The rest of them got to move to a small house in a Fire Nation colonial village. Everyday, they lived in fear of the Phoenix Empire. That was the only life that Kat knew. So as she sat on the porch, watching the komodo-rhinos march past their house, Kat felt very lucky that she wasn’t in the prison anymore. Kat shuddered as a particularly large komodo-rhino came too close to her. The creature looked scary enough, but the rider looked even scarier. With their skull masks and bulky red armor, they were enough to send her running just by appearances. Today, the Warden of the prison was sending important, high security prisoners from the Icy South Prison to higher security ones, like the Boiling Rock. They were mostly Northern Raiders, waterbenders and non-benders alike that the Northern Water Tribe sent to the Phoenix Empire colonies to trash stuff of the Fire Nation. Even though their goal was to free the people of the colonies, Kat and many others still feared them.

“Kat!” Kim, her older sister called. “Come inside to eat dinner! And stop watching the soldiers. It won’t help you feel less scared of Fire Nation by watching their army!” Kat sighed, and got up, walking back inside. At the dining table, Wenny and Allen had already sat down and started eating. Mother was pouring some stewed prunes for everyone, and Father was coming over to eat. He looked exhausted from working at the docks all day, loading and unloading cargo from the Fire Nation. Kat sat down at the table as Mother poured her a hearty portion of stewed prunes. She wasn’t particularly hungry tonight, though. Kat was more excited about the fact that Betty was coming home! “So what’s the latest gossip at the docks, Honey?” Mother asked, putting down her spoon.

“Kat!” Kim, her older sister called. “Come inside to eat dinner! And stop watching the soldiers. It won’t help you feel less scared of Fire Nation by watching their army!” Kat sighed, and got up, walking back inside. At the dining table, Wenny and Allen had already sat down and started eating. Mother was pouring some stewed prunes for everyone, and Father was coming over to eat. He looked exhausted from working at the docks all day, loading and unloading cargo from the Fire Nation. Kat sat down at the table as Mother poured her a hearty portion of stewed prunes. She wasn’t particularly hungry tonight, though. Kat was more excited about the fact that Betty was coming home! “So what’s the latest gossip at the docks, Honey?” Mother asked, putting down her spoon.

“The Phoenix King’s looking for the new Avatar.” Father sighed. “He’s scouring the South Pole for signs of her. What he fears is that the new avatar was born in the Northern Water Tribe, where he has not conquered yet.” “Father, what’s an avatar?” Kim asked. “The Avatar is the master of all four elements, the bringer of peace to the world.” Father replied bitterly. “They’re also the bridge between the human and spirit world. The last one died thirteen years ago, killed by Phoenix King Ozai. Everyone thought that he killed the avatar while he was in the avatar state, ending the cycle permanently, but now he says that there’s still another one out there.” “How is the Phoenix King going to find the avatar, though?” Allen inquired. “What does she look like? How old is she? What is she like?” Mother chuckled at Allen’s endless questions.

“The Phoenix King’s looking for the new Avatar.” Father sighed. “He’s scouring the South Pole for signs of her. What he fears is that the new avatar was born in the Northern Water Tribe, where he has not conquered yet.” “Father, what’s an avatar?” Kim asked. “The Avatar is the master of all four elements, the bringer of peace to the world.” Father replied bitterly. “They’re also the bridge between the human and spirit world. The last one died thirteen years ago, killed by Phoenix King Ozai. Everyone thought that he killed the avatar while he was in the avatar state, ending the cycle permanently, but now he says that there’s still another one out there.” “How is the Phoenix King going to find the avatar, though?” Allen inquired. “What does she look like? How old is she? What is she like?” Mother chuckled at Allen’s endless questions.

“Technically speaking, the new avatar should be around thirteen years old.” Mother replied warmly. Wenny glanced at Kat, who suddenly got an uncomfortable feeling. “Does that mean Kat could possibly be the avatar?” Wenny suggested thoughtfully. Kat let out a chuckle. “Don’t be silly, there’s no way I’m the avatar!” Kat teased. “If I were, I would have been able to bend at least one element at one point!” “Avatar or not,” Father said sternly, “the Phoenix King has commanded every thirteen year old in the Southern Water Tribe to come to the Imperial Fire Nation Palace for a bending test. Kat, you’re taking a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Fire Nation.” *** Kat stared at Father with wide eyes. The entire table had gone silent. Kim and Wenny looked surprised, while Allen was gaping and looked ridiculous. Kat didn’t know what to think, or feel, or say! She was going to the Phoenix Empire capitol….to meet the Phoenix King?!

“B-but how is this gonna work out?” Kat stammered. “How am I going to get there? What about all of you?” “I don’t know.” Father sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Apparently there’s going to be a formal invitation of some sort going out in the mail. The details are never clear when you hear it from gossip at the ship docks.” Kat stood up and pushed her chair in. “I-I’m not really that hungry. I’ll be in my room,” she said nervously. Kat then went to her shared room with Kim, and fell onto the bed, groaning. Floof, one of their dogs, came into the room and nuzzled her. Kat let out a loud sigh, and buried her face in her pillow. She was most likely going to the Imperial Phoenix Empire Capitol very soon. How could she deal with this?

It wasn’t about perhaps being the avatar that she was worried about. It was the fact that she was going to the Phoenix Empire Capital. What if she did something wrong? Her entire family might suffer the consequences because of her mistake! Normally, only people of high status would get to even see the royal family. She had also heard that Phoenix King Ozai and Fire Lord Azula were extremely biased towards people of lower class. That probably made it more likely that something gone wrong might be blamed on her! Kat sat up, and started petting Floof. It wasn’t like her to worry this much. Normally, Kat was carefree and easygoing, always teasing her siblings and classmates. She never thought about stressful things like meeting Fire Nation royalty, or maybe being the avatar. She didn’t even know that there was such a thing as an avatar until that evening! There was a knock on the bedroom door, and Kat warily opened it. Father was outside, and holding a letter.

With the Fire Nation royal symbol. “Honey, the letter arrived.” Father said softly. Kat tore the letter out of Father’s hands, and pulled out the paper in a flash. It read: Dear Katherine La, You have been formally invited to the Imperial Fire Nation Palace for an Avatar Test. As a citizen of the Phoenix Empire, it is your duty to attend this event. Phoenix King Ozai and Fire Lord Azula will be present, and inspect the abilities of you and the others at the test to attempt to find the new avatar. It will take place on the 17th of May, 125 AG(after genocide). If you are not present or tardy, there will be consequences. A Royal Fire Navy ship will escort you along with the other candidates to the Imperial Palace in the Fire Nation five days before the test. Be prepared to depart at a minute’s notice. Sincerely, Lo and Li, royal advisors of the Phoenix King

Kat stared at the letter, her eyes as wide as saucers. She felt….excited? Joyful? Maybe a little anxious? Nope, she was 100% terrified. Five days before the test….that was…. *The Next Morning* Kat woke up the next morning in bed, with a snoring Kim next to her. She blinked, confused. What happened last night? After the letter, Kat couldn’t remember anything. Maybe she blacked out and Father carried her to her bed. Or she was so nervous that she forgot everything that happened after the letter. Kim yawned, and rolled over, landing right on top of Kat. She groaned, and pushed Kim off. Kat got up and got dressed in her usual attire: a dark blue tunic with navy blue leggings. She didn’t need to wear the fur coats inside, since it was nice and toasty. She then quietly slipped out of their bedroom and towards the dining table. In the kitchen/dining room, Father was cooking some fish and Mother was setting the table. She looked up and smiled at Kat.

“Good morning, honey!” She said sweetly. “You missed Betty last night. She slept over, but had to leave really early in the morning for something that popped up at the last minute. Has to go somewhere far away. She’ll be back in the South Pole in a couple weeks, though, for a whole week with us!” Kat felt lost inside. She had missed her sister coming back to visit, all for what, a panic attack? Now Betty was going to be gone for another month. Betty might’ve made cringy puns, but she was her sister and Kat loved her very much. Just then, there was a harsh knock on the front door that echoed through the house. Kat swallowed her sadness and guilt, and walked over and opened it. To her surprise(and extreme horror), there were two Fire Nation soldiers in full armor, with the creepy skull masks, at the door. They were both holding menacing looking spears, and had polished armor that sparkled in the early morning rays of the sun.

“Um, hello. How can I help you?” Kat stammered, unsure and scared of why they were here. “Are you Katherine La?” One of the soldiers asked gruffly. Kat nodded shakily. She always got this way near soldiers. “Yes, I am.” She replied. “By now, you should have received the invitation to the Imperial Phoenix Empire Palace. We are here to escort you to the ship leaving for the capitol this evening.” The soldier stated monotonously. “Please follow us.” Kat blinked. “B-but I still need to pack and prepare!” She said nervously. “Can you give me some more time?” “Phoenix King’s orders. Everyone on the ship as soon as possible.” The soldier said flatly. “Wait, wait! Give the girls some more time to prepare. It’ll be good for all of us if they have their things packed and ready!” A familiar voice said, pushing the two soldiers apart. She was wearing Fire Nation armor, but didn’t have her helmet on. She had familiar chocolate brown eyes and vibrant pink hair.

It was Betty. The other soldier let out a big sigh. “If you say so, First Lieutenant Betty.” Kat blinked several times. Since when was Betty promoted to First Lieutenant?! Just how much did she miss last night?! Betty stepped forward with a smile, and gave Kat a quick hug. “I missed you last night!” She beamed. “Where were you?” “I, um, it’s a long story.” Kat muttered, not wanting to tell her sister what happened in front of the two Fire Nation soldiers. “Kat, you should pack some things and say goodbye to our family now. If everyone arrives early, the ship can depart at noon.” Betty said, putting her hand on Kat’s shoulder. Kat smiled, and went back inside the house, closing the door behind her. Wenny and Allen had gotten up by then, and were staring at her curiously. “Did I just see Fire Nation soldiers at our door?” Allen inquired suspiciously. “Kat, did you do something wrong?” Kat shook her head.

“It was Betty.” She smirked, before skipping off to her room, leaving the two of them gaping at her. *** “Oh, goodbye, honey!” Mother hugged Kat tightly. Kat smiled and hugged her back. “I’ll only be gone for a couple weeks,” She reassured. “Stay safe!” Wenny called. “Get enough sleep at night!” Kim added sleepily. “Don’t be the avatar!” Allen piped. Kat chuckled at her siblings, before heading out the door. “Ready for the biggest adventure in your life?” Betty smiled. “I wouldn’t really call it an adventure, but yeah.” Kat replied. The two of them, plus the two other random soldiers, walked down the street and towards the docks.

Because Father worked at the docks, their house was located on a street leading to the harbor. Amongst all the smaller fishing boats and boats transporting cargo, there was a tall, looming Fire Nation ship with soldiers stationed everywhere on board, and even around it. It was definitely a new sight for most people in the village. Kat followed Betty and the other two soldiers up the ramp of the ship, clutching her bag nervously. The guards at the front stepped aside when they walked up the ramp, allowing them to go in. The inside of a Fire Navy ship was very dark, ominous, and red. There were lots of dark reds and blacks lining the walls and as decor. After navigating around a series of hallways, they ended up in front of a large room with many bunk beds.

Betty gestured for her to go inside, and Kat nervously stepped in. There was a large banner with the Fire Nation symbol on the back wall, with a small wooden table beneath it. The beds were red with black details, and looked somewhat comfortable. There were already some people in the room, many of whom Kat did not recognize. However, she did recognize Stacy in the corner, writing something on a piece of paper. Betty and the two other soldiers left, and Kat made her way over to Stacy. The green eyed girl looked up from her piece of paper, and smiled brightly at Kat. “Hey, Kat!” Stacy greeted cheerfully. “You’re coming too? Well, I’ll at least have one friend on this terrifying ride of an adventure!” “What are you writing?” Kat questioned, sitting down beside her. “I’m writing a story,” Stacy replied thoughtfully. “It’s about me and a pack of polar bear dogs going on adventures across the world, in so many different biomes!”

“That sounds interesting,” Kat mused. “I’d be too scared to even go near a polar bear dog! What’s the title?” “I’ve still not come to a clear decision, but I’m leaning towards the series being called Wild Rescuers.” Stacy responded. “If I have enough time to write one, of course.” “And if you’re not the avatar,” Kat joked. They both chuckled at that statement, despite it’s somewhat serious undertone. “Do you think we’ll get to meet the entire royal family?” Stacy asked after a while. Kat shrugged. “We’ll definitely get to see Phoenix King Ozai, and most probably Fire Lord Azula, but I don’t know about the rest of the royal family.” Kat said. “I hope we get to meet Crown Princess Lizzie.” Stacy said thoughtfully. “I heard she turned 16 not that long ago. She’s about the age of your sister, Betty!”

“She’s said to have a personality very similar to her mother, Fire Lord Azula.” Kat added. “She looks innocent and charming on the outside, but can be very cunning and manipulative on the inside. Her fire also has a pink undertone to it, for some reason.” “It’s probably just a trick of eye,” Stacy snorted. “But pink fire is pretty.” “By the way, did you know that Betty’s coming with us to the capitol?” Kat interjected. “She got promoted to First Lieutenant.” “Really? That’s great!” Stacy exclaimed. “Well, you know what I mean by that.” Kat nodded understandingly. The two girls spent the next few hours or so chatting, writing, drawing, and playing some simple games. By the time noon came around, the room was filled to the brim with girls around Kat’s age.

While the two were discussing stuff about the avatar, a high level looking Fire Nation soldier stepped into the room. Instantly, everyone went silent and all eyes were on him. Kat assumed that he had to be some kind of a general or admiral, based on his armor. “Possible candidates for being the avatar, welcome aboard the Fire Slayer. The ship will now be taking off, heading a course for Capital City, which we will arrive in four days.” The general(or Admiral) announced. “I expect complete obedience and no complaints until we arrive. You should count yourselves lucky to get to go to the Phoenix Empire Capitol, and even meet the Phoenix King, peasants.” He added darkly near the end. “Meals will be served at dawn, noon, and dusk.” He continued. “There will be times when you can go aboard on deck for some fresh air, but only at the allowed times. We will be stopping once in New Ozai, to pick up supplies. That is all.” Without another word, he left the room and slammed the door shut.

“Well, we’re in for a hell of a ride, aren’t we.” Kat murmured quietly.

It’s not done yet

I just realized something. I’m gonna use other YouTubers from X Life and other series in the story as well, and there’s another Katherine in X Life XD

Yeah, X Life is their latest multiplayer series where each person has ten lives. They start out with one heart, and every time they die, they gain another heart. There r a lot of people playing the server. Joel even started a religion lol(Jeremyism)

Jeremyism is based off of all the Jeremys that the League of Villains had back in Kingdomcraft. Then a coven was formed

Kat quickly walked back to her bed, and climbed onto it. Unfolding the note and smoothing it out, she read it with narrowed eyes. We’ll get r_d of that anno_ing b__. Princess ______ won’t ha__ to ra___e on a_out him any__re. We won’_ have t_ worry __out he_ el_____ wit_ him a______. To H_______ From _________ Kat let out a breath of excitement and terror. What was this note about? She tried deciphering it, but for some words, there were too many letters missing. She ended up with something like this: We’ll get rid of that annoying b??. Princess ______ won’t have to ra___e on about him anymore. We won’t have to worry __out he_ el_____ with him a______. To H_______ From _________

Get rid of who? Don’t have to worry about what? Kat was confused and slightly scared. It sounded like whoever wrote that note was trying to get rid of someone. A boy, most likely. And what about a princess? Was it referring to Princess Lizzie? There were too many letters missing for her to know. “I need Betty,” she muttered to herself. “She could know what this is about.” Kat waited until everyone finished eating and went to sleep. Then she quietly slipped out of bed, making sure not to wake Stacy while climbing down the ladder, and tiptoed towards the door. Kat had some close calls, like when she almost stepped on one girl’s hand which had been dangling out of the bed, but made it to the door without waking anyone. She opened it with ease(and with minimal sound), as it was left unlocked for them to use the bathroom.

Once she was out of the room, though, she had no idea where to go. All the halls looked the same, and the only clue she had was that First Lieutenants had their own private room. Kat cautiously wandered along the eerie hallways of the Fire Navy ship. The engine constantly hummed, something that she wasn’t completely used to yet. The torches were placed rather far apart from each other, giving Kat some shadow in hide and blend in between them. Luckily, there were small peepholes in the metal doors that lined the hallways. Kat found the engine room, the boiler room, the sleeping areas for the soldiers, the training room(where, even at this time, there were some soldiers practicing fire bending), and even an office.

After wandering around the place for a good ten minutes(and miraculously not running into any soldiers), she came across a room that had a Fire Nation banner decorating the door, unlike the other dull metal doors. Kat took one look in the peephole and smirked. Opening the door quietly, Kat slipped in just as Betty jumped, turning around to see who had come in. Betty’s own room was small, but it was hers and she didn’t need to share it with anyone else. “Kat!” Betty said breathlessly. “What are you doing here? You should be asleep, with all the other girls! If you get caught, you could get us both into big trouble!” “Betty, there’s something I found that you need to see.” Kat simply replied, handing her sister the piece of paper. Betty squinted at it confusedly. “Is this a note?” She asked. “Where did you find this?”

“It was stuck in the wheel of the dish tub,” Kat replied. “I tried deciphering it, but it didn’t make much sense. I thought that you would know. I think someone’s trying to get rid of a boy!” “Listen, Kat.” Betty said softly. “I know this may seem worrying to you, but sometimes we can’t do anything. We can’t decipher the message, and even if we did, we would get in big trouble for trying to intervene! What if this was a secret order from the Phoenix King himself? Or the Fire Lord? We would be putting not just ours, but our family’s lives at stake.” Kat stopped to think for a moment. What Betty said was true. They hardly knew anything about this note, and even less about the plan behind the note. It could’ve just been a joke, and they were causing ruckus for no reason! And even worse, Mother, Father, Kim, Wenny, and Allen would suffer the consequences with them. “You’re right.” Kat stated out loud after a while. “I’ll let this go.” Betty smiled.

