Ok, this is my first time using this site, so I might mess up a bit. :P

This is a story created entirely on my own based on the Avatar world. It stars original characters and an original plot line with appearances from minor characters in the show. Since this site won't let me use my normal method (pissed about that) I will use the horizontal break thingys to indicate either time has passed or it has gone to a flashback (except for the beginning and end notes :P )

I have the early chapters done but I am rewriting and updating them with more content. So time for me to shut up and for you to read. Enjoy.

Summary:

Kali had never thought her life would amount to anything important. As she grew up in a Fire Nation orphanage during the war, she felt insignificant among the greater events happening around the world. Everything changed one day when she discovered she had the ability to airbend. Pursued by a Fire Nation General who appears to know more about her past than she does, she sets out on a journey across the world to discover where she came from. Along the way she makes many friends and enemies only to discover one terrifying truth: an evil spirit is trying to use her body as a portal to enter the mortal world. Now her friends and she must stop this spirit before the world is destroyed. This is Kali's story…

Book 1: Journey to Ba Sing Se

Chapter 1

"The Frozen Child"

The setting sun shown over the mountain range, casting long, eerie shadows over the ground as the two men walked up the mountain summit. The air was cold and the slight breeze felt like it was freezing their skin as it touched. The two men were wrapped in cloaks hoping to keep themselves safe from the frigid cold, but to no avail. The older of the two men held a glider-staff in his hand and the other held a plump bundle of blankets that appeared to move every now and then. The two said nothing to each other as they climbed along the path up the mountainside. They kept their faces hidden, more out of the cold than wanting to be seen since any normal person would not be walking to this particular summit. But, then again, what they were doing wasn't a normal task.

They continued along, never saying a word to each other but always knowing what they were doing and where they were headed. As the sun crept lower behind the mountains they finally saw the first glimpse of their goal. In the distance the path they were walking ended in a big drop. To a normal person it would seem like there was nothing there and that the path must have been longer at one point, but to the trained eye all would be just as it should and the point to the sudden drop would be apparent. When the men reached the end of the path they stopped and looked. The drop extended so far down that the ground was not visible to the naked eye. But it wasn't the drop they were interested in but in fact the mountain wall that still continued ahead even though the path disappeared. It was here that, if someone was skilled enough, a person would notice the tall, thin opening in the wall a little after where the path ended.

The two men looked at the opening, then at each other, then back at the opening and started moving as if they had traded silent words during their glance at each other. The man with the staff went first, heading towards the corner where the drop in the path and the mountainside met. He placed his front-side against the wall for support and stuck his left leg over the side of the drop, placing it seconds later within the small opening. He leaned over and tossed his staff into the opening with his left hand. After grabbing the opening with his left he pushed of the path and flung himself into the hole. He picked up his staff upon landing and stuck it out of the opening towards his partner. In response his partner took the small bundle of blankets away from his chest and tied the top of it to the staff. When the bundle was secured, the old man brought the staff back in, careful to make sure that the bundle did not fall off as it started to wiggle slightly. When the bundle was safely inside with the old man, he took it off the staff and wrapped his arms around it, holding it as if it were something precious.

The second man then followed the first into the opening, grabbing onto the hole with his leg and foot and flinging himself in as his partner had done. The older one gave the bundle back to the younger one as soon as he was situated inside the cave and then picked his staff back up. When the two were ready they headed deeper within the cave. Eventually they came to a large room which was almost completely empty. The reason it was almost empty was because, besides the two men, in the center was a small, waist high pedestal sitting on top of a circular platform imbedded in the cave floor. The pedestal had many strange markings written in an unknown language but the most noticeable marking was on the flat top surface of it. It was an odd symbol of two curved triangle, one within the other, on top of a swirl with three spikes.

The two men walked up to the pedestal and for the first time one of them talked.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" the younger of the two asked.

"You heard the prophecy," the older man responded. "It's the only way."

