3rd Person's POV
Zuko stared at the wall in front of him, feeling the soft sway of the ship as they headed to make repairs.
It has been an eventful night, tossing and turning as the recent affairs had his mind boggling.
What was the Princess of Omashu doing with the Avatar?
When it was revealed to him of who she really was, he couldn't imagine her being of royal descent, there was no way in his mind that it was possible. It was a one in a million chance. He rubbed his face tiredly, hearing the people still out in the deck, it was music night, and that wasn't helping him sleep.
He flopped back down on his soft bed, turning over onto his side. He narrowed his eyes, 'She doesn't even look like someone from the Earth Kingdom!' He stated in his mind, trying to remember the picture he was once saw of King Bumi, the two didn't look a like at all! The only thing similar was their mannerisms and the stupid smirks they had on their faces, but those could be taught, not genetics.
He rolled over onto his other side, fumbling with the comforter as he thought more about Himoko. 'She was so quick to ally with me... Why?' He rolled back over onto his back, breathing a deep sigh.
He sat up and decided to take a small walk around the ship, get some fresh air to help clear his mind of all thoughts of Princess Himoko.
Iroh was playing his instrument when he saw his nephew come out of the den. He smiled as he stopped playing, gesturing to the fire they had burning.
"Ah, Prince Zuko! Did you come to join us?" Iroh asked and Zuko rolled his eyes, ignoring him and instead began his walk around the edge of the ship, lightly grazing his hand on the rail. Iroh furrowed his brows in confusion, excusing himself from the music night festivities in worry for his nephew. Iroh walked over to him, resting his hands in his pockets.
"What brings you out here on this beautiful night?"
"Can't sleep." He murmured softly, watching the steady ocean waves crash against the side of the ship.
"You seem to be in turmoil, how can I help?"
"You don't need to help Uncle." Zuko's voice was much harsher than he intended. Iroh ignored his harsh tone, thinking it was from the lack of sleep Zuko has been experiencing in the past few weeks.
"It is about the Avatar, isn't it?" Iroh asked, expecting him to nod, but instead her shook his head. A small silence passed between the two, Zuko trying to calm himself so he doesn't randomly blow up on his uncle.
"Uncle, have you ever been to Omashu?"
"Once many years ago, why?" Iroh asked. Zuko shrugged, his thoughts going back to Himoko.
"Was it before Ba Sing Se?" Iroh could feel his heart spike, his throat dropping to his stomach. He slowly nodded.
"It was... Before I went to Ba Sing Se."
"What were you doing there?"
"Where is this talk of Omashu coming up from?" Iroh questioned him back. Zuko clenched his fists, his teeth gritted as held himself back.
"Yesterday, when I was at the island, the Princess was there with the Avatar." Zuko looked to Iroh, expecting him to look surprised, but instead, Iroh didn't even flinch, or looked confused in the slightest.
"Princess Himoko?" Iroh asked and Zuko nodded, slightly confused on his Uncle's behavior.
"You don't seem surprised..."
"Oh? Well, we all handle things differently. It is odd that she was there. Was she with the Avatar?" Zuko suddenly remembered when she fell off of the Sky Bison with the Shrimp Noodle Water Tribe Boy. And how she moved her arms in a such a way that it looked like... She was bending the air. Zuko decided to change topic.
"Would it be possible for Air Benders to have escaped?" Zuko asked. Iroh nodded almost immediately, "Air Benders were most known for travelling around the world, that is how Avatar Aang managed to escape his own death in the first place. So yes, it is possible. But, from what I know, they were hunted down." Zuko nodded, his thoughts going back to Himoko, particularly her looks.
He imagined Aang and Himoko side by side, and managed to pick out the features, light tan skin, big eyes, hair (Even though Aang didn't have any, but he could imagine it was dark colored), and even body builds. Air Nomads tended to be smaller when it came to bone structure.
"Did you ever see her when you were there? In Omashu." Iroh thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"No, only paintings. Princess Himoko was said to be from a different place, her lineage was only just discovered after her parent's misfortunate deaths." It clicked. Mysterious background, her looks... Bending the air.
Zuko came to a sudden stop, his theory starting to become and look more to be true then myth. He nodded, turning on his heel and walking away.
"I will head in for the night." Zuko left his Uncle standing there in the moonlight. A soft smile spread across his face before looking out onto the ocean.
"Bumi, you have raised her well if she has our Prince entrapped in his own thoughts.".
Himoko's POV
It was the next day... I think? I honestly couldn't remember because I had just woken up from a large nap after losing two full nights of sleep, and not very good naps by the way. I was still groggy as I watched Aang pace back and forth on Appa's back, the sun high up in the sky, barely any clouds. I yawned tiredly, Alea sleeping on my stomach, also tired out from the past few days.
"Would you sit down? If we hit a bump, you'll go flying off! What's bugging you anyway?" Sokka asked Aang as Katara handed me a sack full of water. I eyed it curiously.