“That’s new, coming from you,” Betty joked. “You’re always refusing to let go of things like that!” “I don’t want to get in trouble with royalty, especially since I’m going to see them very soon.” Kat replied breezily. She gave Betty one last smile, before slipping out of the room and back to her new shared bedroom. As Kat slipped over to her bed, she found Stacy sitting up in bed and watching her with confusion. “Where were you?” She whispered. Kat paled. “I was just in the bathroom,” Kat whispered back. “You were gone for too long for you to have gone to the bathroom.” Stacy argued. “Fine, fine.” Kat grumbled. “I went to see Betty.” “Why?” Stacy whispered, confused. “You could’ve gotten both of you in big trouble!”

“It was something important.” Kat said impatiently. “Something that you wouldn’t understand.” “Look. I just want to make sure that you don’t get yourself and your sister into trouble. It’s not my job, but I just don’t want to see any more people suffering under the Fire Nation’s wrath because of stupid little things!” Stacy cried emotionally. Kat sighed. “I know. And I won’t do it again. I’ve realized that what I just did was silly and dangerous as well, especially after Betty told me.” Kat explained. Stacy smiled softly. “Goodnight, Kat. And stay out of trouble.” “Goodnight to you too, Stacy.” Kat said as she climbed onto the bed. Yet she couldn’t fall asleep. She promised Betty and Stacy that she wouldn’t do anything else with it, but it didn’t stop Kat from thinking about it. Who wrote the note? And what did it mean?

~Unknown POV~ Bright, burning flames lit up the hallways, their shadows dancing on the wood and stone. Guards were stationed at every corner, watchful and dangerous. Every once in a while, a servant scurried past, carrying towels and dirty dishes and bowls of water. It seemed that nothing unexpected could get past all these brightly lit and well supervised halls. Except one. She was fast and cunning. Powerful and deadly. Nobody knew who she was. But she could get past all of this with ease. As the glamorously decorated torches holding strongly burning fires suddenly were snuffed out, dimming the hallways, the guards readied themselves and went into a firebending stance. But when the last flame went out, they too were engulfed in forbidding darkness.

As blind as a badger mole, the guards fumbled around, trying to find where the culprit was. It was then that she knocked them all out, with one swift strike. She continued onwards, until she came to the turtle-duck ponds. There he was. She slinked around the shadows by the walls, waiting for him to come. And she didn’t have to wait long at all. There he was. His warm green eyes and his welcoming smile. She also broke into a big smile, rushing forward and holding tight onto him. Then with one leap, boosted by a pillar of earth, the two jumped onto the roof and away into the city.

Thanks I’m just working on finishing up the chapter. I want as much small details in between now and Kat finding out she’s the avatar, and that’s just really hard cuz I tend to rush to the big exciting events.

I think yesterday was Elizabeth’s birthday

No, she went to Jerling with Elizaveta

Quick question:Do u think I should make Stacy part of the new team avatar?

Idk if I’m gonna make her a waterbender or a nonbender. If she were gonna join Team Avatar, I think that she would be a nonbender, cuz the Fire Nation wiped out all of the waterbenders in the South Pole long ago.

Kat blinked, then a grin started spreading across her face. She had never visited New Ozai before! She had only ever heard rumors of the glamourous buildings, impressive walls and great statue of Phoenix King Ozai. It was the second largest city in what used to be the Earth Kingdom, next to Ba Sing Se. “Are you excited to see New Ozai?” Stacy asked. “Definitely.” Kat grinned back. It was clear that everyone else here were also very eager. They were all whispering and chattering with each other excitedly. Five minutes later, a group of soldiers came down to escort them all out of the ship and to Omashu. They had docked at a small harbor town that was mainly made up of soldiers and their families from the Fire Nation. The sky had not a single cloud, and the sun shone brightly down on them all. There were seagull-puffins flying around, circling the ships.

They took the metal bridges built after the conquest of New Ozai to the city. Even from afar, Kat was amazed. Most of the mountain was covered in buildings that looked small from where they were, with a giant wall near the bottom. The sky was slightly darkened by the black plumes of smoke billowing from the city, slightly ruining the earthy look of the city. When they arrived at New Ozai, Admiral Shenjin spoke briefly with the soldiers manning the bridge, before they were let into the city. Immediately, the soldiers that had accompanied them to the city declared themselves the bodyguard of one of the girls. “Kat! Over here!” Kat turned around in the sea of people to see Betty with her helmet off, displaying her vibrant pink hair. Kat pushed her way over to her sister, smiling. “This has to be the best day of my life.” Kat declared. “Visiting New Ozai! It’s a big city, that’s not very scary! I wonder if we’ll get to see Lady Mai!”

“Lady Mai has more important things than wandering around New Ozai, Kat.” Betty reminded. “It’s very unlikely that she’ll come specifically to see us. Plus, we’ll be all over the place.” “Oh well. There are still many different places we can visit.” Kat replied breezily. “Like the statue of Phoenix King Ozai, and the mail system, and the exterior of the palace….” “We may not have enough time to get to everything,” Betty warned. “We’re only gonna be here for half a day. The ship leaves for Capital City at dusk.” “And then we’re stuck back in that dark room for two more days.” Kat finished. “I want to spend our time here to the fullest. Who knows what Capital City’s gonna be like? It could be really good, or really bad. And then we’ll be on a four day trip back to the South Pole, where everything’s bland and boring. At least you could visit some other major cities in the future, I can’t!”

“True.” Betty agreed. “But one day you could leave the South Pole. You could join the army, like I did!” “I don’t want to join the army!” Kat grumbled. “I don’t like fighting, or violence, or that much physical work. I want to move to here, or to Ba Sing Se one day!” “But what about Mother and Father?” Betty smirked. “And Kim, Wenny, and Allen? Life is more complicated than you think, Kat.” “Whatever.” Kat snorted. “Now, let’s go explore the city!” *** “....and the package takes a series of slides downwards, to the arrived destination!” The packageman finished. “That’s what makes New Ozai so great! Capital City is in fact, trying to build one of these package sending systems.” Kat clapped, along with the rest of the crowd, after he finished his speech about how the package sending system worked. Kat wished that the South Pole had one of these; then her homemade teddies wouldn’t have gotten lost on the way to Gran Gran’s house!

Betty tugged at Kat’s hand. “C’mon, let’s get to the Statue of Phoenix King Ozai! We might be in time to see its daily polishing!” Kat was about to follow when someone grabbed her shoulders. Kat yelped in surprise as she came face to face with an old man. He had a somewhat disfigured face, with his unusual eye proportions. “Who are you? Let go of me!” Kat cried. Betty also ran over, putting her helmet back on. “This is Lieutenant Betty. I command you to let her go!” Betty boomed. The old man chuckled. “You are very familiar to me.” The man went on, ignoring Betty’s warning. “Are you the avatar?” Kat blinked. “N-no,” Kat stammered. “I mean, I might be. But I doubt it.” “You never know if you never try.” The man responded. “Tell me, do you want to hear the story of the previous avatar?” Kat was intrigued. “What about him?” “His name was Aang,” the man whispered ominously. “And he was the last airbender in the world.”

“The previous avatar was an airbender?” Kat breathed. “But if he was, wasn’t he killed in the Air Nomad Genocide?” The old man shook his head. “No. Aang was the only air nomad to survive the genocide. Then he and his friends journeyed across the world to find Aang a waterbender, earthbender, and firebender teacher.” The old man took out a piece of crystal, and bit into it. “But when it came to Sozin’s Comet, alas, everything went wrong. Prince Zuko lost the Agni Kai, the airships were not destroyed, and the avatar failed to win against Phoenix King Ozai.” “Oookay,” Kat said, confused. “So what does this have to do with anything?” The old man smiled mysteriously. “It’s good to know things. You never know when it might come in handy!” Betty tugged at Kat’s hand. “C’mon, let’s go.” Kat followed her sister, but she secretly wondered if the old man knew something that she didn’t.

*** Kat watched in awe as a colossal bucket of water with soap was dumped onto the statue, speeding downwards and taking all the dust and grime with it. She had never seen such a big bucket, and so much water and soap in a bucket before! It sounded ridiculous, but it was all very impressive to her. “It says here that the original statue of Ozai was earthbent down the hill, and destroyed during the Day of the Black Sun, by former King Bumi.” Betty stated,reading off an informational stand. “And right after it was completed! This one was built from metal, so that no earthbender can sabotage it again.” “I know.” Kat said. “King Bumi must've been a real powerful bender, if he did that!” “He was.” Betty replied. “One of the most powerful in the world!”

Kat proceeded to admire the shining metal statue of Phoenix King Ozai, until there was gasping and murmuring occurring within the crowd. She turned to see what all the conundrum was about, and spotted her right next to the statue. Lady Mai. She was admiring the statue with her usual monotone expression, ignoring the noise that the crowd was making around her. After a few seconds, Mai turned away and started to walk away. The crowd automatically parted for her, and Kat stepped aside as she came their way. To Kat’s surprise, Mai stopped in front of her, pausing to inspect her for a few seconds before speaking. “Are you one of the candidates going to the capitol?” She asked monotonously. Kat felt her heart speed up. Butterflies gathered in her stomach, making her feel sick all of a sudden.

“Y-yes,” Kat stammered. Mai bent down and examined her for a couple more seconds. Kat felt herself starting to sweat, as she had captured the attention of one of the Fire Lord’s best friends. Mai stood up straight again, and started to walk away. “Well, if you get a chance to speak with her, tell her I said hi.” She then left, leaving Kat being stared at by all the civilians. “Betty, let’s out of here.” Kat whispered to her sister. “I’m not liking all the attention that I’m getting.” Betty nodded, and the two of them speedwalked out of the area. *** “Here’s your order, ma’am.” The waiter said, somewhat nervously. He placed two egg custard tarts, an iced mango bowl, and two straws(sadly, not made of metal[SAVE THE TURTLES!]) down on the table. “Thank you.” Betty responded, as he walked away. Kat assumed that he was slightly nervous serving her, since she was dressed in Fire Nation armor, and they had a pretty bad stereotype.

“We should eat this quickly, and get back on the ship soon.” Betty said, picking up and unwrapping her straw. “The sun is setting in about one and a half hours, and then the ship will be off, sailing at full speed towards Capital City.” “Thanks again for getting me this,” Kat thanked. “I love egg custard tarts. It’s been way too long.” “No prob!” Betty smiled back. “I know how rare egg custard tarts are in the South Pole. Too cold to raise chickens there.” Kat unwrapped her straw, and stuck it in the iced mango bowl. One sip was enough to make her relax, unravel all her tension and worries. It brought her to a virtual paradise that was just her dream vacation home. Something like Ember Island, but less crowded and loud.

The sound of the restaurant door opening brought Kat back to reality. She instantly saw a boy about a year younger than Betty, with emerald green eyes, run in, and instantly dive underneath their table. The shuddering spilled some juice onto the wooden table. Kat let out a small noise, surprised and shocked at the same time. What was he doing? The boy seemed to have realized what he had done, as he yelped and jumped up from underneath the table, staring at Betty with wide eyes. “I’m so sorry, ma’am, so sorry. Please don’t hurt me or anything…” he babbled frantically. “Ok, ok, it’s fine.” Betty reassured. “But what were you doing underneath the table?” “I might have angered some of the rough kids on the block…” he said sheepishly, looking down and fiddling with his fingers. Betty chuckled. “Kinda makes sense, but you should hide in a cabinet instead next time. Makes much less commotion, and much less visible.”

“T-Thanks for the advice.” The boy smiled nervously. “So, um, why are you not….” “Like the average Fire Nation soldier?” Betty finished. “Because I understand kids like you. I was just like you, not that long ago. And there’s no need to get angry over small things like this. I also have four younger siblings, so that also contributes.” “What’s your name?” Kat asked curiously. “My name is Joel.” The boy smiled. “Well, Joel, where do you live?” Kat continued. “I live near the bridges.” Joel replied. “My father is a trader, and he often brings me along on his journeys. I’ve been to Ba Sing Se, Capital City, Gaoling, and many more!” “Wait. You’ve been to Capital City?” Kat repeated excitedly. “What’s it like? Did you meet the royal family?” “As a matter of fact, I did.” Joel smirked. “My father had something to say to the Fire Lord about livestock trading for salt, and I got to meet Princess Lizzie.” “What’s she like?” Kat inquired.

Joel’s face flushed up red, and some emotion flashed quickly across his face. “I-it was only for a couple seconds.” He said nervously. “She said hello, and that was all.” “Oh. Okay.” Kat said, but she had a feeling that Joel was hiding something. That Princess Lizzie said more than just hi to him. But she wasn’t going to dig deep; it was private business, and she had no reason to intrude. The two of them continued to chat, with Betty saying a few sentences here and there, until their egg tarts and iced mango bowl was all done. It was getting closer to the time that the ship needed to depart, anyway. “Well, it was nice seeing you, Joel.” Kat said. “But we have to leave now. Our ship’s leaving soon. Who knows? Maybe we can meet again someday!” “Bye, Kat, Betty!” Joel waved, as he became smaller and smaller until he couldn’t be seen anymore.

Not long after they got back onto the ship, it was dusk and the ship departed. Kat stared at the quickly vanishing port, wondering about what secrets Joel could possibly have kept. *** Joel quickly looked around the empty streets of New Ozai, before dashing off downhill. The black cloak that he was wearing fluttered dramatically behind him, making him look pretty suspicious, if anyone was watching. Taking a few turns, he ended up in a deserted alleyway with a hidden trapdoor underneath one of the crates. Pushing the crate aside, he opened the trapdoor and climbed in. Descending the ladder, Joel landed on a wet brick floor. In front of him was a labyrinth of twists and turns, but he knew this well enough to not get lost. In a few minutes, he had made it out and to his destination.

In front of him, stood an old stone archway. It had intricate carvings on it, with an empty pedestal in front. Joel took a deep breath, took out a stone tablet with many carvings, and placed it on the pedestal. Glowing blue light slowly crawled up the carvings on the stone tablet and the archway. Within a few seconds, the archway had been filled with a glowing blue portal. Joel dived through the portal, landing on the other side. He opened the door in which the other side of the portal had been behind, checked both ways, then tiptoed away towards the courtyard. There she was. In a black cloak, just like him. Joel smiled; no matter how tough the day had been, she could always light it up in the last hours.

The room was full of excited chattering, as the girls discussed what they all did at New Ozai yesterday, and about entering the Fire Nation homeland. They had all also been given red silk robes to wear when appearing before the Phoenix King, which many girls were also trying on. Kat tried it on, and couldn’t bother to take it off, as it was so comfy. Stacy was chatting with another girl called Vixella. Apparently she had come straight from the Fire Nation prison in the South Pole, and that was where she had been born, too. Vixella had unusual violet eyes that made her really stand out as well. “Hey, Kat!” Vixella called. Kat looked up to see her sitting beside Stacy, gesturing for her to come over. “I want to ask you something.” Kat walked over to where Stacy and Vixella sat. “Sure! What’s up?” “So Stacy says that you were also born in the Fire Nation prison.” Vixella began, “Do you remember any of it?” Kat shook her head.

“No. I moved to the harbor village at a rather young age, and only Betty and Kim remembers the prison.” Kat responded. “They say that it was always very cold at night there.” “True.” Vixella sighed. “No matter what time of year it is there, it’s always freezing at night.” All of a sudden, there was an abrupt shaking that almost sent Kat tumbling to the ground. Kat yelped, then regaining her balance. The other girls were also having similar reactions. “What was that?” Stacy cried. “I don’t wanna know.” Vixella murmured darkly. Kat also felt that the constant humming and trembling that the engine caused had stopped. That made her blood run cold. “Um, guys,” she started nervously. “why has the engine stopped?” Vixella and Stacy both paused, as if only noticing it just then. “I don’t know,” Stacy responded anxiously. “but it’s nothing good.”

A couple seconds later, there was some loud commotion above them. Lots of stomping and shouting, and what sounded like soldiers firebending. Kat gulped, praying for the best. If it were enemies, they could all be in danger! Betty could be in danger! Kat prayed desperately to the spirits that her sister would make it out unharmed. The trembling from above only increased as time passed. The entire room was dead silent, everyone’s eyes fixed on the ceiling above them. Kat wasn’t a mind reader, but she knew for sure that the one thing on their minds were, “what is all that commotion?” Then, there were loud footsteps coming from outside the room. Shouts, weapons clanging against each other, the swooshing of fire, and….splashing?

Now everyone was staring at the double doors leading to the hallway outside. A few seconds later, they burst open, as a soldier in full armor stumbled back, shooting a couple clumsy fires at the opponent. The opponent dodged them well, and knocked the soldier out with….waterbending? Kat’s breath quickened as the two opponents stepped into the room, in a fighting stance. They wore navy blue armor, with wolf head helmets. They had fierce expressions on, with water partially streaming from their waterskins. Northern Raiders. *** Lizzie stared at the horizon, where the baby blue sky met the dark blue sea. The sky looked so peaceful, so calming, and so safe compared to the sea. The sea was rough, wild, and unpredictable. The waves churned as they headed towards land. She was always cautious and wary of the sea, as they were the place that the Phoenix Empire’s last enemy was most dangerous at.

Lizzie was awaiting the arrival of Admiral Shenjin’s ship. That ship was carrying potentially the biggest threat to the empire, and Father had to make sure that the weapon was safely in their hands. That was why she had been sent here, to the blockade, to ensure that they entered Fire Nation waters safely. From the direction in which the ship should have been arriving, a small black dot was coming right their way. Lizzie narrowed her eyes at the dot, expecting it to be a ship. But as it got closer, she could tell that it was not a ship, but in fact, something much smaller. A messenger hawk. Lizzie extended one arm, in which the hawk landed on. She untied the small piece of parchment and unrolled it. It had better be something good, or else Admiral Shenjin would regret wasting her time.

Dear Crown Princess Lizzie, I am very sorry to bother you, but there is something terribly wrong. Northern Raiders have ambushed the ship! Please send your immediate help, princess. The lives of all of us on the ship are at stake, for these men are ruthless and are killing every soul they come across on the ship, and won’t hesitate to butcher the candidates. Sincerely, Admiral Shenjin Lizzie let out a breath of anger and disbelief. How could’ve Northern Raiders ambushed them? This close to the blockade and entering Fire Nation territorial waters? Admiral Shenjin also had some of the best soldiers in the entire army! If he could not fend off some petty waterbenders, he was so getting demoted, along with the rest of the crew that failed to drive them off. “Captain!” Lizzie shouted sharply. From behind her, the captain of the ship rushed to her side, bowing slightly. “What is it, your highness?” He asked humbly.

