New Beginnings 2.0- Basically, I've rediscovered this story after about 3 years… and decided to rewrite it into something better :) Believe it or not, this story was written even before Book 1 was finished. I'm going to try to stay as close to the storyline as possible, but it may drift a bit into AU. I changed a few things that I think would work better for the story… so please don't have too hard a time adjusting. No harsh comments, constructive criticism are appreciated, but if you have nothing nice to say then don't say anything at all.
Okay everyone, this takes place about 300 years in the future, the Avatar cycle was saved and this is based on the great great grandchildren of our Heroes. The characters are exactly like their former counterparts only their genders are switched….and the war they are battling is against the Earth Kingdom, apologies to the Earth Lovers…don't kill me, scold my mind….
The way things are:
-Katarou (Ka-Ta-Row)/Saki (Sah-Ki): Are siblings descended from Sokka. Katarou is a warrior as well as a bender, and poor Saki is somewhat useless, but tends to play mom and is trained in herbal healing.
-Angi (Ahn-Gee): Is descended from Aang and Katara (I'm not personally a Kataang fan)
-Zuke (Zoo-Khey): Zukos descendant and the Avatar
-Karoku (Kah-Row-Koo): Is a 'relative' of the Earth King we all know and love.
Reincarnation Cycle:
Katarou- Katara
Saki- Sokka
Angi- Toph
Zuke- Aang
Karoku- Zuko
-Aang lived to be about 120, or 220 counting iceberg years. He had 4 Children, none of which were Airbenders. This caused him a great deal of stress for many years. After his first grandchildren were born, 7 of his 8 grandchildren were Airbenders, he could die happy. He lived to meet his great grandchildren, many of which were Airbenders. So there is now a small pod of Airbenders.
-The following Water Avatar lived only about 100 years with no real historical significance other than helping the Water Tribes expand their borders by adding to the icecaps.
-The Earth Avatar lived a relatively short time, compared to other Avatars. He lived to be only about 75, had a mysterious death, some say he was poisoned, others say it was just meant to be.
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Disclaimer: If I owned the Avatar….would I be writing Fanfiction?
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After 300 years, the Great Fire War had been settled and ended with grand defeat by Avatar Aang; the Earth Kingdom had become inpatient with the world's slow progress, and aimed for unified world. As if this story hadn't been told before. The Earth Kingdom is much larger than the Fire Nation ever was, and its tyranny is just as brutal. By this time, the world is completely controlled by the Earth Kingdom, the only difference between the Earth Kingdoms plan and the Fire Nations plan is that they don't seek to destroy other cultures, but seek to harness them.
This war was spawned by the belief that anybody could learn to be an Avatar, that any bender could bend any element. There have been false idols in time, claiming to bend more than one element, but in truth, they were scam artists and magicians.
Karoku was the Earth Kingdom prince who was hot headed, unkind, and disrespectful from the day of his birth, his tan face held a fresh scar across the center of it at a diagonal angle. His shoulder length brown hair was held back in a green tie in an army style topknot with the rest falling down at his shoulders. His green eyes were a piercing icy mint green color, they weren't a common color, and often earned stares, which were greatly and often violently unappreciated.
He sported royal Earth Kingdom armor with the Earth Kingdom insignia engraved on his breastplate; he wore it with stride and often would show off to the fellow young soldiers and 'friends'.
"What do you mean I can't come back? I AM THE PRINCE OF THE EARTH KINGDOM! WHERE AM I SUPPOSED TO LIVE?!" Karoku shouted ferociously at the castle guard.
The guard winced and held his hands up defensively; Karoku snorted as he impatiently waited for an answer. The guard nervously held out a scroll. The prince snatched him from him suddenly and stared at the guard the entire time he unrolled it.
His eyes looked down at the words painted on the rolled paper,
"By order of the Earth Mistress Xiang Shi Herself,
Due to your unacceptable behavior, She condemns you to serving punishment outside the capitol city, and away from this states borders.
In order to return to your former place of residence, you must prove yourself level-headed enough to be an effective Earth King, and honorable enough to live up to your royal blood.
You are stripped of any governmental input and your visa into the city has been revoked.
Please spend this time reviewing your behavior; your ship has already been respectfully prepared to meet royal standards.
Love, Mother"
"Love, Mother…" He mumbled out loud. The amount of pain those 2 little words caused were immeasurable.
Karoku scowled at the guard and turned on his heel and marched off towards his newly assigned ship. This walk was perhaps the most humiliating walk of his life, it seemed as if everybody was staring him. Luckily the palace was nearby the water, he could maneuver in the crowds rather quickly.
