good luck finding a better master than I, Avatar."

"Wait, Aang didn't mean that!" Katara chased after him, taking his shoulder to make him stop, "Wait, Aang, you can't risk your training just for me. You won't find a better waterbending teacher like Pakku, even if he is a big jerk."

The two glared at him.

"Remember what we talked about last night?"

Aang nodded.

Katara smiled, "Good. Keep that memory alive, use it to remind yourself of why you are doing this."

Aang looked at her and smiled, "Thanks."

She nodded as she walked down the steps, while Aang approached the master to begin his training.

"Why don't we get started then?" Pakku smiled, turning some snow into water and bending it at Aang, hitting him.

"Ugh!" Kiri cried out. "Why isn't it working?!"

Severus sighed, "I feared this would happen."

She turned to him, "What?"

"I was hoping that maybe you would be like me, someone who would be able to wandlessly perform magic."

"Wandlessly?"

Severus folded his arms, "Wizards and witches are supposed to use their magic through wands, little magical sticks that allow them to access their magical cores to perform magic."

"Can you create some?"

He shook his head, "No, it's not possible here. The ingredients are not on this world."

She titled her head, "What?"

Severus sighed, not wanting to explain any more than he had to, but was starting to believe that it was time.

"Magic is not supposed to exist in this world."

She continued to look at him with confusion.

"In other words, I'm not of this world. I was born in a world far different than yours, and very far away."

"Is there no war there?" she asked.

Severus shivered, "Not yet, but there will be."

"Because of the Fire Nation?"

He shook his head, "No… these people are different and probably far worse than the Fire Nation."

Fear filled her eyes, "Then… why are you here and not there?"

"Because…" he paused.

How can he explain something like this to her? She probably didn't even understand the idea of quantum theory, let alone space and the stars above. He didn't even fully understand it all either.

"Short story to our problems, you may need a wand and I don't have the means to make one."

"Can't you go back to your world?"

"No!"

"Why?"

"Because-" he stopped himself, controlling his anger. "Because I don't know how."

Kiri nodded, staring at the ground.

Severus rubbed his head, enjoying the feel of his now non-greasy hair turned curly.

"There's a chance I may be wrong."

Her head popped up.

"If we continue working at it, we might be able to prove myself wrong about your reliance of a wand. So, let's navigate between different spells, less effective ones.

"Okay!" she beamed at him.

"Remember, get into your stance and-" he was met with surprise as she immediately did so. "Well… looks like you've got that covered. This time, I want you to say, Lumos. This one is a simple lighting charm."

She nodded and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, "Lumos."

Katara walked to the healing school, fuming with anger and disappointment as she entered, finding some young girls around a small platform that an old woman was sitting on, demonstrating some healing technics to a dummy of some kind that had lines to showcase the human body.

"Hi," she waved, getting their attention. "Are you Yagoda?"

The old woman smiled, "I am. Are you here for the healing lessons?"

She looked over the young girls who were staring at her and sadly replied, "I guess I am."

"Welcome! Welcome!" Yagoda motioned her to come closer.

Katara sat down to watch and learn, deciding that if she was going to learn anything, it might as well be how to heal in the event that any of her friends are harmed in the future.

Aang struggled to keep the water in the air and keep his stance in check.

"You're feeling the water moving around," said Pakku as he waved his hand around his squid soup in a cup, making it nice and warm. "But you're not feeling the push and pull of the water."

"I'm trying!" Aang whispered under his breath.

Pakku began to drink from his soup, sipping the squid into his mouth and swallowing it, "Ahh! Maybe that move is too advanced for you. Why don't you try an easier one?"

Aang cried out as he bended the water to hit the ground.

Pakku sighed as he stood up and walked to him, "Your emotions are clouding your judgment. One must be calm and focused."

"I'm trying!" he repeated.

"Then stop trying and start doing it!" he shot back. "If you can't let go of your anger, then redirect it as a focus to something. Try bending the water into my cup."

Aang turned to his empty cup on the ground and raised an eyebrow, "Seriously?"

"Simple tasks always build one up for something bigger. Instead of just bending the water in the air for a long period of time, just focus on where you need it to go."

Sighing, Aang nodded and took a deep breath, getting into a stance as he began to turn snow into water and lift it into the air.

Zuko blocked the attack and immediately sent fire towards his opponent, knocking him down.

Iroh clapped, "Very good, Zuko. Focus on your breath and you will be able to control your fire with better ease. Now, I want you to focus on coursing your breathing throughout your body."

"What?" Zuko frowned.

