Chapter 2 The River Spirit
One of the first towns we visited was Jang Hui, a fishing village floating on a lake. The village was a series of platforms on the lake supported by pylons. It has been two days since leaving Amani. We were on Appa floating down a river that was more dirt than water. Sokka was apparently trying to fish for something although judging by the sad state of the river I didn't think fishing was the best idea.
He wasn't having luck at all whether from his lack of fishing skill or the water quality, I don't know, probably the first or more accurately his lack of said skill. I bluntly comment, "Hey Sokka, ¿are you sure you know what you're doing? Your catching sucks."
Glaring over at me with pure rage, "I am a proud warrior from, well I am not gonna tell where my sister and I live to future Fire Nation invaders like yourself. I was surrounded by water so know how to fish trust me. Plus there the clear water produces the best seafood, unlike this polluted sludge. Haha nice to know the Fire Nation treats their own people like the rest of the world."
Wait Sokka said invaders, as in the act of taking over a land you are not in control of. Gasp, I am in huge trouble as in a single moment of clarity I realize my current situation. Sokka is not from the Fire Nation. He's from the one of the Water Tribes or Earth Kingdom. Judging from the name I'm going to guess option one. This also probably applies to the other members as well. Ok no need to panic, just act calm and casual around everybody who wants you dead and your nation destroyed. And Sokka is a seasoned warrior, so he can definitely kill me no problem. I did black out the second I got on Appa. Oh right, now I get it. Sokka beamed me with his metal boomerang. Crap I'm dead I can't defend myself from him. But I suspect the real danger is his sister, Katara. If she is a waterbender, then I am really super dead.
Anyway, we spend the rest of the day floating down the river on Appa trying to figure out how to keep our supplies from running out. We were very low on food. Suddenly we were greeted at the shore by an old man with white hair, wearing threadbare yellow clothes. I look out on the river in awe. Wow that's amazing, there's a whole village sitting on pylons out on the lake. I thought it looked incredible. The whole village was a maze of raised wooden platforms connected by a bridge network fanning out from a central town square. The old geezer introduced himself as Dock. He told Katara, who seemed genuinely interested, about the state of the place, as it was a fishing village built over a polluted river. That's a major problem, a fishing village that can't fish. So it wasn't just Sokka who's skill was off the hook. Actual quote from Sokka, you can't make this stuff up.
We spent the day helping the villagers, who by the state of their town desperately needed it. Sokka saw this as a massive waste of time as the invasion had a time limit. Although he did by a two headed fish that did not look edible at all, but Sokka stated, "Hey two heads, twice the value." when questioned by Katara. Also Sokka saw everybody from the Fire Nation as enemies, or in my case, potential enemies. However he wasn't the only one who saw enemies everywhere he looked. I was constantly surrounded by the enemies of the Fire Nation, whose current goal was planning an invasion to take out the Fire Lord and cripple the nation I love and means everything to me. Yes you heard me, invasion, referring to the planned attack on my country to fight the Royal Family and the Imperial Home Guard, the army division responsible for defending the Fire Nation Home Islands.
I should really talk more about myself and how I got involved in all this mess. I was born on one of the Outer Islands of the Fire Nation called Amami.(AN: actual Japanese island)It's a great island and I grew up in the main town also called Amami with a population of around 5,000 people. Because it is one of the Outer Islands, we were a very remote and quiet island. Still I loved life on Amami.
I have no siblings an only child, thank you very much so I'm a very independent person. I have always wanted to travel the Four Nations, they sound so interesting when we learned about them in school, from the savage and barbaric Water Tribe to the uncivilized Earth Kingdom as our teacher put it. I loved growing up and living in the Fire Nation. As it is a volcanic island chain hugging the equator, the temperature is always nice and sunny between 15 to 26 degrees C (60 to 80 F). There was a square in the town centre where there was a great fire flakes place, and the town market where you can get everything from food to cloth and every random thing in between. They had a great burger and milkshake where all my classmates and I would come after school. Fire flakes are a common Fire Nation food consisting of corn flakes heated around 148 degrees C (300 F), mixed with different spices unique to each recipe usually very hot but sometimes mild and served in a paper cube. Very yummy snack if I say so myself.
