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The 100 Year Chronicles
The 100 Year Chronicles
Chapter 1: Sunset
"It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time before all this happened when we were just normal kids, and everyone was happy. I refuse to let the memory of what this place once was fade. I can still see it all, in my memory, the fruit trees are green and teeming with fresh mangos with winged lemurs hanging from their branches, young air benders are training in the courtyards under the watchful eye of their guardians, and sky bison are soaring all around, that’s how it was supposed to be, how it used to be… before… that day. " – Hotaru Inouye
100 Years Ago:
August 24th, 1 BG
Doragonzu (An Island in the South-Eastern Fire Nation)
Hotaru Inouye’s large, dark blue eyes burst open, she sprang to an upright sitting position in her large, four-poster bed, having instinctively grabbed and unsheathed her sword from its display hooks above her bed. Silently pushing the red silk blanket to the side, holding her sword at the ready, she got up and moved towards the door on the right side of the room. She heard a creaking sound coming from somewhere further down the hallway, sliding the door open, she made her way towards the source of the sound.
“Aang? Is that you? I knew you’d show up eventually…” She said, but there was no answer. Aang would have answered her. She stiffened. There it was again, a solitary creaking footstep. “Who are you?” She asked, but still, the intruder didn’t answer. She could just make out the shape of someone slightly shorter than herself coming toward her. Her grip tightened on the hilt of her sword as she prepared to defend herself if necessary. “Show yourself!” She demanded. “I’m warning you!
“Hotaru, calm down. It’s me.” Said a familiar voice. Then a small flame burst to life, seemingly in midair, until a young fire bender with a stocky build and a wide, round, face came into view.
“K-Kuzon?” Hotaru stammered. “What are you doing? It’s late! You can’t just break into someone’s house and sneak around in the dark! I almost attacked you just now!”
“I know. I’m sorry for scaring you but; I need your help. Something terrible is about to happen, and I can’t stop it on my own. You’re the only one in the Fire Nation I can trust with this Hotaru.” Kuzon replied.
“What are you talking about?” She pressed.
“I heard my Dad and Grandpa talking earlier. My dad said that the Fire Lord has given him orders. They’re planning to attack the Air Temples, and Dad’s been assigned to lead the assault on the Southern Temple.” Kuzon admitted.
Hotaru’s eyes were the size of melons, her jaw dropped, seemingly to the floor. Every hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Then, seeing the expression on her friend’s face, she pushed away her initial shock. “Kuzon,” Hotaru began softly, “you’re not responsible for his actions.”
He wouldn’t meet her eye, his fists were balled so tight Hotaru was surprised he wasn’t bleeding yet, and his carotid artery was pulsating rapidly. She couldn’t blame him. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have your own father not only participate in but lead an attack on your best friend’s home.
“But what am I supposed to do? I know Aang isn’t there but-but what about Monk Gyatso and the others?! They’ll all be killed! I can’t just sit back and watch, but I can’t fight them all on my own either. I’m just one kid!” Kuzon’s voice was raised in both pitch and volume and Hotaru could hear an undercurrent of anguish beneath the fear.
She grabbed him at his shoulders and pulled him into a tight embrace. “Calm down. Listen to me. You won’t have to fight them alone, and we’re not going to let them get away with it. Understand me? You came to me for help, and you have it. We’ll put a stop to this, somehow…”
After a few minutes, his breathing and heartbeat slowed and steadied back into their usual pace, and his panicked expression was replaced by a determined glare, barely visible as Hotaru’s eyes adjusted to the darkness.
“I’m sorry I freaked out. What do we do?”
“That’s more like it,” Hotaru replied with a reassuring smile. “When is this supposed to happen?” She asked.
“On the day of the Great Comet.”
“That’s only three days from now.”
“No one is coming within sight of the Air Temples until then, but Dad’s fleet is leaving tomorrow morning. They’re taking those new, coal-powered steamships, that’s the fasted way to get everyone into position, and the quicker and closer to the attack they actually move in, the less likely it is that the Air Nomads will figure out what’s going on. Dad told Grandpa that their goal is to trap them and so that none can escape, and then,” Kuzon paused, his eyes flashed with panic once more but only for a second, he gulped hard, swallowing his terror at what he was about to reveal, “Kill them all.”
