NKB Productions Present a story by Lightweight:

The Avatar: A New Legend

Based on the A:TLA/LoK Universe created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko

DISCLAIMER: Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra is owned by Nickelodeon/Viacom and created by Bryke. I own nothing of the sort. All original characters, settings and story, however, are mine.

PROLOGUE

In my lifetime, I have seen many things. I have seen how the world has changed into a bigger and grander place. Trips that would take weeks to make are traversed in a handful of hours. Things that took months to finish are now done within a day. Societies and villages previously cut off from the rest of the world are now being increasingly discovered and adopted into the world at large.

I have seen the growth of my family. From a family that looked like the last great hope in keeping a culture alive to a thriving civilization. My children and grandchildren all have learned the family trade and are using it to help others, as it was established by my father long ago. They, too, see the stark contrast that seventy years can bring, even between our home and the rest of the world.

Everything changes. People move on. Bigger and better things always seem to be on the way. And as they learn new skills and abilities, people tend to forget other things which were once essential to themselves.

But in my Eighty-four years, if I have learned something, it's that the world always needs its Avatar.

CHAPTER 1: New Omashu

"MOVE!" A man yelled out to some people standing by a car. The people muttered angrily for a second about it being too early in the morning for badmouthing, but then they saw who was behind the man: a pregnant woman sweating profusely, with bloodshot eyes, flushed face and breathing deeply to try and remain calm. They quickly moved out as the man fumbled with his keys and opened the passenger door to let his wife in.

"Mika! Mika!" the woman yelled as she looked around, expecting a third person nearby. "Where is she?"

"COMING, SIS!" Mika yelled as she ran to the car. "Let's see… pillows, blankets and your stuff. That's all. Ok, Howl, we can go."

"Oh, thank goodness." Said Howl as he saw his sister-in-law get in the back seat. "Don't worry, Meili, we'll be at the hospital soon enough."

And without much delay, Howl drove the small white car through the streets of Omashu like a pro, weaving in and out of traffic and nearly avoiding crashing into others a good couple of times.

"You know, we could do without the death-defying stunts." Mika suggested as she saw Howl miss another vehicle for the tenth time.

"Not now, Mika!" Howl growled, trying to keep his entire concentration on the road. Just then, he saw the hospital sign. "It's just around the corner. Hang on a…" And just as he was about to turn, he heard the unmistakable siren of a police car. He braved a quick look to confirm that the cop car was indeed chasing him. "...crap."

"Oh, no, Howl!" Meili yelled. "This baby wants out, and that cop won't stop him! So don't you dare stop now!"

"That's what got me at the altar…" Howl muttered, just as he performed an expert drift to line himself perfectly with the hospital's dropoff area. He tried to ignore Mika's screams and sped towards the hospital, stopping right behind an ambulance with just seconds to spare before the cops caught up. "Mika…"

"Go!" Mika said, shoving the bag of stuff to Howl. "Stay by Meili's side! I'll deal with the cops."

Howl didn't need to be told twice. He ran out of the car, picked up a wheelchair and sat his wife in it. Just as he was rushing in, he noticed Mika reasoning with the police. The guy had a particularly nasty look on his face, but Mika knew how to defend herself.

As soon as they were inside the hospital, nurses rushed to Meili's wheelchair and took her away, taking her vitals. One stayed behind to gather information from Howl as the hospital intercom rang out, paging the doctor in turn to the operating room. After what seemed to be an eternity and half of answering questions, Howl was allowed to join his wife's side just as the doctor casually walked in.

"So…" the Doctor began, walking towards Meili's other side. "how is the proud soon-to-be-mother?"

Meili quickly grabbed the doctor by the collar and pulled him down, forcing him to look into her eyes that spoke death and despair. "I feel like ten monkey cats are trying to rip me apart from the inside, so get to doing your job, or so help me I will rip you apart!" And she unceremoniously shoved him away, almost making him drop a platter of medical instruments with him.

"Well… uh, ok." the doctor composed himself and fixed his glasses. "Shall we begin? Nurse Angie, if you please."

