NOTE BEFORE READING: If you haven't seen Avatar the Last Airbender and are confused, please PM me and I'd be happy to help. Thank you for choosing my fic!
Enjoy.
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"Fire is the element of power. The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will, and the energy and drive to achieve what they want."
~ Iroh; Avatar the Last Airbender
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Artemis was born into a family of Fire Nation royalty. Under the pale moonlight that sifted in through the holes in the sliding wood frame doors, Artemis entered the world squeamish, pinch-faced, and rebellious. She was a duchess of sorts, and a second grand-niece to the Fire Lord himself. At the tender age of three, her father had been most satisfied when it was discovered that Artemis was a fire bender.
Her father had made sure she got training. She had trained alongside Jade in the beginning, who, funnily enough, turned out to be an earth bender. Her father had been so excited at the prospect of a fire bender.
Because earth and rocks can smash and build. But fire can only burn and destroy.
Artemis's first actual fire was when she was an eight. She had been so angry. So, so angry.
"Artemis, focus!" her father shouted, slapping her hard across the face. He snarled at Jade, who had stopped her form-practicing behind them, to continue, and to mind her own business.
He rounded back on Artemis, "Focus your shot. Your flames need to be more fierce."
Artemis took a deep breath, assuming her form. She spun on her heel, turning, and then she shot her hands forward, and then the flames spurted out, licking the air hungrily. A roaring, whooshing sound accompanied the orange flames, and her father growled again, "Concentrate."
He slapped her again, harder this time, and Artemis burst.
She roared, a whooshing sound and then everything was white. There was a buzzing in her ears, and then her vision slowly slid back to focus. Jade was standing shock-still, her mouth open and her brow furrowed. Her father's arms were crossed, a satisfied expression on his face.
And everything around them was in flames.
It was then that her father decided she was ready for an actual bending master.
Her bending master had never seen such a fire-bender as her. She had the same spark that every fire-bender had, the rebellious, stubborn seed that had been planted when she had born. But her bending master had seen the seed crushed under the conditions she had to endure. A tight, iron-grip type father, and an absent mother who had been shipped back to the Earth kingdom when the Fire Nation soldiers had discovered her, most seeds would have choked and died by all the weeds. But in her case, her seed had sprouted, and made her stronger. He was sad to know that her father was already arranging her future, slowly sliding the pieces into place so that her path would lead to her becoming another mindless, soldier or guard in the Fire Lord's army, but he can't voice these concerns aloud.
The Fire Lord is always watching.
When Artemis was ten, she had stumbled across the royal archives, and found a water-bending scroll. Ornately decorated, and the paper was crinkled, and it was yellowed and Artemis treated it delicately and with immense, meticulous care.
She had slowly opened it, reveling and anticipating the contents. It was three pairs of hand-painted forms, with blue swirls coming out of the palms of their hands. She heard footsteps begin to shuffle past the archive doors, so she hastily stuffed the scroll into the folds of her robes, and she fled out of the room.
She had grown close with her bending master, an obscure man named Oliver who went by 'Green Arrow,' who had been brought in from an Earth-kingdom colony. She had been able to find out that his last trainee had been the son of a rogue fire-nation general. A Roy Harper, and that he had seemingly disappeared off the face of the planet. Artemis felt sorry for the weathered, tired-looking man, who had been black-mailed into training her, but they both had found they had a mutual hatred for the fire-nation ways, Artemis because they constricted her freedom and her father was attempting to mold her into his own killing machine, and Green Arrow because he was tired of having to constantly look over his shoulder. Artemis never found out what he had done to anger the Fire Lord that he had banished him to the colonies, but she decided during the first lesson that she would mind her own business.
She showed him the water-bending scrolls, entrusting that he wouldn't tell, and he didn't. They tried the fluid movements themselves, and found a different type of fire-bending that was amazingly free and relaxed that Artemis found herself rethinking her form to include the fluid arm and leg movements. Her father had been wrong. Fire is not meant to be contained, trained to sputter out in straight, symmetrical lines. Fire is meant to spread out, lick, roar, burn. Like water. But different.
When she was sixteen, she convinced Green Arrow to take her away from the Fire Nation. Far, far away. Her father had already begun arranging a marriage with an absolutely despicable son of some general in the army, and she was so tired of being stepped on, pushed aside. During one lesson, he discreetly shoved a ferry ticket into her hands, a ticket that would take her to some small, insignificant mining village.
As the ship slowly pulled out of the harbor, Artemis brought the cloak closer around her face. No one could recognize her as the jaded, protected daughter of the Fire Lord's close friend and cousin. And the cool wind and the salty sea air sank deep within her skin, and she breathed it in slowly.
Freedom was just around the corner.
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"Earth is the element of substance. The people of the Earth kingdom are diverse and strong. They are persistent and enduring."
~ Iroh; Avatar the Last Airbender
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Lift. Drop. Lift. Drop. Lift. Drop.
It is a boring, dull cycle. Lift the boulder, drop it in the pit with the others. Move on to the next one. Lift the boulder, drop it in the pit with the others. Kaldur worriedly glances over at Megan and Connor, who are sweating and taking a break in the shade of the trees, their breathing rapid and Megan attempting to cool them down by bending water from the small stream nearby and letting it sprinkle slowly onto both her and Connor. Kaldur shoots her a warning look, because she really shouldn't be water-bending when somebody could be watching.
They had been offered a sum of thirty bronze coins for the job of just clearing the pathway of any boulders, and Kaldur had gladly accepted the job. Their employer, having assumed that Megan was an earth-bender as well, had offered an extra ten bronze coins if he could get his friend(s) to help him and get the job done faster. Connor had agreed reluctantly seeing as Megan was going along, but since Megan really couldn't do anything, seeing as she was a water-bender, and Connor just didn't want to, Kaldur was stuck doing the job alone, clearing about fifty boulders from the dirt-worn path.
