Fall of the Water Tribe

[This was supposed to be an essay in school. Reading back, I see this isn’t even a fanfic, but an indirect transcription of an entire episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Despite that, and the fact that it was written long ago and in haste, I want to share this. So warning: the plot is not original, but the writing is.]

My trip to the spirit world was…. Never mind that. I looked at Zuko, hunched up in the cold, shivering but still unconscious. His scar on the eye… I can’t help feeling bad for the guy, especially since I went through the same thing: losing your family to the fire nation.

The fire nation navy is too strong and too numerous. Even with the sneak attack there was less to no hope of escape, let alone victory. Our fighters, though brave and skilled in the ancient arts, were far outnumbered. They were holding on a little better, now that the mo-

“THIS” A strange voice boomed from behind. Sokka jumped and put a protective arm around Yue, the beautiful water-princess. “This is what I came for.”

A man appeared into the sacred garden dressed in the bright red uniform of the fire nation navy, a commander by the look of him.

“The moon and sea spirits, Yin and Yang” he said, pointing to the two fishes, one white with a black spot and the other while with a black spot, circling endlessly and tirelessly forever and ever.

Katara, with an angry cry, went to her stance, ready for attack, lifting a blob of water. Her eye muscles twitching, her face set but flowing with emotion. One of the hair loops askew. Her blue eyes struggling not to show her fear, or her concern about Aang’s missing body .

The man, big and sturdy, faced her without a hint of fear at being alone in the tribe of enemies. his sideburns made his face comically wide. A scar on his left cheek spoke of various other wars and battles he had fought.

“The moon and sea spirits, they are the reason I traveled far and wide, in search for the library under-the-sand. If I kill them, the moon would stop glowing and the sea would stop flowing.” He bellowed the last two words, and shot out an fire blast at Katara. She danced away, but too late. The heat made her a shaky on the feet and second blast almost hit her in the face.

Sokka charged at the man, boomerang in hand, only to be cast aside like a toy. The next blast was aimed at the spirits, the immortal spirits that took the mortal form for the men and the women, and this is how they are repaid: with a fireball that shoved them to the brink of death.

The man thrust his head upwards and laughed a big throaty at his apparent victory, but he had underestimated Katara. She regained her balance, spread her hands, and impaled him with a 7-meter icicle she had formed out of the sacred water.

Darkness fell, the moon’s glow dimmed and diminished, the sea went calmer and calmer, and the hopes were dashed against the rocky shore of defeat.

Katara looked at her hands, her face bore the look of defeat and pain but still looked strong. She waved her hands and tried to bend some water and failed. The next attempt was just as futile.

Yue rushed to the fishes.

“Katara!” she called.

Katara ran to their aid, and tried to heal them, but the power to heal was the power that came from the spirits, and Katara could just barely bend any water.

“It’s no use…” Katara said, devastated, her thoughts finally comprehending what this meant.

They crouched down beside the two dying spirits. During this time the water-tribe felt their power flowing out of them. Making them weak. They couldn’t hold up to the flames of the fire-benders even with the power of the moon… the moon that was almost invisible in the sky.

“There is.. one way “ Said Yue, “When I was younger and dying my father brought me here and prayed to the spirits for my life. The spirits gave some of their life to me… they kept me alive. Perhaps if I could…” her voice trailed off.

“Yue, you don’t have to do this” Said Sokka, but Yue had already lain down at the pool.

Her body shimmered and then glowed; the same happened to the spirits.

Bit by bit the spirits started moving, the moon glowed brighter and the sea started raging.

“If there was no war, could we have been friends?” I asked, and got a blast of fire in response. I sighed and flew away, leaving Zuko in the cold.

*****

Suddenly I felt my powers loosen. Not all of it, but just a part of it….

*****

This is a rage I cannot control; I felt the power coursing through my veins. But this time, I was still me, I didn’t have control, but I was still me in the avatar state. The water enveloped me, turning into the moon spirit. A GIANT moon spirit.

The fire nation will pay for what they have done.

***

Our men despaired. The avatar slashed left and right, drowning our men, while the water tribe bowed their head like a dog kicked by his master. The monster strode right towards us, leaving a trail of drowned fire-nation soldiers… the moon and the sea aglow. One water tentacle slammed right into one of our ships at the front, splitting it in half.

By that time, the Avatar was at the gates where we had directed our main attack. Smashing left and right, sinking all of the thirteen ships that had reached the gates. A few ships close behind shot flaming rocks and fire beams at him, but they just struck the body with a loud hiss and did no damage. The rocks just bounced off the body and cracked. When the Avatar moved in the water the ships rocked violently throwing men overboard. The ones who held on sunk with the ships.

The men were in complete terror now, stumbling with the ships, losing balance, screaming in fear like spurned kittens. The battle, which was an easy victory at the worst, was now as good as lost. We would lose some of the best men in our nation tonight, and most of our best ships. There was no chance of steering aside and leading a different course of attack. Our best course was to retreat, save as many as we can. I was just about to signal when…

… came our beacon of hope.

The sun rose, and somewhere in the depths of the great southern water tribe, the spirits shivered and weakened. A little girl wasn’t enough to bring them to their full-power. The Avatar swung drunkenly.. staggered.. and fell…. Bringing a tsunami on his own people.

“YOU RISE WITH THE MOON, WE RISE WITH THE SUN” I called towards them. Our men got back to their feet and charged with the renewed power of the sun, burning every man of the water-tribe.

The Avatar fell, the spirits died, the moon darkened and the sun rose. A war cry tingled through the air. The spirits couldn’t handle such a great feat with such little power.

Dawn broke. The fire nation advanced.