The Avatar Abandoned
Summary: Aang wasn't frozen for 100 years, he wasn't even born in the Eastern Air Temple. He was born into a family of travelling Air Nomads who were living in the Earth Kingdom of Ba Sing Se. However, when he was five, his parents discovered him playing with little figures made of fire; even though he was an Air Bender. Knowing their son could only be the Avatar - the first in over 100 years, they panicked and abandoned him in the Fire Nation, hoping they would never have to see him again.
Chapter Summary: In which Aang meets the Blind Bandit and Sokka cries and Zuko wanders off. (Based on Book 2: Chapter 6 - The Blind Bandit)
Warnings: AU/AR, slash, Zukaang, possible rating increase.
A/N: Right-o, I'm back schweet hearts! Dija miss me? I know I did. I would like to say, this chapter is dedicated to: Pen-Name-Kitsune-Chan because YOU were the only one to notice that I DID NOT MISS OUT SOME EPISODES! And therefore you are the only one exempt from reading the following rant. The rest of you read or be confused.
ALRIGHT. LISTEN UP. There was some mild confusion over the last chapter, so let me explain, but first: I WILL WRITE THIS ONCE, AND ONLY ONCE, SO PAY ATTENTION. Or, I guess you could just reread this bit, but that's a bit lame. Anyway. Here goes.
No, I did not miss out a few episodes! I will write (my version of) them in, but in a different order! This is MY rewrite of the cartoon, so what I say goes. First, Aang was in the Fire Nation, then he ran away with Zuko and Iroh to the Earth Kingdom. He went to the South Pole to find a Water-Bending Master, finding none, he, Zuko, Katara and Sokka went back to the Earth Kingdom on their way to the North Pole. While they're there, Aang decides it would be a good idea to find an Earth-Bending Master, and there you have it! They haven't reached the North Pole yet, but they will do, WHEN I SAY, SO STOP TELLING ME I MISSED OUT PARTS OF MY OWN STORY, CUZ I DIDN'T! *FRUSTRATION!*
Okay, rant over, live long and prosper and all that jazz. Thanks to the following people for reviewing! (P.S.: Holy crapmuffins, I got 15 reviews for the last chapter! I should update slowly more often! JUST KIDDING, DON'T KILL ME!)
Sugarpony - I have a rant up there (Points to above this) which should explain everything.
I LUV SETH - I have to say, I loved the little bit of Katara-pwnage in that episode.
PonyboySlashLover - No, it's all in that rant up there ^^^^^^ Glad you liked it anyways.
VixenReborn - It's okay, I haven't been updating much, so we're even stevens. ... please don't kill me.
Anitoon3 - Heheh, I aim to please.
x-just a reader-x - Dude, she's completely lame. It's only my skill as a writer that makes her seem awesome.
blackrose1993 - Chapter plus lemon will be somewhat delayed. . Sorry. Glad you thought it was good though, and when I get around to it, the lemon will be for you.
noien-sama - As much as I hate it, yeah, there will be slight Kataang, but only on Kataras side and because she's an evil bitch (Sorry, I dislike her slightly)
HeartAngel - Old computers suck, and mine did survive. Unfortunately my free-time hasn't.
Zbbal - Um, updated? About a month or so since you reviewed? *Cowers* Please no killing of teh authuuuurrrr ...
Lala - Here is moar! *Throws chapter at you*
foxykitsuneyouko - Next chapter pour tu!
milkchocolatehot64 - NEW CHAPTER MORE FUNNIES.
Pen-Name-Kitsune-Chan - I would just like to say that you are my favourite reviewer right now, because you understood my fic perfectly and didn't assume I'd left bits out. So that you for that. This chapter is for you, in case you didn't notice I'd dedicated it to you further up.
Savage Deathbite - The fic is continued and will be until it is finished! So yeah.
ShortFogHornXD - More for the purpose of reading!
Talltree-san - Glad you liked it, here's the next chapter!
