Okay.

After much deleting and re-editing and the evil computer destroying the lovely monologue I had prepared for you, I have decided to throw all caution to the wind and post this fiction without any ado.

Thus, here I am, finally posting a story on the site of which I have been a member for who-knows-how-long without posting a single thing.

I hope it turns out well!

Anyways, this is the prologue to my first Avatar: The Last Airbender fic, Of Wind and Rain.

Enjoy!

Keep in mind that all original characters are mine, and aside from the respective ATLA places, people, and creatures and -bendings, I own everything else.

I have stolen nothing! It simply goes against my morals as both a person and a writer to steal!

What's the point of writing if you can't depend on your own thoughts and inspirations?

Therefore, the original characters, ideas, and plot events come STRICTLY from my mind, and if they are similar to anything you've read before, it's due to nothing more than coincidence!

That being said, please do not steal my work.

ENJOY!

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Prologue

One moment, the emerald and jade of gossamer leaves—the next, the blue of a cloudless sky. Tiny wyverns fluttered amongst the birds; miniature dragons with delicate wings and chirps instead of growls. They perched on the scattered remnants of what once was a mighty city, preening in the shimmering smile of the sun. Rolling hills undulated beneath them, snaking under the glittering blades of grass. Yet this was a place of outcasts. Somehow, although it had once been grand, this place had grown forsaken, forgotten, in the shadow of the mighty Golden City, Rihirramen. The Twin Villages, Lasahn and Nazahn, shunned from the City, were hidden beneath the hills among oases and groves. But although they were isolated, they were filled with a blessed peace, and all who dwelt there knew that their time was indeed grand—grander even than the great Golden City.

A sudden laugh rang through the air, sending the wyverns aflutter in a rush of nervous wings. Another joined, as two young peasants pried their way through prickle-bushes, heedless of anything but their joy.

"Nira, where are we going?"

"Hold on, Airlia, you'll see…" A blonde girl with a flushed face full of freckles crashed out from the brush and into the ruined site. She looked around merrily, her hazel eyes sparkling. "Here! Here we are!"

A second girl, olive in complexion, stumbled out into the open. Her short bark-and-chestnut curls askew, she tripped over a protruding boulder and scraped up her knee. She groaned and pulled herself up, wiping dirt from her leg.

"Nira! Look what you made me do! My mother's going to be angry…" Nira looked at her.

"Oh, it'll be okay. Your mother never gets mad." Airlia's bright brown eyes grew wide.

"Yes she does! Remember the cookies?" Nira thought for a moment. They looked at each other. Both girls giggled.

"I hope this doesn't end up like the cookies!" Airlia smiled, looking around. She frowned when she finally realized where they were, crossing her arms against her chest.

"Oh, no! We're at the ruins, Nira! We ALWAYS come here! Why did we come here?" Nira giggled again, her eyes sparkling.

"You'll see!" She grabbed Airlia's hand. "Follow me." Airlia sighed.

"Do I have a choice?" They wove through boulders and pieces of old columns. Passing the shrub-flowers, and the berry patch, Nira dragged her friend along until Airlia thought her arm would fall off. Finally, when they reached a patch of particularly dense shrub-trees, growing around a surprisingly intact half-column, she released her, and pressed a cautious finger to her lips.

"Shhh! We don't want to scare them off…" Airlia opened her mouth to question, but Nira stopped her with a stern look. "You wanna see or not?"

"Yes," Airlia whispered.

"Then follow me." Nira tiptoed through the trees, peeling back the elastic branches. Airlia followed cautiously, her bare feet prickled by the leaves on the ground. Suddenly, Nira stopped. "There," she breathed, pointing. Airlia followed the line of her finger.

In a branch scarcely five feet away from them was a careful nest, constructed of fine strands of hay and feathers. Something that seemed to be mud held it sturdy at the bottom. Nothing happened for a moment. Then, in a rush of soft wings, a beautiful bird alighted on the edge of the nest, a lizard clutched in its talons. Airlia gasped quietly.

"Falcons!" Nira smiled.

"Yep." The adult left after it fed its wildly squawking and pecking young; Airlia gasped with delight every time a tiny beak poked above the rim of the nest. Once it was gone, the two girls crept quietly over and peered into the meticulous bowl of hay.

Three tawny heads stared back at them. A smile spread from ear to ear across Airlia's face.

"Aren't they beautiful, Nira?" Nira nodded.

"Yep." Suddenly, another head poked out of the downy blobs in the nest, cheeping loudly. The girls' eyes almost popped out of their heads.

"Nira, look!"

"I saw, I saw!"

"He's so pretty!"

"Is it a boy?"

"Yep. The boys are white."

"They're all so cute! I wish we could keep one." Nira looked at Airlia with sad eyes. Airlia turned to her slowly.

"Maybe…we can…" Nira gasped.

"You mean…steal one? But the mother…" Airlia wagged a finger at her friend, her eyes glinting madly. She was plotting something. Nira just knew it.

