Sokka held the spear tightly in his grip, staring into the crystal blue waters. He could almost see straight through to the bottom, but that wasn't his focus. He stared at the fish weaving back and forth through the water. He stabbed the spear into the water only managing to splash himself in the process. Sokka sputtered, spitting out the salty sea water, using a gloved hand to wipe the sea water out of his face. Sokka narrowed his eyes, turning a glare towards his sister.
"Think you could do any better?" He spat, tossing the spear towards her. She caught it with both hands, but his attempts to challenge her only made her laugh even harder at her brother's misfortune.
"Oh so you're finally going to let me try? After you've scared all the fish away?" Katara teased him, shifting onto her knees to gaze into the calm waters. "Maybe if you used your bending you'd have better luck," She suggested eagerly.
Sokka rolled his eyes, "Katara, waterbending is a dangerous weapon! I'm not going to use it to catch a stupid fish," Sokka answered, turning his attention to the water again.
"It's not just a weapon-" Katara began, the fish all but forgotten.
"I know, I know- It's waterbending, an ancient art unique to our culture. I know, but Dad couldn't waterbend and he could fish just fine." He answered, but his focus on the fish had distracted him from the ice they were quickly approaching. They both grunted as the boat ground against the ice. They were pulled forward roughly by a rip current into more chunks of ice threatening to tear their tiny fish boat apart.
Sokka grabbed the oar and struggled to steer the boat away from any ice, but with each passing second the icebergs seemed to close in on them and it wasn't long before the boat crashed into more ice. "Go left, go left!" Katara yelled. Sokka ignored her, instead attempting to avoid the ice right in front of them. Eventually he ran out of luck and their boat was caught between two icebergs, throwing them onto the ice as the wood was crushed between them.
Katara scrambled away from the edge of the ice and climbed up next to him, "You call that left?" She asked.
"You're blaming me for this? Maybe if you hadn't been nagging me, I would've been able to catch some fish and we'd be home by now!" Sokka snapped, getting to his feet.
"Maybe if you'd let me have the spear an hour ago, we could have a ton of fish by now and be on our way home!" Katara countered.
Sokka felt anger boiling in his stomach, threatening to explode if he didn't let it out, "You're not a bender! You don't understand what it's like to have a power you don't have control over!" Sokka yelled, waving his arms in exasperation.
"Sokka-" Katara began, her eyes wide in surprise.
"No, I'm tired of listening to you-" A loud cracking sound from the iceberg behind him finally stopped his rant. Sokka turned just in time to see the large pieces of ice fall into the water, creating a huge wave that knocked Sokka off his feet, sending him scrambling for something to hold onto. The subsequent waves got smaller and smaller until the ocean stilled again and the siblings could stand.
"Sokka, that was amazing! Maybe you could use that to get us back home!" Katara exclaimed, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"You mean I did that?" Sokka asked, his jaw dropping in surprise. Sokka shook his head, recovering with a proud smirk. "I mean of course, I did. I'm glad you're finally realizing how dangerous waterbending warriors can be."
His moment of triumph was cut short, by the water beginning to glow and bubble just beneath them. The source of the light became clear as a gigantic iceberg surfaced right in front of them. Katara stared up at the iceberg with awe. The silhouette of some kind of animal and person were inside, he was sitting with his fists connected and his legs crossed, and the blue glowing light seemed to emanate from the arrow on his head. Suddenly the figure inside opened their eyes glowing just as arrows had.
Sokka reached for his club, but Katara had already pulled it from its sheath and was rushing towards the iceberg. "He's alive, we have to help!"
Sokka groaned and followed after her hopping across the ice. She hammered the club against the ice, and Sokka stood warily by preparing his spear to attack. A blast of air came from the crack she created, blowing them both back. The crack spread up the ice and the top of the sphere blew apart and blue light pierced the air.
Sokka raised his spear as the light began to fade, "Stop!" He ordered in the most intimidating voice he could muster. As the light faded from her eyes he realized that she was a girl. A pretty one at that. Sokka had never seen any girls from outside of his tribe and the first one made his heart skip a beat.
The girl fell forward and Katara rushed from his side to catch her. Sokka softened his grip on his spear, stepping closer to help sit her up against the ice. She was wearing strange shades of orange, unlike the Fire Nation or any other nation he knew of.
The girl groaned and blinked a couple times before opening her gray, curious eyes to look at her rescuers. "Hi!" She greeted them brightly, "What's going on here?" She asked, seeming to levitate off the ground and to her feet.