Anyway, back to the present moment in Jang Hui. There was this kid who walked up to us asking us for fish, which Katara did despite Sokka's protests that we, and by we he meant him, needed it. Sokka though the very idea of helping Fire nation citizens disgusting. Hump, what doheknow about the awesome people of this great nation. After asking around Dock said that it had to do with a factory that was dumping its waste directly into the river. Something had to be done obviously but what? Also something that would not attract the attention of the Home Guard would be nice.
The next day I got up at dawn, as like all firebenders rising with Agni the Sun, brown eyes widening absolutely shocked. The sleepy faded village transformed suddenly into a vibrant, happy place. Dock said that the "Painted Lady" came and healed the sick and passed out food and medicine. Painted Lady sounded like a local spirit who protected Jang Hui. Most towns and villages across the Fire Nation had some sort of spirit patron. Afterwards Katara wanted to help the town, much to Sokka's annoyance and we discussed, by which I mean argue, over what to do. Sokka was pretty apathetic over helping the people as he were on a tight schedule as the eclipse lasted only 8 minutes and plus they were Fire Nation which meant that they wouldn't get any help from him as he hates us. We couldn't go anywhere, as Appa was apparently sick with a deep purple tongue, so we had to stay in Jang Hui for a few days.
Later that night, Aang and Katara woke up everybody saying that they had a plan on how to take care of the problem. It was very simple but would defiantly attract the attention of the Home Guard, as the plan was to destroy the factory. Before anybody moved I grab Katara's sleeve hissing nervously, "¿What's the plan, seriously? If you think we can just walk into an active Fire Nation factory and destroy it no problem whatsoever, you are stupider than I thought." Also it was revealed Katara faked Appa's illness purple berries. Sokka was not pleased.
Sokka rounded me angrily whalebone club high in striking position, "Nobody, and I mean nobody talks to me and my sister like that you ashmaker. Your 'great' nation has hunted us down like animals for a century." Lifting me up off the ground by my shirt collar, legs dangling.
Desperately I stammer, "Whalebone club, interesting choice, that means you are Water Tribe, only they use whalebone weapons. I was wondering where you all were from." I laughed at the stunned face on Sokka's face. "The Fire Nation makes it a point to teach us the different makes of weapons, since most of us will be in the army or Fire Navy. The Military believes that it is important to know how our enemies will try to kill us. Which hopefully doesn't include you, but I really don't know at this point. ¿Also can you put me down please?" I add nervously.
Sokka grins vindictively at me, "I know the crap you were fed in school, but I'll teach you what really happened. Imagine everybody in your town dead and this other nation patrolling right off the coast. Brutally killing anybody who challenges them. Your town is also a heap of rubble. You are on the edge of extinction, but you can't do anything about it. That is what the Fire Nation means to me." I am just standing there shell shocked. I can't even picture it without crying. Anyway so that night, we put the plan Sokka and Katara developed in action. It helps distract me from the nightmares Sokka gave me.
Once it got dark, we approach the base of the factory. It's an iron manufacturing plant judging from the smoke stacks and the sludge spewing out into the river. The main room proved me right as the temperature shot up dramatically from the molten metal cooling in long open tanks that covered the length of the entire floor. We were sneaking through the factory when we came to a series of metal pipes and valves. The nice part was that they were all labelled, which made it very easy to figure out what did what and which pipe each carried. Sokka laughed at the stupidity and arrogance of the Fire Nation to label everything in a "top secret" factory that any fool could read. He didn't like it when I pointed out that it was probably because of easy maintenance and efficiently than stupidity or arrogance. I was getting the impression that Sokka liked to look down and laughed at the failures of the Fire Nation, which I admit he had every fricken right to do so considering he was from the South Pole and what the my nation had done to his. After this war is over the Fire Nation is gonna have to have a serious conversation with the rest of the they will talk and not do unto us what we did to them. But if the other nations do that, I understand completely and accept my fate. ¡Death before dishonor!
