ATLA - The bloody bender

I awoke to the sound of waves crashing against the shore. I slowly sat up, letting my eyes adjust to the bright light. I looked around, taking in my surroundings. I appeared to be on some sort of small island. There was a palm tree off to my left and a rocky outcropping to my right.

I stood up and stretched, feeling a little stiff from sleeping on the ground. I walked over to the water and knelt down, splashing some of the cool liquid on my face. As I did so, I noticed something strange.

The water was bending around my hand!

I quickly stood up, backing away from the water in shock. What was going on? I thought to myself. I tried to remember how I got here, but my mind was foggy. The last thing I could remember was going to bed last night.

I looked down at my hands, still not quite believe what I was seeing. Slowly, tentatively, I reached out towards the water again. Once again, the water bent around my hand.

I was a bender!

But that didn't make any sense. I didn't know how to bend. And even if I could, why would it be water? I tried to think back to anything that could explain this, but I came up blank.

Shaking my head, I decided to explore the island a bit more. Maybe I would find some clues as to what was going on.

I spent the next few hours exploring the small island, but I didn't find anything helpful. It was just a barren piece of land with no signs of life.

As the sun began to set, I started to feel hungry. I hadn't eaten anything since dinner last night. Searching through my pockets, I found a granola bar that I had packed for a snack. It wasn't much, but it would have to do.

As I ate, I considered my options. Clearly, I wasn't going to figure out what was going on by myself. I needed help. But how was I going to get off this island?

There was only one way that I could think of. I would have to learn how to bend water.

The idea was both terrifying and exhilarating. If I could bend water, then maybe I could find a way off this island. But learning how to bend would be difficult. I had never done anything like it before.

Still, it was worth a shot.

I spent the next few days practicing my waterbending. At first, I could only make small waves, but gradually I began to get better. Soon, I was able to create large walls of water and even manipulate the waves.

I was making progress, but I still felt like I was missing something. Then, one day, I had a breakthrough.

I was trying to create a large wave when I suddenly realized that I could control the water inside of living things. With a start, I realized that I could bloodbend!

This was a powerful ability, but I knew that I had to be careful with it. Bloodbending was a dark art and I didn't want to use it unless absolutely necessary.

After a few more days of practice, I felt confident enough to try and leave the island. I created a large wave and rode it all the way to the mainland.

When I arrived, I was surprised to find that I recognized the place. I was in the Southern Water Tribe!

I quickly made my way to the nearest village and started asking questions. It didn't take long for me to find out that there had been a war going on for many years. The Fire Nation was attacking the other nations in an attempt to conquer them.

And I had somehow ended up in the middle of it.