AN: I recently read a genderbent Sokka story and it inspired me to write one of my own.

This story will be a bit more serious version of Sokka for a number of reasons. Firstly, I think that being raised in the harsh climate of the arctic and dealing with a war and losing both a parent like they did would cause a more serious attitude. Secondly, I'm not the greatest at writing humor and thirdly I think Sokka is an undervalued character and I think it is a shame they made him the comic relief when they build in so much potential with his intelligence and tactical mind.

I hope you enjoy this. Please read and review. Your thoughts and opinions are welcome and valued.

First Born (Prologue)

Being the first born to the chief of your tribe is never easy. Being a girl as the first-born to a chief who desperately wanted his first-born to be a boy is even more difficult. That is where I find myself, Sokka, daughter of Chief Hakoda and Kya. I'm the daughter who was supposed to be born a son. In fact my dad wanted me to be a boy so much that he refused to change my name to a girl's name. I guess he hoped that if he left my name Sokka, I would magically grow dangly bits between my legs and become the son I was supposed to be. I'm not the warrior he wanted me to be either. I can't fight with a club or a machete, they are too big and awkward for me. The only saving grace in a life of disappointment for my father is that I can hunt. The day he gave up on trying to train me as a warrior and sent me to train with the hunters is the day I became less of a failure to my father and more of just a disappointment.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

I remember the events that changed my path from failed warrior to hunter...

"Sokka for the last time you're not going to break it. Hit it like you mean it." My dad growled at me.

"I'm trying dad." I whined while swinging the club I could barely pick up.

"Well try harder." He said, frustration evident in his voice.

I gritted my teeth and hefted the club on my shoulders for another round of futile swings. My eight year old muscles strained with effort as I hit the wooden 'enemy' with the club. The vibrations from the impact stung my hands and rattled my teeth.

"Again, harder this time." I heard my dad shout as I swung the club with all my might again and again.

"Why do I have to use this stupid club anyways?" I grumbled under my breath.

"What did you say?" My father shouted at me.

"Nothing." I ground out, looking away.

I could see the frustration growing on my dad's face as I lugged the heavy club onto my shoulder for another swing at the stupid training dummy when out of nowhere the soft voice of my savior came out.

"Hakodo, why don't you give the girl a break? You two have been at it since sunrise. The poor girl hasn't even eaten breakfast yet." My mother, Kya, spoke gently.

I didn't even wait for my father's reply before I dropped the club and ran to my mom. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." I yelled into my mother as I buried my face in her parka.

"Go join your sister for breakfast." She said with a giggle. My mood instantly dropped about having to eat breakfast with Katara, but I ran out of the training pit with a smile on my face; only to stop outside the wall to listen in on my parents' conversation.

"Kya, why do you coddle the girl she needs to get tougher."

"I suppose making sure she gets fed along her sister and father is coddling her?" My mom replied, rolling her eyes.

"Fair enough." My dad said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Why do you push her so hard? She's not a warrior like you are my husband."

"I suppose you're right. But what am I supposed to do with her? If she were born a boy this would be so much easier." He said with a sigh.

I didn't hear the rest of the conversation as I ran into our home with a pain in my chest and my eyes stung with unshed tears. I didn't hear the words my mom spoke that altered the course of my life. I never heard my mom convince my dad to let me become the hunter obviously more natural to me, even at that age.

"Sokka where's mommy? Wait are you crying?" My six-year-old sister asked me with genuine concern.

"No!" "Leave me alone Katara." I snapped at her unfairly.

My ever emotional sister started crying after I yelled at her. If it wasn't bad enough that I was hurt and upset because my dad hated me, now I felt guilty for making Katara cry. As an eight year old girl instead of apologizing like I should have I got mad at her for making me feel guilty when all I wanted to do was scream and cry. "Sokka quit being mean to your sister." Gran-gran chastised from across the tent.

"Yes, Gran-gran." I moaned. It's best not to go against Gran-gran; spankings from her wooden spoon hurt the worst.

Mom and dad walked in and the look of disappointment in my dad's eyes as we made contact crushed my little eight year old heart. I was only a little girl but I was old enough that the look in his eyes told me I was a complete and total failure. A few seconds more of that stare was all I could take. I tore my eyes from his and looked down at my boots instead. I had never felt so worthless before.

Mom ushered me into my chair and set a plate of fish and wild berries down in front of me. I tried to pretend nothing was wrong but I couldn't even eat. I just pushed my food around until my mom noticed.

"Sokka, aren't you going to eat your food."

"I'm not hungry mom."

"Are you sick honey?" She replied as she got up and felt my head.

"No mom I'm just not hungry." I replied.

"You must be sick if you're not hungry." Mom said as she dragged me to my bed roll and covered me in furs. I was glad she thought I was sick. I wanted to sulk by myself. When I was finally alone I allowed the tears stinging my eyes to fall.

I was sitting with my back against the wall and my knees drawn against my chest when mom walked in. I didn't even look up at her when she knelt next to me to feel my forehead.

"Mom, why does dad hate me?" I said after a long silence.

Your father doesn't hate you dear." She replied.

"Then why does he look at me like he does and why does he say he wishes I were a boy?" I said with fresh tears running down my face.

She didn't reply she just sat next to me and pulled me onto her lap and held me to her chest as I cried my eyes out. Her gentle rocking and her hands running through my hair calmed me down and I eventually fell asleep in her arms. I never knew if her silence confirmed what I said was true or if it is what mothers do to comfort their children when words won't work.

