Taiyang I

火

Chapter 1
Discovery

They had been making good pace flying above the clouds in the direction of the Western Air Temple, but everything changed when the dragon started to plummet towards the ocean below them. The rider jolted in her seat seizing control of the reins and pulled swiftly on them to hopefully break the black beast out of their dive. These efforts were to no avail, the female shouted for the dragon to stop and change direction but nothing happened. The winds raced in her ears as the invisible force whipped her face and body painfully. The blue waters below them were becoming increasingly clear as they dropped. In her best efforts to slow their fall the rider shot blasts of fire below them to slow their momentum. Punch after punch did little to weaken their weight. She would not abandon her dragon even as they hit the waves at death defying speeds.

Suddenly, all of the roaring winds and crashing waves were silenced in the weightless embrace of the water. The dragon began to sink with the firebender in tow. Oxygen was leaving their lungs as bubbles fluttered around them. Glancing upwards at the filtering sunlight the rider closed her eyes and continued to sink peacefully. She heard her parent's voices calling out to her softly... but something was wrong. The rider had not heard those voices in over ten years. A sense of dreadful tranquility washed over her, she was nothing now... The fiery light of the sun was fading away drawing dimmer and dimmer. Her heart rate slowed as darkness enveloped them both- lulling them to sleep. Blackness swallowed the dragon and was near extinguishing the rider before-

Taiyang burst awake clutching her chest where her lungs were on fire and her heart thundered uncontrollably. Reaching out she grabbed the solid beast beneath her and pressed herself firmly against Yin's neck. She had fallen asleep while riding the dragon. That was all. It was not real, she was not drowning, it was okay. It was just a nightmare... again. When Taiyang was a child her parents had died in a flooding during the middle of a rampaging storm. As it would happen, they drowned on her sixth birthday. Taiyang did not remember the day clearly as it had been traumatic but later when she was older the Chief of the Sun Warriors explained to her what had happened that day. Monsoons of rain caused flash flooding and the temples became overwhelmed. While trying to evacuate to higher ground at the top of the temples the water levels skyrocketed and caught up to Taiyang and her parents. In their efforts to save their only child they perished. Her father and mother had been firebenders and well respected members of their community. What she did recall was running up stairs in one of the temples to avoid the waters when shockingly they were in the wave. She had begun to drown after seeing her parents fade away when she entered the avatar state for the first time. The Chief told her that he had found her at the top of the temple in a bout of rage and emotional turmoil. Taiyang had used a combination of airbending to propel herself to the summit, then she used waterbending to pause the rain and level the floods, before using earthbending to unleash her anger by cracking the temple rocks and shaking the earth. The young avatar even redirected lightning away from the summit and back into the sky. Quickly succumbing to the divine power and onslaught of emotions Taiyang spiraled out of control. Her grief was overwhelming and in combination with the avatar state she blacked out. The Chief waited until she was sixteen to reveal that she was indeed the next avatar.

Since then it had been a rough week. Taiyang had to leave the ancient city of the Sun Warriors, her whole life she had spent within their territory. A secret kept for hundreds of years to the rest of the world. Only a few special people had learned of their continued existence over the years. They were all deemed worthy by the masters, Ran and Shaw. Taiyang herself also sought their blessing when she was thirteen- naturally they showed her the true nature of fire. Even though she already knew the power of the sun Taiyang considered it the highest honor to stand before them while they created life around her.

Descending from the clouds Taiyang and Yin were greeted by an unfamiliar sight. The nighttime sky shinned with the light of unfamiliar stars and looked nothing like the air temple her Chief had described to her. Instead there were great steel towers and hundreds of small lights flickering and sailing craft larger than she had ever seen. Taiyang pulled back on the reins to slow Yin's speed, this was not where they had intended to go. The avatar was lost in more ways than one. She had let the tears flow when she washed away her red face paint and more so when she cut her black hair. It use to reach down to her rib cage but now it did not even touch her shoulders. Taiyang herself burned away her old Sun Warrior clothes after she had been presented with traditional Fire Nation fashion. Now she wore black boots with gold toe and heel points along with a golden stripe up the front and down the back. Her pants were also black and loose enough to be stuffed into the knee high boots, she wore a black long tunic over a dark red full sleeved shirt. The red had golden cuffs and collar matched directly on the tunic with other gold accents. Another layer of dark red was present in a vest over the tunic with open slits on the side reaching mid way down her thighs. Under her tunic and over the shirt Taiyang wears gold arm bands on her forearms and thinner ring like bands on her biceps.

From her vantage point Taiyang spotted a small island shortly off the coast of the main city. The island had air nomadic styled constructions on it. She was thankful for the cover of night and her dragon's black exterior which would conceal them as they flew down to land. Taiyang wondered if maybe this was the Western Air Temple, it looked considerably smaller than she had expected. Not to mention that the Chief said it was by mountains and considerable different in its construction. He had alluded to it being hidden somehow- in what why she did not know. The moonlight glimmered softly in the sky as they touched down on the edge of the isle. There was a small cave by the edge of the shore, large enough for Yin to curl up against the back wall and be hidden from outside view. Taiyang instructed her animal companion to wait there, she could always whistle for her dragon to come, until she called for her or otherwise returned. The young avatar trekked up the island to the temple's entrance. Taiyang was wary, she knew she could not reveal her identity, however she would need to learn airbending and would require instruction from a master. Taking a deep breath and calming her mind- Taiyang knocked on the heavy wooden doors.

