We have been traveling for a long time now, and I don't think we were even close to where Aang wanted to go. "You have no idea where you're going, do you?" Sokka asked as he looked over the side of Oppa.
"I know it's near water." Aang replied. I glanced over the side down to the water below. If I were to jump out of the saddle, there is no way I was going to survive the fall down. Even with us being over water.
"Then we must be getting close. All I see is water." I spoke up. The next couple minutes were complete silence. Just like most of this trip had been. Most of the time, our flights were full of silence or snoring. There wasn't always a lot one could do when you were thousands of feet in the air and no other people to talk to but the same 3 people.
You probably need to be caught up a little bit. My name is Sene, my twin's is Sokka and we have a little sister named Katara. We are from the Southern Watertribe. About a month ago, Katara accidentally woke up the Avatar from a 100 year nap. The disgraced prince of the Fire Nation showed up and tried to take him away. That didn't work, obviously, and we are now traveling with the Avatar. We are on our way to the Northern Watertribe to find a water bending teacher for Aang, Katara and I.
"Hey Katara, look at this airbending trick." I glanced over and saw him playing with spheres of air.
"That's nice Aang." She didn't even look up. Her full attention was on the pants Sokka had ripped. Aang's face fell with her not looking up at him. One could clearly tell that he was wanting to impress her.
"Stop bugging her airhead, you need to give women space when they are sewing." Sokka placed his hands behind his head and relaxed down into the saddle. I raised an eyebrow at him, not sure if he was including me in that comment.
"What does being a girl have to do with sewing? Sene is a girl and she isn't sewing."
"Simple. Girls are better at sewing and cooking and things like that and boys are better at hunting and fighting and stuff like that. It's just the natural way of things." I reached over and punched him right in the shoulder, using all the force I had.
He quickly sat up and rubbed his arm, right where I punched him. "All done." Katara said holding up the pants, that still had a large hole in them. "And look at what a great job I did." She threw the pair of pants at him before folding her arms and looking away from his direction.
"I was kidding. Katara please, I can't wear these." Sokka whined, holding up the pants and putting his hand through the hole.
"Don't worry Sokka. Where we are going you won't need any pants." Aang joyfully exclaimed. Aang pulled the reigns and had Oppa fly down to a beach. Once we landed, we all jumped off. I reached up and stretched, needing it quite a bit. Even though we had only been flying for 6 hours, I needed to good stretch and there was no way I was going to be standing up while in the air.
"We just made a pit stop yesterday, shouldn't we keep flying before we make camp?" Sokka asked looking around the beach.
"He's right. At this rate, we won't get to the North Pole until spring." Katara added.
"We can get some supplies while we are here." I tried to explain.
"But Oppa's tired, aren't you boy?" Aang asked stepping to Oppa and scratching under his chin. Oppa let out a loud and long yawn as he plopped down on the ground.
"Wow, really convincing. But who can argue with a 10-ton magical monster."
"He isn't a monster!" I said loudly stepping up to Oppa and scratching his forehead. "He's a big fluff ball." Oppa licked up my body, he very much enjoyed my comment. I laughed at him and wiped off the slobber.
"Look!" Aang yelled pointing to the water. I looked over and saw a big tail go back into the water. "That's why we're here. Elephant Koi, I'm going to ride it." Aang finished jumping out of his clothes and running to the water.
I sat on the edge of the beach, sticking my feet just enough in the water that I could feel it. Aang was yelling from the giant Elephant Koi, trying to get Katara's attention. She would wave, but wouldn't do more than that. Sokka and Katara were arguing over if Aang was doing a good job or not. "There's something in the water." Sokka suddenly exclaimed. I glanced over to Aang and saw a huge creature rise up from the water.
It looked like the back of a giant water creature, with spines and a huge fin running the length of its body. Sokka and Katara quickly got Aang's attention just as he fell into the water. Aang spotted the creature and literally started running on the top of the water towards us. Sokka had his arms out, waiting to catch Aang if he needed to. Instead of catching him, the both of them flew backwards and slammed into a tree.
"What was that thing?" Katara asked, starting to put her clothes back on.
"I don't know, but let's not stay around to find out." Sokka replied slowly sitting up, slightly out of breath.
I went to stand up, but I heard something moving in the trees around us. I looked over at the trees and saw what looked like warriors climbing down from the trees. Quickly, we were surrounded by warriors. As I got a close look, I realized that all of them were women. Before I could do anything else, my hands were tied around me and a blindfold on my face. "Or we could stay a while." Sokka said from next to me after a loud thump.
