Chapter Text
Atop a clouded mountain lives a thriving city. Little boys in orange and yellow robes run about, blowing puffs of wind into clouds and chasing flying creatures. Adult and elderly men in similar garb watch them with smiles. The men are all completely bald, and many have foreheads adorned with blue arrows. Flying lemurs leap around, soaring on wind currents and trying to steal baked goods from giggling children. Floating with the clouds are several flying bisons, children dashing about playing with each other while monks amble after them to watch their young. Some humans fly with the animals, holding red gliders to their back to get from place to place. The mountain itself is dotted with beautiful trees and old buildings with white walls and green roofs. Despite the entirely male populous of the mountain temple, one adult woman walks the mountain paths. A tattoo of a blue arrow decorate her forehead and snakes down her limbs to stop at her hands and feet. Her robes consist of a long red skirt that glides on the floor and an orange shawl that connects at her collarbone and floats around her elbows. Unlike the rest of the dark haired people in the temples her hair is a bright orange. On her head rests a crown of sticks, flowers, and leaves. Her freckles and amber eyes complete her appearance as an embodiment of autumn, or a beautiful phoenix woman. While she certainly doesn't look like the average airbender her bubbly and easy-going nature is very fitting for her homeland. The woman sits on a stone bench in a tree filled courtyard, watching children play with flying lemurs. At one point a young boy comes up to her and marvels at her unusual hair. She smiles and leans forward so that he can inspect it. He grabs a lock of her hair, not knowing his strength, but she does her best not to show her discomfort.
A breeze comes through the courtyard, rustling the trees and blowing through her hair. the smell of smoke and ash catches her nose and fills her with worry. Turning in the direction of the breeze she sees thick columns of smoke rising above the treeline. The child whimpers at noticing her fear and she grabs him by the shoulders and quickly walks away from the trees just as a jet of fire breeches the courtyard. Out of the burning gaps between the trees crawls dozens of men in black and red armor wielding swords and pikes and shooting fire from their palms. Screams of men and children ring out around her. She scoops the now crying boy into her arms and begins to run away from the soldiers. As she turns the corner she runs directly into a towering man wearing red. Her heart all but stops and she shrieks loudly before the man puts his arms out in a friendly gesture. The red he wears are robes instead of armor and has blue arrows in his skin, identifying him as a monk.
“Sister Keyleth, Father Korren has called for you. You must come quickly.” He pleads, already running back from the direction he came. She doesn't allow herself to think and runs after him. Screams surround them wherever they go and flames seem to lick at their feet no matter how fast they run. He dashes through the streets of the temple city leading her straight to the central tower. He throws the massive wooden doors open and runs inside, making sure she follows before slamming the doors back shut. He grabs her arm and pulls her up a long winding staircase to the very top chambers. When they reach the top they are both very much out of breath but take no time to catch it. The monk dashes to a small wooden door and holds it open, staring at Keyleth and ushering her inside. The room has a large desk and a balcony, and the floors and walls are draped in yellow cloth. Keyleth runs in and sees Korren, an old bald man with a long gray moustache and wearing red and yellow robes, hastily folding a blanket into a small woven bag. He looks up from his work to see Keyleth and sighs in relief. He grabs a waterskin and puts in in the bag as well, then runs to her.
“Father Korren, what's going on? What's happening?” She panics. He puts a hand on her shoulder to try to calm her, but takes no time to comfort her further.
“Keyleth, we have hosted you at the Northern Air Temple for some weeks now, and you should know why. There are those who predicted that the Air Temples would be attacked by the Fire Nation because we are next in line to host the Avatar. We know that he was born in the Southern Temple, but has disappeared. Certain elders have noticed a shift in the Avatar Cycle that has never been seen before, and they have foreseen that the powers of the Avatar have somehow passed onto you.” He explains quickly. Keyleth’s mouth hangs in shock.
“W-what? That's not possible! Avatars are born, not made! I've never controlled anything other than air! Ever!” She stutters.
“I know this sounds mad. But if this is true then you have the greatest chance at protecting the people of the world from the Fire Nation's assaults.”
“But I can't! I'm not strong enough!”
