I do not own Avatar: Legend of Korra, or Avatar: The Last Airbender. This fiction, while based in that world, is about the characters and Avatar that came along after Avatar Korra.
Random Bender Character Generator.
Roll One- Odd, Male. Even, Female.
Roll Two And Three- One, M(mother) Firebender. Two, M Airbender. Three, M Waterbender. Four, M Earthbender. One, F(father) Firebender. Two, F Airbender. Three, F Waterbender. Four, F Earthbender.
Roll Four- One, Mother's Bending. Two, Father's Bending.
Roll Five- One, Pure Bender. Two, Fusion Bender.
Roll Six- One, Good. Two, Evil. Three, Neutral.
Example: Aya, daughter of an Earthbender Mother and an Airbender Father, can bend Earth, but her mastery is Sand, instead of Metal. She is neutral.
Use to your heart's content.
The Avatar
In the Sato Metalworks Factory on the edge of New Republic City, there was a constant, sequential clanging. To those not used to drowning it out, it could almost come across as musical. Forty people, all smashing hammers into metal sheets, one after the other, all down the assembly line. After each hit, one of the Firebenders would blast it with their flame, then it would be hit again by the next person. By the end of the line, each sheet had been shaped into a piece for the latest model of the Satomobile.
Kana punched forward, fire coming out of it and heating the metal. She had been at it for hours, letting her mind wander to other things, though certainly no more important.
"Hey!" one of the other Benders called over to her, "Did you hear?"
"Hear what?" she called back. Their voices were muffled because of the welder's masks they were using, but they were able to understand one another well enough.
"The Avatar is coming here. Big boy himself is gonna make an appearance. We've even been given the day off when he gets here, just to go bask," the other worker sounded mixed shades of excited and cynical.
"I can't tell if you love that idea, or hate it," Kana said.
"Both!" the man answered with a laugh.
Just then there was a loud whistle all through the factory.
"Alright! Quittin' time!" the man had said, "How 'bout it, Sparks? You gonna take me up on that drink, yet?"
"Not this time, Feihung," Kana shook her head with a smile as she removed her mask, "Gotta go practice, you know?"
"Aw," the man groaned, but didn't push her, "Well, good luck. Hope you make the cut this time."
Donning the Goggles that her adoptive father had given her for a present the year previous, Kana waved goodbye to her friends and made her way downtown. She caught a trolley heading for the Pro Bending stadium, where people tried out for teams all the time. She was still young enough that it wasn't strange for her to be trying out for one, being only twenty two.
Seated on the trolley, the woman was reading the back of someone else's newspaper when the whole car rocked. A few people yelped and clutched their seats and the handholds.
Unfortunately for Kana she was thrown forward, just over the head of the person opposite herself, and right through the window. The sound of shattering glass was drowned out by the fight going on in the middle of the road.
As Kana rolled to her feet, only mildly scuffed and with a couple cuts on her arms from the glass, she caught sight of three men and a woman surrounding a fourth man.
"High and Mighty Avatar," the woman sneered, "You ain't so tough. Get him, boys!"
The smallest man was, rather obviously, an Earthbender. He slit one foot forward, then thrust an open palm. Rather than chucking a rock at the person they were claiming was the Avatar, it had been used to launch a sword wielding man forward.
It would have been a good ploy, if the Avatar hadn't used Airbending to create a gale force wind that would send the man into the ground.
The next attack came from the woman herself. She took the stance of a Master Firebender and began to channel lightning into her arm.
She stabbed forward with two fingers and hit-
"Idiot!" Roared Kana, holding the woman's wrist skyward.
-nothing. Because of some interfering brat.
She shook loose of the younger woman and sent a blast of fire at her with a frown. Kana dispersed it with her own bending and took a loose boxing stance.
"You don't want to do this," the woman sneered again, "you don't know who you're messing with." She took a step forward, moving her fist forward and sending a blast of fire at the upstart woman that had blocked her only a few moments ago.
Only, now, her attack was blocked by a wall of earth.
"She is rather dangerous," said the man she claimed to be Avatar Xai, "So, thanks for the assist."
Kana looked at the man, bouncing on her feet as she did, "Uh, so… Are you really…?"
"The Avatar?" the man grinned. He was thick bodied, like most Earthbenders, but just a bit slimmer than most of them. He was also tall, and had a winning smile. He held his hands up before him, bending air in one, fire in the other.
"Yeah, that," she dodged a water whip and flipped over a chunk of rock, sending a wash of fire at the two benders that had come at her while she was talking to the Avatar, "So who are these people? And why did that one," Kana scowled at the female leader of this group of thugs, "try to use lightning in a crowded street?"
"They are-"
"We," one of the men interrupted with a serious tone, full of pride, "are the Teng Brothers, and this is our sister, Kana Li Teng."
The crowd around them gasped in awe and fear. The Teng Brothers and their sister Kana were well known throughout the world. Kana was a master Firebender, having been so since she was only twelve. Her brothers, an Earthbender, Waterbender and a swordmaster, were not quite as accomplished, individually, but their teamwork was also legendary. They became bounty hunters and mercenaries, earning a reputation for bringing in every mark, completing every goal, and brutality.
