When I was a boy my father told me stories about the past Avatars and their many achievements. He told of Avatar Aang and how he ended the war between the elements; he told of Avatar Korra and how she ended the war between benders and non-benders. His stories were wild and fanciful. Even though they were old tales, I never got tired of hearing them. Growing up, there were many days spent between my friends and I reenacting both of these stories. I never got to be the Avatar though. Every time I made the suggestion that I would be the Avatar everyone laughed and said I didn't qualify because I wasn't an air bender or a water bender or a girl. Little did we know that on my sixteenth birthday that would all change; when I found out I was the Avatar.
Book One: Earth
Chapter One: The Announcement
"Happy birthday Kori and Hunter!" A group of people practically screamed at my brother and me as we entered our house. Like I promised my mom, I put on a surprised face. She knew I would realize there was a large amount of people in the house before I entered and would quickly put two and two together so she told me in advance. I had to promise not to tell Hunter but that was all right with me. Her wink confirmed my believability as I was bombarded with chants of how surprised I looked. I simply shrugged my shoulders at everyone and waited until the commotion settled down. Commotion never was my thing and I knew how odd that was coming from an earth bender. I probably was the quietest earth bender in the world. Not that I was an excellent earth bender or anything.
Not compared to my twin brother at least. He had always excelled in bending faster and better than me. He was an air bender, and already a master before our fifteenth birthday. This overjoyed our father, as he was an air-bending master. Because of this, Hunter was always Avatar Aang when we played the adventure of the Gaang. I often suspected Hunter wished he was an earth bender. Sometimes I thought everyone wished that. The next cycle would be an earth bender and had yet been released to whom it was. Hunter would have made an excellent Avatar and everyone knew I wouldn't be the Avatar. No one ever said it aloud, but I knew everyone wondered how I was the earth bender and Hunter was the air bender.
Air benders were more common now than during the last Avatar's time, but they were almost like red-haired people. Having a brother as one of those was a cool reminder that somewhere in my family heritage I was related to Avatar Aang.
I made my way through the people to find whom I really wanted to see at this party: Leah. It was almost a guarantee that this fire bender would be sitting at the back of the room with a ball of fire being tossed between her hands. She wasn't the most social person in the world, which is probably why I was friends with her. As ironic as that sounded to me it made perfect sense. I couldn't take overly talkative people, and Leah hardly talked at all. It was perfect.
When I found Leah lighting candles on the cake I was a bit surprised. "You're actually helping do something that involves taking direction and maybe talking to people? I know it's my birthday, but I don't know if I can handle that surprise," I joked. She stopped and looked up at me, obviously not prepared to be caught in the act. A smile crept across her face and continued with the cake. It was her way of saying Don't expect too much more. And I was perfectly all right with that.
Before I could say anything else to her an invisible force pulled me back into the living room area. "Hunter! Warn me the next time you do that," I yelped, taken aback by the wind being knocked from me quite literally. I knew it was Hunter pulling this due to the style of bending. Hunter had created his own style that looked similar to earth bending and had more attack than defense. It was what had earned him his tattoos.
"Sorry bro, mom said she wanted you here and I really wanted to do that," Hunter claimed and sat in a chair that he brought to him by bending the air. It was a little annoying that he thought it was better to have the air doing all the manual work for him. Sure it was cool to watch, but it did disrupt the air everywhere else around him and mainly disrupted the people more than anything else.
I knew if I protested too much about wanting to wait to open my presents my mom would be upset so I plopped down on the couch and waited for the first present to be handed to me. I really wanted a meteor rock set and a metal rock set. I was still trying to learn how to metal bend and my favorite thing to do was turn them into round balls and juggle them through the air. It was a really good party trick too.
"This first one is from-" my mom started but paused because of a knock at the door. Everyone stopped and looked at the door. It was a really weird thing but I guess it startled everyone.
"I'll get it!" Hunter announced and went to open the door with air bending. My mom stopped him by moving the ground to act as a doorstop and gave Hunter a stern look. I knew a knock on the door like that was something official and so did our mom.
My dad beat my mom to the door and opened it to reveal two members of the White Lotus, in their dress robes and everything. It was even uncommon to see the White Lotus in dress robes unless it was for a serious official manner. Robes were considered fancy and delegate and I only owned one pair myself that I could count the times I had worn it on one hand. I much preferred jeans and t-shirts that somehow had been made by earth benders. The room remained quiet. Unless they were trying to get my dad to join again, someone was in trouble.
