Art By Me! Meet Fleet, The Phantom Unit's Messenger Sparrowkeet!

Ayaan watched as Appa dived into the pond at the beginning of the river. A waterfall glistened against the rocky cliff, greenery flourishing on the banks; it was a beautiful place. Because he hadn't been in a good state of mind during the night, he hadn't had the freedom to view it beneath starlit skies. He sighed a bit at the missed opportunity.

Right now, he had other things to attempt to focus on.

Waterbending.

The subject was familiar and foreign to Ayaan. Honestly, it left a bit of a sour taste in his mouth thanks to painful memories. Sure, he could do things, and he practiced the few skills he did know. But that was it. Focusing on something he knew wouldn't go anywhere wasn't something he liked doing. Waterbending, aside from the few skills he had, was a useless skill.

He would train things that he knew, and elaborate on skills he could strengthen. That did not mean that he did not attempt on rare occasions. He tried, earnestly, he did, but nothing ever seemed to work. The things that he could do? Those came a bit more naturally than whatever he tried.

Freezing things was a lot easier for him than other things. Sometimes, he didn't need to do anything for the waters around him to slowly frost over. He hadn't noticed such an occurrence while he was home due to being surrounded by ice and snow. On their journey, however, these things happened often.

It happened in Omashu when all of the liquid from their drinks lifted and froze. It happened again on the rig, though brief it was. Sometimes, it happens after he has a nightmare, too. The moment he'd sit by the rivers they'd visit, it would frost over with subtle ice before melting again when he calmed down.

It was comforting to him. The biting cold brought him from his rampant emotions. The colder it was, the better he felt. It was a strange truth about him. It was already a fact that he was very resistant to the cold, though he thought that was just because he was born in the watertribe. As a waterbender, this added to it, and his sister was also fine with cooler temperatures.

But with the things he learned, and the differences he could now see, he was starting to believe that this fact about him had more to do with his state of being. He was a blessed child. His Asrar allies weren't sure if the blessed were simply loved by spirits, or spirits with a physical form.

Honestly, they didn't care too much about that, because either way they loved and worshipped them.

Ayaan always knew that he was different. Now though, it may just be more than his scars and white hair. He hoped to one day figure out why.

He was going to be the one to answer those questions.

For now, though, he wanted to focus on the waterbending aspect of his lineage. Liù, the eldest of the Phantom Unit trio, used fluid movements that guided his ink where he wanted it to go. He skated on icy trails, and created weapons with the pouches of water he hid on his person. Ayaan, impressed by his skill, of course, asked him for tips.

The slightly younger man readily tried to help him, obviously. For him, it was a dream to be asked for assistance by him. And this extra time spent was one of the reasons he'd been away long enough for the three gremlins to pull off their latest act of stupidity.

But most of what Liù showed him hadn't worked for him, sadly. Gentle guidance of the water yielded nothing but frustration, though creating icy weapons came easier than he expected. They didn't have enough time to fully delve into reasons that could be.

The youth promised to gather information from his clan and send them through Fleet, their messenger sparrowkeet. The little bird always managed to find them every few days with updates. How he found them was a mystery they weren't going to bother solving though.

It was a little odd at first to have a round bird suddenly fly at him and make a perch on his head, but Ayaan took it in stride. Besides, Fleet was a feather fluff full of love, an affectionate and sweet bird. Despite his stature, Fleet was a fierce speedster. Once he took to the air, there was no catching him unless they were a trained predator. He was a bird of the Asrar clan, after all. The capability was in his nature.

The Asrar were diligent in getting him relevant information about the places they were heading for. In the latest message they mentioned stolen goods being sold at the nearby market, and to be careful of lingering firenation in the area.

They may have been a day or so away, but the Phantom Unit was as helpful as always. They were always focused on the task given to them, working hard to get any information he asked for when he messaged them back.

