Somewhere Between the Sun and the Moon

Somewhere Between the Sun and the Moon

Part 1: Katara of the South

What is There to Fear?

My mother would tell us a story; my brother and me.

The story was about how the world came to be the way that it was.

She never told us the ending…because she did not know how it would all end.

Air, Water, Earth, Fire…

Long ago the four nations lived in harmony.

Then everything changed when the Fire Lord broke the taboo…

In Fire Lord Sozin’s insatiable quest for power, he slew the last of the dragons, the original benders of flame…

And the Sun itself turned its back on its chosen people.

Bound to never again walk in the light of day, the people born to the islands of fire were cursed with the need to devour the life force of the living.

The Nomads of the air temples meditated, and departed these lands…

The kingdom of earth built up its borders to towering heights that only the foolish would attempt to scale…

The people of the north, prayed to the moon and the spirit pulled up the ocean itself; covering the winter lands with a frozen shield.  

Leaving their sister tribe…  

Abandoned…

There once was a girl who was born in the frigid cold of an unforgiving world, in the dead of night, during the darkest days of her people.

Born in the days that they couldn’t rest, the days that they were constantly running, the days that they prayed for the sun to come back…

And drive away the Cursed Ones.

“Are any following?” She could hear her mother’s muffled whisper through her furs.

“I can’t see through the snow.” Her father replied with a disgruntled groan as he pushed the falling petals of white out of his face.

Looking up and behind, the girl could see her mother tilting her head back to the direction they had traversed. Her hand’s gripping the handle of their family’s sleigh tight through mittened hands.

The girl shifted a bit in her seat to try to peer at what her mother could be looking for, and found that it was just as her father said; the snow danced about them in a fury of flurries. Nothing more than the usual winter storm for the pole. The girl’s blue eyes blinked in confusion at her parent’s apparent worry, and she found herself settling back into the piles of furs that lined the sleigh. Turning forward and away from the artic wind, she pulled the hood of her parka tighter about her russet, snow-kissed face and nestled deeper into the warmth of the pelts.

“They should be having a harder time…right?” Her brother whispered next to her as he began to fidget in their Gran Gran’s arms, that wrapped about them both tightly.

“The snow won’t stop them. They can warm themselves with their flames.” Came their grandmother’s honest though blunt reply. Her weathered face staring forward at something that the girl could not see.

And her brother sank deeper into the furs about them and stifled a small cry. The girl, seeing his worried look leaned over to give his arm a small squeeze. She had never remembered seeing him so fearful before, and she felt her heart sink at the sight of his face hung in worry and his eyes flitting about as though struggling to solve a problem that he could not find an answer to.

“Why are they here? We made the pact; we’ve kept our word!” The girl could hear her mother protest from behind her as their sleigh made small waves through the sea of frost about them.

“You know it doesn’t work like that.” The girl’s father shook his head, the familiar sound of beads jingling together told her as much.

“They keep making their way further inland with each winter…” Her mother quietly objected before letting out a sigh.

Her father urged the family’s team of leopard-rams forward as he bade his wife, “Don’t think about that now, we need to keep moving.”

The hybrid animals kept a steady, yet slow pace; their wide paws that would normally allow them to almost glide over the snow, hampered by the storm. With the winds gusting about them, the team of leopard-rams tussled their horned heads in protest at having to navigate such harsh terrain through the cold and ice with barely a moment to rest.

One more grumble and the girl’s mother reached down, pulling the furs up around the three sitting in the sleigh as she spoke, her voice like a balm to the young girl’s ears, “Are you all warm enough? Once we get past the worst of it, we should be able to stop for a meal.”  

And the girl smiled as she felt her mother’s warm, mittened hand placed softly to her cheek, and breathed in the crisp air of the tundra.

She looked once more about those with her, their worried faces, and then to the storm that slowed their progress, and still found nothing but snow.

The young girl let out a small sigh, not truly understanding why the others seemed so afraid. For with her family there next to her, what was there really to fear? Shouldn’t they feel the same? They were a pack after all, that was what her mother would often say, and that was the truth of the matter.

“I still don’t know where the rest of the group is.” Her father leaned forward, his braided hair, secured with indigo beads, peaking out of his parka’s hood as he did.

Turning to her brother, the father asked, “Son, how’s our heading?”

“We still going north, Dad.” The girl’s brother affirmed as he studied the compass that lay on his lap; nodding as he double checked the direction they were going.

“That ‘a boy, keep hold of that and your sister, and we’ll be fine.” The father reached down to place a hand on top of the boy’s head while giving a comforting smile to his daughter.

The girl smiled back, as she felt her brother’s hand tighten about her own.

Leaning forward she squinted through the storm about them, half expecting to see the tail end of the rest of the sleighs that had departed from Wolf Cove along with them.

“We can’t keep up, because we are too heavy.” The girl’s Gran Gran suddenly reasoned, her wrinkled forehead creasing as she let out a low grumble, “Let me off, I’m weighing the rest of you down.”

“Not happening!”

“No! This pack sticks together!”

The two steering the sleighed hissed in a hurried whisper, both glaring down at the matriarch in horror.

“We are not having this discussion again, Mom.” The girl flinched as her father’s voice grew stern as he addressed his mother.

The girl’s Gran Gran only scoffed at her son, “You need to think about your children. You and Kya are still young and strong. I’m a liability.”  

And the girl’s breath caught in her throat at her grandmother’s words, and she found herself turning and grasping about the matriarch’s waist as best she could through the layers of fur and wool, while her brother did the same. In that moment, a pang of fear lodged itself in the girl’s stomach.

What would cause her Gran Gran to say such a thing? What were they running from? She had heard the adults whisper hurriedly as the village packed for the trek to the inner mountains, but she did not understand why the whole of Wolf Cove would run from their settlement.

The girl’s father continued to protest and even rested a hand on his mother’s shoulder in an attempt to keep her from leaving the sleigh on her own accord.

“Hakoda.” The one called Kya, spoke to her husband in a hushed tone.

And the mother and son stopped their quarrelling in an instant.

Kya had looked behind them again, though the girl could tell that her mother had raised a hand to her mouth and bade them, “Shh…”

The girl jumped from her seat and climbed up the back of the sleigh, reaching out a hand towards the bule furs of her mother’s parka.

It was then that she saw a flash of light, brief and faint, but there all the same. A light not born from the snow fall of the storm. She felt her mother tense through her furs, as another flash lit up the path behind them, followed by another, and then another…

“Red…” The girl whispered, eyes wide at the appearance of the foreign color.

“Katara! Down now!” Her father plucked her from the sleigh’s back and handed her off to her grandmother’s outstretched arms before whipping the reins in a quick fluid motion, commanding the leopard-rams forward with a shout, “Keep going! Move now!” 

The hybrid animals huffed and growled, but otherwise did not protest, as though they too realized that there was greater danger behind than ahead. And they found the strength to quicken their pace; claws digging into the layer of ice under the fresh powder with a crunch.

The family took off into the worst of the sea of snow; deeper into the blue and as far away from the red as they could.

This was the world that Katara had been born to.

For six months out of the year when the sun disappeared from the South Pole’s tundra, the world would turn hungry for those of the Southern Water Tribe. While the Cursed Ones, would turn the girl’s home into their hunting ground...

The Last Waterbender

My people believe that in order to gain something from the spirits, you must first be willing to give…

Another southern summer was coming to an end. With it, another time to flee the safety of Wolf Cove to venture into the harsh wilderness of the pole’s frigid heart. And for Katara, who had grown accustomed to the rhythm of running from the ocean when the night overtook the day, she was beginning to grow to understand the dread that came with it.

Though the girl was still no taller than one of the resident otter-penguins, she was old enough to understand that while the sun brought smiles to her fellow tribe’s people, the coming of the dark brought nothing but fear.

While the elder members of the tribe busied themselves about her, she carried out her morning chores on the behest of her Gran Gran. Gingerly plucking an artic hen’s egg from its roost in a mittened hand, the girl deposited it into a wicker basket, whilst stifling a yawn.

She hadn’t slept well that evening; it had been too…noisy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sound of someone singing outside their family’s igloo had been persistent. At first, Katara had thought as though it had been a dream, but after the third instance, she had forced herself to emerge from amongst her piles of furs to listen.

She was met with the silhouettes of her family, asleep about her in the circular home. The rhythmic rise and fall of the other pelts in the dimly lit room was all the proof she needed to know that she was the only one awake.

And yet, still, there was someone singing. A woman’s voice, sweet and somehow both recognizable but unfamiliar, sang somewhere between her and the walls of ice that made up her home.

Come little one

Come and see

Follow the tides

Follow the frost

Follow me to the skies above

Come my little one

Come and see

I rush I freeze I thaw

I rise I fall I rise again

Hear me sing

My song is for you

And if it pleases you

Come dance with me

Accepting the invitation, the girl found herself darting over the sleeping forms of her family, and hastily stuffed her feet into thick leather boots. Pulling back the covering to the igloo and shielding her eyes from the midnight sun to find…

No one.

Only soft falling snow, kicked up by the artic wind that entangled itself in her long brown hair.

Not one to give up, Katara squared her shoulders and marched around her home, determined to find the singer. After running about the perimeter of the igloo twice and still finding nothing but her own footprints, she tilted her head in confusion.

With another gust of artic wind, the girl began to shiver. Having neglected to take her parka with her, Katara heaved a sigh before she made her way to the warmth of her home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Come and see…”

The girl kept repeating the lines of the song throughout her morning, trying to hold onto the memory of the melody from the night. Her voice, stumbling over the lyrics with uncertainty as she went about gathering enough eggs for the afternoon’s meal.

“We will never be able to move far enough inland.”

A tribeswoman lamented as she and a companion passed the young girl holding the basket of eggs. Katara stopped her musing on the mysterious singer and instead followed the older tribe’s members.

The adults could be so… secretive that time of year. They would always turn away in hushed whispers if ever they caught one of the young ones listening in on conversations regarding their migration.

“Don’t say that!” The other woman chided, “The mountains at the tundra’s heart have managed to be far enough away to keep the Cursed Ones at bay.”

Katara gasped in surprise at the mention of the ones who would come; the ones who could set the tundra alight with red.

Swallowing, the girl gripped the basket tighter; attempting to follow with as little crunching of snow as her feet would allow.

“The spirits said that they would protect us if we kept our word. We’ve held up our end and were promised safety.” The first woman grumbled in protest, “This is not safety.”

The second woman sighed, and with a shake of her head, corrected her companion, “We were given the ability to balance the scale, that is all. If they kill one of us, they get taken out too.” 

Katara blinked in surprise, what did they mean by that? Quickening her pace to catch up to the conversation, she found herself needing to duck down behind one of the tribe’s sleighs when the two conversing suddenly faced back toward her direction. 

“Do you think, that maybe… she was right?” The first woman asked.

And the second Tribeswoman balked at the very idea.

Katara peeked out behind the vehicle, straining to hear the next words...

“What are you doing?”

Her brother’s voice nearly caused her to drop her basket.

“You scared me!” The girl grumbled at her sibling as the two women moved further into the village and out of ear shot.

Her brother put a mittened hand on his hip, while his free hand gripping a half-broken spear barely as tall as her.

“You’re supposed to be helping pack.” Waving the broken weapon about he pointed the blunt end at her and accused, “Not goofing off.”

“I’m waiting for the hunters to get back, Sokka.” Katara countered as she marched past her sibling.

“Mom will be back soon.” Her brother followed after with a roll of his eyes.

The young girl looked down at the weapon still gripped in her brother’s hand, as they both moved away from the place they were supposed to go.

“What are you doing?” Katara asked, giving an accusation of her own.

Sokka hesitated before giving his reply, “I’m…waiting for the fishing boats.”

“Daddy will be back soon.” The younger sibling assured with a grin.

“Whatever.” The older boy mumbled, with a shake of his head.

The pair continued to trudge through the village full of bustling tribespeople, hurrying to and fro with various supplies for the trek inland. And the siblings avoided the elders as they shouted instructions to the younger members of the tribes who carried out the tasks at a dizzying pace.  

“Why don’t they ever take any of the food that we leave behind?” Katara questioned to her sibling as she stared down at her basket of eggs, “Everything is always the same as when we leave.”

And her brother stumbled over the path once he understood what his sister was asking.

“Because, they don’t need it.”  Katara’s brother scrunched up his face in thought as he answered, “And they want to keep us fed until they can snatch us up.” 

The girl suppressed a small shudder, before plucking up her courage to ask another question.

“Have you ever seen one?” The girl continued to press Sokka as she stared directly at him.

“No, but I hear their horrible to look at.” Her brother raised his mittened hands as to imitate one of the inland predators, “Like, they got fangs, and claws, and forked tongues, and scales and…”

It was then, that Sokka paused, before adding in a hushed whisper, “Some can even detach their body parts off to go hunt you.”

“Your telling stories!” The sister huffed, “You said you’ve never seen one either.”

“Well, that’s what Bato says.” Her brother admitted with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Kana, she’s back.”

The name of their grandmother caused both siblings to halt.

The speaker stood next to the matriarch of Katara’s family by the village’s meeting hall, and spoke in a worried voice, “She’s been doing this for the past few years now.”

“What she does is of no concern to us.” Kana’s stern response held a note of finality as the other tribe’s member grimaced.

Sucking in her breath, the protester persisted, “Yes but, some of us have thought, her being here. Isn’t that breaking our pact with…”

With a displeased look on her face the older woman interrupted, “Do not call on him needlessly! Our tribe has an agreement, but he can be just as dangerous as the Cursed Ones.”

“Gran Gran?”

Katara left her hiding spot, and the young girl stepped forward with curiosity and concern etched across her face. She had never remembered her Gran Gran to use such a tone, even during the preparations of the migration.

Kana’s face turned from one of anger to exasperation as she saw both of her grandchildren tentatively approaching the meeting hall.

“There you two Wolf Pups are.” Motioning to a few bundles at her feet, the matriarch instructed, “Here, help me get the furs, and then we can store the dried food.”

Hefting up one of the larger parcels with a slight groan, the elderly woman placed a cloth satchel that smelled like dry sage to rest atop the basket of eggs that her granddaughter carried. Wordlessly making her way to where the sleds were being gathered, Kana left without another word.

“Well, I’ll see you later,” Sokka marched off in the opposite direction and declared, “I’ve got important stuff to do.”

The little sister looked at the bundles still at her feet and puffed her cheeks out in frustration.

“What about helping?” Katara yelled to her brother’s retreating form, “Hey!”

Her cries did nothing to halt her brother as his blue parka could be seen heading towards the village’s harbor.

“Boys…” Katara grumbled in frustration.

With a sigh, the girl set down her basket and followed in the footsteps of her sibling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The girl ran as fast as her legs could take her. Through the gates of her home and to the fields of snow, Katara kicked at the drifts in passing, and let a small giggle escape her lips and into the open air as the flakes danced about her.

Come my little one

Come and see

Katara stopped short and eagerly looked about her. She thought, if only for a moment, that the singer from the night before was behind her.

She scrunched up her face in confusion. There was still no one to be found, save for her.

‘Maybe it was a spirit playing tricks.’ She decided and continued following the fresh prints in the snow.

‘Is this what it’s like when Mommy is hunting?’ Katara thought with a grin.

The Idea of imitating her mother, thoroughly distracted her from the voice in the air until it faded into the background, and was overtaken by the crunch of her boots on ice.

Until…

“I rush I freeze I thaw”

“I rise I fall I rise again”

Katara let out a small gasp of surprise. A new voice began to sing the song that she had heard. But this new voice…did not sound like that of a spirit. 

Deviating from her path, Katara followed the voice of the new singer until she reached one of her home’s natural defenses; a wall of ice known by the elders as Old Wolf’s Fang.

“I rush I freeze I thaw”

“I rise I fall I rise again”

The new voice sang in a crackly voice, one that echoed off Old Fang.

The verse turned into humming and as Katara made her way closer, she spied a tribeswoman, one she did not recognize, dancing in the snow fields under the pillar of ice.

As the singer turned, arms outstretched and spun, Katara could see that she was a woman about the same age as her Gran Gran. Her wrinkled and weathered russet face looked about her in glee as she continued to sing the song that Katara could also hear.

Gripping her hands tight, she plucked up her courage and slid down a small embankment to where the tribeswoman danced.

Her parka hung loose about her as though it may have fit her better at one time, and yet despite her gaunt appearance, with her hair falling in scattered whisps of grey about her face, the woman smiled.

The singer’s movements, fluid as though she had danced to the song all her life. One that was so different from the tribal dances she knew; Katara found herself entranced by the movements.

What seemed like an eternity for her, though truthfully it was merely a minute or two, before the girl’s wonder overtook her initial fear.

“What are you doing?” The girl asked with wide eyes as she continued to watch the tribeswoman in awe.

The woman didn’t even open her eyes, as though she knew Katara had been there the entire time, but answered all the same.

“What does it look like? I’m dancing.” The woman let out a soft cackle as she dipped down low, open palm grazing over the snow as she did.

And if just for an instant, Katara thought that the snow reached up to touch the dancer’s hand.

“With…who?” Katara blinked, and looked about the base of Old Fang, half expecting to see some other tribes members to rush forward and join in with qilaats.

The woman only let out another cackle in response, tilting her head back and arms outstretched she asked her own question, “With whom indeed?”

“I rush I freeze I thaw”

“I rise I fall I rise again”

The odd tribeswoman began to sing the song that Katara knew once more.

Gripping the front of her parka, the girl hesitated, and with a puff of exhaled breath, she took a tentative step forward and questioned, “Were you the one singing? Last night?”

Mittened hands still tight on the front of her parka, she nevertheless managed to hold the gaze of the dancer.

“Hmm?” The tribeswoman stopped, and for the first time set her icy stare at the young Tribe’s Girl.

For a moment Katara did not know if the tribeswoman was angry with her for asking the question. And the dancer said nothing, only giving the girl a blank stare while tilting her head to the side.

Her mother would often tell her of the cold stare of the polar-bear dogs on the tundra, of the hollow hungry look that they would give the hunters if they stumbled upon a lone one.

Of one separated from their pack…

Katara understood what her mother meant in that moment and found herself shuffling back and away from the hungry stare.

“You…”

One gnarled hand stretched towards Katara; though the woman quickly halted her own question, as she turned to spy something over the young girl’s shoulder.

The woman’s eyes flashed something dark and knowing, before she let out a great bellow of a laugh.

And Katara jumped back in shock, suppressing a gasp, as the voice of the dancer bounced off Old Fang.

“Run along back to your pack.” The tribeswoman commanded, pointing a long finger to where the village sat.

Looking behind her, Katara could see the flurries of snow in the distance, and she felt a sudden surge of warmth go through her as she saw her mother’s familiar team of leopard-rams halting before the village gates.

Scampering away from the woman and toward her people, Katara heard the voice of the dancer call after her.

“Child.” The woman warned, “Don’t tell anyone, about the song.”

And she did not know why, but the dancer’s words hung over her, heavy and unwanted. And the girl pushed the thought away the closer she got to her home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katara found her mother helping several of the other hunters with the spoils of their endeavor. It had been a good day for the tribeswomen, as more than one sled held a freshly killed wolf-deer.

Weaving through a few of the other hunters, Katara grinned and waved in passing before launching herself at the turned back of Kya.

The mother gasped before she reached around and plucked her child from the snow.

“There you are!” Lifting her up, Kya exclaimed while wrapping her arms around the girl tight.

“Welcome home!” Katara greeted her as she buried her face in her mother’s hair and nuzzled her cheek against Kya’s.

Smiling fondly at her child, the woman set Katara down and remarked, “My, what a blessing it is to be welcomed as such.”

Which only prompted the daughter to beam up at her mother even more.

“Kya…Look.”  Another of the hunters pointed toward Old Fang with worry, and both mother and daughter turned toward the snow fields.

The figure of the dancer, back to her fluid motions, moved about the tundra for the other tribeswomen to see. And an eerie silence fell about the group, as they all stopped what they were doing to watch the old woman and her dancing.

“Mommy, who’s that?” Katara asked as she pointed at the dancer.

“Someone who no longer runs with the pack my little one.” Came Kya’s melancholy reply as she wrapped her arms around her child again.

And Katara felt a sudden pang at the thought and ventured, “But it’s dangerous to be alone…that’s what you and Daddy say.”

“She knows, but she is also a danger to us.” Kya looked down to her daughter, who was staring up at her with a questioning look.

Giving the girl a soft smile, Kya changed the subject all together, “Come on, let’s see about finishing packing the sleigh.”

And the girl took her mother’s hand as she allowed herself to be led back into the safety of the village.

“Where’s your father, and the other men?” Kya asked her daughter as she hefted one of the smaller carcasses to bring to the village.

The young girl gave a shake of her head, the beads strung through her hair, jingled as she did, “They aren’t back yet.”

The mother’s face grew concerned, biting her bottom lip, she absentmindedly mentioned, “The tides should have brought them home by now.”

Looking about her, the woman then brushed back several strands of ebon locks before asking, “Where is Sokka?”

“He’s…” Katara began to explain where in fact her brother was, and how he was being extremely unhelpful, when another of the tribe called out.

“Kya! We need some help with this!” A tribeswoman huffed as she struggled with one of the loads.

Katara’s mother rushed over, before turning to her daughter with a request, “Katara, find your brother, we need to be ready when your father comes back.”

Giving her mother a quick nod, the girl took off like a shot, out the main gate and into the tundra once more.

“And stay away from Old Fang right now!” Kya’s voice called after.

Katara halted at her mother’s warning and brought her mittened hands together as she looked back at the retreating forms of the hunters, and then peered at the lone figure still dancing about the ice fields.