Mika was sitting in the waiting room, twiddling her thumbs in quiet expectation. She managed to smooth things over with the stern policeman, explaining the situation about her sister being in labor and not having time to wait for an ambulance. (Embellishing it with a fantastical story about the kid earthbending from the belly sure helped things along, too.) Sadly, she was not really sure where they took her sister, so all she could do for now was wait until there were news.

"Hey, what's that? What are they talking about?" Someone behind Mika said, pointing to the television. "Hey, miss receptionist, raise the volume on that TV."

Now everybody in the room was interested in the TV, Mika included. So the receptionist turned up the TV's volume, and the newscaster's voice came in clear.

"We repeat." the anchorman continued his broadcast on the TV. "Avatar Korra has passed away. Early reports say that the 81-year old Avatar died peacefully in her sleep less than half an hour ago. Avatar Korra is most fondly remembered for opening the Spirit Portals, thus allowing humans and spirits to live together, being a key player in the rebirth of the Air Nation and using Sozin's Comet, once a feared tool of destruction, to ignite the world's biggest power source, which is still running today. We will bring more news concerning the Avatar's death as they turn up."

"Wow" was all that came out of Mika's mouth. The people sitting around her, however, were a lot chattier about it.

"The Avatar's dead?"

"No way! I saw her just a week ago!"

"I loved the Avatar. She was the best one! I only knew one Avatar, but still…"

"So now the next Avatar will be from the Earth Kingdom, right?"

"Hey, wasn't that your cousin that came in and was about to have a baby?" a woman asked Mika.

"My sister, actually." Mika answered. "And I know where you're going with that, and trust me, my family doesn't have that kind of luck."

"Mika? There you are!" Howl peeked into the waiting room, unbeknownst of the burning theme of conversation. "Meili's waiting for you. Come on!"

Mika dropped all pretenses of a conversation with the woman in the waiting room and set off to follow Howl. It took a few twists and turns through the labyrinthine hospital, but eventually they both made it to the maternity ward. Upon entering a room, Mika saw a simple, yet beautiful sight: Meili was sitting on a bed with a tired, yet blissful expression on her face. On her arms she held a newborn child with slight strands of jet black hair sleeping soundly. "Wow" Mika managed to whisper.

However slight Mika's whisper was, it seemed to rouse up the baby, who woke up lazily and looked slightly at the source of the sound before turning at Meili. "You're a good boy, aren't you? And very handsome, too."

"No thanks to his father, it seems." Mika added jokingly, earning her some glares from Howl. Willing to change the subject, Mika asked: "So, have you guys settled on a name?"

This question left Howl quite pensive. For the past nine months, Meili and he have been throwing names around, and when they knew he was going to be a boy, they redoubled efforts, but couldn't quite find the perfect name for their child. Now that he was born, finding the perfect name just became a little more important than before.

Mika decided to close in and try to hold the baby's hand. When the baby felt his aunt's finger, he gripped as hard as he could muster, which was a surprisingly strong grip for a newborn. "Whoa, he is strong!" Mika noticed. "That's the grip of an earthbender. I should know."

"Hey!" Howl interjected. "How about… Ralis?"

"Ralis…" Meili repeated, pensive.

"Ralis?" Mika questioned.

"What?" Meili asked. "I think it sounds cute. It suits him."

"He'll have that name for the rest of his life." Mika complained. "When he reaches twelve he'll be embarrassed to be called that."

Meili thought about that for a second, and then she had a radical idea. "Well, why don't we ask him? He is the one who will have that name." Meili looked at the baby, and the baby seemed to respond by turning his little head towards his mother. "So, what do you think? Do you like the name Ralis? Is it good enough for you?" And then, almost as if he could perfectly understand his mother's words, the baby cracked a simple yet unmistakable smile and began cooing happily. "Well, I guess that settles it."

"Well… alright." Mika said. She then pointed in mock-accusation to the baby. "But remember that you chose it."

Howl moved in closer to his wife and began to gently stroke his child's head. "Our little Ralis. Our firstborn. He has your eyes, you know." He said to Meili. He then turned his attention to his newborn boy "I wonder, what kind of surprises does life hold for you, and where will they take you."

As they stayed in that position admiring the baby, Mika just understood what she had heard from Howl. "Wow, that was incredibly corny. You know, I'm just gonna go get something to eat. You guys want anything?" In answer, both Meili and Howl shook their heads. "Oh, well, suit yourselves." And with that, Mika was out the door.

