Chapter 1
Christmas Present
Tears stung her eyes as she ran through the cold bitter forest. The little girl was terrified beyond anything. She heard the booms behind her and felt the ground rumble beneath her feet. Yuna pulled her little sister forward. She tried to keep up with the woman's long strides but her tiny legs couldn't go any faster.
"Com'on Yuki we can't slow down now!"
"Yuna, please. I can't run any faster."
The woman scooped the little girl up and ran for both of them. Yuki looked over her sister's shoulders and saw people run at them from far away. Fire exploded from one of the figures and rock emerged from under another. Yuna sprinted forward and closed in behind a set of rocks. She stopped suddenly and knelt to the ground. She dug into the cold frozen snow with bare fingers and dusted off what appeared to be an opening into a city sewer system.
Yuki stared. She was only six years old but even she knew that the forest was no place for a sewer system like this.
Yuna pulled hard and forced the covering opened. A stuffy smell emerged from below. Yuna pulled off the bag she was carrying and swung it over Yukie's shoulders. She gripped her by the shoulders and looked urgently into her little sister's eyes.
"Yuki, you have to leave me."
"What? NO! I can't do that."
"Yuki please. Listen to me. You don't understand now but you will." She motioned towards the bag. "Inside of here is everything you need to know about our world. Where we come from. I had to take you away because things were dangerous there. Too dangerous for you to stay. You're too young to understand now but sacrifices must be made sometimes."
Yuki shook her head, tears swelling in her eyes. Sacrifices were forbidden in their culture and tribe. "No we're not allowed to. We're never supposed to sacrifice. Dad said so."
"In the offerings we're not supposed to. But in life sometimes they are called for." The booms were getting closer now. They couldn't waste any more time with this conversation. "Listen to me" Yuki shook her head angrily. "LISTEN! You are going to leave me. You are going to run down this hole and you are going to find somewhere safe and stay there. Understand!"
It was scary. Really scary. Her sister was leaving her and now she expected Yuki to go somewhere dark, cold, and alone.
The woman took her hands and lowered her into the dark pipe before she was ready.
"Don't be afraid." She called below. "Keep following the tunnel until you reach the end. Listen to the spirits, they'll guide you if you come to a division. And only use your bending around others at the most dire need. Otherwise try not to use it unless you're alone."
"But what about you?"
Tears stung her eyes, threatening to tip out. She forced a smile for the little girl and made her voice calming. " Don't worry, little sister. I'll meet you again."
But even she knew that was less than likely.
She tossed a bundle of unlit torches down to her. "The tunnel is lit with lume crystals but they'll stop eventually. The torches will give you seven hours of light each. Try to conserve them as best you can."
And without so much as a goodbye, Yuna covered the opening and for one terrifying moment, Yuki's world was plunged in darkness.
She'd been walking for several days now, yet she couldn't quite be certain. In the tunnel, there was no such thing as definite time periods. She couldn't see the sun or the moon or anything down here. Nothing to tell her when to rest and when to wake. She'd developed somewhat of a routine. When she felt tired she would rest, when she was hungry she would eat and when she was ready, she would walk again.
The green crystals were thick and comforting in the closed tunnel but soon the bright lights thinned, growing more and more scarce the farther she went. Finally there were no more left and she was reduced to continue under torchlight.
On and on. Sometimes she passed by a ladder up to another opening of the sewage, but she didn't go up.
Keep following the tunnel until you come to the end.
Well she hadn't come to the end yet so she pressed forward. A horrible smell hit her suddenly and she covered her nose quickly before the stench could nock her off her feet. She gagged and for a moment she nearly thought she would throw up. Instead she reached into her fluffy fur coat and drew out a handkerchief to cover her nose with it. The freshly washed cloth protected her from the ghastly smells at least. She wondered where she was, in order to discover such a turning smell. She proceeded forward.
Then suddenly a light shone in the distance.
"A light! Yay!" Her walk turned into a run as she moved forward excitedly. She could smell fresh air and felt wind.
At last she'd reached the end of the tunnel to find… a large black city.
