Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when The Fire Nation attacked, Only The Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them. But, when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar. An Airbender named Aang and although his Airbending skills were great, he has a lot to learn before hes ready to save anyone. But I believe Aang can save the world.
Katara was happy. So much had happened in the past months since she and her brother had discovered Aang. Sokka wasn't a believer right away like she was, but he had always been skeptical of things he didn't trust. She herself had also been more trusting of things back then. She knew so little and had come so far in the months since that day. She had grown so much since then she no longer felt like just a girl. She was sprouting into womanhood both in character and in strength. Perhaps that was the effect of being around The Avatar so much?
She liked to think it wasn't and that it was her own strength and determination that drove her forward. Looking back, they had achieved so much. Not only had they found Aang the waterbending master to train him that he needed, she had even trained with him. Despite all the bigot customs of The Northern Water Tribe that forbid such a thing.
Now they had even found Aang an Earthbending trainer. A real true master of Earthbending that could teach him what he needed to know, Toph Beifong. Her training was quite brutal on Aang but he was learning, slowly. Too slowly, she tried not to think. But that was definitely a matter on all of their minds. Aang had to learn and master all four elements by summers end when Sozin's Comet would come close enough to the Earth for Firebenders to grasp its power and overpower them. It was imperative that Aang be ready by that day or else the world would end under Firelord Ozai's rule.
Until they found him a firebending master, all they could do was continue to train Aang in Waterbending as well as Earthbending.
"Firebending is going to be the real challenge" Katara breathed, listening to the brutal training session of Earthbending Toph was putting Aang through. She thought back on some of what they had already been through and tried to only think of the good times they had been through and what they had accomplished. At the same time, people like Zuko, Azula, Ty Lee, and Jet crept in. Even Mad King Bumis voice rang in her ears.
"Your teacher will be someone who has mastered neutral jing. You need to find someone who waits and listens before striking."
That clue had led them to Toph Beifong. She was the best Earthbender they had ever seen and although the training wasn't going exactly how she had thought it would, she was teaching him, and that was huge.
"You'll get it Aang. I know you will."
She was alone right now. While Toph and Aang were busy with Earthbending training and Sokka was out doing what he called hunting, she had found a shallow lake recessed into the earth with reeds and tall grass growing around. It was quiet here. Away from the crashes and bangs and away from Toph's shouting. She felt calmed by the soft churning of the water.
Taking advantage of this rare moment of peace and solitaire privacy, she was taking a much needed bath. Earth was Toph's natural element, of course she loved the layer of dirt on her skin but Katara did not. Water was her element and this was where she felt most comfortable.
Slipping out of her tunic and sinking into the water came as such a relief. She sighed audibly, feeling the days of dirt and sweat drift away from her apricot and milky colored skin. She sat down in the water, brought her knees to her chest, and pressed both hands over her eyes as if they burned with weariness as the tepid water washed away the travel-weary aches in her muscles and bones. The water felt good and she needed this time alone with her thoughts.
"This might be a good spot to teach Aang some more Waterbending" she spoke in a broken whisper, weighing that possibility. It could be good for him and his confidence once his frustration with Earthbending got to him.
She could sense the barely controlled power that was coiled in his body. She had seen it herself a few times in the moments where Aang had lost control of it all. Even when he hadn't lost control, he had still proven that he was quite a powerful bender. That was easy to forget sometimes. He didn't look or act like someone you'd think of as The Avatar. He was just a kid like the rest of them.
Ever since they had met the fortuneteller Aunt Wu in Makapu Village, that hadn't been so easy for her to forget. She had told her that the man she would marry would be a very powerful bender. Aang hadn't been the first person she thought of after hearing that. However, once that volcano erupted and she watched him stop that lava in its tracks with his airbending alone, preventing it from destroying that village, she saw Aang in a different light.
"A powerful bender" she spoke in a weak and tremulous whisper. Even though she was alone, she still felt the need to whisper so no one else would hear her. Like she was whispering it to herself because she was confused by the way she felt about it all.
"KATARA!"