"Is this the one you bend with?" Katara shook her head, "No. Don't worry I checked." I nodded, still suspicious but took a drink out of it. I swirled it in my mouth, before spewing it out.
"It's the one you bend with!" Katara quickly apologized, bowing her head continuously as she handed me the correct pouch of water.
"-I'm supposed to master all four elements before that comet arrives." I managed to catch what Aang said at the last moment, wait, what are they talking about?
"Well, let's see, you've pretty much mastered airbending and that only took you 112 years... I'm sure you can master three more elements by next summer." Sokka told him jokingly. I narrowed my eyes, "That doesn't help ease him, Sokka." I told him. Aang looked frightened and stressed at Sokka's words.
"I haven't even started waterbending and we're still weeks away from the North Pole! What am I gonna do!?" Aang asked no one in particular. I shrugged, taking another swig of the clean water and looked down at the ocean.
"Hey, why can't we drink water from the ocean?" I asked, still slightly dazed. Sokka gave me a look that said it all, it was a stupid question to ask. Katara went to Aang's side and grabbed his hand.
"Calm down. It's going to be okay. If you want, I can try and teach you some of the stuff I know." Katara told him with a small smile. Aang lit up like a light.
"You'd do that?" Aang asked her and Katara nodded, her smile widening. The two crawled to the edge of the saddle and looked down. I blew my bangs out of my face, staring up at the sun that was buried behind clouds.
"We'll need to find a good source of water first." I heard Katara tell him.
"Maybe we can find a puddle for you to splash in." Sokka joked. I looked at him, "Maybe we can find a hole to bury you in." Sokka glared at me and I shrugged, putting my hands up in defense.
"Just joking~" I paused, chewing on my bottom lip and waited for him too look away.
"Maybe..." I whispered down to Alea and she looked up at me, her ear moving up to hear me.
---
I ate almonds out of the pouch of snacks, walking around barefooted in the stream, my pants rolled up so they don't get too wet. It was pretty warm and I could feel myself begin to sweat as I walked through the shallow water. The magnificent waterfall creating a soft mist of water to hit me every so often. Alea hopped around at the water's edge, making sure she was still near land so incase a sudden wave were to come towards her, she could just get back on land without hesitation.
Aang and Katara were currently practicing water bending, while I was supposed to be practicing bending the air. But, Aang was currently preoccupied.
I didn't mind though, he did after all have to learn all four elements by Summer's End, which was coming a lot quicker than we wanted it to.
I leant down, grabbing hold of a stray leaf that fell from an over-hanging tree. I threw it up, it being mostly wet, fell down back to the water quickly, just before I whirled air up at it to keep it afloat. Something tiny, but progress.
I heard Sokka groan in disgust as he cleaned out Appa's toenails, his given task more disgusting than he bargained for.
"You okay Sokka?!"
"No!" He stated in annoyance. I smirked in amusement, looking to Katara, who was beginning to develop a wave as it reeled back and forth. Her face full of concentration as she did so
"The key is getting the write movement right." I heard her state. Aang got up and stood next to her before imitating her movements.
"Like this?" He asked, the water briefly moving with him, "That's almost right, if you keep practicing, I'm sure eventually-"
"Hey, I'm bending it already!" Aang shouted in excitement. My eyes widened slightly in shock, that quickly?! Even Katara looked surprised, and a little unhappy by the frown that graced her face for a moment.
"Wow, I can't believe you got that so quickly." She began, her voice sounding both excited for Aang being able to quickly pick up the move, but was overcame with discouragement, "It took me two months to learn that move."
"Well, you had to figure it out on your own. I'm lucky enough to have a great teacher." Aang told, noticing her discouragement. Katara smiled softly at the young boy.
"Thanks." I tossed Alea an almond, watching her leap up to catch with ease. I smiled to myself, happy to have this little fur ball with me on this journey. I walked out of the water over to the saddle that we took off of Appa's back. I put the almonds back in the food bag, stopping for a moment.
"Hey Sokka! Where is the map at?!" I asked him. He briefly looked over at me, plugging his nose.
"Which one?"
"Of the Earth Kingdom! I want to see if there is a town nearby!" I stated. He pointed at a blue bag to my left. I opened it, searching until I grabbed hold of a scroll. I pulled it out and unfolded it, laying it flat on the ground. I stared at the map of the Earth Kingdom, seeing where we could have been, we were travelling North, and we had just only entered back into Earth Kingdom Land... I fumbled with my lip, moving it from side to side with my teeth in thought. I looked around me, noting the large waterfall. So basically any place that had a waterfall...
I groaned, running my fingers through my hair, how does Sokka do this all the time?! I went to yell for Sokka to come over and help, but was caught off once I saw him being splashed by a large wave of water, magnituding his annoyance.
"Aang!" Sokka yelled, soaked to the bone as he emerged from the water, had gotten knocked off of Appa.
"Looks like I got the hand of that move! What else ya got?" Aang asked Katara giddily. Katara looked like she just ate a lemon.
