Air, Water, Earth, Fire.
Long ago the four elemental nations lived together in harmony, the fire to the west, the water tribes in the north and south poles, the earth kingdom and the air nomads. It all changed when the fire nation attacked. The war with the fire nation has been spanning this past 100 years and all traces of the Avatar, master of all four elements, has been wiped from other avatars have been born and slain by the fire nation in the time of the war, the air nomads were all wiped out and so went the air avatar. The south pole was raided taking all its water benders and the water avatar was taken and killed by them. The last one to be known died seventeen years ago against the firelord who reigned at the time. Azulon had slain the master earth and waterbender in vicious style. It seems the world has lost hope, they had forgotten all about the avatar, the one destined to bring peace to the nations. Some believed that the avatar cycle stopped and others didn't believe at all.
Somewhere on the Ice fields of the South Pole.
"Prince Zuko, you should rest. Enjoy some tea, lets head back to warmer waters. You know my father slew the last avatar at the battle of Bei Fong." A jolly slightly balding gray haired man dressed in military garments and armor says pouring himself some tea and heating the cup with his hands. The man he is talking to turns and leers at him through a scared eye barely showing the Amber colored iris behind the scarring. "That's not what my father told me, he said that the avatar is alive! Its been 17 years since that battle, and he could have mastered the elements in that time. Teach me the advanced sets!" He demands looking away from the three other soldiers he is training with on the deck of the steel warship they are sailing on.
"Can I finish my tea first, My Nephew?" The fat man says, taking another sip from the tea in his hands. "Ugh! We don't have time for tea! Out there is a fully realized avatar! You will teach me the advanced set!" Zuko declares with fire flaring from his nostrils in anger. "Alright, there is no need to burn the place down. Let us begin." The older man named Iroh says while gently setting his cup of tea down and standing up.
Iroh explains the movements for his nephew to do and demonstrates the motions creating fire from his fists and boots as he does so. The two soldiers face off against him with both of them on either side of Zuko. The soldier on his left starts by bending a fireball from his hand towards the prince. Zuko dissolves the blast before countering with one of his own. He throws a kick towards the other soldier creating another blast of fire sending him bout continues for a few minutes with each side creating and casting fire at the other before they are interrupted by a light shining from the sea towards the heavens. "There! That must be the Avatar!" Zuko shouts in celebration at the realization that his three year search may finally reach its end. "It's probably just the northern lights." Iroh says shooting down the idea. "In the middle of the day? No. That's the Avatar! Helmsman! Set a course for the light!" Zuko exclaims pointing at the light being blasted into the sky.
The ship creaks and turns in the icy waters of the south pole, pushing icebergs and slush from its way as it creeps towards the origin of the light. The light slowly starts to fade only leaving a vague course for the boat to carve though in its direction. It doesn't help the fact that the warship got stuck on an ice shelf and the soldiers had to get off ship and melt the ice with their bending. Zuko was far from pleased at the delays of the ice shelf, shouting at the soldiers to work faster at melting the ice. He swings his arm back while he's shouting and notices a crack form in the ice immediately after it. The crack that had appeared follows the path that his arm took when he swung it in anger however he thinks it's just because of the shift in heat from the melting the ice. Soon the men finish melting a path for the ship and board it once again. A large plume of black smoke billows into the air from the smokestacks of the ship as it presses on through the icy waters once again. "Sir? You need to take a look at this." His second in command, Lieutenant Jee says, handing Zuko a spyglass, the prince impatiently snatches it from the lieutenant's hand and looks through it at what he is pointing. Ahead of them about 500 leagues is a hemispherical iceberg unlike any of the other ice formations out there among the glaciers. This one was made by a bender, and a vastly powerful one at that.