"They can't count. This one's tiny, anyways. He might be the one they're going to throw out." She reached into the nest. "I'm taking him, anyways." The tiny birds ogled her hand in confusion, bobbing their heads. She scooped the baby boy into her hand, wincing as he dug his talons into her palm, frightened. Then, without warning, the two of them heard a wild cry behind them.

Nira and Airlia jumped away from the nest just in time to see the adult falcon veering wildly at them from the sky. They ran as fast as their legs could take them out of the shrubbery, expecting the parent to follow them. When it didn't, they took a calm breath, and examined the ball of fluff clutched almost too tightly against Airlia's chest.

He peeped and swayed dizzily, blinking up at them with enormous black eyes. The girls giggled. This summer might be fun after all.

The mid-afternoon hustle and bustle of Nazahn was interrupted by a strange sound—a very loud, very irritated scream that came from behind a comfortable-looking hut at the edge of the village. Though it may have been startling to visitors, it was merely an everyday occurrence to the native folk here. Buyers continued haggling with merchants, children continued badgering with parents.

"Kukao, I've told you before, Vara hates it when people wake her up in the middle of a nap!" A tall girl wearing a greasy apron and looking about the age of sixteen emerged from behind the hut, chasing a ten-year-old boy with a rather mischievous look about him. While he was pink with mirth, she was flushed with anger; she was shaking a dirty cooking-rag at him. He ran down to the marketplace, howling with laughter. "Come back when you can behave, or else no supper!" She sighed breathlessly and flopped down on the packed earth. Presently, an enormous, fin-backed, two-legged serpent slithered out from behind the hut, curling up behind the girl. She didn't seem to notice or care. She rubbed her temples wearily. "Oh, Vara… How am I going to handle three more days of this?" The serpent hissed softly.

'I'm not sure if I can handle it, either, Airlia.' She spoke without moving her mouth. Her voice sounded like slow-moving water against rocks—soft and pleasant. Her large, moody eyes were glassy and tired. Airlia sighed again, frowning.

"Where's Kirivai?" Vara gave a snort and a great heave, and flopped on the ground as well. She closed her eyes.

'How should I know? He's never around.' Airlia leant against Vara's neck.

"He'll come if you call him."

'I'm too tired.' Airlia blinked lazily at the sunlight beaming on her apron. Something occurred to her; she jumped up and gave a great, exasperated moan.

"I forgot about Allia! She and Mari were supposed to come over here ages ago…" She stormed off down the dirt road. Vara gave a great, hissing sigh, heaved herself off of the ground, and slithered after her.

'I'll give you a ride, Lia.' Airlia turned with a grateful look in her weary eyes.
"Thank you, Vara."

'You owe me.'

"I know."

Airlia was about sixteen now; that summer with the falcons was merely a merry memory—although it had earned her a valuable friend, Kirivai. Her birthday was coming in the Month of Jewels, and she was now expected to take on certain responsibilities, such as keeping her siblings for a week while her parents left to do business in Rihirramen. She had to watch Kukao and Allia, her rambunctious brother and sparkling sister, ten and eight years of age, respectively. Her older brother Murza was already nineteen—and very independent. He lived on the outskirts of Nazahn's twin village, Lasahn, with the town medicine man, Khaludier, learning the art of healing-craft. Khaludier was a great teacher, and a greater friend. Although he, like most of the other villagers in Nazahn and Lasahn, was originally a banished man, everyone had grown to love and respect him, as he was a man of contagious smiles and carefree attitude. In fact, everyone in both Lasahn and Nazahn was as kind as could be—a strange quality amongst those who had been exiled—and both villages were filled to the brim with the nicest people anyone could hope to meet. Airlia often thought that if the rest of the world were like her villages, there would be no more war, and no more heartache.

After passing Zora and Ruki's house, Airlia, atop the finserpent Vara, came to the edge of Nazahn. Across a field could be seen the outskirts of Lasahn, and a curl of smoke was rising from far west, towards the Great Forest. That was Khaludier's healing hut. Vara and Airlia, however, stopped at a sturdy-looking hut thatched with green palm branches. This was Berudo's house, father of Mari and Druko.

"Berudo?" Allia called. "Are you there?" A stern voice boomed in answer.

"Yes ma'am!" A tall, sturdy man, quite like to his home, emerged from a palm-mat door, his sweaty face smeared with soot. Pale blue eyes twinkled at Vara and Airlia. "What brings ye all the way down here?"

"I'm looking for Allia. Have you seen her?" Berudo squinted up at Airlia. He opened his mouth, but a voice very different met her ears—a smooth, confident voice.

"Yea, she's out back with Mari." Airlia felt her cheeks grow hot. Chills ran up her spine. She jerked violently around to meet the fine form of Druko. A nervous smile spread across her lips. She couldn't meet his eyes.

