Fanon:Chapter 1 (Polybenders)

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Chapter 1
Information
Series	Polybenders
Chapter	1
Written by	Corvus Pathoris
Air date	20.7.2015
Word count	659
Episode guide
Next	Chapter 2

Philip

Bending is mysterious, there are many questions about it. Nobody is exactly sure of its source. There are many different traditional stories about its origin. The people of Hellas believed in many Gods. They believed that four of the Gods were the original benders. Zeus, Lord of the Sky, was the original airbender, explaining why all the greatest leaders in this world are airbenders. Helios, God of the Sun, was the first firebender. Poseidon was the first waterbender, and Demeter was the first earthbender. According to Christian tradition, bending was distributed down to us by a single deity. I don't believe a single word of any of them. The people of Asia - the far off world where the nations of the world are divided by the four elements themselves - they believe it came from Lion Turtles, who in turn learnt it from the moon, sky bison, dragons, and badgermoles. Similarly, I think that it is nonsense.

If I wish to know the origin of bending, I'll have to compare two very strange elements.

Fire and air are strange elements. While water and earth are in no way similar to each other or any of the other elements, fire and air share great similarities. To start, both require a source of air to bend, as we know that fire can not survive in a vacuum. Benders of both elements can control their temperatures with their breathing alone. They even fight in the same way. Airbenders and firebenders in the military both rely on quick and lethal jabs, more concerned about speed than accuracy and precision.

What is most astounding is what can be called combustionbending, the most terrifying of them all. Through the concentration of one's chi, a skilled bender can compress and combust the air around them. This skill, although being known as a firebending subskill, further blurs the boundary between the elements of air and fire.

Although there is no way to be sure, there is a possibility that firebenders and airbenders share a common ancestor, one not shared by their earthen or water counterparts. Is there a missing link between energybending and firebending? Could firebending simply be a more or less advanced form of airbending?

Is it possible to control more than one element?

Bending appears hereditary, if both parents are benders, the offspring is likely to have bending capabilities of the same element. However, that is where it differs from hereditary traits. Let's say, for example, a mother has a big nose and a father is tall, the offspring is likely to inherit traits from both parents and be tall with a big nose. However, in all documented cases of offspring between parents of different elements, the child will not have two elements or an intermediate form.

According to Asian legend, a person known as the Avatar can bend all four elements and reincarnates upon death. They claim the Avatar is inhabited by some sort of powerful spirit. That's preposterous, we all know that there are no spirits... not since we drove them out a hundred thousand years ago. Still, the portal between our world (Europe) and Asia is finally open. Perhaps it's time we pay our long lost relatives a visit. They may have great empires and cities, tall buildings that scrape the sky. They may have the legendary Avatar. We never know, they might be tribal people that would not object (in any meaningful way) to our colonisation.

What is Asia?

I forgot to explain what Asia is, how typical. Well, since I'm writing in pen and not pencil, I'll just have to place it down here. There are two worlds, Europe and Asia. We live in Europe. The two worlds were once connected through a portal in the middle of Londinium, from where I write. I am the King of Britannia, and I shall claim Asia in the name of the glorious empire!

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