The Mainland

Three days after the accident, Akari was packing up some belongings in her fur sack. "I've got some leftovers you can eat here in case you get hungry on your way there. Also, here's a map of 'Shuhon Island' with the house I used to live in circled. The old place should still be there, but it's a long walk from the shore. Plus, it's probably very dusty in there. No one's been there since I came back here with you to live," Ujurak warned.

"That's alright. I could use the exercise," Akari stated.

"Okay. Oh! I almost forgot!" he said, and handed Akari a large bag full of money. "This is for your first few days and money to buy a Messenger Hawk."

"A what?" Akari asked.

"A messenger hawk. It's a bird native in the Fire Nation that will send and deliver messages to anyone in the world. I want you to buy one, name it, and then send a letter to me letting me know you arrived and found the house alright. That's how we'll stay in contact with one another," he explained.

"How can a bird from the Fire Nation fly out here in the cold without freezing?" Akari asked.

"You'd be surprised at what those little guys can do. So, are you ready to go? It's almost sun-up."

"I guess so," she said.

"Alright," Ujurak said, and Akari walked out the door followed by her father. The two then made their way to the docs which had a ship docked that previously was filled with trade from the other nations to help rebuild the tribe. All of a sudden, a ship horn was heard.

"I suppose it's time to get on," Akari said.

"Sounds like it," Ujurak said. Akari hesitated for a moment before launching at her father. The two held each other tight for a good minute before Ujurak kissed his daughter's head and released her. "Go on now." Akari nodded and then started to walk towards the plank to get on board.

"I won't let you and the tribe down Dad!" she said.

"Never have, and I know you won't start now!" he said back waving. Akari smiled and then walked on board. By the time Akari made it to the main deck, the horn blew again, and the ship was starting to move away.

"I love you!" she yelled, waving below.

"Love you more!" Ujurak yelled.

Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break

Akari stood on the deck and watched her village and father get smaller and smaller. She took a deep breath, before reaching into her knapsack, and pulling out a necklace with a crescent moon and waves on it to signify the water tribe. Then she put it on.

"At least we won't have to listen to Pilip and Takka for a while," a familiar voice said.

"Yeah," Akari said, and looked over to see Lusa standing there with a pack of her very own. Akari did a 'double-take.' "Wait, LUSA?!"

"Surprise!" Lusa said with a big smile.

"What are you doing here?! I thought you went with your dad to finish 'The Great Hunt.'"

"Well….I got sick?" she said, and Akari raised an eyebrow at her. "Come on Akari. You can't expect to go on this big journey of 'self-discovery' without me, right?" Suddenly, there was a growling noise coming from Lusa's pack. "Yes, alright Nova, you can get out now," Lusa whined, and pulled out a small 'Arctic Raccoon-Fox.' Nova was completely white except for a soft grey mark around her eyes making her look like she was wearing a mask. Nova also had the same grey color on her tail alternating back and forth between grey and white. The young Raccoon-Fox jumped out of the bag and sat in Lusa's arms like a cat.

"So you…..you snuck on board?"

"Of course not! Only Nova snuck on board," Lusa whispered. "I went out and bought my ticket with my own allowance. Granted, I might have stolen some of the twins' money too, but it was still worth every piece!"

"But what about…!"

"Akari, you and I have been through thick and thin since we were three years old, and I know you probably more than you know yourself. You can't go to some foreign nation and not have your best friend there to talk to you when you're struggling. You not gonna get through this talking to empty walls, Akari!" Lusa interrupted.

"Do your parents even know you're here?" Akari asked.

"Uhhh….mom will probably figure it out when I don't come out of my room all day, and dad will when he comes back from day four of The Great Hunt this evening. I left a note on my bed explaining it just in case. You may not see me much when we eventually come back though." Akari bit her lip at Lusa's statement. "Come on girl, that's what having a best friend is for," she continued, putting an arm around her. This caused Akari to smile.

