Playing Waterbending (Avatar: Last Aibender SI)

"Ryuk." Katara waved her hand at me. She and Sokka were about to run toward me after I had come back to the tribe, with two large bags on my back.

I raised my palm at them, indicating how tired I was. I had just finished dealing with a bunch of firebenders. I had even gone to check on the location of their ship, and not a single firebender was there. On the way, I had seen the footprints of a polar bear-dog. Yep. It seemed that they had escaped using the bear, and that's why I couldn't find them by tracing human footprints.

"So, what happened?" Sokka asked me, looking me in the eyes.

"You see," I began, "all of the firebenders have been annihilated. The problem is, one of them managed to escape. Or, to be more precise, the others acted as bait while sending the other to the North."

Sokka sighed in relief. "Phew. That wasn't bad. Seeing your expression, I thought the worst might have happened. You're fine, and that's what matters."

I shook my head, looking at Katara, who too had yet to realize the full consequences.

The two of them… the three of us, had lived in this place for almost two decades. Our job was simply to watch over the elders and the children. Other than that, it was a peaceful life without much struggle.

It would be obvious that they don't know what kind of life exists out there in other continents, let alone realize what it would mean for a firebender to escape.

"What do you think that firebender would do, Sokka?" I asked him, since he was the oldest.

"Hmm… go home, tell them not to come here and mess with us," he said.

"Let me think. Let's say you're a firebender, and one of the guys who died here was your sister. What would you do in that case?" I asked.

"Obviously, I would come here to take revenge," Sokka grimaced, his tone becoming harsher.

I smirked. "Bingo. That's exactly what's going to happen. But instead of coming alone like you're thinking, everyone would gather a large army. Maybe a fleet to take us down. It's needless to say that the tribe and their lives aren't as important to them as they are to us."

Katara put her hands over her mouth. "That makes sense. What do we do? Should I gather everyone and prepare to escape?"

"To where?" I asked. "This is the South Pole. The deeper parts are so cold and stormy that it's not suitable to live. Not to mention, we wouldn't be able to gather food easily since it's far from the ocean."

"So, you're saying we're doomed in any case?" Sokka thought for a moment. "You two can leave the South Pole for somewhere else. I'll take care of the tribe and see if there's a place to move them to."

"Sokka, you can't do that!" Katara scolded him.

"I can," he insisted.

"You two, can you shut up for a second?" I interjected. "Since I've thought about the consequences, it's obvious that I've already thought of a way to minimize the damage."

"Huh? Really?" Sokka asked. "What is it, then?"

"I'll go alone after the firebender," I explained. "There are three possible outcomes. One, the firebender dies at the hands of sea monsters. Two, I meet the firebender before he reaches the Fire Nation military bases and kill him. Three, we get exposed as having a crazy waterbender."

"In the first two cases, I'll come back here. In the last case, I'll cause trouble in the Earth Kingdom and announce myself. This way, they'll focus their forces on me."

I had thought about the possibility of them sending troops to kidnap people here to force me out. But that would put their own people in danger, which meant I'd have to chase them down.

It wasn't as bad as I had made it sound.

I could gain experience points thanks to them.

"Anyways," I said, placing the two bags in front of the siblings, "one bag contains meat, grain, and other types of canned food. The other contains coal and cooking materials. Learn how to use them. It doesn't take a genius to figure them out."

Katara placed her hand on my shoulder. "Ryuk, it's so dangerous to go alone. I'll go with you."

"Yeah. As if I'd let my younger sister go alone with a young man," Sokka refused. "I'll be coming too."

I chuckled and shook my head. "Sorry, guys, but there's that vision provided by the spirits. You still need to meet a bald male who claims to be the Avatar in one of the icebergs."

"Are you being serious!?" Katara snapped. "We've been looking for him for some time now. And he's not even remotely here!"

To be honest, I had thought about what she said many times. As the person who had been swimming in icy cold water every morning for the last month, I was the one who had lost the most hope of the Avatar's appearance.

What if he never appeared? We would be doomed for sure, unless I took the risk myself. I may not be as powerful as someone who could access the Avatar State… or maybe even like Azula for now.

But experience points were my hope. If I could gain them endlessly, I should be able to power up endlessly. Though leveling up became slower and harder, the Earth Continent had a variety of life forms and dangerous monsters that should be worth a lot of experience points. If I could benefit from that, I could even unlock bloodbending. When I reached that level, I swore I'd break into the Fire Lord's palace and twist his neck. After that, even if the Sozin Comet came, without a leader, the Fire Nation wouldn't stand a chance.

"One month," I said. "Just wait for one month. If he doesn't appear, you guys come and try to meet me in the Earth Kingdom."

Whether the firebender would reach the other side of the land, I would still have left. I needed the valuable experience points. Also, I was dying to have a hot shower. The stench of blood was strong on me.

"How would we find you?" Katara crossed her arms and pouted.

"Don't worry. I'll be famous by then," I said. Knowing this conversation might take a long time, I decided to do what was necessary and then leave.

"Also, Katara, I've discovered an interesting trick when it comes to waterbending." I said, waving my arms in a specific way. Water rose from the land and formed two tentacles around my arms. "Wanna learn the basic moves before I leave?"