.: Chapter 1: Two Years Before :.

I crept into town, clinging tight to my hooked swords. Night made an amazing cover for me and I slipped into and out of the shadows unnoticed. This town was so familiar, it was gut wrenching; yet at the same time it was completely different. I paused in front of a well-lit window and ducked. Scents of food found their way to my nose and my stomach growled – a side effect of living in the woods for six years. I froze, hoping no one had heard me.

Several minutes passed before I continued on my way through the village. I knew the Fire Nation was here, subduing these people. I had to stop them before they burned this place to the ground. I had to find them tonight, before anyone spent another minute under their tyranny.

"Halt!" a metallic voice ordered. "There are no weapons allowed here! Put your hands where I can see them!" The old feelings of hatred from my parents' deaths washed over me and I smiled. I'd learned that when you smiled, they got afraid. The Fire Nation was used to terrifying dominance, not confident resistance. True to form, the soldier hesitated before making up his mind. My smile deepened – he'd just made his fatal mistake.

I rushed him, my hooks pointed right for his chest. He tried to shift but I was too quick. I adjusted and lunged for his head. One of the hooks caught in the eye holes of his mask and I yanked, hard. His face slammed into the ground and I jumped onto his back. That's for dad. The soldier didn't move again.

I stood, triumphant, until shouts rang into he night air. I turned to face the new threat and found myself surrounded my Fire Nation soldiers. There were at least thirty of them, but I straightened. I was thirteen, and driven to succeed. They had no chance. They stood and stared at me, sizing me up. Then, one broke ranks.

He charged at me, an axe held high over his head. I skipped away to one side, hooking my sword around the base of the axe shaft. I tugged and the axe fell free of the soldier's grip, connecting solidly with his helmet. Even with the extra protection, he dropped like a stone. I waited, panting, glaring at each and every one of the remaining soldiers. They waited too, their postures wary. They think I'm a threat. Good.

The next attackers came in a pair, but they weren't any more skilled than the others. They fell without a fight. Every soldier who opposed me fell, until there was only one left. I waited again, wondering why this one had held back. He has self-restraint, a voice warned me. He knows what he's doing. Slowly, he reached his hand up to his face plate and removed the mask. Then, as an afterthought, he removed the entire helmet.

In the moonlit night, he looked half-crazy. Maybe that's because he WAS crazy. I, a teenage boy, had just taken down his soldiers single-handedly. Either way, the way his eyebrows knitted together and his mouth set in a straight line showed that he was angry. His brown hair was cropped short, but it sprouted a pair of legs and traveled down the sides of his face. The entire effect – brown hair, brown sideburns – made him look like an angry monkey fish. Fire Nation monkey fish, I snorted to myself.

"Who do you think you are?" he snapped, taunting me. His voice was rough and gravelly, but confident.

"I think I'm someone you should be afraid of, Soldier," I kept my voice confident, too. There was no way that I was backing down.

"That's Commander Zhao to you," he told me. I crouched down, my swords at the ready. He struck suddenly, attacking with Firebending. I dodged quickly, my brain reforming my original plan around this new variable. He kicked at me again and I fell to the ground, rolling off to his left. He struck with Fire a third time, and I dodged again. This time, though, when I got up, something was burning. I could smell it. I looked around behind me in horror – I had been standing in front of someone's home.

I couldn't bring myself to do anything but stare as the fire consumed the building. Are there people in there? My body wouldn't move. I heard the screams again, like they were fresh in my head.

"Jet, stay here!"

It was my childhood all over again. The flames licked greedily up the sides of the wooden house. Who lived here? They had a life and a family and a history… and the Fire Nation destroyed it. This last thought brought me back to Earth and I whirled around to face Commander Zhao. My chest was heaving as I tried not to cry. He smiled at me, a predator's smile, and punched out with his left fist. I flinched away from the flames, but they were many feet to my right. I followed their path, turning to watch them travel. Where are they going?

I soon got my answer – the flames struck another house, this one with a family and children seated in the window. The door was the first part of the house to catch fire, and I watched as their quiet family evening was disrupted. Their faces turned to horror and they looked out their window desperately. They locked eyes with me and I stared back at them, mind whirling. Zhao took advantage of my distraction and pummeled me in the back with fire. I bit back a shout of pain and moved out of the way of his next attack.

He only smiled and shot out towards another house.

"Stop!" I commanded.

Zhao laughed, right in my face. "Why should I? Is it bothering you? Well I don't care!" He set another home on fire, and then another one. I rushed him, my eyes filling with tears. The scent of smoke and the heat was overwhelming me. I couldn't take it; it was too much like my home and my childhood. "Oops," he laughed as he sidestepped my harried attack. "You missed. But I won't." He shot another blast of fire and another home went up.

"I hate you!" I screamed, grief giving way to rage.

This is what the Fire Nation does. They hurt and burn and destroy things. They torment and laugh about it. They're monsters. They don't deserve to live.

"Once again, I don't care," Zhao laughed. By this time, the entire village had caught fire. The light danced on his face, casting deep shadows that made him look crazier than before. Then, suddenly, his face froze in that laughing position. He fell to the ground, an arrow in the back of his knee. I looked up to the space behind Zhao and found a young boy. He was wearing a straw hat, and he looked to be around ten, only three years younger than me.

He had dark eyes and a very serious posture. A bow was his weapon of choice, clenched in his right hand. The boy looked at Zhao as the Commander twitched on the ground, unable to get up.

His voice was quiet, but I could hear it over the crackling of flames. "I do." He walked over to me, stepping over Zhao as if he were an unpleasant mess upon the ground… which wasn't that far from the truth.

"Hey," I said. "You're a pretty good shot."

"I practice," the boy shrugged.

"You got a name?" I asked.

"Yeah. But you can call me Longshot." He looked over his shoulder at the burning homes, and I wondered if he could hear the screams as clearly as I could. Maybe he'd blocked them out. I wished I could. "I think that my old life is over with."

"Want a new one?" I smiled confidently. This kid could be useful to me. "I'm going to take down the Fire Nation single-handedly."

"Maybe I can help," Longshot told me. I nodded and we walked down the road. I paused for a minute, looking behind me. The flames still danced merrily in the moonlight. I stared the longest at the charred rubble of the second home, the one with the children in it. Did they make it?

I turned away. No one ever made it.

But everything had its price, I suppose. The important thing was that I'd done it. This village was free of the Fire Nation forever.

A/N: Whoops! Accidentally posted the prologue twice. Here you go, readers! I don't even think anyone is reading this. It's only been posted for about an hour, ahaha X)