Avatar: The First Sandbender

Chapter One: The Performance of a Lifetime

Book One: Glass

Chapter One: The Performance of a Lifetime

It was always the moments before the performance that brought disarray to Hami's mind. He would sit behind the scenes and peek out from the shoddy curtains, reeling at the size of the crowd almost every time. The voice in his own head would grow repetitive, needlessly dismissive of his own talents. He often found himself asking; Why are so many people interested in seeing another wasteland boy tell stories as he threw dirt around? 

Teeva had tried to explain to him that it was far more than the spectacle of the sand itself, though his talents to create beautiful imagery was surely nothing to scoff at. No, Teeva would explain it was a cultural milestone for the people who called Si Wong home. The desert, to most, was something that could never be tamed. It was dangerous, majestic, separate from the benders of the world, and utterly terrifying. To the people who lived Si Wong's harsh reality every day, why wouldn't they take the chance to see one of their own prove the exact opposite to be true? Prove that the sand could be tamed after all? Prove that anyone, even a young boy raised in its streets could emerge from the very chaos of the dunes to craft an art all on his own. That was the truth behind the craft. That was the rumor Teeva spread to every caravan, merchant, and wastelander. And that was why the wealthiest raiders, the poorest beggars, and everyone in between came out to see his tales. No matter the town or the outpost, they came because they wanted to believe in the impossible. 

They wanted to believe in Hami. 

But tonight wasn't just another typical tribal outpost. Tonight Hami was performing for the largest audience one could possibly muster in the desert; the Misty Palms Oasis. Teeva had explained that visitors from every nation would be in attendance. Travelers and resort attendees, nobles, and commoners alike. The Oasis was the bustling cultural hub of the desert and rightfully so; it was the first and last stop from any foray into the wastes. If Hami could prove himself to the audience tonight, Teeva was sure that they could take their act to the rest of the Earth Kingdom. It had been long enough since their original banishment that the chance of anyone still recognizing them would be slim, and before long they might even earn the audience of the Earth King and Queen. Even as he reeled his head around the thoughts, about the past year of tours, it all seemed so surreal. What on Earth had decided to make him so special? 

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, camelephants and sandbats alike! We have a performance tonight that will be absolutely unlike anything you have ever experienced before, I can assure you that!" Hami could hear Teeva shout from the stage, as the murmuring of the crowd began to settle down. "Those of you who are lucky enough to be in the audience tonight will get a chance to see history unfold before your very eyes! You will be telling the story of tonight's visit to Si Wong to your kids, to your kid's kids, to your estranged fire nation uncles, and even to those uppity Air Temple monks who believe blowing air around to be art!" 

Hami sighed. Teeva's disdain of air nomads wasn't anything new. She often utilized any opportunity she could to trash talk them and it never felt right to him. When Hami sat down and really thought about the gift he was given, it dawned on him that an Airbender could probably do the same performance with a quarter of the effort. Every time he thought about it his heart sank. Since the moment he had discovered his ability to bend sand everything around him had changed, but the very core of who he was he was the same. Just another elephantrat from the streets who got a lucky break. 

"This is the moment, folks. I need to hear your excitement, I need to hear  your passion, your desire for a tale beyond this world! To witness history in the making!"