Chapter Text
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender.
The Arrival of the Yellow-haired Girl
It was midday. I had spent my morning up until now tracking a herd of buffalo-yaks. I wasn't far from the village, but the freshly fallen snow from last night's storm was impeding my travel. Hopefully, the buffalo-yaks would be struggling similarly. Squatting down to study an imprint in the snow, I took in a lung full of icy cold air. The air always tasted better after a snowfall. It was crisper; fresher. The imprint in the snow was in the shape of a buffalo-yak hoof, and there was more all around. Judging by its depth, the herd wasn't far. I was on the right track. Smiling to myself about the funny word pun I had just made, I stood back up to keep moving. I was hopeful that I would be able to bring down a fully grown buffalo-yak. Just one would provide my village with enough meat to last about a month if it was properly cured. Any unwanted fat could be used to make soap or used to grease weapons. And I've seen Gran-gran use it as a salve for cracked skin or as a lip balm. The fur was much needed with its many possibilities. It could be made into blankets, tarps, and clothes. I knew of a couple of kids who were outgrowing their coats. The bones and organs wouldn't be wasted either. I could use a dried and cleaned buffalo-yak bladder to make a waterskin. Katara has been asking for one. And the women could use the bones to make beads for their hair and toys for the kids.
I thought of all the goods a buffalo-yak could bring as I neared the shoreline. I wasn't surprised that I'd follow the herd here. Most herds head to the coast during the summer months. I don't know why. It was just their habit. But I was grateful to know the tricks of my homeland. We didn't use to hunt buffalo-yaks. Not when they could be caught and trained to be beasts of burden. The females were good for milk too. But after the men left to aid the Earth kingdom, we suffered a harsh winter. The buffalo-yaks that lived amongst us had to be sacrificed for food and resources. And the needs of my people haven't lessened since then.
When my footing started to become more rocky than snowy, I crouched behind a boulder. The herd shouldn't be far and I didn't want to alert them to my presence until I had my spear ready. Now, would be the best time to analyze my surroundings before proceeding. Dad had always said that only fools act without a plan.
I look left and then right; not expecting to see much other than snow, rocks, and water. The herd is ahead of me. My village is behind me. There are no other settlements near us, and we haven't encountered any travelers since before the first Fire Nation raid. I was alone.
And yet, I ended up looking left again when a beaming reflection of light hit me in the eye. I raised a hand over my eyebrows to shadow my gaze. I wasn't worried. With so much ice and snow, it wasn't uncommon for light to bounce off the frozen waters' shiny surfaces. But still, caution was important. Especially because the whole tribe is dependent on me to hunt for them since all the men had gone to war.
Surveying the shore, it didn't take me long to find the cause. There! About five yards away was a…. was a girl! My breath hitched in my throat as my eyes widened and I lowered my hand. How is she here? The girl was lying face down on the beach that was more gravel than sand with her lower half still in the water. And her arms lay in awkward angles as if she had no say in their placement. On one of her wrists gleamed a metal of sort of bracelet. That's what had drawn my attention.
Buffalo-yaks forgotten, I stood up from behind the boulder. Prior to Dad leaving, prior to the Fire Nation attacking; I would have rushed forward to aid the stranger that had washed up on our borders. But misfortune had taught me to be suspicious. If they weren't from a water tribe, they were more likely to be dangerous. The girl appeared to be unconscious, judging by her stillness. But I poised my spear to be in a perfect impaling position as I approached. I moved quietly at the start; keeping my weight evenly split between my footsteps. But noise became less and less of a concern the closer I got. This girl was so pale, that she nearly blended in with the snow; like there was no life in her. How long had she been in the water?
Once I was close enough to touch, I decided that this girl was in no state to suddenly jump up and charge at me. I kneeled and laid my spear next to my right foot. Being this close, I could now see details that I couldn't before. Her hair was matted with clumps of seaweed mixed in. And the ends of it looked singed. Fire Nation, was my immediate thought. My suspicions were confirmed when I spotted the only color on her skin. Angry red welts and inflamed blisters littered her arms. This girl had been badly burned. Another Fire Nation victim. Her clothes were another thing that was weird. She was only wearing what seemed to be loose pants that ended above the knee and a sleeveless top. By water tribe standards, it was indecent. The fabric of both was thin and unlike anything I had ever seen before. But I knew they didn't offer any protection against the elements of the South Pole. I let out a deep sigh, now more sad than suspicious. She looked like she had suffered much and I was certain I was looking at a corpse. The girl looked to be close to my age, and she was pretty in a weird sort of way with icicles forming in her ragged yellow-hair and the strange pallor of her skin. Maybe I thought so because it had been a long time since I had last seen a girl in my age group. My sister didn't count. But there were still unanswered questions. The girl looked like she had been attacked by a firebender. Was a Fire Nation ship nearby? If not, how had she gotten to the South Pole? A shipwrecked trading vessel maybe?
