Chapter 1
Lightning, Three hundred million volts of energy thrown by a fire bender, one of the deadliest forms of bending and Kyoshi takes seven of them in moments, so much physical energy mixing with the energy of Raava as she enters the avatar state leading to a backlash of energy not to be seen again. And in a flash of light, she's gone, leaving a heartbroken Rangi and a world in turmoil.
Kyoshi appears in a clearing with a thunderous crash, the earth-shaking as she carves a long crater into the ground unconscious, a red comet overhead.
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… That's gotta be the biggest person I've ever seen.” a voice says and Kyoshi can feel someone pulling at her armor, her hand flies out, slower than it should and she doesn't make contact, her arms aching as she moves.
“Oh shit, you're alive.” Kyoshi opens her eyes to see a man dressed in worn armor.
“Wher..” she groans sitting.
“You're in the reach miss,” he says and she frowns, never having heard of it.
“I was heading toward high garden for a tourney, gonna try and earn some dragons.” Kyoshi stares at him.
“Highgarden, is that in the Earthnation?”
“No, it's in the Reach, did you fall into the hole and hit your head?”
“Yea definitely hit my head,” she says deciding not to draw suspicion to her lack of knowledge.
“If you're ok riding in the back of a cart I can help you find a healer in Thornstown.” He offers.
“Yes, that's probably a good idea.” she lets the man help her stand and almost drag her to his cart, laying her in the back, and forcing herself to sit against the back of the wagon she checks her belt, glad to find her fans still with her.
“We still have a few hours yet.” the man tells her as he leads the horses from the small patch of trees out into long fields, filled with fruit as far as her eyes can see.
“Whats your name? I didn't ask.”
“Kyoshi, what's yours,” she asks as she pulls at her armor, finding her armor melted against her skin wincing.
“Names Kaegan. Theirs some fresh fruit back there, you're welcome to it.” she moves a blanket her hands aching seeing a few peaches and other fruits, she reaches out taking a peach and biting into it, her eyes widening at its sweetness.
“This tournament.” she says whipping her face, her gloved hand coming away white and red, only most of the red from her face paint. “What's it for?”
“Margery Tyrells 16th nameday, her father is hosting a tourney to rival the crowns.”
“And the crown hosts a lot of tourneys?” she probes for information.
“King Robert hosts at least two a year for the last seventeen years.” she hmms taking another bite of the peach.
“So what's with the makeup, where you a performer?”
“Something like that, I was a member of the Flying opera company,” she tells him finishing the peach and tucking the pit into the corner.
“Is there water.” he hands back a waterskin and she takes a long drink before pouring some on her head using her bending to take off the thick paint sending the pink water over the side and handing the waterskin back to the man.
“Thank you.” he looks back, seeing her bruised freckled face and he hmms.
“I was wondering what you looked like under there.” they take the rest of the journey in silence a city coming into view, a massive castle in the distance made of whitestone.
“Thorntown, The tourneys are in two days so so it's going to be busy, ill drop you off in front of a Maester.”
“Thank you for your help,” he says as he asks for directions at the gates following them to a whitestone building the man climbs into the back of the cart and helps Kyoshi climb out supporting the woman who is over a foot taller than him into the healers, an assistant healer rushing to take her from him.
“What happened.”
“My back is burned, my head hurts and I haven't felt my toes for the past four hours,” she states and Keagan looks up at her in surprise.
“You didn't mention all that?”
“It was unimportant,” she tells him.
“We're going to take her to be treated now, you can wait other if you need to.” Kyoshi pushes away from them, bowing to the man.
“I thank you for helping me.”
“Uhh… you're welcome?” And with that goodby, she is led back and the man leaves to search for a place to leave his cart ad horses. The nurse, removes Kyoshi's armor dropping it to the floor. Kyoshi takes her fans setting them on a shelf as her clothes are peeled away followed by her wraps revealing her bruised and burned back to the air Kyoshi has to keep from hissing, her eyes watering.
