*。☆。
★。＼｜／。★
˚ ₊ ♡ ❰  MIRACULUM ❱
*✧ ─── ❝ ❪ DESTINY'S ARRIVAL ❫ ❞

⋆ 🌪. CHAPTER TWO ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
˚ ₊ ♡ 112 a.a ─── book one: water

FATE WORKED IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS. UKI KNEW DESTINY WAS FLUID, LIKE A RIVER FINDING ITS WAYS TO THE OCEAN NO MATTER THE obstacles laid before it to oppose it. Uki liked to think of herself as a river. And this moment in time, just a rock blocking her path. Or maybe she just liked to think she had purpose in the world.

How could she not? They had made her birth a revered story in the tribe. One of fate and miracles. The ocean had blessed her with life, so should she not do something...great?

Night had descended upon them in quick paces, a blanket of ink covering the sky, stars painted across the expanse, glimmering, hopeful. It always enthralled Uki. Like she was tethered to the sky, always pushed and pulled by the moon. She could not explain the feeling, for no one would understand it. Within her, something celestial ached, like a ghost of a handprint on her heart telling her this is where you belong.

She wondered what her destiny looked like. Where her path would lead, with whom and what end waited for her. She used to dream about it, endless nights of glimpses behind closed eyelids, telling a story in a hazy blur. Colours, bright, vibrant colours danced in those dreams. She did not understand them, or maybe they did not mean anything at all. Just mere childish imagination.

She did not dwell on her thoughts, as she walked beside her father and mother, dressed in the most regal clothes she owned.

"you are part of a respectable family, you should look like it in the presence of the Avatar." Her mother had told her as she smoothened out her hair and brushed her wild hair.

Uki wondered if fate had brought the avatar here━ a hundred years too late on purpose. Was the air nomad meant to come in this moment in time? Or was it like the river she was told about and the boy had found his way eventually.

The cold brushed against her skin in a gentle manner, as if answering her silent question. The fine clothing, so unlike her normal way of dressing were caressed by the wind but did not let the cold seep in. Her mother had looked proud, seeing her like that. Picturesque, a true essence of the legend around her she would say.

If they only let her practise real bending. She thought bitterly then I would make a difference. Something to be really proud of.

As the guests had arrived in the palace, Uki immediately left the constricting presence of her mother to find Yue. The white haired girl, also dressed in a beautiful traditional Water Tribe gown stood next to her father, conversing demurely.

While Uki looked out of place among them, Yue enraptured the celestial presence that was bestowed on her ever so perfectly.

"Yue!" Uki greeted, bowing to her Chief and casting a side-eyed glance at Master Pakku.

He bitterly regarded her without pretence of niceties.

"Uki," Yue responded with a wide smile, her blue eyes reflecting delight.

"Let's go down there and join the others." Uki encouraged enthusiastically.

Before they could proceed, Master Pakku interjected. "I believe Princess Yue has duties to perform here Uki." Master Pakku cut in, his voice tense and full of arrogance as he regarded the young waterbender. "She has no time for dilly-dallying, unlike you."

Uki bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from speaking out against the waterbending Master. Red crept up her neck and cheeks in embarrassment.  She could feel the call of the water already, and she knew she could feel the water shake from her fury.

"It's fine Pakku." Arnook intercepted as the tension grew. Everyone knew of the distaste Pakku and Uki shared for one another and their refusal to act civil in each other's presence. "You may go with Uki, Yue." Arnook told his daughter who smiled gratefully at her father. "Make you rounds among our people. They'd be delighted by your presence my daughter."

Uki's ice coloured eyes remained fixed on Pakku as Yue dragged her with her down the stairs and when Uki saw Arnook turn is attention elsewhere, she childishly stuck her tongue out.

Pakku's tense face only grew more sour at the sight.

"What an bitter old crone." Uki muttered.

The rounds among the people of their Tribe were civil and boring, but Uki liked it far better than standing prettily on display beside her parents.

Sadly, Uki could not spend much time with Yue as the Avatar and his friends arrived and were directed to their seats.

Taking her seat beside her parents, Uki reluctantly left Yue standing next to her father.

The celebration commenced with Arnook addressing his people, acknowledging the Avatar's arrival and introducing him to the Northern Tribe members. "Tonight, we celebrate the arrival of our brother and sister from the Southern Tribe. And they have brought with them someone very special, someone who many of us believed disappeared from the world until now... The Avatar." Arnook spoke with confidence to his people, who in return cheered for the announcement.

