Book 1: Change
Prologue
A long time ago, my uncle used to tell me stories about how the first humans were able to bend the four elements; water, earth, fire and air. Now, I have learnt this was done by gaining the ability from lion turtles and observing animals who could bend. Each culture corresponded to their own element.
They lived in harmony; the Avatar kept balance between the Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation and Air Nomads. But that all changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them.
My father used to tell me that the Avatar should not exist. My great-grandfather, you can leave the "great" out of it, Firelord Sozin, destroyed the Air Temples in the hopes to kill the new Avatar. He and my father both believed the element of fire to be superior to the others. He believed fire to be the reason the Fire Nation prospered so much and advanced more quickly in technology than other nations. He and others in the nation believed war to be the right way to share this advancement and prosperity. They said it was about sharing greatness with the world.
What an amazing lie that was.
The Fire Nation created an era of fear in the world.
The Avatar and many others have done everything they can to stop the war and bring more balance to the world. I am relieved to say it worked. I have gotten a few bruises myself in the process, figuratively speaking and literally. But I am digressing.
Many stories have been told about the Avatar and his friends.
In these pages we will remember the faceless people, who did not get their spotlight in the writings of history. These people are better known as ninjas.
We will go beyond the scene, so to speak.
Other than the ninjas, parts of my sister's story have been left untold as well.
According to representatives of both, it is time to reveal it all.
As a personal side note, I want to share that I do not believe it is only the responsibility of the Avatar to preserve peace and balance in the world.
It is the responsibility of all of us.
I am honored to present this work to you, and to share the lifestories and deeds of these people.
Yours honorably,
Lord Zuko of the Fire Nation
Everything around him was gray. Some people believe the color black reminds them of death and mourning, others say the color white does it for them. For him, it was grey. The sky was filled with it. The ground was covered in it; it was either smoke, ash or the clouds that blocked any ray of sunshine.
Everything around him was a silent melody. Lifeless.
Then, the silent melody was broken by dissonant vibrations within himself. His thoughts and feelings. He couldn't live with them, so he ran away.
He ran to the farthest corner of the earth, with the greatest distance between him and that place. In his brown and green tunic, typical for the Earth Kingdom, he asked the passed on monks for forgiveness. He asked if they forgave him for not checking the other places to see if the same fate had fallen upon them. To ask if they forgave him for abandoning the clothes and ways of their culture.
When he found the farthest corner of the earth, he sat down and meditated. He ran away even further, even though there was no distance to cross. It was a place most people on earth couldn't reach.
He entered the Spirit World. The parallel world only meditation masters could willingly enter. Home to immortal spirits embodying various forms of life.
While he was there, he called out, but found himself alone among enormous trees. He walked for what felt to him like hours, without stopping to rest. He didn't register the colourful life around him, only concentrated on his gray feelings.
When he almost gave up, letting his feet bathe in the sacred water, he looked in front of him more closely. He saw the reflection of himself, and of something behind him. A sacred creature, whom he recognized from the place he ran away from; the paintings on the walls were ingrained in his memory.
He turned around and kneeled in front of the spirit of the Air Lion Turtle. This sacred, enormous creature, full of life on its back, was the one to give humans their bending powers, according to many stories and paintings in the air temples. Only one lion turtle remained in the physical world, but others still dwelled in the spirit world.
After calling for help, he had hoped someone would come, but never did he expect to meet this holy spirit. If they could, the tears would stream down his face. He couldn't talk; the sorrow too raw and overtaking his whole spiritual body.
"I'm sorry." Those words eventually clawed their way out.
The slow rumble of the voice of the lion turtle sounded almost soothing. "What are you apologizing for, my child?"
He couldn't stop sobbing, but did try to form a sentence. "I- The Fire Nation, they- ..they-"
"I know what the Fire Nation has done, but why are you apologizing?"