She gazed, awed and terrified at the same time. The enormous buildings were far larger than anything she'd ever seen even in Ba Sing-Se. They seemed to stretch right into the sky. And great spirits they looked to be made of glass and lights.
"What is this place? Where am I?"
The cold air was bitter to every passerby on the streets, yet to the water tribe girl (who'd grown up in icy climates during summer) this was considered picnic weather.
Yuki smiled at the surrounding decorations that covered every available tree. The night was so pretty here. The trees lit up and there was a good smell of cooking nearby. Her stomach growled and she followed from where it was coming from. A large window display held sweet pastries behind a thin layer of glass. She pressed against it, marveling in the colorful gingerbread houses, fruitcake, Christmas cookies, and chocolate sculptures all package with pretty red, green, and gold wrappings.
It gave her a comforting feeling in the winter air and she went inside, hoping to buy something yummy. Warm air and good sweet aromas immediately greeted her. Then she paused in the doorway. It suddenly dawned on her that she didn't have any money. Perhaps, though, Yuna had put some in her bag. She dug inside and found a wad of green paper. This didn't look like water tribe money. Then she remembered her friend Kido telling her something about this world.
"See here, Yuki. In this place people use paper money instead of coins and bars like we do in the Earth or Fire Nation."
"But that burns too easily."
"Yes well, people don't normally firebend around here so it's okay."
She wondered how she was supposed to pay with this paper money. She went up to the counter and looked over the top to a nice lady with glasses and wearing a green blouse and red skirt.
She smiled down on Yuki. "Hi honey. What would you like?"
She looked into the display before her and wondered which she wanted to try first. There were so many things there; cakes, pies, creams, cookies. She chose a little dark cake with brown syrup drizzled over it and a cherry on top.
The woman wrapped it up and pressed some buttons on a machine. "Three dollars please."
Yuki looked questionably at the wad of papers in her hand and counted out three.
The woman frowned. "Hun, this is too much. You just gave me, sixty dollars. Here." She handed back two bills and took the one. The woman handed her back several more bills as well as the box and smiled. "Here you go, Sweetie. Merry Christmas."
Yuki wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. She stood for a moment holding her money and holding the box. Then she smiled as the woman had done and cried. "Merry Christmas!" She didn't even know what the words meant. She just liked the sound of them. They sounded cheerful.
She skipped out of the shop and headed down the street, wondering where she could eat her prize.
She found an area without any buildings, where there were only trees, benches, and tables. She sat at a bench nearest to another of those golden trees, and opened her box. The pastry was rich and sticky, clinging to her fingers and making her snack very messy. Despite the mess, it filled her up right away, though she whished she had something to drink. Checking around carefully that no one was watching, she bent the snow into a liquid ball and popped it in her mouth. That washed it down nicely, though milk would've been preferred, or better yet tea.
She finished the cake off and sighed happily. That was good. But now she had the box left. What was she supposed to do with it?
Her eye caught on a portly man across the street that was eating what appeared to be round pastries with holes in the middle. He finished what was left of the bag and dumped it into a can on the corner.
Yuki smiled, understanding now. She rushed across the street and did the same thing with her box.
Well that was sure convenient.
"Now what do I do?" She'd already found food, now she supposed she would look around a bit. This city was so unlike anything she'd ever seen that she just couldn't let it rest. With the light of the sacred full moon shining on her, she was alive and wanting to explore
She walked towards a building that was stimulating an awful lot of commotion. She spotted children giggling and rushing forward. Maybe there was something interesting over there. She rushed forward as well. When she went through the doors she saw the same children lined up at a display where a big man dressed in bright red clothing was sitting on a golden throne. All the children were taking turns sitting on his lap to talk to him.
Yuki looked curiously at such a peculiar sight. She spotted a middle-aged man with a white beard and spectacles carrying wrapped parcels under his arm and watching the scene from afar. She went up to him and tugged on his arm, pointing towards the red man curiously. "S'cuse me, is that the king?"
The man looked amused. "No that's Santa Clause."
"Santa Clause?"
"Course. Haven't you ever seen a Santa Clause?"
She shook her head. "Why are all those little kids lining up to sit on his lap?"
