Meetings and Greetings

As of late, the Northern Water Tribe seemed always filled with silence. Snow crunched under the boots of hurrying healers, sobbing drifted on the wind from tent to tent, a persisting cough wouldn't relent. All that noise, yet still an unfamiliar voice made Mei Li jump like a hush had shattered.

An airbender stood not far from the group, her eyes reflecting as much pity and sadness as her words. Mei Li wondered if she was an acquaintance of the young girl, but a quick glance at the blank expressions the maids carried dismissed that idea. Looking for her then, a healer.

"Can... I help you, Miss?" Mei Li asked wearily.

----------

Akio just let a small smile quirk at the corners of his mouth as Shiro recounted Fan's stories. At least he got the jist of the tale.

"Oh, no trouble at all!" Fan said with a bright smile, "he's a delight."

"Although, he does need to be mindful of not using his bending at inappropriate times..." Akio said mildly, giving Shiro a look. "Remember what we discussed earlier. And now that your brother knows, I'm sure you'll be honest and tell you parents what happened."

----------

"I told you enough with the 'sir', kid," Rennick replied with a look. The circus ringleader was tall, with the most odd blond hair. Rumors were that he used something to make it that color, but since he was never caught, no one knew for sure. His odd amber eyes fixed on Torrik as he knelt down to help gather the wayward props and costumes.

"Rennick is fine. S'what everyone uses, you know, except you..." he said flatly.

Apologies

Oh--

Oh this was awkward.

Min Ya stood frozen, only a few yards from them. She had started to approach again when the healer came out, just to hear her report.

Should she turn around? What was the proper grieving time before asking the healer for help herself? The air bender supposed she could go find another healer, but she still had no idea where, and what if they were having an even worse situation?

"I'm.. I'm sorry for your loss..."

*---------*

Katsuo arrived at the dojo, looking out for his little brother.

"Katsuo!" the young boy called out, rushing over.

"Shiro, there you are. Enjoy yourself?"

He nodded vigorously. "I did! We learned about dragons today! They were the first firebenders! So I'm gonna be like a dragon!"

The older brother gave out a weak chuckle. "I suppose you will be." He then turned his attention up to the mentors, an older woman and her son. "He hasn't been causing trouble, has he?"

A Numbness Worse Than the Cold....

As Lifen was pulled out of the hut she struggled against the two women. "No! You don't understand! That's my mother in there!" she pleaded. When the young woman came back out with a grim expression, Lifen knew. Her face fell and any fighting stopped. Her entire body seemed to sag. There were no tears in Lifen's eyes. She just - felt numb. The freezing wind didn't even seem to bother her anymore. The two women slowly let go of her. They were obviously torn between comforting the young woman or just leaving her be. In the end they simply decided to walk away without a word. They came all this way for a cure.... For what? Her mother died in the end. She looked up to the young woman. "T-thank you... For trying." She was obviously having difficulty even summoning the strength to speak.

-----

Torrik was hurriedly helping everyone set up for the show tonight. He was preparing the animals, preparing the stalls, helping set up the tents, and other things here and there. His firebending was too unstable to actually be a part of the show, but Rennick still let him stay and travel with the circus, so Torrik didn't mind. The area was already bustling with people who were excited about tonight's show. It wasn't surprising. Rennick's rag-tag group of comrades were extremely popular pretty much everywhere. Torrik was helping unload trunks from a wagon when he accidentally ran into the ringleader himself. Costumes, wigs, and props flew from the trunk as it and Torrik fell to the ground. "S-s-sorry sir," stammered Torrik as he picked up the costumes.

Spirits Free In Death

Mei Li hurried in an knelt, ushering the servants to one side so she could examine the woman more closely. Blood spilled out the corners of her mouth and each gasp became more labored than the last. Her airways we blocked and with a sinking heart, Mei Li realized there was nothing in her power that could be done. Even if she could be made to breathe again, the disease had done its work. It would only be a day at most before the rest of her organs shut down and her body failed.

"Please. If you would, take the young lady outside. There is nothing anyone can do for this woman now, so I will ease her passing. But I would prefer to do it in privacy."

