Water
The Haishui Prison Rig: Part 1
"You can knock it off with the waterbending any time now," Sokka said, wiping a few droplets from the side of his face. "Really. It wouldn't bother me a bit."
"Well, it'd be okay with me if you would stop complaining." Katara frowned in concentration as she reshaped her floating orb of water into a vertical disc. She didn't need to look at her scroll to practice this form anymore. It was thoroughly engrained after her week-long focus on it. The water twisted into a jagged ring, and she slowed for a second to launch it at a nearby tree. Not too bad. Her accuracy was improving, but she couldn't seem to get the water moving fast enough to make an impact.
Sokka groaned and grabbed her by the elbow. "Katara, we're walking. Can't you just walk?"
She stuck her tongue out at him and drew the water back toward her as she resumed walking. Momo hopped from Sokka's shoulder to hers, and she yelped in surprise. The water flew out of her control, spilling down the front of her dress.
Sokka flailed his arms. "Augh! Seriously? You keep getting me all wet!"
Pulling the water out of her clothes, she glared at him. "Six drops hit you. I think you'll live."
"Six drops in my eye!" He made a show of scrubbing at his face with his sleeve. "Why does your practice always make problems for me?"
Katara frowned, funneling her water back into the flask at her hip. "Maybe you're just standing too close. Besides, when you were learning how to throw your stupid boomerang, you almost broke my arm. Or did you forget about that?"
"Almost. And that was years ago. You froze me to the ground six times this week."
She opened her mouth to reply, but Aang looked back over his shoulder. "Come on, guys, fighting isn't helping anything. Can't we just get along?"
Katara glanced at Sokka, who raised his eyebrow in return. This wasn't fighting, this was—squabbling. At most. Fighting was what happened when Katara stole some of Sokka's seal jerky and got tackled for her troubles, or when Sokka made fun of her bending and she retaliated with uncoordinated lashes of water and snow that were more likely to cause harm to her than her brother. Or worse yet, when one of them got so angry at the other that they didn't speak for an entire afternoon. Gran-Gran always scolded them soundly for fighting, but a squabble hardly warranted a cross look.
Sokka looked as though he wanted to comment, but he shook his head and jogged a few steps ahead to catch up with Aang. "Come on, Aang, can't we just climb up on Appa and fly the rest of the way? At least then all of her water just flies off the back of the saddle when she screws up."
Aang quirked an eyebrow at him. "Walking was your idea, Sokka."
"I said that landing a ten-ton furry monster in the middle of town was a bad idea. That didn't mean I wanted you to land ten miles away and make us walk the rest of the way. Landing just on the other side of the hill would have been good enough."
"Well, we're almost there now." Aang looked back at Katara, grinning. "And then we can find a place for you to practice."
Katara smiled and caught up to the boys. "You can practice with me too, Aang. I know I'm not a master, but I could still show you a few things. And then Sokka can find us some food like he promised," she prodded. Momo chattered as if in agreement and hopped down from her shoulder to curl up in her arms.
Sokka spun to face her, doing an odd sideways step to keep pace while he spoke. "Hey! I'm a hunter. That doesn't really help us when Aang here won't eat meat."
"That is not Aang's fault! Maybe somebody just needs to learn how to eat fruits and vegetables sometimes." Again, Momo screeched. "See? Momo agrees with me."
Narrowing his eyes at the lemur, Sokka hissed, "Traitor." Head held high, Sokka spun forward again, and his foot caught on a root. "Ahhh!" He toppled forward.
Katara laughed, but Aang turned back, eyes wide. "Guys! Do you hear that?"
"What? The sound of Sokka eating his own words?"
"Hey!" Sokka kicked at her, and she hopped over his foot.
Aang waved his arms. "No! Shhh! Can't you guys hear that?"
Sokka stood, and both siblings were quiet. There was an odd rumbling coming from the right, somewhere downhill from where they stood.
"Do you think it's firebenders?" Sokka asked in a whisper.
Katara shook her head. "That doesn't sound like fire to me." Flames were quieter than that, in her experience. With fire, there would be whooshes of moving air, crackles and roars of extreme heat, but this was different, more defined. There were sharp cracks and deep, resounding thuds, more reminiscent of King Bumi's bending than anything else.
