Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar! If I did, would I be writing this fan-fiction story?
Summary: Prince Zuko wasn't the only fire-bender to be exiled from the Fire Nation…
ONE: Another exile…
All fire-benders are cursed with a quick temper. I, on the other hand, do not seem to have this gene. This doesn't mean that I don't get angry or mad, just not as easily as other fire-benders. Unfortunately, my temper is what got me into this mess.
My name is Zarai; and I am an exile of the Fire Nation. Well, not really. I'm actually on the run. But since the search for the Avatar has begun, I have become second priority on the Nation's wanted list. I have killed many of the king's men to deserve this…
My life before my escape was humble, to say the most about it. But if you met me back then you wouldn't know that my family wasn't the richest. I always carried myself proudly, but not too proudly, like a fire-bender should. I lived with my grandfather, aunt, and father on a small farm some distance outside of the capital city. Well, it really wasn't a farm run by my family. It was run more by the king and his men as a ranch for their military animals: so technically there wasn't only my family. It was also some of the king's stable-men; they helped us raise the animals and to take care of them because there were so many.
But anyway, you're probably not interested in my old home life. You're more interested in what I did to get myself rated second on the Fire Nation's most wanted list: after the Avatar anyway. What happened wasn't necessarily intentional… was it?
The king's men on the farm had enslaved my family for years. We hated it. My mother had died under the pressure the king and his men put on our life. But most of the time it was the Prince. His father had made him in charge of the army and anything related, including our farm. As I said before, we were basically treated as slaves. If we didn't do as told, we were beaten senseless.
My grandfather was in the stable, tending to the animals, when the other men began to jeer at him. My aunt had tried to protect him, but was beaten for it. My rage took over and I used my fire-bending skill: even though I did not know much in the way of my craft because I had been forbidden to practice it: to kill all of the men on the farm. I had practiced it secretly in the forest near our house at night when everyone was asleep.
We were free. But one of the men escaped and told the king what I had done. This is why I am now on the run…
Author's Note: Hello, again, loyal fans of riawolf! I am currently at college and getting adjusted to life here. It's not as easy as it sounds… But anyway, I am currently having writer's block on all my other stories so I decided to write an Avatar story with an OC fire-bender. That and I wanted to get this idea out on the table before I forgot all about it… I hope I can scrape up some time out of my now busy schedule in order to write more! Write to you soon! Your best wolf: riawolf
