Hey again.

Another chapter of the story. Wooohoo!!

R & R please.

And I still don't own Avatar...

Chapter 2: Steamed Red Bean Porridge

Hagoda and Bato seated themeselves across from each other at the table and patiently waited for Mayoli to serve them breakfast. Mayoli scooped some steamed red bean porridge from a large pot into four separate bowls. She brought the four bowls to the table and put a bowl in front of both Bato and Hagoda. After doing this, she set the two remaining bowls across from each other at the remaining spots.

"Katara! You gonna eat?" Mayoli called.

"Coming mother!" came a voice from down the hallway. "Gimmie a minute!"

"Hurry up before it cools down. I don't want to have to heat it up again!"

"Coming!!"

Mayoli pulled her chair out and seated herself at the table and joined the two men. She looked towards her husband who was downing the porridge with much gusto. Hagoda quickly finished his first bowl and went back to the pot to get some more.

Hagoda sat back down and literally inhaled the second bowl. "Mmmm, this is excellent Mayoli! What do you call this steamed porridge with red beans in it?"

Katara came into the room and looked at the table. She smiled as she noticed what was in the bowl. "Mom! You made your steamed red bean porridge! It's my favorite!"

"Oh. Is that what it's called?" Hagoda asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"Oh c'mon dad. You've had this before. Mom makes it a lot. Anyways, what's up Bato?"

Bato sat back in his chair with an empty bowl in front of him. "Nothing really Katara. How have you been doing without Sokka around?"

"I can tell you it's a lot quieter. And there's a lot more leftovers around. Although most of the leftovers are eaten right away by dad." They both looked over to see Hagoda actually eating from the pot this time. Katara continued, "Although I do miss him a little. I hope he's doing okay. Have you heard anything about him yet?"

"No, I haven't, but like I told your father, Sokka is well capable of taking care of himself. He knows how to make good decisions..." Seeing a puzzled look on Katara's face, he added, "…even though sometimes he goes off the trail a little bit."

"That's good. I just hope he makes it back all in one piece."

Bato gave Katara a pat on the back. "Sokka is going to be fine. I'll bet he's coming home right now with a success and a big smile on his face."

Sokka was indeed coming home, but with anything but success and what was on his face was definitely not a smile. Sokka was tired and weary from his battle. He couldn't help but mumble over and over…

"I'm a failure. I let down my dad. I let down my tribe…I'm a failure.

He took out his boomerang and repeatedly threw it into the haze of the snow only to have it come back. In time, his hands grew sore and he stopped throwing the boomerang and stowed it back in his pack on his back. He trudged on with his head down. His eyes were fixed on his feet; One after another, they appeared, leaving a trail of footprints in the pure white snow behind him.

Sokka marched on for what seemed like an eternity. Occasionally, he would look up from his feet to see if anything was different or worth paying attention to. The landscape never changed. White in front, white behind, even the sky was covered by a thick white blanket of soft snow. Disgusted by the whiteness of everything, he looked back down.

As time passed, it became harder and harder for him to stay awake. Due to the white terrain, things seemed like they would never end. After some time, his feet were getting pretty boring to. He closed his eyes for a short moment. Black. With a sudden jerk, he snapped his eyes back open. White. Once again he shut his eyes. Black again. What am I going to do with myself? he thought. Sokka gave a long sigh and opened his eyes again. Grey?

For a moment, he couldn't believe what was being placed in front of him. Sokka slowly came to a halt as he took in the new color that met his eyes. What is this grey stuff? He ran his fingers through the discolored snow.

"Soot?"

His eyes darted from the ash colored snow on the ground to the sky. The falling blanket of white snow he once knew was now being replaced by a combination of ash and snow. But where is it coming from? As if fueled by some ethereal force, Sokka started running. Something was going on, and it definitely wasn't good.

Hagoda had successfully finished the remainder of the red bean porridge much to the satisfaction of Mayoli. He pushed back his chair and patted his now full belly. "Alright then Mayoli. Thank you for the wonderful breakfast. We thoroughly enjoyed it, but we best return back to the ship."

Mayoli put all the bowls into the emptied pot and brought it to the washing basin. "Oh no problem. It was nice seeing you again Bato. You boys have fun fixing that ship."

Katara almost jumped out of her seat as she quickly said, "Hey dad, do you think I could come with you two?"

Both men looked at the 14 year old girl with a puzzled expression shared between them.

"I just want to have a look around."

Before the Bato or Hagoda could say anything, Mayoli cut in, "I don't see what's wrong with that. Go ahead Katara; just don't bug the rest of the men too much with your waterbending."

"Oh mom! Do you think you could teach me some waterbending moves some time?"

"I'm a little busy right now Katara, but maybe later in the day."

"Cool!"

"Anyways, are you coming Katara?" Hagoda asked.

"You bet!"

She bounded to the door where the Bato and Hagoda were standing and the three of them walked out through the entrance way and into the courtyard of the little water tribe village. Playing in the courtyard were many young children no older than eight years old. Any thoughts of them playing a snow building game was quickly wiped away as they all started throwing snowballs at each other in s wild frenzy. Keeping close watch over the children was Kana, the grandmother of Sokka and Katara.

Katara looked over in her grandmother's direction and quickly remembered that she still had to tell her the great news of her own waterbending success. Katara tapped her father on his shoulder and asked, "Is it okay if I tell Gran Gran of my waterbending really quickly? It shouldn't take too long."

"Go ahead Katara, we have plenty of time," Hagoda said with an understanding voice.

Katara took off in her grandmother's direction and had to slow down when she arrived at the snowball fight. It was unneeded though for as soon as all the children saw her come by, the all stopped chucking snow at each other and in unison cheered. They all stood up from their snow forts and huddled around Katara, not letting her pass.

