A boy on a bison was surrounded by a group of women and children. Tears stained the boy's face. It was Aang.

Suhe wanted to cry out and ask him what was going on, but there was no sound emitting from her mouth. It had to be another dream.

"Aang," a small boy beside the avatar said. "Are we the last airbenders?"

Aang's young face scrunched up. "I will do whatever is in my power to protect the other temples and preserve the peace." A sad look seeped onto his features. "It's my duty as the Avatar. I have to."

"I have to," Suhe whispered, blinking as a figure covered the light coming into the tent.

"You have to wake up," Mother said, snapping Suhe awake.

In a jolt, Suhe threw off her fur-laden sleeping bag, rubbing her eyes. "What time is it?"

"Time to leave," Mother said, helping Suhe out of the tent as the young girl rubbed her eyes groggily.

Suhe saw that breakfast had already been made. Sitting by the fire, she quickly scooped herself a bowl, eyes avoiding the two men who had already torn down their tent, ready to go.

"Where to next?" Suhe asked, hoping to break the tension.

"We will be fording the river inland," Hakoda said, swinging two rolled sleeping bags over his shoulder. "We will have to be careful. The Fire Nation has a pretty strong presence there."

"Then why are we going through there?" Mother asked, leaning over the female tent to pull the ties loose.

"It's either that or face a naval blockade with our tiny little boat." Bato pinched his fingers to show the comparison.

"I see," Mother muttered, rolling the leather straps around her hand.

"Has the Fire Nation conquered this area yet?" Suhe asked, scooping the last bite of sea prune stew into her mouth.

"Bits and pieces," Bato replied, helping Mother tear down the tarp on the tent. "Some earthbenders and even non benders are standing strong together in the face of the enemy."

"It's sad to think war is what unites us." Suhe dumped the remaining stew from the pot onto the fire to let it out. "Even the north and south poles."

"Yeah, it is sad," Hakoda said, frowning as he yanked the tent pegs from the ground. He stormed off to place the tent supplies in the boat.

"Ignore him," Bato whispered to her. "He is just a bit bitter towards the North. After what they did to his mother and aunt."

Suhe frowned. And her people were bitter towards the South because they seceded from the North, leaving their people to start their own colony. But Suhe kept her words to herself.

≋ ⽔ ≋

The river was beautiful. It must have been early spring since flowers crept up on the shores of the river. Birds chirped from the trees which astonished Suhe. The only birds they had up north were turtle-puffins and they made monstrously annoying screams. But these birds sang.

"It sounds so beautiful here," Suhe said, biting her lip as she leaned over the edge of the boat to drag her fingers through the water. Cool but not icy.

"I don't know," Bato said, leaning back as Hakoda took over the paddling. "I kinda miss the deep sounds of the ice cracking in the distance. The constant wind whistling in my ear."

"No thanks," Suhe said, preferring the birds and the soft wind.

Bato groaned, rolling his shoulders in pain. "After doing this for three straight days, I feel like my limbs are about to fall off."

"Are you guys not waterbenders?" Suhe asked, noting their warrior emblems on their shoulders. "You could waterbend us to go faster."

Hakoda shot her a look, continuing to row. "Why don't you waterbend us to safety?"

"Girls aren't allowed to waterbend," Suhe said slowly, a hurt look crossing her features. "Didn't you forget why the South seceded from the North?"

Hakoda remained silent.

Bato cleared his throat. "Maybe we can heal our way out of it?" He let out a nervous chuckle. "Are you a bender?"

Suhe opened her mouth to answer but stopped short. It was too quiet. The birds had stopped chirping. Chills ran up her arms. They were being watched.

Suhe sprang up from her seat only to face a fire blast to the side of the boat. Wood splintered, sending them all reeling into the water. In the rush of the current, Sube dragged herself to the shore, choking for air.

She stood to her feet, helping her mother up beside her. A small fire nation boat neared them, three fire nation soldiers aboard, fists ready to punch out fire at them.

In a flash of anger, Suhe raised her wrists, bringing a wave underneath the ship big enough for them to lose their footing on the deck. She did so again, this time big enough to capsize the boat.

Suhe turned to her mother to make sure she was alright. After that, Hakoda, and Bato stared at her, weapons drawn but lowered to their side.

Bato cleared his throat. "Guess that answered the bending question."

"Let's go!" Hakoda cried out, rushing to Mother's side to help her along as they escaped the area in case the Fire Nation soldiers resurfaced.

They ran for a long while through the forest, dodging branches and jumping roots. Suhe was winded by the time that they reached a small clearing in the woods. She slowed to a stop at the edge of the forest, panting as she wiped sweat from her face. Her fur-lined coat was not made for running—especially since the weather was warming up as well.

