The Journey of a Thousand Miles

Chapter 1 - The Storm

The temple stood huge, unwelcoming and cold against the edges of snowy, jagged mountains. With towers matching the height of condors, an unlucky traveler may have confused its appearance with that of a palace for an unlawful king. A place seemingly so invisible and frozen, one would not stop to ponder the possibility of warm life in the shadows of its halls.

But life there was.

A single window of one of its towers, hidden by the reaching beams and walls of the grand temple, reached its light into the darkness of the night, allowing a sweet aroma of the mountains outdoors to flow into the building.

"The mind leads the body and controls the breath, and in turn, the breath calms the mind."

Inhale. Exhale.

The young boy stood silent in the center of the room. Hips tucked, feet firmly planted to the ground. Both hands formed into fists, touching knuckles near the center of his chest.

"Uncover the motion of the unclean energy in the stillness,"

Stance requires concentration, discipline. The young man shifted his feet slightly, balancing his stance with the ground, rooting himself and finding equilibrium. Connect with the energy of the air. He breathed in deeply, his body swayed slightly.

"Let go of negative thoughts, cleanse the mind with the energy of the earth.

Inhale. Exhale.

The wind from the night howled through the wooden shutters.

He crinkled his nose, eyebrows creasing with the indentation of uneasiness.

Keep concentration...

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. He was tremulous, trying hard to keep the balance of his stance.

Ignore the influence of negative energy. Concentrate on your breathing.

He was trying too hard.

The boy opened his eyes and stepped back into a relaxed stance, arms circled in front of him.

In annoyance, he rubbed his tired eyes in circles. The night outside of his window seemed to mock him. If only the other recruits could see him now. Having been deemed the laziest airbender out of all the new recruits for his habit of dozing off in the middle of teachings, he boasted that he could sleep more than any other monk in the temple...much to the irritation of Master Monk Guan.

Until now, that is.

If it was normal insomnia, he would have meditated or trained until exhaustion pulled him back to sleep.

But no.

Tonight...Tonight was different.

A war was coming.

The young boy glanced out of his window where the snowy mountains disappeared into the distance. He had overheard the Council of Elders discussing with Master Monk Guan about the oncoming war and that a young monk named Aang would assume his position as Avatar to prevent the Fire Nation from enacting destruction on any of the nations.

Despite this, his worries deepened. He knew that the Fire Nation did not have the means of transport to come to any of the air temples, but if the Fire Nation were to attack...his people were peaceful and practiced pacifism. He did not even want to imagine what would happen next.

Clenching his fists, he shot up from his seat on his bed and marched his way across the room before throwing the door of his bedroom open and running down the hallways.

He was not nearly halfway across the temple when a familiar figure popped into his view.

"Raimundo?"

Master Monk Guan towered over him, lifting an eyebrow as Raimundo quickly straightened his posture.

"Yes, Master Monk Guan?"

"Why are you awake at this hour? You have early training in the morning, young monk."

Raimundo clenched his fists, "I heard you talking with the Council," He said lowly, "Why aren't we preparing for war? We should have the entire temple lit up, all the masters awake, the Council discussing strategies!"

The Master Monk sighed and set a hand on Raimundo's shoulder, "No. We cannot let ourselves be consumed by negative energies. Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals."

"But Master, we must fight. We should fight to protect this temple, all the temples! Our culture!"

"Enough!" His voice cut through the looming silence of the hallways.

Raimundo quickly bowed his head, clenching his eyes as Master Monk Guan stood over him.

"If you must fight," The Master Monk began, "Fight for your belief in the Avatar, recognize him as a beacon of hope as he will tame the negative energies between the four nations. Believe that he will stop the Fire Nation."

Raimundo said nothing, hanging his head in defeat, his clenched fists falling to his sides and dragging his entire body down with them.

"Now," Master Monk Guan began, "Let us get you to your room. I am sure that your lack of sleep has confused your judgement." He said, placing a guiding hand against Raimundo's back.

The sounds of their footsteps reverberated through the hallways and back into his ears. For some reason, the echoes produced a haunting metronome that fed his melancholy. Perhaps it was his lack of sleep that hindered his judgement. However, that revelation did not stop the frustration and sadness that was quickly growing within himself.

He had thought of escaping to the Earth Kingdom where he could form his own rebellion against the Fire Nation. But that idea soon disappeared when he and Master Monk Guan arrived at the open door of his bedroom.

The words of his Master soon faded and blurred with each step Raimundo traveled to his bed.

The second his head flopped onto the pillow, the darkness of sleep encased him and he left the world to dreams.

However, it only felt like a fraction of a second before Raimundo shot his eyes open.

Morning light was peering through his window where darkness had come before. He sat up in bed wondering briefly why he was not woken up for his lateness before he heard the commotion and panic outside.

Color drained from Raimundo's face as he quickly shook himself out of bed and ran for the door, a rock weighing heavily on his chest like the dread he had felt last night.

He threw the door open, watching with unease as all the monks flooded throughout the hallways, tripping down the stairs in different directions.

Quickly, Raimundo grabbed the arm of a young monk as he ran by, sobbing.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Raimundo asked frantically, having not realized that he was practically shrieking at the boy over the sounds of the panicked monks.

The boy sniffed as huge blobs of salty tears rolled down the sides of his face.

"The Avatar is missing!"

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A/N: When Master Monk Guan says: "Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals."

This is a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.