A younger lady devolved into tears on the spot, but two of the matron's swallowed their sadness for the sake of the others and took charge, gently leading Lifen from the tent as the healer requested.

Mei Li began humming under her breath a dirge for the dead as she took a stream of water from her pouch and joined it with a small black liquid from another. The water turned inky as she mixed it using her bending and sent it down Lien's throat and through her bloodstream. Paralysis began to take effect almost immediately, slowing Lien's gasps to shallow, slow breaths before they disappeared altogether, her body no longer rigid with pain. Tears clouded Mei Li's vision and cracked her voice as sat, staring at the life leaving Lien's eyes and still humming her song.

Another full minute passed before Mei Li could bring herself out of the sadness that threatened to suffocate her. She leaned forward to close Lien's eyelids before she worked up the courage to face the woman's daughter outside.

"I... am sorry. She has passed, but please take solace that her last moments were without pain and her spirit free in death at last...."

Waiting for Pick up

It seemed from everyone she asked, the healers were all out and busy. It should've seemed obvious to her, that the healers wouldn't have much rest. There were still so many affected by the strange disease.

"Okay.. so a bit of a curve tossed in.. but we're not giving up, Fana!" Min Ya clentched her gloved fist.

The bison gave a low grunt. Min Ya looked about, when she thought she spotted the garb of one of the healers. "Hey--!"

Before she could make contact though, another young woman grabbed hold of her, pulling her off.

"W-wait!" Min Ya started after them. They had gone into one of the huts, before she could reach the pair. "Ooh.. .. Well, I'll.. just wait right here then.." she sighed, nestling against Fana's fur in the cold.

*======*

"Oh, it's so good that the rain finally died down," a high class, middle aged woman mused, as she drank her tea. Across from her, her husband nodded in agreement.

"Quite so.. Osamu is having his drills today, so he would've been so put out if they were delayed until tomorrow."

"Not to mention, Shiro is having his classes. Speaking of, Katsuo!"

The young man arrived in the doorway, carrying some wood. "Y-yes mother?"

"Shiro should be finishing up class soon, pick him up, would you?"

"Of course.." Katsuo bowed, before heading out of the home. He sighed as his feet hit the road. He hated going by the fire bending dojo.

Character Profile: Torrik

Name: Torrik
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Nationality: Fire Nation
Weapon: None
Origin: Unknown
Personality: Torrik is clumsy both physically and socially. He is often blunt and doesn't always pick up on social ques. He's a nice kid, but he tends to rub people the wrong way when social graces are called for. He is very curious and intuitive. In opposite to his mentor Rennick, he is very easy to read.
Background: Like Rennick, Torrik's past is unknown. Torrik remembers nothing of his past. Rennick found him starving and lying on the road as the circus was traveling. For unknown reasons, Rennick helped the starving boy get back on his feet. Since the boy had nowhere to go, and the very peculiar habit of making things explode with his firebending, Rennick took him into his fold in order to become a pyrotechnic for his circus.  

Appearance: Torrik looks like an average firebender with a slight twist. He is pale with black hair; however. he has bright blue eyes that are the same color of blue as his flames. He is gangly and tall (attributing to a lot of his awkwardness). 
Special Abilities: Torrik can firebend, but it's not quite like other benders. He cannot control his flames, so often times they come out as concentrated explosions, instead of a controlled blast of fire.

Other:  Because of his inability to control his firebending, he is currently still only in training under Rennick. He isn't actually a full-fledged member of the circus yet. 

Fear

Lifen grabbed the young woman's hand and half-dragged her, in her panic, to the hut where her mother was staying. Lien's servants had already begun lifting her, so as to hopefully open her lungs and let oxygen flow freely. However, it didn't seem to be doing much good for the poor woman. Her face was already beginning to turn blue from lack of oxygen and blood trickled down her chin. The sight of her mother in this condition stopped Lifen dead in her tracks. Her heart sank and it felt as if she had taken a blow to the stomach. She couldn't breathe. She stood in the doorway, simply because her legs refused to move.

