Welcome to my first fanfic!
Two things come to mind immediately that I feel I need to touch up on.
First off, I will say this about my story: It is a FULLY OC story. You may be able to relate characters from other things to these characters, and you may even find that they behave exactly like some of them, but they are still OC.
This doesn't mean that you shouldn't read this story, but I don't want any flaming only because I am not using the characters in the actual anime/manga.
Secondly, this story will not be having any citrusy content unless I somehow find a way to put characters that I have spent so much time slaving over into a romantic relationship that has something to do with the story. Don't take this wrong, there will be relationships, but they will not be to the point of fully written lemons or limes.
Alright, on to the next thing.
Since I know that most, (if not all,) of you have heard the overused speeches about reviewing, flames, etc., I feel as if I can just put it simply:
If you feel the need to flame, put it in a creative, well-thought out manner. A bad example of this is:
"U noob ur horrible at writing shut your face and stop lol"
The above statement has no respect for me, for you, and for the language. Below, you'll find a much better way to state your feelings.
"I didn't enjoy your story. It sucked because -. Also, you're bad at writing and should never write again."
All I need is the feedback, so you can vent after that.
Next up is my disclaimer, which I think is quite unique among disclaimers.
I, adam218, DO own the entirety of this story EXCEPT FOR some minor themes and actions that occur, which are similar to those you may find in 'Naruto' and 'Avatar: the Last Airbender'. All of the characters, events, etc. are mine, and if it is not, it will be noted, usually in the form of credits to whomever's idea it is.
Damn, I've wanted to say that for about eight years now.
This story started out as my take on Avatar, but ended up being an epic tale about my own world. I hope you like it! If you feel it is going too fast, or if it needs something that I am missing in my writing, REVIEW. People usually don't, but I think I understand why other authors really appreciate them.
One other quick thing: Anything on grammar, let me know in the form of a PM. Since I am a student, I expect my own grammar to be top-notch, or at least good enough not to need a beta. I want this to be one of the better-written stories out there, so even if the story itself sucks, I want good grammar.
And… about the beginning… The ideas I present there are some that I enjoy thinking about. It will seem extremely out-of-place, but TRUST ME, it will give me a scapegoat for all the plot twists.
Oh, how I love scapegoats. And plot twists.
Okay, then. Without further ado, I present to you 'Legend of Demons -Generation 1-'
Chapter 1: Into the Light
A group of shadowy figures stood over a large holographic table, eyes intent on the center. 5 others, siting in chairs, each seemed to be on edge.
A presence entered the room that these figures occupied.
"Alright, all of you. It's time to see our top students of this year continue The Game. If everyone would be so kind as to find their viewing panels…"
The crowd of people dispersed, leaving the new figure alone with the 5 now-identified students alone. The lone figure touched a hand to the center of the table, making it glow with what seemed to be anticipation.
The 5 figures stiffened at the appearance of an array of panels floating around them. Each one hit a panel, bringing the table to life, depicting a large map of a continent. As the students pressed more panels, the map became a flurry of activity. Landscapes, cities, markers, and even individual people appeared on the board.
When they were all done, the lone person called out. "Everyone… we are here to witness the next generation of players…"
The figure paused for a moment, then turned to face the board.
"It is time… to play the Game of Life."
Fire blazed out into the night over the village, gleaming off of the pale moon, licking the edges of the town hall. The fire, however, was soon put out by a rush of roaring water raining down from the heavens.
Steam rose from the village center as a lone figure rose from it. The person's hands filled with fire, which shot out at the nearest building and set it ablaze. Another figure, this one situated on a hill overlooking the village, formed a wave of water from the moisture in the air. The water surged towards the house, covering it in steam.
This odd warfare continued on, lighting the whole village on fire. The sounds of dead screams filled the air, giving the whole scene an even more gruesome feeling. Suddenly, both figures came to a stop, revealing a small shadow in the steam of their latest battle.
The figure on the hill stepped out, revealing a young-looking woman, slender and tall, sporting long brown-black hair cascading down her back. She wore a slightly charred gray robe that flowed behind her in the smoky breeze.
The steam remaining from the last engagement cleared to reveal a small boy curled up in a ball, whimpering into the floor. The woman quickly moved her hands, cutting the air. She then pushed her hands towards the ground, which formed a small platform made of water below her feet. She used to glide down the hill, coming to a stop where the boy was.
The other figure situated near the town center moved out of his cloud to reveal a gruff man clothed in a complex red uniform, signifying importance in whatever organization he belonged to. "Put him down!" He roared, his voice breaking the rest of the steam around him.
"I will not, especially for you." The woman said.
