Chapter Text
Some used to say that spirits control the weather and if that’s true, then the ones in control of the weather in the Tennessee Valley were stupid. Springs were hot but summers were hotter. Sometimes October was warmer than it was in June. In the winter, it could be twenty degrees Fahrenheit one day, and sixty the next. But anyone who lived there could tell you they were used to it. It wasn’t even unusual anymore.
Adding to the ever-changing weather was the current political and social climates as well as just the general feeling that the world was about to end. This was the kind of climate that made a fighter out of just about anyone—the kind of climate that prepared a child for anything. It was this world that fourteen-year-old Eloise, preferably called Ellie Jones belonged to.
The day that changed everything, however, was a blisteringly hot day in late September. It had rained earlier that day, but instead of cooling off the valley in which she lived, the rain only seemed to trap moisture in the air and boil it. At least, the one-hundred-and-five-degree heat made it feel as though the moisture in the air was boiling. The humidity made everyone feel hot, slick, and irritated.
Maybe it was this reason that during school the class bully spat her gum into Ellie’s hair during the last minutes of the school day. Maybe it was because Ellie was strong willed, and the two girls hated each other anyway. But in a hot, irritable day such as that one it didn’t matter. All that mattered was the frustration—so palpable it sorely tempted Ellie to attack her assailant. Instead, she forced herself to calm and not react. That was how she was trained—it was childish to fight. She couldn’t behave like some hooligan child no matter how much she wanted to bash that girl’s nose in.
Instead, she trudged outside, wading through the over-clogged hallways and purposefully ignoring and laughs and jeers that were called out to the angry girl with gum in her hair. By the time she made it to the drainage ditch adjacent to the school, her long hair was clinging to her neck in the most irritating manner and she had only managed to get it more hopelessly tangled and covered in gum.
Water filled the drainage ditch, probably flowing towards some sewer system nearby, and Ellie could practically see steam rolling off of it as it evaporated in the heat. It created a sort of mirage over the orange, mud colored water; causing the ditch to blend into the blue sky.
Ellie set her phone down beside her as she sat down on the edge of the drainage ditch, her bare legs scraping against the rough cement. In most places, it would be considered inappropriate to wear a tank top and short shorts to school, but in the suffocating heat of Achak, nothing less was expected. And she was grateful, because she was already angry enough.
The girl took her backpack off and set it on the other side of her. She unzipped it and drew out her pair of art scissors. Grabbing her long hank of white-blonde hair, Ellie raised the scissors to just below her ear and just chopped everything off. Using her dim reflection in the muddy water below, the girl attempted to make the cut as straight as possible, and she was pretty confident that she managed it.
With a grunt of released anger, the girl pitched the entire hank of hair into the water with all her might, and watched it float all the way down the ravine. Then, she turned back to look at her dim reflection in the dirty water.
“Hey look! I found Miss Anger-Management!” came a girlish voice behind her, and she saw the reflection of the class bully behind hers.
“Leave me alone, Mia,” Ellie muttered in a low voice.
“Okay, Eloise, but tell me something first. Did you cry when you chopped off your horrid fake-blonde hair?”
Ellie frowned and drew herself to her full height, slowly turning to face the girl.
“Hey, no wonder she stinks so much, if she hangs out in the sewers,” Mia laughed, turning to her friends and encouraging them to do so as well. It was obvious she was just trying to get Ellie to react. Probably because they had all heard stories of Ellie viciously attacking other kids, yanking out fistfuls of hair, and punching them in the eyeballs; but no such occurrence happened so far in Middle School to prove such rumors were true.
Well, that was Ellie’s theory of how this whole “pick-on-Ellie" thing started, though she and Mia quite honestly clashed personalities, so that didn’t help matters.
Stiffening, the blonde clenched her fists and turned around in order to keep herself from going ham on this girl. Momentarily, however, she was distracted as the water below her pulsed a brilliant yellow-green color, like neon lights in a bowling alley. She hardly even noticed the hands on her back until she felt herself falling.
As if in slow motion she saw the muddy water draw nearer, lapping hungrily at its concrete banks and another ripple of unnatural, glowing color went across the surface, which then began to bleed into the deepest of blues before it disappeared once more. She had just enough time to fear what would happen when she landed in the shallow water, and realized she would probably get hurt, though it probably wouldn’t be much worse than scrapes and a few bad bruises—she had fallen over enough times in the creek in her neighborhood to know that much. But then, she was totally submerged in the water and couldn’t tell which way was up or down.
She opened her eyes and caught a glimpse of what appeared to be the bottom of a pier. Then she was entirely submerged in swirling, spinning, terrible, battery-acid yellow. The girl began to grow dizzy, so she snapped them shut again. The warm water suddenly felt freezing, and her fingers and toes numbed. The light faded and her lungs were searing from lack of air. Then her head broke the surface of the water and she gulped in as fast as possible, registering that the air was beyond cold, and her ears and nose were going numb as well.
Ellie opened her eyes to bright light and squinted. She vaguely noticed the white ice caps, reflecting light of a bright sun that was overhead. The water she was in was not muddy red or even clear reflecting the stone floor of the drainage ditch, but was a deep blue.
