"Get back here, Sand Rat!" A voice calls, following my sister and me down the back streets of Ba Sing Se's lower ring. These thugs have been terrorizing us for the past 2 years, since we moved here from the Si Wong Desert.
"You can't get away from us that easily," Another exclaims, closing in on us. I grab Azumi's hand and pull her down a side alley. It was dark and wreaked of trash , but it was all I could think of at the time; however, soon I realize that was a big mistake. The upper wall of the building to our left had collapsed, making the alley a dead end. What's worse, I heard their despicable voices.
"There you sand-fleas are," said the large man chasing us, his buddy not far behind. He was wearing a tattered shirt and a small hat with the earth kingdom symbol on it, a sign he was with the Ba Sing Se Militia. The Ba Sing Se Militia is an organization that quickly took over the Lower Ring after the Red Lotus murdered the earth queen. They've been harassing the people of the lower ring ever since and the only reason they have for chasing us now is the fact that they didn't want "dirty" sand-benders in "their" City. But, even with all the terrorizing, it was still better than the Si Wang.
"Azumi, get behind me," I said, putting myself between the thugs and my 13 year old sister. "Don't you guys have anything better to do than to pick on a couple of teens?"
"Funny thing is, we don't." Another man said, rounding the corner. He looked sweaty and out of breath, clearly not as agile as his partner in crime, but dangerous none the less. "Lo want's us to make sure that vermin like you get the hint that you're not wanted here."
The initial man chasing us elbowed the goatee-man in the gut, as if he had revealed some pertinent information. "Shut up, and let's get this over with."
the goatee-man nodded and stomped his foot into the ground, causing the alley to rumble and was was left of the building to our left to quake. I twist my heels into the ground and the cobble stone road turns to sand wrapping around my ankles and hardening in place.
"Looks like the bandage-boy has some tricks up his sleeve," the man in the tattered shirt laughed, leaping forward and kicking a boulder my way. I push Azumi to the ground and bend at my knees, feeling the breeze of the boulder skim across my face. I whip back up to standing, waiting for their next strike.
"Leave now and we can forget this ever happened," I say, hoping they'll realize this fight is more hassle than its worth. Of course, I was wrong. The men laughed and charged in at the same time. I was able to slow goatee-man down by turning the road in front of him to sand, causing him to stumble and fall. The other man evaded, bending steps up, out of the sand. He leaped down and tackled me to the ground. I felt my head hit the ground and I saw stars. I heard Azumi gasp and start to cry.
"Get off of me," I scream, causing stone pillars to jet from the ground and throw the man on top of me of. My earthbending wasn't the best, but I would have to make due. Filled with anger, I feel a pit in my stomach pull the shingling off the roofs of the neighboring building. As I prepare to batter the first man, I hear a voice.
"Not so fast,' The goatee-man smirked, pulling Azumi off the ground by her poncho. Her short brown hair was falling in her face and I could tell she was flailing her limbs as hard as she could, hoping to make contact.
"Let me go!" She squirmed.
I dropped the shingles to the ground and the first man began to rise, "That's what I thought. Now let me teach you a lesson on earthbending." His face became strained and I could hear the boisterous laughter of the goatee-man. And soon the ruble from the fallen building behind me, that was once blocking our path, was lifted above my head. This was it, this is the end, i thought. I dropped to my knees in utter defeat.
"No, Kenji!" Azumi cried.
No, this cant be it. Azumi needs me, my parents need me. As I looked up, the rubble was on a descent down towards me. I threw both my hand up to shield my face and hopefully stop some of the rubble from crushing me. And, to my surprise, I didn't feel a thing. Instead, the rubble was whipping around over top of me, inside a tornado of air stemming form my own hands.
"What the-" the first man started, looking in astonishment at me and then at his own hands and then back at me again. I felt light-headed and queasy, yet so powerful. My body instinctively changed stances and with a whip my wrist I unleashed a tornado of debris at my attacker, sending him flying.
"Why you little shit," The goatee-man said, dropping my sister and starting towards me. I fell to my knees and the world began to quiver. He threw me up against a wall, the world still shaking. "How did you do that? Who the hell are you?"
I couldn't muster even the slightest response, I was so drained. But, suddenly, i was released and fell back to the ground, which I have gotten too accustomed to. I look up to see what caused the man to drop me. I see girl standing in front of me and the man on the ground across from her. She had wavy dark brown hair and bangs that caressed either side of her forehead. Her body was in a fighting stance, wearing a jade-green bandeau top and matching pants, swinging around a chain connecting three rocks in a pyramid type shape. The next second the rock-weapon flung from her hand and hogtied the goatee-man. Now that is a girl I want to meet, I thought to myself.
"Kenji!" My sister exclaimed, running over to me. Once she got to my side the light turned to darkness, and I was out cold.
I awoke slowly, taking in my surroundings. I was back in my family's small apartment, laying on the couch in the corner. I saw my Mom and Dad at the dinner table talking and drinking tea with the same girl that helped save me, and an older man who I don't recognize. My head was still killing me and I soon drifted back out of it.
