AVATAR: The New World
Book One: Beginnings
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Prologue
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In and out. Through the nose, out the mouth. In and out. The rush of oxygen. He could feel it moving, in and out. It swept around him, even through him. With each inhale, air filled his lungs and invigorated his muscles, propelled his blood, pumped his heart. A heart that he could hear beating like a steady, rhythmic pounding of a bass drum between his ears.
Sweat trickled slowly down his face from his hairline, stinging his eyes, but the pain was ignored. Tanned, moist skin shimmered under the brutal rays of the sizzling afternoon sun. And still, his focus did not waver. He breathed slowly, in and out.
Air had a method. One could not wield air as one did earth or sand. Air was not to be so easily commanded. It was everywhere, yet elusive. Hard to grasp and even harder to manipulate. Even after years of dedicated training, one did not become a master until you fully understood that the truth of air bending was not in the capturing of the wind, but in giving it direction. Like any bending power, the ability to manipulate an element did not come from striving for control of it. The power only came once you accepted it as a part of you, and simply allowed oneself to be a vessel of it. But first, you had to be patient. Patient with yourself, and patient with the element itself.
And so, he waited.
Then, it came. A refreshing, gentle breeze swept sweetly past his bare feet and stirred his tousled black locks affectionately, cooling his hot cheeks. In the next moment, the wind current shifted and began swirling, dancing around him, enticing him to participate. The wind loved to play.
With sudden speed, his arm cut through the air, weaving through it meticulously, his motions swift, yet graceful, spinning the current to his will.
Bending.
It was life's greatest marvel. Nothing could compare, much less match the fulfilling sensation that resonated deep within you when becoming one with an element.
And so he immersed himself.
The wind increased in strength and power, circulating before being cast into all different directions, rustling trees on the near mountainside. The man moved with a fusion of beauty and precision while step by step, he performed what many could have mistaken to be a dance. So smooth were his motions, so lithe and agile was his body as he jumped, kicked and twirled sideways through the air as if he were weightless.
And so well was the routine practiced, that the man spun through the breeze like a leaf in the wind, his feet lifting completely off the ground, being swept up into the air. His use of the element was so subtle, one might have thought he was at the mercy of the breeze, and not the other way around. Then, as suddenly as it had all began, the man and the wind both stilled with a final clap. The spinning funnel of air vanished around him, and he dropped to land on one leg, bending at the knee. Perfectly balanced.
In and out. His chest rose and fell. His sculpted body, with arms braced as if in reverent prayer, then hovered up, ten feet above the carved surface of a stone platform. A background of massive gray mountains towered behind him. Amidst them was a temple built of white stone, its towers so high that they seemed to poke holes in the clouds.
It was a peaceful place, this Eastern Air Temple. It was a spirit filled place.
It was one of the very few places that this man could go to for some actual tranquility in a world of problems. That was all this life had ever seemed to give him in return for his efforts: More problems to solve. But at least here, he could taste respite. Here, he could be free. Suddenly, his wrist piece chirped at him.
What now?
He sighed, the peaceful moment over, and tapped the gauntlet. A mini screen on his forearm flickered to life, and the face of his White Lotus guard appeared.
"Avatar Li," the man addressed.
"I thought I communicated it was my desire to be left alone and undisturbed..."
"Indeed, you did. But...you have a visitor..." The sentry guard trailed off, hesitating.
Avatar Li clenched his fists and lowered himself back to the ground, summoning some much needed patience.
"Who?" But movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. A bald man with a blue arrow tattoo on his head had just entered the temple courtyard and was approaching with a cane, his limp prominent.
This man was adorned in the ancient orange and yellow attire of the Air Temple Monks of old. And this wasn't just any monk. This was the head Air Master of the Peace Force, started by Master Jinora. This was a man whose influence stemmed throughout all of the great four nations, and whose peace force members were also legends following in Aang's footsteps as peacekeepers.
Li raised his chin slightly, green eyes cast curiously down upon his unexpected guest.
"Master Jomei," he greeted stoically, clasping his hands behind his back. "It has been a while. To what do I owe this honor?"
