Hey everyone! I got inspired by this new series which just recently has been aired for the first time here in the Netherlands! YAY! (and sadly now has gone on re-run. for once I wish they'd just finish a show before rerunning it. as in all seasons or in this case books) I'll be mostly trying to follow the original storyline through book 1 water and I'm forced to improvise through book 2 earth (my recourses end with the first episode of that part and the one called 'Zuko alone' that makes two episodes of book 2 that I DO have a recap off). Anyways! I hope you enjoy! LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!
PS: I got the info about the herbs from a Dutch website about herbal medicine!
Disclaimer: Sadly enough I do not own avatar nor do make any money off of this or any other story I wrote; if I did make money of it there would be at least ten new chapters uploaded each week, but since you don't see my stories finish with a week's time I do not make money off of it. I do own me isn't that wonderful? No? Oh well it's something and I'm all mine. LOL!
"speak"
'think'
/memory/
Chapter 1, The Boy in the Iceberg; the avatar returns
"-Sometimes the sun goes around the moon- sometimes it's all a big surprise-" I sang along with the radio as I tried to find the answer to my horrible homework. I have this class called individual and society and it's all about how we live in a commercial society where money is the most wanted object and where who we are is determined the standard of our society and other crap like that. We spend our time in this class by debating about things. (It was one of the most interesting classes I ever had. Really challenging, our teacher Bert Ouwens really listens to us and then he makes us think about what we said by asking us a question in reply to our own question.)
"Okay let's see… what is your opinion on the following…hm, hm, hmm, hm, hmh… My opinion is that it's stupid to hate someone because they aren't wearing the same brand of clothes as you and it's not fair to deny people the right to study because they're foreigners and I don't see why a blind person would be unable to work because they're blind. They're blind that doesn't affect their arms or legs and in general I think society sucks because it allows these things to happen." I mumbled writing the answers down. I looked at my clock and yelped. I was late I hurriedly dressed and ran to the stairs at the same time. in doing so I tripped and fell down the stairs. I braced myself for landing face first on the second floor of my home, but that blow never came.
"…she wakes up."
"No! my baby…"
'mom? I'm okay mom don't cry!'
"She's waking up, get general Iroh and his nephew! Quick!"
'Huh? How, when, what?'
"How is she doing?"
"I'm not sure. She was- oh she's coming around again!"
"Hey, wake up."
"Ungh…"
Finally after what seemed ages I woke up and looked around. My head hurt and I remembered falling from the stairs and rubbed it expecting to find bandages. However I found none and that unnerved me.
"Do you remember what happened?" I looked to my left and saw three men in the room. One was laying in the bed next to mine. Before him stood what looked like a doctor and an elderly rather portly man with golden eyes which shone with kindness and wisdom. The two men looked at me worriedly.
"I remember falling…I think." I whispered hoarsely.
"Here drink it'll help." the elderly man helped me drink what I identified as ginseng tea. I made a face.
"Ginseng, not exactly my choice but-" I mumbled as I worked the tea down.
"What would you have preferred then?" the man said gently, waving the doctor away.
"Personally I prefer green tea or jasmine. I particularly like the green tea blends." I said. It felt strange to have someone ask me for my choice of tea.
"Blends huh?" the man asked as he sat down next to me.
"Yeah, I've been told I have a weird taste. Green tea with Ginseng or with fennel are my favourites. I also like my green tea with a hint of lemon or anis. Further I enjoy the traditional teas, like rose tea or white tea. Though I favour green tea because of it's soothing flavour. It's a good tea if you're nervous or can't sleep." I said while I finished my cup of ginseng tea.
"Some of these are new to me, but they sound nice. I'll have to see if Zuko would mind adding them to our inventory list. I'm general Iroh, but you can call me Iroh though." the man said thoughtfully as he got up to leave. The doctor had left earlier and hadn't returned yet. Iroh told me he'd return with food shortly.
I didn't know where I was or how I got here and as I thought about all that had happened so far I looked around the infirmary that I was in. I noted a closet with a large amount of jars that had medicinal names on it and in the back I saw a large amount of herbs. I had had a study in herbal medicine a while ago and I could still remember each of the herbs and what they were used for. I mentally checked out the herbs naming them and their uses.
I was brought out of my thoughts when the man in the bed next to me softly moaned in pain. He had a fever and his arm was bandaged up. I got up and checked just to be sure what was under the bandage and cursed under my breath as I found a burn wound which was cared for wrongly. I went to the herbs and pulled out some lemongrass and gold flowers. I made a tea of the lemongrass and made the man drink it. Then I took a rag that I had found and made it wet before putting it on his head to help fight his fever. Then I removed the bandages and carefully cleaned the burn wound gently removing the loose skin and cleaning the wound with half warm water before I made a tincture of the gold flowers and drenched the new bandage in it before re-wrapping his arm. Once that was done I cleaned up what I had used and took the rag from the man's head to cool it again. I smiled when the man woke up slowly and smiled at me.
"Thank you. You must be an angel come from heaven to relief my pains." he whispered. I blushed lightly.
