The stone discs shattered and cracked as they were thrown from one side of the courtyard to the other. A raven-haired (black hair) boy threw a stone at his opponent but he dodged it and returned at flying disc which hit the boy and sent him across the courtyard. This training exercise was being watched by a few other students and a couple adults. One adult paid close attention to the black haired boy. The smaller one got back up and charged another stone disc at his opponent. The other boy, who was obviously more skilled than him hit the stone with another disc and fired two different ones at him, which of course hit him. He was sent flying, farther than before and hit the ground with much force. This caused the boy to start panting. The older boy proudly strutted over to his fallen partner and started to laugh. He then started to laugh.
"Looks like you need more practice junior." The smaller boy bit his lip and fired more stones at him. But, he then dodged them. The two continued until the so called "junior" was exhausted. His partner made a confident laugh and looked to their teacher.
"Hey, I think he's had enough." Though, he didn't give up. The earthbender then made his stance to fire but this time he was full of anger. And he, of course, fired. But to his surprise, in fact to everyone's surprise, a bright orange fire spit from his hand. He jumps back at the sight and so does his partner. Everyone stares at him with wide eyes and open mouths. He was just as shocked as the rest of them.
"Tsurei...!" Yells his father who stands from his chair. Everyone's attention turns to the man as he spoke in his burly voice. He still sounded confused. His son looks towards him then to the floor. He bits his lip before he precedes to run away from the crowd, leaving everyone confused and without an answer.

A few hours later, the boy was sitting on his front porch, rotating small rocks in his hand. After sitting there, staring at the rocks, he dropped the rocks on the ground and began to walk into his mansion. He opened the door but before it was open completely he heard his parents talking. Though, he could only make out a little of what they were saying "This is the third time it happened this week..." More mumbles were heard from his mother."You don't mean... No, he can't..."
After hearing that from his father, the raven-haired ran from his house. He stopped running when he reached a small park, just outside his families' district. The earthbender walked up to a bench and put his hands on his face. He breathed loudly. Standing still for a few seconds before sitting on the stone bench that was placed on the side of a pond. He stared into his hand.
'The heat, it's so strong. It's like fire. No one should be able to do this.' He clenched his fist until he breathed out a long sigh. He closed his eyes and still held out his palm. Suddenly, he could see light through his eye lids. He opened his eyes and his palm was on fire.
"What the-!" He yelled as a single orange flame fluttered in his hand. He stared into it and he suddenly got more excited. The flame grew larger and larger but his concentration was interrupted when a man made a loud gasp. A fellow man was staring at him, he had a terrified look on his face and his arms were pulled back. They stared at each other until the flame went out and turned to ash.
"Uh..." escaped his lips. The other man's eyes went wide.
"You're the Kyoji kid... You... You..." The boy stood up and put his hands up to calm the man down. But, the man took this as a threat and ran off screaming about a fire bender, and a word that was new to him. He ran to the gate of the park where the man was standing and stared at him as he ran off with his arms above his head.
"Uhm..." He said with a dumbstruck look on his cold face. The sun had almost started going down. This is when he went back to his house and as he opened the wooden carved door he saw his mother standing by the doorway at the end of the hall looking in.
"Mother?" He called out to her. She immediately turned her head and looked at him. She ran up to him and gestured for him to be quiet.
"Tsurei, my dear..." She said with worry in her eyes.

An hour or two passed by, but the time went by so fast that the boy could not tell the time. He was running through a dark tunnel, having only a few cracks and barred windows as light. The muddy water splashed at his feet as he ran. Staining his boots. The tunnel was covered with water for it connected to the sewers. Water dripped down from the walls and filled small puddles. Sweat beamed down his cheeks. He then thought about the news he had heard from his mother.

