Possible triggers for character death, abuse, depression, and language.
Prompts: different avatar!AU; Lion; "Look deep into nature and then you will understand everything better." -Albert Einstein
Also, I used a lion-turtle in place of the lion prompt since pure lions do not exist in the avatar-verse.
Word count: 3,125
AVATAR AANG HAS OFFICIALLY PASSED AWAY. THE WORLD WILL GRIEVE FOR ITS FALLEN HERO.
After spending five months bedridden, Avatar Aang has finally died peacefully in his sleep, at only forty-two. Despite his premature death, he has brought more prosperity, peace, and security to our world than most Avatars do in a lifespan. This week, Republic City holds a funeral and commemoration, and its citizens look forward to the announcement of the new Avatar in sixteen years time.
Meanwhile, the esteemed Police force, led by none other than Toph Beifong, is investigating potential causes of the Avatar's death, and the current evidence strongly suggests his battle and subsequent victory over Yakone. Yakone, who we all know as the infamous bloodbending leader of the Red Monsoons-
SLAM!
Yakone angrily exhaled as he slammed the paper on the fur mats in his house. His new house, with his new spouse and new child and new life! He had clean slate, a new face for him to wear with absolutely no reason to hold onto the past like this. And yet, every day, the newspaper would arrive and he would seethe and pine over the typical subject of the first page article...Republic City.
He had no idea why he would torture himself by reading about it, knowing that he couldn't returned to his old home. His first home. He'd made himself comfortable among those dirty slummy streets, finding family among the Triads, the only people who gave him real waterbending instruction while the rest of the city dismissed him as a good-for-nothing street rat.
He slowly climbed ranks in the underground, until he was the boss of the city's entire rotten foundations. And he was proud of his achievements! He'd been important, until the Avatar felt the urge to knock him off his pedestal and steal everything.
Nonetheless, he still escaped. He still made do with what he could get his hands on, which was still quite more than enough to satisfy him. He managed to procure a wife and son, his own family.
After considering this, Yakone calmed down and checked to make sure he didn't disturb the sleeping infant. Even though his son was barely five days old, he already had a shock of dark brown, almost black hair, as well as a somber, contemplative expression that was quite out of place on a baby. His large, frosty lilac eyes constantly darted to and fro, examining everything without ever making a peep. He was incredibly quiet and introverted. Yakone would have a hard time communicating with him in the future.
Noatak was three and a half, and he already figured out many things about the world.
And so far, the most curious thing he had seen was water. It was normally liquid and clear, but turned white and frothy if he splashed in it. When it was in the cold, it turned hard. It even fell from the sky in the form of fluttery white flakes, which were cold and crunchy to touch at first, but wet and watery after resting in his small, warm hands.
Water intrigued him.
Another curious thing was his mother these past few months. She has been getting much larger around the stomach, and his father often rubbed the protrusion. They told him to rub it too, and it felt very strange, like a little ball of lively water inside.
He wondered if that's what his parents were feeling.
On Noatak's fourth birthday, he was given a box of wooden figurines with an otter penguin, a platypus bear, a komodo rhino, and a lion turtle.
He weighed each of the smoothly carved piece of wood in his hands, carefully examining all four before choosing to play with the lion turtle.
For some reason, the tiny toy lion turtle called to him like an old friend. He decided that it would have a permanent home in his pocket; he would take it wherever he went.
Noatak figured out why his mother was getting larger.
For the past few months, his parents had been saying the word 'brother' a lot. Noatak had never seen a 'brother' before, but his parents said he would be getting one soon.
That evening, his mother and father returned with another little kid, and his mother's belly got smaller, so Noatak figured that she must have grown it inside.
Noatak peered over the side of the cradle, and saw a very chubby face looking back at him. He reached and patted the baby, his brother's, belly and made it's tiny face light up with a humongous toothless grin.
Noatak smiled and proudly reached into his pocket to show off his toy lion-turtle. His brother would probably would like it too.
The baby simply looked at it and yawned...before starting to cry.
