Fandom The Gaang

[PeteTheWitcher]

Book one- Fire and water


“Why does this place have to be so cold Azula,” Zuko said annoyed as he rowed the canoe in the water as they were in the North Pole area, “we better find them…” He was working with Azula to find the avatar which he did not fully trust, but she did seem to want his help and he could find the avatar and stop being banished. That was all he cared about right now and he did not care about the avatar thinking he would be easy to catch since he was most likely going to be frozen. His hair was in a ponytail and his scar was visible as he touched it as he was reminded of why he was banished. He had been tracking the avatar for three years in order to stop being called the banished prince and restore his honor. He resented his father but still felt like he had no other choice than to follow the royal family’s destiny.

The location Zuko had found was a result of searching for three years, his sister decided to help him with this one. He would make the biggest mistake of his life trusting that she was on his side. Growing up they never really bonded and maybe it could change. Zuko glanced at Azula and he kept rowing as he hated the silence and wondered why Azula would work with him. He would appreciate the help from her in case someone tried to stop them.

 

[Effloresce]

"Please, Zuzu." Azula rolled her eyes at Zuko, "How on earth do you expect to best the avatar if you can't even handle a small chill?" Her arms folded lazily as she leaned against the ship's wall, eying the ripples in the water as the metal carved through the waves which splashed on the deck above. "Of course, you won't be besting the Avatar. I will." She smirked, revelling in Zuko's unease at the prospect of his prize being stolen from beneath him. Their alliance was a terse and uneasy thing; Zuko required the Avatar to restore his honour, Azula simply wanted the prestige. When she'd approached her exiled brother and offered to help him, he wasn't exactly given the option to refuse.

Loathe as she was to admit it, Azula understood that Zuko had searched for years. Starting from scratch she was sure to take a few months--if that--but why toil alone when she could exploit the fruits of Zuko's labour then so deliciously snatch it from beneath him? Her unsuspecting brother knew nothing of the sort, too content to believe her empty promises of granting him the credit--or perhaps just too desperate, or too stupid, no petty reason was beneath her brother's naivety.

 

[HedwigNerd]

100 years prior, Avatar Aang had been caught in a storm and trapped in the ice of the Southern Ocean. For those 100 years, no one was able to find him, not even the other air nomads. However, the frozen Avatar didn’t know that his dissapearance has caused destruction and war, even the massacre of the air nomads... and he definitely didn’t know that members of the nation who caused the destruction were after him.

Under the ice, everything froze. His age, thoughts, his flying Bison, Appa... everything. He would have no idea about anything that happened over those years. In any case, it was up to the person that would find him to decide. And in the wrong hands... that could be disastrous.

———————
​

As a non-bender, day’s could get boring... but Sokka learned to make the best of it in the Southern Water Tribe. After all, he did have to take up the leadership position after the departure of his father. Most would say he should resent his father, leaving a teenage boy like him to lead, but he didn’t. In fact, he admired him. He wanted so desperately to join him in war against fire nation, but he knew his father left him here for a reason.

Not only was he the tribe’s stand in leader, but he also took responsibility for his sister, Katara. He had to admit, though... sometimes she could be more mature than he was. She mostly spent time away from the hustle-bustle and with their Gran-gran, their caretaker without either of their parents. So, considering that’s where she often was, that’s where he went to find her.

He poked his head into the tent-like home, looking around, “Katara? You in here?” He took a few steps inside, continuing to look around him for signs of his sister. “You wanted to come along on that fishing expedition? It’s time to go. Come now or forever hold your peace... or something like that.”

 

[TigerLover513]

Katara was walking by the tent, she smiled, and decided to scare him, "I'm ready Sokka!," she shouted, making him jump. She giggled, "You are so easy to scare, come on let's go," she started walking. Thinking about her mom and dad, her father was off to fight in the war, so Sokka was trying to train warriors.

But she was to busy doing chores with Gran-Gran, to worry about Sokka and his warrior training. She started thinking about water bending and if she would ever really become good at it.

