The snow fell the day I was born. At least that's what Dad said. They named me Ko, which is right after Ice and I was really small and weak, they were worried I wouldn't last the night but here I am. Now, Dad looks at me across the way, his cool blue eyes meeting my dark blue. I'm soaked and tired. He's burly and more muscular than I could ever be. His coat's a gray n' blue furred style, his long dark hair tied back from his face, a little beard on his face. Dad's been trying to get me to be a great Waterbender like he is. Ever since I could walk he's tried.
"Gah! I can't get it! I tried! I tried but I can't!" I yell out, just to him and not at him. He puts his warm glove on my soaked face. Smiling at me with his wrinkles crinkling a bit. He's always been strong and it's just not fair.
"Ko, look at me." he ruffles my hair, "You're still new at this. You won't always get it the first time." he helps me onto my feet and takes his stance. His hair billowing along with his flowing movements.
"See, with Waterbending, you have to flow as Water does. But we need to find a way to work with your problem." he dances along, the flowing movements calling a snake of water to flow between his hands, it works gently, swirling with his body.
His fingers dance with the water, his arms gently flow along with it, and there's a moment when I know it's all beautiful in the sunlight, glittering and pretty, the snake shape flowin' into a ball. I know what's comin' now.
"Alright, your turn. Flow with it, kid." He gently tosses it my way and I close my eyes, holding out my hand, the water stops, almost scared, the ball shakin', but I start. My arms flow the best they can, eyes closed and focusin' on the movements.
Steady… steady… gently… they're shaky, but I hear it goin'. It's still lettin' go of some of its water.
Dad's voice rises, "There we go, Ko! That's it!"
I open my eyes, and my movements keep going, "Dad, I'm doing it! I'm-" right as I get excited, it all falls apart. The water ball splashes down onto the ice, and just before Dad could react there's an intense burnin' in my chest before flames burst outta my mouth an' I'm punchin' the air.
Flames burst outta my fists too, and I fall on my butt. Dad gawks at me before running to me and scooping me into his arms, "Ko… kiddo, it's okay." he soothes, and my Mom comes running out of our home.
Her dark hair and lighter blue eyes seem to be snappin' around like she's trying to find out what the big woosh was.
"Honos! What did you do?!" she snaps.
"Nothing, Yosih! Just… Ko, just… show your mother?" he motions for the wall sconces are still flickering and burning but when I lift my hands they end up… WHOA! Mom also gawks up at the torches standing at attention.
They shine brightly, flaring up at my motions and down with them too.
She looks at me, and then at Dad, "Honos…"
"I know. Get everything ready." he holds me a little tighter. It's the first time I've ever seen him this serious in my life. They start packing everything they can, shoving it all into a sledge pulled by our Narwhalseal. He blubbers out a sigh and Dad pats him.
"I know, I know, we're moving again." he huffs.
"Wait, what do you guys mean 'again?' Did I-" Mom cuts me off by kneeling and placing her hands on my shoulders.
"Honey, people might be after you, so we're moving to protect you." She smiles and kisses me on the forehead, "It's not your fault." I clench the bone staff Dad gave me. Not my fault, huh? Over the years, Mom would keep saying that.
People I never get to see, it's not my fault we left. The same snowfields out in the middle of nowhere, no one around, what is Dad running from?
What are we running from?
Dad and Mom run around like chicken-turkeys with their heads cut off when it comes to things I do.
"The Platypus Bears are really bringing the heat now!" The radio roars with cheers as I try to contain my excitement. There's no way I can miss this! The radio's light starts to dim, but the signal still goes strong even now.
Come on… come on…
"And they gain more terr- it- or…" It winded out. With a sigh, I grab the crank and start turning, the constant clicking and catching of the machine starting to wake the sleeping giant that's my Dad. He rises from his area and grips my shoulder.
"Outside. Now." he snaps, his tone short and his voice even more harsh than it usually is. He grabs his clubs, real nasty numbers made of simple metal and bone, crafted by hand to be absolutely devastating in his hands.
I march outside, taking off my coat with a shaky breath. He always has me shirtless when I'm training, so I could 'get used to the cold'... I was born in it, same as him. So I don't get it.
He and I head towards an arena he hewed out of the ice and snow, just a simple set of lines where we'd play catch or duel each other staff to clubs. Today was both and he whips some water my way, my hand reaching out weak as anything to catch it.
It stalls, wobbles, and splashes down. Dad letting out a click of the teeth.
"Again, Ko!" Dad yells, and the water swirls around me. Gently dancing along with my staff, my eyes closed, remembering all the other times we ran. A neighbor found out once, Dad had shoved him down with some water, scooped me up, and ran away. Another time we snuck into the Northern Pole to visit Mom's parents, they almost sold us out if not for Mom gettin' us away.
