The Newcomer
It has been so long since a new person has shown up in the South Pole... I wonder how she got here? Is she from the North Pole? Where is her family? They must be worried about her. I wonder if she is a Waterbender? Oh, I hope she is! Maybe I could learn some new waterbending moves from her... A scream tore through the village again, I shivered at the sound. I couldn't imagine how much pain she had to be in. Her screams had not ceased since Noaidi started treating her snake bite yesterday. It sounds so painful, I hope she's okay... I turned to look at Noaidi's tent, I wish I could help...
"-tara. Katara. Katara!" I jumped at the fingers snapping in front of my face, turning I face my gran. She only sighed, shaking her head as another pained scream ripped through the village. Last night had been difficult, and I didn't get much sleep with Korra's screams. I don't think most of the village got enough sleep, but they all knew what was happening inside that tent. Last time this happened was when little Tula got bit, and those screams were just heart-wrenching.
"You need to relax. She shouldn't be hurting for much longer." Gran-gran tried to reassure me.
"I know, I know… but it sounds so painful. I wish I could help…" I looked in the direction of Noaidi's healing tent, my gut clenching at the amount of pain Korra had to be going through. Mink Snake bites were painful enough, but having the venom drained was even worse. Most of us know not to go near them if we ever happen to stumble upon them while outside the camp because of this very reason, especially after Tula's accident… But what if that was why she was out there all alone when dad found her because she was bitten and needed help?
"Katara, focus. Or you, along with the rest of the village, will not have any clean clothes for tomorrow." Gran-gran spoke up, I turned back to her and nodded. I resumed my chores, dunking the laundry in the warmed pot of water. I glanced back up at my gran, noticing that she was looking the other way, and pulled off my glove. I attempted to move the water around within the pot, hoping it would help make everything go by faster. I grinned as it started to work, the clothes spinning around and the soap bubbling as they cleaned themselves.
Another pained groan echoed through the camp, startling me, causing my hand to move in a different motion. The water followed my motion, and a soapy spherical orb was removed from the pot. I gasped as it when flying, soaking my brother as he walked by.
"ACKK! Katara!" He shouted, marching over to me, his hair soaked and dripping down on top of his parka. "Why do I always get wet when you play with magic water?!"
"Katara?" Gran had noticed what was happening, and all I could do was curl in on myself. "What did I say about practicing before you finished your chores?"
"Now I have to change! Again!" Sokka stormed off, mumbling to himself as he made his way back to the igloo.
"I'm sorry…" I said meekly, putting my glove back on. "I just wanted it to go by faster so I could check on Korra."
I heard her sigh, "Katara, I know you are worried about her. Everyone in the village is, but Noaidi has it under control. Korra will be fine, you just need to be patient."
"I know, Gran-gran. I'm sorry." I made my way back over to the pot with all our clothes, grabbing the stirring stick and used it to finish the washing before hanging them in the igloo with a small fire to dry. As I was stirring, I noticed that the screaming had been absent, I turned to look at the healing tent, spotting Noaidi walking towards us with a bundle of cloth.
"Noaidi! Is she going to be alright? Is all the venom out of her system?" I couldn't help but ask, nearly leaving my post to talk to the village healer.
"She will be fine, but there was more than just the venom of a Mink snake." She explained, opening one of the rolls to show me.
I examined the cloth, a triad of colors painted the cloth. What looked like yellow from the venom, red from her blood, but the last color confused me. It was shiny, kind of like a silver yuan, and it was splattered along the cloth. "What is that?" I pointed to the silver looking spots.
"I don't know, but it was in her system. I think it's some type of poison, but it is not one I have ever seen. My guess is that she was poisoned before being dumped here in the South Pole." She frowned at the cloth, rolling it back up.
"Fire Nation." I growled under my breath, "I bet they did this." I couldn't believe that the Fire Nation could do something like this, but then again, I could believe that they would do something like this. How could they be so cruel? To just dump her somewhere, like here in the South Pole, and nowhere near civliazation. She could have died! Oh spirits, she would have died if dad hadn't found her when he did.
"Most likely. But she must have put up one hell of a fight if the rest of her bruises are anything to go by." Noaidi smiled, "She is a strong one, that's for sure. A warrior. Well, I am going to leave these here to be washed. I would recommend washing them separately to keep them from contaminating anything else."