"That's enough practicing for today." Katara told him crossly, walking away.
"Yeah, I'll say! You just practiced most of our supplies down the river!" Sokka informed us. My eyes trailed ot the river and just like he said, bags were floating down it. I grimaced, even if we were going to manage to get the supplies, they would be ruined anyway. My heart lurched in my throat, turning around and began looking through the bags. Crap...
"Ugh, it was hard enough when you just an airbender." I caught Sokka saying as I felt anxiety riddle me.
The airbending scrolls.
"Uhh, Aang! Could you manage to get those bags?!" I asked him, standing up from my position on the ground. He gave me a confused look, "They are ruined anyway-" Sokka began to state before I caught him off.
"The air bending scrolls are going down the river!" I saw fear run through Aang's body. He bolted, running down the river path to catch up to the bags! Karlie is going to kill me! She spent so long getting those things and keeping them safe and unharmed. She won't like it when she hears that her precious work floated down the river, never to be seen again.
After a short while, Aang came barreling back, breathing heavily as he tried to catch his breath.
"S-Sorry Himoko, they are gone..." Aang apologized to me, as he was the one that caused the huge wave. I rested my hands on his shoulders, shaking my head.
"It will be fine, it was an accident. Besides, I have you to be my teacher, not the scrolls." He smiled, sighing in relief. I couldn't blame him, he had enough on his plate to worry about, and Katara was already acting sour towards him just because he was learning so quickly.
---
We sat in a nearby village, the port having traders and merchants coming in and out as they dealt with their goods and money. Sokka exited the shop he was in, sighing heavily to himself.
"We've got exactly three copper pieces left, let's spend it wisely." He told us. Aang scratched the back of his head, full of guilt.
"Uhh, make that two copper pieces, Sokka. I couldn't say no to this whistle!" Aang pulled the White Bison Whistle from behind his back, drawing a breath before blowing air into it. No sound came out disappointedly.
"It doesn't even work." Momo jumped onto Aang's shoulder, chittering curiously at the object. "See, even Momo thinks it's a piece of junk." Sokka told him. 'It's not exactly a piece of junk, wood carving is hard, Pappi tried to teach himself once, all he got was splinters and a broken fingernail.' I thought.
"No offense, Aang, but I'll hold the money from now on." Katara told him, her mood has since been brightened thankfully, she wasn't acting as sour. I knew what Katara was feeling, as I struggled with airbending as she struggled with waterbending, we both had no teachers of the same element. But for me, I actually had a teacher who was a scholar and gave me what I needed, to the point of discovering I was able and better at bending Sound.
"Earth Nation! Fire Nation! Water Nation! So long as bargains are your inclination, you're welcome here! Don't be shy, come one by!" I heard a loud voice say as we walked, but we ignored it. We had to spend our last two copper pieces wisely. With a gasp, the man runs up to us grinning from ear to ear, almost smugly. I gave him a look.
"Oh! You there! I can see by your clothing that you're world traveling types. Perhaps I can interest you in some exotic curios?" 'Curios? What does that even mean?!' I asked myself.
"Sure! What are curios?" Aang asked the same question. The man paused, looking unsure in confusion.
"I'm not entirely sure, but we got'em!" He led Aang onto a ship. I furrowed my brows in suspicion, placing my hand in my pocket, grasping on the small blade. I had a bad feeling about these people. I reluctantly walked in along with the two siblings, the merchants wares outstanding, and looked foreign- All from different cultures, but barely anything from the Air Temples. I walked over to a statue of a monkey with a red ruby, tilting my head to the side. Who would even want this in their home? It's creepy, it's like it is staring right through you.
"I've never seen such a fine specimen of lemur. That beast would fetch me a hefty sum, if you'd be interested in bartering." A gruffy and hard voice sounded from the other side of the room. I looked over, seeing a smirk on his face. I narrowed my eyes, looking from the gruff man and the skinny man, noticing that they both took a certain liking when it came to fashion.
"Momo's not for sale." Aang stated, holding Momo to him protectively. 'Good thing I didn't bring Alea with me...' I thought. The gruff man looked to me, eyeing me up with a raised eyebrow. Suspicious of me, I was the only one who did seem suspicious of this place, the other three weren't as much- Even if they were, they didn't exactly yell it out.
"Look at this, Aang! It's a waterbending scroll. Check out these crazy moves!" Katara beckoned for Aang to come over to her as she held open a scroll. I peered down at it, seeing that it was indeed for waterbending. But how did that manage to get from the Northern Water Tribe to here? In the middle of the Earth Kingdom? My suspicion greatened.
"Where did you get a waterbending scroll?" Aang asked the gruff man before he slammed his hand down on it, making me jump. He rolled it up in between his hands, eyes hardened.
"Let's just say I got it up north at a most reasonable price. Free!" He guffawed. I sighed deeply, shaking my head as I realized that we were dealing with pirates. Pappi washed them out of Omashu last year after they would steal merchandise from actual merchants then sell it for their own, they couldn't have gotten more obvious than that.