A slow grin spread across her face. Earthbenders weren't a threat. Without a second thought, she took off at a run, dodging between the trees toward the rumbling. Sokka yelled after her, and she thought she heard the boys following. Good. As curious as she was about finding an earthbender in the middle of the woods, she didn't savor the idea of finding her way back to Aang and Sokka alone once she was done investigating.
At the rim of a broad gully, she stopped. Her guess was right. A boy raised a boulder twice his size off the ground and sent it sailing into the far side of the gully. Katara smiled. Watching King Bumi's earthbending had been incredible, but there was something far less unnerving about the art when it didn't come from a wild-eyed, unnaturally muscular centenarian.
"Hello!" She called down to the earthbender. "This is amazing! I've never met a kid who could earthbend before!"
The boy let a second boulder drop and looked up at her. Sokka and Aang caught back up with Katara and stopped at her side.
"I'm Katara, and this is my brother, Sokka, and our friend, Aang." She smiled and crouched, searching for a handhold to lower herself into the gully. "It's so nice to meet you! What's your name?" She found a root to hold and swung herself down. Sokka clambered down the bank after her, and Aang hovered to the ground a second behind them.
But the earthbender wasn't listening. In fact, he hadn't even waited for them to reach the bottom of the ravine. By the time that Katara turned to face him, he was sprinting away, and he pulled a small avalanche down behind him to seal off his retreat. Katara stared after him, speechless.
"Nice one, Katara." Sokka bumped her with his shoulder. "You sure know how to make friends."
She would have turned to glare, but she was too bewildered by the earthbender's sudden flight.
"I wonder what he's running from." Aang scratched his head.
"He probably saw that crazy look Katara gets when she gets too excited about bending," Sokka said. He folded his arms, looking smug.
"Katara doesn't look crazy!" Aang said defensively. "She's—" His cheeks turned pink when Sokka fixed him with a confused stare.
"Thank you, Aang," Katara said primly, then stuck her tongue out at her brother.
Sokka's eyebrows had crept dangerously near his hairline, and his forehead creased with effort as he lowered them. He shook his head slightly and turned back to Katara. "Anyway. You ran up and yelled at him. I'd run away if you did that to me."
She glared at him this time, but maybe Sokka had a point. Maybe she had been too eager.
"Let's just keep moving." Sokka unfolded his arms and adjusted the straps of his pack. "We'll all feel better about life once we've had something to eat."
They were farther from the village than Aang seemed to think, but leaving Appa in the gully turned out to be a wise choice. They reached the end of the forest not long after, and from there on, there was nothing but exposed earth until the village.
"I want to look for him," Katara announced once they'd wandered their way to the marketplace.
"What?" Sokka dropped the fishhook kit he'd been examining and spun to face her. Good. They didn't have enough money to buy every manly accessory he laid eyes on, and he had more than enough fishhooks already. "Are you crazy? Why?"
She planted her hands on her hips. "I want to apologize. You said that I scared him, and you might be right, so I should apologize."
Sokka slapped his forehead. "Katara, of course I'm right, but that's not the point."
"What's not the point?" Aang bounced up to them, grinning from beneath a broad straw hat.
"Katara wants to stalk an earthbender so she can 'apologize.'" Sokka made exaggerated finger quotes and rolled his eyes. "Like I believe that excuse."
"It's not an excuse!" Katara threw her hands out to the sides. Well, maybe it was a bit of an excuse. She was curious to meet an earthbender nearer her own age, but at least she didn't have smoochy ulterior motives like Sokka had with Suki. "And I'm not stalking anyone!"
With a magnanimous smile, Aang shrugged. "We could look around for a while. It might be a good idea to talk to an earthbender."
Before Katara had a chance to agree—or rather, to gloat—a man in red stepped around the corner, glowering down his crooked nose at the children.
"What's this about earthbenders?" the solider demanded. His voice was reedy, and a shiver ran down Katara's spine.
Aang opened his mouth to reply, but Sokka threw an arm around the younger boy's shoulders and clamped a hand over his mouth. "Nothing. We didn't say anything about earthbenders, why would we do that?" His voice slid a little higher with every word. "That's just silly. We were talking about—" He froze and looked to Katara for assistance.
