The Element Chronicles
The smell… the rustle of leaves… the tension… it must be him. The village suddenly quieted down. They were completely silent. In a matter of seconds they had taken all their goods and supplies and deposited them safely inside, where they too lay hiding. When he came nothing was ever left outside. The busy village would become a ghost town.
People peered through cracks in window blinds, to see what was going on. It was a quiet summer afternoon in the village just south of the Earth Kingdom capital. All they could see on the horizon was a black speck that was moving around in the forest. They called him Jaz: the thief, the bandit, the low-life. His silhouette could be seen heading towards the village, on foot, as a trail of dust followed him. Jaz was an Earthbender, and a very good one too.
The people in the village made sure that their doors were locked as Jaz neared their houses. He appeared to be moving on a piece of rock, and at an incredible speed.
Just as he came to the front of the village, Jaz jumped off the rock and stood up straight, inspecting his surroundings.
He was tall, and had a scarf around his mouth and nose. He appeared to be smiling under it, and heaved a sigh before he broke out, laughing.
"Pathetic townspeople! This is the welcome I get after I protect your town from bandits and robbers?" Jaz said, still smiling.
"You're the thief around here, you creep!" shouted someone from behind a locked door.
"So, you want hundreds of robbers to wonder to your village, instead of just one? And at what measly price? Some food? Some water? A little supplies? A man needs these necessities to live a safe and healthy life!"
"What we need to live a safe and healthy life is you getting out of it!" cried another citizen of the village.
"Still… no respect! I need to teach you a lesson!" Jaz shouted, as he stomped his foot and pushed his right hand forward, making a trail of rocks and soil from his feet all the way to the door of the house the voice came from. Some shouts and cries were heard from inside, as a part of the building caved in.
"You monster!" a woman's voice boomed, as she opened her home's door behind Jaz.
"What did you call me?" Jaz shouted, using his bending to lift a nearby rock, hurling it into the house. "Do you want any more, or is it my turn to receive presents?"
"We'll never give you anything!" a villager shouted. "Yesterday we sent a scout to the capital to warn the King of what is happening to our village!"
"The King won't have time to look into your problems. He has other matters to attend to. And, as I said before, I am your protector. Without me, your village would be gone by now."
"How can you call yourself our protector when you just destroyed two houses?" the villager added.
"What meager price two houses is compared to the price you would have to pay if every single robber had no one to fear when they came to this village?"
"What do you mean?"
"Before I came to these parts, hundreds of robbers would come to your village and steal. I would watch them. Most went unnoticed by you, but I saw all of them. Now, no thieves come to your village because I am in the way."
"So, are you saying that you're not a thief? What a lie!"
"No, I am not. I have fought to make your village a safe place… all I ask for is a small token of your appreciation."
The villagers remained quiet. Could they believe him? They hadn't noticed anyone stealing before, so why should they? Then again, some small incidents had occurred, and many villagers had complained about losing some supplies and food. Could they have "hired" a guardian of the village without even noticing? Could they actually give this thief food and drink? Afterall, he had just destroyed two houses… maybe even injuring… or killing villagers. They thought about what to do.
"Elder," one said, "What do you think?"
An old man, probably in his nineties, came out of a small hut, escorted by two villagers.
"The elder is the wisest out of all of us," the villager continued, "He will decide."
The old man stepped towards Jaz, resting on his walking stick.
"Young man," he began, "What you say sounds honest, and I believe you, but…"
Jaz frowned.
"We need to conduct a meeting to see how much we can offer you for your 'protection'." The elder continued.
"I need as much as you can give." Jaz stated. "But, do you mind if you decide faster?"
"Don't rush the elder!" called someone out.
Jaz sighed and crossed his arms. The villagers started talking to each other, as many went into the elder's hut, to do the meeting. Jaz waited outside, kicking a rock around in his boredom. A few minutes passed, and the elder and some villagers came out of the hut.
"Our decision is favoring you." The elder said. "We will give you…"
His sentence was cut off by a shower of arrows and a violent shaking of the ground.
"Shit!" Jaz exclaimed, as one arrow grazed his shoulder. He ducked down, and army crawled next to a boulder. By now he could see the source of the arrows- Earth Kingdom troops. The scout must have reached the capital, and the news must have been delivered. Jaz could see some archers, as well as some Earthbenders, lined up, ready to attack.
Jaz got up and lifted the boulder with his bending, making it land on a few troops. Next, another round of arrows was launched, right toward Jaz. He quickly lifted up a wall of rock from the ground, which protected him. Clenching his wound, he jumped over the wall when the arrows stopped, and positioned himself for an attack. He opened up his right hand, so his palm was facing down, and brought it to the ground with incredible force. As he did so, the ground shook a bit, and about 20 troops were thrown into the air, as rocks and soil shot up under them. A few more arrows came down, and Jaz noticed that most archers were in trees in the forest behind the village. It would be harder to take them down from there, but Jaz probably could pretty easily. Even so, he had no patience to, because it all got wasted on waiting for the elder and the villagers to decide if he could be supplies with food and drink. Jaz decided to run… it was much easier and his energy wouldn't be wasted. He crawled under some bushes, and made his way to the forest, while constantly being fired on. He managed to get to the end of the village, and there, right in front of the archers, made a short speech.
"Esteemed villagers! Listen to me now!" he said, ducking as another arrows whizzed past him. "Your protector will not be able to assist you any more! I am very sorry, but I must save my ass, before I can save yours!"
Jaz quickly scrambled behind the archers, into the forest, where he jumped up on a branch, and sprang from tree to tree, still dodging the arrows of the archers who had turned around. He kept running away, until the arrows stopped and he came to a clearing.
Jaz turned around, facing the direction of the village and said proudly, sticking up both his middle fingers, " Eat my shit, Earth Kingdom scum!"