Two Hearts of The Same Soul (Avatar fanfic)

The Only Beautiful Thing In This World

A light breeze blew over the valley as she was taking a stroll down the lone road. No living being was in sight as far as the eye could reach and she found herself, again as so many times before, completely alone. Somehow she enjoyed it. In the city she felt even lonelier, although the streets were always busy with people moving around, doing errands. Here she had at least a reason why she felt lonely.

No one else was as keen as she was to wander through the wilds, outside the city gates. It was true that no one was even allowed to pass through the main gates, but one time as she was taking a walk down the city walls, she found a narrow gap, enough wide for her to sneak out, leaving the stench of the city behind her.

She expected more of the wilds, though. Older people were telling stories to the children of the unfriendly landscape that was behind the walls, and the dangerous wildlife. But what she has seen with her own eyes outside the city walls were mere dried plants, animal skeletons and junk of metal from the old age. She was indeed very disappointed when she first laid sight on the grey and wasted landscape.

She continued to walk further, leaving her home more behind with each step. The piece of clothing in which she was dressed in and which was too big for her tiny body was waving around as the wind kept blowing. This was all she had to wear, which is why it was torn and stretched so much. Simple trousers, a big cape-like shirt, old brown boots and a headscarf to protect her hair from the dust the wind was constantly blowing with itself. That is what she was. A simple and poor lass, wondering the wilds to escape her dull reality in the city.

She soon after returned to the city, feeling unsatisfied with her short escape. Each time she went into the wilds, she had a sly hope for something to happen. Anything, just so her life could get a little more interesting. She sneaked into the city without being detected and made her way to the building where she was living - she and some other poor human beings as herself.

She opened the front door to the building which was barely standing on it's foundations and entered it. The well known stench jabbed into her face but she did not make a grimace or anything of that sorts. She grew up with this stench, that's why it didn't bother her so much.

There was an old man lying in the hallway, with a bottle of what seemed to be rum in his hand. He seemed like he was dead but was only sleeping she soon realized when he gave out a deep snore out of himself. She crossed the room where the nice lady with her babe was living, sitting on the ripped sofa and singing a lullaby to her weak child. She stood at the door for a little bit, listening to the soothing sound of her voice, filled with so much emotion it almost brought tears into her eyes. The babe didn't even realize how lucky it was to have someone watching over it.

She snapped out of her gaze and made her way to the staircase which led to the first floor. She could hear children screaming and running around the floor and as she reached the top of the stairs she was pleased to see the sight in front of her.

"Raven!" a girl from the group shouted. She ran towards her and looked up into her eyes. "Where have you been? We were looking everywhere for you, we wanted to play!"

"I'm sorry kids, I had some business to attend to." She calmly replied and brushed her hand over the girl's golden locks.

"Can you play now?" Raven sighed but gave in to the girl's plead to play a little with them. Soon their mother called them to help her with something and Raven was happy to be able to seek refuge in her own room. She made her way to the third level, went past a few other people, then she finally reached the door to her room.

She flung herself on the mattress that laid on the ground, next to the old, small, moldy wardrobe and laid her hand over her eyes. Her stomach grunted loudly and she remembered she hasn't eaten since yesterday. Still lying, she reached at the bottom drawer to find a small chunk of bread lying under the paper. That is where no one would look for food, that's why she kept it there.

She took a bite from the dry chunk and chewed at it for some time before swallowing. When she ate the whole thing, she turned to her side facing the wall. She reached for the medallion, which was safely put under her shirt and hold it in her arms. It was some sort of strangely smooth crystal of a bright turquoise color. It was something too colorful for this world she lived in, too beautiful. And it was the only thing she had from her parents. Not knowing the origin nor the meaning of it, it meant a great deal to her to have something like this in her possession. She was holding onto the medallion as she drifted into a restless slumber.