Important Notice
I'm sorry, but I made a HUGE Error. I realised that I missed posting a chapter. Originally, there was supposed to be an additional chapter before the (current) Chapter 4. I realised that I failed to upload the original Chapter 3. Hence, there was a gap in between Chapter 2 and the (current) Chapter 4.
I've added the original Chapter 3. So feel free to reread the earlier section to see the connection. Hopefully this could clear the confusion that I've caused.
I'm sorry for the troubles and confusion I've caused.
Once again, feel free to leave your thoughts and comments about my story as it will surely help me to improve my writings. Thank you very much. m(_ _)m
"Are you sure about this?" A whisper carried by a tone of hesitancy could be heard amongst the shadows that gathered in the peaceful night. "Yes! It must be done! She needs to be taught a lesson!" A raging hiss of hatred silenced all hesitancy in the group. The silhouette turned to others and daringly asked them, "Do you guys enjoy being bested by a woman?" They shook their heads in reply. "Things have changed since the Avatar came." One of them finally spoke out.
"I can't believe the chief and the elders actually allowed Princess Yue to learn waterbending. This act is clearly a blasphemy." There were nods of agreement to that statement. "They're even listening to the advice given by the rogue firebender." Someone added in. "The chief has gone senile. Same goes with the elders. They need to go and be replaced." A grievous suggestion was made.
A brief silence came after someone asked about the young Avatar. "Don't you worry about him. Once we get his girl, he'll have to obey to us." The leader said it confidently with a smirk. "I say we make an example out of her! Let her know where truly she belonged! And that's to serve and please the men!" One of the leader's backers boldly suggested.
In the darkness, visions of her being caught came to him.
She was surrounded by multiple silhouettes.
He saw her being pinned to the floor and her mouth was gagged.
He watched as her hands were tied behind her back.
He tried to get to her. He tried to help her. He tried to save her.
But no matter how many steps he took, she was out of his reach.
She was glaring at him, no, at the assailants.
Her eyes were filled with both rage and fear.
She fought to break free, but her efforts did little to none.
Then, she was slowly being dragged into the darkness.
And there was nothing he could do to stop it.
The dark-haired young man furrowed his brow as he tossed uncomfortably in his sleep. He grunted and clenched his fist tight when he saw those dreadful sight. He was having a cold sweat. "––!?" He breathed in sharply and immediately sat up from his bed. His surveyed his surrounding and set his eyes on his friends. His vigilant eyes softened slightly when he saw the young water maiden was sleeping soundlessly with her back facing him. He groggily brushed his hand through his hair and walked out of the room without disturb their peaceful sleep. Or so he thought…
In the bright mist, the figure of him lying lifelessly on the floor came to her.
She rushed to him
He was barely breathing. He was covered in soot. His clothes were burnt.
She tried to heal him, but her waterskin wasn't with her.
She desperately cradled him in her arms.
Hoping that her warmth would at least do something.
She cried for help, but no one was there.
She begged for him to wake up, but he never responded.
He was getting colder. She was losing him.
Then, his body ignited in flame.
She watched in horror as the fire was eating him.
She frantically held onto him even more, but he faded away before her very eyes.
And there was nothing she could do to stop it.
"No…Please don't leave me…" The young lady whimpered softly as she was one the verge of crying in her sleep. A gasp escaped her mouth the second she snapped opened her azure eyes. She shot up from her spot and scanned the room she was in. Next to her, her older brother, Sokka was snoring ceaselessly. The young Avatar, Aang that's beside her brother, was asleep beamingly with his little friend, Momo curled on his tummy. However, her worriedness did not ease one bit when she noticed the scarred young man was missing. Without waking her older brother or her friend up, she quietly exited the room to find the exiled prince.
The first place she checked was the stable where Druk and Appa stayed. The young lady knew the exiled prince has the habit to always be with his dragon. Hearing his voice coming from that direction just proved her right. She vividly recognised his stature in the dim night. He's there. He's alive. Not too far away from her. It was the confirmation of his very presence that subsided her uneasiness.
"Hey, bud. You ready?" The boy asked as the crimson dragon as the latter warbled and nuzzled the former one on his cheek. Suddenly, Druk perked his head up and shifted his attention towards a specific direction. Following his partner, Zuko turned his head and eyed at the young lady. She's here. She's alive. Not too far away from him. "Morning, Katara. You're up earlier than I thought." He greeted her first while forcing himself to not relive the moment of her disappearing into the darkness. "Morning, Zuko. It's not by choice. I, umm, couldn't sleep…" She told him in full honesty.
