Chapter 2: In which the moon goes about distributing gifts I don't want
The chill throughout the North Pole was pervasive. I understood now why it was exactly that Fire benders, even before the war, did not travel here often. More than the cold, the chi of the place was aligned directly toward the water element, the spiritual presence of the place was antithetical to fire bending.
It was strange because in my reading, I had not read of similar problems for water benders in the Fire Nation. Earth Benders at the Air Temples. Or Air Benders who had traveled the earthen kingdoms.
If I were to reach beyond the physical, I contemplated the thought that perhaps the Spirits themselves, aligned with water as they were, did not like my presence, that being of the Fire Nation, especially the current incarnation, had disturbed them.
All of this, I supposed, was relatively unimportant in the present.
I sat across from Master Pakku, the board of Pai Sho laid out before us, arrayed in the form of the White Lotus, and I was amused to see the look of consternation on the older man's face, though I hid my amusement with a small degree of effort.
"So you really are an agent of the Grand Lotus," Pakku murmured.
I didn't so much as twitch at the question. I knew Iroh had achieved that honor sometime after the failure of the siege of Ba Sing Se and his subsequent absence so it was what I had claimed, the Pai Sho code had been relatively simple to determine from observation, at least if you knew to look for it, along with of course the tile I had 'borrowed' being the key ingredient, "Of a sort," I cocked my head to the side thoughtfully picking a narrow path of truth through my next words, "I'm more appropriately aligned with their goals and the overall goals of the White Lotus."
Pakku's cold blue eyes narrowed at me, but they did not seem overly suspicious yet. I had already showcased enough information to be a threat; the fact that I was here spoke to a greater intent, "What do you need?" Pakku asked.
"Access to your last hundred years of your histories for one," I shrugged carelessly before attempting to slip in my true objective, "I'd also like to see your healing charts."
Pakku cocked a brow at me his scowl deepening the lines of his face, "Those are strange requests."
I shrugged and then coughed again, politely into the back of my hand, ignoring the splatter of red blood across it, "Nothing that could cause damage to the Northern Water Tribe, though, hmm?" I sent him an amused smile.
It hadn't originally been my intent to need the healing charts, but as time went on, I could tell there was some damage to my chest I wasn't quite able to fix yet. Visible from the faint red scars that traced through the veins of my chest, and the minor inconvenience that sometimes I coughed up blood.
Not immediately fatal and with the ability to heal myself, unlikely to kill me, but it was an annoyance I needed to rectify.
Pakku looked at me, then down at the board, his brow furrowing. "Fine," he grunted, "I'll trust you to stay out of trouble, but I should inform you outsiders within the Northern Water Tribe are looked on with suspicion. You'll need to be cautious."
I nodded seriously, "Of course, I'll be the model of caution."
It did not take long for Pakku to finagle permission for me to look through the archives located in a massive building of ice near the palace. The scrolls within were made of animal skin, which was only to be expected, but it did not slow down my research. The shelves themselves were made of ice and I admired the different regality of this library comparing it to the palace library I was familiar with.
I found an out-of-the-way alcove to look through the scrolls on healing, greedily consuming the charts that mapped out the chi pathways and other internals of the human body.
Within several days, I had managed to massage most of the damage out of my chest with careful application of my golden fire easing the pain in my chest and limiting the blood I coughed up to only the occasional, which was a relief as I didn't want to cough up any blood on the scrolls by accident.
I maintained my studies, looking through the Northern Water Tribes' history thoughtfully, comparing and contrasting it to the Fire Nation's history I had read previously. It was odd, all things considered, that the Northern Water Tribe was firmly isolationist, which was a stark contrast to my home.
They could have helped the Southern Water Tribe, but they seemed far more focused on their own internal affairs.
Their isolationism also inhibited their knowledge of the world outside their walls and waters. There was only minor knowledge of the northern parts of the Earth Kingdom, and it honestly seemed that they hadn't encountered the Fire Nation at all during these last hundred years.
I knew that the Southern Water Tribe had warriors out on the ocean, but it seemed that such a thing had never been considered for the Northern Water Tribe.
It was on the third day that I felt Pakku's familiar heat presence walking through the library to my ice corner, where I sat in a lotus position, my feet upturned, examining the scrolls around me.
He did not issue a greeting as was typical of him, "Hakoda, I have need of you," he said shortly.
I looked up, bemused, at the older man gently closing my scroll as I did so, "Of course, what can I do for you?"
There was a minute shift in Pakku's stance as he looked at me, fortelling a certain begrudgingness in his next words, "A tribal council is occurring, and it would behoove me to include your presence considering our relationship."
What was left unsaid was that so far, the fire nation patrol routes had proven accurate, so as a show of trust and our current alliance, he felt the need to include me. Likely boosted by the fact, aside from my pale skin, I blended in easily enough in the Water Tribe with my eyes being their shifted color, that having me there would be unlikely to disturb anything major.
I nodded, " Of course, Master Pakku." I rolled up my scrolls and stowed them on the shelves before exiting the building with him.
Through the streets we walked, and I was amused to see the looks shot toward Master Pakku, confirming the respect for him among the tribe. I was pleased that I had chosen my mark well.
We walked up to the largest ice building, all spires and arches of carefully constructed ice, bent by the water benders of the tribe, and entered to see an assortment of men in the hall, kneeling on the floor.
Pakku led me to the side to sit where two spots were free, and I kneeled politely, giving off the impression of one inexperienced in such matters but dedicated to showing the appropriate respect.
Eventually, after several more men filed in, the man at the head of the formation spoke, Chief Arnook, if I did not miss my mark, his dark hair beaded in braids around his head.
"The Council comes to order, let those who must speak, have their say," he said simply and then sat.
One by one, the man around the council spoke, airing their grievances and issues in the tribe.
Fishing, Snow Sculpting of Houses, Trade with the Earth Kingdom, and Pirates. No mention of the war, which was of no surprise given my reading and seeing as they were relatively removed by choice and location from the goings-on of the world.
