TLOK SI: Oh, Brother... I'm a Fire Bender (Patreon)

CHAPTER 2

"I see that I'm still well known as always."

She said with a slight smirk as he placed his hand over his forehead in shock.

"H-How am I here? Where am I?"

He asked with a slight tone of fear as she calmed him down with a gentle smile.

"You're in the Southern Water Tribe, more specifically, my healing hut that I use to heal others with my water bending. And as of how, your fire pillar acted as a beacon for my members to quickly act and save you from hypothermia."

She explained slowly as he leaned on the edge of the tub, breathing out a heave as she asked the money question.

"As you know, I am Katara of the Southern Water Tribe. And you are?"

"... William. I-I'm not from here."

He told her his name.

"Hmm... I can see that from your facial structure and features. You're clearly not from the Water Tribes, your jaw is too sharp, and your eyes are golden. Maybe some Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation combination..."

She had a hand on her chin as she thought. Well, he was half Korean, but from what he just heard, people were differentiated using their nations.

Taking a few steps to close the distance, Katara raised both hands and moved fluidly as the water in the tub started to rise and formed a perfect sphere.

"I've healed most of the damage that I could heal with my bending, but just in case..."

She then started to move her hands in a rotation, the water following her movements as it rapidly spinning until visually, it resembled a ring of water that was glowing with a hue of white.

The ring of water touches his chest as suddenly relief filled his body, earning a groan of relaxation from William.

By the time she was done, the ring of water melded with his chest, disappearing into his body as he breathes a sigh of relief.

The pain was now seemingly gone. His body wasn't hurting anymore, though it was still sore.

"You should be good as new after a week of rest. Bending cannot recover your lost chi reserves after all."

Chi, that was what the energy was called? Huh. Guess that was something that he didn't remember. It was years ago when he watched the series after all.

She did a "come here" gesture, prompting William to get up from the tub of water, as he followed her out of the room to reveal a living room of sorts.

Sitting down on one of the seats, he watches as Katara bends some water into a wooden cup that was on the table.

"Drink. Your body needs its fluids."

Taking it with a thanks, he downs the drink in a second before placing it back on the table, the water in the system bringing him back to the situation at hand.

His mind still can't comprehend that he was in the Avatar universe. But after seeing her bend fucking water out of nowhere to him being able to shoot fireballs out of his fists, he was sure now.

How the hell did he even end up here? And wasn't this place just fiction?

And where was Aang? Should he, you know, be with his wife? Or was he not her husband?

He had so many questions, but unraveling them all at once was going to kill him, so he took it slow.

"U-Um... So now what?"

He asked as Katara bent water from the air into her own cup. Holding it with two hands, she took a second before smiling at him.

"Well, what do you want to do?"

He just froze. Did she not want to know where was he from? Why was he even in the Water Nation? He was so darn suspicious, and this was coming from the victim for the love of god.

"I... I don't know, ma'am."

"... Then stay as long as you like. Maybe one day you'd find it."

Drinking her cup of water, she stands up before leading him outside after giving him a thick fur coat which looked really cool personally.

Exiting the hut, he muttered a "woah" as he engraved the beautiful scenery of the Water Tribe as a whole. It was beautiful. He couldn't describe it more with words. It just is beautiful in its own way.

Following her through the tribe, he feels more... rejuvenated. Looking up into the sky, he wonders if the sun was doing all this, since from his vague memories of Avatar: The Last Airbender, the source of fire bending was from the sun.

Closing his eyes, he controls his breathing as his chi core starts to burn brighter and brighter in his stomach, until he thinks that his body was hot enough for him to walk through the tribe without the coat.

And he feels more alive. More than his ever been, to be honest. He felt so... Free, to be exact.

"I can sense that your chi is more stable now. Good."

Katara mentioned without looking back, causing him to mutter a "damn". She was cool.

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Reaching a unique looking building made out of what seemed to be marble, they entered the building to reveal something akin to a town hall. There was a pond of water at one side of the hall, a side with earth and rocks like a barren wasteland, and a center stage with the symbol of the four elements engraved on the ground.

There was a logo on the wall behind a podium, a white lotus. That felt really familiar for some reason —

VHOOM!

Suddenly, a burst of fire shot at his face. Then he heard a cry of a kid.

"W-Watch out!"

Before he could even think about it, his body moved.

WHOOSH!

His head leaned backwards and his back arched as the fireball barely grazed his eyebrow, slamming to the wall with some force behind the fireball, rolling backwards to recover from the dodge.

...

Woah.

"Very good reflexes, William."

The tone of surprise and interest was very evident in her voice. He stared at the burnt mark of the marble wall with shock. He just dodged that.

"... I guess so, ma'am."

He swore that he couldn't have. Sure, he did some exercising like jogging and some cardio when he felt like it, and did a little Taekwondo and Boxing in his school days (He just finished high school a few weeks ago), but not even him in his peak could dodge something so last minute.

He flexed his fist as he thought of two reasons.

1, this body was more physical than his previous. Staying alive for 12 hours straight in a cold winter was something to reckon with.

2, his chi passively enhanced his body. That was evident because he currently had more energy than his old life combined.

Hearing quick and light footsteps, he looked around to see a girl with black hair and blue eyes run at him and Katara, her eyes filled with curiosity and guilt.

Looking closely, she looked like Katara in her 8-year-old self, when her mother died to the Fire Nation.

"Korra, I've told you multiple times to not bend when no instructors are around."

She lectured the girl with a teacher's tone.

"Hey, sorry about that."

She said with a sheepish grin as she scratched the back of her neck in embarrassment.

"It's fine, I dodged it. No harm done."

He waved it off as Katara introduced them both to the other party.

"Korra, this is William. And William, this is Korra."

"Nice to meet you! You look really different though, Fire Nation?"

Korra gave out a hand as she asked innocently. Looking at the arm for a second, he returned it with a firm grip.

"Uh, nice to meet you too. I'm from... yeah, something like that."

He neither confirmed nor denied her question, but the kid just grinned as Katara placed her hand on his head.

"William here will be living with us for now, until he finds his way."

Well, he guessed that he could at the moment, living with your childhood cartoon character was something, even if they were old. He nods at her statement when it clicked in.

"Wait a minute."

Korra was the one yelling before the fireball almost hit him. But she's the only one here. She looks Water Nation though, shouldn't she be bending water instead of fire —

His eyes widened widely as he swallowed a gulp of saliva. Katara noticed it as she gestured at Korra.

Knowing what she was doing, Korra immediately got into a gentle, defensive stance before moving her body like flowing water, fast yet fluid. Water bursts out from the pond as it starts to circle around her body.

Letting the water drop to the ground, she turned and changed her stance to a more solid, aggressive stance. Raising her forearm up hardly, the rocks in the wasteland side rose up and started to float.

The rocks fell with a sickening thud as she changed her stance once more to a more ferocious, aggressive stance before performing a few punches and kicks once she turned her back to them, fire surging out from her limbs.

Oh, god. So that's why Aang wasn't in the tribe at all.

He fucking died.

Turning around to face them, more specifically William, she flashed a smirk as she rests both hands on her hips, saying with a proud tone.

"Yeah, I'm the Avatar."