"Heh, you'll be dead, so I guess saving one person won't matter!"
The woman only growled and, after picking the boy up, sloshed back to the hill she started on, placing the boy down. The boy, for his part, was so terrified that he remained in a ball, seeming to curl up even more. The woman looked back to the battlefield only to see another fireball searing after her. She put her hands up, water forming in her palms.
-Hours Later-
The boy was still situated on the hill, this time with his back facing towards the sky, gazing at the sunset fading into the distant skyline. Hearing the sound of footsteps coming up the hill, he slowly moved his head, only to see the woman coming up the hill towards him.
Upon seeing her, the boy grinned slightly. The woman responded by placing her hands up into the air, water forming in them. She thrust her arms forward, forming a ring of water in the air. In the middle of the ring, a small rope of water untangled, connecting radially to the outer ring.
The woman's hands shook, and the ring destabilized, but she regained her composure, keeping a solid hold on the ring. After the ropes of water formed a thin barrier in the ring, the woman raised her arm behind her back, chucking it forward like one would with a baseball.
Whatever she did, though, seemed to be related to the ring, as the ropes hardened into a glass-like wall. The woman picked up the boy, placing him on her back, and took a deep breath. Once she felt good enough with the added weight, she leaped forward, going through the barrier, only to vanish into thin air.
-Meanwhile, in an Undisclosed Location...-
One of the figures groaned, while another smirked.
"Isham's Tier 2 Hero, Sora has prevailed, folks! With Ralgen's Minor Hero out of the way, will he be caught in a war between the others?" The lone figure shouted.
The table lit up with more activity as the one called Isham hit a few more panels. A marker appeared in a small clearing, right next to a marker with the name 'Sora, T2H' on it.
"Aaaand Isham is using his victory to gain another hero… but what's this?"
As he said that, the newly-made marker turned a deep black, then a crystal color.
"NO WAY FOLKS! ISHAM HAS MANAGED TO CREATE A TIER 10 HERO!"
The people there erupted into cheers. The other four students all glanced at each other nodding. After some more panel pushing, the majority of the board lit up. A line traced the border of the four's land, glowing white.
"AND LOOK AT THIS! THE OTHER FOUR HAVE ALLIED AGAINST ISHAM! I WOULDN'T WANT TO BE HIM RIGHT NOW!"
-Back to the Main Story-
-Location: Unknown-
In a glade of a forest, a blue wall of water grew, then collapsed to reveal a pale-looking woman with a frail, skinny boy on her back. The woman put the boy down, collapsing beside him. This woman's robes were charred and tattered on her body, revealing her to be wearing a blue-gray undershirt, which covered her entire body, (Think 'very long t-shirt').
The woman immediately closed her eyes, falling into the realm of the unconscious. The boy, however, slowly stood up, his limbs shaking. His sparse clothing hung dead on his body, burned in many places. His brown hair stood messily on his head, flecks of black sifting in between some of the hairs. His skinny form shook in the light breeze, which moved his clothes to reveal an almost flat stomach. His short stature stood all the way up, his pale blue eyes sneaking around their resting place.
All around the glade stood tents of various shapes and sizes, all of them ragged from misuse. A small ring near where they landed signified the remains of a fire pit, a few logs still standing. The place looked to be abandoned. Taking this in, the boy went into the nearest tent, for he was taxed from the day's activities. He lay down on a cot and drifted off to sleep.
-The Next Day-
The woman woke up with a start, jerking upwards into a squat from her former position. Her eyes darted around, looking for anything that would signify danger. Seeing nothing, the woman stood up, walking to the nearest tent, peering inside to see the sleeping form of the boy which she had saved yesterday.
Hearing her movements, the boy awoke, stretching his limbs, yawning widely. His face turned to see the woman, his eyes creeping open.
Seeing this, the woman motioned for the boy to stand up. After doing so, she led him to a nearby stream, saying, "You look horrible. Wash yourself up. The technique I used took a lot outta me, so we'll have to walk to somewhere safer."
The boy took this in, nodding to confirm his understanding. The woman spoke again. "There are clothes in the shack on the banks over there." The woman pointed to a small hut sitting near the edge of the river, leaving the boy to his own devices.
The boy bathed, his once dirty skin clearing up. After putting on a set of blue robes, he made his way back to the camp, where the woman was cooking up some eggs on a small piece of polished metal.
Motioning for the boy to sit, she watched the eggs for some time, neither party speaking a word. After the eggs were done and their bellies filled, she stood up, the boy following her movements. They started to walk in a seemingly random direction, the birds chirping in the trees around them.
