A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry! I swear I haven't dropped off the face of the Earth, it's just been so incredibly busy these last few months! Between a move, a bunch of holidays, looking for weeks for my lost flash drive that had this chapter on it, and preparing for a cross country wedding, my time for writing has been really slim! Thankfully, I have done an overhaul to the story while I was away, and now the storyline is finished right on up to the second season's finale time frame. This way, you can now expect new weekly/bi-weekly updates, starting with this extra long chapter!

Chapter Eight: The Workers Dock

"I'm not leaving. I'm not giving up on these people!"

Katara - Imprisoned

"'Southern Winter Wind'? What does that even mean? Why would anyone be sending me a stupid haiku?!"

Taking a sip of his tea, Iroh watched as Zuko muttered and cursed to himself as he read and reread the note, even going so far as to turn it upside down and sideways as if the tiny, elegantly formed characters would rearrange themselves into something that made more sense. His steps resounded in loud metallic clanks as he paced back and forth, his good eye trained on the paper with some difficulty as he tried to get used to the strange, off kilter feeling of reading with only one eye; the words stretching and blurring slightly before he regained some semblance of clarity. Slowing his agitated pacing, his brow furrowed with frustration as he looked to Iroh for help. "Uncle, what do you think? Who sent this? What does this even mean?"

Holding out a hand, Iroh waited until Zuko reluctantly handed the paper back to him, careful to make sure that the rough gusts of salty sea air wouldn't snatch the paper away by mistake. The retired general thoughtfully scanned the poem one more time before finally looking up. "There are clues connected to all of your questions, my nephew, though perhaps we should try to decipher the meaning before looking to see who sent it." He said, before tapping the paper. "Look here at the words themselves-"

"What about it?" Zuko snapped, scowling. "There's nothing about it that's different from any other poem. Why would someone send me a poem?"

"Perhaps there's more to the words than you think." He suggested mildly, the gentleness of the underlying rebuke irritating the prince. Settling back on his knees, Zuko pored over the words the instant the paper was set back down on the tea table. After a few moments of scrutiny, he rocked back on his heels and ignored the curious glances from the crew members that passed by. "I don't know what you are talking about." He insisted, shaking his head, "This is just a normal haiku. It's even got the traditional season reference in it."

"And that's the part we need to look at!" Uncle cried, startling Zuko (and even Lieutenant Jee as the man wandered past). The Lieutenant blinked at the two for a moment before going on his business, Zuko's warning glare boring into his back until he and the other crew members who were loitering about were out of earshot. Uncle's voice jarred him back to the matter at hand. "When I was in the army, many times spies would send simple notes or even objects, and it always had a deeper meaning." A shadow flitted across his weathered face, but it cleared before Zuko could think to question it. "The first line is always the most important, because it refers to our goal."

Blinking in confusion, Zuko peered down at the paper and read the first line aloud. "'Southern winter wind'."

"Good! Now tell me what you know about those three words."

Zuko's irritation bubbled into something a little more volatile, and he slapped a hand on the table, rattling the tea set. "Stop with the riddles, Uncle! You aren't making sense, and neither is this idiotic poem! Just tell me what you know and stop wasting my time!"

Iroh uttered a sigh, and took a deep breath of the salty sea air and reminded himself to be patient. After all, the boy was only that: a boy. A hot-headed, impatient fool of a boy, to be sure, but a boy nonetheless. And the best thing about boys was that they could learn if one was willing to teach them.

Pouring the last of the tea into his now empty cup, Iroh breathed a calming breath out of his nose, deciding in that moment that he would not spoon feed the answer just yet. "Think now, Prince Zuko. This is not just any poem, it's a warning, and a warning is a gift." He said pointedly, "Now tell me, what is the first line trying to tell you? What do you know that has to do with the winter, the south, and the wind?"

Zuko visibly relented, his young face becoming more thoughtful than harsh as he mulled it over. "Well... there's the Southern Air Temple, that has to do with the south and the wind I guess. And there's the Southern Water Tribe, and that would have to do with the south. I'm just not sure about the winter part."

"Excellent!" There was that progress he had hoped for! "Now tell me, Zuko, what season is the Fire Nation connected to?"

"...Summer."

"Now what season are the Water Tribes connected to?"