"Waaait a minute... sea-loving traders... with suspiciously acquired merchandise... and pet reptile birds... You guys are pirates!" Sokka put the pieces together. The skinny Pirate wrapped his arm around his shoulders, smiling from ear to ear.
"We prefer to think of ourselves as high risk traders."
"So, how much for the, uh, 'traded' scroll?" Katara asked the captain of the ship. "I've already got a buyer, a nobleman in the Earth Kingdom. Unless, of course, you kids have 200 gold pieces on ya right now?" I froze, eyes wide. 'Pappi wouldn't even spend that much at once! And he is the King of Omashu!' I thought in surprise.
"200? Does that seem like a fair price to you?" I questioned the captain. He turned and looked at me, "Like you would know anything about money, girl." I smirked, crossing my arms as I briefly saw Aang and Katara move over to speak in hushed voices.
"Actually I do know, as I was taught self-defense by a waterbender from the North." I could see his eyes visbly widen.
"Questionable merchandise, are all your wears stolen? I presume so, as I have dealt with pirates before in Omashu. My grandfather took care of that by running them out of the city." He growled at me like a dog, not liking my words.
"Watch yourself girl. You are out-numbered here." Katara grabbed my sleeve, making me look at her. She stared at me worriedly.
"Himoko, stop. We can handle this-"
"Don't worry, Katara. We have dealt with Pirates before in Omashu." I whispered to her before turning my attention back to the captain.
"What are you going to do? It would be bad for business if word were to get out that all of your wares are stolen, and you were revealed by one with nobility." He took a step forward when Aang sidestepped in front of me.
"How about... One copper piece!" Aang told him to diffuse the tension I created with the Pirate Captain. Pirate Captain gave him a look, eyeing me one more time before shifting his attention to the young airbender.
"Hahaha! The price is 200 gold pieces. I don't haggle on items this rare." He stated, 'Rare? They have them all over the North Water Tribe, Karlie said so herself. I will make sure to report them later.' I reminded myself.
"Okay– two copper pieces!"
"It's not as amusing the second time, boy." Pirate Captain told him, his voice laced with venom as he intimidated us. Katara grabbed hold of Aang, looking frightful.
"Aang, can we get out of here, I feel like we're getting weird looks." Katara asked of him. Aang nodded, not questioning her.
"Aye, we be castin' off now!" We hurriedly left the ship, walking a good distance away from it before Aang spoke.
"What was that all about, Katara." He asked.
"Yeh, I was just starting to browse through their boomerang collection." I rolled my eyes, "Those are most likely stolen, Sokka." I told him and he gave me a glare.
"I'll just feel a lot better once we get away from here." Katara stated, her eyes holding what seemed to be fear with them. I rose a brow, did those guys scare her that much? Or did I manage to make her fear for my safety?
"Hey you, get back here!" I turned around seeing the skinny Pirate run after us. Uh...
"Well, well, look who's come to their senses. Told ya the haggling would pay off."
"Aang, don't think there are here to haggle!" I yelled as more pirates flooded out of the ship. We ran away, running down an alleyway and making a sharp turn, Sokka almost sliding into a cement wall if I hadn't grabbed hold of the back of shirt. We ignored the almost catastrophe of Sokka's face, and continued to run onward. We ran by a cabbage stand, the siblings bumping it as they went. Cabbages rolled onto the ground and away from it's merchant. I swiftly turned around, saving some cabbages and threw them to the cabbage man,
"Sorry!" I apologized in a shout, turning back around just as Aang launched himself and sent the cart of cabbages up the street at the pirates. I grimaced, feeling bad for those poor cabbages.
I ran up along with Aang to catch up to the siblings, turning a corner that I last saw them turn at before I skidded to a stop, seeing the Pirate Captain standing there, along with a few other Pirates.
"I hope that lemur of yours has nine lives!" We turned around, going down another alley but it was a dead end. Aang looked to us, biting his lip thoughtfully. We were trapped.
"Now, who gets to take the steel of my blade first?" Said a pirate with doubled edged swords, grinning wickedly. Aang looked to me, his eyes telling me what to do.
"No thanks!" Aang stated before airbending wind at them, blinding them with dust. He rushed forward, opening his glider before taking off, the two siblings grabbing hold of his legs.
"Remember what I taught you!" Aang yelled down to me. I nodded, the dust starting to clear. I whirlwinded myself up into the air, jumping on the pirates heads then onto the ground. I ran away, knowing that they would feel pain after that. I ran through the alleys, searching for the stairs- or, acting stairs I should say. I saw the the dumpster then three beams sticking out of the wall. This was my chance. The pirates followed closely behind, most likely sent men to intervene where they thought I was running. I jumped up onto the dumpster, running up the three beams before pulling myself up onto the roof on the short building. Yes! I took a heavy breath, continuing to run.
---
"Never let me... DO that again..." I stated as I finally got back to camp, breathing heavily. Katara ran over to me, handing me the bag of water- That wasn't used for her bending. I took quite a few big gulps when Aang ran over and barreled me into a hug.
