OCEAN & MOON .

       The sound of floating paper gently stirred him from his sleep.

       The glint of moonlight was the first thing to greet his lonely eye as it cracked open. It glowed fiercely over the sea tonight, pale reflection practically DANCING with the push and pull of the waves below. He could hear them ROAR in the distance, but they did not overwhelm the drifting, dragging sheets of paper that was slowly unfolding itself onto the floor.

    At one time, his mother had been responsible for said incident. The strange animations of sheets transfiguring into unfamiliar forms were once the creations of Sariatu’s vivid dreaming. One could only expect for her son to one day face the same problem as his magic grew stronger.     The paper splayed out in a much neater area. The youth that had first summoned them in his sleep frowned slightly, as he sat up from his tatami mat. Not far from him lay his GRANDFATHER; just as blind as his son but seven times as old. The elder was sound asleep, but COUGHING every so often; like many in the village just behind MORTAL’S POINT, he had caught a mild illness that had been spreading around.     His grandson was still getting used to living with him. After all, it was hard not to stare at the sleeping figure and recall a much darker, twisted man–a man who once DID NOT KNOW HUMANITY. Raiden claimed that he recalled none of his past, and Kubo believed him–but he could never forget what his grandfather once was. Speaking of which, the bright moonlight stirred up an awful lot of unrest in the boy. Fueled by this, and the need to clean up after the mess of unfolded paper now decorating the cave floor, the boy rose up to his feet and began picking up the mess one by one.

    He was careful not to disturb his grandfather while he did. Dry hands reached for a sheet that slipped just past the cave mouth, and it briefly slipped out between his fingers before he grabbed it again. Kubo then turned to go back in side, when he thought he caught a glimpse of something floating across the ocean shore below.

   He SQUINTED. Often it took a little more time to make out figures with his one eye, but he could have SWORN he had made out a human figure, the child practically flinched. He ducked behind the cave wall, recognizing the wide hat she donned and her movement across the water.                                                      —THAT WASN’T ONE OF HIS AUNTS, WAS IT??

                     Fluid beneath her feet, the ocean water carried her in waves of aqueous motion. Katara was steady upon the surface, her arms cast aloft around her, bending the water with ease. Aqua eyes flickered from the shore to the rippled reflection beneath her, before returning up to the village, which was nearing with each passing second. 

As she breached the shore, the sound of the wave which had carried her dissolved, and the sound blended in with the rest of the water that was gently lapping on the edges of the white sand. The moon illuminated her path across the beach. Katara walked where the white foam of the waves reached, so her footsteps would be washed away. Like no one had ever set foot in the first place. 

Katara glanced about, from the ocean behind her to the towering cliffs which lay adjacent to the village. As she made her way across, she reminisced on how she had helped the previous village, and how it had pained her to see all the sick suffering, when there was something that she could do. Katara knew, and she knew that her tribe back home would know, the feeling of powerlessness under the Fire Nation. Hopelessness. Katara knew, that if she had the power to reinstate hope into anyone’s heart, whether it be healing their sick, or empowering down trodden individuals, she would never hesitate to do so. 

Lost in the reverie of her thoughts, she didn’t realize she’d stopped walking. But, as she looked around her she realized that she was staring at the village, which was now in front of her. Reaching around, her hand fell upon the animal skin pouch of water which rested against her hip. She would be using it to perform her healing methods. As she walked the dirt path of the village, Katara couldn’t shake the feeling of someone watching. But, as a sweeping glance around her informed her, there was no one to be seen. Quit being so paranoid, she chastised herself as she continued walking.

           ❛  i don’t mean any disrespect when i say this, but you don’t look like any winter spirit that i know of.  ❜ come to think of it however, katara had never even seen a winter spirit, so, there was that. but for some reason she was finding it hard to believe that the white haired boy before her was responsible for keeping both the north and the south poles snow laden. though she knew that spirits were never ones to trifle with, she was curious, and pressed a question. ❛           why haven’t you appeared to us before?  ❜

             ❛  on the contrary      i know exactly who you are.  ❜  gran gran and all the occupants of the southern water tribe back home knew the legend of maui. how could they not ? the ocean was as much a connecter as it was a divider amongst islands, and legends transcended those mundane boundaries. a demigod he may be, but his transgression superseded his renown. though that certainly didn’t make him her enemy. he had merely caught her by surprise; especially with his landing.

the water encasing her arms was swiftly returned to the ocean. ❛  you’re maui      demigod of the wind and sea. i’m not from here, but my people know of you      and of what you’ve done.  ❜

katara pushed and pulled the water around her, the shore of the village now only a short distance away. if she was swift, and silent, she would be gone long before daybreak.