Without a Doubt

Link sat cross legged in a large circle. Four people stood around him, all wearing masks. Link stood and faced the first person. From the figure, it was his firebending master. She had always seemed very distant in their lessons. He smiled, waiting for her to move. When she did, it was fast but he was ready; he stomped his foot on the ground and lifted his hands to the sky, creating an earth box around her and her fire. He pushed his hands forward, closing the top of the box and stomped his foot again, filling the prison with a sandstorm.

Oh she won't like that.

After listening to her shouts of rage for a moment, Link held his hands above his head and pushed down, forcing the prison deep into the earth. Finally, he collapsed it so that her head was free, but the earth had hardened up to her neck. Even if she tried to shoot fire from her mouth, the earth was holding her head in such a way that it would go harmlessly toward the sky.

"Let me out of this you rotten child!" She snapped. He laughed and kicked the ground. The result was her popping out of the earth and falling on her backside. She jumped up, ready to fight again, but the next person held up a hand.

"Enough Princess," he said. "The boy wins."

The firebender crossed her arms and returned to her place. Link suppressed a grin as he turned to his next opponent; the earthbender. This man was the reason for most of the muscles that were crammed into Link's lean body. They stood calmly for a moment, but this time Link struck first. He slid his foot forward and punched forward. Air buffeted the earthbender, but the man was unimpressed.

"A little wind will not slow me down," he said calmly as he ripped a massive boulder from the ground. The boulder slipped from his hands though as Link twisted his hips and airbent the man right off the ground. Link stood with one hand raised, maintaining a column of spiraling wind that kept the earthbender suspended in midair. Only the most talented earthbenders could bend without being firmly rooted to the ground and this man was not one of them.

"Your opponent is not defeated Link." The last man in the circle said. Link nodded and used his other hand to gather the water in the air and froze the earthbender so that he was stuck hovering above the ground. Link relaxed and the earthbender nodded, conceding defeat. Link waved his hand and the ice melted, letting the man fall to the ground.

The next opponent was a female spirit that had taken Link many years to find and many more years to convince her to teach him. She did not wait for him to get ready and soon he was trapped in the same wind column that he had used on the earthbender.

"Do not get a swollen head boy," the spirit hissed. "I could crush you with the pressure of this wind if I wanted to."

Link laughed and airbent a pocket in the column and dropped to the ground. He remembered the day the spirit tried to leave. He had brought her back; it was the day he realized he was strong. A long whip made of flames fell from his fingertips. With a flick of his wrist, the whip had cut through the air and was moving toward the spirit. He firebent the whip into a massive snake that circled around the spirit, keeping her locked in place for a moment. Before she could respond, Link kicked the ground, turning the earth beneath her into quicksand and swallowed her so that even her mouth was consumed. The snake disappeared and the sand hardened.

"Link wins again," the last man said. Link released the spirit and turned to face the last man; a waterbender and a master tactician who could rival the intelligence of the great General Sokka. Link readied himself mentally as the waterbender took his stance. Thunder rolled in the sky as the clouds broke loose. Link smelt the raindrops before he felt them hitting his head; each one an bit of ammunition for his opponent to use against him.

In a flash of lightning their dance began. Link's natural element was water so, while the rain weakened him against an opponent such as this one, it also made him stronger. He reached up and turned the drops above his opponent into hail while avoiding the ice spikes that were falling toward his own head.

Link stomped his foot, causing a small earthquake, but his opponent made a spiraling column of water to keep him safely above the ground. The other benders were backing away, quickly, trying to avoid being caught in this fight. Link threw arms across his chest, creating two small tornados that crashed into each other and began sucking in the water that Link's opponent was bending. Link ran forward and made a third tornado around the first two by running in a circle as fast as he could. Soon, all of the water had been absorbed and his opponent was just trying to prevent himself from being slammed into the ground.

Link stomped the ground and made another stone prison, but this one was much smaller so that his opponent could not move. The prison dropped to the ground and Link blasted the earth with flames as hot as he could manage, drying up any water left in the air of the prison.

Link roared in delight, shooting a stream of flame from his mouth in ecstasy. He began to tremble and suddenly he felt as if he had drifted out of his body, while at the same time he knew he had never been so connected with himself. The fire coming from his hands grew so hot that the earth prison was melting – melting! – And as he laughed, it was almost like he was an entire room of men laughing at the same time.

"This is amazing!" he cried with the voice of a thousand men. Suddenly, he felt something hitting his arm and looked down to see the earthbender throwing rocks at him. Instantly, the man was consumed in ice and unable to move. Lightning flashed again, but this time it was from the firebender's fingertips. Link avoided the attack just in time, but it was enough. His concentration broke and he stopped bending. It was as if the world had crashed down on his shoulders. He felt small, insignificant, and weak. His knees gave out and he fell to the ground, too dizzy to even look around.

The waterbender stood, only slightly burnt and cleared his throat.

"If there was any doubt before I believe we can dispel it now," he said. "You are the avatar. Azula, summon your dai li. We will overthrow your brother first."


On the other side of the world, Aang lifted his head and closed his eyes, studying the unbalance in the spirit world for a moment before looking back at his newborn son. Aang sighed inwardly and looked up at Katara who was sleeping peacefully just a few feet away.

Whatever that was, it can't be anything good.


For those of you who read my other stories, I will probably not be finishing them, so consider this a fresh start that will be better than both of them. I hope you enjoy it.

Who is this boy and how does he have the powers of an avatar? Wait and find out...