[Fic] "What You Wish For" -- Avatar: TLA/Enchanted Forest Chronicles
This is another prequel piece to the Avatar/Enchanted Forest fusion that I am not writing. Katara is nine in the first section and eleven in the second, so it ends three years before the main story starts.
Katara and Ursa: families, loss, and compassion. (Also laundry.)
---------------------------------------------
The War of Secret Flames: What You Wish For
---------------------------------------------
Katara hated laundry.
Yes, dirty clothes were worse -- especially Sokka's, and especially his socks -- but hauling baskets down to the river, scrubbing and swirling and beating cloth against stones, straining her wrists to wring out all the water she could, and then hauling the even heavier baskets back up to the village to dry... well, who in their right mind would enjoy that?
"Can't we ask the river nymphs to help out?" she complained to her mother. "They could make us a fountain! With a little whirlpool, to swish the clothes around. Wouldn't that be great?"
"It would be nice," Kya said wistfully, strong hands twisting one of Katara's blue dresses. "But no. The nymphs care for the river; their power doesn't extend beyond its banks. If you want a magical fountain, you'll have to save money and hire a magician to build one."
"What money?" Katara grumbled. South Wolf River was a tiny village, almost totally cut off from the outside world by the Mountains of Morning and the unfortunately enchanted river. The only money they ever saw was copper pennies some of the men brought home from the annual fur trading expeditions, along with important supplies like glass and steel and flour and fruit.
"That is a problem," Kya admitted. "But you're clever -- if anyone can figure out how to make a magic fountain for the village, you and Sokka can."
Katara made a face at the idea of Sokka having anything to do with magic. On the other hand, he was pretty good at building stuff, so maybe if she found a spell...
"Your father's shirt won't wash itself," Kya said gently.
Katara sighed and got back to work.
---------------
Two years later, shortly after the disaster with the rogue pack of basilisks that had left half the village turned to stone (and no amount of kissing would turn them back), Katara was once more down by the river washing her brother's disgusting socks.
"It's absolutely not fair," she said to herself. "Why am I stuck doing all the work while Sokka goofs off up in the mountains doing nothing all day? Hunting, he says. I'll show him hunting!" She slammed the offending sock against a jagged stone and rubbed it viciously with the side of her left hand. "How would he like to hunt naked, that's what I want to know!"
"Now that is an interesting question," said a strange, melodic voice behind her.
Katara shot to her feet, pulling out her belt knife and falling into the most stable stance she could manage on the uneven riverbank. "Who are you and what are you doing in South Wolf River?"
The stranger -- a middle-aged woman with a gentle face, long black hair, and hazel eyes -- smiled at her. "I am a traveler," she said, tucking her hands into the wide sleeves of her ragged red dress. "I was recently forced to leave my home, and I thought I would take the opportunity to see the world."
"Oh," said Katara. She lowered her knife. The woman seemed friendly, and she looked too tired and hungry to be much of a threat even if she turned out to be hostile. Katara glanced over at her small lunch: half a loaf of bread, with a handful of dried fruit and three strips of mutton jerky. She thought about how much work she had left to do, and how hungry laundry made her.
Katara sighed. "It's almost noon. Would you like to share my lunch?" she asked.
The woman accepted gratefully. "Tell me, what brings a young girl like you down to do so much work all alone?" she asked as she nibbled on a strip of jerky, only wincing once at the strong, musky flavor. "Surely your mother or your friends should be helping."
Katara looked down at the water's edge. "They can't. They were turned to stone this spring when a basilisk pack came down from the mountains. Most of the people who survived crossed the river to look for a spell or a talisman to bring them back to life."
"Oh, my dear," said the woman in the ragged red dress. "You are very kind, to have enough compassion left over after your own troubles to give a stranger half your food."
"...It's the right thing to do," Katara mumbled, heat rushing up her cheeks and the tips of her ears. "Anyone in the village would do the same. Even my brother would share -- well, he'd probably just give you the fruit and keep all the meat for himself, because he's stupid like that -- but we wouldn't let anyone starve. We're not monsters."
"You would be surprised how many people in the world don't see things that way," said the woman in the ragged red dress. "You remind me of my son, in a way. I think, therefore, that I will grant you a wish."
Katara blinked. The woman's red dress was suddenly rich and fine, embroidered with golden threads and hemmed with beads of white jade. She held a carved wand in her hand, with a glittering ruby tip.
"Um," Katara said. "What?"
The woman smiled. "I am a fairy godmother in training, and you have passed the test of compassion to strangers. The traditional reward is something along the lines of jewels and flowers falling from your lips at every word, but I've always thought that sounded horribly uncomfortable -- not to mention it would bring down the value of precious stones and upset the economies of all the neighboring kingdoms. So I'll let you choose your own reward. Think carefully: it will be permanent."