He wished his family stayed that diligent... He could see a certain airbender already ditching his clothes, ready to join his animal companion for a swim they weren't here to have, "Don't start without me, boy!"

Ayaan and Katara deadpanned at him. Gran-Gran would be proud.

"Haaah..." Ayaan could only hope Aang would become more focused. He was glad he was happy, he liked seeing them as such, but... There was a time and place for all of that.

"Remember the reason we're here." Katara blankly stated.

"Oh, right." He stopped his actions immediately, "Time to practice waterbending. Fun can be had after." Putting his clothes back on, he made his way back to the waterbending duo.

"Great." Sokka, a bit sarcastic since he was the only one left without anything to do, "So what am I supposed to do?"

"You could ... clean the gunk out of Appa's toes?" Aang suggested. He already had a branch with leaves at its end in his hand, as if he was waiting for the question.

"Since we've been flying a bit more lately, I have not been able to properly groom him," Ayaan said. He was not pleased by that fact. Not at all. He doted on Momo and Appa whenever he got the chance, as well as training them in some do's and don't's.

He usually dressed some dummies he created as firenation soldiers and trained them how to attack them. He set up scenarios with bad civilians too, making them seem like they were doing bad things like stealing and being defensive when certain actions happened. For special cases, such as a friend in disguise or an enemy in hiding, there is a certain whistle he'd do to let them know which was which.

Yes, while he is training the trio, he also trains Appa and Momo.

They were very good at their training. He was very proud of them and gave them extra treats.

The bison, hearing the displeasure in his tone, glided Ayaan's way. He was not upset with his human at all. He scratched his favorite places and brushed his thick fur often, how could he be mad? The giant, mystical beast was quick to make his way over and give Ayaan a giant lick of appreciation.

Disgusted and delighted, Ayaan got the saliva out of his clothes with ease, "I'm happy you don't mind it."

Momo flew his way not long after, colliding with his face and holding it close with his entire being. His human should not feel bad. He is a good human. The best human.

"Thank you, Momo," Ayaan answered, his voice a bit muffled from his fur. The lemur was extremely pleased, knowing those words as praise and positivity. He, too, licked his human, earning a small laugh from him.

His work done, Momo went back to relaxing. A glance at his giant companion and the returned glance he got proved that they both did their jobs right. Neither minded being a little less groomed than usual, the human being happy was more important.

Sokka, on the other hand, seemed to mind quite a bit, "So, while you guys are playing in the water, I'm supposed to be hard at work picking mud out of a giant bison's feet?"

"Mud and bugs!" Aang replies, a little too cheerfully.

"You could also continue the weight training from before—"

"NOPE, AYAAN BRO, I'M GOOD. COME ON APPA LET'S CLEAN THOSE TOES!" The teen practically ran to the bison with the branch in hand. That training? Sure, he loved training with Ayaan, but even he would pass on doing that training again. Hard pass. Complete pass. It was the definition of hell.

Aang and Katara, unbeknownst to the blessed youth, shivered at the very memory of it. Katara feared seeing a Muscular, Macho Katara in her dreams, while Aang's arrow tattoos felt a phantom ache shoot through them.

"Let's get started." He said, turning to his little sister, "What's the first thing you want to try?"

The girl beamed, all of them unaware of the danger that just trotted a course for the market they were near, for a seemingly simple lotus tile.

Appa was living his best life right now, rumbling happily as he drifted in the cool water.

"Yeah, don't get too happy." Sokka grumbled, diligent in his work to clean, "You've got to do me next."

The mystical beast just continued to growl in bliss. Since Appa was being groomed in the river, the supplies were taken off, along with his saddle. Though, being the hypervigilant youth that he was, Ayaan kept his money and spear close to him as they practiced. He was not going to be far from his prized weapon, and he wasn't going to leave the money he'd earned just anywhere.

His scar tingled at just the thought of doing that. Absolutely not. So his satchel of goods were beside him, safe in waterproof material.