Understanding dawned on the Prince's face. "Winter." He looked at the note, the confusion twisting his brow again. "But what about the 'wind' part? What does that have to do with the Water Tribes? That's an Airbender thing... unless..." His eye grew wide. "Unless the Avatar is there! That has to be it! It's telling us that the airbending Avatar is in the South Pole!"

Stroking his beard, Iroh shook his head. "I'm not so sure. Look here at the wording; it seems to indicate that it is indeed the Avatar, but perhaps this is saying that the cycle has moved on. Perhaps it means that the new Avatar is from the South Pole."

Zuko took up the paper, a fierce determination shining in his eye and hardening his expression. "But it is the Avatar, no matter if it's the old airbending one or the new waterbending one. We now know the Avatar's whereabouts! We have to find him!"

"And we will," Iroh promised, "But look at the next line. 'Flies swiftly, chased by thunder'. I don't think that the Avatar is still in the South Pole."

Zuko wilted slightly. "If that's true, then where is he headed? There's nothing here that says anything about a direction."

"Where else could the Avatar go, if he or she started out in the South Pole?"

Zuko sighed. "North, I guess. So I guess it's saying that the Avatar... is being chased north?"

That was the disturbing part of it all. There was someone else already tracking the Avatar while Zuko was stuck on exactly the opposite side of the world, with no way to backtrack through Fire Nation waters. Iroh uttered a thoughtful hum under his breath as he thought about what they should do, if this was the case. Zuko thought about it too, though he uttered some curses that Iroh was quite sure he hadn't known a few weeks ago. "No one is going to capture the Avatar before me. I will restore my honor, and I will return home and regain my rightful place!" He stood, and looked over the vastness of the ocean for a long moment before making up his mind. "Helmsman! Set our course northeast! We're going to cut off the Avatar and my competition before they get to the Northern Water Tribe."

"Alright, gang! We've made it a whole week without anything bad happening. Let's try to keep it that way, and let's play it safe and cool, just like me!"

Sokka's exuberant early morning declaration earned him a couple of dour glares as the girls followed his lead into a bustling seaside marketplace. Their adventure in Omashu was now a week behind, and everyone (Katara especially) wanted to distance themselves from the ridiculous misadventures that had transpired there. Not that everything was bad about the trip, per say, but their stay at King Bumi's was (as Sokka had put it) completely and unnecessarily terrifying. Almost being killed by candy and having a bunch of dangerous tests- and a duel with the nut himself!- was not high on their list of things to do in Omashu.

For now, Katara was happy to finally have a route planned out and to be finally rid of the crazy happenings. It was agreed earlier in the week that the less Fire Nation colonies they passed through, the better, and it was great not having to hear Sokka and Suki argue the route out anymore. Still, tension between the two remained as it always had, and Suki was currently avoiding him by wandering up ahead of them with a purposeful stride, uneasily looking over this new town's rather filthy and shady looking market and obviously wishing that she hadn't dressed in her civilian clothes. The powerful scent of questionable fish, questionable wares, and questionable people was getting stronger as the morning sun warmed the docks, and everyone on the quay seemed to be garbed in a mishmash of clothing and weapons from all the nations. One man was wearing green pants and a water tribe blue tunic, while wearing the most ridiculous pointy red shoes to ever grace the earth.

Glancing ahead, Katara let out a sigh through her nose as she noted a burly man dangling another, smaller guy by his ankles and shaking out his pockets for extra change. "Wow... great choice, Sokka," she deadpanned, "We'll definitely be safer in a place like this."

Her brother tensed sheepishly, his lips pressed thin as he too took note of all the surrounding weirdos. "Oh hush. We wouldn't have to be here if Suki didn't ruin breakfast." He cast a disapproving glare at the girl's stiffened back before patting Katara on the shoulder. "Don't worry. If we make it quick, we'll be just fine."

"Right, because we all know what happens when we stay in a port town too long." She grumbled, her mood sinking even lower.

Her brother meant well, but his words only served to remind her of what a terrible Avatar she was. Back in Omashu, King Bumi- in all of his crazy tests that he had made her undergo to even seek an audience with him- had shown her some things about herself that made Katara worry more than ever before.