“They can’t possibly expect to move fast enough. Even with the comet and the steamships, they’ll be seen before they get there. Maybe it won’t be soon enough for everyone to escape, but some of them definitely will.” Hotaru protested.
“They’ll surround the island and then, when the Great Comet appears, the fire benders will come at the temple from all sides. That way anyone who manages to escape the building risks getting caught by the ships.”
“Ok, but what about the others? Did they say anything about plans to attack the airbenders who live outside of the temples, like in Feng Zhi?”
“Not specifically, but Dad did say that the ultimate goal is to completely wipe out the Air Nomads. To do that he’d have to attack the valley, and the foothills of the mountains around the Southern, Northern, and Eastern temples wouldn’t he?”
“Yes, and even then there’d be those who weren’t home at the time. Ok, ok… looks like our only chance is to warn everyone.” Hotaru replied, pushing past Kuzon and practically running down the stairs. He followed.
She paused in front of one particular room on the main floor. “Koji! Get up! I need you!”
Kuzon heard rustling behind the door before it slid open revealing Hotaru’s only remaining vassal, a boy her own age whose family had served hers for generations. He stood there looking bleary-eyed and confused with his burgundy servant’s robes and chin-length dark hair looking uncharacteristically messy. “What’s going on?” He replied sleepily.
“Pack at least two weeks' worth of supplies and get Taiyo ready, and step on it. Kuzon and I have a long flight ahead of us.” Hotaru replied.
Koji was clearly confused; but, likely out of respect for his young mistress, he didn’t ask. He simply nodded and did as he was told.
Satisfied, Hotaru turned her attention back to Kuzon. “We’ll never reach the Northern or Eastern temples in time, I’m going to send them each a warning via messenger hawk.” She explained as she ran over to her writing desk and used her own fire bending to light the oil lamp while taking out a piece of parchment and fumbling around for her paperweights.”
“Good plan except, aren’t we risking the navy intercepting your messages?”
“Not likely,” Hotaru replied as she started writing. “The rest of the family might be gone, but the Inouye family name still carries some weight. They wouldn’t dare open private documents bearing my family’s seal.” Then, once she had finished two copies of her warning, she rolled each one up and tied a red ribbon around it. She then heated a small tray of wax, pressed, used a small metal tool to place a small amount on top of each of the knots, and pressed her family seal into the tiny mounds of wax, flattening each one into the image of a dragon circling around the character for ‘courage’.
Kuzon followed her as she went outside to an enclosure full of a half-dozen messenger hawks, hook out two, gave each one a copy of the message, and sent them flying to the north and the east.
“What now?” He asked.
“How fast can you go home, get supplies, and back here?” She asked.
“Um, a couple of hours, I know I can be back before sunrise. Why?”
“Because it’s best if we leave while it’s still dark. We’ll take my dragon. We’ll go to Feng Zhi first, then continue north to the Western Temple, once we’ve done that, we’ll double back toward the Southern Temple. With any luck at all, we’ll reach the Southern Temple the night before the attack.” She explained. “The navy is in for a surprise. They won’t get away with this, now go, and get back here as fast as you can.”
Kuzon nodded and set off back in the direction he’d come from.
While Kuzon was gone, Hotaru made her own preparations, putting on a fire-proof, dragonhide bodysuit under her black yukata and fingering her thick, black, elbow-length hair into a thick braid, making two smaller braids out of the shorter sections on each side, and slipping her sword through her belt.
By the time he returned, Hotaru was waiting in the back garden, standing beside a dark gray dragon with flecks of red, a gift from her fire bending master.
Kuzon had only ever had one run-in with dragons before, and ultimately, it hadn’t gone that well. He stood there in armor with shoulder spikes shaped like dragon teeth, and still, it took all his resolve to not show fear as he approached the beast. “Um, Hotaru, do we have to take Taiyo?” He asked tentatively.
Hotaru nodded. “Don’t be a baby. This is the fastest way, even faster than a sky bison. Besides, as long as you’re not a poacher and you don’t mean me, or any of the people Taiyo knows I care about any harm, he won’t hurt you. Hurry up. It’s nearly sunrise. We’ve got a long flight ahead of us.”
“If you say so,” Kuzon replied, climbing into the dragon’s saddle behind Hotaru.