She bolted up automatically, nearly jumping out of her skin. It was Sokka and he sounded like he was in trouble. Her pulse quickening, she moved quickly. Running over to her clothes and pulling them on haphazardly. Every bit of the peace she had felt was gone and her thoughts had shut down completely. Now was the time to act.
"AANG! KATARA!"
Just as she was pulling on her shoes and reaching for her water skin, despite Sokka's shouts, she saw something that made her stop. It was just a piece of parchment, but it was an odd piece of parchment. It was just laying there on the ground, right underneath her clothes and things. It hadn't been there before, or had it and she simply didn't notice? Her mind had drifted away from her when she had been undressing but surely she hadn't been careless enough to miss something like that.
She picked it up, feeling a bizarre tingle in her fingers once they touched the parchment, and turned it over. Between all the ink stains and blotches, there were only two words written in hasty, shaky handwriting that was only legible because they had been written so large, they took up every bit of the paper.
HE'S BACK
Feeling like this was some kind of warning of something or someone, Katara couldn't dismiss the unrest she now felt at the note. Hearing Sokka call her name again, she threw the paper back down to run after him and find out what had happened.
At least, that's what she tried to do. The paper was stuck to her hand however. Her feet likewise seemed stuck to the ground.
"What is this?" Katara asked, a flicker of apprehension coursing through her. She made a mighty effort to move her feet but it was no good. All that did was reveal to her in horrible fashion that she could no longer move any part of her body. She was locked in place, standing there with one hand at her side holding her water skin and the other holding out the paper in front of her like she was handing it to someone. Trapped in the moment where she realized she couldn't put the paper down.
Her throat tightened as she fought against the panic that threatened to consume her. Whatever she did, she couldn't allow herself to let panic in. Things seemed bad now, but they would only get worse if she lost herself.
Is this what happened to Sokka? she wondered, making an effort to fight what might have been a losing battle to keep her mind focused. This thought only brought on the realization that her voice no longer worked either. This was worse than when Ty Lee had shut down her bending by blocking her chi. That had been bad enough, but this was something else completely.
No more than a couple seconds ticked by and then Katara felt it happen. A sensation like a hook behind her navel tugging her forward, then she felt her feet leave the ground and there was no way she could be prepared for what happened next. She was speeding forward in a howl of wind and swirling color. This wasn't like flying on Appa's back. This was terrifying. The only mercy in it all was that it was over extremely quickly. What wasn't, was how hard she felt her body collide with the ground.
She landed on her feet, but she landed so hard that she felt her legs go completely numb and disappear out from under her. She crumpled to the ground, completely winded and gasping for air, choking under the hammering of her own heart.
Pressing a hand against her chest over her heart, she felt that thing beating like crazy in there and knew she had to calm down. Taking a few steadying breaths helped a lot, it also helped a lot when she had collected herself enough to realize she could move again. Whatever was going on here, clearly someone wanted her here and they had gone to some extreme measures to make sure that happened.
With her mobility returned to her, she leaped to her feet and looked around at her surroundings. Wherever she was now, it was clear right away that she was far, far away from the others. The rocky region she had been only minutes ago was impossibly far away from this dark and grassy place. She saw the black outline of what looked like a church just barely visible beyond a large yew tree and she saw the headstones. They were beyond any she had ever seen before, but there was no mistaking what this place was. Also, before being zipped away here, it had been broad daylight and now it was night.
Alarm bells were going off in her head like mad, warning her that she was in danger. This place felt unsafe. This graveyard felt like a bad place to be. Whatever it was, there was something terrible here, something evil, something completely unnatural.
Her chest tightened and her breaths came in small and short hitches. The weight of what must have been at least a dozen pairs of eyes upon her, watching her and it was too much for her to bear. She ducked down behind one of the headstones just as she heard movement and the shuffle of footsteps approaching. This one was made of marble and she was just able to make out the name engraved on it by the moonlight.
