Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“No no no no! This can't be happening! It hasn't even been two weeks!” Sokka shouts as he runs through the deep snow, his catch for the day left behind on the edge of the coast, probably already claimed back by the oceana’s creatures.

It has been eleven days now since the other warriors left, leaving Sokka behind to protect the village and take care that everyone is okay.

Him, a twelve year old boy, alone, the next man closest to him being a three year old child.

And now things are already beginning to break down.

He didn't see it coming when he went out to hunt today, desperately trying to get enough food for everyone while also saving up enough for the winter, the sun barely rising above the edge of the ocean.

Even now it's so close to the horizon that the snowy ground is shrouded in darkness already, the icebergs drifting along the coast casting shadows over the frozen plains as the last of the sun’s rays dip under the ocean.

But before he could make his way back to the village with today’s catch (not enough, never enough) he noticed something moving through the glaciers. Something that sent a shiver down his back, his eyes staring in pure panic.

The water tribe boy doesn't need to question the ship's origin, the dark grey metal sheets it's made from only being used by one nation.

It hasn't been snowing much recently, the dryer seasons keeping the clouds too small to let the snow fall, so the telltale black snow has warned him like it used to at that day.

And now a Fire Nation ship is searching the area just four miles away from the village, with him as the only one to defend it.

No matter what he tries to tell himself, he knows he can't win.

He isn't even a warrior. His father told him that clearly when he left him behind. So what is he supposed to do now?

One of his feet gets caught in a small hole in the snow, from an arctic bunny fox maybe, making him crash face first into the cold ground, the shards of the frozen ground cutting in his face.

He fights himself to stand up again despite his exhaustion, tears running down his face.

“What am I supposed to do?”

The enemies are soldiers. Real soldiers and firebenders and probably so many more things Sokka doesn't know. With years of fighting experience and weapons he doesn't even know how to use.

His breathing turns faster as panic bleeds into his veins. He is supposed to protect the people in the village, his own baby sister, the small boys who haven't even had the chance to explore the icy plains of the south pole.

And now he is going to fail them all.

“I can’t-” he wipes the tears away with the sleeve of his anorak, the material stiff without much ability to move quickly, still made for a child and unfit from battle.

But manages to stand up, even if his legs already sting after a long day of hunting, the muscles stiff from the long exposure to the cold, carrying the baskets of fish through the desert of ice.

But as soon as he runs around the next iceberg, his heart sinks even more.

The ship Sokka has seen before has now overtaken him, continuing to make its way along the coast like an unstoppable force.

Right to his village.

“No…” He falls to his knees as the despair floods through him.

When the warriors would return home they would see a burned down village because he wasn't able to protect it. Everyone would be gone, Katara would-

The thought freezes in his mind as he falls into a desperate sprint again, his small legs fighting against the deep snow, even if the distance to the ship becomes bigger and bigger with every passing second.

And, more out of hopelessness than anything else, for the first time in his life, Sokka calls to the spirits. Praying that they would listen.

“Please Tui and La! Please protect the people of the village! I will do anything, give anything! Please!” He shouts, his weak voice echoing through the ice plains.

As the ship gets closer to the iceberg in the distance he knows his home is hiding behind, but also obscures the ship so none of the women would see it in time, he gets more desperate.

‘Please! Anybody! I don't care what you want in return! Whatever it is, I will get it! Even if I cost my life! Just please! Make sure my family is safe!’ The tears flow out of his eyes as his vision starts to get blurry from the exhaustion.

Then suddenly a piercing pain goes through his body.

It feels like something is burrowing through all of his veins at the same time, then suddenly, before he can even for a thought about what is happening, it is like his blood has been replaced with boiling water, causing the boy to fall to the ground as clutches his body, his throat constricting so much that he can't even let out a scream.

Then suddenly it's over as if nothing ever happens, leaving the boy lying in the snow as his consciousness returns to him, but before he can try to figure out what happened, something that he can almost call a voice echoes in his head.

~Interesting. The determination is remarkable. Your physical condition is fitting. Your requests are accepted.~ The entity tells him, the words sounding as if someone was trying and mostly failing to imitate words.

The deep sound echoes in his head, almost sounding artificial, and so hollow and void of human emotions. But for some reason Sokka doesn't panic because of it.

“Are- are you a spirit? Are you here to help me?” He sounds unsure, but he is pretty sure what the entity talking to him is.

~Yes and yes.~ The answer comes without a pause. ~The payment is as agreed on previously. For now we will take care of your part of the pact. You can address me as Carrion.~

As soon as the spirit finishes the words, Sokka feels the control over his body slip away, even if his mind stays sharp.

And that might now even have terrified him as much if he didn't see his own arms melt into blood red goo right before his eyes, dripping to the ground without showing sign of the bones that should have been in the center of them.

His flesh turns into a deep red, mass as it falls down into the white snow, instantly staining it in a vibrant red.

The bloody mass grows as more of Sokka’s body dissolves and drips down to the ground, rising up as it seeps into the snow, colouring it blood red as his body is swallowed by the mass.

Sokka desperately tries to move away, but his body doesn't respond to his commands, just standing there completely motionless as it falls apart, his head being swallowed by the growing mass as a terrified shout tries to rip out of his throat, but is swallowed by the ever swelling flesh.

The fact that it doesn't hurt, quite the opposite in fact, feeling extremely natural and relaxing somehow doesn't help the situation as his vision sinks into darkness as his eyes are buried by the bloody, meat like substance.

His panic rises as he still finds himself unable to move, but he doesn't see anything! He doesn't even feel his heartbeat even if he is sure it would be thundering, and he can’t breath, even if it doesn't feel like he needs to, and he still can't see and-

He opens an eye, taking in the area around him, and that simple fact calms him more than it should.

The he open his other eye, and sees an entirely different view, and before he can even think about what that means another opens, and then another, and the flood of images should feel disorienting but it does not and and what is going on with his body and-

~Panic is unnecessary. I will assume control since you lack experience.~ The spirit interrupts his panic, the water tribe boy having forgotten it was there at all.

He feels his entire body shifts, slimy and wet surfaces moving around each other in a way he can't comprehend and much less describe, the vision of his eyes changing and overlapping as they take in the area with surprising sharpness for the darkness surrounding the frozen plains.

It is only when one of the eyes moves forwards to drag the mid part of the body behind that he can see his entire body through the eye on the appendage.

An appendage that is a tentacle made from dripping, muscle fiber like looking mass, he might add.

Even the eyes are only a dark red, almost black orb, buried into the flesh in a way that he wouldn't even recognize them if he wasn't able to feel them.

The mass of flesh (should he call it that? it looks like that.) continues to rush towards the coast without the body gaining back any control over his body from the spirit, making its way to the Fire Nation ship at a surprising speed.

“No! Wait! we can't go into the water! The temperature would-” he doesn't have time to finish till the spirit leaps into the water.

Sokka prepares for the piercing pain of the cold water, but to his surprise, it doesn't come. In fact, he currently doesn't really feel any temperature, now that he thinks about it. It's just completely neutral, uncomfortably so.

Well, he won't complain about not freezing to his death.

It feels unnatural how his tentacles (That is still a weird feeling to think that) sway through the water, hooking teeth and claws into the ice around them to keep itself from sinking.

Sokka feels a screech release itself from his body, from where he doesn't know, echoing through the water. He feels it bounce between the ice, and before he can ask the spirit what it is doing, he hearn the echo reach back to him, a part feeling brittle and solid, another one stiff and somehow feeling alive.

~An unexpectedly high compatibility with your body.~ the spirit informs, completely unbothered by Sokka’s panic.

It lets out a small, almost thoughtful sounding rumble before even more tentacles burst out of his (HIS! Spirits what is going on with his body?!) body, ripping through the water, pushing at the ice around him to propel him through the water at an incredible speed.

‘The ship.’ Sokka thinks, feeling a presence all the way back in the dark waters.

~Precisely. We should move.~ And with that Sokka’s body propels itself forward, grabbing onto the surrounding icebergs to drag itself through the water, not something that can really be called swimming, but it is fast, uncannily so, like the water isn't inhibiting his movements at all.

Before Sokka can even catch up to what's happening he sees the ship appear in the dark water, a claw grabbing into the iron sheets, sinking deep into metal as if it was made from clay to drag itself up the side, pulling itself up the side of the ship.

They land on the ship’s deck with a surprisingly quiet sound, the tentacles extending to the ground to dampen the fall.

But dread immediately settles in Sokka as he takes in the Fire Nation soldiers on the other side of the ship, yet unaware of their presence but it's only a question of time till they will notice.

“Hey! What are you doing!?” Sokka internally shouts to the spirit, trying to get it to move out of the open where the enemy could attack them at any time.

The soldier on the other side of the ship lets out a small yawn as he starts to turn around, pure panic flowing into the water tribe boy’s veins.

But before Sokka can even react, the spirit moves, lunging forward with all of its body, tendrils shooting from its body like spears, claws and fangs sprouting from the red flesh.

Sokka tries to close his eyes as they bury into the flesh of the soldier, but he doesn't have any control over his actions, all his far too many eyes still locked onto the man in front of him as the tendrils bury even deeper into the body.

With a heavy pull the tentacles haul the body to all sides, the man letting out pained gurgling sounds as the blood spills out from his pierced through lung, tentacles constricting around his limbs as they rip the man apart.

The legs are pulled from the body with a sickening crunch as the limb is wrenched out from the joint, the tendrils and veins popping with loud snaps.

“Stop! What are you doing?!” Sokka shouts, nausea and panic flooding his mind, wishing he could just close his eyes and wake up from this nightmare. Because this has to be a dream, right? There is no way this is real, right?

He will just wake up in some minutes and everything will be alright again. No Fire Nation ships, no spirits and no ripped apart body laying in front of him, the blood flowing out of the ripped apart limbs as it collects on the metal floor.

~You request is illogical.~ The spirit tells him with a completely even voice, snapping the boy out of his thoughts. ~What else would we do with them?~

“I- I don't know.” Because, what should he do? He knows the Fire Nation won't go away peacefully, would never stop their attack until they are beaten.

Maybe he could restrain them, but how was he, a single water tribe, without any way to capture the crew of an entire Fire Nation ship on his own be supposed to do that? Is there even a way to do this without killing?

~Till you reach an idea better fitting your goals I will continue with my actions. At the current speed of this ship we won't have long till it reaches the village.~ The spirit informs, new dread filling Sokka’s mind.

~Or do you want me to wait till you come up with a better plan?~

“No.” The boy says instantly. No matter what he has to do, he will keep his tribe, his sister safe, even if that means becoming a monster. “Keep my family safe. Please.”

~Acknowledged. But first- '~ The spirit moves one of its tendrils to the corpse, or at least one shred of it, pulling it close to Sokka’s main body.

~We require sustenance, or flames could do heavy damage. That isn't a risk we can take when facing a ship with firebenders.~

Sokka tries to ignore the disgust as he watches the teeth rise from his flesh, forming a maw that is large enough to swallow a grown person whole.

The severed arm is swallowed in one bite, the other limbs soon following.

It feels like he wants to vomit, desperately wanting to stop his body, wanting to stop watching -feeling- as his own body bites into another person, the bones cracking under the pressure of his fangs.

This is all to protect his family, he tells himself again and again, trying to ignore what's happening right in front of his eyes.

A part of him wants to shout this is wrong, but what does he know more about this than a spirit? Everyone always told him he isn't ready for the war ever since the raid took his mother. This is probably the only way to save his family, so he will take it.

The nausea rises with every bite, but he can't actually control his body to spit it out and give into the urge to free his body from the human flesh, the horrible feeling only growing more and more as time passes.

Sokka’s body lets out a small shiver as he finishes consuming the soldier, his body growing in size as he absorbs the man's biological material, even the blood dripping down his teeth getting absorbed by his skin.

But he is barely conscious at this point, so he hardly notices the change to his size.

~Let us proceed.~ The spirit’s voice echoes in his mind, barely more than a rumble in the boy’s ears, his mind already doing its best to shut out what is happening around him, trying to protect itself.

But that isn't enough to protect him from the storm of emotions crying in his mind.

The door leading to the ship's hallways is ripped out of its frame, immediately throwing it at the shocked soldier standing behind it.

The horrible crunch as it slams him into the wall, breaking his bones as he is smashed between the wall echoes through the hallways, feeling just as loud as the crashing metal, blood splattered over the walls and slowly flowing down to the floor.

Two more men rush out of their quarters as they hear the commotion, but the hesitation caused by their shock slows them down, Carrion shooting its harpoon like tentacles at them, sinking through their armors as if they are paper.

Their blood is covering the hallway before they can even react, getting dragged into the moving mass of flesh that just took their lives, soon being absorbed and their flesh being used to kill their previous companions.

And like that it continues. Another door, another death. One after another.

The next soldier lets out a pained cry as the heavy metal door is slammed into her body, this time missing her head, but it would have been better for her if it hit, saving her from the pain as the tentacles grab her mangled body and Sokka’s teeth bury into her living flesh.

She stops shouting after that, her corpse joining her companions in Sokka’s body.

And so does the rest of the ship’s crew, not prepared for any type of attack, especially not in this form.

~That should be sufficient.~ Carrion says once they reach the deepest part of the ship, ripping one of the doors out of its frame as they slither into one of the rooms to the side.

But Sokka doesn't understand what it means with that, but he has a feeling that the spirit will soon tell him anyway.

~These kinds of ships should be easier to damage from the inside than the outside, and not only because here we have a better hold to deal damage.~ the entity tells him, claw and horns rising from it's body.

Some tentacles sprout, hooking themselves into the walls for stability, before shooting a harpoon like tentacle into the metal of the ship, far bigger than all the others the spirit used before.

It buries itself into the wall with a heavy creaking sound, cracks spreading through the structure as the spirit continues to rip into it, the cold arctic water pooling into the room, flowing through the open door into the hallway.

~I assumed you don't want your tribe to know about this?~ The spirit asks, but he probably already knows the answer.

That thought lets another pool of dread settles in his stomach.

‘If the others see me like this, they- I don't even know how they would react, but I don't think they would want me in the village anymore. And how would I protect them like that?’

“No. Please don’t tell them.” Sokka begs, but thankfully Carrion doesn't seem to have a problem with his wish.

~I thought so. That is why this entire ship will be disposed of.~ The spirit tells him, another slash of its tendril widening the crack in the wall even more, water flooding into the ship.

By now more and more shouts are heard in the hallways, seemingly fighting against the freezing cold water that floods the room to try and patch up the leak.

Sokka can hear them shout something about hitting an iceberg when a man appears at the entrance, his face morphing into shock as he spots the blood covered body of Sokka.

Of course he doesn't have long to think about what he sees, a harpoon shooting out of Sokka’s body and through his head, his brain splattering at the wall behind him before it drags him into the room, fully swallowing him with two bites.

Judging by the shouts coming from the hallway, they were seen, but by now it is too late for the crew, the hole in the wall only getting bigger as the water forces its path inside, the ship sinking even faster as the time passes.

And with all of the doors ripped open by the boy who is now guarding the leak, the soldiers have no way of stopping the spread of the water, helplessly watching the ship sink.

After a short time the entire room is filled with water, so the two move over to the next room as they open another hole in the wall, then another, then another.

~That should suffice.~ Carrion tells him, moving out of the ship through one of the openings in the metal, swimming up to reach the surface, the ship sinking down into the darkness of the ocean beside them.

But when Sokka breaks the surface he notices they aren't alone, a bunch of Fire Nation soldiers surrounding them on lifeboats, letting out panicked shouts as they spot Sokka’s ever shifting form.

This time they are faster to react than before, a flame shooting at him from one of the boats, setting his skin aflame instantly.

It doesn't hurt the boy, not really, even if he flinches back mostly on instinct, instantly diving into the deep dark water again to extinguish the flames that stuck to his skin.

“You are more flammable than I expected.” Sokka comments in surprise. With how wet this body felt he didn't expect it to burn this easily.

~I dislike that fact too, but in proximity to water it won't be a problem, since unlike before you should be unable to get infections from burned skin now and the immediate problem of burning can be extinguished easily. Also while they are on water, the enemies won't be a problem.~ The spirit tells him.

Before Sokka can ask what he means with another swarm of tentacles shoot out of his body, logging into the underside of one of the ships and ripping a hole into it, immediately sinking under the surface.

The water tribe boy can see the soldiers struggle against the cold water for a short moment, but they begin to sink in seconds, their heavy armors only adding to the freezing temperatures as they paralyze the enemies’ muscles.

Sokka watches as they drop into the depths below, desperately trying to get back to the surface as their horrified eyes lock onto the water tribe boy’s deformed body in front of them.

The other boats are the same, unable to defend themselves from below, not built to stand up to something like him, the soldiers horrified wailing and cries of terror even audible under the water.

~We should not waste resources.~ Carrion tells him as it snatches the bodies out of the water, swallowing them into it’s ever growing body.

Soon no boats are left, only some wreckage floating on the water, even the people who managed to hold onto them for safety long claimed by the freezing waves.

~We should hurry back to your settlement. Before they get suspicious.~ Carrion suggest without much emotion behind it.

“How am I supposed to do that with my body like this? It's not- They won't accept a monster, even if they knew it was me. Especially after the find out what I have just done.”

Only saying that wants to make Sokka cry, even if he can't with his current body. Not that that makes it any better.

Without a word the spirit gasps onto the frozen coast near them, jumping onto the ice with a powerful lunge, cracks spreading through it from his impact.

Another shudder goes through Sokka’s body, his flashy body letting out sickening cracking sounds as it shrinks into itself, the meaty reds slowly taking on a more natural, brown shade.

Sokka can only watch in shock as his body slowly shifts back into his human form, the spikes and fangs retreating into his body, some of the flesh splitting off to form something that looks exactly like the clothes he was wearing this morning.

It feels weird, nothing like a human body is supposed to feel like. Unbreathing, no beating heart in his chest, no desire to blink, no cold winds biting into his skin.

Even the small things like the familiar pressure of his clothes on his body, the fabric rubbing against his skin, now it just feels fake, a bad imitation of what it is supposed to be.

~I suggest getting used to the changes.~ Carrion tells him. ~It won’t work like your old body. I suggest trying to fish the wreckage out of the ocean, since we have to anyway to avoid suspicion of your tribe.~

Sokka agrees with a small nod, walking over to the edge of the ice again.

He extends his arms to the pieces of the smashed ships floating in front of him, his arm shifting back into the red mass his new form is made from, a gloves hand turning into a red tentacle with spikes sticking out from it.

One after another he fishes out the remnants of the battle from the water, half in trance as he does so.

He doesn't feel tired, weirdly enough, but right now everything just feels ... empty. The boy is almost thankful for how weirdly calm he is, but that is probably linked to the fact how much his body has changed.

His human looking hand drifts to his chest, completely lacking the usual beat of his heat, or any other real feeling, actually.

What he does feel is the wind running over his skin, even if right now it's imitating the look of his old clothes, the original ones lost who knows when.

As soon as the last of the wreckage is fished out of the water, all hidden under a thick layer of snow he dug out with his tentacles, Sokka lets himself drop to the floor, his hands pressing into his eyes, wishing some tears could fall to release some of his emotions.

“What am I supposed to do now?”

Chapter Text

Sokka is trekking through the deep snow, back to the village as the snow gently covers up the food tracks behind him.

It would be faster if he still had the boat he used for fishing, but he left it behind when he followed the Fire Nation ship since chasing them on the open water would have only caught their attention.

‘I have to retrieve it later. The village only has one more working one. But first I have to get back home. I’m sure the other’s are worried since I didn't return yesterday.’

Sokka really hopes no one went out to search for him. Not only because it would be too dangerous for them, but also since there are bound to be some leftover scraps from his battle.

He can't have them find out, let them know what he did. It will only worry them more and lead to questions he isn't ready to answer.

Carrion has been mostly quiet since they … finished the Fire Nation ship’s crew, no matter how much the boy tries to contact him, even if Sokka can still very clearly feel their presence oozing through his body.

Sokka managed to find his anorak while cleaning up the crushed cargo scattered over the frozen coast, and the … people. Or what was left of them after what he did to them.

An oppressive emptiness fills his body at that thought, and he knows he should feel bad at what he did, but it all just feels numb and empty, the horror and disgust he felt before having completely disappeared.

But the complete lack of anything is almost worse.

The water tribe boy grips into the fabric of his clothing, the real clothing and not the horrendous imitation he formed with his own flesh, trying to call up at least some kind of emotions, anything, but finds nothing.

He takes in a deep breath, or at least tries to, feeling how the flesh moves and constricts inside his body, even if it doesn't show on the outside.

It doesn't come out with the huff of vapor he expected, does not fill him with renewed energy like he thought, but he keeps going towards his village anyway, trying to form some plans in his mind.

The boy hears the commotion in the village before he even comes close, the voices being clearly audible from a distance far bigger than it should be, even if they blend together with their number, turning them into a garbled mess.

As he gets closer, they only become louder, almost to the point it's uncomfortable as he reaches the small hole in the wall that leads into the village.

The boy doesn't get out a single word before all eyes turn to him, the woman and young children rushing to his side in a kx of relief and concern.

“Sokka! Thank Tui and La you are alive!” one of them says, the others also adding their words of worry as they crowd him from all sides, catching him in tight hugs that don't feel as warm as he remembers them to be.

“Sokka!” comes another very familiar voice from the other side of the village, revealing Gran-Gran running up to him and catching him in a hug. “You are back! What happened?”

“I’m sorry. I lost the boat.” He says, trying not to immediately start off with a lie. His Gran-Gran always finds out when he does.

“That's okay. We can make a new one.” She tells him, even if Sokka knows for a fact that that’s a lie. They can't hunt animals with big enough bones without multipel warriors. And all of the men have left them behind.

“The most important thing is that you are alive.” The old woman tells him with a kind smile, setting her hand down on his cheek, only for her face to morph into shock.

“By the spirits, you are ice cold! Get inside immediately and warm up. I will make you a soup to help warm you up.” She tells him and hurries off to the campfire in the center of the village.

The other moment and smaller children also give him worried looks, but they don't stop him with any question, letting him pass into the house his sister, Gran-Gran and him share.

He drops down beside the small pot in the center, but doesn't even have time to try and relax when Katara comes running into the room. “Sokka! I’m so glad you are okay!” She tells him, seemingly inspecting him for any visible wounds, pulling out a bit more fuel from one of the shelves to heat up the fire.

“What happened?” Katara asks in a concerned sounding voice, setting a warm fur over his shoulders that will neither help him warm up nor give the comfort it is intended to.

“I got dragged into a current and crashed against an iceberg. It threw me out of the boat.” He tells her.

It's the excuse he came up with for now. Something he can expand on later if necessary. It’s not perfect, he knows it, but it's the only one he could come up with alone, since Carrion didn't seem intent on helping him with this.

“Did you go to those cliffs to the north again? I told you to avoid those, even if they have more fish. It's not worth risking your life for.” She tells him in a gentle voice.

‘She did tell me that. She is always so worried about everyone. I can't tell her what actually happened.’

He doesn't really know how to respond to that, but it seems the spirits seem to have mercy with him after the recent events as Gran-Gran uses this exact moment to enter the room, handing a bowl of steaming soup into the boy’s soup.

But instead of the warm and familiar flavor he expected, or the satisfying feeling of fullness in his stomach, he gets nothing of it, only a vague feeling of saltiness and warmth.

He looks up to see his Gran-Gran to see her give him an expecting look.

“It tastes amazing.” Sokka tells her with a smile that he really hopes looks realistic enough, and thankfully she doesn't notice. At least for now.

The two don't let him out of their view the whole time after he returns, so as soon as it would seem normal he tells them he is tired and goes to bed. And while the small flap of fur that separates him from the other two while he is in his sleeping bag doesn't give him much privacy, it will have to be enough for now. He will have some time to think once he goes hunting to morrow

The other two members of his family don’t object, staying silent to make it easy for the boy to fall asleep.

Sokka closes his eyes (only the visible ones) and tries to make his chest rise like it is supposed to, even if the movement feels unnatural to him, doing his best to imitate how he remembers his calm breathing sounded like.

After a while of faking his sleep the two others start to move over to Sokka’s sleeping bag and Katara carefully moves aside the fur separating him from the main room, making sure he really is asleep before she speaks.

“Do you really think he really was ripped away by some currents? I don't think … He seems off. Sokka would be like this if that's all.” The waterbender tells her grandmother with her voice full of worry.

Gran-Gran lets out a worried sigh, setting away the mortar with medicine she was working on. “I doubt it too. But we cannot force him to tell us. We will just have to wait till he's ready to tell us.”

The two quiet down after that, not trying to bother the boy in his rest, but none of them notice the turmoil Sokka is in now.

‘Shit. Of course they would notice. What else did I expect?’

But the boy has no idea what to do about it. It's not like he can make them believe nothing happens except by trying to act normal for a while, and since Carrion is still staying silent he has no one else to ask.

‘Well, I doubt Carrion will have an idea anyway. They don't seem like an expert in human interaction.’

After that Sokka just silently waits till the other members of his family go to bed and hears how their breathing even out, signaling their sleep to the boy.

The two have gone to sleep later than they usually do, probably having waited in case Sokka would need their help for anything.

When the water tribe boy pushes away the fur he sees a still steaming bowl of soup standing in his way, smelling of meat and vegetables, but not causing hunger in the boy. He hadn't even noticed them putting it there.

‘They would realize if I just left it.’

So he eats the food, just swallowing it whole to not waste any time. It's not like it has any taste anyway, beyond the smallest sensation of salt and the fact there is meat in it.

Sokka sets it down on the table with a small click, far harder than he intended to, making the spoon in the dish fly out of it.

With a worried expression Sokk looks around the room, trying to listen in if he accidentally woke anybody up, but the breathing of his family is still calm like before.

The water tribe boy inspects the bowl carefully, checking it for any cracks, but thankfully he can’t spot any. He had this bowl for a long time, and he really wouldn't like to lose it because he can't control his muscles properly.

‘That something small like this feels so different, not like it used to be at all. I have to be more careful to not hurt anyone by accident.’

He turns to the door, being careful to make any sound as he carefully walks over the ground to not accidentally break it. Right now his body feels about as heavy as it looks, but the boy doesn't know how long that will be the case.

‘How did I manage to control myself before turning? Or even on the way back to the village? I couldn't have forgotten how to do this that fast, right?’

~Do not forget your clothing.~ Suddenly a voice comes from the depth of his mind, making the boy realize that he forgot to put on any anorak or even boots.

He makes his way back inside as fast as he can, hoping that no one has seen him trying to leave the house without putting on more clothes than his pants.

Sokka didn't even notice the change in temperature, nor the missing feeling of the texture on his skin, something that greatly worries him. How is he supposed to act normal if he doesn't notice something like this?

He turns back and grabs his anorak and after some consideration also a pair of pants, replacing it with the fake ones he was currently wearing that were made from his transforming flesh.

‘I will need to get a new one somehow before the others notice.’