I took off my right glove as I steeled myself for a job I didn't want to do. I needed to confirm that she was dead. Then I could release her body back to the sea, as was the custom amongst my people. It didn't make sense to me, but they believed that when we die and got sent to the sea our souls were freed to journey to the spirit world. After that, I'd put off hunting to search for signs of a shipwreck. We didn't get many ships up at the South Pole. Even less after the first time the Fire Nation raided our village. But it does happen. And I need to know if there were any other potential survivors, and whether or not they were traders or Fire Nation soldiers.
With another deep breath, I placed two fingers on the girl's neck; at her pulse point. I became completely taken back when I felt a faint thump-thump. "Holy La!" I exclaimed, using the water spirit's name as I withdrew my hand as if I had been shocked. A heartbeat. A dangerously slow heartbeat, but still it was there. How was she alive? No one should be alive with skin that colorless. Especially after being exposed to freezing water and being dressed in so little. She didn't even have any shoes! Still, setting the impossibilities aside, I moved on instinct. I shoved my glove back on my bare hand before digging my arms under the girl's armpits; praying that it was just her arms that were injured as I dragged her legs out of the water. I didn't want to make it worse. But, as a South Pole local, I knew the biggest threat to her life right now was her lack of body heat.
Next, I pulled my coat off from over my head. There wasn't much I could do for her outside of the village I didn't have any supplies to make a fire or block out the frigid wind. If there was any chance of saving this girl, I had to get her back to the village without letting her get any colder. Hopefully, Gran-gran could help. I worked to wrestle my coat on over her head; lifting her and rolling her whenever I had to. It wouldn't get her warm. Especially when she was wet. But maybe my second-hand body heat would buy her some time. I didn't bother trying to get her arms into the sleeves. As long as she was unconscious, she wouldn't be able to move them anyway. That completed, I stood up and left my spear on the ground. I could come back for it later. I worked fast to pick up the strange yellow-haired girl; grunting under the strain as I maneuvered her on my shoulder. In her waterlogged state, she was heavy. Heavier than Katara at any rate. But I could manage. I had too.
I made it back to the village in record haste. And for the first time in a while, I wasn't disappointed in myself for coming back without food to feed my people. Not when the only thing I could think about was the fading life I was carrying. As soon as I crossed the village's threshold, I was greeted with gasps and questioning stares as the women noticed the limp form in my grasp. It had been an age since we last had a stranger amongst us, and they weren't particularly welcome. But I paid them no mind. I, as the oldest male in the village, would have to address them with the facts about who I had found eventually, but right now the important thing was getting this girl to Gran-gran.
It only took a handful of steps before I was stepping through the entrance flap of my family's tent. "Gran-gran", I said urgently to the old woman on the inside who was stirring stew over her hearth. She turned around slowly. Obviously not understanding my panic. But she froze and her eyes grew large once she saw what I was carrying. "Sokka, what-", She tried to ask.
But I was already speaking before she could finish. "I found her on the shore", I said as I walked over to my bed and squatted to lay the girl down amongst my furs. "I thought she was dead, but she has a pulse!" I felt like I was speaking faster than I ever had before.
Gran-gran dropped her ladle in the cauldron of stew and left it to simmer as she hurried over to investigate the matter herself. Her face was skeptical as she peered down at the girl. Probably thinking the same things I had first thought. Who was she? Why did she look so... foreign? What had happened to her? And that was without Gran-gran seeing the burns on her arms. "Are you sure you felt a heartbeat?" Gran-gran asked softly as if she was about to deliver bad news.
I nodded my head so fast that it hurt. "Please Gran-gran", I said as I reached out and grabbed her wrist with my gloved hand. "See for yourself", I pleaded as I gently tugged until Gran-gran's gnarly old knuckles touched the girl's neck. I was taking a leap of faith by assuming that the girl hadn't perished in the time it had taken to get from the shore to here.
Gran-gran sighed but formed her hand into a position to take a pulse. I let go of her, but I didn't step back as I waited to hear Gran-gran's verdict.