As she was walking out, however, her thoughts led her back to that moment not too long ago when her newborn nephew grabbed her finger tightly. 'A bit too tightly', she thought. 'I'd expect something like that from a five-year old, and even a 3-year old, but a newborn? Something's going on with that kid…'

"Ha! I gotcha now!"

"No way, Wulong! I just got started!"

"What do you… Wh… where did you get that?"

"Remember my Birdy? It evolved yesterday."

"Oh, crap. Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!"

"Boom! I win!"

"No fair, Ralis! I call shenanigans!"

"RALIS!" A sudden adult female voice rang out. The young boy opened his eyes like saucers in alarm and tried to stuff his City Boy in his pocket before he realized he was still tethered to his friend's handheld. A short, black-hair woman walked into the room and caught them right in the act of trying to hide the evidence. "So you skip your training because you decided to play some videogame? What kind of excuse is this?"

"No, no… you see, Aunt Mika, it's like this…" Ralis began, trying to come up with something on the go that could pacify his clearly ticked off aunt. He looked at his abandoned backpack and began flapping his lips. "I was quite ready, see? But… but then I realized I had to do something before noon, or else I would never be able to anymore… and… and…"

"And I stopped him." Wulong interrupted. He stood right beside his friend in confidence, being a few inches taller than Ralis. "It's my fault he got distracted. I'm sorry, Sifu Mika."

Mika looked at the two boys in front of her. It looked like their downcast faces showed they got all the talking-to they needed. Dropping her scary angry face, she sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if your parents were right in giving you that thing for your tenth birthday present. Now come along now, and stuff that videogame away until after training, please?"

So Ralis and Wulong got out of the former's house and followed Mika through the streets of South Omashu. It was a calm day, and it shouldn't be much surprise, as South Omashu lucked out in being one of the few places in the Great Omashu Expansion project that ended up relatively sparcely built upon and populated. Some even call the area "The suburbs of Omasu". Ralis' family wasn't exactly rich, but they had secured a spot of land thanks to Howl's employer giving him the land as a reward for many years of excellent work. It was a simple one-story house, a contrast to the more elaborate two-story houses surrounding it, but it was still nice-looking and gave a definitive "this is home" vibe.

They walked north, through a couple of blocks, until they got to a rather long plot of land surrounded by an iron fence with a rather small building in the corner. Ralis sighed when he saw a black car parked by the building. Mika could've driven them here, but he knew she was trying to teach them a lesson… or perhaps this was part of their training. He could never figure out his aunt.

Inside the building, there were green-lined scrolls adorning the walls, as well as a series of pictures depicting Mika in several tournaments either as a champion or with a group of people. On a wall a large sign announced: "Sifu Mika's Earthbending School". Despite coming from a humble family, Mika's skills as an earthbender and a teacher were well-respected, even if it involved some unorthodox methods. And Ralis feared Mika was going to go unorthodox on him.

Once on the outdoors training grounds, Ralis and Wulong found 2 large spherical rocks tethered together by a chain on one end, and a thick white line adorned with flags on the other. "Now this one is all about coordination and teamwork." Mika announced. "Move your rock to the end line over there. If you're off or try to rush your way through, you could end up messing up your partner or facing potential harm. Now go!"

"Wait! Aunt Mi…" Ralis began, but was quickly shut by Mika's stare, which let him know there was not going to be any family favoritism in her training school. "Sifu Mika, aren't you going to explain how we should do it?"

"I did." Mika answered. "Half an hour ago, when the whole class was here. Now get to it!"

Ralis and Wulong sighed in unison. Going unorthodox again, and this time, there wasn't any instruction to accompany the method. It was at times like these that they wondered if Monster Master was worth it. After some quick thinking, they decided to use the simplest earthbending move they knew to push the rocks. They stood in front of their respective stones and assumed the stance. "Alright, on three." Wulong said. "One… Two… Three!"

Nothing. The rock did not budge. Surprised, they looked to Mika, who would only look them back with a wry smile on her face. "Hey! What gives?" Wulong asked.