Let's Hear More About Dragons!

Training and instinct finally began to kick in, driving Mei Li's numbness to the back of her mind. "Blood. The disease has progressed dangerously far, affecting her lungs and her respiratory system. We don't have much more time to administer the treatment. Please, show me the way immediately. I will do everything I can to save your mother."

----------

In the end, lunch had been so entertaining not a single child wanted to leave the dojo once the rain finally let up. After Akio had finished his sad tale of his mother's heroics, the hall went quiet, many of the children eying them both in pity. But Fan had not let it stand.

"Dragons! Now let me tell you about dragons!" Fan began on a long tale of the first firebenders, of history's great dragons, and then concluded in their unfortunate decline during the Hundred Year War. No one talked during her story, thoroughly enraptured. Akio had heard it a million times; it was his favorite story and the one he requested the most as a bedtime story. He suspected that was the very reason she was telling it now when he caught her eye and she gave him a warm smile. She would never stop mothering him; she'd told him so. And truth be told, he never wanted her to.

The children were still nailed to the floor by the time the story ended. Fan promised another story would be waiting for them only when they returned another day, taunting them with it like a sweet. Every one skittered out of the dojo eagerly, determined not to lose the privilege of another tale if they were too slow.

"Was I that easily manipulated as a child?" Akio asked, scooping up empty and half empty bowls into a neat stack.

"Oh, more so!" Fan chuckled. "I knew exactly how to get you to do anything because I raised you. I'm still figuring them out."

Arrival

Min Ya took a relieved breath of cold air when the snow caps were finally sighted. She pressed herself slightly against the furry head of her companion, trying to pull some warmth from the large beast.

It wasn't much longer after that she could finally see signs of people. "It's true, Fana! They make buildings out of the very snow!" she gasped in amazement.

Of course, it seemed the people who cast their eyes skyward gave her looks of even more astonishment as she flew over. It was a little daunting. Although no less daunting than realizing she had no idea where to go next. "I.. huh, where would the healers stay? I guess I'll have to ask around..."

Dire Need

Lifen didn't feel the cold, her panic making her nerves numb. "M-my mother. Please! She started coughing! A-and blood...." she knew she was incoherent. She stopped and took a deep breath as tears fell down her cheeks. "My mother started coughing up blood. She can't breathe. Please help!" she finally managed. Though the deep breath helped her get her sentence straight she was obviously still in distress.

She didn't even know if this girl was a healer, but she was the closest member of the water tribe. She could either help her mother or definitely help find someone who could. She just prayed to the spirits that she had been lucky enough to find a healer, and not just some random citizen. The more time she spent looking for a healer, meant the closer Lien came to death.

Teacher and Healer

Bright sun, cool breeze wafting through the open doors of the dojo. The morning had been beautiful and perfect for lessons. His firebenders had practically been able to breathe the warmth in the air, the energy it spread through their veins. Most of children boasted about the "magic" of the sun all through lessons and about how good it was making them, no matter how much he tried to tell them that was only part of the equation. But the dark clouds had rolled in on the tail of that wonderful breeze, cutting lessons in the yard short, dousing everyone from head to toe. Of course, none of his students stayed wet. Firebenders and all. They'd tried to help the others dry off as well, but he'd told them to wait patiently in the main hall for lunch and that they could go home only once the rain let up. He'd dried off the rest of his mother's students himself, one by one.

"Thank you, Akio!" The last little girl beamed up a him, before heading off to get lunch herself. Between his firebending students and his mother's martial arts students, they had ten children in the place today, and due to the last minute monsoon, they were feeding all of them lunch. His mother would love it, that much he knew. She missed the rambunctiousness and energy of having children around. It was why she'd started taking martial arts students, more and more the older he grew.

A long, gurgling groan came from his stomach. Fortunately the children were long gone ahead of him to lunch, so no one heard a sound except him. But this meant he'd be taking lunch with them and he wasn't sure how much he liked the sound of that. Lunch was ordinarily meditative, time alone in companionable silence that allowed his emotions to reach equilibrium again.

"Oh well."

