Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. It belongs to its creators Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko and Nickelodeon. I also do not own nor endorse Apple Computers, Macintosh, or their iPhone. I don't even own an iPhone. Nor do I own Converse shoe, either the company or an actual pair, but man that's classic footwear.
Chapter 1 Bending Potential, Potential Benders
In the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se stood a rather large house where, in her room, sat a 15 year girl staring at her blank computer screen as she tapped her bare feet on the marble floor.
"Man, I hate these writing assignments!" Said the dark haired girl, "It always take me AT LEAST three day before I figure out what I'm gonna write let alone actually start writing it. Man, it due tomorrow and I've barely figured out what I want to say." The girl bowed her head and sighed in frustration as she rubbed her eyes and thought about what she needed to write.
By the door a brown eyed girl in a blue dress showed up with a grin on her face as she ever so quietly sneaked her way into her friend's room. Intending to scare the daylights out of her friend she prepared to pounce until, "Hey Ren" said the girl with her hand over her eyes.
"How did you know I was here?" said Ren as she took a seat on her friend's bed. A grin appeared on the other girl's face as she turned to face her friend. She swept her hands away from her eyes and brushed her long black hair out of her face revealing seafoam colored eye staring at directly at Ren. With a cocky smile the green-eyed girl said "Easy, I could sense you."
"What." Ren said with a chuckle, "So you're like, what, psychic now? Do you have your own psychic hotline and 2 A.M. commercial?" Ren began speaking with an island accent she continued to make fun of her friend, "Call me now and Miss Jade Bei Fong will tell you your future."
Jade's grin fell as her so-called friend continued to make light of her newly realized ability. "I'm serious Ren! I could feel you coming and NO it wasn't some psychic telekinetic thing. I could feel your every footstep since before you got to the front door and I could tell who you were before you got upstairs."
"Really?" Ren said unconvinced as she recovered from her laughing fit. "So you knew that I was coming because you could "feel" me walking down the street? You expect me to believe that? Come on, you could have seen me coming through the window. I just want to know how you knew I was behind you."
"And I'm telling you I could feel you sneak up behind me. Just like I can feel mom down in the kitchen and…" Jade had a look of realization on her face as she closed her eyes and smiled, "and how I can feel our neighbor's dober-boar chasing that stray winged-lemur into our front yard. Look out the window and see for yourself."
Ren humored Jade and walked over to the window and saw a winged-lemur scurrying around the front yard with a large beast following it. The dober-boar had the body of a large black and brown dog but it had a snout and tusks of a boar. Ren looked back at Jade who's back was turn to the window.
"The lemur's heading for the trashcans, oh man they better not knock them over because I'm not cleaning it up!" Ren looked out the window in time to see the lemur jump onto one of the trashcans luring the dober-boar into knocking them over and spilling their contents. After giving the dober-boar the runaround it picked up a half-eaten apple from the trash quickly climbed up the nearest telephone pole where it proceeded to jump off and glide away to safety with its meal.
Again Ren looked back to Jade was still standing with her back turned where she couldn't possibility what had just happened in the front yard. "How did you do that?" Ren asked as she rushed over to see if Jade had anything that could rationally explain it, like a portable security display on her iPhone. Ren found Jade empty handed, with eyes shut, and a smirk plastered on her face. Ren looked over to the desk and saw nothing but a black computer screen and an iPhone next to the keyboard. "Come on tell me how you knew about the dober-boar and lemur."
"I told you I could feel what happens nearby. Even from up here it's pretty clear what's going on in the yard. Downstairs I can feel almost everything to the end of the block, from the mail carrier to the roaches in the walls."
"Eww," Ren said with a disgusted look on her face as she looked at the walls, "so you can feel bugs in your walls?"
"Not the point, but does this mean you believe me?" Jade asked hoping that Ren would trust her.
"Let's say I do." Ren said calmly before exploding, "How do you do it? How long have you been able to do it? What else can you do? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"Calm down!" Jade yelled, "I don't know how long exactly, I just know that I've been able to feel stuff for awhile. As for how I do, I really do "feel" footsteps. I can feel the vibrations through the floor, the walls, the streets and people. I felt you coming here from the sidewalk but I didn't recognize you vibrations until you were closer. And as quietly as you snuck into my room I could not only feel your light steps, but your heartbeat. As long as I got my hands or feet on the ground or wall or something solid I can feel any vibrations that travel through it and know what caused it. When I close my eyes I can almost see it, everything that moves around me. Oh and since I can feel heartbeats, I've become pretty good lie detector."
