Chapter 100: Moon Princess and the Avatar
The heavy door of the chamber clicked shut, leaving Princess Yue alone once more. The gentle smile she had worn for her father faded, replaced by a thoughtful, faraway look. She stood at her window of flawless ice, but her gaze was turned inward, not on the city below. The silence in the room was deep, broken only by the faint, eternal whisper of the wind against the palace spires.
A shimmering coolness gathered in the air beside her, and Avatar Kuruk's form solidified once again. He did not look at the view. His spectral eyes were fixed on Yue, his expression unreadable but intense.
"You felt it too," Yue said softly. It was not a question.
"I am a part of him, and he is a part of this world," Kuruk replied, his voice a low rumble that seemed to vibrate through the ice itself. "A shift this large… it is like a great stone dropped into a pond. Every Avatar for a thousand lifetimes would feel the ripples."
Yue turned from the window, her silvery hair catching the pale light. "The void I felt. The cold that was not cold. It was the same as in my dream. The same as when he… when the other one touched that place."
Kuruk gave a slow, grave nod. "The foreign soul. The one who wears the Fire Prince's skin. He is the stone. His very presence here is tearing at the fabric of things."
They stood in silence for a moment, two beings connected to forces beyond the physical world, sharing a dread they could not fully name.
"The boy downstairs," Yue began, her voice hesitant. "Aang. He is the hope of the world. He is the bridge. Should I go to him? Should I tell him what I know? What we feel?"
Kuruk folded his translucent arms. "And tell him what, Princess? That you have bad dreams? That an ancient ghost feels uneasy? He is a child carrying the weight of a century of war. He has just seen his friend nearly die. He is surrounded by strangers in a city awaiting destruction. Would your whispers of a deeper, older fear help him? Or would they break him?"
Yue's shoulders slumped slightly. The logic was cruel but undeniable. "So we do nothing? We wait for the storm to hit?"
"I did not say that," Kuruk countered. "I said, think carefully before you add your burden to his. Your role is different. You are the heart of this tribe, touched by the Moon Spirit itself. Your strength is not in frontal assaults. It is in wisdom. In patience."
He floated closer, his form seeming to pulse with a faint light.
"You asked me before about the other one. The prince. You wondered if your path was tied to his as well."
Yue's hand drifted to the necklace at her throat, a simple yet elegant carving of the moon. "The pull I feel… it is not one, but two. Aang is like a gentle, persistent tide. But the other… he is a riptide, hidden beneath calm water. Stronger. Darker. More dangerous." She looked up, her blue eyes wide with a fearful curiosity. "You told me I would meet them both. That I would have to choose what to protect."
"And that time is coming," Kuruk said. "The Fire Nation fleet gathers. The boy trains. The pieces are moving. When the prince arrives, he will not come for a battle. Not the one they are all preparing for. He will come for something else. Something specific."
"The Oasis," Yue whispered, a cold certainty settling in her stomach. "The blessed water."
"Perhaps," Kuruk allowed. "Or perhaps for the spirit that blesses it. Or perhaps…" His gaze seemed to pierce through her, seeing the unique energy that pulsed within her own chest. "…for the one who carries a piece of that spirit in her very soul."
Yue's breath caught. She had always known her connection to Tui was profound, a secret bond that had given her life when she was born still and silent. But to be a target for it…
"So what do I do?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper. "Do I confront the young Avatar with a truth he cannot handle? Or do I wait in the shadows for the storm prince to arrive, knowing he may be coming for me?"
Kuruk's form began to gently fade, the conversation drawing to its close. "You do what those of us connected to the spirits have always done, Princess. You watch. You listen. You prepare. The banquet tonight is not just a formality. It is your first chance to look into the Avatar's eyes and measure his spirit. See if the boy is ready to become the man the world needs. See if the hope in him is stronger than the fear."
He was almost gone now, a faint shimmer in the air.
"Do not seek out the storm, Yue. The storm is already coming to you. Your choice will not be in the seeking, but in how you stand when it finally arrives."
And with those final, ominous words, Avatar Kuruk vanished completely, leaving the Princess of the Northern Water Tribe alone with the weight of the future pressing down on her.
She stood there for a long time, watching the sun begin its slow descent below the horizon, painting the icy towers of her city in shades of orange and violet. Down in the plaza, she could see the young Avatar, Aang, now sitting cross legged beside his bison, likely meditating. Preparing.
A strange calm settled over her. The uncertainty was still there, a cold knot of fear in her gut. But Kuruk was right. Her path was not one of frantic action. It was one of presence. Of guardianship.
She would go to the banquet. She would meet the Avatar. She would be the gracious princess, the serene daughter of the chief.
And she would wait. For the tide, and for the riptide. And when they both arrived, she would be ready to protect what was hers.
A sharp, insistent knock rattled the heavy door of her chamber, shattering the profound silence Kuruk had left behind. The sound was not the respectful tap of a servant or the firm, paternal knock of her father. It was a rapid, impatient rapping that grated on the ears.
Yue's serene composure fractured. A flicker of profound weariness crossed her face, and she closed her eyes for a brief second, as if gathering strength. She knew who it was before she even turned.
She walked to the door and pulled it open.
Standing in the hallway was Hahn. He was a tall, broad-shouldered warrior, his armor polished to a high shine, his wolftail headdress perfectly arranged. He was, by all accounts, a fine catch for any princess. Handsome, strong, and one of the tribe's most promising young fighters. But his posture was rigid with self-importance, and his smile was a little too practiced, a little too sure of itself.
"Princess Yue," he said, his voice booming in the quiet corridor. He puffed out his chest slightly. "I have come to personally inform you of the banquet tonight. For the Avatar and his... companions."
He said the last word with a faint, dismissive tone, as if the idea of a banquet for a water tribe peasant girl and her injured brother was a tedious formality.
Yue's expression remained politely neutral, but a coldness entered her eyes. "Thank you, Hahn. My father has already informed me."
"Ah, good!" Hahn continued, either missing or ignoring her chill. He leaned a hand against the doorframe, blocking her view of the hall. "I wanted to ensure you would be attending. It is important for the tribe to see us together. A show of unity and strength for our... honored guest."
The way he said "us" made her skin crawl. It was a claim, a statement of ownership. He was already acting as if the chieftainship was his, and she was its decorative prize.
"I have already told my father I will be there," Yue repeated, her voice flat. She made no move to invite him in. The space between them was a wall of ice she had no intention of melting.
"Excellent!" Hahn's smile widened, still not catching her mood. "I will ensure you have an escort. The plaza may be crowded with commoners hoping for a glimpse of the Air Nomad. We cannot have you jostled."
That was the final straw. The implication that she needed his protection in her own home, from her own people, was insufferable. Her patience, already frayed by the cosmic dread of her conversation with Kuruk, snapped.
"I am perfectly capable of walking to my father's hall, Hahn," she said, her voice sharpening like a shard of ice. "And I have already given my answer. Now, if you will excuse me, I must prepare."
Without waiting for a reply, she stepped back and pushed the heavy door shut. It closed with a firm, solid thud, cutting off his surprised face.
She stood for a moment with her back against the cold wood, listening. She heard a faint, frustrated grunt from the other side, followed by the sound of his retreating footsteps, heavy and annoyed.
Yue let out a long, slow breath, her shoulders slumping. The cosmic dread of a world-ending storm was, in its own strange way, easier to face than the mundane, suffocating certainty of a future with a man like Hahn. She pushed away from the door, a look of comic, profound exhaustion on her beautiful face as she went to choose a gown for the banquet.
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