The amount of research I did for the ice-dodging and symbols, trying to figure out what symbol Celina would receive, is ridiculous. If you guys want to see what her symbol looks like them just type in "creative genius symbol" into whatever search engine you desire. Anyway, I don't own anything, Avatar the Last Airbender belongs to Nick. Enjoy!
Bato of the Water Tribe
"Hey look! A sword made out of a whale's tooth," Aang called out to his friends. They had landed a little while ago in an open to let Appa rest. Hearing what the sword was made of instantly drew the Water Tribe siblings' attention.
Sokka was the first one to reach Aang and snatched the sword out of his hand. "Lemme see that," he said and began to examine the blade. "This is a water tribe weapon. See if you can find anything else." The four of them sent to work searching the area. Brushing away some leaves Celina managed to find a broken arrow on the ground.
"I found an arrow!" she called out. Sokka, Katara, and Aang ran to her and Sokka took the arrow out of her hand.
"It's burned," Sokka noticed and then tossed it aside before examining a tree with burn marks on it. "There was a battle. Water Tribe warriors ambushed a group of firebenders." He proceeded down the hill and found more evidence of the battle. The other three followed closely behind him. "The firebenders fought back, but the warriors drove them down this hill."
They ran down the hill and came to a beach. "So then what happened?" Aang asked.
"I don't know. The trail ends here," Sokka admitted.
"Wait, look!" Katara pointed to a beached boat that was clearly Water Tribe.
"It's one of our boats!" Sokka exclaimed as they rushed up to it.
"Is this Dad's boat?" Katara asked.
"No, but it's from his fleet. Dad was here," Sokka smiled, examining the boat. Celina gave her brother a small smile. Sokka and Katara hadn't seen their father in years. She hoped this sign lifted their spirits along with their homesickness.
o
The gang decided to set up camp next to the boat that night in case Water Tribe members came back for it. Night had fallen. Katara and Aang were asleep next to the fire that Celina watched Sokka tend from next to Appa. Her brother was deep in thought, staring into the flames. She was beginning to worry about him when they heard a sound.
"Who's there?" Sokka demanded. Celina moved away from Appa and summoned some water in case they needed to fight. They were surprised to see a familiar face as a bandaged man walked into the light.
"Celina? Sokka?"
"Bato?" Celina and Sokka said shocked.
"Who the want now?" Aang asked groggily as him and Katara woke up.
"Bato!" Katara exclaimed as she and Sokka ran into Bato's arms.
"Celina! Sokka! Katara! It is so good to see you three. Oh, you've grown so much," Bato said.
"Hi, I'm Aang," Aang introduced.
"Where's Dad?" Sokka asked.
"Is he here?" Katara added.
"No, he and the other warriors should be in the eastern Earth Kingdom by now," Bato told them. "This is no place for a reunion. Let's get inside." Bato wrapped his arms around Sokka and Katara's shoulders and motioned for Aang and Celina to follow. Celina chose to stick back with Aang and Appa instead of chumming it up with Bato like her siblings.
"Why aren't you walking with them?" Aang asked her a bit confused.
"It's complicated," Celina told him and continued walking. She didn't want to get into that just yet.
o
Bato led them back to a monastery where he had been healing. "After I was wounded, your father carried me to this abbey. The sisters have cared for me ever since," Bato told them before turning to a woman. "Superior, these are Hakoda's children. They've been traveling with the Avatar. I found them by my boat."
"Young Avatar, it gives me great joy to be in your presence. Welcome to our abbey," the Superior said to Aang, bowing to him.
"Thank you!" Aang replied bowing himself. "It's truly an honor to be here. If there's anything…"
"What smells so good, Bato?" Sokka interrupted, sniffing the air. Celina took a semi-deep breath, smelling all the scents that filled the abbey.
"The sisters craft ointments and perfumes," he told them.
"Perfume? Maybe we could dump some on Appa? Because he stinks so much! Am I right?" Sokka joked. Bato, Celina, and Katara just stared at him not amused.
"You have your father's wit," Bato commented and then led the gang to his room. He opened the door and the Water Tribe siblings instantly felt the familiarity as Water Tribe décor was all over the place.
"Bato! It looks like home!" Katara sighed.
"Everything's here, even the pelts!" Sokka added.
"Yeah, nothing's more comforting than dead animal skins," Aang commented feeling uncomfortable.