‘What made you decide to talk again?’ Sokka asks Carrion, but that doesn’t give him an answer.

‘So I will assume you are not very talkative.’ Sokka sends the spirit’s way, and it feels like he should really have let out a sigh. It's just that that's hard to do if you currently don't have any air in his lungs.

Why pretend to breathe when no one is around to notice?

~Precisely.~ Carron talls him, but does not elaborate. Well, what else did Sokka expect from something as fickle as a spirit?

The water tribe boy hurries to get out of the village before he can cause even more trouble with the lack of control over his body, stomping away into the direction where he hopes the fishing boat still is.

His steps are a bit more uncoordinated than usual, but it's not much of a difference to usual in the deep snow. At least the cold doesn't bite into his skin like it always used to do.

When he reaches the area where he sank the Fire Nation ship the sun hasn't even begun to rise over the horizon, still giving him more than enough time to finish his works till he is going to be expected back.

There is still some wreckage floating around, but the pieces remaining after Sokka’s cleanup are small enough that they won't cause a problem. Or at least he doesn't think they will.

‘My fishing boat should be in this direction.’ He muses, but getting there is easier said than done.

He takes a careful look around, listening in to the sounds carried through the ice of the ground, but he doesn't find anyone in the area, except the small heartbeats of a group of bunny foxes hiding under the snow.

‘But if I were to walk all the way it would take ages, even if I don't have to search for it. I should be faster if I swim.’

Sokka lets his body dissolve into his true appearance, and the fact that this form feels far more natural to him makes him feel foreign in his own body. He makes sure to not leave behind the clothing like the first time he did this, instead storing them in the center of his squirming flesh.

With a pull of his tentacles he jumps into the water, once again relieved to not find himself bothered by the cold.

Last time he did this Carrion had control over his body, so it takes a while to get used to propelling himself through the water. It's not like he could have learned beforehand how to swim in these temperatures.

In the end he settles between a mix of pulling himself through the ocean by attaching his tendrils to the icebergs in front of him and propelling himself like the octopus eels his dad told him about.

Even if it's a bit clumsy at first, Sokka is far faster than he could have ever been with a boat, even if he was using one of the fast streams of the spring months to get around. Like this he might even be able to reach the other small tribes scattered over the south pole.

‘It's just a shame that I can't tell anyone about this.’

It doesn't take long till Sokka reaches the area that he left his boat in.

He had of course pulled it on land as best he could on his own to avoid it floating away, but it seems the waves of the night have dislodged it from the safe position, as it does not appear to be present anymore.

“I hope it wasn't swept away too far.” He accidentally speaks out loud, or at least tries to, as the only sounds that escape his body are a series of disturbing stretching sounds that instantly scare away some of the penguin seals resting on the nearby ice.

‘What in the-’ he starts, feeling how his voice bounces around in the ice and water around him, returning to him to him at different times and intensities, letting him feel some of the fish hiding in the ice below, and most importantly a heavy mass in a familiar for just around the corner of the iceberg.

‘That will turn out quite useful.’

He scuttles over the fresh snow, leaving behind a trench over the ice to find his small boat, thrown onto the frozen coast by the waves, but looking largely undamaged, even if all the contents were thrown over the area.

‘It looks like the fish was frozen fast enough before it went bad, so we can still use it.’ But it won't be enough to feed the village, especially with their continuously dwindling resources. And with him alone there isn't much Sokka can do to fix that problem.

‘Wait. There has to be a better way to do this now. I took down any entire Fire Nation ship. I have to be able to use this ability for hunting somehow.’

He holds one of his tendrils into the water and lets out another screech, sending the echo through the water and taking and taking in all the information he can get from it.

The fish are still there, either resting or hiding, and not that far away. The boy lets the tentacle grow, feeling how the flesh of his body flows into the limbs as it splits off into many smaller ones with a sharp fang on each tip.

With another push of his body matter the boy lets multiple back orbs rise from his skin, the closest thing to an eye this new form has, even if they feel different enough from the ones he had before that he is hesitant to call them that.

They home in on the animals who have by now fallen into a panic rushing away from the new predator as they realize the danger they are in, darting out of their small holes in the ice as they try to hide in the darkness below.

But they aren't fast enough.

With lightning quick speed the tendrils shoot forward, piercing through the animals bodies before they can react, the tentacle expanding as soon as they are lodged into the flesh to prevent any dislodging before Sokka pulls out the easily over a doze fish.

‘Wow. I would have needed to hunt for hours to get that many! Like this I can even put off enough of a reserve that the tribe could make it through the worst of winters. Not that I should have problems now with hunting even during the winter.’

He puts them back into the boat with the old ones as he pulls his tendrils out of the water, the claws sinking back into his skin again and dissolving into a gooey mass as they wait to harden again.

‘Well, but I can't exactly use the boat like this.’ He tells himself, forcing his body to return to its human look, the clothes he brought falling out of his flesh as he does.

As his body transforms, all the blood-like liquids that cover the area and even the clothes flow to him, not leaving behind even a single stain of the red liquid in the area.

The spirit touched boy takes the clothes from the ground, pulls them on even if he really doesn't need them for anything other than look, carefully stepping into the boat.

After how fast he managed to reach this area by swimming, the way back is painstakingly slow.

When he begins to see the village appear in the distance, the sun has finally begun to rise over the horizon, some voices already audible in the village, so the boy can just drop off his catch with them and let them do their part of the work.

‘Now I just hope I find a good way to make sure I don't do anything suspicious.’

_________________

Sokka has, after a long time of trying, finally given up on trying to get things back to normal. No matter what he tries, everyone still sends him weird looks, even if he is sure he isn't supposed to notice any of it.

But it's not that easy to hide anything from him at this point with a combination of incredibly sensitive auditory senses and an optical range of 360°.

At this point Sokka spends far less time in the village then he spend inside, and even if Gran-Gran has expressed great displeasure at that, she can’t exactly ground him since he is the sole provider of food, and the boys of the tribe have just reached their new growth spurt, needing even more food than before.

Currently Sokka is swimming along the coast, the last light of the sun filtering in the water as he searches for any bear whales.

He doesn't really need to do this, but a part of needs the thrill of the hunt, even if he has yet to find an animal that could actually hurt his new body in a meaningful way, even if he would not defend himself in the slightest.

He lets out a small screech, the sound being carried through the water, bouncing off the walls of ice and eventually returning back to him, revealing the locations of the various animals around him.

But there is one thing he finds that is far from the things he is usually picking up with this, skirting right on the outer edge of the search, but still unmistakably wrong in these waters.

‘It can't be! The whole time the warriors were still in the village there was only a single raid, and as soon as they left there are two in such a short span of time?!’

With a powerful thrust of his tentacles the spirit-touched boy rushes through the cold ocean, continuously sending out his screeches to keep track of the ship.

Because he is sure that's what it is. If the boy’s memories from his last encounter with the Fire Nation military isn't that clear, twisted by the panic and fear he had at that time, there is nothing else he could think of.

As he gets closer the boy dives deeper, making sure his body is completely hidden from potential onlookers above even through the clear water.

‘Carrion, can you help me?’ The boy asks hesitantly, but he only gets silence in return. Not that he has expected anything else at this point.

The spirit is barely interacting with him at that point, for whatever reason. Carrion has never even given a single reason to why, only stating that they have a reason, which only helped to infuriate Sokka further.

‘So I guess I have to do it alone this time.’ He thinks, and for the first time since what feels like ages he actually can sense fear creep through his body. ‘But it's not like I have much of a choice.’

‘This ship seems to be a similar build to the last one we sunk, so going with the same plan should work out well enough. But it's not dark enough yet that I would be able to slip in unnoticed like last time. And I will need every moment I can get when ripping a hole into the ship.’

His pitch black eyes dart around the area as he lets out another scanning screech.

‘I will have to make a distraction.’

The boy rushes into the direction the ship is moving till he reaches one of the frozen cliffs at a slimmer area of the water canal, jamming his claws into the frozen wall, causing cracks to spread through the material.

The ship has already begun to get closer to him again, but the tentacles bury themselves deeper and deeper into the freezing material, the entire structure letting out more and more ominous cracks.

Before it can fall apart onto his head (main body?), he rushes back to the ship, hearing how the ice rashes into the waves behind him.

Even from under the water Sokka can hear the panicked shouts of the Fire Nation soldiers, their heavy steps rushing over the metal of the ship, all moving to the front of the vessel to inspect what's happening.

Hoping that his senses didn't betray him and all the people stationed on the rear of the ship have really left their posts Sokka scales the metal wall, but as soon as he jumps out of the water he can hear the nervous breathing of a person above.

Not losing any speed Sokka rushes up the metal of the ship, his claws and tendrils lodging themselves into the crevices between the parts to drag himself up at an almost unnatural speed.

As fast as he can he sends a tentacle ahead of the rest of his body, mounted with eyes can claws as it rises over the edge of the ship, finding the man turned to the still collapsing ice wall in front.

The blood red limb shoots out before the soldier can turn around, piercing through the man’s head with a loud, dull crack of his skull, the blood splattering over the floor as the lifeless man collapses.

Sokka draws the corpse to his body, swallowing it and absorbing the flesh into his body, that being something he has become really fast in, and he has to admit he is weirdly proud of the fact.

The spirit-touched boy draws himself up to press against the wall, listening in for any people potentially standing behind it, and when he doesn't find anyone, he slams one of his claws into one of the small windows.

It might not look like it should be big enough to give him enough space to slip in, but one of the advantages of having neither bones or organs is that his body is very flexible even if one would ignore his ability to transform.

In seconds the entire mass of flesh is in the thankfully empty hallway, and thanks to the distraction he caused there seems to be nobody around the corner at the moment too.

Sokka rushed through the metal path that he is pretty sure will lead him into the lower parts of the ship, but when he turns the corner in the exact moment a door opens on the end of the hallway, a man with thick fur boots stepping out, his steps barely audible in all the commotion of the area.

The man lets out a shout as soon as he sees the monster in front of him, releasing a wave of flames down the hallway, and without a place to doge to, it hits Sokka directly.

Before the water tribe boy can even react the fire spreads over his body, setting his coiling flesh on flames, and for the first time since his transformation an intense pain floods his system.

With a pained screech the monstrous boy rushed forward, wildly lashing out with his clawed tentacles, pushing through the pain as his talons connect with the stretched out arm of his enemy, hooking between the bones of his forearm and ripping it off entirely.

The soldier fall back in pain, clutching his bleeding stump of an arm as his flames die down, but before he can even draw in the air for a shout another tentacle smash his head into the wall, breaking his skull and splattering his brain and blood over the metal, the lifeless body dropping to the floor with the loud clunk of his armor.

‘Shit. I have to- have to-’ he thinks in panic, barely able to form a coherent thought when he feels a presence rise up from the depth of his mind.

~Let me do this.~ Carrion demands, but does not wait for the boy's response, and instantly Sokka feels the pain lessen as they take control, shedding a thick outer layer of his body and the flames with it, throwing it to the hallway behind them.

~I assume you can handle it from here?~ The spirit asks as soon as he is done, handing back control over the visibly smaller, maybe only half as big, body.

‘Yeah. Thank you. I didn't even know we could do that.’ He thanks the spirits as he reaches out to the killed firebender, carefully avoiding the still burning flesh as he swallows the man, absorbing the flesh to rebuild his damaged form.

Suddenly he hears commotion in the hallway behind him, so he rushes deeper into the bowels of the ship, soon reaching a storage room that he hopes meets his requirements.

Just like Carrion did last time, Sokka anchors his tendrils on everything that seems stable enough while he lets a bunch of claws and fangs on a single, very big tentacle, trying to make them as sturdy as possible.

With all the power he can manage he jams it into the sturdy iron wall of the ship, the metal letting out a loud screech as the water begins to spill in, the cold liquid beginning to cover the floor as the boy continues to widen the leak.

The loud steps of armored feet suddenly running down the stairs to the storage room catch Sokka’s attention just as he is working on expanding the leak, making him free his tentacles and growing even more eyes as he prepares for combat.

He jumps behind a bunch of crates before the soldiers enter the room, following the locations of their footsteps and voices as they shout orders to each other.

They seem to have prepared for a situation like this, as it only takes them seconds to bring a box of something to the hole Sokka made and try to maneuver a plate covered in some glue like material to it.

But that is as long as Sokka will stay hidden.

With a powerful lash of his tentacles Sokka sends one of the heavy crates flying at the Fire Nation people, the four distracted with working to fix the leak instantly crushed by the heavy load, their weak bones unable to resist the impact as they cracking loudly as they are squished on the wall.

Some of the other soldiers let out terrified shrieks, others just freeze up at his appearance, but one doesn't hesitate to throw a fireball at the monster.

But Sokka won't let the same attack work twice, grabbing one of the crates scattered around the area and throwing it at the burning projectiles at an incredible speed and destroying it, his wildly flailing tentacles throwing up water into the air to prevent even a spark from touching him.

The enemy firebender jumps to the side in an attempt to dodge the throne crate, but he isn't fast enough, the crate catching one of his arms and legs and throwing him into the wall with a loud crash and a shout.

His pained cry rips the others out of their shock, drawing their weapons and igniting flames in their palms. But Sokka isn't going to give them enough time to gang up on him.

He swipes his tentacles through the air like a whip as he lets many thin, fang-like spikes sprout all over the limb, the motion dislodging and throwing them at the enemies as projectiles.

The fangs bury themselves into the enemies even through their armor, far more deadly than Sokka actually expected them to be in this situation, making the body mass lost through the move more than worth it.

Without another breath the lifeless bodies of the skewered people drop to the ground as the blood flows out between the cracks of their armor, only leaving one person still standing.

The soldier who avoided the attack by blocking the fangs with his sword lets out a panicked shout as his companions bleed out beside him, running at Sokka with his sword drawn, but he is unable to defend himself when the tentacles assault him from all sides.

The man tries to slash at the tentacles attacking him from the front, but another one swipes at his feet, throwing him to the ground, and the clawed tip of another pierces the back of his head with a loud crack, the corpse only letting out some last twitches before stilling.

‘I have to widen the leak before more people come down here.’ Sokka tells himself, using his claws to expand the hole further and further as he feeds on the enemy soldiers to regain the body mass he lost during this battle.

As the room continues to fill with water, already hiding his body completely, another group of people enters the room, but Sokka doesn't even have time to attack them as they immediately seem to think of this as a lost cause, slamming the water proof door shut behind them.

‘Would that actually be enough to stop the ship from sinking? Probably not, but I should make sure anyway.’

And that isn't a problem once he smashes his tendrils into the ceiling to create more holes into the upper level of the ship, waiting till the panicked shouts of the enemy soldiers slowly die out as the ship sinks under the waves.

Sokka slips out through the hole in the wall he created, seeing the rescue boats above together with different kinds of cargo that must have been swept out of the storage room, but none of them have acknowledged his existence yet.

At least none that survived.

And he doesn't have any intentions of changing that, simply dragging the boats into the water below without surfacing, hiding under the water where no fire can reach him as the soldiers drown in the freezing water, their muscles locking up as their heavy armor drags them into the darkness below.

It doesn't take long till none are left, the panicked shouts and prayers of the people replaced by the silence of the icy plains, the only proof of their existence the scraps of wood still floating on the surface, and the faintest traces of blood lingering in the water.

It takes Sokka a while longer to clean up all the scraps from the water, hiding them in the deep snow where they can't drift along the water and to the village.

The monstrous boy managed to consume some of the soldiers while he cleaned up, swallowing them whole and cracking their bones between his fangs, restoring more than the body mass he lost during these events, so even if things got a bit close he sees this as a win.

‘So, how did I do? Pretty go for a first try, huh?’ The boy asks Carrion, but like he expected he doesn't get an answer. That doesn't mean he will stop trying.

The boy covers the last of the ship scraps under a thick blanket of snow as he tries to remember the location where the ship sank, planning to make sure that nothing more will have floated up by tomorrow.

With another look at the newly set sun, sunken under the wave just like the ship from the country that prays to their might, Sokka makes his way back home, knowing Gran-Gran and Katara would panic if he stayed away for too long.

Sokka doesn't know much about the Fire Nation beyond what he was told from the other members of the tribe and the one interaction during the raid that killed his mother.

Carrion dropped some information about the link between Agni and their benders on some occasions, more specifically where their weaknesses lie and how to combat them best, but those scraps of conversation were a rare thing.

The information included something about an eclipse, but when Sokka pried about when the next one was to happen the spirit stayed silent, its contractor's frustration.

‘Maybe you just don't know and don't want to admit it, am I right?’ He teases into his mental abyss as he swims back to the village, climbing out of the water when he reaches the area he left his boat in before going hunting in his true form.

It always feels weird to force his body to shrink down into the human size, constricting in a way that Sokka isn't sure are human words for, but he doesn't exactly have a choice.

The boy is already dreading the time he will be forced to stay in the village for nearly the whole day when the winter arrives, but he is sure he will find an excuse so he can make that time as small as possible.

Chapter Text

Ling is walking through the hallways of his ship, feeling the ground move under his feet with the splashing of the waves in a familiar way that would usually help to comfort him, having grown up on the waves with his father being a fisherman.

He has been a soldier for ten years now, being forced into the army with the growing war efforts, but in all his time on the battlefield he has never felt the way he does now.

A small clank on the other side of the room makes him jump in panic, spinning around in panic with a flame already igniting in his hand, burning bright with panic as it illuminates every last corner, but still doesn't find anything.

He takes a deep breath to calm himself down, running his hand through his short brown hair. “What is going on with me?” The man asks himself with a scowl on his face.

Ling would normally pride himself in his instincts, having helped him many times on the battlefield, but for the last two days they seem to have only misled him.

Or at least that is what he has been telling himself at first, but with the feeling just getting worse and worse every single day he can help but think something horrible is about to happen. And very soon.

“I can't just sit around and wait for something to happen.” He decides and makes his way to the cabin of the ship where he knows the captain to be, the man never leaving his post if he doesn't have to, especially not on a mission like this.

When Ling opens the door to the room he immediately spots the worried face of his superior as the old man lets his eyes sway over the icebergs surrounding them, the exhaustion visible in his face.

“Ah, Ling. Is something the matter?” The war veteran asks, putting up a small smile in an attempt to cover up his worry, but the stress is still visible despite his attempts, especially to someone like Ling who has been serving under him for a long time.

The brunette gives him a casual salute, the formalities between them having long since faded away. “General Dazu. I, well-'' He starts but stops himself, not knowing how to explain his intentions properly.

Ling takes a deep breath to steady himself. Asking for something like this isn't something he has done before, but he knows it has to be done.

“I would like to request for us to leave this area and return to the base. I can't explain it, but since we reached this area it has just felt … wrong. I don't know why, but it somehow feels like something is always watching me. Hunting me.”

Dazu gives him a sympathetic look, returning his attention to the water before them. “I understand how you feel. Maybe more than you think.”

The old man’s face turns to a thoughtful look. “These waters have always been dangerous, be it for the unusual weather, the drift of the icebergs or the water tribe savages settling in the area, but never like this.”

“The higher ups think the disappearance of the ships is caused by an uprising of the water tribe, but that's not the real reason. I’m sure of it.” He says with an unwavering expression.

Ling gives him a questioning look, walking further into the room placing himself beside the white haired general. “Why are you so sure of that?”

“Despite their savage nature, the water tribe is still made from warriors with a code of honor. They would sink ships, yes, but they would never slaughter the villain workers on it. When they did manage to sink one of our ships the cooks and mechanics would usually send back to the continent on one of the smaller rescue vessels we have for emergencies, sometimes even the woman soldiers, because of their outdated looks of gender roles.”

His face turns more serious than before. “This is nothing like this. I actually think the water tribe has been affected by this too. Normally we should have at least seen a single sign of fishing around here, but it's almost like there is no human life wanderin the ice around here. Whatever is causing this is dangerous even to them.”

Ling shivers at his words, but the older notices immediately, setting his hand down on the soldier's shoulder in a comforting fashion.

“Do not worry. As soon as we have proof that this isn't caused by the water tribes we will leave immediately. I also don't want to stay here longer than I have to, but if we would leave now we would be charged with insubordination.”

Ling audibly gulps. Everybody knows what kinds of punishments that would entail not only to you, but also for the people close to you, be it friends or family.

“But you are right with one thing, we should be more careful than usual.” Dazu acknowledges. “We should increase the number of guards for as long as we are in the area. Go tell everyone that we will switch to the patrol level for highest danger territory.”

“Yes sir!” Ling says with a salute, a small smile on his face, feeling at least some of his stress disappear.

‘With such a guard setup no one will be able to catch us off guard. Whatever is causing this won't be able to break our defenses.’

Thankfully informing the crew doesn't take long, and even if quite a number of the soldiers aren't too happy about having less free time they are more than understanding. Especially the soldiers that have long since been a part known to trust the generals judgement by now.

“So things are getting more serious?” Asks Ten, just starting her break from her work in the machinery. “I get the reason to increase security, but the highest security level? Is it really this dangerous? This is just the territory of some savages, after all.”

“I really hope it's just savages.” Ling mumbles, but it's still audible with how unusually quiet the room is. “But yeah, things will be more tense for now, but the general is trying his best so we can get back to base as soon as possible.”

“Well, I hope so too. I might not have to take part in the combat, but these temperatures are killing me. I almost prefer the smoky air from the coal burner to the cold around here. If it wouldn't kill my lungs, I would probably stay there till we get back home.”

Ling gives her a small nod. As a firebender he understands her very well. The cold has been draining the energy out of him and all the other firebenders too. Just another reason to get away from here as soon as possible. It makes him feel defenseless to feel the flames dwindling inside him.

The armor is made to insulate against most temperatures, but with the icy air around here they can only do so much, and constantly keeping himself warm with his flames gets exhausting pretty fast.

Ten seems about to continue with their conversation when a loud screech goes through the ship, the painful sound of metal grinding against itself humming through the walls of the ship like a cry of torment.

“Shit, did the propeller break?! Sorry, I have to take a look right now!” She calls, jumping up from her seat and running into the hallway and up the stairs to the deck.

Ling does the same, sprinting after her as she begins to walk up the stairs. “Where are you going? The machinery is the other way!”

“Zavra is still down there anyway, so it's probably better to take a look from outside if there is any external damage.” She tells him between breaths, opening the door to the outside with a strong shove, the cold air hitting them instantly.

They rush onto the deck and turn to the back of the ship, but before they even reach it the can already see a group of soldiers peeking down over the railing,down to the cold waves.

“What happened here?” The mechanic calls, but the soldiers only point to the water below with a scared expression, not a word leaving their mouths.

Ling follows the man’s gesture to the waters below, at first not spotting where he is pointing at until he can see the outline just under the surface of the dark, cold water.

“That's a ship.” Ten mumbles, her eyes rushing over every visible part of the sunken vessel as their own ship leaves it behind the ice, the mechanic not even thinking about being happy their propeller doesn't seem to have taken any damage.

“There is heavy structural damage on the lower parts. I can't properly see it, but it looks like something has ripped out a part of the ship. Ice shouldn’t be able to do that kind of damage.” She says, mostly to herself.

They still stand there when the reflection of the water hides the old ship as it disappears in the distance, but the cold empty feeling lingers, knowing what, and who those remains belong to, the corpses of their comrades forever trapped in the cold water without being able to return to Agni.

“We have to tell the general about this.” Ling says as he turns to her. “Maybe he can do something with this information.”

The mechanic gives him a small nod, hurrying off to relay the information with a serious expression on her face, her hands balled into fists.

“We have to return to out posts.” One of the older soldiers who has been watching tells the others. “No slacking off today. Don’t let anything sneak up on us!” He orders as he hurries back to his own post, getting calls of agreement from the other soldiers.

Ling doesn't bother returning back to the resting area, instead already joining the man he is supposed to switch with later on their patrol.

It's not like he will be able to rest now anyway, and even if it's just a little, more eyes can never be wrong, and the fresh recruit he is walking with seems to really appreciate not being alone in a situation like this.

Ling is still patrolling around the deck of the ship, keeping his eyes open and ears sharp when another of the soldiers approaches him.

“Hey, more information from the captain. We are turning our route back to the base immediately. He told me to spread the information around.” She tells him with clear relief her voice.

“Does he think this is enough to prove something is wrong here?” Ling asks. “We only found a single sunken ship.”

She shakes her head, looking a bit uncertain how to think of this. “No. I don't think so. But he said he won't endanger the ship and its people for something like this.” She lets out an exhausted sigh. “I hope the sunken ship is enough to convince the higher ups to not send a single ship to do this. Whatever is happening needs more than a single vessel.”

Normally Ling would probably say something about how the general shouldn't risk his position because of a suspicion like that, but right now that information only causes relief to flow through his body.

“We will turn around as soon as we get the chance, however long that will take with all these icebergs in the way.” She continues, gripping her spear in a way that tells Ling she is feeling as well about this area as he is. “Keep your eyes open for anything that's suspicious. You still have a while till you can take a break, so preserve your energy. Be Agni with you.”

He gives her a small, thankful nod as she hurries off to inform the next person, leaving Ling behind as the sun slowly nears the horizon, the warm rays weakening more and more, only increasing the shiver of fear running down his back.

‘I really hope we get out of here before nightfall.’ He prays, even if he knows it won't come true.

Ling will have to continue with his patrol till close to midnight, and he already dreads every second of it, feeling how his muscles tense as another gust of cold wind coils around his neck.

‘I hope the general is okay with us using more torches than usual.’ Lin tells as he ignites the torches lining the railing of the ship.

The soldier continues with his patrol, constantly sending worried glances to the sinking sun when he suddenly spots an object moving on the waves in front of them, hidden in the shadow of the frozen cliffs.

“Object to the front!” He calls out, sending a small flame signal to the outlook where he knows the captain to be, gripping the hilt of his sword as they get closer.

The ship doesn't change its course, so Ling assumes it's not of any danger, but when he gets closer he would have really hoped he didn't look.

It’s a small rescue ship, the exact same build they have stored in the lower parts of the ship in case of an emergency, but in the current state it's barely recognizable.

The entire thing is so damaged that Ling doesn't even know how it still floats, covered in scratch makes that penetrate the metal casing, covered in frozen blood, preserved by the cold to look as fresh as the moment it was lost.

Ling would have expected to spot a body with the terrifying amounts of red splattered around the small vessel, but the soldier doesn't spot anything, only pieces of cracked open armor frozen to the ground with blood.

He doesn't know if that is a good or bad thing.

With a hollow clang it collides with their own ship, being pushed aside like the wreckage it is, but the sound sends a cold shower down the man’s back.

“Shit.” Ling hears a voice beside him, causing him to jump. He hasn't even noticed anyone approaching in his shock.

When he turns to the side he spots the general's right hand man, a grave expression on the older man’s face. “Now it's definitely enough to be sure this isn't caused by the water tribes.” He mumbles to himself, turning around and running up to the general again with an agency Ling hasn't seen the old man have even on the battlefield.

