{This idea came from the wonderful Emberstep of WCRPG. Bless them for allowing me to write this. Petra is their character, not mine. Enjoy~!}

The United Nation of Elements

Chapter One

Fire. Air. Water. Earth.

Before the time of the Great Union, there were four nations. The world was at peace and people were happy. Then, a group of radical non-benders with twisted ideals of normality rose, consuming the world with its hatred for bending and influencing non-benders everywhere. Their overwhelming numbers took control of every nation, joining the four powers to create one: The United Nation of Elements. Every bender was hunted down, imprisoned, enslaved, or killed. It was a genocide of worldwide proportion and very few people were able to cling to hope. But the Avatar was out there. The world's only chance was on the rise.

"Crud!"

Petra's hands groped at loose gravel. She lost her grip and fell, tumbling down into the canyon and scraping her skin on the rocks. She landed, hissing irritably and gripping her knees to ease the pain. Her bag landed beside her.

She scowled up at the top of the canyon wall, muttering irritably under her breath. Just her luck; she had decided to take a shortcut through the canyon, but it had turned out to be much harder than she had anticipated. Maybe she should have hired a guide, but she didn't have that kind of money and she couldn't risk getting found out. This was the best way to go, she had decided. Maybe she should learn to think a little more before she made decisions, then.

She picked up her bag once again and slung it over her shoulder. Rubbing her scraped palms together, she began her assent once again.

Petra managed to reach the top of the rise, only to find that she had to go down the other side. She groaned, deciding instead to take a seat on the edge of the cliff. She fished a water container from her bag, pushing her brown hair out of her eyes and wiping sweat from her brow. She unscrewed the cap, drinking greedily from the flask. There wasn't much left, unfortunately, and she finished it off quickly.

"Great," Petra muttered, eyeing the flask like it had betrayed her. Who knew how much longer she would be stuck in this canyon? It was hot this time of year, but she could tell that summer was beginning to blend into spring. Not that it would matter much if she couldn't find her way out of this labyrinth of a canyon.

She stashed the canteen back in her bag and began her grueling journey down the cliff face.

The sun was beginning to set as Petra stumbled upon the alcove. It was a nice indent in the canyon wall, providing sufficient shelter for a weary traveler. She headed inside, setting her bag down and collapsing against the wall.

She had been walking all day and her legs were sick of it. Her mouth felt dry and a headache was forming at the base of her skull. She exhaled quietly and leaned her head against the rocks. She didn't want to stand up ever again, but she knew she had to find something flammable before it was too dark to see—the canyon would be much too cold during the night for her to sleep comfortably without a fire.

Petra got to her feet slowly and stretched her arms over her head. Her feet felt sore and she really needed something to wash her cuts out with. For now, she just headed out of the alcove, searching for a patch of bracken similar to those she had passed occasionally earlier in the day.

She should have been used to walking by now. It had been over a month since she had left her village in hopes of finding some hidden island just off the coast of the Western Archipelago that her mom liked to talk about. The Fire Nation, she mentally corrected herself. Now that she was part of their world, she should try to see through the eyes of a bender.

She scuffed her shoe into the dusty earth. Some element that had turned out to be. She didn't know any bending techniques and certainly wasn't raised as a fighter. Her mom was more into artistic things, pottery especially. She loved molding clay into something useable, like a bowl or a cup. She made a decent income, selling her pieces around the village. She harbored hazy memories of her father, one being that he used to paint the pieces her mother had so skillfully made. They kept those ones in their house like treasures, memories of a happier time and a man currently missing from the world.

Petra tripped on a small dip in the ground, managing to steady herself before she fell over completely. She frowned, affronted by the rude awakening and stuck her tongue out childishly at the hole that had snapped her out of her thoughts. She scoffed and kept walking, paying closer attention to where she was stepping.

It was several minutes until she spotted a clump of dried bracken clinging lifelessly to the canyon floor in a desperate attempt to prevent becoming a tumbleweed.

"Finally," Petra breathed, jogging over to the dead leaves. There was a good amount of the stuff, probably enough to keep her warm all night. She began to gather the fronds in her hands.

She was rudely interrupted by a rock to the head. It tumbled down the nearby cliffside and landed on the top of her head, shocking the girl so that she dropped her collected bracken and clutched at her skull.