"Whoa," was all Ren could say sitting there on Jade's bed.
"Started figuring it out a few weeks ago and was trying to think of a way to tell you about. Before I thought I was hearing things or maybe going crazy but then I started thinking about it." Jade smirked and held back a giggle. "Whenever I wakeup at night, to go to the bathroom or drink some water, I almost never bump into anything in pitch black darkness. Except during winter when I put on my cushy slippers and wear my thick thermal socks I damn near kill myself going down the stair or walking into chairs, tables or the sofa. That's when I realized that it's when my bare feet are press against the floor that I feel and hear stuff that no one else notices."
"So you've been practicing how to use this power?" Ren asked absorbed by Jade's explanation. "Cool! Sure not superhero cool, but you have a power and that is so cool. Any idea how long you've had it? I mean I know you've barely figured it out but were you born with this ability or were you bitten by a radioactive… umm, earthworm?"
"I think I was born with it, like I said I've always been able to walk in the dark without bumping into anything. I just didn't notice it until recently."
"This is real right? Your not gonna turn around and say "fooled ya" and laugh at me right?" Ren asked thinking how weird this was.
"I'm being completely honest with you. This isn't a joke." Jade said as she reached down and put on a pair of socks and shoes.
"Can you feel stuff with your shoes on?" Ren asked curiously. "Yeah, not as well as I can when I'm barefoot but these socks are much thinner than my thermals and the soles of my shoes are more solid that my slippers so the vibrations get through easily enough."
"So we better get going or we'll be late for school." Jade said as she picked up her schoolbag.
"Right, by the way…" Ren smiled knowing the answer to the question she was asking, "how's that writing assignment going?"
Traveling down the street on Jade's shiny green moped she and Ren headed to school.
"You are so lucky to have this great ride Jade. I wish I was rich and had a moped of my own. Though I'd settle for a chauffeured ride in that limo your dad always tells you to take."
"I hate riding in that limo!" Jade yelled "It tells people you're different and then they start sucking up to you or try to drag you down saying you're the snob. As for this moped, as much as I like it I can hardly wait to get a car next month."
"You're getting a car?" Ren exclaimed, "Now that just not fair I don't even have a bike since it got stole, chain and all. Are you seriously getting a car?"
"If my Dad doesn't show up for my 16th birthday I'd better get a car. He's missed every birthday since I was born, all those stupid dance recitals I had when I was a kid, my 8th grade graduation, he didn't even show up when I finally got promoted to black belt in that martial arts class that was HIS idea!"
"Wow, so should we cross our finger that he shows up or not? Because as cool as a new car would be, it sounds like it's important to you that your dad shows up." Jade didn't respond to Ren's question or observation. "Well either way when are you gonna get your license?
"On my birthday, soon as school lets out I'm off to the DMV. I'll breeze though the written test then I'll own the actual driving test." Jade said thinking about that day to come and the fantasy car she didn't own yet. "That the best part of living here in the Earth Kingdom, you can get your driver's license at sixteen. If I were still living in Gaoling the Earth Republic government wouldn't even let me apply until I turn eighteen."
"Uh Jade, shouldn't we slow down?" Ren said trying to get Jade's attention.
"You now once I get my car," Jade said not paying attention to Ren, "I won't need this moped. Promise to take care of it and you can have it."
"Only if we survive, hit the brakes!" Ren screamed.
Jade finally realized that she had not been paying attention to the road and was about to ram into car stopped at a red light. Jade turned hard and squeezed the brake lever, leading her to jump the curb and skid around the corner sidewalk. The girls screamed as they found themselves skidding straight toward a boy unfortunate enough to be walking the wrong sidewalk at the wrong time. The girls shut their eye not wanting to see the collision between the boy and their vehicle.
As the moped ground to a stop the girls were surprised not to feel the impact they had been expecting. They opened their eyes to find that the boy had disappeared. A sheet of paper landed on Jade's head and she took a look at it. It appeared to be a letter with a form stapled to it.
"Um, Jade." Ren said shaking Jade's shoulder. Jade turn to look behind her and found the boy they had nearly rammed into crouched on the ground. He didn't look hurt and seemed normal with his yellow t-shirt, orange backpack, blue jeans and black Converse shoes. But what was odd was that the boy had a blue strip running from his, nearly clean shaven, head down his spine with another blue line going down each of his arms.
"Are you okay?" Jade asked, still a little distracted by his blue lines. The boy stood up and turned to the girls revealing to them that the lines ended with arrows on the boy's forehead and the backs of his hands.