The next day I was woken up by my mom instead of my dad as usual. I got dressed, while still in a daze and dragged myself to the breakfast table. I must have had a sufficiently confused look on my face because mom felt the need to explain things to me.

"Your father went with some of the other men. He should be back in a few days." She patted me on my head. "Your father decided that it would be best if you start learning how to be a hunter. After breakfast we will go visit Torro to discuss your training."

"Does that mean daddy doesn't want me to be a warrior anymore? Does he think I'm not good enough?" I asked sadly.

"Of course not honey, he just wants you to be well rounded." She said gently. No matter my mood she always found a way to make me feel better. "Now hurry up and eat, we don't want you to be late."

After breakfast mom walked me to Torro's tent. Torro was the man who formally trained the hunters of the tribe. When we arrived he was in the middle teaching his eldest, Karra, how to make a bow out of whale bones.

"Ah, Kya, Sokka you got here just in time. I was just showing Karra, here how to craft weapons from whale bones." Torro said in greeting.

"Thank you Torro, for taking Sokka in so late in the hunting season." My mom responded.

"It's nothing. Besides Karra just turned twelve, she's now old enough to be a mentor to a young hunter."

I think being paired to Karra was the best thing to happen to me in my young life. I already looked up to her. She was one of the few women in my tribe that was a first born daughter who was forced to take on the provider role and she seemed to take to her role with joy. She was a very kind and patient teacher for me and with her and her father's help I swiftly developed my hunting skills.

o0o0o0o0o0o

The next four years I improved greatly on my hunting skills and I formed an unbreakable bond with Karra. She was my best friend and we spent most of every day together as we continued to hone our hunting skills. My relationship with my father was the opposite. We drifted over those years. Though he showed some pride that I was a natural hunter he still was somewhat disappointed that I was a horrible warrior. He continued to work with me, but with me learning to be a hunter and with increased Fire Nation activity in the area my father's role as chief and lead warrior took up most of his time. A few weeks after my tenth birthday we learned why the Fire Nation had increased their activity in the South Pole. I remember that frightful day as vivid as it happened...

I just returned from hunting a leopard seal by myself. I wanted to be the one who provided the feast for Karra's wedding celebration. She had married Bato's son, Uteq, earlier that morning. I had just returned the sled dogs to their kennel when the snow that started to fall was mixed with soot. As the ashy snow started to fall our tribe became a chaos of movement. I was too young to remember the last Fire Nation raid but I was taught to recognize the soot in the snow to know we were about to be attacked. With my kill forgotten I rushed home. I burst in to see my frantic mom.

"Oh Sokka, thank the spirits your safe!" My mom shouted as she rushed to wrap me in her arms.

"We just got back when the soot started to fall."

"Have you seen your sister? She was supposed to be in her sewing lesson, but she wasn't there, nobody was there -" She cut herself off with a sob.

"Mom, I'll go look for Katara. I'm sure Hanna took the children someplace safe." I said to try and ease her worries.

When I exited the igloo the whole village was utter chaos. The Fire Nation ships had landed. I could hear shouts and clanging of weapons, the battle was on and I needed to find Katara and fast.

I saw my dad and Katara at the same time. She was rushing towards dad who was in the middle of fighting off three men.

"Katara!" I shouted to get her attention. "Katara, come here!"

My dad finished off the last man as I shouted for Katara. He heard my shouting and rushed toward us.

"Katara, go find your mother." He said to her.

"Mom's at home Katara, run as fast as you can." I told her.

"Sokka, go grab as many spears from the war tent as you can carry and bring them to the men." He said as soon as Katara was running home.

I nodded to him and ran to the tent and grabbed a dozen whale bone spears and hurried back to the battle. I arrived and began distributing the spears as fast as I could. I handed out that last spear when I heard Katara's voice.

"Daddy, Daddy, there's a bad man in our house!"

My blood ran cold the instant I heard those words.

"Daddy, mommy said to come find you."

I looked over at my father and saw fear in his eyes for the first time in my life. He met my eye for a brief moment before we both took off towards our house. As I ran I heard triumphant shouts in the back ground. It wasn't until later that I found out those shouts were from our men as the Fire Nation soldiers retreated back to their ships.

I reached our house after my father. The sight I saw when I entered the house was one of the most painful I have ever seen. My father was on his knees next to mom. He had pulled her head onto his lap and his shoulders shook with sobs. There was a pool of blood where my mother laid. I had killed enough animals to know that much blood meant she was dead. It felt as if my heart stopped in my chest and I couldn't breathe when I realized my mom was dead.

I forced myself to take a gasp of air and the noise forced my dad to snap his head towards me. He had tears in his hard eyes, but when he made eye contact with mine they softened.

"Don't let your sister see this. Go take her to Gran-gran." He said in a soft voice. I turned to exit our house. Before I took a step I heard his voice. "And don't let her see your tears." I nodded, dried my tears, and went to get Katara.

That evening was not the celebration it was supposed to be; instead it was nothing but sadness and mourning. We lost fifteen of our family that day; twelve men and three women. Among the dead was my mother Kya, and Karra's betrothed Uteq. Our tribe was forever changed that day. A few weeks after we sent our dead to the ocean spirit, all the men left to join the Earth Kingdom. We had no boys over six years old left and Karra and I were the only true hunters left in the village. The next few years were some of the hardest years our tribe ever faced.