Created by FriendlyMushroom.

Honoring: Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, and Aaron Ehasz. The creators and executive producers who gave birth to 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' and whose inspiration made this possible.

Especial thanks to: Miyiku, for her constant support and friendship toward this stranger, it is her, the responsible of my success. Demonking101, who has followed my work so far. TwilightGD whose support and reviews had lightened my mood during hard times. And Bluetiger, whose constant critics had improved my writing style and creativity. And thanks to you all my readers, since it is because of you, that despite the long waits, this novel is still alive.

What is Slavery Mark?

Slavery Mark is more than just fiction, it is a novel inspired in 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' universe. An alternate reality in which war exploded by different means. A tale full with romance and adventure, following Sokka, a Water Tribe prince captured and sold as nothing more than a slave, and Toph Bei Fong, the blind princess of her Kingdom whose actions will control the fate of the four nations.

More than fiction, Slavery Mark is a window toward the possibilities. Surrounded by politics, war, and childhood promises. Slavery Mark promises to be a work of literature worth the reading. Let's the legend begin.

Avatar: The Last Airbender was created and produced by Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko and Aaron Ehasz. Slavery Mark is just one of the many alternate universes involving the acclaimed series. This novel is a material of free reading and creates no monetary gain. Any doubt or comments about the work please send a review or private message to the author.

Slavery Mark: Book One – Fire.

Chapter One: The Water Tribe Slave and the Earth Princess.

"Why are we here? I don't like this place, I can feel sad vibrations." Her name is Toph Bei Fong, only daughter of the Earth King Lao Bei Fong. She was born blind, but as the only possible successor of her familiar legacy, she is forced to witness at her young age of 5 how things work on her kingdom. "Why are all these people so sad?"

"They are in pain because they deserve it." Long Feng, Counselor and Royal Guard's captain was always by the girl's side as her protector, and today, he was ordered by the king to take the princess to a 'Field Trip' toward the lower ring of Ba Sing Se, where the slaves were sold and the coal mines where found.

"But they are suffering! I don't like this place!" Long Feng ignored the princess and walked her toward the newly arrived slaves who were chained together by their necks, between them was a lone boy, she could tell after feeling the weak vibrations, full with hatred, full with rage. "I want to go home… I don't want to be here… it smells weird, like sweat and dirt… those people are groaning and sobbing…" Tears were forming at the corners of the girl's blinds eyes, but Long Feng never cared that much about his princess's reaction, this was after all his responsibility toward his king, like it or not, the princess was forced to know.

"One day you will rule this kingdom and you need to understand why we do what we do, all these slaves are war prisoners from the Water Tribe, as you know, the war recently ended thanks to the intervention of Avatar Aang, and those who began the war are now our slaves." Toph began crying, she couldn't stand to be there with all those kids around her age being sold as slaves.

"What makes them so different from us? Why are they this sad?" Long sat down at a nearby bench around one of the slavery shops, he was enjoying the view; Toph in the other hand just hugged Long Feng trembling and scared.

"These savages began the war against our allied kingdom, the Fire Nation, due to Avatar Kuruk's greed, he wanted the supremacy of his element… of course that was more than 500 years ago, but their sins need to be punished." Toph couldn't understand it yet, but that was why Long Feng was there, to make sure Toph knew about the past and about the war. "Even after Kuruk was gone, the Water Tribe continued their attacks against our allied kingdom, fortunately, this time the Avatar was born as an earthbender, Avatar Kyoshi convinced our people to fight the Water Tribe and brought the war to Water Tribe territory when destroying the wall of the Southern Pole… unfortunately, that also lead to her dead… You are yourself a fan of Avatar Kyoshi, am I right?" Toph cleaned her tears and nodded in agreement.

"Before mommy passed away, she told me stories about a powerful earthbender who could move mountains and became the hero of our kingdom; I want to grow up to be as strong as her." Toph smiled softly, finally ignoring the fact of being in the middle of a slave-selling territory.

