The Forgotten Story
This is a concept I have been thinking about for a long time and I though I should finally make it a reality. I wont give anything away yet but I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender and I really hope none of you thought I did.
Chapter 1 – Warnings
It had been ten years since the end of the war and Aang could still feel the fires burning. He could still see Ozia in his dreams trying to scorch the Earth Kingdom like Sozin burnt his people before him. He had been there to stop Ozia but not Sozin. Now that he lived here in the Southern Air temple he was reminded every day of what he had been unable to stop.
Not even his wife Katara and his son Tenzin could quell his guilt over his failure. They could only give him moments of reprieve and made his life as happy as it could be.
He could never let this happen again and if there was one thing that could help prepare you for the future...was to look into the past.
He had spent whole days in conference with his past lives. He had covered the experiences and failures Roku and Kyoshi and while they helped he could not find the wisdom he needed.
He had had an idea recently, in fact he had wanted to know from the day he accepted his role as avatar. But for some reason there had been something holding him back, stopping him from talking to this particular past life.
He had spend literally days in the libraries of each avatar temple and beyond, in Ba Sing Se, the dragon Catacombs, even the deep archives of Omashu. But he had only gleamed the odd bit of detail, a burning storm, a horrible war and various mentions of the energy benders.
It was like this person was a hidden secret, a forgotten aspect of his existence that he was not meant to know about. And in every temple or source of information he went to he could neither find a name or an image to go with this part of his history.
But today was the day he would get answers, with Katara and Tenzin gone to the South Pole to visit relatives he had the time he needed to find out the truth.
He had an area he always liked to meditate in, it was a balcony next to the chamber of past avatars. He felt more connected there and that was what he needed for this task. He folded his legs on the ground and breathed deep, looking deep into himself and calling on the past life that he was most connected to.
The bluish image of Roku shimmered into existence before him, but unlike how he usually looked happy with a kind look on his face today he looked sad and wary. His old eyes looked into Aang's and Aang could tell he already knew what he was going to ask him.
"Aang," he said in his ancient echoing tone, "this is not something you will enjoy knowing. That man's life was a hard one and what he had to do to keep the world safe weighs heavy on us all."
"I could imagine that much," Aang said calmly, "but I refuse to be ignorant of our past, if you had told me that he was a psychopath that raped and pillaged across the nations I would still have asked to you to tell me. I must know what we were."
Roku sighed at Aang's words. "I will not deny you the truth Aang. It was never my intention to do so, but it is not my place to tell you this tale."
"Then who's is it?" Aang asked getting excited.
Roku took a moment to respond, he seemed to be steeling for what he was about to say. At last he said softly, "The man you want is called Gaius, he is an ancient being and one that we that came after him rarely converse with. The last was Kyoshi and what she heard gave her both strength and determination, but the horrors of what she heard were enough to scar her for life and enough to stop her from allowing me to speak with him. If you still wish to speak with Gaius looked into yourself and call on him. He will do the rest..."
Roku faded leaving Aang with the knowledge he had wanted and a new fear of what that knowledge entailed. Gaius, the forgotten Avatar, the one lost from record and the one he still wanted desperately to talk to.
Doing as instructed he re-entered his trance and called "Gaius, I must speak with you..." at once the lights around him faded. The sun was high in the sky yet all around him became dipped in shadow. A bird flying near y slowed in the air as if time was slowing down for the world around him.
Aang knew he was there before he spoke, his presence was unmiscible. He appeared before Aang not sitting but standing observing him with ancient eyes of a colour Aang could not name. He was tall with a handsome face and long brown hair that seemed windswept. His body was muscular and highly defined shown off clearly by his cloths, he wore a dark robe, maybe black, that was nearly too long in the arms and open at the front displaying his muscular chest. He also wore simple trousers underneath with not shoes.
He did not have the blue hue of the other past lives, he was in perfect colour but they were not in the spirit world he could tell that much. How old must this man be that he can manifest in the physical world with nothing but a summons.
"I can't," Gaius said resoundingly, his voice was strange. It was deep but not harsh, eloquent but not soft, it was calming but there was a fire behind it that spoke of his strength, a confidence in his power to destroy anything that turned against him. In short it was terrifying.
"I'm sorry..." Aang said for that was all that he could say.
Gaius smirked ever so slightly, "I cannot manifest myself in the physical world. I have come into your mind and increased your perception of time so that we can talk freely. Plus blue was never my colour." He smiled down at Aang which made his neck prickle, his teeth were too straight and white to be normal and his look was more self satisfied than friendly.
Aang cleared his throat bringing up the courage to speak, "If you know my thoughts," he said wetting his lips out of nerves, "then you must know if you are the one I wished to speak with?"
Gaius looked down at Aang with those old old eyes and nodded slowly, "Yes young one I am. I am the first Avatar!"
There you go no to shabby ah, the next chapter will be both longer and far less cryptic and we will begin the tale of the First Avatar.