A short pause went by and he curtly asked, "Nightmare?" The girl initially showed a perplex look and bobbed her head in silence. While he remained in his taciturn attitude, the firebender got onto his saddle and offered her a hand. "Where are we going?" She curiously asked. The young man merely questioned if she trusts him. Without a hint of hesitation, the young lady accepted his hand, allowing the boy to pulled her up and settled her behind him. With a silent confirmation from his partner that they're all set, Druk spread his wings and lifted off into the sky.
A flight under the starry night was clearly what they needed. The cold air breezed past her, but it was alright. She was never bothered by the cold thanks to a certain living, breathing, walking heater. "…I've always asked Druk to take me up here whenever I try to clear my head. I could shout and yell out my rage or frustrations, and no one would know." The prince was the first to break the silence between the two of them. he then continued, "There's also another reason on why I love being up here. I love the feeling of having the wind wash over my face and body." He took in a deep breath and exhaled in great satisfaction. "With the sky being our only limit, I could go anywhere I want. To see the world from all the way up here."
Mimicking the boy's action, Katara shut her eyes while pivoting her head upwards. She felt the wind. She felt the frostiness of the air. She breathed in slowly through her nose and out softly via her mouth. He wasn't wrong. The sensation of wind blowing was truly exhilarating. Not to mention, the view of the North from the sky was magnificent as well. "I love this feeling. The feeling of freedom. This is what it's like to be a dragon."
Then, her breath was taken away once she saw the appearance of the northern lights above them. Colours of jade green, sapphire blue and ruby red were sophistically dancing before her eyes. The beauty of the aurora also left the exiled prince speechless as he too mesmerised its magnificence. These colours reminded him of the time when Master Ran and Shao showed him the true essence of firebending. Just as she watched the lights in awe, something else caught her attention. The young prince's rare, genuine smile. "You're right. This does feel amazing. You're amazing, Druk." She chuckled in agreement and patted the dragon who proudly waddled his head.
Dawn came and they have safely returned to the Northern Water Tribe. It was time for the two opposite element benders to spar. Katara has been training along with Aang and Yue under Pakku's tutelage for weeks. Under the span of their two weeks training, the trio had already surpassed other waterbending students and became Pakku's best disciples. For Aang, he naturally picked things up quickly thanks to his raw talent. For Yue, she was able to grasp the techniques with the help of her gift granted by the Moon Spirit. For Katara, she became the waterbending master's favourite. She was truly a diamond in the rough. Apart from the fact that Pakku doted her like a granddaughter he never had, the young lady's fierce determination, passion and hard work to learn everything from him had granted her the master's deference.
But because she was improving expeditiously, while the other male benders failed to provide challenges for her. The young water maiden seek help from others to hone and sharpen her skills. But much to her annoyance, Aang disliked the idea of sparring with her simply because he was afraid of hurting her. With Princess Yue being her only friend who was willing to fight her without holding back, Katara went to look for Zuko. Wanting to observe and learn more moves from a waterbender, the prince instantly accepted. Initially, she was delighted when he agreed to be her sparring partner. However, her constant defeats were starting to irritate her.
"Spirits, damn it!" A cry of discontent spooked off some nearby turtle seals that were snoozing at the frozen tundra. The young water maiden flumped onto the snowfield and heaved foggily into the air. The girl listened to the crunching snow near her. "Stop stressing out, Katara. You're doing fine." She sent a frustrated look towards the young firebender who walked up to her. "Easy for you to say, since you're the one that's been winning the fights." She chided bitterly. The rapid flux of her mood truly fascinated the young man.
Unfazed by her sulkiness and temper, the young man silently offered her a hand to get the lady back on her feet. As she took it and grumblingly got up, Zuko gave her his standpoint, "For someone who started to learn waterbend two weeks ago, and you've already decent fighter. You've already bested Master Pakku's students. And besides, I have the advantage when we spar in the morning." He indicated it by pointing the source of daylight and his strength with a thumb. Knowing that her silence was the sign of her being unconvinced, he sighed and continued, "I've trained hard since I was six, Katara. Though I was bad at it for seven years straight, my firebending only started to develop after I was thirteen."
Seeing the sincerity in his eyes, she reluctantly concurred. "…Okay, fine. But you said it before that it's important to draw wisdoms from other elements." He curtly nodded. "So how should I implement the firebending moves to my waterbending?" She queried. The firebender placed a hand under his chin and pondered about it for a moment. While waterbenders needed water to bend, firebenders relied on their chi to bend the fire from within. The waterbenders moved elegantly and smoothly, whereas firebenders used quick punches and swift kicks. When compared to firebending's aggressive and offensive moves, waterbending moves were more passive and defensive.