There was no need to think. "I wish that all the people turned to stone would be brought back to life." Katara clenched her hands, barely holding herself back from running up the hill to the village, imagining her mother shaking off the heavy gray of stone and blinking in the summer sunlight.
The woman's smile dimmed. "Oh, my dear. I can't break spells; that's against the union rules. All I can do is cast new ones. Try again."
Katara stared blankly at her.
"I am so very sorry," said the woman in the red dress. "But there are cures for petrifaction. Water from the Living Spring will generally work, though sometimes it only leaves you with a living statue. And the Water of Healing from the Caves of Fire and Night will dissolve any stone curse in the world. Somebody from your village will find a cure and bring it home. Make another wish."
What else was there to wish for, if she couldn't wish her mother back?
Katara looked aside, blinking back furious tears, and kicked one of her laundry baskets. "I don't care!" she said. "I don't care about your stupid wish."
"You have to wish for something," said the woman in the red dress. "It's dangerous to leave a spell half-finished."
"Fine," Katara snapped. "Then I wish I could do water magic, so I could make a fountain in the middle of the village and not have to haul laundry down here every week."
"Done," said the woman in the red dress, and waved her glittering wand.
A strange, cold, damp feeling washed over Katara -- but not outside, not like actual water. This felt as if water were soaking into her bones and shriveling her fingertips from the inside out. She shivered, and scratched at her arms. "What did you do to me?" she asked. She raised one hand, trying to see if her fingers looked any different.
The water in the river rose with her arm.
Katara stepped back in shock. The unnatural wave froze in place, shimmering in the midday sun.
"I granted your wish," said the woman. She tucked her glittering wand up her sleeve and away, and her fine rich robes shifted back into the ragged red dress. "Thank you for lunch, and good luck with your new magic." She bowed, deeply, her hands fixed in an unfamiliar pattern, and vanished.
Katara blinked.
Then she looked from the wave to her unfinished laundry, and back again, and grinned. If she could make a wave, what else could she do?
Sokka would never know what hit him. And when their mother came back to life, a magic fountain would be waiting for her.
---------------
End of Story
---------------
That was really kind of random. I was not expecting Ursa to be involved in Katara's backstory at all, but at least now I know what became of her after she had to leave Veritand in a rush.
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth, where there are currently (
comments)
Katara and Ursa: families, loss, and compassion. (Also laundry.)
---------------------------------------------
The War of Secret Flames: What You Wish For
---------------------------------------------
Katara hated laundry.
Yes, dirty clothes were worse -- especially Sokka's, and especially his socks -- but hauling baskets down to the river, scrubbing and swirling and beating cloth against stones, straining her wrists to wring out all the water she could, and then hauling the even heavier baskets back up to the village to dry... well, who in their right mind would enjoy that?
"Can't we ask the river nymphs to help out?" she complained to her mother. "They could make us a fountain! With a little whirlpool, to swish the clothes around. Wouldn't that be great?"
"It would be nice," Kya said wistfully, strong hands twisting one of Katara's blue dresses. "But no. The nymphs care for the river; their power doesn't extend beyond its banks. If you want a magical fountain, you'll have to save money and hire a magician to build one."
"What money?" Katara grumbled. South Wolf River was a tiny village, almost totally cut off from the outside world by the Mountains of Morning and the unfortunately enchanted river. The only money they ever saw was copper pennies some of the men brought home from the annual fur trading expeditions, along with important supplies like glass and steel and flour and fruit.
"That is a problem," Kya admitted. "But you're clever -- if anyone can figure out how to make a magic fountain for the village, you and Sokka can."
Katara made a face at the idea of Sokka having anything to do with magic. On the other hand, he was pretty good at building stuff, so maybe if she found a spell...
"Your father's shirt won't wash itself," Kya said gently.
Katara sighed and got back to work.
---------------
Two years later, shortly after the disaster with the rogue pack of basilisks that had left half the village turned to stone (and no amount of kissing would turn them back), Katara was once more down by the river washing her brother's disgusting socks.
"It's absolutely not fair," she said to herself. "Why am I stuck doing all the work while Sokka goofs off up in the mountains doing nothing all day? Hunting, he says. I'll show him hunting!" She slammed the offending sock against a jagged stone and rubbed it viciously with the side of her left hand. "How would he like to hunt naked, that's what I want to know!"
"Now that is an interesting question," said a strange, melodic voice behind her.