I didn't have to wait long. In seconds, Gran-gran's face changed from foreboding to shocked to determined. "Sokka", she barked; having entered into full-on healer mode. "Go find your sister. Tell her I need her help. Then gather all the tiger-seal blubber the tribe can spare. We're going to need a big fire to get this child warm".
I didn't need to be told twice. Bolting out of the Tapiq, I yelled out Katara's name, not caring that I was still coatless. I had a job to do and limited time.
With the arrival of the foreign-looking girl, I lost my bed and had to make do with a bedroll laid out next to the hearth for warmth. This bothered me some. I worked all day. I should get to sleep in my own bed. But I was the one that had placed the yellow-haired girl where she currently lays. I couldn't exactly kick her out of it. Especially when she still wasn't awake. Days passed and the girl didn't stir. She remained cocooned in my bed and furs with only her face visible. The only exception was when Gran-gran would change the dressings on girl's burns. Gran-gran barely left our home as the yellow-haired girl took up her time; constantly checking that she was breathing and that the tent's cooking fire remained lit to offer warmth. But there really wasn't a whole lot Gran-gran could do. The girl's burns and blisters had been treated, her singed and ratted hair had been cleaned. Gran-gran and Katara hadn't been able to save most of it. The burnt parts had to be cut and the knots with clumps of seaweed tied in were so close to her scalp that it was near impossible for Katara to comb out. They ended up shearing off the knotted clumps of hair. Leaving the yellow-haired girl with locks as short as a year-old baby. I had never seen a girl with hair that short before. The women of the water tribe let their hair grow and kept it pulled back to make it manageable. I hoped the yellow-haired girl's culture wasn't similar. Because she'd be unhappy when she woke.
I wanted to spend more time in the tent with my strange discovery and think about all the questions I wanted to ask. But just because there was an enigma living in my tent didn't mean that all my responsibilities vanished. So, my days were as busy as ever as I tried to make sure that everyone has a functioning roof and food to eat. But my evenings were filled with staring at the girl as Katara and Gran-gran took turns spooning fishy broth and pouring sips of water down her throat. Every night, Gran-gran told me that there was a chance that the girl would pass beyond our reach. But even morning her heartbeat could still be found. I went out hunting after than first day. I found my spear that luckily hadn't been buried in the snow. As I looked for signs of the buffalo-yak herd once more, I kept my eyes open for signs of a shipwreck or other foreigners but there was nothing. Making it seem like the girl I had found had just swum into existence. I wouldn't be able to get any answers to my question until the girl woke and I could ask them myself. And boy, did I have questions. So many that I probably forgot one every time I came up with a new one. One question that I wasn't worried about forgetting was about the girl's strange bracelet. Gran-gran had shown it to me after I had been allowed back inside after I had first brought the yellow-haired girl into Gran-gran's care. Only the rim of the top was metal; the part that had reflected the light that had caught my attention. It surrounded some sort of glass. At least, it felt like glass, but I couldn't see through it. Its surface was black. It was so ugly that I no longer thought it was jewelry, but I couldn't figure out its purpose. So, what was it? The part that was used to fasten it to her wrist was made of something that I had never seen or felt before. It was solid and bent like leather except it was purple and I could almost see through it. Whatever it was, it was something that couldn't be made in the South Pole. I kept the ugly looking bracelet with my fishing gear; adding it to the list of things I wanted answers on.
On the third day following the yellow-haired girl's arrival, I finally found some time and a reason to stay inside my family's tent. Katara had been begging for time to practice her waterbending, and finally, Gran-gran and I relented just to get her to stop asking. Then Gran-gran got called to the home of a mother of two young boys how needed her medicinal knowledge. Gran-gran didn't want to leave the yellow-haired girl alone. Stating she didn't want her to wake up in an empty tent. I offered to stay. The meat I had brought back yesterday would last us a while, I had nothing around the village that needed to be done today, and there was weapon maintenance that I could do inside. So Gran-gran left, leaving me with instructions to try to get water into the girl ever so often.
As soon as the tent flap closed behind Gran-gran, I looked at the yellow-haired girl expectantly. As if just my presence and no one else's was what was needed for her to wake up and answer all my questions. But when a minute passed with me staring at her and she remained unmoving, I shook my head and ran a hand down my face. Foolish. Of course, it wouldn't work like that. So, I set up to work on the floor; laying out my spearheads and arrowheads, my whetting stone, and everything else I needed to care for my weapons. This was something that Dad had taught me at a young age. It was something that we did to occupy our time during the dark season. But now that it was just me, I had to do it more frequently to keep up with everything. The job was boring; having to do the same thing over and over again, and it was hard to stay still for so long. But a small part of me enjoyed it because I didn't have to think as I work.