"We need a word with Kori and his family," one of them said, looking straight at me. The room seemed to freeze. Why would the White Lotus want to talk with me? I hadn't done anything, unless tripping Kozu after school with a bit of earth bending. But no one except Leah had seen me do it and it was only because the nasty fire bender tried to make an unwanted pass at Leah.
Murmurs had filled the room. I couldn't exactly hear what they were saying but I knew I was the topic of discussion. My dad led the White Lotus, my mom, Hunter, and finally me through the back door out onto our back porch. I stuck my hands into my pocket and bended the bit of rock that I kept as a stress relief. It had metal in it, which made it difficult for me to bend easily, which took the focus of whatever was bothering me off of me.
"First we would like to say happy birthday to both Kori and Hunter," one of them started. How did they know it was my birthday? "The reason we have come to you today is because we have some news that greatly affects you and your family. Kori, you are the Avatar." The world seemed to freeze. I was what? There was no way I was the Avatar. What were they saying to me? Hunter's mouth was gaping open. I was sure my mouth was gaping open. I couldn't be the Avatar. I was just an earth bender, and a terrible one at that. There was no way I was Avatar material.
"I realize this comes as a shock," the other one said. "And the past two Avatars knew they were the Avatar before you only because the world was in grave danger. It is tradition that the Avatar is told of his or her identity at sixteen." My mouth was dry. I wanted to reply and say something to both of them but I couldn't even make a sound. Me… the Avatar. Avatar Kori. I couldn't believe it.
"What does this mean for us?" my mother asked.
"Kori will need to start learning how to master the elements," one of the White Lotus guys said.
"I thought the world was okay?" I sputtered out before I could catch myself. It came out rude and my dad glared at me.
"Yes, at the current moment there are no problems with the world. However, the Avatar must master all four elements in the event a problem arises. Kori, the balance of the world is in your hands now."
I thought I was going to be sick. I was only sixteen. Puberty was still affecting me. Sometimes my voice still cracked. I fought pimples. I was learning how to drive. I was an average student in school and struggling a little in becoming a master of earth bending. Sure it was because I wasn't completely focused but that didn't mean if I did focus I could be the best. I was terrible at talking to girls that I liked. These were all normal teenager problems. And now I had the world on my hands? That was definitely not a normal teenager problem.
"What do I have to do?" I managed to say next, nervously bending the bit of earth in my pocket.
"You will start training with master Hanau next week," one of the White Lotus guys said. They looked very similar and I don't remember learning their names.
"Who is master Hanau?" Hunter asked in a snide way. Somehow no one but me noticed the coldness in his tone.
"Master Hanau is the best earth bender teacher for Kori and the police chief officer in Capital city," one of the White Lotus guys replied.
"C-captial city?" I stuttered out.
The White Lotus guys nodded and then one of them broke the worst news I could possibly hear. "We are moving you all to Capital city. We need to keep Kori under our supervision now that his status as Avatar will soon spread like wildfire. The buzz of who the next Avatar is will be very loud and we need to ensure the safety of both the Avatar and his family."
"You can't do that!" I yelled and accidentally earth bended the ground to form walls around everyone. "Sorry." Sometimes when I would lose my temper I would accidentally earth bend things. I didn't lose my temper often, so I never had the chance to control it.
"Yes, we can do that. I am sorry to say this, but it is for your own good," One of the White Lotus guys said solemnly.
Finding out I was the Avatar was hard enough, and now I had to move away from all of my friends? This was unfair. I stormed off, back into the house and into my room, slamming the door and creating a new one with earth bending. I didn't care that there were still people in my house. I wasn't going anywhere. I wasn't leaving. I wasn't mastering all of the elements. I wasn't going to be the Avatar. I wasn't. My mind focused on keeping the earth barrier around me. My mom would try to break it down, and even though I hadn't mastered earth bending, I was strong and my walls couldn't be broken down by anyone I had encountered so far.
My phone vibrating in my pocket pulled me out of a trance. With the whole Avatar talk going on I had forgotten it was modern times and cellphones existed. Whenever I thought of the Avatar I thought of a time before technology. It had been eighty or so years, maybe a little longer, since the world really needed the Avatar to do Avatar duties so all of the stories took place before cell phones were even thought of. It was weird to think about, but bending evolved with the times.
Earth benders who could metal bend built cars. There were even earth benders making clothing somehow. I guessed because the cloth originally came from the earth, but I had never cared to look into that. Fire benders who could lightning bend had jobs in the power plants. It was mainly the air benders who were in charge because of their typically cool heads and thoughtful actions. Water benders had jobs from anywhere in the area of plumbing and piping to firefighting and controlling the water supply of the world. A lot of benders from various elements came together to build houses and other buildings. There seemed to be an even divide of benders and non-benders. Times were a lot different than those of Avatar Korra and Avatar Aang, but different in a good way; different in an informational way.