As the ship makes contact with the ice formation, the front end of the bow leans forwards creating a gangplank for the men on board. The loud creaking of the steel causes a nearby glacier to have an avalanche disturbing the water around them as the firebenders make their way to investigate. Zuko is down the plank first holding his hands flattened and ready to defend himself as he cautiously steps across the ice. The crunches and cracks of the snow and ice under his war boots being a clear give away of his location. The four escorts and Zuko make their way to the spherical dome of the iceberg that has been cracked and destroyed only showing thawing outer walls and a hollow inside. Zuko looks for tracks and finds three human foot trails and an extremely large creature with three toed feet. The tracks lead to the water before stopping appearing to have either taken flight or gone into the water itself. As Zuko crouches down to inspect some of the tracks, a loud whistle is heard over the ice canyon they are in. The firebenders look up to see a distress flare streak across the sky and explode like a firework in the air shining with shades of maroon, orange and amber in the blue sky.
"Board the ship! Set sail towards the southern water tribe! That has to be where the Avatar has been hiding!" Zuko commands as the soldiers and himself run to the ship and hoist up the gangplank with a series of cranks and pulleys. The engine of the boat spews smoke like no other before it with the firebenders gathering on the bow to melt the ice ahead of them allowing them to continue further at an accelerated pace. Once through they make it out of the valley of ice before turning portside and heading for the distant smoke trail off in the distance that was under the flare.
Zuko's impatience grows as they etch closer and closer towards his quarry. He has trained for three long years for this moment and he has scoured the globe several times looking for signs or rumors of the legendary Avatar. This was the key to ending his banishment. This was what was required of him for him to be able to restore his honor. Bringing honor to himself and the firelord. Zuko walks to his quarters to prepare himself for the upcoming battle against a potentially all powerful bender. Iroh has one of the cooks from the galley bring him some water and something to eat so that he is in tip shape for the fight of his life. Zuko nods, wordlessly thanking the cook and taking the plate of food from him before taking a seat at his metal desk in front of a banner with the fire nation insignia.
"Breathe, Zuko. You are moments away from capturing the Avatar and restoring your honor." He says to himself in the privacy of his room. He slows his breathing, controlling it and closing his eyes to try to calm himself. He doesn't notice the banners moving in tandem of his breathing nor the subtle waves made on the surface of his cup of water. He exhales deeply before beginning to eat a small bowl or rice and beef-pork from a cowpig they had the chef purchase the last time they had been at finishing his meal, he wipes his face with a small rag before drinking the cup of water. The liquid soothes his nervousness for what is to come. "Sir, we are about to make a port." the voice from the captain says over the intercom of his room. Zuko takes another breath to calm himself before starting to suit up in full armor knowing that he will need it's protection for the upcoming duel. Leaving his room and making his way up to the whatever the fuck it's called Zuko takes a seat next to his uncle who pats him on the back reassuringly.
"Impact in 5..! 4..! 3..! 2..! 1..!"
*BOOM*
The cold yet tough exterior of hardened steel slams against poorly built walls of ice and snow. A young man standing atop the wall is flung back by the collision as the snow falls and covers the icy ground in a large heap. Murmuring villagers are heard coming out of their huts and gather a few paces behind the young man from before. "Fire nation…" An elderly woman gasps being embraced by a woman standing next to her. "Sokka! What are you doing?!" A girl with tanned skin calls out to her brother seeing him grab a nearby bone spear. "Stay back Katara! I'll deal with these guys!" Sokka replies before hearing the loud creaks of metal gears turning. The large knife-like gangplank drops down on the ramshackle guard post made of snow causing the warpaint-covered boy to let out a disappointed sigh at its destruction. Prince Zuko, accompanied by four guards behind him, descends down the plank towards the tribe of people. Sokka comes screaming up the gang plank holding a whale tooth spear in his hands. Zuko simply moves out of the way and takes the weapon from him before snapping it in two. He jabs him three times in the face before kicking him back into the snow.
Once down the plank, Zuko looks out at all the terrified villagers before dodging another attack by the screaming Sokka and snatching his sword from him this time, he kicks him away. "Oh yeah! Take this!" Sokka shouts before throwing his boomerang only for it to completely miss and go off into the distance somewhere. "Where. Is. The Avatar." Zuko declares with venom in his voice gazing at the cowering village folk. "WHERE IS HE?!" He shouts, expelling fire from his hands. The women guard their children from the heat of the fire before a young woman speaks up, getting Zuko's attention. "He's gone! Probably miles from here so just leave us alone." She says pointing off in a random direction.
