Daughter Of Destiny - An ATLA/TLOK Fanfiction

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Hanno laid still on a floor bed, unconscious as blood slowly drained out of his skin despite the bandage enveloping his wound. Two children hovered over him, one ruffling through his long hair and another standing nearby, thumb planted in her mouth as always.

The door to the sandstone house slowly creaked open, revealing the mother and a fatigued Daiyu. The sudden change of atmosphere when she had arrived had taken a toll on her, and quickly finding herself wanted and then intruding between a deadly fight had abruptly changed her view on this world: dangerous. Just like her maids described.

Daiyu noticed Hanno resting on a floor bed, crimson stains spewed from his bandaged wound and two small children rested over him, "how's he doing?" Asked Daiyu out of concern, "Will he be alright?"

"I hope so," The mother looked down in deep dejection, closing her eyes to avoid the painful view of Hanno's injury. She sipped in some air, before turning to Daiyu, "It's always been like this ever since their father passed away because of the war"

The pain of loss lingered in the mother's eyes, tears threatening to spill as she spoke every word. Daiyu brushed her fingers against the mother's shoulder, softening her gaze, "I'm sorry," she whispered.

The mother smiled before turning back to Hanno, "These two are Hanno's younger siblings, Siya and Ren" then she gestured her hand towards Daiyu, "and this is the girl who helped Hanno- uh- what was your name again?"

Daiyu's mouth parched dry, her words began trembled in her mouth as she stuttered the first feign name she could think of, "J-Jade"

Jade. That sounds good enough

"My name is Zara- sorry, I should have introduced myself to you before" Zara smiled, her motherly gaze fell on Daiyu, "You must be hungry. Let me go cook something for you to eat. In the meantime, make yourself comfortable here, Jade"

Zara trotted off to the kitchen, leaving Daiyu with Siya and Ren, "Come this way!" A high pitched voice squealed. Daiyu glanced down as she saw a little boy's hand wrap his fingers against Daiyu's arm. She followed the kids into a small living room: it was a barren space, with only a few ragged red cushions lined up next to each other in a corner. The living conditions in this sector of the Earth Kingdom must be raucous if this is all the villagers were able to afford. Back up north, even the lower classes of Ba Sing Se were still able to afford beds without insects crawling in the sockets of the fabric or even a few apples, free from mould. To Daiyu, it seemed that the effects of the civil war that commenced years ago had taken a negative toll in the central and southern regions, only leaving the north of the Earth Kingdom to benefit off the starvation and critical conditions that these southerners have to face.

Daiyu sat down on the sofa, glancing at the little boy and girl who'd been ogling at her for the past few minutes, "So.." Daiyu started, not wanting to make this situation any more awkward than it already is for herself, "why were those bandits after Hanno?"

"Hanno kicked their butts everytime they tried to raid the village for money. They probably sent their leader to come back for revenge" Every word that came out the boy's mouth sped across Daiyu's ears.

"Uhm.. ok-" Daiyu replied in a perplexed tone, still trying to swallow his quickly spoken words.

"Why did you help Hanno if you're a northerner?" Ren skipped towards Daiyu, inching closer as every word escaped from his mouth in a flash, "My brother told me all northerners are prissy and stupid who only care for their wealth, is that true?" Daiyu was rather astonished to hear what southerners have to say about her kind. Prissy? Stupid? What lies do they tell each other?

 The view of the southern region of the Earth Kingdom possessed negative views on the socialism and capitalism of the northern provinces, including Ba Sing Se - it was evident on the sudden change of expression on the faces of the villagers and travellers in the bar when she had entered and the authoritative tone at which the bandits yelled at her with. Voyaging across the desert with the aid of Hanno will be tough, considering the views he holds of people like her.