《Echoes of the Avatar, Book One: Growth》 Embers and Bones Embers and Bones Prologue On a frigid winter¡¯s eve, a new moon gazed down upon an open-roofed pavilion, a roaring flame all but drowning out the stars above. Though the fire would not usually be lit so early, Kiaki was never one to stick so rigidly to tradition¡ªespecially on such a cold night; age had dimmed his inner fire, and he desired nothing more than to be inside, sitting by a calm hearth, sipping a nice warm cup of tea¡­and yet, here he was. Much like tradition, punctuality had never been Kiaki¡¯s prerogative, and he was much more used to arriving whenever he pleased¡ªmost of the time after a pleasant stroll¡ªbut something within had urged him on, to such an extent that he was currently the only one standing by the crackling bonfire: deep in the marrow of his bones (bitten by the cold as they were), he felt that something was different this time, some intangible intuition burning away his usual indifference, stoking his heart to the point of excitement¡ªsomething that he had long since thought he would never truly experience again. Had he still been a youth, he may have been utterly unable to keep himself from casting the bones alone, but his age-tempered logic held him back; he had waited decades for a night like this, and he would wait all the way to dawn if that was what it took. Carefully measured footsteps drew Kiaki out of his thoughts, followed by a low, gravelly voice, ¡°What a shock to see you of all people here so soon. I had expected you to delay the rite yet again¡­are you sure you¡¯re not unwell, breaking your seven-year streak?¡± ¡°Far from it; I have a good feeling about this night,¡± Kiaki glanced up at the faint stars, ¡°I expect we shall learn much. But I question the choice of location¡ªcouldn¡¯t we have stayed inside the temple?¡± His question was met at first with a chuckle, the elderly sage stroking his long white beard, ¡°I hardly want to be out here either, even with my warmest robes, but it was the Fire Lord¡¯s suggestion. She has always been a canny one, and I hope the change in venue will bring good news this time.¡± ¡°We can only hope. As I always say, positivity never does any harm¡­rarely helps, but neither does being miserable.¡± ¡°You should temper your expectations,¡± a third voice joined the conversation, its owner appearing as if from nowhere, ¡°I still believe it shall be futile¡ªwe have had no results every year for over two decades, and I fail to see the purpose in wasting our time; why should this duty even fall to us when it''s clearly pointless?¡± The elder shook his head, ¡°We all know that this duty is ours because all others have long since given up on it; the Earth Kingdom is in crisis, the Air Nomads are nothing if not passive, and I doubt the Water Tribes even want the cycle to have continued in the first place. If we give up on this most sacred task of ours, what will remain of the Fire Sages, hm?¡± ¡°Foolish hope will get us nowhere. We have other responsibilities, and we must adapt to this new era: no longer shall the world revolve around the Avatar, whether you accept it or not.¡± ¡°That remains to be seen,¡± Kiaki smiled wryly, ¡°and I relish witnessing you proven wrong. The other two will soon arrive and the bones shall be cast, whether you accept it or not.¡± Before the snappy sage had a chance to respond, the last of the group began to crest the hill; the time had come, and the rite was to be carried out in silence. Kiaki had prepared the bones shortly after he arrived, and now each sage collected one from the ceremonial dish; he ran his fingers over the inscriptions, each carving in the dragon bone (granted to the sages by the original firebenders themselves) carrying a wish within, much like the man himself. The anticipation in Kiaki¡¯s chest was coming to a boil just as a chill struck through the pavilion, as if nature itself knew a great change was around the corner. In synchronised motion, five bones of varying size and shape were sent right into the burning pit¡¯s heart¡ªthe sharp cracking was instant, as was the intense plume of flame: a wave of heat crashing outwards as the fire shot upwards, threatening to ignite the pavilion itself. In a single motion Kiaki extinguished the blaze, his eyes taking a moment to adjust to the newfound darkness; the only light now was from the heavens¡­and the small flames burning on the interior edges of the wooden roof. All eyes focussed on the cracks in the bones¡ªdisregarding the smouldering fires above¡ªgazing in disbelief at the undeniable message held across the five off-white objects, each one linking in tandem to another. Kiaki¡¯s excitement exploded all over again, his calm demeanor utterly destroyed as if the fifty years since his youth had never happened in his first place.