Avatar: The Warring Earth

Book One—Fire

By Twins of the Pen

Disclaimer: Avatar in itself belongs to Nickelodeon and Bryan Konietzko/Michael DiMartino. The only things that belong to Twins of the Pen are the original characters.

Long ago, the four nations lived in harmony. When the Fire Nation rose up to destroy that harmony, it was the Avatar—master of all four elements—that saved the world. When that balance was threatened again, generations later, the Avatar again rose up to keep the balance between benders and their ungifted counterparts.

But now more than a century has passed, and the threat is back. A new wave of unrest has erupted, the balance tipped once again. The Neo-Equalists have taken Republic City, a new war surging across the world. Benders everywhere are hiding, afraid. The Resistance is fighting to take back their rights. This is a new era, a different time. The death tolls are rising, the hatred increasing.

And, despite the Neo-Equalists greatest efforts, a new legend was born, living right under their noses: the only one with the power to end the war.

The Avatar.

"Syaoran! Syaoran, wake up!"

Groggily, the teenaged male on the ground opened his jade eyes, a shadow looming over him. Syaoran groaned. "What do you want, Sora?" he asked, peering up at his little sister. The young girl crossed her arms with an irritable grunt.

"It's time to go back inside," Sora told him bitterly. It made him frown too. The time they were allowed outside, out in the sun, was far and few between. And while the sun's rays were comforting, they were also in a way foreign, changed. Twas the same sun that had once always beat down on Syaoran as he'd worked his father's fields. It was the same sun that would give his little sister sunburns that would last for stretches of time. It had once been a symbol of prosperity, a sign that their crops would grow up tall and strong.

But now the sun was like a long-lost friend, remaining lost to him. Every time they were let outside into the courtyard, it felt strange to him, almost awkward as he was becoming more and more accustomed to the darkness of their cells.

What was to be expected, though? This wasn't home, these fortified walls and dank cells. It was imprisonment. It was jail.

How had it turned out like this? He had no clue. One day he was out in the fields as normal, right as rain—and then the next his entire village was being taken by soldiers, legally imprisoning them. Why? Because of their earthbender abilities.

But that was life these days, trodden by war. Syaoran had heard of the war all of his life, beginning when he was just a toddler. However, never had he had to experience its wrath. His home had been isolated, protected by the steep mountains that surrounded it. Him and his family—they had been safe.

It was two years ago that the soldiers invaded, stripping them of their land, blocking their bending. And it was all just to lock them away, to keep all earthbenders under lock and key. After all, the next Avatar was supposed to be an earthbender… if there was going to be a new Avatar. As long as he'd been alive, there hadn't been one, not since Avatar Korra died.

Begrudingly, Syaoran got up off the ground, all too unwilling to end his nap in the sun. But if it was time to go back to their cells, it was time to go back. Aggravating the guards did not bode for anyone. Ever.

"All right, let's go, Sora," he called out to his sister as he ruffled the back of his shaggy brown hair, then shoving his hands into the pockets of his raggedy clothes. They were itchy and uncomfortable, worn and torn. Then again, they were prisoners of war; comfort was one of the last things the Neo-Equalists would give them.

Ahead of them, the earthbender caught sight of his mother, so weary and worn. Still, she had that ever present frown on her face.

"Hurry up now," she said, urging them to move faster.

Syaoran picked up his pace only to hear a small squeal behind him. Whipping his head around to look, he saw one of the guards with a rigid grip on Sora. "Hey!" he called out, unable to help himself. "What's going on?"

The soldier looked at Syaoran in contempt, as if the earthbender shouldn't have spoken to him at all. "Random testing," he answered simply. Syaoran didn't have to look behind him to see that his mother's face had probably paled.

Random testing. Just another excuse for them to be poked and prodded, beaten down. They were trying to find the Avatar, provoke the earthbenders into attacking, hoping one would give way to another element. But Sora was just a kid—she couldn't take that. They'd seen what other earthbenders had come out looking like. It had already happened to their father; he was still in the medical ward of the camp from it.

