The Veiled Lady

Prologue : The Prophecy

" The tyrany of the element of rage and warmth shall end by the power of a master of the calm and pure element of cold of the south ..."

They were just words. Empty words that had shield the fate of hundreds of innocent people. People who once lived peacefully, had their families and their lives. Yes! Even if some of you don't believe me, life used to be beautiful in those lands that are now dying slowly in misery and sorrow. Now, that death and pain have managed their goal to break the spirits of those innocent people by killing them or worse killing their loved ones. Because there is nothing worse than seeing the people you love and are dear to you, suffering a terrible fate. Life isn't a fairytale! I used to think of it as a gift from God to humans and to all those creatures that are alive and breathing.
Not anymore! Living has come to be a curse for me. I have seen so much horror and so much pain and suffering. Abuse and use of innocents who never did a wrong thing.

How much pain do you actually think a humam body can stand? Well, for those who are strong, it's easy to stand the pain. But not for much... I give the strongest of men a week before he collapses exhausted, with all of his begging going to deaf ears.

So if a man can stand a week, then a child at the age of twelve can barely stand four days. I suffered for five whole days before they threw me to a dark dungeon, tied me up with ropes. They fed me once a day with bread. They rarely gave me water. It was forbidden for us waterbenders to drink water. But they didn't want us dead. To drink water they tied our hands at the endges of a cage and they were giving us water from dirty cups. It was filth, like mud, but it was the only contact I could have with my element. With water...

As strange as it may seem I had two friends. My mentor and teacher, Hama, and my dear best friend, Sayuri. Both waterbenders from our tribe. Hama had been imprisoned many years ago when she was eighteen and now, at the age of seventy she was still at that dark prison. She had lost her entire life. Sayuri on the other hand was at my age but she had been captured two years before me.

I was the last one. I was actually the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe, as well as the Princess of the South Pole. My imprisonment had cost the lives of many men who were defending their land, their nation and their people.

In vain though...

They were outnumbered by the Fire nation's soldiers and they were fighting with swords while the enemies could bend fire. The battle was uneaven. I remembered that day. It was my greatest defeat. I had lost everything. I had seen my father falling in battle. My big brother, Sokka, was beaten by a soldier.

My dear mother, Lady Kya of the Southern Tribe had been killed by a firebender a few years before the final invesion of those monsters.

Sometimes I felt as if I deserved all that torture and suffering. My mother had died because of me. She had died to protect me. It was all in vain..

During my stay at the dark prison, I was secretly trained by Hama. She was a great master and had invented a knew way of bending. She could bend people's blood. The water on their blood actually. And she had taught me and Sayuri all her technics. It wasn't easy. But we had succed.

That was my life. I was alone in a dungeon till my eithteenth birthday. Waiting patiently till the day I could finally take my revenge on the Fire Nation. Hama, my mentor, had told me a story once. A story that had kept me alive during all those years.

" We may be imprisoned Katara but remember this ; The Fire Lord fears us. That's why he puts us in prison. He is afraid of us." she had said one day, when I was fourteen.

"Why?" I had asked.

" There is a prophecy Katara. A prophecy that says that the rule of the fire nation will end by a powerful waterbender master from the South. It can be anyone Katara. Even you!"

Those words were echoing in my mind since that day. And they gave me strength. Courage! To keep going and one day escape from the hell I was in. Yes, I would escape and probably find a way to complete the prophecy.

Meanwhile, as I was planing my escape, a young man was traveling to the Earth Kingdom. He was on board and was staring far away in the deep cold sea. Some time during his daydream on deck, the man took out a beautiful neckless with a small stone with the shapes of waves and snow painted on it. The stone was hanging from a silk blue ribbon. It was a neckless. A betrothal neckless more preciecly. The man had found it many years ago, when he was a child and had kept it ever since. For all he knew it was a neckless that used to belong to a waterbender. And the man had no idea this neckless belonged to a girl that was supposed to hate him....

Yes, oh hell yes I would have hated him...

Yet I didn't....

" The tyrany of the element of rage and warmth shall end by the power of a master of the calm and pure element of cold of the south ..."

*****

Hello dear readers!

It's been a very long time since I last wrote something Zutara based but I decided to test my limits and continue writing this piece of story that has been on my mind since I finished Learning to Trust two years ago.

I'm dying to know your opinion so your comments will be greatly appreciated. 

So as not to be confused I'll tell you somethings. Firstly, the story will be written from a 3rd person's POV but I'll have some chapters written from Katara's perspective so as to see more clearly the changes in her feelings. Second, the 100 years war is still going but the people have no news of the Avatar just yet. He never met Katara so you still don't know what happened to him. And last but not least, Hama in this story is a good person while Sayuri is an original character I created.

Vote and Comment if you want me to continue...