The chilly fall air blew by her body, and she shivered, everyone in the village did. The coldness had borne through their many layers of clothing and sunk into their very bones. The chatter of the young children were heard from around the corner, but she didn't smile upon hearing the young children organizing a game of tag.
No, Katara found herself frowning, as it brought back memories of a fonder time. She looked up at the noon sky and her frown deepened, the clouds were brewing and with the upcoming snow that would follow, she knew that the day would be lost soon.
The childish screams faded as the kids ran off towards the other side of the small village, but she could still feel them. The icy ground under her feet was very loosely under her admittedly weak control.
"Katara … honey, can you go out to get some fish?" asked Gran Gran
Katara nodded, she was the only one without a child of her own and ever since the Fire Nation had arrived last year and snatched up every male in the village, she had been assigned the fishing duties. She didn't mind the task always falling to her, it was nice to enjoy some peace and quiet. Plus, she could use the time to sneak in some practice of her water bending.
She slipped into her home, the smell of dust was starting to built back up. She didn't spend much time here, not if she could avoid it. It felt weird to be in here … knowing that he was out there. Sokka, her older sexist and rude brother, dragged off by the Fire Nation almost a year … maybe a year and a quarter ago.
Every day she missed him, every day she wished she was a better water bender, every day she wished she could strike back at them. But if a single soldier's death at the hands of a water tribe boat was enough to take all of the men from this village, what would her defeating one do to the village? She had heard horror stories from merchants about what happens to women when taken prisoner … the village was only women now. She couldn't allow them to fall into the hands of the Fire Nation.
It was better to keep her head down and ignore her desires, especially since it meant the safety of everyone. She had promised a kicking and screaming Sokka that she would take care of the village until he came back. If he ever came back that was.
She slipped on his hunting pack, the boomerang, the sword, the spear. It was like keeping a piece of him with her whenever she ventured out of the village. And off she went, nobody paid her any mind as she walked through the gates of the village, there wasn't much of a point. They were trapped down here, cut off from the rest of the world by the Fire Nation blockade.
Once every two weeks, Fire Nation approved merchants would be allowed in and would be able to trade with them. The otter-penguin oil was really good for creating soaps and candles the rest of the world wanted. It was one of their leading exports, along with seal meat. But on a fishing trip like this one, she was fishing for the village.
The small boat was not the Cutter Sailing ships that her father and his men had left in, it was smaller and replied on paddles due to not having a sale. There was a net fastened to the anchors on each side of the boat, it was mainly used for fishing at this point.
Glancing up at the sky, the dark storm clouds were inching closer by the second and with a little bit of water bending, she pushed the boat out from the makeshift port and into the ice filled waters.
Her hands shook with the sheer effort it took to perform such a basic water bending technique, but it was slightly easier than it had been the week prior. Which was a win in her book, eventually she would be skilled enough to push them back or at least get her people away from the Fire Nation.
She released the nets and allowed them to do their thing as she slowly waved her hands back and forth, slowly pulling a bubble of water up and out of the ocean, the salty water being one of the more difficult versions of water to bend according to the left over scrolls on bending that her village had.
She dropped the water back into the ocean as she checked on the fishing nets, making sure that they weren't caught on anything and were doing their jobs. The left net had caught some fish, so she refastened it and pulled the fish into the boat, putting them all on one side.
It was then that a large fish almost the size of her caught her eye. It would be quite the bounty for her and the village. But it would never fit in one of the tiny nets that she had attached to the boat. She looked down at her hands, but if she could figure out a way to bend the water around it just long enough …
She took in a deep breathe through her nose, the frosty air scrapping through her nostrils as she reached deep into her core and moved her hands in figure eight. The water slowly rose up, the fish swimming around inside the bubble of water as Katara continued to move her hands, her arms feeling an ungodly amount of pressure as she struggled to maintain the ball of water.