The soldier gulps as he turns his eyes to front again, singing the sunset a desperate look.

‘Please Agni, I beg you, let us reach our home again.’ Ling prays just as the sun dips under the horizon, the long shadows of the tall icebergs stretching over the area and tuning the water an inky black, like a bottomless abyss.

But before the darkness has stretched over the deck the soldiers already ignite the many torches scattered over the deck, and Ling has never been more grateful for the smallest bit of light before.

The soldier can feel the tense atmosphere covering the area, and if he can see right there are even more men around the area then the high security would normally entail, the same way more torches illuminating their ship then it is usual.

But despite all that, he can't help the panic that rises up in him. That it has been a terrible idea to come here.

‘No. Don't think that. The general is one of the wisest men you know. A brilliant mind that is nearly unrivaled in the entire military. He knows what he is doing. He will get us out of here.’

A splash to the left side of the ship catches his attention, igniting a flame in his hand as he prepares for whatever could be happening, the other soldiers on the ship doing the same, but in the dip light of the torches he can see that the sound was only caused by some fox seals jumping into the water.

Ling lets out a small sigh, extinguishing the flame in his palm as he watches the entire herd of animals hurry into the water as it swims off into the distance, following them with his eyes as they run away into the opposite side the ship is driving.

He doesn't even have time to react when a tentacle soundlessly shoots out of the dark water below, and when it splatters his crushed head over the metal flooring of the deck, his fall is drowned out by the panicked shouts of his friends.

Chapter Text

Sokka continues to dig through the documents he has found in the captain’s cabin of the latest Fire Nation ship that arrived in the south pole, his tentacles reaching around the room and slithering between the paper as his eyes scan the texts with extreme care.

It has been quite a bit of work, but with a bit of planning and waiting for the right moment he managed to eliminate the crew of a ship without being forced to sink it.

A bit of experimenting around with the fact that he doesn't consciously breathe in any way helped him figure out that he does in fact, unlike how some of the smaller animals he knows do through their skin alone even without showing it, does not need any air at all.

Knowing that, after taking out all the immediate dangers he filled the interior of the ship with the gases of the weird seaweed that he doesn't actually know the name of, only that his dad always called them stink weed because of their strong stench that was strong enough to keep away some of the predators with more sensitive noses.

And now that harvesting it from the sea ground was no problem for Sokka, obtaining the required mass to fill an entire ship with smoke was actually pretty easy.

Of course some of the soldiers tried to attack him when they realized what he was doing, but it's quite hard to firebend when you can't breathe.

Some even tried to break the windows to escape, but with the freezing water and icy plains surrounding them they didn't get far.

The documents he found turned out to be quite interesting, even if huge amounts of it were written in code or hard to understand.

Sokka found mountains of documents concerning battle tactics, troop movements and supply lines, even some detailed descriptions of the machines they one that really caught the boy's attention.

But it's not like he could send them to someone they would be useful too. And even if they were, no one would probably believe Sokka anyway.

To be able to take his time with inspecting all of the information he dragged the ship up on of the melt water of the spring months where it won't be found easily. It was quite a bit of work, even with his new body, but the new maps he now calls his own alone made it worth it.

Don't get him wrong, he has had maps before, but most of the good ones got taken with the warriors when they left a village, and the ones he got from the Fire Nation seem to be of far higher quality then those.

‘But the Fire Nation really has taken over most of the western coast of the Earth Kingdom. And from the looks of it they are constantly moving inland without any real resistance. What are our warriors supposed to do against that? They should have just stayed here in the village.’

He puts the map back into the shelf with the others.

‘But I should get back now. I shouldn't worry Gran-Gran more than I already do.’

The water tribe boy turns to the door as he lets his body expand, no longer needing to hold himself back to not squish the scrolls, rushing through the hallways then a human should really be able to do.

He has been training to be able to use his now far higher than normal strength while still retaining his human looks. While he is wearing his thick clothing he is able to pull it off mostly convincingly, but if one were to see his bare skin the unnatural pulsating and coiling would still be very visible.

He runs over the metal ground with loud steps, far heavier then one would expect them to be.

‘I still have to find out how exactly my body weight changes depending on my form. Usually I’m the lightest when I look human, but when I strain my body like this I feel heavier. I should test this out as soon as possible.’

As soon as he exits the ship he jumps down to his own, small fishing boat. Since he started using his new abilities for fishing it barely took him any time to get all the food they needed, giving him more than enough time to patrol and explore the Fire Nation ships he took down.

The way back is slow as always quite boring, but recently he started enjoying every moment away from the village more and more since it feels every living soul there gets more suspicious of whatever he does.

Especially Katara and Gran-Gran.

He drops off the fish with the women as soon as he reaches the village, turning to the group of boys who have already been waiting for his return.

“Well, then let's get started!” He calls to them, trying to sound as energetic as he can despite just feeling his usual emptiness. “Do all of you already have your spears?”

The boys give him enthusiastic calls, showing off their weapons proudly.

It had taken a while till he felt confident to start his training with the boys again after his transformation, worried that he might hurt them by accident, but after the long and unceasing begging of the cute children that they want to be trained to be warriors he gave in eventually.

After some warm up exercises the Sokka leads the boys to the small throwing range he managed Katara to set up with her bending, even if it took her quite a while to manage ice targets large enough to be of use without them collapsing into themselves.

“Take aim … and throw!” Sokka orders, and the kids release their weapons at the targets, all with various amounts of success.

“Ready the next volley!” He calls, raising his hand as the boys get ready, taking one of their other spars, throwing their weapons as he lowers his hand again.

“Good throw Talaq! You have really been improving recently!” The spirit-touched boy congratulates, ruffling the boy’s hair. “Now everyone get your spear back!” he calls and the children make their way through the deep snow to retrieve their weapons.

They continue with that for quite a while till they eventually switch over to close combat, and even if the boys still have quite a number of problems they throw themselves into the exercise with high motivation.

But this was one of the area’s that Sokka had the most problems with when he first started training.

He himself had never finished the warrior training, so he was quite overwhelmed with the task of teaching the younger ones how to fight when he himself doesn't know how to, outside his monster form at least.

But that changed as soon as he found some scrolls on the Fire Nation ships that describe different kinds of fighting styles with and without weapons used in the Fire Nation.

The elder women seem to have at least noticed a change, but as the rules of the tribe demand they can't interfere with anything warrior related, so they did not voice their concerns. At least not towards Sokka.

He just really hopes it stays that way and neither do the warriors notice once they return.

If they return.

The boy has long stopped to idolize the men that left the village behind to go to war, knowing that every enemy ship would have meant the death of all the innocent women and children if Sokka didn't give up his humanity to protect them.

‘What use is it to be called a warrior if you leave behind what you are supposed to protect.’

But the boy doesn't show his anger to the outside, not that it is hard considering he has to consciously move his fake skin if he wants to show any emotions.

He watches as the boys in front of him slowly begin to tire, so he moves to some different, less exhausting exercises before ending it with a small stretch before sending them back to their mothers with a praise of their good work.

The boys gather up their weapons and take off their arm guards that Sokka asked the woman to make for them, exhausted but happy to learn how to defend themselves like the warriors in all the stories they have been told about.

Sokka feels a bit bad to train them like this, knowing that if the Fire Nation would really attack they would probably be unable to make a difference.

‘Maybe I can find a way to help them defend themselves. A better wall around the village would be a start, but until Katara improves her bending that won't be possible.

The spirit boy has barely interacted with his sister for a while now in fear she would see through his guise, but that only caused her to get angry with him up till now and she has yet to put that anger into a positive thing like training her bending.

Once all the children have returned to their mothers Sokka excuses himself to go hunt, steadily building the storage of food in case something were to happen to him. After all, he really doesn't know how this body of his might react in the future.

Maybe he will even die from old age without realizing it. It's not like he has anything to orient himself on. His monstrous form doesn’t visibly age and all the changes in his human body are things he did deliberately to prevent suspicion.

As soon as Sokka gets far enough away he sends out a screech through the ice to locate anything of interest, his body freezing up as he feels a big vessel move somewhere to the north of the village, even if it is difficult to exactly stay with all the icebergs around it.

‘Shit, another one?! Don't they have anything better to do with their ships?!’

With a small look back to the village the boy runs off, transforming as soon as he is out of viewing range, hoping that the others won't be too angry with him staying out in the night.

He makes a short stop in a small ice cave not far from the village, grabbing bundles of dried plants before hurrying to the location he sensed the enemies at.

In the dim light of the setting sun Sokka can already see it from a distance, the deck filled with soldiers holding torches and weapons, so tense that the water tribe boy can see they are only waiting for something to happen.

‘It looks like they are expecting an attack. That will make things harder. Hey Carrion, do you have another ability that I should know about?’ He asks, but doesn’t get any answers.

He climbs up one of the ice cliffs so he can look down on the ship, taking out a flint and steel that he has been carrying inside his body, one of the spoils from the previous ships, sending some sparks towards the bundles of seaweed.

The weed instantly begins to smoke heavily so the boy doesn't waste any time to two it down to the deck with a loud thud.

One of the soldiers lets out a terrified shout as the compressed plants loudly land beside him, the others drawing their weapons, but as soon as they see what caused the smoke they try to get rid of it, even if Sokka can see them already having trouble holding their eyes open and breathing in the area.

The spirit boy just watches as they scurry around below him with almost passive emotions. ‘It's not interesting if they are scared from just this. This is the exact same as last time.’

One of the soldiers grabs the smoking bundle, filling the deck with smoke that isn't carried away because of the lacking wind, but the moment she tries to lift it up a volley of thin claws shoot down at her, burrowing through her skull with nearly no resistance.

She drops to the metal floor as Sokka observes from above, the ground around her full of the arrow looking objects as he already prepares another shot, the tips already sprouting out of his flesh.

Getting the accuracy down took a while, but getting a far reaching attack is essential when the opponent has a far reaching attack too.

The other soldiers don't even seem to realize their comrade's death, their tearing eyes not letting them see what happened, but as soon as the first panicked shout is released things devolve into chaos relatively fast, of them even trying to flee into the hallways of the ship.

As if they would be safe there.

Some of them desperately try to get the burning material off the ship, but every time they get close they are impaled with claws, their armors not strong enough to protect them from the blade-like objects.

Sokka can see how they are searching the tops of the glaciers for enemies, but even if they were to find the spirit boy he isn't exactly worried. In these temperatures fire doesn't reach up here and arrows can’t hurt him.

They could use catapults, but loading one of them is something Sokka can easily interrupt with some well placed shots of his claws.

‘Why do they even keep attacking the south like this? They literally have the worst match up under these conditions. But that makes the fact that they managed to decimate the water tribe even more pathetic.’

Sokka watches as the soldiers eventually run away into the interior of the ship, unknowingly leaving behind some people behind on the deck, their bodies twitching on the deck as the last of the air is forced out of their lungs.

With a swift motion the boy jumps down to the deck, loudly crashing onto the metal floor as he lets multiple tendrils sprout from his flesh. They slither over the ground to the nearly unconscious soldiers, a small claw sprouting at their tips and before stabbing them through the people’s eyes into their brains, taking them out for good before they can become a problem.

‘Then let's move on to the next stage.’ the boy thinks as he watches the blood flow out of the pierced out eyes, dropping the other stink weed packages to the ground, his senses and claws sharpening for combat as cracking sounds resonate from within his flesh.

He knows that there are people up in the watchtower of the ship who must be seeing what he is doing, but they haven't attacked yet, and even if they were he would have enough time to dodge.

The monster boy coils his tendrils as a single bigger one with a hardened claw on the tip, crashing it into the front door and ripping through the metal to let the smoke flow in, flooding the hallways with the poisonous smoke.

The boy always keeps some of his eyes focused on the watchtower while he does, wanting to be ready when the soldiers act, just managing to catch the glimpse of red leaving the top of the structure.

‘A messenger hawk!’ the boy realizes, instantly extending his tendrils outwards and scaling the watchtower at an incredible speed as his claws lock into the metal, covering the wall into his deep red, blood-like liquids.

Sokka pushes himself off the tower with all the force he can muster, making his tentacles grow as far as he can, but the bird has already begun to fly up too high to reach, so the boy forces a bunch of thin claws to grow on its tip.

With a push of his internal liquid he causes the tip of his limb to burst, sending the dozens of shards flying into the area as a wave of pain shoots through him, some shards burying themselves into Sokka’s own flesh but a single one managing to hit the hawk’s wing, making it fall into the ocean.

One of the soldiers uses that moment to throw a fireball at Sokka, the boy’s skin igniting in a painful blaze, but thankfully only moments later he falls into the cold water below, extinguishing it before it can cause real damage.

Not that it's not painful. Or as painful as can be with his current form.

‘Do they have another bird somewhere?’ Sokka thinks as he keeps his eyes open for another one to be released, but he doesn't see any.

He climbs up to the deck again as he readies himself in case another hawk is released, igniting another one of the stinkweed bundles and throwing it up onto the watchtower, hoping that it will deter any more hawks from flying away.

The boy continues to drill holes into the ship and throws the many prepared smoke bombs in, gassing out his enemies as he continues to listen to their panicked voices inside the ship slowly fade to helpless gasps, and then to silence.

It doesn't take much longer till he spots some motion on top of the watchtower, a middle aged man with fancy looking armor stepping out on some kind of balcony.

‘Looks like tho higher ups finally decided to show their asses after I killed so many of their soldiers.’ But to his surprise the man that walks out isn't the kind of impressive looking general Sokka expected, instead an old man shaking with fear, barely a step away from panic

“You can think right!?” The captain shouts in a panicked voice before Sokka can attack him. “You can understand what I’m saying, right?! Please! We will do whatever you want! Just let us go!”

That makes Sokka actually freeze for a second.

‘Do they really mean that? No. This is the Fire Nation we are talking about. There is no way they would really just peacefully retreat. And even if they would really just go peacefully for now, that would mean they would bring the information back to their headquarters.’

Sokka lets a body morph out of his flesh, resembling the top part of his human disguise so he actually has a mouth to speak with, watching as the enemy lets out a fearful shiver at the transformation.

“Why should I do that?” The monster boy asks. “If I let you go now you will only return to your nation to prepare another attack on my people.

“N-No! Please! I promise you we won't do that!” The general tries once again. “I swear on my honor!”

“Do you really think I will believe that? You people killed mine for dozens of years without any restraint. If I hadn't gotten the help of a spirit my family would have been burned to death like so many others. You deserve every bit of pain I inflict on you!” Sokka shouts, for the first time since what feels like ages feeling actual anger fill his mind.

How dare they beg for mercy after all they have done?!

He lets his body grow to its full size, no longer storing up any of the flesh like he usually does and forming all the flesh into a giant tentacle covered in thick and sturdy claws on the top layer of his skin that hardens almost like an armor.

The meat structure slashes at the watchtower with an incredible force, the tough claws ripping into the metal as the entire ship shakes from the impact, the temor being strong enough to throw the captain off his balcony and down into the freezing ocean below.

Sokka can't even hear him try to swim up to the surface.

‘Shit. I planned to search this thing for information. I can't destroy it like the others. If I did I would have wasted all the smoke bombs.’

The monster lets the tentacle sink back into his body, letting the meat compress again to return to his average size as the claws melt away again, but the red specs of liquid covering the ship from his attack remain.

That is the moment he hears a group of heavy steps run to the balcony of the outlook, revealing a group of soldiers jumping and sliding down to confront the boy in battle, already having their weapons drawn and flames ignited in their hands.

‘Oh they are finally breaking down. The will of a warrior's last breath! Finally a real fight!’ Sokka thinks as he feels his body shift and crackle with energy and adrenaline, his fangs clicking against each other as the enemies approach, his senses sharpening as he prepares for battle.

The firebenders send a wave of flames at him, burning hot with anger and fear as it rushes towards the monster. But before it can reach the boy he jams his claws into the ground below, the metal creaking and squeaking as the boy forces one of the metal plates up like a wall, the flames scattering around him harmlessly.

With a swift movement he lets one of his tentacles slither through the opening he revealed by breaking the ground, the hollow space between him and the lower floors reaching all the way over to under his enemies’ feet.

With a powerful jab the tendril erupt from the ground, eyes and claws sprouting on their tips as they pierce through the holes in the victims armors, ripping through their bowls till the burst out of the soldiers throats, the blood of shooting out of the bursted arteries.

One of the soldiers reacts surprisingly fast, and the moment he sees it pierce through the head of his companion he sends a wave of flames at the skewered corpse, setting it and the tentacle aflame.

Sokka feels the pain shoot through the limb as its consumed by the raging fire, but pushes through it as he strikes at the soldier who attacked him, feeling how the claw slips between the ribs and rips apart the man’s heart and lungs, the blood spilling out of his mouth as his torso constricts with the pain of his last moment.

Before the flame can spread over the tendril to Sokka’s main body he lets the flesh connecting it melt away before the fire can spread to the main body, cutting the burning limb off as it turns to ash.

‘Such a waste of resources. I have to get faster.’

With a powerful dash the boy dislodges the metal plate from the floor, flinging it at his enemies at an incredible speed, their entrails splattering over the floor as they are squished on the floor.

The remaining soldiers let out paninicked shouts at they send a united wave of flames at the monster, but Sokka jumps up into the air with a push of his many powerful limbs, avoiding the wave of flames as he sends a quick volley of fangs flying at the Fire Nation people, pricing through their armors instantly.

One of the soldiers managed to avoid the flying fangs, the monster's accuracy lacking because of all the distractions around him, but with her being the last one there isn't much she can do.

To her credit, sh does not give up, sending another powerful fireblast at the monster while he is still in the air, but before it can reach him he sends a bunch of tentacles to the ground that sink into the floor like harpoons, dragging him down and out of the attacks path faster then it seems possible for his large body.

He shoots a spiked tentacle at her, and even if she tries to dodge out of the way the tendril buries into her limb, forcing out a pained cry from her as the limb expands inside her flesh, many tiny spikes erupting from inside the pulsing flesh to secure it in place.

With another swing of his tentacle Sokka slams her against the wall with all his force before she can prepare another flame, feeling how her body splatters inside the armor as the shattered metal cuts into her skin, the bones shattering under the impact.

Sokka draws back his tentacle as the woman’s corpse falls down from the crater she has caused in the wall, the blood spilling out from inside her fractured armor where its shards are buried into her skin, her head twisted in an angel that alone would have been enough to kill her.

Sokka can't help but shiver as the adrenaline flows through him but without any more enemies around he slowly feels himself calm down, his flesh slowing its coiling and twitching as the blood begins to flow out of the corpses.

‘There really isn't anything that can compare to this feeling. If the warriors actually left to feel like this I would at least understand, but this sensation is probably something from Carrion’s side of things.’

The boy consumes all the corpses littering the area as he listens in to the voices left deep in the bowels of the ship.

There seem to be quite some people left inside the deeper levels, but with how filled the hallways are with smoke Sokka don't think they can escape at this point. He will just have to take care of them later.

The smoke will linger for about two days before it will die down, so he has all the time he needs after all.

Thankfully for him the Fire Nation ship is currently really close to the location Sokka stored the other Fire Nation ship at, so even if it is annoying (not exhausting since Sokka has never felt that since his transformation) it doesn't take long till it is stored beside the old one.

The banging of some kind metal object against a reinforced window catches his attention again, clearly making the attempt of some soldiers to escape.

‘Let's take care of the remaining work and go home. I can search through the documents tomorrow.’

And with a small push of his tentacles Sokka slips into the dark halls of the ship, the last signs of human life soon after silencing as the hallways are covered in fresh blood.

Chapter Text

“No! The avatar has to be here! A landscape as dangerous as this would be the optimal place to hide from the Fire Nation. Maybe the avatar even is the monster himself!” Zuko shouts for what feels like the hundredth time, but the face of his uncle doesn't change in the slightest.

Iroh takes a sip from his tea, but even he looks tense because of their current location. “I highly doubt that. The avatar was always known to bring peace and balance after all.”

“Kyoshi.”

“Most avatars were known to bring peace.” Iroh corrects himself. “But this doesn't change the fact how dangerous this expedition is. I would highly suggest we turn back while we still can.”

And if Zuko would tell the truth, he really wants to turn around too.

The rumors about ships disappearing in the area around the south pole have been flowing around the Fire Nation since shortly before his banishment, but it had taken much longer till someone claimed to have seen and survived it.

The Red Nightmare they call it now. That's what the soldier had told the higher ups, saying all he saw was something giant and red rising out of the ocean, ripping apart the ship like it was made out of paper, but too fast to get a good look.

He only survived because he was off the main ship with a small boat to catch some fish for lunch and the monster did not seem to spot him. Or it left him alive purposefully.

Most of the rumors haven't been taken seriously till then, simply writing them off as increased Earth Kingdom activity in the area, or that the water tribes started to enter into the war again.

Zuko can still remember the first time he heard the man’s story, not quite believing it at first, but it didn't take long till the facts overrode his doubt.

They sent a small fleet to take care of the monster, ships full of high value equipment and experienced firebenders, trying to take the thing out before it could become a danger to the Nation.

None of them returned.

Not a single soul.

The man who first saw it was clearly an exception, till now the only one who even got a glimpse of it.

You could imagine Zuko’s surprise when he received a letter from his father not long ago, giving the banished prince a second way to restore his honor that doesn't involve the catching of the probably long dead avatar, but instead of a very real monster.

He almost wanted to laugh at Azula as he got it. ‘See? Father cares about me! He even gives me more chances to restore my honor! He never hated me like Azula said!’

A splash of water rips him out of his thoughts, immediately turning to the sound source with a flame ignited in his hand, lieutenant Jee beside him doing the same, even uncle jumping up to go into a battle position.

Zuko relaxes as he spots the lion seals jump into the water beside the ship, making the sound he heard.

One of the animals looks up to the prince standing on the edge of the deck, its emotionless, pure black eyes almost mocking with the panic Zuko feels flowing through his body caused by the simple sound.

Letting out a small sound it slides down into the deep dark water, disappearing in the icy depth and leaving the snowy coast empty of life one again.

But he doesn't stop looking around the area. Every iceberg could be hiding something dangerous, something strong enough to take out an entire fleet.

The whole crew is as tense as him, and for once he can't judge them for it. If their ship would get destroyed in these waters, they would either sink to the cold, dark ground of the ocean, or freeze to death in the merciless blizzard.

Two of the most cruel deaths a firebender could imagine. Frozen for all eternity, unable to return their ashes back to Agni's flame.

But no matter the risks, he will make his father proud and reclaim his rightful place on the throne. He has to.

The banished prince continues to look around the area, trying to pick up on any clue of human activity that could lead him to the avatar, but till now his search has been futile.

He doesn't know what exactly he is looking for, but he is sure he will recognize it when he sees it. He will just have to be patient. It's just that that was never his biggest strength.

Zuko lets his eyes move over to Iroh, the old man standing next to him and for once no drinking a cup of tea or playing Pai Sho, a serious expression on his face that Zuko hasn't seen on him since the old man returned from his spirit journey after Lu Ten’s death.

The young firebender can only feel more nervous as he sees that, making him turn lieutenant Jee with a commanding expression.

“Order the soldiers to increase the security level. If they have problems with the cold they are allowed to take torches for warmth if necessary. But no matter what, don't leave even a single space of this ship unprotected.” He orders, the man immediately hurrying off to tell the soldiers.

He hopes that this will be accountable with the meager amount of money the crew gets sent every month, but even if they will have to go hungry for a week, it is better than dying to a monster that attacked you in a preventable way.

While Zuko continues to shout orders around Iroh sinks down to a small pillow on the side of the room, crossing his legs as he takes a deep breath.

The old firebender knows why the Fire Lord has sent the ship to the south. The tyrannical ruler planned to get rid of Zuko for a long time, but with the prince continuing to prove himself against the Earth Kingdom troops that try to kill him he must have gotten impatient.

Looking back at it, Iroh shouldn't be surprised that his brother would act like that. Another thing on the long list he thinks he should have prepared for.

The retired general takes in another deep breath as he lets himself slip into a deep trance, expanding his senses into the area.

Finding the presence of a spirit isn't exactly something he has much experience with but he should at least give it a try. Because that is what he believes that supposed monster to be, a spirit protecting something of value to it.

What it is protecting could really be anything at this point with how much destruction the Fire Nation has caused. It could be the people of the water tribe, some of the animals the Fire Nation nearly drove to extinction for their soft fur, the spiritual sanctuary hidden somewhere at the pole, Iroh really doesn't know.

What he does know is that it wouldn't attack the crew if they would just turn around now.

The firebending master extends his senses into the area as the time slows away around him, blocking out the nervous inner flames around him to search for something older and stronger than the frozen cliffs bordering the ship.

He doesn't know how much time passes as he feels something to the west, a steadily growing point of energy in the distance suddenly catching his attention.

The old firebender snaps his eyes down as he jumps up from the ground, hurrying out to the balcony as he stares into the direction with the continuously growing energy.

“Uncle, wha’s- “ Zuko asks in a worried voice when suddenly a bright beam of light shoots up high into the sky, auroras lighting up around it as it illuminates the frozen cliffs around it.

“The avatar.” The banished prince mumbles, and Iroh fears he might be correct.

The old man watches as Zuko instantly begins to shout orders at the crew, so he turns to the soldier manning the steering wheel with a serious expression while the prince is distracted.

“If I give a signal you will immediately try to steer the ship back to the open ocean as fast as I can. I will take responsibility for whatever that entails, you understand?”

“Of course general Iroh.” The sailor says, his shoulders slightly relaxing. It seems he wants to be here as much as the rest of the people on the ship. All the soldiers are terrified of what might happen to them here, so even the smallest chance of getting away is a ray of hope to them.

Iroh turns his eyes to the sun shining above, closing his eyes as he sends out a small prayer.

‘Agni give us strength.’

Chapter Text

As Sokka walks out of the village this morning, he feels someone's eyes on him.

He knows they belong to Gran-Gran. It's not even a question. She has been paying him more attention recently. Far more than he would like.

She has always been smart and was good at picking up on the smallest details as long as Sokka could remember. He should have known that eventually she would get tipped off by one of the smaller details that don't make sense and take action.

Be it the wounds on the fish and animals he caught, too small and round to be made by a spear, the color of his skin and body temperature not changing no matter how long he stays outside in the harsh winds or how much he started to avoid everyone else.

Or maybe it's only something small like the fact that he doesn't eat with the others anymore. It’s not like he plans on confronting her about it.

Sokka knows it was only a question of time. Everything happens eventually. He just didn't know if it would take a year or some decades.

Or maybe even a century. It's not like he has any idea how this body ages. His human form wouldn't have changed at all if he didn't make any conscious decisions to do so to avoid sticking out.

And if he made that form a bit more good looking than it probably had been normally, then that is nothing he will actually admit to any other person.

‘At least she still worries.’ A selfish part of him hopes it's really worry, not fear. Fear of what he has become.