It has been about 15 minutes since we were ambushed. We had been carried from the beach to another location, and tied to some type of pole. "You 4 have some explaining to do." I could hear a man behind me. It was a slightly gravelly voice, and slightly….tired?
"And if you don't answer all of our questions, we'll throw you back in the water with the Unagi." That voice was female, younger, and full of confidence.
"Show yourselves cowards!" If I could reach Sokka, I would gladly kick him right now. Just as I had that thought, the blindfold from around my eyes is pulled away. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust. When they did, I could see us surrounded once again by the women who had tied us up, as well as other people.
"Who are you and where are the men that abducted us?" Sokka questioned with force. There was no way he was going to believe that he was tied up by a group of women.
"Sokka, there were no men, it was them." I spoke up.
One of the girls stepped forward. She had a different head piece than the rest of them, so she was most likely the leader. "There were no men. We ambushed you. Now tell us, who are you and what are you doing here?" She was the one who spoke earlier.
"Wait a second." Please don't Sokka, don't make this worse. "There is no way a bunch of girls took us down."
"A bunch of girls huh?" The leader asked.
"I am very sorry about him. He doesn't realize that women can do all the same things men can do. And sometimes they do them better." I spoke before anything bad were to happen, trying to break the tension that Sokka was creating.
"It's my fault. I wanted to ride the Elephant Koi." Aang tried to explain.
"How do we know you aren't Fire Nation spies? Kyoshi has stayed out of the war so far, and we want to keep it that way." The older man spoke.
"This island is named for Kyoshi? I know Kyoshi." Aang brightened up. I could see the huge smile on his face. If he know's Kyoshi or who they are, hopefully they are good and can be on our side.
"Ha! How could you possibly know her?" The old man asked again without much trust in his words. "She was born here over 400 years ago, and has been dead ever since."
"I know her, because I'm the Avatar." Aang explained, but I could see his happiness and confidence diminish slightly. Everyone else in the area, looked shocked.
"That's impossible! The last Avatar was an airbender who disappeared 100 years ago." The old man said after a few moments of shocked silence.
"That's me." Aang grinned again.
"Throw the imposter to the Unagi." Immediately after those words from the old man, the women started stepping towards us. I heard Katara faintly whisper something before Aang shot up in the air. Gasps were heard throughout the area as well as realization that he actually was the Avatar.
Afterwards, we were all let go from being bound and were shown around the island. It was beautiful and full of so much joy. And all the warriors on this island, they were all women. We were given a place to stay for the night. The next morning, we were basically treated like royalty, all because we knew Aang.
The whole time at breakfast; Sokka was moping about being beaten by a girl, Aang and Katara were slightly arguing about staying here. I agree with Katara that we shouldn't stay too long, but I wanted to talk with Suki, who was the leader of the Kyoshi warriors. I had been trying to teach myself how to fight because there was no way Sokka was going to teach me.
After breakfast I walked around, trying to find Suki. I was able to find her in a smaller building with 4 other girls, all training. Once Suki saw me standing in the doorway, she stopped and walked up to me. "Hi Sene, what can I do for you?"
"I was wondering if you would be willing to teach me your fighting style? I have been trying to train myself how to do basic fighting things, because my brother won't let me do anything with him."
"We don't really teach outsiders, we can make an exception. But it takes a long time to get the hang of our fighting. Some of us have been doing this since we could walk, it's just the way of life here." She explained.
"If I can, I would love to stay and learn. Be around women who fight and are independent." I know I have told my siblings that I would go with them and Aang, but this is something that I have been wanting for a long time. I also do know that if I don't go with them, then there won't be a way for me to learn water bending. But if Katara and Aang can learn, then they can probably teach me after we can get together again.
"We are going to go over some of our basic movements, if you would like to watch for a moment." Suki explained. I gave a small nod before walking over to a bench on the side of the room.
Watching them practice was something else. They were together, in every movement and step they made. As I watched them, the excitement grew inside of me. I was watching actual women, just like me, fighting.
I stood up after a good 30 minutes of watching them practice. I had somewhat of a photographic memory, by watching someone do something, I can immediately copy them. "Do you think I could join in?"
"I guess we can slow down our movements and let you follow along." Suki said as they all stopped and looked at me.
