17Welcome to my second Avatar story.
This time it's a much longer and more ambitious one.
Shatterpoint
Prologue 1: The Last Waterbender
Her big brother was acting all high and mighty again.
Katara hadn't been around to hear how it started, but she had heard that the older kids hadn't allowed Sokka to join in their games.
Their reasoning? Something about Sokka not being able to tie a proper knot. And… there might have been a few jabs about his major screw-up on his first ever hunt yesterday.
And now, Sokka was fuming, muttering things about how he was "the better warrior".
She had been fine with giving her big brother space to vent, but that notion evaporated when Sokka started ranting about the female members in the older kids' group.
"They're girls, which means that I'm better than them!"
Katara disagreed and showed it by packing a snowball together and lobbing it at her brother's head.
"Oh yeah? You can't beat me!" she challenged, before running off to find cover. And so the siblings' snowball fight began.
Despite Sokka doing his best to form a small snow barrier over the next half-hour or so, his little sister easily got the better of him. Despite not having any sort of training whatsoever, the fact that the little girl could waterbend gave her the edge in their match.
With rather precise aim for an 8-year-old, Katara managed to headshot her brother. The snowball hit Sokka straight in the center of his face this time, bowling him over as his little sister giggled in glee.
Then the black snow came.
Firebenders were approaching.
"I'm going to find Mom!" said Katara as she started running, as fast as her short legs could carry her.
That left Sokka to find their Dad.
Rushing around the scattering villagers, it was a challenge for Katara not to be accidentally trampled by the taller bodies.
Within a few minutes, though, she had soon arrived at her family's igloo. The little child pushed open the curtain to find her mother on her knees at the mercy of a Fire Nation soldier.
"Mom!"
Little Sokka was also weaving his way around scattering villagers. The women, children and elderly were running back further inside the village to find shelter, while the men were advancing to the front to fight.
One of them recognized Sokka, and dropped to one knee in front of the boy. It was his father's friend, Bato.
"Sokka, what are you doing here? A battlefield is no place for a child. Go join your mother and sister in the house."
"But I wanna fight!" the boy protested.
But Bato seized him with a stern gaze.
"Go, now!"
That command brokered no argument, and so Sokka turned around to find the way to his house.
"Just let her go, and I'll give you the information you want!" Kya pleaded, frantically trying to hide the truth, desperate to keep her only daughter safe.
"You heard your mother. Get out of here!" the soldier snarled at the young girl.
Katara flinched, tears of terror welling up in her eyes.
"Mom, I'm scared," her voice came out pitifully small.
Her mother fixed her with brave eyes and a loving smile.
"Go find your dad, sweetie. I'll handle this."
She heard her mother's command, and that was enough to make her follow.
As she sprinted away from their igloo, she bumped into her brother, who was heading the other way.
"Sokka, you've gotta find Dad! I think Mom's in trouble! There's a man in our house!"
"Alright," Sokka replied as he turned back towards the battle, "But stay away from there until Dad and I come back!"
"But I have to help Mom!" Katara protested.
"You can't!" yelled Sokka, clutching his sister's arm when she tried to pull away, "Listen to me for once!"
"I have to, Sokka!"
"No!"
"I have to!"
"NO!"
Katara looked stung, but Sokka continued.
"You can't fight! You're not a warrior! Don't do anything stupid!"
"But I—"
"Stay away from there!" the older brother firmly ordered once more. He ran off, and soon disappeared from view.
But unknown to Sokka, his little sister had chosen to deliberately disobey him.
Katara wouldn't leave her mother. She wouldn't.
"Now tell me, who is it? Who's the waterbender?"
"There are no waterbenders here. The Fire Nation took them all away a long time ago," the words came out of Kya's mouth steady and strong, even though she knew it was a lie.
What was thought to be the last few waterbenders of the South were taken by the Fire Nation over a decade prior. And then, one day, Katara had been born.
When their infant daughter had first shown signs of bending capabilities during long-winded crying spells, Kya and Hakoda's hearts were burdened with the knowledge that one day their baby could be taken from them forever, if they weren't careful.
Now, with a Fire Nation soldier interrogating her in the confines of her own home, Kya came to the painful realization that she and her husband hadn't been careful enough.
"You're lying," the soldier growled, "My source says there's one waterbender left in the Southern Water Tribe. We're not leaving until we find the waterbender!"
Kya made a decision and steeled herself, ready for her sacrifice.
"If I tell you," she began, closing her eyes, "Do you promise to leave the rest of the village alone?"
The soldier said nothing and narrowed his eyes through his helmet, but nodded.
"It's me," Kya said, finally looking up, "Take me as your prisoner."
The soldier sneered wickedly.
"I'm afraid I'm not taking prisoners today…" he drawled, before flames started sprouting from his hands.
Kya shrank back in fear, though the worst was yet to come.
"No! Mom!" a shrill, squeaky voice cried out.
A small wave of snow extinguished the flames in the firebender's hands, but otherwise did no physical damage at all.
The soldier spun around to find the little girl from earlier, staring dumbfounded at her own handiwork.
"Katara, what have you done?!" screeched Kya, maternal instincts and panic seizing her body.
