BOOK 1: EARTH*
CHAPTER 1 – THE BOY IN THE CRYSTAL*
Sozin had already reached his vast metal beast of a boat, determined to uncover what had happened at the air temple.
"I must reach the Western Air Temple. If I fail to arrive in time... What then? Will everyone be gone, like the messenger I sent? And why is an Earth Kingdom battle tank stationed at the Western Air Temple, of all places?"
Sozin was in a state of panic, but his body did not reflect it. Sozin didn't even know what was happening, and that's the exact reason why he hated that feeling.
He had always been a control freak; every leaf that didn't move the way he wanted was executed on the spot.
And he hadn't changed 80 years later.
His father didn't bother caring about what sozin did or wanted, as he wanted Sozin's sister, Princess Zeisan, to be the ruler of the vast nation, but that was decades ago; sozin had already taken care of his sister in a way that sealed her fate in darkness.
Sozin had been staring at the wall of his room, maybe for minutes, or even hours. Taking in the dark black metal with small lines embedded into it. While just beside him sat a Fire Nation crown.
Sozins' mind was wandering, "Did the earth king order this? Why would he do that?" he said with that same thought weighing on his mind.
It had been 3 days since Sozin started his journey to the Western Air Temple.
The trip had taken him so long because the ship's captain, with his overly long beard that was in no way symmetrical, had messed up the coordinates.
After Sozin had reprimanded the man who looked like he could be in his 90s, yet he somehow wanted to be a ship captain, even if his years were not long.
sozin had wondered if he would spend the rest of his old age doing something that would be of no benefit to himself.
"No, I will make the Fire Nation the greatest empire in history. No one can stop me, and even the Avatar would be unable to stop an entire nation from ruling."
Sozin had coddled himself with that type of reflection, thinking that he was any different than a spider fly that would do nothing except create and live, and eat on its web.
Didn't sozin understand that nobody was different? Even the avatar is just a representation of the world's thoughts and will.
(*-*)
The area was dimly lit, with the sounds of grunting and panting. Multiple men were slamming heavy metal pickaxes at stone, one individual stood out from the rest.
He had been striking at the stone just like the rest, but there was a difference between him and the rest of them.
The boy, named Haru, had been heavily fatigued.
He was not in the same shape as the rest.
"Ugh." He boomed as he slammed his pickaxe at the stone.
Haru had just started working in the colossal-sized mine.
Every day, when the rooster crows, at dawn he would get up and work until his back was aching.
But every day, he continued.
He had to.
As the day ended, the sun fell from its highest to its lowest.
Haru slowly walked to a tubby man, who had a smug look on his elongated face.
"You said you would pay me after 2 weeks, and the time frame has long passed."
The man of short stature looked up at Haru.
His grin faded when he heard Haru's voice.
"Young man, you know times are tough, I can't just cough up 2 gold pieces at this early in your employment."
"You know I need this money, my father is very ill, he won't survive another week without a doctor."
The middle-aged man began to become irritated; his. The smile he had worn faded, so now he had a threatening glare at Haru.
"Listen, here, boy, you are MY employee. I work for you until I want you to stop, and I'll pay you when I want to."
As the middle-aged man began to ramble on, Haru felt his hand tighten till his knuckles turned white.
"The only reason they got this job was because your father was an old friend of mine, so show some respect."
And right before Haru had struck the guy who would cheat a teenager out of a few gold pieces, who didn't have any intention of granting the boy what he desired.
"Don't worry about it, Mr. Reng, I can take a few days without pay just fine, so why don't you give the boy his gold?"
"Fine, you, but since you decided that you would defend the kid for his disrespect, you're responsible for him, is that clear?!" the bald man said, angry about not being able to chew out Haru more.
(*-*)
The man who had helped Haru was an old friend of his mother. He had always been kind to Haru, especially considering his current situation.