The man tried to answer, but couldn't. After a few minutes of trying to stop his sobbing he managed to calm down. "I- if I was there- I know I'm not a good airbender, but I could have at least done something."
It was silent for a few seconds. Silence filled with regrets and grief, until the lion turtle uttered its next words: "I have something I can give you…"
The man lifted his head, wide, teary eyes searched to meet ancient ones. "What do you mean?"
"It is sometimes wise to run away when a fight cannot be won. It was wise to come here and seek help. Hiding in shadows, to one day step into the light again, or disappearing into nothingness..."
The man furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
"It will involve you giving up on airbending as you know it; we would not want the Fire Nation to hunt you down. I believe you have other passions…"
"I do? I mean, I do. I'm ashamed to say I'm not good at airbending at all. It's the reason I still don't have my tattoos. It's so shameful I've hidden from everyone I know outside of air temples that I am an airbender at all. Meditating is the only thing I'm good at when it comes to airbending."
"Meditating and music, I believe? I have heard you play our instruments in the Spirit World..."
"O really? I mean, yes, music is a big passion of mine. But music is not something only Air Nomads practice, right?"
"Music is indeed an artform that has transcended cultural and spiritual barriers...I was referring to sound itself. If you want, I can give you the power to bend air in such a subtle way that it affects sound…"
The man was speechless for a few seconds. Unable to process the information, the questions kept tumbling through his head. "But, how, I thought I- How is this going to help me not get hunted down by the Fire Nation? What if I accidentally airbend or create sounds out of nowhere, I-"
"The power to give, is also the power to take…"
"Does that mean you can take my airbending abilities away, and leave the, uhm, soundbending in place? Is that what you call it?"
The lion turtle chuckled, its deep sounding voice more felt than heard by the man. "Names are yours to give. And yes, I will take your traditional airbending abilities away, to prevent even more being taken away..."
"Aha, you won't have to take away much in my case. I don't really understand what sound has to do with air though."
The lion turtle kept waiting for the man to make connections in his mind on his own. Its deep eyes stared into his.
The lion turtle's lips bent eventually into a small smile. "I will give no limits..If I share my knowledge, it will limit your own discoveries..."
This confused the man, but the lion turtle continued before he could ask. "Will you agree with me lessening your airbending abilities to the point you will only be able to bend sound?"
The man silenced for a few seconds to listen to his feelings, but they screamed loudly yes, so he nodded his head. "I agree."
The lion turtle then lifted its paw and pointed two of its massive toes towards him. The man closed his eyes. One of the toes gently touched his forehead, the other his chest. A bright light bloomed behind the man's closed eyes, and they stayed like this for a few seconds. The man could feel energy flowing through his body. After it was done, the light vanished and the lion turtle retreated its paws. The man opened his eyes, looking straight into those of the lion turtle.
"Thank you." He said while bowing deeply.
"It is I who must thank you. Because of you I can offer a way to preserve airbending on the planet in this way, now that the Fire Nation has committed mass-slaughter."
The lion turtle silenced for a few seconds, as if hesitating. Then it opened its mouth to speak for what would be the last time for a very long time. "A last warning is something I have to give. Do not visit the Air Temples or any memorials. It deeply saddens me to say that the Fire Nation will use those places to lure remaining airbenders out of hiding. Stay hidden. Do not associate yourself with the Air Nomads in any way."
The man's eyes burned once again without tears. He nodded and bowed his head. When he looked up, the Air Lion Turtle was gone.
Months passed in which the man, who had given himself the name Hwang Byungki, trained himself in sensing and feeling sounds. He discovered the feeling of sounds traveling through the air. He felt the air vibrating in multiple directions, in the way an earthworm moved, and he felt when the movement lessened; the sound gradually disappearing. He meditated and trained to reach a wider range of perceiving sounds than his ears ever could.
He trained until he could recognize every sound around him for what it was without using his eyes or ears. He trained until he could change the direction and travel distance of sounds. He even discovered he could amplify or nullify sounds.