The first (and most important) thing was the fact that in every single test, she had been looking for Aang's help, both consciously and unconsciously. It was a problem that she had never been aware of before, and to have it be revealed to her (in such a humiliating way too) was troubling. What kind of Avatar was she, when she couldn't put enough faith in herself to pass a simple trial like retrieving a lost pet? Granted, Aang was ridiculously quick to try to help, and was scolded numerous times by the mad king to stay put and have her go through the trials alone. Still, it was no excuse for Katara to expect her friend to come to her rescue and solve all her problems for her. As the current Avatar, it was her duty to protect people and fix the world, not his.

That brought her to her second realization: her job as the Avatar was not going to magically start after she went through her training, like she had fooled herself into believing. She was the Avatar right now, and she was going to run into people who would need the assistance and the hope of a better future that only the Avatar could bring. Bumi had pointed out (in his strange rambling way) that she was in effect shutting herself to a world of possibilities- so many lives could be touched, and so many people could use the hope she could bring if she allowed herself to see herself differently. I'm so used to being hidden away and protected, and treated like I'm the world's best and worst secret that I've never thought about being the Avatar in a good way. She thought, her gut twisting unpleasantly at the thought. What kind of Avatar am I, if I have to pretend to be normal when so many people could use my help right now?

Shaking her head and forcefully stuffing away the troubling thoughts, she was relieved to find Aang reappear by her side in a small, cloud like rush of ethereal blue mist before solidifying into his proper form and flashing her a carefree smile. "I'm back!"

She returned his smile, glad to see him after nearly thirty minutes of waiting for him to come back from exploring. "Hi Aang. What took you so long?"

He swept a translucent hand towards the town, his eyes snapping with excitement. "Everything looks so cool here! You should see the stuff in the town itself, they've got the neatest things! This place reminds me of the time Gyatso and I found a hat shop, we had a contest to see who could find the craziest hat, and we ended up getting thrown out because we couldn't stop laughing."

She slowed her pace without knowing it as she imagined a smaller, cuter version of Aang and an old man pulling off such a carefree stunt, feeling a tiny pang of guilt at the fond wistfulness that appeared briefly in his tone. "I wish I could have seen that, though I don't suppose we have any hat shops here, though..."

Aang shook his head. "I checked already, and there's not a single one here. However..." He brought his other hand out from behind his back with a grand flourish, "Look what I found!"

Dropping the object into her hands, the spirit boy stepped back and allowed Katara to look it over curiously. It was a little white clay whistle, shaped very much like a flying bison; it even had two little wooden horns curving out of the stylized head. "You bought a whistle?" She asked, baffled. Perhaps it was a nomad relic?

"Sure! I can call Appa whenever I need to with this, just in case we need to make a quick getaway."

"Oh." Katara turned the whistle over distractedly a few more times, before handing it back, her mood souring as she realized that even Aang didn't really have much faith in her abilities. "You know, it's not like I'm going to invite trouble wherever I go, Aang. We don't really need a 'getaway whistle'."

The acidic bite in her tone startled him, and he drew back, wondering what it was he said that set her off. "Oh... okay. I didn't mean to upset you."

She ducked her head, swallowing down the acrid lump forming in her throat and feeling a twist of guilt when she realized just how sharp her tone was. It's not his fault, She reminded herself, taking a deep breath, he's just looking out for me is all. Stop being so rude and act like the Avatar you're supposed to be. "I'm sorry," She murmured softly, "I didn't mean to snap. It's just, well, I can take care of myself, you know. I'm not going to make a scene wherever I go. I'm not going to be the death of everyone if I walk down the street."

Fingers curling around the whistle sadly, the light in his eyes dimmed further as he began to piece things together. "It's okay. I wasn't trying to make it sound like I'm trying to baby you or anything. Bumi said I should find different ways to help you, remember? I only thought that maybe if-"

"Oi! You there!"

Irritated, the two Avatars turned as one, and Sokka and Suki stalled in their own private conversation and looked back warily at the lanky, blue haired (blue haired?) young man who was hailing them. "You look like the world traveling types," He said, oily slick and flashing his best salesman smile as he sidled up to their side, eying their distinct clothing and the weapons on Sokka's back and hip. "Would you be interested in some... exotic curios?"

Sokka crossed his arms and looked over the scruffy Barker dubiously. "Only if 'curios' are a type of breakfast. If not, ask later." He said flatly.