Kodah I

水

Chapter 2
Republic City

The grand adventure of the world started out in a mundane fashion. His voyage on the large water tribe ship began by sailing for a long standing resort north of the United Nations. From there Prince Kodah of the Northern Water Tribe was to gain passage on a significantly smaller river cruiser to ride down south. His father, Chief Denali, had instructed him to ride the current down past the old Fire Nation stronghold- Pohuai, keep going till he reach Harbor Town where he might have to change vassals to eventually arrive at Republic City. Along the way he would pass Mount Makapu while entering Mo Ce Sea. Chief Denali informed his oldest son that this sea had been apart of the legendary battle between Phoenix King Ozai and Avatar Aang. Not that Kodah really believed the avatar was still relevant. In truth Kodah was indifferent to the avatar's existence. He believed there were flaws in having one person possess all the power in the world. Besides, the last one had died in the special all mystical avatar state so the Fire Nation had nothing to search for in his eyes.

He had been sailing for a day, a night, and another day. Kodah had expected the first leg of his journey from the Northern Water Tribe capitol to Republic City to take about four to five days. So far everything was on schedule and he was quietly excited to see the modern setting. While the tribe did progress with the innovative ways of present society their historical roots were still strongly featured. Some people claimed that they would never change their ways, unlike the Earth Providence. Those of spring had gone from a kingdom, to an empire, to the current providential democracy. Not that is was much progress. Apparently they were having trouble coming to agreements on class divisions as the rich of Ba Sing Se still wanted complete control. The legendary city was a place Kodah wanted to see before returning to the North Pole. His father would be expecting him to return a man grown and ready to take his place as Chief of the Tribe when the time came.

Since this was to be the longest time away from his homeland, Kodah was saddened by the prolonged separation from his family. He knew this was a necessary part of his life- to experience things by himself. But he still missed his four younger siblings. Sitka, fifteen, was especially close with Kodah followed by Nanook at thirteen years old, then his younger sisters Okami (twelve) and Aurora (nine). They were a larger royal family than in recent generations. And even more remarkable was that not all of them were waterbenders. To his great shame Kodah did not possess the divine ability over their ancestral element. His parents, brothers, and sisters were all waterbenders while the eldest prince never showed signs. This nature of himself plagued Kodah for years and to some extent still does. He feels like a failure and undeserving of being of the tribe. When he was a young boy he would pray daily at the Spirit Oasis. Endlessly watching the two koi fish, Tui and La, and wishing he would be granted the ability. The spirits never answered him directly and Kodah cursed himself for being unable to waterbend. One night he fell asleep while praying and had a dream of himself looking into the pool with the moon and ocean spirits. A reflection stared back at him of Kodah himself practicing with swords. His confidence soared as he felt worthy of something. Immediately after waking he rushed to his father and requested to be trained in the art of the blade. His many years of lessons have turned Kodah into an accomplished swordsman wielding a taijijian and a shorter tantō.

While some travelers opted to wear nation neutral clothing Kodah kept his Water Tribe identifiers. Though he did make some changes, not wearing thick parkas or other snowy furs. He left his traditional hoods coats and multi lined boots at home. He would not need such polar weathered clothes. Now Kodah wore thinner brown boots, dark bluish black pants stuffed into the boots, a half length kimono in light blue with grey accents over a long sleeved dark blue black shirt / tied by a grey belt in the front, over the top of his long sleeved shirt Kodah wears grey armbands with tribal markings on them (covered by kimono), around his waste (as a bridge of his pants and kimono) is a traditional brown half skirt shawl, lastly he wears his taijijian sword in a sheath across his back and his tantō short sword sheathed on his right hip.

Kodah was lost in thought until he heard the whistle of the boat go off and sailors rushing around to prepare to dock. Glancing up from where he had been watching the waves roll by he saw that they were in sight of Republic City. The buildings towered over them as they sailed closer. Kodah had few possessions on him so didn't have to worry about unloading his luggage. Instead he simply walked off the loading ramp after they had docked ship in a harbor. Walking down the streets he was in awe. The ever moving nature of the city was wild. Nothing was still nor calm. Everyone seemed to be in a hurry and was moving quickly about their business. Kodah headed for the portion of the city where his father had told him Water Tribe people gathered. There was a tea house he desired to visit.

For as long as he could remember Kodah cherished the herbal drink. Tea for the longest time had not been common in the water tribes, one positive change in the advancing world was the rise of trading and communications with other nations. The Northern Water Tribe exported their local goods of fish and furs and in exchange acquired many luxuries not normally found in the poles. Kodah had become something of a tea fanatic and learned how to brew all different kinds. His mother had recommended that he visit a specific water tribe tea shop in Republic City, the Moon Tea House. Kodah was interested in tasting different culture's design of the time old beverage, he had even brought his own set and special leaves for brewing- that and his money and two swords were all he brought from home.

As he walked down the busy streets of Republic City, Kodah followed the familiar smell of fish and other water tribe symbols. It was amazing to him how well the integration went between the four elements and now five nations. He saw several people who were clearly representing their heritage and others appeared with no affiliation what so ever. As he entered the heart of the strong water tribe presence he saw the sign outside showing him he had reached his first destination. Kodah peered inside through the open sliding doors and saw that while they were full with customers it was not overly crowded. Kodah ordered a pot of white tea, stepped with hotter water for longer to allow the caffeine to be stronger. The waitress was pleasantly surprised to have a customer who understood the brewing process and made a simple order. While he waiting Kodah relaxed in the cozy ambiance of the tea house.