“By the seven.” the nurse says with a gasp. “Please, just stay here.” the nurse says before rushing from the room.
“MAESTER!” she hears her yell. Kyoshi waits patiently, ignoring the pain as she had learned to do long ago.
‘I hope Rangi is alright, I wonder if I will see her again?’ she finds herself thinking, hoping she hadn't lost her third family too. The door opens and she looks to see a man with greying hair looking to be around 50.
“Oh, you weren't wrong Rena, go get the burn salve and some bandages, and tweezers, and the knife, I can see cloth melted in that wound, get my good wine too.” he says and she rushes off to do it as he steps into the room.
“I would very much like to know how this happened to you.”
“A Firebender threw lightning at me.” she delivers deadpan
“Magic truly?” he says eyes lighting up with interest. “Where do you hail from Pentoshi? Or farther perhaps Asshai I've heard that magic is common there.?”
“I don't know what those are i’m from the earth Kingdom”
“And I've never heard of that, which is a shame if there is true magic there,” he says and Kyoshi turns on him.
“Bending is not magic, it is a spiritual matter.” He hmms.
“And could you show me this..Bending girl?” he asks as a challenge.
“My name is Kyoshi.” she says the very earth shaking underneath them. “And I do not need to prove myself to you.” The doctor laughs as the assistant returns with a wooden tray.
“I like this girl.” he says grabbing the wine and uncorking it offering it to Kyoshi.
“You're massive so be sure to drink plenty, and sit down I don't want to miss any. She takes the bottle and sniffs it, undiluted wine like the wine kept in the barrels of the Avatar estate. She takes a large drink sitting down before taking another and holding it back, this is the most she would allow in an unfamiliar land.
“Your choice.” the doctor says reaching out for the crude tweezers and beginning the process of pulling the melted cloth from Kyoshis back.
“Most do not survive a lightning strike, either the witch was weak or you are strong.”
“He was powerful, and now he is dead and I am stronger for it.” he hmms pulling at a particularly melted piece and reaching out for the knife.
“Then be strong for this.” he tells her as he cuts it free Kyoshi biting her tongue.
“Strong indeed,” he mutters as he moves on to the next piece.
Time moves slowly as he continues his work, and now your hands. He says and she holds them out, red burns from her fans and gloves.
“This is bad, let's hope we can prevent an infection.” he sets down the tweezers and reaches for the salve rubbing her hands in it Kyoshi keeps her face stoic through it as he wraps bandages around them doing the same to her back wrapping the bandages around her body.
“Someone here will help you to the inn next door, but I have to ask do you have the coin to pay for all of this?” Kyoshi looks at her fallen clothes, upset by the disarray she picks up her shirt and folds it onto a counter before pulling a coin purse from her hip reaching in, and pulling out a gold coin.
“It is not a dragon but it is gold,” she drops it into his palm and he bites it.
“This should cover my salve and the room but I’ll payout for the room so I can keep this coin, you should find a money handler to trade these in, sadly I can't afford to trade myself unless you are willing to wait for me to write the citadel?”
“I can not stay here long,” she tells him and he nods.
“That a shame, put your shirt back on, and ill have my assistant lead you to the Inn.” Kyoshi does as putting on her shirt, places her fans in her waistband, and going to reach for her armor.
“None of that, someone will drop it off to you. I don't treat people just for them fuck it up right away.” Kyoshi doesn't argue, she just wants to sleep and figure this out in the morning. She zones out and the doctor leaves coming back with the assistant to lead Kyoshi who follows, moving slowly even with the salve her body aches.
They walk next door, eyes following them as they go.
“What d'ya need?” the innkeeper asks as they enter and the assistant places a silver onto the counter handing Kyoshi a coin purse.
“The doctor wanted me to tell you to look into how much a gold dragon is worth.” Kyoshi lets herself be led to a room locking the door behind her setting her coin purses under the mattress pulling her shirt off and folding it placing it on the counter climbing into the bed and pulling the blanket over herself waving a hand to put the light in the room out and falling quickly to sleep.