“Head a course towards Admiral Shenjin’s ship.” Lizzie narrowed her eyes. “We need to deal with something right now.” *** Kat was frozen with fear as the two waterbenders hesitated, looking around the room. A few seconds later, they readied their stance and shot icicles at the largest crowd of girls. The room exploded with panicked shouting and crying as the two men fired more icicles at them, intending on killing them. Kat’s eyes widened to the size of saucers, as she ducked behind one of the bunk beds. The room was just a mess, and Kat couldn’t make out anyone or anything with all the commotion. Then, there was extra screaming coming from the center of the room. Kat poked her head out, and her eyes widened even more as she saw what was the center of attraction.

One of the girls, wearing the silk robe and had her hair done in wolf tails(a.k.a Korra’s hairstyle), was lying on the floor, with a sharp icicle right through her heart. Blood was seeping steadily from the wound, and her eyes were clouded and blank. Kat had no time to process what had just happened, as one of the raiders jumped right beside her, sending a blade of ice towards her. Kat ducked and rolled, then ran out of the room, not bothering to look behind her. The hallway was covered with scorch marks, small puddles, ice, and most importantly, fainted soldiers. It was horrifying, especially when Kat realized that most of the “fainted” soldiers were actually dead. Kat cautiously poked her head out of the stairway to see what was going on on deck, and the sight was not pretty. There were many dead soldiers, a few that were still fighting, and a lot of Northern Raiders. Kat could see a submarine next to the ship, which was probably where they had come from.

All of a sudden, someone grabbed her shoulders and turned her around. Kat gasped, preparing to fend off any Northern Raider, but was surprised and relieved to see that it was just Betty. She had her full armor on, including the helmet. But she had slid off the skull part, so that Kat could see her worried expression underneath. “Kat!” She whispered. “What are you doing here? Go back to the room with the other girls, it’s safer there!” “There are two waterbenders in the room.” Kat replied nervously. “Someone already died! It’s safer here than in there!” Betty gasped, then calmed down. “I’m going up there to fight them.” She said determinedly. Kat instantly felt terrified for her sister. “You can’t!” Kat panicked. “They’ll kill you!”

“They’ll kill everyone on this ship, including both of us, if they’re not stopped.” Betty responded firmly. “It’s clear that most of the Raiders are trained to fight firebenders using their bending, but I can turn the tides there.” Without another word, Betty ran on deck, wielding sharpened dual blades. “Betty,” Kat breathed. She watched as one of the raiders sent a surge of water towards her, ice forming at the edge. Betty dodged it skillfully, then made her way over to the raider. He tried to attack her with an icicle, but Betty ducked and dodged again. She then nimbly poked some spots on the man, who then fell to the ground, immobilized. Kat was shocked. Did Betty just….chi block? Her sister miraculously managed to take down four more Raiders, avoiding all their attacks. Kat was feeling slightly lightheaded. Apparently there was a lot that she didn’t know about her soldier sister.

*** From afar, Lizzie could see that there was chaos on the Fire Slayer. First of all, there was a submarine with the Northern Water Tribe emblem on it. There was also visible water being drawn from the ocean. Yet there was hardly any fire being shot out at the attackers. That worried Lizzie quite a bit. Her ship, The Ruthless Dragon, was very large, compared to even one of the largest ships used by admirals. Once they got close enough to lower the bridge onto the Fire Slayer, she could see many dead soldiers, many unconscious Northern Raiders, and one armored soldier wielding dual blades, taking down raider after raider. The remaining Raiders visibly paled at the sight of Lizzie and her ship, and all retreated towards the submarine. Lizzie leapt across the bridge gracefully, and shot a blast of fire at them. The three near the back fell to the ground, unconscious, but the rest managed to make it to the submarine and descend into the ocean.

The one soldier that seemed to have single-handedly taken down a dozen or so Northern Raiders caught sight of Lizzie, and immediately bowed deeply. Lizzie approached him/her with an emotionless look on her face. “Where is Admiral Shenjin.” She demanded coldly. “I don’t know, your highness.” The soldier, a woman, judging by the pitch of her voice, responded. “Go find him. I need to have a little chat with him.” Lizzie ordered icily. The soldier nodded, and rushed down the stairs to the inside of the ship. Lizzie turned to the rest of her crew, that had followed her onto the Fire Slayer. “Clean up the dead bodies, on the deck and in the ship.” Lizzie commanded. “Tie up any unconscious Northern Raider and bring them to the prisons on my ship. Do whatever you want with the dead bodies. Throw them in the ocean, put them in a stack, just don’t leave it lying around on deck or in the hallways.” The crew nodded, and all went off to do the task.

Lizzie turned her attention back to the entrance, where there was a girl about three years younger than her in a red silk robe, who had distinct Water Tribe features. “You.” Lizzie walked over to the girl, who bowed deeply before her. “Are you one of the candidates heading to the capitol?” “Y-yes, Your Majesty.” The girl replied shakily. “Were there any candidates killed in this raid?” Lizzie inquired. “Last time I saw, there were two Raiders in the room with the other girls.” The girl answered. “And there was at least one person dead.” Lizzie growled darkly. “Mother and Grandfather are not going to like this,” she muttered. She turned her attention away from the girl, as the skilled soldier came back with Admiral Shenjin and two other battered soldiers. “Princess Lizzie!” Admiral Shenjin bowed nervously. “Thank you, for coming to our rescue.” “Tell me, Admiral,” Lizzie said icily. “where were you during the raid?”

“I was fighting the Raiders with my soldiers, of course,” Admiral Shenjin responded anxiously. It was pretty clear that he was hiding something; Lizzie was very good at reading through lies, just like her beloved mother. “No he wasn’t!” One of the soldiers beside him spat indignantly, shaking off water from his armor. “He shot fire to distract the Raiders, then locked himself in his office while my comrades and I defended him. One of them died for him!” “That’s what I suspected.” Lizzie murmured, staring Admiral Shenjin in the eye. The once noble and feared admiral was now trembling below her gaze. “Admiral Shenjin, you are demoted to a lieutenant, for your cowardliness and neglect of duty.” The not-admiral’s eyes widened, then burst into tears, right there, on the deck. Lizzie turned to the soldier that had single-handedly taken down a dozen Northern Raiders, and had also fetched now Lieutenant Shenjin.

“You.” Lizzie pointed to the skilled soldier. “Take off your helmet. State your name, and your ranking.” The soldier took off her helmet, revealing bright fuschia colored hair not too unlike Lizzie’s, and surprisingly, somewhat Water Tribe features. “My name is Betty. First Lieutenant in the Phoenix Empire army.” “Well, Betty,” Lizzie smirked. “You’re getting promoted. You’re also switching from being in the army to being in the navy. Commander Betty, you’re now in charge of the ship.” Betty looked shocked for a second, but then immediately bowed deeply. “Thank you, Your Highness, for this generous promotion.” “Don’t flatter yourself.” Lizzie dismissed offhandedly. “You were already almost as skilled as Ty Lee; you deserve it. Having such a powerful commander will really help when we finally defeat the Northern Water Tribe.” Lizzie narrowed her eyes at the thought of that. “Mother will discuss this when we reach the capitol.”

Without another word, Lizzie strode back onto her ship. As they moved away from the Fire Slayer, Lizzie knew that this would impress her Mother and Grandfather. *** Kat couldn’t believe what had just happened. First Northern Raiders invaded their ship, killing people left and right, then Betty singlehandedly took down so many Raiders, using just dual swords and chi blocking, then Crown Princess Lizzie came onto their ship, spoke to Kat herself, demoted Admiral Shenjin(who was Lieutenant Shenjin now), and made Betty a commander! That was just too much to process. Kat quietly went back to the room, hoping that the Raiders had been dealt with. There were puddles and icicles everywhere, along with girls huddled in the corners. The Raiders were nowhere to be seen, but there were at least five dead bodies in the room. It was severely traumatizing for Kat, as she had never seen anyone dead before.

“Kat!” Stacy breathed, popping out from behind one of the bunk beds. She had a shallow cut on one of her cheeks, but looked fine everywhere else. “Where were you? We were so worried!” “Princess Lizzie came onto the ship,” Kat said breathlessly. “And Admiral Shenjin got demoted!” “What?” Stacy cried. Frantic whispering erupted amongst the rest of the girls as well. Kat walked over to the bunk bed where Stacy and Vixella were hiding. “It’s a long story, but I’ll tell it all to you.” Kat said. “It all started when I ran out of the room….” *** Lizzie sat at her desk, in the glow of the candlelight, writing a letter to her mother. The events of that day were all very important, and something that Mother and Grandfather needed to know. They would not be happy about this.

Dear Mother, Today was not a good day. I bear some terrible news for you and Grandfather. I waited at the blockade, to greet Admiral Shenjin and make sure that they made it safely, but the ship was ambushed by Northern Raiders not far from the blockade. There were many casualties amongst the crew on the Fire Slayer, in which eleven were candidates from the South Pole. We do have fourteen Northern Raider prisoners, however, that I’m bringing to you. I demoted Admiral Shenjin to Lieutenant, and good riddance of that unhelpful admiral. One of the soldiers was extremely talented and took out about a dozen Northern Raiders herself, and she wasn’t even a bender! I promoted her to commander, and you’ll have to discuss some things with her, Mother. I will be arriving at Capital City along with the Fire Slayer. I shall see you then. Love, Lizzie

Lizzie tied the letter onto the leg of one of her messenger hawks, Zorslia. Then, she started composing another letter, for someone else. Someone very special, and held a very special place in her heart….

“Alright, alright, I’m coming.” Kat grumbled, climbing down the ladder. She jumped down the last few steps, right in front of the two. The three of them trickled out of the room with all the other girls, and up onto the deck. Kat could clearly see that they were almost at Harbor City, the collection of houses and buildings visible from here. There was another ship ahead of them, which Kat had gotten used to seeing it barely visible ahead of them. That was Princess Lizzie’s ship, one of biggest and developed ships in the entire navy. Kat had also learned from Vixella that she also had her own airship, war balloon, and tank! “Kat!” Kat turned around to see Betty, in her new armor, walking towards her with a smile. “Stacy, Vixella! It’s good to see you two.”

“It’s good to see you too.” Stacy replied warmly. Vixella didn’t say anything, but just gave a small smile that looked rather forced. Kat knew that the violet haired girl didn’t really like any Fire Nation soldier, because of where she came from and her history with soldiers. “Excited about all of this?” Betty asked, gazing out towards Harbor City. “Excited, but also very nervous.” Kat confessed. “I know that we kinda got off on the good side of Crown Princess Lizzie, but what about her Mother, Fire Lord Azula? And Phoenix King Ozai?” “Stop worrying, girl!” Betty chuckled playfully. “As long as we do what we’re told, not do stuff we’re not supposed to do, and be respectful, we’ll be fine!”

“It’s not always as simple as that.” Vixella spoke unexpectedly, her eyes on the horizon. “Some people think that because you’re different than then and they’re of higher class, it’s a good enough reason to punish you. I have lots of experience with that back at home.” The violet haired pronounced ‘home’ bitterly, and nearly spat it out instead of just saying it. “But Betty’s now a commander.” Kat pointed out. “At that ranking, she should earn some respect, right? There aren’t that many admirals in the navy anyways.” “True,” Stacy agreed. “but that doesn’t always extend to the family.” “We’re getting close enough to shore. Captain, prepare to dock!” Betty called, possibly to change the topic.

Kat watched with excitement as the ship approached the shores of Harbor City. From far away, it looked like a small blur of color on the shoreline, but from here, it was clear that it was gigantic. Buildings lined the roads facing the waters, people rushing by, chatting and calling out things, and merchants, with their stands by the street, wanting to sell their products. Over the many buildings in Harbor City, Kat could see the rising shape of the caldera volcano, where the Royal Caldera City laid within. It was pretty impressive, as if Harbor City didn’t exist, a person would hardly bother to look inside a dormant volcano to see if there were people in it, nevertheless an entire city.

Kat did think that it was a little dangerous to do this, though. The volcano was dormant, not extinct. There was still a possibility that it could erupt, and from what she had heard, only a few earthbenders had the ability to bend lava. If it were to erupt, people would die, if they weren’t evacuated in time, and the city would definitely be destroyed. As their ship docked at one of the twelve humongous docking stations, Kat could see that there were many, many soldiers around. Crown Princess Lizzie’s ship was docked next to theirs, and Kat could partially make out a palanquin guarded by many soldiers headed towards the Royal Caldera City. Kat guessed that the rest were escorts for them. From what she understood, they were high priority, as Phoenix King Ozai didn’t want to lose the avatar, if he did have her in his clutches the whole time.

As two soldiers opened up the entrance/exit, a rather young man wearing clothes that signified that he was of high status stepped forward. “Greetings, Commander Betty.” He greeted formally. “It is my understanding that Admiral Shenjin has been demoted due to neglect of duty, and you are now in charge of the ship. It is an honor to meet you.” “It is a greater honor to meet you, General Zhan.” Betty responded, bowing slightly. “I have heard much about your great accomplishments and feats.” “Well, we can chat along the way.” General Zhan said, parting to let them out. “We need to get the candidates to the Imperial Royal Palace now.” Kat, along with the other girls, stepped off the ship, and followed Betty and General Zhan. As they walked, she was amazed by the beauties of Harbor Cities. It looked much more….alive than the small harbor town that Kat lived in.

Her hometown was small, and filled to the brim with soldiers. Everywhere. They were on every block, every turn, every street, sometimes even alleyways. The native citizens were always nervous, and few children went outside, because they feared the soldiers. Here, in Harbor City, there were definitely lots of soldiers. But the people here were comfortable with the soldiers. They didn’t look nervous around the soldiers, and some even gave them small smiles. The children ran around on the streets and played, without a single ounce of fear of the soldiers. It was so different….and in a good way. “Hey, Kat!” Stacy said. “Doesn’t this town seem so much like the dream version of our town?” “I was just thinking about that,” Kat replied. “Nobody’s afraid of the soldiers.” “That’s because they’re Fire Nation.” Vixella said bitterly. “Of course they don’t fear their own soldiers! But it’s different in the South Pole. Nothing will ever be like this there.”

“Things can change, Vixella.” Kat reminded, looking around them. “And for the good.” “You think that people bowing down to the Fire Nation is good?” Vixella cried indignantly. “Hey, it’ll keep us out of trouble, and maybe one day, the people in the towns can be just as happy and content as the people of Harbor City!” Kat pointed out. “But the Southern Water Tribe doesn’t belong as part of the Fire Nation!” Vixella snapped angrily. “We are meant to be a free tribe, not a colony!” “Well, we don’t exactly have the men or army to rebel, do we?” Kat snapped back. “Vixella, you have to think of the entire tribe’s well being.” Stacy shook her head sadly. “We have no more waterbenders. Half the people are in prisons, their spirits broken by the harsh rules there. The other half live in fear of the soldiers every day. There’s no way we can rebel and win.”

Vixella opened her mouth to speak again, but nothing came out. They continued to walk down the street in awkward silence. After leaving Harbor City, they walked along the cobblestone path, surrounded by fields of heather, grass stalks, minuscule spider-ants, small ponds, and the occasional turtle-duck. The shape of the volcano was getting larger and larger, making Kat feel a rush of excitement. They started climbing up part of the volcano, which was a little exhausting to Kat, but at one point, they went into the volcano itself, going through a tunnel that had been carved through. Kat assumed that it would have not been easy to carve out, as the Fire Nation didn’t exactly have earthbenders.

The tunnel was tall and covered with marble, and lit with bright, flaming torches. There were mosaics of dragons and glorious buildings along the tall marble walls, which was one of the most impressive things that Kat had ever seen. But she knew that it wouldn’t be the most, as she was just about to witness the most impressive thing in the world, as they approached a blinding white light, at the end of the tunnel. As Kat walked out, she squinted, adjusting to the bright light. But after she did, they widened immediately, at the beautiful sight. Capital City. From here, everything looked so amazing. White and red buildings lined the place, and the Imperial Palace was as clear as day from here. The palace stood out like a moose-lion in a flock of sea vultures(ahh sorry for the bad reference), despite it being red, like the rest of the city. The area surrounding the palace was barren of streets, buildings, and people, and shined in the bright light.

“Wow.” Kat breathed. “This has to be the most impressive thing in the whole world.” “Did you know that there’s a bunker underneath the city, in case of emergencies, like being invaded?” Stacy said. “It was used during the Day of Black Sun, the only time that there was an attack launched on the Fire Nation capitol during the Hundred’s Year War. But I wouldn’t put it past Northern Raiders to try and infiltrate it, though.” “You speak of them as they are enemies.” Vixella snapped angrily. “But they’re our allies, trying to defeat the Fire Nation and free us from their wretched rule.” Kat and Stacy both shot her a dirty look. “Did you forget that they tried to kill us on the ship yesterday, Vixella?” Kat said with fake sweetness. The lavender haired girl seemed to remember that, then huffed, before walking away. “Hey, look!” Stacy pointed, looking to the bottom of the hill. “I think I can see Princess Lizzie’s palanquin from here.”

As they made their way into the city itself, Kat was even more amazed with it than Harbor City. Everything and everyone looked so alive! The streets were teeming with people, from vendors calling out the prices of their Fire flakes and cabbages, to everyday citizens, making their way home after a visit to the market, to young children running around and playing on the streets, laughing and occasionally dancing. Even the buildings seemed alive, with all the decoration and people popping in and out of the windows. Kat wouldn’t mind living in a place like this. Safe, beautiful, happy, and content. She used to think that the only way that she would be happy would be to help take back the freedom of the Southern Water Tribe, and rebuild their once great cities. But now, as the harsh realities of the world made more sense to her, Kat realized that there were other ways for her to be happy and content, and also much safer.

As they made their way out of the crowded city parts, which were giving off homey vibes to Kat, she suddenly felt very small and anxious. They were approaching the royal palace quickly. There were a lot more soldiers now, guarding the stretches of land that was barren of any buildings. Reaching the front of the palace, Kat could see many servants, soldiers, and a palanquin to the side. And in front of it all, two figures in armor and the Fire nation emblem in their hair. Fire Lord Azula and Crown Princess Lizzie. Once they approached close enough, Betty stopped into a deep bow, and so did all the other soldiers. Kat immediately bowed as well, out of respect and a little intimidation from the most cunning and manipulative people in the Fire Nation. Out of the corner of her eye, Kat saw Azula give a wave of her hand, and they all stood back up. The Fire Lord straightened, and looked Betty in the eye.