Uki couldn't help but stare at the young airbender, catching his eye in the crowd and offering a timid smile and nod. When he caught her familiar figure in the crowd his shoulders relaxed slightly.

She wondered if he felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. He looked young, innocent still and not yet broken by the war that raged outside their borders. She wondered what he would look like if he did.

As the cheers subsided, Arnook shifted the focus to Yue, gesturing toward the kind princess who stood next to him with his outstretched hand. "We also celebrate my daughter's 16th birthday. Princess Yue is now of marrying age."

Uki sighed as her friend smiled at the tribe, but the warmth of the celebration didn't quite reach Yue's eyes. "Thank you, father. May the great Ocean and Moon Spirits watch over us during these troubled times." Despite the festive atmosphere, a sombre undertone lingered in Yue's acknowledgment. The weight of her new status, marked by the age-old expectation of marriage, seemed to cast a shadow on what otherwise should be a joyous occasion.

"Now, Master Pakku and his students will perform!" Arnook proclaimed, gesturing towards the podium across from them where the waterbending master and his students stood.

Uki observed with envy as Pakku and his students executed their bending with grace and control. The freedom reflected on their faces as they manipulated water with finesse, merging it into a magnificent display around the palace.

Pakku and his two students moved masterfully as three large streams of water followed every twitch of their arms and hands, swirling around their bodies before they merged it into one large stream.

Uki remembered that move well━ she had mastered it after weeks of training by herself in the cold night.

As the performance concluded, with the trio bowing gracefully, Arnook swept the Avatar away for a conversation with Master Pakku, while the tribe members began merging for the festive feast.

Uki casted a glance at her father and mother, bowing respectfully before disappearing in the crowd of chattering people. She need a moment of solitude. Away from the root of her jealousy and into the calm light of the moon.

Just as she was about the reach one of the many side entrances of the palace, a call sounded from behind her.

"Hey! You!"

Uki was startled by the sudden loud yelling and dared to catch a glimpse over her shoulder. She recognized the Southern Water Tribe siblings easily and her heart skipped a beat in her chest.

She quickly ducked her head to try and blend into the crowd, but the siblings were not giving up easily. "Hey! Wait up! You're the girl from the canals right?!"

she was unsuccessful as the boy caught up and grabbed her arm. Instinctively, Uki twisted his wrist until he yelped in pain, "Ouch! Ouch!"

"Sorry." She quickly released the boy and gave him a sheepish smile before taking a cautious step back, posture straight, looking befitting of her social status in her tribe.

"Don't mind him." The young brunette spoke up, blue eyes sparkling as she rolled them in faux-annoyance. "He's an idiot who doesn't know how to approach women."

Uki laughed quietly at that, her shoulders slouched slightly.

Silence lingered for a moment as the younger girl took in the presence of the Northern Water Tribe girl. While similar in looks to her own clothes, Katara easily distinguished the finer furs and softer cloths the girl was wearing.

"I'm Katara━ and the pea brain is my older brother Sokka." The girl introduced them with a bright smile.

"I'm Uki." She held her hand out and Katara readily clasped her hands in a quick handshake. "Nice to meet you."

Despite the clear indication of high society, Katara noted her hands were rugged and her grip was strong. "So are you also going to Master Pakku's lesson tomorrow morning?" Katara wondered curiously as she peered up at the older girl.

"No." Uki replied curtly, her friendly smile wavering, well aware her parents were approaching from across the room, clearly intrigued by a chance to talk to the Avatar's companion's.

Katara frowned, before perking up, "Are you a master already?"

"What no━ of course not!" Uki spluttered out with wide eyes.

"But you were bending ━" Katara's widened as Uki, dashed away again, disappearing into the thick crowd. "...earlier."

"She's strange." Sokka muttered, still clutching his throbbing wrist.

Katara didn't say anything as she noted the girl running up the stairs that would lead her outside the palace.

Very strange indeed.

*。☆。
★。＼｜／。★
𝙣𝙤 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛
𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝘰𝘧
𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚

─ marie lu

LEANING AGAINST THE ICE WALLS BESIDE THE HEALING HUTS OF HER TRIBE, UKI WATCHED KNOWINGLY AS KATARA SOMBERLY APPROACHED. "I See Master Pakku has send you to Yagoda." Uki spoke up softly, a familiar sadness reflecting in her own eyes.

