Earth.

Fire.

Air.

Water.

Only the avatar can save us all.

Previously on Legend of Katherine!

Things are interesting to say the least on the ship. Kat has weird dreams about cupcakes and zombies and Fire Nation soldiers, Stacy meets a new girl named Vixella, and mysterious notes are discovered! Kat goes on an epic, thrilling adventure to places she definitely shouldn't have gone with Stacy, and the fun gets ended by big sister Betty. What are the notes referring to? Why does Betty make so many puns? And who was that mysterious Fire Nation soldier in Kat's dreams?

Book 1:Water

Chapter 3:New Ozai

"Attention, candidates!" Captain Baracak barked. "We are arriving at New Ozai to pick up some supplies before heading off towards Capital City at full speed. We are arriving at noon, and the ship will take off again at dusk. You will be allowed to tour the upper parts of New Ozai, but only with guards. You will all be expected to be back by dusk, as that is when the ship will be departing."

Kat looked up in surprise from the drawing that she had been working on. She remembered hearing about this a couple days ago, but she had completely forgotten about it! Plus, she had had no idea where the ship was. Excitement started bubbling up inside her, as her brain started processing what this truly meant.

She had grown up in the South Pole her entire life, living in an icy cold, boring place, and never left the colony once. Most of the people that Kat knew had never left either, and the only person Kat could think of who had left the South Pole before was one of Stacy's other friends that was a carpenter and had taken several trips with his father to the Earth Kingdom on building tasks and other boring stuff. This was something that Kat had to enjoy. She could brag about it to her siblings for months to come!

"Are you excited to see New Ozai?" Stacy asked.

"Definitely." Kat grinned back. It was clear that everyone else here were also very eager. They were all whispering and chattering with each other excitedly, staring at the door with bright eyes.

Five minutes later, a group of soldiers came down to escort them all out of the ship and to New Ozai. They navigated the boring halls of the ship that felt hotter than usual, until they came to the exit, and Kat saw the outside for the first time in days.

They had docked at a small harbor town that Kat assumed was mainly made up of soldiers and their families from the Fire Nation. The sky had not a single cloud, and the sun shone brightly down upon the world. There were seagull-puffins flying in circles around the ships.

They took the metal bridges built after the conquest of New Ozai to the city. Even from afar, Kat was amazed. Most of the mountains were covered in buildings that looked small from where they were, with a giant wall near the bottom. But the sky was slightly darkened by the black plumes of smoke billowing from the city, slightly ruining the earthy look of the city(does that count as a pun?).

When they arrived at New Ozai, Captain Baracak spoke briefly with the soldiers manning the bridge, before they were let into the city. They were put into neat lines, and soldiers started walking towards them, choosing a girl to accompany. Kat's heart sank. How could she enjoy the city when her Other Self was constantly in control?

A soldier that looked a little shorter than the others(by that I mean just a smidgen higher than Kat) approached her, and Kat noticed his or her armor was different from the others, and seemed slightly more embellished than the other officers. He or she kinda looked like Betty—oh wait it was her.

Betty had taken off her helmet, and Kat was surprised to see that her normally long and curly hair had been put in a neat top knot. There was a small magenta cake hat on the side of her head, secured by a small hat pin. She actually looked pretty cool that way.

"Hey there, little sis!" Betty grinned. "Ready to enjoy New Ozai?"

"This has to be the best day of my life." Kat declared breathlessly, also really relieved that her sister was the soldier accompanying her. "Nobody in my classes have visited places outside the South Pole before. Kim, Wenny, and Allen will all be so jealous!"

"Yeah, you'll have a lot to gloat about." Betty nodded, smiling. "So where to first?"

"Oh, you know. Everywhere." Kat giggled, though she was only half kidding.

"We may not have enough time to get to everything," Betty warned. "We're only gonna be here for half a day. The ship leaves at dusk."

"Well, let's cut to the chase!" Kat sang, heading in one direction, where a messy cobblestone road led towards one of the delivery chutes.

"You've been warned, sister! It's going to be a 'rocky' road from here on out!" Betty joked. Kat groaned.

"Must you ruin everything with your puns?" She complained. All Kat got back was a taunting laugh from Betty.

