This was the moment where I finally decided I was going to leave the Fire Nation, it became very clear to me that it was dog eat dog world, a place that a child couldn't live in by himself, especially with everyone against him. I knew, even if by some miracle I found someone else who was willing to take me in, something would happen to them. I was tired of causing hurt to people I cared about. I discovered the best way to avoid this was to not care about more than one person, myself.

I stayed in the Fire Nation for a couple days, because I had no way out. I was barely surviving on the scraps I was able to find. Eventually I discovered the port, and I knew I was going to have to sneak onto a ship. The guards were on the lookout for me, and even if they weren't I had no money to pay for a ship ride anyway. I was able to find a hill overlooking the port, which I stayed at for two days while I surveyed the port. I figured out exactly what the daily procedures were and how they were conducted, surprisingly the Fire Nation had made it all too easy.

I discovered everyday there was a ship that exported watermelon. I wasn't sure where it went, but what I knew was that there would be enough watermelon for me to survive the trip, wherever it would take me. The crew would load the ship every night, but there wasn't any security. All I had to do was simply wait until the ship had quite a few crates of watermelon loaded, then I would sneak in and hide behind the already loaded crates. The plan worked to perfection.

The sun rose the next day, I could tell because they didn't close the hatch until it was time for the ship to set sail. Right as it did was when the hatch was shut. It was dark under the ship, but eventually my eyes had adjusted. I was able to discover the only person on this ship was the captain and one other man. I'm not sure exactly what his job was, but I had a pretty good feeling he wasn't going to go below the deck to check on the watermelons, and I was right.

It was smooth sailing from here, all I had to do was sit back and relax, even though it wasn't the most comfortable place I had ever been. At least I was now shielded from the elements, something I never had the luxury of in my life. I began to dream of a world where everyone would have the same luxury I had at that moment. A world where the elements couldn't disrupt anyone's way of life, a world where everyone was equal.

I'm not exactly sure how long the ride was, but I predict it was about 3 watermelon filled days. Once the ship came to a halt I knew I had to hide behind the crates again. Getting off the ship without being recognized would be a lot harder than getting in. I had no idea where the ship was even at, which meant I had no idea of the routine they had for unloading the ship.

I heard the latch open, and even while completely behind a stack of crates, the light reflecting off the back of the wall was enough to make me shield my eyes. It took me a couple of minutes to get used to the light again. I began to slowly and carefully peek around the edge of the crates. I noticed there were often times where there were no men on the ship. They were just outside, so it would be impossible for me to sneak off the ship that way.

I looked around the ship and saw a crate that wasn't completely full of watermelon, maybe it was the one that I took the most from during the ride. When there were no men on the ship, I ran to the crate and got inside, covering myself with watermelons. They were heavy and it certainly wasn't comfortable, but I knew it wouldn't be enough pain to cause any serious damage. After waiting for a little while I felt the crate lift up, I remember one of the workers commented on how light the crate was.

I could easily tell when the crate was removed from the interior of the ship, and crossed the plane to the outside world by how frigid the air was. It was so cold, the coldest I had ever felt before. There was no way I was prepared for this weather, and I instantly began to shiver. Luckily it was nothing too big, at least not enough for the workers to notice anything, maybe they just thought it was a rat. As soon as I heard the crate hit the ground I began to peek out of the small holes between the wooden planks.

Very soon after when the men had walked away I climbed out of the crate. I couldn't sit there and scope them out because of the cold, it was then that I knew that I needed to do something. When I touched the ground I instantly slipped. I could see the entire place was made of ice. I was very confused, but I decided to run away from the port, or at least try to. There was a lot of slipping involved. Eventually I got to a city, which was also entirely made out of ice, and people definitely noticed me.

I'm not entirely sure if they noticed me because I had a mask, or because I was the only one not wearing a massive coat, but almost instantly someone came over to me to talk. This was a very different story than when I was alone in the middle of the Fire Nation. The person who had approached me was a man, not short but also not very tall. Once he got close to me he instantly said "You're not from around here, are you?"

I shook my head, there was no use in lying. No one who knew what they were getting into would dare step into this place without a coat. The man then asked me "Do you know anyone around here? Where are you from?" I told him that I didn't know anyone, "I used to live in the Fire Nation." I told him, "My family was killed." The man waved me to follow him and then began walking, I decided to follow him. He lead me to a market, and asked me pick out a coat. I pointed to one and he paid for it then handed it to me.

I put the coat on and then he began walking again. I stayed still, then he stopped and turned around. "What are you waiting for?" He asked, "Follow me." I caught up to him and then we began walking together. We ended up at a building which he lead me inside of, I went in and looked around. "Do you bend?" He asked. I shook my head and he nodded "I'm going to teach you waterbending styles, it might prove to be useful to you later in life."

I lived in the Northern Water Tribe for two years where I learned all the basics of waterbending, and then some. These skills are the main tools I will utilize to bring us to where we know the world already should be. A world of... Equality.