Chapter 2: The Final Straw
The next day, Akari got dressed and headed through town towards the harbor with her father. It was almost winter, which meant that a good portion of the sea would freeze over until spring. Food would become scarce, so every year, most of the tribe would head out to gather food for the winter. Some would even brave the harsh winter to search for food. It wouldn't be enough to last the entire winter, but the tribe wouldn't starve to death. When they got there, the harbor was packed with people loading the boats. As soon as some of the tribe saw Lusa, she was given dirty looks.
"Hey, Akari! I was looking everywhere for you last night. I thought we were going penguin sledding to celebrate?" Lusa said, running over to them.
"Sorry. I wasn't feeling too great after we got back," she responded.
"Is it because of what Silla said? He came back to the village crying about how you 'attacked' him for no reason after you left. We all knew how much he likes to lie and exaggerate though. It's what that little twerp does best after all," Lusa whispered, getting a chuckle for Akari. "So are you coming on board with Dad and me?"
"Of course!" Ujurak said, coming between the girls and putting his arms around their shoulders. "Now that you girls are official members, you can steer while the adults can take care of the fish."
"Yeah, because if something exciting happens on the way there, we can't have any of the fun trying to catch it," Lusa commented.
"That's the whole reason why we had you girls in the first place so one day, wewouldn't have to do all the boring, hard work anymore," Lusa's father Eska said, coming over.
"Yeah, okay Dad," Lusa said, rolling her eyes.
"Glad to see you two joining us Ujurak," said Eska, shaking Ujurak's hand.
"Are you kidding? We wouldn't miss this for the world," he responded.
"Alright, everyone! Let's finish up, and head out!" Chief Hakoda announced on the stern of the lead boat. Everyone cheered and started to make their way to their appointed boat. Ujurak's crew made their way to the third boat on the right, along with Takka, Silla, and their father Tulok on the same boat. Suddenly, a young woman came running up to the boats just as Chief Hakoda walked down the boat plank with a kicking three-year-old.
"Aw! But Gramp-Gramp! I wanna go too!" the child whined.
"Bumi, you're not old enough to come on this trip yet. When you get older…"
"It's because I can't bend isn't it?! Well…..I can be a good hunter without bending! I promise I won't talk or be a bad boy. Pleeeeeeease can I go with you Gramp-Gramp?" the child continued.
"Bumi, your Gramp-Gramp already told you that you could go when you're older. And not being a bender has nothing to do with it. Now, Mama has to go around the village and make sure everyone has a good place to store their food for the winter. It's a big job that Mama can't do by herself. If only I had someone who wasn't busy hunting to come and help me," said Master Katara dramatically.
"Oooo! I can help Mama! I can do that easy! I can do it without bending! Come on, Mama!" Bumi said. Hakoda set Bumi down, and the boy immediately took his mother's hand and half-dragged her back to the village.
"Thanks, Dad! Be careful!" Master Katara said.
"We will," he said, and then started to walk back onto the boat. Akari chuckled, watching Bumi pull his mother back to the village. It was then that Master Katara looked up and saw her.
"Congratulations on Ice Dodging Akari," she said, waving at her.
"Thanks, Master Katara!" Akari responded, giving a quick wave as well.
"Let's go!" Ujurak ordered. Since he was one of the oldest members on the boat, he was in charge of naming posts. Takka, Lusa, and Akari were given the same roles as they were given the day before, while the rest of the crew was in charge of the nets. With everyone in position, the boats left the harbor, with each heading for a different location on land or sea.
Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break
Once the crew reached their desired fishing grounds, the nets were set in the water, and the crew waited for a few minutes to reel them back in. Lusa and her Father, on the other hand, were using spears to catch fish that got too close to the surface.
"Please can we try it, Dad?" Lusa asked.
"You know how I feel about that Lusa," Eska said.
"I know it's cheating, but just this one time?"
"Lusa, you said that last time."
"That was for that trip. I'll only do it once. Please?" Lusa begged. Eska gripped his chin and then smiled.