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. After a couple of minutes, the youngest of the sages was first to break the silence, ¡°But what could this possibly mean?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t let incredulity cloud your mind,¡± the elderly great sage¡¯s response came after a short pause, his tone slow and measured, ¡°we can all tell very well what this means. The Fire Lord must be informed at once: the cycle did not end as we had feared.¡± ¡°A new era is upon us,¡± Kiaki spoke as if the voice was not his own, ¡°the Avatar will master the elements once again, and it is imperative we find them; the solstice will soon be upon us, and there is no better opportunity to seize the moment.¡± For a few minutes longer the discussion continued, until the sages began to scatter, prepared to carry out the duties they had long since consigned themselves never to worry about again. Only two remained, standing in silent harmony¡ªdespite being the most sceptical of the order, Kiaki¡¯s old friend was not one to deny the evidence in front of him. ¡°Well, it seems I have been proven wrong indeed,¡± the shorter man placed a hand on Kiaki¡¯s shoulder, ¡°I look forward to the days ahead¡­but how could we not have known the Avatar was reborn years ago? And so close, for so long¡­¡± ¡°The clouds of ambiguity still gather around us; I expect they won¡¯t fade away for quite some time. We must be careful in our pursuit of the truth, lest we taint our minds with preconceived notions.¡± ¡°That we must.¡± Just as his friend turned, leaving him to gather his thoughts alone, a splintering sound resonated out from within the flame pit: a new crack had formed in one of the bones, a deep dark chasm with no end in sight. For the first time in years, fear grew within Kiaki¡¯s chest. The other sage spun to face the noise, the shock in his eyes redoubling once he saw the fissure. ¡°How can that be!? Such a fate, for one so young¡­there must be some kind of mistake!¡± By the time the last embers had fallen from the roof, the anxiety within Kiaki had completely overtaken his prior excitement, his positivity all but drained, ¡°There is no mistake; the Avatar¡¯s path will not be an easy one.¡± ¡°But there is hope, is there not? The Avatar has lived a thousand lifetimes, surely it can¡¯t be as bad as it seems? There must have been a similar incident in the past, some event to be learned from. If we search the histories-¡± ¡°Unfortunately, it would seem that is not the case,¡± a defeatist laugh escaped Kiaki¡¯s mouth, ¡°even if we give all the help we can, it will not be enough. Some things simply can not be avoided.¡± A deep sigh of resignation followed, the visible breath quickly dissipating, ¡°And so it must instead be overcome.¡± ¡°I only hope it can be. There is but one thing I can say for certain, and it is that I pity the Avatar.¡± ¡°What will we tell the other sages? What will we tell the Fire Lord?¡± Kiaki shook his head, ¡°We can not conceal this, but hope will do good for those who have not seen the omen themselves. So there is only one thing we can tell them: the years ahead will be dark.¡± Gates of Stone Gates of Stone Chapter I Li¨ºn Omashu: the second largest city within the Earth Kingdom (by most metrics, at least), and one of the few neutral states left¡ªbut most importantly to those who had their eyes on it, the only other state that held more power than that of the great mountain city was Ba Sing Se itself. Li¨ºn stood before the massive stone gate, waiting patiently as her group¡¯s travel papers were being examined; of course, she could have opened the way herself, but¡ªnew to diplomacy as she was¡ªshe knew full well that it would not exactly be taken in stride. Her piercing green eyes surveyed all there was to see, like a hunter seeking out hidden prey¡­of which, there was none; despite the kingdom bordering on all-out civil war, Omashu had remained peaceful¡ªthat was half the reason it was valuable. It took only a few minutes for the small unit to be processed, the triple-layered earthen doors smoothly sliding open. Naturally, as head of the delegate, Li¨ºn strode forward first, the deep rumbling of stone against stone sounding out once again from a short distance behind her last guards. After passing through the entrance, she stood overlooking what seemed to be the main street, packed full of market stalls and far too many people to count¡ªa good portion of them refugees, due to King Shri¡¯s policy on accepting anyone who needs help: commendable, but hardly sustainable. Far off down the street was something coloured a vibrant red, accompanied by a procession of sorts. Curious. Readying herself to vault over the railing, a hand on her shoulder stopped Li¨ºn: her uncle (and primary diplomat on the mission), Ngi¨ºm. ¡°It would be wise to avoid drawing more attention to ourselves than strictly necessary; we should take what you would consider the slow route.