It was cold out. Of course, being in the South Pole, that was to be expected, but still. And it didn't help to be floating out on the ocean, with a lot of ice surrounding you, instead of inside, under a few furs, in the warmth.
Urgh. Oh hey, that was a really big chunk of ice, little chunk, bigger chunk, and close enough to touch but tiny chunk. Hey! If you tilted your head juuuuust right and squinted, that one looks like a polar-dog! Kinda, okay maybe just a little bit. Or maybe not at all.
Aang let out a gusty sigh and allowed his to chin thud down on the edge of the canoe in between his forearms. Sneaking a glance at the front, Aang watched his brother Zuko lean over the side of the canoe with a spear in hand; ignoring him.
"Hey Zuko," Aang groaned, flopping back against the opposite side of the canoe.
"Let me guess you're bored and want to go home," Zuko said dryly, finally looking back at him.
"Yeah," Aang admitted. "So, when are we going home?" he added hopefully.
"Soon," Zuko promised. "Just a few more fish. It'll go faster if you help, you know." With that, he turned back to scanning the waters around him.
Aang sighed and started looking around himself. Almost immediately a flicker of movement caught his eye. Looking out, he saw it, a fish! He opened his mouth to shout to his brother and alert him when a thought occurred to the young waterbender, and he paused a moment, before deliberately tugging off his gloves and turning back to the fish. Carefully, he started to swish his hands back and forth, tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth as his brow furrowed in concentration. Slowly, with a few false starts, a bubble of water rose out of the ocean, with the fish inside.
Excited, he whipped around. "Hey Zuko—!" splash! ". . . Sorry," he apologized.
Zuko glared at him, dripping wet and annoyed. Slowly and deliberately he reached back to squeeze the water out of his wolftail. "I thought you were going to be more careful," he said carefully. Trying not to yell at Aang, even though he really wanted to, Aang knew.
Aang deflated. "Sorry," he said again. "I just wanted to show you the fish I'd caught. With my waterbending," he added, with a touch of pride. It just went to show, Waterbending could be used for more than just splashing people!
"Next time, don't show me by shoving it in my face," Zuko advised irritably, and then let out a sigh. "Well, I'm soaked; it's freezing, so we'd better start heading home."
Maybe Aang could help them get home faster with his waterbending! He started to open his mouth to suggest that, when Zuko cut him off before he could even start. "No, no more waterbending for today. It's bad enough that I'm soaked; we don't need you swamping the canoe on top of that," Zuko grumbled, switching out his spear for a paddle and swiping it through the water.
Aang sighed and leaned back, crossing his arms and scowling. How was he supposed to get better if he didn't practice? Humph. Maybe, if he was careful Zuko would think he was just helping paddle. . .
First, Aang set to watching his brother as he dipped his oar in and out of the water in smooth, even strokes. Carefully, so as not to start bending yet, Aang figured out some movements that should move the water in the same way Zuko was. Now that he had it, Aang grinned and leaned over the side and gave an enthusiastic shove.
A bit too enthusiastic, in fact, as the canoe spun slightly, slamming into a nearby ice floe, and knocking them into a fast flowing current.
Whoops.
Aang gripped the sides of the canoe, feeling his heart pound as Zuko frantically tried to keep them from slamming into the chunks of ice they were hurtling towards.
"Aang! What did I just say about waterbending!" Zuko shouted, hurriedly paddling away from any nearby ice mass.
"Can we talk about this later?!" Aang yelled back, flinching as they barely evaded scraping along a particularly sharp ice floe.
"NO!" Zuko bellowed back, still using the suddenly more breakable paddle to keep from crashing into the ice, sending them fishtailing into another berg with a crunch. Thankfully the canoe held... for all of two seconds until the other one came smashing into the other side of the boat. The two boys scrambled up on top of it, just in time to see their small boat snap into two. Aang found himself falling on his face and sliding, giving out a cry of surprise and fear before stopping just before landing in the icy water below.
He scrambled backwards sitting next to Zuko and panting from exertion. They sat in silence for a moment, catching their breath from the frantic rush of a few moments ago.
"Well, this is wonderful, how are we supposed to get home now?" Zuko finally asked, one part annoyed, two parts tired.
Aang gave a nervous laugh. "Maybe I could bend us home?" he suggested timidly.
Zuko glared at him. "Waterbending is what got us into this mess, and you want to use it again to get us out?"
". . . Yes?" Aang ventured carefully.
Zuko looked at him for a second longer, before switching to gazing out over the ocean around them thoughtfully, before giving a gusty sigh. "Just don't splash me," he grudgingly said.
