Arrow of Fire

[kalluwen]

No this is not slash. I do not own Avatar. And I'd rather not be putting this here but oh well.

Arrow of Fire

Cold wet sand grated against Aang’s face in a greeting that, to him, seemed like that of best friends long separated. Waves lapped against his legs and threatened to return him to the sea from which he had been so mercifully spared. A howling wind drove heavy snow before it to land all around them and collected it like a cloak on Aang’s back. Wrapped protectively in his arms was Katara. He quickly checked her breathing; which, though shallow, was still there and he thanked his ancestors for it. Her face, however, was pale and she felt cool to the touch. Hypothermia. The thought sent chills down his spine to rival that of his icy cloak.

He surveyed his surroundings through the blinding snow and saw an evergreen forest with huge looming shapes in the distance that could only be mountains. Quickly considering Katara’s condition Aang knew he must get away from the shore and find shelter for them in the depths of the forest. He picked himself up from the sand, which he found was black, and readies himself to carry Katara inland. With her in his arms he started inland but something catches his eye. A sleeping bag, Katara’s sleeping bag, was being tossed in the waves. As well as he could manage with Katara in his arms he waterbent a sled of ice under it and waterbent the sled and cargo to him. It’s soaked but I can bend the water out of it later. Now I need to find shelter. He began to trudge through the increasingly deep snow as he left the beach behind and retreated beneath the sheltering arms of the trees.

* * *

She was swaying back and forth. It felt like she was on the ocean, but she no longer heard the waves that had been threatening to drown her. She then realized that she was being carried. Blearily, she opened her eyes against the wind driven snow. Through the white haze she saw the dark green branches above and the dark gray sky that vented its fury upon them and the one carrying her and sheltering her with his body. Aang, his determined face staring at the path before him, defied the storm and kept going. He looked down at her then and the hard expression softened in relief.

He smiled at her, “Katara, you’re going to be alright.” She closed her eyes, her face becoming peaceful, and wondered where they were. The “how they got there” was all too familiar.

There had been a terrible storm, possibly the worst ever recorded. Stinging snow and hail fell from the sky and lightning lanced within the clouds pushed forward on the gale. Riding Appa out in front of the fleet of ships she and Aang had attempted to ease the worst of the storm away. Not liking to be left behind, the two earthbenders, Toph and Sozo clutched the holds on the saddle and waited the weather out.

Then a monstrous rogue wave reared up and threatened to hit the entire fleet broadside before Appa was flying in to challenge the wall of water. Aang had stood up in the saddle and readied himself to bend the wave when Katara had joined him to lend her strength. Together they took wide stances and brought their hands forward as though diving into water then, sweeping their hands out wide they split the wave around the fleet.

Aang smiled at her and she returned it while they checked their handiwork. He then moved forward to take Appa’s reins and she knelt in the middle of the saddle a little tired from that exertion. Aang probably could have entered the avatar state and done it himself but she knew that, though he could control it, he still remembered the pain that had caused her.

There was a flash of light and intense heat when suddenly she realized she was no longer on Appa’s back. She began to scream, as the furious ocean below seemed to reach up for her as she fell. Then Aang, having leapt from Appa’s head with out a second thought, was next to her and he caught her in his arms.

Without his glider he couldn’t fly them back to Appa and they continued to fall for the water’s surface headfirst. As their descent neared its end Aang thrust the palm of one hand toward the ocean while still clutching her in his other, and bent a blast of air that slowed their descent enough to not be fatal.

They hit the water hard regardless and the breath was knocked out of her. Still clinging to each other they swam to the surface and regained their breath. They watched as Appa searched for them from the sky but the gale forced him farther away. He seemed to be injured.

They then clung to each other and over Aang’s shoulder she saw an earth kingdom ship lose its mainmast and begin to flounder. Soon afterwards it was rent to pieces on the teeth of a pair of waves from opposite directions.

Mountains and valleys of water surrounded them as they were carried farther away from the fleet on the current. Each time they reached the summit of one of those mountains the fleet became smaller and smaller, the other crafts had moved to attempt rescuing the crew of the doomed vessel.

Carried on the same current they were on, a piece of the wreckage streaked for them. Katara didn’t have any time to warn Aang before it had struck the back of his head and rendered him unconscious. Grabbing onto the wood that became a refuge on that wintry sea Katara laid Aang across it and held on tight. Slowly, the pounding of the waves reduced her to the black of unconsciousness and then she had woken up on land in Aang’s arms.

She opened her eyes again and looked at Aang, still walking, still carrying her. Slowly the black crept in on her again. Why is it so cold? She did not hear Aang’s promise as he continued his march inland through the storm.