¡± Silently cursing the extraneous rules placed upon her, the young earthbender resigned herself to the needlessly sluggish descent down the stairs. Though this was her first time in Omashu, she was far from a stranger to urban environments¡ªstill, crowds never were her favoured habitat; she had always struggled to see much through them, and few people took kindly to being shoved aside (even if they were in the way). ¡°How long until the meeting?¡± A few beats went by with no response¡ªupon turning to examine the scene, Li¨ºn realised her uncle was no longer nearby. His voice rose from nearby in the crowd, asking someone something about the tea they were selling. Before she could make her way over to prevent a delay, X¨©n Y¨ª spoke up, ¡°Leave him be; we arrived ahead of schedule, so there¡¯s plenty of time to spare.¡± Forced yet again to take a slower course of action, Li¨ºn was not all so fond of diplomacy so far. Still, she refused to be entirely idle¡ªeven when doing nothing else, a warrior observes; in a city of thousands, there¡¯s always something going on. The many merchants lining the street were all selling different things, some with a focussed theme and some (most) without; the greatest culprits of disorderly theming were a few stalls manned by children, seemingly peddling whatever wares they could get their hands on: stale bread next to shiny rocks, carved ornaments, and a couple of scrolls. Some took pity on the kids, buying a few trinkets they¡¯d never have a need for¡­needless to say, Li¨ºn was not one of those people. A few minutes of observation later, the first truly interesting thing in Omashu drew close enough to discern its nature; heralded by a messy drumbeat, a twelve-segmented dragon puppet grew ever nearer, the crowd parting ways to let it pass through. Carrying a bowl for donations, a girl a bit taller than Li¨ºn led the procession, dressed in what some may describe as finery, ¡°Welcome to Omashu¡¯s annual winter dragon parade festival! We appreciate any contributions, which all go to improving the lives of local children!¡± Curiously, Li¨ºn had no recollection of such a festival from her research into the city; perhaps it was new, brought through the gates by refugees? Regardless of her musings, she stayed clear of the puppet and the children who accompanied it. Though clearly rehearsed to some degree, the movements of those carrying the puppet¡¯s poles were amateurish, frequently causing the dragon to separate and occasionally bump into people. Overall, however, the crowd seemed to enjoy the spectacle¡­but it didn¡¯t take long for sentiment to shift, as an uproar started some distance back, gradually making its way to the parade¡¯s most recent location, featuring all kinds of cries: ¡°My purse!¡± ¡°My jewellery!¡± ¡°My cabbages!¡± But most of all, ¡°Where¡¯s my money gone?!¡± It seemed that, not all unsurprisingly, the ¡®festival¡¯ was a scam of sorts. Oh well, it hardly affected Li¨ºn personally¡ªshe wasn¡¯t exactly an easy mark, due to a combination of her guards, her alertness, and her lack of easily accessible valuables in the first place. As the uproar continued to grow the puppet sped up, though not enough to avoid being surrounded¡ªthere were enraged civilians all around it, demanding an explanation, their money, or whatever else they wanted¡­none of them got anything from the sham parade, as a cloud of smoke quickly enveloped the puppet. By the time it cleared, there was nothing to be seen but the confused crowd. Even peaceful cities have their own strife, albeit much lesser than the war other places faced. Lagging far behind the commotion, a pair of guards covered head-to-toe in drying clay (seemingly from some kind of pitfall trap, given the pattern of accumulation). Approaching from a nearby stall, Ngi¨ºm finally rejoined the group, shaking his head in disapproval, ¡°Using charity as a cover for personal gain¡­how devious,¡± he carried with him a variety of baubles, handing them off to one of the guards before reaching into a pocket; a moment later, he started to pat himself down, eventually producing an empty purse, ¡°Strange, I didn¡¯t think I had spent everything I had on me¡­¡± Grabbing hold of the cloth bag, Li¨ºn poked a finger through the top of the bag, the appendage emerging from a hole in the other side, ¡°You didn¡¯t spend everything: your purse was cut.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s rather nasty,¡± he frowned, ¡°Oh well.¡± Glancing around, Li¨ºn was quick to reiterate the question that had initially gone unheard some minutes ago, ¡°How long is it until the meeting?¡± ¡°Around about an hour. Why?¡± Already climbing up the nearest wall, the young heir responded matter-of-factly, ¡°It won¡¯t hurt to improve the city¡¯s image of us.