When Avatar Kyoshi instructs Atiyf, a 16 year old boy from the Southern Watertribe, to help and fight alongside the Avatar, he finds himself in conflict with an inevitable choice. Choosing between his almost obsessive, empathetic love for Azula and...
"Avatar Kyoshi!". Atiyf was caught in a state of surprise and disbelief that he was actually facing Avatar Kyoshi herself. The one Avatar, he admiringly looked up to. "Thank you for saving one of my greatest warriors. You are destined for great things, young warrior.", she began speaking to him without starting with an explanation as why she was appearing in his dreams in the first place. "Destined for what?", he asked curiously as he stood up straight and still, while facing the Avatar. "The Avatar is still alive and out there. You must join him and do whatever it takes to end this 100-year-war.", she replied much to Atiyf's shock. "The Avatar is alive...", he mumbled as if he was talking to himself and taking Kyoshi's words to heart undoubtedly. He needed a few more seconds to take all of this in and naturally, he still had many questions that remained unanswered. "Wait...How will I even find the Avatar?", Atiyf asked quickly, before she would disappear at any given moment. "Don't worry, young warrior. The Avatar will find you and you will find your own destiny.", Kyoshi prophesied with a light smile on her face as she slowly faded away into the void.
Atiyf woke up immediately and faced the young girl he had encountered in the forest the previous night before. She was beside herself with happiness to see him awake. She even started to tear up out of pure joy and relief. "What happened...?", Atiyf would stammer, feeling an immense feeling of pain, located in his back.
The previous night before.
"Hey, you! What's your name?", Atiyf had asked the little girl he had found, crying all by herself in the deepest part of the forest during a night of heavy thunderstorm. The young girl tried her best to reply to his question, given the circumstances. She sniffled, rubbing her teary eye and mumbling her name quietly, "My name is...Suki...", the little girl continued to sniffle as she finally looked up at the young boy, who had found her and was talking to her right now. Atiyf knelt down on one knee, looked straight at the little girl and tried to console her gently. "Ok Suki. We will get out of here now, alright?", he started to speak loudly, the thunderstorm getting heavier with every minute. Suki nodded in response to his suggestion. Atiyf made sure to grab her hand slowly, but also surely. He wouldn't ever let go until he knew that she was safe. And that included risking his own safety.
Both were just little kids, but so full of bravery and fearlessness. Something they had to learn from an early age. While the two were running out of the forest, lightnings were hitting the trees surrounding their escape route, left and right. Atiyf felt that sooner or later, they would be targeted next by this dangerous threat. When they finally reached a rather hidden opening of a cave, he forcefully let go of Suki's hand and pushed her inside the safety of the cave, fully aware of the following consequences. "NOOO!", was the last thing he would hear. Then, everything turned pitch-black. No sign of movement. Nor any sign of hope. No sign of life.
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Within seconds, Atiyf had lost a piece of himself that was essential for keeping any hopes and love alive. His heart had stopped beating, the moment the very next lightning had strucked the base of his spine. Suki had seen this tragic incident occurring right before her very eyes, causing her to cry out of panic. Just when all hope was about to be lost, Suki heard strange sounds coming out of the forest. She wasn't sure, what it could be that she was witnessing. To be sure, Suki decided to hide behind a rock inside the cave, while Atiyf was laying unconsciously and face down on the ground. Suki wiped away her last remaining tears and soon, watched 'weird-looking' and 'shiny' animals sourround Atiyf's body as she would describe it later on.
The present day.
"And those animals, they did some kind of magic...And they made you wake up again!", little Suki excitedly explained Atiyf, who just came around and listened to her carefully. He thought of his dream of Avatar Kyoshi and what had happened last night. Atiyf felt that the universe was trying to tell him something. After thanking the people that had found the two kids in the forest and taken care of both of them, it was time for Atiyf to leave. He needed to return to his village, which was located in Earth-Kingdom territory, near the capital of Ba-Sing-Se. Suki quickly hugged him goodbye and Atiyf turned around one last time, before waving to the little girl that was destined to be one of the greatest of Avatar Kyoshi's warriors.