"You tell us," Sokka lowered his spear, stabbing the point into the ice and leaning on it casually as if this were an everyday occurrence for him. Katara rolled her eyes at his display. "How'd you get into the ice and why aren't you frozen?" Sokka asked.
"Good question!" She chirped, "I'm not entirely sure." The girl answered, taking in her icy surroundings.
Suddenly a low growl came from behind the wall of ice, and before either of them could even blink the girl was scrambling up the icy wall to check on the animal on the other side. "Diki! Are you alright?"
Sokka met Katara's gaze and shrugged, pulling his spear from the ice and walking around the edge of the iceberg. "You think she's cute don't you?" Katara asked, crossing her arms over her chest and raising an eyebrow.
Sokka's eyes went wide, "The first girl I see that we're not related to and you automatically think that she's cute?" Sokka asked in an attempt to deflect attention away from his opinion. Katara simply rolled her eyes in response, taking him by the wrist and dragging him to the other side.
They turned the corner to see Mystery Girl sitting on the tongue of what Sokka could only describe as a giant cow. It was huge and covered in white fur with brown patches, it seemed suited to cold environments which begged the question of why this girl seemed to be wearing summer clothes.
"What is that thing?" He asked incredulously.
"This is Diki, my flying bison!" The girl answered, giving the creature a warm hug.
"Right, and this is Katara, my flying sister." Sokka replied sarcastically. The girl's brow furrowed at his playful teasing.
"She really does fly!" The girl protested, "I'd show you now if only she wasn't so tired." She said, patting the bison's head again.
Sokka eyed the bison with suspicion, "Sure, can't wait to see it," He remarked again sarcastically, earning himself a pout from the mystery girl.
"So, um do you guys live around here?" Mystery Girl asked.
"Maybe, but how do we know you're not a Fire Navy spy?" Sokka asked, though he thought it unlikely the Fire Navy was hiring teenage girls, considering how incompetent his sister would be at such a job.
"Seriously Sokka? Oh, I'm sure she's Fire Navy, you can tell by that evil look in her eye," Katara said sarcastically. She turned to the girl with a warm smile, "I'm Katara, and this my brother Sokka, what's your name?"
"I'm Ty Lee," Ty Lee answered and leapt, twirling through the air and landed on top of the bison.
Sokka's jaw dropped and Katara gasped, "You're an airbender," Katara exclaimed. Sokka would've thought it was impossible if he hadn't seen her pull off the feat with his own eyes, but that seemed the only explanation. Did that mean her bison really could fly?
"Sure am!" She confirmed, patting her bison on the head. Oblivious to the siblings' shock.
Sokka shook his head, clearing it of thoughts of airbenders and sky bison, he looked out across the huge empty sea. Somewhere beyond that their home awaited, probably already worried. "Well, none of this is going to matter if he can't get off this iceberg."
"If you need a ride, I can help!" Ty Lee interjected, patting her bison's saddle as an invitation.
"We'd love a ride," Katara answered for the both of them and approached the bison, allowing Ty Lee to pull her up to the saddle. Sokka hesitated, but eventually followed after her, climbing up into the saddle.
"Alright guys, hold on tight." Ty Lee warned, grabbing hold of the reins. "Alright Diki, Yip-Yip!"
At her words the bison leapt off of the iceberg, only getting a few feet into the air, before splashing into the ocean. Sokka raised an eyebrow, only growing more skeptical of the flying bison after this display. Ty Lee frowned, "Wow, I guess she must be tired. That's alright Diki."
"Right, I'm sure it'll be flying in no time," Sokka sighed, leaning against the edge of the saddle.
"Of course, I can't wait for you guys to see!" Ty Lee chirped, smiling back at him from the bison's head.
Azula hated visiting the South Pole, she had to work triple time to keep herself warm in the icy air. She didn't know how her mother stood it. She had to admit, as boring as it was, there was something peaceful about it and it was one of the only places she could visit without worrying about being caught in Fire Nation lands. Every year she watched the list of places she could hide shrink with the Earth Kingdom. The Fire Nation's hungry fingers spread across the map, snatching up land along the coasts and outside of Ba Sing Se, only a few cities remained untouched.
Turning the tide of the war now seemed hopeless, but that was just what the Fire Nation wanted everyone to think. Azula had surpassed expectations since she was a child and that was not about to change now. There had to be a way, and she was thinking that light she'd seen in the sky only a few moments ago might be it. The door creaked open, interrupting her thoughts. "Mother, you know not to interrupt me when I'm working," She snapped while still watching the open ocean.