¡± By the time Ngi¨ºm had clambered up the handholds she¡¯d bent out of the wall, Li¨ºn had already spotted a couple of targets: both travelling through alleys (each heading in opposite directions) were two of the dragon puppet¡¯s segments, one of them the tail¡ªlikely operated by a pair of children as opposed to just one. Ready to attack, Li¨ºn thought to ask a question she already knew the answer to, pointing at the two puppet segments, ¡°Ngi¨ºm, how much force are we permitted to use?¡±The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Well, none, really¡ªwe don¡¯t want to harm Omashu¡¯s civilians.¡± With a tut she dropped her arm back to her side, ¡°Me, X¨©n Y¨ª, and a couple of my guards will pursue the tail. You and the rest of the guards will go after the other segment.¡± ¡°As you wish,¡± Ngi¨ºm got to work at once, relaying the orders; if nothing else, her uncle was reliable. Li¨ºn was far from slow to act herself, having started running as soon as the commands left her mouth. The puppet tail never left her sight for more than a few seconds, always tracked and¡ªjust in case¡ªin her line of fire. Sprinting across the rooftops was hardly exercise for the athletic young girl, but at least it was something. There was even the slightest bit of challenge in the form of wider streets, requiring the use of earthbending to launch herself swiftly over the gaps, without stopping for even a moment. It didn¡¯t take long for the city guard to notice her, and she couldn¡¯t blame them for considering her suspicious¡­but it wasn¡¯t like they were a threat, so she simply dodged or blocked any of the stone projectiles thrown at her from below. All that combined with coordinating her guards was hardly combat, but Li¨ºn had to settle for what she could¡ªafter all, there wasn¡¯t anything else even remotely engaging going on. A couple minutes of pursuit later, the miscreants were ready to be cornered: they were approaching an intersection, the red tassels on the tail swaying to and fro, with Li¨ºn above and her guards prepared to ambush¡ªthe moment the guards stepped out the faux dragon realised it was cornered, and attempted to run. Futile. She came crashing down on it from above, the paper and fabric crumpling beneath her, before rolling and casting aside the puppet covering to reveal a pair of children¡ªperhaps eleven and nine, probably siblings. There was fear in their eyes, and they were silent. Li¨ºn¡¯s first question was simple: ¡°Are you in possession of the stolen goods?¡± ¡°Only some of them,¡± the older child responded. Li¨ºn put out her hand, and with a deflated sigh the two perpetrators handed over their small (yet respectable) haul: a small bag of coins, a chunk of stale bread, and a somewhat plain bracelet. ¡°Do you intend to remeet with the others?¡± ¡°Oka-¡± the bigger one started to speak, before being punched in the arm by the smaller one, ¡°No.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s a yes. If I give you back the bread, will you take me to them?¡± ¡°No,¡± the younger one replied again, shaking her head, ¡°we¡¯ll just have to rot in prison.¡± Before she could get about to interrogating the children more, a pair of city guards (one caked in clay) rounded the corner, yelling, ¡°Desist your resistance, in the name of King Shri!¡± Even though Li¨ºn was always ready to fight, it really wasn¡¯t the time. A few fist-sized rocks came flying at her and the children, intercepted by chunks of the wall as Li¨ºn slammed her fists together. Her targets were already taking their opportunity to run, exploiting the shocked city guards (who were clearly not expecting to meet capable opposition), sliding under their legs¡ªa foolish decision, as they were not capable of evading her in the long run. Facing the guards, she squared up, speaking loud and clear, ¡°I am sorry for interfering with your process. I am Li¨ºn Ruan, delegate to Omashu, and I am not your foe.¡± For a moment they stumbled, before pulling themselves together and dropping their fighting stances, ¡°Apologies for the inconvenience, my, uh, lady. Should we take chase?¡± She held up a palm, ¡°No need; I shall trail them alone. Follow my guards and you will reach their hiding place, along with the rest of their gang.¡± After a small bow, one of the guards (the clean one) approached, ¡°These children are especially¡­slippery. They appear and disappear as if from nowhere; we suspect they have tunnels or passages of some kind beneath the city, likely accessed through various buildings.¡± ¡°Then we had better not delay.