Inferno

A novel

Prologue

The Four Nations lived in harmony for 152 years before the curious and sudden death of Avatar Korra. Eight years after Korra's death the Earth kingdom began spreading its forces under the rule of the tyrant Earth King Yuan. The people of the Four Nations were completely unprepared and caught off guard by this assault and spread of great power, so they fought to bring Yuan down and bring in new leadership to the Earth Kingdom and prepared the way for the next Avatar to come. But the next generation of the Avatar never came. They were on their own in this new war.

65 years go by without a trace of the Avatar on the horizon, people still have hope that he or she will appear someday, but they are lost as to why there has been no word of one being born in this long. But by this time most of the people of the Four Nations do not want the Avatar to come back, and see it perfectly fit to live under the tyrannical rule of the Earth Kingdom royal family. The results thus far of the Earth Kingdom's take over have been poverty in the other nations, even in the King's own nation.

But thousands of miles away in the Northern Water Tribe, unknown to the entire world, a young fire bender named Ren is living in blissful ignorance of her true destiny as the Avatar that the good people of The Four Nations need to save them.

Chapter One

Boom…. Boom!

A fabulous display of fiery sparks sprayed from where I demolished the roof over a bedroom in the Firelord's palace. I sparked a fireball between my hands and launched it at the roof to my left and turned on my heel towards my guest bedroom to pack my things, as soon as the sun showed its face over that horizon I was leaving the Firenation and going back to the North Pole, where everything was still simple and peaceful.

Once I had reached my room and scorched the door handle on the way in I proceeded to tear the distasteful crimson gown I was given to wear off and then burn it. I dropped it on the floor and then watched it turn ashen as I slipped my silk nightgown over my head. Before I got any further in finishing up for the day I walked up to the door and melted the door until it was welded to the wall, just as an extra precaution so absolutely no one would be able to get into my room tonight.

Just as I began to tease my black hair out of the millions of tightly woven braids on my head someone banged on my door. I didn't bother to see who it was.

"Open up this door right now young lady!" Oh good, my dad, just the person I wanted to speak to.

"Gee I sure wish I could dad, but unfortunately its welded shut."

"Don't give me sass; I want to talk to you about your rude behavior to the Firelord. You're lucky he's so forgiving and that he hasn't fired me yet!"

"How about you tell me why you even tried to set me up with his son in the first place! I never wanted this!" I slammed my fist against the door. "Prince Charming doesn't have a care in the world about a girl's feelings, which is exactly why he's failed to show up thus far!"

"Ren, he does care!"

"Did I mention he's stood me up four times?"

Dad turned to pleading. "Sweetie, can you please come out so I can look at you while I'm talking to you?"

"NO!" I stalked away from the door and grabbed my hairbrush from the vanity and dropped down on my bed to get the tangles out of my hair. How could dad demand things of me after all he'd put me through these past two weeks?

"If you don't want to talk to me, fine. But I want you to come and apologize to Firelord Piao for breaking his furniture and shattering the dining wear!" I paid no mind to the shouting man on the opposite side of the door and continued to brush my hair as if I was alone in my room preparing to go to sleep. "Answer me Ren!" He continued to relentlessly shout and pound on the door,

I walked across the room and scooped up the dress on my way to the door. "Give this to Firelord Piao," I stuffed the charred fabric under the door and stood to my feet and turned my ear to listen for his reaction, and since I heard none I continued to speak. "I won't be coming back to the Firenation again for anymore arranged dates, I want to go home! Now don't bother me again, I'm going to bed, I'll apologize in the morning."

I paused for a few seconds by the door and waited for any words, but I heard none so I switched off the lights and crawled into bed. I didn't think I'd get any sleep, no matter how long I laid in bed, with my body feeling like the center of a burning ember. The blanket draped over me wasn't helping either so I flung that off of me and sat up and walked over to the window and pushed it open. A cool breeze brushed my skin as my eyes met the night sky where the full moon was shining bright over the age-old volcanic rim that encircled the Firenation capitol city.

