Story Time - In the AtLA Universe (Avatar the Last Airbender)

This is just a quick story I dreamed about, and I'm thinking about turning it into a whole fanfic. This isn't how I usually write stories, but this is how I felt it should be written since it felt like more of an experience than a short story thing. It will be easier to understand if you have watched Avatar the Last Airbender and Legend of Korra, but I think it makes sense well enough even if you haven't.

This dream took place in the Avatar the Last Airbender world, sometime between Avatar Aang and Avatar Korra. (to briefly explain this world, people have “bending” and they can manipulate earth, fire, water, or air. There are also non-benders which are very common as well. It takes place in an older time, no technology, and in my dream, things like electricity were relatively new, or at least new to our village which was far from the big cities.) I had been living in a village where most people, including myself, were non benders. In the past 40-50 years though, the non benders have been aggressive and jealous towards the benders and did not want them showing their powers. Many benders were too poor to leave the village, so instead they hid their bending from a young age and pretended it did not exist. At some point at school I ran into two benders talking to each other. They were my age, about 14 or 15, and they were planning an escape so they could practice their bending in their everyday lives instead of putting themselves and their families in danger by trying to bend in secret. They were afraid when I caught them and didn’t want me to tell anyone so they tried to lie. I disagreed with the suppression of their bending and told them so, and agreed to help them escape. I didn’t have bending, but my parents in this world had been strict about bending and even though we were all non benders in my family, they were so angry about it all the time. I wanted to get away and experience the world without the limits they set for me, and if I could go with these benders, we would keep eachother safe. 

One of the kids was a boy, an airbender, and the other was a girl, waterbender. The airbender had been practicing his bending with his aunt since he was a baby and was rather good at it. He wanted to get away and be free to fly like the airbenders in stories he’s heard from his aunt. The water bender however, was not a rule breaker, and neither was her family. She wanted to find riches and see the world so she could bring back money and stories for her siblings and family. We planned for days, and had a pack from the airbender’s aunt. The dream did not give me any names. Everyday for a few weeks, we brought some food that would last, stealing only a bit of jerky or preserved vegetables. The airbender found a sword that belonged to his uncle, given to him by his aunt, and he brought it one night, saying he was unsure if we needed it, since he did not want to use a sword. The waterbender girl didn’t want the sword either, but I thought it was perfect and asked him if I could have it. He agreed and every day when we met, I practiced with my sword and the benders practiced their elements. Eventually, we made our escape.

When we finally left, it was three days before our planned escape. Someone had seen us leaving and bending and sword training and told on us. The villagers were furious, my parents, their parents were angry too. They were going to try and punish us, throw rotten food at us and scold us and pretend we didn’t exist while also keeping close eyes on us. The Airbender’s aut stopped them though, if only for a little while. Before she settled in this town and lost her money, she was an airbending master, she used her skills to buy us time, something she would need to run for or pay for. We ran, The airbender carried the pack and I had the sword, perfect for my height, on my waist. The water bender tied water canisters around her belt and we all just ran.

We stopped a few times, sleeping under trees and taking turns staying up, in fear of wolves we’d hear in our sleep. A few times I made remarks about wishing I was a firebender so we could have a fire quickly instead of rubbing sticks for hours each time we needed warmth. We passed travelers and they told us they were headed to some small cities, but we knew those cities weren't’ enough for us. We wanted adventure, we left our lives for it, so we had to head to the nearest big city we knew of, Republic City. 

Eventually, the airbender learned how to manipulate the air to fly, like his aunt had shown him. The first few times he tried to carry us with him, he failed, but soon he learned to hold us all up and we were flying together, holding tight.

That’s where my dream started. 

We were flying, not too high from the ground in case someone fell, but high enough to feel the freedom. We didn’t feel wind in our hairs or on our cheeks, that was because of the airbending technique that bent the air in ways that wouldn’t let that happen, but we felt free nonetheless. I remember putting my arms out and pretending I was a bird and the waterbender cautioning me gently. Eventually we got to some high wires we knew from our school lessons were new technology, electrical lines. The airbender, who was getting tired already, dropped us slightly and we slowed and steered unbalanced. The waterbender was nervous and clung to me and the airbender. 

“Don’t fly us too close to those lines-” I remember warning, but he accidentally did and I remember feeling the burning pain of rubber on my arm as it grazed along to wirelines. I only hissed and the bender moved us farther away and we went back down, ready to walk again. 