"Of course, Noaidi. I will take care of them." Gran-gran said, taking the cloth from Noaidi and heading over to a smaller pot to begin sterilizing them. She is safe now and that's all that matters. No use in worrying about what could have happened.
"Thank you, Kanna." Noaidi turned to leave, "Oh, and Katara. Korra should be ready for a visitors soon if you would like to come by and talk to her."
"Really?!" Noaidi nodded with a smile on her lips at my question, "I'll be over as soon as I'm done." I couldn't wait to see Korra, to actually talk to her. I really hope she's a waterbender. I wonder if she would teach me some waterbending. I couldn't help but get excited about having a real waterbending teacher.
I was hanging the last piece of clothing to dry in the igloo, I was finally done. I can go see Korra now! I crawled out of the igloo before hurrying towards Noaidi's healing tent. The snow crunched under my boots as I ran, reaching her tent within seconds. I stopped just before the entrance, my stomach doing flips as I reached for the front flap.
"Ahh, Katara. I was wondering when you were going to get here." I heard Noaidi say from inside the tent. "Well, come on in." I took a deep breath before entering the tent. I looked around and found Korra in the same spot as yesterday, only she was sitting up and I could tell she looked a lot better, her eyes didn't have as dark of circles under them, her eyes shining a little brighter. She held a cup of what I assumed to be water in her hands, probably to help hydrate her after the venom removal treatment. The furs were still over her lap, but she was bundled in a parka instead of her tank top that dad found her in. She looked at me with an unusual expression on her face, almost like she was trying to figure out who I was.
"Hi, I'm Katara. But I already told you that yesterday… Umm…" I twisted my gloved hands in front of me as I tried to think of something to say. Why was I so nervous? I was able to talk to her yesterday without a problem...
"Well, I'm Korra, but I told you that yesterday too, so I guess we are even." I looked back up at her, she had a grin on her face. I suddenly felt much better, "Have a seat, it'll be better than standing hunched at the entrance of the tent." She patted the spot next to her with one of her hands.
I nodded, moving to take a seat and removing the hood of my parka. "So, how are you feeling?"
"Better I guess… stuff still hurts, but that's what happened when you get into a fight." She sighed, "My legs don't want to cooperate with me right now, and that's a bit frustrating."
"They won't... cooperate? With you?"
She only sighed, looking back down to her legs with a frown, "I can't feel anything below my knees."
She can't feel anything- Oh my gosh! Does that mean she- she can't walk? I felt rage and sorrow fighting for dominance within my mind at her comment.
"Do- uh... do you think you could walk eventually?" I asked. I didn't mean to sound rude or ignorant, but I'm pretty sure that's how it sounded.
"I don't know..." She seemed to only be able to stare at her legs from under the furs.
"I think, with the right therepy and technices that it could be possible." Noaidi spoke up, "But we won't know until we try."
"Really? You- you think I could walk again?" Korra looked up at our healer, hope in her eyes.
"Yes, but you have to be willing to get better, I can only guide you to the door. You're the one that has to walk through it." What's that supposed to mean? Korra seemed to understand though, so maybe I just wasn't old enough to get it.
"So... Was it the Fire Nation that did this to you?" I asked, changing the subject while remembering the cloth that Noaidi brought us to sterilize and clean.
"What?" She looked up at me confused, furrowing her eyebrows and frowning while in deep thought.
"The Fire Nation. It's just a guess though, but it would make sense with the war and everything." I explained. It made sense to me at least.
"I- I don't really remember… But I guess that makes sense." She stated, looking back down at her cup.
"Well, you're safe here. So if they try to come back we'll protect you." I smiled proudly, though I caught the look Noaidi gave me, I tried to hide the sheepish look on my face. I don't think Korra saw it, and I don't know if we could actually protect her, but I wasn't going to let her know that.
"Thanks." She smiled, before thinking about something. I waited in silence waiting to see if she was going to say something. "So… Noaidi says that you're a waterbender?"
"Yea! Well, I'm the only one in the South Pole. I'm not very good thought…" I explained, watching her smile falter slightly, "Are you a waterbender?" I couldn't help but ask. I really hoped she was one. Her expression dropped as she looked away, and so did my heart as she responded.