I noted the shift and shuffle among the men as Pirates were mentioned, a point of contention perhaps?
Just the thing to seize on.
There was further discussion on the Pirate problem. For now, they preyed on Earth Kingdom merchant vessels, causing notable issues in the trade that occurred between the Earth Kingdom and the Northern Water Tribe.
The Earth Kingdom, as it was, had long since had an issue with water and lacked really any Navy to speak of to deal with the issue, disregarding the fact that the Earth Kingdom was so factionalized that it would be difficult for them to put together the flotilla that would likely be needed.
Even though the estimates of the Pirate presence were relatively nominal compared to how many warriors the Northern Water Tribe had, it seemed the Northern Water Tribe council was reluctant to spend lives to solve the issue.
Well, at least a number of them were.
A young man now spoke, to the issues concerning Pirates, "We are safe within our walls, Pirates have little capability to assault the tribe, what do we care for the Earth Kingdom ships they attack?"
An isolationist then.
There was a murmuring of agreement among the younger members of the tribe who were present, but I saw many of the older tribe members' eyes narrow. Perhaps they realized how quickly those problems could become theirs. It was strange to see the younger members having that attitude compared to their elder compatriots, but I was not overly surprised. A hundred years of isolation, I imagined that the isolationist attitudes within the Northern Water Tribe only became more prevalent.
Pakku murmured under his breath, "That's Hahn, one of the up-and-coming warriors of the tribe; supposedly, he's favored to marry the Princess and become the next Tribal Leader."
I examined the young man thoughtfully; his words concerned me. Would peace be an option if he were the next leader of the Northern Water Tribe? The isolationism worried me. It was still possible, but my plans called for the Northern Water Tribe to commit to larger actions to help end the war.
Furthermore, letting lives be destroyed by pirates was offensive to my sensibilities. If this was the Fire Nation, a fleet would be assembled to deal with the situation post haste.
Under normal, proper Fire Nation circumstances, the time was ripe for an Agni Kai, and then, before Agni, we would decide the appropriate course of action.
Except this was the Northern Water Tribe.
In the tribes, I was aware through my research that direct confrontation was disfavored, instead they favored a battle of words, discussion at the front of a resolution, then perhaps rumor and gossip to destabilize the position of the other, if necessary.
I set my face, pressing my disguise around me, and nodded my head politely as if to acknowledge the point, and then spoke.
"Unblooded warriors always shy from confrontation," I remarked simply, purposely keeping my words brief, something that could be referred to as a mere remark.
The eyes of the room rooted on me, and I saw Hahn's lips twist, beginning in a sneer, "Speaking as if others must listen in a room of your betters has little effect."
Not a particularly good riposte, but decent enough for an amateur that the teen was. I was indeed not of the tribe which the others in the room no doubt knew, and I had no position to speak of. Furthermore, I imagined that Hahn had already undertaken ice dodging and would be considered a full member of the tribe, while I would be seen as an outsider.
"Wisdom comes from many places, even one seemingly inconsequential, to dismiss a statement only on standing is a poor response," I replied evenly, keeping the flow choppy, focused on the pithiness of the statement as was the style of the tribes.
Hahn frowned, and I could almost see his brain turning as he tried to determine his response, "Easy talk when you're not at the front," he sneered, positioning his statement because he could recognize I was not one of the tribes warriors.
I found myself disappointed by yet another appeal to his seeming authority.
Game and set.
"I would be honored to fight in defense of the people," I said, restraining my smile from his face.
Arnook spoke now, looking at me, and I saw a glimmer of interest in his eyes, "You would deal with the pirates yourself?" he asked something considering in his eyes, trailing over me and taking note of how I held myself, the only indication in this room that someone was a warrior given that weapons were forbidden.
With the interruption of the chief, the duel of words was over.
"Yes," I remarked, simply nodding my head to show appropriate deference to the leader.
Offering definitive action to offset the bickering and talk was a hard thing to challenge.
Yet I could feel the gazes still on me, unsure due to my youth, a bigger promise than likely most thought I could fulfill. Who could blame them? I was saying I would deal with a group of Pirates entirely by myself.
Another member of the council spoke, an older member, "You are but a child, such a promise is beyond your years."
Left unsaid was the doubt about ability. A reasonable doubt, even though these pirates likely numbered around a hundred, from the discussion I had heard.
I inclined my head in respect, and my words were similarly toned in deference, "Elder, I may be a youth before your eyes, but I am sure it is within my capabilities to deal with this. If I fail, there is no great loss; I am but one boy, not initiated into your Tribe. If I succeed, all I can offer is the fruits of my victory, belonging to the Tribe."
The older members of the tribe shifted slightly, and a low murmuring arose as they seemed to realize my intent.
I was no member of the tribe. Yet I was offering my aid without asking for any boons.
Master Pakku spoke, gaining the immediate attention of the room, "I see no reason to gainsay the boy, if he has a plan…"' he trailed off, and his gaze was oddly challenging. Luckily for me, I had already decided on one.
"I will go to the Earth Kingdom and take a berth on one of the trading vessels going through their waters. When an attack occurs, as it no doubt will, I will follow them back to their source and end their threat."
Not the truth, but the truth was more unbelievable, and the result was ultimately the same.
"You would do this entirely by yourself?" Arnook questioned, half musing, half questioning as he stroked his beard, before he turned to Pakku, "You would allow this course of action?" he asked, his eyes searching.
After all, what I was suggesting from his perspective was lunacy. Who would let a thirteen-year-old take on an entire group of pirates.
Master Pakku shrugged, seemingly uncaring, "He will accomplish such and do a great service to the tribe, or he will be yet another body returned to La. The boy seems to have faith in his ability. If our own warriors feel the task is beyond their own purview, then I see no reason to prevent him from proving himself."
I noted the snipe against the warriors and the stiffening of Hahn's form as he glared at Pakku, who seemed unbothered by the boy's anger.