I still felt like a burning ember, even with the cool autumn air blowing on my face. I missed the calmness of the northern water tribe, and my friends. Even though they think I'm weird for preferring the freezing cold of the north instead of the tropical feel of the Firenation like a fire bender should.

A shaky sigh escaped my lips as I dug my fingernails into the window sill, nothing would make me happier than to burn something to the ground right now. How could my situation be considered fair in any sense? I felt like a piece of trash kicked to the wayside! Pretty-prince-boy sure doesn't seem to care that I exist; it would've been nice for him to show up just once for us to meet and appease our parents. I wouldn't have let it go any farther than our arranged date anyway; I wasn't interested in being setup with a man when I didn't know anything about him beyond his appearance. It just wasn't fair that he stood me up like this! I've never even met the guy and he hates me!

I sighed and slumped to the floor, finally deciding to let it go and go to sleep, it's just as well that I never meet the prideful prince which will just save me a whole lot of headache.

#

"Ren, sweetie, couldn't you have worn your hair up in a braided bun for our departure? The Firelord is seeing us off personally." Mom fussed with the back of my hair with which I'd just pulled sections of hair from the side of my face and braided them down the back.

I arched my neck away from her hands and scrunched up my nose. "My hair is fine mom; I don't need to impress him." With an exasperated sigh my mom retracted her hands and fell silent. I stole a glance at my father to see if he'd say anything, but he just continued to gaze out the car window with the empty expression on his face he'd had ever since I first layed eyes on him this morning. So I settled back into my seat and closed my eyes for the long ride to the boat dock where we'd take the vessel across the ocean to the capitol, Republic City, for a short stop before transferring to a Water Nation ship to go back home; something to finally look forward to after three irritating weeks at the Firelord's palace.

When we finally arrived at the docks I saw the Firelord dressed in long crimson robes perched upon a palanquin just next to the boarding platform of our huge coal black passenger ship, it even had red stripes along the rim and the belly of the boat to match the firelord's colors. The three of us got out and made our way to Firelord Piao under the great shadow of the exhaust vents belching black smoke. We bowed respectfully upon approach, and once I straightened back up my eyes connected with the Firelord's for just a brief moment before he gave a general nod in our direction.

"I hope you all had a good night's rest, it is a long way back to the Northern Water Tribe."

"Yes we did, thank you Firelord Piao." I was surprised by the edge of sharpness my dad's voice when he spoke. Did I miss something the Firelord said? I hadn't heard anything offensive come out of the man's mouth once.

"Ren," Firelord Piao addressed me. "I am sincerely sorry for my son's absence, he has been very lucky to be able to slip away as he has. Would you consider accepting a complimentary stay a vacation home on Ember Island as an apology? You would have servants to cater to your needs and a large establishment to stay in." He gave me his charming smile, while I had to refrain from leering at him for making excuses for his absentee son.

There were so many things that I could've said about his offer, none of them nice, but I decided to go the extra mile and be polite, after all it wasn't his fault my father persuaded me into going on a blind date with a prince. Any girl would fall for that offer. "Thank you your grace, but I will have to pass on that offer." Did I mention I wanted to ask if his son even existed? And that if he did, I wanted him to go to the deepest darkest abyss he could find and stay there?

"Very well, I wish you all safe travels back home. Good luck." He stood and bent his head, my mother and father bowed once again to him and led the way onto the ship, but I found it curious that as we walked up the platform dad peered over his shoulder at the Firelord for a moment with a concerning look in his eye before turning away again. I brushed some light strands of my ebony hair back from my face and bent over the railing as I watched the crew members of the ship close the boarding platform and load the rest of the luggage and cargo onto the deck. I turned my eyes to Firelord Piao again and watched him carefully as the ship began to rumble from the start of the engine. What was going on between him and my father? Had the Firelord said something about me to dad behind my back? His penetrating gaze caught mine and I imagined I probably wasn't too far off from the truth on that one.

#

I puffed a few flames from my mouth and my nose to warm my chilled hands and then gloved them again and stuck them back under my armpits. I continued to pace the bow of the ship and stare eagerly into the fog waiting for some sign of those icecaps that I was dying to see; maybe if I saw them I could finally get the nagging image of the Firelord's piercing amber eyes out of my mind.