Aang smiled brightly and got to his feet, looking around to get his bearings, and then faced towards their village. "Here goes!" he announced, using the same motions he had to move the canoe earlier.
Nothing happened.
Crack!
Until the glacier behind them broke.
The brothers turned to stare at the glacier, jagged cracks starting at the top and going down, down, branching off to the side and snapping a large chunk of it off, which slid down into the ocean below.
There was a moment of silence.
"Now you're breaking glaciers?!" Zuko exploded. "This was a horrible idea, whoever thought it wasn't is an idiot and deserves whatever they get!"
"Sorry, do you want me to stop?" Aang asked, slightly dejected that his bending was still causing problems.
"No!" Zuko snapped back, crossing his arms and scowling darkly.
His brother was so changeable, Aang decided as he faced forwards again. Maybe he hadn't put enough effort into it last time; here, he'd do it better this time.
The glacier completely shattered this time, sending out a large wave in every direction that nearly sent Aang off their ice floe. As it was, Zuko had to grab him to keep him from falling off.
"Okay, no more waterbending for today," Zuko announced, practically growling at his sheepish younger brother. "And I mean it this time!"
"I guess we could just paddle our way back," Aang conceded reluctantly.
Zuko was about to answer him, when a blue light began to glow from beneath them, bubbling slightly, before exploding into the glowing blue glacier right in front of them.
"Whoa," Aang murmured in shock as the glow settled and he could see inside of it. Two shapes were inside it, and one of them looked like a glowing person! Wait a minute, it was a person! And they just opened their eyes too!
"Zuko look!" Aang cried, leaning forwards. "We gotta help him!" Before Zuko could react, Aang had grabbed his club and was bounding across the ice lying in a convenient path from their little floe to the giant glacier nearby.
"We don't know who that is! He could be dangerous!" Zuko shouted after him, before reluctantly following his little brother, not wanting him to go alone. Aang ignored him, pounding away at the ice until seconds after Zuko arrived behind him it exploded in a giant ball of blue light.
It was peaceful. Calm and still. The wisps of heat were in front of her, rising and falling in time with her breathing. Not the air around, lacking in any warmth. Not the wooden deck, holding slight warmth that was gone from the freezing rails. Not the masses of energy moved about, a steady ba-bump, ba-bump sending flushes of energy throughout their bodies. Not the mass of heat and energy just beyond that, sitting across from her and mirroring her pose of sitting strait with crossed legs, hands resting on knees.
The Fire Princess Toph took a deep breath along with her uncle, General Bumi. The candle flames leapt higher, and she 'saw' the cold from the air flow inward, circulating inside them before it was warm enough to be indistinguishable from the rest of them. Exhaling, she saw the warmth from inside them hissing out from their mouths, quickly dissipating in the cold air.
Just as she was inhaling once again, something very strange tickled the edge of her 'sight'. It was large explosion of energy, but there was no heat to it. "Uncle?" Toph broke the silence of their meditation. "Did you see that?"
"The bright blue glowy beam shooting up into the sky? I do now," Bumi said, leaning towards it curiously. "Hm, strange light, glowing, in the South Pole. . . Must be a new super-secret Water Tribe weapon!" he declared, nodding.
"Ha! If those peasants have made something that can do that, I'm Earth Kingdom," Toph scoffed. "But, it's worth investigating, wouldn't you say Uncle? Helmsman!" she barked, "set course thataway!" while pointing at the strange energy. She grinned, leaning back and placing her hands on the deck. "It might even have something to do with the Avatar!" she let out a little laugh of excitement. "Wouldn't that be something?"
"Oh, it certainly would!" Bumi agreed, his life-heat kicking up slightly. Probably from excitement, like hers was.
"C'mon," Toph said, getting to her feet, "Let's put this away and do some training. I want to be ready if I'm going to have to fight," she added with a vicious grin.
Her Uncle let out a snorting cackle, and Toph joined in with her own clear laugh. Today, she would kick butt!
Once the light cleared, Zuko and Aang had gotten to their feet cautiously, Zuko shoving Aang behind him as he grabbed his spear. Whatever was going to happen, he wanted to be ready. They looked up, Aang letting out a small gasp as the boy from the iceberg stood above them, staring down at them with glowing eyes.
And then he collapsed at their feet in a boneless pile.
Zuko stared at him as Aang peered around him. "Do you think he's okay?" Aang inquired, worried.
The boy snored and Zuko jumped.