Arnook and Pakku's eyes locked for a moment, and something was exchanged there before Arnook spoke, pronouncing his judgement, gazing at me solemnly, "You will deal with the Pirates interfering with the Earth Kingdom ships, may Tui and La be with you."
He spoke it as if pronouncing my death, which in fairness, he likely thought he was.
I bowed my head in acknowledgement.
It was funny that, essentially, no sooner had I arrived at the North Pole than I found myself leaving at least temporarily.
Pakku and I had shared one more conversation where he had questioned if I was sure, which I found myself touched by. I imagined that much of his faith in me was my association with the White Lotus; otherwise, he would have had likely been far more concerned with letting a thirteen-year-old go chase pirates.
Once I arrived back at the port from whence I came some days later, I took a day to familiarize myself with the information I had available and with that chose my next target well.
This was a free port, and even Pirates had to stop for supplies sometimes. Something not acknowledged or even known by many, yet where else could they get necessary and specific supplies, raiding could only do so much.
A ship arrived offering a variety of goods with no explanation of their origin; the way the men walked indicated their familiarity with combat, even if to my eyes they lacked discipline.
Stowing aboard their hold in the dead of the night was child's play the light of the torches and lanterns unable to touch me as I sucked in the light they gave off with deep breaths.
They launched in short order, having had their fun at port, and began their voyage back to their home base.
I spent the voyage in contemplation, meditating and only occasionally strumming my inner fire as I flexed my chi through my limbs. I only made a small excursion to look through the captain's documents to make sure I had the right picture of the place I was infiltrating. Luckily, these pirates were fairly organized, likely to avoid the Fire Nation patrols they might otherwise run into. They even had notes on the routes of the other Pirate ships to avoid clashing over their 'prey.'
I was able to determine that there was only one port the Pirates had set for themselves, and they felt little need to keep spread apart, as the only true threat on the seas was the Fire Nation navy, which, for the most part, kept far away from these waters.
This was good news for me because I had little desire to go hunting for stragglers.
I was already slightly sick of what I was about to do.
We arrived at our destination some two days later, and when I emerged into the dark of the night, I was surprised at the size of the cove the pirates had found for themselves. It was a rather large inward scoop of water with many wooden buildings set about, illuminated by the light of a multitude of lanterns and fires. The Pirates talked and laughed among themselves, seeming already incredibly drunk this late in the night. The lights glimmered in the night air, and I saw the Pirates that had been aboard my ship already among their number, enjoying their time ashore.
Some twelve ships sat about the cover with a little less than a hundred pirates, judging by the heat presences I could sense. Likely, some earth and water benders were also among their number, though the documents the captain had kept hadn't been clear on that front.
Still, I would make no assumptions; this strike would end the Pirate threat in the North, and there would be no stragglers to report back.
I found the sentries first, posted about the decks of the ships to make sure no one made off with either ship or not yet dispersed haul.
Their bodies disappeared into the depths of the ocean in short order.
Then I disabled the rudder and sails of every ship but one, cutting through their ropes except the ship I had come on.
The pirates were ill-prepared to stop any of this. If there were to be an attack, they expected a large number of people. What kind of madman would take on their might without a comparable force?
The madman crept to the center of the building and took a deep breath. I breathed deeply for a couple of moments, my still injured lungs forced into use, creating a candle within me to which I fed all my feelings until I was nothing but an object surrounded by my objectives, my chi filtering out of me to connect with every fire within the cove.
I took another deep breath and then blew out, and with that exhalation, every light surrounding me blinked out, encompassing the world in darkness to be looked on by the pitiless night sky.
There were screams and cries, desperate fumbling to reignite their lights, but within this cove, no sparks found purchase.
Fire was life, and it was not going to be the last life to be extinguished tonight.
I swept into the bar first, slipping through the doorway as barely a whisper, my eyes glowed golden from the fire channeled through them, overcoming the blue color I had made them and showing the room as it was lit in the light of brightest day.
The first pirates that fell went unnoticed in the confusion and panic.
Yet when one pirate stepped in something sticky, warm, and bent down, he finally seemed to notice the true gravity of their situation, "Li's dead!" he cried out, which was all the time he had before his cry was cut off, choked as I stabbed him clean through the chest.
The pirates within the bar cried out, attempting to stumble toward the exit, but none of them made it far, tripping and running into each other, even as my swords sang their song, silencing the flickering lightning within their hearts that kept them moving.
What I was doing wasn't combat, it was cutting the chaff.
I didn't need my firebending now, in the dark, without their eyesight, there was nothing these men could do to stop me.
I sliced and cut, ending life after life, moving throughout the cove, locating each pirate unerringly by the flickering of the lightning within their hearts.
They panicked and screamed into the night, some of them begged for mercy, but the guilt I felt was merely fed into the flame in my mind.
The fear among the pirates reached peak fervor, and they started slashing around them with their weapons to ward off their death. Attempted to crush their doom with earthbending. Desperately they tried to cut through their shadowed enemy with waterbending. All they succeeded in doing was cutting down their own comrades, easing my work for me.
I flew through the settlement stronger and faster than anything these men had ever encountered.
Man after man went down before me, the earth shook, and water lashed out through the crowd with no real direction to it.
The soil became more and more soaked in red, and now some of the remaining pirates pleaded for their lives, some begged for the spirits to save them, but I did not stop until I felt no more flickering of lightning.
I swung my swords, flicking the blood off them, before I sheathed the blades.
I opened my palm, generating a small golden fire to survey my surroundings.
Piles of red, soaked bodies lay spread across the ground, and my stomach turned, but I did not look away.
I had ended these lives; it was my responsibility to acknowledge what had occurred.
My night's work was not yet over, I sighed and began to move towards the buildings to begin my search for the pirate's coin and treasure.
I worked through the night, first locating all of their treasure and allocating it to the ship I had come in on.
Then I had set the remaining ships alight after pouring out barrels of lantern oil on them, before I began to pile the pirates' bodies together within the buildings after I had searched the remaining buildings for any stored treasure, loading the remaining ship fully.
