Chapter 8: Painted Warriors and Golden Fans

The sound of the ship crashing against the shore was like nothing Katara had heard before. The rough stones scraping against the damaged wood gave crackly scratching sounds which sent shivers down her spine and sent her head spinning. And yet she couldn't let herself hate the sound, since it came with such relief. She had longed to finally come off of that stinking smouldering ship since the attack, and it had been even worse dealing with all the ceremonies they had held to send off the dead sailors.

She had heard one of the survivors call this island a safe haven, that it wasn't involved in the conflict between the water tribe and the fire nation. Katara hoped that that meant it would be a place where she and her crew could heal.

She helped to carry the stretchers off of the ship, one after another. She had done her best healing the sailors, but she was only one person, and they were badly burned. She hadn't had the time to practice healing. And it was difficult to focus when concentrating on their wounds made her own twinge painfully to the pace of her heartbeat.

The ship was docked in the bay, which was a few miles from the village itself. It would take a long time to move all of the sailors there with the few able-bodied people available. They would need a few extra hands from the village to help carry the wounded.

They set the stretchers down on the beach and took a collective sigh of relief. An able-bodied sailor was given the job of running up to the village to find some people to help. In the meantime it would be Katara's job to soothe the wounded with icy seawater and frozen chunks of sea foam.

Over the past few days she had gotten better at healing, but not much. A few of the sailors she'd treated were ready for work again, and she was glad to see them up on their feet, though they looked at her with disgust. Her show of waterbending during the attack had frightened them, especially since they knew what had happened to master Pakku. Seeing the power she wielded firsthand was unsettling at best.

The scout returned about half an hour later with a group of men dressed in light blue. Strange, since this town was largely made up of Earth Kingdom people and any benders among them were earthbenders. It wasn't illegal to wear colours other than the national colours, but it was frowned upon.

Following behind the troupe were a group of women with faces painted white. They wore deep forest green dresses and golden headpieces. There were at least seven of these women, keeping to themselves but always watching. The leader of the group, identified by a more intricate and larger golden headpiece, had a confident and intimidating walk, and although Katara wasn't even close to these women, she could see the scowls stretched across their faces.

One by one, each able-bodied man began his work, picking up the injured sailors under the shoulders while another man took them by the knees, and together walking up the winding hill to the village. Katara did her best to help, taking a sailor and waiting for another man to help her carry him, but nobody came to help her. Instead they looked at her with disdain, and moved to help other wounded soldiers.

With a huff, Katara lifted the man up and slung him over her shoulder, not realizing his actual weight. As soon as the man was slung over her, she couldn't get her knees to straighten and stand. She knelt there, heat rushing to her cheeks as she felt the eyes of all of her men staring at her, ridiculing her in their minds.

It felt like she was waiting there for hours before anyone came over. But eventually, a soft, feminine voice reached her.

"Would you like some help," the leader of the warrior women asked, her eyebrows turned upwards in concern.

"Yes," Katara sighed, letting the red-haired woman take the wounded soldiers legs and twisting around to catch him under the arms. "Thank you so much."

"It's no problem. What is a water tribe woman doing out here anyway? Aren't you all supposed to stay home and work while your men are out to war?"

"Yes," Katara confessed. "But I'm an exception to the rule. I'm the-"

"That's amazing. The Earth King would never send any woman out into active combat." She smiled. "You're an example to all young girls, you know."

"What do you mean," Katara asked.

"Well, you're showing the world that a girl can take care of herself! She can stand up for what she believes in and bring down tyranny." She paused. "Well, if she wants to."

"I suppose she could," Katara replied with a smile. "What are you standing up for?"

The red-haired girl blushed. "Well, it's complicated. This war, or occupation of the Fire Nation rather, has gone on for almost sixty years."

Katara scoffed. "My father, my brother, my family have sacrificed their lives for the sake of this 'occupation.'" Her eyes burned against the leading warrior's shocked face. "My mother died in a Fire Nation raid. My brother fights this war for her sake. How dare you call it an occupation, when lives are lost on both sides?"

