Vengeance Replaces Love

(Avatar: The Last Airbender FanFiction. Feat: Jet)

The background story of Jet and how he descended into a cutthroat mercenary

I grew up in a small Earth Kingdom town. The next closest village was miles and miles away. But, I didn't care, I had the woods. They were a magical place with trees that climbed to the sky with their awesome branches that almost touched the other trees around them. My parents always told me to not go in them by myself, but I did not listen to them; I loved the place. I had a friend that would always go with me. She was reliable and I could trust her. I don't remember her real name, but it later became known as Smellerbee. She had a keen sense of smell for a human.

The worst day of my life was when I was 8 years old and ran into the woods with Smellerbee, but not for fun; it was to survive…

They came without warning. A piercing cry filled the air, followed by the whoosh of hot flames. I scrambled out the door and saw one of the village houses was on fire. Ferocious looking men on huge Rhinos came stampeding down the village. Gripped with fear, I turned and ran as far away as I could, desperately trying to find my parents. The crowds were running in every which direction and the sun had already set. The only light came from the horrible flames that were now consuming more than half of the village. As I ran, I turned a corner and found myself face to face with a massive firebender. He looked at me and smiled. I shouted and turned to run away, but he grabbed me by the collar of my shirt. I screamed for my parents but I was drowned out by all the noises around me.

At that moment thee building next to us started to collapse. The man saw it just as it crashed down and he hurled me as he tried to get out of the way. I landed just a few feet away from the crash. I quickly got up and began to run for the woods. I entered the dark trees and turned to look back. The entire village was in flames, people were running, but most weren't getting very far before one of the vicious men took them down. The Firebender rode by and glanced at me. I tensed up, but he only glared at me and rode off.

In tears, I turned and went into the woods. I heard a rustle in the bushes and jumped back, a small figure rolled out of the bushes. Her hair was short and she was all cut up; Smellerbee. I ran to her and we hugged each other for a minute, "The-The whole village is-is-"

"Sh, sh," I told her, stroking her hair, "its gonna be okay. We'll just go on an adventure in the woods for a longer time than we normally do." She stopped and called me by my first name. I put my finger to her lips, "That's not my name anymore. We need to come up with new names to represent our new adventure," She gave a small smile, "What should my name be?"

"Well, you're really good at smelling and gathering things. That's important for survival, you know. How about, um, Smellerbee?" She wrinkled her nose, "That sounds ugly." I shook my head, "No, It makes you sound tough. No one will want to mess with someone named Smellerbee, and we'll learn to fight and be super tough." That convinced her, "Oh, I like being tough. What will your name be?" I thought for a moment, "Well, the only thing I'm good at is being quick and hiding good." We both thought a minute before the answer came, "I got it. Jet."

"Jet? I like it…. Jet"…