"Actually, I don't think you will need to slow down. I had to teach myself basic stuff by watching others. I can pick things up really quickly. But…." I paused and looked at each of them. "I don't think I will be able to fully follow because I won't have a fan or the clothing."
Suki gave a huge smile, "we can fix that. Girls." A couple of the other girls came up to me with a big smile. They grabbed my arms and lightly pulled me with them. We went into a back room of the dojo and they opened a couple closets. In one of them there were extra uniforms. The other one had rows of extra fans. The girls helped me into the uniform then started doing my makeup. I guess it was part of the whole ensemble and there was nothing I was going to be able to do about it.
While they finished my makeup, I expected the fans. The edges were brought to a point, with a slight edge. They were made of metal but at the same time, were super light and easy to maneuver. The girls stepped back, both with a smile. "All done." They grinned as I stood up and motioned to a mirror at the back of the room.
As I stepped up, I didn't recognize myself. I had the warrior paint on and my long brown hair was free of its ponytail and laid down my back. "What do you think?" One of the girls asked.
"I love it!" I squealed and pulled them in for a hug. We all went back to the main room, where the rest of the girls were practicing again. When we stepped in, they stopped and all looked at us.
"It looks good on you, Sene." Suki said with a smile.
"I am so happy to be able to wear it. And that you are willing to let me learn along side you all."
"Then come, let's see what you were able to pick up." I stepped up to them, and was placed in the middle of the group, behind Suki.
We stepped forward, opening and closing the fan then stepping up on our back leg. After stepping onto one leg, we leaned forward with the fan open.
"Sorry ladies, didn't mean to interrupt your dance lesson." I knew that voice. We all paused and looked over at the boy standing at the front door. "I was just looking for somewhere to get a little workout." Sokka said, stretching to the side.
"Then you're in the right place. Sorry about yesterday, I didn't know you were friends with the Avatar." Suki replied as we all stood behind her.
"It's alright." He said before a mocking smile graced his face. "I mean, normally I'd hold a grudge, but seeing as you guys are a bunch of girls, I'll make an exception." Suki glanced briefly at me with a raised eyebrow. The only thing I could do was shrug, I knew he would do something like this.
"I should hope so. A big strong man like you? We wouldn't stand a chance."
"True. But don't feel bad. After all, I'm the best warrior in my village." I rolled my eyes. He was literally the only warrior in the village, other than me. But in his eyes, I wasn't one because I was a girl.
"Wow, best warrior huh? In your whole village?" Suki looked at me again. "Maybe you'd be kind enough to give us a little demonstration."
"Oh, well….I mean… I…" Sokka stuttered.
"Come on Sokka, show everyone all the work you have put in with being the best warrior in the village." I spoke up, stepping forward. His eyes widened slightly at me, and he looked a little dumbfounded. "Wouldn't you like him to show you all some moves?" I asked the girls behind me. They all smiled and nodded their heads.
"Well, if that's what you want, I'd be happy to." He tried to move Suki over to a different position, but she barely budged. "Alright, this may be a little tough, but try to block me." He bent backwards into a different position, getting ready to strike forward.
As soon as he moved forward to hit her, Suki brought her fan up and hit his shoulder. Sokka made a small grunt sound and stumbled back, rubbing his shoulder. "Good. Of course I was going easy on you."
"Of course." Suki replied with a smile. I knew how she was reacting, was going to make him mad. Sure enough.
"Let's see if you can handle this." He jumped forward with a kick, to which she bent down and shoved him upwards and back before standing up and fanning herself. Sokka flew back a couple feet and landed on his back. "That does it!" He ran forward with a punch, to which Suki grabbed and ran him around in a circle while holding his arm. They moved in a circle a couple times before she stopped him, grabbed his belt and used it to tie one of his arms and feet together. Sokka jumped forward, trying to get on balance but ended up falling on his face.
Suki stepped forward and looked down at him. "Anything else you want to teach us?" I can't wait to be able to do some of these things myself. I was grinning from ear to ear. All of the girls started laughing. I could tell that Sokka was upset and definitely going to start crying. I stepped forward and unwrapped his hand and foot. He stood up quickly, grabbing his belt and stomping outside.
We all watched him go before Suki motioned for us all to start going through the motions again. Suki would do a move and everyone would follow. Luckily I was able to follow, even though I didn't fully know the exact steps. We did this for about 10 minutes before someone stepped through the doorway again.
"Uh, hey Suki." Sokka said as we all lunged forward with our fans. We all stood up and looked at him.
