I do not own Avatar
Prologue - Discovering, Training, & Failing
Reyna had mixed feelings about the benign Avatar. Sure, she enjoyed having more than one type of bending. But the pressure of the four nations upon her shoulders? That, she could live without. Like a few before her, Reyna had found out about being the Avatar early.
Four years early.
It was an accident. On the day she turned ten, Reyna's best friend, Rezu, had taken her to look at The Fields of Fire Poppies: the largest (and only) field of these types of flowers in the Fire Nation. At first Reyna had refused.
"But Father wants me to practice. You know he wants me to master the Fire Fist."
"But you can master it later. The Fire Poppies only blood one every thousand years. We can't miss them!"
"Fine. But only for an hour. Who knows what will happen if I'm caught sneaking out."
"YES!"
"SHHHH!"
"Sorry."
Their visit had lasted more than an hour. There were twenty four of them. The whole time, Rezu had tried to charm his best friend. Not in a romantic way. But in the way to let her know that he cared for her.
By the time the sun started to set, the two were sprawled out on a field of grass, overlooking the rare flowers.
"I wish it would always be like this." Rezu muttered.
Reyna sighed. "Me too."
Rezu sat up, a light bulb practically appearing above his head.
"We can! All we need is a plan!"
Reyna gave him a confused look. "What?"
"Yeah!" The nonbender now was pacing around. "Your dad wants you to master Firebending… right?"
"Yup."
"Well, I know plenty of open spaces. You could practice there!
Reyna tried not to laugh. "You know that would be creepy?"
Rezu tried for a smile. "Creepily amazing!"
Reyna couldn't hold it back. She started to die of laughter.
Rezu pretended to be annoyed. "Hey! It's a good plan!"
"Horrible is more like it!"
"How can you say that? It's great!"
The Firebender was about to laugh again, but a rubble in the distance stopped her. "Eh, Rezu. What is that?"
Rezu paused before looking in the direction of the noise. His eyes widened.
"ELEPHANT-MOOSE!"
In a matter of seconds, the landscape was filled with a herd of Elephant-Moose. They surround everything, making it almost impossible for Reyna to see where her friend was.
"REZU!" She shouted. "REZU, WHERE ARE YOU!"
"HERE!" His voice called. "FOLLOW MY VOICE!"
Reyna tried. But it was hard to focus on his words. Fear filled her.
Fear of being lost.
Fear of dying.
Fear of never seeing her parents or friend again.
"Stop it." She hissed at herself. The herd kept running. They seemed to never ensign as new Elephant-Moose went and came. Anxiety joined fear as her life flashed before her eyes. SHe short, meaningless life.
Two year old Reyna, playing with her mother, Anaza, as her father sharpened his swords. A smile playing on his lips.
Fire Lord Rei sending out messages to all generals to report to the palace for a meeting, causing five year old Reyna to fear for her father's safety.
Eight year old Reyna joined a school for children in the colonies and met eight year old Rezu.
The two playing Pai Sho.
The two singing old folk songs.
The two running arm-in-arm with each other.
The two watching the Fire Poppies.
"STOP IT!" Reyna screamed. Suddenly a huge bust of wings swept under the herd and literally picked them up, suspending them in the air. Rezu, shaken but safe, was sitting confused on the grass. His dark spiky hair was not a messy slop. His bright amber eyes sparkling.
"You can airbend?" He asked, more amazed than angry. "That's so cool!"
It wasn't cool for Reyna. As soon as her parents found out about her new abilities, they told Firelord Rei. The Fire Lord then spoke with the members of the Order of the White Lotus and requested for her to be tested to see if she was the Avatar.
Sure enough, the young girl passed everything the elders threw at her, and the new Avatar was announced.
Avatar Rayna.
It sounded nicer on paper. In fact, the reality of being the Avatar didn't help Reyna at all. Her father never left her alone. All day, every day, they worked on fire techniques. As soon as she mastered fire, which took her about a year, she was tasked with learning Airbending. The only thing that remained the same for Reyna was her friendship with Rezu.
"My best friend: the Avatar." He told her one day, trying to cheer her up, "That is amazing when you think about it!"
Reyna just groaned and sat down on her scarlet blankets. Reku took the place next to her.
