collision → atla, reader insert

chapter seven

    She couldn't do anything close to those tricks with the air like the Avatar did or fight with two swords like that boy could. All she had was that dumb bow she'd woken up with that she barely knew how to use.

     Even now, her body finally gave out after running for what felt like eternity, but sure enough to get a safe distance away. Shrugging off the cloak and bag, she collapsed at the base of a tree looking out into a small clearing. Her mouth sat wide open with heavy pants emitting from them. She didn't care for flying insects at the moment, all she needed was to catch her breath.

     The deep blue sky began to turn orange just over the treetops as her breath finally slowed. Night was coming to end, yet [Y/N] felt anything but tired. Her heart still hammered against her chest preventing her from succumbing into any amount of relaxation.

     She grabbed her bag where the arrow that nearly struck her was sticking straight out. It was slightly heavier than she anticipated. When she pictured arrows for archery, she never pictured anything like this. The golden point and fletching looked pretty tacky against the black shaft, but it did look intimidating.

     Twisting the arrow in her hands, a sharp pain erupted from in between her eyebrows that nearly made her drop the weapon. She already knew what this meant—the arrow somehow triggered a memory of hers. When she opened her eyes, the Sun harshly beat down on her. The sky was bright blue. Clear. Not a single cloud.

     A girl walked into her view. [Y/N] recognized her immediately—she was the younger version of herself. She had to be nearly four years younger than she was now. Thirteen at least.

     Her younger self stood with a bow and arrow in her hand. [Y/N] watched the young girl reel her weapon back and let the arrow fly. A poorly drawn target sat on an easel about twenty-five feet away. Even then, the arrow hit the middle with ease.

     Though [Y/N] was thoroughly impressed, her younger self was not pleased at the outcome. A scowl found its way on the young girl's face as she lowered her bow to her side. Whatever her standards were were already too high for [Y/N] to even think about reaching. What could possibly be better than a bullseye?

    Clapping captured both [Y/N] and her younger self's attention. The two turned their heads to see a boy close to her memory-version-of-herself's age. [Y/N] expected a slow, sarcastic clap but his was optimistic—cheerfully encouraging her.

     Had he always been there? [Y/N] hadn't noticed. She thought her younger self sported nice clothing, but the boy's robes were nothing was fine. Each red was rich with color and every pattern shined under the sunlight.

     He had long hair pulled back into a ponytail on top of his head. It was topped off with a hair piece with a golden flame. Despite being so fancily dressed, the boy carried himself as anything but. He still had that childlike innocence behind his golden eyes that [Y/N] witnessed even the children from the village no longer have.

     "Thanks, Zuko," the younger version of herself ended up saying, but it sounded tired. It made [Y/N] wonder if she'd been training all day. "Today's not my best day."

     The boy met her at her side. They were nearly the same height.

     "Better than what I can do," he said, then proceeded to imitate shooting an arrow and adding various sounds to make it sound more crazy and violent.

    This finally earned a smile from the younger girl, and to [Y/N]'s surprise a laugh, too.

    "Whatever," she said in between giggles. "You're doing it wrong anyway. The Yuyan Archers definitely won't accept you."

    "That's not what I'm going for."

    "Well, I am." Young-[Y/N] pulled her last arrow out of her quiver. She leaned the point toward the boy. "Can you do the thing?"

     Without hesitation, the boy brought his pointer finger to the tip of the arrow where there was a small flame transferred from his finger to where the arrow tip erupted in flames. With a genuine smile, she looked at Zuko.

     "You're the best." She said, then prepped her weapon. Just like before, the arrow breezed through the air and the target perfectly in the middle. In fact, the flames made the arrow rip through the canvas and fall into the point behind the easel, easing the flames.

    [Y/N] looked at her younger self to see that she finally felt satisfied with her work and [Y/N] was glad she did. It was nice to know she was so talented when she was younger, but she felt as though she was watching someone else's childhood. Could she even reciprocate this?

    The boy watched with his jaw on the floor and gaped eyes. Amazed, he turned to [Y/N]'s younger self.

     "You've got to teach me that."

     Young-[Y/N] shrugged, tossing her bow over her shoulder. "Maybe."

     She picked up her quiver and began to walk away with the boy trailing behind her with a grunt. [Y/N]'s eyes opened once again with a gasp. Her head reeled back and hit the trunk of the tree she was resting on. She lifted a hand to the back of her head to ensure no damage was done except for the throbbing of her skull.

     The Sun was still struggling to rise and [Y/N] was still struggling to get herself together. Her fingers loosened around the arrow still in her hand while she grounded herself back from the memory. She ran her thumb over the coal-colored shaft and a small indention caught her attention.

     Bringing the arrow closer to her face, she made out some characters carved into it. At first glance, [Y/N] couldn't decipher what language it was, but she didn't need to. The translation came to her quickly. Yuyan.

     Her stomach flipped. She placed the arrow on the grass and reached for her own quiver. Her arrows were different. They were lighter in weight and color. The point was silver and the fletching was red. Running her thumb over the same area, she found the same carving. Yuyan.

     Her younger self had mentioned the Yuyan Archers in her most recent memory. Yet, that was years ago. [Y/N] didn't know what she was up to before she woke up on that island with no memory. Had she finally become a part of the Yuyan Archers like she wanted to? She had the skills, it was only a matter if she remembered them.

     She placed her arrow back in her quiver and leaned her head back softly against the trunk of the tree watching the sun take its place among the blueing of the morning sky. She'd lost her chance at finally getting to the Avatar and didn't know how long it'd be until they crossed paths again. She just hoped he made it out of there alive.