"Lusa…thanks."

"Anytime! So you wanna go check out our quarters? I know Nova wants me to put her down to stretch her legs out a little."

"Might as well," Akari said.

Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break

Almost a month later, the girls arrived at Shuhon Island in the Fire Islands. They walked off the boat at the harbor. Both girls stopped dead in their tracks at the lack of greenery hardly anywhere, and the harsh smell of burning rubber. "I get that we're on an island and all, but for some reason, I was expecting this place to be more….lively," Lusa said.

"Just you girls wait till you get to the main city. You won't think it's not so lively then," one of the shipmates said. The girls looked at each other and then started the long walk to the main city.

After they made it to the main city, they saw a large bronze statue of Fire Lord Zuko right in the middle of town. Some officials were standing up on a latter trying to wipe away some kind of paint covering the statue that said:

'Abdicate or else!'

"Somebody's in a bad mood," Lusa mumbled.

"I already hate it here," Akari said.

"Why?" Lusa said.

"It's too…..red," Akari said.

"I mean, we kinda are in the Fire Nation surrounded by volcanoes," she responded.

"Let's just get to the house," Akari said. After getting directions from one of the officials, the girls made it to a small but cozy house. It was the last house on one of the many rows of houses not far from the meadow that led up to the big volcano with the town in its shadow.

"Guess this is it," Akari said. Then she put her pack down and pulled out a key. She put the key in the door, and then slowly opened it. The door creaked opened, and the girls were immediately overwhelmed with the stale air that flooded out of the house.

"Oh, Gods. It's amazing what thirteen years of stale air feels like; especially when it's dry and humid," Lusa said. That's when Nova jumped out of Lusa's pack and ran right into the house.

"Nova!" Lusa yelled.

"Eh, just let her. At least she'll scare off any unwanted visitors," Akari said, and walked in. "I'm gonna leave the door open to get some fresh air in here. You wanna start looking for a broom?"

"I've been stuck on a boat for a month now to travel halfway across the world to help support my best friend, and I get stuck with cleaning duty?!" Lusa said.

"Unless you wanna sleep in a dusty house then yes," Akari said. Lusa held up a finger and was about to say something, but nothing came out.

"Alright," Lusa complained and walked in herself. The house was an open concept room where the living room, a table with two chairs, and a small kitchen were after walking down one single step. "This isn't that bad of a place; especially for someone not native to the Fire Nation."

"Yeah, it's pretty nice," Akari said. "He was hardly here though after he met….her," she muttered to herself. Akari then walked straight ahead into the little hallway with a single door on either side and a window at the very end. She took one little peek inside each, and then came back out to the main room. "Well, I guess we're bunking buddies. Dad said he always had a spare bed in case one of his buddies got into a spot."

"Beats having to share a room with the twins. Oh, and I found a broom and mop in one of the closets," Lusa said.

"Good, so get sweeping," Akari ordered.

"So demanding. But you got mopping duty," Lusa said.

"Deal."

Hours later

Finally, the house was decent enough to live in again. Both Lusa and Akari dropped their mop and brooms and collapsed onto each other on the sofa.

"And I thought keeping my room clean was hard," Akari said.

"The worst part is we didn't even finish," Lusa said.

"Good enough!" Akari snapped.

"Alright, I'm sick of being in this house already; no offense. Let's go check out around town!" she said jumping up.

"Do we really have to?" Akari asked.

"Yes! How else are we going to start scooping out a Master?" Lusa asked.

"Fine."

Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break

When the girls got into the main town, the girls walked past the giant statue of Fire Lord Zuko again. The further the girls walked into town, the more the little greenery disappeared. Smoke rose from a majority of the factory buildings making most of the area smell like smoke and the land turned into a sandish-beige color.

"Greetings travelers! Based on your clothes, I'm guessing you ladies are from one of the water tribes, correct? Would either of you care to play a friendly game?" someone asked them. The man was sitting on the ground with three bowls in front of him. Lusa was about to respond, but Akari beat her to it.