"I saw you! You did amazing!" He berated me with a compliment. He was proud of me that I managed to use air bending to my advantage, even if it was just a simple move, it meant a lot that I did it with ease. I smiled, nodding to him.
"You okay Katara? You look weary." I asked her worriedly. She gave me an odd look, shaking her head.
"I'm fine-"
"Katara went and stole the waterbending scroll!" Sokka stated, anger in his voice. Katara whipped around, her braid almost whacking me right in the face.
"I thought we were over this?!"
"You stole it! And they won't stop in trying to find us!" Sokka reasoned. I took a deep breath, maybe I shouldn't have come back to camp right away, should have taken a nice leasurely stroll.
"Sokka, what is done is done." Aang told him. I took another swig of water, clearing my throat as eyes set on me.
"What do you think, Himoko? Do you agree with Sokka?" Katara asked me in a harsh voice. I shrugged.
"It is done, Aang is right about that. But that doesn't make it right. You stole an already stolen item, from pirates no less. Pirates are ruthless and will indeed stop at nothing to get it back, I know this first hand." I began, sighing as I ran my hand through my hair. The three looked at me, wanting to know if I agreed or disagreed.
"I am neutral on this, what happens now all depends on the pirates choice, to either pursue, or not to pursue.".
Sokka coughed awkwardly after a silence passed us.
"Hungry anyone?".
An hour passed and I was by Aang and Katara as I practiced my air bending, I had to keep close so while Aang was practicing water bending, he could keep an eye on me, only Katara so far hasn't taught him anything, or let him see the scroll that she stole. I was mostly practicing to knock targets down off of a wooden log to make the air blast stronger, like how Aang did earlier when he sent that cart of cabbages at those pirates.
"I just want to this one move, and then it's all yours." Katara told him. 'One move? Katara, sorry, but you have been hogging it for the past hour.'
"The single water whip... Looks doable." She muttered, reading the scroll, or looking at it. She slowly raised a stream of water, following the moves on the scroll, but as she tries to whip it around, it whacks her forehead. I winced, ouch. Sokka laughed as he sat on a rock, acting as one of my targets because he thought it would be funny to do so.
"What's so funny?" Katara asked him irritably, "Sorry, but you deserved that." Sokka told his sister.
"You've been duped. She's only interested in teaching herself." 'And he ignites the guilt.' I thought in my monologuing before sending a burst of air to a can, it didn't even reach.
"Aang will get his turn once I figure out the water whip!" Katara yelled, trying again but failed, whipping it around and whacked Momo in the behind.
"Aww..." I mumbled, what is with today?
"Why can't I get this stupid move!" She asked herself in frustration. Aang walked over to the river, lifting his arms up, "You'll get it."
Aang created the water whip with ease, not noticing the sour look on Katara's face.
"You just gotta shift your weight through the stances..." Aang shifted his weight over to his other leg, moving his arms before putting it back into the water, "There. See, the key to bending is...-"
"Will you PLEASE shut your air hole! Believe it or not, your infinite wisdom gets a little old sometimes. Why don't we just throw the scroll away since you're so naturally gifted!" Katara blew up on Aang without a second thought. I glared, walking over to them. She turned to look at me, anger still in her eyes.
"What?!" I said nothing, only gestured to Aang. She looked over, guilt replacing her anger at the sight of him on the verge of tears. Her face faltered.
"Omigosh, Aang, I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me. But, you know what, it won't happen again." Katara rolled up the waterbending scroll, handing it over to Aang. "Here, this is yours. I don't want to have anything to do with it anymore." She told him. Aang smiled weakly and nodded up at her.
"It's okay, Katara." Aang accepted her apology. I knew Aang was still hurt by what she said, but didn't bother to say anything else about it.
"What about Momo? He's the real victim here!" Sokka asked Katara, pointing to where Momo was. Katara leant down and stroked his ears in apology.
"I'm sorry, Momo."
"And... What about me? There was that time you-"
"No more apologies!" Katara demanded. Sokka furrowed his brows and I gave him a look.
"What?"
"Nothing Sokka, nothing..." I shook my head with a sigh. I turned back to what I was doing, sending another thrust of wind to the can. It was closer, but not close enough to knock the can off. I looked to Aang, seeing him stare down at the waterbending moves.
"Hey Aang!" He looked to me at my voice, "Yeah?"
"How do I get more range? I forget..." I asked him. He smiled, walking over to me.
"Shift your weight as you are sending wind to it, move most of your weight onto your left leg, bring your arm back..." He used his arm as demonstration on how far I had to go before barreling it forward towards Sokka. Sokka, who wasn't paying attention, was suddenly hit off of his boulder with a yelp of surprise.
"Hey! I wasn't ready!" Sokka huffed, glaring at me from behind the boulder. I smirked.
"Wasn't me! That was all Aang!" I pointed to Aang. Aang shrunk down and I laughed.
