In tall trees just a few meters from where they'd planned to confront the soldiers, a group of youths jumped down. Among them was a young man, tossing a blowpipe which must have been used to take down one of them. He unsheathes two hook swords, well used and cared for, taking out two more enemies with ease.

"Down you go." Jet huffed, an air of overconfidence around him. He saw the newcomers had varying reactions to their entrance. The girl looked amazed by his sword skills, while the monk was shocked, the one with the boomerang was confused, and the tallest of them was wary.

For now, introductions would have to wait. They needed to take care of these guys first. That is when he got a good look at the other group's fighting prowess, and to say he was impressed was an understatement.

Twisting his body, the tall one pushed his spear forward, the blunt end slamming mercilessly into the enemy's gut. Their armor caved, and they were sent skidding across the ground. Swinging that same end, he aimed for the chin of the soldier beside them, instantly incapacitating him. Though some of them were too close to deal with using his spear, so he resorted to hand-to-hand combat.

Tossing his spear in the air, the silver-haired youth focused on the other three that had surrounded him. A jab to the throat winded one enough to break their stance, and he picked them up, tossing them into the other. The last left was hit in the ankle, dropping him to the ground, and then knocked out with a well-placed blow to the exposed jaw.

They were down in a matter of seconds, leaving him plenty of time to catch his spear and continue his almost effortless onslaught.

He was a youth just a bit older than they were, with impressive scars that could only be from firenation. Every movement he made was like a flowing river, relentless with a sort of grace one doesn't often see. The amount of raw power in every attack left Jet reeling in shock. He couldn't believe he was watching their armor cave and crack. It was made of metal! On top of that, this guy was a waterbender, too.

With a flick of his wrist and a twist of his body, a stream of water shot into a soldier in his blind spot, freezing them in place. No one noticed that the ice was colder than normal, and that soldier almost immediately turned blue with frostbite. He'd use his firebending to try melting it, but it did so slowly, as if the ice had a resistance to it. At that thought he panicked, squealing in horror.

It wasn't just the tall one that stood out, either. Jet saw that the other three were formidable, too. The non-bender of the group was a master with his boomerang, and pretty adept with a short sword, too. He skillfully took down soldiers, teaming with the other two that backed him up with their bending.

That didn't mean Jet couldn't steal his targets, though.

"Hey!" By the dismayed expression on his face, the boomerang wielder didn't share his thoughts. "He was mine!"

"Gotta be quicker next time!" Jet sped off to take out another enemy. That enemy just happened to be the one the boomerang master was going after next. Totally not intentional, maybe.

"Dude!"

"Heh."

The silver-haired youth had no comments when they briefly worked together. It looked as if his wariness grew the closer he got to him, which Jet thought was normal. They were strangers, after all. All he could do was admire his skills. They'd been honed greatly, and he most likely trained often.

Jet, aware of the subtle glare he was receiving, continued his observations by moving on to the beautiful girl waterbending. When the boomerang master was about to be blindsided by the firebenders, the girl had his back, intercepting the enemy with a blast of water. Protecting both of them was the monk with a defensive air strike which knocked them out. They had no openings to take advantage of, proving they'd been fighting together for a while.

Jet only encountered earth and firebenders before due to the area they lived in. It was amazing to see a waterbender, and crazy to see an airbender who he thought extinct. The flow of the battle had taken him closer to the girl, who he had to say was even prettier up close. No, she was gorgeous. Strong and gorgeous.

That's dangerous for a guy like him, and he liked dangerous.

"Hey." He gave her his best smile, which he was glad worked 'cause she returned it.

"Hello." She greeted. It was a friendly gesture from her, but to him, it was a win. Maybe he'd get to befriend her. But the moment he thought to get closer, he found himself frozen.

Literally, his feet were frozen to the ground. "What the—?"

"Who are you?" Taking down the last soldier, the imposing silver-haired teen approached him. His outstretched hand told Jet he was the one that did it. If the scowl on his face meant anything, it was business.

"Ayaan!" the girl and boomerang master grabbed either of his arms, stopping his intimidating approach, not that Jet would ever admit that—Wait, why was his spear pointed at him menacingly like that?—"It's okay!"

