Uziel
Everypony wants to rule the world
[These events occur 120 years after the events of Legend of Korra. Korra has been dead for 15 years by this point.]
What was this? Was it wood? He was pretty sure it was wood. Chagatai shook his head, and squinted at the brown object before him. He kicked it to be sure. He couldn’t trust his eyes, but the input from his nerves was reliable again. Yeah, it was wood. Chagatai fell to his knees, and started bending the sand away. Sure enough, there was a bunch of wood under here, some of it dry and light, the rest fairly heavy. He realized, when it was cleared away, that this had once been a sand-sailer. Most of it was destroyed, and the wood wasn’t going to be useful. He was not going to be able to build his own sand-sailer from it. Chagatai fell back. He’d failed again.
Chagatai was on his Rite of Passage. He’d been given a compass and some food and water, but was otherwise supposed to be entirely on his own in the middle of the Si Wong desert. He knew that there was someone from the tribe tracking him, making sure he didn’t die, but they wouldn’t interfere. It was his task to reach the edges of the Si Wong desert, acquire lumber, and build his personal sand-sailer, which he would then take back to the tribe.
Chagatai had failed from the start, first by not remembering that after a certain distance, Si Wong Rock’s effect waned. That had put him miles off course, and he ended up running out of water. Out of desperation, he ate some cactus, not checking which kind of cactus it was. He’d spent the last two days in a psychedelic haze without any more water, and he’d somehow lost his pack, probably while dancing and singing praises to the King of the Buzzard Wasps as the Sand Nymphs praised his performances.
That meant his didn’t have any of his tools. He couldn’t start a fire. He couldn’t even keep warm while he waited for his tracker to come pick him up. Chagatai was shivering. It was going to dip near freezing tonight! If he didn’t die, he’d be found real close. This was his moment to shine! He was supposed to come back with his own sand-sailer, entering the desert a boy and coming out a man. Chagatai couldn’t bear to think of his father’s disappointment. Or Behter, his grandfather, what would he say, if he were alive? It had only been a month. A month! He couldn’t stay alive for one monthto see his second grandson take the Trial. Just one month, at least…At least to be there!
Chagatai cursed himself for crying at a time like this, when he didn’t have any water or fire or food. He looked around, and found a metal pin. This was a start. Now all he needed was a rock.
He looked around. There were no rocks out here, of course! It was sand! He was in the desert! But if there was one thing Chagatai was not going to do, it was die. He’d already failed. He wasn’t going to disgrace his family further by dying when help was only a few hours away. But he needed a fire. So he kept searching for at least another pin. He might be able to bang them together and make sparks, or get lucky and find a piece of flint among the wreckage. He started tearing up what had been the sand-sailer, searching for a large enough pin.
“Ah!” his hand went to his mouth. He’d cut himself. Chagatai cursed. If the cold or thirst didn’t kill him, infection would, and he didn’t have anything to clean it. But he wasn’t going to stop. He took some of his face wrapping, and tied it tightly over the wound, then wrapped his other hand as he kept looking. Eventually, he found another pin…But there was something else here. Something like…Cloth! The sail was still here! He bended more of the sand away. The sand-sailer’s sail was still intact! It was old and worn, but it was still pretty strong. Maybe he could still finish, he could rebuild it with some of the wood that was still good! He couldn’t use too much for a fire, then. He took the sail and folded it.
He gathered the wood he couldn’t use, and then found the driest of it. He cleared a small indent into the ground, and used the heavy pin to smash the kindling wood. Chagatai then tore some of his clothing, and placed that at the bottom of the pile of kindling, then started banging the two pins together. And again, again, again, but they were too rusted to spark. Chagatai found himself wishing he were a Metalbender. His father knew some, but none enough to be useful.
CLANG! He’d failed even at making a fire! CLANG! He’d failed his Trial of Sand! CLANG! He’d never be a man!
CLANG!
“AAAAAUUUUUGH!” he’d smashed his hand with the pin. His rage finally let itself out, and he threw the pin at the kindling pile, and a burst of flame spurted out of his fist. The kindling was scattered, but it was also lit. Chagatai was totally dumbfounded. He was a sandbender. Did he just…Firebend?
Chagatai then realized that he’d started a fire, and it was starting to go out. On the verge of panic, he had the sand ‘roll’ the kindling back together, and fanned it after removing the metal pin. The fire was off to a good start, and he put more wood on it. The fire took, and he sighed with relief. So maybe he wouldn’t freeze to death. That left infection and failure.
But he did just firebend. Was he…The Avatar? There was no way it was fluke, like, a piece of flint or something under the pile, there was just too much fire for that. He’d ignited the kindling immediately, not with a spark. That…Had been Firebending.
He was the Avatar.
The revelation shook him more than his failure had. He was the Avatar. He’d always been talented, but his family had always been powerful Benders. And some Avatar! Couldn’t even pass his Trial of Sand! But…He had this, now. He could make it. He had fire. HE wasn’t going to fail. He was going to rebuild the Sand-sailer. He had the cloth for it. For now, he was warming up, and nodding off. He would sleep, he decided. Just for a little while. Just for a bit..