Katara looked utterly defeated as she solemnly marched up the steps. Her blue eyes flew up when she heard her speak and Uki gave her a sad smile.

"He was not the great Master you expected him to be huh?" Uki spoke sympathetically, eyes casted towards the general direction of Pakku's training grounds. She had once walked up those same steps and returned angry and defeated. Denied by her tribe, casted aside as lesser for the sake of age old tradition. She hated it.

"He's such a jerk!" Katara exclaimed angrily, stomping her feet on the ground, denting the ice beneath her feet before redirecting her eyes to the older girl. "So that's why you're not a student of Master Pakku, right? You really are a waterbender."

Uki nodded, pushing herself up from the wall to approach the younger girl. "Yeah, I'm sorry for being so vague yesterday. I was scared people would find out I was bending." Her hands moved gracefully and a large stream of water danced around her body as if sentient. "My parents were approaching and they don't want me to waterbend...at least not like the men do..."

"Your parents don't want you to?" Katara frowned, "but why?"

"It's how they grew up, how we are expected to act in our tribe...and fulfil our place in society." Uki said gloomily. "All I know is self-taught in secret from the bending scrolls of my father."

"I'm sorry."   Katara breathed out, a little bit more excited as she regarded her. "But you can fight? Like actually waterbend?"

Uki nodded, returning the water to a nearby pond before leaning closer to the girl to speak in a hushed voice, "I spy on Pakku's class all the time too and I practise during the night far away from the tribe. It's all I can do."

"That is ridiculous!" Katara huffed jutting her chin out and crossing her arms. "Not waterbending is like not being able to breath! They can't forbid you to not be yourself!"

Uki laughed bitterly at the girl's fiery determination and passion, "It is. But the tribe has customs and rules, and one girl wanting to fight isn't going to change things." The older girl wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulder, directing her to Yagoda's hut. "Let's just get this over with."

"Hi Yagoda." Uki greeted in fake enthusiasm as she pulled Katara with her inside.

"Uki." Yagoda smiled fondly at the girl, aged eyes soft. "I haven't seen you here in a long time."

"Yeah." She breathed our before pushing Katara in front of her, "I have a new student for you."

"Are you here for the healing lessons?" Yagoda asked for confirmation, smiling kindly while Uki already walked ahead and sat down on the snow covered floor with a heavy thud. The younger girls eyed her curiously.

"Uki, if you will." Yagoda gestured toward the wooden dummy.

Katara watched in awe as Uki masterly moved the water around her arms before directing it to the dummy displayed between herself and Yagoda. The water glowed brightly as she did so. The other children gathered inside whispered excitedly at the sight that Uki created.

"I guess I am." Katara muttered before taking a seat next to Uki.

"Healing is a sub-skill of waterbending that allows the bender to heal wounds, " Yagoda began her explanation before gesturing to what Uki was doing "By using water as a catalyst, we can redirect energy paths around the body, concentrating more energy into a wounded area and allowing that area to heal at an accelerated rate."

Uki grinned fully as the water's glow faded, indicating the wound was healed.

"While this technique is effective on external, physical wounds, its ability to repair internal injuries and cure illnesses is more limited. The skill level of the healer, as well as the quality of the water used, also plays a role in its effectiveness."

"Sometimes waterbenders instinctively obtain the ability to heal." Uki grinned, trying to make Katara smile. "I was not one of them."

Yagoda laughed at her former student's words. "She did everything with the water, but heal when she first came here."

"I didn't want to heal, I wanted to fight." Uki spoke through gritted teeth, "I still do."

"Don't talk such nonsense dear." Yagoda reprimanded, "Why don't you all pair up, try to practise."

Uki quickly grabbed Katara's arm and dragged her over to the far corner of the room. "Look, I know this sucks, and you travelled all over the world to get here, but this is the best you're going to get at this point." Uki tried to persuade. "At least it will help you with control."

"How can you say that?" Katara asked in a hushed whisper.

"Like I said before, one person is not going to change the customs of a tribe." Uki muttered, "All I can do is sneak around like a criminal and hope to figure it out myself. At least you have Aang to teach you what he has been taught after you leave the North Pole."

Uki turned her face toward the dummy on the ground, rigid muscles moving beneath her blue tunic. Katara could see the loneliness in her eyes, the defeat and it made her even angrier.

"That's more than I'll ever get." Uki added softly, defeatedly. "I'll never be a master."

⋆⋅ ━━━━ ‧ ༻✩༺ ‧ ━━━━ ⋅⋆
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