Animated shouts of joy resounded throughout the Earth Kingdom. Although the words were indistinguishable through sealed windows, the echoing relief was only too obvious. Loud cheers of celebration came from a crowd parading onto the streets. An extremely young and dark-skinned boy watched with curious emerald eyes as he tried to make out the cries. He pressed an ear against the wooden screens in order to to sate his growing curiosity.
"They've found the Avatar!"
".. Avatar?" He felt a strange resonance from deep within himself as he repeated the word. The vague sense of familiarity only succeeded in intensifying his interest. After briefly surveying his surroundings, the child attempted to pry open the screens. The audible creaking of the windows masked the steps of a young woman as she entered the room upon seeing him. It was not until she had spoken did he notice her presence behind him.
"What are you doing, Adra?" The boy's mother approached him as he stared outside the windows of their estate. Surprised, the young boy flinched before meeting her fixed stares. She shared his green colored eyes and delicately angled facial structure. However, unlike her son, her complexion was subtly tanned – giving off the impression that she did not often traverse outdoors. Despite her fragile body, she held her long brown hair in a tight bun, making her appear surprisingly strict.
"Adra!" A boy who mirrored Adra's appearance entered the room running. Unaware of the fact that he was interrupting, the second boy nimbly dashed past the young woman. "I couldn't find you! At first I thought you went outside," he whispered after taking heed to the glares he was receiving from behind.
"Adhir, don't run into a room shouting. It's bad manners," his motherly lightly scolded the him with an exasperated sigh.
The two children were identical twins that would be difficult to differentiate if it weren't for a few minor distinctions. While both boys had black similarly spiked hair, they had different coloration tints that extended down to their bangs; Adra sported silver highlights and Adhir had brown. Adhir had also managed to inherit rare sky blue eyes from an ancestor that he shared only with one of his three older sisters.
Adhir clung onto Adra as he glimpsed out the window to watch the parade of people. Without acknowledging his mother's reprimand Adhir decided that the throng outside their home should take priority. He asked, "What are they doing, Mother? And .."
".. Why are they so happy?" Adra tacked on the second question that Adhir had conveniently set up for him.
"And what's the 'Avatar'?" both boys called out in unison as they turned their gazes to their mystified mother. Completely unable to keep pace with her twins' rapid interrogation, she tried to take a moment to organize questions.
"Give your mother some room, boys." A powerfully built man of enormous height leaned against the doorway as he watched the three with fond brown eyes. Like the twins, he had darkened skin that suggested his long hours worth of soaking in sunlight. His hair was black and cropped short compared to his other Earth Kingdom brethren.
"Do you know what's happening, Father?" Adra tilted his head as he moved away from the window.
"Don't you remember Bala telling you stories about the Avatar?"
Adra and Adhir's eyes met, though both gazes reflected only confusion. It was only inevidible. They had been too young to understand, so neither had a clear memory of their older sister mentioning anything about 'The Avatar'.
"I'll be checking on Bala and Adi," their mother said with a sigh. "And please, Ayuta, don't exaggerate the Avatar too much. I imagine Bala is already planning to join the parade outside." Though she'd said it halfheartedly, the likeliness of her gamine daughter committing to join the mob was not so unlikely, and she made haste after exiting the room.
Ayuta chuckled as his wife left hurriedly. He walked over to his twins before sitting onto the ground to be at eyes length with them. "Your mother acts as though the Avatar is nothing to get too excited over, but she knows just how special today is for all the people of the four nations." As their father began in a deep tone, both Adra and Adhir gravitated towards him and the short explanation he was about to tell.
"The Avatar is a bender chosen by the spirit Raava to become a bridge between the material and spirit worlds. Unlike Earthbenders .." Ayuta placed one hand onto Adra's head, "Or even Firebenders .." He placed his second hand onto Adhir's head. "The Avatar could wield all four elements."
"That's cheating!" Adhir accused grumpily as Adra stiffened with uncertainty. Competitive as he was, Adhir could not agree with a bender capable of controlling more than one element.
"It's not cheating, Adhir," Ayuta laughed at his son's stubborn and combative nature. "The Avatar is chosen to maintain the peace of the world. It wouldn't be possible without the powers of all the elements. The Avatar has power, yes, but that person must use his or her powers wisely. The responsibilities that come with being the Avatar are nothing to scoff at. Can you imagine the strain of having to carry the fate of the world's balance on your shoulders?" He dug a firm grip onto Adhir's shoulders – as if to prove a point.
While Adhir was clearly disgruntled by the existence of the Avatar, in comparison Adra was growing increasingly apprehensive. Adra felt that a discrepancy that he couldn't identify in father's words. He had faith that his father was not lying, but his explanation wasn't enough to satisfy Adra's concerns.
"And that's why they're happy? Because the Avatar was found?" he questioned more timidly than he had when he was asking his mother. Ayuta nodded solidly.
"In the time of Avatar Korra our world and the spirit world had fused. Today spirits are not unusual to see, but when your great great grandparents were alive, the two worlds had been separated. The two worlds were fused so suddenly and after Avatar Korra passed on, we had to learn how to live in unison with the spirits without our bridge. Fights are always breaking out between humans and the spirits .. We impede too much in each other's territory. But the Avatar is both human and spirit. This is why everyone is so happy. We will finally be able to make peace with the spirits," their father finished as he tousled the twins' hair. Adra's frown deepened marginally.
'No .. Something is wrong. I don't understand .. Why does it feel like something is missing ..?' Adra's thoughts occupied him as his brother decided to continue.
"What about dark spirits?" Adhir persisted as he attempted to pry off his father's hand from his shoulder. "Our tutor said all the girls in his regular class are scared of dark spirits because they think they'll get kidnapped by them. Right, Adra?"
"Nnh," Adra responded absently to his brother's light prodding. Quickly deciding to shelve his doubts, Adra enumerated on Adhir's question. "Is the Avatar going to destroy all the dark spirits?"
Ayuta gave the boys a thoughtful expression as he mulled over how to answer their inquisitive minds. Both were surprisingly perceptive for their age.
"I'm sure you'll learn more about the Avatar when Tutor Balti comes for you next lesson," Ayuta casually fended off the twins as he made to stand up. "Now both of you should get ready. I think it should be okay to go out to eat tonight. After all, we should celebrate the coming of the new Avatar too."
And with that, the inquiry session was over.
Three years after the discovery of the new Avatar still left the Sybak family occupied. Descended from a mixed range of benders, the governmentally established noble family had acted as the most stable form of a replacement for the Avatar in the last several generations. This diversity could not have made itself more prominent with the most recent generation of Sybaks. Out of their six birthed children they had three Earthbenders and one Firebender. But the Sybaks hadn't stopped there; after the death of their close friends, the Sybaks decided to adopt the two recently orphaned children of the family. Soon after their adoption, the Sybaks discovered that their new son was an Airbender.
It had been 262 years since the time of Avatar Korra: surpassing Avatar Aang's recorded time lag in which an Avatar appears after their predecessor's death. After Avatar Korra's passing, the people could only assume that the fusion of the material world and the spirit world meant that there was no need for an Avatar anymore. Researchers on the subject reasoned that it was a delay due to the chaotic state the worlds were put under. It wasn't until Avatar Dohna was discovered did this theory finally be fully recognized as the truth.