“Chag. Chag! Oh, no, you’re burning up, I was afraid of this.”
“Tolui? Tolui, I…I can do this…See, a sand-sailer!” Chagatai pointed, trying to stand up. He’d fallen asleep, and he had a fever, but that wasn’t going to stop him.
“You’re dehydrated, here, drink.”
“No, I can’t, I have to do this!” he managed to stand up, and took a few labored steps toward the sand-sailer, but Tolui grabbed his brother.
“Chagatai, you’re half dead, you need help. It’s okay, Chagatai, you can try again. It’s not a big deal. But you need to get well.”
“No!” he struggled, “I have to do this!”
“Dad will understand! It happens!”
“You don’t understand! I can’t fail!”
“Yes, you can! It’s okay to fail, Chagatai! Nobody will think less of you!”
“You don’t get it,” Chagatai grumbled, picking up a piece of wood.
“Yes, I do, Chag, I failed me first time, too,” Tolui said, swallowing hard. Chagatai stopped. He knew that Tolui’s Trial of Sand had taken a long time, and that his Tracker had lost the trail for a while.
“I was found by another tribe, who resupplied me, and put me back at the starting point. They never said anything, and I admitted it to father. He accepted that I’d failed, and tried again, since my second attempt had the same circumstances as my first. It’s okay, Chagatai, sometimes you fail. But that’s why you have your family. That’s why I’m here.”
Chagatai’s fist clenched. He looked at the fire pit. His head was buzzing from his fever. He didn’t want to go with his brother, but he didn’t want to keep working, either.
“Come on, Chagatai, let’s go home.”
“They still haven’t found the Avatar,” Chagatai said, and Tolui stopped.
“What?”
“They still haven’t found the Avatar, but I started that fire last night. I lost my pack, it had my flint.”
“So you think you’re the avatar? Come on, I saw that cactus you ate. You’re delusional, let’s go,” Tolui was no longer willing to play around with his brother, and grabbed Chagatai’s arm. Chag’s first instinct was to give Tolui a blast of sand to the face, but he was too exhausted, and his eyes were fixed on the fire pit. He did firebend. He did!
Didn’t he?
Tolui put a tarp over his brother’s head, then poured some water on Chagatai’s face. Chagatai grabbed the waterskin and took a few long drinks.
“There you go, drink up. Drink up, little brother, we’ll get you home, then you can rest, and try again.”
“I made the fire…”
Tolui didn’t respond. He started up with the sand, and the Sand-sail took off back towards home. Chagatai passed out again, broken only when Tolui woke him up so that Chagatai would drink again. Each time, Chagatai would insist that he had used firebending, and Tolui would say nothing.
What was this? Was it wood? He was pretty sure it was wood. Chagatai shook his head, and squinted at the brown object before him. He kicked it to be sure. He couldn’t trust his eyes, but the input from his nerves was reliable again. Yeah, it was wood. Chagatai fell to his knees, and started bending the sand away. Sure enough, there was a bunch of wood under here, some of it dry and light, the rest fairly heavy. He realized, when it was cleared away, that this had once been a sand-sailer. Most of it was destroyed, and the wood wasn’t going to be useful. He was not going to be able to build his own sand-sailer from it. Chagatai fell back. He’d failed again.
Chagatai was on his Rite of Passage. He’d been given a compass and some food and water, but was otherwise supposed to be entirely on his own in the middle of the Si Wong desert. He knew that there was someone from the tribe tracking him, making sure he didn’t die, but they wouldn’t interfere. It was his task to reach the edges of the Si Wong desert, acquire lumber, and build his personal sand-sailer, which he would then take back to the tribe.
Chagatai had failed from the start, first by not remembering that after a certain distance, Si Wong Rock’s effect waned. That had put him miles off course, and he ended up running out of water. Out of desperation, he ate some cactus, not checking which kind of cactus it was. He’d spent the last two days in a psychedelic haze without any more water, and he’d somehow lost his pack, probably while dancing and singing praises to the King of the Buzzard Wasps as the Sand Nymphs praised his performances.
That meant his didn’t have any of his tools. He couldn’t start a fire. He couldn’t even keep warm while he waited for his tracker to come pick him up. Chagatai was shivering. It was going to dip near freezing tonight! If he didn’t die, he’d be found real close. This was his moment to shine! He was supposed to come back with his own sand-sailer, entering the desert a boy and coming out a man. Chagatai couldn’t bear to think of his father’s disappointment. Or Behter, his grandfather, what would he say, if he were alive? It had only been a month. A month! He couldn’t stay alive for one monthto see his second grandson take the Trial. Just one month, at least…At least to be there!
Chagatai cursed himself for crying at a time like this, when he didn’t have any water or fire or food. He looked around, and found a metal pin. This was a start. Now all he needed was a rock.
He looked around. There were no rocks out here, of course! It was sand! He was in the desert! But if there was one thing Chagatai was not going to do, it was die. He’d already failed. He wasn’t going to disgrace his family further by dying when help was only a few hours away. But he needed a fire. So he kept searching for at least another pin. He might be able to bang them together and make sparks, or get lucky and find a piece of flint among the wreckage. He started tearing up what had been the sand-sailer, searching for a large enough pin.