Noatak drew back, wondering if he made his brother cry, and guessed that he probably didn't. His brother was an incredibly fussy baby and cried often.
Will he be so nagging when he gets older? wondered Noatak while his mother rushed over to examine what was wrong.
Five years later, Tarrlok pounced at Noatak, missed, and careened face first into a snowdrift.
Oh no!
Noatak scurried over and lifted Tarrlok out of the snow, alarmed when he saw tears beading at the corners of his eyes. Quickly, he gave his brother a hug and ruffled the snow out of his twin ponytails. To his relief, Tarrlok gave him a goofy smile and laughed before he ran off again.
Noatak gleefully chased after him, but he paused when Tarrlok disappeared from sight.
Where'd he go?
Suddenly, he whipped around when he heard a giggle, and he saw his little brother hurling a snowball at his face.
"Ah!" cried Noatak. He squeezed his eyes shut as he threw his hands in front of him, expecting to feel the snowball explode all around as it struck his mittens. Instead, nothing happened.
He cracked open his eyes and to his surprise, the snowball was suspended in midair. The two boys stared at it, dumbstruck.
"MOM! DAD!" cried Tarrlok suddenly, causing Noatak to drop the snowball, "Guesswhatguesswhatguesswhat!? Noatak can waterbend!"
Noatak glanced up bashfully at his mother's proud face and his father's...strange face.
"You'll need some proper instruction, son." said his father with that weird smile-frown.
It was an expression Noatak had never witnessed before, an unnerving mixture of anger and hope.
What does it mean?
The waterbending lessons had been fun until his father had started to demean Tarrlok and work them late in the night. Those days, he wished that he never discovered bending.
–
When Noatak learned of his father's past, he was shocked. His father was normally so kind. How could he have been a criminal? How could he hate the Avatar? The children in the village all told him that the Avatar was a great person, the peacekeeper of the world...
–
Now, Noatak understands why the Avatar imprisoned his father. His father wasn't just a criminal; he was a maniac. His eyes would light up whenever he forced his sons to hurt the animals. The kind, caring parent from ten years ago was showing up less and less often, instead replaced by a vengeful tyrant. Noatak knew what he did was wrong; he could feel something in him telling him to stop, but he was not strong enough.
–
Noatak retreated into himself. He could not show any weakness. Or else his father might exploit it and hurt his little brother.
He gazed numbly over the rocky cliff, nestled deep in the cold, soft snowdrifts. He could feel Tarrlok staring at him, the blood rushing faster through his little brother's veins, heart beating fitfully with concern for his older brother.
Noatak ignored him, taking out the wooden lion turtle from his pocket instead. The finely carved details were starting to wear down from being handled too much, but it was still soothing to feel the wood beneath his fingertips. It was a reminder of the happier past.
–
Bloodbending animals was bad enough, but having to reach into his little brother was like shoving shards of ice into his soul. It made him wonder why he followed his father's orders. Why did he have to be such a coward?
Even his little brother Tarrok was braver than him; Tarrlok refused to bloodbend him after feeling how horrifically painful it was, despite the fact that father would beat him afterwards.
Noatak's heart wrenched in empathy for his little brother, so painfully that all the emotions he had kept walled up for the past five years flooded out, cresting over in one powerful surge of fury.
He could feel blood, so much of it, squirming under his hands, under his father's skin. Shivers crawled up his spine, the feeling of the vicious liquid flooding his mind with panic. He had to get away. Far away.
"We can run away from him. Forever!"
"What about mum?"
Even now, his brother was still compassionate, still thinking of others, while Noatak was just weak and cowardly and selfish. Rage welled up in Noatak's body. He hated what he became.
"You are a weakling."
Who was that statement for?
He couldn't remember. He could only vaguely feel the deep snow shifting beneath his feet as he fled like a coward.
He ran for hours, or was it days or even weeks? His limbs where numb from cold and exertion, his breath coming in painful gasps. But even though his entire body hurt and his vision blurred from tears, he could still feel the soothing presence of the intense wilderness. His mother had even told him: "Look deep into nature and then you will understand everything better."