I opened my eyes and I was no longer in my living room. Now I am somewhere else, somewhere I have never been. It was a large dome shaped building with hundreds and hundreds of bleachers to seat many people. But I wasn't in the bleachers, I was on a platform suspended above the water in the middle of the stadium.
"Where am I," I whispered to myself, rubbing my head.
"Hello, Kenji," A voice said from behind me. The voice was familiar, yet not. Like an old friend who I've lost contact with over the years. I turn around and my heart drops. Standing in front of me I see a girl, maybe a year or two older than me. She was wearing a funny, red, padded outfit with a fire ferret logo on it.
"Who are you? How did I get here? Where is here?!" I anxiously ask, trying to get my bearings.
"I am Avatar Korra," She replied, removing a helmet and crossing her legs to sit in front of me. "This is a memory. Not one of your memories of course, but one of mine. This was one of my favorite places to be, the Pro-bending stadium in Republic City."
"A memory? Avatar Korra?" I ask, feeling more confused than ever in my entire life. "I thought you were dead, how am I here? How am I seeing one of your memories?"
"Because it is one of your memories, too... more of less." She laughed, "And you're wrong, I am very much alive. Alive through you, Kenji. You are the new Avatar, therefore, I live on through you.
"What?! but when the Red Lotus killed you they said there would be no more Avatars! This is a crazy dream, just a crazy dream."
"Yes, Kenji. The Red Lotus said that and I would have been the last Avatar if they had actually killed me in the Avatar state like they thought. On that dark day, when I sensed my demise was imminent I did something no other Avatar has done or even known was possible. I used the power of the Avatar state to bend my energy, commanding it to leave my physical body, so the cycle could not be broken. So, like the seasons, the avatar became a new, it became you."
"But why me, I never asked for this, I never asked for any of this."
"No one ever does, but each of us were chosen for a reason. The world is dangerously out of balance. The Red Lotus need to be stopped, harmony must be restored, there must be order and justice. It is your duty now, Kenji. The world chose you for a reason, you must remember that. You must succeed where I failed." She finished, with a tear rolling down her cheek. As the tear fell to the ground the stadium began to shift and fade away to darkness.
I blinked and I was back in my apartment, for the second time. "What the hell just happened to me," I muttered. The queasiness was back but i pushed myself forward to a sitting position. Azumi noticed me first and ran over, wrapping her arms around me.
"Kenji, is awake!" Everyone come here! She yelled and the strangers and my parents came running over.
"How are you sweetie?" My mother asked, wrapping her arms around me additionally.
"You gave us quite the scare," My father said, piling on.
"I'm okay... I think." I grunted, and they unraveled themselves from me. "Please, tell me I'm crazy. Tell me what I think happened didn't."
"Kenji, this Master Bojing and Taya," She said, gesturing to the girl from the alley and the man standing next to her. "Taya brought you and Azumi back to us. They have a... a "theory" as to what happened back in the alley... they think you airbended."
"Which is quite impossible," My father added quickly, shooting a grim look at Taya and the old man sitting behind her.
"It's true though, Mommy!" Azumi exclaimed, "He made a tornado and everything!"
"Hush, Azumi." My mom scolded.
There was a lot of tension in the air, and surprisingly enough Taya was the one to break it. "Kenji, I iknow you don't know me, and you most certainly don't know master Bojing, but please here us out. We know what you did was airbending, we have been around airbenders before. And we also know that you're an earthbender, so it can only mean one thing, you must be the new Avatar. I know it sounds crazy but-"
"I think you're, right." I said, stopping her mid sentence. "I don't know how or why, but I think I am. You see, I had a vision, while I was unconscious, a vision of Avatar Korra telling me I am the new Avatar."
"You were unconscious, Kenji. You could have envisioned a purple platypus-bear ruling over the fire nation!" My father scoffed. Clearly they did not enjoy the idea of me being the new Avatar. It would automatically put a bounty on my head for the Red Lotus, and definitely mean I would have to leave the scene of the crime, Ba Sing Se.
"No, Dad... This was different. What they're saying is true. The Red Lotus were wrong about there never being another Avatar."
"I won't stand for this nonsense!" My mom cried out.
"It's not nonsense, mommy!" Azumi, yelled back. "Kenji, saved me. And if Kenji says hes the new Avatar we should believe him."
I have never been so impressed with little Azumi. She has always been quiet, definitely not the kind of girl to stand up to my parents. Yet here she is, at the ripe age of 13 defending a 16 year old, supposed Avatar form two overbearing parents. There was no changing her mind that this was the truth, she was filled with optimism and excitement at the very thought of me being the Avatar it was infectious.
"Fine, maybe this is true, but what does all of this mean, then? What comes next?" My dad said, grabbing my sister and my mothers hands.
"I'm glad you asked!" The man, Master Bojing, chirped. Shooting me a smile that somehow made me feel the same uneasiness I felt in that alley. I could tell my life was about to be changed, big time.
Hi guys, so i'm not really a writer but I did my best. Please go easy on me if my grammar isn't the best. I just want to have fun and develop a story maybe a few of you want to read too! Please leave me a review and let me know what you think. Thanks!