Ursa sighed, but her footsteps approached regardless of her warning. Soon enough Ursa had wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, shielding her from the ruthless cold of the south pole. "Azula, you need your rest. I've found you asleep at this desk too many times to count," Ursa lamented as she ran a hand through her daughter's hair. Azula stepped away from her mother
Azula gritted her teeth, "I'm not going to waste time staring at the ceiling when I could be making progress," She shot back, "The Southern Water Tribe has yet to agree to any of my attempts to reach out. Even if this isn't the avatar, it could be an opportunity to forge an alliance with them.
Ursa sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Fine, at least have something to eat." Ursa pleaded.
Azula brushed past her, already heading up the stairs, "I'm going to see how close we are," She answered, slamming the door shut behind her. She took a bit of satisfaction in leaving her behind and for once the freezing air of the southern seas felt refreshing.
A few hours passed in silence, and the Katara leaned over the saddle. "Hey, I was just wondering since you're an airbender. Do you know what happened to the Avatar?" Katara asked hopefully. He wished she wouldn't get so worked up over this stuff, this could just be another deadend. It probably was.
"Well, I am the Avatar!" Ty Lee announced, still bubbly with excitement.
"You've got to be kidding me," Sokka began. His sister on the other looked ready to burst with excitement. "You're kidding right? No way she's the Avatar."
"What do you mean?" Ty Lee pouted, "I have no reason to lie," She replied, folding her arms over each other.
"Then why don't you waterbend right now?" Sokka asked, gesturing towards the ocean all around them.
"Sokka we already saw her airbend, isn't that enough?" Katara whined.
Ty Lee blushed and looked away sheepishly. "It's not that simple! I haven't learned yet," She replied.
Sokka rolled his eyes, "Yeah, that's what I thought," Sokka rolled his eyes, relaxing back into the saddle.
Ty Lee huffed, focusing her attention on the water. With a little work she brought a globule of water into the air and slowly lifted it over Sokka's head. "Hey Sokka," She drew out his name, and her tone let him know something was up. He looked up just in time for the water to splash onto his face, leaving him sputtering.
"Hey!" Sokka snapped, shaking the excess water off as best he could.
"I told you I was the Avatar!" Ty Lee exclaimed, leaping from the bison's head into the saddle, cushioning her landing with a pocket of air. A gust of wind similarly blew him dry.
Sokka's jaw dropped and he looked between Katara and Ty Lee, both looking at him as if he'd been an idiot for being skeptical. Sokka shook his head, "So you were really in that ice for a hundred years?" He asked finally.
"A hundred years?" Ty Lee asked, "I- I don't know, I don't think so," She faltered.
"The Avatar vanished a hundred years ago," Katara explained gently, drawing Ty Lee's attention, "Some people thought that the next Avatar had never been born,"
Ty Lee looked down, pondering Katara's words. "What about the Air Nomads? They know I'm alive," Ty Lee inquired, looking up at Katara.
"Well, you're the first one we've ever met," Katara admitted.
"Mom says the others were wiped out when the Fire Nation attacked," Sokka added, seeing that she needed more context. The extra information only seemed to make her more confused.
"Wait, just- please start at the beginning," Ty Lee begged, "What's going on?"
It was still dark outside, the only light came from the moon and snow reflecting it back up into the sky. Katara took her hand, snapping her out of her thoughts, "Hey, are you alright?" She asked.
Ty Lee nodded and answered without thinking, "Yeah, I just have a lot to think about."
"Come on, we should get inside," Katara sighed, letting go of her hands and leading her towards the village.
Ty Lee caught Sokka's eye. He'd been little more than cordial with her since they'd met, but now he looked guilty, or maybe concerned. He looked away before she could guess anymore and a blush lit up his cheeks. It was cute, maybe on another day she would've teased him about it.
It didn't take long for them to find their village. A set of igloos that blended in with the ice except then tendrils of smoke that floated up into the night sky. It didn't look war torn at a glance, but if you paid attention you'd notice the details. They're structures were small and handmade, no waterbenders. There were no real ships, only small boats and definitely not a dock. She may not have noticed before, but now it came into sharp focus.
Their home was near the center of town. They ducked inside the igloo and waved her in after them. A fire burned in the center of the room with a pit hanging over it, the smell of a stew cooking spread through the igloo. Smoke escaped through a small chimney just above it. The woman tending the fire got to her feet, pulling Sokka and Katara into a hug before she could react.
"Where have you two been?" She demanded, "I've been up all night worrying about you," She admitted. She wore a similar blue coat to Katara, lined with fur. She could see where Sokka had gotten his looks, but her features were softer and her dark hair was streaked with gray.