The bodies and buildings, too, were promptly set ablaze.
I stood before the burning buildings and kneeled, taking two incense sticks and setting them alight with the touch of my fingers before sticking them in the ground.
I sat for a long time praying to the spirits, not focusing my prayers on any one specific party, but all of them more or less equally.
To Tui and La, to carry the spirits of the victims of the pirates to their next lives.
To Oma and Shu for the blood and bodies I had spread across their soil.
To Agni for his forgiveness for the violence I had wrought, fueled in part by his gifts.
It was hard not to be spiritual in a world where you knew the spirits coexisted with humans. Knowing the sins of my own bloodline, the failure of Avatar Roku, the atrocities committed by Fire Lord Sozin, the war perpetuated through Azulon, and the worsening of it by Ozai, respectively.
For a strange moment, I felt my surroundings flicker in the pale moonlight shining down, and something cool draped over me soothingly, the water lapped up the beach just the slightest bit more.
Then the moment was gone.
I blinked, confused, but then refocused on my prayers, yet unable to shake the feeling of confusion, something had just happened.
Not till the sun's rays flickered weakly onto my surroundings did I open my eyes again, taking a deep breath.
The port was a smoking ruin, the buildings nothing but burnt blackened carcasses, filled with the equally burnt and blackened remains of the pirates who had lived within.
Smoke trailed lazily through the sky, and I took a deep breath.
Perhaps there was something wrong with me; the first time I had taken a life had been gut-wrenching, now all I felt was a fading guilt and a larger relief that no one else would be harmed by these pirates.
Or perhaps that was the adaptive mechanism that all humans had to have to live kicking in.
I stood up and began making my way back to the single remaining ship.
These ships were not meant to be crewed by one person, yet I managed with sufficient application of chi, though I found little time to sleep and subsisted mostly on meditation on the deck of the ship.
My voyage back to the North Pole was interrupted near its end by a Northern Water Tribe patrol boat that had approached my ship with haste from across the waves.
They sent lines of ice through the waves, stopping my boat, and warriors leaped aboard, only to freeze as they saw my lone figure on the deck. My water tribe's clothes had marked dark stains on them, which could be nothing but blood that I had been unable to purge from the cloth.
I waved, giving them a friendly smile, "Hello! Hakoda here!"
Master Pakku had seen much in his long life, and that experience generally gave him confidence in the decisions he made, and more and more, he found himself unwilling to be swayed by others' arguments.
Still, even he was a little unsure about sending Hakoda to deal with the pirates by himself. He gave no outward indication of said feelings but he had already heard the rumors.
That he had recklessly thrown the life of a water tribe boy away to make a point.
Yet 'Hakoda', if that really was the boy's name, had seemed entirely confident that he could handle them, and so against his better judgment, he had taken a risk.
This hadn't stopped him from having training with his students along the edge of Agna Qel'a, so that regardless of the news, he would be among the first to hear.
That was why he was one of the first to spot, or more appropriately, feel the ships approaching across the water, a number of Water Tribe patrol ships, and something else.
He turned from his students, looking over the ice and blue waves to see movement along the ice and water, the typical water tribe patrol ships moving alongside what was most definitely a wooden pirate ship, its broad sails pushing it across the waves.
The ships approached closer and closer until he was finally able to make out the people on the deck, two waterbenders encouraging the ship onward with strokes of their arms, and steering the ship with a lazy hand on a wheel was Hakoda, his water tribe blues no longer visible the cloth stained almost entirely dark.
Unwilling, Master Pakku's lips twitched upward, a smirk spreading across his face, "Tui and La boy," the words half relief, half astonishment.
Master Pakku made his way sedately down to the locks that let in ships, his face impassive as he stood by one of the docks as what to his eyes looked like a pirate ship was led into dock by waterbenders.
A plank was extended downward, and the waterbenders on board walked off, followed by Hakoda holding a massive chest in his arms, he came to a stop in front of Master Pakku his head bowing slightly showing the respect reserved for the master of an art, and then calmly looked up, waiting for Master Pakku to speak first, as was polite.
"What have you brought back, Hakoda?" Pakku asked, suppressing a smirk on his face.
Hakoda lowered his head politely but not in an obsequious or subservient manner, "The contents of value from the pirate's horde," then he shrugged, "And I suppose their last ship."
"And the pirates?"
Hakoda's lips twitched, and the boy frowned, looking awfully young to Master Pakku's eyes, "They're finished," he said shortly.
Master Pakku frowned down at the boy, "How many escaped?" he asked a moment of concern passing through him.
Hakoda raised a brow at him, his blue eyes piercing him, at this range, there seemed to be something odd to them that Master Pakku could not place, "I knew what was at stake. None left the cove they were in, all of their ships except the one I came on were sunk."
Master Pakku examined the boy, his lips twisting in a small frown, that was… unexpected.
He took another look at the boy's clothing, taking in the stains on his clothing, stains so widespread that the clothing itself may as well have shifted to another color, the faintest remnants of a red tinge to the deep black stains.
He didn't know what seized him at that moment, he had never felt anything resembling a paternal instinct but looking down at the boy right now, something tugged at his heart.
He reached out a hand and pressed it gently to the boy's shoulder, "You did what you had to do," he said firmly, "Let me take you to Arnook."
I stood next to Master Pakku in the grand hall, where the first meeting he had attended took place in, now minus most of the members of the tribe so there were some assembled looking on in interest.
Chief Arnook walked in, his face set in a grave mask, disturbed by a quirked brow as he saw the pair of us.
I took note that his eyes lingered on my obviously blood-soaked clothing and the massive chest in my arms.
I bowed my head slightly and kneeled to the ground, placing the chest on the ice before I opened it, revealing the pile of gold within the chest.
"What is this?" Chief Arnook asked with his face unchanged.