"Aang!" Aang took off in a sprint, handing me the waterbending scroll as he did so. Sokka ran after him, seeking revenge. After I knew the two boys were out of range, I went over to atara who sat at the water's edge. I sat down beside her, resting my hand on her shoulder.
"Katara, I know you don't want to act this way, so why do you?" I asked her, she shrugged.
"He is just so much better at this than me..." She muttered, "I shouldn't be a waterbender..." She finished, her voice bitter in disappointment for herself.
"Don't say that, Katara. No one is good when they first learn something, do you think Aang was good at air bending when he first started?" I asked her. She shook her head, staring at me.
"No, he wasn't. Because we all have to start somewhere, Aang learned patience when it came to bending, he knew that he wasn't going to get it right away. He is also the Avatar, a person who can bend all four; very different, elements. He is literally breed for this sort of thing." Katara chuckled at my words, softly nodding.
"Yeah, you are right..."
"I'm not good at air bending, I'm better at Sound Bending, something that no one knew was possible to begin with... So, maybe you are better with something other than just bending water." I suggested.
"Like what?"
"Well... There is bending Ice, right? And most Waterbenders can heal too. One of those two things could be better for you when it comes to learning the element." I informed her, feeling as if I was being a know it all when it wasn't even the element I was learning to bend. 'Perks of having a Waterbender as a teacher...'. Katara nodded in agreement, getting up and lending her hand down to me. I took it and felt her pull my body up with ease.
"You know what? You should become one of those wrestlers, you got some muscle." She laughed, "Thank you, Himoko. I'm glad that I have someone to confide in." I nodded.
"No problem. Keep trying, and you will become a master someday."
---
It was most likely after midnight when I felt someone shake me erratically. I whacked my hand in the air, meeting nothing.
"Himoko! Wake up!"
"Nuu... Sleep..." I mumbled.
"Pirates!" I sprung right up, eyes wide. Crap. I jumped right up, ignoring the grogginess I felt when I saw Sokka being slung onto the ground. Aang suddenly pushed me to the side, back onto the ground. A net wrapped around him, his air passing right through the holes. I blinked rapidly, looking around at the ever approaching pirates, how did I know this was going to happen?!
I swung back up as a pirate launched forward to grab me, but he just got a bloody clock to his nose.
"Ah!" The pirate held onto his nose in pain. I turned around and saw Aang being dragged away. I ran after him, grabbing hold of his feet as I played tug of war with the pirate dragging him.
"Let him go!" I ordered, hoping that I could somehow rip apart the netting. I felt arms wrap around my middle section, hoisting me up and over there shoulder.
"Hey! Let me go!" I yelled, pounding his back and tried to wiggle free of the Pirate's hold. He walked away with me, and I saw Sokka get netted as well, screaming like a girl. I rolled my eyes, puffing out my cheeks in annoyance.
I was placed back onto the ground soon after a few minutes of walking, my eyes meeting Zuko's. He smirked in triumph.
"Nice work." Zuko told the pirates.
"Aang, this all my fault." Katara told Aang, bounded to a tree while Sokka and Aang were tied up. I felt myself being tied up, but in this case, I couldn't get my arms or hands free, I guess Zuko told them of how I fought to escape.
"No, Katara it isn't." Aang reassured the Waterbender but the old man next to her spoke, "Yeah, it kind of is." He deadpanned with a soft shrug. I furrowed my brows in confusion, noting to myself that I have heard his voice before, but how and where?
"Give me the boy." Zuko demanded of the pirates. Oh... He made a deal with pirates, how dumb can he get?
"You give us the scroll." Pirate Captain told him as I finally noticed that the scroll was in Zuko's hand.
"You're really gonna hand over the Avatar for a stupid piece of parchment!?" Sokka asked the Pirate Captain in fake shock. I tilted my head at him in confusion.
"Don't listen to him! He's trying to turn us against each other." Zuko stated, pointing at Sokka with the waterbending scroll. Pirate Captain looked to Aang, an eyebrow arched.
"Your friend is the Avatar?" Sokka hopped over to him, nodding with a sly smile. "Sure is, and I'll bet he'll fetch a lot more on the black market then that fancy scroll." Oh... Good thing we have a smart one on our team... Sometimes.
"Shut your mouth, you water tribe peasant!" Zuko ordered Sokka. Sokka ignored him, staring up at the Pirate Captain.
"Yeah, Sokka. You really should shut your mouth..." I shook my head at Aang, mouthing to him.
"Don't, Sokka is being smart right now." I mouthed to Aang. He gave me a confused look, not knowing what I meant.
"I'm just saying, it's bad for business sense. Just imagine how much the Fire lord would pay for the Avatar. You guys would be set for life!" Sokka bartered, making his voice and words as convincing at could be in order for this to work. I looked to the two pirate's on either side of me, then down at my pocket. Wait... I can't move my hands or arms, but I can move my fingers...
