Thank you to all who are reading this, like to make a quick announcement. I usually write story samples for my friends about future fanfics I'm going to write. To tease them and get them excited. Well, I decided to post the beginnings of my future stories. I can't give you a date when I will update the stories. But I can't keep them in a computer file waiting for the day I get to them. So enjoy the stories, and sooner or later, I'll update them. I can't tell you when. Thank you!
Many eons ago, far longer then anyone man or spirit can remember, the gift of bending was bestowed to the world. First, it came to the Lion Turtles, and then it came to Man. Then man learned from the four original benders themselves. The Moon, Badermoles, Dragons, and Sky Bison. A gift of beauty and power that must be treated with respect and great responsibility by all blessed with it.
The one soul blessed more then any other is the Avatar. The one who can bend all elements, be the bridge between worlds, and even unknown to almost all souls take the gift of bending away or give it out. This is why the spirits are very careful when selecting the bearer of such awesome power and responsibility.
There is a counterpart for everything in life, and for every legend, there is a seed of truth. And when both come from the same source, it may prove deadly in the end. The original teachers of bending had long ago gone through spiritual death and rebirth. It was so many eons ago since the world had forgotten their innovative teachers or where the real source of bending came from.
Which, in turn, caused the original teacher's life forces to fade and die. Before they died, they imbued their essences and the source of all the four bending arts' spiritual energy into a single shard. The shards were then crafted into individual pendants designed to look like the emblems of the four nations.
Before the legends and their truth have entirely forgotten, the Avatar himself promised to make sure the Shards of the Elements were kept safe. So the next four-cycle, the Shards were passed down each Avatar's bloodline. For not only did the shards hold the power of the original benders if they're brought together and somehow fused, but they would also spiritual link to the Avatar himself. And with the right spell, could control and enslave the avatar.
No one wants this to happen, which is why the Shards of the Elements and their Powers became obscured in myths and forgotten by the world. But not everything is forgotten forever.