"I'm sure you will grow up to be a great Dai Li agent, Avatar Kyoshi trained the Dai Li and they became our best weapon against the remaining and future invasions of the Water Tribe." Toph began jumping up and down happily after remembering one of her favorite stories about the Dai Li.

"I will become the greatest Dai Li agent ever! My mommy told me the Dai Li were close to Avatar Roku since Roku was Kyoshi's reincarnation and that he continued training the Dai Li." Long Feng rubbed Toph's head softly, the little girl just smiled as reply, she no longer felt scared or sad about what was happening around her.

"That was more than 100 years ago; Avatar Roku is no longer the Avatar, but he did end the invasions to the Fire Nation for good after conquering back the slaved nations that were once under the control of the Water Tribe, unfortunately, a terrible accident ended his life." Toph raised an eyebrow at Long Feng, she was curious about what kind of accident he was talking about. "Do not worry about the details, my princess, the current Avatar is a hundred years old Airnomad Monk, those are a peaceful civilization who gave up violence and live at peace."

"But if the war was over so long ago… why are there still slaved nations and people suffering like this?" Long Feng thought about what to answer for a while, he knew the answer, the hard part was to find the proper words for Toph to understand it. "Is it because our kingdom is still angry about what happened 500 years ago? Can't we be friends?"

"It's not that simple, politics is a hard subject, the Water Tribe can't even be called a civilization, they are nothing more than a group of savages that desire power among anything else, but your father is a generous man and is planning to end this slavery selling, but until then, we of the wealthy families can still enjoy the luxury of having a slave to serve us." Toph's smile faded, she didn't like it, all those yells of pain and agony once again invaded her young ears, and her eyes began watering once again. Suddenly, many Dai Li soldiers were seen running around the streets, apparently some slaves had freed themselves from their chains and were now fighting the Royal Guards. "Damn those slaves! You, cabbage merchant! Take care of this girl! My Princess, stay here, I need to aid the Dai Li." Toph nodded and the cabbage merchant hugged her protectively.

"Be careful my princess, these slaves are animals, they always have something against my cabbages, but do not worry, I will protect you." Toph nodded, but apparently the slaves that were now free were more than what the Dai Li could handle and the cabbage merchant lost track of Toph's whereabouts. "My Princess! Stay near the cabbage car! Wait you brutes! Those are no weapons! My Cabbages!"

Toph found herself in the middle of a furious crowd, it was like being in the middle of a battlefield, weak Water Tribe slaves were fighting against the all mighty Dai Li members who were outnumbered but more powerful than the slaves. It was a dangerous situation, the crowd seemed to be growing bigger and bigger and so the girl ran away scared. "Somebody help me! I can't see inside this crowd! I'm blind! And I'm scared!" Toph searched around the place for Long Feng with no luck, she began sobbing and the situation was growing dangerous, the furious fight was intensifying and Toph found herself in the ground and avoiding the feet of many who ran around the place, she could have died there by accident, but soon she felt a hand grabbing hers and pulling her out of the crowd at the moment she was about to be hit by the furious crowd.

"Idiot! This is no place for a blind girl! We are in the middle of a war!" Toph began crying, but the young boy who rescued her just kept running and holding her hand, pulling her out of the crowd and throwing a sharp and silver boomerang toward random Dai Li members who were fighting other slaves. "Mom! I found a blind girl! She needs our help!"

"Sokka! Don't try to play the hero! Where is Bato?" The young boy moved his head in negation. "So he is still fighting, he is just as stubborn as your father, come on Sokka, we need to hurry or we will miss our only chance to escape!" The woman took Sokka's hand and pulled him out of the crowd, the boy was still holding Toph's hand and so she found herself in the middle of a group of slaves planning an escape, but upon noticing their conversations, and how they were planning on taking her father, the king, as a hostage, she reacted in fear.

"Wait! Long Feng said you were evil people! Let me go! Long Feng!" At the distance, Long Feng began forcing his way back to Toph inside of the crowd, hitting many slaves in the progress. With an incredible speed he placed himself in front of Toph and was about to hit the young kid holding her hand when his hit was intercepted by one of the many slaves, Bato, the brave leader of the slave's rebellion.

