Arctic Flower

Arctic Flower, More Like Arctic Wolf

Princess-Zel Dawnofdeath

Katara didn't regret giving water to the old woman and her grandson.
She and the rest of the hostages from her village had been cooped up in the brig of a Fire Nation ship for days without adequate food and water. The hunger didn't bother them all that much, people from the Southern Water Tribe were used to going hungry, but the thirst was torture.
As the days passed, the thirst became more than Katara could bear. Like the other prisoners, she'd resorted to licking the condensation off the walls of the damp brig but that was never enough. Her voice came out as a weak croak and she scarcely had the strength to sit up. If she didn't get a proper drink of water, she would crumble to dust and blow away.
Katara could use her water bending to bring the moisture out of the air and use it to quench her thirst. But Sokka had always told her to be careful about using her bending because it might very well get her into a lot of trouble.
Sorry, Sokka. I have no other choice.
Katara pulled a large bubble of water out of the air and brought it close to her mouth. She was about to slurp it down when she heard a small child crying.
A boy of about two or three sat next to Katara, huddled against an old woman with a wrinkled, brown face like seal jerky, who reminded Katara of her Gran Gran. The little boy let out pathetic little sobs and the old woman, presumably, his grandmother, stroked his hair in a vain attempt at comfort him.
"Are you thirsty?" Katara asked him. Her dry, swollen throat throbbed.
He stopped crying and blinked at her.
"Here." Katara sent the water bubble over to the little boy and his grandmother. The two of them sucked up the bubble in eager gulps. Once they finished it, they gave Katara grateful smiles.
Katara smiled in response. She started to pull another water bubble out of the air but had to stop when the brig's door slammed open.
Three Fire Nation soldiers paced across the brig to see if anything was amiss among the prisoners.
The unfortunate water tribe villagers had been holed up in the brig for what seemed like a lifetime. If Katara were able to see her reflection, she expected to be as old as Gran Gran.
Gran-Gran...
Katara was in this mess because she had tried to protect her grandmother.

Their village was small, isolated, and vulnerable, even by Water Tribe standards. The closest thing this community of helpless women, children, and old people had to a warrior was Katara's older brother, Sokka, little more than a child himself. All the men who were old enough to fight went off to the war two years ago.
They were no match for the Fire Nation's raids.
This particular raid was the worst they'd seen in years. Half the village had been leveled and the Fire Nation soldiers dragged people out of the rubble and back to their angry-looking metal warship.
Sokka tried to fight off the raiding party's leader with his boomerang but was blasted into the snow for his troubles. Katara's brother was brave but no match for such a demon.
After getting Sokka out of the way, the raiding party's leader grabbed Gran Gran.
"The Avatar," he said. "He'd be about this age, master of all elements."
The rest of the villagers responded with confused silence. The leader shoved Gran Gran towards another soldier who tried to take her away.
Katara blocked their path. "This how you Fire Nation brutes treat a defenseless old woman?" She shouted.
"What's the old hag to you?" The soldier replied.
"My grandmother, you monster!"
"Since her grandmother is so important," the leader laughed. He gave Katara a look like a seal-shark eyeing a newborn penguin. "Take the girl instead. We already have enough old hags. We could use something prettier to look at."
The soldier threw Gran Gran to the ground then grabbed Katara by the wrists.
Gran-Gran cried. "You don't have to do this, Katara."
"I'll be alright Gran-Gran, just go to Sokka."
The last thing Katara saw before she was dragged on the ship was the tears running down her grandmother's leathery old face.

"That's the one." The Fire Nation soldiers looked at Katara as if she were something to eat. Katara had grown used to the predatory way her jailers regarded her.
She stood out among the rest of the prisoners, being neither a small child nor a wizened elder. Sokka and Gran-Gran often said she wasn't a little girl anymore and should be wary of strange men.
"Take her up on deck," one of the soldiers ordered. The other two grabbed Katara and tried to tie her wrists together.
Katara struggled against them. "Where are you taking me?"
Had they seen her water bend? Were they going to punish her for it?
Her pulse accelerated and sent blood rushing to her head. Memories of her mother's murder during a previous Fire Nation raid flooded back to her.
They brought her, kicking and screaming, to a large cabin on an upper deck. The cabin was lit with candles. A large Fire Nation banner hung on the wall.
Two men stood around a table looking at maps. One of them threw a cup of tea to the ground when they entered the room.
"What is it?" He shouted. "You better have news of the Avatar!"
"No, we do not, Prince Zuko," the soldier who held Katara by the wrists replied. "But we thought this delicate arctic flower might be a pleasant distraction for you."
Prince Zuko approached Katara and eyed her with a mixture of annoyance and curiosity as if a wild animal had just barged into the room. He had a large red scar shaped like a palm across one of his eyes like a flaming hand had slapped him. Katara didn't like the look of him.
A great bull of a man with thick, black sideburns grabbed Katara's chin. "Let's get a closer look at this delicate arctic flower." Katara bit his hand and he let out a loud scream. "More like an arctic wolf!"
"Not good with wolves, are you, Commander Zhou?" Prince Zuko said.
"She's all yours." Commander Zhou tossed Katara over to the prince. "Let's see what kind of a wolf tamer you are."
Katara rose to her feet. " I'd like to see a spoiled prince like you try to tame me," she said.
"Are you going to let her talk to you like that?" Commander Zhou raised an eyebrow and smirked.
Prince Zuko grabbed Katara by the arm. His touch burned her.
"Let go of me," she whimpered.
"You will show the proper respect to a prince of the Fire Nation."
She continued to struggle against the restraints on her wrists and the prince's searing grasp. The smell of roasted flesh filled her nostrils as the room spun around her.
"I'm showing you all the respect you deserve." If they were going to kill her, she might as well give them a good reason.
"You there," Commander Zhou called to one of the soldiers when Katara swooned to the floor because of all the pain. "Have her burns treated and bring her to Prince Zuko's cabin."

The stupid soldiers made a huge mistake in leaving Katara alone. She passed the hours she awaited Prince Zuko's arrival by planning her escape.
Step One: grab the lamp from the bedside table and use it to smash the porthole.
Step Two: Cut the rope around her wrists with one of the shards of glass.
Step Three: tie the sheets from the bed together to make a ladder.
Step Four: Open the porthole and climb out.
Step Five: Walk across the ice flows to shore.
By the time the prince returned, she would be far away from here.