Chapter 1

The waters surrounding Kiyoshi island were known to house dangerous creatures. One middle aged man stood at the shoreline, watching the Elephant Koi dive through the water and the ominous large fin of the Unagi just off in the distance. His beard billowed in the wind as too did his tied back spikey hair.

Outsiders to the Island wouldn't know it, but here stood the leader of their proud little Island. As he stared out into the sea, something caught the eye of the man, a curious box was just floating toward the coast.

He approached the box and was horrified to see a child! "By the spirits! Zhi get over here!" reaching into the box and carefully pulling the wrapped up child into his embrace, he felt for a pulse.

At that moment the boy's eyes opened and he started to cry. The man was relieved to see not only the child was alive but crying. He handed off the child and Zhi, who brought the baby to a small clinic in the center of their town where they made sure he was okay.

A few hours later, the man who found the child sat outside the clinic, hoping and praying to their island creator for the very same child to be okay. The door he was sitting next to opened and revealed their village doctor.

"How's the boy?" the man asked nervously, rubbing his hands together. The doctor was aged and tired, but within his tired gaze he held a smile.

"That baby is a fighter, let me tell you. You may go see him, Oyaji." The doctor took off his gloves before nodding to Oyaji and walking away. Giving a relieved sigh, Oyaji gently opened the door and spotted a crib just underneath the window.

He approached the crib and looked inside to see a peacefully sleeping baby boy. He regained his color and showed fair toned skin, complimenting his head of hair that was so blonde it was almost white. It was a head of hair Oyaji nor his village had ever seen before and it took him by surprise.

Before long, the baby began to stir and wiggle around in its crib, making moans and groans of discomfort. Oyaji picked up the child and began to swaddle the baby as his mother taught him so long ago, patting his back slightly and rocking him.

The baby opened his eyes, to reveal blue irises that looked up at him with wonder. Oyaji gave a fatherly smile back at the child. "You need a name, little one." He spoke to the child who smiled at seeing the funny looking man talk like he did.

The little boy giggled and cooed at Oyaji whose heart melted for the boy. It was there he decided he would take in this child, it was him who found him and now held responsibility for the boy. He continued to look into the blue eyes of this blonde baby, thinking of a name.

"Hmm." Oyaji deliberated for a while, still rocking the baby the whole time. He stopped his idle pacing as he thought of the perfect name. "Ji-Han. Yes, that sounds perfect, little Han." The newly named Ji-Han reached up to Oyaji who brought his face a little lower.

The boy was gripping for something, before he grasped Oyaji's beard with incredible strength. "Yeouch!" Oyaji cried out, bringing a small tear to his eye. Ji-Han continued to laugh at the funny man who made a funny face.

As he straightened his beard, he heard the sound of rolling thunder before the smell hit his nose.

Holding Ji-Han at arms length, he saw his diaper sag a great deal. He sighed with a smile "You're going to be trouble, I can tell."

Ji-Han continued to laugh at the funny man.


Eight years later

"Han, you know we can't be back here!" a little red haired girl whispered harshly to her blonde companion in the darkness of the forest. Her companion, the wavy blonde haired child known only as Ji-Han turned around and flashed a reassuring smile.

"Cmon Suki don't worry! Hana and the rest of the warriors are off training and dads off playing pai sho with his work buddies." Han looked forward, the clearing of forest in front of them beginning to clear. "Besides, we're almost there anyway." As if on cue, Han tripped over an exposed root hidden in the darkness and face planted into the mud.

Suki couldn't help the chuckles at seeing her best friend have his blonde hair stained with mud and grime. "Yea yea laugh it up." Han grumbled as he took some of the mud from his head and threw it at Suki, turning the tables and laughing at her instead! "Anyway, let's keep going."

Annoyed at the mud now on her, Suki wiped it off and followed Ji-Han still wondering how they even ended up here in the first place. "Remind me again, why are we out here? At night? Following a map you made with an ink brush?" skeptical and interested, Suki wanted to know more but would still follow for the adventure anyway. Things got dull on their island and she craved excitement.

"Cause! Everyone says not to come back here but never says why! I'm gonna find out dammit!" Brash and determined, Ji-Han looked into his bag and pulled a shoddily drawn map leading to an x. Looking forward, Han put the map away and walked with suki following behind.

"So curiosity, that's why we're out here?" Ji-Han heard the sigh of his friend but ignored it in favor of keeping his pace, "Curiosity killed the cat you know." Suki spotted a cliff they seemed to be approaching and moved to catch up with his friend.

Ji-Han met the edge of the cliff and stared out into the distance, seeing where their island ended and where the ocean began was never a difficult task, but the view from this specific spot? Ji-Han had one word in his young mind that captivated this view, "Glorious!" Suki looked at her friend and the moon that reflected off of his blue eyes.

