Air…Water…Earth…Fire.

For centuries, the Avatar has kept balance in the world, serving as the master of the four elements and a bridge between man and spirit in over a thousand incarnations. From the legendary Avatar Aang who ended a century long war to the mighty Avatar Korra who defeated the anti-bending Equalists, each member of the Avatar line has saved the world more times than either man or Spirit can remember. But where did it all begin? This is the story of how the Avatar Cycle came to be…

Book 2: Gaia

Chapter 3: Ember

Gaia and Oogleo traveled west and like before, it took several days time. On the night before they arrived, Gaia found herself visited by Agni in a dream. "You must be prepared to act as a peace maker in the Sun Empire Avatar" said the Fire Spirit cryptically "I sense my followers have been tainted by an outside influence and are being led astray by those they have come to trust in." Agni vanished then and Gaia awoke just as they reached the shore of the Archipelago.

Gaia dismounted and proceeded to tour the land for a fire bending teacher. She hadn't gone far when a mighty roar caught her attention. The Avatar looked up to see a dragon flying straight toward her and was mystified by the sight. Ever since she was a little girl, she had heard stories of the mighty beasts and to see one in person was like a dream come true. Gaia was so transfixed that she almost failed to notice that the Dragon was attacking her.

She narrowly dodged its flame assault and proceeded to counter with earth bending. The Dragon was strong though and fighting it off soon became taxing. Just as the mighty beat became to gain the edge, another blast of flame struck it from out of nowhere. Gaia turned to see a young man about her age dressed in gold and red sage robes and war paint. He struck the dragon with a swift combination of flame attacks and it became clear that he was a fire bender. Gaia used this distraction to regain her edge on the dragon and together with her new ally, forced it to retreat.

"You should be more careful" the young fire bender admonished "this territory is ablaze with Drag Hotspots. Who are you anyway Hotlass? I've never seen you before and how did you do that flamin' hot magic trick with the ground? That was flameo!"

Ignoring the young man's odd slang, the Avatar smiled. "I'm Gaia and I'm not from around here. The magic you saw was called earth bending." "Earth bending? People can bend things other than fire?" "Well yeah, but only I can bend all the elements because I'm the Avatar." "The whatatar?" Gaia explained her tale and asked the young boy, whom she learned was named Zorin, to teach her fire bending.

Zorin grew sad and said "I can't, I'm only an apprentice Fire Sage." The Fire Sages had been formed from the Elders of the Sun Empire in the decade following Gaia's birth. They had ended all wars between Sun Warrior clans and unified the Nation as its rulers and spiritual council. Their temple was located near the Great Flame, which still burned just as brightly as it had in the days of Izu. Zorin took his new friend to the Sages and humbly asked that she be taught. The Head Sage Kaiju said "If you truly are a keeper of balance then you must aid us in stopping the dragons. They have turned against us and have begun murdering whole clans by the dozen. We fear they no longer see us as worthy of the Great Flame's secrets." Remembering Agni's words, Gaia agreed to end the conflict as she learned fire bending. A bargain was struck and training began but Gaia could not shake the odd feeling she got from Kaiju.

Weeks passed as Gaia began learning the element of fire. She found it to be the most lethal of the elements, requiring great discipline in order to be controlled. The Sages proved this by giving her simple tasks at first like keeping the edges of a leaf from being burned and regular breathing exercises. When she passed those however, Kaiju began teaching her odd forms that didn't seem to improve her skill and the chi enhancement ritual she underwent to become more connected to the Great Flame seemed to leave her drained each time. Zorin knew these were not the usual training methods but remembered his place as apprentice and didn't speak out.

Meanwhile, the dragons continued to attack Sun Warrior settlements and clans were being scattered. Many of the strongest fire benders attempted to lead raids on the dragon nests but few returned and those that did were rarely the same. Gaia attempted to join these raids but Kaiju forbid it, insisting she train in the temple. "Until you are a fire bender yourself, you are unworthy of facing the original masters" he would say.

And so Gaia remained in the temple and trained under Kaiju but she continued growing weaker by the day. Even her earth bending was beginning to fade and she found it nearly impossible to connect with the Elemental Spirits. What was happening to her?

Zorin, who had gotten a crush on Gaia over time, wondered the same. It seemed the Fire Sages were attempting to hinder her progress rather than help it along. Didn't they want her to defeat Emperor Oni and make peace with the dragons?

