“Princess, come back here right this moment!” Counselor Wu’s shout reverberated across the huge castle walls as Jisoo made her way at top speed through them, jumping tables and turning around some of the servants to avoid being caught by the breathless old man giving chase to her.

“Guards, guards! Get her! She must be at the music room in 10 minutes!” The man panted, grabbing one of the nearest guards by his robes. He pointed at the girl, getting farther and farther away by the second. The only sound they could hear was her laughter echoing down the halls.

Seeing how more and more guards started to appear and close in on her, Jisoo decided it was time to use the new trick she’s been practicing. She rounded the corner, seeing the main staircase up ahead. Two flower vases rested on a side table, and she immediately raised them in the air and drained the water from them. With the water following her, she ran up the staircase and swiftly layered a sheet of water on the stairs. She clenched her fist, and the water turned into a thin, slippery carpet of ice almost invisible to the eye. As soon as the guards set foot on the staircase, they were sent tumbling backwards or grabbing the handrails for dear life so they wouldn’t fall as well. The princess let out a victorious laugh when she glanced over her shoulder to see if it worked.

It was a trick that had taken her many weeks of practising day and night to get the exact length and width she wanted. Poor Doyoung had to serve as training dummy until she was successful in fooling him into stepping into her nice little trap. Safe enough to say he’s still sporting the bruises of Jisoo’s numerous attempts as well as the bouts of frustration the princess would unleash on him as he made the mistake of laughing at her failures.

Just as she was out of the castle walls, Jisoo felt a hand grabbing a hold of her elbow. She was dragged to a narrow space between walls where she collided with a strong chest. Jinyoung. They waited in that position for a few minutes until they could no longer see or hear the guards.

“What did you do this time?” He asked as soon as he pushed her away, eyes looking sharp as if to let her know he was ready to scold her.

“Oh, don’t give me that look! They were trying to make me go to that stupid dancing lesson,” the girl huffed in annoyance.

“Well, it’s your duty to attend those lessons,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Besides, I thought you liked dancing.”

“Only with Nayeonie,” she pouted, and then as an afterthought added, “And I guess with you two as well. Although I’m not sure if Doyoung’s frantic flailing can be called that”

“Jisoo…” He started, a warning tone lacing his words.

“They wanted me to dance with that jerk!” She exclaimed, starting to pace around. “If you had seen the smug look in his stupid face you would-“

“Okay I get it, your betrothed is an ” He stopped her, crossing his arms and a deep frown taking place in his face. “I just think you shouldn’t have involved the guards. You should’ve called me or Nayeon and we would’ve got you out of there in a much more peaceful way.”

“It wasn’t me who involved them though. It was counselor Wu!” Jinyoung hummed and quickly followed her when she started to make her way to the training grounds “You hid my clothes on the tree right?”

“I regret everyday introducing you to archery” He muttered but nodded his head anyway. “You have an obsession, you know.”

“I’ve been getting better. I’m sure this time I’ll hit the bull’s-eye three times,” She declared, ignoring his previous comments and sending a smirk his way “Who knows? I might even be better than you already”

“You wish!”

After three grueling hours of practise, Jisoo was starting to get frustrated.

“Best 7 out of 8!” Jisoo quickly jumped in protest when she saw her arrow miss the bullseye by 2 cm while Jinyoung laughed at her.

“You said that the last 6 times! Just face it, you’re nowhere near as good as I am.”

The statement followed by his mocking tongue made the princess roll her eyes in annoyance, and with one jerk of a knee and flick of her wrist he was suddenly thrown to the ground by a big mound of snow.

“Hey, no bending allowed!” he yelled, trying his best to get out of the snow he was being buried in.

“What, what? I don’t see any signs that say that.” Jisoo smirked, making a show of looking everywhere for said nonexistent sign.

“Yah, get me out of here!” He demanded, still fighting against the weight on top of him that seemed to be hardening the more he struggled.

“Hmmm,” Jisoo glanced up in fake thought before letting out a small evil chuckle.d “I don’t think so…unless you accept I’m better than you”

“This is abuse against non benders!”

“I don’t hear you~” She sing-songed.

Their bickering however was interrupted by the quick sound of rushed footsteps frantically making their way to them. There in front of them was a pale-looking, sweaty girl kneeling slightly to regain her breath.

“You. Two. Must. Come. NOW” Nayeon said, her chest heaving with rapid breaths. The urgency in her voice let the other two know she was serious.

“What happened?” Jisoo asked, swiftly lifting the snow from Jinyoung.

“It’s the Fire Nation, they’re here”

The short statement filled every inch of Jisoo’s body with dread. After years of the Fire Nation’s conquer of the world, the Northern Water Tribe has been restlessly fighting to keep their independence. The strengthening of the wall that kept them away from the rest of the world had been a daunting task; the amount of waterbenders raised to defend the wall increased about 10 times the amount it normally would. The oldest, most skilled and bravest non benders and waterbenders alike have all worked hard together to tame and train the dolphin-piranhas, arctic hippos, and other animals to defend the tribe. They had to sever ties with several merchants, all supporters of the Fire Nation that heavily affected their economy, but all in all they had managed to keep the Fire Nation away from their tribe and ensure the safety of their people.

If they had come looking specifically for Jisoo to go upfront, it could only mean one thing: they needed the spirits. Glancing up at Jinyoung’s sullen face she could tell he realized the same thing.

Ever since she was a child Jisoo had a special connection to the spirit world. The spirits often came looking for her, be it in the form of big, glowing butterflies to aid her in finding the right path whenever she got lost, or in the form of bigger, scarier looking creatures that would demand her intervention to solve whatever issue the spirits considered needed to be solved. This connection lead to a lot of interaction between them and a promise that should the time come to face an enemy they couldn’t take on, the spirit would assist them in their fight. In exchange (and thus Jisoo’s dread) every time they heeded the call, Jisoo’s time in the mortal world would be shortened. Should they reach the third call Jisoo would join them in the spirit world permanently.

“I’ll go grab the rest of my arrows. Jisoo, go retrieve the ones we threw and keep the quiver and bow. You will not call them before putting up a real fight first,” Jinyoung said, voice harsh.

Despite herself, Jisoo couldn’t help but to feel touched by Jinyoung’s firm refusal to let her sacrifice a piece of herself so soon in her life. She knew it was her duty to do so, for her family, for her friends, for her people. But a small selfish part of her, the part that yearned for adventure and more, couldn’t help but to ignore her duty’s call. She was glad she had friends that understood her.

“C’mon ‘Soo, let’s get those arrows or grumpy pants will scold us” Nayeon brought her out of her thoughts, giving her a sad smile that failed to match the humor of her words.

Giving her a nod for an answer, afraid that the lump in would betray her fear, they both did what was told and in a few seconds they had already gathered the arrows and reunited with the oldest of the three.

They shared a look that seemed to convey everything they wanted to, they seemed to regain some of their confidence back upon seeing they were all in the same page so with a last nod Jisoo straightened her back and steeled her voice.

“How long until they reach the wall Nayeon?”

“About two to three hours. Ok Taecyeon’s team is already doing everything possible to retain them at the sea. Last thing I heard he managed to get on board one of the ships and was fighting them off. The archers at the wall already took down two of the four aircrafts but...” She clenched her fist. “There’s two made of metal, so it’s hard to find the right spot to attack. Lee Min and Kang Dong-ho already sent the beasts in action but we alrea