"Erm, yea, thanks, Druko." She dug her heel into Vara's neck. "Move, Vara, let's get out of here…" she hissed. Vara sighed. Airlia kicked her. Her heart stopped when he spoke again.

"No problem. You want me to take you to her?" She could have fainted. Her heart was pounding a million miles a minute in her chest. Should she take the chance?

"Uh, yea, sure, Druko." She swung herself off of Vara. Druko proffered an arm to help, but she effectively dodged it, afraid that her searing hot body would give up a secret almost everyone already knew. She looked up, cheeks hot, into the clear blue eyes of the boy she loved. He smiled.

"You seem a little nervous today, Airlia." She laughed a little too heartily. He didn't seem to notice.

"Aha, yea, I've had a bad day with Kukao, you know him." He chuckled.

"Yea, all too well." He turned to his father. She stared at the fine line of his jawbone and the perfection of his skin. His hair, golden and chestnut, rippled in a rare breeze. "I put the wood out back, Father." Berudo grinned at his son and winked.

"Don't do anything dishonorable, now." Druko laughed heartily—a sincere laugh. Airlia giggled a little. Even though Nira and Muri always talked about how conceited Druko was, she couldn't help but feel that he really was a true person. She was a little biased, though. Druko was, after all, her crush.

"Did you use earthbending?" she asked as they began walking, the question sounding absurd the minute it left her lips. Why had she even asked him? Druko, however, smiled again. He was so perfect.

"Of course. How else do you get the old trees to fall without hurting the young ones?" He knew her too well.

"You're just saying that." The two of them turned into the garden behind Berudo's house. The sounds of giggling, which could be heard on the other side of the house, were now much louder, and more frequent.

"And if I am?" Airlia boldly raised an eyebrow at Druko, feeling her cheeks grow violently hot as she did. My face must be red as fire, she thought.

"You might have a secret you don't want to tell me?" Druko stared at her, stopping.

"What kind of a secret?" The joke seemed to be over. Airlia stuttered, feeling her face grow even more flushed.

"Uh, well, I dunno, something…" His eyes bore into her face. Oh great, she thought. He can see me blushing like a mad cherry. He leaned in closer to her. Airlia's heart was racing so fast it was palpitating. Was he going to…?

"What—" Something ricocheted off the back of Druko's head. Ironically, it looked like a cherry. Airlia couldn't contain herself, and felt waves of laughter erupt from her mouth. It was Druko's turn to blush. He turned around to look for the culprit.

"Allia! You ruined it!" Frantic whispering emanated from behind the cherry trees and bushes on the eastern side of the house. Druko crashed over to the hidden spies. Two little girls, eight years of age in appearance, emerged, giggling like mad things. They began to dance and sing in a circle around both Druko and Airlia, although Airlia, who was in fits of laughter, was a good distance away from the cherry trees.

"DRUKO AND AIRLIA SITTING IN A TREE! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" At this, Airlia hiccupped and choked, turning blue.

"Wh-What?" Druko growled.

"Mari, stop it!" His little sister, a light-haired, twiggy thing, danced right up to him and smiled.

"Whyyyy?" He glared at her. Allia giggled, her dark curls bouncing as she ran up to Airlia.

"He likes you," she whispered to her older sister. Airlia blushed furiously.

"Stop it, Allia. You know how much I hate it when you lie!"

"But Nira and Muri told me! He likes you." Airlia opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again.

"We have to go, Allia. It's dinnertime. If you want Mari to come, tell her we're riding Vara." Airlia winced when she realized what she'd said.

"MAAAAAAAARI! WE'RE GOOOOOOOING!" Allia screamed. Airlia squeezed her eyes shut. Mari gave a squeal and bounced to her best friend.

"Oh, oh, oh, do we get to ride Vara?" Airlia nodded sadly.

"Yes, Mari, we do." Vara rolled her eyes and stared forlornly at Airlia. Airlia smiled uncertainly. Vara sighed.

'Are we there yet?'

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Okay. Here we go. The roller-coaster ride begins.

Here's the name pronunciation key.

Name Pronunciation:

Airlia: AIR-lee-yah
Nira: NEE-rah
Muri: Myoo-REE (The 'y' in 'myoo' must be pronounced 'yuh' not 'why')
Kukao: Koo-COW
Vara: VAIR-ah
Mari: MAH-ree
Allia: ALL-lee-yah
Murza: MOOR-zah ('moor' must be pronounced like 'moo')
Khaludier: Kah-LOOD-ee-yay
Berudo: Bear-OOD-oh
Druko: DREW-koh
Roki: ROW-key
Jude: JOO-day
Mama: Ma-MA
Papi: PA-pee
Nazahn: NAH-zah-han (the 'a' in 'han' does not sound like the 'a' in 'and')
Lasahn: LAH-zah-han (think Bahama men when you pronounce the 'hans', yea mon)
Rihirramen: Rih-HERE-ah-men

I'll also post historical notes when needed, just for the purpose of the reader.

Anyways, enjoy! Please review and spread the word!