Okay so although I started my Harry Potter one recently (go read it (0.0) ) ahem... I felt like doing some other story as well. I have the nasty feeling that I will end up having several stories on the go. I am hoping (fingers crossed) that with more ongoing stories to choose from I will more often feel like writing a chapter. Thats the theory anyway.

So here is my Avatar story, again I'm starting with quite a short chapter as a bit of an introduction but they should be longer from here on out. Enjoy!

0-0

The war with the fire nation had been raging on for years but there were still many parts of the earth nation that had not felt the effects of the battles. One of these places was a small village at the base of the mountains. It had been a mining town many years ago but the mine had long since closed and now it was a farming village where the people tended to keep to themselves. Strangers were not common but were always welcome as long as they didn't cause trouble. The houses were set in a scenic cluster at the edge of a forest. The forest stretched along the base of the mountain, deep green pine trees towered high above the village and offered it some protection from the weather. On the other side were the vast open fields that the villagers tended. Ears of wheat and rice waved gently in the soft breeze that almost always blew there.

It was in one of these fields that a group of five young girls were playing together. They were all of a similar age, about twelve or thirteen, and dressed in the traditional green of the earth nation. Four of the girls had been born and raised in the village but the fifth had arrived only a month before. She had long brown hair that fell past her shoulders in a flat curtain. Her skin was paler than most earth nation people and her eyes were a deep mahogany. In mid-november she had stumbled into the village, the villagers were not surprised by her story, her parents had been killed in an attack by the fire nation and her home burnt to the ground. She had managed to get away but now had nowhere to go. She had been readily taken in to the village, just because they had yet to be hit by war didn't mean they were unaware of what was happening. Over the past few years raids had become more and more common as the opposition against the fire nation grew weaker. It was rumored that the southern water tribe had been all but destroyed and the northern was likely to be next. Although the earth nation was vast the Earth King had not been seen to take any action apart from hiding behind the walls of Ba Sing Se, leaving his people to defend themselves, the main hope that kept people going was the rumours that the Avatar had returned. Although few people admitted to believing that he was back there wasn't a single soul that could suppress that small, faint hope.

The girls ran laughing through the field, the sun shining down despite the time of year and helping them forget all about the danger, at least for a while. They arrived at a large area that was clear of crops, only piles of earth and stone stood about them, this was where the benders practiced. None of the five had managed to earthbend, although they were all old enough to be able to, and Ashleigh, the oldest girl among them, had dragged her friends out again and again to try and make it happen.

"Come on guys," she yelled over her shoulder, "I bet we can all do it today, I can feel it." The rest of the group just smiled at each other, she had been saying the same thing for months but they still all found it fun to get out of the village whenever they could. The four native girls began to move through the basic bending forms that they had all seen performed by the benders and, as usual, quickly began to fall about laughing at the ridiculous expressions on each others faces as they tried to move the earth by their will alone. The other girl stood off to one side, she had joined in some of the earlier attempts but didn't bother anymore, despite her friend's insistence. Ashleigh flopped down on the ground next to her, panting from the exertion.

"Why don't you give it another shot Anna?" she asked, her breath slowly returning to normal. Anna hesitated, but before she had the chance to answer Ashleigh leapt up and shoved her forwards into the circle of stones. Looking around Anna saw all her friends watching her, grinning, a gentle smile broke across her face as she relented, one more attempt wouldn't hurt, there just wasn't any point was all. Settling into the stance Anna closed her eyes and breathed slowly, in a slow graceful movement she moved her arms into the starting position. Her eyes opened in a flash as she leapt into the air and firmly planted her feet on landing, thrusting her hands in front of her towards a large boulder. The boulder flew through the air. One of the other girls had to dive out of the way to avoid it. The group stood there in stunned silence, staring at Anna, after a moment they broke into cheers and ran in to hug her. Then they turned and began to sprint back to the village, eager to tell everyone that Anna had managed to earthbend. None of them noticed Anna was still standing where they had left her, staring blankly at her hands. Her brain slowly caught up with what had just happened.

"But…" she whispered to herself, "That's impossible."

0-0

A week later Anna was back out at the circle, this time with a group of trained earthbenders. Ever since she had discovered she could bend Anna had been learning from the older people in the village. Her friends had been confused as to why she was so shocked at being able to bend but it had soon been passed off as surprise. At least once a day Anna came out to practice with the others, she was picking up the basics very quickly although she was struggling with a few of the moves. It had been a difficult training session but Anna was returning to the village satisfied, she had finally got a defensive wall to rise up. Something she had noticed was that once she had managed to master a move it tended to get very strong quickly, she could already raise and throw boulders as well as some of the boys who had been learning for over a year. A sad smile flitted across her face as she remembered competing with boys her age back in her old home, she had often beaten them at games and they always got so annoyed at her when she ran off before they could demand a rematch. Lost in her thoughts Anna was paying little attention as they made their way back, just as the group entered the village they heard a scream tear through the air from the direction of the west field. Heads snapped around everywhere and the one thing that caught every eye was the rising column of smoke slowly staining the sky black.

So there we have it. OK so not much has happened yet I know but with fire on the horizon things are bound to get more interesting right? (Why am I asking you, I already know! :D )

But as I said at the start I now have multiple stories going, I expect that those that get more reviews will be updated sooner than those that are left unloved. ('sniff') So tell me what you like and I shall grant your wishes...

(pretty please...)