REVIEW ANSWERIN' time is lo... wait, what? No material? How dare you force him out of a job!? He has a wife and kids!

The Avatar: A New Legend

Chapter 3: Goodbye, Childhood

"What?"

"Yep."

"You're…?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"It's true."

"No way!"

"Way."

Wulong could not get over his shock. When Ralis told him, he thought it was just some prank or joke, but as his friend kept explaining that day's story, that possibility became less and less likely.

Wulong tried to wrap it all around his head, though. "You, Ralis, humble boy from the family of the 'Unknowns', are actually the supreme master overlord of the land, winds, embers and seas?"

Ralis just laughed at his friend's exaggerated description. "I don't know if 'supreme master overlord' is actually part of the job description. But who knows?"

"Oh, come on!" Wulong began to explain his reasoning. "You are the Avatar. You lucked out into becoming an instant celebrity! You will have all sorts of adoring fans, and people who will be more than happy to serve you! And perhaps a deep international Avatar account in the Bank of Ba Sing Se. You are set! Not to mention being the Avatar doesn't hurt your chances with the ladies!"

Ralis stared at Wulong with a face of skepticism. "Really? Celebrity? Bank accounts? Hey, genius, did you even know what the Avatar was before I told you?"

To that question, Wulong could only look back at Ralis with a lost stare and an occasional blink. "… Your point being…?"

"I'm serious, man!" Ralis exclaimed. "You ask me, I don't even know half the stuff one is supposed to know about the Avatar, period. Now I have to learn all this stuff about spiritual connection, and learn to bend the other elements, and whenever I think about that my mind goes all over the place, and it makes me go to my happy place."

Wulong looked at his friend, understandably weirded out. "Whoa, OK. Let's not go to that happy place. Dude, you don't need to worry about a thing! You are the Avatar, you will master all the elements. I mean, you mastered how to make bacon waffles when we were six."

That earned a good laugh from Ralis. He could still remember his mom's face when she saw the nasty mess in the kitchen after their experiment that one time.

"Besides," Wulong continued. "You have me, your bud. With me helping you out, you'll be a master in no time."


"This is test number 1." Wulong said as soon as he turned on his dad's camcorder. "Airbending! Our esteemed Avatar Ralis has already experimented airbending when he used it to barely avoid certain death by crushing."

"Can you please stop reminding me of that crushing incident?!" Ralis shouted to the camera.

"As you can see," Wulong continued, seemingly disregarding his friend's outburst. "Ralis is up and ready in position on the right. To the left of the screen is an industrial-sized fan, courtesy of Ralis's own father. Now we will help Ralis fine-tune his airbending by getting him to cut the increasingly strong winds."

"Wait, what was that last part?"

"And we begin!" Wulong extended an arm into the shot, showing a remote control on his fist. He pushed the button labeled "1", turning the fan in its lowest setting. Its lowest setting, however, was still strong enough to force Ralis into a defensive earthbender stance and put his hands up to avoid being knocked out. "Hey, Ral! Just airbend the wind away!"

"WHAAAAT?!" Ralis shouted. He could obviously barely hear anything past the gusts of wind.

"Just…" And then the camera shot moved all over the place. "… cut the wind away! Like this!"

The camera refocused on Ralis as he started flailing his arms around, first up and down, then sideways. Despite his best efforts, he was not moving the wind out of his face.

"No, no!" Wulong shouted, and the camera once again was all over the place. "Put your back into it! Sweeping motions!"

"You're contradicting yourself!" Ralis shouted back, but went ahead and tried to move his entire arm with his shoulders in exaggerated motions. So far, nothing was working.

"Hmm… perhaps this needs a bit of extra incentive." Wulong noticed, and once again showed the remote control and pushed the button labeled "3". The fan's motor cranked up and a blew stronger and stronger winds, to the point that Ralis could barely keep his arms in front.

"WULONG! STOP THIS CRAZY THIIIING!"

And then Ralis lost his stance and flew right out of the shot.

"Eh… cut?"


"Ok, test 2." The camera was up again, and this time, Wulong was inside the shot. "There, no more shaky camera issues."

"You say it like that was the only problem last time." Ralis complained.

"Sure, we hit a bump with the last test, but now we have a good new idea. With this hose" Wulong picked up a water hose from the floor, "we will give our Avatar the water needed to begin waterbending. Simple and harmless, like I promised."

"And I am thankful for that." Ralis answered, instinctively rubbing his head, even though the pain had dulled.