“I will not let you die.”
---------------------------------------------
Ch 1 part A

[kalluwen]

* * *

Aang decided he had come far enough inland when he came upon a clearing. Without setting Katara down he made the strong steps of conventional earthbenders and bent a square, flat topped, three sided (for the moment shelter) from the ground. He stepped under the roof gave a final stomp that brought the fourth wall up from the ground along with an entrance that would have been at home on an igloo, complete with a short tunnel.

He quickly bent the water out of the sleeping bag and out the door and did the same for their clothing. He spread the sleeping bag out as much as possible with his feet before setting Katara on it gently. He felt her cheek with the back of his hand. Still cold. Knowing what he had to do he began to remove Katara’s outer garments until only her two-piece was left on. He then removed his own clothes down to his underwear; the air was freezing, and lay down next to Katara and embraced her to him. Pulling the sleeping bag fully over them he offered her his own meager heat; his hands on Katara’s back he felt her shiver slightly and his body shivered in response.

Aang fought through the fog that the cold attempted to wrap around his mind to find the necessary concentration for what he now needed to do. Breathing deeply, he brought heat to his hands, a more subtle form of firebending, and began to rub Katara’s back willing the heat to go into her.

Slowly over what seemed hours and moments at the same time, she stopped shivering and she felt warm to the touch again. The constant movement and Katara’s body heat had stopped his own shivering and he thanked the spirit of Iroh for changing his mind about firebending so long ago. He moved back slightly to study her face and found it had returned to its normal cinnamon pallor. Relief flooded through him, one crisis averted, but wondered why she was not yet conscious. He looked at her again and noted her breathing. She’s just asleep. That’s good.

The storm outside did not allow much light to escape its clouds, and the small entrance made their shelter that much darker as he looked around considering his next move. He considered his position again then, holding Katara close and just enjoying the feel of her. I wouldn’t mind staying right here. He clutched her closer to him. But I have to do something. He knew that they could be stuck there for a while and he must do something to ensure that they lived until they were found. He removed himself from the sleeping bag shivering in the frigid air as he put his clothes back on. The cold air of their shelter told him what he needed to do then and he prepared himself to weather the storm once again. Firewood came first; he could firebend but not indefinitely. He tucked Katara in, tenderly brushing a lock of hair from her face, before bracing himself for the trip out into the elements.

The wind whipped the loose clothing he had taken to wearing recently this way and that as he bend the snow off the ground to uncover logs and kindling. He picked his way through the forest with a stone sledge trailing him like a faithful pet and carrying a growing pile of fuel for fire.

Half an hour had passed by the time he returned with a sledge piled with enough fuel for several days. Drenched and shivering, he gathered some wood into his arms and crouched onto the ground in order to crawl through the entrance of the shelter.

As he entered the main room of the home he heard the low throaty growl of a large cat. He froze in place and slowly lifted his head to bring a mountain cat firmly into view crouching low and eyeing him menacingly, its growl the only noise besides the howl of the wind outside. Aang looked behind the cat to the figure huddled in the corner and his breath caught in his chest. Katara, scratched and bleeding was against the wall unconscious arms and legs protecting her face and vital areas even then.

Something feral awoke within him and in his chest a growl became a howl of rage. Owing to years of training he remained in control of his actions, the avatar state kept from taking over. Standing up quickly he punched forward and a blast of fire leapt forth to strike the cat on the right flank. With a cry of pain it pounced for his throat but was held at bay with his forearm against its chest. However it managed to get a claw across his face. Pain erupted in three ragged lines diagonally across his face and with a growl he air blasted it hard into the far wall.

The cat crouched in the corner, pained, and Aang was about to finish it off with a fire blast when his deep seeded beliefs resurfaced. Through the blood streaming down his face and the red mist of anger he saw the burned flesh on its flank and he was horrified at what he had done. How could I? He saw then that he was standing between the cat and its freedom and knew that it was only following its instincts to find food and shelter. As he bent away a section of the wall he let go of his anger, at the cat and to a point, himself. The cat leapt away through the opening and loped off into the blizzard and through the trees, without pausing.

Aang returned the section of the wall before rushing to check Katara. He found only minor wounds on her and there was bump on her skull where she must have hit it trying to get away from the cat.

Surveying her wounds he found himself trembling with pain and helplessness. “Why couldn’t I learn to heal? All other waterbenders can. Why not the avatar?” he thought bitterly. He replaced her on the sleeping bag after wrapping her nastier cuts with strips torn from his poncho. Earth bending a bowl from the floor next to the sleeping bag he filled it with water from the snow outside. Taking what remained of his poncho he began to wash her smaller cuts with it, doing what ever he could to comfort her. Though she was unconscious her face showed the pain that she was obviously feeling. When he had finished he replaced the sleeping bag over her and with a sigh of regret he got up to return to what he had intended to do.