She could see handfuls of water starting to plop out of the ball, returning to the ocean as she willed the water to bring the fish closer to her, closer to the boat. She finally got it near the boat and she released the water as the fish was halfway over the boat. She was quick with the spear, stabbing into the falling fish and using the spear to pull it into the boat. Her body trembled from the effort and she was glad Sokka wasn't there to mock her for being so weak.
A rumble broke across the sky and she looked up to see the storm had snuck up on her, the sun having moved away and she wondered how long she had really been gone. With half the boat filled with fish, taking up the space that Sokka would have, she quickly paddled backwards to return home.
But the boat slammed into an glacier and she turned around to look at the sheet of ice that was now blocking her way. She closed her eyes as she focused on the ice before swinging her fist down at it. She connected and the ice didn't split, but it did cave in and she felt a jolt of confidence flow through her body. Bending ice was not as hard as salt water and she swung again and again, each punch creating more cracks until finally the ice split.
However, rather than opening up a pathway home, it split and a giant dome of ice floated up from below the ice. It was glowing light blue and Katara narrowed her eyes as she could nake out the form of a mediating person inside the ice.
Paddling to the edge of the new chunk of floating ice, she pulled the sword off it's hook on the backpack and she swung at the dome of ice.
Crack
Crack
Crack
The fourth blow did what the previous three didn't, punching through the first layer of the ice and Katara was pushed away by a blast of pressurized air. She felt back onto her butt, looking up as the dome of ice split and a bright blue beam shot out into the air.
She covered her eyes and heard a hiss as a blast of warm air unlike anything that she had ever felt before washed over her form as she heard a groan. She ran over to the source and found herself leaning over a young boy,
The boy opened his eyes and in a weak voice, "I need to ask you something ..."
Katara paused, this was a random stranger, "What?"
"Please ... come closer" whispered the boy
Curiously got the best of her and she leaned in a bit more, "What is it?"
"Will you go penguin sledding with me?" said the boy, in a clear, happy, and hopeful tone.
"Uh, sure ... I-I guess" replied Katara awkwardly as she retreated a bit as she stood up as well. "You're not from around here are you?"
"No, I am from a bit more up north" admitted the boy before he let out a sneeze and blasted off into the air, before gently floating down.
"You just sneezed ... and flew ten feet in the air!" said Katara in amazement, "You're an airbender"
"Sure am" admitted the boy, "Also it felt higher than that"
There was a grumbling yawn and the boy bounced back up into the crater of ice that he had been trapped inside of and said, "Appa, you're okay"
He leapt inside of the ice and came out on top of a large bison that like him, had an arrow design on his head.
Katara looked at the boy and his large beast and said "I must have hit my head really hard"
"I don't think so, my name is Aang and this is my flying bison, his name is Appa" said Aang, his face split with a large smile.
Katara felt herself feel something she had never felt before, jealousy. This boy was younger than her and yet, clearly never felt the impact of the war.
"What are you doing here?" asked Katara
"I was flying down south, but I got caught in a store and I guess I ended up in the iceberg until the storm passed" answer Aang as he used his hands to scratch Appa's head.
"I guess that makes sense" replied Katara, "We get a lot of storms. But I am more surprised to see an Airbender"
"Why do you say that?" asked Aang
"Nobody has seen an Airbender in almost 100 years" admitted Katara, "I thought that the Fire Nation killed all of you at the start of the war"
"War?" asked Aang, "What war?"
Katara blinked as she looked at the slender boy, "The war that has been going on for almost 100 year. It's a bit hard to miss with so many of my tribe being either killed or taken by the Fire Nation"
The boy looked really uncomfortable, but she couldn't blame him. Apparently he had been living under a rock his entire life or had been sheltered enough to not notice a war going on.
