[A/N] Alright guys, this A/N is going in the first chapter of all my new stories. I have a large assortment of fanfics I've had in my back pocket for a while now, but I've been unable to find a beta for any of them. That being said, the ones I'm posting right now are all open to beta readers, and until I get one, they are HEAVILY reliant on feedback.
This does mean that the ones that get more feedback will be worked on more. Honestly, I've got a few chapters written ahead for each, but I'm not going to keep working on fics that no one likes.
Also, yes, this is part of the reason the TPOYB rewrite is taking so long. It is not the only reason, however. I doubt I would work on it any faster without these extra fics. I write these when I have time and don't feel up to taking on TPOYB or my original work. I'm only posting these three, I Chose Rapture, Something New, and Avatars, for the moment as my others are currently more of an outline than anything else.
I do hope you enjoy these as they are ideas I've been toying with for a while and really feel they are unique and different. So if you're checking out one, check the others to see if they also interest you.
Other than that, expect updates to be slow as with my other stories.
Now as for my note about this fic in particular:
I've always been curious about where bending came from in the Avatar world. The spirit? What kept an airbender from being born to a Fire Nation family? What about children born to firebenders in the Earth Kingdom? In Korra, two brothers bent two different elements, so I'm guessing it has something to do with genetics, not just the spirit. That being said, I think I have an interesting story ahead.
They sat at the back of the tavern, both covered in heavy robes and hoods. Their faces were shadowed as they ate and drank like animals, tearing into meat and downing tankards with ease.
"Alright, you and your friend are cut off until you pay your bill," a large man said, grabbing one of them by the shoulder.
The two froze for a moment. One looked up, recognizing the owner. "Get your hand off me. Now."
"He's not worth it Kamui," the other figure said, her voice calm and solid.
The larger man pulled a sword. "I don't think you heard me."
Kamui grabbed the man's wrist, slamming their arm on the table and using his elbow to break the upper arm. "I don't think you heard me," he mimicked, his voice disturbingly similar to the other man's for a moment. "I said, get your fucking hand off me."
Others around them stood up, many of them falling silent along with the band. The owner's screams were the only sound that filled the bar.
Looking around him, Kamui glared down at the owner. "Shut up." He stomped on the ground, a puller of the earth shooting up and crushing the man against the ceiling, blood and gore showering the crowd.
"Calm down, Kamui," the other figure said. "They aren't worth it and they'll slow us down. We shouldn't get into this."
Kamui grimaced as his vision blurred for a moment. "You're right, Lin," he said.
Without warning, fire slammed into Kamui. It pinned him against the wall as it engulfed his body. Off-duty guards and drunk patrons got into fighting stances around them. Water washed over Kamui, putting him out.
Lin held out her arm. Shards of ice shot out of her skin, coating her arm and hand, forming a sword. "Let's not do something we would regret," she said.
"Too late for that!" Kamui shouted. He slammed his foot back into the ground, sending out a wave in the ground. As some lost their balance, others were more surprised to see fire surround him. "Burn motherfuckers!"
"Avatar Sakuya! Avatar Sakuya!" a guard shouted, running through the palace halls. He turned a corner, nearly crashing into the man he sought.
Sakuya, a gruff looking mountain of a man covered in tattoos, grabbed the man by the shoulders, holding him steady. "I'm right here," he chuckled out. "What is it?"
"Lord Avatar, there is a mob outside! They're calling for your head. They say the Avatar just destroyed an entire town in the Fire Nation."
"That's not possible," Sakuya said, his grin fading. "I've been stuck in this palace for the last week dealing with my family."
"Sir, it was a man who could bend every element. That's the news I was given.
With a sadistic grin, Kamui funneled torrents of fire into the broken ground. Flames shot out of the cracks, igniting the people and bar around them. The ones who could ran, trying to escape to building as it began to come down around them.
"That's one way to do things!" Lin shouted over their screams.
"Yeah. Let's get out of here."
