Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. This is a non-profit venture undertaken purely for entertainment purposes.
A/N: Hello everyone. It's been quite awhile since I've written anything, but impatience at how long the third season of Avatar is taking has driven me to share with you my take on how things will go from here. This prologue is my attempt to help flesh out the history behind Avatar. I hope you enjoy.
Hundreds of years ago, there existed in this world four great civilizations. The Water Tribes, living in isolation at the frozen poles. The Fire Nation, who inhabited the tropical archipelago in the west. The Earth Kingdom, spread across the massive eastern continent. And the Air Nomads, who lived peaceful lives in temples scattered to the four winds.
For countless generations, these four peoples lived in a state of peaceful harmony, the focal point of which was the Avatar, the spirit of the Earth given human form and reincarnated into each of the four nations in a never-ending cycle, whose job it was to maintain balance throughout the world.
This was they way of things since before recorded history, but there came a period in time when things began to change.
Our story begins a few months before the beginning of what would come to the called the Hundred-Year War. The leader of the Fire Nation at the time was a man named Fire Lord Norikurma, a kind and generous ruler, who promoted equality among all the peoples of the world. He was a man much beloved by his subjects, but all was not well. For not everyone approved of Norikurma's stance. There were those amongst the Fire Nation who believed that their people were greater than the other races of the world, that their skill as benders was superior to all other forms. There were those who believed the Fire Nation should rule above all others.
Chief amongst these peoples was one of the most influential and powerful men in the Fire Nation. He was the Supreme Commander of the Fire Nation Armed Forces.
General Sozin.
Sozin was a charismatic leader, with a gift for manipulating the minds of people into seeing his point of view. Using these gifts, he rallied together all the soldiers under his command who shared his ideals and staged a coup. Norikurma was overthrown and killed. Sozin assumed the throne and crowned himself Fire Lord.
Sozin's actions did not go unopposed however. For Norikurma's closest friend was also the most powerful man in the world. Avatar Roku. The battle was said to rage for days. By all rights Roku, wielding the might of all the elements, should have won the battle. But Sozin was never known to fight fair. Not even Roku could defeat an entire army, though he made the forces sent against him pay dearly. In the end, however, the Avatar fell.
But Sozin knew his victory was not yet total. For the Avatar would be born anew into the next nation in the cycle. But before Sozin could seek him out, he would need to replace the soldiers lost in the battle with Roku. For the next twelve years Sozin and his generals set about training the next generation of Fire Nation troops, preparing them for the coming conquest. But even after more than a decade, their numbers had not swelled enough.
But then something unheard of occurred. A massive comet with strange properties passed within a few hundred miles of the planet. For reasons unknown still to this day, the comet drastically increased the power of all firebenders. Suddenly, numbers meant nothing. With their amazing new powers, the armies of the Fire Nation surged forward. Their first targets were the Air Nomads, for it was amongst them that the new Avatar was to be found. All four temples were invaded. The airbenders fought valiantly, but the firebenders power could not be overcome. They were killed to the last man, woman, and child.
But the Avatar was not among them. It was as if he had simply vanished. Believing that a 12-year-old wouldn't pose any kind of threat anyway, Fire Lord Sozin ordered his troops to begin moving against the other nations. The firebenders cut deeply into Earth Kingdom territory, and it seemed as if victory would be swift.
But then Sozin's Comet, as it had come to be called, left the planet's orbit. The firebenders lost their increased powers. The Earth Kingdom could now fight back using the advantage of their greater numbers, and the invasion stalled. However, the Fire Nation still had their superior technology, and as the war dragged on, they began to make small advances.
But Sozin would not live to see his dream of a world united under Fire Nation rule. His legacy of iron-fisted dictatorship would be passed down to his son, Azulon, and then to his sons. The Fire Nation would continue its slow, steady advance into the Earth Kingdom, though it would take a brief detour to devastate the Southern Water Tribe.
This state of affairs would continue for years, seemingly with no end in sight.
Until the fateful day when two children of the Water Tribe found a boy encased in an iceberg.