"Hoping for another dance lesson?" Suki asked not really please with being interrupted again.
"No…I….Well, let me explain." Sokka stuttered.
"Spit it out! What do you want?" She was definitely frustrated. Sokka looked at her a moment and then looked at me.
He knelt down and bowed his head. "I would be honored if you would teach me."
"Even if I'm a girl?" She asked, mocking him slightly.
"I'm sorry if I insulted you earlier. I was….wrong."
"We normally don't teach outsiders, let alone boys." She crossed her arms and looked down at him.
"Please make an exception, or at least another exception. I won't let you down." He was being completely sincere. Suki looked back at me, it seemed like she was asking for permission in a way. I gave a small nod making her turn back to him.
"All right. But you have to follow all of our traditions."
"Of course!" Sokka replied eagerly.
"And I mean all of them." She emphasized all. Does this mean he had to do what I did? Sure enough, the same 2 girls stepped forward and pulled him to the back of the dojo.
"Has your brother always been like that?" Suki asked stepping, up to me.
"Unfortunately. Ever since our father went away for the war, he's been incharge of the village. The oldest boy, who isn't old and can move. The only other males in the tribe are super old men or 6 year olds. He has taken everything on himself and believes that women shouldn't fight and should only be doing stuff…..for homemaking."
"That's why you wanted to learn."
"Mostly. I can do water bending, but don't know much about that either. But I believe that one shouldn't rely only on the element they can bend. Especially when there are people out there who can't do bending. They are still able to protect themselves and those they care about. That is why I was so excited to meet all of you and you accepted me to teach." I finished with a huge grin.
"You'll be a great addition to the team. I look forward to getting to know you more and training with you." Suki replied with a smile of her own. Just then, the two girls and Sokka came out from the back.
"Do I really have to wear this? It feels a little….girly." Sokka said playing with the uniform.
"It's a warrior's uniform, you should be proud. The silk threads symbolize the brave blood that flows through our veins. The gold insignia represents the honor of the warrior's heart." Suki explained motioning to each element on the uniform.
Sokka looked more pleased with wearing it, knowing what each thing meant. "Bravery and honor."
"Hey Sokka! Nice dress." Aang said from the doorway. I stepped towards him and he quickly ran away. When I looked back at Sokka, he had a small blush on his face.
The rest of the girls were excused so it was just Sokka, Suki and I. Suki had us going through movements that I had already been taught, flowing them all together. "You're not going to master it in one day. Even I'm not that good."
"I think I'm starting to get it." Sokka said, stumbling through a movement or two. He then finished the full movement, ending with throwing the fan out the door and hitting a tree. Suki glanced through the doorway then looked back at him.
"It's not about strength. Our technique is about using your opponent's force against them." She motioned a little bit with her hands as she explained. "Loosen up." She pulled out her fan and held it up to Sokka. "Think of the fan as an extension of your arm. Wait for an opening and then…" She stepped forward to which Sokka stepped to the side and knocked her off balance. Sokka smiled as Suki looked a little stunned. "I fell on purpose to make you feel better."
"I got you, admit that I got you." Sokka said with joy pointing at her. Suki grabbed his finger and bent it backwards.
"Okay, it was a lucky shot." She let go of his finger and looked between us. "Let's see if you can do it again. This time against your sister." Sokka and I got into the stance that we had been taught and practiced blocking, redirecting, and attacking each other.
We have been practicing for a long while now. Suki stepped in and made it us two against her, but entirely with blocking. "Not bad." She said with a smile looking at the both of us. Sokka looked at me and I looked at him, both with large smiles on our faces.
"Firebendser have landed on our shores!" Oyaji said stepping into the doorway of the dojo. "Girls, come quickly." Suki immediately took off with him.
"But I'm not a…." Sokka started.
"Oh come on." I said, motioning him to follow.
I quickly was able to catch up to Suki. She motioned for me to go to a certain building, so I headed that way. While I quietly made my way, I noticed that no one was outside. Everyone had gone into their homes. I found another girl getting ready to jump up onto a roof. "Mind if I join?" I whispered. She looked at me and gave a small nod.
She quickly got onto the roof, using the boxes behind it to her advantage. Following her movement I eventually made it onto the roof as well. We squatted down so that it was difficult for us to be seen. There were 4 fire rhinos, 3 of which were walking into the village. The last one that was at the entrance to the village had 1 rider, and I could tell by the voice and how they held themselves, it was Zuko.