"Bato! I will fight too!" Bato ignored the boy and threw himself into battle with Long Feng and ignored the yells of the young warrior who began aiming his boomerang at the Earth Kingdom militant, Toph was finally able to 'see' since the crowd was slowly disappearing and so she hugged the boy's arm preventing him from throwing the boomerang. "What are you doing? He is going to hurt my uncle! Let me go!" Toph moved her head in negation; the kid just fought her back. "Idiot! I have to help him out!" But Toph slammed her foot at the ground and an earth sphere formed around them, protecting them both from whatever was outside and also driving the boy away from his mother. "You are an earthbender!"

"Please don't fight! I don't like it when people fight!" Toph began sobbing; the young boy just pushed her away angrily and took his boomerang up, aiming it at the girl even when knowing they were in a much reduced space and that he could barely see inside this deep darkness. "Please wait, I might be an earthbender but I'm not bad, I don't like when people fight, it's just so sad!"

"Idiot! I'm a slave to your kingdom; I have to fight for my freedom! I'm tired of living scared and with fear, fighting is the only way to settle this for good! Fighting is the only way to end this stupid war! Fighting is the only way I can survive and quit being so helpless and useless! I want to be a warrior! So open this damn sphere so I can help my uncle and find my mother!" Toph was surprised, she hated all these fights and arguments but just because she was unable to understand them and because her parents were always overprotective around her. "I'm Sokka, future war hero of the Water Tribe! And I demand you to open this sphere!"

"You are just a kid… perhaps not much older than me… why do you want to fight…? Why do we have to be at war? Long Feng says I'm supposed to rule this kingdom in the future! But I don't want to rule a kingdom like this!" Sokka grabbed the girl's collar and once again demanded for the girl to open the sphere, which angered the girl and so she slapped his face hard. "I don't want to! All you are going to do is get yourself killed!"

"Why do you care anyway? You are my enemy! You are Earth Kingdom! You slaved my tribe, took me away from my father and sister! And now your people are selling me as a slave! I rather die than become a slave!" Sokka once again pulled the girl by the collar; the girl just hugged him and sobbed his tunic. The boy blushed; he never expected that reaction. "Hey! Don't cry on me! Enemy tears! Get off!" Sokka could no longer push the girl away from him and so he kneeled and hugged her, not really knowing why he was doing it. "Aw man, I don't like to see girls crying, not even if they are enemies or not, stop crying! Be strong! How will you be a good leader if you are such a crybaby?"

"I don't want to rule a kingdom that hurts others, I just wanted to become a Dai Li agent just like Long Feng, and be a great earthbender like Avatar Kyoshi, and help people be happy!" Sokka finally pushed Toph away from him when her sobbing stopped, the blind eyes of the girl were tired because of all the crying, and Sokka's shirt was all wet.

"You had to be a girl, those are just fantasies! A girl like you can't become a strong earthbender, not with such a weak attitude! If you want to be strong you have to be sure of yourself and determined, not a crybaby or daddy's little girl; we are in the middle of a war! There is no place for dreams, just actions!" Toph felt like crying again but even before she could start the earth sphere she had created was opened and Sokka found himself surrounded by Dai Li agents, the liberation move that was led by Bato was over, he was awfully beaten up by Long Feng who made his way toward Sokka. "Stay away from me! Or she dies!" Sokka grabbed Toph and placed the sharp edge of his boomerang at her neck, Toph wasn't scared, just surprised by the sudden reaction of the kid.

"Is this your mother?" Long Feng pulled a bruised woman and grabbed her in the same way Sokka was grabbing Toph, Sokka's eyes widened open, his mother was all bruised and seemed like she also took part of a strong fight and was barely conscious. "If you hurt our princess I will kill your mother as a payback." Sokka allowed his boomerang to fall, Toph just stood there not really understanding what was going on. "My princess, stay away from that boy." Toph never reacted to that last, instead, she picked the boomerang up and then placed it at Sokka's hand. "Princess Bei Fong?"