 

[PeteTheWitcher]

“You know I hate that nickname,” Zuko grumbled as he looked at her. He had no choice but to accept her help, what if the avatar was powerful and fought back? It was no question that Azula was a great bender and even better than him. Perhaps a part of him was stupid and naive, he thought Azula cared about about his situation and wajnted to help. Another part of him was desperate to find the avatar. Her words made him more tense as he looked at the water, he could not let Azula best the avatar when he needed them more.


“How would you best them if we can’t-” Zuko stopped his sentence when he hit a bumpy rock on in the river and it made him flinch. He knew his sister would like to take on the avatar but he couldn’t let her do it.

 

[Effloresce]

"Well well well," The girl smirked with intrigue, rapping restless knuckles against the metal that held her back. "It's not every day you stumble on a frost-entombed lights show, is it?" She rhetorically asked her brother, who was so gripped by eagerness that he'd already scrambled to the glowing iceberg earning an irritated sigh from Azula. If they followed his instincts, every cave and hole on the planet hid the Avatar; why was this any different? Withdrawing from her lazy rest, Azula stalked after Zuko to the mysterious frost structure, looking wholly unimpressed by the distraction.

"Don't be a fool." Azula chided as he reached to touch it, she was fully preparing for his arm to be sapped off by some mythical curse. "It's just a--" She froze; amber eyes locked into the light beyond the blue shell, beyond the sheen of ice, a glowing azure with the brief appearance of limbs, forming a small silhouette. "There's a person in there?" She sounded surprised, a rare state for the Princess. "Fish them out Zuko. Who knows, maybe you'll find your honour inside?" She taunted with light venom. Pragmatism suggested the Avatar wouldn't be trapped within some forlorn block of ice near the Southern Water Tribes, he was an Air Nomad, or should've been, his presence here made no sense...

She considered the possibility enough for her confident smirk to morph into a light frown. But what if it was?

 

[PeteTheWitcher]

Zuko nodded to Azula’s words as excitement blocked the rest of her words out and he put his hand in there trying to grab Aang as his face was pure eagerness. He then frowned as he pulled Aang out from the frost revealing that he was a pre teen. Zuko then saw the blue arrow on his head and smiled as this was his honor. He did not want Azula to take him and he knew that she would try something but yet he let her play him like a fiddle, why? Zuko was defensive of the boy like he was his last ounce of honor left. He did not move from his position and acted like a mother protecting her cubs. He then looked at Azula, “I found the avatar…I finally did it! All those years of searching were worth it!” Zuko did not know what to say. He did not think he would find it so soon.

 

[Effloresce]

Azula's eyes widened with realization, Zuko's hands roamed over the crested arrow hanging down the young boys head--the unmistakable mark of an Airbending master. He was just a child, had the Avatar been frozen for all this time?

She felt shock make way for cunning; surprise transformed to opportunism. "Father will be so proud." Azula's amber eyes flashed dangerously, her gaze hardening into a predatory glower. "But not of you." She thrust out her hand, two fingers pointed, a soaring blue bolt of fire barrelled at Zuko as she moved towards him. "I mean, really Zuzu. Did you actually believe father wanted you back?" She snarled with a sadistic smirk, kicking out with her leg as a crescent of blue flames darted from her foot. "Thankfully I'm here to save you from the embarrassment of an unwanted welcome!"

She renewed her assault, careful to avoid the Avatar who Zuko had so nobly worked to defend. It mattered little, he had never been her equal. When she returned with the Avatar, she alone would be heralded as a hero. Father would have no choice but to acknowledge her accomplishments.

 

[HedwigNerd]

As Aang was pulled from his icy ball, the glowing from his arrows faded, and it seemed everything unfroze. It took a few moments, but suddenly he was awake. Groggy, but awake. He put a hand to his bald head, rubbing it lightly and looked around with clouded vision. Flashes of blue and red soared past him, the heat touching his cold features. He scrambled backwards until his back was against the icy ball he had just emerged from, his brain whizzing to figure out what exactly was going on. The only thing on his mind other than the fighting firebenders was Appa.