"Keep the scroll! We can buy a hundred with the reward we will get for the kid." Pirate Captain stated gruffly. The pirate on my left grabbed hold of me and began to walk away.
"You'll regret breaking a deal with me!" Flames were sent towards us, luckily the pirates had fast reflexes and moved out of the way before they became Fire Nation food. Smoke bombs went off around us, protecting the captives- AKA Me and the three other kids. I took this as my chance, it would after all be hard to see amongst the smoke. I sent a gust of air upwards towards my pocket, my dagger flying out from the force and sliced down, breaking my bonds except for the ones around my hands. I elbowed the pirate in the gut, before giving him a good whack on the back of his head. Thank you Karlie.
I used his sword that was standing up wards from him falling over to cut the bonds on my hands. The sharp blade sliced through easily, cutting my hand. I hissed, but ignored it. I grabbed my dagger and ran through the smoke, trying to not bump into any bodies of pirates and Fire Nation soldiers alike. I could see flames and feel the warmth of them as if they were inches away from my face. Which was most likely. I navigated my way through the smoke.
"Aang, Himoko?!" I heard Sokka call from somewhere in the smoke.
"Yeah!" I called back.
"I'm over here, follow my voice!" Aang stated. I looked around, trying to pin point where his voice was. I almost walked right into a sword fight, stiffening before slowly backing away. Way too close!
"I'm right here!" Aang yelled. The smoke around us dispersed for a brief moment. I froze in shock at seeing both side of the enemy looking around, confused, just before the fighting resumed and the smoke was back.
"Uhh, never mind! I will find you!" Aang shouted again. I nodded, not voicing my agreement as I searched for the outside of the smoke. Careful not to run in between a fight- Again.
I ran, dodging fire blasts before I send a gust of wind in front of me to disperse some of the smoke before continuing to run. There it was, the end of the smoke! I ran down the area sliding out of the smoke screen with finesse. I ran over to where I spotted Katara trying to push the pirate ship off the beach.
"How you doing?" I asked her in a joking manner to lighten the mood. "The usual, being captured by pirates and a banished prince!" I pushed against the ship, hoping somehow it would budge, even a tiny bit. I sighed deeply, shaking my head as I rested my hands on my hips.
"I don't think we can budge it, it's too heavy just for the two of us combined." I told Katara. She stared at me, nodding then shook her head at the last second.
"Then how else will we get out of here?"
"I don't know, Katara."
"Katara, you're okay!" Aang ran over to us along with Sokka. Katara and I shared a glance, thinking the same thing.
"Sokka, Aang, help us get the ship off shore!" I told them before Katara could. We took our positions and pushed with all our might, but it wouldn't budge, not for the four of us.
"We need a team of rhinos to budge this ship!" Sokka stated, comparing how heavy the ship was to the strength of a horde of rhinos.
"Or my grandfather." I said, referring to the King of Omashu. This sparked an idea in Aang's mind, looking over to Katara dramatically.
"...Or two waterbenders." Katara looked over at Aang and smiled sweetly. Sokka and I moved out of the way to let the two do their magic. They pulled the river onto shore, then back down, slowly easing the ship into the river until floats. I grinned, "Awesome job you guys!"
"Everybody in!" Katara stated. We climbed in, setting sail to freedom. The ship was steered by Sokka as he floated it down the river. I sighed in relief, feeling my muscles untense in my shoulders. Just before I heard Aang yell, ruining the moment.
"Sokka! Can't you make it go any faster?" Aang asked Sokka. I looked behind the ship, seeing the pirates hot on our tails.
"Great..." I muttered in disapproval.
"I don't know how. This thing wasn't made by the water tribe." Sokka spoke. I went over to him, staring at the wheel then at the ship.
"But it was made by the Earth Kingdom." I told Sokka with a satisfied smirk. I pushed him over, taking hold of the steering.
"Do you even know how to steer a boat?!" Sokka asked me worriedly.
"Of course I do! King Bumi isn't my grandfather for nothing!" I told him confidently, still remembering when he took me on a trip to the ocean east of Omashu where went on a ship and I was shown how to steer. It was a fond memory, and that is why I remembered how to steer a ship.
Of course, this was only the second time I was doing it, so me not crashing the ship wasn't a guarantee.
The pirates are passing us and when they align with our ship, the jump onto the deck. The two benders immediately move into action, But I focused more on steering, and not letting any of the pirates get too close to me. But from the looks of it, Sokka was way ahead of me in making sure I wasn't tempered with.
"Hey! You did the water whip!" I heard Aang say excitedly. Sokka was suddenly knocked back, a beefy pirate on him.
"Will you two quit congratulating each other and help me out!" Sokka was picked up the beefy pirate and thrown into the sail with ease. Sokka crashed onto the ground, his body making a big sound as it made impact. The beefy pirate turned to me, grinning wickedly. I narrowed my eyes at him, shaking my head unimpressed.
"Not gonna happen buddy."
"That's good!" I heard a pirate shout, giving me a chance to redirect the sound from the shout. I briefly let go of the wheel, moving my arms in a slingshot motion from the pirate who shouted to the pirate who was beefed and proud.