"Yes, I am fine. Thank you for your concern. Are you two girls unharmed?" The boy said with a sincere smile on his face.
"Yeah, we're alright but how did we miss you? Ren asked. "Not that we were trying to hit you, I'm just asking how did we not hit you?
"Uh, excuse me it that mine?" The boy asked quickly as he checked a book he was holding for something that he had kept between its pages. "Please could I see that?"
Jade looked at the paper in her hand and gave it to the boy and noticed that he had grey eyes. "Yeah it fell on my head from… the… sky?"
"Thank you" said the boy as he looked it over to confirm that is was the document he was missing and slipped it back among the pages of his book. "I really need this. I'm glad you found it for me."
Jade couldn't help but wonder how his paper had ended up falling from the sky. I wasn't windy and if it had been it would have blow the paper far away not straight up then straight down.
"I'm sorry if I seem rude but I really need to be going now. Take care, peace be with you!" said the boy as he crossed the street.
"Yeah same to you too." Jade said as thought about that uncommon phase.
"Wait, are you sure you're alright!" Ren called out, but the boy run off without acknowledging her. Ren was surprised at how fast the boy sprinting. "Wow, he's fast. And is it just me or did you think he was kinda cute too?"
"You think everyone's cute, now let's go." Jade said turning her moped around taking off with her friend.
"Not everyone and you didn't answer my question." Ren replied with a grin. "Anyway about that offer for this moped, I think I can promise to be at less as responsible with it as you've been today."
Jade groaned thinking about the accident they only just avoided a minute ago. "Shut up Ren."
Ba Sing Se High School
Jade and Ren sat next to each other in class listening to their homeroom teacher, Professor Wong, give his history lecture. He was their favorite teacher, not because they were fond of history but because they liked his personality. He wasn't overly cheery and touchy-feel like some of "nicer" teacher and he didn't talk down to his students nearly as much as the other teachers. He seemed to know who needed encouragement and needed kick-in-the-pants from a simple comment.
"So class let go over some of the things we've covered." Professor Wong look at his class an immediately found a student that was clearly not paying attention. "Kai, in what year was the Earth Republic founded?"
A tall dark haired boy snapped out of his daze and cast his amber eyes on his teacher clearly upset that he had been caught. "What? Oh uh, was it… 200 years ago?" Kai asked hoping that his wild guess might keep him out of trouble.
"Not only is that inaccurate but that's not what I asked. I'm asking you for the specific year that the Earth Republic was founded. Care to try again?"
"Oh right, 300 years I mean 100 A.A.?" Kai responded.
"Closer Kai but not quite right. Yes Daisuke?" Wong called upon a student who had been waving his hand in the air since the teacher has asked his question.
"It was in 112 A.A. that the Earth Republic won its independence and was recognized as a nation after years of conflict with the Earth King that lead to the Earth Kingdom's first civil war." Daisuke answered with pride.
"Correct Daisuke, now shall we give Kai a chance to redeem himself?" Wong turn back to Kai, "Perhaps Kai you will have better luck if we start with something easier. Can you tell what the "A.A." in the year system we use stands for? And please reframe from any jokes of Alcoholic Anonymous or anything else you or anyone else here can think of."
"Yeah it stands for After Avatars." Kai answered with a fair amount of confidence.
"Correct Kai, now let try and start a streak and tell us why is it called that?" Wong continued.
"Because it after the avatars, I mean cause there aren't any more avatars since the era started." "Correct Kai now let's go for three in a row and tell me who the last avatar was?"
"Um, Avatar Roku?" Kai answer in an unsure tone.
"And there goes your streak. No Avatar Roku was not the last avatar it was Avatar Ruko but you had a good go and it was a tricky question. I think you've had center stage long enough Kai, so unless you'd like to give us a repeat perform maybe you can keep you mind from wandering during class."
"Yes sir." Kai said with his head cast down, suddenly very aware of where he was and that everyone was watching him, some of whom were failing to suppress their giggles. Kai hated people looking down him and felt his anger drown out his current embarrassment. He wanted place the blame on Professor Wong who had put him on the spot, but couldn't blame the only person in the school that he had any respect for. Professor Wong was pretty must the only teach in school that had not given Kai detention nor threatened to suspend or expel Kai at the drop of a hat. Had any other teacher caught him daydreaming he probably would have been sent to the principal's office for "disrupting class".
"Good now can anyone…" Wong was interrupted by the opening of the door and entrance of a boy with a shaved head. "Excuse me can I help you?"