"No, I'm just good with herbs." I said softly putting the rag back in place carefully.
"Well to me you are an angel, my guardian angel." he whispered as he smiled before falling asleep again and I got up to return to my own bed.
When I turned around I came face to face with a boy my age who looked at me. His black hair was held in a ponytail at the back of his head, other then that ponytail he seemed to be bald. I also noted the flame-shaped burn mark over his left eye but it were his piercing golden eyes that were currently staring at me from his position against the doorpost that got to me. I didn't know why but I felt like those eyes held me captive in their piercing gaze.
"What did you do?" he asked me as he pushed away from the door and walked up to me.
"eh…huh..i..eh?" I stuttered nervously as he now stood directly in front of me.
"That man has been unconscious for almost a week. The doctor tried all he could but the man wouldn't wake up. What could you have possibly done to make him wake up so quickly?" the boy questioned staring at me still with those piercing eyes.
"H-he had a fever and a burned arm that had been cared for wrongly. I-I studied herbal medicine some time ago. I-I gave him l-lemongrass for the fever and I drenched his bandage in a gold flower tincture before wrapping his arm in it again. T-the rag helps combat the fever." I said stepping back slowly and ending up sitting on my bed. The boy stared at me then went to the door and called for a man named Liu.
The doctor came back into the infirmary and listened to the boy's recounting of what I had done. The doctor looked at me and nodded to the boy who then left. The doctor came to me.
"Thank you for what you did. I-I'm affright I know next to nothing of herbal medicine, I was just recently hired by the general. Their old doctor had been one who worked with the general in Ba-sing-tse, he was an expert in herbal medicine. Prince Zuko has asked me to ask you whether you would be interested in becoming my assistant since you will be here for a while." the doctor Liu said nervously.
"I'd like that, but what did he mean with be here for a while?" I asked worriedly.
"Well do you know where your home is? We found you holding on to a barrel filled with some of those herbs there, floating in the ocean. You were near frozen, your lips were blue!" Doctor Liu said.
"I see, but where will I stay then?" I asked looking at Liu who was a small man in his early thirties with slightly greying black hair and golden eyes something that seemed to be standard for these people.
"Prince Zuko will come to show you to your new room shortly.
three months later
Iroh had told me about the four nations and their elements and of the avatar. It was all rather confusing but I listened calmly while he told me about the great war between the fire nation, the water tribes the air nomads and the earth kingdom. Of how the fire nation is now trying to conquer the earth kingdom and how the avatar is supposed to stop this from happening and he told me of Zozin's comet and of how the avatar has to defeat the fire lord Ozai, Zuko's dad, before it comes and of how the avatar disappeared and hasn't been seen for one hundred years. It took me three weeks to finally grasp all that I had been told including some none to unimportant names. Silently I wondered what nation I'd be from if I were from this world.
It was during one of these history classes that one of the crewmen came in and told Iroh they had found the Avatar and his hideout. Iroh told me to stay below deck with Liu and the still wounded man named Yao. I nodded and went to Liu to ask him if I was needed in the infirmary. Liu told me it was best if I went to my quarters and I did. On my way there I ran into one of the men who held what looked like a staff.
The man looked at me and shoved the staff into my hands.
"Take this to Prince Zuko's room." he ordered. I merely raised an eyebrow and handed it back.
"I'm a nurse not a maid." I said pushing past the man and heading to my room. On my way there I heard two other men talk about how they had easily captured the avatar and that he was supposedly only a child. I decided to find Iroh and see if I was allowed on deck yet; wanting to get some fresh air.
I went through the doors that would lead me on deck and to the navigation room where Iroh usually was assisting his nephew Zuko there with the navigations. However as I did I was knocked over by a fast moving object. As I got up I collided with Zuko who growled angrily and ran off. I raised an eyebrow and was about to head back to my room, guessing our friend the avatar had escaped, when I heard the sounds of someone falling overboard and of screaming. I turned around and ran to the doors that led out to the deck and peaked around the corner. I saw how a yellow and orange clad boy fought with Zuko and guessed that this must be the avatar since he matched Iroh's description of an air nomad. I saw the boy using waterbending and knocking Zuko off the ship. Two people in blue clothes which I assumed were water tribe kids went over to the avatar and the girl got him on the flying six legged animal as the boy went to grab the staff. I saw Zuko holding on to the staff, but the blue clad boy knocked the staff against his head and Zuko fell off again only to jump on board as they took off. Zuko and Iroh made a ball of fire and shot it at the animal but the avatar airbended it into the wall of ice next to us which crumbled.
"Look out!" I screamed surprised to hear my own voice call out the words. I watched as Zuko and Iroh managed to avoid getting hit by it.
"Get this cleaned up so we can go after them!" Zuko yelled angrily. He then looked at his men three of which were frozen to the ground while three others were trying to thaw them from their prison.
"eh…as…soon as you're done there." he added. I bit my lip as not to laugh and ran back to my quarters where I burst into laughter.
this is my first ever Avatar story people! let me know what you think!