"They're telling him what they want for Christmas."
"Why would they tell him? Wouldn't they just tell their family?"
"Well yes. But Santa is a special symbol for everyone this time of year. Would you like to sit on Santa's lap too?"
She shook her head bluntly. "I'm not supposed to do that. My sister said it's not polite to sit on random strangers."
The man laughed at that, making the boxes shake under his arm. "That's a very good thing to practice. But you don't have to worry about that around Santa."
She looked back over to the portly man and lifted an eyebrow suspiciously as a little boy suddenly began to cry loudly. To her Santa didn't look too happy about children sitting on his lap. In fact, he looked like a total grump. The man shook his head woefully. "Ah Harvey, you're ruining the steak out."
She looked curiously up at the man who just smiled back at her. "I'm just going to watch from over there. Thank you, sir."
"Any time."
She skipped away and took a seat at one of benches in the big building. Soon enough she got tired of watching one after another child sit on the strange portly man and decided to look around the building a bit. She saw people coming in and out of what appeared to be a number of shops. Their wears were interesting and she couldn't' help but get a better look. And my, what fabulous things.
She walked on and on, finding fascination in everything she saw. One shop which really caught her attention was a place selling animals; babies mostly. She was delighted when they actually allowed her to pet and hold them. What was even more charming, was when she stepped in and every animal in the whole shop instantly calmed with her presence. It was as if all disorder separating the animals had been settled and perfect balance for the first time had been achieved.
She took her time looking around at the vast variety of the animals. She favored kittens and the baby ferrets they had. The monkeys were also very entertaining.
"Com'on kid." A man said from behind her. "The mall's closing up. You need to go find your guardians and get going."
Reluctantly, Yuki said goodbye to her new friends and followed the crowd to the exits. It seemed that a lot of stores were now closing as well. There wasn't much left for her to do.
It seemed apparent that now she would have to find shelter. Well there were plenty of buildings around here. Certainly they could house another person. Plus she was really small, so she wouldn't take up too much room.
She walked forward, wondering where to begin searching.
Yuki didn't watch where she was going and bumped into a stiff leg. "Oops. S'cuse me!" she called stumbling back. She looked up, craning her neck to gaze up at a huge man.
"Hey watch it, kid."
"Sorry." She smiled at him and skipped away. Then she remembered something. She turned and waved to him. "Merry Christmas." And then ran off.
"What a nice city." She thought, stopping at a bench to look up at an evergreen sparkling with bright lights and decked with ribbons and pretty trinkets. It looked like stars had come from the heavens to shine around the tree. "I never knew anything could seem so warm." She sighed leaning on her hands and taking in the peaceful scene.
The tree looked so comforting, she was considering the idea of spending the night under the fanned out branches. They were thick enough to protect her from the elements at least, though not too much. She still needed her waterbending to survive. A heavy wind blew through her coat making her shiver. Maybe under the tree wouldn't be such a good idea after all. There was a storm coming in. She should get some real shelter.
At last she got up, still looking for someplace she could stay for the night. She passed by a group of men, but didn't pay them much attention as she was staring at the fabulous lights around her. Suddenly her ears perked and she felt eyes upon her back. She looked and saw two of the men following her. She didn't react at all towards it, but continued on her way. Yet she could feel them steadily behind her and quickened her pace. Then from out of a corner two more men appeared, blocking her way. Yuki couldn't understand why she felt so unease towards these people. She'd done nothing to them, yet she still felt they would hurt her if she got too close. She looked around for other options.
There was a dark ally to her right and the street where the strange metal carriages zoomed past. It seemed the only real option looked like the ally. But it looked so dark and forlorn that she wasn't sure she should go in. The men started forward closing in the distance and boxing her in. She made up her mind and took the ally. When she reached the end she saw another man blocking the right side. She went the left.
Her heart pounded and she could feel them jogging after her. She sprinted forward, terror finally closing its clutches on her mind. She stopped dead in her tracks when she found herself gazing up at a dead end. Yuki turned, facing the men who'd herded her to this blind alley. They were smiling.
"Hey don't be scared, sweetie."
"We're not going to hurt you."
