Introduction
Once upon a time in a land far away, a prince of fair skin and hair the color of midnight turned away a woman in desperate need of his help. Angered by his arrogance, the woman revealed her true form; not only was she not an ordinary old woman, but she was one of the most powerful waterbenders the world had ever seen. She wielded great power against his veins and twisted his blood until cruel marks appeared upon his skin. Only a small portion around his eye was spared, for the woman believed that, deep down, he possessed goodness and purity.
By the time the firebending prince prepared to strike, he was too late. His skin was no longer the color of pure moonlight, but was marred by burn marks and bruises. All of those in the castle were marked as well, turned into trinkets and knick-knacks and forbidden from leaving the castle walls.
The fire prince prepared a breath of furious fire, but his throat was emptied. He clenched his hands into fists, and one began to bleed; in his fist had appeared a rose, thorny and vibrant, glowing with a tenderness that reminded him of love, despite him never knowing love's face. He remembered the woman's whispered words – he had until the last petal fell before the curse would be made unbreakable.
The prince and all in the castle would forever be marked by the night unless the scarred prince fell in love with and was loved by a waterbending master, a woman capable of seeing past his appearance and into the heart that the original bloodbender so strongly wanted to believe he possessed.
The firebending prince would suffer in silence for years, until one day when the person he needed most would unknowingly stumble into his castle, his prison.