“Alright Taiyo, time to go,” Hotaru said a second later. Immediately, the dragon spread his massive wings and pushed off the ground into the sky. They were off.
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Chapter 2: Warning
Feng Zhi was a valley in the northern Fire Nation with mountains on two sides and the ocean at either end. The land there was lush and green, but the high winds and the valley’s tendency to flood made it a less than desirable place to live for most Fire Nation citizens. So, instead, it had long been occupied by a small community of Air Nomads, who used the rain-soaked soil to grow rice and fruit, which they farmed and shared communally. Their houses were simple square structures two or three stories high and built on stilted foundations so that the floodwaters would flow harmlessly under them.
“So, how should we do this?” Kuzon asked when they landed just outside the village. “Should we climb the bell tower and ring the bell to gather everybody in the square and then tell them?” He asked.
“No. Remember it’s our nation’s navy who’s behind this attack, even though we want nothing to do with it. It’s practically inevitable that some of the people here won’t take the warning seriously if it comes from us. So, I think our best bet is warning someone I know will trust us and letting them handle the rest.” She replied, walking toward one house in particular.
“Ok, but who would that be?” Kuzon asked as he followed her.
“Aang’s parents. Feng Zhi is Aang’s home village,” she said.
“Huh,” Kuzon replied. “I knew most Airbenders lived outside the temples, and that villages like this one existed, but I don’t think Aang ever told me which one he was from.”
“You probably didn’t ask,” Hotaru reminded him. “ I’ve only met them a few times, and only been here once before now; but they’re the ones most likely to believe us, and the rest of the people in this valley respect his father, Rohan. They’re more likely to listen to him than us.” She said, walking towards one particular house; but she froze at the base of the ladder leading onto a raised front porch.
“Hotaru! We’re kind of on a time crunch here. Are you going to knock or what?” Kuzon asked.
“Oh, right. Sorry,” she replied.
“What’s wrong?” Kuzon asked.
“The last time I was here, I came looking for Aang right after I found out he’d disappeared. I asked his parents where he was, if they’d heard from him at all. I don’t know why, after all, this is the first place the monks would have looked for him, but I thought he might come home,” she explained. “They didn’t even know he was gone.”
“The monks didn’t even write to them about what happened?” Kuzon asked.
“Gyatso did, but I beat that message here. You should’ve seen their faces, I promised that I’d find him but I haven’t yet. Now here I am, about to give them even more bad news.”
“Well, think about what could happen to them, and everyone else living here if we don’t say something,” Kuzon suggested. “Think about how Aang would feel if we let that happen.”
Hotaru tried to picture it, but the thought was too horrible and she pushed it away. “You’re right. I have to do this,” she said, marching right up to the door and knocking.
“I’ll get it,” said a woman’s voice. The door opened to reveal a small-framed, bony, woman with delicate features, large gray eyes, and long, wavy black hair, the front of which was shaved so that her hairline was even with her ears and the sky-blue arrow tattoo on her forehead, was on full display. “Ah, Hotaru, always a pleasure to see you my dear.” She said with a smile as she looked down at her guests. “And who is this?” She asked, eyeing Kuzon.
“Oh, this is Kuzon, he’s a friend of mine and Aang’s,” She replied.
Kuzon smiled at the woman and bowed.
“So what brings you here? Did you find…” Sarabi began.
“Unfortunately no,” Hotaru said, cutting her off. “I wish, but actually this is about something else. We have reason to believe that the Fire Nation army and navy are about to go on the offensive and that Air Nomads are the targets. For your own safety, it’s imperative that you all evacuate this valley. Leave the Fire Nation, you’ll be much safer hiding in the forests of the Northern Earth Kingdom, at least for the next few days anyway.” Hotaru paused, she hoped it would only be a few days, but if they were right about what the Fire Lord was trying to do, well, she didn’t even want to think about that. “Where’s Rohan?”
“He’s out in the rice fields, it’s almost harvest season. He and the others are checking the crop to see how many people it's going to take to bring in the harvest before the Autumn rains wash it away. I’ll go get him.” She said, running out towards the fields, jumping down from the platform as though it were a single step and running towards the rice fields.