Zuko stares daggers into the girl before turning away from them and starting to walk back to the ship. Just before he can make it to the gangplank all of a sudden a fluttering sound is heard getting louder and louder as Sokka's boomerang comes flying back and clangs into the side of Zuko's helmet. This knocks him off balance but once he stands back up he looks at the villagers with anger at what happened. "Over here!" A voice calls from up a snow hill. Zuko turns to see a bald child with arrow tattoos covering the center of his head and wrists. The boy jumps on the back of a penguin seal and slides down the hill directly at him. The children celebrate that the bald kid is back as he comes sliding in on the penguin and covers them in snow before standing up and holding his staff towards Zuko.
"Finally, I found you. The Avatar." Zuko says getting ready to duel the bald monk in front of the villagers. The two circle each other for a few moments before Zuko makes the first move. He blasts a ball of fire toward the monk who, in retaliation, uses his staff to move the snow in front of him to extinguish the fireball before it can strike him. "If I go with you, will you leave these people alone?" He asks, causing Zuko to stand and lower his guard slightly. "..Yes, You are the one I'm after, Avatar." He says as the airbender brings his staff to his side surrendering to the firebender. The soldiers put the monk in cuffs before leading him up the gang plank of the ship.
Zuko returns to his quarters and breathes a sigh of relief for what had happened. He did it! He captured the Avatar! His honor was back and he knew it! Soon his father would welcome him with open arms back to the fire nation and he would be the next firelord! He tended not to show much emotion aside from anger, but for the first time in three long years he was happy. Things would return to the way they were before his banishment. At least that's what he thought would happen, shortly after getting out of his armor he hears the monk's voice shout: "My staff!" before the orange and yellow garbed man barges into his room.
Zuko turns and tries to combat him, throwing punches and fire at the monk. The monk easily dodges out of the way staying behind the prince before Zuko turns around, the monk uses this opportunity to grab his staff before blowing the bed Zuko slept on into him, first into the wall then into the ceiling of the room. The prince stumbles to get back up, being winded from the airbender's attack and makes his way to the deck of the ship. Passing through the halls of the iron warship he uses the handrails to hold himself up until the pain leaves him. After recovering, he rushes to the deck to confront the Avatar. As he gets up the stairs he sees a large animal with arrows around its body with the two villagers from before. Zuko wastes no time throwing a fireball towards the monk who deflects it with his staff. The girl from the camp turns her back to some of the firebenders and throws her arms back, sending water towards them and freezing them in place. Zuko changes targets trying to hit her with a blast of fire. Aang swipes his staff horizontally towards him, blasting him and some of his men off the side of the ship and into the icy depths below.
The sudden shock of cold water causes Zuko to gasp for air, his lungs filling with the icy liquid feeling like daggers of ice against the inside of his lungs. He tries to swim up to the surface to get air but the weight of his clothes and armor causes him to sink further into the depths. The world around him starts to get darker and darker with consciousness starting to leave him... Suddenly his eyes flash open turning into an ethereal and radiant blue color, The Avatar twirls his hand in the water as a water twister takes him from the icy depths and now a hundred feet into the air. The others look in shock seeing him surrounded by water with his eyes glowing the same as the Avatar in legends. He drags his arm up and brings a large amount of water onto the bison and freezes it, locking the animal on the deck of the ship. He turns to the men in the water before creating a wave and bringing them back onboard. After rescuing his men, himself and stopping the escape of the flying bison, the power leaves him and so does consciousness as he passes out and falls back down onto the deck of the ship. The monk that he had been fighting moments ago rescues him by using air to cushion his fall.
He blinks a few times before coughing up water and looking at his men, Uncle and the monk who are surrounding him in awe of what happened. "All hail, Avatar Zuko!" The men chant in unison. Zuko's eyes widen in shock at what he hears. He was in disbelief of what they were saying. It was a bit too much for him to take in, his vision starts to get blurry once again as he passes out for a second time.