"You know why I am here," Jomei replied, frown creases etched around his small mouth and lying under shrewd eyes. Avatar Li took a deep breath through the nose. In and out.
"My tolerance for listening to your lectures has long since passed," Li warned quietly. "I respected you once. But that was before your theologies proved faulty. If it is advice you have come to give, do not waste your breath."
Master Jomei braced himself against his wooden walking staff and stared up at the Avatar, his gaze unwavering.
"I come not with advice, but with a warning," the elder man countered, his tone grave. Li's eyes sharpened marginally, but he waited as the man continued.
"Persuading the leaders of the four nations to unite under one ruler will only bring more harm than good. It is too much power and responsibility for any one man. And when this momentous task proves too difficult for you, I cannot help but wonder who, or what will be brought down with you."
Avatar Li dipped his chin and took in another deep breath. In and out.
"As I said, your lectures are no longer of any interest to me. Perhaps it is time that I may interest you with a little lecture of my own?" the Avatar offered, unclasping his hands from behind his back and suddenly lifting up, levitating, off the rock pedestal in which he'd been standing. He gracefully descended onto the stone grounds of the courtyard, landing only a couple yards away from the Airbending Master.
"For an Airbending Master who taught me everything I know about the element, you seem to be forgetting the very core of your own teachings," Avatar Li spoke, his tone low, and mildly condescending.
"And what would that be, Master Avatar?" Jomei inquired patiently. Li stepped forward, closing the distance between them to look down his nose at the airbender.
"Change."
Master Jomei did not appear to be in any way swayed by this statement. Avatar Li continued.
"You have taught me that the air is never still and is constantly moving. Constantly changing direction, speed and force. When it is contained within four walls, it becomes stagnant, and loses all power. How I see now, that the balance of all nature is very much the same. Society is the same. If you try to contain its very essence, which is to alter, develope, to change, then we shall become stagnant. Powerless." Avatar Li explained calmly, even as a sharpness entered his gaze while he stood eye to eye with his old master.
"What is more," Li continued, "is that you have trained me, as the Avatar, not to envision my elements separately, but as individual energies that must be channeled and combined into one. You taught me to attain unity through the four elements, and by heeding your great teachings, I have become the most powerful Avatar in history." Li was not bragging. He was not a proud man. He spoke only to enforce fact.
"So tell me, Master Jomei. Why is it that you fear change? And why is it that you stand opposed to the Four Nations finally being brought into their perfect union? Why fight this when you know that I have proven myself again and again as the rightful leader to take high command over the Nations?"
Avatar Li's words hung in the air, leaving it charged with tension. Master Jomei stood in silence for a long, weighty moment; his expression was unreadable and unchanged. Li's mind ran quickly over the multiple possibilities of how his old Master would respond. Denial tended to be a favorite of his. But, this was not to be so today. At last Master Jomei responded.
"In a perfect world, I would agree with you," the master spoke, much to the Avatar's astonishment. "But this is not a perfect world. And you are not a perfect man."
Li's emerald eyes flashed in rebellion.
"I can be, and I will."
"Your obsession with perfection will only keep you striving and frustrated for the rest of your life. And besides this, life is short. Very short," Master Jomei reminded, his coarse voice grating on the Avatar's ears. "What should happen when you pass on into the Spirit Realm? What should be the fate of the Nations then?"
"Upon my time of death, the position shall go to whom I deem worthy, and that person shall stay in power until the next Avatar has come of age to accept his or her rightful position as High Ruler," Li explained coolly. "I have planned for all contingencies. Do you think I would come this far without having thought these things through?" Li could not deny the hurt he felt knowing that his own master still doubted his capabilities. Especially when Master Jomei knew first hand just how devoted Li was to his studies.
Master Jomei sighed deeply, closing his tired eyes for a moment. When they finally opened, they looked into Li's with an unexpected amount of tenderness, temporarily disarming the Avatar.
"What happened to the young man I met at the steps of this temple? The young man who so disliked the idea of being burdened with leadership?" The monk asked softly.
Li sucked in a deep breath through the nose, in and out. He crossed his arms and shrugged.
"He changed."
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