"…Thank you for saving me…" She whispered to Sokka and then faced the Dai Li. "Long Feng… please don't hurt his mother… and please don't punish him because of me… he just wanted to protect those he cares for, he isn't a savage…" Long Feng looked at the kid with rage and then at his princess and nodded in agreement while setting the woman free, Sokka ran toward his mother and hugged her protectively, Toph just smiled at the boy. "I want to become strong, just like this boy… Long Feng… will you find a good home for him? I know he is a slave, but he saved my life and I want him to be with his mommy… I want to pay him back as my thanks."

"Princess Toph Bei Fong, this boy was about to take your life, and you still want to help him? I don't understand." Toph said nothing, she just smiled at Long Feng, that smile drove him nuts, he wanted his princess to be strong and continue with her familiar legacy, but orders were orders, even if they came from a 5 years old princess. "As you wish, my princess, you slave, you better be thankful to our princess since she just saved your life… deputy commander, take the princess back to the palace."

Toph took the hand of one of the Dai Li agents who walked her toward the upper ring of Ba Sing Se, Long Feng just kneeled and looked at Sokka's eyes and smiled. "I swear I will make you pay for this!" He then slapped Sokka hard, so hard that a string of blood was already falling from his young lips as hatred consumed his soul, but still, the Water Tribe slave could do nothing, he was surrounded, it didn't matter how hard he wanted to fight since it was of no use.

"Our princess is still weak… but I will make sure she changes someday, you are a lucky one, my princess would never forgive me if I killed you right here… take this kid and his mother to the Fire Nation. Both are still young, I'm sure they will pay good gold for them." The soldiers of the Earth Kingdom did as they were told, Long Feng just smiled to himself as the young boy tried to set himself free from his captors with no luck. "I almost forgot, since you will be a slave at the Fire Nation, you need the proper mark."

One of the Dai Li soldiers took an emblem out, the Fire Nation emblem, two more grabbed Sokka's arm and forced him to place his hand on the floor. "What are you doing?" Long Feng began a fire and heated the metal emblem until it began shining, then he forced Sokka to show him his dorsum-hand. "No! Let me go!" Long Feng smiled to him as the burning emblem was pressed hard at Sokka's dorsum-hand, marking him for life with the slavery mark. The yells of agony and pain were like music to Long Feng's ears, Sokka's mother finally woke up just to witness the burned blood at Sokka's hand. "It burns! It hurts!" Sokka cried out, but all his physical pain was nothing compared to what was going to happen next. "Mom!"

The soldiers of the Earth Kingdom placed Sokka's mother in the same position Sokka was not long ago, tears were falling from her eyes and so were from Sokka's ones, the emblem of the Fire Nation was also pressed against her dorsum-hand, but the woman refused to yell, instead, it was Sokka the one yelling and crying. "This is the mark of slavery, wherever you go, you will be seen as a slave and forced to work for wealthy family members at the Fire Nation, your word will have no value since you are nothing more than a slave, the best part of this mark is that it is permanent, I wonder if our princess made you a favor by sparing your life, or perhaps dead was a better punishment than live as the servant of a noble."

Sokka wanted to run toward his mother but was stopped by the Dai Li, who grabbed both of his hands and pulled him out of the city, Sokka's mother was unconscious by the pain once again and was also being carried out of the city and into a train like earthbended transport with another group of 'lucky' slaves that were selected to serve at the Fire Nation, once inside, Sokka allowed his tears to fall like waterfalls, not because of the pain at his right hand, or because of being a slave, it was because of that girl who tried to save his life and only ended up giving him more pain… "How? All earthbenders are monsters… but that girl… she tried to save me… I'm alive because of her… but she is an earthbender… she must be a monster… no earthbender has a heart… no earthbender can save this kingdom… no one can…" Sokka cried hard, and this time his mother cried with him as the train left Ba Sing Se and headed to the Fire Nation.