The black sword
Swords are objects of destruction. Men made them when they could no longer be satisfied with the mere act of hitting, they made them to kill. No sword made form the steal of the earth can be called good. They all thirst for blood.
The town of Shon Yu was situated in the earth kingdom. It was out of the way and the residents thought of the war with the fire benders as a fairy story to frighten the little ones. During the war one or two refugees had come demanding shelter and supplies, but they had left months ago as soon as the war ended. They knew that they were neither liked nor welcomed. They had been tucked away in a small paddock outside town, their only visitors being the locals who brought food and other supplies, and a small boy of about twelve.
This boy had been fascinated, he alone among his village wanted the knowledge of the world. At first he asked about the war, about why they had flown their own villages. Soon that topic was exhausted, they moved on to the other tribes and what they were like. This topic too became common knowledge for the boy. He could remember every single thing that he heard, so having no need to go over anything the conversation got onto bending.
There was one earth bender in the village, an old man called Solon. Another bender also came with the refugees but left before the boy could talk to him, as he received news that his family were alive in Ba Sing Se. Solon was even more withdrawn than the rest of the village, not even the boy could get a word out of him. So the boy relied on the refugees, none of which knew much of bending but he was still fascinated. He disregarded some of the far fetched stories about water benders talking to fish and fire benders wielding lightning. But the rest went into his head and became the fuel to the flames that were starting to catch. He had an idea, a massively wonderful idea, he wanted to be an earth bender.
Once an idea has started it spreads like a virus. The boy begged and hassled the refugees for stories and information on how people become benders. They weren't very helpful they knew the stories of the great deeds, the unforgettable displays of power but none of them could remember exactly how they had gotten to that point. One man insisted that they travelled to the sprit world, which, thought the boy, would have been improbable. Another, who could usually be relied upon said that they were born with it, this, the boy point blank refused to accept, these amazing powers would not be given out at random. The most hopeful idea, for the boy at leased, was that the masters of the power could give people the gift, they could chose who was worthy.
The plan slowly formulated in his mind, he would get the location of a great master form the refugees. He had briefly thought about going to Solon to ask for his powers, but decided against it. Solon was not powerful and the boy felt sure that the larger the power of the master the larger the power of the apprentice. After the final information grab he would leave the village in search of this master. His family would be happy to see him go, they already had two other sons and three daughters, perfectly enough to run the farm. He would be set to go out and have the adventures his heart craved.
Unfortunately his great plans were foiled. The war ended and the refugees left, the only sorrow the boy felt at this was that now he would have to find a great master by himself. His father on the other hand was ecstatic, he could use the refugee paddock and the hills beyond to expand the farm. The space needed a lot of work, so when the boy finally broached the idea of leaving to his parents they refused. The boy was stuck in the small town of Shon Yu, which, at that moment, seemed even more deserted than it had seemed during the war.
Shou Himura, the small boy from Shon Yu was stuck at one of the most boring times he had ever had. His life slow and his ambitions halted, the only adventures he had were in his dreams, even they ended with waking up.
Shou helped his family expand the farm, and slowly but surely the workload lessened. At first with the completion of the tree clearing and then when they finished with the fences. Shou knew that when it was all back to normal he would be allowed to leave. In his off time Shou still was very curious, he gathered knowledge of earth bending whenever he could, whether it was a wondering traveller or snippets of overheard conversations in town by Solon.
It was about three months after the refugees had left town and farm life was settling down again. Shou had decided that instead of asking this time he would just leave. On a farm, though there was a lot of time off, there was always a busy day of two coming up, his parents would always have an excuse not to let him leave.
Since summer was on its way the town were getting ready to have the spring fair. Shou had decided to time his departure to when everyone was occupied and no one would notice a twelve year old boy slipping away.
It took awhile but eventually Shou found everything he needed. He would be wearing a light set of clothes with his best walking boots. As everything was moving around for the fair he found it easy to steal a hunting bow and some snares, he also took his older brother's hunting knife, which he felt guilty about but he couldn't find another one. Shou also packed his water skin that he used when he was working and the flint that he had gotten for his tenth birthday. All this, he packed into a pack with a blanket and hid under the big tree just outside town. Shou had just a few more hours to wait for the spring fair and his freedom.