Discoveries

The black specs floated through the sky, as if it were an ominous snow, but the chief and his fellow tribesmen fought on. This had been a natural system for warning them of an incoming raid, but now only served to infuriate them. They fought to no avail, perhaps they had been distracting them instead of actually trying to raid them, but all they could think about currently was staying alive and fighting. After several minutes of fighting with no real damage to either side, the red invaders started to retreat, an odd move considering that they were starting to overpower the warriors.

The chief stood in the deep snow where he had been fighting, his curiosity rising due to the odd circumstance. Something was very wrong with this picture, they had done no serious damage to them even they could have easily done so, then they just walk away. His thoughts had been confirmed when his daughter ran up to him.

"Dad, mom is in trouble!" she said, panting from sprinting several hundred yards through mushy snow.

His heart sank as he realized that they were decoys. With adrenaline still rushing, he rushed back to his igloo only to find that it was completely empty. He looked around, searching for any possible clues but didn't find anything out of the ordinary except for the fact that his wife was no where to be found. The place seemed much emptier than it did when she was there, but not as empty as his heart was starting to feel. Except for the betrothal necklace that he had dawned upon her after being given to him from his mother. He quickly deposited it in his pocket.

His daughter finally arrived at the house, since she was only eight she wasn't very big, meaning she couldn't run as fast. She had a look of confusion as she observed the same details that he had. Then she had a thought that would make matters even more grim than they were presently, but she had to say it anyway. "Dad, where's Sokka?"


Sokka woke up, confused for a few moments about being in a dim candle-lit room that was entirely to hot until the memories from last night surged back to him. He stumbled out of bed, deciding that he should at least get some fresh air. As he was about to walk out the door, he looked back upon the room and noticed the chest that he could only assume was his. Sniffing his own clothes, he discovered that the smell of arctic seal had finally set in from yesterday's lunch. He walked back to the chest to look inside, but unsurprisingly did not find anything. He walked out of the room and traced back his footsteps from last night, eventually arriving at the bridge.

"Good Agni... What is that awful stench?!" The captain of the ship almost immediately after he walked in the door. The captain looked behind him to find the little boy standing just inside of the doorway. All that Sokka could think is, he did not look happy.

After about five minutes of the captain's eyes nearly popping out of his skull, shouting at him about how he is supposed to be a prisoner, his stench being able to take out an entire army, and various privates walking through the bridge giving him apologetic looks, he was finally released to go out onto the deck, he had oddly enough wanted the ordeal to go on longer because he was quite comical without intending to. From what he could tell from the windows of the bridge and now, the days were now starting to pronounce themselves. It was an odd concept that the sun was becoming high in the sky unlike what he was used to, which was nearly touching the horizon for half of the year before disappearing for the other half.

He had never been outside of his tribe, he had only heard about the rest of the world from some of the elders. He had also not been on a ship like this before or even believed in the art of bending. His sister's bending only seemed like magic to him because it seemed surreal, but after seeing fire bending from the soldiers that were attacking his village, he had finally believed it. It's funny how quickly he got thrown into a completely separate world from his, yet they were not separate at all. Thinking about it all at once was a bit too much for Sokka to handle at one time and he soon began to hyperventilate.

Sokka thought back to his tribe, and to a particular time with his mother. She looked down, with her ocean blue eyes, at him and his sister and tried calming them down when their father went on his first hunt since they were born. She said, "Whenever everything changes around, just focus on what is familiar, like yourself, and breathe deeply and slowly."

He thought about how similar he was to when he was with his mother and now, and his breathing instinctively slowed down. Sokka wasn't sure where his mother had learned this, or if she even had to learn this, but to him, she was one of the smartest women that he knew. This didn't mean much since his only comparison was the rest of the tribe, but to him, it meant the world.

He walked around the deck, only receiving an occasional glance by random soldiers who were walking by. The whole place was foreign to him, however he tried to remain as calm as possible, repeating his mother's lesson repeatedly in his head. He wandered through every part of the ship except for the individual sleeping cabins, trying to wrap his head around all of the things about his temporary home and what has and would happen to him. His conclusion was very grim and unwelcoming to him, he wouldn't be able to see his family or home for a long time, if ever, and this place would never be considered a home. He technically chose to get on to the ship, but these events were never his intention, nor were they his doing, therefore this very ship, and these very people stole him away from the only life he knew.

When the sun nearly dipped below the horizon, he finally went back to his room, positive that there was absolutely nothing to do for a kid in his situation and he was already knew thinking was not going to help his dire situation. So he vanished into his sleeping quarters, taking a newly discovered route that led from the deck to the cabins so he didn't suffer the wrath of the captain again, even though it was rather humorous.

As he walked through the door, he discovered he was not alone. The Lieutenant hadn't been there very long though, because he had only taken off his mask. He had an appearance of what a traditional fire nation citizen had, at least from the descriptions he had been given; pale skin, golden eyes, and raven hair. He had a look of surprise as he wasn't expecting the door to open.

"I didn't think I would see you again, I've been looking all throughout the ship and couldn't find you." Sokka said, with a slight worry to his tone.

"You saw me in the bridge earlier, when the captain was yelling at you, that place still smells like a fish market; this place is starting to smell like it too." He said, nearly laughing, throwing Sokka off completely because of his previous seriousness, but then realizing this room was about to become the same way.

"You should have changed into the clothes that were in your trunk." He said like it was so obvious that he were looking at directions for it.

Sokka walked over to his trunk without saying a word and opened it for the Lieutenant to see that nothing occupied it.

"That would explain why, come with me and I'll get you some clothes with less... powerful smell." The Lieutenant placed his helmet back on, then carried the empty chest out of the door with ease while Sokka followed him. They soon arrived at the lowest deck, the storage deck. When they walked down the stairs, they were immediately greeted by an inventory tracker, who immediately walked around his desk to stand at attention since he was only a private.

"At ease." said Lieutenant, to which the private relaxed.

"How may I be of assistance Lieutenant?" said the other man in uniform.

He showed the empty crate to the man, to which the private frowned. He then pointed at Sokka and said, "That awful stench you are smelling right now is him, he needs new clothes."

"I'm sorry, but he is a prisoner and isn't even allowed to be out of a cell, let alone given clothes. I cannot fulfill that order." He said, his apologetic tone wasn't very convincing.

The Lieutenant in one swift motion pushed the man aggressively onto the desk, pinning him down. In an angered, homicidal tone, with gritted teeth he said, "I am your superior, you will do what I say, now get the kid some clothes before you regret refusing him clothes." He then let him go, stepping back to let him get up.

"I'll see if I can find something." The private said, like he had just seen a ghost. It even frightened Sokka a bit. The inventory tracker walked off like a dog with its tail between its legs. The Lieutenant was not one to become enemies with, because such a foolish decision could prove lethal.