"Now stay out of trouble, and take care of your father, alright?" the man said with a hint of annoyance, having to give up his salary.
Haru nodded slowly with the intent of running home because of how tired he was.
"Thanks, Mr. Reido," said the boy with a slight smile.
(*-*)
As Haru was running home, he unexpectedly took a detour, he planned to go to a small area in the woods.
When he arrived, there was a small clearing where the sun poked through the leaves.
Haru had crouched down and started crawling to an old log that had fallen over and was leaning on another tree.
He had started peaking through the log to see a building where there were lots of people ranging from what looked to be the ages of 6 to 60.
An older man who seemed to be an instructor was a tall man with a short beard.
He had started ordering lots of people to do specific movements.
And that's when Haru stayed for an hour, intensely studying their movements, before emulating them himself. See, Haru is a prodigy, able to learn a move with a glance.
So whenever Haru gets a chance, he goes wherever he is needed to train.
As Haru stomped his foot into the ground, he felt something weird. Ignoring it, he tried something he thought would work; he picked up a stone and then concentrated on it.
He closed his left hand very firmly, to reveal dust left from the stone he had in his hand.
He started by tossing it onto the ground in front of himself, and then Haru started with a running start, and as he bent the dust beneath him to walk midair, he was surprised by himself.
"I can't believe that worked! If I were an airbender, I'd be a master already!"
Haru exclaimed, practically bouncing off the trees with how much energy was bursting from him at this point.
"I can see it now, "Master Haru, the very first earthbender to create a mobility technique that rivals the air nomads of the past." I am the best earthbender that's EVER lived."
Haru said while using the technique again and again, until he finally got tired and landed, but that's when he felt that weird feeling once more.
"What is that? I don't understand what im feeling, it feels like it's coming out of the ground, I have to check what it is."
Haru then got into the horse stance, then he placed his arms together, and then parted them, making a small, narrow tunnel into the earth. He did this multiple times until he reached what seemed to be a large diamond-shaped crystal, and inside it was a boy.
"What in the world, there's a kid inside of there, I have to get him outta there."
Haru then gripped the crystal's front and ripped it apart, revealing a small boy in yellow and orange, floating up in a meditation pose with glowing blue tattoos, both fists pressed against each other.
The boy slowly floated downward until he touched the ground, and his body then slumped.
"Ugh, where am I?" the teenage boy groaned.
As the boy, slightly younger than Haru, opened his eyes, he saw Haru's green and yellow color scheme, and then in a mere nanosecond, he ran and jumped up over Haru's head, and he charged his palm up pushed it forward while twisting it resulting in Haru's whole body spinning midair before hitting a tree.
"You dare show your face towards an air bender after only 2 years after what your people have done?"
The teenager snapped towards Haru, he had seen his Earth Kingdom green colours, and he wasn't going to let a sneak attack kill the last air nomad.
"What the hell was that for? I helped you out of that green rock, and you attack me?!"
Haru was pissed at what the boy had done to him, and his back was aching from what happened.
As the tattooed boy readied his fist, Haru shouted, "WAIT, why are you trying to hurt me? I don't even know you."
"Don't know me? You took EVERYTHING from me." The boy said angrily before sending Haru back again with a kick that was enhanced with some type of bending.
Haru desperately tried to convince the boy to stop hurting him, so he blurted out.
"I'm not with who you think im with."
"What are you talking about? You're Earth Kingdom."
Haru had noticed the colours of the boy's clothing and his arrows, so he was already leaning towards the boy being an air nomad, but after seeing him airbender, he knew he was an airbender.
"Let's calm down, im from an island separated from the Earth Kingdom, it might be considered a part of the Earth Kingdom, but we don't believe we are. We live on an island with the Kyoshi warriors, the living representation of Avatar Kyoshi. Im on your side. My name's Haru, what's yours?"
The previously aggressive boy was in deep thought before saying 7 words.
"My name is Aang, I'm the Avatar."