"It's Water Tribe culture. When we kill an animal we typically use everything so that the animal hasn't died in vain," Celina explained to Aang. Aang understood but that didn't mean he felt any less uncomfortable. Katara walked over to a pot and opened it.
"No way! Stewed sea prunes?" Katara exclaimed.
"Help yourself," Bato offered.
"Dad could eat a whole barrel of these things," Sokka commented.
Katara quickly dished out bowls of stewed sea prunes and handed them out to Bato, Sokka, herself, and Aang.
"Why didn't she hand you one?" Aang asked Celina. Once he took a sniff of the stew, however, he learned why.
"While some Water Tribe dishes are great, stewed sea prunes has to be my least favorite," Celina told him. Aang set the untouched stew aside. Momo tasted the stew only to spit it back out.
"Bato, is it true you and Dad lassoed an arctic hippo?" Katara asked.
"It was your father's idea. He just dragged me along. Well, the hippo did the dragging," Bato chuckled.
"Hey, I ride animals too! One time there was this giant eel…" Aang tried to join the conversation.
Unfortunately, Sokka interrupted him again. "So who was it that came up with the great blubber fiasco?"
"You knew about that?" Bato laughed.
"Everyone does," Katara told him.
"What's that story?" Aang asked.
"It's a long one, Aang, some other time," Sokka dismissed.
Celina sighed, she was happy that her siblings had someone familiar to talk to but they were pushing Aang and her to the side. She just slunk back to the wall and sat down.
"You and Dad had so many hilarious adventures," Katara said.
"Not all of which were hilarious at the time, but everything's funny with hindsight," Bato replied and then turned to see Aang wearing an animal skin headdress. "Aang, put that down, it's ceremonial and very fragile."
Aang put the headdress back on the wall and then walked over to Celina feeling dejected.
"Was it you or Dad that put an octopus on your head and convinced Gran Gran you were a water spirit?" Sokka asked.
"Your dad wore the octopus, but I did the spooky voice," Bato told them.
Celina closed her eyes and tried to block out their conversation. She had no desire to hear about Bato and Hakoda's adventures. Aang poked her shoulder, trying to get her attention. Celina opened her eyes and looked at Aang.
"I don't understand. Why aren't you with them, talking about the good old days?" Aang asked confused.
"I have no interest in discussing Hakoda's adventures," she told him.
"Why do you call your dad by his first name?" Aang asked, still extremely confused.
Celina sighed, "As you know I was adopted into their family. Well, it was our mother that was the one responsible for bringing me in. She was the one who found me abandoned out in a blizzard and brought me into her and Hakoda's hut. Sokka and Katara weren't born yet but they were planning on having a family. Our mother convinced him to take me in, saying that the bigger the family the better. Hakoda agreed but it was clear when Sokka and Katara were born who he favored. Don't get me wrong he treated me like his daughter but after our mom died… things changed between me and him.
"As chief, he could get people to stop treating me as badly as they did but then he just stopped. He let it happened… I even heard him say to Gran Gran that he wished he could marry me off when he and the other men left. Apparently, he can't handle having a freak in the family. Bato is nice enough but with him being Hakoda's second in command it's a bit awkward. The only good thing is that at least Sokka and Katara get to see him. I might not have great feelings for Hakoda but that doesn't mean that they don't. He is their father after all and Bato is the closest they've gotten to him in two years."
"Wow," Aang breathed, shocked. "That…"
"Sucks," Celina finished. "Please don't tell Sokka or Katara. I don't want them hating their dad." Aang nodded and the two remained silent as Bato, Sokka, and Katara continued to talk, still in their own little world. The two of them perked up however when they heard Bato say something.
"There's something I should tell you kids. I'm expecting a message from your father," Bato told them.
"Really?" Katara gasped.
"When?" Sokka asked.
"Any day now. Your father said he'd send a message when they found the rendezvous point. If you wait here until the message arrives you can come with me and see your father again," he informed them. Celina sensed Aang straighten up hearing this. She looked over and noticed that he looked worried.
"It's been over two years since we've seen Dad! That would be so incredible wouldn't it Katara," Sokka said.
"I do really miss him. It would be great to see Dad," Katara admitted. Aang got up from the floor and walked out of the room, causing Celina to only worry more about the young airbender.
"It's been far too long, hasn't it? I'm not sure when word will arrive, but when it does…" Bato began to tell them.
"Um… that's great but we can't," Celina interrupted. "We have to get Aang to the North Pole for him to learn waterbending. He still has to learn water, earth, and fire and we have a limited time to do so."