Akio headed down to the main hall and entered to an enthusiastic cheer from his firebending students, who waved for him to sit with them.

"Master! Maaaaaaasteeeeeeeeer! Over here!"

Part of him wanted to give in to an evil streak and pointedly sit by himself, so he took a seat at an empty table. Nearby, his mother's chuckle rang out as all three of his firebenders picked up their food and filled in the table to either side of him. Suo, the only girl of the three, set her bowl down in the spot beside him and stood again, only to return with a bowl of rice and a bowl of soup for him.

"Suo, you're such a suck up!" one of the boys taunted.

She stuck her tongue out in response. "I was being nice! Not my fault you two are as rude as you are stupid!"

"All right. Enough. You'll have plenty of time to work out your differences in the sparring ring tomorrow. Lunch is not a time for all of that..." Akio said sternly, taking up his bowl of rice and his chopsticks. Especially not during his lunch if it meant he would have to break it up.

"Master Fan! Will you tell us one of your stories?" Akio looked up from his food to see it was the little girl from before who asked. His mother sat down among her students at the table adjacent to his, giving a smile to all the children.

"What would you like to hear about?" she asked.

"Ooh ooh! Tell us a story about monsters you've fought! Like dragons!" a boy asked.

"Dragons don't exist stupid!" another girl taunted.

"Children, you heard what Akio said. The same goes for you. Meals are not an occasion for fighting," she said, in the voice he so loved. It was no mystery how Fan managed to catch his father's eye. She was gentle, every gesture like the light touch of the wind on a summer's afternoon. She never once raised her voice when chiding or issuing discipline but somehow firm. It defied expectation that someone like her could command respect, yet she always did. Respect and love.

"How did you get all those burn scars if you never killed a dragon?" the boy asked with a puzzled tilt of his head.

Akio fought to keep his muscles relaxed, avoiding any outward show of emotion. For a moment, he was so focused on remaining normal that he hadn't realized he paused in his eating, awaiting his mother's response.

"I'm afraid it was nothing so glorious and heroic as fighting a dragon," she said with an easy chuckle, "just an accident."

The accident that had sent them away from his father and sister. The accident that had almost killed his mother, leaving her disfigured and crippled. She'd lost most of her arm, from the elbow down, and her hearing in one ear as well as some of her looks to the fire he couldn't control. She would never tell a soul, afraid for her son's feelings. But in his heart, he had reconciled with the guilt years ago.

Akio resumed his eating. "An accident maybe, but something certainly more heroic than fighting a dragon. She saved her son from killing his own sister."

----------

Shaking. Her body was shaking. It wasn't from the cold; she'd only just emerged from the warmth of the hut. So why was she shaking so much. No... someone had shaken her.

Mei Li blinked a couple of times, and a face staring back at her finally resolved through the haze in her mind. She didn't know this girl's face, but whoever she was, she looked frantic, desperate.

"P-please! My mom! She needs help!"

This girl was shivering. She wasn't dressed for the cold, nor was she from the Water Tribe. A foreigner. A foreigner demanding help.

Of course, she must have assumed from my clothing... Mei Li thought numbly. Can... do I have to be somewhere...? Is this a patient of mine? No... I still don't know this girl. What do I do...?

"Your mother... what's wrong with her exactly?" Mei Li asked. She internally cringed at how distant her voice sounded and hoped the girl just thought it from fatigue, or was too distressed to notice.

Pull yourself together. She needs help, whoever she is. She found you and this is your duty. You're a healer first. Have to be a healer first... always.

I'm here to supply the transportation...

The brisk, cold air whipped about in the North Pole. High above the lapping waters, a large furry beast seemed to soar through the air, letting out gutteral complaints.

"At least you have a fur coat, Fana..." the rider atop of the bison pulled her coat closer around her. Min Ya's eyes searched over the horizon. Did she pass that ice block before? It felt like she was going in circles.


She took a deep breath, shifting about to keep the warm blood flowing through her veins. The air bender questioned her reasons for coming here. Each time, however, she was reminded that her tasks were of the utmost importance.

