The New Avatar:
Hello Everyone, welcome to the second chapter in the story, hope you enjoy. Sorry for the delay in posting, I'm on a fishing trip with my father and had to wait to be in data range to post this.
Chapter 2: The Village
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The next morning, Naruto was finishing his preparation to leave the small water tribe village. Suno had rested overnight and was ready to fly again. As he tightened down the leather straps to the bison's saddle, Naruto found himself joined by Katara and her family.
"Are you sure you can't stay?"
He shook his head, bending down to pick up his bundle of blankets. There was a part of him that wanted to. "Afraid not, I've gotta get to the North Pole."
Katara bit her lip.
"But you're the first waterbender I've ever met besides myself." Her eyes lit up, as a stroke of inspiration hit her. "Oh, I know, I'll go with you! That way, I can learn how to waterbend too!"
Sokka gaped at his sister in disbelief and managed to sputter out a reply in his outrage.
"What, Katara, you can't be serious! You belong here, with your family. Naruto is nice and all, but you can't be thinking of leaving with some stranger!"
Gran Gran was a bit more subdued in her reproach. "You should consider this more carefully dear, don't make a rash decision.
"But this might be my only chance to learn water bending!"
Separated from the family argument, Naruto felt torn. He wouldn't have minded having Katara join him, but it didn't feel right to just take her from her village and family, especially with how dangerous his journey would be. Though a solution quickly came to mind. He cut into the argument, bringing it to a halt.
"I'm visiting Whirlpool Village. When I'm done, I can swing back by here. Take some time, talk with your family."
She hesitated, afraid he would simply leave and never return. He could understand that. Naruto knew what it was like to be the only one of his kind. He also knew that leaving your family rashly wasn't easy.
"If you still want to come with me, then I'll take you."
"Okay."
He scrambled up Suno's tail, pausing to make sure that everything was tied down. Satisfied, he climbed into the seat at the crest of the saddle. Kurama was already there, curled up in a ball amongst the packs containing Naruto's supplies. Taking the reins, he snapped them.
"Yip Yip!"
With a \weary groan, the bison flapped his beaver-like tail, thrusting himself into the air and taking off into the sky. The gasps of surprise from the children of the village brought a smile to Naruto's face. The water tribe village quickly faded from view, disappearing amidst impenetrable mists.
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The map was yellowed with age and tattered at the edges. It took a skilled eye to take the shapes on the map and correlate them to the shifting white landscape beneath him. The snow shifted like the sand of the Wong Si desert, covering any landmark in a white blanket.
Naruto's eyes darted between the map and the landscape, noting some similarities along the coastline. A mound of snow one-hundred meters across caught his eyes. Odd protrusions jutted from it, distinguishing it from the rest of the frozen tundra. Something in his gut told him to descend, and he listened. His gut was almost always right.
"Suno, land just outside that formation."
The one and a half ton bison gave a groan of acknowledgement, slowly listing down to the ground. Naruto grabbed his staff, before leaping off of Suno and forming an air cushion to land on the ground gently. The powdery snow cushioned his landing, almost making the cushion unnecessary.
He frowned as he approached a divot in the mound. Going on a hunch, Naruto slammed his staff into the ground. A fierce wind rippled across the landscape, ripping up feet of snow.
The skeletal remains of a village were revealed. Tents with broken frames, their leather walls torn and scorched. Several collapsed igloos. And all about was the scattered remains of broken cookware. It looked exactly as it had since the attack that had driven the last residents of the village to abandon it.
Wind swept across the snowy plain. He could almost hear the screams of the villagers in its eerie howl.
Kurama sniffed around the remains of a tent. The kitsune hesitated, before gnawing on one of the animal bones turned into a spear. He promptly spat it out.
Naruto's heart ached, having heard his mother speak so fondly of her home. As he walked through the village he heard the sharp crack of wood breaking. Moving his foot, he found the remains of a wooden doll, the kind made of driftwood that fathers would carve for their daughters. He decided then and there he never wanted his mother to see what had become of her home.
The only relief was the fact that he couldn't see the remains of any bodies. A row of carefully assembled stone piles revealed what had become of them. At least they'd been allowed to be laid to rest in the traditional water tribe way.
Underneath a blanket of stone and on top of a bed of ice, their bodies would be saved from the ravages of time.
A chill went down Naruto's spine. This place shouldn't be disturbed. It belonged to the tundra now, until those who belonged here could reclaim it.
"Kurama, we're leaving. There's nothing for us here."
The fox growled in agreement, slinking towards the entrance.
Naruto gave the village one last sad look, before following after his friend. Suno waited for him outside the village. Sensing his companions' conflicted mood, the bison nudged Naruto gently with his nose, trying to comfort him. He patted the albino bison's cheek, scratching underneath Suno's jaw and earning an affectionate rumble.
"It's okay boy, I'm fine. Now, come on, let's get going. We can see Katara one more time before we leave."
He was already assuming the girl would come to her senses after talking with her family. A large part of him hoped she would. Far better for her and her family to remain tucked away in a corner of the world that likely wouldn't be touched by the conflict to come.
Suno got a few more pats onto the silver arrow mark on his head, before Naruto leapt into the air. Boosted by air, he landed gracefully in the saddle with his legs crossed. Kurama scrambled up beside him, shaking off the ice clinging to his fur before diving into the rolled-up blankets. The fox stuck his head out and shot Naruto a glare, teeth chattering.
"Aren't you supposed to have insulation from the cold?"
Kurama growled and snapped his teeth. The fox had always been smart, he seemed to understand their speech perfectly. Sometimes Naruto thought he was just as intelligent as humans.
He snapped the reins sharply, causing Suno to take off into the air. Naruto leaned back on his perch with a sigh: it would be another three-hour flight back to Wolf Cove. By the time he arrived, it would be nearly evening.
Flying above the snowy tundra was very hypnotic. A vast sea of white lulled Naruto into a tired stupor. He struggled to keep his eyes open. They drooped, closing for a few seconds, before he would startle awake with his heart racing, only to drift off a few moments later.
During one of one of those cycles, it began to snow. The cold shock of the wet flake melting on his cheek managed to startle Naruto awake. Closing his eyes and turning his face towards the sky, Naruto sighed as he felt another snowflake land on his skin. There was something soothing about the snow. It made everything seem quiet, closed in. Gazing out at the icebergs, he wiped his cheek with the back of his hand. He stopped and stared as it came away with a watery black streak.
He looked up at the sky and saw that the black snow falling. In the depths of his mind, he remembered his m
other talking about the invasion of her village.
"Black snow began to fall … the metal ships sliced through the ice like daggers … and there was fire." He muttered.
Suddenly, much more alert, Naruto sat forward, snapping the reins, and urging Suno to go faster. The bison charged forward.
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The plot thickens. Next chapter we will get Zuko's POV. Chapter 5 is out on my pa treon right now.
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Until Next Time,
RinneTaicho, Signing Off!