"That's right," Sokka remembered
"Even if we had time to wait for the message, who knows how far we'd travel. We don't have time for a long detour," Katara said.
"I'm sure your father would understand and be proud that his children are helping the Avatar," Bato smiled and then turned to Celina. "So, Celina, I never knew you were a waterbender like your sister."
"Yeah," Celina admitted shyly.
"That's not even the craziest part. It turns out those imaginary friends everyone thought she was talking to are actually spirits," Sokka told him.
"Really?" Bato asked amazed.
"Sokka!" Celina exclaimed.
"What? You can," Sokka asked confused as to why she was freaking out.
"Yeah but that doesn't mean that we should be telling everybody about it. We're already on the run from the Fire Nation who are trying to hunt down Aang. They find out that I can communicate with the spirits like he can then we'll have even more trouble," Celina explained.
"Wow, I didn't think about that," Sokka admitted.
"Your father has to know though. Wow is he going to be excited when I tell him," Bato said.
"I'm sure he will be," Celina muttered to herself and slunk back over to the wall. Bato, Sokka, and Katara went back to talking about Bato and Hakoda's adventures. Celina pulled out a piece of driftwood she found earlier and began carving it into the Hei Bei spirit.
Aang returned a couple minutes later and started acting a bit strange. "Hey everyone! Sorry, I was gone so long," Aang apologized.
"Hey, Aang, I didn't notice you left," Katara said.
"Yup, but now I'm back. Sure could go for some delicious sea prunes!" he replied and sat down, grabbing the bowl of stewed sea prunes. Everyone looked at him strangely as Aang spooned a mouthful of stew and then proceeded to spit it out after a few seconds.
o
The next morning Bato took the gang back out towards his boat, Celina and Aang more so following along to be a part of the group.
"This ship is sentimental to me. It was built by my father," Bato told the kids.
"Is this the boat he took you ice-dodging in?" Sokka asked.
"Yeah, it's got the scar to prove it. How about you, Sokka? You must have some good stories from your first time ice-dodging?" Bato asked Sokka who looked saddened by the question.
"He never got to go," Celina answered for him.
"Dad left before he was old enough," Katara added.
"Oh, I forgot, you were too young," Bato realized.
"What's ice-dodging?" Aang asked.
"It's a rite of passage for young Water Tribe members. When you turn fourteen your Dad takes you… you know what, you're about to find out," Bato said and placed a hand on Sokka's shoulder. Sokka smiled widely.
All of them boarded the boat and Celina used her waterbending to bend the boat back into the water. Bato steered the boat a bit out into the water before turning to the kids.
"Ice-dodging is a ceremonial test of wisdom, bravery, and trust. In our village it was done by weaving a boat through a field of icebergs," Bato explained.
"How are we supposed to ice-dodge without ice?" Sokka asked a bit confused.
"You will be dodging those," Bato answered pointing to the rocks ahead of them. He then turned around to explain everybody's roles. "Sokka, you steer and call the shots. Lead wisely. Katara, you secure the mainsail. The winds can be brutal, so be brave. Aang you control the jib, without your steady hand, we all go down. Your position is about trust."
"I know that! Why wouldn't I know that? I'm the Avatar! I know about trust," Aang said hastily.
"What about Celina? What's her job?" Katara asked.
"Huh… there are typically only three spots for ice-dodging," Bato complicated.
"Well, I can station myself at the front of the boat in case you need any waterbending done," Celina suggested.
"That's not a bad idea," Bato smiled and then sat down next to the bow of the ship. "For this to be done right I cannot help. You pass or fail on your own."
The gang nodded and the test began. Even though the four of them were a bit freaked out by the speed in which the boat was heading towards the rocks. Sokka, however, was quick to take charge.
"Aang, ease up on the jib. Katara, steady! Aang, less sail!" Sokka ordered as he pulled the tiller to his right. "Katara, give him room!" Aang hauled the rope and the ship successfully weaving in and out of the rocks. "Aang! Helm to lee! Helm to lee!"
"What does that even mean!?" Aang exclaimed. Celina thought quickly as they cut it close to one of the rocks, using her waterbending to prevent them from hitting it.
"Great job!" Sokka congratulated after they cleared the huge pile of rocks. Looking forward confidence fell as they were heading straight towards a cul de sac, ringed by multiple jagged rocks, at high speed.
"There's no way through!" Katara cried out.
"We can make it!" Sokka assured.
"Sokka, you've already proven yourself, maybe we should head back in," Bato tried to convince him.