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Kyoshi finds herself floating alone in a black void.
“Avatar Kyoshi” a feminine voice whispers in her head.
“Who are you?”
“I am within you, we have been together for all of your lives. I am Called many things but you can call me Raava the spirit of peace and light and I am one-half of the Avatar, “ the void blinks out for a moment.
“I can not speak to you for long my power is diminished from the journey and this world is dark.” she blinks in and out.
“This world, so I'm somewhere else. Can I get home?”Kyoshi asks dreading the answer
“Pragmatic as always, I have enjoyed this reincarnation. Traveling through the void requires an anchor to return and we do not have one. We would travel through infinitely and still never make it home but this world needs a champion perhaps even more than our own I believe we can be of use here.”
“And our world?”
“Eventually another me will rebuild ourselves from Vatuu, we are eternally locked And i believe that our world is strong enough to survive,”
“Then I will trust in my friends and leave it to them.” Kyoshi decides, even if it feels like her heart is torn in two.
Kyoshi wakes up suddenly, tears running down her face, her shoulders shaking as she sobs quietly.
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Kyoshi wakes up again with the rising of the sun. groaning as she rolls overhearing people moving outside, she forces herself out of bed groaning as she feels pain in her hands and back she grabs her tattered shirt from the table sighing, she would need to buy clothes very soon. She pulls on the tattered shirt grabs the coin purses from under her pillow and ties them onto her belt leaving the room and heading downstairs,
“Oh, big’un finally up.”
Kyoshi ignores that. “How much for another night?”
“One silver during the tourney.’ he says and she pulls out three placing them down.” the man takes them.
“All set.”
“Where can I buy clothes, or cloth and thread?”
“Jons across town, head towards the castle and you'll find it.” She nods leaving, seeing the town full of people as she walks down the street towards high garden people moving out of her way. She keeps walking until she finds a building with a thread and needle on a sign. She walks through the doorway to see baskets filled with cloth and thread set along the wall.
“Oh wow, you're tall.” a woman says from a table on the other side of the room and Kyoshi looks to see her stitching together clothes, she walks to the baskets looking through them,
“Any color in particular?” the woman asks.
“Something green, and maybe a red too,” she tells her, moving some fabrics.
“Top corner for green, but no reds.” the girl says and Kyoshi walks over, grabbing the basket, seeing green fabrics she looks through them finding a shade she likes, and putting it under her arm placing the basket back onto the pole she walks to a basket on the end finding a darker green thread grabbing it and walking over to the counter.
“How much?”
“Two groat,” Kyoshi places a silver and the woman stands walking into the back and returning a little later with a few groat and a large tunic.
“That’ll fit you i’ll throw it in for a groat.” Kyoshi nods taking the tunic and the groats and placing them into her coin purse.
“Have a nice day.” Kyoshi says leaving going to make her way back to the inn and stepping outside to hear cheering.
“The Tournament? Have I slept two days,” she walks to an alleyway changes her top, and ties the cloth and thread into the old shirt tying both ends around it and trying them together. She leaves the alleyway making her way out of the city and up a hill towards the noise bag slung overhear shoulder. She finds rows of seats looking over a sea of people to see two men riding towards each other holding poles, her eyes widen as they hit each other the poles exploding one man being thrown from his…. Something horse?
She looks across the field to see a girl an overweight man and an elderly woman watching the.. Test of skill. She watches as the winner pulls off his helm to reveal Keagan, her eyes widen as the loser rises grabbing his broken spear and charging his opponent, Kyoshi flicks her wrist the ground caving under the man's foot his foot sinking and his ankle breaking.
“Escort that man to the dungeons, ill deal with him after this.” A balding older man says and his guards pull the man out of the hole dragging him away, kyoshi watches a few more bouts before the winners are announced Keagen coming in third. She hears them announce the tilts seeing a number of armored men with swords walk out into a wooden square. Deciding she's seen enough she turns from the crowd and walks back to the city making her way to the inn and returning to her room to sew herself some new clothes and plan her next steps.