The world was white. That was the last thing you remembered before everything went dark—an endless expanse of white snow and the biting cold that seemed to seep into your very bones. Then nothing.

When your eyes finally opened, the first thing you noticed was warmth. A small fire crackled nearby, and you were wrapped in furs and sealskins. Above you, an ice-reinforced ceiling filtered soft, pale light. For a moment, you just lay there, trying to remember how you got here.

"He's awake!" A younger voice called out—male, with an excited edge to it.

Footsteps approached, and a girl appeared in your field of vision. She had dark hair styled in an unusual way, with loops of hair framing her face, and concerned blue eyes. She couldn't have been more than fifteen or so.

"Don't try to move too quickly," she said, her tone gentle but authoritative. "You collapsed in the snowstorm. We found you unconscious about an hour's walk from here. You're lucky we were out hunting." She reached over and placed a cool hand on your forehead, and you felt a strange tingling sensation—almost soothing. "Your fever's going down. That's good."

A boy appeared beside her, slightly older, with distinctive hair pulled back into what he called a "warrior's wolf tail" (you'd hear about that). He was looking at you with curiosity mixed with caution.

"Yeah, you were pretty much a human popsicle when we found you," he said, his tone casual but not unkind. "Sokka thought we should just leave you there, but Katara insisted on bringing you back." He paused, then added with a slight smirk, "I'm Sokka, by the way. That's my sister, Katara. You're in Wolf Cove—the Southern Water Tribe."

Katara shot her brother a look that suggested she hadn't actually given him permission to speak for her, then turned back to you.

"Can you tell us your name?" she asked. "And... how did you end up out there? Nobody just wanders into a snowstorm like that. You're not from here, are you?"

There was genuine concern in her voice, but also a hint of wariness. Strangers didn't just appear at the South Pole. Not usually.