"He sounds like it." Zuko grit his teeth; that had come out a lot shakier and nervous than he'd meant. Didn't want Aang to think he couldn't handle this. He was the last warrior in the South Pole, he had to be able to handle it.
Aang either didn't notice, or didn't react. "Maybe we should wake him up?" he asked, starting to take another step towards the boy before Zuko stopped him.
Zuko nodded reluctantly. "But you stay back," he warned, edging towards the strange boy. Too strange! Glowing, exploding icebergs, with people alive in them! And he glowed too no less! Ugh, he'd almost rather Aang swamped the canoe than to deal with this. Almost, since if he had, they'd probably have frozen to death.
Cautiously, Zuko poked the strange boy with the blunt end of his spear. The boy snored. Zuko poked him again, and this time a groan came from the awkward pile of limbs, causing them both to jump back.
"No more fruit pies, Appa's gonna get sick," the strange boy mumbled deliriously.
Zuko and Aang glanced at each other, and then back at the boy. Zuko poked him again, electing a giggle and "Stoppit, tickles."
Zuko blew out an exasperated breath, crouching down to shake the boy's shoulder. "Hey, wake up," he said. A loud snore was his answer.
"HEY!" Zuko bellowed irritably, and this time, he got a response. The strange boy shot upright— ten feet in the air! — before landing back down on his butt, flailing about.
"Who— what— PIES!" he screeched incoherently before finally noticing Zuko and Aang.
Zuko had fallen back on his own seat and the sudden flight of the strange boy. They sat there for a moment, staring at each other, with the strange boy occasionally looking over at Aang.
"Hi!" Aang greeted, giving a bright smile and wave. "So, I'm Aang and this is my brother Zuko. Who're you?"
There was a beat of silence, the stranger switching to staring at Aang. Aang continued to smile, although it started to seem more stiff and awkward as the seconds ticked by.
"I'm Sokka," he finally answered, standing up and brushing the snow off his pants. "Where are we?" he asked, looking around with a frown.
"Where do you think?" Zuko muttered sarcastically, getting to his own feet.
"I dunno, the North Pole maybe? I don't remember!" Sokka snapped back, flailing his arms in the air. "And furthermore— Appa!" he suddenly cried, turning to run back up the snow bank, giving little whiney grunts as he climbed up and over.
Zuko paused, blinking at the sudden change of subject. "What's an Appa?!" Zuko yelled after him, scowling as he was ignored. "C'mon Aang, let's go see what he's up to," Zuko suggested, suspicious, heading around to a gap in the snow banks close by.
Guardedly, Zuko edged around to look into the open space and froze, clutching his spear as the biggest monster he'd ever seen tried to eat Sokka alive.
Some strange noise registered over the pounding of blood in his ears. It took another second for him to realize it was laughter. Sokka was laughing.
"Who's a good giant fluff monster?" he baby-talked. "You are! You are my big fluffy monster!" he said with a big dopey grin as he hugged the man-eating monster.
"Cool!" Aang said, darting out from behind Zuko. The elder brother frantically tried to grab his coat, to keep him away from that thing, but he was out of reach before Zuko could. "What is it? I've never seen an animal like this before," the younger asked, reaching out to pet it.
"Aang!" Zuko tried to yell, but it came out a quiet squeak that no one heard. Okay, that was kinda embarrassing. Zuko cleared his throat, and then started edging towards Aang, very cautiously, angling so he could stay as far from the monster as possible.
"This is Appa, my sky bison," Sokka introduced. "Appa, this is Aang."
"Hi Appa!" Aang greeted brightly, giggling as the monster gave a magnificent roar and tasted him.
"And that's Zuko," Sokka added, gesturing towards him. Zuko froze, hand inches away from grabbing Aang's coat as both the beast and his brother turned to face him.
Man and mammal regarded each other for a short eternity, gauging each other's strengths and weaknesses. Zuko projected an air of calm certainty. Don't mess with me. Or my brother, he conveyed with his eyes, his demeanor. The monster seemed to take note of this, his head rearing back slightly. . .
. . . and then it sneezed. On Sokka.
"Ew! Appa!" he whined, thoroughly covered in bison snot. "That was disgusting! Erg," he groaned, settling into some sort of stance. Aang glanced back at him, eyes widening as he ducked. Zuko watched him, confused: what had him startled like that?
He got his answer as a mixture of wind and snot emanating from Sokka blasted into him. What was it with people and soaking him with stuff today!? Okay, to be fair it was only a little on his parka, most of it was scattered on the surrounding snow, but still. Zuko glared at the strange bender, who let out a small, nervous laugh.