"But, it's just a child."

"That doesn't matter," the older one snapped. "You heard what it said. The girl must not reach her fifteenth birthday."

"But how can we be sure it is really inside her?" the young one asked.

"You were there. You saw the mark appear on her head when that guru, Patik or whatever his name was, tested her. She is the one."

"I just feel wrong about doing this to an innocent child," the younger one said while looking down at the bundle he was holding.

"I don't enjoy it either, but it's the only way to prevent that thing from getting loose."

"I suppose you're right," the younger one sighed. "But how do we even know this will work? It might do nothing at all or maybe even kill her."

"This will work. My ideas always work."

"Well what about the time you wanted us to start a circus?" the younger man asked. "And the time you tried to teach hog-monkeys how to dance. Or what about when you tried to sell lettuce and pretend it was cabbage. And then there is the time you wanted us to star in a play about a twelve year old Avatar who must defeat the Fire Nation from taking over the world in a one hundred year long war. Like anyone would actually believe that."

"I get it!" the older man said. "So not all my ideas turn out right. But I know this will work, it just has to. And you know that play would have been a hit. You're just jealous you didn't think of it yourself."

"Yes, I feel so bad for not being able to come up with horrible play ideas," the younger man said jokingly.

"Just forget it," the older man said. "You remember what to do, right? We need to do it fast enough to prevent her from dying. I have no idea what would happen if she died and I don't want to risk it."

"Don't worry. I remember."

"Good. Then let's get this over with."

The younger one nodded and placed the small bundle on top of the pedestal, making sure to keep it wrapped except for a tiny opening where on can glimpse a mouth. He then headed over to the entrance of the cave, where he started making complex hand and body movements. Overhead a loud rumbling sound echoed through the cave and seconds later a large wall of snow came falling in front the opening in the mountainside. The man then changed his movements, bending the snow from the avalanche that passed in front of the opening into the large room. When he had enough snow he headed back towards the pedestal, swirling the snow above him and turning it into water. The old man the started doing movements too, bending the air around the bundle so that it slowly lifted above the pedestal and floated in the air. The younger man then bended the water around the bundle leaving an air bubble in the center for the bundle and a small opening on the side which allowed the first man to keep bending the air inside and keeping the bundle afloat.

The two men looked at each other to check if the other was ready for what they were about to do.

"Now!" the older one shouted and he suddenly stopped airbending. The second man acted quickly, closing the water around the bundle and freezing it within the second the old man stopped bending. The old man quickly bended the air under the ice ball and lowered it slowly, placing it atop the pedestal. The young man then used what was left of the water to freeze the ice ball in place to the pedestal.

The two men stared at it for a minute before the young one finally spoke. "How do we know she is still alive?" he asked.

"We'll just have to hope for the best," the old man said while turning around. "As long as nothing bad happens it's ok. Thank you for your help."

"You don't need to thank me if it was for the best. Where will you head now? I heard rumors that the Fire Nation is planning an attack on the Air Temples."

"Those are just rumors," responded the older man. "Everything is fine. There is a much larger chance of being invaded by crazed flying rabbit-fish."

"Please don't say stuff like that," the younger man said. "Reminds me of when one of those things attacked me. I still have the scars."

"We should be going anyways. We are expecting the young Avatar to arrive soon and I need to be there for it. We've spent too much time here."

The two men walked out of the cave and back to the path, leaving the bundle of blankets frozen to the pedestal and under the impression that it would never be disturbed. But unknown to them, the bundle would be found eventually, though it wouldn't be until eighty-seven years later.

The setting sun shown over the mountain range, casting long, eerie shadows over the ground as it had done many days before and will do for many days to come. The mountains had remained relatively unchanged over the years and the only sign of any difference was the erosion caused by the moving snow. But unlike the many days before, the mountains were slightly different tonight. This was because, like that grim day eighty-seven years ago, two people walked up that forgotten path towards the summit. But unlike that day so many years ago these people were not here to leave something but instead to find something.

