The Art of Fire and Water

1: The Blue Spirit

The sky was a deep foreboding charcoal grey with clouds that seemed to have swallowed the last remnants of the sunlight. As night fell, a flickering moonlight peered from above. Fire Nation soldiers rallied all around the prison camp grounds waiting for their leader.

The smell of smoke and sweat filled the air. Fire torches lighting up the prison walls that held hundreds of fugitives. They wait in silence.

A man steps upon the podium with two guards next to him. He wore a Fire Nation naval uniform, adorned with gold trim and brass buttons with his hair slicked back into a bun. He had a tall, lean but stern figure imposing presence. He carries a cold expression on his face.

"We are the sons of fire, the superior element. Until today only one thing stood in our path to victory — the Avatar!" He shouts.

"I am here to tell you that he is now my prisoner!"
The Fire Nation soldiers erupted into a frenzy of cheers and excitement. They raise their fist and voices to the sky.

"This is the year Sozens Comet returns to grant us its power!" He continues.

They cheer. The sound echoing around the prison like a deafening roar.

I press my ears against the cold metal wall. My heart raced with anticipation eavesdropping in on this occasion. The guards voices muffled but echoed through the narrow corridors. Each passing moment I listen in hoping to find a sense of escape, but nothing.

I get up and pace back and forth in my cramped dingy cell, the cold metal walls closing in around me. The faint smell of smoke fill the room as torches flicker throughout the hall. I felt like I was losing myself in this tiny, trapped space.

Hopeless, I sit cross legged on the cold floor of my prison cell. I close my eyes and focus on the faint hum of my breath. My head wonders with memories and thoughts. I draw my attention inward seeking refuge from the harsh reality of my confinement. With each slow breath I find peace within myself.

I feel a sense of calm wash over me, momentarily escaping the cold grey confinement I was in, but my tranquility is gently disrupted by an unexpected presence. I open my eyes to find a small grey frog, perched beside me on the floor. It gazes at me with big round eyes.

"A frog?" I whisper to myself.

Within an instant a boy runs pass my prison cell in a hurry causing a commotion between the prisoners. Behind him, another man follows wearing a black hooded cloak and a pale blue mask. Two curved broadswords hung on the man side. I glance over at the boy, his head was shaved with a blue arrow shape tattoo on his forehead. He wore an orange and yellow monk robe with worn out sandals.

The blue spirit, I thought to myself. An urban legend about an evil water spirit.

Curious, I step closer to catch a better view, my hands gripping against the cold iron bars.

The blue spirit grab both swords from his side, slicing through the shadows and taking down guards with silent precision. The boy blows a quick bolt of air into the guards sending them flying back down the hall.

An air bender? I asked myself. Air benders had gone extinct a 100 years ago. I didn't know a single one was still alive.

The other prisoners, sensing freedom within reach pleaded and beg for escape.

"Help us!"
"Let us out"