Avatar The Last Airbender: The Sins of the Past [Katara x OC]

Chapter 1-14: Bato of the Water Tribe

Waves crash against the rocky cliff nearby. I stretch after training my firebending, revelling in finally having most control over my body again. I haven't trained since before the iceberg, and even back then it was all lessons with Gyatso or candle meditation. It's been just over a week since Aang and Zuko rescued me from Zhao, and I can finally move on my own again. Ugh, I hope I never have to experience that again. I twist my torso to crack my back, and spot something slightly sticking out of a bush. I walk over to it, pulling it out to find a scimitar made out of a whale's tooth.

Aang walks over to me, asking, "What'd you find, Ryu?"

I respond, "I dunno." I call out, "Hey, Sokka!"

Sokka slides down a dirt slope toward me, asking, "What's up?

I ask, "Doesn't your tribe make weapons out of whale teeth?"

Sokka snatches the scimitar out of my hand once he stands up, saying, "Let me see that."

Sokka stares at it for a short while with his back to Aang and I, studying the scimitar with a wistful expression.

After a moment of him staring at it in silence, I tap his shoulder, asking softly, "Sokka? You okay?"

Sokka's expression turns serious as he turns to us, saying, "This is a Water Tribe weapon. See if you guys can find any more."

The three of us start searching the surrounding woods for any more Water Tribe weapons when Katara approaches us.

She asks curiously, "Did someone lose something?"

Aang cheerfully responds while rummaging through some bushes, "No, we found something!"

Sokka eventually finds a spearhead lying on the ground beneath a few fallen leaves and picks it up, running his fingers along its point, rubbing residual ash between his fingers.

He says, "It's burned."

Katara, Aang, and I follow him to a tree trunk, scorch marks and sharp cuts running along its bark.

Sokka says, "There was a battle. Water Tribe warriors abused a group of firebenders."

He turns away from the tree, staring down the slope of the hill at a black spot of the ground.

He continues, "The firebenders fought back, but the warriors drove them down this hill."

Sokka races down the hill along a dirt path, the three of us close behind him. He leaps over a few large rocks in his way and continues forward to a sandy beach.

Aang asks, intrigued, "So then what happened?"

I add, "Did the warriors beat the firebenders?"

Sokka says disappointedly, "I don't know. The trail ends here."

Katara points at something in the distance, exclaiming, "Wait, look!"

We run over to where she pointed, finding a Water Tribe ship, half obscured behind large rocks and sitting idly on the shore."

Sokka happily exclaims, "It's one of our boats!"

Katara asks, "Is this Dad's boat?"

Sokka responds, "No, but it's from his fleet." He runs a hand along the boat, adding, "Dad was here."

He turns to Katara, his face showing worry and relief. We decide to make camp next to the boat, the full moon rising overhead.

I ask, "So how long do you think it's been since someone was here?"

Sokka is still standing by the boat, while the rest of us are huddled by the fire I made.

Sokka finally responds, "Long enough for moss to grow on the hull." He turns toward us, his face seeming unsure as he adds, "About 3 months."