"Oh, there is a trick to it." Mika conceded. "Earthbenders tend to tackle their challenges head on, but I've seen that can make even the best of the best vulnerable. Think. What could be grounding that rock to impede your progress?" And with that, she simply walked back and let the boys handle the rest on their own.

Ralis and Wulong wracked their heads to come up with a plausible solution. They circled the rocks and seemed to find nothing except the chain tethering them. It did look like the rocks were in some small dip in the ground, though. Wulong tried lifting the heavy rock to see if he could make headway, and just then he discovered something impressive. The rock was not round, but rather was just the tip of a large cone-shaped rock buried underground. "Ralis! Ralis!" Wulong shouted. "Quickly! Lift your rock!"

Ralis wasted no time and began earthbending his rock upwards. Just as Wulong suspected, both rocks were identically shaped. The two friends lifted higher and higher, until at long last the lower tips of the rocks revealed themselves. Though both of them were deeply concentrated on their rocks, keeping such things afloat was quite a strain on them, with thick beads of sweat rolling down their foreheads and with increasingly shaky feet.

"Argh… C'mon…" Wulong was trying to give himself a pep talk to keep going, but he knew he had reached his limits. He let go of the rock just before his feet collapsed. "NO!"

All sorts of alarms went off inside Mika's head as she saw the sudden events develop as in in slow motion. Wulong's rock started to drop, but was snagged by the chain and began to swing towards Ralis. Meanwhile, his nephew dropped hold of his rock with the sudden weight increase. Now he was laying face up on the ground as two massive rocks came down to him. "RALIS!"

The rocks fell, lifting a large amount of dust in their wake. Mika was running toward the area hoping the best but expecting the worst. "Ralis! Wulong! Can you hear me!"

"[COUGH, COUGH] Here, ma'am! Just a little shaken up." Wulong answered quickly. Ralis did not answer.

"Ralis! Come on, Ralis! Answer me!" Mika insisted. Still no answer.

When the dust settled, Mika got her answer, and it was thankfully a good one. Ralis sat on the floor, his feet barely a foot from where the rock fell, his face locked in pure terror, and his arms extended as if trying to repel something. He was breathing heavy, unable to even utter a sound. Upon seeing her nephew safe, Mika dropped all pretenses of a tough teacher and dropped down to his side and hugged him tightly. "Oh, I am so glad you're safe! Both of you!"

After the shock of the accident subsided, the three of them made their way to the office. "S… Sifu Mika? Ma'am?" Wulong began, his tone sounding obviously shamed. "I'm sorry. I let go of the rock and almost got Ralis flattened. I… I…"

"Nah, don't worry, Wulong." Mika said, a dash of guilt traced on her own face. "It happens. The important thing is that you're both safe and that we'll train hard so we can avoid accidents like that. Ok?" She finished by giving Wulong a gentle pat in the back.

Just as they got inside, a person in blue and white clothes started walking away from the training grounds fence and down the street. The rumble of earthbending made him look, but what he had just witnessed left him intrigued and extremely pensive. It wasn't because of the teacher or her methods; it wasn't because of the catalyst behind the accident. No… the reason he was deep in thought was because of that boy. That boy shouldn't be alive right now, but he saw it, plain as day, just before the dust blocked the view.

He didn't run out of the way on his own.

He wasn't pulled out.

There was no earthbending involved.

But there was… a gust of wind.

He thought about it over and over. It might be a fluke, or it might be a false positive, as he has seen in the past. Still, after ten years of searching, he wasn't just about to let this potential lead go.

The man made it to the nearest payphone and quickly dialed a number.

"Operator." A voice ran out.

"Yes, can you patch me in to the White Lotus HQ?" The man asked.

"Right away sir. And will this be a collect call?"

"Eh…" The man went silent for an awkward second or two. "Yes, yes."

"All right, sir. You're being patched in."

The man waited for a few moments, hearing the phone ring a few too many times for his liking. Then, an older, gruffer sounding man answered. "Yes, sir. Sorry for the collect call, sir, I'll pay for it when I get to the HQ. This is important though. I believe I have just found him. An earthbender boy, and he was airbending in front of me."

"Really?"

"I may have just found the Avatar."

-TO BE CONTINUED-