Some time later, Aang and Zuko were winding their way through the crowds in the arena of Earth Rumble 6. Sokka and Katara had already taken their seats, but Aang had hung back to ask where the fighters were, only to recieve a gruff 'No autographs' and a hard shove in the opposite direction.
Aang was still grouching about the knock back when he spotted Sokka and Katara, and grinned widely. 'Hey, look, they got us front row seats!' the excitable Air Bender announced to Zuko before dashing off to get there before anyone could steal his seat - not that that was likely, considering they were the only people anywhere near the front.
'I wonder why no-one else is sitting here?' Zuko muttered as he sat down beside his friends. A moment later a boulder came whizzing through the air towards them, only just missing their heads.
'I guess that's why,' Aang muttered, while Sokka cheered loudly (and obnoxiously).
Suddenly from behind the group a large Earth column rose from the ground, with a man stood on top. 'Welcome to Earth Rumble 6! I am your host, Xin Fu!'
Cheers broke out as he announced this, and Aang, Zuko, Sokka and Momo all looked towards the Arena, while Katara just sighed and pulled a bored face, obviously sulking.
'This is just gonna be a bunch of guys chuckin' rocks at each other, isn't it ?' she asked, scowling slightly at her brother, as though he was the one who stole the tickets from the two boys in the alley
'That's what I paid for,' Sokka replied, his excitement obvious.
Xin Fu interupted, explaining the rules of the contest. 'The rules are simple. Just knock the other guy out of the ring and you win.' With that, he Earth Bended himself back to the announcers tower and continued, while pointing to a huge muscle-bound guy with a tattoo, who grinned at the crowd, saluting them.
'Round one! The Boulder versus The Big Bad Hippo!' The guy with the tattoo must have been the Boulder, because there was no way the other guy, who looked exactly like a hippo, would not call himself 'The Hippo'. The Hippo roared, and the Boulder grinned insanely at him.
'Listen up, Hippo. You may be big, but you ain't bad!' Here he winked at a few of the ladies in the stands. 'The Boulder's gonna win this in a landslide.'
The Hippo raised his arms high in the air, roaring again. 'Hippo mad!'
'Oh, Agni,' Zuko muttered, rubbing his forehead with his fingertips. This was so fake. The Boulder Earth Bended a boulder at the Hippo, but the fat hippo-like man just caught it in his mouth, crunching it to little pieces before spitting it out. Then he started to jump up and down, making the whole Arena shake do to his weight. Katara, Aang and Zuko all had similar thoughts at that moment: 'I really hope I never end up being able to do that.'
The Boulder wobbled backwards, almost on the verge of losing his balance.
'Unbelievable, ladies and gentlemen! The Hippo is rocking The Boulder!' Xin Fu cried out, the surprise in his voice far from convincing.
The Boulder staggered the edge of the arena, looking like he was about to fall before quickly Earth Bending a sheet of rock out of the side of the ring and throwing it at the Hippo. It hit his back and made him turn around to face the almost fallen Earth Bender once more, with an almighty roar. The Boulder, with a tremendous effort and the the excitement of the crowd, managed to Earth Bend the Hippo off the floor and throw him over the side of the arena, to huge applause and cheering.
'The Boulder wins!' shouted Xin Fu as the crowd celebrated. The Boulder raised his arms in victory.
Katara turned to Aang. 'How about The Boulder? He's got some good moves.'
Zuko snorted in disbelief. Aang hit Zuko in the arm lightly, shooting him a 'Don't be rude' look, before turning back to Katara and replying hesitantly. 'I don't know. I think I need a teacher who listens to the Earth. He's just listening to his big muscles. What do you think Sokka-?'
Sokka wasn't paying attention to the conversation between Aang and his sister, instead cheering at the Boulder excitedly. 'Ha ha! Whoo!' he whooped. The other three took one look at Sokka and face-palmed.
'Next, the Boulder versus - Fire Nation Man!' announced Xin Fu. The crowd booed as the poor guy walked out waving a flag and smiling, oblivious to the anger in the crowd.
