Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Chapter 1: Struggles in the South
"It is I! The Great Saber Tooth! The spirit of this village and La's most trusted servant!"
A Water Tribe maiden brushed her hair loopies into place and laughed in response to the announcement. "More like the Spirit of Yak Milk. Wipe that off your face."
The so-called "Spirit of the Saber Tooth" straightened up and brushed his tiny sleeve against his mouth, accidentally smearing some of his war paint in the process. He held onto a deformed-looking "club" made from whale bone in one arm and molded a snowball in the other. "Okay, now I'm the Spirit of the Saber Tooth." He pointed the club towards her. "You're the human called Katara, aren't you?"
"You mean Princess Katara, O Honorable Saber Tooth Spirit."
The boy turned to his cousin, a slightly older-looking tribesboy. "Is she the girl, Great Mammoth Spirit?"
"Yeah! She tied my tusks to a glacier when I was sleeping! I had to carry that thing around for hours. Do you know how long it took me to break the ice?"
"Princess Katara, you can't play pranks on the spirits. It's wrong," the younger boy told her. "I need you to apopo… alogopize… alopogize..."
"Apologize?"
"Yeah, that. Say you're sorry to my friend right now, and we'll forgive you."
"Well I won't," Katara said. "What are you gonna do about it, Kohana?"
"That's Mr. Saber Tooth Spirit to you!" he corrected. "If you don't admit your crimes, I'm gonna take you down to the Spirit World and lock you away forever!"
"How exactly are you going to capture me? With your little toy?"
"This is a real weapon, woman!" he waved his club against her. "And for your information, I also have spirit powers."
"Let's see if your spirit powers can keep up with my bending."
"Stand back, Umiaq...I-I mean, Mammoth Spirit," Kohana growled. "I will defend the honor of your tusks!" And with that, he lunged forward, club in one hand, snowballs aiming from the other in Katara's direction. With a knowing smirk, she bent them easily into liquid and redirected the tendril of water towards the boy. He dodged out of the way, and his friend got splashed instead.
"Aah! Saber Tooth Spirit!" Umiaq cried out.
"That's it, you're going down, human!" Kohana propelled himself at Katara from behind her and attempted to knock her down by crashing down on her, but a cushion of ice pulled him away from her. Katara used another tendril to tie his hands together. He wobbled and fell backward into the snow.
"And that's how you tame a wild saber tooth," she taunted. "If you're really as powerful as you say you are, you'll get back up and fight."
"I was just being easy on you!"
"Oh really?"
"Untie me right now, and I'll show you who's boss!"
She melted the ice from his wrists and watched in amusement as he picked up his fallen club. Like a penguin duck, he waddled through the treacherous ice carefully before launching his club at her again. She drenched him quickly before he tumbled back into the snow.
"Haha!" Katara said. "I win!"
"It's not over yet!" Umiaq said, turning to the shivering fighter in the ice. "Come on, Saber Tooth, don't fail me now!"
But Kohana simply dropped his club and looked at the snow in a mixture of frustration and longing. He took a seat in the ice and sunk back against it.
Katara's smirk dissolved into concern. "Kohana? You okay?" She trudged over to him and bent the water off of him, her hand resting on his shoulder worriedly. "You know I'm just kidding, right? The battle's not over yet. Come on."
"It's not that," the boy grumbled. "It's no fun if Sokka's not here to get splashed in the face for me."
"Yeah. It's more fun if Sokka was here," Umiaq agreed.
Katara shook her head. She knew Kohana and their older brother, Sokka, bonded over their goofiness, imagination, and self-claimed superiority of their skills over her bending. Sokka and Kohana were sidekicks in every way and were always on the same team. At least, that was the case whenever Sokka had the chance to stay in the South for more than a few days. "Fine, I won't bend this time," she coaxed him. "Come on, attack me. Unless if you're scared. Are you scared of me, Mr. Saber Tooth?"
But Kohana wasn't moved and only mumbled quietly, "This is a hard game without Sokka."
Umiaq sighed. "Well I gotta get going now. Momma's probably looking for me." He nudged Kohana softly. "I'll see you later then, buddy?"
"Yeah."
As Umiaq headed off in the opposite direction, Katara glanced back at her sullen little brother. She, too, missed Sokka, but this was the way it had to be. As much of a nut-brain as her older brother could be sometimes, it was still his hard work that was feeding them.
The South hadn't always been under this economic distress. At least, that was what her father and grandfather always told her. If there was anything to say about the Water Tribe, it was a nation of resources. Others would immediately shoot down this remark, but it was true. Although considered to be disadvantaged compared to the other three nations, the Water Tribe at its core had its own share of luxuries however simplistic they may seem. The people of the Water Tribe are perhaps the most resilient of all communities. Through thick and thin, they allowed themselves to be pushed and pulled but didn't step out of line with the Spirits. Their sense of community was strong, and even if they weren't the type to be indulged in meditation and were nowhere near accustomed to strict vegetarianism, they were nevertheless a profoundly spiritual group of people second to the Air Nomads. Like the airbenders, they did not crave the industrial luxuries of the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation. They embrace nature the way children cling to their mothers. In fact, the two divisions of the tribe were characterized by spirituality more than politics. The North was the guardian of Tui, and the South was the guardian of La. The ocean, the moon, and the harsh tundra sculpted their customs and traditions, and in this respect, the inhabitants found order, peace, civilization. They didn't just survive and adapt to the harsh weather conditions; they conquered them and created a world entirely around them.
