Author Note: Yo! Thanks for reading! I just want to say that I know this chapter and the next ones aren't really focusing on team avatar but these chapters are mostly about Ben coming to terms with who he is. After the end of next chapter this is going to change as we officially begin Book 2. Please remember to follow, favorite, and review. It greatly helps with my motivation. Have a wonderful and awesome day!

Chapter 28

Benjamin guided Appa down on the flat plains of grass. His gaze, set forward. It had been months ever since he had last come here…but it felt longer than that. The fire nation colony, the island in which he crashed on.

Ben's boots sunk into the ashen forest as he turned towards the bison. "Appa, go fly around and when I call you, answer." With those words Appa departed with a mighty roar. Benjamin now in his solitude as he began to walk through the destroyed forest.

His eyes glossed over the destroyed trees, the way his feet would sink into the mounds of ash like snow as he felt his body grow heavy. This was the place in which he seeked solitude, a place to forget the past and to try and forget the force. Yet, things were easier said than done, and he didn't find any conclusion in both.

Ben walked through that destroyed forest, kicking up thick piles of ash as he fixated ahead. He had to go somewhere, the place in which his journey began, the place in which it truly began. His eyes went towards the parting between paths. One would lead to the lake…the place in which he crashed in, and the other would lead to the town, or rather the destruction of it.

As he flew overhead, he saw the destroyed dock, and realized how badly the fire nation wrecked through this place. Men, woman, and most likely even the children did not survive the massacre. Without the help of team avatar Ben most likely would have been swept into that body count. Another secret that the fire nation would tuck away, as the whole world would forget about this island, just like they forgot about the Jedi.

Bill…the man that saved him, the one that believed that he could use his powers for good. Ben's face scrunched up, remembering that old man and his words. For the longest time he had tried to push his face away. Trying his best to not remember how he failed him, how he was far too weak to do anything to save him.

'That is why I need this strength…'

With those thoughts, he dug into his pocket. Lifting the Holocron in his hand as his gaze rested along it. He stared at the strange Sith Hieroglyphics, at the warm red gleam that produced a hum of malevolence. In this object held the final teachings of Exar Kun, the prior Dark Lord of The Sith.

A powerful force user, a talented lightsaber duelist, and a powerful sorcerer of the arcane arts of the dark side. He dug the object back into his pocket. Pushing through the clumps of ash and destroyed brush as he began to understand where he was located.

After a couple minutes of trekking through uncertain wilderness he began to part through the destroyed area of the forest. Only to take in the strange presence of fresh growth. His golden eyes staring all around him. His mouth silently agape as he couldn't believe it for a second.

His knee going towards the dirt ground as his fingertips lightly trailed along the wildflowers and grass. He had believed that the whole island was destroyed, but as he glossed around him, taking in the sights of the natural beauty of the forest he began to realize something…

Staring at the strong oak trees, the brilliant shades of wildflower that shimmered in the pale moon light, and the healthy brush of the shrubbery. He began to understand, that once was destroyed, could be fixed…could be healed.

…and for a short while, that thought gave Ben a silent trace of peace, a lesson he would hope to remember as he dusted off his pant leg and continued down the path. His boots crunching along the steps of grass as he came face to face with this place. The place in which his journey began.

Glossing over towards the light blue waters that reached far too deep and into a murky abyss, Ben could hardly see the Sith Starfighter he had stolen when he fled from the Sith Empire. Hidden away, another secret that he would forever hold within his heart.

Benjamin laid the Holocron down. Letting a deep breath escape his lips as he raised his right arm. Using the force to access the Holocron as the tips of the ancient object began to twist, the red beam glowing a deeper crimson as the gatekeeper of the Holocron…Exar Kun began to emerge.

He wore the standard Jedi garb, a heavy robe that covered everything below his body. Yet, Ben could see the differences within him. He wore an armored shoulder piece with strange jewels embezzled onto it, the chains going down and wrapping along his left arm. A jewel of the Sith, or possibly an artifact.

His long hair was tied into a singular braid that coiled along his right breast. His eyes were sunken in, a cue for the earlier stages of dark side deterioration. His double-bladed lightsaber clung to his waist. Yet, it was the tattoo embedded into the base of his forehead.

A blessing, or a baptization of one that would become the next Dark Lord of The Sith. He was Exar Kun, his master. "Ah, Apprentice…" Exar spoke up, his booming voice masked with the sense of malignant aura. "It's been quite a long time, and you certainly look different."

