GUARDIAN | ATLA [01]

1.03

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

[. : T H E  A V A T A R  R E T U R N S : .]

|Book 1- Water|
III POV – Nera

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

"AANG DIDN'T DO ANYTHING." Katara argued, in an attempt to clear up the entire debacle. "It was an accident."

Nera's eyes remained trained on the flare, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Upon the return of the two in question, suspicion roused itself within the head powers of the village. Disagreement broke out, Katara rising to defend the foreign boy she'd begun to grow a fondness of.

"Yeah," Aang said, drawing Nera's attention from the sky. "we were on the ship and there was this booby trap and well," His gaze lifted to meet Nera's, and he scratched his neck, shying away from the stern look in her eyes. "we...boobied right into it."

"Katara," Gran Gran spoke in a grave tone, "you shouldn't have gone on that ship, now we could all be in danger."

Her words settled a chill down the spines of the entire tribe who remained as tucked away from the conflict as possible. The gravity of the situation sunk in a familiar sense of fear kindling itself in the hearts of those old enough to remember just why.

Nera shifted her focus onto the discussion at hand in completion of her analysis. The odds of  the flare reaching the Fire Nation itself were minuscule if not completely absent. And judging by...Gran Gran's... information, the Fire Nation had begun its tyranny in the Earth Kingdom. Unless there just so happened to be a Fire Navy ship in the area, which seemed unlikely, there wasn't any danger at hand, but it was time they left.

Their welcome was overstayed.

Aang intervened, setting himself in front of Katara, "Don't blame Katara. I brought her there...it's my fault."

"Ah ha! The traitor confesses! The foreigners are banished from our village." Sokka announced firmly, metaphorical foot put down.

Aang's face fell.

Nera kept her chin up, seemingly taking this information in stride, but there was a chip in her semblance of calm. The subtlety of her clenched fists in display of escaped frustration. 

This is my fault, she scolded herself. I should've been with him, or better yet, kept him close until I knew every flake of snow on these grounds.

"Sokka, you're making a mistake-"

"No, I'm keeping my promise to Dad!"

"Aang brought us something we haven't had in a long time." Katara pressed on, clear frustration working its way into her voice. "Fun."

Sokka scoffed in annoyance, "Fun? We can't fight fire benders with fun, Katara!"

Aang lit up with a grin, and not grasping the seriousness of the ordeal, spoke up, "You should try it some time."

"Aang." Nera said in slight warning and his levity dispersed.

While he didn't come across as the sharpest tool in the shed in the slightest, Nera did acknowledge Sokka's desire to keep his people safe, and respected that. She'd do the same.

"Grandmother, please don't let Sokka do this." Katara pleaded.

"I'm afraid Sokka is right." Gran Gran said gravely, "I think it best if the air benders leave."

Katara went to speak, but Nera beat her to. "Very well then." She said with no hesitance.

Nera stepped forward, and for the first time since her arrival, all attention fell to her. She slipped off the jacket she had received upon waking up, shivers of sudden cold traveling up her arms coinciding with the crawl of stares from the villagers. She wasn't quite used to the cold nor the attention of others, both making for uncomfortable circumstances (well, more so than they already were). But for the sake of the situation, she refused to acknowledge it.