“Ah!” his hand went to his mouth. He’d cut himself. Chagatai cursed. If the cold or thirst didn’t kill him, infection would, and he didn’t have anything to clean it. But he wasn’t going to stop. He took some of his face wrapping, and tied it tightly over the wound, then wrapped his other hand as he kept looking. Eventually, he found another pin…But there was something else here. Something like…Cloth! The sail was still here! He bended more of the sand away. The sand-sailer’s sail was still intact! It was old and worn, but it was still pretty strong. Maybe he could still finish, he could rebuild it with some of the wood that was still good! He couldn’t use too much for a fire, then. He took the sail and folded it.
He gathered the wood he couldn’t use, and then found the driest of it. He cleared a small indent into the ground, and used the heavy pin to smash the kindling wood. Chagatai then tore some of his clothing, and placed that at the bottom of the pile of kindling, then started banging the two pins together. And again, again, again, but they were too rusted to spark. Chagatai found himself wishing he were a Metalbender. His father knew some, but none enough to be useful.
CLANG! He’d failed even at making a fire! CLANG! He’d failed his Trial of Sand! CLANG! He’d never be a man!
CLANG!
“AAAAAUUUUUGH!” he’d smashed his hand with the pin. His rage finally let itself out, and he threw the pin at the kindling pile, and a burst of flame spurted out of his fist. The kindling was scattered, but it was also lit. Chagatai was totally dumbfounded. He was a sandbender. Did he just…Firebend?
Chagatai then realized that he’d started a fire, and it was starting to go out. On the verge of panic, he had the sand ‘roll’ the kindling back together, and fanned it after removing the metal pin. The fire was off to a good start, and he put more wood on it. The fire took, and he sighed with relief. So maybe he wouldn’t freeze to death. That left infection and failure.
But he did just firebend. Was he…The Avatar? There was no way it was fluke, like, a piece of flint or something under the pile, there was just too much fire for that. He’d ignited the kindling immediately, not with a spark. That…Had been Firebending.
He was the Avatar.
The revelation shook him more than his failure had. He was the Avatar. He’d always been talented, but his family had always been powerful Benders. And some Avatar! Couldn’t even pass his Trial of Sand! But…He had this, now. He could make it. He had fire. HE wasn’t going to fail. He was going to rebuild the Sand-sailer. He had the cloth for it. For now, he was warming up, and nodding off. He would sleep, he decided. Just for a little while. Just for a bit..
“Chag. Chag! Oh, no, you’re burning up, I was afraid of this.”
“Tolui? Tolui, I…I can do this…See, a sand-sailer!” Chagatai pointed, trying to stand up. He’d fallen asleep, and he had a fever, but that wasn’t going to stop him.
“You’re dehydrated, here, drink.”
“No, I can’t, I have to do this!” he managed to stand up, and took a few labored steps toward the sand-sailer, but Tolui grabbed his brother.
“Chagatai, you’re half dead, you need help. It’s okay, Chagatai, you can try again. It’s not a big deal. But you need to get well.”
“No!” he struggled, “I have to do this!”
“Dad will understand! It happens!”
“You don’t understand! I can’t fail!”
“Yes, you can! It’s okay to fail, Chagatai! Nobody will think less of you!”
“You don’t get it,” Chagatai grumbled, picking up a piece of wood.
“Yes, I do, Chag, I failed me first time, too,” Tolui said, swallowing hard. Chagatai stopped. He knew that Tolui’s Trial of Sand had taken a long time, and that his Tracker had lost the trail for a while.
“I was found by another tribe, who resupplied me, and put me back at the starting point. They never said anything, and I admitted it to father. He accepted that I’d failed, and tried again, since my second attempt had the same circumstances as my first. It’s okay, Chagatai, sometimes you fail. But that’s why you have your family. That’s why I’m here.”
Chagatai’s fist clenched. He looked at the fire pit. His head was buzzing from his fever. He didn’t want to go with his brother, but he didn’t want to keep working, either.
“Come on, Chagatai, let’s go home.”
“They still haven’t found the Avatar,” Chagatai said, and Tolui stopped.
“What?”
“They still haven’t found the Avatar, but I started that fire last night. I lost my pack, it had my flint.”
“So you think you’re the avatar? Come on, I saw that cactus you ate. You’re delusional, let’s go,” Tolui was no longer willing to play around with his brother, and grabbed Chagatai’s arm. Chag’s first instinct was to give Tolui a blast of sand to the face, but he was too exhausted, and his eyes were fixed on the fire pit. He did firebend. He did!
Didn’t he?
Tolui put a tarp over his brother’s head, then poured some water on Chagatai’s face. Chagatai grabbed the waterskin and took a few long drinks.
“There you go, drink up. Drink up, little brother, we’ll get you home, then you can rest, and try again.”
“I made the fire…”
Tolui didn’t respond. He started up with the sand, and the Sand-sail took off back towards home. Chagatai passed out again, broken only when Tolui woke him up so that Chagatai would drink again. Each time, Chagatai would insist that he had used firebending, and Tolui would say nothing.
