well, a lot of you got the contest right, but Moon Eclipse Shadows was the first to get it right AND give me a character, so...please welcome her character Kaida! yes, she is a little...odd, but that changes later so ...yeah, what am I saying...read on!

(p.s. anyone here see the Desperate Houswives Finalie? OMG he ran Mike over!)


Haku found Alex by the edge of early the next morning, while the others were still asleep.

He slowly sat next to her on the sand, "Have you been out here all night?"

She was leaning back on her hands, looking out over the water, "I can't teach him Haku."

"I know."

She looked at him, a sad look on her face, "No, you don't."

"Try me,"

She sighed and looked away again, "Let's just say I don't trust myself to. I'm still trying to figure out who I am; where I belong."

"No one really knows who they are at first, that's why we have to fail at things, to learn."

She took a shaky breath, "Haku, I'm not ready for this." She bent her head, "And I have the strangest feeling I'm not supposed to be here."

He touched her shoulder, "You're here for a reason Alex. And that reason is to help us."

"What if it isn't, what if I was only meant to hurt."


Tendrils of smoke rose from the ash scattered ground. Everywhere wounded bodies lay, cold and unmoving. The view blurred forward, passing what seemed like miles of dead.

It slowed, and zoomed in on a familiar face: Josh's face.

Kyle opened his eyes, breathing heavily. He looked around at the barren cell, not sure what time of day it was.

The door opened and Azula walked in, an eerie smile on her face, "Rise and shine, today's the day."

"For what?" Josh asked suspiciously.

She laughed and walked towards them. To their surprise she unbound them, "I believe the earth kingdom troops – what's left of them anyway – are planning on attacking, along with the rebel forces. Isn't it a coincidence that my father's army is coming too? Well, we have two weeks to get you all ready."

She turned and started to walk away, but looked at them, "You better come along; there isn't anything you can do. There is nothing here for you to bend. The air is too dry for water either," she added as Katara moved a hand.

They followed her out into the hall, surrounded by personal soldiers.

"Where are we?" Katara demanded.

They exited another door, which led to the edge of a watch tower. Azula stepped aside, allowing the three to see over the side.

It was a vast city, burned to the ground. Bodies lay everywhere, and the few survivors were screaming for mercy.

They stared in horror as Azula said, "Welcome to Ba Sin Sai."


A week later Alex, Tina, Sokka, Luke, and Zuko watched Aang and his firebending training. He was catching on quickly for being so young. Alex noted the raw talent Aang so obviously possessed. It had taken her much longer and with much more practice to get as far as he had in a mere week. For these kinds of maneuvers it had taken her a month at the very least to master them, and that was with at least three to four hours of practice a day.

Aang sat on the ground, panting. Haku stopped, also out of breath. "I think that's enough for today."

Alex stood and brushed the dirt from her pants, "We really should get going though."

Birds flew overhead, shrieking. Tina fell to the ground shortly after she had stood, she clasped her ears in pain, groaning.

Sokka, who was closest, dropped beside her, "Tina!"

Alex turned and saw her friend, but did not move to help her. She felt the diamond…she didn't know what she felt, all she knew was that something was going on.

Once the birds had left Sokka helped her to her feet, she had tears streaming down her face from the immense pain in her ears.

"What happened?" Haku asked, confused at her sudden behavior.

"You're an animal speaker," Aang said in awe.

Tina narrowed her eyes, "A what?"

He took a step, "An animal speaker. They can understand and talk to animals, they're bonded to them."

"I hate animals," Tina mumbled.

"What did they say?" Alex asked cautiously.

Tina frowned, "I—I don't know. But they were frightened. They were fleeing that area," she pointed forward in the direction they would have to take."

Alex placed a hand on the hilt of her sword, "I'll check it out, wait here," as she moved toward it Watcher flew in front of her face, screaming.

"He says 'danger'," Tina said, more calm now that it was only one animal speaking.

Alex looked at her friend, "Tell him I'm going anyway, and that he has to stay here."

She pushed her way through the trees, leaving her vision in darkness.


Alex took a cautious step forward, minding her footing. Or so she thought. The next thing she knew, she had stepped into open air, and she was falling.

She desperately fought for something to cling onto to, but it was only when her sword caught hold of a branch that she stopped.

She looked up, she could only barely see the cliff edge, about half a mile up. She nervously looked down and almost choked on her tongue.

She couldn't see the bottom. All she could see was a black fog hundreds of feet below her.

She tried to calm her nerves by taking deep breaths, she hated heights.

She tried to pull herself up by her sword, but froze when she saw the branch crack a little under the weight.

Isn't this fun, she thought bitterly, either I try to climb up and I fall, or I fall anyway.

Let…go…

She stopped, it was only the wind.

Let……GOOOOO…..

Alex closed her eyes slowly, letting her mind take over. She saw a man's face, smiling at her reassuringly.

As she started to fall, she saw another face. A woman's face. It was her mother, and she was frightened. She screamed something inaudible to her, but Alex couldn't make it out.

The vision only left when she hit the ground.


"That's it, I'm going after her," Tina started toward the clump of trees Alex had disappeared into hours ago.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Haku said softly as he stopped her.

"Too bad! I'm going in anyway, who knows what's happened to her." She huffed.

Watcher cawed something at her and she turned away, "Stupid bird,"

"What did he say?" Aang asked.

"That she'll be fine," Tina said with a hint of resentment. She hadn't grown attached to the bird to say the least. She glared at him, but he only returned the look with beady black eyes.