"About… fruit vendors!" The soldier was staring a little too intently at Sokka, who still hadn't removed his hand from Aang's mouth. Katara forced a smile and pried the boys apart. "Sorry, sir. We're looking for something to eat, and these two have been arguing about it all morning."
"Arguing about fruit vendors?" The soldier wouldn't stop eyeing them, and it made her skin crawl.
She nodded, keeping the smile plastered to her face with considerable effort. "Yes, sir. My brother didn't want to eat fruit."
Sokka's shoulders relaxed as he caught her meaning. "Fruit isn't real food. I'm a growing boy, I need meat."
It was easier to keep her expression neutral with Sokka's cooperation, but Aang's confused look worried her. She grabbed Aang by the shoulders and turned him around. "Exactly! Sorry about the commotion. We won't keep you any longer." She steered Aang toward a side street, and when he looked back, attempting to speak, Sokka propelled them both until they were out of sight.
"What in the world is the Fire Nation doing here?" Sokka hissed when they were several blocks away.
"Maybe they're visiting," Aang offered hopefully. "It was only one guy, he could be shopping like us."
Considering the man's uniform, his armor, that seemed unlikely. But before Katara could respond, a familiar boy in green hurried across the street and disappeared into a shop. She grabbed her brother's arm. "That's him! That's the boy!"
Sokka followed her gaze, then shot her a withering look. "So? We're not going to follow him just because you're feeling nosy."
Aang looked a little disappointed, and a smile snuck across Katara's face. "Oh, would you look at that? A store that might sell food! Just what we've been looking for!" Giving Aang a mischievous grin, she snatched the coin pouch from Sokka's waistband. "What do you think, Aang? Wanna find out what they sell in there?"
As much as Sokka grumbled about following the earthbender, even he couldn't find much to complain about once they'd done it. Haru was friendly, and his mother, Suong, agreed to let them sleep in the barn. Katara couldn't decide whether Suong acted more out of pity for three children traveling alone or out of fear they might reveal Haru's secret. Either way, Katara didn't care. After having to set and reset the tents night after night, sleeping inside would make for a nice change.
When Haru excused himself to do his chores, she left the boys to finish the unpacking and followed him. Sokka narrowed his eyes in suspicion as she passed, but she turned up her nose at him. If she wanted to talk to Haru, none of Sokka's raised eyebrows or insinuations would stop her.
"I'm sorry I got you in trouble," she said, joining him at the gate of the moo-sow pen.
Haru smiled back at her as he unlatched the gate and stepped sideways between two of the moo-sows. "I'm not in trouble." He paused, frowning, as one of the animals rammed into his legs. "At least I don't think I am."
"I'm glad." She trailed along the fence as Haru scooped up a bucket of grain and poured it into a trough. "I can't believe you can't just practice your earthbending," Katara said quietly. "I'm not very good waterbending, but at least I don't have to hide it."
"Yeah." Haru scratched a particularly affectionate moo-sow behind the ear. "It's been this way since I was little. I hate it. The Fire Nation's been here for years, and no one even tries to fight them anymore."
"They used to?"
Haru nodded. "Mom says we held them off for almost a month. My dad was one of the best. He was one of the last earthbenders they captured when they took over."
Katara looked down, hand coming to rest on her necklace by instinct. "I'm sorry. I lost my mother too."
"She was captured?"
With a slow sigh, Katara shook her head. "Killed." As it always did, her throat grew uncomfortably tight.
Haru's eyes softened. "I'm so sorry, Katara."
She sniffed, forcing a smile before her eyes could well up. "So—your dad is a good earthbender, huh?"
"He's one of the best. I learned a lot from him." A small smile played across his lips, and Katara's stomach fluttered. Okay, so maybe Sokka's suspicions weren't entirely unfounded. Haru was very pleasant to look at.
"That must have been nice." She turned her face away—she couldn't tell whether she was blushing or not, but she was taking no chances. "Everything I know I've had to figure out on my own. I was the first waterbender born in the South Pole for decades." She folded her arms, leaning on the fence. "I have a copy of a waterbending scroll, but it still leaves a lot for me to figure out on my own."