"Alright; but just this once on this trip," Eska announced.
"Yes!" Lusa cheered and set her spear down. Akari watched as Lusa took a deep breath and started to bend a large portion of the water. A big bubble appeared, and there were about thirty or forty fish swimming around in the bubble.
"Ready?" Eska asked gripping his spear. Lusa bent the bubble a few yards away from the sea, and then released her grip, making the fish fall and start flopping everywhere.
"Go!" Lusa shouted, picking up her spear again. The two ran over and started spearing as many fish as they could before they flopped back into the water. They continued this until Eska noticed two more flopping fish remained.
"Stop! Last two," Eska warned. The two put their spears down and then each bent a small water bubble. They moved their bubble over one of the fish until it was now swimming around inside the bubble. Afterward, the bubble was bent back to the sea with Eska and Lusa bowing to show their final gratitude.
"Not too bad baby girl," Eska said, looking around at their catch.
"Aren't I too old for 'baby girl?" Lusa asked.
"Never!" Eska said, grabbing his daughter into a 'bear hug'. Akari then looked up at her father, struggling to get a line he had cast back up.
"Got a big one!" he announced. "Akari, get your arrow ready!" Akari drew her bow and waited for the right moment.
"Use your bending!" Akari yelled.
"Nope!" Ujurak said, still struggling to pull it back up.
'You would if I could bend water,' Akari thought. Ujurak pulled and pulled until the line suddenly broke.
"Dammit! Well, you win this round," Ujurak said, pulling the remaining line back up with ease. "Took my fake fish and everything!"
"I'm sorry dad," Akari said.
"Nothing to be sorry for. It happens. Just now, I need to get another line with a new fish," Ujurak said. He then got up and started heading back for the boat.
'Why didn't you just not worry about my feelings and bend it? We would have had a big fish to help feed the tribe,' Akari thought, looking down at the snow.
Hours later
"I think we got enough right now to take back. We can sail back out tomorrow if we have to," Ujurak said.
"Sounds good," Eska said, wiping sweat from his forehead. The adults and Takka carried the bigger fish and seal caught back to the boat, while the rest took care of the smaller catch.
"He's just trying to show off for his 'pop'," Lusa whispered to Akari, making the girls chuckle.
"Yeah? Well at least we didn't fail the first time we went Ice Dodging," Akari said, and the girls laughed louder.
"Are you Hyena-Bears done yet? We've got work to do!" Eska yelled.
"Sorry Dad," Lusa said, and the girls got serious, and ran back to the boat. When everything was loaded up, the teens took their positions once again and were off back to the village.
"Hey, captain! Thanks for stealing my idea earlier. I saw you three using water to catch a majority of your fish. You didn't even offer the last three fish back into the sea as payment," Lusa said.
"Everybody does it, Lusa. It wasn't your idea. Our ancestors have been using our bending for generations to help us hunt. Who cares if we didn't offer the fish back? That's three more fish we can use to help feed the village," Takka explained as a matter-of-fact.
"Uh, in case you didn't already know this genius, not everyone in the tribe can bend water. It's not fair to use our abilities as a crutch when not everyone can do it. That's why everyone who uses water to fish has to give one fish back to the Spirit of the Ocean. If not, the Spirits will get mad and not give us more fish to survive," Lusa said.
"Well, what's worse? A starving village, or an angry spirit who may or may not be real just because we didn't give back something that was rightfully ours? Takka asked.
"You're such an as*…"
"Lusa!" Eska warned. Lusa rolled her eyes and grunted at Takka, who was smiling mischievously.
All of a sudden, the boat jerked forward as it hit something. Then the tide started to pick up rapidly. "Shoot! Did we hit something?!" Takka asked, gripping the tiller tight. Tulok ran to the bow and looked at the bottom of the outside of the boat.
"We got rapids and an iceberg field dead ahead!" he shouted.
"Is there even a way through that?!" Akari asked. Ujurak took a good look at the ice fields, and then back to the teenagers.
"We'll take it from here kids. I've got the helm, while Eska, you take…"
"No. They can do it!" Tulok insisted.