The two men walked up the path, wrapped in Fire Nation cloaks and fighting against a wind that was as chilling as death. The first man was around average height but rather muscular. He had shoulder length hair tied at the top in a small top-knot. On both sides of his head he had large sideburns running down to his chin. As he walked along the path he had on his face an expression of determination which gave off the feeling that he knew exactly what he was here for. The second man was, in most ways, very similar to the first. The resemblance would make someone easily think that they were brothers. But despite their similarities there were still a few differences between the two. The second was a little taller, with longer arms and a slightly darker skin tone. This man also had no sideburns on his face and instead of being determined as the first man was, he wore and expression of doubt.

"Do you even know where you are going?" the taller one said,

"I know exactly where we are going Ozen," the other one said. "Have I ever led us wrong?"

"Plenty of times Zhao," Ozen answered.

"Name one!"

"There was the time you tried leading us to the army sign ups and we ended up in a woman's bathroom," Ozen said. "I was sore for a week. She hit hard."

"Anyone could have made that mistake."

"And then you led us into town where you ran into a barrel of syrup and covered both of us with it," Ozen continued. "And then of course you had to walk into the booth next to us with the chicken feather merchant and spill the feathers over both of us. We looked like two giant bruised pig-chickens and when we finally got to the sign up guy he laughed at us and said 'Sorry, there is no poultry division.' And I still haven't figured out why that guy was selling chicken feathers."

"Ok I get it!" Zhao yelled at Ozen. "But I won't get us lost this time. I have a map."

"We don't even know if that map is real," Ozen protested.

"Of course it is real," Zhao said. "It was recovered from the Air Temple's library. It wouldn't be kept there if it wasn't real."

"But come on Zhao. What do you expect to even find out here? These mountains are completely abandoned. Not even any animals live here."

"It's explained on the maps," Zhao explained. "They told of an ancient temple hidden within one of the mountains and inside that temple is a great power unlike any you can imagine."

"Why do you even care about this when it probably doesn't even exist?"

"I care because I am sick of being treated as a worthless guard in the army," Zhao snapped at Ozen. "Ever since I joined the army four months ago all they've been having me do is guard colonies no one would even care about enough to attack and escort a caravan of artifacts back to the Fire Nation. The only good that has come out of it is that I found this map inside one of the crates. I remember it like it was yesterday…"

Zhao stood in the wagon as it was slowly pulled across the ground by komodo-rhinos, shaking and rattling all the way. Surrounding Zhao were high stacks of crates of many sizes, each bearing a large Fire Nation symbol. Upon the floor near Zhao sat a long sheet of paper which appeared to be a list of all the contents of the crates. Zhao did not care for any of this stuff, for his focus was directed at something else. In front of the curtain covered exit to the wagon stood a small cup lying on its side with the opening facing towards Zhao. In Zhao's right hand was a small fruit, a fist sized mango-cherry, and to Zhao all the world currently revolved around him, the cup, and the mango-cherry.

He had only one chance to throw this mango-cherry into the cup. If he happened to miss even the slightest, the mango-cherry would go flying out the rear opening and splatter on one of the soldiers following behind. Zhao raised his hand behind him, making sure to aim perfectly at the cup. As Zhao was just about to swing his arm forward and throw the mango-cherry, the curtain covering the rear opening was pushed away and a man appeared.

"What are you doing Zhao?!" the man yelled. The man wasn't able to get any more words out though, because just as the man had yelled Zhao had released the mango-cherry and instead of landing in the cup it went flying straight at the man. He had no time to react as the mango-cherry went flying into his nose, splattering all over his face and clothes.

"What is going on Zhao?!" the man yelled at Zhao as the pulp dripped off his face. "I did not order you to attack your officer with fruit!"

"I'm sorry sir," Zhao said, both feeling scared but trying not to laugh at the look of his officer covered in fruit pulp. "I was just taking a short break."

