Arc 1: Getting to Know You - Chapter 1: The Next Avatar
3rd person
The only light in the room was the roaring furnace in front of the throne. Joo Wan swallowed nervously as he looked about the imposing place. This was his first time setting foot in the palace as a sage initiate. As such a low ranking member of the sages, he was left with all the dangerous jobs and grunt work. This particular mission was both at the same time, deliver news to Fire Lord Azulon about the Avatar.
He wondered how the sages managed to expand if they always gave tasks like this to initiates.
The flickering red fire cast dancing shadows along the tall pillars that supported the high ceiling of the throne room. The effect was strengthened by the waving tapestries that hung in front of the walls, giving the entire room a feeling of constant motion. At one time the throne room had been well lit, with murals of spirits and dragons; but since Avatar Roku destroyed the original throne room, almost one hundred and fifty years ago, it had turned into an intimidation technique. The effect was even further strengthened as the fire cast shadows upon the Fire Lord himself leaving his face in darkness.
Joo Wan quickly crossed the distance between the entrance and the place where he knew the Fire Lord would be able to see him and promptly fell to his knees. Hopefully, Azulon wouldn't take out his anger on a teenager who had barely chosen his path.
"You must be the messenger the sages said would be coming," Azulon said. The man's voice was firm, but age cracked it at the edges.
"Yes Fire Lord," Joo Wan said. What else should he say? What else could he say that wouldn't end badly?
"Speak boy, what is the message your masters wanted to deliver so directly?" Azulon snapped.
"The… The Avatar…" Joo Wan stumbled before coughing and trying again.
"The Avatar of fire, we didn't find him in time," Joo Wan could feel himself shaking. He felt sick to his stomach. He was going to die, wasn't he? What other option was there? The Fire Lord would have to take his anger out on someone. Here he was, the only person in the room when the worst news imaginable would be told.
"You didn't find him… in time? What is the boy already at one of the poles learning how to waterbend? I can easily send an armada to catch him after he leaves. He's only what? Sixteen? He won't be a fully realized Avatar for some time,"
"He won't ever be a fully realized Avatar," Joo Wan quietly corrected. It was hard to think that the Avatar was the same age as him. Well, had been the same age as him.
"Yes, I suppose finding an Airbending master is out of the question, the last two Avatar's were never able to either after all," Azulon mused before turning his attention back to Joo Wan.
"But why is that such terrible news? We killed the Avatar of water after the Avatar of air died during the comet. And we captured the avatar of earth and had her fight for us… this avatar will be the same. Unless there is something else?" Azulon asked. Joo Wan winced. Here it was. The moment he had been fearing.
"My Fire Lord that wasn't what I meant. The Avatar of Fire is dead. Our troops surrounded him in a village to the southwest, and he turned his bending… on himself," there was silence, and Joo Wan finished the sentence.
"The fourth avatar since the passing of the comet is dead,"
11 years later Southern Fire Nation: Aang's POV
Grabbing the last bag, I peek over my shoulder. The steady breaths of my family reassure me that they are all asleep, unaware of what I'm about to do. Creeping on tip-toe, I ease my way out of the tent, careful not to allow a cold draft in for fear of alerting someone. Looking back and forth I take in the sea of tents in front of me, flags fluttering weakly in the shifting summer air. I sigh, the silence assures to me that the entire circus is asleep.
I don't wait for that to change. I bolt, weaving in and out of the shadows, well out of sight of torches. It is only a minute before I arrive at Appa's stall. Despite how late at night it is, the sky bison is quietly munching on some straw I had left out for him earlier. He looks up from his midnight snack.
"Hey buddy," I say, dropping the sack to the ground with all the others. I make my way towards him, easily avoiding the piles of supplies strewn across the ground.
"Well, I'm ready. How about you?" I ask. He groans, pushing into my touch and nearly knocking me over. I push myself forward, surrounding myself with fur and the smell of straw.
"I know, me neither. We've got to though, you know how things are. It's my destiny…" I grab fistfuls of his fur.
"Spirits I'm scared,"
I pull away, starting to sift through the bags of supplies trying to find Appa's saddle under the mess I had piled around it. Finally, I spotted the familiar black, oiled leather. Grinning, I threw my arms up, willing the air to clear the saddle from the pile. From there I smoothly shifted it onto Appa's back.
The saddle had been a gift from my family for my tenth birthday, the year we assumed that Appa had finished growing. It covered most of Appa's upper back but still allowed him to be flexible. It had iron fastenings to attach ropes to, two straps to fit between each set of legs and a tall rim in the front. It was on that ridge that the crowning glory of Appa's saddle was found. It was a picture in the leather of several sky bison flying together.
Appa's saddle was my prized possession and for a good reason. It was the most expensive item I owned, it was almost the most expensive item in the whole circus.
Taking a deep breath, I grabbed the straps on one side and slid under Appa. His leathery underbelly was soft and sensitive. I tickled it, causing him to snort and shift. I laughed and buckled both the belts.
