The sun was hot- blazing even- and beat down on the residents of the desert mercilessly. They were long used to it however, long clothes wrapped around their arms and legs to protect them from scorching rays.
"Oi, Ven, head's up!"
A large wooden crate sailed through the air- and was promptly caught by a whirlwind of sand and dust. The boy who was controlling it- who's only recognizable features through the turbin and mask were pale skin and the white sand eye shields, lowered his opened hands from above his head to the ground. The tornado lowered itself down, easing the crate onto the sailboat.
"That's the last of it!" The older man's voice rang out. His features were hidden by the cloth mask, but everyone knew Cassim's voice. "Aladdin, release the anchors! Everyone else get on the boats!"
The boy who'd been facing the sand boats, finally released his stance with a tired sigh and flopped down. Only his large brown eyes were visible as a distinguishing feature, but for reasons no one could understand, he hated the stuffiness of their uniforms and kept his shirt open for a breeze, so even from afar everyone recognized him. He'd been low, knees bent as his arms were held up perpendicular in front of his body as he'd kept the sand twisted up over the front of the boats. Now he was flopped back, body against the hot sand as his muscles gave out.
"Aladdin!" The leader cried. "On the boat, or we're leaving you behind!"
"Ugh, c'mon, dad!" He complained. "I just held these up for like two hours! I'm starving! At least let me and Abu eat!"
Abu, his lively little parrot monkey, squeaked in agreement, hopping up and down on the hot sand to show his displeasure.
"That's captain while we're on duty! And besides that, it's barely been one hour, and we're on a schedule!" The older man argued. "I'm not losing our fee because of your laziness!"
"Don't worry, Cassim," The boy called Ven stepped up, before dropping down and circling his hands in front of him. "I got it."
Aladdin sensed it before he noticed, but he wasn't fast enough to get out of the mini sand tornado that suddenly swept him and Abu up. He and Abu both shouted out as they were suddenly tumbled up into the air and sent sailing. The tornado of sand morphed into a dusty stream, snaking down like a whip and blowing the pair from underneath before they could crash onto the boat. So Aladdin flopped down face first, wind knocked out of him, but not hurt.
"Thanks, Ven!" He called out, giving a thumbs up.
"No problem!" Ven called back with a grin- not that anyone could see it.
"Thank you, Ventus," Cassim said a little more seriously, hand on his shoulder for a moment. Ventus could see the way his eyes crinkled up, so could tell he was smiling despite his tone. "Rest up so you can take over later."
"Aye aye!" He saluted the man oh-so-seriously, before hopping up to boat with Aladdin, who was now pushing himself up to sit.
"Alright, first shift up!" Cassim called out as he took his place on the front-most coat. "Onward!"
The sand benders in charge of propelling shot their hands to the sandy mounds, and arched their arms over, bringing a stream of sand with them. Rotating their arms, the streams formed into tiny sand tornadoes, instantly filling the sails, and starting their trek across the desert.
"Man, Ven, your bending is crazy!" Aladdin gushed as he grabbed the loaf of bread Abu had pinched for him. "I keep trying to make a vine like you said, but the most I can manage is an arc!"
"It's all in the elbows" Ventus informed, moving his arms in demonstration, though not pulling any sand with it. "You gotta stay flexible." But he wrinkled his nose at the sight of him pulling at the bread. "Your dad's gonna yell at you again."
"He doesn't have to know. Besides, he's too determined to make time to stop the boats just for this," he pointed out, breaking off a piece and handing it to Abu. "I doubt he'd kick up that much fuss over a loaf of bread." He offered a piece to Ventus, but the boy waved his hand to decline.
"I'd rather not get sand in my food, thanks."
"Suit yourself. More for us," Aladdin made a "cheers" motion with Abu before pulling down his mask and chowing down. "Anyway, I tried that, then I just lose control of the sand and drop it. Seriously, you make me feel like I'm bad at this."
"Maybe you are bad at it," Ventus teased, which made Aladdin protest, and the boy just laughed.
Cassim was on the boat beside them, hence why Aladdin had been bold enough to take some food before lunch break, but he could hear the mirth in their voices over the wind, even if he couldn't hear the words. He glanced at the pair, spotting his son's snacking, but too focused on the clothed back of Ventus' head to care.
Hours later, around the Misty Palms Oasis, Ventus finally took his mask off with relief. Taking off the eye sand shields revealed wide dark gray eyes.
"Alright, drinks on me!" He called out, and blue haired woman beside him cheered and clapped.