Both of those had us end up here. Nowhere special, out in the snowfields where nobody went. Where I'm still wet n' tired trying to bend Water, but at least with my fire we have an easy way to keep warm. The water I'm bendin' swirls along with my movement. The same gut feeling creeps into me, twisting around me like a clenched fist. My staff swirls with the water, My feet wobble but the water stays steady with my staff.
I almost think I'm in a stadium, burning lights sear into the padded armor and the announcer calling out, "And here he is, folks! The Avatar!" dreaming of me wielding water against other people than just my dad for fame and glory, to become something! When I twirl it, it follows, and then Dad lashes out, his club passing just by my face but I meet him in the middle quick with a staff strike, our weapons clash and shove off. Motions whirl and I just barely whiff the next blow.
Dad doesn't even flinch, ramming me with his body before I get my staff knocked out of my hands. I try to scramble for it but he stands in my way.
"Stand up, Ko." he says, "A warrior must not have any blatant weaknesses." he looks down at me with a knowing smile. At least I think it is, sometimes Dad's confusing like that. Slowly getting myself onto one knee, there's a moment where everything slows down.
Dad's clubs come screaming towards me, and I dodge by just a hair, my hair getting nicked. Rolling back into the snow, Dad looms over me with a glare. I knew what he was going to do…
This was training. Dad keeps raging towards me, kicking my staff back towards the water each time I got hit. The clubs aren't padded so my arms and legs almost want to quit while they're ahead. Each hit smacks me back, hard and fast like there's no weight to it at all. He doesn't add ice to it, thanks to him, because that's a whole nother can of- A heavy smack and I'm fuzzing out. He's still coming for me.
Dodging, trying to weave through the hits to get it back, it teeters on the edge of the ice just over the water. Dad's harsh expression never leaves his face and it's makin' me shake just thinking about how much this is all gonna hurt. With one mighty, mighty swing he whirls towards me with a wave of water coming towards me. Bracing myself, there's not even a second or so to lose. Then… all of me is cold, wet seeping into my coat and clothing.
But I have my staff. That's all I really need. Holding it tight, looking up at the sun shining through the water. It's quiet, my bruises and bumps dull and throbbing but the cold helps. Dad goes over the side, his muscly arms wrap tight around me and he kicks both of us to the surface. Coughing and gasping, sudden air sharp and cold stabs my lungs.
He dumps me back onto the ice and snow like a sack of potatoes. His harsh eyes narrowed in disappointment. It's not just disappointment. He's a soldier, a warrior stronger than anything around for miles. He's even more disappointed I could barely take what he was throwing at me, but when I can barely walk right without my staff it makes it's harder to believe I even COULD be 'ready' as he says.
"You're not ready." he sighs, turning around and heading back to the house, "Yet again, you'll be easy pickings for outsiders."
"But Da-"
He turns, "No. Ko. That's final." he places his hands on my shoulders, "Listen, I do this because I want you to survive. When your mother and I are gone-"
"I'll be alone." Sighing just like I've heard it tens of times, like I have. It's practically his motto.
"Yes." he smiles, "But you'll be stronger, and that's all this world will ask of you." As we walk back, the snow crunches under my feet and I look back towards the wide horizon, bright and making my eyes hurt. One day I'll get out of here. But not today. Dad and I head inside and there's Mom. A dancehall number playing on the crank-radio. It's bummed off a signal from the Northern cities, where Mom was from.
The knife she's holding thunks onto the cutting board, "Training again, Honos?" Always tough and a little harsh, my Mom is the only person my Dad's ever even considered being a little scared of.
"Yeah, Ko was listening to Pro Bending-"
I like it though. I don't get why Dad and Mom don't want me to listen to things I like? The Platypus-Bears had an undefeated season, and then Dad just HAD to wake up and catch me trying to crank the radio quietly. Quietly, my ass. It clicks and whirs with the crank so it has this loud wind up CHOO CHICKA sound. So instead of just turning it like a music box, it's almost like those big engines going CHUGGA CHUGGA CHUGGA.
So… yeah, I was stuck training. Not that I hated it. But there's nothing else to do. It's wake up, eat, train, hunt, eat, train, and then back to eating, and then finally rest. Dad and Mom love their little schedules. It's such a small life, but when I sit alone like now… watching the clouds and sky paint the pictures of the world? I wish I was anywhere but here. Inside my chest, something pulls me, something grips me like a vice and stands me up.
It's an almost out of body experience, whispers and an entire crowd of them. I couldn't even count them all. Up in the sky the aurora shines, and I see them all sitting there. Vague shadows and all of them looking at me almost expectin' me to cut it and run to the ocean. Headpieces of warriors, Air Nation arrows, Fire Nation clothes and the furs and blues of folks I could've seen years ago reflect back at me, eyes lookin' down like they're expectin' something amazing.