TOM RIDDLE
The footsteps grew louder. Whoever these people were, they were many. Too many for her to fight off and it sounded like there were more of them now. She put her hands over her mouth to silence her breaths and listened. Willing them to stop before they got close enough to spot her. Then, strangely, they did. She didn't dare try to look over the headstone but she thought it sounded like they stopped just a couple feet away. Are they waiting for me? Katara wondered.
There were a couple moments of terrible silence where she was certain her breathing was going to give her away, and then someone finally spoke.
"Portkey is here" a deep rumbling voice said, the hoarse whisper breaking the silence.
"Hang on, do you see what is written on it?" another voice spoke questioningly. "Hes back? Who do you reckon wrote that?"
"We shall deal with that later" a third icy voice spoke "Right now, we need to find our guest. Or maybe you didn't notice that she appears to be missing."
Katara bit down on her lip at these words. Alarm threatened to give way into panic again. This place felt so cold suddenly. I need to move. Now.
She wanted to move, but she had no idea where she could even go without them spotting her. A very disheartening and trapped feeling twisted her stomach into knots. She bawled her hands into fists and shook her head. Now angry at herself for letting herself give into fear. She was a waterbending master and it sounded like there were only three of them after all. If she had to, she felt she could take on three no matter what element they could bend.
Instinct suggested Firebenders but this looked nothing like the Fire Nation at all. Still, she had to move quickly or else they were going to find her cowering behind this headstone and there was no telling what they would do then.
Swallowing hard, she found her strength and made her move. Staying low to the ground, she crept silently to the next headstone. The only plan she could come up with here was to move from headstone to headstone until she could make it out of this graveyard and then maybe head for that church she had seen. Maybe she could figure something else out once she made it there. Like where she was now and how she could get back to her friends.
Katara peeked over the headstone to see if she could see where any of these strangers were. She couldn't, it was too dark. She was grateful for that and she also wasn't. The cover of night went both ways. They couldn't see her, but neither could she see them.
And then that changed completely. She heard a couple different voices whisper something she didn't understand and then light burst from the ends of some kind of stick that each of them held up. It was so bright that it hurt her eyes. Immediately, her spot was flooded with light.
Feeling like she had just been caught, she acted instinctively. In one fluid, practiced motion she bent some water out of her water skin and fired it toward the nearest light. It knocked the light out of the strangers hand and he yelped. Only some of the dark fell back over her but there were enough shadows created by the other lights for her to stalk quickly away to a different headstone.
"Shes over this way!" the stranger called to the others. Abruptly, every light stopped, turned, and began to move toward her. They were all headed for where she had just been but now the combined light was too much for her to stay hidden. It was hard to tell because it hurt to look at such a bright light but Katara counted at least six or so of those lights. She could also make out what these strangers looked like at last. All of them were wearing the same black cloaks with their hoods up and their faces were covered by the same creepy masks. These people were unlike any kind of tribe she had ever seen before and they were dangerous and unfortunately, they were all headed right towards her.
Fear wanted to take control of her again, but she was too determined now to let that happen. There was nowhere to go now, but she had another idea now that they weren't all spread out anymore. She cupped her hand and used her bending once again to pull more water from the water skin. This time, a larger amount, and paused for a second, holding her breath, waiting for her moment.
Just as she anticipated, they all began looking around for her.
"She cant be far" the icy voice seethed, spotting movement and turning to the left towards Katara. Before he could say or do anything else, Katara made her move.
It took two quick motions. One striking whip of water knocked every one of the lights out of their hands. The second motion was a wave of water that knocked them all off their feet. She let go of her hold on the water and it came down and soaked every one of them.
Acting quickly before they could react, she breathed in, relaxed her fists and then breathed out, causing the water to instantly chill and freeze. Binding each of them to the ground in a pile of black cloaks, masks, and whatever those things were they were using to create those lights.
Checking her water skin, she realized she had nearly emptied it with that last move, but, thankfully, it had worked out. Without wasting a moment, she ran for it. She had no idea how much time she had just bought, but this was an opportunity to escape that she couldn't let slip away.
Leaping over the frozen pile of bodies, and sprinting for an exit, Katara saw the note that had brought her to this terrible place and felt that deep sense of foreboding shake her again. Hes back. . . Who is he?