"Hey! You're an airbender!" Aang interrupted the (mostly) silent stare down, popping out from behind his makeshift shelter.
"I sure am," Sokka bragged, puffing out his chest and planting his hands on his hips. "In fact, I am one of the youngest masters ever!"
"That's impossible, airbenders are extinct," Zuko protested, crossing his arms.
"Um, hello," Sokka said derisively. "What is it that you would call . . . this?" he declared, brandishing a spinning ball of air in his palm.
Zuko started to retort, but paused, and then started to say something else, before slumping in defeat. Okay, apparently they had found the last airbender in existence. He could accept that. He could.
Sokka grinned, smug in the knowledge that he had won. "So!" he announced, clapping his hands together and sliding them back and forth, "Now that that's settled, which way to your village?"
"Why?" Zuko asked suspiciously, just as Aang pointed and said, "That way." The two looked at each other a moment, Aang puzzled and Zuko annoyed. Why couldn't his brother follow his lead for once? Urgh.
"And how are you planning to get there?" Zuko added, crossing his arms and glaring at the airbender.
Sokka looked at him incredulously. "Um, on Appa?" he suggested, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, flapping his hand at the fluffy monster. "You know; my sky bison."
"Hey, do you think you could give us a ride? Our canoe got kinda smashed," Aang queried, smiling sheepishly.
All right, enough was enough. Zuko grabbed Aang's arm and marched him away from the stranger. "Would you stop blabbing so much?" he hissed, casting a mistrustful glance over his shoulder at the bewildered airbender. "We don't know anything about this guy!"
"Actually, we know he's an airbender," Aang pointed out.
"Aside from that," Zuko ground out. Did Aang have to be so particular? "We don't know how he got in that iceberg, why he was in the South Pole in the first place, or anything. He could be working with the Fire Nation for all we know!" He tried to keep his tone down, observing Sokka once again.
"You don't really think that, do you?" Aang wondered worriedly, unconsciously reaching over and gripping Zuko's arm, casting his own fearful gaze back.
Zuko halted, thinking that over for a second. "No, I don't," he finally answered, to Aang's obvious relief. "But still, we really don't know anything about him, so let me handle this, okay?"
"Okay," Aang agreed, nodding. "But, we're still going to get a ride home from him, right?" he inquired cautiously.
"Might as well, we won't have any way to get home if we don't, after all," Zuko rationalized. Aang nodded, back to his normal cheerful self, and together, they turned back towards Sokka.
"So what was that all about?" Sokka demanded, crossing his arms and glaring at them skeptically.
Aang shifted his weight and looked up at Zuko out of the corner of his eye. Zuko gazed strait ahead. "Nothing," he responded shortly. "It'll be dark soon, we need to head out," he quickly changed the subject.
Sokka stared at him a moment longer, before deciding to just go along with it. "All right then," he announced, and a gust of air carried him up and deposited him neatly on Appa's head. "All aboard the Appa Express!" he declared, grinning madly down at the two Water Tribe boys below.
Zuko almost thought about reconsidering. But, they did need a way to get home, even if it was from an apparent madman. Aang was already halfway up to the saddle on Appa's back, and Zuko reluctantly followed.
Soon both were seated in the saddle, and Sokka called up from the front, "Hang on, this can get pretty intense! Appa, yip. Yip," he declared dramatically, snapping the reins. The mighty monster roared, leaned back, and flew. . .
. . . For three seconds, after which they fell into the water with a mighty splash!
Zuko had to stop and catch his breath, and also make sure Aang wasn't about to fall out of the saddle, before he could speak. "Wow," he said sarcastically," that was truly intense."
"He must be tired," Sokka defended. "Aren't you?" he continued to Appa. "Once you've rested up, you'll show them, won't you?"
"He sounds like old lady Visola talking to her polar-dog," Aang commented softly to Zuko. Zuko tried to suppress the sudden laugh that came out, ending up making a strangled snorting sound. Sokka continued to make cooing sounds at the giant fluffy beast they were riding, which did not help. This was going to be a long ride.
Later that night, Toph was gripping the railing of her ship, listening to the lapping of the water as they steamed through it, trying to 'see' with the scant heat around her, but unable to even get a picture of the deck around her. The door behind her creaked open, offering a glimpse into the warmth of the indoors, but her attention was focused on the life-heat of her uncle.
"Exciting, isn't it?" Bumi commented, coming to stand next to her.