' "My dear, something has happened. You must be quiet..." She took him outside to their garden. "What is it?" He whispered. "These men are looking for you." She went wide eyed. "Wha- Why?!" She shushed him again. "There is something you must know...- She paused- haven't you wondered why you've been having those incident's lately? It is impossible for a Earthbender such as yourself to be able to do that, to fire bend." "What? Firebend? How...?" She looked behind her and then pushed him father into the garden. That is when they started to hear people coming into the house and other people muttering amongst themselves outside their house. "Wait, are you saying... No... No, it's just..." She sighed. "You've shown this before, when you were very young. Too young to remember. Your father and I did all we could to keep it a secret... But it wasn't enough." He broke from his daze and stared at her. "Keep what a secret? What are you hiding." She gulped and put her hands on his shoulders. "You are the Avatar... The only person in the world that can master all four elements. And, sadly. The only person in the world that people want dead so much." A man started to come out of the house but it was too dark to see them. "You must go, run. If they catch you they will kill you, do you understand." He nodded. "This is all too confusing. Why me." She shook her head. "Use the tunnels below Omashu. It will lead you out of here. Your father and I will protect you and we'll take your secret to the grave. Now go." She pushed him away. "But." She tried to protest. "Go!" She yelled and pointed to the garden. With that he ran off and his mother entered their house.'

He continued running but stopped as he heard footsteps. He quickly hid behind a pillar and tried to be a quiet as possible. Though, to his surprise a familiar animal came out instead of a mob of angry men. A brown badger mole, twice the size of the boy came out and ran at him. He ran up to his pet and it pounced at him.
"Zushi." He called the animal's name with a smile. It sniffed his face and licked him with his giant tongue. They froze when sounds came from the entrance of the tunnel and he quickly climbed up onto it's back and held onto its fur. It suddenly started to speed down the tunnel. Even though it wasn't all that fast, they still made progress.

Farther and farther, the boy and his pet went into the tunnel. Soon it was pitch black, so the raven-haired boy was relying on his pet's sense of smell to guide him. Hours passed by and soon the tunnel into a dead end. The earth bender dismounted the badgermole and took a deep breath. He shoved his fingers into the stone and dirt wall and pushed. He spread his arms, pulling the dirt with it and clearing a path. Bright light poured into the dark tunnel and almost blinded him. A day had already passed and it was early dawn. The boy looked around and saw he was on the side of Omashu. He then stared towards his hometown. The dry sandy air blew towards the boy and caused him to cover his eyes from the sand. He looked up at the blue sky as the sun was beaming down on him. Then suddenly, the boy started to feel tired but the moment passed in an instant.
"Uh...- he put his hand on his head- maybe I need some sleep." he said to his pet. Not that long after, the avatar found a small harbor town near Omashu. It lead straight to the ocean. 'I'll have to find an inn, but I need money.' He thought to himself, than he reached for his bag that is usually draped around his shoulder but he found that it wasn't there. He stood still staring at the empty place. His head then sunk into his shoulders.
"I left it at my house, didn't I." "Sir, excuse me." Said an old man running a little shop by the harbor.
"Is that silk you're robes are made of?" The avatar stood, taken back.
"Uhm... Yes?" He answered wearily. "I knew it! I have an eye for these things." Then old man said and pointed to his right eye. And the boy stepped back.
"Where did you get those, son?" He asked and leaned on his desk.
"My mother made them." He answered. The reply made the man chuckle.
"Your mother is a wonderful seamstress." He said that then turned to his side and started to clear up his desk.
"Uhm... Old man"- the man turned and looked at him- "If I were to sell silk robes from Omashu to a vender, how much would I get?" He said and the old man chuckled.
"From Omashu eh? Quite a bit son."