The girl tread water, her limbs feeling heavier and heavier by the minute, and she drew in shuddering, shaky breaths. She was feeling so cold now that she was burning and shivering. Ellie heard shouts and saw a life preserve being thrown to her. She grabbed hold of it in a sort of dazed way. Ellie was pulled out of the water and slumped on the deck. Already tired from the school day and exhausted from the fight to keep her life, she felt darkness closing in on her. She looked up right before she passed out and saw a familiar, scarred face and her eyes widened in shock before closing altogether.
<<<OA>>>
Prince Zuko stood on the deck of his ship, waiting impatiently for his men to thaw his ship out of the ice so that they could resume his search for the Avatar. He was especially angry because after years of searching for the all-powerful being, he had finally found him and captured him. The glory had been short lived, however when the boy had escaped moments later.
“Hurry up!” he barked.
Zuko stood watching angrily when suddenly the men were scurrying around, fetching life rafts and peering over the side of the ship. He stomped over and shouted on the way, “What are you men doing?”
The prince leaned over the side of the ship as well to see something flailing in the water. He watched for a moment, wondering what it was, but as the water stilled he could see what it was. It was a girl treading water. Though she was staying afloat, it looked as though she was exhausted. The soldiers threw her a life raft and she grabbed hold of it. Zuko watched as she was dragged aboard. Her eyes widened at the sight of him and then she fell limp.
Before his uncle, General Iroh came over, he took note of her appearance. She had moderately dark skin—a dark bronze color that comes from hours of reflected sunlight on the skin—and prominent cheekbones that lined small, delicate eyes. Everything about her screamed Water Tribe except for her short, unusually pale hair. Sand colored, his mind supplied. Almost as unusual as the hair were the clothes the girl was wearing. She wore a bright pink top with no sleeves, strange symbols, and—Zuko quickly looked away. He could definitely see her breast bindings underneath the skimpy shirt. Along with that were shorts that didn’t even pass mid-thigh, white with sea-colored stripes on them; and the most unusual shoes he had seen in his life.
Zuko didn’t like it. The unusualness of this girl was unnerving, and slightly disturbing. As the prince reached this conclusion, Iroh came over and looked at the girl as well.
“Where did she come from?” Iroh asked after a second.
“We pulled her out of the water, sir,” a soldier replied, his voice was muffled through his mask.
“Well,” Uncle replied after a moment. “Take her to our extra quarters.”
The man nodded and scooped her up. Iroh and Zuko followed him, complaining.
“Uncle! What are you doing? She’s obviously Water Tribe! What if she was sent here to spy on us?”
They reached a door and Iroh paused looking at Zuko.
“I do not think she is a spy. Would you rather me throw her back into the water and let her drown?”
Zuko scowled, but didn’t reply. Instead, he followed the elderly man into the extra room. As she was set down, Zuko noticed that her fingertips were white, and her lips were blue. Perhaps Iroh had noticed as well, for he shifted into a firebending form and the girl’s skimpy clothing heated and dried until they were steaming.
Then Iroh had her placed on the bed and piled extra blankets on top of her to warm her back up.
“Uncle!” Zuko shouted angrily. “I—”
“Go practice your firebending, Prince Zuko,” the retired general replied. “I will alert you when she wakes. If you need to, you may ask her a few questions.”
Zuko opened his mouth to explain to him that he couldn’t not allow him to do anything, but he decided against it and stormed back on deck. Iroh wasn’t called Dragon of the West for nothing.
Therefore, Zuko began shooting fire out of his fists and feet, allowing it to drain all of his anger away. The men were digging the ship out once more and he practiced in silence, all the time brooding angrily. He didn’t like the way that girl had looked at him. It was as if she knew who he was. But that was impossible, she was a peasant. An unusually dressed, very bizarre peasant. He kicked the air, fire spewing from his foot. Uncle acted as if he ran the ship, not Zuko. He punched some fire into the frigid air.
The prince had no idea how long he practiced, but he knew it was a good while. He was growing fatigued and the sun was setting. Finally, a door opened behind him and Iroh walked up to him. He was the picture of calm with his hands tucked into his sleeves.
“She’s waking up,” Iroh said.
Zuko grunted and shot one last trail of fire at one of the men.
<<<OA>>>
Ellie regained consciousness slowly. She tried to move her arms, but it felt as if there were heavy weights attached to them. She tried to open her eyes, but it felt as if they were glued shut. The girl vaguely remembered that she hadn’t gone to bed that night. But, if she hadn’t gone to bed, why was she asleep? Maybe I laid down when I got home, she thought. But no, she couldn’t remember returning home. Then, as she remembered being shoved into the drainage ditch beside the school, she shoved an unpleasant thought from her mind. She couldn’t be dead.
Deciding not to think, she lay there blissfully, relishing in the warmth and comfort of the bed she was laying on. She heard a loud screech and the shuffling of feet. Finally letting curiosity get the better of her, she wrenched her eyes open. Suddenly, she bolted upright, all exhaustion gone. There were two people standing in here doorway.