"No, I'm certain we can do this. Celina! Get us over those rocks with the biggest wave you can muster!" Sokka ordered
"On it!" Celina called back.
Taking a deep breath she reached out to the water that was carrying the boat and bended it into a huge wave. Pushing the water forward Celina accelerated the wave, causing the water to safely carry the boat over the ring of jagged rocks. Sokka sighed in relief as he fell back into the tiller. Smiles were on everyone's faces as the cheered as they made their way back to the shore. Once back Bato got them all in a line and mixed up some black face paint.
"The spirits of water bear witness to these marks. For Celina, the Mark of the Creative," Bato announced.
"You made that up," Celina smirked.
"Yes, but it is so rightfully deserved. Your creativity and thinking outside of the box with your waterbending helped guide the ship to safety," Bato explained and then drew two swirls coming out of a line on her forehead. "For Sokka, the Mark of the Wise, the same mark your father earned." Bato moved over to Sokka and marked his forehead with a dot and a half circle above it. Sokka beamed with pride, receiving his father's mark. "For Katara, the Mark of the Brave. Your courage inspires us." He marked Katara's forehead with a crescent. "And for Aang, the Mark of the Trusted. You are now an honorary member of the Water Tribe." Bato finished by marking Aang's forehead with a half circle.
"I can't," Aang said, a guilty look on his face.
"Of course you can!" Katara told him.
"No, you can't trust me," Aang said and wiped the mark off his forehead.
"Aang, what are you talking about?" Celina asked confused.
With his head hung low Aang held out a crumpled piece of parchment to Katara. She opened it up and gasped seeing what was on the parchment. "A messenger gave this to me for Bato," Aang told them. "You have to understand, I was afraid you'd…"
"This is the map to our father!" Sokka exclaimed angrily once he saw what the parchment was. "You had it the whole time!? How could you? Well, you can go to the North Pole on your own! I'm going to find Dad." He began to stalk away back to the abbey to collect his things.
"Now Sokka, I think you should…" Bato said trying to calm him down.
"Celina, Katara, are you with me?" he asked.
"No!" Celina refused. "Use your brain Sokka, Aang was just scared that we'd…"
"I'm with you, Sokka," Katara agreed and stalked off with Bato and Sokka.
Aang began to shake as tears fell down his face. Celina engulfed him in her arms, hugging him close as he muttered sorry over and over into his shoulder. "It's okay Aang," Celina whispered. "I understand. I understand."
o
Celina and Aang sat on top of Appa the next morning watching as Bato, Sokka, and Katara headed out carrying backpacks. Aang was still dejected about everything while Celina was still disappointed with her siblings for giving up on Aang so easily. Katara looked like she was going to say goodbye to them but seeing the look on Celina's face stopped her.
"I guess we should be moving on," Aang sighed once the others were out of sight and shook Appa's reigns. The sky bison walked them out of the gate and in an opposite direction of Bato, Sokka, and Katara. "I'm an idiot."
"No you're not, Aang," Celina told him, rubbing his back in trying to comfort him. "You were just scared and made a mistake." Aang just stayed silent until they reached where Bato's ship was on the beach. Aang stalled, hoping that Sokka and Katara would come back but sighed after a few minutes.
"Looks like it's just us," Aang said dejected.
"Avatar! You must leave!" the Superior of the abbey exclaimed, rushing towards them.
"Okay, I get it everybody wants me gone," Aang said a bit annoyed.
"A group of people came to the abbey looking for you," the Superior told him.
"Who?" Aang asked.
"A fierce looking woman with a horrible monster and a young man with a scar," she explained.
Celina and Aang shared a look. "Zuko," the both realized.
"The beast was using the scent of a necklace to follow you," the Superior continued.
"A necklace?" Aang said confused.
Celina's eyes went wide as realizing who's necklace Zuko must be using. "Katara!" she exclaimed.
"You must leave," the Superior urged them.
"We can't, those are my friends Zuko's after," Aang argued.
"And my little siblings," Celina added. "I'm sure Zuko's got them by now. All they need is something with your scent on it and they're back on our trail, but this time with leverage."
"We need a plan," Aang said.