"Look, just leave her alone," Syaoran said, moving closer to her and the guard. He was not about to let this happen to his sister, especially when she couldn't even protect herself. It was only by association she was in this place. She wasn't an earthbender. She had nothing to give them.

But the guard stood firm, holding onto Sora's arm tighter. "Back off, boy!" the man barked at him, and at first, Syaoran stood still, not knowing what to do. However, it was the look of pure fear on Sora's face that called him to action. These soldiers had already nearly taken their father. They weren't going to take his sister too.

"No!" Syaoran denied. "So get away from her!" An unfamiliar rush started to course through him, burning.

"Or what?" the guard jeered. "What're you going to do to me?"

The moment he earthbended, the hammer would come cracking down on him. Syaoran knew that. But he couldn't just let Sora go with them. "Stay away from her!" he yelled anyway and Syaoran stepped closer again to rip the man's hand off of his sister. When the guard reached for her again, the heated feeling inside only grew and Syaoran to pushed Sora back towards their mother. "I said stay away from her!"

Syaoran only intended to push the man back. What he didn't expect to happen was for the boiling feeling inside him to erupt. Flames came from his hands as he shoved the soldier back. The man cried out in pain, but that wasn't the real problem. It was that all eyes were suddenly on him—even his own.

"No way…" he mumbled, staring at his fiery hands confused with himself.

"Syaoran!"

His gaze snapped up at his mother's call and he realized more guards were moving in, staring at him. Syaoran knew what they were thinking, what they thought he was. But that couldn't be, right? It was a mistake. There was no way he could be—

"The Avatar!" one of the men shouted. Soon they all had their electrical rods out and Syaoran knew he was in for it. If they thought he was the Avatar—which he frankly wasn't sure could be right, even though he was firebending—then things would get a lot worse for him than 'random testing'.

Turning back to his family, Syaoran saw his mother clinging onto Sora, staring at him with desperation and ferocity.

"Run! Get out of here!" she demanded him.

"But—!"

"GO!"

Since all of the guards were now focused on him instead of his family, Syaoran decided to listen this time. As they lunged at him, he dodged and weaved, yelping when the electrical currents would scrape ever so close to him. He had to get out of there; nowhere was safe in the camp.

With a loud yell, he caused the fire to burst from his hands in a vicious stream, unforgiving to those soldiers caught in its path. The way cleared, Syaoran sprinted ahead, everyone chasing after him. He didn't know what to do, where to go.

Then he saw the courtyard wall. If he could get over the wall, then maybe he could get out of there.

Considering he was already spewing fire and had majority of the camp's guards after him, the rest being called in as back-up, Syaoran figured he couldn't get into any more trouble than he already was.

And so, with a rigid yank of his arms upwards, the ground was raised below him, propelling him up into the air and forward. But he wasn't going to make it over the wall—had it been so long since he earthbended? Where was his strength?

Syaoran reached out a hand and managed to grab onto the top of the wall. It was all he could do not to drop down to the ground as he clung there. Bullets began to wiz past him and he knew it was time to go. Clambering up, he pulled himself over the wall and started to fall to the ground. With swift movements of his arms, he managed to raise a series of stone pillars, hopping down each of them.

When he hit the ground, he took off running. It didn't matter where he was running to—voices were still shouting after him, the gates opening to set loose the soldiers. Syaoran had a head start; he had to keep moving. He couldn't even risk a look back, to wonder about the fate of his family now. His mother told him to go, and so he did.

But as he took off into the woods for dear life, Syaoran vowed one thing: he would come back for them. He didn't know when, but once he figured what was going on, why he was firebending, he would come back.

A/N from DJ: So, I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter! It's a little on the short side, but don't worry: we're just getting warmed up. This is going to be a full series, comprised of four books. This Avatar series is character-centric with a ridiculous cast, full of excitement, danger, romance, and discovering your full potential. We hope to update it semi-regularly, but it depends on how we can churn stuff out. xP So, this is only the beginning to a new legend and a wild rollercoaster ride!