The Lost Waterbender (Avatar: The Last Airbender Fanfiction)

Dawn of the Mission

I was assigned to be part of a group with Kuzira, Koza, Raiko, and a man named Qui. Piandao was going with a different group, to my disappointment.

On the day of our departure, I met with them in the commons area. None of them had said a word to me the entire time I had been there. Figures. I wouldn't want to talk to me either.

I was dreading this trip, but I also knew it was a chance to redeem myself from the image of an injured brat I had no doubt left imprinted in their minds. I was determined to show how much I had changed. This mission was my golden opportunity.

I wanted Piandao have Lily, so I was put on an ostrich-horse, which I awkwardly shared with Raiko. I sat up front, and tried to focus solely on directing the creature on the right path and not on the fact that someone who quite possibly hated guts was sitting right behind me. It wasn't easy.

Our journey was going to take almost three days, and that was a lot of time to sit in silence. The first day no one spoke a word until Kuzira suggested we make camp for the night. We chose a quiet spot and set up our tents. Soon, our campsite was made and we were cooking soup over a roaring fire.

The four of them huddled around the fire, but I sat a few feet away and quietly ate my soup. They didn't make an effort to include me, and I didn't make an effort to join. They laughed and talked, but didn't look back at me. Except Raiko. He glanced over and we made eye contact. I have threw him a small smile, which he didn't return. I focused my attention on my meal.

In the morning I helped take down camp. We continued our journey the same way we did yesterday. Qui did try to lighten the mood, and I admired his efforts. I had been on a couple missions with him in the past. He was a middle-aged man, but still in peak physical condition. He had a versatile skill set that included not only combat, but intelligence. He was perceptive and had very good tracking skills, which would probably come in handy. He was trying to lighten the mood with jokes.

"-and so he says 'leaf me alone! I'm bushed!"

We all laughed at the punchline. Qui looked rather pleased with the reaction and humorously blew kisses to an imaginary audience. "Thank you! Thank you!"

"I haven't heard a good joke in while," Kuzira laughed. "Dark times have fallen on the City of Outcasts."

I frowned. "What kind of dark times?"

Kuzira glared at me. "There have been no supply wagons coming through the town. That was how we got most of our food and money supplies."

Crap. We all knew the reason the supply wagons weren't coming. I looked down as I felt the burn of stares on me.

"There's been a shortage of food," Koza added. "And not enough people have been able to get jobs above to compensate for the money loss."

"A lot of people have been leaving because they can't get all they need," Qui said solemnly. "Already fifteen have tried to start over elsewhere."

There was an awkward silence. I could feel my face burning red and was grateful my hair was now long enough to cover it up.

"Well, maybe this mission will bring in some money," Raiko said.

I decided not to tell him that mission was mainly to help people escape, and besides what the Order gave us for rooms and food, there would most likely be no money involved.

Two nights later we arrived in our stakeout zone. It was nestled at the bottom of a large hill, tucked away from spectators. The town was called Moon Jade Valley. I'd never heard of it before.

"Small, hidden, unknown- this is the perfect spot to snatch people without anyone realizing it," Qui said, scanning the area.

"The White Lotus informant said that almost two dozen people had been taken from here," I added.