But where do I have to go? Could they tell me? It'd be nice if they talked. I grip the head of my carved bone staff, trying to think of some way to tell them. That's when a shadow covers the warm lamplight of the house. Whirling, Mom stands there and walks out with a softly concerned face. She's carrying some food with her and she settles next to me with some healing stuff, lightly dabbin' the bruises with ointment and just staying quiet as I tuck into the meat.
"Your father is angry, Ko." she states softly.
"That's normal." through the bites, I flinch at the burning pain as Mom tries her best to keep a stern face. But she can't. Her hands shake, scared at the thought of me leaving. Because we'd known for a long time ever since I could Firebend.
The people in the aurora were the Avatars. And I'm next in line. At least I think so. I don't really know, and the one place I needed to go was the one place I absolutely couldn't go no matter what happened. Dad's harsh training was normal, but my body aches and strains, tryin' to figure out if I was dead or not. The night wears on, but Mom stands up and makes sure he's dead asleep inside. In moments she hands me an overstuffed bag full of all my stuff.
"Just go, son. Before I change my mind. And here…" she pushes a map into my hands, "A route you can take, just… be careful." her arms wrap around me and she squeezes, tears running down her cheeks.
I wrap my arms around her and hug her back, trying my best not to cry, because again, Dad doesn't like it when I cry. Or when anyone cries really. Letting her go and turning to work my way to the water where we moored our boats. The only thing I think of is what if I never make it out of the Pole? What if I just run right into trouble? Should I just quit while I'm ahead? Dad's already mad enough at me… but I grip my staff harder.
If I don't figure out who I am, it'll just hurt people in the long run!
We have two boats, one with an engine and one with an oar and sail. Dad taught me how to work it. The bag on my shoulder is heavy. Heavier than it has any right to be. Sweeping it off my shoulders and tying it to the mast, I grab the oar and look back one last time at the simple snow and bone house, the pelts keeping it warm and the smoke puffing away.
In one shove, I'm off, unfurling the sail and taking off, slicing through the water like nothing to it. The dawn's rosy fingers gently pry away the night. I have a long way to go, and I close my eyes just to sleep for a bit. Everything falls away, the ocean's gentle rocking, the birds cries, all of it. All there is, is the sensation that something is watching me. But I float, and dream under the sunlight, floating towards the city that could point me in the right direction.
The wind smacks me in the face, the waves toss me from my sweet slumber like an angry kid. Everything goes sideways and all I can do is try to bend my little boat through the waves, trying to concentrate. The waves grow, but I crash my hands together, they spill me over the crests, my prow diving down, splashing and lashing me to raw pain. My staff and I flow, the waves we're controlling battling against the ones that aren't.
Thunder shakes me down to my bones, lightning turns everything to sheer day. Yet, even so, with my body shaking and quaking, barely awake… I keep fighting. A scream leaves my throat, ripping against the wind and I yell out…
"You can't beat me! I won't let you!" The storm answers with its fury, and I sweep my staff and the waves slam me into the air, sailing through it with a wide smile on my face, skimming the waves and slicing through them at speeds I couldn't even feel.
Solid as stone, fierce as fire, calm and flowing like water, and fierce but guiding like the wind all at once, at one with my boat and the storm, the air itself… all of it.
Then…
It all goes wrong, my mast snaps, hands scramble to catch it and try like I'm stupid to reattach it, but through the dark, ink black clouds, there's hope. The sun shines down on me, the clouds pull away, and there's the calm blue skies.
I can't help but let out a happy cheer, "YEAHAHAHAHA! BEAT THAT! I WIN!" I turn back at the dark clouds and there's nothing but a soft speeding motor sloughing away from the rest of me. I reach for the oar and begin to row.
But then I smack right into the deck. I'm out. But I drag myself to a sitting position, opening my bag and checking the map. I think we're on the right course? But without a sail I'm done for, and I'm too tired to bend myself onto the right course. Great, just great. First day or so out on your own and already the world wants to kill you. Great job, brain. And great job, me. I row on, the rudder's shot so I guess there's no turning back for me even if I could steer.
Drinking some water, eating some dried meat, and trying to fix the mast later and I'm still just… floating in the middle of the ocean, the waves taking me wherever. Crossing my arms and closing my eyes, there's the pleasant warmth of the sun, gently pulling me back to sleep. I let it do its thing, the waves also rocking me to sleep like I was just a child again in my mother's arms. Back when things were simple and I didn't need to fight nature… back when I knew what I was and what I wanted.
But I don't know, I'm just this big important guy they lost for ten or so years because my Dad was paranoid and my Mom didn't want to give me to some old guys who were part of a former Pai Sho club years and years and years ago. The one question I had in my mind though was… who was it that bended the waves? It couldn't have been natural. I did some of it, but at some point it felt like I was in some kinda zone. Before I could puzzle out the answers, my sleep becomes deeper and I knew no more.
