I only own Zera and the changes in plot line:
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When I finally get back to the village I see everyone scrambling, several of the young kids tripping over spears far to long for them. And I see Sokka with his gloves, boots, bindings, and face paint stalk out of his tent. His club hefted on his shoulder.
Before I can ask I glimpse Katara leaning against one of the ice walls, arms crossed and eyes red rimmed. I quickly jog over to her.
"What's going on Kit?"
She glowers at the familiar nickname, what can I say her brother is pup, so she is kit. I like baby animal names. She ran down a brief description.
"We were on the ship and there was this booby trap, and, well –"
I nodded, raising an eyebrow, she knew better than to go anywhere near that abandoned ship.
She blushed and blew an escaped strand of hair from her face.
"I just don't understand, they made him leave, its not fair. He was nice, and fun."
I hummed in non-committed agreement, Aang had seemed very kind. But I hadn't known him for more than a few hours, so it was hard for me to judge.
Katara continued to vent and hiss about how they could make him leave. And how was she supposed to learn water bending now.
I patted her shoulder but then went to follow after Sokka. He was standing atop the wall surrounding the village, looking out into the foggy horizon. I was only a few paces from the wall when the ground started to shake and groan. Around me villagers scrambled, afraid and unsure where to go. A watchtower on the wall was shaking under the pressure of the trembling, and suddenly completely collapsed.
"Awe man!" Sokka hisses annoyed.
Katara comes running up beside me and an enormous shadow of the bow of a ship comes into view. I see Sokka take a step back.
"Oh maaan ..."
The ship's bow plows through the snowy shores, splintering the ground. Sokka's shoulders shook slightly, terrified by the large ship. As the ship's approach creates a large crack that quickly travels toward the village and over the wall. At some point Katara had run, helping her grandmother into a tent, before saving a small boy from a crack that had splintered underneath him.
I reach up toward her brother.
"Sokka! Get out of the way!"
The bow of the ship continued plowing through the snow. Sokka raised his club in defense, ready to strike. But before he can make a move, however, the bow crumbles a large portion of the wall into snowy ruins. The snow slid downward, pushing Sokka several feet back before he lands to a halt. With a loud hiss of steam, the ship has come to a halt as well.
No one moved, it was if we feared any action would cause retaliation from the hulking fire nation ship. The bow of the ship opening and creaking forward in a burst of steam, forming a walkway had everyone taking a step back. Even Sokka backs up and falls to the ground once the bow hits the ground with a loud thud. The villagers gather closer around for support and several people even cover their eyes. I glance around at my village, my family, and square my shoulders. I would do anything to protect them. My eyes narrow upon noticing the shape of three figures cloaked in the mist.
My brows furrow as a young man, a teenager really, emerges from the mist, two guards following close behind him. He has a nasty burn scar on the side of his face and he looks like a sucked on a lemon. As the villagers huddled together Sokka, who kneels in the snow in front of them, ready to defend his tribe. I held my breath as the grumpy teen descends from the ship along with the two guards.
Catching motion Infront of me I paled, "Sokka NO!"
He ignores me as he lets out a battle cry and charges at the teen with his club at the ready. When he reaches him, the teen merely kicks the club to his left and, without ever resting his leg on the ground, kicks Sokka over to his right, sending him into the snow, where his head becomes trapped. As he desperately tries to free himself as the intruder continues on his way to where the villagers stood, followed by six more men. Katara covers her mouth in shock upon witnessing her brother's quick defeat and I ground my teeth in anger.
As he stops only a few feet from us, his soldiers, as he is clearly in charge, stop in formation. He angrily casts his eyes around the people and huffs in frustration before turning to address Kanna, who was being held in a terrified grip by Katara.
"Where are you hiding him?" his voice was deeper than I expected but his words made my brows furrow in confusion.
Without warning, he extends his arm out into the crowd and grabs Kanna, holding her by the hood of her parka. I took a step forward, hand going to the hilt of my blade, hissing in fury.
"He'd be about this age, master of all elements?"
Still receiving no answer, He shoves Kanna forcefully back into the crowd. The elderly woman shudders in fear and embraces Katara, while Katara shoots an angry glare at him. Receiving no response, he swings his arm out and releases an arc of fire that passes just over the heads of the people, causing them to cover their heads and cry out in fear.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I knew I was probably going to have to pull every trick I had to save my family. I just hoped they could forgive me. When I opened my eyes again shifted my weight to the balls of my feet, subtlety placing one foot behind me so I could launch in any direction. My right and grasped my blade, ready.
"I know you're hiding him!" the invader spat angrily.