¡± Without waiting to see the response of the city guards, Li¨ºn¡¯s pursuit began again, launching herself up to a rooftop once more. The children were entirely oblivious, just as before, none the wiser that they were being followed. This second half of the chase was quicker, with the street rats stopping to help one another through a window, the older child clambering up the sill after giving the shorter one a leg up. Pricking her ears, Li¨ºn listened as there was a rhythmic knock against wood, then the same wood scraping against the stone floor, the kids quietly celebrating their escape before their voices became muffled by too much material in the way. In a single swift movement Li¨ºn dropped from the roof, swinging from the eaves and straight through the window, landing smoothly on the cool tiled floor. Somewhere in the crate-filled room was a trapdoor¡­and she couldn¡¯t be bothered to find it, instead searching for the tunnel it led to. Faint voices came from an ajar door, showing the tea house that the storage room belonged to¡ªno doubt unaware of the secret tunnel in their establishment. Continuing to feel the surface below her, Li¨ºn finally found it: a cavity below, easily wide enough to accommodate her. With a stomp and a slide of her foot a vertical tunnel of her own opened up, and down she leapt. The subterranean passage was pretty much as expected¡ªhewn into the stone of the mountain, like the city itself only rougher; essentially, it was made by an earthbender, albeit one with far less ability than Li¨ºn. Many small feet had travelled that path in recent days, but the newest traces were all that mattered: a trio of children, heading along the downwards route in quite a hurry¡ªthe pitter-patter of their makeshift shoes was still just about audible, scrambling confidently despite the darkness. Content to catch up once they reached their inevitable destination, Li¨ºn took a more measured approach, memorising the various tunnels and intersections just in case. Her journey passed several shoddy stone ladders, none of which the urchins took¡ªthey were going ever deeper, to someplace with a particular smell Li¨ºn couldn¡¯t identify. After what many would consider a harsh trek, the kids¡¯ destination was just ahead, a wide open cave given the reverberation. By the time the hunter reached the tunnel¡¯s mouth, her targets were already out in the open (unlike Li¨ºn, who remained hidden) and gasping for breath; they were used to running, but the brief altercation had clearly shaken them, urging them on to a pace beyond what they could healthily sustain. Not too much could be seen from Li¨ºn¡¯s sheltered position; the cave was lit by torchlight, littered with assorted furniture, rugs, banners, and seemingly whatever else the many children that called the place home could find¡ªthere was even a poorly crafted pond, lined with shiny rocks and gems, within which a juvenile turtle duck (with what looked like a golden necklace as a collar) swam about. It took well over two minutes for the street rats to start talking, the larger one over the worst of their panting, at which point Li¨ºn noticed something approaching from behind her¡ªa slowly moving person, clearly unaccustomed to the tunnel; she guessed they had been following her for a while, just adept enough to keep up but too unskilled to get closer until now: an unintentionally perfect sweet spot for them to avoid notice for so long. Her intuition told her they weren¡¯t a direct threat, so Li¨ºn merely kept an ear trained on their still distant motions, ready to act if need be. For the meantime she remained focussed, listening in on the conversation (or rather report) that was ongoing in the cavern ahead: ¡°We¡¯re sorry,¡± the older of the pair spoke, still occasionally gasping for breath, ¡°we don¡¯t really have anything¡­there was a crazy earthbender¡­she attacked us!¡± The younger one picked up the report, ¡°She had an army! There were, like, fifty of them. Yeah.¡± At that point Li¨ºn¡¯s pursuer finally got close enough to see, a small warm light rounding the corner; it was a hunched over boy (taller than average) from one of the water tribes, carrying a short aflame stick. With a narrowing of her eyes she analysed what was in front of her, quickly coming to the conclusion that he didn¡¯t really know what was going on, nor what he was doing; he was covered in dust, and opened his mouth to speak, only for Li¨ºn¡¯s hand to be put up as a warning¡ªsomething was happening in the cave, a commotion as far more street rats (totalling about thirty) arrived, mostly from different tunnels. ¡°So-¡± Li¨ºn put down one finger. ¡°I¡¯m Massak-¡± One more finger went down. ¡°And-¡± Three digits remained up. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m from-¡± Two. ¡°The Southern-¡± One. ¡°Water Tribe.¡± Zero. Before Li¨ºn got the chance to do anything, however, the tiny light in the boy¡¯s hand fizzled out, and he stepped forward¡ªbumping directly into the young earthbender. She pushed him back to where he had been, and wondered internally what exactly she had done to deserve having to deal with this.