He went outside and returned with more wood and made a second trip to make sure there was enough to last a while. Returning from the last trip he bent a small fireplace in a corner opposite the entrance, complete with chimney and low retaining wall. After arranging the wood into a small teepee he lit it with a conjured flame. After a while the flames were eating at a large log and Aang sat against the wall letting the heat wash over him. He hugged his legs to his chest and laid his head on his knees silently berating himself as he kept vigil over Katara.

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Ch 1 part B

[kalluwen]

* * *

Katara woke with a start, breathing fast, after expecting never to wake again, to find herself in a much warmer brighter shelter. She turned toward the source of heat and light to find a fire in a fireplace that could only have been wrought from stone. She gasped lightly as the pain in her legs and arms finally made itself known. She turned in the opposite direction at the sound of a familiar voice.

“I’m so sorry, Katara. I should have put something up to block the entrance; no, I shouldn’t have left you at all,” Aang apologized as he moved from the wall he had been sitting against.

Noting the life giving fire, Katara was about to tell him it didn’t matter, but she saw his face as it left the shadows cast by her body in front of the fire. His face was slit diagonally across by three evenly spaced claw marks, he didn’t seem to notice the blood that ran down over his right eye which had narrowly missed being clawed out.

Katara sat bolt upright despite her limbs screaming in pain, “Aang! Do you realize you’re hurt?” she demanded incredulously.

But Aang was more concerned with her, “Katara, you shouldn’t move around like that. You’ll reopen your wounds,” and he attempted to push her back into a prone position.

Stubbornly she remained sitting as she looked around for some water. She spotted the bowl of water next to her and began to bend it out, but she noticed the red tint in the light and it splashed suddenly back into the bowl. Was that blood? Was that her blood? Beyond Aang and through the door she saw snow and bent it inside and onto her hands heating the water so it wouldn’t sap the heat from her. She reached for Aang’s face but he grabbed her wrists and stopped her, “you should save your energy for yourself,” he said concerned.

“Oh is that right?” She retorted, glaring at him, “and if you die of blood loss? What should I do then?”

Aang’s eyes widened and he looked away sheepishly releasing her wrists. Before he could react Katara grabbed his head forcing him to remain still. The water, empowered by her chi, cast a pale light over his features as she brought her hand to his face. He closed his eyes and to Katara he seemed peaceful at that moment despite being angry with himself. She caressed his face with the healing water and the wounds began to close before her eyes, however the deepest left a faint line of tender skin behind.

“You left the wounds alone for too long, you’ll have a scar,” she said, her voice regretful.

Aang only smiled in thanks, “that’s okay. I think I’d prefer to have it as a reminder.” He then became serious, “you should take care of yourself now. None of your wounds is too serious but they all add up,” he began feeding more fuel into the fire.

Katara sighed; you should learn to look after yourself as well as others, Aang, and began to heal her wounds, beginning with her arms. The water felt warm and soothing as it supplied the energy necessary to heal the cuts and bruises. The process began to take it out of her; the energy for healing, despite being used on herself, came from her chi, which is not replenished quickly. She finished most of her legs, but when she came to a deep wound on her left thigh she looked over at Aang.

She saw him trace the newly formed scar on his face, closing his eye as his finger ran over it to stop on the ridge of his nose. On a whim she decided to only partially heal this last wound so that it would leave a thin scar. She had been through everything with him for so long she felt the need to share this as well.

Katara let out a magnificent yawn then and smiled embarrassed, when Aang glanced at her. “You should sleep if you are tired. Healing takes energy as you well know and you’ve only just recovered from hypothermia,” he said.

Aang helped her into the sleeping bag before returning to sit in front of the fire. He hugged his legs to his chest and rested his head upon his knees as he stared into the flames. Katara laid in the sleeping bag the flap up to her neck to keep out the cold that crept in despite the fire nearby. Watching Aang and wondering what was on his mind, she rubbed her arms to bring some more heat when something occurred to her.

“Aang, why am I half dressed,” she asked sweetly, with a hint of suspicion.

Despite the fact that he was not looking at her she could tell he was blushing, “Umm, well, you were hypothermic after we got out of the ocean and I did what was necessary. I shared my warmth with you.”

“Oh,” Katara said, amused by his ever present propriety, “in that case, thanks.”

Aang continued to stare into the flames through hooded lids. To Katara, he seemed to be in a trance, he looks exhausted. “Aang, you should get some sleep too.” Katara opened the sleeping bag and offered what small space was available; that made him jerk awake.

“No I couldn’t,” he said waving the thought away, “I can sleep here.”