And although one could say that it was the light bouncing off the snow, it almost looked to her as though the ice gave way to the dancer as she moved across the frozen expanse.

Almost as though she wasn’t dancing alone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Looking over the chasm where the ocean once met the shoreline, Katara leaned over; her eyes tracing the path of the land bridge of frozen sand.

She had tracked her brother’s footprints to the rickety ladder that descended to the ancestor’s harbor; every so often a mast of a century’s old vessel could be seen peeking out of the dunes of the Forgotten Sea.

Further ahead, the girl saw movement along the bridge; a solitary figure waiting for the ships to return with the south’s tribesmen.

“Sokka!” Katara yelled down to her sibling, and she could see the tiny figure in a blue parka turn to her direction as she declared, “Mommy wants us both back to help pack!”

“Can’t now!” Came her brother’s response, “I’m doing something important!”

Grumbling to herself about her brother’s stubbornness as well as having to climb down the rickety ladder, she knitted her brows. They weren’t allowed down near the water, but her mother had asked Katara to bring her brother back. And she decided that if she had to climb down, in order to drag her brother back and yell at him, it would be worth it.

‘Sokka did it, how hard can it be?’

She set her face in determination and nodded to herself; gingerly swinging her legs over the ledge. And she smiled in pride as her feet touched the first rung.

‘One step, then another…easy!’

The girl’s smile turned into a grin as she found the ladder to be sturdier than it looked.

Come and see

Come and see

Halfway down, Katara gasped in surprise; clinging to the ladder as she once more heard the otherworldly voice. The singer from the night before had returned.

Twisting her head about, Katara still found no one. She blinked at the sun refracting off the shards of ice that littered the ground, and then to the small glimmer of the ocean from the distance.

Quickening her pace, Katara hastily jumped down the last two rungs; feeling a jolt as her feet connected to hard ground. Running past the shaded areas of the cliff face, her boots followed the path of her brother; leaving small imprints on the sand that gave way to the abyss of the ocean bed below.

With the shift of the winds, a pungent aroma hit the girl’s nose; something that smelled of rot with a hint of sea salt, as she passed back into the sunlight of the land bridge. But she thought nothing of it, as she stood blinking in the light, the waves of the ocean closer than they had ever been in her entire life.

Frozen in awe for a moment, she pushed away the fear that she felt of having traveled as far as she did from the villag,e and moved forward toward the familiar sight of her brother.

Come and see

Come and see

“It’s louder…” The girl realized, making her way closer to the ocean.

But she shook her head and did her best to ignore it all the same. If it was a spirit, she had no offering to give it.

Katara found her brother along a part of the bridge where the ocean floor was higher, and the abyss gave way to outcrops of grey jagged rocks that reached up to meet her. Sokka was marching along the length of the bridge, broken spears with different markings lined the stretch of the road, all sticking up from the path towards the sky.

“Mommy wants us home.” The younger sibling said with a huff as she placed her hands on her hips, “We need to be ready when Daddy gets back.”

“What are you doing here?” Her brother grumbled with a cross of his arms, “You’re not supposed to be here by yourself.”

“You aren’t either.” Katara countered.

Sokka blinked. He then ran a mittened hand over his hair, secured into a wolf-tail, and after a moment muttered, “Fine…At least help me with this.”

The younger sibling perked up at the idea, and thoughts of returning back to the village left her entirely as she was passed a bit of charcoal.

She looked with keen interest as her brother walked, boot end to boot end, several paces from the last spear, and placed the one he held into the ground with some effort.

“What is this?” Katara asked with a tilt of her head.

“Charcoal.” Her brother waved his hand at her direction.

And Katara gave a small grumble but complied all the same.

“The tide hasn’t been coming back right.” Her brother stated as he marked the newest spear with the day and time, “The adults say not to worry, but…”

He trailed off before pointing to the row of spears, “See, the one closest to the village?”

And Katara nodded.

“Well, that was where the ocean was at the start of summer during high tide.”

Katara eyed the sphere Sokka pointed to as she followed along with her brother’s explanation.

“It hasn’t gotten that high since. It’s only gotten further away.” Her brother complained in frustration as he eyed the ocean as though it were a problem that he could not solve.

“The tides are supposed to come back…right?” The younger sibling questioned, taking a step closer to the water’s edge.

It lapped against the path’s end; rushing and fading just shy of the siblings. The waves curled and folded in on themselves; a foamy greenish grey, and Katara watched in amazement that the ocean itself did not freeze despite how cold the tundra was.

‘Maybe, the ocean is special.’ The girl thought as she watched the ocean rise and fall, ‘It’s like it’s alive.’

I rush I rise I fall

I rush I rise I fall

And the girl found herself staring at its rhythmic dance, much like the stranger near Old Fang from earlier that day.

“Yeah, but at this rate, it’s gonna take longer and longer for Dad and the others to get back.”

Her brother’s voice pulled Katara from her wonder of the living water. And when she looked back, she could see worry cast over Sokka’s face. He too stared at the ocean, though not truly at it, but at something beyond. 

“Could it be the spirits?” Katara ventured, the song, still in her ears.

Sokka tilted his head to the side as he mulled over his sister’s words, “Don’t know, there has to be an explanation though.”

Still seeing her sibling fretting, Katara assured, “He’ll be back before…”

“Of course he will!” The older brother cut in brusquely before grabbing her hand; pulling her from the water’s edge, “Come on, nothing more to do here.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the pair made their way back to the ladder, the winds shifted and the siblings both found themselves gagging by a sudden rank stench.

“Ugh…” Katara crinkled her nose, as she coughed out a question, “What is that?”

“Something must have died in the ice caves by the wall.” Sokka reasoned, mitten over his own nose, “I’ll climb first, got to make sure it’s safe.”

With that, the older sibling started to climb up the ladder before his sister could protest.

“Huh?” Katara complained, “But I climbed down on my own!”

And she stomped her foot as her brother chose to ignore her objections all together.

“Help…”

Came a voice from along the walls.

And the girl turned with a tilt of her head to the patches of shadow along the ice.

Had she misheard?

“Help…please…” The voice called again.

Weak and sounding as though it had not been used for some time, it was not the voice of the singer. But it was a voice that belonged to someone all the same. And the girl squeezed her hands in her mittens tight. 

“Sokka! Someone’s here!” Katara called up to her brother, “I’m gonna help!”

“What? Katara! Wait!” Sokka called back from where he grasped the ladder rungs.

Tired of being bossed about by her sibling, Katara ran along the ice and into the shadows of the cliff, “I’m here! I can hel…”

And she found herself gagging once more. The smell was stronger there, near the entrance of a cave of ice. Worn down over time by the artic winds, it stood open and empty like the maw of an alligator-shark.

“Katara! Wait! Come back!” Her brother’s hand was on her shoulder, and he began fervently pulling her back.

This only prompted the girl to struggle against her sibling’s grasp.

“Sokka! Someone’s hurt!” Katara objected.

Sokka, in turn, pulled harder and yelled, “That’s not a person!”

Katara stopped her struggling and turned back to the cave’s entrance. Its maw seemed even more so like something happily ready to swallow them both.

“Two?” Came the voice from within, “Small but, I suppose I shouldn’t complain...”

First came a wave of heat, right before a dark flicker of an ebon flame burst to life.

It erupted and licked at the cave’s entrance, and then rushed forward.

Shooting off and around the siblings, it cut off their way back.

As her brother’s grip on her shoulder tightened, Katara could see the silhouette of a figure; hunched over and stumbling forward through the black fire.

‘They look…wrong.” Katara settled on the word she was searching for.

The figure’s neck was too long, eyes too…

‘Red.’

And she felt her mouth go dry as the pair of crimson, luminescent eyes locked on her own.

“We got to get in the sunlight.” Sokka tugged them both back, away from the thing, and closer to the flames that encircled them.

“But…” Katara trailed off, as she looked to the black fire barring their path to the light.

But what choice did they have?

The two children found themselves backing away as far as they could, the heat from the fire beating at their backs.

And then the thing in the cave let out a hollow laugh.

“Now, now. No need to be scared.” It did its best to placate the two as it shambled to the entrance, hungry red eyes still fixed on the children.

“Stay back!” Katara’s brother shouted, though his voice broke halfway through his order, “You’ll die too if you eat us!”

And the thing laughed again.

A boot stepped over the threshold followed by pale, ashen skin as a hand gripped at the cave’s entrance.

‘Cursed One…’ Katara realized as she looked to the scales of a sickly grey hue that melded into flesh running up the length of its arms.

Follow the tides

Follow the frost

Follow me to the skies above

The singer from the prior night called to Katara; this time the voice sang, not with a question, but a command.

“I’m dying anyway.” The thing at the cave spat, “I might as well go out on a full belly!”

Done playing with its meal, it lunged forward.

Her brother wrapped his arms around her tight.

Katara still heard the song through the pounding of her heart.

And for a moment it seemed as though the song matched pace with her heartbeat.

Hear me sing

My song is for you…

Katara ripped her eyes away from the horror stalking towards them, took in a heaving breath of air as the last line was sung.

Come Dance With Me!

The girl let out a yell.

She pushed her hands forward; making as best a barrier as she could muster.

And the frozen ground rushed up like the ocean waves and swallowed the thing from the cave.

The living water cooled, solidified and stilled; leaving the thing trapped behind a thick layer of ice within the cave it had been hiding in.

The fire behind the pair died and both siblings looked to the other in shock.

“What…was that?” Her brother asked wide eyed between the blocked entrance and her.

“Did…I?” Katara began to question as she looked to her mitten hands; her head spinning as the song lingered about her

“AARRGH!”

The thing in the cave howled, and ignited the black flames once more, melting through the ice with ease.

“Come on!” Sokka yelled with a tug of her hand.

The two children dashed across the ice. Slipping and skidding at the slickness of the ground; they ran at a break-neck pace.

The promise of safety, oh so close in front of them, only for Katara to feel a sudden tug of her parka hood.

Ripped from the grip of her brother’s hand, she was sent reeling back.

The air left her lungs as she hit the ground with a thud.

When her eyes focused once more, she saw red ones staring back.

“Don’t worry,” It said with a tilt of its long neck, one clawed hand reaching down toward her, “I’ll make it qui…”

Several streaks of blue flashed through the air.

And the Cursed One never finished its sentence.

Shards of ice lay imbedded in the thing’s neck, blood as black as its flames, dripped down scaley skin and pooled on the ground.  

“Katara!”

Her brother was there, and he pulled her to her feet, right as the thing fell over. Crimson eyes clouded over and flickered dark before it reached the ground.

“Wh…what…happened?” Katara asked, mittens clutching her stomach as she looked at what remained of the Cursed One.

‘It was a he.’ She realized, as she took a proper look at the face of the one who moments before had been staring at her with hungry eyes.

He was, had been, maybe her father’s age, if she had to guess. The grey scales that covered his limbs moved up to the sides of the Cursed One’s face, where long black hair of a beard grew instead.

“Hey!” Her brother shook her and pulled her away from the corpse, and Katara found herself able to tear her eyes away from the body and the black blood pooling underneath.

“Sokka…” Tears had begun to well up in the girl’s eyes as she and her sibling crossed the divide from shadow to light.

“Child. You, you can hear it as well, can’t you?”

Katara nearly jumped back into the darkness. Before them, stood the dancer from Old Fang, and though she placed herself in front of Katara and Sokka both, she stared intently at the sister. 

“Don’t let the others know what you did. That you can hear it!” The dancer gave a stern warning; her unblinking eyes fixed on the girl.

And Katara found herself drowning in confusion at the odd request.

“She did it,” Sokka confirmed, “She’s the one who saved you. She shot the ice at it.”

And Katara found herself looking to her hands once more.

“What do you mean? Don’t tell…” Katara began to ask.

However, the dancer simply hunched over and instead, her lips tugged into a cruel smile as she looked to the direction of the ocean. 

“Sokka! Katara! Get away from them!”

The men of the south had returned. Anchored by the ocean’s edge was the Water Tribe’s fishing vessel, while the path held the fast-approaching chief and warriors.

Katara’s father rarely showed his ire around either her or her brother, but in that moment as he marched across the frozen sand, Hakoda looked absolutely livid at the dancer, who’s smile only grew more prominent the closer the men got.

“Oh, little Hakoda thinks himself a mighty warrior, when all he does is send our people fleeing.”  The dancer mocked as she moved past the two children and put herself directly in front of the approaching warriors.

“We are not of the same tribe anymore, Hama.” The Southern Chief stated bluntly as he addressed the dancer by name.

“Ha!” The one called Hama spat before turning hungry eyes to Hakoda, “How’s your mother? Is she well?”

“You made your choice.” The chief growled out, ignoring Hama’s questions all together.

Coming to a halt before the woman, Hakoda towered over the hunched dancer and pointed to the cliffs above them, and then bit out a warning, “Stay away from my children.”

“Fine.” Hama managed to curl her lips even more, as she gave a glance to Katara before the elderly woman moved her hands downward and upward in one fluid motion.

The ice at Hama’s feet melted and a torrent of water surrounded her, shooting the woman straight up and over the cliff.

Katara and her brother let out a gasp of shock as the warriors about them murmured something along the lines of “ill omens.” The chief, let out one more growl, his eyes trained on the cliff edge where Hama disappeared.

With a shake of his head, Hakoda turned to one of his men, the tallest of the group, and gave an order, “Bato, get it to the sunlight, just to be safe.”

The tall man motioned to two of his compatriots and the group began to drag the body of the Cursed One out of the shadows. Katara watched, the buzz of adrenaline ebbing and leaving her small body, only for her heart to leap into her throat as the remains passed over to the light. The body began to smoke, and the warriors stepped back as the Cursed One caught a light and began to smolder in hot red flames.

“Are you two alright?” Hakoda’s voice dropped its edge as he pulled both of his children into an embrace.

And Katara let out a soft sigh and nodded into the folds of her father’s parka. The feeling of safety worked its way over her like one of her home’s fur blankets.

“Dad! Dad! It was crazy!” Her brother pulled away from their father’s arms as he began to recount, “I thought we were going to die and then, Katara did this thing, and, and, the water…it froze and stopped the Cursed One!”

Her father stilled, the warriors fell silent, and they turned their eyes to the girl in the chief’s arms.

“Daddy?” Katara looked up to her father, to see the corners of his mouth pulling downward as the man fought a frown.

“How long has she been able to do that?”

“The attacks, they’ve been getting worse for the last six years.”

“Since you’ve had her.”

Ending their musings, the warriors fixed their attention back to their chief. And Hakoda in turn, picked up his daughter, took his son by the hand and began making his way to the cliffs.

“What if that’s why? The spirits think we’ve been going back on our word!” One of the warrior’s shouted to his chief’s turned back, “He needs to be called for. He will want to know!”

“We didn’t know.” Katara could feel her father’s grip tighten about her as he answered, “We’re fixing this now.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When they reached the tundra’s plateau, Katara’s mother along with what seemed like the rest of the tribe were waiting for them.

“Hakoda!” The tribeswoman dashed forward, reaching her family she gave a breathless explanation, “We saw Hama and got worried…”

Kya trailed off as she saw her two children among the warriors and questioned, her blue eyes full of worry as she looked to her husband, “Why were the children…? What’s happening?”

“Kya,” Hakoda began, “The angakok needs to be called, our daughter, she’s one.”  

And the stillness the went through the warriors down below was matched by the tribeswomen on the plateau. Until a few made a dash back to the village.

As the chief moved past, with his daughter still in his arms, it was Kya who moved to block her husband’s path.

“Wait! Stop!” She cried as she gripped Hakoda’s arm and fixed him with a defiant stare, “She’s old enough to remember!”

It was then that Katara’s Gran Gran stepped forward and put herself between the couple.

Turning to face her daughter-in-law she hung her head, “We can’t be impartial, we’ve asked this of others among the tribe, we cannot hold ourselves higher.”

And the girl, wrapped in her father’s arms, felt a sudden chill go through her.

“Kya,” Hakoda placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder as he placated, “it will be alright, you know this.”

And Kya closed her eyes, nodded her head, and let her husband pass.

“Mommy!” Katara whimpered, reaching out for her mother who watched in anguish.

She did not understand the stares, the looks of fear, the reason why the tribe, her tribe, were acting as though she had broken every rule ever told to her.

“I’m sorry!” She cried out, still reaching for her mother, “I’m sorry I went down to the water!” 

“You did nothing wrong!” Her mother took one step forward, before she held herself back, “It will be alright!”

Her voice sounded sure, but her eyes told a different tale altogether.

“Wait! What’s happening? Where is Dad taking her?” Came her brother’s voice.

She could see Sokka, looking ready to chase after, before he was intercepted by the other tribe members.

“What about your son? Is he one too?” She could hear someone interrogate.  

“N…no…it wasn’t me…” Her brother trailed off, one hand gripping his arm; his head hung in defeat.

It was then that Katara’s tiny body was wrecked with sobs. No longer wanting to look at the stares from her tribe, she buried her face into her father’s shoulder, though it did little to stifle her tears as she was brought to the tribe’s meeting hall.

“Katara,” Her father whispered to her as he placed a gentle hand on the back of her head, “I know you usually are fearless, but I need you to be brave right now. I need you to do everything that the angakok asks of you.”

Placing her on solid ground, the chief bent down and looked his daughter in the eye, “You understand, right?”

The truth was, that Katara did not understand. Not in the slightest. But she managed to nod her head through hiccups all the same.  

The hand of the elderly angakok reached from behind, and with a deceptively swift motion for one so aged, a sack was thrown over the girl’s face.

“Daddy!” Katara yelled while attempting to remove the covering.

“Don’t take that off!” The elder commanded, before giving a cryptic explanation, “He must not see.”

Katara’s breath hitched as she felt herself pulled into the meeting hall.

“Be brave!”

She could hear her father call after her.

“Are you…alright?”

“…I don’t… like this memory.”

“You don’t have to….”

“No, it’s fine. I’m not afraid of my past.”

The room smelled of smoke from the hall’s central fire, it mingled with that of burning sage, as the angakok began to beat a qilaat.

“Masks and hoods on everyone! Do not let him see your face!”

There came the sound of shuffling from others around her with the elder angakok’s order.

“What did I…?” Katara tried to ask again through her face covering, only to be interrupted.

“Daughter of Hakoda and Kya; you have come into the power gifted by the Moon and Ocean.” The angakok proclaimed.

The beats of the qilaat grew stronger.

“You were given power little one, but it must be offered back to The Ocean for the safety of the tribe.” Came the explanation.

The beats grew faster.

And Katara’s breath grew ragged, as she gripped her hands tight.

“We call on the Ocean’s mediator! Oh, Great One, we humbly ask that you accept our offering to La!”

The smell of smoke and sage permeated through the sack.

The qilaat beats came; faster and faster.

And then…

Came a chill, as the flame at the hall’s center flickered out, and something dark blotted out the rest of the light.

”You have called for me? For what purpose, human?”

Came a voice not of a tribe’s person or a Cursed One. Something else, something ancient, but above all else she knew it was not the voice of the singer. She did not know that voice.  

“We humbly ask that you take this child’s bending.” Came the angakok’s voice.

Katara felt herself pushed forward, closer to where the something had been speaking.

“She’s quite old.” The something accused, as the sound of slithering crept closer to where Katara stood shaking, “It would be a shame if the Ocean thought that you had been hiding your benders...”  

The angakok’s next words came out as shaky as Katara’s legs felt, “Apologies, Great One. She only just formed a connection.”

“True, these things do happen…”  The something agreed as the slithering grew closer, “You did the right thing. The Spirit La will be pleased for your…decisiveness.”

And the qilaats continued to beat.

“You need not fear, people of the Southern Tribe. My master’s blessing will continue to watch over you.”  

And Katara could feel the something’s breath through the cloth hood.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night, Katara fell asleep, crying into her mother’s lap.

Her home, warm, and inviting as it had always been, her family about her, and her mother’s hand, gently running her fingers through her hair, did little to ease the girl’s distress.

She could no longer hear it.

She could no longer hear the song.

…And when my brother went to check on the tides the next day, he saw that the ocean had crept back closer to the south’s true shoreline.

For the last hundred years my tribe has sealed our benders’ ability to command the water and ice; an offering to the ocean in return for our safety during the long nights of the south.

A gift to the Ocean Spirit. That’s what the angakok called it.

But that was a lie…

Chapter 3: The Lone Wolf-Deer

Sometimes, I would still hear it.

The Singer in the ice…

In the times just before waking…when I would still be sleeping.

Somewhere between the Sun and the Moon…

That’s what my people would call it.

And I ignored it…until the day that I heard it again, though not in my dreams.

Katara held the reins tighter, while her other hand gripped a spear of solid bone. Perfectly balanced, it pointed straight ahead into the vast expanse of tundra before her.

Leaning over the sleigh, she shushed the two leopard-rams that pawed at the ground in anticipation. They were still young; her mother had helped her raise her team for the past three years, and they had grown to have a hasty disposition much like their master. And as Katara looked about the frozen tundra, glistening in the midnight sun, the Tribe’s Girl found herself needing to calm her own anxiousness. Girl and beasts; it was a trial for them all that day.

Looking up to the next snow ridge, she could see perched high, Fala and Namid waiting with their own teams. Fala, the taller of the two, gave a quick motion of her hand, before pointing down with the tip of her spear to the fields below.

Straining her eyes, Katara watched for movement in the drifts, and before long she spotted the glossy coat of a wolf-deer. A near pure white that blended into the snow, save for the mossy tips of black antlers that gave it away.

‘But…it’s by itself.’  Katara wondered, searching the drifts once more, ‘Where is its pack?’

