Chapter Text
They had finally reached a port in the Northern Earth Kingdom, after nearly two weeks of travel the ocean was before them. This would be the final stretch of their journey to the North Pole, where Danny could finally learn how to properly waterbend than the instinct-panic-driven stuff he’s been doing so far along with the (very) few techniques he managed to learn from a stolen scroll (those pirates didn’t need it, he did). It was exciting in its own way, though he wouldn’t be learning about his mother’s heritage, he’d be learning about the Water Tribe in general. Danny still longed to see the South Pole.
There was a major problem though. There was only ocean between here and the Northern Water Tribe, a very, very cold ocean. Sure, Sam had a bit of money left over from what she stole from her parents however long ago, and Tucker had managed to pick up a few silver pieces with his skills along the way, but they didn’t have nearly enough money to buy a ship that could handle the northern cold. This left them very few options in fact, since it wasn’t like there were any ships that went to and from their desired destination.
No, it had been Sam’s idea to steal a ship. She pointed out an old Fire Nation Trawler, easily manned by a small group and strong enough to get them where they were going, despite the fact it would be moderately cramped for the several-day trip. But it was their best option, and one of the few things in the harbor that could manage the rough winter seas while also providing enough heat to keep them from freezing. Luckily, none of them stood out too bad, Danny had been really careful to avoid being on any wanted posters, so far. But there was a missing person's poster for him and Sam up there. Luckily, those weren’t posted in every town from the Fire Nation to the Northern Earth Kingdom (which was sad in its own way, but at least he knew someone was looking for him, probably Jazz). Despite the fact that they were easily able to go into to town, only one went into town to scout the area out (Sam), while the two boys stayed behind in a camp a ways out to rest for the night and find something there to eat.
Danny and Tucker ended up with a good collection of edible herbs, berries and nuts, while Danny managed to get a squirrel-jay for some meat, as meager as it was. Danny was saving all he could though. Sam had taken what was left of the money to get some food in town, but it probably wouldn’t be enough for the trip. To make it to the North Pole, they would need all the food they could find while also hoping the small ship they were stealing had something substantial too. Fishing would also be fine, but Danny would rather not put his survival on that particular skill, not in the middle of winter.
Sam came back at around dusk and leveled them disapproving a look at Danny’s attempt to make jerky using his firebending. Thus, the argument started, between Tucker’s need for meat-based protein and Sam’s aversion to anything with a face.
“Guys!” Danny shouted over the two.
Both looked at him bewildered; Danny never really raised his voice.
“Can we focus, please? Sam, I know you don’t like meat, we tried to find other things to eat too, and Tucker, which means there’s more jerky for you. But we won’t be eating anything if we don’t find food in the first place! And I know I’d actually like to reach the North Pole sometime soon before the Fire Nation puts a price on my head!” Danny continued.
Both Sam and Tucker looked resigned. Danny sighed and looked to Sam.
“Find out anything useful in town today?” he asked, much calmer now that the argument had de-escalated.
Sam huffed, “There’s another fire nation ship in the harbor tonight, an outdated, wreck of a ship, but the soldiers look a lot tougher than your standard lot. Other than that, just some fishing boats and our target, which apparently belongs to the local leader, who’s an ass. I no longer feel sorry about suggesting we steal. There’s a stall on the corner that sells rations to passing ships, so that would be best to also raid on our way out,” Sam described.
“Ok, Tucker, you’re good with locks. Do you think you and Sam can get us some supplies while I sneak onto the ship and get it started?” Danny asked.
“Why do you get to be the one to steal the ship?” Sam argued.
“Because I’m the only one who knows how to steer a ship and I’m the waterbender? Also, Tucker’s better at breaking into places than I am, and your better at sneaking around,” Danny defended his plan.
Tucker snickered, “Lover’s quarrel.”
Both Danny and Sam gave him a crippling look.
“So, that’s the plan then?” Tucker confirmed after recovering himself.
“We move when the moon peaks,” Sam confirmed.
They packed their things and changed into the right clothes, making sure they hide their faces and anything identifiable.
Zuko woke suddenly that night in a cold sweat, a heavy, tense feeling settling in his gut. Something was wrong, something was happening. He made sure he was dressed, grabbed his swords, and went onto the deck to see what woke him. The darkness of this particular port town made it extremely difficult to spot the three figures slinking around in the shadows, but the moonlight was just bright enough. Two were fleeing from the navy store with what looked to be heavy bags, while the third was on a small fishing boat not too far from where the Wani was ported for the night.