"It's crazy, isn't it? Underneath all of that water there's mountains, volcanoes, an entire world down there that we just can't see." In that moment, something washed over the blonde child, an inexplicable feeling but one drawing him…somewhere. He lost himself in this feeling for a moment, staring off into the blue horizon where the sun had set. He heard a voice, a kind gentle and loving voice and it spoke his name.

"Ji-Han." the voice called with every inflection of a mother's love and just like the wind, both the voice and feeling faded away, perhaps to never be felt again.

"Han? Are you okay?" he heard Suki ask, although he didn't know why. Her hand came to his arm in an awkward attempt at comforting him. There was a streak of warm liquid being cooled on his face from the wind. Ji-Han wiped his face from the tears that fell and thanked Suki.

"Yea, I'm fine. I think our trip was for nothing though. There's nothing out her-" as Ji-Han turned and began to walk away from the edge of the cliff, a horrible snapping sound was heard from the rockface they stood on, and Han began to fall.

"Ji-Han!" Suki dove to the ground and grabbed onto the hand of her best friend, trying with all of her might to pull him up, but she just couldn't do it. The strain of another person, even a child, was too much for her muscles to bear and he began to slip, "Ji-Han hold on please!" tears spilling from her eyes and snot running from her nose, Suki put her everything into pulling up her friend.

The boy in question was too terrified to scream, to panic, but he tried holding on to the point his nails began to draw blood from Suki's hand. The blood, though, proved only to be the final nail in the coffin as he slipped from her grasp and began to plummet to the earth. "JI-HAN!" Suki screamed in terror, watching the head of blonde hair begin to grow distant over the forest below.

'I…can't die here right? I just can't.' the image of his father, Oyaji, showed in his mind. His happy and loving smile mixed with his hearty laugh brought a sad smile to Han's face, even now. 'Im sorry dad, I should've listened to you.'

The fifty pound child impacted the branches of a tree from the forest below and the next thing Ji-Han saw was nothing.


Ji-Han gasped for air, pushing his hands against the earth he impacted but soon collapsed on his back in pain. "Shit!" He shouted, gripping his ribs as he did so, labored breaths from the broken bones making themselves known. Ribs though, they were the least of his problems.

Trying to get himself up, Ji-han looked at what was causing him the most pain, which was his ankle, twisted at an odd angle and hanging limply. Screaming in realization and also terror at the sight of his own body, he soon started coughing from the strain. "Dad, please, help me." he began sobbing and calling for his father. This moment would last for a few minutes, until Ji-Han realized the only one that would hear him was him.

"I-I'm all alone out here." the sobs turned into soft huffs and puffs, "Dad's not coming, Hana's not coming, it's only me out here." The realization clicked and his sadness and desolation shifted into one of survival and determination. "I'm not dying down here dammit! I'll crawl up that mountain if I have to!" he screamed, vowing to himself in the eyes of his potential death.

Han sat up, pushed himself on his good leg, and waddled over to the mountain side to rest, already gassed from the effort. "Push dammit! Keep going!" Motivating himself seemed to work as Han walked using the mountain as his support. He walked like this for a while, long enough for the sun to start peeking above the horizon. Riddled with pain, mud stuck to his body in all places and sticks and twigs poking out of his hair, Ji-han found his saving grace, a cave.

He didn't notice the octagonal entrance, hell he didn't notice anything other than somewhere to sit down. The entrance of the cave was clear of any large enough stones to rest on, so Ji-han decided to go further in. Narrowing, the octagonal cave formed into a rectangular chamber that opened into a large room.

"What the? What is this place?" Looking around, Ji-Han was able to make out the nearly imperceptible shapes of banners draped from the ceiling. He didn't look around long as a seat in the center of the room caught his attention. Smooth edges and a seamless transition from the very stone ground itself, details such this were lost as Ji-Han carefully sat his broken behind into the chair. "Ahhh that's the stuff." he sighed in comfort, finding the cool stone chair surprisingly suitable.

Ji-Han didn't know what to do, he was scared and injured without a clue in the world on how to progress from here. In the silence of the cave, soft sobs echoed throughout, having been the only sound to resonate within these walls for over four centuries. There was a feeling, as if the earth itself shifted or changed and Ji-Han felt it through his whole body. Opening his eyes, he found the ceiling had been lit up by crystals embedded into the rocky substrate, bathing the room in a soft green glow. Sadness replaced with confusion Ji-Han looked around the room now.

The banners on the wall previously imperceptible, now clear as day revealing it to be a dark green material with the symbol for an older looking earth kingdom emblazoned in gold. This room though, it wasn't just a normal room. It looked to be a library, the walls stretching with shelves of any assortment of knowledge one could think of. Craning his neck to look behind the chair, he spotted a desk with a single closed book on top. Narrowing his eyes and focusing his vision, the features of it being a dark leather book were about the only things Ji-Han could make out.

Taking one more look at his injured ankle, he tested how painful his injury was and to his relief, it didn't seem to hurt so bad now. "Cmon think! What would Hana tell me to do?" Ji-Han slapped his forehead, trying to jumpstart his memory in search of a solution to his ankle for the time being.