She had volunteered to help seek out water tribe healers for the temples. Temporary assignments, of course, but just to ease the minds of the Air Council that things were not dire.

And then there was one more task. More important than even the effects of the plague. As Air Nomads had always been known to be closely connected to the Spirit World, they had taken it upon themselves to answer the question that had sprung up since the sickness spread.

What has happened to the Avatar?

As bad as the plague was, it had been argued that there was no possibility that the Avatar's cycle had been severed. However, balance must always be maintained. The Avatar must be found, if he or she is to be taught how to control the elements and connect to the spirit realm.

Post

"Sweetie," said Lifen's mother, Lien, hoarsely, "You should get something to eat."

"I am fine, mom. I got something while you slept," she lied. The truth was that Lifen hadn't left her mother's side since they made it to the Northern Water Tribe.

Lien smiled weakly, "You are a terrible liar, Lifen. I will be fine. The doctors will be here any second... You shouldn't even be here. Your father is probably worried sick about you." A coughing fit struck Lien. In an instinct reaction Lifen grabbed her mother's silken handkerchief and handed it to her. Her mother coughed into several times. Each cough looked like it caused her tremendous amounts of pain. It wasn't until she saw red staining the handkerchief did she know something was seriously wrong.

Lifen had panicked. She didn't know what to do when her mother began to cough and choke on her own blood. Lifen jumped up and ran out of her tent without her jacket. She ran as fast as her legs could take her. Adrenaline pushed her onward as she yelled out into the street, "PLEASE! SOMEBODY HELP!" Lifen had come to the North Pole with her mother in order to find a cure. They had just gotten here an hour or two ago before this happened. A healer hadn't even had the time to speak with them yet on their treatment plan.

Lifen knew that on the boat ride here her mom had gotten worse and worse. Lifen did her best to keep her mother well on the way here. Lifen never left Lien's side. She had stowed away on the ship just to make sure she was near her mother in case she needed her. She couldn't let her mother down now.

 Her eyes darted from person to person when she saw a young woman with two small feathers in her hair come out from a hut. A water bender. Lifen ran up to her and grabbed her by her tunic, panic written all over her face. "P-please! My mom! She needs help!" she said between gasps. Each gasp felt like a knife in her chest. Tears stung her face in the freezing wind.

The Emptiness in the Cold

No matter the season, no matter the time of day, the wind in the North Pole pierced through furs, seal skins, and flesh alike. But rushing down roads of hard-packed snow and ice, from hut to hut, Mei Li felt nothing. Exhaustion stole away things like that, awareness and thought. There was energy for nothing eyes beyond staying on her feet and bending when needed. Ever since the treatment for this dreaded plague had been discovered, this had been her life, day in and day out.

Mei Li's father forced her to rest often. As a waterbender himself, he knew the toll healing took on the body, he knew the limits. However, when she was allowed to forget about the dead and the dying for a little while, all talked turned to her future, her plans. At nineteen, she was already too old to have no direction for her life, so her father said. He had only let it slide this long because of her duty as a healer.

"I want you taken care of, Mei Li. I want to know that you have a future beyond this..." Over the past few years, his face had aged, etched deep with worry and hardship. Mei Li often wondered if hers had suffered the same, but mirrors weren't a very common luxury in the homes of the common folk. There wasn't much use for them in the life of men and women whose appearances were appreciated by few.

Finally Mei Li came to her destination, a ways down the road. The hut was a small one, tucked away against one of the outer walls of solid ice, several meters thick, that surrounded the inner ring of the city. This inner ring was nothing like the sprawling labyrinths of lanes and mansions she'd heard existed inside the walls of Ba Sing Se, but it still separated the most prominent members of their society from the rest. To live right beside this wall, despite the size of the hut, meant this family was old and likely well off, which meant so were their guests. Money always meant prompt service.

A short formal bow, an introduction. It was all so automatic, like she herself was stuck in a repeating time loop.