"Spirits—!" Petra hissed, glaring up at the offending cliff. She assumed the rock had come loose due to the loose soil that this canyon seemed notorious for. What she saw instead twisted her stomach into knots.

An enormous arachnid-type creature glared down at her from it's position perched on the side of the rock wall. It had four eyes on either side of its head and four hairy, disgusting bug legs protruding from its even more disgusting thorax. The creature hissed at her, parting its jaws to reveal sharp teeth and a forked tongue.

Petra gaped at the creature before her, backing slowly away from the canyon wall and completely forgetting the bracken at her feet. As soon as it launched itself in her direction, she took off running with a renewed energy.

The insect pursued her, scuttling just behind her and slowly closing the distance. The burst of adrenaline that had thrown her into action was wearing off quickly and her breath grated sharply against her already dry throat. No way could she escape this thing.

It lunged for her, but Petra managed to throw herself to the side just before it snatched her. She stumbled, but turned in the direction she thought the alcove had been. This was the way, right? Or was it the other way? No, I'm sure it's this way.

The beast recovered quickly, continuing its hunt eagerly. Petra didn't have time to think anymore, so she ran blindly, figuring it wouldn't matter whether she got back to her things if she ended up dinner to some creepy crawly bug thing. Maybe she should have taken one of those pamphlets they were handing out at the guide center.

The beast made to lunge again. Petra heard it screech angrily and felt its breath hot on her neck just as she tripped over another hole in the ground (Was that the same one?! She barely had a second to think). She turned over quickly, her heart practically breaking free of her ribcage, expecting the worst, but the bug was gone.

She sat up and whipped her head to the left to see the bug writhing on its back, trying to flip over. It let out a frustrated scream, nimble legs searching for something to hold on to. To her right, Petra heard a triumphant shout.

"Oh yeah, nailed it! Did you see that, Jarn-Shyr?"

Petra nearly snapped her neck turning to look to the source of the voice. A boy, maybe her age, maybe a little older, was throwing his fists into the air and dancing in a way Petra could only describe as horrible. He had long brown hair tied into a loose top-knot, much thinner than those she saw in her part of the country. He must have hailed from western roots.

His euphoric dancing was cut off as the canyon bug flipped back over, switching its attention from her to the boy. His laughing shakily turned into yelling as he started running in the opposite direction. The insect started after him, but it was intersected quite suddenly by a new opponent.

This time, it was a girl, a few years younger than the boy from before. She was dressed modestly, in an ankle-length skirt and a short-sleeved tunic. She cut across the creature's path, distracting it from the fleeing boy. She held something in her hand, but Petra couldn't make out what it was from where she sat.

The creature snapped its jaws and dove for the girl, probably delighted to have been given such a foolish meal. Petra picked herself up quickly, eyes glued to the girl as the thing sprung for her and certain that she was about to witness this stranger's graphic demise.

Surprisingly, that was not the case. The girl jumped out of the way just as the creature clamped its jaws down on air. She impaled whatever she'd been holding through the top of the insect's head, killing it with a sickening crack.

Petra watched on in a daze, awed not by the way the girl had disposed of the beast but by the way everything had happened so quickly. She brushed her hands off and started walking slowly toward the stranger and her kill.

Just as the girl turned to look at Petra for the first time, the boy from earlier appeared, yelling to his friend. "Is it dead?"
The girl looked away from Petra, who had almost reached her. The boy jogged over, sliding Petra a sideways glance that she read as cautious. He reached his partner just as Petra did, standing beside her and looking laid-back.

It was weird to Petra. The boy looked casual, but Petra felt an air of anxiety about him as he locked eyes with her. The back of her neck tingled where she had felt what she thought had been the heat of the carnivore's breath. That thing hadn't even made it close enough; that couldn't possibly have been its breath.

The girl wasn't any better. In fact, she made Petra feel very uncomfortable very suddenly. She had sharp, dark eyes, the calculating kind, the ones you could tell saw right through you. Petra found that she had been holding her breath despite her screaming lungs. She exhaled slowly.

"Thanks for that, y'know," Petra waved her hands vaguely, "saving me and all." Spirits, way to make a first impression. "I totally would've been spider-food the way that was heading."

