Thanks for the reviews! I'm surprised, you guys all took a liking to the preface. Hmm… Let's hope I don't disappoint you with chapter one… ;) Any questions? Feel free to ask.

Chapter 1.

The day was entering the twilight zone; the sun was far down in the sky, ready to rest from its daily duties. The tip of the near full moon was eagerly pointing over the tops of the mountains, ready to start its nightshift. A few small planets and stars faintly dotted the sky, hardly able to be seen considering the amount of light still being displayed from the sun's fading warm rays.

In a small fire nation town, people roamed the streets, trading goods and such. A few children chased each other, zigzagging through the various wagons and pedestrians. Occasionally the slight whimpering sounds of a beggar might fill one's ears, depending upon how quiet it was.

Unbeknownst to the townspeople, an impersonator was within their midst. To them it seemed like a normal girl. Nothing unusual about her, except for her crisp blue eyes, although must shrug it off. Her hair was neatly up on her head, in the typical Fire Nation topknot. Warm brown wavy locks of hair cascaded down her back, showing off the thick volume of hair the girl had. Her skin was a few shades darker then the rest, most thought of it as a sign that she worked long hours in the sunlight. Not many thought of it having to do something with her ethnicity.

She wore a dark red cloth of a shirt, wrapping around her chest, just a little under and over her breasts. The material tied up around her neck, allowing her maximum flexibility. It failed to cover her midriff, exposing her bare stomach to everyone. Many women of her age wore clothing like this, especially if they were well muscled with slender forms.

She had medium length skirt, a brighter, ruby red color. Followed by it were slightly darker red leggings that went just below her knee. Her feet where in thin sandals, something that let her feel more connected with the earth, allowing her to be more aware of her surroundings.

They were so busied and focused on what they were doing, that they failed to notice her unusual traits. She graced by them with elegance that most do not have. Her eyes watched the world around her, carefully, cunningly. Her ears picked up every sound, every whisper. Not a movement could go buy without her knowing about it. An all-knowing smirk was glued to her soft pink lips; somehow, it gave off an intimidating aurora about her. Usually they were to distracted by her raw beauty to take note of these fine little details.

She had a destination that she needed to go. She had a job that needed to be done. The thing is, she was almost completely alone on this one. She couldn't use any of her sources. The person whom she was seeking wasn't even supposed to still exist. But somehow, he managed to elude his enemies and escape. Somehow, the Avatar was still alive. It was her job to find him, and kill him.

She was confident that once she did find him, it wouldn't be too hard to end him. He was only 15, just a boy. Actually, her mind couldn't even wrap around the possibility of him being a threat to the Fire Nation. He ran away for a hundred years, and suddenly he comes back expecting to become the Messiah for the fallen world. Well, not to burst his bubble, but things don't always come out in sunshine and rainbows. She knew one thing. The Avatar was a coward. He was young, and immature. If anything, this mission should be a piece of cake, easy money. Of course, that's what they've all said. Somehow, after facing him, they never returned. Maybe they were wrong on their thinking's of him, but this girl was pretty confident of them.

She not knows much of the Avatar, but she will learn. She will find him, and she will end him. She already gathered as much information as she could find about him, but sadly it wasn't much. There was a old outdated wanted poster of the boy, and a few quotes from well-known travelers who have met him, or seen him in action. All of this information wasn't all that reliable. All wanted posters are over dramatic, and all quotes and personal encounters cannot always be believed.

"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" A mob of kids chanted, over and over. Pumping their fists excitedly into the air, each time their cries became more and more heated, as they huddled close to get a closer view of what seemed to be a fight.

Normally she would shrug things like these off, but when she caught sight of what appeared to be a headband on one the boys, her curiosity piped. She knew this school, and above all, she knew their strict rules, especially the one about no head coverings on campus. Obviously this kid had a good reason to be allowed to wear a headband, but that was not the only thing that caught her attention. He also wore a long-sleeved shirt that covered most of the top of his hands, and big boots on each foot that hid under long thick pants. Clothing like this was not just unusual, it was foolish.

The Fire Nation was known for having savagely hot days, all year round. The people here were used to days that soared above ungodly temperatures, and only rarely was the nation having a 'nice' day. Everyone wore the least amount of clothing as possible. No one in their right mind would ever, ever wear such dreaded clothes as this kid did. He was not wearing these clothes on a simple act of choice, but because he had to. This boy was hiding something, something big.

