"HEY! KADLU! COME ON!" Kunik yelled as she ran over the frozen land.
She chased after the snow sled that was being pulled by an assortment of brown and white snow-bear dogs. Her legs were long and strong, and her long black braid bounced in rhythm to her fast trot. The snow underneath her feet was partially ice. It was hard enough that she could run without being sunk into it, but soft enough that it wouldn't crack as she went along.
Kadlu was controlling the reigns of the snow sled. She looked identical to the girl that was chasing after her, although it was hard to tell any ethnical differences in those who lived in the Southern Water tribe. Everyone seemed to have the same hard, thinly lined faces that came with living in a land of snow, ice, and water.
"KADLU!" Kunik cried again as the snow sled got further and further away from her. She wasn't able to keep up. She was strong enough to help her father lift ten pounds of sea-frogs out of the water each day, but she still wasn't able to rush with the weight of her thick clothing.
Kunik stopped running and took some time to catch her breath. The air that she breathed in and out looked like clouds floating from her mouth. Kunik sighed and bent over, focusing her body to rest.
Kadlu looked back and saw that her sister was no longer chasing her. She stopped the reigns of the snow-bear dogs and laughed to herself. She called out to her sister.
"Looks like you couldn't keep up, Kunik!"
Kunik didn't respond vocally, she only threw up her hand to wave her sister's comment off in reply. They had took some of their father's catch into a nearby village to sell, but when it was time to leave, Kadlu had taken off and forced Kunik to chase after her. She hated it when Kadlu played these types of tricks on her.
Kadlu laughed and pretended to let out a huge sigh. She loved teasing her twin sister. It wasn't that she was malicious, only that she was trying to make a little fun.
"Let's go, Kunik! We'll be late for the tribal meeting!" Kadlu called.
Kunik sighed and stood straight up. She ran to the snow sled and climed in near her sister. Kadlu laughed at the look on her sister's tired face.
"Let's go!" She said happily.
They made it to their family's hut and saw their mother waiting for them. The girls hurried to tie the snow-bear dogs to their posts. Their mother was sitting down making their dinner bowls as she watched them. Naira looked at her daughters as they rushed to finish their chores and sighed.
"You need to hurry, you're father is already at the tribal council…along with everyone else" She scolded as she poured fresh fish –frog stew into two bowls.
Kunik hurried to make six bowls of water and food for the snow-bear dogs. She wouldn't tell her mother about Kadlu's prank. She would save that story for her father when the tribal meeting was over and they were alone.
"Sorry, Mama" Kadlu and Kunik said.
Naira rolled her eyes and sighed.
Kadlu finished tying the rest of the snow-bear dogs and Kunik placed their meals in front of them.
"Wash up" Naira said to the girls with a nod of her head to the basin that sat near the fire and soup bowls.
Both girls cupped their hands filled with water from the basin and ran it over their fingers and faces. Kadlu splashed Kunik with some water when Naira's back was turned. Kunik gave her sister pointed look and Kadlu laughed softly to herself.
Naira turned to face the girls and handed each of them a bowl, her eyes sharp at the sound of laughter. She glared at them and shook her head. Her facial expression was that of disapproval.
"I don't know which one of you laughed, but this isn't a time to be funny. This is a very important day. The Fire Sages are here, and the council has called a meeting to announce the new Avatar. It is amazing that someone from our tribe…especially from this plain little village, is the Avatar" She said to them.
Kadlu and Kunik titled their heads back to drink their soup as their mother ranted. When they were done, Kadlu rolled her eyes at Kunik and Kunik suppressed her laughter. The whole tribe knew that someone from their village was the new Avatar. It was a given since stories about the Fire Sages not finding him in the Northern Water tribe, and then not finding him in countless of the more populous Southern tribe villages. The Sages began checking the villages one by one until this was the last village on the map. Many of the villagers speculated that the Council had decided not to reveal the identity of the Avatar yet, because they were waiting until they knew that the Avatar was ready. If anything, it made for very upset Fire Sages who wanted to snatch the Avatar away on his 16 birthday. It had been 16 years, and they were ready.
However, the council was not. Now it was time. Everyone in the village knew who the Avatar was. At least, they all suspected they knew even though the Council never gave a direct answer.
"Maka" Kadlu whispered to Kunik as their mother snatched their empty bowls away from them.
Kunik knew that this was the person that her mother was talking about. The lucky one from their tribe that the Elders would announce was the Avatar. Everyone in the tribe praised Maka, even when he was a young boy. All the kids in the tribe were forced to look at him and were expected to live up to his standard. Not only was he the Tribal chief's grandson, but he was a water bending protégé. Kadlu and Kunik had known him since the day they were born, but he had always been isolated. Even though the Tribal Chief and his family were supposed to be treated like normal people, (it was why the Tribal Chief was always someone from the tribe) they were still treated with more reverence. Maka and the rest of the Tribal Chief's family were always somewhat untouchable. Kunik could remember being little and attending tribal school, watching the Tribal Chief's granddaughters sitting properly in their snow-leopard fur as she and the rest of the tribal kids played sea-monkey. The regular tribal kids, those who had fathers and mothers that were fishermen or hunters, all wore seal-lion fur. They were all tattered and rough looking kids from helping their parents work on the ice and snow. Meanwhile, the Tribal Council and Tribal Chief's children always looked soft and smooth. She knew that she had no right to associate with them. The Tribal Chief's family stuck with each other and only spoke to those who's mothers, fathers, uncles, or aunts were somewhere near their level.
