marbleglove (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
marbleglove) wrote2010-07-19 11:14 pm
marbleglove) wrote2010-07-19 11:14 pm
Entry tags:
Plot-bunny: Avatar: the Last Airbender
Lu Ten was the son and heir of General Iroh, crown prince of the Fire Nation. He was also a soldier under General Iroh’s command at the Seige of Ba Sing Se, capital of the Earth Nation. The siege lasted for a grueling 600 days: soldiers and fire benders against soldiers and earth benders.
According to Avatar: the Last Airbender canon, Lu Ten died during that siege, and his father, General Iroh, retired soon after. However, in my idea:
Lu Ten prayed to the sun every day at sunrise, as did all fire benders, to give him the life and fire and the will to fight. But over the course of the days studying and fighting earth benders, he found himself in some ways relying on the earth to give him the will to persevere, to stay strong and maintain his position.
Those thoughts were locked in his own mind, though, and seemed a petty enough heresy, until the day his troop fought another round of earth benders, and this time they lost.
It didn’t break the line of the siege. It was a single scuffle of little importance except to the fire nation soldiers crushed by the monolithic tiles toppled on top of them. They were all dead or dying except for Lu Ten, who hadn’t even though about what he was doing when he pounded his feet and shoved his arms in a way he had watched his opponents do a thousand times, to control the boulders and tiles they flung. It shouldn’t have mattered; he was no earth bender. But the tiles stopped just short of crushing him, and he felt their presence in his mind, felt the sun soaked dirt, warm and dark, under his control.
He is rescued from his small space that night when his father came in private to retrieve his body. Iroh was amazed and delighted to find his son alive, but also curious as to how it came about, and suspicious enough of the answer that he took Lu Ten to his tent in secret before asking.
Lu Ten thought of concealing this new ability—after all, it was just one time, it was probably a fluke, and it was probably heresy—but to conceal it from his father, his prince, and his commanding officer would be worse than any heresy.
“You are right. It is heresy for a fire bender to also bend earth. Also impossible for anyone other than The Avatar.” His father sounded more philosophical than angry, though.
“I’m not The Avatar.”
“No, I do not think you are. The Avatar is an old, old soul, and your soul is fresh and new.”
“Thanks… I think.”
“I wonder what The Avatar was like in his first life, when he was first learning mastery of each element.”
“Um.”
“The world is out of balance. It would seem that even Agni has realized this, to give one of her own to XX and XX. I have watched our soldiers kill and be killed for too many years, now. I think even Agni must grow tired of never setting.”
“You don’t think we can win this war?”
“Can we? I don’t know. The question I ask myself more and more is, should we?”
“But…”
“It is treason to say such, I know. It is also treason to disobey ones commanding officer, and I think as your commanding officer I will command you to learn the other elements.”
“You think I’ll be able to learn not just earth bending but water and air as well?”
“It would seem likely.”
“Likely? None of this seems likely! And anyway, there aren’t any air benders anymore. How can I learn if there is no one to teach me?”
“You are fire nation and have just demonstrated earth bending. You will have to learn the cycle of elements in the opposite order from The Avatar. By the time you have mastered earth and water, I’m sure you’ll have thought of something to do about air.”
“Father…” Lu Ten couldn’t help but whine a little bit at that.
“Lu Ten. You are my beloved son. But from this day forth, I am declaring you dead in battle. Your uncle Ozai will be the crown prince and your cousin Zuko will follow him on the thrown, because tonight I will commit treason. I command you to leave this army for the greater world, and learn the other bending skills. I will break this siege and return to the fire nation. Come back to me when you are ready to bring the world back into balance.”
“Yes, Father.”
However many years later…
This could be:
(A) a completely AU version of Avatar: The Last Airbender, in which Aang never does return, or
(B) a modified AU, in which Aang and Lu Ten work together, or
(C) potentially canonical if Lu Ten is simply staying under the radar during all the events of the show (Iroh doesn’t even know if he’s still alive), and then appears after the conclusion. His life wasn’t necessary for fixing the problem this time, but maybe if he does reincarnate later, his existence will help prevent such an unbalance from happening in the future. And even know, it might take some weight off of Aang’s shoulders.