"Sorry Mom," Sokka apologized, stepping aside to reveal Ty Lee, "We ran into the Avatar," He answered.
Katara rolled her eyes, "Mom, this is Ty Lee. Ty Lee this is our Mother," Katara introduced the two of them.
"You can call me Kya," Kya breathed, barely audibly. She examined Ty Lee with an unreadable expression.
Ty Lee bowed, "Nice to meet you Kya," Ty Lee replied, bringing her hands together to bow and forcing a smile.
"We saw her bend air and water!" Katara explained, as if she knew her mother wasn't believing them.
"I didn't believe it at first either, but I saw her airbend and waterbend!" Sokka elaborated.
Ty Lee fumbled with the pocket at her waist, pulling out a marble and bringing it up to eye level. She manipulated the air near her hands and spun the marble in a circle between them, "See? I'm really an airbender!" Ty Lee said, meeting Kya's eyes.
Kya snapped out of her shock and shook her head, "I'm so glad you've returned," Her voice caught slightly, and Ty Lee could identify the emotion in her eyes this time.
Hope.
Ty Lee woke on the back of Diki, her clothes had been soaked through with rain and there was no sign of the other nuns. She didn't know the way to the Southern Air Temple without them, and she definitely couldn't find her way in the storm. She hopped from the saddle to Diki's head, and grabbed her reins. She searched the ocean all around them for land to no avail.
Diki was being pelted by wind and rain and was beginning to sink, she tried to urge her upwards, but she kept falling, eventually plunging them both into the water. She swam back up to the surface and a wave pushed them back down into the depths. She couldn't see, she couldn't hear, and she was running out of air. She was going to die here, alone.
No. She wasn't alone. Something- no, a lot of someone's were guiding her hands. The water around her began to glow and swirl around her. Creating a sphere of ice around her and Diki.
"Rise and shine, Avatar!" Sokka whispered, shaking Ty Lee's shoulders.
Ty Lee groaned, rubbing her eyes. "Sokka? What are you-"
Sokka hushed her, pressing a finger against her lips, "I want to take your mind off of things, get dressed." Sokka whispered, and disappeared from the tent.
Ty Lee was a little curious, even if this was way too early in the morning for an adventure. She pulled on her boots and grabbed her glider before she slipped out of the igloo without waking another soul.
Sokka was holding his spear, smirking slightly as he turned to leave the village. Ty Lee had to jog after him to catch up. "Where are we going? And why does it have to be so early?" Ty Lee asked.
"It doesn't, but later the village will want to meet you," Sokka answered.
"Well I'd love to meet them if they're as nice as your mother," Ty Lee admitted.
Sokka rolled his eyes, "Of course they'll be nice to you," Sokka replied, waving off her concern. He paused and they walked in silence for a moment. "What are you going to do?" He asked, she could feel his icy blue gaze without even looking.
Ty Lee hesitated, she'd tried to avoid thinking about it really. "Well, I need to master the elements, so I guess I'll go to the Northern Water Tribe." Ty Lee answered, twirling the end of her braid between her fingers.
"Will you take me with you?" Sokka asked, attempting to appear casual.
"What? What about Katara and Kya?" Ty Lee asked, her eyes going wide.
"I can't protect them, not well enough. If I could learn how to waterbend I could come back and protect the tribe," Sokka reasoned, "I could even go to the frontlines to fight the Fire Nation!"
Ty Lee hesitated. She didn't want to travel alone at all and Sokka was pretty funny. "Well, if you wan-"
"Here we are!" Sokka announced, before she could finish her sentence. They crested the hill and below them were dozens of otter penguins in the field below them.
Ty Lee's eyes widened, and a grin crossed her face, "We're going penguin sledding?" She asked, looking up at Sokka.
Sokka smiled, "Wait, penguin sledding? I just thought we could feed one..." Sokka answered, looking down at the penguins.
Ty Lee slid down the hill, no longer listening and dived after the nearest penguin, and only succeeding in sliding across the ice. She hopped to her feet, shaking off the ice and snow that accumulated on her clothes. She heard Sokka's raucous laughter coming closer and turned to see him wiping a single tear from his eye as he caught his breath.
Before he had the chance to make any comments about it, she pushed him into a snowbank with a gust of wind. "Hey!" Sokka shouted, causing Ty Lee to burst into laughter herself. She laughed so hard, she didn't even notice Sokka packing the snow into his hands.
Sokka launched the snowball and hit Ty Lee square in the face. Ty Lee cried out in surprise and wiped the snow from her face just in time to see the second snowball soaring towards her. She ducked under it just in time, but it was too late a battle had begun.