Luckily, he listened to who Jet was sure were his siblings, lowering his weapon. But the glare in his eyes hardly lost intensity as he asked again, "Who are you?"

This day just keeps getting better.

"My name is Jet, and these are my Freedom Fighters. Sneers, Longshot, Smellerbee, The Duke, and Pipsqueak."

Aang laughed, "Pipsqueak! That's a funny name." Mistakenly, he thought it was the smallest of them, The Duke, that was named that.

"You think my name is funny?" The largest of them loomed over him, but Aang was completely unbothered, continuing to laugh light-heartedly.

"It's hilarious!" Things were tense for all of two seconds before all of the kids were laughing together, agreeing. Pipsqueak pats Aang on the back, a friendly gesture he always does, but he forgets how strong he is and floors the poor airbender. However, it was all good, as Aang wasn't hurt.

He was tougher than he looked. He'd be ashamed if he wasn't, given Ayaan's hellish training.

Ayaan observed them vigilantly, his scars sending dull pangs through his arm. While who he'd assume is the youngest of the group chatted with Aang, Katara, and Sokka, the others were gathering the weapons, rations, and other documents left at the camp. They were a well-organized group, highly skilled, and that meant one thing.

They'd done this before.

It shouldn't be surprising that a rebel group like this existed, but why did they give him such an odd vibe? It felt like ice crawling beneath his burned skin, a sting of discomfort before disappearing. He knew better than to ignore these warnings.

All of them were coming from this group, this "Jet" at the center of it all.

And then there was another thing... One he really didn't like. Every free moment Jet had in conversation, he was staring at Katara. He stood closer to her than a stranger should, with subtle smiles when he got to speak with her. He complimented her on her skills, which would obviously make anyone happy.

But something felt off. His little smirk got wider as if he'd won something. As they were led into their hideout, Jet went out of his way to take Katara in. He was too close, too suddenly. A flustered Katara didn't realize how unwarranted his approach was, and neither did the others.

The day went on like this. Jet's actions toward the group were subtle, slow, and deliberate. He showed them the wonder of their hideout, something any child would dream of at least once. Aang got along well with the other Freedom Fighters, while Sokka even helped them plan some of their next hits on known fire nation camps.

To the naked eye, all was well, and they'd made new and strong allies here.

But it made Ayaan's scar crawl. It felt as if ice was scraping beneath the usually unfeeling skin. It was sharp and dull all at once, getting worse as the day went on. It wasn't long before the ever-observant Sokka took notice and pulled Ayaan away from prying eyes.

"Bro, you good?" Sokka nervously asked, seeing the frost spreading across his brother's trusted spear. Ayaan was gripping the weapon so tightly he'd snap it in two if he held it any harder.

"No." Ayaan firmly told him. "I don't like him."

"You're not the only one, bro," Sokka said, gesturing to Jet once again chatting with Katara. "But what made you dislike him aside from the obvious?"

He didn't know. His instincts were roaring at him to act. He found his legs moving on their own, an icy gaze locked on the suspicious youth getting unnecessarily close to his sister. Stepping between them, much to their surprise, he decided to speak his thoughts.

"I don't know what it is," Ayaan said, looking down at the teen who, for some reason, always had grass in his mouth, "but I really do not like you."

"Ayaan!" Katara, confused, looked at her brother in shock. She had no idea where this was coming from since the Freedom Fighters were kind to them. Aang was out of the loop too, since he got along well with the others. It was an Aang trait to befriend most people he meets.

Jet took one look between Katara and Ayaan and dared to smirk. "Is it 'cause your sister likes me?" He replied, a smugness in his tone.

Katara blushed at his remark, embarrassed denial trapped on her tongue. Sure, he was cool, but she didn't have a crush on him, right?

This remark, however, is met with a spear a centimeter away from his neck and a cold glare. Instantly, everyone realized this wasn't just some brotherly overprotectiveness.

"No, I'm sure it's you." Jet couldn't move, lest the frost on the blade's jagged, razor tip nick his vulnerable skin. The air seemed to drop several degrees, his breath visible. "But that is also something I've found extremely... unpleasant."

"Ayaan, stop it!" Katara said, stepping between them. Turning, she whispered to her brother, "He hasn't done anything to us. Why are you acting like he's an enemy? We just met!"