With all of that settled, the practice finally began.

"This is a pretty basic move, but it still took me months to perfect. So don't get frustrated if you don't get it right away." Katara begins to move her hands, pushing and pulling the water before her. One could see the subtle waves the actions created, and both of the boys were impressed by her showing.

Ayaan didn't care for pushing and pulling water aside from getting it out of his clothes. So trying this was a bit new to him, though he'd seen her practicing this move often whenever he accompanied her to the river close to their home.

She'd be so focused, and he was content to simply watch her until she would frustrate herself and remember that he was there. After their mother's death, she took to distracting herself by keeping herself busy. He understood that, and never intervened whenever she was focused.

He was happy whenever she would come to him for anything, as it was rare for them to spend any sort of time together. She'd show him her newest moves whenever she got them right, and he'd congratulate her on her hard work.

"Just push and pull the water like this." She instructed, having done the move so many times it became muscle memory. "The key is getting the wrist movement right."

"Like this?" Aang begins to copy her, getting the form almost correct on his first attempt. Ayaan also tried it, and while he did do it right, the movement felt odd to him.

"That's almost right." She said, doing the move for them again, "If you keep practicing I'm sure eventually—"

"Hey, I'm bending it already!" The waves were much larger than hers had been, surprising both with how quickly he'd gotten it.

"Wow, I can't believe you got that so quickly." Katara felt an odd feeling sink in her as she recalled, "It took me two months to learn that move."

Ayaan took that he hadn't gotten it at all with a grain of salt. Aang was the Avatar. While in this life he wasn't fully realized yet, he'd still done this type of thing thousands of times in thousands of lifetimes. The silvery-white-haired youth was not surprised he was taking this so well.

Nor was he surprised that he wasn't able to do anything at all.

"Well, you had to figure it all on your own." Aang was a ball of positivity, "I'm lucky enough to have great teachers!"

Katara felt that ugly feeling fade as her smile returned, "Thanks."

"..." Ayaan was just focusing on his hand, trying to pinpoint where in the form it felt odd and how to fix it. He found that the moment something felt 'right' to him, he was able to do what he was looking to.

"Still having trouble, Ayaan?" Katara came over, trying to find where in his form he was wrong. When she couldn't find anything, she was left just as puzzled. "You've seen me practicing this, and you have the form right, so why..."

Why wasn't it working for him at all?

"Hmm..." He stopped altogether. "I'm not sure. It's fine though." He wasn't expecting it to work for him anyway. This was a pattern he was used to.

So instead of what she showed, he decided to find a stance that was comfortable for him. That was, of course, his spear stance. When he wanted to jut his spear in a certain direction, all it took was a practiced movement of his wrist, similar to what Katara had been saying before.

Though when he did, imagining the spear in his hand, a jet of water shot out in the direction he'd flicked. It surprised him enough to break his focus, his head shooting upward to view where the bullet of water shot off to.

"Whoa!" He was thankful it missed Sokka and Appa, who ducked out of the way. "What was that?!"

Ayaan didn't answer as he watched the projectile freeze as it glided in the air, landing back in the water and floating downstream.

"What the..." Katara wasn't sure what she was seeing. What even was that move? It was nothing like the one she was trying to teach! When she tried it, flicking her wrist in the same way, nothing happened. Not a drop of water moved with her will.

"What was that?!" Aang, typically curious and in awe, had stars in his eyes as he bombarded the poor lad with questions. "How'd you do that?"

"What movement did you use?" Katara asked after him.

"How'd it turn to ice like that?" Aang followed.

"Can you show me how to do that?" They both asked together, eyes sparkling.

"Um... I'm sorry." He wasn't expecting anything like that to happen, and couldn't answer their questions. He knew that teaching him his spear yielded no results, he'd tried already. None of them had any talent in the field. "I don't think I can. I'm not entirely sure myself."

