𝐃𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐧 𝑍𝑢𝑘𝑜

1

The sun was surprisingly warm this late winter morning in the South Pole. Katara and Sokka were on their little boat to go fishing. Today, a stranger had tagged along with them.

She had arrived in the village yesterday, one of the first outsiders to come to the South Pole in a while. Sokka had found her strange from the start, since she had been wearing black and dark red and didn't even share her name.

Katara was very curious about her. She'd never met anyone from outside the South Pole, let alone a young girl her age. She treated her with hospitality, offering her dinner and a bed. When the stranger asked Katara and Sokka if she could go with them on their fishing trip, Katara told her yes right away before Sokka could refuse her.

The stranger was very quiet and she kept to herself. And very well too, considering that while she and her brother had their regular sibling spat, she just sat like they weren't even there, her arms crossed with her elbows over the edge of the raft.

She seemed distracted, constantly staring at the water and ice as if she were looking for something.

Katara tapped her on the shoulder. "Sorry about the yelling, it was sort of embarrassing. We didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"I wasn't uncomfortable. I know how siblings can be. Did you know you're steering into a current?"

"Huh?"

The boat got caught in the current the stranger mentioned, making Katara and Sokka jolt as they were swiftly pulled on it.

They did their best to maneuver around the ice, but the boat ended up crushed anyway. Katara went to see if the stranger was ok, but only after she and Sokka rolled onto a slab of ice did she realize that she had vanished in the commotion.

Beneath the water, the stranger was sinking farther and farther into the deep cold sea. She let the water fill her lungs as she gazed above at the surface, the scenery making it the perfect place to die.

The bits of ice above bobbing on the water, the rays of sun beaming through them, the rocking of the waves, the vastness of the sea around her as she sunk more.

She was at peace, regardless of the cold.

But before she could slip into sweet unconsciousness, there was a disturbance beneath her. When she looked down, she was an iceberg the size of a 3 to 4 story house rising from the depths, and there was a blueish glow coming from it.

Before she could swim out of the way, the iceberg shot up out of the water, taking the stranger with it. When they resurfaced, she stayed on the top for a moment, coughing out all the water in her system.

She was a little concerned about how Sokka and Katara would react to her almost drowning, but it didn't last. She became more curious as to how the iceberg was so well shaped into a sphere.

She slid down along the side of it, seeing the glow was still in there, as well as a big animalistic silhouette and another human looking one. What was in there?

Katara wanted to know as well. She took Sokka's club and started to bang it on the side of the iceberg. Still soaked, the stranger joined up with them.

"You're not going to get anywhere at that rate. May I?"

"Sure...?"