I looked back firmly at the Chief, "A small portion of the contents of the pirates horde, the rest is still on the ship I brought back. I present them all to the tribe as I said I would."
"And the pirates?" Chief Arnook's eyes lingered upon my clothing.
"Dealt with, they'll no longer trouble anyone," I said, simply feeling my gut turn, but keeping the feeling from my face.
Chief Arnook's eyes gleamed as he looked at me, something interested in his eyes, "I admit myself impressed. You must be quite the warrior."
I humbly bowed my head as expected of my social station, "Your words do me too much credit."
Chief Arnook's lips quirked downward in a frown and shook his head, his dark hair shaking with the motion, "No, I actually believe my words do you too little. Few warriors of our tribe would be able to take on so many enemies. To return unharmed and with all spoils offered to the tribe…"
His eyes met Master Pakku's, and something was exchanged between them.
"You deserve a reward," Chief Arnook said, nodding to himself. "What request would you have of the tribe?"
There was a ripple through the other assembled water tribesmen, but the whispers were small and limited as they looked onto the proceedings with interest.
I frowned, meeting the Chief's eyes directly, "I only did as I said I would. It would be unbecoming to ask for a reward after you put my faith in me."
The setup. I couldn't immediately accept a reward, or it would make me look self-interested.
Chief Arnook shook his head, though I saw a small glimmer of interest as if he had not expected me to play the game correctly, "I must insist. You have done the tribe a great service. Our trade routes will no longer be plagued with danger. Our coffers will be all the fuller from your free offering. I must give you something."
A second firm offer, but also one I knew I should not accept.
"I only wished to serve the people," I said softly, keeping my form upright and my eyes straight ahead as I spoke, "A gift for an expected duty would be wrong."
A subtle hint to inform the Chief of what he should present me. I imagined it would be a home within the citadel or some position within the tribe.
I could hear the soft murmurs of approval within the surrounding tribesmen, my highly trained hearing easily picking their soft words apart.
"Very well," Chief Arnook sighed, looking reluctant as was expected of him, "The very least I can offer you is-" he stopped, an expression of absolute shock passing onto his face as he looked at me.
For a moment, I didn't understand why before I realized that the very air around me had taken on a bright white gleam as if I was standing in a beam of moonlight, yet there was no source for the light.
Pakku also looked shocked, murmuring one word, "Tui," he said simply.
Shock filled me, and I gently raised a palm upward, watching the beam of moonlight play off my skin.
For several long minutes, the beam shone down on me before it slowly began to fade, though the new silence remained within the hall.
I felt off kilter, glancing to the side at Master Pakku, this hadn't been in my plan at all.
For now, I didn't say anything, waiting for the others around me to act first.
Chief Arnook was the one who broke the silence of the room, "Tui has spoken," he said softly, gazing at me with a far stranger look than he had before, "The moon spirit has blessed you."
Rapidly, I tried to calculate what had just happened in my brain. This didn't make sense. This wasn't in my calculations whatsoever. I was a child of Agni, getting blessed by the moon spirit… and for what reason?
I believed in the spirits, and right now I believed that several were laughing.
Master Pakku was the next one who spoke, "Perhaps it would be best to deal with these goings on a new day," he said simply.
Chief Arnook nodded slowly, "Yes, that sounds appropriate," he said, sounding thunderstruck.
Well, that was a good enough plan for me.
I set the chest I was carrying down and made a short bow, "I will take my leave then," I said softly before I turned to exit the palace, followed shortly after by Master Pakku.
We walked through the city till we had made our way to the edge of the walls, and I noted that the nearest presence of heat was quite some distance away. I glanced at Master Pakku, who looked off over the water, something complicated in his expression.
Hating the unsurety in my own tone, I spoke quietly, "How bad is it?"
Master Pakku glanced at me and something wry twisted his lips before he gestured smoothly, drawing ice from the ground, creating an instant mirrored surface in front of me, showing me my own face.
I glanced confused at the mirror, seeing my currently changed eyes in their strange blue color, set in my usual face, with a mess of black hair atop my head.
Except all of it wasn't black anymore.
Now, a chunk of my hair had changed to a brilliant white, and looking at it, I could easily see the shimmer of spiritual energies surrounding it.
"Oh fuck."
Where before I had been underneath the notice of Agna Qel'a, now it was difficult to walk the streets without the gazes of the citizens landing upon me, the streak of white hair, indicating exactly who I was with unerring accuracy.
I couldn't help but think I perhaps should not have prayed to the spirits as much as I had.
"This wouldn't have happened to Iroh," I muttered, petulantly kicking some ice in the training ground I had greeted the sun in.
Even as I muttered the words, I knew them to be false. I remembered checking Iroh's chi and feeling the touch of something greater within it when he had returned.
It was hard to tell with my own chi, but I was sure I now likely had a similar mark upon me, if not greater. I didn't think Iroh had encountered a great spirit as I had.
I settled myself on the ground, the blues of my newly purchased outfit gently contrasting against the ice and snow I sat on.
I felt the heat signatures of the boys walking into the training grounds before I saw them.
Some minutes later, Hahn walked into the training ground, his spear held lazily across his back, surrounded by several other youths.
I felt his eyes land on me and noticed the stiffening of his body even as I sat meditatively with a scroll before me.
"It's the outsider," I heard one of them murmur to Hahn.
"Should we approach him?" another asked, and I could hear the nervousness in his tone.
"You're joking," another one scoffed, "They say he slew a hundred pirates by himself. He met personally with the Chief, who offered him a boon."
Hahn snorted derisively, "I seriously doubt it, he's just a boy with no place in the tribe. They're probably keeping him around out of some misplaced form of pity. No one could slay so many pirates by themselves."
He took a couple of steps forward, "You there! Hakoda right? What say you to a spar?"
Faced as I was away from them, I was able to roll my eyes at the obviousness of the boy, his fragile masculinity had been damaged, therefore he was challenging the source.
"I'm not interested," I said. I couldn't practice my firebending amongst those here in the North Pole, but the least I could do was meditate on my inner flame, stoking it through my limbs.