"Ah yes. It is good to see you again, Miss Mei Li. When my aunt sent a letter to inform us that she and her family were coming north with their sick, I requested that you attend us again when they arrived. Your treatment of my son was a wonderful success." The patriarch of the house was an older gentleman, a long beard matching the white arctic fox bear fur he trimmed his robes in. A hint of memory of him remained, but nothing more than just a hint.

"Thank you. I am honored to serve you again..." The voice sounded so hollow, soft. Was it really hers?

The old bearded man's head bobbed a nod and he motioned for a younger woman to approach.

"This way." She gestured toward another entry way and pulled back the covering to allow Mei Li inside. "We believe they are only in stage two... so treatment should not be overly complicated."

"Thank you. Please stay away from the patients as much as possible," Mei Li replied, kneeling on the ground. The patients were both children, one no more than six or seven and the other potentially a teenager. The woman, whoever she was, was right. The disease had not progressed too far; these children would most definitely recover. That was a relief.

Mei Li uncorked a special skin at her waist that contained the concoction of medicines for the cure. She bent a thin stream of the liquid from her skin, splitting it into two smaller doses, beading them in the air.

Leaning over the teenage boy, she spoke to him softly, coaxing him to open his mouth. "I'm going to give you some medicine... just try to swallow and be still." He nodded weakly and accepted the bead of liquid as his dropped into his mouth and slid down his throat. Mei Li moved to the other child, delicately persuading her to do the same. Once both children had accepted the medicine, Mei Li stood to accomplish the rest.

Originally, this treatment had been regarded with fear, too closely related to bloodbending, the forbidden art. Now, it was acknowledged that it had saved far too may lives to forbid completely.

When it was finished, Mei Li stumbled through the thanks and the formalities before making her departure. Happiness bloomed in her chest every time she was able to believe a patient would live, but day after day of this... it was all starting to fade. Anymore, it wasn't enough...

Character Profile: Rennick

Name: Rennick
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Nationality: Mixed
Weapon: None
Origin: Unknown
Personality: Calculating and sardonic but also very playful at the same time, Rennick is simple put, strange. His motivations constantly change, he is impossible to predict, but his attitude toward everyone hardly ever changes. He treats foes like friends and friends like foes whenever it suits him and he seems to have no sense of where the line must be drawn in his behavior. The only other consistency in Rennick's personality is curiosity; he will do almost anything to obtain new information.
Background: The only thing known about Rennick is that he has spent the last nine years in the Fen Hon traveling circus. Only six years ago, he took over as the circus's ringleader and since then, they have never been more successful and well-known.

Appearance: Being of mixed descent, Rennick is one mess of varied traits. He is of average height for a man, with a middling build. His skin is pale like an Air Nomad, but his eyes are green. No one outside the circus, and even some within, is sure what his natural hair color is because Rennick bleaches it white-blonde any time his natural roots begin to show. His hair is kept fairly long for a man, in a side ponytail always draped over his right shoulder. On his left ear, he wears an elaborate ear cuff in a design that looks like nothing common to any of the four nations.
Special Abilities: None

Other: He has seemingly above average intelligence and is very talented at predicting people and reading them.

Character Profile: Akio

Name: Akio
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Nationality: Water Tribe/Fire Nation
Weapon: Martial Arts

Origin: Northern Water Tribe
Personality: Akio is known best for his controlled and calm demeanor. He rarely lets anything break his composure, particularly in the presence of strangers. When he is allowed to relax in the company of close friends and family, more candid emotions surface like humor and things like minor annoyance. However, even at a comfortable level, he tries very hard to keep a tight rein on more extreme spikes or dips in his emotional state.
Background: Akio was born to a mixed race couple, a Fire Nation soldier and a Northern Water Tribe waterbender. Although his mother was not born a firebender, Akio inherited the ability from her bloodline, and despite the war being long over, there was still stigma against firebenders in the Water Tribe for the danger they presented without proper training. Akio's bending unfortunately surfaced when he was very young, only three, and quickly became very volatile as he fought to suppress his abilities out of fear. Their chief soon ordered his parents to take him away from the Northern Water Tribe, but his mother was pregnant and could not travel. Measures were taken to help the boy manage his firebending and for a time, they were successful.