"You do know that we won't reach home for another hour, right?"

I turned round and met the much more appealing gaze of my father. He stood there so nonchalantly with my fur coat draped over his arm like a towel, as if this whole trip hadn't happened, and we were only coming back from a vacation.

"I realize that dad, so excuse me for being tired of riding on this boat for almost two days straight. I miss solid ground, or ice, in my case." I turned my back to him and shuffled across the deck to the railing to look over the edge. Dad walked up beside me and passed me my jacket; I slipped it over my head and turned back to watch the waves curl away from the ship cutting through the water.

Silence drifted between the two of us as we continued to cruise across the ocean, I didn't know if I was supposed to say anything so I kept quiet. A sharp wind cut across my cheek and picked my long dark hair up in a wild twirl; I scrambled to gather the wild strands in a ball and then I tugged my hood over my head to keep my hair from escaping again.

I glanced at my dad and watched his somber face as strands of his black hair whipped up against his face in the wind. This not talking thing from him was getting on my nerves, usually we are at each other's throats most of the time because of how many disagreements we have all the time. He's been awfully silent ever since we yelled at each other through the door at the Firenation royal palace. That was the last place I saw him acting normal; it's like someone stole his voice-box, except for the occasional word here and there.

Dad finally turned his gaze upon me and looked me over. "Ren, dear, I'm very sorry that the Prince didn't show up to any of the arranged dinners. I think it is very disrespectful to do that to anyone. But do you understand that I do not appreciate you being equally disrespectful to the Firelord?" His voice was very calm, but it had a very hard edge to it.

I pulled the neckline of my jacket up to my chin and snuggled deeper into the fur lining of my coat. "I understand it dad, but I don't regret blowing up at the Firelord. I never liked him from the moment I met him, he's just as rude as his son is."

Dad stuttered and then clamped his mouth shut into a tight line. He inhaled very slowly and then with his exhale flames puffed out of his mouth. "You're lucky he is so forgiving, and that I didn't lose my job." For a moment I thought he would burn a hole through my head with the way he was looking at me, but I did see where he was coming from. My actions could've cost him his job, and then we wouldn't have a home.

I chuffed and shifted my feet. The ache in my heart was too fresh for me to forgive that selfish prince right now, but it wasn't in any way dad's fault that the prince was born the way he is. I still don't regret blowing up at the Firelord, but I had to apologize. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking about the consequences."

Dad tucked a strand of hair into my hood and his brow crinkled. "At least you'll be able to see Aiko again."

I laughed in spite of the strain in dad's voice and my irritation with all men right now. I'm sure the last thing he really wants me to do is spend quality time with the charming boy that causes every girl to swoon throughout the city.

The loud speaker squeaked on and the captain's voice started speaking. "Good evening ladies and gentleman, I just wanted to let everyone know that we will be reaching The Northern Water tribe port in about twenty minutes."

Finally! I clambered up to the flagpole posted on the prow of the ship and squinted my eyes into the breaking fog, shouldn't I be able to see the city on the horizon by now? Or at least some ice caps?

"Ren," A male voice drifted on the wind from somewhere far away. "Down here!" It sounded very familiar. I encircled the freezing flagpole with both hands and leaned over the railing to scan the rippling water; my heart skipped a beat when I caught sight of my brother's boat sailing towards us. I waved my hands wildly and stepped up onto the railing to jump in the water and join him when someone caught me by the waist and dropped me back on the deck.

"Don't even think about it crazy-girl, you'll die of hypothermia." Dad took me up in a bear hug from behind and waved to my blue-clad brother sailing with the ship far below us. I could've survived; I would've just been very cold by the time we reached the city.

Since I couldn't join my brother I turned my attention to something far happier; the fog was breaking and I could finally see some icecaps. Within minutes we were out of the fog and I finally rested my eyes upon the maze of beautiful ice-caps the size of ten barges like the one we stood on now. I stumbled out of my father's grasp and stood on the railing of the prow again to feel the wind in my hair. I took one long whiff of the clean icy air and closed my eyes with a smile.

Home…