Five years ago, they had all dropped off the grid. Looks like they were coming back, and to pursue the Avatar.
Kana, the metalworker, looked at the four of them and an odd frown crossed her face. Then she started laughing.
"Oh! That is a good one! Really," she said clutching her sides, "Almost had me. But there is one problem with that."
"And what is that?" Avatar Xai asked.
She pointed to herself, "I am Kana Li Teng."
That had the entire crowd looking between the two Kanas speculatively.
"What- that's ridiculous! I am Kana Li Teng! Bounty hunter and Firebender extraordinaire!" She had a desperate look in her eye as she said this.
"Really?" Kana asked, "then where are the real Teng Brothers?" The crowd now looked at the three guys, "My face was never shown, but those idiots went everywhere without masks. The whole world knows their faces. And those three?" She scoffed, "Those ain't the Teng Brothers."
"What are you-" the Fake Kana began, only to be interrupted by the murmurs of the people around them.
"You think…?"
"Yeah, that one can't be the real Kana, she's too tall."
"I think I live next to the real Teng Brothers."
"MY CABBAGES!"
The last was cried out by an elderly man who had just come out of a shop to see his Satomobile crushed by a large rock from the battle that had nearly knocked over the trolley car. His groceries had been in the trunk.
"If anyone is interested," the Real Kana said, drawing the eyes of the crowd, "The Teng Brothers are traveling Fire Country right now, learning to be master Musicians. We had a falling out after I turned myself in, but they still send letters."
Xai looked the petite Firebender up and down, taking her measure. The way she held herself, even appearing to just stand there at ease, would allow her to quickly defend from any frontal attack.
"Enough!" The fake roared, "Even if I'm not Kana Li Teng, you," she pointed at the Avatar, "are coming with us, or else!" Her hand began to crackle with lightning again. There was a roar of fire and the fake received a hard kick to the jaw, putting her down.
"Idiot!" Kana barked again, "You could have hurt the bystanders!" Kana turned to the crowd and Avatar Xai and said, "If you will excuse me, I need to go tell this to my parole officer." She dusted herself off and headed for the New Republic City Police Department.
"I will accompany you, if you don't mind," Xai said, levitating the fake Tengs with Airbending.
"Free country," the woman said with a shrug, stuffing her hands in her pockets, ignoring the fearful looks in her direction.
Xai pulled up alongside her, "So, Kana Li Teng, huh?" he said, "You're almost as famous as I am," he paused, "Well, infamous, I guess."
"Yeah, but everyone has to grow up some time," the woman sighed.
"That's… an odd way to look at it."
"Okay, seriously, are you gonna do that the whole time?" Kana pointed at the floating thugs, "It's really distracting."
"Oh, sorry," he took a moment and whistled sharply. There was a low, keening call in return. Tromping feet could be heard approaching and a hippo-mouse came around the corner.
It trotted over to the Avatar and pulled a long, thick tongue across his face.
"Aw, Po, not the face," Xai complained. The beast seemed to snicker but noticed the unconscious thugs. It turned sideways and the Avatar tied them up and piled them on. When he was done, he turned back to the woman that had helped him.
Only to find her long gone.
"Rude," he muttered. He had expected her to wait for him. Perhaps he shouldn't have. He knew where she was going, though, making him grin. He wanted to know why a brutal bounty hunter would just turn over like that. It would be an entertaining mystery.
Best part, Xai thought to himself, was that it wasn't important that he solve it. No one would be better off if he figured out why she quit. The world wouldn't turn on its side if he left her alone.
He just wanted to know.
Xai took Po's ranes and led him to the police station, wondering if he'd see Kana Li Teng while he was there.
He didn't. By the time he had arrived Kana had explained the situation to her Parole Officer and been sent on her way.
Unfortunately for the young woman, she had been revealed in the street, and word spread quickly. By as early as the next morning, the entire city knew she was there.
It was as she was pulling on her work apron that a worker threw a paper down in front of her. On the front page was a picture of her, knocking out the Fake Kana. The headline read, "KANA LI TENG: PAROLEE?"
"That really you?" The gruff man demanded, crossing his thick arms, "Are you Kana Li Teng, infamous bounty hunter?"
The woman sighed and stood up, meeting his eyes with her own natural grey.
"I used to be," she sighed, "Now, I'm just Kana Li Teng, one of many welders. I quit being a bounty hunter years ago and have no plans of-"
"Kana Li Teng! Of the Li Teng Family!" A man in a crisp suit and dark glasses spoke into a loudspeaker standing in the doorway of the large, communal locker room. "I must speak to Kana Li Teng!"
"Ah, hell," the firebender grumbled to herself, turning in his direction, "I'm Kana Li Teng. Who's callin'?" She crossed her arms.