Haru studied her. "What if you didn't have to do it alone?" His eyes brightened. "I have an idea."
"You realize you two are asking for trouble, right?" Sokka reclined against the trunk of a tree, picking his teeth with a twig. Momo hopped on his chest and tried to pry the twig from his hand. Sokka shook the lemur off and tossed a pebble across the clearing.
Haru looked up from Katara's scroll. "We should be fine. The soldiers don't leave town very often, and when they do, it's mostly to check on the mines. I don't think they'd ever have a reason to come here."
Katara settled down beside him and peeked over his shoulder at the scroll. This wasn't Haru's typical practice spot, but the stream he'd taken them to was small enough that she was inclined to agree. There was a larger stream less than a mile from town—farther than this one, but a more practical water supply. Besides, they wouldn't be here more than a few hours.
Momo sniffed at the pebble Sokka had thrown and picked it up, chittering. Sokka started to reply when Momo leapt onto his chest again and thrust the rock into Sokka's mouth. He spat it out and swiped his sleeve across his mouth. "Rocks aren't food, Momo."
Katara shook her head and turned back to Haru. "I know the drawings aren't great." She reached around him and pointed to the wave form she'd tried to master on Kyoshi Island. "I can do this one, but it's kind of slow, and my aim isn't very good." Her finger trailed down to the disc-throwing form. "And I have the shape of this one down, but I can't hit anything hard enough to leave a mark. There are a few things I've learned on my own, but they haven't helped with the rest of the scroll." She frowned. Two barely passable forms out of eighty-six. Making such slow progress was humiliating.
"I still say we'd be better off waiting until we get to the North Pole." Aang lounged a few feet away from Sokka, making a few leaves whirl in a tornado over his head. "You can't learn waterbending from an earthbender."
Katara's jaw tightened, and she didn't turn around. That was well enough for Aang. He had his airbending—he could afford to wait. But until Katara learned more waterbending, she was all but defenseless. Maybe Aang was right and Haru wouldn't be able to help her, but she would not turn down the opportunity to try. Nothing could really go wrong so long as she didn't accidentally earthbend and reveal herself as the Avatar.
Haru glanced back at Aang. "I don't see what it could hurt. Neither of us has a teacher right now. Who knows? Maybe I'll learn something from Katara instead."
She grinned and hopped to her feet. "Why don't I show you what I can do so far? And if you have any ideas—"
Rolling up the scroll, Haru nodded. "Let's see what you've got."
At first, she stuck close to the forms she already knew while Haru watched in relative silence. Her wave was more powerful and more accurate than the last time she'd practiced, and the throwing disk took shape with almost no effort, though it still landed with an ineffectual splash. Then Haru suggested that she adjust her stance to put more power behind her throw, and when Katara tried, the stream froze solid for twenty paces in either direction.
It took a few more tries before they determined that the effects of Haru's earthbending techniques were too unpredictable to be much use in refining what she'd learned from her scroll. Most of his motions were too abrupt to react properly with water, but she was still intrigued by the way her bending changed when she attempted to mimic him. Katara tossed the scroll to her brother, and despite his protests, returned to the stream.
For a while, Haru stood off to the side, cautious as he watched Katara's experimenting, but before long, he fell in step with her, practicing his own forms and occasionally attempting to replicate one of hers. She couldn't help but smile. It felt good to have someone to practice with.
She didn't notice when Sokka sat up suddenly, staring off into the trees. Nor did she notice when Sokka nudged Aang and both boys crept off into the bushes.
But she did notice when two men in red armor came crashing into the clearing. She froze, and her water splashed into the dust of the creekbed. Beside her, Haru stopped bending and spun to see what she was staring at.
"You! Boy!" One of the soldiers jabbed a finger at Haru. "You're from the mining village, aren't you?"
The panic faded from Haru's eyes, and his expression darkened. He took a step back toward Katara and gave a single nod.
There might have been a sneer beneath the soldier's thick mustache, but it was difficult to know for sure. "Then you should know better." Both men closed in on Haru.
"No!" Katara ran forward and tried to push the firebenders away. The mustached soldier glared down at her and the other shoved her so hard that she landed several feet behind Haru. The second man—middle aged, with receding hair—advanced a step, blade-like flames protruding from his fists.