A while after, the noble boy's new clothes made him look like a normal citizen. Sitting on a bench, the raven-haired tied the last string on his brown boots and wrapped a large green scarf around his skinny neck. Once he was ready, the avatar opened his newly bought "man purse" for his money. Seeing that most of the money was gone, he sank into his chair. It was much colder in the town then before. He badgermole crawled beside the bench, for it was too big to sit on it, and put its head on the ground. A few people walking by stared at him and pointed. Luckily, no one realized that it was him.
"I've got enough money for the inn but not much for anything else. And where do I go anyway?" He then raised his hand to his chin and pondered. He then snapped his fingers. "I got it! We could go to the Air Temple! We could take the boat and go there. I sure they would know something." He then pet his pet's head and it licked his hand. "Sorry, you won't be able to see anything on the boat. But the money..." After sitting, he got up from the bench and started to walk over to the inn, but he suddenly heard a cry of a woman.
"Please, you must help. Please sir, will you help." She pleaded to a man who just brushed past her. "Sir, my daughter is in trouble." She wondered over to where the avatar was sitting. "Sir, please help me." He then stepped back in confusion.
"Uh... Yes? What do you need?" She smiled. "Please sir, my little girl has been kidnapped by thugs. Ruthless monsters who bully the poor. A few other people went to take care of them, but... I've heard no word of reply... I fear I'll never see her again." She said then buried her face in her hands.
"Thugs? Why did they take your daughter?" He asked sincerely.
"They threatened to burn down my shop if I didn't give them money. But they took my baby. And I don't know what to do..." She said and started to weep. The earth bender froze at the sight of the woman crying and he did not know how to comfort her.
"I could help you." He said and she shot up her gaze to him. "I could get your daughter back." He immediately stated, unsure why he did.
"You, you will." She asked.
"Yes, I can't stand by while those terrible men do harm towards innocent people."
"Thank you, thank you so much. I don't know how I could ever repay you." The woman said between sniffs. "Those thugs took my daughter and fled towards the forest. I don't know where they are and I can't go get her." She looked to her with concern and clapped his hands together.
"I promise to get your daughter back miss. I swear I will." He convinced the woman that he would help but he wasn't so sure if he could do it.

Kasumi dodged an attack and thrust her blade into the thugs heart. After killing the last of them, she continues down the forest, trying to find the captured girl, when 6 more thugs appeared.

"Damn it! How many of these guys are there?"

Kasumi got into a fighting stance as they charged. The first thug tried to stab her, but she easily countered it and slit his throat. She dodged another attack from the firebending thug. The others followed, determined to kill her, until Kasumi threw down a smoke bomb concealing her from their sight. With the thugs distracted, she hid out of their sight. Hiding behind a tree, she was about to attempt a sneak attack until she saw a boy with raven hair and a large badger mole running toward her and the thugs.

What is he doing here? She thought.

Only after leaving the woman's side, he set out into the "forest" to search for the little girl. The sun heated down on the boy. His badgermole followed behind slowly, tired from the sprint he did back in the tunnel. The avatar pet Zushi's head. Only a little ways away, he heard sounds of swords and battle cries. Instantly, the earthbender ran towards the noise. Though his badgermole ran ahead of him. To his surprise, he saw a group of large shady looking men. The men were looking around, as if for something but their attention turned to him. He froze in his place as their icy glares were upon him.

"Aye, look at that. A guest comes to join our little party." The thug said in his bad English. They then began to approach the avatar.
"Hey, I'm not trying to cause trouble." He protested. "I uhm..." He stuttered. "I'm just helping a woman find her child." He said and cautiously backed away, step by step. A large thug wearing a hat walked in front of his teammates and looked up and down at the boy.
"I guess the old hag sent another one to go rescue her precious little daughter."
'Another?' The avatar thought. "So you do have the child." He stated plainly. A different thug held his sword in his hand and started to wobble over to the boy, which caused him to take another step back
"I guess we got to kill this brat as well." The thug spat.
"I- I don't want to hurt you." The raven-haired boy wearily stuttered. This caused another laugh from the older thug.

The avatar spread out his legs and his arm, when a rock came from the ground and he pushed his arm forward at the rock and it went flying at the man. It split in half and both pieces snapped around his wrists and flung him back until he hit a boulder. The stone cuffs melded with the boulder and kept him in place.
"He's an earth bender!" Yelled a thug with deep burly voice.

- Anwar -

---

The black horse's hot breath turned into mist in the frosty air of the Southern Air Temple.

"Easy there, girl," the horse's rider chuckled, brushing a hand through his steed's mane, "We're here."

The gate creaked open, and the masked rider rode into the courtyard. It was empty. As the horse came to a stop the only movement was from the lightly falling snow. The large animal brayed and shifted nervously, only stopping after the rider shushed her once more. "Feeling restless today, aren't we, Neres?" The rider teased, patting his companion gently before dismounting.

The tall, dark man gave a quick glance around the empty courtyard. There wasn't a soul in sight, and the entire temple was dead with silence. The man smirked, turning his attention back to his horse. His hands worked quietly, removing his belongings from Neres in the still air.

"Still sneaking around, I see," the man chuckled, his attention focused on the task at hand, "Old friends don't get warm welcomes anymore?"

"Hmph," the voice of an old man scoffed, "If you're looking for warmth, snow-covered mountains are not the place."

