*The only disclaimer I am writing for this fic: I do not own Avatar, Avatar: the Last Airbender, Avatar: The Legend of Aang, or anything in this fic. I love A:TLA and LOK, so I write with complete respect to the source material. I have been a fan since the trailers came out back in summer of 2004 for what would be my favorite series ever! I watched the premiere of every single episode and cried at the end of the series from both sadness and happiness. Also, if M. Night Shayamalan can make a theatrical fanfiction for his daughter (I am dead serious, watch an interview of his for the Last Airbender movie that bored me nearly to death) then why can I not write a fanfction that even at its worst cannot be even in the same universe with how bad the movie was (in plot, acting, casting, and overall directing!).*
Author's Note: Finally I have started actually writing this thing! 5 years ago I came up with an alternate universe of A:TLA series centered around two OC characters I came up with in my main character of this fic is not Aang, but Katara's cousin Kira, daughter of Hakoda's nonexistent waterbending twin sister Tara (whom Katara is named for). The first couple chapters serve as a back story to my OCs, so Katara and everyone else wont make an appearance until at least chapter 4, maybe even later. It will take a year or two at least, maybe several, but I am re-writing the series with my own spin even though I love the canon one so much! I might even do an AU Legend of Korra follow up/sequel to this fic, but that wont be until this fic is finished. So enjoy the fanfic, review if you want. Follows and Favorites are much appreciated but not mandatory for me. Updates will be irregular for me, I have work and college classes to do, plus I have the entire re-write in my head, but not written or typed out.
Duel Elements: The Legend of Kira
Book 1 Water Chapter 1 Zira
Intro read in Kira's voice: "Water and Fire, Earth and Air. My uncle often told me stories about a time when the world was not at war. Our world is traditionally divided into four major nations based on the four major elements. The Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Air Nomads. Long ago these four nations lived together as opposites yet together also in peace and harmony, but then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked, wiping out the entire Air Nomad race and bringing destruction wherever they go. Only the Avatar, the one person born with the power to bend not one, but all four of the major elements at will, was powerful enough to stop them, but when the world needed him most, he perished. A hundred years later and the Fire Nation has almost completely succeeded in their plans for world domination. When the new Avatar, an airbender, never made an appearance after the Air temples were destroyed, most assumed he had died and was reborn into the Water Tribes. While the Northern Water Tribe has remained untouched by the war and isolated from the world, the Southern Water Tribe has been devastated. The last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe was captured along with her non-bending traitor Fire Nation lover and they were imprisoned directly at the capitol under the personal imprisonment of the Fire Lord himself. Some say the lovers were secretly married in the Earth Kingdom and had been fleeing to the safety of Ba Sing Se before they were apprehended by the Fire Nation bounty hunters. They also say that the lovers had a child together, a female waterbender, although the infant has disappeared and was never captured by the bounty hunters. I have lived in a Fire Nation colony in the Southern part of the Earth Kingdom since I was a baby, yet I know of the truth about this war. My aunt and uncle had taken me in when I was separated from my parents. They are Fire Nation, but they raised me to respect the rest of the world, and allowed me to secretly criticize my own home nation. I believe the airbending Avatar is still alive since his death was assumed but never really confirmed. I also believe that someday I will leave my Fire Nation village behind and travel the world, reuniting with my imprisoned parents while also finding and aiding the Avatar in finally ending this war and bringing peace back into the world…"
A small camp somewhere in the middle part of the Earth Kingdom on route to Ba Sing Se. It is about midnight as four travelers are resting for the night. They have little supplies and the couple lays on a blanket while their friend, who is like a brother to them both, sits across on the cold dirt. A fire barely crackles as an Earth Kingdom man with tan skin, emerald eyes, and short brown hair silently keeps watch for any dangers. He is escorting a couple, some old friends of his, and their year old daughter to the safety of the Earth Kingdom fortress, the great walled city of Ba Sing Se. The couple is odd, both young and each one a member of a different nation, which is highly unusual as the war has made them natural enemies. In fact, they are headed to the famous city in order to avoid being captured by bounty hunters as the Fire Lord himself has ordered their imprisonment personally.
The young woman, barely eighteen years old, is obviously Water Tribe, with turquoise eyes, dark skin, and reddish-brown hair that is more brown than auburn. She is shorter than her husband, thin from many months of traveling by foot with meager meals and nourishment, and she wears a pale mint green tunic with moss green pants and muddy tan boots. Her hair is long and mostly loose, with only one thin piece of hair on each side of her face tied and clipped to the back of her head in a Water Tribe style referred to as hair loops, the same style as her mother always wore. Around her neck is a water tribe betrothal necklace, a sign of marriage, and it is a choker style with purple silk and a circular pale blue crystal with the symbols of a flame on one side and the ocean waves on the opposite side, the carved symbols are outlined in barely noticeable red Fire Nation paint. The Water Tribe woman is asleep, holding onto her daughter as her husband holds them both in his secure arms, although he is asleep as well.