One night when the Sages were called to perform a mass burial for a wiped out clan and only Zorin and Gaia were in the temple, they were awoken by a very familiar roar. The very same dragon who had attacked when Gaia arrived had returned! He circled the temple menacingly, waiting for them to appear. They knew if they did however, there was no chance o survival. Gaia was nearly powerless at this point and Zorin's fire bending was weak at night. When they finally were forced to appear however, they were shocked to find the dragon was bowing before them. Something in Gaia told her to approach the beast and she found a whisker touched to her forehead. Images flashed in her brain of the Fire Sages pilfering eggs from the Dragons' nest and scattering them through various Sun Warrior cities, the same ones that the Dragons had destroyed. The image changed then of Head Sage Kaiju performing the chi enhancement ritual on her but then it changed. Kaiju changed into an old man wearing a white robe with the Chakra Empire insignia stitched in and Gaia herself was slowly aging into a corpse. The frightening image shocked the Avatar back to reality but she now knew the truth of it all.

Turning to Zorin, she said "we have to get to the Dragon's nest. There's more to this feud than anyone knows!" Zorin reluctantly agreed and the two set off with the dragon as he carried them to his home. It was there that they encountered Ryuu and Taka, the leaders of the dragons and true fire bending masters.

Descendents of Ra, the ancient dragon who empowered Izu, Ryuu and Taka had watched over the Sun Empire for decades, waiting for he who would be called "the Lord of Fire" to appear and lead the people as Agni intended. When the Avatar was born onto the world, they knew it to be a sign of the change they had waited for. The Dragons revealed that a Mystic from the Chakra Empire had murdered the true Kaiju long ago and assumed his identity to lead the Sun Empire to destruction. He had stolen the eggs and caused many dragons to break away and declare war upon the Sun Warriors. If both races destroyed one another, fire bending would cease to exist. They also revealed that Gaia was having her strength drained by the Mystic using the Chi Stealing technique and would need immediate help if she was to survive. They surrounded Gaia and Zorin and breathed multicolored flames around them, enveloping their bodies. The two instantly felt strength and knowledge flow through their very beings and when the ritual ended both had been reborn. Gaia was now stronger than ever and possessed the gift of fire bending while Zorin was now as strong as a hundred Sun Warriors. When the young man asked why he had been given such a gift, the dragons said it was destiny itself at work.

They confronted the Sages in their temple the next day and were rebuffed. Kaiju accused Gaia of making up stories to blame someone for her failure as a fire bender and sent the Avatar into a rage. She used her fire bending for the first time and attacked her former sifu, revealing his true form as the Mystic called Amos. Amos confessed to everything but also revealed that the Fire Sages had joined him willingly in exchange for being remade into energy benders and given seats of power in Oni's empire.

Zorin became enraged at this revelation and to everyone's shock, challenged all the remaining sages to an Agni Kai atop the dormant volcano. It was an immense battle witnessed by Gaia, the captive Amos, and Sun Warrior and dragon alike. The exact details of the duel are unknown but in the end, the Sages were beaten and Zorin was crowned the first Fire Lord, the beginning of a monarchy that would begin the Sun Empire's transformation into the modern Fire Nation. The volcano where Zorin was crowned would become the new capital.

Gaia stayed in the new Fire Nation for some time after that, completely mastering fire bending and helping to find the surviving dragon eggs. She also found out about Zorin's crush on her and though she regretfully told him that her duties prevented them from being more than friends, she promised that their friendship would endure for a thousand lifetimes, a promise that continued down through the Avatar Cycle and the Fire Lord line. As Gaia prepared to leave and master air bending, she was shocked to find Amos wished to join her. He regretted following On's commands and wished to return to the old ways of balance and peace. Sensing the sincerity of his words and knowing that having an energy bender to advise her of her enemy's power was wise, the Avatar agreed and the two set off in search of Air Nomads, a task easier said than done.

AN: So sorry for the very long wait. Faster updates from now on, I promise! Special thanks to Silver Omega 01, Thestorywizard, Jonesman2007, and Atomic psychology. Their fics rock! Also, fans of Silver's LOK fic "The First Avatar" should check out "the legend of the kami and the hunt", the unofficial sequel by Dannydelafunk.