Sokka put his thumbs down, booing at the man. 'Booooo! Boooooooooo!'
Fire Nation Man stood and adressed the crowd. 'Please to rise for Fire Nation national anthem!' he announced, befor starting to sing - badly. 'Fire Lord, my flame - ' Here he dropped to his knees, making Zuko and Aang cringe at the awfulness of the whole general scene. ' - burns for thee!'
The crowd was booing even more loudly than before and had started throwing rocks. Sokka joined in, grabbing one and lobbing it into the Arena, yelling, 'Go back to the Fire Nation!' Aang and Zuko glared at the Water Tribe boy. The stone that Sokka threw hit the Fire Nation Man on the head, pinging off somewhere. Sokka punched the air, but before the Man could should at him he was sucked into the ground by the Boulder, who lifted himself up on a huge pillar of earth. The Fire Nation Mans face turned instantly from anger to terror.
'No. No please!' he begged unable to defend himself. The Boulder just grinned and jumped off, as if he was doing a canon ball into a swimming pool. As the Boulder hit the ground, the Fire Nation Man was shot out of the earth and sailed straight into the giant boulder that had landed near the gang a few minutes ago. The rock smashed upon impact and the Fire Nation Man was out cold.
Sokka grinned, looking at the unconsious man. 'Yeah! Whoo! The Boulder knows how to put the hurt in the dirt!' To the three Benders' embarassment Sokka started pulling faces and taunting the K.O'd Fire Bender, shouting: 'Yeah! Whoo!'
In sync, they all slid across the benches away from Sokka, looking determindly in the opposite direction, prentending that he wasn't there - and if he was, they didn't know him.
The Boulder defeated every challenge that the Arena threw at him - a guy who called himself the Badger Mole Man (although he looked more like a gopher cat), a thin man dressed in green and yellow (Aang cringed at the colour scheme) and a weirdo who had his face painted. They were just the ones who managed to last longer than a minute.
'Now,' Xin Fu shouted across the crowd, gesturing wildly. 'The moment you've all been waiting for. The Boulder versus your champion … The Blind Bandit!' The crowd cheered madly, but Sokka and Aang just stared at the Champion (Katara was filing her nails and not paying attention and Zuko ... Well, he'd gotten bored and wandered off somewhere). The Champion was a young girl dressed in a robe of pale yellow with green sleeves and shorts. Two beautiful women took her cape and Champions belt.
Katara looked up from her nails to stare at the girl standing in the Arena, soaking up the cheers of the crowd. 'She can't really be blind. That's just part of her character, right?'
Aang examined the Bandits empty white eyes curiously. 'I think ... she is ... ' he muttered, resting his chin in his palm, watching intently.
Sokka chose that moment to butt in. 'I think she is ... GOING DOWN!' he yelled, partially deafening Aang and scaring him off his seat and on to the floor with a 'thump'.
The Boulder was standing with his arms crossed, tapping his foot. 'The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young, blind girl,' he announced.
The Bandit pointed a finger at him, grinning. 'Sounds to me like you're scared, Boulder,' she retorted.
Aand smirked at the look of confusion and hurt on the Boulders face as the Bandits' words penetrated.
'The Boulder is over his conflicted feelings, and now he's ready to crush you,' the fighter announced. 'In a ROCK-A-LANCHE!' he continued in a loud voice, making dramatic gestures which were completely wasted on the blind girl who just pointed at the Boulder again.
'Whenever you're ready ... The Pebble.' She threw her head back and laughed loudly.
'It's on!' the Boulder shouted. Despite his bravado, Aang could see the Earth Bender sweating heavily with nerves.
The Boulder swung his foot down, hitting the earth with a thud. The Bandit opened her arms and stepped forward slightly, preparing an attack. As the Boulder took a second step the girl slid her right foot out quickly, sending a small, fist sized clod of dirt across the floor straight at the bellowing man. As it reached him, it veered to the left and caught the Boulders foot making him move into an involuntary, painful looking full split.