This was the way things had been for several millennia, resulting in the mutual relationship between the sister tribes. The respective Spirits, too, were very benevolent in their own right, watching over one another's dominant tribe, ruling the entire civilization inseparably. True enough to Tui's grace and beauty, diplomatic essence, and command over bending, the North was surrounded by intricacy and a kind of authenticity that made it seem more like a celestial city than its reputation as a long-forged cultural center. It was currently more engaged in trade compared to the South and naturally produced a greater number of benders. The North was basically water surrounded by land; hence, it was a city built almost entirely on water and was run by canal systems. The Northerners' bending was what helped literally shape their empire, and the ease of transportation through water also made it more convenient for international vessels to distribute goods throughout its capital city. Not to mention it was the original birthplace of their civilization and was more well known in the industrial market for its complexity and social relations.
The South, however, was the ruthlessly smug face of La, raw and possessing of a luxury different from the North. Its spirituality extended as far as worshipping the demigods and minor spirits, recognizing the Yin-Yang/Tui-La dynamics, and participating in occasional rituals though not to the tradition-based extent of the North. A giant mass of land surrounded by water, the South prided itself in its overall hunting skills, greater surface area, and abundant game. While it was always the first to jump up at others' need for help, it was never entirely focused on interdependence or trade. Its only active negotiation with other nations was over fisheries, which also depended on brawn and human effort. Of course, as the South was perfectly capable of feeding itself, it regularly endorsed its primal need to hunt, hunt, and hunt some more.
The tribe had been going through its Golden Age over sixty years ago following Pakku and Kanna's transition to the South. Pakku's resilient influence and Kanna's headstrong liberalism spilled into their involvements in the South and gradually earned them the positions of a minor chief and chieftess. Their son Hakoda proved himself to be a capable leader of the Southern Confederation, and subsequently he and his wife, Kya, were elected as the tribe's chieftain and chieftess. All was well until the past thirty years when the South started facing the increasing possibility of overfishing and overhunting. In the beginning of the downward spiral of their economic conditions, they didn't panic too much. They were the face of La, the Grand Wolf, the spirit symbolizing survival. Surely they could get through the devastation. But as the years passed by, they were proven wrong to the point of making Chief Hakoda take further initiatives.
First and foremost, as wolves were getting scarce and were also deemed the most sacred, Hakoda and the other minor village chiefs passed laws pertaining to the canines' protection, leaving other animals vulnerable given the increasing population of Southerners. The need to find food caused many of the men to move out of their areas and travel to neighboring villages to catch adequate fish or game. Knowing that things would only get worse at this rate, Hakoda was determined to follow the North's footsteps in securing more trade agreements with the neighboring nations. That was when the first Water Tribe merchants decided to set sail, selecting the Winter Solstice, the Night of La as their auspicious moment for beginning their endeavors.
That was also the night when Hakoda's son, Sokka, was born.
The South's trading efforts started with their closest neighbors: the Air Nomads. The Southern Air Temple wasn't exactly "close," but it was certainly a popular starting point. Whaletail Island was midway; it was officially recognized as Air Nomad territory, but culturally it was a mixture of Air Nomad and Water Tribe considering the many lores and legends crafted about the place. Of course, the Water Tribe could trade only certain things with the Air Nomads like rare medicinal herbs, arctic florets gathered from snow forests, handicrafts (those which weren't made from animal skins). Therefore, things like jewelry, woven baskets, perfumes, and other accessories were the only accepted goods, and those, too, were limited because the airbenders were not concerned as much with materiality. Soon enough, many Southern ships started seeking out as far as the Eastern Air Temple to keep up with the transactions. The airbenders were like their spiritual brothers; they willingly helped out however they could.
Throughout this time, the South had also been involved in trade with the nearest Earth Kingdom towns, prominent among them being Kyoshi Island and Chin Village. It required much effort and took nearly all of the South's best ships to trade since Kyoshi Island and Chin Village were relatively small and didn't cover much of the ocean with as many ships. It was further difficult since the Southern Water Tribe also kept away from the bigger markets and now had a harder time securing a place in the bustling competitions within the trading business, but Hakoda did manage to catch the attention of a few more mining towns within the Earth Kingdom and later a group of small territories belonging to the Fire Nation. Wherever they went, however, transporting their goods and returning with what the tribe fed off of, they were still limited in how far they could go. It was impossible to reach any place further than Gaoling at the southern tip of the Earth Kingdom, and even if they wanted to go further, they couldn't, too weighed down by debt to ask for more loans.