“Commander Betty.” Azula greeted formally. “I’ve heard of your impressive swordsmanship and chi-blocking skills from my daughter. For a Water Tribe colonial, you have skills greater than some officers in the army.” “It is with great honor to meet you, Fire Lord Azula.” Betty responded sincerely. “No need to flatter yourself.” Azula dismissed, then turned to one of the servants. “You! Lead Commander Betty and the candidates to their quarters.” Azula turned back to Betty. “I also want to speak with Lieutenant Shenjin. He still has not had a proper punishment for his actions aboard the ship.” Kat heard a menacing tone as Azula spoke those last words, enough to make her shudder and fear what would happen to the once great admiral. “Of course, Your Highness.” Betty bowed, before the servant that Azula had pointed to started to lead the wall into the palace.

The inside of the palace was just as beautifully decorated, from porcelain vases embroidered with carvings and designs to the portraits on the walls to even the designs of the torch holders, made of gold and filled with a brightly burning flame. They passed courtyards that were beautifully decorated with flowers, ponds, statues, lilypads, bushes trimmed to resemble different animals, and turtle-ducks, swimming in the ponds. There were never things this nice in the South Pole! Eventually they came to a closed in hallway that was long and the walls were covered with doors. The servant stopped and stepped aside. “These will be your quarters during your stay.” She said. “Commander, I will show you to your quarters right after this.”

Betty nodded, then turned to look at everyone. “Girls, you are free to explore the city during your stay, at the appropriate times. But only in Capital City, and not Harbor City.” She announced. “You must be back at noon for lunch, and at 5 in the evening for dinner and curfew. Understood?” Kat and everyone else nodded. She couldn’t wait to explore the city! As Betty left with the servant, everyone started piling into the rooms. Kat opened one of the doors, and was astounded at the sight. Each room was rather large, with two poster beds covered in silk bedsheets and draped in translucent fabric and velvet on the edges. There were intricately carved nightstands, and in the middle, a large poster with the Fire Nation symbol on it, along with a golden shrine of a dragon about the size of an arctic hen. “Guess this means two to a room, huh?” Kat turned around to see Stacy smiling at the door, tugging at her bag.

Kat smiled back, before putting her bag down on the floor and collapsing on the left bed. It was SOOOO soft and cozy! It was nothing like the rather stiff bed that she shared with Kim back at the South Pole. A pang of nostalgia hit her. If only Kim could be here to see and feel all of this, and Allen, and Wenny…. “Stacy, would you choose to live with your family and life back in the South Pole, or to spend your life here, where everything is so….royal?” Kat asked out loud. “Well,” Stacy started uncertainly, “this is definitely very tempting. I’ve never felt something like this before, and I can’t imagine what the service would be like. But my life back home isn’t terrible either. I have a great family, a good home, and we aren’t in any trouble with the Fire Nation. That is more important to me than riches and extreme comfort.”

“Me too.” Kat quietly agreed. For a second, she imagined that she and her family were Fire Nation royalty. They could have such a good life and still be with each other! But the minute she considered that, Kat shook the idea out fiercely. The Fire Nation royalty were all cruel, cunning, and manipulative. If they had been born royalty, there was no way that their lives would be so happy and free. “Hey, Stacy, are you done unpacking?” Kat grinned, turning to face her green eyed friend. “‘Cause I’m so ready to start exploring Capital City!” *** “GAAH! FIRE FLAKES! TOO HOT!” Kat giggled as Vixella ran around in circles with her arms in the air. What did she expect? It was fire flakes, after all! Stacy was also giggling.

“Here, have some watermelon juice.” Stacy handed her one of the watermelons to Vixella, who must’ve gulped down half of it in one go. She then relaxed, sighing, relieved. “Now I’m glad I got the sweet buns instead.” Kat snickered. “I hope the fire gummies aren’t as hot,” Stacy said concernedly, glancing down at her cup of fire gummies. She popped one into her mouth, and her eyes comically widened, her face blushing red. Stacy took a big gulp of watermelon juice, before shaking her head intensely. “Nope.” “Oh dear.” Kat frowned. “Is everything here going to be this spicy? I hope not.” “Don’t get your hopes up.” Stacy panted. “If fire gummies, which are supposed to be sweet, are this spicy, I doubt anything would be less.” “Ice cream! Get your ice cream here!” Kat turned to see a vendor on the side of the street, with a cart of ice cream.

“You know what, let’s all get some non-spicy ice cream.” Kat decided, smiling. “There’s no way that can be spicy!” Kat, Stacy, and Vixella walked up to the ice cream stand, and all decided on one delicious flavor. “Three strawberry cones, please.” Kat said politely, handing him three copper coins. The man took the coins, and scooped up three strawberry ice creams for them. Kat took two and gave them to Stacy and Vixella. “If this ice cream is spicy, I swear I’m going to make my own food in the royal kitchens.” Vixella muttered. The three of them all took a bite of the ice cream, and thankfully, it was not spicy. It was cool and sweet, like what all ice cream should be. “Thankfully, ice cream is not spicy. But most things here are, even the things that you least expect.” Kat turned around to see a young woman, around 30 or so, with short, pale brown hair, and dark brown eyes. She also had a very genuine smile on her face.

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Kat joked. “What’s your name?” “My name is Ting.” The woman replied. “What are your names?” “I’m Kat, and these are my friends, Stacy and Vixella. Nice to meet you, Ting!” Kat greeted. “Are you from the Southern Water Tribe?” Ting questioned. Stacy nodded. “We’re here for a test from the Phoenix King, to see if we’re the avatar or not.” Stacy responded. “How did you know?” “Well, my husband and his sister are from there.” Ting replied shyly. “I’ve noticed that people from the poles tend to have darker skin and blue eyes.” “Really?” Vixella asked, intrigued. “I’ve never heard of a case like that!” “Well, Shui and Taio were born here, in Capital City.” Ting explained. “I met them when I was in school.” She looked behind her, at a tall residential building. “You know, would you like to meet them? I’m sure that they would be delighted to see someone from the Southern Water Tribe!”

Kat exchanged looks with Stacy and Vixella. “Why not?” She shrugged. Ting beamed. “Follow me!” She beckoned, before heading into the building that she had been looking at before. *** “T-Lei! Shui! Taio! I brought someone!” Ting called as she opened the door to her apartment. The first thing that Kat noticed was that there was a lot less red. There were some greens and blues scattered about the place, which was something that Kat didn’t really understand. A woman around the same age as Ting wearing her hair down, and also had striking Water Tribe features walked out first. She had kind blue eyes that reminded Kat of the ocean on it’s calmest days. “Who did you bring back, Ting?” The woman asked. Kat assumed that she was Shui, since she did look like someone from the Southern Water Tribe.

“Help Lei here first, please.” Ting responded. “Okay!” She said, before disappearing and reappearing with a woman that looked a couple years younger, and also looked blind. Kat instantly felt sympathetic towards her. It must’ve been hard, never being able to see anything…. Then, a man that also had striking water tribe features stepped out, and to Kat’s horror, he was limping on one leg, also holding a single crutch. “Who are our special guests today, Ting?” The water tribe woman asked, smiling. “These are Kat, Stacy, and Vixella.” Ting introduced. “They’re from the Southern Water Tribe, Shui, so I thought that you and your brother would want to meet them.” Shui’s eyes lit up at those words. “It’s been so long since I’ve met another person from the Southern Water Tribe other than my brother!” She cried joyfully. “I’m Shui, and these are Lei and Taio.” “Hi!” Kat waved shyly.

“Make yourself comfortable. I was just making some two headed fish soup!” Shui beamed. Kat, Stacy, and Vixella sat down on the couch that they had, as Taio came over. “What happened to your leg?” Vixella asked quietly. “It was during a battle, when I was still serving in the Fire Nation army.” Taio said distantly. “It got crushed by a giant boulder.” Vixella put her hands to her mouth in shock. “That’s terrible!” Lei sat down beside them as well. “So are you here for the test?” Stacy nodded. “How did you know?” “Oh, the Phoenix King hasn’t exactly been keeping it a secret.” Lei shrugged. “Do any of you think you’re the avatar?” Kat shook her head. “I doubt it. I’ve never shown any signs of bending any element at all in my entire life!” “Same for me.” Stacy responded. “Me too.” Vixella added.

They continued to talk and chat, until the sun was starting to reach its peak. From there on, Kat, Stacy, and Vixella had to return to the palace for lunch. Yet Kat wouldn’t forget them in a hurry, as they were so interesting and unique. There was definitely more to them than what meets the eye…. *** Lizzie sat down in the pond in front of the turtle ducks, with her parchment and quill and ink. It had been a long time since she had written to her friends, who were both in former Earth Kingdom territory, doing business. As she dipped her quill in ink and prepared to write, there were footsteps coming from behind her. Lizzie turned to see the person that she least wanted to see: Lee, the man that she was supposed to marry. “Well hello, princess.” He smirked, sitting down beside her. “What are you doing?”

“Writing a letter to my friends,” Lizzie responded coldly. “I would prefer it if you weren’t watching me do that.” Something changed in Lee’s eyes. His gaze darkened, and his smile was more forced now. “Of course, princess. I’ll leave you be.” As Lee walked away, Lizzie focused on writing the letter. She honestly hoped for something to happen that would tear her away from the Capital and away from Lee, because she didn’t know how much longer she could take this anymore.

Then, she was standing on the edge of a peninsula. Lava surged right underneath her. Kat was holding two metal fans, as the peninsula moved away from a man standing on the edge of the river of lava. The man became smaller and smaller as the peninsula, now an island, was pushed away. Water started seeping through the gap between the island and the mainland. Then, the scene changed again. Kat was on the floor, holding up one hand desperately. Smoke, lava, and ash was everywhere around her. In front of Kat, was an old man wearing red robes and riding a….dragon? He stared down mercilessly at her. His mouth moved, but Kat heard nothing. Then, he took off, and everything faded into black.

All of a sudden, Kat was in an underground cave. There was a girl in blue, waterbending, and hundreds of men in a black and green uniform. She sat down, and a crystal tent formed around her. All of a sudden, she was engulfed in a blinding light, and felt her body start to float up into the air. It felt amazing. But then, Kat felt an electrocuting pain run through her body, coming from the back. It was like she had been struck by lightning! Then, she was falling, falling, downwards back towards the ground. The white started to fade, and the last thing she saw the ceiling of the cavern before everything faded to black. *** Kat gasped as she sat up in bed, cold sweat running down her forehead. The room was very dark, lit only by one, fading torch. Through the dim light, Kat could see Stacy sound asleep, snuggling against the comfy blankets.

“What was that?” Kat thought. It didn’t feel like a normal dream. She normally forgot half the dream after she had it, but Kat remembered every single moment from this dream, and very vividly as well. It was like she was spiritually connected to the dream, somehow. Kat walked over to the window, and opened the curtains, letting the moonlight spill over the room. It was a full moon tonight, it’s pale glow illuminating the room and the courtyard outside. Kat felt very comfortable, and even powerful under the glow of the moon. Kat sighed, and laid back onto her bed. Yet she didn’t feel sleepy anymore. She stared at the ceiling for who knows how long, as time faded and blurred together. The next thing she knew, sunlight was starting to trickle through the curtains. That was something Kat was not forgetting anytime soon. *** “Again.”

Lizzie concentrated, and blue sparks started flying from her fingertips. She went through the whole process, generating it and sending it flying towards the target, almost flawlessly. “Almost perfect.” One of Lizzie’s firebending tutors started. “One hair out of place.” The other finished. Lizzie growled in frustration. “Almost isn’t good enough.” She spat darkly. As she prepared to redo it, there was some clapping from nearby. Lizzie swung her head to see her mother, Fire Lord Azula, standing underneath the shade. “Well done, Lizzie.” Azula smirked. “You have determination, and you are much like me when I was your age. But keep working on that lightning generation. I expect no less than perfection from my own daughter.” Lizzie gave her mother a quick bow. “Yes, Mother.” Azula then walked away, as Lizzie put the stray piece of hair into place, and redid it. This time, there was nothing out of place. She had finally perfected the move.

*** “How is my granddaughter doing?” Phoenix King Ozai’s voice boomed across the war room, the flames crackling and changing around his throne. Azula was bowed in front of him. “Her training is going great, Father.” Azula responded. “She has almost perfected lightning generation.” “Yet you managed to perfect that when you were fourteen.” Ozai continued. “And your flames turned blue at that point. Lizzie is sixteen, and she has no blue flames, or has perfected lightning generation.” “That is true.” Azula paused to think about it. “But my daughter has shown lots of skill and potential. I believe that she will become one of the greatest firebenders in the world, just like me.” “And the boy?” Ozai asked without emotion, his words ringing across the war room. A small, maniacal grin started crawling up her face.

“We’ve located him. I’ve ordered the best assassins in the Fire Nation to kill him. In a couple days, he will be dead.” She said smoothly. Although she couldn’t see it, a grin also crawled up Ozai’s face. “Good.”

The next chapter’s gonna be Kat and the others meeting Ozai. Idk if I should make that the chapter where she finds out that she’s the avatar, or wait. But the plan that Azula and Ozai were talking about won’t fully be recognized until far later on, most likely in late book 1 or book 2. I will give you a hint:the boy they’re talking about has been introduced in the book so far.

Kat and Stacy followed all the other girls out of the hallway, out to somewhere. Probably a courtyard, where the Phoenix King could test to see if they could bend. Kat doubted that anyone here could bend any element at all! After all, all the waterbenders had been taken away from the South Pole a long time ago. “Hey, Kat, Stacy!” Vixella called, walking over. “Excited?” “Super nervous.” Kat confessed. “And a little sad, that this’ll all be over tomorrow.” “Yeah.” Stacy agreed. “Tomorrow morning, we’re getting back on the ship to return to the South Pole. Then all this adventure will be over.” “Life's one big adventure.” Vixella said thoughtfully. “Actually, I’m not going back.” Kat admitted. Stacy and Vixella both swung their heads to look at her with shock and disbelief. “What?!” Stacy cried.

“Since Betty’s a commander now, she’ll be needed more in the capital than in the South Pole.” Kat explained. “Soon, my parents and siblings will be coming here, and this’ll be our new home. Betty told me yesterday.” “Lucky turtle-duck.” Vixella muttered. “That’s great for you!” Stacy congratulated. “But everyone will miss you. Well, at least you’ll still have Amy and Graser!” Kat thought to the two Fire Nation teens they had met yesterday. Stacy had really bonded with the two, while Kat thought they were fine. Vixella, on the other hand, said very little. “Hurry up!” The soldier at the front barked. “The Phoenix King does not like to be kept waiting.” The three of them stopped talking and quickened their pace, as they scurried through the elaborately decorated halls. It was a couple minutes full of twists and turns before they arrived at a large, stone courtyard.

As they filed out into the courtyard, Kat noticed lots of weird props around. Giant boulders to one side, bowls of water to another, and leaves near the back. She wondered what all this had to do with the test. But the biggest thing of all she almost missed. Kat looked towards the front, to see what other oddities were stacked there, but she was greeted with a far more impressive and threatening person. There he was, standing in between Fire Lord Azula and Crown Princess Lizzie. Him, surrounded by strong looking guards holding spears, wearing sturdy red armor. Phoenix King Ozai. *** Kat looked away as quickly as she had seen him, not wanting to draw attention to herself. She felt herself shuddering with excitement and fear. He looked so regal, so bold, so cunning. So….dangerous.

They were all put into rows, with a fair amount of distance from the nearby people in front, behind, and next to you. Kat waited anxiously as everyone got into place. Then, Phoenix King Ozai cleared his throat, preparing to talk. “Welcome, candidates from the Southern Water Tribe colonies.” He announced regally. “You should all know by now why you’re here. The tests will be simple, so if you were a bender, you should be able to pass them. If you do manage to bend one of the elements, you will be taken to somewhere else to be further examined, and tested on bending the other elements. If you fail to bend any of the elements, well then, what a pity. Back to the South Pole it is with you.” He turned his head to give Azula a signaling look.

“The test will be waterbending.” Azula spoke sharply. “It’s simple. You will be given a bowl of water, and you will try to manipulate it in any way. There will be highly trained bending detectors going around to see if you do manage to waterbend.” Some soldiers started passing out small bowls of water to each of them. Kat stared at her bowl, and tried some weird movements, in an attempt to waterbend. Nothing happened. Kat sighed in frustration. She tried again. The water shivered a little, but only because she had moved the bowl slightly. One of the bending detectors looked over her shoulder, and made a small noise of disappointment. They continued this for a couple minutes, until the bending detectors went up to the Phoenix King, and whispered something. And with a wave of his hand, the servants came and took away the bowls of water.

“Next,” Azula continued, “the earthbending test. Simple, again. Try to move the rock.” The servants then pushed medium sized boulders in front of all of them. Kat stared at the rock, and made an earthbending motion. Again, nothing happened. Kat groaned, banging her head against the boulder. How come the thing that she had been dreading and anticipating was so boring?! She glanced around at the other girls. It seemed that nobody else was having much luck, either. A couple minutes later, the servants pushed away the rocks, and Azula explained the last firebending test. They were each handed a leaf, and firebenders had started a minuscule fire in the middle of it, slowly burning away outwards. Their task was to prevent the fire from spreading.

Kat tried focusing, but got distracted quickly by the others. It looked like a lot of the girls were concentrating very hard, but to no avail did the leaves stop burning. Some had already been burned to a blackened crisp, while others were very close to that. Kat turned her attention back to her leaf. She frowned. Was it just her, or was the flame not spreading— *CRASH* Kat swung her head towards the origin of the noise, dropping her leaf on the ground. She had expected it to be some firebending accident, or one of the girls that just happened to be the avatar, and accidentally made a fire explosion. But no, it was none of that. In fact, it was something very, very unexpected. There was smoke spreading from one corner of the courtyard, with the soldiers and servants there coughing and trying to get out of it, blinded by all of the smoke. And on top of the roof, a large squadron of Northern Raiders.