"Wait, wasn't it called a splint or something?" ji-Han tried his hardest to remember and to his credit, the familiar thought of having to at least keep his ankle and foot straight was always emphasized. Now how to go about doing that, that was a different story. Looking to the book shelf, Ji-han spotted a multitude of thin books that looked like they would fit the job and yet again another roadblock, how to get said books and then tie them around his ankle.

After the scope of what he was trying to do set in, so too did frustration as a snarl came to his face. "Now I'm doing this just out of spite! Screw you dumb cliff and your stupid edge! Caused me to go through all of this craAAOUCH!" as Ji-Han began to move, a jolt of pain shot up through his ankle. Gritting his teeth, Ji-Han pushed through every agonizing jolt until he finally reached the bookshelf and grabbed two thin books. Hobbling over to the chair Ji-Han lamented what he would have to do next. "Avatar Kyoshi, please give me strength." Praying to the namesake of his island, Ji-Han looked at his twisted ankle and made peace with the amount of pain he would soon feel.

A bloodcurdling scream with a sickeningly wet crunch echoed through the cave, scaring off even some of the wild life nearby and scattering them to the wind. His body relaxed as air rapidly entered and soon left his lungs, sweat covering his now pale body. Ji-han strained his eyes open, "I did it. Wow *huff* that sucked." Ji-Han sat there to recover and took a while, having to reset your own ankle would do that but as he did so, he thought of how he was going to actually get out of here and up the mountain.

"I wonder if Suki told dad by now. Are they looking for me?" small tears came to his eyes, but Ji-han shook his head. "No, I've cried enough." he sniffled once and wiped away his tears. "Now I need to get out of here." readying himself, Ji-Han took a tentative step on his good leg. Finding he could actually put some weight on his leg, an uneasy smile came to Ji-han's face.

"Guess it was worth it." adding a nervous chuckle at the end, he took one more look around the cave, in particular the lone dark leather book on the desk. This time, Ji-han couldn't tear his sight away from the book and a feeling like the one from before he fell entered his body, drawing him to the book. Maybe it was curiosity, or perhaps it was the ethereal presence that seemed to fill this room that any spiritual individual could feel.

But one thing remained true, this feeling overpowered any pain the boy once felt and drew him forward. He moved to the desk, without even considering his splinted ankle and without even realizing it, Ji-Han held the old leather book in his own two hands. A strange connection, unable to be explained, drew the child to this book. As Ji-han went to open a page, a light at the end of the tunnel showed itself with the sound of a distant worried voice.

"Ji-Han! If you can hear me, say something please son!" came the worried and terror filled voice of his father, Oyaji. A beaming smile, the tears already began as Ji-Han hobbled out of the cave, book in hand.

"I'm here dad! Down here! there's a cave!" Ji-Han shouted, straining his lungs bruised as they were. Ji-han waited for a sound, a response, anything to signify he was loud enough to earn the attention. A moment passed, that moment seemed to stretch for eternity before the quickly fading smile shone once more.

"Ji-han?! I hear you son! I'm coming don't you worry!" Relief and panic rolled into a single voice met the blonde boy's ears as the comforting voice of his father grew closer. "Girls, hand me a hook!" Ji-han heard the commanding voice of his father and as he strained his vision, he could see the form of his father and the Kyoshi warriors standing at the cliff where he fell, with them stood a crying Suki.

Oyaji took the hook provided to him and impaled the barbed steel hook straight into the ground, securing the connection with the kyoshi warriors to provide further support. "Stand back son, I'm on the way!" Figuring he was far back enough already, Ji-Han had no energy left to move back any further, so he stayed right there and watched his father skillfully rappel down the cliffside. With speed he didn't think was possible from his adoptive father, Ji-Han watched in slow motion as Oyaji ran forward and brought him into a gentle hug.

"Thank the spirits, I'm so glad you're okay." Oyaji held his son's face and looked at the boy, noting the large slash that seemed to go unnoticed, the hastily made splint and the deep sense of safety in the boy's eyes now that he was here. Oyaji brought his son into his embrace once more and promised everything would be okay now. As Ji-Han wrapped his arms around his father's rotund form, he knew he was out of this nightmare and that his father was right, it would be okay.

AN: Howdy howdy everyone, I present to you the first chapter of my ATLA story Rise of Ji-Han. To clear up any confusion right from the get go, no, Ji-Han is not supposed to be a replacement for toph but he absolutely will run into the avatar. (he lives on Kyoshi island, you guys can put together the pieces.)

Anyway as for my other stories such as MaW and HoJ, those are still currently being worked on in the background, this first chapter is to see how much interest is garnered. Hell I'm probably gonna continue this story anyway cause so far, I'm liking the character of Ji-Han. Hope you all have a great day and don't be shy to leave a review.

Love yall!

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