She craned her neck behind her; the hybrid animals had been known to catch hunters off guard. A decoy would be dispatched while the rest would surround the sleigh of the hunter separated from the others, at which point…

The hunter became the hunted.

But the Tribe’s Girl found nothing behind her aside from wind whipped snow fields. 

Until…

Come and see… 

Katara stilled. Eyes wide, she stared into the white void before her.

Had she truly heard what she thought she did? She was truly awake…wasn’t she? In that moment the Tribe’s Girl wasn’t sure, and her hands loosened on her hold of her reins, the end of her spear dipping into the snow.

Perhaps she was still dreaming, and she had yet to leave to earn her mark. She gave a tilt of her head, closed her eyes, and focused on finding the song that should not have been.

Cries from the top of the ridge put an end to Katara’s uncertainty. Whipping around again, she found that the other hunters had charged forward, racing down the hill with fierce cries.

The wolf-deer’s ears perked and dashed across the snow, as though demons were on its tail. Though, perhaps to the creature, demons might as well have been in pursuit of it.

Gripping her spear tight and adjusting her stance on the back of the sleigh, Katara gave a cry to match her fellow hunters. And with it, her team bolted forward, cutting through the ice with leaps and bounds.

Catching up with the other two, she motioned for Fala to take the left while she made to go at the creature from the right. Namid nodded in approval, her twin braids trailing behind her as she urged her own sled forward directly at the wolf-deer’s back. 

Leaning against the natural curve of the path, Katara outpaced their prey in seconds. Bringing her team to halt, the leopard-rams hissed and grunted, their heckles raised as they challenged the larger predator.  

Panting, the wolf-deer’s hunches rose. Boxed in by the hunters, the beast let out a snarl; low, but with all the power of a rolling storm.

The hunter raised her spear and held her mounts back, as they growled and flicked their stubby tails. 

Come and see…

The whisper returned, louder that time. Katara nearly dropped her weapon all together at the song that shouldn’t be, but yet was.

In her hesitance, Fala threw her spear in Katara's stead.

It missed its mark by an inch.

"Dammit!" The towering Tribe's Girl yelled in frustration.

In a blink, the wolf-deer lunged over the team of the tribe's mounts and collided with Namid, dragging her off her sleigh.

The unmanned team of leopard-rams, bucked against their tethers, and once undone, the beasts shot up and off over the tundra, away from their master's shrieks.

Leaving Katara and Fala to watch as the wolf-deer bounded off with their fellow hunter into the tundra.

With a yell, Katara whipped the reins.

Her sleigh charged forward, Fala not far behind; both following Namid's cries and the stains of red that fell against the white ground.

And then she heard it again.

Loud and clear as oceans waves crashing to the shore, the invisible Singer was at Katara's ear.

Come and see

Come and see

The song came from within her, and yet still, in every drift and flake of snow about them as the two hunters pushed forward.

She drowned it out.

Teeth clenched, she drowned out the song and focused on the patch of blue from Namid's parka up ahead.

The wolf-deer slowed, and halted.

Turning to the other hunters, it snarled with Namid's arm still clenched between its maw.

Namid, splayed on the ground, her free hand at the beast's mouth, struggled against the wolf-deer's clamped jaw, and let out a wail.

Unwilling to let go, the wolf-deer only clutched tighter and edged away from the other two girls attempting to surround it once more.

Katara eased off her sled, spear in hand, she inched forward; her boots crunching as they sunk into the frozen ground.

And then the song changed.

Come and see

I break I crack

Come and see

I am solid till I am not

Come and see

The wolf-deer darted back, making a leap with the Tribe's girl still in its grasp.

And the sound of splintering ice rang throughout the tundra.

Katara's eyes grew wide with the spider-mice webs that had formed and spread where the wolf-deer’s massive paws had landed.

The beast, realizing its folly; released Namid and made to run.

The gaps spread and the ground beneath both wolf-deer and Namid shattered beneath them both.

Fala let out a cry at the sight of the ice giving way.

The smallest of the hunters reached and grasped for some sort of handhold, as the ground made to swallow her.

Katara rushed forward, sliding across the ice, she reached out her hand towards Namid's.

Catching her fellow hunter, Katara felt herself begin to slip forward into the cavern that had opened at their feet.

There was a howl, then a thud, and then silence from somewhere below.

Namid, her eyes wide in fear, latched onto Katara's and cried, "He…Help!"

"It's…okay." Katara strained, as she felt her grip on her fellow hunter slipping, "I…got…you!"

Her own body, still sliding forward, the ground underneath her shuttering, the spider-mouse cracks growing…

Come and see

I break I'm brittle

Come and see

With her arm growing numb, Katara tried to find something else to grab, anything to keep her and Namid from falling.

"Here!" Fala cried. Tossing over a slip knot to the other two, she thrust her spear into the ground as an anchor.

I break I break I break

Come and see

Katara flung her arm through the knot, right as the ground underneath her gave way completely.

They plunged into the depths, until the line grew taught, and the two girls swung over the abyss.

Fala's strained cries coming from above her, Namid's shrieks from below, and the song that should not be all about Katara as she swung with the rhythm of the Singer.

"Don't…let…go!" Katara, still gripping tight, ordered.

"Ka…Katara! The wolf-deer!" The other hunter cried.

The Tribe's Girl chanced a glance below them. There lay their prey, motionless, along the crags at the cavern's bottom.

Katara tore her eyes from the creature and managed a weak smile to the girl she held, "Don't…look! Focus on…me!"

"No! No! No!" Came Fala's frantic shouts from above.

And the lifeline went limp.

The two hunters plummeted, the spear that had come loose following after.

Katara's stomach lurched at their descent, while Namid's screams echoed about her and mixed with the song reverberating around the frozen walls.

She took in one ragged breath, unwilling to let go of the hand that she held.

Come and see

Come and see

I freeze I thaw

I freeze I thaw

I rise I fall

Come and see

The song flowed through her as she fell. Each line pulsed with a feeling that she barely remembered from a long gone dream that lingered.

Extending her hand, Katara reached for the words that called to her.

Come and see

The ice about her shimmered, another pulse thrummed through her.

And she felt her heart leap when the ice wall that surrounded them melted, and rushed down to capture the falling spear of bone.

She released the breath that she had held; with it, the water froze, encircling the tip of the spear in solid ice.

The line went taught again, and Katara let out a groan as both her arms were pulled in the opposite directions by the lifeline and the weight of the other hunter.

The rope swung and then slowed to rock them in a gentle rhythm; Namid's whimpers drowned out the sound of the song, and Katara with her heart still pounding in her chest, took one look to the spear suspended over her head in wonder.

"Oh! Thank the Spirits!" Fala's head poked out over the edge of the crevasse with another rope, which she tossed down to the two girls still suspended in midair, "Here, I have this one tied to my team!"

With a sigh of relief, Katara guided her foot into the new sling, and with a grunt, heaved up Namid. Once both girls were secure, Fala gave a shout and her leopard-rams began to pull the other hunters up towards the light.

"You okay?" The older hunter asked the still shaking Tribe's Girl, forcing her hands to stop their own trembling as they passed the spear encased in ice.

Namid gave a gulp and a tiny nod of her head. Managing a smile, the younger girl gave a weak reply, "Ye…yeah…Thank…"

The rope swung them around, and with it, Namid's eyes traveled from Katara to the weapon frozen in the wall. Her smile faded and was replaced by an expression that mirrored the one she wore when she was taken from her sleigh.

Katara had little time to wonder about Namid's sudden quiet, for they both reached the peak, and Fala eagerly helped the other two onto stable ground.

"Are you two alright? Oh my spirits! When my spear came loose! I thought the worst!" The oldest of them exclaimed, bending over and grabbing her knees, she looked as though she did not know whether she should laugh or cry.

"I'm okay," Katara placated Fala with a hand on the taller girl's arm, "but we should treat Namid's wounds."

"Your spear, Fala…" The youngest of them stuttered, "It's stuck in the wall…"

"No worries Namid, it's a lucky thing it did." The tallest Tribe's Girl righted herself and looked between her two companions with a grin, "Definitely one for the Storyteller, right?"

"Right." Katara gave a small smile with a nod of her head. The memory of the song still lingering over her like a haze, she felt lightheaded and almost tipsy, as though she had tried to run a mile while holding her breath.

"Right!" Fala exclaimed with enthusiasm, startling the two others, she took no notice and continued, "So, we should pitch the tent and while you see to your wounds, I'll go about tracking down your sled team, Namid. Sound good?"

Katara gave a shake of her head as though to clear it while she concurred, "Seems like a plan."

The spare tent that they had on hand was hastily erected, and the furs that lined Katara's sleigh were used for makeshift insulation. With Fala's departure further into the tundra with a wave and a grin, it was left to Katara to see to their injured companion.

"Here, let me take a look…" The older Tribe's Girl began as she eased Namid's arm out of her parka.

Going to inspect the bite marks, Katara went and pulled out a small jar of walrus-whale salve, "I don't think this will scar, but we should treat where it pierced through your skin."

The younger girl could only pull at one of her braids. Stifling a cry she all but blurted out, "I'm sorry! It was my fault!"

"It's not your fault," Katara countered with a grumble, struggling with the jar’s lid, "This was our first solo hunt, and we all managed to stay in one piece. I'd call that a success."

"Your arm?" Namid asked tentatively while pointing to Katara, "It's not hurt, is it?"

"Fala's rope was pretty springy," Katara flexed her appendage to show her fellow hunter, "I'm lucky though… it did almost feel like it was going to get dislocated for a second. Here."

Namid winced from the cold of the medicine, and fell silent, her eyes wandering downward, not willing to meet Katara's gaze anymore.

"You know, it's okay to talk about what happened…" The older girl gave a gentle squeeze of Namid's uninjured arm, "It was really scary."

The younger girl's head shot up, and she looked for a moment as though she were about to say something, but paused. Still not meeting Katara's eyes she struggled to get out a string of nonsensical sounds before she managed to ask, "Katara…You didn't…"

"Hmm?" The Tribe's Girl gave a tilt of her head, as she began to pull out a cloth wrap from another pouch of their medical supplies.

Namid's eyes darted about the small space as though saying more would summon a monster. When her eyes finally came to rest on the other girl's, her voice dropped to a whisper, "…Bend?"

The way that Namid held her gaze, the way that the younger girl looked to her like she was another wolf-deer ready to drag her off into the tundra, sent a cold chill through Katara.

At first, she could only stare back at Namid. After a moment stretched on for far too long, Katara got to her feet. And felt the need to do something she rarely did, tell a half-truth.

"How could I?" She asked the other hunter.

The younger girl took in a sharp breath, and tried to protest, "It's just that… the ice and…"

"I don't know what happened," Katara interrupted, with what was the full truth in that instance. Gripping her own then shaking hands, she let out a sigh and gave a weak smile to Namid, "but I'm glad that we didn't fall."

Namid, looked as though she might have wanted to say more, but in the end, nodded silently in agreement.

With Fala's return, all three hunters stared down over the crevasse to where the wolf-deer lay below.

 "Is this really a good kill?" Namid questioned with a tug of her braids.

"Hmm…" The oldest of them looked unsure, hand to her chin she craned her head to the skies and pondered the question.

"We chased it…" Katara, narrowing her eyes at the drop before them reasoned, "It'd be worse to leave it."

"True," Fala ceased her pondering, and then addressed the youngest of them, "Namid, you mind watching the sleighs? Katara and me can hitch it to the net."

With Namid watching over their mounts, it was left to the elder two to scale down into the abyss. And for the second time that day, Katara descended into the dark, though thankfully, at a much steadier pace.

"It's strange,” Katara's concern echoed about the frozen walls that surrounded them, “that it was alone."

"Yeah…how's Namid?" Fala quickly changed topics to their fellow hunter with her eyes shooting up to the light, "She still looks shaken up."

Katara could only tilt her head at the older girl, and gave a new question instead of an answer, "Well, can you blame her?"

"No." Fala gave a weak chuckle, "We can't all be fearless like someone."

"Haha, I was terrified too." Katara admitted as she gripped the rope about her tighter.

"And yet, here you are." Fala countered, her grin back and bigger than before, "Jumping right into the place you fell into. The Storyteller's going to have a field day with this one!"

"Maybe we leave out the bit about us almost dying…" Katara balked at the realization of her family hearing about her actions, "I can already see my parents' faces…"

She trailed off as they both passed the still encased spear, her eyes inadvertently falling on the end stuck in ice. And her breath caught in her throat.  

"I guess you also don't want to show-up your brother." Fala, whose grin had turned mischievous, added, "There's no way his story can top ours!"

"Oh!" Katara brought a finger to her chin as they touched down to the crevasse's bottom, "I have no problem with that. Forget what I said, let's embellish instead!"

"That's the spirit!" The tallest Tribe's Girl pumped a fist to the heavens above, before circling back to the original topic, "Still, it was odd that it was by itself, right?"

Katara silently agreed as the two stood over the motionless body of the wolf-deer. It's pure white coat, stained red; one of its antlers broken off in the fall. Far below the winds of the tundra's surface, at the bottom of the cave it was still, all too still.

And although she had been prepared for the outcome of the day, Katara couldn't help but feel as though the ice walls clung to her in the dark, in the stillness, then void of the Singer in the ice.

"It was a she!" Fala exclaimed, looking up from where she was examining the remains.

"That's even weirder then!" Katara mused out loud. For it were the males that would often strike out from the pack, "Why…"

"Hey! Are you two alright?" Namid called down, her voice still rang with worry as she inched as far as she dared over the ledge.

"We're good!" Fala waved up with the affirmation, "Give us a sec."

"Better to get started then." Katara commented while laying out their net, and the two began to work together to heave their prey over it.

After all hunters were back at the surface and the wolf-deer secured to Fala's sleigh, when their team was prepared to head back to Wolf Cove, and Katara was fastening the last of the knots to her own vehicle, that was when she saw it.

"Hey, you all set?" Fala asked while leaning against one of her own mounts.

"You two go on ahead, I'll catch up." Katara assured, still eyeing something in the distance. Her one leopard-ram had spotted it too, and she pawed at the ground and gave a small hiss at the thing.

The eldest gave a shrug and flashed another grin. With a tug of her reins, she called over her shoulder, "Don't take too long!"

"Katara…be careful." Namid whispered before she too took off towards the direction of home.

One breath in, one breath out, and Katara walked forward to meet the something in the snow.

It was small and hardly noticeable, but she could make out the small black nubs of antlers that gave away the rest of its near-perfect camouflage. It half wobbled, half trotted over to the crevasse's edge and sniffed the air, before raising its head to give a soft howl.

Katara shushed her still growling mounts and stepped closer to the tiny ball of white fluff staring unblinking at her approach. When she got close enough to reach out to the creature, the pup got to its feet and let out what would one day be, no doubt, a threatening growl.

The Tribe's Girl slowly lowered herself to the ground, the question of why there was a lone wolf-deer separated from its pack, answered.

"I'm sorry." She whispered to the still growling pup.

With downcast eyes, the hunter reached out her mitten covered hands. The pup's ears flicked up, and it tentatively reached its tiny snout forward. One sniff of her gloves, and its ears went flat against its head with teeth bared.

Katara looked to the covering, and then removed one glove, and offered her bare hand instead. Again, the wolf-deer sniffed at the hand being offered. That time, the pup's teeth chomped down on the Tribe's Girl.

She let out a gasp of shock, but before Katara could blink, the pup had already bolted back the way it had come.

Wincing at the tiny puncture wounds about her palm, and the small droplets of blood staining the ground, Katara looked to the expanse of white before her, straining for the sight of two black nubs of antlers clearing the next ridge and out of sight.

Fala and Namid both stood waiting by the village's entrance; the taller girl waving brightly while the younger let out a sigh of relief.

Coming to a halt before her two fellow hunters, Katara set to work of freeing her mounts from their harnesses, when Fala's hand clapped her on the back. Turning to face the other girl with a quizzical look, she found the Tribe's Girl’s usual grin directed at her.

"You ready?" Came the excited question.

To which Katara smiled and nodded.

As the three brought their first kill through the village's gates and toward the home of the tribe's storyteller, the women about the village came out to greet them, all wearing a mixture of relief and pride at the sight of Wolf Cove's newest hunters.

The storyteller, with a neutral expression, greeted the three and ushered them into her abode with little fanfare.

Entering the cramped circular home that smelt of sage and tanned leather, the girls had to duck down to avoid banging their heads on the bone weapons that the woman had hanging from her ceiling.

Motioning for the three to sit before her, the storyteller bade them to tell the tale:

Fala spoke of how it was Namid that spotted their prey first, as well as Katara's daring at rescuing their fallen comrade.

Katara in turn, admitted to her own distraction and how she would have missed the wolf-deer entirely if not for Fala and Namid both.

And Namid, recounted Fala's and Katara's decisiveness and quick thinking, and how grateful she was for the both of them.

The aged woman listened in silence, her face as that of stone, as she listened to the hunters. When the tale came to its end, the storyteller gave a nod to all three.

"It seems as though you have put me to the task of finding the right marks for each of you." The face of stone cracked, and the wrinkles around the woman's eyes shifted as she beamed at the hunters, "Well done."

Leaving the storyteller's igloo, Katara felt the heaviness of earlier lift, and she breathed deep the crisp air of the early day. Her heart, leapt with excitement, for the danger had long passed.

"I'm going to tell my parents…well what I can before the ceremony later." Fala exclaimed with a fist into the air. No sooner did the words leave her mouth than she took off towards her home.

"I should probably go too…I'll…I'll make sure the leopard-rams all get fed." Namid gave the other Tribe's Girl a small smile before she went off toward the other end of the village.

Leaving Katara to strike off to her own family's igloo. The walk, which in all actuality was not far, seemed much longer to the girl at that moment. And the exhilaration she had felt mere minutes before had turned into a warren of butterfly-bunnies in her stomach, that only seemed to hop more fervently the closer she got to the curl of smoke that emanated from the top of her family's home.

By the time she arrived, she stood a bubbling pile of nerves at the entrance. Taking a breath and then two more, Katara pulled back the thick pelt at the doorway.

Drawing back her parka hood, she stepped into the warmth and announced, "I’ve returned.”  

“Welcome home!” Her mother was the first to greet her. Leaping up from the cooking pot she was tending too, Kya was at her daughter's side in an instant, fingers to the shining blue pendant that hung around her neck.

“How did it go?” Kana asked, hurrying to her feet at a much more subdued pace, her voice nonetheless, betrayed her excitement.

“We secured food for the village. The elders are dividing the wolf-deer amongst the families now." The daughter did her best to appear serious, but her mother's excitement was quickly spilling over to her, and she felt her lips pull into a smile despite her best efforts of appearing stoic.

Kya took her daughter into her arms, spinning her about the small home full of warmth and light, she exclaimed, "I knew you’d do wonderfully Dear-Heart!”

“After tonight, you will earn your mark," Katara could hear the pride in her Gran Gran's voice, though the woman was obscured from her sight due to Kya's embrace.

“And here we now have another full-fledged member of our tribe.” Katara's mother released her, it would seem only to beam down at her, before breathlessly asking, "Tell us, what happened?"

Bringing her daughter to sit atop a pile of pelts, the matriarch of the family chided her daughter-in-law.

"You know the ways, the Storyteller will spin the tales later tonight." Kana gave a wry grin, "Besides, you haven't even let her take off her parka yet, Kya!"

Kya, arms still about her daughter made a point to purse her lips while Kana chuckled and eased herself next to the other women of her home.

Taking off her mittens and parka to leave by the fire, Katara queried, “What about Sokka?”

“You know the men,” Katara's Gran Gran shook her head, “They can never keep track of time. They’ll be back soon.”

 Katara suppressed a laugh herself, dipping her head towards the broth happily bubbling over the fire, she breathed in the familiar scent of her mother's arctic-hen stew.

Reaching for the ladle, it was then that her mother's sharp eyes fell to Katara's hand.

“You've been hurt!” No sooner did the words leave the mother's mouth than she was inspecting the coagulated blobs of blood that had formed where the wolf-deer's teeth found their mark.

“Oh, um," Katara fumbled over her words with the feeling of her cheeks going red, "I got bit by one of the wolf-deer…”

“We should clean that…Here.” The mother dragged her daughter to her feet and brought them both before a low row of shelves near the back of the home. Grabbing a bowl and a jar of the same salve Katara had taken with her for her trial, Kya set to work.

“What happened?” The mother asked again, that time her eyes shown with concern.

And when the mother and matriarch exchanged a glance, it ended in Kana nodding her head in approval.

Katara took a gulp of air, the scent of the salve mixing with the herbs from the family's cooking pot, and settled on an answer, “Some of the ice gave way, and Namid fell with the wolf-deer, but Fala and I, were able to get her before…Urgh!" She halted her recount to let out a hiss where the medicine hit her hand.

“The caverns, they act like the veins of this land,” Katara's Gran Gran explained with a wave of her hand, “It is said that the best hunters have a sense for the tundra’s movements. Of course, my granddaughter would inherit that.”

Feeling a swell of pride over her Gran Gran's words, Katara gave the matriarch a soft smile.

"These look too tiny to be a full-grown wolf-deer…" Kya trailed off, continuing to examine her daughter's hand.

Katara winced as more salve was placed on the wound, "We didn't realize until it was too late that it was a mother…”

Kya's eyes locked on her daughter's and pressed, "What happened to the pup?"

The girl, at first avoided her mother's questioning gaze, but still answered, "I tried to bring it back, but it bit me instead."

"Hmm…" With her lips pursed again, it seemed as though Kya wanted to say more, but instead began to wrap her daughter's wound in soft cloth.

