Chapter 5

Sokka did his best to help Katara the way their father had planned to, doing his best to try and teach Katara control, but he himself was a chi-dominant waterbender, and so there were rare times when he would have random outbursts of energy as well. They were much less frequent than Katara's, and not as powerful [again, not because Sokka was weak, but because Katara was strong—much too strong for her own good].

This only became a problem when it coincided with him being in the vicinity of Katara at the time, and with Katara being in a very bad mood. They had been away for a few months, and Katara was getting better at controlling her emotions, but, like any teenaged girl, she had the occasional mood swings. She had them more often than the average person because of the stress from being torn from her family and because of her bending energy, which was so vast that her young body could not control it all.

Sokka's 'chi-attack' [which is what the random bursts of energy that chi-dominant benders released were called] had been especially powerful this time, and he had just happened to turn to face Katara to tell her about something when it came. He had not gained enough control to tell when his chi-attacks would come, but he knew it would come with age.

He was knocked backwards into a sitting position, and Katara was hit with the blast of his attack, sending her literally flipping head over heels backwards until she slammed into a tree. Thankfully they had been outside during the incident.

Katara had gotten the wind knocked out of her, and she looked dazed, confused and upset.

"What did you do that for," she snapped, staggering to her feet. Her arms flared up, flames surrounding them from where her gloves started to the ends of her fists. Sokka knew that this meant trouble, for Katara only flared up her arms when she planned on participating in combat or some sort. Moreover, she was angry, and an angry Katara was a dangerous opponent.

"It was a chi-attack, Katara," Sokka replied, "I had no control over it."

"Aim the other way maybe," Katara retorted, starting to take steps towards him.

"Don't you even think about attacking me back," Sokka remarked, "it was an accident. You should know all about unexpected chi-attacks, Katara"

However, in the 13 years Katara had been alive, something had poisoned her mind insomuch that when she had made up her mind to attack someone, she went through with it regardless of what happened. Sokka was no exception, and had it not been for Sokka's quick reflexes in bringing up a huge, thick wall of ice and water, he would have been charred to a crisp by a high-energy fire blast from his sister.

It took a lot of physical energy out of her, and so she was staggering to stay on her feet.

"You need to calm down, Katara," Sokka remarked, "you're going to hurt yourself if you try things like that."

"What choice does, it give me," Katara snapped, breathing heavily; "no matter what I try, it is all futile. I'm going to die. I need to be alone for a while. Don't you try to follow me—I'm not in the mood to listen to your so-called "voice of reason". Just leave me alone."

Sokka had half a mind to follow her, and soon enough, he regretted letting her go, for she had various things on her mind.

Katara wandered into the town that was only a little ways away from the rural area where they were living. Few people paid any attention to her, other than a few people who turned to see her because of her red clothes. Travelers were not uncommon, but in the earth kingdom, the green clothing they wore was by far the most common [and the same applied for any nation].

Katara wandered through the town aimlessly, not knowing where she was going. She just wanted to be alone. However, one untimely chi-attack was eventually going to lead to a chain of events that would give the young girl a tour of the world and teach her a thing or two about serious self-reliance.

Katara wandered into an alleyway, where she noticed several posters on one of the walls. Apparently they were wanted posters, and, although Katara was unaware of it, these were wanted posters FOR criminals—in other words, the people shown on the posters were wanted BY criminals for one reason or another.

Katara noticed an image of herself on this wall as well. She took it down to look at it. It was decently accurate, but there was no denying it was her. Katara looked at the strange markings at the top of the page and underneath her image. What did they mean?

Katara, unlike Sokka, never received a formal education of any type because of her physical and emotional instability. As a result, Katara could not read or write at all. This may have been another reason why she drew things on her spare time; she expressed through images what she could not express in writing. Deciding to swallow a little of her pride, she pocketed the poster and decided to head back home. She wanted at least to get on Sokka's good side long enough to get him to read what it said about her. She didn't know it was a wanted poster either, because she could not read the word "wanted" either.

She arrived back home, feeling slightly tired as she usually did. Katara Altina II was almost always tired, because even when she wasn't active, her bending energy took a lot out of her. She apologized to Sokka, and her apology actually turned out to be sincere. She was just having one of her mood swings, and a few hours alone in town had helped her calm down. Katara enjoyed being alone.

"What is that," Sokka exclaimed, when she took out the poster to ask him about it. Naturally, Katara, not knowing herself, shrugged. Sokka took it and scanned it. His eyes widened as he finished. This confused Katara.

"What's wrong," she asked, curiously, raising an eyebrow;

"Remember those people that wanted to take you away when you were a little girl?" Sokka asked, "Remember the people that dad fought?"

"Aye," Katara replied, sounding a little more worried, "why?"