'U ok?' the text read; it was from Leah.
'No. Not best 2 talk bout now thru txt' I replied.
'Then let me in,' the text read before I heard banging on the wall. I realized this could have been a trick to get me to let my wall down, but I was tired of concentrating. I let the wall down and faced away from the door. I could feel it beneath my feet, so I would know who was entering. I may not have been the best earth bender, but I had great mastery of seismic sense. It was like a second sight and took a lot less effort than actually seeing.
A hand on my shoulder told me that Leah was actually alone and it wasn't any kind of trick. I sat up and looked at her. Something must have told her I was really upset because the look on her face didn't exactly cheer me up.
"Is it true, what they are whispering?" she asked. "Are you really the Avatar?"
"Yes," I replied and looked away. It was what they had told me at least. I hadn't shown any signs of being able to bend the other elements ever. So I still didn't believe it. Leah's eyes got real wide. She probably didn't believe it either.
"Fire bend," she said quietly and looked at my hands.
"It doesn't work like that," I claimed. She shrugged and made fire come out of the palm of her hand. I focused and held my hand out. After a minute of staring at my hand, telling myself to fire bend, nothing happened.
I dropped my hand in aspiration and sighed. It was no use, there was no way I could be an avatar. Why did the spirits pick me? Why didn't they pick some other earth bender? I couldn't even metal bend.
Leah held the fire closer to me as if saying take it and see what happens. I remembered she was referring to the story my dad told about Avatar Aang learning to fire bend. He had been able to hold the fire in his hands, even before he could fully bend it. Without even thinking twice, or the danger this could do to my hands if it failed, I presented my hands to Leah as she transferred the fire into my palms. At first I wanted to drop it. I was used to cold rock in my hand, not hot fire. But the sensation changed to a warm feeling that empowered me. I knew better than to try and bend it without knowing how so I let the fire sit above my palm. It was mesmerizing. I was bending fire! Or at least, I was keeping it from going out in my hand. And that was something! The White Lotus guys were right; I was the Avatar. I could do something no other earth bender could do. For once I felt like I was actually doing something right.
A gasp at the door made me lose my concentration and the flame went out. I hadn't been paying attention to my surrounds, or else I would have known someone was walking to my room. I would have to learn how to bend more than one element at a time if I was going to keep up my observations of everything. Standing in the doorway was Hunter and his girlfriend Kylaya, a water bender. It had been Kylaya that gasped.
"I was just coming to see if you had let the guard down bro, I didn't expect you to be fire bending or anything. Damn, they tell you that you're the Avatar and suddenly you can bend ALL the elements? What the fuck is up with that?!" Hunter cursed at me and stormed off, leaving Kylaya standing in the doorway awkwardly.
"Is it true you guys have to move?" She asked quietly after a moment of silence. Leah turned and looked at me with a hurt expression on her face. This was definitely not the way I wanted her to find out. I would have to thank my brother later for this little awkward moment.
"Yeah. I start avatar training next week, so we'll be gone in the next few days I guess," I admitted and stared down at my hands. Kylaya walked away after that. My guess was that she saw Leah's face and knew she was the one to break the news, that or she really just didn't have anything else to say to me. I never really talked to her and after the moment I walked in on her and Hunter doing something I would rather not describe, we haven't really talked much. It was before I had mastered seismic sense and it was extremely embarrassing for all involved. I had decided after that awkward moment of my lifetime that I would master seismic sense, and master it quickly. I meditated on it for a while and within two weeks I had almost perfected it, and now I had it down without even thinking about it. That was, until I threw other elements into the mix.
When I looked back up at Leah she had a torn expression on her face. It was obvious she was trying to hide the fact that she was upset, but I knew she was also angry that I hadn't already told her. In my defense though I was going to, I just hadn't found the time yet. She was the one who told me to fire bend before we talked about anything else. It was like she was telling me she didn't believe it and that I should prove it. Well, I certainly proved it.
To my surprise, she stood up and left before I even knew what was happening. I couldn't find the voice in me to cry out for her, or I would have stopped her. Like most times in my life, I remained a coward and sat on my bed, instead of running after the one person I wanted to talk to the most; the one person I always wanted to talk to the most. The Avatar wasn't a coward, but I guess that was going to change with me.
There's the first chapter :D. Do tell me what you think.