A Strange Beginning - Sokka x OC

Chapter 29: Silent Attack

Hey guys!! I hope you are all doing well and fine. Really short chapter today. They're short lately because I wanted to split up the episodes of the North Pole more and because I get a lot of creative freedom. So yeah, just a small F.Y.I. Anyways, I won't keep you long, so I hope you enjoy and happy reading!

Presenting......

|Silent Attack|

I walk off from Sokka, ending our unwanted walk - unwanted by me, at least - and continue my solo marching. I think that's what you should call it. I don't look back, I don't look at peoples' faces. I just go, not really knowing where. 

Eventually, I reach a small, secluded spot of ice - what else? - near the back of the tribe and rest myself down. However, I couldn't stop fidgeting. I take my parka off, leaving me in only short-sleeved robes with a couple layers from underneath, but I felt better. 

But when you sit still, you can't help but have your mind fill up like a bucket of water. 

So far I don't regret what I said to Sokka. It is true after all. People just aren't that special to other people. Maybe I'll regret saying the harsh truth to him later on, but so far I feel fine. I'm not apologizing right away. I don't even feel that much fazed by what he said to me as well. I suppose it is true. 

I yawn hugely and surprisingly, my eyes beg to close shut. For some reason, something in me finds it odd to just fall asleep right at this moment after several sleepless nights. "If I'm gonna have some sleep, might as well take the opportunity," I mutter to myself. I bunch up my unused parka and rest it on the cold ground as my makeshift pillow. I lay my body down and almost fall asleep immediately at the rate my eyes closed. 

~~~~~ 

Zuko

My boat moves with steady rowing across the freezing water, avoiding minor icebergs that seem to be littered everywhere. Zen is a few feet away from me, doing the same. 

"God, this place is cold. It's even worse since it's the night," he complains. I glare at him. "What? I'm stating the obvious."

"That's what makes it annoying. Instead of stating the obvious, focus on not getting caught by the patrolling soldiers of the wall." I gesture to the tribe's barrier, which is now damaged with gigantic holes from Zhao's catapulting fire balls. 

"Let's stop over there," Zen replies. He gestures to a sloping mountain of ice, perfect for hiding the boats and ourselves. I nod in agreement and we turn our boats to the right, rowing to the designation. Once we reach it, we lightly climb up, enough to give us a view of the warriors scouting. 

"So run with me the plan," I say. "Once we reach inside, we split up. I go look for the Avatar and you look for Safiyah. I plan to hopefully figure something out with Uncle, what are you going to do?"

Zen stays quiet and actually looks to ponder for an answer. Then he shrugs and says, "I don't really know, I'll figure something out."

I clench my fist in frustration. "You're taking her without a plan?"

"Relax Scarface. I'll just infiltrate one of my dad's ships. It'll be fine."

"You don't just regularly infiltrate a ship of the strongest navy in the world, and I told you not to call me that!"

"It'll be fine, stop annoying me with your worrying. And I think that name suits you because you have a scar on your face. I don't mind if you call me that; it suits me as well." Zen's face is etched with a highly teasing smirk which doesn't match me at all. 

"Whatever, let's go back to our boats and continue our route to the wall," I conclude. I climb down the slope of ice, but I stop in my place when I see a jaggedly circled hole in the flatter part of the iceberg. Water splashes inside and I see a couple turtle-ducks swimming through the hole. The weirdest part is that it doesn't lead to the open ocean but follows a tunnel. 

"Don't tell me you're swimming through that hole," Zen deadpans. He's already sitting in his boat, ready to row off. "If you do that, I'll truly be impressed by the amount of recklessness you have just so you can get some abstract thing called honor. Which apparently lies in a bald kid with a blue arrow on his head. Man, the world we live in!"

I ignore his babbling. "They have to be coming up for air somewhere."

"Who knows when you're gonna reach that hole of air?" 

I look at the hole and then back at Zen and make my mental decision then and there. I bring down my mask and plunge through the icy water. 

~~~~~

Safiyah

I wake up, not because of the initial rumbling I felt underneath me, but because the impact it had on my body as a whole. As I was barely opening my eyes from sleep, my body jerks up from the ground, levitating me midair for just a few seconds. My body pounds the floor and I'm immediately awake and quickly sitting up into the sudden, nipping cold. I hastily breath out a couple breaths of fire to warm me up.

I don't get a break however, because I feel several and several more lengths of rumbling and shattering of who knows what and I can only protect my head and bunch myself together. I feel pounds and pounds of weight falling all around me.

"What the hell is happening?" I say to myself. I frantically rack my head, searching for some answer. The rumbling is similar to the fire balls that were thrown at us when we were trying to get to the Crescent Island on the solstice. One thought leads after another and the answer falls on me. Zhao found us after his endless tracking and has closed in on the North Pole. Who knows how big his fleet is? The North Pole could be destroyed in seconds. Sokka, Katara, and Aang are still out there.

Due to my overthinking and pondering, I barely realize that the all my surroundings are darkened and the weather has decreased in temperature. I feel like I'm bathing in straight ice. I light up my hand to see everything, and I'm stunned by the sight.

I seem to be surrounded in a cave of snow. It's piled around everywhere; a sea of cotton enough to make thousands of clothes. There's so much snow that it's enough to hold up the roof of ice that resides above me. I look around me, trying to see where to touch, but I'm scared one touch could make everything cascade on me.

"I sleep for a little and this happens!" I groan in frustration. I don't even know how deep the snow runs; I can't hear anything from outside it. No voices of life, only muffled explosions. 

I'm trapped, alone in the dark with no savior solution. 

Ok, that's the end of this chapter! Sorry, it's so so short and I still find it so weird. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope it wasn't too boring. Also, thanks a ton for 1.5k reads!!! A M A Z I N G. If you wanna, leave a comment on the chapter and vote. Have a good day!

Love, Sumaya :)