Ty Lee ducked behind a penguin, packing together her own snowball, but when she peaked around the penguin she didn't see Sokka anywhere. She scanned the icy landscape, but was unable to see much among the sea of penguins. Finally, she spotted the bright blue of Sokka's coat, barely visible behind a wall of penguins. Ty Lee launched her snowball and was alerted to her success by Sokka's surprised yelp.
Soon enough he counterattacked with a flurry of snowballs, that managed to hit the surrounding penguins. The otter-penguins near her began to panic and as they waddled around in their effort the panic began to spread until the penguins were doing their own weird version of a stampede. The penguins slid off down another set of hills and weaved in and out of tunnels. Ty Lee realized this was an opportune time to try penguin sledding, and jumped onto the back of one of the larger penguins.
"Ty Lee wait-!" Sokka called, then cursed. She looked back to see him following suit, climbing onto the back of a penguin. Ty Lee giggled, turning her attention back to the path forward as they slid into a tunnel. Her laughter echoed the same as Sokka's nervous babbling. The tunnel twisted and turned, picking up speed with every descent and slowing with each turn.
When the tunnel leveled out, the burst back out into open air. Ty Lee hopped off the penguin still smiling and bowed, "Thank you for the ride!" She giggled. Sokka emerged from the tunnel moments later, having somehow lost his penguin in the tunnel. He let out a shaky groan and slowly pulled himself to his feet. "See? That was fun!" Ty Lee exclaimed.
Sokka didn't answer, looking past her at the horizon. Ty Lee followed his gaze to the hunk of black metal caught between pillars of ice. A lone flag swung from it, but from this distance she couldn't make out the symbol on it. "Whoa, what is that?" Ty Lee asked.
"It's a Fire Navy ship. From a long time ago, when there were enough waterbenders to do this to one." Sokka answered, looking up at the ship with disdain.
Ty Lee frowned, looking up at the ship. It was no wonder they were so powerful if they had ships like these. She moved towards the ship, determined to get a look inside.
"Stop Ty Lee. We don't go near it, the ship could be booby-trapped." Sokka warned, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"We'll be careful," Ty Lee assured him, "Besides, we've got to know what we're up against right?"
Sokka held her gaze, for a moment. She could see his resolve fading before her eyes. "Fine, five minutes then we're gone," He conceded.
Ty Lee nodded, "Deal," Ty Lee agreed.
Ty Lee and Sokka walked forward together, climbing the ice until they reached a hole in the ship where they could enter. It was haunting, empty like this. Most of the rooms had accumulated plenty of snow and ice, making it impossible to see what the contents could have been.
Eventually they reached an armory, filled with weapons she didn't recognize. They were all brittle now, and could barely be held without crumbling to dust. Ty Lee bit the inside of her cheeks, "I don't understand why they would do this," She admitted, stepping away from the armory.
Sokka looked away from her at the ground, "I don't understand it either. Let's get out of here, this place sucks." He replied.
Ty Lee nodded and followed Sokka down the hallway. Suddenly a gate fell shut behind them and the ship began to whir and steam. Sokka cursed under his breath going to the window, "We set off a flare!" He shouted. Sure enough, Ty Lee recognized the whistling sound from Fire Nation light shows.
Ty Lee scanned the room, quickly spotting the hole in the roof. "Sokka, grab on to me!" She ordered, wrapping an arm around his waist and barely waiting for him to the same before she leapt up onto the roof. Sokka's grip around her tightened with each subsequent leap, until they landed safely on the ground, looking up into the sky.
"Do you think anyone saw that?" Ty Lee asked nervously.
"Yes, I think someone saw that!" Sokka snapped, "We don't have anything to offer them so let's hope they just leave us alone." Sokka grabbed her hand, running back towards the village.
Katara woke up to her mother shaking her shoulders, "Katara, wake up! Sokka and Ty Lee are gone." She fretted, already dressed. Katara sat up, scanning their home and finding it empty. Her brother was off doing something stupid to impress Ty Lee, but she didn't say that to their mother though. Katara hurried to get up and pull
The village was slowly waking up, tendrils of smoke drifted up from the chimneys and the women of the village were venturing out of their homes to get started on the chores that made the village run. Her mother had gone to speak with the other women, but Katara had spotted the Avatar and her brother returning from somewhere hand in hand.
"Katara, me and Ty Lee accidentally set off a flair-" Sokka paused looking up towards the sky. Little pieces of soot rained down from the sky, turning the igloos an ashen gray.
"They're coming," Katara finished for him.