Air. Water. Earth. Fire.
My father used to tell me stories about the old days, a time of peace when the Avatar kept balance between the Air Nomads, Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, and Fire Nation.
But that all changed when our nation attacked. Only the Avatar Roku mastered all four elements. Only he could stop the ruthless firebenders. But when the world needed him most, he vanished.
A hundred years have passed and world is more divided than ever before. Last year, I killed the fire lord in a desperate bid to save my son before fleeing the nation with the help of my new friend Hakoda. Since then, the war has become a bloody stalemate ripe with infighting and civil strife.
Some people believe that the Avatar was never reborn into the Air Nomads, and that the cycle is broken. However, I believe hope rests with a new generation of heroes. Our children are suffering and have a lot to learn, but I believe that when we find them, they will be instrumental in saving our world.
Ursa sighed as she trudged along the deck of her ship as she had many times before. The tiny vessel trudged through the swell and wind blasted through her hair. The sun was high in the sky, yet Ursa could not see beyond the dark storm in her mind.
The small boat was alone on a scouting mission, far from the coast of the fire nation colonies. On the far horizon, she could hear the distant thunder of the great storm that had been raging for the past year.
It was a constant reminder of how she failed her daughter. How she may never see her son again. How she had left him in the clutches of her dreaded husband.
Ever since that terrible day, the storm had never ceased. Eventually she found out that it had grown to span the whole sea, as if a spirit had torn the world in half in its rage.
Dismally, she wondered how badly she had screwed up for the world to be broken in such a fashion.
She heard a set of footsteps and smiled slightly as her friend leaned over the railing beside her.
Chief Hakoda was one of the kindest people she had ever met. Despite the rocky start of their friendship, he was incredibly supportive after saving her last year.
Maybe he sympathized with her a lot since he had also lost a child to the other side of the storm. They had talked to each other extensively in their grief about their missing children. Katara was the last waterbender on the South Side of the world and he was incredibly worried about the Southern Water Tribes being cut off from any allies in the North.
She shook the dark thoughts from her mind and tried to focus on Hakoda's report.
"The colonists are still incapable of challenging our navy, so we should be able to sail closer to the coast in order to reach the pole once more."
Ursa nodded. One good side effect of the great schism was that the fire nation colonies had been cut off from the home islands and a majority of their navy. Their problems were only exasperated by the dark sun which had been hanging over the continent since the storm.
As a result, all firebenders had found themselves powerless as the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes pushed in from all sides. It was only due to the extreme resourcefulness of the military that the colonies were not wiped off the map.
Although Ursa felt almost no love for her native nation anymore, she still silently prayed for the continued survival of her people. The water tribes were mostly defensive and they viciously guarded the Northern Air Temples from desperate raids by the colonists.
The Earth Kingdom was not as merciful though. Scouts were routinely sent to the mainland and their reports were rarely varied. The Earth Kingdom was pushing hard from Ba Sing Se in the North and Omashu and the south. A wedge had been driven between the Northern and Southern Colonies, but they could not press further into the deep forests perfect for ambushes and fire nation archers.
Ursa noted with a small bit of pride that despite being powerless, the Fire Nation still possessed the most powerful military in the world.
Of course, it was isolated and safe from Ozai's tyrannical hands, but without the main islands the colonies were in a unenviable position. Being cut off from the fertile soil of the volcanic islands and due to the inhospitable nature of the Northwest forests, they were on the brink of starvation. The water tribes used to raid the Fire Nation coastal towns, but after 2 months Ursa had begged them for mercy.
Thousands of innocent woman, children, and soldiers of the colonies were at risk of being slaughtered and Hakoda couldn't allow that. Many colonists were barely involved in the war. Most were focused on survival as hardship regularly rocked the towns even before the great schism.
Frankly, Ursa and Hakoda believed that the only reason why they had lasted this long was due to the general incompetence of the Earth Kingdom combined with their refusal to burn out the defenders in the forests.
"We're on a salvage and fishing operation to that shipwreck in the west," Hakoda continued. "We expect be return home by sunset."
Ursa gave a muted affirmation, causing the chief to give her a quick glance of concern before returning to his quarters. The woman sighed and clutched her furs tight around her as she prepared for another long and cold journey to the North once more.
After her escape, Ursa had to adapt fast to the Northern lifestyle. She had received many suspicious side glances from other tribesman when she first arrived, so she threw herself into learning fishing, hunting, tracking, and all the skills needed to survive the frozen wasteland. Eventually, she reached an understanding with her companions and was fully integrated into the tribe. Pakku had grumbled a bit, but acquiesced and Ursa became the chief navigator of the Sunstrider.
Thus, when they approached the western edge of the North Pole, she was immediately able to spot the anomaly.
"Hakoda, there's something to our starboard side!"
Hakoda raced up beside her, along with a few curious soldiers, and gasped at what she had spotted.
Floating in the ocean, isolated and far from any other mass of ice, was an iceberg that appeared almost completely spherical and perfect. It was already an unnatural shape, but it was the white glow that caught everyone's attention.
"There's something in there," Hakoda muttered.
And Ursa could see it too. Within the glowing ice was the faint outline of a child frozen in a sitting position. She gasped.
"We have to save him!" Ursa cried.
To the crew's credit, they only hesitated for a moment before Hakoda began barking orders as the small ship sailed towards destiny.
That day, a beacon of hope was lit that was visible all throughout the world even across the rings of storms. Some looked in hope and others in fear, yet everyone knew what the signal meant.
The Avatar had returned.
Deep within the limits of some forgotten forest, a young girl observed the light as it broke the sky. She folded her cloak tighter around herself and slipped a mask over her face.
"At long last…" She smiled between the corners of her mouth and long trails of hair.
A veil of smoke rose around her in a swirling mass. It was short and silent, but it soon faded leaving no trace of the dark figure behind.
Author's Note:
Given how confusing this AU can become, I've included a rough map of the current geopolitical situation. Some areas are left empty and vague because Ursa and Hakoda haven't explored them yet. I'll add more in future chapters and it'll be constantly updated as the war goes on (territory will be switching hands faster than a game of 3 card monte).
Clarifications about the map:
The south isn't covered in storms. It is just illustrated this way to represent the divide. The storms are only in a strip along the border.
Boiling Rock, Shu Jing, Jang Hui, Crescent Island, and Kyoshi Island are in the north.
Whale Tail Outpost and most Southern islands (besides the Eastern Air Temple) are in the south.
Earth Kingdom and NWT are much larger than shown. These are just the areas centered around the capitals and not controlled by rebels.