Avatar: The Fifth Element

2. Etherbending

Once everyone was settled into the living room, Etka and Gopan sat down, both sighing.

"This is going to be a lot to take in," Etka started, "Does anyone want tea?"

Immediately, Zuko nodded.

"Wow, you sure are taking after Iroh," Sokka stated.

Zuko only smiled and nodded, accepting his tea when Etka returned. She sat back down beside her husband, and turned to him, "I think you should tell it."

Gopan nodded, "All of you know of the four elements: fire, air, water, and earth, but no one's ever brought the fifth one to light. It's called Ether, but in the past it's also been referred to as space, or void. It's extremely rare for someone to be able to bend it, but somehow, our only child could."

Gopan took his wife's hand.

"At first, we thought she was a non-bender, but one day when she was just a toddler, she got angry, and was able to bend water. She sent it splashing into my face for trying to make her eat cabbage," he said this with a soft smile on his face. "Etka and I were ecstatic, her great-great-grandmother was a waterbender, so we thought that was why she was as well. We soon learned it wasn't just water she could bend. In fits of rage our daughter had the ability to bend other elements, and send things flying through the room.

"That's when we decided to look into our ancestry more. We found out that her great-grandfather, Hiresh, was capable of bending the fifth element. It's a very difficult element to contain, and shooting stars started crashing into our world. His parents tried to lock him away, but he easily escaped. They had been living in the Southern Water Tribe, so Hiresh ran away to the Earth Kingdom. He built a life here, eventually having a son, my father, Kanan.

"Hiresh was eventually found, and his parents had tried reasoning with him, but he was too angry. He fought them, and almost killed his father. If Avatar Roku hadn't of killed Hiresh, he would've killed his own father.

"When my wife and I learned about this, we began planning what we were going to do. We were concerned, and scared of our own daughter. We wanted to tell someone, to let you, Aang, know, but the war was going on and the world didn't need another threat.

"What we didn't know was that our daughter had been listening to our late night conversations. She was very cunning and quiet. Hearing us made her extremely angry, the shooting stars got worse. They started hitting Si Wong Desert. Eventually, we knew we had to fight her, but even with the help of several Earthbenders, it was nearly impossible. We thought of consulting the help of the Earth King, to have her banished from Ba Sing Se, but she was still our baby, we just couldn't. Her anger got worse, and after yet another fight with her, she ran away."

It was obvious that explaining all this took a toll on Gopan, he buried his head in his hands while Etka rubbed his back.

"We don't know for sure where she went," Etka continued, "but we heard of a village in the forest outside of the city. Apparently there's a group of benders that live there, all different nations. It was seen as a safe place for outcasts. We think she could've went there."

"So," Aang started, "all we gotta do is find your daughter and talk to her?"

"Talking won't work," Gopan's voice deepened. "She's sure to be holding a deep grudge against us."

"Maybe I can take away her bending, like what I did with Fire Lord Ozai," Aang suggested.

"Maybe that would work, but all of you must know how dangerous this element can be. It is part of all the other elements, it's within every aspect of creation. We don't know it's limits, and we don't know what she's capable of," Gopan rubbed his temples tiredly.

Katara got up and looked Gopan in the eyes, "Don't worry, we'll figure out something, it'll be okay."

The couple nodded and thanked the group as they walked them to the door. Gopan handed Sokka a map and showed him where the village was.

"Thank you so much for all your help," Katara said as she waved goodbye, followed by the others.

Everyone climbed on top of Appa once again, and headed for their new destination.

From a birds eye view, the forest looked huge. Some spots were lush with lots of trees, in other places it was more barren. One spot had been obviously hit by a meteor. Eventually, they spotted a dark looking section, full of trees and swampy water.

"That place doesn't look too friendly," Aang said, dismayed.

"I guess today's our lucky day, because that's where we need to go," said Sokka, uncertainty in his voice. In fact, the whole group grew weary as Appa approached the ground.

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A/N ~ hey! i just wanted to let everyone know, that Ether actually is the fifth element, i didn't just make it up for the sake of my story (in case it upset anyone). anyways, i hope y'all have a good day!
— Blaise⚡️