"What strange folk," a voice called out from the clearing. Nestled under a tree and near a bend in the river was a man, child, and an elder couple holding hands, lounging in the shade. The man popped up, waving his hand to them. "Come over! Sit down, enjoy noodles!"

The water tribesmen looked between each other. "Don't you realize there are Fire Nation soldiers about?" Bato asked, looking over his shoulder as they walked to the lounging folk.

The man shrugged, standing up to dust himself off. "Already dealt with them earlier. They said they liked our boat!" He gestured to a canoe docked at the shore, though it was almost falling apart. "I must say it lifted my ego. It was passed down from my family, father to son, all the way to me. A whole two generations!" He stuck his thumb at himself, blowing his mousy brown shaggy hair from his face.

Hakoda neared the man, lowering his voice. "So the Fire Nation won't attack you?"

The man shook his head. "Uh-uh. Kell and Kazo liked our roast duck so much they wouldn't dare."

"Can you help us?" Bato asked, rubbing his hands together. "Kell and Kazo are trying to kill us since we are from the Water Tribe."

"That fits," the man said, rubbing the stubble on his chin. "They did seem a bit racist. Didn't I say that?"

The kid nodded, sniffing as he picked his nose. "Yeah, Dad. You did."

The couple holding hands did a mix of both nodding and shaking their heads, obviously a bit confused under their thick scarves that covered the lower half of their faces.

"The old Mr. and Mrs. Fire are mute." The man paused, scratching his head. "Or at least they don't like talking that much." The man patted his belly. "But that's okay, I do enough talking for the four of us."

"What is your name?" Suhe asked, stepping forward. "I am Suhe, this is my mother, Kasunni."

He bowed. "Hiya, Hayhay and Sooni! I'm Leaf! Cuz I was born by a tree." Leaf gestured to the little boy. "This is my son, Chong. And you met Mr. and Mrs. Fire. We are nomads!"

Mother's eyes widened. "Like air nomads?"

"No, we're made of human, not air," Leaf scoffed, crossing his arms as he sneezed. He wiped his nose, sniffing a couple times.

"Like an airbender," Hakoda clarified.

"Nope, but I'm an earthbender!" Leaf exclaimed, hitting the ground for a few rocks to fly up and hit him on the head. "Sure surprised my swamp bending dad to find out mama had some earthbender blood in her. Meant I could only bend mud, so it was hard to fit in. I left once my wife, Mae, died of swamp sickness." He scratched his head, picking a pebble from his hair. "They weren't too fond of me and Chong after we weren't able to paddle fast enough to keep up with their waterbending."

Suhe blinked. That was a lot of information.

"So can you help us?" Mother asked, clasping her hands in front of her. "Our boat was destroyed and we need to get to the South Pole as soon as we can."

"Sure can, Sooni." Leaf placed his hands on his hips. "We are heading for Whale Tale Island ourselves."

Bato looked at Hakoda. "That's pretty close to the South Pole."

"Really? That is perfect!" Leaf exclaimed, leaping in the air as he clapped his hands together. "We can take you along on our boat!" He froze, looking at the old couple. "Mrs. Fire! You can talk?"

Suhe and Hakoda exchanged glances. "She didn't talk," Hakoda said, scratching the back of his head.

"Strange," Leaf said, wonder stricken. "I swear she said that we only have room for four on our boat." He scratched his stubbled chin, tapping his foot. "Tell you what," he muttered. "I've been dying to trekk in the footsteps of my father and go by foot." He sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Mrs. Fire, I know you don't like walking but the racist, duck-loving firebenders blew up their boat!"

"Why don't two of us take two of them by boat and the rest walk?" Chong asked. He couldn't be more than eight and he was the smartest one there. "Or is it two of them taking us and the rest of the rest going by foot? Or is it—"

Leaf leaped again. "You're a genius, Chong! Who knows the way by river?"

Bato raised his hand along with Leaf. "I'll take Mr. and Mrs. Fire with me on the boat," Bato said. "Since it might be smart having one warrior each, I can take either Suhe or Kasunni while Hakoda stays with the others by foot."

"I'll go by foot," Suhe volunteered. Mother opened her mouth to retaliate, but Suhe shook her head. "Mother, I am a lot more agile and can handle sleeping on the ground a lot longer than you."

Mother frowned. "Alright, but it doesn't mean I'm happy about it."

Suhe smiled, taking her mother's hand in her own. "I wouldn't expect you to be."

"But there's one problem." Hakoda frowned, holding his chin in his hand. "If Kell and Kazo come back, they might recognize us."

"I have an idea for that!" Chong stated, raising his hand as he hopped from foot to foot. "But, we will need to burn your fur coats."