Then, he picked up his favourite musical instrument, the gayageum, and practiced until the music from the twelve strings could reach the spirit deeper, could soothe feelings more thoroughly.
After he finally soothed and healed his own heart while practicing, he knew he was ready. He went to travel the world in Earth Kingdom clothes and performed on streets. He suspected people wouldn't recognize him as an airbender, since he kept mostly to himself and rarely bent air in the past, to hide his lack of skill. He didn't have blue arrows on his body either.
In music there was no lack of skill for him. People cried while listening. Wherever he went, more and more people began to look forward to his performances. But he still kept his independence. He had only one person to book performances throughout the Earth Kingdom and beyond for him, even visiting the Water Tribes. He stayed away from the Fire Nation, though, and made this very clear. He also visited places where people lived who were less well off, and played on the streets there. For free. The war affected everyone after all, and everyone deserved to be soothed.
It was during such a visit to a street in Ba Sing Se, the capital of the Earth Kingdom, that he met her.
She listened quietly among the smiling and crying people, dressed in torn and old clothes. She smiled for what felt to her like the first time. Her poetical mind immediately felt words forming to fit the beautifully soothing melody.
She, who had given herself the name Chiyome, was originally from the Fire Nation. She disagreed with her family and nation. She decided to leave and build a life elsewhere. People weren't so welcoming to people from the Fire Nation though, resulting in her hiding her real identity.
That was something they both had in common, but would only find out years later.
After Byungki performed and left to find a bar, she noticed someone following after him. It looked innocent, but she trusted her intuition. So she, in turn, followed that person. She did keep her distance so the man wouldn't notice. When Byungki foolishly entered a small deserted alley she wasn't surprised to find him being pressed to the wall with a knife to his throat. With as little sound as possible she rushed to the man holding the knife and placed a few well-aimed jabs to his body. The knife clattered to the ground as the man fell down.
Byungki looked at her with wide eyes. "Thank you! I don't know if he would've let me live if you didn't step in," he breathed.
"I think he would've, just without your money and instrument. But I wouldn't want the best music around here to disappear, now, would I?"
"O uh, thank you". He smiled shyly, rubbing his neck.
"I was mainly talking about the instrument. They're very rare."
Cold water in his face. That's what it felt like.
"Excuse me-"
"Kidding, of course I admire your playing. I don't know anyone else who plays it, but I recognize a feeling for music when I hear it. I wanted to see if you had some self worth, and good for you that you have it. I also can't deal with awkward situations. I'm sorry."
"O, uh, it's fine. I mean- thanks. Anyways, I've never seen someone fall limp after being hit like that, is that normal?"
Chiyome barked out a laugh. "No, it's not, unless you know what I know."
"I assume that's a secret?"
She smiled mischievously. "Only for strangers."
"Can I take you to a bar, then? Make you less of a stranger? I'll pay of course."
She laughed again. "Deal. By the way, don't go through dark deserted alleys around here ever again. I can imagine your intuition was screaming at you."
It was silent for a little while, Byungki hesitating for a bit, but then his lips turned into a small smile. "What if my intuition was telling me to do exactly what I just did?"
Chiyome narrowed her eyes, but went to the bar with him.
When they walked away, the eyes of the man on the ground followed them bitterly. Why was he always the one having to listen to awkward conversations? And he didn't even get his money.
Byungki and Chiyome eventually formed a connection so strong that they could no longer hide the truth from each other. They confessed under the stars which saw everything. Both were a little scared the other would be hurt and leave after learning their true identities, but also trusting at the same time. Trusting their time and love together.
They both felt relieved after and understood each other better. Even Byungki, with his hatred for the Fire Nation, understood being born in a nation does not necessarily mean sharing the same views, and he knew Chiyome well enough to know her views. He started visiting the Fire Nation as a performer after that as well, with a half-masked Chiyome by his side as lyricist and singer. Chiyome was not afraid to live with an Air Nomad in hiding either; if he would be found out, she'd fight whoever came for him.