"You know," said the taller, buffer man beside him as he clapped a hand on his shoulder. He had spiked brown hair and deep brown eyes. "You might actually save up some of your money if you stopped buying these drinks every time you got paid."
"Aw, c'mon, Terra! A little treat every now and then can't hurt!" He protested as he spoke to the counter. "I'll buy whatever she orders."
And the woman, who was wearing a beige top with light brown trousers, stepped up eagerly, blue eyes sparkling. "Rose apple, please."
"And I'll take persimmon!" Ventus added.
At their table, the pair sighed in delight at their sweet, cool treat while Terra sipped on his black tea.
"Man, the ice does make a difference." Ventus gushed. "No wonder people like it so much."
"People would probably be less impressed if they knew it was from a water bender," Terra said wryly, and both Ventus and Aqua shushed him.
"The ice is already there," she protested. "I just… add to it."
"Right," he said with some amusement, going back to his tea.
There was noise at the door, and everyone turned and gaped at the sight of heavily red-armored soldiers marching into the tiny shop.
"Fire Nation!" Terra slammed his cup down, just as everyone else in the establishment jumped to their feet and put their hands on their weapons.
"Hey, hey, hey! Relax!" A tall, lanky man dressed in maroon and black strolled in, his head of spikey hair towering over the other soldier's heads. "We're not here to fight~! We just wanted to see what that amazing wonder of the world was. No harm done~"
"General Axel," One of the soldiers stepped up to him. "We've cleared a table."
"Alright," The tall, red-headed man sighed. "Bring him in."
The soldiers who had come in formed two lines, and parted to let another individual through. He was short, practically a dwarf in comparison to the red-headed man, but marched confidently and assuredly through. His helmet obscured his face, until he finally reached up to take the white mask part off. A mess of black hair, pale skin, and bright, golden amber eyes pierced into the shadows of the shop, from a face that looked no older than fifteen.
His face split into a grin as he eyed the shop keeper. "I'll take a drink. Your most popular flavor. Time to see what all the fuss is about."
The keeper frowned, but did not argue, taking some fruit from beside him and beginning the process of chopping it up. The short, black haired boy took a seat at the table surrounded by the soldiers. One of the soldiers took the drink from the keeper once it was finished, handing it to the boy. He took an experimental few sips, pulling it back to eye it appreciatively.
"Not bad, not bad at all. Couldn't find anything like this in the Fire Nation." He held it up toward Axel. "You should try it for yourself."
"No thanks," he held a hand up. "I prefer hot drinks myself."
"Suit yourself," the boy shrugged, before taking another sip. "But I gotta say, it's almost wasted on this dump. No order, no regulations. Place feels like it was built in a day. Seems like they'd just let anyone in here."
Ventus was shaking. Aqua had her hand on his arm, trying to keep him calm, but she was looking at Terra. Terra, for his part, had been sizing up the soldiers in the shop, and trying to see if there were any others outside. He finally locked eyes with her, his face somber. And her grip on Ventus tightened.
"And man, those sand benders are pretty impressive too, huh? I mean, moving giant boulders around can't be easy, but seems like they found a way to work around that. It's light, it's plentiful, so flexible and cooperative. I bet it's like lifting nothing at all."
"Aqua," Terra whispered. "Don't wait for me."
She inhaled through her nose, but Ventus looked up at him confused. "Wait for what?"
"Why, with something like that-," the boy tossed up his ice cup once, spilling the drink inside, then chucked it hard enough to sail to Ventus.
Terra stomped on the ground, sending a spike of hard rock in the path of the cup to shatter it. Aqua threw out her hand, melting the shards into water.
But Ventus panicked, throwing his arms up to shield himself. And in turn swirling a gust of wind to rattle the inside of the shop, and sending the water and drink flying into the roof.
"-I bet it could disguise air bending." The boy finished sardonically.
"Aqua, go!" Terra ordered, then shot up with a stomp to the ground, shooting his fists skyward. This time the ground cracked and sheet of rock ripped from the floor, blocking them from sight. Aqua grabbed Ventus' arm and yanked him out of his seat.
"Get the Avatar!" the boy ordered, soldiers opening fire and sending a slew of fire to the rock wall, and the running pair behind it.
The shop erupted into chaos, all the inhabitants shouting and running to try to get out. The soldiers didn't care who got in their way, using their fire bending to tear through everyone they could. Aqua paused briefly, releasing Ventus to hold her hands toward the pile of ice on the counter, and melting it into water to fly it through the air, and cut an opening in the clay back wall. A wall of soldiers in a fighting stance awaited her. Gathering the water back around her right arm, she whipped through the fleet that hadn't been expecting a water bender, extinguishing their fire and knocking them aside. She grabbed Ventus with her left, yanking him through and into the night.