“It will heal, not to worry, Kya.” Kana chastised. The matriarch, most likely sensing what her daughter-in-law was unwilling to say out loud, placated, "Katara acted as she should. She offered the wolf-pup what she could. It's not her fault that it did not take the offer of aid."

Kya shot her eyes to the ceiling of their home and let out a sigh. One breath, then two, before she gave a small nod while she finished dressing the wound, and admitted, “You’re right.”

Resting her hand on her daughter's shoulders, Kya went to push a loose strand of Katara's hair loops back into place, declaring with a soft smile, “I’m so proud of you."

Once more in her mother's embrace, Katara buried her head into Kya's dark locks that had started to become flecked with white in recent years, and was hit with the comforting scent of aloe oil in the process.

She still had her doubts over what had transpired with the hunt. What had truly happened with the ice that had saved her and Namid both, and of the life that had been claimed in order to sustain her people.

But there in that moment, by the warmth of the fire, wrapped in her mother's arms, Katara let her doubts melt away.

When she finally broke away from her mother, something lying near the back of the igloo caught her eye. There sat a ruddy earthen pot; empty and recently washed.

The Tribe's Girl's eyes flashed in recognition, and she hurriedly pointed to the family's cooking pot, “I was wondering, can I have some of the arctic-hen?”

The mother tilted her head at the odd request, “Hmm…of course, but why…”

But by the time Kya gave her answer, her daughter had already begun to ladle a portion into the vessel.

“Thanks!" Katara exclaimed as she threw on her parka and mittens. With the lid over the clay pot secure, and the vessel tucked under her arms she called over her shoulder, "See you when Dad and Sokka are back!”

"That daughter of yours can never sit still." Kana could be heard while Katara moved the pelt aside.

"That, she cannot." Kya agreed with a laugh as the flap closed behind Katara. 

With the warm pot tucked safely under her arms, Katara made her way towards Wolf Cove’s main gate yet again. That time with Old Fang rising into view to greet her.

Curiously, there was a group of young boys gathered there. And the Tribe's Girl shrugged off the matter, thinking that they were perhaps waiting for the men to return, or in the midst of one of their games. Strange though, they marched into the tundra with small spears in hand.

A hand tugged at her sleeve and Katara had no time left to ponder the boys' antics. The unexpected touch nearly caused her pot of food to spill across the snowy ground, and she glanced to her side to find a small girl beaming up at her with a stuffed doll in hand.

"Big Sister! Play with me!" The Tribe's Girl pulled at Katara, leading her back towards one of the central igloos with crunching boots through the snow, "You promised that you would when you got back!"

"I did say something like that, didn't I?" Katara admitted, grinning down at the young girl she queried, "So, what shall it be Suluk? Penguin sledding, or …"

“For the Tribe! For the Tribe! For the Tribe!”

The small group of boys had begun to chant, their voices cutting through the air. A few of the women nearby shot their heads up to look at what the fuss was over, before going back to whatever task they had been seeing to with little more than a few shrugs. And as the boys marched out of the entrance to Wolf Cove, stranger still, they stalked off towards a lone figure in the distance.

A figure of a woman, dancing in the snow.

Katara gasped, and nearly dropped the pot she held a second time that day; her eyes traveling from the Tribe's Boys to that of the Bender, Hama.

'Why is she out in the open?' Her body went tense as she thought to herself, “What are they…”

Katara’s hand was grabbed by Suluk’s tiny one, who changed course and instead led Katara to the village's outskirts.

“That woman in the snow, she’s been acting funny.” The Tribe’s Girl explained, gripping her doll tighter, “That's what the older boys say. They said you have to be careful of benders because they bring the…you know.”

Suluk’s face fell into one of fear. One that Katara wished she did not recognize on those of the youngest of the tribe. An expression, that perhaps they had all become accustomed to wearing at the mention of the ones waiting for the sun to set.

A shudder went through her, though truthfully, she did not know if it was Suluk’s words or what she began to catch the boys yelling that was the cause.

“Get out of here!”

“It’s your fault my parents were killed!”

“Just leave! You selfish witch!”

A frown settled on Katara's face, and with a sharp inhale, she gave a quick apology to the Tribe's Girl at her side, "Sorry, we're going to have to play later."

"Aww…" Suluk bemoaned, though accepted Katara's words. She sulked away, hugging her doll closer, and made her way back to her home.

Katara marched forward, each foot fall bringing with it a crunch of snow in her wake, and when close enough she let out a shout, “Hey!”

 Startled, the small group of would-be warriors winced and turned to face the hunter, wearing sheepish expressions as they did.

“What do you think you all are doing?" Katara glared down at the group, "Back to the village!”

“But we were…” One of the boys began only to be promptly cut off.

“What?" Katara demanded, "Threatening an old woman? There’s nothing brave about what you are doing right now.”

The boys winced once more, and much like a wolf-deer turning tail to run, so too did the Tribe's Boys as they made a hasty retreat back through the gates, mumbling apologies as they went.

"Sorry."

"Sorry, Big Sister.”

One breath in, and the hunter set her sights on the Bender.

One breath out and tentatively, Katara stepped towards the scowling woman whose eyes were locked on her with a keen stare; that same almost hungry expression the Bender had worn during the day of their first encounter.

Offering the clay bowl of still warm arctic hen, Katara stumbled over her words, “I’ve brought you something…I thought that…"

“What? That this outsider needs pity from you?” Hama spat, turning her harrowing gaze on the pot the girl held as though it were something fowl.

“I was only trying to do something nice.”  Katara retorted with a  huff, and followed after the Bender who had begun retreating back toward Old Fang, "Besides! For someone saying they aren't interested in my food, you seemed to like the other meals that I've been leaving you!"

"Huh?" Cupping a hand to her ear, Hama called over her shoulder with a wicked grin, "Can’t hear the little Sealed One.”

Feeling the heat of a blush hit her cheeks, Katara gripped her hands tight about the pot she held, and stomped off after the Bender meandering off into the snow fields.

“Why are you so… so…irritable?” Katara managed to catch up with Hama. Putting herself right in front of the woman's path, she set the Bender with a disgruntled look.

And Hama bristled, a flash of white-hot rage etched in every wrinkle of her face, she leaned herself right into Katara's with incredible speed, “I told you not to say anything about the song. And you go and get yourself sealed! Foolish girl!”

The heat on her cheeks spread to the back of her neck, and Katara found herself leaning right back at the woman, “I was six! What was I supposed to do?”

“Fight!” Hama snarled, “Fight tooth and nail to keep the Ocean’s gift!”

She found herself taken aback by the Bender's words, and at a loss for words, Katara found that she could only gape at the woman. Hama eventually let out a snort, their staring match concluded, she promptly continued on her way to the outer edges of the fang.

And the one who had been full of daring earlier that day found herself rooted to the frozen ground. Her mouth had gone dry, and she forced herself to swallow before managing a weak protest, “The Angakok …”

“Is full of shite.” Hama interjected with one final snort.

One twist of the woman's hand and the ground before them cracked apart with a shudder, revealing a spiral staircase of solid ice. Eyes wide, Katara peered down into the dark that lay before her and watched the Bender hobble down as sure footed as a leopard-ram.

She shook her head, and Katara steadied herself, plunging into the abyss after Hama.

"Why would the elders force us to give up our bending if not for a good reason?" The girl questioned, one hand bracing the side of the ice wall, she continued her descent, her boots tapping with each step like a slow drip of icemelt.

Hama's head snapped around and peered at the one following her with a raised eyebrow and a curious stare, "They want to believe they are doing the right thing because they know no better." With that, the Bender continued on her way; mumbling to herself and fussing with her hands once she reached the bottom of the cavern.

Trailing behind, Katara waited until she reached the Benders side to ask, "What do you mean, they think they are doing what's…"

“No! You think!" Hama shouts echoed about the ice and rang in Katara's ears much like the song in the ice, "Think! Why would the Moon and Ocean gift us bending and then ask for it back? It doesn’t make sense!”

Her aged eyes pierced through Katara as though asking the girl to deny what she had said to be true. And the Tribe’s Girl found that she could not hold the Bender's gaze. Instead, she looked to the icy ground while gripping the wound on her hand that had begun to itch.

“You don’t really believe that you heard the Ocean Spirit’s voice when they summoned that thing? Do you?” Hama pressed the matter, and Katara found that despite herself, she had managed to catch Hama's eyes, and it was then impossible to look away.

When the girl remained silent where she stood, Hama gave a grumble of discontent and continued down the icy corridors of the tundra's veins.

The memory of the day; the hood thrown over her head, the burning sage, the drumbeats, and that thing's voice. The itching grew stronger, and she hastily removed her mitten to press her other hand over the wrapping.

She continued to follow Hama through the cave of ice, letting long buried event replay in her head, over and over until they came to the tunnel's end and to a small igloo nestled deep under Old Fang.

“It…that…It wasn’t.” Katara finally admitted with a mumble.

“Good," The Bender scoffed, "at least you’ve opened your eyes a bit.”

It was then that Hama, quick as a wolf-deer could pounce, reached out and pulled the girl's hand close to her face. And before Katara could protest, the Bender gave a sniff of the air and called forth a bit of the snow from about them, melting it in a blink.

When the water began to glow a brilliant azure hue in Hama's hand, Katara’s breath caught in her throat; not in fear, but in wonder at the light, that and the whispered song she could hear coming from within.

Come and see

Come and see

Take shelter with me

Take rest with me

Ease your pain with me

Come and see

She barely realized that the wrappings about her hand had come undone, or that the Bender had her injured hand engulfed in the water that was pleasantly warm. And within an instant, still fresh wound on her hand had all but healed to nothing more than a few pin prick sized imprints of where the wolf pup's fangs had first pierced her skin.

“How?” The girl asked breathlessly.

Hama clicked her tongue in exasperation, “Any Waterbender worth her salt can heal a simple wound like that.”

Examining her near healed hand and then eyeing the Bender, Katara let out a flabbergasted stammer, “You can…we can…?”

“I can." Hama clarified, "You? Ha!”

The girl took in a sharp breath, finally reaching her limits with Hama's insults, she gripped the pot of arctic hen tighter. But before she could say what she was about to, the Bender continued.

“I’m done playing games with you, Young One." Seeming to have lost her vigor from moments ago, Hama slouched, and looked much smaller in that moment. With a swift motion, she dissolved the ice that barred the igloo's entrance and waved Katara off, "Go on, back to your tribe.”

Katara watched the traces of melancholy race across the woman's face with her last words, and she stuffed down her own anger and the insult that she had prepared with it. Making to take her leave, the Bender's next words gave her pause.

“Leave the food." Hama called from the doorway of her sunken home, "I’ll accept the gift you offered Sealed One, as payment for you spying on me all these years.”

Letting out one more indignant huff, the girl turned back and placed the earthen pot at the feet of the Bender, and glared. One breath, then two, and Katara dredged up the rest of her courage and declared, “I can… I can still hear it. It’s muted, but the song, I can still hear it.”

It was then that Hama smiled; it was not a pleasant one, though not a truly cruel one either. Instead, it was but one of simple recognition.

"I do not have students." She declared matter-of-factly, “But perhaps, I was wrong. You aren’t too far gone yet…" With the hungry look back in her eyes, the Bender gave Katara an appraising look, "Find me when you have a bit more sense, One Who Bares the Mark of the Brave.”

Katara could only blink in surprise and began to protest, "I won't get my mark till…"

In a surprisingly swift move, the earthen pot was in Hama's hands, and the Bender took one step past the threshold of her home. The ice curtain fell and solidified around the entrance, effectively cutting off the rest of the Tribe’s Girl’s words.

Katara stood in shock at the sealed door where the Bender stood seconds before. The oddities of the day had begun to take their toll on the South's newest hunter, and Katara felt the sense of unease return like that of the rising tides.

It was then that the hunting horns rang through the air from somewhere up above; the sound echoed and traveled down the tunnel carved from ice, and the hunter journeyed back toward the light as fast as her feet could take her. For the horn could only mean one thing, the men had returned home.

The warmth of a fire, specially lit for the occasion, fell across her face as Katara stood amongst her peers at the center of Wolf Cove. It crackled and sparked into the cold air while the rest of the tribe gathered before the storyteller, busy recounting the tales of those who were to receive their marks.

The storyteller, dressed in her full regalia, complete with a fur lined cap, waved her arms aloft and spoke of the challenges that the hunters faced that day. Her form swayed with the exaggerated motions of her craft, leading to more than a few whispers and murmurs from the crowd. The woman's wrinkled hands cut through the air, and the Tribespeople waited on bated breath as to what would happen next. They audibly gasped once Katara and Namid falling into the depths of the tundra was revealed.

"…And for our chief's daughter, it is only fitting that she claim the Mark of the Brave."

"Just had to show me up, didn't you?" Sokka nudged her side once the storyteller passed, though despite his words, a smile played on his lips.

Too busy tracing the fresh mark of blue ink in the shape of a crescent on her forehead, it took Katara a moment to process what her brother had said. Hama had indeed been correct with her prediction, and that did little to ease her apprehensions that had already risen and fallen several times that day.

From the Singer returning, the shattering tundra, the wolf-pup, the Bender, and then to her receiving her mark; it had truly been a day for the storyteller. There was no doubt about that in Katara's mind.

"You seem like you had quite an adventure yourself." Katara chose to forget the Bender's apparent clairvoyance and nudged her brother back, "Don't sell yourself short."

"Well, Mom and Dad didn't go all wide-eyed for mine." Sokka flashed a wry smile and with a tilt of his head pointed to the direction of both their parents.

Katara felt the heat from more than the nearby fire when she did manage to look at Hakoda and Kya. It truly was hard to tell whether they were incredibly proud, or ready to tell her off for being too reckless. Though something else began to pick at the back of her mind as the storyteller continued the hunter's tale. By comparison, the story of the boys' ice dodging trials had been very vague.

Almost intentionally so.

And despite his joking, Katara's brother and the other boys who earned their marks had all been somewhat guarded since their return to the village. As though they were still out in the waters, weathering a great and terrible storm.

"Hey, you okay? You should be proud." Sokka leaned over to whisper to her, "I was only messing with you. Mom and Dad will be fine, don't worry…Gran Gran looks thrilled, by the way."

And indeed, the family's matriarch was beaming at both her grandchildren. With that, the anxiety ebbed from Katara's body, and a small laugh managed to escape her throat before she clamped her hands over her mouth.

That earned her and Sokka both a raised eyebrow from the storyteller, who managed to catch the chief's children babbling.

"Should I change both your marks to 'Those Who Can't Keep Quiet During a Ceremony?'" The aged woman hissed under her breath in passing.

The siblings shot their eyes skyward and promptly ceased their exchange. An approving nod and a sideways glance was given to them both before the tall woman bent down over Namid to place a mark on the petit girl's forehead.

With the last of the youths earning their place as full members of the tribe, the storyteller presented the newly marked, and the small crowd of Wolf Cove cheered and rushed forward to meet them.

"What do you mean, you left the spear?" One of the newly marked Tribesman could be heard accusing Fala.

"It was stuck really good in the ice." The tall girl protested before pulling the youngest of their group to aid her, "Namid, you were down there! Tell them how good my spear was."

"Oh well…" Namid could be heard stumbling over her words and with a tug at both her braids she settled on, "…the ice was shining so much…I was too scared to really notice..."

Katara could only shake her head as she took off after Sokka. More eager to get to the bottom of the boys’ trial than to think about her fall into the ice, and the fate of Fala’s spear.

"Your story…it sort of felt like it was missing parts." She grabbed her brother's arm as they both headed towards their family.

Sokka's face fell, and with a shrug gave a brief explanation, "Dad'll have an announcement about that."

And indeed, Katara did not have long to wait, for Hakoda gave both his children an endearing smile. The chief gently grasped both their shoulders before he moved past them to address the crowd.

'His eyes…look tired.' Katara felt her face pull into a frown with the observation.

"My Friends, my Tribe," The Chief of the South waved a placating hand before him, and the people of Wolf Cove stilled and hushed, becoming much like the fallen snow, "I need to tell you the full tale of the day's trials."

Katara looked from her father to mother; Kya stood hand over her throat, though she did not seem surprised by her husband's actions.

"We have always survived by banding together during the dark days," Hakoda continued, "and we are going to need even more of our resilience this winter."

"What do you mean?" A Tribe's Woman called from the crowd.

Hakoda closed his eyes, and to Katara it seemed as though her father wished that he did not have to deliver the news that he was about to, "The Cursed Ones. They are already at our shores."

The tribe was no longer hushed snow, but an avalanche with a shared cry while an overwhelming sense of panic ran through the small crowd.

"But we have time!" The chief's voice rang over the rest of the tribe, "They won't step foot on land while the sun still shines. And we have done well this season, if we stick by each other, and ration, we should be able to hold out at The Heart for longer this winter."

"Are you sure? That they really are…" An elderly Tribesman trailed off, with a mittened hand running to the side of his face, he suppressed a shudder.

A murmur ran through the people of Wolf Cove; neighbors and friends looked to one another for assurance over what they heard to be true. And Hakoda stood silent, waiting for his people's answer.

"You heard our Chief," Kya stepped forward and took a spot next to her husband, "We stick together, we look out for one another, and we survive together."

Kya's words rang with a finality to them, and the Tribespeople found that they could no sooner argue with her than with a raging storm. And so, they remained where they stood and listened to what their chief would say next.

"The plan is to make it to the northern fishing grounds by the time the sun sets on Wolf Cove." The chief began to lay out his plan.

"But the ocean has receded greatly in the last few years…" One of the elders called out in concern.

"This is not about gathering more food, this is about keeping the same amount of distance that we've always had from the Cursed Ones." Hakoda clarified, "And then we strike out to The Heart early and wait for the sun's return."

"The ground there can get weak before the winter has a chance to harden it." It was Katara's Gran Gran who then eyed her son. Pointing out the flaw in his plan, she set him with a piercing gaze.

"I know," The chief spoke directly to his mother, before addressing the rest of the tribe, "that's why we stay on the strongest paths that we know. The ones that are sturdy. The ones we know for sure that will lead us to safety."

Katara found herself holding her breath, the weight of something much more than a failed hunt resting about the crowd, and within her own heart.

And then…

The unsure murmurs shifted and changed to that of a war cry, and the Tribespeople began to pump their fists into the air.

With that, the tribe began filtering out of Wolf Cove's center with purpose. The elders took it upon themselves to shout out assignments while the newly marked took their place among their parents; all set to work to abandon their home once more.

"They're waiting?" Katara raised an eyebrow as she questioned her brother. To which he could only nod somberly.

"And they can't be dealt with the usual way?" Katara pressed, "I thought our blasting jelly supply was still in good order."

"They managed to rig their ships with some sort of "permanent" canopy." Sokka's eyes flicked back and forth, calculating something or another as he gave his explanation, "Started covering their ships with metal. We're going to have to expend a lot more resources in order to clear their boats now."

"Why start now all of a sudden?" Biting her thumb, Katara mused, more to herself than to Sokka.

"Probably didn't have the ability until recently." The brother heaved a great sigh at that admission, "It's all refined metal."

"From the Earth Kingdom?" Katara's eyes flew wide open at that.

Had the walls of the continent been breached? The Tribe's Girl found herself wondering that and other such horrors as to the question of how the Cursed Ones had been able to upgrade their ships since the winter prior.

"Who knows?" Was all her brother could reply before he walked to where their mother and Gran Gran waited.

After the ceremony of the newly marked, the tribe of Wolf Cove set to work: their homes were emptied of all necessities, their rations divided among the families, and their livestock herded in the middle of their sled formation.

By the next evening, their village was left silent behind them, and the tribe ventured into the tundra under the midnight sun a month ahead of schedule.

With her brother, Katara steered her team, following the trail left by their parents. Chancing one look back at the walls of her home, Katara suppressed a gasp at the sight of a lone figure, dancing about the unmanned gates.

"Where'd you put the seal jerky?" Her brother asked, reaching over and beginning to rummage through their supplies.

The younger sibling took one more lingering look at the Bender before scoffing at her brother, "Sokka! We just left, and we were told to ration."

The brother grumbled but relented. Instead, he began pulling out a map and compass, setting to work of tracking their heading. Seeing Sokka’s expression sour at the lack of seal jerky in his stomach, Katara couldn't help but poke the platypus-bear a bit more.

“Which way, Oh Wise One?” She gave a flourish of her hand toward the tundra before them.

She was surprised when the Tribesman's face only fell further, and instead of paying her back in kind, he questioned, “Is this really the best time to be telling jokes?”

“What time is better?" Katara asked back with a raise of her eyebrow, "So what? The Cursed Ones found a way to get a head start. You were able to warn us in time.”

“Always the optimist." The older brother shook his head, "Things are only going to get harder, and you’re treating this like it’s nothing.”

“I know how serious it is, but what could we do differently right now?" Katara countered with a huff, "I’m not going to be afraid of something that I don’t have control over.”

Something flashed over her brother's face, and to Katara, it seemed as though he was internally debating if he was going to say anything at all. Having gone to inspect the compass once more, Sokka remained silent and the sister assumed that their conversation had ended.

Until…

"Things you have control over…Like the ice and snow?”

Katara's head jerked to the side and found her brother studying her with that same curious expression he often had when trying to solve a problem. And she felt her heart race as though she had been caught red-handed in their mother's stash of sea-prunes.

“What are you talking about?” She grumbled, somehow managing to keep her tone even.

“I heard something…before we left." Sokka pressed the matter cautiously, "It sounded like…Katara, you didn’t?”

“What are you trying to say?” The younger sister snapped.