The young monk, Katara and Sokka were shocked to say the very least. The two watertribe members in particular are horrified at what had happened. The new avatar was among them and he is the son of the Fire Lord. Seeing the fear in their eyes, Iroh decides to speak with them to try to alleviate the situation. "Relax, young ones. My nephew was after the Avatar thinking that you were him. Now that we know Zuko is the avatar he has no reason to hurt you." Iroh tries to explain but his words fall on deaf ears as the trio points their weapons at him. "How do we know we can trust you? You're a fire nation!" Sokka declares with Iroh bowing towards them and dropping his guard.
"I know you may have anger towards us, but forgive my nephew for his brash actions. He has been so absorbed in regaining the honor that he thought he lost. Perhaps you can help him realize himself as the Avatar. Young one, you are an airbender. Maybe you can teach him the next element in the Avatar cycle. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Iroh and I am Zuko's uncle." Iroh introduces himself by bowing to them then getting on his knees to get into a deeper bow. "I ask that you forgive my nephew and my crew, this revelation has put us in a difficult spot. The world needs the Avatar, it doesn't matter which nation you're from. His destiny now is to bring peace." He says looking up to them, the monk spins his staff in his hand before resting it at his side before walking up to Iroh.
"When he wakes up you need to tell him that he is the avatar." The airbender responds as he helps Iroh to his feet. "My name is Aang." The monk finally introduces himself. "It is a pleasure to meet you, my young friend, and I will do my best, his temper is a bit hot and he might act irrational at times. He just needs patience." Iroh says, looking towards Katara and Sokka. "He may be the Avatar but he's still a firebender and fire nation. He attacked us and kidnapped Aang." Katara declares.
"I apologize on his behalf, we may be fire nation and our country has done horrible things but please don't take that anger out on him. His destiny is to bring peace to the world but in order to do that, he needs a teacher to teach him airbending. Will you do it, Aang?" Iroh asks before going on to explain Zuko's misplaced anger and why he was searching for the Avatar.
"I want to talk with him after he wakes up before I decide whether to train him or not." Aang says before turning to face Appa, still stuck in the ice. "Can your men free my bison?" He asks.
"We will try to do so without startling him, yes." Iroh replies before motioning for the soldiers to free the bison. Appa roars seeing them approach but is calmed by Aang as the firebenders melt the ice surrounding the bison. "I will be back with prince Zuko shortly, why don't you come inside and get out of the cold." Iroh says motioning for them to follow him into the galley of the vessel. "Might I offer you some tea while we wait for Zuko to wake up?" Iroh asks, showing a small teapot.
"Yes please." Aang says quickly, getting the older man to smile. "He could poison it for all we know!" Sokka protests watching Iroh start to heat some water to brew the tea. "He just asked me to train his nephew Air bending, why would he do that?" Aang asks as Iroh starts to add the tea leaves to the water. "He's fire nation! They're evil!" Sokka declares pointing at the jolly fat man. "He doesn't seem bad to me, he wanted to talk and didn't try to burn our faces off." Aang responds before being handed a cup of tea by the old man. "Wow this is amazing! What's in it?" Aang exclaims looking at the brown liquid in the glass.
"It's simple jasmine tea with a bit of sugar." Iroh says with a smile before pouring two more glasses for Katara and Sokka. Sokka stares at the liquid for a few moments inspecting it, Katara looks over to Aang who is already on his second cup before deciding to drink it.
"I'm sorry we had to meet like this today, Zuko's dedication to finding the Avatar clouded his judgment and now that he is the Avatar I am unsure of how he will act going further. I do not wish for his father to learn that he is the Avatar. Firelord Ozai will surely slay him as he sees the Avatar as a threat." Iroh explains causing the others to go quiet.
