Steam: An Avatar Story

Chapter 18

It had been a week since Katara and her friends had arrived at the Northern Water Tribe, and she was fed up. Sitting with Beck, she blasted ice and snow away from her in anger. Beck had been showing her moves that Pakku showed him, as he was still training.

"He needs to teach me. Get off his high fucking buffalo-yak and realize that as the Avatar I need to learn Waterbending. Not to mention it's my native bending art!"

"I can keep showing you what he's showing me," Beck murmured. "That will help,"

"Not enough Beck. I need to become a Master if I have any hope of defeating Ozai." Katara snapped, crossing her arms angrily.

"Ok, ok." Beck murmured, placing two hands on her shoulders. "I'll talk to him again, and let you know."

"Whatever. Let's just keep training," Katara said, taking up a bending stance. Beck was running her through a series of moves that would allow her to create a whip and snap it at her target. Katara was halfway through the set when her water just evaporated. Startled, she jumped up, looking around.

"You dare defy me?!" Pakku yelled, eyes icy with rage. "You dare spit upon the traditions of this tribe?!"

"Shit," Katara murmured, glancing at Beck. He was wincing.

"Both of you will accompany me to Arnook's throne room," Pakku growled, looking absolutely livid. "Now!" He barked. The teens followed him begrudgingly towards the throne room, wisely keeping their mouths shut.

"How dare you call yourselves Waterbenders when you disregard the spirits like this, the balance of the natural world." Katara was fuming, pretty sure her body temperature was rising. Her clothes felt uncomfortably hot, and she seemed to be stepping in puddles of melted ice.

"These two have disobeyed me, and disrespected the religion of this tribe. They should not be allowed to stay here!" Pakku yelled once they were facing Arnook.

"Master Pakku, please explain to me what happened," Arnook replied.

"I caught the boy teaching the girl how to Waterbend, when they were explicitly told that women are forbidden from learning Waterbending!" He roared. Katara swore she saw spittle flying from his lips. "They have disrespected me, my teachings, and my culture. They should not be allowed to remain here."

"Master Pakku, please be reasonable," Chief Arnook pleaded. "I agree that they showed disregard for our culture and teachings, but I do not believe they should be kicked out for it,"

"She is a woman and she is not allowed to waterbend. This young man has shown equal disregard for our rules. If they do not want to follow our customs, then they should not be allowed sanctuary here!"

"For Agni's sake!" Katara exploded. Pakku and Arnook started, turning their attention to the fuming Avatar. She stepped forward, fists curled as fire crackled to life around them. "I will not sit here and allow the two of you to speak about me this way! I am the Avatar, and I must learn Waterbending if you have any hope of saving your sorry asses in this war! Mark my words, just because you're stuck up here with your little sheltered traditions and all your ice walls does NOT mean you are out of the Fire Nation's reach. I grew up around the Fire Lord, I was raised in the Fire Nation, and believed myself to be a true born citizen of the Fire Nation until very recently, and I am telling you that being stuck up here will not save you from Ozai. He is ruthless, cruel, and has no regard for human life. The only way to stop him is for me to learn Waterbending!"

"No," Pakku growled, eyes narrowed angrily.

"Wow," Katara said, dangerously soft. "You'd rather die, let your people die, then teach a girl - the Avatar - Waterbending? You're a sorry old man undeserving of any respect, Pakku." With that, Katara turned on her heel to walk out.