Avatar Katara

The Avatar Awakens

A/N A little background on Rina

Rina and Katara dragged their feet back to the village, Katara mentally cursing herself the whole way. She should've known better than to go on the stupid ship. It's one thing to be an airbender and get over your fear of heights. It's another to go on a dangerous enemy ship.

"I knew it!" Sokka exclaimed as soon as they stepped into camp. Katara hadn't seen him this outraged in a long time. "You signaled the Fire Navy with that flare! You're leading them straight to us, aren't you?"

"Rina didn't do anything," Katara protested. "It was an accident!"

"Yeah," Rina agreed. "We were on this ship, and there was a booby trap, and we...boobied right into it."

If Sokka looked mad, Anuri looked like she was on a whole different level. "Rina," she said in a deadly calm tone. "I believe that we agreed that you would go penguin sledding. Not that you would sneak onto a Fire Nation ship. Now we're all in danger. We must leave immediately." Katara knew that "we" included her.

"But you told me that being a bender meant letting go of fear," Rina argued.

Anuri threw her hands up in frustration. "Fear, I said! Not common sense!"

"But..." Rina protested.

"No buts. Now if you'll excuse me, I will work on fortifying the defenses." She took a stance and bent ice all around the small wall. Sokka looked more than annoyed at having his months of work outdone in mere seconds.

"Well, since you obviously don't need any help, I suppose I'll be getting ready to face the firebenders," Sokka muttered.

"What's his problem?" Rina asked. 

Katara shrugged. "What should we do?"

"Rina, take Katara to Sang and get her out of here," Anuri responded. 

"Who's Sang?" Sokka asked.

"My bison. He can fly."

"Right," Sokka scoffed. "So can Katara."

"She can, probably, when-" Katara clapped a hand over Rina's mouth.

"You aren't seriously considering this, are you?" Sokka asked.

"I don't have a choice."

---

Katara and Rina were gone. Sokka wished he hadn't let them go so easily, but he'd promised Dad he'd keep Katara safe. And 'the general direction of a firebender' was definitely not safe, especially for the Avatar.

He stood tall on the ice wall Anuri had constructed, waiting for the firebenders to land. Suddenly, the ground started shaking. A huge Fire Navy ship emerged from the fog, getting closer every second.

The ship pierced the wall, and Sokka slid down the broken pieces. He raised his club, bracing for the inevitable attack.

Deep down, though, he knew he couldn't fight an entire ship of firebenders. 

Once again, he'd have to watch his home burn to the ground.

---

"We have to help," Katara said as she watched the Fire Navy ship pierce the ice wall. "We can't just sit here and do nothing."

Sang, Rina's flying bison, roared in agreement. Or Katara thought it was agreement. She'd never seen a flying bison until an hour ago.

"What would Gran say?" Rina asked. She lowered her voice into a convincing impression of Anuri. "Your duty is to save the world, Avatar Katara. You can't do that if you're too busy saving small villages."