I am really, really, really sorry for the long update. I’ve been having a tough couple of months and I really needed to calm down. I know that’s no excuse but maybe this next chapter will make it up to you. This one’s longer than the last and it will explain things like what the Soul of the Elements is, who is Yami, and Shadow Bending.
Also the firebending here will be a little enhanced I suppose. What I mean is that the firebending will have evolved. Don’t worry, all will be explained in time. And now here it is.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender
Chapter 4: The Power of the Shadows
Recap: Last time Shawn meet’s a mysterious man known as Yami, who is after the Soul of the Elements. He tries to attack Shawn but he was able to counter attack with a fire blast. The first battle of the upcoming war finally begins. Who will come out on top?
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Shawn stood there staring at his opponent, who was doing the same. A small wind blew through them, as if symbolizing the start of the battle.
‘This guy is good’ Thought Shawn. ‘Up until now I wasn’t able to sense his presence. Plus he’s able to form some kind of negative energy in his hands then use it to attack me. I got to be on my guard until I can get a good idea of what I’m up against.’
There was a long silence between the two until Yami spoke up. “I must admit I’m quite impressed. Not only did you get out of the way of my first attack so quickly but you were able to match the power of my second attack and then some.”
“Let’s say I’ve had some practice reacting to attacks.” Shawn replied as he got into a fighting stance. “Now tell me who you are. Are you with Project Omega?”
Yami chucked for a moment then replied “No I am not. I work for a greater force than this Project Omega group you speak of.”
“Then who do you work for?”
“That is none of your concern. You won’t be around long enough to even remember his name.” Yami responded as he was gathering up black energy in his right hand.
“Well how are you doing that thing with your hands? It doesn’t look like any kind of bending I’ve ever seen.” Shawn said while eyeing Yami’s right hand, making sure not to let it out of his sight.
“I suppose I might as well tell you. You see it’s no surprise you don’t know this because the power I have is known as … Shadowbending.”
Shawn gasped at this. ‘I’ve never heard of Shadowbending. All that I know is that it was a forbidden bending art that’s been lost for centuries. How does this guy know it?’
As if sensing his thoughts Yami replied, “I can see you’re surprised by this. So seeing as how this is a school I’ll give you a little history lesson.”
“Shadow bending began when the first Avatar came into existence. He was considered a God amongst all people in the world. And it was he who gave people the ability to bend.”
“Hold on! I thought people learned to bend the four elements from Sky Bison, Badgermoles, Dragons, even the Moon. How could the first Avatar teach them that?”
Yami chuckled a little before saying, “He’s your past life, you tell me. Anyway back to my story. The first Avatar was loved by all, expect for one person… His older brother.”
This caused Shawn to gasp. “What do you mean? How could the first Avatar’s brother not like him?”
“Because the first Avatar’s brother was jealous of all the power his brother had but only used it to keep peace within the world. Even then he only used a fraction of his power. His brother was furious that he had the power to control the world and yet chose to use it to help people. This drove the man to create his own form of bending, which led to the creation of Shadowbending.” Yami then brought up his hand with the black energy in it. “Unlike the other bending arts Shadow bending has an unlimited source that be used any time. And that source is the darkness in people’s hearts. This became source for his power.”
“The first Avatar found out about it and tried to reason with his brother, but in the end it proved to be pointless. His brother had been consumed by his greed and lust for power and thus he became the Dark Avatar!”
“Dark… Avatar?”
“Yes. The first Avatar had no choice but to fight his brother, but the battle went on for days. Until finally the Dark Avatar was killed. But the first Avatar knew that his brother would one day he would be reincarnated and will try again to rule the world. So he created the Soul of the Elements.”
“And what does this have to do with me?” Shawn demanded, as he was about to launched an attack on his foe.
“Because legend has it that the first Avatar took on an apprentice to teach him all he knew. He used the Soul of the Elements to reincarnate his apprentice into one of the four nations. Thus starting the Avatar Cycle. But before he died the first Avatar fused the Soul of the Elements within his body, so that no normal Avatar would be corrupted by its power. Thus he became the Celestial Avatar.”
“And you think this Soul of the Elements thing is inside me.” Shawn said not lowering his guard one bit.
“Correction, I know it’s inside you.” Yami replied calmly, the black energy in his hand dissipating. Because every now and then the Soul of the Elements will reform itself and fuse it with an Avatar with a pure heart. That Avatar becomes a Celestial Avatar and unlike the other reincarnations he has the knowledge of all of the past Celestial Avatars. And the next Celestial Avatar… is you Shawn Blaze! If that is even your real name.”
Although one could not tell from his calm composure, Shawn was uneasy about that last part Yami said, but decided to not worry about it. “So if I’m the Celestial Avatar, then that means…” he began.
“That the Dark Avatar is back and he is my master.” Yami finished for him. “But know that you know about the history of Shadowbending I can finally get on with my mission. And that is to take the Soul of the Elements form you.” Yami said as he threw a Shadow blast at Shawn. Shawn countered with a reverse kick, creating a small shield of fire to block the attack.
“Nice try but it will take more than that to defeat me.” Shawn said as he threw several fire punches at Yami, who countered with several shadow blasts. Shawn then jump up into the air and threw several fire kicks at Yami. Yami brought both his hands up and created a shadow dome to block Shawn’s attack.
“Please those feeble attacks won’t do any damage to me. Especially when I do this.” Yami brought his right hand up and engulfed it in negative energy, forming a claw on his hand. “Say hello to the Shadow Claw!”
“No way.” Shawn said in pure shock. “You mean to tell me that Shadowbending can take on other forms?”
“Yes and now you will experience its power first hand.” Yami lunged at Shawn with the intent to kill as he tried to slash at him. However Shawn was able to avoid all of his attacks before narrowly avoiding a cut to the face.
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Inside the School
The last bell just rang, disimissing all students. As everyone was getting ready to go home Zoey was looking around for her two best friends before finding them in front of the school doors. She ran up to them with her usual happy smile.
“Hey Matt, Cheryl.” Zoey greeted. They both greeted her back as they started walking home. “So you guys have any plans today?” She asked.
“Well I have to go run some errands for my mom.” Matt replied with a sigh.
“And I have plans too. Why do you ask? Cheryl said.
“Just curious. Hey do you know where Shawn is?” She asked as she looked around for the brunet.
“No. I haven’t seen his since that incident at the cafeteria.”
“Well then I’ll wait for him then.”
“Why?” They both asked.
“Because I haven’t really had the chance to talk him without something happening. And besides he’s new here so I figured I’d walk with him on the way home.” Zoey replied as she stopped walking, here two friends did the same.”
“Okay, let us know how it goes.” Matt said as he and Cheryl started walking again.
“Okay bye.” Zoey said as she went back into the school.
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Shawn narrowly avoided another attack by Yami and his Shadow claw. After the last attack he moved back towards where he was originally standing panting a little. ‘I can’t keep this going for long. I have to defeat him. Guess I’ll need to use that technique after all.’
“This all you got. I must admit I’m kind of disappointed. All you’ve done is avoid my attacks so far.”
“Maybe I have a reason to do so. Now is the time to end this fight.”