Thieves. Of course. But then he caught a glimpse of light as the third thief, the one on the boat, melted something with firebending, then snuck into the control room. A rouge firebender? This far north? Perhaps they were a defected soldier of some sort. Zuko should deal with this.
Zuko went to leap off the deck to confront them, but then rethought, watching the other two quickly go towards the ship. But by the time he got there, they would’ve already have fled onto the ship and set off. Something else also told him to simply watch. The ship started up with a groan, its plume of smoke rising into the air, then the third thief rose above deck again.
Zuko could only watch as something in him realized what was going on. The third, who was a firebender, shifted into a waterbending stance, rose his arms, and the ocean responded. Waterbending. Firebending. The Avatar. The avatar was here, alive, stealing a boat and supplies while he just watched. He had to bite his tongue to keep from roaring in rage but didn’t stop himself from charging downstairs.
“WAKE UP!” Zuko raged, “If I lose them, I’m throwing you overboard personally!”
The crew responded instantly, startled awake by the furious prince, golden eyes gleaming in the dark. Zuko sprinted through the halls, slamming open his Uncle’s door with equal, if not greater force.
“Uncle!” He shouted, startling the old general awake, “The Avatar! He’s here!”
“W-wait! Zuko!” Iroh called, but Zuko had already left.
The Avatar was right there. If he caught him, he could go home. Finally. He stormed into his room, and changed as quickly as he could, putting on proper attire and armor, tying up his hair, but left the swords at his side. He was the prince; he would make sure this moment was remembered in the great history of the Fire Nation. He couldn’t afford to hold any skill back.
Zuko continued his whirlwind, bursting back onto deck already shouting orders.
“The fishing boat! After it!” And the Wani lurched out of the harbor, right after the small fishing boat.
Uncle was soon on the deck, loudly yawning while the crew ran around to avoid Zuko’s threat (one that had been carried through before, and none of them were eager to experience icy waters again).
“Zuko! The Avatar? Are you sure? You could’ve been dreaming?” Uncle asked, and Zuko huffed.
“No, Uncle, I didn’t dream it up. One of those thieves, and I know it was the same one, was capable of both fire and water bending. The Avatar is on that boat,” Zuko stated, rushing over to the telescope, spotting the boat easily in the half-moon light.
Uncle gave him a concerned look, but also a hopeful one. Zuko had no time to try and figure out whatever Uncle was about to say. The Avatar was right there.
“If you say so, Zuko, I believe you,” Iroh stated, voice level but eyes hard.
Zuko ignored the warm feeling settling in his chest in favor of focusing on his long-sought target. Luckily the moon was bright enough that he could spot the three figures rushing around on the deck. There was no way they hadn’t spotted the Wani and were now attempting to run.
“Full speed! We have to catch them!” Zuko commanded, and the ship lurched forward, picking up pace.
Zuko watched their reaction in anticipation. Two figures went inside, while the third (the Avatar, he knew it was) began to bend. Their ship struggled forward, encouraged by the waves, but it wasn’t nearly as impressive as a display as he thought it should be. A new one, perhaps? Had the old ghost he’d been chasing finally died off? Those reports from nearly 70 years ago had mentioned the Avatar, and there was no way his thief was an elderly man past 100. He would have to catch the Avatar now, before he got more powerful. This was his chance.
Sam knew the moment that old Skiff had left the port; things were going to go wrong. It was nearly as old as their own ship, but there were Fire Nation soldiers on board, but no, it was worse. That was the banished prince’s ship, a teen barely older than themselves, but a talented firebender with a deadlier temper. She hadn’t realized until just then that the ship was his.
Danny was struggling to keep their trawler going fast enough, while Tucker steered, and Sam watched. Their ship was designed for slow, consistent movement, not runaway sprints. Danny was doing all he could to keep them ahead, water bending much stronger under the light of the moon. But it wouldn’t be enough. They were barely keeping pace.
Occupied with simply moving the ship through the water, Danny didn’t have time to do anything about the flaming hunk of rock being hurled at them. Sam was powerless to stop it. The boat lurched in an attempt to dodge, Tucker’s doing no doubt. Still, the projectile hit the edge, and the boat sunk before getting flung back up, water rushing into the hull. They were no longer moving.
