Avatar: Harmony of Elements

Begrudging Mercy

It was early afternoon, and the sun was shining brightly. On a day as clear as this, the lofty mountains were distinctly visible from which flowed the Shao River. Breaking off into various streams, it eroded away the soft soil of the valleys, exposing the mineral rich layers beneath the crust. This process created several canyons of various sizes which together were called the Shao Canyon. Further upriver, however, the landscape transformed into lush green valleys through which the central and largest stream of the Shao River twisted and turned like a shimmering blue serpent, slithering out of its lair within high snow caped peaks. In this region, the land around the river was rich with grassland and moors, consisting of various flora and fauna. The mountains in the distant grew larger as grassland transformed into hills covered in coniferous trees and shrubs. The air here was cooler and more humid than the dry hot air of the canyon down river. Against the glorious blue sky, a lone fluffy cloud could be seen moving at an unusually fast speed. A closer observation, however, would reveal that it was no cloud, but a flying bison. Something which had not been seen by anyone in these regions for over a hundred years. Thankfully, there were no keen bystanders in this area and Appa silently flew north, carrying it's weary and strangely quiet travelers up-river towards the mountains.

Aang had visited the Western Air temple once, with monk Kiatso, before it was revealed to him that he was the avatar. However, at that time Aang was oblivious, like the rest of the world and even most of the common air nomad community, that the leaders of air nation had built a secret abode within the high peaks of the Shao Mountain range. It was to this abode that Aang presently steered Appa towards as the rest of gang rested in the saddle. Aang was deep in his thoughts as Appa flew across the vast landscapes of hills. He had never known about this secret abode before until Avatar Roku told him during the winter solstice three years ago, when he first entered the spirit world. A hundred years ago, it would have been unusual for the air nomads to build a secret hidden abode somewhere in some high mountain range. So, why did the air nomads feel the need to build a secret abode hidden from the rest of the world? Did they expect invasion or even a worldwide war that would annihilate their entire race? Was this place used as a safe house by the air nomads to escape such annihilation? Could it be that some of the air nomads escaped the genocide? Aang had hoped that there might still be air benders left in the world, but soon that hope dwindled into deep sorrow. In all their travels during the past three years, Aang had not heard about or seen a single air bender let alone a community of air benders. As time passed, it became apparent to Aang that the Air Nomads no longer existed, and he felt solely responsible for it. The guilt ate at him like a parasite. Guilt that he abandoned his people to die. Thriving and prospering people, cruelly obliterated from the face of the earth.

Prior to the war and when the air nomads still inhabited the Western temple, the Shao River freely flowed down into the canyon, enriching the surrounding land with plenty of water which caused the land to flourish just like the land up-river. The air nomad community had thrived as their land blossomed with vegetation and beautiful, colorful gardens integrated within the temple. When the fire nation attacked the Western Air temple, one of their strategies to weaken the air nomads was to cut off their source of water. The stream which fed the canyon where the Temple was built, was blocked up by the fire nation soldiers. Without continuous flow of water pouring into the canyon, the stream dried and the community was left defenseless. They could not protect themselves against the raging fiery attacks. Furthermore, Sozin's comet gave the fire benders unprecedented power. It amplified their fire bending resulting in gigantic blasts and attacks that scorched everything in its path for up to several hundred meters. Some of the air nomads tried to defend themselves by air bending, but instead of controlling the fire, air bending caused it to spread even more. With their own element tragically working against them, and the sheer onslaught of the fire nation soldiers enhanced by the comet, the helpless air nomads stood no chance against that nightmarish inferno. Their flying Bisons all killed, and their habitat burned, they had no choice but to abandon the temple, but even escape was not possible. Some of the leaders tried to escort a handful of the air nomads including air benders to escape to this safe abode further north and into the mountains via secret tunnels and pathways. However, the Fire nation general who led the conquest at the time, found out about the hidden tunnels and pathways. Those who tried to secretly escape to the abode were followed, and when their location was exposed, they were ruthlessly attacked. The fire nation general was merciless, allowing no one to escape. Anyone who tried was chased down by numerous blasts of fire and burned alive. The secret tunnels were destroyed. The pathways to the abode forever blocked, eliminating all escape routes and even the secret abode was set on fire. It was total and brutal annihilation. A kind of massacre that had never been heard of, let alone committed, before. Fire Lord Sozin, who orchestrated this genocide, left no stone unturned in his deranged quest to capture and bring an end to the Avatar, the only one powerful enough to stop him in his brutal invasion of the world.