"I wouldn't worry, old friend," the newcomer laughed again, turning to face the elderly man who had appeared from, seemingly, thin air, "Just as ever..." he lowered his voice with sharp eyes, "I brought the fire."

The old monk observed him for a moment more before stepping aside to welcome him inside, "And, just as ever..." the monk closed his eyes, "You bring far more than that with you."

-Gin-

---

The cold chilling wind circled the Air Temple's garden, where a black-haired girl sat, playing with her airbending. She was testing to see how long she could keep a single petal in the air. That was a little interest to the little Flying Bison cub that sat at her feet, gnawing on the tips of her shoes.

"Gin! Gin!" A young girl's voice called out. Gin looked over at the girl, nearly half her age.

"Itami? What is it?" Gin says, surprised in the urgency of the little girl's voice.

"Gin. There's a scary man. He was talking to Monkey. He was scary, do something!" The girl squeaked.

"Alright, alright." She walked to the enterence to the tower, tripping over Itami and the bison.

She headed down the spiraled tower, surprised why no one would have informed her about a visitor. After reaching the main enterence, she peeked over the wall and saw the Monk. Though he was talking to a hooded figure. The dark hood did give the man a shady appearence, so she understood why he frightened all the childen. Pulling her cloak close her, she walked out towards the Monk. She stood a few feet away from the Monk, and spoke.

"Monk?" She says, almost monotone.

Still hiding behind the tree, Kasumi watched the earthbending boy struggling to defend himself. If I don't help him he could get hurt, or even die. She thought.

Kasumi readied her bow and aimed at the thug nearest to the boy. Before the thug could attack, the arrow pierced his heart, and his lifeless corpse fell to the ground. The 3 remaining thugs stood in shock, and so did the boy, as Kasumi charged.

One by one the thugs attacked, and each fell to her blade while the boy still remained still. In less than a minute, the last thug's bloody body fell to the ground. She turned to the boy, who had a look of shock and fear on his face. "Who are you?" Kasumi asked him.

- Anwar -

---

The monk sighed, sending a frustrated glare to the smirking man in front of him, "You realize you ask much of us--"

"I ask only what I know you'd give me anyway," the dark skinned man grabbed the monk's bald head with a teasing look, "You worry too much, old man. That's why all your hair fell out."

"Monk?" A girl's voice called out.

The hooded man snapped his gaze up--his hand still on the monk's head. A young woman stepped forward. She had thin black hair that fell down her sides and a pale blue flower in her hair that matched her eyes.

"Ah, Gin," the monk spoke, turning to her, "We have a guest. This is..." The monk paused, sending a mysterious look to the man next to him.

"Anwar," the newcomer kneeled, bowing deeply, "I am Anwar, sadeeqah. It is a pleasure." The man gave a warm smile, but then realized he was still cloaked. "Aiya, I must have forgotten my manners with my horse," he chuckled, pulling off his cloak and mask to reveal his face. He cocked his head to the side with a smile, letting his soft black-red hair fall against his cheek, "Forgive me."

WHAM! The monk whacked his staff against Anwar's head.

"Ignore him, Gin," the monk said with an annoyed look, "He's used to women falling for that act. Don't be fooled."

Anwar chuckled, rubbing the bump on his head, "How cruel..." A devilish smirk played across his lips, "But it's not just women who fall for me, old man. You underestimate my skills," he winked with a flourish.

The monk stared blankly, "I'm not falling for you. I'm a married man, I refuse."

Anwar sweatdropped, "I wasn't offering..." He gave the monk a creeped out look before turning back to Gin with a perfect smile, "It was Gin, was it not? Would you kindly accompany me to the kitchen? I find I am rather famished after my trip."

He extended a hand, proper like a gentleman, awaiting the response of the lovely lady before him.

The avatar watched as the thugs were killed. A large thug snuck up from behind him and started to swing his axe at him but before he got close, the thug fell to his knees and then hit the ground. The boy quickly back away from the falling thug only to step on a corpse. He jumped away from that body and stared to the girl. As she approached him, he stared back to her, ignoring her question.

"You-" He paused. "You just killed all those people?" He stopped for a moment.

Kasumi sighed in annoyance. I don't have time for this! She thought, as she took another step toward the boy who still had that terrified look on his face.

