Avatar: The Birth of a New World

Katara laughed as the beast licked her all over, and patted his head. "Nanuk, where have you been? Off hunting," she asked him, and hugged his neck. "I'm so glad you're ok," she said.

Toph had jumped to her feet in an instant when she had felt the approaching animal, but when the wolf simply began to lick Katara, her stance loosened slightly. "Are all of your pets that big down in the south?" she asked as she took a few steps back, away from the excited creature.

Longshot frowned, relaxing a bit, but still keep his bow out just incase. He approached the tent and raised an eyebrow when he saw the wolf licking Katara like a small puppy.

"He seems gentle," he noted in amusement.

Mai

"Yeah." Mai commented dryly. She put away her knives and watched as the large animal rolled over onto its back to let its master rub his stomach. Hm. If she didn't know any better, it seemed this wolf had the mind of a newborn pup. Or perhaps tales of wolves were exaggerated, and they really did act this way...

Katara obliged him and rubbed his stomach, grinning as one of his back legs kicked back and forth, a sign that he was enjoying it. "Not all are this big, or gentle, but Nanuk is special," she said. "We've been friends since I can remember."

"Most wolves don't travel alone," Longshot noted bemusedly. He stared at the wolf. He certainly looked dangerous, despite its playful nature. One swipe of its claws and he'd be done for, he knew. This was why he preferred to fight from a distance. He continued, "Are arctic wolves any different?"

Meng sat on a chair, bent over, with her right elbow resting against the the open windowsill, and her head resting on her right hand. Her mouth was slightly open, and the air going in and out of her mouth whistled as it moved. Her dark eyes were staring out into the bright sky, as if she was just waiting for something exciting to happen.

Not that she minded it here, so much. It wasn't as if she was all alone.

At the sound of her name from Aunt Wu's lips, she started and then turned her head towards the older woman. The fortuneteller was sorting through various scrolls scattered on the table before her. Meng was supposed to be helping her, but...

With a sigh, the young teenager pushed herself to her feet and then walked back over to the table. "What are we looking for, again?" she asked. It wasn't that she minded this job--in fact, it usually fascinated her--but she hadn't seen Haru in hours... Where was he?

Aunt Wu looked up at her, and then back down to the pile of scrolls and books before her. "I need Haru's help with this."

A smile split across Meng's face and she bolted from the room. "Haru!"

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Toph took another step back, listening to the conversation around her. Who was this girl that they had rescued? Wolves like this weren't normal. This wasn't her first experience with large animals, of course. That had been with the badgermoles who had taught her earthbending. Had this wolf taught the girl waterbending?

The earth underneath her came rushing up and she sat down in the chair. Her feet crossed over one another. She would let the others talk.

"No, all the wolves I know about hunt in packs," Katara said, looking up to Longshot. She continued to slowly rub Nanuk's stomach while she talked, returning her eyes to him. "Except Nanuk, but we found him alone in the snow one day, and my family raised him, and he grew this big."

Longshot glanced at Toph for a moment. He knew that she wasn't buying. He raised an eyebrow, "How did it grow so big?"

Haru

Haru sat in his chambers in a meditative position, doing his best to calm himself. He'd been struggling earlier to do a certain earthbending form, and his growing rage certainly hadn't helped him any. His head tilted slightly as he had a distant call for his name. Giving a frustrated sigh, the exiled Regent stood up and left his quarters. He found Meng, Aunt Wu's young ward, in the hall near his room. Ah. What did that old hag want now? Didn't she know he was busy?

"Yes, Meng?" Haru asked, doing his best to lighten his tone for the girl's sake.

Mai

Mai lifted an eyebrow briefly at Toph's display of earthbending, but she quickly put it out of her mind. "I didn't know that wolves could be tamed. From what I've heard, they usually eat humans for breakfast."

Meng tried to stumble to a halt, but she ended up tripping over her own two feet and falling into Haru. Her cheeks turned red and she hastily drew back, though all she wanted was for to remain in his arms.

"I... I'm sorry," she stuttered out as she scratched the back of her head. "Umm... Aunt Wu wanted your help with her work. And I would love to have your help with it, too." Was that too much? Should she have included that last bit? Well, there was no help for it now.

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Toph glanced over at Mai and shrugged at the girl. Was the knife-wielding girl unused to such displays of bending? She placed her hands behind her head and leaned back. She liked it better when it had been just her and Longshot. She trusted him, but the others... Not so much.

((Ah, I believe there was one thing I forgotten to mention earlier. Haru's left eye was damaged during the events that led to his exile, and thus he has worn bandages over it ever since then. Just so everyone knows.))

Haru

"It's fine." Haru replied, giving Meng a small smile. He gave a little chuckle at Meng's antics as he looked the girl over with his good eye. She was sort of a clumsy girl, but Haru didn't particularly mind. She was....interesting to have around, Haru supposed. She certainly was better company than the soldiers under his command. Well, her and Aunt Wu, too. On retrospect, Haru was sorta glad they were both here. They could be pains at certain times, but they certainly gave him more....warmth, one could say, then the distant soldiers who served under him.