Whoever he was, the writing on the note was done by someone who was in extreme terror and that left a bad feeling with her. A really bad feeling. This person was someone who was feared and his return had compounded that fear into horror.
She kept running, not knowing exactly where to run, just knowing she had to get away from those people. After those blinding lights, everything was so dark now. She ran right into one headstone and tripped over another, landing bodily on the ground. That's where she decided running blind was not the way to do this. She had to let her eyes adjust to the dark again before she wound up falling and breaking her neck. Already it felt like at least one or two of her ribs had been bruised by that last fall.
So, she sat up and leaned her back against the headstone, steadied her breathing, listened, and waited. Everything was completely quiet and gradually the moonlight became enough for her to see her surroundings again. It only took a few moments but maybe it was a few moments more than she could afford. The cold had intensified enough that her breath now fogged in front of her.
Fighting against the chill creeping inside her, Katara stood up and looked around. At first this cemetery hadn't seemed to be very big. Now that all she needed was an exit, it seemed impossibly big. That church she had seen earlier, it was gone now. That couldn't be right, that was impossible.
Her teeth were chattering now and she didn't understand how it could have become so cold. Then she saw the last thing she wanted to see in that moment. Another one of those black cloaks. Two of them this time. Considering how low she was on water, she wasn't sure she could take them both on. She would have to try something different this time. At the very least, she would have to not be seen until they were gone.
Crouching down, she watched the two cloaks move in opposite directions but she noticed they moved oddly. They moved too quickly to be walking and they didn't at all look like they were running. It looked more like they were . . . gliding. She felt an involuntary shiver shake her then. These cloaks were different from the ones from before.
She knew right away that they weren't normal because one of them made some kind of slow rattling noise, like it was breathing in more than just air, and then immediately turned in her direction. Like it could smell her or maybe even taste something in the air.
As it got closer, the cold intensified to the point where she felt like she couldn't breathe. Her arms wrapped around her trembling body, eager for some kind of relief from the cold that did not come. Would not ever come, she felt certain. Warmth and cheer, those were in the past now and that past was forever gone. All that remained now was cold and fear. Fear of nothing, fear of everything, fear of those creepy black cloaks, and fear of those scarlet eyes.
Katara didn't understand what was happening to her anymore. The will to fight had fled from her completely the moment that thing looked toward her. Whether it had seen her or sensed her, she wasn't sure. All that she was aware of now was that she felt like she was hopelessly lost and would forever be that way. Surely there could be nothing more terrifying than that thing finding her, but she couldn't bring herself to move either. She was going to stay put until it was too late and then they would have her and her mind couldn't begin to comprehend what lay in store for her after that.
She was bereft and desolate and couldn't find a single positive thought in her head to snap herself out of it. Her mind was languid, without hope. Not until something happened that took the black cloaks gaze away and all at once she found herself on her knees and her cheeks gleaming with tears as deep sobs racked her insides.
Like some kind of switch had just been turned, she didn't have any recollection of her tears. Or falling to her knees. Something had happened to her just now that she didn't, and couldn't, understand. She wiped her cheeks dry and banished those thoughts out of her head. They were all foggy and disconnected but there was one thing that remained. She had seen those scarlet eyes looking right at her. Was that also in my head?
The cold had dissipated some now but she wanted to make sure those things weren't still around before she made a move and it was a relief when she saw that both of them were no longer around. Whatever had distracted them, it had their full attention and she couldn't stay here any longer.
Bracing herself for what would come next, she stood up and stepped forward, becoming acutely aware of the fine layer of frost covering everything now, including her clothes. She wanted so desperately to be back where she had been before she touched that note. She wished she hadn't ever touched it in the first place. But wishing and wanting seldom ever makes anything happen, and this was no exception. Things have a way of always getting worse before they can get better. Which is exactly what happened next.
Without warning, something hot hit her then, knocking her forward. It felt like it had punched her in the back and there it burned. Fire Nation she thought, even as the shriek of pain escaped her. She spun on her heel to look at who had just attacked her, but couldn't see anyone. For half a dozen heartbeats she stood there, ready to defend against the next strike, but when none came, her resolve melted away and she ran.