The boy turned around, his vision unclouding, and looked at the large silhouette of his flying bison. There was no way he would get him out of there with airbending... but firebending... he turned back to the two fighting people. All he had to do was get their attention. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. The vocal cords hadn’t been used in years, they were sure to be a little rusty. He watched a moment longer as the two continued fighting, the blue seemingly outmatching the red by far.

—————

Sokka jumped at his sister’s scare, then grumbled. “Hey, don’t do that.” He crossed his arms in his best serious manner, which wasn’t often taken seriously, “Fishing expeditions are a serious matter.” One hand fell to his side again while the other pointed to the icy shore, “Now let’s get a move on.” He lead the way to the boats, then hopped in and grabbed an oar

 

[PeteTheWitcher]

Azula's eyes widened with realization, Zuko's hands roamed over the crested arrow hanging down the young boys head--the unmistakable mark of an Airbending master. He was just a child, had the Avatar been frozen for all this time?

She felt shock make way for cunning; surprise transformed to opportunism. "Father will be so proud." Azula's amber eyes flashed dangerously, her gaze hardening into a predatory glower. "But not of you." She thrust out her hand, two fingers pointed, a soaring blue bolt of fire barrelled at Zuko as she moved towards him. "I mean, really Zuzu. Did you actually believe father wanted you back?" She snarled with a sadistic smirk, kicking out with her leg as a crescent of blue flames darted from her foot. "Thankfully I'm here to save you from the embarrassment of an unwanted welcome!"

She renewed her assault, careful to avoid the Avatar who Zuko had so nobly worked to defend. It mattered little, he had never been her equal. When she returned with the Avatar, she alone would be heralded as a hero. Father would have no choice but to acknowledge her accomplishments.

"Agh," Zuko got hit by the fire bolt as he then thrust his finger making a flame bolt barrel towards Azula in a counter. She certainly got him when he was least expecting it and when she kicked out her leg and blue flames came out he tried to dodge but got hit, "Azula! You won't get away with this" in anger Zuko got up and kicked out his leg sending regular fire at her hoping to hit her but she was far better at bending than he was. He was so upset that he fell into her trap and did not expect her to do this to him. Zuko would be careful about not hitting Aang as he moved away facing his sister.

"That's a lie! Father told me if I caught the avatar he would welcome me back!" Zuko said as he wondered if it was false. Did the fire lord really not want him back after he disrespected him so long ago? He would not let her get to Aang without a fight.

 

[Effloresce]

Zuko's resistance was filled with misplaced heart, it was almost admirable, if his talents weren't so basic. Her hands sliced the air through Zuko's counter attack, swatting the sputtering orange flames away with ease. "Is it?" She pressed, her attacks ceaseless in their aggression, "If father really wanted you back so much, then why did he send me to make sure the Avatar would never be captured by you?" Her eyes pierced his with a shattering truth. Ozai had said nothing of the sort, at least not so explicitly, but he certainly inferred as much. Azula was doing Zuko a favour, really, he needed to let go of the Fire Nation and embrace life as some backwater outlaw where he was best suited. Besides, the phrasing of the sentence made her sound like the Avatar's saviour--precisely the narrative she needed.

The Avatar was awake now, seemingly disoriented by his icy entrapment, Azula's face set into a grim mask; she couldn't allow him time to mount an escape. Her eyes shot from her prey to her familial roadblock, a lazy grin spreading across her face. "It's been a pleasure, Zuko, really." She leapt into the air and thrust forward on a pillar of flame that carried her across the ground at lightning speed, "I'll give your regards to father!" She stopped alongside her brother and forcefully kicked out towards his chest, hoping the momentum of her charge would scatter him back far enough to afford her the opportunity she sought.

She stared down at the confused airbender, her hand shooting out and grappling his arm. "I'm here to help you, Avatar." She forced her most disarmingly friendly smile, "Come with me before my brother tries to harm you." Her eyes shot towards Zuko with a playful-but-mocking glare. Azula was a fantastic liar and a better manipulator. She trusted her ability to fool a 12 year old boy for a few days.