The wind gust of the tundra tore her parka hood back. Her hair, tied in a single braid, trailing behind her, the cold air biting into her exposed face, though she only cared what her brother would say next.

“Namid's been cagey. She said something weird before we left, and if I didn't know any better it sounds like she's covering for someone who's…Did you…" Sokka paused, hesitated as he appeared to run into a lack of words, before settling on, "Can you?”

“No." Katara replied flatly. Tearing her eyes away from her sibling, she stared straight ahead to where their parents' sled was still visible through the snow swept wind, "I was sealed, remember? I’m not a Bender anymore.”

The older brother remained unusually silent, and the younger sister found herself needing to fill the void, “Besides, Namid nearly died. Of course it's going to take her time to get over what happened!"

“Katara…what do you mean, sealed?” The question only caused the Tribe's Girl to take in a sharp breath.

"That must be what happens." Her words came out like a flurry, the events of the trials racing across her mind, "When they take a Bender to… it doesn't take away the bending, it just blocks it. Hama said…"

"Hama?!" Sokka managed to hiss under his breath, looking about them to see if any of the other teams were within earshot, his one eyebrow twitched at his sister's admission.

"She was outside the gates before you came home." Katara hissed back, "She kept calling me a Sealed One."

"By yourself?" Sokka chastised, "You should have asked for help."

"She never harmed anyone from the tribe." Katara waved off her brother's concern, pulling her hood back over her head.

To which the Tribesman retorted, "She's a Bender, her being around the village is a danger to us."

Her brother's words struck a nerve with her; a deep bubbling of heat rushed up from her stomach to her neck and then face. One sharp breath out, and she set Sokka with a glare, "If she's dangerous only because she's a Bender, then, am I?"

Sokka appeared taken aback. Mouth half open, he stopped himself from whatever he was about to say, and cast his eyes down towards the snow drifts.

"I don't think that." His voice, unusually soft, "But, do you think that sometimes it's sort of crazy that there are Benders to begin with? Is it really so bad to just be a person?"

And although his words were supposed to be a balm, Katara felt the bubbling sensation in her stomach still, and it was quickly rising to her throat as words. Hot with anger they reached the arctic air, "Two people would be dead today if I wasn't able to do what I did. One of them me!"

The two siblings stared at the other, and then a flash of recognition washed over her brother's face. In the second after she spoke, he had leaned back and away from her, only to shake his head in the next instance and right himself, closing the gap that he had made.

"Look, I don't know what happened and…I'm not blaming you…" He did his best to appease his sister before suggesting, "But…But, maybe we should tell the Angakok. Just in case?”

The Tribe's Girl blinked, looked to her brother as though he had grown a second head and asserted, “I’m sealed.”

"But if you aren't fully sealed…" Sokka began to protest, "If it didn't work..."

“I’m not doing that again!” Katara yelled at the thought of being in that confined space with the unseen thing that slithered and laughed with a cold voice.

Her brother could only look at her. Recognition flashed once more, and in bewilderment, he asked, “Are you…scared?”

Katara took a breath, and then one more, before she answered, “…Keep the line steady, Oh Wise One.”

 "…So, there I was, on the mast of the ship and then, I see something off in-between the ice fields…"

Katara watched from a distance, as her brother regaled the youngest of the tribe with the full story of what transpired the day of the boys' ice dodging ceremony. With Suluk on her lap, she only half paid attention as the distant sound of Ocean waves hit her ears in a chaotic rhythm that only the water could bring.

The tribe had made it to the North Beach a month ahead of their usual migration. And as her Gran Gran predicted, they had already had to navigate several pitfalls of unstable ground. The places nearest the shore, though, seemed sturdy enough for the temporary camp they had made until they struck off to the tundra's heart.

Glancing around the camp, she could see that a few of the adults also peeked from their own conversations over Sokka’s escapades. Off to one corner, Katara spied both her parents; her father’s arm wrapped about her mother as they sat near the central fire, listening to their son.

"We were lucky that you had the good sense to jump down and grasp the rudder when you did." Bato interrupted with a shake of his head, "We would have been pinned between two iron clad ships if not for your quick thinking."

"Wow…" The children of the tribe let out a unified gasp and either edged closer or backed away at the explanation.

"Your brother should take up an apprenticeship with the Storyteller instead of being so hellbent on taking over after your father." Fala rolled her eyes in passing at the over dramatic revealing of the boys' trials.

Katara bit back a chuckle, only to have the mirth she had felt be stollen by what she heard next.

Come and see

Katara stiffened at the voice of the Singer once more in her ear, and instinctively held Suluk tighter.

"Big Sister?"

Katara blinked, shook her head and gave a sigh. Bending down to the younger girl's ear, she whispered, "I'm okay. It's a little scary though, isn't it?"

To which, Suluk agreed with an eager nod.

"Don't worry, you have the Mark of the Brave." With that, Suluk went and gave the older girl's head a gentle pat.

And while Katara did indeed earn that mark, she did not feel particularly brave in that moment. And her face settled into a frown once Suluk’s attention went back to Sokka.

The truth was, she did feel fear, but not from the Cursed Ones in her brother's tale.

Come and see

“The last few years have not been so bad with the attacks. Perhaps we became too complacent with our good fortune.” An elder lamented with a shake of his head, as he and a small group gathered behind Katara.

And the Tribe’s Girl’s attention was divided into three in that moment.

“Don’t let the dilemma of the iron ships weigh on you.” One of the elder’s cohorts chided, casting his eyes out over to the water in the distance, he asserted, “This was an act of desperation. Perhaps they are finally starting to die off. Maybe we simply need to wait them out a few more years.”

"The ocean is further back than last year though." The third elder commented as she too, looked out to the water's edge.

"Do you think that maybe one of the little ones?" The first Tribesman asked, "Might they have come into their gifts?"

"It's possible," The elderly Tribeswoman gave a solemn nod, "we should maybe test them once the season is over…"

And a heavy weight settled over her with that simple conversation. Katara did her best to focus only on her brother's words and ignore the others floating about the air around her.

Until she couldn't.

'Am I the reason why?'

"I'm sorry, Suluk, I remembered something that I need to take care of." Katara made a hasty excuse and gently placed the Tribe's Girl next to the other children.

And then, she turned and faced the direction of the water.

Her boots crunched along the frozen path that sloped downward to meet the ocean; with her descent, the snow gradually changed to that of loose stone, and Katara lost her footing more than a few times at the shift in terrain.

It mattered not, for she followed after the Singer's whispered words that grew with the rolling waves while her people's laughter grew faint and distant; drowned out by the crashing tides against the shore.

'I'm not afraid.' The girl set her face with fierce determination and marched forward. Not truly knowing what going toward the ocean would accomplish, she nevertheless would prove her point if only to herself. That she was not afraid of what hearing the song meant.

When Katara reached the water's edge, she sat upon the frozen ground, and watched the water rise and fall to meet her. And the Singer called out with the lapping of the waves.

Come and see

And the girl who was usually brimming with daring, became all too aware of the fear that had crept into her heart.

She brought her knees up and buried her face into them with the simple truth. She could still hear the song that she shouldn't be able to, had bent the water when she shouldn't have been able to…Could very well be the cause of her tribe's misfortune.

Namid had been afraid at the sight of her bending, Suluk feared even the thought of a bender close by because of what they might bring, and Sokka…

'Was he scared of me? Would all of them fear me too…'

Come and see

I mend I heal

Come and see

The rhythm and tempo changed. The Singer whispered in her ear a song of comfort. And to the Tribe's Girl, it sounded like an old friend, one that she had once known long ago.

What's more, Katara did not hear deceit in the song, nor in what she had been holding onto tight within her own heart.

'But I saved her…us! Without bending we would have both been…' The Tribe's Girl held herself closer, heaving a great sigh as she did.

'What am I supposed to do?' She thought to herself while tracing the mark that was put on her forehead weeks before, "What is the right thing to do?"

"Katara?"

The girl turned from the ocean to find her mother standing behind her. The woman's hand, hovering over her throat to where her pendant hung under her parka.

"What's wrong? Why are you here by yourself, Dear-Heart?" Taking a few steps forward, Kya looked to her daughter with a worrying gaze.

“Mom," Katara began, and her eyes flicked from Kya and then back to the water, before giving a knee jerk response, "nothing's wrong."

And she instantly regretted the falsehood she told.

"Katara." Kya breathed out her daughter's name with a knowing look. Taking a seat next to the Tribe’s Girl she asserted, "I think I would know more than most when something is bothering one of my children."

The daughter, continued to stare out into the sea, watching the waves lap the shore. Turning over the jumbled thoughts that ran across her mind, she finally settled on a question, "Do you think that there's something wrong with me?”

Kya blinked in surprise over her daughter's words. And in an instant, she questioned back, “Why would you think something like that?”

“Maybe I’m not doing enough." Katara bit at her lip as she struggled to say the true thing she wanted to, "Maybe, I’m being selfish...”

“Katara, you pull your weight and then some. You always have." Kya interjected. Reaching out to grab her daughter's arm, her voice grew concerned, "But I’m worried as to why you would think otherwise.”

“Some of the others," Katara struggled to find her words, "they thought that Benders are to blame for the Ocean leaving. And well…I…”

“That is nonsense!” Kya shot a look over her shoulder, back to where the tribe camped, "Who's been saying such things to you?"

“No one!" Katara rose to her feet and began to pace, clarifying, "Not really 'at me.' But you didn’t think that back when…what if…” She let out a grumble along with her frustration. Pulling at her braid she managed to get to the heart of the matter, “Is it possible for someone to get their bending back?”

Her mother's expression turned contemplative, and Kya searched her daughter's face for a moment before answering, “I’ve never heard of such a thing, no."

She then gave Katara a soft smile and bade her to sit back next to her, who in turn looked back out to the ocean, but nonetheless gave into Kya's request.

"But I do know that sometimes, someone who was gifted by Tui and La…sometimes they would feel like they could still bend the water." Kya peered at her daughter once more, "Has something like that happened?"

Still unable to look directly at her mother, Katara gripped her one arm and nodded.

"Oh, Katara!" Kya's arms found themselves around her and pulled her close, "I’m so sorry. I wish you would have told me sooner.”

“I didn’t want to be a burden." The daughter mumbled into her mother's hair, "I know things are hard…”

“Life is always hard." Kya corrected. Pulling away from the girl, she placed a hand on her daughter's face, "But what has never been difficult, is being your mother.”

And the Tribe's Girl felt a feeling of warmth spread over her as though she were back home settled around their family's cooking pot.

“After both my parents were taken from me…I felt so lost." The Tribeswoman continued, hand over her throat once more, "But I knew that one day I wanted a family of my own, and that I would find my place in the home that I would help make for myself.”

“It’s not like I don’t feel like I belong…” Finding the question that her mother silently asked with her story, Katara took Kya's hand in her own, “It’s…Something is not right with me…I think."

“Oh Dear-Heart…” Kya breathed out a sigh and leaned in towards her daughter, “I know what it’s like. To feel out of sorts with yourself sometimes. That's simply a part of growing up.”

And Katara found herself smiling despite her confusion, for like the song in the ice seemed to be singing the truth, she had no reason to doubt her mother's words.

“Trust me, the feelings of being bound to the Ocean, it will fade.” Kya assured. And mother and daughter both leaned against the other and watched the sun that hovered over the horizon line.

Soon the night would claim the lands for the winter, but the warmth that it gifted would remain for a little while longer.

And for a brief moment, Katara was at peace. Regardless of the unanswered questions that she still grappled with.

'They’ll be time for that later.'

“I do miss it sometimes…" Kya admitted absentmindedly while running a hand through her daughter’s hair, "What it sounded like.”

The warmth that Katara had felt moments ago shuddered and froze over, as a sinking dread over her mother's last words took hold and grew roots. The feeling spread through her veins and sent a cold chill through her very core.

Without even realizing what she was doing, she bolted straight to her feet, and ran.

Ran from the shore, ran from the song…

Ran from her mother's calls.

Come and see

Come and see

The song, no longer a whisper, rang in Katara's ears.

I break I'm brittle

It rang with warning, as the Tribe's Girl's feet pounded into the frozen ground, sending splintering cracks of ice beneath her. Though in that moment she was too distracted to care to listen.

Her mother knew. She had known what it was like… had been sealed the whole time herself! The ice in Katara turned frigid; a cold anger directed towards the one person she had never been cross with for her entire life.

She ran without care or direction; her sole purpose in that instant was distance. The Tribe's Girl needed to get away, far away. Away enough to at least clear her head, till her chest stopped hurting, till she no longer felt the cold sting of tears pricking her eyes.

Come and see

She covered her ears; attempting to block out the song, she focused instead on her own words.

"I don't need you! Don't want to hear you!'"

Come and see

Come and see

The Singer reached a fever pitch; like drumbeats, it cried out again to her.

I Break

I Break

I Break

Katara ran deeper into the wilderness and forced all her will to listen to the sound of her heart instead of the phantom drumbeats of the angakok. Forced herself to breathe in the arctic air instead of the burning sage of a memory better forgotten.

She ran, and ran further until she collapsed into the snow and took in a huge heaving breath. And then another, and then one more, until the pounding of her racing heart slowed to a gentle thump.

'I'm being stupid!' She admitted with a groan, gingerly bringing herself to her feet.

Why had she run away? From her family, from her tribe, from her…

"It's not like either of us had a choice." She craned her head toward the darkening sky, "No one but the spirits determine whether someone can…"

'And it's not like one child could go against the will of the whole tribe.' She knew that well enough. For Katara's mother could very well have been much younger than she when sealed.

The Tribe's Girl took one more gulping breath and let her doubts and fears ebb, and then flow away, as though to will the cold she had felt inside her melt like the summer thaw.

She would go back, apologize, and put the song to rest, let it fade like the dream that it was and…

I broke I shattered

The Singer lamented.

I fell I shall not rise

I am the tears that are shed

The blood that runs red…

I broke I broke I broke

Do not see

The fear was back with renewed vigor, though not for herself. Remembering the first thing her mother ever taught her on their hunts, Katara began to follow her own tracks back the way she had come. And although moments before she had spent all of her energy, the heavy weight over her heart, gave her the strength to push herself forward.

For the Singer's words still held no lies.

The wind had whipped her trail clear for a section of her trek back, but with the sky fixed in twilight, with the first visible stars for the year, confirmed that she was indeed heading back the way she had come.

I broke I broke

Do not see

The Singer continued to mourn. And the hunter's heart grew heavier with each reframe, and each step she took. Down the same path that she had traversed in moments when she left the beach, then seemed to take an eternity on her way back to camp.

I broke I broke I broke

Do not see

Her head buzzed, her heart ached and as she reached the next ridge, Katara's breath stilled.

She could clearly see two footprints, not one, heading inland. One was hers but the other…

Katara's eyes traced the path of both, and her eyes went wide. The tracks led to a pitfall, while only one set reached the place where she then stood.

Do not see

Do not see

The Singer in the ice warned.

But Katara pressed on, for she needed to be brave, as much as she did not want to be.

She eased herself down the ridge, hand over her heart as she peered over the edge. And when she did, Katara, dropped to her knees.

It was not as deep as the crevasse her and Namid had fallen into, but much wider in comparison; with no chance for a hunter to have caught a handhold should they have fallen at the epicenter of the break.

At the bottom of the pit, the tunnel, the veins of the tundra; lay a lone figure. Still, far too still, surrounded by a pool of crimson.

"M…Mom…" The word came out horse, as though she had spent the whole afternoon shouting at every flake of snow on the tundra.

A small part of her wanted to look away, while the rest of her was truly ashamed of her cowardice in that moment. How could she? To turn her eyes from the scene that she brought about? Because she had been too afraid to be honest with her family, with herself?

Her body moved on its own; sliding down the embankment, she found herself kneeling next to her mother's unmoving form.

And while Katara knew in her heart of hearts that she had been too late, that the most important part of her mother was already gone, she felt compelled to still try to wake Kya.

"Please!" She begged, "Open your eyes!"

What started as a gentle nudge of her mother's shoulder became a desperate shake with trembling hands, "I'm sorry! It's my fault! It's my fault! Please wake up!"

Kya remained unmoved. And the daughter wailed up into the night air; one long ragged cry that felt as though a piece of herself left with it.

Come and see

Come and see

The song in the water swelled about her, rang in her ears, echoed throughout her.

And Katara stood. Remembering what a Bender could do.

She took one ragged breath, and with knitted brows she attempted to reach out to the water, to make it glow, to make it…

"Heal! Please! Heal her!" She implored the song in the water. And with her plea, she felt something, buried and hidden deep down inside her awaken.

The ice at her feet shimmered and started to rise.

"Yes!"

And the girl reached out further, the song grew louder and louder with the light emanating around her, it encircled her mother and then…

Pain.

It was sharp and sudden, and all consuming. It was indeed as though her blood had turned to ice in her veins in that moment. A strangled sound left her throat as she felt herself tip over and collapse.

Her vision blurring, she forced herself to look to Kya for as long as she was able, until the darkness ate at her vision and she was pulled into a frigid slumber.

She awoke to the sound of a small growl coming from somewhere above her head.

Katara bolted upright with a start. Her head throbbed, and her insides felt as though the whole tundra had seeped through her parka while she had slept. She let out a groan before the memory of how she came to be in the caves took hold.

"Did I…" The question, weak and small, died in her throat once her eyes came to rest on the still, far too still, form of Kya.

"No." Katara managed to choke out before tears welled in her eyes.

She had failed. Failed when it had mattered most. Failed to save…

Another small growl from her side reminded her that she was not truly alone in the pit. Startled, Katara cast her eyes away from her mother, and found the stark white coat and pure ebony antlers of a wolf-deer pup. It stared up at her unblinking, as though waiting to see what the hunter would do.

It was the same pup from a month ago, Katara simply knew. It had grown bigger; its antlers, more than nubs then, but it was the one who also lost a mother to the tundra's veins. More sure on its feet than when they had first met, it strode with less of a wobble as it took a tentative step and sat before her.

It gave a slight tilt of its head; its dark eyes fixated on the hunter and gave a small whimper as it sniffed the air. And a strange thought crossed her mind in the bottom of the pit. That there was still someone she could save.

The hunter held her breath, and reached out. That time, after the wolf-deer sniffed her hand, it raised its head to the sky and let out a mournful wail. And Katara let her tears flow free.

And as the wolf-deer howled, the hunter cried under the sky about to turn black.

It was a hard winter for my family, but we did not yet know that we had more to mend than we first thought.

When we arrived back at Wolf Cove that summer, the Cursed Ones, they didn’t leave it untouched.

Homes had been melted, our furs and food stores burned.

It was as though they were saying, “If we are to starve, so shall you.”

I had…decided something over the long dark months that winter.

The song that was trapped in the ice. I was able to once again hear it. Like my mother before me once could. And with its song I learned a hard truth.

If my mother had been able to still bend, she would not have died. If I had only listened to the song, then maybe I could have saved her.

That was the truth.

And if Hama was also right, that I was only sealed, then all I needed to do was to find a way to break it.

Chapter 4: The Last Days of Summer

I don't want you to think that my childhood was horrible, it was just hard. I knew I was loved fiercely, and I loved deeply back…

…But my people and I…we were traveling on different currents. And I was beginning to realize that I could no longer follow them.

While my family had mourned, and my people had been frozen  stiff like ice, the truth that I had found was that nothing would ever change if I continued to follow unquestioningly…

Come and see

Come and see

The ship known as the Howling Eel, cut through the waters much like its namesake. Larger than the tribe's fishing crafts that followed after, this particular one, was built for battle.

And at the point where its three sails met at the mast, stood a loan figure. The bone dagger she gripped, dug into the wood while she bent her knees with the Eel's motions. The beads woven into her hair jingled in the breeze, disrupting the loops that framed her russet face full of youth and vigor.

She reached up to grab at something shining that peaked out under the folds of her neckline, and closed her eyes that matched the hue of the sky above her. Breathing deep the salt air, she strained to hear the song trapped in the water over the warrior's shouts from below. With their armor mostly padded, the men of the tribe had adorned themselves with what precious metal their people had, and its clanking, proved to be a distraction the Tribe's Woman had yet to overcome.

Come and see

Come and see

The wind was cold upon her face and limbs; her cobalt hanbok and its fur trimmed edges bellowed about her, and filled the ship's three sails.

Come and see

Come and see

She swayed with the dipping of their ship, all the while searching painstakingly inward for the thing that kept her from connecting to the song fully.

On that day she had made a promise to herself before she boarded the Eel.

'Today, I will break it. Today I feel like I can reach out and touch the song…'

With each breath it was as though she was diving into the ocean's depths. And in her mind's eye, she could see a heavy and unyielding door that sat before her, unwilling to let her pass to reach the melody on the other side.

'If I can make it past…'

"Katara!"

The woman's eyes snapped open, and she looked down to catch her brother shouting up while the other men of the tribe rushed about as they set riggings for a tight maneuver through the ice fields.

"Do you see anything?" Hand to his mouth, Sokka called up to her with a look that all but said, “Stop messing around!”

Sucking in a deep breath, Katara pulled at the sash about her hip and reached for the spy glass at her belt. Leaning off the mast as far as she could, her braided hair trailed toward the ship's deck as she peered around the next bend.

She gave a small sigh of relief, "Clear so far!"

"Sokka!" The Chief of the South motioned to his son, "We need barrels here, and over on the other side in case they catch us off guard!"

Off like a shot, her sibling tightened his ever-growing wolf-tail, and him and a few of the other warriors began tying barrels of blasting jelly along either railing of their ship.