Snow started to fall and Katara looked up at the sky before letting out a sigh, "I gotta get back to my village, the storm is going to keep us locked inside for the rest of the day"
"Do you want a ride?" asked Aang
"Does that thing really fly?" asked Katara
"We normally soar through the sky, but if it's been 100 years, it might take him some stretching" joked Aang
Katara found herself smiling at the joke, it was her first one in a while. This 'Aang' person had a lot of energy, but it felt good to not feel the endless crushing pressure of the war on her shoulders, even if it was only for the briefest of seconds.
"I have my boat, maybe he can tow it back to our port" suggested Katara
Aang nodded and he leapt down, grabbing the part of the rope she usually used to tie the boat to the anchor at the port to keep it from drifting off to see and he sped back up the back of the bison and tried the rope to the back of the saddle.
Katara slowly climbed into the saddle herself, the shifting nature of the moving bison underneath her felt a bit like riding on the shifting ocean. She wasn't really in control, but she was able to steer in the right direction.
After Katara provided the location of the Southern Water Tribe village, there was a comfortable silence that filled the air as Appa climbed down from the ice and started treading through the water.
Aang looked out at the water, his eyes locked on the icy liquid as Appa swam through the water, his chest twisting with guilt.
100 Years
That was a long time for war to be going on … and it was without a doubt his fault. He failed the world … he failed his people … he failed his master who had done everything to raise him.
Swallowing the saliva that had built up in his mouth, Aang felt the harsh sting of vomit being pushed back down. He felt a bit nauseous as he thought about returning back to his once upon a time home and finding what exactly? Nothing? Burnt corpses … charred bones and skeletons that would line the hallways of the temple?
He blinked away tears and he heard Appa grumble as their connection allowed the bison to feel the sinking pit of despair that he had been slowly sliding into.
"So, if you're an Airbender, does that mean you know the Avatar?" asked Katara after several moments, "Or does that mean you are the Avatar"
Aang felt more shards of icy guilt spread throughout his chest, what was he going to do? Lie to this kind girl?
"I am the Avatar" replied Aang, his voice quiet yet still carrying in the silence of their journey
"So you are real" said Katara in a tone that expressed equal parts awe and doubt, "I think a lot of people gave up on believing that you would ever come back and save us"
Aang winced at hearing that, "I was traveling south when I got caught in a storm … I don't know what really happened. I remember crashing into the water and then, you were standing over me when I woke up"
Katara felt like there could be a bit more to the story, but it was hard to say. He said he was traveling south, most likely to work with a water bender in the south. It made sense, plus there was a lot of storms in this area, it wasn't the most unreasonable thing for her to hear. And based on the legends, the Avatar was more powerful than anyone else in the world and was capable of doing things that nobody else was. Was this one of his abilities? A self-preservation ability that trapped him in the ice to keep him from drowning?
"I'm sorry" said Aang, "I … I guess I messed up by getting caught in that storm"
Katara felt a brief spike of annoyance, "I don't know if it is your fault or not, but it is good that I found you. The world needs you"
Aang nodded as if she had said the sky was blue, "I plan on bringing balance to the world … I don't want to, I need to"
Katara felt the edges of her lips tug upwards as she couldn't help but appreciate the confidence, the demand for greatness in his words. It was nice to hear someone know what they were going to do, especially in their world where everything was so uncertain.
Katara glanced up at the sky, the snow was starting to come down more consistently, the snow starting to stick now and she closed her eyes as she forced all the tiny flakes off of her body, leaving her dry and not freezing any more than she had been before.
Aang was wearing a very thin sent of Air bending robes, he was probably freezing, and she knew that they had some left over male clothing in the village, "Are you going to be okay in this weather?"
"Oh yeah" nodded Aang, "My body naturally emits a small current of air that is the perfect temperature. I don't really ever get cold or get hot"
Katara was impressed by the very concept and she wondered if it was possible to do something similar with her rather limited water bending skills. They were making good time back to the village, they were probably eight-ish minutes away when the snow falling from the sky slowly turned from fluffy and white to a bitter gray then to a coal black flurry.