 

[PeteTheWitcher]

Before Zuko could respond he got kicked in the chest sending him back across the ice almost touching the freezing water as his head reached the end of the ice. He had lost him...his honor disappeared along with the belief of father wanting him back, he could never forget the truth piercing glare Azula gave him. With anger boiling inside him he formed a fireball and threw it at Azula’s direction as he fell over from the pain. Zuko slammed his fist on the ice floor as it melted it and his hand touched the water making a little If Azula could see his eyes it would look angry with a hint of vengeance. Now what? Zuko had nothing now...all he could do was watch his sister run off with the avatar and maybe some water benders would notice him and take him to jail and then he would be a backwater outlaw. He could not let go of Fire Nation since he thought it was the only choice he had. He then got up painfully as he watched his sister ride off with the avatar, he would see ships in the distance and grumbled. Maybe the water benders won’t notice him but Zuko was in pain as he hated Azula for leaving him like this.

 

[HedwigNerd]

The Airbender watched as the female firebender approached him, offering a hand. His eyes widened. Was she really there to help him? He opened his mouth, somewhat surprised when words actually came out this time, “But.. my flying Bison, Appa.” He pointed to the huge silhouette. “I can’t leave him here!” He looked back to the firebender, hopeful that she would help him out. After all, aside from the huge fight she just took part in, she seemed friendly enough. Perhaps she would even take him back to his air temple, back to his friends. But first, he was getting Appa out of the ice.

While he was thinking about all the great things, he suddenly backtracked. Had she called him Avatar? How would she know he was the Avatar? Was it because of the tattoos? Or perhaps everyone knew now... after he ran away. A pang of regret hit him, he would be sure to apologize to the other air nomads later.

 

[Effloresce]

Azula's plan to steel off with the Avatar was foolproof enough, though she had expected to do so on the deck of a Fire Nation Battleship. Not an 'Appa'. She sighed, the firebender had no time to absorb the impact of his weak protestations, Zuko may not have been a threat, but she wanted to deny her brother a counter-offensive all the same. "Fine." Azula shook her head and used a jet of streaming flames to devour the Sky Bison's icy cells, the best letting out a confused roar from within as it thawed free. Azula had never seen a Sky Bison, she couldn't withhold her mild surprise at the enormous horned furball.

Well, the Avatar insisted the beast could fly and Azula couldn't afford being estranged from her prize. "Now do you plan to wait around for the moon to fall out of the sky or do you actually intend to survive? You're not still frozen, are you?" Azula barked at the Avatar as she stalked forward and eagerly clambered atop the seemingly passive Sky Bison. She pursed her lips in wonderment, was it friendly by nature, or did it believe she was an ally of the Avatar in this moment? Azula had to give herself due acknowledgement; she was certainly making waves in her personal record of cobbled up plans and exciting new experiences. If the Bison could fly, the Avatar could fly it. It was amusingly ironic, really, how he was so willing to walk into the web that she'd so spun.

 

[TigerLover513]

Katara hopped in after him. "Fishing expeditions aren't serious at all, you just make it sound serious Sokka," she thought for a minute. "Do you think I'm going to learn water bending? I mean I think I'm progressing, but sometimes it feels like you don't take me seriously," Katara was watching the water, feeling the vibes.

She took off her gloves, and gently put her hand in the water. The water felt cold, but relaxing and felt good rolling through her fingers.

 

[PeteTheWitcher]

Zuko got up with a grunt, “SHE IS THE REAL ENEMY!” he could not afford to lose the avatar and thought maybe he could twist Aang’s view of Azula although it would be hard. Zuko then lifted his fist at Azula as a wave of orange fire came at her then he would create a wall of fire to protect himself. Zuko would get into a stance and ready to fight for his prize. Zuko let the anger get the best of him and he started to lift his hands as more and more orange fire came at her.