The anxious air seemed to evaporate from around the boy as he grinned good-naturedly. "No worries! We're glad we made it in time. I was afraid the canyon-crawler would have got to you before we got to it." He laughed. "They like to come out around twilight. What was that word you used, Jarn-Shyr? 'Crepuscular,' wasn't it?" He looked down at the girl beside him, Jarn-Shyr. She looked away from Petra, making eye contact with her companion, but just shrugged.

The boy shrugged as well. "Thought so," he said. He switched his attention back to Petra. "Ah! Sorry, where are my manners?" He made a fist with his right hand and pressed it into his left palm, bowing curtly. "My name's Kasai, and this is Jarn-Shyr." Jarn-Shyr also bowed. "We came from a place not too far north of here."

Petra bowed back. "I'm Petra. I came from a little east of here." There was a slight hesitation in her words at the lie. If she sounded like she was a traveler, they would become suspicious. What girl her age would come all the way from one of the villages on the river from the south? A bender, that's what, and bending was the kind of thing one hid from people.

"Oh, really?" Kasai asked, interested. "That's not a name I've heard before. You're from one of the villages on the bay? They say there's a serpent swimming in that lake, down near the pass. Haven't been there myself, though. Have you ever seen it?"

Geez, this kid liked to talk a lot. He didn't seem suspicious of her, at least, just curious. Still, she kept her guard up. "Uh, no, can't say I have." She wasn't too keen on keeping up conversation. She was grateful that they had saved her, though, and it was certainly a nice change of pace to meet some strangers who didn't want to kill her.

She took that back—it was nice to meet a stranger who didn't want to kill her. Petra couldn't say the same of Jarn-Shyr. She just kept staring at her, not saying anything. It was starting to creep Petra out. Whatever she had used to kill the canyon-crawler was out of sight now, probably in the satchel she had slung over her shoulder. Petra hoped she wasn't going to bring it out again and kill her too.

As long as they assumed she was a nonbender, that shouldn't be a problem.

"Ah, man, that's a real shame." Kasai lamented. "I thought you might have a cool story to share." He laughed again. Petra laughed along awkwardly.

"Gee, look at the time," Petra glanced up towards the horizon where the sun was sinking in the sky. "I'd better get back to my alcove. Nice meeting you two!"

"Oh!" Kasai exclaimed as Petra tried to turn away. "You found an alcove? Mind if we join you? We haven't really found a safe place to stay around here, and those canyon-crawlers might show up again."

Petra groaned internally. Couldn't she shake these people? Kasai she wouldn't mind too much, but she didn't feel comfortable sharing a cave with Jarn-Shyr. She might try to kill Petra while she was sleeping or something.

However, it would be rude to say no right after they had saved her skin, and those canyon-crawlers were definitely a threat. She knew she couldn't fight them herself and she had kind of run out of food and water. Maybe they would have some to spare. She wasn't sure she would survive in this canyon otherwise.

"Sure," Petra replied, albeit reluctantly. "If I can find it, that is." She laughed awkwardly, turning away from the pair. What have I gotten myself into?

Eventually, they did find the alcove. Petra's bag was where she'd left it. She realized she had forgotten to collect the bracken from earlier and slowed to a stop. "Uh, sorry, not exactly homey. I was going to get some bush to burn, but then that bug thing attacked and I just kinda forgot. Sorry." Great. Now she was stuck with strangers and she was going to freeze to death.

"Oh, don't worry about that." Kasai waved his hand passively as they sat down in a rough circle. "I can—!" He broke off suddenly, noticing the way Jarn-Shyr was glaring at him. He seemed to remember something and picked up where he had left off. ". . .go collect some more. You guys wait here." He stood up, complaining about having to get up when he had only just sat down. His whining trailed off as he got further away from the alcove.

It was dark at this point. Petra was alone in the alcove with Jarn-Shyr. Without Kasai, the atmosphere was uncomfortable and there was no sound. Petra hadn't heard a single word out of Jarn-Shyr since they had met, so she must have been shy or something. Petra could barely see her silhouette in the dim light of the half moon. To eradicate the tension, Petra decided to try and make conversation.

"So, you and Kasai are from the north, right? Are you siblings?" She asked. Jarn-Shyr didn't respond, but her silhouette shifted, indicating that she had denied the idea. She must have been even more shy than Petra had assumed. Then again, her expressions earlier hadn't given Petra the impression that she was shy. Her presence had seemed assertive and firm. What was the deal with this drastic contrast of personalities?

