APotW. Book one: Earth

Chapter one: Forests

It was just another morning. The sun rose, the birds awoke, so did the young man in the tiny house on the plains. He sat up, ready to face the day, he yawned, and got dressed. The still tired kid slowly stepped to the lower floor, and prepared some breakfast. It was a lonely morning, but it felt good to stick to routine. He stepped outside the front door, letting the fresh air fill his lungs, and a refreshing sigh passed his lips. Overhead, a majestic eagle-hawk soared, and the boy watched as it flew back over the horizon, surveying the vast expanse of uninhabited land.

     Something felt wrong though. This morning was too normal, too quiet, and too bland. It has been this way for nine years, and the only thing that these days brought was empty holes in life. The one thing that the young man looked forward to every day was to tend to the orphaned ostrich-horse that he took in as his own.

      It had always pleased him to see the beast take an apple from his hand, because before, she wouldn't eat. The two have bonded since the encounter. The little animal who was lost and sad found new hope when she was found by the boy.

     He saddled his ostrich-horse, and rode off to find the patch of grass that grew the best, to harvest the soil and take it back to the garden. There was something in the distance. Somewhere near the rocks was something, or someone, that was just standing there. The boy turned toward the silhouette, hoping it was a fellow human.

      Sure enough, he was a human. He was dressed strangely, but his hair looked nice. He had dark hair, dark clothes, yet he had bright eyes, just like himself. The boy called over to the stranger. The stranger seemed to hear, so he turned toward the kid on the ostrich-horse.

"Do I know you?" The stranger asked.

"No. Nobody knows me!" The rider says back.

"Where are you from?" The rider asks the stranger.

"Somewhere through that forest, around twenty miles that way."

"I live here. In a small house I built myself!"

"You seem pretty young to be building a house, how old are you?"

"Seventeen, why?"

The stranger was surprised. A seventeen year old boy built a house? He had to ask the boy's name.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Gopan. Wow, it has been so long since I said my own name."

Gopan asks the stranger, "You want to come over to my place? I have lots of things for breakfast."

"Umm." Realizing he was pretty hungry, the stranger agrees to come over.

     They arrived at Gopan's house, It looked like it was made of dirt and clay, and it had two floors strangely. Both floors were of equal size.  To the right side of the house was a well tended flower garden, and to the left of the house around thirty feet back was the outhouse. The two walked in to the main building. Gopan got started on the food, and the amazing smell flowed throughout the entire house. The two had a small chat, and soon Gopan was invited to the stranger's house.

"I have never been to a city before. What are they like? I mean, this is the only place I know."

"Well Gopan, cities have lots of people, and places to eat. There are parks with trees and all sorts of buildings everywhere. It's hard to get used to at first."

"Wow. The world must be huge!"

"You don't know the half of it."

"I haven't gotten your name."

The stranger replied hesitantly. "It's Takko."

"Nice to meetcha!" Gopan said excitedly.

"I guess we should take this food and head over to your house."

"Yeah. We should."

     Gopan decided to leave his ostrich-horse at home, he gave her a scrub on the nose and said goodbye. They left, and right away, they headed into a dark and ancient forest. Takko lit a fire in his hand to see through the morning fog. It was such a little light to shine through a big haze like that. At least they know where to go. Gopan was pretty surprised to see how Takko was holding a fire without it burning his hand. He knew what that meant.

"You never told me that you are a firebender."

"Yeah, I am."

They continued walking, but the path seemed to disappear on them. The fog lifted as day came by, but where was the road? Now the two friends were completely lost. Worse, the clouds started to cover the sun, the little light that the forest floor was getting was slowly lost.

     It has been around 2 hours since the friends entered the forest, and the road was still not found. Takko checked to see if Gopan was still behind him, he was, but was lagging behind a bit.

"Be faster, will you?"

"I can't."

Takko suddenly had an idiotic moment hit him like a hammer in the face. He looked back again. Gopan's hands were in fists, he was sweaty, and seemed horribly stiff.

"Stop please." Gopan sped through those words pretty fast. Takko rolled his eyes. "I know the path is close, just... could you hold it for five minutes?" Gopan nodded slightly, and they continued walking. Takko seemed to know where he was in the forest, the path could be really close, but he had to find it before nightfall, because there are creatures that like to hunt at night. Again, Gopan stopped him. "Stop!" He blurted out.

Takko stopped, he was clearly annoyed with Gopan. For someone of seventeen years, he seemed like a child. Gopan started to run the opposite direction.

"You stay here, It's dangerous to wander off." Takko said with a serious tone.

"Bu--"

"No buts! If it's so hard to hold it, just go here."

"Mmph. Just... don't look."

"Yeah yeah." Takko turned away, he was pretty annoyed by the way his friend is acting. He was considering telling Gopan to go home, but then again, he wouldn't know the way home.

"You about done?"

"Yup."

"Good, lets go... um. Yeah."

A childish snicker came from Gopan. "Don't think about it!" He said loudly.

Takko was ready to blast a fireball in Gopan's general direction.

"When you say not to think about it, that only makes me think about it more!"

Gopan replies, "That just proves I am right, now, stay still."

Gopan raises a three section wall of rock around Takko, around half his height.

"I had no idea you were an earthbender!"

"Well how else could I make my house? Just go already."

As soon as Takko was done, he noticed that Gopan vanished.

The search had begun.