Katara hissed with concern as she noticed the change in snow and Aang narrowed his eyes as well, "Something is wrong"
Katara nodded despite being behind him, "Yeah, this is a sign of the Fire Nation approaching the village"
"Are they going to attack?" asked Aang, concern clear in his voice and Katara felt a build up of heat in her stomach because that was a good question. Was the Fire Nation about to attack her village?
There wasn't really a reason to, she was not known as the last water bender down here. They had killed her mom when she had claimed that title for herself and Katara had been forced to keep that title to herself. There were no more boys in the village, Sokka and all the other male children had been ripped from them by the Fire Nation over a year ago. So, what would be the reason to approach the village at a time like this? They had already been stripped down to the barest basics, the village would decay and die out within a couple decades unless men were brough in and Katara didn't want to think about how the Fire Nation would approach that concept.
She found herself looking at the back of Aang's head, when she had found him, she recalled there being a big blue beam of light that had shot up into the air.
She gasped, "When I found you, there was a light that shot up into the sky"
Aang frowned, "Then we need to get there was fast as we can, yip yip"
Aang snapped the reigns and Appa sped up, but didn't take off into the air as he didn't want to ruin the boat they were towing. The world around them took on a slight blur as Appa raced through water and Katara saw her village come into view and her heart dropped.
They were already too late, the large Fire Nation ship was parked at the edge of the village, the black snow following as several of the huts were already on fire. Aang jumped off of Appa instantly and he disappeared in a blur of speed that Katara could never match.
She climbed down from Appa, her hand grasping Sokka's sword in her hand, her hand trembling as she mentally prepared herself for what she might find upon arrival. She was only a minute behind Aang, but that minute was enough for a trio of the Fire Benders to be moaning on the ground in pain.
Katara's eyes travelled through the village, she could see the body of some of the older ladies stacked on top of each other on the ground, red snow and a growing puddle of red mush growing under them. She shivered as she realized that trio of the elder women did not include her Gran Gran and she felt a sliver of delight bloom in her chest that was quickly swallowed by the crushing despair of the moment.
She grabbed the sword and walked up to the first downed soldier that she saw and she slashed sword down into the man's neck. Blood sprayed out of the wound and Katara felt herself grow a little sick but she pushed that feeling down as she moved to the next one, prepared to do the same thing once again.
She threw herself to the side as she felt a blast of fire slam into the area of where she had been standing. She rolled back up to her feet and found her eyes landing on a younger Fire Nation soldier, he wore his hair in a high ponytail, the left side of his face around his eye was horribly burned. He was slender and Katara realized that he was a teenager like her, probably a year older than Sokka at most.
He swung his arm to fire bend, but a strong blast of wind slammed into him and he was sent crashing into the wall. Aang landed on the ground next to Katara, the youthful innocence missing from his face as he stared down the young fire bender,
Katara used that moment of distraction from the young fire bender to finish the job and stabbed the soldier she had been standing over before, through the neck. He gasped and gargled on his own blood as the white snow under his form slowly turned crimson red.
The fire bender from before roared in anger and Katara turned around as flames raced towards her once more. But as she crossed her hands up over her face, shards of ice erupted from the ground to shield her and the young Fire Nation teen gasped, "You're a water bender"
His next words were cut off by a blast of wind that slammed into him with enough force to pierce the snow wall surrounding the village and slam him into the ship that had been used to approach them.
Katara heard a horn flare from the ship and suddenly there was fire everywhere, clearly this was their attempts to end the Southern Water Tribe. Fire Nation soldiers scrambled about as they retreated, but she ignored them as she felt the heat of the flames lick at her tanned skin. She reached deep into her gut as she tried summoning the ability to control water, ice, or snow … to control anything.
Snow defied gravity and floated upwards all around her, but it was patchy and uncontrolled, she couldn't redirect it towards the flames.
Whoosh!
Aang had taken a deep breath and unleashed hurricane level winds out of his mouth, blowing the flames away with ease, whirling about as he unleased the air, making sure to get all of the flames.