After a short while of walking, the woman spoke. "I am Inoue Sora of the water nation. I am what your world would call a myth, but since you have seen me, you'll have to know about my people.
"My people are called water benders. We have gained the ability to control water, which you have seen me do already."
The boy nodded after ingesting the information, sometimes forming words with his mouth in order to comprehend them. When Sora saw this, she mentally sighed, asking "He, kid, what's your name? If you're going to travel with me, I'll need to call you something."
The boy mumbled something inaudibly in response to her question. Sora only huffed, saying, "Well? We haven't got a lot of time here."
The boy slowly started forming words with his mouth. When he appeared to be satisfied with them, he slowly said, "I… have no name."
Sora frowned. The boy continued on, keeping to his slow talk. "I have been called…"
At this point, the boy put on a thinking face. Sora jumped in. "What? An orphan?"
He shook his head, kneeling down to the dirt on the ground, drawing a kanji 間違い.
Seeing this, Sora groaned, then took in a deep breath, preparing to talk once again. "That would be why. Those kanji mean 'mistake'… I should have thought of this earlier.
"In your village, a mistake happens when a woman dies in childbirth. The logic behind your title is that a baby born to a woman who died giving said baby would impart that weakness onto her child. Mistakes are shunned, uneducated, and live in the worst housing in your villages… but you already know that…" She trailed off, indulging her working brain to the clarity of thought.
The silence continued until the boy stopped, sniffing the air feverishly.
"What are you doing?" Sora impatiently asked.
"… I smell… fire…" The boy said softly, widening his eyes. Sora quickly leapt towards the boy, bringing him down to evade a fireball that charged over their heads, which smashed into the ground near them.
A figure emerged from the shadows, revealing a man with a grizzled, aged look wearing a uniform not unlike that of the other man at the boy's home village.
He man grinned, saying, "Look at this! Here I am, about to scout out the water capitol, only to find the famous Inoue Sora. You look weak! I don't know why you were ever put in the bingo book, but I sure as hell don't care right now."
The man, finished with his spiel, took on a tight, but not rigid, stance. Sora did the same, although her stance was more free-flowing. She waved her hands, forming a piece of solid-looking water. Instead of throwing this at the man, however, she threw it at the boy. When it hit him, it conformed to his body, rendering him invisible to the naked eye.
"Run, boy!" Sora shouted, turning to face her opponent. The boy, eyes still wide with fear, obeyed her command, zooming off in the direction that they were walking towards before the ambush.
Sora and the man faced off daring each other to make the first move. However, after about 30 seconds of this, they both put their guards down. Sora's face erupted in a smile, as did the man's. They walked towards each other, Sora hugging him fiercely. After a moment, they broke apart.
"Xin! It's been too long…" Sora started, only for the now-identified Xin to hush her.
"Now, now, Sora, we can't have that kid coming back here just to see us being all friendly. Our relationship is supposed to be a secret, you know."
At this point, Sora hugged him again, whispering into his ear, "I know, you buffoon"
After they broke apart again, they started bantering back and forth, talking mostly about their time since they had last seen each other. After 10 minutes of this, they both grew quiet, so, after another hug, they nodded, taking off without a sound.
Sora walked for a while, heading towards the direction that the boy took off towards, following the small patches of footprints that he left in his wake. Eventually, she waved her hands in the same motion that she used to put the barrier around the boy. The same barrier dissipated, revealing the boy sitting down near a tree, catching his breath.
"It's okay, boy. I managed to drive him off. This is why we need to pick up the pace. If we keep walking slowly, it'll take days to get to my home. We'll have to go swiftly."
With that, she set off, leaving the semi-confused boy to tread in her wake. They traveled like this for hours, roaming the forest in the general direction of Sora's home. When the sun fell below the horizon, they stopped in a clearing to rest.
"We're about three hours away from my home. Unfortunately, you'll not be let in unless you know more of all our people's culture, which is quite different from yours. What I can tell you tonight is the story of my people's beginnings."
The boy nodded, silencing his questions. They sat for a moment, the chirps of the varied insects floating lazily in the air. An owl hooted from a nearby patch of trees, scaring a rat towards their encampment. The fire they had made showered the night with light, heating up its surroundings.
"Our nation was once a nomadic tribe of hunters. We were the only ones to inhabit this land. One day, a party of hunters went out to find our next place to stay, for we moved with the roaming herds of animals, and the herds had started again.
"As far as this specific group, went, they explored some unexplored lands. The patrol of hunters never returned. After a while, the chief of the tribe declared that we should move towards their direction in hopes of finding their new resting place. How horridly wrong he was.