The young man (teenage boy, really) was surprisingly light and quick on his feet, and in a flash he slipped in front of them as they tried to move on. "Are you sure? How about some boomerangs, or some practical knives? You strike me as the practical young man. Some jewelry for the lovely young ladies, perhaps?"

Disgruntled, Suki was about to open her mouth to tell the guy to get lost when Sokka perked up in surprise. "You guys have boomerangs?" He asked, trading an astonished look with Katara. Boomerangs were weapons found only in the Water Tribe. How else could they have found them but through traders who had visited on previous trips down south?

Seeing the magic of 'curiosity' softening them, the blue haired barker smiled even wider, and looped a tanned arm around Sokka's shoulders. "We have only the finest, young sir! Straight from your cousins in the South, if I may be so bold. Come on in and see for yourself!"

'Exotic curios' turned out to be a lot of immensely interesting things that were indeed very practical, such as the aforementioned knives, scrolls, and boomerangs; to some vastly frivolous looking trinkets that were nevertheless eye-catching within the dingy hold. Katara was drawn to the various figurines at first, eying a few Avatar statuettes with great interest while Aang flitted here and there like a bird, pausing the longest at the shelf full of scrolls and leather bound books. The barker's eyes widened when he thought he saw a whistle floating in front of the books, but when he rubbed his eyes in disbelief, it appeared that the whistle was on the table after all... though one of the scrolls seemed to have slipped out of its slot and opened up when it was dropped. Shaking his head and scolding himself for drinking fire whiskey so early in the morning, he grabbed the scroll and rolled it back up, missing Aang's annoyed glare when the whistle was snatched up and put into a small cubbyhole as well.

Smiling at Aang's childish pout, Katara took pity on him and cleared her throat. "That's a neat looking scroll. Would you mind terribly if I took a look at it?"

"Not at all, little lady!" Blue barker handed it over with a hopeful smile, before turning and frowning in confusion at the now missing whistle.

Unrolling it, Katara's eyes widened in fascination as detailed illustrations in lavish strokes seemed to jump from the paper. "'The Art of Chi Blocking, as illustrated by Master Jing Ke'," She read aloud, intrigued. No wonder Aang wanted to take his time with this one!

Aang leaned over her shoulder and drank in the scroll as much as he could, and Suki (who had let down her guard enough to look though the collection weaponry along with Sokka) looked up in interest as the barker nodded in approval. "Ah, you found a good one! We got that one just a few days ago."

Adjusting her head scarf, Suki leaned forward as well, raising a brow at the detailed illustrations at seemed to highlight strange points on the human body. "What's chi blocking?" She asked curiously.

"Chi blocking is a fighting style that a nonbender can use in self defense," Blue Barker explained, "There's various nerve points on the body that can be struck, and it can stop a person from bending or even running away if the right pressure points are used. Pretty neat, eh?"

The girls murmured their agreement, and even Sokka glanced over and nodded in appreciation of the detailed illustrations. Aang however, drew in a breath as an idea suddenly presented itself to him. "Katara, I know this is sudden," He began, trying and failing to sound like he wasn't begging, "but I just got an idea. I'll tell it to you later, but we gotta get this scroll! I really want it!"

"It is pretty cool looking..." Katara agreed, careful to make it sound like she had answered the barker. "How much is this?"

"It's one hundred gold pieces normally, but for you..." He trailed off, noting her hopeful expression, "I'll make it eighty."

The children winced. They had enough, but they had hoped to use the money King Bumi gave them on their way up north. Looking longingly at the scroll, Aang could tell just by Katara's hesitation that the scroll wasn't going to come back to camp with them.

Sokka made the decision final. "No way. We might have enough, but we don't need a scroll about that. We need things that'll be useful, remember?"

The barker studied them with greater interest. "You must be a long way from home, Darky." He remarked, "Why are you and your... sister? Wife? Er... whatever. How are you so loaded with cash and traveling all alone at such a young age? It's not safe, you know."

Suki, who had been uneasy from the start, was even more unsettled at the underlying warning, and Sokka and Katara both bristled at being called such a derogatory name. "My brother and I are headed home." Katara blurted, a lie flying from her lips just a bit easier than she anticipated. "We're bringing a... um, this servant to our Uncle!" She grabbed Suki's shoulders and nudged her forward.