"I want you to listen deep within yourself to learn how to control your breathing. Control that and you will be able to control the fire you create."

"We've been over this!"

"That was a different matter. This is about learning where to draw your fire from somewhere else. The original way our ancestors did."

"Original way? You mean, anger isn't the true way?"

"Anger can be powerful, but it's not the best way to create your fire, and it most certainly isn't the only way," Iroh placed his hand on his nephew's shoulder. "Zuko, I need you to ask yourself, what do you plan to do once you succeed in your mission."

Excitement fueled him, "I will take my rightful place on the throne and reclaim my honor."

"Yes, but I mean after that. What do you plan to do when your drive, your anger is no longer there to fuel you? To give you purpose?"

Zuko blinked, "What?"

Iroh raised an eyebrow, "Surely, you must know that once your goal is complete, so too will be your drive for what keeps you going. Once you've captured the Avatar and the Mysterious Traveler and have handed them over to the Fire Lord, you'll have your honor back. You'll become the rightful prince once again. You'll have your father's love, how little that will be, and you'll no longer be the shameful prince."

Zuko's eyes narrowed in determination.

"But what happens when you find yourself having everything you could ever want? Or worse… when everything you have is taken away from you? What will be your drive then? What will be your purpose? What kind of man do you want to be? Not what my brother wants, not even want I want," he pressed his finger into his chest, "You! What do you want?"

Zuko's face softened, lost in his train of thought.

Iroh nodded, "Meditate on that while you focus your breathing."

As he sat back down for more tea, Zuko took his words to heart and sat down, legs crossed as he followed his uncle's instructions and closed his eyes, unaware of the necklace that he still kept in his pocket.

Once the healing session was over, the students carried out the dummy while Katara went to Gagoda and bowed, "Thank you for the lessons today."

Yagoda smiled, "It was my pleasure. I hope to see you again tomorrow if you're interested in continuing."

Katara smiled back, "I'm interested, just… going through some things."

Yagoda frowned and leaned in closer, making her back away a little bit.

"Um, is everything alright?"

Yagoda's face lit up, "Oh, my spirits! How did I not realize it sooner?! You're the spitting image of Kanna!"

Katara's eyes lit up as she back away, "Wait… how… how do you know my Gran-Gran's name?"

Yagoda burst out laughing, "Now that's a nickname I haven't heard in a long time! Does she really have you call her that?"

"Um, yeah, she pretty much taught us to when we were kids."

The old lady continued to laugh, "We used to tease each other about using that name for ourselves once we reached old age. Oh, where have those times run off to?"

"Wait, how do you know my Gran-Gran?"

"When we were children, I was best friends with Kanna."

"But… that's not possible. She was born and raised in the Southern Water Tribe."

Yagoda's face fell, "Oh, is that what she told you?"

"Yes."

She nodded, "I don't think I should be the one to tell you that Kanna lied to you but… she wasn't born in the Southern Water Tribe, my dear. She was born here, in the Northern Water Tribe."

"What?" she was taken aback, shocked to her core. "But… why would she lie to me? To her family? And if this was her home, why would she leave?"

Yagoda looked at her, sadly, "I honestly don't know. That's always been a mystery to me. When she turned sixteen, she was engaged to a waterbender with a promising future. He carved a necklace for her and proposed to her. Of course, she said yes. But a few days later, she vanished without saying goodbye."

"Wait, a necklace?" her eyes widened. "I know about what you speak of! My mother gave it to me after Gran-Gran gave it to her when she got engaged to my father!"

"Oh, so she kept the necklace. I wish I could have been there for her wedding," tears started to fill her eyes. She looked up and smiled at Katara, placing her hand on her cheek, "Thank you!"

"For what?" she touched her hand, tearing up as well.

"For bringing me closure, my dear. I've always lived with the haunting feeling that I would never know what happened to my best friend. But now, just seeing your mirror resemblance to your grandmother is more than I could ever ask for. Though, I do hope to one day see her again."

Katara cried as she threw her arms around the old woman, "You will! Once this war is over, I'll make sure you see Gran-Gran again! I promise!"

Yagoda hugged her back, "Don't make promises you can't keep, my dear."

Katara choked back a sob, a look of determination in her eyes.

As the afternoon drew to a close, Severus decided to give Kiri another few minutes to work on her training before calling it a night. They had already taken three breaks since they had started, once for lunch, and two for a little rest. But despite the hardship and low progress, Kiri pressed on, hoping to finally cast her first spell. Something that Severus feared would take a while to do.

