A/N: Samtana brought life to this story. Without him, this story would just be a bunch of meaningless words in boring sentences. While I debated whether to write it, his genuine enthusiasm for the proposal left me no choice-- an enthusiasm that hasn't waned since. I am lucky to have him as an online friend. This is dedicated to him.
Prologue
The water mimics the action of my hands, streaming up and out of the pond. I change the water's form to a sphere, then stretch out the ends to make an ovoid. With a flick of my wrist, the water returns to a stream, and dives back into the pond.
I am fully aware that what I'm doing is illegal, but that doesn't stop me. This element is part of who I am-- it's my element. It can't be taken away from me; it expresses who I am...
I was born with a gift, as I call it. Ask anyone else and they'll call it a mistake of nature. A curse. I am a bender. A waterbender; controlling a single element. How is that a curse? It used to be as normal and frequent as breathing. Not anymore.
Long ago, the world was filled with peace and balance. Love and harmony. All because of the mighty avatar. Thanks to the wife of Avatar Aang, Katara, Air Nomads were re-introduced to the world, and the avatar cycle continued. But three avatar reincarnations later, fire avatar Valdis was born. And because of him, the world turned to chaos.
He was against the avatar ways; didn't accept the responsibilities. Didn't think agreement could help the world. He brought on war and imbalance to everyone. He knew that conquering the world-- instead of helping it-- would make him more known than any of his past lives.
Therefore, he began raising armies of soldiers from all the nations, and cleverly mastering the four elements. Most of Valdis's soldiers were non-benders. That was because he convinced them to believe it was unfair for some to have such extraordinary powers. With much persuasion, they agreed, and with that, Valdis's plan was working excellently.
He would be written down in history, as the mighty Valdis, conquerer of the world.
Lives were lost, and many were injured. In the end, dues to the mighty power of Valdis's avatar state, the war ended, and the non-benders won. Benders were no longer admired, they were hated. Despised. Slowly they began to diminish, becoming fewer and fewer. They fled to the forests, in hope of survival. Soldiers followed, and executed any of the remaining they could find.
Even after the death of Valdis, the laws stayed the same. Benders were banished, unwelcome, shunned.
There were still many people who were against Valdis's ways. Most of them benders, but occasional non-benders, as well. They did not want to risk another avatar like Valdis being born. They argued with each other, and finally came to a law to settle upon. If the benders had to banished, the avatar had to be, too. Selected soldiers and secret benders were chosen to explore the world, and find the next avatar. When found, they would kill him/her immediately.
Yes, it is true. The avatar and all the benders are now hated by all, evicted from civilization. And now, because of Valdis, I have to keep on the run. Well, it's not all Valdis's fault. Jace and I have done our fair share in fixing this, taking down non-bending infantry camps in the forests; the ones that are only there to deprive the existence of benders, anyway.
So as I sit here, I realize our journey may not be so easy. Our goal? To fix this mess, and bring benders back into the comfort of civilization; back into their rightful homes.
I wonder to myself if this is even possible. For two teens to save the world?
I take another look at Jace. I can see only the top half of his body, for his sleeping bag covers the other half. His breath is slow and even, chest rising and falling with every sigh. The glow from the flames illuminates his kind face, shadows dancing around his features. His black hair moves ever so slightly with the soft, warm breeze from outside the cave. And the eyelids that cover his glowing emerald eyes are closed.
I yawn as I get up and prepare myself for sleep. I make my way to my own sleeping bag.
After adjusting my laying arrangement a few times, I finally get comfortable. It's been a tiring day, and it's not long before the weight of my eyelids overcomes the desire to watch the fire. I close my eyes and whisper a 'Good night' to Jace. He doesn't move, doesn't respond, as I expected. I sigh a breath of exhaustion before slipping away into my own unconsciousness.
Unfortunately, my dreams only bring the frightening reminders of the terrible condition of the world.
We really are everyone's last hope. Of course, there have been seldom groups of rebels-- benders-- who take down a single town, usually a small one. It does happen; though, not often.
There's no luck of an avatar, as he is searched for, found, and killed. The last I heard of the mighty figure was that officials had found the earthbending avatar, living in the outskirts of Ba Sing Sae. She had grown angry at for a reason I'm not sure of. Her eyes began to glow, and she rose herself into the air on an earth pillar. She snapped out of the trance when she heard the footsteps of guards. But it was too late, they had already put an end to her. The next avatar, born as a firebender, had died at birth-- some say because the father disproved of his own son becoming such a hated being; so he murdered his own son when seeing the temporary glow of his eyes.
Now it was the time for the airbending avatar to come into the world. But he's never been seen of, supposed to be born 17 years ago. No one has ever met the kid. There has been no glowing eyes, or illuminating arrows.
People, including the non-benders, suppose the Spirits gave up on creating a new avatar; no longer wanting to make another being destined to be met with death at such a young age.
Is this what the world is left with? No avatar or benders? Is this what Jace and I have to fix?
Unfortunately, it is.
With this repeated in my nightmare, I awake in the middle of the night. Though, I'm not in a cold sweat, or panting, as normal people would be. The fate of the world is scary, but I've become so used to it, that it no longer haunts me. This is real. This is really happening.
I roll over to face the fire, and Jace. The boy is still there, breathing, alive, and well-- unlike in my dream. The fire has diminished into a low glow, shining dully from under a few logs. I think about getting up and fetching more fire wood, but decide against it.
Knowing tomorrow will be a tiring day, I force myself to fall asleep once again.
And it's not long before I slip back into a light slumber...