Hypothermia and sleep clouded her mind and she vaguely noted that the two men standing in the doorway looked foreign. She also noted she was no longer in her neighborhood anymore. She wondered where she was before asking, “Where am I? Have you called my parents?”
“Oh, are they nearby?” the older one asked.
Ellie froze. Her mind had finally caught up to her instincts, reminding her of what had transpired before she fell unconscious. She had been dragged onto a ship out of the water. She had also been surrounded by giant icebergs. Somehow, the girl suspected her parents were nowhere nearby.
“I…don’t think so,” she replied.
“What is your name?” the older man asked.
“Ellie Jones.”
And then she realized. She suddenly snapped into consciousness and began to panic. The two men. One younger who could’ve been a teenager and one older. Both were wearing red robes. The older one was shorter and was stroking his goatee thoughtfully as his kind yellow eyes observed her. They were two characters out of a television series she had been obsessed with three years previous. General Iroh and Prince Zuko of Avatar: The Last Airbender were standing in her doorway.
Iroh stepped forward, concern showing in his eyes. His face was weathered and so real. It was nothing like being plopped into a cartoon. It was like her childhood had come to life before her eyes. Maybe she had died, after all.
“Are you all right, young lady?” he asked. Ellie looked at him before composing herself. This was most likely a dream. That was it. It had to be.
She forced a smile. “I’m—fine,” her voice was still higher than normal from the panic. She glanced at Zuko to see him glaring at her. His pale smooth skin was contorted in rage. She could see that he had long black lashes that made his pale eyes stand out in stark contrast. That was something that she wasn’t able to see in a cartoon. Especially the malice that shone in those eyes.
Ellie looked back at Iroh when he asked her, “What were you doing in the water?”
“I-I don’t know,” she said slowly. Then she remembered Mia and being pushed into the ditch. “I think I was pushed.”
From the doorway, Zuko looked at her eyes to see that they were amber. But something didn’t add up. They were the color of Fire Nation nobility, but her dark skin and high cheekbones implied she was a Water Tribe girl.
“What are you doing here?” he growled. Those unnerving eyes turned on him. “Were you sent to spy on me? You’re working with the Avatar aren’t you?” If she hadn’t been sure of where she supposedly was, Ellie had no other option to think of now. Not after the teenager—Prince Zuko—started spouting out nonsense about the Avatar.
“Wha-No!” she exclaimed. Ellie was confused and just wanted to go home. She threw off her blankets, intending on finding how to get back home. Maybe if she jumped back in the water, she would end up in the ditch back home. These thoughts were washed away, however when coldness flooded back to her. She remembered that she was wearing a sleeveless shirt and short shorts. She turned sheepishly to Iroh. “You don’t happen to have any warmer clothes my size do you?”
Iroh nodded. “I am sure we have something for you somewhere.”
“What now?” she asked. “I mean, are you just gonna drop me off on the nearest iceberg or something?” Once she was standing up, she noticed how tall Zuko actually was. While Ellie was taller than Iroh, Zuko still had several inches on her. She had to tilt her head to glare him in the eyes.
"I have no intention of leaving you out in the cold,” Iroh replied. “We cannot turn around to drop you off at the nearest village because it is urgent that we get repairs as soon as possible, and it is too far to walk dressed the way you are—even before we started moving.”
Ellie didn’t know what to feel. She was glad that the old man cared enough for a stranger that he wouldn’t just leave her to freeze on an iceberg, but she disappointed they had already moved—though she was seriously considering jumping into the water anyway just to see if it would send her home.
Zuko, meanwhile, looked even angrier. “No! She cannot stay with us, I forbid it!”
“We cannot turn around, Prince Zuko,” Iroh repeated. “We must get the ship repaired immediately.”
“Fine!” the hot-headed prince snapped. “Keep her out of my sight!”
He stormed out of the room. “I’ll go find you a robe,” Iroh said, leaving as well.
Ellie sighed and sat down at the foot of her bed. Somehow, deep down, she suspected she may never find her way home again.
Welcome to our story, lovely readers!
Why are we welcoming them down here, Tui? Shouldn’t we welcome them up top?
Oh, shut up, the both of you, you love-sick fish. We all know that they would prefer to read content over the two of you mooning over each other. Sorry, I meant La mooning over Tui, who couldn’t care less.
Remind me, who invited Koh?
That’s a good question. Why are we all here? We certainly didn’t invite Koh. Or each other for that matter.
Do you think it was...her? You know, the one who’s in charge here. She changed the story. I think she put us here.
Good job guys. It’s me, the writer. I invited you here. You’re supposed to be doing the Author’s Notes for my story. Here, I find you all bickering over the presence of Koh. That’s not very nice.
Well, he’s very creepy.
Ha, ha, guys. I am glad you enjoy my presence as much as I enjoy yours.
Hey!
Anyway, since these spirits are useless, here goes: I hope you enjoy this story. I know there are a lot of OC insert stories out there, but I have much a lot of effort into writing and rewriting this story. Trust me, it’s got its own twist on the story ;)
She means it’s very good. Our presence should attest to that.
Tui! She was talking. Just read it! You won’t regret it! ;)
Shu.30.99.