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Description
I did a story board for how my Avatar: The Last Airbender OC, Karu, would meet Malu, a cannon airbender from the Eastern Air Temple.

Learn more about...
Malu (from the ATLA card game) here: [link]
Karu (my OC) here: [link]

I wanted to have Karu attach into the official universe some without having a lot of contact with the primary group of Aang and & co, because well... bleh.

"Avatar: The Last Airbender" is © Michael DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, and Nickelodeon.

These are all pencil sketches with some digital airbrushing to add color in a few spots.

The text of the story is below...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This was not what I expected when I stepped off the boat and entered the Earth Kingdom. Not that I expected to enter the Earth Kingdom as a refugee. Gods! This is not the future I planned!

Karu made the short jump over the small stream that cut across the mountain path. She hit the ground and kept running without a pause. She had to lose them.

Three Fire Nation soldiers ran straight through the shallow rivulet, barely slowing down as they hit the water.

I could hide from my brothers in the mountains near the farm easily enough, but I have to get out of their line of sight first! This is bad! I didn’t think the path would be this clear! Maybe I should’ve kept my temper back in the village.

One of the soldiers had been bullying and elderly shop keeper. Something about an extra tax for not keeping the window clean enough. Bullshit. Fire Nation soldiers should be better than this! Where was their honor? Sifu Teoh had certainly trained her better than that. Karu couldn’t stand it.

"Leave him alone. He’s just an old man trying to scrape out a living," Karu stepped between the army captain and the old man, deftly twisting the soldier’s wrist so that he released the old man’s arm. "You’re tarnishing the Fire Nation with this dishonorable behavior!"

"You impertinent brat!" Karu’s golden eyes locked with the soldier’s and she saw the planned strike telegraph in his eyes before he ever moved.

Karu caught the fist before it had a chance to touch her. "This is not the way an honorable child of the Fire Nation should behave."

The situation had degraded from there. He had only further lost his temper and it seemed like the next thing she knew, she was standing in the street staring down three Fire Nation soldiers, the captain’s helm obviously damaged. Karu vaguely recalled dealing him a few over-zealous blows when he had accused her of being a traitor to the Fire Nation.

What kind of crummy captain. Dishonorable... Embarassment... And a freshly trained Fire Nation soldier... FAILED soldier, I didn't make it did I?... can land that many blows? What a joke! I trained hard, but I thare's no way I should be able to handle a captain with field experience.

Fighting three Fire Nation soldiers head on... was not an activity she wanted to try out. So she had made an attempt to escape up the paths and hide on the mountain that loomed over the small Earth Kingdom village. Unfortunately the path was surprisingly well kept, making it an easy run for both Karu and the three soldiers in pursuit.

Karu veered off on a side path that looked a bit more overgrown. She wasn’t wearing full armor, so she should be able to get places they couldn’t.

And there it was, five feet in front of her, a sheer cliff face. And she was at the bottom. No chance of getting up it.

She turned, taking a defensive stance. There was no way she would be able to get past those three to try another path. They knew it too.

The wind blew slightly, rustling the leaves in the nearby bushes.

If she dared to, there was one way to at least clear a definite escape route. But...

Karu’s eyes slid to one side as she grudgingly accepted that her options were limited. And getting beaten up by corrupt Fire Nation soldiers wasn’t an acceptable one.

"I have no choice," She rationalized aloud.

Karu shifted her weight, moving the chi within her body as the Firebending Masters had taught her to. And she launched herself into the diving phoenix kick she had used before. This time she intentionally landed the blow to the ground a foot and a half from the three soldiers. A wave-like rush of wind billowed forward from the impact, toppling the three shocked soldiers.

There were scrabbling sounds as the soldiers ran away, back down the path to the village. They would probably be back with more soldiers, but Karu would be gone by then.

Footsteps alerted her to look up. A short girl, a bit younger than Karu herself, stared down at her with a bemused expression. The girl had light brown hair and was dressed in ragged orange and yellow clothing. Airbender clothing.

"Huh." She snorted through a button-nose. "Not bad for a beginner. But you put way too much energy in one attack, what if they hadn’t run off like that? You’d be a goner."

Karu realized with embarrassment that she was sweating and breathing hard. The girl was right, she had focused so much on the blasphemy of what she was, that she hadn’t focused on what she was doing.

"Well actually, I would’ve hopped out of the bushes to help you, but I think you get my point." The girl straightened up and grinned widely. "You really do look like Fire Nation though, I was surprised that you’re an Airbender!"

Karu stood up, brushing dirt off of her tunic. "I am from the Fire Nation."

"I guess the world’s trying to balance things out then." The girl put one hand on her hip and looked Karu up and down. "I’m Malu, the last surviving Airbender of the Eastern Air Temple. And you must be the last living Airbender."

Karu stared at Malu strangely for a moment. "That... doesn’t makes sense."

"Didn’t they tell you a ghost witch haunted this mountain?" Malu smiled broadly, and as though on cue, became slightly transparent for a moment so that Karu could see the outline of the bushes behind her.

"But the last Airbender is supposed to be the Avatar." Karu noted the girl’s expression. "It’s not me. The Avatar was found before I learned I could... do that."

"Last I heard, some kid in the Southern Air Temple was the Avatar, but that was a hundred years ago." Malu shook her head. "I was sure only Old Man Afiko and I survived back then."