“Aang you’ll never get proper sleep like that. I don’t mind sharing if you don’t,” she said.

“But someone should be awake in case there is another visitor,” Aang argued.

“If you bend a door of rock, we won’t have to worry about that. Just be sure to leave a crack for air,” she argued back, “not only that but it will be much warmer in here with a door.”

Aang sighed in defeat and stood up. He assumed a stance learned from Toph and rotated his foot on the ground bringing a door into place at the front of the entrance, cutting down the noise of the storm outside. He then turned toward the sleeping bag and considered the situation for a second before removing just his tunic. Katara turned on her side facing the fire to hide her face after she had noticed how well muscled Aang had become despite a vegetarian diet. He lay down behind her facing away from her; they tried to pull the covers over them, however this was too awkward.

“Aang, turn around, this sleeping bag is too small for you to face the other way,” Katara more than suggested.

He did so somewhat reluctantly, “if you’re okay with it alright.”

Katara shivered because of the space of air Aang was keeping between them, “would you share your warmth with me again, Aang?”

Katara didn’t see the small, pleased smile on his face as he moved closer and put an arm around her, “sleep well, Katara.”

“You too, Aang,” she was smiling inwardly as she closed her eyes and enjoyed his extra warmth.

* * *
-----------------------
Ch 1 part C

[kalluwen]

Zuko paced the bridge of his vessel as the storm and the waves threw water against the glass that shielded them. He asked for reports from the other ships in his fleet, regarding the men rescued from the sunken earth kingdom ship. They had only lost one crewman despite the storm’s best efforts to claim them all. But he was not worried about the one missing man; he was pacing a furrow into the floor of his bridge because the avatar was nowhere to be found.

“Navigator, where are we now?” he asked the man poring over the map in the center of the bridge.

“We are being pushed by the storm back towards the fire nation, sir,” he replied not looking up, “and are currently northeast of the main island.”

“Very well, where do you think the avatar is now?” he asked.

“The bison looked as though he had suffered severe burns from the lightning strike, and was unable to push through the storm to return to our ship,” he gave a report.

Trying to remain patient, “I know this, but where do you think he is now?”

“Judging by where we left them and the direction they were heading they may have landed on Anshin Island to rest up and take shelter,” he reported.

Zuko sighed, knowing the capabilities of his ships; “we will return the fleet to the fire nation until the storm has passed. Then we will sail to Anshin Island to discover if he is there or not, and continue the pursuit.”

“And if he is not there, sir?” the navigator asked.

“We will continue on without him,” Zuko said.

“Very good sir,” the man replied and ordered the communications officer to relay the orders to the rest of the ships.

Zuko went and stood in front of the windows and looked out onto the ocean. “Where are you, Aang?”

* * *

The storm had driven them far to the west since Appa did not have the strength to fight through the gale, now that he was injured. Sozo had taken the reins when Aang had jumped off after Katara. Toph held on desperately to the holds on the side of the saddle.

“Where are we now?” she yelled over the wind.

“I don’t know but I see an island down there with what looks like a village on its western side,” Sozo called back.

“We should land and get Appa some help. I don’t know much about healing people much less animals,” she suggested.

“That’s a good idea,” he said, guiding the injured bison towards the village, “just a little farther Appa and we’ll get out of the storm and get you some help.”

Sozo looked back at Toph then, “Toph, are you injured?”

Not surprised by his concern, “no, I’m fine.” Though he acknowledged her ability to take care of herself, he had shown interest in her as a woman and that had set her on her heels. She couldn’t tell if it was real or not, but he had grown on her in the time since he had joined them on their mission. Despite Sozo’s rather forward nature, his redeeming quality was his ability to see to the truth in any situation, and when she had told him to back off he realized his error and began a friendship with her instead. Toph knew that he liked her; his heartbeat had revealed the truth to her sometime ago. But she wasn’t sure of her own feelings at that moment, another man had already captured her heart but he didn’t know it.

Unable to see, Toph looked back to the heart of the storm anyway and whispered, “I hope you are alright.”

End Chapter 1

[kalluwen]

If you wish to comment do so... if not oh well. This will be on fanfiction.net as soon as I figure out why I can't upload from my computer. As soon as it is there it will dissappear from this site.

If you notice some things I can improve on tell me. Despite its length and, (according to a beta reader) quality, it is still a work in progress.

[syarafire]

Very nice. I like it, and I can't wait for it to be up on ff.net.

[free2eatcookies]

oh man,ur really a gifted writer.i liked it write more

[kalluwen]

my thanks to you both for your praise

[jem]

Great story.
I like it please contiue to update.
When you move it to fanfiction.net please give us the link so we can continue to follow the story!