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The Legend of Ryuu

Chapter 1: A Divided World

Air.

Water.

Earth.

Fire.

Long ago there was a time of the avatar, a single being who could control all four elements, but sadly that time came to an end when Avatar Korra died in the avatar state. The cycle of the avatar is no more. As a result the world has become unbalanced, huge wars have been waged, plagues, famine, the world has become a wasteland…but if history has taught us one thing, it's that hope shines through at the darkest time.

Okay, so maybe you don't know what it's like to fall into a heap of…ummm…let's just call it waste, but anyway I have and I wouldn't recommend it. It all started when I was borrowing a cabbage from the Cabbage Corporation, emphasis on borrowing! Anyway someone saw me and mistook it for stealing! So I did what I had to do…I ran. I was making good progress too, until the metal benders came along. Ah, good old Republic City, they try their best to keep their city clean, despite the war around them, it was almost sad to disturb the peace, but I had to. So I did a quick one-eighty and shot some fire balls, no luck! Suddenly three metal benders dropped in front of me, I was trapped! "Give up before you dig a deeper hole for yourself!" One of the metal benders said behind me.

"So I can go to jail? No way! Besides this could be fun!" I replied with a smile on my face.

"Fine, if that's your decision. Metal benders attack!" All of them let out their metal whips and I had a split second to react. I quickly created a ball of fire around me that deflected the attacks, then took a deep breath and when I exhaled the fire burst out in a circle around me! Some of them didn't have time to react so they were blown away, their armour smoking, but the others unfortunately were able to bend a wall of earth in time. When the fire was gone they rushed toward me and we were engaged in an intense hand-to-hand fight. I was able to down two, but the others were starting to gain the upper hand! I broke free of the mêlée and ran into an alleyway where I used a jet of fire to boost me over a wall. There was a good part and a bad part to that move, the bad part was that I landed in a heap of the waste I was talking about earlier, but the good part was that the metal benders didn't see me fall in, so I had fortunately been able to escape. Overall, just another normal day in Republic City.

The walk home was very uncomfortable, people kept staring at me, I got some of that waste in my shoes so they were making a very disturbing squishing noise and the walk through Republic City was depressing. After Avatar Korra died the city went downhill, the majority of people were homeless, unemployed or broke, buildings had been destroyed due to turf wars and the city was a mess, rubbish everywhere and graffiti on almost every building. I looked out to sea and saw the statue of Avatar Aang, a saddening reminder of a better time. Yeah, Republic City was a dump. I looked at the once great city and wished I could see it when it was in all its glory, but wishing didn't do anything, so I continued my walk.

I was passing through an alley, just minding my business when a whip of water came out of nowhere! It tripped me and I fell to the ground, still managing to hold on to my cabbage. I quickly got up, but a teenage girl appeared in front of me. She had light brown skin, bright blue eyes and was wearing an old southern water tribe outfit. "You picked the wrong fight!" I taunted. She answered by sending another water whip flying at me, but this time I was able to dodge it. Where had she been able to bend water? There's no water source nearby, but then I noticed a grate that obviously lead into a sewer. Well, that's just great! Another smell to add to my collection! I performed a swift kick that sent a slice of fire through the air, but she easily dodged it and in mid dodge she was able to send a blast of sewer water. I was caught off guard and was sent flying! When I stood, she dashed toward me and I sent a fireball to stop her, but she redirected it! Wait redirected it?! Did she just use fire bending? Before I could contemplate this, a huge jet of sewer water blasted me and I was blinded for a second, but when I opened my eyes…she was gone!

(A/N: Okay before I get into this scene, I'm should tell you a bit of back story. Now remember Ikki from the Legend of Korra? Well now she's fifty-seven years old and living in Republic City. She's taking in homeless kids and now has four, fire bending Ryuu (17-year-old male), earth bending Ling (16-year-old female and if you were wondering Ling is a unisex name) and the water bending siblings Shinju (8-year-old female) and Daisuke (6-year-old male). So let's get back to the story shall we?)

"Ryuu!" Shinju yelled as she jumped into my arms, well arm I still had my cabbage that had luckily survived the journey. "Yay! You're back!" Her brother, Daisuke, cheered and hugged my leg.

"Hey guys!" I replied

"Took you long enough." I looked up to see Ling, a sixteen year old earth bender and the most stubborn girl I know, "Ugh! And you smell horrible!"

"Hey, I ran into some trouble," I replied.

"You should take a bath."

"We could bend you some water!" Shinju and Daisuke cut in.

"No, it's fine guys. Ikki needs the clean water for cooking," I replied, "I don't want you guys getting hungry." I got up and walked into the kitchen where I found Ikki cooking. "Hey Ikki, I got the cabbage that you needed." She turned around and smiled, but when she took in my appearance and smell the smile quickly turned into a look of concern. "Ryuu what happened." She asked and for a second I saw my mother. No! I can't think of that! It…hurt too much. When I came back to reality I answered, "I just ran into trouble Ikki, just a few scrapes and bruised." I tried for a smile, but it faltered when I thought back to that girl. The more I thought about it, the more I felt terrified. I knew Ikki could sense something was up, but she didn't ask. That's the good thing about Ikki, she isn't a sticky beak. "Is that cabbage still edible?" Ikki asked. I looked down at the cabbage; it was slightly burnt and smelled like sewer water with a trace of the waste I dropped in. Okay maybe we were going to be hungry tonight. Ikki noticed the worried look on my face and said, "We probably have something left over from last night." I just nodded and headed to my room.

When I was all alone, I looked out to the face of Aang. It was my favourite thing to do when I felt down; I always asked myself what would the Avatar do? "Hello Ryuu." I turned around and saw the girl! I froze! I-I didn't know what to do! But the next thing she said startled me even more, she said, "I am Avatar Korra."

End of Chapter 1

A/N: So there's the first chapter of the 'Legend of Ryuu' tell me what you think in the reviews, I would also appreciate suggestions if you have any. I do have to warn you, the first few chapters will be to introduce the place, the characters and plot, so I'll try my best to make the chapters later on more intense and less campy . So, yeah, please review and I'll see you all next time.