Petra decided to try again. "Okay, um. . . What village did you guys come from?" Surely that wasn't too intrusive of a question? Unless they were, like, criminals or something, in which case maybe it hadn't been the best idea to room with them.

Jarn-Shyr didn't reply. Petra was beginning to get annoyed. Being shy was fine and all, but there was a certain extent of rudeness that she could tolerate and Jarn-Shyr had just about reached that line.

Luckily, Kasai appeared in that moment, carrying an armful of sticks and dried ferns. "I found this dead tree a little east of here. Sticks'll probably burn better than just leaves any way." He seemed to sense the uneasy ambience right away. "Uh, something happen?" Kasai asked worriedly.

"No," Petra huffed, "just trying to make conversation." She folded her arms indignantly. Kasai blinked, then started laughing. Petra scowled. She didn't like being laughed at, especially when she didn't know why. "What is it?" She demanded, anger rising in her throat.

Kasai set down the sticks a few feet away as his laughing died out. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he apologized. Jarn-Shyr handed him a pair of spark-rocks from her bag. He clicked them a few times until the dried wood caught fire. "I just forget to explain sometimes. Jarn-Shyr doesn't speak."

It was Petra's turn to be surprised. "Oh!" she said, picking her words carefully through her embarrassment. "I'm. . . sorry, I. . . just assumed—I mean, I just thought that—!"

"—That she was ignoring you?" Kasai guessed. He laughed again. "Yeah, I thought that too for a while. But you get used to it. It's nice having a friend who will listen to what you have to say without interrupting."

Petra's face burned. "I'm sorry, Jarn-Shyr. I didn't know."

Jarn-Shyr shrugged, her presence seeming much less intimidating now that her silence had an explanation. Petra felt relieved as the tension ebbed away and she settled down near Kasai's fire. Kasai lay down opposite to her, but Jarn-Shyr stayed upright near the alcove's opening. Petra shot Kasai a questioning glance, but he shook his head. "Jarn-Shyr likes to keep first watch. Don't want those crepuscular creeps sneaking up on us, now do we?"

Petra glanced back at Jarn-Shyr. "No, I guess not." Despite her words, Petra still wasn't sure if she wanted to trust these two people. They were still strangers, after all, and nonbenders, most likely. Sleeping was a state of vulnerability that she wasn't quite ready to display around them. However, her body was sore and she was exhausted. She succumbed to sleep faster than she would have expected.

It was late. Petra didn't know the exact time, but it was still dark outside and she hadn't dreamed yet, so it couldn't have been more than a few hours passed the time she had fallen asleep. The fire was dying slowly, she noticed groggily through her state of half-awake.

As her senses slowly sharpened, Petra noticed a shuffling sound and quiet murmuring. Immediately, she was on guard. Her eyes snapped open, adjusting to the darkness slower than she would have liked. She listened intently to the murmuring but lay rigid against the stone. The air was cold and she knew she wouldn't fall asleep like this.

". . .Alright, 'night Jarn-Shyr. Don't wake Petra up." Petra relaxed. They were just exchanging watch duties. She started to sit up, considered calling out to them that she was awake and maybe try fanning the flames a little, but then something extraordinary happened.

Kasai yawned, obviously not fully awake yet. He rubbed sleep out of his eyes. Maybe it was because he was tired, or maybe he simply hadn't noticed that Petra was awake, but he removed his hand from his face and pushed his palm outward, in the direction of the dying fire.

The cavern erupted with light as fire was born from his hands. It wasn't much, but it was bright and warm and enough to make Petra scrambled backwards against the wall in her shock.

Kasai realized his mistake as soon as she moved. He cut the fire off and stumbled towards her, trying to explain.

"Oh spirits, Petra, I didn't know you were awake! I'm sorry, you shouldn't have seen that—!" At this point, Jarn-Shyr was up as well, making her way over to Kasai as he tripped over his own words. Petra saw something in her hands reflect the light of the fire. Was she armed? "—I can explain, I can really. It's not what it looked like—!"

"No, no!" Petra threw her hands up in front of herself defensively. "No, it's fine! I don't care, really!"

Kasai relaxed a bit, but Jarn-Shyr didn't seem convinced and continued to advance on her. Petra desperately searched her mind for something to discourage the younger girl from gutting her.

"I'm a bender too!" She blurted, unable to think of anything else convincing enough on the spot. Idiot! You don't just shout that out!