"The hunters had accidentally woken up one of the evils of the land. They had treaded in the land of demons, enraging them to the point of attack. Their legions of demons had awoken from a millennium of rest. The demon's stock of food lasted them all but a week, at which point they decided to hunt our people.
"They waged a deadly war with the demons for three years, or so the story goes. In the final battle, the leader of the tribe took it upon himself to seal the fate of the world, containing the lord of demons inside him."
Sora paused for a moment looking at the boy as if to say, 'understand?' The boy only eagerly looked towards her, prompting her to continue her tale.
"The demon army, leaderless and tired from a hard fight, moved back into its old lands. The tribe, although victorious, had lost over 80% of its people. The various factions within the tribe argued for weeks, trying to decide what we would do. In the end, the five factions split off, each trying to find their own place to call home.
"The strongest of the tribe's warriors went north, where they found a home near the lava fields. They woke the God of Fire. When he saw the sheer determination of the people who awoke him, he decided to give a part of his powers to them in return for their alignment with his views. They became carriers of the God of Fire, and were dubbed 'Fire Benders' by everyone else."
She stopped for a moment to let the boy take it all in, and then continued. "The secret military force of the tribe moved east. In the deserts there, they found an ancient tomb. The tomb contained the spirit of an old demon, who offered them power in exchange for his escape into a human sacrifice. They agreed, getting the power to manipulate the earth in accordance to their will. They became the first 'Earth Benders'.
"A small faction of the tribe's holy men traveled into the mountains, finding their way to the temple of the Sky Dominion, a force that works for the ruler of the atmosphere of this planet. They became acolytes there, gaining the power of the god's domain. They, in the fashion of the other two groups, became known as 'Air Benders'."
At this, she stopped, looking like she was going to frown, and then motioned for them to stop. After holding the boy, she stepped forward. A wall of water sprang up, forming an impenetrable barrier curving towards their destination. Two men approached them, and when they saw Sora, they both raised their hand and, with a cutting motion, created a hole in the barrier.
Sora nodded, grabbing the boy, walking past the men. After putting a good distance between them, the boy looked at Sora with an inquisitive gaze.
Sora sighed. "That was the outer barrier to protect my home."
The boy nodded, accepting this. She continued. "Anyways, I think I should finish up the legend.
"A fourth group of people, a blend of warriors, priests, civilians, and a few others made their way to the ocean, which is where we are headed. The Lord of the Sea had heard about his relative's new earthly servant and decided to get a few of his own. He approached the group and asked them to help him with a task. After explaining his jealousy, the leader of the group agreed to have a select few receive the powers of the Lord. And so the 'Water Benders' were formed.
"My village is that of the Water Benders, and of a multitude of people. I don't know what is going to happen to you, but I know that you will not be able to return to your old home, or even your old nation. Since you have been drawn into our world, you can't be let out."
"… not that I… would want to." The boy mumbled, looking down at the earth beneath him. Sora nodded. The silence between them lasted for a while until Sora raised her hand, indicating for the boy to slow down.
"Okay. We are only a minute away from my village. Since you were never named, I think we will have to come up with something."
The boy nodded, and they continued on until they reached the edge of the forest. As they moved into the sunlight which had been absent from their eyes until now, the village entrance came into view.
In front of the two stood a huge wall spanning the length of the craggy peninsula on which the village sat. The gate had a waving symbol on it, but it was the least impressive of the other things. The shifting waves of the ocean spanned as far as the eye could see. The craggy coastline stretched only until the edge of the forest, but it was breathtaking nonetheless.
A few birds chirped overhead, bringing the boy out of his sightseeing. Sora had taken a step forward, a glint of happiness in her eyes. Her mouth opened, which gave up the one word that she had been thinking about their whole journey.
"Home."
END OF CHAPTER! Geez, I really have to write more. This has felt so good to get off my chest. The story has been brewing in my mind for eight years and, fortunately for all those people who enjoy this story, has been roughly plotted through 'Generation 2', which means that the only thing holding off updates is my laziness, not creative blocks!
-¡IMPORTANT!-
My plans for this story, unlike others, actually involve all you guys. I am ashamed to admit this, but I NEED A NAME FOR ~95% OF THE CHARACTERS. All of the unnamed characters at the end of the chapters are fair game. This only excludes the characters appearing in the odd scenes involving the 'Game of Life'. I will look at ALL pm's, reviews, whatever as long as they pertain to character names. I can do the next chapter without the boy's name, but he especially will need one soon.
-END OF IMPORTANCE-
Ok, I think that's it…
I should be able to update in the next few weeks, but my frequently crappy internet, school, and my mother will get in the way.
Review if you want, think of names, and most importantly, do what you love! I'll see everyone next time!
-Adam218