Chapter One
First Sight
Life seemed as if it was everything, but at the same time, it was glanced over as if it was nothing. Joyfulness, love, sorrow, melancholy, and even death were witnessed in the eyes of life.
Though a war was occurring in the outside of my vision, a peaceful home protected my loved ones as well as myself. An acceptable sized village filled with somewhat wealthy families with larger hearts was what I called home. Original-sized roomed homes lined one by one on the forest-like land.
A pine green, square shaped material covered two sides of each and every door. A golden tinted brown coloration based the homes, as well as it smothered the door, and a dark brown frame boxed all the detail in.
I had never been anywhere outside of our village, and there was the only Earthbenders I knew had lived. Most of everyone in the village clutched the ability to Earthbend, including myself. But, of course, I didn't know the concepts of that way of seeing things when I was young.
My jade eyes stared out at my father bending the earth and forming additions to our village's coal mines with some other Earthbenders. His dark, shoulder-length hair was gaining nature's gray and his sweat pooled in their roots. It was the village rule that no one under the age of ten years could learn the arts of Earthbending, but on some circumstances, my father secretly allowed me to watch him, the other Earthbenders, and my elder brother, Hyram.
Hyram was an identical copy of my father, if age wasn't a major factor. They both had shoulder-length hair, but my brother's was of full color and sheen instead of a mixtures of shades. They pulled the hair from the cheekbone height of their faces away from their vision and gave the topknot a jade green lace for a final touch. To match the lace, they had the same shade of green robes with a darker green coloration to widely trim it all up, and all of that was accented by a thin, golden lace the width of a fingernail. That's how all Earthbenders, man or woman, showed themselves in public. Everyone else seemed to wear less greens and more golden browns. The men, women, and children who hadn't learned the abilities left their darkened hair untouched, but carefully brushed through. I was one of the many who wore no jade colors, except for the piercing eyes I had owned.
My bare feet dangled freely in the air as my father settled me atop a recently cut stump from the rocky land; just so then he could keep an eye on me in case I ran off or got hurt. The rumbling and cracking of the earth tickled my fingertips a bit as they clenched onto the sides of the wood.
Double footsteps were heard upon the hard land a distance away and sounded as if they were heading towards the mine.
"Itamar," a muscular, bearded man directed to my father, "I'm terribly sorry that I'm tardy this afternoon."
"We all loose track of time at one point or another, Tyro. No need to apologize." My father replied, halting his bending. As did I, my father glanced at a young boy, about my age, standing at the man's side, "Who is this we have?"
"This is my only son, Haru." Tyro replied, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.
The man was similar to my father, strongly built with time aging upon them. His sun kissed brown hair was pulled back, and his eyes were a darkened green coloration. His son was comparable to him as well, only he had young hair that wasn't aging whatsoever and was the color of a chocolate brown and had only just began to touch his wide-set shoulders. Though Haru wasn't an Earthbender, at the time, I noticed he kept a hair lace in the palm of his hand.
My father nodded in acknowledgment Haru's way and returned back to Tyro. "Have your son be kept in your eye and repay the debt your tardy has left you," he smiled at his joking tease.
Tyro bent to his son's ear level to whisper something to him, and then pointed in my direction. The boy looked at his father and nodded a silent reply. Haru glided on his feet towards were I was remaining sitting. Once he reached my feet, he paused, frozen like unbendable metal.
I opened my mouth, but nothing except an 'uh' sound came out and lasted for what seemed like a lifetime.
"Are you always this bilingual?" Haru laughed. His voice was a clear, soft tone; it was a voice no other boy in the village had owned.
I shook my head, ending the long note, "What?"
"You speak a normal language, and of one I had never heard before."
"Oh," I paused, "Well, I guess I speak of normality, stutter, and stalling."
Haru smiled as I did the same. I shifted over to one side of the stump and patted my fingertips on the face. "You can sit down, if you want," I offered.
The boy changed his smile and sat down next to me. Before, the expression upon his lips was a look that I wanted to see-friendliness. Once it had changed, it was sincere and what I needed to see.
"So, since you know me already, may I ask your name?" Haru questioned.
"Nahele," I replied, trying to wait for his reactions.
"I like that name. It suits you perfectly."
The two of us continued on our small chatter as the men and women controlled the coal mine. Every other moment or so, we'd gaze at the Earthbenders' abilities and soon then went on with the lightened conversation.
A couple hours had passed and I felt as if Haru was going to be a near and dear friend to me from then until the end of all time. The way he smiled for me brightened my eyes, and I hoped with my life that the two of us would remain friends.
"All right, Earthbenders, this amount of work is enough for today. Please return to your homes and spend time with your loved ones." A man of the village directed, "We will continue tomorrow and hopefully finish this coal mine."
Men and women or all ages separated off to their own paths to their homes and families. Easily, I spotted my father, Hyram, and Tyro walking towards Haru and I.
"Nahele, tell me," Tyro turned to my eyes, "when will you be learning the arts of Earthbending?"
I turned to Father, then back at Tyro, "The near beginning of this spring, Sir."
The man nodded and smiled, curling his thick mustache, "Haru learns the same time as you."
"Really?" Haru jumped off the stump and landed clearly on his feet, "You and Mother will let me learn at winter's end?"
"Well, the village's permitted age to learn is ten years, and winter's end is the time you become that age."
As my own did, Haru's face lit up. His parents were aging rather quickly and he was the only son, or child for that matter, in his family. Though he knew nothing would happen to his parents, Haru's mother never learned the ability of an Earthbender; and he wanted to learn and pass on the skills before his father was too old to teach.
"Father?" Hyram blink his thick, dark lashes.
"Yes, Son?" my father replied.
"Mother told us to make sure we arrived in her view once the village's community Earthbending hours were over, remember?"
"Yes, we don't want a furious or frightened Ula, do we?" My father and Hyram chuckled.
The five of us walked to our homes, bound to cut off the path once our living quarters were located. Haru and I erased all the other voices except for each other's as we conversed about how we couldn't wait to begin Earthbending then later become skilled masters.
My family saw our home and we paused in the center of the walkway wide enough to hold five men lying horizontally on the ground.
"Haru, where do you live?" I questioned.
The boy turned the opposite way of my home and pointed. "Right in there," he stated.
My eyes glowed underneath the falling winter sun. Since our village was of a fairly large size, finding Haru against would be impossible if he had lived anywhere else.
My father bowed Tyro's direction, and Haru's father did the same.
"I don't know how much work I can take," I heard my father say.
"Earthbenders are the strongest and most courageous of all benders; a little community work could never be too much for one of us."
"Even if they're aging like an old, thin stone out in the middle of a brutal rainstorm?"
"Even if they're that frail, Itamar. Even if they're that frail." And with that, Tyro gave a last smile and turned back to guide Haru back into their home as my family did the same.
I glanced over my shoulder to look at Haru one last time before nightfall. A smile spread upon my lips as my eyes saw him close the main door behind him. A warm cloud of air escaped my mouth with every breath I took. Though it never snowed in the village, the sky did give off a frigid breeze.
"Nahele, what are you staring at?" Hyram called from the open doorway.
Not noticing I was standing in the center of the walkway, I sharply turned back to my brother, still holding the smile. "Nothing," I replied as I trotted passed him through the doorway.
Author's Note: Well, I hope you enjoyed my chapter one to I'll Wait For You. Please rate and review, any little bit helps me progress as a better writer.
Second Author's Note:
Nahele is pronounced, 'Na-Hay-Lay'
Hyram is pronounced, 'High-Rim'
Itamar is pronounced, 'It-Uh-Mar'
Ula is pronounced, 'You-La'