"Everyone gets at least one clay jar!" Her brother yelled over the waves, pointing to the barrels and then to a bin of earthen clay vessels near the rudder, "Aim for the gaps between the metal! Inside, their boats are still made out of wood! Once enough is coated, we light them up!"

"Remember!" Hakoda's voice cut in over his son's battle plan, "What's most important is getting the fishing boats into the open water! We are their shield as well as a distraction!"

To which the warriors gave a hearty battle cry. With the shouts, Katara’s fist gripped her dagger tighter, she steadied her breath, and she reached out to feel the ocean's pull of their ship forward.

"Ready yourselves! Hard to starboard!" Bato yelled before the rudder was adjusted and two of the sails pulled tight.

Come and see

Come and see

I crash I flow

I am a path to safe shores

I am the bringer of storms

Come and see

Katara's eyes widened at the lines the water sang; a ripple in a pond, it grew and swelled. She turned her head back and forth, looking for anything out of the ordinary, but could find nothing amiss. Only high walls of ice on either side of the vessel, the grey of the ocean below, and blue sky above.

"What do you see?" Her brother called up again. That time with a bit of worry in his voice.

"I'm not sure!" Katara shouted down, "It's like…"

She trailed off; the Eel banked hard to the right and made a break toward the open ocean. The ice fields around them receded, and the blues and grays of the sky and ocean welcomed their ship to the open sea.

And the Tribe's Woman's heart began to thunder in her chest. For they had cleared the ice only to find an iron clad vessel blocking their path. Its metal framing glistened in the sun, while it cast a shadow across the ocean's surface.

Shouting down to the one manning the rudder, she cried, "Hard to Port!"

The warriors of the South gripped onto the closest handhold with their ship’s motion, while their fishing vessels that tailed behind scattered to avoid the unexpected maneuver.

Clutching tight to the mast, Katara stared down at the ship that blocked their path, and gave a steely glare to the misshapen armored figures sulking in the dark of their man-made shade.

"Ready to fire! We unleash our might when we get into range!"

And with that, Katara saw her father give a motion of his hand, and the warriors took their positions around the railings closest to the enemy.

"Give the signal to the fishing boats! They take this chance now!" Hakoda yelled, his words reminiscent of the rolling waves.

Two war drums, strapped to the mast were banged in quick succession. The fishing vessels unfurled their own sails, catching the nearest current and shot out of sight.

And a sense of relief washed over her as the last blue sail disappeared along the horizon line.

"Hey! Let me see my spy glass!" Her brother waved up towards where she perched, to which she obliged.

The relief Katara had felt quickly faded. She could tell; the way her sibling walked across the deck in determined strides, he was already calculating something they had not accounted for.

"Shite!" Sokka swore loud enough that it reached her, "The plates! They're closer than they were last year!"

If her hope was a snow lily, it was as though someone went and stomped upon it. With a thumping heart, Katara took another look at the obstacle in their path and nearly swore herself. Her brother was right. Over the winter the Cursed Ones had modified the design of their crafts, the iron fitted neatly next to each other with nary a space between.

'We'll have to get closer…" And the Tribe's Woman made a tight fist, searching for an overlooked flaw in the enemy's newest ship, 'Much closer…'

Scanning the sides of the vessel, she found several plates more intricate and smaller than the rest.

And her ears perked at the sound of scratching metal that cut over the waves, "Are those…?"

The smaller plates, were not fixed armor, but portholes. And as several of the latches on the iron-clad vessel lifted, they revealed the tips of several large harpoons that had lay hidden within.

And the Cursed Ones fired.

Thwak! Thwak! Thwak!

Before the tribe had time to maneuver out of the way, three prongs of iron embedded themselves into the side of the Eel.

The wood, cracked and splintered, the ropes attached to the iron weapons grew taught, and the tribe's boat was pulled towards the one covered in metal.

The warriors steadied their stances, and Katara latched herself tighter to the mast.

"Well," Sokka began as he righted himself, "We need to be closer anyway."

"How close?" Bato questioned from the back of the ship.

She could see the way her sibling grimaced, and instead of saying anything, he only gave a shake of his head to the older Tribesman.

And the snow lily had been trampled upon again by a cruel heel.

"Be prepared for them to board." Hakoda's words were grim as he picked up a spear, the other warriors following suit.

Eyes traveling from her people to the enemy's deck, Katara could see their movements. Hidden within black armor, working the iron ship's riggings at a fever pitch, they clung mostly to the shadows. Some, however, unlucky enough to be caught in patches of sun, had begun to smoke at the places where flesh poked out of their coverings.

And the Tribe's Woman was struck with a curious thought.

'Do all of us need to be in range, or…?'

Setting her sights back to the cruel cords dragging her tribe to hungry mouths, she found that some of the latches had remained closed.

'But are they locked?'

Come and see

Come and see

Come dance with me 

'Only one way to find out.'

Hearing the water's call, she sheathed her dagger and jumped down from the mast, her boots thudding against the wooden floor.

"Oh no!" It was Bato, steering the ship, who was the first to realize what she was about to do.

She took off across the deck to where the warriors stood, and grabbed a jar of blasting jelly out of her brother's hand in passing.

"What? Wait!"

"Katara!"

Ignoring her family's shouts, she pulled at the sash of cerulean from about her waist and leapt over the ship's railing.

With sash across the braided rope, she sailed across the divide. The crashing of the ocean waves, muted by the yells coming from the enemy's vessel she was on a collision course with.

Slamming into the metal plates she suppressed a groan.

Pushing the dull ache of her shoulder aside, she focused her attention to the sounds of shouts and grunts, and the clinking of metal of those working the mechanism on the opposite side of the latches.

Securing the blasting jelly to her waist, she released one end of the sash and dropped, catching the small gapes between the plating.

She moved past one of the ropes tethering the two boats together, and moved toward a latch unoccupied by the Cursed Ones' pulley system.

Clearing the first porthole, a blast of dark flames shot from overhead.

The heat from the fire cast close enough for her to feel the warmth, Katara almost lost her handhold.

She steadied her breathing, prepared for another wave of flame that had not been aimed at her, but at the warriors still aboard the tribe's ship.

The clinks of clay hitting metal joined the other sounds of gears turning and the ocean waves. What followed after was the putrid stench of fish that had been left in the sun for too long, as the jelly was released from its containers.

An order was barked from somewhere above her, and the flames ceased.

Having managed to remain unnoticed, she pressed forward…

Snap!

One of the ropes fell limp into the water.

Snap!

Gone was the second. And with it, a final path to her tribe remained.

She turned back. One of the warriors gave the smallest of glances to her. Merely resting a dagger to the last tether, he did not make to cut through it.

The Tribe’s Woman nodded in thanks, and continued on her way.

There was the sound of gears and muffled groans straining from the porthole that Katara had found herself next to. She passed over it, as well as the next, and inched her way toward a closed latch near the center of the iron clad ship.

Ear close to the opening, she listened; and heard the slow rhythmic sounds of clicking and hissing.

Come and see

I am lighter than the air

Come and see

'Steam?'

Along with something mechanical; metal squealing in almost the same beat as the hisses.

One deep breath, and then another, and Katara lifted the latch to peer inside.

Blinded by the light and warmth of an unexpected fire, she ducked back down.

But when nothing more happened, she pulled herself up. Struggling to see anything at first in the dim light, her sight soon adjusted. And when it did, she took in the inner workings of the iron clad ship and frowned.

The Cursed Ones had done more than modify the outside of their vessels, they had begun to fashion the interior with pipes that vented steam, along with a central boiler stocked with coal.

Scanning the room with a quick flick of her eyes, something shining tucked away in the far corner caught her attention. Half hidden by a few wooden crates, stood some sort of vehicle roughly the size of a polar bear-dog, that came to an end with a drill point.

'Sokka would have a field day if he could see this.'

Giving a tilt of her head after studying the curious device, Katara then swept the room once more, and found with some relief, that despite the new inner workings, much of the ship was in fact still made of wood.

With the easing of her tense shoulders, another breath of the air that the scent of the blasting jelly clung to, and she hoisted herself into the porthole.

She landed with a gentle thud against creaking floors, and opened the jar that had been strapped to her waist. Greeted with even more of the familiar scent of something rotten with a hint of sulfur, she suppressed the need to gag.

Letting the substance fall to the floor she created a trail towards the boiler, stopping just shy of the hissing machine.

Her plan was simple: she would open the door, expose the flame and then create a spark that would engulf the ship.

The plan was half-stewed. She knew this, and could hear her brother saying as much in her head.

Hands to her waist once more, she let out a hiss.

"Spark rocks!" The words left her lips as though they were a curse, for the pouch she usually kept them in was empty, 'Maybe…I toss the rest of the jar in, and run as fast as I can?'

She stood corrected. Her plan was less than half-stewed.

'I've made it this far, and I'm not turning back now!'

She yanked at the latch of the ship's boiler, and strained against the fastenings that finally yielded with much too loud of a screech.

Turning to grab the rest of the jar, she collided straight into a body that was not there moments before.

Looking up, revealed a pair of dark hungry eyes staring down at her. And for a moment, she was frozen to the spot.

Tall with skin that was taught and sickly, the Cursed One's hand, blotched in a darker shade of putrid green than the rest of her, latched onto Katara's with a vice-like grip, her dull black orbs never leaving the Tribe's Woman.

Pulling back, Katara grasped the hilt of her dagger…

Too late.

The Cursed One had yanked her forward, sending Katara off balance by the force.

Before she could right herself, there was a sharp pain where fangs bit through the flesh of her forearm.

And the song changed.

Come and see

Something's here that should not be

Come and see

She shook away the distraction brought on by the new verse.

And with a swift motion, freed her weapon and plunged it straight into the flesh of the one that restrained her.

The Cursed One shrieked, a strange sound of something trying to imitate a human's scream.

Released from the iron-like grip, Katara took a step back and shuddered, her weapon lost, still lodged in the sickly flesh of the enemy.

The dagger was sent clattering to the floor, and unblinking eyes, half glazed over by death, bore into her.

Come and see

Come and see

Called the song from the waves outside as well from somewhere closer.

Come and see

Come and see

And Katara sunk into a stance that she had practiced, over and over since the time that the ice had broken.

The door, the seal, laying deep within her strained against her will. The Tribe's Woman reached and clawed at the thing, fought to force it to come undone, to remove the stopper that had been placed between her and the water for all those years.

The Cursed One charged; the strange half-human, half-animal cry leaving her lips.

Katara felt the seal shift, felt herself gain an inch of ground…

Come and…

And then the familiar rush of cold running through her veins took over.

As though the seal had said, 'No. I shall not be undone today.'

Her body lurch forward, straight at the Cursed One.

She fought through the pain, ducked under an outstretched arm.

Managing to retrieve her knife gleaming white on the floor, she got to her feet.

About to take another stance, Katara readied her weapon.

And then, something silver flashed through the room and collided with the temple of the one with putrid skin with a thud.

Blood, dark and sickly to match the state of the owner's gaunt skin, sprayed across the room.

And a bent metal object clattered to the floor.

Turning to the direction of the porthole, Katara let out a sigh at the appearance of her brother, wolf-tail and all squeezing through the narrow opening.

"You forgot the spark rocks!" He accused with a grumble. Gathering his weapon, he then went and placed two smooth stones in Katara's palm.

"Great!" The sister waved a hand before her in elation, "I found their engine room!"

"Engine…Wow…" Sokka halted in his tracks. His finger went from tracing the paths of the valves and mechanism of the crude workings of the iron about them, to tapping his chin in thought. Hopping over the groaning form of the Cursed One he mentioned, "You should cover that, some of them have a really good sense of smell."

"I know that." Katara let out a huff. Rolling her eyes at her brother's back at the unsolicited advice, she went to wrap the wound with her sash.

"What the hell is that thing?" Sokka gasped, rushing over to the machine with the drill end, "Why would they need this at sea?"

"No idea…" Katara trailed off. The question her brother posed was intriguing, however it was one she did not have an answer for.

Hacking and retching came from behind the Tribe's Woman, and Katara’s shoulders tensed. Writhing where she lay, the Cursed One heaved up black bile that splattered against the floor.

Not knowing whether looking would be better or worse, Katara settled on bringing a hand to the pendant at her throat and kept the almost corpse in the corner of her sight.

When the convulsing ceased, and the Cursed One had gone still, the Tribe’s Woman shook her head. And Katara was struck with an odd thought.

"She didn't even say anything…" The words leapt out into the air without her realizing. Pushing down the unwanted bout of sympathy at the body lying on the ground, she faced her brother’s accusing stare.

"What were you expecting?" The Tribesman shot her an incredulous look, "A formal request to bite you?"

And the sister scoffed, "No, it's more like, she couldn't and now…"

"It's their own fault." Sokka shrugged his shoulders, "If they just let us be..."

And though she remained silent, Katara found herself agreeing with her brother, for what he said was the simple truth of the matter.

Shouts and the thudding of boots from somewhere above, as well as from the direction of their own boat gave both siblings pause. Glancing at the other for a moment, the two held their breaths, and then the eldest's eyes began to dart about the space.

Studying the jar of jelly on the floor and taking one of his sister's spark rocks, he leaned out through the porthole and called out, “Plan Tiger-shark!”

"Now or never!" He muttered while fashioning the one igniter to the vessel, before passing it over to his sister's outstretched hand.

And she nodded. Waiting for Sokka to ease himself through the opening she soon followed after, leaving the jar on the sill with the latch open.

More of the sulfuric scent greeted her as she exited the boiler room. The tribe had managed to coat a fair amount of the enemy vessel during her detour, and she found her grip slipping on her handholds.

"Both of you! Get back here now!" Her father's words came out a gruff shout from across the shrinking divide.

One hand over the other, Katara made her way to the one remaining rope.

Chancing a glance at their tribe's ship, she could see her father standing with a bow notched and ready to fire, taking aim at the jar she left sitting on the porthole's ledge.

Something shimmered at the arrow's tip, gleaming the same shade as the spark rock that sat atop the blasting jelly.

She took in a sharp breath and quickened her pace. Reaching her brother who had begun working on severing the last of the thick braided rope, she dodged a few outstretched hands willing to burn in the daylight for a chance at a meal.

Looking between the ship that she and her sibling clung to, and then to the one of her people, Katara could see that although the Cursed Ones had been only working with one line, they had closed a significant gap.

'We're too close!' Her eyes shut at the realization.

She clung to the side of the craft that was sent rocking back and forth by the waves. Focusing on the water below, she tried to envision the movement of the currents, tried to find one that would guide her people to safety.

And the seal raged in protest.

Sharp pain, like shards of ice, pricked at the inside of her skin.

Her joints grew stiff; she felt her grip slipping…

"Here!" Her brother's hand found hers.

She heard one last snap as the remaining rope was cut.

Gripping tight to Sokka's arm, they both traversed the increasingly shrinking gap.

Eyes open, Katara watched her father's arrow fly across in the opposite direction, aimed at the porthole where the blasting jelly rested.

The arrow hit its mark, the clay jar shattered, the two spark rocks struck with a flash before disappearing into the boiler room.

More flashes came from within, along with the swelling and straining of metal.

With bolts torn from their seams, the entirety of the ship let out a deep rumbling groan.

Bright flames erupted up from the Cursed Ones' deck.

The metal pergolas collapsed, the hull dipped further into the water, and fragments of the iron clad monster sunk as the flames spread.

And screams and cries drowned out the ocean's song. What remained of the crew was left to flounder, either in the frigid waters or burn atop what remained of their deck in the light of the sun.

A burst of light and a blast of flames, ripped through the rest of the ship. Chunks of burning metal and wood, aimed at both the warriors and the two siblings suspended over the side of the Eel, tore through the sky with ruthless intent.

"Look out!"

"Hard to starboard! Starboard!"

Came the shouts of the Tribesmen from above, while wrought iron the size of an igloo came barreling towards their ship.

Come and see

Come and see

The water's song pulsed beneath Katara.

Feeling the pull of the currents, she fought through the stinging in her blood, reached out, and pushed at the waves while her hand gripped her brother’s tight.

And the seal gave way for the briefest of moments.

There was a ripple, then a churning, and then a single wave rose up.

The ocean surged forward, sending the warriors and their craft out of range, with the projectile falling harmlessly into the depths with sputtering hisses.

And the seal once more set itself in place. Locking her away from her element with stinging bites.

Her insides froze over, her grip slipping.

And had it not been for her brother and father both, she may have lost her hold entirely and shared the Cursed Ones' fates.

Her boots hit the deck with a thud, and her wobbly legs righted themselves by the time the cheers rose up from the warriors of the South.

‘Today has been a good day.’ Katara thought through the cold biting blood, and looked about to the ones around her. All of those that left the dock that day on the Eel would return home.

And with that, the numbness within her began to fade. And she joined her tribe, giving cheers and shouts as they looked to the place where the fishing vessels had raced off beyond the waters of their shores.

Come and see

Come and see

Her eyes traveled down to the waters swirling below them. Letting out a deep breath she looked to her hand, the one that had channeled the wave, and managed to smile despite her aching limbs.

She had won. If only briefly, she had willed her power back.

"Real subtle."

Her brother's words came out a quiet mumble as he nudged her arm.

Katara could only meet his accusing stare with one of exasperation while the rest of the tribe celebrated their victory around them.

But before either could say anything further, something scarlet fluttered in the wind and came to rest between them.

Reaching down, Katara retrieved the piece of still smoking fabric that held the image of a black sea raven on a field of red.

Sister and brother both eyed the odd image with curiosity. And while the wreckage of the iron clad ship sunk beneath the waves, the crest was slowly eaten and consumed by flames.

"You know, this sort of reminded me of that one time you thought it was a good idea to hide that armadillo-crab in a barrel of sea prunes."

"You and I remember that day very differently Bato." Hakoda scoffed at his friend's off-handed comment, "And that was your idea…"

Katara shook her head at her father and the taller Tribesman while their group of warriors continued past the cliffs of Wolf Cove.

As the two men move further ahead and out of earshot, her path was suddenly blocked by a younger Tribesman who ran over to put himself in front of her.

"Oh! Tulok!" She offered a smile while looking up at the one who had guarded the last rope.

"That was a pretty gutsy move there." The Tribesman commented while looking to the ground, to the sky, anywhere other than her. Running a hand through his long dark hair he mumbled, "Next time, let me know?"

She tilted her head, not sure of his meaning. A question on her lips, the dark eyed warrior took off to join a few of the other men before she could ask.

'What was that about?'

Come and see

Come and see

I thaw I melt

Further distracted by the water's latest verse, Katara found herself jumping in surprise when an arm draped over her shoulder from behind.

"In the future, please let me know before you decide on running straight into a bad idea." Her brother bemoaned, sending his weight against her as he intentionally dragged his feet.

"Excuse me?" Katara shot an indignant glare at her sibling, "We took care of a whole armored ship. Because of me."

"Where were your spark rocks?" Sokka questioned with a knowing look.

"Okay! I forgot." Katara let out a grumble. Detaching herself from him, her voice then brightened, "Luckily you were there to back me up. So, you can take some credit."

Continuing on her way to their village in steady strides, she could hear her brother's exasperated sigh from somewhere behind her.

"I'm just saying, you need to be more careful." Putting himself in front of her, the older brother pressed, "The last few times you were on the boat, it was almost like you were trying to get as close as possible to them."

"I saw an opening." Katara's eyes flicked down to the ground before meeting Sokka's, "It's more effective to get close to make sure the blasting jelly ends up somewhere flammable. I believe those were your words at the last katimaniq."

The Tribesman paused, his own logic used against him left him with his mouth half agape before he managed a counter, "Doesn't mean it always has to be you though."

She bit back an apology, and instead offered a placation, "Don't worry, next time you can take all the credit, promise!"

Pushing past her sibling, Katara marched forward; a pang of guilt over the half-truth that Sokka would no doubt have unraveled if given enough time to think about.

Clearing the gates and heading towards the center of the village lined with anxious faces, all waiting for news of the day's endeavors, she found her brother was still unwilling to drop the matter.

"That's not what I meant!" Along with the crunch of snow from his boots, Sokka's voice followed after her.

Choosing not to answer him for the time being, the younger sister moved past her fellow tribes’ members with waves and smiles. And when she reached the animal pens, two feline faces framed by curved horns eagerly poked their heads up in order to greet her.

"Seriously Katara, can we talk about what happened?"

Grinning wide, she continued to ignore her brother and bent down and allowed the two leopard-rams to rub the flats of their heads against her own.

"Hello Paat, Ippaktuq, where's…" She trailed off. Craning her head up to a passing shadow atop the pen's roof, her grin grew wider.

"Oh no." Sokka uttered a swear and then promptly let out a yell, "Gaah!"

A flash of pure white, save for the solid black of two large antlers, launched itself at the Tribesman. And in mere moments, Katara's brother was face down in a snowbank with a grown wolf-deer sitting atop him.

"Down! Heal!" Came the muffled groans of her sibling from somewhere underneath snow and fur, "Katara! When are you going to actually train him?"

Despite her brother's protesting, the hybrid animal looked quite pleased with himself, his long tail wagging back and forth as he whimpered and pawed at the ground at the sight of his master.

"Tsohanoai!" She called, opening her arms wide. The wolf-deer's ears perked at the sound of his name, and Katara gave a command, "Come."

Tsohanoai obeyed in all eagerness. In a single bound, he was before the Tribe's Woman. Reaching up, his front paws enveloped Katara's shoulders while the animal went to sniff at her face.

Letting out a laugh, Katara sunk to the ground at the animal's weight, "Tso! It's okay, we're all fine!"

To which Tsohanoai growled and pressed his nose to her cheek; his tail wagging faster.