The painted woman narrowed her deep blue eyes. "And isn't sixty years of bloodshed enough? Aren't you tired of fighting? Why not put an end to this war?"

Katara scoffed. "We were attacked by a fire nation prince before we came to this island! He killed many of our sailors and injured so many more. The fire nation are monsters."

"You don't think the water tribe does the same thing?" The leader sighed. "I just think that sixty years is long enough. Maybe its time to remember why the war started in the first place, and ask if the debt has been repaid."

"The genocide of an entire race is a debt that can never be repaid," Katara said. The leader fell quiet, thinking. It was clear she still didn't agree, but at least Katara had her thinking.

oOo

The village men and the women warriors guided the water tribe sailors to the village. The island was named for Avatar Kiyoshi, the last earthbender avatar. There was a large wooden statue of her just outside the village gates, surrounded by benches and flower bushes. The paint on the statue had worn away, but it was clear that the warriors outfits were meant to mirror her clothing. Shades of green paint were flaking off of her, and her face was no longer powder white, but her headpiece and the fans that she held were clearly mirrored in the leader's garb and weaponry. The statue's expression was stoic, almost angry, her lips downturned in a sour pout.

"Thats her," the leader, Suki said with a smile. "Our lady Kiyoshi."

During the walk Suki had told Katara the story of their island. They were a protected and impartial people, not part of the earth kingdom but not part of any other nation, either. Kiyoshi had separated their small peninsula from the mainland of the earth kingdom with her incredible power, and pushed their land into the sea, protecting them from invaders and creating Kiyoshi island.

They strove to mirror the wisdom of Avatar Kiyoshi in everything they did, including their protectors. Young men usually ran shops and took care of businesses, so the Kiyoshi warriors, as they were called, were selected from female volunteers on the island. They trained together, learning agility and balance, and the use of many weapons, with a major focus on the sharpened bronze fans that Kiyoshi favored. Their style was focused on decisive motions that used their opponent's power against them.

Their village, though small, had the energy and feeling of community that Katara had been missing in her weeks away from home. People chatted in the streets holding their baskets of food, and shopkeepers barked from their stalls, crying "water figs," or "papaya," or any other food Katara could think of and more. The village hospital was near the town hall, which is where they had decided to take the wounded sailors. That way Katara could continue healing them and use the resources just next door, without overfilling the hospital beds. It would probably be best to leave the sailors who were worst injured here to recuperate, since the journey to the mainland would be too stressful for them.

The village leader had organized for his people to bring food to Katara's men, and any spare linens would be lent to them. Katara was glad of the offer, but a part of her was disappointed they weren't being offered more. Surely there were other healers in the village who could help, weren't there? She was only one girl, and healing all of these sailors was exhausting on her own. Besides, she should have been practicing her skills. Hama wouldn't have wanted her to stop training just because she was told to. The least she could do as Hama's last student would be to honor her memory and become a powerful waterbender, regardless of the water tribe rules.

"Youre really good at that," suki suddenly said," breaking Katara out of her concentrated trance.

She had been concentrating on healing a sailor with a large, deep gash on his leg. His tissue was blackened and peeling away, and it was clear he wouldn't walk again. But maybe she could stop the bleeding and take away the pain.

"Ive seen hundreds of men just like this one," Suki sighed. "Earth kingdom volunteers, fishermen, anyone really. The patrols around fire nation waters don't wait for identification. They don't trust anyone."

"After seeing this so many times," katara sighed and dried her hands, getting to her feet, "how can you say that the water tribe should have mercy?"

"Because," Suki continued, "if it weren't for this stupid war, both sides might stop attacking innocent civilians believing them to be enemies. We need to negotiate for peace."

A loud crash resounded throughout the building, screams resounding in the street. A bell was ringing somewhere upstairs, raising the alarm for the whole town. Katara could feel the heat from the fires outside beating onto her face.

She didn't say anything, forgetting their conversation and shooting Suki a worried look.

"We'll have to finish this later," Suki grimaced.

Katara rolled her eyes.