"Tulok, this is a more advanced ice field. We shouldn't put so much pressure on them so soon. Especially when we have…" Ujurak tried to say, but Takka interrupted.
"We've got this sir. We can handle it," he said. Tulok nodded at his son, before sitting down at the bow, as he did the previous day. The two girls looked at each other before holding their positions tight.
"Uhh…..L-Lusa! Ease up a little!" Takka ordered. Takka jerked the Tiller to the left, barely missing a small iceberg sticking out. Immediately afterward, he jerked it to the right around a much bigger iceberg. "Akari! Steady! Do you want us to go down?!"
"I'm holding it as tight as I can!" Akari snapped.
"Then hold it tighter! If you don't do your job right, then you'll sink us!"
"You think I don't already know that?!" Akari screamed. Just then, a large wave collided with an iceberg, soaking everyone on board.
"Come on guys! Focus!" Lusa yelled. All of a sudden, Akari saw a rock that was barely above the water that the boat was headed straight towards.
"Takka! Rock on your starboard!" Akari yelled. Takka pulled the Tiller to the left, and then the entire boat shook as an iceberg scraped the port side. The adults ran over to the port side and saw a large hole filling up with water.
"We're hit!" Silla yelled.
"Akari! Why did you distract me?! Now, look what you did!"
"What did I do?!" Akari snapped. "Did you wanna run over a sharp rock?!"
"I didn't see any rock! This is why everyone looks at you funny; because you can't be trusted!"
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Akari shouted, and before anyone could blink, the rope Akari was holding suddenly burst into flames. The entire jib had caught fire in a matter of seconds.
"Whoa! Akari, calm down!" Lusa said, but Akari didn't listen. Instead, she shot a few blades of fire at Takka. Takka screamed, and immediately dropped to the ground, barely missing the fire, but it ended up setting most of the stern on fire. The flames on the sail also started to somehow get larger and were starting to spread to the mainsail. All of a sudden, Akari was engulfed in water up to her neck, which eventually froze into a block of ice trapping her in place.
"That's quite enough out of you girl," Tulok snapped. "Put those flames out before the whole boat burns!" he ordered. Lusa stared at her best friend in shock before being called over by her father to help with the fire. Everyone got up and started to bend water on top of the flames.
The iceblock that held Akari in place started to steam up, but Akari's eyes out of the blue went wide as she finally noticed her flames. She was horrified at how big the flames were and how difficult it was for six water benders to put out the flames. The flames would just swallow the water and somehow grow even bigger. All of a sudden, the boat started to tip due to the boat filling up with water from the whole.
"Everyone abandon ship!" Eska yelled, and then went over to set Akari free.
"But what about the…" Takka asked.
"No time! Let's go!" he said, as the sea got closer and closer to the port-side deck. Takka was the first one to jump off onto an iceberg and held out his hand towards Lusa. Just as Lusa was about to jump, Silla lost his balance and fell overboard on the port side. He managed to grab the side of the boat, but his feet were inches away from the sea. Akari immediately ran over and grabbed Silla's wrist to try and help him up.
"Get away from me you fire-bending murderer!" he yelled, slapping Akari's arm, making her let go of Silla. Now that Silla was only supporting himself with one hand, he lost his grip and fell into the icy sea below.
"Silla!" Akari screamed. Tulok immediately ran over and dived into the icy water after his son.
"Akari! The mainsail's coming down! Run!" Ujurak screamed. Akari ran as fast as she could to the bow, and everyone jumped on the iceberg, just as the deck became engulfed by the sea which tipped the boat sideways. It was now completely lost, as was all the prey they had caught. Lusa stepped forward and bowed before the fallen boat. That's when Tulok shot up out of the sea, holding his unconscious son.
"Dad! Silla!" Takka screamed, and then everyone carefully made their way over to try and help them out of the water. Eska hoisted Silla up and laid him down, while Ujurak held a hand up to Tulok, but he just pulled himself out.