"Maybe we should—" Luke started.

"You don't have any say in this," Haku snapped. He looked at the prince, who was seated quietly, "How come you haven't said anything?"

Zuko looked up at him lifelessly, "What's the point, you'll only tell us to shut up."

Tina couldn't help but smile in spite of herself.

Haku rubbed his head, "I want to wait for Alex as much as you do, but we can't afford anymore delays. At this rate we won't get to Ba Sin Sai for at least five days, we need to make sure we don't fall behind."

Tina grumbled something and grabbed her bag, along with Aang and Sokka. Sokka lifted the chain that held the two prisoners, "Come on," he snapped.

Zuko glared at him, "Don't tell me what to do, peasant."

Sokka gave the chain a yank, causing both to stumble forward.

Sokka grinned, "I'm so sorry, my fault. Won't happen again."


Alex opened her eyes slowly. Her vision was blurry, so she waited for it to clear. Yet it still felt…odd.

She looked around her carefully, slowly sitting up.

Oh, maybe it was because everything had an odd gray tint to it.

Yes, it wasn't night, she could tell by the sky. Or—whatever that thing was. It didn't really look like a sky, more like a dirty black blanket.

"You shouldn't be here,"

Alex turned her head quickly to see a girl staring at her with a weird smile on her face.

Alex stood up quickly, causing herself to become lightheaded. She reached for something to grab onto and found what felt like a table.

The girl tilted her head and looked at her. She was about Alex's age, but there was something unusual about her.

She appeared fire nation, but her eyes lacked the fiery spark that her people were known for. Her black hair lacked sheen, and her skin was lifeless.

"Who are you?" Alex asked softly, almost afraid to raise her voice.

The girl walked toward her, looking at the spot where Alex had rested her hand. "My name is Kaida." She turned and eyed her, "How did you get here?" as Alex opened her mouth to reply she answered, "Oh, I see. You fell."

Alex stared at the girl as she continued muttering things under her breath. Alex took this time to notice the girl's clothing, if she could call it that. She seemed to be dressed in a dirty gray cloak.

The girl smiled at her briefly before looking back at the object, "Jeo was a good boy. Good, good boy."

Alex cautiously looked at her, "Who?"

Kaida smiled at her sadly, "Jeo, my dog. You're leaning against his coffin."

Alex let out a small cry and jumped away, turning to see that she had indeed been supporting her weight against a small coffin that sat above ground.

"Master won't let me bury him, so he will sit up here and wait." She smiled.

Alex took a step back, frightened, "Right…listen, can you tell me how to get out of here?"

Kaida smiled, "No one can get out. We haven't been out in a hundred years."

"What are you—"

"I fell down here too, my whole family did," Kaida began to twirl her arms around listlessly, "We got stuck here, so now we do what Master tells us to do."

Alex was starting to fear for her own life, "Um…yeah well I have to—go."

The girl frowned, "I wouldn't run if I were you," she lowered her voice, "They'll hear you,"

Alex nodded slowly, eyes wide. "Of course they will." She turned and started to walk away. She didn't know where, but to somewhere.

"Your mother didn't die," Kaida said eerily.

Alex froze and looked at the odd girl, "Ok, I'll just pretend that it isn't completely weird for you to know my mother is dead and take a moment to tell you that yes, she did die. I saw Ko with her face."

The girl swayed as she walked toward her, "Yes, Ko took her face. But your mother did not die, she was murdered," she said with no emotion in her voice.

Alex blinked, "That is just ridiculous."

"And you have died thrice times," she grinned and did a twirl before stopping just in front of her.

Alex took a breath, trying to remain calm. Something told her that this girl wasn't playing around.

"What do you mean?"

Kaida giggled, "The first time you were murdered, the second was an accident, and the third was of your own choice." She gave a delighted squeal and ran around Alex to a tree behind them. Alex turned and watched the girl dance around the tree before she leaned against it and regarded her seriously, "You travel with a traitor Lady Alexa,"

Now she knew the girl could not be joking, not when she knew her name, "Who."

"You know who, the boy you have once befriended. He is not happy to see you alive, new emotions have stirred in him, and he wishes to forget when he murdered you,"

"Is that why I left here, because I died?" Alex inquired.

Kaida ignored her question and narrowed her eyes, "The boy is a traitor, beware of his ways."

A gong sounded and the girl snapped to attention. She looked at her worriedly, "I must go, Master is coming. You must hide, you cannot be found!"

She ran away as quickly as she had come.

Alex blinked again as the gong sounded twice more. She shook her head and walked into the fog, soon entering what appeared to be an abandoned town.

Everywhere people were bowed down in the streets, and Alex could feel something moving toward them. Spying a spare cloak on a railing she pulled it over her head and knelt in the shadows of a building, and she watched.

A ghastly looking figure strolled down the street, and upon seeing him Alex was overcome with sickness. She knew who he was, anyone of her nation would. She felt an incredibly strong urge to kneel to him as the others did, but she struggled against it.

He snapped his head in her direction, and she instinctively shrunk as far as she could against the building.

She could feel the enormous amount of power that was being emitted from every pore on his body. She was more prone to this power because she was fire nation, and therefore and ancestor of this great being.

She closed her eyes, trying to make herself unknown. But she was forced to open them again to stare into the bright amber eyes of Raidon, the Fire Spirit.

"Why hello, and who are you?" he asked dryly.