In the sick bay of the ship, Zuko is being tended to by the ship's doctor. He groggily opens his eyes letting them adjust to his blurry surroundings. The doctor rushes over to him making sure he's alright before being waved away as the prince gets up from the bed. He stumbles slightly before placing a hand to the side of his head to quell a headache before shaking it off and straightening his posture. He breathes deeply before leaving the room and thanking the doctor with a simple nod. Soon enough the newly discovered Avatar arrives at the galley and sluggishly walks in. Iroh and the others watch silently as he casually plops himself down next to Aang and rests his head in his arms. "Uncle.. Could I have some tea please?" Zuko asks in a tired yet polite tone yawning and rubbing the side of his head. "Of course!" Iroh complies and pours his nephew a cup. Handing the steaming cup of light brown liquid to the scarred teen, Iroh hopes Zuko will drink it. Before he poured it he put in some medicinal herbs to soothe his headache and the boy's temper should he turn hostile. Sokka and Katara keep their eyes on Zuko in case he tries to attack, but otherwise they silently leave him be. The young firebender props his head up using one hand and grabs the cup in the other before taking a few sips and putting the cup back down. "It's good.." He mumbles much to his Uncle's delight.
"Yea! Your Uncle makes really good tea!" Aang chimes in cheerfully on his fifteenth cup. Zuko lazily looks to his right at the bald airbender but doesn't act, he just stares at him for a few moments. Sokka thinks he's going to strike and grabs the handle of his bone sword but Katara stops him. "If he was gonna strike, he would've done it by now. Settle down." She whispers to her older brother.
"...You shouldn't drink too much. It can make you sick…" Zuko says, turning his head and taking a few more sips of his tea. Once at the bottom of the cup he puts his head down again to relax. 'The medicine should be kicking in right about now. While soothing his headache it'll also make him less hostile, so I think now is as good a time as any to tell him that he's the Avatar.' Iroh thinks while handing some cups of tea to the crew members.
"Prince Zuko, do you remember what happened a few moments ago?" Iroh asks to see his nephew scan the room and look at the people he was just battling. "I… I remember getting knocked off the ship then waking up on the deck." He responds. "My nephew, a great thing has happened. You rescued the men and yourself from the ocean and brought them back on board." Iroh says gulping down some nervousness for what he's about to tell Zuko. "How did I save them? I thought I was gonna drown." He responds in a confused voice. "You used water bending to pull them from the icy seas and put them back on the ship." Iroh explains and Zuko stares at him for a moment, unsure how to respond. "You, Prince Zuko, are the Avatar."
Zuko stayed silent, trying to remember the strange vision he had gotten when in the avatar state. He saw himself standing next to a man in green and gold armor on a cloud and a line of people going down into the distance away from him for what seems like forever. "I'm… the Avatar?" he asks, looking at his hands before turning to Aang and the bunch. "Yes, you blew out of the water attached to a water spout, your eyes were glowing blue like the avatars of the past and in legend." Katara replies with Zuko going silent again. "I have to tell my father, he will be amazed that I'm the avatar." Zuko replies before Iroh shoots down this idea. "He wouldn't believe you unless you could bend anything aside from fire. He would accuse you of lying and your punishment would be far worse than what has already happened to you." Iroh says, causing Zuko to look down in disappointment. "Maybe… I could learn then?" Zuko asks, turning towards the others and locking eyes with Aang.
"Will you hurt us when you get angry?" Katara asks with folded arms. "No, I'm… sorry for what I did back there." Zuko apologizes which even surprises Iroh. "I can teach you airbending but we should go to the southern air temple since it would be a better place to train." Aang suggests. "Can you be my airbending master?" Zuko asks getting a nod from Aang in return. "Be careful on your journey my nephew, many people will not trust you because of being a firebender but if you learn the elements you can regain your honor." Iroh says standing from his little pillow and inviting his nephew to hug him.
The quartet make their way to the deck of the ship, Zuko having collected his things that he may need and changing his clothes so as to not raise aggression from anyone being that he is firenation. Aang shows him how to board Appa with the beast being reluctant to allow Zuko to board at first but when Aang had Zuko give him an apple, Appa licks him and allows him on his back. Zuko waves goodbye to his uncle as Appa takes flight into the air. As soon as they are out of sight, Iroh turns and addresses the men. "No matter what, the fire lord can not know of the identity of the avatar. Fire lord Ozai will kill his own son deeming him a threat to the firenation." Iroh says. " I ask that you all solemnly swear this to secrecy, we will tell not a soul the identity of the avatar." Iroh speaks commanding his subordinates to secrecy; the men acknowledge what Iroh says and salute him before they change course to an unknown destination.