The gatekeeper's hand extended towards Ben's body. Eyeing the boy's disheveled appearance and the loss of his arm. "Yes, that is why we have to speak…because of this." Ben spoke. He knew that lying to Exar was not the way to go through this. He needed answers and he couldn't wait. Waving his stump into the air. "I need a replacement. Not a shitty prosthetic, but a proper replacement that won't interfere with me during battle."

A hunk of wood or metal to be attached to his hand as decoration wouldn't work. He needed something better, something that would even the playing field. Something like the cybernetic or biological replacements back in the Galaxy.

Exar stared at his apprentice. He could feel the dark side within the boy, he knew of his potential and he had been trying to turn him over to the dark side…he figured that Ben knew how strong the dark side of the force was. Yet, the boy still held onto that delusion, the delusion of the Jedi.

"…and why do you ask for me. I am merely a teacher, not a scientist." Exar chuckled to himself, testing the waters.

Ben didn't give any facial cue, rather only parting his lips to speak. "Because I know that the dark side is far stronger…that the will and blessing of the force is unmatched by anything. So, is there any way for me to get a proper prosthetic or my arm back?"

Exar, with a small smile was satisfied with this answer. Yet, with a sigh he shook his head. "You aren't ready yet. Continue with your training and…"

Ben shook his head, cutting Exar off. "I need to know right now…I don't have all the time in the world, and I really don't like the idea of talking to some undead remnant of a Sith Lord."

Exar clicked his teeth, staring at him. He was angry, wanted to rush things, and was annoyed. All things the Jedi Order would halt him against. Yet, Exar stared at him. He was a boy, but he held a talent with the dark side of the force…

Exar had taught Ben few things about the force. Teaching him a way to strength and grow a greater control of his force lightning, and finally teaching the young warrior how to create a powerful beam of dark side energy, force destruction.

He knew how much he cared for his friends; those chains that kept him tethered to the light. Yet maybe…if he gave him what he wanted, gave him, and taught him the full weight of the dark side of the force. Maybe, he would fall and realize how trifling such chains are.

"Sith Alchemy, are you familiar with it?"

Ben nodded his head, saving the exclamation for Exar as his smirk grew. "Dark side adepts like yourself. They have been known to have a greater control over the arcane arts. I shall teach you a spell that if done correctly…can possibly restore you a cybernetic version of your arm."

Ben had to hold back the urge to cheer, he was still getting a prosthetic but at least one that could function like or possibly better than a standard human arm.

"Mecha Duro. A powerful Sith spell, the spell allowing the user to conjure up the dead beings of the Sith and use it against their enemies. This spell on the user will support a mechanical frame, with the help of the force it can be chambered to rip apart metal and gear and turned into a functioning prosthetic…"

'On myself…'

Exar saw the dip on Ben's mood. Even he was taking a risky gamble with teaching Ben such a spell, he was banking on his pure skill of the dark side and of the force. "If the spell goes alright, then you shall have a functioning prosthetic arm that will work just like your arm. It shall be like the cybernetic replacements you have seen Jedi and civilians bare."

"…and if I fail?"

Exar huffed, parting his lips. "Then you shall be a man no longer. The corruption shall overtake you. You will become something far less than a human…overtaken by the disease and the machination. You will be a zombie, trapped in torment as your body is wretched away from you. Even if the process goes right…I have heard some people believe that such a replacement, makes the user give up a portion of their humanity."

Exar chuckled as he finished his sentence. A gamble, it was a gamble. Ben glossed down at the grass beneath him as he began to think it over, was it worth the risk?

If he did take it…there was a chance that he would succeed and have a new arm, but what if he didn't? He would be a monster, a Sith abomination! A being forced to walk along the shadows of this place for eternity. More machine than man, a toy of the dark side.

…but if he didn't. Those looks, that pity would be there for his entire life. He couldn't be a Jedi using only half his strength, against the waves of dozens of Sith and Dark jedi. Aang and the rest of his friends would die, and this world would be doomed. They needed a full jedi, they needed him to get stronger!

Was this really a choice? His golden eyes lightning up with powerful rays of determination. He asked for power, he asked to be whole and now this Sith Lord was giving him that. "I accept, teach me."

Ben closed his eyes. Lifting both his arm and the stub as the gatekeeper of Exar Kun watched him. Ben immersed himself within the dark side, locking onto whatever threshold he could possibly latch onto. The waves of dark side energy circulated around him, waves and waves of hot red hatred blew around him.

It was a storm…and he needed to stay strong, he had to find a state of calmness and ride the waves a boat would have to trek through, he couldn't afford failure. Ben emptied out the air from his nose. Exar already briefed him on what he had to do.