"Yeah," Toph agreed quietly. "Just think, it's been over a hundred years that my family has been searching for him, but after only three, I'm the one who finds him. Dad'll really respect me after this. He won't have a choice," she added tightly, gripping the rails a little bit harder.
Bumi's life-heat pulsed for a moment. "You really will have earned it," he said, his mouth stretching wider, grinning. "Shown him that just because you're blind, doesn't mean you can't kick butt!"
"Yeah!" Toph agreed enthusiastically. "I'll kick the Avatar's wrinkly old butt so hard; he won't know what hit him!" She let out a laugh, joined by her uncle's snorting cackle. They stood there in silence a moment, Toph smiling, enjoying the moment. Things were about to change, big time, and she couldn't wait. But, if she was to be in top form tomorrow, then she needed her rest.
"Hey, Uncle, could you help me back inside? It's too cold out here for me to see," she requested.
"It would be my pleasure, Princess Sparky," Bumi responded with a bow, offering Toph his arm.
Toph accepted it with a laugh, and if she didn't let go as soon as they were in the heated hallways were she could see, if she didn't let go until they were at the door of her room and Bumi was kissing her forehead and wishing her a good night's sleep, then what of it? She was the Fire Princess Toph! Soon-to-be butt-kicker of the biggest thorn in the Fire Nation's side for the last hundred years! No one could say she was weak or helpless, especially not after tomorrow.
Nope, no one at all.
It was dark out, the chill in the air only getting more of a bite to it. Zuko was staring off over at the horizon, frowning slightly, probably thinking something over. Aang shifted slightly, glancing up at the front where Sokka was, out of sight from where he was.
Aang had been thinking for a while now, about some things that maybe Sokka could clear up. If Zuko thought it would be okay. "Hey Zuko?" he called quietly.
Zuko turned to face him, "Yeah Aang, what's up?"
"I was just wondering, do you think Sokka knows anything about, you know, the Avatar?" he asked, finishing in a whisper.
"What's that about the Avatar?" Sokka asked, popping up from where he'd been relaxing on Appa's head and climbing into the saddle with them.
Zuko shot Aang an exasperated look, and Aang looked away. He hadn't meant for Sokka to overhear! It was just; if Sokka did know anything Avatar, they had a right to know. After a hundred years, then, maybe they- and everyone else- could have some real hope again.
He heard Zuko sigh, followed by a reluctant, "We were wondering, if you knew anything about the Avatar?"
Aang gazed up in time to see Sokka pause, before guardedly asking, "Does this have anything to do with why you insist airbenders are extinct?"
Now that was confusing. Why would Sokka ask that? Everyone knew the airbenders had been wiped out a hundred years ago, shortly after the Avatar disappeared. Zuko seemed to think so too, giving Sokka an incredulous look.
"Because no one has seen the Avatar since the Fire Nation wiped the airbenders out a hundred years ago!" he insisted.
"But I was just at the temple a few days ago! It was full of monks!" Sokka protested, looking about as confused as Aang felt.
"Well you must have been in that iceberg a lot longer than you thought then!" Zuko shot back, and everyone froze.
It . . . made sense. Sokka didn't know anything about the war and airbenders being gone. Being trapped in an iceberg for a hundred years. . . It was horrible to imagine. The scariest part was the world as Sokka knew it was gone. Things had changed so much since then.
"Or you could both be lying to me," Sokka said abruptly, staring at them both with narrowed eyes.
"But we're not!" Aang protested. "It's true!"
"Prove it then," Sokka challenged, crossing his arms and staring him down. Aang tried to think, there had to be something they could say! But, Sokka'd just think they were lying about that too. They didn't have any physical proof, all this was common knowledge!
"I can," Zuko broke in, almost distractedly as he contemplated whatever it was he was thinking about. Raising his eyes to meet Sokka's he added, "Not until we get back to our village, but we do have proof."
Aang let out a little gasp, his eyes widening, surely he couldn't mean. . . But it was the only thing they had to prove what they were saying. "But we're not supposed to go there, it's dangerous!" Aang said worriedly.
"It'll be fine," Zuko reassured. "We'll be careful and won't stay too long, nothing will happen, I promise," he said with a small smile.
It didn't make the knot in Aang's stomach go away, but it did lessen. With a nod, he accepted it; Sokka did need to understand, after all.
Sokka had been taking in everything with narrowed eyes, hiding his mouth behind his linked fingers. "Fine," he conceded, "I'll wait till you can show me this 'dangerous' thing your 'not supposed to go to'," he said sarcastically, the audible quotation marks accompanied by actual ones.