"Silla! Wake up! Are you alright little brother?! Speak to me!" Takka pleaded, but Silla remained unconscious.
"Bend the water out of his clothes Takka, so he won't freeze to death out here," Ujurak ordered. Takka nodded, and then very carefully bent the water out of his fur coat and pants.
"I've got you Tulok," Eska said.
"I…I…c-c-c-can d-do it m…..m-m-m-myself," Tulok insisted.
"Put your pride aside old man and let us help you," Eska said. Tulok shot him a dirty look as Eska started to bend as much water off him as he could.
"Come on Silla," Takka continued, gently slapping Silla's cheeks. When Eska was nearly finished, Tulok stood up and hit Eska's shoulder with his body walking towards Akari.
"Are you h-h-h-h-happy n-now girly?! You s-s-s-set our b-b-b-boat on fire, l-l-l-lost all our c-c-c-c-catch we spent h-hours on, and k-k-k-killed everyone on board w-w-w-w-with your b-b-b-b-bending!" Tulok screamed in her face. Akari was still wide-eyed with shock.
"Tulok, she didn't mean it. And don't be so dramatic; she hasn't killed anybody," Eska insisted.
"SHE'S K-K-K-K-KILLED THE LOT OF US!" Tulok snapped. "W-w-we're miles from the village with n-n-no food or s-s-shelter, and it's almost s-s-sundown! Silla will f-f-freeze to death out h-h-h-here before l-long!"
"Stay calm Tulok! We'll be fine. First, we need to get off this iceberg, and then Akari can get a fire started to help…"
"Oh hell no! I'm not t-t-t-trusting her to do a-a-anything! If she can't be t-t-t-trusted to do e-e-everything necessary for the g-g-g-good of the tribe, then what good is s-s-s-she?! You should be b-b-banished f-f-for life!" Akari's heart skipped a beat at this. Lusa couldn't find a single word to say to this, so she just walked over and sat next to her. Akari stared at her hands and then out to the boat that had just completely sunk. The group grew completely silent for several minutes afterward, save for Takka's whispers for his brother to wake up.
"DAD! HE'S TURNING BLUE!" Takka screamed. All the adults and Lusa ran over to the pre-teen and saw that his lips were indeed turning blue with a hint of purple to them.
"We gotta get him warm or he's gonna die. Akari! We need you, now!" Eska yelled. Akari didn't answer. Her gaze was still focused on where the boat sank.
"O-o-over my d-d-d-dead b-b-body!" Tulok said, blocking Akari's way over to everyone.
"It'll be your son's dead body if we don't do something soon! Akari's the best chance we got to give him some time. She can also send up a flare to alert someone that we need help. Hopefully, someone nearby will see it," Ujurak said, standing face-to-face with him.
"Only for S-S-S-Silla," Tulok said and moved to the side to allow Ujurak to pass.
"Come on Akari, snap out of it!" Lusa said, but that's when tears started to roll down her friend's cheek.
"Kari, we need your help to keep Silla warm, and then start shooting fire in the sky. It might attract someone to come to rescue us," Ujurak said when he got over. Akari looked up at her Father and subconsciously rolled her shoulders up to her ears. Then she shook her head 'no'. "We'll discuss this mess later young lady, but unless you want to have murder under your shoulders, then get over there right now and help Silla! You got us into this mess, so you're gonna grow up, and fix it!"
Akari looked up at her father, and then rubbed her tears away. She stood up and walked past Tulok, who was giving her a dirty look, and then over to Silla. Silla's bottom lip was trembling, but otherwise still hadn't moved. Akari took a few shaky breaths, before raising her right hand towards the sky, and releasing a long stream of fire into the sky for a few seconds. Then she stopped and used both hands to make a small ball of fire.
"You try to do anything to my brother, and I'll throw you into the sea myself and watch you drown!" Takka said, resting his brother's head in his lap. No one said anything in return. She made the fire a little bit bigger and then moved the warm ball of fire around Takka's body gracefully.
"What do we do Dad?" Lusa asked.