Almost as soon as she had turned to run, she felt that same hot punch hit her again, her shoulder this time, and it too began to burn. It was too late for her to change her mind again though. She was committed to fleeing now. All she could do was keep her head down and keep running. It quickly became apparent that there was more than one of them. It was perhaps every one of the original cloaks she had taken care of before and despite her attempts at dodging their attacks, at least two more times she felt those attacks hit her, almost knocking her off her feet.
"Stun her, you fools! Stun her!" an intensely angry voice bellowed from somewhere behind her. Katara ran on, striking back whenever she saw an opportunity. Always a quick attack directed at their hands to knock those things away from them. She still was not aware of what they were, but she had seen enough to know they were how they performed their bizarre branch of bending. With each strike she returned the water back into the water skin to conserve what little supply she had left.
At any moment she was sure she was going to run into those things from before, but they didn't seem to be anywhere anymore. The cold they brought was gone with them too, which she was grateful for. But she couldn't run forever. She would have to make a stand or else they were going to get her, sooner or later. With the way things were going now, she would guess sooner rather than later.
So she dove behind the cover of the largest headstone and heard several chunks of it blast into pieces. Then she stood up and pulled the last bit of the water she had and bent them into two long cords on each hand which she used to knock away each of the glowing red blasts sent her way. She growled at the effort of keeping them all at bay. She was definitely outnumbered here, but none of them could manage to get past her defense. Not with this kind of attack, at least.
One of them realized this a little quicker than the others and tried something different that Katara wasn't expecting. She blocked at least a dozen of the attacks before she noticed one of them was shooting what looked like rope out of the end of his weapon. She tried to block it, but it passed right through her waterbending and she was halted by an iron grip on her wrist. Immediately she lost the water in that hand and it fell to the ground, leaving her with only the other water cord and half of the water to defend with.
She blocked what she could and was forced to dodge the rest, fighting the whole time to hold her ground. The rope around her wrist was doing its best to pull her off balance. If she didn't do something fast, she was going to lose this. So, thinking quick, she took a deep breath, and struck the rope with the water she had left. The water had no effect on it and hit the ground with the rest of it, but then she gripped the rope where it was wet and breathed out, freezing the water enough to break the rope binding her. The rest of it fell away and disappeared into smoke, leaving behind an angry red ring around her wrist.
The last thing she managed to do was to plant her foot down in the puddle of water before her. Bringing her arms up over her head, she pulled the water up and then clenched her fists, freezing the water into a thick wall of ice. It held enough to prevent the next few attacks. But even as she watched them hit and blow chunks of the ice away just as they had done to that headstone, she saw cracks forming already.
Focusing intensely on what she was going to do next, she planted her feet, taking her stance before drawing back a fist. She then punched the ice and let out a long, focused, battle cry. Her muscles screamed from the strain but the ice disintegrated and flew out in big heavy chunks. Each one aimed directly at the strangers in black cloaks attacking her.
Unbelievably, it worked. Every one struck its target and took them down. Her original guess of at least a dozen turned out to be correct and she had channeled the last bit of strength she had in her, knowing it was one last effort to survive.
Now completely spent and out of water, Katara fell to her knees and looked at what she had done. Dreading what could be next, but also knowing it was inevitable that at least one of them would stand back up and there was nothing left in her to fight them with.
She took long deep breaths, feeling empty and drained, feeling the weariness envelop her as she tried to concentrate. The beginnings of a smile tipped the corners of her mouth despite it though. Whatever the cost was, it looked like she had just won. She wanted to stand up and say something to them. Tell them that they made a mistake by messing with a master waterbender. That they should have never picked this fight. But her victory was short lived.
