A/N
This is a collection of one-shots about the people from the hidden Air Nomad camp from my story The Masterbender. Each story will be from the view of a different person, maybe sometimes two chapters from the same. This is mostly random stuff I write when I'm bored in class (In case any of my teachers ever reads this: No, not your class ;) ) or when I have to babysit my brother (aka sitting beside him to make sure he does his homework). Please forgive me if make any mistakes about the ages of the people or the time the one-shots are set in. It's also possible that I'll accidentally mix up the families or names because these are 28 OC's with different personalities and backstories and also a few ones which have already passed.
Also, these one-shots won't be in any order. They can take place over a period of 9 years in which the earliest is Jaycee's birth (main OC in The Masterbender if you haven't read it) and the latest is… well, the last chapter :P .
At the beginning of each chapter I will try to make a quick summary of the people you already know from previous chapters appearing in it and write down the most important things about them so you'll remember who they are (because even I forget it sometimes ^_^) I won't do it in the first chapter though since you don't know anyone except maybe Jaycee.
If you've read The Masterbender you will already know my infamous long A/N's. Since this is a collection of one-shots this one will be longer than some of the actual chapters :3
Before we start I want to list the most important rules of the hidden camp. Most of them will be mentioned and/or explained later but I wanted to give you a summary since I worked hard to create all these OC's and their lifestyle.
Rules:
When you turn 8 you are allowed to leave the camp without an adult – but don't go far and never alone!
When you turn 15 you are allowed to go hunting with a group of at least three people; at least one of them an adult
When you turn 17 you are allowed to make a bonding (like a marriage) and are therefore an adult
Never leave the camp without telling anyone where you go and when you'll come back
If hunting groups don't return within 3 days they are labeled as missing and will be searched by search troops of three people; at least two of them adults.
Missing children will be searched for immediately; if they had permission to leave at nightfall
Airbenders must be careful with their bending, especially when gliding, otherwise they could be spotted
Instructions given by the healer have to be followed, for your own good
All food has to be shared
The people in the camp all have the same chores except for the healer who is something like a nurse/plants expert. Her daughters have the choice whether they want to learn from her or not, what they both chose to do. Though there are no jobs or special duties, some people are better at making weapons or hunting than others. Women aren't viewed any different than men. The camp also has no ruler or anything like that; the eldest is only considered the wisest but has nothing more to say than the youngest.
The camp is completely isolated since 85-94 years, if you've read about Jaycee you know what that means ;) The kinds of food they have are meat from hunting, fish from the river and plants from the forest.
Children learn reading, writing and some basic counting from their parents; they use books and scrolls they took from the Air Temples long ago.
They don't follow the traditions of the Air Nomads before, such as tattoos and meditating, and not all of them are airbenders.
I will often refer to the camp as "the family". Don't get it wrong, they aren't all related. Whenever a character talks about their real family they'll say "my family".
The cover photo of this story is a map of the camp. I don't know if it's large enough, if it isn't you can go to my Profile, there's a link.
Okay, that's the A/N ^_^
Just some basic things then we'll start!
1) I am German/Hungarian so my English isn't perfect :)
2) Avatar: the last Airbender belongs to Bryke and Nickelodeon though all the people used are OC's by me
3) Rating and length will vary
Have fun!
Air Nomads
Five years before the end
"Why do you have an arrow on your head?"
Kavi looked down at the little boy and smiled. He had heard this question a million times already. Children would always ask him that one day. Of course they did; he was the only one in the family with a tattoo.
"It's an old tradition from the Air Nomads," he explained. "It means I've mastered airbending."
Blossom, Jaycee and Symo sat at the mat in front of his tent. Kavi chuckled, knowing what would happen next.
"Can you tell us about the Air Nomads, grandpa?" Jaycee wanted to know, eyes wide open with curiosity. For a four-year-old she was very jolly and wanted to leave the camp for all costs and explore the world, just like her older sister who ran away pretty often. What would Kavi give to be as carefree as a child once again... Being the village eldest and everyone's "grandpa" wasn't that easy, not with 76 years of age. He had been lucky though. People usually didn't live that long in the camp.
Kavi sat down beside the children and Symo crawled onto his lap. Pulling an arm around the boy he began to tell.
"Well, many years ago, long before my birth there were four Air Temples, one in each cardinal direction. And they were occupied by hundreds of Airbenders, and the ones who had mastered airbending all had arrows like me. They rode on giant flying bison and trained little lemurs to fetch their staffs for flying. And when the Fire Nation started a war some of the Airbenders from the Eastern Air temple hid right here and started this home. Two of the children they brought with them were my parents."
When the children noticed he had finished they started firing questions at him.
"Can I visit an Air Temple?"
"Can I have a lemur too?"
"I want a bison!"
"Stop it, not everyone at the same time," Kavi laughed as he tried to remember the questions.
"Blossom, you know you can't leave the camp, and the Air Temples are far away," he replied the five-year-old. When he saw her sad face he quickly added, "But I know that one day when the war is over you will visit all four of them."
"How will we know that the war is over?" the girl wondered. Kavi gave her a warm smile.
"We will. And then you can go and search for lemurs. But I'm afraid they and the bison left with the Air Nomads."
"But we're still alive too!" Jaycee pointed out. The old man nodded.
"You're right," he agreed. "There's still a chance."
"Why can't we all bend?" Symo questioned. Kavi stroke his beard, thinking.
"I'm not sure," he answered. "Maybe it's because we aren't all direct descendants from the Air Nomads. On their way here the refugees met with Nonbenders who joined them."
"My mommy's an airbender," Jaycee said, smiling widely. "Was my daddy one too?"
Kavi bit back a frown as he remembered the tragedy with Tilon a few weeks before his second daughter's birth. The eldest forced himself to keep smiling.
"He was one of the greatest airbenders of the entire camp," he assured the little girl. Her eyes lit up with glee.
"Does this mean I'm an airbender too?" she wanted to know. Kavi shrugged.
"I don't know. But you could be. You all could," he told the children.
"But our parents are Nonbenders," Blossom wondered.
"But who knows, maybe you aren't," the man stated. "Only time can bring the answers."
"Will I get an arrow?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Probably not," Kavi chuckled. "Since the Fire Nation started the war we've dropped our traditions."
"Why did they start a war?" Symo wanted to know. The eldest sighed.
"Nobody knows," he told him. "The Firelord is an evil man. That's why you have to be careful once you're old enough to go outside alone. If you're not, a stupid firebender will find you and whoosh!"
He mimicked a firebending move and instead airbended a slight wind into the children's faces. They just looked at him, shocked and confused. Kavi shook his head. Why did he always have to scare the children when he was just making fun? He had already been scolded by parents multiple times. The old man tried to change the subject quickly.
"Do you want to know what a flying bison looks like?" he offered. "I think I have some old scrolls in my tent."
The A/N has 19 more words than the chapter lol. I hope you liked this first try :) As you see it's nothing special but everyday life. Jaycee won't show up in every chapter since she isn't a main character in this.
"The End" means the final chapter of this; I'm already halfway done writing it though I have lots of ideas for one-shots :P
No, I won't tell you what happened to Jaycee's father. I don't know it myself.
I hope you keep reading and review (and don't mind my A/N's ^_^)