His Gran-Gran really feels like the only person to worry about him these days.

Katara only seems to see her own misery for a long time now, speaking like she is the only one who lost their mother, the other women don't seem to care about him more than his ability to provide for them, and the children are too young to understand.

And it's not like his father is here to give him any support, having left him to this destiny, forcing him to leave behind his humanity to protect the ones he loves.

The same for the other warriors.

They could have left behind one other man. One other person to help back at home. But no, they all went to the war to preserve their honorful status as warriors, desperately trying to cling on to the little bit of pride they had left.

Sometimes he asks himself what they would have done had they known what was going to happen.

Would they have stayed, or would Sokka be seen as a necessary sacrifice.

‘It doesn't matter anyway. What if’s don't change the fact I’m a monster now.’

He lets his eyes sway over the frozen plains surrounding him, feeling how the freezing wind blows into his face but not bothered by it.

‘Am I just supposed to continue to stay here in the south, sinking every Fire Nation ship that comes too close? Sit still and wait for the return of people who might have been dead for years?’

The thought of his father’s death doesn't scare him as much as it probably should.

While he knows the man used to care deeply for him, that has been years ago. Years that Sokka spent sacrificing his very humanity and hunted down every single Fire Nation man or woman that threatened to come close to his home while also taking care of an entire village.

He lets out a tired huff, surprised by the amount of emotions he is actually feeling right now. Hurt, no matter if physical or emotional, is something he hasn't felt this strongly for a while.

‘At least they stopped sending that many ships. At least that makes it easier.’

He was surprised at first when they started to appear less frequent, but after the first wave of frequent attacks they stopped coming entirely, seemingly giving up on this place.

‘It's not like they would get any use out of the land anyway. It was probably just to eradicate the remaining water tribes.’

He still does his patrol everyday covering enough distance to watch the other three villages near to them.

They still have their men there, protecting their own family rather than try to make a difference in a war that was already lost for ages while they leave their own home undefended.

Sokka knows how it would have ended if Carrion didn’t happen to listen to him at that moment. Only thinking about coming home too late that day to a burned down village makes him nauseous, something not many things can at this point.

And while he understands what his father is thinking, it's simply wrong. It was a decision made in grief and anger, from both his father and the elders, not thought about in a clear mind.

What do they even think to accomplish? Take down the Fire Nation with a handful of ships? If the handful of warriors they are is what it would take to make a change in this war, then the Earth Kingdom wouldn't have any problems right now.

Sokka shakes himself out of the thought, sending a shiver down his tentacles.

There weren't any ships today either, not that he expected any. He doesn't really want to admit it, but he finds it quite boring.

Taking out lion seals as part of his hunts really doesn't give him the same feeling as a real battle.

Sokka knows that is his spirit side talking, but he can't really suppress that part of himself.

‘Maybe I should try to go out and pick off some Fire Nation ships in a bigger radius? No. That would leave home defenseless. I won't make that mistake.’

Now that he thinks about it, even the last Fire Nation ships were not that much of a danger to him.

They clearly aren't prepared for something to attack them from below, and with the know-how his fangs can rip through the metal sheets’ weak points easily while they have no way to defend themselves, not letting anyone get away.

Well, ONE did at least get away. Sokka read the reports in one of the enemy ships.

‘It could also have been a hawk that got away with a short message they managed to write during the attack. It would explain the little amount of information they have.’

He continues to slither along the shoreline, just deep enough to be invisible from above.

Not that he actually expects someone to be there. He keeps sending his echo throughout the area to locate everything alive after all.

He returns to his human form as he gets closer to the village, walking through the front gate to come face to face with an angry Katara.

‘This can't be good.’

___________________

Sokka lets his eyes, just his normal two this time, stray over the water in front of him, trying to ignore his sister's presence behind him.

Not that it works at all. She keeps moving around, making small sounds and is all in all just really bothersome.

She has been asking him to go with him when he is hunting for a while now, and eventually he ran out of excuses, ending up with his sister right behind him on the boat as he is forced to try and hunt fish with a spear like he hasn't done in years.

‘Well, at least she didn't bother me with this before I at least got to do a short patrol.’

He did pick up on something in the distance that moved through the glaciers, but it was far too small to be any of the Fire Nation ships he has seen, so even if he didn't have time to check up on it before the fishing trip, it probably isn't a problem.

He really wishes he could have done this alone, but he should have known that it only was a question of time till Katara would insist on accompanying him.

Sokka’s previous denial of her requests had only made her more determined, taking it as a comment that she wasn't strong enough to take care of herself. Something the girl wasn't happy about.

She trained her bending even more after that, listening to the stories of the elders on what they knew from the time before the last raid took the remaining master of the art and everything else that could help her achieve her goal.

And while that wasn't the water tribe boy’s intention at all, it helped to motivate her even more to master her waterbending. So he won’t complain about that result.

‘Well, it's only a question of time till she will get bored of this and let me go fishing alone again. Maybe I should act like I’m standing up earlier. She hates working in the morning after all.’

He secretly watches his sister as she bends a sphere of water out of the ocean, a fish inside trying and failing to get out of the liquid prison.

“Sokka! Look here I did-” She starts when her control slips, the bubble bursting and sending the fish free, splattering water all over her brother.

‘At least I don't feel the cold.’ He thinks to himself, ignoring the water seeping through his anorak without acknowledging his sister’s slip up, just staying silent like he usually does.

“Why are you always like that!” Suddenly comes an angry shout from the waterbender, her features uncharacteristically furious.

“Wha- I’m haven't done anything.” He says in an even voice, only giving his sister a small look before turning to the water again, but the fish is already swimming too deep to reach with a spear.

“That's what I mean! You are never doing anything! You always spend your time away from the village, never talk to us anymore! Do you have any idea how worried Gran-Gran is?!” She shouts as her emotions take over.

The action sends the water surrounding the siblings into a frenzy, splashing up the sides of the boat.

“Katara, I’m sorry. Please listen-”

“No! You listen to me!!” She shouts as she stands up, her angry movements making the boat sway dangerously, unknowingly bending the water surrounding them.

“You have no idea how things have been for me! You are always away from the village! Do you even care that Gran-Gran and I constantly worry about you?” She shouts, every angry word sending another fracture through the frozen cliff surrounding them, the glacier letting out dangerous sounding cracks.

“Katara!” Sokka shouts once more, making the girl quiet down for a short moment, just long enough to hear the splintering ice behind her, huge pieces of it breaking out just above the siblings.

Katara pinches her eyes shut as the wall collapses towards them, but before they can hit Sokka lets his arm shift back into its true form.

With an incredibly fast jab he extends his tentacle and lodges his claws into the ice, others holding onto the boat as he quickly pushes the boat to the side, making it violently crash into the water as the ice splashes down beside them, barely missing them.

The impact creates a big wave before Katara even has a chance to look up, picking up the boat and throwing the boat around on the raging water as a huge sphere of ice rises from the water right under them.

Sokka watches as the glowing ice globe lets out immense waves of energy as the boat is landed by the ice rising from the waves, tipping and throwing the children out of it.

Well, only Katara really.

But Sokka jumps after her, letting his tendrils snatch her out of the air and onto a small ice float that is close by, hooking his claws into the material, his sister’s eyes luckily pinched shut in panic and unable to see anything.

The two watch as the iceberg just continues to rise up in front of them, a part even surfacing right under them and giving them some solid ground to stand on, his sister immediately slipping out of his embrace as the tremor stops.

Sokka shifts his body back to its human appearance as he takes a step close to the waterbender, his eyes fixed on the glowing ice sphere in front of him, unable to look away.

Because there is just one thing he feels in its presence.

Fear.

“Katara, get away from that thing. Now.” He orders, but like always his sister doesn't listen, picking up the club Sokka dropped, running towards it with a worried and shocked expression.

“There's a boy in there!” She shouts and slams the bone weapon into the ice structure without any hesitation.

“Anything that could be in this thing and still be alive can't be just a boy. We have to-” He starts but his sister is already slamming the weapon into it again, the barest impact sending a net of cracks through the structure, despite how sturdy it seemed when rising out of the water.

The moment it shatters a powerful blast of air shoots out of it, throwing Katara backwards where she crashes into her brother’s arms as the ice sphere explodes, sending the shards flying around the area, accompanied by an incredibly strong wave of energy.

The spirit touched by can barely move from the pure, instinctual fear flowing through him, feeling how a bit of the control over his body slips, but Katara doesn't notice any of it, her eyes fixed on the thing looking like a boy standing in the center of the glowing beam of light that erupted from the broken structure.

But as soon as the energy appeared it disappeared again, fading out of existence like it was never there in the first place, the boy dropping to the ground and his unmoving body sliding down the ice like a lethargic penguin seal.

Sokka tries to get himself under control again as his sister rushes forward to the boy, leaving the monstrous warrior behind to literally pull himself together again, listening in to the waterbender and still slightly tired looking boy as they begin a conversation.

When Katara decides to acknowledge her brother’s existence again the spirit touched boy has managed to control himself again, and even if the orange clad child now seems far less terrifying than before, that doesn't mean Sokka trusts him.

Eventually, after a very long time of discussion (aka Katara complaining non stop) Sokka gives in. The boy doesn't seem to realize Sokka’s capabilities, so even if the boy would turn the enormous power he has shown before against the village, the water tribe boy should be able to take him out with a surprise attack, even with that weird bison he has as a pet.

“I’m Sokka, by the way.” The water trieb boy introduces himself, trying to get the boy’s name to not keep calling him ‘boy’ in his mind. “And that's my sister Katara.”

“I’m Aang! And this is Appa!” The boy says with a bright smile that so heavily contrasts with the terrifying aura from before, pointing down at the giant animal the trio is currently on.

It doesn't take long till the group returns to the village, and all the while Sokka keeps his fangs and claws body, prepared to return to his true look instantly.

The one who does notice the water tribe boy’s actions is Appa, the bison continuously giving the boy nervous glances at the monster riding on its back.

‘Well, all animals have been afraid of me since I changed, so it isn't really a surprise. It's probably some kind of survival instinct.’

Aang doesn't seem to understand what the bison means with its distressed sounds, even apologizing to the siblings that Appa can be a bit shy around strangers.

Sokka doesn't even have the time to respond to the boy as Katara immediately starts talking, smiling more than her brother has seen her in years, speaking so much that the water tribe boy actually worries if she is getting enough air.

Aang returns it with equal if not even more vigor, not even seeming to give Sokka a single glance, leaving himself completely defenseless.

‘But maybe that's just a trap. Maybe he is just waiting for me to attack first.’

The spirit boy steels himself, claws sharpening under his clothes, preparing for everything the mysterious boy might try to do.

‘Just you wait. I won't let you do anything.’ He thinks, unaware of the amused emotions of the spirit resting in his mind.

Chapter Text

Iroh lets his eyes travel over the ice surrounding him, desperately hoping that they will give them a reason to leave these waters behind as soon as possible.

Some moments ago their crew spotted a flare of a Fire Nation vessel shooting into the air, one of the old models that are long out of use if the shade of the flame is anything to go by.

Iroh personally thinks it's probably a trap, so he has the men arm themselves as best as possible while preparing the ship for an immediate retreat, without Zuko’s knowledge of course. The prince would rage if he were to find out, after all.

The more time the old warrior has spent in these waters, the more he feels like something is wrong between the looming cliffs of ice.

He can't be sure of course. He has never been to the south pole before, but he doesn't believe it should be like this.

The north pole certainly wasn't the last time he visited, but those frozen lands didn't suffer through the same atrocities like their brother.

‘Pakku didn't manage to give me much information about the situation of their sister tribe. Barely anything at all. The connection between them has been broken for years now, and even before the war it was irregular at best, but according to what little he had it should have at least a similar amount of wildlife to the north.’

Iroh knows the poles can be quiet, with the exception of the cracking glaciers of course, but not this quite. Like the quiet of a carnivore's den, every creature too afraid to make any sounds.

‘Just like Ran and Shaw’s mountain.’

The air even carries a similar pressure to that time Iroh found himself before the two masters, just far more malicious. The kind that settles in your bones, sinking its claws into you and makes you want to crawl into yourself.

‘I really hope it's just my nerves.’

A small cry from one of the soldiers makes Iroh jump, his inner flame immediately preparing for a fight until his brain can understand the words.

“Settlement sighted!” was what the voice said, holding a kind of hesitance that Iroh can feel a deep sympathy for. There are frankly too many reasons that could make someone feel like that right now.

It isn't hard to spot the small settlement, nestled right on the edge of the water between two smaller hills of snow, not steep enough to cause an avalanche but just high enough to at least lessen the frozen winds.

‘I had thought the tribes would start moving deeper inland with the frequent raids, since it makes them far harder to reach for our troops, but the reports never mentioned something like that. I never understood their reasoning behind that.’

If this tribe in particular had just built a small distance further inland they probably wouldn't even have been spotted, let alone be reached.

The small rivers in the ice are big enough for their nimble water tribe ships, but even the smallest Fire Nation vessel would stand no chance.

“Everyone brace for impact! We are going to crash through the wall!” One of the soldiers calls nervously from the watchtower, an uncertain expression on his face as he looks over to the pissed prince standing beside him.

‘I can believe whose idea it was to do this. Well, let's hope the people realize Zuko has no idea what he is searching for and just point him somewhere else to go.’ Iroh hopes are high but judging from the last weeks he feels like he deserves something good happening to him.

The old firebender walks up to the railing of the ship to look down to the water tribe people as Zuko walks up to them, hoping that his nephew won’t do something dumb and that they can leave these waters as soon as possible, but to tell the truth, he doesn’t have much hope for that.

The old man watches a boy in front of the terrified people, clutching a spear, a furious expression on his young face when suddenly a feeling of utter wrongness fills the ex general’s body, his entire body tensing up as his inner flame flickers so hard it almost hurts.

He feels his fingernails dig into his skin as he tries to find anything with the boy that could cause those emotions, but doesn’t find anything, but every second he looks at the boy? it feels like insects crawling over his skin.

None of the soldiers notice in any way, so Iroh decides himself back for now. Acting rashly could cause whatever is holding the water tribe warrior back to break, because what else could this aura mean.

The first thought of the firebending master is that the boy might be the avatar, but he has read the old scripts of the fire sages. None of them describe the aura the water tribe boy gives off or even anything close to the fear it calls up in Iroh.

The only reason the old man hasn't immediately given the signal to retreat is because the boy hasn't yet acted in any way, just patiently waiting while Zuko shouts his demands.

“There is no avatar here. If he was, this war would have stopped long ago.” The mysterious boy says, clutching a spear in his hand that Iroh is certain he doesn't need.

To the old man’s surprise the boy doesn't react when Zukko shouts angrily at him, sending a wave of flames right over the villagers. But the fact that he doesn't even flinch at the sight of the fire rushing right over his head probably says enough.

Not like that calmness holds long.

Iroh feels hot suddenly the aura of the boy swells, an echo of cracking bones suddenly rushing into Iroh’s ears, and the old man is about to jump down to defend his nephew when a boy in orange clothing comes sliding into the village, throwing the prince of his feet and into the snow below.

“Stop!” The new arrival shouts. “I won't let you harm these people!” He shouts as he sends a wave of wind towards the banished prince, throwing him all the way back to the ship.

“An airbender.” One of the soldiers mumbles. “Could it be that he is…”

And Iroh can't help but have the same idea, and a small moment of searching, even if it is far weaker than any of his sources describe, the same determined and pure aura described in the old text is still around the boy.

‘But then who or what is the young water tribe warrior?’

With a tense body and prepared inner flame the old firebender watches his nephew interact with the airbender, but his eyes never leave the terrifying boy standing behind them, the mysterious brunette still wearing the emotionless expression.

Iroh barely notices when the avatar lets himself get captured to avoid the village's destruction, using his newly revealed identity to prevent any more combat.

The villagers seem to be as surprised about this as anyone else. Even the terrifying boy seems to have been unaware of the avatar’s identity, even if his face doesn't show the emotions, his aura does.

The moment Zuko leads the avatar back into the ship the water tribe boy, Sokka, if Iroh heard the other people right, just turns around and walks into one of the huts like his home hasn't just been raided by the Fire Nation.

Something that greatly worries the old firebender.

‘Maybe I should just release the avatar right now. But Zuko would never do that. He would rather die.’

A small tremor under his feet tells the man that the ship has freed itself from the ice wall it crashes into, floating back to the open water to try and make its way back straight to the Fire Nation.

But Iroh is certain it won't make it there if he doesn't do something about the situation they have found themselves in.

‘Zuko won't like this, but I can't let him take the avatar anyway.’ He lets out a small sigh. ‘I might have to try knocking him out somehow without him noticing. Where did I keep that special tea again?’

The ex general turns to one of his trusted soldiers, a plan already forming in his mind. ‘Well, Zuko just has to believe that the avatar escaped. I might have to help out a bit.’

Chapter Text

Sokka would have let out a sigh if it wasn't for the fact that it won't help him relieve the pressure he is feeling right now.

The terrifying boy, or avatar as he now knows, is finally far enough away from him that he doesn't constantly feel the pressure they permanently release, and now Sokka will follow after them again like an idiot.

But what can he do? Aang is probably the only way to solve this war, the amount of energy he releases all the time only being proof of that. It's just like all the stories Sokka used to listen to when he was still human.

‘At least I now know why the kid has so much energy.’

Sokka doesn't want to leave his tribe behind, but thinking about this logically means that Aang is his best chance to keep them safe permanently, not the tentative peace he built for now through constant patrols. 

And even that wasn't enough, as the shattered remains of the village wall proves. 

Eventually the Fire Nation will take over the Earth Kingdom, and they inadvertently will attack the south pole again. And this time with their full military might.

‘If that is the case I won’t be able to win against them no matter what. The fact that one ship managed to sneak by my attention just proves that this isn't a permanent solution.’ He thinks feeling his fangs inside his body crunch in frustration.

He is actually surprised the soldiers really just peacefully left after taking Aang captive, but they were very weird anyway.

Good weird, but still very weird. Nothing like any of the other Fire Nation soldiers he has killed up till now.

‘Especially that one old man. It somehow felt like he could see right through me. Did he realize something? But that shouldn't be possible since he never saw me before. Any idea what that was, Carrion?’ He asks, not really expecting a response.

But to his surprise, the spirit seems to deem this worthy of their attention.

~Possible. Take a better look at him next time. You have enhanced senses. Use them.~ The voice tells him before the spirit retreats into the back of his mind again.

Sokka feels his internal flesh quiver in anticipation, sensing how his body instinctively prepares to grow its fangs and teeth. The only time Carrion warned him like that was when the enemy actually posed some kind of challenge. Something he hasn't had the pleasure of for quite a while.

‘Maybe I will get a good fight out of this.’

The spirit boy stands up from the crates he has been digging through, walking out of the house where his sister runs up to him.

“Sokka! We have to-!” She starts but instantly freezes as she spots her brother holding two bags filled with traveling provisions and everything else he could think of useful for their travels.

“You want to go save him, right? Then we can't waste any time.” Sokka says. Spirits, he feels like has spoken dopple as much today as he would like to.

“I will get a boat-” The waterbender starts, but before she can finish the sentence a roar echoes through the village, but not the roar of a predator, Sokka feels, before he spots the avatar’s sky bison walk up to the siblings.

The animal gives them an expectant look, lowering his body to the ground as if to tell the children to climb on his back, but Sokka shakes his head.

“With your speed it's better if we take a boat.” The spirit boy says dismissively. “With how slowly you swim, there is no way we would ever catch up to them unless their ship breaks down.” 

To be honest, it would be most efficient if Sokka went alone, but there is no way he would get Katara to stay down without knocking her out. At this point he was considering the possibility.

Appa lets out a deep huff, making the snow under Sokka's feet vibrate, the suspicious glance from when they first met still present, before the bison flaps his tail, suddenly lifting off the ground and hovering in the air with an expression that Sokka can only describe as smug.

Katara beside him lets out a sound of wonder while her brother throws their bags up on the saddle of the bison. “Fine. Like this we don't have to worry about glaciers.” He admits, feeling a bit of jealousy as he climbs up the animal’s back, even if those emotions don't show on his face.

‘Too bad I can't fly too. Aren’t spirits always at least hovering in stories? Why can't you give me that ability, Carrion?’ The spirit boy complains, and all around the world a cold shower runs down the backs of Fire Nation soldiers.

Katara places herself near the top of the animal where Aang was sitting before, taking the reins while Sokka sits further in the back. She seems a bit uncertain at first but manages to properly seer the bison into the air, leading it into the direction where the Fire Nation ship went without problem.

While she is distracted Sokka lets his back shift to its true form, a bunch of thin tendrils growing out of the crimson flesh and spreading out into the air like feelers.

The twist and shiver as they take in all the sounds in the area, writhing like a maggot infested carcass as the boy blocks out all the unimportant sounds.

Appa’s voice, breathing and heartbeat, the same for Katara, the deep grumble and cracking of the glacier and the splashing of the waves, until there is only the sound of the Fire Nation ship’s engine left, vibrating though the cold air.

He quickly retracts his tendril before walking closer to his sister.

“That way. I heard something from there.” He tells her, pointing to the enemy's direction, even if from this position nothing is visible in that direction.

By now Katara has stopped questioning things he claimed out of the blue, since usually they turn out to be true and he would never give her an answer anyway, no matter how much she asked.

“Okay, let's go!” She calls out to Appa, the bison letting out a motivated cry before speeding up.

Sokka walks back to the end of Appa’s huge saddle, feeling anticipation grow in him. He can already feel how the flesh under his thick clothing hardens like armor, growing fangs and claws as his body prepares for combat.

But he shouldn't yet, or this time at all, because of course Katara insisted on coming along.

A part of Sokka is glad she is there, because there is no way he would be able to keep the avatar busy on his own, but mainly he is just worried to get her involved in all of this.

‘This is war. She has been involved since her birth.’ That traitorous voice in the back of his mind tells him, grumbling and cracking like a glacier shattering deep under the water. ‘She won’t have been able to hide for much longer anyway.’

As they get closer the sounds of the ship get clearer and clearer, and already Sokka can hear the sound of fighting echo through the canyons of the glaciers.

Sokka begins to form a weapon in his arm to be released at any moment, harder than even metal as he looks up into the clear sky, the cold wind rushing around his face as deep cracking sounds vibrate in his body.

It is a good time to hunt.

Chapter Text

Zuko can barely suppress the broad grin from spreading over his face as he binds the hands of the avatar behind his back, making sure it's tight enough that even a grown man wouldn't be able to break out of them.

‘Finally! Finally I found the avatar! After all these years of searching without any progress! Now I can finally come back home!’

But of course he can't show these emotions right now. Not in front of the soldiers and especially not in front of an enemy, no matter how harmless the boy looks. It's not proper for a prince.

His father taught him that.

“Take him to the cells on the lowest level! Use all the chains we have! He isn't allowed to be able to lift as much as a single finger!” The royal orders in his usual angry voice as his hand clenches the airbender’s staff he walks off to his room.

In his elation Zuko doesn't notice the grim expression on Iroh’s face as the old firebending master keeps his eyes on the water tribe village that slowly disappears in the distance.

The old man lets out a nervous sigh, but not letting his battle ready flames die down. 

He probably won't be able to for a while.

For what reason the Water tribe boy did not defend that avatar he doesn't know, but he is thankful for that, because right here like this, so deep into the frozen waters of the south, they are in no condition to seriously face whatever hides under the disguise of a child back in that village.

The ships the Fire Nation uses are sturdy, but not indestructible, and in this environment fixing them is near impossible even if they were able to hold the entire vessel over water for the entire fight.

‘But it doesn't seem like the avatar has gotten any training yet.’ Iroh muses. He will definitely have to help out a bit so the boy can escape.

He turns to the guards that were supposed to follow the avatar.

“You three come with me. We need to prepare to return to the Fire Nation as fast as possible.” He tells them, only leaving two of them behind to escort the avatar. It should hopefully be enough so the boy will take his chance to escape.

Jee gives the old firebender a questioning look, probably having a vague idea what Iroh is planning to do, but nods anyway even if he doesn't truly understand why.

At times like these the retired general is glad that most people on this ship do not care for the Fire Nation in the slightest, only working here because they have nowhere else to go or would be executed if they refused the order.

Over the time they have started to build some trust in Iroh, at least after they realized he is not the man the royal family portrayed him. Not anymore.

The firebending master looks around the soldiers, taking in the tense expression and confused eyes rushing around the area, trying to locate something they have no way of finding but still cannot ignore.

They know something is wrong, at least the experienced ones with good instincts do, their whole bodies tense and still clutching their weapons in their hands, but don't seem to know what is making them this nervous.

Iroh can't judge them. There aren't many who could sense a spirit's presence if it was standing right beside them until the entity wants to make itself known.

But at least that means that right now they probably won't question Iroh if he has any weird request right now since they themselves don't know better, like for example not sending any extra guards with the avatar.

‘Now to make sure there are as little people in the hallways as possible.’ He thinks to himself. ‘But to think there truly was an airbender left. I will have to contact the lotus as fast as possible. We might be approaching some turbulent times.’

It doesn't take him long to gather as many people up into the tower with all kinds of reasons he can come up with, ranging from planning their traveling back home to preparing a small feast as celebration.

But he still keeps his senses stretched out over the area to watch out for that spirit boy. He just hopes that maybe the avatar escapes before the former arrives so they might not have to fight in the first place.

And the old firebending master does not have to wait long till he hears some crashing from inside the bowels of the ship. Some of the soldiers stand up and grab your weapons but halt their movements as soon as they spot Iroh raise his hand to interrupt them.

Jee lets out a deep sigh, sitting down beside the Pai Sho table again but not yet putting his weapon away. “Are we going to get an explanation for this?” He asks with an annoyed expression, setting another place on the board.

“Perhaps, but I am not sure if you would actually like to know the answer.” Iroh says, placing another Pai Sho ice on the table when he hears loud steps rush up the stairs of the control tower.

He takes his cup of tea out of the way just in time as a terrified airbender and an angry banished prince rush through the room, throwing over everything in their path before exiting through the front window by flying and jumping respectively.

It would probably worry Iroh more if it wasn't for the fact that Zuko has done something like that so many times that Iroh sat down with him and taught the prince how to soften his fall with flames.

“Then let's get to work, or at least pretend to.” Iroh tells the other while taking one last sip of his tea, but the moment he sets it down a cold shower runs down his back, Jee across from him tensing similarly.

“It seems our friends from the water tribe are here.” The old general says with a serious expression. “Keep engagement to a minimum. Take care not to anger the boy.” He instructs before hurrying down to the deck.

As he steps out into the battlefield he immediately comes face to face with a blast of water, rushing at him and the other soldiers standing at the entrance to the lower decks.

Iroh calls up on his inner flame, creating a wall of blinding fire to protect himself and the others from the attack, the water evaporating before it can touch any of them, a cloud of steam filling the area.

