Leiko spent three days up in the mountains, trying to find her way to the other side of the mountain. She would have faced only two days, but had a mishap with direction. She was given a compass by the warriors of Kyoshi to help guide her through the mountain pass. The trick was to go west and stay in that direction. The only problem was that there was iron in the mountain, and with that and all the other elements, the compass had been set off.
Leiko approached a ledge, and saw nothing beyond it. It looked like a large drop, and she quickened her pace to see if she had finally made it. Her feet went through the snow as she used her last bit of energy to make it to the edge. Finally, she had made it! She looked over the ledge with a smile on her face and waited for the surrounding clouds to disappear. But what she saw shocked her.
It was a town, a small village. There were trees and huts and stands and a statue. But wait, hadn't she seen that statue before? In fact, hadn't she seen the whole village before? It was true…somewhere in the mix of it all she had been turned around and ended up right back at Kyoshi. "No." she muttered as she looked closer at the village. It was indeed Kyoshi; her eyes were not playing games on her again. "No! This can't be!" and she closed her eyes and groaned. "I can't believe this!"
What should she do? Should she just return to Kyoshi and forget the whole thing? She thought about it. The idea actually crossed her mind. Maybe, just maybe, there was a mountain to tall for her to climb and defeat. Maybe she wasn't as strong as she had thought she was. This all ran through her head, until she grabbed the betrothal necklace around her neck. No, this was for her family. She had to do this! She turned back and looked at the mountain she had circled. This was nothing, certainly not enough to stop her! "I won't give up." And she took one last look at Kyoshi. She was tired and weak, and had no energy left in her. But she was still determined to face the mountain again…and this time win.
She turned around and began to climb the mountain again. It was all very familiar to her. Since she had done it before, she knew where the good footing steps were and where she could get a good grip. But she was still tired, there was no way she could make it over the two mountain points in two days, unless she didn't stop moving. It had already been a week since the ship blew up, and she wasn't happy being behind schedule. So she decided not to stop, for anything. She would have plenty of time to sleep and eat on the ship to Omashu.
When she arrived at the top of the first mountain point, it was nightfall. She had surprisingly gone pretty fast. The winds whipped at her face, and she leaned against the wind to keep her balance. She should have found shelter while she had the chance, but she was too stubborn to stop. With her arm in front of her face she moved on, setting foot into the snow one after the other, moving slower than before. The wind was challenging her, and the busy snow blowing around impaired her vision. But she moved on. "I can make it."
Eventually the storm died down and Leiko found herself climbing downward into a large snow covered valley. There was a small stream there, and it trickled between the ice pieces. The sound of water was music to her ears, and she skidded down the large hill until she hit level ground. She ran up to the stream and scooped up some water. It was cool, and it cooled down her body from the inside out, freezing her even more. But she didn't care. Water was life.
She looked down into the water and saw her own reflection. What a lonely person she was, she could see pain and anger in her own eyes. She touched her face and sighed. Something about seeing her reflection depressed her. But she was taken aback when a fish swam through the mirror image of her face. "Dinner…" she mumbled. "No, I have to keep moving." She said. But then her stomach grumbles, complaining from the lack of nourishment. And once again, that weird feeling came back in her gut. She clutched her stomach and looked at the fish as more and more swam by. She licked her lips, and something in her body was telling her to eat. So she drew out her katana and stuck it into the water in one quick movement, and pulled out a fish.
Leiko started a small fire and held out her sword with the fish over the flames, cooking it until it was suitable to eat. She could smell it, and it made her mouth water. It had been days since she last eaten anything. She waited for a good amount of minutes before she brought the fish up to her face. She bit into it hastily and chewed, it felt wonderful to have food in her mouth again. She wondered why she was so hungry. She had gone for days without food before; her father had starved her a few times in her younger days. Why couldn't she take it? She felt weak knowing that she needed to stop, and tears fell from her eyes as she stuffed her mouth with more fish. "What's wrong with me?" she asked herself with a mouth full of fish.
After completing her meal, she moved on. She didn't wait to see if the fire would burn out, what could it be a danger to? There was nothing but snow all around. So she began to climb the second mountain, knowing she was in the right direction. The second mountain was smaller than the first, and it would take her, maybe, a day to climb.
She went on for another day, not stopping for anything this time. She was determined to get off the stupid mountain. She was almost there now. Her heart skipped a beat when she neared a ledge at the top of the mountain. This was it, had she been turned around again somehow? She had to see, so she leaned over the edge and tried to peer through the clouds. The clouds began to dissipate, and below she saw a most wonderful sight.
She saw ships, she saw people, she saw the ocean and docks! She had made it! A large smile grew across her face. Finally, she would be getting off the mountain! But she didn't want to wait any longer, how could she get down faster than climbing? Jumping was out. She looked all around for something to help her, but not even a tree was up there. She took a step into the snow and her foot hit something. She began to dig deeper and deeper until she came across a discovery.
There was a skeleton under the snow. The skeleton still had armor on and a shield in its hand. Leiko gasped and stepped back, falling into the snow. It was a disgusting sight. She stopped and thought. A soldier had died up there…but she had made it. Yet more proof that she was a warrior, and a strong one at that. She had defeated another obstacle in her path. But then she looked at the shield…and a grin grew across her face.