The next day, Kaiden was gone. Despite the former prisoners' and Team Avatat's efforts, they couldn't find Kaiden anywhere. The only conclusion they came to was that he had jumped overboard. And that was true. He did jump. He just never hit the water. In the middle of the night, after he had taken a compass, he expanded his metal staff into a rectangular metal board, big enough for him to sit/kneel on.
He then jumped over the side, grabbed onto his board, and the board stopped falling a foot above the water. Smirking, Kaiden, still holding onto the board, got up on one knee and flicked his head up. Instantly, the board zoomed forward at impossible speed. Satisfied, Kaiden then brought out his compass and used it to direct his way south. He was going back home.
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About an hour of flying later, Kaiden landed on Southern Water Tribe grounds. Nobody was awake, so Kaiden could at least sneak into his old igloo easier. He walked in and took a look around. Nothing had changed. Then again, he kinda expected that, considering no one was around to take care of it. Kaiden smiled as he took a nostalgia trip around his home. Then it occurred to him how fatigued he was.
He walked over to his old bed and crashed. His feet stuck out the other end, but he fell asleep nonetheless.
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He awoke to the sound of children playing. He groaned as he got up, his back feeling a bit sore. He sighed as he stood on both feet. He then took a look at the shield on the wall. Kaiden smiled as he remembered that that same shield was the first bit of metal he ever bent. He walked over and picked it up and examined it.
As he was about to put it back, however, Kaiden noticed the metal slab on the wall, just behind the shield if it was hanging there. Kaiden just stared at it for a bit, examining it. He then used metalbending to dent it a little. The sound it made said that the slab was hollow. So Kaiden ripped off the front and looked inside. Inside was a note and a book. He picked up the note and read it.
"Dear son,
We're sorry we had to tell you like this, but we had to tell you somehow, as we fear we may be dead by the time you read this. You have asked us time and time again about your strange ability to metalbend and how you are able to do this. Well... We found the answer. All will be explained inside this book. We hope you will use your powers for the greater good.
Love,
Mom and Dad"
Kaiden had to read the note a second time to absorb the information. His parents wrote this? And they found the answer about how he got these powers? Wasting no time, Kaiden picked up the book. It was titled, The Avatar and the Image. Raising an eyebrow at the title, Kaiden opened the book and begun reading.
It was more of an information booklet than anything else. The first half was about the Avatar, their abilities, etc. Just stuff he already knew. Then came the second half. That's what surprised him.
The second half was about someone called 'The Image'. The book claimed that the Image never really gained that much attention due to there being, well, the Avatar. Anyways, the book further stated that the Image was sorta like the Avatar's glorified sidekick, reborn every lifetime just like in the Avatar Cycle. The Yin to the Avatar's Yang. And while they couldn't learn all four elements, could use a special bending art, one that no one else can replicate exactly. Examples were glassbending, plantbending, and-
The next word made Kaiden drop the book. Metalbending. And it all clicked into place. Kaiden was this so-called Image.
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It took a while to process the discovery. Not only was Kaiden something so powerful (yet somehow barely known), but he was destined to help the Avatar. Now he suddenly regretted declining Katara's offer. Then again... Now he knew who he was.
"It's time to find the Avatar."
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And that's the chapter! I hope you guys liked the new addition to the story that I made up. And yes, I know the flaw: "If the Image is so powerful, why isn't it more well known?". Well, in the future, I'm going to have a reason that fills in the plot hole a bit, though not all the way. Till next time guys!
YOU ARE READING
Avatar: The First Metalbender Book 1: Water
Fanfiction|Book I| Kaiden is from the Southern Water Tribe, but that's all he'll tell you about his background unless you were a close friend, like Katara or Sokka. But even he has a secret he won't tell them. Truth is, he's a natural metalbender, able to ben...