"Once they come within distance, you are going to jump and take one of the soldiers off of the rhino. Shiang over there will take out one and Mila will take out the other one." The girl next to me said. I gave her a nod to tell her I heard what she said and understood.
It didn't take long before the 3 rhinos were in the middle of the road, just below the area we were all stationed. Watching the other girls, I moved as soon as they did. I pulled one of the soldiers off the rhino as I passed him, hitting him in the neck like Suki had taught me, effectively knocking him out.
Three other girls jumped into the area and took out the last remaining soldiers on the rhino. I felt a whoosh of air behind me, but it wasn't warm. When I glanced back, I noticed Suki running straight at Zuko. She jumped up into the air, but instead of hitting him, the rhino flipped around and hit her with its tail. She was whipped backwards, landing on her side and letting out a groan. Zuko motioned forward and fire started heading towards her. I let out a gasp, I was too far to get to her. Instead, another warrior stepped in front of her, holding up their fan and blocking the fire. Wait, it wasn't just another warrior, it was Sokka. With the stunned moment between them, another warrior took that moment and pulled Zuko off of his rhino and to the ground.
"I guess training's over." Sokka said, running forward. I headed towards the front area, trying to catch up with Sokka. The girl who took Zuko down, Suki, Sokka and I all surrounded Zuko who was still on the ground. He was frustrated, and he looked like a caged animal. I pulled some water from the little satchel I had on my side just as Zuko started doing some firebending to push us all away. The other girl was shoved into the house, Suki was shoved into a pillar, and Sokka was knocked on his back. I pushed the water in front of me, blocking the fire. Zuko punched towards me, and I bent down to dodge the fire. He kicked again, and I dodged that again. He let out a grunt of frustration and punched multiple times. I wasn't able to keep up with what he was doing and was sent backwards, breaking a set of boxes as I fell into them.
"Nice try Avatar, but these little girls can't save you." Zuko yelled, trying to get Aangs attentions.
"Hey, over here!" Aang yelled back. I slowly sat up, very sore to get a look at what was happening. Aang and Zuko were fighting. Aang at this point was holding 2 fans and punched Zuko into a house. Immediately, he grabbed his glider and took off towards the other side of the village. Everything was on fire, houses, boxes, the statue of Kyoshi.
I grabbed my two fans and got up just as Suki and Sokka ran behind a house. "There's no time to say good-bye." Suki said as they crouched down. I came up behind and crouched next to Sokka.
"What about I'm sorry." Sokka said.
"For what?"
"I treated you like a girl when I should've treated you like a warrior." Sokka explained.
"Oh now is when you are apologizing?" I asked with and exasperated sigh.
"I am a warrior." Suki started and kissed Sokka on the cheek. "But I'm a girl too." Even through the makeup, I could see the blush on Sokka's cheek. "Now get out of here! We'll hold them off." Suki yelled.
"Come on Sene." Sokka said motioning for me to follow.
"I'm not going, Sokka, not right now. I am going to stay, and become a Kyoshi warrior. Katara needs to learn water bending. I can get by with the bare minimum and I know her. She will easily become a waterbending master and she can teach me. I need to stay here and become a warrior for myself.
"But, you're my twin. What am I going to do without you?" Sokka asked. The voice and tone he was using was breaking my heart.
"You'll see me again, I promise. Once I can become a full warrior, then I will see you guys again. Just keep me updated on where you guys are going." Sokka pulled me into a hug, tight enough that I couldn't breathe. This was the last time I was going to hug him, for a long time. I hugged him back, with just as much force. "I love you Sokka, I will miss you. All of you. But I need to do this."
Sokka pulled back, with tears in his eyes. "I love you, Nene. Please be safe."
"You too." He gave me one more hug before running off in the direction that Aang flew.
"Come on." Suki said, jumping up and heading towards the center of town. I followed behind her. Girls were jumping around taking turns bringing down a soldier. I was with them, taking down soldiers left and right. It didn't take long before Zuko saw Appa flying through the air.
"The Avatar is getting away." He yelled. The rest of the soldiers all headed towards the beach. As they left, I took a glance at all the house, on fire.
"What are we going to do about the fires?" I asked stepping up to Suki.
"Put them out, somehow." She replied with a sigh. Immediately, it started raining. I looked up but didn't see a cloud in the sky. I followed the direction of the water and saw a giant water creature shooting water at us. And on the creature, was Aang. He was putting the fires out in the only way he could think of.