She halted her actions to observe him more fully. She couldn't clearly see his body build under the thick mass of clothing that he wore, but she could at least tell that he was leaning more on the lightweight side. He obviously bended some element, which would reason for him not sweating at the least, which any normal person would be drenched if wearing his clothes in this weather, nonetheless be in the middle of a fight.

He moved precisely, listening and weighting for his opponent to strike first, using his opponent's energy against him. He writhed and jumped gracefully out of any incoming attacks- to gracefully. He landed each jump or flip as light as a feather, as if he was floating on the air currents. Not only that, but he just managed to defeat a firebending kid without making any attacks at all. Well, that wasn't saying much considering the one who was firebending was obviously nowhere near mastering it. But that was beside the point. Whoever this kid was, he was hiding something. He had too much experience to be any Fire Nation kid.

Somewhere, deep down inside of her, she felt as if he was the one she was looking for. She normally followed her gut instinct, but this was not the time, nor place to question the kid. She felt great disbelief to the matter as well. Wouldn't the Avatar be in better hiding than disguised as a schoolboy? Then that is where the immaturity kicks in. She knew hardly much of this Avatar person, she could defiantly not tell what his actions would be. But she will find out. Starting with spying on this intriguing kid with the headband.

She watched him with eyes of a hawk while he slumped away, clearly upset about something. Probably because he just got blamed for a fight he didn't cause, or maybe because he had to bring his parents into the matter. She wasn't sure which. Incautiously, she moved a foot towards his direction, her eyes not leaving her new prey. Almost robotically, she could see his body tense up as soon as her foot touched the raw earth below her. A coincidence? Doubt it. He somehow knew about her presence, although he never saw her.

To test out her method, she walked towards him, acting as if she was 'stalking' him. Really, she was just faking it, trying to make it seem obvious if he really could sense her presence. His body became very tense now, and she could see his legs widen just a hair, as if he was trying to get more intone with the earth by digging his feet in it's surface. These thoughts led her to believe he must have some earthbending experience, but earthbending doesn't explain how the temperature isn't affecting him.

"Hello?"

Her thought train stopped.

He spoke with a nerve of confidence, yet held an air of nervousness. He was now facing her, staring at her with the same expression she was giving him, scanning her over, sizing her up. His voice sounded young, but one could easily tell it was being messed with by puberty. He had stormy gray eyes, and short dark brown hair. It was a stark contrast next to his pale cream skin.

"Who are you?" He asked, impatience seeping through him.

She smiled malignantly.

And she was gone.

The boy frowned, shrugged, and walked away, thinking of it as just a weird imagination.

She had a way of disappearing, but this made it even easier, since, well all she had to do was slip behind a building. In her job, analyzing your surroundings and using the area around you to it's best advantage was a lifesaver. Whenever in a sticky situation, don't chance it on your reputation just leave. Come back when the odds are on you, not your opponent. Go home with a successful, bloody victory.

Blood was something she saw everyday in her life. All starting with the death of her mother, then it was a horrid thing; to watch her own mothers blood seep out of her burn marks, to watch, as she was mercilessly beat by the firebender. Her mother wasn't the only one who died that day. The South Pole's last waterbender lost her spirit that day. It was the day she promised revenge on the sick person who ruthlessly murdered her mother. It was the day a little girl grew up to realized life wasn't full of lollipops and rainbows.

She ran away when she was sixteen. She mastered her element, and she was more than ready to face her vengeance. She waterbended with such ferocity that it left everyone who watched stunned to silence. She invented some of her own waterbending styles. As she traveled the fire nation, searching for the man who slayed her mother, she met another waterbender named Hama. Together the two shared techniques, including bloodbending. Blood was something she had come relatively familiar to, so she gave it a try. That was what made her such a successful assassin. She had the ability to kill without laying a finger on the person. She was so powerful that she did not need the full moon to guide her in the deadly power. Hama eventually died of an earlier age than expected.

All of these flashbacks reminded her of her brother. His abandoned expression on his face still haunts her to this day. When she left her tribe, she hurt him to such a extent that later she heard that he to left the tribe on a hunting conquest, and never returned. Of course she felt somewhat saddened on the prospect of her brother's death, but she knew it happened for the better. He would only live in shame of what his sister is, and now he could at least rest peacefully. One thing that she missed most about him was he called her by her name. Katara. Hardly anyone knew her name, she can't trust anyone with it, and so she just remains nameless to her peers.