Sarabi’s husband Rohan was a tall man with large gray eyes that were narrower than his wife’s, chiseled features, and a small, thin, black mustache. The top of his head was shaved but he did have hair on the lower half of his head and a long braid that went down his back.
“Rohan…” She called as she ran toward him.
“Sarabi? What is it, My Love?”
“We have a serious problem.” She replied, launching into recounting what Hotaru had just told her.
Rohan nodded, and jumped up onto the bell tower at the north end of the village, ringing it loudly until every person in the valley was gathered at its base.
In a deep, booming voice, aided by his airbending, Rohan addressed his village.
“Listen, everyone! It’s been brought to my attention that it’s likely we could be attacked within the next few days. Our safest option is for everyone to evacuate immediately. Everyone gather your belongings and get to a sky bison, we’ll meet at the end of the valley in an hour and fly east around the mountains, sky bison with children in their saddles should fly at the center of the herd.” He told them. His voice allowed for no doubt and no refusal, as soon as he jumped down from the tower the rest of the village dispersed and started getting ready to leave.
“That was amazing Sir,” Kuzon commented.
“It was nothing. All I did was tell the truth. We should really be thanking you, kids, for coming here to warn us.”
“Well our journey isn’t over yet, we still have two Air Temples to warn.” Hotaru cautioned.
“Then you’d better be off now, we can handle things from here,” Rohan replied. “Thank you again, Hotaru, for everything.” He added.
She nodded and then she and Kuzon got back on her dragon and left.
***
By the time they reached the Western Air Temple, it was almost midday. There wasn’t a moment to waste. Hotaru and Kuzon dismounted, used ropes to propel themselves down into the temple on the underside of the cliff they had landed on, and immediately started looking for the Western Temple’s council of elders. That is until Hotaru was approached by someone she knew.
“Hotaru? What are you doing here?” asked a familiar voice.
Hotaru turned her head and saw Malu, a friend she’d met through Aang, walking up to her. Malu had just turned eleven, she had short black hair which she kept clipped back in a spiky bun behind her head, delicate features, and large blue-gray eyes. She wore a knee-length yellow dress, yellow leggings, and knee-height brown boots with a hooded, orange poncho.
“Oh, hi Malu, I didn’t see you there. Do you remember Kuzon?” Hotaru asked.
“Sure do,” Malu replied. “Please tell me you’re here because you finally found Aang…”
Hotaru sighed and shook her head. “Unfortunately no, but it is important. This might sound weird, coming from two outsiders, but we need to speak to the Elder’s Council immediately.”
“Then follow me.” She said, leading them across a raised stone bridge and into one of the upside-down towers hanging off the cliffs.
Their destination was a large, round, stone chamber deep within the temple, where five women sat meditating peacefully on raised platforms, the one in the center being taller than all the others. Unsure, Kuzon and Hotaru stood behind Malu, and let her take the lead.
“Is this them?” Kuzon asked.
“Shhhh…” Malu whispered. “Just let me introduce you.” Then she turned to the council and bowed. “Mother Superior, these two are friends of mine from the Fire Nation. They have important information for us.”
Mother Superior was, surprisingly, the youngest of the five, her long black hair was only beginning to show flecks of gray, and she looked upon them with gratitude rather than annoyance. “Very well. Step forward young ones.”
Kuzon and Hotaru came closer to where the council was sitting. Hotaru spoke first. “The army and navy are on their way here. They mean to destroy the temple and everyone in it. You need to evacuate the temple immediately.” She informed them.
Mother Superior’s eyes widened in disbelief. “So, this day has finally come. Very well then, we will ready the sky bison and evacuate into the western Earth Kingdom. Thank you young ones, for doing what is right, even though it goes against your own nation’s wishes. Go now. Get yourselves out before the Fire Nation realizes they’ve been betrayed. Rest assured, the temple will be abandoned by this afternoon.” She said, standing up and nodding for the other members of the council to follow her and warn the rest of the temple.
“We’ll stay and help you evacuate,” Kuzon said without thinking.
“No.” She replied. “If you wish to help us further then go and warn our brothers at the Southern Temple.”
Hotaru put a hand on his shoulder. “She’s right Kuzon, every second we don’t warn them, the fleet gets closer and closer to the Southern Temple. We need to go if we’re going to reach them in time. Let’s go while we still can.”