“You aren't now. But you need to become someone that is strong enough. You need to live to become that person.” He insists. He holds the bag out to her, but realises that she is still holding the young boy in her arms. The child is no longer crying, but fear is plain on his tearstained face. He takes the child from her and pushes the bag to her for her to take. Keyleth grabs it in confusion but makes no move to fasten it to herself. Korren takes her arm and walks to the balcony, picking up a glider on the way and forcing that on her as well. He turns her to face him and holds her shoulders.
“Go, please. Fly in the clouds where they can’t see you. Someone needs to survive this and it needs to be you. Go to Ba Sing Se, it’s walls will protect you from the Fire Nation. Ask them for aid, beg them if you must. Do whatever it takes. I know you have it within you.” He begs. Keyleth swallows her tears and nods. He lets her go and runs back to the door. He throws it open and billows of smoke and ash are let in. Korren looks back at her and says,
“Go, now!” He then summons a gust of air to clear the stairs of the smoke then runs down. Keyleth turns back to the balcony and looks out at the burning temple city. Copper hair falls into her face due to her shaking and she brushes it back, finding tears on her cheeks. Shaking her head to clear herself of emotions, she forces herself to focus. She straps the pack to her chest and flips open her glider. Keyleth swings it around her to rest against her back and puts her arms up to grab the two handles. Her legs instinctively take a few steps back before running at the open balcony, launching herself in the air at the last moment. Air swirls under Keyleth on her command and she uses it to keep herself in flight. As she glides several Fire Nation soldiers shoot jets of flame up at her, which she just barely dodges and twists around. The mountain temples disappear beneath her as she soars, or the remnants of them, and are replaced with clouds. She flies low and surrounds herself with the clouds, obscuring her view but also hiding herself from and soldiers that may be in the area still.
She flies for hours before she builds the courage to exit the cloud layer. A rocky mountain range fades into vision beneath her, little to no green on it's surface. The mountains were no where near as tall or steep as the ones that hold the Northern Air Temple, but mountainous nonetheless. After flying through clouds for so long Keyleth has no idea of how far she has traveled or how much distance still remains between her and Ba Sing Se. Time is lost to her since entering the clouds but she can tell it has been hours judging by the lack of energy in her body. The exertion she has put upon her body and her bending is painfully clear now. Still, she forces herself to keep flying, to keep following the air currents. She can't be sure if the area is safe from the Fire Nation soldiers so she flies half in the clouds, hoping to be mistaken for a bird. As she flies for as long as she can the mountains below her fade into rolling hills and day fades into night.
Only once the sun’s light has completely disappeared does she allow herself to land. Below her she sees a taller hill with an outcropping of rock that she sits under, just enough to shelter her. Once her feet touch the ground she sits down and starts to look through the bag that Korren had given her. Inside the pack there is a few folded parchments with maps of the different nations on them, some koala sheep wool blankets, a loaf of bread, a pouch of nuts and dried fruits and vegetables, and a waterskin and a compass both of Earth Kingdom origin. She holds the compass in both hands and swivels around to see what direction she had been going. With her compass, her maps, and her memory she determines that she had been flying south, meaning that she had been going almost the right direction despite her panic. A sigh escapes her and she feels herself physically relaxing for the first time in hours. Reaching behind her she takes the glider and balances it on her lap, taking a good look at it. It is made of a rich brown wood with dark swirls and spirals decorating it's staff.
The wings of the glider are made of orange and yellow paper, patterned in a way depicting the setting sun. With such a beautiful symbol of her people in her hands she thinks of the children at the Northern Air Temple, and how many of them escaped. Is the Fire Nation attack on the temple still going on, or have they already burned it down? What state are the other temples in? What of her home, the Eastern Temple, do her sisters still live? Her memories of time spent with the nuns mingle with her fear and she can't help but cry. Almost sympathetically the clouds above her open up and begin to rain, but she feels as if the world is mocking her for her emotional nature. As much as she tries she cannot stop the tears from falling so she chooses to pretend that they aren't. Snapping the glider closed and tucking it against the wall behind her, she turns back to her bag. She fills her bag with all but her blanket, and uses the two to make an excuse for a bed. It takes hours for her to force herself to sleep, and when she does her dreams are filled with smoke.