1 Origins

"Brother! I'm hungry," Mushi said to his brother Jin.

"I know, I know. I'm going to go get some food," Jin replied.

Jin didn't like the fact that he was going to steal for the first time. Jin laced up his boots and departed from the house. He started to jump from rooftop to rooftop, looking for something good. Jin saw some bread in a store. He swooped down and grabbed it. He began to run as fast as he could and safely returned to his home. Mushi got the bread and was satisfied. But Jin was not; Jin had gotten a taste for stealing. He still had a pure heart, and he only did it for food, but Jin loved stealing. Jin was lazy and laid back, so Jin didn't like working for money. Jin would steal as much food as he could in one day, and because of his overwhelming agility, he would never get caught. It went to the point that people thought Jin was a spirit.

Jin was about to go on his biggest heist yet when Mushi came into the room.

"Jin, I'd rather be starved to death than watch you steal for my sake," Mushi said.

"I'm not stealing," Jin persisted.

"Yes, you are. How do you think we got all this food? It just appeared out of nowhere, right? We suddenly became rich and bought all this? Please stop Jin,"

"No!" Jin shouted.

Jin left. Jin was a skinny 14-year-old boy whose younger brother was 13. He was dark-skinned, and the village he was in had no benders, so they all thought that bending was a myth. Nobody in that village had seen anyone new (except for the newborn babies), and they were remote.

[A/N: This story is past the Legend Of Korra. Korra is still alive, but 39 years have passed since the events of Legend Of Korra. Korra is sixty, and Tenzin is deceased.]

Jin went scouting for something to steal when he came across a meat store. Any meat was his and Mushi's favorite meal. Though the beef was too heavy for Jin to carry alone, he still did. His extraordinary agility was gone and replaced with loss of energy and sluggishness. The owners of the store saw him and chased him. Jin was running as fast as he could but still couldn't outrun them. They caught him.

For two days, they whipped his back for everything he had stolen. They knew it was all him because they knew everyone else in the village. Jin was beaten 27 times in total and starved for two days. They decided to put an end to him, as they wanted no crime in the village.

They took him to the ocean at the edge of the village and submerged him there. He started to drown. He was trying to swim back up, but the villagers tied the meat he attempted to steal to his back so that he could die along with his crimes. He was losing his energy because of the struggle, and he had no more oxygen. Jin closed his eyes and started to sink deeper. Jin's eyes opened. He was still in the water—alive. He woke up to the sight of a weird broad face.

"I can tell you are pure. Yet, you have been drowned by your own kind. What have you done?" The creature asked. Jin was surprised that the beast could talk.

"I am a thief. I only stole for my brother, though," Jin replied.

"Is that so?" The creature asked sarcastically.

"I only stole for him at first. I started to enjoy stealing. The thrill, not having to work. It all worked for me," Jin said shamefully.

"Oh. I can tell you feel remorse."

The creature brought a finger up and tapped his forehead with a nail.

"Goodbye," The creature said.

Jin somehow summoned all his strength and water-bended. It was just like the myths—any water at your disposal. Create anything with it; be it ice or a whirlpool. Use it however you want, for evil or good. Jin emerged from the water and floated back to shore. His attempted murderers left in shock. They bowed down.

"Please forgive us, Master Jin," They begged.

Jin bent some water in their direction at a fast speed and stopped it, right before it hit.

"Hahaha!" Jin laughed. "I'm not going to hit you," he clarified.

"But, we whipped you 27 times and watched you drown," They said.

"That was all my fault. You all did nothing wrong,"

Jin patted them on the back. He went back home and apologized to his brother.

"I'm leaving this village," Jin said. "If bending exists, who knows what else we don't know,"

"I'm coming with you," Mushi demanded.

"I expected that. But first, there's something I have to do,"

Jin went back to the sea, where he saw the face. He moved all the water away from his nose and created an air bubble. He searched for the creature and found it—the same look.

"Boy, what are you doing here?" It asked.

"I want to thank you for bestowing the element of water on me. You saved my life. I would also like to ask you to train me in my mastery of the element. Please," Jin pleaded.

"I shall help you. I will shrink myself down and follow you in your adventures; I don't have much to do down here after all," The creature said.

The creature shrank down to a reasonable size.

"What do I call you?" Jin asked.

"Ancient One, or Great Lion Turtle," He replied.

"I'll call you Lion Turtle," Jin said.

They met Mushi on the shore. Jin explained everything. The Lion Turtle was going to follow them and train Jin on the way.

"Now, Jin. Look at the water. Close your eyes and imagine it freezing," The Lion Turtle commanded.

Jin did it.

"Now, stick your arm out and try to freeze the water,"

Jin made a path of ice on top of the water. He, Mushi, and the Lion Turtle walked on the path together. On a journey to gain knowledge.