But before the woman could do anything else, the soldier struck first, delivering a vicious punch to Katara's stomach that doubled the little girl over and left her winded, before whipping back around to face the matriarch. His fists ignited again.
"You know," he smirked, "It was brave of you to lie to try and protect your daughter. But alas, your efforts have ultimately proved futile. And now, you shall both pay the price."
The sound of the fire on his hands droned higher, the flames burning brighter until they were a white-blue. Cocking back his arm, the soldier drew in breath, charging up his chi.
Then thrusting his arm out, the soldier shot out lightning from his fingertips.
Kya was struck directly in the heart and went down with a horrific scream.
Still unable to breathe properly, Katara could only let out a weak scream of her own, her pitiful cry intermingling with her mother's. Tears of pain, grief and fear now flowed freely down her cheeks.
The soldier took out a gag and a pair of shackles, and started towards her.
"As for you," he smiled evilly, "You are coming with me."
"Dad! Dad!"
After flipping a firebender onto the ground, Hakoda spun around to find his 9-year-old son standing on a small ledge.
"Sokka, what are you doing here?!" the chief exclaimed furiously, anger born of worry for his son's safety.
"Katara and Mom are in trouble! There's a soldier in our house!"
The frantic words that had spilled out of his son's mouth made Hakoda's blood freeze.
"No," he whispered, and broke into a run, praying desperately to Tui and La that his wife and daughter were still okay. Still safe. Still alive.
Sokka followed close behind, adrenaline allowing him to keep pace with his father.
But when they brushed past the curtain into their igloo, Hakoda's hopes shattered like fragile ice.
His wife lay dead, her open eyes locked in a vacant gaze, unseeing and unblinking.
And his daughter was bound and gagged at the hands of a Fire Nation soldier.
"Ah, Chief Hakoda, I believe you came here to discuss with me the terms of your unconditional surrender," the soldier stated nonchalantly.
"And just why would I want to do that?" Hakoda snarled, readying himself to charge, to fight to the death to protect his children.
Unfortunately, the leader of the Southern Raiders had anticipated as much and moved to hold a fire dagger millimetres away from Katara's face. The young girl let out a muffled whine through her gag.
"You don't seem to be in much of a position to barter with me, chieftain," the raider continued, "So I am going to make this simple for you. You will have your warriors stand down, and you will let my men depart from your village with no trouble at all. We shall also take your daughter, the last Southern waterbender, with us. Do all of that and no further harm shall come down upon your people today, and your daughter's life shall be spared."
Hakoda's fists clenched in broken rage and helplessness. There was no way to win, no loophole to abuse. He had lost.
Katara was going to pay for his mistakes. Kya had already did.
"Fine," the chieftain said at last, "You win."
"Dad, no!" Sokka cried.
"Son, there is no other way," Hakoda calmly reasoned, doing everything he could not to break, "Now go and tell the men to stand down."
Unable to cope with this turn of events any longer, Sokka fled the house. Following his father's orders was the only thing that his young mind could process right now.
Hakoda turned back to the raider, who flashed him a wicked sneer.
"I'm so glad you could see things my way, chief."
In the end, the people of the Southern Water Tribe could only stand back and watch as the Fire Nation soldiers marched past, their last waterbender held with the leader of the raiders as a trophy.
"Take a good look at your people one last time, young one," the leader hissed to his captive, "For after today, you shall never see them again."
Katara blinked her eyes in a futile attempt to clear away tears that leaked freely and continuously. She had to commit one last image of her people – her family – to her memory before they disappeared from her sight forever.
As the soldiers walked up the metal steps to the entrance of their ship, Katara's eyes managed to find the people whom she loved most in the world.
Gran-Gran was weeping inconsolably. The supportive arms of the other village elders standing in solidarity with her completely failed in providing her with any comfort.
Dad had made his way to the front of the mass of villagers, his own eyes glinting with unshed tears.
And Sokka, her brother, her beloved big brother – who annoyed her, and teased her, and yet loved her more fiercely than anyone else in the world – tried to break free from their father's grip and chase after her.
But for everyone's safety, Hakoda couldn't let that happen.
Sokka was left futilely reaching out his small arms as the raiders marched up the last few steps and the ship's door began to close, taking his little sister with it.
"Katara! Katara!" he screamed in utter desolation.
Just before the hull door closed, Katara heard the dying echoes of her brother's call.
Then the cold metal door slammed shut.
This story will take inspiration from the best "Katara gets captured by the Fire Nation" AUs and explore the effect that such an event will have on canon.
With canon pairings, of course.
99% of "Katara gets captured by the Fire Nation" stories, even the great ones, have the Zutara tag slapped on them. Ugh.
No thanks. I'm a stickler for the canon pairings, with the opinion that the primary pairing is the greatest OTP romance of all.
Stay tuned for more! Hopefully this project of mine (yeah, I'm trying to plan this out more professionally than my usual fanfics) will be updated monthly.
Or once every 2 months at the latest.
Eh, shrugs guiltily.
PUBLISHED ON = 02 / 01 / 2019
REWRITTEN ON = 30 / 10 / 2019
