I awake to a hazy, dark world outside my bedroom. I hop out of my large bed and dress in simple water tribe clothing and grab my water skin that remains stationary on top of my nightstand. It is only four o'clock in the morning, but I know my mother, Katara, will be expecting me soon.
I quickly reach the large fountain on Air Temple Island where I normally practice water bending, and see my mother standing in front of it, smoothly streaming a small spoil of water around herself. It seems she has been waiting here for awhile, but she does not seem angry.
"I'm sorry I'm late, mom, but I still don't see why we must train this early in the morning," I say as I lightly drop my water skin to the ground.
"It's the moon, Kya; us waterbenders are always our strongest when the moon is in the sky," my mother says, gazing into the sky.
I nod and stream a small amount of water in front of me.
"It seems you have mastered the basics, and some other more advanced move, but I would like to show you a somewhat difficult move called the water whip," she says.
Before I can respond, my mother bends the water into a rope-like form, swings it back, then quickly sends it forward, emanating a crack that sounds through the air.
"It's a very simple looking move, but extremely powerful, none the less, give it a try," my mother says, flashing me a loving smile.
I am able to bend the water into the rope formation, but, when I crack it forward, it spirals out of control and whips towards my mother. She reacts quickly, though, and just as it is about to hit her, she freezes the stream and sends it crashing to the ground. It shatters into hundreds of shards of ice that begin to melt on this hot summer's night.
"That is okay, it took me days to master this move," she says, "your father, on the other hand, was able to master it with ease."
I nod, and, just as I am about to try it again, a figure emerges from the darkness.
"She's right, you know," says the figure, which I immediately indentify as my father, the Avatar.
"Couldn't sleep again, Aang?" asks my mother, "those council meetings seem to add an excessive amount of stress to you."
"Yes, yes," responds my father, "but we seem to have come up with a solution to the problem."
"What problem?" I ask as I lazily bend a puddle below my feet into different forms.
"Nothing that the council and I cannot fix, and surly nothing you need to worry about," says my father.
"He's talking about that crazy guy Yakone," says a voice in the distance, "how haven't you heard about him yet Kya," says a voice.
"Bumi, get back to bed," my father says in an annoyed voice as Bumi struts forward to join the group out of the darkness.
"Why, is this some sort of "only benders" meeting at four o'clock in the morning?" says my non-bender brother sarcastically.
"Bumi, we've let you take self defense classes since you were eight," says my father, "and, trust me, if I could give you one of my mastery of the four elements, I would."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean Tenzin can't beat me in a fight, and he's three years younger than me," says my brother.
"Okay, everybody back to bed, we'll continue later, Kya," says my mother.
"Tenzin, keep up," I yell to my little brother as we walk through the streets of Republic City.
"But I don't wanna go see Lin, she's mean to me," says Tenzin.
As we turn the corner of a suburban street of Republic City, Lin's home comes into view. A large, newly built home stands in the center of other equally big homes, defiantly a suitable living space for the woman who founded the Meatalbending Police Force. Tenzin and I just reach the front lawn when the front door burst opened and out walks a very distraught Toph. She is hastily finishes putting on her police uniform as she walks out the door, obviously in a rush.
"Kya, I hate to do this to you, but I need to head to the station, mind watching Lin and Tenzin while I'm gone," she says without stopping walking.
"That's fine," I yell, as she steps into a carriage pulled by an armored ostrich horse.
We I turn around, I see Tenzin has already enter the metalbending police chief's house and has managed to bicker with her daughter, Lin, already.
"I'm going to master earthbending before you can airbending!" yells Lin as she hurls a formidable sized stone in Tenzin's direction. Thankfully, Tenzin manages to dodge the stone before it crushes him sends back an equally powerful air-blast in her direction, knocking over a glass vase, which shatters into several pieces.
"Stop!" I yell, uncapping my water sling that hangs from my belt and leveling a stream of water between the two young benders, effectively stopping them.
"It's true though," murmurs a crossed-armed Lin.
"It doesn't matter, but Tenzin, look what you did, I'm going to go get a broom to clean up the glass," I say as I exit the room and enter the kitchen.
A broom stands in a clump of other cleaning supplies in a closet off the kitchen, which I quickly grab along with a dust pan. However, when I return to the entrance hall, Lin and Tenzin are nowhere to be found. I quickly throw open the heavy front door that remained ajar and see two children dart around the corner of this very street.
I don't wait. I clear the front steps and barrel after the two trouble makers. What do they think they're doing? Lin and Tenzin are known to get into trouble to get from time to time, but leaving me while I am in charge surpasses any of their past offensives.
I keep on their tail for awhile, however every time I turn a corner of Republic City's various streets, they are always turning the next one. After about fifteen minutes of this, I track them down a narrow alley in a questionable part of Republic City. I enter with caution, as I know the triad gangs hang around here and my father has warned me and my siblings numerous times about them. I sneak around one last corner of the dark alley when my heart drops into my stomach. Lin and Tenzin are surrounded by gang members dressed in pale blue uniforms who I immediately recognize as members of the Full Moons. None other than members of Yakone's gang.