An Ocean on Fire
Prologue:
The day the world exploded was beautiful. The Earth Kingdom was experiencing the first clear day after almost a month of rain. The wind coming down from the mountains swept away the humidity and remaining moister in the air leaving it crisp and clean. The Fire Nation enjoyed a break from a rather aggressive heat wave and the people exited their homes in droves to enjoy the cool breezes as the peach blossom petals fell like snow. The Northern Water Tribe citizens strutted around their domain taking pride in the sight their city made as the sun glinted off the white buildings making it look like a diamond in the north. The Air Temples, though lonely and empty, looked radiant in the sunlight and caused wayward travels to catch their breaths and picture how those lofty temples would have looked with air bisons and airbenders floating around them, being carried by the breezes that stirred the dead leaves and blew through the empty corridors making it sound like the monks were still haunting the dwellings with their meditation chants.
Down in the south the Southern Water Tribe enjoyed the sunshine as they bustled about. Earlier that morning hunters had kissed their wives, mothers, and sisters goodbye as they went off to gather fresh meat that would be cooked, dried and stored for winter and the hides used for pelts, clothing, and a number of useful things. The woman chatted and gossiped as they watched the children, prepared food, and generally made sure that the tribe ran smoothly while the men were away. Children played and the young and youthful helped their mothers all while trying to hide the fact that they were flirting (or attempting to flirt) with each other. Two teenagers, a brother and a sister, had taken off in a kayak. The brother, at fifteen, was attempting to show that he was as good of a hunter as the grown men in the village and thus deserved to be allowed to go on the next hunting party. The sister, at the mature age of fourteen, was along to keep an eye on her brother and practice her water bending, which did not go very well and resulted in her older brother getting soaked.
The siblings begin to bicker, as all siblings do. Cracks in a glacier begin to appear behind the sister as she berates her brother about his stinky socks when all of a sudden, the world goes still. Like every person in the world, Earth, Fire, and Water nation all collectively held their breath. Then a bright light in the sky and a massive rush of air that knocks the siblings to the ground and makes the hairs on the back of the Southern Water Tribe hunters stand on end. The tree lemurs in the air temples take flight, the rocks in the Earth Nation trembled, the tide in the North suddenly changes and causes confusion on the docks, and a single candle in the Fire Nation flickered as a mad man laughed.
The siblings stood up, their eyes in the direction of their village, a village that was no more. As they raced back to what was once their home, a faint light glowed in the ocean…just for a second…before it faded.
The Southern Water Tribe was no more, and by night fall, the world was at war.