I always wanted to write an Avatar story, now I finally have a vague idea for it. I don't know yet what direction the story will take or how long it will be, but there will be action, adventures, humor, suspense, slight romance and plot twists. I will also try to keep everyone in character. Also English is not my mother tongue so please forgive the mistakes I'm making.
Disclamier: I own nothing what also appears in Avatar: The last airbender. Everything else is taken from my imagination.
Have fun reading.
Assassin rule no 1: Even in times of peace an assassin is never out of work
It was in a small town in the northern Earth Kingdom. The hundred years of war were finally over, prince Zuko was now the new Fire Lord, his ruthless father in prison, and together with the Avatar they were about to bring peace and balance back to the world.
The people all around the nations were joyful and were celebrating for the last days since the proclamation that the war was really over had been announced, and the citizens of this small Earth Kingdom town were no exception. Although it was already near midnight the streets of the small town were lit from dozens of lanterns and candles, the people took out their best vines they had stored away during the war, waiting for a good moment to drink them. They shared their meals so that everyone regardless of being rich or poor was full these days, soldiers had returned from the front lines to their families and homes, and people from the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom walked through the streets arms in arms, joking.
It was a historical event. Everyone was happy… almost everyone.
For some people the news of the end of the war had been the worst news they had heard in a long time. During the war they had formed an organization with business men from the Fire Nation as well as from the Earth Kingdom. They all had been profited from the war for years and now they were about to lose everything. But of course they wouldn't just watch how the peace agreement would destroy their evil plots and intrigues, so they hired someone who should take care of it. The person was an assassin, the very best which existed.
This night they met despise of the parties in one of the dark side roads of that small Earth Kingdom town in a secret back room where they were supposed to meet the assassin. The seven assembled men, three from the Earth Kingdom, four from the Fire Nation, were the top of their organization and they would stop from nothing to be able to continue their wealthy business.
It was exactly midnight when they heard a knock on the door.
A brown-haired forty year old man who was taller than the others in the room and dressed in Fire Nation clothes stood up and opened the door only slightly. Outside there was a hooded figure in a black cloak standing. Because of the darkness he could only see the outlines of the small chin of the figure.
"I'm here to talk with Kenta" the person, who was according to the voice a woman, spoke with an emotional voice.
"I am Kenta" the man said and opened the door wider. "We have waited for you. Come in please."
The cloaked woman followed him into the room where the rest of the assembled men were sitting around a round table. They were all over forty; most of them had already grey hair. In fact Kenta seemed to be the youngest of them.
"Please sit down" Kenta said and pointed at the chair he had been sitting on before but the guest preferred to stand in the shadows and leaned against the wall, not even thinking about removing the hood.
Kenta sat down without a comment or reaction to the slightly rude behavior of the woman and continued: "In the name of the order I would thank you to come here tonight. We already heard a lot of you and your excellent work and-" But the woman interrupted him:
"Please save the flattery but skip to the business part. Who is the target and how much will you pay?"
Some of the men frowned at her rude interruption but Kenta only smirked and said: "If you finish this job with success we will give you so much money that you can settle down for the next years."
"I guess it's a difficult job then. Who's the target?"
Kenta smirked wider and some of the other men chuckled slightly while others watched her reaction carefully. "The water tribe siblings Sokka and Katara, Toph Beifong, the Fire Lord Zuko and finally the Avatar Aang; they are all your next targets."
The statement was followed by a long silence; every pair of eyes in the room was set on the assassin who seemed to be deep in thoughts. "Before I decide I would like to know first why I shouldn't only kill the Fire Lord and the Avatar, but also their friends…"
"It's because they are symbols of this revolutionary peace too. Even if we would get rid of the Avatar and the Fire Lord, their friends would still be in our way and make our business difficult."
"I see… You said I would earn enough money from the job … How much is enough?"
Kenta nodded to a thickly Fire Nation man sitting opposite of him who put three smaller boxes and two bigger ones onto the desk. "These boxes are all filled up with gold, three for the less troublesome targets, and two for the ultimate prize."
The woman moved to stand next to the thick man and opened each of the boxes, looking into them shortly.
"This will be my winning, but I want one more box to finance any additional costs that will come up."
Kenta nodded. "Of course it won't be a problem." Several men nodded silently, they all had enough money so that one more box wasn't exactly a problem. The real problem was that they had to get rid of the Avatar and the others who kept them from continuing their business, and this woman was their solution.
"I take it that we have a deal then" Kenta said smiling and stood up, stretching out a hand for the assassin to grab. A small pale hand appeared from under the cloak and grabbed his in a surprisingly firm grip.