She was trained for that since she was a little girl after all.
They both felt the combination of soundbending and Chiyome's skills, which she developed further after leaving her Shinobi clan, would be something the world needed.
"Wow, you really started at the beginning, didn't you?"
Zuko sighs. "You have a problem with that? I thought at least some history would be good but I didn't want to give a typical history lesson."
"No- no, I was just wondering when we'd finally come in. it's our story after all."
He sighs again. "Just be patient!"
"Yes, yes...Do you remember when you didn't know the meaning of that?"
"No...
Yes. OK, chapter one then, here we go."
A school was created.
Chapter 1
It was now approximately a hundred years after the attack of the Fire Nation on the Air Temples. Jimin, twenty four years old, looked up towards the name written on the building in front of him. In big letters it said: Big Hit University. The building was part of a schooling organisation mainly for disabled people, but non-disabled people were welcomed too, with a tuition fee. For disabled people it was free. The reason non-disabled people still went despite having to pay was because of the good reputation the school had. The school was quite renowned, especially when it came to the art department. Many people found success after graduating, and especially the musicians were well-known. Music was the origin of the school after all.
But music wasn't the only origin, and the hidden identity of the school was why Jimin was breathing in deeply to calm himself. Today was the day he got assigned to a team within the Pink Lotus Clan. The day his codename Mochi would be read under a team name. He was nervous about which team he would be assigned to; his will to be in a highly skilled team was competing with his worries about not being good enough for it.
The Pink Lotus Clan was a ninja clan, founded by Chiyome, and originally an all-female clan. This had nothing to do with a bias or prejudice on Chiyome's part, but more with the fact that she was able to convince more girls than boys to join the clan. Apparently hiding your strength, deception and staying low profile didn't really appeal to most boys. They preferred learning to fight to join the army later in life to help people survive the war.
More diverse people joined the more fame the visible part of the school gained, and the more the school started to lean towards helping disabled people. This was mostly because the people who used soundbending to help them sense the world around them or to help enhance their music, already had to hide this aspect of their abilities. Presumably, the decision to deceive people in order to help people came more easily to them. Furthermore, the chance that people with disabilities, such as blindness or deafness, would be accepted in the army was extremely small. So if they wanted to contribute to defending their people, becoming a ninja was a realistic way to achieve it.
Another thing students learned, besides communication and regular classes, was self-defence, which was a mandatory subject for every student. These classes consisted of multiple teachers, each with their own speciality when it came to technique and regarding disabilities. These self-defence classes eventually branched out into more advanced fighting and tactical classes. The students who proved to be able to keep secrets were then asked if they wanted to become ninjas. They could take subjects only available to those who wanted that to be their side job. Being a ninja couldn't be a fulltime job to make sure the ninjas stayed as secret as possible. Of course the existence of ninjas themselves wasn't a secret for the most part, but the identity of those ninjas needed to be kept secret out of safety precautions. Therefore, every ninja and ninja student used a codename. Jimin's was Mochi.
It was clear to Jimin that their schools had many secrets, but he trusted the higher ups. Furthermore, the benefits and the kindness of most of the people made him want to stay. It was nice to be around people who, at some level, understood him better than others would. And it felt good to be able to help people survive the war and other dangerous situations.
Another secret was soundbending. This knowledge was kept only by (graduated)students who used it or, in the case of ninjas, worked with people who used it. Jimin himself had trained with people who could bend sound, and to be honest, it scared him a little in the beginning. The altering of the travel distance of sounds wasn't that terrifying, but the nullification of sounds made him scared he suddenly became deaf. He had a speech impairment because of having no tongue, and the fear that another disability would make itself known was always present in the back of his mind. It's not that he wouldn't be able to communicate if he became deaf, he communicated with sign language after all, but it had more to do with the fact that he loved hearing people speak.