"You can't do this!" Katara yelled, scrambling back to her feet. "You can't arrest him! Haru isn't doing anything wrong!" She whipped her head around, looking for support from Aang and Sokka, but they were nowhere to be seen.
"That's where you're wrong, girly." One of the fire daggers swung at her, and Katara yelped, reflexively throwing a wave at the man's hand. The flame fizzled out, and the firebender snarled, reigniting the blaze without so much as a pause.
Katara fought. She tossed wave after wave at the soldier, furious, uncoordinated lashes of water punctuating her attempts at real forms. But as hard as she tried, she couldn't drive the man back—Katara was forced to retreat instead, her attacks only serving well enough to keep the flames from striking her directly. And before long, even that was beyond her. Fighting was tiring, especially when her instincts were her only guiding force. She didn't know enough about firebending, or waterbending for that matter, to counterattack. All she could do was throw water at the flames she saw and hope it was enough to stop the burning.
When the mustached soldier joined the assault, Katara froze just long enough to look back at Haru. He was shackled and stood, sullen and downcast, between a second pair of Fire Nation soldiers. That pause was enough—a blast knocked her off her feet, and before Katara had time to react, her hands were chained too.
Shit. Sokka heard the firebenders coming before anyone else and crept off into the woods hoping to find out how many there were. If he was quick enough, he could cause a disturbance loud enough to draw the firebenders away and warn Katara and Haru of the danger at the same time.
He wasn't quick enough. The first two firebenders reached his sister before Sokka got a good look at them, and although she and Haru both put up a fight, a second pair of firebenders overwhelmed Haru with ease. Katara only lasted a few seconds longer.
Shit. Sokka crouched in the bushes, watching as the firebenders roughly dragged his sister to her feet and shoved her until she stood beside Haru again. Aang peered over his shoulder, eyes wide.
"Sokka, we have to help them!" the younger boy whispered.
Pressing a finger to his lips, Sokka clenched his jaw. Katara should have known better than this. As far as they knew, there wasn't a law against waterbending here, but defending a known earthbender had to be illegal. Probably. It was never a good idea to fight Fire Nation soldiers, in any case. If it weren't for her stupid temper, the firebenders might have let Katara go. Of course, that would have left Haru to face the soldiers alone, but this whole training exercise had been his idea in the first place. And he lived here. Just because Katara had gone all bleeding-heart on the earthbender didn't mean that the boy couldn't—or shouldn't—have been the voice of reason. Sokka had tried, but it was hard to be the voice of reason when his sister wouldn't listen to anyone but Haru.
Katara yelled something about how terrible the Fire Nation was and tried to kick one of the soldiers in the shin. She missed, but the soldier summoned a tongue of flame and raised it close to her face in retaliation. Damn it. There was a slight chance that he and Aang could have taken the four firebenders in a sneak attack, but with the flame so close to his sister's face, he couldn't take that risk.
"Sokka, what are we going to do?"
He shook his head and grabbed Aang by the arm. Trying to ignore the sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach, Sokka dragged Aang back from the clearing.
"We're going to get Appa," Sokka said darkly. "And then we're going to get my sister back."
The shackles were heavy, and they chafed against her wrists as she walked. But the firebenders hadn't separated her and Haru, so that was a relief, at least. If she was being arrested—for real, because being arrested in Omashu didn't exactly count—at least she didn't have to be alone.
"I still think it's a bad idea to take the girl," one of the guards announced from behind her. "The rig's designed to hold earthbenders, not ice-rats."
"Have a better idea?" There was a livid red bruise forming under Receding Hairline's eye. Katara hoped that she had caused that bruise. In fact, she hoped they all had bruises from fighting her. Lots of them.
Mustache Man appeared to be the leader of the little firebending troop—he turned a glare on each of the others. "Resistance is to be punished. The ice-rat will be taken to the rig with the earthbender. She won't be able to bend as long as her hands are bound." His orange eyes narrowed as they fixed on Katara. "The warden will have to decide what to do with her from there."
Katara bristled and briefly considered spitting at him. She was a waterbender, she ought to be able to spit that far—but she thought better of it. Instead, she steeled herself and met his gaze. "What's the rig?"