Wulong then pointed the hose towards Ralis and began counting down. "Are we ready? Three, two, one…"

Then nothing. The hose was not producing any water. "Uh, hello? Any water home? I think this hose end thinghy is broken. But I think my dad has another one. Maybe I'll see if…"

Suddenly the camera cut to Ralis and Wulong standing like nothing had happened. The hose on Wulong's hand, however, was entirely different. "Test 2, take 2." Wulong said. "I like this hose end thinghy, it looks like a pistol. But don't worry, buddy, it'll be gentle as a breeze."

"Here's hoping." Ralis said, then set himself in position. "Ok, I'm ready."

Wulong then pointed the sprayer pistol to Ralis and began counting down. "Three, two, one… go!"

Suddenly, a massive pressurized blast hit Ralis squarely in the gut, making him double back in pain. "Augh! My kidneys!"

"I'M SORRY!" Wulong quickly apologized. Instead of tending for his friend, however, he was more curious about the hose. "I dunno what happened. I thought you could… AAAAAAGH! My nose! Why did I point that thing at my face?!"


"Alright… test 3." Wulong announced. He walked over to the center of the shot, where Ralis was putting the finishing touches on a barbecue grill. "Let's try some firebending."

"You know, I'm having second thoughts about this…" Ralis said, dropping a bag of charcoal in the grassy floor.

"Don't sweat it. We have a controlled environment here. The flames will be small and controllable by even the biggest firebending amateur, namely you." Wulong then pulled out a box of matches and a crumpled newspaper page from his pocket. He set the paper in an elongated form, lit it on fire with the match, and lowered it into the charcoal. The coal started to glow a warm orange in some places, but so far no flames were visible.

"Let me get the camera." Wulong picked up the camcorder from its spot and pointed it at the center of the barbecue. "Any minute now we'll be able to begin the firebending demonstration."

"Eh… with what?" Ralis asked. "The embers are so small, there's no flames to go on."

Wulong kept the camera pointed at the coals, searching for a sign of life. "Well… dang. I guess the curse is still alive."

"Curse?" Ralis wondered.

"Well, it seems I can't turn on a barbecue for the life of me. Tried at least ten times, and all ended in failure."

"Well, then, this was incredibly well thought out, then." Ralis said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. He turned around and away from the grill, only to tap one of its feet with his ankle. The grill suddenly toppled over, spilling all of the lit coal on the grass and igniting it into flames.

"Oh! Holy crap! Holy crap!" Wulong screamed in panic.

"What?! What did I do? Why did this happen to me?" Ralis yelled, running around like a headless chicken.

"Quick! Where's that hose? Bring that hose over…"


"Well, that sucked." Ralis lamented. He was pitch black and covered with soot, but he was ok despite the botched lessons. He and Wulong sat down at the front porch of Ralis's house and basically flopped down from tiredness.

"I don't know what went wrong." Wulong wondered. "I did just like Sifu Mika would've done and made unorthodox tests. Why didn't it work?"

Ralis could only look at his friend with an incredulous face. "Gee. I wonder why."

The two friends looked at each other with sort of suspicious looks in their faces. After a short while, though, they just burst out laughing.

After the mirth had subsided, Ralis and Wulong laid on the floor, staring at the clouds pass by in peaceful silence.

"Ralis, level with me." Wulong interrupted the silence. "Do you think we can still be friends, hang out and do stuff like this? You know, since you'll be all over the world and stuff?"

"Why do you say that?" Ralis asked. "We're always going to be best buds, no matter what. Besides, we can always call each other and send letters and whatnot." Ralis went quiet for a while. He suddenly did not dare to look at Wulong in the face. He knew he had to say it, but as much as he went over it in his head, he could not find an easy way to say it. He just had to go ahead and say it.

"Wulong." Ralis began. He waited until Wulong gave him his undivided attention to continue. "I… I'm leaving. Real soon."

"Wh… what do you mean?" Wulong wondered.

"I have to start my training in earnest." Ralis explained. "Next week I'll be heading off to the Southern Air Temple to begin with airbending. I… I dunno when I'll be back."

Wulong was silent for a moment. Ralis was still not facing him, afraid to see how Wulong reacted to the news. He knew all too well what this meant. It was not just breaking up the team for a while, as Ralis knew that Wulong did not exactly mesh well with other kids their age.

"That's…" Wulong began. Ralis braced himself for whatever was coming. "That's… AWESOME!"

"Huh?" Ralis was completely taken off guard by Wulong's reaction.

"Yeah! Think about it! In no time you'll be a master airbender. You'll be traveling the world, meeting new people… meeting the ladies…"

"Shut up!" Ralis shouted in between laughs.

"This is the opportunity of a lifetime! You'd be an idiot not to take it up because of some unreasonable bizarre thing tethering you to suburbia town."