Even with so many involvements and lots of effort, the process seemed tedious and endless. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't get in contact with bigger cities. They couldn't physically reach out to the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation capitals for assistance, and correspondence slowed the process even further. How much longer were the tribesmen going to have to rely on small towns? How much longer were they going to carry their own goods and deliver them to villages millions of miles away from home? Going and coming back, relying on cucumberquats to appease their tireless hunger, collapsing back home only to leave barely a few days later for delivering another shipment. There was no good reason for encouraging the men to settle down and leave this process behind, no circumstance allowing the men to take a break if they were dominated by the need to feed their large families and help pay off the South's debts.
By this time, however, Sokka had reached the age of fourteen, and the tribe decided to take matters further and venture to what they believed would be the first checkpoint of successful communication with the Earth Kingdom government: Omashu. It was a bustling city, highly known and well represented in the Earth Kingdom court. Proposing an alliance with Omashu would surely send word to Ba Sing Se and allow the Earth King to consider the Southern Water Tribe as a worthy trading partner. The journey to Omashu, though, was incredibly far, much more complicated than any of their destinations up until then. Hakoda wanted to take up the chance and decided to take his son along, knowing this was a good way of fulfilling the ice dodging tradition, but things took a turn for the worst. The journey ended up being rough; a violent storm tormented Chief Hakoda's ship and destroyed the supplies, threatening to tear the ship to pieces with its wrath. Sokka, however, proved himself highly capable and displayed his god-like mastery over the ocean by somehow managing to steer them all to safety. Thankfully no one was thrown overboard or killed, but among the numerous crew members who were injured, Hakoda suffered the worst. A severe leg injury left him with a permanent limp and would render him unfit for any such voyage or strenuous activity in the future.
It truly was a heart-wrenching accident that left Hakoda grim and depressed for several months out of feelings of uselessness and anxiety for his family's welfare, but he was able to help out in shipbuilding, at least. Pakku was a capable man for someone so old, but he, too, was faced with difficulties of his own and found that assisting Hakoda was the best course of action. Therefore, Sokka took up the task of delivering the goods. His decision was immediate, too; barely a month after Hakoda recovered, the goofy kid set off on his first voyage and led the men so naturally as if he'd been doing it forever.
Despite Sokka's cockiness and childishness at times, he was still unconditionally devoted to the safety of his community, family, and crew. His confidence over the seas was exemplary as were his intelligence, wit, humor, and prowess over science and engineering. His efforts of capturing the attention of the "jackpot cities" were also commendable, though the South was still largely ignored. He was a hard worker despite some of his failures; every time he came home from his trips, he charged out into the distant wilds with his spear, spending the entire week's worth of time he had to hunt food enough to last his family at least three weeks. And he would leave again, returning in time to replenish their stock of game and prepare for the next voyage. Within a span of two years, he became the default breadwinner of the family as well as a capable leader of the tribe. Five winters later, he became a well-known authority figure of the South's Navigation Committee. Now at twenty three years of age, he was as busy as ever, and it seemed that the only thing missing from his unbeatable record was his official title as the Chieftain of the South; that, too, is to be fulfilled in the near future.
"I don't get to go with him when he travels the wide world," Kohana said, bringing Katara out of her thoughts and back to reality. "Why can't I go on his fishing trips? He's only two villages away."
"Because you're the oldest man in the tribe, and it's not easy to travel around the 'wide world,'" she said, still trying to make him smile. "Trust me, he'll be back by sundown."
"But he has to leave again after tomorrow."
"Yeah...but at least he's not gonna miss your birthday like he did last year. He said he's gonna be with you all day tomorrow."
"Yeah, right," Kohana mumbled.
"Well hey, if he doesn't, I'll freeze him in the igloo all day long and give him nothing but kelp juice to drink."
"Eugh!"
She smiled and stood up, leaning forward to help him out of the snow. "And look on the bright side, 'Hana. I bet he's off catching some arctic hen for you. You love that, right?"
"Mmhm!" As always, the mention of food perked him up just as it did to Sokka.
"Nice meal for a noble Saber Tooth, isn't it?"
"Grrr!" the little boy shuffled his crouching fingers in her face in attempts of "clawing" at her skin. She chuckled and ruffled his hair.
"You wild thing, you."
He held his hands up. "Carry me?"
"Prince Kohana, you'll be turning six tomorrow," she said. "You're too old to be carried."
"Please, Katara? Please please please?"
"Fine, but just this once." Of course, she always said that and never stayed true to it even once. She sighed and hoisted him up to her height with her bending, catching him in her arms.
"Can we go feed the koala-otters tomorrow? You, me, and Sokka? Oh, and I want to go sledding at Antiman's Peak."
"Of course we can."
"And I wanna go ice skating and dolphin diving. Oooh! Can we stop by Lady Nagara's house, too? I really want to pick out my husky."
"Anything you want."
Suddenly, two dark shadows stepped into their view and interrupted them. Kohana swallowed his rambling and frowned as Katara tightened her protective grip on the boy and stepped back, glancing at their unexpected visitors. One of them grunted, eyeing them with impatience. "It would be nice if you and your family could arrange for what I want as well."