Yup... I did it again, folks. Well, on the broght side, this is a story I've been hoping to get around to writing for quite some time! Full Summary is:

For every Avatar, there was a Protector, one who came from the element the Avatar was born into previously in the cycle. A Protector's job and duty is to guard the Avatar's reincarnations into the next elements by ANY means necessary, even if the Protector's own life is forfeit. For Aang, the Air-Born Avatar, his Protector is Ren, the Spirit-Son of a dragon and human woman.

Raised by the Sun Warriors and their dragon charges for his one fated purpose. Where the Avatar can bend the four core elements of Water, Earth, Fire, and Air, the Protector can bend their natural-born element along with the branching elements of Lightning, Metal, Shadow, and Light. However, one hundred years ago the two suddenly disappeared, leaving the world to drown in chaos. When two Water Tribe teenagers find an iceberg with a Sky Bison, a Dragon, an Airbender and a half-dragon Firebender trapped within, they may have reawakened the two beings needed to save the world from its descent into war.

I hope you like this one!

"Aang, this is Ren."

The young Airbender looked up from behind Gyatso's robes at the preteen that towered a head over his short stature, silvery-white locks as brilliant as the fire he used framing bright ashfallen gold-grey eyes as they looked down into the Airbender's silver-grey. "Ren, this will be yours and Amaru's new friend, Aang." The taller boy smiled widely and Aang gasped quietly at the sharp canines that glinted in the light. Large wolfbat like wings fluttered behind Ren, the color black as a night sky and speckled with silver star-like markings in a nearly identical way. A tail waved behind the strange boy, a white tuft of fur at the end tipped with a point of black, as if it were dipped in black ink.

Aang had never seen a being like this one before, never even heard of one, and his curiosity slowly overrode his flash of fear. "Hello! I'm Ren, the spirit-child of the dragons. My dad is Kyun, the Dragon King of the East, and-and I'm gonna be the greatest friend ever!"

Monk Gyatso gently nudged Aang forwards, smiling at his hesitation to reassure the young monk. "I-I'm Aang… and this is Appa…" a young Sky Bison let out a groan as it ambled over and sniffed at the half-dragon curiously. Ren's eyes went wide as he pet the Sky Bison's white fur reverently. "You have a companion too?!" he exclaimed in excitement.

Aang nodded, and Ren grinned, reaching out and carefully grabbing the Airbender's hand, so as to not hurt him with his talons, and pulled him to the edge of the cliff they were near. "Wait here!" Ren spread his wings and flew into the sky, cupping his hands around his mouth and letting out a roar. His strong vocals rippled through the skies over the western Air Temples and bounced off the mountains. Moments later, an answering roar echoed over the mountains and the Air Nomads flying along the currents on their gliders let out yells of surprise when a silver streak came hurtling from the mountain peaks.

It slammed into Ren and the two went tumbling back onto the ledge where Aang and the Monks were waiting. The young air nomad blinked when he heard laughter and gasped when the silver streak uncurled to be revealed as a black dragon within Ren's wings, his whiskers and feline ears twitching in excitement as he licked at his friend's face gleefully. "Aang, this is Amaru, Amaru, meet Aang!" Ren turned to his black-scaled companion and spoke in a series of chirrups and growls. Amaru turned to the young Airbender and Aang stiffened when the night-shaded dragon came slithering towards him. His little wet nose twitched as he sniffed at him before licking his face happily. Aang giggled and scratched the dragon under the chin.

"And you were worried for nothing," Gyatso chuckled as he turned to the one who brought Ren and Amaru to the Western Air Temple. A woman with blonde hair and green eyes smiled as she watched her son and the new Avatar play. "I just had a bad feeling, old friend," Mitsu said as she closed her eyes serenely. "But, it seems it was unfounded… those boys will become the best of brothers, I can tell."

Aang's Age- 12

Ren's Age- 16

Four years have passed since the two had met. Ren saw Aang as the little brother he never had and could always count on to have his back, while Aang saw Ren as the older brother figure he could always count on and go to for advice. Appa and Amaru were the best of friends as well, after their best best friends though, and Ren always got letters from his mother and the Sun Warriors monthly when he wasn't visiting them. However, the day came when the two were playing near a waterfall, that something extraordinary happened- Aang suddenly bent water and made a small swell that soaked Ren from head to toe. Ren, in his shock, sparked with golden arcs of lightning and zapped a school of fish swimming by on accident.

It turned out that Aang was the new Avatar in the avatar cycle, and Ren, his Guardian. Gyatso and Mitsu had sat the two boys down and explained to them that every Avatar in the cycle had a Protector from the element he was previously born into- and as the Avatar bent the four elements of the world, the Protector could bend branches from those elements. For Avatar Roku, it was an Earthbender named Po, raised among the Badger Moles and Drakkodillos, two species being the first Earthbenders. Thus for Aang the Air-Born Avatar, it was Ren, born of the coupling of a dragon, strong in spiritual and physical energy, and a Human.

Raised among the Dragons, the very first Firebenders.

They explained that an Avatar must not let their personal feelings get in the way of their duty to keep balance in the world, and as such that puts them at great risk from those who want to do harm- for all avatars had a weakness of the heart. "That is where the Avatar's Protector comes in," Gyatso had said. "Where the Avatar should not become swayed by emotion, but by the balance being at risk, his Protector is driven by his emotion and that in turn makes him stronger. You both are two sides of the same coin."

"We knew that you two were meant for great things," Mitsu continued gently as she reached out to caress her son's scale-speckled cheek. Ren's eyes, however, were hidden under his fringe of silver hair. Fire danced on his neck and made his clothes smoke as his emotions rose. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Ren asked, looking up at his mother with betrayal shining in his gaze. Aang was silent, taking everything in while Amaru, much bigger now, crooned as he felt his Fire -Brother's betrayal and sadness spinning like a tornado in their bond. He was too big to enter the temple properly now, but his whiskers weren't. He wove one into the doorway and let it pet Ren's head gently.