"No thanks, we're good."

"Aw come on. Anyone can win my game; even a baby! All you gotta do is pick the right cup that has the stone underneath. It's easy!"

"Come on Akari! We can totally win this, no problem!" Lusa said.

"Yeah, until he cheats!" Akari accused.

"What?! Me?! Never! I am but an honorable Fire Nation citizen duty-bound to help Fire Lord Zuko in establishing the Fire Nation's new era of peace. How can I do that by tricking guests visiting this great land? And to show you that I mean no harm, why don't you try out my game? First-round is on me," he said.

"No thanks. We've got things to do," Akari said, and pulled Lusa away from the man.

"Why are you being such a grump? He said he was honor-bound to continue the Fire Nation's era of peace," Lusa asked.

"Yeah, but not here. Dad told me all about how most of these games are scammed. Did you see how he was trying to butter us up and tempt us to try it out? Dad's buddies that lived here got scammed so many times, he lost count. We can go spend our money on something much more worthwhile."

"Like one of those?" Lusa said pointing up. Akari looked up as well and saw a building with a taller building right next to it with birds flying in and out of it.

"Yeah, like a stupid bird," Akari said.

"Come on! Your dad said to send him a letter to let him know that we arrived," Lusa said.

"Alright, fine," Akari said, and the two girls walked into the Post Office. They walked right up to the desk with a woman standing behind it.

"How can I help you today?" she asked in a bubbly voice.

"I guess we're here to buy a bird," Akari said, and gave her the money.

"Great! Now if you follow me, I can take you to select one," the woman said. The woman put the money in a small box, and then walked over and opened a side door to allow the girls into the back of the post office. They walked down a short hall, and through another door that led to a larger room where a few birds were hanging out. "Go ahead and select whichever one you want."

"They all look the same," Lusa said.

"Yes, but if you look real close, you may be able to notice a small difference in them," the woman said.

"I really couldn't care less, so I'll choose…..that one," Akari said, picking the bird second from the right. It was a tall bird that was tan except for his wings and some feathers around his eyes that were dark red. He also had a long strand of hair that looked like the bird had a mustache.

"If that's what you want. I will warn you though that this guy likes to keep to himself a little more than the others, and may not take to kindly to other pets," the woman warned.

"He'll be fine," Akari said.

"Very well," the woman said and walked over to retrieve the bird. She then placed something in the bird's carrier, and then the bird took off. "Hold out your arm!" the woman said. Akari followed her instructions, and the bird landed on Akari's arm.

"There! Now he's all yours and knows that you're his master," the woman said.

"Thanks," Akari said, and then followed the woman back out to the main lobby, and out the door.

"One part down, two to go," Akari said.

"Did you come up with a name yet?" Lusa asked.

"No. Why's it so hard to name this thing?" Akari asked, and was rewarded with a 'kaw' from the bird. "What? It wasn't exactly my choice to get you, but I only did it as a favor from my dad. I was going to name you Hawky, but I feel like everyone around her names their bird that. Umm….there's Silla meaning god of the sky, but you'll probably never forgive me for naming you after a brat back in our village. There's…Suka….Kai…..Ta-"

"DOWN WITH THE FIRE LORD!" someone screamed, making both girls jump. Then their attention was turned to a gathering crowd with a few people in all black hoods and wearing strange masks with a long cloud on the right side, and a black link going down the left.

"Citizens of the fire nation, I call upon you to hear my words. I, like many of you, remember a time where life was simple and we were taught the values of honor and chivalry. The Fire Nation is the greatest civilization there ever was, and the 100 years war was just our way of showing any other nation who dared to challenge us that we were not a nation that would surrender so easily!" one of the main people wearing the mask said. This one in particular had purple outlining the edge of her sleeve. Some of the people in the crowd started to cheer or scream 'yeah!'

