Chapter Text
“Quickly! Bring them here!” Ila motions to the boy with a gravely injured old man slumped over his shoulders. When he makes it over, Ila quickly helps lay down the old man on one of the several blankets laid out for the gravely injured. Manipulating the water resting in a nearby bowl, the young waterbender guides it over to the injured elder, using it to mend his most grievous wounds so he doesn’t bleed out. Being the only waterbender currently in the Earth Kingdom village puts a great burden on Ila as she looks after the many injured around her. Still, she couldn’t help but feel grateful she was here. The thought of how many would’ve perished without her makes her shudder.
“Is my grandpa going to be okay, miss?” The boy kneeling beside Ila asks, tears threatening to spill over.
“He’ll be fine,” Ila reassures, though she winces at the sound the old man makes when she resets a bone in his left arm. “You should get yourself looked over as well. I’m sure your grandfather would rest easier knowing his grandson was in good health.”
The boy meekly nods before limping over to where other villagers were tending to anyone else injured, but who had nothing life threatening. As much as it pained Ila that she could not help everyone, she had to prioritize those that would not last without immediate care. There was no way to heal the dead after all, and hearing the sobbing of a mother cradling her dead child was enough to make Ila do anything to not add to that number.
Today should’ve been a joyous day. It was a day that the village now celebrated every year to rejoice in the fact that even their small home endured what was now known as ‘the Great Plague.’ While many still mourned those who had perished from the illness that once plagued the land, there was comfort in knowing that they could endure such an event and live on in honor of those who did not see the end of it. Even the Avatar, who was the main driving force behind ending the great plague, had been invited to enjoy the festivities. This village was special to her, after all, it’s where she had met her husband.
Though, all the joy the day should’ve held vanished once the earth shook and a massive landslide poured down on nearly half the village. Now anyone who could were digging victims out of the rubble while Ila and some others were tending to anyone lucky enough to survive. Anxiety plagued Ila as she tended to all she was able. She couldn’t shake the feeling that another tragedy was soon upon them. It was clear to everyone that rockslide was no accident. The land surrounding the village was tall but not unstable. It had to be the work of someone, likely an earthbender. The question was who? She couldn’t imagine anyone in the village doing this to their neighbors, so it’d have to be someone from the outside. She knew the Avatar thought as much, as Ila had watched her take off towards the horizon after preventing the rockslide from claiming any more of the village than it already had. At least the village leader’s house, the largest building in the village, avoided any damage so they were able to use it to house the injured while any able-bodied person cleared the destruction from the rockslide. Everyone else was either tending to themselves or the injured. Ila just hoped that if someone had caused all this, that the Avatar would find them, and they all could focus on helping the village recover.
Ila wasn’t sure how long she had been working away when she felt the ground shaking again. Panicked cries erupted around her, fear gripped her own heart as she braced herself against the ground. Shouting could be heard from outside, orders given to do anything to divert any more falling rocks, but the crushing weight of being buried alive did not come again. Minutes passed as everyone looked around silently trying to piece together what was going on. The sudden quiet was replaced once again by shouts and crying. Ila was barely resisting the urge to run out the building before a man rushed inside carrying an older woman over his back. Ila could feel the pit forming in her stomach when she saw that the woman was wearing clothing from the Northern Water Tribe.
“Ila!” The man shouted, trying and failing to keep his voice steady. “It’s the Avatar! She’s…”
Ila didn’t let the man finish his first word before she was rushing over to him. She put a shaking hand on the woman’s face. The world knew her as the Avatar, but to Ila she was more important than that. Though, all she felt then was a chill letting her know that all life had left her beloved grandmother. A shrill cry filled the room as a chorus of sorrow and anguish slowly grew from everyone who stood witness to the scene.
Avatar Sedna had died that day, and the search for her successor began the next sunrise.