Sam stumbled, Tucker’s shout could be heard from inside, Danny stayed rooted in place, stupid firebender. But the ship wasn’t moving. Sam pulled out her fans and prepared for a battle, While Danny was focused on keeping them from sinking even further, the waters churning around them and his dark clothing wet with saltwater and sweat. If they got through this, somehow, she was making Danny take a proper bath. (Spirits, they all needed one.)
Tucker, bearer of bad luck, barged out of the wheelhouse and onto the deck just as the skiff pulled up next to them. Grappling hooks pierced the deck, but Sam swiftly cut them using her fans and a blade she picked up from some sorry soldiers along the way. Tucker had found his bow and was picking off soldiers on the skiff’s deck from the roof of the wheelhouse, careful to avoid blasts of fire sent his way from the benders on deck. He was quick to take them out first. But it didn’t defer a single figure from leaping the railings and falling gracefully onto the roof of the wheelhouse next to Tucker.
Sam could only watch as Tucker’s bow was sliced through by a pair of Dao swords and was kicked off the wheelhouse onto the deck a few feet from her. She gripped her fans in a vice grip and charged. She never did realize that the assault from the rest of the fire nation soldiers had stopped.
“Sam! Tucker!” Danny called, grit of his teeth audible. She ignored him. She shouldn’t have.
Her fans clashed with her opponents sending literal sparks between them. Sam recognized who she was fighting then, and a mix of icy fear and hot rage ran through her. She was directly facing the banished prince of the Fire Nation, Zuko. Sam redoubled her efforts, spitting and kicking, leggings and dark clothes allowing her to move much more freely than her Kyoshi garb. She kept pace, barely dodging his swords and he barely managed to avoid her fans in turn. They were both littered with bruises, moving at an unsustainable pace. Zuko moved more like a swordsman, a very skilled one, than a fire bender, until he simply didn’t.
Zuko’s stance shifted dramatically, throwing off the rhythm Sam had let herself be tricked into, and fire danced on his blades, dousing them red. She doubled over to avoid having a matching scar on her own face and ended up with a blade to her throat. Sam stiffened. Through the side of her eye, she caught the second sword pointed down had Tucker, who halted his efforts to get up in favor of staring at the gleaming metal that threatened his life.
“Avatar,” Zuko spat, and Sam looked to Danny, desperate.
Danny was rigid, eyes wide and visibly exhausted, limit already reached from keeping the boat afloat. His blue eyes (one of her favorite things about him) were somehow still visible in the moonlight, his clothes covered any other identifiable features. Sam then realized; they weren’t getting out of this unscathed.
“Prince Zuko,” Danny responded with equal disdain.
“Surrender, and I won’t hurt them. I’ll even be kind enough to let them go with a mere slap on the wrist at the next port,” Zuko demanded.
“Danny! Run! We’re so close! Tucker and I’ll be fine!” Sam shouted, desperation leaking through her voice. Yes, this was her purpose, to help the Avatar, no… to help Danny end this war. If she didn’t get to see this to the end, then so be it. There were more important things. (No there weren’t, she wanted to be with Danny, why did stupid duty have to get in the way?)
Zuko looked to her with a pitying look, “If you want to sacrifice yourself so bad, go ahead. Here, I’ll help. You’re too dangerous either way, good fight though.”
Sam didn’t even have a second to react before she was pitched over the edge and falling towards the freezing ocean.
“SAM!” Danny cried.
The world seemed to stop, far too bright for the middle of the night. Sam had landed on a piece of ice that hadn’t been there before and the boat was slipping into the ocean. Flames raced over her head, burning hot enough it drove the cold away instantly. The deck dipped down low enough as it flooded that Sam glimpsed Danny clashing with Zuko, fire against fire, to the point there were scorch marks on the deck everything they clashed. Tucker had scrambled away to a corner, desperately looking for a way off the sinking boat.
Sam watched Danny fight but realized something. Danny didn’t fight like that. His eyes were blazing a brilliant white. Zuko wasn’t fighting to subdue anymore, he was fighting to survive. Danny, or whatever the hell had possessed Danny, was fighting to kill. (In some part of her mind, Sam thought that fire was a very appropriate element for this battle to be in.)
Danny slammed into Zuko, blades made of glowing white fire in his hands, in that condensed way Danny liked to use it. It melted clean through Zuko’s Dao blades after only two hits. The boat was still sinking further into the ocean. Danny pushed harder, marginally both faster and smaller than Zuko. Sam realized after just managing to dodge one of Danny’s strikes, Zuko was scared. Sam realized she was too.
