Tanza
The freezing polar air always hit her left nostril first.
Waking up inside the guest igloo meant staring at a dome of translucent blue ice, its seams sealed tight with frozen slush and lined with heavy, oil-tanned caribou hides that smelled faintly of salt and old blubber. Beside her, Master Kelsang lightly snored. She slept like a sky bison, completely unfazed by the sub-zero draft slipping under the thick hide door flaps.
A month of living at the bottom of the world was a bit of an adjustment for her, but Tanza managed with the aid of channeling warm air around herself, while not needing extra clothes, the benefits of airbending afterall…
But back to reality, Tanza shook her head and pulled her furred blanket off, before she picked herself up off of the animal skin cot she had laid on; she swung her feet over to let herself stand up on the rugged floor, her bare feet wiggling in the cold air. She a stretch of her arms above her head, she let out a silent yawn, before lightly clapping her cheeks to break the morning sleepiness out of her.
After putting her robe on, Tanza proceeded to exit out of the igloo, where the early morning cold air hit her face, which she adapted to with a bit of airbending to weather against the temperature.
Already, by the looks of it, the early morning fishers were out heading to the docks, with some children out as well.
The staple of life here was far different that she was used to, but it was an experience nonetheless. Since no agriculture exists here, for obvious reasons, the people ate what they could catch, and spared nothing from their bounties. From stewed blubber to dried seal jerky, and from Sea-prune preserves to nutrient-rich whale meat, all what the land offered for sustenance was not spared for survivability.
Though there is a small treat the people made, because of course any humans can't live without a nice treat in their diet. Though, calling it a treat is subjective to one's taste buds, but considering what these people have to make due with, she wouldn't object. She's listened to Nalu obsess over a frozen cloudberry slush, to which she insisted Tanza try next time.
When asked what it was, the treat itself is snow and a drizzle of shaved render-fat.
That thought aside, Tanza gazed around while letting some cold air to help wake her up better, feeling the harsh breath of cold wind nip at her face and ears before she used airbending again to insulate a thin veil of warm air on her skin.
While she stood outside, to try and enjoy the morning silence, she began to pick up the familiar smell of the entire village; the smells itself was tinged with burning seal oil from soapstone lamps, while a nearby smell from across the snowy path had Tanza notice the smell of salty hides drying in the wind a building over.
A full month of living among the Southern Water Tribe had taught Tanza that survival here wasn't a choice, it was a deeply ingrained lifestyle. Down by the communal drying racks, several village women would soon be working on a fresh batch of snow leopard caribou pelts. Tanza saw them use their teeth to chew on the stiff, frozen edges of the leather, an exhausting daily chore required just to soften the material enough for tailoring winter parkas.
Everyone in the village had a job to do to keep the cold away. Looking to her left, she spotted a small group of children, none older than Yoko or Nalu, carrying flat shovels made out of large arctic hippo bones. They were busy clearing fresh snow away from the low air holes of the nearby igloos. Tanza knew how important that little chore was—if those air holes blocked up for even an hour, the smoke and fumes from the oil lamps inside would make the sleeping families very sick.
Even the teenagers had their own tough games. Tanza had watched Lohoni join the older youth out on the ice shelves for a game they called ice-diving. They would jump bare-handed into holes cut directly into the freezing sea ice, competing to see who could catch the fastest-moving fish from the dark water. It was a scary way to test how much cold they could take, but it taught them how to be strong.
But as Tanza's eyes drifted toward the water where the men were getting their light wooden boats ready, she watched them work in the distance. The hunters were incredibly patient. They could sit completely still on a frozen ledge for half a day without making a sound, just waiting for a whale-wolf to surface. They knew exactly how to live with the harsh land.
She watched two benders gracefully shape the ice front of a fishing boat, waterbending here was used for building, healing, and hunting. They used it to pull clean water from beneath the ice, freeze blocks for their big community halls, and fix sore muscles.
At the very least, these people lived far enough away from the Fire Nation's invasion of the Earth Kingdom, so they shouldn't worry too much, other than that lost sacred island of theirs. An invasion here would be tantamount to a logistical nightmare for the Fire Nation.
Tanza let herself form a small smirk, 'Afterall, you have waterbenders living in their element, with water everywhere, even in the snow and ice.' she thought rightfully to herself. 'And not just that, there is no reason for the Fire nation to come down here, other than for some world wide conquest.' There was also the fact that she has yet to know what major resource this place has for any conquest at all.