I whipped it around my head before slinging it to the beefy pirate, knocking him off of the ship with such strength and wow.
I grabbed hold of the wheel again, my eyes widening.
"Guys!" I yelled, catching everyone's attention including the pirates. Before us was the largest waterfall I had ever seen, and both ships were heading straight towards it
"That isn't good..." Sokka commented, "Ya think?!" I began turning the wheel rapidly, hoping that it would edge itself in between the land, but the current was a little too strong to do what I wanted, it was very insistent on us falling down a waterfall to our demise.
Aang and Katara stood near the foredeck, bending the water in unison in attempts to move it around, or slow it down enough to let us escape.
My eyes widened in realization, the sound of crashing waves against the ship was faint, but strong and there.
I could do it.
I left the wheel, ignoring Sokka's bewildered look as I dropped down to where Katara and Aang were. "Need some sound?" I asked them. They didn't catch on what I meant right away, but I ignored that, and went right to work. I went into position, listening to the sound, and took the sound of everything around us, including of the waterfall that could lead us to our deaths.
In the same motion as Aang and Katara, I copied them, but this time I was pushing it to a certain direction, sideways. The red circles appeared as I moved the sound from the waves and waterfall to hit against the side of the ship, pushing it to the point of going sideways. Katara followed my lead, and worked more to helping push against the current. Aang looked ecstatic that I could bend the sound to my will in this way.
"We're doing it!" Katara yelled in excitement, accomplishment flooded her.
"But we have another problem!" The cutter was bearing down on the ship, close to cutting us. I froze, stopping my bending.
"We gonna have to jump!"
"To where?!" Sokka asked my dumb statement, gesturing that there was nowhere to go but down the waterfall. Before we could argue, the cutter rams into the side of the pirate ship, the end of the pirate ship was lifted out of the water. The ship was sent to port badly, rapidly even, to the point of us falling off of the ship just before the ship fell down the waterfall as well. I couldn't even scream, the rush of adrenaline was a little too much, but I screamed when I made contact with Appa's saddle, landing flat on my stomach. I coughed, breathing heavily from getting the wind knocked out of me. Alea made a few noises as she hopped over to me from hiding in a bag, nuzzling me with her head.
"Thanks Alea..." I thanked her, feeling tired from the whole ordeal. Am I ever going to get a good night's sleep again?
"I knew a bison whistle would come in handy. Thanks, Appa." Aang thanked Appa, petting his head.
"Yeah, we owe ya one." Sokka agreed with a yawn, rolling over onto his side.
"Time to nap..." I whacked Sokka lightly on the head and he jumped up onto his knees, staring at me. "What was that for?!"
"No naps, if I can't sleep, then neither can you." I told him, crossing my arms. He huffed, glaring at me. Appa went up higher into the sky, breaking through the clouds as the sun was finally rising in the west.
"Aang, I still owe you an apology. You were just so good at waterbending without really trying. I got so competitive that I put us all in danger. I'm sorry." Katara apologized, her face telling it all on how guilty she felt.
"That's okay, Katara." Aang accepted the apology more genuine now. Katara shrugged, scoffing, "Besides, who needs that stupid scroll anyway." Sokka pulled the scroll out of thin air, smirking smugly.
"Is that really how you feel?"
"The scroll!"
"First, what did you learn?" Sokka cocked an eyebrow at his younger sister, pulling it away from her when she went to grab it out of his hand.
"That stealing is wrong..." She trailed off, watching Sokka as he let his guard down, ripping the scroll out of her brother's hand, "Unless it's from pirates!"
"Good one, Katara!" Aang laughed. I smiled, rolling over onto my back to stare up at the clouds. Now I could relax- I stopped myself, narrowing my eyes suspiciously as I had a feeling that something was going to come up.
"Hey Himoko." 'There is it.' I thought. I craned my neck to look back, the three upside down from my point of view.
"Yeah?"
"Don't pick fights with anymore pirates, okay?" Katara told me. I smiled in amusement, "As long as you don't shoplift.".
To Be continued
Did I just make a new ship?
Maybe...
SCREW IT WE GOT ANOTHER SHIP!
There is SokkaXHimoko, ZukoXHimoko, and now KataraXHimoko...
SHIP NAMES IN COMMENTS PLEASE BECAUSE I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING.
OH BOI WHAT HAVE I DONE.
The Cover competition is still ongoing, so if you have a Cover you would like to submit, please message me on here or any of my other social medias that I told you in the chapter 'Book Cover Contest'.
I decided to add another social media to the list that you can contact me with to the link or attacked picture, Twitter!
Just let me know on here beforehand as I no longer have Twitter downloaded on my phone so I don't get notifications if I get a message or someone tags me.
My Twitter handle is @.OriaHema.
Thank you all for reading and I will talk to you all later! -Golden
Total Word Count including A/N: 8,197
Total Word Count not including A/N: 8,046