Finally, another chapter! Thank you all for waiting so patiently...!
As we leave behind the great capital of Ba Sing Se, we shall make our way to the Si Wong Desert, where it is said that a great library willed with unlimited knowledge once stood. Unfortunately, this library has been lost forever to humankind... Anyways, the Si Wong Desert is also home to small tribes of benders who are known to control the desert sands...
Aladdin and Jasmine
Since childhood, a young earth bender named Aladdin grew up on the streets of the lower ring of Ba Sing Se. As a young man, he heard from passing refugees of the many sandbender tribes scattered across the desert, and so he decided to leave the city to wander the dunes of the Si Wong in search of adventure. In his travels, Aladdin met a fellow wanderer, a wealthy merchant, who wanted the young man to become his partner-in-crime and find the legendary Library of Wan Shi Tong - at whatever cost. In doing so, the merchant promised a very valuable reward. And so Aladdin spent a fair bit of his time helping the merchant in his search, sometimes stooping to petty crime to get information out of people. Unfortunately, rumours had been spreading throughout the desert that the great library had sunk into the desert sands, making it impossible to find. The merchant, however, insisted on continuing the search, but by now Aladdin had become bored of this wild turkey-duck chase, and left the merchant to continue wandering.
At the same time, the Lady Jasmine, like Aladdin, was tired of life in Ba Sing Se, and so left behind the comforts and luxury of the Upper Ring and fled to the desert. Wandering aimlessly for several days, she began to wonder the point of it all when she collapsed from heat exhaustion. When she came to, she was being tended to by members of one of the sandbending tribes, one of them being a young man named Aladdin. Aladdin had since been taken in by the tribe, and was currently learning how to sandbend from one of the masters. After becoming smitten with Jasmine, however, he decided to do a little showing off, claiming the he was the master, and that he would be happy to teach her. Of course, being a beginner himself, Aladdin couldn't keep up the charade for long, and therefore lost not only the trust and respect of Jasmine, but of the entire tribe. He spent many more days wandering the desert alone, learning sandbending techniques he had made up himself.
Then the great city of Ba Sing Se fell, and Fire Nation soldiers began to capture desert territory, wreaking havoc amongst the tribes, whose efforts to hold them back began to weaken. It was only when Aladdin came up with a great strategy and proved its effectiveness that he won back the respect of (most of) the members of the tribe. With Aladdin's help, the tribes were able to fend off the Fire Nation soldiers until news came that the Fire Lord had been defeated by the Avatar, after which the soldiers began to withdraw.
But even after the Fire Nation had left, Aladdin still had to go through many trials before he could be fully accepted as a member of the tribe again. One of his challenges was to fight and defeat every single sandbending student in the tribe - including Jasmine. Every single duel was difficult, but in his duel with Jasmine, both fought so hard that in the end it was considered a draw. However, Jasmine herself was the one that convinced the chief of the tribe that Aladdin deserved to be accepted back into the tribe... and so they did.
Aladdin and Jasmine decided that they were happy to live in the desert together, and so they did that too. After a while though, Jasmine briefly went back to Ba Sing Se to visit and reconcile with the family she had left behind. They were simply glad that she was safe, and gave her permission to marry Aladdin and live with him – on the condition that she came back to visit them from time to time.
Aladdin eventually became a master sandbender himself, and when the time came, he became chief of the tribe, with Jasmine as his co-ruler. And so they lived happily ever after in the desert.
And now we leave the Si Wong Desert, and into the northern Earth Kingdom...
Mulan
Although she wasn't born a bender of any sorts, Mulan was determined to do her part for her country as Fire Nation attacks became more frequent. Her father, Fa Zhou, was a retired army officer, and although he had become frail, he managed to teach his only child some fighting techniques based on earth bending, if only for self-defence. However, when Fa Zhou was called up for fight in the war, Mulan couldn't bear the thought of losing him, and so she ran away from home to join the army herself.
Although the army had little trouble with having a woman in the ranks, they were all concerned that even though she had some basic fighting skills, she just wouldn't improve whatsoever. After all, Mulan was only used to the more gentle teachings of her father, not the strict, rough ways of Shang, Second-in-Command of the Earth Kingdom Army's Non-Bender Division. And even so, the Non-Bender Division was having some trouble of it's own, as no one seemed to be able to take a non-bending fighter seriously, Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation. However, Mulan wouldn't give up, and found alternate ways to outwit even the most competent firebender, boosting her division's morale and inspiring them to become competent soldiers themselves.
Eventually though, it was time for the division to see real battle... on the Day of Black Sun. Unfortunately, the Invasion on the Fire Nation Capital was a failure, and so the army had no choice but to surrender. Mulan, Shang, and her comrades waited out the rest of the war in prison cells, released after the arrival of Sozin's Comet and the defeat of the Fire Nation Army. While some of her comrades were disappointed that they weren't the ones to fight the winning battle, Mulan was simply thankful that the war was over and that she could go home. But even though the fighting had stopped, Mulan continued to hone her skills as a fighter, just to be on the safe side. She opened up a martial arts and swordsmanship school for non-benders in her hometown, and once in a while, Shang and her other former comrades would drop by for a visit, and sometimes to teach and learn from her themselves.
And of course we can't forget about Fa Zhou. He spent the rest of his days watching his daughter helping others and enjoying it, the entire time with a smile on his face. Mulan had finally found where she belonged. The greatest gift in honour... was having her for a daughter.
Well, it was nice to visit the Earth Kingdom, but now it is time to leave. Our next adventures will take us the Air Temples, where we will learn the stories of a Disney air bender who lived several hundred years ago...
We will also pay a visit to the Northern Water Tribe, the land of ice, the city and it's canals, and the mysterious spirits who live beyond...