Katara shot to her feet, pulling out her belt knife and falling into the most stable stance she could manage on the uneven riverbank. "Who are you and what are you doing in South Wolf River?"
The stranger -- a middle-aged woman with a gentle face, long black hair, and hazel eyes -- smiled at her. "I am a traveler," she said, tucking her hands into the wide sleeves of her ragged red dress. "I was recently forced to leave my home, and I thought I would take the opportunity to see the world."
"Oh," said Katara. She lowered her knife. The woman seemed friendly, and she looked too tired and hungry to be much of a threat even if she turned out to be hostile. Katara glanced over at her small lunch: half a loaf of bread, with a handful of dried fruit and three strips of mutton jerky. She thought about how much work she had left to do, and how hungry laundry made her.
Katara sighed. "It's almost noon. Would you like to share my lunch?" she asked.
The woman accepted gratefully. "Tell me, what brings a young girl like you down to do so much work all alone?" she asked as she nibbled on a strip of jerky, only wincing once at the strong, musky flavor. "Surely your mother or your friends should be helping."
Katara looked down at the water's edge. "They can't. They were turned to stone this spring when a basilisk pack came down from the mountains. Most of the people who survived crossed the river to look for a spell or a talisman to bring them back to life."
"Oh, my dear," said the woman in the ragged red dress. "You are very kind, to have enough compassion left over after your own troubles to give a stranger half your food."
"...It's the right thing to do," Katara mumbled, heat rushing up her cheeks and the tips of her ears. "Anyone in the village would do the same. Even my brother would share -- well, he'd probably just give you the fruit and keep all the meat for himself, because he's stupid like that -- but we wouldn't let anyone starve. We're not monsters."
"You would be surprised how many people in the world don't see things that way," said the woman in the ragged red dress. "You remind me of my son, in a way. I think, therefore, that I will grant you a wish."
Katara blinked. The woman's red dress was suddenly rich and fine, embroidered with golden threads and hemmed with beads of white jade. She held a carved wand in her hand, with a glittering ruby tip.
"Um," Katara said. "What?"
The woman smiled. "I am a fairy godmother in training, and you have passed the test of compassion to strangers. The traditional reward is something along the lines of jewels and flowers falling from your lips at every word, but I've always thought that sounded horribly uncomfortable -- not to mention it would bring down the value of precious stones and upset the economies of all the neighboring kingdoms. So I'll let you choose your own reward. Think carefully: it will be permanent."
There was no need to think. "I wish that all the people turned to stone would be brought back to life." Katara clenched her hands, barely holding herself back from running up the hill to the village, imagining her mother shaking off the heavy gray of stone and blinking in the summer sunlight.
The woman's smile dimmed. "Oh, my dear. I can't break spells; that's against the union rules. All I can do is cast new ones. Try again."
Katara stared blankly at her.
"I am so very sorry," said the woman in the red dress. "But there are cures for petrifaction. Water from the Living Spring will generally work, though sometimes it only leaves you with a living statue. And the Water of Healing from the Caves of Fire and Night will dissolve any stone curse in the world. Somebody from your village will find a cure and bring it home. Make another wish."
What else was there to wish for, if she couldn't wish her mother back?
Katara looked aside, blinking back furious tears, and kicked one of her laundry baskets. "I don't care!" she said. "I don't care about your stupid wish."
"You have to wish for something," said the woman in the red dress. "It's dangerous to leave a spell half-finished."
"Fine," Katara snapped. "Then I wish I could do water magic, so I could make a fountain in the middle of the village and not have to haul laundry down here every week."
"Done," said the woman in the red dress, and waved her glittering wand.
A strange, cold, damp feeling washed over Katara -- but not outside, not like actual water. This felt as if water were soaking into her bones and shriveling her fingertips from the inside out. She shivered, and scratched at her arms. "What did you do to me?" she asked. She raised one hand, trying to see if her fingers looked any different.
The water in the river rose with her arm.
Katara stepped back in shock. The unnatural wave froze in place, shimmering in the midday sun.
"I granted your wish," said the woman. She tucked her glittering wand up her sleeve and away, and her fine rich robes shifted back into the ragged red dress. "Thank you for lunch, and good luck with your new magic." She bowed, deeply, her hands fixed in an unfamiliar pattern, and vanished.
Katara blinked.
Then she looked from the wave to her unfinished laundry, and back again, and grinned. If she could make a wave, what else could she do?
Sokka would never know what hit him. And when their mother came back to life, a magic fountain would be waiting for her.
---------------
End of Story
---------------
That was really kind of random. I was not expecting Ursa to be involved in Katara's backstory at all, but at least now I know what became of her after she had to leave Veritand in a rush.
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth, where there are currently (
comments)