"Miss Li Teng," the man smiled, "Splendid. I am Wei Yi. My employer has a job for someone of your skills. If you will-"
"Look, like I was just saying to Muscles over there," she pointed at her burly coworker with her well angled chin, "I haven't been that girl for five years. I'm a welder now, not a bounty hunter. I don't do anything that won't leave me straight with my P.O., get it?"
"Be that the case, you are still called upon. My employer hired your impersonator, paying good money for delivery of the Avatar. You interfered. Now, you are in debt."
Kana, called Sparks by her closest friend here at Sato Industries, felt that same spark in her spirit. It was what had made her a master Bender at only twelve and it tried to take hold again at this man's threat.
She wouldn't let it. She was a different person now. She was not the same girl. She wouldn't be the same girl.
"Look, Mister Yi, I'm not that good anymore. I've been out of practice for years. All I do with it now is weld," she bowed to the man, "I'm sorry I interrupted-"
She was cut off by a stunning blow to the side of her face. It knocked her down and the people there gasped in shock and fright. Kana stood back up and bowed again. Again she was punched.
"I expected more spirit from the one that knocked out Lei with a single hit," the man in the suit said, looking down at the welder, "She claimed you had the strength of a demon to hit her so, but all I see is a weak woman that can make the fire dance." She did not glare at him, just looked at him with her grey eyes and said nothing as she spit blood to the side.
The man stared for a moment more, then gave a quiet harrumph and turned around to leave. He found his path blocked by several of the workers that had just seen him attack Kana.
"Don't," one pained word from the woman had them looking at her, "He's finished here, and won't be back. He didn't find what he wanted, no reason to return."
"Indeed," the man said, loosening his shoulders in a way that suggested he had been about to attack them.
The workers parted and Wei Yi left.
"C'mon, Sparks," Jin, her first friend in this place, offered her a handkerchief to clean her face, "Ten minutes until our shift."
"Yeah," she nodded, wiping her lips of the blood. The tall bender, the one she had called Muscles, stood before her.
"I'm sorry," he said, sheepishly, "I just… I'm sorry."
Kana just shrugged with a smile, "It's okay. I know what I was like. I wouldn't want to work next to the Kana Li Teng either. Kana the Welder is much more approachable."
Yun, Muscles, snorted, "I'll say," he slapped one meaty hand on her back, "You're one of us, no doubt. See ya on the Line, Sparks!" He walked off.
Kana watched him go, then shook her head with a smirk, "Freaking bipolar, the bunch o' ya."
In all honesty, when Kana said she didn't practice anymore, she hadn't been completely lying through her teeth.
Long after her work day ended, and another report to her PO about the bruising on her face, the young woman was on the roof of her apartment building, going through forms. Stance to stance, she moved with the fluidity of a seasoned practitioner. At a speed that represented control, not ferocity, her fists and feet and elbows and knees danced through the air. For a master, descent into the martial forms could be like a trance. They would not see the world around them, hear the noises of the city below, nor the cool wind on their face. They would immerse themselves in the energy of it all. The stances were just a way of controlling the energy inside them.
As she moved, though, there were two things of note that kept it from all being a lie about not practicing.
One, she was not using the usual forms Firebenders were known for, not even those for lightning. Instead, she was using the moves of a Waterbender.
Two, there was no fire. She could feel it beneath her skin, just as eager to be let loose as she was to loose it, but she kept it in. Kana would let the fire roar later, in a place near water and secluded.
"Nice moves."
The fire in her veins split the darkness as she spun around, crouched low and fists clenched.
"Good reaction speed, too," her visitor complimented her with no fear of attack. He was the Avatar, after all.
Seeing his smirking face, Kana scowled and doused the flames. She stood up, spine rigid, and took a deep breath as she moved her hands down, palms facing the rooftop, clearing her mind of the aggression that surged forth at a moments notice.
"All due respect," she began, "But what the hell are you doing here?" She didn't quite glare at the man, but she was not happy to see him.
"Honestly?" He gave her a charming grin that she was sure would work on a less jaded woman, "I'm curious about you. You were Kana Li Teng the most feared bounty hunter in all of the Fire Nation. A Firebender of such renown that, to this day, children still bicker over who would win between you and me.
"Now, after giving it all up for reasons no one has been able to discern, you live in New Republic City as a common welder, meet with a parole officer once a day and practice Waterbending stances on your roof," he smiled at her again, "Why?"
She glared at him now, but said nothing.
Xai stood up from his spot on the roof's edge and began walking around her, "I know I'm not the first to ask. I bet I'm not even the hundred and first. I have my guesses. My first was that you'd had a kid," seeing the glare twisting on her face he rushed to add, "But I don't think so. You don't act like a mother, even a reluctant one. My next guess-"
"I killed a kid," she interrupted him.
For a moment, there was silence, then she started walking towards the rooftop door.
"Come on, O Great Avatar," she grumbled, "Souzai knows you won't just let this drop, so let's get this all out of the way in one go. That way, you can leave me the hell alone, and I can go back to fading into obscurity."
Still a little stunned, Xai followed Kana into her apartment, ready to hear this story.