"Keep a lookout for the boat I suppose. If we don't get something soon, I can go scout out. Akari can keep shooting up the fire," Eska said.
Twenty minutes later, no one had come yet, and the sun was nearly set.
"Akari, try shooting some fire in the sky again," Ujurak said. Akari nodded, and ceased her ball of fire, before raising both arms this time to make a thicker stream of fire.
"Alright. I'll go scout out and see…"
All of a sudden, a horn was heard. Everyone looked over and saw one of the water tribe boats.
"They found us!" Lusa cheered, waving her arms in the air. Two water benders from the boat jumped into the sea and created a long pathway of ice where everyone could safely run across.
"Let's go!" Eska said. One of the water benders picked up Silla from Takka's arms. Takka hesitated at first, but then allowed them to take his brother. The rest helped Tulok get across the ice bridge.
"Ujurak, Eska, what have you gotten yourselves into now?" Chief Hakoda asked, grinning when they all got back to the boat.
"Ask h-h-her! She nearly killed us all c-c-chief!" Tulok yelled. Then the chief's grin disappeared.
Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break
Now back at the village, Akari sat near the large fire in the middle of the village, while most of the tribe's leaders debated inside the largest igloo in the village. Lusa sat beside her as did Ujurak who hadn't said a word since they returned.
"Just try to relax. It was an accident," Lusa said.
"No, it wasn't! Don't lie to me!" Akari snapped.
"You just lost your temper again."
"Yeah, don't forget the part where I almost killed Takka, lost one of our boats, lost our entire day's worth of catch for the tribe, and gave Silla hypothermia!"
"First of all, he's the one who slapped your hand away when you were trying to help. So it's really his stupid fault for getting hypothermia. Second, you also saved us out there. Without you, we all probably would have frozen to death. Give yourself a little credit here," she said, as more tears started to roll down Akari's face. Lusa touched her best friend's shoulder. Then a fellow water tribe member came out and motioned her inside. Akari got up and gave one last look at Lusa, who was smiling before going into the igloo. Ujurak followed her in. The tribe council all sat in a half-circle, leaving Akari and Ujurak to sit right in front of them.
"Akari, the council, and I have discussed the situation carefully. Even though you put the lives of everyone on board that boat in danger today, we decided to give you a second chance," Chief Hakoda said. "But…..you have to learn how to better control your temper. Fire can be a very dangerous thing, as most of us have known from personal experience. You are every bit a member of this tribe as your father is, even if you weren't born here. But make no mistake, if you endanger the lives of anyone in this village ever again, I will not hesitate to banish you from the South Pole forever. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir," Akari said.
"Good. And further, you are hereby forbidden from participating in the remaining hunt this year, or taking control of one of our boats until you learn to control your emotions. Trust has to be earned and kept Akari. Don't make me regret this decision."
"You won't sir. I'll prove to you all that I can still be trusted. I promise," Akari stated, not missing Ujurak's proud smile from the corner of her eye.
"Very good. The two of you are dismissed," the chief said, and the two left the igloo. As soon as they got out, Lusa jumped in front of Akari and hugged her tight.
"I told you it would be fine!" she cheered. Akari just pushed Lusa off her. Then without a word, walked past Lusa and headed towards the house.
"Akari!" Lusa called.
"Why don't you go home and help sort the catch, Lusa. Akari and I need to talk for a little while," Ujurok said.
"Oh…..okay. Tell Akari that we can meet before we go out or whenever," Lusa said and left. Ujurok followed his daughter home where she was starting to make something in the cooking pot.
"Kari," Ujurok said.
"I know! I know, okay?! I lost my temper and messed everything up! I don't know what I'm supposed to do! I can't control this…this curse, and every time I get mad or upset, it just makes it worse!" Akari said, slamming her face to her knees, as she wrapped her arms around her legs. Ujurok just sat there.
"I…I wanna learn to control it," she said.
"What?" Ujurok said.
"I wanna learn how to bend fire."
Well, that took forever to write. Thanks to everyone who has given this story a chance and I hope to see you all soon.
Stay safe!
LaurenHardy13