"Aang, what are you doing?" A familiar voice asked, causing me to freeze. For a long moment I didn't move, still hidden by Appa's legs.
There was a pause, then a sigh.
"Even if you don't come out I know you're here. Guess I'll just sleep on Appa tonight, at least that way I know no one is trying to steal him,"
"I'm coming out," I muttered, sliding out from under Appa to glare at the owner of the voice. My older sister, Dawa, smiled, leaning against one of the tentpoles.
Dawa was eighteen, six years older than me. While she had similar features to me, hazel eyes and a rounded face she had gained the height that the fire nation was known for along with our father's bending.
She didn't say anything as I stood there, watching her. Taking a deep breath, I sighed.
"Are you here to stop me?" I asked. A brief flash of emotion passed over her face, but she said nothing. There was another beat of silence.
"You're not here to stop me," I realized. Dawa looked away.
"Even if I tried to stop you it wouldn't do anything, you'd just go again another day," She said, forcing a laugh.
"So I figured I might as well help you pack… you've always been hopeless at it," She glanced at the pile of bags and materials strewn across the floor, causing me to blush. She was right of course.
"Let me take a look," Dawa sighed, striding across the rough dirt ground. She peeked into a few bags here and there, casually tossing them into two piles. When she was done, one was much smaller than the other.
"There," she hummed, quickly grabbing the three bags full of dried fruit and berries and tossing them onto Appa's saddle. I shook my head and dumped the remaining bags on the floor. It reminded me of when we had to purge any extra things I had picked up during my time in a city. Dawa was always the one to help me choose what things I needed and what things I didn't. She noticed the red fabric and raised an eyebrow.
"You're formal garb? Really Aang? Do you think that you're going to be attending fancy fire festivals while trying to find bending masters?" she asked. I blushed but took the outfit, carefully folding it and placing it on top of the pile of bags that I was no longer taking with me.
"I guess that should have been obvious huh?" I asked. Dawa just shook her head with a smile.
"It should have been, but this is you, little brother," she grinned and rubbed my head, messing up the short black strands of hair. I pushed her away, laughing.
"Right, well these clothes are good," she said, setting aside the black, brown and grey clothes from my pile along with a few burgundy coloured ones. I frowned.
"Why not any of my orange or red?" I asked, gesturing to a vest and a shirt that were in those colours. Dawa blinked, turning her full attention to me with a confused expression.
"Aang, when you do this… you'll be an enemy of the Fire Nation. Officially at least,"
"No, I'm only the enemy to Ozai and those loyal to him, not that there are many people loyal to that kinslayer," I added, spitting to the side. Just saying the usurper's name gave me a foul taste in my mouth. Dawa closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose like our father often did.
"No Aang. Personally yes, but you will have to fight soldiers. You might even have to kill them. And if you want the support of the other nations… you're going to have to distance yourself from our nation," she sounded so resigned as if there was no other way, which made no sense. Why couldn't people understand that it wasn't the fault of the regular soldier that they were at war? Most soldiers didn't want to fight any more than I did. They had to fight to protect themselves and their families from Ozai's wrath. Once again I was reminded of how none of this would be happening if Iroh had taken the throne as he should have. The war would have been over years ago if the proper Fire Lord had been ruling.
"Why? I know I'm going to have to fight our people but why can't the other nations realize that it's Ozai who's the one in the wrong?" I demanded, picking up my red vest, waves of fire embroidered on it and putting it with the rest of the clothes Dawa had set aside. I met my sister's eyes, daring her to take that vest off of the pile. She merely sighed and looked away.
"I wish you didn't have to go alone," she whispered. I winced. Her sudden change of topic taking me off guard.
"Well, you know me, I'm never really alone," I said. I knew Dawa was feeling guilty about not coming with me. I knew I couldn't bring her though, it wasn't fair. She was supposed to take over the circus after our dad retired. She was also looking for a husband. It would be wrong for me to force her to put that aside for a war that might take until I was an adult to finish. If she didn't find herself a husband in the next five years, she would be considered an old-maid. With the war that wasn't as big of a deal as it had once been. My grandfather had told me that when he was a child if a girl made it to the age where she was considered an old maid most men wouldn't touch her. Now though, there was still a good chance of girls over twenty-five finding husbands. With how many men were at war it just wasn't possible for every girl to find one before she reached that turning point. Besides, back then women didn't work. Nowadays women had every job under the sun having to take up the mantle to replace all the men in the army.
"You know they aren't who I'm talking about," Dawa snapped.
"You can't come with me,"
"I know,"
We were quiet for a moment.
Come on Aang, you can't just leave her feeling that bad, it's obvious that she's eating herself alive.
What am I supposed to say? It's not like I have anything that can make her feel better. The last four Avatars all died before they turned forty, and not one mastered more than two elements. I'm only eleven, I might fail too. I won't let her come with me if… if I might die.
I swallowed and looked away.
"Why do you have Appa's horn polish?" She asked. Both of us ignored the crack in her voice at that question. Behind us Appa groaned, feeling the tension in the air.