"Now in this new era of peace sits a fire lord on the throne incapable of taking care of his own people! Our captured territories in the Earth Kingdom have now been reduced to nothing but 'peaceful cities' where all benders can live in harmony! Many of them are nothing but poor Earth Kingdom citizens who can't even be bothered to take care of themselves. So where does that leave the true citizens of the Fire Nation?! Why must we be forced to share our supplies with the rest of the world and pay taxes to the government that goes off to helping not the Fire Nation itself, but to non-Fire Nation cities?! This new era of peace may not seem bad now, but what will happen when the other nations keep asking for more and more aid?! What will be left for the true fire nation citizens?! I'll tell you what. NOTHING! We are the greatest technologically advanced society in the world, but what happens if another war breaks out?! How will we be able to defend ourselves if the other nations are just as technologically advanced? I ask you, my fellow citizens, how can we support a Fire Lord who worries about others first before the worries of his own people?" Again, more cheers were heard, but louder this time.

"Uh…excuse me! That aid being leaned to other nations is helping thousands rebuild from the war that your nation started!" Lusa said to the crowd.

"Oh look, a couple of water benders visiting our great nation. Or are you a spy sent here to steal even more of what is rightfully ours! What more must you take away from us?!" a young man in the crowd said.

"Hey! It's not like our entire tribe and art were nearly wiped out because of you people. Oh, wait…" Lusa said.

"So that's how it goes? Our entire nation gets blamed for something that our leaders did and we're the ones who have to pay for it?!" a man said, and got right up in Lusa's face. He attempted to punch her, but Lusa blocked it with her arm.

"Hey, back off!" Akari warned, and shoved the guy away.

"Or what? Are you gonna splash some water on me because you think just because we're a peaceful nation now that we're not gonna defend ourselves? Well, you girls have a lot to learn about the Fire Nation Mainland. We are Fire Nation strong!" the man in the crowd said who was now standing front and center. This got even more cheers. "There ain't nothin' you or your water shrimps can do or say that will take away the honor and pride we have for our nation!"

"Water shrimps?!" Lusa shrieked.

"Don't you dare disrespect our tribe or the spirits of water!" Akari hissed, and some fire started to swirl around her hands. The crowd all gasped and took a few steps back.

"You're a Fire Bender?! You are a traitor! As a citizen of the Fire Nation, you should…" Suddenly Akari sent a kick at the man, and fire shot out of her boot, making her new bird cry out and flap his wings. Luckily, the man was also a fire bender and directed it up towards the sky away from the crowd or speakers who didn't speak a word; only watched.

"I am and always will be a member of the Southern Water Tribe! I'll never be a part of the Fire Nation!" she screamed.

"You bring nothing but dishonor. If you hate it here so much, then go back to your own nation!" another voice ran out that sounded a little older. That sent Akari to start throwing fireballs at the guy standing in front of her. Most of the crowd started to run away or watch the scene from a distance.

"Whoa! Akari, chill! He's not worth…" Lusa tried to yell, but Akari did not hear. That's when a few guards came running over to the two.

"Alright you two, break it up before I place you both under arrest!" said one of the guardsmen.

"She's the one who started this whole thing. She disgraces and abuses her own element!" the man said, pointing at her.

"Shut up!" Akari said and was about to attack again when her arm was held back in an armlock by Lusa.

"Akari, let it go!" she pleaded.

"Young lady, that is enough! If you so much as fire bend one more time at this man, then you will leave me no choice but to lock you up! You may not be from around here, but we have rules here on this island. If you can't follow them, then get out!" the guard warned. Akari who was breathing heavily through her nose, took some deep, calming breaths like she had been taught personally by her dad. When she was done, her eyes were wide, and Lusa released part of her grip.

"There. Now are you alright?" the guard asked. Akari stood still, now breathing through her mouth and remembering exactly what she had done.

"She'll be fine. I think I'm just going to take her back to our house," Lusa said.

