It was late when Saishū was awoken by a rustling nearby in the trees, she sat straight up in her sleeping bag and scanned the area. As her eyes flicked around the forest her eyes settled on a small glowing orb. She squinted at it and quickly realized it was the glow of a nearby lantern. She quickly put her fire out and packed her sleeping bag up so she could hide, but a sudden voice shouting made her realize it was too late.
"Hey you! Stop!" A man in a uniform yelled as he ran towards her. She quickly, without hesitating used her Earth-bending to slam a rock into the man's gut, throwing him back.
"It's an Earth bender! Get her!" Another man yelled as he and 2 others ran at her. She had no intention of hurting anyone, so she used her Air-bending skills to lift her in the air. Gasps came from everyone below. "Enough!" The man yelled, "She isn't the Avatar, she is an Air-bender who used her air bending to move a rock!"
She couldn't stay in the air for long, and eventually came back to the ground. She readied herself to fight. "Please," she pleaded, "I am not hurting anyone, just leave me alone before you force me to." They didn't listen, and they readied their weapons. She took in a deep breath and readied herself. "Bending is a crime, and the punishment is death." The man said.
"That's not true. Being a bender is a crime. Even if I never bended you would still kill me, even though I can't help it." She said, hoping they would realize they were wrong, but they didn't, they still came for her. She took in a deep breath and used water from a nearby river to knock them back.
"She IS the Avatar!" They gasped.
Before Saishū could run, they shot her with darts that quickly paralyzed her. As she fell to the ground, she immediately felt as if she had failed. She hadn't even made it one whole day before being captured- she didn't even make it through the night. Suddenly, there was a low growl from the bushes. She looked up just in time to see a giant panda run from the forest and stand over, as if to protect her. The men gasped, "Its Hei Bai! These are not his woods!"
It roared at the men, and they fell back, trembling in fear. It took another step to them and they quickly scrambled to their feet and ran from the spirit. Once Hei Bai could see that the threat was gone it nuzzled Saishū, and then pulled the darts from her body. Saishū's body began slowly working again, as she sat up, the panda helped her sit up. "Who are you?" Saishū asked as she pet the animal.
"His name is Hei Bai" An extremely tall woman said as she approached them. Her face was painted white with red above her eyes and red lips. She wore a green dress and had gold fans, she was beautiful, but bigger than Saishū had imagined any human would be. "My name is Avatar Kyoshi. I was the Earth-bending Avatar before you."
"So, then am I in the Earth Kingdom? Is that how you are coming to me?" Saishū asked quickly, excited to meet another Avatar.
"This is Kyoshi Island. Hei Bai has come to you because he wishes to be your companion on your journey, he knows this is a very important journey, and that you have no connection with the spirit world besides Raava, and no companions to do this with." Kyoshi said.
Saishū pet Hei Bai, and in return Hei Bai licked Saishū. "My sister's name is Kyoshi." Saishū said.
"Yes, your mother was guided in what to name you and your siblings, as they will help you in your journey. Later in your journey, and names are important." Kyoshi replied.
"What is my journey, exactly?" Saishū replied.
Kyoshi took Saishū's hand and pulled her to her feet. "Think about everything your mother has told you, think about what you just saw, how those men treated you. An Avatars job is to protect humans; both benders and non-benders. You may not know how, but I think you can see what your journey is towards." Part of Saishū was afraid that this would be her journey, she had only ever been around her family, who had 4 benders besides herself, and her mother who was not a bender, but loved them for being who they were, unlike the rest of the world was going to be. She had no idea how to handle this. "I can feel you are scared, young Avatar, but fear not. We will all be with you in spirit, me and all of the Earth-benders before us." Kyoshi said, and then with a bright flash, there were several people, all with glowing white eyes and in similar uniforms standing behind her. Saishū's heart pounded in her chest as she stared at them. "These are the past Earth-bender Avatars. As long as you are in the Earth Kingdom, you will be watched over and protected by us. We will do all we can to help you." Then, with another flash, they were gone.
"So, you will stay with me?" Saishū asked.
"Not exactly, but we will be near. We are still spirits. But, before I go, I will tell you, Ba Sing Se is still one of the safest places for any type of refugee. You should go there, you will find a Master of Earth bending there that will be willing to help you. You can find it on your map, you are at the edge of Kyoshi Island now, and you will easily be able to find Ba Sing Se, as it is the capital. You should go there as soon as possible." Kyoshi said.
"Thank you." Saishū said and nodded, tears slowly filling her eyes because she knew she would soon be alone again, with her newfound friend, but with no guidance. And she was right- Kyoshi disappeared into the woods. "Well Hei Bai, it looks like we are on our own now." She said, and patted his head, "but don't worry, I am the Avatar, I will keep us safe, okay?"
Saishū didn't expect a reply, but Hei Bai let out a snort and licked her cheek. Saishū packed her things and threw her bag back over her shoulder, the sun was beginning to rise and it was time to get a move on. As they began walking, Hei Bai grabbed onto her bag and flung her onto his back, and then ran through the woods with her. Saishū gripped Hei Bai's fur tightly as he ran, dodging trees and jumping over fallen ones. He was amazingly fast, it felt like gliding almost, except much closer to the ground.
It didn't take long before they were at a village. Saishū slid off of Hei Bai and they walked side by side into the village. They quickly caught people's attention, and they began whispering amongst each other. Suddenly, there was yelling, and uniformed officers began running towards them. Hei Bai quickly ran in front of Saishū, growling and snarling, stopping the men in their tracks. "I mean no harm!" Saishū quickly yelled so that everyone could hear. "I am here to protect you all. I am the Avatar- your Avatar."