Sokka could be a jerk sometimes, Aang decided, scowling at him before turning his back on him and lying down. It was late; he was going to get some sleep before they arrived home. Just as he started to drop off, he felt a blanket spread over him. Night Zuko, he thought sleepily, before falling into the soft welcoming darkness.
Storm clouds everywhere. Rain lashed at his face, thunder cracked and lightning cut jagged paths through the sky.
He was falling, screaming. Appa was too; crashing into the freezing water and struggling to the surface, only to be dragged under again.
They were sinking, only connected by the grip Sokka had on Appa's reins, but he was feeling light-headed. . . Dizzy. . .
And then something came over him, something he'd never felt before. He felt like he was drowning in a sea of voices, and power. Together they could do anything, but he didn't know how to make his own voice heard. He felt his fists slam together without his directing them, and a bubble of air surrounded them. Distantly, he saw the air around them beginning to be encased in ice, before everything went black. . .
Sokka shot upright, choking back what would have most certainly have been a very manly shout of surprise. For a second, he didn't recognize his surroundings, until the events of yesterday came back to him. Right, froze in an iceberg, they insist for a hundred years, and now they are going to prove it.
Pulling on his shirt and boots and grabbing his staff Sokka then wandered outside, looking around at the tiny village. Something seemed off about it, and not just the second looks he kept getting. It was like there was something missing. . .
"Good to see you're finally awake," a dry voice from behind him spoke.
Sokka jumped, whirling around and pointing his staff at the suspicious person who snuck up on him. A little old lady, who didn't even react to Sokka's antics. Grinning sheepishly, he lowered it, sliding out of his defensive stance. "Sorry," he apologized, "little jumpy I guess."
"Guess you might be, after being frozen in an iceberg for a hundred years," she replied, with not a single change in her tone or expression.
"I haven't seen any proof of that yet," Sokka said, crossing his arms and turning away slightly.
This time, he got a sigh out of the old lady. "My grandsons are over that way, training." Best get the whole thing out of the way. Just be careful," she advised, reaching up and patting Sokka's shoulder briefly before walking away.
Huh, that was Zuko and Aang's grandmother? Interesting. But unimportant, right now he needed to see their 'proof'. He marched off in the direction she'd gestured too, hearing his two new acquaintance's voices as he got closer.
"You gotta watch your balance better Aang! It shouldn't have been that easy to knock you over," he heard Zuko say.
"Sorry," Aang replied as Sokka rounded a building and spotted them. The kid was lying on the ground, with Zuko standing over him and frowning. "I guess I'm just kinda distracted."
"Yeah," Zuko agreed quietly. "Well, if we're not actually going to get anything done, why don't you go put your spear away and start on your chores," he said, holding his hand out to his younger brother.
"Aye aye, Chief Zuko," Aang replied with a grin, accepting the help to his feet, and the spear Zuko handed to him as well.
"Don't call me that," Zuko shot back, the heat in the tone belied by the grin twitching at the corners of his mouth. "Go on, get outta here," he teased, playfully grabbing a handful of snow and taking a threatening step towards the young bender.
"I'm going, I'm going!" Aang said, making an 'easy there' gesture as he backed away. "See you later Sokka," he called as he turned to leave, and then after a beat, turned back and shouted, "and Chief Zuko!"
"Don't call me that!" Zuko mimed throwing the snow in his hand at Aang as he ducked away, laughing. Zuko was grinning himself, until Aang was out of sight. Then the smile dropped and he was all business.
"C'mon, it's this way," he said to Sokka, gripping his spear as he turned away. Sokka fell in step behind him, the two walking in silence.
For a little bit, until Sokka suddenly realized just what it was that had been bothering him about the village. "There's no men!" he suddenly blurted.
Zuko gave him an odd look, but nodded. "Yeah, they all went to join the Earth Kingdom in the fight against the Fire Nation two years ago," he explained shortly, pain flickering in his ice-blue eyes.
"Right," Sokka said skeptically. So; either they had drug the whole village into this hoax, or he was telling the truth. Sokka was inclined to believe the former; after all, who ever heard of someone being froze in an iceberg for a hundred years?
Aboard the Fire Nation ship, Toph was standing on the deck, watching her two opponents, as they watched her. Then, at some unknown signal, they all moved. With fluid grace, she leapt over one of them as they ducked, throwing fire out both hands as she was in the air.
She landed on her feet, noticing her wayward teacher Uncle Bumi had shown back up and was nodding approvingly. "Well done! I think you're ready for the next set," he praised, and Toph beamed. "But first, snack time!" Toph's smile dropped. Her uncle had a fondness for weird food, and liked making her try it as well.