Anyway, these were my thoughts during my commute home today.
According to Avatar: the Last Airbender canon, Lu Ten died during that siege, and his father, General Iroh, retired soon after. However, in my idea:
Lu Ten prayed to the sun every day at sunrise, as did all fire benders, to give him the life and fire and the will to fight. But over the course of the days studying and fighting earth benders, he found himself in some ways relying on the earth to give him the will to persevere, to stay strong and maintain his position.
Those thoughts were locked in his own mind, though, and seemed a petty enough heresy, until the day his troop fought another round of earth benders, and this time they lost.
It didn’t break the line of the siege. It was a single scuffle of little importance except to the fire nation soldiers crushed by the monolithic tiles toppled on top of them. They were all dead or dying except for Lu Ten, who hadn’t even though about what he was doing when he pounded his feet and shoved his arms in a way he had watched his opponents do a thousand times, to control the boulders and tiles they flung. It shouldn’t have mattered; he was no earth bender. But the tiles stopped just short of crushing him, and he felt their presence in his mind, felt the sun soaked dirt, warm and dark, under his control.
He is rescued from his small space that night when his father came in private to retrieve his body. Iroh was amazed and delighted to find his son alive, but also curious as to how it came about, and suspicious enough of the answer that he took Lu Ten to his tent in secret before asking.
Lu Ten thought of concealing this new ability—after all, it was just one time, it was probably a fluke, and it was probably heresy—but to conceal it from his father, his prince, and his commanding officer would be worse than any heresy.
“You are right. It is heresy for a fire bender to also bend earth. Also impossible for anyone other than The Avatar.” His father sounded more philosophical than angry, though.
“I’m not The Avatar.”
“No, I do not think you are. The Avatar is an old, old soul, and your soul is fresh and new.”
“Thanks… I think.”
“I wonder what The Avatar was like in his first life, when he was first learning mastery of each element.”
“Um.”
“The world is out of balance. It would seem that even Agni has realized this, to give one of her own to XX and XX. I have watched our soldiers kill and be killed for too many years, now. I think even Agni must grow tired of never setting.”
“You don’t think we can win this war?”
“Can we? I don’t know. The question I ask myself more and more is, should we?”
“But…”
“It is treason to say such, I know. It is also treason to disobey ones commanding officer, and I think as your commanding officer I will command you to learn the other elements.”
“You think I’ll be able to learn not just earth bending but water and air as well?”
“It would seem likely.”
“Likely? None of this seems likely! And anyway, there aren’t any air benders anymore. How can I learn if there is no one to teach me?”
“You are fire nation and have just demonstrated earth bending. You will have to learn the cycle of elements in the opposite order from The Avatar. By the time you have mastered earth and water, I’m sure you’ll have thought of something to do about air.”
“Father…” Lu Ten couldn’t help but whine a little bit at that.
“Lu Ten. You are my beloved son. But from this day forth, I am declaring you dead in battle. Your uncle Ozai will be the crown prince and your cousin Zuko will follow him on the thrown, because tonight I will commit treason. I command you to leave this army for the greater world, and learn the other bending skills. I will break this siege and return to the fire nation. Come back to me when you are ready to bring the world back into balance.”
“Yes, Father.”
However many years later…
This could be:
(A) a completely AU version of Avatar: The Last Airbender, in which Aang never does return, or
(B) a modified AU, in which Aang and Lu Ten work together, or
(C) potentially canonical if Lu Ten is simply staying under the radar during all the events of the show (Iroh doesn’t even know if he’s still alive), and then appears after the conclusion. His life wasn’t necessary for fixing the problem this time, but maybe if he does reincarnate later, his existence will help prevent such an unbalance from happening in the future. And even know, it might take some weight off of Aang’s shoulders.
Anyway, these were my thoughts during my commute home today.