When the cloud clears he spots the young avatar standing in the center of the attack, eyes and tattoos glowing with pure energy that flows out into the area, crashing against the glaciers like storm waves.

‘So he at least knows something about his position as the avatar already.’ Iroh thinks as the boy begins to sway, dropping to the ground. ‘But there still seems to be a long way to go. I hope we have enough time for that.’

A shadow suddenly appears on the ground directly over the ground, everyone looking up to see a sky bison hovering the air, and from it sumps a blue blur, dropping far more than it should be safe for a human to to and landing on the metal ground with a force impossible for a child’s weight, the iron denting under his feet.

The deck is instantly filled with sickening pressure, and somewhere in the back of his mind Iroh feels like he can hear something that sounds like the cracking of shattered bones. Sounds that the old general really hoped he would never have to hear again.

The soldiers Iroh didn't manage to warn rush the exhausted avatar beside the water tribe boy, panic obvious on their face, in their fear resorting to lashing out as it blinds out more calculated responses.

The boy (monster?) suddenly draws a bone blade from his sleeve, far longer than it should be possible to hide in the fabric, and with lightning quick speed he slashes at one of the soldiers, his arm moving just a bit too unnatural for a human, not even following the soldiers with his eyes as he attacks.

The men let out a pained cry as the weapon crashes into them, surprisingly not cutting through the armor and instead throwing them away all the way to the other side of the deck and painfully crashing into the railing, knocking them out instantly.

Something tells Iroh that that hit could have killed if the water tribe boy wanted to, even if he can't explain why.

Iroh follows the spirit boy’s eyes as they move over to where the avatar and the water tribe girl climb onto the sky bison, the airbender struggling to get his tired body to work, a frustrated expression appearing on the spirit boy’s face.

“Sokka! Hurry up!” She calls, creating a wall of ice to keep the firebenders at bay.

‘Ah, so that why.’

With one leap while the girl is distracted Sokka lands on the bison’s saddle, the animal rising into the air as fast as he can to avoid the enemies, but of course Zuko is not going to stop because of that.

He gathers his flames in his palms, aiming it at the escaping avatar when Iroh grabs his hands, making the flames fizzle out instantly.

“Zuko. That's enough. They got away.” Iroh says in a calm voice, feeling how the pressure in the air fades now that both the avatar and the water tribe boy are getting further and further away.

“What?! We can still hit them!” The prince shouts angrily, a wisp of flames escaping from his mouth.

“What do you think would have happened if we hit them? They would have sunk into the ocean and you would never be able to present them to the Fire Lord.” Iroh lies, his voice not wavering in the slightest. Well, it's not really a lie.

Zuko instantly snaps his mouth shut with a furious expression, but the fact that he doesn't shout back means he believes his uncle.

“Follow them immediately! We can lose any time!” He orders his crew as his eyes fall on the frozen and unconscious people littering the area after the fight.

“After you take care of all that.” He says in a frustrated voice. “If I find anyone slacking of they will regret it!” He shouts angrily before storming off to the control tower, Iroh following after him after he images take care of the injured.

The old man lets out a tired sigh. He already knows that the future will keep him very busy.

Chapter Text

Sokka watches with a bored expression as Aang rides on the back of the giant carp swimming in the ocean, jumping high in the air and seemingly not even noticing the boy riding on their body.

‘They seem like they could give quite a big amount of flesh to help me build my body, but don't seem aggressive at all. Where is the fun in hunting things like that. And how does something even get that big if it can’t fight?!’

An inner part of him somehow just feels incredibly disgusted by the prospect of a creature this size being as weak as this, but he doesn't know why.

‘At least it's better than Aang being all depressed after they visited the destroyed air temple.’ Though the water tribe boy does not know what Aang expected to be the result of a battle between the Fire Nation army and the pacifistic air nomads.

Well, supposed pacifists. There is no way Sokka would believe that with so many Fire Nation skeletons laying around the temple. He knows a battle when he sees one. 

However bloody that battle must have been, it had to have been worse enough that the airbenders broke their vows of pacifism, but in the end it was all for naught anyway.

‘Maybe if they had fought from the start things would have been different.’ He thinks to himself, but that is something he most likely will never find the answer to.

And to be honest, Sokka couldn't get away from that temple sooner, especially after Aang flooded the area with even more spirit energy than it had in the first place.

The mere thought of stepping back into that room filled with the statues of the previous avatars makes his inner organs squirm and quiver, feeling his flesh harden for a bit before softening again.

The boy just wishes they could have left that annoying winged lemur back there too, but noooo, the airbender just had to bring it with them, because it isn't complicated enough to have two members in their group who don't want to eat meat.

At least it doesn't try bothering Sokka directly since it's terrified to approach him, but that doesn't make it any less loud when it runs around the area while seemingly trying to annoy every single other living creature in the area.

But Sokka’s annoyed demeanor soon changes as he spots a small bit of movement under the waves, more aggressive and calculated than the big dump fish.

The spirit boy lets the side of his head facing away from Katara to shift into its true form, several of his eye like orbs sprouting all over the now deep red flesh to help get a better look, allowing him to spot the dark shadow swimming in the distance.

“Aang! Get away from there! There is something under the water!” He shouts loudly, far louder than it should be possible for a boy his age, but this is a special situation. He can't waste any time even if it's a bit suspicious.

Aang gives them a curious look before suddenly one of the giant fish is pulled under the water by a pair of giant jaws, the kid’s face instantly filling with fear, letting go of the fin to run to the coast, sprinting over the surface of the water as if it was solid ground.

It's an impressive trick, but all in all not that useful since the boy can already fly. As long as he has his staff at least. But despite that Aang leaves it lying around so often it makes his weakness without it only so much more obvious.

It didn't take long till Sokka had realized that the airbender wasn't nearly as strong as the water tribe boy had expected. Quite the opposite actually. 

The first impressions of Aang using the power of the avatar in emotionally volatile situations seem to be the exception, not the norm Sokka expected at first. It's quite disappointing to be honest, not to mention how embarrassing it is for Sokka to realize he has been terrified of someone who wouldn't be able to kill a single firebender.

‘At least he is good at running.’ Sokka thinks to himself as he sidesteps Aang as he rushes onto the coast, unable to stop at this pace as he manages to escape out of the giant predator's hunting ground.

Katara lets out a worried sound as Aang crashes into a small bush, hurrying over to the boy as Sokka walks closer to the coast where he can still see the giant shadow shift under the surface.

“Keep your hands off what is mine.” He says in a voice so deep he is sure Katara’s and Aang’s ears won't pick up on, but Appa and Momo definitely do by their direction, and so does the animal swimming under the waves, halting for a moment before diving deeper into the silent depth.

Sokka lets out a small growl that sounds like grinding stones before turning to his companions again, his hands dangling beside his body in an attempt to look relaxed.

That is until he suddenly hears a rustling in the treetops above the two benders, which should not be there in the complete absence of wind that is happening right now.

“Kata-” He tries to warn them, but with lightning quick speed a group of green and brass blurs rush out of the leaves at great speed, knocking the children to the ground and catching their hands in rope before they can react.

Three of the attackers split off from the others to attack Sokka, the boy producing a handful of bone knives and filing them at the attackers, but they react fast, dodging to the side with enough speed that only one of the knives manages to gaze their flesh, cutting through the soft part of their armor easily and leaving behind a small bloody gash on their arm.

But it doesn't slow any of them down, reaching Sokka and lashing out with their metal fan while aiming at his vitals.

Not that it would actually hurt him that much. He doesn't really have vitals anymore. All of his flesh is equally unimportant to him. As long as there is anything left he will survive.

But if they damage those parts and he just shrugs it off it would make him suspicious.

He grinds his teeth in frustration, both his real ones and ones of his disguise. This would be so much easier if he could just take his real form.

He jabs his bone sword forward to throw the arm of one of the warriors to the side, opening her body up so Sokka can throw out a punch at her stomach.

Sokka can sense their armor giving way to the force of the strike, but he can feel that the enemy fighter anticipated a strong attack, already having started moving with the direction of the strike to lessen the impact.

Still the water tribe boy can hear how it forces the air out of her as he lets out a pained cry as she is thrown backwards, skidding over the ground twice before coming to a halt in the soft ground.

He moves to recover from the motion, attempting to free his feet from the soft sand that makes up the ground, far too malleable to make a good foundation for his weight as one of the warriors attacks again, using the area that would be a blindspot for a human to aim at the back of Sokka’s head.

But he let himself drop to the ground before she could make contact, the weapon rushing right over his head.

The girl lets out a surprised sound as Sokka throws his weapon at her, lifting up her fan to protect her face from the projectile but also obscuring her vision for long enough that Sokka can sweep her legs out from under her, making her stumble to the ground.

As he jumps up from the ground he consciously has to hold himself back from shifting his limbs into their true appearance. Fighting like this makes it hard to keep up his disguise. He will have to work on that.

He pulls back his hand, producing another bone weapon to take out the fallen opponent when a fan flies by his face, accompanied by a loud shout.

“Stop or your friends will get it!” The warrior who seems to be the leader calls out, holding one of her blades at Katara’s and Aang’s throats each, bags pulled over the children's faces to obscure their vision, their bodies held in place by more fighters.

Sokka lets out a small curse but drops his weapon. Fighting like this won't have any use if they inflict permanent injury on the avatar, and judging how they did not instantly take out Aang and Katara they seem to be intent on capture for now.

Which means Sokka can break them out later on when the warriors aren't as attentive. Especially if they think binding Sokka in the same way as they did with the others would be enough.

He lets the enemies push him to the ground, allowing them to grab and bind his hands behind his back with some admittedly very sturdy rope, pulling a sack over his face before using even more shackles to secure his limbs, this time iron chains.

‘That's definitely more restraints than the others got. Good decision, but still not enough.’ But he can't really judge them. It would be enough to keep most people contained.

The water tribe boy lets himself get pushed forward, the warriors leading the trio separated from each other, using an unusual route as they transport them. Either they are trying to confuse which way they are going or they have traps laid out in the area.

Not that that will actually confuse Sokka, the spirit boy just growing some extra patches of eyes on his skin.

Well, not really eyes, just patches of light sensitive skin that can gather enough information to create a black-white image in his mind while not being visible as more than a slight patch of discolored skin.

The warriors lead the trio plus Appa and Momo up a surprisingly well hidden mountain path till Sokka eventually hears the sound of a bustling village in the distance, secured by the natural walls surrounding it. 

For some reason the warriors that captured them seem to believe Appa is just a dumb animal, just leading him by his reins, with might turn out useful later on if they need to make a quick escape.

As the trio is pushed through the village gate people watch them with all kinds of emotions ranging from fear to interest, the latter mostly coming from the children.

They are tied to a giant wooden pole, what feels like the entire population of the village gathering, some watching from a distance as if that would save them if Sokka would attack them.

Getting this close to what they believe to be an enemy without any way to defend themselves is nothing but foolish and pathetic. Even if they have this much confidence in this group that has captured the trio there is only so much they can do.

The warriors reach out to them and pull the bags off their heads, the one doing it for Sokka tensing as soon as she sees the look in his eyes up close.

She manages to suppress her body from flinching, but expression still gives her away.

‘Good instincts.’ Usually only veterans and animals pick up on it that fast. Thankfully someone subconsciously noticing something is out of place isn't enough to actually bust his cover. He just has to be more careful than usual.

‘And it makes things less boring.’ He says, feeling the teeth in his stomach squirming. He prefers a good hunt, but now and then this has its own allure. 

“So, what are Fire Nation rats like you doing here? What are you trying to achieve this time? Trying to scout out our defenses again?” The leader of the group that pulled off Sokka's bag says, giving the trio a disgusted look.

“Do we look like Fire Nation to you?” Sokka asks, pointing his head towards his very obvious water tribe clothing.

“It's not like they would send out scouts in bright red armor if they just want to gather information.” She says with a scoff.

The water tribe would very much like to deny that, because he is pretty sure they did not take off their red black metal armors even when they searched through the snowy poles, but he can't exactly say that out loud without admitting to Katara that there have been a number of Fire Nation soldiers in the south.

Thankfully Sokka isn't forced to continue his attempt in convincing them that they aren't Fire Nation as Katara and Aang take over the talking. Which is good since Sokka doesn't know how long he would be able to patiently sit there while a weak human thinks they have him captured and talk down on him. 

In the end it's Aang who solves the problem, revealing himself as an airbender and most importantly the avatar. (Well, claims to be the avatar and the people believe him since he can't consciously bend any elements except air yet.)

Sokka stands back as the people now known as the Kyoshi warriors keep apologizing to Aang for attacking him. The boy is of course not angry at them, but they still give them housing and food.

It doesn't include any meat to fit the avatar’s preferences, so it's near useless to Sokka. His body can't work with anything except flesh, but since he only needs to eat food to grow or recover his body size, not to sustain his life, it's not that much of a problem.

“So, when do you plan to leave?” Sokka asks as Aang digs into the various meals the villagers prepared, a dumb smile on his face.

“Well, since the people are so nice to us I was thinking about staying a while.” He says while looking out the window down to a group of little girls that cheer as soon as they see the airbender.

Sokka makes his face form into a frown, something he usually doesn't bother to do since by now no one in his tribe expects him to show many emotions, but this time feels more than appropriate.

“We can't waste any time here. The Fire Nation is only getting stronger by the day. If we don't act now we might not have a chance anymore once the ship we encountered actually informs the main army that the avatar has returned.” Sokka tells him with a frown.

“Don't be so tense. It will be okay. We can just relax for a while. This place is very nice after all!” He says with a smile, taking another bite of the pastries, turning back to the window where the loud girls are again.

The water tribe boy turns to his sister while Aang is distracted. “Please take care of this. I doubt he would listen to me.”

Katara gives him a small nod, a determined expression on her face. “We can't waste any time or that weird angry ponytail guy might catch up to us. He didn't seem like the type to just give up.”

Sokka nods in agreement, the shrieks of the girls outside after Aang waved to them making the spirit boy cringe. His sensitive hearing organs aren't built for this. “Please take care of it. I don't think I can endure this much longer. I will go rest in the forest to get a moment of quiet.”

She gives him a sympathetic look as he begins to walk out of the door. “Don't worry, I will take care of it. Once I’m finished I will call you.” Another shriek from outside interrupts her as Aang jumps out of the window, down to the cloud. “But I worry it might take a while.”

Her brother gives her a small nod, the two taking the stairs out of the building where they take separate ways.

The moment Sokka steps out of the door he can instantly feel a pair of eyes on his back, but not from the girls standing in front of the house, but from the shadows between the houses. ‘Probably one of the warriors. It feels like their leader.’

He can't exactly judge her for being suspicious when her worry is reasonable.

‘Well, as long as she is quiet.’ The spirit boy thinks to himself, dropping down in the shadow of a tree, away from the sunlight, crossing his legs into a position that makes him appear as if meditating.

‘If I just do nothing she might go away.’ He tells himself sitting completely motionless, except for his fake breathing moment of course. Can't forget those. Not again. Katara thought he died in his sleep once.

Still, the spirit boy can feel her eyes on him for maybe an hour until she finally walks away, listening to her steps until he thinks she is back at the village.

“That took far too long. Now go have some fun.” He says as his face collapsed into a mass of red drippy flesh, finally able to drop his facade for the first time in two days now, stretching out his tendrils into the area where they let out the cracking sounds of stiff joints.

‘I already know this is going to be annoying in the future.’ Especially when he isn't able to wear thick clothing anymore because of the rising temperatures.

Usually he could just let his control over his parts hidden by fabric slip a bit, but that will have to stop in the future. 

Sokka stretches out thin tendril into the air, letting them rest in the air until he picks up on the sounds of an animal’s steps, the four hooved feet calmly walking over the forest floor not far from him.

He swallows his clothes into his body as he feels his flesh expand, growing till he is about to reach the lower branches of the trees, even if could grow a bit more. He can't exactly expand to full size without ripping a path of destruction through the forest.

‘Hunting in the water is easier, There no one can track you by left behind destruction.’ He says, looking down to the ground before shrinking a bit again. At this size it's hard to not leave a trail.

‘Well, a more mobile form is also fun anyway.’ Even if he prefers the destruction.

With lighting quick speed his tendril shoot out to the trees in front of him, pulling up his body as he catapults himself through the foliage as a red blur, constantly grabbing more branches as he moves forward so he never drops down to the ground.

The animal he has targeted doesn't even have time to respond, the bunny deer freezing up and shock for just a moment too long, a harpoon-like tendril flying through the trees and lodging itself in the animal’s leg.

The horned creature lets out a cry of pain, trying to run away but spikes on the tentacle are buried deep, ripping apart flesh and muscles as Sokka drags the animal in, his body opening up into a hole filled with rows of sharp teeth.

The animal lets out one last distressed sound before it is swallowed whole, only a loud crush going through the woods until silence takes its place.

‘A herbivore… That's boring. Let's search for something else.’ Sokka says, stretching out his senses again, this time looking out for steps that are too calculated to be prey. A real fighter.

His mind flashes back to his confrontation With that last Fire Nation ship.

Following Carrion’s advice he had focused on the old man that seems to be a higher up, trying to find out what about him made Sokka feel like the firebender was looking right through all of his deception without even trying.

The answer didn't take long, because this time the area wasn't polluted with Aang’s spirit energy as much because the boy was still exhausted from going into the avatar state. If the kid wasn't around the first time Sokka would have easily managed to see the spirit energy the man holds in his body.

According to Carrion he most likely entered the spirit world at some times, but even the giant  flesh monster wasn't certain about the specifics.

As Sokka searches for good prey he moves farther and farther from the village until he eventually reaches the edge of the island, and despite searching for hours he still hasn't found a good target.

Of course he found a handful of small predators, but nothing that comes even close to the sea lion crabs back at home, so he just ignored them, but at this point he is starting to believe that there truly aren't any big predators on this island.

‘Or they are hibernating. I don't really know how the animals around here work after all.’ Maybe he should have asked the warriors, but he really has no interest in interacting with people more than he is already forced to.

‘Maybe I can hunt in the water.’ He doesn't want to kill the Unagi since it works as a natural wall for the village (and he doesn't want to create more enemies for the water tribe by killing it) but where there is one such hunter there are others too.

He pushes himself towards the water and dives into the deep, fully submerged in the waves when he lets his hearing tendril web out.

But the moment he does all his senses instantly sharpen.

He hasn't been able to hear it, but thanks to the distance that sound travels in water he can now hear the hum of the Fire Nation ship engines he is so familiar with. Well, not exactly the same pitch, a bit higher, which means it's probably that smaller ship the angry ponytail guy is on.

The spirit boy jumps out of the water instantly, towards the treeline as fast as he can, ripping branches of the trees as he pulls himself through the foliage in a straight line towards the village, no longer caring for any trail he leaves behind, when he sees something fly high over the with the dozens of eye spots covering his body.

He halts and climbs up the trunk of one, stilling under the leaves as he spots Appa fly so high he is almost dipping into the clouds, obviously running from the cloud of smoke coming from the direction of the village.

Sokka shifts back into his human disguise as fast as possible, pulling air into his fake lugs and calls out to them far louder than it should be possible.

“Katara! Aang! I’m down here!” But even if it's loud enough that the branches beside him shiver at the intensity of his voice, the two benders on Appa’s back don't seem to hear him, making no sign of stopping as they disappear into a thick layer of clouds, leaving Sokka behind on the ground.

Chapter Text

Zuko rides on his komodo rhino with a frustrated expression on his face, already feeling the bruises from the fight form all over his body as the water the unagi spit to extinguish the burning village seeps deeper and deeper into his clothes, making them cold and sticky.

To be honest, he is not that surprised that Avatar got away, not that he would ever admit that.

It's hard to catch an airbender, so at this point the prince has resigned himself to make it an endurance hunt till that bison is too tired to fly away. He just hopes that happens before the main army finds out about all this and captures the avatar first.

‘Or maybe I will get the jump on them, but that is going to be hard as long as they find shelter in villages like this one.’

“Get back to the ship! We can't waste any time!” Zuko shouts to the other soldiers, the men trying their best to let out a ‘Yes sir.’ despite the obvious exhaustion and forming injuries. The warriors really did a number on them.

Zuko turns his face away from his men, his expression turning into a deep frown.

He has greatly underestimated the Kyoshi warriors, despite all the rumors he has heard about them. When he found out that they are non-benders he just dismissed them completely.

‘I should really have known better. Mai would kill me for being this dismissive of non-benders.’

As they ride down the mountain path Zuko can already see the small plume of smoke coming from his ship, having left the motor running in case that avatar managed to escape again. After his life he just started planning for the worst.

(His uncle would probably complain loudly if Zuko called his actions planned. But having a vague idea of possible follow up actions is having a plan. To some people at least.)

As they make their way through the vegetation Zuko suddenly hears a loud crack of wood to his side, and without having to think about it he throws a fireball at the source.

The bush goes up in bright flames as a small panicked cry erupts from behind the flames, a blur of blue rushing out of the hiding place.

“Y-You are-” The water tribe boy stutters, his voice filled with fear in his voice, stumbling over his own legs as his shocked eyes focus n on Zuko.

And the banished prince recognizes that face, having seen him fly away with the avatar during their fight on the boat.

‘They must have left him behind in their panicked escape.’ Zuko concludes, spurring his komodo rhino forward, circling around the young warrior to cut him off from escaping into the thick vegetation again.

“Capture him! Keep deadly attacks to a minimum!” He shouts to his soldiers, trying to capture his future bait for the avatar, because even if Zuko has only seen the airbender once, he is pretty sure that he will immediately run to his friend's help if it can save their life.

The water tribe boy scrambles to stand up from the ground, throwing a bone knife at Zuko, but it is slow enough that the prince easily blocks it with his armor, the weapon flying into one of the bushes. 

Before the water tribe boy can do anything else the soldiers throw the nets at him that they had brought for the avatar, sturdy enough that it should hold down even a capable bender.

Zuko watches with a satisfied expression as the boy is entangled in their weapon, falling to the ground with a small groan. “Load him on one of the rhinos and throw him into a cell as soon as we reach the ship. And if you let him escape like the avatar the last time there will be consequences!” He threatens.

The soldiers nod in fear, but somehow can't shake the feeling that they are doing something wrong right now, but with the angry pains right in front of them they decide it's better to just follow the order for now.

As they load their new captive onto their rides he gives the men angry looks while letting out some curses, but Zuko mostly ignores his words. He has to plan the chase of the avatar after all.

‘We should have enough fuel and supplies to keep the ship running for a while longer since we just resupplied, and as long as the avatar doesn't travel inland immediately we should be able to keep up with him.’

It doesn't take long till they reach the ship again, the prince dismounting his komodo rhino and letting it lead off by one of the soldiers to their stables down deck again.

Zuko turns to his captive, a deep cowl on his face as he grabs him by his collar. “You will tell me exactly where the avatar is going.”

“I will tell you nothing.” the water tribe boy spits out angrily, Zuko just letting out a small huff as he drops the boy again.

“Oh, I’m sure you'll rethink that soon.” The firebender says, turning around to go to the watchtower, ordering to get the boat moving again, not seeing how all the emotions on Sokka’s face disappear instantly, turning so passive it seems almost doll-like.

But Iroh watching from the other side of the deck does not.

_____________

Iroh walks through the hallways in the deepest bowl of the ship, the lights somehow appearing dimmer than he remembered them to be, holding his inner flames ready in case of an attack as he reaches the cells.

The heavy metal opens with a loud creak, its weight and old age making it barely able to move, though he doubts it will be able to contain this certain prisoner.

Iroh doesn't even bother closing it, knowing it won't make a difference either way, as he walks up to the newly filled cell, his eyes focusing on the body of the boy sitting in the corner, somehow melting in with the shadows despite every other part of the room being bright enough.

The chains around his wrists clatter a bit as he looks up to the old man, his iris somehow glinting red in the dark.

“I will cut straight to the point. What do you want? I know you let yourself be captured.” He asks the disguised spirit, doing his best to appear confident.

A smile appears on the water tribe boy’s face, a bit too wide to be natural. “I have been a bit too obvious, haven't I? But it seems that your crew members aren't as bright as you. But first, what should I call you?”

“Ahr, right, where are my manners? You may call me Iroh.” He says. Giving a spirit his name has its risks, but it's better to not anger the supposed prisoner right now.

Nothing on the boy’s face changes, still as emotionless as a mask, but somehow Iroh’s instincts tell him the boy recognizes the name, and the old man suddenly feels something in the back of his mind that reminds of the sound of a swarm of centipedes.

“Ah, the admiral. You can call me Sokka. That makes things easier.” He says. “As for your question, right now I just want to catch up to my companions, so I’m not looking for a fight yet.”

The ‘yet’ is far more foreboding than the old firebender would like. “Is there something I can give in exchange for you agreeing not to kill or maim the crew of this ship?”

The spirit falls silent for a moment, except for the deep sound echoing from his body, like cracks hidden under deep water, and Iroh gets the distinct feeling the boy doesn't know how to respond to that, an air of uncertainty around him.

‘Maybe he is a young spirit. He is powerful, but raw power isn’t always likened to age.’

After a while Sokka nods. "Within reason. If I can avoid it I will do my best to not kill the crew of this ship, but I can't guarantee it if I ever am in a situation where they are an active danger to the lives of my companions.”

“That's agreeable.” Iroh says. To be honest, he wasn't sure if the boy would even consider it in the first place. One can never know with spirits.

“And my conditions for this will be that you will make your crew handle confrontations with my companions the same way.”

“Of course. If that is all, you have a deal.” He says, to the relief of the old firebender. Whatever this spirit wants, it's along the general lines that Iroh planned. 

‘This actually might create a good situation. Once we get This boy back to the avatar he will have a powerful bodyguard that isn't as much of a danger to us as the average mercenary is.’ Because whatever the deal, spirits will always try their best to follow it.

It's in their nature.

“So, how long do you plan on pretending to be captured?”

The boy’s form shifts a bit, losing some of his more human attributes, seemingly no longer bothering so much with his appearance around Iroh anymore, an aura flowing out of him that makes Iroh feel like he is submerged into freezing water.

“I think you noticed that I would prefer my companions are not aware of my situation, so I will be tagging along till you catch up to them. It probably won't take long till you do. And then I will just break out and join them again.”

Iroh gives him a small nod. “If you need some support in breaking out without hurting people, just call for me. I will make sure no one comes into your way.” The old general tells the terrifying force of nature in front of him that contently sits in the corner of the cell.

“Don't worry, I can be sneaky if necessary.” Sokka says, and with a bit of dread Iroh realizes he means it. 

To be honest, it's probably a good thing this spirit boy is intent on supporting that avatar, considering how dangerous the Fire Nation army has become over the recent years.

‘The young avatar will need all the protection he can get till he learns how to use his power.’

Iroh has already sent out a number of letters to the other white lotus members which are no doubt spread even further by the minute. It will take a while till the order is prepared, but now the members will be aware of what to look out for.