*** Kat’s eyes widened with fear. Northern Raiders? In the heart of the Fire Nation? Just how had the capital been infiltrated? Wasn’t there supposed to be top security here? The leader locked eyes with Phoenix King Ozai, who glared ferociously. Kat watched, terrified of what was going to happen next. “Give us the avatar, Ozai.” He demanded after a few seconds. “You don’t have to get hurt. Just let us take the girls, and we’ll go and leave you in peace.” “Never.” The Phoenix King snarled, anger burning in his amber eyes. “I don’t know how you managed to infiltrate my city, but I won’t have any of this! Guards!” Chaos erupted in the courtyard as soldiers raced towards the Northern Raiders, shooting large flames at them in synchronization. The Raiders retaliated by forming a large ice wall that melted when the flames came in contact, but successfully blocked the attack. Then, they jumped off the roof and started battling the firebenders hand-on-hand.

Kat saw her sister spring to action from beside the large jugs of water, pulling out her duel swords and lunging forward. “Yue and La, please watch over her and keep her safe.” Kat prayed desperately inside her head. The other girls started screaming and fleeing from the scene, but a few were grabbed by some of the Raiders, who started to pull back. “Your Highness, there’s no way that we’ll be able to secure all the candidates!” One of the soldiers cried as he battled two waterbenders. Ozai’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Then kill them!” He roared unexpectedly. “Kill the candidates. If I can’t have the avatar, then no one can!” He then lunged into battle, firing hot flames at the nearest girl. She dropped to the floor, scorched and dead.

Kat watched in horror as the soldiers started killing the Raiders and the girls. She was frozen in place, unable to move. There was a river of thoughts rushing through her head, and she swayed with dizziness. Black spots started to appear before her vision. “NO!” She cried desperately. Then, everything turned white. *** “Then kill them!” Grandfather roared. “Kill the candidates. If I can’t have the avatar, then no one can!” He then lunged into battle, firing hot flames at the nearest candidate. She dropped to the floor, scorched and dead. Lizzie knew this was their cue. She and Mother also lunged into battle, firing their flames at anyone that stood in their way. Lizzie managed to kill out two Raiders in one blow, then knock one unconscious with her fire daggers. “NO!” Lizzie swung her head to see one of the candidates, Kat, cry desperately. Then, the most unexpected thing happened.

Kat’s eyes suddenly glowed pure white. Her expression of pain transformed into one of pure anger and rage. She put up her hands, and all the water in the courtyard came surging towards her. The ones from the jugs, the pond, the ones spilled onto the ground during the battle. She formed a water whirlpool, spiraling upwards with it all. Lizzie’s eyes widened. That girl, Kat, the younger sister of Commander Betty, was the avatar?! “What are you waiting for? GET THE AVATAR!” Grandfather roared. Lizzie didn’t hesitate another moment to lunge at her, pinkish fire daggers in hand. The avatar came down from her water whirlpool, and formed a ring with the water. Then, it came crashing upon Lizzie, the soldiers, and the Northern Raiders. Nobody was spared—except for the candidates. As Lizzie was knocked backwards, crashing upon one of the pillars, she just realized how powerful the avatar could be in the avatar state. For a millisecond, she felt fear for once.

Kat’s eyes stopped glowing, and she started to fall sideways. One of the candidates, with unusual green eyes, ran over to help support her. With a smirk, Lizzie knew that now was the perfect time to strike. Without the help of the powerful avatar state, she was weak and vulnerable, with no idea how to bend any of the elements. The perfect time to strike. *** Kat’s vision was blurred as the glowing whiteness faded from her vision. She could barely see a familiar shape run to her side, and catch her fall. What had just happened? What was the glowing whiteness? And then, starting to feel sick to the stomach, Kat asked herself the most important question. Was that the avatar state? Was she the new avatar?! Kat’s vision started to become less blurred, as shocked figures came into focus. She stood up on wobbly legs, still holding tightly onto Stacy’s arm. “What happened?” She murmured.

“You….went into the avatar state,” Stacy responded with uncertainty. “I think you’re the avatar!” “Well done.” Azula’s voice congratulated sarcastically. “A four year old could figure that out. Now,” her voice became more serious and menacing. “Hand her over, peasant. Then nobody gets hurt. And don’t try anything either, avatar. I’ve dealt with your previous incarnation before.” Kat straightened, and glared at Azula with surprising confidence. She didn’t say anything, but not because she was scared or anything. Kat really just didn’t know what to say. “I-I won’t let you.” Stacy surprisingly defended, her voice slightly wobbly. Kat suddenly felt grateful for what a loyal friend Stacy was. Azula let out a laugh. “Oh please. What are you going to do, throw sticks at us?”

Stacy also said nothing, but just glared defiantly at the Fire Lord. As two soldiers ran their way, Stacy stomped the floor angrily. To everyone’s shock and surprise, the water beneath the soldiers’ feet froze, trapping them in place. Kat felt lightheaded. “Oh dear, this is too much for me to deal with in one day.” She muttered. “Stacy, you’re a waterbender?!” Stacy looked at her hands in shock. “I never knew,” Stacy murmured back. Even more surprisingly, Vixella picked up one of the dropped spears and ran to their side. “I’m on their side, too.” Vixella declared strongly. “I’m tired of doing nothing, and let you Fire Nation scum walk all over us. Only the avatar can bring peace.” “How dare you!” Azula seethed furiously. “Guards!” The trio prepared to fight, but to their surprise, a pillar of ice rose beneath them, and an icy bridge formed from their pillar to the roof. Kat looked to the side to see two Northern Raiders, beckoning for them to come.

“C’mon, we don’t have forever.” One of them said gruffly. “It won’t take them long to melt the base.” The trio quickly ran onto the roof, where a lot of the Northern Raiders were waiting. They all started to run away from the courtyard, heading south. Kat looked back one last time. Betty was standing at the bottom, looking up with a sad expression. Kat blinked away tears, and followed the Raiders. “Goodbye, Betty.” She whispered to herself. “One day I’ll come back for you, Mother and Father, and our siblings. One day we’ll be free from the Fire Nation once and for all.” *In the Northern Water Tribe* Hahn walked into the temple dedicated to Avatar Kuruk, and prayed in front of the statue. He had done this every day, since the death of the avatar had been announced to the world, thirteen years ago.

“Please, avatar.” He murmured softly. “The world needs you. Please show yourself, and bring an end to this war once and for all.” As if responding to his plea, the eyes of the statue glowed. Hahn gasped, leaping backwards in shock. The nearby prayers and priests all gasped as well. “What does this mean?” One woman cried fearfully. Hahn smiled, and for the first time in thirteen years, the smile was full of hope. “It means,” he responded, “that the avatar has returned.”

“The Northern Water Tribe.” Stacy echoed, entranced. “Now, go!” The leader barked, before jumping back onto the roof and running the opposite direction, also gaining the attention of all the following soldiers. “We should get disguises.” Kat decided. “We’ll be too obvious, wearing fabulous silk gowns in the middle of the city. Cloaks will have to do for now; we can get proper clothes later.” “But where do we get cloaks?” Vixella argued. “Fashion accessories! Selling hats, cloaks, and more!” A nearby vendor shouted loudly. Vixella blinked. “Well that was surprisingly easy.” She said to herself. Kat signaled Stacy and Vixella to stay back, and walked up to the vendor, smiling. “Hi! Can I have three red cloaks?” The vendor eyed Kat’s attire suspiciously, but didn’t say anything. “That’ll be two silver pieces.” He said roughly. Kat handed him the money, and took the three cloaks swiftly, and walked back to Stacy and Vixella.

“This will have to do for now.” Kat said, handing each of them a red cloak. The three of them fastened them on, looking more natural in the streets of Capital City. “Let’s go!” Vixella smiled, then squinted at the piece of paper. “54345 Jasmine Street, Floor 2, Apartment #3.” *** “Well,” Vixella started, wide-eyed. “This was not what I had expected.” The trio were standing in front of a five story building, covered in balconies, hanging flowerpots full of white roses and fire lilies, and laundry on thin strings being dried between the buildings. In fact, this was the exact same building that Ting, Shui, Taio, and Lei lived in. And Ting, Shui, Taio, and Lei happened to be living on the second floor, in the third apartment.

“I’m kinda unsurprised and very surprised at the same time.” Kat remarked as she opened the door leading into the building. “I mean, two of them are Water Tribe, but I never thought that they would be involved in stuff dealing with rebellion and all those whatnots…” “It wouldn’t be surprising if their backstory was made up, too….” Stacy added as they made their way up the stairs. Once they got to the second floor, they instantly headed to the third door. Kat didn’t hesitate to knock firmly on it. A few seconds later, Shui answered the door, and looked slightly surprised to see them back. “Hi, girls! Are you back for some tea and stories?”

“Well actually, funny story….” Kat started nervously, sweatdropping. She then explained everything that happened to Shui, including the part where she went into the avatar state, and then when Stacy and Vixella defended her, and how Stacy was a waterbender. “So we were told to seek help from the people that lived here, and that ended up being you guys.” Shui just stared at them, gaping. “Um guys,” she called. “you might want to come out here.” Taio, Ting, and Lei all came out from one of the rooms, with slightly confused expressions. “What is it?” Taio asked, then his gaze landed on the trio. “Oh, hi girls.” “To make it quick, the big deal here is that I’m the avatar, and the leader of the Northern Raiders that kinda attacked the Phoenix King told me to come here.” Kat stated bluntly. Taio, Ting, and Lei also started gaping. Well, only Taio and Ting. Lei looked rather unamused.

“What?” Lei demanded when everyone gave her weird looks. “I could just sense avatar vibes from her beforehand. It’s not that surprising. After all, I could track twinkle toes’s little footsteps anywhere.” “Avatar Kat, Stacy, Vixella,” Ting started, “there’s something that we haven’t been completely honest to you three about.” “You see,” Shui smiled mysteriously. “Shui, Ting, Taio, and Lei are only our cover names, when interacting with other people. My true name is Katara, and we were the members of the previous Team Avatar.” *** “Seriously?” Vixella gaped. “Seriously?! We met Team Avatar and we didn’t even know until now?!” “Well, we weren’t exactly yelling it to anyone we came across,” Taio, apparently Sokka, pointed out. “that would just be stupid.”

“This is the perfect opportunity, Kat!” Stacy gasped excitedly. “You could master the elements here, under the guidance of the masters who trained your previous incarnation! And if the Phoenix King were to scheme a plot, we would be one of the first to hear about it!” Suki shook her head. “As great as a plan that is, Zuko isn’t here with us.” She pointed out reasonably. “He’s back at the North Pole. And I wouldn’t put it past Ozai to search every building for you three, especially since it’s closest to him and the easiest place to deploy his troops.” Kat considered what Suki had just said. “You’re right.” She responded at last. “But Stacy and I barely know how to control our bending abilities. Could you at least teach us the basics?” Katara nodded immediately. “Of course,” she responded, smiling. “Follow me.”

*** “Just push and pull the water.” Katara instructed, demonstrating with the tub of water. They were in the largest room in the house, which they had turned into a training room. The floor was solid earth, and there were weapons stacked neatly on shelves nearby. Kat could see a blue boomerang and some yellow steel fans. Kat and Stacy followed Katara’s example, and the water started to move slightly, sloshing side to side. Kat beamed. It was working! She was waterbending for the first time! “I’m getting it!” Stacy cried with excitement. Kat glanced over to Stacy’s portion. The water was sloshing a little less than Kat’s, but Stacy was waterbending, nonetheless. “Great!” Katara smiled brightly. “You two are both naturals.” “So what’s next?” Kat asked eagerly.

“Next up, we’ll try this….” Katara started. They continued to do some waterbending training for almost an hour or so. Halfway through, Suki and Sokka came in with Vixella to teach her some sword and fan skills. By the end of the training session, Kat and Stacy already had a decent waterbending toolbox. It was far from perfect, but they knew some offensive and defensive waterbending moves that would help on their journey to the North Pole. “You guys should change, to draw less attention to yourself.” Toph pointed out as they exited the training room, preparing to leave. “We still have some of our old Fire Nation clothes, you can have those.” “Thank you so much, Team Avatar.” Kat thanked profusely. “No, you’re the new Team Avatar now.” Katara grinned back. *** “So all we have to do is take the train to Spark City, with a couple pit stops along the way.” Stacy stated, looking at the map. “Easier said than done.”

“I hardly doubt this is gonna be a quick and easy journey.” Vixella groaned. “Well, let’s head to the train station.” Kat sighed. The three of them made their way through the crowded streets of Capital City towards the only train station in the city. The train system network had been built shortly after the fall of the Earth Kingdom. Phoenix King Ozai had wanted quick access to places outside of the capital, so he had built train tracks out of earth, linking the capital to other cities in the Fire Nation. It extended from as far north as Spark City all the way to Crescent Island, the most eastern island that was part of the Fire Nation homeland. It was also available to the middle and lower class, for one copper coin per person. The trio reached a corner, but it was blocked up by a crowd of people. “What’s going on?” Kat muttered to herself. Then, Kat saw the top of a palanquin over the heads of all the gathered people. Her eyes widened. “Oh no.”

Kat, Stacy, and Vixella pushed their way to the front of the crowd, where they could get a good view of things. A royal palanquin surrounded by soldiers and servants was being carried down to their crossroad. Kat then spotted a poster, hanging on a board nearby. ATTENTION ATTENTION ATTENTION All residents of Capital City must be present on Cinder Street at noon for a speech from Crown Princess Lizzie. This message is extremely important, and concerns everyone living in the city. ATTENTION ATTENTION ATTENTION Kat watched with slight horror as the servants put down the palanquin, and Princess Lizzie stepped out. To her, it seemed like the crown princess had gotten ten times more menacing than she did earlier that morning. Or it might have just been because they were fugitives that she definitely wanted to capture.

Lizzie turned to the entire crowd. “Attention, citizens of Capital City!” She announced loudly. “Today, three fugitives escaped from the Imperial Fire Nation Palace. By the order of Phoenix King Ozai, they are wanted enemies of the state and are to be captured and brought here if seen—alive.” There was slight murmuring amongst the crowd as Lizzie held up a picture of the trio. Kat swallowed nervously, butterflies churning in her stomach. She brought her hand to her waterskin that Katara had given her instinctively, as if to make sure her source of defense was still there. “Anyone caught harboring these traitors will be punished severely.” Lizzie went on. “All buildings in the capital will be searched thoroughly, starting tomorrow. So to anyone who are harboring them,” she swept her sharp amber gaze across the crowd, a small smirk forming on her face. “you might want to think about turning them in before you are captured and punished as well.”

Lizzie’s gaze then swept towards the crowd where Kat, Stacy, and Vixella were standing at. To Kat’s horror, they locked eyes. For a few seconds, nobody said a word, or did anything. Kat wanted to look away, to pretend that she was just another commoner, but her body refused to cooperate. “They’re right there! Seize them!” Lizzie shouted abruptly, pointing towards Kat. She then fired a blast of scorching fire towards them. The crowd shrieked and parted instantly. Kat ducked, but barely missed that one. “What do we do?” Stacy cried as she jumped out of the way of another blast, sent by one of the soldiers. “Run!” Kat cried back, as she made a mad dash towards the direction of the train station. “Lose them on the way!” She unscrewed her waterskin, and pulled out a small amount of water. She turned back for a second, and tried using the water whip on Lizzie. The Fire Nation princess reeled back for a second, but quickly processed what had just happened.

Lizzie narrowed her eyes. “I see that you have found a waterbending teacher,” she snarled. “but you’re far from being a master.” And with two Fire daggers in hand, she lunged at Kat again. But Kat froze the water under Lizzie’s feet, causing the princess to almost fall over. Kat kept running, and pushed her way into the crowd, going as fast as she could so that the crowd could not part for the soldiers to see her. Stacy and Vixella were right behind her, and Stacy even used her waterbending to freeze some people in place so that they couldn’t part. At least, not that quickly. Kat quickly pulled Stacy and Vixella into a deserted alleyway, and hid behind some trash bins as the soldiers ran past them, charging blindly towards a dead end. Once all of them had passed, Kat let out a breath of relief and stepped out from behind the trash bins. “That,” Vixella stated as she walked out, “was waaay too close.”

“And it won’t be the only time.” Kat responded darkly. “We definitely won’t be getting to the North Pole without hiccups.” “Let’s get to the train station and get the hell outta this city that’s overrun by crazy royals and terrifying soldiers.” Stacy shuddered. *** “Three tickets, please.” Stacy asked politely. The ticketman, who had a long beard and looked very disinterested, didn’t even bother to look away from the book that he was reading. “Which line and where to?” He asked monotonously. “Blue line, and to Spark City.” Stacy replied. “Names?” He inquired dully. “Uh….I’m Page,” Stacy started nervously, glancing at the others. “And these are….” “Funneh and Sasha.” Kat finished. The ticketman raised an eyebrow at their weird names, but didn’t question them.

“That will be one silver piece.” He droned on dully. Stacy handed him the silver piece, and he gave them three tickets with their names, line, and destination scrawled on untidily. “Thank you, sir.” Stacy thanked, before they headed upstairs, to where all the train cars were parked. The upper floor was sorta magnificent, especially for Kat, who had grown up in the not very economically developed South Pole, to see all the train cars. There were four of them, lined up on stone tracks. The cars themselves were also made of stone, so that the earthbenders could push them. There were all kinds of people there as well. The earthbenders whose jobs were to push the trains were walking back and forth, some leaning on the walls, resting from the last shift. There were also people holding megaphones, shouting things like, “Last call for red line departure to Ember Island!” and even some vendors, selling Fire flakes and sweet buns to snack on during the ride.

There were also a lot of people there just to ride the trains. All sorts of people. From the people of lowest class, wearing tattered clothes and bearing solemn expressions, to snooty high class officials that held their heads high and got a private room on the train cars. It was pretty amazing to see people of all status use the same system of transport at the same time. “Blue line departing in two minutes!” One person holding a megaphone shouted, catching Kat’s attention. “First stop, Hua Xin Village!” “Well, there’s our ride.” Kat smiled, gesturing for Stacy and Vixella to come. “C’mon, let’s get on before it leaves without us!” “Can’t we get some sweet bun rolls first?” Vixella pleaded, making a droopy face. “It’ll be a long ride all afternoon!”