Aang released a startled laugh just as Suki's mouth fell open; and Sokka, catching on in a flash, smiled wickedly and threw himself into his new role with gusto. "Yes! We are the royal nephew and niece of the Chief, and we're coming back from an important diplomatic mission, and we have this exotic curio of our own to take home!" He looped an arm around Suki's midsection, ignoring the deadly glare she leveled at him and his ridiculous 'manly voice' that cracked in all the wrong places. "Now, slave! For the time being, I need you to go find us breakfast!"

"But-"

"Tut tut! Is that how you speak to your superior?" Sokka released her with a subtle spin in the direction of the exit and waved her on. "Now get going! We require sustenance of the most meaty variety, slave!"

Aang laughed so hard that he was bent over double, and Katara had a terrible time keeping a straight face at the act, opting to hide her face behind a hand as she fought off the giggles that threatened to bubble up. Suki visibly struggled with her role, but she played it up remarkably well, and with a bow she backed out of the room with a secret warning glare at the siblings before disappearing from sight. The two sagged in relief, and the blue barker quirked an eyebrow. "You need some lessons on keeping a slave in line, boy, how the hell do you keep her from running away?" He snorted, rolling his eyes. "No, no, no, no, wrong! You should get her on a literal leash, boy, and put her in line with punishment if she acts up! Show her who's boss. If she's not needed as a virgi-"

Katara paled in horror, and both boys reddened (or in Aang's case, purpled) in mortification. "Okay, we get the idea!" Sokka coughed out, his stomach tightening with a painful lurch over the idea of doing anything sexually related with Suki, much less punishing her with rape. With a creeping suspicion, he cast a critical eye over everything, and then on the floor they stood on, wondering at that moment what else could be in the belly of the ship besides supplies and the crew. At last he shook himself, remembering his role. "Well, are you done looking Katara? We need to make sure our slave doesn't run off on us. Uncle will be so upset if we return empty-handed!"

Shaking off her own foreboding Katara nodded, eager to get out of the suddenly claustrophobic feeling ship. "Yeah, I think we're done." She gave a respectful half bow to the barker. "Thank you for letting us look around. You have a lot of interesting things here."

He smiled lazily. "My pleasure. You best hurry, Darky! Make sure your girl isn't halfway across the Earth Kingdom."

Absently nodding their goodbye, the three made their way out, missing the last look of astonishment from the man as he saw the missing bison whistle floating on behind the children and following them out.

The sun was brighter than ever when they emerged onto the deck, and it dazzled the siblings' eyes for a moment before they could see clearly again. "I don't know about you, but that guy was as scummy as they come." Sokka muttered, glancing back at the door and making sure his sister walked ahead before he began his decent down the gangplank. "I think he was a pirate."

Katara allowed Aang to drift along ahead of her as she slowed her pace, deeply unsettled as she glanced back at the ship. "Maybe. I guess the 'punishment' thing was the part that bothered me. Do you think... maybe that they've traded more than what we saw in there?"

The unspoken idea of slaves being traded was one that made Aang deeply uncomfortable, and he found that he too had trouble keeping his gaze away from the ship. Many people had been in the slave trade when he had been alive; it was one of the things that the monks and nuns had actively condemned, and a lot of the money earned from selling fruit pies and bison blankets were used in freeing enslaved women and children. There was an Abby in the northern Earth Kingdom that took in a good portion of the women and girls who had been in the worst of the Earth Kingdom's slave rings, many of them clearly fire nation and water tribe. Looking at Katara, Aang's already tight gut twisted even more at the idea of her being in such a situation. What kind of person could be so cruel as to suggest raping a girl to punish her?

Apparently, Sokka was thinking the same thing. "I don't know, but I don't want to find out. Let's get out of here. Who knows how suspicious we look to everyone, just by being Water Tribe?"

Slowing to a stop, Katara stared at the ship, her mind flickering back to the memory of being called into King Bumi's throne room with Aang. "You're the Avatar, of course," The mad King had stated, lacing his bejeweled fingers together and studying her intently. "So who have you helped recently?"

No one, yet.