"What is it this time, Uncle?" she asked, resigned as he handed her a bowl.
"Stewed sea prunes!" he said, giving a wide, toothy grin. "It's very popular in the Water Tribes, eat up!"
Toph sniffed at her bowl, pulling away and making a face at the stench arising from it. "Blech, it smells like someone poured vinegar on a fire!"
Bumi let out one of his snorting cackles. "Don't know if you'll like it until you try it," he sing-songed.
"It's not even cooked thoroughly or evenly," Toph complained, lifting one up with her fingers, making a face at the patchy heat.
"It's supposed to be like that! At least I think so, never had this before," Bumi reassured, or tried to anyway. Toph made a face at him for that, just to let him know just how much she appreciated it.
With a sigh, she gave in. "And if I don't like it . . . ?" Toph trailed off, even though she knew exactly how this was going to work out. She could smell it even over the burnt vinegar smell, and see it even though Bumi tried to hide it behind his back.
"I brought you some roast duck," he said, presenting it to her.
Toph grinned briefly and turned back to her stewed sea prune. "On three?" she asked.
"On three," Bumi agreed.
Together, they chanted, "One, two, three," and simultaneously bit into their snack. And together, they spit it back out again, making disgusted noises.
"Half my roast duck if you never make me eat this again?" Toph offered.
"Deal," Bumi agreed, taking the bowls and dumping them over the side.
The walked in silence for the most part after that, since Sokka had a few questions ("How far is it?" "Not far." "What is it?" You'll see." "Do you have any other brothers?" "No." "Sisters?" "Would you shut up already?!") that he wanted answers to.
Finally, Zuko stopped. "We're here," he said gravely, and Sokka looked around him to see what the fuss was about.
It was a ship. But it was unlike any other ship Sokka had ever seen. For one, it was metal, and there was no sail! This raised a lot of questions in Sokka's mind. Like: How had they gotten a metal ship to float? How did they get it to move, without a sail? Did it still steer like a regular ship?
"Well?" Zuko asked irritably. "Are you convinced yet?"
"Do you know how it works?" Sokka asked gleefully, rounding on Zuko with a big grin and eyes shining with delight.
Zuko stared at him incredulously for a second. "No I don't know how it works! This ship was used to attack my tribe, we think it may be booby-trapped, and it's Fire Nation," he snapped at Sokka.
Well, if that was how Zuko was going to be. "I'll just find out for myself then," Sokka declared and headed for the ship, rubbing his hands together gleefully.
"Did you hear a thing I just said?" Zuko demanded furiously from behind him.
Sokka was already absorbed in thoughts about how this ship worked. Maybe they took giant turtle-whales and raised them from birth, training them how to pull ships like this! And maybe they would throw treats overboard in the direction they wanted to go, so the turtle-whales knew which way to go! Ooohhh, he wanted to ride on a metal ship pulled by turtle-whales so bad!
Behind him, Zuko sighed and stomped after Sokka, grumbling something about airheaded airbenders or something.
There was a hole in the hull, made by a waterbender, or a bunch of them, by the look of it. In fact, the whole thing was raised up on a sheet of ice, like they were trying to stop it in its tracks. Hopefully the turtle-whales were okay, they were kinda cute giant monsters.
Sokka climbed up into the hole, Zuko following him after a second of hesitation. Sokka immediately started poking his head in various doors. Most of the ones around here seemed to be full of pipes and large metal boxes.
"Sokka, slow down, it's dangerous in here," Zuko hissed at him, grabbing at his shoulder to make him. Too bad that Sokka was too quick for that! Ducking out of his way and poking his head in another room, Sokka scoffed. Feh, dangerous, he'd seen no signs of danger— oh.
That was a lot of weapons. Slowly, Sokka stepped in the room, looking around at the many, many instruments of sharp, stabby doom. Spears, swords, things that he didn't know the names for! So much doom.
"Finally!" Zuko said, relieved. "Now are you going to— oh," he said softly as he saw just what had pulled Sokka up short. "You found the armory."
"Why? Why would they need so many weapons?" Sokka asked desperately. The Fire Nation didn't need all these weapons, they were peaceful! Good! Like all the other nations were! He had friends there! Why would the Fire Nation do this?
"Because they were attacking us," Zuko said quietly, sadly. "They've been whittling away at us ever since they wiped out the Air Nomads. You saw what they've done to us, there's hardly anyone left now," he finished, eyes flickering with pain as he looked off to the side.