"Send a package of your own! It'll be delivered randomly to a building in Oma-I mean, New Ozai!" A mailman called. Intrigued, Kat walked over to the man, who was standing next to one of the stations that sent different deliveries to different places. It was very complex, and very interesting.

"Do you want to send a package?" Betty asked, walking towards Kat. "It's one of the many wonders of New Ozai."

"Of course! Or did you forget that sleepover at Stacy's house two months ago already?" Kat responded, very excited. "I've wanted to do this for ages!"

"Do you have anything?" Betty asked, peeking into her pockets. Kat pulled out something that she had drawn earlier; it was a beautiful sketch of the seemingly endless ocean with the sunset on the horizon. Although Wenny was the best at drawing out of the five of them, Kat did have some pretty good skills.

"Wow. That's really nice!" Her older sister complimented. "The details on the waves are so realistic."

"Thanks." Kat smiled back, and walked over to the guy standing next to the conjunction corner. He immediately noticed her, and gave her a warm smile.

"Do you want to send something, young lady?" He grinned. Kat nodded.

"Yeah, this picture I drew." Kat nodded. The guy took one look and gave her an impressed look. Then, he took out a large mail envelope, and took Kat's sketch, sliding it in delicately.

"There you go!" He chirped cheerfully. "Soon enough, this'll be shipped to an unknown location, and those who live in the household will be able to enjoy the absolutely gorgeous work you've created." Kat blushed slightly at the compliment. Was her art that beautiful?

Just as they were about to leave, someone bumped into Kat, who was slightly startled. She turned around just in time to see the person drop a bag of silver coins, the precious money just about to spill out. Immediately, Kat caught the bag right before it could hit the ground, and handed it the person. The man whom Kat had bumped into turned out to be an old, feeble man with a dark green cloak.

The man turned to face Kat, and gave her a toothless grin. "Thank you, young lady!" He said. "You just saved me some precious time with that catch! Tell me, what is your name?"

"You're welcome." Kat responded with a smile. "And I'm Kat. Short for Katherine."

"Well, Kat, do you want to hear a story?" The man asked, a mysterious aura abruptly coating him.

"Um, sure?" Kat replied, rather unsure. What kind of a random offer was that?

"A long, long, time ago, before there were the four nations, people lived on giant animals called lion turtles. The lion turtles granted bending abilities to the people that lived on its back, and different lion turtles granted different powers." The old man started. "Then, a dark spirit called Vaatu came along. She had escaped from her prison in the spirit world. Wherever she went, he brought darkness and destruction. Turned humans against each other, dividing people and spirits alike. It was utter chaos."

"Then, a man named Wan appeared out of nowhere. He promised to defeat Vaatu, but it wasn't an easy feat. Wan was only a firebender, and Vaatu was the most powerful spirit in the entire world! But with the help of the lion turtles, Wan mastered all four elements, sealed Vaatu away in the spirit world, and closed the portals connecting the human and spirit worlds. Wan then spent the rest of his life bringing peace and prosperity to the world."

Kat clapped politely. The story was pretty good, but she was confused on why this old man would just randomly tell her a fairy tale? Who was this man, and why was he so weird?

"We should be going now. Thanks for the story, sir!" Kat smiled, before walking away briskly with Betty.

Once they were out of earshot, Kat turned her attention to Betty. "Was it weird that he just randomly told us a story?" She asked.

"I don't know," Betty shrugged. "though this Wan person sounds kinda familiar. Might've heard about him sometime before. To be honest, it kinda 'lit up my day, and drove the dark away!' Eh? Get it?" Kat headbanged on the nearest wall.

"That wasn't even that funny." She grumbled as they walked away.

"And now this is one of the many architectural wonders of the world!" The tour guide continued on. "The Statue of New Ozai was only completed ten years ago, with all the necessary imported materials and construction work. And today, it stands as one of the mighty symbols of the Fire Nation."

Kat stared at the colossal statue that rose high above New Ozai. The metalwork, the polished looks, the gold trims, basically everything about this statue was breathtaking! It made their ten foot tall ice statue of Mayor Qin back in their hometown look lame. She wondered where people put their offerings here, if people were not allowed six feet within the statue itself(Eh? Eh? Get it?).

"Now, that concludes our tour of Upper New Ozai." The tour guide put his hands together, smiling at the group. "Any questions before we disband?"