"Why are you acting like he's an ally? We just met." He threw the question back in her face, leaving her to fume.

Though she was able to reign in her anger, instead focusing on the other part of this problem, Jet. Turning, she gave him the same stern look. "And you, don't antagonize my brother like that. It won't end well for you."

Like, literally, stop. You are a twig compared to her brother. Ayaan would snap you in half. In her opinion, she was saving your life, Jet.

"Oh really?" Jet didn't see it that way. "I'd love to test that."

"No, you would not." Lowering his spear, he took a breath to regain control of himself. What was he doing? While he did not like Jet, it was unusual for him to get so defensive. Ever since that... incident, it had been harder for him to keep his emotions in check.

Sighing out an icy mist, he did his best to relax, "I've been on edge being in firenation territory." He touched his scar briefly, "They bring memories I'd rather forget."

Smellerbee, who'd been carefully watching the commotion with Longshot, came up to him, "Yeah, I get that. It's alright to be a little antsy. Everyone here has lost something to the fire nation. No harm done."

Compared to him, she was teeny, but that didn't deter her. For some reason, she could tell that Ayaan was a nice guy. Jet was pushing his buttons by sweet-talking his sister. Any caring brother wouldn't go for that, and Katara had two of them.

"Come on, guys. Let's get back to base for the day. We got what we came for." As she walked passed, she didn't forget to give Jet the same stern expression Katara had. Unlike him, the rest of the Freedom Fighters didn't think antagonizing the spear-wielding, waterbending, scar-covered giant was a good idea.

They had a survival instinct and common sense, thank you.

Katara thought everything was amazing about the Freedom Fighter's base. It had absolutely nothing to do with Jet being pretty cool. The idea of rebellion forces against the fire nation, all of them youths like her, inspired her to be better. So diligently, she worked on her waterbending forms.

The Phantom Unit had been wonderful teachers even though they didn't have long with them. She had a solid foundation to build upon now. She had no idea just knowing the basics helped strengthen the advance moves she was lucky enough to master from the scroll.

Speaking of that... well, no one spoke of it. No one wanted to ask Ayaan about what exactly happened with the pirates or that... thing that appeared afterward. No one wanted to ask Ayaan about all of the little things he'd been doing with his waterbending since then. The strange things that didn't used to happen as often.

When he'd sigh, a fog of icy breath would freeze whatever was in front of him. When they were training, his spear would get coated in it, and it would flash freeze whatever touched it. They'd had to stop training early at the risk of being hurt by it, and then he'd go off alone to train during the night.

Aang and Sokka were sound asleep, but not her. She noticed how it would get colder just before he'd suddenly wake from his sleep. Was it a nightmare? She didn't know. But then he'd leave and train for hours before trying to sleep again.

And then came when he actually tried to practice waterbending with them. Since realizing that his spear art has a direct relation to his bending, they'd found a way to work on it. But his bending was so extraordinary it left her baffled. It was like it followed his thoughts instead of his movements, those only meant to guide direction and force.

He could make his spear out of ice, summoning them from the ground! Who does that?! How can someone do that? Maybe another master could, but her brother was not a master. He'd said so himself, though she didn't quite believe him anymore.

She knew he worked hard. She did. But he made it look so easy, as if he'd done it hundreds of times before and mastered it already. She didn't like the fact that it made her frustrated instead of proud, as if his ease laughed at her efforts. She knew that wasn't the case.

So what was it? No one wanted to ask. She was sure that Ayaan probably didn't know, either. The phantoms seemed to know a bit, calling him a "blessed child" or something like that. But what did that mean?! Was he really heaven's favorite?

Something favored him, if that... thing that looked at them during the phantom's calming ritual was anything to go by. It had been scary, seeing the empty look on his face. And his eyes... she'd never thought she see them become such a deep blue. But Ayaan didn't remember what happened, what he did, anything.

And no one wanted to tell him or ask. No one wanted to point out how irritable he'd been since. No one thinks that his hostility towards Jet is weird. But it is! Why is no one else seeing it? Or they do see it and just trust that he's on to something. She could understand Sokka being like that, he doesn't trust anyone on their first meeting.