"I don't know... I can't just leave, not knowing if there are people who need help." She said, a growing resolution and determination filling her, "I'm the Avatar. If someone needs help-"

Eyes wide with alarm, Sokka's hand clapped down on her mouth. "Shush up! You can't just blurt out you're the 'you know what' in front of everyone like it's nothing! We need to grab Suki and get out of here, before we get into another stupid situation again!"

Slapping his hand away, Katara rounded on him, her temper flaring up. "No! I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me! I don't have a choice now, Sokka. I began our trip north thinking I needed to train first before I could become the Avatar, but my time in Omashu made me realize that I always was the Avatar." She softened, her eyes meeting his in a plea for him to understand. "I can't magically become something I already am. I have to start acting my part. If there are people on that ship who need my help, I'll never forgive myself if we just go on ahead and leave them to suffer."

Sighing through his nose, Sokka tried one last time. "We don't really know if there's anyone there. It's just a suspicion we have."

"Sokka..."

"Look, I'm not saying we can't check it out, but we need to go back to camp and talk about this," He reasoned, gently ushering her on ahead and away from the ship, "Suki needs to know about this, and we need to think carefully about this before we go blazing back into a pirate ship asking for a fight. Let's come back tomorrow morning, and take a better look around. If they are selling people and I can't convince you to do the smart thing and do nothing, than we need to do the next best thing and investigate before we leap into this."

It was the best plan, when it all came down to it. Aang knew that Katara didn't really want to wait until the next day, but Sokka's points were pretty wise, and they were successful in stalling her from going out and acting rashly without a plan. Suki was incredibly leery about the idea once she was filled in to the situation, but Katara was adamant that they at least go back and double-check. When they did, however...

"Where is everybody?"

Suki's question seemed to hang heavy in the stillness of the cool morning air, too loud in an area that had been full of noisy crowds loitering about the day before. Only a few people dotted the nearby vicinity, mostly women and girls seen here and there within the town itself, where the food market was found, and a couple fisherman on the docks who were busy getting ready to set out for a long day's trip out on the ocean. Even the ships that had been lined up and down the way were missing.

As the children spoke in low worried tones, Aang floated up into the air up above the rooftops of the nearby buildings and scanned the area himself. He was puzzled at the lack of people until he spotted most of the missing ships and crowds had moved down to a different dock altogether, a bit closer inland where the inlet became much more like a very wide river than an extension of the ocean. In his exploration yesterday, he hadn't ventured down that far, simply because it seemed to be a bit less interesting as the rest of the town closer to the sea. Now he was kicking himself for not taking a closer look earlier. "Katara, there's a crowd down the way, and most of the ships are there too. Maybe we'll find the ship we're looking for down there."

Katara smiled up at him gratefully before relaying the message along to the others. "Aang said that everyone's down at the farthest dock. I wonder why?"

A nearby fisherman perched on the very edge of the dock mending his nets chuckled, drawing their attention. "You three mustn't from around here," He said, shaking his head at them, "Today everybody's gonna be down at the workman docks, everyone knows that."

Trading a look with her brother, Katara allowed him to step forward and take the lead while Aang hopped down from the rooftops and rejoined the group to watch how this would play out. "Well, we were told by a... potential... um, fellow trader to meet him, but he gave us some awful directions!" Sokka blustered, puffing out his scrawny chest just a bit, "What a lousy business partner, I outta cut off our agreement before it even starts, if this is the way he wants to treat a prince!"

Suki covered a cough of disbelief. "Oh brother..."

Tickled, the man laughed a long wheezing, almost breathless bout of laughter that brought tears to his eyes. "A Prince! Hee hee heeee, what are you doin' round about here, Darky? You really a prince, boy?"

Aang grinned, already knowing that Sokka wouldn't be able to resist playing a role this good. "Of course, peasant! I am Prince Sokka of the Northern Water Tribe, and I am here to trade this slave!"

It was a ridiculously huge gamble to blurt it out, not even knowing if slavery was legal here or not; but to their surprise, the old fisherman wasn't fazed a bit. "Now now Prince Darky, that's what the workman dock is for! It's in the name! Workman!" He laughed again, waving them on. "Go on, your majesty, and mind yourself! People are gonna steal ya blind if ya let 'em! Hee hee heeee, a foreign prince, here in our town! I ain't never heard the like!"