Besides that, this was an arctic biome, something very different from what Fire Nation soldiers could be familiar with and handle. 'Never over extend yourself, Napoleon learned the hard way against Russia's winter…' She thought to herself.
Though, the difference is big, the key factor is that any invading force will need to acclimate itself to a brutal cold campaign for this place, so these people shouldn't have to worry.
"Tanza! Hey, tiny monk!"
The sudden, loud shout broke her thoughts. Tanza didn't even have to turn around to know her quiet morning was officially over.
Tanza turned and saw Nalu and Renu, who giggled in excitement as they jogged over to her.
"You're up, you're up!" Renu, the ever loud and enthusiastic one, remarked as she led ahead of her sister, as she and Nalu finally approached her.
Nalu stepped closer. "And just in time too, wanna play with us again!?"
The question hung in the air for a second, while Tanza thought quickly about her stay here. The many games the children partook in were remarkably made from chores that adults gave them to do. Just the other day, she helped them do a 'lamp-oil challenge'.
The adults needed seal oil moved from the massive community vats into the small soapstone lamps. Since oil floats on water, the girls used a tiny ring of bent water to lift and carry a floating glob of oil through the air, trying to drop it perfectly into the lamps without breaking the water bubble.
She and Yoko helped there with their airbending, using the control of air to lift and contain the oil in a ball. Tanza had to show Yoko first how she figured out the way to do it, before her temple sister excitedly caught on and played the game with them.
Pulling herself back to the present freezing morning, Tanza looked at the two sisters bouncing on their heels.
"So, what's the game today?" Tanza asked, a small plume of white mist escaping her lips.
"The Great Slush-Sled Race!" Nalu cheered, clapping her thick fur mittens together. "The hunters brought in a huge haul of silver-fin fish, and they need to be moved up to the big communal ice halls before the wind freezes them solid. Yoko is already down by the baskets waiting for us!"
Renu twirled her wrists in a small circle, easily drawing up a tiny ribbon of loose snow around her forearm to show off. "Nalu and I can use our waterbending to melt a smooth ice track along the path so the sled slides easy. But the baskets are too heavy for us to push up the hill by ourselves. If you use your airbending to blow a big gust of wind behind us, we'll fly right up the slope!"
Tanza looked down the snowy pathway, a small, helpless smirk broke across her face. She was a reincarnated soul, but looking at their bright, hopeful faces, she couldn't help but yield to the simple, warm reality of tribal life. Besides, helping secure the morning food supply was a good use of her time.
"Fine," Tanza said, her boots crunching into the snow as she stepped forward. "But if we win, I'm finally holding Nalu to that promise of trying the cloudberry slush."
"Deal!" Nalu squealed, grabbing Tanza's hand and eagerly pulling her down the icy path, with Renu sprinting just ahead to lead the way.
As Tanza was led by the hand of an older girl only two years her senior, she mused on how the sisters' waterbending was more or less like that of her own peers; they were still learning, much like she was, and making some fun out of it. What child wouldn't have a little fun with their own powers? At the very least, it was far from lethal, since the girls were still learning the ropes of waterbending.
In fact, it reminded her of her own unique training. Much like how Tanza had spent time among the Fire Sages to learn their firebending form style—observing their movements to see if she could successfully airbend using their forms—she too wanted to see firsthand what a waterbender's style was when they bent the elements. Watching the rhythmic way Renu and Nalu moved, she swore it had to be a form of Tai Chi. The slow, flowing transitions and the way they channeled force through circular movements mirrored the ancient internal martial art perfectly.
Her mind drifted to the first few days she had spent down at the docks, patiently observing how the village benders moved their element…
Earlier that Month
It was mid-afternoon, and she had just finished helping Nalu and Renu clean up the snowy pathways around a few buildings. While the sisters giggled with excitement, playing with their waterbending to pull and push the snow away from the foundations and walkways, Tanza used her airbending to form a mini-handheld whirlwind. It acted like a funnel, sucking the snow straight up and spewing it out the other end. Renu caught the airborne snow with her waterbending in pure amusement, hovering the collected slush safely away.