He sighed.
Lift. Drop.
Lift. Drop.
He supposed that since he was the oldest, it was his responsible to bring in the money, and since he was only earth-bender who had actually trained under an earth-bending master, it made more sense that he take on the job. But the bending takes a lot out of him, and he decided that he deserves a break, and he slumps down next to Connor, and motions to Megan to throw some water at him.
Megan smiled, and bended some of the cool water above his head, and then released it with a loud splash.
He reveled in the coolness running down his body, a welcome change because of the humidity of the Earth colonies and also the hot temperatures that always comes with being surrounded by fire-benders.
He heard marching nearby, and Kaldur shot a warning look at Megan. She instantly stops bending, and slides back down to squirm closer to Connor, who places a protective arm around her.
The fire-nation soldiers would persecute the Megan because she's a girl and a water-bender. But mostly because she's a water-bender. Kaldur gets why, they're looking for the Avatar. The Avatar, the only person who could 'master of all four elements' in his lifetime. The soldiers had supposedly already wiped out the last Avatar, and the element he originated in: Air. So now, they move on to the next one. Water. They've been moving quickly. They've already attacked the South Pole, where a small tribe of water-benders live. Megan had been shipped out of the South Pole as soon as news of the attack on the Southern Air Temple had reached their. She had been smuggled onto a ship going to Ba Sing Se, the capital of the Earth Kingdom. She had passed off as a regular person. No bending, no nothing, and then when the Fire Lord gained the trust of the Earth King and his special police force known as the Dai Li, she fled to this mining village where she met Kaldur and Connor.
The Fire Lord seems to have a grudge against the Avatar, because he seems so intent on removing his existence. But doesn't he realize that eventually he'll have to wipe out his own element as well if he wants to stop the existence of an Avatar?
"Kaldur…" Megan suddenly says, her voice shy, "I was wondering…" she momentarily glances at Connor, who nods at her encouragingly, "I was just wondering if we could maybe go to the festival tonight?"
Kaldur sighed. Megan would of course want to attend the Fire Days Festival. Three whole weeks of light music, festivities, and delicious food underneath the pale summer moon would of course peak the curiosity of the shielded Southern Water Tribe girl. She tucked a strand of red-brown hair behind her ear timidly, "We don't have to go if it's too dangerous though," she added as an afterthought.
Kaldur nodded, "But only for a little bit, alright?"
Megan clapped her hands, joyful, and Connor gave him a wry smile, "Thanks," Connor said, and then Connor placed his arm gently on Megan's shoulder. She leaned back, content.
And Kaldur turned back to the rocks.
Lift. Drop. Lift. Drop.
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"Water is the element of change. The people of the Water Tribes are capable of adapting to many things. They have a sense of community and love that holds them together through anything."
~ Iroh; Avatar the Last Airbender
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Wally drew his legs closer towards him, crouching closer to the barrels he was hiding behind. This action made a loud scratching noise, and Roy hit him, motioning for him to be quiet. Wally nodded, and stilled. Loud footsteps rang, echoing off the hollow wood of the ship. The ship creaked, and the man grunted.
Roy was a rebel fire bender, and had sought shelter with an old friend of his dad in the Northern Water Tribe. His dad's friend turned out to be a jovial, kind water-bender named Barry. Barry was Wally's uncle, and so the pair had been forcefully pushed together. Their friendship was pretty solid, and Wally trusted Roy enough to listen to his advice to be quiet. Roy and Wally weren't quite eighteen yet, so they didn't make the draft for men to fight against the Fire Lord, but that was why they were getting out of the North Pole.
They were tired, both of them. And so very, very bored of the shielded community that surrounded the Northern Water Tribe. They wanted adventure, and felt they could handle a greater responsibility than, "Make sure to feed the polar dogs and clean the buffalo yaks' pens!"
He absolutely hated this.
And, of course, there was the matter of the finding the Avatar and having to help him master the rest of the elements.
Dick suddenly popped up, grinning. He was two years younger than both Wally and Roy, making him fifteen. He had bright blue eyes and dark black hair and Wally and Roy had discovered him stealing dried ox goat from the store houses. He had been thin and wiry then, shivering in the cold wrapped haggardly in soaked furs. It was discovered he was an air bender. The last air bender, in fact. Dick had quickly managed to master water-bending, and the next element he would have to master is earth.
Dick suddenly popped up behind Wally and Roy, "Hi guys! What are you doing?"
Roy jumped, and smacked his head against a crate. He cursed, rounding about onto Dick, "Where were you? We were looking for you."
"I went exploring," Dick said, "Sorry guys, but you know, I've been on the run for so long that I kind of forgot what having friends felt like."
Wally waved his hand, silencing the both of them. The guard passed them, and all three breathed a sigh of relief.
"So… where are we going again?" Wally asked, settling back behind the crate.
"A mining village," Roy replied, rubbing his head while glaring at Dick, "near the Mo Ce Sea."
"But they'll be tons of fire benders at an Earth Kingdom mining village… Why didn't we go to Ba Sing Se?" Wally asked.
"The fire benders at Mo Ce Sea, can be bribed," Roy muttered darkly, "The Dai Li at Ba Sing Se can't."
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NOTES:
All quotes are directly from the Avatar the Last Airbender website. It's a very good show, and I recommend it highly
The 'mining village' mention here is the same village where we first were introduced to Haru. I looked it up so I could be more specific, but it was literally under the name, "mining village." "Near the Mo Ce Sea Shoreline" was as specific as I could get…
None of the Avatar the Last Airbender/Legend of Korra characters will be mentioned, so that is why I refrained from making it a crossover fic
Anything I missed? Please PM or review! Thank you!