change of fate

The Boy In The Iceburg

Sokka didn't ask for much. He was a fair leader. A just man. So when he assumed that Kahno could steer the ship without running them into a Tui damned iceberg he thought that was that. Evidently asking to keep them on the water was too much.

He pinches the bridge of his nose at an oncoming headache as he surveys the damage. Kahno, his trusty number two, stands beside him with his head bowed.

'How? Just how?' He grits out. The hull didn't take any water at least, that was good, but the entire port side, stern to bow, was scraped and crunched. It wouldn't sink them before they could get back to a village but it might be pushing it.

'The water got too choppy. I tried to call for you but you were busy playing with yourself.' Kahno whined running his hand along the damage.

Sokka snorted and shoved at the back of his friend's head. He had gotten word not too long ago that the exhiled Prince was making his way south to search for the Avatar. Sokka had been pouring over his maps and intelligence considering the pros and cons of a raid on the Prince's ship. From what he gathered he knew that the Prince was traveling on a lower class naval vessel. No backup, minimal communication, small crew. It was almost like the Fire Lord wanted his only son and brother ambushed. On the on other hand he runs the risk of pissing off the Fire Nation even more than he already has. Sokka doesn't think his people can handle more vengeance raining down on them.

But the hull is still damaged and they're still stuck on this damned ice sheet until they dig her out.

They dig for three hours before the ice starts acting funny. Sokka's chisel hits the ice and sound it makes is like ropes snapping. The sure fire sound of a massive crack resonates before it appears beneath Sokka's feet. He dives to the side as the crack expands faster and faster. A cry erupts from his men and the ice let's go of their ship all at once as the sheet they stand on snaps apart. The ice shakes and tilts, battering their already battered ship against the edge. Then suddenly a blinding light shoots upward. They duck for cover some men praying to the spirits in the chaos.

When the light finally dissipates Sokka is the first on his feet his weapon drawn. There's a crater where there once was a drift of snow and ice. On instinct Sokka's eyes scan the horizon for any Fire Nation vessel capable of launching projectiles at them. When the horizon clears he attention briefly scans his men. Shook up and disoriented, but alive. He approaches the crater next, curiosity getting the better of him.

'Shit' he curses leaping over the lip of the ice. There's a kid down there small and orange against the white of the snow. Sokka slides to a stop beside the boy and rips a glove off and shoves his frozen fingers against the boy's neck. Life beats beneath his touch and relief fills him.

'Kahno!' Sokka calls gathering the boy up in his arms. 'Get over hear and give me a hand!'

In his arms the boy flinched and shifts. Sokka almost drops him in shock, sure that the kid was unconscious.

The boys eyes blink open wearily. Once, twice, until they focus on Sokka's face.

'Are you okay?' Are the first words of of the boys mouth. Another surprise.

'Am I- Am I okay? Kid you just blew up on the middle of an ice sheet dressed in summer clothes. I am not the one who needs to be checked in on.'

'Ice sheet? Where am I?' He asks his head craning to look around from his vantage point still behind held.

'Whoa.' The kid exclaims a gust of wind propelling him upward and knocking Sokka on his ass. The boy floats back down effortlessly, settling gently on his feet. 'I really am a long way from home. How long was I out? Everyone's probably so worried!'

The kid paces back and forth as he works himself up, the wind moving just as erratically wiping snow into Sokka's eyes.

'You're an Airbender!' Sokka exclaims, the words leaving his mouth as fast as he thought them. 'That's impossible? The Air Nomads have been extinct for over a hundred years.'

That stops the boy in his tracks. The specks of snow in the air halt and the wind stops all together. 'What?'

'Sokka?' Kahno calls from the lip of the crater.

'I'm coming up, I think I found something.' He calls back nodding for the kid to follow and he climbs.

The very real possibility of this boy having been in there for over a hundred years rattling around his mind.