This is a snippet from somewhere in Aurelis' story! It's how she met her friend June (and also June's younger sister Amber). It is a bit long, so most of it will be under the cut! I am really excited that you guys wanted to see more of Aurelis!
Blizzard took a deep breath, then forced out as much ice as she could muster. The cryogenic power surged from within, blasting out from her hands and supporting the crumbling foundations of the apartment complex.
“This won’t hold for long!” she shouted.
Shifter and Blue Volt worked quickly to evacuate anyone else still inside. Blizzard kept the ice strong, pushing as much energy out as possible, to the point that she had to drop to one knee to keep it up.
“That’s the last person!” Shifter called.
Blizzard collapsed on the spot, as did the building. She shakily got to her feet just as the paramedics, firefighters, police, and, unfortunately, reporters, flooded the scene. This was the part where Blizzard preferred to leave. The first time a reporter had cornered her, she had accidentally introduced herself as Ice-Girl. They called her that for weeks before she could correct them. The most recent time one had shoved the camera in her face, she was so caught off-guard that she almost admitted where she lived. On live television.
No, she definitely had to get out of here. She made a beeline for her Ice-Cycle. She had to push her way past several people, apologizing for every bump and jostle she caused, but she finally reached the alleyway where she had parked her bike.
A rough thud echoed from the front of the alleyway.
“Hello?” she called, narrowing her eyes.
She formed a small icicle in her hand and took a cautious step forward. That was when the soaked cloth pressed firmly against her mouth and nose. The rag muffled her alarmed cry. Blizzard flipped the icicle in her hand, intending to strike backwards at whoever was behind her, but her assailant snaked an arm around her waist, pinning her own arms to her sides.
She shot a few ice shards out from her hands, then blew on the soaked rag to make it cold and brittle. The fabric crumbled in the figure’s hands as they cried out. The voice sounded feminine.
“Come on, man!”
Blizzard was a little dizzy from the rag, but she was still very much awake. She whirled around, charging more ice crystals. In front of her was a figure in all black. She wore a beanie and a privacy mask, along with a hoodie, sweatpants, gloves, and sneakers.
“A little hot to be kidnapping someone, don’t you think?” Blizzard glared.
“Doesn’t matter,” the figure said in a gravelly voice that was clearly forced, “you’re cold enough to cancel it out.”
She produced something from her pocket. It looked like a metal baseball. She yanked the pin off of it. Blizzard’s eyes went wide.
“Woah woah woah don’t-!”
The woman threw the grenade at Blizzard’s feet. Blizzard jumped on top of it, forming a dome of ice as she did so. She screwed her eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable explosion.
There was a faint hissing sound, but there was no pain. No heat. No blast. Blizzard cracked an eye open, and scrambled back at the sight of the smoke. So not a grenade then, but definitely a smoke bomb filled with who knew what kind of toxin.
She broke the ice dome above her, jumping to her feet. She planned to form another dome on top of the bomb, but she crashed down against the pavement just seconds after standing.
She tried to stand again, but her limbs wouldn’t cooperate. She glanced up at her attacker through vision that was growing increasingly blurry. The woman now wore a small gas mask in lieu of her fabric one.
“Come on come on come on,” she whispered, her voice distorted by the apparatus.
“‘Come on’ what?” Blizzard slurred.
Her head lolled to the side as the world went dark. Oh… that was what. She passed out a moment later.
…
A dull ringing in her ears brought Aurelis back to some semblance of awareness. The noise became sharper as the seconds ticked by.
“Ugh, stop it…” she mumbled.
“Oh, thank goodness!” a voice gasped, “I thought I killed Blizzard!”
Blizzard? Was Aurelis…? She forced her eyes to open, and though they protested fiercely, Aurelis’ will won in the end. She looked down at herself. Dark teal boots. And her legs were covered in icy blue material. Okay, so she was Blizzard right now. But why? And gosh, her neck was stiff.
She rolled her head this way and that, blinking slowly. The memories came back in small chunks, then larger ones, until eventually, the whole picture was in place.
She bolted upright once the dots connected. She sucked in a sharp breath. She scanned the dingy… shipping container? She shook her head. Okay then. She scanned the inside of the shipping container for her kidnapper. Her eyes landed on the woman in all black. She had since removed her beanie and hoodie, along with her mask.