"You aren't allowed any breaks!" the officer yelled. "You are supposed to be sorting through these crates making sure we have everything on that list and you are not allowed to stop until you are finished! Is that clear maggot!"

"Yes sir," Zhao said as he saluted his officer.

"This is why you will always be a worthless grunt," the officer said. "You never work or act like you care about this war. When I get back here I want to see all these crates sorted and that list fully checked off!" As the officer turned around to leave he lifted a finger up to his face and wiped some of the juice off, licking the finger afterwards. "Hmm mango-cherry," he said as he walked away. "I love mango-cherry!"

Zhao immediately went back to working, though he did not enjoy it of course. Even while working, he seemed to be too busy mumbling his dislike for his position to notice what he was doing.

"I never work?" he said. "Why would anyone want to do a pointless job like this? I should be out there leading entire armies of troops into the Earth Kingdom taking what rightfully belongs to the Fire Nation. It is fools like him that don't see what I am truly capable of and where I belong. Just like Master Jeong Jeong. Hey, what's this?"

It was just then that Zhao noticed something sitting at the bottom of one of the crates he was sorting through. It was a pile of maps, apparently leading to some unknown and insignificant place. All across it were scribbled words about directions, certain things to do, and so forth. Normally Zhao would have just looked over these maps, but a few words caught his eyes. Scribbled above an arrow pointing down to an unknown mountain range were the words "The Temple of Zelune." Underneath those words was a very simple phrase that Zhao liked immediately: "The Ancient Power."

Did these maps happen to lead to an ancient and strong power source? If Zhao could control this power then he would be able to show all these fools where he rightfully belongs, and that is ruling right beside the Fire Lord. Maybe, just maybe, he could be the new Fire Lord! But if he got this power, Fire Lord would not be a grand enough title for someone like Zhao. He instead would needed to be called something like more grand and important, perhaps "Zhao, the Sun God!"

Zhao realized it would be best not to give up this opportunity and quickly shoved the maps into his bag. Zhao was so caught up in being called "The Sun God" (or some other form of the name) that he did not realize the soldiers would eventually find the missing maps. When the officer realized the maps were missing the caravan had to stop in a nearby town in order to backtrack and find these goods. Even though they had eventually lost most of the airbender artifacts to some ghost or other nonsense that Zhao did not believe in, he was lucky enough to get away with the maps without being blamed.

"Zhao!" Ozen's voice suddenly intruded into Zhao's thoughts. "Stop daydreaming and let's just go home. I'm freezing."

"We are not leaving until I find out what this power is and make it my own!" Zhao said to his brother as he started to trudge along the path again.

"I doubt you will even gain anything if there actually is something here," Ozen said.

"This could help me more than anything you could think of," Zhao said. "If I gain this power I can help end this war and show the world that fire is the superior element. I will rule alongside the Fire Lord with the entire world in our command. They would call me Zhao the conqueror; Zhao the invincible; Zhao, the Sun God!"

"Here he goes again," Ozen sighed.

"You may think it is foolish but when I gain this power all will learn to fear me."

Ozen just shook his head and the two continued to walk up the path. Although Ozen didn't think this power existed, he did find it rather odd that this path was in such good condition despite being here for so long. He was also amazed at how perfectly it was cut along the mountainside as it had never gotten wider or narrower. They kept continuing in silence, Zhao lost in his thoughts of glory and Ozen thinking about how much of a waste of time this was, until they reached a part in the path where it just ended. It wasn't as if it had fallen off or was broken but just ended, as if it was never built in the first place.

"From the looks of it, we just wasted a week coming out here," Ozen said while looking over the edge. "Why do I ever listen to you with these things?"

"This isn't over yet," Zhao said, more confident than before. "This is exactly the way it should be."