The husband is Fire Nation, a nonbender only a few months older than his young wife, and is considered a traitor for his relationship with a woman from the Water Tribes. It is her being a waterbender which is why Fire Lord Azulon is so invested in their capture. He is average height, with pale skin slightly tanned from months of excessive traveling by foot alongside his wife and his best friend, he has coal black hair, cocoa powder brown eyes, and he is extremely muscular from years of sword fight training, of which he has long since mastered. His attire is also Earth Kingdom, green-brown shirt and pants with dark brown boots, as the couple is trying to escape the wraith of the Fire Nation by hiding as Earth Kingdom refugees in the supposedly impenetrable city.
Their infant daughter greatly resembles her mother, with the same hair and eyes, however her skin is as pale as her father. The couple has recently discovered that their pride and joy is a waterbender like her mother, and they have a feeling she will accomplish many great things in her life, far more than even they have done. The couple's priority is to protect their daughter at all costs, even if there comes a point where they will have to sacrifice each other in order to do so. If anything should happen to them, the husband and wife have decided to have their friend send their daughter to live with the man's older cousin. However they hope they can outwit the Fire Nation long enough to get safely into the walled city.
The sound of approaching Fire Nation army war rhinos shatters this precious hope. The couple abruptly awakens and both sit up in an instant. The husband grabs his nearby katana as his wife runs to their friend, quickly handing over their daughter. She runs back to her bag on the mostly forgotten blanket that held great comfort only a moment ago, grabbing an emergency note she had written in advance for her husband's cousin and his wife, both of whom were also close friends in what once had been a group of anti-war traveling teenagers. Where they were sending their daughter the Fire Lord would never find her. The woman also unbuckles her necklace and hands it over to her friend.
"Please hold onto this," the woman cries, eager to join her husband in trying to fight off the bounty hunters, "One day I am certain Kira will find you. When the time is right she will try to find us, I just know it, and this way she will have something to connect her to us."
"Kuzon!" yells the woman running to go catch up with her husband and aid him in the fight against the bounty hunters, "I'm coming I won't leave you behind! If we go down, we go down together!"
"But Tara!" yells the earthbending friend, though at this point she is too far into the battle to hear him. With his friends doing their best to distract the bounty hunters from noticing their friend holding their daughter, the earthbending fisherman holds onto the infant tightly as he runs off into the night, the necklace buckled securely around his left wrist…
In an old Fire Nation colony on the southeastern coast of the Earth Kingdom a young teenage girl is deeply asleep, in spite of the fact that it is nearly midday. Her long chestnut brown hair shines as the sunlight hits it from the girl's window to her left. She only wears a simple red nightgown and under clothes, which exposes her pale skin, but not to an indecent degree, as she lays on a simple but comfortable bed. She clutches a small brown blanket she has had since before she could remember, the only known possession from her parents. The girl has lived with her aunt and uncle nearly her entire life so far, being the daughter they always wanted since they could not have any children of their own. However, this did not mean that the couple allowed their "princess" to become spoiled.
"Zira, wake up, it is almost afternoon!" yells the girl's aunt, a tall black haired woman with grey eyes that can be both cold at times, but mischievous at other times "Master Piando will be arriving in town soon and you know he has traveled far from the mainland to come see for himself how far you've come in your sword training."
When Zira shows no signs of awakening, the girl's aunt walks into kitchen of the one story home and grabs a bucket before going outside to the pump to get some water. Returning into her niece's room, the aunt shamelessly dumps the frigid water on top of the sleeping teen. With a yelp Zira reluctantly awakens, completely soaked.
"Aunt Yumi, was this really necessary," comments an annoyed Zira as she quickly blinks open her river blue eyes before glaring at Yumi, "I was starting to get up, honest!"
"Sure you were oh great Princess Zira," sarcastically replies Yumi, "You and your staying up at all hours of the night at least once a month."
"You know I can't help it!" replies the teen as she dries herself off with a towel from the washroom, "Every time there is a full moon I just feel so restless and can't seem to get any sleep."
"Zira!" Yumi mutters tensely.
"I know, I know. No speaking about my special problem," interrupts Zira as she changes her night clothes for a grey tunic, red long sleeved undershirt, matching grey pants, and tan boots. She combs and pulls her hair into a simple bun before grabbing her signature katana that she has been training with for three years under Master Piando's instruction, although she does not see her master often since he lives in the Fire Nation Main Islands far from her simple colony/village. Almost ready to go, Zira gives her aunt a big hug as a sign of forgiveness for waking her up and grabs a roll from the kitchen for breakfast/lunch as she runs out the door, eager to see her master after she last saw him six months ago and he told her to focus more on the advanced moves that marked her time of complete mastery of katana style sword fighting coming closer by each new day.