At least Aang was with her. He gave everyone the benefit of the doubt and a friendly introduction. He was so peaceful and easy to get along with. Even now, the other children of the Freedom Fighters were playing little games with him, unwinding after their day. Heck, even Sokka relaxed just a little at the sight.

But not Ayaan. Never Ayaan. She could see that he was tense, guarded, and suspicious. To everyone else, he looked neutral and calm, but as his sister, she could tell. She'd been around him all of her life, even if she didn't spend every waking moment with him.

The next day, the Freedom Fighters were going off on patrol. Sokka offered to tag along, which Jet readily accepted.

"Aang, Ayaan, Katara, would you like to come, too?" He offered all of them an invitation, but they each declined this time.

"Some of the other kids asked if I could help them hang this stuff high up with my airbending yesterday. I promised I'd help them out." Nodding, Jet turned his gaze to the other siblings.

"I train during mornings, and we aren't on the best of terms," Ayaan said bluntly. Jet smirked, but shrugged his shoulders. He had members who liked to train at certain times, too, so he understood staying consistent.

Then his eyes found her, "And you, Katara?" The way he said her name was a gentle thing. It made her feel special.

"I also had a few things I wanted to do. I'll join you a bit later, okay?"

"Sure, it's a date then." With a wink, they bounded off.

She admitted it made her a bit bashful, but only a little! Turning to see her brother's reaction to it, one could only say it was absolutely frigid.

Aang also had a strange look on his face, but the next second it was gone. He went off to help a few others in the hideout, "I'll see you guys in a little bit!"

That left her and Ayaan alone at the main base, just what she'd wanted. Questions upon questions had piled up, fueling her growing irritation until finally, she decided to just ask. This was her chance now that it was just them.

She didn't want to overwhelm her brother, though. She knew that the deep questions she wanted to ask were too much, too soon. So she'd start with the most immediate questions she had.

"Ayaan, why is it that you don't like Jet? Is it really just because I'm friendly with him?"

"No," He answered. "I don't like it, yes. But that's not the only reason why."

"Why, then? The Freedom Fighters gave us a place to sleep, supplies, and their good allies."

"How do you know that they are good allies, Katara?" He asked. "Open trust with strangers can hurt you."

"But they're good people." She defended, "They stop fire nation soldiers just like we do. I know that more places would love having a group like this protecting it."

"They are skilled, yes." He agreed, but there was that insufferable look in his eyes that hinted it wasn't a total agreement, "But something still feels off. I don't want you around Jet anymore before we leave."

Irritation bled into her voice, "What for? He's the last person you should be wary of! He's been nothing but nice to me!"

"Why?" He asked her, and that gave her pause. "Why is he so nice to you and Aang especially? You don't notice that he's paying special attention to you both?"

"He includes you and Sokka, too!"

"Sokka offered to join, and then he extended his invitation to the rest. He is already well aware I don't like him and would not go. You and Aang, on the other hand, are different."

"You're reading too much into this. He's not like that."

"You don't know that."

"You don't, either!" She snapped, "There's so much you don't know. About people, about yourself, you don't know everything, Ayaan!"

"I don't, but I'm not blind." He replied calmly. Her words nicked at him, but she wasn't wrong. There were many questions he had about himself, often. "I have a bad feeling about this place."

"You're basing your hostility over... a feeling?"

"Your trust is based on the same thing, isn't it?" He shot the question right back at her. "It's not just an opinion. Every time I've had one, we've run into trouble. And this time, it's telling me something isn't right here."

She sighed, knowing she wasn't going to go anywhere. "You sound like Sokka."

"Yeah?" Ayaan raised a single brow at her, not understanding her point, "I'm his brother."

Katara sighed again. If he was going to be like that, fine. She could go with her own gut feeling, and that was not being hostile to a guy who was nice to them.

Of course, things wouldn't go in her favor when Sokka, Jet, and the others returned from their patrol.

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A/n: Hi guys! It's nice to be back. For more chapters and yet-to-be-seen lore, check out my patre0n! For updates on what I'm doing and more, check my discord! I'm trying to be more consistently active over there.

For the links, check my linktree! /jhstories101

Your Author, With lots of love,

-Jenna