When he arrived at his quarters he tore the armor from his body and threw it hard against the wall, he punched the wall where the armor landed and forcefully kicked his armor out of the way. He leaned against the wall and slid down into a sitting position, his head laid back against the wall staring upwards. He began to cry, and not just little tears, an outright sob.
This caused his even more strife, which just made him angrier. He hadn't cried since he was a small child, his mother told him that it showed weakness.
Everything he had ever known was suddenly gone, every object he'd ever grown up with was suddenly gone, and every bit of power he'd ever held was suddenly gone. All of this hit him at once, causing a surge of vulnerability and that excruciating nauseas feeling reserved only for the most devastating events possible suddenly rose in his stomach, chest, and throat.
His aunt walked into his room and pushed some herbal tea on him, "Karoku, I know this is a difficult adjustment for you, but you should try to calm yourself." She said kindly, trying to force a smile through her middle aged face.
Karoku turned to stare at her with a completely emotionless but tear stained face; he looked down at the tea momentarily, debating whether or not to take some. He grimaced and slapped the cup out of her hand, it crashing loudly into pieces against the wall. He grabbed her wrist and yanked her down towards him "If you EVER come into my barracks again without knocking, I will have you thrown overboard." He said calmly, but anger was obviously tainting every word.
After throwing his aunt out of the room, he realized that the strain on his face had reopened his fresh wound. Blood dripped down and stung his right eye; he reached for it and hissed quietly in pain.
Karoku swore a few times and put some more ointment on it, "I just HAD to crush that general…didn't I?" He whispered to himself out loud. He didn't understand why he was banished for it; the general hadn't even died!
All Karoku knew was that he couldn't return home until he found a way to prove to his mother that he was level-headed, mature, and honorable enough to return home. She left him a message through a guardsaying that he couldn't return home until he was King material. What did that mean? He'd never been schooled in any sort of royal etiquette, which he found odd. The children of Governors and other lesser royalty had all gone through etiquette and royal-politics classes, to prepare them for the life they'll lead.
Despite his mind running over a hundred miles per hour, Karoku found himself getting sleepy, it must be the post-breakdown exhaustion. He decided to attempt to get some sleep, since he had no idea where he was headed and what he would be doing.
Less than a few hours later, Karoku woke up in a cold sweat. He'd had a dream about what he had to do, what would restore his place on the throne. He had to bring the new Avatar to his mother.
A rumor around the palace was that it was a female this time around, that would prove interesting given it was of the Fire Nation. Their tempers were legendary, and their combat even more so. He would have to train a great deal, and also work on his own temper. He knew now what an uncontrolled temper can do, and wanted to have the upper hand when the time came.
Karoku knew he'd need his Aunt's help, since she trained with his mother, the greatest earthbender in history, she would definitely be some help… But how could he ask her so soon after treating her so badly? He didn't want to apologize it showed weakness.
He decided to wait a while until he was out at sea and things had calmed down.
~*~
A few hours had passed and he was still debating on how to approach his Aunt, he could just walk up and simply demand the lessons… or he could ask politely… or bribery always works…
Karoku was lying on the floor by this point and staring at the ceiling with his hands behind his head. He stirred a bit and looked over and noticed the shattered teacup and dried tea on the floor. He'd figured out how he was going to approach his Aunt
~*~
Rou sat at a small table on deck, it was a calm day out at sea and there were hardly any clouds in the sky. She breathed in a hearty breath of sea air and let out a thoughtful sigh; this was the beginning of a tough journey and she knew it all too well.
Her long black hair was pulled up out of her face into a half up topknot. Her bright green eyes seemed almost washed out by her pale skin and dark hair. She usually wore a soft relaxed expression on her face; she was the complete 180 reverse of her nephew. She was the only one of her siblings that took after their father.
"Aunt Rou…?" A soft but strong voice nearly whispered.
Rou put her hands in her lap and turned around, it was Prince Karoku. Her eyes widened in surprise then relaxed into a smile when she saw what he was holding. It was her cup, glued back together in a way that would make Dr. Frankenstein proud.
He held it out to her and bowed his head lightly to show his respect and apology without having to say anything, Rou smiled and reached for the cup, "This shows great maturity Karoku, you are already making great strides." She said softly in her perfect articulation.
Karoku was a bit flustered and didn't say anything for a good minute and a half; his aunt waited patiently, knowing something was on his mind.
"Aunt Rou… I need your help…" He said plainly with a hopeful look on his face.
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(Author's Note's Section) So I'm back with avengence! Trying to rewrite this into a better story than it already was :) Comments are appreciated :)
Love Always,
Skwurlluvr )O(