We walked all the way to a station that had a train. It was by a small pond and a tavern with other travelers and merchants.

The water bender used her bending to create bubbles of water which awed everyone, including me. Each time she dropped it back into the pond, she made a bigger bubble to bring back up. 

The dream flipped through scenes like a broken film tape, but it had an overall peaceful tone. I had just escaped what felt like a prison. I had already seen so much more than I could’ve imagined, and I was so happy and peaceful to know that there was only so much more to see. 

Someone started playing music as it got dark and lanterns needed to be lit. I walked outside and called out to some people there. 

“Are there any firebenders here? We need someone to light the lanterns!” I exclaimed to the crowd. A few young boys and a girl came over and said they were firebenders, one of them put out their hand to me and ignited their fingertips, saying, “Where are the lanterns?” and I guided them inside. Of course I was fascinated by the fire, having it been the first firebender performing fire I’d ever seen. We sat down on the bench and he showed me some fire bending tricks he’d learned. 

The waterbender came over and showed me a lighter someone had given her, she said they’d claimed they were common in Republic City, and that it was only another two days away! She showed me how it worked, flicking the lid up and trying to produce flame. It took a few tries, as the man didn’t give out a perfectly functional lighter, but it was beautiful nonetheless. It would help us with the rest of our journeys. She joked that she was a firebender. 

We danced with the people there for a bit until the loud train came and we insisted we’d ride with the bagage since we didn’t have enough money to pay for tickets. The conductor did not mind and we were let on. We fell asleep in the train feeling happy and excited while also blissful and peaceful. And that’s when I woke up.

This dream absolutely made my day and I kept the feeling of peace the entire day.

While writing this, I realized it would have to be after Harmonic Convergence, so at this time it would’ve been anywhere from between 20-50 years after harmonic convergence (since the airbender’s aunt was something of a master airbender) so Korra would have to be getting old or middle-aged. Now that I think about it, it makes a lot of sense why the aunt’s airbending style (which went on to be the boy’s airbending style) was so aggressive and non-airbender. But then how did the boy have airbending? I wouldn’t be surprised if his “aunt” was actually his mother and they took him away from her so he wouldn’t be raised by a lowkey crazy lady with airbending. That would also explain why she didn’t leave the city sooner, besides not having much money or supplies to go, she probably wanted to stay with her son. That explains a lot. 

I wanted to talk about the airbender and his aunts fighting style because they weren’t nearly the same as most airbenders. Some common fighting styles the airbender would use were an airbending tornado or a strike, often going ahead for the hit than defending and evading. If I had to compare it to another benign style, I’d say he was using more firebending techniques than any other element. If I could give him a bending based off of his personality, fire would fit the best. 

As for the water bender, she hadn’t yet learned much about bending yet and could only direct small amounts of water, and was just learning how to create ice crystals. The water bender was much less prone to fighting, and often resorted to hand-to-hand combat since her powers weren’t very well developed. And why she was good at stopping attacks or nimbly taking weapons away from opponents, she was too afraid to harm any of them and usually tossed the weapons away or used them to block. I think she will get better though, and hopefully as she learns more waterbending, she will feel more confident with that as well. 

I was a non-bender in this dream, but I did have the sword the airbender’s uncle (or with new evidence maybe it was actually his father), and from the training I had managed to get with it, I was relatively good with attacks and blocks. Oftentimes though, we were either saved by the airbender or we all ran away. 

To compare us all, if we had to come up with a plan, the airbender was strategic, focused, and had a stern look on his face. He might ask if he could use my journal and pencil to write down a few things or draw maps or lines that would explain his ideas better than he would with his words. The waterbender would sit and practice waterbending, trying to meditate with the water for ideas. I think she had a more free and quiet spirit than the rest of us. I would scribble in a book and say my thoughts aloud, serious and determined, but not as serious as the airbender.

Any plan would be well executed, especially if it was the airbender’s plan because he would make sure we all knew exactly what to do. The water bender and I did listen, though I was sometimes annoyed when I  had given an idea(which I thought was a good one) and he purposefully left it out of the plan with no debate. IN those times I would either begrudgingly go through with the plan or try my own thing so long as it didn’t interfere with the other’s goals.

It was only a dream but I felt like I knew them, and I actually miss them! I don’t want to dream them up again because I want to make sure I’m not manipulating the characters and their personalities or backgrounds, but it would be nice to see them again.