Hardly anyone left? What did he— Sokka gasped in realization, knocking into a spear-thingy. It clattered to the ground, the sound echoing in the stillness of the air around them. Sokka didn't notice, too wrapped up in his own thoughts. That tiny village was all that was left of the Southern Water Tribe? But, three years ago it had been a thriving city!
Sokka abruptly plunked down on the metal deck, the weight of everything crashing onto him. He had been in that iceberg a hundred years after all. So much time, so many things had happened. "You really are almost all gone. . ." he said quietly.
"What did you think?" Zuko shouted, stepping closer to Sokka. "That there were more of us just over the next glacier? We're all that's left! We haven't heard from the Northern Water Tribe in years, and I don't know if my mom's even still alive!"
The pained words echoed like the clattering of the spear, only worse, as if the shadow of the Fire Nation was there, spitting it back out at them, mocking them for the pain it had caused. It gave Sokka the creeps.
"Let's get out of here," Zuko said after the echoes faded, and this time, Sokka agreed.
The two left the armory together, Sokka turned left, the way they'd come, and then Zuko turned right.
They paused, turned to face each other, pointed the way they were going, and said, "The exit's this way."
"No it's not, it's this way," Sokka insisted.
"Uh huh, as if you'd remember with all the running around you did. It's this way," Zuko pointed back the way he was going.
"Fine, you go your way, I'll go mine," Sokka said, and marched off towards the exit.
"Hey! We shouldn't split up!" Zuko shouted. Sokka ignored him, and with a groan, Zuko was following him.
Right, left, another left, a right and. . . . They were not out of the ship yet. Okay, so maybe Zuko did know which way they should have gone.
"Congratulations, now we're lost," Zuko said dryly.
"What? I thought you knew which way to go!" Sokka did not screech. He shouted, a very manly shout, in fact.
"I did! Before you took off the other way and I lost track of which way to go!" Zuko shouted back. "And stop screeching, it hurts my ears," he added, rubbing at one of them.
"I do not screech!" Sokka defended in a very manly shout.
"Yes you do!" Zuko shot back, before pinching the bridge of his nose. "Urgh, just forget it. There must be another way out of here."
After a moment of consideration, Sokka decided to go along. "You look on that side, I'll look on this one," he said. "Also, I don't screech," he added smugly, pleased to get the last word.
Zuko looked ready to argue it for a moment, before throwing his hands in the air and stomping down his side of the hallway. Sokka smirked, checking out the rooms on his side. He'd checked three, with no way out from any of them, when Zuko called from ahead.
"Hey! I found one!" he yelled, waving from halfway inside his room. Sokka jogged over, and Zuko pointed. There was a hole in the ceiling, but that was no problem for an airbender.
"All right, good work Zuko," Sokka said, slapping him on the back and heading for the hole.
Zuko just scowled, fully stepping into the room just as Sokka set off a tripwire. Behind them, a grate slammed closed. The two froze, staring at it. It stayed closed.
"Hey, no problem, we've got the hole in the roof. All we gotta do is fly out and no one has to know anything went wrong," Sokka said confidently.
That's when the signal flare went off.
"You were saying?" Zuko asked dryly as they watched it arc up, up, up and explode in the sky.
". . . Go go go!" Sokka yelled, running beneath the hole. "Grab on to me!" he yelled at Zuko.
"What? Why!" Zuko pulled back, looking disgusted.
"Because it'll be easier to get us out if you're holding on to me, now let's go!" Sokka said breathlessly.
Reluctantly, Zuko did and Sokka was off.
They didn't know that someone could 'see' them, standing at the bow of her ship and watching the two distant balls of heat flying up, out of the ship and then running across the snow towards the village.
Toph grinned in dangerous excitement. One of those lives could be nothing other than the Avatar. Sure, there was the usual signs of life found in a normal human, but there was a touch of otherworldliness too, that same cold energy that had first caught her attention.
"You!" she barked, pointing at a nearby soldier. "Tell my uncle to get his wrinkly old butt up here. Helmsman! Set course for that village!"
Simultaneously, the two snapped off salutes, saying "Yes Princess," as they did as they were told.
It was good to be the boss, Toph reflected as in short order her uncle came up to stand behind her. "What'd I miss?" he asked.
Toph linked her hands behind her back and faced towards the village, to her destiny. Lowering her head slightly, and feeling the breeze toy with her bangs, she grinned. "We found the Avatar."
END CHAPTER ONE: THE BOY IN THE ICEBURG
