Chapter 1: The Earthbender

"The Avatar is dead!" the message shook the world. No one had expected Avatar Korra to die so early. The last anyone had seen of her was when she had gone through the portal into the spirit world. A few days later, her body was found in the middle of Republic City. People were in shock. Nobody was sure what happened, except for one thing: she was not killed by a bender. All of us who knew her mourned her death, but little did we know that things were only going to get worse.

For a week or so after her death, benders could not bend. None of us could understand why this was happening. It was all we could do to prevent a panic. And for a few days, we did. But then, the worst thing possible occurred. Three days after Korra was found, the largest genocide since the destruction of the Air Nomads occurred. A group known as The Rage of the Phoenix took advantage of this situation and worked to kill all of the benders in the world. Within forty-eight hours, 80% of the world's benders were dead.

Governments did nothing. A large number of soldiers and other law enforcement officers were benders, and they were being killed. The royal families in the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom were also slaughtered. The leaders who rose up to replace them did nothing to stop them.

For years after, benders were trapped in fear. If they were discovered, either the government would remove them to camps "for their protection" or they would be killed. There were only a few places that were outside of the nations where benders could live safely.

People were afraid that the avatar was dead. No one knew where they were. Most people have given up hope. But, not me. I made a promise to Korra that I would find the next avatar.

For years, I searched for the avatar. I scoured the earth kingdom, but I could find no sign. Of all the Nations, the benders of the Air Nomads and the Earth Kingdom were the ones who received the worst of the attack. There were some small communities of benders in the swamp, the desert, the icy tundra, and Kyoshi Island. However, no matter how many earthbenders I encountered, none of them were the avatar.

But I haven't given up. I can't give up. The only hope for the survival of benders is for the Avatar to be found. Without the Avatar, we won't be able to survive.

…

Mako stepped off the train and was instantly hit in the face by the blast of desert heat. It was so dry and hot, that it was too much for even a firebender like him to deal with. But he needed to be there. He had to find the sand-bender colony. It was the last colony of benders that he still needed to visit. In the sixteen years after the bender massacre, he had been searching all of the hiding places of benders in order to find the Avatar. After this, he planned to start scouring the nations themselves, starting in Republic City. He hoped that it wouldn't come to that. The nations were big, and any benders who were still out there worked hard to keep themselves hidden.

He sighed and walked to a nearby store. He bought a map of the desert and some supplies and headed out. The map was not actually much help. There weren't many identifiable landmarks in the desert. The land was constantly shifting and changing, making it almost impossible to navigate unless you lived there.

mako walked for hours, not seeing any sign of them. He knew that their camp had to keep moving in order to stay hidden and he was going to find them. But he didn't anticipate the sandstorm. Anybody who had grown up in a desert could have told you that storms come swiftly, and they are extremely dangerous. The sand can blow so hard that it can block out the sky. Any unlucky person who wasn't an earthbender and got caught in it would soon find themselves trapped. The sand would suffocate or bury them with ease.

Mako was not from the desert and thus had no idea how to protect himself. The sand in the air became thick and heavy. If filled his mouth and nose, making it almost impossible to breathe.

So, this is how I die, he thought. Alone in a desert. This is really pathetic. He felt his limbs getting heavier and heavier. I'm sorry, Korra. Before the darkness overtook him, he thought he saw someone coming toward him. Then it all went dark.

He came to inside a tent. And immediately started coughing up sand. It hurt. A lot. When he finally stopped coughing, he was able to look around at the tent. It actually wasn't a tent. It was a structure made entirely of stone, which had been perfectly smoothed into a small building. There were very few belongings. A couple of blankets on a bed roll, a hot plate, a water pitcher, and a few books. Clearly, it was the home of an earthbender. The occupant, however, was nowhere to be found. He sat up slowly, his head throbbing from his newest near-death experience. In a flurry of panic, he checked his pocket. To his relief, the small crystal was still there. This crystal had been given to him by a priest at the Ginsen Temple, almost fifteen years ago. It was uniquely connected to the avatar and would glow when in their presence. So far, it had done nothing, and Mako was beginning to think that it may be just a myth. Then he realized something shocking. The house had no door.

He sprang up in a panic. He was a prisoner! But, what kind of earth-bender would take him prisoner? He was still mulling this over, when one of the rock walls began to shake and an opening appeared. A person walked through the door, closing it behind them. It was a young woman. she removed a cloth that was wrapped around her head. She couldn't have been more than sixteen. She had brown hair that was cut along her jawline and green eyes. She wore a black shirt over black pants. She had a green and gold cloth that she wore draped over her shoulder and held in place by a belt at her waist. She also wore a pair of boots that were smudged by the sand.