Finally, he decided to perform a demonstration for her, to give her an idea, a goal to work up to. A way to end the day with an image in her head to hold onto till tomorrow morning when her training would resume.

As he finished his demonstration, he heard clapping, recognizing that it didn't belong to Kiri as he turned to see Princess Yue standing behind his apprentice, smiling.

"That was excellent!" she exclaimed.

Two handmaidens were with her, as well as a bodyguard.

Kiri did a bow, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Princess Yue."

Yue smiled, "And it's an honor to meet you. What's your name?"

"Kiri."

"I didn't realize that you were taking on students, Alex," she turned to him.

Severus wiped the sweat off his forehead and approached her, "She's an exception. I made a deal with her mother to train her."

Kiri beamed at him.

"The master and the apprentice," Yue's smile grew. "It's not every day I get to see such extraordinary things like this."

Severus turned to Kiri, "Go on ahead, I bet your mother will have prepared your dinner already."

She nodded and bowed, "Thank you, master." She ran off, disappearing around the corner.

Yue turned back to him, "I was… hoping we could take a walk. There's so much I want to ask you."

Though his instincts were against it, he pushed those feelings aside, hoping to know more about the Northern Water Tribe and its culture.

"As you wish."

So they took a stroll through the palace, eventually finding their way onto the sidewalks of the city. The handmaidens and the bodyguard followed from a safe distance, making Severus feel uncomfortable with their eyes directly on him.

"Where is it that you are from?" Yue asked him.

Severus struggled to come up with an answer, not wanting to lie but also not wanting to tell the full truth either.

"I come from a place known as the Wizarding World."

"How come no one has ever heard of it?"

"It's a secret that only my kind knows about."

Yue nodded, "Your powers-magic, I mean. Are they cosmic?"

Severus hesitated to answer, "It's… unknown of what our magic is. If it does have an origin, its been lost to history."

"Tell me more about where you come from. Are there more like you?"

Severus nodded, "Not a lot but there is enough of us to build a large society for ourselves, though small enough to exist in the shadows. There was once a time when our existence was well known, a dark time."

Her face fell, "Like… what's happening with the Fire Nation?"

Severus nodded, "But it was hundreds of years ago. Our existence has passed on into legend now. It's widely believed by muggles that we never existed."

"M- muggles?" she asked.

"It's a word for non-wizard people."

"Oh, so, am I a muggle?" she teased.

Severus bit back the nerve to smile with her, "Yes."

"But if I was to have magical powers, would I be a wizard?"

"You would be the female term of the sort, a witch."

Yue frowned, "Sounds like an insult."

"Not in my world. There it's a common word, though the muggles turned it into an insult."

"I can see why. Stories of witches always paint them as evil creatures who steal children for their rituals."

Severus nodded, "I'm curious, how does your society work?"

Yue looked at him with confusion, "What do you mean?"

"In terms of government, I mean."

"Oh, well, my father is the leader of our tribe, the Chief. Below him is the Council, made up of other tribe leaders who control certain parts of the city. Our society first started off as a series of tribes who could never get along, until a small few did so by building this city and uniting everyone over the course of decades, possibly even hundreds of years."

"So, is the succession through heirs?"

Yue shook her head, "Not unless if the Chief has a son."

Severus came to a stop, "So your society doesn't allow for women to rule?"

Yue nodded, "Women aren't allowed to do much in the world of politics. We're expected to marry, be housewives and have kids. Those of us who can waterbend are only allowed to heal."

Anger burned within Severus, irritated with how such a society could allow such sexist views.

"How many people live in this city?"

"Over five thousand," she answered.

"Which means that, at best, less than half that number are soldiers."

"If they're male and waterbenders."

Severus shook his head. Sure, he now sees the Death Eaters for what they are, but even they weren't this sexist. Then again, at least the Northern Water Tribe wasn't into genocide, as far as he knew.

"I've always dreamt of being born a waterbender," Yue stared towards the canal, lost in its reflection. "To have the power to defend myself, so I don't have to rely on others to protect me."

Severus nodded, relating to her in a way.

"Well, it's getting late. Let's head back to the palace."

He nodded again, allowing her to lead the way back. While on their return walk, they engaged into more small talk, which slightly irritated Severus some more, but was ultimately willing to let it slide just because of her voice and smile.

Once they had arrived back, they turned to each other.

"Thank you for your time," she smiled. "It was a pleasure to get to know you some more."

Severus bowed, "Have a good evening, Princess Yue."

"Yue," she corrected him. "Just Yue is fine."

"Yue it is."

