Avatar: Bounties

Ruthar’s Story

“Now that your team is fully assembled there is something I must tell you all about.” Announced Ruthar. The five warriors realized that whatever Master Ruthar said had to be important based on his tone so they all gathered around and listened intently:

‘Long ago when I was younger but not as young as you all now, I was just a normal teacher without too much to worry about. The world seemed to be at peace and we were protected by the avatar. But that all changed when my village was attacked by bandits. They weren’t stealing our money or our property but they were taking people away from our village and we never found out why. I fought hard and lead a small rebellion against the bandits. We repelled a couple of their invasion but then they came; Tsuejin, Sitkar, and Nase. Slowly they dwindled down our forces and one by one I saw my fellow friends, benders and non-benders taken away. Eventually I was the only one who stood between them and the village. I knew I was no match for them but luckily before they could take me as well, I was saved by the Avatar. The three hunters gave the Avatar a challenge but at the end of the day they were no match for the sheer power that the Avatar had.

After the battle, I thanked the Avatar for saving my life but he only had words of apology for me because he could not come sooner to save my comrades. He told me that the bandit activities have been on the rise lately and so have the attacks from the wild animals. He had a hunch that these were both connected somehow. Attacks were happening all over the world and he had been spread thin. There was no way he could help and save everyone. It was then and there that I volunteered to assist the Avatar to help bring order back to the world. After I said that to him, he told me that I reminded him of a close friend of his. That friend of his was not a bender but he had the same passion to help and bring justice to the world so that benders, non-benders, and animals could live together in peace.

Before the Avatar left he told me that he would head into the spirit world to see if he could find any answers. I was curious as to how this could have anything to do with the spirit world. He told me that whatever is happening here is also angering the spirits in their world, which ultimately causes unease in our world as well. I couldn’t fully understand but I asked how I could help. In reply, he told me to find more fighters to help out with this cause. He knew it would be a challenging task with so many people distracted by all the bounties but it was the best solution he had.

And so began my journey to explore the world and meet new fighters wherever I went. I met many skilled and strong fighters but many were egotistical, arrogant, and didn’t care enough for others. Most just wanted to find glory in doing bounties and making a name for themselves. I was beginning to wonder if I would ever find anyone and then I stumbled upon Eric. Like I said before he was a hothead when I first met him but there was no denying that he had the smoke of battle on his shoulders and that he wanted more than just to complete bounties for a living. He never officially declared that he joined or would help but I’m sure based on your encounter with him you know that he was no ordinary fighter.

A couple years after that I came to your village and decided to start up a training school because my body could no longer handle all the heavy traveling. Eventually, Duncan, Da-Yong, Chloe, and Da-Wei I trained each of you the best I could. And here we are today.’

“Whoa, so that is the whole story of Master Ruthar.” Chloe said in awe. “But wait a minute, how in the world does that explain how Nilay was brought to our team, that’s just pure chance right?” Da-Wei asked. “Yeah of course, we just bumped into this guy in the forest by complete accident.” Da-Yong affirmed. Ruthar chuckled a bit and allowed Nilay to share his side of the story:

Well, to be honest, I’m not looking to return home. The whole reason I was out in that forest was because someone came to the Air Temple asking everyone ‘If anyone was seeking for a thrilling adventure with high amounts of danger, fighting ruthless bandits, and traversing the unknown. If so, come to Ruthar’s training academy!’ As you can guess most of us air benders don’t like to fight so almost everyone in the temple didn’t want to go. I wanted to go but I knew my people would talk me out of it so I snuck out in hopes to find this Ruthar Academy.

Ruthar continued to smile and everyone else who had heard Nilay’s story had their jaws dropped. “See, everything happens for a reason. None of this was by accident.” On that note, the sky was getting very dark and they were all beginning to feel exhausted. So, Ruthar told the five warriors to rest up for the night because they still had a long journey ahead of them in the morning.

With the newly formed team all packed and healed up to head towards Marvel Mountain, the villagers all greeted the five benders and wished them the best on their journey. Wardoh, Neejan, Rajveer, Gurjeevan, and Tirsten also sent them off as well. And surprisingly Kabir and Da-Yong with all their differences managed to shake each other's hands and wished the best to each other. Master Ruthar was the last person to see them off but before they parted ways he had a gift for everyone courtesy of Eric. For Da-wei, he got a special black meteor rock; Chloe got a pair of metal bracelets for her wrist; Nilay got a Bo-staff; Duncan was given scrolls to help improve his showdown technique. Then it came to Da-Yong’s turn and he was initially so pumped to see what he could get until Ruthar handed him a handle. Da-Yong was confused and everyone else was just laughing at him because he seemed to have gotten the short end of the stick. “Master Ruthar, are you sure teacher Eric didn’t give me something else?” he questioned. “Nope, Eric gave me specific instructions for each of those gifts and he said you would know exactly how to use them properly when the time is right.” Ruthar replied. Unhappy with what he thought was the lamest gift he embarrassingly put the handle away in his pocket and joined the crew. They said their final words to Master Ruthar and went off to Marvel Mountain.