But with every second Iroh stays in the room his skin somehow feels more itchy, but not physically, just like a feeling echoing from inside his body, and he has the feeling that it won't go away by ignoring it.

“Unless you have anything else to discuss, I would like to go to my nephew and make sure he doesn't cause any more trouble, though I doubt he will surpass inviting a spirit into our ship.” 

Sokka lets out a small gurgling sound that almost sounds amused, by this point barely holding up any humanoid form at all.

“I don't have anything else I need to discuss. And you better go before your nephew sets someone on fire that isn't himself. He seemed to have quite a burning disposition.”

Under any other circumstances Iroh would have found that funny. “You are probably right. Well, then I will take my leave now.”

Sokka doesn't give him an answer, the only sound accompanying Iroh out of the prison area being the dripping of the pipes and that weird scratchy sound in the back of his mind.

Chapter Text

It takes Zuko until the noon of the next day till he finds the time to question the prisoner himself, the work on the ship he had to take care of personally somehow piling up as if to prevent him from the interrogation.

First it's planning the route to follow the avatar, then managing provisions, even a letter from the main base that demanded a report form him, and after that training with uncle Iroh that he feels like took longer than Zuko is used to.

Maybe his uncle is finally acknowledging the situation with the avatar as a big enough risk to finally teach him some of the more dangerous firebending moves that he had been avoiding until now.

At first this day started off the same, some of the crew reporting having heard weird scratching sounds from inside the walls during the night, so they might have accidentally picked up some snake mice on Kyoshi island.

(At least that is what he is telling himself. He knows it's not that. Zuko knows the sounds that snake mice make, and it's definitely not that. It certainly wouldn't explain why the crew seem so unreasonably disturbed by the sounds if it was really just that.)

But now there is finally enough time to finally take care of the avatar’s companion.

Iroh already did some basic interrogation and told Zuko about that, so he won't have to start from zero. He knows the captives name and basic goals so the prince can jump right to the important parts.

(Iroh also said that the boy doesn't seem to have much of an idea what his companions are planning to do, but the prince is going to ignore that until he confirms it for himself.)

Zuko passes some tired cremates, complaining about the sounds, but he ignores them.

He has more important things to do, after all.

It doesn't take him long to reach the lower hallways of the ship, the wet and dark walls somehow making the hair on his neck stand as he opens the heavy door to the cells, the loud squeaking of the the old metal covering the constant hum of the motor always audible in the ship.

Its dead quiet when he enters, only a single light illuminating the room, the small flame flickering lightly as it cast long shadows over the room, and for a moment Zuko thinks that somehow the water tribe boy escaped just like the avatar did, but when he rounds the corner he can see the captive sitting by the bars, an angry look at his face as he stares at Zuko.

Zuko crosses his arms, looking down on the sitting water tribe boy with what he hopes is an intimidating enough expression. He never really has done a proper interrogation before, so he is going in pretty blind here.

The only stuff he has to go by is some lessons and how Azula usually handled people, but the latter is just … no.

“Prisoner, tell me everything you know about the avatar or you will regret it.” Zuko demands, but the angry and defiant expression of his captive doesn't change.

“You Fire Nation scum aren't going to get anything out of me.” the boy (Sokka, Zuko reminds himself) says, moving a bit further into the cell, away from the banished prince.

“That was not a request.” Zuko says, making his hand ignite in a bright flame that is almost blinding compared to the rest of the room, flicking it at Sokka's feet, the boy jumping backwards against the wall to avoid it.

The flame burns out as it hits the metal floor, still leaving behind a small plume of smoke where it extinguished, but with its light fading so does the confident expression of the water tribe boy. 

“It is your choice, either answer or you wont get another chance.” Zuko threatens, even if he is pretty sure that he won't actually be able to go through with it.

The smell of burned flesh still makes him sick, the image even more so, and in such a cramped room it would be even worse for Zuko. 

It's different in combat where his life is actively on the line, but in his own ship against a defenseless prisoner? That goes too far. He would never be able to do something like that.

(In his mind a picture of his disappointed father appears, but he pushes it back into a distant corner where it won't bother him. Now is not the time for this.)

The boy’s expression turns into a snarl. "It's not like I know much anyway. The avatar was saying something about going to Omashu and then making our way to the Northern Water Tribe, but before that ever happened he decided to stay on Kyoshi Island for a while on a whim.” He says with an annoyed expression, but at the same time it somehow looks like an emotionless mask.

“So if he will actually go there, who knows. He could be on his way into the center of the Fire Nation for all I know.” Sokka tells him angrily, looking just one step away from banging his head into the wall.

That … was not the reaction Zuko was expecting.

The prince’s serious expression slips for a moment, just staring at his captive in pure surprise before he hastily returns to his angry expression, hoping the other boy did not see it.

“That- That doesn't change anything. Just tell me what you know.”

Sokka just huffs, his face turning more emotionless, but somehow it feels more real to Zuko than the expression before. Not that he can explain it.

“What do you even want to know? I just met that kid less than a week ago and he has only caused problems since then.” Sokka says, limply leaning against the wall, staring at Zuko without turning his head, almost as if looking right through him, and when his voice comes out next, it somehow feels ... deeper than before. “I hope he is worth the work.”

Suddenly a cold shower runs down the prince’s back again, and he can barely suppress the instinctive urge to take a step back.

“I will come back for more information later.” Zuko says hastily as a very strong feeling comes over that tells him to leave. Right now. So he does, doing his best to make it look calm and confident, but he has a feeling it doesn't work.

He slams the heavy door shut behind him, feeling how it rattles the ground under his feet.

Maybe he should have agreed to his uncle’s offer to accompany him.

_____________

Zuko is frowning at the map in front of him, small clouds of steam escaping his mouth as his uncle calmly drinks tea beside him.

If the avatar really went to Omashu, they wouldn't be able to catch him there. The city might be close to the territory already taken over by the Fire Nation, but it is heavily fortified and has resisted many invasion attempts up till this point.

There is of course a chance that it could be taken over if Zuko informs the rest of the army of the avatar, but that is out of the question. If someone else were to catch the avatar, Zuko’s chance of returning home would disappear with it.

‘But that water tribe boy said his goal for now is the Northern Water Tribe. If I can't catch him now, I will intercept them the moment they leave Omashu.’

It should be relatively easy to do since the area north of Omashu is mostly under control of the Fire Nation, and the avatar won't escape Zuko another time. 

Well, that is as long as the prince’s captive is telling the truth.

The Water Tribe prisoner has been … Well, he gave a total of one useful piece of information and hasn't caused trouble yet, but something tells Zuko that there is just something .. wrong with him.

Maybe he is hiding something? Yeah, that has to be it. He is bound to know more than he is letting out and only gave out the piece of information to lead Zuko off track.

And the firebender can't let it sit like this. He hasn't interrogated Sokka (Zuko should just be using his name. It's faster) since the first time, though Iroh was down in the prison one more time.

The prince stands up from his chair, turning towards the door, only for his shoulder to bump into the armor of one of the crewmembers.

Zuko is about to let out an angry shout at the man when he sees who he collided with, only to swallow his words once he sees Jee’s tired face look back at him.

The crew has had problems sleeping over the last days, complaining about nightmares and sounds oozing out from the cracks between the old metal walls.

And Zuko has heard it himself, in the depth of the night, like thousands of legs scuttling inside his head, or like the cracking of old bones. Or it could have just been his imagination. Thinking back to it he can't distinguish if it was reality or just a nightmare.

The sound hasn't been there every night, but even hearing it once made him worried about sleeping the next night.

He hasn't even been complaining when his soldiers have been using more lamp oil over the last days to keep the hallways of the ship brighter than they usually are.

… Maybe he should patrol the ship one more time before he goes to the prisoner. He can't shake the feeling something is wrong, and considering his uncle doesn't complain about it the old master must be feeling it too.

Maybe if he asks Iroh about it he won't be speaking in riddles for once.

Chapter Text

“We will be moving towards the Northern Water Tribe now, hugging the coast so we can get enough supplies from the bases and gather some more information about the avatar. And I don't think I have to remind you, do not mention the avatar’s return to any other soldiers outside of our crew!” Zuko finishes with a shout, his listening crew giving him words of agreement with varying levels of enthusiasm.

What they don't notice, stationed on the deck like this, is the small, pale, barely visible splotch of rusty black substance peeking out between the gap of two metal plates on the watchtower.

Well, anyone but Iroh, who can see the spiritual energy radiated by what others would probably just assume to be some algae or lichen that are common on an old ship like this.

Sokka is quite impressed with the old general’s capabilities, always keeping an eye on the old man as the prince gives his speech, his fangs and claws ready to strike back in case the firebender attacks.

‘He really is dangerous. Till now I haven't seen a single person who could consistently spot me like this. I have to avoid angering him or he might actually be able to take me out if I’m unlucky.’

The spirit boy is still confident he could drag the firebending master down to the grave with him, but his own life takes priority over taking out a single strong enemy. Especially one that doesn't seem that interested in supporting the Fire Nation in the war.

It has been a while now since he was split off from his two companions, and maybe he should worry more about his sister and Aang, but no matter how childish the airbender is he is still the avatar, and seems to be very intent to protect Katara.

Besides, he would have heard if anything had happened to the two, and right now the goal seems to be capturing the avatar anyway, since killing him would just cause him to be reborn.

And the time Sokka spent on this ship was well worth it.

Over the last days he managed to squeeze his tendrils through the walls of the ship, growing through the cracks in the metal platings like roots or rather mycelium, leaving nothing outside his range of senses.

Actually studying the Fire Nation soldiers while they are alive certainly gives him more information about them than just reading their documents after Sokka has massacred them.

Though he is starting to suspect this might not be a good example for what a usual Fire Nation crew is supposed to be. From the conversion of the soldiers Sokka has gathered the situation around the prince, and the crew of outcasts that was essentially banished with him.

Someone having been banished from his own country usually doesn't bode well for them being a good person, but since he was banished from the Fire Nation, it might be different. Admittedly, Sokka isn't sure of that. Most of that idea comes from how the prince acted during the interrogation.

The firebender might have made a tough impression, but Sokka could smell his emotions no matter how much he tried to hide behind that angry scowl of his.

The spirit retracts the small growth on the wall back into the cracks, feeling his damp skin slither over the cold metal, growing and shrinking as they all return into his main body back in the cell.

Spreading out his body like this is quite tiring, all the information flooding into his mind ending up too much after a while. He has been getting better at it, but it's far from enough in his opinion.

‘But I have been on this ship for quite a while now. Maybe it's better if I just escaped and joined up with the other two even if I don't have a good explanation of how.’

He doesn't want to be separated for too long, and Sokka has gotten enough information out of this. Besides, he is itching for some blood. He can already feel his claws materialize from the pure thought, following sounds of the humans on the ship sounding more and more alluring by the day to just snuff out once and for all.

He can almost hear the blood flow in their veins, just waiting for one small cut to flow out and stain the ground in a brilliant red.

But he made a deal with the old general, and he plans to keep it. 

‘I guess I will break out tonight then. It seems they have planned to make a stop at a prison island not far off the coast.’

Judging from the maps it's not that far from the mainland, even close enough for a human to swim. … Probably. It's not that far after all, right?

Or at least that is what he plans on doing, until he feels sun begins to fall on the horizon, the former human somehow knowing its path despite not having a window in the small cell.

From the other side of the ship Sokka can recognize the familiar steps of the prince, angry with an unsure undertone just like the spirit knows him, making his way down the stairway that Sokka knows leads to his cell.

But this time there also is a distinct new energy in his step, and when the prince eventually reaches Sokka’s cell, throwing it open with refreshed vigor and a fire burning in his eyes, Sokka knows what's going on. A hunter having picked up a fresh trail.

“You! Water tribe! This belongs to your sister, right?!” Zuko demands loudly, holding out a very familiar betrothal necklace out in front of his face.

Even without seeing it Sokka would know that it belongs to his sister, the smell being more than enough to identify it, but since it doesn't smell of blood or burned flesh he isn't worried for her safety. Honestly, it was only a question of time till she lost it in battle.

“Yeah, it  belongs to my sister! How did you get it?!” Sokka demands loudly, trying his best to sound convincing.

“You don't need to know that.” Zuko says, looking down at the prisoner, putting it into his pocket to hide it from view.

To be honest, Sokka is not going to miss it. That thing has to be a hazard during battles and doesn't even have the usual benefits like keeping warm that hair usually has. Though Katara isn't going to be happy about it.

Anyway, the prince is quick to slam shut the door behind him, running up to up to the control tower of the ship, a new, happy energy in his steps. It seems like he has something in mind for how to use it.

But by now, the sun has begun to set under the horizon, the spirit feeling its warm energy remaining in the world slowly dissipating, and with it will go the wakefulness of the firebenders.

They have always been weaker once the source of their power is gone, almost to the point that hunting them like that became boring. But well, the way their blood spills when you cut them apart is always just as enjoyable.

As the familiar energy of the moon begins to fill the air, the steps of people walking around the ship slowly become less and less, sounds quieting down till Sokka can hear barely any voices echoing through the metal walls of the ship.

That means it's time.

Sokka lets his body shift into its true form, the shackles around his wrists falling to the ground with a loud clunk.

The spirit still makes sure to unlock them afterwards to make it look like he picked the lock, doing the same to the cell door by letting his skin flow into the keyholes to form a key out of hardened flesh.

The fleshy mass slithers out of the room, though the only audible sound is the creaking of the old metal door leading out into the hallway, spreading out over the metal floor as he creates some more sensitive patches of flesh.

He sits there in silence for a moment, sensing all the vibration through the metal ground, focusing on the pulses reaching his body till he can feel every living being on the ship, from their voices down to their heartbeats.

And then the spirit begins to move.

Reaching out with his tendrils towards the ceiling, lodging the claws at their tips into the small crevices between the metal plating, he pulls himself into the air, flying through the hallways without ever touching the ground.

He rushes through the shadows of the ceiling where people are least likely to look, taking turn after turn to avoid where he senses soldiers to be, till eventually he comes to a halt in front of one of the heavy metal doors.

The flesh his body is made of retracts into a humanoid shape, swirling and squelching as it slowly takes on a paler color around the face, while the body turns the familiar black of a Fire Nation armor.

It's not perfect, far from it actually, Sokka lacking training for this particular form, but if one didn't take a proper look it appears similar enough to Lieutenant Jee. Even half asleep the prince would recognize it if someone were to imitate his uncle, after all. People tend to be weirdly perceptive with that. Sokka learned that the hard way when he tried to infiltrate a Fire Nation ship by replacing their captain he just killed.

Still, through the door Sokka can hear the steady heartbeat of the prince, strong but oh so easily snuffed out, so it should be safe to act.

He pushes the door open as quietly as he can, barely causing any sound as he steps inside, since despite how they look right now, his soles aren't actually made from metal, slowly walking up to the sleeping firebender with the only sound being the hum of the ship’s engine.

Sokka looks down on the sleeping royal, grasps out with his palm, reaching towards the prince’s throat as some claws sprout from it, but before he makes contact he pulls back.

Zuko might turn out to be a problem in the future, but Sokka has made a deal. Maybe he shouldn't have agreed to the old general’s proposition this easily. Well, he knows for next time.

The spirit sprouts dozens of pairs of eyes all over his body, the black orbs observing the room and soon finding Katara’s necklace on the table, taking the memento into his hand and absorbing it into his flesh where it will be the safest.

With one last look back Sokka steps out of the room, making his way towards the deck, still avoiding people just to make sure.

As he steps out towards the open night sky he can spot a handful of people keeping guard, but they don't have their attention pointed towards him, so he just slips back into his true form and silently slips down the hull, the sound of him entering the water masked by the waves.

It's a weird feeling to leave a Fire Nation ship with people on it still being alive, especially when the desire for a fight has only been growing over the last days he had been locked up in that cell.

He extends his tendrils into the air, sharpening his senses as he tries to pick up on smells in the wind, trying to find anything that could belong to his sister. It doesn't take him long till he finds something that could possibly belong to her, leading back towards the coast, so he makes it his first goal.

Trails of scent will be easier to follow once the ground stops being liquid.

As the boy darts through the water, propelling him with many dozens of tendrils, he can feel the many claws of his inside quiver with yearning, letting out dampened cracking sounds the pulse in the water.

‘Hm… Hopefully I will find a Fire Nation patrol before I catch up with Aang and Katara.’

Chapter Text

Katara lets her eyes sway over the burned forest in front of her, if you can even call it that anymore.

After the Fire Nation’s actions it is nothing more than a dessert of ash, the wind sending clouds of black dust high into the sky, creating black clouds that now travel over the empty plains that once were full of life.

It will grow back eventually, she told Aang as much herself, but that doesn't make the current situation of the forest less sad and entry, not so similar to how she is feeling right now.

As much as she would never admit it to him, she does miss her brother.

Don't get her wrong, it was normal for her to not see her brother for multiple days, him always being out hunting to supply the tribe on his own, taking up most of the time he had, but at that time he was always out in the icefields she knows he could handle, not who knows where on Kyoshi island.

Well, Suki will probably help him out. She seems like the type to know what to do in this kind of situation.

But this is the first time she was separated from every single of her family members or tribes members for such a long time.

She shakes her head to get the thought out of her head, refocusing on the old man currently leading them back to their village, Aang enthusiastically talking to the old man who tries his best to keep up with the avatar’s enthusiasm.

Though Katara can't help but feel like there is more to it. The man might be from the Earth Kingdom, but there is a glint in his eyes that betrays his supposed innocence, inviting them to his village.

Of course the waterbender tried to tell her companion that, but the ever trusting boy just brushed her off, leaving her to prepare in case her suspicion is proven right. Because what can she do? Say no to the avatar?

Making their way through the desert of ash doesn't take long, and while it isn't that different from walking through snow, the unbearable heat from the direct sun is making her all sweaty in a way that makes her feel miserable to the core.

She already can't wait till they will get closer to the North Pole, but between her and that beautiful cold is still a wide stretch of far too hot continent.

‘At least I will get some shade in the village.’ 

Still, the quiet kind of reminds her of her home. There isn't any deep cracking of the icebergs here, but the way the wind howls around the ash and makes it skitter over the ground doesn't sound that different, and there are no animals around for once that could break the silence. 

Well, if you ignore Appa and Momo of course.

It was quite a change for her once they started exploring with Aang to see not only all the people but also all the animals and plants. They barely have any existing villages left on the south pole, and even the animals are very scarce.

Her grandma said that it didn't always used to be like that, at least not to this point. At first many disappeared when the Fire Nation attacked with their giant ships, and the rest started thinning out even more sometime after the warriors left.

Katara never missed it, not remembering any time before it, but after seeing how it is in other places of the world, she doesn't know if she could go back to how things used to be. 

While she lets her thoughts sway they eventually enter an unburned part of the forest, even if the plants around the edge don’t look like they had the best of times, their branches still charred or their leaves dead from the heat.

The village is not what Katara expected once they finally reach it, to say the least.

She always says her brother is too careful and suspicious of everyone and everything, but right now she would have appreciated to have another member of their small group on that side because no normal village looks like this.

Multiple buildings are destroyed, looking as if crushed but without any sign of earthbending that could have caused them, no people trying to fix them let alone on the street, the only sign of other life in the village being the pair of eyes that lurks out from the window of the central building.

Katara carefully lowers her hand to her side to make it rest on her waterskin, ready in case of an ambush because Aang definitely won't be, which he really should start because even if he is the avatar he is still a very squishy human, as her brother put it.

Thankfully it turns out that the villagers didn't plan an ambush, but the reality is not much better for her, them instead asking Aang to take care of a raging spirit for them, and to no one's surprise the boy instantly agrees.

Once the villagers have given the two children some distance for supposed preparations Katara instantly levels the airbender with a judgemental look. “What did I say about agreeing to do work for other people just because they asked even halfway kindly?”

Aang looks a bit sheepish, but not nearly enough for how much trouble he has gotten them into. “I’m sorry, but it's my job to help people with their spirit problems, right?”

Katara lets out a sigh. “Yes, you are supposed to help people, but you need to learn how to properly use your powers first.”  Spirits, talking like this makes me sound as boring as my brother.

“I can't just let these people be helpless though. What would they do without my help?”

Katara lets out a small sigh. She really doesn't like doing this, but Aang has to realize eventually, better before things get bad, so she turns to the boy with a serious expression. 

“Aang, you can't help everybody. That's just impossible. Even the great spirits who created the world can't. There will be times where you will have to make concessions on what you can do, and right now, how to help as many people as possible by learning how to control all the elements as soon as possible. Sometimes it's just necessary to cut your losses.” Its a lesson she had to learn the hard way, and she would rather Aang doesn't.

She tries to give him a small smile, but for once Aang actually looks angry at her, the only good part about it being that he doesn't seem to shift into the avatar state this time.

“I’m not going to disappoint these people who are asking for my help.” He tells her with a hard voice before storming away from her, taking out his glider to fly up to one of the roofs and out of her range.

Katara lets him go, even if she has a lot of thighs she would like to say. It would all fall on deaf ears anyway, and she can't really risk Aang deciding he is better off on his own. He would be dead in under a week.

He can't even gather supplies on his own!

She lets her eyes drift to the horizon, seeing the moon slowly rise into the sky.

Oh Tui give her strength.

___________

Sokka turns back as soon as he reaches the edge of the ash desert, taking on a human guise of a random Earth Kingdom citizen that he made as a combination of the people he has seen along the way, his body cracking and shifting as it compresses into itself until the tendril and teeth eventually shift into an acceptable form.

Right now he can't attract too much attention to himself that could reveal his true form to others, and this open plain doesn't exactly give the opportunity to stay hidden, so he will just have to control himself and not make a mess.

Especially if he is stepping into the territory of another spirit, or what's left of it in this case.

Even in this state he can feel the remaining energy circulating in the ground, just brimming with energy just waiting for another chance to be released.

Sokka takes a step forward and feels his foot break into a small hollow hidden under the earth, probably some rabbit snake that died during the flames, letting out an annoyed hiss as his face contours, teeth sprouting from his flesh as his body cracks loudly.

Quickly he retracts the inhuman features into his flesh, taking on a human appearance again.

Closer to the solstice he always has some problems holding himself back from falling into his instinct, the power just swelling in his body to the point that it makes it hard for him to hold back. It makes the hunts more fun, but usually he would retreat from his tribe during that time.

And he even had the chance to let out some steam during the day before to calm down a bit, a group of Fire Nation soldiers offering themselves up as a very good target to release his needs. 

‘Maybe they even were the ones who created this ash dessert.’ He thinks to himself. The camp was definitely fortified enough that they had to have stayed there for a while, after all, unlike earth and water benders they can't just quickly create buildings from nothing even if the conditions are right.

He raises his arm into the air, letting the air run over his skin as it shifts to a darker color.

~Getting closer. Their smell is stronger here. ~ Carrion’s voice, or it can be called that, vibrating deep in his mind.

The spirit also gets more active during the solstice, especially so when it's only the two of them, its emotions flowing over into Sokka like an unstoppable torrent, making what little control he has over them slip even more.

‘Maybe I should search for another group of soldiers before I follow the trail.’ He thinks, already searching for any smells in the air that could lead him to a Fire Nation camp or maybe even a settlement. He isn't picky right now.

He does pick up on something, one of the perfumes that the Fire Nation sometimes uses, or at least a strong smell similar to that. Right now he really doesn't care enough.

The spirit can already feel his insides squirm and he barely berates himself when he turns away from where he knows his sister and Aang to be. He will just catch up to them again once the solstice is finished.

____________

Zuko feels his heart beat in panic as he steers his comodo rhino down the uneven road, not able to keep his worry from his face no matter what his father always told him to do, eyes rushing around for any other clues that could help him track down his uncle.

The prince should have never allowed the old man to get off the ship, especially not right after their prisoner escaped.

He is still berating himself for that. Why did they give the water tribe boy a bit of the stew that included some bones? The savages are known for crafting all their tools out of that! At least that is what he thinks happened seeing as they found some bone shards stuck in the lock.

But his uncle insisted that he needed a calming bath, and with how stressed and tired his uncle was over the last weeks Zuko couldn't say no to him. So they docked on the coast and took a break, crew included, while Zuko scouted out the area.

He planned to pick the old man up on his way back to the ship, but instead he found the hot spring ripped apart by earthbending, immediately riding after the trail leading away from the ambush without stopping once.

Returning to the ship wouldn't have been of use anyway. After the fight in Kyoshi many of the komodo rhinos got hurt, the sharp fans of the warriors cutting deep into the animal’s tough skin in a way that will take long to recover, so the animal Zuko is riding right now is the only one in condition for a long journey at the moment.

Even then his ride is visibly getting tired, not used to long distances like this and only the small bursts of strength during combat.

Zuko looks around the area, making sure that no one is watching before pulling out a small strip of dried flesh, higher quality than what the animals are usually getting.

The komodo rhino instantly grabs it with one bite, happily chewing on it as Zuko pats its head. “I’m sorry, but please keep it up a bit longer. I really need you to.” He whispers, the words flowing so much easier than when he is speaking to another human.

And the animal somehow seems to understand, new vigor fueling its steps as it continues to rush forward down the road again, Zuko tightening his shoulders along with it.

He is not going to let his uncle down.

_____________

‘Maybe I should have listened to Katara.’ Aang thinks as he narrowly dodges another swipe of the spirit, the missing arm squashing another house instead of the airbender it was aimed at.

“Please calm down! I just want to talk!” Aang tries for what feels like the thousandth time, but the only answer he gets from the raging spirit is a wrath filled roar.

Hei Bai used to be a peaceful spirit according to the villagers, but after the forest was burned down it seems to have lost control of itself.

“I can help if you want.” Aang tries to offer. “I’m the avatar. There has to be something I can do!” He calls out, but instantly cringes after he does, because Katara is right, at the moment he really hasn't learned anything about spirits.

If the spirit told Aang how he could help, would he even be able to do what it wants? Right now he can do barely more than your average airbender!

‘I really have to find a teacher for this. But where would I even find someone who could teach me about spirits?’

Aang dodges under another swipe that this time thankfully doesn't hit any buildings, but it still got too close to one for comfort, so with a frown the airbender sends one of the destroyed logs flying towards the spirit, the wood splintering on contact.

“Hey! Follow me!” Aang shouts as she jumps on his glider, creating a heavy gust of wind to carry him upwards, gliding towards the gate of the village leading into the forest.

The spirit lets out another angry shouts before rushing after Aang, rising through the thick foliage without any problems despite its size while the airbender does his best not to collide with one of the many trees.

He dodges another branch with a gust of wind when he hears the spirit's steps get closer and closer to him, he turns around to dodge whatever the spirit was doing, but he comes face to face with the black and white creature, barely a breath away from the avatar.

The boy tries to dodge with another blast of wind, but one of Hei Bai’s arms suddenly shoots out towards him, grabbing the boy’s body with enough force that it's very obvious it's not planning on letting the airbender go.