"Did you miss me?" She went and rubbed at the wolf-deer's cheeks, which only elicited more growls and a few more whimpers from the animal, "We'll go on a run later, promise! Good boy!"

"I think you mean menace, or one with no inhibition. Good is a relative term." The brother grumbled whilst he got to his feet and began to brush off the snow from his attire in several brisk motions.

"Hello Katara, Sokka." A soft voice cut into the sibling's conversation, "It's good to see that you both returned safe."

The younger sibling faced the speaker; a Tribe's Woman with two long braids. Katara matched the warm smile that the newcomer wore, and went to help with the bundle of harnesses that the other woman carried.

"Namid, are you heading out?" The chief's son pointed to the equipment, prompting a nod from the petite hunter.

"Not by yourself?" Katara set down her portion of the bundle, looking for some of the other hunters seemingly missing.

"No," The hunter shook her head, "Suluk and a few of the other students are joining me soon. I got here early to get everything ready."

"I'm sorry," Katara cast her eyes to the snow drifts, "it must be hard with training all the new hunters on your own right now."

"Aah, can't be helped." With a small shrug, Namid dropped the equipment she held to go scratch behind the wolf-deer's ear, "Neither Fala or I would want you hunting his kind after Tsohanoai chose you. We do miss you though."

"And, it's not like I'm out of commission!" Another voice broke through the quiet of the afternoon.

"I'm only pregnant!" Hand resting on a protruding stomach, Fala objected as she shuffled her way over to her hunting party, "I'll be back out helping Namid in no time."

"How are you holding up?" Katara asked with a smile that she managed to keep from turning into a full grin. The sight of the usual energetic hunter seemingly ready for a nap, sent an almost giddy-like sensation through her.

"This little one has been kicking me constantly all last night!" As though to prove her point, Fala began to lean against the other two women, "I already love my child to bits! But Tui and La, what I wouldn't give for a solid night's sleep!"

"I don't think that's going to change when the baby comes." Going to pat the taller woman's arm in sympathy, Namid's comment was matter of fact.

And Katara found herself laughing at her friend's dry wit; her battle to keep her mirth somewhat contained lost.

"Ugh! I feel like a beached whale-walrus!" Fala dramatized, leaning against the chief’s daughter a bit more in the process.

And much to Katara’s amusement, she noticed that Sokka had gone to rubbing the back of his neck and kicking at the snow at the sight of the trio of giggling women. Fala's merriment ended quickly enough, her demeanor changing reminiscent of the tides with her next question.

Righting herself, she looked between both of the chief's children, "But, um…Was his fishing boat able to get through?"

"It did." Katara went to hold her friend's arm, "Don't worry, Moki will be home soon."

"You would have loved it," Sokka began, and though his words were cheerful enough, he fixed his sister with an irritated look, "she goes and zips right up to the Cursed One's ship in order to blow it up!"

"Oh goodness." Namid, giving a half-hearted tug at one of her braids, seemed more exasperated than surprised.

"And she forgot the spark rocks!" The elder sibling added to Fala with a look of triumph.

Fala chuckled while wearing her usual grin, "Some things never change!"

Katara couldn't help but make a face at her brother, while the still tallest hunter pulled her into an embrace.

With his story not having its intended effect on either of the two hunters, Katara’s brother looked somewhat deflated. And the sister found that she could only shrug at him, while Sokka went to tug on his wolf-tail despite it looking flawless.

"Ilisaiji!"

A Tribe's Girl bounded toward the group. Waving brightly to Namid, she was followed by a few others that carried with them pelts and hunting supplies.

"I suppose that's my queue." Namid gave a shake of her head before reaching up to Katara's ear, "Maybe be a bit more careful though, please?"

The two exchanged a smile before the hunter ventured over to greet her students. Katara waved at Suluk, while the girl almost old enough to earn her mark beamed up to her in passing.

"Take care of each other out there!" Katara motioned to the two leopard-rams poking their heads over the pen.

"Always!" Suluk called over her shoulder. Leading both Paat and Ippaktuq out of the enclosure, she hurried toward the rest of the students busying themselves with tethering their sleighs.

As she watched the small group prepare, an aching pang reached her heart while Fala took a step next to her. Both silently watching the youngest of their group guide her students forward. And sensing her friend tense, Katara turned to see that the taller woman wore a somewhat anxious look at Namid's departure. And so, she reached out her hand to the other hunter who gratefully took it.

"We'll be back soon!" The petite hunter waved, "We're only practicing banking today!"

And with a wave, Namid and her students set off into the tundra.

The remaining two hunters sighed, and for Katara she did her best to shake off the sudden feeling of unease that had clung to her.

'It's probably just nerves.' She reasoned. The events of the day finally catching up with her when she found herself still.

"And with that…” Fala exclaimed, breaking the silence with a shout that ended in a yawn, “I think I'm going to take a nap."

One half-hearted fist pump into the air, she shuffled off toward her home, waving at both the chief's children in passing.

With the return of the hushed afternoon, Katara breathed out a puff of condensed air. Her hands ran lightly through Tsohanoai's fur, and her gaze traveled to the frozen fields that surrounded their little home.

And the unease shifted to that of a need to move.

"I'm going to head out too." Katara spoke to her brother while motioning to the wolf-deer, "I'll be home in time to help cook dinner."

"You aren't being subtle!" Her sibling bristled. Moving closer he added under his breath, "And I can't keep covering for you!"

Katara blinked at the harshness of his words, and then narrowed her eyes at the meaning behind them. She breathed in and out, and turned; leading Tso to the gates.

"I never asked you to." She grumbled as she mounted the wolf-deer eagerly pawing at the ground.

"You aren't being subtle." Was all that the Tribesman said in return.

"You keep saying that." Katara snapped. Steering her mount towards the direction that the hunter's had taken, she stared straight ahead, "If you have something to say to me, come out and say what you really mean."

She could hear her brother scoff, but instead of arguing further, all he said in return was, "Never mind…I'll see you tonight for dinner."

Katara scoffed herself, and waited to hear her brother's footsteps disappear into the village.

She gave a quick cry, and Tsohanoai charged forward, kicking up the snow in their wake. The pair shot off into the fields of the South, and once out of sight of Wolf Cove, they made their way in the direction just shy of Old Fang.

Come and see

I thaw

In the summer sun I'm light as air

Come and see

With the water's song all about her, Katara came to a halt and dismounted. When her boots hit the frozen ground with a soft crunch, Tso went about to shake himself off, and proceeded to dig out a small den for himself in the drifts.

Taking a stance, Katara breathed in. Familiar from her years of practice; her arms out, she let her limbs move in time to the melody, and shifted her body slightly with each new verse that was sung.

Once more she picked at the seal that lay deep inside, and once more she felt the cold numbing ache course through her with each motion.

A warning, a promise: “I will not budge, and you will suffer for trying…”

Letting out a huff, Katara dug deeper, made her motions faster; the dull ache grew to sharp bursts of pain that matched the timing of the beat of her heart.

'Fight through it! Push at it! Break it! Take it back!'

Tso perked his ears, and let out a whimper. Staring at the Tribe's Woman before giving a grunt of warning, the wolf-deer turned his sight to something in the distance.

Katara spun toward the direction of Old Fang. And through the drifts a lone figure made their way to her. Long, white hair flew behind her; as though she were trailing a squall of snow at her back, the Bender reached her student.

"Horse Stance," Hama ordered coolly. Appraising her student with a look that made Katara feel she was lacking, she then added, "Thirty minutes."

And as she sunk into the pose, with her toes pointing out, Katara couldn't help but make a face at Hama's back.

"Your Ilisaiji is a hard woman, and I aim to make you harder still." The teacher declared, whilst circling around her; a buzzard-wasp on the hunt for weakness, "Make your stance wider, and lower your arms. Keep your breathing steady and strong. Hmm, good."

The student ceased her attempts at the seal, instead she focused on the physicality of the craft and felt the coldness ebb.

"How did it go?" Finished with the puppeteering of Katara's posture, the Bender’s eyes lit with a particular gleam.

Katara could only hang her head, "No luck."

And the teacher clicked her tongue, though she did not seem surprised by that revelation.

"I could feel it weakening," The student continued, "but then I always get to a point where it's like my blood has gone frigid…Like I'm freezing from the inside out."

"The will of spirits can be a hard thing to break." Another click of her tongue and Hama than spat on the ground, "Even a spirit that clearly isn't one of the Great Ones."

A bubbling feeling of irritation, very different from the dull pain of holding her stance grew over Katara, "Maybe I should just have the Angakok summon that thing…"

As soon as the remark left her lips, she was hit by a tightness about her chest. Her words were brave, but she very much did feel as though she were a young child again at the memory of the unseen voice and the being that slithered.

The teacher must have sensed her student's wavering stance, somehow Hama always did. But instead of belittling Katara, she remained silent and watched her student flounder.

"…Offer something in exchange?" The student finished lamely, correcting her posture on her own.

"That thing may claim to be an emissary of the tribe's spirits," The Bender bemoaned with a shake of her head, "but believe me, it has already gained what it wanted."

Katara perked at that, her curiosity momentarily overtook the strain of holding the position, "And that is?"

"To weaken our tribe." Hama shrugged as though she too did not hold the secret that her student coveted, "That is as good a guess as any."

"It does make the most sense…" Katara's breath hitched, finding the need to correct her stance yet again as her knees buckled slightly, "With the Sun turning her back on her chosen people…Maybe some of the other spirits blame humans too."

"Bahh!" The Bender waved off the comment, "You sound like some of the tribal elders when I was still young!"

"You might be right." Katara conceded while she sunk cross legged to the snowy ground, "But, what was it like? Before?"

The teacher's eyes lit up at that. Pulling at a distant memory of perhaps a happier moment, Hama joined Katara in the snow, the faintest of smiles on her aged lips, "It was…A different time."

As though a heavy load had been placed upon her, the student's shoulders sagged, "What I don't understand is, it always feels like we’re fighting an uphill battle. Losing our advantage…Our ways."

"Some of the elders thought that maybe it was possible that our own Benders would turn into monsters too, and that we would face the same fate as those who angered the Sun.” The light from the Bender's eyes was gone in an instant, replaced by something dark, “And then…The Angakok contacted that thing, and convinced the tribe that it was worth sealing all those blessed by the Ocean's gift. Utter Foolishness!"

The student knew the pain that lay hidden in her teacher's words. While Hama had managed to keep her guard up, much like that of the towering ice at the tundra's heart for most training sessions, over the years the teacher’s ability to conceal her intentions had diminished somewhat.

For while Katara had felt the unnerving sensation on more than one occasion that her teacher was a mind reader, she too knew things of Hama that the Bender most likely wished to have kept hidden.

Reaching out her hand, Katara spoke softly, "It's not fair, that our tribe tries to pay the price for another people's mistake."

"Don't mistake the wendigos for humans!" Hama snapped with venom. Pulling away from the student she nevertheless admitted, "Though you are correct, we should not need to pay for Fire Nation greed."

'But we are all paying for it.' The student thought with downcast eyes.

And try as she might, Katara pushed another pang at what had transpired that day on the ship away. Grabbing at the bandaged wound, her mouth tugged into a frown, for while it was not guilt she had over the Cursed One's death, it was something akin to the heaviness of a hunt gone wrong.

The kind that her mother would burn sage over and ask for forgiveness on behalf of the tribe.

One with only needless deaths.

'It is there own fault though…' Her brother's reasoning echoed in her head as she frowned.

"Back to the drawing board then." Hama breathed a heavy sigh, "I'll need to think over another way to strengthen your bond to the water."

Hand still over the wrapping of the fresh wound, the student was struck with a curious thought.

"Today when…" Katara's words came out a breathless whisper. And she almost stopped herself, had it not been for Hama's piercing stare. The same hungry stare that Katara had grown far too accustomed to, "One of them bit me today. The song was there in my blood…But different."

"Was it painful?" The question flew from Hama's lips as gleeful as a child about to receive a gift.

Looking to her arm in confusion, the student paused for a moment before she realized what her teacher had meant.

"Did it suffer?" The Bender pressed.

"She." Katara corrected before adding, "It looked painful."

Hungry eyes sated, they then flashed with an intensity that the student had never yet seen, "I want you to try something."

And Katara leaned closer, unable to break the stare that Hama set upon her.

"We've been trying to reach the qi flowing within you, to bring forth the connection that's been blocked, by trying to create enough adrenaline within you to break the seal." The Ilisaiji articulated, "Inward to outward. Today, I want you to try to focus outward and then inward."

Katara blinked, "You want me to find an outside force to break it?"

"I want you to try to pinpoint a very specific source of water." Hama clarified with a nod of her head.

Turning to look about them, Katara gave a grumble, "But we're surrounded by it."

"Yes, exactly!" The Bender's excitement only seemed to grow, "But water is not always visible. It can hide. And, it can be a Bender's undoing to be separated from their element."

"You make it sound like I'll be traveling the Si Wong Desert." The student muttered under her breath, "What source do you mean?"

"Me."

Katara balked, for she must have misheard. But after studying the Bender's face she felt her heart beat quicken.

"Every living thing holds water, it is a source of life for all that walk this earth." Getting to her feet, Hama reached out her hand and began to take a stance that the student did not recognize, "I want you to try to call to the water that flows through me and carries with it my qi."

Katara jumped to her feet, "Blood?"

The teacher nodded eagerly, extending an arm that she shaped reminiscent to that of a claw. She then closed her eyes, brows knit in concentration, and she exhaled.

And then, Katara felt it. Her own hand tugged from her side of its own accord, mirroring the teacher's movement against her will.

She grasped at the appendage that had rebelled, but to no avail. Something had taken a hold inside her and disrupted the natural flow of her energy. Like a …

'An outside force reaching in!' The student turned to the teacher in shock. And as Hama broke her stance, Katara could feel herself regain control of her hand.

'If I could be my own outside force…Could I undo it myself?'

"How fitting," The Bender commented darkly, "to turn the thing that drove those of the Fire Nation to abandon their humanity into their undoing. You shall bend what they covet most."

The student looked from her hand, her fingers moving then through her own will, and then to her teacher in disbelief.

"You will be the Southern Tribe's secret weapon." Hama muttered under her breath as she eased herself back to the frozen ground, "Though they do not deserve it."

And Katara's face fell. She had grown used to Hama's remarks about the tribe, and a part of her understood why the Bender would let her venom fly. But it struck a nerve with her that day all the same.

Perhaps it was the confrontation she had with her brother. Or maybe she had yet to get over the fact that her teacher had the ability to puppet her around about the tundra and never bothered to tell her. But one thing was clear, that day Hama's mood had been leaning towards foul, and it was rubbing off on her student.

Sensing her discomfort, Tso gave another whimper, and Katara settled deeper into a cross-legged position, closed her eyes and breathed.

'Focus.'

A feat easier said than done, for the song was always about her.

Come and see

Come and see

It was not the verse she had heard earlier that day on the Cursed Ones' ship. Not the melody she sought after, and she found herself becoming frustrated with the endeavor.

Come and see

Come and see

Sang the snow about them.

Come and see

Come and see

Sang the ocean's waves in the distance.

She huffed and let out a grumble.

"Try to focus on your own heartbeat first." Hama instructed, "Drown out the distractions, find the paths of your own qi, and then reach out for the song in my blood."

She did as instructed, settled deeper into the snow, tightened her closed lids, and breathed…

Come and see

Come and s..

Come a…

Thump, Thump, Thump…

The song was silenced; drown out by the sound of her heartbeats, strong and steady.

Almost losing the song as soon as she had found it, she reminded herself to control her breathing. Katara reached in, a gentle nudge to feel the pull of her own qi flowing through her veins. The rhythm that matched her heart as though she had a small ocean trapped within her for her whole life.

She breathed; in and out, in and out. All in time with her own heart.

I flow I carry

I beat I bleed

Come and see

She had to force her eyes to remain closed, so as to not lose the new verse. She tensed, mentally grasping at the song she felt coursing through her. And then she reached out. Ignoring the flakes and snow drifts, Katara's focus was on her teacher, doing her best to imitate the motions that Hama had taken earlier and listened.

Thump, Thump…Thump…

Came the sound of the Bender's heart; somewhat weaker and slower than her own, but one that worked in a constant rhythm.

I flow I carry

I beat I bleed

Come and see

"Yes!" Hama cried, somehow sensing Katara's success, "Now, see if you can guide my hand. Reach out toward me, feel the flow, and take that power for your own!"

She reached out, pushed forward…And the seal inside her shifted, if only a fraction. She tugged, and though her eyes were still closed, she could feel Hama's hand moving with her motion.

And then the seal shifted back.

She was hit, not with a dull ache, but a rush of cold that shot through her in an instant.

I…fl…I ca…

I..be..I..eed

Com…an…se…

She let out a groan, lurched forward, but was unwilling to let go of the song.

Thump, Thump…Thump

Clenching her teeth she held on, despite her body beginning to shake. Katara thought she heard Tso's whimpers from somewhere near her side. Her breath shaky, she could feel the ice creep further through her arms, pricked from the inside out…

"Enough girl!" Hama's voice cut through the pain, a wrinkled hand clamped about her own as the Bender scolded, "You're no good to anyone dead!"

"I know that!" Katara snapped. Getting to her feet with nowhere to go, she settled on pacing.

Frustrated at hitting the same block she always had, having the feeling of ice shards flowing through her, mixed with the guilt of lashing out at her teacher with each stomp of her boots.

"Good." Much to Katara's surprise, Hama's words were those of approval, "Don't forget that anger, that hate you feel. You'll need it."

And although the teacher's remarks were meant to be a platitude, the student, with her nerves already raw, felt a bubbling fury replace the seal's ice within her.

"Hate?" With shoulders heaving she accused, "To who? Towards the Tribe?"

"No." Hama’s voice grew quiet, almost contemplative. But that old hungry look that Katara knew all too well had returned shining behind pale eyes, "To the ones who have made the Tribe do stupid things for desperate reasons. Hate them for all they've done to our people, to our tribe!"

And while she did in fact hate the reasons why the Cursed Ones came to their shores. Hated the things that they did to her people, even hated the things that she had to do since the time she was a young girl…

"Their eyes are not always of someone bound to their own will." Katara reasoned, more to herself than her teacher, sitting down with shaky knees.

And Hama simply stared with that same hungry look. And the student was compelled to give her an explanation.

"We don't seek vengeance when a wolf-deer eats our livestock, or when a walrus-whale capsizes our boats. A part of me wonders if it isn't only their nature? I understand that we need to fight back…That we are right to, and that it'd be crazy if we didn't but…"

But outright hate, seemed...

'Pointless.'

"They were once humans, who chose to forget their nature!" Hama corrected with a look of audacity, "Never forget that! That is the difference between a natural predator and whatever the hell those things are now."

The Bender then spat upon the ground as though to settle the matter.

Katara looked away in dejection, for Hama's words mirrored those of her brother, and neither were telling falsehoods. And yet, she could not shake the sense of it being the wrong current to follow, despite it being the simplest and easiest of answers.

"Don't let thoughts like that cloud your judgment." The woman, although stooped with age seemed unimaginably tall as she towered over Katara still on the ground.

Moments passed, with neither blinking, and then the teacher gave in.

Heaving a disappointed huff, Hama reached her weathered hand down and helped the student to her feet, "You will end up dead because of that kindness you keep, and they do not deserve your sympathy."

And the student, numb from the inside, felt herself nodding along almost mechanically.

Letting out a sigh, the Bender then shuffled over to pat Tso atop his head, and asked, "How is your grandmother?"

The levity of the prior conversation evaporated nearly in an instant.

"She's been…Tired lately." The student admitted with a sigh, "But there's been so much to deal with, I guess that's to be expected."

"Hmm…" When her teacher turned, it seemed to Katara that she caught the briefest of glimpses of the person Hama had once been.

"When your grandmother first showed up on our shores, she seemed to be someone too young to look as old as she did." Scratching behind Tso's silken ears the Bender allowed a genuine smile to grace her face, "Things changed once she settled into life here. It was harder, but soon enough the young woman she was emerged."

With that, Katara's feet carried her over to her ilisaiji.

"Gran Gran wasn't from Wolf Cove?" The student all but blurted out.

And Hama's smile faded into a look of surprise, before she let out a laugh that sounded in every way the imitation of a crow-bat's caw, "She escaped the frozen walls of the North when she was a little younger than you are now."

"Escaped?" Katara stared at her teacher, "She never said anything to me."

"I suppose she wouldn't." Hama gave a shrug, "Kana never told me much about her time there. But what she did, made me grateful to be born here, to this…Tribe."

The mask slipped, and a forlorn look washed over the Bender's face. And with it, Katara reminded herself that for all the barbs her teacher would throw at their people, there was a longing there deep within her too.

And that perhaps there was more to the hungry stare that Katara had been so keen to ignore for all of the years of their arrangement.

"Ilisaiji…" She began, reaching out again to the Bender.

And Hama bristled, "Don't confuse me for what I am child. I am not some frail thing that needs protection."

The student recoiled, and said nothing more. Instead, she leaned into the wolf-deer that had managed to nuzzle his way under the crook of her arm.

"Leave me. I am tired." The ilisaiji ordered, the harshness gone from her voice and replaced by a weariness, "And I will need to think of another way to break the seal…"

And it would seem to Katara, that her teacher in that moment appeared old, far older than before the start of their training.

A heaviness fell over the student's heart, but she let Hama be. Giving a bow of thanks to her instructor, she pulled herself up atop Tso, and wordlessly made to head back to Wolf Cove.

"The full moon…" The Bender's announcement gave Katara pause.

"What?" She wheeled the wolf-deer around.