Being far from civilization helped him realize he true order of life. Life was harsh and lawless like the alluringly cruel tundra, and creatures must kill each other in order to stake a claim. There was no room for the weak, like him.
Suddenly, his train of thought was broken when his foot slipped and he lurched forwards. He could feel himself falling, gradually building speed...
SPLASH!
The frigid seawater barely registered in his desensitized limbs.
He opened his eyes, watching the beautiful, rippling moonlight fade away as the ocean pulled him into its depths. He accepted its dark embrace.
The last thing he remembered was seeing his wooden lion turtle drift out from his pocket, floating back towards the surface. Abandoning him.
I didn't even remember I had it. Oh well. Goodbye, friend...
Suddenly, he felt a surge of foreign energy and his body started moving on its own accord. His vision turned a blinding white and he could feel the entire world connect to him through the spine. Human awareness ceased in his mind, and he became nothing more than a breeched floodgate for the torrential spirit of the world to gush though.
The garish, deafening storm of light and energy seemed to engulf him for lifetimes before he felt his head break through the water.
Finally, the light faded into darkness.
"He's practically blue."
"Is he even alive?"
"Awfully pale for a water tribesman."
"Hello? Can you hear me?"
Noatak's eyes snapped open and he reflexively shoved his fist at the pair of pale blue eyes above him.
"Woah! Relax kid." said the mustached teen, glancing back towards a circle of people in amusement, "We're all friends here."
Noatak was still suspicious. As his environment came into focus, his eyes darted around nervously, carefully examining the damp walls and a small grate on the ceiling, where weak sunlight filtered through. He sniffed.
Urgh. Smells like smoke and sewage.
"We got a smart one." drawled the blue eyed mustached teen, observing him carefully, "Who are you, kid?"
I'm a terrible person. I'm a monster. A terrible monster. he thought, growing dizzy from the offending smell. I'm a monster...a monster...a monster...
"Hey kid, can't you hear? I asked, who are you?"
Noatak squeezed his eyes shut, trying to suppress a wave of nausea.
"I'm a mon-"
Then he blacked out.
A month later, Noatak finally felt relatively normal and decided it was safe to trust Lieu, the person who found him.
Lieu decided to take him out to explore Republic City and get him acquainted with "the hood". Noatak simply nodded along, quietly observing the city that his father had spoken maniacally about.
"So, Amon, where'd you come from?" asked Lieu as he lit a cigarette, strutting along like he owned the street.
Ew. thought Noatak as he looked at the smoldering paper tube. Who would want to inhale smoke?
"I'm from the Water Tribe." replied Noatak warily. He felt guilty that he let Lieu believe his actual name was 'Amon'.
"No shit, genius. Why did we find you half drowned and frozen in a block of ice?" asked Lieu, shrewd blue eyes boring into his.
"Errrm...I..." Noatak had no lie available, so he glanced away, casually observing a nearby newspaper stand. The headline announced another raid by the Agni Kais, a firebending Triad.
My father used to lead the Triads... thought Noatak in shame. Then, he noticed the date at the top of the paper, his eyes widened, and he stopped dead in his tracks.
"What's the deal, kid?" snapped Lieu, carelessly tossing the cigarette butt in the gutter.
"The day..."
"What's so special? Is it your birthday or something?" asked Lieu caustically.
"Yes." replied Noatak, feeling a little hurt and lonely.
"Oh." replied Lieu, looking back in surprise, "So why d'you look so down. Nobody to buy you presents?"
Noatak simply looked away. The acerbic person beside him was starting to grate on his nerves.
"Look kid, Amon," sighed Lieu, looking the slightest bit guilty, "I don't know what happened to you in the past, but if it's your birthday, we can celebrate."
Noatak glanced back up, taken aback by the kind behavior.
"Don't look so shocked, kid." said Lieu, casually slinging an arm around his shoulder, "You're one of us now. We look after each others' needs."
Noatak was still a tad suspicious, but allowed Lieu lead him to an even less savory looking part of town anyways.
"So Amon, you ever been to a bar?"