"Oh, good, you're up," she said. "Sorry, I left you on your own, but I needed to take care of a few things. How are you feeling?" Mako stared at her, tense and poised for combat. "Hey, relax. I'm not going to hurt you. In fact, if it wasn't for me, you would have died out there in the storm." She placed a bag down on the ground and took out a pouch full of water. "I'm Tara. Who are you?" She handed him a cup of water.

"I'm Mako," he said, accepting the drink.

"As in, the friend of Avatar Korra, that Mako?" she asked in surprise.

"Yes, that one," he said.

"I haven't met that many firebenders," she said. "Although, do you often carry around weird glowing crystals?"

"What?!" He looked down. The crystal had fallen to the ground when he had jumped up. Sure enough, it was glowing brightly. "You're…You're the Avatar!" he blurted out. And then passed out.

…

He woke up still in the weird stone house. Tara was still there, but this time, she had a small portable stove out and was cooking. He groaned as shooting pains went through his head.

"You're awake," she said, turning to him.

"How long was I out?" he asked.

"A few hours. Your injuries were more severe than I thought. You've probably sustained some damage from a lack of oxygen. I'll get you to a healer as soon as the storm's past," she said. He looked around, trying to find the crystal. He found it lying right where he left it, still glowing.

"You…" he started to say.

"Here," she said. "Eat this. It will help." She shoved a bowl of soup into his hands and walked toward the wall. "I'll go and see how close the storm is to passing." She wrapped a scarf around her head and went back outside, sealing the house behind her. Mako raised an eyebrow. Clearly, she was avoiding the topic. Confused, he turned to eat the soup. It tasted strange. There was a meat in it that he had never eaten before. It was weird. Not bad, but weird. He finished the bowl and then did feel better. Tara came back a few minutes later. "The storm's passed. We should get going. Are you feeling up to it?"

"Yeah, actually. What was in that soup?" he asked as he stood up.

"Buzzard wasp." He suddenly felt sick. "It's actually pretty nutritious, so don't throw it up." Still feeling a little sick, he went out of the opening. He noticed that the sun was setting in the distance.

"Shouldn't we wait until morning to travel?"

"It's actually easier to travel at night. The sun isn't out, which means that it's cooler. Plus, the weather patterns are a little less extreme at night." Tara came back out with her bags. With a small gesture of her hand, she caused the house to completely collapse into the sand.

"Question, are we walking the whole way?" he asked.

"Yes, I will have an injured man walk all the way to the base." She gave him a "Really?" look and walked over to another spot on the sand. With a few more gestures, she raised an old-fashioned sand skiff out of the dunes.

"Wow! I have never seen one of these!" he said hurrying over to it. "Weren't these things in use during the time of Avatar Aang?"

"They made a come-back. Earth-benders and air-benders can propel them easily, and they don't use any technology which makes them impossible to track." She threw her bag on board and then climbed up. "Are you coming, old man?"

"I'm not that old. Just because you're a kid, that doesn't make me old. I'm only in my forties." He climbed up on the skiff.

"Hold on!" She created a small twister of sand behind the sail which propelled it through the desert. It moved much faster than he expected. Pretty soon, he could see a collection of stone structures in the distance. "Oh, no!" Tara gasped. The camp was surrounded by flying ships and they could hear over the sand the sound of fighting.

"Tara…" he said. Without saying a word, she planted her feet and added more force to the twister. The camp was swarmed by fighters in black uniforms. The back was embossed with a gold phoenix. The Rage of the Phoenix. The skiff slammed into some of the enemies. Mako jumped free and began to throw fire at the attackers. Behind him, the tornado that had been propelling the skiff grew to enormous proportions and picked up a huge number of guards. For a few minutes, Mako was able to fight against the attackers. But then, he found it getting harder to breathe. His lungs ached and protested to the strenuous work of firebending. It was getting harder and harder to keep fighting.

"I told you, you're injured!" Tara said, grabbing his arm to support him. "Lee!" A boy, who couldn't have been much more than twelve, ran over. "Get him into shelter! He can't fight like this!"

"Yes, Tara!" Lee said. He took Mako's another arm and began to pull him into another tent.

"Li-one! Get your people in the shelter! I'm going to end this!" Tara called to another man. Immediately, the benders began to retreat. Any members of the Rage of the Phoenix who tried to follow were caught in one of the twisters that Tara had summoned. Mako watched through a gap in the tent. The sand all around the camp began to surge and rise. It rose up in spiraling clouds creating a sandstorm, just like the one that Mako had been caught in. His jaw began to drop. It wasn't just a little bit of sand. A whole sand dune's worth of sand lifted up, essentially creating a wave of sand. He heard the crashing of the ships being knocked out of the sky. The attackers were swept up and vanished. When the storm faded, the only person left outside was Tara. Mako stood up and walked outside very slowly.

"How…did you do that?" he asked Tara in awe. "That is impressive for someone of your age." Tara didn't respond. "How do you not know that you're the avatar?"