"Do people worship the statue?" A young, wiry looking boy asked from behind Kat. He was wearing a matte red tunic and some dark gray pants, and looked around 7 or 8.

"Well, young one, the Fire Sages and some of the long term Fire Nation residents of the city do pray to the statue every sunrise and sunset." The tour guide explained. "But it's only a couple dozen people, nothing compared to the number of people in say, Ba Sing Se or Fire Fountain City."

"Well more people should." The little boy grumbled to himself. "Phoenix King Ozai is the greatest man in the world! Everyone in our village adores him." Kat noticed that the wide smile on the tour guide's face became slightly forced.

Kat didn't blame the little boy. He was probably born and raised in the Fire Nation homeland, and what he was taught and told was different from the rest of the world. Yet just hearing him say that, felt so wrong. The Fire Nation were technically the bad guys. They killed off all the Air Nomads 130 years ago, they invaded the Earth Kingdom and initiated raids on the Southern Water Tribe to take away all their waterbenders. And now, with almost the entire world under their thumb, they were trying to force their culture onto the rest of the world and wash away the native cultures.

"Where to next? The diner?" Betty asked energetically.

"Why not?" Kat chuckled. But as they walked away from the statue, extreme pain and a blinding white light hit her, as if someone had just stabbed her with a dagger. As the white light faded, Kat saw Betty yelling something with a panicked look on her face, right before everything turned black.

"Do you believe in destiny?"

…

"I want to be strong."

…

"I want to be feared."

…

"I want to be powerful."

"Then you'll have to work a lot harder than that."

The first thing Kat noticed as she returned to consciousness was how tranquil it was. Not utter silence, like the kind on some lonely nights, but a calming peacefulness found in lively forests and meadows.

The air was a nice balmy temperature, livened by the chirping of birds and the quiet rippling of nearby waters. A faint breeze drifted through the air, carrying the sweet aroma of blooming flowers and freshly-baked mochi, of all things.

Kat blinked open her eyes, immediately scanning her surroundings. She was in a small courtyard, lying on the soft, green grass. The building surrounding the courtyard looked very intricately built and traditional, with beige walls and crimson colored roofs. Confusion flooded Kat's emotions. There was nothing like this building in New Ozai!

"Mother, look! Aren't the turtle-ducks adorable?" Kat jumped at the new voice, swirling around to see a little toddler, probably around two or three years old, crouched by a pond. Four turtle-ducks glided on its surface, the parents and their two babies. Another person, this one an adult, stood underneath the shade of the building. For some reason, both of the figures' faces were blurred out.

"I'm a very busy woman, child. I don't have time for turtle-ducks." The adult scoffed, turning her head away and crossing her arms. Despite their blurred faces, Kat could tell the toddler was disappointed.

"But why? You never have time to play with me!" She whined pitifully. There was a loud slapping noise, and Kat winced, turning away slightly.

"You are nobility, Lizzie. We do not whine, or cry, or waste our time laughing at turtle-ducks! Now go and do something useful." The adult turned and walked away briskly. Kat felt a pang of sympathy for the young child, and anger towards the adult. She didn't deserve such harsh treatment! How young was she anyways, two? Three?

As Kat took a step towards the child, everything suddenly blurred. Colors mixed together, shapes and objects merged and reformed, and suddenly she was in a training gym of sorts. There, she saw the little girl, slightly older now, punching and kicking a dummy with pure, raw emotion and skill. Respect was given where it was due, and this little girl was powerful.

But when Kat took a closer look, she didn't look happy. Powerful was one thing, but happiness was another. Just because you were strong didn't mean everything was fine. And things were far from fine for her.

"Master." The girl stopped for a moment, turning around to see a servant standing at the doorway. "Perhaps it is best if you took a break. You have been at this for hours."

"I'm not stopping until I get better." The girl snapped back angrily. "I won't settle for anything less than perfect." With that, she sent another punch at the dummy, which missed by a long shot. She growled furiously.

Kat watched on as the girl let out her unspoken sorrows on the poor dummy. Many questions floated about inside her mind, but one stood out from the rest; why was she even seeing this? Was this a vision? A sign? Or just a sad sob story her mind made up?

As Kat pondered these theories, she failed to notice the colors and shapes blurring again until everything turned dark.