"Because Appa likes his horns polished," I said. It was true, Appa loved the time that the two of them spent to keep him clean and well groomed, but he particularly loved having his horns shined. Probably the only thing the bison was truly vain about was his long curved horns.
"And you prefer to have a hot bath every other night, but you both are going to be on the road with people chasing after you, you won't have time to polish Appa's horns," Appa huffed causing us to turn towards him.
"Sorry Appa, you know it's true," Dawa added. The bison groaned again and we laughed.
We spent the rest of the time packing chatting about stupid normal things, bending, friends, our family. Funny times that made our sides ache. Neither of us brought up the war, avatars, failure, or the high chances of failure. For a few more hours we were just two Fire Nation circus children, a sister and brother.
When we were done packing the happiness faded away. I stood in front of Appa, staring up at the small pile of bags on his saddle.
"Aang," Dawa said, going to her knees, so she was slightly shorter than me. She took hold of my shoulders and forced a smile so fake and brittle it looked like it would fall apart any moment.
"Promise me that you won't die or get captured. I don't care if you stop Ozai, just promise me that... okay?" I could see the tears in her eyes, held back by sheer determination. I grinned.
"Kill me? Nah, come on sis, I'm the avatar. Nothing's going to hurt me,"
It was an act, and a bad one but she grabbed hold of it as her lifeline.
"Of course, who could imagine the incredible Avatar of Air could be defeated? I shouldn't have doubted you," she stood, pressing a kiss to my forehead and stepped back. I swept my hands backwards, pushing myself up onto Appa with a strong gust of air. Turning back I waved with a brilliant grin on my face.
"Yip-yip," I called, snapping the reins and sending Appa into the air.
As the circus slowly shrunk, I looked back. My sister's small form waving, then falling to the ground.
The muffled sound of her sobs echoed in my mind for miles as I left the only home I had ever known towards an uncertain future.
READ TO AVOID CONFUSION
A/N:This story, my new Avatar story, it is a co-written story between myself and Ink-spillz. Here I will talk about the most important things to understand in this story to avoid confusion (don't worry this will not ruin the story or give spoilers) as this story is a slight AU it is important that this information is understood by the readers.
There are four essential things to know for this story. First of all, it will be updated on a bi-weekly basis every other Saturday. Secondly, while I do not intend to make it similar to Change the World, I am the same author writing it (Ink-Spillz and I are working on the storyline, plot ideas, and characterization, as well as editing it together but all the raw writing is mine) as such there will be similarities. Also, the primary five 'deities' that appeared in Change the World are still real but will be playing more minor roles. No, you don't have to have read Change the World to enjoy this story. Finally, for those of you who have watched Legend of Korra, this story is only recognizing Korra as a person. Any facts or things canonized in LOK are to be forthwith ignored for the duration of this story.
(For those of you who are wondering, that is part of the reason I left Change the World, I was initially planning on running the series into LOK but eventually got really angry with some of the things they canonized which directly went against elements canonized by ATLA, and I couldn't keep heading in that direction.)
Finally here is the altered timeline that will give you an idea of what has been happening from the point of divergence (the avatar who replaces Aang) to the point of divergence. Please read it so that there will be no confusion, especially as I use the names of cannon characters in place of three of the avatars who failed.
(BC refers to before Sozin's comet, AC refers to after Sozin's comet)
12 BC - Avatar Roku dies and Avatar Tenzin (the air bender who replaces Aang in this story) is born
10 BC - Fire Lord Sozin makes the first colony Yu Dao
0 AC - Day of Comet's Arrival: Fire Lord Sozin attacks the air temples killing thousands, but leaving the air nomads and survivors from the temples
1 AC - Avatar Tenzin is killed in an ambush set for air nomads
Avatar Korra is born to the Southern water tribe
17 AC - Avatar Korra begins to retaliate against the fire nation
18 AC - twenty years of war The firenation is starting to struggle. Sozin orders for the brightest minds to be brought to the palace to be educated so as to end the plight.
19 AC - Avatar Korra heads to the mainland to learn Earthbending
- the firenation creates plows, and aqueducts
21 AC - Firelord Sozin declares that women may join the military and that all women must take up a career/job
25 AC - the first form of ballistic attacks (ie. the catapult) is created
39 AC - Avatar Korra and her rebels are killed in a surprise attack on their base
Avatar Qui is born
41 AC - the firenation makes its first steam-powered boat
47 AC - the firenation makes it's first metal boat that is powered by a motor.
55 AC - Avatar Qui is captured and tortured by the Fire Nation
60 AC - Avatar Qui is brainwashed and used as a weapon of war
65 AC - the firenation makes its first 'tanks'
73 AC - Avatar Qui turns on her handler and is killed in the process
Avatar Kuzon is born
81 AC - Avatar Kuzon is ambushed, he kills himself and those who ambushed him
Avatar Aang is born
99 AC - Aang is 11 (his birthday will occur during the story)
With all that said, I'm glad to hear from you all again and hope you will enjoy this story.
Falkyn's Flight Out.