Chapter one

Have you ever wondered about how unexpected life can be?

Ken sure has.

One moment, he was fighting against insurmountable odds, his daggers dulled from all the blood and flesh on them. his body covered in wounds, his armor damaged and a spear lodged in his gut as his enemy stared him in the eyes... And the next second, he finds himself searching through the garbage as a five-year-old child.

The brown-haired teen fiddled with his forearm protector, tightening the strap and securing the armor piece in place.

His orange eyes turned forward as he walked toward his next destination.

The white clothes on him were tight, showing off his muscled body. His blue eyes looked at the building he was going to.

The only thing to note about this building was that it had no walls, the roof only supported by the dozen pillars holding it up and being recorded like it was ceremonial. It wasn't too far off if he thought about it.

Walking inside, he nodded at the elder men and one woman that were wearing white shoulder guards with blue robes under them, and one man wearing traditional red robes.

"Good morning, Master Katara."

He bowed respectfully to the woman of the group of four, her white hair tied back with two strands connecting the bun with the front of her hairline.

"Oh, good morning, Ken, Hope you had a good rest. And please, no need to be so formal with me."

He smiled at the elder woman and turned to the red carpet that was laid out in the clearing. On it were four people, three men, and one woman, who were in combat. Fire spewed from their libs as they used out-of-date martial arts.

He hummed as the girl dissolved the fire two of the men threw at her and rushed forward, sending two kicks forward. Fire lashed out, connecting with its target as he was thrown back from the impact and out of the fight.

One of the remaining two opponents jumped, using his legs to send two arcs of flame toward her but the girl performed a cartwheel over them, managing to hit the leg of her airborne opponent, sending him spinning the rest of them the way.

"What do you think, Ken?"

Questioned Katara as she seemed to be observing the fight with a keen eye.

Pursing his lips, Ken thought about what he was going to say next, with the old coots next to them, he should be careful with his words.

"She's... Rigid."

Tearing her eyes away from the fight, Katara looked at the young man with a raised eyebrow at the young man next to her.

"Is that so?"

The both of them ignored the man that was flung to the roof of the building as they turned forward again, watching the girl finish the battle.

He was not wrong, the girl had no fluidity, and neither did her opponents. Just one form from another as she used brute strength to overpower anything that came her way.

"Come on, why the gloom and doom? Three elements down, one to go!"

The girl took off her helmet, revealing her black hair tied back, and a beautiful face with two, ocean-blue eyes.

Truly, a beauty... with a headstrong personality with a short temper.

A great combination.

To think this girl was the Avatar, able to control all of the elements, fire, water, earth, and air... well, three, she still couldn't get down the air part of the four.

"Considering your talent in bending, you can teach her a few things, wouldn't you agree?"

Ken sighed, they have had this conversation before, and it always ended the same way, unfortunately.

"We have talked about it, Master Katara, the White Lotus doesn't want me to teach the avatar because my style of bending is "Dangerous" and unconventional."

Dangerous his ass. Every fighting style was dangerous if someone didn't have any combat experience. If someone used a stance to block a wrong attack, of course, they would get hurt.

His style was effective, aimed to kill, not beat and subdue, and that was a bad thing, apparently.

"What do you think, Master Katara?"

... Her expression didn't change, but he could tell by the slight thinning of her lips that she wasn't listening, at all.

"Yes."

Ah, Katara, the master of bullshitting and getting herself out of tight spots.

Truly, he still had much to learn.

The elder sighed in resignation and nodded.

"Very well, we will contact Tenzen to start your air-bending training at once."

Oh, damn. Did she even agree with that?

Sending a glance at her, his lips twitched upwards as he noticed her smile of approval and looked back at the Avatar with a smirk on his face. The young woman seemed very excited by the agreement, judging by the fact that she was currently jumping in excitement.

... How did he get stuck with being her caretaker again?

Ah, right, as much as he was grateful to Tenzen for taking him in, he still felt irritated sometimes that he got stuck in this position.

"Youre the only one I trust with this, and she needs a friend her age" his ass.