Mari: Scroll 1

Bato of the Water Tribe

Helloooo my dear readers! 

I'm terribly sorry for the wait, but...yeah....I don't have a very good excuse. 

Anyway! 

Here's a new chapter for ya, 

Enjoy! 

*Mari POV*

"I don't see why we had to come, can't they...."

I stopped in my tracks, my voice fading away as Katara and I caught up to the guys. They were madly searching through some shrubs. Katara and I shared a look. 

"Did someone lose something?" 

"If it's Sokka's brain, good luck finding that." I teased. Sokka shot me a glare over his shoulder. 

"No, we found something!" Aang said. Sokka knelt down, brushing some dead leaves off an arrow head. It was blackened to a crisp. 

"It's burned." He said. He moved to a tree behind me, running his hand over some scorch and claw marks. "There was a battle." He analyzed. 

"Battle?" I asked. 

"Water Tribe warriors ambushed a group of Firebenders. The Firebenders fought back but the warriors drove them down this hill." He followed the tracks, Katara, Aang and I following close behind. We ended up on a beach. 

"So then what happened?" Aang asked. 

"I don't know, the trail ends here." Sokka admitted. I had to give him credit, the guy could track seriously well. 

"Look!" Katara shouted, pointing down the beach. There, sitting on the sand, was a Water Tribe boat. It was small, probably only held around eight men or so. 

"It's one of our boats!" Sokka said and we took off towards the ship. There was no crew in sight, the ship having been abandoned. Sokka ran his hand along the front, almost as if he'd seen the ship before. 

"Is this dad's boat?" Katara asked. 

"No, but it's from his fleet, dad was here." Sokka turned to his sister, both of them wearing proud smiles. 

"So, if the Water Tribe Warriors were here and clearly a match for the Firebenders, why leave the ship behind?" I asked. "Is it damaged?" Sokka walked around the boat, doing a full analysis while Aang brought Appa over and began setting up camp. 

"No, it's in perfect condition." He said. 

"Maybe they left it as a place marker and their coming back?" I suggested. 

"Maybe..." Sokka said, still deep in thought. By now the sun was setting and Katara had gotten the fire going. Lucky for us, we had stocked up on food at the last village we were at and were able to have a nice meal for a change. 

Katara and Aang were asleep within minutes of settling down. Sokka and I, being the always-ready-for-a-fight types, were still awake well into the night. I was uneasy knowing that a battle with Firebenders had recently taken place on the beach we were camped in. Sokka, I assumed, was hoping his tribe would return for their boat. 

"So, your dad, what was he like?" I asked, breaking the silence. Sokka's eyes never left the fire as he stoked it with a stick. 

"He was brave, the bravest man I knew. I wanted to be just like him when I was younger." Sokka said. "The day before they left, I was only eleven. I had put on my own war paint and packed my bag, I wanted to go with them." He explained.