She laughed, nearly making him do the same.

"Well, good night."

"Good night."

He quickly left her, wanting to get away as fast as he could. He felt something in his heart, a feeling he hadn't felt since- He shook his head, burying the thought deep in his mind as he walked as fast as he could back to the room that everyone was sharing.

Once there, he quickly changed and got ready for bed, deciding to skip the bathing for the next morning. The last thing he needed was to have a run-in with-

"So, how was your date?" Kiri asked, smiling.

Severus sneered at her, "Shut up!"

"Sir, yes sir!" she mocked.

As he got into his bed, he continued to sneer at the wall, promising to make her pay the next morning.

Katara came in, rubbing her eyes to clear the tears, still emotional about the encounter she had earlier. She saw Severus in his bed, head facing the wall.

"Still mopey as usual?" she asked Kiri.

The girl nodded, smiling, "He just had a date."

Katara stopped, blinking, "A what?"

"A date!" the girl laughed. "With Princess Yue."

She raised her eyebrow at Severus, "About time he showed interest in someone."

"Hey, guys!" greeted Sokka as he walked on in with Renee.

"Where have you two been?" Katara asked.

"Oh, we took Appa to scout of the area, Renee came up with some ideas on some defenses when the Fire Nation comes."

Renee nodded, excitedly, "I plan to submit these to the council! With Zhao's fleet only a week from launching, we should have enough time to prepare!"

"So, how was your day?"

"Terrible!"

They all turned to Aang, who had just walked in.

"Oh, that bad, huh?"

"Master poop-head-"

Kiri giggled.

"-won't train Katara because she's a girl!"

"What?!" Kiri and Renee cried out at the same time.

"What a sexist pig!" Renee quickly added.

Sokka stared up at the ceiling, thinking, "Why don't you just teach her, Aang?"

Katara's eyes lit up, "Why didn't I think of that? At night you can teach me whatever moves you learn from Master Pakku. That way you can have someone to practice with, and I get to learn waterbending. Everyone's happy."

"He's not happy," Kiri pointed towards Severus.

"But he's never happy," Katara teased.

"And that said person can hear you!" Severus shouted, pulling a pillow over his head.

Everyone laughed.

After a long journey back to his naval outpost along the northwestern part of the Earth Kingdom, Zhao immediately got to work on amassing his naval fleet, with most of the work having been done for him once he was gone.

"Has there been any word of Zuko or his ship?" he asked his intelligence officers.

One shook their head, "Not since his docking somewhere near the colonies. He's vanished since then."

"Then we must consider his next stop to be the Northern Water Tribe. He might even have a head-start on us. No worry, either he will be captured or killed. And even if he did manage to escape with the Avatar, he'll still have to get past the blockade."

He then turned to his other officials.

"Send word that every ship not on an important mission or with the blockade is to regroup on our coordinates. I want everyone involved in this invasion, even the Northern, Southern and Western Raiders. I want a thousand ships to set sail for the Northern Water Tribe."

"It'll take them at least a week to sail to us, sir."

"Just get it done!" he ordered. "We'll wait a week for them to arrive, but no more. Anyone who hasn't arrived will be left behind and court-martialed for treason."

"Yes, sir!"

"And put out a bounty for Zuko," he quickly added. "I don't want this brat prince getting in my way."

In the throne room of the Fire Lord, a young girl bowed before the ruler of the Fire Nation, her head hung low. Not daring to look up, unless necessary.

"Admiral Zhao is ambitious but arrogant," the Fire Lord's voice echoed across the large room, the flames concealing his face. "As far as I am concerned, your brother is a failure and your uncle is a coward. I wish to have a backup plan in the event that things don't well.

"I have a task for you."

The girl raised her head, smiling.

As you've seen so far, there are a ton of changes that I've decided to go with. I've mapped out where this story is going to go and how it will end. I don't want it to just be a retelling of the original series with Severus somehow involved. Severus' part in this story is going to have big ramifications on this world and will lead to a concluding finale by the end.

We will get more chapters dedicated to developing the tribe some more, something that I feel the cartoon never really did. Sure, we got some moments but we were only allowed one episode of development before the Seige started.

Speaking of which, I'm excited to get to the big battle of the Northern Water Tribe here soon. I'm taking inspiration from Battle of the Bastards, Helm's Deep and also the Battle of Winterfell/Long Night Battle in order to write it, and it's going to be big!

Once again, I apologize for any grammar erros.

Please leave a review of your thoughts and opinions. I highly welcome them.

See you guys in chapter 32!