Jade and Ren were surprised to see the boy they had nearly rammed into walk into their class. "Jade, it's that cute guy from before." "Yeah I noticed."
"Are you Professor Wong?" the boy asked handing Wong a note. "I'm new and was told to report here and meet my homeroom teacher"
After reading the note Wong turn to his student and said, "Class, it seems that we have ourselves a new student. Mr. Kyoufuu, please introduce yourself to your new classmate and tell us about yourself. Then take that empty seat next to Kai."
"Hello everyone, my name is Taang Kyoufuu. I'm from the Southern Air Temple in the southern mountains of the Earth Republic." Taang then gave a humble bow to his classmates.
"Your name's Tang? Did ya bring something for us to drink, Tang?" said one student chuckling at his joke encouraging the other student to joke about thee new kid.
Understanding the student's joke, but not the spirit that it was intended, Taang smiled and replied, "Sorry, I didn't think to bring any, but I did enjoy that orange drink yesterday. I was quite surprise to find such a tasty drink with a name so similar to mine."
"If you liked tang so much, maybe you're meant to be a spaceman." Said a grinning girl whose bleached blonde hair with matching lipstick and eye-shadow contrasted her dark tanned skin.
"You really think that I have what it takes to be an astronaut?" Taang's response elicited laughter from half the class at the clueless the new kid.
"Okay that's enough class. Unless anyone has a question worth asking maybe can just continue with the review." Professor Wong said trying to protect Taang from becoming an object of ridicule.
"No wait, why do you have those blue arrows?" Asked Ren who been curious about them since Taang ran off earlier that morning.
"These arrows are part of my culture." Tang began to explain. "These are a symbol of…"
"Their airbending tattoos. You're an air monk aren't you?" The room was quiet as everyone's eyes turned to Kai. Kai was a quite guy who only spoke to the faculty, and only when spoken to first. So it was a surprise to voluntarily start talking with someone. "Do expect us to believe you're an airbender or something? Aren't you supposed to be wearing robes?"
"Umm, yeah these are airbending tattoos and I am an air monk, but I'm not an airbender. As for my clothes, I'm allowed to wear modern clothing now that I'm a student here. I got these as part of a tradition we monks have. These tattoos are a sign that I've been acknowledged as a master of Ba Gua. It's kind of our version of getting a black belt in other schools of martial arts."
"Ahh yes, Ba Gua, the traditional martial arts of the Air Nation. Also it's the bases of the mythical power of airbending." Wong interjected who was pleased to have such an interesting student. "I'm please to have you join our class Taang, and thank you Kai for volunteering your observations with the class, but do try using a more polite line of questioning in the future. That goes for the rest of you." Wong took quick look at the boy and girl that had been making fun of Taang minutes before.
"Now Taang, if you'll take that empty seat next to Kai we can continue. We were studying events that have taken place since the death of the last Avatar, Roku."
"You mean Avatar Ruko don't you sir? The last known avatar was Avatar Ruko." Taang spoke to his new teacher.
"Yes, my mistake it's rather easy to confuse their names isn't it. You seem quite sure of your answer Taang. Might I guess that you are well verse on the subject of history?"
"Yes sir, the monks had us study many historical events, especially events involving the Avatar. Without an airbender to embody the Avatar spirit after Avatar Ruko's the last of the benders vanished because with the cycle broken no more bender were born."
"That's an interest story Taang." Wong smiled at the outdated ideas that the monks still passed on as fact. "But I'd like to make sure you understand Taang that this is a history class not a class on mythology. We won't be talking about people who could control the elements on a whim. Nor will we describe the avatars as some all powerful deities capable of moving between the living world and the spirit world. We will refer to the avatars as what they were, exceptional people chosen from an early age, by each nation in turn, and given the honor of dedicating their lives to learning about the peoples and cultures of each nation in order to act as a fair third party while mediating talks and negotiations throughout the world."
"But the avatars were more that just mediators. They were responsible for maintaining balance and peace in the world!" Taang exclaimed unable to believe what his teacher was saying. "Look what happened during Sozin's War with the avatar, not to mention the various wars that have occurred since the last avatar's death."
"That is true to some extent." Wong began to counter, "Sozin's War began with the attempted genocide of the Air Nation. The tradition of choosing an avatar from the Air Nation ended and struck the morale of both the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes who were unable to fend off the early attacks of the Fire Nation and allowed them to gain footholds that over the course of a century lead to the Fire Nation's near victory."