"No. I- I'm not able to waterbend." She sounded so sad, I could have sworn there were tears beginning to form in her eyes.
"Oh…" I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up like I did, but I really wanted her to be one so I wasn't the only one that was different here. We sat in silence while Noaidi was mixing something together, watching our exchange carefully. She seemed to sense the gloomy mood that had taken over with that comment.
"But… I have studied bending my whole life, and my dad was a waterbender." I looked back at her, hope surging through my chest. "I could… try to teach you what I know." I nodded my head enthusiastically. She only chuckled at my reaction.
"That will have to wait until Korra is feeling better." We both turned to look at Noaidi, she was moving back towards us, another mixture in her hands as she handed it to Korra. I leading away from the stuff as I scrunched up my nose at the smell. Korra did the same thing while reaching for the cup, trading it for the water cup she had in her hands, letting Noaidi hold it.
"Well… bottoms up." She grimaced as she plugged her nose and chugged the medicine. She started coughing the second she has swallowed it all. Noaidi took the medicine cup from her and handed her the water cup, which Korra greedily drank.
"That stuff is still nasty." She shivered, trying to hold back a gaging sound, and I couldn't blame her, it smelled gross so tasting it must have been bad.
"Yes well, it will help you get better, prevent infections from spreading due to your snake bite." Noaidi said, her back turned to us as went to clean the cup.
"I guess so… recovery sucks." I giggled at her pout, Korra cracked a small smile at my expense before yawning.
"Well, that seems like enough excitement for one day. Korra should get some more rest, she still has a long way to go before she is healed." Noaidi stated, turning back towards the two of us.
"Okay… Well, I can come back tomorrow. Right?" I asked, looking to Korra before turning back to the village healer.
"Of course." Noaidi smiled.
"Yeah, being stuck in this tent is kinda boring. No offense, Noaidi." She only smiled at Korra's response.
"Of course not. You seem like the restless type, typical for a fighter such as yourself." Korra only grinned at the response, puffing up her chest a little at the praise.
"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow Korra." I stood up, replacing my hood and waved before leaving the tent. I walked aimlessly, still happy that I was going to learn some waterbending from Korra. Well, she wasn't a waterbender, but she knew some things about waterbending so I guess that counts. Right?
"Katara?" I looked up at the sound.
"Dad?" I watched as he moved closer to me, looking behind me at the healing tent.
"Did you visit our guest?"
"Yeah. Her name is Korra. Noaidi says she's getting better, but still has a long way to go before she's all better, but…" I grinned up at him, not able to hide my excitement, "She knows some waterbending moves and she says that she's going to teach me! Isn't that amazing?"
He chuckled, "Yes that sounds like it will be fun." He rested his hand on my shoulder, "I'm glad there is someone who can help you with your waterbending. It will be nice to have another waterbender in the tribe."
"That's just great! More people to get me wet with that stupid spirit water magic." Sokka growled, appearing out of nowhere.
"Sokka." My dad warned. Sokka only crossed his arms.
"What? Every time Katara practices, I get wet. Now with two waterbenders I'll never be dry." He huffed, thowing his arms in the air with a bit of a dramatic flare.
"Oh… ummm, she's not a waterbender." I frowned as I looked at Sokka, who only looked somewhat relieved at that fact before walking off to do who knows what.
"She's not a waterbender?" I looked back to my dad, he looked at me confused by my statement.
"No. Her dad was a waterbender, and she used to watch him practice. Plus, she has studied bending her whole life, so she can teach me some of the stuff she learned!" I explained, "But it will be so cool. I'll finally learn some real waterbending!"
"Hmmm… well, either way, I'm sure you two will have some fun together." He smiled, I could tell he was happy for me. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to speak to Noaidi about our guest, Korra, right?"
I nodded when he said her name correctly. I wandered aimlessly around the village until I decided to go outside the camp and work on some of my waterbending until dinner. I didn't want to look like a complete failure in front of Korra for the first time. I know I told her that I wasn't very good, but that was sugar coating my abilities. I was down right garbage at waterbending. I sighed as I took up my normal stance and tried to move the water in a wave-like formation.