Now, she was finally free to watch how waterbending worked among the dock workers. She spent her time observing how they used their bending to break the heavy ice covering the fishing boats, turning it seamlessly back into water to return it to the ocean.
Further down the shoreline, an unused dock lay thick with weeks of accumulated sea spray, completely buried under heavy, jagged shells of blue ice. It was a frozen mess that had yet to be tended to, making it the perfect canvas for Tanza to observe.
Two adult benders approached the platform, stepping intentionally into the deep snow. They didn't strike at the ice with aggressive, rigid punches the way a firebender might. Instead, they sank low into their stances, planting their feet firmly on the slippery ground, and began to move with a mesmerizing, deliberate slowness.
Their hands traced wide, continuous circles in the crisp air. As their arms pushed outward in smooth arcs, a subtle vibration rippled through the frozen dock. Tanza watched closely as a bender drew her hands back toward her chest in a graceful pulling motion. Instantly, the jagged sheet of ice on the wooden pylons began to sweat, its solid state dissolving into fluid, rushing streams under the unseen warmth of her focus.
With a final, sweeping turn of their hips, the two workers guided the newly melted water in a synchronized wave, lifting it effortlessly off the wood and swirling it through the air before dropping it back into the dark ocean with a soft, heavy splash. The transition from solid ice to flowing liquid was seamless, completely dictated by the gentle, circular rhythm of their bodies.
To Tanza, watching from the safety of her veil of warm air, it was fluid, defensive, and deeply rooted in the natural flow of momentum.
The soft crunching of footsteps alerted Tanza that an adult was approaching from behind. She turned around to see Kelsang walking over, her hands tucked neatly inside her sleeves as she smiled down at Tanza with a knowing look.
"I figured you'd want to see a waterbender's form after our visit to the Fire Sage Temple—" She paused for a moment as she stepped up beside Tanza, lowering her hand to rest a warm palm on the young girl's shoulder. Together, they watched the dock workers bend more ice off the platforms. "—but just be aware, what you see from them is their style of waterbending. The Southern style."
The caution in her master's tone immediately earned Tanza's full attention, drawing her gaze up to her master's face. Kelsang glanced down at her with a gentle expression. "A complicated history, and one I'm sure you'll want to know..." she remarked softly.
Retracting her hand from Tanza's shoulder, she slid it back into her sleeve and resumed watching the workers. "But yes, what you see here is not an all-in-one waterbending form. The North has their own way, and the South has theirs. Though, both share very similar roots if you don't look at them too closely."
"Roots!? Psh! Rot is more like it!"
The sharp, scratchy voice cut through the cold air like an icicle snapping off a roof. Tanza and Kelsang both turned to see an elderly woman strolling up the snowy path toward them. Her back was deeply hunched under a heavy, weathered parka, and her hands were firmly folded behind her back. Despite her age and the slight wobble in her step, her dark eyes were sharp and full of absolute fire. It was Zetida's grandmother.
"What's that I hear about the North?" she grouched, shaking her head so hard her silver hair loops rattled. "Are they here? Did those pompous frost-snobs finally sail down from their giant ice palaces? If they are, you tell them to pound ice and shovel off!"
Kelsang let out a soft, amused chuckle, bowing her head slightly in respect to the elder. "No, Ma'am. No Northern ships in the harbor. I was just explaining the differences in style to my student here."
"Good!" the old woman snapped, stepping up beside them and squinting down at the unused dock where the workers were still clearing ice. "Don't go filling the girl's head with their nonsense. The North bends like they're trying to perform for a king—all rigid, fancy, and stiff as a board. Up tight and full of rules! Down here, we bend with the tides. We bend to live, not to put on a show."
She let out a heavy huff, a large cloud of white steam billowing from her nose like an angry arctic hippo. "They think that just because they built a big wall, they own the ocean. Bah!" she flippantly made a backhanded swat into the air, "If I see a single one of them come down here telling us how to move our own water, I'll dump a bucket of slush right down their fancy parkas!"
Now fully curious, Tanza turned to learn a bit more from this old woman, "I can't imagine why they should tell you what to do, nor be able to own the ocean, ma'am…" She tilted her head a bit in curiosity, and looked at her master for an unbiased opinion, "What is the Water Tribe in the North like, master?"
Kelsang let out a quiet sigh, her gaze drifting out toward the open, dark ocean before she looked down at Tanza.