"That's okay, we'll figure it out together!" Aang wasn't deterred, he never was. He was the sibling that brought positive thoughts and energy to the table.

Katara, on the other hand, felt that ugly feeling stir in her again. It was always like this. She had to work hard to get things, while he managed to do even better things with hardly any effort. And when she'd ask, he couldn't give her any tips that could help her.

When he tried to, it didn't help her. Deep down, she knew that was the case of why he stopped trying to. He knew it wouldn't help if he tried to explain. But she still felt the feelings of frustration slowly build.

"Yeah, we'll figure it out when we can." She said, trying to bring her thoughts to something else, "You guys ready for another one?"

"Yeah!"

"Sure."

Taking a breath, she went on to try teaching another move. "I got this from watching you, Ayaan." She said, getting his full attention, though she had it already. "You guys know it as "streaming the water", the one I use often when training?"

"Yeah! The thing you do to use the water from your pouch!" Aang was eager to learn this move.

"Yes. Though it does not help you much against me." Ayaan stated. While she had been incorporating it much better in their spars, that didn't mean it worked well.

"Yeah, I know." He was always able to send it back at her with an ease she didn't understand. As if he'd been handling her throwing that move at him for years.

She moves her hands, raising a 'stream' of water from the river into the air, moving it around. One could tell it took a lot more of her focus to keep it like that than the move she'd shown them before, "It's harder than it looks, so don't be disappointed if—"

Aang was already doing it with wild movements that seemed easy for him. Twisting and turning, bringing it over his head to return to the water without so much as a splash. Neat, almost graceful.

Katara let her stream of water fall unceremoniously into the river, the irritating sound of the water slapping the surface making it clear how hers looked in comparison to his. The ugly feeling was back, a little stronger than before.

"Nice work." She couldn't stop the frown that found its way to her face, "Though the over-the-head flare was unnecessary."

"I thought it was nice," Ayaan said. Such a fun display was just like Aang to perform. He was happy to see that he was learning so easily with Katara's teaching. He hadn't been able to teach them much of anything in regard to waterbending. While disappointed, he wasn't mad about that.

Now, Aang had someone that could teach him. Once they learn more at the North Pole, Ayaan wouldn't have to worry about this part of his training.

"Sorry." Aang apologized sheepishly, knowing he got just a tad carried away with that last part. But he was having fun! Especially with Katara teaching him? Nothing could be better.

Ayaan felt the urge to point his spear at him again when he saw that smile. He was starting to catch on that Aang only had that smile on him in Katara's presence. With that twinkle in his eyes... and the subtle tint of red on his cheeks... Ayaan found his hand reaching for his weapon inch by inch the more they grew.

Feeling the shift in the air, Aang promptly went back to practicing the move, completely avoiding eye contact with the beast that was just a few feet from him.

The feeling receded, Ayaan's hand going back to practicing fruitlessly. Aang let out a sigh of relief.

"Hm?" Ayaan, still ever oblivious, didn't understand what had just happened.

"Ayaan? Do you want to try it?" Katara asked, none the wiser of it. She hid the unease swelling in her, "While you always sent it back at me, you never exclusively tried to use it more than doing that."

And then freezing her with it, his favorite move. His signature move aside from his spear. Viciously cold, a chore to break through... It's no wonder he made his traps with his ice when he could.

That's when she got an idea. "Hey, try using your spear movements with it."

"Hm?"

"Trust me." She had a feeling about this. Ever since she saw him truly battle on the rig, she'd had thoughts about it. Maybe it was a figment of her imagination, but there was only one way to prove that.

"Alright." Ayaan was fine with doing that. In fact, the idea pleased him a lot for some reason. "I'll try that, and you work with Aang on your next set of moves."

"Are you sure?" Katara was surprised, though she understood why he was saying that.

"Yes." Ayaan was fine doing things on his own, in his own way. He wasn't catching on as well as Aang was, so it was better for her to focus on Aang, who needed it more than him. He was the one that absolutely needed to learn waterbending, not him.