“I will defeat you Azula! You won’t get away with him!” Zuko yelled stubbornly. He would be put in his place below her like he always was but he did not care. He just wanted Aang back...his honor.

 

[HedwigNerd]

Aang smiled when his fluffy friend unfroze from the ice. “Appa!” He exclaimed, going to sink into his fur for a moment. He jumped a little at Azula’s loud scolding, and responded, “Yeah, yeah, hop on!” He floated himself into the creature, and Appa places down his tail for the fire princess to use as a ramp. The Avatar smiled, evidently unaware of Azula’s malevolent plans.

He was a moment away from taking off when the other firebender shouted a warning to them. He tilted his head, and looked his way. He didn’t exactly get what he meant by, ‘she’s the real enemy..’ she was being so kind to him! At least, to an extent. He piped up, “Are we gonna leave him here?” He ducked as red Fire was shot at them. Considering he was still springing his red fire, it made sense to Aang to think he was some kind of enemy to the both of them. However, he wasn’t the type to instruct that they kill anyone, more of the type to ask if they were going to capture him. It was the fire nation after all.

—————

Sokka looked to his sister, “Of course you’ll learn it!” He was a little surprised at the sudden doubt in herself. “Look, we’re surrounded by water now.. show me what you got.” He offered for Katara to display some of her moves. Sokka was a little jealous, sure, but he was also there for his sister.

 

[Effloresce]

Azula's hand shot out to sweep her brother's fire from the Avatar's mysteriously oversized beast, wincing slightly as the flames came dangerously close to an off-guard Azula who couldn't use her feet or agility when mounted atop Appa's tail. With a break in Zuko's assault, sh perched herself atop the Bison's back, hands still level to redirect any further flams Zuko could desperately muster.

"Are you telling me you want to invite your angry fire-throwing hunter with us, Avatar?" Azula stated dryly, her eyes never leaving Zuko's face with triumph and venom written absent Aang's gaze. "My brother can handle himself." Azula smirked, "Probably." A twinkle of danger flashed in her eyes as she turned to address her new travelling 'companion'. "Leave him, Avatar. He's too dangerous to take hostage."

Such words were far from true, it wasn't Zuko's prowess that was dangerous, but his blabbering; he was a threat to her machinations and his presence would only serve to sow discord between the naïve child and Azula's motivations. Besides, she'd grown utterly bored of Zuko's dreary company. Some time without his voice giving her a constant headache would be time well spent.

 

[TigerLover513]

Katara gave him a stare like seriously. "Well I can try," she took off her gloves, and took a deep breath. She tried to move the water into a small ball, moving it through the air. Making look kinda like a stream. "Hey I'm doing it!" Katara looked at Sokka, he kinda looked mesmerized. She dropped the water back into the water. "How was that?" she was all the sudden super proud of herself, she put her gloves back on. She just felt so happy.

 

[HedwigNerd]

“But he’ll die out here!” He peeped, noting the cold area they were in, “The least you could do is send him back to fire nation with that boat of yours..” he extended a thin arm to point at the boat the two seemingly arrived in. The design was a little different from the fire nation he remembered, though. Maybe he just hasn’t been up to date with what the other nations were up to.

He looked to Azula, a half questioning, half pleading gaze in his eyes. He definitely didn’t like being the root of someone’s death, that’s for sure. He racked onto the end of his words what he’s heard her mention, “He’s your brother, right?” Aang always knew familial love to be a reason for saving someone, but he didn’t know about the rift between the siblings before him. He just knew they were aguing, like siblings do.

————

Sokka snapped out of his mesmerized state to say, “That was... great...” his words trailed off as he caught sight of a fire nation ship ahead of their own. His eyes blew wide and he said, “What’re they doing here??” His eyebrows knit together as they realized they were heading right for the ship— something that was much larger than their tiny fishing boat. He looked to Katara with an alarmed expression, “If you could use that bending of yours to turn us around right now, that would be great.” He began paddling heavily himself to try and turn the two around. They had to get back and warn the others of the oncoming threat.