He dropped to his hands and knees, panting slightly as he finished putting out the flames and Katara shivered as the coldness that washed over the village was worse than anything she could ever remember feeling before. She reholstered Sokka's sword and she dropped to a knee next to Aang.
"Are you okay?" she asked, a bit amazed how a fully capable bender was able to handle an entire squad of fire benders with ease.
"Yeah … I should … be asking … you that" replied Aang between pants as he slowly climbed back to his feet with her help, "I wish I had been faster"
Katara looked around at the village, outside of some scuff marks from the flames, it looked as if Aang had managed to save all of the huts. She could see Gran Gran leading the rest of the women back to the main part of the part of the village. The majority of them had survived without harm, but they had also lost three of their elders.
"Katara, thank the spirits you're okay" said Gran Gran as she pulled her granddaughter into a tight hug, "I was so worried"
"I know" replied Katara as she felt tears well up in her eyes, she had been fearful of what they would do … what they might have done to her grandmother. And now that it was over or at least paused for the moment, she felt all that worry and fear finally be able to express itself as she hugged her grandmother as tightly as she could without hurting the older woman.
When they broke apart, Gran Gran turned from Katara to look at Aang, the young Air Bender was juggling snow balls to keep the young girls entertained.
"Is he really the Avatar?" asked Gran Gran, her voice sounded … almost hopeful. It was something Katara hadn't heard in her grandmother's voice in years,
"I believe so, he said he was" admitted Katara, "I found him frozen in ice"
"Interesting" noted Gran Gran, "It's been 100 years since the world has seen the Avatar and in a single instance, he did what we couldn't do. He fought off all of the fire benders with relative ease, it was surreal"
Katara found her eyes drifting to Aang as well, "He will be able to put an end to the war"
Gran Gran returned her eyes to Katara, "Perhaps, do you remember what I said about destiny?"
"It comes for all of us, whether we like it or not" answered Katara
"Katara, I know that you promised Sokka that you would look after us, but this place is rotting from the inside without any of the boys. We cannot remain here and survive as things are, even with you doing everything that you do" said Gran Gran
"Are you telling me to leave?" asked Katara
"I'm telling you that you should accompany the Avatar on his journey to end this war" confirmed Gran Gran, "You have always wanted to find your father, find your brother and all the boys that they took from the village. This is your chance child, please … let go of this place … of us … just for the moment"
Katara felt warm tears slide down her cheeks and she felt a bubble of fear travel into her stomach, "If I leave, they might kill all of you"
"And if you stay, they might kill all of us and you" countered Gran Gran
Katara froze upon hearing those words
"You may not like it young one, but the world is a big place. And if by the time you return here, we are no longer walking this world, you will find us in the spirit world" said Gran Gran, "In which case, I look forward to hearing all about your worldly travels"
Katara nodded, as the tears continued to stream down her face.
"Are you okay?" asked Aang as he approached her, staff in hand.
"Yeah" said Katara as she wiped her eyes, "I was just saying goodbye to my grandmother"
"Are you going somewhere?" questioned Aang
"I was hoping to go with you" said Katara as Gran Gran gave her a nod, "If you'll let me"
Aang gave her a big smile, one that thawed through the icy discomfort she felt, but the shards of guilt and fear were still in place, just a little less painful.
"I would like it if you accompanied me on my journey, my first stop is the Northern Water Tribe to find a water bending master" said Aang
Katara's eyes widen, perhaps this was her destiny, because she was a water bender who also needed a master.
"Give me a moment to pack" said Katara.
A/N: New Story I was thinking about writing for a bit, finally got around to it and I will say that this might not be the story that people will like. This is a bit more of a gritty, dark, brutal Avatar world. More to come soon.
If you have any questions, feel free to drop a review or send a PM.
As always, please think about joining my discord, lots of conversations and just overall good vibes in there. Join using invite code: 5fw6aXK3
Until next time