"So... was Ren just brought to me so he could be my shield? Is that it?" Aang's voice was also filled with hurt and disbelief. Gyatso sighed as Mitsu pulled away from her son and his charge. "This is how the world has always worked, young ones," Gyatso said gently. "And it is how it will continue to work long after we are dead and gone."

"I won't accept this…"

Lan Fan's eyes went wide as she heard her son's voice. Ren was gritting his teeth, claws digging into his palms and drawing blood that trickled from between his fingers and splattered to the ground. "R-Ren?"

"I'm not a tool! And Aang's not my charge!" the young Avatar's eyes widened in shock and a small amount of confused hurt. Did their years together mean nothing in the face of this lie?

"Aang's not my charge, he's my brother! I'm not a tool to be used as a meat shield for his life because I know he'll be able to protect himself if he works hard enough!" Standing, Ren glared at his mother as if he didn't know her. Gyatso frowned. "No matter your personal feelings, Ren," the monk said firmly, for once, his playful and calm demeanor absent. "You have no choice in the matter- your body will demand you protect your charge, no matter the cost." Backing away a step from both adults, Ren spun around and dashed from the room in his anger. Passing through the door, his tail knocking over a vase near the threshold, the half dragon leapt off the balcony just beyond the walkway and spread his black wings. both he and his dragon companion taking off into the orange skies to one of his and Aang's many hideout locations hidden in the mountains.

Aang stared after his friend, his brother, with wide eyes. While Ren was angry, he wasn't angry at Aang himself, he wasn't abandoning him, and that let him heave a sigh of relief inside... but the whole reason he was even introduced to him made him feel wrong... maybe even used in a way.

Ren was to be an outlet, a shield, a wall for those who wanted to do the Avatar harm and that wasn't right. Ren was a person with hopes and dreams just like Aang... a person who, in the face of this revelation, would never be allowed to follow through with those hopes and dreams, live a life he wanted to, again.

Being the Avatar and the Avatar's Protector meant that they were going to be treated differently from everyone else. Expectations and responsibilities, situations he and Ren would have to get into would be a far cry from what they now know.

And Aang... he didn't want that.

A sigh from Monk Gyatso brought Aang back from his thoughts. "You and Ren have much to think about… and you both must prepare for your training, starting tomorrow." The old monk stood and bowed to his young charge. "Sleep well, Avatar Aang."

Mitsu was the one who remained after Gyatso left. "Aang… I'm so sorry for keeping this from you and Ren-." The boy shook his head wordlessly, his hurt and turmoil evident on his face. The woman sighed and stood, bowing to the child before leaving.

The last thing Aang saw of the woman he thought of as a mother was a single tear falling down a tanned cheek.

It was late when Ren and Amaru came back. Aang and Appa were still awake, but the Avatar was packing a small rucksack filled with clothes and food. Ren flapped in the air a bit away from the balcony, his green eyes glowing in the night as he watched the boy go back and forth. "What are you doing?" His voice jolted the young Airbender and Aang spun around while holding a robe in his hands. "I'm leaving…" Ren's gaze was unreadable and he gave no sign he was going to speak so Aang continued. "This whole situation is wrong! You're a person, not a shield! And me, I-I'm going to be treated differently- we have our own hopes and dreams, and we can't even follow through with them! Gyatso and your mother bowed to me before they left, Ren. No one ever did that before…!"

Ren came in for a landing and alighted on the railing of their balcony, his rough soles gripping the rails easily as a squirrelcat would a branch or twig as he crouched down. "Okay… let me pack some stuff, and Amaru and I are gonna race you to the nearest shoreline… then beyond that." Aang's head snapped up to look at his older brother in surprise.

Ren grinned, sharp canines gleaming in the moonlight as he reached out and patted Aang's bald head fondly. "What, you really think I'm gonna let you go out there alone?" The half-dragon asked mockingly. His tail waved over the railing, showing his playfulness. "What do I always say? Once Friends, Always Brothers, yeah?" Aang smiled sadly but giggled when Ren got him in a headlock and gave him a gentle noogie.

"Yeah, yeah." The boy shoved the half dragon off and chucked a second travel pack at him. "I'm almost done, so hurry."

Ren huffed, a tongue of silver flame curling from the corners of his mouth before he jumped down and hurried to pack some things himself. Within the hour, the two boys and their mounts/companions were flying away, fleeing a destiny that would surely catch up to them later.

For now, they just wanted to be free.

So, they flew onward.

They made it to the beach before they broke past the borders of the Air Temple Islands and continued farther still. Soon they were flying over a choppy sea and the moonlight was blocked by angry clouds. The sky rumbled and Ren looked up worriedly, Amaru whining as he flew closer to his friend. «Do you hear that flame-brother?»

Ren chuffed, reassuring his friend. «Yes, but don't worry- we'll be-.» There was a flash of white just above them and Ren was then moving without thinking, something roaring in his blood to PROTECTTHEAVATARPROTECTPROTECTPROTECT! and Ren's body locked into place, a scream of pain trapped in his throat as millions upon millions of blades of energy flowed into his system through a point in his back, settled between his shoulder blades , between his wings. He could hear Aang screaming, Appa groaning in a panic, Amaru roaring in fear. He felt the chill of salty brine as he and the others crashed into the ocean waves. The last thing any off them felt was a sudden rush of energy, Ren's vision was filled with white and gold, and then…

Cold.

Darkness…

Exhaustion…

Cold…

And nothing…