Lightbending

Set in the Avatar world, but while the war is still going on. Zuko has already gone back to the Fire Nation after the battle at Ba Sing Se. The main character (me) is my favorite OC, Jiya. This is all her POV. She has a new kind of bending, lightbending. Created with my friend (a.k.a. Feisu), who has another story from Feisu's point of view, which runs parallel to mine. We do meet up later on, and share some dialogue that's in both stories. This starts in the past tense, but moves to the present tense pretty soon. Sorry if the beginning is kind of corny. It gets better. Please review! This is my first fanfic and I want it to be a good one. Constructive criticism is highly appreciated. Don't worry about wounding my ego. Now, we begin!

My father invented lightbending himself when I was very young. He wished for a son to teach it to, but he had only me. He refused to teach me; I was never good enough for him. My mother died in childbirth, so I was stuck alone with a father who could never love me, and wasn't quite sane, either. When I was six years old I turned to spying. I would watch my father for hours without him knowing, secretly trying to imitate his movements, his powers. After years of covert practicing, I finally mastered his technique and presented my secret to him, hoping for once he would be proud of me. Instead he flew into a maniacal rage and screamed at me go go to my room. He locked me in and told me to stay there until he thought of something to do with me. I did– for seven months. I waited and waited for him to come and let me out, but he never did. I think he forgot I existed. When I began to grow weak from starvation, I smashed the window and left for good. My own father never missed me.

I traveled to the Earth Kingdom and practiced lightbending, perfecting and polishing the art. I could kill someone by causing a tiny flash of light inside them and stunning the muscle cells of their heart. I could use light and color particles to completely alter my appearance, walk unseen, and create an illusion a mile wide and as lifelike as, well, life. I could use light to knock someone out or blind them, see telescopically, and see through things by making light shine through them. When I grew angry, I glowed, mimicking the Avatar state. I could plunge a room into total darkness, or make it as light as day. But my greatest power, and my favorite, was a laser beam of pure, raw light that could slice through any substance.

I was nine years old.

For five years since then I've been wandering from village to village in the Earth Kingdom searching for a disciple I could pass my knowledge on to. I'm very picky, and so far I've found no one. I plan to spread to the Water Tribes and Fire Nation, too, starting with the Fire Nation. Fire is closest to light.

I board a private boat driven by the fastest waterbenders in the land. I've made quite a fortune on the side, getting into the "fireworks" buisness. The boat is fast, small, agile– perfect. The captain shows me to a large, luxurious suite and tells me to ring the bell in the corner if I want anything. I nod and thank him politely, but I know I won't use the bell. I don't believe in keeping slaves, paid or no.

Once the captain leaves, I flop down on the soft velour bed and stare at the carved ceiling. I stay there, not moving, for several minutes, until a sharp squeak fills the air, and I jump up, startled, a pinprick of light already forming in my hand. It's just a mouse, though, and it scurries across the floor squeaking its head off, closely followed by a small orange-and-white tabby kitten. One pounce, and the mouse is limp as a doll. The kitten begins to chew it up slowly, a disgusting sight. I grimace and look away.

"Uh, miss?" A broad-shouldered man in a waterbender's uniform stands in the doorway. "Captain Inowa wants you up on deck. There's a slight emergency."

I stand up. "Lead the way."

The waterbender shows me up to the deck, where Captain Inowa is waiting for me, looking worried. "Ah, Jiya. We're entering Fire Nation waters There's a blockade up ahead. What should we do?"

I frown. With the war going on, I have to come here from the Earth Kingdom in secret. The crew are mercenaries, neutrals who'll take the side of whoever pays them more. The Fire Nation won't hurt them, but they may have heard of me, and they may not like me. "You guys... well, they're not really fighting you, right?" Inowa nods. I continue, "It's just me they're hunting. So we can get past." I'm already planning. The ships are too close together for us to squeeze by, otherwise I would just hide our ship. Slowly, I start to change myself. My shoulder-length brown hair lengthens and urns a deep black. My face becomes more angular, my nose smaller and pointed, and my legs longer. My eyes become slanted and amber-colored. I turn my dark green tunic and brown leather leggings into a long, dark red gown with a pink pattern of eagles. Of course, it's only an illusion, but as long as no one touches me, no one will know the difference. "There," I say, satisfied. "A Fire Nation nobleman's daughter, returning home from a diplomatic mission in the north."

Captain Inowa's eyes are wide. "Amazing. You look nothing like yourself."