"Katara! Look at my snow fort!"

"No! Mine is better!"

"But I have more snowballs in my fort!"

"You know what I think?" Katara cut in suddenly.

All the children stopped talking at once and stared at Katara as if she were going to start an important speech.

"I think all your forts are better than any of the houses your fathers built."

Once again, all the children cheered and were eager to return home later to tell their fathers how their house building technique was no match for an eight year old's fort.

Katara was finally able to reach her Gran Gran to tell her the great news.

"Guess what Gran Gran?" Katara said with much enthusiasm.

"Sokka returned?" Gran Gran asked with much hope.

"Not yet. But, I actually waterbended today!"

"That's even better news!" she replied with a sarcastic chuckle. "Good for you!"

"Well, I'll talk to you later then Gran Gran! I'm gonna go with Dad and Bato to repair that ship."

Gran Gran looked Katara in the eyes. "Don't hurt yourself doing that, but have fun."

Katara ran back to her father (but not before getting a third round of cheers) and said, "Let's go!" Bato and Hagoda both nodded their heads in agreement and the three of them proceeded to walk out of the main village.

They arrived at the dock soon afterward. By now, the damaged boards in the front of the ship were being replaced by newer ones. The new bowsprit was also ready to be put on and was now to the side of the ship. There was a group of men gathered around an area near the ship. Hagoda was drawn to the scene quickly. They all seemed to be discussing something very important. He approached the men with Bato and Katara tailing close behind.

"What seems to be the problem?" Hagoda asked as people moved aside to let the three newcomers join.

The men quieted down as someone started explaining the situation. "Oh Hagoda! Sayon says the he saw grey snow falling to the east!"

Obviously surprised, Hagoda was inclined to ask, "Grey snow? Where would snow be coming from in this part of the world?" He turned to face Sayon as did everyone else in the group.

As a shyer man who doesn't usually get much attention, Sayon appeared rather shaken being the center of attention for so long. He gulped as he recollected the story once more. "I swear it's true Hagoda. Saw it with my own eyes; Grey snow." He looked towards Hagoda. Seeing his dissatisfied face, he continued. "And it wasn't gradual either. For a moment, it was just a white blanket falling from the sky, but suddenly, grey flakes joined the white ones! And the crazy thing is… they grey flakes wouldn't melt! I gathered some of the white snow in my hand and the white snow melted away to a puddle! The grey ones just floated around the puddle and slowly dirtied up the water!"

"Soot."

"What?" everyone asked looking puzzled.

Hagoda cleared his throat. "You just described what happens when soot is mixed with snow," he stated. "But falling from the sky? Who could create a fire to send all of that in the ai…"

A loud blaring horn interrupted Hagoda. At that moment, everyone on the dock stopped what ever they were doing and turned their heads in the direction where the sound came from. The people were all transfixed at the open water. Some looked scared and others confused.

Breaking the silence, Hagoda cleared his throat again as he said what everyone was thinking. "That's definitely not a merchant ship. It's definitely not any ship I've heard of either."

Not far away from the village was Sokka. He was currently in the process of rushing home to tell the tribe of the grey snowfall. When he heard the horn sound, he momentarily stopped, but the blaring sound only jumpstarted his desperate attempt the race back. Clearly fatigued and tired from his long run, Sokka knew in his mind he had to get back…quickly. He picked up his pace and hoped for the best that nothing bad would happen before he got back to the village.
"Then what is it?" asked a bewildered worker.

"Definitely not Water Tribe," someone piped up.

Many people nodded in agreement. Another fact was stated. "The Earth Kingdom almost never comes at this time of year!"

There was a hum of excitement, others sounded worried as they all discussed the possibilities. A lone fisherman that looked pretty concerned started ranting. "And since when do Earth Kingdom ships have blaring horns on their ships. Something smells pretty fishy around here..." He trailed off as he noticed the people staring at him. "And not because I'm a fisherman!!"

Hagoda knew now was the time to intervene. He stepped onto a crate and looked down upon the mass of people in front of him. He raised his hands to calm everyone down. "Everyone! Do not panic! We don't even know if the ship is headed our way. I wouldn't make any negative assumptions about this at the moment."

He stepped down from his crate and walked over to Bato and Katara. Bato gave him a nod as if saying "good job". Katara said in a hushed tone, "What do you think it is dad?"

Hagoda looked at her daughter with a sad look. "I'm not sure Katara. But I have a hunch we'll wait and find out."

"Do you think it could be pirates?" asked Bato?

"I doubt it's pirates. Even in stories, I've never heard of any pirates that would travel this far to plunder. Besides, what do we have that's valuable?"

"You're right," Bato replied, "but I'm fearing it might be a lot bigger than pirates."

Suddenly, a yell drowned out all conversation. "SOMETHING'S COMING!"

Once again, everyone turned to face the water. Sure enough, a black outline slowly became clearer as the ship came closer to the dock. Slowly, two more ships seemed to appear behind the lead one. The people of the water tribe slowly took a couple steps backward. Paying no attention to the dock, they three ships blew right through the wood and ice and came to a halt. A steam pressure gauge sounded as the stern of three ships lowered down exposing a tunnel of blackness. A walkway was created out from the ship and into the open. Out of the first ship came a man followed by four more. They appeared to be shoulders due to the heavy armor and face masks they were wearing. As the five soldiers stepped off the walkway, Hagoda stepped out in front of them.

"What is the meaning of this!" Hagoda demanded. "What do you think you're doing here!?"

The soldier in front stepped forward and took out a scroll. In a loud, harsh voice, he spoke. "The land you are now residing on… is now in possession of the Fire Nation!"

Excellent, alright. Tell me what you think!

Because I'm still debating if I should write more or not.

lordcheeezzee