I made it through two and a half spearheads before I heard a muffled groan. I almost ignored it. Whoever it was; it wasn't my problem. I dealt with hunting, security, and village repairs. Helping with bodily complaints wasn't a job I was responsible for. But then I remembered why I was sitting in the tent and not Gran-gran. I snapped my head up and turned to look in the direction of my bed. The yellow-haired girl! Her head just moved! Dropping the spearhead, I climbed to my feet. It only took two steps before I was at her bedside, and I was just in time as she groaned again. Her eyes blinked open groggily; revealing unfocused brown pupils. It was a relief to not see the amber-ish eye color of the Fire Nation. But her brown eyes didn't tell me where she was from. Just that her origins weren't obvious. She blinked again and wrinkled her nose as she started to shift around under all my furs. It must feel weird to wake up after a long period of time. Maybe her arms and legs still felt asleep. I bet there felt heavy at any rate. "You're awake," I said even though I didn't really know what to say. "You've been asleep for at least three days". I wanted to let every question I had pour out of me like a waterfall, but I knew that it would be a waste of time if she wasn't able to pay attention yet.
Her eyes darted around as she unseeingly took in her surroundings; the thick furs she was laying on, the dirt of the floor that wasn't covered by weaved rugs we made from buffalo-yak fiber wool, and the lit hearth emitting smoke that floated out of the opening in the tent's ceiling. Until her eyes settled back on me. Her pale-yellow brows got pulled into a slant as if she was thinking but the thoughts were arriving at a glacial pace. "I found you on the shore", I said to help her brain start working. "You were half frozen. If it wasn't for me, you'd be dead". I wanted her to know exactly what I had done for her. I wanted her to see me as the man that saved her life. As the only girl close to my age who I wasn't related to, I wanted to make a good impression. That is if she didn't end up being a threat once she fully recovered.
The girl mumbled something that was too muffled to make sense. She winced as she started to try to sit up. "Don't", I said as I reached out to stop her. "Your arms were badly burned. I'm not sure if you should be putting weight on them". The yellow-haired girl blinked up at me again. This time her eyes grew bigger as alarm started to set in and she left her sleepy state behind. She opened her mouth as her lips started to form a word. But instead of vocalizing it, a hoarse cough came out that had her turning her head away from me. "Water", I said as I moved away to fetch one of the jugs we used to store our drinking water. Of course, she'd need water before she would be able to answer my questions. "Don't move", I called over my shoulder as I grabbed the first water jug that I saw. "I'll be right there".
My heart was beating fast. This was the first exciting thing to happen in a while. The first exciting thing and hopefully a good thing to happen in a while. It didn't take me long to return to the yellow-haired girl. But in the second I had been away, she had managed to free her bandaged arms out from under her cocoon of furs, and she had pushed herself into an upright position; staring at the bandages with a look of horror. Had she forgotten that she had been burned? I asked myself as I knelt next to my bed. "Here", I said as I uncorked the jug and raised it to the strange girl's lips. She flinched back when the jug got close to her face, but a survival need must have taken over, because not a second later she was taking long gulps of water. With one of her hands reaching up and resting on top of one of mine. When she was satisfied, the girl lightly pushed against my hand, signifying that I could take the jug away. I did as the girl let out a big breath of air. One that had her shoulders heaving. "Can you tell me your name?" I asked as I set the jug on the floor next to me. "What happened to you?" I asked as I looked back up. The girl was staring at me again; eyes just as wide as before. Like I was just as much of a mystery to her as she was to me. "Was it the Fire Nation?" I continued to throw out questions. Once I was certain that she wouldn't cause trouble or hardship for my tribe, I could answer her questions. She must have some too. I mean, I would if I woke up in a stranger's tent. "How did you end up in the ocean?"
I chose then to pause; to give the yellow-haired girl time to answer. A moment passed in silence as we just stared at each other. Me, with a look of expectance. And her with a combination of confusion and fear. I guess I had asked a lot of questions without much restraint. But I've been waiting three days to get answers! I shifted impatiently as the girl slowly opened her mouth again. This time the sounds that came out of her mouth were clear and carefully pronounced, but still, they didn't make any sense. Like a string of consonants without any vowels or pauses. She had spoken gibberish, without me understanding a single thing. "Um…" I said after she closed her mouth. "What?"