She must not let her thoughts waver from place to place. She had a mission to do. She needed to find the Avatar, and needed to know as much about him as possible. It seemed like a useless wild goose chase to her, but if someone gave her gold, and as much gold as she would receive from this job, she was all for it.

All she knew of the Avatar were the Legends her Gran Gran and mother used to tell her. She knew he was a masterful and wise person, the most powerful one of all, master of all the elements. But, this Avatar is only a boy. A he only mastered two element, air and water, and has little to no experience of fire, and is still in the intermediate levels of earth. He was immature and had a knack for running away when things turned sticky. Really, he shouldn't be that hard to take down. Azula conquered him by attacking from behind while he was suspended in the air. Knowing this fact made this job all the easier.

Now she just had one place to go, and one more thing left to do. She needed to go to her fellow 'friends' and leak some information out of them. All she needed to do was wait for nightfall, when the bar was at its busiest time of day. Everyday, the same people meet, and everyday the same trading of information passes by.

Several hours it took for the sun to go down, and when it did, Katara was more than ready. She was dressed in her usual clothes, the clothes of a killer. She wore a black hooded cape that draped loosely over her body, casting a dark shadow to her face. Black loose pants adorned her legs, and dainty looking black flats that laced up around her ankles were on her feet. Black gloves covered her hands, and snaked their way up to her elbows, disappearing just a bit under the sleeve of the cape. Underneath her cape was a simple black shirt, followed closely by a black fabric that covered the lower half of her face. The only part of her body that was exposed was her bright blue eyes. All of this, including the color, helped her with her jobs. The black allowed her to blend in well in the night, and the loose cloth gave her maximum flexibility. No one could see what she actually looked like. The clothes concealed her real identity.

Her shack of a 'house' was just down the street from the bar she visited almost nightly. It was a hooky kind of place, a shack just like her little makeshift home. It had moldy wooden tables and chairs, a Pai Sho table in the background, a few poker games scattered about here and there, and finally, the bar. It served all kinds of drinks, ranging from fruit smoothies to the most rare types of beers. Katara never drank. She could not afford the vulnerability of ever being drunk, so she avoided the liquid as much as possible.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in!" Jun smiled mischievously as she scooted her chair back to give Katara room to sit down next to her.

"Hey! Nice to see ya again.. What brings ye around here?" A burly man said, he was a bounty hunter for pirates. He said pirates fascinate him, so he decided to work for them.

"I got myself another job." She replied, simply. She pulled out her chair that was right next to Jun, and stuffed herself in the large group of bounty hunters and assassins.

'Ahhs' came from most of the people around the table, they all knew what a job meant, and they all knew what she came here for. She needed information.

"Who's the lucky fellow?" Jun added in, sarcasm seeping through the edges of her voice.

"Tell me, Jun, what do you know of the Avatar?"

The whole table when into dead silence.

"Don't tell me… This is your craziest job yet!" Someone across the table spluttered out, half drunk to.

"Well my masked friend, I was once on the hunt for him. Back before the North Pole invasion, Prince pouty, AKA Prince Zuko, sent me after the Avatar. That kid bested the Prince pretty bad. It was sad. Royalty these days, eh? I failed to get him, and I was to lazy to go and continue after him." Jun said after chugging down another cup of beer. One thing Katara admired about Jun was she could down all the beer she wanted, but never get affected by it.

"Wow, thanks for the thrilling details." I sighed, she gave me no more information than I already knew.

"Anytime." She smirked while her hand reached into the pocket of her clothing. "Here, this is some necklace I used to track him, led me straight to his traveling body, some water tribe guy, appeared to be around mid twenties." Jun slapped the small necklace down on the table, in front of Katara.

Katara stared at it like it was some venomous rat viper. That was her mother's betrothal necklace. Her mom passed it down to her, and before she left, she gave it to Sokka. The only person who would ever have the necklace would be her brother, and that means her brother is traveling with the Avatar! That surely can't be!

Numbly, she grabbed the necklace, and slowly brought it up to her eyes. Her fingers pressed against the delicate carving of the water tribe symbol. This necklace was her world when she was younger; her whole heart depended upon the necklace to keep moving. It was the last thing of her mothers that she had, and she treasured it with all of her heart. She gave it to Sokka with no hope of ever seeing it again. Somehow, by a twist of fate, it was back in her possession again.

So far this whole Avatar mission was turning out to be worth more than she thought it would be. Maybe the Avatar thing wasn't just a big hoax after all.