"Ha!" A man from the crowd quickly snarled, "The Avatar cycle has long been broken. You are a phony!" Saishū quickly became angered that he would so quickly doubt and dismiss her without even giving her a chance to prove herself. She quickly calmed herself and stepped out from behind Hei Bai. She used her Earth-bending to pick up two rocks from 50 feet in front of her, which brought gasps from the crowd. "So you are an Earth-bender! That is just a sentence for death!" The man called. She then began using Air-bending to make them spin, then used what little Water-bending she knew to take some from a nearby bucket and began spinning them in her palms as well. She had to focus harder than she ever had to make it work. She then took a deep breath and created the life that was fire, and began spinning the flame in her hand as well. The crowd was shocked at her ability to bend all of the elements, but it exhausted Saishū.
She dropped them and leaned on Hei Bai. "I do not lie, I am truly your Avatar." She said, doing her best to sound loud and strong. "If there are any benders here, please, feel free and safe to step forward. You can come with me, I will give you sanctuary." However, no one stepped forward.
"The benders are all dead here. Long gone." The officer said.
Saishū's heart sank, she was way too late to save any benders here, but then she thought- "Okay, then non-benders, you don't have to hide if you don't agree with this. It isn't right, and I know you guys must know this. You are killing benders that have done nothing to you and who can't rightfully defend themselves and saying it is 'equality.'"
One lady stepped forward, "It is equality. We have all been at the hands of benders for far too long! They have oppressed us for far too long! Once upon a time, they killed non-benders for just not being able to bend, where was the justice then?!" She said cruelly.
Somehow, knowledge popped into Saishū's head. "The Avatar stopped that. She was a water-bender, not that you guys would know that because you can no longer teach history, but she did, she taught the benders how precious non-benders were to the world, and how there had to be a balance. That is still true. There has to be a balance."
The woman scoffed at Saishū, "With benders, there is no balance."
"Wait," A man, young, maybe 20, stepped forward, "What if what she says it the truth? What if what we are doing is wrong? My grandfather told me forbidden stories that were passed down to him, he said the Avatar always brought goodness, that when the non-benders started this movement, the older generation was all against it because they understood."
"She isn't right. She is a bender, she only says these things out of fear for her life." The woman said.
An officer took the young man before he had another chance to speak, "Stop! Why are you taking him!?" Saishū cried.
"The telling of forbidden stories is a crime." The officer said as him and another guard began dragging him away.
Without thinking, Saishū quickly bended air and knocked their feet out from under them. "Come with me!" She yelled, and the man came over to her quickly, "I won't let them take you for telling stories. You should all be able to tell stories and history without being worried about being killed. If you would like freedom, come with me." Once again, no one stepped forward.
"Just leave. The only thing anyone around here wants from you is your death." The woman said.
Saishū wanted to say more, to persuade the village to get on her side, but she had no idea how to do such a thing. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and the man bent closer, "We should just go, you aren't going to persuade anyone here." He said softly. Saishū nodded and they walked to the other side of the village and took a dusty road away from the town. "There aren't many benders left, and there aren't many non-benders who think benders should be able to exist, but there are a few, if you get them on your side, you may stand a real chance."
"So which are you?" Saishū asked the man.
A grin quickly flashed across his face. He stood his ground and began making huge parts of the Earth come right out of the ground and into the air, flying around them. "My name is Kanan, and I'm an Earth bender."
Saishū was amazed by his skills, she had not yet mastered Earth-bending, but it was clear he was close to mastering it. "You are amazing! Have you mastered it?"
"Pretty close. My grandfather taught me how. He was never captured by the non-benders, but my father was, so he taught me, just as his father had and so on. Have you mastered it? Or any of the elements?" He replied.
"No, not yet." Saishū replied, and then Kanan put the earth back where it belonged. Before they turned to continue their journey, screams came from behind them. "The village! Come on!" Saishū quickly grabbed Kanan's hand and climbed on top of Hei Bai. Kanan held tightly onto Saishū as Hei Bai ran with immense speed back to the village. As they approached, it was clear what the problem was, a large wave was approaching the island, and the village would be engulfed in it.
"Saishū, we have to run with the rest of the villagers!" Kanan yelled.
"No! You get to work on a ditch of some sort, I will try to control the wave!" Saishū replied.
The wave was approaching the island quickly, so they both knew there wasn't a good chance they could actually stop the wave, but if they could at least give the villagers enough time to escape to higher ground, then it would be worth it. Saishū quickly began trying to control the wave as Kanan began digging a ditch with Hei Bai's help. The wave was incredibly strong, and it was approaching faster than Saishū could fight it off. She looked over to Kanan to see how the ditch was coming only to see 5 more benders had joined him. He smiled at her gently as they worked together, and the other villagers watched in shock.
Saishū waited for the wave to hit the front of the island, then ordered the benders to go, that she couldn't stop it and the ditch wouldn't be enough. As the wave came close enough to drop water droplets on them, Saishū's eyes suddenly burst with a bright white light. She rose into the air and began controlling the wave like a master- better than a master. She couldn't control it completely, and some of it did get to the village, but luckily the ditch stopped it. She managed to bend it back to the sea as everyone stared at her, both shocked and confused about what they were witnessing. Since no one has seen an Avatar in the Avatar state in generations, no one knew exactly what was happening, or how she was using Raava's, and Korra's bending and her own along with the help of Kyoshi to stop the wave. Once the danger was gone, Saishū dropped back to the ground, where Kanan began coming closer to her, with caution. As her feet touched the ground and her eyes went back to normal, she collapsed onto the ground. Kanan quickly ran up to her, clutching her as the other villagers also approached her. He shook her and called her name, but she just laid unconscious in his arms. If it weren't for her shallow breaths, he would have thought she was dead.
An elderly woman made her way through the crowd, "It is okay. Carry her to my home, I will help her." She said, and guided Kanan to her home.