"Look on the bright side! You're a living legend who can do what she wants without the universe trying to stop you! You're a super-bender!"
Reyna laughed. "A 'super-legend'?" She asked. "I bet if the Order called the Avatar that, then the world would end."
"HA!" Rezu popped up, his arms in the air. "I knew the old Reyna was still in there.!"
"Shut up!" She shot back, throwing a pillow at him.
A month later, Reyna had mastered air. That made since. Air was the element of freedom. Freedom was all that Reynahad ever wanted. Monk Passang had been patient with her as she studied and trained. Of course, benign Fire Nation, the young girl would lose her own patience every once in a while.
"STUPID PILE OF POSSUM-RAT DROPPING!" She shouted one day, throwing her glider onto the ground. "I HOPE YOU GET THROW INTO A VOLCANO ONE DAY! AND I HOPE I'M THERE SO I CAN LAUGH AS YOU BECOME A PILE OF ASH!"
Monk Passage had just sat through her whole rant, sipping a cup of Lavender tea and fanning himself with an orange colored fan.
"Such anger you have, young pupil." He had told her one day, after a long day of practice. "You use that for your born element. But for mine, you must learn to let go."
Reyna did. For the Air Nomads, she learned how to focus on the positive in a stressful situation, to see the light part of each path.
After mastering the air, Reyna thanked Passang. "Thank you, Sifu Passang. I will never forget your teachings."
The monk gave out a chuckle. "And I shall always remember your impatience."
Reyna pondered if that was a compliment, then shrugged and joined him in laughing.
By the time she had turned fourteen, Reyna was in the South Pole, learning waterbending from a stubborn bender named Yata. Yata was different from her other teachers. While her father was thoughtful and Passage was patient, Yata was short tempered and hard to please.
"No no no no." She growled, hitting Reyna's arm with a jet of cold water (the impact later left a bruise). "Your position is all wrong. You must be loose. But not to lose or your be terrible as well. But not firm. This. Is. NOT. Earthbending. Got it?"
Reyna wasn't normally violent, but every time she had a session with Yata, Reyna wanted to breathe fire on her. The woman was absolutely crazy. Terrifying AND crazy. A horrible combination. Within a month of training, Reyna had had enough.
"Why do you have to be so mean and harsh?" She had yelled at her teacher.
Yata had learned and was born the Firebender. "You cannot learn without pain. Not get into format-"
"No."
The Waterbender raised an eyebrow. "No? What do you mean by 'no'?"
Reyna buttoned up her outer coat. "I mean no. N. O. I will not be bullied by an old woman who thinks she's better than me. No happening today or anyday. I'm the Avatar. I get to choose my own teacher."
Yata sent a frozen glare right into Reyna's amber ones. "I am the best waterbender in the whole South Pole."
"Then I'll go to the North Pole."
Yata let out a snarl. "You spoiled brat. You should be grateful that I'm taking time to train your sorry self."
Reyna snapped. "I'm done." She said simply, turning and walking out of the marked training area.
"Fine!" Shouted Yata. "Leave. See if I care." The elder paused, before smiling in a cold way. "But I should warn you, a blizzard is on its way."
"A blizzard is on its way." Reyna mocked. "Yeah, right."
Yata had been right.
The blizzard had come, and it showed no mercy.
Reyna had made a small tent, using the small amount of earthbending she knew, and a fire with her fist. Even though the cold infested her surroundings, sleep weighed the Firebending Avatar. As her eyes drifted shut, a figure of a woman wandered into her path of sight. With her vision being hazy, the exact feathers of the woman were unclear but her voice was as clear as sunshine back in the Fire Nation.
"Sleep young hero. For a new world shall be upon you as you wake. Sleep and renew."
With that, Reyna's eyes closed.
For the last time.
Hey guys! Thank you so much for reading my story! Even if it is just a prologue for now. Don't worry! I had already written Chapter One, but I'm waiting to publish it until I've finished writing Chapter Two.
Random Facts
1) Reyna means: counsel, song, queen
2) Reyna is fourteen at this point of the story
3) Rezu and Reyna are not in a romantic relationship
Chapter Song
"It's Not Over Yet" by For KING and COUNTRY
Once again thank you. Please review to let me know what you think and how I can improve.