"Hakoda, glad you could stop by." I heard Noaidi say, "Korra just finished talking to Katara so I don't know how awake she will be." I turned to see a large man standing at the entrance of the tent, he was a middle-aged man with brown hair and blue eyes. His hair was long with some ancestral decorations on his left dread tails. He was a larger man, but not bigger than my own father when he was wearing his own furs and skins.
"That is quite alright, Noaidi. I just wanted to ask her a few questions, get to know our new guest." He smiled, before turning to face me. I was a little tired, but I felt well enough to talk to the chief.
"Hello, Korra. I'm Chief Hakoda. I'm the one that found you in the snow the other day." He said, moving closer to me, "Would you mind if I sat down?"
"Not at all." I smiled back as he took a seat. "Thank you, for saving me."
"Of course, I was worried you weren't going to make it. I'm glad to see that I was wrong."
"Me too." Was I really that close to dying? I couldn't help but shiver at the thought. "So… You're the chief. Katara's dad?" I asked, examining him closely. I could see some of the family resemblances between Katara and her father.
"Yes, I am. Katara has not stopped talking about you. She's really excited to learn some waterbending from you." He said, gauging my reaction. I frowned, looking back down to my legs. "That being said, I do need to warn you about the dangers of waterbending here. My daughter is the last waterbender here in the South Pole for a reason. The Fire Nation have raided the South Pole trying to eliminate all the waterbenders, and they have not bothered us for about four years now only because they believe that there are no waterbenders down here."
"Sir…" I looked at him, I wanted to tell him that I would never betray them, but that died in my throat as he continued as if I never said anything.
"My wife, Kya, gave her life to keep Katara safe from them, and if you put her life, or the lives of the tribe, in danger from these practice sessions I will not hesitate to throw you back out into the snow where we found you." He glared at me, the seriousness of the tone causing me to gulp. I didn't exactly want to go back out into the frozen tundra's of the South Pole, especially since I can't exactly walk at the moment.
"I would never do anything to hurt her. I promise." I looked him in the eyes as I responded, hoping the confidence that I wanted to project actually came across.
"Thank you." He breathed out in relief, "I'm sorry if that came across the wrong way, but we have already suffered enough at the hands of the Fire Nation, and I don't want to lose anyone else in my family, and by that extension, my tribe to them if I can prevent it."
"I understand, sir. But as much as I would love to help Katara with her bending, I can't do so until I can walk again. I… I can't feel anything below my knees at the moment. I don't know how long it will be until the feeling returns, but I will do what I can." I was free of the poison, but everything below the knee was numb, and I couldn't figure out why.
"Hmmm… That is troubling. Could it be from the Mink venom?" He asked turning to look at the healer.
"I'm not sure, but from the cloths I pulled off of her, there was something else that was in her system along with the venom. I didn't recognize it, and we believe it could be from the Fire Nation."
Hakoda hummed in response, deep in thought. I didn't like the idea of lying, but it was already bad that I was here in the past. I still don't know how I got here of why I was here, but saying anything about the future could have drastic consequences. Even I knew that. Hell, it could prevent me from being born. I like my life, despite how much it sucks right now…
"If this is a new tactic from the Fire Nation, then we will need to be much more careful when we head into battle with them." He looked back to me, there was a form of pain shining in his eyes. He was hiding something from the tribe, or was trying to decide how to tell everyone… The war. I breathed in, Of course, how could I forget. He has to leave to fight in the war. That's why he was so harsh about me training Katara, because he won't be there to protect her if something were to happen after they leave. I exhaled as I understood his tone and expression. I reached out and grabbed his hand, looking into his eyes, I could see that he understood that I wouldn't let anything happen to his family while he was gone.
I would do everything I could to help Katara and Sokka be prepared for the future.
Well, that happened... I'm not sure if I like this chapter, but that could just be because I don't know enough about Hakoda to write him well enough. He didn't have enough screen time in the show, but I like him as the goofy but protective father type. This chapter gave more of the protective and serious side of him, but yeah... Other than that, I feel like the chapter came out well.
So I already have most of the next chapter written, so maybe it will be out early, but we will see.
Thanks to all the additional follows and reviews! You guys rock! See you all next chapter! :D