Haru nudged her with his elbow and shook his head, wide-eyed.
Mustache Man looked almost amused. "The Haishui Rig will be your home until we decide what to do with you. And if you know what's good for you, you'll mind your tongue."
Katara glanced Haru's direction, and he met her eyes briefly. Fine. If it meant that they wouldn't be separated, she'd stay quiet. For now.
Zuko tried to keep his focus on the gameboard. Uncle had promised a more in-depth training session today if Zuko first indulged the old man in a game of Pai Sho. He should have known that the game wouldn't be enough, though. Apparently, Iroh now expected him to "enjoy" a cup of some sort of calming tea while they played. Zuko would have been wiser to settle for another sparring session with Lieutenant Jee instead.
"Interesting choice, Prince Zuko." Iroh rubbed his chin, staring at the tile Zuko had just placed. "I must admit, I am unfamiliar with that particular strategy. What do you call it?"
Zuko narrowed his eyes. I call it throwing the game, he thought. Pai Sho was not one of his strong suits, but he'd hoped that that would work in his favor. If he pretended to play along, he could lose the game and get on with his training quicker. Unfortunately, Iroh was making that difficult. "Not every strategy has to have a name, Uncle." Now hurry up and win so I can get on with my life.
"Hmmm." Iroh flipped a tile back and forth across the knuckles of his right hand. "I'm afraid you have left me in a rather difficult position."
I left myself wide open! Zuko wanted to shout. There are three ways you could beat me right now, just pick one!
"I see you haven't finished your tea yet, Prince Zuko." At a leisurely pace, Iroh took a sip of his own tea and rubbed at his ample stomach. "Mmmm. A magnificent blend, I must say."
With a scowl, Zuko took a large swallow from his cup. That was a mistake—the tea was almost scalding, and it went down his throat like a stone. A massive, burning stone. Iroh gave him an odd look as he tried to regain his composure, and a tile clicked against the gameboard.
"I believe it is your move, Prince Zuko."
Finally. Zuko looked down at the board again, and his heart sank. Somehow, in a single turn, Iroh had blocked all three of the clear openings that Zuko had left. Impossibly, it looked like Zuko was winning now.
"What—" he sputtered. "How—" His temper flared, and the candle blazed high enough that the flames licked the steel ceiling.
Iroh frowned up at the blackened mark. "Pai Sho is a game of many strategies, Prince Zuko. It is unwise to reveal ones' reasons in the midst of the game."
You're just trying to keep me here all day! Zuko let out an irritated huff and sparks flew from his mouth.
Thankfully, Lieutenant Jee chose that moment to approach. "General Iroh, we've received a message from the Haishui Prison rig."
Iroh sipped his tea. "Thank you, Lieutenant." He accepted the scroll and gave Zuko a significant look. "It is your move, Prince Zuko."
"Just read the message, Uncle!"
With a placid smile, Iroh took another sip of tea, then broke the wax seal. He read over the message, and his eyebrows crept upward, then descended sharply.
"What is it?"
Iroh read the message again, and his brows repeated their performance in reverse. "It seems," he said evenly, "that a waterbender has been captured."
Zuko's elbow slipped, jostling the Pai Sho board and knocking his teacup to the floor. "What?" He snatched the scroll from his uncle's hand and read the message himself. He tensed, and his gaze hardened. "Lieutenant, change course. We sail for the rig immediately."
Author's Note:
Well, that took longer than I expected. I could make plenty of excuses about why this chapter took months rather than the few weeks I was hoping for, but I won't. I'll just say that I've learned my lesson for the future—no more promising publication dates for chapters unless they're actually ready to go.
That said, Chapter 9 is completely written. I forced myself to finish drafting my entire rewrite of "Imprisoned" (even though I figured out that it'd have to be split in two at a pretty early stage) before digging into revisions, so it's just waiting for me to come through and clean up. Yay! Still not going to promise a timeline for the next update, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will be soon-ish.
Anyway, I would love to hear what you think about this chapter! Reviews are always welcome—long, short, questions, speculation, random yelling—I'll take anything. It gives me a huge motivation boost when I get FFN notifications, so if you're enjoying it at all, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks for reading,
SooperSara