“Hi,” she said, in a more normal-sounding voice this time.
“Hi?” Blizzard deadpanned, “hi!? Are you kidding me!? Hi!? Who are you and why are we in a shipping container!?”
“I can explain,” she started, then cut herself off, as though expecting Blizzard to interrupt.
Silence stretched between them. Water dripped outside somewhere. The wind blew through, making the metal walls creak. An LED lantern bathed the space in harsh, white light.
“…Are you going to explain then?” Blizzard asked.
“Oh! Um, yeah,” she said, “so, um, I wanna start by saying I am really sorry I had to do it this way. I’ve been trying to talk to you for like a week now but you were always busy saving someone or running away from the press. The thing is, I have this sister, right? And I know you have ice powers and all, and I just thought you could help her. We’ve tried everything, we’re out of ideas, and she’s really freaking out, like, all the time. It’s so bad that she won’t go near her plants anymore, and she loves gardening and cultivating and stuff. She planted these sunflower seeds from the grocery store and actually got them to sprout. She’s really good with that-”
“The point?” Blizzard demanded.
Was it rude to interrupt? Yes. Did she feel a little bad about that? Also yes. But she found that being kidnapped had robbed her of her usual patience for this kind of thing.
“Right, the point, sorry,” she said, “it…makes more sense if I just show you. If I untie you, will you promise not to run off?”
Blizzard revealed her completely free hands from behind her back. She had broken through the duct tape with ice about two minutes after she woke up.
“Oh, okay.” She said, “follow me…I’m Amber, by the way.”
Blizzard stood and followed Amber out of the shipping container. She walked out onto the docks, splashing up a puddle that she had failed to dodge. The puddle began to frost over.
Amber opened a door to an adjacent shipping container.
“June, it’s me,” she said quietly, “I’ve brought her.”
She stepped aside to let Blizzard look. Blizzard almost fell back from the intense heat that washed over her. In the center of the space stood a girl around her own age, her hands and shoulders alight with bright, white flames. None of her body appeared burnt. Her ginger hair fell in curtains around her distressed face, and her green eyes, which sat above dark circles, darted anywhere but into Blizzard’s or Amber’s own. The flames crackled and popped, which only made June flinch.
Honestly, the fact that the Dance Academy tag on ao3 doesn’t have 700 “Canon Divergence - Sammy Lives” fics is criminal. Fics where the characters have to deal with his death are great and all, but they’re like 98% of the tag (Yes those are real numbers, absolutely not made up by me). Where are the fix-its? Why does this fandom have to be as dead as him? I’m even considering taking the matter on my own hands and rewriting season 3. Of course, being me, I’d only post it 20 years from now, but I’d be doing my part.
Which kind of benders do you think the Dance Academy characters would be in the Atla universe? Who would be the Avatar and who would be the non-bender of the group?
Oooooo wait that’s very interesting, let me think…
I think Tara would either be a water bender or a non-bender… because she’s super calm and nice generally, but she has a flow with dancing that I can match with water. Or she could not be a bender, I think she kinda has that vibe too.
Abigail is a fire bender, no doubt. Not much explanation needed, I think.
Kat is either an air bender or a non-bender, I think either one can be because of her love of fun.
Sammy would probably be a non-bender. He just has that vibe.
I think Ollie would either be a earth bender or a fire bender, he’s always passionate and/or stubborn about something.
Grace might be a fire bender. She just has a slightly Azula-like air to her when she’s plotting. But also because her movements are so precise and refined.
Ben would be an air bender, because he’s the golden retriever energy
I think Ethan might be a non-bender, because of how hard he works on things that aren’t focused on his own body. His passion is to be a choreographer, so I can’t really see him bending much
Christian might be a fire bender, or maybe a water bender if you squint. Fire bender because he’s broody, but water bender because of his character arc… like, he has fire bender energy in the beginning, but water bender energy by the end.
And then for the avatar… I might give it to Tara because she’s the main character, but Grace came to mind as well, just because of how strong of a dancer she’s scaled to be.
This was fun to think about! Thank you for the ask!