Jarn-Shyr froze, the firelight reflecting in her eyes and making it impossible for Petra to tell what she was thinking. Her left hand, just barely leveled at her waste, dropped to her side along with—was that a knife?

Kasai sighed loudly, his relief evident. "Oh thank the spirits. We thought you were going to kill us!" He laughed shakily, clapping Jarn-Shyr on the back. She rolled her eyes and walked silently away from the other two and settled down where Kasai had been sleeping earlier, completely disinterested now that Kasai wasn't in danger.

Kasai was still catching his breath, hand on his chest as he recovered from his near heart attack. He laughed again and fell onto his backside, sitting a few feet away from Petra and holding his face in his hands. "Thank the spirits," he kept muttering.

"Sorry about that," Kasai murmured once he had completely calmed down. "Sorry, Jess!" He called over, louder than before. Jarn-Shyr made a sound Petra identified as a scoff before tugging a blanket tighter around herself.

"Was she gonna. . . ?" Petra trailed off, gesturing towards Jarn-Shyr.

"Probably," Kasai admitted. "I'm sorry we woke you up. We were just exchanging watch. And, uh, sorry about her."

"It's fine," Petra replied. "If a stranger figured out that I was a bender, I'd freak out too."

They laughed. "So, what's your element?" Kasai asked her after a moment.

Petra hesitated. Jarn-Shyr seemed to be listening now, wondering if Petra would have to lie. She wouldn't.

"I'm an earthbender," she confessed after a moment. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth. "Well, I mean, I don't know how to bend, but I've made some rocks move without touching them before, and my mom did kinda send me away to protect me from the UNE. I think that's proof enough."

Kasai shook his head. "Man, that's rough. My family did the same. Jarn-Shyr and I are actually heading over to the Bender's Isle by the Fire Nation. Have you heard of it?"
Petra straightened up a little. "Bender's Isle? That's where I'm going!" Relief flooded her. Not only was Kasai a bender, but they were both heading to the same place. Maybe they could travel together. It would certainly make the trip safer and way more entertaining. At this point, she found how cautious she had been around him earlier ridiculous.

"Is Jarn-Shyr a bender too?" Petra asked, leaning to glance at her over the fire. Across the room, Jarn-Shyr snorted.

"No, she's a nonbender. More open-minded than most of them, though. She's not interested in picking a side, I think. She just defends the people she cares about—ow!" Kasai flinched as a rock nailed him in the shoulder. He glared at his companion. "Jess, what the heck?"

Jarn-Shyr was lying back down, pretending not to notice his outburst. Kasai rolled his eyes and turned back to Petra. "Whatever. She's just embarrassed because she doesn't want you to think she's an uncool little kid with actual feelings—Hah, you missed!" He ducked under another projectile, having anticipated the stone. Jarn-Shyr shrugged and buried herself under her blanket. It looked warm, made of a material Petra couldn't identify. It was decorated with interesting patterns—stripes and arrows, mostly. It looked pretty old, too.

"Ignore her," Kasai sighed. "But hey, we're going to the same place, right? Maybe we should travel together."

Petra brightened. "I was thinking the same thing! It's probably safer than going alone, right? Well, you have Jarn-Shyr, but know what I mean."

Kasai nodded sagely, holding his chin. "Safety in numbers. Agreed." He yawned, causing Petra to yawn as well. "But hey, I'm on watch now, so you guys go to sleep. I'll keep the fire going too. Jarn-Shyr, don't kill Petra! She's our friend now, okay?" The only response he received was a scoff from a shuffling blanket. "Right." Kasai seemed satisfied. He turned to Petra. "Don't worry about her, she's actually harmless as long as you don't attack her."

Petra smiled awkwardly. "Great, I'll keep that in mind." She kicked him away lightly. "Now move, you're in my spot."

Kasai rolled away, out to where Jarn-Shyr was sitting earlier and whistling airily. Petra settled down for the second time that evening. She yawned again. Closing her eyes, she wondered what the days ahead would hold.

{Alright! Chapter One is finished! ^v^ Thanks again to Emberstep for letting me write this story. If you're reading this, then I hope I did your character justice. I hope to write more chapters soon. Review if you liked it, or if you didn't. Even if you tell me my writing is horrible, I'll take it into consideration and do my best to improve. Thanks for reading and have a nice day! ^v^}