Ralis took a moment to take in what Wulong just told him. In his own way, Wulong may have done the most selfless thing Ralis has seen him do. This was quite unlike him to do. "Are you sure? Are you ok with this?"

"Me?" Wulong questioned. "Come on! It's not like we'll suddenly become estranged. Oh, I will bombard your mailbox and the phone bill may go through the roof, but you're not getting away from me that easy. I'll be obnoxiously inseparable, dahling."

Ralis felt relieved. After hearing Wulong's take on the situation, he felt like a heavy load was taken off his shoulders. His new life was indeed going to change a lot of things, but they weren't necessarily going to be bad. Ralis reflected on these things for a short while in silence.

Then, he remembered something. "One more thing. There is a bit of good news for you." Ralis said, with a smile creeping in his face. "Aunt Mika is coming with me. So rest assured, no more obtuse rock pushing puzzles for a while."

"Wow…" Wulong suddenly became very quiet and pensive. "I… Sifu Mika's not going to be around. I… I think I'm gonna cry… of happiness!" He exploded loudly, sporting a massive smile on his face. "See? Great things keep happening, for you and for me! Man, this almost feel like a vacation now."

Ralis looked at Wulong with suspicious eyes over his outburst. "You're gonna miss us, aren't you?"

"Oh, big time."


One week later…

"Now don't forget to bathe every day."

"I won't, mom."

"And brush your teeth."

"I know."

"And listen to what the masters have to tell you."

"I will, mom."

"And try not to break any old statues. They're very valuable."

"Don't worry, mom."

"Oh, and Ralis?"

"Yes, mom?"

Meili took a moment to look at her son. She had been so flustered all week long to make sure he had everything he needed on his luggage and only now did she stop and think. At that moment, the reality of the situation hit her like a ton of bricks: her only child was leaving their home, and she wasn't sure when she was going to see him again. As much as she tried, she couldn't hold back the tears.

"I... I…"

"I think what your mother's trying to say is that we're so proud of you." Howl interjected. He was more composed than his wife, despite clearly looking sad at his son's departure. "You're showing a good deal of maturity for your age, and if I know you, and I do, you'll be able to rise to the challenges life set in your path." He then walked close to his son and pulled him in for a tight embrace. "I love you, son. Remember you'll always have a home here, ok?"

"Ok." That was all that Ralis could say without sounding choked up.

Howl had barely loosened his grip on his son when Meili went in for a hug of her own, coupled with a handful of kisses on the boy's forehead. "Be safe." She whispered in his ear a few moments before letting him go.

"Come on, big guy, let's go." Mika said after stuffing the last piece of luggage on the back seat of her car. "If I know your mom, this is the part where she turns into a helpless blubbering mess."

Ralis silently nodded, and then slowly walked away from his parents and towards the car's passenger door. Before climbing in the seat, he noticed a figure right next door. Wulong was looking at the scene by the car unfold from afar and decided to step back. When Ralis turned to look his way, he just smiled and gave a single nod. Though he was smiling, Ralis could notice the sadness in his eyes, but he knew there was little to do now, except smile and nod in return. Ralis then climbed into the car, and after a few words exchanged between Meili and Mika, they were on their way.

Ralis looked out of the window to places he was familiar with: his neighborhood, the house of his first crush Huilang, the park he usually played in, the candy and treats store, his aunt's training school. His heart felt heavy, knowing this would probably be the last time he would see this place in quite a while.

For a couple of blocks, there was an air of awkward silence in the car. Mika was tempted to turn on the radio to drown it out, but thought better of it. "I bet you're nervous." She said.

Ralis nodded. "Ever had a knot in your belly?"

"Yup. I know the feeling." Mika answered. "Tell you what; we'll stop for smoothies on the way. That'll help you."

Ralis nodded again, and made an odd sound that resembled an affirmative.

"By the way, did you think about why I'm going with you?" Mika asked.

Mika's question made Ralis take pause. His butterflies had left his belly, as he was considering what she could mean with that. "Well… I figured it's because so I can have family nearby, and so my mom can feel reassured I'll be ok?"

"Well, yeah." Mika conceded. "But there's one more thing. I had a talk with the guys at the White Lotus and said I'd be best suited to be your earthbending teacher, since I already taught you some stuff, and they agreed!"

Ralis's eyes were starting to open wide like dinner plates. "Oh… Oh, no. You don't mean…"

"Oh, yeah!" Mika answered with a sly smile on her face. "When you're not blowing puffs of air with the monks, you'll be with me! And I have been thinking of some new techniques for you to try. Oh, the possibilities!"

Ralis hung his head when he realized the hard labor he was about to be put through. "Oh, the back aches!"

-To be continued-