The air was still.
Riku knelt at the heart of the ancient grove, where the trees grew in spirals and the stones whispered secrets older than the Fire Nation itself. The clearing was sacred one of the few places left where the veil between the physical and spirit worlds thinned like morning mist. He had come here seeking clarity, not answers. The forge had grown too loud. The flames too restless. And the dreams… the dreams had returned.
He exhaled slowly, letting his breath guide him inward. The world around him faded the rustle of leaves, the distant chirp of a firefinch, the warmth of the sun on his back. All of it dissolved into silence.
Then, something shifted.
A sudden pull, like the world had turned inside out. His breath caught. His spine arched. His eyes snapped open glowing white.
Pain lanced through his skull like lightning. Images flooded his mind: oceans crashing against cliffs, forests whispering in tongues he didn't know, a sky split by dragons and wolves and fire. He clutched his head, gasping, as knowledge poured into him like molten metal into a mold.
And then
A voice.
It echoed from everywhere and nowhere, layered and ancient, like wind rustling through a thousand leaves.
"You will not be the Avatar of this era."
Riku staggered to his feet, eyes still glowing, heart pounding. "What… what do you mean? Avatar? Me?"
"Yes, child. You are the Avatar. But your destiny lies not in this world."
The voice was not one, but many male and female, young and old, all speaking as one. Before him, the air shimmered, and from the heart of the grove rose a figure of light. It was shaped like a tree, but its branches moved like arms, and its bark shimmered with stars. Faces flickered across its surface Avatars long past, spirits unknown.
"You will go to a world of ice and fire. A world without bending. A world in need of balance."
Riku's breath caught. "But… how can I be the Avatar there? Without bending, what am I?"
The spirit's branches swayed, and a soft light enveloped him.
"You will be disconnected from your past lives. But their knowledge their skills will awaken within you when you are ready. You will not be alone. You will be the first of your kind in that world. The Avatar of Westeros."
The spirit reached out, its glowing limb brushing his forehead. A rush of sensation followed words, names, maps, customs. Westeros. The Common Tongue. The Wall. The Seven. The North remembers.
His knees buckled.
"This is your path, Riku. Walk it with fire in your heart and balance in your soul."
The grove split open. A swirling portal of blue and white light yawned beneath him. The spirit's many voices whispered one final blessing as it pushed him forward.
"Forge peace where there is war. Bring light where there is shadow."
Riku fell.
Through light. Through time. Through worlds.
He landed in snow.
The cold should have pierced him, but he felt nothing. Only silence. Only stillness. His eyes fluttered shut, the glow fading. The Avatar State receded, leaving him breathless and unconscious.
There, in the heart of a frozen forest, the 10th Avatar slept alone, unaware, and on the edge of a world that had never known bending.