The Fire Prodigy {ATLA}

{2}: The Avatar

"Remember Zuko, these people may have no idea about any of this. Please don't make any rash decisions you may regret later," I told him, as we were closer to arriving at the village.

"No one has to get hurt, as long as they comply."

I didn't like the sound of that one bit. "I'm serious, Zuko. Please think about this."

We walked out of the ship as soon as we docked. Zuko was wearing his battle armor, which was not the best way to present yourself to a village of peaceful fishermen like the Southern Water Tribe was. I didn't want to hurt anyone unnecessarily, but I knew Zuko would stop at nothing to get to the Avatar. And I knew better than to think I could stop him.

We walked down to the snowy floor below, accompanied by a couple of guards. I saw a single boy let out a battle cry and charge at us. He really wasn't all that menacing, but I still had to kick his club out of his grasp when he reached us, before Zuko kicked him back onto the snow. We approached the villagers below, who were mostly women and young children, with some old people being the exception.

I felt my stomach churning as I saw the terrified looks on their faces. The guards behind us threatened to walk closer to them, but I stopped them, as I knew that this would frighten the people further.

"Don't. Let Prince Zuko speak."

"Where are you hiding him?"

There was nothing but silence. I could tell they knew something, but they were too scared to talk. I couldn't blame them.

Zuko was starting to lose his limited patience. He grabbed an older woman forcefully and pointed to her, making me tense. "He'd be about this age, master of all elements?"

"Zuko, that's enough," I said, walking towards him and giving him a warning look.

"I know you're hiding him!" He said, throwing the woman back to her people harshly.

Zuko began firebending a large and intimidating arc of fire that grazed over the people's heads. They all let out scared gasps.

The same boy from before tried to attack us from behind, but I easily avoided him and managed to keep him away from us by sending a small yellow flame in his way that I knew would intimidate him. It was better than allowing Zuko to attack him.

"Show no fear!" A young boy said, handing the warrior a spear.

He then ran back towards us with his spear pointed forward and letting another battle cry, which I easily destroyed with a precise purple flame slash. I sighed heavily. "You really need to stop announcing your attacks."

"I don't listen to murderous firebenders like you!" He snapped back at me, making me roll my eyes and take his spear from him, poking him to the floor with ease and breaking the spear in half.

"Enough of this," Zuko said, walking up to the boy and igniting two fireblades in his fists.

He didn't get to do much, because before we knew it, we were knocked down by an unexpected boy sledding on a... Penguin? There was cheering from the villagers, who clearly felt happy to see him.

The boy was someone like I'd never seen before. He wore bright yellow and red garments, and on his bald head, the most strange arrow tattoo stood out.

"Hey Katara. Hey Sokka."

"Hi Aang. Thanks for coming," Sokka--the boy that had tried to attack us previously--said from the ground.

Zuko and I stood up. We both took a fighting stance. The boy then attacked us using air currents to send the snow in our direction, covering us in ice. I raised an eyebrow, using my bending to get rid of the snow.