Most of the men in the Arena winced at the sight and a few even looked away. Sokkas look of excitement fell from his face and Aang was just staring at the Bandit with a look of incredulity.
A pained gasp came from the Boulder. 'Ooh!'
Taking advantage of her opponents incapactitated state, the Bandit smirked and made a chopping motion with her right hand, making stalagmites erupt from the floor and send the Boulder flying out of the Arena where he slammed into a wall before sliding down to the floor.
The Arena erupted into cheers as Xin Fu shouted over them. 'Your winner, and still Champion, the Blind Bandit!'
Sokka slumped over and was crying into his hands. 'No! How could he loose!' Katara turned to Aang, a confused look on her face. 'How did she do that?'
Aang didn't turn to look at Katara as he spoke. 'She waited ... and listened.'
Xin Fu jumped down from his hiding spot and held up a small green sack in his hand. 'To make things a little more interesting, I'm offering up this sack of gold pieces to anyone who can defeat the Blind Bandit!' He paused for a moment for effect. 'What? No one dares to face her - ?'
'I will!' Aang shouted over the silent crowd, standing up suddenly. Xin Fu looked worried for a moment before seeing Aang and smirking. Aang jumped down to the Arena, closing the gap between himself and the Bandit.
'Go Aang! Avenge the Boulder!' Sokka shouted, cupping his hands over his mouth. Aand just rolled his eyes.
'Do people really want to see two little girls fighting out here?' The Bandit asked the crowd, smirking. The people in the stands 'Ooh'ed at that, but Aang just put his hands up; the universal sign of peace. Too bad she couldn't see it.
'I don't really want to fight you,' Aang explained. 'I want to talk to you.'
'Boo! No talking!' Sokka shouted, waving a fist. Zuko smacked him in the back of the head. 'Don't boo at him,' the Fire Bender scowled. Katara and Sokka shared a 'when-the-heck-did-he-get-back?' look.
Aang ignored Sokka and took a step towards the girl. She smiled as soon as his foot touched the floor and stomped the ground, launching Aang into the air with a large rock. Aang landed softly behind the now upset-looking girl.
'Someone's a little light on their feet,' she snapped. 'what's your fighting name, the Fancy Dancer?'
Aang smiled and shrugged. She threw another huge rock at him, but the Air Bender just somersaulted over her.
'Where'd you go?' she scowled, whipping around.
Aang landed silently behind her, putting his hands up again. 'Please, wait!'
'There you are!' she whirled around, raising a boulder and throwing it at him in a straight line, like a bullet. The crowd cheered, expecting a win from their Champion, but Aang jumped into the air and blasted the rock back with a jet of wind, knocking the startled Earth Bender off the top of the Arena. There was silence for a second before the crowd erupted into even louder cheers. Aang ran to the top of a set of stairs from the Arena where the now former Champion was walking away.
'Please, listen!' Aang called desperately. 'I need an Earth Bending teacher, and you're the only one who can teach me!'
'Whoever you are, just leave me alone,' the Bandit muttered quietly, scowling. She opened a door in the wall with a stomp of her foot. Aang jumped down the steps and ran towards her. She walked through the newly created doorway and closed it with a motion of her hands.
'Wait!' Aang shouted in vain as he skidded to a halt infront of the door, too late. He let his face fall into his hands and slumped against the wall. Zuko came over and hugged Aang, knowing the younger boy was upset. Sokka ran up to the pair grinning madly, holding the money, the belt now clipped around his waist, and slapped Aang heartily on the back.
'Way to go, Champ!'
A/N: YES! IT HAS BEEN FINISHED! Homigawsh, that took me a whole day to write, inbetween cleaning and all kinds.
Right, so I know I don't deserve it, but 3 reviews before next chapter, sil vous plait? Merci. And with that, I bid you farewell until the next exciting installment of 'The Avatar Abandoned'!
Quick extra note: I'm writing another fanfic in the 'Danny Phantom'-verse, so if you're into that cartoon, read it! *Cough cough hint hint wink wink*
NOW REVIEW MY LOVELIES!