"You did not answer my question. Who are you? And also, Why did you come? It's dangerous to come into a place like this on your own you know." said Kasumi.

The woman asked him again and the boy paused. "Tsurei... Tsurei Kyoji." He said. "And, I... Wait, "he started," you came here by yourself. And did I not just take out that one guy!" He yelled pointing to the thug who was still stuck to the boulder.

"I came here to help a woman find her daughter! Was I wrong to help a woman in need?" He yelled to her. "Never mind, are you here to help her too?"

Tsurei slightly irritated Kasumi, but she decided to give in.

"Yes I came to rescue her daughter. My name is Kasumi Kotou. I can find the girl on my own, but if you insist on coming with me, we should ask the last thug for any helpful information." She pointed to the thug, who was still restricted to the boulder.

Gin faked a friendly smile.
"Keep acting like that, you'll regret coming to the Temple. Follow me if you wish." Gin says in a cold voice, then bowing to the Monk and pressing her knuckle to the palm to her, before escoting Anwar to the Temple kitchens. On their way, they were followed by whispers of girls, no doubt talking about Anwar. Gin rolled her eyes. As they arrived, Gin ordered the food for Anwar, and she was about to make her leave.

- Anwar -

---

With a flourish of his cape, Anwar seated himself elegantly, raising a finger to his lips in thought.

"You are..." he paused for a moment, "what was the name, aya, it was--ah! Meelo!" He snapped his finger in remembrance, "You are Meelo's daughter, are you not?"

Anwar crossed his legs and leaned back in his chair, a smile on his face. He was content with conversing with this new acquaintance for a while. He loved chatting, especially with beautiful women.

"So, sadeeqah," his devilish smirk widened, "Tell me about yourself."

There was something in his eyes that looked dangerous. Something that pried into your mind and said to escape, but his smirk and his aura were so unmatchingly charming--bred of high class and sophistication--that it was unnerving.

"Don't be shy," he purred, "You tell me a secret, I'll tell you mine."

I'll tell you everything and nothing, little girl...

Kyoji avoided all the dead bodies and walked to the thug. The thug stared at Kyoji then to Kasumi. "Uhm...." He stuttered. "We, I uhm..." He then muttered before looking at Kasumi. "You ask him!" He demanded and took a little step back.

"I ain't saying nothing." The thug spoke in his deep voice.

Kasumi sighed, and walked toward the thug, and held her dagger close to his throat. She glared into his wide eyes, "Where are you keeping the girl?" she demanded.

The thug gulped, "Fine!" he shrieked, I'll tell ya as long as you let me live!" Kasumi sheathed her blade. "You have my word, now tell me." She demanded
"Shes bein' held in a hut by my boss just north of here!" He stuttered, as he looked toward her in fear "Now please...let me go."

"You just sold out your companions that easy?" Kyoji said with more demand.
"I value my life more than my gang. I repeat, please let me go." He said and took a gulp. The thugs icy grey eyes almost bore hole in the boy's head.

"He answered the question." The avatar said to the girl beside him. "We should let him go." The thug looked to the boy then to Kasumi. Kyoji took a step back and raised her wrists. The stone cuffs suddenly fell to the ground. The thug made a relieved sigh and rubbed his sore wrists.

"Thank you, I'll get out of your way right now." The thug said wearily.

-Gin-

---

Gin nodded in surprise. It was quite uncommon that someone would successfully guess who her father was, since she and her father were almost the complete opposite. Gin turned back to Anwar and took a seat across from him.

"What is there to tell?" Gin shrugged and stared blankly at the wall, avoiding Anwar's vicious eyes. She was silent for a few moments, twirling her hair and thinking of something to say in response to strange raven-haired man sitting in front of her. "Even if there were secrets to tell, I would not tell them to a complete stranger." She says quietly, still avoiding eye contact with him.

- Anwar -

---

Anwar chuckled, leaning back in his chair, hands behind his head and legs crossed on the table, "So defensive! Aiya!" He smirked. The sharpness in his eyes disappeared almost instantly, and his previous jovial manner returned. It was at that moment that the monk entered the room.

"What sharp words this young one has," Anwar placed a hand over his heart teasingly, winking to the monk, "she's severed my heart strings and refused my advances." The dark man smirked. His exotic accent seemed to become heavier the more he joked.