Before she could stand back up, her arms were seized by some invisible force and they went behind her back automatically. Surprised by this, Katara strained to move her arms but they were stuck and impossible to move, no matter how much she grunted and squirmed. Her eyes darted around to find who or what had done this but saw that it was none of those whom she had just taken out. Instead her eyes found exactly what she was looking for. It was the exit. The tall metal bars that wrapped around this entire graveyard finally gave way to the tall swinging gate doors. She would have been relieved if she hadn't also been bound by something unseen.
It took a mighty effort, but she just barely managed to get to her feet. With her arms stuck behind her back, she could feel the burns left there. Her skin felt hot, raw, and cracked. It hurt. Her tunic had been burned and torn and now a large part of her back and shoulders were exposed. If she had any water left she could have used it to sooth and probably even heal these burns, but she didn't and instead had to just grit her teeth and bear the painful heat that stung her over and over.
"Who are you?" she called, trying to sound braver than she felt and to her dismay, heard her voice waver and break. Her heart sank then. No one answered her, and the quiet grew heavy and deafening.
Unable to bear this any longer, Katara started toward the exit. She felt like she was being baited toward it now that it was in sight, but what other choice did she have. The terrible truth of the matter was that she was trapped and it didn't seem like she was likely to escape this. So what then? What comes next?
She stepped a few paces further and then heard something that stopped her. She thought she heard something at least. Something that sounded like a snake hiss, but her breaths and her pounding heart were so loud in her ears she couldn't be sure what or if she had heard anything at all. She hated that small squeak she made every few breaths, like she was nothing more than a scared and weak girl. It hurt her pride and embarrassed her for these signs of weakness to be slipping out without her permission. The situation was bleak, but she couldn't forget herself.
"Where are you?" she called out again, doubling down on her efforts to sound brave.
"Why try so hard to hide the way you feel?" A voice answered at last and it was like an echo from an empty tomb. It flooded in from all directions, deafening in volume and thick with malice.
The question was like a dagger in her chest. Flinching at the tone of his voice, Katara's mouth instantly went dry. She pictured those scarlet eyes again and mustered as much of her courage that remained to her.
"Who are you?" she tried again.
A laugh, cold, high, and mirthless was his only response. Is it. . . him? Katara wondered, looking around for the speaker and remembering the note from before warning her of this someone. That thought shook her. Then the voice spoke to her again.
"Ah, so you have heard of me. Although, you do not know my name." The voice had a way of laughing icily on every word. Like every one of them was a joy to speak because he knew the words unsettled her and he relished in causing her this torment.
"Pardon my rudeness, I have forgotten myself. The niceties must be observed so allow me to introduce myself."
Katara felt like if her heart beat any faster, surely it would burst and that would be an end to this. Even if her arms weren't bound behind her back, and her water skin wasn't empty, she doubted whether she could do any bending at all anymore. There was no way of knowing what to expect next and all she could do was brace herself for it.
Her eyes caught movement in front of her. At first, she thought it was another one of those gliding horrible things from before because what she saw in front of her was another black cloak and it was gliding toward her. But then she noticed the pale whiter-than-white skin and the horrible snakelike features. His nose, flat and with slits for nostrils and, even worse, those wide, livid scarlet eyes.
In one hand he held a long thin piece of wood like all the others before him, and in the other, he cradled a long, thick python snake which was curled around him.
Katara couldn't move. She watched in stunned horror as the man moved closer and closer. Once he got close enough to her, she saw the snake slither down from the man and then coil itself around her legs. A silent whimper escaped her, panic rioting within her, her face clouded with uneasiness, and then the man stopped just in front of her.
Despite everything, she swallowed hard, lifted her chin, and boldly met his gaze.
He laughed again, that same awful laugh, and then he touched her with one of his long, thin fingers. Brushing back some of her hair out of her faice and then he smiled a cruel smile.
"Katara, I am Lord Voldemort."
Katara felt her skin crawl underneath his touch and, despite herself, her eyes filled with tears. Tears she couldn't hold back because she had never felt so small before someone else. She felt the invisible binds around her arms tighten as something coiled around them. Then Voldemort pointed that piece of wood in his hand at her.
A wand. The name suddenly dawned on her at that last moment. He's holding a wand.
He whispered something into her ear, and then her world went black.