Braya : The Lost Guardian

A History Lesson

Braya started her morning with many unanswered questions. She decided to head to school early to go to the library. Braya got dressed, and walked out to the kitchen to grab something to eat, before heading to school. The kitchen was quiet. Tenzin and Katara were eating breakfast at the table, along with a young girl Braya had never met before. Katara introduced her as Pema, Tenzin's friend. Braya introduced herself, then shortly after said her goodbyes.

When Braya reached the school, she went straight for the library. She looked everywhere. There was no information about the Guardian in any book. The bell rang, so she grabbed her stuff and went to class. All day she thought about the Guardian and what she was missing. How could she have never heard of this person? Before she realized it, the bell rang again. Three class periods had gone by, and she had been completely lost in thought. She walked into the locker room to get dressed for P.E. Absent-mindedly, she got dressed and walked out to the gym floor.

A loud noise brought her back to reality. Three bender boys Ning, Shu, and Yun had cornered a non-bender boy. Ning, Shu, and Yun were commonly found bullying non-benders. The only reason they left Braya alone was because Ning had a crush on her. Braya stood and watched as the three boys shifted the earth under the non-bender, making him trip and fall all over the place. Watching them mistreat the defenseless boy made her sick. She felt a small burning in her stomach, but quickly felt better when she saw the teacher enter the gym. She expected to see the boys stop in horror, realizing they had been caught. Instead, they continued tormenting the boy. The P.E. teacher didn't say anything to stop the three bullies. They finished with their victim, and went on to play the game for the day.

Class ended, and Braya found herself furious with the situation. She got dressed and started heading for her next class. Halfway to class she spotted Lin at her locker grabbing books for her next class. "Hey! I wanted to talk to you, really quick," Braya said, rushing up to Lin.

"Oh, hey Braya. What's up? I'm kind of in a hurry," Lin said without looking at her.

"Did you see what happened in class to that boy?" Braya said.

"Uh, yeah, I saw. What about it?" Lin finally made eye contact with Braya, trying to figure out where she was going with this.

"I can't watch that again. Next time I'm jumping in, and defending whoever they are bullying. Do you want to join me?" Braya asked.

"No," Lin said quickly. "Look, I understand why it bothered you. It bothers me to see that too, but you can't get involved. You have no bending ability, and they leave you alone. Don't get involved in things not concerning you."

"I can't stand by and watch!" Braya said, taken aback. "We can make a real difference for someone who can't defend themselves."

"Braya, my answer is no. I'm too busy with my training to waste my time with something like this. I won't get involved, '' Lin said harshly before turning to leave.

Braya watched Lin leave. Disappointed, she turned to head to her next class before she was late. She entered the classroom and took a seat. Her history teacher, Ms. Chang entered the room and started answering questions about the assignment from the day prior. Braya sat in silence, lost in thought about what she had seen last class. She almost forgot about the Guardian completely, until her teacher asked if anyone had any other questions before starting the class. Braya shot her hand in the air. Ms. Chang gave Braya a smile before nodding for her to speak. "Is it alright, if I ask a question off topic from what we are learning?" Braya said. Ms. Chang nodded again, giving Braya permission to continue. "I wanted to know about the Guardian." Ms. Chang was taken by surprise at this. She sat in silence for a little while before Braya spoke again. "I tried to find what I could in the library, but there was no information to be found."