Book 1: Inheritance
Chapter 1: Into the Lair
At sixteen years old, I carry a katana on my hip and the secret of my identity from the world. I live in the aftermath of a world war, one which painted the rock, snow and volcanoes red. A single man's betrayal forged a trail of corpses far beyond the combined total of all wars before it. I hide my identity for I am responsible. I am directly related to the hatred of the people and their fear.
My name is Aria Linann and I am the Avatar.
Golden brown eyes awaken to the beeping of a digital alarm. The red numbers cast the only light in the black and windowless room. Aria's long black hair slides over the sheets until legs hang from the mahogany four poster bed. A yawn escapes before her eyes reflexively squint as she flips the light switch. The room is expansive with a food storage and life essentials room on the far side and a marble bathroom tub inside the door to her right. The hallway glows as if awakening from the burning sun of dawn, and as Aria clumsily walks, she stops at her sister's open room door, looking into the brightly light, empty room. Right, Aria reminded herself, Tersala always goes to school early, to study or get ahead. Aria stared at the landscaped backyard view in her sister's' room, precisely cut greenery with a forest of blooming flowers. Her chest suddenly throbbed, like a resurfacing animal in desperate need of air. She withdrew herself and quietly shut the wooden door. Aria smiled at the sight of Yu-shen serving toast and chopped fish. He sat a plate in front of her, "Good morning Miss Aria." The lively butler asked "How are you today?"
"Fine, thanks." Aria ate quickly and dressed in her training outfit, pulling out the katana gifted to her by her mother and wrapping long strands of glossy black hair into a looped firenation bun. In the gym her mother opens her thin eyes from a crossed legged position on the bloodred mat. "Let us begin meditation." Aria sat across from mother but wanted little to do with silence, instead she studied her light colored face and short cropped hair. Aria soon closed her eyes and let time slip away. The sudden unsheathing sound of a sword made Aria jump up and draw her katana.
"Good. Always be vigilant and aware of your surroundings. Now let the spar begin." Mother crossed the blade in a chest slashing movement, carefully baiting Aria to thrust the first blow. It freaked Aria out on the insistence her mother showed on using real steel swords, Aria mentally reminded herself she couldn't possibly hurt her mother and her mother would do anything before hurting herself, still it's not like Aria had never been stabbed. Lightening her feet, her mother nodded in approval, Aria edged in with a jab. She trained me to be quicker than more experienced fighters. Fast, agile, kenjutsu training, Aria slashed then side stepped as her mother pressed blow upon blow. Every bit of concentration was focused on the body movement and arms that flurried in blurs, attempting to slice her. The match persisted and sweat covered her face before a kick with a left hand par disabled her stance, and the sword's tip was at Aria's throat before her back made contact with the floor. "Good fight, my daughter."
"Except I never win." Aria grumbled.
"You will someday Aria. Keep training hard and no enemy will be able to defeat you in combat. Here take my water." She smiled, tossing a water bottle at her exhausted daughter. Her strong beautiful daughter, the one she was forced to hide from the world, mercy, she hated the world for the life they took from Aria.
Lucine remembered that day, it was the first day Aria was using a stone sword instead of a wood one and she was testing Aria's limits. Oh how proud of a mother, her other daughter never was as talented at sword fighting. One strike during the spar, Aria stumbled. Mere milliseconds before the stone would hit, Aria protectively jerked her small hands upwards, and the stone katana in Lucine's hand, jerked with it. Aria was a firebender. Aria was not an earthbender, but she saw it. Her eyes were wider than yuan coins. Her baby girl looked scared, and worriedly asked what was wrong. Lucine just shook her head, and ended the practice session, but moments later she was looking up every record on the day of death of Avatar Lee. To prove it was her imagination, to prove that jerk wasn't about to jerk all of the lives of her family. She had never wanted to prove herself wrong so much.
"I'm terribly sorry to interrupt. Lady Linann, there are firenation guards at the front door." Yu-shen said.
"Guards?" Lucine's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Did they say why they're here?"
"They said they must speak with Lady Linann."
Lucine turned to Aria, "go to your corridors, shower and don't come back out until I call."
"Yes mother." As Aria hustled away, Lucine pacified her features into cool annoyance and opened the door. "I assume you have a reason of paramount importance to disturb me and my residence unannounced."
The red corps uniform was worn by three men, military enforcers. The man in the center spoke "Perhaps Lady Linann, we were sent to question your daughter, Miss Aria." Her heart skipped a beat, but her tongue did not.
"My daughter? She is mentally ill and any grievance against her shall be brought before me."
The man in the center held up an ancient looking scroll and Lucine inwardly laughed at his attempt to read the cursive writing. In an official voice the young guard spoke again, "Ahem." Lucine narrowed her eyes. "A short missive to Master Linann and Lady Linann regarding the military's efforts to locate the sixteen year old fire-born Avatar. By the order of Firelord Ursan, your daughter, Miss Aria Linann will be questioned by a Red Corps official to discern any connection or identity as the Avatar." The guard on the left spoke "She must come with us at once and will be returned to your household before nightfall."
"Perhaps you misheard me, my daughter is mentally unstable and cannot travel or function well amongst strangers. And these suspicions are fallacy, my daughter is of seventeen years of age, it is on her birth record."
"That is correct, however we have reason to believe those records have been altered. We must insist she come with us." He pulled out his card of identification and the others followed suit. "You are allowed to come with us however you cannot travel in the presence of the suspect."
Lucine mentally pictured slicing up the scroll and terrifying them away with her katana. "I will see her to the door." Lucine left the door and knocked upon another. "Aria, you must listen to me."
Aria purposely hugged her mother and held on until the soldiers took her arm. "Be good sweetie and tell them whatever they need to know." Yeah right. She was traveling into the lair of the dragon and was putting on the show of a weak child, exposing her flesh to the hungry wolves and playing to their humanity. Aria was not that type, Aria wanted her katana at their throats, to pass judgement upon them, not the other way around. Barring her teeth, Aria forced a dazed look and was shown inside the car. Sitting down was surrendering to the lair. The guard kindly smiled from the right-side seat, like he wasn't there to force her into submission or terrify her and Aria wanted to spit in his face, instead she sat down.
Just reading this peaks my interest and I'm the writer? This is the next story of the Avatar, the fire Avatar named Aria. As a reminder, the order of the Avatar cycle is Fire, Air, Water then Earth. This picks up after Aang, Korra, Avatar Lee and finally Aria. Some sad news, I will not be uploading the rest of this UNTIL it is completed. I am only posting this chapter as a proof of concept, saying that I came up with the state of the world/time period yada yada. (When I complete it, I will first send it to the creators of Avatar, with a plea to make another Avatar series even if it is highly unlikely.) This story is one I hope all Avatar fans will enjoy and please comment on what you think so far, your thoughts could direct the storyline. This is fanfiction, I actually do own Aria (but sadly not the Avatar universe.) TwistedTwizzler out.