BLACK RAIN fell. Fire crackled, defiant to the cold. It ate away at shambling huts, vacant as villagers were rounded up and marched into the center of burning homes.
Fire Nation soldiers shouted over crying women and screaming children. The few remaining men lay on the ground, idle flames devouring cooling corpses.
Hell.
Katara ran, her mind devoid of self preservation.
She slid down a sharp, snowy incline, guiding her path with an ebb of chi. Her hair framed blue eyes as they bore ahead, attempting to see past obscuring smoke that ate away at clean air.
Katara slipped between a pair of huts, smoldering and dilapidated. Cries filled her ears.
It's just like that day.
Katara shut burning eyes, blinking away tears.
I'm the only one who has power now. I'm the only one who can help.
Responsibility struggled against innately human fear as the water bender sped through ruined trenches of wood and ice. Heat, so unnatural to her, stung Katara's skin. Fire seemed to bark- it popped and crackled at her furs, nearly threatening to catch.
The screams of her people grew louder. Katara steeled herself.
She was nearing the heart of the village. The paths constructed by her ancestors curled, twisted. Burning chunks of
debris tumbled over the trench tops, and wisps of fire sped between black smoke above Katara's head.
A torn open palisade bled into the village's wide courtyard. Katara saw groups of villagers rounded up, guarded by imposing Vishina warriors. They were tall, horned figures. Their masks were smelted into the faces of leering demons. Splayed armor leapt from gauntlets and pauldrons as if fire itself.
They were not human. They were monsters sent from the depths- a punishment from the gods for accepting a being that should no longer exist in this world.
Fear ate away at her. Yet, she continued.
Ahead, amongst the circle of the flames, her people awaited fate. A fire nation soldier's back was turned- beyond him, Katara could see two weeping children. The fire nation was pulling their mother away from them, hand raised.
A spurt of flame ignited at the man's finger tips.
Katara's eyes widened as her body took control.
She increased her speed, waterskin opening as she forced her body into a spin. Katara's arms joined together as she trailed them behind her neck-
Water erupted from Katara's liverskin, a small stream of twinkling light. The Waterbender thrust her arms ahead in a circular wave, water following her finger tips in a sharp crescent.
Katara narrowed her brows, hardening the water as it flew across the air. She couldn't fully turn it into ice, not yet, but it should be hard enough to...
The fire nation screamed in pain.
His fingers fell from a hand that was still in the air. He turned, mask cocked in pained rage as blood fell from his wound.
Katara didn't halt her advance. The fire nation roared in anger, lifting his remaining fist. He punched the air, smoke billowing from his arm as a spout of fire sped for Katara.
She rolled, weaving hands behind her. Fire singed the sides of her cheek- this Vishina was skilled. His attack was hurried, but accurate. Katara drew liquid from newly melted snow beside her.
It curled around her body as she ran, joining the stream of water that snaked from her liverskin. Behind the Vishina, the children held their mother, quietly sobbing.
"Go!" Katara yelled. They ran, chased by the chaos spreading throughout the village center. Katara darted for the Fire Nation's right. The man instantly reacted, hopping backwards to put more distance between them.
He leapt slightly in the air, kicking a left leg forward, parallel to the ground. A torrent of fire followed, roaring as it traveled above superheated, hissing ice.
Katara ducked. The fire brushed against her forearms. She gasped. Air seemed to be pulled from her lungs.
Katara weaved a circling wall of water to her torso, sloughing off the heated assault as she was forced backwards.
She slid, finding her footing while slashing her arms in an X, dispelling the last remnants of flame to either side of her.
Katara breathed heavily.
But she wasn't exhausted yet.
The girl took up a defensive position. She planted her right foot forward, standing sideways as she raised her arms. Water rose, floating around her pointed fingers.
Other Fire Nation had begun to take notice. Instead of joining the fight, however, they watched. They spoke loudly amongst themselves, some laughing.
No doubt, they mocked her.
She was a water bender, a nearly extinct creed- but what could she do to challenge them? She was just a girl.
Katara narrowed her eyes at her opponent. The warrior was silent, summoning a jet of fire. He directed the flames to his ruined hand, cauterizing his wound.
A circle of sorts had formed around them. Katara counted twenty.. no.. thirty..
More were coming. They soon blocked the sight of even Katara's fellow villagers- she only saw vicious and monstrous faces enclosed in cruel steel.
Katara straightened. Her opponent changed his stance- then, in the very next second, leapt into the air with a spinning, sideways kick. A whirlwind of fire shouted forth from his descending foot. Katara jumped into a roll.
She heard the fire crash into a series of huts behind her. She turned-
Another snaking whip of flames. This one she ducked underneath, clambering to her left-
Only to be greeted by another overhead stream of fire. She couldn't even see the Vishina.
Katara called upon the vapor that was lifting in the air. It was easier now to goad her chi into a shell of water that she spun around herself, deftly moving as fire glanced off of her shimmering shield.
Smoke rose between Katara and the Vishina.
