Hello everybody! Chilled here with my first ever story "Tale of Two Benders" This was the first chapter of a story I wrote a few months back. Please Tell me what you think of it and if you want more or if you want to give me some criticism, please feel free to tell me.
Though I've rambled on long enough, without further ado, "Tale of two Benders"
The Tale of Two Benders.
Book I: Fire
Chapter I: The Isle of Fochu
In the words of my uncle Iroh."Fire is often called the element of death and destruction, but what people fail to notice is that fire can be the element of life, and light. Always remember Rin, No element is inherently good or evil, for it is the lancer who makes the element what it is."
When I first heard him say this six years ago, I had no clue what he meant. But it wasn't until I met a very special girl that I would actually learn what he meant when he told me those words oh so many years ago.
But I'm getting ahead of myself, allow me to introduce myself. I am Rin Narukami, I am the only child of the prestigious Lord Silas Narukami and and his wife, Lady Camilla Narukami. I was born on the island of Fochu, on my family's summer home, yet it wasn't until recently that the truth of that manner came to light, you see, when I was born, my parents were told that I would bring shame and dishonor to the family name by our "king" Fire Lord Ryo, who then ordered my parents to "Get rid of me." if they wanted to keep their good face in the eyes of the people. With heavy hearts they agreed and took my young, and defenseless form out of the palace to "dispose" of me, but as my mother and father left the palace with my infant self. they somehow bumped into the man who saved me from my fate, General Iroh, one of the greatest generals of the Fire Nation, known for his incredible battle strategies and his compassion for men on both sides of the battlefield. When he bumped into the emotionally distraught parents, he picked up that something was wrong, and after some well asked questions, he found that Fire Lord Ryo had sentenced me to death, outraged and disgusted by Ryo's lack of compassion and senseless murder, he told my mother and father that if they gave me to him and gave him ownership of their old abandoned summer home Fochu island, that I would be taken care of and they wouldn't have to worry about having their "precious" name tarnished. Long story short, they agreed and gave me to the honorable general.
However the story I'm sure you actually want to hear about happened about three months after Fire Lord Ryo declared war on King Schnizel of the Earth Kingdom. I was thirteen years old at the time and I was just starting to hone my firebending skills, using basic tricks like making a small flame in my hand to create light, to extinguish small amounts of flame etc and thanks to Iroh and his rigorous training sessions and my own quick wit, I was picking up the basics extremely fast, fast enough to impress the general. "You are learning very fast Rin, I'm impressed." Iroh said to me in a very proud tone before running his hand through my hair, rustling it up before giving off a soft chuckle when all of a sudden, a large, red bird with distinctive whiskers and a harness holding a small yellow scroll case marked with the fire nation emblem, landed on the arm of my adoptive father, its small feet gripping his wrist in a respective manner. With a small, serious expression on his face, he gently moves to the small tube on the back of the bird, before pulling the tiny red latch off and pulling out a surprisingly wide piece of parchment, which he then opened and began to read silently to himself. "What does it say, father?" I asked with a child-like innocence as my head instinctively tilted to the side. After a few moments of complete silence, the man who had graciously taken me gently knelt down to eye level and looked at me in a soft manner. "Rin, my boy, I hate leaving you in the middle of your training, but Fire Lord Ryo has asked that I attend a meeting with him about the war... So I will be gone for a few days." Having been down this road before, I gave him a sad look before looking at him with pleading eyes. "Can I go with you this time, father?" Even though I already knew what he would say, I always would ask, hoping that the answer would one day change.
"Sorry, my boy. You can't go with me, you are still to young to go to one of those boring old meetings." He said with a goofy grin before leaning in close and whispering.
"Honestly, I feel too young to go to one of those meanings as well." He said softly, his sarcastic jokes never failing at making me laugh. "You promise to take care of the house while I'm gone?" He asked me in a soft tone. "Of course uncle! You can count on me!" I said in a (not so) humble tone before giving off a unimpressive flex. "Good! I knew you would say yes!" Iroh said in between laughs before rustling my hair once again before standing up and walking into the house getting packed for the journey ahead. It wasn't till much later that evening that uncle actually left, but not before telling me when he is expecting to be back and instructing me on how to go about getting ingredients and preparing some basic meals for myself whilst he is away. Finally as he was about two steps from disappearing into the rabble of Fochu Island, Uncle looked back at me with a serious look and said to me in a few short words. "Don't go to the northern part of the island, please it's for your own good." To which my response was the ever responsible "I won't!" I said with some gusto as I began to wave at my father who already disappeared into the busy rabble of Fochu. "I hope you have a good trip!"
For the first few days of my father's travel I did intend to keep my promise, but as time went on, I got more and more bored, each passing second only increased my boredom as tempting thoughts ran through my head. (Why doesn't father want me to go to the northern part of the island? He wouldn't know if I just ran up to take a peek would he?) And after little more then a week of that tiny voice in my head constantly winding me down, my curiosity finally got the better of me. If only I had known what I was getting myself into.