The Legend of the Duel Bender

Chapter 1

Life has its ups and downs, and it's ever-changing. The wind is wild and free, never blowing in one place for very long. Water is untamed and never restrained, continually moving. Sometimes, people move on their own as well. Some would like a partner by their side while fighting, eating, sleeping, or loving.

A friend, a lover, or a wife. But when one has wandered so long, the only partner one truly knows is the road. A young man only knew the route, but there was something quite different about him than most others.

His name was Qin. At most, he looked to be in his late teens, but appearances can be deceiving. Qin was, in fact, almost half a century old; his body hadn't changed since the day he turned twenty.

When most learn of this, well, most don't believe it. Considering Qin's looks, it was pretty hard for most to think, so Qin usually never told people this fact about himself. But he wasn't always like this; he used to be normal like everyone else. Well, as normal as someone could get.

Maybe it could be explained better if we go back to his childhood.

Qin grew up in the Northern Air temple. But he was different from the other air-bending children. Qin was born from an Air Acolyte, which is a female Airbender. But his father wasn't an Air Nomad; a male Airbender. His father was a Water Tribe member.

But Qin could never know since he never met either of his parents; he was abandoned at the Northern Air temple. Qin didn't fit in quite well, considering he was different from usual air benders.

For one thing, he didn't quite look like the others, having tan skin. Not to the point of brown like water benders, but it was still noticeable. And then there were his eyes; he was born with two different colored eyes, his right eye gray and the other dark blue. And finally, his hair, unlike other boys, he never really liked to cut his hair; he usually always wore it in a ponytail. His hair was also gray.

And then the nail on the coffin was his bending; sure, like his mother, and her parents before her, and then their parents before them, he was a natural born Air bender like all air children. But like his father, and his parents, and their parents. He also was a waterbender.

Now, this was relatively rare; there had been speculation that he was the Avatar. But that had thrown away when he had chosen the wrong toy. Qin could only bend air and water, which was quite rare in itself.

He was the only person in the world besides the Avatar who could bend more than one element. Qin spent the rest of his time in the Northern Air temple and even was able to become an air-bending master. But Qin never got his tattoos, he didn't want them. That might have had something to do with him not wanting to shave his head.

Qin could have gotten his tattoos when he was ten, he had completed the gates when he was ten years old and even created his own move. But only he could do it since he could water bend, too.

Once he turned fifteen, he chose to leave the temple and travel. And for those past five years, all he knew was peace. He wanted to travel and even went to the Water tribe and did some training under them. Of course, he didn't tell or show them he could air bend; the Air Temples had to be secret from outside nations.

For the next year, he studied the Water Tribe customs, then went to the Earth kingdom, then the Fire Nation, and studied their customs. He learned many ways to improve his bending by looking the other arts.

And then, at nineteen, nearing his twentieth birthday, he had done something he had never forgotten, even to his days now. He did as he always did, wandering around looking for new things to see. Traveling was quite fun, but it could also be dangerous if he didn't know where to go. And that was precisely what Qin did.