"Yes, we have." She let go of his hand and took one of the smaller boxes from the desk. "This will be for the additional costs then, I'm sure you will be able to replace it until I have done the mission."
Kenta nodded. "We've got a spy placed in the royal palace. He will meet you in the tavern "Fiery Komodo rhino" outside the Fire Nation Capital to give you plans of the palace and the whereabouts of the targets. Also he will help and assist you if you wish."
The woman nodded and her hand disappeared under her cloak again, along with the box. "It is a pleasure to make business with you. I find out myself." She then turned around without saying anything more and left the bar.
Outside there were still people, mostly drunken, walking around on the main road but no one paid further attention to the cloaked figure as she quickly walked to the outskirts of the village and into the forest. On a cleaning she stopped and whistled three times loudly. For two minutes it was silent except for an owl-cat calling, the pitch-pat from water of the last rain fall dripping from the leaves, and a stick breaking nearby.
Suddenly a shadow appeared and a massive figure stepped out from under the trees, onto the cleaning. It was a big black wolf; its shoulders were on the height of the woman's chest. Red eyes were watching the human as the animal stepped closer. The wolf also had wings on its back with strong long brown feathers. That was the reason why the humans called these majestic big animals eagle-wolfs, but because of the red frightening eyes, the black fur and the secrets surrounding these creatures other names like demon-wolf, red-eyed-demon, or winged beast were no rareness although nowadays most people didn't even believe that they existed. They were nothing more than fairytales, myths, or even horror stories.
The eagle-wolf now stood in front of the woman who stretched an arm out to pet its head. The beautiful animal closed its eyes in like.
"I have to be in the Fire Nation tomorrow, can you bring me as fast as you can to the port in Senlin village?" The eagle-wolf growled in response and the cloaked figure stepped next to its side just to swing herself on its back. The eagle-wolf ducked just to spring forward and dashed running through the forest. In a blur it jumped over roots, plants, smaller trees; and made its way in lightning speed through the thick woods.
At the end of the forest was a cliff but the eagle-wolf didn't stop but jumped and spread its wings. These creatures weren't able to fly long distances like an air bison did but a jump down a cliff wasn't a problem for them.
Softly the eagle-wolf landed on the ground and continued running across the field, heading to Senlin village where the assassin continued her travel with a ferry while the eagle-wolf disappeared into the woods again.
The "Fiery Komodo rhino" was a tavern in the outskirts of the capital. It was crowded, too crowded for the woman's like but there wouldn't be another tavern which was less crowded around the capital anyway since the ceremony of the nomination of Fire Lord Zuko had only been five days and the people who came from all over the world and from the most different tribes weren't in a hurry to get home.
The assassin though still found a free desk in a dark corner and waited for the contact man to come with her hood still covering most of her face.
It was late afternoon, and only five minutes after the woman had arrived, a fire nation soldier dressed in civilian clothes and also hooded sat down opposite of her.
"You're early, Miss" he said showing his face and looking at her curiously from brown dark eyes. He was young, a little mustache, probably his first, covered his cheeks and his face was still wrinkles-free.
"Do you have the plans?" she only asked and the young man nodded and put them onto the desk.
"This is a detailed plan of the royal palace. Some of the securities left with the Fire Lord and the Avatar who are about to visit the bigger towns in Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom and the Northern Water Tribe because of this peace agreement. I can still only bring you this far into the palace though" he said and pointed to a building opposite to where here targets would be.
"That's not a problem" she said as the distance between the buildings was only about fifteen meters.
"I can give you back up if you want because in the next week I have shift in this section" he said and pointed to the main building. "I and three other guards are about to watch over the Avatar's friends."
The woman nodded as she was satisfied. "Alright, I will allow you to assist me but only under the condition that you will do exactly as I say. One mistake and the whole mission will fail, do you understand?" The young man nodded determined before he frowned slightly.
"May I ask you something? Why don't you wait until the Avatar and Fire Lord will come back, why kill them separately?"
She smirked but he couldn't see it because her face was still covered and she sat in the shadows. "You said it yourself: The guards lessened since the two left, when they come back the operation will be more difficult. Also the targets are too many and too skilled to be killed with one go. After eliminating at least three of them the remaining ones will notice what's going on and react, and then it would be difficult to take care of them also. No, trust me, the best way will be to kill them separately: First the smaller prices, then the mayor ones."
The man nodded smirking. "Alright, we shouldn't lose any more time then but head to the royal palace. Their so called peace won't last for so much longer…"
So, that was the prolog... How did you like it? In the next chapter the Gaang except for Aang and Zuko will appear.
Please review!