"I don't have much else to do right now, truthfully. I'd love to help."

"Some people in the Southern Water Tribe have tamed wolves, to help hunt," Katara said. "They can still be dangerous to people though, they still have the instincts of wild wolves." Katara's face lightened after she finished, and added, "But Nanuk isn't like that. He's never tried hurt anyone he thinks is a friend."

"I suppose that the Water Tribes wouldn't have dogs or birds to keep as pets," Longshot mused before glancing at Toph. He was unsure with so many people around. He was a loner by nature. He felt comfortable around Toph and he opened up to her, but he didn't know who these people were.

"That's great!" Meng cried out, and then winced at how loud her voice sounded in the silence of the house. She started to lead the way to the room that Aunt Wu was working in, but quickly her pace changed, until she had fallen back to right beside Haru. She opened her mouth to say something more, but then let it close again and started playing with her fingers, trying to think of something to say that wouldn't just sound stupid.

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Toph felt Longshot's glance through the earth, and she knew that he was just as uncomfortable with all this as she was. She had doubled his party to two, and that had been fine with both of them, but doubling to four would take some getting used to. Of course, that was if the other two hung around, after fully recovering.

"Not to interrupt," she said, at first speaking in general to everyone, but then narrowing down to just Katara, "but are you in need of healing? Any internal injuries or anything? We tried to bandage you up the best we could, but neither Longshot or I are really healers, not like waterbenders are."

Katara assessed herself, she was pretty sore, and her left leg still had pain shooting through it. "You did a good job. If you have any water I can use, I can heal myself," she said.

"Ah. So you're a waterbender." Mai took another look at Katara, then shifted her glance to Nanuk, who was now laying on the ground near his master. Part of Mai's old training kicked in, and she started to piece together some previously irrelevant details. As far as she knew, it was a rare event to domesticate a fierce and savage animal, especially ones such as wolves. And given the fact Nanuk never really had a pact....and perhaps...

"May I also assume you're the new Avatar?"

"The Avatar," Katara asked, trying to calm herself after an initial jump in surprise. They would only get more suspicious the more strange she acted. "No, that's definitely not me. For all I know, the Avatar is from the Northern tribe or something." I can't let being the Avatar get in the way of saving Sokka, for his sake no one should know, she reminded herself, because she really hated lieing about this, especially to the people who just helped her out.

Haru

After a few minutes of walking silently with Meng, Haru arrived at the entrance to 'Aunt' Wu's quarters. The former Regent quickly opened the door and walked in.

"You wanted to see me?"

Mai

"Whatever." Mai could spot a liar a mile away, but if that girl didn't want to admit to being the Avatar, it really made no difference to her.

Longshot regarded Katara solemnly. He knew when a person was shocked or wasn't telling the complete truth by how they breathed and their facial expressions. Toph, he knew, could also tell who lied from the vibrations in the earth. Still, everyone had their secrets, even himself. He reached at his side and passed a waterskin over to Katara.

"Would this help?" he asked.

Aunt Wu turned at the sound of Haru's voice. She smiled at him, and then at Meng as the young girl followed only a few inches behind Haru. "I seem to have misplaced one of my scrolls," she said. "On the moon phases, cloud formations, and the direction of the wind. I have a feeling that I will need it tonight."

The old woman turned back to the table and started her sorting again. "If it's not here, then it's got to be somewhere else in this house."

"We'll look!" Meng grasped onto Haru's arm with one hand, while her other hand shot up into the air.

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Toph looked up at the waterbender, sensing the lie the moment Katara had spoken it, but she said nothing. It was Katara's business, if she wanted to hide who she was from them. Toph had her own secrets too.

But if this girl was the Avatar, why had she washed up on the shore like this? Wasn't she supposed to be training in the elements? Not that it was any of Toph's concern.

Haru

Haru raised a single eyebrow at Meng, but did not object. Truthfully, he had nothing better to do, aside from practicing his bending. Which did get rather old, real fast. "Sounds fine to me."

Meng wilted slightly at the raised eyebrow, but then her smile reappeared at Haru's words. "Where should we look first?" she asked. Maybe now that they were doing something together, he would actually notice her. She sure hoped so.

Katara took the waterskin, pausing to say, "yes, thank you." She then took the lid off and began to bend the water out of the skin. She first healed her shoulder, enveloping her right hand in water and touched the bare skin. The water began to glow and she sighed in relief as the wound healed. After a minute she removed her hand and moved to her head, taking the bandages off. She placed her water-covered hand on her scalp and began to heal it as well. She continued to the other parts of her body that needed healing, mending herself slowly, and soon she was healed as well as she could.

Haru

"Where Aunt Wu remembers last seeing the scroll, I suppose." Haru replied.

Mai

"....So, what now?" Mai looked around with a bit of a bored look. She noticed the wolf--Nanuk, was it?--nudging its master again, likely seeking to be pet some more. But other than that, she didn't notice anything else of real interest. And even calling the domesticated dog 'interesting' was really stretching it.