"I need you to come here in time for the next full moon." Hama spoke with an urgency, her eyes darting to the clear skies above and then to her student.

"That's after we leave for the winter." Katara blinked as she counted down the days to the dark’s arrival, "I'll be in the middle of the tundra heading toward the Heart with the tribe."

"You have the strength of will, but it still may not be enough to undo the seal without another spirit’s aid." Hama continued, seemingly not bothering to hear Katara's words.

"What spirit are you talking about?" Katara asked, and as if sensing her own intrigue, Tso's ears perked.

The Bender's face settled into a look of contemplation, hand to her chin she paced about the tundra, before only giving a reply of, "Never mind. Best get home."

It was right when she had cleared the village gates that she heard it.

I bre…I bre

The song, disturbed. Or too far away for Katara to clearly hear.

She looked back out the way she had journeyed, a strange feeling settling in the pit of her stomach.

'Something…Shifted…?'

Strain her eyes as she might, everything seemed untouched, save for Tso's fresh paw prints.

Come and see

Come and see…

The Singer returned to its usual melody, and the Tribe's Woman gave a shake of her head and carried on.

With Tso deposited to the pens, Katara headed to her home, and worked beside her grandmother in the waning hours of the day until her father and brother returned.

With the family gathered around their cooking pot, and a modest assortment of food laid out before them, Katara took a small bite of bannock that she had prepared and frowned.

Silently lamenting at how she could never get the dish to taste quite the same as when she was a child, she nonetheless took another bite.

And while her father and grandmother carried on pleasant enough conversation, the two siblings sat across from each other in silence. With the elder one barely eating, and instead eyeing his sister with an accusing stare, the younger meanwhile, watched from the corner of her eye and attempted to focus on her meal.

"…I hear it was quite the day for all three of you," Taking a moment to take a sip of broth, Kana then made a request, "Hakoda, please try to not get either of my grandchildren killed."

Hakoda, promptly choked on his own meal. Clearing his throat, he tactically changed the subject, "And how was your day, Mom?"

"Aah," Kana gave a shake of her head, "Achaks's hip has been bothering her lately. I should pay her a visit with some akutaq."

"Pass the sea prunes please." Katara cut in. And although she asked her father, it was her brother who got to the clay bowl first.

"It appears that we are out." Wearing a particularly smug expression, the sibling held the vessel of blue clay out of reach from his sister.

The younger sibling frowned, though she held her tongue long enough that the chief intervened.

"Sokka? There's still half a bowl." Hakoda raised an eyebrow as he plucked the vessel from his son's hand and passed it to his daughter.

Katara's frown deepened as she set Sokka with a glare, "What’s your problem?"

"Oh, so you don't like it when people are keeping things from you." He shot Katara an equally displeased look.

She bristled and shot back, "I haven't been lying about anything!"

"But you haven't been telling the full truth either." Sokka countered with a knowing look.

She could see the way her Gran Gran and father exchanged a worried glance with each other. And Katara felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. With her brother, not willing to let the matter drop, and she unwilling to give in to his demands for answers, they were at an impasse.

Until the elder broke the standoff.

"What are you doing out in the tundra?" Sokka accused, finger jabbing at the air between them.

"None of your business!" Slamming her fist into the ground, Katara shouted, "You've been acting like such a child!"

"What is this from both of you?" Hakoda cut in, "This is the last thing that I would expect from either of you."

And both siblings cast their eyes away from the other, but before Katara could say anything else on the matter, she could see her brother hurriedly rise to his feet.

"Talk to her about it." Sokka left their home in a huff, cloth flap closing behind him.

Hakoda stared at the spot where his son had departed, while Kana grew silent, contemplating the bowl of broth before her.

Worry on his face, her father caught her eye, "Katara…Is everything alright?"

"He's been in a mood since we got back!" Katara fumed while simultaneously working on pushing down another pang of guilt, "It's like someone spit on his seal jerky."

"He may be worried about your actions today." The chief offered, putting his calloused hand over her own, "We both were."

Biting at her lip the daughter felt herself faltering, but managed to mumble out the words, "I just…Wanted to help."

"And you do. I see that, we all do." Her father reassured before getting up and making his way to the door, "I'll go speak with your brother."

The flap closed again, and the two women were left in silence.

Until…

"Katara." Kana used a tone in very much the manner of how she once did when the granddaughter was much younger.

Forced to look away from her food, she lifted her head to meet her grandmother's eyes.

"Why have you been seeing Hama?" The question was not an accusation, but of simple fact.

Taken aback by the near clairvoyance that Kana had displayed, she could feel the truth of the matter spread across her face, could see her Gran Gran's eyes light up in recognition.

And Katara knew, there would be no point in trying to skirt around the truth of the matter as she had done with Sokka.

"I guess…" She sensed herself struggling to put to words all of the reasons why she first went to Hama all those years prior.

And the longer the moment of silence stretched between her and her grandmother, the more she did feel as though she were a child again, having been caught in a fib.

But in her grandmother's eyes, there was not anger, or disappointment, but instead a look of curiosity.

And so, Katara voiced what resonated the strongest within her in that moment, "I wanted to know what it was like. To be able to."

Her Gran Gran frowned. Eyes closed she said nothing on the matter for a moment that stretched for a great deal of time. The light of the family's fire playing on her face, hiding what little emotions were visible from the typically stoic woman.

When the matriarch did break the silence, her words seemed weighed by the heaviness about them, "I believe that it must be hard for someone to have been blessed by the spirits to be asked to give that part of themselves back."

"It was." The thought flew from Katara in a single breath, "Is."

She looked to the matriarch in wonder, for her tribe, her family, had all been so adamant of following the will of the Emissary.

'What has changed?'

And it was as though the snow lily that had been trampled upon, had grown wings and sent the sensation of a tiny fluttering within her.

"I watched Hama rebel against the elders when the last Angakok first summoned the Emissary." Running a finger around the bowl, Kana let out a heavy sigh, "I would not want that life for you."

"You think she’s wrong?" Katara felt her mouth tug downward, her forehead creased, and she went about pushing at the sea prunes left in her bowl.

"At the time, yes." Kana's eyes flicked down to her own half-eaten meal, "But only because I remember seeing Benders too beholden to their gifts to truly live their lives."

"In the North?" Katara asked with a raised eyebrow.

And then it was the matriarch's turn to look surprised by her granddaughter's own apparent soothsaying.

"Things were…Different there." Staring off into the distance, Kana smiled softly, though her next words were bittersweet, "There was a reason why I left, despite the danger that traveling so far brought with it."

A deep longing settled within Katara; the wishing of knowing more about a woman that she knew, and yet didn't. A wish to ask her Gran Gran more about her travels, what adventures that she had in order to journey to the place she had come to call home.

Instead, her mind latched on one word, danger. However, it was not the ones who shot flames that came to her thoughts, it was something else entirely.

"Worse than…The Emissary?" At the granddaughter's question, there came with it the dimming of the cooking pot's fire, and a sudden chilliness that was not from the lack of warmth in the home.

"In the North… It is a place where the spirits are always about." Kana paused. Tilting her head from side to side, as though trying to undue a tangled fishing line, she managed to find what she had sought after, "That being said, I have never heard of that one until I arrived on these shores."

"And you didn't think to question it?" Katara was surprised to find herself at her feet. Surprised, at the harshness of her words.

And while perhaps it was due to Hama's mood still clinging to her, it may have also been something she had buried inside. Another thing hidden within her, sleeping along with the seal. She wasn't sure.

Immediately regretting the tone she took, Katara returned to her seat to push at her cold dinner, and bite at her lip.

"Humans can lie, spirits cannot." Came her Gran Gran's simple truth, "It is something that I was taught in my childhood. And in my encounters with those beyond the veil that fact has always been."

"I can't help but feel that we are being lied to." The granddaughter grumbled into her bowl.

"I felt that way once." The matriarch sympathized, "When I was perhaps a bit younger than you. Right before I decided to find a gap in the North's wall and leave."

She pondered on that a moment. Searching her grandmother's face for perhaps another secret she ventured, "Because of Bend…?"

"I was never a Bender." Kana gave a shake of her head, "But I have seen how they could be prized, and how that could come at a great cost to the person."

Reaching over to take the elder's hand in her own, Katara pressed, "What do you mean by that?"

"That there is freedom here, even though we all sacrifice much," With that her Gran Gran gave Katara's hand a gentle squeeze back, "Some of us more than others."

"Have you changed your mind about Hama? About Benders?" The snow lily transformed, and small flutterings of hope were born with Katara's question. The thought of no longer telling half-truths, of not carrying a heavy secret alone was almost as dizzying as trying to undo the seal.

"I do not wish her ill. I never did. She was…A dear friend." Kana's shoulders sagged and she nodded as though she had to remind herself of that fact, "And I have come to believe that she seeks her own freedom, and the price for that is a lonely path."

"What if…" Katara paused, the hope that she had felt momentarily dashed, but not extinguished. The need to know the answer more powerful than living in a world of what ifs, she pressed on, "What if I'm on that path too?"

Her grandmother closed her eyes once more; her brows furrowed in concentration. The hand that gripped Katara's tightened, as though the granddaughter would vanish if she did not hold on.

One breath out, and Kana released her hold and moved to place her fingers where the pendant around her granddaughter's neck hung.

"I sought my own freedom. I see no reason my granddaughter should not do the same." Kana smiled. It was a smile that held a great deal of melancholy with it, one that did not fully reach the woman's eyes, "Just be sure of that choice. For no one has the ability to take their actions back. And if there is one thing I wish, it is for you not to lead a life of regrets."

'I'm going to tell him…Somehow."

Closing the cloth door of her home, Katara stepped out into the early evening, and blinked in the sunlight. The village was unusually hushed at that moment, save for a few of the warriors chatting near the tribe's meeting hall.

As such, it did not take her long to find her father, standing with his fingers pinching at the bridge of his nose. A pair of boot prints trailing off and away from him and toward the gates.

And Katara walked forward, and with it, the welling of several years of guilt bubbled up. And a small part of her did not want him to know she was approaching. Her steps became soft, light; back to when she would still take part in the tundra hunts.

She gathered her strength soon enough, her Gran Gran's own words pushed her forward, and that same fluttering of hope remained strong within her.

'Maybe, I was wrong.’

Right to try to undo the seal, but perhaps wrong to keep secrets about her outings into the tundra.

'He will understand.' Katara spoke reassuringly to herself, not realizing that she had already closed the gap and had nearly collided into the chief.

"Dad!" The Tribe's Woman took a step back. The bravado she had moments before, somewhat faltered with her facing the chief.

"Sokka told me not to worry," Hakoda began, though worry had indeed found its way into every corner of his face, "but I can't help but feel concerned that you and your brother have drifted apart recently. What's happened between you two?"

"It's…Complicated." Katara gave a small shrug, and her father let out a sigh.

"The world is complicated. Family shouldn't be." Wheeling his daughter around, Hakoda motioned to the igloo she had departed from, "It is a safe haven. That is what I want for the both of you."

"I think our views of things…They've changed." She continued to dance around the matter, and Katara felt the nagging guilt of her secret endeavors bubbling up to the surface again.

"And that's fine." Hakoda affirmed, "But I might need one of you to be the bigger person."

And she scoffed, for the sister had no intention of being the only one to apologize. And to prove her father wrong, she went and said the most childish thing she could think of, "He started it."

"Katara," The chief's shoulders sagged, "you two should have each other to lean on. Mend bonds, do not cast them aside."

"I understand why Sokka is mad with me, but I don't think that I should always be the one to say sorry." The daughter protested, "Especially when he's not even trying to see things from my perspective."

"And what perspective is that?" Hakoda placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder, tilting his head he looked to Katara with bemusement.

"That…" The daughter hesitated. The bubbling of guilt and something she cared not to consider as fear had been growing, overtaking the hopeful fluttering within her.

She breathed, focused on the fluttering, and pushed forward, "I think things need to change."

"I agree."

She looked to her father with what was no doubt, a bewildered expression, and Hakoda gave a small chuckle and guided her toward the meeting hall.

"There was another reason we had to clear the waters today." Hakoda's mirth dissipated slightly. And to the daughter he looked much like she felt when she was unsure about something, "I sent a letter to the North with that last fishing boat. A message requesting sanctuary."

"You didn't say anything at the last meeting!" Wide-eyed, Katara's mind had gone into a whirl.

The day had been one of many surprises. She was not alone in keeping secrets; at that point it wouldn't shock her if when she did run into her brother, he would announce that he had sprouted wings.

"Because I do not know what our sister tribe's answer will be." Hakoda answered with a level of uncertainty that Katara was unused to hearing, "And I do not want to give hope needlessly. When we have the possibility for a new path, that is when I will give our people the choice. To stay and fight, or to try to seek a calmer life."

Katara mulled over the creased brow, the wrinkles that had begun to show around her father's eyes. For while they were all fighting for one another, as their leader, her father did bare an additional weight that had only seemed to grow since the night the ice broke.

'But I could help, really help.' Came her thoughts as she peered at him, 'I need to know that you'll be behind me on this.'

The words she had thought caught in her throat, and instead she asked a question, "Calmer?"

"Calmer." It was then that Hakoda looked even more uncertain, "Maybe, one where it will not matter if a child is born with the gifts of our spirits."

She stepped back. She felt lightheaded, for surely, this conversation could not be happening in her waking hours, "Dad...?"

"I can't undo the past." The chief gripped her shoulder a bit tighter. The warmth from his hand, comforting, "But I do question things sometimes. If I had been correct? If the chief before me was right…If I was following down a path that would only lead our people to a dead end."

Daughter and father both, found themselves near the gates. And Katara leaned against the archway.

"I…" The heaviness about her lifted more, she felt her heart swell, as though it would burst from her father's words.

She should tell him. Tell him, and Sokka both.

With her family and tribe behind her, she would be able to accomplish anything. Together they could set things right. That was what the beating of her heart told her.

"Dad, I need to tell you someth…"

"Chief!"

The calm of the evening, dispelled by a desperate cry from Namid. The hunter had returned with her students, racing at a breakneck speed to the gates, the sleighs and mounts abandoned as the tribe members disembarked.

"What happened?" Katara ran forward to meet them, the chief close behind.

"The tundra! It's! It's!" Namid could say no more, and hung her head while she pointed to the snow fields beyond.

Counting the students, Katara was at a loss, for everyone was accounted for, leopard-rams and all. And then…

Come and see

I rush I flow

I thaw to vapor

Come and see…

She stiffened. For the water's song carried with it a warning.

Placing her fingers to her lips, Katara let out a shrill whistle, and not soon after Tso came bounding forward. Without another word, she pulled herself atop the wolf-deer and the two charged out into the tundra.

Across snow fields the Tribe's Woman raced. Her father trailing not far behind on a borrowed leopard-ram.

With tracks still fresh in the ground, Tso leapt over the drifts and gave a few guttural huffs that he would often utter when catching wind of a hare-hog. Leaning forward to protect her face from the chill of the wind, she focused on nothing else but her breathing and the motion of Tso's pace, until they reached the last ridge and the village was lost from sight. The winds shifted, and the hybrid animal began to grunt a warning, his tail shot up, and his gait slowed.

Hakoda caught up to his daughter, and they both continued along up the next snowbank without a single word exchanged.

The tundra lay before them, changed. A crevasse, running deep and wide, lay as a grisly scar upon the land. And much like a predator ripping away the flesh of its prey, a huge hungry thing had dug its claws deep into the ground.

Her eyes grew wide, and Katara trailed the length of the break. How it curved, and ran back towards the way they had come, back towards the village, back towards the ocean. And she felt a sinking truth creep over her.

"It runs all the way around." She did not need to confirm her suspicions, for the water whispered as much to her.

Fists clenched so tight, she felt the tips of her nails dig into her palms through her mittens, Katara held her breath. They had been made an island; cut off from both their hunting grounds, and the Heart. They were…

'Trapped.'

"Dad! Katara!"

The sound of her brother's voice pulled her away from what lay before her.

Coming to a halt as he reached his family, the young Tribesman took in the scene before them, "Is it…"

"I cannot wait for the North's answer." The Chief of the South cut in, "We're going to have to make a gamble."

"A new home?" Katara tilted her head, as she recalled their conversation from earlier.

"Wait, what's happening?" Sokka looked between his father and sister in bewilderment.

"We're having an emergency katimaniq, I'll gather the others." And with a shout, the chief urged his leopard-ram back to Wolf Cove.

With only his sister remaining, the Tribesman set his sights on her, "What's going on?"

Katara held her tongue; attempting to figure out if what her brother was truly asking about was their father's cryptic message, or something else, "The tundra, the veins, they collapsed. Our path…Is cut off."

Hand to his chin, Sokka remained silent. Eyes shut, he spoke in an even tone, "I'm going to ask again. Who have you been seeing, and what have you been doing?"

"Really?" She felt her cheeks grow warm, and in a quick simmering of anger she let loose a flurry of questions herself, "Is that the most important thing you can think of to ask right now? Why are you…?!"

"Katara! Listen…" Her brother's placation did little to calm her in that moment.

"No! You listen!" She hissed.

Marching right up to her sibling, Katara let out all her bubbling frustrations and laid them bare, "We can't keep going like this! And the fact that you of all people! You! Who bases everything on calculations and…And facts! For you to just keep going along with superstition!"

She stood, chest and shoulders heaving while her brother's face went as red as hers felt.

"I'm not saying that we shouldn't be more practical!" Sokka yelled back. Beginning to pace about the snow drifts, he waved his hands above his head, "But that doesn't change the fact that there is some sort of correlation!"

And when his eyes finally caught hers, she saw an anxiousness behind them that perhaps she had been too angry to see before.

"There's some variable that I can't see!" He looked to the sky in frustration, "All I know is whenever a new Bender is revealed, the ocean goes further away, our food becomes scarce or the paths that lead to our shores grow and spread! Whenever that rogue Bender shows up something bad always happens! We lose people!"

Katara bristled at her brother’s berating. And in a hot flash of anger, she made an accusation, "So, you do think I'm the cause! That it was my fault!"

"No!" Her brother's face paled, "That's not…I'm saying that there's something at play, and no one here knows for certain what the cause is."

She had grown numb inside, and not from trying to undo her seal. Her anger spent, the fluttering of hope dimmed. And Katara felt her feet carrying her away to bury her face into the soft fur of Tso, who had stood anxious and whining between the two siblings.

"We don't know Katara." Sokka repeated. His words came out a defeated whisper, "I wish I did, but I can't find an answer that doesn't lead me back to what the elders have been saying since we were kids."

"I didn't do this." She protested, her voice muffled through the fur, "But I heard it. The water was crying before dinner. I didn't realize how big the tare was…"

'But what if… I was the cause?'

And a small bit of doubt grew within her heart, threatening the small flutterings that had only taken flight hours before.

"Show me?"

Katara lifted her head at Sokka's request.

It was a peace offering, she knew it. And a far better one than some of the other attempts her brother had made as of late. And so, she rose to her full height and gave a small nod.

Tso carried them both across the one edge of the divide they found themselves on. With Katara steering, her brother sat behind; spy glass to his eye, he surveyed the land across the gash, while she listened to the melody of the song by the ice.

Come and see

I thaw

I melt

I rise

Come and see

With the water's warning, she slowed their pace right before Sokka let out a shout.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Smoke." Her sibling replied, "It's faint, but here, look."

Taking the device from her brother, Katara peered over the expanse and found, just as he had said, a few wisps of smoke carried off in the breeze, like that of a shroud on the wind.

Venturing off of Tso, the pair reached the ledge and gazed down into the abyss. And somewhere deep down, faintly illuminating the dark, was something casting a small orange glow along the edges of a barely visible tunnel.

"Who…?" Katara began to ask before she looked to her sibling and stopped herself.

Sokka's eyes were flitting back and forth. Taking in every inch that was visible, he motioned for the spy glass before he began to mumble a few calculations under his breath.

"It wasn't you." Sokka stated simply, "Or, any Waterbender."

Pointing down, the Tribesman continued, "See! There are grooves! Patterns! Like a spiral along the section of the break, and there, that tunnel? You can make out more over there! And they're all the same length apart!"

"This was planned!" Katara realized, her heart sinking further into a growing feeling of dread.

"Probably for a long time. At least a few years." The Tribesman nodded his head gravely, "That machine on the ship? I'm willing to bet good Yuan that they're what helped do this."

"They've been doing more than wreck our supplies over the winter." Katara's breath hitched, "They've been burrowing…"

They had been outmaneuvered; the price for such a blunder, a costly one.

"If they're doing this now…" Sokka had begun a new round of computations. His eyes flicked once more to the side before he shot straight to his feet, "Oh no! We got to go back!"

Her brother's hand pulled her up and towards Tso before she could blink. Her mind a whirl, she hardly had time to feel the wind across her face, until a snowfall of black ash began to rain down upon the tundra.

Katara urged Tso forward; the ash that fell, staining both her and her brother’s parkas as well as the wolf-deer’s fur a dull gray. And a heavy, sinking feeling settled over her as they reached the last ridge and flew into the thickest part of the unnatural squall.

Far in the distance, three iron clad ships sat in Wolf Cove's harbor. Bleeding dark soot into the sky from the main vessel’s towering smokestack, it sat as the darkest of omens, while darker flames danced over the water.

The Tribe's Woman clenched her fists again at the sight of the blazing timber that had once been the tribe's boats. All sinking into the cold waters, all but one. For the Cursed Ones had decided to spare the Eel.

'Trapped!'

The word ran across Katara's mind once more as she looked to their harbor aglow in the muted evening sun.

No path forward and no path back. They were all truly stuck.