"We need the element of surprise," Celina muttered and pondered what to do. She smirked before looking at the Superior. "Lady Superior, we're gonna need a favor."
o
Celina laid flat on the roof of the abbey as Aang soared around in circles above the courtyard. She came up with a quick plan that would hopefully confuse and surprise Zuko. Now it was just a waiting game until he came back with her siblings. It didn't take long until the monster, a shirshu came busting through the abbey gate sending the sisters running away in terror. Zuko was riding the beast and Celina saw that her siblings were lying on its back. It appeared that they were paralyzed. Celina smirked when all the shirshu did was walk around in a circle, her plan was working.
"What's it doing? It's just going around in a circle!" Zuko growled annoyed. Aang flew at the shirshu who tried to snap at him. The creature missed but managed to dump Zuko and the rest of them off his back. Katara cried out, happy to see her friend.
A woman in dark clothes got up and whipped the ground. The shirshu got to its feet, roared, and then the woman jumped back onto it back. She was about to charge at Aang when Celina jumped down from the roof and water wiped the rider off. Appa came charging out and plowed the shirshu into the wall of a building. Celina smiled up at Appa who grumbled at her in response.
The woman and her shirshu were quick to get back up and before they had time to react Appa had gotten hit with its tongue multiple times in the leg. The sky bison collapsed as it was paralyzed.
"Appa!" Celina cried out.
"Oh, is that your pet? Well let me introduce you to mine," the woman smirked. She cracked her whip and the shirshu attention turned to Celina. Celina took a step back and drew her water into a defensive position. What surprised the two, however, was when the shirshu didn't do anything. It merely sniffed Celina and backed down.
"What?" the woman gasped confused. She cracked her whip several more times but the shirshu refused to touch Celina. "How?!"
"What can I say, animals love me," Celina sassed and then sent a gush of water at the woman, sending her flying back into the wall and knocking her unconscious.
Celina turned to go help Aang when Zuko fell from the air in front of her, followed by some water raining down which she waterbended away from her. She couldn't help but chuckle seeing him fall on his face. Zuko got up and began to attack Aang again but this time Celina stepped into to help fight him off. It was water and air against fire. During their battle, Celina smelled a bunch of perfume before seeing it be dropped onto the shirshu.
"Aang, get us out of here," she told the airbender. Thinking fast Aang pulled out his glider and flew him and Celina onto the roof. Zuko wanted to follow but got hit with the shirshu's tongue as it lashed out in an overload of smells. The woman from before regained consciousness just in time to be hit as well.
"June! Nooo!" Iroh cried out and caught her before she hit the ground. The shirshu ran into a couple jars before jumping over the walls of the abbey. Iroh, Zuko, and the woman, June all laid on the ground.
"Uncle? I didn't see you get hit will the tongue," Zuko mentioned.
"Shh!" Iroh hushed.
"Nice thinking guys," Aang complemented Sokka and Katara who were up and walking again.
"We best get out of here before they can move again," Celina suggested. The three nodded then got on Appa who flew them away from the abbey and Zuko.
o
"So, where do we go?" Aang asked Sokka and Katara from the driver's seat. He still believed that they wanted to see their father so at the moment they were just flying in a random direction to put distance between them and Zuko.
"We're getting you to the North Pole," Katara told him.
"Yeah, we've lost too much time as it is," Sokka said.
"Good to see that you two came to your senses," Celina smiled.
"Don't you want to see your father?" Aang asked confused.
"Of course we do, Aang. But you're our family too, and right now you need us more," Sokka told him.
"And we need you," Katara added.
"I wish I could give you a little piece of home, Katara. Something to remind you," Aang admitted.
"I'll be okay," Katara tried to assure him.
"Still, just a little trinket. Maybe something like this!" Aang said and then pulled out her necklace, offering it to her. There was a huge smile on both of their faces.
Katara was quick to grab it and put it back on her neck where it belonged. "Aang, how did you get that?" she asked.
"Zuko asked to be sure I got it to you," Aang joked.
"So that's why you were doing all those fancy moves," Celina smirked.
"Oh, that's so sweet of Zuko. Would you give him a kiss for me when you see him?" Katara asked in mock appreciation. She proceeded to kiss Aang's cheek, causing him to blush. Celina awed at the cute site while Sokka just rolled his eyes. Celina took over the reins and steered Appa north.
Thanks for reading. Be sure to leave me a review and a crazy "So Tell Me About Yourself" answer.
"So Tell Me About Yourself" is an inside joke between me and my friends which started from my one friend's hatred for the typical getting-to-know-you question "So tell me about yourself". She, being so annoyed with the phrase, gave a silly answer that she murdered people in their sleep. When she brought it back to me and my other friend we both gave a silly answer. That is where the idea for my account name came from.