"Alright..." She felt like she'd dodged some kind of bullet. What if he'd gotten something even better than the crazy move he showed earlier? Of course, she'd be proud of him, but the jealousy stirring in her wished that she could get things as easily as he could.

She was a bit glad that the distance she felt wasn't going to get bigger before her eyes. Feeling like a talentless nothing in the wake of the prodigal, blessed son of the chief hadn't been a fun shadow to live in, even if she knew, deep down, Ayaan never intended for that shadow to ever cast on her.

She should know that the one that wanted the best for them, more than anyone, was her eldest brother.

She should know that.

They were the only waterbenders in their village, and yet at every turn, he seemed to leave her further behind in skills she'd never be able to do. Even after their mother's death, he just seemed to get stronger. He would leave and come back with food, and everyone praised him. She did too, she loved him to bits. She couldn't be more proud of him for being so strong.

She was grateful that he was her brother. He was someone that, despite it all, did his best for them.

So why was it that this ugly feeling kept growing?

"Well, don't stop now! Keep 'em coming!" Aang, breaking her from her thoughts, eagerly got ready for her next teaching. She should feel proud that he's taking this so well. This was the plan, wasn't it? So why did it feel like she was just showing him things he already knew, like a child to their senior?

It let the pit of her stomach sinking, and she couldn't bring herself to return the same enthusiasm he had.

"Well... I kind of know this one other move, but it's pretty hard. I haven't even totally figured it out yet." She hoped that this would be the same case for Aang, so that she could actually have something they could work on, together.

So both of them wouldn't leave her in the dust again with their seemingly limitless talent. So she could feel like she could contribute to something more than just problems.

"The idea is to create a big, powerful wave..." She moves her hands up, them shaking with the strain of the move she was trying to execute. The mass of water gets bigger and bigger... But before anything could truly happen, it pops like a bubble, splashing water in her face as if to laugh at her pitiful attempt.

"Ugh... Yeah, kinda knew that was going to happen." She hoped that it was just as difficult for Aang as it was for her. Just once, to be on the same page, to work at the same pace. So maybe then, she wouldn't feel this sense of insignificance that was suddenly dawning on her.

"We can try to get it together—"

Of course, her wishes were never answered.

"So, like this?" Using a completely different stance to the one she was trying to use, Aang creates a monster of a wave before them, meters and meters high. Ayaan was in awe of it, clapping a bit at his achievement.

Katara felt something in her mouth sour, her stomach twisting as she watched the wave get bigger and bigger. Instead of awe or pride, she just felt embarrassed for even trying. Why was she even doing this? She wanted to be helpful, she wanted to contribute. But...

'Did he even need me?'

It seems more and more likely that he didn't.

Their emotions were replaced with panic when they realized that Aang had, indeed, created a massive wave.

A wave that was heading for Sokka and Appa.

Everything in Ayaan seized.

They were going to get hurt, washed away by the wave.

They were in danger.

"No!" Forgoing the safe shore, he rushes into the river, his body moving before his thoughts could catch up. He's practically a flash of movement beneath the rippling water, a blur of speed arriving at his brother and Appa's side in moments. With a wave of his hand, a twist of his wrist, and a focus that drowned out the world, he stood between them and the monster wave.

Everything seemed to be in slow motion, watching the wave crash down on them. A dome of water whooshed around them protectively within the same breath. It cut through the wave like a knife to butter, the remnants forced to go around them. The biting cold signaled its transformation to ice as it continued to rush every which way, before finally stilling, leaving everything in pin-drop silence.

"A...Ayaan...?" Sokka nervously called out, returning to his wits after the freak occurrence that just happened. His brother didn't answer him, instead turning to face him.

And for a split second, Sokka saw something he couldn't understand.

His brother's eyes were different. They were dazed, too focused on a task to truly comprehend what was around them. Not just a change in the light kind of different, or an emotional kind of difference.