Something then came to the exiled prince's mind. Firstly, he asked the lady to create an ice dummy. "Can you create a water ring around you?" Listening to his suggestion, Katara took her stance and bent a water ring from the snow around her. "Throw some punches." He added. The young lady then understood what he was proposing. With a smirk on her face, Katara threw several jabs at the water loop and shot out ice bullets from it. The ice bullets speedily smashed into the dummy, cracking and shattering it into pieces. "There you have it. You've created a technique from a basic firebending move." Feeling proud of what she has done, the girl puffed her chest in great pride as she thanked her sparring partner with a big grin tugging at her lips.
It was mid-morning when Chief Arnook stood above his tribe's glacial wall and stared into the azure horizon. He watched the distant sea in silence as there were numerous waterbenders shaping icebergs from the open sea to obstruct the smooth passage to the North. "Ah, you're here." He greeted the person who walked up to him without taking his eyes off the construction. "We're doing it as you've suggested. What do you think?" The young man examined those remote icebergs with a miniature spyglass. He affirmed the chief with a curt nod. "The warships can't cross the sea quickly or the ice will puncture the metal. Having multiple icebergs will force the navy to navigate the ocean carefully. This will definitely slow down their advancement."
Chief Arnook snorted half-heartedly and shook his head with a faint wry smile. "…I still find it hard to believe that I'm actually having a civilised conversation and receiving advice from a firebender." Zuko didn't say anything but merely let out an exhalation as flashes of the southern water tribe. twinge of guilt rose in the back of his head. 'I'm betraying my nation…' Though the prince justly believed that he's doing for the greater good, the thought of his uncle involving in the invasion of the North ailed his heart and mind. "I've heard and seen the horrid things my nation has done to the Air Nomads and the South. The North must not fall. The Spirits must be protected."
"Hey, Katara!" hearing her name, the young lady turned to see the male waterbenders from her class came up to her. "Are you free later this evening?" One of the boys asked enthusiastically. "Umm, I am. Why do you ask?" She raised an eyebrow. "We found the cave of the turtle seals! We planned on bringing some fish and feed them tonight. We were just wondering if you would like to join us?" A boy with a shark tooth earing on his right ear, named Kabbal said it. "Oh, turtle seals? I would love that! I'll go ask Aang as well. I'm sure he likes to feed turtle seals." Her cheeriness was disrupted as soon as one of them shot down her idea. "Y-you can't!"
She creased her brows at the and dubiously stared at the person who just agitatedly raised his voice. The guy owned a distinctive piercing on his nose and was about Zuko's height. Katara remembered the boys in her class called him Bruta. He coughed twice to fix his composure and explained to her that they only planned on inviting her because all of them wanted to take this opportunity to get to know her and her home. Though she felt bad because Aang was missing it out the fun, she accepted their invitation.
Undisturbed in his own time, the old waterbending master sat in a lotus form while he perused through the inscriptions on the parchment in his hand. "Master, I've brought you tea." He lifted his head and saw Sangok entering the room. Pakku appreciated his pupil's effort and took a sip at the tea his student has prepared for him. His eyes narrowed almost immediately after discovering the tea tasted odd. "H-hiee!" Sangok let out a shriek when his master abruptly stood up and froze his body. "The tea…what did…you– Ugh…" The master shook his head as his vision was turning fuzzy. He felt his strength was slipping away. He took a few steps back, before finally succumbing to the black world and crashed onto the floor. "Gansu! Master Pakku's down! Please come in and get me out of this thing!" Sangok yelled.
"Please, sir. Give me a chance to prove to you that I care for Y–" the young man tried to persuade the leader of the North to change his mind about the engagement between him and Yue. "Enough, Hahn. I've talked to the girls you've previously courted. I find your past conducts highly unacceptable. From now on, you will address my daughter as Princess Yue, and you will address that title with your utmost respect." Arnook uttered it firmly.
"You even invited the Ashmaker to the council." The boy spatted it out viciously. Yet, the chief was unaffected by the boy's vexation. Arnook simply laid down the facts before Hahn impassively, "Lee is a valuable asset to the tribe. He has knowledge and information on how the Fire Nation will invade us. In addition to that, he is also the Avatar's firebending teacher. You will treat him as our honoured guest."
"Then you leave me no choice." At first, the adult thought he misheard the young man's hiss. Arnook was completely caught off guard when Hahn abruptly took out a blowpipe and shot him on the neck with a dart. "You–!?" Outraged by the act of the boy's insolence, the Chief irately got to his feet before feeling numbness spreading through his body. He grunted and fell forward. From the corner of his eyes, Arnook saw Hahn was coldly staring at him. "Arctic Poison Frog. You'll stay paralyse for the rest of the night, Chief." The boy spoke with tone filled with detestation and disappointment. He bent down and took Arnook's medallion from him. A proof that symbolised him as the leader of the Northern Water Tribe. "As of now, I'm in charge, Chief."
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