"Well," Kelsang began, a gentle smile returning to her face. "While Gran-gran Kusede here used a few choice words, she is honestly not far from the truth."
Kusede let out a triumphant 'Hmph!' and crossed her arms over her chest, nodding firmly.
"The Northern Water Tribe is vastly different from the Southern Water Tribe," Kelsang explained, keeping her voice calm and even. "They live behind a massive, towering wall of solid ice. It is a true city, built like a grand fortress with huge palaces, flowing water canals, and thousands of citizens. Because they are so protected, they have a strict society with rigid rules, royalty, and ancient laws. Everything has a specific place and a proper order."
"Too many rules!" Kusede grumbled, spitting into the snow. "They think their ice doesn't melt."
"To an outsider, the North can feel a bit cold and formal," Kelsang continued, nodding in agreement with the elder. "And their waterbending reflects that. They train in large, formal academies under master warriors. Their forms are incredibly precise, perfect, and elegant, like a beautifully rehearsed dance. But because they are so bound by tradition, they can sometimes lack the fluid adaptability that makes the Southern style so unique."
Kelsang looked back down at Tanza, her eyes full of wisdom. "The North bends with structure and discipline. The South, as you see here, bends with passion and survival. Both are powerful, but they look at the exact same world through completely different eyes."
Kusede scoffed before she dramatically rolled up the thick sleeves of her parka. "Here, brat, learn from a master's form of the South!"
Shortly after, she forced her spine straight, stretching her back up as if she had no hunched back at all, her aged joints popping and cracking loudly in the cold air. With a surprising burst of energy, she stomped her heavy boot into the packed snow like an impish child showing off.
Stepping right to the edge of the dock, her entire posture shifted into something fierce and unyielding. She didn't use the polite, gentle gestures Tanza had seen from the younger girls. Kusede tore her arms upward in a violent, sweeping motion. The ocean responded instantly; a massive, chaotic heave of dark seawater exploded out of the bay, swelling into a giant, churning sphere that hovered precariously over the wooden planks.
With a sharp, aggressive push and pull of her mittened hands, Kusede seized the momentum of the swirling water. A loud, fracturing snap echoed across the docks as she instantly froze the fluid mass, locking the entire weight into a jagged, heavy boulder of solid ice.
Finally, with a wild, theatrical twirl of her body, she thrust both palms forward. The giant ice block launched like a catapult, tearing through the sky before plummeting down to smash violently into the distant freezing waves with a thunderous splash.
Afterwards, Kusede turned on her heel and huffed, storming back toward them as her spine settled right back into its familiar, hunched shape. "I'd like to see those pompous waterbenders in the North do that!" she scoffed, crossing her arms tightly over her chest and looking incredibly satisfied with herself.
The brightness of the day was replaced by the deep, icy dark of midnight.
A sharp half-moon hung high in the clear night sky, casting a cold, silver glow across the frozen crescent bay. Down at the empty docks, the temperature had plummeted far past freezing. Tanza stood alone on the snow-covered wooden planks, consciously expanding her airbending technique. She pushed her passive breath of warming outward, enveloping her entire six-year-old frame in a thick, insulating bubble of localized warm air to keep the brutal polar night from freezing her limbs stiff.
Before sneaking out here, she had spent hours replaying Kusede's explosive daytime performance over and over in her head. She had perfectly memorized every detail: the low, unyielding stance, the sudden stomp of the boot, the violent pull of the arms, and that final, aggressive twist of the hips.
Now, she wanted to see exactly what would happen when she applied those raw, disruptive Southern waterbending forms to her own element.
Tanza sank low into the snow, mimicking Kusede's exact posture. She planted her feet firmly onto the slippery wood, drawing power from her core instead of staying light on her toes like a traditional air nomad. Taking a deep, steady breath, she forced her spine straight and threw her arms upward in a violent, sweeping arc.
Instead of a smooth, tearing wall of pressure, the wind simply puffed out in an awkward, messy burst. The sudden, jerky motion broke her concentration, and the cold air rushed right back into her face. She tried again. She stomped, twisted her hips, and shoved her hands forward, but the air just scattered into useless, whistling drafts that rattled the nearby wooden pylons.