“Vixella, we need to save our money.” Stacy sighed, dragging the purple haired girl along. “Who knows what expenses we’ll need to cover on our way to Spark City? There’s no time to waste money on unnecessary things.” Vixella sighed, and followed Stacy and Kat onto the train car. Inside, there were stone benches covered with thin cotton pads, as well as many people reading books, chatting with each other quietly, and even drawing, all waiting for the train to leave. Kat suddenly wished that she could’ve brought along a book or two. But very quickly, the stone doors closed, and the train car started moving. Kat watched with amazement as the buildings of Capital City started flying past them, and past the volcano, the view of the countryside was just as stunning. Kat laid back, and prepared to take a nap. This would be a long ride, after all, and even if all went well, it would be definitely very boring.

*** He was half asleep, lying on his comfy bed. His eyes were open and staring out the window, but they were also unfocused, as if he was asleep. Just as his eyes started to slowly close, a loud bang caused them to snap open again, this time more focused and aware. He sat up in bed, looking around. “Mother?” He called tentatively. “Are you home early?” When there was no response, he crawled out of bed and walked towards his bedroom door. But as he was about to open it, the door slammed open, revealing two figures dressed in black. He stumbled backwards, confused. “Who are you and why are you in my house?” He barked angrily. The figures said nothing, but blasted fire at him.

He dodged the blows nimbly, and sent a large boulder at them, pushing them back out of the room. He then locked the door, and quickly changed into his day clothes, and grabbed his emergency bag, which consisted of a day’s worth of food, a gold piece, a bottle of water, his passport, and some spare clothes. Just as the two firebenders kicked down the door, he opened his bedroom window, and jumped out, roofhopping to get away from the people that most likely wanted to kill him. As he jumped, he felt a stab of guilt. Mother would be so frantic when she got home, to find the doors broken down, signs of a battle, and her son nowhere to be found. A single tear rolled down his cheek. “I’m sorry, Mother.” He murmured, as he continued to roofhop to somewhere safe.

Vixella yawned and stretched, before standing up. “It’s nighttime already?” She mumbled to herself. “I wonder what dangerous animals are outside.” “C’mon, let’s get ready to depart.” Kat said. A lot of other people stood up, preparing to stay for the night. When the train pulled into the station, the doors opened and they stepped out into the cool night air. There were few people at the station at this time, but there were still some people on the roads in the town. “Where are we gonna stay tonight?” Stacy asked. Kat scanned the street, and landed on an inn. “There.” Kat pointed, then started to walk towards it. “Follow me.” The trio headed into the inn, which was brightly lit by lanterns. Entering inside, there were many people chatting, laughing, and eating dinner at the tables. Someone was playing some lively music in the background, and there was a table with a receptionist, who was reading something.

“Hi! Three single rooms, please.” Kat asked politely. “For how long?” The receptionist asked, bored. “Just tonight.” Kat replied. “That will be eight silver pieces.” The receptionist said, opening a cabinet and trying to find something. Kat was slightly relieved at the cheap price, then handed him the pieces. The receptionist gave them three room keys. “Enjoy your stay,” he said unenthusiastically. Kat kept one key and gave the two others to Stacy and Vixella. The three of them made their way to the third floor, where they each had their own rooms. It was pretty late in the night, probably around 10 or 11. Kat didn’t even bother to change before hitting the hay, and within a minute, she was sound asleep. Not even the growling of her stomach could wake Kat. And it was that night that the spirits decided to meddle a bit….

*** In the outskirts of the village, there was a small shrine. It had long ago been used for spiritual purposes, but at this point, it had been long abandoned. First it was small creatures that looked like mini eel hounds and the size of a dog that slid out. They emitted a yellowish-purple glow, and their eyes were like a torch in the darkness. They hissed, and crawled towards the buildings. Then came the brown creatures, each about the size of an ostrich horse. They were brown and looked like buffalos, and they made angry snarling noises. They came out and trashed everything they could find. Finally, the temple rumbled and something roared from inside. The red building broke into pieces, revealing a large, sea green beast, bigger than a sky bison. It had sapphire blue horns, and piercing amber eyes. It kinda looked like a cross between a bear and an ox.

The eel hound spirits let out a high, ear piercing shriek in unison, then crawled towards the nearby buildings, tearing out small chunks here and there. The buffalo spirits roared together, then charged at the buildings as well, destroying bigger parts of them. Then the ox bear let out a huge roar, then ripped an empty building straight out of the ground, and threw it towards the nearby forest. The commotion brought several civilians outside, who gasped in horror at the great beasts, big and small, tearing apart their homes. Firebenders quickly rushed to the scene, and tried to drive them away with a blast of flame, but the spirits just seemed to get angrier.

The civilians could only watch as the spirits tore part their homes, crushing everything that they had worked so hard to build. Then all of a sudden, they left, heading into the nearby woods, leaving several collapsed or partially ruined buildings that were still burning from the firebending attempts to drive them away. “Only someone spiritually connected will be able to save our village!” One woman cried, holding the things that she had managed to save from her destroyed home. “But who?” “The avatar!” Another man cried. “Spirits, please help guide the avatar to help us.” On the other side of the village, Kat sneezed in her sleep. ~The Next Morning~ “We should get some supplies today, before we leave.” Stacy decided as they finished breakfast. “After all, we’ll be spending most of our time on the train. We should be able to make it to New Sozin tonight, which’ll be about a fourth of the way to Spark City.”

“That’s great, but we shouldn’t stay too long.” Kat commented. “It won’t take long for Lizzie to realize where we’ve gone.” “Of course.” Stacy nodded, standing up and pushing her chair in. “We’ll head to the market, pick up some food, and we’ll get going.” “Ooh, maybe some shopping as well!” Vixella piped excitedly. “After all, we’ll need extra clothes, in case our current set gets damaged or we need to wash them.” “Well, let’s head there now!” Kat grinned enthusiastically. The trio left the money for their breakfast, and headed out of the diner where they had had breakfast. It was conveniently located next to a construction site in the middle of town, where a metal statue of Phoenix King Ozai was being built. Kat stopped for a second to admire it. The metalwork was pretty neat, and it had exquisite details that were not common on every statue. Scaffolds were layered around the statue, with workers already working up there, with fire, hammers, and other tools.

At the base, she noticed two girls, both around sixteen, supervising the building of the statue, and talking in low voices. They both wore fancy dresses, though one looked more cheerful and excited than the other. “....did you hear about what happened on Ashfall Lane last night?” A woman passing by Kat gossiped to her friend. Her friend nodded. “Yeah! I heard that many buildings were completely crushed, and others were destroyed to the point where they’re barely still standing!” The other woman responded. Kat turned around, curious about what the two ladies were talking about. “Excuse me, but what is this destruction that you speak of?” Kat asked politely. The two women turned around to face Kat. “Haven’t you heard?” The first woman said in a hushed tone. “Last night, on the other side of town, the old temple was destroyed, and weird creatures came crawling out from it! They completely ruined the nearby buildings.”

Kat’s eyes widened, and she let out a small gasp of horror. What was going on here, that was causing such large disturbances? And how could balance be restored? *** “No, no, no!” Meghan cried, waving her hand in wild gestures. “That’s all wrong. Now his beard looks like an elephant trunk!” “I think it looks more like an elephant tusk.” Lauren disagreed. Lizzie chuckled softly, as she watched the two argue over the facial features of the new statue. “Well I think it looks perfect!” Lizzie deadpanned. Meghan and Lauren turned around, and both smiled at the sight of their friend. “Lizzie!” Meghan exclaimed excitedly. She immediately ran over and gave the Fire Nation princess a hug. “It’s good to see you two too.” Lizzie chuckled. Lauren walked over to Lizzie and Meghan as well, a smile on her face.

“Honestly, supervising construction here is just torture.” Lauren complained. “They keep messing up the fine details! At one point, they made the eyes look like wide lemur eyes and the top bun half the size of the actual face!” “Unacceptable. How can they make such silly and petty errors?” Lizzie scoffed. “I’ll hire another construction crew, that’ll get the job done faster and better.” “Did you hear about what happened last night?” Lauren said. “They say it was done by some big beasts, but it might just be another rebel attack.” “It’ll be fine.” Lizzie reassured somewhat absentmindedly. “The hunters are already out there, trying to find what caused the havoc, and I bet you tonight that those animals will be our dinner.” “If you say so,” Lauren replied, not sounding completely convinced.

“So what are you here for?” Meghan asked. “I know it’s probably something important, since you’re a busy person and Hua Xin is half a day’s travel by train from Capital City.” “Yes.” Lizzie smirked. “I have a mission, and I’ll need the help of you two.” “We’re all in.” Lauren smiled. *** “What kind of creature could do so much damage?” Stacy cried, as she stared at the rubble where once a large building stood. “A platypus bear?” Vixella suggested. “Saber tooth moose lion?” “Perhaps,” Kat mused. “But how could such a huge creature create the cracks and holes on the other buildings that are on the verge of collapse?” “True.” Vixella nodded. “So it must’ve been several different animals.” Then, something clicked inside Kat. “Guys, I don’t think this was caused by normal animals.” “Then what could’ve caused this havoc?” Stacy questioned. “They came from the temple.” Kat said. “So it must have been spirits.”

Vixella and Stacy both gaped. “But how?” Stacy cried. “The temple was only a simple shrine, nothing super special about it!” “I don’t know.” Kat murmured, staring at her hands. “The only thing I know is that they will come back again tonight, and will destroy more buildings.” “Maybe you can stop them!” Vixella suggested. “After all, you are the avatar, the bridge between the living and spirit worlds! You could send them back to the spirit world!” “But how do I do that?” Kat cried. Vixella faltered for a second. “I don’t know either.” She mumbled quietly, looking away. “Well, we should still try,” Stacy pointed out. “Maybe you should go into the forest, and try to find the spirits. Then….I guess you can try and convince them to go back to the spirit world. They might just sense that you’re the avatar and listen!”

“You know what, let’s try it.” Kat smiled. “It’s our best shot so far.” The trio headed towards the forest, but near the edge, Kat stopped at some tracks. “Look at the size of these pawprints.” Kat breathed, bending forward to inspect it better. “They’re bigger than dinner plates!” She looked over to the other tracks in the mud, which were overlapping and confusing. But she could still make out some that were the size of an average book. Something dawned inside Kat. If the spirits were large and strong enough to destroy entire buildings, they would be extremely dangerous if provoked, and most likely hostile. This was too dangerous of a situation to drag all three of them into.

Kat turned to face the others. “It’s too dangerous for you two.” She said at last. “You saw what the spirits did; if they were to attack you, you two wouldn’t stand a chance. At least I have the avatar state as a backup if something went terribly wrong, but you two don’t have any defensive abilities if things were to go awry.” “But—” Vixella started, but Stacy put an arm in front of the violet haired girl. “Kat’s right, Vixella.” Stacy said. “Until we know how fierce these spirits are, we should stay back until we know that we can face them confidently.” Vixella pouted, but didn’t say anything. Stacy then turned to Kat. “Good luck,” she said. Kat gave them a wink and a grin. “Stay safe while I’m gone!” Then, Kat walked into the treacherous woods, and in barely a minute, the bustling village was out of sight. She took a deep breath, and calmed herself down for this. “I can do this.” Kat reassured herself, before venturing deep into the woods.

Meanwhile, Stacy and Vixella were watching the edge of the forest with worry. “I hope she’ll be alright.” Vixella said quietly. Then, a hand clasped over her shoulder firmly. “Yes she will.” An o too familiar voice responded overhead. Stacy and Vixella turned around to see Lizzie, who had a menacing grin on her face, and also surrounded by two other girls in red. Stacy gulped. This would not end well. *** Kat carefully squeezed through the thorn bushes, winding as some of the thorns got caught in her clothes, pressing down against her skin. The forest was deep and dense; at this point, there was barely any light that had made its way through the thick canopy. Yet she had still not found the spirits. Kat was starting to wonder if they were even here anymore, or decided to go back to the spirit world on their own. If they had done that, then this trip had been for nothing.

All of a sudden, she broke through the thick brambles and out into a large clearing, with sunlight shining through a rare gap in the canopy. She would have been cheering, as she had finally found sunlight again, if it weren’t for the sleeping spirits there. From small, cat sized eel hounds to a gigantic blue ox-bear, it was clear that all the spirits were resting here. None stirred to the sounds Kat had made, making her way through the brambles, or her soft gasp full of excitement and horror. Kat made her way through the clearing, uncertain whether she should wake them or not. But that answer had been decided for her already. One of the mini eel hounds let out what was probably a yawn, and stretched, before opening its vibrant yellow eyes. Kat stopped moving instantly, her eyes on the tiny creature that had helped destroy a building from the inside last night.

Instead of the violent reaction Kat had been expecting, it made its way to her, almost curiously, and nuzzled her leg. Kat smiled faintly, and decided to try something else. She pulled out an apple that she’d been saving, and brought it towards the small spirit. The spirit cocked its head curiously at the apple, and took a small bite. It seemed to have liked the apple, as it went on to take more bites out of the apple. After a minute or two, the spirit had devoured nearly half of the apple before it decided that the sweet goodness needed to be shared with others, and let out a small, earpiercing screech. Kat stiffened, expecting the others to wake up and attack her. But instead, they walked over to the apple and all started to nibble it.

A low moan made Kat even more nervous, as she swung her head to see one of the buffalo spirits start to wake. To her surprise and relief, it did not attack her immediately. Instead, the spirit nuzzled Kat gently, almost as if also asking for some food. Kat fumbled around her pockets, and came across a piece of kale. She nervously handed the piece of kale to the spirit, hoping that that was what they ate. Buffalos ate grass, right? The larger spirit happily chomped away on the piece of kale, and let out a noise of satisfaction. Kat smiled confidently. These spirits weren’t evil; they were just craving some attention! Turning to face the largest spirit, who was still slumbering, Kat walked over and put down a smoked sea slug that had somehow ended up in her pockets(most likely Vixella’s fault). The blue ox-bear’s nose twitched, and he slowly opened his eyes and sat up.

The ox-bear held up the smoked slug and inspected it for a second, before throwing it into his mouth and gobbling it down. He then gave Kat a rough pat on the head, which kinda ruined her hairstyle for the day. “These spirits just crave attention.” Kat thought. “From there on out, they’re as friendly as can be! I should tell the villagers about this. It could help stop the attacks!” Kat slowly excited the clearing, and gave the spirits a small smile, before re-entering the darkness. For a couple of minutes, she just fumbled around in the darkness, trying to find the way out. Kat relied on familiar natural landmarks to make sure that she was going the right way. But then, the darkness was suddenly gone, and all she could see was pinkish fire. Kat yelped, and leapt back at the sudden flames. As the flames started to disappear, she processed what had just happened, terror starting to creep back.

Pinkish flames. The flames dissipated, leaving a smirking Lizzie with two other girls. And behind them, a tied up Stacy and Vixella. “Well.” Lizzie grinned maliciously. “Our prey has walked right into our waiting arms.” *** “Let them go, Lizzie.” Kat stared angrily at the Fire Nation princess. “I don’t think so, Avatar.” Lizzie smirked. “They’re perfect bait to get you to comply, don’t you think so?” “I know you know my name.” Kat sighed. “So can you just call me by it instead of ‘Avatar?’” “That doesn’t matter right now.” Lizzie straightened, and glared down at Kat. “Hand yourself over peacefully, and nobody had to get hurt.” “Don’t do it, Kat!” Vixella cried. “The world needs you!” “Will you shut up already?!” One of the girls, with a purplish tint at the end of her long black hair, rolled her eyes. “Yelling isn’t gonna get you anywhere.” “Who are they?” Kat pointed at the two other girls accompanying Lizzie.

“How silly of me, to not introduce them!” Lizzie deadpanned. “These are Meghan and Lauren, my friends. Now, hand yourself over.” “Never.” Kat narrowed her eyes, unscrewed her waterskin, and pulled out a ball of water, preparing to fight. Lizzie also narrowed her eyes, and shot a blast of fire directly at Kat. Kat dodged it, and sent a water whip towards the Fire Nation princess. She dodged it nimbly, and sent another blast of fire towards Kat. Meghan and Lauren also charged towards Kat, preparing to strike. Luckily, the two were not benders. But Kat found out after a couple seconds, that they were skilled in hand-to-hand combat and using other weapons. “Why don’t you just take your friends and go home?” Kat said through gritted teeth, as she dodged a blow from Meghan. “Good idea! Well, why don’t you come with me then!” Lizzie responded sarcastically.

Kat panted as she dodged another fireball, which came dangerously close to her. She was running out of water, and the three girls weren’t running out of energy anytime soon. Kat looked around desperately, and spotted a small pool of water nearby. Drawing the water from the pond, Kat gathered everything that she had left and sent it towards the girls in a large wave. The wave washed the princess and her friends back, who made some sounds of surprise. While they were recovering, Kat took the chance to rescue her friends, cutting easily through the rope with some water. Stacy and Vixella stood up beside Kat, preparing to fight as well. Stacy pulled up a ball of water, and Vixella took out a sword that Sokka had gifted her. Lizzie, Meghan, and Lauren stood back up, and the two opposing groups stared at each other ferociously for a couple of seconds.

Then Lizzie and her friends made the first move. They went all out, with fire, fists, and knives. Stacy took on Meghan and Vixella took on Lauren, leaving Kat to deal with Lizzie. Meghan was very skilled and agile, also very unpredictable. That was what made her dangerous in battle. But the thing is, Stacy was also sorta unpredictable. As a novice waterbender, her moves were clumsy and unexpected, leading to a confused Meghan. She ended up getting stuck in ice several times, giving Stacy the upper hand. Then it was one slip that made Meghan lose her balance, almost falling. While the pink haired girl tried to regain her balance, Stacy took the opportunity to send a blast of water towards her and pin Meghan to the wall with ice.

With Vixella and Lauren, however, it was more evenly matched. For every strike Vixella landed, Lauren would retaliate by getting in a punch or kick. Lauren had a unique weapon of choice: two fan shaped knives that also served as hair ornaments during other times. Vixella’s toolbox of sword skills were starting to get old, and she became more predictable to Lauren. So Lauren started to gain the upper hand, pushing Vixella back and landing more blows. Then Vixella decided to try something new. She started out with a very predictable move, and Lauren tried to attack, most likely hoping for an easy blow. Instead, Vixella leapt into the air and swept her blade at Lauren’s feet, trying to knock her off balance. The trick worked, and Lauren fell to the ground with a thud.

