Fire. Air. Water. Earth. Long ago, a firebender named Wan undertook a journey to master all four elements and imprison the dark spirit Vaatu. At the Harmonic convergence, Wan merged with the light spirit Raava and became the first Avatar. It is the duty of all subsequent Avatars to master all four elements and maintain balance in the world.

Shen dozed as the cart rocked underneath him, the stars slowly fading as the day broke. The dragon moose pulling the cart grunted sleepily as the kind man flicked the reins.

"So where are you headed" the kind man asked, not looking at Shen.

"West," Shen told him brusquely.

"Just 'West'?" the kind man prodded after a few moments, "You don't have any specific destination in mind?"

"I'm looking for some people." Shen answered.

"Friends? Acquaintances?" the kind man asked, "Enemies? Maybe I know who you're looking for."

"Nothing like that," Shen admitted, "I've never met them, but I'm supposed to train with them."

"Well, you seem to have this whole life thing figured out," the kind man laughed dryly, "I won't trouble you about it anymore. What was your name, by the way?"

Shen said nothing, but held up a hand to silence the old man. In the gloom beyond the cart, he could hear faint whispering. He had just lowered his hand when a rock about the size of his torso flew out of the darkness. Shen instantly leapt from the cart and made contact with a swift kick to the rock, shattering it into dust.

His feet hit the ground and he immediately thrust his fists out in front of him, hurtling his own rock back at the gloom. For a few seconds, nothing happened, and then someone charged at Shen, a knife held high in the air. Shen swiftly and easily ducked under the man's arm and threw an uppercut in his direction, creating a spike of earth that found the man's shoulder blade and tossed him bodily through the air. Without hesitating, Shen spun on the spot, kicking the spike and cleaving a portion out of the middle. The momentum carried the rock through the air and into the chest of another man waiting in the darkness.

Shen stood motionless then, waiting for the next attacker. After a few moments of inaction, he began to relax, and another spike of earth erupted directly in front of him. He managed to throw himself backward in time to avoid being knocked unconscious, but as he fell to the ground, he could hear footsteps coming toward him. He turned his head and saw a cloaked figure stopping a few feet away, ready for a fight. He felt his back make contact with the ground and he spun on his shoulder, lashing out with all of his limbs and sending a barrage of thin slabs of stone at the figure. He rose to his feet and watched his opponent spin and dodge all his projectiles save the last one, which was stopped with a solid fist.

"Who are you?" Shen asked loudly, tensed and ready to move.

The figure said nothing as its gaze visibly moved between Shen and the kind man on the cart. A gloved hand came to the top of a shrouded head, and a thick wave of dark hair tumbled out.

"You're pretty good, kid," a gentle voice sounded from the figure, and a gently angled, middle-aged woman's face appeared. She was smiling softly, and there was no anger or glee or fear in her eyes. Shen was too stunned to move for a fraction of a second, and was nearly decapitated for it. He ducked quickly, feeling the rush of air as the sword passed above his head. He turned and locked his feet where they were, throwing one fist into his would-be killer's knee and the other down into the ground.

One hand met little resistance as the swordsman fell backwards with a broken leg, and the other opened just before it reached the dirt, so that his palm was down and his fingers were spread wide. Behind him, he heard the woman's grunt as a small wall shot up in front of her, trapping her hands and retreating to pull her into a kneeling position. Shen slowly stood and let out a deep breath, relaxing his shoulders. All together, the skirmish had lasted for little more than a minute.

Shen walked toward the woman, wary of any trick's she might pull. When he was standing in front of her, he twisted one of his feet and the woman's restraints disappeared. She quickly rose to her feet, rubbing her wrists and eyeing him cautiously.

"Why did you do that?" the woman asked venomously after a few moments of awkward silence.

"I could ask you the same thing," Shen said emotionlessly, "This man doesn't have anything worth stealing; he's a farmer, not a merchant."

"Could've fooled me," the woman said, annoyed, "These are hard times. Everybody's got something worth stealing if you've got the patience."

Shen stared hard at her for several moments without speaking. He kept trying to look her in the eye, but she would always glance away. "Who are you?" Shen repeated after giving up.

The woman rolled her eyes with a sigh and said "My name is Ming. These idiots," she gestured around with one arm at the unconscious men, "are my associates. Actually, at this point, they've pretty much become my family."

Another few minutes passed as nobody said anything. The kind man's dragon moose chewed at the grass lazily as the sun rose in the distance. Eventually, Shen moved to the back of the cart and slung a bag over his shoulder. He walked back to Ming and spoke directly to her.

"I suggest you make sure none of your associates are seriously injured," Shen told her, "I broke his leg, so he won't be able to walk for a while, and your wrist is fractured, at best. There's a town, about two days' walk that way," Shen jerked his head the way that he and the kind man had come from, "Try not to rob any more people on your way there."

Shen brushed past her and stopped when he was even with the front of the cart. He stared out at the horizon as the sun climbed up into the sky behind him.

"I'm Shen," he said, just loud enough for the kind man to hear, "And I'm looking for the sun warriors. Ever heard of them?"

"They're at least a week's journey from here," the kind man said sympathetically.

"I was afraid you'd say that," Shen said dryly.

"I can take you about halfway," the kind man offered, "Just say the word."

"Thank you," Shen said, grateful, "but I think I need to make my own way from here on out. Stay safe." Without another word, Shen began walking. Long after he had left the cart and the kind man and Ming behind, when the sun was at the top of the sky, he looked back from the bottom of the valley. He saw no people from where he had come from, so he turned and continued on to the mountains ahead.