Isaruq was out late at night, doing his usual training when he saw a distant red glow in the ocean coming near towards the small harbor of the village. He immediately recognised the glow from the stories he had heard from various travellers of different villages who talked about the raid on their village. He immediately picked his weapons and ran towards the village.
The first explosion shook the village awake.
It was deep winter, the kind of cold that cracked skin and froze breath midair. The aurora painted faint blue ribbons above when the alarm was sounded, Fire Nation ship in the bay!
Isaruq was already moving but he would not be able to reach the village before the Fire Nation soldiers start attacking. He sprinted through the snow as fast as he could, the chill biting into his face. From the cliffs, he saw it a black iron ship, its furnace blazing, the red banner of the Fire Nation fluttering like an open wound on the horizon.
They came fast, cutting through the ice with a blast of flame.
Hakoda and Bato rallied the warriors near the water's edge. Mothers dragged their children toward the ice caves. Flames flickered in the distance.
When the ship's ramp fell, armored soldiers poured out, two dozen of them, maybe more. At their head was a Fire Nation commander with gold trim on his armor and arrogance on his tongue.
"I am Commander Kenzu of the Fire Nation!" he shouted, his voice echoing across the bay. "We know there is a waterbender here. Hand her over, and we will leave the rest of you alive! Where is that informer who gave us this intel."
Silence. The only sound was the wind.
Then, a quiet sob. An old woman near the back stepped forward, trembling.
"Th–the bender… she's a ... Khrrr..." she stammered but before she could say anything she died from the spear thrown by Hakoda at her.
"A traitor like you does not deserve to live." Hakoda said didainfully.
But it was too late. Kenzu raised his hand and fire roared from his palm, igniting the nearest hut. Screams tore through the night. The battle began.
The warriors surged forward, spears meeting flame. Isaruq finally reached the place where the Fire Nation soldiers were and threw himself into the fray beside Bato, his movements smooth and precise. The air stank of smoke and scorched flesh. Fireballs crashed against shields, melting ice and boiling snow beneath their feet.
He fought with a calm born of chaos. Every breath, every step, deliberate. He sidestepped a blast of fire, thrust his spear through a soldier's throat, spun, and deflected another's sword. His chi thrummed beneath his skin, heightening his reflexes, letting him flow where others stumbled.
But the Fire Nation had brought veterans. They burned through walls, struck from behind cover, and pushed toward the center of the village, toward the huts where the children hid.
Isaruq broke formation to intercept. He made to reach the main hut just as Kya, Katara's mother, stepped out, shielding the doorway with nothing but a knife in her trembling hand.
"Leave us alone!" she shouted, almost begging. Hiding Katara and Sokka inside the hut.
Kenzu sneered. "The bender, where is she. Hand her over and we will leave." Isaruq looked in that direction and started moving to save them but he was very far away.
"There are no benders left here. You people killed and imprisoned all of them." Kya answered fearfully. But just then, some noise came from inside. As Kenzu moved to look inside, Kya thought fast and started moving like she is trying to waterbend.
The fire came too fast.
Isaruq was still twenty paces away when the blast hit her.
He moved towards her body and pulled the burning cloth aside. Kya lay still, her face serene as if she'd fallen asleep in the snow. Katara and Sokka came out as soon as they saw a familiar face. Katara sobbed over her mother's body, small arms shaking. Sokka clung to her side, eyes wide and red.
Isaruq froze, then looked up.
Kenzu was walking away, laughing, signaling retreat to his soldiers.
Something inside Isaruq snapped.
The calm he had spent years cultivating shattered like thin ice underfoot. He rose slowly, his breath steady, his chi a storm beneath his skin. The air around him shimmered, faint frost forming at his feet.
He whispered, "No one shall leave alive today."
When the Fire Nation troops began to retreat toward their ship, Isaruq followed, silent, his eyes locked on Kenzu. The soldiers trudged through the snow, some wounded, some dragging others. None noticed the faint ripple spreading through the ice below.
He moved his arms, a small, controlled motion.
The chi surged. The snow beneath their feet answered.
The snow turned into ice beneath them and groaned… then erupted.
Dozens of jagged spears of ice burst upward, impaling men through armor, freezing fire midair. The screams were cut short by silence and steam. Kenzu turned in shock, eyes wide, just as a spike rose beneath him, driving clean through his chest.
The commander's last breath turned to mist in the freezing air.
Only one soldier lived, a young engineer, no armor, no weapon. Isaruq approached him, snow crunching underfoot. The soldiers remained frozen in his spot from shock. Alive only because he was too far out of range from Isaruq's bending. Isaruq swung his spear and the blunt side of it struck his head. He fell unconscious at Isaruq's feet.
Even in his anger, Isaruq had not lost his senses. He decided to keep him for interrogation and information.
By dawn, the fires were out.
The village was half in ruins.
Kya's body was laid to rest beside the sea. Katara and Sokka clung to Hakoda, who stared out at the horizon, grief and rage carved into his face. Isaruq stood beside him, silent.
After a long time, Hakoda spoke. "I saw what you did," he said softly. "Your bending saved what little we have left. You fought like a veteran warrior there."
Isaruq didn't meet his gaze. "I couldn't save her. I should have used my bending from the start. If I did, then maybe nothing like this would have happened"
"Maybe or maybe not, but I don't blame you for it. Maybe if I kept my daughter's waterbending as much a secret as you did then this attack wouldn't have occured to begin with." Hakoda said, his voice heavy. "None of us could save her. It was no ones fault. But atleast, you gave them justice."
He turned to face Isaruq fully then, not as a chief, not as an elder, but as a soldier looking at another. "When the time comes, we'll take this fight to them. The Fire Nation thinks we're weak because we're far from their war. I want you with me when we strike back."
Isaruq hesitated, the snow drifting between them. Then he nodded once, slow and firm. "I'll be ready."
"You already are." Hakoda said clasping his shoulder.
"Bato interrogated the soldiers. He sang like a otter-penguin. While he was an engineer he was quite knowledgeable about the dynamic behind the attack. He told us it was an unsanctioned attack. No superior knew about it. The old lady was a spy who told them about an untrained water bender. They came here to kill her for glory. No one knows about Katara. No one knows about the attack. To them a captain and his crew fled with their ship and got lost, either to pirating or to the sea. They wouldn't care about it. They have more pressing concerns in Earth Kingdom than search for a ship gone missing to rogue captains." Hakoda told him.
Isaruq heard each word carefully. Understanding them, absorbing them. That means his ability of bending will remain a secret a little longer to the larger world. It could still be a trump card of his.
"Now what should we do with the ship." Hakoda suddenly asked me looking at the ship.
Isaruq looked at the ship and thought for a moment. "For now, we hide it in the coves nearby so that no Fire Nation raiding ship sees it. We will use the engineer to learn how to operate it. And then we will use Fire Nation's own ship and weapons to take the fight to them."
Hakoda looked impressed. "I was right about you. You are truly ready."