"Just come with us. We'll help you."
She didn't like them. She didn't like them at all. And she was afraid. They were going to hurt her; she knew it. But why would they hurt her. She was just a little girl. Why would they want to hurt her?
One of them stepped forward and she backed against a brick wall craning her neck to stare up at him, terror-stricken.
"Don't be like that, angel. All we want is this nice button you have." He grabbed her by the front of the coat and held her suspended above the ground. "And if you're good, Santa will give you a present."
Though Yuna was not a water bender herself, she'd learned enough about the different moves and had taught Yuki the best she knew. Yuki wasn't as good as other benders, but she knew enough of self-defense to at least protect herself. Yet now she didn't feel brave enough to take these men before her.
"Y-you better leave me alone!" She tried to make herself sound fierce but all that came out was a squeak. "You, meanies, don't know who you're messing with."
The men laughed. Her threat was more amusing than intimidating. "Oh well by all means, angel. Why don't you go a head and beat us up."
Yuki's blood raced towards the water on the ground. The same way it did every time she felt the pull of energy flowing through her body. Like the pull of a magnet or strings of a marionette controlling her puppets. Her breath became energy, the energy flowed through her body, transformed and became bending. Her arms shot forward and a wave of liquid followed, colliding with the man and shooting him farther than she'd originally intended. His back crashed against a wall and he fell into a trashcan with a bang.
She stared, stunned at her hands. Wow! That was the strongest bending I ever did.
The rest of the men gaped.
"Did you see that?"
"Oh man!"
"Kid's a super."
They seemed more awed than afraid as one of them hit an idea. "Forget about her stuff, we could sell her on the market."
"Yeah. Ton's of people would love to get their hands on something like this. Thorn or even Luthor would pay an arm and a leg for this talent."
"Big bucks right here, boys."
They all turned towards her. One of them drew out a chain to bind her up.
Yuki had hoped that she would be able to at least scare them away. Yet now they seemed more determined than ever to get her in their clutches. She was too little, she couldn't possibly fight them all off. She summoned another water ball, but her fear was so great that it materialized for a mere second and then splashed back to the ground. She tried again but nothing happened. Terrified, she scrabbled backwards, hitting the wall with a thud. Her arms flew over her head as she braced herself for the pain of their hands.
She imagined the terrible chain as it bound her hands and feet, and screamed splitting the night silence.
She heard something swoosh down from above the buildings and assumed a great bird had past by. Then there were shouts and sounds of struggle coming from the men. Thuds and grunts of pain echoed off the walls, yet Yuki kept her eyes tightly closed. When all was silent, she snuck a glance to see what was taking the men from capturing her at once.
Every one of them was lying unconscious and beaten around her.
Wow! Who did…
She spotted the dark figure in the middle of it all. For a moment, all she could do was stare. He was dressed completely in black and his face was covered with a black cowl that made his eyes glow white. The cloak that billowed behind him was cut up to look like dark leathery wings when the wind rustled through. He was like something out of another world.
Wait! Other world?
"Are you a spirit?" She whispered with a mixture of awe and fear. She'd heard a lot about spirits who sometimes crossed over to the physical world. She thought at first of the Painted Lady, or of the Blue Spirit she'd heard about from old folklore in the fire nation. Yet some of the stories were not at all nice. She'd even heard of some that came to attack or abduct people. The story of Hei Bai, the wrath of the ocean koi, and Koh was some that occasionally haunted her nightmares.
He must not have heard her. His voice was gruff. "Why are you out alone? Where are your parents?"
The shock of the attack gripped her and tears poured from her eyes. "Dead." She announced sadly. "My sister looks after me but she was attacked a few days ago. I don't know where she is."
He looked at her, then looked in the direction of the man whom assaulted her first. He was still inside the garbage can, unconscious.
"What did you do when you made the water hit that man?"
"Huh?"
Only use your water bending around others during the direst need.
"Nothing!" She said quickly, remembering her sister's words.
His eyes narrowed and he turned towards the exit. "Come with me." He said gently, trying not to spook her.