"Aqua, what are you doing!?" He demanded, fighting her as best he could despite his small stature. "We have to help Terra!"
"We can't, Ven! You're not good enough to fight the Fire Nation!" She argued. She whipped out her right arm, using the water tendril to grip the wall and yank the both of them over it. "We have to keep you in hiding- it's the only way to keep you safe!"
"I'm not leaving him!" Ventus argued, digging his feet in and using his air bending to kick up a swath of sand to hinder her. It worked, making her stop and shield her eyes. "If something happens to him, I'll never-"
"Ven, listen to me!" She finally screamed, and the water she had been using snapped around him and turned to ice, pinning his arms to his body and holding him in place. "You can't control the other elements yet! You haven't even figured out all of air bending! If you face the Fire Nation now, they'll destroy you, and everything will be lost!" She cupped his face, desperately. "You're the only hope we have to win this-!"
The moment of speaking to him had cost her. The noise of the fighting inside the wall had covered the sound of metal-clad footsteps coming around the wall until it was too late, and bursts of fire blasted them both. The ice protected Ventus from the worst of it, but Aqua screamed out from the burn, and they both toppled over.
"Aqua!"
She gasped from the sudden pain, but managed to open her eyes enough to see the guards closing in. She realized that if she took the time to fight them off, the rest of the squadron could catch up.
She ignored her burns and heat seeping into her skin. Adrenaline pumping through her veins, she rolled to her feet, and grabbed hold of the ice surrounding Ven.
"Go to the swamp," was all she said.
And then she planted into a wide stance, melting the water as she yanked with everything she had to swing him above her. "GO!"
It was like a catapult, the water launching him like a geyser over the sand, far into the forest at the edge of the desert. The soldiers had already fired at her, trying to stop her throw, but momentum carried him through the skies, even as the flames engulfed her.
"AQUAAAAAAAAA!"
That was the last thing Ven saw before he lost sight of the oasis forever.
Hours later, when the oasis center had been broken to rubble, and the fire had extinguished into smoke, the boy with black hair surveyed the corpses and landscape with disdain, eyes narrowed in annoyance.
"Prince Vanitas," A soldier greeted him with three others coming up behind him. "The Avatar got away. The water bender launched him into the forest before we could grab him. We've been looking sir."
"Then burn the forest down," He ordered. "That oughta flush him out." He waved his hand dismissively as he turned on his heel. "And pay the man for his part."
"But your highness," he protested. "We don't have the Avatar yet-"
He spun about and jabbed his gloved finger into the man's chest. "We don't have him yet because of your incompetence! The information was good. Pay him, and burn the forest to the ground!"
On the far side of the wall, away from the worst of the rubble and smoke, was a sand bender leaning coolly back with his arms crossed in front of him. He was tall, and burly, with the lower half of his pale face exposed and showing his long, hanging mustache. The soldier approached him, holding a small, heavy leather bag. The send bender took it, and opened the drawstrings, checking the gold earth kingdom coins.
And then he grin, letting his single gold tooth shine in the fire light.
A few hours later, halfway across the world, there was a small canoe with two girls in it. Both were dressed warmly in thick blue coats with white fur. One was fair-haired, and fair-skinned, holding a fishing pole across her lap with a quiet, distant, expression, not bothering to use it. Around her, the water was rippling, and splashing. Behind her fish flopped into the woven basket with the arching and floating water. She seemed to remember herself after a while, and turned to check on the basket. Some fish still flopped about in the basket, struggling to breathe through their fins, but otherwise not jumping out. "I think that's enough." She said.
The red-headed girl, who had been on her feet and arching the water into the basket with the fish, flopped down onto the boat, briefly rocking it but otherwise nonplussed. She sighed in satisfaction. "Aaah, this makes chores so much faster."
"I wish you didn't use it, though," the girl with pale-heather hair frowned with a wrinkled nose. "You always get my boots wet."
"It's fine," Kairi waved off, using her hands to raise the excess water out of the boat, and basket and sending it over the side. "There! All better."
"They're still wet," Namine argued with some annoyance. Kairi wasn't good enough to take water out of things already wet, apparently. But she sighed, setting the pole down on the boat and relaxing regardless. It was a losing battle anyway. Not like she could stop her water bending even if she wanted to. "We've drifted pretty far."
"Yeah," Kairi sighed, crossing her arms on the edge of the boat and plopping her chin on it. "I'm bored seeing the same things."