"Let's go" Naira snapped at her daughters as she finished cleaning their bowls.
The three women headed out into the snow, their hair getting frosted with flakes as it began to fall lightly. Kunik and Kadlu stood close to each other, and walked a little ways behind their mother. Neither of them wanted to walk beside her in fear that she would find something to scold about. Instead, they spoke softly to one another. Both of them had a way of speaking to the other where only they could hear. It was a twin trait that came from being together in the womb.
"The Chief probably didn't want Maka to leave until he was sure that he was really ready" Kadlu said to Kunik. She was picking back up a conversation that they had previously had. It was common knowledge and gossip in the tribe about the Avatar. Many speculated that the Council waited so long to reveal his identity in fear that Maka needed extra water bending practice before going away. Just to make sure that he was truly ready. The twins had their own theories.
"He's still sixteen. It's not like there is anything that says he has to leave exactly on his sixteenth birthday." Kunik and Kadlu were among the few of those who defended the Council's decision to wait before revealing the Avatar's identity and sending him off. There wasn't many out there since the other nations were pointing fingers at the Water Tribes for not delivering them a new Avatar for so long. After the last Avatar died sixteen years ago, a lot of the nations were afraid of people using those years to do horrible things since an Avatar wasn't present. Not surprisingly, stories about unrest and crime in the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation started to sprout up. It had gotten to a point where Earth Kingdom lore became regular tales told at night to Water Tribe children about bandits and illegal trades.
"It must be really scary for him. I'd hate to have to leave home and go off with strangers" Kunik said silently. She thought about Maka and all the times she was forced to watch as the teachers at Tribal school constantly treated him harsher than any of the other students. The water bending teachers were harsh to anyone with water bending skills, but everyone knew that they took extra meanness out on Maka whenever he made even one mistake or didn't do something to his fullest ability. Kunik was an average student, doing just enough to get by, but not showing any real talent either. She preferred the healing classes better. There, she was able to use her gifts to help others. Kadlu, however, was an excellent offensive student and was often called upon to go against the other better students. Most of which were usually boys.
"I know he's exicted. I would be" Kadlu said in disagreement, "he practically knew about this his whole life. He's had time to prepare".
The trio finally arrived at the Tribal hut, where Tribal meetings were held. Naira ducked in first, and then Kunik and Kadlu joined. No one seemed to notice as they slipped silently in. They took a place with Naira's family. Naira sat beside her father, and the twins sat beside their Aunt, who was pregnant with her first child.
The Tribal Council sat facing the front. Kunik could see them. There were seven of them, five men and two women. They all looked straight ahead, as if they did not notice the faces of fifty two people looking back at them. The Elders and Chief had yet to arrive, so the village talked amongst one another.
"Look, there goes Kairya and her new baby boy" Nailah, the twins aunt said to them and nodded to a warm looking woman holding her fat, healthy son.
Kunik and Kadlu smiled as Kairya smiled back at them and held the baby in a way so they could see his face.
"I hope that yours is a girl, Nailah," Dakya, the girls' grandfather, said to his youngest daughter, "Girls are much better than boys" he winked at the twins and they smiled back at him.
Kadlu looked around and saw all of her and Kunik's friends sitting with their respective families. Both of the girls waved to them all. Their smiles were genuine and happy. Tribal meetings were like a big family reunion. The girls did not get to see much of their friends or family now that they were of age. They were expected to help their father out with chores and learn how to be a woman from their mother.
"Where's Papa?" Kunik asked after looking at the spot where her father usually sat at Tribal meetings. Her father's family's spot was empty, because he was the only one left. His mother, brother, and father had all died from a sickness that had spread in the village years ago. It had cut the village's number in half before being contained and cured. Her father had been the only survivor from his family branch.
"He's speaking to the Elders," Naira said in a voice that didn't hide her pride and happiness, "I didn't tell you all before, but the elders came and asked to speak with him earlier today. This is a very important for your father, girls. I hope you understand that". She gave them each a small smile.
"That is very good news, Sister" Nailah said happily to her older sister.
"This is amazing" Dakya agreed, his voice filled with awe.
The twins looked at each other. Neither of them knew what to say. If their father got accepted to the Council, it meant that everything would change. They would be expected to do things that did not consume their life right now. It meant a whole new way of living. It meant no more fishing, hunting, or trapping. It meant that they would no longer live in their small hut. It meant new responsibilities and a different way of thinking.
