A/N:I have to put this here cause my description is over 2000 words long tbh.

Okay so now that I got that out of the way let me explain the plot a bit without giving too much away-

As you expect Karkat, a fire bender, with a traumatic past that you would expect to find in a character like Dave, who is actually surprising very spiritually chill moves to the recently expanded Republic City, and transfers from an academy in the fire nation to a bending neutral school in a bending neutral territory.

Can Karkat keep his secret passion from everyone and what kind of trouble will he run into during the school year? Read and find out!

Sorry I like suck at descriptions and it probably sound like I'm just rambling by now , but there is one more thing that I have to mention . . . Dave is so out of character in the first few chapters but don't worry he gets better in time you wanna know why? CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!Yes John is the avatar and before anyone smart mentions it I know that the signs have canon elements that go along with them but for the purposes of this story I've switched them up a bit so that it would fit the story in my head. Also I've had a couple of ideas in my head since may so this might be a series of sporadic one shots that may or may not be connected.

One more thing I'm still catching up on Legend of Korra so I may include some stuff from that and may I also mention that this is a modern alternate universe where culturally and industrially the four nations have equally evolved since their state in both ATLA and LoK. Another thing I don't know how high school works yet since I've only been in elementary and middle school and you know what they say write what you and know what you write soooo I'm going to write how I think a high school in ATLA/LoK series works especially with bending so stfu if I get some things wrong I'm only like fourteen and I'm going into high school next year so maybe if I feel like I'll change the things that are inaccurate to make them correct.

Since I mentioned the signs having canon elements earlier I might as well tell you what they are and give you guys a key of who can bend what element and here it is-

CANON:
Earth: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn
Wind: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius
Fire: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius
Water: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces

MY VERSION:
(Like before I go on and tell you lovely readers what elements the characters can bend I'm going to go ahead and say the obvious cliche that this is just my opinion so all you haters who were expecting this character to have this element can go ahead and shut their mouths because there is going to be a short, detailed explanation for why I chose that element for that character. Now that we got that out of the way let us move on :))

Aradia and Damara- fire. I kept some of the canon elements for some characters because they already fit so well. Because I think Damara and Azula are very similar in character.

Also Aradia is the little sister while Damara is the younger sister. I didn't say that all the dancestors were going to be older then the descendants I might take this opportunity to attempt to do something different and switch up the ages a bit. I hope you enjoy this little age swap.

Tavros and Rufioh- I haven't really decided because it's really hard to pick out elements for characters because they are supposed to somewhat represent their personality! But if I had to choose I'd pick either air or earth. Earth because Teo that guy with the wheel chair glider (I think he was from the Earth kingdom it was really unclear in the series) and Tavros character just kind of click and because it is the default element. I don't really have a reason for air I just saw some really cool fanart and I'm like this could be a possibility. Obviously Rufioh is the encouraging older brother who helps Tavros with his confidence issues int his story. (I'm sorry I know that sounds so cliche but I just really like that dynamic)

Sollux and Mituna- Air because it's the default element, and because it actually makes a bit of sense as to why that is. btw Mituna used to be a bender but lost his bending to a masked vigilante who has the same beliefs as Amon (is essential to the plot). Sollux is the younger brother who tries to help his older brother cope with the lost of his bending along with his girlfriend Latula.

Karkat, Kankri, The Signless, and Spade Slick/Jack- Awe yis gettin some stab dad au up in here but before I get to that The Signless (also known as Kankri but what the hell) and Jack were brothers. Signless was a fire bender while Jack was not, but that didn't stop him from doing amazing things (will be mentioned and is essential to the plot). The tradition of one brother being born a fire bender and one brother not seems to be carried on by Karkat and Kankri, who didn't have his bending taken away he was just born that way just like Uncle Jack. Kankri is the conflicted older brother while Karkat is the spiritual younger counter part to the duo. Also the relationship that Karkat and Kankri have with their father and uncle with be established later on in the story.