She failed a third time, her foot slipping slightly on a patch of black ice. Tanza growled under her breath, resetting her stance with a frustrated huff. Mixing the rooted, heavy movements of a waterbender with the naturally free-flowing element of air was proving to be a logistical nightmare for her body.
Before she could attempt a fourth strike, the soft crunching of footsteps on the nearby snow trail alerted her. Tanza immediately cut her bending, realizing too late that she was no longer the only one awake as a dark figure walked calmly toward the empty docks.
The silver moonlight caught the weathered features of Kusede. The old woman stood at the edge of the wooden platform, her arms crossed behind her back and a thick eyebrow raised high at Tanza's obvious failure. A rueful, knowing smirk graced her wrinkled lips as she took in the sight of the young girl standing there.
Tanza felt her face instantly redden in embarrassment, caught completely red-handed trying to copy the old master's sacred style in the dead of night.
Kusede chuckled softly, her breath forming a thick cloud of white mist. "I only came out here to see the moon at its peak before it reaches its full phase. I certainly didn't expect the little tiny monk to be out at the docks too, trying to airbend a waterbending technique."
Stepping closer, the old woman stood right beside her and chides Tanza with a sharp grin. "If you want to even think about airbending with a waterbending form, you should at least begin with the basics!" she remarked, before breaking into a raspy, loud cackle that echoed off the quiet ice shelves.
As her laughter faded and the mood calmed down, Tanza let out a quiet breath, her embarrassment softening into a mature realization. She acknowledged her haste. She had been foolishly attempting a master-level technique without taking the time to learn the foundational steps of the art first.
Kusede brushed it off with a mild, amused look, her gaze drifting upward to focus on the silver half-moon. A soft, rare warmth entered the old woman's eyes. "I was in your shoes once, brat. Always eager, always impatient to learn more about waterbending when I was young."
Tanza looked up at the half-moon as well, the cold light reflecting in her gray eyes. "What is so special about the full moon anyway?" she asked, tilting her head. "What makes you get out of bed each night just to watch it?"
Kusede turned her head slightly, her smirk returning. "That is when a waterbender is at their absolute strongest."
Tanza's eyes widened a fraction at the information. To a mind like hers, knowing that a waterbender's power was directly tied to the lunar cycle was a massive piece of tactical information. But before she could think more about it, Kusede turned her entire body to face Tanza fully.
"Well, if you're so keen on trying airbending with a waterbending form—" the old master said, giving the young girl a playful wink. "How about I show you some basic Southern waterbending style from ol' granny?"
Present
With a sharp whoosh of rushing wind, the memory faded, snapping Tanza right back to the blinding white glare of the afternoon sun.
"Push, Tanza! Push!" Nalu squealed, her small mittens gripping the back of the massive wicker basket.
Tanza planted her boots into the slick, wind-hardened snow and thrust both of her palms forward. She unleashed a steady, focused gale from her hands, acting like a miniature engine right behind the heavy cargo. Right on cue, Renu and Nalu swept their arms in smooth, synchronized circles, waterbending a brilliant, glass-smooth sheet of ice directly beneath the runners of the wooden sled.
With the friction gone and the airbending blast pushing from behind, the heavy sled shot forward like a loose boulder on a glacier. It flew right up the final, steep tier of the village, sailing past the outer boundaries and sliding gracefully into the multi-tiered communal ice halls with room to spare.
The heavy wicker basket came to a gentle, scraping halt right beside the storage pits, packed to the brim with rows of glittering silver-fin fish. They had made it before the freezing mountain winds could spoil the morning catch.
"We did it!" Yoko cheered, jumping out from behind a nearby ice pillar where she had been waiting to help secure the landing. She sprinted over and threw her arms around Nalu, both girls bouncing up and down in pure victory.
Renu leaned against the side of the wooden sled, her chest heaving as she wiped a thin line of sweat from her brow. A massive, triumphant grin broke across her face as she looked toward the entrance of the hall. "A new record! The elders are definitely going to have to double our portions now!"
Tanza let out a soft breath, dropping her hands to her sides and letting her airbending veil fade away. Her legs ached slightly from the sudden sprint up the hill, but as she watched the sheer, unbothered joy on the faces of the Water Tribe sisters, she couldn't help but let a genuine smile soften her face. Learning the foundations of their elemental forms was a long-term strategic goal, but for today, simply being a kid helping her friends was more than enough.