After conducting the spell, the nano virus would enter his system…he would need to immerse himself within his hate and anger. His rawest of emotions and fixate on them, holding them at bay long enough for the nano virus to lay dormant within him. After laying dormant, the force and the virus would combine. Forming a neurological link between prosthetic and his brain.

His negative emotions would battle the virus…and during that period of time the destroyed parts of his vessel would form into his new hand. A proper cybernetic replacement of the dark side of the force. Ben sucked in his breath, his throat feeling dry as his heart hammered along his ribcage.

He knew what he had to do…force rage. He had unintentionally used it when he was practicing with Meetra, but now this time he would have to call on it. It was a powerful ability, latching onto the users rage to help dull pain and strengthen them in combat, yet on the flipside it could so easily lead them down to the path of the darkness.

"Maggot of metal, rust, and rot…"

A storm began to brew, cutting in as rain began to droop down on him, cracks of electricity breaking along his fingertips as he began to close his eyes, the orange gleam overtaking as they were shut completely. There was no going back…

"Sith Life draws breath, old life does not."

With those parting words, Ben's mouth unclamped, a vibrant orange smoke bellowing from him like a cloud that laid stagnant. The virus, impressed Exar motioned for Ben to move forward. To conquer the nanomachines and to fashion himself a new arm…

Ben moved a step forward, and the virus entered his system. Ben's eyes opened, wide. His jaw unlatching as spit began to froth from it. Exar eyeing the strangeness of it all…Ben's knees compacted, latching to the dirt as he screamed.

A powerful scream that scared off the critters of the forest, a scream that rippled throughout the forest as he felt the weight of the dark side overtake the boy. His eyes began to bleed, crimson dropping like red tears as Ben screamed in pure unbridled pain.

His nose and mouth filling with blood…the virus, it was in his head. Scratching and searching for anywhere to rest. His head in a tumult of thoughts as he tried to remember what the meaning of this was, but there was never any meaning…

The only thing that saved Ben that day, was one thing entirely…reflex, his defense mechanism targeting the only abilities and skills he had. Brilliant sparks of force lightning coiled along his body, the red sparks of force rage following…as they coiled and intertwined.

Exar heard the roar of the waves, a smile growing from ear to ear. He could see the sunken star ship resurface as Ben ripped it from the ground with the force. Ben was hardly taking it, only focusing on his base impulses and that present reminder…fight!

That one word, fight! To fight the toxin and to battle them till the process was done. He fixated on that rage, trying to hold himself to the light but how could he not. Because pain…both physical and emotional, led to the dark side.

Yet, there was a small piece of light…a small flame, and he would remember the reason of why he was doing this. Because there were people, a whole world that was relying on him and through that horrific and unintelligible pain, it gave him a strange strength.

Ben's scream grew louder…ear wrenching as the insides of the ship was ripped. Coils of wires, small pieces of metal, and nuts and bolts began to beeline towards Ben's stump. Coiling along the base of his arm, intertwining along his elbow and biceps as they pinched into the base of his elbow.

The force levitating the pieces as just like his first lightsaber, they began to fall into place. The nuts and screws being bolted shut as his force lightning went into the arm, searing it from the inside to seal all the pieces…and like a spark, he felt something. A feeling, along the base of his left hand.

Ben knew at that moment, that the fight was finished. His body slouching as his face fell into the dirt. The red and purple sparks dying off after a couple of minutes. Maybe it was minutes, maybe it was hours…

It took Ben a while to get his bearings storage. He could hardly understand what had even truly happened to him. The pain had dulled out, and he realized how lucky he was when he took this gamble. Emptying out a much-needed breath. Ben flipped over so his back would rest on the dirt, welcoming the stars and the bright moon as he heard the small star ship once again sink into the base of the river. Another secret of his, hidden behind darkness.

Ben wiped the tendrils of blood and sweat from his face. The gatekeeper walking over towards him as he solemnly watched him in silence. "What do you think, apprentice?"

Ben lifted his arm…his new arm. It was a duraplast grey, an arm that was far more utilitarian than he expected. It felt, strong. A sturdy replacement. It was an advanced mechno arm, something that would have cost a hefty amount on any galactic market.

Metal plating covered the entirety of the arm. Still, he could see wires all around the fingertips and the elbow joint, some poking out in openings that the arm held for better maneuverability. It was the size of his other arm, mirroring his strong muscles. He flexed his fingers; it would take a while but he would somehow get the hang of it.

He smirked at the sight, rolling the fingers of his false arm into a powerful fist. The Jedi Exile able to produce only a singular word to describe his feelings. "Excellent…"