Like Aang, I'm a not very good with human emotions. Probably because firebending required some kind of emotional control as our state of mind fuels our bending. Unlike Aang, I have high mechanical aptitude. In the Fire Nation, everybody takes STEM or Science Technology Engineering Mathematics classes in school. You can't run an efficient and advanced society plus a 100-year war without a workforce that knows how to maintain and build metal steamships, advanced weapons, and anything else you would need. The other reason is just as practical: Most of us are Firebenders, meaning that we can produce fire with our willpower. The ability to naturally generate fire does not equal the ability to control fire. Also, certain chemicals will violently explode when mixed. Actually that's most of them.
Steam technology runs the Fire Nation, and I know how it all works as every house has a coal heated oven used to generate heat and cook with. The factories use a bigger version to melt iron and other metals. There are also rumours at Caldera City University of using steam to generate energy or something. It's totally top secret and stuff. So when Sokka starts turning dials and banging on pipes at random, I naturally panic.
"Hey Idiot, ¿want to blow us and everything around sky high? Why don't you leave it to me, as I know what the hell I'm doing, ¡unlike you!"
"Be my guest." He glares at me proably plotting my death.
"Ok I think we should turn this dial as it's labelled local pressure valve which will cause the steam here to stay in the pipe. Do not touch this pipe as its just steam, but at superheated and at 250 psi. And that one next to it too, as it's the water pipe and that water is practically boiling. Ok any questions." Naturally, everybody looks at me blankly and raises their hand. I face palm in frustration.
So we finally disable the factory under my supervision and make it look like a total accident or human incompetence, not sabotage. I don't want the village to be blamed, as they would be prime suspects if anything goes wrong with the factory. Then we return to Jang Hui and wait for the steam pressure to blow everything sky-high. Well that's what's supposed to happen, please work. I only have to wait a few minutes before there is a flash of light and then everything shakes for a moment. ¡Yay, it actually worked!
Then the Home Guard show up on jet skies right after returning to the village. Right, I forgot about this part, oops. Panicking at the sight the Home Guard, the elite army division responsible for the national defence of the Fire Nation, I whisper to Katara "Now what, the Home Guard is here and I really don't want to finds out what happens next? The Home Guard does exactly what you think."
She turns to me thinking, suddenly Katara smiles. "I have an idea. Dock said that the 'Painted Lady' watches over here. That's how we are going to get the soldiers to leave."
Katara then dons on a big conical hat, red face paint and a red cloak. I think she has done this before as she put on the costume with zero effort. Aang sneaks under the pier creating an impenetrable thick mist. Toph and Sokka with Appa add creepy sound effects to really sell the whole spirit thing. I thought we were dead when Katara's waterbending was revealed, but the townsfolk apparently didn't mind at all for some reason, ok we did just save them from being destroyed but still weird. Toph and I blend into the crowd and start shouting "Hey we should clean up the river!" That quickly turns into a mad rush to the boats and a town initiative to do exactly that. Well I have done my duty to my nation and its people, onto the next town. I just hope none are inhabited by weird old men who change personality when wearing different hats.
Authors note: I am literally stunned by the fact that there is still interest after all these years. I must admit I do have self-motivation issues, which does explain the nonexistent posting schedule I hope.I have only posted a few of the chapters on my computer. Michael76 Yes there is several weird jumps I am aware of that and that is because of the nonsensical way I have written the chapters. I don't think everything in my brain is fully plugged in. The idea was to write the chapters in sequence but I didn't so… However since I have a bunch of free time I am actually starting writing/posting again. Also Netflix has all three seasons of the original show so, YAY! I remember when the guru episode aired and didn't really understand the life is messy and things get stuck in the creek line, but now I get it completely. Onto your next question, yeah I found it weird too how On Ji is introduced in her own episode, but doesn't join Team Avatar like Toph and Zuko after their own episodes.