The Warrior - Book One [AtLA]

Twelve: Bato

𝐒𝐞𝐧 - 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐎𝐧𝐞 - 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞

The next landing had the team exploring near a body of water, Aang swiftly going through nearby grass towards a slope. Sokka and I slid down the slope as Aang pulls up a sword from the ground.

"Hey, look! A sword made out of a whale's tooth," Aang claims as he examines the sword.

"Let me look at that," Sokka bolts ahead of Sen looking at the weapon first.

Sokka and Sen share a glance, one the older man winces at slightly. The only sign of emotion was the crinkling of his eyes while Sokka gathered a serious expression. 

"This is a Water Tribe weapon, see if you can find anything else," Sokka orders as he glances around.

"Did someone lose something?" Katara asks are she comes over the slope.

"No, we found something!" Aang chirps as he rummages through a bush.  

Sen shuffles through some bushes near Sokka, picking up a spearhead the looks like it had snapped off. Sen runs his fingers along the blade and notices grey rubbing off, there was ash on the weapon.

"It's burned," Sen calls out, Sokka jerking his head to look at the environment.

"There was a battle! Water Tribe warriors ambushed a group of Firebenders," Sokka noticed as the group picked up on the scorch marks left on trees. 

"The Firebenders fought back, but the warriors drove them down this hill," Sen observes as he follows the trails of ash and scorch marks. 

Sokka races up the hill and down the other side, following a dirt path. As everyone chases after Sokka, Sen pulling up the rare, they emerge on a sandy beach. 

"So, then what happened?" Aang asked.

"I don't know. The trail ends here," Sokka sounded disappointed. 

"Wait, look!" Katara yells as she points to something hidden behind rocks at the shore. 

"It's one of our boats!" Sokka yells as a smile spreads across his face. 

"Is this dad's boat?" Katara asked, happiness glimmering in her eyes.

"No, but it's from his fleet," Sokka runs his hands along the side of the boat, "Dad was here."

Sen watches the two siblings with worry as the team decides to sleep beside the Water Tribe boat. As night falls, Aang and Katara manage to drift off while Sokka and Sen stay awake - neither being able to sleep. Sokka poked the fire with a long stick, clearly lost in his thoughts.

"Sen," Sokka's quiet voice startled the older boy, "Why did you hesitate to join the fleet? You know dad probably would have let you."

"I- ... I know, all too well. Just with my mother and bending..." Sen cut off with a sigh, not liking the memories that played at the back of his mind. 

An odd noise made the two teens bolt up, Sokka with his boomerang and Sen pulling water from the ocean to threaten the approaching figure.

"Who's there?" Sen called, taking charge for once. 

A man, hailing from the Water Tribe with white bandages wrapped around the upper left portion of his torso, steps out of the shadows. He is clearly surprised to see the group.

"Sen, Sokka?" The man queries. 

"Bato?" Sokka asks, his eyes widening. 

"Who the what now?" Aang asks as he awoke along with Katara.