They stepped over bodies, Kamui kicking one that still screamed, making their way out through the front door. As they walked into the street, blasts of fire shot at them, blocked by shields of ice raised by Lin.
Thrusting her palm out, she shattered the ice, sending the splintered pieces flying at the guards who attacked them. Bodies dropped to the ground.
Kamui looked up as a man jumped from a rooftop with a sword and the intent to cleave Lin in half. He reached up, his head tilting to the side slightly as the man froze in mid-air. The man began to scream in agony, his wails filling the air as blood seeped from his skin. The blood floated around him, crystallizing and impaling him.
"You think I don't know how impossible it seems?" Sakuya demanded. "This man went on a rampage with one accomplice, used all four elements, even utilizing bloodbending and metalbending, but, as I have stated before, I've been surrounded by my family for a week. Unfortunately."
He looked to each of the faces around him, the leaders of the world he had spent a great deal of his life protecting. From the constant resurgence of the Red Lotus, to various rogue elements that had tried to take power over the years.
"We can all agree with that. There's more than enough witnesses other than your family to attest to that," The Earth King said. "This does raise the important question of, who else out there has this ability to use every element?"
"Could this have something to do with the Dark Avatar situation Avatar Korra dealt with?" the Fire Lord asked.
"No." an Air Nomad monk said. "My father was close with Avatar Korra. According to him, she separated the two spirits and ended the cycle before it even began."
"That may be true, but with the spiritual energy shifting during that incident, who knows what could be true. People who had gone their entire lives without the ability to bend were granted bending abilities."
"Are you suggesting that someone who already had the ability to bend might have been given more?" Sakuya asked.
"I'm suggesting that anything could be possible at this point."
"He's right," the Republic City President added. "I think the best thing we could do right now is send the Avatar and a joint enforcement team to investigate the matter."
"Perhaps it would be best if the Avatar were to just meet with Fire Nation soldiers," The Southern Water Chief said. "If troops from other nations were to show up with the Avatar, it could set people on edge."
"I'm agree with my brother," the Northern Chief chimed in. "We're at peace, and the last thing we need right now is to have political tension along with some rogue with the Avatar's powers."
"I can mobilize a small unit of my elite guard," the Fire Lord said. "They can join up with the teams already in the town helping with rebuilding and wait for you there, Sakuya."
"Give me a few hours to gather up a some of my own friends as well," Sakuya said with a nod. "We'll meet with your troops and track down the attacker."
Kamui slammed his hand into a guard, crumpling her armor and crushing their insides. As fire shot at him from all direction, he used a blast of air to send himself straight up. Surrounding himself with fire, he used air to launch himself straight into the ground.
The shockwave incinerated anyone close enough, sending others flying back.
As the dust settled, he looked around to see several buildings on fire. "Lin, tell me you got a picture of that!" he shouted with a grin.
Shields of ice fell, uncovering Lin. "No, I was too busy not being killed by it."
Kamui shrugged. "But did you die?"
A woman screamed in front of them, being held back by one of the few guards still standing. "My baby's in there. Let go of me!"
Looking towards building she tried to run for, Kamui could hear cries from inside the inferno. His grin faded as his vision blurred. "No. No, no, no!" he yelled. He clutched his head, hunching over as bodies started to float around him.
He screamed as the bodies ripped apart, blood pouring out of them and water draining from trees and grass. Lin's ice was pulled into the vortex around Kamui, even water from the air coming together. In a final blast, the blood and water washed over the house, extinguishing the flames.
"Does anyone know where these attackers went?" Sakuya asked the Fire Lord as the meeting finished.
"No idea. The 'False Avatar' put out the fire around one house and then ripped open the ground to escape. Closed it up behind them. Do you think you can follow them if they left a tunnel?"
"I can try, but they could have covered a lot of distance in this time."
"We're all counting on you in this situation, Sakuya. If the Red Lotus get their hands on someone like this? Who knows what kind of destructions they can cause."