Nodding their thanks, they backed away and hurried on towards the workman dock, spurred on by the man's alarming nonchalance over the matter. As they rounded the last bend of the interconnected docks, the children found an enormous crowd gathered; one set of people were gathered in holding pens, bound together in small knots of three and five with a length of rope threaded through each of their crude manacles. The others were gathered before a large platform facing the inlet, where three barkers at a time were showing off their respective slaves, one barker looking vaguely familiar (Perhaps someone from the Trades back home?) and one very familiar with his bright blue hair standing out amid the mass of mishmashed colors.

I was right! That scum bag does sell slaves!

Heedless to the startled cried of alarm from Sokka and Suki, Katara slipped in and pushed her way through the crowd, her fury mounting and not leaving her much room to think rationally about her actions. These were people that were being sold! It was a crime against humanity itself, and it was going to end here today, if she had anything to say about it.

"Stop! I demand to know who is in charge!"

Her shout, subtly amplified by airbending to make it carry over the noise of the crowds, cut through the chaos like a knife, startling trader, buyer, and slave alike and pretty much stalling all business as everyone turned as one to see the slight form of a very angry looking water tribe girl marching up on the platform. Many of the men started to murmur among themselves in confusion, looking around to see if the powerful shout had come from someone else more likely, but when she repeated her furious demand, a few began to laugh. "Who do you think you are, girlie?" One of the Captains answered dubiously.

"Yeah, who do you think you are, ordering us about, eh?"

"Don't you know that I'm the one in charge here anyhow?"

"You? You're only in charge of the snuff, Bo! Don't be claiming you're-"

"What's going on here?"

The last came from one man who singled himself out of the crowd to her left and strode on the platform, the three barkers and their respective slaves scuttling off to the side lines where bought slaves filed into at his appearance, with low whispers of 'Wild Man Kannir' circulating among them. To the children's surprise, the man's eyes were a pale blue, and his skin and tied back hair were nearly as dark as any water tribe native from back home; though he was wearing possibly the most impractical and laughable looking gopherbear claw jewelry and blue, fur-lined cape they had ever seen. Even with no visible weapons and the strange get up (who in this town didn't have weird clothing?), he was obviously a dangerous man who wasn't used to being crossed. He met her defiant glare with a glittering glare of his own as he towered over her. "I'm the one who runs this show," He rumbled, his voice coming from deep within his chest, "You'd better be someone worth my time, interrupting me on the biggest trade day of the month, little girl."

It took a lot of effort for Aang to remember not to swoop in from his perch on top of the awning to Katara's rescue, reminding himself that this was Katara's turn to take charge. She didn't need rescuing... even if the man looked like he fit every inch of his name. He felt a surge of pride when his friend drew herself up to her fullest height, and met the man's gaze steadily, even with Sokka shouting at her from far in the back of the crowd. "I am worth your time. I am the Avatar, and I demand you let these poor people go! You have no right to sell them like they're animals!"

A small bubble of silence floated between the two, before it burst with a bark of laughter from Kannir. "Don't waste my time, kid, you're not the Avatar." He waved her away dismissively, turning to leave. "Get lost before I decide to sell you."

Flushing with anger, Katara decided she had enough. "If I prove that I'm the Avatar, will you let these people go?"

Kannir paused, looking back over his shoulder at her with a touch of surprise that she was so insistent. "How are you going to do that? You going to-"

A sharp crack of air slashing past his face cut him off, prompting him to leap back instinctively to miss the blast. It was only a second later that he realized that it wasn't meant for him, but for the first pen holding the slaves, the blast smashing into the wooden planks and the various crew members who were acting as guards with punishing force. As the slaves within that pen all shouted in startled confusion, a large wave surged up and over the lip of the main dock, harmlessly arching over the crowds and dousing the ring leader, leaving him gasping and sputtering from the cold shock.

Katara smirked at him. "Still don't think I'm the Avatar?"

Her awareness was heightened to a prickling alarm when the man slowly smiled and started to laugh... not unlike the smile that King Bumi had flashed her before he had earthbent her into the dueling ring. "You're going regret that, kid."

His muscular arms swept loosely around his body, momentarily stunning her as she realized that he was bending the water off himself and freezing it in a thin, razor-sharp sheet of ice. With a gasp, Katara reacted instinctively and airbent herself over the ice as it was flung in her direction, landing back down on the planks and hearing the ice smash noisily against the side of the largest ship as she stared at the man in horror that soon curdled into disgust.