Then it was Kat against the Fire Nation princess. Lizzie was swift, nimble, and powerful. Kat was struggling to find water sources to defend herself. Lizzie was evaporating the water that she could find very quickly, as well. “Just give up already!” Lizzie called as she sent three flames at Kat. “You’re tired and inexperienced. There’s no way that you can win this fight alone!” Suddenly, there was a wave of water that rose behind her, and splashed her hard, pushing Lizzie far away. The wave dissipated, leaving Stacy and Vixella grinning triumphantly behind it. “Let’s get outta here before they get themselves together again.” Vixella said urgently. Kat and Stacy nodded, and the three of them made a dash for the village. But only a few steps later, the ground was shaking and there were roars coming from deeper in the forest. Kat stopped, and looked back with a fearful expression.

“What is that?” Stacy asked, a tremor in her voice. The answer presented itself a couple seconds later, when the trees burst apart and all the spirits, big and small, came dashing out towards the village. “They’re going back to destroy the village!” Kat cried, stepping aside so the buffalo spirits wouldn’t crush her. “We have to stop them!” “But how?” Vixella asked, dismayed. “I know how.” Kat replied quickly. “Just follow my lead!” Without another word, she ran after the spirits, fumbling around her pockets to see if she had any more food. By the time they caught up to the spirits, they had already arrived at the village, and were wreaking havoc. The people were screaming and completely unprepared for an attack at this time of day. Kat finally found another smoked sea slug in her pocket, and pulled it out triumphantly.

Kat turned to the others. “Find some food around here, and try to give it to the spirits. Trust me, it’ll work.” Stacy and Vixella stared back like she was crazy, but complied. Kat went up to one of the eel-hound spirits, who was chipping away ferociously at a wooden cabbage stand, and offered the sea slug. It instantly stopped acting aggressive, and sniffed the sea slug curiously. With a couple other sniffs, it took the slug and ate it in one bite. After eating the slug, the tiny spirit was no longer aggressive, and sat down by the cabbage stand contently, burping. Kat beamed; her plan was working! She then grabbed several cabbages, and tore some leaves off to feed the spirits. Most of the eel hounds instantly jumped towards the cabbages, munching on it delightfully. Even some larger buffalo spirits joined in on the feast as well.

Kat looked over to Stacy and Vixella, who were offering ash bananas to the smaller spirits. It was working! After eating, they either fell asleep or looked very sleepy, leaning on the closest object. Grabbing as many cabbages as she could find, Kat threw them at the spirits. Instantly, they stopped destroying stuff and sniffed the cabbages curiously, before eating them. Soon enough, almost all of the spirits had been calmed down. Now for the largest ox-bear spirit. Kat took a particularly large cabbage, and approached it cautiously. It had half a building in its hand, and a chunk of concrete in its mouth. When it saw Kat, it spit out the chunk of concrete, put down the building, and approached her curiously. Kat handed the large cabbage to the bear anxiously, hoping that it would calm down.

The ox-bear took the cabbage from Kat, and popped it into its mouth. It seemed to work, as it relaxed its tight stance, and let out a rumble of satisfaction. Only then did Kat realize the crowd that had gathered to see them calm the spirits. “She subdued the spirits,” one man said breathlessly. “are you the avatar?” Kat hesitated, but then put on a smile and said, “Yes. I am the avatar.” Gasps erupted amongst the small crowd, but no one had on a face of anger or vengeance. Instead, they looked at Kat with hope, happiness, and excitement. This town was….excited and happy to see the return of the avatar. “I think I know why the spirits were attacking you.” Kat continued. “Was the temple that they originally came from dedicated to worshipping them?” “Yes, I think.” Another man replied uncertainly. “It was a long time ago, before Sozin’s reign. When he came along, I think the town abandoned its spirituality.”

“That’s why they were attacking!” Kat explained. “They were angry that you were worshipping the Fire Lord, and not paying any attention to them. That’s why they retaliated. I bet if you went back to the old traditions and worshipped them as well, they won’t come back.” Even more gasps and murmurs arose amongst the crowd. “That makes sense!” A girl shouted gratefully. “Thank you, avatar!” Kat smiled back, but it was quickly erased off her face as a large blast of pinkish fire erupted from the forest. “Girls, I think it’s time we got going.” *** “The avatar has been spotted with her friends in Hua Xin Village, Your Majesty.” Ozai narrowed his eyes. “Did my granddaughter go after her?” The Phoenix King boomed. “She did, but Princess Lizzie failed.” The messenger replied, still in a deep bow. “Perhaps we should try to lure her into our own hands instead of chasing her, Father.” Azula suggested. Ozai considered the idea.

“That may work.” Ozai mused. “Messenger, do you know anything about the Avatar’s family?” The messenger hesitated for a moment, before speaking. “I’d assume that she would be very close to them.” He responded. Ozai narrowed his eyes, and a hellish grin crawled onto his face. “Tell Commander Betty to accompany a ship to the South Pole.” Ozai commanded sharply. “We need to bring the Avatar’s family back here, to the capital, as bait. And while we’re at it, testing the loyalty of our new commander.”

Yep. That’s what I’m trying to make her be like. And apparently she founded Jeremyism....?

“Let’s focus on finding an inn to stay at for the night.” Kat said. “Hopefully nothing will delay us here, like what happened in Hua Xin Village.” “Agreed.” Vixella shuddered. “No more crazy princesses and her friends, vengeful spirits, or getting captured. I’ve had enough of that.” As they walked past a merchant selling fire flakes, Kat thought she saw someone. It moved very fast, from between the Fire flake stand to the fish stand. It could’ve been her imagination, or it might’ve actually been someone. Kat decided to ignore whatever that was for now, but she started to get more suspicious as the trio headed towards the heart of the city to find an inn. She first saw a girl, a couple years older than her, in a dark red cloak and wearing a white opera mask with a red flower pattern on it. Then she saw another guy wearing the same outfit. And another. She saw at least a dozen people dressed in cloaks and the same masks.

“Um, guys,” Kat started quietly. “why are there so many people dressed the same way?” “I don’t know,” Stacy whispered back. “are they all going somewhere?” “Maybe we should follow them!” Vixella suggested. “See where they’re headed.” “You’re the one who didn’t want to get into any more chaos!” Kat whispered furiously. “I mean, it wouldn’t hurt,” Vixella pointed out. “if something happens, we’ll leave!” Stacy gave Vixella an unconvinced look. “Fine.” She sighed. “We can go. But if there’s any sign of trouble, we’ll leave.” Vixella nodded excitedly, and the trio started to follow some of the cloaked figures down the road. *** “New Sozin.” Lizzie stared at the map laid in front of her. “The heart of the Red Lotus Organization.” “It’s highly unlikely that the Avatar will go there,” Lauren pointed out. “it’s probably the most non-outsider friendly city in the Fire Nation!”

“Then where else would they have gone?” Lizzie inquired coolly. “It’s not like they have a bison, like the previous avatar did.” “Maybe Shaya.” Meghan suggested, pointing on one spot on the map. “They could’ve gone there to throw us off track.” “Possibly.” Lizzie mused. “We’ll check that mining town, and if there is no trace of the Avatar, we head to New Sozin at full speed.” *** “Is there a concert happening tonight?” Vixella joked weakly. They were standing near the back of a large crowd of identical-looking people all wearing red cloaks and flower masks. They were all standing before a large stage, where a man wearing the same flower mask, except the colors were reversed, was standing. “I feel so out of place and noticeable.” Stacy whispered nervously. Kat felt the same way as well. If only they had kept the red cloaks from before, and found some of the flower masks.

“Followers of the Red Lotus, thank you for coming tonight.” The man on stage started to speak. His voice was intimidating and loud, the voice of someone that you didn’t want to mess with. “Today, I am addressing those from out of town. Those who do not have the masks of the Red Lotus, those who have curiously gathered here to see what all of this is about.” Kat exchanged nervous glances with Stacy and Vixella. She had a bad feeling about this. The other few unmasked people in the crowd either looked anxious or excited. “Since the start of time, the Fire Nation has been superior to all other people. But only 131 years ago did we finally announce that superiority to the rest of the world, and now, with most of the world aware of our greatness, we must make sure that they know we are dominant here!” The man on stage announced dramatically. The audience clapped and screamed with excitement. Kat was getting really uncomfortable.

“May the Red Lotus live on forever!” The announcer screamed. The cheers in the crowd became louder than ever, starting to make Kat’s ears hurt. “Let’s go,” she told Vixella and Stacy over the loud commotion. Kat turned around and literally almost walked into someone. She stumbled back, mumbling half stranded words and apologies. The girl that Kat had walked into took off her mask, revealing unusual yellowish-brown hair and amber eyes. She smiled at the trio. “Hi! I’m Shelby. What are your names?” She chirped happily. “I’m Funneh, and these are my friends Page and Sasha.” Kat introduced nervously, using their fake names. “Those are some unusual names!” Shelby mused. “Well, where do you hail from?” “Capital City.” Stacy lied. “We’re headed to Spark City to visit some old friends.” “Well that’s nice!” Shelby beamed. “So how do you like the Red Lotus so far? Interested in joining?”

“I don’t think our parents would be too happy if we joined an organization without their permission.” Vixella replied anxiously. “The idea is intriguing, though!” “That’s a pity.” Shelby frowned for a second, before bouncing back to her cheerful demeanor. “Maybe one day, you could get your parents’ permission to join! Maybe they’ll join as well!” “We’ll be sure to ask.” Kat said. “We need to find an inn to stay at for the night now.” “Well, have a good evening!” Shelby smiled. “And maybe I’ll see you again tomorrow!” “Bye!” Stacy smiled back, as they briskly walked away from the commotion. Once they were out of earshot, they instantly started to discuss what they had just witnessed. “The Red Lotus Organization.” Stacy murmured, intrigued. “I’ve never heard of this before!” “It must be a New Sozin thing.” Vixella shrugged.

“That Shelby girl,” Kat mused. “something felt off about her. I can’t place my finger on it, but we should probably try to avoid her.” “What do you mean?” Vixella exclaimed. “She’s such a nice person! There’s nothing off about her at all!” “True, but let’s find an inn to stay at now.” Stacy said. Kat let out a breath of annoyance, that her friends wouldn’t believe her. Shelby did seem nice on the outside, but there was just something about her that made Kat mistrustful of the blonde. As they left the town center, they had no idea that a pair of narrowed amber eyes were watching their every move carefully. *** “The Avatar? Here?” Kuro repeated superstitiously. She nodded. “I’m certain it’s them.” She replied. “They should never have come here, where Red Lotus influence is so great.” “And we would get quite some fortune if we were to turn her and her friends in.” Kuro mused.

“Just perfect!” She grinned sadistically. “I just happened to know a friend of Princess Lizzie, who is traveling with her to capture the Avatar. But I’ll only split the fortune with you if you help me.” A smirk crawled onto Kuro’s face. “Deal on.” *** “The markets won’t be open until nine?” Stacy cried, dismayed. “But we don’t have time to wait around for this!” “What else can we do?” Kat argued tiredly. “We might as well stretch our legs and explore the place a bit before we’re stuck on a small train compartment for two days straight.” “And you’re the one who felt something was off about Shelby,” Vixella muttered. “So what are we going to do while we wait for the store to open?” Stacy inquired. The answer came to them a few seconds later. “Hey! Over here!” Kat turned to see Shelby standing on the other side of the road, smiling and waving. Kat internally groaned, but still walked over to the yellow haired girl.

“Hello, Shelby!” Kat smiled, although it was pretty fake. “Nice to see you again!” “The same goes for you!” Shelby beamed. “So what do you have planned for today?” “We were going to pick up some supplies for the train ride, then get started towards the next town on the line, which is quite far away.” Stacy explained. “But the markets won’t open until 9, which is two hours from now!” Kat wanted to scold Stacy for being so open and truthful, but refrained from doing so so that Shelby did not get suspicious. “Well, you could always come with me to the New Sozin Museum!” Shelby offered. “They recently made some design changes, and I’ve been wanting to check it out for a while now. It’s a really nice place!” “Why not?” Vixella shrugged. “C’mon, let’s go!”

Kat’s stomach started to feel queasy as she followed Shelby down the street. Her bad feeling about the blond haired girl had not faded away overnight, and it was just getting worse. She seemed too cheerful and welcoming, to the point where it felt fake. The museum that Shelby had spoken about was not that far, only a couple minutes away from the store that they had been at before. It was decorated intensively on the outside, with intricate carvings and glittering lights, and the door was even carved out of unusual cherry wood and decorated with painted sakura blossoms. The interior wasn’t any different, either. Each display had an informational tablet next to it, and the cheap wood was polished and painted to look and feel like grand marble. Kat was pretty impressed. “How did they manage to make things so ordinary and cheap look and feel so unique and expensive?” Stacy breathed.

“It’s one of the secrets of New Sozin!” Shelby beamed. “We have amazing carpenters and architects here. Our city is sometimes called the City of Art, because of all our intensive decorations! Most ponder how we were able to afford such expensive material for these small things, but few can actually figure out the secret.” “Is this actual gold leaf?” Vixella asked curiously, her fingers gently brushing over a golden informational tablet. Shelby turned to face her. “Nope, but our blacksmiths made ordinary metal feel and look just like gold leaf!” Shelby chirped excitedly. “It has to do with a dash of paint here, some intricate tools there, and the rest is secrets that are only known to the citizens of New Sozin.”

While Stacy and Vixella asked questions about the embroidery and fine details on stuff, Kat wandered off to a different section of the museum, on the history of New Sozin. There were some very detailed paintings and artifacts, but something else caught Kat’s attention. There was a section roped off, with a black curtain and a sign saying “No Entry.” But through a slit in the curtains, Kat could see the edge of a Red Lotus mask, and a portrait of….the Royal Palace? She narrowed her eyes, looked around to see that no one was watching, and discreetly slipped inside. The walls behind the curtain were painted pitch black, and not lavishly decorated, like the rest of the museum. The first thing that caught Kat’s eye was a portrait of the royal family, standing in front of the Royal Palace. It must’ve been painted recently, as Princess Lizzie was included in it. Next to the painting, on a wooden pedestal, was a Red Lotus mask.

Kat walked along the empty, cold corridors, examining every piece of artwork and artifact that she came across. They went in order, from most recent to oldest. The defeat of Avatar Aang. The burning of the Earth Kingdom. The Gates of Azulon. The Air Nomad Genocide. Sozin’s reign, and Avatar Roku’s time. It was a complete history of the Fire Nation, portrayed in portraits and artifacts. When she came to the end of the hallway, there was a piece of paper, sealed in glass. It looked aged and wrinkled, the words starting to fade away. Kat stepped closer, squinting to make out the words. 135 A.H.C. Today, the Fire Nation is proclaimed independent from the Sun Warriors civilization. We are a nation now, and will be a proud nation forever.

Fire Lord Anzo is an honorable man, and will lead our nation to greatness. But every great leader needs a team of elite benders and non-benders alike to defend him, and secure loyalty. That is my job, to organize a group of defenders of the Fire Lord, completely loyal and patriotic. I have gathered fifty of the best benders and non-benders in the nation, as well as some of my talented friends, to form the Red Lotus. From this day on, we will serve the Fire Lords of our country, doing their every bidding. All hail the Fire Nation! The best fortune teller in the world has given me a prediction. In 9,825 A.H.C, only a few decades from the next Harmonic Convergence, the Fire Nation will rule over the entire world—once and for all. The last resistor, the Northern Water Tribe_______

Kat frowned. The bottom of the paper had been burned off, leaving her on a cliffhanger. 9,825 A.H.C must mean 9,825 years after the last Harmonic Convergence! She had no idea what it was, but all she knew was that it had been 9,824 years ago. That meant….next year, something terrible was going to happen to the Northern Water Tribe. She gasped. Could that be the year that the Fire Nation finally won over the North Pole, and won the war? She needed to warn them! Kat turned around, but a rough hand immediately gagged her. She struggled, fumbling around for her waterskin, but another hand grabbed her. She started in the dark brown eyes of an unfamiliar figure. “Stay still if you want to live, little girl,” he threatened. *** Kat wasn’t taking any of this nonsense. She kicked his leg very hard, making him let go and scream in pain. She took the chance to unscrew her waterskin and pull out a ball of water, preparing to fight.

Once the man regained his balance, he narrowed his eyes, and shot a blast of flame at her. Kat dodged, rolling over to the side, as the flames hit the glass, melting some parts of it. He then continued to shoot fire blasts at Kat, which she all dodged. Some hit the paintings and artifacts nearby, which instantly burned up, turning to ash. “You might want to take in some of the collateral damage you’ve done,” she smirked. The man’s eyes widened in horror as he realized what he had done. Kat took the chance to run out of the forbidden hallway, bending the water back into her waterskin before running out, not wanting to draw the attention of other civilians. She found Stacy and Vixella pretty quickly, who were admiring an ancient palanquin with that darn Shelby. Kat was still convinced that the amber eyed girl was not as she looked on the outside. There was something menacing about Shelby, and they needed to get away from her immediately.

Vixella turned around, blinking in surprise as Kat rushed over. “Oh there you are, K-Funneh! We were wondering where you had gone.” “Guys, we need to go.” Kat said breathlessly. “There’s something important, so let’s just get our supplies, and leave this city.” “But why?” Stacy protested. “The markets aren’t open! And besides, we’ve been having such a wonderful time here! Shelby has been so nice to us as well!” “There’s someone trying to harm us!” Kat blurted out, not caring what Shelby thought. She grabbed Stacy’s arm, about to drag her away. “C’mon, we need to leave now!” Before they could take a step towards the exit, however, another arm grabbed Kat’s firmly. Kat turned to find Shelby staring at them menacingly. “I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.” “Shelby? What are you—” Vixella started confusedly, but Shelby covered her mouth with her other arm.

“Don’t try to fake it.” Shelby smirked. “I know exactly who you are, Avatar. It was stupid of you to come here, the heart of the Red Lotus Organization. But there’s no going back to the past now! It’s time for me to shape the future.” Kat pulled her arm away from Shelby, who reacted immediately, shooting a blast of fire at her. Kat ducked, and unscrewed her waterskin again. They needed to get out, before the entire city got word that the avatar was here, and came rampaging in the museum, trying to capture her. Stacy and Vixella seemed to realize what was going on, and got into a fighting stance as well. Kat drew out a water whip, and sent it flying towards Shelby. The amber eyed girl dodged, and sent a fireball back, which vaporized almost all of the water that had been in the water whip.