I heard the whistle through the air and sighed, my head tilting to the side, and my hand shooting up, catching the thrown spear as it cleaved through the space my head would've been.
Perhaps a more damaged and fragile masculinity than I had expected.
I smoothly rose to my feet, turning to face the assembled boys, taking note of the unsure expressions and shock on the other boys' faces and the leer on Hahn's face.
"You throw these things around so recklessly, you might poke someone's eyes out with them," I tapped the shaft of the spear meaningfully.
"Scared?" Hahn asked with a fierce grin on his face.
I looked at the assembled warriors and then snorted dryly, "Of you? I don't think so."
"How about a spar, then?" Hahn asked, grinning fiercely.
I eyed a particular icy building, feeling the familiar hidden heat within it with amusement.
"Who am I to gainsay an educational moment?" I sighed, not looking forward to the coming moments in the least.
Hahn sprinted forward, demonstrating his chi was at least slightly trained as he covered the distance in mere moments.
His bone machete swept outward, aiming a blunt force blow at my side; I slapped his own hand to the side, sending his bone machete skittering away, before I spun my newly obtained spear like a staff, clubbing him across the face.
The shaft of the spear snapped instantly from the sheer force I had generated, and Hahn dropped like a rock, knocked completely unconscious.
I blinked, looking down at the boy. I wasn't sure what I had expected, but I at least had assumed he would put up more of a fight than that.
I looked up at the other boys who were staring at me in astonishment, and I felt a little bad. "Uh, to be clear, I kind of expected him to put up more of a fight than that, you guys want to fight too, or…" I scratched the back of my head awkwardly.
The boys glanced at each other before one of them, seemingly elected by silent agreement, spoke, "Uh, we're good, we'll just take him from here, alright?"
I nodded and watched as two of them walked up and picked up Hahn's limp body before carrying him away.
When the water tribe boys were out of sight, I turned to the wall and sighed, "You could have helped," I said petulantly, the course of the last two days had worn on my nerves considerably.
The ice next to me slid apart, and Master Pakku stepped out, his face stern as ever, though I could have sworn his eyes were twinkling in amusement.
"You seemed to have things under control," he shrugged noncommittally.
I sighed, shaking my head, though I had to restrain my lips from twitching upward in amusement, "I assume since you're here, you have something to say?"
Master Pakku glanced at me, interest filtering through his gaze, "You're remarkably less polite than usual," he said, his tone mild though not reproving.
I grimaced, shaking my head, "I'm sorry, just a lot on my mind."
"I imagine," Pakku murmured, "Chief Arnook has asked for your presence and he would be honored if you could attend."
"Those were his words?" I grimaced.
Master Pakku's lips twitched, seemingly forcing himself not to smile, "I do believe they were actually slightly more effusive."
I sighed but nodded regardless, "Let's go then."
This time we met in a far smaller private room in the palace, only Chief Arnook, and an older woman were also there.
We stepped into the room, and I bowed my head to Chief Arnook and then, for good measure, the older woman.
To my astonishment, both of them returned the bow, and the unsettled feeling in my gut increased in pitch
I sat down lotus style across from them, and Master Pakku took a seat to my side.
"Well, Yagoda?" Master Pakku began the discussion with his typical bluntness.
The older, grey-haired woman gazed at me with a soft look in her blue eyes, "You are correct, Master Pakku, the spirits have touched this man."
Chief Arnook seemed to minutely shift in his seat uncomfortably, and I was surprised the man allowed himself that much motion. "So what does it mean?" he asked, looking at the two water benders, but there was something knowing in his gaze as if a discussion had already been had.
"What did it mean when Tui saved your daughter?" the woman remarked in a reproving tone in her voice, the words sounding like they had been said before, "You know better, Chief Arnook, it means the spirits have a plan for this young man, that he is here with us for a reason."
"But what reason?" Chief Arnook asked, and I noted the tone as one that was almost resigned.
The woman sighed and shook her head before she looked at me with a soft smile, "My name is Yagoda, and I am a waterbending healer in the tribe. Would you let me examine you?"
I blinked at the non-sequitur and I hid a wince at the question; there was still damage in my chest that I had no doubt she would become aware of if I was examined. On the other hand, I wasn't sure I could refuse.
"Forgive my impudence, but why?" I asked politely as I could.
"Master Pakku told us that you grew up in the Earth Kingdom and that your mother left when you were young, only telling you that your father was of the water tribes," Yagoda said, reiterating the story I had crafted.
I nodded slowly, wondering where this story could be going.
"I believe it is not a coincidence that you have arrived here, more than that, your blessing by the moon spirit is apparent to anyone with eyes. Given these circumstances, we must decide how to move forward. All I will do is confirm with my waterbending what I can already see."
Well, unless I blasted through one of the walls, it seemed that I wasn't getting out of this.
"Alright," I sighed.
Yagoda drew water from a bowl beside her and reached out, pressing the water to my head gently, and the water glowed gently.
She hummed in thought and then drew back her blue eyes, examining me again, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"Tui's touch is not overly deep as compared to your daughter, but it is significant," she finally said, "I agree with Pakku."
Chief Arnook looked between the two waterbenders before sighing, nodding, and turning to look at me, "In discussion with Master Pakku and Yagoda, I have decided what I shall offer you, in recognition of your feats as a warrior, seeing your favor in the eyes of the spirits, I offer you my daughter in matrimony."
I should have blasted through one of the walls, I thought ruefully to myself.
Worse, I recognized that this was the ultimate final gift to be offered to me, which meant, under the rules of social proceedings in the Northern Water Tribes, I was expected to accept.
Northern Water Tribe marriages were not so different than Fire Nation Royalty marriages, at least in that our partners were often chosen for us with only nominal input.
Several considerations were usually taken into account in the Fire Nation, but the main focus was usually on the power of the bending bloodlines involved. Intermarriage between royalty was not so uncommon then, especially when there were two comparable potential heirs. Uniting them together simplified the politics and enhanced the potential power of the children.
