Avatar: The Wheel of Time | Book One: The Earth Kingdom |

Chapter 2: The Avatar

Frantic quacking was never a good sign.

I set down my waterbending scroll as carefully as possible in my rush and bolted through the trees in the direction of the commotion. A lifetime of living with pets who were too often considered food for the local wildlife community already had my heart racing. I couldn't lose any more turtle ducks to predators. I wouldn't. Not today.

Fear both fueled and slowed my steps. I had to get there in time to save my animals, but I feared I was too late, and I feared what I would find.

I burst into a clearing to find our flock. Yes, there was a predator. The turtle ducks fled in every direction, pursued hotly by a crococat, who singled out Houa, a little female, batting her around like a toy.

I snarled, racing towards them. The crococat took one look at me and fled, dragging Houa with it. I raced behind in hot pursuit, yelling for help. My father was away at work, but surely my mother would hear me.

The crococat was fast, faster than I was, despite its shorter legs and having to drag Houa. My bare feet pounded on the forest floor, and my breath heaved through my body. I ran as fast as I could, yet the crococat was no closer. In fact, it seemed further away. Frustration and terror surged through me. I wished I had water to bend.

I was so angry. I hated that crococat. My feet slammed the earth with every step and I released my rage in a furious scream, crumpling to the forest floor and slamming my palms to the ground. I felt the release of energy.

The earth cracked.

The crococat yowled, dropping Houa as its paws slipped into the fissure, and the fissure closed around them. Houa fled in terror, shedding feathers behind her like falling leaves.

I stayed on all fours, panting, trying to grasp what had just happened. What I had just done.

Did I just... earthbend?

How was that possible? I was a waterbender! There was no way I could earthbend too. And yet, the proof stood, paws deep in solid rock, yowling its head off.

This wasn't possible. I couldn't bend two elements, no one could. Except...

The Avatar.

I stared at the struggling crococat. I felt kinda bad for it now, with Houa out of the picture. It was just a hungry animal. I sighed, sitting back and releasing the tension I had held in my kneeling position.

And just like that, the rocks crumbled. The crococat pulled free and bolted, still yowling, into the tangle of bushes.

I stared at what I had just done. There was no denying it... I was an earthbender.

"Kiyan!" My mom cried, finding me on the forest floor. "Kiyan, are you alright? I heard yelling— what happened?"

I didn't answer. My eyes remained glued to that thin fissure and the little pile of rocks at its end.

"Kiyan, honey, what happened?" my mom asked again, kneeling beside me and putting an arm around my shoulder.

"I... earthbended," I said, in total disbelief.

My mother froze. "What?"

"There was a crococat. It had Houa, and I– I did that," I explained, pointing to the fissure.

Silence. My mother stared at the crack for a long time. Then, "Come on, honey. Let's go home."

She led me back to the house, up the stairs and to my room.

"Are you absolutely sure that you made that crack? It couldn't have been made by you stomping your feet or something?" she suggested.

I found her eyes. "I know what bending feels like, Mom."