"Do you really think that I haven't been told that before?" she demanded. "I was told that years ago and I wanted to help people. But I can't bend the other elements. I tried and tried over and over again, but I couldn't do it. I'm just a powerful bender." Mako felt confusion and disappointment surging inside of him. He felt desperate.

"This crystal was given to me by a priest at the Ginsen Temple. He said that it was connected to the avatar and would only glow in their presence. I have carried this for fifteen years and it has never glowed until now. Please, at least look at it," he begged. She hesitated for a moment, and then reached out her hand.

"Alright, but if nothing happens, don't be disappointed." She took the crystal in her hand and stared at it. "It's calling me…" she whispered. Suddenly, her eyes closed and she collapsed.

…..

Tara found herself in a place that didn't look normal at all. It was full of fog, and the light was blue.

"What happened? This isn't the desert," she said. She seemed alone. She attempted to listen to the earth beneath her for vibrations but found that she couldn't. She couldn't bend either.

"Greetings, Tara," a voice said. Before her stood a person, who looked vaguely familiar. She couldn't have even been thirty, with short brown hair. She was dressed like a member of the water tribe. She was also glowing blue and transparent.

"You're Avatar Korra, aren't you?" Tara said. "That means that I'm…"

"In the spirit world, yes," she said.

"Then, I must be the avatar!" Tara felt super confused.

"Well, it's complicated. You are supposed to be the avatar. But, as you have discovered, you cannot bend the other elements. When I died in the spirit world, the unusual event actually split Raava, the avatar spirit, into four pieces. Since you were supposed to be the avatar, you have received the main piece of Raava, including the ability to communicate with passed avatars. However, you do not have the other elements or the ability to enter the avatar state." Tara felt super confused.

"So, the avatar is gone? There is no more avatar state or other elements?"

"No, not quite. There are three other benders: a firebender, an airbender, and a waterbender. Each of them was born at the exact same moment you were and received a portion of the avatar spirit. They are the rest of the avatar. Only by uniting together can you enter the avatar state. The avatar is no longer one person, but four."

"How will I find them?"

"The crystal." Suddenly, Korra began to fade. "Fire, sun, and moon, Tara. Fire, sun, and moon." The spirit world faded away. Tara jolted awake on a mat inside one of the stone structures.

"Tara!" Lee and Li-One said. She sat up, carefully. Physically, she felt fine. Tired, but fine. Lee and Li-One were not the only ones in the room. Mako was sitting over at the side. While the other two looked concerned, Mako looked curious. Then she realized that the crystal was still clenched tightly in her fist.

"The camp is almost packed up," Li-One said. "I'll leave you two here since you can take this structure down yourself. Oh, and, thank you. All of us owe you a debt." Both he and Lee left, leaving her and Mako behind.

"How many…" she asked cautiously.

"A few injured, but none dead, thanks to you," Mako said. "I'm not surprised that you collapsed. Something that big was guaranteed to take some out of you."

"Thanks," she said. "So, you were right." Mako looked surprised and happy. "But, also wrong." Mako now looked super confused. She then gave him the quick rundown.

"So, you really saw Korra?"

"Yes, for the third time."

"And she didn't mention me?"

"Not at all. Again. For the fifth time." Mako looked rather disappointed.

"So, you're only a part of the avatar? And the crystal is the only way for you to find them?" Tara nodded in exasperation. "How?"

"All Korra said was 'Fire, sun, and moon.' It's not a super helpful explanation." Tara lifted up the crystal and stared at it, almost wanting to ask it for answers. Then, she noticed something. The crystal wasn't showing her the other side of the room. Instead, it was bending the light of a burning torch on the wall and showing her something else. It looked like another room. Inside, there was a young man, about her age, who appeared to be meditating. The fire in front of him moved with his breathing. Tara gasped as realization struck. "I got it!" Mako jumped in surprise.

"Got what?"

"I know what she meant! I can find them! I'll drop you off at civilization and then…"

"Hold up! You're not dropping me anywhere. I'm coming with you." Tara looked at him for an explanation. "I made a promise to Korra. I told her that I would find the next avatar. Since you aren't the full avatar, that means that my promise has not been fulfilled. Let me come with you, or I will track you across the world, telling everyone that you're my crazy runaway niece." Seeing that there was no convincing him, Tara agreed.

"Let's go and find the avatar then, Uncle Mako!"

"I am immediately starting to regret this."

"Oh, you'll love me eventually."

"Korra, you owe me so much for this. I'm a firebending master, not a babysitter."

….

A young soldier jumped in surprise. He felt as if someone was watching him. He looked around quickly but found that he was still alone in his room. He took a deep breath and tried to relax. He was always careful with his firebending, so no one knew that he was a bender. But he still had a feeling of foreboding. Something was about to change, and he didn't like it.