‘The crisp morning air bit at my skin as I, Jung Yerin, future official avatar of the four nations, was surrounded by a large group of bandits.

They ganged up on me and I was right in the middle of their large circle. And then one lunged and BAM!

A swift kick straight to his face and BUH BAM two quick shots of fire and there goes three of them down. Five more came at me and here I go with several ice shards, hitting them right to the ground quickly.

Next thing I know I see avatar Korra in spirit form (OH MY GOSH?!) guiding me and talking to me. (TO ME!)

“You’re doing amazing! My great successor!”

I managed to hold off all of the bandits, breaking collarbones and smashing rocks at them left and right and then I went to choke out the last one standing AND-‘

“Good morning, avatar Yerin!”

The curtains were opened and the sleeping girl on the bed stirred as she was awoken from her sleep. Her blanket was then yanked from her and the girl whined in protest.

It was all a dream.

“Asami! Come on just five more minutes!”

“Still whining like a child at seventeen years old?”

Yerin pouted as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. Asami giggled and ruffled her bangs as she folded her blanket for her. Asami was much more slower now, kind of shaky with her movements. The years have shown more and more on her face and how she spoke, it gave Yerin a bittersweet feeling to look at her mentor.

“Have you taken your medications, Asami?”

“Oh don’t you worry about me, Yerin. I took it all with a cup of jasmine tea this morning.”

Yerin smiled as she stretched and yawned. She stood up and hobbled towards the bathroom after getting her clothes to change into.

“Make sure to come to the dining room when you’re done. We have to go over plans for your trip with the masters.”

Yerin hummed in agreement and shut herself in the bathroom. Asami smiled and shook her head.

“Still the same girl she was nine years ago..”

======

Yerin sat down as she began to eat breakfast in the dining room. In front of her were two of the masters with a map laid out in the middle of the table.

“Have you begun packing, avatar Yerin?”

Yerin stopped chewing her food for a bit and looked up with lost eyes. She swallowed and sheepishly giggled.

“I’ll get it done today, I swear! I just got a bit carried away last night while writing to my mother.”

“Yerin, you have to understand that this trip is the most important one you’ll go in your entire life. It’s the start of your career and you’ll meet brand new people from all over the world, connections and friends that you’ll have for the rest of your life-“

“Sir, you’re getting carried away.”

“Ah yes, sorry Ms. Asami. Well anyways, here’s the route, avatar Yerin.”

The older man pointed towards the map and Yerin shoved a spoonful of rice into before looking at the map intently.

“You’ll begin at the fire nation capital where you’ll meet the fire lord and train for a month. From there, you’ll come back here for a couple of days for extra supplies and for us to see how you’re doing. Afterwards, you’ll go to the northern water tribe, meet the chief, and train for a month. Then onto the southern air temple and southern water tribe and do the same. From there, the eastern air temple and it’ll all lead you towards the earth kingdom capital-“

“BA SING SE! Is this true, master?!”

“Yes, avatar Yerin. You’ll finally be able to go back home. At least for a little while. You’ll stay there for two months instead of one month like the other nations. Just to reconcile with family and rest after a very long trip.”

Yerin smiled as she began to think about going back home and seeing her mother, oh how she missed her mother dearly. The master went over more information about how the trip would pan out and afterwards, Yerin went to the mailbox outside to deliver a letter to her mother.

She slipped the envelope in and began to walk towards the stables. They were a little far from the main quarters of the temple’s compound, meant to keep in the large animals like the native air bison. Only recently had some been released into the wild, they finally managed to regain numbers and what was once a dangerously endangered species was now thriving both in captivity and in the wild. But this stable was also the home for an interesting foreign animal.

“Jibang? Come on, sweet boy!”

Yerin jumped over one of the pens, in the corner there was a large boulder that Yerin began to walk towards. A low huff was heard and a tail stuck out from one of the sides of the rock.

“Come on, man. It’s time to get up.”

A whine was heard followed by a yawn. Then from behind the rock appeared a strong looking armadillo lion, golden colored hair, a brown armored back, and piercing blue eyes. He gazed at Yerin with a look that would make anyone else pee their pants, but then he stretched, just like a house cat would.

“Good morning, Jibang. Have a good sleep?”

Jibang let out another huff and walked towards Yerin, rubbing his head against her leg. She pet the fur behind his ears and she heard him purr.

“Let’s go on your morning run, yeah? Then we can get you some breakfast.”

======

The night was cold and eery, nothing seemed out of the ordinary on air temple island except for maybe for one person scurrying along the side of the walls, using air bending to jump up high enough to get over, evading the sight of any guards.

They ran towards a secluded shack on the far end of the island that was used to send messages via Morse code on emergencies. It was basically abandoned but the person made their way inside and began to type away in a frenzy.

“Avatar is heading towards fire nation tomorrow. Will be there for a month.”

The person sent it and quickly made their way back towards the temple. On the receiving end was a dark room filled with documents and other technology. One woman sat at the main desk and deciphered the code, she smiled and stood up.

“Finally...our first strike at the avatar.”

She grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair and began to walk towards a door leading out of the small office.

“You’ll finally get the justice you deserve..”

======

Yerin sighed as she woke up the next day and packed up the last of her remaining necessities. She scratched the back of her neck as she looked at her vanity, there was a picture of her mother and her as a child on the mirror and she couldn’t help but feel a sting in her heart as she remembered something: she wouldn’t be able to consistently contact her mother for the next year or so.

She began mentally scanning the last letter she sent to her yesterday and wished she had added more things about how much she missed her and about how she was coming back home.

“Gosh, I hate this..”

“Yerin? It’s me, Asami. The boat for you has been loaded and is ready to depart. Are you ready?”

Yerin heard through the door after Asami knocked. She quickly snatched the picture away from her mirror and tucked it into her bag.

“I’ll be right out!”

Yerin ran out of the room, only to be met by Asami barely walking away. She giggled and Asami pinched her cheek as she almost made her fall.

“Let’s get going, you firecracker.”

They walked out to the main dock and already saw people lining up to say their farewells to avatar Yerin.

The ship was small, enough for about five to ten people to fit on. Yet, half of the space would be taken up by Jibang as Yerin insisted that he came with her. Yerin said her goodbyes and thanked the masters for all of their help.

She reached Asami and immediately gave her a big hug. Yerin was now the same height, if not a bit taller than the older woman. Asami smiled brightly as she fixed Yerin’s bangs and patted her shoulder.

“I hope you stay safe, Yerin. We’ll be waiting patiently for your return in a month.”

“Thank you, Asami. Thank you for everything.”

“Of course, Yerin. Now go! Jibang is started to snoop around the food!”

Yerin giggled and scurried into the ship, pulling Jinnah away from the few crates of food and going up to the main deck.

The ship began to depart and everyone on the dock waved goodbye to Yerin. The girl jumped up and waved frantically, wanting to give everyone a hug but not being able to.

“Goodbye Asami! I’ll write to you!!”

“Good luck, avatar Yerin!”

Yerin smiled and finally stood down to pet Jibang. She looked off the shore and saw in the horizon Republic City. She got excited as that would be their next destination after the fire nation.

“There’s so many places we get to go and visit. It’s a whole new world, buddy. And now we get to see it for ourselves.”