A few moments later and Zira finds her master where they always meet when he comes to visit her village.
"Three years ago today marked the beginning of your training," states Master Piando, one of the world's greatest swordfighters, "If you have learned only one thing it is that…" He purposely cuts off his statement to have his student answer him.
"One must always be aware of their surroundings, an unknown threat can be there undoing," answers Zira.
In that moment she notices her master move his hand as swiftly as possible to the handle of his long sword. Reacting quicker than even her master, Zira pulls out her katana she had made herself two years ago and blocks his expert blow flawlessly. Impressed, Piando does his best to hide his pride and keep a blank face. He goes in for the offensive, but it is not long before Zira has switched tactics and gotten even the great sword master on the defensive. It takes over an hour of heavy fighting on both sides before Piando falls to the ground and declares Zira the victor of their small fight.
"Zira, in the three years I have taught you, you have grown immensely in patience, skill, and discipline," announces Master Piando proudly, "You and my other student both struggled with these qualities at first. I am proud to say that both of you have learned to control these important aspects of the art of swordplay without forsaking your creativity and flexibility. Although I see you are still somewhat clumsy, you have far better control of your body than I have ever seen you fight before. I am afraid there is not much more about the katana I can teach you. Zira, you must travel and interact with other fellow warriors, both enemy and friendly, in order to learn more. A true master knows he or she always has more to learn and adapts what they have already learned into their own personal technique."
"Master Piando are you making me a master?" asks Zira with a shocked expression, she was not expecting to be granted the title of master on this seemingly normal day.
"Zira I could not make you a master, I could only guide you on your way to becoming one yourself, which I feel I have done so to the best of my abilities," replies Master Piando with a hint of amusement in his normally stoic voice at the expression his student had unknowingly just given him, "You have come a long way in just a few short years. As far as I am concerned, you have earned the title of Master Katana Wielder. It is a title you have earned through hard work not given because your aunt descends from a Noble family."
"So, I'm really a master now," states the cautiously excited girl before she cannot help herself and gives her master a big grin. Then she respectfully bows to him as he bows to her.
"Yes," agrees the grand sword master, "Zira, remember, the way of the sword does not just belong to the Fire Nation. It belongs to everyone and to all nations. It is neither good nor evil but rather a tool for whomever wields it and like bending, the sword brings power and tremendous responsibility. Use your abilities only for survival, to not do so will bring unnecessary pain and misfortune into your life, sending you down a dark path that would be hard to escape from."
"I will remember, Master," states Zira seriously.
"Then this is goodbye for now," announces Master Piando regretfully, "as much as I would rather have a day to rest, I must be going so I can challenge my other student as well. I am certain he is ready to face my trials as you have done and earn the title of master as well."
Before her master re-boards his small ship, Kira shouts out loud, "What kind of weapon does your other student fight with? I was always curious but never had a chance to ask. And will you ever tell me his name, you were always comparing use and using both of us as examples for one another?"
"Dao Swords," replies Piando in a mysterious voice, "And no, just like your identity, his identity will also remain anonymous. However, I am certain you will both cross paths someday, hopefully as allies rather than enemies. Farewell Zira,"
"Goodbye, Master…" states Zira quietly.
In another hour her friends Leiko and Rin should be done with firebending class for the day. Zira and her other friend Hina are homeschooled by their parents (aunt and uncle in Zira's case), however Leiko, Rin, and Rin's younger sister Taka, being firebenders, go to a special Fire Nation Royal charter school that although takes in nonbenders from time to time, as a rule avoids accepting them.
Running over to Hina's house, Zira cannot wait to tell her friends the exciting news of her becoming a master. Unfortunately in her haste to catch up with her friend, Zira accidently runs into the local leader of the street punks, Sieto, an arrogant firebender who happens to have a crush on Zira for some reason even though she openly hates him. His nonbending, pirate sword wielding best friend Jiro is not far behind him.
"Hey Zira Ra," states the arrogant and ignorant Sieto at Zira in his poor attempt at flirting with her, receiving the glares from his fan girls in the near distance. He offers her a hand to help her up, but she jumps back up instead, rebuffing him.
"Sieto, how many times must I tell you I am not at all interested in you and for you to not talk to me and leave me alone!," states Zira angrily as she glares at the brown haired, brown eyed firebender with his firebending school uniform still on and his hair messy and sticking up as always, "I don't like you! In fact, I still hate you! Go away!"
"Still playing hard to get, huh Miss Ra," teases the jerkbender who enjoys torturing those who are poorer and weaker than him, he is basically a bully but without the sob story since his life is nearly perfect.