Danny ducked under a blast of orange fire, right into Zuko’s guard, white knife raised above his head. Danny was going to kill Zuko.
Sam felt every hair on her body raise, her heart stuttering in her chest and somehow, she managed to tear her eyes away from Danny to glance at an old, round man with a grim, terrified look on his face, while lighting itself danced around him. There was a snap and a flash.
Danny’s strike never hit Zuko, but the old man’s did. Danny turned just in time to be hit full force with a bolt of lightning, the force blowing him back, literally sending him flying. Sam screeched and Danny hit the water.
Sam could only bear to star at the spot where Danny went under, as the night faded back into black, not moving a muscle as she and Tucker were loaded into the ship, handcuffed, and forced to their knees. She didn’t even glance at the shaken Zuko, burnt and bloodied as he was, or the grim, horrified look on the old man’s face as he realized what he had just done. No, Sam could only watch and wait, hoping Danny would break the surface any second.
Danny didn’t come back up.
They were forced below deck, and shoved into cells, hot tea in both their hands. But both Sam and Tucker let it go cold and remain untouched, exchanging glances with each other that said everything that remained unspoken between them. When they were dropped off at the coast hours later, and when they searched there for days after, there was still no sign.
Danny was gone.
Danny had never been so cold in his life. Being a fire bender meant he naturally ran hot, but now? He could’ve been made of fire, and he’d still have frozen half to death. He coughed, hacking up water as he clutched what little warmth he could muster, entire body tense and shivering. With shaking hands, he attempted to remove the wet clothes that clung to him, leaving himself in his underclothes and attempting to soak up what little heat the winter sun gave off. Danny couldn’t remember how he ended up on the coast, soaked to the bone, somehow alive despite definitely being in the winter Northern Ocean, which wasn’t known to let people pop back up once they go under. Danny used what little fire bended he could muster at the moment to warm himself back up to human temperature. It wasn’t working very well at all.
Danny vaguely remembered anger; the brightest, hottest rage he had ever felt laced so thoroughly with fear. He had the impression he had been fighting, and then pain and cold. There was also a fish. A black fish with a white spot on its head. Maybe something about a comet too? Something in him recognized both the comet and the fish, but he couldn’t tell what or why. Instead, he tried to firebend, just to give him back a semblance of warmth, but all he got was another painful cough, mouth tasting of ocean water and iron. Too cold for fire, got it.
Danny gained enough sense to look around, not recognizing where he had washed up. Some island in the middle of nowhere, literally in the middle of the ocean. Danny gathered his damp clothes and moved from the rocky shore and further inland, trying to escape the cold ocean breeze that only seemed to be getting stronger, but couldn’t feel the chill of it over the one that had already seeped into him.
The island seemed to be a jungle of some sort, rich in vegetation and his feet easily sank into the soil. The island was a bit too small though to be able to support any sort of population. He didn’t see anyone else here even as he managed to lap the whole coast, with no other land nor sign of life in sight. Danny was alone. He decided to wander further inland.
Danny stopped when he caught a flash of something white in a puddle of water, there were no clouds in the sky, so what could it be? He crouched over and froze, almost wishing the cold in him had actually frozen him solid.
Danny’s hair was now stark white, dirty and an absolute mess, but an unnatural white all the same, standing out starkly against the ice blue eyes he had been born with. He tugged it into his face to confirm and let out a groan no one could hear. Spirits, he looked like cold personified, no wonder he was freezing. He had new scars too. Wicked and branching, starting from his side then (literally) branching up his arm and across his back, like lighting had manifested itself in his skin, still red and tender. Ouch.
Something clicked then. Danny remembered lightning. He remembered Sam falling off the boat, and he remembered the terrified face of the Prince of the Fire Nation as Danny came at him with a skill he knew he didn’t possess. He remembered a similar expression on Sam’s face seconds before the lightning had struck him. She had been scared of him. After a moment of thought, Danny realized he was scared of himself too. What had that even been? He slid to the ground, still half staring at the slightly unfamiliar face in the puddle but mind elsewhere.
Danny shot to feet, worry filling up every corner of his mind once it managed to catch up with the rest of his thoughts.
“SAM! TUCKER?!” Danny shouted at the top of his lungs, only to double over, coughing until his throat burned and mouth was once again filled with the taste of iron.
But Danny had already checked and confirmed he was the only one on this island. Sam and Tucker weren’t here, and Danny didn’t have any way to reach them or to get off this Spirits’ damned island.
Danny was all alone.