It had been hours. Hours that Katara spent in the surf, hours that the ocean raged and screamed and fought around her. But finally, as the sun began to rise, the water calmed.
It started slowly, so slowly that Atu wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t been watching. The waves gradually became less violent, the sounds of their crashing less pronounced.
The salt stopped stinging them and the tide slowly withdrew, as it should have hours before, until they stood on high ground.
The rocks and the damp sand stretched out and away, leaving Katara standing inland. In a perfect circle around her, there were no rocks or debris on the beach. There was only smooth, white sand.
Slowly, she turned and walked up the beach toward them. Her hands were loose at her sides, her face was clear and completely calm. Her breaths were even and steady, her steps slow and measured.
But as she stopped beside them, Atu looked into her eyes and saw the same fury that had raged through the sea. On the surface, her eyes were calm. But deep beneath that, flames flickered, and the ocean roared, and Atu was afraid.
Aki reached for Katara, but didn’t touch her. “What are you going to do?”
Katara locked eyes with Atu, and when she spoke, her voice held the same icy calm that covered the surface of her soul.
“I am going to Senlin Harbor.”
“Why?” Aki sounded surprised, but Katara’s gaze didn’t waver.
“Whoever has taken my daughter from me isn’t working alone. People like that are connected to organizations, and the people in Senlin Harbor will know where I can find those organizations.”
“We’re not even sure that anyone took her--”
“My daughter would not have just run away. She was taken from me. And I am going to destroy whoever is responsible.”
The waves crashed up onto the beach, obliterating her clear circle, and she walked away. Up the beach, toward the path that led back to the cliffs.
And as she went, Atu clenched Aki’s hand, and prayed that whoever had taken Lia was smart enough to keep her safe.
**__**
“So what happened then?” The little girl looked expectantly at the woman, who had fallen silent.
“Then? Ah, then the story is not so happy.”
“You mean Ursa doesn’t marry Ikem and live happily ever after?”
“No, Allia, she doesn’t.”
Lia blinked. “How do you know my name?”
“I know a lot of things about you.” The woman looked up, then, studying the sun. “Come on. It’s getting late.”
She stood and began to walk through the forest again, and Lia hurried to catch up to her. “Where are we going?”
“To the village.”
“Oh. Will you finish the story then?”
“Yes, Allia. I’ll finish the story.”
The pair walked through the woods for awhile, until they came to, just as the woman had said, a village.
But it was deserted, nothing more than cracked and overgrown ruins. The woman led Lia to one of the broken down huts, and Lia followed dutifully. Inside, vines and flowers covered the floor, and sunlight fractured through cracks in the ceiling. A small table had been set up near the door, and in the shadows toward the back Lia saw two sleeping bags.
“Where are all the people?”
“They left, a long, long time ago.”
“Why?”
The woman sat down on one of the sleeping bags, and Lia followed suit, sitting across from her. “This was once a prosperous city, a city of fire. It was protected from the spirits who roamed in the Spirit Wilds. But thousands of years ago, Avatar Wan, the first Avatar, sent the spirits back to the spirit world. The people left this village because they didn’t need to be protected anymore.”
“Oh. What’s your name?”
The woman smiled. “My name is Ursa.”
________
Hehehehehehehehe. Who can guess where they are?
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Prophecy (Sun and Moon Book 3)
FanfictionLong ago, the Sun and Moon began a feud that tore the human world apart. At the center of it all was their daughter, Harmony. Now, many millennia later, the story unfolds yet again. Zuko and Katara have been fighting for so long, caught in a vice b...
