The Waterbender

and

the Banished Prince

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Chapter One

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Sokka put his finger on a spot on the map. 'Here! This could be where—'

'Hey guys! How about there? It's got a thick forest! It'll be easy to hide in!' Aang hung from Appa's horn and pointed to the island beneath their feet.

Katara raised an eyebrow. 'Isn't that a Fire Nation settlement?'

'Yeah ... You're right ...' Aang sat back, his enthusiasm dampened.

Curious, Sokka lifted his head from the map and glanced down. It was when he remembered. 'Hey! I was talking here! would you listen to me for a moment?!'

Aang turned to Sokka. 'Sorry Sokka! You were saying…'

Katara was not so generous. 'Sokka, we're listening to you for a good fifteen minutes, and all you're doing is pointing this spot, that spot on the map…!'

'Well because I want to choose the right spot!' said Sokka.

'Can't we choose the right spot from here? Up here, we have a good view of everywhere!' said Aang.

'No, we cannot.' Sokka shook his head.

'And why not?' Katara frowned.

Sokka waved his arms in the air, frustrated. 'Because I'm not talking about the right spot to land and rest, I'm talking about the right spot for our plan! Were you two even listening to what I was saying?'

'Sokka, Appa is tired. We need to land somewhere and get some rest…' Aang said in dismay.

'That's exactly why we should go through our plan first!' Sokka insisted.

'What plan Sokka?! All we've seen of your plan is your finger pointing this spot and that spot on that map!' Katara huffed.

'Well that's because—'

Sokka took a deep breath.

'Okay. Appa's tired. I'm tired. We're all tired. So…'

Sokka took another deep breath.

'I'll explain my plan once again'

'Oh no! Once again!' Aang and Katara wailed.

'Would you listen?!'

'Alright, alright! We're listening.' Aang smiled as he jumped off Appa's horn and sat cross-legged in Appa's saddle.

Sokka straightened his back, glanced at Katara and Aang, took a deep breath and spoke.

'We're not too far from the North Pole, but as you can see, the waters around the North Pole are full of islands, large and small, and many of them are Fire Nation settlements. The ones that are not settlements, are mostly Earth Kingdom towns that are under fire nation control. Clear so far?'

Aang and Katara nodded.

Sokka went on,

'Every time we land somewhere to rest, we're in danger of running into Zuko, or Zhao, or some other spirit-damned firebender who's after us. When we're fighting them, we could get separated. Even when they're not chasing us, like when we're looking for food or for whatever reason we could get separated and lose each other!'

Katara sighed, 'typical us.'

Sokka's face broke into a proud smile. 'It is! But my proposal is a new plan!'

Then he bent forward and excitedly continued,

'We should have a meeting place! A rendezvous! A place where…if we lost each other or if something happened, we could find each other there!'

'Not bad…' Katara's eyes lit up. 'Not bad at all, Sokka!'

'Yeah Sokka, that's a great plan!' Aang nodded as he eagerly bent over the map. 'So where's our meeting place?'

'Not sure yet…' Sokka stroked his chin. 'That's what I'm stuck on…maybe here…'

He put his finger on a spot on the map.

'Or here…or it could be here…'

In a swift and single motion, Aang got to his feet and jumped back on Appa's head, hanging from his horn again. 'Guys, while you figure that out, I'll find a place for us to get some rest.'

Katara pointed to a spot on the map. 'Sokka, what about here?'

Sokka thought for a moment. 'That's not bad either…but…'

'Guys! Check that out!' Aang yelled out in excitement. 'There it is! Let's land there!'

Sokka and Katara raised their heads, peeking over the saddle at the spot Aang was pointing to.

Two small islands were fading in and out among the clouds beneath their feet.

It looked like a good place…

The middle areas were tucked away between the forested mountains and the waterway that ran between the two islands...

Limestone rocks made the coasts difficult to reach by the Ocean…

The islands seemed… completely uninhabited…

No one would find them there!

The closer they got to the North Pole, the fewer uninhabited islands they could find. Almost all of the islands were populated these days; most were Fire Nation settlements or small Earth Kingdom port cities under Fire Nation control.

Only a small fraction of islands and border port cities on the North Coast were still under Earth Kingdom control.

Fire Nation had advanced in the land, as if bent on ringing the North Pole and shutting in the Northern Water tribe on all sides.

That's why finding an uninhabited island in these waters was a blessing!

Katara smiled cheerfully. 'That's spot on, Aang!'

Sokka nodded, 'yeah, that'll make a good spot for resting.' and then he went back to his map.

Now that they all agreed, no more dilly dally and delay! Now they could get lots of rest!

Aang tightened his grip on Appa's reins and gently called out, 'Yip Yip Appa!'

And they dived into the clouds towards the two uninhabited islands.

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Zuko took his monocular field glass from his right eye and carefully watched the ocean and the large and small islands spread across it.

Then he lifted the monocular again, tightly gripping its long barrel as he held it close to his eye, and focused it on one of the islands.

Black and red flags…

Docked warships…

This was one of their own settlements…

Could Avatar be hiding in a Fire Nation settlement?

…

…Very unlikely…

Zuko shook his head and turned his monocular field glass to another island.

This one was an Earth Kingdom port town. One of those small ports under their control.

…How about here?...

…That was likely…

….

…How likely though?...

Zuko turned his monocular around.

Another small island.

And another one over there.

And that one...

all of them were small Earth Kingdom towns under Fire Nation control.

And that island over there?

another one of their own settlements.

Zuko took the monocular from his eye and gazed at the vast ocean.

Avatar, his giant bison, and those water tribe peasants must eventually land somewhere and get some rest.

Somewhere on one of these islands.

…

…But which one?...

Two small, remote islands caught his eye.

Zuko lifted his monocular again.

Two islands, covered with dense forests…

And limestone rocky shores…

A waterway's running between them…

No sign of a town or a settlement…

...

… uninhabited islands...

Zuko's eyes flashed.

…If Avatar was looking for somewhere to hide, he wouldn't find a better place …

…they should search those islands…!

But then he frowned.

…If he gets it wrong, they'll miss a golden opportunity…

…During the time that they're searching those two islands, avatar might land on another island…

…Or he might take off from another island and fly to the North Pole…

Zuko took a deep breath.

...But…

...The chances of Avatar landing on an uninhabited island are high…

...Yeah…

...They better search the two isl—

Suddenly a white object pierced the clouds and dived towards one of the two uninhabited islands.

Zuko blinked, staring transfixed at the sky for a second, before he snapped his head and looked at the soldier standing near him.

'Did you see that?!'

The soldier jumped and turned to Zuko.

'See what Sir?'

'That white object in the clouds! Over those two islands!'

The soldier looked at Zuko dumbfounded.

He didn't want to say no to the Fire Prince, but he really hadn't seen anything!

But lying to Prince Zuko was even worse than saying no.

Faced with the gravity of the situation, the soldier resolved to do what he thought would be the best course of action. He stood still and said nothing.

The silence did not last.

'Go tell the helmsman to change course! We're going to those two islands!'

The soldier happily sprang to attention. 'Yes Sir!'

This couldn't have turned any better! He had tendered a yes to the prince, and now had the chance to vanish from his sight!

The soldier turned and darted towards the command tower.

Zuko squeezed the monocular between his fingers and fixed his stare on the two uninhabited islands.

'This time, I won't let you get away'

His heart was pounding faster and faster. His breath coming out hotter and hotter.

'You're in my clutches this time, Avatar!'

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