To my admitted surprise, in the records, there seemed to be no indication of genetic problems from such occurrences.
But I realized I had let my thoughts wander too much, and I was really not a fan of the idea of an arranged marriage, for numerous reasons.
"I-" I hesitated, blunt denial did not seem like a good strategy, Chief Arnook was my social better, perhaps the time was to downplay my own worth, "I'm a parentless child, who is here to seek my fortune adrift from all others, I do not believe I am worthy of such an honor."
"That is not relevant to our decision," Chief Arnook shook his head, "The Northern Water Tribe honors the spirits of Tui and La above all others. Your blessing by Tui seals the fact that no other would be better suited for my daughter. There is no debate surrounding the fact. You are spirit touched just as she is."
Spirit touched, just as my Uncle Iroh had been, though I thought with a faintest hint of dry amusement, I don't think it had been Tui who interacted with my Uncle.
Either way, I was once again flummoxed as my plans disappeared in flames, or maybe more appropriately, were crushed and sunk by an iceberg.
I suppose I could just reveal my true heritage right now and cause this plan to explode. After all, it would be crazy to marry the Princess of the Northern Water Tribe to a Prince of the Fire Nation.
Yet that would destroy my plans even more than they had been.
So I guess it was plan B.
I allowed my expression to shift to one of discomfort and worry, "Would it be possible to at least meet and get to know your daughter first?"
Chief Arnook stroked his beard, his eyes piercing into me, and I hid a wince as I realized that he may have seen more of my reasoning than I intended. A normal boy should likely have agreed to marry a Princess if only to increase his social standing.
"I suppose," Chief Arnook hedged, "I admit that is not the response I expected."
"Forgive my impudence, Chief Arnook," I bowed my head slightly, "But why?"
Chief Arnook shrugged his face still relatively impassive, "Not to overstate the matter, but I believe any boy of our tribe not already engaged, perhaps even some of those who are engaged at that, would seize my offer instantly."
That was… kind of screwed up actually. This wasn't ostrich horse trading. I mean, this poor girl was, wasn't even in the room!
I immediately checked my thoughts; that was dangerously arrogant letting my own preconceptions override a current cultural understanding.
Marriage was a different thing for nobles and royalty; sometimes I forgot that, despite the fact that my own mother had been a marriage based simply on bloodline.
I realized I was getting too lost in my own thoughts, I slipped an apologetic smile onto my face, "Then if it is not too much trouble, I would like to meet her. I will give you my decision in two weeks."
Chief Arnook looked at me for a long moment, his natural deep blue eyes piercing my own fake ones, before he nodded once, "So it is said, so it is done."
He reached a hand across to me and I took it, shaking it firmly as was Water Tribe tradition when deals were sealed.
We rose together and exited the room. Chief Arnook turned to one of the guards nearby, "Fetch the Princess, please." The guard nodded his curious gaze trailing over us before he turned to walk away.
Standing behind them, I prepared my game face, I just had to actively make this girl dislike me as much as possible while not being rude about it. Then I would tell Chief Arnook we were incompatible.
Problem solved, total success for plan B.
Already planning my self-anointed accolades, I turned around as I noted two new heat signatures approaching.
The guard had reappeared, followed by someone who I couldn't see quite clearly behind him a bit shorter than me, draped in blue water tribe robes.
They arrived, and the guard moved to the side, giving me my first look at the Water Tribe Princess.
The first thing I noticed as cliché was it sounded was gorgeous white hair draped about her in long braids, she had darked tanned skin set against dark blue eyes that looked like the depths of the ocean, her features were objectively pretty, yet her face was passive, no smile, nothing on it to indicate her feelings.
Facial expressions weren't my only way to determine others emotions though. I noted the small flushes of heat within her indicating a slightly more rapid heart rate than usual.
Her blue eyes flicked to Chief Arnook, "Father," she said softly, "I was informed I was needed?" A small questioning note ended the statement.
Chief Arnook stepped to the side and gestured to me with his arm, "I would like you to meet Hakoda, a warrior from outside the North Pole, I'd like for you too to get to know each other."
"Of course, Father," she bowed her head before turning to look at me, "It's my pleasure to meet you, Hakoda. My name is Yue."
I was too trained in courtly mannerisms to grimace, but it was a near thing as I bowed lower than her as was appropriate, "It's an honor to make your acquaintance, Princess Yue."
Chief Arnook looked somewhat pleased at our introductions, though it was only a faint tell at the corner of his eyes that informed me as such. "I hope you will both take the time necessary to get acquainted with each other," he turned to Master Pakku and Yagoda, "Let us adjourn for now, then," he turned to walk away.
Master Pakku looked stiffly between the two of us before he pressed a firm hand to my shoulder, "I will see you later Hakoda," he said simply.
Yagoda nodded with a small, kind smile on her face at the two of us, "You will be dismissed from your lessons today Princess Yue," she said softly, before she gave me a look and I noted the faint edges of concern in her eyes, she leaned in and murmured softly, "If you find that wound on your chest overly troublesome I will take a look at it."
I hid a wince realizing that she had indeed noticed the damage, but nodded regardless, "Thank you," I murmured softly.
The chances of my doing so, I privately thought, were about as good as Uncle Iroh swearing off tea altogether.
She left, leaving me relatively alone with Yue, except for the guard that was behind her.
How did engagement meetings work in the Water Tribe? I had never bothered to research as such.
Yue seemed to be waiting for me to do something, which is not surprising given the comparatively passive role Northern Water Tribe women were supposed to take in their society. However, I definitely found this discomforting.
"Uh," I coughed slightly on the back of my palm, wincing as I felt the hot, wet trickle of blood on it.
My lungs were acting up again.
"Is there something you like to do for fun?" I asked awkwardly before realizing that if I was trying to make the girl dislike me that wasn't the right move, damn my lessons in propriety.