At a cry of rage, we glance over at Sokka, most of his war paint having come off at this point, picking up his fallen club and charging at the teen who swiftly turns around just as Sokka approaches. He ducks under Sokka's wide swing and hurls the warrior forward. Sokka lands on his rear in the snow and is quickly forced to dart from his spot when the teen fires a blast at him. He spins to the side and tosses his boomerang at the enemy who barely manages to miss getting hit by the weapon. The invader growls and glares at Sokka in anger at the near hit; he follows the course of the weapon until it vanishes before looking back at Sokka in anger.
I jerk forward, freeing my blade from is sheath, spinning it around before its upright Infront of me, set do easily move for defense. I stopped slightly Infront and to the side of Sokka.
The teen blinks, sizing me up, eyes narrowed. He took in my appearance and his face furrowed in confusion.
Without taking my eyes from the teen in front of me, I hissed back to Sokka. "Show no fear pup." On of the kids tossed a spear to Sokka who charges forward again. Unfortunately, the teen breaks of pieces of the spear with his forearms, pulls the remains of the weapon out of Sokka's hands and pokes him thrice in the head with the blunt end. Sokka falls to the ground as the teen snaps the spear in two and tosses the pieces to the ground on both of his sides.
I leapt forward slashing at him, causing the intruder to jump back to dodge. I didn't follow however, maintaining my guard Infront of Sokka. The soldiers surrounding raised their fists, firebenders, damn it! I wasn't a fool. We were outmanned, outclassed, and outskilled. I wasn't going to get my ass handed to me by charging in blindly. But I wasn't going to let him hurt my family either.
"You're not water tribe." The teen hissed.
I raised an eyebrow in challenge. "And you're not out of puberty yet, boy. We done stating the obvious?"
He turned red, fury dancing in his gaze and he raised his arms, probably to burn me to a crisp. But he never got the chance. A sparkle of light shines briefly in the distance and Sokka's boomerang spins back into view, unnoticed by the fuming teen. The weapon strikes him on the back of his helmet with a loud cling; he is momentarily pushed forward by the unexpected blow. he rearranges his helmet and growls at Sokka. The boomerang has plummeted into the ground in front of Sokka's feet. Enraged, the teen readies two fire daggers and I adjust my footing and raise my blade, ready to intercept.
However, before he can stalk forward he's knocked on his ass, taken out from his feet and lands on his face, his legs in the air. He spins around a few times before coming to a halt in front of his men, his helmet landing on his rear as they watch. My lips twitch in amusement, if it weren't for the severity of the situation I'd be laughing my head off. Behind me I can hear the villagers cheering Aang's return. I can hear Sokka sheepishly thanking him, but my eyes never leave the threat of the firebenders.
As Aang comes up beside me, the angry teen just got back on his feet again. Upon his signal, his men spread out, surrounding Aang while he assumes a fighting stance. Aang assuming a fighting stance as well, his staff held firmly in front of him as we are being surrounded by the soldiers. He sweeps the ground side-to-side with his staff, showering the men with snow. I spin and slash, at a few of the soldiers, managing to nick a few on the arms causing them to curse and stumble back. Aang subsequently slams the ground, sending a rush of snow at the teen who braces for the impact. After being sprayed with snow, and heating it up so it would melt off, the teen looks up angrily.
"Looking for me?" Aang challenges.
The Teen's face slackens in shock, "You're the airbender? You're the Avatar?"
I chocked and turned gawking at the young boy, "I'm sorry WHAT?!"
The villagers had similar gasps of shock. As Aang moved forward I took a few steps back, still between them and the villagers but close enough to aid if needed. The Teen and Aang begin moving about in a circular pattern, both awaiting the attack of the other.
"I've spent years preparing for this encounter. Training, meditating. You're just a child!" the Teen hissed angrily.
I dropped my sword slightly and scoffed, "You're not all that much older brat."
The teen shoots a ball of fire at me, and I coat my blade in spinning air, almost on instinct and use it to deflect the fireball off to the side. Everyone froze and I had a split second to realize what I'd done.
The villagers, Sokka, Katara, and Aang were all gaping at me. I glanced down seeing the small sphere of air spinning around my blade. I paled slightly as I meet the teens widened eyes.
"There…..your…." his eyes narrowed as I let the sphere fade. "Two airbenders?" he hissed in absolute confusion.
As some of the fire nation soldiers were pulling themselves from the snow, I raised my blade once more.
"You're an airbender!" Aang shouted out happily, joy spreading along his face. While I could feel all the color draining from my face.
As I saw determination flash in the teen's gaze and he made a motion to his men they spread out, making sure to keep me withing their circle. I counted six of them all focused solely on me with three slightly behind them to my right. I glanced to Sokka, Katara, and Kanna. Looks of confusion and disbelief making my heart ache.
Turning back to the problem at hand I still saw that all the attention was focused on me. I sighed in frustration and summed up the situation.
"Ah Shit!"