Hey guys, this is my first ATLA fanfic, so please don't hate me if I suck too badly! *le cringe*

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters canon to ATLA.

Introduction

The man was floating throughout nothingness, his dark hair cascading out around his head like a shadowy halo. He did not know how long he had been this way, for in this place time had no meaning. He had few memories, and what he did have was hazy: a slightly smirking girl holding on to his arm, her dark eyes smiling up at him; a terrifying figure in dark red armor making a woman scream while a young boy cowered in the corner; and twin swords, slightly curved being held out to him by a portly old man with laugh lines around his eyes. What could these memories mean, the man wondered as he drifted throughout the void. Are these memories mine? Who was the old man? What was the significance of the smirking girl? These questions troubled him slightly, but not much; they were insignificant gnats barely disrupting a serene nothingness that held the man tightly. The other memory, however, affected the man deeply. For some reason, whenever it rushed through his head he felt both a surge of desire and a pang of fear alongside a feeling of helplessness that simply would not go away. Emotions in the void were like sparrows, fleetingly there one moment, gone the next, but these strange feelings refused to fade. The man could not help but wonder: was he the boy in the scene, the imposing figure, or something else entirely? As he drifted and pondered, the man became more and more agitated, finally opening his deep eyes and screaming for answers. He screamed to whatever depths of the void there may be, unintelligibly shouting both a challenge and a desperate cry for help. He screamed and screamed until he couldn't anymore, and finally broke down and began to quietly sob, woefully unaware of the dark presence behind him.

"Why are you crying, child?" The silvery black-velvet voice startled the man, causing him to wipe away his tears and look up into a strange pale face.

"I can't remember who I am," the man choked out, "and I don't know what I want. I can't exist this way any longer!" And with that, the man's eyes welled up with tears and began to close, heralding to the creature that the man was once more about to break down.

"Oh, my child, none but I know who any in this emptiness are," the voice crooned, causing the man to snap his tearstreaked head up out of his hands. "Only I have any power that has substance here."

"Will you tell me who I am, what I stood for? What these stupid infernal memories mean? I can't take much more of this!" The man begged of the creature, prostrating himself before its shadowy form.

The creature seemed to think on this for a moment, its face giving nothing away. "It is possible, my child," it said, "but as of this moment, I have no reason to. Why should I give you what you so desperately want? What could an insignificant worm like you possibly do for someone like me?"

Without hesitation, the man uttered, "Anything you would ask, my lord. Please, I am your humble servant."

"Well, well well, aren't we hasty, my child? Anything could be an awful lot. However, your willingness will be rewarded. Watch." The creatures spindly dark form seemed to grow even blacker than it already was, a shadowy light illuminating it's ghastly features. "You were powerful in life, child," the creature said. "Many followed you, at one point the Avatar himself sought your counsel and aided you however he could. You could be quite useful to me..." The creature continued to glow pensively, seemingly lost in thought. "My child," it finally spoke in its slick shadowy tone, "I have a proposition for you. I will tell you who you are if you pledge to help me further my own ends on the mortal plane."

"Yes, my lord, THANK YOU, MY LORD!" the man cried, leaping to his feet with tears of joy running down his face. "I am yours to direct, master, as you see fit."

"Then remember who you are, my child," the creature said, touching its misshapen forehead to the man's. A silver-black aura formed around them both, and the nothingness around them vibrated with the power as phantom winds began to blow, a low moan echoing from the depths beneath them. Suddenly, the man collapsed, and the void grew incredibly still around the two, as if the very emptiness was holding it's breath.

"My child, arise." The creature commanded, and the man rose, with a new fire raging behind his eyes. The man bowed low to the ground, and said "I hold to my promise, master. I am yours alone."

"Good," the figure purred, its dark figure blurring and sharpening as it bent down to the man's face. "Do you know who you are, my son?"

"Yes, my lord," the man said, one side of his face darkening slightly. "I know who I once was."

Seemingly amused by the man's slightly dark countenance, the figure chuckled. "And what do you want, child?"

The man's voice grew hard, and the fire behind his eyes darkened hotly. Staring into his master's face, he said one word: "Vengeance."

R&R