"That would probably be best. Go home and splash some water on your face or whatever you need to do. But I won't go so easy next time you lose your temper and attack one of our citizens," he continued.

"Yes sir. I'll make sure she gets everything she needs," Lusa said.

"Good," he said. Then Akari yanked her arm out of Lusa's weakened grip and stormed off. The messenger hawk meanwhile flew over to Akari and landed on her shoulder.

"Get off!" Akari snapped and shooed the bird off her shoulder. The hawk cried at being pushed away, and then flew in the air again, not moving. Lusa sighed, and then put two fingers in her mouth to whistle. The bird turned his head and then flew onto the waiting arm of Lusa.

"Don't worry about your new Master, bird. Just give her a chance to cool off at the house for a bit. She'll be fine."

Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break

When the two arrived at the house, Akari walked inside straight to the bedroom and then slammed the door behind her. The slam was so loud, that Nova jumped out of the backpack, and hid under the small table.

"Scaredy fox," Lusa said rolling her eyes. "Well, looks like it's just gonna be the three of us for a while. And I hope Akari gives you a name soon, bird. I hate calling you that."

Hours Later

After Lusa had eaten dinner, she made a plate for Akari and took it to the bedroom door. She placed it to the side and sat against the door. Then she softly knocked against the doorframe. She heard some shuffling from the other side and then hears the floorboards creak on the other side of the door.

"You okay?" Lusa asked.

"I suppose," she mumbled.

"Guess you didn't make the best first impression in town, huh?" Lusa asked.

"Me? What about you? That one guy didn't act too thrilled when he was talking about our "water shrimps." Akari reminded.

"I don't care who you are or what you do, but you don't ever disrespect the spirits of water like that." Lusa hissed, and then heard a soft chuckle from the other side of the door. "I'm sorry to say this, but we have some rivals living with us. I was about to give your bird a treat, but then Nova tried to sneak and snatch it out of my hands. Afterward, the two started fighting and chasing each other around the house. I think you should be the one to feed your bird from now on. He nearly clawed my arm out."

"I can live with that," Akari said.

"Did you pick a name for him yet?"

"I think I found one. The thought was interrupting my meditation so I just picked the first thing that popped into my head," Akari explained.

"Please tell me it's not Silla," Lusa said, putting her palms together and closing her eyes.

"It's definitely not Silla."

"Thank the Gods. So what did you decide?" Lusa asked. Suddenly, more creaking was heard, and Akari opened the door to face her best friend. Then she walked into the living room where the bird was sitting in his new cage messing with his feathers. The bird 'cawed' when Akari walked up. She opened the cage and allowed the bird to sit on her arm.

"I'm sorry if your first day with your new master wasn't that great. I've got a temper on me if you couldn't already tell, but according to Lusa, you have a small one too," she said scratching underneath the bird's chin. The bird 'cawed' again and flapped his wings happily. After that, she went over and got out one of the treats that the post-office gave to her. "Think you can forgive me?" she asked, feeding the bird the treat. The hawk chewed the treat and then softly nuzzled against Akari. "I'll take that as a yes, Takai." With that, Akari put the bird now named Takai back in its cage, and then took the cage over to the small dining table. Next, she ran back into her dad's bedroom and came back out with a quill and pen.

After writing a quick letter to her father and a short P.S from Lusa telling her parents once again to not worry, she placed the note inside the hawk's holder. Then she went outside to release it.

"Takai: Ujurak of Southern Water Tribe; South Pole," Akari said in a clear voice, and then the bird took off into the sky.

Been a little while, but I've been trying to finish this chapter for weeks now. You have no idea how hard it was to come up with Takai's name. But once I thought of it, I had had enough of looking at Inuit boy names, and just picked Takai, (which just happens to be Japanese FYI). I would love to hear from you all. What do you think? What do you like or hate? Let me know! Happy Holidays to all and here's to 2021 being better than its predecessor.

LaurenHardy13