Nepeta, Meulin, The Disciple- Fire is the default element and I can totally see that happening because the women that The Signless married was presumably The Disciple but it's never actually confirmed (Hmm there seems to be this running gag in LoK of not knowing who the father is or in this case the mother lol). Plus that would explain why thing were totally awkward between Nepeta and Karkat for obvious reasons. Nepeta, Meulin, and the Disciple are all non-benders just like Kankri hmmmmm suspicious. Anyways Meulin is the younger sister while Nepeta is the older sister.

Kanaya, Porrim, The Dolorosa- Air cause some cool fanart I saw. That is the legit reason why I kid you not.

Terezi, Latula, The Neophyte Redglare- fire cause karezi angst

Vriska, Aranea, Spinneret Mindfang- water.
1. default element
2. pirates = water (duh)
3. also Aranea is a fricking healer so yeah

Aranea is totally older tho

Equius, Horrus, and Darkleer- Earth for one reason and one reason only; fuckin metal benders.

Gamzee, Kurloz, and The Grand Highblood- This one's a doozy so pay close attention;
The Grand High blood is a very rich and powerful Earth bender so is Kurloz but Gamzee is a water bender. How is this so I literally cannot decide between marriage infidelity, or little baby Gamzee being dropped off at the wealthy Highblood's estate. I dunno you decide or something.

Eridan, Cronus, and Dualscar- rich earth benders. There's no reasoning behind this they just seem like the rich and powerful types. I would've made Eridan an air bender so that he and feferi could have a very similar relationship like Aang and Katara but what ever I'm just going to throw away that potential plot.

Feferi, Meenah, The Condescension are obviously water benders like what did you expect.

And as for the beta kids;

Dave is a fire bender and Rose is a water bender but they're siblings what is the story behind this you might be asking; read and find out (duh)

John is the avatar and Jade is just another earth bender who is very close friends with the avatar.

I'm unsure if I want to include the alpha kids but I'll decide later in the book.

Also this is a humanstuck in case anyone is asking so I'm just clearing that up here and now.

And one more thing I haven't decided what ship is going to be the main one I might have Karka have some unrequited feelings for a certain air bender, and then there's the karezi angst I mentioned earlier, and if some people didn't pick it up some heavily implied karnep, some blackrom Davekat, and finally mentioning of erikar. Just a little heads up for the future

Now onto the actual story thank you for letting me waste your time with my ramblings.

~btw 1286 words~

Karkat's POV

My name is Karkat Vantas, I am fourteen years old, and I'm a fire bender, who just so happened to transfer from a strict, prestigious fire nation academy to an adequate bending neutral school in a bending neutral town.

When I say strict I mean strict. Since fire bending was prohibited in the academy I attended, one of the many punishments for using bending on school grounds was being locked in a prison like freezer below the school. It was a cruel, unusual punishment especially for a fire bender. Growing up in the fire nation was an unpleasant experience as a child, luckily when my father found out about the abuse that was going on in the school he pulled me out immediately, and him, my brother, and I moved to an area in the united republic where I'd be going to a school where bending was allowed, and practiced freely with adult supervision of course.

Fortunately, we lived close to the school that I was going to, and as I was walking I was thinking about what I'd say aside from not mentioning my traumatic childhood, so I'd just tell anyone who asked me that my name is Karkat, I'm a fire bender, and that I used to live in the fire nation, of course anyone could tell that from my attire; a classic fire nation school uniform. I was unsure what to wear so I just wore what I normally do when I go to school, but when I got there I felt so out of place with everyone's eyes on me. Apparently, they weren't so big on enforcing a dress code, but that didn't stop one air bender from walking up to me.

"Hello," she greeted. She had light amber brown hair and light grey eyes, she wore the traditional air bending clothing, but somehow made it look more fashionable then it normally does. "My name is Kanaya Maryam," she continued to say introducing herself holding her hand out for a handshake.

"Uh I'm Karkat Vantas," I said shaking her hand, "I'm kind of new here."

"Obviously it's not that often that often we get someone all the way from the fire nation!" she said enthusiastically trying to stay indifferent towards the situation like any air bender would.

After having a very short, lively conversation about fashion senses and being inviting to lunch, I siad goodbye and told her that we both had to get to class. She agreed and we both rushed to our own bending registrations.

~443 words~