But Aang isn't going to just let himself be captured that easily, even if he can't use his limbs with how tightly he is held, so without another idea he bites down on the finger of the spirit.

The force of it is strong enough that the spirit drops Aang in surprise, the boy spitting out the word taste the spirit left in his mouth as he jumps up from the ground, calling up a gust of air to jump away from Hei Bai.

Only the air does not respond, not even the smallest whisp flowing around his body, the wind staying completely still.

Aang looks around in panic when he suddenly sees that the entire forest around him has changed, the oak trees replaced with enormous mangroves with scarlet leaves, flying rocks in the sky visible through the canopy.

“Is this … the spirit world?” Aang mumbles, but he has no other explanation, so the spirit must have brought him here.

Speaking about that spirit, it is leaning down towards the defenseless boy as it lets out a deep growl, its face a hair's width away from Aang with its fangs showing as the boy feels it’s breath on his skin.

Aang feels his limbs lock in place as the spirit's foreign and powerful aura washes over the area, but then, from one moment to another, suddenly the pressure stops.

The spirit seems to curiously sniff Aang before suddenly stepping away from him almost as if in surprise, the boy falling down into the muddy water below with a loud splash that somehow seems to echo as if they were in a cave and not a forest.

Before Aang can do anything the spirit steps into the shadow of the tree, sinking down into it as if it is a dark lake, its presence completely disappearing.

“Did it … go back to the human world?” Aang asks, trying to step into the shadow too only to find it solid. “I have to find a way back there too before Hei Bai causes even more destruction in the village.”

The airbender looks around the area, eyes traveling over the seemingly infinite forest stretching out in front of him.

Maybe he should find someone to teach him about spirits before he even gets someone to teach him bending.

Chapter Text

The cricket butterflies are chirping in the dead of the night as the supply squad continues to make their path along the uneven road, the old carts cracking and squeaking every time they hit a pothole, but that's nothing new to Azame. 

They have been doing those sounds for years, so they won't break now. But her ass absolutely feels like it's going to from all these bumps, and her back isn't much better.

It would be good if the sun was out so they could at least try to avoid some of the worst holes, but the frontline troops of the army need their supplies and don't care how the people under them do as long as the generals get what they want.

Most of the supplies are even things that will have no real use anyway, especially not to the general soldiers, which infuriates her most. It's all just useless stuff for the rich higher ups and no food or weapons.

That's all money that could have gone to different kinds of places, more important ones that luxury goods for the nobles that want to bolster their ego at the front with victories they didn't even fight for.

It feels like half of the stuff in her cart right now wont even be properly usable while the nobles are out in the field like this, like an actual gold rimmed bathtub and luxury foods that have to be preserved in so much ice that the space taken up by it could have stored enough food to feed a company for an entire week. 

And then the shampoos and perfumes! Who needs that on the battlefield? Even sitting here she can't help but be annoyed by their intrusive smell.

“I wish I could just go back to being a merchant like before we were drafted for this. Then I could at least take breaks when my ass is hurting this much.” She says to another person lying in the cart behind her.

The only answer Azame gets from her companion is a snore, making her let out an amused huff. She has no idea how the kid can sleep under these conditions, but then again, she has seen him sleep through a thunderstorm.

It's good that he gets some rest though. She will need some rest sooner or later, and even if she doesn't some of the other four former merchants that are in the carts right in front or behind her will need it.

She steadier her grip on the reins, the bull donkey keeping straight ahead for now, but it probably won't be long till it will start to complain. These animals really don't like being forced to walk through the night.

She turns to the side to get a bit of her drink from her waterskin when suddenly she feels the carriage come to a stop, making her lunge forward a bit as she hears some of the wares in the back of the carriage clutter and bounce off each other.

“Come on Mimi, I know it has been long for you, but at least bring us to the next river so we can have something to drink.” Azame says, but instead of the usual huff it usually gives, she is only greeted with silence.

“Come on, don’t ignore me.” She says, a tense feeling settling in her stomach as she reaches forward to pat the animal, but instead it's cold and shivering, the fur fluffed up in fear. 

Instantly her body tenses, her hand flinching back to her body to pull out a knife, no matter if she knows she isn't that good with it, but she doesn't want to be unarmed if they are attacked by some wild animals or earth kingdom soldiers.

She tries to listen out for something that might be sneaking up on them, but only is met with complete silence, all the butterfly crickets having long stopped singing without her noticing when, the realization making her blood freeze in her vins, cold sweat starting to gather on your skin.

She frantically looks to the side in an attempt spot anything hiding in the darkness, but the light of the moon and stars is not even enough to light up the road in front of her, let alone give her an idea on who or what might be hiding in the trees

“Iami! Azame! Yaku! Raiso! Something is wrong!” Zai from in front of the caravan shouts, voice cutting through the night, having noticed something is wrong too. “Gather together!” 

She moves to comply, whipping the reins to make her bull donkey move again. Thankfully her girl is as smart as she is stubborn, so the slight smack is enough to rip her out of her shock and make her run towards the front of the caravan fast as possible, the distance to the carriage further down quickly closing.

“Raiso! We have to move together! Something weird is happening!” She calls out, the old man is near deaf after all and she just wants to make sure he heard, leaning over the edge of the carriage to look at the one behind her.

But what she spots in the distance isn't what she wanted to see, not even what she dreaded seeing, instantly making the bile rise up her throat, her skin somehow feeling like it had ants crawling under it.

Barely hidden in the darkness of the night she can see a large blood splatter on the front of the carriage where the man always used to sit, a single leg still left hanging down to the side along with the remains of the reins, no sign of the old man’s own bull donkey.

All that remains of the merchant and his animal is a trail of blood and gore, the deep red seeping into the pale dirt of the road, leading into the darkness of the forest surrounding them.

And she didn't even hear it.

“Jukoh! Wake up!” She frantically calls, jumping into the back of the carriage as she shakes the sleeping boy, knowing Mimi will know what to do.

The boy wakes up and blinks at her with half lidded eyes before suddenly his skin goes pale, shooting up from the ground and frantically looking around, his fingers digging so deep into his own skin that they are about to draw blood.

“Wh-Whats going on?” He asks, voice barely above the whisper, and Azame doesn't know how to answer. Seeing how the kid somehow somehow knew something was wrong means he probably has more of an idea than her anyway.

She doesn't have any time to answer though, Zai’s blood curdling scream cutting her off as it rips through the quiet night, even Mimi coming to a halt and bringing the carriage to a sudden stop, the crates inside crashing to the ground.

But then it stops, just as quickly as it started, leaving the forest road in silence once more, the only sounds left being Jukoh’s sobs.

“E-Everyone gather up!” Azame shouts in panic, grabbing one of the knives that scattered out of one of the boxes, clutching it like a lifeline.

The other two merchants seem to have heard her, hearing them shout orders towards their own pulling animals, but hidden under those familiar voices she hears something else, a scuttling sound rushing beside her carriage, hidden by the shadows of the trees.

Azame rushes to the front of the carriage again, grabbing Mimi’s reins with her shaking hands. “Mimi, please, you have to continue. Staying till will only get us killed too.” He tells the animal, even if she isn't sure it actually hears her.

The bull donkey lets out a small sound and takes another step forward when suddenly a red shadow shoots out of the woods, rocking the entire carriage as Mimi is ripped away from it, the reins fling out of Azame’s hand.

She hears Iami and Yaku to the front of her let out worried shouts as they spot the creature. It no longer seems to care about staying hidden anymore. And seeing this monstrosity in front of her, Azame hopes they run away and don't try to help her in a futile attempt. 

Mimi doesn't even struggle anymore, nothing more than a lifeless corpse, its dead eyes looking at Azame.

Jukoh lets out a sob as he hold onto her clothes, trying to his his face to block out the massacre around him as she helplessly watches Mimi get ripped apart by the monster, skin rendered from flesh and bones before being swallowed by the bottomless maw, the creatures hulking size growing even more with each bit it takes till nothing is left of her animal companion.

Her body flinches in fear when the creature turns to her, the countless black orbs it has for eyes seeming to lock in on the two survivors, its long tendrils swirling around it before suddenly rushing towards the pair.

Azame can only close her eyes, praying to Agni for help, when suddenly she hears a deep growl, nothing like the sounds the monster made.

She carefully pries her eyes open, but instead of the monster her eyes fall on a black and white wall towering in front of her, no, not a wall, the back of a giant, four armed creature, scary and foreign, but not nearly as much as the fleshy mount.

The blood red creature in front of it stops with a dissatisfied growl, the tendrils that once were aimed at her turning to the new arrival, making the smallest bit of hope return to Azame.

____________

The first thing Zuko notices is the scream, ripping through the quiet of the night and sending a cold shower down the princes’ back, he just continues onwards.

He ignored it at first, not thinking it's actually real. It's in the middle of the night after a full day of riding, so he just assumed he was just nodding off into another nightmare like he so often does.

But then the smell starts to hit him, far too real to be a product of his imagination.

It smells like a battlefield, but not one caused by the Fire Nation, missing the smells of burned flesh, but the blood and bile is still there, permeating through the air and laying over everything like a heavy blanket.

Slowly he brings his komodo rhino to a halt, trying to spot any signs of combat in the distance, but the path is curved to avoid the valleys and old trees, so he doesn't see very far ahead, and the darkness of the night doesn't make things much easier.

‘Maybe I should just go through the forest just in case to not be dragged into whatever happened up ahead, but…’

There might still be people there that survived this battle. His people. And he doesn't know if they will continue doing so on their own.

‘And going through the forest during this darkness is really dangerous. Yeah, that's it. I’m only taking the road because of that.’ He tells himself as he spurts his ride towards the source of the smell, a small flame lit up in his hand to light up his surroundings.

As he gets closer he comes across a broken carriage, but as soon as he sees the ripped apart corpse he averts his eyes, trying to hold back the nausea building up in his throat, when another shout of fear rips him from his thoughts.

'Survivors'! He thinks as he rushes forward around the last corner, but what he sees makes even his komodo rhino halt in its tracks, the muscles of the two new arrivals locking up as they see the two spirits staring each other down, the air around them heavy enough that Zuko can bareilly take a breath.

~Why are you protecting them?~ The mount of flesh and bones demands, sounding like dozens of voices layered on top of each other, like broken bones trying to imitate human speech, or maybe just the death cries of animals that happen to resemble words.

The black and white spirit responds with a sound of its own, but not something Zuko can understand, sounding like leaves rustling in a howling storm, but whatever it said, it didn't make a scarlet spirit happy, it's tendril lashing out and leaving behind a deep crevice in the ground.

~This is outside of your territory, or what is left of it, so I do not have to listen to your demands.~

The black and white spirits let out a threatening growl, the entire forest around them seeming to buzz with energy, the old trees swaying despite a lack of wind, ancient wood creaking, countless leaves rustling, the earth seeming to humm.

~Why are you protecting them? Have you forgotten that they are part of the group that destroyed your home?~ Shrieks the red monstrosity in what Zuko assumes to be anger and disbelief, but the other spirit stands steady, not moving an inch.

~Forget it. I had my fill. This is not worth the hunt. I do not have the patience to explain to you old idiots why such beliefs is what brought the world to this imbalance in the first place.~ The scarlet mount says, moving towards the edge of the forest as it shrinks into itself before rushing into the treeline at an incredible speed without making even a single sound, melding into the darkness, the only proof it ever was there being the massacre surrounding the Fire Nation citizens.

The black and white spirit just stares after the other, eyes carefully scanning the treeline before turning towards the humans, taking in the two survivors and Zuko standing behind them, the prince poised for a fight.

But then the tense appearance disappears from the spirit's stance, relaxing as the pressure surrounding them fades, the sounds of the animals of the night resuming all around them.

“Thank you, great spirit, for protecting us.” Azame says, doing her best to keep her voice steady as she goes into as deep of a bow as she can right now with her body still frozen with fear.

The spirit in front of her just tilts its head, and from one moment to another it no longer is the terrifying four armed creature from before, but a large, gentle and fluffy looking panda.

It lets out one last small sound that reminds Zuko of a summer breeze, the leaves swaying along with the spirit's voice, before it starts to fade away, its head tubing to the direction the other spirit disappeared to.

Zuko immediately rushes to the two survivors, searching them for any injuries as his eyes scan the area for any survivors, his mind still running a mile a minute as he tries to calm the two. 

He will have to ask his uncle about this as soon as he gets him back.

Chapter Text

Katara doesn't know what came over her when she agreed to go to the Fire Nation, probably how serious Aang seemed for once when he came back from chasing after Hei Bai, but she really should have known better.

She pulls up the shield of water she is levitating around Appa, the sweat dripping down her eyebrows from exhaustion as she manages to divert another giant fireball shot at them from the ships currently chasing them.

Appa is doing his best to dodge, and no matter how much better Katara has gotten over the last weeks at bedding to keep Aang safe, slowly she is reaching her limits.

“Aang! We have to turn around now or we won't have enough energy to escape once you meet up with that previous version of yourself!” She calls out over the winds rushing around them, hands clutching Appa’s saddle to not be thrown out during these turbulent motions.

When Aang doesn't answer for a while she is about to repeat it again before his voice cuts though the wind. “No. It seemed really important! We can't turn around now!” He says, whipping Appa’s reins and urging the animal to go just a bit faster.

Katara is just a hair’s width away from blowing up at the boy but swallows the comment. He won't listen to her anyways and she needs to save up every bit of strength.

If she dies because of this she will haunt Aang even after he reincarnates again. Or at this point she more expects it to be a when, not an if. 

Spirits, her brother's pessimism really rubbed off on her.

But even if it sounds pessimistic, things had been going too well over the last day. The spirit that attacked the village for some reason decided that it didn't actually want to cause any more damage, not only freeing the villagers but also returning Aang who was stuck in the spirit world by literally dumping him into the village center.

The villagers of course said that it was all thanks to the avatar’s help, but both of the children aren't that sure.

Though that short trip to the spirit world of course brought on its own problems, convincing the airbender to fly directly into the Fire Nation.

From the corner of her eye she sees another burning projectile fly at them, so she once again forces her tired arms up to block the fire, the heat and flames getting absorbed by the water, the liquid she is controlling so hot by now that it is steaming.

Thankfully the attacks that can actually reach them have gotten less and less, the Fire Nation navy slowly lagging behind Appa as they cant keep up with the bison’s speed for much longer, unable to strain the engines of their ships more than they already do.

She lets herself drop down to the saddle as soon as she is sure they are out of range of their chasers, the near boiling water falling down towards the ocean as she heaves an exhausted breath.

She watches as the island in the distance gets bigger far faster than she would like to, barely enough time for her to recover her strength before they reach the island that holds the temple of the previous avatar.

She sends one last glance at the fleet at the horizon closing in on them, a frown settling on her face.

“We have to hurry Aang, or they will surround us or even corner us in the temple.” She says, getting a nod from the boy as she refilly her waterskins with ocean water, the extra one that used to be Sokka’s coming in handy right now.

The island is far too hot for her liking, she realizes pretty quickly as they scale the volcano. She would have really hoped Appa would carry them all the way up, but the animal needs to rest and hide for later.

Once they finally reach the temple near the top of the volcano Katara feels like her entire body is drenched in sweat, even in places she didn't even know she could sweat. 

And the situation doesn't exactly get better when it turns out that the Fire Sages aren't on the side of the avatar anymore, or at least all of them but one are. 

Thankfully that one guy from among them turns out to be a great help, leading them up through the secret tunnels of the tower up to its crown where Aang needs to go to contact the previous avatar. 

To be honest, Katara was ready to attack the sage at any moment in case he betrayed them, but seeing how he pushes himself in an attempt to open the gate to the sanctuary she kind of starts feeling bad for that, even if he is from the Fire Nation. 

Still, even with the man's struggles and Aang's attempts to help out with airbending the gigantic door stays shut, not even moving an inch, leaving the three to helplessly stay standing outside of it. 

‘What would Sokka do?’ Katara thinks to herself, looking around for anything that would be helpful.

Normally her brother doesn't really have many problems where he doesn't seem to already have plans for a way out. A small memory comes to her mind, of one of the times where Sokka was teaching boys in the village, Katara listening in while she trained her bending. 

“If we can't open up the door on our own, then we will just have to trick them into opening it up for us.” She says, a plan forming in her mind. Like that one hunting lesson about making walrus sharks piece theri own thick hide on spears with their own momentum.

The other two listen intently to her before nodding in agreement, each of them taking their positions. She and Aang hide behind the pillars, right where the blind spots of the people would be if they come running up the stairs just like Sokka always tells the children in the village to do.

They do not have to wait long for the other sages to arrive, and Sayu plays his role perfectly to make the other four help him open the gate. 

They do notice instantly that something is wrong though when they find the sanctuary empty, so Katara gives Aang the signal to start running. 

With a swipe of her arms the water she has spilled out on the floor in front of the gate before hiding rises to her command, creeping up the sages' legs and freezing them in place just long enough for Aang to slip through.

She tries to rush after him, when suddenly a fireball comes flying right in front of her face, colliding with the pillar beside her, stopping her sprint. 

She turns to the source of the attack to see prince Zuko on the top of the stairs, heaving heavy breaths from probably having run all the way up here, already another blast of flames readying in his palm.

One quick glance at the gate shows that it is already mostly closed, so with her speed she won't be able to reach the giant gate in time, and she can only watch as it slams shut with a loud bang. 

"I won't let you slip away like your brother!" The prince shouts angrily like Katara knows him to be, throwing another wave of fire at her, but she quickly dodges to the side, protecting herself with a small film of water from the sparks, before freezing her shield solid and flinging it at the prince, forcing the royal to call up another fireball to shatter the projectile. 

"Oh, like you have any chance of catching Aang, me or my brother. Keep on dreaming." 

"I did manage to capture him once! But he broke out as soon as we reached solid land." Zuko tells her, flames spewing from his mouth before sending another wave of flames towards her, too large to dodge this time. 

She focuses on the water still on the ground, raising it up to create a wall of ice formed into a wedge to divert the wave, feeling how the boiling heat rushes past her. 

Still, no matter how cold she makes the ice, she can feel how some of it evaporates, slowly but surely reducing how much she can use to defend herself with. 

From the corner of her eye Katara can see the sages try and fail to open the door to the sanctuary, the door staying shut as if locked from the inside no matter what they do. 

'I will have to buy some time till Aang is finished doing whatever he plans on doing.' 

"Sounds like my brother only used you as a ride." Katara tells Zuko, dropping her ice wall, trying to get his attention. "I don't think my brother would ever let himself be captured by people like you otherwise. Did you at least give him some good hospitality?" 

She knows talking won't get her a lot of time, but every second is useful right now, so she just continues on without giving Zuko a chance to interrupt. 

"And it seems this time you didn't manage to reach your goal either. You are too late, Aang is already inside the sanctuary to meet the previous avatar, and you can't stop that anymore." 

"But he will have to come out eventually." A foreign voice comes from the side as a man steps out of the shadow of the stairs, his sadistic smirk immediately putting Katara on edge. 'And who even still has sideburns this long anymore?' 

Weirdly enough even Zuko seems to get nervous from the man's presence, turning away from the girl for now, so Katara just tries to focus on the water around her. Fighting against two people is bad, but not impossible if necessary.

But her hopes to hold out quickly crumble as more and more Fire Nation soldiers walk into the room, too many for her to take out even If she was standing beside a river and not be limited to what little water she has right now. 

'Then I should save my strength for when Aang comes out.' 

With a loud sigh, loud enough that everyone in the room hears her, as she drops her control over her water, making it splash all over the ground around her.

“I know when I am outmatched.” She declares loudly, because that new guy seems to be the exact idiot who would absolutely love to hear it. And from the looks of it she was completely right as she sees the grin appear on the man’s face.

The Fire Nation man seems to want to say something, but like always the prince blows up on him.

“I was here first Zhao! Keep your hands out of this!”

“Silence!” The man shouts. “It is Admiral Zhao, don't forget your place. And you are banished, did you forget that too? So right now you are trespassing. Do you not remember what that means? I guess being away from the Fire Nation made you lose the last of your intelligence.”

Zuko just lets out another snarl, but from this close of a distance Katara can see the fear glint in his eyes.

“Right now you are a nobody, and as a trespasser you will be punished accordingly. Perhaps your father will finally finish what he started three years ago.” Zhao says with a sadistic grin that is just oozing vileness.

Whatever that means it absolutely pushes Zuko over the edge, and Katara watches how his entire body goes tense like a corned animal, eyes jumping between all the soldiers Zhao brought up with him.

The prince turns his eyes towards the one exit of the room, and Katara can see his body tense before bolting towards his escape.

Of course the admiral does not plan to let that happen, sending all his soldiers at the teen with no sign of holding back, throwing flames that would cause serious injuries if they hit.

But that's the thing, if they would hit.

Katara watches in shock as Zuko twists out of the way of every single flame like it is nothing, dancing around the battlefield with graceful steps that she never expected to see on a firebender, especially not Zuko, the angry jerk who has been chasing them, who she is starting to find out is a lot stronger than when cornered.

Something she is really glad of having found out while not being the target of it.

But the prince can't dodge everything, surrounded and overwhelmed by so many opponents his attention can't catch everything, so when a soldier on the side of his scared eye charges up a fireball, he is too slow to notice.

As the flame rushes towards him his scared eye widens in shock, and he throws up his arms to protect the worst of the damage, but to his surprise, the pain doesn't hit, instead he feels a wave of cold wash over him, and when he opens his eyes, he sees that a pillar of ice has grown out of the grown, blocking the fireball and catapulting the solder into the ones standing behind him, knocking them out instantly.

Zuko looks over to Katara in shock, only now noticing the water that has been creeping over the floor.

Well, she was saying she could not win against these guys, but with Zuko also fighting against them at this level of power … well, it absolutely is worth a try, so she tilts her head in question, asking for his cooperation since they don't really have much of a choice.

The prince seems to realize that too, and after barely a moment of consideration Zuko nods back, panic still layered deep over his face, quickly turning his attention towards the soldiers again while they are distracted, sending a wave of flames towards them and catapulting them against the wall beside Zhao.

The prince continues to mow through the soldiers as they desperately try to take out the loan firebender, but every time they find an opening the water on the ground shoots up as an icicles to interrupt them, the distraction quickly making them the perfect targets to be taken out by one of Zuko’s flames.

The admiral in question is literally steaming with anger as his troops are taken out one after another, but he just stands back as slowly Zuko and Katara tire out as more soldiers start closing in on them from all sides.

Katara slowly backs off as her place to maneuver shrinks along with her water supplies as Zuko slowly gets overwhelmed, so she is preparing another blast of water when suddenly the door to the sanctuary is blown open, steam flowing out of it, thick enough to block all view inside.

“All attack the avatar!” Zhao orders, ignoring Zuko and Katara for now, focusing all his attention on taking out Aang.

The Fire Nation soldiers release a torrent of flames into the sanctuary as Katara lets out a cry of worry for Aang, when suddenly the flames stop, freezing in the air before coalescing into a flaming orb in front of not Aang, but avatar Roku in all his glory.

A single swipe of his hand sends the flames back towards the soldiers, the ground around the avatar shattering from its mere pressures.

No matter how much of an idiot Zhao seems to be, Katara can see it on his face when he realizes how outmatched he is, and the admiral doesn't waste a second to call the retreat.

Roku does a bending move Katara doesn't recognize, somehow reminding her of water and firebending at the same time, mixed in with something she doesn't recognize, before suddenly the building trembles, the temperature spiking as magma flows out from the ground.

But the waterbender doesn't even have time to react before magma already blocks the path to escape, and she isn't the only one, Zuko also cut off by the glowing stream, even if he seriously seems to consider trying to jump over it.

She frantically looks around for a way out when she sees Roku’s form dissipate, in its place dropping Aang’s unconscious body to the ground.

"Aang!" Katara shouts in worry as she sprints over to the boy, grabbing him by his arms and dragging him away from the magma and crumbling ground and magma towards the only safe corner left in the room, coming face to face with Zuko who also retreated into the same place. 

They look at each other tensely, each preparing for what the other might do, but no one does the first move, their eyes constantly snapping towards the approaching flood of magma. 

“Come on, I'm not happy about this either.” She grumbles. “Truth till we are out?” She offers, and Zuko sends one last look at the direction where Zhao and his men escaped before giving her a nod, face twisted in frustration.

And thank the spirits because she doesn't even have to think of an escape plan, as right from outside the windows she can hear Appa's familiar roar approach, probably attracted by the chaos. 

Zuko doesn't waste a moment to send a ball of flames towards the glass, shattering it and creating an opening out of the tower. 

To his credit, the prince is even helping her carry Aang, though Katara suspects that's only because he wants to capture the avatar himself, but thanks to the firebender it takes them barely a moment before they carry Aang over the shattered glass, jumping on the waiting Appa's back.

The bison lets out a roar before speeding off towards the sky, and Katara watches as the tower crumbles behind them, the volcano swallowing it with its eruption, the heat scaling to the waterbender even as they fly away from the island.

But Katara’s attention is already taken up by looking after Aang who is slowly starting to regain consciousness while never letting Zuko out of her eyes, but thankfully the firebender seems to be very aware of the fact that if Appa were to throw him off, he would not survive the fall.

“Katara!” Aang suddenly jumps up, regains his consciousness in one last push. “I have to tell you something-” He starts before spotting Zuko, and of course gives the prince a smile, not even considering the fact that he was an enemy, because what else did Katara expect from him.

“Zuko! What are you doing here?” Aang asks, the firebender who is still clutching the edge of the saddle while staring down over the edge towards the ocean below.

“We will drop him off as soon as we can.” Katara answers for him. “Where is your ship? I don't see it anywhere around the volcano.”

The firebender in question awkwardly voids her gaze. “...I’m banished so they just dropped me off here. They should be somewhere towards the north right now, far enough that Zhao wouldn't follow them anymore.”

“Then there we go!” Aang declares instantly, not even considering it might be a trap, though to be fair, this time Katara doesn't think it is either.

It takes them a bit of flying around, just randomly searching in the area before Zuko starts telling them how to navigate indirectly north properly, with an expression on his face that tells him he doesn't really believe their incapability to navigate. 

Katara feels more than slightly offended by it. No one ever taught her how to properly navigate. 

She really wishes she could just push the prince off Appa right now, but Aang definitely won't be happy if she did.

After that they find the ship pretty quickly, driving far enough off the coast so that even the pillar of smoke from the volcano is starting to look small.

The deck of the ship is buzzing with people, and Appa approaching certainly does not make it any better, though at least half of the crew visibly relaxes once Zuko jumps down from the flying animal, looking like he has never been happier to stand on solid ground again (if you can call a ship that.) 

Immediately an old man rushes towards the prince, not even giving Aang a single look, searching him for injuries. 

When he spots the several burns littering Zuko from his fight with Zhao's soldiers his face darkens for a moment, before immediately shifting to worry. 

"Go to the doctor so he can patch you up. We have to treat them before they get infected. If they do, you might be bed bound for weeks." 