"Grrr…don't call me that!" noticing the way she said that statement she adds while blushing with anger and embarrassment, "Don't call me anything at all!"
"Yeah and what are you going to do miss nonbender? Nag me to death," he laughs at her, not realizing he is standing too close to the end of the dock. Jiro has backed off, giving his buddy time with Zira alone.
"Actually I happen to be a master sword wielder now!" announces Zira fiercely , "I can defend myself even from the likes of you! And you know what, you're an idiot!"
"What!" yells Sieto angrily. Before he even has time to take a breath, Zira pushes the bully firebender off the edge of the dock. Although Sieto grabs onto the dock and starts to pull himself back up, the water tugs on him, pulling him completely down into the cold fall temperature water.
"Cold!" he squeals like a little girl even though he is a boy older than Zira and nearly old enough to be considered a man by Fire Nation standards and serve in the Army or Navy, "Zira! Help me up! Now!"
"Nope, I hate you a little less this way, but not much less," Zira teases as she walks away with a satisfied smile on her face. Jiro, after hearing his best friend's unmanly noise, rushes over to help pull Sieto out of the freezing water.
Finally, Zira runs into Hina. Hina is similar in both looks and abilities to Ty Lee, who is a bubbly nonbending acrobatic chi blocker and close friend to Princess Azula, of whom she is a big fan and even wears similar pink clothing. Once she heard Ty Lee had joined the circus Hina desperately wants to get tickets to go see her live.
"Zira, what took you so long?" asks Hina curiously.
"Well after sword practice with Piando, I ran into guess who?" states Zira still annoyed at the resident bullies.
"Sieto and Jiro," replies Hina without hesitation.
"I was in a good mood too," sighs Zira, "Hina, I mastered sword fighting today! I may not be a firebender, but I am still a master, and before Leiko and Rin too, ha ha ha!"
Both girls started a laughing fit at picturing their firebending friends reacting to this news.
"What's so funny?" asks Leiko, a raven haired firebending beauty with grey eyes.
"Not that I care," also comments Rin, who is walking beside Leiko with her little sister Taka. Unlike all her friends, Rin is dark, humorless, emotionless, and the opposite of the little ball of cute energy that is her sister. While both sisters have black hair with bangs and amber/orange colored eyes, Taka is full of innocence while Rin lacks innocence. Rin also has longer hair than Taka which she wears in a simple high ponytail. All three girls wear the same uniform of the charter school they attend, gold shoes, black skirts, black jacket with gold embroidery, and a sash around the waist but Taka lacks the gold sash that marks a final year student worn by Leiko and her sister and instead has the white sash of a first year student.
"I pushed Sieto into the docks," states Zira.
"You always do that, tell us something new for once Zira," complains Rin with a frown.
"I am also a Master Katana Sword Wielder now, officially granted the title by the great Master Piando himself!" exclaims Zira proudly.
"Wow, I'm happy for you!" states Leiko happily, "But I'm also so jealous, you became a master before me!"
"That's okay, I guess," comments Rin emotionless, but with the hint of a smile, "Hina if clumsy Zira can master something, so can you. Just because you are a nonbender too doesn't mean you can't take up some weapon training or something."
"I already told you guys," states a frustrated Hina, "I am training. I am training myself to be an acrobat so I can join Ty Lee in the circus."
"You obsession with Azula's lackey is almost as bad as Taka's obsession with being just like me," states the resident gothic chick, "Taka I can understand, she is my little sister and she is only six years old. You however are sixteen and not even remotely related to the queen of pink."
"Hey, I'm right here ya'know Rinni!" yells said six year old girl in her squeaky voice.
"Well, you are just like Mai, Azula's other friend," comments Zira towards Rin, "And Leiko you do have your Princess Azula moments."
"And what about you ZiZi?" asks Taka curiously.
"I dunno. Maybe Azula has a fourth friend she is too embarrassed to talk about and considering she is friends with Ty Lee, that is saying something," laughs Zira and the others minus Rin join her although Rin cracks a full smile this time before going back to being blank faced. Reading gossip scrolls of the Royal family, especially about the princess around their age and her "friends", is a favorite past time of this group of friends.
As the sun sets, everyone goes to their respective homes. As Zira walks home alone to her house just outside of town, she has this feeling that her life is about to change forever. She tries the shrug off the feeling, but as she walks through the front door of her aunt and uncle's house, she still carries that anxious feeling. She walks into the house to her uncle being home from his job at the local library and staring at her with a serious expression unusual on his typically humor filled face, his brown, bespectacled eyes boring into her own turquoise ones.
"Uncle Satoru?" asks Zira, "What's wrong?"
"Zira," states Satoru thoughtfully, "Your aunt and I have some important information we need to talk to you about."…