Then, one soft voice whispered,

"I failed to protect them all."

"-at! Kat! KAT!" Kat gasped loudly as she sat up, shuddering and trying to make sense of what she just saw. That was definitely short lived, as a couple seconds later, someone shook her fiercely. Once the earthquake stopped, Kat could finally make out a dull gray metal room, and a very worried looking Betty.

"Kat, you're finally awake! Oh my gosh, I was SOOO worried about you!" Betty cried. "One moment you were fine and walking, and then BAM! You were on the ground, out cold! What happened? Why did you faint all of a sudden?"

"And the loudest, most annoying savior award goes to…" Kat muttered sarcastically. Betty rolled her eyes.

"Alright, alright. I may have been a little overwhelming right there." Betty admitted. "But seriously, what did happen?"

"I-I don't know," Kat responded hesitantly. "I had this weird dream about a Fire Nation girl, and then–"

"That's quite enough, ma'am." The healer, who had been standing next to them, cut in with a sharp frown. "Miss La needs to rest and heal. Now I request that you please leave the room to give her some peace and quiet."

Betty's face fell, but she still nodded understandingly and left the room. It was only then that Kat realized the floor was trembling just the slightest bit, with a faint humming noise in the background. She whipped her head to face the nurse.

"Ma'am, what time is it now?" Kat asked politely.

"It's eight in the evening." The nurse responded curtly. "You were out for the entire afternoon. And yes, dinner did already pass. But I'll get you some later, when I've made sure all your organs are stable and functioning." A sense of shock and despair overrode Kat. She had missed out on the entire afternoon in New Ozai! It was her one chance to tour an Earth Kingdom city…and grab some custard tarts…but she had missed it.

Her sadness slowly started to transform into anger. How could she suddenly faint for no reason and miss such a big thing? Kat was now furious at herself. That dream made no sense anyway. What does 'the past will help understand yourself' mean, and how it is supposed to assist her in her future? Plus, Kat knew everything about herself. Every inch of her identity, maybe except the Other Self's origins and what was underneath the impenetrable barrier in her mind. But that didn't matter right now!

Kat scowled deeply when the nurse finally left the room, her hands clenched into tight fists. She swore they got warmer for a second, but that was probably just her anger. And was that smoke slowly floating upward? She bent forward to examine what exactly it was. Gray and wispy, it was smoke alright. Very small and unnoticeable smoke. The weirdest thing was that it seemed to have originated from nowhere. Just appeared in midair. What kind of magic was this?

Kat blinked again, making sure she was seeing this right. But the next thing she knew, the smoke was gone. "What was that thing?" She muttered to herself, before shrugging. "Oh well, life has its own mysteries."

Yes. Yes indeed.

Fire. Flames licking at her heels. A flash of cerulean in the darkness. Then gone.

When you don't know where to turn to

Earth. Rocks zooming to his fingertips. A glimpse of emerald green in the abyss. Then gone.

And you're sure all hope is gone

She's there. Waiting. On the same ledge she had waited every night.

When the day you waited for won't come

Yet for almost a year and a half now, he hasn't come once.

And dark won't yield to dawn

She's about to leave, sighing in despair, but suddenly hears the sound of a pillar of earth being made.

Trust love

Her cerulean eyes scan the area frantically, excitement and Hope rushing through her blood. Could it be…?

Open up your eyes

A boy jumps down from the shingled roof. Messy brown hair, emerald green eyes, it's him.

Trust love

Her breath quickens, as they rush towards each other, instantly pulling each other into a big hug.

The truth is there but sometimes in disguise

"You finally came." She whispered, squeezing her eyes shut and a smile gracing her face.

The way's uncertain but we're together

"I told you, I would never leave you forever." He smiled. "And I always keep my promises, don't I?"

Moving toward the light

She let go, lighting a flame in one hand. It shone brightly in the courtyard, like a beacon in the darkness.

When we trust in love and open up our eyes

Propelled by an earth pillar, they leapt onto the roof, and ran together as wild and free as the wind.

The song at the end is Trust Love, by Jeff Williams. I had a lot of editing to do with this one, even rewriting a whole portion :/. And the part with Vaatu is not a mistake, yes. I may or may not have genderbent him lol. Anyways, constructive criticism is very welcome! :) -Frosted Petals