"This is a wanted poster," Sokka replied, "I don't think it's a legal one, but it's here nonetheless. There are more people looking for you here."

"What does it say," Katara asked curiously,

"Well," Sokka replied, "it says "Wanted for the war—Katara Altina II; just look for a girl who can blow things up on accident." And Katara, there is a huge bounty on your head. Apparently they think you're valuable—very valuable."

"Who thinks I'm valuable?" Katara asked, glancing around as if there were people outside their windows listening in on them that she could not see; "what do they want with me?"

"It is most likely The Order of the Avatar Slayer," Sokka replied, sounding agitated as well; not at Katara, but at the idea that this organization wanted to exploit a 13-year-old girl for a war; "they want to use you as a weapon. Your power is great enough that you could literally take a side in this war, Katara, and have an actual impact single-handedly. That is so wrong though; you're way too young."

"I know," Katara replied, "I don't want any part of this war. I just want it over. I want to be able to live normally."

"But they're looking for you, Katara," Sokka replied, "I don't know what else we can do. We can't go back to where mom is because we don't want them taking her like they did with dad. The fact that you're a firebender and she's a waterbender helps though. It makes the two of you seem like you might not be related."

"Sokka," Katara remarked, "I was told I look just like mom. That isn't going to cut it, even if we DID claim not to be related."

"No one thought I was related to dad until I told them what my name was," Sokka replied, "but that's not the point though, Katara. The point is; is that our list of places to go is narrowing. It's not safe to stay here."

"I'm not safe anywhere," Katara remarked truthfully; "not even from myself. If I went back to see mom again, not only would I put her in danger because of her being my mother, but also because I'm not ready. I've grown up a bit since we left her, Sokka. I know myself a little better than I used to."

"The hardest person to ever know is your self," Sokka replied, "but regardless, you have a point. Katara, you are the one that is in danger, not me. I will leave the decision of what to do up to you."

Katara shrugged. "Why should I run?" she remarked, "They'll just chase me down there too. I've evaded their grasp for 13 years. Perhaps it would just be best to just let fate play its course."

Sokka paused. His sister might not have had very much academic talent, but she was smart; Katara had a lot of common sense, and she had rather cunning logic as well, especially for her age.

"Are you sure?" Sokka asked, "I mean; I don't want you to die. Mom doesn't want you to die either."

"Aye," Katara replied, "besides, if anything, they would kill you and mom. If they want me as a weapon, then I am in no danger of death by them. Torture, perhaps, or being forced to watch the two of you die, but no, I am not going to die by their hands as long as they want me. Doesn't that make sense?"

Sokka was speechless, for Katara's remark really did make a lot of sense. He WAS in danger after all.

"Aye," he replied a few seconds later, "so are you proposing we split up?"

"No," Katara replied, but this reply was shakier, "no, I... I don't think I'm ready to be completely by myself. I need someone to hold on to. With dad most likely dead and mom in danger, you're the only other person I have, Sokka. I need you."

"Then we are not splitting up," Sokka replied, "Just make sure you don't storm off in anger again. Just try to find another way to calm down. We can't be separated, otherwise that will make us more vulnerable."

"I..." Katara stammered nervously, knowing her emotions were not the most predictable things in the world, "I'll try my best, alright?"

"That's all I can ask for," Sokka said, smiling. He embraced Katara and she returned it. She seemed scared, and Sokka did as well. Nevertheless, the two siblings continued in their efforts to get along, and they were much more cautious, which only added to Katara's sense of paranoia.

However, just as would be expected, Katara's emotions were not able to just magically become normal, and there again rose a time where her mood swings left her furious at Sokka, and she stormed off, despite his pleas for her to stay.

"Spirits above," he muttered, almost like a prayer of some sort, "keep her safe; don't let The Order get her."

Whatever forces there were behind fate and time, they worked in a strange manner that seemed to be a double-edged sword. The Order did not capture Katara, but unfortunately, someone else did.

Katara was in town, luckily in a less crowded area, when her chi energy attacked again, sending a huge burst of fire upward and knocking Katara painfully backwards, slamming her against a wall, which was what, stopped her knock-back. It was here that a mysterious woman appeared out of the shadows. This woman, nicknamed Lucy, was a bounty hunter, and she had found her target.

"Who are you," Katara asked weakly, her vision sort of blurry from the racking pain in her head;

"My name is Azula Caroso," the woman replied, "but you can call me Lucy. I am here to claim you as my prize."

As she said this, she began hoisting up Katara, who was too weak to fight back, the fireball being one of very high energy.

"Let me go," Katara snapped, and she vainly struggled to get free; "why are you doing this to me?"

"I am a hunter," Azula replied, "a hunter needs prey. And today—you're It." with that, she put her hands around Katara's neck in a certain form that made her go unconscious. From there, Lucy, still carrying Katara, disappeared back into the shadows.