Three years after Akio's sister Mei Li was born, he suddenly contracted a burning fever. His parents took him to the healing huts, but there seemed to be nothing they could do to break the fever, so they had no choice but to leave him him with the healers overnight. Early the next morning, the village arrived to find the hut decimated and nine people either dead or burned.

This time, Akio's mother was forced to take the child while his father insisted on staying behind to wait for them to return. But they never did.

Appearance: Akio is almost a perfect foil to his sister in that he inherited the dark skin of the Water Tribe, but the natural black hair and amber eyes of his mother's race. He is taller and more well-built than his sister, much like his father's people, but his face more closely resembles his mother's.
Special Abilities: Akio's practiced control of his firebending has given him the ability to create every single color of fire with varying degrees of heat.
Other: Akio is trained in martial arts as well as having a mastery over firebending.

Character Profile: Lifen

Name: Lifen
Age: 14
Gender: Female
Nationality: Earth Kingdom

Weapon: None

Origin: Ba Sing Se
Personality: Lifen is a very quiet young woman. She is being trained to take over her father's place in the family, which gives her a strong sense of responsibility. She is very reserved and very kind, but due to the two-faced attitude of the me members of court she finds it hard to trust adults. She always carries a comb that her mother gave her, and a small wooden flute. 
Background: Lifen was raised as an aristocrat in Ba Sing Se. Her father was always very strict and had her learn the tricks of the trade very early. Her mother, however, was very kind and very gentle. Lifen was partial to her sweet mother rather than her intimidating father so any time she got away from tutors she spent with her mother. Her mother would often tell her stories of her family and of her great-grandfather who built a cabbage growing and shipping company in face of adversity, but the plague had been hard on the crops as well. The family had been left with what remained of a dying company.

She learned earth bending as a child while playing with her friends. Ever since, her father made her take rigerous lessons from only the best teachers.

Her family isolated themselves from the outside world due to the plague, but to no avail. Her mother soon fell very ill. Since Lifen's father forbade her to go (because she was the only heir to the estate), Lifen snuck out onto the ship heading to the Northern Water Tribe where her mother would soon receive the medicine she needed.
Appearance: Lifen is a very petite girl, so she doesn't much look like a very powerful earthbender, but she is very spry and nimble. She has dark brown hair that is usually pulled into a tight bun with a porcelan comb in her hair in the shape of a lilly. When her hair is down it reaches just at her shoulder. When at home she is dressed in the finest silks, but when she escaped she stole a maid's clothes and tucked her comb in a pocket. She has brown eyes and fair skin.
Special Abilities: Avatar
Other: She is a very good singer and flute player. 

Character Profile: Min Ya

Name: Min Ya
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Nationality: Air Nomad

Weapon: Yo-yo

Origin: Eastern Air Temple

Personality: Min Ya is a calm, collected individual. She can be naive to the ways of the world due to her seclusion, but she should never be mistaken as dim.

Background: Min Ya grew up hearing the tales about Avatar Aang, who had been the only surviving Air Bender after the Genocide. After stopping the Fire Lord, Avatar Aang had started work recovering the former temples to their former Glory. Less appealling was the history of the repopulation of the air nomads.

Air nomads had been seperated by gender to the different temples in the past. However, with the need to bring air nomads back to the world, Aang and his decendants were required to bear families with people of the other nations. This meant a total reconstruction of family values.

Unfortunately, this mingling with other races had also openned up the Air Nomads to the plague, taking the lives of many Air Nomads. Panic was caused in the ranks, between the need to isolate themselves again, and the need to increase their numbers. This lead to many disagreements between the temples. Some consider it near time to return to the old ways, as their isolation brought them closer to the Spirit World, and had increased their chances of birthing airbenders.

Min Ya herself grew up in the Eastern Air Temple. She's one of the first children concieved to two Airbenders in centuries. She was a bright child, who adapted to her bending and meditation easily.

A cure to the plague was finally found five years ago. Tenatively, the air nomads are starting to venture out again. However, disagreements between the temples has only increased.

Min Ya can't wait to get out into the world, and see what lies outside the temples.