"Interesting."
A soft voice broke the hiss of melting ice.
As the smoke parted, Katara spied a youth, adorned in similar armor to the soldiers around him, but maskless.
He was a boy, no doubt close to Katara in age, but carried himself with a prominence begetting a higher station.
The youth strode ahead, circle opening.
Katara backed away, eyeing this new threat. The boy carried a horrific scar that tightened around his left eye. Long hair was held upwards in a top knotted ponytail, darker than even Katara's own locks.
Katara's former opponent bowed instantly. She raised her eyebrows as the youth began to speak.
"You are skilled. I commanded my men to entertain a fight with a water bender should they come across one. It is a rare opportunity."
Katara was stunned. He spoke with a near imperial effectiveness.
"There are similarities between your art and that of northern fire bending. The use of the entire body, sweeping movements. I am greatly impressed."
He straightened. Baring his chest outward for a moment, he turned into a sideways crouch.
Silence.
Suddenly, the air clapped.
The boy twirled, lifting his right fist upwards, then his left-
Two spheres of fire exploded into the air as the black rain grew heavier.
The smell of oil filled Katara's nostrils. Sweat beaded down her brow.
Katara weaved, narrowly dodging both attacks. Her new opponent curled his fists to armored sides, then stomped forward with rising kicks. With each step, a crack of fire sprouted from the tips of pointed sabatons.
Orbs of fire crashed for Katara. She leapt away from one as it imploded into the snow, pushing her forwards. The second nearly took her head-
She forced herself flat on the ground, excruciating heat passing over her body.
It was so hard to breathe.
Instinct forced Katara to move as a third attack ringed the air within burned ears.
She rose, crouching downwards, touching the ground with the palms of her hands. Katara then lifted with trained speed, calling a shallow wall of water to existence.
The air exploded as heat curled around Katara's body. She was thrown backward, tumbling into a wayward roll until her head slammed against icy ground. Pain crawled over her body as vision spun.
"You are strong, but not nearly strong enough. A true Nanyo Miziho would make quick work of me, I imagine."
Suddenly, the fire biting at Katara's furs extinguished.
The boy's voice continued as it drew closer.
"Who trained you? Your movements scream of haphazard repetition. Whoever instructed you is no longer around, correct?"
Katara rose, turning her head. Through a veil of dark curls she saw her attacker looking down at her.
"No one else has to die. No one else has to get hurt."
Katara suddenly speared her arm forward. A wavering, pointed cylinder of water clapped into the air. The boy calmly raised his hand. A stream of fire erupted from an open palm, devouring Katara's attack as she rolled desperately to safety.
He's too strong. He's even stronger than the first Vishina.
Katara's mind raced. She pushed her muscles to their limit, running beside burning huts as her new enemy lazily trailed with streams of bright fire.
"The Air Nation." He broached casually, slightly raising his voice to be heard over the roar of his attacks.
"I will spare the rest of your people if you simply tell me where he is."
Katara grimaced. The cries of the villagers reverberated between her eardrums. Madness consumed her cherished home.
Destruction, pain- it was yet again made intimately clear to her.
"That's enough!"
Katara's skin froze, suddenly cold despite being born from ice.
No.
Katara's eyes followed the sound of an air-splitting roar. The Vishina that surrounded her instantly reacted, shouting in strange tongues afflicted by fear.
Appa cautiously alighted. The air bison swayed his head violently, horns stabbing the air in fearsome bouts. The Vishina attacked, their flames lighting the smoke that obscured the sky.
It still rained black ash. Appa's coat was quickly covered in falling grime.
"Täirei!" The boy bellowed. To Katara's surprise, the soldiers instantly extinguished their flames.
"Aang! Sokka! Get out of here!" Katara screamed. Anger welled within her voice.
"You were supposed to run!"
Dread welled up within her.
I couldn't save anyone.
The boy grinned. He turned away from Appa's spectacle for a moment.
"Sokka.. a common name amongst your people.." He said, eyeing Katara sideways.
But not Aang.
"You...!" Katara moved-
The boy's eyes turned yellow for a moment. A gust of oppressive heat swam from him, stopping Katara in her tracks.
"I'm afraid I cannot entertain you any longer." The boy looked past Katara.
"Kanou ou torē."
In seconds, two Vishina were at either side of her. Each soldier took an arm, holding her tightly and restricting her movement.
Aang and Sokka yelled in protest, jumping from Appa's saddle. The bison reared as well- its roars shook the icy ground.
"Let her go!" Aang demanded. Katara screamed at him and Sokka, cursing as she told them to run.
All she could see was her mother. Frustration goaded heavy tears that mixed with falling ash. Whopping sobs left Katara. Failure settled about her shoulders along with the stinging rain.
"Do you hear her, Kûkigaku?" The boy pointed at Aang.
"All of this suffering is due to you. Surrender, and I promise I will leave this village. I will even allow the Nanyo Miziho to live." The boy nodded back towards Katara.
Aang answered instantly.
"I surrender."