Suddenly, the hut got quiet. The Tribal Chief and his family entered. Kunik studied the face of the Chief. He was man so old that his features looked rotten. Kunik wondered how long he had lived and how long he would be alive. Behind him followed his second wife, the first had died early on and had left him only one son. That was Maka's father, Mancha, who came in behind his father's wife. Behind him was Maka's mother, and then Maka himself. Kunik thought that the room got even quieter as he entered. Everyone stared at him as if they were expecting something great to happen. This meeting was about him.
Surprisngly, the usually strong and confident Maka kept his head down and his eyes trained to the floor. This sent off alarm in everyone in the room. Kunik could see people whispering as they watched Maka take his seat near his father and grandfather.
"What do you think it means, Auntie?" Kadlu whispered to Nailah.
Nailah looked just as confused as the twins as she stared at Maka, who continued to look at the floor.
"I'm not sure".
The rest of the Tribal Chief's family consisted of his two daughters and their children. The daughters were married to two of the men on the Council. Kunik recognized the two oldest children of the daughters as the girl cousins that she used to watch as a child.
Once the Chief's family was seated, the Elders entered. These people were also as old as the Chief, and looked withered and wrinkled. Kunik knew one of the Elders, the only woman, from when she was a little girl. The woman had smiled at her at one tribal get together and had told her that she expected great things from her. Kunik had been afraid of the old, wrinkly woman and had run away to find her father. But now as she watched the woman make her way into the hut, she found herself remembering the memory with fondness instead of fear. The old woman seemed to know that Kunik was thinking about her, and turned her head to smile a wrinkled smile before quickly taking her seat.
Once the rest of the Elders had finished sitting down, the meeting was in place. Kunik looked around once again. Her father still was nowhere to be found. She stared at the hut entrance, thinking that he would soon show. He finally appeared and he smiled softly at his family before taking his place in his family's spot.
"Brothers, sisters, children, I call this meeting to attention." The Chief spoke.
Everyone looked at him as if he were the only person in the room, and Kunik could see the looks of concentration on everyone's faces as the Chief continued to speak.
"Today…is an important day," The Chief said and his eyes looked a little sad, "I know that many of you have had questions. I know that many of you have had speculations. I know that many of you have wondered…"
Kunik looked at her sister and was surprised to see that her face was just as serious as everyone else as she listened to the Chief's speech.
"We have gathered here to tell you," The chief continued, "…it is over".
There was a long pause of silence. It felt as if everyone was breathing together, and the village's hearts were hammering in synch. No one in the village knew how to interpret the Chief' words, but they did not question him.
"It is time that we reveal the identity of the Avatar" The chief said finally.
The whole village stared at him, but some eyes went to Maka. Kunik was one of those people and she looked at Maka. She saw that he was still staring intently at the floor. He seemed to be angry. It confused her.
Then, when she wasn't expecting it, he looked straight up at her. It was as if he knew that she was staring at him along with everyone else, and caught her in the act. His eyes were smoldering and filled with something that she could not identify.
"Our new Avatar is our very own Kunik. Daughter of Kaoka and Naira, granddaughter of Dayka and the deceased Naimya, greatgrandaughter of the deceased Matai, Mahek, Hakeiya, and Jaitia…" The words were coming out of the Chief's mouth, but his they could not be heard as he continued.
Everyone in the hut started to speak at once. Kunik could feel herself being stared at. All the eyes that had been on Maka and the Chief were now on her. She looked around and found herself staring at the faces of her mother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, and sister. All of them seemed to be looking at her as if she were another person. Kunik realized that these people staring at her looked unfamiliar to her, too.
Finally, a familiar face came back to her as her mother drew in her shock.
"Kunik, stand up" She told her daughter over the voices.
"Everyone, quiet down!" The Chief was calling order to his people.
Everyone quieted at once, but they were still staring at Kunik with looks of shock.
"Kunik, stand up" Naira commanded her daughter once more.
Kunik couldn't move. She could feel someone pulling on her arm, pulling her off the ground and she wasn't surprised to see that it was her sister. Kadlu held her sister's arm and looked at her, her face unreadable. The twins stared at each other. Kunik had an expression on her face that was of pure fright and shock.
Everyone in the tribe watched the two girls as they looked at one another. Then, Kadlu acted. She brought her twin sister into a hug. No one said anything; even the chief was quiet as the two girls stood standing up, hugging one another. Kunik finally let the hysteria get to her. She began to cry.
Nailah struggled to stand, her father helping her up. Both Nailah and Dakya moved in to hug the sobbing Kunik. Naira watched them from the floor, but eventually stood up. She placed a hand on Kunik's back.
Kadlu pulled away from her sister and began to speak in the voice that only they could hear one another with. She shook her head at her sister and wiped away her Kunik's tears, meeting her eyes. She looked stern. She almost looked like Naira.
"No," Kadlu whispered to her sister, "You can't cry anymore…you're…you're the Avatar".