Appearance: Air Nomads in these times are a combination of the various nations. Min Ya appears to take more after the Earth Kingdom, with green eyes and brown hair.

Special Abilities: Air Bending Master
Other: Is a mean pastry maker.

Character Profile: Katsuo Himura

Name: Katsuo Himura
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Nationality: Fire Nation

Weapon:  Naginata

Origin: Fire Nation

Personality: Katsuo is a tempermental young man, who's emotions are volitale at times. He's very defensive, to make up for his low self esteem.

Background: Katsuo was born to a prestigious Fire Nation family. This had kept him and his family mostly quarentined from the plague, as they were easily able to seperate themselves from the public. Katsuo was the second born of the Himura family, preceded by one older brother, with two younger siblings after him. A sister and brother.

What made Katsuo stand out from the others, however, was that he was the only one in his family not to inherit any fire-bending skills. While being a nonbender was not a social oddity by any measure, both the prestige and the familial stigma grated on Katsuo. He still tries to figure out his place in the world.


Special Abilities: Strong sense of balance.

Character Profile: Mei Li

Name: Mei Li
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Nationality: Water Tribe/Fire Nation

Weapon:  None

Origin: Northern Water Tribe
Personality: Typical of a waterbender, Mei Li is compassionate, caring and even-tempered. She believes very strongly in protecting and helping others to the best of her ability. While this leads her to make friends often and quickly, it also leads to her being a people-pleaser more often than not, out of fear of upsetting others. She puts her feelings second to everyone else's, unless faced with impulse driven decisions that might ultimately bring harm to those she cares about.
Background: A little over a century after the war hundred year war, Mei Li was born in the Northern Water Tribe to a mixed couple: her father a northern waterbender and her mother of Fire Nation descent. She and her brother Akio were very close, only a couple years apart, until an accident sent him and their mother away from the Northern Water Tribe when she was only four years old. For years, she troubled her father about when they would return and begged to go to the Fire Nation and see them, but as the plague struck, it became harder and harder for them to travel and she eventually gave up.

Mei Li was one of increasingly few people to have contracted the plague early on and survived. Having gone through the pain herself, her determination only increased to improve her bending and join the healers of the Northern tribe as quickly as possible. Since the cure arrived in the north, Mei Li's time spent on her personal life has only decreased even more. Her father has been, however, determined to see his daughter married to a respectable man, so without her knowledge, he arranged a marriage for her to one of her closest friends. This hasn't sat well with her since she found out, but up until the present, she's found herself at a loss for what to do.
Appearance: Mei Li and her brother both inherited a very mixed bag of traits from their parents. Mei Li has her father's dark brown hair and bright blue eyes, but with the fair complexion of a Fire Nation native. She's small boned and petite like her mother's people and she also inherited her mother's delicate featured face.

 
Special Abilities: Advanced healing capability.
Other: Has obtained her waterbending mastery.

The Story So Far...

Over a century has passed since the Great War with the Fire Nation ended, but the world has long been without peace and without hope.

A vicious plague swept over the land almost sixty years ago, wiping out towns, small cities, and sending the governments of each nation into a state of paranoia and panic. Hundreds of thousands are dead, and the Avatar himself lays among the corpses. The dream of rebuilding, of prosperity that should have followed the end of the war vanished in place of fear, darkness and death.

Finally, a mere five years ago, a sliver of salvation emerged. Members of the Northern Water Tribe created a medicine effective against the illness, and using a diminished form of Bloodbending, were able to disperse the medicine quickly enough to save those in even the latest stages of the disease. Since then, healers have begun to leave the Water Tribe to travel to the other nations, saving who they can while thousands more flock to the poles to heal their sick. For the first time in half a century, more people are beginning to survive than die.

But as the light of hope rekindles, the shadows grow. Balance between the human and spirit worlds shattered as the anger and pain of dozens of dead Avatars corrupts the Spirit World. Spirits are falling prey to madness and despair and escaping into the human world, killing and spreading the taint into the very Earth.

Darkness threatens to consume the world, a darkness only the Avatar can stop....