Maybe it was because he
couldn't, even after practicing, that he paid more attention and appreciation to the rich variety of sounds that people produced.
After a while he started to become more fascinated than scared by soundbending, and even tried to learn about the technique. He observed that the movements, if there were any, were quite subtle in comparison to traditional bending of elements, even though he didn't know what traditional airbending looked like. He noticed that the soundbending techniques he saw, mainly revolved around certain hand and finger movements. Almost as if to compliment the subtlety of airbending that is soundbending.
It's not that Jimin knew anything about the process of learning soundbending; it was strictly kept secret, the students and teachers not releasing anything, and Jimin was-
No thinking of that now, why was he recalling the origin of the school now of all times? He needed to focus on the skills he had presently.
Of course it's good to remember where you and your environment come from for a perspective check but-
Focus! Breathe.
He took a last deep breath of fresh winter air and then opened the doors of the building.
"Boxy can you please stand still for a moment? You're making me nervous too!"
"I cannot, this is nerve wrecking, what if I'm gonna be placed with him?"
Yoongi sighed, but did feel empathy towards the twenty-four year old. "Boxy, there's literally one firebender in our age range. The chance that you're gonna be placed in a team with him is very small."
"But I asked around and they say his skill level is around mine and he's a dancer, and I'm a singer and- "
"Boxy breathe, you're gonna be fine." Yoongi turned the half-panicking man towards him, and even though Taehyung wouldn't be able to see the genuine care in Yoongi's eyes, his voice would do the job perfectly. "It's gonna be fine, breath in, count to four. Yes. Now breathe out and count again."
Yoongi's deep and calming voice helped Taehyung to concentrate better. He was able to slowly calm down from his spiraling thoughts.
"You're doing very well," Yoongi said.
He had known Taehyung since they were kids, and Taehyung's fear of fire had always influenced both of their lives. Taehyung had managed to overcome his fear in the case of expected and controlled fire, such as campfires. However, the moment his fear threatened to overwhelm him was when firebenders showed up; their fire was always unexpectedly created and could be big or small in an instant, and could be used to deliberately hurt people. He trained himself to be able to still fight under those conditions, by meditating and preparing himself, but it drained a lot of his emotional energy.
He wasn't alone in his fear of firebenders. Most firebenders people came across were Fire Nation soldiers who liked to show off their power and instill fear into people. Thankfully, Taehyung and Yoongi didn't come across many firebenders in their daily life. They did see them during missions when they accompanied more experienced ninjas, but the point was to stay hidden. The soldiers didn't bend fire at nothing after all, and Taehyung himself was especially good at staying unnoticed. Infiltrating fluently like seeping water, and leaving no trace when he left.
The war had affected lots of places, including Taehyung's place of birth, the Southern Watertribe. Personally, he didn't know any people from there who were killed or imprisoned. However, hearing the crack in his fathers' voice whenever he spoke about imprisoned or murdered village members hurt plenty. He really couldn't understand why the Fire Nation would even want to kill or imprison benders of other cultures. It seemed like they thought fire above others, as if they didn't allow other bending styles to exist, which was totally ridiculous in Taehyung's opinion. According to him, if any bending shouldn't exist, it should be firebending. Fire was horrible; causing only pain and destruction. He himself knew that very well. He could still feel the phantom pain on his face and nightmares of that incident still plagued him.
The Earth Kingdom's big cities still held strong, luckily/thankfully (idk which is better). Taehyung and Yoongi lived in Omashu since their early teens, and a few years ago they moved to Ba Sing Se to further their education at the Big Hit University. Their earlier education took place in Omashu, also under Big Hit Labels. The Pink Lotus Clan had multiple bases, the center being in Omashu.
"Hey Meow Meow," Taehyung suddenly signed. "Remember when the badgermole who took us to Ba Sing Se licked your whole face like six times? Best day of my life."