I change the flag to the Fire Nation symbol and we hoist it. I stand on deck so the firebenders can see me clearly and try to look imperious. Two ships in the blockade move apart for us and we pass without incident. As we leave them behind, I start changing the flag back to the Earth Kingdom emblem until suddenly the first fireball speeds past. A rain of flaming rocks assault our ship as if on cue. "Damn!" I curse. "I thought we were out of range!" The next fireball passes only inches from our hull. On a whim, I create a mirage of our ship, hit and sinking, and hide our real ship as we continue on, shaken but unhurt. The fireballs stop. I keep up the illusions until we're out of sight, and then, relieved, drop our disguises.

Captain Inowa shakes his head in wonder. "You are a mystery, Jiya. I can only thank you. That was close."

"It was my pleasure. After all, I'm on this ship too!" I joke.

The captain chuckles. "We'll be at port within three days. Feel free to ask anything of us. We are at your service."

I roll my eyes. "Don't be so formal with me, please. It makes me feel old."

The rest of the trip is uneventful. I pass the time playing with the kitten, touching up on my illusions, and "redecorating" my suite. At last, we pull into harbor. I pay the captain and set out, my bag on my shoulder and a convincing disguise over me.

I've walked three blocks into the port city before I realize my bag is squirming. Opening it, I find the orange-and-white kitten giving me bambi eyes. "Hey! You stowaway! You belong to Captain Inowa!" I curse and run back to the docks, but the ship is already just pulling away from the harbor, and back towards the open sea.

The kitten, still sitting in my bag, purrs and rubs his head against my hand. I have to admit, he is very cute. I sigh. "Oh, fine. It's not like I can just abandon you." As if he understands what I just said, he climbs onto my shoulder and licks my nose playfully. "You chalchigi!" I laugh. Chalchigi is the word for "rascal" or "trickster" in the tribal language.

Suddenly weary as my long day catches up with me, I collapse on a park bench and lazily scratch the kitten's ears. He closes is eyes, and if cats can smile, I'd swear he does. I notice that it's getting dark, but the street lamps haven't been lit yet. Without thinking, I create a glowing orb above my head and take out my book, Legends of Strange Benders. Not that lightbending is in here, but it's always been my favorite book. Some of these legends are really ridiculous. I've barely finished the second page, though, when I hear shouts. "That's the girl! See her? She's making light without fire! She might be the one from that poster!" An old man is pointing at me with his cane, and a group of patrolmen rush over. Within seconds, I'm surrounded. I quickly extinguish my light.

"Now, little girl," the captain leers, "just do as we say, and you won't get hurt. Now how did you just make light? It's not firebending. Do your mummy and daddy know?"

I clench my fists in outrage at being treated like a three-year-old, but then I remember that my disguise is that of a very small girl, to better escape attention. I try to think of something a five-year-old kid would say. Finally, I just squeak, "Daddy told me not to talk to strangers."

"That's right. Some strangers will hurt you. But we won't. We're patrolmen. We keep you safe." I can't help but be amazed by his nerve.

"Well," I say in my best stubborn little-kid voice, "I don't believe you. I'm not gonna tell you anything." An idea suddenly occurs to me, and I grin under my mask.

"Come on, little girl. We need to know as much about different kinds of bending as possible. It'll help us keep this country safe from invading savages like the Avatar."

His last comment catches me by surprise. The avatar? I realize the soldiers are slowly closing in on me. Now is my chance to try out something I've been wanting to do for a long time. Slowly, I gather light around me until I seem to glow. I work to solidify it until I can feel it around me like a shell. I've never used this technique before, but how hard can it be? Concentrating, I try to shine the light-- and myself--towards a distant spot on the horizon, while still keeping the light solid. Suddenly, I feel my whole body bursting with pain, and then it's all over.

I'm standing in an alley in a town I recognize as Shalimang, about thirty miles south of the harbor city. I pump my fist in the air and suppress a whoop of joy. I can travel at the speed of light! No one can catch me now! But just to be safe, I change my disguise again, until I look short and blonde and about thirty. Soon I find a cheap inn and settle down for the night.

I spend four whole days in Shalimang without incident, something of a record for me. But on the fourth night, I'm practicing my laser technique an a sheet of metal from the dump when a maid walks in on me. She takes one look at me, drops her armful of fresh laundry, and runs away screaming. I don't wait for the soldiers to arrive-- I just open the window and shine myself out into the night.

I land in a small village near the Capital. Half of the houses are deserted, and the other half still look cold and unfriendly. As a red-haired teenager with green eyes and very pale skin, I set up a tent on the side of the road and build a fire. As I stare into the golden flames, I think about my next steps to find a disciple. I'm pretty sure the Capital is the place to start-- a big, expensive city, and the universities are there-- lots of smart people. Most of the high-security prisons are there, too-- if I get caught, I can escape and not have to travel far. With these thoughts whirling in my head, I crawl into my tent, throwing a blanket of darkness over it and the fire, and slowly drift off to sleep.