Yue blinked, looking at me as if I were a particularly strange animal combination she had never heard of or seen before me, "I spend my time studying healing under Master Yagoda and practicing my poetry."
Neither of those things sounded like what one did for fun, but who was I to judge? Either way, none of those were exactly a group activity.
"Perhaps you could show me around the city?" I suggested weakly.
Yue nodded obsequiously, which really was odd considering she was the Princess.
I had made a resolution to make this girl actively dislike me, but as they say, no plan survives first contact with the enemy.
It was difficult to tell what Yue liked or disliked, spirits. If I couldn't sense the heat within her, I would sometimes wonder if she was even there.
We walked side by side through the city. I was acutely aware of the sounds and motions of other people, but Yue kept her head down as she walked beside me.
Despite what I had suggested that she show me the city, the girl had barely said more than two words since we had left the palace.
I couldn't take this.
"Is this really how people in the Northern Water Tribe get to know each other?" I said dryly as we stood on a bridge positioned away from anyone nearby.
I wasn't looking at her, but I felt the flinch that occurred as I said this. For a long moment, she was silent before finally she spoke.
"My Father has said you are a great warrior, it is not my place," the words were soft, her voice effervescent on the air, but there was little life to them.
It seemed that the façade I put on could be pierced because those words caused me to physically huff, taking a great deep sigh of the air before I coughed again, covering my mouth, feeling another splat of warm liquid.
"It's not something to take pride in," I sighed, for once deciding to be fully honest, at least for now, maybe she would get the hint that I wasn't anything she was looking for, at least if warriors like Hahn were here, speed. "Wars do not make one great."
She blinked, and for the first time, a small considering expression emerged on her face as she looked at me.
"You defeated the pirates plaguing our trade single-handedly. How does that not translate to your greatness?"
It was such an honest question, something perhaps Azula would have asked, that my response came before I really thought about it.
"The capacity for violence could be an admirable trait to some people," I hedged, "Yet it can only do so much; this world has been at war for nigh one hundred years, yet I don't think there are many who would say we are better for it."
"Would the Fire Nation say as such?" Yue asked, but the question was challenging, unlike the girl so far, I turned to meet her eyes curiously.
Her pure blue eyes examined me just as they had before, but there was a spark now, something beyond the placidity that had been there before, something approaching interest.
"I doubt the Fire Lord would," I inclined slightly, acknowledging the point, "Yet the common people… How many sons and daughters need be spent for ambition's sake?"
"And daughters?" Yue asked, "Woman fight in the Fire Nation military?"
I blinked, surprised at the change of topic, "They do," I said simply.
There was now definite life in those eyes, interest.
I was unable to stop my next question: "You're interested in being able to fight, aren't you?"
Yue's eyes quickly averred from mine, looking away, but I had seen my question strike home, "It would be improper," she said softly, but the words were weak, a barely there deflection.
I was aware of the customs in the Northern Water Tribe, female waterbenders were only taught healing, disallowed from being taught the ability to use their element in combat.
Yet I personally thought the crime was greater.
The stances and forms one uses while manipulating their element allow you to chase the nature and feeling of your chi, your self. Dictating how one could use their element was proscribing a vital form of self-expression.
A thought occurred, I had been focused on making Yue despise me, but wasn't it her father who was set on our matchmaking?
I had studied the forms waterbenders used…
Breaking a big rule of the Northern Water Tribe seemed like an excellent way to eliminate this engagement. Any fallout I could deal with later.
"Stand up straight," I said dropping into the way I usually taught Azula.
Yue blinked her eyes, widening even as she straightened seemingly reflexively, "What?" she asked.
"Feet apart, relax your stance, you flow with your element," I said, shifting my own body to demonstrate the correct position.
Yue hesitated but then slowly shifted as indicated, though I noted it wasn't quite right.
Falling into old patterns I had with Azula, I stepped forward, lightly nudging her feet further apart with my own foot while steadying her with another hand, shifting her spine into the correct alignment.
I noted an uptake in heat pumping through her body at the motion, as for some reason she seemed to be flushing, but I dismissed it for now, too focused on teaching a potential student.
"There," I said simply, "That feels right, doesn't it?"
Yue hesitated for a moment, but then her words came back stronger: "It does, actually. I feel like I'm centered yet could move if I needed to."
"That's how it should feel," I smiled, "Now reach out for the water below and draw it back, it's a reeling movement, your pulling but at the same time letting your own motion's feedback push you."
Yue hesitated, but I could see a glimmer of excitement in her eyes, and she firmed up her stance and then shifted as I demonstrated, and the water below the bridge shifted, pulling up into a moderate-sized orb in the air.
I noted she was about to drop out of her stance and frowned, "No, keep moving, water follows your movements, complete the motion with a circle, like this," I shifted with her, demonstrating the movement slowly.
The orb shifted, traveling through space like a moon rotating around a planet, before Yue finished the movement, launching the glob of water back into the stream with a small splash.
"I did it!" she exclaimed, and the first real smile I had seen on her face appeared. She grinned broadly and happily bouncing up and down, which even with the clothing she wore was a bit much for my hormones, so I quickly averted my eyes.
She turned to me, "How did you know how to do that? Are you a waterbender as well?"
Ah shit.
"No, I'm not a waterbender," I gave her a grin that felt overly sheepish, "I've studied all different types of bending though. Chi flow actually applies to martial abilities as well, even without bending."
Not the whole truth by a long shot, but it was enough for now.
Yue nodded, her grin still wide on her face, making her look exceptionally pretty, "Can you teach me more?" she asked, her words seemed shy again now, but in a different way, this was more natural, less of the previous cool, withdrawn exterior.
I guessed now was the perfect time to go back to the original plan of making her hate me, but my heart ached at the thought. Yue looked so happy right now just like Azula, Ty Lee, or even to an extent Mai would be like when I spent time with them back home.
"If that's what you want," I gave the girl a soft smile.
The expression on her face somehow eased the pain that I still felt in my chest.