Wild Man Kannir was a water tribe man... dealing in slavery!

Chaos erupted as the crowd realized there was an actual fight starting, and everyone wanted get out of the line of fire when it came from the Wild Man and the apparent Avatar. Sokka and Suki, who were stuck outside the tightly packed crowd from the start, were suddenly jostled and shoved away from each other as the crowd immediately began to make a break for it. Most of the would be customers were trying to get off the dock and back into town, while the slaves within the broken pen were realizing that they now had an opening to try to escape. The various traders and crew members were scrabbling around trying to subdue the runaways or gather their weapons and drive off the little upstart who was on the platform. Ducking and twisting, Sokka had to elbow and shove his way through the madness to try to get to his sister. "Katara! You've made your point, let's go!"

Emerging from the confusion with her fans flashing, Suki plowed though the panicked people between them and grasped his sleeve, pulling him along towards the broken pen. "Leave Katara to her fight, she's got Aang!" She shouted, "We need to get to the slaves!"

Looking ahead, he realized that she was right. Katara was holding her own for the moment, mostly frustrating the ring leader by darting in and out of his range like a bird and dealing pointed and precise blows of her own in return. The slaves in the pen, however, were quickly being subdued, the ropes holding the groups together hindering them from escaping... only it appeared that one or two of the groups of people had somehow broken free of their ropes, and were either running or joining in the fight. Seeing another set of slaves suddenly have their ropes miraculously loosen and fall, he realized that Aang must have beaten them to the corral and was using a fallen knife. "Aang, you better be with Katara and not in here helping us, or I'll kick your invisible butt when we get out of this mess!"

Suki was already jumping over the broken edge of the pen. "Never mind, just hurry and help!"

Soon the chaos of his surrounding seemed to turn into a blur as he started focusing on his primary goal of cutting as many ropes as possible, with his awareness narrowing to his immediate surroundings. It was something that Dad had said happened in a battle, but he hadn't quite understood it until it started to happen to him. His world at that moment was: Cut the ropes, fend off attackers, get to the next group, and keep Suki within his line of sight. When he reached the fifth group of slaves, he realized that most of the newly freed slaves were sticking around to help fend off their captors, and were spreading around and helping to free their fellows in the other corrals. He spared a moment to look up at the platform to see how Katara was doing, when his heart leaped in his throat.

Where was his sister?

A/N: Next chapter will be coming either next week, or the week after, so keep your eyes peeled!

This village is not the same as the fisherman's warf seen in 'The Storm' or the pirate's pier from 'The Waterbending Scroll', but is instead a town directly set in between Jet's forest and the mountain range where the southernmost of the Fire Nation colonies (including the fortuneteller's village and the ruins of Taku) are located.

Wild Man Kannir is not a canon character, though in some instances in the show we have seen water tribe looking men in the rougher parts of the Earth Kingdom, and I decided to make him one of them. He's a random slaver, and the slave trade here in this part of the Earth Kingdom is kind of like how drug wars are operated- it's all against the law, but this far south of Ba Sing Se is much wilder and unregulated. There's good money to be had, and if there are enough war prisoners, girls, and criminals needing to work off their debt to society, than there's going to be a lot of people cashing in on that. Kannir is one who specializes in selecting women and girls for the local brothels, and runs the slave trade at this port with an iron fist. After all, having a bending ability different from others in the area and a lot of people in your pocket can make one pretty untouchable... until the Avatar shows up, that is!

Kannir's name is derived from a Yup'ik word meaning 'To Boil Water'.

In my opinion, the Avatar World that we saw in the show did not show a lot of things that I am sure took place, slavery and higher levels of discrimination included. Hopefully, this is not going to bother a lot of people, as I aim to show what most likely would have happened in the economic and historical settings that this world is based off of.

FYI, I do not hold to the idea that anything beyond the first season of LOK is canon, for many reasons. As such, I will not be adding anything that hasn't been confirmed or hinted at within the first series alone, with a few exceptions. (I won't go into the rant I want to about how LOK has progressed... let's just say that it went from great to weird/badly written really fast. Elements from Book One: Air will appear in my story, however, almost nothing book two has provided will be counted as revelent or even remotely canon.)

See you in a week or two!