Yoongi furrowed his eyebrows. "Your thoughts go to the weirdest places. And why was that the best day of your life? It took days before I could smell clean air again. You must have a stupid life if that's the best day."
Taehyung laughed. "My life might be stupid, but the badgermole at least only licked me once before allowing me on its back."
"You just taste bad."
"I do not, just ask Gray-"
"OK that's enough. Can we not think of him?"
Their travel by badgermole to the ferries, which would take them to Ba Sing Se's train station, took place under the protection of people from the Pink Lotus Clan, but under the guise of a traveling class. The ninjas would be disguised as simple teachers guiding their students in these dangerous times. There would be no risks taken when it came to relatively inexperienced students. Disabled students at that who could be seen as easy opponents by low people.
Not that they were easy opponents, but still, no risks taken.
Now they were in a big cave room deep under Big Hit University, ready to learn with whom they would form a team. Or dreading to learn, in Taehyung's case. The turquoise glowing crystals on the walls and the ground cast him in a sickly light, which made his face look even more nervous to Yoongi.
"Welcome everyone," the somewhat soft but understandable sound of Bang Si Hyuk sounded, shortly after he signed it in sign language. He prefered to do sign language by himself, instead of letting someone else do it while he used his voice. But he was unable to use both languages at the same time. Almost everyone present could sense or see sign language, with a minority standing closer to him to hear his words. He was the current head of Big Hit Labels, covering the business side of the organization.
"We hope you all are doing well. I am excited to announce the new teams that will be formed today. Over the course of many years, you have trained to become who you are today, and to graduate your individual exams. You have chosen to become part of a team today. Every practice mission and all the training that you have endured, has not gone unnoticed. I believe we have successfully grouped those of a similar skill level together while also ensuring each team has a wide range of abilities. This was done to enhance teamwork. I also hope you will at least try to get along..." He signed ironically, smiled and earned a few chuckles from the assembled crowd as well. A small second wave of chuckles emerged when he finished using his voice, and he chuckled again with genuine amusement. Of course everyone knew they had to deal with whatever personalities awaited them, but this was basically Si Hyuk's way of lightening the mood. Whether it worked or not was up for debate. Taehyung in question wanted to puke from his nerves.
"Well then, let us start naming. Major will have a conversation with each of the newly formed teams afterwards." He began naming numbers and codenames off the scroll, and Taehyung's nerves sparked again when he still didn't sense his own codename or the one of the firebender. This meant the chances of them getting put together grew. He really didn't want to become the cause of the team's dysfunctioning. He felt even more nervous about having to spend lots of time in close quarters with the firebender. Yoongi saw and felt Taehyung getting more agitated and immediately grabbed his hand. He began rubbing soothing circles with his thumb to help ground and distract Taehyung.
"Team number seven," Si Hyuk signed. "Namu, Big Brat, Meow Meow, Sunshine, Mochi, Boxy, Seagull."
To Taehyung, sensing these names felt like a stone was dropped in his stomach. His world seemed to stand still. He vaguely registered when Yoongi had gotten the information from the sign language as well; noticed him turning his head towards Taehyung, but everything around him was not registered. The water in the air which he normally used to identify everything around him only seemed to swirl around making him dizzy, and unable to see well. He actually felt blind.
Si Hyuk's voice sounded shortly after, listing the codenames again, but it was like background buzzing to Taehyung's ears. He couldn't accept his reality, and the first thing his mind did was trying to pretend it wasn't real. He had to work with someone who made him face and feel his biggest fear. Fighting firebenders was already hard on him emotionally, and now he had to fight alongside one. He had to trust him if he didn't want to mess up the team's coördination. The only firebender in their age range, even the only one he knew of at Big Hit Labels.
Mochi the Dancing Dragon.
Thank you for reading! Next chapter will be more dialogue and centered around the boys. Hope you have a nice day! Reviews are very much appreciated :)