She wasn't sure, but somehow, Yuki doubted he would try and hurt her. Despite his dark outfit, he didn't seem at all like the kind of person who would intentionally hurt little children. He didn't wait for her but continued down the dark ally. She made up her mind at that moment. She rushed forward and grabbed his hand, holding it close as she stepped around the beaten bodies. He didn't shrug her off, as she partly expected him to do, but let her hold on to it. She couldn't quite tell with the padding of her mittens, but his hand seemed strangely warm in this weather.
He led her to the street and took something out of his pocket that blinked a red light. Just then a black metal tank swerved round the corner and halted right in front of them with an oddly high screech. The sound reminded her somewhat of dolphin seals.
This must be like one of those war machines the Fire Nation used to ride around in seventy years ago during the Great War of Fire. She'd never seen one up close, but she'd heard stories and seen crude pictures. But this looked sleeker, nicer, and a lot less… metal looking.
"Is this a battle tank?" she asked looking up at him curiously.
"Among other things." He announced tersely. He clicked something on the box he was holding and the windows on the top of the tank slid open to reveal a cockpit. He scooped her up unexpectedly and jumped inside, setting her in the passenger side. "Put your seat belt on."
"My what?"
He gestured to a strap he had on his side and slid it over him where he clicked it into a buckle. She found hers and did the same, though she wasn't entirely sure what it was supposed to do. Even still she didn't want to argue with someone who looked like that. The machine moved forward, far smoother than she'd expected, and they were rushing through the city faster than a sky bison could fly.
She was still a little jittery from what had happened and the strangeness of this vehicle didn't help her. As an addition, she was tired. Very tired. She couldn't remember when she slept last. In the tunnel of course, but it must've been more than twelve hours ago. And even then she wasn't sure how long she stayed asleep at one time. She leaned her head against her seatbelt and closed her eyes. It wasn't a minute later before she was caught in a dreamless sleep.
"Alfred?"
Batgirl came into view shaking her head and putting her hands on her hips. "He's not here, Bruce. He went to England because his friend was ill. Don't you remember?"
"Oh right."
Even from as far as she was, the woman noticed his passenger before he'd taken her out of the cockpit. It was a child, possibly five or six years old. Her hair was done up in two neat braids on each side of her head. She was dressed in a light blue coat with thick white fur trimming. By the way she was dressed, Barbara assumed she must've been an Eskimo. She even had white mukluks with blue beaded designs and fluffy pompoms. "Who's the little girl?"
"I'm not sure." He announced coming forward with her dozing body slung in his arms. "I was making my rounds when I saw some scumbags try to attack her in an ally. She did something to one of them."
"What, you mean like mind control?"
"No. Something else. She animated the snow into water and shot it at one of them."
"Whoa! No joke?"
"Yes. She tried to do it again, but she was too afraid and she wasn't able to harness the power from before. I polished off the rest of them."
"Wow, bet they were surprised."
"Very."
"Did she tell you anything else?"
"She apparently didn't want me to know about her abilities. When I asked her what she did, she said 'Nothing.' Then she thought I was a spirit."
"I'll bet she was scared." Batgirl shook her head sadly. "A slime ball attacking a little kid is the lowest you can get."
"It's lucky I found her in time. They were getting ideas about selling her. Probably on the black market with other human trafficking."
Batgirl's hand rose to her mouth in horror. "Oh my god."
"I get the feeling this girl is very important. We can't let her fall into the wrong hands." He handed her towards the woman. Barbara wasn't as strong as Bruce and the weight of the little girl tilted in her hands, making her hold on the girl awkward. "I need you to take care of her. Put her to bed and explain things if she wakes up. I've got her bag. I'm going to try and find out what I can from it."
Her brow rose with a mixture of disapproval and teasing. "Not one to respect personal property are you?"
"Goodnight." He said bluntly.
She shrugged and headed up the stairs that led out of the Batcave. It wouldn't be too hard to find an empty room in the mansion at least.
Barbara returned after a few minutes.
"Well I found a room and put her to bed. She seems to be doing all right." She looked over to see an array of objects sorted carefully over a worktable. They weren't at all what she'd expected:
A hand made doll with a real fur coat and white hair, a blue and white comb made from what she took to be ivory, a bag of silver coins, an ancient book, a wad of dollar bills, three scrolls, and a bag made from white animal hide with intricate turtle and fish designs.