"Then I've taught her well," the monk nodded to Anwar, his eyes serious, "I've made the arrangements."

"Ah," Anwar's smile softened a little as he shifted, pulling his legs off of the table into a formal position. He eyed Gin warily, his eyes almost teasing her, "Thank you for the company, sadeeqah. I shall try not to scare you away so much, next time."

The monk closed his eyes for a moment before turning to Gin, "That will be all." He nodded, gesturing to the stairs, "Rest up. Tomorrow, training continues."

As the girl left the room, Anwar's happy-go-lucky demeanor vanished. He rested his hand on his chin, his eyes fixed from underneath his bangs on the old monk before him. Sharp and cold.

"Tell me, old friend," the monk spoke calmly, taking a seat in front of him. "...What really happened?"

The dark stranger smirked.

"A fire was set."

---

The morning sun shone through the frosty, clear air of the temple courtyard. The grounds were bustling. Monks wandered around, meditating and instructing their students. Children played in the gardens, shirking their duties. The birds sang, the flying bison groaned. And the girls of the temple flocked outside the door to a particular man's room. All was the usual for this quiet day at the temple--that is, all except for, you know, the latter.

"I'll wash your shirt for you!" One of the girls cried.
"N-no, that's quite alright," Anwar tried.
"And your pants! I'll take your pants!" Another one squealed.
"No, really, ladies, I'm just--ah!" Anwar choked as a little girl leaped onto his back, dragging him down by his cape.
"He's cute," the child giggled, "Can we keep him?"
The women of the temple all squealed in agreement and bounced up and down, distracted enough by this idea to let Anwar catch his breath and yell, "Ah! Look! A pigeonrat!" He pointed to the distance, "It's flying away with the kitchen pies!"
The head of the kitchen, a crotchety old lady whipped around like a bull, eyes on fire. "Again?!" She shrieked, already charging toward the kitchen, "Come on ladies! Time to catch us some stew surprise!!!"

The women cheered and ran after their leader, leaving Anwar safe and alone--well, alone except for the little girl still on his back, who he gently set down and patted on the head.

"Keep an eye out for me, little one," he waved at the girl as he snuck away.
The child gave him a silly salute, "Yesthir!" She lisped.

Anwar adjusted his cape and mask, which had been nearly torn off him, as he walked up to his old friend, the monk.

"Hizashi," Anwar nodded his greeting with the monk's name, still tending to his ragged appearance.

The monk didn't look at him, he was focused instead on the group of children meditating before him. A particularly large monk with round cheeks blinked at Anwar, "What happened to you?" He asked politely.

Anwar could only sigh, "Wolves," he finished tucking away his mask, "Very hungry wolves."

Kasumi turned to the thug "Go, find work with good men." she stated, as the thug nodded and waddled away.

She turned to Tsurei "We should hurry, it's only of matter of time before something bad happens to her" she said, and began to make her way north, not bothering to see if the boy was following.

Kyoji watched the thug as he ran away from the two until he was out of sight. "Let's g-" He said but stopped to see the girl had already gone ahead of him.
"Hey wait!" He said and ran after her. "Wait, do you know where the girl is?" He asked as he walked next to Kasumi. We can't just wander the forest, aimlessly." The avatar asked.

Kasumi rolled her eyes, still annoyed by the boy. "While I was searching for her earlier, I was ambushed by those thugs we took out earlier. It means that we must be close by" she statted, as they continued.

After searching for not too long, they spotted a small hut. "Look over there" she said, pointing towards it "That might be where she is held"

Kyoji was looking towards the girl as she spoke but then looked forward to see a small hut. Kyoji then hurried to the hut. He circled around the hut for the door and he found it on the other side.
"The door's here." He said to Kasumi. He saw that there was a large lock on the door. He then held it.

"There's a lock here. And there aren't any windows, I guess we'll have to open it."

Kasumi examined the lock, it seemed worn out and old. She turned to Tsurei.

"I think I can pick the lock with my knife, or break it" She stated, "I'm not sure if It will work but it's all we have now"

"Or we could use the key." Kyoji said to Kasumi and held up a copper coloured key. "I think it would be more efficient."
He said and held out his hand to give the girl the key.