𝑾𝑨𝑽𝑬𝑺 || 𝑨𝒂𝒏𝒈 (𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 1)

The Waterbending Master*

"I'm not one to complain -- "

Hugging her blanket close, Jade quirked a brow. "I'd beg to differ."

Sokka shot her a pointed glance. "But can't Appa fly any higher?"

In all honesty, Jade was irritable, too. Partially because of how long they'd been aimlessly traveling, but partially because the North Pole was freezing. Her trusty blanket was keeping her warm enough, but she was going to look like a loser when they finally reached the Northern Water Tribe.

They were flying so low that Appa's toes were skimming the ocean below them. But considering how long he'd been at it, Jade couldn't blame him for being tired.

Aang, on the other hand, took the defensive side. He turned to glare at Sokka. "I have an idea. Why don't we all get on your back and you can fly us to the North Pole?"

Sokka smirked sarcastically. "I'd love to." He pointed to his back. "Climb on, everyone! Sokka's ready for take-off!"

Momo hopped onto his back. Jade just sighed.

Katara tried to mediate. "Look, we're all just a little tired and cranky because we've been flying for two days straight."

"And for what?" Sokka sat back down. "We can't even find the Northern Water Tribe. There's nothing up here."

"Well, where else could it be? Underwater?" Jade paused. "Wait, you don't think it's underwater, do you?"

He deadpanned. "Yeah, Jade. I bet the Northern Water Tribe is full of people who live underwater in the freezing cold sea."

She stuck her tongue out at him. Call it childish, but Jade was a child.

That was when she heard a splash. And her friends paused, so they must have heard it, too. Perhaps a splash didn't seem like a big deal considering where they were, but they'd been flying over the ocean for hours and this was the first time they'd heard anything of the sort.

As Jade was looking for the source, Aang suddenly screamed. He steered Appa to take a sharp turn, leaving Sokka, Katara, Jade, and Momo to hold onto the side of the saddle for dear life. Fortunately, Jade managed to keep her grip and stay on. Unfortunately, she had to sacrifice her grip on her only source of warmth out here.

As her friends screamed, Jade just watched her blanket fly away. "This is the worst day."

Appa's foot caught something that sent him spinning around in circles. Jade joined the others in screaming as they all clung to what they could. It wasn't until Appa landed in the ocean that Jade could breathe again. With none of them screaming anymore, she heard a sound she recognized. Water was being turned to ice nearby, and she only knew of one way to do that.

Sitting up, she noticed that Appa was trapped on all sides by ice. But what caught her attention were the boats coming out from behind the ice that stuck out of the ocean. They weren't Fire Nation boats; they were canoes made of wood, and they each carried men in blue and purple fur coats.

Katara lit up. "They're waterbenders! We found the Water Tribe!"

Jade rubbed her chilly arms. "Actually, I think they found us."

~㊌~

After learning who they were, the waterbenders escorted them to the Northern Water Tribe. It wasn't long before they reached a huge white gate made of snow. On the front of the gate was the symbol of the Northern Tribe.

"There it is!" Aang pointed ahead.

"The Northern Water Tribe..."

"We're finally here."