"What's all this?"
"The contents of her bag." Bruce said leaning over her book and reading the scripture inside. "So far everything seems to be authentic yet perfectly new. The only thing that really sticks out is the American Money she has, everything else seems like a blast from the past."
Barbara pointed towards the book when she caught sight of the calligraphy. "Is that Chinese?"
"It's written in ancient calligraphy, but yes." He walked over to the computer and began typing in buttons. "I'm able to read modern Chinese today, but this is beyond my experience. I can make out a few words but other than that… I was at least able to translate some of it with the computer. Look at this." He brought up a copy of the first page and words began to translate the document instantly.
This is the book of Won Shi Tong's basic encyclopedia of the physical world of benders.
Translated by Proffesor Zei—head of anthropology at the Ba Sing Sei University.
"Won Shi Tong?"
"It means Great Owl Spirit." Bruce informed.
Upon this collection is the knowledge one needs to know about the home world of the Avatar along with the Spirit world, which closely intertwines between each other. Within these pages is the sacred information about each of the four nations: stories, legends, and facts that have been collected into a basic manual. In the interest of protecting the world, I ask that this information remain safe, and share it only with the people closest to you. Beware, for those are many who wish to expose its secrets…
Barbara's brow rose with the last bit. "Sounds like a real head scratcher. If that were really true, then why leave such an important document in the hands of a little girl?"
"Maybe because she was supposed to have it." He read the introduction over once more and mused. "Bending must be what they call the manipulation of materials. It says four nations. They must be referring to the elements."
"Say what?"
"In Asia, cultures have been known to believe that the world is made up of four different elements; water, fire, air, and earth. I get the feeling our little friend may be from some Asian based dimension."
"Another dimension? What, you mean like J`on J`ones?"
"He comes from another planet. I'm talking about a whole other plane of existence."
"Well then how'd she get here?"
"I'm not sure. I need to look more into this if we're going to get anywhere."
Barbara frowned at the screen. "Why don't you just ask her when she wakes up?"
He stopped typing then looked at her. "The thought never occurred to me."
"Right, you'd just rather go snooping through other people's private bags than go through all the pain of actually asking them any questions." He glared at her but she continued despite his disapproval. "Think about it. You don't know who this girl is, but you've taken the liberty of snooping through her stuff. Did you even try to ask her anything?"
"I told you, she wouldn't tell me."
"You asked her what she did, but she was probably so scared she thought she would get in trouble if she told you. Give her the night to sleep it off. You look like you could get some sleep yourself. I'm sure she'll tell you in the morning." She turned and walked up the stairs to the mansion. "The least you could do is put her stuff back in the bag."
Bruce hated to admit that there was a bit of truth in her statement. He would never admit he'd done something wrong by looking through a private bag. He'd done it to understand their guest better. Even as he thought this, the words from Barbara replayed in his head and squeezed their way through the many walls of his conscience.
He sighed and replaced the things back in the intricate bag. It was late after all; he might as well call it a night.
The last to go in the bag was the doll. He held it for a moment and pondered. It'd been a long time since he was a little boy. Even still, Bruce remembered how he was before his parents died.
Once upon a time ago, he used to have a stuffed bear, which he carried with him everywhere he went. Even if it had been decades since he was that innocent, he could still faintly remember his attachment towards the toy.
He took the doll with him. The girl was sleeping in the room precisely opposite of his own. He snuck in and put the doll beside the little girl. She took it in her sleep and hugged it closely to her as she'd done many nights before. Bruce's eye caught on something on her hand at that moment.
Very gently, he turned it just so and found an oddly shaped mark on the back of her hand. It was a thin white spiral he mistook at first to be a birthmark. Yet upon further inspection he realized it looked more like a brand than anything else. He wondered a bit about this and was even tempted to go back down to the batcave and start studying more from the book she had, but he resisted. Instead he would wait for the morrow and ask her in person.
Okay so here's a new story that I've actually been working on for a few months now. Hope you like:)