The fact Zuko only seems to nod and not complain first only seems to make him worry more, and it looks like he can barely stop himself from following after the young royal every step till he reaches the medical room. 

But instead the man turns towards Aang and Katara, going into a deep bow. 

"Thank you for bringing my nephew back here. Whatever happened must have shaken him greatly." 

Aang of course immediately opens his mouth to explain, but Katara just slaps her hand on his mouth, preventing any sounds from escaping. 

She doesn't know if he is accidentally going to spill any important information to the enemies that have literally been chasing them for the last weeks. 

When she looks back to the ship’s crew Katara finds the old man sending her an uncertain and questioning look, opening his mouth before closing it again without letting out a single word.

“What do you want?” Katara asks, immediately going into a combat stance. "Want to capture me just like you did to all of the other benders in our village?" If this old man wants something from her in the middle of the ocean, he can get it. 

“Ah, dont worry about it, young waterbender. I don't intend to do anything along those lines. And I apologize for the action of my people, even if mere words really don't hold much value for now. I was just thinking about how different you are from your brother. From the looks of it he has not managed to rejoin you yet.” He says, trying to look friendly, but that only makes Katara more suspicious. 

Katara just shakes her head in response. “I already heard that he escaped from you. And my brother is an amazing tracker, he will find us sooner or later. If we try to find him it would just be a fool's endeavor. No one ever finds him unless he wants to.” She says with a small sigh.

"So we really should look for him?" Aang questions, uncertainty evident in his voice. 

"Yeah, and you don't have to worry about him. He really knows how to take care of himself. He has been hunting for our village all on his own since the warriors left." 

“Well, if you are sure.” Aang says, a bit dejected. Katara can't help but feel the same. She is really missing her brother and could really need his help with handling Aang. He was always good at helping manage the kids in the village, even if some of them found him a bit intimidating at times.

Katara watches how Iroh sends some soldiers after Zuko to make sure he actually went to treat his injuries, not just ran off into his room to get away from all the people, before the old man turns to the two children he is supposed to hunt.

“You two should not rest for too long before the rest of the Fire Nation starts to catch up again. They should be in chaos for a while longer, but knowing Zhao he won't wait any longer than he absolutely has to, even if it means going directly through the ash trail of the volcano.” He explains.

Aang gives Iroh a smile and a small nod. “Okay, thanks for the tip! "Aang says happily, for some reason believing the Fire Nation man immediately. 

They let Appa catch his breath for a short moment because the airbender says the bison needs it, but Katara is hating every second of it, standing guard around the two to make sure no one of the crew tries anything. 

After a short while that feels far too long to the waterbender the bison lets out a small huff, raising to his feet again in a sign he is ready to continue, so the two climb into his saddle once more, Katara with more enthusiasm than usual. 

After Aang gives his goodbyes to the crew with a kindness that Katara finds more than unnecessary, the two children fly off towards the coast of the Earth Kingdom again, trying to get out of enemy territory as fast as possible.

The airbender uses the time to catch Katara up on some of the things he was told by avatar Roku during their meeting in the temple.

Katara cringes as she listens to him talk. So now they also have a time limit in the form of a magical meteor for ending the war, and also one pretty close ahead. Learning all the elements in such a short amount of time doesn't seem easy to do.

But apparently that wasn't enough on their back. 

Aang can remember the uncertainty on Roku's face when he explained it, looking very much like he is unsure of what to think of it himself. 

"Beware the spirit of the hunt." the old avatar had told his youngest incarnation. "He is on your side for now, because as the embodiment of fighting for things like  food or territory he also knows when it should end." Roku explains. 

"You have to remember that no spirit is truly evil, but seeing what concept gave birth to this one, he is violent by nature." 

"The last hundred years of war have strengthened him, but as it started changing from a hunt to a massacre, it affected him too. Like Hei Bai's gentle forest being burned down to a harsh and unforgiving wasteland, the same way this spirit was affected." 

"And make sure to never forget, the help of a spirit always comes at a price."

Chapter Text

A flock of birds is flying out of the forest, away from the vegetation as fast as their wings can carry them, away from the screeches and crashes echoing from the cave hidden in the heart of the forest.

The cries coming from the deep cavern seem to shake the trees, scaring away even the smallest bug, the sounds awakening an instinctual fear from deep inside their very being.

In the darkness of the cave, pitch black even with the light of the solstice shining into its entrance, the cries echo loud enough to shake the pebbles on the ground. 

“How dare they. How dare they!” the warped shouts echo through the tunnels. 

"Thinking themselves wiser just because they lived a meager years longer! Acting like they know better when all they ever did was hide themselves away in their little corners of the world?!" 

"The next time I see them, I will-!" he starts, but suddenly stops, with thoughts and lashing tendrils coming to a halt. 

'No, there aren't my own emotions.' 

It has happened before, in the first solstice after Sokka made the contract with Carrion, but after that it always has been manageable. So why now? 

Is it because he was basking in the energy of the avatar spirit for so long? Was it because Carrion is too angry to hold themselves back? He does not know, but Sokka knows he should keep himself separated from the spirit. 

The writhing mass of flesh slowly coils back into himself, doing their best to brush their collective rage under the surface, even if they can still feel it brewing under their skin, concentrating on the deep pulsing of his own body in absence of a heartbeat. 

Slowly Sokka feels the rage leave his body, rationalising away the burning anger and distilling them down to cold hard facts. 

While Carrion is the opposite of talkative, Sokka has managed to find out a lot about the spirit, including how it felt the war twist its very essence, the other spirits just watching without a care in the world. 

It isn't one for emotional distress, but even then Sokka could sense a sliver of fear in it when the spirit explained his hate to the then young boy. 

When Sokka opens his eyes again, he has shrunken to his human form once more, always finding it easier to separate himself from the spirit while looking like this. 

"I should probably try to follow Aang and Katara now, before they get too far away." He mumbles to himself. Their scent traits are still fresh enough, so it should be easy. 

And maybe a change of scenery will help him clear his mind a bit. 

_______________

Sokka follows the coast, rushing through the water as he follows the small remains of Katara’s familiar scent.

Why the two are still staying close to the oceans where Zuko can easily follow them, Sokka does not know, but he suspects they just didn't think of it and are just taking the straightest way towards the north.

He has already encountered a group of pirates in a small trading harbor that had carried a stronger smell of his sister, but they were lucky enough to be loudly complaining about two children that got away from them with a waterbending scroll before Sokka had to to engage with them.

The spirit can follow the coast a bit longer before the smell starts to drift inland, wandering between the thick forests with trees towering high and dense enough to block direct sunlight, only remains of light filtering in through the foliage. 

Though what catches his attention most, is the prevalent smell of blood. Human blood. 

Not from burn wounds through, so it's most likely not more Fire Nation victims. They never have any restraint with their flames. 

And then there is this unmistakable feeling in the air that brings a grin to his face. "This is someone's hunting ground." 

Sokka follows the deep odor towards a small hollow in the tree, so overgrown he would not have found it if it wasn't for his sense of smell. 

The hollow under the tree is just as big as one would expect from their size, almost the size of a small cellar, but no piece of ground is visible, instead covered with the dead bodies of Fire Nation soldiers. 

'Judging from the amount of corpses and the armor they are wearing, it seems to be multiple patrol units.'

The corpses might have started to decay already, but they still leave more than enough clues for him to understand the hunters better. 

Each of the troupe leaders has a puncture in their head from a precise arrow shot, deadly enough that they didn't even have time to take out their alarm horn, the items still securely attached to their belts. 

And the second in commands are the same, though they all have their throat cut by some weirdly shaped blade. 

Whoever is responsible for this knows what they are doing, and with how permanent the smell is in the forest, Sokka is certain he would find more of these corpse burrows if he looks for them. 

'There are only Fire Nation corpses here, so it's unlikely that they will attack Katara and the avatar, but I should probably still catch up with them sooner than later.' 

Especially since this amount of Fire Nation corpses makes it evident that there are a lot of patrols in the area. 

_______________

Jet is sitting in the canopy of the trees, looking down on the Fire Nation soldiers below with a patient expression. 

They are covering together around the campfire, shoulders tense and hands hovering close to their weapons, obviously aware of the dangers lurking in the forest, so they keep the flames high in an attempt to cast away the darkness that could hide their enemies. 

A bad idea, since it didn't only lead Jet and his freedom fighters directly to them, but having such a bright light source in the center of the camp makes it harder to spot details in the dark forest, since their eyes aren't used to the darkness. 

‘A common Fire Nation mistake.’

Not that it would have mattered. None of them even looked up a single time, only around, just like most that came before them. 

The Fire Nation isn't used to the tall vegetation found in the Earth Kingdom, and no one would expect an Earthbender willingly leaving the ground. 

And the Fire Nation is too prideful to concise the possibilities that so many of their units were taken out by nonebenders. 

Jet is about to give the sign to start the attack, Smelleebie readying a small explosive to throw into the fire while Jet prepares to jump down, Longshot pulling an arrow from his quiver. 

But then Jet hears some footsteps in the distance, too heavy to be of a human, so he quickly lowers his hand again, telling his fighters to wait. 

'Is it a komodo rhino? Maybe they are getting more supplies or support from another group.' 

So the group of children wait in the trees, staying silent as the steps get closer, one of the bushes beside the camp rustling, but instead of the expected Fire Nation soldiers, two children and a giant animal step I to the clearing. 

One of them seems to be from a water tribe, but that can't be true with how far away they are from both poles, and the second kid Jet can't place at all, same for the giant animal. 

Both the new arrivals and the Fire Nation soldiers freeze in shock for a moment, before the small clearing erupts into chaos, the soldiers immediately throwing fireballs at the new arrivals. 

But the children are far from helpless, and Jet watches as one of the two bends a wall of water from the ground, swallowing the flames before the other throws some of the soldiers into the trees with a powerful blast of wind. 

How there still is a living airbender, Jet does not know, but getting these two on his side might be invaluable, especially the water bender if they want to turn that plan with the dam into a reality. 

The children are holding their own, but they are clearly outnumbered, so they are slowly starting to tire out. Especially since they are not aiming to kill, so most times after they hit their opponents, they just stand up and continue fighting. 

Jet is about to signal his freedom fighters to jump in when suddenly something shoots out of the bushes, two bone knives lodging themselves into the bodies of the Fire Nation soldiers, right below their ribs. 

They stumble in shock from the sudden pain when a shadow rushes out of the bushes, knocking the two of them out with a heavy hit to the head with a club. 

"Sokka! You caught up!" The girl shouts happily, but Jet can't help but look at the Water Tribe boy in shock. 

'I didn't hear him coming, not even the slightest bit. And the knives both exactly hit the liver, deep enough to puncture but not deep enough to cause heavy bleeding.' 

That might not appear that impressive at first sight, but Jet is pretty sure that it is exactly intended that way, making sure the soldiers die from the injury but hiding it from the other two children. 

Still, even if Jet would like to watch a bit longer before jumping in, at the speed the new arrival takes out the soldiers, they won't have the chance much longer. 

The brunette gives his freedom fighters the hand sign for nonlethal damage, which he hopes they still remember since they only used it a handful of times up till now, before jumping down into the chaos. 

These are some potentially far too useful allies to not make a good first impression, after all. 

The Earth Kingdom teen lands directly on top of one of the soldiers, making the man painfully crash into the ground, before knocking him out with another heavy hit of his hook swords. 

The two young benders look towards him in shock, stunned for a moment as the freedom fighters descend on the soldiers, but the boy in the back doesn't so much as turn his eyes towards Jet. 

'He already noticed us.' Honestly, not the biggest surprise. Jet just isn't used to it. 'Might make convincing them a bit harder when he knows that we watched them fight for a while without intervening.' 

Still, Jet knows he will manage to do it. He had to. 

He focuses on taking out the soldiers to the obvious delight of the two younger ones, especially the girl. He can work with that. 

The water tribe boy doesn't look at Jet, but the freedom fighter somehow feels like he is still getting watched by the other boy, and even if he at first wanted to dismiss the thought, he isn't that sure he should once he sees the boy dodge an attack that should have been in his blind spot. 

It doesn't take long till the combat dies down, Jet making sure to take out the last soldier with an impressive display of technique, swinging around one of the branches as he disarms the Fire Nation soldier, before knocking him out with a well placed blow. 

Jet turns towards the two benders and the water tribe warrior with a charming grin. “Good work there. We were tracking these guys for a while, and you gave us just the perfect distraction we needed.” He says in a grateful voice, but not too grateful, making sure to send an especially charming smile towards the waterbender.

She flushes hesitantly, but returns the smile in kind, just like Jet hoped she would.

“Thank you for saving us. Those fire nation soldiers really surprised us.” She says, walking over to the other white tribe member.

She gives him a smile, and he just gives a silent nod, a small unsaid conversation exchanged between them. 

Jet gives the pair a grin. “It's nothing. I’m just glad I could help. Besides, you guys are strong. I’m sure you would have managed on your own, even if we didn't happen to be here.” He says, trying to appear humble. “But I’m sure after that fight you would want to take a rest. How about you come back to our secret base?”

The airbender lights up with happiness as soon as he hears those words. “Yes! We would love to! I always want to sleep in a secret base!” He says, answering for his traveling companions.

As they walk, the group of people introduces each other, Jet using the casual conversation to get a better understanding of the newcomer’s personalities.

But most interesting is the fact that Aang is more than just an airbender, the boy accidentally revealing his identity as no other than the avatar, much to Katara’s visible despair.

The revelation brings a genuine smile to Jet’s face. Maybe times are finally about to change! But there is also doubt. 

Aang doesn't look like he has the guts to need what needs to be done to wipe out the Fire Nation. He is far too soft to give the ashmakers what they deserve for their crimes.

Which only means Jet can't stop his own mission now.

‘In the end, I have to do everything by myself.’

Still, Jet talks to the three as his group leads them back to the base. 

Well, most of his group. Jet makes sure to leave two of his fighters behind to take care of the downed Fire Nation soldiers and get their corpses out of the way. They can't let word of their strategy spread.

Luckily for Jet, they happened to make their camp bear one of the tree burrows they have already planned to use for disposal. 

As they walk, Katara speaks happily with her brother, even if her main attention is still focused on Jet, thanks to his continuous work to make it stay that way.

From the conversation between the members of the avatar’s group, it sounds like Sokka was separated from the others a while ago, the two exhaling stories of their advantages that they missed.

Jet listens curiously, and while Sokka is a bit secretive about his experiences, it still paints a pretty clear picture of what he actually did.

‘With how casually he was towards killing that Ashmaker, there is no way he will tell the other kids about this. He is trying to hide it from them too, so he won't rat us out.’

Now Jet just has to find a way to convince them to fill up the dam so he can finally whip that Fire Nation settlement off the map.

Chapter Text

“Jet is killing people.” Is the first thing Sokka says when he enters the privacy of the house Jet provided to them, instantly bringing a deadly quiet over the room and his two companions, who just woke up as the morning light started shining into the room.

Katara’s brain needs a moment to even comprehend the words, not yet fully awake as she has started getting ready for the day, her hands moving near unconsciously as he does her hair.

But all wisps of remaining sleepiness are cast away as she looks at her brother in shock, Aang beside her doing the same, the boy turning pale. 

“You can't be serious.” Katara says, half disbelief and half hoping that she just misheard her brother.

“I could show you one of his Fire Nation corpse pits?” Her brother offers, and Katara flinches. So she hasn't misheard him, sadly.

She wants to protest that it isn't possible, that Jet has helped them and that there is no way he kills people. But Sokka has no reason for lying. She knows that very well. 

And that he is actually telling her what is going on for the first time in years, not silently taking on the problem on his own like he always is.

After all, she knows he is hiding something big. Has known for a long time, in fact. Because no matter how much he has changed, she will always be his sister.

 But still, she can't simply take the words of her brother at face value. Not so suddenly.

“Are you sure? Maybe someone else did … it.” She says, not wanting to repeat the words her brother used. She doesn't want to imagine dead bodies treated that way.

“I’m sure of it. Less than an hour ago, he killed a Fire Nation traveller. A non-combatant, at least in his current state. He might have been a soldier before, but I’m not sure.” Sokka says with his usual passive expression, and for once Katara is thankful for it. It somehow helps her ground her feelings just that slightest bit, even if she can feel her heart thundering in her chest.

Aang seems to finally shake off his shock, looking at Sokka in horror. “We have to do something! We have to stop Jet!”

“Quiet, or they will hear us. Jet doesn't seem to expect me to inform you.” Sokka tells the airbender, making him close his mouth, even if just for a moment. “I suspect Jet is planning something big. He already knows he won't get you to kill people directly, but he still keeps you around. That means he has a plan in the work that he will try to use you to complete.”

“But- That's horrible! We have to do something!”

But Sokka just looks at him passively, shrugging in return. “Should we really? The life of some Fire Nation citizens should not be our priority with how much is on the line. We only have so much time till the comet comes, and if we stop every group that is fighting the Fire Nation with the same violence they inflict on others, we will not even arrive at the North pole by the day of Sozin’s comet. And it would also turn the people against us, so they would no longer trust you, even if you are the avatar.” Sokku just shrugs emotionlessly. “I suggest we just leave and continue our way to the north.”

The airbender looks at Sokka in horror. “But I can't just ignore it when innocent people are in danger. That would go against everything the avatar stands for! People know that, right?”

Katara sees how her brother’s expression twitches for a moment, but it returns to its normal passive look in the blink of a moment.

“You have to remember, the people are desperate. If you are panicked and afraid, you can't think clearly. They will just see that you are helping the Fire Nation and act accordingly.”

The young boy looks close to tears as he hears that. “But- But I’m the avatar! It's my job to protect people!” 

“Yes, you are the avatar, not some kind of deity. There is only so much you can do, like every other human. It's just that you can do more than the average person.” Sokka says, and while the words don't seem to make Aang happy, not in the slightest, Katara can see some kind of pressure leave the airbender’s shoulders.

“So, then what are we supposed to do?” Aang asks, turning to his companions.

“Jet is planning something big that includes us two. So we could maybe act along and find out what it is to stop it.” Katara offers. She can see that Sokka really doesn't want to do the latter, but he doesn't voice his complaints.

“Could we maybe capture Jet and hand him over to some prison?” Aang offers. “Like that he won't be able to deal more damage.”

Sokka sends him a look, hard as steel, that makes even Katara feel self-conscious, even when it's not directed at her. “Which prison would you send him to? The Fire Nation would just kill him and all his Freedom Fighters as soon as they got their hands on them, and the Earth Kingdom would just release him. They wouldn’t see Jet’s actions as bad.”

“Do you think we could make him see the error of his way?” Aang tries desperately to look for a better way out, and for once, Sokka actually nods.

“Theoretically, it might be possible, but once again we do not have the time. Especially not since we would have to do the same for the rest of the Freedom Fighters.” The words instantly make Aang's face fall again, turning to the side.

They sit in silence for a moment, before Katara lets out a deep breath, getting the boys’ attention. “I think we should play along for the rest of today. We can see what they are planning.” She says. In secret she is hoping Sokka just made some mistake, but her hopes are low.

The other two seem to agree, so after a moment of steeling their resolve they step out of their small hut hidden in the canopy, joining up the small crowd of Freedom Fighters.

Aang doesn't exactly act as he did yesterday, but he is doing his best, and every time he begins to slip up, Sokka jumps in to cover for him, saying that didn't get enough sleep tonight and things like that.

It doesn't take long till Jet approaches them, joining them during breakfast with a kind smile on his face that is turned directly at Aang and Katara.

She doesn't even need to look at Sokka to know that this is linked to whatever Jet has planned for them, and with the knowledge he is planning something the idea to fill up a dam till its at the brim does sound quite dangerous, especially once Sokka told her that a settlement is downstream.

“Of course we can do that for you, Jet.” Katara tells the older boy, and the grateful smile he gives her in return would be really sweet if she didn't know what he is planning.

Sokka said he would join the Freedom Fighters patrolling the road again to make sure the Fire Nation troops planning to burn down the forest don't arrive early. That excuse should give him enough opportunities to slip away.

Jet himself is accompanying Aang and Katara towards a dried out river bed, some inactive geysers littering the floor, brimming with water that is just asking to be pushed into motion by a bender.

If Katara didn't know what to look out for, she might not have thought anything deeper of it, just going along with Jet’s explanation. But now that she knows, she can see the flaws in his explanations.

‘How would they even use this reservoir to stop a forest fire? They have far too little people to actually protect a forest that size. Not even a waterbeder like me could cover such a gigantic area.’

Aang might be able to, being the avatar and all, but Jet knows they aren't planning to stay.

Jet gives her another one of those confident and wild grins. “Thank you so much for doing this for us. I don't know what I would have done without you.”

She sends the tall boy a smile, making sure it looks as real as possible.

“Its not a problem. After we finish, we will join you by the dam.” Katara tells Jet with a kind smile. If she didn't look for it, she would have missed the small twitch in his otherwise perfect expression, and even then it's gone in a blink of an eye.

“Oh, it's probably better if you go right back to the base. It's safer that way.” Jet tells them before hurrying off, saying he has to make sure everything goes well.

Aang and Katara act as if they are actually filling up the reservoir long enough till they are sure Jet is gone, or rather till Appa appears on the edge of the forest, already loaded with all their supplies.

They aren't going to have a nice goodbye, after all.

‘We just have to make sure we don't lose Sokka like last time.’

________________

Sokka walks through the forest with the Freedom Fighters Jet sent to accompany him, trying his best to act as if he isn't aware of the looks sent his way.

The proximity of the solstice is still making things unnecessarily difficult, continuously feeling claws and fangs grow and dissolve inside his body, squirming as they wait for something to sink into and shred until it's unrecognizable.

‘At least it's getting easier by the day. Until the next solstice, that is.’

Katara and Aang should be doing their part right now, making Jet open himself up to a trap by acting like they are playing along with his scheme, so Sokka should rejoin them now.

It would be fastest if he just killed these Freedom Fighters, but that probably won't be appreciated. ‘It's too risky to do, because they probably have a quick way to communicate in emergencies.’ They wouldn't have survived this long otherwise, and that could blow Sokka’s cover.

The spirit boy sadly didn't have time to scout out for such things ahead of time, and he knows better than to take a risk in a hunt of such importance.

He almost scoffs to himself. ‘That I actually have to consider these weaklings important.’

Without waiting a moment later, Sokka created a bone club under his clothes, frustratingly blunt, but it will have to do.

The two Freedom Fighters standing close to him barely have time to react as Sokka pulls out his weapon, reaching for their own with practiced speed.

But it's still not fast enough.

The big guy takes a bone club to the head with enough force to take him out instantly, dropping to the ground with a loud thud.

The one that Jet introduced as Smellerbee is quicker, but Sokka swipes her legs out from under her with more force than he would be able to do in a human body, far too much for her to handle, throwing her down to the ground with a pained cry.

She tries to roll to her feet as soon as she hits the ground, but before she can get up from her knees, Sokka's boot collides with her head, kicking her into the nearest tree, where she collapses.

Sokka stands upright again with an emotionless expression, turning towards the remaining opponent.

The last member is a kid Sokka didn't care to learn the name of, stumbles back in shock as he sees his stronger teammates taken out so quickly, but Sokka won't let him get away.

The kid scrambles backwards, turning as he tries to run away, when Sokka delivers another strong hit with his club, downing him instantly.

Sokka reabsorbs the club into his body again, his gnawing teeth not calmed in the slightest, itching for him to finish the job. They crunch and squelch inside his body, the sound emanating from his body, bouncing off the large trees around him and echoing through the otherwise dead quiet forest.

He looks down at the fallen enemies, stepping closer to them without himself noticing, the roots breaking under his feet as he returns to his true weight.

‘Maybe just one. I deserve it after a hunt. The big one will be enough.’ He says as he feels his body dissolve, skin turning a deep red as a gaping maw sprouts from the left side of his face, his human features disappearing as they are replaced by twitching teeth as it expands all the way down to his neck.

The panicked screeches of some birds above distract him from his hunger, making him quickly turn back to his human appearance.

‘Ah, I forgot to breathe. That hasn't happened in a while. I need to be more careful. I don't have the time for this right now.’

Sokka lets his upper body slump forward as his back slit open like a bloody wound, countless thin tendrils rising high into the canopy of the forest, growing up the sturdy trunks like a net of twitching veins.

He doesn't bother to care for the countless animals running away from him in panic, instead picking up on the smells scattered through the air.

‘I sense some people down by the dam, and the smell like they came from Jet’s camp. There is also some blasting jelly down there. They really don't plan to wait with their plan once we are gone.’

And impatience is a big mistake in a hunt like this.

Sokka retracts the tendrils back into his body, the wide net compressing down to let him return to his human appearance. He can't have the Freedom FIghters be informed of his presence by the escaping animals.

He goes into a sprint and rushes towards Jet’s hidden group. He won't have to worry about encountering anybody on his way, as his tendrils have already scanned the area for any other enemies.

His heavy steps leave deep footprints in the forest ground, not quite able to contain his real weight when using his body to this superhuman degree.

At his speed it doesn't take him long to reach the edge of the forest, but it seems he isn't the first one to arrive.

‘It looks like Jet wasn't the only impatient one.’ Sokka realizes in frustration, seeing Katara bend a fountain of water at the swordman, coiling around the battlefield like a hungry serpent trying to swallow its prey whole.

His sister chases down her opponent with the relentless bending move, but the swordsman is nimble, managing to dodge out of the way of her attack, and the other two close combat fighters he brought cause enough chaos so he can properly show off his skill.

Longshot sends an arrow flying at her, but it doesn't come far, Aang blocking it with a powerful whirlwind, strong enough to toss around sands and stones with enough force to rip branches from the surrounding trees.

Sokka feels how a small but noticeable trail of spirit energy follows the airbender’s attacks. 

Unlike the first time, it doesn't make Sokka freeze in place. It's far too weak for that, but its presence is more than telling, betraying the airbender’s emotions, even if his frown directed at the Freedom Fighters wouldn't.

Longshot tries to hide behind the sturdy trees to take cover from Aang’s attack, rushing through the thicket, but Sokka will not sit idle and wait for him to reposition for another shot.

He lets his arm change into its true appearance, the tendril claiming into the bar of the tree and filing the boy through the air with a single powerful throw, avoiding the bushes littering the floor that give him away with their loud rustling.

Longshot stays unaware of his presence right until it is too late, hearing Sokka’s clothes flapping in the wind and making the archer glance backwards, his eyes wide in shock as he tries to whip his bow around, but by then Sokka has already thrown a blunt club at the human’s face.

The archer stumbles back in pain, not yet knocked out from the hit, but Sokka lands on him with his knee first, throwing him to the ground and delivering a punch to his jaw with his fist.

Longshot’s eyes roll back in his skull from the impact and his body collapses to the ground like a lump sack, but Sokka doesn't wait as he rushes to assist his sister and Aang.

After all, he is not going to ignore a fight right in front of him, even if he has to hold himself back.