Prologue: The Legend of a Dragon's Love

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In some remote regions throughout the world, there is a legend that tells of passion, miracles, and great tragedy. It is told to young children as a reminder of the horrible greed that plagues the world and eats away at ambition.

The legend starts with a beautiful and powerful dragon called Scilla who lived deep in the mountains. Her mighty voice shook the Earth and her breath froze her surroundings. She lived her life in solitude, cut off from the rest of the world by frigid waters. Some nights she'd cry out to the heavens, begging for a companion, or for someone to come and attempt to slay her and end her lonely existence.

One night the spirits answered her call and sent a handsome young explorer from the Fire Nation crashing on her island. Too afraid to scare off her possible companion, she hid herself away, and held her frozen breath, in attempt to keep him warm. The man, an adventurer at heart, excitedly scoured the island he'd happened upon by accident with hungry eyes. In the nights he used fire bending to light a fire and protect himself from the cold. During the day he'd explore. Scilla watched the man with curiosity and hope as the days grew on, she loved seeing the human so in awe of her life long home and prison. She was content with just seeing him, even if they could not converse or interact. However, a spiteful spirit who did not trust the human sought to kill him and protect the island. So while the adventurer explored the mountains the spirit caused an avalanche, in hopes the human would perish. However, The spirit underestimated Scilla's love for the man. Before the young explorer could perish under the falling snow, Scilla dove out of hiding and covered the human, shielding his body from the avalanche with her magnificent wings, the force causing deep gashes that would prevent her from ever flying again. The man, fascinated by the beautiful beast tended to her injuries and helped her back to her cave. He visited everyday, keeping her company and sharing with her all of his adventures across the world. Scilla was overjoyed at finally being able to be seen by the man. She wished for those days never to end.

Unfortunately for her, nothing golden lasts forever.

A great many ships came looking for the man and landed on the shores of Scilla's island. At first Scilla was excited to meat new people but later on, they would prove to be treacherous. When the new arrivals saw the man they welcomed him with open arms and Scilla shyly watched on. Later, after she'd returned to her cave, she waited for the man's daily visit. It didn't come. She waited day after day in silence, her quiet weeping muffled by her large paws. She once again cried to the heavens for the man to return.

When he finally did he wan't alone.

He'd brought the other newcomers along with him and Scilla could here him boasting of finding 'A Great Beast'. However she was too relieved that he'd come back to take notice. She waited in anticipation for him to enter her cave. The man did so along with the others. They all froze in awe at Scilla's magnificence. While the newcomers all huddled together, conversing with hushed and serious tones, the man walked up to Scilla with a wide smile. He once again shared his stories with her and kept her company until late into the night. Scilla was once again content and happy. Her love for the man had grown. She wished to give the man a token of her love. After the man left for the night, Scilla called to the heavens and was visited by a spirit. The spirit inquired after what she wanted. She told the spirit of her love for the man and her desire to give him a gift. The spirit seemed pleased with the dragons happiness, all the spirits had sympathized with her life of solitude. But the spirit knew the true nature of humans. Their greed and wickedness, so she warned Scilla. Scilla dismissed this warning and asked again for a gift. And so, the spirit created a child that was both dragon and human. Delighted with the gift, Scilla placed the child in a basket with some blankets. She hoped to show the man as soon as possible. The next day came but the man never visited. She went down from her cave with the basket, too excited to wait. She hid in the trees behind the man's camp. She heard the humans arguing and could see the man holding a scroll but she could not make out what they were saying. She crept closer, still hidden. She could now make out what they were saying.

"That dragon is worth millions! We should split the money! It'll still be a lot!", one man said. Scilla was confused. Another man spoke.

"That doesn't matter! The real prize is slaying the beast! That scroll said whoever does will gain the title 'dragon'" another man said. Scilla grew scared. Were they planning to kill her? She looked to the man whom had cared for her and whom she'd loved. Surely he would stop them, right? He opened his mouth to speak and her hopes were crushed.

"If anyone is killing that beast it's me! I found the thing. It trusts me and even saved my life. I'll kill it and take the glory. You guys can have the money." He finished speaking and the humans seemed to grudgingly come to agreement. Scilla grew angry and let out a mighty roar that caused the Earth to tremble. The humans looked to her with fear and grabbed for their weapons. Scilla breathed a breath of ice that froze some of the men as others shot blasts of fire at her with their powerful bending. She tried to rise into the sky with her massive wings but due to the injuries she'd sustained from the avalanche locked her to the ground. The humans took that chance to chain her down and scorch her with their fire. She cried out in agony and ripped from the chains, spearing two men with her sharp claws. She glared her electric blue eyes, searching for the man she'd thought would be her companion. Not finding him her eyes moistened, the tears falling in droplets of ice. He'd abandoned her. She gave up and collapsed to the Earth to let the humans end her life. They approached cautiously and Scilla shut her tired eyes, defeated. She flicked her tail behind her, pushing the basket with the child safely inside into the clearing, hoping that at least the child would be found and survive.

A familiar voice in front of her caused her eyes to shoot open.

"It's really a shame. You shouldn't have saved me." Before Scilla was the man who'd been the cause of Scilla's greatest happiness and the cause of her greatest despair. He carried a sharp blade in his hand and wore a cold dead glare. He rose the sword and Scilla felt a weight lift in her heart. She would no longer be alone. She would be freed from her life of anguish by the very person who'd given her hope in the first place. Scilla closed her eyes... and the blade came crashing down.

To those watching it was hard to tell... but she was smiling. She'd loved the man until her last breath.


Few know what happened to the child born from a dragon's love. Maybe it died there on the island. Maybe someone brought it onto the ship and it died there. Or maybe the child still lives, hidden from the world. Only one person knows for sure. And she delights in not telling.

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DISCLAIMER! I do not own Avatar the last Airbender or any artwork or music shown throughout the story unless I say otherwise! All credit goes out to the artists and creators.

A/N: So what'dya think? By the way, I'm aware that the dragons didn't all die out in ATLA (Avatar The Last Airbender), in fact, It's part of the main plot of one of the later episodes. HOWEVER! for the sake of plot (And definitely not just because I think "Avatar The Last Dragon" sounds really cool) we're going to ignore that fact :).

Anyways, please continue reading! I'll have the first chapter by the end of the week!

Thank you for reading <3

~Your Trash Author

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