No, it was like looking into someone else's eyes.

They were almost midnight blue; a starless night sky just after dusk. Or maybe they were the deepest part of the sea? That was all that Sokka could describe them as. Maybe it was a trick of the light reflecting off of the ice, but he thought, for a split second, some kind of symbol hidden in his irises.

Something he was sure he'd seen before a long, long time ago.

But that was just a trick of the light, right? All of it had to of been, because the next moment, Ayaan forwent anything wrong with himself to check him over as he always did.

"Are you okay?!" His older brother checked him everywhere; his head, his arms, heck, even his legs. It was only after he was sure nothing was wrong that he let him be. "Appa, what about you?" If he could, he'd be doing the same thing for Appa, though he had to settle for where he could check him on the water.

The bison growled in response, content and lazy still. He honestly hadn't noticed a thing that was happening since he was too occupied living his best life. The cool water felt nice through his thick fur, he was in paradise right now.

"That's good." Ayaan was relieved. The fact that Appa was still content meant that he was alright.

Once it was established that everyone was indeed fine, that is when he noticed that something wasn't quite right.

'When did I get by Appa and Sokka?'

He was with them when they'd been a good distance from them on another bank of the river. How'd he get there so fast? His clothes were wet, he swam? How'd he swim there so fast? When did he swim?

'Why are we in ice?'

Not just Ice, they were in a dome of ice. How'd they get in a dome of ice? Did Aang do this? No, he was still where he'd been before with Katara. Did Katara do this? No, that didn't seem right either. She could barely make a wave, how could she have done this?

"Huh...?"

'What just happened?'

Ayaan was confused. The two left outside the dome were confused. The three inside the dome were confused. The flying Momo was confused. Fleet, who'd been flying in to give his latest message, was confused.

Everyone was confused.

"Ayaan..." Sokka, knowing that look on his face better than anyone there, answered his unspoken question, "You did this, Bro."

"Huh? Me?"

"Yes. You." Sokka studied his brother's expression, "You... didn't notice?"

The look on Ayaan's face answered before he did. "No... No, I didn't."

"Hey, are you guys okay?!" They could hear Katara yelling for them from outside.

"I'm sorry!" Aang said, "D-did I hurt anyone?"

"No, everyone's fine," Ayaan answered. Using the same method he always used to melt his ice, he returned the icy dome to water. It, of course, drenches those with it, Sokka letting out a screech at the sudden cold water bath.

"A-A-A-Ayaan Bro?!" He yelped, freezing, "Not you too!"

"Sorry, Sokka." Ayaan was quick to get the water out of his soaked clothes, but it did little to alleviate the iciness left on his skin.

"I-I-It's okay."

Ayaan felt worse. "I'm sorry."

"I guess I got the hang of that move, huh?" Aang scratched his cheek, a lot embarrassed that he'd gotten that move a little too well. "But what was that, Ayaan?! The swimming thing, and the icy thing, and... the thing, the thing!"

"I'm not sure about whatever just happened. I just... wanted to protect them."

"We'll figure it all out together," Aang said, putting a hand on Ayaan's shoulder. It was a bit of a task since the older boy was so tall, but he got to it with a bit of airbending. "Hey, Katara, you got anything else you can teach me?"

Katara, remembering what just happened, let her worry dissipate to quiet anger, "That's enough practicing for today."

"Yeah, I'll say!" The now irritated Sokka, who was already miffed that a freaking wave came at him, pointed, "You just "practiced" our supplies down the river."

When they turned to where he was pointing, they could clearly see most of the supplies they'd left on the other side of the bank washing down the river, gone before they could say a word.

"...I'm glad I kept the money on me." Even though he said that, and the fact they had the means to buy replacements should have relieved the dismay of their losses, Ayaan felt his scar sting. It seems they'd have to visit a certain market after all.

Hopefully, they could find what they needed, and then leave.

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