"The turning point of the war," Wong continued, "was the appearance of Avatar Aang who was a descendent of Air Nation saviors, for those of you who believe in the "legend" that he survived the genocide by hiding in an ice berg. Aang was a prodigy, a genius not only in marital arts but in military tactics. Forming a group of equally talented youths Aang gained the support of many followers despite the set back of the conquest of our own Ba Sing Se and a failed invasion of the Fire Nation capital. And as impressive as he and his followers were he was still only human, not super-human."
"As for the tragedies that have occurred since the death of Avatar Ruko, it was a terrible shame that there was not Avatar to prevent such wars, but it was not the result of a failed reincarnation. It was the result of the new Air Nation not being fully recognized by the other nations. As such an Air Avatar was never chosen and the avatar tradition simply failed."
"So I hope you understand Taang that this class deals in factual events that have reliable records to support them. Not folktales thought up to explain the unknown and magnify the important a position created as part of an ancient peace accord."
"I understand sir." Taang answered knowing that he would not be able to change his teacher's understanding of the world as it once was.
"Now then class," Professor Wong said looking at the clock, "it seems that time is against us and you will all have to review on your own. I hoped you all kept good notes and are ready to read the next two sections of chapter four. Before you head off to you next class will any of you volunteer to be Taang's guide on his first day of school?"
"We'll do it sir!" yelled Ren waving her right hand as her left hand held up one of Jade's hands as well.
"Thank you Ren please take good care of him." And with that the bell rang and the student left the classroom.
In the hallway Ren and Jade lead Taang to his next class while Ren looked at Taang's schedule. "This is great you've lunch with us and you're in our science class too. Professor Wong teaches that class too. Oh, here's your writing class." Ren said handing back Taang's class schedule.
"Hey teacher's pet!" yelled a boy who drew everyone's attention to him including Taang and his new friends.
"Wow you answer some pretty tough questions Kai." Mocked the boy as his friend laughed. "A.A. is for After Avatars. Because it's after the avatars, how do you remember this stuff? And all that stuff you knew about airbenders, maybe you and the new kid should form an air monk club. Of course you'll have to shave your head, won't ya?" The boy placed his hand on Kai's head and messed his hair up. A mistake the boy would not realize until he woke up as Kai quick spun round and cracked the back of his fist into the back of the boy's head. The boy was unconscious before he hit the ground.
"Yeah, that's Kai your desk neighbor Taang." Ren explained, "He's a tough guy but really he's not that bad."
"Are you kidding?" Jade asked with a chuckle. "Did you not just see what he did? Kai's been in plenty of fights always wins in three hits or less. Kai's a thug and you refuse to admit it because you're crushing on him."
"I am not! I know that he's gotten into fights before, but he's never started them. And beside, he's still going through a bad time, ever since his Aunt Jasmine died."
"His aunt died?" Taang asked wanting to know what could explain such a violent outburst.
"Well she wasn't his really aunt. They were distant relatives, but Kai lived with her ever since his father sent him to school here. They live above the Jasmine Dragon but now Kai leaves in the dorms with the other boarding students."
"Wow." Taang said hearing about Kai's life. "I don't know what to ask first, why his father sent him here or what the Jade Dragon is.
"Kai's here for the same reason all the boarders are." Jade explained. "You graduate here with a high enough average and you're practically guaranteed acceptance to Ba Sing Se University."
"As for the Jade Dragon," Ren said, "it was this cool café that had the best tea in all of Ba Sing Se. The jasmine tea there is so amazing that Aunt Jasmine was named after it. It's been in her family since it first opened, forever ago. With her gone, the café's gone down hill and Kai been all alone since his father never visits."
"That's a shame", Taang sympathized realizing that Kai must be a bad place right now.
"Yeah, it is." Ren agreed. "So we're only a couple of rooms away to we'll meet you after class and show you to the gym for you next class and point out the cafeteria so you can meet us their later."
Kai succeeded in scaring the unconscious boy's friends into taking the boy to the nurse without telling her how the boy injured himself. As Kai walked by, Taang notice the look on his face. Kai did not have a look of anger nor a look of indifference, but a look of remorse.
'Is he sorry about what he just did?' Taang wondered. He decided then that had to try and help Kai. Not just to stop his violent outbursts from hurting others, but to stop his emotions from hurting himself.
A/N
Okay, here a new chapter. For those of you who like the change in my writing structure and find it easier to read, it all thanks to Xthedarkone. He suggested that I start new paragraphs when someone else starts talking. So I modeled the writing style in this chapter after his stories.
Please R&R, and let me know what you honestly thought now that I've introduced the main characters and given you some background on them and the modern feelings of the past.