"What are you talking about?" Ozen asked, but Zhao didn't answer. Instead Zhao moved over to the edge of the path and placed himself against the wall. He then stuck his leg and arm out, placing it on something that Ozen couldn't see, and before Ozen could react, Zhao pushed off the ledge and disappeared into the rock.

"What the…Where did you go?" Ozen asked in surprise.

"Inside a cave," Zhao's voice came from the rock. "Now stop wasting time and get in here."

Ozen hesitated for a few seconds but then did what Zhao said.

"If I fall I'm making sure you're coming with me," Ozen said. He followed Zhao's movements and pressed himself against the wall. He stuck his leg out and surprisingly found a hidden floor behind the rock. He then stuck his left hand out and grabbed the upper part of the opening. He hesitated for a few more seconds before pushing off the path and flinging his body into the opening.

He landed on the cold rock floor and tried to calm down a bit from what he had just done. After a minute or two he stood up and looked around. He appeared to be inside a small tunnel which opened up into some sort of room. Zhao stood next to Ozen, waiting till Ozen was ready, and when Ozen nodded they both headed into the room.

It was very large and circular, with a very dim light showing from an unknown source. What surprised the two the most was not the size of the room or the phantom light, but the fact that it was completely empty save for a waist high pedestal in the center which appeared to have a small ice ball attached to the top. The two walked over, not sure what to make of the strange pedestal and the attached ice. As they got closer Ozen noticed something inside the ice which appeared to be a bundle of blankets wrapped around something.

Zhao got there first, and as soon as he could he pulled out his maps and started examining the pedestal. Ozen on the other hand was more interested in the strange frozen blankets on top of the pedestal.

"What is this?" Zhao yelled. "There's nothing here other then this stupid pedestal. The map says there should be a huge temple right here!"

But Ozen wasn't paying attention to Zhao's words. He was still examining the frozen blankets, trying to figure out what they were doing there and even how they got frozen so perfectly. He circled around the pedestal until he suddenly noticed a small opening at the top of the blankets, through which he could see two tiny, frozen lips.

"There's a child frozen in there!" Ozen said, shocked.

"There has to be something hidden here," Zhao said, still examining the pedestal and ignoring what Ozen said. He rubbed his hands over the surface of the pedestal, trying to find anything that might be useful, when a small octagonal coin fell out and into his hand. He looked at it and noticed it was completely bare except for a strange symbol on one side.

"I can't believe this," he said while getting up. "This was a complete waste of time!" He then kicked the pedestal out of his anger and spent the next minute hopping up and down one foot in agony. "Hopefully whatever this stupid thing is might make it so this trip was worth it," Zhao said while looking at the coin. "Let's get out of here. We've wasted too much time in this stupid place."

"But what about the child?" Ozen asked. "We can't just leave it here."

"That thing is probably long dead," Zhao said. "It's probably been here for years."

"But it could still be alive," Ozen said. "We have to find out."

"Well if you want to waste your time thawing the thing out then go ahead," Zhao said as he turned towards the door. "I'm getting out of this dump. Just hurry or I'm leaving you behind."

Zhao took one last look at the coin in his hand, still unsure of what the point of it was or what the strange symbol upon it could mean. He decided he was too cold to worry about it and shoved the coin in his pocket. As Zhao placed the coin within his pocket the symbol upon it gave off a faint purple glow, but both Zhao and Ozen were too busy to notice. While Ozen was busy trying to figure out how to thaw the child, Zhao headed back outside, too angry about not finding anything to care about some nameless kid.

Chapter 1 End

So yea, that was the first chapter. Hope you liked. :D Chapter 2 will be up in a sec. Want to release them both together. I had fun doing the mango-cherry scene. I'm glad I added that in since it wasn't in the original version.

Now the mumbo jumbo that I will put at the end every time and everyone will ignore (including me :P ):

The Avatar and characters universe is the property of Mike, Brian, and Nickelodeon. All characters and stories which do not exist in the show are entirely my creation.