Description
I did a story board for how my Avatar: The Last Airbender OC, Karu, would meet Malu, a cannon airbender from the Eastern Air Temple.

Learn more about...
Malu (from the ATLA card game) here: [link]
Karu (my OC) here: [link]

I wanted to have Karu attach into the official universe some without having a lot of contact with the primary group of Aang and & co, because well... bleh.

"Avatar: The Last Airbender" is © Michael DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, and Nickelodeon.

These are all pencil sketches with some digital airbrushing to add color in a few spots.

The text of the story is below...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This was not what I expected when I stepped off the boat and entered the Earth Kingdom. Not that I expected to enter the Earth Kingdom as a refugee. Gods! This is not the future I planned!

Karu made the short jump over the small stream that cut across the mountain path. She hit the ground and kept running without a pause. She had to lose them.

Three Fire Nation soldiers ran straight through the shallow rivulet, barely slowing down as they hit the water.

I could hide from my brothers in the mountains near the farm easily enough, but I have to get out of their line of sight first! This is bad! I didn’t think the path would be this clear! Maybe I should’ve kept my temper back in the village.

One of the soldiers had been bullying and elderly shop keeper. Something about an extra tax for not keeping the window clean enough. Bullshit. Fire Nation soldiers should be better than this! Where was their honor? Sifu Teoh had certainly trained her better than that. Karu couldn’t stand it.

"Leave him alone. He’s just an old man trying to scrape out a living," Karu stepped between the army captain and the old man, deftly twisting the soldier’s wrist so that he released the old man’s arm. "You’re tarnishing the Fire Nation with this dishonorable behavior!"

"You impertinent brat!" Karu’s golden eyes locked with the soldier’s and she saw the planned strike telegraph in his eyes before he ever moved.

Karu caught the fist before it had a chance to touch her. "This is not the way an honorable child of the Fire Nation should behave."

The situation had degraded from there. He had only further lost his temper and it seemed like the next thing she knew, she was standing in the street staring down three Fire Nation soldiers, the captain’s helm obviously damaged. Karu vaguely recalled dealing him a few over-zealous blows when he had accused her of being a traitor to the Fire Nation.

What kind of crummy captain. Dishonorable... Embarassment... And a freshly trained Fire Nation soldier... FAILED soldier, I didn't make it did I?... can land that many blows? What a joke! I trained hard, but I thare's no way I should be able to handle a captain with field experience.

Fighting three Fire Nation soldiers head on... was not an activity she wanted to try out. So she had made an attempt to escape up the paths and hide on the mountain that loomed over the small Earth Kingdom village. Unfortunately the path was surprisingly well kept, making it an easy run for both Karu and the three soldiers in pursuit.

Karu veered off on a side path that looked a bit more overgrown. She wasn’t wearing full armor, so she should be able to get places they couldn’t.

And there it was, five feet in front of her, a sheer cliff face. And she was at the bottom. No chance of getting up it.

She turned, taking a defensive stance. There was no way she would be able to get past those three to try another path. They knew it too.

The wind blew slightly, rustling the leaves in the nearby bushes.

If she dared to, there was one way to at least clear a definite escape route. But...

Karu’s eyes slid to one side as she grudgingly accepted that her options were limited. And getting beaten up by corrupt Fire Nation soldiers wasn’t an acceptable one.

"I have no choice," She rationalized aloud.

Karu shifted her weight, moving the chi within her body as the Firebending Masters had taught her to. And she launched herself into the diving phoenix kick she had used before. This time she intentionally landed the blow to the ground a foot and a half from the three soldiers. A wave-like rush of wind billowed forward from the impact, toppling the three shocked soldiers.

There were scrabbling sounds as the soldiers ran away, back down the path to the village. They would probably be back with more soldiers, but Karu would be gone by then.

Footsteps alerted her to look up. A short girl, a bit younger than Karu herself, stared down at her with a bemused expression. The girl had light brown hair and was dressed in ragged orange and yellow clothing. Airbender clothing.

"Huh." She snorted through a button-nose. "Not bad for a beginner. But you put way too much energy in one attack, what if they hadn’t run off like that? You’d be a goner."

Karu realized with embarrassment that she was sweating and breathing hard. The girl was right, she had focused so much on the blasphemy of what she was, that she hadn’t focused on what she was doing.

"Well actually, I would’ve hopped out of the bushes to help you, but I think you get my point." The girl straightened up and grinned widely. "You really do look like Fire Nation though, I was surprised that you’re an Airbender!"

Karu stood up, brushing dirt off of her tunic. "I am from the Fire Nation."

"I guess the world’s trying to balance things out then." The girl put one hand on her hip and looked Karu up and down. "I’m Malu, the last surviving Airbender of the Eastern Air Temple. And you must be the last living Airbender."

Karu stared at Malu strangely for a moment. "That... doesn’t makes sense."

"Didn’t they tell you a ghost witch haunted this mountain?" Malu smiled broadly, and as though on cue, became slightly transparent for a moment so that Karu could see the outline of the bushes behind her.

"But the last Airbender is supposed to be the Avatar." Karu noted the girl’s expression. "It’s not me. The Avatar was found before I learned I could... do that."

"Last I heard, some kid in the Southern Air Temple was the Avatar, but that was a hundred years ago." Malu shook her head. "I was sure only Old Man Afiko and I survived back then."