"No!" exclaimed Noatak, "I'm not even of age yet!"
"Haha! Nobody around here gives a fuck." laughed Lieu, pushing him through the door of a dingy tavern.
"What about the police?"
Lieu looked at him strangely. "You are the most innocent little boy I've ever met." he sighed, "If the police gave a shit about anything, they would have gotten rid of the Triads first."
"Why don't they?"
"It's hard to take down such a huge ass group of ruthless benders, you know." said Lieu irritably, before bellowing, "HEY SAL! Hit us with some of the usual!"
"Sure thing Lieu." said the bartender as he dug through the cabinet, "Who's the new kid?" he asked, coming over.
"Just some person we found floating around in a block of ice."
"Cute." said the bartender, waggling his eyebrows at Lieu obscenely.
Noatak glanced between the two of them, hoping that his mind was jumping to incorrect conclusions
"Oh, die in a hole." snapped Lieu, kicking the bartender away and pouring two glasses of orange liquid that smelled like diesel, "You've never drank, have you kid?"
"Well, it is illegal-"
"Then best to knock it back quickly." interrupted Lieu as he drained half the glass in one go.
Noatak looked into his glass, then imitated Lieu's actions against his better judgement. He ended up spluttering and tearing up as Lieu laughed.
"Not funny." coughed Noatak petulantly.
Although he only drank a couple gulps, he was already starting to feel a light buzz in his head. It was...strange. It was sort of pleasant, but not pleasant enough that he would drink the vile liquid again.
"So is this a good celebration?" grinned Lieu, "Or do you want more..."
"I want a lion turtle." said Noatak absently before he snapped his head up, eyes widening with mortification.
Did I really just say that?
"Well aren't you a hard one to please?" laughed Lieu, "Why the Koh would you want a lion turtle? Something to do with the mysterious past that you won't tell me about?"
Noatak shrugged and subconsciously brought the glass of toxic liquid to his lips.
"Just let it go!" said Lieu, "Just be a new person. Nobody here will judge."
Perhaps it was just the alcohol, but Noatak was inclined to agree with Lieu.
"Hey, do you have a knife?" asked Noatak.
"What do you need a knife for?" asked Lieu, flipping one from the depths of his shoes.
Noatak slashed it through his wolf tail and let his shortened hair fall around his face. Now he felt...lighter. Cleaner than the monster who handled so much blood with his bare hands.
"I'm a new person." he whispered to himself, "I have a clean-"
"Look!" interrupted Lieu suddenly, pointing at the entrance of the tavern.
Standing there, looking proper and wrinkling their noses, were a group of people from the council. All of the people that his father told him about, all the people father had called cowards, all standing at the entrance of a dingy bar, almost like predators waiting to catch him.
"Ugh! Why did I follow you here, you reckless buffalo yak?" muttered Noatak, glaring at Lieu.
"Just shut up and hide, unless you want to go to prison." hissed Lieu, shoving him under the table.
"But isn't that Chief Beifong?" asked Noatak, "She can feel stuff with her feet, right?"
"Just do what I say...-Ahem." he coughed, casually looking at the group of elitists who had just approached their tiny booth, "To what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked with an over-exaggerated degree of politeness.
"Shut your trap." snapped the police chief, "And get your underaged boyfriend out from beneath the table."
Noatak emerged, looking very chagrined, as Lieu objected, "He's of age!"
"Wait a minute..." said Noatak, staring at them, "How do you know I'm underaged?"
"Amon," hissed Lieu, "What are you doing?"
Councilman Sokka looked at the pair of them in amusement before replying, "We know because we are here to announce the identity of the next Avatar."
Then, the entire group bowed to him.
"We welcome you, Avatar Noatak."
Noatak stared at them, completely dumbstruck.
The world has a terrible sense of humor.
a/n: Lieu is the Lieutenant. I was lazy so I came up with the most unimaginative name possible.
Also, I know the Avatar Cycle usually alters between males and females. Just pretend the Avatar Spirit got really ticked off at Yakone and decided to play a mean trick on him.