Namine looked up at the sky, seeing a couple clouds, but nothing to worry about weather wise. "Better not hear Gramma saying you're bored. She'll make you do more chores."
Kairi groaned and flopped her forehead on her arms. "Chores are the most boring." She peeked up, and then Kairi hummed appreciatively at the shape of a large glacier coming into view as the canoe drifted around a structure. "Eeeh, that one's pretty." Then she frowned suddenly, rising from the edge. "Wait-"
She leaned over the edge, and Namine turned to face her, tilting her head curiously. "Is something wrong?"
"That glacier looks funny," she said, already holding her arms out to make slow, back and forth motions with her wrists.
Tiny waves pushed at the canoe to move it forward, redirecting it toward the unusual glacier. It was tall and towered over them, though that wasn't unusual. Most of it was white, with the sharp, square edges typical of glaciers. The canoe docked, and Kairi climbed out of the boat, with Namine close behind.
"This part, see?" She said, reaching up for a patch of ice with her gloved hand that was a dark blue compared to the white ice of the rest of the glacier. She slid it diagonally down the smooth, rounded ripples of the ice. "It's different then the rest of it."
"You're right," Namine noted, already walking around the edge of the platform to try to look at all the structure. "Does ice form like that?"
"It can if water is dripping down," Kairi confirmed, but her frown was confused. "But not in this direction."
Namine was already walking around the structure as Kairi was intensely examining the patch, in the hopes she could figure out the mystery. Her curious gaze dropped as she froze, the sunlight hitting the wall of ice on the other side.
Kairi jumped as Namine screamed. She raced around the glacier as she heard a splash, and came up just in time to see her sister gasping as she floundered in the icy water.
"Namine!" She screamed, already trying to use her bending to pull her sister back to the platform. "Hang on!"
But Namine was trying to kick and splash away from her, horrified as she pointed. "Behind you, behind you!"
Kairi turned around- and promptly dropped the water as she also screamed. On this side of the glacier, where the sun had apparently cleared the opaque ice, was the distinct shadow of an enormous, towering, very wide creature trapped in the ice.
"Run!" Kairi screamed, already darting around the glacier to try to get to the canoe. Lifting her arms, she grabbed toward the boat and tried to pull it with her bending to bring it around the glacier faster. Namine kicked and floundered toward it, gasping as the water weighed down her clothes, and the freeze seeped into her skin. Kairi finally jumped into the boat, helping pull her sister into it before she paddled as quickly as she could away from the glacier.
Hours later, with Namine in a fresh, dry set of clothes and a pelt, and sipping some hot soup while she sat by the fire, their grandmother was thoughtful and confused as she pondered the girls' story.
"It must have happened before my time," she mused. "I'm sure someone would have mentioned sealing away a giant sea creature."
"We're telling the truth!" Kairi insisted. "We really did see it!"
"I believe you," the old woman assured. "From what you said, it does sound like a water bender's work. Perhaps something from the north wandered too close to us, and someone sealed it away to keep us safe. I'm just surprised no one thought to mention it for us to know."
"Maybe it happened a really long time ago," Namine finally spoke up, and they could still hear the tremor in her voice. "So the people forgot about it."
"Perhaps," he grandmother agreed. "If that's the case, then we have nothing to worry about. Nothing can survive in ice after a few days. A few generations assures that it's passed on by now."
Both girls visibly relaxed in relief. "Thanks, Gramma."
"Of course. Try not to let it bother you," she advised as she stepped out of the igloo.
Namine took another sip of her bowl as Kairi flopped down beside her. "Maaaaaaan," she groaned. "I am never going exploring again."
Namine giggled despite herself, nerves tumbling out with relief. "I guess being bored is better than being eaten."
"Don't even say that!" Kairi complained, and Namine giggled again.
Weeks passed, and the nightmares came, but sure enough no sea creature had followed them to their home to try to eat them. Eventually, Namine was able to forget about the incident, knowing it was just a momentary scare. She simply took the information that there were truly scary things in the outside world, and just added it to her base of knowledge.
But not Kairi. As time passed, she came to realize there were things much scarier than sea creatures.
Three years later, the girls were eighteen. By water tribe tradition, they were old enough to marry by now, and start a family. Only problem was, there were no boys their age in the south pole.
They had all gone off to war.
"Kairi? Is something wrong?"
