Chapter Two

Orientation

Rocks crunched under Sakuyo's slipper-shod feet as she walked down the slope that the outpost was located on. There was a village nearby, she remembered, but it was just a small one. Why did the outpost choose to locate itself here, though? The village was once home to an Avatar, the eighty-seventh one, to be exact. Perhaps they would be hospitable to her since she personally knew her, although that Avatar was only a child when she last saw her.

The ground beneath her gave way and she fell through air and mud. Too late she remembered that the sky was clear and there was some wind, as it only could be after it had rained. The ground was unstable here because of the outpost's basement and other underground areas, and when wet, it was just even more unstable. Her walking on the ground triggered a mini landslide, apparently. Sakuyo groaned. She had no time for this!

"Come on," she said to herself. "Put your arms down by your sides, ball your hands into fists, and…pull up!" The wet earth hardened in place and formed a bit of a ledge at the bottom of the hill. She broke free of the dried earth and slid onto the ledge. Once there, the girl looked up. The landslide had carried her the rest of the way down.

"I'm getting slow," she grumbled. "Years of sleeping aren't good on the reflexes. At least I got down quicker, but look at this mess!" She was referring to the mud stains over her once clean blue dress. Even the dark blue pants that went under them were dirty now.

"Well, I can't go into town like this," she decided. "If I make it there, that is. Now let's see. Is there a river nearby or will I have to do something to make one?" She felt around with her senses for running water. The nearest source of water was about a hundred yards away. She settled for walking. After all, she could use some exercise after all that sleeping.

Sakuyo hummed a little as she walked in the direction of the water. The sound was jarring to her ears, since she had become used to the absence of human voice. Nevertheless, it was comforting to her to keep making some sort of sound to assure herself that she was still living. The water was quite close now; she could hear the rushing hiss of it. There was only one more hill to walk over and then she would be there.

Nothing could have prepared her for the sight that confronted her eyes when she broke free of the forest surrounding her. The ocean lay there before her, shining in all its glory as if it knew she had not seen such a sight for a long time. She slowed to a complete stop, staring at the ocean, devouring it with her eyes. She was filled with a hunger to see things as they were now, since her memory of the world was probably inaccurate.

"I see you haven't changed much, old friend," she said, blinking back sudden tears in her eyes. The ocean made no reply.

Sakuyo tentatively reached out a hand, palm up, and curled her fingers in as if beckoning someone to come. A finger of water rose up and lazily flew in her direction. It hovered above her clenched fist, waiting for orders. She could still waterbend after all. The girl couldn't hold herself in anymore. Cheering wildly, she plunged into the water.

The liquid embraced her like a living thing. Contentedly, she floated on her back, staring dreamily up at the clouds. Who knew the sky could be so blue? Well, of course it could still be blue, she chided herself. Don't think that you're so important as to make the world collapse if you go away for some time. With that thought, she immediately stood up.

"What am I thinking?" she said grumpily. "You'll probably catch a cold if you stay in the water forever, Sakuyo." Grudgingly, she waded to shore. Once there, she quickly whipped up a strong wind that left her dry-and clean, as was her original purpose.

"Civilization, civilization," she said, reminding herself of the main goal of her search. She was now walking along the shoreline, watching the water go in and out. It was vaguely comforting, in a way. "If I were a town, I would build myself near a source of water. Well, all rivers lead to the ocean. I might as well start here."

As if answering her wishes, she heard stones behind her crunch. Sakuyo pretended not to hear and continued walking forward, talking to herself all the while. Luckily, the sun was behind her, so she could see the person's shadow as he or she stalked her. The person was carrying something short in his or her hands. Perhaps a dagger? A telltale rush of air warned her.

Quickly, she stepped aside and saw a blur of green and black rush by. Discreetly, she manipulated the air so that the person would trip. The figure did so, but tripped directly into the water with a big splash. Spluttering, the person sat up in the water, completely soaked. She appeared to be a girl wearing some sort of costume she recognized as the uniform of the warriors of Kyoshi. The objects she had thought were daggers were actually folded fans.

"What the-" she spluttered. "Do you know how long it takes this outfit to dry out? And my fans! I'll have to make new ones if the fabric's ruined. And don't get me started on my makeup."

"I'm sure you'll tell me all about it," Sakuyo said drolly, observing the girl splash around in a disgruntled way.

"That's right! My makeup takes me almost an hour to put on. An hour! And this kind of white makeup is hard to produce. Do you know how rude it is for you to just trip me without any regard for my outfit?" She looked close to throwing a temper tantrum.

"It's also rude for you to sneak up on me with the intention of attacking me," the teenager pointed out pleasantly. Now that she had some time to examine her attacker's face, she was glad that she hadn't done something more drastic. The girl looked to be around eleven or twelve, which was why she didn't possess much of the typical warrior stoicism she had become accustomed to. It was quite refreshing, actually.

"You might have been a trespasser," she said in a slightly more subdued way. "Suki always says that anyone unknown is a trespasser."

"When you're finished giving excuses, would you be so kind as to direct me to Kyoshi?" Sakuyo asked. The girl stood up and slogged her way towards land.

"What's your purpose in Kyoshi?" she asked suspiciously. "For all I know, you could be a Fire Nation spy." Wow… Kyoshi's people hadn't been this afraid of outsiders when she had last been here. But why the Fire Nation in particular? Before she could answer, though, the girl's eyes lit up.

"Suki!" she cried, looking at someone beyond her. While keeping the first girl in sight, she turned and looked over her shoulder. A girl dressed in the same way as Suki, but a bit older, was coming down the shoreline towards them from the opposite direction the she had been traveling.

"Mina, I told you to stay with the rest of the group," Suki said reprimandingly, eyeing Sakuyo warily.

"I threw my fan into the bushes by accident, Suki, and I saw her," the girl pointed at her. "I thought she was an enemy."

"I most certainly am not!" Sakuyo protested.

"I can see that," Suki said. "You're Water Tribe, aren't you? Mina, a Fire Nation soldier would never stoop so low as to disguise herself as a Water Tribe girl." The girl bowed her head and shuffled her feet in an embarrassed way.

"Sorry, miss," she said abashedly.

"Did you lose track of your tribe?" Suki turned to her.

"Um, yes," she said, deciding to play along with the idea of being Water Tribe. After all, she had lived with one or two in her lifetime. "There was a storm, and we were separated. They might come looking for me."

"My mother would never forgive me if I let you go off in the wilderness by yourself," Suki said, smiling kindly. "Come with us to Kyoshi. I'm sure that you'll like it there." Sakuyo willingly followed the other two.

"Mina, you might as well not waste any more makeup and let your uniform dry," the older girl said. "Go practice by yourself." Mina went away, grumbling to herself and casting backward glances at the duo. Sakuyo decided to take a chance on a question.

"Do you know what year it is?" Suki eyed her strangely, but complied.

"You must have been isolated living up at the North Pole with your tribe," she said. "It's the year 2376, exactly a hundred years after the war started." The other girl decided not to ask about the war. It had been such a very long time since she had first put herself to sleep.

"Can I ask how old you are?" Suki asked her. "You look about my age."

"I'm sixteen," she said, deciding to stick to her basic age. The warrior studied her face thoughtfully, but said nothing as they entered town.

"Welcome to Kyoshi."

It's sort of short, and I'm sorry that it took so long, but I'm doing a lot of things on the side. I hope that you enjoy and I'll try to update more often.

Thanks to:

Khazia: Thank you so much for your comments. I would be interested in seeing your immortal story as well.

Plutobaby494: Aang will be in this story, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Aang won't find out that there's another Avatar until later in the story.