“You know,” Shelby started, as she dodged a swing from Vixella’s sword, “I do happen to be good friends with someone from the upper classes in Capital City. She goes by the name Meghan.” Shelby landed by a painting display from the building of New Sozin, smirking. “And she is a good friend of Princess Lizzie.” Kat’s eyes widened. “I knew you couldn’t be trusted this whole time!” She yelled furiously, sending some water towards Shelby to try and freeze the skilled firebender. Shelby got stuck for a couple seconds, but melted it as quickly as the water froze. “I do believe that Princess Lizzie is a very skilled and special firebender.” Shelby continued. “And she learned how to generate lightning very recently, a skill only a select few firebenders can preform.” She narrowed her eyes, glaring at Kat. “And that includes me!”

A blast of lightning originated from Shelby’s fingertips, the cold blooded fire zooming towards Kat very quickly. She barely had enough time to dodge, the electricity hitting the stone wall behind her. Kat stood back up, glaring at Shelby. She had had enough with the girl’s playing with them. A flash of white blinded Kat’s vision for a second, then she held her arms up. Slowly but surely, all the nearby water came to her, looming behind Kat as a humongous wave. She then sent the wave racing towards Shelby, who was knocked back and out of the building by the water. “Did….you just go into the avatar state again?” Vixella asked uncertainly, after a second of silence. Kat nodded. “I think so,” she replied, “but let’s get out of here as quickly as possible. It won’t be long before Shelby comes back.” “And Lizzie will be on our tail again,” Stacy sighed. “Alright, let’s go.”

~Later~ “What is it?” Lizzie asked, not turning away from the candles that she had lit. “It’s a letter from my friend, Shelby.” Meghan responded. “She says that the Avatar was in New Sozin, and is most likely headed north.” “New Sozin.” Lizzie chuckled. “Who would have thought that the Avatar was ignorant enough to go there?” She straightened, and turned to look at Meghan directly. “Set a course straight for New Sozin. From there on out, we’ll follow the train tracks.” Meghan bowed slightly. “Of course, princess.”

The morning sunshine was very refreshing, a cool breeze making its way through the exposed station. Kat took a deep breath, and closed her eyes for a second. Spending most of their time on a small, stuffy train was not good for them at all. “We can stay in this village for a couple days before moving on.” Stacy decided. “It’s best that we spend some time away from the train, since we’ve been on it for most of our time recently.” “Agreed.” Vixella nodded. “So should we get some breakfast? I’m starving!” “Yeah. I’m tired of eating stale pastries three meals a day.” Kat agreed, as they headed to the nearest diner. *** “I still can’t believe that they have Water Tribe cuisine here!” Stacy cried as she gobbled down the two-headed fish soup. “I heard they have a natural source of two headed fish here.” Kat said. “Somewhere west, in a polluted river.” As she gorged on the delicious food, two girls walked past their table, gossiping.

“....and blasted the critter right off the stage! Isn’t he great?” One of the girls whispered. “Yeah.” The other girl nodded. “Can’t believe there’s still an airbender out there, after so long!” Kat swung her head to face the two girls, excitement rushing through her blood. “Airbender? What are you talking about?” Kat asked excitedly. “Haven’t you heard?” The first girl squealed softly. “A merchant came into town last night, and put on a stunning performance! He’s an airbender!” Kat’s eyes lit up. “An airbender.” She breathed. “After so long….” “You can see him tonight, if you want.” The other girl offered. “He’s staying here for a couple days, and he’ll be performing tonight again! You can find him in the old abandoned warehouse. Kat was starting to lose herself within her thoughts. There was still an airbender left. He could teach her airbending! She had to see him.

~That Night~ “And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you’ve all been waiting for.” The announcer said dramatically. “The Last Airbender makes an appearance again!” The crowd screamed and cheered excitedly, enough to make Kat’s ears hurt. Was all that really necessary?! A young man, around twenty-five, walked proudly onto the stage. He had very unusual ginger hair and amber eyes, although the color was duller than those of the royal family. It was more of a warm tangerine color, which Kat had never ever seen before. “Thank you, for all the love and support!” The guy, apparently nicknamed ‘The Last Airbender’, bowed. “Today, I’ll be performing some more tricks! Feast your eyes upon this show, for it’ll be something that you’ll never forget!” The crowd screamed and whooped even louder, making Stacy and Vixella also visibly wince at the noise. Kat wanted to leave badly.

“First, I will be showing you the amazing feats of airbending. While they are simple to me, they will knock you off your feet!” He proclaimed. Kat was starting to think that he was a little egotistical. ‘The Last Airbender’ started to run in circles around the stage really fast, which amazed many people on its own. But the real feat was that the wind chimes that were hung above the stage started to move and collide against each other, making musical sounds as well! Kat was somewhat impressed, but not as much as the rest of the crowd. “Next, I will be jumping down from the tallest stack of crates!” ‘The Last Airbender’ continued. The crowd gasped dramatically as he climbed up to the tallest stack of wobbly crates. Kat didn’t think that was very safe.

He bent his knees, and jumped off right there, ten crates high, towards the stage. He rose a couple feet into the air, before plummeting down at an incredibly fast rate. But before he could hit the ground, he seemed to slow down and landed softly on the wooden stage. Kat was very impressed now. Airbending was not only cool, but also had many functional purposes as well! If he was as great as everyone else thought he was, then he would make a good airbending teacher. “And finally, I’ll need a proficient firebending volunteer!” ‘The Last Airbender’ announced. Hands instantly went up, many jumping and screaming to get his attention. Over the top, and very dramatic. “How about you, young lady!” He pointed directly at Kat, beaming. Kat froze. Did he know that she was the avatar, and although the skill was not mastered yet, she could firebend? “I’m sorry, sir, but I’m not a firebender.” Kat apologized, a chill running through her bones.

“Aw, what a shame.” ‘The Last Airbender’ pouted overdramatically. “Well, how about you there, young man!” A young, lithe man went up to the stage, his face as lit as the sun. “Young man, all I need for you to do is blast some fire in my direction.” ‘The Last Airbender’ instructed playfully. “Now, don’t be hesitant! I won’t get hurt, and it’ll help me pull off my best stunt!” The volunteer nodded profusely, and stood in a firebending stance as ‘The Last Airbender’ got into place. Then, he fired a large blast of flame at him. For a second, Kat was terrified that the flame was going to burn the guy right in the face. But her worrying proved unnecessary, as ‘The Last Airbender’ held out both of his hands, and a funnel of air spiraled right towards the flame, swallowing it up and extinguishing it with ease. Kat was stunned.

Earpiercing shrieks of excitement and joy came from the crowd, enough to make Kat cover her ears as ‘The Last Airbender’ bowed deeply, a large grin plastered on his face. “Now,” The announcer came back onto the stage with a megaphone. “we have Sierras the Circus Hog Monkey performing!” Kat lost interest as a hog-monkey came on stage and started doing boring circus stunts. She instead stood up, and followed where ‘The Last Airbender’ was going. Stacy and Vixella noticed that she was leaving, and came as well. Kat followed the man into the backstage, where she probably wasn’t supposed to go. But she didn’t care. He was an essential part of helping her defeat the Fire Lord! “Excuse me, sir!” Kat called. ‘The Last Airbender’ turned around, and smiled at the trio. “Hello fellow fans!” He grinned. “I understand your love for me, but can you please go back to the main audience? I need to take care of some private business.”

“But sir, I need you to teach me airbending.” Kat persisted. “You see, ….I’m the avatar. And you could be the last airbender left in the entire world! You have to teach me! Please?” Several emotions flashed across ‘The Last Airbender’s’ face. Shock, confusion, and….fear? But then it was replaced by a humongous grin. “My, it is my honor to teach you the art of airbending!” ‘The Last Airbender’ bowed deeply. “I will teach you everything I know. And call me Noi. Sifu Noi.” Kat bowed back. “It is also an honor to study under you, Sifu Noi.” But as she stood back up, the smile on Noi’s face looked a little anxious. What was that all about? And why was he anxious about teaching her airbending? Was he….working with the Fire Lord?

*** That night, as Noi stepped into his traveling caravan, the first thing he did was pick up the doll that he had been gifted with three years ago, just as he started traveling. It was intricately sewn, and one of the few things he had left from his former life in Ba Sing Se. “Hey, Jess.” He said to the doll. “Today was great and terrible at the same time. I got even more famous, but someone approached me today. That someone may be the one to blow my cover.” Noi sighed, and lied down on his straw bed. “Remember when you told me traveling around the world, looking for fame like this was a bad idea?” He picked up a moldy apple from that morning, and threw it out the window. “I get what you mean now. This can have unintended consequences, and now those unintended consequences have happened to me.” Noi closed his eyes, and put the doll back on the old antique table. “After this, I’m coming back home.”

*** “Good morning, Sifu Noi!” Kat chirped, bouncing over to the empty clearing. Noi, who had been inside his caravan, came out, and smiled. “Good morning to you too, Pupil Kat!” He beamed back. “How are you on this lovely morning?” “I’m great!” Kat responded. “So what are we going to learn today?” “Well, we’ll start with small airstreams!” Noi replied. “It’s the most basic skill of airbending, so it shouldn’t be too hard. All you have to do is copy my stance, and you’ll be shooting airstreams in no time!” Noi got into what she assumed was an airbending stance, and Kat copied him. “Now, the most important part of airbending is to remember to breathe.” Noi advised. “Then focus on the air around you. Feel it, take some of it, and shape it into a stream. Then, POW! You airbend.” He demonstrated, and shot a blast of air towards the edge of the clearing, where it made a small mark in a young sapling.

Kat followed Noi’s instructions, and felt the air around her, trying to identify particles that she could form together into a stream. But it just didn’t seem to work, as nothing came out when she thrusted her hands forward. Kat growled with frustration. “It’s okay,” Noi comforted. “I didn’t get it on my first try, either! It can be hard for people who have the mindset of say, an earthbender. It can be easy for some people, and extremely difficult for others!” Kat nodded, and tried again. Nothing happened. But on her third attempt, a weak stream of air formed and hit the same sapling, chipping off a tiny piece of bark. Noi clapped intensely. “Well done!” He congratulated. “It’s rather weak right now, but with more practice, I’m sure it’ll get much better!” Kat beamed. She did it! She had airbent for the first time!

“Next, we’ll….try making a funnel airstream.” Noi continued. Was it just her, or did he sound hesitant right then? “All you have to do is get in the same stance, and focus on finding the air around you. This time, instead of forming a stream, form a funnel shaped vacuum.” A blast of funnel air hit the sapling for the third time, and sucked up some leaves. Kat copied Noi, and miraculously, some half formed funnel airstream hit the tree. But it hardly did anything. The leaves barely shook, and the bark didn’t even budge at all. Kat felt slightly disappointed. “That’s great, for your first attempt!” Noi reassured. “Why don’t you keep practicing these two moves, and get them to be more powerful? I have some things I need to sort through in my caravan as well.” Kat nodded enthusiastically, and skipped away to find Stacy and Vixella.

“Guys! I learned how to airbend!” Kat cried excitedly, running over to the two. Stacy and Vixella looked up from where they had been gathering lychee nuts fresh from the tree, and beamed. “That’s great, Kat!” Stacy exclaimed. “So what moves do you know?” “Well, I can create an airstream and also a funnel airstream,” Kat started. “but they’re very weak. I need to practice more before I can get better.” “I think you should ask Noi to come along with us on our journey.” Vixella suggested. “After all, there’s a lot to learn about airbending, and there’s no way you’re going to master it in a couple days.” Kat hesitated. “Yeah, I’ll go ask him right now!” She decided. Kat then ran back towards the clearing where Noi’s caravan was parked.

Kat arrived to see a rather strange sight. Noi had out some strange metal contraptions with many different strings, buttons, tiny levers, fans, and more. There was also a metal red box full of tools, big and small, next to Noi. “Hey, Sifu Noi!” Kat called out. “What are you doing?” Noi visibly jumped at the sight of Kat, and seemed to pale a little. He smiled weakly. “O-oh, just messing around with some strange machines I found not that long ago.” Noi explained nervously. “They’re pretty broken though, and I have no clue what they are.” Kat wanted to know more about them, but decided not to pry, as Noi already looked anxious enough. “So I was wondering if you would come and join us on our journey.” Kat said. “We can’t stay here forever, and we have to get to the North Pole so that Stacy and I can learn waterbending!” Noi brightened, and nodded almost immediately.

“Of course!” Noi exclaimed. “It would be such an honor to travel with you. And visiting the Northern Water Tribe would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience that not many people get to see!” Kat brightened up as well. “Great! We’re leaving for Spark City tomorrow morning. Do you think you could be ready by then?” “Sure thing!” Noi chirped back. Kat smiled. “Good.” She said, before going back to the other clearing to practice airbending. *** Kat growled with frustration. It was noon, and she had spent the entire morning practicing the moves, trying to get it better, but to no avail. It was like her airbending was stuck at the most basic level, unable to go up whatsoever! It was so annoying. “Ugh!” She cried, throwing her hands in the air. “Why is this so darn hard?!” Kat heard a splash behind her, and turned around to see that Stacy had dropped the ball of water that she’d been practicing with.

“Sorry,” Kat apologized, realizing that her outburst had disrupted Stacy’s concentration. “No need to apologize.” Stacy reassured. “I wasn’t very concentrated anyways. And maybe you should ask Noi for some advice? He’ll surely know what to do to improve your airbending!” “Yeah, I should.” Kat smiled. “Thanks.” “No prob!” Stacy replied as she turned back to the small trickling spring, and pulled another stream of water. “Guys! Guys!” Vixella cried, bursting through the clearing and looking very shocked. “There’s something going on in town! Lizzie and her allies are back!” Kat's eyes widened, then narrowed in anger. “Let’s go deal with them.” Kat smirked. The trio ran out of the clearing and into the village, where it was clear that there was something going on. The streets were nearly deserted, and the few people still left were all running towards the same place. Kat, Stacy and Vixella followed.

They arrived at the scene of the commotion, where Kat instantly spotted Lizzie, who was on a komodo-rhino and glaring down at the crowd. Kat felt a twinge of nostalgia. She had been watching soldiers ride past on Komodo-rhinos before that fateful dinner where she had learned that she was going to Capital City. So much had changed since then, even though it hadn’t even been a month. She was no longer the funny, silly teenager that liked to play Uno with her siblings and loved potatoes that she was a month ago. Now, she was the avatar, on the quest to learn the elements and defeat the Phoenix King. She could never go back to her family, and act like nothing had changed now.

“Where is he?” Lizzie demanded. “Where is the rumored airbender that is currently staying in this village?” There was an uncomfortable silence amongst the crowd, and Kat glanced around nervously until she spotted Noi. The airbender was shrinking back and not looking at the Fire Nation princess, definitely afraid of being caught. “The princess is looking for ‘The Last Airbender.’” Meghan swept her gaze sternly across the crowd, unusual for her usual cheery demeanor. “I believe that you have all heard of him. If he’s here, right now, in this crowd, will someone please point him out?” “Well?” Lizzie narrowed her eyes. “Show me to him! Or do I need to get a little more serious?” A flame lit in the palm of her hand, and quiet gasps arose from the crowd. “It’s him!” The firebender that had volunteered for the third act last night shrieked, pointing at Noi with wide eyes. “He’s the airbender!”

“Talk about trust,” Kat thought, snorting. These people feared the Royal Family more than they loved those around them, and would easily betray those they loved and cared for in exchange for their safety. The next few seconds passed in a flash. Lizzie leapt over to Noi, grabbed him, and used firebending to propel her back next to her Komodo-rhino. A fire dagger lit in her hand, bright and burning and pink. “It’s time for the legacy of the airbenders to truly end.” Lizzie smirked. She brought the dagger to Noi’s face, but Kat took action right then. She spotted a well nearby, and bent all the water out of it, sending it in a giant wave towards Lizzie, Meghan, and Lauren. The Fire Nation Princess didn’t see the wave fast enough, and instead was swept many meters back, sent flying onto a nearby roof. Meghan and Lauren had similar fates, ending up on some laundry strings. “Noi!” Kat cried. “C’mon, let’s go! Do some airbending to get us out of here!”

“I can’t!” Noi called back desperately. “What do you mean?” Kat furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “Now’s not the time!” Noi responded. “Meet at my caravan!” Kat nodded, and although she had so many questions for him, she raced back towards the woods. *** “Alright, explain.” Vixella said firmly. “Why can’t you airbend now?” Noi sighed, and shook his head. “The truth is kinda shocking.” He started. “You see,....I’m not an actual airbender.” There was a moment of silence, as they all gaped in disbelief. How did one fake a bending ability?! “Then how did you perform those airbending stunts?” Stacy inquired confusedly. “Through my inventions.” Noi replied. “I may not be a bender, but I am very gifted when it comes to inventing stuff. I managed to make some small machines that would work just airbending, and it could fit inside my sleeves easily.” He sighed again, and rubbed his forehead.

“When I told my friends of my idea to get famous, they were completely against it. But I didn’t listen, and left Ba Sing Se to travel the world and become famous. Back then, I didn’t care about the Fire Nation. They had never done anything bad to me! But now I realize what my foolish ideas could do.” “So you’re not an airbender.” Kat said, disappointed. “There truly are no airbenders left in the world. How will I ever learn airbending now?” “Don’t give up hope just yet.” Noi looked up, a faint smile now on his face. “I’ve heard promising rumors when I was traveling around the Half Moon Bay region. Rumors of airbenders on gliders around the area. And I’ve seen them firsthand. At first, I thought it was a giant orange bird. But when the light shone on them at a different angle….well, for a second, it looked more like a person on an orange glider.” Kat breathed in. Could there be actual airbenders still left out there? She could still learn airbending one day.

“So where are you headed now?” Vixella asked. “I’m headed home.” Noi smiled. “It’s been too long since I’ve seen my friends back in Ba Sing Se. And to be honest, I’m getting tired of traveling. I still hope to visit the Northern Water Tribe one day, but for now, it’s time for me to retire.” Kat smiled. “Good for you.” “Well, see you then, Noi.” Stacy said. “We’ll be headed off to Spark Icty now, too.” Noi smiled back. “Goodbye, Avatar Kat.” He bowed slightly. “I hope to meet you again someday.” Kat bowed back.

It’s simple. I luv writing, and I luv the Krew. And I read a lot. A lot lot lot.