The voice of her sister wasn't enough to make her turn around. Kairi, now a young woman, had shaved her hair almost off, an unusual move for a girl in their culture. The women always chided her for it, warning her that the men would be stunned by it when they returned, and it would make it harder for her to find a husband. But the short cut was more convenient and easier to maintain. Not just for the hard men's work she had to help pick up, but the intensive water bending practice she did in her free time. She wasn't very good, but without a Master to guide her, she made due with what she could. Namine, who had let her hair grow out, kept it in a more traditional braid, a few short strands let loose to frame around her face. Kairi was sitting on a small bluff of snow, overlooking the waters. Namine lowered herself to sit beside her. Kairi was quiet another moment, obviously gathering her thoughts. And then she asked in a small voice: "Namine, do you… ever wonder if the Fire Nation invaded the North Pole?"
Namine froze, the idea horrifying enough to catch her off-guard. But from the way Kairi was hunched over, it was clear this was something that that had been on her mind for a while.
"It's just that we haven't heard from them in years. They could have fallen a long time ago, and we would never know. I mean… wouldn't it make sense for them to go after the water benders at the north pole next? To stop them from helping the Avatar?"
Namine's lips pressed together as she went into thought. Her sister was right- it would make sense for them to attempt to wipe out the water benders at the north pole. And for a moment her heart pounded, wondering if maybe her sister's fear was true.
But logic took over, and after another minute of thinking, she shook her head. "I don't think so. Gramma said the North Pole has a massive military and defense. She said they're much bigger than we are. I think the Fire Nation is using all it's resources to find the Avatar in the Earth Kingdom. It's very large, and searching takes a while."
Kairi sighed, but not in relief. "We haven't heard from dad in a while either."
Namine shook her head. "I'm sure he's fine. It's just not easy for messages to come this distance."
From behind, Namine could see Kairi's shoulders visibly relax, showing her relief. Namine relaxed too, wanting to believe her own assumptions. But her worry was on something else, something she didn't want to share with her sister, for fear of the new worries it would give them.
The avatar was supposed to fight the Fire Nation. Stop this war and bring balance to the world.
So why was he running?
Kairi hadn't been back here in years.
Paddling her canoe through the waters, it had taken her a while to remember exactly where the path was. Since they had been avoiding it since that day, it took a while to jog her memory. Had Namine come along, she would have remembered instantly, but Kairi didn't want to risk her sister getting caught in the crossfires of what she had planned.
She recognized the shape the moment she saw it, something in her freezing at the sight. Then she lowered her paddle, staring at the glacier almost wistfully.
"Strange… it's smaller than a remember."
She paddled around the glacier, opting to stay in the canoe in the case of needing a quick get away. But as she got closer and circled around, she realized the blue patches of ice before, and even the large, clear wall of ice was now covered in white. It took her a moment to realize it was likely just the winter ice that had covered the glacier. She and Namine must have discovered it in summer.
Docking her boat on the edge of the platform, she climbed out, oddly calmer than she thought she'd be. She craned her neck up, staring up at the towering structure with a set jaw.
I want to know what's out there, she told herself, as she slid a foot back and grounded herself. I need to know if I can do this.
She took a deep breath, to steady herself, and calm her nerves. Then she shot both hands forward throwing all her energy into the strike.
She was rewarded with a long crack that ran up a couple meters above her. Encouraged, she shot her palm upward, extending the crack. Then shot both hands to the side of her to split the crack around.
And then the ice started glowing.
She gasped, and jumped back as the cracks started moving of their own accord, breaking along the ridges haphazardly as they circled around the structure. The ice quaked beneath her feet, and the cracks thundered and echoed around her. She looked on in increasing horror as the cracks illuminated with something inside- just before the top half of the glacier seemed to explode around her, sending shards of ice flying.
Kairi shouted and dropped down, covering her head from any possible debris. Even looking down and with her eyes closed, she could see the brilliant white-blue light piercing the area around her. There wasn't any more snapping echoes. Just a low, thunderous hum. She risked peering up when the thunder quieted- then gasped softly as she lowered her arms. Above her, a great beam of white light was piercing the sky, illuminating the area for miles, and cutting through even the clouds above. She could feel the thrum of energy from it, knowing that this was no ordinary light.
And from the broken edge of the exploded glacier climbed up a figure, cast in shadow from the light behind him. The only thing Kairi could see clearly was the bright, threatening, ominous power emanating from his eyes.
And then the light faded, the figure closed his eyes, and suddenly he came tumbling down the side of the ice. Kairi rushed to him as he slid down- and then halted to a stop to gasp in horror. He came down sideways, landing face up to reveal his features. A boy that couldn't have been much older than her, with haphazard brown hair swept to the side and a rounded face. She might have found him attractive in any other situation, but there was a much more pressing issue to deal with.
He was wearing dark gray and maroon travel clothes. This boy was Fire Nation.