By the time Katara came back from her waterbending practice, I had tried to communicate with the yellow-haired girl by miming, talking louder, using a lot of hand gestures that didn't really explain anything, and talking very very slowly. Maybe she had damaged her hearing when she had been in the ocean too long, or maybe she was just stupid. Either way, I was getting frustrated when nothing worked. I had waited days to learn about this stranger and now she couldn't tell me anything. All she did was sit in my bed, give her gibberish responses, and stare at me with fearful eyes that looked ready to tear up. "She's awake!" Katara exclaimed when she entered the tent. I turned to look at my sister, frowning as she pulled off her gloves and rushed forward to sit next to me on the floor. "I'm Katara", she said once she was settled, haphazardly dropping her gloves in the process. "It's good to see you awake. We weren't sure you'd make it". My sister smiled at the yellow-haired girl as she waited for a response. But there was no change. The yellow-haired girl was now staring at the two of us, but there was no comprehension in her expression.
I huffed and rested my chin in the palm of my hand as I balanced my elbow on my knee. I thought this was my chance to finally have someone my own age to talk to. That the water spirit, if he actually existed, had finally taken pity on me. But instead, I got a weak and helpless girl that didn't understand anything. Couldn't even thank me for saving her life. Katara looked towards me when it became clear to her that the yellow-haired girl wasn't going to answer. "Sokka, what did you do?" She asked, voice accusing.
I sputtered as I sat up and started gesturing with my hands. "Me! I didn't do anything. She just woke up and doesn't seem to understand anything!"
Katara narrowed her eyes. She pointed a finger at me and poked me in the chest. "All I know is that we left you alone with her, and when I got back, she's awake and looks like she's about to cry", she said gesturing to the yellow-haired girl who had moved further back into my bed when we had started to raise our voices. "You said something rude to her, didn't you?"
I threw my hands up into the air; ignoring the yellow-haired girl when she flinched. "It wouldn't matter if I had!", I argued. "She wouldn't have understood it. All she's said is a bunch of gibbering-nonsense".
Katara frowned at me, but when she looked back at the yellow-haired girl she was smiling. "Ignore my brother", she said. "He's loud but he's harmless". I huffed again. That was an insulting thing to say about a warrior. "It's nice to meet you. What's your name?"
The yellow-haired girl glanced at me as if she expected me to say something before her eyes focused on Katara. She opened her mouth again, and the same stream of nonsense constants sounds came out as before. Her voice trailed off at the end like she understood that we wouldn't understand her as she looked nervously between my sister and me. That was something, I suppose. At least, she knew that she wasn't making sense.
Katara didn't react right away. Probably because she didn't want to admit that I was right. Instead, she very calmly said, "huh? That's… different". I snorted. Different was a polite way of putting it. Katara wasn't deterred though. She placed her hand flat against her chest and made sure that the yellow-haired girl was looking at her before saying "Katara", and patting her chest. She repeated this a couple more times before gesturing to the girl. "What's your name?" She asked.
"You already tried that", I said with an eye roll.
Something seemed to resonate with the yellow-haired girl, however; because she sat up straighter. But when she tried to speak again, the same gibberish as before came out, except this time it was shorter.
"No", I said as I waved a hand in my sister's direction. "Her name is Katara". I drew out every symbol in my sister's name to emphasize the sounds.
The yellow-haired girl looked at me briefly with her lips pressed together before turning back to my sister. With a shaky bandaged hand that probably hurt to move, the girl pointed to my sister. "Katara", she said. She mispronounced the name, struggling with the 'ra' sound, but at least it was comprehensible. Then she pointed to herself, wincing a little in the process. She opened her mouth and… more gibberish. I sighed. Great. She could say one word. And not even a useful word that answered a single question. The yellow-haired girl repeated this a few times; point at Katara and saying her name before pointing at herself and saying gibberish.
"See", I said when she was done. "She doesn't understand anything".
"No", Katara said in a contemplative voice. "I think", Katara briefly paused before trying to repeat the girl's gibberish. "Is her name". I snorted again. Who would name their kid gibberish? "I think she speaks a different language".
"How?" I asked. I was still frustrated, but if Katara thought she had answers, I was willing to entertain them. "There's only one language. Water tribe, Earth Kingdom, and Fire nation; we all speak the same language?"
Katara rested her hand on her chin as she thought. The yellow-haired girl watching us carefully through the whole process. "I don't know". Katara admitted. "But she doesn't look like anyone from the Fire Nation or the Earth Kingdom. And we know she isn't from a water tribe. So, we have to assume that she's from somewhere else. We'll just have to teach her our language until she can tell us where that is".
"Great", I grumbled to myself. Here's another job for me to do.